Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Jiangsu builds "experimental fields" of basic research to unleash vitality for innovation 09:47, August 13, 2024 By He Cong, Yao Xueqing ( People's Daily In June 2023, east China's Jiangsu province planned to establish three basic science centers as part of its efforts to deepen reforms in the scientific and technological system and talent development mechanisms. These centers, focusing on physics, applied mathematics, and synthetic biology, are being piloted in research universities and other scientific institutions to reform the basic research system. In just one year, a number of groundbreaking results have emerged from these young "experimental fields" of basic research. Among them, the provincial center for physics science (PCPS) in Jiangsu province, which is backed by Nanjing University, has made significant strides in original research. Professor Du Lingjie (middle) with the School of Physics, Nanjing University, joins a discussion with his students. (Photo/Li Jiahao) At the quantum extreme measurement laboratory of the School of Physics, Nanjing University, professor Du Lingjie and his doctoral students are at the forefront of innovative research. Every day, they search for signals of new quasi-particles from excitation peaks, akin to finding a needle in a haystack. In their experiments, the flickering red laser beams keep changing energy levels, striking semiconductor samples in a cooling machine. The signals are instantly captured and displayed on a computer screen as excitation peaks that look like an electrocardiogram. Each peak represents a collision between an electron and a photon. The team examines hundreds of these excitation peaks per day, trying to identify the elusive signals. "Where is the signal? What does it look like? How long will it take to find it?" These are the questions that drive their research, with no guarantees of success. In the first half of 2023, Du and his team encountered challenges in their research: experiments that needed to be redesigned, a need for continuous capital input, and unknown prospects of the studies. This entirely new research was not included in any scientific project guidelines. Despite these challenges, Du received unwavering support from Wang Bogen, dean of the School of Physics, Nanjing University. Wang's confidence came from the commitment of China's "experimental fields" to reforming the scientific and technological system. This reform grants researchers substantial autonomy in their scientific pursuits and encourages them to "propose new theories, pioneer new fields, explore new paths, and focus on independent innovation." In 2023, Jiangsu province invested 130 million yuan ($18.14 million) to establish three basic research centers - the PCPS and other two provincial centers for applied mathematical sciences and foundational research in synthetic biology, among which the PCPS received a funding of 50 million yuan. Photo shows Miao Feng, a professor with the School of Physics, Nanjing University. (Photo provided by Miao Feng) "The strong research support and sufficient financial guarantee were like a lifeline for our research," said Du. On March 28 this year, their significant research findings were published on Nature. This marked the world's first discovery of quasi-particles with graviton-like characteristics in real systems. At a future computing laboratory of the PCPS, a four-layer "atomic building block" electronic device is clearly visible under a microscope. This groundbreaking development is the work of professor Miao Feng's research team from the School of Physics, Nanjing University. "In traditional materials, electrons move without a unified direction. However, when in the topological edge states of quantum matter they move in a consistent direction, much like vehicles on a highway," said Miao. His team has successfully integrated this "highway" concept into "atomic building blocks," constructing special electronic devices for brain-like computing. This significant achievement was recently published in the prestigious journal Nature Nanotechnology. According to Ma Yuqiang, head and chief scientist of PCPS, project leaders are free to allocate research funds based on their judgment, which enables them to maximize the impact of limited resources, create cross-departmental, cross-disciplinary, and cross-industry teams, and bring together top talent. Education, science and technology, and human resources are the foundational and strategic pillars for Chinese modernization. "The establishment and operation of the three basic science centers in Jiangsu province would help explore the integrated reform of education, science and technology, and talent systems, continuously unleash the inexhaustible drive for scientific research, and foster a vibrant atmosphere for innovation and creation," said Xu Guanghui, head of the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Science and Technology. (Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun) In a special moment at Disney's D23 fan convention, actor Harrison Ford paid tribute to movie composer John Williams during the Disney Legends ceremony. The ceremony, held at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, saw the "Indiana Jones" star honored with the legend status. During his speech, Ford addressed the audience of approximately 12,000 attendees, praising Williams: "John has written the soundtrack of our lives." John Williams, known for his iconic film scores, has created timeless and beloved soundtracks that have impacted movies and audiences worldwide. Among his impressive works are compositions for films like "Jaws," "Star Wars," "Superman," "Indiana Jones," "E.T.," and three from the "Harry Potter" franchise. As noted on the official Walt Disney website, "Think of 'Indiana Jones' without the march that introduces him, think of Princess Leia without the gentle flute that plays her on, or the opening crawl of the 'Star Wars' film without its incredible orchestra." Ford, now 82 years old, added, "For over half a century, each and every time John Williams composes a new score, he finds a way to imbue the film's story and characters with a timeless and essential quality." "That's because John is a storyteller and his language is the exquisite music that touches our hearts and inspires our greatness." A Legend Beyond Disney Throughout his career, Williams has been honored with a collection of awards. His accolades include five Oscars, four Golden Globes, seven BAFTAs, and 25 Grammys. Ford emphasized the significant impact of "all-important collaboration that has brought me a unique form of joy - the creation of film soundtracks." Thank you to everyone for celebrating the Disney Legends at #D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event! pic.twitter.com/V6wSVRbsb1 Disney D23 (@DisneyD23) August 12, 2024 Meanwhile, producer Kathleen Kennedy, who worked with Williams on films including "E.T." and "Jurassic Park," expressed her admiration for the composer, saying, "It is no exaggeration to say that John Williams is the greatest film composer of all time." Although Williams was not able to attend the ceremony in person, he arranged a medley of his famous movie soundtracks, which was then performed by the Pacific Symphony, captivating the audience. A squad of imperial soldiers also took the stage as a tribute to the iconic "Star Wars" theme, marking the event's grand finale. READ MORE: Tony Winner LaChanze to Headline Exclusive One-Night NYC Concert Supporting Iconic Cabaret Venue COLUMBIA -- The South Carolina Department of Transportation requests input from the traveling public on the following proposed transportation projects. SCDOT encourages members of the public to review project websites and provide questions, comments, or information about local historic or cultural resources. For Orangeburg County projects include bridge Replacement Project at S-77 (Providence Road) over Little Limestone Creek. The comment period is from Aug. 27 to Sept. 26, 2024. Get The Times and Democrat app today Local news has never been this personal. Free to download. Subscribers enjoy unlimited access. How to submit comments SCDOT opening new ramps on I-26 at Calhoun and Lexington counties The S.C. Department of Transportation is opening new eastbound and westbound exit ramps on Interstate 26 at Exit 119. Mail: Alex Bennett, Project Lead, 955 Park Street, P.O. Box 191, Columbia, SC 29201 Phone: 803-737-3231 All comments received during a project comment period will be reviewed and included in the project record. Individuals who provide comments will receive responses upon request. SCDOT plans local road, bridge improvements The S.C. Department of Transportation is planning to improve several roads and bridges within The T&D Region over the next 10 years. Individuals in need of special accommodations may call 803-737-1304 or email SCDOTPublicComment@scdot.org to request assistance. Individuals without access to the internet who would like to receive project information or submit a comment should contact the respective SCDOT Project Manager listed below. Individuals who need to speak with an interpreter should contact SCDOT at 803-724-5862 or 888-468-8081. Para hablar con un interprete, comuniquese con SCDOT al 803-724-5862 o al numero gratuito 888-468-8081. COLUMBIA August is National Breastfeeding Month and the South Carolina Department of Public Health is celebrating the continued increase in the number of breastfed infants in its Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Nutrition Program and encouraging breastfeeding year-round to improve the health of babies across the Palmetto State. In addition to nutrition education and healthy foods, DPHs WIC program provides breastfeeding information, support and assistance at no cost to South Carolina families who qualify. Families interested in WIC should visit dph.sc.gov/wic. Breastfeeding rates in DPHs WIC program have steadily increased in recent years. In August 2022, 26.9% of infants participating in the program were either fully or partially breastfed. Breastfeeding rates increased to 28.1% in August 2023 and 29.7% in May 2024. Get The Times and Democrat app today Local news has never been this personal. Free to download. Subscribers enjoy unlimited access. "Were delighted about the continued increase in breastfeeding rates within our WIC program, which gives more of South Carolinas babies a healthy start at the beginning of their lives, said Dr. Brannon Traxler, DPH Deputy Director Health Promotion and Services and Chief Medical Officer. Breastfeeding provides all the nutrients a baby needs for healthy growth and development and, we encourage all mothers to breastfeed their infants, when possible. New SC agency unveils pledges efficiency, pollution prevention The director of South Carolinas new environmental department pledged Monday to focus on protecting the states water, air and landscape from pollution, while improving service, as the agency establishes itself as a replacement for the states often-criticized health and environmental department. At a news conference under a broiling July sun, Department of Environmental Services chief Myra ... WIC offers resources and collaborates with local organizations to help strengthen breastfeeding promotion and education to help close disparities. These initiatives include: Utilizing educational messages, training, tools and other resources reflective of local culture, ethnicity, language and literacy levels. SCDA takes over milk, restaurant regulation COLUMBIA As of July 1, many food safety duties that were part of the former South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control are now handled by the South Carolina Department of Agriculture. Assigning peer counselors who reflect a WIC participants language, race, ethnicity and socioeconomic characteristics, when possible. South Carolina Department of Agriculture now in charge of restaurant inspections, milk safety, more South Carolina Department of Agriculture now handles food safety duties previously under DHEC, with new regulations and consumer protection measures in place. Participating in the Maternal Outcomes Matter Shower Tour (M.O.M.S.). The tour aims to improve maternal health outcomes, particularly among African American and American Indian/Alaska Native women. Partnering with PASOs, which aims to serve individuals and families and strengthen leadership within Latino communities to advance health education and awareness, advocacy, resource navigation, resource connection and leadership development. DPHs WIC program encourages all mothers to breastfeed their infants, unless medically contraindicated. Breastfeeding has many benefits including: Breastmilk reduces the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), diabetes and obesity. Breastfeeding reduces the risk of cancer, postpartum depression and low iron for mothers. Breastmilk helps babies develop a higher IQ and improves brain development. Breastmilk promotes lower blood pressure and cholesterol later in life. Breastfeeding helps a uterus return to its normal size. To learn more and for free resources related to breastfeeding, available to WIC and non-WIC participating families, visit DPHs WIC breastfeeding page. (TBTCO) - Gia xe SH moi nhat thang 10/2024 tai ai ly ang giam soc, mot so phien ban ang uoc ban re hon gia e xuat, ay la ieu hiem co cua dong xe Honda. Trong khi o, gia xe Vision tai ai ly ang o muc thap chua tung co, tinh trang oi gia cao gan nhu a khong con. Elon Musk departs a meeting in the office of former U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., last fall. Stefani Reynolds/AFP/TNS Tesla CEO Elon Musk, left, with Gov. Greg Abbott at a groundbreaking ceremony last year for the Austin-based auto manufacturers lithium refining facility in Robstown. Angela Piazza/Corpus Christi Caller-Times As Xs owner and most followed user, Elon Musk has increasingly used the social media platform as a microphone to amplify his political views and, lately, those of right-wing figures hes aligned with. There are few modern parallels to his antics, but then again there are few modern parallels to Elon Musk himself. Of course, none of this should come as a surprise. Back in 2022 when he was trying to buy Twitter, Musk said he was doing so because it wasnt living up to its potential as a platform for free speech. Protecting free speech not money was his motivation because, as he put it, having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Musk often ruminates on the future of civilization. For one, he appears fixated on a coming population collapse, threatening to wipe out humanity. And he joined prominent scientists and tech leaders last year in warning the world about artificial intelligence doing the same. Musk has framed threats to free speech as yet another existential crisis looming over the world. And he is going to try his best to save it. Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated, Musk said in an April 2022 post, adding hearts, stars and rocket emojis to highlight the statement. Two years on, the platform now called X has indeed become a haven for the type of free speech Musk has come to champion. In the U.S., hes spread memes and sometimes misinformation about illegal immigration, alleged election fraud and transgender policies, and he formally endorsed former President Donald Trumps presidential bid this summer. In May 2023, he co-hosted Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis official presidential bid announcement. That turned out to be a disastrous rollout marred by technical glitches but it underscored Musks desire to turn X into a digital town square. After the event was marred by technical difficulties, Musk extended an open invitation to any other presidential candidate who wants to do one. Trump took him up on it, agreeing to an interview with the billionaire Tesla CEO on Monday evening. The conversation started with technical glitches with people unable to join in and began some 42 minutes late. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Not very political Ive not been very political before, Musk said during his conversation with Trump. Overseas where most X users live hes feuded with top officials in Australia, Brazil, the European Union and the U.K. over the balance between free speech and the spread of harmful misinformation. And he accused a political party in his native South Africa of openly pushing for genocide of white people. Elon Musk is a master of the media and controls one of the worlds largest microphones. Musk understands the power of social media in shaping a political narrative, said Emarketer analyst Jasmine Enberg. The concern is that as he pushes his own political agenda, X could suppress viewpoints that oppose Musks own, either intentionally or by nature of the platform becoming more partisan. That could turn off users who feel marginalized on the platform, and disillusion some who may have earlier bought into his free speech mantra. Musks political shift playing out on X comes as other social media platforms, notably Metas Facebook and Instagram, are shying away from politics. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has never endorsed a presidential candidate and in February, the worlds largest social media company announced it would avoid recommending political content to people who dont already follow such accounts. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Lately, Zuckerberg appears to contrast Musk in other ways too. While as recently as January, the Facebook founder was testifying before Congress about the harm his platform has caused children, he seemed to have embraced a more stylish look that includes gold chains, longer curls and a beaming confidence coupled with slightly self-deprecating humor that seems to embrace his eccentricities. On July 4th, for instance, he posted a video of himself riding an electric surfboard, wearing a tuxedo and holding a can of beer in one hand and an American flag in the other. The online response was far more positive than to a 2021 surfing photo, where hes seen slathered in so much sunscreen it looks like he is wearing a white mask. Inevitable decline Musk, meanwhile, is veering from cool nerd territory into what Kara Swisher, the elder stateswoman of tech journalism, recently called the Howard Hughes portion of an inevitable decline. Hes sparring with those who disagree with him be they foreign governments or people infected by what he calls the woke mind virus. Last week, the British government called on Elon Musk to act more responsibly after the tech billionaire used X to unleash a barrage of posts that risk inflaming violent unrest gripping the country. Justice Minister Heidi Alexander made the comments after Musk posted a comment saying that Civil war is inevitable in the U.K. Musk later doubled down, highlighting complaints that the British criminal justice system treats Muslims more leniently than far-right activists and comparing Britains crackdown on social media users to the Soviet Union. Officials at X did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Of course, some of Musks current battles over free speech are similar to those that the previous Twitter administration was fighting in repressive regimes that have, at times, restricted or blocked access to the platform to suppress dissent. In Venezuela, for instance, President Nicolas Maduro ordered a 10-day block on access to X in the country last week the latest in a series of efforts by his government to try to suppress information sharing among people voicing doubts about his claim to victory in the July 28 presidential election. Maduro accused X of being used by his opponents to create political unrest, and gave the company 10 days to present their documents, but he gave no additional details. Musks antics are unlike any other Big Tech leader, and while it may be off-putting to a segment of his X user base, it could also attract eyeballs to his platform. Could this all be part of a broader plan? After all, despite publicly criticizing Musks antics, those on the left continue to use his platform. Bank ABC Islamic has posted a first-half (H1) net profit of $25.1 million and second quarter (Q2) net of $14.3 million. Total operating income for the six-month stood at $35.8 million, 16.5% higher on a year-on-year basis. The growth in income is a result of healthy client business across corporate, institutional, and sovereign segments. The balance sheet remained healthy, maintaining strong capital ratio. Operating expenses of $9.1 million was 52.4% higher compared to $6.0 million for last year. The banks capital base remains very strong with a capital adequacy ratio of 44.7%. Q2 operating income In Q2, operating income after attribution to quasi-equity was $16.7 million. Operating expenses were $2.4 million, compared to $1.9 million for the same period of last year. Hammad Hassan, Managing Director of Bank ABC Islamic, said: Positive business momentum continued from the start of the year. Cash Management, Trade Finance and market products performed extremely well during first half of the year. We led eight Sukuk issuances and several Syndicated deals. This resulted in an operating income growth of 16.5% on a year-on-year basis. However, this was partly offset by a one-off litigation expense of a legacy case. Despite higher operating expenses, we closed the first half of the year with a net profit of $25.1 million, in line with last years performance. We have a healthy pipeline for new business and transactions, and remain cautiously optimistic about performance for the rest of the year. H1 business performance Allowances for credit losses for the period were a charge of $1.4 million, compared to a write back of $0.3 million reported during the same period last year. Operating expenses of $9.1 million, 52.4% higher compared to $6.0 million for last year. Adjusting for the extraordinary one-off charge, expenses were 17.0% higher than previous period. Balance sheet ABC Islamic Banks total assets stood at $2.587 billion as of June 30, 2024, compared to $2.501 billion at 2023 year-end. Investments were at $1.0 billion, compared to $809 million at 2023 year-end. Murabaha receivables, Ijarah and Musharaka financing were at $1,531 million, compared to $1,566 million at 2023 year-end. Shareholders equity on June 30, 2024, stood at $336 million, compared to $328 million at 2023 year-end. The banks capital base remains very strong with a capital adequacy ratio of 44.7%, predominantly Tier 1, which totalled 43.7%.--TradeArabia News Service Dubai Land Department (DLD) has successfully completed 647 amicable real estate settlements worth more than AED1.38 billion ($375 million) during the first half of 2024 via its Oqoodi platform service. DLD said 100% of the settlement agreements were approved through the platform, thus facilitating and expediting real estate settlements. This achievement has enhanced the effectiveness of managing disputes and providing a safe and reliable method for confirming and legally documenting each partys agreement to the terms. The department is dedicated to finding amicable settlements to resolve property disputes peacefully, serving as a valuable resource for investors and developers. DLD boasts capable and qualified legal specialists to manage settlements between parties, ensuring their rights through specialized consultations and careful analysis of disputes. This approach contributes to quick and effective solutions without resorting to the courts, therefore maintaining good relations and saving time, effort, and expenses associated with judicial proceedings. Additionally, the department legally documents agreements to ensure full compliance, thereby enhancing the confidence of developers and investors and promoting continued cooperation between them. Abdullah Al Zarooni, Legal Support Section Manager at DLD, pointed out that these amicable settlements underscore the vital role played by DLD in encouraging reconciliation through the Oqoodi Platform. "This approach is an effective mean of resolving disputes swiftly and efficiently, achieving investor satisfaction and happiness. These settlements enable parties to proceed with their investments, ensuring that real estate projects continue without delays and effectively support multiple industries linked to construction, he stated. "Dubai Land Department provides a conflict resolution service to customers, aiming to help investors and developers reach an agreement that satisfies all parties of the contractual relationship and guarantees their rights," stated Al Zarooni. DLD has harnessed all possibilities to resolve property disputes through reliable resolutions, thereby minimizing the need for judicial proceedings, he added.-TradeArabia News Service Saudi-based ADES Holding, a key provider of jackup and land rigs to the oil and gas industry, has signed onshore contracts worth SAR2.42 billion ($644 million) with Kuwait Oil Company (KOC). The contract award includes new ones for four of KOCs current operating rigs in Kuwait as well as two newbuild units, said ADES Holding in its filing to Saudi bourse Tadawul. All contracts under the award are expected to commence during the second and third quarters of 2025 and will run for a five-year firm term with a one-year optional extension, it stated. The Company earlier stated that, all six contracts are for deep drilling rigs in the 3,000hp category, a particularly niche and growing market in Kuwait. This comes close on the heels of its 10-year contract extension win for a standard jackup rig last month in Saudi Arabia. The contract worth SAR1.31 billion was awarded by a major national oil company for a standard jack-up rig Admarine 657, it added.-TradeArabia News Service Zain KSA, the leading telecom and digital services provider, has announced the appointment of Engineer Saad bin Abdulrahman Al Sadhan as the companys Acting CEO. An industry veteran, Al Sadhan brings over 20 years of expertise in telecommunications, information technology, and digital services to his new role. At Zain KSA, he has held several key leadership roles, most recently serving as the Chief Business and Wholesale Officer. He led the B2B sector growth across the company, developing a nationwide digital ecosystem combining advanced telecom services and cloud solutions anchored in 5G technologies, said the company in a statement. Since joining Zain KSA in 2016, Al Sadhan has achieved significant milestones. He enhanced the companys business and wholesales though establishing strategic partnerships with notable international partners, it stated. Prior to this, he held various leadership roles at prominent local and international telecom companies and also contributes his expertise as a board member at Zain Omantel International (ZOI). Al Sadhan holds a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in addition to several professional certifications in leadership and IT.-TradeArabia News Service Mebaa Show 2024, the regions leading business aviation event, taking place between December 10-12 in Dubai, will offer a platform to build new connections, highlight key launches and explore business opportunities that will cater to the growing demand for business travel in the region. The show that will be held at Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC), Dubai Airshow Site, will see a number of key regional and international operators, who are already confirmed to attend the 10th edition of the event. They include Saudia Private, Qatar Executive, Mukamalah Aviation Company and Jet Aviation. As a leading hub for private jets, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) witnessed a record number of movements last year (16,657 aircraft movements in 2023), while the average net worth of private jet buyers in the Middle East is more than $1 billion. With the continued inflow of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) into the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and increasing appreciate for luxury travel, the strategic importance of the region for business aviation is growing. In Saudi Arabia specifically, the market has witnessed record growth, with an 11% increase in private jet travel since 2020 and its expected to increase exponentially by 2030. Vista has already recorded strong growth in the kingdom, seeing a 59% per cent year-on-year increase in flights and 51% increase in flight hours in the first quarter of this year. Ali Alnaqbi, Founding and Executive Chairman of the Middle East & North Africa Business Aviation Association (Mebaa), said: As the business aviation industry continues to evolve, the Mebaa Show remains a pivotal platform for fostering crucial connections and driving innovation. Our commitment to excellence is reflected in our efforts to enhance networking opportunities and provide deep insights into key trends, products, and services. This year's event will host global leaders, offering unique opportunities to share and gain knowledge, explore new business deals and forge paths that align with our shared vision of advancing the future of business aviation. Following its successful launch at the previous edition, the Operators Programme will return as an essential networking hub delivering pre-arranged meetings between operators and exhibitors. Participating operators will benefit from fast-track entry to the show, and access to the private operators lounge, providing a unique opportunity to gather new market insights, explore emerging trends, and cultivate professional relationships. Trevor Esling, Vice President Commercial, Qatar Executive, said: Qatar Executive is pleased to be attending this years Mebaa Show, showcasing the latest addition to its fleet, the Gulfstream G700, which offers an exquisitely designed spacious interior, with exceptional range capabilities. Combined with unmatched personalised service by our staff, Qatar Executive is setting a new standard in private aviation. We look forward to showcasing our product and services to the attendees at the show later this year. BizAv Talks will also return this year with an agenda featuring C-level industry leaders who will explore the current landscape and provide fresh insights into business aviation. From optimising sustainable operations and exploring new initiatives, to leveraging technology trends, enhancing customer experience and maximising efficiency, it promises to deliver valuable perspectives and actionable strategies for advancing the sector. Dr Fahad Aljarboa, Chief Executive Officer at Saudia Private, will be speaking on a panel What's next for VVIP business jets? Anticipating future trends in customisation. He said: "The VVIP business jet segment has evolved significantly in recent years. Going forward, I expect to see increased emphasis on environmental sustainability, whilst also rethinking how we deliver in-flight productivity for a better experience for our customers. For attending VIPs and ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWIs), the Platinum Guest Programme will provide an unparalleled visiting experience, with a dedicated concierge service, premium lounge access, fast-track entry and the opportunity to schedule private jet visits. Guests will also enjoy access to the Luxury Boulevard, located amidst the stunning private jet display, providing a prime stage to engage with luxury brands. TradeArabia News Service Saudi Maritime & Logistics Congress, from September 18 to 19, has become a key regional forum for the exchange of ideas between the brightest and best the industry has to offer. As thousands of shipping professionals prepare to gather in Dammam this September for Saudi Maritime & Logistics Congress 2024, the Kingdoms Transport General Authority (TGA) has advised attendees: The reasons for attending are obvious: you get to be part of the conversation. Throughout the course of the event, participants will allow networking between thousands of attendees from across the globe and at every level of the industry. Speaking to Seatrade Maritime, organisers of the event, ahead of the global gathering, Eng Essam M Alammari, Deputy for Maritime Transport, TGA, Saudi Arabia, added: We have seen a progressive growth in attendance, which stood at an impressive 95% in 2023. From policy makers to investors, industry professionals to academics, the strength of this Congress is indebted to the diversity of its attendees. Strong signal The participation not only of TGA, but of our partners in Mawani, Bahri, Saudi Aramco and others, is a strong signal that the kingdoms policy makers and industry giants are committed to the important dialogue taking place over the direction of travel of shipping. All of these entities have helped to shape the agenda and attract the speakers we will hear from throughout the Congress. Attendees will also benefit from a programme which focuses on the most critical questions of the future: supply chain resilience, digitisation, sustainability, automation to name a few. Saudi Maritime & Logistics Congress is no longer a regional conference, but a global one, and it is TGAs hope that it continues to grow. The two-day exhibition and conference will take place at Dhahran Expo, Dammam and is held with Founding Strategic Partners, Bahri and Seatrade Maritime. With its main partners, The Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) and the Transport General Authority (TGA), and strategic partners, Saudi Aramco and IMI, this years event is set to break previous attendance records, helped by the necessity to add an extra hall to the exhibition to feature local and international exhibitors. Conference programme Through its comprehensive conference programme, event discussion will be had around the progress Saudi Arabia has made towards Saudi Vision 2030s goal of building a unique regional logistics hub. As part of this vision, TGA is working on an international level to advance cooperation with IMO Member States to seek opportunities to enhance global connectivity to the Kingdom. Alammari added: In 2024, Saudi Arabia ranked 16th globally out of 187 countries by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), reflecting the concerted efforts by the kingdom to increase global maritime connectivity and capitalise on the kingdoms strategic location in line with the aspirations of Vision 2030. Saudi Arabia continues to develop the Port of NEOM and NEOMs OXAGON to be one of the worlds first fully integrated port and supply chains system. Key drivers Chris Morley, Group Director of Seatrade Maritime, said: The transport and logistics sectors are undoubtedly significant drivers of the kingdoms economy. Saudi Maritime & Logistics Congress brings these vital sectors together at an unrivalled scale creating maximum value for attendees, exhibitors and the kingdom alike. This event has seen remarkable growth, added Morley. And, this year, we can expect to see over 10,000 attendees from across 70+ countries; a record 200+ exhibitors and a conference programme that brings together nearly 70 international speakers. Our ultimate aim is to facilitate fruitful cooperation between the public and private sector entities that catalyses growth for our industry. Entrance to the exhibition and conference programme is free upon registration: https://bit.ly/3JSqLTC For more information, check out the up-to-date exhibitor list and conference programme at: https://bit.ly/3AjQKSp --TradeArabia News Service Adnoc Groups listed portfolio companies have reported strong financial results for the second quarter and first half of 2024. The six companies reported AED89 billion ($24.23 billion) in combined revenue, AED28.4 billion of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) and net profit of more than AED16 billion for the first half of 2024. The solid performance strengthens the foundation for sustained growth for the companies as they continue to execute their individual strategies and pursue multi-faceted initiatives to deliver profitable growth and attractive shareholder returns, said a Wam news agency report. Adnoc Distribution recorded double-digit EBITDA and net profit growth in the second quarter of 2024. The company reported a 15 percent increase year-on-year (YoY) to AED979 million in Q2 2024 EBITDA and a 12.9 percent YoY rise in net profit to AED623 million, while revenue increased 8 percent YoY to AED8.8 billion. In H1 2024, Adnoc Distribution demonstrated growth in EBITDA of 16.2 percent YoY to AED1.9 billion, while net profit attributable to equity holders increased by 7.7 percent YoY to AED1.2 billion and revenue for the six-month period grew by 8.7 percent to AED17.5 billion. The H1 2024 dividend of AED1.3 billion is expected to be distributed to shareholders in October 2024, subject to the discretion of the Board of Directors. Projecting a solid outlook for the full year 2024 and beyond, Adnoc Distribution is pushing ahead with its new five-year growth strategy with a focus on leveraging AI, technology, and innovation to unlock value. The company is actively pursuing over 20 innovative AI projects and has established partnerships with leading global AI technology firms to maintain its market-leading position. Adnoc Drilling delivered record financial results for the second quarter and first half of 2024, driven by fleet expansion and strong operational performance across all business segments, including Oilfield Services. Its Q2 and H1 revenue increased to AED3.4 billion and more than AED6.6 billion, up 29 percent and 26 percent YoY respectively. The strong top-line translated into record EBITDA both in the quarter and the first half, surging 37 percent YoY to AED1.7 billion and 34 percent YoY to AED3.3 billion respectively. Net profit for the quarter also grew, by 29 percent YoY, to AED1.1 billion, while for the first half, the figure stood at AED2.1 billion, up 28 percent YoY. The companys Board of Directors has approved an interim dividend of AED1.4 billion, +10 percent YoY under its new enhanced and progressive dividend policy, equivalent to 9.0468 fils per share. On the back of exceptional market-beating first-half results, Adnoc Drilling increased its fiscal year 2024 and medium-term guidance. The company will continue to deliver on its strategic initiatives and growth targets. It has been awarded a transformational AED6.2 billion contract to unlock the UAEs world-class unconventional energy resources. It has also been awarded an AED2.7 billion contract for three newbuild island rigs, which will take the Companys total fleet to 148 by 2026. Furthermore, Adnoc Drillings strategic joint venture, Enersol, has announced a number of investments. The Company is well-positioned to benefit from Enersols AI, digitisation and advanced technology acquisitions. Adnoc Gas reported robust Q2 results, posting a record adjusted net income of AED4.4 billion, a 21 percent YoY improvement that exceeded market expectations. Revenues for the Q2 period of AED22.3 billion are an increase of 13 percent YoY, while EBITDA growth outpaced revenue improvement during the quarter, reaching AED7.7 billion, an 18 percent YoY increase. In H1 2024, the Companys revenues reached AED44.4 billion while it reported EBITDA of AED15.3 billion and net income of AED8.7 billion. The Board of Directors has approved an interim dividend of AED6.3 billion, which equals a dividend per share of 8.164 fils, scheduled for distribution in September. The Company intends to distribute a total dividend of AED12.5 billion for the full year 2024. Adnoc Gas continues to make significant progress with its five-year (2023 to 2027) AED48.5 billion strategic and growth project portfolio. The Company has transferred ownership of the AED8.8 billion gas pipeline extension project (Estidma) to Adnoc, significantly optimising Adnoc Gas capital efficiency. It will continue to manage and operate the project, allowing the company to reach new customers in the Northern Emirates. Adnoc also announced recently the Final Investment Decision (FID) for the Ruwais LNG project as well as the EPC award and the International Energy partners joining as minorities. Adnoc Gas is managing the design and construction and has reaffirmed its intention to become an equity partner, and operator, of Ruwais LNG by acquiring Adnocs stake. Adnoc L&S reported impressive financial results for the second quarter and first half of the year. The companys Q2 revenue increased by 42 percent YoY to AED3.3 billion with EBITDA growing 40 percent YoY to AED1.1 billion. Net profit for the second quarter grew 28 percent YoY to AED764 million. For H1 2024, Adnoc L&S recorded a net profit of AED1.5 billion, an increase of 31 percent on H1 2023. The Company reported revenues of AED6.4 billion in the same period, up 42 percent on H1 2023. EBITDA rose by 42 percent to AED2.2 billion driven by robust performance across all business segments. The Companys dividend policy remains unchanged with a projected total dividend payable for 2024 of AED1 billion (5 percent increase from 2023 annualised dividend), payable 50 percent for 1H 2024 in Q4 2024, subject to approvals. Following its strong performance, Adnoc L&S revised its full-year 2024 guidance upwards. The Company continues to accelerate the delivery of its transformational growth strategy with value-accretive strategic investment targets of over AED18.3 billion to be realised by 2028. During the second quarter, it agreed to acquire Navig8, an international shipping pool operator and commercial management company. Adnoc L&S awarded up to AED9.2 billion in shipbuilding contracts for the construction of new LNG carriers, while its strategic joint venture AW Shipping signed contracts worth AED7 billion for the construction of new vessels. Borouge continued its accelerated growth journey by outperforming analyst estimates as it registered a 33 percent YoY increase in second-quarter net profit to AED1.1 billion, powered by higher sales and cost efficiencies as the company recorded its highest-ever production volumes. EBITDA surged 18 percent YoY to AED2.3 billion in Q2, underpinned by a 6 percent increase in revenue, which reached AED5.5 billion. For the first half of 2024, Borouge reported a net profit of AED2.1 billion, an increase of 35 percent YoY, with adjusted EBITDA increasing 21 percent to AED4.3 billion as revenue stood at AED10.3 billion. The Company intends to maintain an AED4.8 billion dividend for 2024, or 15.88 fils per share and distribute an interim dividend of 7.94 fils per share upon shareholder approval. Looking ahead, Borouge projects that strong production levels and sales volumes will sustain a positive momentum, as it aims to drive accelerated growth through capacity expansion both in the UAE and internationally, optimal productivity and a focus on high-value customer segments, with a new speciality polyolefins complex planned in China and its Borouge 4 facility mega project, which will increase production capacity by 28 percent, reaching over 70 percent completion. Central to Borouges future growth ambitions is its Artificial intelligence, Digitalisation and Technology (AIDT) strategy, which is expected to deliver significant value over the next few years through the implementation of a broad portfolio of projects spanning health and safety, sales, sustainability, and innovative product development. Fertiglobe, the worlds largest seaborne exporter of urea and ammonia combined, reported Q2 2024 revenues of AED1.8 billion, adjusted EBITDA of AED571 million, and adjusted net profit attributable to shareholders of AED55 million. The Company reported H1 2024 revenues of AED3.8 billion, with an adjusted EBITDA of AED1.4 billion, and an adjusted net profit of AED493.6 million. Fertiglobe intends to distribute H1 2024 dividends in October 2024 subject to its Boards approval in September. Fertiglobe continues to focus on value-accretive growth projects, including taking the Final Investment Decision on the TAZIZ 1 mtpa low-carbon ammonia plant in the UAE (30 percent owned by Fertiglobe). The Company was chosen as the winning bidder in a first-of-its-kind H2Global auction for a contract value of up to AED1.6 billion, securing a supply of renewable ammonia out of Egypt at a delivered price of AED4,010 per ton until 2033. It also continues to prioritise its Manufacturing Improvement Plan, which aims to generate at least AED367 million in incremental annual EBITDA by the end of 2025 compared to 2023. KROHNE, a global measurement technology leader, has opened a new office in Expo City Dubai, highlighting its commitment to innovation, supporting the UAE's economy, and promoting sustainable development. The new office, located in the iconic Expo City Dubai, the latest business freezone in Dubai and entirely built around sustainability as a core purpose, is a testament to KROHNE's dedication to enhancing its presence in the Middle East. This state-of-the-art facility will serve as a hub for advanced solution sales and customer-centric services, reinforcing KROHNE's position as a trusted partner in the region's industrial landscape. The facility will feature training facilities and a workshop to house minor repairs for the growing Services team as needed. Chief Sales Officer Marco Rudelli expressed his enthusiasm for this significant milestone, stating: "The opening of our new office in Expo City Dubai marks a pivotal moment in KROHNE's journey in the Middle East. This location not only enhances our ability to serve our customers but also aligns with our commitment to supporting the UAE's vision for a sustainable future. Expo City is a significant part of our legacy-building efforts, as it positions us at the heart of a vibrant, forward-thinking community. We are excited to deepen our ties with key partners in the UAE government and the private sector across energy, water, and all industries we operate in." Manal AlBayat, Chief Engagement Officer, Expo City Dubai, said: Expo City Dubai is a hub for innovation and has a clear commitment to advancing sustainable best practice values that are shared by KROHNE. With an enabling free zone environment and strategic location at the centre of Dubais future growth, Expo City continues to welcome like-minded entities from around the world. We are delighted to welcome KROHNE to our thriving business community and look forward to working together to drive sustainable solutions in the region, for the benefit of both people and planet. Frank Janssens, Vice President of KROHNE Middle East and Africa, emphasised the importance of this expansion: "Our new office represents a significant investment in the UAE and it makes me very proud to be here for this moment. It allows us to be closer to our customers, understand their needs better, and deliver tailored solutions. We are committed to building a lasting legacy in the UAE, focusing on sustainability and innovation." Jay Gadhavi, General Manager of KROHNE Solutions Middle East, added: "Sustainability is at the core of everything we do at KROHNE. Our new office in Expo City Dubai provides an ideal setting for us to innovate and collaborate on sustainable solutions. By being part of this vibrant community, we are well-positioned to engage with key stakeholders and drive meaningful change. We are committed to leveraging our expertise to support the UAE's ambitious sustainability goals and contribute positively to the global sustainability agenda." --TradeArabia News Service Global payment network UATP has entered into a partnership with Book on Wego (BOW), Wegos premier Online Travel Agency (OTA) platform, that will enable organisations to simplify payment processes and expand their payment capabilities. Through this partnership, BOW will extend the benefits of Wegos global footprint to a broader range of airlines and travel suppliers, ensuring seamless and secure transactions worldwide, thereby increasing efficiency. We are committed to helping companies navigate the complexities of travel as well as contributing to the growth and development of the tourism industry, said Dean Wicks, Chief Flights Officer of Wego. Being part of the UATP Network helps us boost supplier acceptance while lowering the cost of travel supplier payments across the entire value chain. As a UATP issuer, BOW will open doors to more airlines and travel partners from outside the MENA region, making them accessible to MENA travellers. Thanks to UATPs streamlined payment solutions, BOW can seamlessly connect with their global network of suppliers. By blending their extensive expertise and robust payments network with a modern, agile delivery model, UATP said it is empowering the travel industry to reach new heights. Collaboration across the airline industry is what supports the continued growth across the entire MENA region, said Karime Makhlouf, Chief Commercial Officer of Royal Jordanian Airlines. We are eager to work with our trusted partner Wego to leverage the extensive benefits of being part of the UATP Network. With a user-friendly interface and an extensive network of travel partners including major airlines and leading hotel chains, BOW ensures that travellers can easily compare prices, and make informed decisions for their trips. Wego continues to expand its impact as a travel technology leader. Becoming a UATP Issuer helps enhance supplier relations and boost spending power, said UATP President and CEO Ralph Kaiser. By leveraging the power of the UATP Network, BOW can create cost efficiencies and drive more value for its travel partners. TradeArabia News Service Nearly 30% more passengers flew out of Casper/Natrona County International Airport in July than did a year ago, airport officials reported Monday. Airport director Glenn Januska said 9,938 enplaned passengers (passengers getting on aircraft) used the airport in July, a 30% increase compared to July 2023. To date, the airport is showing a 17.5% increase compared to the same period in 2023, Januska said. We are certainly excited about the growth in passengers we have seen this year, said Januska. Julys increase comes on top of a 29% increase in passengers in June. The increase in travelers comes as welcome news for the airport. In June, the Natrona County Board of County Commissioners voted to stop funding the minimum revenue guarantee that subsidized a SkyWest Airlines flight from Casper to Salt Lake City and back. A day earlier, the Casper-Natrona County Airport Board had voted to do the same. For the airports only other carrier besides United Express which flies to and from Denver local entities expressed disappointment and regret, but said that it is time to let it go. For now, Delta flights can be booked out of Casper. SkyWest is a contract carrier that has partnered with Delta and United to offer flights from Casper to Salt Lake City and Denver, respectively. SkyWest currently operates two Delta flights per day: one 76-passenger Bombardier CRJ900 in the morning outbound, and one in the evening inbound. SkyWest also currently operates six departures from Casper daily as United Express: three in the morning and three in the afternoon and evening. Those flights use the 50-seat CRJ200 used for the bulk of SkyWests operations. Delta has not announced if or when it plans to cease flying the Casper-Salt Lake City route. The Federal Aviation Administration on Monday postponed public meetings on SpaceXs proposal to launch and land its Starship spacecraft from South Texas as many as 25 times a year. The agencys announcement came a day before the first pair of meetings, which had been set for Tuesday on South Padre Island. The second pair was to have been Thursday in Port Isabel. The FAA declined to say why it called off the in-person meetings and a virtual session that had been slated for Aug. 20. Third graders will no longer be required to take Wyomings yearly essay writing assessment beginning this spring. The move comes after state Superintendent Megan Degenfelder released her plan to reduce testing across the K-12 system. The Wyoming Board of Education voted to make these changes on Aug. 6. The board also voted to reduce the number of items on the math assessment for students from grades 3-8. Today, teacher, parent and student voices were heard loud and clear in their desire for less state testing, said Degenfelder. I am thrilled by the partnership between the Wyoming Department of Education and [State Board of Education] in what I hope are the first of many actions to reduce the assessment burden. The board was able to reduce the length of math assessments in grades 3-8 while it was working to realign the content with new state standards. These changes will go into effect in the spring of 2026. Degenfelders assessment reduction plan has several additional aspects to it that were not tackled during the virtual meeting. She also wants to remove K-2 interim assessments, make ninth grade assessments optional and reformat high school math assessments. However, to change the high school assessments, the Legislature must take action before the state Board of Education. Degenfelder has previously said that the main reasoning behind these changes is to give teachers more instruction time. Secretary of State Chuck Gray on Monday called for some county clerks to retest electronic voting systems with just over a week before the 2024 primary election. The request was made through a letter sent out on Monday to all 23 Wyoming county clerks. Gray in his letter said that the request to retest comes after numerous complaints to his office. Numerous concerns have been brought to our offices attention regarding counties compliance with Wyoming statute, specifically that some counties tests did not assign a different number of valid votes to each candidate for an office during their respective public testing of voting equipment. The Wyoming Republican Party last week sued Laramie County Clerk Debra Lee over its test of the countys voting machines. The suit states that the test included the same number of predetermined votes assigned to each individual candidate for each office in the test the same being in direct contradiction to the requirement in statute. The suit seeks to bar Lee from using electronic voting machines and to instead utilize alternative counting methods for ballots cast in Aug. 20 election such as hand counting ballots. The deadline for Wyoming county clerks to conduct public tests of voting machines passed on Aug. 6. Representatives of parties and independent candidates are invited to the public tests, according to documents on the Secretary of State website. Gray in his letter added that adding the valid number of votes for each candidate is crucial to ensuring that the electronic voting machines are accurately counting and tabulating the votes for each candidate when the actual ballots are tabulated on election night. He also added that the voting system test failures were not isolated to Laramie County. Multiple counties failed to assign a different number of valid votes to each candidate for their test ballots, as evidenced in their summary and detailed reports, Gray wrote. Multiple legislators on Monday testified in support of amending rules to allow for concealed carry in the Wyoming Capitol and Capitol Extension buildings. The State Building Commission composed of Gov. Mark Gordon, Secretary of State Chuck Gray, State Auditor Kristi Racines, State Treasurer Curt Meier and Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder held the meeting on Monday but did not take action at the public hearing. The push to abolish gun-free zones in the Capitol stems from a bill vetoed by Gordon after the legislative session adjourned in March. House Bill 125 would have given gun owners the ability to carry a concealed gun at all government meetings including the capitol and in schools. The bill passed through both chambers of the Legislature, but Gordon vetoed the bill and said that the bill would erode historic local control norms and that the bill exceeds the separation of powers in his veto letter. Gordon began the process to potentially amend rules to allow for people with permits to carry concealed weapons in the Wyoming Capitol and Capitol extension areas following the veto. The proposed rules add that security personnel are authorized to request proof of a concealed carry permit and that they can ask anyone to relinquish the weapon for failure to comply with applicable law, regulation or unsafe behavior. Weapons relinquished are to be returned when the person leaves the public building, unless security personnel have probable cause to detain either the person or the weapon. Nearly half a dozen Republican legislators spoke in support of the proposed rules and others bashed the current rules. I think this a move in the right direction in terms of Wyoming, showing our support for our federal and state constitutions, concerning the federal Second Amendment, Casper Rep. Tony Locke said. Cheyenne Rep. Ben Hornok said that Second Amendment rights are not to be infringed and blasted the current rules. Were talking about law abiding, respecting citizens for the state of Wyoming that want to abide by their constitutional right. And so when you say, we say that you cannot carry in this building, youre saying to a law-abiding citizen, we dont trust you we dont trust you with your gun, he told the commission. Cheyenne attorney Larry Wolfe was just one of a handful of people that voiced opposition towards the proposed rules at the meeting. Why would you want to turn this building that is safe into a building that is less safe? he said. COLD AND HUNGRY: Political leader of the All Peoples Party, Kezel Jackson, with two boys who reportedly ran away from the Rainbow Rescue Home in Maraval on August 3. Jackson claimed the children arrived at her Port of Spain office cold and hungry. Photo: CURTIS CHASE Auhsten Bartlett, 18 months, holds a sign while his parents Edward Bartlett, a General Motors trim department employee, and Trista Bartlett picket with others outside the companys assembly plant last fall in Arlington. The walkout is seen as an indication of a still-small but growing labor movement in Texas. Julio Cortez/Associated Press Soleil Baker, a supervisor at the Starbucks in Bartonville, helped start a union at that location. Baker has been at the store for about two years and has worked for Starbucks for around three years total. Maria Crane for The Texas Tribune Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, former President Donald Trumps running mate, addresses the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. We need a leader whos not in the pocket of big business but answers to the working man, he said, signaling a possible shift in the GOPs approach to labor. Steven M. Falk/Philadelphia Inquirer Teamsters union President Sean OBrien, center, greeting Teamsters and United Parcel Service workers at a 2023 rally in Los Angeles, championed the benefits of unions to the Republican National Convention last month. Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press file photo Employees strike at the Starbucks store in November at Houston and St. Marys streets in downtown San Antonio. Patrick Danner/Staff photo Workers on the picket line outside the Molson Coors brewery in Fort Worth earlier this year. The strike is among the signs some say suggest the labor movement is growing in Texas. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Pickets protest unfair labor practices in late 2022 outside a Starbucks store in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff file photo BARTONVILLE About a year ago, Soleil Baker noticed that her co-workers werent getting enough hours on the job. Many of them were struggling to pay rent and buy groceries. She decided it was time to take action. I just wanted everyone to be able to afford to live, she said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Baker a barista at the Starbucks in this small North Texas town about 15 miles northwest of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport contacted Starbucks Workers United, the national union for Starbucks workers, and asked for more information about how to start a union. Two months later, after getting enough worker signatures to force a vote, she and about 20 other employees formed a union. They were among 68,000 Texans who joined a union in 2023, an increase from 2022. The uptick was fueled by workers in the technology and nonprofit sectors as well as coffee shops. Loading... In total, there are about 586,000 union workers in Texas, a fraction of the millions who work in the state. But the increase is somewhat remarkable given the states long history of hostility toward unions. And nationwide, union membership dipped during the same time. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Texas is one of 26 so-called right-to-work states. Texas lawmakers first passed that law in 1993. The law gives workers the option to not pay union dues and the right to work in a unionized workplace without being part of the union itself. More recently, the Republican-controlled Legislature passed a law aimed at stopping local governments from enacting progressive-leaning worker protections and other policies. Yet, the National Republican Party has shown a tone shift from the top. At the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Teamsters President Sean OBrien spoke to a crowd typically known for supporting pro-business policies. In that speech, he championed the benefits of unions. And Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, former President Donald Trumps running mate, attempted to appeal to working-class voters with his Midwestern upbringing. We need a leader whos not in the pocket of big business but answers to the working man, Vance said during his speech. Texas shift? Baker is skeptical. Advertisement Article continues below this ad I feel like politicians will just say whatever they want because theyre trying to appeal to a broad range of audiences, she said. University of Texas at San Antonio political scientist Stephen Amberg doesnt expect this working-class rhetoric to trickle down to Texas. The very few Republicans who talk like J.D. Vance are in a Republican Party thats still overwhelmingly pro-corporate America, he said. Theyre not in favor of unions. Theyre not going to lift a finger to help striking workers. The current Texas GOP platform supports the adoption of a National Right to Work Act, which would ban requiring workers to join unions and pay union dues nationwide, and calls on the Texas Legislature to eliminate all special collective bargaining statutes for public employees and hold all public servants accountable to taxpayers through existing civil statutes. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Despite being in a state that's hostile to unions, some state union leaders and workers said they expect the upward trend in union membership to continue. Its pretty hard to put the toothpaste back in the tube, said Rick Levy, president of the Texas AFL-CIO. He pointed to last years nationwide autoworker strike as a turning point in what working-class Texans thought of what unions could achieve. During the strike, thousands of workers at General Motors Co.s Arlington assembly factory walked off the job. People are like, Well, wait a minute, Levy said. I can join the union and get a full meal, or I can stay where Im at and get thrown a bone. People are going to want the entire meal, he said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The most recent strike in Texas was at a Fort Worth Molson Coors brewery. Workers there went on a three-month strike last spring. New blood Angi DeFelippo, political director for the Tarrant County Central Labor Council, thinks the increase in union activity is also due to younger people getting involved and having a more positive view of organizing the workplace. A Texas Politics project poll shows 64% of Texans have a positive view of labor unions, up from 57% in 2022. The poll also shows that younger Texans have a 72% positive view of them. With the new guard coming in, a lot of things are starting to shift and change, DeFelippo said. Baker, the Starbucks worker, also thinks unions in the state will continue as the wealth inequality continues to grow between the working class and the wealthy. Soleil Baker inside the Starbucks in Bartonville. Maria Crane for The Texas Tribune Everyone gets to that point, and you kind of realize that the system isnt going to take care of you, Baker said. The only way to really provide for yourself is to come together with other workers. Part of the effort at the Bartonville Starbucks is to establish consistent work hours, better pay and benefits. Starbucks has seen a wave of stores in the state voting to unionize. To date, 22 stores in Texas have done so. Starbucks in a statement to the Texas Tribune said the company believes in having a direct relationship with workers and that it is core to the culture and experiences it has created in our stores. We recognize that a subset of partners feel differently and we respect their right to organize and bargain collectively, and we are eager to reach ratified agreements in 2024 for represented stores, the statement said. The Bartonville store had its second bargaining session last month. More contract talks are expected, but a date isnt certain. Baker said the increase in unions in Texas is because workers decided to improve their conditions themselves and not wait for lawmakers to care. 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. PHOENIX Rebuffed by a trial judge, Arizona Right to Life is trying to convince the state Supreme Court to block voters from deciding whether to put a right to abortion in the state Constitution. In new legal briefs, attorney Jennifer Wright contends that some of the more than 820,000 people who signed the petition to put Proposition 139 on the ballot may have been misled. She told the justices the legally required summary that was attached to the petitions omitted certain information which could materially impact whether a person would sign the petition. Wright does not say how many of those who signed the petition may have been misled. But she contends just the possibility that some people might not have signed if they had more information is sufficient to take the measure off the Nov. 5 ballot. The arguments in the petition to the high court are not new. They are a virtual carbon copy of the arguments presented to and rejected by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Melissa Julian. In her Aug. 2 ruling, Julian went through each of the arguments Wright presented. In each case, the trial judge said she was not persuaded the wording in the summary was misleading or that it left out provisions that might have given signers second thoughts. Now it is up to the Supreme Court to decide. This comes as Secretary of State Adrian Fontes announced that the legally required random sample of the signatures turned in by Arizona for Abortion Access on July 3 found that 577,971 of them are valid. That leaves the initiative with far more than the 383,923 needed to qualify for the ballot. If approved by voters, Prop. 139 would amend the Arizona Constitution to provide a fundamental right to abortion. That specifically includes a prohibition against restrictions on that right before fetal viability, generally defined as between 22 and 24 weeks. It also bars state interference after that point if in the good faith judgment of a treating health care professional the procedure is necessary to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant individual. Wright said the summary which state law requires to be attached to each petition omits what she argues is information a signer might find critical. One, she said, is that the summary does not mention the verbiage in the initiative about the good faith judgment of a treating health care professional to determine when a post-viability abortion could be performed. Instead, it mentions only that such procedures can be done based on determinations of a health care provider. She contends those words of treating and good faith judgment which are in the amendment but not in the description shown to would-be petition signers are key. She contends they reveal the objective and principal purposes of Prop. 139 that the abortion provider may perform a post-viability abortion based solely on the providers subjective opinion. To emphasize that, she argued the decision would be made by the abortion provider who generally will have a financial incentive to find that an unborn child is not viable or if the child is, that an exception applies. Untold number of signers were misled and signed believing the amendment relied on objective-based medical standards, Wright said. Julian didnt buy that argument. Reasonable people understand that medical diagnoses and treatment plans are typically determined by the medical provider who is actively treating a patient whose health is at issue, the judge wrote. For pregnant patients, this could include the patients primary care, obstetrical, or other medical providers, including one who provide abortions, Julian continued. In short, when read in context with the entire description, the word health care provider accurately refers to those medical professionals who are treating pregnant individuals and are, therefore, in a position to make medical determinations regarding their health. Wright separately noted that the initiative itself spells out that the state cannot adopt any law or regulation that penalizes any individual or entity for aiding or assisting a pregnant individual in exercising the individuals right to abortion. That is not mentioned in the summary, Wright said. She said that failed to inform would-be signers that the amendment, if approved, would invalidate existing abortion regulations and prevent new ones. Julian disagreed. She noted that the summary does use the phrase compelling governmental interest to describe regulations that would remain. And she said a fair reading of the summary suggests there are areas where the state could still regulate, such as requiring that abortions be performed by qualified medical professionals and that the procedure be done in sanitary facilities. Wright, however, told the justices that fails to inform signers of other changes that would occur if Prop. 139 were to become law. One, she said, is that the current law limiting legal abortions to 15 weeks would go away. She also contends the wording guaranteeing the right to abortion also left signers unaware it would invalidate current law that says minors cannot have an abortion without parental consent or judicial approval. Julian, for her part, did not see any of this as a legal bar to Prop. 139 going on the ballot. Arizona courts have never required an initiative description to explain all potential effects of a measure, she wrote. Anyway, the judge said, the question of whether the amendment would overrule any specific state law is one that would have to be worked out later, through separate litigation, if the initiative is approved. Proponents of the measure have to file their response to the Arizona Right to Life court filings later this week. Four years ago today, Owasso Public Schools students were originally scheduled to return to in-person classes. However, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a delay. OPS Superintendent Amy Fichtner gave the green light a week earlier to cancel in-person classes due to COVID concerns. As such, around 20 people, many of them students, used the day to protest outside Owasso High School. Owasso students returned to classrooms about a month later. Students walk through the University of Texas at San Antonios downtown campus. UTSA has been chosen to co-lead with Texas A&M a Southwest regional center for securing national research capabilities. Kin Man Hui, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer The University of Texas at San Antonio and Texas A&M University will co-lead a $67 million regional hub to safeguard the nations research capabilities from foreign interference. As part of a federal effort to improve research security, the National Science Foundation chose the Texas schools to oversee SECURE Southwest, one of five new regional centers mandated by the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. The wide-ranging bill aims to create jobs, strengthen supply chains and counter China by investing in research and development in science and growing technologies such as clean energy, nanotechnology, quantum computing and artificial intelligence. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The bill calls for creating regional centers to address growing concerns about international entities accessing U.S. research unethically or unlawfully. This risk of such interference has grown as researchers collaborate more with colleagues around the world. The NSF describes the SECURE centers short for safeguarding the entire community of the U.S. research ecosystem as clearinghouses for information to empower the research community to identify and mitigate foreign interference that poses risks to the U.S. research enterprise. They will enable researchers, administrators and funding agencies to collaborate in a secure online environment. Experts hope the centers will help protect intellectual property while continuing to foster collaboration. They will also provide updates about security threats, coordinated responses to those threats and training to increase researchers situational awareness and skills, a UTSA statement said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Lori Schultz, UTSAs senior associate vice president for research administration, will co-lead SECURE Southwest with Kevin Gamache, associate vice chancellor and chief research security officer at Texas A&M. Lori Schultz, senior associate vice president for research administration at the University of Texas at San Antonio, will co-lead SECURE Southwest with Kevin Gamache, associate vice chancellor and chief research security officer at Texas A&M University. Courtesy UTSA Together theyll seek feedback from universities and research organizations across the region and work to incorporate any recommendations. Currently, information is siloed, inconsistent, and changing all the time, Schultz said in a statement. The research community needs access to real-time information, resources to ask questions and a place to connect with other institutions doing similar work. NSF calls upon us to conduct principled, international collaboration. SECURE is how we realize that vision. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The other regional centers include SECURE West led by the University of Washington, a state university in Seattle; SECURE Northeast led by Northeastern University, a private university in Boston; SECURE Southeast led by Emory University, a private university in Atlanta; and SECURE Midwest led by the University of Missouri, a public university in Columbia, Mo. The University of Washington will also lead the national SECURE center. Mississippi State University, the University of Michigan, Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution and the College of Charleston in South Carolina will also contribute to the program. Victor Wickersham shook hands with thousands of constituents and invited them to "write, wire or call" if they had problems -- not just during campaigns but any time. He was known to friend and foe alike as being without parallel as a campaigner. That helped the Mangum Democrat win nine nonconsecutive terms in Congress and four in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, beginning in 1941 and extending to 1988, a month before he died. Wickersham was never a power figure in Washington or Oklahoma City. He drew criticism from national columnists, faced bogus-check charges, had squabbles with the IRS, became a millionaire from real estate and later filed for bankruptcy. He was best known as a campaigner. And a handshaker. And a complainer about the pay given to members of Congress. In addition to shaking hands, Wickersham annually mailed thousands of pieces of literature, including pictures of himself, to constituents. In 1962, he mailed 853,000 pieces of mail using his congressional franking privilege. He also was known for his campaign promises. In 1960, his Republican opponent said: "If he gets all the roads paved that he says he will get paved, the district will be one slab of concrete. And if he gets all the lakes he has promised, the slab will be under water." Wickersham made junkets, most at taxpayers' expense and some unauthorized, to places around the world where he thought he might capture headlines. He made slides and movies of his travels and visited schools in his district to speak and show his films to students. The fact that the children were not old enough to vote did not bother him; his theory was that in time they would be of voting age and would remember him at the polls. Before he left politics, the same thing could have been said about those children's grandchildren. The span between his first race, for Congress, and his last race, for the state House, was more than 50 years. During World War II, Wickersham obtained lists of where the servicemen from his district were stationed and tried to visit all of them on junkets -- usually to the consternation of their commanding officers, who had to find them for the meetings. Wickersham always insisted on eating lunch with the servicemen rather than with their officers. "We did our best to break down the Army caste system," he told a reporter later. Wickersham was born on a farm in Arkansas. He became a deputy county clerk in Mangum in 1936 and made his first political races, losing both, in 1938 and 1940 against U.S. Rep. Sam Massingale in the old 7th District. Massingale died, and Wickersham won a special election in 1941 to fill out his term. He was re-elected in 1942 and 1944, defeated in 1946, returned to office from 1948 through 1954, voted out in 1956, defeated again in 1958 but re-elected again in 1960 and 1962. He lost in 1964 and failed in two comeback attempts, in 1966 and 1968. His political career was not over, however, as voters sent him to the Legislature in 1971. He held the seat for eight years. After his first election loss, Wickersham made money in Oklahoma City by buying houses that were in the way of oil operations, moving them and fixing them up for resale. He later sold real estate in Washington and at one time owned a one-quarter share of the Huckins Hotel in Oklahoma City, which he said "turned out to be an unfortunate business venture." Wickersham, who once listed his wealth at $1.5 million, filed for bankruptcy in 1973, listing liabilities of $2.5 million, for which he blamed the hotel. He said he was burdened with its debts although "I was not the manager and was not in charge of the fiscal affairs of the business." Wickersham returned to the state House in 1988, winning an election to succeed a legislator who had resigned. He was sworn in on his 82nd birthday; members sang "Happy Birthday" to him after he took the oath as the House's newest and oldest member, slightly more than a month before he died. He said at the time that he was capable of performing his legislative duties. "I had a doctor examine me a few months ago, and he said 'You can do anything a 60-year-old man or a 10-year-old mule can do,' " he said. Like this column? Read all the columns in the Only in Oklahoma series from the Tulsa World Archive. Former President Donald Trumps decision to tap U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate drew immediate concerns from Indigenous leaders over his views toward Indian Country. Vance called Indigenous Peoples Day a fake holiday and praised Columbus just a few weeks after questioning the term two-spirit in separate postings in 2021 on social media. He also has fought name changes requested by tribal leaders for historical sites. The social media comments were made before Vance, a native of Middletown, Ohio, was sworn in as one of Ohios U.S. senators in 2023. Indigenous Peoples Day is a fake holiday created to sow division, Vance wrote on Oct. 11, 2021, on the social media site now known as X. Of course, Joe Biden is the first president to pay it any attention. In a subsequent posting on Oct. 11, Vance wrote, A half a millennium ago Columbus used technology developed in Europe to sail across a giant ocean and discover a new continent. Today we celebrate that daring and ingenuity. Happy Columbus Day! A month earlier, he commented on a Sept. 8, 2021, post from Democratic U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York that makes references to trans, two-spirit and non-binary people. Im sorry but what the hell is two-spirit? Vance asked on the site known then as Twitter. Would love if progressives would just stop inventing words. This week, after the announcement that Vance would be Trumps vice presidential nominee, leaders at the Urban Native Collective issued a statement expressing concern over his remarks. These remarks undermine the inherent rights and self-determination of Indigenous Peoples and perpetuate historical inaccuracies, according to the statement issued on Wednesday, July 17, by the collective, a nonprofit based in Cincinnati that advocates for Indigenous peoples. Resilience and strength President Biden issued the first-ever presidential proclamation recognizing Indigenous Peoples Day in 2021, lending the most significant boost yet to efforts to refocus the federal holiday celebrating Christopher Columbus toward an appreciation of Native peoples. The day is observed each year on Oct.11, along with Columbus Day, which is established by Congress. For generations, federal policies systematically sought to assimilate and displace Native people and eradicate Native cultures, Biden wrote in the Indigenous Peoples Day proclamation. Today, we recognize Indigenous peoples resilience and strength as well as the immeasurable positive impact that they have made on every aspect of American society. In a separate proclamation on Columbus Day, Biden praised the role of Italian-Americans in U.S. society, but also referenced the violence and harm Columbus and other explorers of the age brought with them. Making landfall in what is now the Bahamas on Oct. 12, 1492, Columbus, an Italian explorer, was the first in a wave of European explorers who decimated Native populations in the Americas in quests for gold and other wealth, including people to enslave. Vance has said little during his political tenure regarding Native Americans or Indian policy, as reported by Indianz.com. Opposing tribal requests Vance has opposed the renaming of several sites requested by tribal leaders, however. In August 2023, as a U.S. Senator, Vance issued a public letter asking the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Department of Agriculture to oppose changing Ohios Wayne National Forest to the Buckeye National Forest. The agriculture department had proposed changing the name in response to requests from tribes and local community members, according to a press release issued by the agency. The changes is still under discussion. The forest is currently named after General Anthony Wayne, whose complicated legacy includes leading a violent campaign against the Indigenous peoples of Ohio that resulted in their removal from their homelands, according to the statement. In his letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and the Forest Service Chief Randy Moore, Vance wrote, The federal effort denigrates Ohio history and represents a lack of fidelity to our nations founding generation. He went on to write, I take exception to the U.S.D.A.s designation of Waynes legacy as complicated. Labeling the life and times of Wayne in such a way is an all-too-common dismissive, academic handwave that is beneath the dignity of the U.S. government. In 2023, Sabrina Eaton of Cleveland.com described Wayne as a general in the Revolutionary War, nicknamed Mad Anthony Wayne either because of his bold military tactics or his hot temper. In 2019, ICT quoted George Ironstrack, assistant director of education for the Myaammia Center at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, about Waynes history with Native peoples in Ohio. The center is an initiative led by the Miami Nation of Oklahoma, whose homelands include lands in and around the Ohio river valley. They were removed from the state in 1840. As part of his campaign, Waynes forces systematically burned Miami villages, food stores and crops, Ironstrack told ICT. According to Ironstrack, Waynes strategy of starvation culminated by the 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers, which forced the Miami tribe to the negotiating table and resulted in the 1795 Treaty of Greenville in which the Miami and other tribes ceded most of their lands in Ohio. Vance, who is the author of the memoir Hillbilly Elegy, frequently touts his hardscrabble upbringing and aversion to elitism in politics as bridges to the populist wing of the Republican Party. He also opposed Trump sharply before shifting his rhetoric to support the former president. A story published Thursday, July 18, by the news site Wired, however, details the senators contacts with the elite, conservative heavyweights, wealthy financiers and others that he previously had denounced. The contacts came from a Wired analysis of Vances public Venmo account network. Venmo is a digital payment application that frequently makes users' phone contacts and friends lists public. Among those listed as Vance contacts is Amalia Halikias of the controversial Project 2025. Created by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank, Project 2025 sets forth a political plan that calls for dismissal of thousands of public servants, expanded power of the president, dismantling of the Department of Education, halting sales of the abortion pill and many other actions that appeal to the far right. Trump has claimed ignorance of Project 2025 but Vance has stated in previous interviews that the document has some good ideas. We demand respect Vances nomination as the GOPs vice presidential candidate came during the Republican National Convention, which ran July 15-18 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Indianz.com noted a lack of Native events during the convention in a state that is home to 11 federally recognized tribes, but ICT reported the scheduling of a federal Indian policy roundtable organized by Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who is Cherokee. A couple of Native delegates from Oklahoma were also voting at the convention, which included appearances from some tribal leaders from Wisconsin, including Forest County Potawatomi Chairman James Crawford. Former Navajo Nation Vice President Myron Lizer, who made a statement during the 2020 convention, had been expected to attend the roundtable discussion. The announcement of Vance as the vice presidential candidate, however, came at the last minute as the convention was set to begin. Our rights and history as Indigenous peoples are not up for debate; we demand respect from someone in such a potentially powerful position like the vice president, Briana Mazzolini-Blanchard, executive director of the Urban Native Collective, told ICT. Massolini-Blanchard is a citizen of the CHamoru Nation of the island of Guam. Its saddening that political leaders continue to stand by these colonized names that hold such deep pain for Indigenous peoples. The Associated Press contributed to this article. Randy Krehbiel Tulsa World Staff Writer Follow Randy Krehbiel Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today A charge of embezzling $17,500 from an agency-affiliated foundation could signal more serious problems for a formerly high-ranking employee of the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, court documents indicate. Heath H. Hayes, who had been with the department for more than a decade, was charged Aug. 5 in Oklahoma County with depositing a cashiers check for $17,386.20 from the Healthy Minds Healthy Lives Foundation into a Bluevine online banking service account Hayes controlled. An Oklahoma City police investigators affidavit, however, says Hayes also deposited a $125,000 cashiers check into his account and made a $3,000 cash withdrawal. The affidavit also states that $37,500 in checks from donors intended for the foundation were missing and that all but one were subsequently found to have been deposited in Hayes Bluevine account. The account was listed under the same name as the foundation. Healthy Minds Healthy Lives is a nonprofit maintained by the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health to receive grants and contributions from non-governmental entities. Hayes, a deputy commissioner of the department at the time of the transactions, was a foundation trustee who was authorized to accept contributions. Hayes is no longer with the department. According to the investigators affidavit, Hayes resigned en lieu of being fired when confronted earlier this year and paid back everything but a few dollars. The Department of Mental Health moved quickly to reassure the public after Hayes was charged. Although Health Minds Healthy Lives tax returns indicate that it was essentially dormant from 2020-22, in 2023 it apparently became the conduit through which some of Oklahoma Citys most important philanthropies contributed $7.6 million to the $150 million state psychiatric hospital being built on that citys west side. Among the missing checks listed in the police report were $20,000 from the Oklahoma City Community Foundation, which manages the finances of many major nonprofits, and $10,000 from the Arnall family. Sue Ann Arnall is one of the states most active philanthropists, and her family foundation gave $5 million through the Oklahoma City Community Foundation to Healthy Minds Healthy Lives for the hospital project. The Inasmuch Foundation, another large Oklahoma City-based grantmaker, gave $1 million to Health Minds Healthy Lives for the the hospital. Healthy Minds Healthy Lives is not connected to the Tulsa-based Healthy Minds Policy Initiative. Randy Krehbiel Tulsa World Staff Writer Follow Randy Krehbiel Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today Oklahomas House speaker on Tuesday doused a move within his Republican caucus to investigate the Oklahoma State Department of Education and a fellow Republican, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters, with an eye toward impeachment. Many of the areas requested to be investigated are best addressed in the Committee hearings which are conducted by the Legislature pre-session when we ask the agency to account for the dollars appropriated and the agencys plan going forward, Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, wrote in a letter to House Republicans. Regarding the possible criminal violation, the Legislature does not conduct criminal investigations, he said. McCall, though, did leave open the possibility of an investigation if at least 51 of the Houses 81 Republicans ask for one. Rep. Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, McCalls presumptive successor as speaker next year, sounded somewhat more receptive to the members complaints. The rhetoric towards educators has to not only be toned down, but reversed, he said in a text message. After noting that his daughter had started kindergarten this month in a public school where I know she is loved and supported, Hilbert said, instead of the excitement of a new school year (across the state), we are discussing these issues due to the statements being put out by SDE. Legislators are charged by the constitution with oversight of the expenditure of public funds. Without adequate and timely response, my colleagues cannot do the job that theyre elected to do, Hilbert continued. The same is to be said about allowing legislators access to meetings in which they are clearly authorized by statute to observe. Earlier Tuesday, 17 Republican state representatives had submitted a written request to McCall for an investigation of Walters and the Department of Education on a list of complaints that include alleged criminal violations of the state Open Meeting and Open Records acts. By mid-afternoon, 21 had signed on a significant number but far short of 51. The Houses 20 Democrats have repeatedly called for Walters impeachment, but politically that actually might make doing so more unlikely. McCall, who is term-limited and leaves office after the Nov. 19 election, essentially passed the GOP hot potato that the truculent and controversial Walters has become to Hilbert and Attorney General Gentner Drummond. Criminal investigations are under the exclusive purview of the Executive Branch, more specifically the Attorney General, McCall wrote. If there has been a violation of the Open Meetings Act, then the Attorney General is charged to investigate. From the documentation attached to the request, it appears that the Attorney General is aware of the potential violation. Further complicating the matter is that McCall, Drummond and Walters all appear to be jockeying for position in the 2026 gubernatorial election, when incumbent Kevin Stitt is termed out. I take elections very seriously, and anyone who was duly elected by the people of this state should not be removed from that office, given to them by the people, unless absolutely required by the constitution, McCall wrote. The Oklahoma Constitution and state statute say elected state officials shall be liable and subject to impeachment for willful neglect of duty, corruption in office, habitual drunkenness, incompetency, or any offense involving moral turpitude committed while in office. State Rep. Mark McBride, R-Moore, chairman of the House Appropriations and Budget Subcommittee on Education, told McCall in Tuesdays call for an investigation: It saddens me that I must make such a request of you. However, I believe that all other remedies have been exhausted. The letter lists six recent actions that McBride says he finds alarming, including violations of the open meetings and open records laws, failure to comply with legislative budgetary directives, and a lack of cooperation and communications with lawmakers. Tuesdays letter cites a pattern of overreach, disregard for legislative oversight and policy making, and lack of concern for student safety and budgetary stability in requesting a Special Investigative Committee on the State Department of Education under Article 8, Section 1 of the Oklahoma Constitution. That section deals with impeachment of elected officials. McBride, in his letter, said he has repeatedly met one-on-one with (Walters), where I pled with him to please focus on the responsibilities and duties of his office. These pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Besides McBride, those signing the letter were Common Education Committee Chairwoman Rhonda Baker, R-Yukon; Common Education Vice-Chairman Mark Vancuren, R-Owasso; Rep. Ronny Johns, R-Ada; Rep. Tammy West, R-Bethany; Rep. Danny Sterling, R-Tecumseh; Rep. Jeff Boatman, R-Tulsa; Rep. Mike Osburn, R-Edmond; Rep. Daniel Pae, R-Lawton; Rep. John Talley, R-Stillwater; Rep. Marcus McEntire, R-Duncan; Rep. Ty Burns, R-Pawnee; Rep. Eddie Dempsey, R-Broken Bow; Rep. Nick Archer, R-Elk City; Rep. John George, R-Newalla; Rep. Preston Stinson, R-Edmond; Rep. T.J. Marti, R-Broken Arrow; Rep. Brad Boles, R-Marlow; Rep. Robert Manger, R-Midwest City; Rep. Ross Ford, R-Broken Arrow; and Rep. Josh West, R-Grove. Beyond those who signed the letter, the extent of support for the initiative among legislators is unclear, but McBride said hes heard from other representatives who want to sign on or say they want Walters and the OSDE investigated but are afraid to go public. Five of those signing the letter, including McBride, are not returning to the Legislature next year. McBride said he has not talked to Senate leaders because that chamber would essentially serve as a jury, but several influential Republican senators have expressed frustration with Walters. Im glad members of the Republican supermajority are joining our calls for action against State Superintendent Ryan Walters, House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson said in a statement. House Democrats have made five public attempts to investigate the state superintendent. After a long history of allegations of misuse of federal tax dollars, inciting bomb threats and deadly violence in Oklahoma schools, and routinely ignoring the Oklahoma Constitution, it is time for Republicans to take action. Republicans hold the power in both legislative chambers and the Governors mansion it is time for them to use their power to hold the state superintendent accountable to the people of Oklahoma. We have all waited long enough. In a written statement, Walters said Tuesday: I am confident in the work that the State Department of Education is doing on behalf of Oklahoma students and families. We are working to undo years of political activism and indoctrination in our public schools and its no surprise that those pleased with the status quo enforced by teacher union control of the classroom are threatened and upset by our reforms. Just as they have against President Trump, liberal Republicans have joined the far-left Democrats to try to thwart the will of Oklahoma voters. Their calls are baseless and have no merit. They reek of political desperation from those who are failing in their misguided attempts to stop the positive education reforms that parents and voters have demanded from their elected leaders. Tuesdays letter from Republican lawmakers to McCall came one day after three GOP House members publicly upbraided Walters for calling Bixby Public Schools Superintendent Rob Miller a liar and a clown after Miller tweeted that the Department of Education had not notified school districts of their federal Title I allocations. Oklahomas rambunctious early legislatures impeached and threatened to impeach state officers from governor to state printer and removed two governors in the 1920s. The last impeachment trial, though, was for Supreme Court Justice N.B. Johnson in 1965, and the Houses last vote to impeach was in 2004 for Insurance Commissioner Carroll Fisher, who subsequently resigned. The Tulsa World is where your story lives Randy Krehbiel Tulsa World Staff Writer Follow Randy Krehbiel Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today Brian Bobek, an Oklahoma City businessman whose brief membership on the Statewide Virtual Charter School board triggered its approval of a state-funded religious school, was named the Stitt administrations chief operating officer on Monday. Before entering government, Bobek spent 23 years in management and sales with the international energy company BP. He has also been a Stitt appointee to the Oklahoma State Board of Education and the Career Tech board. Bobek has been Gov. Kevin Stitts deputy chief of staff since resigning from the virtual charter board last fall. Stitt appointed him to the board in 2023 in order to cast the decisive vote to grant a charter to St. Isidore Catholic Virtual School. The Oklahoma Supreme Court has since invalidated the agreement. Backers of the school are expected to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Through his daughter, Bobek has ties to the political advisers of State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters. As state COO, Bobek will oversee Cabinet secretaries and chief advisers and all state agencies. Brian has been a true partner in our mission to make Oklahoma a top ten state, Stitt said in a press release. His integrity, vision, and passion for our state inspire those around him. I am excited to see him thrive in his new role, and I know he will continue to make a meaningful impact on the lives of Oklahomans. The Tulsa World is where your story lives Various large warehouses run by Chinese enterprises have been built close to the border with Vietnam to reduce the time and cost to deliver goods ordered online to Vietnam. Many Chinese enterprises have even invested heavily in warehousing and sorting centers in Vietnam. With these systematic storage and sorting facilities, goods ordered online from China can be delivered to customers in Hanoi within one to two days and those in Ho Chi Minh City in three to five days. Warehouses close to border with Vietnam Along the streets surrounding the Pingxiang Border Gate in China, which borders Vietnams Lang Son Province, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters found that multiple container trucks traveled to and from large warehouses to carry goods to the nearby border gate. Some empty container trucks from Vietnam also headed toward warehouses in China. The reporters were shocked at modern and high buildings used to store goods for export to Vietnam at the China-ASEAN cross-border e-commerce logistics park, which carries a price tag of some VND13.1 trillion (US$518.7 million) and covers 128 hectares of land, close to Lao Cai Province in northern Vietnam. The park includes logistics and good clearance centers and is located only 295 kilometers from Hanoi. A Chinese man working in the park shared that as warehouses are near the border, Vietnamese can soon receive commodities ordered through live streams on e-commerce platforms. In Hekou, Pingxiang, and Dongxing, which border the northern Vietnamese provinces of Lao Cai, Lang Son, and Quang Ninh, a series of huge warehouses have been erected three to four kilometers from the border with Vietnam. These storage facilities have helped product sellers and e-commerce platforms shorten the goods delivery time and reduce costs. Many enterprises have built warehouses in the border area to serve their operations. Those from Guangzhou have also rushed to Dongxing to lease or build storage centers to facilitate the transport of their merchandise to Vietnam. Many Chinese traders in Hekou, which borders Lao Cai Province in northern Vietnam, have large warehouses and showrooms. Photo: Bong Mai / Tuoi Tre Developing warehouses, sorting centers in Vietnam In addition to warehouses in the border area, plenty of Chinese logistics and e-commerce firms have poured capital into warehousing in Vietnam. As a case in point, Best Inc., a transport giant from China, has channeled $50 million into warehouses in Vietnam in the five years it has been operating in the country. Besides an automatic goods sorting center in Ho Chi Minh Citys outlying district of Cu Chi, the group put into operation its largest-ever goods sorting center in Southeast Asia in Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park in northern Bac Ninh Province in late 2021. As of mid-2024, the group owned warehouses spanning 100,000 square meters, 36 goods sorting centers, and over 700 post offices with 7,500 couriers. A representative of a Chinese logistics group said he had studied the Vietnamese market and predicted that the logistics sector in Vietnam would be bustling in the next decade. The group has inked contracts to lease warehouses and open smart storage facilities in both northern and southern Vietnam, he added. The company will open dozens of smart warehouses in Vietnam and has cooperated with Vietnamese warehouse owners to jointly operate them in a bid to optimize costs and improve productivity. A representative from the e-commerce platform Shopee told Tuoi Tre that the platform has established an optimized logistics system with warehouses in Ho Chi Minh City and Bac Ninh Province in northern Vietnam. These storage facilities are designed to meet the demands of transport partners around the clock, enabling Shopee to reach and serve more clients across various regions. To further accelerate delivery times, Shopee collaborates with major transport companies that have professional sorting centers and a comprehensive warehousing and shipment system, the representative added. According to logistics companies, warehouses are crucial in the competition to reduce delivery times and product prices, which also influences Vietnamese shoppers' preference for Chinese e-commerce platforms. The director of cross-border trade at a Chinese logistics firm which is a partner of Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok Shop, told Tuoi Tre that Chinese traders and e-commerce platforms often lease warehouses in border areas or in Vietnam. L., a KOC selling products on TikTok Shop and Shopee in Vietnam, revealed that it took her one to two months to prepare for a live stream. KOC stands for Key Opinion Consumer, referring to consumers who sway their peers' purchasing decisions by sharing their insights and opinions on products, services, and brands. After signing contracts with Vietnamese KOCs, Chinese suppliers immediately transport products to warehouses in Vietnam. With this solution, transport costs and delivery times have been cut, said a local company specializing in trading Chinese merchandise online. A vehicle transporting goods from China to Vietnam is parked at a warehouse in Pingxiang, which borders Vietnams Lang Son Province. Photo: Bong Mai / Tuoi Tre Warehouse leasing service boom A representative from J&T Express Company told Tuoi Tre that fulfillment services have experienced significant growth in Vietnam over the past decade, developing alongside the rise of e-commerce. As online sales have become more competitive and the demand for faster delivery soars, sellers are increasingly focusing on selling products while partnering with transport companies to ship the goods to their customers. Establishing warehouses in Vietnam will help expedite deliveries and lower transportation costs. The representative added that sellers and producers will store goods locally, allowing for packing and shipping once new orders are secured. Empty container trucks travel to the Pingxiang Border Gate in China for goods handling. Photo: Bong Mai / Tuoi Tre Vietnamese, Chinese firms join hands to develop logistics centers To meet the growing transportation demand between Vietnam and China, many Vietnamese logistics companies have established warehouses near the border and partnered with Chinese counterparts to create logistics centers aimed at expediting the delivery of goods. Viettel Post, a subsidiary of military-run giant Viettel, has collaborated with authorities in Nanning City to build a logistics center, as well as with the administration in Pingxiang City to develop a Chinese-ASEAN agricultural product trading center. Viettel Post has also launched intermodal train services to Nanning, slashing transport time between Nanning and Hanoi to just 12 hours and lowering logistics costs by at least 30 percent. Meanwhile, SPX Express, a carrier for Shopee, has broken ground on a 106,000-square-meter automatic sorting center in Binh Duong Industrial Park, located in the eponymous province just outside Ho Chi Minh City, with an investment of over $30 million. In 2023, SPX Express began operations at a 100,000-square-meter sorting center in Bac Ninh Province. Cainiao, a logistics company under China's Alibaba Group, has constructed two smart logistics centers in Dong Nai and Long An Provinces, both in southern Vietnam, to support e-commerce platforms like Lazada and AliExpress. Each of these centers is capable of sorting between one and 2.5 million orders daily. Chinese enterprises have also invested in modern warehouses in Vietnam. Photo: Bong Mai / Tuoi Tre Challenges for Vietnamese producers, retailers A representative from the Vietnam Logistics Business Association told Tuoi Tre that the substantial investments made by Chinese enterprises in warehouses near the border and within Vietnam will create significant challenges for local producers and retailers. Vietnamese companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, find themselves in fierce competition with these Chinese giants. However, there is a silver lining: if Vietnamese firms can leverage this burgeoning warehousing network to export their goods to the northern neighbor, they stand to gain considerable benefits. By tapping into this infrastructure, they can enhance their market reach and potentially boost their profits in the process. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A rendering shows an industrial park that Merit Commercial Real Estate plans to build just south of Navistar International Corp.s plant. Merit Commercial Real Estate Navistar International Corp. employees assemble a truck frame as the company holds a ribbon cutting ceremony at its factory on the South Side in March 2022. Merit Commercial Real Estate plans to build an industrial park just south of Navistars plant. Kin Man Hui, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer Merit Commercial Real Estate plans to build an industrial park next to commercial truck maker Navistar International Corp.s plant, which could further expand the burgeoning manufacturing hub on San Antonios South Side. A limited partnership affiliated with the San Antonio firm recently bought 108 acres just south of the manufacturing facility for $3.2 million from the San Antonio Water System, property that the city-owned utility designated as surplus in 2021. Merit plans to construct up to seven buildings totaling 1.1 million square feet and is targeting suppliers for Navistar International, which produces diesel and electric trucks. Weve been talking with Navistar about building an industrial park adjacent to their manufacturing facility for the purpose of attracting suppliers to south San Antonio, Merit CEO Ryan Harrison said. They dont have a supplier park at any of their other locations across their North American footprint, so theyre intrigued by the idea of having suppliers right next door. Advertisement Article continues below this ad A rendering shows an industrial park that Merit Commercial Real Estate plans to build just south of Navistar International Corp.s plant. Merit Commercial Real Estate Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas Inc. began operating its South Side plant in 2006, and vendors opened next to the facility, which reduced logistics costs. More than 3,800 workers assemble Tundra pickups and Sequoia SUVs there, and suppliers employ another 5,600 people. Navistar opened its plant in 2022 and agreed to hire 600 employees by the end of this year. Suppliers have also followed Tesla Inc., which moved its headquarters to the Austin area in 2021 and opened its massive Central Texas factory in 2022. Matthews International Corp.s Saueressig Engineering and ElringKlinger AG, which are both Tesla suppliers, operate facilities on San Antonios East Side, where Tesla also leases a warehouse. Simwon NA Corp., another supplier to the electric vehicle maker, plans to open a facility at Brooks on the citys South Side. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Aside from automotive operations, other manufacturers have also set up shop in the area. Brooks on the Southeast Side is home to Cuisine Solutions, which makes gourmet entrees, sauces and other items; Mission Solar Energy, which manufactures solar power equipment; and Nissei America Inc., which produces injection molding machines. U.K.-based JCB is building an estimated $500 million factory to produce construction and agricultural equipment on a 400-acre site along Texas 16 northwest of Toyotas plant and southwest of Texas A&M University-San Antonio Merit is building its industrial project, called Innovation Industrial Park, on a speculative basis, meaning the firm isnt constructing it for a specific tenant. Harrison said the buildings are not exclusively for Navistar suppliers and could be leased to businesses that dont have ties to the heavy truck manufacturer. Navistar International Corp. employees stand around a nearly finished truck as the company holds a ribbon cutting at its factory on the South Side in March 2022. Merit Commercial Real Estate plans to build an industrial park just south of Navistars plant. Kin Man Hui, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer The firm is seeking to raise $13 million from investors for the development, with $9.9 million raised so far, according to a regulatory filing. Its executives will receive $2.4 million. Work on the first building, a 218,809-square-foot facility, is expected to begin in the next few months. Advertisement Article continues below this ad We really wont see demand in its truest form until we get construction underway, but the amount of interest weve seen so far has been encouraging, Harrison said. Innovation Industrial Park is Merits first industrial project. Demand for warehouse space has cooled after it soared during the COVID-19 pandemic as e-commerce sales surged. There are about five buildings totaling 3 million square feet that are sitting empty, or about a fourth of the market-wide vacancy, Harrison said. The vacancy rate across industrial space in San Antonio was 8.6% in the second quarter, up from 5.5% during the same three-month period last year, as completed buildings outpaced move-ins, according to a report by commercial real estate firm Partners. About 6.2 million square feet of space is under construction, and the average annual lease rate is 70 cents per square foot, an all-time high. Tenants are still interested in smaller buildings with yards that they can own instead of lease, and four of the buildings at Innovation Industrial Park will have yard space, Harrison said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Vietnamese Minister of National Defense General Phan Van Giang is leading a delegation to attend the 10th International Military-Technical Forum (Army-2024) in Moscow, Russia at the invitation of his Russian counterpart Andrey Removich Belousov. The forum kicked off on Monday at Patriot Expo, Kubinka Air Base and Alabino military training grounds on the outskirts of Moscow, according to the Vietnam News Agency. The three-day forum gathers official military delegations from 83 countries, with 39 delegations headed by top defense officials and chiefs of general staff. At the event, more than 1,000 enterprises and organizations from inside and outside Russia are slated to exhibit and introduce more than 20,000 samples of military and dual-purpose products in the form of real samples and models, along with promotional materials and other relevant information. In addition to the exhibition booths, the forum will also include field performances of weapons and scientific seminars on military technologies and defense industries. The Army-2024 is also joined by 226 military experts from 26 interested military authorities, who will select promising innovative developments and projects presented at the forum for further implementation in the interests of the Russian armed forces, according to the Russian News Agency TASS. In a video message of welcome to the forum, Russian President Vladimir Putin underscored that the Army-2024, which has been held for 10 times, is an iconic international military-technical forum. With a wide coverage scope, open dialogues, and rich business programs, the annual event always attracts special and increasing attention from experts, scholars, and the media around the world. This screenshot shows Russian President Vladimir Putin delivering a message including a welcome video to the 10th International Military-Technical Forum (Army-2024) in Moscow, Russia, August 12, 2024. Photo: Vietnam News Agency Russia always appreciates the interest and cooperation of the partners attending the forum, and is ready to promote cooperation to jointly create equal and indivisible security and build a new and fairer multipolar world, the Russian leader stated in the message. Addressing the forum opening ceremony, Russian Minister of Defense Belousov said the events program focuses on new forms of armed struggle as well as ways of adapting the industry to meeting military tasks. The forum is for the first time displaying products of the peoples defense industry,' which are produced by people, labor collectives, and small- and medium-sized enterprises, based on practical needs. The forums exhibition booths display samples of weapons and special military equipment that have proven effective in practice. After attending the opening ceremony, General Giang and members of the delegation visited the Army-2024 exhibition booths, learning about samples of military products, equipment and weapons on display, and exchanging relevant information. During his stay in Russia, General Giang will also hold talks with his counterpart Belousov and join other activities. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Vietnamese Party General Secretary and State President To Lam hosted a reception for the ambassadors of Germany, North Korea, Sweden, Argentina, and Algeria, who came to present their credentials at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi on Monday. Party General Secretary and State President To Lam (R) shakes hands with German Ambassador Helga Margarete Barth in Hanoi, August 12, 2024. Photo: Vietnam News Agency German international high school to be established in Vietnam Receiving German Ambassador Helga Margarete Barth, the Vietnamese leader affirmed that the Vietnamese state and government always treasure the strategic partnership with Germany, which is a key member of the European Union (EU) and has an important voice in the international arena. Party chief and State President Lam appreciated the support from Germany for Vietnam over the past three decades as it has helped the Southeast Asian nation with socio-economic growth. In particular, Germany considers Vietnam a global partner in its development cooperation strategy until 2030, focusing on energy, environment, and training. The Vietnamese leader called on the German government and the EU to continue throwing their support behind the settlement of disputes by peaceful means in the East Vietnam Sea based on international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, to maintain peace, stability, freedom, security, and safety of maritime zones and overflight in the region. He suggested both countries should continue exchanging delegations at all levels, effectively employing dialogue mechanisms and tapping the EU - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement. In addition, he expected Germany to quickly ratify the EU - Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement, hinting at close cooperation in the implementation of the Just Energy Transition Partnership. The Vietnamese leader also welcomed German firms to Vietnam to invest in the manufacturing, transport, renewable energy, circular economy, and strategic infrastructure fields. Party chief and President Lam hoped that the two nations would enhance the exchange of university students, boost the use of German in Vietnam and Vietnamese in Germany, and promote long-term cooperation in vocational training for highly-skilled human resources. German Ambassador Barth expressed her delight at the progress in bilateral ties. Also, she announced that Germany would build an international high school in Vietnam, stressing that the school would be a symbol of the two nations cooperation. Next year, the two countries will celebrate 50 years of their diplomatic ties, so Germany is planning to work with the Vietnamese side to hold a wide range of events to mark the key milestone. Barth underscored that during her term in Vietnam, she would concentrate on strengthening bilateral cooperation in the economy and culture, hoping to receive support from local authorities. Party General Secretary and State President To Lam (L) receives the credentials from North Korean Ambassador Ri Sung Guk, August 12, 2024. Photo: Vietnam News Agency Vietnam is ready to make contributions to peace on Korean Peninsula Speaking at a reception for North Korean Ambassador Ri Sung Guk, the Vietnamese leader had the envoy convey his greetings to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Ambassador Ri expected to work with local authorities to roll out various activities in 2024 to mark the 60th anniversary of the Vietnam visit by former leader Kim Il Sung, and move toward the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties next year. Underlining that Vietnam always cherishes its traditional friendship with North Korea, the Vietnamese leader noted that the country wishes to collaborate more closely with North Korea to foster bilateral partnership in a bid to back peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world. President Lam believed that North Korea would soon gain stability and peace, further thrive, move forward to socialism, and bring happiness and well-being to its people. The Vietnamese head of state proposed the two sides continue cooperating closely with each other and bolster mutual support at international and regional forums amid ongoing global and regional uncertainties. Vietnam is ready to make active contributions to peace, stability, cooperation, and development on the Korean Peninsula and in the Asia-Pacific region, he affirmed. Party General Secretary and State President To Lam (L, 5th), North Korean Ambassador Ri Sung Guk (L, 4th) and other officials. Photo: Vietnam News Agency Many Swedish firms desire to enter Vietnam At a meeting with the Vietnamese leader, Swedish Ambassador Johan Ndisi noted that many major Swedish enterprises have invested in Vietnam, while others are exploring investment and cooperation opportunities across various sectors in the Southeast Asian nation. Sweden aims to strengthen its partnership with Vietnam in areas such as innovation, sustainable development, climate change response, and the green transition -- fields in which it excels. President Lam expressed his welcome to Swedish investors looking to enter the Vietnamese market, particularly in sectors like infrastructure, transportation, green transition, green technology, renewable energy, and sustainability. The Vietnamese leader also received Argentine Ambassador Marcos Antonio Bednarski and Algerian Ambassador Sofiane Chaib on Monday morning. President Lam proposed Argentina continue teaming up with Vietnam to promote the early launch of negotiations on the Vietnam - MERCOSUR free trade agreement. Meanwhile, Algerian Ambassador Chaib affirmed that during his tenure in Vietnam, he would try to spur bilateral ties between the two nations. He stated that with its dynamic policies, Algeria can act as a key gateway for Vietnam to expand its cooperation with the African market, expressing his hope that Vietnam and Algeria will cooperate well at international forums. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The number of hospitalizations due to suspected food poisoning in Dong Thap Province, southern Vietnam reached 148 as of 1:00 pm on Monday, with most of them seeking medical attention after eating banh mi from the same food establishment. Vo Minh Phuc, head of the provincial Department for Food Safety, told a press conference held on Monday afternoon that these 148 cases had been admitted to six general hospitals and medical centers in the province between August 7 and 12. He added that 44 of them had been discharged from hospital, four were transferred to other health facilities upon their requests, while the remaining 100 are receiving medical treatment. Earlier, Thai Duong Company had inked a deal with a Hong Ngoc 12 bakery, both located in the provincial city of Hong Ngu, to provide the companys employees with banh mi as overtime meals. Banh mi, a type of Vietnamese baguette filled with cold meats, pate, and vegetables, is a popular dish in Vietnam. At 4:30 pm on August 6, the bakerys staff member delivered 33 loaves of banh mi to the company where 30 employees ate the dish during their evening shift. On the following day, 20 employees of this company were hospitalized after they developed symptoms such as abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. The bakery was forced to suspend its operations at 10:30 am on August 7. The administration of Hong Ngu City on August 8 set up a task force to inspect the compliance with food safety rules at the company and the bakery. Between August 8 and 12, more Hong Ngu residents and non-residents were hospitalized with suspected food poisoning symptoms, with most of them claiming that they had consumed banh mi offered at the Hong Ngoc 12 bakery. The local health authority collected food samples and patient specimens for testing to serve an investigation into the cause of the poisoning. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Check out the latest news in Vietnam today: Politics -- Vietnamese Party General Secretary and State President To Lam received the ambassadors of Argentina, Sweden, Algeria, Germany, and North Korea who came to present their credentials on Monday. Society -- The management board of the Ban Gioc Waterfall Tourism Site under the Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism of Cao Bang Province in northern Vietnam has announced the temporary suspension of tour services to Ban Gioc Detian Waterfalls that straddles the Vietnam-China border from Sunday last week until further notice. -- The administration in Dong Nai Province, a neighbor of Ho Chi Minh City, on Monday worked with relevant units on the execution of the first phase of the Dau Giay - Tan Phu Expressway in the province with a length of 60.2 kilometers and an estimated investment of nearly VND9 trillion (US$356 million). -- Police in Lai Chau Province, northern Vietnam said on Monday that they had begun a criminal investigation into an accident at a hydropower project in which a mine exploded, killing a Chinese worker and severely injuring a Vietnamese worker on Saturday last week. -- Hundreds of vehicles were stuck in a traffic jam at an intersection near the newly-opened tunnel at the intersection of Phan Thuc Duyen and Tran Quoc Hoan Streets in Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City as a road connecting the tunnel and nearby Cong Hoa Street has yet to be opened to traffic. -- Police in Tra Bong District, Quang Ngai Province, central Vietnam on Monday commenced legal proceedings against an 84-year-old man and banned him from leaving his place of residence for allegedly raping a 15-year-old disabled girl on Friday last week. Business -- South Korean-invested Samsung Vietnam exported $33.5 billion worth of products in the January-July period this year, edging up five percent year on year, Samsung Vietnam general director Choi Joo Ho reported to Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha at a meeting on Monday. Lifestyle -- The Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism has added pho Hanoi (Hanoi-style pho) and pho Nam Dinh (Nam Dinh-style pho) to the national intangible cultural heritage list. Pho is a Vietnamese soup consisting of broth, rice noodles, herbs, and meat usually beef or chicken. World News -- More than 47,000 people died in Europe due to scorching temperatures in 2023, with countries in the region's south hit the hardest, Reuters reported, citing a report by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health published on Monday. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Soc Son District in Hanoi has culled stray dogs whose owners did not claim them within 48 hours after the dogs were caught, over the past week as a way to respond to a rabies outbreak. The administration in Hanoi has tasked the authorities in Soc Son District with drastically deploying measures to fight rabies. Hien Ninh Commune in Soc Son is currently a rabies hotspot. The commune designated a farmland area for euthanizing stray dogs and has already put down seven such canines after their owners failed to claim them and pay the associated fine. In contrast, the owner of another dog voluntarily paid a fine of VND1 million (US$40) to reclaim his pet. Hoang Thi Ha, head of the economics division in Soc Son, stated that the district has the largest dog population in the capital city, with most households raising canines. Hien Ninh Commune alone is home to 3,000 households and approximately 4,000 dogs. Following several incidents of dog bites, Soc Son District has resumed operations of teams to capture stray dogs. The district has also administered anti-rabies vaccinations to 90 percent of the local dog population. Local residents who were bitten by rabid dogs in late July have been vaccinated against rabies and are under close monitoring. Rabies is expected to spread complexly in outlying districts, the Hanoi Department of Health said, adding that the municipal veterinary sector is requiring districts to catch and euthanize stray dogs as a result. By the end of July, Soc Son District had recorded three rabies clusters, with 10 people exposed to the virus. These individuals have received wound treatment, rabies vaccinations, and anti-rabies serum. Since the beginning of the year, Hanoi has reported 27 rabies cases, all in Soc Son. A stray dog catching team in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Phuong Quyen / Tuoi Tre Ngo Dinh Loat, deputy head of the Hanoi Sub-department of Animal Husbandry, Fisheries, and Veterinary, warned that Soc Son would face a risk of rabies spreading if the disease in animals is not effectively controlled. He noted that the district has around 9,000 dogs, with stray dogs remaining a persistent issue. Loat added that Hanoi is committed to becoming a rabies-free zone by 2025. The plan includes culling stray dogs and vaccinating the remaining population. Vietnam has reported 60 rabies-related deaths since the beginning of 2024, according to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology. Localities experiencing significant rabies outbreaks include Binh Thuan Province in the south-central region, Dak Lak and Gia Lai Provinces in the Central Highlands, Nghe An Province in the north-central region, as well as Ben Tre, Tay Ninh, and Long An Provinces in southern Vietnam, and Hoa Binh Province in the north. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Residents of a high-rise in a wealthy area of Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, recently encountered serious difficulties when unexpected flooding damaged their furniture and broken elevators left thousands of people either waiting in long lines or forced to take the stairs for days. On Monday afternoon, a representative from Savills Vietnam, the management company for the Masteri An Phu apartment building in Thao Dien Ward, Thu Duc City, announced that five elevators in Block B have returned to normal operation, while two are still undergoing inspection and repair. The company also committed to supporting and compensating residents for the damages caused by the recent flooding incident. Earlier, residents of Block B at Masteri An Phu had reported to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that they were forced to queue for just two working elevators out of seven, as the others remained out of service due to slow repairs. Resident M. said that for over a week, the situation had been challenging, with thousands of people sharing just two elevators, leading to significant delays during peak times in the early morning and late afternoon. To manage the congestion, the management board placed plastic chairs near the elevators so residents could sit and wait. Four out of seven elevators at Block B of the Masteri An Phu apartment building are inoperative in Thao Dien Ward, Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, August 8, 2024. Photo: Xuan Doan / Tuoi Tre Resident L. expressed frustration over having to share just two elevators with too many people, resulting in waits of up to half an hour to reach her apartment. Ive been late for work and meetings several days in a row, L. said. Even when I leave earlier, the elevators are still too crowded. Residents noted that during peak times in the following days, the management added a third elevator, but it was limited to carrying no more than five people, while the other two operational elevators remained overloaded. As of the afternoon of August 8, a Tuoi Tre reporter observed that four elevators had signs indicating they were under maintenance and repair, while three others were in operation. In the days that followed, two additional elevators were brought back into service. Plastic chairs are placed near the elevators for residents to sit and wait at Block B of the Masteri An Phu apartment building in Thao Dien Ward, Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, August 2024. Photo: Supplied It was not just the elevators that were affected; many households also experienced a water overflow incident. According to reports, on the early morning of August 2, a malfunction in the water supply pipe on the 17th floor of Block B caused water to spill into the hallway, overflow into the elevators, and flood apartments from the 17th floor down to the third floor. Since residents were asleep at the time, the issue went unnoticed until morning, when they were shocked to find their apartments flooded and their furniture damaged. The apartment management board quickly shut off the water supply and sent staff to inspect and repair the damage. By the afternoon of the same day, the water pipes were back in normal operation. Water spills into the hallway at Block B of the Masteri An Phu apartment building in Thao Dien Ward, Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, August 2, 2024. Photo: Supplied On Monday afternoon, a representative from Savills Vietnam told Tuoi Tre that elevators are significant assets, so when issues arise, the management board must coordinate with contractors, technicians, and insurers to diagnose and repair the problems, which can cause delays in immediate fixes. The representative acknowledged that with thousands of residents in the building, elevator issues inevitably impact many people. However, they emphasized that safety is the top priority, and elevators will only be used again once they have been fully inspected and deemed safe. Regarding the water overflow incident, the representative reported that on the evening of August 9, the management board, along with the administration of the Masteri An Phu apartment building, held a meeting with affected residents. They assessed the damage for each affected household and will coordinate with the insurance company to process support and compensation. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Owners of clothing shops and eateries in Ho Chi Minh City are sending employees onto the streets to solicit and implore passers-by to stop, causing congestion and posing danger to commuters. When passers-by refuse their services, some even hurl rude and offensive insults. The scene is often seen on multiple streets in the city between 5:00 pm and 10:00 pm. On Hau Giang Street in District 6, clothing stores compete by sending employees onto the street to scramble for customers in the evening. An employee of a clothing store solicits passers-by on Hau Giang Street in District 6, Ho Chi Minh City . Photo: An Vi / Tuoi Tre These employees make passers-by swerve as they suddenly dart out to solicit the potential customers. Some even block the paths of pedestrians, causing inconvenience and posing risks to themselves. The same scene can be observed on Ton Duc Thang Street in District 1. Around 5:00 pm, staff from nearby eateries occupy part of the road to attract customers. They wave their hands and shout loudly to draw the attention of passers-by. The issue is common in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: An Vi / Tuoi Tre Along a section of the street near Bach Dang Wharf, many street vendors selling fried fish balls and drinks wave menus to attract customers, obstructing traffic for vehicles. The situation is even more challenging on smaller streets like Ha Ton Quyen Street in District 11. Each eatery has deployed two to three employees to the street to solicit customers, leaving only a narrow passage for vehicles to navigate through. Employees of eateries crowd a section of Ha Ton Quyen Street in District 11, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Huu Duy / Tuoi Tre The employees even tug on the motorbikes of drivers to urge them to stop. If commuters refuse to enter their eateries, some employees respond with irritation, using foul language directed at them. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien commented that the vaccination against lumpy skin disease in dairy cows in Lam Dong Province, located in Vietnams Central Highlands, has adversely affected the vaccinated animals, leading to hundreds of cows developing diarrhea and eventually dying. The official made this statement on Sunday in response to reporters inquiries about the deaths of hundreds of dairy cows in the provinces Duc Trong and Don Duong Districts, which occurred in the days following their immunization. When asked whether the vaccination was the cause of the deaths, Deputy Minister Tien confirmed that the inoculation had indeed impacted the cows, noting that 4,900 out of nearly 9,000 vaccinated cows suffered from diarrhea. The ministry has mobilized the provincial Department of Animal Health and other units to collect samples from the deceased cows for testing and to conduct high-precision gene sequencing to determine the exact cause. Health workers also collected samples of the vaccine NAVET-LPVAC used in the immunization for testing. The vaccine was produced by Ho Chi Minh City-based Navetco National Veterinary Joint Stock Company (Navetco). The department and other relevant agencies have developed a treatment regimen for the affected cows, and the results of the gene sequencing are expected soon, which will help determine the cause of the deaths. The ministry is also coordinating with relevant agencies to ensure the proper disposal of the dead cows to prevent any impact on underground water sources. Currently, the ministry and provincial authorities are focusing all available resources, including supplies and chemicals, on combating the epidemic among the provinces cow herds. Designated bodies will also clearly identify cases where compensation or support will be provided to farmers who have suffered losses due to the deaths of their cows, Tien added. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien is seen talking with reporters on August 11, 2024 about the death of dairy cows due to diarrhea after being vaccinated against lumpy skin disease in Lam Dong Province, situated in Vietnams Central Highlands. Photo: V. Giang / Tuoi Tre Last Friday, the provincial administration submitted a quick report to the ministry, indicating that more than 100 dairy cows from over 40 households had died of diarrhea. Following vaccination against lumpy skin disease, the cows' resistance weakened, making their digestive systems more susceptible to attacks from microorganisms, which proliferated rapidly in the humid weather conditions caused by prolonged rains in July. Approximately 3,670 calves and dairy cows from 163 households across five communes have suffered from diarrhea. In response to the diarrhea epidemic, local authorities have suspended vaccinations and directed the local Department of Agricultural and Rural Development to collaborate with the Department of Animal Health to provide farmers with guidance on preventing diarrhea among their cow herds and to determine the cause as quickly as possible. The ministry has also instructed the provincial administration to direct all relevant agencies to enhance control over cow slaughter and the transportation of cows, to prevent the movement of diseased and potentially diseased cows out of the affected areas. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! ABC and the Australian International Documentary Conference has announced Cinematographer Anna-Marie Harding has been named the 2024 recipient of the Indigenous Documentary Placement. Anna-Marie is a director and cinematographer who has won Australian Cinematographers Society state awards in the wildlife and short film categories. A video journalist at Indigenous Community Television, her previous experience is with PAW Media as a community video producer and a reporter with Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association Radio. A proud Palawa woman, based in Alice Springs, she will be embedded in the ABC Indigenous team for four months in a paid placement that provides an opportunity to develop her professional skills across documentary, factual development and production. Anna-Marie said: The AIDC ABC Indigenous Documentary Placement is an amazing opportunity for me. Living in remote Alice Springs, I often miss out on networking opportunities, so being able to meet industry professionals outside of our small yet incredibly talented community of Territory filmmakers will be invaluable. Im excited to gain insights into the ABCs processes and to improve my skills in factual storytelling and content creation. This experience will not only advance my career but also help me amplify Indigenous voices in the media and hopefully establish a lasting relationship with the ABC for the future. ABC Chief Content Officer Chris Oliver-Taylor said: Anna-Marie is a welcome addition to our team working across our factual slate. The ABC is committed to supporting Indigenous creatives and stories that explore and reflect the enormous diversity of our country. Were thrilled to provide an opportunity in partnership with the AIDC to create meaningful employment pathways and foster a greater diversity of voices in the Australian screen sector. AIDC CEO and Creative Director, Natasha Gadd, said: Congratulations to AIDC Leading Light and Indigenous Creators Program alumni Anna-Marie Harding on being selected for this years Indigenous Documentary Placement with the ABC Indigenous team. AIDC is proud to co-present professional development programs that support First Nations filmmakers to sharpen craft, build new industry connections and find new pathways to tell stories. Were looking forward to tracking what Anna-Marie will bring to the placement, as well as the new skills and career opportunities she will take away from the experience. Three part documentary series Michael Palin In Nigeria premieres this week on SBS. Follow the 1,300-mile journey across Nigeria with broadcaster and writer Michael Palin, as he visits this vast country for the first time. Experiencing what life is like in this dynamic country, through the voices, opinions and experiences of Nigerians from all walks of life, he finds a place where optimism can rule in the face of adversity, where world history casts a shadow, and where the modern world and contemporary Africa are found side by side. Episode One: In the first leg of an epic journey across Nigeria, Michael is in bustling Lagos where he visits an extraordinary waterfront school, then dodges alligators at the Emir of Kanos palace. 7:30pm Wednesday on SBS Elizabeth L. T. Moore is a Hearst Fellow in San Antonio. She can be reached at Elizabeth.Moore@hearst.com Elizabeth did her first fellowship year as a reporter with the New Haven Register in Connecticut. Moore has published bylines with Bloomberg News, The Virginian-Pilot and The Daily Tar Heel, the student newspaper of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Moore placed nationally in the Hearst Collegiate Journalism Program, and she is fluent in Spanish. Four Corners reporter Louise Milligan has indicated there are more stories to tell on Seven Network after being contacted by further whistleblowers. In a discussion with Mumbrella she does not rule out a follow up story, but there are some stories that may never be revealed. Here are excerpts: What do you make of Sevens statement that a lot of these things have since been dealt with, and this program mostly dealt with historical things. Did that annoy you? Well, thats not true. First of all, its good to see that they have acknowledged that there are problems there. And, in our research period, they were getting rid of people in real time, you know? But, its not true to say that these are all historical issues, because two of the people who we spoke to were still working at the Seven Network when they did their interviews. One of them still is, and one of them has only just left and she left without a job to go to, earning less than $60,000 a year, because she couldnt, in conscience, stay at the place. She couldnt support what was happening there. That was a hugely brave decision for her to do all of that but she wanted to speak out on behalf of other women. Its interesting to me because, as I say, we spoke to a lot of really powerful people, or people who had been powerful, within that network, who are far better off than her and have a lot more behind them. So, it just shows how much guts she had. Was it a frustrating story to report, in that regard? Theres so much information youre being told, but so little of it that you can actually put on the record and report? There are some absolutely terrible stories, one that I can think of in particular, one that referred to a person who was still employed by the network that I dont think Ill ever be able to scrub from my brain, but that we wont be able to tell because of the fear that people have. That one, it frustrates me a lot. Since our promo went out [on Thursday morning] and since the story had been broadcast, weve been contacted by so many more people with so many more stories which we sort of thought might happen and its one of the frustrations of Four Corners that you just find out about all this other stuff once you broadcast. That happened, with my last story as well, Cranbrook, and that process led to the resignation of Australias second-highest-paid principal. So with that in mind, is this something that you would do a follow-up story on, now that you have all these people that have come to you? Yeah. We often do follow-up stories, and of course we work for the ABC, so were part of an organisation that has the capacity to continue to follow things. And that happened with Cranbrook as well. And it happened with St. Kevins story that I did a few years ago, and the story about Saxon Mullins. Four Corners stories often have the ability to kind of continue to make change after the credits roll. I noticed Amber Harrison was in the promo and wasnt in the finished show. Was that for legal reasons? I cant talk about Amber Harrison. Meanwhile Harrison has told the Sydney Morning Herald when she spoke to ABC it was remaining within the legal boundaries I am bound by. While I understand the complexities involved, the absence of my interview in the final program, after being part of the promo, raises questions about the narrative being shaped and the untold story that remains, she said. This decision left an important story untold, which could have highlighted the consequences of speaking out. You can read more at Mumbrella. Nikhat Fatima, TwoCircles.net Hyderabad: Syed Amjad Hussain, 19, who previously authored a book on the celebrated Urdu writer Akhtar Orenvi, is now poised to unveil his second work, focusing on Sufi history in Bihar. Support TwoCircles His new book offers a comprehensive exploration of the Sufi tradition, delving into the teachings of Sufi saints and the spiritual principles they established. Amjad Hussain explains, My goal is to present the Sufi tradition to contemporary readers, highlighting how Sufi wisdom has enriched Bihars cultural and spiritual heritage and continues to offer guidance in our lives today. The book will also feature the profound philosophies of notable Sufi saints from Bihar, such as Allama Maulana Zafaruddin Bihari, whose poignant words echo in the mystic realm: To recognize reality, one has to open the eyes of the heart. It will also include the wisdom of Sheikh Sharfuddin Yahya Maneri, who said, A true Sufi is one who can recognize God in the depths of his soul. TwoCircles.net spoke with the young author about his motivation for writing this book at an age when many of his peers are either self-indulgent or focused on their academics. Hussain explains that he comes from a lineage deeply connected to Sufism. His ancestor, Syed Ahmad Jajneri, was a companion of the revered Sufi mystic Hazrat Malik Ibrahim Baya. Jajneri, originally part of the Firdausiyya order of Sufism, founded his own order known as the Jajneri. Given my ancestral ties to Sufism, I have always felt a profound connection to this tradition, Amjad shares. I am naturally drawn to it and feel compelled to shed light on the rich Sufi heritage of Bihar. The more I delve into it, the more I am captivated by its spiritual depth. He continues, Sufism is a mystical branch of Islam that teaches pure, divine love and advocates for both inner and outer peace. In an era marked by hatred and violence, I hope to contribute to spreading love through my book. Bihar boasts a profound legacy of Sufism. In 1180, Imam Muhammad Taj Faqih Hashmi, originally from Jerusalem, arrived in Bihar and settled in Maner Sharif, just 30 kilometers from Patna. He established Bihars first khanqah a place where members of the Sufi order gather for religious and spiritual practices which continues to stand today. This revered khanqah is known as Khanqah Maner Sharif, or Khanqah-e-Taj Faqih, and remains a testament to the enduring spiritual heritage of the region. USP of the book The upcoming book titled Bihar Ka Sufi Itihas, written in Hindi to reach a broad audience in Bihar, unveils lesser-known aspects of Sufi saints in the region. In the future, Amjad plans to translate this work into English to extend its reach to contemporary readers worldwide. I visited the shrines of various saints and gathered untold stories from the custodians of these sacred sites, Hussain explains. I also delved into the genealogy of these saints, uncovering details that are not widely known. His book, which will span approximately 250-260 pages, will include photographs of the Sufi shrines, adding a visual dimension to the historical narrative. Challenges Balancing my studies in BBA at Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology with my research on old Sufi manuscripts was quite challenging, he reflects. I also needed to allocate time to visit shrines and gather information from the custodians, or khadim, who provided insights passed down through generations. Much of this information has yet to be documented in books, making my work distinctive in its scope. Another significant challenge was the scarcity of historical documentation on Sufism and Sufi saints in Bihar. Researching the Sufis of Bihar is challenging due to limited historical records and the need for a nuanced understanding of local culture. We discuss these complexities with scholars who strive to illuminate their profound influence, he adds. Amjad consulted experts like Absar Balkhi, son of the Sajjadansheen of Khanqah Firdausiyya Balkhiyya, and Md Umar Ashraf, founder of Heritage Times. He also studied works by Syed Hasan Askari, Syed Hasan, Shamim Munemi, and Tayyab Abdali. The Khuda Baksh Oriental Library in Patna has been his primary research resource, providing invaluable materials for his book. LOCARNO, Switzerland Paraguays Paz Encina (Eami) and three first time fiction feature directors El Salvadors Enrique Bautista, Cubas Rosa Maria Rodriguez Pupo, Perus Fernando Mendoza split the big prize on offer at this years Locarno Open Doors with Encina and Bautista taking the lions share of a CHF50,000 ($58,000) cash prize. The grant was sponsored by Visions Sud Est and the City of Bellinzona. Its winners Encinas The Unique Time, Bautistas Salvation, Rodriguezs Her Lightness and Mendozas The Return of the Last Mochica Warrior were announced Tuesday at the Swiss Festival as Open Doors arresting three-year focus on smaller markets in Latin America and the Caribbean came to a close. More from Variety Open Doors main partner, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), announced Monday that the co-production and talent development program will now throw its focus for the next four years on underrepresented communities in Africa. Some Open Doors 2024 winners are a testament to the rise of genre blending social-issue cinema in Latin America. El Salvadors Salvation, which also scored a BR Lab Award, is a thriller with a found-footage horror spirit, says Bautista, as a hospital nurse realizes that an aged dying patient is the same man who raped her in El Salvadors Civil War. Mendoza calls Return the first gamer film in Peru. Rob Mendozas UFOs in the Tropics, which won a CNC a development grant and Moulin dAnde-CECI Award, weighs in as Ecuadorian queer science fiction. The legacy of the past weighs through the winners. A triple winner, also collecting ArteKino International and Srfond awards, The Unique Time, for example, pictures a family Lorenza (70), Pedro (73) and their children settled in Argentina, just across the river from Paraguay, awaiting news of Paraguay and Maximo, their youngest son, 22 when he disappeared. Rodriguezs Her Lightness has Nora, suffering terminal cancer and battling outmoded patriarchy as she decides, not having been able to control her life, at least to determine how she dies. The Unique Time Mixing ancestral storytelling with a video game culture, says Mendoza, in Return, a gamer robs his ancestors tombs to pay playing in cybercafes until hes contacted by the spirit of an ancient Peruvian warrior. The nurse in Salvation lives part in the present, part in the past, trapped by trauma, allowing Bautista to shuttle between both time periods. Above all, the winners underscore their directors ability to channel heartfelt sentiment into highly personal but resonant drama. This intimate project is a love letter to my homelands unacknowledged pain, says Bautista. Being Paraguayan and a woman, having lived a childhood and adolescence during a dictatorship with a father in the opposition, who was imprisoned, exiled and controlled for many years are facts that have deeply marked my life, Encina tells Variety. Her Lightness is the story of my family genes, my women and my dead. I want to portray imperfection, the inherited disease, the right to die the way we choose, and the scars, says Rodriguez. Write what you know, the saying goes. It might be better to say: Write what you feel. In further recognitions, the Tabakalera-San Sebastian Film Festival will offer a residency at the Tabakalera, one of Spains top development programs, to Luis Flores Alvarenga, at Open Doors with The Lost Boys, about three children from Garifuna, Lenca and Tolupan indigenous groups who meet at an orphanage. Yamila Morrero (Azul Pandora, El Proyecto, Villa Rosa) a doyenne of Cubas doc producers, scored a Rotterdam Lab Award. The winner of the significant OIF-ACP-EU Award was A Farewell to Lola, from the Dominican Republics Ivan De Lara, a friendship tale between a jaded trumpet professor and his successful and privileged musician friend deconstructing the idea of success, says Lara. Open Doors Africa, 2025-28 Open Doors upcoming focus on Africa is an exciting prospect. The Marrakech Atlas Workshops rated last year as one of the highest-quality development and co-production hubs in the world, driven in large part by talent from the Maghreb and sub-Sahara countries. Open Doors can add breath to the continents build of a cinema of high artistic ambitions and often searing political point. Arts and culture are engines for social change and creativity and contribute to social cohesion and peace. Hence, they are indispensable for societal progress, said Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation Director General Patrizia Danzi at Locarnos Piazza Grande on Monday night. This transition is not just about changing our focus, but about expanding our work, said Zsuzsi Bankuti, head of Open Doors. We plan to foster strong collaborations between Latin American, the Caribbean and the African continent, ensuring that the connections of the previous years continue while forming new ones. Building on this years focus on collaborative efforts, our goal is to create a connected and thriving network that benefits all regions, she added. Locarno Open Doors Winners 2024 Open Doors Grant A total of CHF 50,000 ($54,500) sponsored by Visions Sud Est, (with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation), the City of Bellinzona and Open Doors. Salvation, (Ernesto Bautista, El Salvador, Mexico) A CHF20,000 ($23,200) grant Lead produced by Melissa Guevara (Burn and Die Films) Jury statement: For a proposal that portrays often overlooked post-war processes, with a very strong artistic approach, a non-chronological storytelling and with a poetic and intimate vision that renews the idea of genre. The Unique Time, (Paz Encina, Paraguay, Mexico, Germany) A CHF20,000 ($23,200) grant Produced by Gabriela Sabate (Sabate Films) and Julio Chavezmontes (Piano) Jury statement: For a very convincing project and a filmmaker with a clear voice and dedication we would like to give an award to a film that delicately explores themes of exile and the longing for the return of the disappeared. Her Lightness, (Rosa Maria Rodriguez, Cuba, Mexico, Colombia) A CHF 5,000 ($5,800) grant Produced by Armando Capo Ramos (GatoRosafilms), Martha Orozco (Martfilms) and Cristina Gallego (Ciudad Lunar) Jury statement: For a sensitive, intimate approach to the question of freedom of choice in the face of life and death, from a womans point of view, in a raw, realistic film. The Return of the Last Mochica Warrior, (Fernando Mendoza, Peru) A CHF 5,000 ($5,800) grant Jury statement: This film particularly convinced the Jury for its innovative blend of cultural heritage, history and modern video games, set in a region often overlooked within the country. CNC Development Grant UFOs in the Tropics, (Rob Mendoza, Ecuador) 8,000 ($9,505) for development provided by Frances CNC state film agency Produced by Isabel Carrasco at Ecuadors Cinema Verano ArteKino International Award 6,000 ($6,540) for development provided by the online ArteKino Festival, backed by Arte France Cinema The Unique Time PARTNER AWARDS Srfond Award Participation of the project, including travel and accommodation, in a November pitching event of Srfond, a fund operated by the Norwegian Film Institute, offering grants to productions from less privileged countries. The Unique Time Tabakalera-San Sebastian Film Festival Residency Award A residency at San Sebastians Tabakalera and taking part in the industry activities of the San Sebastian Festival, given in collaboration with the International Culture Center Tabakalera and San Sebastian Festival. Luis Flores Alvarenga, Honduras, a participant at Open Doors Producers Lab Open Doors BR Lab Award Participation at project development workshop BR Lab in Sao Paulo this October, with travel and accommodation covered by BR Lab. Salvation Open Doors Moulin dAnde-CECI Award A writing residency for the director of a first or second feature film project in development, with accommodation covered and a contribution to travel costs, provided by Normandy-located culture center Moulin dAnde, international org CECI, supporting sustainable and inclusive development, and the Locarno Film Festival. Rob Mendoza, (UFOs in the Tropics,Ecuador) Rotterdam Lab Award Participation at the next Rotterdam Film Festival Lab, including accommodation covered by the Festival and a contribution to the travels costs by the Locarno Film Festival. Yamila Marrero, Crisalida Producciones, Cuba Open Doors World Cinema Fund Audience Strategy Award The Berlinales World Cinema Fund offers a specific program tailored and geared to closely follow the development of an audience engagement strategy. The Return of the Last Mochica Warrior Open Doors OIF-ACP-EU Award Consultancy for up to 18 months, regarding script/treatment analysis, story editing and polishing of the film dossier based on the specific needs of the awarded project. Provided by the Francophonie International Organization (OIF) for French-speakers. A Farewell to Lola, ( Ivan De Lara, Dominican Republic) Best of Variety Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Although it never reaches the same heights of action-packed thrills and spectacle as its predecessor, George Miller's Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, the latest installment to the Mad Max series, is nonetheless a rousing, rip-roaring actioner that earns its place within the franchise. Snuggly wedged between Thunderdome and Fury Road, the spin-off prequel Miller co-wrote with Nico Lathouris is an eye-catching, gonzo complement to the Max Rockatansky mythos and Miller's post-apocalyptic vision of a dystopian wasteland barely hanging on the thread of sanity. The fifth entry is an opportunity for the Australian filmmaker of other beloved productions, like The Witches of Eastwick, Babe and Happy Feet, to expand on the folklore of a collapsed, lawless civilization increasingly losing its grip on reality, which he's been building on for the last five decades. And Furiosa does precisely that in this origin story of the titular character. Similar to what Miller did in the first movie that launched Mel Gibson's career into A-list stardom, the plot is a slow build of a person still clinging to some semblance of the world as it was before before it was devastated by war and ecocide, along with laying waste to critical energy resources. For the first half of the movie, our innocently young but soon-to-be furious hero (a very talented Alyla Browne) is forced into witnessing various atrocities including the crucifixion of her mother (Charlee Fraser) committed by her abductor, the unhinged megalomaniac warlord of the Biker Horde calling himself Dementus (a deliciously wicked and outlandish Chris Hemsworth). Once she becomes the property of Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme), the second half is driven by an appetite for vengeance and to return home where Anya Taylor-Joy takes the wheel with her strong, captivating presence even as she plays the role mostly in silence. This is where the genius of Miller and Lathouris's script begins to emerge as Taylor-Joy's Furiosa silently contemplates her escape from this world where uber-masculinity and the destructive greed for power have kicked into maximum overdrive. But in all the chaos and mayhem, never once does Miller ever lose focus that this is Furiosa's story, seeing events unfold from her mostly limited perspective, like fragmented memories that have fashioned her into the survivalist warrior who jumps on any opportunity that arises. Even the opening sequence showing her abduction, the Green Place of Many Mothers carries a fabled, mythical air about it because that is her last memory of home, so we are granted only a glimpse of a place a child barely remembers anymore. And Taylor-Joy is splendid in the role with a performance perfectly matching Charlize Theron's while embodying a strength and reliance that is equal to the Mad Max legend. And as he did in Fury Road, Miller and cinematographer Simon Duggan (Hacksaw Ridge, The Great Gatsby) designed Furiosa to look and feel reminiscent of a comic book. Each sequence seems to take place within a single-panel frame, allowing the audience to be fully immersed and appreciate this imaginary world where the lunatics have effectively taken over the asylum. All the while, the director takes small moments to add some depth to Hemsworth's seemingly ruthless warlord, from the small teddy bear at his side to his delusion of raising a daughter, ingeniously insinuating there once existed a person beneath all the madness. In fact, these are all people striving for the same goal of rebuilding a bountiful paradise that sadly only lives in their fantasies, but they endeavor to achieve that elusive dream in the most barbarous ways. The fourth sequel to a beloved franchise is an awesome addition to the Mad Max saga. (Movie Rating: 4/5) Vital Disc Stats: The Ultra HD Blu-ray Warner Bros. Home Entertainment brings George Miller's Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga to Ultra HD Blu-ray as a single-disc package with a Digital Copy code, unlocking the 4K UHD version in Dolby Vision HDR with Dolby Atmos audio. The triple-layered UHD100 disc sits comfortably inside a black eco-elite keepcase with a glossy slipcover. At startup, the UHD goes straight to a static menu screen with the usual options along the bottom and music playing in the background. Welcome Guest! You are here: Home 2024 likely to be warmest year on record: US Agency The year 2024 has a 77% chance of being the warmest year on record, news agency AFP reported citing a US environmental body Monday. Tuesday August 13, 2024 12:13 PM , ummid.com with inputs from Agencies The year 2024 has a 77% chance of being the warmest year on record, news agency AFP reported citing a US environmental body Monday. 1 of 5 hottest years on record According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), whose historical data goes back 175 years, 2024 will definitely be one of the five hottest years on record. Citing the monthly report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, AFP reported that last month was the hottest July on record, making it the 14th straight record-breaking month. The July calculation by NOAA contradicted the EUs Copernicus climate monitor, which using a different dataset calculated last months average temperature as being slightly lower than July 2023. However, both agencies agree on the alarming trend of record-breaking heat, with the past year seeing month after month of new highs. Heat wave deaths Citing another study, AFP reported that Europe recorded nearly 50,00 deaths due to heat wave last year. The study by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health estimated that 47,690 died in connection with heat during the world's warmest year and Europe's second-warmest year on record. The 2022 summer was the hottest recorded in Europe, when the region had registered more than 60,000 deaths attributed to heat wave. Among the countries, Italy had reported 18,010 deaths, Spain 11,324 and Germany had seen a total of 8,173 heat related deaths in summer 2022. [The featured image used here is generated byAI.] Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic. Challenges before Yunus interim government in Bangladesh The challenges at the frontiers of Yunus interim government in Bangladeshare (unlucky) seven: law and order; economy; military, elections; justice; religious freedom; and freedom of expression Tuesday August 13, 2024 2:03 PM , Saleem Samad The collapse of the autocratic regime of Sheikh Hasina, amid the student protests which sparked a mass upsurge in the streets of Dhaka and elsewhere was predicted weeks ago. The student protests all over the country turned into mass uprisings after police and helmet bahini (armed vigilantes recruited from Awami Leagues youths) swooped upon the student protest on various campuses in the country. The triangular clashes killed 200 students and bystanders in the first few days of the end of July. Following the blood spilt on the streets, hashtag #JulyMassacre was trending for a couple of weeks. In the development of events, amid curfews, thousands of defiant guardians, relatives and well-wishers of those arrested, wounded and killed joined the upsurge, which boosted the morale of the protesters. A new interim government was sworn in on Thursday under the leadership of charismatic Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus, including two student leaders. After the autocratic government was overthrown in the student uprising, several challenges came in the front for the days ahead, which may not be an easy road to restore democracy, as Yunus described in an interview with an Indian newspaper. The challenges at the frontiers are (unlucky) seven: law and order; economy; military, elections; justice; religious freedom; and freedom of expression. The Awami League regime ruled the country for 15 years and was adamant about remaining in power by blocking the internet, indefinite curfew and firing on protesters, which backfired. The tens of thousands were agitated and expressed their anger through supporting the student protests. The enraged students called for a Long March (towards Gono Bhaban, the official residence of Sheikh Hasina), to protest the killing like shooting birds of their fellows and comrades. The Long March was the final hours of the tyrant regime of Hasina to collapse. The military in a statement hinted that they would not fire upon the students and would stand with the people for a peaceful transition of power. The deaths in the streets climbed to four hundred during the protests from mid-July to the first week of August, the protesters retaliated against the autocratic government of Awami League. Moments after Hasina fled the country , in the absence of law enforcement agencies (police fled their posts in fear of facing the wraths of the mobs) widespread loot, plundering, arson and vandalism began to pour into the media. Some were settling their scores, others in vengeance and many occurrences were revenge attacks. Thousands of criminals, teenage gangs others joined the protesters to vandalise, loot and plunder. There were widespread attacks on religious communities, especially the Hindu community and Ahmadiyyas. Both the communities were soft targets of the radicalised Sunni Muslims for decades accusing them of receiving blessings from the Awami League. However, the perpetrators of persecution of Hindus and Ahmadiyyas have never faced the music of justice since 1991, despite Hasina being in power for the fifth term. The interim governments priority would be to provide security and ensure the safety of the religious communities and their properties. The international media is agog with news and photos of attacks on Hindus and desecration of temples . A score of fake news and cropped videos became viral in Indian media and social media, according to the BBC fact checker team. Unfortunately, there were hardly any posts on social media and formal media on the attacks on Ahmadiyyas that occurred since the fall of Hasinas regime. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first to congratulate the new interim government headed by Dr Yunus. He also hoped for an early return to normalcy in Bangladesh, ensuring the safety and protection of Hindus and all other religious communities. The law enforcement agencies cooperation is essential with the interim government. Regrettably, law enforcement officers and personnel have vanished after mobs showed their vengeance against police forces deaths of hundreds of their compatriots and the detention of thousands of people, and the majority did not have any party affiliation. Three things, the police demonstrated their fury over the students and protesters. They were brutal in suppressing the peoples uprising. Exercised excessive force to stump the protesters and lastly, mass arrests of more than 10,000 people, one-fourth were students and the rest were innocent bystanders, passersby, rickshaw pullers, vendors and small vendors. Those affected and witnessed the brutalities of the police were obviously enraged and quickly turned into a mob and swooped upon the police forces and also ransacked the police stations. Firearms and bullets were looted from the thanas. Well, it is taking time for the authorities to remobilise and instill confidence among the police personnel to return to work. The military is indeed another challenge to the civilian leadership. It could not be predicted how much control the army would have on the interim government and vice-versa. As the military establishment is concerned, the institution has decided to act as non-partisan and promised not to interfere in politics and would support facilitating holding the elections in each constituency. The election of last January , in which Sheikh Hasina became the Prime Minister for the fifth term, was flawed, according to election observers and independent media. The international community came down heavily on holding a farcical election, which was held minus the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) or others. The autocratic regime detained thousands of senior, mid-level, local leaders and supporters blaming them for terrorism, etc. The Generation Z (Gen Z) who joined the student protests have witnessed how the elections were held. The security intelligence was engineered to hold carrots in front of several Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) and BNP politicians to defect and join a shadowy political party to participate in the 2024 January elections. Unfortunately, all those who defected from JeI and BNP lost the election. On the economic front, Bangladeshs average annual growth has been over 6 percent. Bangladesh surpasses India in per capita income in 2021; But despite this, economic inequality has increased in the country. The rich and poor gap has widened. Not everyone got the benefits of economic growth. The disadvantaged populations in both rural and urban areas were left out of human development. The export-oriented factories inflicted severe dents during the protest campaign. Bangladesh is the second largest market for top apparel retailers in the world. Garment factories were closed during the violence caused to fail in meeting the export deadline. There are three and a half thousand garment factories in Bangladesh. About 85 per cent of the countrys annual exports of 5.5 trillion dollars are generated from garment exports. Indefinite curfews, internet shutdowns and street protests have caused unaccounted financial loss to millions of people of different shades in social and commercial life. Justice delayed is justice denied. Justice for the people remains a far cry in the absence of the rule of law. Delivery of justice to the poor remains another challenge. Those arbitrarily detained more than 10,000 suspects need to get justice on priority. The implementation of the rule of law and independence of the judiciary are on the priority list. Most importantly, the interim government has promised to overhaul the system through reforms which have been moth-eaten into the government. The new government echoed the military chief announcement that all deaths during violent student protests would be investigated and the perpetrators would be brought to justice. Meanwhile, the government in a major shakeup has either sacked or removed scores of top officers in key positions in the police administration, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and other law enforcement agencies. Removing rogue officers will shake the police administration like an earthquake. Effective police reforms should be in the offing. Both freedom of expression and freedom of the press were gagged by draconian cybercrime laws, which were twice rechristened but remain a repressive law, according to rights groups. Amnesty International once again called on the new interim government to repeal all laws that restrict freedom of expression. The "iron lady" Hasina, like her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, could not digest critiquing. She slammed independent press, critics, dissidents, and opposition, which were deemed challenging her authority. Hundreds of journalists and news organisations were attacked by Awami League hooligans. Scores of scribes were arrested under cybercrime laws and several newspapers and television were shut down, without showing any reason. Editors of the independent newspaper The Daily Star and Prothom Alo faced years of legal harassment. Freedom of religion is another challenge in a majoritarian Sunni Muslim nation. Despite Bangladesh has secular constitution, the religious communities face persecution, discrimination and hatred in society. The Hindus, Ahmadiyya Muslims, Buddhists, Christians and Adivasis intermittently face atrocities of the radicalised Sunni Muslims. During the 15 years of Hasina, her government never stood up to prosecute the perpetrators responsible for vandalising homes and business establishments, and desecration of temples, (Ahmadiyya) mosques, churches and pagodas. According to the Hindu, Buddhist, and Christian Unity Council and also human rights investigations, the perpetrators were goons of the Awami League. However, the government and political leaders blamed the opposition BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami for all crimes committed against religious communities. Finally, the celebrated inventor of micro-credit Dr Yunus categorically said he would ensure that vibrant Gen Z should be on the frontline of all helms of affairs of the functionaries in the country. This is called participation of the youths and capacity building of the future leaders of the country a bottom-up approach to human resource development. [The writer, Saleem Samad, is an award-winning independent journalist based in Bangladesh. A media rights defender with the Reporters Without Borders (@RSF_inter). Recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com; Twitter (X): @saleemsamad. The above opinion piece was first published in Northeast News, Guwahati, India on 13 August 2024] Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic. Hajj 2025 application starts at hajcommittee.gov.in The Haj Committee of India started from today i.e. Tuesday August 13, 2024 receiving online application for Hajj 2025 (Hajj 1446 AH) Tuesday August 13, 2024 11:42 PM , ummid.com News Network Hajj 2025 Application: The Haj Committee of India has started receiving Hajj Application Form (HAF) of the pilgrims who are willing to embark on Hajj 2025 (Haj 1446 AH) through its website hajcommittee.gov.in from today i.e. Tuesday August 13, 2024. Pilgrims from India performing Hajj this year should note that application form will be accepted online only, either directly or through State Haj Committees. The last date of application is September 09, 2024. The Haj Committee of India (HCOI) had published the Haj Policy 2025 for Hajj 1446 H before starting online application through its official website hajcommittee.gov.in. Haj Policy 2025 Haj Policy 2025, a 13-page PDF document, covers all details regarding division of Haj Seats between Haj Committee of India (HCoI) and Haj Group Organisers (HGOs), eligibility criteria, Haj Suvidha App features, Availability of Haj Application Forms (HAFs), age limit for Ladies travelling without their Mehrams, Distribution of Quota, Qurrah or draw of lots, waiting list, and list of 20 embarkation points for Hajj 2025. The Haj Committee of India said that the validity of passport for the pilgrims applying for Hajj 1446 AH should be January 15, 2026. Regarding the cover size, the HCoI said, it should be minimum 1 (one) and Maximum 5 (five) Adults + 2 (two) Infants. "If the number of family members exceeds five (excluding 2 Infants), applications should be made in more than one cover", the Haj Committee said. Regarding, ladies and female Haj pilfrims travelling without their Mehrams, the Haj Committee guidelines said, ladies aged 45 or above, who wish to go for Haj but do not have a male Mehram and their school of thought (Maslak) permits, are allowed to travel in groups of 4 or more ladies. Direct Link to apply for Haj 2025 Click here to apply for Hajj 2025: hajcommittee.gov.in . Click on Apply Now button on the Home Page. Enter your Mobile Number, Email Id, Name, Password, State and District. Enter the Security Code as you see in the box. Click on the checkbox to confirm all the details are filled correctly. Click on the green button "Submit Details". Please note all field marked as * are compulsory. The Haj Committee of India has not revealed the details of Advance Haj Amount paymount. The pilgrims however will be required to pay the processing fees online while submitting the form. Hajj 2025 Qurrah If the number of application is more than the Haj committee quota, the final list will be prepared by centralised computerised Qurrah or draw of lots. "The order of priority for confirmation of the seats in a state/UT is: Category-1: 65 or above age category including such LWM, Category-2: Ladies without Mehram below age of 65, and Category-3: General Category", the Haj Committee said. "For Haj-2025, it would be mandatory for pilgrims aged 65 or above to be accompanied by a companion with highest priority in allotment being given to the 65 or above age category. This age criteria was earlier 70 years and now it has been reduced due to arduous and strenuous nature of pilgrimage and harsh climatic conditions in KSA", the Haj Committee said. "After the Category-1 and Category-2 applications have been exhausted, the qurrah (draw of lots) will be held state/UT wise among the general category applicants for the remaining seats. Another waiting list, called as General Waiting List (GWL) or Category-3 waiting list will be prepared by conducting qurrah (draw of lots) among those applicants who applied under the general category but could not get a confirmed seat", the Haj Committee of India said. 20 Embarkation Points There will be a total of 20 Embarkation Points (EPs) for Hajj 2025 as against 21 last time. The pilgrims will be required to give two preferences for EP in order of priority. The details of EPs for Haj-2025 are as under: 1. Srinagar, 2. Gaya, 3. Guwahati, 4. Indore, 5. Bhopal, 6. Aurangabad, 7. Jaipur, 8. Nagpur, 9. Delhi, 10. Mumbai,11. Kolkata, 12. Bengaluru, 13. Hyderabad, 14. Cochin, 15. Chennai, 16. Ahmedabad, 17. Lucknow, 18. Kannur, 19. Vijayawada, 20. Calicut In case of number of passengers travelling from an EP goes above or below the economic operation of the air charter services, MoMA reserves the right to reallocate the passengers to any other EP in the interest of smooth air charter operations and air safety protocols, the HCoI said. The Haj flight schedule will be published in due course. Qurbani (Adahi) The Haj committee has also advised pilgrims to use the Qurbai facility provided by it through authorised entities. "Adahi (Qurbani) is permitted only through entities authorised by KSA for the same. Pilgrims should not fall prey to fraudsters in the name of Qurbani. "Adahi through authorised entities will be arranged by HCoI for the covers who opt for it (all pilgrims of a cover have to opt together). Once exercised, the option cannot be revoked. The Adahi (Qurbani) coupons will be optional. "The HCoI will issue a n advisory in format of dos & donts for pilgrims which will also have information about Adahi coupon (how does it look, colour, features etc)", the Haj Committee guidelines for Hajj 2025 said. Hajj Quota Saudi Arabia has allotted a quota of 175,025 pilgrims to India of them 70% will go through Haj Committee and the remaining will be given to private tour operators. The Government of India (GoI) and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) sign the Haj Agreement every year, in which the number of Haj seats allocated to India is incorporated. Out of the total number of quota allocated to the Government of India (GoI), 70% will be allocated to the HCoI and the remaining 30% will be allocated to HGOs, the Haj Policy said. The Haj Committee quota this year is 10% more than the previous years. Till Hajj 2024, 40% of the seats from Indias Haj quota was given to PTOs. Hajj 2025 likely date is from June 04 to 09, 2025. The final date of Haj 2025 however will be decided based on Dhul Hijjah 1446 AH moon sighting. Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic. Welcome Guest! You are here: Home NASA claim of water reservoirs on Mars sparks debate The American space agency NASA Monday claimed evidence of liquid water reservoirs underneath the Mars surface, sparking a debate about the possiblity of human life on the Red Planet Wednesday August 14, 2024 0:55 AM , ummid.com with inputs from Agencies [Illustration.] Washington: The American space agency NASA Monday claimed evidence of liquid water reservoirs underneath the Mars surface, sparking a debate about the possiblity of human life on the Red Planet. NASA made the claim based on a new analysis of data from Mars Insight Lander, which touched down on the Red Planet back in 2018. The lander carried a seismometer, which recorded four years' of vibrations - Mars quakes - from deep inside the Red Planet, according to BBC. The water in fractures 11.5km (7.15 miles) to 20km beneath the surface was most likely to have collected there billions of years ago when Mars harboured rivers, lakes and possibly oceans, according to the lead scientist, Vashan Wright of the University of California San Diegos Scripps Institution of Oceanography. On Earth, what we know is where it is wet enough and there are enough sources of energy, there is microbial life very deep in Earths subsurface, Wright said. The ingredients for life as we know it exist in the Martian subsurface, if these interpretations are correct, he added. While there is water frozen at the Martian poles and evidence of vapour in the atmosphere, this is the first time liquid water has been found on the planet. The latest discovery of water on Mars has sparked a debate with space explorers discussing if life on the Red Planet is possible. Talking to Al Jazeera, Amitabha Ghosh, a space scientist who has worked with NASA, said: So we just need water in some form for human existence as well as making rocket fuel, said Ghosh. Billionaire Elon Musk has been striving to colonise Mars for over a decade under SpaceX, his rocket company. Elon Musk is making a Starship which can carry 200 people to Mars in six months. Its all coming together, Ghosh told the Doha based broadcaster. The SpaceX website deems Mars one of Earths closest habitable neighbours. Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic. Two dogs were shot and killed in a North Side neighborhood on Saturday. Police believe the same vehicle, a dark-colored SUV, was involved in both shootings. San Antonio Police Department Dogs are getting shot and killed on San Antonio streets. San Antonio police are trying to determine who fatally shot at least two dogs Saturday in a North Side neighborhood. But social media posts, some that include graphic videos, say up to four dogs have been shot and killed. Dog owner Joshua Valdez shared the footage from a home security camera of his dog getting shot on Facebook. He asked social media users to help find the person who killed his dog. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Keep sharing please we cant let someone do this to 4 dogs in one night. he said. That lil dog was my very best friend and if you know me please share this god bless you all. His video that shows a dark-colored SUV pulling up to a home in the 1000 block of Mariposa Drive just before 1 a.m. In the video, a 2-year-old husky standing in front of the home collapses to the ground after a single gunshot is heard. The SUV then flees the scene. If yall stay in north central theres been a guy going around shooting dogs, Valdez said. He shot this husky last night and my dog as well, be on the look out for this car. The husky was shot once in the head, according to a police report. The footage was unable to capture the vehicles license plate. Advertisement Article continues below this ad About 20 minutes later at a home less then a mile away in the 3200 block of Capitol Avenue, a second resident reported to police that their dog had been killed after being shot in the chest. Police believe the shooter was sitting in the front right passenger seat of the SUV. They believe that the same vehicle is involved in both shootings. San Antonio police said they are investigating both incidents and have increased patrols in the area in response to the shootings. Advertisement Article continues below this ad District 1 Council Member Sukh Kaur made a statement on social media. I dont think we have ever seen something like this before, Kaur said. Animal cruelty is not something we take lightly at all, and so we are working hard to create more awareness so folks know if they see something, they say something. San Antonio Animal Care Services has turned over the investigation to SAPD. We need to make sure we get to the root cause of this and share with the community that their pets are safe and that weve done everything we can to take the right action, Kaur said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Anyone with information about a potential suspect should call SAPD at 210-207-4181. Chief William McManus said the dog killings won't be considered a serial case unless it continues and it's linked to the same person. He lamented the cruelty. This is a cruel cruel senseless thing that these individuals are doing," he said. "I can't imagine why anyone would get enjoyment riding around shooting dogs." Jacob Beltran contributed to this report. Nigeria urged early registration of 2025 Hajj pilgrims Independent Hajj Reporters, a Civil Society Organization (CSO) that monitors and reports Hajj activities in Nigeria has appealed to NAHCON to instruct state Muslim pilgrim's welfare boards, agencies and commissions to announce the start of registration of intending pilgrims for the 2025 Hajj Tuesday August 13, 2024 3:27 PM , ummid.com News Network Hajj 2025: Independent Hajj Reporters, a Civil Society Organization (CSO) that monitors and reports Hajj activities in Nigeria has appealed to NAHCON to instruct state Muslim pilgrim's welfare boards, agencies and commissions to announce the start of registration of intending pilgrims for the 2025 Hajj. The CSO in a statement signed by its national coordinator Ibrahim Muhammed Tuesday said the calls become imperative given the short time frames allocated to pre-Hajj activities in the newly released Hajj calendar by the world Hajj regulator - the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah. Delayed registration affects late remittance by states and the behind-schedule remittance of pilgrims' deposits by states will obstruct NAHCONs ability to process and transfer the needed funds to Saudi Arabia service providers which will also have a negative influence on the Saudi-based service providers' readiness to provide efficient and effective services to our dear pilgrims", the CSO said. "NAHCON should set its sight on adhering to its Hajj Calendar to avoid conflicts with important pre-Hajj activities", the CSO said in its letter addressed to National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON). State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Boards are the centre of pre-Hajj activities in Nigeria in terms of registration of pilgrims, documentation, orientation, and conveyance of funding. With the commencement of contracts with Service Providers on service packages, and choice and reservation of spaces in Masha'er set to begin by the 23rd of October 2024, Nigeria has less than 3 months to project the number of pilgrims it will convey to the 2025 Hajj. More importantly, the issuance of visas is set to begin on 19th February 2025 and end on 18th April 2025. The remaining six months before the commencement of issuance of visa should be jealously utilized to avoid the late rush hour experienced last year, the CSO said in the statement. Furthermore, it is now clear that the government may not grant concession on exchange rates, NAHCON should urge states to announce initial deposits based on prevailing exchange rates with a pen-down agreement with financial institutions that deposits from pilgrims will be automatically converted to US dollars and receipted as such. "Such a step will safeguard the deposit made by pilgrims from being devalued during hajj transactions as experienced with pilgrims BTA this year", the CSO Nigeria said. We urge state governors to reduce the administrative bureaucracy to allow States Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Boards and agencies to execute pre-Hajj activities like the commencement of Hajj registration, announcements of Hajj fare benchmarks, transferring of Hajj deposit to NAHCON with little administrative channels. "These major issues caused delays in the previous Hajj exercise, and must be avoided this year", the statement added. Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic. Welcome Guest! You are here: Home Petitioner against Urdu signboard at Patur Municipality suffers setback in SC The petitioner against Urdu signboard put up by the Patur Municipal Council in Akola district of Maharashtra Tuesday suffered setback in the Supreme Court of India Tuesday August 13, 2024 11:43 PM , ummid.com News Network [Image source: Social Media Platform X.] New Delhi: The petitioner against Urdu signboard put up by the Patur Municipal Council in Akola district of Maharashtra Tuesday suffered setback in the Supreme Court of India. Varsha Bagde had approached the apex court after her petition seeking removal of Urdu signboard at Patur civic body was dismissed by the Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court. The Supreme Court of India however took a strong exception of her plea. "What is your problem with Urdu? the SC bench of justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Ahsanuddin Amanullah asked. Understand this - Urdu is an Eight Schedule language. The municipal body did not impose it on the whole State. May be in that region only that particular language is understood, the judges said, according to Bar and Bench. The petitioner had sought removal of the Urdu signboard on the ground that the Maharashtra Local Authorities (Official Languages Act mandates use of only Marathi language in civic bodies. The High Court while dismissing the petition against Urdu signboard had said that there were no restrictions in using any language other than the States official language Marathi. A petition challenging the decision to cancel the resolution to write the name of Mangrulpir Municipal Council in Washim district in Urdu along with Marathi was also filed in the High Court. The court had heard the two cases together and delivered its ruling. The SC later gave the State Government in Maharashtra time to file its response and deferred the hearing till Septeber 09, 2024. Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic. TN: Muslim fishermen say harassed by Christian counterparts backed by Missionaries The Christian societies have threatened the Muslims fishermen to either leave Kadaiyakudi village as none other than RC Christian faith can live there or the convert and seek forgiveness from the Church Tuesday August 13, 2024 2:00 PM , Syed Ali Mujtaba Chennai: A case of harassment of two Muslim fishermen in Kadaiyakudi village in Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu has come to limelight where three Christian missionaries backed fishermen societies, are harassing two Muslim fisherman Muhammad Frango and Eesa Jebastian for converting to Islam. The Christian societies have threatened the Muslims fishermen to either leave Kadaiyakudi village as none other than RC Christian faith can live there or the convert and seek forgiveness from the Church. The Christian societies are harassing the Muslim fishermen by not renting them tractors to push their boats from the shore to the sea. It is impossible to push any boats into the sea without tractors. The Christian societys members say that tractors are only meant for Christians and cannot be given to the Muslims. Eesa Jebastian, who is secretary of one of the Christian societies was expelled on the ground that he is no longer Christian, hence cant be a part of it. This controversy has resulted in the formation of an anti-Muslim syndicate comprising of members of all three Christian fishermen societies, the members of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Thereafter a complete social-boycott for Muslim fishermen started in Kadayakudi and their livelihood has been blocked since June 2023. Earlier one fisherman named Meno from the same place who had converted to Islam was also treated in the same way and he left Kadaiyakudi and also his fishing profession. At the intervention of the district administration a solution was found to arrange money to purchase a new tractor for all communities so that this dispute ends and the livelihood issues of fishermen gets restored. However when the tractor was given to the Muslim fishermen, now it was opposed by the syndicate that Muslim tractor is not allowed in Kadaiyakudi. The district administration again intervened and the syndicate agreed for all communities tractors to operate and also allowed selling of fishes by other communities in the same market as others. But the very next day the syndicate declared an indefinite strike, stating that there will be a law and order situation in Kadaiyakudi because of this Muslim tractor. As a result the tractor is denied to the Muslim fishermen till now. The media is indulging in anti- Muslim anti- Islam propaganda and the Muslim fishermen are on the receiving side and being denied from telling their side of the story. The two Muslim fishermen approached me to put up their version of the story saying that their income has stopped for almost one year and they have sold their boats engine and a few other things for their survival. In conclusion the duo said their hardships have made them much stronger and have firm belief in Allah and by Almightys blessings they will be rewarded with justice soon. Muhammad Frango can be reached at 9345164584 and Eesa Sebastian can be contacted at 8667310550. [Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com. AI generated image used for representation.] Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic. HA NOI Viet Nam's fruit and vegetable export value reached over US$3.8 billion in the first seven months of 2024, up 23.4 per cent compared to the same period in 2023. In July alone, the fruit and vegetable export value surged by 18 per cent year-on-year to $477 million. The Viet Nam Fruit and Vegetable Association said that since the beginning of 2024, the strong increase in market demand has pushed the export value of fruits and vegetables up. The strong growth in exports showed that the quality of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables has improved to meet the export markets' requirements. Meanwhile, Viet Nam's fruit imports also increased strongly. In the first seven months, the country spent over $1.2 billion to import fruits, an increase of 12.7 per cent over the same period last year. This import value reached about $200 million in July. During the seven months, the imported fruits mainly came from China ($397 million, up 27 per cent), the US ($206 million, up 14 per cent) and Australia ($57 million, up 76.6 per cent). Viet Nam also imported a large volume of fruits from other countries, such as South Korea, Japan and Thailand, according to the association. The products imported in great quantity in the seven months were all temperate fruits, including apples, pears, pomegranates, grapes, and plums, alongside vegetables. The association said Viet Nam only imported the products that the domestic market does not have, or has very little supply. However, Viet Nam's fruit and vegetable industry still gained a trade surplus of almost $2.6 billion in the first seven months. Large exports to north east Asian market Notably, ang Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of the Viet Nam Fruit and Vegetable Association, said that in the export structure, the northeast Asian countries such as China, South Korea and Japan, accounted for 80 per cent of the export value. The remaining 20 per cent came from Europe, the US, Australia and the Middle East. Two countries, China and South Korea, had the highest export turnover. Of which, China was the leading market, accounting for 64 per cent of the total export value with $2.1 billion, an increase of 22 per cent year on year. The second largest export market for Vietnamese fruits and vegetables was South Korea, with the export value to this market at $164 million in the first seven months, up 57.9 per cent over the same period in 2023. South Korea is the export destination for Vietnamese dragon fruits, mango and grapefruit. The United States was the third largest export market for Vietnamese fruit and vegetable exports, with a value of about $157 million, up 32.4 per cent over the same period last year, showing it still has great potential for fruit and vegetable exporting countries, including Viet Nam. Meanwhile, Viet Nam has exported dragon fruit, mango and longan to Japan. The two countries are negotiating to export Vietnamese grapefruit to Japan in the future. "In the future, northeast Asia will be a strategic market for Vietnamese fruits and vegetables," Nguyen said. China is a populous market with high demand for fruits and vegetables and it is also a traditional customer for many kinds of Vietnamese fruits. Meanwhile, Japan and South Korea are also populous countries with high incomes and great demand for quality agricultural products and fruits. China, Japan, and South Korea are members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). This is a free trade agreement between ASEAN countries and China, South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, effective from January 1, 2022, stipulating tariff elimination for 90 per cent of products within 20 years. When exporting to these markets, Vietnamese enterprises not only benefit from the tariffs but also from reduced transportation and logistics costs. They maintain the quality of agricultural products compared to transporting to distant markets such as the EU and the US. "Joining the RCEP, the import taxes are reduced, so countries will erect technical barriers. Those barriers force the fruit exporting enterprises to update regularly the export regulations of northeast Asian countries to promptly respond," Nguyen said. New chance for fresh coconut In the first seven months of 2024, durian still had the highest export turnover in the fruit industry, with a turnover of about $1.7 billion. However, Nguyen said that due to the durian crop being out of season, the export turnover of vegetables and fruits in July was lower than in previous months. Phung uc Tien, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that Viet Nam has allowed official export for 11 kinds of fruits and vegetables to China, including watermelon, mangosteen, durian, fresh banana, sweet potato, dragon fruit, rambutan, mango, lychee, longan and jackfruit. At present, the two countries are completing all procedures to sign soon a protocol on quarantine requirements for fresh coconuts, which will open up export prospects for the Vietnamese fruits. China would be a huge market for Vietnamese coconuts with a demand of 2.6 billion fresh coconuts and of 1.5 billion coconuts for processing each year, said Tran Van uc, chairman of Ben Tre Coconut Investment JSC. With short transportation time and low costs, Vietnamese coconuts would be highly competitive. Currently China's own coconut output only meets about 10 per cent of domestic consumption demand. Therefore, Nguyen predicted that if the protocol is signed and local businesses exploit the advantages from this protocol, Viet Nam's coconut industry can earn $300 million more from the Chinese market. VNS HA NOI Viet Nam's labour market is experiencing a rising demand for Chinese-speaking professionals, according to a recent report by Navigos Search, the countrys premier executive search firm. The report, covering labour market trends for the first half of 2024, underscores the growing need for experienced personnel in sectors heavily influenced by Chinese investment, particularly in high-tech manufacturing. Navigos Search's analysis indicates that companies with Chinese backing are increasingly prioritising Mandarin proficiency in candidates for key roles. This trend aligns with China's evolving investment strategies in Viet Nam, which are increasingly focused on advanced industries like electronics, automotive components and industrial production. As these companies scale up their operations, the demand for skilled and seasoned professionals, particularly those with management expertise, has surged. Currently, experienced employees make up 68.26 per cent of the workforce in these sectors, with management positions accounting for nearly 22 per cent. Since 2019, amid US-China trade tensions and a slowing Chinese economy, Chinese investors have increasingly turned to Viet Nam. Chinese investment grew from US$2.92 billion in 2021 to $4.47 billion in 2023. In 2023, nearly 20 per cent of newly registered foreign direct investment (FDI) originated from China. In the first seven months of 2024, Viet Nam attracted $18 billion investments from 91 countries and territories, with China leading in the number of new projects, accounting for 29.7 per cent. Chinese investment in Viet Nam has surged over sevenfold, making China the sixth-largest foreign investor. The Vietnamese Government is actively encouraging further Chinese investment, particularly in sectors like innovation, green growth and digital transformation. According to Dr. To Hoai Nam, Vice Chairman and General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, noted that Chinese companies are highly responsive to global economic trends, enabling them to adapt swiftly and lead in these markets. The US-China trade tensions have prompted large corporations to shift production out of China, and Chinese firms within their supply chains have followed suit, leading to a significant increase in Chinese investment in Viet Nams supporting industries. Navigos Search's findings highlight the critical role of language skills in the evolving labour market, suggesting that the demand for Chinese-speaking professionals will continue to grow as Viet Nam strengthens its economic ties with China and other global partners. Hoan Tran, Associate Director of Navigos Search North, advised: "Currently, the high demand for Chinese-speaking candidates at Chinese enterprises has led to a limited supply of such candidates. To address this, companies might prioritise recruiting Chinese-speaking staff for a few key positions while using interpreters for additional support. In the long term, companies could consider programmes that encourage employees to learn Chinese on-site or offer study grants. Some Chinese companies also encourage their staff to learn English to facilitate international work. VNS HCM CITY Developing worldwide Vietnamese brands is a desire as well as a difficult problem facing experts, government leaders and businessmen. Nguyen Quoc Ky, Deputy Director of the HCM City Union of Business Association (HUBA), said that businesses face the urgent task of building global brands, while constantly greening, digitising and connecting deeply in the value chain of the economy. To have world-class brands, businesses must pay special attention to their business orientation, goals and the core values of the business. As the economic engine of the country, the city has opportunities to build and promote national brands and reach an international level. Ky said that currently the City People's Committee has many policies to support large businesses in building national and global brands. These policies have been very helpful in building world-class Vietnamese brands. However, policies to support small and medium-sized enterprises, which account for 90 per cent of all enterprises, are very limited. Accordingly, the city needs to develop support policies appropriate to the scale and orientation of each business model. Large businesses need supportive policies to build their brands, and small and medium-sized businesses need policies to support large businesses, experts said. VNS HA NOI After more than five years, the 'One Commune, One Product' (OCOP) programme has shown its effectiveness, contributing to the increase in income for Ha Noi's residents. Beyond just conquering the domestic market, many of Ha Noi's OCOP products are striving to establish their brand and quality on the international stage. Le Van Tam, who worked as a farmer abroad, gained 11 years of experience in agriculture in South Korea before returning to Viet Nam and deciding to start a high-tech agricultural business. In 2016, he established the Song Hong Agricultural Services Co-operative in ai Mach Commune, ong Anh District, Ha Noi, with an area of 1,500 sq.m. Speaking about the ECOS vegetable straws, which have been rated as OCOP 5-star, Le Van Tam shared that the co-operative has researched and produced straws from clean vegetables grown organically. After three years, the production process was perfected and the cooperative registered its brand and met export standards. The high-quality ECOS vegetable straws have since secured a solid market position, enabling the co-operative to export to South Korea, the UK and Germany. Located in the key dairy farming area of Ha Noi, Ba Vi Farm Milk Joint Stock Company in Van Hoa Commune, Ba Vi District, has had 14 products certified as OCOP since 2020. Nguyen Thi Mai, the companys director, stated that since obtaining the certification, the business has received support from Ha Noi's authorities to establish production processes. Their dairy products are now sold nationwide and have even reached markets in Laos and Cambodia. Nguyen Van Chi, Deputy Chief of the Ha Noi New-Style Rural Development Programme Coordination Office, said: "To date, Ha Noi has 2,711 OCOP products, making it a leading example nationwide in implementing the OCOP programme. Notably, Ha Nois OCOP products have established themselves in the domestic market and have begun to expand globally." While there are no specific statistics, many of Ha Noi's 4-5 star OCOP products, such as Quang Vinh Ceramic Company's ceramics (Gia Lam District), Minh Duong Food Companys vermicelli (Hoai uc District) and Phu Vinhs bamboo and rattan products (Chuong My District), have been exported to dozens of countries. Chi affirmed that Ha Noi's OCOP products have the potential to compete in international markets. The city's aim of bringing OCOP products to global markets has been exemplified by the participation of eight handicraft enterprises in the Italian market in December 2023. Ha Noi also collaborated with the European Union and Swedish partners to design products that meet European and global consumer tastes. The city has also signed agreements to integrate its craft villages into the global craft city network, attracting foreign partners to connect and distribute Van Phuc silk products. To further integrate Ha Nois OCOP products into international markets, Chi suggested that Ha Noi needs to continue supporting OCOP entities in refining production processes, enhancing product quality and focusing on product design. Additionally, trade promotion activities should be intensified to help OCOP products become strong brands recognised and consumed by both domestic and international customers. Ha Noi aspires for its OCOP products to represent not only the capital, but also to lead the way for Viet Nam in global markets. Nguyen Minh Tien, Director of the Agricultural Trade Promotion Centre, said that Ha Nois OCOP products, having secured a strong domestic market presence, are fully capable of reaching global markets. He encouraged OCOP entities to differentiate their products, understand global consumer psychology and needs and produce what the market demands rather than what they have. Therefore, it is crucial for traditional craft villages and OCOP entities to interact with global markets to apply appropriate production techniques. In 2024, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has selected some exemplary OCOP products for export promotion. The Agricultural Trade Promotion Centre will collaborate with various agencies to train companies in business management, product design, packaging, market positioning and opening sales channels. This article is published in coordination with the Ha Noi New-Style Rural Development Programme Coordination Office. VNS HCM CITY Sacombank has been honoured as the Best Company to Work for in Asia for a fourth consecutive year and as the Most Caring Company at the 2024 HR Asia Awards given by HR Asia magazine with the theme "The Definitive Z Choice. HR Asia used the Total Engagement Assessment Model (TEAM) to assess the satisfaction level of employees based on 35 criteria associated with three factors, Core (strategy - structure), Self (individual) and Group (collective), to select the list of leading enterprises with both sustainable growth and an ideal working environment. Sacombank was recognised in two prestigious categories in which it exceeded the market average score. Thanks to its vision and ability to forecast the labour market in the financial sector, Sacombank has made early preparations and invested heavily in technology. It has fully digitised its HR management, training and performance improvement, becoming a leading enterprise in digital transformation in the field of human resources. The bank always aims to ensure fairness and equality of opportunities between male and female employees. Currently its employees span Generations X to Z, with women employees accounting for 48.4 per cent. This has created a miniature society at Sacombank, where generations and genders can connect with each other in a friendly way, support each other and preserve and strengthen the identity and culture of the banks people with characteristics such as calmness, integrity, creativity, strength, and constantly striving forward. These awards demonstrate Sacombank's efforts in creating an excellent working environment for employees, always prioritising the interests and engagement of employees. This has motivated the entire system to increase productivity, ensuring effective implementation of the bank's development goals and strategies. Also last week Sacombank won three awards given by the International Data Group along with the Vietnam Banks Association and other organisations for 2024: "Outstanding Retail Banking Award," "Outstanding Digital Banking Award" and "Outstanding Bank for Small and Medium Enterprises Award". This is for a seventh consecutive year that the bank has been appreciated by award juries and customers for the quality of its products and services, performance results and contributions to the financial sector and society in general. VNS HA NOI The Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism has officially recognised pho Nam inh (Nam inh-style pho) and my Quang (Quang Nam-style noodle soup) as part of the national intangible cultural heritage list. Pho Nam inh has been categorised under the domain of folk knowledge, meeting the criteria of representation of community and local identity, reflection of cultural diversity and human creativity passed down through generations, possibility of revival and long-term existence, and the local community's consensus, voluntary nomination, and commitment to safeguarding. The northern province of Nam inh is celebrated as the birthplace of pho, a staple in the Vietnamese culinary culture, beloved both in Viet Nam and worldwide. Over time, the dish has become a symbol of pride for locals for its unique qualities in every stage of preparation from selecting ingredients and crafting the distinctive noodles to the careful cooking process that ensures each bowl maintains its authentic flavour and nutritional value. The recognition is a crucial step towards the Government's proposal to UNESCO, seeking its inclusion of pho in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Meanwhile, the ministrys decision to officially include the folk knowledge of the central province of Quang Nams my Quang in the national list followed a formal request from the provincial authorities in August last year. The craft of making my Quang is acknowledged for encapsulating the distinctive culinary values of the area. According to the Quang Nam People's Committee, the dish evolved alongside the southward migration of settlers, adapting to available ingredients and thus contributing to its rich and varied flavours. This versatile dish highlights the folk culinary culture of the land, appealing to a broad range of tastes and embodying the local history and folk knowledge. - VNA/VNS Hong Kong's Chief Executive Mr John Lee (left) meets with the Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, Mr Nguyen Ho Hai (right). Mr Lee (first right) visits a garment manufacturer in Vietnam headquartered in Hong Kong. Mr Lee speaks at a business luncheon in Vietnam co-organised by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Singapore and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach Newswire - 5 August 2024 - A high-level Hong Kong delegation, led by Chief Executive John Lee, has wrapped up a fruitful six-day visit to three Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states, namely Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam (28 July August 2, 2024).Adopting the theme of "Super-connecting New Pathways to Success", Mr Lee said the visit had achieved its goals, including strengthening bilateral ties and enhancing government-to-government and business-to-business co-operation across various sectors.A total of 55 memoranda of understanding (MOUs) were signed during the three-nation visit. They covered sectors ranging from economic co-operation, investment promotion, aviation services, information and technology, financial services and capital market development to trade, logistics co-operation, customs collaboration and education exchange.Mr Lee also highlighted five key results from the trip, including strengthening government-to-government relations and communications; reaching consensus on areas of development and co-operation; laying a solid foundation for future collaboration between Hong Kong and ASEAN; enhancing a shared strong will to contribute to the Belt and Road Initiative; and confirming the three countries' support for Hong Kong's accession to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership."We are very happy that the visit has reaped all these good results," Mr Lee said. "But what is even more important is the goodwill that we have built, and the friendship that we have created and strengthened."In Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, which was the last stop of the visit, 22 MOUs were exchanged to promote co-operation between various institutions and enterprises.Mr Lee also visited a garment manufacturer, which has its headquarters in Hong Kong, to learn more about the company's business development experience in Vietnam.Speaking at a business luncheon in Ho Chi Minh City, Mr Lee noted that Hong Kong had relaxed entrance visa requirements for Vietnam nationals wanting to visit Hong Kong. He also said that the MOUs would further boost tourism and education ties between Hong Kong and Vietnam."Two of our leading universities, the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, are, respectively, signing MOUs with three universities and a leading secondary school in Ho Chi Minh City. The agreements will present scholarship opportunities in undergraduate and graduate programmes, and promote educational collaboration." Mr Lee said.HKU's business school emphasised the advantages of pursuing a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Hong Kong.Dr Tuan Quang Phan (Director of the Representative Office of HKU in Vietnam and Associate Professor, HKU Business School) said, "Vietnamese business leaders are eager to learn more about doing business with their largest trading partner. Executives and students alike have shown keen interest in learning more about business opportunities in Hong Kong and Greater China."Consistently recognised as the most international university worldwide, HKU serves as a vital bridge between Hong Kong, Mainland China, Asia, and the global community. Notably, our MBA programme is also ranked as the top one-year MBA programme globally," Dr Tuan said, adding that Hong Kong boasts a rich history of academic excellence, anchored by numerous research institutions and top-ranked universities."As a global financial hub and a key part of the Greater Bay Area (GBA), Hong Kong is ideally positioned to attract top talent in AI, technology, healthcare, and digital business," Dr Tuan said. "The GBA, with its dynamic ecosystem, is emerging as a leader in global technology and healthcare sectors. Studying in Hong Kong, the central research hub of the GBA, places Vietnamese students at the forefront of both Western and Eastern technological advancements."Hashtag: #hongkong #brandhongkong #asiasworldcity #ASEAN #Laos #Cambodia #Vietnam #delegation #collaboration #business #exchange Wechat: The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Jacob Beltran covers crime, breaking news and general assignments for the Express-News. He can be reached at jbeltran@express-news.net. A San Antonio native, Jacob began his journalism career in 2010. He's worked for the student-run newspaper for San Antonio College, The Ranger, and for Texas A&M University-San Antonio, The Mesquite. He enjoys video games, photography and exploring during his free time. HA NOI Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Thi Phuong Hoa has been assigned to oversee the ministrys activities until the competent authority appoints a new minister as per regulations. The assignment was made in a decision signed by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. The decision became effective on August 10. Earlier, the 13th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Viet Nam found that ang Quoc Khanh, member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Party delegation and Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, former Secretary of the Party Committee of Ha Giang Province and head of the Delegation of Deputies to the 15th National Assembly of Ha Giang Province, has violated Party regulations in performing assigned duties and tasks, regulations on what Party members are not allowed to do, regulations on the responsibility to set a good example, and regulations on preventing and combating corruption and other negative phenomena. Therefore, the Party Central Committee agreed to let ang Quoc Khanh cease holding his position as a member of the 13th Party Central Committee. VNS HA NOI Working delegations of the Defence Ministries of Viet Nam and Laos on Monday inspected preparations for the second Viet Nam-Laos Border Defence Friendship Exchange in Moc Chau district of Viet Nams Son La province and Sop Bao district in Laoss Houaphanh province. Vietnamese Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lt. Gen. Hoang Xuan Chien and his Lao counterpart Sen. Lt. Gen. Vongkham Phommakone inspected several places where the programmes activities will be organised, including Long Sap border gate, a school where the two ministers will visit, and the venue for the talks between the two countries delegations will take place. They also gave recommendations in terms of protocol, logistics, transport, security and safety, and health care towards the best preparation to make the programme a success. The officers agreed that the exchange programme will be an opportunity to foster the close relationship between the two countries, and promote the sense of responsibility of their border protection forces to coordinate more closely and effectively in safeguarding the borderline and markers, fighting crimes, helping people to ease poverty, and building a shared borderline of peace, friendship, stability, cooperation and mutual development. The second Viet Nam-Laos Border Defence Friendship Exchange is scheduled to take place in the two above-mentioned districts in late October. Viet Nam and Laos share a border of more than 2,300km, running through 10 provinces of each nation. VNS HA NOI Party General Secretary and State President To Lam received the ambassadors of Argentina, Algeria, Germany, and the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) who came to present their credentials on August 12. Hosting Argentinian Ambassador Marcos Antonio Bednarski, Lam affirmed that Viet Nam always attaches importance to and wishes to further intensify the traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation with Argentina, a partner of leading importance in Latin America. He voiced his delight at the sustained development of bilateral relations and asked the ambassador to coordinate closely with the Vietnamese side to further promote the two countries friendship and all-round connections, maintain frequent high-level mutual visits and cooperation mechanisms, and perfect the legal framework for cooperation. On the basis of the sound relations, Argentina should keep working with Viet Nam to promote the launch of negotiations on a free trade agreement between the Southeast Asian nation and the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), thereby creating momentum for broader economic and trade ties between the two countries, as well as between Vietnam and the South American region, he suggested. The leader also said he believes that the ambassador will actively contribute to the countries friendship and cooperation, adding he will order Vietnamese ministries and sectors to coordinate with and assist the diplomat in his term in Viet Nam. Ambassador Bednarski expressed his honour to assume the duty in Viet Nam amid the flourishing bilateral ties, affirming that his countrys Government attaches great importance to relations with countries in the Asia-Pacific, of which Viet Nam is one of the leading partners. Pledging all-out efforts to step up bilateral partnerships in all spheres, he stressed that Viet Nam is an important trading partner of Argentina in Asia, and there remains much room for the two sides to elevate collaboration in the fields they are strong at. At the reception for Algerian Ambassador Sofiane Chaib, the Party and State leader noted Viet Nam highly values the role and standing of Algeria in Africa and the world, and that it treasures the time-tested friendship and cooperation with Algeria. He noted with satisfaction that bilateral ties have been advancing in multiple areas and called on the ambassador to actively coordinate with Vietnamese agencies to continue bolstering the relations, including by increasing high-level delegation exchanges and supporting each other at multilateral and international forums. The host also asked for fostering trade links with both sides interests balanced, maximising the current cooperation mechanisms, and promoting negotiations to sign cooperation deals in other fields like construction, security - crime combat, and education. Ambassador Chaib said bilateral trade has increased three-fold over the last 10 years, but potential remains substantial, and that in his term, he will do its utmost to contribute to bilateral cooperation in various areas. Algeria could serve as a gateway for Viet Nam to expand cooperation to other African markets, he went on, saying he hopes the two countries will share many values and principles and properly work together at multilateral forums, especially the United Nations. Talking to German Ambassador Helga Margarete Barth, Lam affirmed that the State and Government of Viet Nam always lay a stress on the reinforcement of the strategic partnership with Germany, which is a key member of the European Union and also has an important voice in the international arena. He thanked and called on the German Government to continue raising a strong voice to support the peaceful settlement of disputes in the East Sea (internationally known as the South China Sea) on the basis of international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to maintain peace, stability, freedom, security, and safety of navigation and overflight in the region, along with respect for international law. The Vietnamese leader said to tap into both sides potential, further deepen all-faceted cooperation, and elevate their strategic partnership, both countries should continue exchanging delegations at all levels, fruitfully carrying out dialogue mechanisms, and optimising the EU - Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). He asked Germany to soon ratify the EU - Viet Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), keep working closely with Viet Nam in the implementation of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), and share experience, transfer technology, and help Viet Nam train human resources for climate change response and green economy development. He also welcomed the German investments in manufacturing, transport, renewable energy, circular economy, and strategic infrastructure in Viet Nam. Lam also asked the two sides to increase exchanging university students, boost the use of the German and Vietnamese languages in each others countries, promote the mechanisms and frameworks for long-term cooperation in vocational training to help Vietnam develop high-quality human resources, and create conditions for Vietnamese to work in Germany. Ambassador Barth voiced her delight at the progress in political, diplomatic, trade, investment, and cultural partnerships. Highly valuing the countries educational cooperation, she announced that Germany will establish an international high school in Viet Nam and this will be a symbol of their cooperation. Barth added during her term in Viet Nam, she will focus on strengthening bilateral connections in economy and culture, and hopes to receive support from local authorities. Receiving Ambassador of the DPRK Ri Sung Guk, General Secretary and President Lam underlined Viet Nam's consistent stance of treasuring the traditional friendship with the DPRK, noting that Viet Nam wishes to cooperate more closely with the DPRK to develop bilateral collaboration on par with the two peoples aspirations for the sake of peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world. He expressed sympathies to the DPRK on its current hardships and voiced his belief that the country will soon gain stability and peace to secure prosperous development, move forward on the path to socialism, and ensure happiness and well-being for its people. The leader asked the two sides to continue cooperating closely with and supporting each other at international and regional forums amid fast and complex developments in the region and the world. Viet Nam is ready to make active contributions to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the Korean Peninsula and Asia-Pacific, he remarked. Ambassador Ri said it is his honour to work in Viet Namm, and that he hopes to work with relevant agencies of Viet Namto organise diverse activities in 2024 to mark the 60 years since then leader Kim Il Sung visited Viet Nam and ahead of the 75th founding anniversary of the bilateral diplomatic ties next year. At the meeting with Swedish Ambassador Johan Ndisi, Lam highlighted that the two countries traditional friendship has been continuously enhanced over the recent past. He emphasised many Swedish-funded projects substantial contributions to local socio-economic development and also welcomed Swedish businesses increased investment in the fields they are strong at, including infrastructure, transport, green transition, renewable energy, urban planning, and sustainable development. He asked the countries to foster people-to-people exchanges via educational, cultural - art, sport, tourism, and locality-to-locality collaboration so as to deepen mutual understanding, friendship, and overall cooperation. The two countries still hold considerable potential for tightening connections in such fields as trade - investment, education - training, science - technology, and renewable energy, he opined. Echoing his hosts view on the thriving bilateral relations for the last over 50 years, Ndisi said many large businesses of Sweden have invested in Viet Nam, and many more want to come here to explore investment and business opportunities in different areas. He added that Sweden hopes to boost ties in the fields of innovation, sustainable development, climate change response, and green transition, which are also among its strengths. The diplomat vowed to make concerted efforts during his term to continue nurturing the traditional friendship and sound cooperation between the two countries. VNS MOSCOW A high-ranking delegation of the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence led by Minister Gen. Phan Van Giang is attending the International Military-Technical Forum Army-2024 that kicked off at the Patriot Exhibition and Convention Centre in the suburb of Moscow on August 12 (local time). The delegation came to the forum at the invitation of Russian Minister of Defence Andrey Removich Belousov. Official military delegations from 83 countries are present at the three-day event, where more than 1,000 businesses and organisations from Russia and other countries are showcasing military and dual-use products, models, marketing documents, and related information. Army is a general exhibition and forum held annually by the Russian Ministry of Defence since 2015, providing a platform for many countries, businesses, and organisations in the defence industry to display their defence products. It includes an exhibition of advanced defence products from Russia and partner countries, along with symposiums on military technique and the defence industry. VNS MOSCOW A monument to the Vietnamese volunteer soldiers participating in the defence of Moscow in the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) was unveiled at Patriot Park in the suburb of the Russian capital on Monday. A high-ranking delegation of the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence led by Gen. Phan Van Giang, Politburo member, Vice Secretary of the Central Military Commission and Minister of National Defence, attended the event. The monument, titled Allies Vietnamese soldiers, was sculpted by Alexey Chebanenko. It depicts three Vietnamese soldiers, namely Ly Nam Thanh, Ly Anh Tao and Ly Thuc Chat, in the Soviet Unions Red Army uniform standing guard in a defensive position to protect Moscow and fight till their last breath. During 1926 - 1930, Nguyen Ai Quoc, later known as President Ho Chi Minh, introduced some patriotic Vietnamese youths to study in Moscow. When Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union, they voluntarily joined the international regiment of the independent motorised infantry brigade of special purpose (OMSBON), which was under the Soviet Unions Ministry of Internal Affairs, to engage in the fight to safeguard Moscow. In the 1941 - 1942 winter, volunteer soldiers of Viet Nam joined the troops and people of the Soviet Union to dislodge the Nazi forces from Moscow. Thanh, Tao, and Chat laid down their lives on the battlefield. In 1986, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet posthumously bestowed noble accolades on the soldiers. In 2020, the Russian Ministry of Defence asked the Vietnamese side to coordinate to review and consider the possibility of providing more information about the Vietnamese volunteer soldiers who took part in the defence of Moscow so as to add to the archives kept at the Road of Memory Museum at the Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces in the Patriot Park. The Vietnamese side also engaged in the monument sketching. At the ceremony, Minister Giang emphasised that the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence and the Vietnam Peoples Army appreciated the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces of Russia for erecting the monument. He said that this monument and the one to the Soviet Union/Russian and Vietnamese servicemen falling down for regional peace and stability in Viet Nams Khanh Hoa province were demonstrations of the historical tradition and also symbols of the efforts in strengthening the two countries comprehensive strategic partnership. For his part, Viktor Goremykin, Deputy Minister of Defence and Director General of the Military-Political Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces, highlighted the Vietnamese volunteer soldiers participation in the defence of Moscow, one of the important battles of the Great Patriotic War. He expressed his belief that such monuments would help keep the historical memories of the Great Patriotic War and also enhance cooperation and friendship between the two countries. VNS HA NOI Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan on Tuesday received Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn and a Thai royal delegation on the occasion of their working visit to Viet Nam. At the reception, on behalf of the State and the people of Viet Nam, Xuan thanked Thailand for flying the flag at half-mast on August 1-2 to commemorate the late General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. She emphasised that the gesture demonstrates the close relationship and understanding between Viet Nam and Thailand. Recalling her visit to Thailand in June 2022, Xuan said she was impressed by the country's development and the great achievements of the Thai people. Xuan said that she believes that, with the spiritual support of the Royal Family, the Thai people will unite to overcome all difficulties, continue to gain greater achievements in national development and Thailand will continue to play an active role in the region and the world. The Vice President appreciated the good sentiments that the Princess had for the country and people of Viet Nam, which was demonstrated through her six visits and her work Viet Nam An Long (Viet Nam at Peace) which she composed and performed at Chulalongkorn University in March 2024. Xuan also praised the results of the project on improving the quality of life of children and youth in the Asia-Pacific region that the Thai princess has sponsored since 2006. She thanked the princess for establishing the Princess Maha Chakri Award to honour individuals who have made positive contributions to the cause of education development. Five Vietnamese teachers have received the award since 2015. Xuan affirmed that the award has great influence, motivating teachers and bringing practical benefits to the education of Southeast Asian countries. For her part, Princess Maha Chakri said that the Thai Royal Family is very interested in implementing community support projects in Viet Nam. She affirmed that she will continue to expand the project for children and youth in Viet Nam, and contribute to the development of the friendship relations and cooperation between the two countries. Satisfied with the strong development of the Viet Nam - Thailand Strategic Partnership in recent times, both the host and the guest agreed to continue to support multi-faceted cooperation between the two countries. These include strengthening people-to-people exchanges, promoting the role of the Vietnamese community in Thailand, supporting the preservation of Vietnamese culture in Thailand, and aiming to upgrade the relationship between the two countries to a new level. On this occasion, Xuan conveyed the regards of Party General Secretary and President To Lam to the King and Queen Mother of Thailand. VNS HA NOI Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Tuesday hosted a reception for Japanese Ambassador Ito Naoki who has just begun his working term in Viet Nam. PM Chinh asked the ambassador to convey his thanks to leaders and people of Japan for sending the Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of Japan, former Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide, to attend the funeral of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. The PM expressed his satisfaction with the development of the relationship between the two countries over the past time, particularly their regular exchanges of delegations at all levels, and enhanced economic cooperation and linkages. He noted that Japan is one of the most important economic partners of Viet Nam, while people-to-people exchanges between the two countries have been expanding with the Vietnamese community in Japan now numbering more than 560,000. Appreciating Itos experience in working with Viet Nam, Chinh asked the ambassador to actively promote the implementation of the newly-upgraded comprehensive strategic partnership framework between the two countries. He hoped that the ambassador will promote political trust between the two countries via increasing high-level visits and contacts as well as defence and security cooperation. On this occasion, the PM conveyed an invitation of Party General Secretary and President To Lam to the Emperor, Empress, and members of the Japanese Royal Family to visit Viet Nam. He also asked the ambassador to help strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries, and expand the cooperation to new areas such as digital transformation, green transition, innovation, and net zero emissions. PM Chinh suggested that the ambassador work to promote technology transfer and innovation; cooperation in human resources, labour, locality-to-locality cooperation, cultural exchanges and people-to-people exchanges. In addition, the PM wished that the two countries will enhance cooperation in international and regional issues of mutual concern. For his part, Ambassador Ito said the most important task for him during the tenure in Viet Nam is to deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership of the two countries towards the next 50 years, adding that he has set a target to contribute to double the bilateral trade turnover between Viet Nam and Japan to US$100 billion in ten years. He committed to coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to promote the progress of projects agreed upon by the two countries' senior leaders; energise overseas development assistance (ODA) cooperation, promote new ODA projects for Viet Nam in the infrastructure sector; coordinate to promote the Viet Nam - Japan Joint Initiative in the new era to improve Viet Nam's investment environment. The ambassador also said that Japan will cooperate in training semiconductor and AI human resources for Viet Nam through the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). He affirmed his attention to push for more preferential policies for Vietnamese workers. He said Japan will create favourable conditions for Viet Nam to successfully participate in the World EXPO in Osaka in 2025. VNS HA NOI The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday issued a renewed warning to Vietnamese citizens, advising against travel to Lebanon, Iran, and Israel amid escalating tensions in the Middle East. Authorised by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ha Kim Ngoc, who heads the steering committee for the protection of Vietnamese citizens abroad, the Consular Department, acting as the committee's standing body, chaired a meeting on Tuesday. This meeting involved heads of Vietnamese representative agencies in Israel, Iran, and Egyptwhich concurrently oversees Lebanonand functional units within the ministry to discuss measures for safeguarding Vietnamese citizens amidst the tensions in the Middle East. During the meeting, Vietnamese representative agencies provided updates on developments and assessed and forecasted the regional situation in the coming period. Concerning the situation of Vietnamese citizens, the representative agencies reported regular coordination with local authorities to update citizen warnings. They are in close contact with Vietnamese associations and groups in host countries to understand the needs and wishes of overseas Vietnamese and prepare citizen protection plans for emergencies. Based on the information provided by the representative agencies, the steering committee will finalise citizen protection plans, including evacuation plans, for submission to the relevant authorities for approval. The ministry continues to advise Vietnamese citizens in the three countries to adhere to security and safety guidelines set by local authorities and to regularly check for warnings from the ministry via its Consular Department or the Vietnamese embassies in Egypt, Iran, Israel, and neighbouring countries for timely responses. For assistance, Vietnamese citizens should contact the following emergency hotlines: the Vietnamese Embassy in Israel at +972 50 818 6116; the Vietnamese Embassy in Iran at +98 21 224 11670; the Vietnamese Embassy in Egypt, responsible for Lebanon, at +20 1026 1398 69; or the citizen protection hotline of the Consular Department at +84 981 84 84 84, or email baohocongdan@gmail.com. VNS HA NOI Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh hosted a reception for the new Ambassador of New Zealand, Caroline Beresford, in Ha Noi on Tuesday. PM Chinh thanked the Government of New Zealand for extending condolences and sending a special envoy to Viet Nam to attend the funeral of late Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. The Vietnamese leader hailed the effective cooperation between the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs in implementing the results of his official visit to New Zealand in March this year, including New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters visit to Viet Nam to co-chair the second Viet Nam- New Zealand ministerial meeting in June. He said that 2025 will mark important milestones in the relationship between the two countries with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties and the fifth anniversary of the bilateral strategic partnership, which is an occasion for the two countries to organise meaningful activities, including high-level visits. PM Chinh said that he hopes to welcome PM Christopher Luxon to Viet Nam in 2025. He suggested that the two sides map out a roadmap along with steps and contents for the upgrade of their ties, and apply more breakthrough measures to achieve the goal of US$2 billion in two-way trade in 2024 and $3 billion in 2026, including the opening of doors for each other's products. PM Chinh expressed his hope that New Zealand will continue supporting Viet Nam in teaching English and provide training to Vietnamese officials, and expand people-to-people exchanges. For her part, Beresford said she is keen on working for more comprehensive and deeper ties between the two countries, heading to the upgrade of the ties. She pledged to cooperate with Viet Nam and New Zealand's agencies, ministries and sectors to promote bilateral collaboration in promising areas, including trade, investment, education, agriculture, climate change response, green and digital economy. She also mentioned the plan to organise activities to mark the 50th anniversary of the Viet Nam-New Zealand diplomatic relations in 2025, including meetings for businesses and students of the two sides. PM Chinh highly evaluated the ambassador's idea on stronger coordination at multilateral forums, and emphasised that the sharing of viewpoints on regional and international issues is a foundation for the two sides to increase cooperation, contributing to the building of the Asian-Pacific and Indian Ocean regions of peace, stability and development. VNS HA NOI As the new school year approaches, Le Cam Van and her husband in Thanh Hoa City of Thanh Hoa Province are anxiously preparing to pay the beginning-of-year school fees for their four children (two in primary school and two at five aged in pre-school class). Van said: "Both of us work freelance jobs with unstable incomes, so the start of each school year is very stressful, as we have to cover costs for fees, books, pens, and clothes for the children. This year, upon hearing that five-year-old pre-schoolers would be exempt from tuition fees, our whole family was overjoyed. For many, this fee might not seem significant, but for our family, every expense is doubled, so this exemption will greatly reduce our pressure," said the mother of four. The Government Decree No 81/2021/N-CP sets out that children aged five will be exempt from tuition when studying at public pre-schools from September 1, 2024. The policy of waiving tuition fees has alleviated the financial burden on families and created opportunities for all children to attend school. For Vy Thi Dip in Loc Binh District of northern Lang Son Province, the tuition-free policy for five-year-old pre-schoolers is a commendable, humane initiative in education. It ensures that children in rural areas and those from difficult backgrounds can attend school with peace of mind, Dip said. In mountainous provinces like Lang Son, the tuition fee exemption makes the task of ensuring pre-school education is universal much easier, as schools and teachers can more effectively encourage children to attend. Vuong Hoang Binh, a parent in Thu uc City of HCM City, whose child is entering a pre-school class this year, said: "At the start of the school year, there are many expenses, so our family is struggling. Hearing that from September onwards, five-year-old pre-schoolers will not have to pay tuition, I was very relieved. The money saved on tuition fees can now be spent on milk or school supplies for my child," the father said. Meanwhile, Lo Van at and his wife, who have been renting a space to run a food stall in Son La City in Son La Province for five years, said that after covering business and living expenses, they can hardly save any money. They have to carefully balance their budget to pay rent and school fees for their two daughters attending pre-school. at said: "When I heard that five-year-old pre-schoolers would be exempt from tuition fees, I was overjoyed. This is great news for low-income families. With the reduced tuition costs, the children can have an extra carton of milk or a new shirt." Pham Bich Ngoc, the principal of Ta Hoc Pre-school in Son La Provinces Mai Son District, told giaoducthoidai.vn that Ta Hoc is a particularly disadvantaged commune in the district, where all of the population are ethnic minorities living in difficult conditions. "We are thrilled to know that from this school year, all five-year-old children in public pre-schools will be exempt from tuition fees," Ngoc said. "This support will greatly assist us in maintaining student attendance, especially for five-year-old pre-schoolers. This is also a crucial school year, ensuring that children meet the standards set in readiness for grade 1." Humane policy ang Thi Cam Tu, head of the Pre-school Education Department at a Nang Citys Department of Education and Training, noted that public pre-schools tend to see a 'drop' in the number of five-year-old students at two key points, the beginning of the school year and after the Lunar New Year. During these periods, many parents withdraw their children from pre-school to focus on literacy in preparation for grade 1, Tu said. Most public pre-schools adhere to the regulation against teaching literacy to pre-schoolers. However, some private schools 'break the rules' and teach literacy to the younger pupils. The competition among private pre-schools to teach literacy, combined with the proliferation of literacy prep classes charging fees similar to pre-school, has led parents to enrol their children in these classes for an entire school year before grade 1, Tu explained. At present, all localities have completed the universalisation of five-year-old pre-school education, but in fact the process is mainly focused on encouraging children to attend school only without certification of completion for pre-school programme, Tu said. As a result, a proportion of five-year-olds remain outside the pre-school system, including both public and private schools. Therefore, the policy of waiving tuition fees for five-year-old pre-schoolers will help attract more children to school, ensuring they are well-prepared, both developmentally and psychologically, for grade 1, she said. Dr. Bui Hong Quan, head of the Pre-Education Department at HCM Citys University of Education, believed that waiving tuition fees for five-year-old pre-schoolers is a humane policy. This policy has multiple impacts, first and foremost providing opportunities for children in disadvantaged areas to attend school. Moreover, the policy will reduce the workload for teachers, particularly in pre-schools, said Quan "In difficult areas, pre-school teachers not only teach but also have to persuade parents to send their children to school to complete the universalisation of five-year-old pre-school education. When the tuition-free policy is implemented, parents will feel more secure about tuition, leading to higher enrolment rates and less pressure on schools to encourage children to attend," he said. The education expert also hoped that as the tuition-free policy is implemented, the increased number of children attending school will influence teacher training institutions to take steps and make preparations to enhance both the quantity and quality of pre-school teacher training. Praising the tuition-free policy, Tran La Giang, head of the Education and Training Department in Son La City said: "Currently, children in pre-schools in urban areas do not receive tuition exemptions or support, even though many families face financial difficulties and unstable incomes. Therefore, waiving tuition fees for all pre-schoolers is a significant relief for parents and teachers." Limited revenue Tran Thi Anh Hoa, head of the Education and Training Department in Mai Son District (Son La Province), maintains that the tuition-free policy will expand educational opportunities for children in the district and alleviate difficulties for parents, creating favourable conditions for encouraging children to attend school regularly and on time, thereby maintaining student numbers in educational institutions. In Bac Tra My District of central Quang Nam Province, only the pre-school in the town charges tuition, while the other schools offer full exemptions, even providing support for school supplies. Therefore, the revenue from tuition fees for five-year-old pre-schoolers is not significant compared to the expenditure from the State budget. Implementing tuition exemptions for five-year-olds will not significantly affect teaching and childcare activities in schools. Quang Nam Province is planning to propose tuition exemptions for students in pre-schools and general education institutions starting from the 2024-2025 school year. Thai Viet Tuong, director of the provincial Department of Education and Training, believed that this is a popular measure and proposes that the provincial budget should be calculated to compensate for the tuition fees not collected to ensure the schools' operations. During a discussion at the 24th session of the Provincial People's Council in July on fee exemptions, Vu Van Tham, secretary of the Phu Ninh District Party Committee said it was not a significant amount saying: "The fee of VN15,000-20,000 (59-70 US cent) per month does not significantly contribute to the State budget." Similarly, Tran Thi Bich Thu, head of the Culture and Society Committee of the Provincial People's Council, said: "If this is implemented from the 2024-2025 school year, it would be very welcome and I suggest the Provincial People's Committee consider the budget balance and submit a proposal to the Provincial People's Council to support tuition fees for children." VNS A judge has refused to dismiss criminal charges against Abilene Schnieder, left, and Christian Alexander Moreno, whose dogs attacked and killed Air Force veteran Ramon Najera Jr., 81. Schnieder and Moreno will stand trial together in September. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Abilene Schnieder testifies during a pretrial hearing in April in San Antonio. She and her husband, Christian Moreno, will stand trial in connection with a dog attack that killed Air Force veteran Ramon Najera Jr., 81, and injured his wife. Schnieder and Moreno owned the dogs. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Air Force veteran Ramon Najera Jr., 81, of Leon Valley, was killed by two pit bulls that escaped from their yard in the 2800 block of Depla Street on San Antonio's West Side on Feb. 24, 2023. Courtesy photo/Raymond Najera Air Force veteran Ramon Najera Jr. (second from left), 81, of Leon Valley, was killed by two pit bulls that escaped from their yard in the 2800 block of Depla Street on San Antonio's West Side on Feb. 24, 2023. With him, from left to right, are his wife Juanita "Janie" Najera, who was injured in the dog attack; his mother, Genevieve Najera; and his son Raymond. Courtesy photo/Raymond Najera Juanita "Janie" Najera, whose husband, Ramon Najera Jr., 81, was killed in a dog attack last year, is greeted by Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales at a news conference to announce a grand jury indictment against the dogs' owners. Billy Calzada/San Antonio Express-News A judge has shot down an effort to dismiss criminal charges against a San Antonio couple whose pit bulls killed an elderly Air Force veteran and injured his wife in a gruesome attack on the West Side last year. The rulings by State District Judge Velia Meza clear the way for dog owners Christian Alexander Moreno and Abilene Schnieder, both 32, to stand trial in a Bexar County courtroom in September. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Meza this week denied pretrial motions by the defense to dismiss charges against the couple on the grounds that they were subject to entrapment and outrageous governmental conduct by animal control officials. Those claims were aired at court hearings earlier this year. Moreno and Schnieder will stand trial together. Jury selection is set to begin Aug. 30. Testimony will start Sept. 9. Each of them is charged with a dangerous dog attack causing death and recklessly causing injury to an elderly person. The pair were arrested after two of their pit bulls escaped from their yard in the 2800 block of Depla Street and attacked bystanders around 12:30 p.m. on Feb. 24, 2023. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The dogs killed Ramon Najera Jr., 81, of Leon Valley, and injured his wife, Juanita Janie Najera, now 75. They were in the neighborhood to visit the home of a friend who lived next door to the animals. Their friend is a seamstress, and they wanted to drop off a pair of trousers for her to hem. A witness who tried to stop the mauling recorded a 53-second video that showed Ramon Najera yelling for help as one of dogs repeatedly bit him while he was on the ground. The dog could be seen ripping a dialysis shunt from Najeras body before the elderly veteran collapsed face-down and lost consciousness. Najera died at University Hospital. His wife was hospitalized for several days. RELATED: Woman loses baby after car crash caused by dog attack The dogs also bit a neighbor and a San Antonio Fire Department captain who tried to get them under control. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Morenos and Schnieders attorneys sought to blame San Antonio Animal Care Services for the attack. The city agency had picked up the dogs after a previous mauling that injured a man six weeks earlier. Defense attorneys argued that ACS should not have returned the dogs to Moreno and Schnieder without formally declaring them dangerous a designation that would have required the couple to keep the animals in enclosures, muzzle them if they were on leashes outside their enclosures, secure a $100,000 insurance policy, spay or neuter the animals and attend a responsible pet ownership class, among other conditions. Moreno and Schnieder were led to believe that spaying and neutering the dogs and relying on unspecified harnessing and tethering methods was sufficient, their attorneys motions said. Schnieder testified during a pretrial hearing in April that she had considered giving up the dogs when ACS first seized them because she couldnt afford the veterinary fees and fines. But Schnieder said she reached a compromise allowing her to reclaim the canines if she paid ACS $200, substantially less than what she owed in fines. She testified that the dogs were returned to her after they had been sterilized, and she claimed that ACS provided little to no instruction in safe pet ownership. Advertisement Article continues below this ad ACS officials, including former director Shannon Sims and Lt. Bethany Snowden, testified at pretrial hearings about why the dogs were returned to their owners after the earlier mauling. Sims said ACS could not legally declare the dogs dangerous without a sworn affidavit from a victim or a firsthand witness complaining about the animals. In denying the defense motions to dismiss the charges, the judge said she found the ACS officials truthful and credible. The attack on the Najeras was one in a string of maulings across San Antonio last year, two of them deadly, that called attention to the citys problem with aggressive dogs. In the other fatal attack, Paul Anthony Striegl Jr., 47, was mauled in September 2023 by a dog that escaped from his next-door neighbors yard in a trailer park on the Northeast Side. Striegl was rushed to Brooke Army Medical Center, where he died weeks later of complications from the attack. HCM CITY HCM City authorities will implement measures, including adoption of drone technology, to address the safety risks of falling trees following recent incidents. The HCM City Green Tree and Park Company has proposed using drones to assess urban trees at risk of falling. The company suggested renting a 40-metre vehicle to address any identified tree defects and specialised equipment for trimming problem branches in parks and along roadways. A task force of engineers and specialists will conduct regular assessments, with training from a professional team in Singapore focused on trees over 20 years old. Experts warned the rainy season (May-November) may worsen tree conditions due to urban development limiting their access to water and sunlight. Residents are advised to avoid standing under trees or traveling during storms. The company oversees nearly 100,000 trees and regularly inspects and removes those that are aging or diseased, although assessing tree stability can be challenging since some healthy-looking trees may still pose risks. HCM City has recently faced multiple incidents of falling trees, leading to accidents. Last Friday, a 10-metre branch fell on elderly exercisers in Tao an Park, killing two people and injuring three, despite clear weather. The victims, aged 60 to 62, died at the scene, and the branch showed no signs of disease. Earlier, a 15-metre tree fell on a motorcyclist in District 3, while last month, a branch damaged a vehicle on Ngo Gia Tu Street. The Department of Transport said there are over 122,650 trees in the city, with 6,000 needing urgent care. VNS HA NOI The Food Safety Department has urgently called for the traceability and recall of products that do not meet food safety standards during the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival next month. It also emphasised strict penalties for violations and the public disclosure of the names and addresses of the offending establishments. According to the department, with the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, there has been a sharp increase in the demand for sweets, especially mooncakes. Alongside reputable businesses producing safe products, there are still some organisations and individuals secretly introducing illicit sweets into the market, with unclear origins. To ensure food safety, prevent food poisoning, and protect consumer rights and health, the department issued document No. 1964/ATTP-NTT on strengthening food safety and hygiene measures during the Mid-Autumn Festival. It was sent to the Office of the People's committees, health departments, and food safety management authority of provinces and cities requesting to direct relevant units to implement measures to ensure food safety. The relevant agencies were asked to carry out inspections and checks on the compliance of food safety regulations by manufacturing, processing and trading establishments of mooncake, sweetmeats, beverage and traditional food. Additionally, it is crucial to promptly trace and recall products that fail to meet food safety standards, strictly penalise violations and publicly disclose the names of establishments, addresses and types of products that violate regulations via mass media. If any criminal signs are detected, the cases should be transferred to the police for handling according to the law. The Food Safety Department urged units to actively cooperate with media agencies to strengthen communication, education, and information on food safety during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Food production and trading establishments must comply with legal regulations on food safety, including requirements on facilities, equipment, knowledge, and practices of those directly involved in production, as well as regulations on the origin of food ingredients, product declarations, the use of colourings, flavourings, additives, food packaging and labelling. Consumers should be guided on how to select, process, preserve and use food safely. They should only purchase and use food and food additives with full labelling, clear origin and should not use food additives that are outside the permitted list, or use them incorrectly or in excessive amounts. Local authorities have to direct their health units to prepare plans, standby forces, vehicles, materials and chemicals to be ready for emergency treatment of food poisoning cases as well as investigate food poisoning incidents, determine the causes, and take preventive measures to reduce the risks of food poisoning and foodborne diseases. In the first six months of this year, there were 36 reported food poisoning cases nationwide, affecting 2,138 people and resulting in six deaths. The Ministry of Health has repeatedly reminded provinces and cities to strictly handle and suspend operations of non-compliant establishments and thoroughly trace the origins of the products involved. VNS HA NOI Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha on Tuesday chaired a meeting on a draft decree to encourage rooftop solar power, highlighting simplified processes for effective development. Addressing the meeting, he emphasised logical, comprehensive, scientific and economic approaches in drafting the document, which will be considered as part of the national Power Development Plan 8 (PDP8) to ensure energy security and respond to socio-economic development demands. The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) is directed to work on certification for self-sufficient solar power development at residential and office buildings, ensuring that this process is: As simple as possible, without creating new administrative hurdles. Rooftop solar power in the northern region still has much room for growth, therefore, policies are necessary to encourage effective investment and development, said the deputy PM. The MoIT will review the load demand and transmission capacity to adjust the plans and facilitate rooftop solar power growth. According to the MoITs proposal, a residential solar power system in the north can sell its excess electricity to the national grid - 20 per cent of its actual installed capacity at maximum. This figure is 10 per cent for the remaining regions of the country. The Vietnam Electricity (EVN) will pay for the surplus energy contributed to the national grid at a price that is less than or equal to the average market electricity price of the previous year. This is expected to ensure appropriate incentives during different growth stages of the national grid. Deputy PM Ha noted that technical management measures are necessary to monitor the capacity of self-sufficient solar power systems connected to the national power grid, especially the medium-voltage grid systems, to ensure safety. He delegated the MoIT, the EVN and relevant departments to work on this matter and submit a report to the PM for necessary adjustments to the national power development plans. According to the MoITs report presented at the meeting, after taking into consideration comments from other ministries, businesses and experts, the MoIT has adjusted and amended policies to encourage self-sufficient rooftop solar power. Home-based solar electricity systems that are not connected to the national grid are prioritised, allowing unlimited capacity and exemption from having to obtain an electricity operating licence. In the case where a residential rooftop solar power systems capacity is over 1MW and its owner chooses to sell the surplus energy to the national grid, they will have to complete the application procedures for an electricity operating licence as per the laws. To simplify registration processes for self-sufficient rooftop solar power systems, provincial-level Peoples Committees will be responsible for drafting and issuing streamlined procedures for organisations and individuals to register their rooftop solar power systems. The committees will also delegate management authority to guide the solar power system owners in this process, ensuring law compliance as well as them meeting environmental, electrical and fire safety requirements . According to EVN general director Nguyen Anh Tuan, the northern regions power grid currently counts about 700MW of rooftop solar power, while the systems capacity can accommodate around 7,000MW. o Van Nam, an executive board member of EVNs Northern Power Corporation believes that if this decree is approved, people will not only save money on their electricity bills but also recover their investment into their rooftop solar power system after just five or six years. The average lifespan of a solar panel is currently between 12-15 years. VNS The new fund will continue investing in early-stage tech-enabled companies in Southeast Asia with pre-launch, pre-seed, and seed capital. Part of the funding will support startups formed during the Antler Residency Programmes held across Southeast Asia, where $6 million has been earmarked for Vietnam. Open to startups with co-founders already in the early stages, as well as individuals with the experience and potential to become founders, the residency will provide unique access to a community of entrepreneurs, building expertise, a global network of institutional investors, and capital from day zero. The next cohort for Vietnam is scheduled to kick off in October this year. The fund has already invested in promising companies like biodegradable bioplastic solution BUYO, silica-based thermal energy storage system Alterno, and supply chain and manufacturing platform for fashion brands Inflow, and more. Jussi Salovaara, co-founder and managing partner of Antler, said, SEA Fund II marks the next chapter in Antlers mission in backing founders from the earliest stages through their growth. Technological advancements in AI, access to capital, and a growing market in Southeast Asia have created a remarkable environment for innovation and breeding global leaders. We are also grateful for the support of our investors, as Antler continues to champion founders from inception through their growth with innovative solutions. Antler SEA Fund II is supported by global and regional limited partners, with over half of the fund composed of institutional investors, including a sovereign wealth fund, pension fund, and university endowment. The funds close comes amid quality deals and an increasing investor appetite for early-stage investments, driven by rapid digitalisation, rising middle class, and strong economic growth prospects across the region. Preqin data also indicates a significant increase in early-stage investments worldwide, with seed deal sizes rising by 112 per cent and Series A deals up 31 per cent on average. To support founders from the earliest stages of building to growth stage, Antler has introduced ARC (Agreement for Rolling Capital), a newly launched fundraising initiative for early-stage founders to secure up to $600,000, including the initial investment, pro rata follow-on, and ARC, within the first nine months of a company's lifecycle. Antler will also continue to invest up to $10 million of scale-up capital in growth-stage startups from Series A onwards through its emerging growth fund, Antler Elevate. The $285 million fund invests globally in breakout companies, including within Antlers early-stage funds. Antlers SEA Fund I has invested in 91 companies, including e-SIM marketplace Airalo, platform for refurbished electronic devices Reebelo, smart point-of-sale system provider Qashier, AI-driven financial data automation platform Bluesheets, and modern expense management solution Volopay. Globally, Antler has invested in more than 1,000 startups across a wide range of fields. Singapores venture capital funds covering all bases Singapore venture capital funds remain the most active investor in Vietnam, with ongoing investments into local startups and potential targets ranging from renewable energy to electric vehicles. Singaporean venture capital firm Antler to set foot in Vietnam Singaporean early-stage venture capital firm Antler has recently unveiled plans to expand its presence to Vietnam within this year. A*STAR's chief executive, Frederick Chew, and Dr. David Low, CEO of the Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Centre, led a Singaporean delegation to meet with Vietnam SuperPort a joint venture between YCH Group of Singapore and Vietnam's T&T Group. The visit marked the start of discussions on cutting-edge technological collaborations to elevate the competitive edge of Vietnams logistics sector. The discussions focused on leveraging the strengths of both organisations to enhance supply chain efficiency and advance the regions sustainable development goals. Both parties agreed to collaborate in co-creating advanced technologies, with a commitment to deploying them to accelerate the digital transformation of Vietnam's logistics sector through Vietnam SuperPort. Vietnam SuperPorts CEO, Dr. Yap Kwong Weng shared the vision to build a world-class logistics port, integrating cutting-edge technologies and a resilient multimodal supply chain network, with the goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2040. Initial sustainability efforts will leverage clean energy and advanced technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The CEO said: Vietnam SuperPort aims to move beyond technology transfers by co-creating advanced technologies and automation solutions with global partners. Our goal is to drive innovation in the logistics sector and become Southeast Asias first net-zero multimodal logistics port, harnessing clean energy and efficiency." The discussion resulted in the identification of several key areas for potential collaboration, including in AI and robotics, to significantly enhance Vietnam's logistics capabilities and support sustainable development. The strategic collaboration will focus on the rapid deployment of co-created technologies to strengthen Vietnam's position as a logistics hub in the region. YCH Group is Singapores leading home-grown,end-to-end supply chain solutions partner to some of the world's largest companies and favourite brands across more than 100 cities in the Asia-Pacific region. It focuses on boosting productivity and sustainability for its customers with its proprietary best-in-class suite of award-winning solutions across industries such as fast-moving consumer goods, electronics, chemicals, healthcare, cold chain logistics, and e-commerce. Vietnam SuperPort is an 83-hectare, multi-modal logistics port located in Vinh Phuc province. It is a strategic joint venture between YCH Group, Singapores leading supply chain solutions provider with nearly 70 years of industry leadership, and T&T Group (Vietnam), and is among the top 10 largest multi-sector private economic corporations in Vietnam. It aims to enhance Vietnam's integration into global supply chains, reduce logistics costs, and boost the countrys competitive edge in international trade. A*STAR is Singapore's lead public sector R&D agency. Through open innovation, A*STAR collaborates with partners in both the public and private sectors to benefit the economy and society. It bridges the gap between academia and industry, with research that creates economic growth and jobs for Singapore, and enhancing lives by improving societal outcomes in healthcare, urban living, and sustainability. A*STAR also plays a key role in nurturing scientific talent and leaders for the wider research community and industry. Its activities span biomedical sciences to physical sciences and engineering, with research entities primarily located in Biopolis and Fusionopolis. YCH Group and T&T Group break ground on Vietnam SuperPortTM logistic hub YCH Group, the Asia-Pacifics leading integrated end-to-end supply chain management and logistics partner, and Vietnamese conglomerate T&T Group held a ground-breaking ceremony for Vietnam SuperPortTM-Vinh Phuc ICD Logistics Centre on December 23. Vietnamese and Singaporean firms partner to improve supply chain connectivity Singapore's supply chain and logistics provider YCH has signed inaugural MoUs with Vietnam Airlines (VNA) and Vietnam Railways Corporation (VNR) to establish multimodal connectivity for the Vietnam SuperPort. In early August, TT Capital Investment Corporation and two Japanese partners - Cosmos Initia and Koterasu Group - agreed to develop affordable housing line in Binh Duong province and surrounding localities. Part of Binh Duong new city - Photo: Sycamore The consortium announced it would splash around $150 million across five years, each year introducing thousands of affordable housing units into the market. This consortium has also pooled capital into a real estate venture in Di An city with a scale of around 2,000 apartments, each costing below VND2 billion ($83,000). The products are slated for launch before the end of Q3.. Elsewhere, Bcons Group, a business with a pipeline of social housing projects in Binh Duong, is to work with Thais Asset Limited to deploy 11 housing projects in the province, with a scale of nearly 9,000 apartments in the affordable housing segment. Back in June, the developer announced expediting a scheme to build more than 2,000 affordable homes in Di An city in 2025. In April, Kim Oanh Group inked an investment cooperation agreement to implement the One World urban area project with three Japanese partners, Sumitomo Forestry, Kumagai Gumi, and NTT Urban Development. The project, valued more than $1 billion, connects with arterial roads such as Nguyen Thi Minh Khai and Ring Road 3 of Ho Chi Minh City. Meanwhile, CapitaLand from Singapore also kicked-off construction of its Sycamore housing project over 19ha in Binh Duong early this year. The project aims to build around 3,500 apartments to meet housing needs for 13,000 people with a total investment value approximating $750 million. According to Ronald Tay, CEO of CapitaLand Vietnam, the Sycamore project is a testament to their trust in Binh Duongs real estate market. Not only a locality with a strategic position, a conducive business environment and quality infrastructure, Binh Duong is also one of the localities with dynamic development and strong foreign investment attraction, said Tay. Giang Quoc Dung, chairman of the Binh Duong Real Estate Association, noted that investors from Japan, Singapore, Thailand, and China are those paying the largest attention to the housing segments with real demands. They, therefore, have poured capital into Binh Duong, a vibrant development centre. "The locality has multiple advantages as it is adjacent to localities with strong development as Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai. There is also enough available land for the development of high rises, plus a conducive investment environment and a quick legal setup," Dung said. In addition, a proven track record of cooperation between Binh Duong and global brands such as Warburg Pincus, Sembcorp, Tokyu, CapitaLand Development, and AEON is deemed one of the factors leading to foreign-invested businesses in real estate to have practical views about the advantages of this locality. Along with that, many local businesses want to inject capital into Binh Duongs realty market, focusing on the affordable housing line. For instance, in October Phat Dat Real Estate Development Corporation is to present its Thuan An 1 and Thuan An 2 high-rise residential complexes in downtown Thuan An city. Four Singaporean groups receive investment licences in Binh Duong Binh Duong People's Committee has granted investment certificates to four Singaporean enterprises with the total investment capital of nearly $182 million. German investors eager for Binh Duong Binh Duong Peoples Committee held a meeting on March 19 with the German Business Association (GBA) in Vietnam, along with 40 German firms wishing to explore investment opportunities in the region. At a seminar themed Investment Pioneers for the Dual Transformation hosted by VIR on August 12, experts from the government and business sectors shared insights on digital and green transformation towards international integration and attracting foreign investment. Speakers at the seminar Investment Pioneers for the Dual Transformation hosted by VIR on August 12 AEON Vietnam, known as one of the most successful foreign retailers in Vietnam, has transitioned customer membership cards from hard plastic to mobile app accounts. This means that instead of issuing paper vouchers and shopping tickets, customers now accumulate points and redeem vouchers through the mobile app. All processes have been digitised. This initiative integrates both green and digital transformation, reducing costs and the use of plastic and paper while enhancing customer convenience and minimising payment errors, said Nguyen Bang Lang, head of sustainable development and external affairs at AEON Vietnam. As the largest coffee buyer in Vietnam, Nestle has also contributed to its success in the market through green technology and production with the Nescafe 2030 Plan, which embraces regenerative agriculture, and focuses on farmers. "We have implemented digitalisation to develop farm logs and digitise cultivation processes, allowing farmers to track agricultural metrics, replacing traditional handwritten records that lacked scientific data. This monitoring system was developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the 4C Certification System," said Le Hoai Thuong, senior communications and external affairs manager at Nestle Vietnam. Through the Nescafe Plan and its regenerative agriculture approach, Nestle Vietnam has achieved a 40 per cent reduction in water usage and a 20 per cent reduction in fertiliser use. Many coffee farms now use entirely organic fertilisers, and some farmers have seen their income increase by 30-100 per cent. "In December, Vietnam will need to implement new extended producer responsibility regulations for exporting coffee to Europe. Given their familiarity with green technology and sustainable production, Nestle farmers are willing and proactive in making Vietnamese coffee internationally competitive," added Thuong. Dual transformation is still the playground of large corporations and businesses. Despite government policies supporting digital and green transformation, implementation remains slow, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) facing high investment costs and financial constraints. According to the Agency for Enterprise Developments (AED) annual survey, most SMEs are only at the initial stage of digitalisation, with less than three per cent mastering technology and management software. While the Vietnamese government has issued various policies to support digital and green transformation, practical implementation is still sluggish. SMEs face challenges from high investment costs and a lack of financial resources. Green credit support policies are under consideration, but criteria for green projects are still being discussed, delaying deployment, said Bui Thu Thuy, deputy general director of the AED under the Ministry of Planning and Investment. Dual transformation an essential choice for business Accelerating digital and green transformation is expected to help Vietnam enhance the efficiency of attracting foreign investment. Driving dual transformation Vietnam's Ministry of Planning and Investment and the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ) have released a report titled Business digital transformation 2023: Digital Transformation, Green Transformation. Lens production at a Japanese-invested firm in the northern province of Hoa Binh. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi Vietnams foreign direct investment (FDI) attraction continues to prosper in July, and quality of FDI capital flows increase sharply thanks to careful project selection, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said at a recent regular Government meeting last month. According to the ministrys Foreign Investment Agency, the total registered FDI capital in Vietnam this year to the end of July surpassed 18 billion USD, up 10.9 per cent over the same period in 2023. Notably, disbursed FDI capital reached more than 12.55 billion USD, up 8.4 per cent over the same period last year. This is the highest volume of FDI capital disbursed in the January-July period in the last five years. Many international organisations projected that with this momentum, the volume of disbursed FDI capital in the coming time will continue to rise. An improved business environment and the implementation of major infrastructure projects can facilitate FDI attraction. Moreover, foreign investors are very interested in the semiconductor industry in Vietnam. Minister Dung said that to further attract FDI in the coming time, the ministry will work to reduce difficulties for investors, especially those relating to institutions, laws, and administrative procedures. Vietnam will focus on attracting large-scale, high-quality, high-tech FDI projects in the processing, manufacturing, electronics, and semiconductor industries. Regarding the development of the semiconductor industry in Vietnam, Dung affirmed that the recent coordination between the National Innovation Center (NIC) and domestic and international partners to develop microchip design training programmes is an important step to help Vietnam to gradually master semiconductor technologies. According to the Dong Nai Industrial Zones Authority (DIZA), in the first seven months of this year, the province attracted more than 1 billion USD in FDI, 46 per cent higher than its planned target. Newly licensed FDI projects in the province during the period were mainly in the semiconductor manufacturing, electrical and electronic components, mechanical engineering, textiles, and prefabricated metal products. None of the projects were in the list of industries with factors causing environmental pollution or labour-intensive industries. They all met criteria on advanced technology, said the DIZA. Chairman of Binh Duong Provincial Peoples Committee Vo Van Minh said that to attract high-quality FDI, Vietnam needs to offer more incentives to hi-tech projects, continue administrative reforms and improve infrastructure, especially those to link airports, seaports, and major provinces/cities with industrial centres. In addition, energy infrastructure also requires investment and upgrade, especially the development of renewable energy projects that meet the requirements of high-tech projects, protect the environment, and minimise CO2 emissions, he said. Industrial property ready for welcoming high-tech FDI wave The industrial property sector, particularly Soilbuild, is enhancing its factories and services to draw in foreign direct investment (FDI) in high technologies Industrial property could become next key FDI magnet Experts at last weeks Vietnam Industrial Property Forum 2024, co-organised by Vietnam Investment Review and the Vietnam Industrial Real Estate Association in Ho Chi Minh City, confirmed that stable foreign investment growth is providing a strong foundation for the industrial property sector. Foreign investors predicted to focus more on ASEAN Foreign direct investment (FDI) in ASEAN, including Thailand, will increase thanks to the global trend of relocating manufacturing bases amid heightened US-China trade tensions, according CIMB Thai (CIMBT). Hong Kong's expertise to help develop Ho Chi Minh City During his visit to Vietnam from July 31August 2, Hong Kong chief executive John Lee expressed his willingness to share the special administrative region's experience of building a global a financial centre with Ho Chi Minh City. Mekong Delta urged to strengthen connectivity to attract FDI firms Facilitating the foreign direct investment (FDI) flows is an effective solution to drive the development in the Mekong Delta region, according to insiders. In addition, Ha Tinh Peoples Committee will collaborate with Vingroup to kick off the construction of Vinhomes Vung Ang IP in late 2024. The moves were discussed at a meeting of Ha Tinh People's Council in early August to analyse the socioeconomic situation in the first half of the year and set out directions for the rest of 2024. In mid-July, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha approved a Vinhomes investment proposal for a new IP in Ky Anh town, at a cost of $528 million. The project, named Vinhomes Vung Ang IP, is spearheaded by Vinhomes IP Investment Corporation, a subsidiary of Vingroup, holding a 69.34 per cent stake. Covering nearly 965 hectares in Vung Ang Economic Zone, the project is expected to be completed by the end of Q4/2030, with an operational lifespan of 70 years. The investor's equity contribution is close to $80 million. At the Vung Ang 2 thermal power plant, which is backed by Vung Ang II Thermal Power LLC - a foreign-owned company combining KEPCO, Mitsubishi, and another Japanese company - construction has currently reached nearly 80 per cent of the workload. By the end of the year, the workload is expected to increase to 85 per cent. Construction of a new VSIP, funded by Becamex IDC, was started in late June. The first phase of the scheme covers 190ha in Thach Ha district and will cost $60.8 million. Sembcorp secures investment licence for VSIP Ha Tinh On December 29, Sembcorp Development, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sembcorp Industries (Sembcorp), announced the addition of Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park Ha Tinh (VSIP Ha Tinh) to its portfolio. Swing for the Kids scholarships delivered to underprivileged students in Ha Tinh Sixty Swing for the Kids scholarships were awarded to disadvantaged students in Ha Tinh citys Dai Nai ward, in the central province of Ha Tinh, who excelled in their studies, on President Ho Chi Minh's 134th birthday. Construction of VSIP Ha Tinh kicks off A groundbreaking ceremony was held at VSIP Ha Tinh Industrial Park in Ha Tinh province on June 25 to mark the start of construction. There are various explanations of Phos origin. - Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) There are various explanations of Phos origin. Some say it started as a variation on pot-au-feu, a French beef stew dish, while others believe its a heir to a Chinese beef noodle soup or to a traditional Vietnamese dish of noodle with buffalo meat. Whatsoever the origin may be, it is certain that pho, a simple yet deceptively complex dish of noodle served with beef or chicken in a hot bowl of broth, has become Vietnams pride on the world map of cuisine. Though its origins are disputable, historians believe pho was first made popular in Hanoi, besides the northern province of Nam Dinh, during the French colonial period. It began life on the side of the road, on the shoulders of street vendors who wandered the city with a big pot of both, always kept hot and ready with their mobile stoves. It was reinvented many times by vendors and home cooks with ingredients that were available to even the poorest, and it was shaped by the countrys turbulent history. By the 20th century, Pho became popular as successful street vendors opened their stores in big cities across the country. As if dictated by some rule, most stores are named after their founders in a single word, such as Pho Hien, Pho Thin or Pho Co. Pho with beef has a strong flavour from cow bones, while that with chicken boasts a gentler aroma and may come with fatty or lean chicken. Each has its own merits. Vietnamese people eat pho all the time: for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and supper. Its variable and always satisfying even though there are only two choices when it comes to the meat: chicken or beef. Pho can be found everywhere and enjoyed anywhere: in a train cruising along the country, on a boat in a bustling floating market of the Mekong Delta and on the pavement of a busy city. It remains a simple and widely affordable dish that carries both the history and identity of the people that create it. The craft of making lotus tea in Quang An has a long history, closely associated with the famous West Lake area. (Photo: VNA) Meanwhile, the craft of making lotus tea in Quang An has a long history, closely associated with the famous West Lake area. Since ancient times, locals have skillfully combined Tan Cuong green tea from Thai Nguyen province - the largest tea cultivation area in Vietnam, with Bach Diep lotus grown in West Lake, creating a distinctive and unique flavor that cannot be found elsewhere. The process of making lotus tea may seem simple, but to have the best taste, it requires meticulousness and sophistication. Lotus bulbs are picked from early morning until noon when they are at their purest. Brought home, they must be washed thoroughly to prepare the ingredients for making tea. A well-made pot of tea has a clear green-yellow liquid. Sipping lotus tea provides a soothing and relaxing experience. The tea is not only a beloved specialty among the tourists but also a symbol of Hanoi's culinary culture. The honour is seen as a motivation for artisans to continue preserving and promoting the cultural heritage of the thousand-year-old capital. It also presents an opportunity to further promote Hanoi's cultural and tourism values to both domestic and international visitors. With its distinctive flavor and meticulous preparation, enjoying the lotus-scented tea has become an essential part of the tourism experience in Hanoi. Hanoi eyes boost to West Lake lotus brand's economic potential Tay Ho district in Hanoi should capitalise on the economic opportunities presented by its renowned West Lake lotus brand. China expresses grave concern over heavy civilian casualties caused by Israeli military operations in Gaza: spokesperson Xinhua) 09:50, August 13, 2024 BEIJING, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- China is gravely concerned over the large number of civilian casualties caused by Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday, calling on Israel to cease fire immediately. Spokesperson Lin Jian made the remarks when answering a relevant question. More than 100 Palestinians were killed and dozens of others injured in an Israeli bombing of a school in the Gaza City in the early hours of Saturday, the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said. Lin said that China condemns any harm done to civilians; opposes any violation of international humanitarian law; and urges Israel to heed the call of the international community, immediately cease fire, and spare no effort to protect civilians and avoid the further escalation of regional tensions. The international community should work together to make further efforts to alleviate and end the humanitarian disaster in Gaza, Lin added. (Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun) Mary Marble, 4, died from a gunshot wound to the head after two men fired dozens of rounds into her Windsor Hollow home on May 8. Authorities are asking for tips to help solve the case. Ken Branca San Antonio Crime Stoppers has increased its reward for information leading to an arrest in connection with the fatal shooting of 4-year-old girl in May. Mary Marble died from a gunshot wound to the head after two men fired dozens of rounds into her family's home in the 6700 block of Windsor Hollow. Two adults, 25 and 27, and two other children, 7 and 8, also were wounded during the May 8 shooting. The Bexar County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday said Crime Stoppers doubled the original $5,000 reward announced days after the deadly shooting. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Investigators said the shooters pulled up to the home about 7:50 p.m. on May 8 in a gray vehicle, possibly a 2018 Infiniti Q50 sedan. Two masked men armed with rifles exited the vehicle and fired at least 30 shots into the home. The shooters then fled in the sedan. The brazen daylight shooting was caught on nearby home surveillance video. At the time, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said the shooting appeared to the targeted. Crime Stoppers will pay $10,000 for information which leads to the arrest of the person or people responsible for the shooting. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Market research and polling company Ipsos Vietnam on August 7 released an insightful survey exploring the perceptions and expectations of Vietnamese consumers regarding AI. The survey, which gathered responses from key urban centres like Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, reveals a high level of excitement and trust towards AI. These findings position Vietnam as a dynamic market ready to adopt and benefit from AI technologies, echoing the sentiment across other Asian countries but without the accompanying nervousness seen in some regions. The study highlights the unique perspectives of Vietnamese consumers, emphasising the importance of trust, transparency, and education in facilitating AI adoption. The following key findings offer a comprehensive look at the current sentiment and future expectations of AI in Vietnam. In terms of general sentiment and economic outlook, Vietnamese consumers exhibit high levels of excitement towards AI, with 80 per cent believing that AI products and services have more benefits than drawbacks. This excitement is on par with other Asian countries but significantly higher than the global average, where only 54 per cent are excited about AI. Furthermore, 78 per cent of Vietnamese respondents trust that AI will improve the country's economy. In comparison, the global average for trust in AI's economic impact stands at 66 per cent. Despite only 29 per cent of Vietnamese consumers claiming to have a good understanding of what AI is, a significant 70 per cent trust that companies using AI will protect their personal data. This trust level is higher than the global average of 50 per cent. Regarding the impact on daily life and workforce, 72 per cent of Vietnamese respondents agree that AI has profoundly changed their daily life in the past 3-5 years, compared to the global average of 49 per cent. Looking ahead, 85 per cent believe AI will change their job in the next five years, but only 35 per cent think AI will replace their jobs, highlighting the perceived value of human roles. This is more optimistic than the global sentiment, where 36 per cent fear job replacement by AI. Companies should focus on reskilling and upskilling initiatives to prepare the workforce for AI integration, ensuring that human roles remain valuable and complementary to AI technologies. The rapid evolution of AI platforms over the past year has ushered in a new era of AI, bringing significant changes to lives and businesses around the world. Ipsos survey reveals that Vietnamese consumers display great excitement about AI," said Sapna Moulick, Ipsos service line leader for Innovation. "However, they are unique in their lack of nervousness compared to other regions. This positive sentiment is tempered by a recognition of the potential impact on the job market, as many anticipate changes but remain optimistic about the benefits AI will bring to the economy and daily life. As Vietnam continues to integrate AI into various sectors, the need for clear regulations and upskilling initiatives becomes increasingly pressing, Moulick added. The survey was conducted among 500 respondents aged 12-65 in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, between July 2023 and July 2024. The data reflects the views of the urban, more connected segment of the population. Backbase launches AI Centre of Excellence in Ho Chi Minh City On July 31, digital banking software provider Backbase announced the establishment of its first global Centre of Excellence (COE) focused on AI in Ho Chi Minh City. NIC partners with Japanese and US schools to train semiconductor workforce On August 2, the National Innovation Centre (NIC) had discussions with Hiroshima University (Japan) and the University of Idaho (US) to establish collaborative training programmes in semiconductor studies and related fields. Google's chief scientist to attend Generative AI summit in Vietnam Jeff Dean, recognised globally as "The God of engineering" at Google, will visit Vietnam in a landmark event this month. What makes Vietnam appealing to international investors, and what sectors is the Hong Kong delegation interested in, particularly in cities like Ho Chi Minh City? Vietnam is highly attractive to investors due to its robust economic growth and dynamic market. This is my first trip here, and I'm thoroughly impressed by the young, vibrant population and rapid development in business and innovation. Vietnam aims to become a high-income economy by 2045 and achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, driving significant economic activities and reforms. The GDP growth target for 2024 is 5.5-6.5 per cent, which is impressive. Bonnie Y Chan, CEO of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) Hong Kong's investment ecosystem is inclusive, attracting local and global investors, including those from mainland China. These investors are drawn to Vietnam's rapid economic expansion and potential for substantial returns. During our visit, we've explored a diverse range of sectors, from traditional manufacturing to innovative fields like electric vehicles and advanced technologies. Vietnam's broad and varied investment opportunities are very appealing as they offer multiple avenues for investment. Vietnam is also a strategic location for Chinese companies looking to diversify their manufacturing operations as part of the "China plus one" strategy. Over the last few days, I've observed that Vietnam is a popular choice for this approach. The combined interest from Mainland Chinese, Hong Kong, and global investors is expected to significantly drive Vietnam's economic progress in the coming years. Last year, there were rumours that some Vietnamese companies were seeking to list on HKEX. Can you provide us with any updates on this development? While I can't name specific companies, I can share that at HKEX, one of our key strategies is to expand our international footprint. We aim to attract more companies from around the world, especially from the ASEAN region, to list in Hong Kong. Going public in Hong Kong is highly attractive because it provides access not only to capital in Hong Kong but also to global investors. One significant advantage we offer is the Stock Connect Programme, which allows Mainland Chinese investors to invest in Hong Kong-listed international companies. This is particularly appealing because the Chinese investor base is substantial, and they are keen to diversify their investments beyond Mainland China assets. Therefore, being able to invest in international companies through Hong Kong is very attractive to them. We have increased our resources dedicated to sales and marketing, particularly in Southeast Asia. Our team in the Singapore office is actively marketing to companies in the region, including Vietnam. While I can't share specifics on where discussions stand, I can say we've laid a strong foundation that we hope will lead to actual listings in the future. How many Southeast Asian companies are currently listed on HKEX, and how have they performed post-IPO? As of now, we have around 100 Southeast Asian companies listed on HKEX. These companies come from various countries within the region, and their post-IPO performance varies based on their sectors, listing timings, and valuations. However, the continued interest and number of listings indicate that Southeast Asian companies recognise Hong Kong as an excellent venue for listing. Recently, we've made it easier for regional companies to list in Hong Kong by recognising more local stock exchanges as Recognised Stock Exchanges (RSE). For instance, we've recently added the Indonesia Stock Exchange as an RSE. This means companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange can come to Hong Kong for a secondary listing more conveniently. We've also added the Saudi Exchange and two exchanges from the UAE, including the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and the Dubai Financial Market, to this list. We will continue to expand collaboration within the ASEAN region with the aim of adding more local exchanges, making it even easier for regional companies to list in Hong Kong. How can Hong Kong help Vietnam build an international financial centre? I'll focus on the stock market, as that's my area of expertise. After our luncheon, we had a meeting with Hong Kongs Chief Executive John Lee and the chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Phan Van Mai. I'm aware that Vietnam has two public stock exchanges, which are highly favoured by domestic investors and issuers. While their main focus is on stocks, these exchanges also offer other products like bonds and ETFs. In comparison, HKEX has a longer history and now boasts 2,600 listed companies with a total market capitalisation of around $4 trillion. Stocks account for about 40 per cent of our business, while derivatives contribute approximately 30 per cent of our revenue. We also offer ETFs, structured products, and commodities, and are exploring many new areas. What I shared with chairman Mai is that we are very happy to exchange our experiences. We've been operating our stock market for a long time and have developed a diverse portfolio of products. I believe that our experience could be valuable to the two Vietnamese stock exchanges in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. You might wonder why we would share our knowledge if we are competitors. While we do compete for investors, we believe that if all regional exchanges collaborate, we can attract more global investors' attention to Asia, Southeast Asia, and the broader region. Increased interest in Asia will lead to more investment inflows, benefiting everyone. Inter-regional capital flows can enhance overall market growth. We have signed MoUs with many regional exchanges, promoting talent and knowledge exchange. Although we didn't sign any MoUs during this visit, we will continue the dialogue and hope to forge closer ties with the stock exchanges in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in the future. As the first female CEO of HKEX, how has your experience been, and do you have any advice for women in STEM and finance? Yes, I am the first female CEO of HKEX, but I focus more on being the first internally promoted CEO within HKEX, which highlights our commitment to nurturing in-house talent. This is something I am particularly proud of. Hong Kong has made significant strides in gender equality, especially in the financial services sector. We have over 60 female CEOs, including the Hong Kong CEOs of HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank, as well as the CEO of the Securities and Futures Commission. This illustrates the supportive environment that Hong Kong has cultivated for women to advance in their careers. During my tenure, I have taken concrete steps to advance gender diversity. Two years ago, we introduced a landmark listing rule mandating that all listed companies in Hong Kong maintain diverse boards. Companies with single-gender boards will be in violation of this rule. With a compliance deadline set for the end of 2024, over 2,600 listed companies must ensure their boards are gender-diverse by then. The results have been promising. When we initiated this rule, around 800 companies had all-male boards. Today, that number has significantly dropped, and we are now 85 per cent compliant. We still have 15 per cent of companies that must add at least one woman to their boards by the end of this year. These initiatives are part of our broader strategy to enhance diversity and encourage more women to take on senior roles in Hong Kong's corporate world. I have come to know that Vietnam is actively promoting gender inclusion for listed companies, with a notably high proportion of women in the workforce. It is commendable that both Vietnamese companies and the government are committed to supporting gender diversity, inclusion, and sustainable development. I believe there is a great opportunity for us to actively exchange our experiences and learn from each other's efforts in this crucial area. Ive learned that Hong Kong is pioneering in launching digital assets. Given that Vietnam has a high crypto adoption rate, do you see any future for Vietnamese or Southeast Asian-focused ETFs for crypto? Digital assets as an asset class are gaining popularity globally. At HKEX, we aim to provide a regulated environment for investors to engage in this asset class. Since 2022, we have been offering digital asset-related products, starting with cryptocurrency futures and related ETFs. This year, we took another step by introducing spot virtual asset ETFs, including three Bitcoin spot ETFs and three Ethereum spot ETFs. While they are not heavily traded, they provide investors with an additional asset class. Regarding your question about involving participants from Vietnam, the answer is definitely yes. Vietnamese investors could participate in these ETFs, and there is potential for Vietnamese entities to become issuers, provided that they meet the licensing requirements. Given the high interest in digital assets in Vietnam, this opens up better opportunities for collaboration between our markets. Hong Kong delegation signs 30 MoUs with Vietnamese government agencies and businesses A delegation led by Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Chief Executive John Lee has concluded a working trip to Vietnam, having signed 30 MoUs. Standard Chartered to explore Hong Kong-Vietnam business opportunities Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) announced on August 5 that it has signed MoUs with Kingboard Holdings, Computime Group, and Stavian Group to explore business opportunities between Hong Kong and Vietnam. A delegation led by Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien paid a working visit to Delta Galil Vietnam on August 9. The company's factory is located in Cat Trinh Industrial Zone, and is worth $64.6 million. It was put into operation in 2016 and operates at a capacity of 15.9 million square metres of textiles each year, creating employment for over 3,600 workers. The company mainly uses locally sourced materials from localities like Dong Nai, Long An, Binh Duong, and Ho Chi Minh City while importing materials from countries such as China, Sri Lanka, India, South Korea, and Thailand. Key export markets for Delta Galil Vietnam's products are the Netherlands, the United States, China, Canada, South Korea, Malaysia, and India. Delta Galil plans to raise its investment capital in the project to $100 million in the future. To facilitate this expansion, the company proposed the ministry create improvements when issuing certificates of origin for export products. Minister Dien said, "We greatly appreciate Delta Galil's investment in Binh Dinh over the past 9 years and the company's subsequent efforts to increase production value, profits, and ensure employment for 3,600 workers." "However, Delta Galil must carry out its environmental obligations responsibly. From weaving to sewing, the company must make sure that the wastewater and waste treatment system meets regulations and protects the surrounding environment," added Dien. Founded in 1975 in Israel, Delta Galil Industries is a global manufacturer and distributor of apparel products. The company is a supplier for the world's leading fashion brands, such as Calvin Klein, Nike, Hugo Boss, Victoria's Secret. German textile maker opens thermal insulation factory in Long Thanh A German manufacturer of innovative textile materials has opened a new state-of-the-art thermal insulation factory in Long Thanh district. Vietnam a key partner of Taiwan's textile industry Taiwan's textile industry, which aims to innovation and sustainability in production and manufacturing, considers Vietnam as a key and close partner to grow together. This message was conveyed by Bui Thu Thuy, deputy general director of the Agency for Enterprise Development (AED) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, at a VIR talk show themed "Investment Pioneers for the Dual Transformation" held on August 12. The talk show, featuring representatives from Nestle Vietnam and AEON Vietnam, focused on strategies to promote rapid and sustainable transformation in both a digital and green direction for businesses. Bui Thu Thuy, deputy general director of the Agencyu for Enterprise Development under the Ministry of Planning and Investment (centre) at VIR's talk show on August 12 At the event, Thuy reported that, according to the annual survey by the AED under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, many small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are now aware of the dual transition. "However, a great deal of them businesses lack a systematic roadmap and are only in the early stages of digital transformation," Thuy said. "Only 3 per cent of SMEs have advanced to the digitalisation phase, while the rest are still in the process of gradual digitalisation, workforce training, and roadmap planning." Regarding support policies, the government has launched a national digital transformation initiative and issued policies to provide consultation, raise awareness, offer training, and partially subsidise costs for businesses transitioning to new production and corporation solutions. However, policy implementation remains slow. A major challenge for businesses in the dual transition is investment costs. While large companies like AEON and Nestle Vietnam have successfully implemented the dual transition, up to 90 per cent of SMEs struggle financially. The government and central bank have considered green credit solutions for businesses. In addition to policy support, the participation of pioneering enterprises will create market-driven momentum for the dual transition process, encouraging SMEs to take action and develop, Thuy added. "We hope large enterprises will provide more support for SMEs to follow suit. In their development strategies, beyond achieving their own goals, they should assist other businesses," Thuy said. "For example, AEON could set requirements for their suppliers regarding sustainability factors, and train businesses on the criteria AEON demands for products to be shelved. We want large enterprises to accompany and guide their supporting businesses, working together to change behaviours." Also at the talk show, Nguyen Bang Lang, corporate sustainability and external relations manager of AEON Vietnam, shared that the company holds annual training sessions to help its current and potential partners, particularly SMEs, understand new state regulations, retail rules, digital transformation, and sustainable development, accelerating their ability to supply goods to consumers. Le Thi Hoai Thuong, senior corporate affairs manager of Nestle Vietnam, shared that the company has promoted public-private partnerships with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, researchers, and SMEs to develop a sustainable and prosperous coffee community. This year, Nestle also organised training and exchanges with suppliers and transporters in Vietnam to achieve net-zero commitments. AED currently has resources from USAID and international organisations to implement projects supporting businesses in greening and digitalisation. "We hope future activities supporting businesses in the dual transition can collaborate with pioneering companies like AEON and Nestle to provide practical training content relevant to businesses, " Thuy said. "AED hopes that the green and digital transformation journeys of Nestle and AEON will be successful, and that this success will include an ecosystem of SMEs, cooperatives, and farmers." Dual transformation an essential choice for business Accelerating digital and green transformation is expected to help Vietnam enhance the efficiency of attracting foreign investment. Enticing FDI legal framework for dual transformation Vietnam is preparing for future foreign direct investment (FDI) shifts to ensure funding reaches the right areas and embraces green and digital goals. Businesses take heed of the dual transition Combining digital transformation with the green transition has become a more urgent requirement for enterprises to ensure business goals as well as social responsibility. InQuest is known for its Deep File Inspection and RetroHunting technologies. It has been highly regarded for protecting US Department of Defense customers with its network appliances and, combined with its threat intelligence solutions, has a proven track record of protecting the nations most critical networks. Benny Czarny, founder and CEO of OPSWAT This acquisition marks a major milestone as OPSWAT continues to grow as an industry leader with comprehensive, prevention-based cybersecurity solutions. OPSWATs relationship with InQuest has grown since their technology partnership was established in 2013, when OPSWATs MetaDefender module was integrated with InQuests Network Detection and Respond solution for a joint customer at the Pentagon. With this acquisition, OPSWAT will accelerate its go-to-market strategy for the federal market and enhance protection against network-based threats. By merging InQuests threat intelligence capabilities with OPSWAT MetaDefender Cloud and FileScan.io into a single repository, OPSWAT will significantly boost its intelligence capabilities. InQuest customers will also benefit from enhanced Network Detection and Response with built-in integration with MetaDefender. The combination of InQuests technology with MetaDefender will enhance the efficacy of threat intelligence and prevention, further enabling federal organisations and other critical sectors to operate securely and efficiently, said Benny Czarny, founder and CEO of OPSWAT. Together, we will accelerate our commitment to providing critical organisations with comprehensive, prevention-based protection against evolving threats. Michael Arcamone, former CEO of InQuest and now Chief Strategy Officer and vice president of Federal Sales at OPSWAT said, We are thrilled to join the OPSWAT team. This acquisition allows us to leverage its extensive resources and expertise to further develop our technologies and provide even greater value to our customers." Pedram Amini, former CTO of InQuest, will join OPSWATs leadership team as chief scientist. In this role, he will spearhead advancements in threat intelligence, machine learning, and email security solutions, driving innovation and enhancing the companys capabilities in these critical areas. Amini launched InQuest Labs in 2019, and the community has since grown to thousands of users working in collaboration to discover and disrupt malware operations. Amini will help drive the integration of the InQuest Labs, MetaDefender.com and FileScan.io communities to further empower independent researchers around the globe in the collective battle against malicious campaigns. For the last 20 years, OPSWAT has continuously evolved an end-to-end solutions platform that gives public and private sector organisations and enterprises the critical advantage needed to protect their complex networks and ensure compliance. Three advanced cybersecurity technologies for banks, financial services Three zero-trust security technologies for banks, financial service organisations, and insurance companies were introduced at the Smart Banking 2023 international conference and exhibition held in Hanoi on October 6 to help them comply with stringent information security regulations. OPSWAT signs strategic partnership with CMC Cyber Security OPSWAT, a global leader in critical infrastructure protection and cybersecurity solutions, on December 7 opened a new office in Hanoi, and signed a strategic partnership agreement with CMC Cyber Security Co., Ltd., making new moves to expand its footprint in Vietnam. The regions governments have focused on investing in transport, energy, and telecommunications infrastructure, alongside industries that would employ more people and make them more productive. But as demographic dividends turn to deficits, a new play book is needed, one that invests squarely in people over places, and in particular, one that prioritises greater labour mobility across the region. Scott Morris, ADB vice-president for East and Southeast Asia (left) and the Pacific, and Charles Kenny, senior fellow, Center for Global Development Asian countries have passed their peak dividend, according to United Nations data. The proportion of the population aged between 20 and 64 has started to fall. In China, the working age share of the population reached 66 per cent in 2012, but has already fallen to 63 per cent this year, on its way to 50 per cent by 2060. Thailand peaked near 65 per cent in 2018, and Vietnam at 62 per cent in 2016. Perhaps even more seriously for growth outcomes, the absolute number of people of working age is set to fall in several countries. China had 917 million people aged from 20-64 in 2016. That has fallen to 901 million in 2024 and is forecast to be 704 million by 2050. Thailands working-age population is forecast to shrink by 22 per cent between 2020 and 2050. Singapore will hit peak working age population in 2028; South Korea reached the peak in 2019, and Japan in 1998. Given these dynamics, short- and medium-term policies aimed at boosting growth are colliding with fiscal realities. The regions infrastructure agenda has merit, both in increasing overall productivity and in addressing climate change and resilience. But it is largely funded on the public balance sheet at a time when governments are facing higher costs of borrowing, greater demands for social spending associated with growing elderly populations, and limited growth in tax revenues. Many developing countries in Asia-Pacific wont get rich before they get old, pointing to challenging conditions for development progress. As officials in Japan, South Korea, and China can attest, higher levels of wealth are not an antidote to the challenges of ageing societies, and a policy agenda focused exclusively on boosting growth now to secure the future is likely to fail. Instead, an ageing region will need to grapple with a more complex set of challenges and focus on an adaptive set of policy responses that go well beyond efforts to strengthen care of the elderly. A more ambitious response begins with making the most of the potential workers that countries still have. For example, increasing labour force participation, especially among women, not least through support for childcare. And helping to build human capital by ensuring that all talented students have access to higher education, whatever their socioeconomic background. But it goes beyond that to include far greater regional cooperation. A regional approach would recognise the value of linkages between countries that are facing demographic deficits and those that will continue to see growth in their working age populations. In contrast with countries like China or Japan, Indias working age population share will continue to climb to 2040, and the absolute number of working age people in that country will rise almost to the half-century point. A firm embrace of flexible migration policies within the region would better exploit the value of these differences. Not only would greater migration help provide good jobs to those who need them from demographic dividend countries as well as fill jobs that need doing in deficit countries, it would considerably strengthen trade and investment ties, foster innovation and entrepreneurship, and build remittance flows. Out-migration from many countries in Asia-Pacific is already happening, but much of it is responding to demand from outside the region, particularly the Gulf states. Countries like the United Arab Emirates have adopted proactive strategies that leading Asian countries would do well to consider, such that there are more job opportunities for Asias migrant workers within the region and stronger bonds between Asian economies. Fortunately, some changes in policy and attitudes in the regions largest economies are already pointing towards a larger role for migration to fix what is more a workforce imbalance in the region rather than any overall shortage. For example, South Koreas immigrant population climbed by 829,000 between 2013 and 2023. The countrys growing interest in a migration-based strategy is understandable. Unchecked demographic drag may reduce per capita income growth in South Korea over the next half century by 0.85 percentage points per year. On the other hand, a gentle rise in South Koreas migrant worker population from less than 3 per cent of employed workers to roughly 15 per cent over the next 40 years, a level of increase already matched by Australia and Malaysia, would offset most of the countrys demographic drag. Anchoring greater demand for migrant workers within Asia-Pacific as a regional strategy makes sense. But much more progress could be made by working through regional bodies such as ASEAN, with an aim for regional agreements akin to trade agreements to facilitate greater mobility for workers. The agenda could include regional cooperation on licensing and training requirements to ease skills portability, and skills partnerships where destination countries help origin countries train workers to fill employment gaps in both economies. More than any other region, Asia-Pacific has delivered on the positive vision of demography as destiny over the past five decades by matching growing populations with productivity-enhancing investments in economic infrastructure. Now destined for increasingly aged populations in many countries, the regions governments will need to behave differently. They need to put investments into human capital on equal footing with physical capital, and facilitate the cross-border movement of people, just as they have long facilitated the flow of goods and services through trade integration. If fully realised, this version of regional integration promises to deliver more development, strong economies, and greater regional stability. A resilient pension fund fit for future demographics The increasingly ageing demography in Vietnam has asserted various challenges for the domestic economy, whilst still offering some lucrative opportunities for others. Nick Aisnworth, chief marketing officer at Dragon Capital, discusses Vietnams first voluntary supplementary pension programme, which can help investors enjoy a prosperous life at the retirement age. Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp. (ENEC) chairman and CEO Mohamed Al Hammadi pays President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (firt, right) a courtesy call at Malacanang on August 12. (Photo: inquirer.net) Hanoi Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is seeking cooperation opportunities with the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp. (ENEC) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in a bid to persify the Southeast Asian country's energy sources. This is considered a strategic step in the effort to supplement nuclear energy to the Philippines' national power grid. At the August 12 meeting with ENEC chairman and CEO Mohamed Al Hammadi in Manila, President Marcos emphasised the urgency of exploring the possible use of nuclear energy for power generation after the COVID-19. Notably, the meeting took place after the visit to the UAE by Philippine First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos and a high-ranking delegation from June 27-29. During the trip, the Philippines was invited to join the International Declaration on Triple Nuclear Energy-2024 Objectives at the United Nations General Assembly in September. The declaration sets the ambitious target of tripling global nuclear energy capacity by 2050. The Philippines consideration of joining the declaration shows its strong commitment to pursuing clean and sustainable energy, which is also in line with the global trend of energy transition and carbon reduction. Last May, representatives from the Board of Investments met with UAE companies to discuss possible investment opportunities in the Philippines, particularly those relating to clean energy. Philippines short of 190,000 health workers The Philippines is short of about 190,000 health workers while many decide to work overseas, Philippine Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said on May 22. Philippines reduces rice import tax to 15 pc The Philippines, one of the world's largest rice buyers and biggest importers of the Vietnamese grain, officially announced a reduction in rice import taxes from 35 per cent to 15 per cent, effective in early August this year and lasting until 2028. Poor schools access to drinkable water in new school year, Illustrative image (Photo: Lifestart Foundation) Quang Nam - Lifestart Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation based in Hoi An City and originating from Australia, has provided ten clean water filtration systems and water tanks to underprivileged schools in the mountainous Bac Tra My and Phuoc Son districts of central Quang Nam province. The schools, predominantly attended by students from the Ca Dong ethnic group, are situated in challenging areas including four extremely poor communes Tra Nu, Tra Ka, Tra Bui, Phuoc Kim, Tra Tan, Tra My and Kham Duc town. The systems will provide drinkable clean water at the tap for nearly 2,000 school students and teachers in the academic year 2024-2025. The clean water project is an annual endeavour undertaken by the foundation in the province since 2021. To date, the clean water project has facilitated 38 water treatment systems for various disadvantaged schools, totalling over 1.75 billion VND (70,000 USD). This initiative ensures the availability of safe clean drinking water for students, teachers, and staff at schools, addressing the fundamental clean water needs of inpiduals in challenging areas and benefiting over 10,200 people directly throughout the years of project implementation. Karen Leonard, the founder of Lifestart Foundation, said: Given the current scarcity of clean water, ensuring the quality of drinking water for students in disadvantaged areas is an urgent matter. The Lifestart Foundation has elected to sponsor water treatment systems as a pivotal project. The programme supporting water treatment systems by the Lifestart Foundation not only provides safe drinking water for students but also extends free support to teachers and school staff. This contributes to enhancing the health and learning quality of students, improving the quality of work for teachers and staff at the school, while diminishing the risk of gastrointestinal and other infectious diseases. Vice Chairman of the Quang Nam provincial Union of Friendship Organisations, Tran Van Mai added that the lack of drinking water filtration systems in schools impacts the daily activities of students and school staff and the systems from the Lifestart Foundation were very helpful and meaningful. Nguyen Thi Nhat Kieu, Principal of Son Ca Kindergarten in Kham Duc town in Phuoc Son district said the school is very happy with the water filtration system supported by the Lifestart Foundation. In 2025, the organisation plans to donate an additional ten drinking water filtration systems to schools in the more disadvantaged mountainous districts of the province, increasing the total number of schools to benefit to 48. Lifestart Foundation also provided support in the form of 25 gift packages comprising essential items worth a total of 10 million VND for 25 poor children at Hoa My Kindergarten in Tan Hiep A School in Tra Son commune in Bac Tra My district. Lifestart Foundation said it has donated 33 billion VND (approximately 2 million AUD, or 1.28 million USD) to support the disadvantaged young people in the central region including education scholarships for underprivileged students and housing improvement projects. Children of Korean-Vietnamese multicultural families - Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) Seoul - The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family of the Republic of Korea (RoK) has announced that it is organising a summer camp from August 12-14 for children from Korean-Vietnamese multicultural families, who are living in Vietnam. This programme, the first of its kind, is designed to provide an opportunity for children affected by porce or bereavement to return to the RoK. Vice Minister Shin Young-sook expressed her hope that participating children can experience Korean culture and shape their future career paths. She added that the ministry also aims to support these children in developing into future talents who will become bridges for the RoK-Vietnam relations. The programme gathers 10 children, of whom seven hold Korean citizenship and three have dual nationality. During their stay in the RoK, they are scheduled to visit cultural heritage sites, museums, and universities; and have a chance to experience traditional games at the Korean Folk Village in Gyeonggi province and tour Gyeongbok Palace. Additionally, they will be arranged to visit job centres to help them shape their future career aspirations. Phu Quoc, Nha Trang among most favourite destinations for Korean tourists Tourists from the Republic of Korea (RoK) are increasingly interested in destinations in Vietnam, according to a survey conducted by Rankify Korea website. Vietnams fresh pomelo licensed to export to RoK The Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency (APQA) of the Republic of Korea (RoK) has officially announced regulations for importing fresh pomelos from Vietnam on its website, according to the Plant Protection Department (PPD) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). A Vietnamese delegation led by Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung visited Japan on August 5 and met with Japans Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), aiming to boost cooperation in ICT and semiconductors. At the meeting, Kozuki Ryosuki, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, shared Japans experience in developing these industries, and said the semiconductor industry is as important as the automobile industry. Japan is focusing on mobilising resources and supporting businesses to develop key technologies such as semiconductors and AI. However, Japan is also facing some difficulties, such as ensuring human resources for these industries. In response, Minister Hung outlined how Vietnam has built major policies and strategies on the development of the ICT and semiconductor industries, which focus on accelerating the training and development of human resources. Vietnamese digital technology enterprises are currently investing in and providing services and technology solutions to partners in Japan. Regarding digital infrastructure development, the two sides discussed and agreed to strengthen cooperation in developing 5G Open-RAN equipment, helping businesses in the two countries to deploy and jointly research and develop new products to supply international markets. Following the upgrade of ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2023, the two sides have agreed to promote new cooperation programmes and initiatives at different levels to reach their potential, pushing the ICT and semiconductor industries to new levels. As part of the visit, the Vietnamese delegation also met with major mobile carriers NTT Docomo and Rakuten to discuss deploying 5G according to OpenRAN standards. Minister Nguyen Manh Hung at the meeting with NTT Docomo and Rakuten Japanese mobile carriers have basically deployed 5G OpenRAN, while Rakuten has mastered the entire cloud-based processing software system and now only purchases radar parts, thus significantly reducing investment costs. Attending the working sessions, Vietnamese telcos and Japanese mobile network operators discussed the possibility of promoting cooperation in research and development of new technologies, services and products. They also spoke about jointly investing in data centres, providing 5G solutions according to OpenRAN standards in both countries. Vietnamese technology businesses shared the results of research and development of 5G equipment in Vietnam, which is ready to provide to network operators in Japan. Vietnam is moving to develop the semiconductor industry. The country is seeking to boost international cooperation to attract resources, and to help Vietnamese technology firms to expand their footprints overseas. The cooperation with Japan is part of the countrys efforts. Vietnam has been attracting many large corporations in the ICT and semiconductor industries, including those from the United States, South Korea, Japan, and European countries. Vietnam - Japan enter new phase of investment ties With the latest incarnation of the Vietnam-Japan Joint Initiative in a New Era, bilateral investment ties are expected to enter a new period of stronger development. Takeo Nakajima, chief representative of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) in Hanoi, talked to VIRs Bich Thuy about future prospects. ICT industry revenue rises sharply in first four months Revenue of the entire ICT industry is estimated to reach $56.9 billion in the first four months of 2024, up 26 per cent over the same period last year and reaching 32.7 per cent of the annual target, according to the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC). Vietnam looking for innovation cooperation opportunities in the United States Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung held meetings with members of the Vietnam Innovation Network and technology giants in Silicon Valley (San Francisco) during a business trip to the United States during June 22-26. A fourth grader flips open her STAAR mathematics booklet to go over her answers during class at Heritage Elementary School in San Antonio in 2022. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath speaks to the media during a visit at Kashmere High School last February in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer A judge has blocked the Texas Education Agencys planned release of statewide A-F accountability ratings for schools and school systems. The order by state District Judge Karin Crump in Travis County came Monday in response to a lawsuit by a handful of school districts alleging that the states standardized tests, which underpin the TEA grades, were not properly designed and unfairly used a new automated computer system to grade essay questions. It prevents the agency from releasing the grades while the case is being litigated. The judge set a hearing on it for Aug. 26. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Texas Education Agency designs the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, to measure student performance and then uses the results to grade districts. If campuses receive enough consecutive failing grades, the the state can force them to close or sanction their districts, but the rankings have been on pause for the past five years amid the COVID-19 pandemic and a series of lawsuits. The Commissioner radically changed the way the new STAAR test is being administered by replacing human graders with AI grading, the lawsuit states, referring to artificial intelligence. This change was made without ensuring that this radical change would not impact the new STAAR tests validity and reliability. In fact, it appears that AI grading has resulted in a test that is not valid and reliable and cannot lawfully be used to assign AF ratings for school districts and campuses. Test results this year showed a sharp uptick in the number of zeroes scored on essay questions, prompting some critics to question whether the increase was due to the computer scoring. The TEA has said the essay grading system does not use artificial intelligence and that the shift in scores is unrelated to the new system. It attributed the change to a new scoring rubric and a higher test difficulty. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The lawsuit is the latest brought by Nick Maddox, the same attorney who helped about 100 districts block last years A-F ratings. The plaintiffs in the latest lawsuit -- Pecos-Barstow-Toyah, Crandall, Forney, Fort Stockton and Kingsville ISDs -- have been joined by three others and more might follow after their boards discuss it this week, he said. We believe that our arguments are valid. They obviously made sense to the judge and our sense of urgency because once you let the cat out of the bag and release those scores, its too late, Maddox said. A spokesman for TEA said in an emailed statement that the agency is reviewing the finding and will evaluate appropriate next steps. The A-F accountability system is good for kids. It is why the Legislature adopted a strong A-F framework to help improve the quality of student learning across the state, give parents a clear understanding of how well their schools are performing and establish clear expectations for school leaders so they can better serve students, the statement said. It is disappointing that a small group of school boards and superintendents opposed to fair accountability and transparency have once again filed a lawsuit aimed at preventing A-F ratings from being issued and keeping families in the dark about how their schools are doing. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The lawsuit also challenged the fairness of new participation guidelines requiring special education students to take the general education test if they can perform self-care routines like feeding and dressing with minimal adult assistance. This meant that many special education students were set up for failure because they were forced to take a test that was not appropriate for their educational needs, the suit states. Last year, the districts argued that the TEA had unfairly increased standards in such a way that would depress school ratings, and a judge agreed to block the 2023 A-F scores. The TEAs more rigorous formula raised the threshold for high schools to earn an A in college readiness, which is determined by the percentage of students who score well on Advanced Placement exams, obtain certain industry certifications or enlist in the military. Schools that previously earned the minimum college readiness score for an A in 2022 would receive a D in 2024. San Antonio area school officials have said in recent interviews that there was a broad expectation that the latest grades would be lower here and across the state when the TEA published them this week. Advertisement Article continues below this ad So far, no San Antonio school districts have taken board action to join the litigation. Southwest ISD joined the original lawsuit in October, and a spokesperson said Superintendent Jeanette Ball will meet with other district leaders this month to discuss the potential outcomes of the new lawsuit before deciding whether to join it. Comal ISD and Hays CISD were also plaintiffs in last years lawsuit. Hays CISD spokesperson Tim Savoy said the superintendent could provide an update at the next board meeting, but it is not currently on the agenda. Comal ISD did not respond to a request for comment Last year's ratings remain blocked by the courts, though Houston ISD, which is under the control of state-appointed leaders, released unofficial 2023 ratings for all of its campuses in January using the TEAs methodology and data, which showed major drops in performance. The district then released its own updated ratings last week based on the 2024 recent test scores, showing a rebound from the 2023 results. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Thai banks introduce measures to cope with bad debts, Illustrative Image (Photo: nationthailand.com) Bangkok - Thailands major financial institutions are preparing for a difficult second half of 2024, as a struggling economy and high household debt force banks to take a more conservative approach to lending. Kasikorn Bank (KBANK) has announced a more selective approach to lending, focusing on top-tier customers in low-risk categories to mitigate potential loan losses. While maintaining its overall lending target, the bank will closely monitor developments across various sectors. Kiatnakin Phatra Bank (KKP) is also adopting a prudent stance, reducing exposure to riskier loan segments such as home loans, car loans, and hire purchase. The bank has tightened lending criteria for mortgage applicants, with a particular focus on those seeking loans exceeding 5 million THB (140,000 USD). Aphinant Klewpatinond, CEO of KKP, shared that while some segments have seen growth in the past, this is now declining and the bank needs to be more careful. KKP has therefore adjusted its growth target. Bank of Ayudhya (Krungsri) has acknowledged increased risks across its loan portfolio, including the previously resilient large corporate segment. The prolonged economic slowdown and evolving business challenges have dampened the investment appetite of many companies. Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) is prioritising risk management over growth, carefully selecting new customers and closely monitoring existing loan portfolios. The bank is aiming for double-digit return on equity (ROE) by focusing on lower-risk business segments. Bangkok Bank (BBL) has maintained a cautious approach while supporting businesses with liquidity and investment opportunities. The bank expects to keep bad debt provisions at a high level in the second half of the year. This collective tightening of lending practices by Thai banks reflects the financial sectors response to increasing economic uncertainties and the need to safeguard against potential rises in non-performing loans. As the situation develops, it remains to be seen how these measures will impact Thailands broader economic recovery efforts. Thailand starts digital wallet scheme registration Thai citizens can register to receive a digital wallet with a value of 10,000 THB (approximately 282 USD) starting August 1 under a scheme announced by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin's government. Thai government urged to tighten oversight on e-commerce The government of Thailand is intensifying its oversight of foreign e-commerce platforms, with Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin instructing the Revenue Department and the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society to ensure that the Chinese online retailer Temu adheres to Thai laws and tax regulations. Little puffs of smoke are rising at 804 Austin Ave. downtown, where Humidor on Austin will begin its grand opening celebration Friday. The place is an emblem of luxury and sanctuary for cigar aficionados in the heart of Texas, the establishments website says. Our journey began with a simple vision: to create a haven where the age-old ritual of cigar smoking could be celebrated and shared within a community of like-minded individuals, the site says. Visitors will be treated to decorative touches designed to evoke a sense of timeless sophistication, with plush seating, rich wood finishes, and ambient lighting creating a warm and inviting environment. Members get access to private lockers for controlled cigar storage, special discounts and invitations to members-only events. A locker member pays $300 initially and $99 monthly; a premium locker member also pays $300 upfront, then $125 monthly. Corporate lockers bestow privilege upon up to six people for $1,000 initially and $350 per month thereafter. Refreshments include coffee, tea, craft sodas and BYOB privileges. Its address, 804 Austin Ave., is former home to Adorn Boutique. A short walk away is Chip and Joanna Gaines Hotel 1928. The Waco City Council in January of last year rolled back a prohibition on cigar lounges over the objections of a bevy of health officials who said there is no effective method for preventing exposure to secondhand smoke. Allsups all gone Allsups, we hardly knew you. The chains first convenience store in Waco, which it unveiled less than a year ago, has called it quits. It operated at 315 S. University Parks Drive, in Baylor Universitys shadow, and represented the new Allsups Express prototype the company planned near college campuses. It was smallish and had no gas pumps, but did sell Allsups renowned burritos. One must wonder if the construction and traffic disruptions along University Parks Drive in recent years doomed the store to oblivion. It remodeled space 900 Degrees Pizzeria occupied before itself running up the white flag, though the pizzeria maintains a mobile presence. Allsups said in a statement it occasionally chooses to divest certain stores that do not match our strategy and reinvest the proceeds in locations that enable us to provide a better customer experience. It should be noted Allsups closed a store near the University of North Texas campus in Denton only six months after its unveiling. Window World whirlwind Either a big wind blew through Waco recently, Window World has a sale going on that would take your breath away, or its sales team is working overtime. Whatever the reason, new windows are breaking out all over Waco, according to the most recent newsletter from the local Associated General Contractors of America chapter. The rundown of construction activity notes Window World secured permits to install 199 windows and six doors between July 31 and Aug. 6. The permits carried a value of $193,775, and they reflected installations all over Waco, not in a concentrated area suffering severe weather. Window World secures permits nearly every week, according to the Associated General Contractors reports, but yours truly has never seen anything quite like this performance. Capstone to Cromwell Stefan LeRow, a Texas A&M University graduate who founded Capstone Mechanical in 2005, is making a career change, choosing to join the freshly formed Cromwell Commercial Group as a real estate agent. Capstone Mechanical, 7100 Imperial Drive, was acquired by private equity firm Reedy Industries in 2021, and LeRow stuck around as an executive. Confident that Capstone Mechanical has a deep bench and is in good hands, LeRow is looking forward to a transition into commercial real estate and being part of supporting the transformation of downtown and what that will mean for our city, according to a Cromwell Commercial press release. Dillon Meek, former Waco mayor and now chief operations officer at Cromwell Commercial Group, wrote that His impressive track record and extensive network are sure to enhance our firms presence in the industry. Cromwell Commercial Group, originally operating as Jim Stewart Realtors, has a team with 170 years combined experience in commercial real estate. Taste of Laos A Taste of Laos has relocated to 108 Jim Drive in Hewitt, making the transition from 1001 Enterprise Blvd., a Valero station at Interstate 35 and Hewitt Drive. The restaurant has an extensive menu featuring Lao BBQ ribs, chicken egg rolls, spicy chicken noodles, grilled teriyaki chicken, fried pork belly, Lao street loaded fries, spring rolls, Asian burrito and stir fry beef. Benefit of Benefits The Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce will host The Benefit of Benefits: Building a Better Workplace from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 20 at chamber headquarters, 101 S. Third St. The program will address how strategic benefits can boost workplace satisfaction and productivity, giving your business a competitive edge. Admission is free to chamber members, but RSVP is required. The perks portrayed at this event probably will not mesh with those revealed in a study by Preply, an online language learning site for businesses. It published a list of the most unusual benefits among 50 major businesses in a range of industries. A selection of the top 20 includes baby milk shipping at X and Johnson & Johnson; a rooftop nature park at Meta; an on-site employee mall at Adobe, SAP and Epic Systems; an on-site beauty salon SAS; on-site car washing and detailing at Genentech; five-year sabbaticals at HubSpot; free coffee with personal barista at Preply; housing stipends at Microsoft and Bain and Co.; unlimited vacation and a global week of rest at HubSpot; an on-site rock-climbing wall at Clif Bar & Co.; an on-site mothers room at Pinterest and Epic Systems. Sonic hopes The Sonic at 3923 N. 19th St. looks suspiciously closed for business, which is not good for yours truly, that being the closest to my whereabouts. I just saw the Sonic on North 19th is boarded up and the big sign out front is gone, a reader said by email. They look shut down for good. Surprising. I ate lunch there on occasions and there was always a reasonable flow of traffic. Sonics website said the location is temporarily closed. Heres hoping it will reopen bigger and better than ever. Lacy Lakeview police arrested a woman early Sunday after neighbors said she threatened them with a knife, according to an arrest affidavit. Officers arrested Tyler Bianca Newsome, 31, of Lacy Lakeview, at an apartment in the 3500 block of Meyers Lane at about 4:45 a.m. Sunday on two second-degree felony charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Neighbors reported they had invited Newsome over for a few drinks, and she left after an argument broke out, according to the affidavit. The neighbors showed police door-camera video of Newsome returning about an hour later with a knife, her arrest affidavit says. They said she was slashing the knife back and forth at them and telling them she was going to cut them, the affidavit says. Newsomes apartment nearby was open, and a knife matching the description the neighbors gave was on the counter, according to the affidavit. Newsome remained in McLennan County Jail on Monday with bail set at $34,000. Her jail records indicate she is also held on an assault charge from 2019 and a resisting arrest charge from last year. The Waco Fire Department has ushered in its new chief, filling a role that has been held by an interim for more than eight months. Scott Walker, 57, was sworn in Monday at Station No. 6 on North 25th Street. His wife, Barbara, pinned on his new badge in front of city officials and dozens of department staffers. Walker takes the helm of Wacos department after more than three decades of fire service. Walker was previously an executive assistant chief with the Phoenix Fire Department, which protected the fifth-largest city in the United States. Walker said he has quickly learned why Texas has a reputation for being a friendly state. He said that reinforces why he made the move from one of the largest markets in the United States to Central Texas. I have been just overwhelmingly amazed with the firefighter members, said Walker, who has only been in Waco for 10 days. When I showed up with my wife, they actually helped unload my U-Haul and move us in. They provided us with a smoked brisket. They were very welcoming. The Waco Fire Department is a family, and they really are proud of that, and theyve made me already feel part of the family. The city of Waco named Walker as new chief on June 20, and he was set to officially step in by August. Kevin J. McGhee has headed the department as interim chief since the start of 2024. McGhee served in the role during the search, replacing Chief Gregory Summers, who announced his retirement in October 2023 but worked through Dec. 31, 2023. Waco Fire Capt. Philip Burnett, president of the Waco Professional Firefighters Association, said he was part of Walkers welcome-to-Texas move in. Burnett said Walker was also given a basket filled with local flavored coffees, mugs sporting bluebonnet flowers on the side. Weve been anxious to meet him and see what he brings to the table, said Burnett, who has over two decades of fire service experience. Hes very personable, full of knowledge and worked in a well-respected department. Burnett said he spoke over the phone with Walker shortly after he was named a finalist for the position on June 1. Burnett said those initial conversations showed Walkers enthusiastic personality, which can boost morale in a working environment. Hes willing to work and hear what ideas the staff may have, Burnett said. Thats infectious no matter what job youre in. The Waco Professional Firefighters Association was organized in 1938 as one of the original charter members of the Texas State Association of the Fire Fighters, according to its website. Local 478 members staff all 13 city of Waco fire stations 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and are committed to providing the highest level of professional fire and emergency services anywhere, the website reads. In 2019, the work of our members over the previous years allowed us to achieve the distinction of becoming ISO Level 1 fire department. The local firefighters union has used its voice in years past, most recently issuing a no-confidence vote regarding former chief Summers before he announced his retirement. Summers had served as chief for three years. The local union has full confidence in Walker, though, said Waco Fire Lt. Mark Groce, secretary and treasurer of the group. Groce said Central Texas is lucky to have someone such as Walker, who has experience working for one of the largest departments in the country. He knows what it takes to be bigger and if you know what it takes to be the biggest, youre going to know what it takes to be the smaller ones, Groce said. Walker said it is a lifestyle adjustment to move to a smaller city, but he said the smaller department affords an opportunity to build deeper relationships. I hope to know everybody and know about them and their families, and know their strengths, Walker said of the department, which consists of over 200 sworn members. In Phoenix, its just a challenge to do that with over 2,000 people. Walker said the Waco Fire Department may not have all the resources Phoenixs did, but he feels fully confident in its ability to remain equipped to handle anything thrown at it. Walker becomes the 14th chief to lead the department in its 151-year history. He was named chief after an extensive search that featured over 60 applicants from all over the country, including some from Canada. A graduate of Grand Canyon University and Phoenix Community College, Walker said he hopes to be a friendly face for Wacoans. I want you to take time to come up and say hi to me, Walker said of his message to locals. Let me know what were doing well, if theres areas we can do better, please share that as well. I want to be engaged and part of the community, and so I will bring my experience to just build upon whats already here. Texas school administrators, educators and education policy experts say theyre seeing troubling signs that students in the earliest grades are not doing as well academically as children who started school before the pandemic. Trace Thomas/For the Texas Tribune SAISD Superintendent Jaime Aquino says younger students are struggling in math. When I go into classrooms of students who are currently fourth-graders or fifth-graders who were either kindergarten or first grade (during the pandemic), you can see that there is a lack of mathematical fluency around basic facts. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News Plains Elementary School teacher Heather Harris poses for a photo in Plains on Aug. 7, 2024. Harris said that third-grade students in her district have struggled with reading, enough that administrators hired a reading specialist to work with their youngest students. Trace Thomas/For the Texas Tribune Students who started school during or after the COVID-19 pandemic have a harder time saying goodbye to their parents when they drop them off, Plains Independent School District Superintendent Robert McClain said. Third-graders are behind in their reading, teacher Heather Harris said, so the district hired a reading specialist to work with their youngest students. Theyre also struggling in math, San Antonio ISD Superintendent Jaime Aquino said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad When I go into classrooms of students who are currently fourth-graders or fifth-graders who were either kindergarten or first grade (during the pandemic), you can see that there is a lack of mathematical fluency around basic facts, he said. Texas school administrators, educators and education policy experts say theyre seeing troubling signs that students in the earliest grades are not doing as well academically as children who started school before the pandemic. State and federal officials devoted significant resources to help students affected by the pandemic, but they mostly focused on older children whose schooling was disrupted. Experts worry that the states youngest students will have a harder time catching up without intervention. A recent study by Curriculum Associates Research looked at national academic growth trends in the last four years and compared them with pre-pandemic data. It found younger students such as those who were enrolled in kindergarten or first grade in 2021 were the furthest behind in both reading and math compared with their peers before the pandemic. According to the report, those students may be struggling because of disruptions in their early childhood experiences, difficulties building up foundational skills like phonics or number recognition, problems engaging with virtual learning during the pandemic or insufficient resources being devoted to help children in the earliest grades. Aquino, San Antonio ISDs superintendent, said attendance in early grades is lower than before the pandemic, which is affecting foundational learning. Advertisement Article continues below this ad We told families to stay home during the pandemic. Now were sending the message: You have to be in school, Aquino said. Low pre-K enrollment during the pandemic may be another factor. Children who attend pre-K are nearly twice as likely to be ready for kindergarten, said Miguel Solis, president of the education research nonprofit Commit Partnership. In the school year 2019-20, there were 249,226 students enrolled in pre-kindergarten in Texas, according to state data. This number dropped by nearly 50,000 in the following year. Low academic attainment can compound in ways that become increasingly difficult to fix. Harris, the Plains ISD teacher, said its hard for third-grade students who fall behind to catch up because their teachers likely will not be able to spend much time helping them develop foundational skills they already should have learned. Pre-K through second, youre learning to read, and then third grade on up, youre reading to learn. So theres that huge switch of what youre teaching, she said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Mary Lynn Pruneda, an education analyst at the public policy think tank Texas 2036, said the Curriculum Associates Research study raises concerns about young learners, but its difficult to pinpoint the effect in Texas because of a lack of data. We have very limited data on how younger students are doing thats consistent across grade levels, Pruneda said. Without data to help diagnose the problem, students are being set up for continually low results in the states standardized test, she said. There are some indications of how the problem might be manifesting in Texas. In Dallas County, for example, declines in math and reading scores between 2023 and 2024 were most acute among third-graders, who would have been in kindergarten during the pandemic, Solis said. Solis said the state needs to start collecting literacy data for early grades to identify students who are not on track and intervene. Hes hopeful because some lawmakers in both the Texas House and Senate already have expressed interest in taking a close look at how young students learn foundational skills, he said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad We cant wait until the third grade STAAR to see how younger students are progressing, he said. Pruneda said one step Texas can take to start reversing the trend is raising spending in public education something educators are desperate for to help school districts hire and retain the best teachers possible. The superintendents of both Plains and San Antonio ISDs said it is imperative for the Texas Legislature to approve a significant funding boost next year after lawmakers failed last year to do so amid the fight over school vouchers. High-impact tutoring, like the one legislators mandated for grades 3-8, also may help early-grade students, she said. The support provided through the Nonprofit Grant Program will make a direct impact on affordable housing and homeownership, small business development or upskilling and reskillingwhich are the foundations three community areas of focus. This foundation awarded grants to Waterloo organizations including $10,000 yo 24/7 Blac; $5,000 to Christian Community Development, doing business as House of Hope; $10,000 to Friends of the Family; and $10,000 to One City United. The foundation board is inspired by the work being done by all the organizations that applied for this grant, many of which are working with limited resources, said Joe Hearn, Dupaco Foundation secretary and president/CEO of Dupaco Community Credit Union. We are thrilled to support these 29 nonprofit organizations and the services they provide and look forward to helping them reach their goals to impact people and strengthen our communities. Texas state Rep. James Talarico speaks on the floor of the Texas House of Representatives on May 24, 2021, in Austin, Texas. Submitted photo via RNS Students are shown during a class at Thompson Elementary School, 6121 Tierwester St., Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer A state legislator on Monday suggested the Texas Education Agency removed references to Islam and bolstered mentions of Christianity in a new state-written curriculum that public schools could be incentivized to use in their classrooms. In a House Public Education Committee hearing, state Rep. James Talarico said the materials presented Bible stories as straightforward facts that could confuse young kids or alienate children of non-Christian faiths. He noted that a previous definition in state-approved curricula for the word messiah described it as a savior predicted by ancient Hebrews and believed by Christians to be Jesus, while the new lesson plans say Messiah is a savior sent by God. Advertisement Article continues below this ad I can tell you theres a difference between teaching and preaching. In my reading, they are preaching, said Talarico, an Austin Democrat who used to be a public school teacher and is now studying to become a Christian pastor. Under federal law, schools can teach the Bible as an academic text, but not in a devotional way. In other words, public schools are not Sunday schools, he added. The Texas Education Agency drafted the new teaching materials under a state law adopted last year that passed with bipartisan support amid concerns that teachers arent given enough support to plan lessons. The agencys commissioner, Mike Morath, told committee members the state lessons focused on teaching children to read, and the references to Christianity were only included to provide additional vocabulary and context for students, rather than to proselytize. Initial data shows that students who piloted curriculum similar to the agencys new K-5 Reading & Language Arts lesson plans, which were first published in May, have performed better on state standardized tests than other students, Morath said. According to figures provided by TEA to Hearst Newspapers earlier this year, around 10% of the reading and language arts lessons include religious source material, not including Greek or Roman mythological deities or Native American religions. Examples include the role of Jesus in articulating the Golden Rule or the influence of the teachings of the Bible on Martin Luther King Jr. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Morath appeared before the committee on Monday to discuss the implementation of the curriculum bill and to update lawmakers on school enrollment, funding and other issues. His public defense of the lesson plans came as the State Board of Education is set to weigh in on them. Under the law, if the board approves the agencys lesson plans as high quality instructional materials, schools will be given extra state funding when they use them. The SBOE will hold public hearings about the lesson plans at its meeting next month and will vote on them later this year. Sitting alongside Morath on Monday was SBOE Chair Aaron Kinsey, a Midland Republican, who spoke about the need for high quality instructional materials and thanked Morath for his work. The TEA lesson plans are likely to provoke intense debate at the board. The Texas Freedom Network, a left-leaning watchdog group that frequently advocates at the SBOE, announced last week it had commissioned a study that found the lesson plans violates religious freedom of Texas public school students. Teachers unions have opposed the law empowering the state-written lesson plans, warning it could restrict the creativity of good teachers and give too much power to TEA. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Just days before the state agency published the plans in May, the Texas GOP included in its platform a policy that would require the states public schools to provide Bible lessons. Some Republicans on the Texas House committee on Monday applauded the references to Christianity. Former President Donald Trumps running mate, JD Vance, will return to Wisconsin on Friday to campaign in Milwaukee. Vances trip to southeast Wisconsin comes as Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris find themselves in a neck-and-neck race in the battleground state, according to a recent Marquette Law School Poll. The Ohio senator will deliver remarks at 11 a.m. at the Milwaukee Police Association, according to a campaign statement. Vance plans to hit Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, on GOP talking points such as crime, the nations southern border and immigration. Additional details were not immediately available. Vance, who secured the GOP vice presidential nomination in Milwaukee last month, visited Eau Claire last week, the same day Harris held a rally in the western Wisconsin city. Harris officially launched her campaign in late July after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed his vice president, amid mounting pressure from within the Democratic Party to suspend his campaign after his poor debate performance against Trump in June. Harris trip to Eau Claire was her sixth to Wisconsin so far this year and her second since Biden dropped out of the race. In Marquettes latest poll, released last week, Trump received support from 50% of registered voters, compared with 49% for Harris well within the polls 4.6% margin of error. Among likely voters, Harris received support from 50% of respondents, compared with Trumps 49%. The margin of error among likely voters is 4.8%. While the race between Harris and Trump appears deadlocked, Harris entry appears to have boosted Democratic voters enthusiasm heading into November. Sixty-one percent of registered voters said they are very enthusiastic to vote this fall, compared with just 46% in Marquettes June survey. Voter enthusiasm had remained between 46% and 49% in Marquettes four previous polls dating back to October 2023. In August 2020, 62% of registered voters said they were very enthusiastic to vote. Many of those gains appear to have occurred among Democratic voters. Among those who say they are very enthusiastic to vote, 47% support Harris, compared with 52% for Trump. In Marquettes June poll, 39% of very enthusiastic voters supported Biden, while 61% backed Trump. Photos: Paris closes 2024 Olympics with a final star-studded show The Green Party will appear on the Nevada ballot after a U.S. District judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by the NV Dems. The Green Party submitted 29,500 signatures in June to be included on the ballot. The NV Dems claimed the Green Party submitted a majority of signatures collected last year before being re-certified in Nevada. "We are excited to say that the ruling has been made in our favor and we will offer an anti-genocide, pro-worker, climate action choice for Silver State voters! However, the Democrats have drained some of our hard-earned resources in this fight," presidential candidate Jill Stein said in a Facebook post. 1:54 ONLY ON 2: Green Party Presidential Candidate Jill Stein A presidential candidate who you may not have heard much about is Dr. Jill Stein of the Gree JUNE 18, 2024: The Nevada Secretary of State's Office says the Green Party has collected enough valid signatures to appear on this November's ballot. The Nevada State Democratic Party has filed a lawsuit against the Green Party and Secretary of State over the signatures. The group claims the Green Party submitted a majority of signatures collected last year before being re-certified in Nevada. It also says the party didn't collect enough signatures from each county. Therefore, they should not qualify under Nevada law. You can read the Nevada Green Party's statement below - "We turned in 29.5k signatures, nearly 3 times the required amount. "We know we had the distribution needed, not only because we know what we submitted, but also because the counties and the state both certified them. "The reason the FOIA request was incomplete from the SoS to the NV Dems is because the Counties had not returned all of the petitions to the state at the time of the request. The SoS is providing them as they come in. They will all be provided. The submission of the NV Greens was on time, the NV SoS did not process it until Jan 10. Our committee filings are in order, and we have documents to that effect." The Secretary of State tells us it cannot comment on ongoing litigation. To read more about their platform, click on this line. Dr. Jill Stein announced her candidacy for president in November 2023. Im running for president to offer that choice for the people outside of the failed two-party system, said Stein, a physician from Lexington, Massachusetts. Stein ran against Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016 as a Green Party candidate and received about 1% of the national vote. Some Democrats said her candidacy siphoned votes away from Clinton and helped Trump win, particularly in states like Wisconsin. She also ran for president in 2012. Stein has never won statewide or national political office. (The Associated Press contributed to this report.) The Reno Fire Department says the car fire that sparked the Gold Ranch wildfire, burning near Verdi, is now fully contained. Fire crews will continue to remain in the area throughout the weekend due to the forecasted fire weather watch that has been issued. Reno Fire says that ash stirred up from the fire by the winds can resemble smoke, that it is not necessary to report fires in the area as firefighters will already be patrolling and monitoring the areas of the fire closely. Update, August 15,12:04 a.m.: Reno Fire Department has reported that the Gold Ranch Fire is now 88% contained. Crews are actively working to identify and extinguish remaining hot spots within the duff layer and root systems using the cold trailing method. RFD management asks that folks remain clear of the area, as it is limited to essential access only. --- The Gold Ranch Fire is now 80% contained at 657 acres. The lesser acreage was reported on Wednesday morning due to more accurate mapping. Fire crews did not give an estimated date for full containment. On Tuesday, evacuations were lifted in Verdi. It is asking for the public to remain observant and avoid any unnecessary travel to the area. Residents may return home but are urged to use caution as firefighting efforts are still underway and many trees in the area are unstable, making them dangerous. Washoe County says non-residents will be turned away and are advised to not try and enter the area. NV Energy says it finished restoring power to affected customers in Verdi. At one point more than 6,000 customers were affected. Meanwhile, the driver of the car that caught on fire, Andrew Nick, was arrested and faces charges related to impaired driving. The car was a 2020 Alfa Romeo. According to court documents, Nick told a Nevada state trooper that his car started to fill up with smoke as he was driving on I-80. He said he pulled over and tried to extinguish the fire but was unsuccessful. When troopers arrived, they say Nick was standing about 30 feet away from the fire while his car and the hillside were fully engulfed in flames. Troopers say Nick's speech was slurred while they were questioning him, and he showed signs of being intoxicated. Nick has one past DUI charge from out of state. The investigation remains ongoing, but Nick has been released from custody without bail, according to court records. --- Update, August 12, 8:25 p.m.: The American Red Cross is operating an evacuation center at the Northwest Reno Library for those affected by the Gold Ranch Fire. The library is located on Robb Drive. More than 6,000 homes are without power and many residences remain under threat. Red Cross staff and volunteers are providing safe shelter for those affected by the wildfire said the agency in a press release. They are working with Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada and Slim Chickens, which are providing meals at the shelter. Our priority is to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone affected by the Gold Ranch Fire, Tiandra Rushing, Executive Director of the American Red Cross Northern Nevada Chapter. We are committed to providing essential services and support to help our community through this challenging period. The shelter will accommodate small animals, managed by Washoe County Animal Services, so evacuees can bring their pets. Evacuees with livestock should contact Washoe County Animal Services at (775) 322-3647. --- Update, August 12, 7 p.m.: According to Truckee Meadows Fire and Rescue, the Gold Ranch Fire is now eight percent contained and is 674 acres. --- Update, August 12, 4:30 p.m. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) released federal money to allow the agency to help the state of Nevada battle the Gold Ranch Fire. On Sunday the state asked for a Fire Management Assistance Grant. Eligible costs covered by Fire Management Assistance Grants include expenses for field camps, equipment use, materials, supplies, and mobilization and demobilization activities attributed to fighting the fire. Update, August 12, 3:45 p.m.: Nevada State Police have been investigating the cause of the fire. The driver of the car that caught on fire, Andrew Nick, was arrested and faces charges related to impaired driving. The car was a 2020 Alfa Romeo. The investigation is still open. If you have information that can help, call (775) 684-7513 or email MFloyd@dps.state.nv.us All eastbound I-80 travel lanes are currently open. Drivers are still being asked to slow down due to emergency crews in the area. --- Original story: Fire crews are trying to contain a fire that broke out Sunday night on I-80 near Gold Ranch Casino. The Reno Fire Department says the 650-acre Gold Ranch Fire broke out around 6:30 p.m. - 400 homes are threatened and the fire is 0% contained. According to pictures and videos sent by a viewer, a car caught on fire on the east side of I-80 before spreading to nearby brush. All classes at Verdi Elementary School are canceled for Monday, August 12. According to the Bureau of Land Management, Gold Ranch Casino and a nearby trailer park were evacuated. One home was destroyed. For updates on evacuations, click here. There is an evacuation center open at the Northwest Library at 2325 Robb Drive. The Red Cross is assisting those who evacuated. As of 10 p.m., eight people are being helped at the evacuation center. Power has been shut off to over 6,000 people in the area. We will update you as we learn more. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton discusses a proposed $26 billion multi-state opioid settlement during a news conference at the Houston Recovery Center Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Monday his office will investigate CenterPoints conduct during Hurricane Beryl, which wiped out power to millions of the utilitys Houston-area customers last month. My office is aware of concerning allegations regarding CenterPoint and how its conduct affected readiness during Hurricane Beryl, a storm that left millions of Texans without power, Paxton said in a statement. He did not detail what laws CenterPoint might have violated, but said his office would investigate allegations of fraud and improper use of public money. CenterPoint spokesperson John Sousa said the company would cooperate fully with the attorney general's investigation. Advertisement Article continues below this ad "Since Hurricane Beryl, we have demonstrated our absolute commitment to transparency and cooperation through our participation in three separate hearings at the PUCT, the Senate, and the House," he said in a statement. Since the storm, state lawmakers have lambasted CenterPoint for shoddy tree trimming and spending $800 million on massive generators that sat idle even as power outages stretched for more than a week. In a committee hearing last month, state Sen. Paul Bettencourt said the company had defrauded rate payers, who were on the hook to pay for those generators plus a 6.5% profit. If I were an Inspector General, I would be investigating their 800 Million dollar generator contract for fraud, Bettencourt wrote in response to Paxtons announcement. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has suggested the Legislature claw back the rate increase if regulators wont block it. For decades, West Portal has remained off the beaten track, a village largely catering to neighbors on the far side of San Francisco. But on this modest Main Street, the winds of change are a blowin. West Portal is suddenly cool. In just the last few months, West Portal has welcomed buzzy Elenas Mexican Restaurant, the first brick-and-mortar from popular Thai pop-up Khao Tiew, and Binu Bonu, a little Italian wine bar and shop from the original owners of Noe Valley Sardinian restaurant La Ciccia. Next month, theyll be joined by Georges Donuts & Merriment, an elevated cafe with a diverse array of sweet and savory delights. Although the newcomers have taken over a few West Portal classics (RIP Portals Tavern), the hoods old-school haunts-including dive bar Philosophers Club and the nearly century-old Shaws candy and ice cream shopare still going strong enough to balance out the new blood. Both are a part of the neighborhoods resurgence as a food and drink destination that deserves a second look. The Best Restaurants in West Portal (Courtesy of @khaotiew_sf ) If the Little Original Joes (393 West Portal Ave.) put West Portal on the SF food map with its pizzas, pastas, and parmigiana, Elenas (255 West Portal Ave.) sealed the neighborhoods rising status as a destination neighborhood. The Mexican restaurant by the family behind Original Joes is a lively, unfussy restaurant with classic big plates (think fajitas, enchiladas, and pork tamales) that are as good for a celebration as they are for a lowkey lunch or dinner. // The first brick-and-mortar from homestyle Thai pop-up, Khao Tiew (272 Claremont Blvd.) embraces both traditional flavors and a bit of experimentation with rave results. From traditional street food favorites like krapow moo sab (ground pork and basil) to a fresh take on khao soi pad hareng (stir-fried Northern-style curry), its impossible to go wrong. // The tasty Eastern Mediterranean and Turkish food served inside the deep blue jewel box of Bursa (60 West Portal Ave.) is a local favorite with warm, friendly service. // Long-standing Italian spot Trattoria da Vittorio (150 West Portal Ave.) specializes in hearty Southern Italian dishes, housemade pasta, and wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas with a casual, bustling atmosphere and an enviable wine list. // Although the menu at Francos Latin Table (24 West Portal Ave.) leans Peruvian with a nice selection of ceviches, tiraditos, and causas, it makes sure to include a variety of favorites from around the region, including yummy Salvadoran pupusas, Mexican birria tacos, and Chilean mejillones. The Best Wine, Beer + Cocktails in West Portal (Courtesy of @thesherwoodsf) Binu Bonu (230 West Portal Ave.), the new wine bar and shop from the originators of Noe Valleys La Ciccia, has a list of sustainable Italian reds and whites 100 deep. The light-filled, pocket-sized space has wine by the glass and bottle (and solid discounts for those you take home); simple Sardinian eats like charcuterie, cheese, and octopus salad; and a welcoming neighborhood vibe. // The Sherwood (179 West Portal Ave.) is a casually elegant spot for seasonal cocktails in front of a cozy fireplace. // In a space decked out with sparkling chandeliers, tufted leather sofas, and silver-toned walls, Unwined (9 West Portal Ave.) pours Mediterranean and Californian varietals alongside a menu of Greek and Italian bites and pinsas. // The Philosophers Club (824 Ulloa St.) has been a neighborhood fixture since the end of Prohibition. An eclectic dive with a protected back patio, its an ideal spot to catch a game, grab a beer, or hoover up cocktails late night. The Best Sweet Treats in West Portal Korean bingsu at Snow Bliss Cafe. (Courtesy of @sweettooth_415 ) Korean bingsu, a shaved ice dessert topped with an array of goodies, is the specialty at Snow Bliss Cafe (250 West Portal Ave.), where they also serve sweet and savory Chinese-Korean fusion. // Though its opening day is still about a month away, wed be doing a serious disservice to the West Portal-curious if we didnt include Georges Donuts & Merriment (163 West Portal Ave.), the upcoming cafe from pastry chef Janina OLeary. Expect highlights like donut hole flights with dips, a riff on bacon and eggs, and Euro-inspired paninis, salads, coffee, and wine served in a bright, airy space with soaring ceilings. // At popular Noe Valley Bakerys West Portal outpost (28 West Portal Ave.), the pastries, scones, cakes, and light bites are just as good as those from the original location. // Shaws (122 West Portal Ave.) has been handing out classic candy, housemade fudge, scoops, and sundaes for almost a century. Outstanding Metallurgical Test Results - Tiros Project Sydney, Aug 13, 2024 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Resouro Strategic Metals Inc. ( ASX:RAU ) ( CVE:RSM ) ( 8TX:FRA ) ( RSGOF:OTCMKTS ) is pleased to announce an update on its metallurgical studies for the Tiros Titanium and Rare Earth Elements Project in Brazil ("Tiros Project" or "Tiros" or "Project") which marks a significant milestone in the Project's development. The results from the metallurgical test work below indicate that Resouro, together with its partner Altilium Projects (Australia) Pty Ltd ("Altilium"), have the potential to achieve the highest rare earth extractions known across the industry to date. Highlights Following the July 18, 2024 release of the Company's maiden JORC Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") for the Tiros Project, Resouro has completed the first steps of its metallurgical strategy with its partner, Altilium. The aim of this metallurgical study was to achieve maximum extractions and recovery of Rare Earth and Titanium minerals, applying Altilium's patented technology, including acid regeneration with minimal acid loss as well as zero waste. Altilium assessed an approximately 50kg representative sample, covering five diamond drill holes of the Tiros JORC compliant resource in laboratory conditions and produced the following extraction results: Metallurgical Extraction using 50kg of representative sample. TEST L3 TREY - 80.8% LREE - 81.6% MREE - 96.2% HREE - 74.8% President, CEO, Director and Founder, Chris Eager commented: "Completion of our first stage of the Altilium extraction assessment for the Central Block of the Tiros Rare Earth project marks a pivotal moment for Resouro Strategic Metals and the industry as a whole." "These extraction results, combined with the maiden JORC mineral resource estimate, provide our shareholders with confidence that Tiros' consistently thick, near surface and highly weathered clay-like material has strong potential to produce excellent results and meet the needs of the global demand for stable supply of rare earth critical minerals." "Our metallurgical studies will continue the next steps with our partner, Altilium, whilst reviewing options from the more conventional metallurgical study path. This work combined with our infill drilling for mine planning and feasibility and environmental purposes will seek to establish Resouro as a leading rare earth business." "Resouro is committed to sustainable practices and positive community engagement, ensuring that our growth contributes to the well-being of the regions in which we operate." "Resouro will continue to update the market on progress to completion of our Preliminary Economic Assessment" About Altilium Altilium Group Limited ("Altilium Group"), incorporated in England, is the parent company of Altilium Licensing Limited ("ALL") and Altilium Projects (Australia) Pty Ltd). Research and development for the Altilium Group is performed in Australia. Altilium Technology may be applied to ore, mining waste or process tailings. The first developed application of Altilium Technology was the Altilium Nickel Laterite Process(TM) which is designed to process nickel laterite ore. The Altilium Group has subsequently developed the following processes: - Altilium Bauxite Process(TM) - to extract metals from bauxite ore; - Altilium Red Mud Process(TM) - to re-process bauxite residue (tailings); and - Altilium Ti/REE Process(TM) - to extract titanium and rare earth elements from a lateritic ore. The Altilium Group is proactively researching and developing new applications for its technology with a focus on the extraction of critical metals. Altilium Group has marked the successful completion of its latest metallurgical testing phase, utilising the proprietary Altilium Ti/REE Process(TM) on a 50 kg composite sample provided by Resouro. This rigorous testing process, carried out at Core Resources Laboratories in Brisbane, involved air-drying and milling the sample to 0.5mm to analyse its chemical and mineral content. Three leach tests were conducted to understand the metal extractions, with the goal of generating a solution rich in rare earth elements ("REEs") and a residue enriched with titanium. Notably, the third test, which incorporated a pre-treatment process, achieved the highest rare earth extractions known in the industry to date, demonstrating the effectiveness of Altilium's innovative approach. Building on these promising results, Altilium Group is now focused on the next phase of development, which involves designing and executing a laboratory-scale test programme to establish the Altilium Ti/REE Process(TM) flowsheet. The company aims to optimise the process parameters to improve the grades and extraction efficiency of target metals, including titanium, silica, REEs, scandium, iron, and aluminium. Christopher Gower, CEO of Altilium Group, said, "The recent completion of this "Sighter Test Work" marks a significant milestone for Altilium Group. By applying our proprietary Altilium Ti/REE Process(TM) (at Core Resources Laboratories), we have achieved unprecedented levels of rare earth extractions, reinforcing our commitment to innovation and excellence in resource processing. This accomplishment not only highlights the potential of our technology but also sets a new benchmark for the industry." "Looking ahead, our focus is on refining and optimising the Altilium Ti/REE Process(TM) and our other process flowsheets to maximise the extraction efficiency for the target metals: titanium and rare earth elements in this case; and, alumina, iron, nickel, cobalt, scandium and more in the case of our other flowsheets. Our goal is to continually enhance the grades, yields and extractions to deliver an efficient and profitable flowsheet, positioning Altilium as a leader in sustainable mineral processing solutions." The Altilium Metallurgical Test Work The scope for the first stage Altilium test work was aimed at understanding the feasibility of applying the Altilium Ti/REE Process(TM) technology to Resouro's samples mainly for the extraction of rare earth elements into solution. The work involved a composite sample of 50kg, premixed by Resouro, air dried and milled to 100% passing 0.5mm. Chemical and mineralogical analysis was conducted on the head sample. Three optimization sighter leach tests were conducted using nitric acid (HNO3) applying the Altilium Ti/REE Process(TM) at Core Resources Laboratories in Brisbane to generate Pregnant Leach Solution ("PLS") and residue. The samples were assayed for aluminium (Al), calcium (Ca), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), iron (Fe), gallium (Ga), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), sulphur (S), scandium (Sc), silicon (Si), titanium (Ti), and rare earth elements (REEs). The sighter leach test conditions were assessed as follows: - L1 test involved leaching at the standard acid concentration used in the Altilium Ti/REE Process(TM). - L2 test involved leaching at high concentration of acid. - L3 test involved a pre leach heat treatment process and leaching at the standard acid concentration used in the Altilium Ti/REE Process(TM). In all these tests, REE metal extractions, acid consumptions and residue compositions were measured with the summary of extraction of the REE noted in link below*. Notably, the titanium dioxide ("TiO2") contained in the sample reported between 2.5 - 4.5% in the PLS with the remaining pleasingly not reporting to the PLS indicating a strong possibility of TiO2 recovery by traditional metallurgical recovery methods from the residue. The representative samples were taken from the Tiros central project area over four tenements which are the subject of the recent maiden JORC MRE announcement by Resouro dated July 18th, 2024. Proposed Future Works Following this announcement, Resouro will commence the second phase of the Altilium test work. This work includes testing the representative Resouro sample with the Altilium Ti/REE Process(TM) technology flowsheet. This work will also include separating the TiO2, and zircon, niobium and phosphate potential from the leach/residue by various beneficiation processes. In addition, the following tasks will be undertaken: - In-fill drilling to work towards delineating a potential JORC compliant reserve; - Further metallurgical test work programs with preferred laboratory partners to optimise REE extraction and TiO2 recovery under typical conditions; - Undertake a Scoping Study with Engineering Procurement and Construction Management ("EPCM") partner and other subject matter experts; - Complete a Preliminary Mining and Environmental Baseline survey and studies to submit bulk mining approvals and work towards a pilot project; and - Downstream studies and product testing to align the metallurgical flow sheet with potential future offtake partners. *To view tables and figures, please visit: https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/5KW9275K About Resouro Strategic Metals Inc. Resouro Strategic Metals Inc. (ASX:RAU) (CVE:RSM) (OTCMKTS:RSGOF) (FRA:8TX) is a Canadian-based mineral exploration and development company focused on the discovery and advancement of economic mineral projects in Brazil, including the rare earth elements and titanium Tiros Project and the Novo Mundo and Santa Angela gold projects. The Tiros Project, located in northern Minas Gerais, Brazil, is an exploration project focused on rare earth elements and titanium covering an area of approximately 450 km2. The Tiros Project comprises 17 exploration permits, and one exploration permit application held by the Company's Brazilian subsidiary; and 6 exploration permits and one exploration permit application that have been validly assigned to the Company's Brazilian subsidiary and are awaiting ANM approval. The Company holds, via its wholly owned Brazilian subsidiary, a 90% interest in the Tiros Project and the remaining 10% interest in the Tiros Project is held by RBM Consultoria Mineral Eireli (RBM), an unrelated third-party vendor. The Novo Mundo Project is located in the Alta Floresta Gold Province close to the northern border of the state of Mato Grosso, central Brazil. Within the licensed area is the small town of Novo Mundo, which is 30km west from the larger town of Guaranta do Norte. It comprises three exploration permits. The Company also has another interest in an exploration permit, being the Santa Angela Project, which is not considered material to the Company's operations. Interests in the Novo Mundo Project and Santa Angela Project are held via the Company's wholly owned subsidiary. Related Companies Growing up on Taiwan's west coast where mollusc farming is popular, Eddie Wang saw discarded oyster shells transformed from waste to function -- a memory that inspired him to create a unique and environmentally friendly fabric called "Seawool". Wang remembered that residents of his seaside hometown of Yunlin used discarded oyster shells that littered the streets during the harvest as insulation for their homes. "They burned the shells and painted the residue on the walls. The houses then became warm in the winter and cool in the summer," the 42-year-old told AFP at his factory in Tainan. "So I was curious about why oyster shells have such a miraculous effect." Wang's Creative Tech Textile company, established in 2010, was already producing an "eco-fabric" -- a polyester material made out of recycled plastic bottles -- but he felt its texture was a bit "ordinary". So he started working with a research institute to experiment making fabric out of the oyster shell residue, in 2013 coming up with the right formula that produces a material similar to wool. Today, his factory in Taiwan uses around 100 tonnes of oyster shells a year to churn out around 900 tonnes of Seawool, a trademarked and patented fabric. The fabric and clothing generate around NT$200 million (US$6.1 million) a year, with the bulk of it sourced by outdoor and sustainability clothing brands in Europe and the United States. The Made-in-Taiwan fabric would not be possible without the island's unique oyster farming culture, Wang said. "This industry chain cannot be found anywhere else overseas," he says. "We have people to harvest oysters, we have specialists to clean oyster shells, and we have people for drying and calcining (treating) oyster shells." The small island of Taiwan has a hefty appetite for oysters, harvesting an estimated 200,000 tonnes a year with the fleshy meat appearing in local cuisine such as crispy omelettes and silk-like noodle dishes. But its popularity also means that about 160,000 tonnes of shells are discarded yearly, according to data from the agricultural ministry. They pile up on the streets of aqua-farming towns -- the majority in western cities such as Yunlin, Changhua and Chiayi -- causing environmental issues by emitting fishy smells and providing breeding sites for mosquitos. At Wang's factory, the shells are ground into nano beads and combined with yarn made from recycled plastic bottles. "It creates a magical yarn," he said. "Oyster shell is a material with low thermal conductivity -- it does not absorb heat nor does it dissipate heat." Turning the shells -- which capture and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere -- into Seawool also does not require water, making it a "low-carbon product," said Wang. A half-hour drive from his showroom where activewear jackets, sweaters and pants are displayed, state enterprise Taiwan Sugar Corporation (TSC) also has a factory that grinds discarded shells into a powder that is used in manufacturing household items, like incense sticks. The crushed shells help to reduce smoke and the toxic chemicals emitted from burning incense, said Chen Wei-jen, deputy chief of TSC's biotech business division. "We hope oyster shells can have multiple industrial applications and interested companies can use it as a raw material to make their products more environmentally friendly and add value to their products," Chen said. Before the shells get to the factories, farmers in Chiayi -- a county famed for producing oysters -- collect the molluscs at dawn from racks installed along the coast. They are sorted into baskets before being sent to plants such as Dai Sen-tai's factory, where they are machine-washed before being sent to small family-run businesses that shuck the meat and send the shells south. Dai, whose family have been in the oyster farming industry for three generations, said he is happy that Taiwan is breathing new life into the sea waste. "When I was a child, no one wanted oyster shells -- they were dumped and discarded everywhere," he told AFP. "It's good that the waste has been turned into gold now." State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Puerto Rico US Virgin Islands Armed Forces Americas Armed Forces Pacific Armed Forces Europe Northern Mariana Islands Marshall Islands American Samoa Federated States of Micronesia Guam Palau Alberta, Canada British Columbia, Canada Manitoba, Canada New Brunswick, Canada Newfoundland, Canada Nova Scotia, Canada Northwest Territories, Canada Nunavut, Canada Ontario, Canada Prince Edward Island, Canada Quebec, Canada Saskatchewan, Canada Yukon Territory, Canada Zip Code An 11-year-old girl was allegedly stabbed in what investigators have called a "horrific" and seemingly random attack at a popular London tourist site. The juvenile victim suffered serious, non-life-threatening injuries Monday morning in Leicester Square, according to the UK's Metropolitan Police Department. The girl's 34-year-old mother was also non-fatally injured in the attack. Authorities arrested an unidentified 32-year-old male suspect on the scene. "I would like to pay tribute to the members of the public, including staff from local businesses, who bravely intervened in this incident," Det. Chief Superintendent Christina Jessah said in a statement. "They put themselves at risk and showed the best of London in doing so. I must also recognize the efforts of our officers who quickly arrived on scene and provided first aid to the victims until colleagues from LAS (London Ambulance Service) arrived." "An urgent investigation is now ongoing and detectives are working to establish the details around exactly what happened," she continued. "At this stage we don't believe the suspect and the victims were known to each other." "While we continue to work to establish the suspect's motive, at this stage there is nothing to indicate the attack was terror-related," Jessah assured News of the incident comes nearly two weeks after three girls between the ages of 6 and 9 were fatally stabbed at a Taylor Swift dance-themed workshop in the seaside town of Southport, England. Eight other children and two adults were also injured in the attack. In a spicy celebration of cultural appreciation and consumer choice, Korean food company and TikTok sensation Samyang foods commemorated the reintroduction of its Buldak products to Danish supermarkets with an iconic ferry party in Copenhagen. Following the recent lifting of the ban on its spiciest noodles by the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration (DVFA), the company used the opportunity to thank their fans and the government - for the unexpected publicity. The creative masterminds from Jung von Matt SPREE (Berlin, Germany) and Jung von Matt HANGANG (Seoul, Korea) designed the campaign and event in collaboration with Samyang Foods. Lisa Yvo Heimgartner, Executive Creative Director at Jung von Matt SPREE, explained: Buldak is a viral phenomenon that just got hotter. The lifting of the spicy noodle ban is worth celebrating, and as a truly community-driven brand, Buldak wanted to create something that underscores their unwavering commitment to their fans while having a little fun with it all. This is exactly the kind of cultural momentum that we at Jung von Matt love to incorporate in our work to create communication that truly has relevance. The products have become a global viral sensation over the past decade, captivating spice enthusiasts and adventurous eaters worldwide. The phenomenon began with social media challenges, where users recorded themselves trying to handle the intense heat of Buldak's signature soups. Today, there are over 405 million Buldak videos on TikTok alone. The DVFA initially banned three of Buldaks products in June 2024, declaring they posed a health hazard due to their spiciness. After a thorough investigation, the DVFA lifted the ban on 2x Spicy Hot Chicken and Hot Chicken Ramen Stew, allowing Danish consumers to enjoy Buldaks fiery offerings again. Buldak kicked off the spiciest ferry ride of all time on Thursday, August 8th, in the harbor of Copenhagen. After thousands applied to be part of the event via social media, 100 were lucky enough to enjoy spicy drinks, get fiery (airbrush) tattoos, and relish over 480 personalized portions of the iconic noodle soups on deck. While celebrity chef Gorm Wisweh and Buldak mascot Hochi fired up the crowd, chanting, 'Freedom for the spicy!', the rest of the fans danced under the Danish sun. Hyitai Kim, Managing Director at Jung von Matt HANGANG, said: Together with Buldak, we successfully leveraged the viral momentum to expand the brands awareness to new customer groups while underscoring its commitment to its fan base. We also demonstrated Jung von Matts capabilities to seize opportunities in national markets while nurturing the global brands signature. Buldaks Chief Marketing Officer, Euiri Choi, expressed delight over the lifting of the ban, emphasizing the importance of cultural appreciation and consumer choice in the global food market. We are thrilled that Buldak products are once again available to our Danish customers. This experience has underscored our commitment to delivering the authentic, bold flavors our fans love. We appreciate the Danish authorities' cooperation in resolving this matter, and our goal is to ensure that everyone who enjoys a good culinary challenge can savor the unique heat and taste of Buldak. Samyang Foods Co., Ltd., established in 1961, is a pioneer in the Korean food industry, renowned for introducing Korea's first instant noodles. The company is dedicated to providing high-quality, innovative food products that bring joy and flavor to consumers around the world. Buldak, one of Samyang Foods' flagship brands, is globally celebrated for its intensely spicy and deliciously addictive noodle dishes, which have gained a cult following through various social media challenges and international markets. With a commitment to food safety, quality, and sustainability, Samyang Foods continues to push the boundaries of culinary innovation, making bold flavors accessible to all. Adored by her classmates and defiant even after police seized her, student Nusrat Tabassum is one of the many women who helped spearhead the movement that toppled autocratic ex-premier Sheikh Hasina. Sizable protests against Hasina's 15-year rule were nothing new, but this was the first time that young women took to the streets against her in large numbers. Soldiers refused to fire on them, a pivotal moment in Hasina's ouster. "The people had no way back," Tabassum, 23, told AFP. "Anger was increasing, and the demand for equality was increasing." Tabassum is a campus hero for helping lead a movement that began as a protest against civil service job quotas and ended in revolution. As she strolled the grounds of the elite Dhaka University, friends and other pupils rose from their seats to offer handshakes, hugs and high-fives. Two weeks ago she was among six top student leaders snatched by plainclothes police and held in custody for several days, officially for their own safety. With Hasina's grip on power slipping, her security forces held the group at gunpoint and made them sign a statement calling off the protests. "I thought of suicide several times," Tabassum said. "I could not bear the thought of the people of this country thinking that we had cheated, that we had sold out." But Bangladeshis saw through the ruse. "When we saw people did not misunderstand us, and were still protesting on the street, then I regained my strength and power to continue," she said. Protests began last month over a court decision to reintroduce loathed quotas for government jobs, seen as a tool for Hasina's government to stack the bureaucracy with loyalists. One aspect was a 10 percent reservation for women applicants, but Tabassum said the politicised nature of the scheme meant that "women were deprived more than they benefitted". Soon after protests began, Hasina said the quotas had to remain because women were otherwise unable to get those jobs on their own merits. The irony of her statement, from one of the world's longest-serving women heads of government, was not lost on its audience. "Women are more concerned about their rights these days," said Nahida Bushra, a human sciences graduate student at Dhaka University. "That's why women spontaneously joined the protests." Muslim-majority Bangladesh has a history of extremist attacks, and one way Hasina sailed through earlier bouts of unrest was by blaming Islamist troublemakers. She tried again this time, but the sight of young women leading protests undercut her argument. Bushra, 23, played a key role mobilising her fellow women classmates to attend rallies. She sidestepped government efforts to stop her and ignored a concerted online campaign to demonise students. "There was a storm of rumours and disinformation on social media, but we kept our unity with courage and bravery," she told AFP. Telecoms were ordered to block access to Facebook and other platforms used to organise demonstrations, so Bushra and others circumvented the bans through virtual private networks (VPNs). The government then imposed a complete national shutdown of mobile and broadband internet, so they organised rallies through SMS messages and phone calls. When police began firing on protesters, they rushed to the front of the crowd in the expectation that officers would be more reluctant to shoot women. "We moved forward and took the protest forward," Bushra said. In a final desperate move to remain in power, Hasina's government ordered soldiers to suppress the protests. They refused. "It would have been an absolute bloodbath and the army was unwilling to perpetrate a massacre," Thomas Kean of the International Crisis Group told AFP. "To have sided with Hasina at this juncture would have tarnished their image massively." Bangladesh's armed forces are outsized contributors to UN peacekeeping operations, a source of deep institutional pride. Kean said their complicity in the crackdown would have opened up the military to Western sanctions and international pariahdom, as well as a potential revolt from rank-and-file soldiers. Despite army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman being a distant relative of Hasina's, Kean said the general had "little choice but to put institutional interests first". As the dust settles from some of the most tempestuous weeks in Bangladesh's history, Tabassaum said work had just begun. "My country has not been able to practice what democracy really looks like," she said. "The responsibility to build the country remains." Bumble, the women-first dating app, has teamed up with Zepto, one of Indias fastest-growing quick-commerce delivery services in a new partnership to help singles get date ready. From August 10, Zepto users across Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, and Pune can now easily prepare and plan for their dates with curated grocery lists for the occasion. The dedicated in-app categories will feature items to help one to Look Good, Feel Great, set the stage for a perfect Date Night at Home, Build a Care Package to impress, and Celebrate your Dating Milestones and include items from fresh fruits to beauty and skincare. This limited collaboration offers instant access to creative date ideas and essential first date supplies at the click of a button, catering to the 65% of single millennial Indians who prioritize food preferences in their profiles*, providing a quick solution to those planning last minute dates. Research from Bumble also shows that almost 2 in 3 (73%) of single Indians believe that one of the best ways to bond* when dating is over food and this partnership is an easy way to connect over a shared love of food, cooking, and celebration, marking the many ways that food showcases affection. Bumble and Zepto have also partnered to provide inspiration for fresh Opening Moves - such as Make up gesture - Coffee or Pizza from Zepto Cafe?, Date night in or date night out? or Whats your go-to, and A foaming face wash or a non-foaming one? - which they can add to their own Bumble profiles, potentially taking the pressure off of those initial conversations on the dating app. Lucille McCart, Director of Corporate Communications, Bumble Inc. said, We are excited to team up with Zepto to make dating prep and planning more effortless this monsoon season. Planning dates, first or otherwise, can be harder than it looks - from preparing your outfits to what gifts to bring, a swift change in the weather can put a dampener on your plans. We know that for many single people, date prep and planning can take away from the enjoyment of the date so were hoping that this collaboration will help take the pressure off, no matter what the occasion. Ishan Chawla, Head of Brand Solutions added, We are excited to join forces with Bumble to redefine the dating game. By integrating our quick-commerce solutions, we offer users inventive ways to create memorable date nights. Whether its bonding over baking or last minute dating essentials, this partnership provides convenient, creative solutions that enhance and personalize every dating journey. As the first non-endemic brand to create a custom store, Bumble is truly leading the way in making every first move extraordinary. Launched in April this year, Bumbles Opening Moves allows women to set questions for their matches, fostering engaging conversations while keeping control. For non-binary and same-gender connections, either person can set and respond to an Opening Move. This partnership comes at a time when womens experiences have evolved. Keeping true to Bumbles mission, equality remains a priority in relationships with the overwhelming majority* (92%) of women stating it is a top marker in romance. Women can now use one of Bumbles recommended Opening Moves, or craft their own. Whether using Bumble's Opening Moves or crafting their own, women now have more ways to forge meaningful connections on the app this monsoon season *The research was commissioned by Bumble and conducted by Censuswide with over 2,000 single Indian adults aged 18-40 across gender identities between 15.01.24 to 19.01.24. Censuswide abide by and employ members of the Market Research Society which is based on the ESOMAR principles and are members of The British Polling Council. We are in a new era of Public Relations. In the last few years, the importance of reputation management has taken a sea change. More brands and clients, especially from the leadership teams, are viewing Public Relations from a close range. The industry has undergone a radical change with the advent of social media, which has to a large extent changed the approach to Public Relations. We have a relatively new and young audience that we need to face in the coming years so there are bigger challenges for brands and PR practitioners, who have to be more agile and proactive in their thinking to draw up business solutions for clients. In our exclusive weekly column PR Conversation Adgully interacts with leading business leaders and obtains their exclusive views and insights on the various trends in the PR and communications industry. In conversation with Adgully, Tanushree Roy Chowdhury, Head of Corporate Communications, Novo Nordisk India, shares her insights into the evolving landscape of healthcare communication. The landscape of healthcare communication has undergone a significant transformation in recent years, with the industry shifting towards a more consumer-driven and patient-centric approach. This change has been driven by the need for meaningful dialogue among key stakeholders, including pharmaceutical companies, medical research institutes, hospitals, and patients. According to Tanushree Roy Chowdhury, fostering such dialogue is crucial in todays healthcare ecosystem. With an extensive background as a journalist with leading publications like The Times of India and The Indian Express, she has witnessed this shift firsthand. Reflecting on her career, she noted that healthcare was not a primary focus in the media during her early years as a journalist. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed that, bringing healthcare to the forefront of public and professional discourse. The pandemic disrupted the entire healthcare ecosystem, she pointed out, adding, It highlighted the ongoing need for patient care and brought telemedicine to the forefront as a critical tool for ensuring that patients received the attention they needed. This shift to virtual care also accelerated the integration of technology in healthcare, with innovations like machine learning becoming integral to the sector. The expansion of Indias healthcare ecosystem beyond metro cities into Tier 2 and Tier 3 regions has further underscored the countrys commitment to improving patient access. Initiatives like Ayushman Bharat and Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) have played a pivotal role in this expansion, bringing healthcare services closer to peoples doorsteps. She highlighted that the pandemic created a clear division in how healthcare is perceived there is now a distinct pre-COVID and post-COVID era. Disruption in routine brings innovation, she said, adding that it is the responsibility of healthcare communicators to ensure that accurate information reaches the masses through appropriate channels. The role of communication professionals has become even more critical as they navigate this evolving landscape. In recent years, social media has emerged as a vital tool for healthcare communication. She noted that the pandemic revealed the potential of social media not only as a platform for information dissemination, but also as a tool for social listening. Social media helps us understand the needs of the hour, she explained, pointing out its role in shaping communication strategies that are responsive to real-time concerns. She stressed on the importance of engaging healthcare providers clinicians and doctors who are key stakeholders in the pharmaceutical industry. It is essential to keep healthcare providers engaged and to train them in new drugs and therapies, she said. By empowering them with better research and better outcomes, we can ensure that these advancements reach the masses, ultimately supporting last-mile healthcare delivery, she added. Communication plays a crucial role in the ongoing evolution of the healthcare sector. As the industry continues to adapt to new challenges, communicators must remain vigilant in their efforts to provide clear, accurate, and relevant information to all stakeholders. The India-Singapore relationship has emerged as one of the most important partnerships in the context of the Asian Century. Underpinned by a rich history of cultural and commercial connections, complementary strengths and shared priorities, the India-Singapore corridor has been growing in prominence for many years. To further strengthen these ties, DBS Bank India is launching an initiative that will bring together stakeholders from diverse sectors in both countries to identify synergies and create opportunities for charting a mutually beneficial way forward. Since opening its first office in Mumbai in 1994, DBS Bank has now been present in India for 30 years. The banks partnership with CNBC-TV18 to launch the India Singapore Connect is also a celebration of this milestone, by further deepening the dialogue and the exchange of ideas and best practices. This effort will spread over the rest of the year and will also leverage DBS Banks established linkages in both Singapore and India to include perspectives from government leaders, CEOs, entrepreneurs, economists and opinion leaders that will help contextualise key themes that are relevant to this corridor, covering regional trade, investment flows, innovation, emerging technology, sustainable development and cross cultural interests. Speaking on the launch of the campaign, Surojit Shome, Managing Director and CEO, DBS Bank India said, As we celebrate three decades of growth in the country, DBS Bank reaffirms its commitment to India and to continuing to deliver value to customers as a trusted partner over many more decades to come. We envision the India-Singapore Connect to be both a celebration of strong bilateral ties, while also looking ahead to further deepen existing relationships and forging new ones through meaningful interchange between both countries. As the largest bank in South-East Asia, it is a privilege for DBS to be able to catalyse greater collaboration between India and Singapore. This milestone program will kickstart with a curtain raiser episode featuring an interview with Piyush Gupta, CEO and Director, DBS Group, led by Shereen Bhan, Managing Editor, CNBC-TV18, focusing on how the paradigm of the India-Singapore corridor has evolved and how its strengths can serve as a blueprint for developing successful economic and people-to-people relationships between the nations. It will conclude with an exclusive event - the India-Singapore Connect Summit to be hosted in Mumbai, which will see thought leaders and dignitaries from across the region share insights and actionable pathways for inclusive growth. As Indias premier business news platform, we at CNBC-TV18 are passionate about curating meaningful conversations and focusing on issues that matter. We are proud to partner with DBS Bank India on the India-Singapore Connect campaign that touches upon many transformational trends, as seen through the eyes of corporate and cultural leaders in two of Asias fastest-growing economies. It presents us with an invaluable opportunity to combine forces with DBS Bank to help develop an important bilateral relationship, said Shereen Bhan, Managing Editor, CNBC-TV18, reflecting on the significance of the campaign. DBS Bank India Limited is the first among the large foreign banks in India to start operating as a wholly owned, locally incorporated subsidiary of a leading global bank. As a trusted partner, DBS provides a range of banking services for large, medium, and small enterprises and individual consumers in India, focusing on a seamless customer experience that helps them Live more, Bank less. With India commemorating 77 years of Independence, ET NOW, one of the leading English Business News channels in India, and ET NOW Swadesh, Hindi Business News Channel, have unveiled a specially curated programming envisioned as India @100, celebrating its rich legacy as it approaches its centenary of independence in 2047. Themed India @100, both channels will air a series of insightful and impactful content, highlighting key pillars essential to shaping the nations future: Economic Growth & Innovation, Education & Skill Development, Healthcare & Wellbeing, Sustainability & Environment, Governance & Democracy, Technology & Digital Transformation, Social Change & Inclusivity and Indias Global Role. With in-depth analysis, commentary, and inspiring stories of innovation and resilience, both channels will explore the vision of a progressive, inclusive, and self-reliant India. Independence Day programming on ET NOW and ET NOW Swadesh includes: Businesses Of Naya Bharat: This dynamic 30-minute show airing on August 14, explores businesses driving India's economy. With insights from Vikas Khemani , Founder of Carnelian Asset Management, and Nooresh Merani , Founder, Analyse India, this show at 1:00 pm delves into India Inc.s success and the stocks that are propelling the nation towards its $5 trillion economy goal. INDIA @ 100- Financial Freedom Day: Take a step towards your financial independence journey with ET NOW. Join Kavita Thapliyal on August 14 for a 30-minute show that provides actionable financial strategies, model portfolios, and expert hacks. Featuring insights from Nilesh Shah , CEO, Kotak AMC; Dhirendra Kumar , CEO, Value Research; and Feroze Azeez , Deputy CEO, Anand Rathi Wealth Ltd., this show at 5:00 pm is your guide to achieving financial independence and becoming the change you envision. India @ 100: A special debate, India @ 100, on ET NOW with Anchor Vikram Oza will witness distinguished panellists including Gurcharan Das , Author and Commentator, Former CEO P&G India and Siddhartha Sanyal , Chief Economist & Head of Research, Bandhan Bank will envision India's path to becoming a developed nation by 2047. The discussions on August 14 at 9:00 pm will focus on the role of India Inc. in driving the nation to a $5 trillion economy, highlighting the strategies and milestones essential for this transformation. Swadeshi Superstar, Kamaai Asardar: This special show on ET NOW Swadesh on August 14, will delve into the robust performance of PSU stocks and homegrown companies, the pillars of strength for the Indian economy. Hosted by Abhishek Satya Vratam, the show features experts including Gaurang Shah , Whole Time Director, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Rohan Mehta , CEO & Portfolio Manager, Turtle Wealth; and Rajesh Agarwal , Head of Research, AUM Capital Market Pvt Ltd present three standout stocks showcasing the enduring potential of India's financial landscape. India @ 100: On Independence Day at 12:00 pm, Sheryll D'Souza anchors a 30-minute special on ET NOW decoding the Prime Minister's speech at Red Fort, New Delhi. With insights from Sanjay Nayar , Founder & Chairman of Sorin Investments, and Rajnish Kumar , Former Chairman, State Bank of India, the show outlines Indias path to Atmanirbhar and global leadership. The first omni-channel jewellery brand in India, CaratLane - a Tanishq Partnership, established in the year 2008, by Srinivasa Gopalan and Mithun Sacheti, recently unveiled a new campaign titled #WearYourWins. The campaign introduces a poignant cultural movement, aiming to lead to empowerment of women by offering encouragement to them to reward themselves for their every win whether small or big, personal or professional. The underlying theme behind the campaign is that often women work endlessly for these small or big wins, however they might show hesitation in acknowledging those wins. Thus, #WearYourWins intends to convey the message that consistently recognising these achievements will not only increase their confidence, but also be a source of inspiration for them to accomplish greater goals in life. Watch the ad film: https://youtu.be/Jb8T0NEfClw?si=vfjIYmn3xe__bgpr The campaign features popular designer and content creator Nancy Tyagi, who was in the spotlight in recent times for walking the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival, adorned with a self-stitched gown and CaratLane jewellery. With the campaign #WearYourWins, the brand introduced its new collection, PEAK, which has been created for rewarding each and every step of the journey of the wearer towards success. The collection also features a first-of-its-kind Everest Cut, inspired by mountains, as an evidence of the tribulations and wins of the wearers journey, giving a shape to each stone as an emblem of success. The campaign starts with the narrative that the piece of jewellery that shimmers from a distance is worn to mark ones win against their own self, portraying content creator Nancy Tyagi walking in a beautiful gown and a CaratLane neckpiece. It further showcases a woman suffering from cancer, celebrating her last chemotheraphy by gifting herself a CaratLane earring, conveying the message that it is a prize for overcoming ones own fears. The campaign #WearYourWins also expresses the message that a CaratLane jewellery is a celebration of the self-belief that one can realise their unfulfilled dreams, depicting a dancer stopping for a moment because of forgetting her dance steps and then quickly overcoming it, having the self-belief and confidence by the support of the elegant CaratLane bracelet that she is wearing. The campaign #WearYourWins ends with the message that when a woman wins against her own self, she should remember to celebrate that win. In an exclusive interview with Adgully, Jennifer Pandya, VP - Marketing, CaratLane, sheds a light on the concept and thought behind the #WearYourWins campaign, the message it intends to convey, the creative agency that has conceptualized the campaign and the creative brief given to them. She also delves into the marketing/ media mix strategy of the campaign, what forms the core of the creative communication process at CaratLane and the marketing budget that has been allocated for #WearYourWins. She further highlights the new products introduced under the latest campaign by CaratLane, the new collections pricing strategy, the reason for collaborating with content creator Nancy Tyagi and more. Could you shed light on the concept and thought behind the WearYourWins campaign? What is the message that it is trying to convey? During a study to understand our consumers, we found that women like to buy jewellery to mark their milestones. The jewellery is increasingly becoming a symbol of self-reward for women. But, we also found that women often undermine their own victories, and attribute their wins to other factors. This insight became the foundation for the new campaign, which aims to spark conversations about women celebrating their wins, big or small. We want to be the champions of expression of emotions and use our jewellery to enable our customers to do so. We want to create a cultural movement where women reward their wins by gifting themselves through our #WearYourWins campaign. In the long term, we want to be relevant to the customers for all their jewellery-buying occasions from first piercing to everyday wear, engagement and wedding gifts as well as anniversary gifts. We received a lot of love for this campaign, many women resonated with the #WearYourWins concept and shared their personal stories. Which creative agency has conceptualized the #WearYourWins campaign and what was the creative brief given them? BBH, our creative agency, along with our internal team had conceptualized the #WearYourWins campaign. The creative brief had a key insight based on an external study done by Quantum, which stated that only 3 out of 10 women celebrate their wins. Hence, we had the desire to create a cultural movement with this campaign and go beyond just marketing based on pricing. What is the marketing/ media mix strategy of the campaign, and what forms the core of the creative communication process at CaratLane? What is the marketing budget allocated for this campaign? For this campaign, weve done some interesting collaborations, which started with SheThePeople and followed by Unerase, which is a spoken poetry platform where women delivered the core message of the campaign in their poems. In general, CaratLane focuses on a digital-first strategy, to be where our customer is. Content marketing, especially user-generated content, also plays a crucial role in CaratLanes marketing strategy. What are the new collections introduced under Wear Your Wins by CaratLane? PEAK collection was launched to celebrate womens story of strength, resilience, and the unseen journey to success. This collection is crafted with White Quartz and Amethyst and has incorporated the facets from the CaratLane logo and brand colour. Peak collection features a unique, first-of-its-kind mountain-inspired Everest Cut as a testament to the journey of small or big milestones, shaping each stone into a symbol of success. The collection consists of 24 unique designs across different categories starting at Rs 17,000. What is the pricing strategy for the new collection? CaratLane distinguishes itself through product innovation and added value rather than competing on price alone. Our innovative manufacturing processes allow us to create beautiful yet affordable jewelry without compromising on style. The Peak collection also offers the customer an array of options to choose from to reward her every win big or small. In addition, CaratLane offers services like 24-hour delivery, gold exchange, and a unique postcard feature, where a video can be embedded in a ring. This adds an emotional dimension to gifting jewellery, beyond just the physical jewellery. What differentiates womens collections from that of men at CaratLane and how does it approach it? Most of our designs are primarily for women. However, we have seen that men prefer CaratLane for select categories like rings. We recently also launched a special platinum curation for men, which consisted of rings, bracelets and chains. How did the collaboration with content creator and designer Nancy Tyagi as the brand ambassador for the campaign come about? When Nancys team reached out to us, what resonated with us was her story. We saw that her story was very unique, that she had made it this far on her own. And the fact that she was designing her attire for the event resonated with us a lot. We, as a brand, have always believed that diamond jewelry should not be only for a few people. It should be accessible to the whole country. The collaboration with Nancy Tyagi, during Cannes, exemplifies this strategy. This partnership transitioned into the brands #WearYourWins campaign, celebrating women rewarding themselves for their wins. How has CaratLane leveraged AI, social media and digital technology to promote the campaign #WearYourWins? CaratLanes core expertise is the use of technology to provide a seamless omnichannel shopping experience. Our customers can list their favourite CaratLane Designs online and then walk in any of our 270+ stores across 110 cities in India to try their (online) shortlisted designs. Our recent biggest technology based innovation was Postcards where you get to embed a video on the CaratLane ring and the wearer scans the ring to view the recorded message. Social media is the core part of our strategy since our customers spend most of their time there. We have the largest community of 1 million followers on Instagram as compared with other jewelry brands in India. It is a high engaging community where customers share their #myCaratLaneStory and comments in our latest trending designs. We have also started experimenting with AI for enhancing the current shopping experience to drive personalisation at scale. Adgully also spoke to 23-year old fashion icon, influencer and content creator, Nancy Tyagi, who went viral, especially after her appearance on the red carpet at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. Her first appearance at Cannes sawher dressed in her self-stitched powder pink feathered gown, weighing around 20 kg, which took her one month to create, styled with CaratLane diamonds. Her second appearance was in an intricate hand embroidered saree with a veil, which she delicately crafted entirely on her own. One of her DIY Reels was shared on Instagram story by actor Sonam Kapoor, who further asked her to create an outfit for her. Nancy Tyagi, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, came to Delhi in order to prepare for the UPSC exams, however the lockdown period started and she decided to embark on the journey of being a fashion designer without going to a fashion school, guided by a mission to help her family. She created her own videos dressed in her self-made outfits, recreating the looks of well-known celebrities. She has 2.7 million followers on Instagram and 2.21 million subscribers on YouTube. She is an inspiration to many as well as a social media sensation, getting much appreciation from the fashion industry and fashion enthusiasts for her Cannes looks. In this interview with Adgully, Nancy Tyagi shares her experience and journey in partnering with CaratLane for the #WearYourWins campaign, her thoughts on the message of the campaign, the key takeaways of this initiative, and more. How has your experience and journey been in collaborating with CaratLane for #WearYourWins campaign? My journey with Caratlane from Cannes till now has been great. It is always great working with a brand like CaratLane. When I first learned about this campaign theme, #WearYourWins, I immediately said yes as it very much resonates with me. What led you to be a part of this campaign? What are your thoughts on the message of this campaign? This campaign resonated deeply with me because I have never truly celebrated anything in my life before. It provided me with a unique opportunity to do so. Women often go about their work without taking the time to acknowledge their accomplishments. It is essential for us to start celebrating all the small victories in our lives because we truly deserve it. What do you think are the key takeaways of this initiative? This is a great initiative and approach. Personally, I have never really taken the time to celebrate my own achievements, but this campaign gave me the push I needed to start. Women often focus on responsibilities and forget to celebrate their achievements. According to you, why is it important for women to celebrate their achievements through jewellery and as a collaborator, how do you think this campaign will influence women who engage with it? As a collaborator, I believe this campaign will inspire women to take a moment to appreciate themselves and their achievements. By choosing jewellery to mark their milestones, they are making a statement about their worth and value. By associating their successes with beautiful, meaningful pieces of jewellery, they can carry a constant reminder of their worth and accomplishments, encouraging them to continue striving for more. Also Read: BBH India unveils a campaign to celebrate Everyday Vows for CaratLane Leo Burnett India, part of Publicis Groupe India, has announced the elevation of Sonal Chhajerh and Pravin Sutar as National Creative Directors. In their previous roles with the agency, Sonal was Groupe Executive Creative Director and Pravin was Head of Creative, Leo Burnett Bangalore. Both will continue reporting to Rajdeepak Das, Chief Creative Officer, Publicis Groupe, South Asia & Chairman Leo Burnett South Asia. Leo Burnett India stands for modern, transformational creativity that powers growth for brands and businesses. As the agency strengthens its creative leadership, these elevations mark the commitment to world-class creativity and technology, innovative new-age thinking and holistic, high-impact business solutions that strengthen brands. On the promotions, Rajdeepak Das, Chief Creative Officer, Publicis Groupe, South Asia & Chairman Leo Burnett South Asia said At Burnett, we truly believe the driving factor for success is our people and culture. Over the past few years, Sonal and Pravin have gone above and beyond their designated roles to contribute to the success of Leo Burnett. And I am thrilled that they are now stepping in as co-pilots to our already strong creative leadership helmed by Sachin Kamble and Vikram Pandey as Chief Creative Officers. Sonal has the creative vision to help empower brands with our Impact a Billion thinking. Pravin has been relentlessly working towards shaping our Bangalore office into a formidable force with his creative acumen and leadership skills. Together as National Creative Directors Sonal and Pravin will be uniquely placed to leverage their collective experience and creative vision to unlock creative effectiveness for both our brands and our people. Commenting on the leadership changes, Amitesh Rao, CEO of South Asia, Leo Burnett, Publicis Health & Publicis Business shares, This has been a phenomenal year for us at Leo Burnett. And Sonal and Pravin have been a big part of our success story. Both are true representation of Leo Burnett, respected and admired by our clients, our partners, and our people. Their elevation will add more depth and value to our agencys creative output and further accentuate our focus on solving business and human problems using creativity, innovation, data, and technology. Talking about his appointment, Pravin Sutar, National Creative Director, Leo Burnett India said, Leo Burnett is right at the center when it comes to creativity and innovation in the country. I'm really excited with the opportunity presented to me by Raj and Amitesh and am committed to finding fresh avenues and platforms to express ideas while preserving our unique Leo Burnett culture. And with the team we've built over the past few years, we're more than ready to undertake this journey. Adding further about her appointment Sonal Chhajerh, National Creative Director, Leo Burnett India said, I am excited to step into this role and build on the vision and outstanding progress we have achieved as an agency over the past few years. I truly believe that the future of advertising is using creativity as a force for good impacting billions of lives through innovation and sustainability. I am thankful to Raj and Amitesh for trusting me with this responsibility and am looking forward to collaborating with colleagues and our brand partners to create work that is truly world-class, scalable, and makes a real difference. Sonal Chhajerh was until recently the Group Executive Creative Director at Leo Burnett Mumbai. She is passionate about working on impact projects that deliver genuine change for clients and society at large. She leads the P&G Whisper account and was instrumental in the Missing Chapter campaign which is one of the agencys most acclaimed and awarded work. Pravin has been heading the creative in Leo Burnett Bangalore and has been instrumental in strengthening the Leo Burnett Bangalore offerings by managing the large portfolio of some of the biggest brands including Ikea, ACKO, RedBus, Kingfisher, Heineken, and Lenovo, to name a few. The Digital Infrastructure Providers Association (DIPA) has announced the appointment of Manoj Kumar Singh as its new Director-General, effective immediately. Singh, a seasoned industry veteran with a long stint at Indus Towers, takes over from TR Dua, who is stepping down on September 30 due to personal commitments. Singh brings with him a wealth of experience in the passive infrastructure industry, having held key positions at Indus Towers, including Chief Regulatory Officer & CSR and CTO & Chief of Regulatory Affairs & Sustainability. I am excited to join DIPA and contribute to building a robust digital infrastructure for the country, said Singh. I am confident that DIPA will continue to be a strong voice for the industry and play a crucial role in realizing the vision of Aatm Nirbhar Bharat. Dua, who has been at the helm of DIPA (formerly TAIPA) since its inception in 2010, expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to serve the association. It has been a privilege to work with the industry and contribute to its growth, he said. DIPA represents major telecom infrastructure providers in India, including Summit Digitel, American Towers, Indus Towers, and others. Irish fashion retailer Primark has officially entered the US market with its debut brand campaign, "That's So Primark." Developed in collaboration with the creative agency VCCP, the campaign is designed to raise brand awareness and introduce American consumers to Primark's unique value, style, and quality. Founded 55 years ago in Dublin, Primark has grown into a household name across Europe, with over 445 stores in 17 countries. As the retailer works towards expanding its presence in the U.S. with a goal of 60 stores, the Thats So Primark campaign marks a significant step in its American journey, inviting shoppers to discover and fall in love with the brand. Across Europe, Primark is the go-to destination for shoppers looking to look good and feel good without breaking the bank, said Michelle McEttrick, Global Chief Customer Officer at Primark. In the U.S., we want to spread the word to savvy shoppers that they dont need to sacrifice style for affordability. Whether theyre after statement pieces or everyday essentials, we want to give American consumers the chance to fall in love with their closet over and over again. The campaign, which kicks off today, features two central films created by VCCP: Window with a View: This film captures two women whose faces draw closer and closer to the camera, only to reveal that they are admiring the fashion on display in a Primark store window. The imagery emphasizes the allure of Primarks high-quality, low-price outfits. Fall Again: Echoing the same theme, this film follows a woman as she joyfully shops at Primark, spinning through the aisles with various pieces she loves, all at prices she desires. Brett Edgar, CEO at VCCP US, commented: Primark offers a shopping experience unlike any other, and it's time for more U.S. shoppers to experience that. Our goal was to showcase what makes Primark a sensation across the pond and to demonstrate that Americans dont have to compromise on their shopping experience. Its about falling in love with the brand and its products again and again. The Thats So Primark campaign is set to roll out across various platforms, including CTV, OTT, digital, social media, radio, OOH, and digital channels. News18 Rajasthan, the regions No. 1 news channel, has announced its flagship event, "Rising Rajasthan," which is set to take place on August 13 at The Lalit, Jaipur. Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma will grace the event as the chief guest and will speak extensively on his vision for the states progress. Rising Rajasthan will emphasize the actions that the current government is taking to fast-track changes and initiatives for the regions development. Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma will outline the government's strategies. The event promises to be a congregation of top leaders from Rajasthan, engaging in key discussions about the state's progress across various sectors. Among the distinguished speakers and guests expected to attend are Dr. Prem Chand Bairwa, Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan; Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of Law & Justice, Government of India; Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Minister of Culture and Tourism, Government of India; Shri Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Minister of Industry, Commerce, Youth Affairs & Sports, Rajasthan; Shri Madan Dilawar, Minister of School Education & Panchayati Raj, Rajasthan; Shri Sachin Pilot, Member of the Legislative Assembly; Shri Hanuman Beniwal, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Nagaur; and Shri Madan Rathore, State BJP President. News18 has been at the forefront of driving the discourse on development across the country for years. An integral part of this effort has been the thought leadership 'RISING' series organized in different states. This platform hosts the biggest names from governance, politics, and other sectors of society in substantive discussions on the key challenges faced by a region and the roadmap for the future. Tune in for Rising Rajasthan only on News18 Rajasthan on August 13, starting from 3 pm onwards. https://hindi.news18.com/livetv/news18-rajasthan/ PNB MetLife, one of the leading life insurance companies in India, has announced the appointment of Sourabh Lohtia as Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, with effect from August 1st, 2024. In this new role, Sourabh will be overseeing Corporate Communications, Corporate Social Responsibility, the e-Commerce business, and Customer Experience management, in addition to spearheading the Marketing function. Sourabhs strategic vision and expertise in brand, digital, and growth marketing have significantly contributed to the companys success. Prior to leading Marketing, Sourabh also served as the Director and Business Head of Bancassurance Retail and Head of Business Development at PNB MetLife. With nearly two decades of experience in the life insurance industry, Sourabhs extensive industry knowledge and proven track record make him ideally suited to take on this multifaceted role. Sameer Bansal, MD and CEO of PNB MetLife, commented on the appointment: Sourabh's leadership, innovative approach, and focus on customers have helped propel PNB MetLifes brand to new heights, enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty. With his expanded responsibilities, he will also play an important role in advancing our CSR initiatives and expanding our e-commerce business, contributing significantly to our continued growth and success. Sourabh expressed his enthusiasm about his new responsibilities: I look forward to collaborating with all stakeholders to enhance the customer experience, strengthen our brand and reputation, and advance our work in the community through CSR initiatives. Together we will deliver PNB MetLifes purpose, Milkar Life Aage Badhaein. A Pennsylvania man was sentenced to a maximum of nearly two years in jail after plea bargaining in the fatal stabbing of a next-door neighbor who threatened to kill him over the sound of his snoring. Christopher Casey, 56, used a large, military-style knife to kill Robert Wallace, 62, following a series of arguments between the men, who shared a common wall between their bedrooms in a duplex apartment complex in Hatboro, a suburb north of Philadelphia. Casey, who lived alone, was eating dinner on Jan. 14 when Wallace knocked on a ground floor window and yelled that he was going to kill Casey, the Montgomery County District Attorney reported. Wallace then ripped off the screen and opened the window and the two men argued for about 20 minutes before Wallace calmed down, offered to pay for corrective surgery to curb Casey's loud snoring and said he wanted to shake hands. But before Casey opened his door, he armed himself with the knife and a Taser, telling police he feared that Wallace, who was larger than Casey, wasn't sincere and was planning to attack him. Casey said he stabbed Wallace at last three times in the chest and accidentally stabbed himself once in the leg during the bloodshed. In court on Thursday, Wallace's relatives said that Casey's snoring prevented him from sleeping. and the resulting fatigue affected his life and ability to work, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Defense lawyer James Lyons also said that Wallace had bullied Casey for more than a year, repeatedly threatening to kill him, and that Casey has autism that makes it hard for him to handle confrontation. "He's a really good man who was not equipped to deal with this type of this sustained abuse and threats," Lyons said. "He was terrified of this guy, and he believed that he had no option." In addition to a jail term of 11 1/2 to 23 months, Montgomery County Court Judge Risa Vetri Ferman ordered Casey to serve three years' probation as part of his negotiated sentence. Casey was also barred from returning to his apartment when he's released from the county jail. Tata Sons, a champion of educational excellence and social development in India, has launched a powerful campaign promoting the Tata Building India School Essay Competition. This esteemed national program aims to ignite the potential within students and empower them to express their ideas for a better India. For over a decade, the competition has been a cornerstone of the Tata Group's commitment to fostering young minds. It has become a platform for students across 400+ cities to showcase their thoughts and dreams in over ten languages. With nearly 30 million students participating throughout its history, the program has significantly impacted Indian youth. Conceptualised by Garage Worldwide, the campaign features a heartwarming film that delves into the world of a quiet, introspective child. This student, often overlooked in the classroom's hustle and bustle, possesses a treasure trove of knowledge and ideas waiting to be unleashed. Through captivating visuals and emotional storytelling, the film conveys a powerful message: every quiet voice matters. The protagonist embarks on a journey of self-discovery, culminating in a moment of empowerment, where a voiceover encourages them to express themselves through the written word. The campaign film is available in both English and Hindi, ensuring a wider reach and connection with young minds across India. Sanjay Deshmukh, CEO of Garage Worldwide, commented: "This project was an incredible opportunity to showcase the transformative power of self-expression. While some students readily participate in class discussions, many others hold back due to a lack of confidence. Our goal was to connect with these students and inspire them to participate in the Tata Building India School Essay Competition, giving them a platform to express their unique perspectives on building a better future for India." This campaign by Tata Sons and Garage Worldwide beautifully portrays the transformative power of education and encourages all young minds regardless of their initial vocal nature to participate in shaping the nation's future. Ujjivan Small Finance Bank (Ujjivan SFB) a pioneering small finance bank, has announced the launch of its sonic brand identity, named The Sound of Ujjivan. The sonic identity intends to bolster the connect with the customers through the strategic use of sound. At the heart of sonic identity is the Banks sonic logo, crafted to capture the fundamental values like Opportunity and Freedom which seamlessly resonates with what Ujjivan stands for - Trust and Progress. Conceptualised and created by Unmute, a leading Scandinavian Sonic Branding Agency, the new sonic identity helps the customers connect emotionally with the bank. Unmute has used the Geneva Emotional Music Scale - a model designed to describe how humans respond emotionally to music. When adapting this method to the Ujjivan brand, a list of descriptors were defined and used as a common language throughout the creation process. As music is very subjective, its important to find ways to evaluate the sound from the brands perspective. The new sonic identity will be integrated across various customer touchpoints including phone banking, mobile banking applications, ATMs and the website. Carol Furtado, Executive Director, Ujjivan Small Finance Bank said Since its inception, Ujjivan Small Finance Bank has been a partner in progress to millions of customers. To deepen this relationship, 'The Sound of Ujjivan' is a heartfelt endeavour to create a strong brand recall. The new sonic identity reflects our commitment to enhancing the customer experience, across all touchpoints both physical and digital. Lakshman Velayutham, Chief Marketing Officer, Ujjivan Small Finance Bank said Music has the power to create an emotional connect with the customers and capture the true essence of a brand. The Sound of Ujjivan is not merely a branding initiative, but a reflection on the need to create a universal musical expression that captures the spirit of Ujjivan, making it both relatable and engaging for our diverse audience. Commenting on the association, Simon Kringel, Unmute said Ujjivan has really embraced their sonic branding and for us its been a fascinating collaboration. Coming from another part of the world weve had to learn so much about Indian music and culture; and by adding our own musical touch I think weve achieved a sound that is unique, distinctive and truly cross-cultural. Federal Department of Finance Bern, 13.08.2024 - On 13 August 2024, Federal Councillor Karin Keller-Sutter attended the meeting of the finance ministers of the German-speaking countries in Lochau, Austria. The discussions centred on strengthening competitiveness and financial policy aspects of the climate transition. In addition to Federal Councillor Karin Keller-Sutter, Christian Lindner (Germany), Magnus Brunner (Austria), Daniel Risch (Liechtenstein) and Gilles Roth (Luxembourg) took part in the meeting in Lochau near Bregenz, Austria. The ministers discussed ways to strengthen competitiveness and exchanged views on budgetary policy issues in light of geopolitical developments, financial market regulation and international tax policy, among other things. As a result of these discussions, they adopted the declaration "Bodenseer Erklarung zur Starkung der Wettbewerbsfahigkeit". Another topic addressed was the role of finance ministers in connection with the climate transition. The focus here was on financing the energy transition. Address for enquiries Communications State Secretariat for International Finance SIF Tel. +41 58 462 46 16, info@sif.admin.ch Publisher Federal Department of Finance https://www.efd.admin.ch/en Paul Scherrer Institut Villigen, 13.08.2024 - Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have been improving the resolution of a process known as photolithography. They hope to use their technique to help advance the miniaturisation of computer chips. Miniaturising computer chips is one of the keys to the digital revolution. It allows computers to become ever smaller and, at the same time, more powerful. This in turn is a prerequisite for developments such as autonomous driving, artificial intelligence and the 5G standard for mobile communications. Now a research team led by Iason Giannopoulos, Yasin Ekinci and Dimitrios Kazazis from the Laboratory of X-ray Nanoscience and Technologies at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI has devised a technique for creating even denser circuit patterns. The current state-of-the-art microchips have conductive tracks separated by twelve nanometres, i.e. about 6000 times thinner than a human hair. The researchers, by contrast, have managed to produce tracks with a separation of just five nanometres. As a result, circuits can be designed much more compactly than before. Our work showcases the patterning potential of light. This is a significant step forward for both industry and research, explains Giannopoulos. Microchips are produced like the pictures on a cinema screen As recently as 1970, there was only room for around 1000 transistors on a microchip. Today, an area barely larger than the tip of a finger can hold about 60 billion components. These components are manufactured using a process called photolithography: a thin slice of silicon, the wafer, is coated with a light-sensitive layer, the photoresist. It is then exposed to a pattern of light corresponding to the blueprint for the microchip, which alters the chemical properties of the photoresist, making it either soluble or insoluble to certain chemical solutions. Subsequent treatment removes the exposed (positive process) or unexposed (negative process) regions. In the end, conductive tracks are left behind on the wafer forming the desired wiring pattern. The type of light used is crucial for miniaturisation and for making microchips more and more compact. The laws of physics dictate that the smaller the wavelength of the light used, the more closely the structures in the image can be packed. For a long time, the industry used deep ultraviolet light (DUV). This laser light has a wavelength of 193 nanometres. By comparison, the range of blue light visible to the human eye ends around 400 nanometres. Since 2019, manufacturers have been using extreme ultraviolet light (EUV) with a wavelength of 13.5 nanometres in mass production, more than ten times shorter than before. This makes it possible to print even finer structures, down to ten nanometres and less. At PSI, researchers use radiation from the Swiss Light Source SLS for their investigations, tuned to 13.5 nanometres in accordance with the industry standard. Photon-based lithography can achieve very high resolution However, the PSI researchers extended conventional EUV lithography by exposing the sample indirectly rather than directly. In EUV mirror interference lithography (MIL), two mutually coherent beams are reflected onto the wafer by two identical mirrors. The beams then create an interference pattern whose period depends on both the angle of incidence and the wavelength of the light. The group was able to achieve resolutions, i.e. track separations, of five nanometres in a single exposure. Viewed under an electron microscope, the conductive tracks were found to have high contrast and sharp edges. Kazazis notes, Our results show that EUV lithography can produce extremely high resolutions, indicating that there are no fundamental limitations yet. This is really exciting since it extends the horizon of what we deem as possible and can also open up new avenues for research in the field of EUV lithography and photoresist materials. A new EUVL tool from the end of 2025 At the moment, this approach is not interesting for industrial chip production, because it is very slow compared to industrial standards and can produce only simple and periodic structures rather than a chip design. However, it offers a method for the early development of photoresists needed for future chip production with a resolution that is not possible in the industry. The team plans to continue their research using a new EUV tool at the SLS, expected by the end of 2025. The new tool coupled with the SLS 2.0, which is currently going through an upgrade, will provide much enhanced performance and capabilities. Text: Werner Siefer About PSI The Paul Scherrer Institute PSI develops, builds and operates large, complex research facilities and makes them available to the national and international research community. The institute's own key research priorities are in the fields of future technologies, energy and climate, health innovation and fundamentals of nature. PSI is committed to the training of future generations. Therefore about one quarter of our staff are post-docs, post-graduates or apprentices. Altogether PSI employs 2300 people, thus being the largest research institute in Switzerland. The annual budget amounts to approximately CHF 460 million. PSI is part of the ETH Domain, with the other members being the two Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology, ETH Zurich and EPFL Lausanne, as well as Eawag (Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology), Empa (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology) and WSL (Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research). Original publication Extreme ultraviolet lithography reaches 5 nm resolution I. Giannopoulos, I. Mochi, M. Vockenhuber, Y. Ekinci & D. Kazazis Nanoscale, 12.08.2024 DOI: 10.1039/D4NR01332H Address for enquiries Dr. Mirjam van Daalen Head of Communications Paul Scherrer Institute CH-5232 Villigen PSI Phone: +41 56 310 56 74 mirjam.vandaalen@psi.ch Publisher Paul Scherrer Institut Sheikh Hasina's Stay in India Will Not Hurt Bilateral Ties: Interim Govt Adviser 2 A key adviser of Bangladeshs interim government on Monday said that deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasinas extended stay in India will not hurt bilateral relations and Dhaka will always try to maintain good relations with New Delhi. Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain made the remarks when asked whether bilateral ties with India would be affected if Hasinas stay in India gets prolonged. This is a hypothetical question. If someone stays in a country why the relations with that particular country would be affected? There is no reason for that, he said, emphasising that bilateral relations are a big matter. Hasina, 76, resigned and fled to India last week following widespread protests against her government over a controversial quota system in jobs. Hossain said bilateral relations are a relation of interest and friendship is also of interest. Friendship does not exist if the interest is hurt. He said the two sides Bangladesh and India have interests and they will follow those interests. Hossain said the relationship between the two countries is not influenced by the presence of one individual in a country while India has its interests, and Bangladesh has its interests. The adviser said they will always try to maintain good relations with India. Earlier, he briefed the diplomats stationed in Dhaka, including Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma, on the situation in Bangladesh and sought their support. We believe that all our friends and partners in the international community would continue to stand by the interim government and our people as we embark on charting a new future for Bangladesh, Hossain told the diplomats. Hossain, a career diplomat and former foreign secretary, reaffirmed that Bangladesh was committed to upholding all agreements made with other countries. The adviser accused the Awami League regime of committing gross human rights violations in its attempts to suppress a popular movement eventually resulting in its ouster. However, the sheer power of people ultimately led to the fall of all authoritarian regimes, Hossain said, adding that Bangladesh had experienced a second liberation last week driven by a mass uprising led by our courageous students. The adviser said the interim government was committed to meeting the renewed expectations of the people and expressed confidence that the international community would continue to support the interim government and the people of Bangladesh as they work towards a new future. Bangladesh is on the brink of a new beginning, he said. The adviser informed the diplomats that the government has taken quick and decisive measures to restore law and order and bring back normalcy across the country. Representatives from all diplomatic missions in Dhaka, including UN agencies, attended the briefing while they inquired about security measures, the Rohingya issue, and the current situation. We can assure that the safety and security of the diplomatic and consular premises and persons will remain one of our core priorities, Hossain said, adding the interim government remained sensitized to the need to ensure the protection of all foreign citizens. Hossain said that the government would remain focused on a smooth transition to inclusive and pluralistic electoral democracy as soon as possible. During his first press briefing at the foreign ministry on Sunday, Hossain was asked about the possibility of bringing home Hasina. He replied that the matter falls under the jurisdiction of the law ministry while his office would respond only if that ministry makes any such request. Our policy is to maintain good relations with all countries while protecting our national interests, said Hossain, whose position is equivalent to a ministers. We intend to maintain smooth and positive relations with all including India and China, said Hossain, who previously served as a deputy high commissioner to India. When asked about the interim governments approach towards India, Hossain said both countries share a strong and deep bond. (But) it is important that people feel India is a good friend of Bangladesh We want that, we want to advance the (Dhaka-Delhi) relation towards that direction, he said. Wale, the popular Grammy and MTV Video Music Award-nominated rapper, will perform at Iron City in Birmingham Thursday, Nov. 7, the venue announced Monday. Doors open at 7 p.m., while the show begins at 8. The standing room only show is for all ages. Tickets for the Every Blue Moon tour go on sale at 10 a.m. CST Aug. 16. You can purchase via Ticketmaster. (This post will be updated with ticket prices.) Born Olubowale Victor Akintimehin, the Washington D.C. native gained popularity in the mid-2000s with his song Dig Dug (Shake It) before signing with Mark Ronsons Allido Records. Wales debut studio album Attention Deficit released in 2008, featuring the single Chillin with Lady Gaga. Wale, 39, later signed with Rick Ross Maybach Music Group before releasing his next album, 2011s Ambition, featuring the Grammy-nominated single Lotus Flower Bomb. Other albums include The Gifted (2013) and The Album About Nothing (2015). His most recent album was 2021s Folarin II. He has since worked with high-profile artists like Dua Lipa, Lil Wayne, Waka Flocka Flame, Rihanna, J. Cole, Jamie Foxx, Meek Mill, Lil Durk, and others. Wale has earned a BET Award, BET Hip Hop Award, and Soul Train Award. He earned nominations from the Grammy Awards and MTV Video Music Awards. Other notable upcoming shows at Iron City include The Used (Sept. 26), Talib Kweli (Oct. 4), Dirty Honey (Oct. 15), Moon Taxi (Nov. 23), Futurebirds (Dec. 13). See the full calendar. Don Nelson likes to call the small town of Creola the Gateway to the Mobile River Delta. But the mayor of Creola, with a population under 2,000, admittedly says the city often doesnt see many grants to enhance its parks or other attractions even as the community is experiencing a growth in visitors. Authorities have released the name of a man killed in a shooting at the Anchor Motel in east Birmingham. The Jefferson County Coroners Office identified the victim as James Edward White. He was 45. The shots rang out at 9:42 a.m. Monday in the parking lot of the motel in the 8400 block of First Avenue North. East Precinct officers arrived to find White unresponsive in the parking lot with at least one gunshot wound. A bystander was performing CPR on him. White was taken by Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service to UAB Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 10:29 a.m. Sgt. LaQuitta Wade said the victim was involved in a physical altercation with the suspect who then fired shots and fled the scene in a vehicle. The suspect was later taken into custody. His name his being withheld pending warrants, which are expected today. White is Birminghams 99th homicide this year. Of those, eight have been ruled justifiable and therefore arent deemed criminal. In all of Jefferson County, there have been 124 homicides, including the 99 in Birmingham. Alabama Democratic Party Chairman Randy Kelley on Monday night released a letter he sent to the head of the Democratic National Committee, claiming racism was to blame for why his preferred convention delegates werent approved by the national organization. In the letter, Kelley also claimed former Sen. Doug Jones orchestrated a plot to prevent Blacks from electing delegates of their choosing to the DNC. Jones, who earlier told AL.com he wasnt involved in President Bidens initial decision to deny a number of delegates but helped the campaign decide who should serve as replacement delegates, dismissed the claims as total bullshit. The challenge has absolutely no merit because it is based on Trump-like false rhetoric and not facts, the former senator told AL.com in an email. He claimed Kelley and the chairmans top ally, Vice Chairman for Minority Affairs Joe Reed, are mounting the challenge because they did not get to select and thus control the delegation through their endorsements. Everyone knows that is what their so-called challenge is about - their power and their control, the senator said. They have consistently tried to stifle the diverse voices of the Democratic electorate in order to maintain their control and power. It is a shame that they continue to try and divide Democrats by race when we have so much energy, enthusiasm and unity for the Harris/Walz ticket ... In his Aug. 2 letter to DNC Chairman Jamie Harrison -- who like Kelley is Black -- the Alabama party chairman said the party brings this petition only because it has no choice. Its existence and future progress are at stake. This is a race case. The letter, Kelley wrote, served as a challenge to the DNCs refusal to seat the 36 party convention delegates chosen by Kelley and other members of the state partys executive committee. DNC officials say Kelleys objections are unmerited and that the slate of delegates for Alabama, and all other states, have been approved and will not change. Recognizing a slate of delegates preferred by Kelley would violate DNC and state part rules, DNC officials say. Before President Biden dropped out of the race, his campaign approved a list of delegates that was markedly different from the list elected by the states democratic party. Of the 34 district delegates, the Biden campaign only approved 13 names. The campaign also approved five of the nine Party Leaders and Elected Officials (PLEO) positions on the state partys list, two of the 11 at-large delegates, and one of four alternates, according to lists provided by the Alabama Democratic Party. The state party was supposed to elect PLEO, at-large and alternate delegates on June 8. However, the party failed to reach a quorum on their meeting that day, so the states delegation selected those positions, according to a statement by the DNC. In the event a delegate was not approved, the Biden campaign selected a replacement. District-level delegates selected by the campaign were on the primary ballots and voted on in March. Kelley said he brought the challenge because the DNC enabled private individuals to deny Blacks in Alabama the right to vote in the Democratic primary on March 5. Kelley was referring to Jones, who he claimed was among the Democrats who do not want Blacks to elect delegates of their choosing and alleged Jones appointed the DNC-approved delegates. Meanwhile, Harrison told Kelley in a letter this month that the state party missed the deadline to challenge the delegates or to select its delegates after the partys executive committee failed to reach a quorum. In the letter, obtained by AL.com, the DNC chairman urged Kelley to [r]efrain from any further miscommunication or misinformation to convention participants. Friction between the Alabama Democratic Party and the national party is not new. Five years ago, Jones, then in the Senate and backed by the DNC, joined with a faction of the state party to approve new by-laws and replace longtime Chairman Nancy Worley, a Reed ally, with state Rep. Chris England. Control flipped back in 2022 when the State Democratic Executive Committee elected Kelley as chairman with the backing of Reed and the Alabama Democratic Conference. Undeterred by Harrisons letter, Kelley issued a news release and text of his challenge to the DNC on Monday night. He claimed the Alabama partys choices are being neglected because the state party and state executive committee are majority black. Alabama asks .. that it be respected and treated right -- with the same rights and respect as you would want for your state, Kelley wrote. Because we have a Black chair and a Black majority in the state of Alabama, we still expect to be treated fairly. Alabama has ENDURED [emphasis original] enough! For Spencer Johnson, memorizing three Japanese writing systems has been easier than deciphering Alabamas unemployment system. The most confusing thing I have ever done, he said of trying to negotiate with the Alabama Department Labor, a group whose bungled handling of pandemic benefits will wind up in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in October. Johnson, 30, is studying Japanese at the University of Alabama and has launched a business to help English and Japanese speakers broach the language divide. He plans to finish his degree in Japan. But, like many in Alabama, hes still trying settle an old unemployment dispute, as the state wants him to give back $4,000. Many Alabamians who got unemployment benefits during the pandemic, both the state money and the extra $600 from the federal government, have received notices over the last four years that they were overpaid and owe money back, often thousands of dollars, in many cases due to errors in the departments clunky computer system, small mistakes in their applications or missing information. When COVID hit, Johnson was in his last semester at Coastal Alabama Community College. He got hired to work for the Census for the summer and was going to Tuscaloosa to start UA for the fall of 2020. He started onboarding for the job and was immediately let go because of COVID, so he applied for unemployment. After a few months, when school started, Johnson said, he voluntarily quit getting benefits. A couple of years later, the department told him he owed all of the money back. He said he doesnt have his parents to fall back on and hes living paycheck to paycheck. And then having like, Oh, by the way, you owe $4,000 to the state. There were times when Im just like, What am I going to do? Where is the light at the end of the tunnel? Because right now there is nothing. The Alabama Department of Labor did not respond to a request for comment. In the past the department has said it cannot comment on ongoing litigation. During the pandemic, the department of labor had staffing shortages and technological problems that contributed to a significant backlog in processing applications. According to the Century Foundation, delays continue. By 2024 Alabama had the slowest rate of processing appeals of any state at an average of 752 day delay. In contrast, other states are processing appeals within 10 days. In 2024, Alabama has the highest rate of denying unemployment claims of any state. In 2024 Alabamas denial rate was 377 %, more than three times greater than the second highest state, Nebraska, according to the foundation, which notes that rates can be over 100 percent if decisions are delayed. In 2022, Governor Kay Ivey called the situation outrageous. Johnson doesnt know if or when his case will be resolved. He has gone through multiple attempts to appeal. After the first, the department decided in his favor and asked for a repayment of just $700, a smaller amount than he was told he owed initially. But it didnt seem to matter. In the spring of 2022 he got another overpayment letter, once again saying he owed $4,000. I called them and said, Hey, Ive already had an appeal. They awarded in my favor. Why is it still saying I owe this money? The woman looked up my (account), she said, Oh yeah, youre right. They did award it. This seems to be an error. Im going to take care of this. You dont have to worry about it. Have a good day. And Im thinking, Okay, wonderful. But that didnt work either. A month later he got a notice in the mail telling him he still owed $4,000. What was even more confusing, he said, none of the 60 or 70 pages of communication he had received by that point explained why he owed the money. At that point, he sought out a lawyer. He felt it was a matter of principle that he not pay back the money. He said it often seemed that what he heard from the department staff contradicted what he read on the website. It has completely shattered my faith in the Alabama Department of Labor, completely shattered my faith in any sort of government bureaucracy. It makes me not want to buy into a system that I feel like everyone should want to buy into. He learned later that he could have asked for the overpayment to be forgiven but because he appealed, he lost the privilege to do that. But he said the website only directed him to appeal. So all they tell you is, Oh yeah, you can appeal here. So by going with the first thing that they suggest I do, I end up disqualifying myself from just being able to ask, Can you forgive this? Alabamas troubled unemployment response is the focus of a U.S. Supreme Court case that is scheduled for oral arguments in October. The case is focused on whether Alabamians must go through the appeals process, despite its delays, before being able to sue the department in state court over the delays. Meanwhile, Alabama continues to demand repayment from people who got benefits during COVID-19. The Department of Labor declined to tell AL.com how many Alabamians are facing overpayment demands due to ongoing litigation. Many people stuck battling over repayments say navigating the process and understanding why they are being told to pay back the money is nearly impossible. April Spivey lives in AthensKayode Crown At the time COVID arrived, April Spivey was pregnant and working at Sonic in north Alabama. We didnt know how it affected pregnant people yet. And I was having to get iron infusions. I had to go every day for a week to get iron infusions because my iron was low and I was just stressed out. It was adding a lot of stress to me. And I even showed up at work crying one day and I dont even cry in front of people. So I was trying to tell my boss what was going on. Her doctor said she shouldnt work due to uncertainty about COVID and pregnancy and gave her a note. She applied for unemployment, the department sent her something for her doctor to fill out, and she was approved. Then in June of 2020, when her benefits ended, Spivey said she got her first overpayment letter. The state was demanding she pay back $2,475. In Oct. of 2021 she got a new letter saying she now owed a total of $7,000. I was shocked because I dont understand how you can pay me for months and then tell me I wasnt even eligible the whole time. Spivey, 32, is a mother of five and lives in government housing in Athens. Today she works as a delivery driver for Walmart so that her kids Dad can stay home and care for them She said she still owes about $7,000. She appealed the overpayment in February and they denied her appeal because she was unable to work at the time she got the benefits, due to pregnancy complications, and being able to work is a precondition of eligibility. Spivey said she had two different hearings, which she thinks were for different portions of the money she was asked to repay. She wanted to appeal after the second hearing, but she spoke to a lawyer who told her that because she didnt appeal after the first, it was too late. I just dont have the money to pay $7,000. I guess in my mind, Im just hoping that somehow I can get them to tell me I dont owe it. C.K. Lichenstein worked for the Alabama Brewers Guild when COVID hit. He lost his job as event sponsorship and memberships dried up during the pandemic. He was on unemployment for a few months before the state ended his unemployment. He lived on savings while he relocated to Denver, Colorado. He spent a couple of months searching for a job and found one in the brewing industry by December of 2021. In March of this year, he got mail from the department. Out of the blue I received a letter, he said. It demanded photos of him with his ID. The due date for replying was the same day he received the letter, he said. He has not received an overpayment notice and is confused by the communication. Reaching someone there is nigh impossible, he said of the department, adding that he later was able to talk to a person at the department. I feel Im luckier than most in my experiences with the department, he said. Spivey, the mother of five, remains unsure of her options. The last time Spivey tried to appeal was February of this year. She wants to see if she can get a waiver to get the amount forgiven, but she said she doesnt know how to apply for a waiver. She said someone at a legal aid group told her to look up the process online. She knows the state might take her tax return to repay the money. Thats something she usually spends on her children, buying things like a bed or a dresser to replace the plastic containers they had used to hold clothing. I have a car payment, I have insurance, and Im not on food stamps right now, so Im having to buy food for seven people. I mean, yeah, its just been horrible, she said. I feel like this is just kind of a setup, honestly. Update: This story was updated at 10:28 a.m. to include 2024 data from The Century Foundation Iraqi Shiite militias warn of "unlimited" retaliation if U.S. attacks Iraq or Iran Xinhua) 09:55, August 13, 2024 BAGHDAD, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- An umbrella group of Iraqi Shi'ite militias warned the United States on Monday of "unlimited" retaliation if it attacks Iraq or Iran. The Iraqi Resistance Coordination Committee (IRCC), representing the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, stated it would not be constrained by any restrictions if U.S. forces target Iraqi personnel or use Iraqi airspace to strike Iran. This threat comes amid heightened regional tensions, with Iran and its allies pledging retaliation for the recent killings of Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah commander Fouad Shokor in Beirut, both occurring in late July. In response to the rising threat, Washington said it is committed to defending Israel in the event of a major conflict and is sending "more troops and military hardware to the Middle East." The Iraqi resistance has been actively opposing the U.S. military presence in Iraq and has previously claimed responsibility for attacks on U.S. targets, including a recent rocket strike on the Ayn al-Asad Airbase in Anbar province, which houses U.S. troops. (Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun) The Trump camp has remained relatively mum after an apparent photo of vice presidential candidate JD Vance donned in drag during his Yale days resurfaced. Dressed in what appears to be a blonde wig, black fitted tee, and floral maxi skirt, Vance opted for heavy eyeliner in the viral photo making the rounds on X. Fellow Yale classmate Travis Whitfill told the Daily Beast a friend sent him the photo of Vance. Whitfill then sent the picture to podcast host Matt Bernstein, who in turn posted it on social media over the weekend. "It's from a group chat of Vance's fellow classmates and is from a friend of a friend," he told the outlet Monday. "I believe it was grabbed from Facebook and was taken at a Halloween party." new: i have obtained a photo of jd vance in drag while at yale law school pic.twitter.com/jYf14Lwa4D matt (@mattxiv) August 11, 2024 A spokesperson did not deny the authenticity of the photo, according to the Beast. "I didn't know him," Whitfill clarified to the outlet, "from all the sources I've heard, JD was actually a good guy in law school. Not sure what happened after though..." On Monday, a second, close-up shot of what appears to be Vance in drag from the same event seemed to gain traction online. Despite the seemingly trans getup, Vance has been criticized for his "cruel record" on LGBTQ policies. According to the Human Rights Campaign, the Ohio senator has "a history of spewing anti-LGBTQ+ vitriol" and said he "strongly disagreed" that sexual orientation and gender identity should be protected classes in non-discrimination laws. Dara Adkison, executive director of trans rights group TransOhio, said, "Vance is a hateful, cruel man who would love to hurt trans kids. He places himself as an authority between doctors, parents and the trans youth. We need legislators with enthusiasm to help their constituents, not venom to harm children," according to NBC News. This is an opinion column. The numbers are staggering, really. Death and loss and an inability to deal with it. Now were looking at setting more bloody records. Birmingham lost 43,532 people -- 18 percent of its population, between 2003 and 2023. Its like a city the size of Florence just up and moved away. Or died. Too many died. In too many ways. More than 2,000 people were murdered in those two decades. More than 100 a year, on average. It is numbing, until it happens to somebody you care about. I hate to talk of those who died as if they are numbers. They are not. They are moms and dads and sons and daughters and good people and troubled people and people who wont have a chance to ever prove who they really are. But sometimes I have to add them up, if only to see how overwhelmingly tragic it is. More than 3,500 people have been killed in the city alone since I started work in Birmingham in 1988. Thats more than the 2,977 who died on 9/11. More than the 2,459 Americans who died over two decades of war in Afghanistan. It hasnt slowed down. As of Monday, 99 people had been killed by homicide in Birmingham this year. The city is on pace to see about 160 killings. Thats well over the 1933 record of 148. And the city is smaller than it has been in a century. There have always been troublesome eras. Like the early 90s. Or the early 30s. Or the William Howard Taft administration. But our problems are not isolated to the city limits of Birmingham. Homicides across all of Jefferson County rose 50% between 2003 and last year. Jay Glass is now retired, but for decades he was chief deputy coroner in Jefferson County. He used to point to the Wild West of Birminghams early 20th century days as a way to give perspective to our violence. Its not that things arent as bad as they seem. Just that things arent as bad as they once were. Back in 1911 the city and county combined for 156 homicides, he said and wrote. In a county with a population of just 226,000 at the time, the per capita homicide rate came to an eye-popping 69 per hundred thousand people. That was more than double the rate in the otherwise record-setting year of 1991, when Birmingham and Jefferson County together posted 193 homicides. But alas, that is less reassuring today. The city on its own for the first time broke that per capita mark in 2022, when 73 people died for every 100,000 residents. And the city edged close to that 1933 total two years ago, just four homicides short. But it is likely both records will fall this year, the homicide total and the rate. We have always been violent in this beautiful, blessed place, though the sprays of bullets have seemed extraordinarily wanton of late. There is more firepower, and matching disregard for consequence and collateral damage. But our problems are not just homicides Deaths determined to be accidents by the Jefferson County coroners office rose 183%, from 241 in 2003 to 682 last year. And stop before you assume thats because of mistimed traffic lights or cars falling into potholes. The vast majority of those accidents 73% last year, split almost evenly between black and white people came in the form of overdoses. The numbers took off more than a decade ago, perhaps because nobody city, county, state and feds alike knew how to deal with a raging opioid epidemic. Current Jefferson County Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates said the increase began in 2012 with what he called a switchover from the abuse of prescription opiates to illicit use of street heroin and other drugs. It seems doctors became afraid to prescribe opiates, whether by conscience or law, so addicted patients went looking for replacements on the streets. Heroin and fentanyl found them, with deadly consequences. If you look at the total number of deaths, thats where the big increase is coming from, Yates said. We started seeing a rise in homicides during that same time. I cant help but believe we are doing things wrong. Again and again and again. The whole country has tried to stomp out dangerous drugs by interfering with medical treatment, by jailing doctors and herding users to back alley pharmacies. Alabama has certainly tried to assure us we are safe if we are better armed than our criminals, but it sure seems like that just puts more fingers on triggers. We tell ourselves we are tough on crime, but often, as history shows, the toughness convinces a lot of people that they have no place in the justice system. So they seek their own justice in the streets. The truth is hard. Crime is most devastating of course, no matter where you are, to the families of those involved, to the communities where people feel unsafe. But it also impairs our ability as a city or county or state or region to promise safe streets and schools to all, to convince businesses that this place is not as bad as they think. Or even as bad as it once was. The truth is the statistics bear it out we are happier, safer and less violent when we are prosperous. And you simply cant punish people into prosperity. John Archibald is a two-time Pulitzer winner for AL.com. Donald Trump recounted his assassination attempt in vivid detail and blamed the incident on a lack of coordination during a high-profile return to the social media platform formerly known as Twitter a conversation that was plagued by technical glitches. If I had not turned my head, I would not be talking to you right now as much as I like you, Trump told Xs owner Elon Musk. There was a lack of coordination. ... Everybody understands that building should have been covered. The session was intended to serve as a way for the former president to reach potentially millions of voters directly. It was also an opportunity for X, a platform that relies heavily on politics, to redeem itself after some struggles. It did not begin as planned. With more than 878,000 users connected to the conversation more than 40 minutes after the scheduled start time, the interview had not yet begun. Many users received a message reading, Details not available. Trumps team posted that the interview on X is being overwhelmed with listeners logging in. And once the meeting began, Musk apologized for the late start and blamed a massive attack that overwhelmed the companys system. Despite the rocky start, the public conversation between Trump and Musk underscored just how much the U.S. political landscape has changed less than four years after Trump was permanently banned by the social media platforms former leadership for spreading disinformation that sparked the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on Congress and undermined the very foundation of the American democracy. Such disinformation has thrived at X under Musks leadership. Mondays meeting also highlighted the evolving personal relationship between Trump and Musk, two of the worlds most powerful men, who have shifted from being bitter rivals to unlikely allies over the span of one election season. Musk supported Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during the GOP primary. Notably, in May 2023, DeSantis used the social media platform as a way to officially announce his presidential bid, a disastrous rollout marred by technical glitches, overloaded by the more than 400,000 people who tried to dial in. Trumps Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, noted that Trump mocked DeSantis at the time. Wow! The DeSanctus TWITTER launch is a DISASTER! His whole campaign will be a disaster. WATCH! Trump wrote in a message reposted by Harris campaign Monday. Trump supporters were openly frustrated. Not available????? I planned my whole day around this, wrote conservative commentator Glenn Beck. Please let Elon know we cant join, billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman posted. Ahead of his conversation, Musk posted on the platform that X was conducting some system scaling tests to handle whats anticipated to be a high volume of participants. In a reminder that the world was watching, the chat prompted a preemptive note of caution from Europe. Thierry Breton, a French business executive and commissioner for internal market of the European Union, warned Musk of possible amplification of harmful content by broadcasting his interview with Trump. In a letter posted on X, Breton urged Musk to ensure Xs compliance with EU law, including the Digital Services Act, adopted in 2022 to address a number of issues including disinformation. In a statement, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung urged the EU to mind their own business instead of trying to meddle in the U.S. Presidential election. He said the EU was an enemy of free speech and has no authority of any kind to dictate how we campaign. Musk, who has described himself as a Democrat until a few years ago, endorsed Trumps candidacy two days after the former president was wounded during an attempted assassination at a Pennsylvania rally last month. Long before he endorsed Trump, Musk turned increasingly toward the right in his posts and actions on the platform, also using X to try to sway political discourse around the world. Hes gotten in a dustup with a Brazilian judge over censorship, railed against what he calls the woke mind virus and amplified false claims that Democrats are secretly flying in migrants to vote in U.S. elections. Musk has also reinstated previously banned accounts such as the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and Trump, who was kicked off the platform then known as Twitter two days after the Jan. 6 violence, with the company citing the risk of further incitement of violence. By November 2022, Musk had bought the company, and Trumps account was reinstated, although the former president refrained from tweeting until Monday, insisting that he was happier on his own Truth Social site, which he launched during the ban. Hours ahead of his interview with Musk, Trump posted a two-and-a-half minute video to his X account, featuring video from his time in office, as well as audio of him saying one of his standard campaign lines referencing the legal cases that have mounted against him: Theyre not coming after me, theyre coming after you, and I just happen to be standing in their way, and I will never be moving. But Trumps audience on X is legions larger than on Truth Social, which became a publicly traded company earlier this year. Trump has just over 7.5 million followers on Truth Social, while his mostly dormant X account is followed by 88 million. Musks account, which will host the interview, has more than 193 million followers. Trumps campaign didnt immediately respond to a message as to whether he would cross-post his interview with Musk via his own accounts, including on X. The former president has most recently posted on X only once, with a photo of his mug shot after he surrendered at an Atlanta jail a year ago on charges he conspired to overturn his election loss in the state. A suspect has been charged in a deadly weekend shooting in Birmingham that happened live over a social audio app. Roddregus Williams-Johnson, 32, of Fairfield, is charged with capital murder in the Saturday slaying of 35-year-old Brandon Lee. North Precinct officers were dispatched about 11:55 p.m. Saturday to 30th Avenue North in Birminghams Collegeville public housing community. They made entry into the home and found a man and woman injured. Lee was pronounced dead on the scene. The woman was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. Two children sleeping inside the home we unharmed. The dispute appears to have started on the social audio app Clubhouse, which is similar to a Zoom call. The argument could be heard on the app and became chaotic as the suspect arrived at the apartment and listeners were saying to call police. Multiple shots were then heard. A man was killed and a woman injured in a shooting on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Birmingham's Collegeville community.(Carol Robinson) When the suspect arrived at the apartment, he fired shots into the home. Someone in the apartment fired at least one shot at Williams-Johnson, said Officer Truman Fitzgerald. At around 1:40 a.m. Sunday, Williams-Johnson showed up at UAB Hospital suffering from a gunshot wound from the incident; North Precinct officers detained him. BPD detectives presented case information to the Jefferson County District Attorneys Office, which issued the capital murder warrant as well as an attempted murder warrant. Roddregus Williams-Johnson was booked into the Jefferson County Jail at 6:52 p.m. Monday. He remains held without bond. Police said Lee and Williams-Johnson knew each other. Kaitlan Collins learned the hard way theres never a day off, especially in an election year. The CNN anchor, who appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert this week, revealed her first call after hearing about President Joe Biden dropping out of the presidential race was to Donald Trump from th back of an Uber. I was going to Brooklyn to meet a friends baby, she explained. And I look at my phone, within 10 seconds after being in the car, and Biden has tweeted out that he is dropping out of the race. And I was like, I need you to turn around! And the Uber driver was like, What? And I was like, I just can you go back where we were just, there? Can you just go back there? Because I needed a blazer, I needed my CNN badge. And he was like, OK, its a bunch of I was like, I dont care, just, can we just hurry? Thats when the Uber driver got a real surprise. Collins, an Alabama native who graduated from the University of Alabama, called former President Donald Trump for reaction to the news. Were on the way to CNN, and I dont have my headphones, she said. But we wanted to know, you know, what was Trumps reaction to this major news that has totally changed the presidential race for him? So I call Donald Trump, and I dont have my headphones. So, I put it on speaker in the backseat. And Im writing down his quotes. Thats when the driver turned around. The Uber driver, like Trumps voice is like booming through. He knows why Im calling and what quotes I wanted. The Uber driver is turning around. Hes so confused. Hes looking at me. Hes looking at my phone. Hes like, Is that whose voice I think that is? And I just sprinted out of the Uber. And eight hours later when we got off air, I checked the the app to make sure I tipped him. Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on The Opening Kickoff on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily. An auto dealership that sold Maserati, Fiat and Alfa Romeo at 1837 Grants Mill Road has closed, but a deal is in the works to bring a Subaru dealership to that location. Benchmark Automotive, which also owns a dealership in Cullman, is in the process of selling the 4.4-acre Irondale facility to Hallmark Auto Group, the Tennessee-based company that bought Jim Burke Downtown Auto Mall for $40 million in May, the Birmingham Business Journal reported. BBJ said the Subaru franchise will move to the Grants Mill location, which Benchmark opened in 2017. Benchmark also sold the Voyles Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of Birmingham dealership nearby at 1313 Grants Mill Way and sold that to a Georgia-based automotive group for $6.7 million in 2020, BBJ reported. We are sorry to see the Maserati and Alfa Romeo brands leaving our Irondale Auto Mall, but we are excited about the addition of the Hallmark Group and Subaru, Irondale Mayor James D. Stewart said in a prepared statement. With our natural assets in the Cahaba River and Ruffner Mountain, Irondale is a perfect fit for marketing Subarus brand to their target audience of outdoor enthusiasts, hikers, bikers, and families. Authorities are asking for the publics help in finding three men missing from Birmingham. Jerry Greg Horsley, 49, was last seen May 14 at 209 Gadsden Highway, according to Birmingham police. Horsley was dropped off at that location and has not been seen or heard from since then. He is 6-feet tall and weighs 200 pounds. David Farrow, 76, disappeared on Friday, July 19, near Dollar General on Avenue H. Farrow, who is 5-feet, 8-inches tall and weighs 182 pounds, is diabetic and has a partially amputated left foot, which causes him to walk with a limp. He was last known to be wearing khaki pants and a blue button-down shirt. Jerry Vogel, 53, was reported missing by his family. He was last in contact with them in mid-July. Vogel is 6-feet, 1-inch tall and weighs 170 pounds. He has a scar on his chest from a childhood accident. Vogel is known to frequent the Sun Valley/ Jeff State area in east Birmingham. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 205-328-9311. A man wanted for murder in Gwinnett County, Ga. has been arrested in Huntsville. Gwinnett County Police today announced that Mario Rene Lopez-Jolon, 38, of Lawrenceville, Ga., has been charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of certain felonies. Lopez-Jolon is accused of the murder of Guadalupe Garcia Rodriguez, 40, who was reported missing by his wife on July 1. She told officers that Rodriguez never came home that afternoon and was last seen leaving in the truck that day. His body was found two days later in a parked truck. According to police, detectives received new information on Aug. 8 that Rodriguez was recently in a dispute over some land in Mexico with the father of an ex-girlfriend. This led investigators to follow up with the ex-girlfriend at a home in Lawrenceville. While conducting multiple interviews at the location, investigators were able to identify Lopez-Jolon as the suspect in the case and learn that he was in Huntsville. Huntsville police took Lopez-Jolon into custody at a hotel in the city. He is awaiting extradition back to Gwinnett County. A Huntsville IVF clinic said Monday it will close at the end of 2024 and stop accepting patients Sept. 5. Dr. Andrew J. Harper did not give a reason why Huntsville Reproductive Medicine, P.C. is closing at the end of the year. Providing the community with reproductive care has been a privilege, Harper wrote in a letter to patients posted on Facebook. Please know that we have greatly valued our relationship and wish you and your family the best of health. An Alabama Supreme Court ruling determined that frozen embryos have the same rights as children in a controversial decision earlier this year. Amid the backlash, the state Legislature passed a bill signed by Gov. Kay Ivey shielding IVF clinics from criminal and civil liability. While two Alabama couples whose lawsuit paved the way for the Alabama Supreme Court ruling dropped their case last month, another couple is moving forward with theirs and is asking a Mobile County Circuit Court judge to find the state Legislatures law unconstitutional. Meanwhile, federal lawmakers are considering an IVF protection bill, including one authored by Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala. But Democrats and Republicans are fighting over which parties legislation to pass and blocking each others versions. The Huntsville IVF clinic has been in operation for 20 years. Harpers letter said Huntsville Reproductive Medicine will close effective Jan. 1, 2025. To our current and past patients, please see important announcement below. Posted by Huntsville Reproductive Medicine on Monday, August 12, 2024 We understand the impact this may have on our patients and their families, and we want to assure you that we will continue to support your during this transition, Harper wrote. We cannot accept any new patients after September 5, [2024]. Our current IVF series services are on track as scheduled, but we cannot accept new patients. English News To jointly advance the conservation of 'birds of good fortune' Alwihda Info | Par People's Daily - 12 Aout 2024 According to historical documents, the crested ibis was a migratory bird with a widespread presence across Northeast Asia. I believe that in the near future, with the collaborative efforts of people in Northeast Asian countries, these "birds of good fortune" will restore their migratory habits. They will then serve as a bridge and symbol of friendly exchanges among Northeast Asian countries. By Akio Nakajima (Japan) The crested ibis, known as the "bird of good fortune," is widely cherished by people in Northeast Asia. In 1981, researchers discovered seven wild crested ibises in the heart of the Qinling Mountains in Northwest China's Shaanxi province. After years of breeding and conservation, the global population of crested ibises has increased to over 10,000. China's protection of crested ibises serves as a global model for saving endangered species, and significant progress has been made through the collaborative protection efforts of China and Japan. Thanks to this magical bird, I have also developed a deep bond with China. In the late 20th century, wild crested ibises disappeared in Japan due to environmental degradation caused by economic development, illegal hunting, and other factors. The captive crested ibises also lost the ability to breed. From 1998 to 2018, China gave seven crested ibises to Japan, helping the country rebuild the species. As a result, the number of captive crested ibises living on Sado island, Niigata prefecture, Japan, has been steadily increasing. I have been engaged in crested ibis conservation, research, and rewilding programs on Sado Island since 2000. It was also in that year that a female ibis named Mei Mei gifted by China arrived in Japan. It received good care and protection in Japan and mated with Yuu Yuu, the offspring of two crested ibises, Yang Yang and You You, which were gifted by China in 1999. They went on to have many offspring together. In 2007, Japan returned 13 young crested ibises to China, which were all descendants of Mei Mei and well protected in the Dongzhai National Nature Reserve in Luoshan county, Xinyang city, central China's Henan province. Since then, I have been closely following news about the nature reserve, keen to learn more about these birds. I also hoped that one day I could visit the reserve and see them for myself. In October 2017, I traveled to Tongchuan city, Shaanxi province to participate in an exchange event about crested ibis protection. While there, I received an invitation to the fourth crested ibis release event at the nature reserve and immediately changed my schedule. Upon arriving at the reserve, I visited a crested ibis breeding station and was impressed by the dedicated work of Chinese experts in protecting the species, which led to a significant increase in their population. The facilities at the breeding station were very well-arranged to support the crested ibises' growth and living conditions, while also offering visitors a memorable experience. I was filled with excitement when personally seeing the crested ibises that had returned to China from Sado Island ten years ago, along with their offspring, living peacefully. I made a thorough observation of the environment and facilities, especially the living conditions of the crested ibises. I could not wait to share this information with my colleagues and friends in Japan. The next morning, I joined the crested ibis release event hosted by the nature reserve. A total of 22 captive crested ibises returned to the nature, bringing the number of released ibises in the region to 100. From the initial few individuals to the large-scale release, this achievement embodies the tremendous efforts of Chinese experts. The sight of the graceful crested ibises spreading their wings and flying high ignited a powerful feeling within me, as if I could already see a future where these birds soar freely in the skies of Northeast Asia. A year later, I returned to the nature reserve to observe the breeding habits of crested ibises. At a crayfish farming ponds where crested ibises often forage, I saw an ibis feeding. Crested ibises enjoy eating crustaceans, and the vibrant colors of their feathers come from the chitin in these creatures. Through binoculars, I saw their beautiful plumage, which indicated that they were receiving good care and protection. I also learned that local elementary schools often launch promotional campaigns about crested ibis conservation. I hope that Japanese and Chinese schools can engage in more exchanges and cooperation on crested ibis protection in the coming future. Through my interactions with Chinese experts, I gained valuable insights into the conservation of crested ibis and the harmonious coexistence between the birds and the local community. The Chinese people's hospitality and friendliness made a lasting impression on me throughout this process. I am very much looking forward to visiting China again, the nature reserve in particular, to engage in more extensive discussions with Chinese experts about wild crested ibis monitoring and scientific research cooperation between Japan and China. I also hope to make due contributions to the conservation of crested ibis. According to historical documents, the crested ibis was a migratory bird with a widespread presence across Northeast Asia. I believe that in the near future, with the collaborative efforts of people in Northeast Asian countries, these "birds of good fortune" will restore their migratory habits. They will then serve as a bridge and symbol of friendly exchanges among Northeast Asian countries. (Akio Nakajima is a researcher with the Institute of Human and Environmental Symbiosis Research, Dokkyo University) Dans la meme rubrique : < > Prospering telemedicine a reflection of China's rapid internet development Immersive cultural, tourism activities on the rise across China Fruit trade between China, ASEAN thrives Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena) Just when you think California didn't have enough foot left to shoot, it pulls out a gun and does it again. This time it involves the initial step toward California nationalizing the gasoline refinery industry. The California Energy Commission (CEC) has proposed several government regulations of the petroleum industry in order to combat future gasoline price surges. CEC regulators announced proposed government controls of the petroleum industry, ostensibly to combat future gasoline price surges. CEC's proposed fiasco is unbelievable since it has a clear vision of the ultimate outcome: Venezuela. The CEC announcement comes as Chevron, one of the largest oil companies in the U.S., announced that it will relocate its operations to Houston, Texas, is moving out of San Ramon, California. Its decision to leave follows years of aggressive environmental policy making from Democrats that hurt the company's business. The CEC report is laughably called "Transportation Fuels Assessment: Policy Options for a Reliable Supply of Affordable and Safe Transportation Fuels in California". It's laughable because the report title includes the word 'Affordable.' The report begins with this 'justification': "The deployment of ZEVs [zero-emission vehicles] and a robust mass transit system are critical for achieving the state's climate goals, reducing local air pollution, and eventually eliminating dependence on the volatile global petroleum markets. As demand for gasoline shrinks, refineries may close or convert to processing clean transportation fuels." Here's the clincher: "This will lead to fewer gasoline refineries, with increased market concentration and associated market problems that often accompany it... Like most product prices, gasoline prices should ideally obey the laws of supply and demand. However, supply dynamics in California's transportation fuels market differ from many other markets in the United States." CEC expects some of California's nine oil refineries to be shut down due to decreased demand, thus giving the remaining open refineries increased pricing power that would increase the possibility of a sharp escalation in gas prices. CEC therefore maintains prices must be managed by the government. CEC proposals include: The State of California would purchase and own refineries in the state to manage the supply and price of gasoline with the scope of the initiative ranging from 'one refinery to all refineries in the state.' During times of lower gas prices, fees would be levied in a variable manner to then allow for stabilization initiatives during California-specific price spikes. California would actively regulate the operating rules, prices, and rate of return of petroleum fuel market operators similar to the current structure used to manage private electric and fossil natural gas utilities as natural monopolies where California sellers would be required to have prices approved by the designated State authority and spending would have to be approved for cost recovery in prices. California would measure, publicize, and potentially manage retail margins, assure that all gasoline that is sold at retail stations in California is not sold at excessive retail margins. To further exacerbate the situation, California governor Gavin Newsom claims that California's highest-in-the-nation gasoline taxes and its air quality challenges that requires unique gasoline compositions that differ from the rest of the nation didn't cause current gasoline price increases. They were caused because of price gouging by the oil industry. In response, Newsom signed a bill to address alleged price gouging. An aside: Price gouging isn't possible in a free country. If a person thinks a price is too high, is being gouged, he is always free to search for another source for a lower, more agreeable price for the product or service he seeks. There is, however, a caveat. Seeking a lower price may cause inconveniences and may make the total expenditure greater than simply paying the higher price (I learned this the hard way when I drove around seeking a lower gasoline price after a hurricane). CEC's report continues, "Even under the most aggressive scenario transition to ZEVs, millions of petroleum-fueled vehicles are anticipated to remain on California's roads and highways beyond 2035. These vehicles will need fuel to operate, and many of the vehicles may be owned by lower income individuals and families, making it even more compelling to identify ways to ensure an affordable, reliable, equitable, and safe supply." The second sentence is humorous given the situation in Venezuela where 94.5% of the population live below the poverty line. Venezuelans, in 2020, paid $2 per liter ($7.57 per gallon) for gasoline. This was one of the world's highest prices and a sharp reversal for an OPEC nation that long said it had the world's cheapest gasoline because it had the greatest proven oil reserves in the world. Why the reversal? First, Venezuela nationalized its oil industry in the mid-1970s. Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) was created to manage operations. Second, the oil industry's deterioration increased when Hugo Chavez fired PDVSA's most experienced engineers in an act of petty political retribution. Venezuela, with the world's largest proven oil reserves, ran out of gasoline. The socialist governments of Chavez and Maduro lost the ability to pump oil from the ground and refine it into gasoline. What little gasoline that's available comes from Iran. But the Venezuelan government, which doesn't officially charge at most gasoline stations, uses a quota system, so a fill-up can mean waiting in line for days. The quota system is Sistema Patria (Homeland System), a platform created four years ago by Maduro's government to distribute pension payments. It expanded to include gasoline prices. The system provides Chavismo (a left-wing political ideology based on the ideas, programs, and government associated with President Hugo Chavez between 1999 and 2013) with leverage for social and political control and to distribute resources in a country that has shed 70% of its gross domestic product since 2013. Here's the frightening part: It has the ability to monitor elections. Is this what awaits California? Jose Toro Hardy, an economist and former director at PDVSA, said, "PDVSA once had over 20 refineries around the world. We were able to move our oil from the nation's subsoil into the tanks of American drivers. And the entire process was managed by Venezuelan entities with Venezuelan oil wells, pipelines, Venezuelan tankers... We had built something gigantic, but suddenly, we were faced with a costly historic accident: Hugo Chavez won the election." The collapse in the oil industry is a stark reminder that the most valuable commodity isn't the natural resource, but the human expertise to put it to productive use. Is the CEC going to turn California into Venezuela? Is Governor Newsom, known to be hostile to the oil industry and committed to ZEVs, climate goals, and a clean environment, going to implement CEC's proposals as an act of petty political retribution? This is a good reason to get as many people as possible to vote for Donald Trump. If Kamala Harris somehow gets elected, she and the Democrats will print as much money as it takes to put deep-blue California back on its gasoline feet. Warren Beatty has created a web page that facilitates quick responses and/or comments to anything you consider outrageous: quick-rant.atwebpages.com Image: AT via Magic Studio The leaders of Tanzania's main opposition party Chadema have been released on bail, a party spokesman said on Tuesday, after they were detained in a mass roundup ahead of a youth day rally. As many as 520 people were arrested across the country, according to a police statement, before a banned Chadema rally on Monday that had been expected to draw thousands of young people in the southwestern city of Mbeya. But Chadema posted on X on Tuesday that its offices in Mbeya "are surrounded by the police and they are not allowing people to enter the offices". Rights groups and government opponents have raised fears the police action could signal a return to the oppressive policies of Tanzania's late president John Magufuli. The arrests came despite his successor President Samia Suluhu Hassan vowing a return to "competitive politics" and easing some restrictions on the opposition and the media, including lifting a six-year ban on opposition gatherings. Those released included Chadema chairman Freeman Mbowe and his deputy Tundu Lissu -- both former presidential candidates -- and other top party officials, Chadema spokesman John Mrema said on X. "(They) have been returned to Dar es Salaam by police and have bailed themselves out", he said but added that "some leaders" continue to be held, without giving further details. Awadh Haji, police chief of operations and training, said "all the top Chadema leaders who were arrested, after interrogation and other procedures, have been returned to where they came from". He warned that police would "take strict legal action against any individual or group involved in disrupting peace". Officers will continue to closely monitor the situation, he said, and will "strengthen security in the city of Mbeya and all other regions of Tanzania to prevent any planned acts of violence". Mbowe, 62, was detained on Monday at the airport in Mbeya, the day after several other leaders including Lissu were detained. Hundreds of youth supporters were also rounded up by police as they traveled into the city, according to the party. About 10,000 had been expected to meet in Mbeya to mark International Youth Day on Monday. But police accused Chadema of planning violent demonstrations and made reference to widespread anti-government protests in neighboring Kenya, led largely by young activists. Rights groups and government opponents were alarmed at the police action as Tanzania gears up for local and national elections. "The mass arrests and arbitrary detention of figures from the Chadema party, as well as their supporters and journalists, is a deeply worrying sign in the run-up to local government elections in December 2024 and the 2025 general election," Amnesty said in a statement. "The Tanzanian authorities must urgently respect people's rights to freedom of expression and association." Lissu, 56, a fierce critic of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, has been arrested multiple times and survived an assassination attempt in 2017. He returned to Tanzania soon after Hassan lifted the ban on opposition rallies in 2023. He had spent the previous five years largely in exile, returning only briefly to run for the presidency in 2020. Mbowe was arrested in July 2021 ahead of a party meeting to demand constitutional reforms and freed the following March after prosecutors dropped terrorism charges against him. Radical leftists are currently getting a dose of their own medicine. Saul Alinsky might say that, anyway, given the advice he handed down to them in his Rules for Radicals. Ridicule is mans most potent weapon, he says. It is almost impossible to counterattack ridicule. Also it infuriates the opposition, who then react to your advantage. Democrats have attempted to follow Alinskys advice by labeling Donald Trump and J.D. Vance weird in 2024. Thats an insult that doesnt really land. Trump has been a largely positive staple of American pop culture since the 1980s, and Vance is nothing short of a modern-day Horatio Alger story. But theres nothing weirder than Democrats digging in to defend the importance of ensuring that the government provide tampons in schoolboys bathrooms, just as Tim Walz ensured for schools in the state of Minnesota. Social media responded appropriately. The Minnesota governor was quickly dubbed Tampon Tim, complete with a hilarious meme portraying Walzs smiling mug on a box of Tampax. Part-time CUNY professor and full-time race-hustler Marc Lamont Hill was infuriated, however, and reacted to conservatives advantage, just as Alinsky predicted. In response, he posted on X: Republicans are mocking Tim Walz for ensuring that menstrual products were provided in his states schools. Other than hating women and being obsessed with controlling their bodies, I cant imagine why theyd mock him for this. Proving that college diplomas dont necessarily confer smarts, he truly seems to be confused as to the nature of the debate. Thats a feat of genuine stupidity, given that this debate isnt anything new. Well, maybe thats not an entirely accurate statement. It is a fact that women and girls menstruate. Men and boys do not. Throughout the entirety of human history, there has never been any legitimate question on this matter. But by 2019, some radical progressives had certainly begun a debate on the subject without the consent of the liberal Democrat herd. Bill Maher was blindsided in that year by Dennis Pragers suggestion that some Democrats believe that men can menstruate. Maher chuckled as his audience laughed, saying, I missed this whole story. Yeah, he certainly did. But Marc Lamont Hill reminds him of the position that Democrats took up while he was looking elsewhere. The menstrual products [that Tim Walz ensured were in every boys bathroom] were for any student who menstruates, regardless of how they express their gender identity, he says. Do you think trans students who menstruate should not be allowed to have pads and tampons? As it turns out, both Maher and Hill and any other Democrat who may have an interest in a Democrat winning in 2024 havent been paying attention. Betting the farm on the publics falling in love with a trans-forward social agenda isnt a smart idea. If youre looking for evidence of that contention, you might ask the marketing executives at Bud Light or Target. Trans issues arent just poison for corporate marketing campaigns. Theyre poison for political campaigns, too. Back in 2015, for example, Houston mayor Annise Parker was in her final year as the first openly gay mayor of an American metropolis. But her early years as mayor werent marked by pushing social agendas. She was best known in the early years as a pragmatist who was willing to make difficult budget decisions as Houston was recovering from the Great Recession that waylaid Americas cities, including hundreds of millions in spending cuts and a notable battle with firefighters over the citys contribution to pension funds. Nevertheless, her being an open lesbian made her widely known as a national figure in LGBT politics with aspirations to be become governor, according to Krissah Thompson at the Washington Post. Five years into her mayorship and having largely avoided the pursuit of any social agendas, one might have believed that she was on such a path. But the pre-Obergefell political climate was simply too much for the gay-rights-activist-turned-mayor to resist flying ever closer to the sun. She began to push heavily for the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, or HERO, as leftists lovingly called it. It was passed by the city council in May 2014. That ordinance had a different name among those Texans in the greater Houston area, both on the right and the political center. Simply, we referred to it as the bathroom bill. And it carried a memorable slogan: No Men in Womens Bathrooms! The legislation included a provision that would allow individuals to use the restroom that best fits their gender identity. Public backlash was swift, and Parker channeled her inner leftist by issuing subpoenas for the sermons of pastors who supported overturning the ordinance. In the end, HERO was roundly defeated by a public vote in November of 2015, 61-39%. Leftists pontificated about what this public rejection of progressive legislation meant about the city of Houston. Were they all bigots? How welcoming could Houston be considered by the rest of the country, leftists wondered, if they didnt march in lockstep with the broad steps of equal rights that the rest of the country seemed to be marching toward in the years of the Great Obama? This same question would later be weaponized by the left in the boycott of an NCAA tournament in North Carolina. But here we are, nearly ten years later, where it still has to be explained to Marc Lamont Hill, a supposed Scholar (according to his X profile), that the reason conservatives are mocking Tampon Tim isnt because he wanted to put tampons in bathrooms for people who might need them. Rather, its because he wanted to put tampons in boys bathrooms, where they should never be needed. As I pondered all of this today, I found myself in the mens room at the Seattle-Tacoma airport, where I happened upon this free dispensary for any women-pretending-to-be-men who might be in our presence, I guess. Then I wondered if my federal taxes paid for that dispensary in any way. And if not, did Washingtonians taxes pay for it? Or local taxes? That led to the eventual question: are there any normal, societally adjusted human beings with whom you could have a five-minute conversation, who believe that their tax dollars are best spent by putting tampons in the boys school bathrooms or mens public restrooms? I havent met one. Chances are, neither have you. But Democrats seem to be betting that there are 70+ million of them out there? Color me skeptical. Tim Walz photo by Lorie Shaull via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. A coincidence is, the occurrence of events that happen at the same time... but seem to have some connection. That seems to be the case whenever Barack Obama is in close relationship with left-leaning world leaders or directly involved in an American election. Although Obama works hard to look like hes not directly involved in the things hes engaged in, anyone who has followed the machinations of the stealthy socialist knows that there are no coincidences regarding the former president. Barack Obama thrives on adoration, and repudiation motivates him to action, but not in a good way. In 2016, Obama and his agenda were spurned by American voters. On Wednesday morning, November 9th, 2016, the most thin-skinned, vindictive socialist ever to grace the cover of Time magazine likely vowed that what happened the prior day would never happen again, either here or abroad. After losing in 2016, the former president remained in Washington, D.C. Coincidentally, for four years, Trump, the guy who humiliated Obama, was relentlessly oppressed by the same operatives that served in his hope and change administration. Its no coincidence that the never-ending barrage of efforts to sully Trumps reputation worked beautifully for 2020 Biden supporters who claimed the newly elected president received 81,000,000 votes because Americans didnt want a criminal president. To advance those tactics worldwide, between 2016 and 2024, Obama traveled the globe as an unofficial ambassador of goodwill. Now, after eight years of behind-the-scenes genial communications with the former president, every scintilla of right-leaning governance is systematically being upended. Whether or not whats happening is a coincidence, Obamas political guidance certainly appears to be working. In addition to Putin, Obama has never kept his visceral dislike for Israel or Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu a secret. However, under the guise of the Obama Foundation, since 2016, Obama has had conversations with big government friends like Emmanuel Macron, his communist man crush Justin Trudeau, and recently, self-described UK socialist Keir Starmer. In the 2017 election, Macron opposed far-right National Rally (RN) leader Marine Le Pen. Just before the French presidential election, Macron disclosed that he received a telephone call from Barack Obama, who offered friendly support (whatever that means). Macron went on to win the election. Labeled with the same negativity imposed by Obama here in the United States, in France, and in the UK, conservatives are also viewed as extremists or domestic terrorists. Yet, despite a quarter of a million people supposedly protesting the far-Right, in the run-up to Frances recent snap parliamentary election, conservative Marine Le Pen came very close to scoring a watershed victory over the Left. Then suddenly, although 10 points behind, Macrons party somehow overwhelmed Le Penn and scored another Friends of Obama-style victory. Perceived as a unifier, in March 2024, the ex-president moseyed over to Number 10, Downing Street. After having a spot of tea with the soon-to-be defeated conservative, Rishi Sunak, the gadabout visited with Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour Party candidate who successfully sent Sunak packing. After Starmers landside win in July 2024, UK headlines read, Keir Starmer channeled Obama in his first Downing Street speech. Sounding more and more like Barry, Keir now says he plans to restore the UK and its reputation on the world stage. In other words, the world not as it is, but as it should be. Maybe its a coincidence, but of late, leading up to any election that results in socialist contenders being catapulted to victory, it is eventually revealed that Obama was the one found lurking around in the background. Keir admitted that before the election he did have frequent tete-a-tetes with Obama and attended a conference for progressive leaders hosted by one-half of Obama's Northern "bromance," Canadian PM Justin Trudeau. After the Canadian summit, Starmer traveled to Paris to meet with Emmanuel Macron. As for Trudeaus chances for reelection, from the looks of things in Canada, if Justin Trudeau hopes to be reelected, he better embrace pointers from a friend who magically makes winners out of liberal losers. Stepping back from the canvas, if I were the suspicious type, Id surmise there was some sort of correlation. Obama chats by phone with Starmer; Obama sizes up Sunak; Obama then visits Starmer; Starmer hooks up with Trudeau and Macron; Starmer wins in a landslide; and then, during his first speech, Starmer pays homage to none other than Barack Obama. Even without input from community organizers, some elections do go according to plan. Socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro recently clinched an up-from-behind-but-woefully-short win in Venezuela. Since then, Maduro has been applying the J6 strategy by jailing right-wing extremists protesting his dubious win. Back home, Barry doesnt need to skulk around, everyone knows who the titular head of the Democratic Party is. Thats how, with nary one primary vote counted, the former president fundamentally transformed the democracy hes purportedly seeking to save into anything but a democracy. Through shady maneuvering and double-dealing, the community organizer ousted a sitting president and illegally imposed two of the most extreme socialist candidates on the Democrat Party, the nation, and if hes successful, eventually the world. According to former Republican Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, Youre getting the Obamas shifting from running the White House to now running this campaign. Initially, Obama applied the tried-and-true Saul Alinsky tactic of calculated chaos. After the fomented pandemonium caught fire, the next step thwarted the nurtured unrest with a remedy no one, if given the choice, would agree to. Right now, in America, This is what democracy looks like! The bedlam needed was kindled within the Democratic Party when the senile dementia patient was forcibly thrust onto a debate stage. In an attempt to save democracy, Obama then dragged Joe Biden, kicking and screaming, from behind the presidential podium. Next, Barack and his backroom cohort tamped down the unrest by illegally installing two selected candidates the convention delegates didnt elect. The ordained duo includes Cackling Commie-Allah, a woman the former president once said was the best-looking attorney general in the country, and a socialist stooge named Midwest Tim. Right now, within that campaign, theres tons of cocksure gloating going on. The problem for us is that the string puppets Obama handpicked make Stalin, Lenin, and Karl Marx seem like harmless frat boys. In addition to election interference, this is the ultimate blueprint: Alinskys rules attempt to stifle free speech, individual rights, new ideas, and any critique of Marxist (Trotskyist) ideology, gagging all opposition with consensus methods, political correctness, critical race theory, censorship, intimidation, and, finally, violence. They have the guns and therefore we are for peace and reformation through the ballot. When we have the guns then it will be through the bullet America is within a hairs breadth of accomplishing all those goals. Right now, with the aid of disingenuous hype, ingratiating media collaboration, and faith in voter idiocy, if the Left manages to mysteriously earn another 81,000,000 votes, the propagandized can be easily convinced that the majority of voters were willing to embrace their demise. But above all, if Kamala/Walz manage to seize power, all obstacles to Marxism will be eradicated, and Barack Obamas dream of fundamental transformation, both here and abroad, will finally become reality. Image: AT via Magic Studio For anybody keeping score, its government in a rout. Over the people (late of We the People fame). For example, in the U.K., it is now apparently illegal to speak out against illegals, or to question mass immigration at all. An elderly man was recently arrested for making improper comments on his Facebook page. Going forward, if someone is even remotely involved, whatever that means, they could be dragged before a court. In recent years, citizens have been arrested for distributing flyers questioning the efficacy of coronavirus vaccines and silently praying outside of an abortion clinic. Moreover, Labor Party member Ricky Jones, who sits on the Dartford Borough Council, recently said of anti-immigration protesters, They are disgusting, nasty fascists, and we need to cut all their throats and get rid of them all! (He then led the obligatory free, free Palestine! chant.) Im going out on the proverbial limb here, but Im guessing that any politician who called for the slaughter of all illegal immigrants would be more than just indefinitely suspended, as was Joness fate. Australiansand otherswill likely soon have to utilize a digital ID before being allowed to access the internet. That would make it much easier to police speech. In France, police recently arrested several Christiansfor protesting attacks on Christians. Ironically, the six were members of a group that dared to traverse the streets of Paris in a bus sporting a sign saying Stop Attacks On Christians. Screw that, to the slammer with you! And, in America, the government has tried time and again to silence its political opposition, going so far as jailing those who had the audacity to be in the vicinity of The Peoples House on Jan. 6. And trying to keep the rival partys standard bearer/nominee off the balloteven if it had to imprison him. Or, possibly, kill him. Governments do not like push back, they do not like populism, and are less and less willing to put up with it. Governments dont like the concept of individualism or individual rights, preferring to look at those it rules over as part of a group. Easier and less messy that way. More recently, it has become obvious todays governments dont fancy nationalism, either, seeing it as the macro version of individualism. They now strive instead for globalism. Always, there is one constant: governments do not like competition. Which is one reason whycommunist, socialist, or left-leaning (there is virtually no longer any other kind in the West)they also disdain religion, especially Christianity with its support of individual freedoms. Governments in the West dont even like their own citizens, their own traditions. In the case of the United States, government doesnt even like its own borders. This dovetails nicely with the desires of the Club of Rome, who, as part of its Earth4All agenda, is urging all nations (but especially Western ones) to eat less meat, redistribute wealth, adopt a circular economy, raise taxes, restructure education, and charge high prices for fossil fuels. In short, screw the people. Not surprising, since way back in 1991 the Club deemed humans to be the biggest threat to the health of the planet. There was a time, not long ago historically speaking, when the leaders of a nascent nation declared independence, and that all men were endowed by their Creator with unalienable Rights. These Rights, they said, were notcould notbe granted by the state. They went so far as to say this was self-evident. Limited governmentof, by, and for the people was the only legitimate government. (See also: the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.) There are only two basic types of societies. Regardless of who may have uttered this quote, there is no doubting its veracity: When governments fear the people there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. We are rapidly trending toward tyranny. We are rapidly running out of time to reclaim our liberty. We must stand up to government(s), refuse to be locked down, refuse to be guinea pigs in medical experiments. We must demand the restoration of borders and the protection of language and culture. We must start teaching our children real history againand respect for our traditions and values. We must demand accountability for those in government, whether elected or unelected. We must realize that diversity is not necessarily a virtue nor always a good thing, though it is not inherently bad either. We must not go about our business as if nothing is awryeven though we know we are being lied to ad nauseam. And we must do this no matter what. So help us God. Or governmentspowerful, arrogant, and tyrannicalwill ultimately prevailin a rout. Image generated by AI. Back in the early 1980s, my mother was a big cheerleader for President Reagan. So she asked me about voting? I told her in Spanish that a legal resident could cheer but not vote. And then she screamed, again in Spanish, about becoming a citizen in time to vote in 1984. Well, she made it and I remember attending her citizenship ceremony and later she voted with my father. Two votes for Reagan that year! I tell you this because there is a lot of talk about non-citizens voting. The Democrats deny it, saying that they can't vote. Technically they can't but they can get driver's licenses. Anyway, I am happy to see Speaker Mike Johnson talk about this and drive home the point that elections are for U.S. citizens. Here it is: There are few things more important to our country than ensuring the integrity of our elections. The people rightfully demand it, and Congress has a duty to act. Yet, when given the opportunity to eliminate one of the most glaring threats to fair elections, 198 House Democrats voted instead to keep the door open to fraud. The threat is very real. In nearly all 50 states today -- including every major electoral battleground state -- a noncitizen can walk into a DMV or welfare office, fill out a federal voter registration form, claim they are a U.S. citizen, and be registered to vote. That noncitizen can then cast a ballot and help decide the direction of America. Well said, Mr. Speaker. Honestly, it's hard to believe that this is even an issue. In most countries, especially Mexico, you need an ID to vote. No voter ID, no vote in most countries. I've spoken with friends or visitors from other countries and they can't believe that we are even having this debate. So why are Democrats voting against it? Makes me wonder. Maybe they think that the current loose system will benefit them. I don't think that they'd support such a mess if it benefitted the GOP. My late parents became citizens and voted. They never understood how someone who is not a citizen could vote. Maybe my parents knew best. P.S. Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. Image: Eric Hersman It is common knowledge that the Democrats plan to steal the 2024 election and, failing that, to bog Donald Trump down with lawfare so that responding to the litigation absorbs all his time and energy, leaving nothing to devote to the problems our nation faces. That backup plan means that, if Trump can overcome the cheating factor, he faces an enormously-serious day one problem. What he intends is a first day in office that is devoted to facing our nations extraordinary number of existential-level crises. Instead, hell be hijacked dealing with the flood of lawfare litigation that the enemies of our nation will file beginning from the moment the election is called. However, theres a lot that President Trump can do on his first day back in office to stop our nations bleeding and start its healing. Image: YouTube screen grab (edited). Because we can see the day one crisis coming from far away, Trump should already have a plan to steal a march on the day one lawfare avalanche. He cannot wait until hes sworn in and then start trying to push back. The moment hes sworn the oath of office, he should forego the usual celebrations and hot-foot it back to the Oval Office. Once there, he needs to issue a blitz of simultaneous orders and communiques setting a new course and pace for the nation, continuing as may be necessary into the wee hours of the first morning. At a bare minimum, this blitz must include inter alia the following: 1. Restoring our military power by firing all of the DEI people in the Pentagon and replacing them with warrior leadership. As the Commander-in-Chief, he has the power to do this. 2. Immediately issue executive orders sealing the border and setting in motion the round-up and deportation of illegal aliens. 3. Remove and replace all the top tiers of the bureaucracy. Again, as the big boss, he can fire everyone on the first day and immediately begin the process of replacing them. Yes, there will be lawsuits, but action first, lawsuits later. 4. Issue a blizzard of executive orders putting a stop to all climate change initiatives with the executives control and reinstating every policy possible that will restore Americas energy independence. Given that the election is on Nov 5, 2024, and the inauguration on Jan 20, 2025, Trump and his trusted advisors would have nearly three months as president-elect to get all the elements of that blitz organized and prepared for launch immediately after taking the inaugural oath. This can be done, and it must be done if our republic is to survive. Two of my favorite films are the original version of The Thomas Crown Affair and the later remake. The first version was released in 1968. It starred Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. The remake was released in 1999 and starred Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo. The first version won an Academy Award for Best Song, was nominated for Musical Score, and has been cited for then-cutting-edge cinematography. The second references the first in some similar scenes and the same music. Dunaway also appears in the second in a very different role. Each film is about a caper. The first film involves a robbery of a Boston bank. The second involves the theft of a Monet oil painting from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. In each film, Thomas Crown is a very wealthy man who orchestrates the thefts not out of need, but rather as an intellectual exercise. He seeks to plan and execute the perfect crime. In each film, the female lead is an insurance investigator seeking to retrieve the stolen assets. She is to be paid a percentage of the recovered value as compensation. In each case, she identifies Crown as a likely suspect but also develops a romantic affair with him. For the rest of the film, there is the conflict between her professional responsibility and economic interest to solve the crime and the fact that doing so would lead to the arrest and imprisonment (and thus loss) of her lover. A key difference between the first and the second films is that in the second film, there are two simultaneous theft schemes planned by Crown. He executes the second personally; the first, done by others, fails. In reviewing the theft, Russo points out to the police that it would be impossible for the first scheme to be successful from the perspective of simple logistics. It was designed to fail and provide a diversion for the second to be successful. Each version was recently shown on my cable system, and I watched them. I have seen each a number of times. What struck me seeing the second version was a perceived similarity to the Biden presidential debate with Trump. Biden was doomed to fail. That was the point. The Biden debate exposed him as someone who has been almost universally judged incapable of running a successful 2024 campaign, let alone serving a second term ending in 2029. A legitimate question is whether he is presently capable of finishing his first term. It has been reported that in order to make him step down as a candidate in favor of Vice President Harris, he was threatened with use of the 25th Amendment, which would force his exit from office. He did not go willingly. The situation is a curious one. Remember, it was Biden who demanded to hold the first debate. Also, the date was the earliest ever in a presidential campaign. All of the terms were his, with the exception of Trumps insistence that they stand at podiums. But why do it this way, and before the Democratic National Convention, which would have assured his candidacy? He ran essentially unopposed in the primaries and had gained almost all of the delegates. He had the nomination locked up. He would certainly have had the opportunity to debate Trump multiple times after the convention. So why do what he did? It is true that Biden was behind in the polls. But Election Day was months away, and lots can happen to radically change the dynamics of an election. There was plenty of time to change the perceived outcome. You will recall that for months, any time Bidens fitness for office was questioned, it was dismissed as ridiculous to suggest that he was anything but a dynamic and capable leader. He was hidden from the press for the most part, and White House staff promoted his vigor, which was somewhat belied by video of his limited and orchestrated appearances. Bidens debate appearance removed all doubts of his ability to continue. Senior White House staff and Democrat leadership dealt with him on a regular, and almost daily, basis. They had to know his health status, both physical and cognitive. Despite that, they did not fight the idea of the very early debate. They continued to assure everyone that he was fine. I believe that they knew what would happen and were prepared for it for months, if not years. The plan was that he would fail, and fail badly. Just as in The Thomas Crown Affair, the failure set up the desired outcome. In this case, it was the Harris candidacy. Chuck Todd of NBC has said that a Cabinet official told him in 2022 that there were serious questions about Bidens health. Senior politicos who told us in May that Biden was vigorous pushed him out in July. Potential Democrat contenders seeking the 2024 nomination were discouraged from entering primaries because Biden was running. If allowed, they could have been formidable opponents to Harris, but they were not allowed. The timing and circumstances made Harris the only real alternative, and it was engineered that way by the big donors and senior party leaders. Whether Harris succeeds in November remains to be seen. What can be said is that her achievement of the nomination without ever having received a single vote in the primaries is unprecedented in modern political history. To accept that it is accidental stretches the ability to believe. It certainly suggests that the leadership of the Democrat party believes that a proclaimed shift to the left is warranted and would permit Barack Obamas desired transformation of America to continue. Perhaps some of the senior Democrat leadership are, like me, fans of The Thomas Crown Affair, or at least saw the film and learned from it. Image: The White House via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 US. Shortly after Gov. Tim Walz was picked as Vice President Harriss running mate, stories about stolen valor surfaced, with the focus being on then-Sergeant Major Walzs leaving a military unit before a deployment. For me, as a Marine veteran of almost 40 years, Walzs conduct violated every principle of leadership that noncommissioned officers, staff noncommissioned officers, and officers hold as bedrock to their service to our great nation. In the wake of the campaign controversy, Walzs responses and lack thereof cause me even more concern. Such behavior cements my view that he does not understand his errors and is unfit to serve as a Vice President of the United States. My reaction stems largely from the very dismissive attitude of the press to the issues surrounding Gov. Walzs National Guard service. To most media, the story seems a nothingburger, a distraction, or political posturing at best. To those of us who have served, whether in harms way or not, his conduct is an affront. December 2024 will mark the 20th anniversary of being recalled to active duty out of military retirement from the Marine Corps Reserve. I was one of the thousands who eventually would be so summoned to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan. This was about the same time that Tim Walz decided to retire, his unit having received advanced notification of service at the same time as I was called. Neither I nor my family hesitated to answer the call of duty. It was a requirement for us to leave our homes and deploy to a combat zone to serve a greater good. For the thousands of Americans who died and for their families, the sacrifice will be forever remembered and emblazoned in our hearts and minds. For those who have not served in the military, please allow me to put the issues in perspective. First, Tim Walz was selected to attend the schools necessary to become a Sergeant Major -- a senior noncommissioned officer rank. As a Marine Reserve Colonel, I can assure you that every Sergeant Major with whom I served was key to our command. We were joined in lockstep to ensure the safety of our Marines (and other service members with us) and accomplish the mission. Walzs acceptance of promotion to Sergeant Major required him to complete the necessary schooling and to serve an additional time period afterward. His selection meant that someone else was denied a taxpayer-funded opportunity, which he ultimately threw away for personal reasons. Accepting a military promotion is a huge obligation and responsibility. Enlisting in the military is a commitment that must be honored. Not to do so may result in a less than honorable discharge. Those graduating from service academies must serve five years after being commissioned. No ifs, ands, or buts. Walzs early departure before completing the service requirements for Sergeant Major was an instance of a person with connections getting special treatment not afforded to first-term service members. Most senior members of the military would never consider using their position or political power in such a way, but apparently that was not a problem for Tim Walz. Second, Walz retired at a time when he would have been needed the most -- a time of deployment to danger where his unit its young soldiers sorely needed the leadership his experience and training were expected to provide. I know the acuteness of the need because I was in Iraq at about the same time Walzs unit would have been missing him. The intensity of combat was picking up. Improvised explosive devices were taking a toll on our forces. What Walz did was a dishonorable abandonment of his soldiers. He apparently felt okay with somebody else taking his place -- with some other family going without their father or husband. In 2005, Walz had a seminal event -- one that defines who you really are. It was a test of character that he failed. He chose to retire rather than honor his commitments to his soldiers, his command, his state and our nation. He does not deserve a second chance to fail us again -- this time at the highest level. Col. Frank Ryan, USMCR (Ret.), served in Iraq and briefly in Afghanistan. He served three terms in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and was on the Board of Trustees of Pennsylvanias teacher pension system. He is a CPA specializing in corporate restructuring and has served on numerous boards of publicly traded and non-profit organizations. He can be reached at FRYAN1951@aol.com Image: Lorie Shaull The latest Made By Google event just went down, and the company clued us in on what its been working on since last year. Along with the new hardware, Google showed us some new Gemini features that are coming to the new Pixel 9 phones. The company announced additional extensions for Gemini that make it more useful. Before hopping into that, Google introduced us to its new hardware. The company unveiled the new Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold. These are the latest smartphones from the company, and they use the new Tensor G4 SoC. Along with that, Google brought some new Camera and AI improvements. Google gives Gemini additional extensions One of the things that makes Gemini stand out is its ability to integrate with other Google products through extensions. This lets the user perform tasks within other apps like Gmail. Well, Google announced today that Gemini will be able to integrate with Google Calendar, Tasks, and Keep. During the demonstration, the presenter gave us an example of this in action. He took a picture of a concert poster and asked Gemini to see if he had anything scheduled during the time of the concert. Check my calendar and see if Im free when shes coming to San Francisco this year. After a few awkward failed attempts, Gemini was able to talk to Google Calendar and check his events to see if he had anything scheduled. He then asked Gemini to set a reminder in Google Tasks to check ticket prices at a certain time. Lastly, he told Gemini to add an item to his shopping list. This demonstration showed off Gemini integrating with Calendar, Tasks, and Keep. YouTube Next, we got an example of Gemini integrating with YouTube and YouTube Music. The presenter asked Gemini to find information present in a video that was playing. Gemini will connect to YouTube and extract data from the videos caption to figure out whats going on. After that, she asked Gemini to create a playlist on YouTube Music that matches a certain vibe. Gmail Lastly, the presenter asked Gemini to generate an email draft for him. After the draft was created, he was able to quickly import it into Gmail to polish up. These features will come with the Pixel 9 phones, and we wont be surprised if they make their way to other devices. Google Wallet users in the US are already receiving the new Everything Else feature. It will make it easier for them to carry digital versions of all their physical documents, including those not natively supported by the app. Google Wallet will also get native support for California ID cards soon. Everything Else was spotted in mid-July as a new feature in development. However, it didnt take long for the company to make it available to many. The first users began receiving the option in the US at the beginning of the month. Now, the company is rolling out Everything Else widely in the country. Google Wallets Everything Else allows you to digitize all your physical documents If youre a regular Wallet user, you probably know that it doesnt support some of your IDs or passports. Google is probably working on expanding compatibility with more documents in the future. However, in the meantime, Everything else lets you create a digital copy of all your IDs and physical documents to store them in Google Wallet. While digital cards arent a direct replacement for your physical documents, it can be nice to have them all on hand on certain occasions. Like many recent features developed by Google, Everything Else takes advantage of the power of AI to scan your physical document and extract all relevant data fields. You can also add your own additional fields if you need to. The AI determines what type of document or pass you are scanning. If it detects a document with especially sensitive data (health or government ID information), it will label it as Private. Private documents do not sync across devices and require security verification to access. However, you can always manually tweak the classification later. After scanning the document, you can manually choose which category it belongs to. The list of categories includes the following: Business card, Car insurance, Drivers license, Events & tickets, Health insurance, ID card, Library card, Loyalty card, Passport, Residence permit, Student ID, Tax ID card, Vehicle registration, Voter ID card, and Other. No ETA for a global rollout yet After you complete the process, the digital document will be available with your other cards. Google Wallet also saves the photo of the original document along with the digital card. Everything Else replaces the Photo option in the Wallet UI. If you havent received it yet, you can try to force close the Wallet app to speed up the process. It is not yet known when the option will be available in the rest of the world. More than 100 pregnant women, many of whom were in medical distress that included bleeding or emergency labor, found themselves being illegally turned away by emergency rooms or negligently treated since 2022 according to a complaint filed with federal regulators. The Biden administration says hospitals must offer abortions when a woman's life depends on it, despite state bans implemented after the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion over two years ago. Kyleigh Thurman, 25, told the Associated Press that she was unaware her doomed pregnancy could kill her. Emergency room doctors at a Texas hospital had given her a pamphlet on misscarriage and advised her to "let nature take its course" before discharging her without treatment for her ectopic pregnancy. Three days later, the 25-year-old was still bleeding, and only then did doctors finally agree to give her an injection to end her pregnancy, according to the complaint filed by Thurman and the Center for Reproductive Rights. In separate incidents in Florida and Texas, two women were forced to miscarry in public restrooms, while another in Arkansas went into septic shock, killing her fetus after an emergency room turned her away. Hospitals face a federal investigation, hefty penalties, and threats to their Medicare funding if they violate the federal law. Kelsie Norris-De La Cruz, 25, lost a fallopian tube and most of an ovary after an Arlington, Texas, hospital sent her home without treating her ectopic pregnancy, even after a doctor said discharge was "not in her best interest." "I'm filing this complaint because women like me deserve justice and accountability from those that hurt us," she said. Google just held its latest Made By Google event, and the company just unveiled some exciting news about its best devices. We saw some great features for the new Pixel 9 phones. As you can guess, most of the features revolve around AI technology. Well, Google announced a new feature called Call Notes, and it could help you remember what was discussed during a call. Googles latest Made By Google event just happened and were all still reeling from the announcements. Along with the new phones, Google also announced the new Pixel Watch 3 and Pixel Buds 2 Pro. If youre excited about these products, and youre a Verizon customer, then there are some deals that youll like. The Pixel 9 Call Notes feature can summarize your phone calls So far, weve seen AI tools that can summarize different parts of our lives, and this functionality seems to be the most common application of generative AI. Google wants to bring this functionality into the real world. The new Call Notes feature is a part of Googles Call Assist suite of tools. Its a tool that will create an AI-generated summary of your phone calls. This could come in very handy when you need to remember a bit of information discussed during a call. Weve all been in the situation when we need to jot down a number or some sort of information, but we dont have a pen and paper at the ready. Well, Call Notes will summarize the key details of the call. When you tap on a contact in the Google Phone app, youll see the summary from your latest conversation pop up. Whats neat is that youll be able to copy the summary and share it. If the summary doesnt have the information that you need, you can expand the view to show a full transcript of your conversation. Privacy Google made sure that this is a secure feature. For starters, all of the AI is processed and stored on-device. You wont have to worry about Google sending data to the cloud for processing. Also, this function doesnt start automatically. The app will show you a popup that will allow you to start it. When you start it, it will notify both parties, so the other party wont be caught off guard. Call Notes is landing on all Pixel 9 phones. This includes the Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold along with the base model. Additional checks around Wembley to stop those without Taylor Swift tickets Taylor Swifts series of concerts at Wembley Stadium will have additional ticket checks, organisers have said. The performances are sold out and the London arena says there will be stewards checking in and around the area to make sure that only those with tickets attend. It comes following three shows in Vienna being cancelled over an alleged plot by suspected terrorists to attack the venue and fans. Wembley Stadium has put an guide online for fans attending the dates in London on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, the last gigs on the European leg of The Eras Tour. Swifties gather and sing in the city centre in Vienna on Thursday after the cancellation (Heinz-Peter Bader/AP/PA) It says: Standing guests please refer to the colour zone on your ticket to get you to the correct queuing ramp. Seated guests please refer to the colour zone on your ticket to get you to the correct turnstile. The quickest route to your entry point is by following the signage for the colour zone. Note: Additional ticket checks will be in operation at points in and around the stadium prior to entry. Please have your tickets ready to show stewards when asked. A merchandise megastore is located in the green car park and can be accessed on the five concert days, and on Wednesday and Sunday, when Swift is not performing. Wembley Stadium says: Overnight camping is not allowed. Wembley Stadium is situated in a residential area. We kindly ask that only those with tickets or those visiting our merchandise megastore turn up to the stadium to avoid disruption to the local residents and businesses. To support with the safe entry and exit of everyone within the stadium, no-one is allowed to stand outside any entrance or on the Olympic Steps at the front of the stadium. Non ticket holders will be moved on. There are also guidelines for having only an A4-sized bag; not having face coverings for non-religious or medical reasons; no chains, chain wallets, studded jewellery or spurs; and no hard plastic as well as not bringing metal carabiners for friendship bracelets. A plastic water bottle no larger than 500ml in capacity can be taken into the grounds, Wembley said. Referencing Swift songs, the venue also said: Make sure you plan your visit to Wembley Stadium well in advance and give yourself plenty of opportunity to Breathe. Check the weather before you go and dress accordingly. We could be in for a Cruel Summer. Leave plenty of time for your journey and plan ahead. The same for your return journey home. Read all the information provided and take note of what you can and cant do. Dont Shake It Off as not important. Youre definitely not On Your Own Kid. Large crowds are expected to attend each performance. Be aware of your surroundings and respectful to others Last week, events organiser Barracuda Music said we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyones safety as there had been confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack at Ernst Happel Stadium. A 19-year-old planned to target fans with knives or home-made explosives during the concert on Thursday or Friday, Austrian authorities said. There was a further two people arrested, a 17-year-old and an 18-year-old over the incident. Chemical substances, liquids and technical capabilities were found at the home of the 19-year-old, authorities said. They confirmed it did not ask organisers to cancel the concerts. London Mayor Sadiq Khan previously told Sky News that he is sure Vienna has got its own reasons for the cancellation but the capital was going to carry on, working closely with police (and) ensuring that the Taylor Swift concerts can take place in London safely. A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police previously said: London plays host to a significant number of very high-profile events each year with millions of visitors having a safe and enjoyable experience. The Met works closely with venue security teams and other partners to ensure there are appropriate security and policing plans in place. There is nothing to indicate that the matters being investigated by the Austrian authorities will have an impact on upcoming events here in London. As always, we will continue to keep any new information under careful review. Anas Sarwar has told how he has a level of admiration for former Scotland first minister Nicola Sturgeon but insisted Labour will be going flat out to replace the SNP at the next Holyrood election. Mr Sarwar said he hoped to come out of the 2026 Scottish Parliament elections leading a minority Labour administration. The Scottish Labour leader said: We are going to go flat out to win the election, my intention is to hopefully come out of that election to form a minority Labour government. Mr Sarwar, speaking at the Political Party With Matt Forde event at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, said while he had enjoyed Labours UK general election victory last month for 10 minutes, he was now thinking about the next target. He said: One thing I hope people can see from me is I didnt come into this to be leader of the Scottish Labour Party, genuinely I didnt. I love the Labour Party, I love the history of the Labour Party, for me it is the best vehicle for social change. But I am serious about leading this country, Im serious about giving back to the country that has given my family every single thing it has got, and I am serious about being first minister. That is what people are going to see between now and 2026. Mr Sarwar, who took over as Scottish Labour leader from Richard Leonard in 2021, said the job had always been a multi-stage process for him. He said the first thing he had to do was to make sure we survive, recalling that heading into the 2021 Holyrood election only 8% of Scots said they were definitely voting Labour. But now with Scottish Labour having gone from having just one MP in the 2019 general election to winning 37 of the 57 seats up for grabs last month, Mr Sarwar said that the next stage is to make sure we are delivering for Scotland and setting out that positive case for change in 2026. He told the audience: We are going to go for a minority Labour government, I think one of the things that devolution was meant to be was not one party pretending they have a monopoly on everything, a monopoly on the Parliament or a monopoly on ideas. It was meant to be about trying to pull together the best parts of Scotland and come up with a package of reform and delivery that delivers for every part of the country. With Humza Yousaf quitting as first minister after ending the powersharing Bute House Agreement with the Scottish Greens, Mr Sarwar stressed he would not be inviting them to be part of any government with him. Speaking about the Greens, he said: If they have a good idea I am happy to listen to it but do I want them in government? No, to be blunt about it. However he said he believed former SNP leader Ms Sturgeon had brought the Greens into government to make the SNPs life easier rather than for it to be a more effective government. The Labour MSP recalled there had been two or three really close no confidence votes in SNP ministers prior to the deal being drawn up, adding: It was about parliamentary arithmetic and keeping comfortable, rather than about good government. His comments came as he expressed a level of admiration for Ms Sturgeon, who he said he had known for a very long time. Mr Sarwar said: When my father stood for election in 1997 to be an MP, the SNP candidate against him was Nicola Sturgeon, which is one of the reasons my mother has never liked her. While he stressed he had of course massive political disagreements with her, he added: Do you accept she was a very, very effective politician? Absolutely. Do you have a level of admiration for the work ethic, particularly during the Covid pandemic? Absolutely. Bellway has walked away from a potential takeover of rival housebuilder Crest Nicholson. Last month, FTSE 250 firm Bellway put forward a 720 million takeover approach to buy its competitor after two previous proposals were rebuffed. Crest Nicholson previously said it was minded to accept the deal, but Bellway has now said it will not put forward a firm offer after talks between the companies. Newcastle-based Bellways proposal would have seen it buy the share capital of Crest for 273p per share. Bellway made three takeover proposals for Crest Nicholson before dropping its interest (Mike Egerton/PA) Crest shareholders would have held 18% of the combined company as part of the deal. On Tuesday, Bellway said that it does not intend to make a firm offer for Crest Nicholson but did not explain its reason for dropping its takeover pursuit. In a statement, Bellway added: As noted in its trading update released on August 9, Bellway remains confident that its robust balance sheet and operational strength, combined with the depth and quality of its land bank, will enable Bellway to deliver volume growth in the years ahead and support ongoing value creation for shareholders. In response, Crest said it remains confident in its standalone prospects, in particular given conclusion of the review of provisions for completed development sites supported by external consultants, its highly attractive land portfolio and the new leadership of Martyn Clark. Crest has also received interest over a potential merger deal from rival housing developer Avant Homes, which is owned by New York hedge fund Elliott. Avant, which is led by former Persimmon boss Jeff Fairburn, saw its bid to buy Crest rejected last month. The bid interest is the latest in a line of major mergers in the housebuilding industry, with companies joining forces after a period of high mortgage rates and weaker demand. Earlier this year, two of Britains biggest housebuilders, Barratt Developments and Redrow, agreed to a tie-up worth 2.5 billion which they said would accelerate housebuilding across the country. England international Cole Palmer has signed a two-year contract extension with Chelsea. The Premier League club confirmed that 22-year-old Palmer, who joined Chelsea from Manchester City in a 42.5million deal last September, has committed himself to the Blues until June 2033. Im delighted to sign this new deal, Cole told Chelseas official website. I achieved a lot in my first season here, and hopefully I can continue to experience great things at this club, both on a personal level and in terms of bringing success and trophies to Chelsea. Cole Palmer 2033. Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 13, 2024 Palmer enjoyed a standout campaign last season, scoring 22 Premier League goals. The forward was part of the England squad that reached the final of Euro 2024, where he scored an equaliser after coming off the bench in the defeat against Spain. Palmer netted 25 times in all competitions for Chelsea last term and was named Premier League young player of the year. His goal tally included Premier League hat-tricks in successive games at Stamford Bridge against Manchester United and Everton. Tracey Mell, 36, and her husband Martin, 40, flew to Greece for fertility treatment after eight years of trying to conceive. (Tracey Mell/SWNS) ((Tracey Mell/SWNS)) A couple have told how flying to Greece for fertility treatment after eight years of trying to conceive saved them 1,000. Tracey Mell, 36, a research fellow, and her husband, Martin, 40, from Hull, East Yorkshire initially started trying for a baby a year after getting married. But after two years with no success they were diagnosed with undiagnosed infertility and told they needed IVF - a medical procedure where an egg is fertilised by sperm outside the body. They underwent their first round on the NHS, which unfortunately resulted in an ectopic pregnancy. Tracey and Martin, a bar manager, then spent around 11,000 on private treatment but after a chemical pregnancy and a miscarriage the couple were beginning to lose hope. After hearing that some couples struggling with fertility were opting to go abroad, they decided to head to Serum in Athens for treatment. The couple flew out at the end of July to have further investigations into their fertility while also enjoying some down time by the pool. So far they estimate they have saved 1,000 on their treatment - including flights and accommodation. "In between treatment times we lay by the pool - having nice food," Tracey says of their experience. "I kept forgetting that we were there for IVF treatment. "We've spent 1,700 on investigations and about 2,700 including travel. "We're 1,000 better off than at clinics in the UK." The couple were able to relax by the pool in between appointments. (Tracey Mell/SWNS) ((Tracey Mell/SWNS)) Tracey and Martin were excited to start trying for a baby in 2016, but they were disappointed to find that "nothing happened". "We did ovulation tracking - still nothing happened," Tracey explains. At the time the couple were told they had to try for two years before being eligible for investigations. After testing everything came back normal and they were told they were experiencing unexplained infertility. The couple were told IVF would be their only option and after further checks they were due to start their first round in March 2020 when the pandemic hit. They started the process again in August 2020 and got a positive pregnancy test but at a seven-week scan Tracey discovered she'd had an ectopic pregnancy. "I had to wait six months before we could try again with all of my frozen embryos," she explains. Sadly the other rounds weren't successful and Tracey and Martin had to look into private IVF. With the help of funding and Martin's mum they started a round privately. "We got a positive pregnancy test," Tracey explains. "At the seven-week scan we were thrilled as we were shown the baby and a heartbeat. But the baby was measuring behind the size it should be. "A week later I miscarried." The couple didn't have any other viable eggs to try but after Tracey found out her AMH levels - which relates to egg count - had dropped they went for another round. "I got a very faint positive test," she says. "Then I started spotting and I was told I'd experienced a chemical pregnancy (a very early pregnancy loss which usually happens just after the embryo implants, before or around 5 weeks). "We decided to take a break for our sanity. "I was pretty ready to give up," Tracey continues. "It was bleak." Tracey then found a charity in Hull called Chasing Rainbows and met some other women who had gone abroad for treatment. She had previously thought it would be expensive to go out of the UK. "The women spoke really positively of their experience," she says. The couple were impressed with the treatment they received in Greece. (Tracey Mell/SWNS) (Tracey Mell / SWNS) Tracey put together a spreadsheet on the pros and cons of different clinics in the UK and abroad but the couple settled on Serum in Athens after getting a personal recommendation. "They were willing to do more testing to find out why something has gone wrong," she explains. "We filled out a questionnaire and within 24 hours we had an email from the doctor." They had a free consultation over the phone and advised to have the microbiome of her womb tested. She was then started on antibiotics and the couple flew out in late July for a three day trip to the clinic. They underwent deeper analysis and Tracey had a hysteroscopy - to examine the inside of her cervix and uterus - and a scan which revealed she had a cyst on her ovary. She has since now being advised to take the contraception pill for a few months to see if that shrinks the cyst and if not she will have an operation to remove it. Speaking about the clinic in Greece Tracey says: "They have a holistic kind of approach. "It's so organised. "If it shrinks we'll start a round of IVF with them. "It finally feels like we're in the right place." The couple are hoping to have further fertility treatment in Greece. (Tracey Mell/SWNS) ((Tracey Mell/SWNS)) Fertility treatment abroad: the facts A fall in the number of NHS IVF procedures, and the cost of private fertility treatment in the UK, means many Brits are now looking overseas in their quest to conceive. Recents findings in the Infertility Awareness Report by Fertility Family found that as many as 35% of those polled have considered going to another country as part of their path to parenthood. While lots of couples and singles have safe, effective treatment abroad, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) says it is important you do your research. "We have no powers overseas and whilst some countries will have a similar government body or laws to oversee fertility treatments, not all of them do," the website advises. "Ask your clinic if theres a national regulator or what laws they are required to follow." While there is legislation within the EU which sets standards for quality and safety, not all EU countries have implemented this legislation and clinics in these countries are not necessarily accredited by a national body. The HFEA also advises asking about your clinics multiple pregnancy rates as twin and triplet pregnancies are the single biggest risk to the health of both mothers and babies. "In the UK, its best practice for most women to have a single embryo transferred to reduce the risk of a multiple pregnancy, but not all countries take this approach," the site continues. You can find out more about the laws in different countries as well as practical information on the costs of treatment on the Fertility Treatment Abroad website. Fertility read more: Watch: Kourtney Kardashian reveals how she coped with 5 rounds of failed IVF Google has unveiled its new range of flagship Pixel smartphones, which the company says have been built to house its most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) tech, as it looks to take on Apple and Samsung. The new range includes the Pixel 9, the Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL, and a new foldable in the form of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which were announced alongside a new smartwatch and wireless ear buds. The new phones have been loaded with AI including Googles Gemini chatbot, an AI image generation app, camera editing tools and voice call transcripts and are powered by the tech giants own Tensor G4 chip. Google said the chip was designed with DeepMind the advanced AI arm of the tech giant and this means it can run Googles most advanced AI models on the devices to help users with tasks. This includes with Gemini Live, a new version of the chatbot which is meant to be the phones virtual assistant and can be prompted at any time with queries, commands or questions. The photo editing tools include a feature called Add Me, which enables users to add the designated photographer to group photos simply by taking a second photo with them in it, with AI then combining the two. The suite of AI tools also includes a new tool called Pixel Screenshots, which uses AI to search a users screenshots to find the key piece of information that was previously captured, without having to scroll back through the entire camera roll. The company confirmed the Pixel 9 will start at 799, the Pixel 9 Pro at 999 and the Pixel 9 Pro XL at 1,099, while the Pixel 9 Pro Fold will start at 1,749. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is Googles second foldable smartphone (Google/PA) In a blog post discussing the launch of the new phones, Google said: Were infusing AI into everything we do, across every layer of our full tech stack from data centre infrastructure to the operating system to devices. In order for AI to be truly helpful, it should naturally fit into our everyday lives, and the best place to experience that is on your Android device. With Gemini deeply integrated into Android, were rebuilding the operating system with AI at the core, and redefining what phones can do. Google is far from the only smartphone maker going to great lengths to load its latest devices with AI features Samsung has launched its Galaxy AI features across its 2024 range of smartphones, and Apple previewed a range of tools it calls Apple Intelligence earlier in the summer. The three tech giants are among the big names in the sector looking to establish themselves as the market leader when it comes to AI, with their popular smartphone brands being the key outlet for new features and services. Industry expert Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight, said Googles heavy focus on AI for this launch, and the timing of the event itself two months earlier than usual showed the company was keen to get ahead of its rivals. It is no surprise Google focused heavily on new AI capabilities given their strategic importance to the company, he said. We expect the Add Me group photography feature to be an anchor experience in the Pixel 9s promotion. This and the slew of other AI-powered experiences are critical to the overall competitiveness of Android smartphones, particularly as Apple Intelligence looms. The timing of this event came as a surprise. Google likely felt that with the recent unveiling of Apple Intelligence, Apples iPhone launch next month will focus on why it has the best phone for AI. Googles earlier launch potentially allows it to announce features first and claim leadership in use case development and deployment in this highly strategic area. Two polar bears attacked and killed a worker at a remote radar site in the Canadian Arctic. The Nasittuq Corporation says it happened on Aug. 8 on Brevoort Island, Nunavut. Other employees responded to the scene and one of the animals was put down, according to the company. The company expressed "deep sorrow" for the death of a "valued employee." Nasittuq said, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends, and colleagues affected by this loss. Nasittuq Corporation is providing support to the family of the deceased during this difficult time." Counseling services were being offered to employees affected by the death. "The safety and well-being of our employees is our highest priority, and we are deeply committed to ensuring a safe working environment," the company said. "We are working closely with local authorities and regulatory agencies to conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding this incident." Nasittuq said was not releasing the victim's name out of respect for the privacy of the family. The company has a government of Canada contract to operate and maintain the North Warning System (NWS). The NWS is a chain of radar sites and support facilities that forms part of Canada's North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) agreement with the United States. It was established in 1985 to detect and allow for an early response to potential threats entering North American air space. The Duke of Sussexs chief of staff has left his role after just three months after mutually agreeing he was not the right fit. Josh Kettler took up the senior post working with Harry in May ahead of the Sussexes tour to Nigeria. His departure comes as Harry and Meghan prepare for their working trip to Colombia this week. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have gained a reputation for having difficulty in retaining staff (Yaroslav Sabitov/PA) It is understood Mr Kettler was hired on a trial basis and the decision to part ways was mutual, with both sides agreeing it was not the correct fit. Harry and Meghan have gained a reputation for being unable to retain staff as they forged ahead with their charitable and production ventures in the US. Mr Kettler, who was previously chief of staff at communication platform Cognixion, was said to have been brought in to guide Harry through the next phase. He travelled to London with the duke in May to attend the 10th anniversary celebrations of the Invictus Games at St Pauls Cathedral. Harry leaving St Pauls Cathedral following the Invictus 10th anniversary service (Yui Mok/PA) Harry and Meghan are set to tour the South American nation of Colombia at the invitation of the countrys vice president Francia Marquez. Ms Marquez, a lawyer and human rights and environmental activist, said the pair would join her in visiting the capital Bogota, as well as the Caribbean and Pacific regions of Cartagena and Cali. Details of the couples itinerary have not yet been released, but the vice president said they would engage in several activities related to safeguarding young people online and in physical spaces. Meghan and Harry have long been vocal about highlighting the threat posed to children by the internet. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's Archewell Foundation is launching The Parents Network to support parents of children affected by online bullying. Jane Pauley talks with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and to parents in the foundation's pilot program. https://t.co/ah9e8kMkWO pic.twitter.com/rZpmvGa7le CBS Sunday Morning (@CBSSunday) August 4, 2024 They launched a new initiative The Parent Network earlier this month to provide parents with a safe and free-to-access support network to help those whose children have been harmed by social media. In an interview with CBS Sunday morning, Harry said the impact of online experiences on young peoples wellbeing was at 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. The so-called DIY royal tour is the Sussexess second this year, after their three-day visit to Nigeria at the invitation of the West African nations chief of defence staff. Harry and Meghan stepped down from the working monarchy in 2020 and no longer travel at the request of the UK Government on official overseas royal visits. The Catedral Primada in the Plaza De Bolivar in Bogota, Colombia (Anthony Devlin/PA) The Foreign Office warns against all but essential travel to certain parts of Colombia, with kidnapping rates remaining high. It describes the country as seriously afflicted by conflict with a resurgence in violence in parts of Colombia despite the peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) movement to end the civil war. Harry maintained last month it was still dangerous for Meghan to return to the UK. In the ITV documentary Tabloids On Trial, the duke said: 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. Harry and Meghan arrive at their final official royal engagement before they stepped back from the working monarchy in 2020 (Dominic Lipinski/PA) Harry lost a High Court challenge against the Home Office in February over a decision to change the level of his personal security when he visits the UK, but he has been given the green light to appeal. During the case, the court was told Harry believes his children cannot feel at home in the UK if it is not possible to keep them safe there and that he faces a greater risk than his late mother, with additional layers of racism and extremism. Five Just Stop Oil activists jailed for conspiring to organise protests that blocked the M25 are launching bids to appeal what are thought to be the longest sentences ever given for peaceful protest. Roger Hallam, Daniel Shaw, Louise Lancaster, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu and Cressida Gethin agreed to cause disruption to traffic by having protesters climb onto gantries over the motorway for four successive days in November 2022. Hallam, co-founder of environmental campaign groups Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion, was sentenced to five years imprisonment while the other four protesters were each jailed for four years. Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil co-founder Roger Hallam was jailed for five years (Jordan Pettitt/PA) The five activists were due to formally file their appeal bids on Tuesday morning, environmental campaign group Plan B Earth said. The group, referred to as the Whole Truth Five by Just Stop Oil on social media, were convicted by a Southwark Crown Court jury of conspiracy intentionally to cause a public nuisance, contrary to section 78 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and Section 1 of the Criminal Law Act 1977, on July 11. Prosecutors previously told the court that the M25 protests, which saw 45 people climb up the gantries, led to an economic cost of at least 765,000, while the cost to the Metropolitan Police was more than 1.1 million. They also claimed it caused more than 50,000 hours of vehicle delay, affecting more than 700,000 vehicles, and left the M25 compromised for more than 120 hours. At their sentencing on July 18, Judge Christopher Hehir told the protesters: The plain fact is that each of you some time ago has crossed the line from concerned campaigner to fanatic. You have appointed yourselves as sole arbiters of what should be done about climate change. More than 1,200 artists, athletes and academics later condemned the injustice of their sentences in a letter to Attorney General Richard Hermer KC. Their jail terms exceeded those handed to fellow Just Stop Oil protesters Morgan Trowland and Marcus Decker, who scaled the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge on the Dartford Crossing in October 2022. The Court of Appeal was later told Trowland, who was given a three-year sentence, and Decker, who was jailed for two years and seven months, had then been handed the longest terms for a peaceful protest case in modern times. A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said: Direct action works. Following decades of denial, it was only after Extinction Rebellions blockades of London bridges in April 2019 that the British Parliament declared a climate emergency and introduced a net-zero target. It was only after Just Stop Oils disruption to the M25 that Keir Starmer committed to ending licences for new oil and gas. The Whole Truth Five, along with others, did the best thing they could, according to the evidence, to prevent catastrophic and irreversible harm to the public and life on earth. Judge Hehirs imagined deterrent effect is both cynical and naive: it assumes we dont love our children, but we do. It assumes we have no care for the future of our country, but we do. It assumes we dont want to live, but we do. Few animals have babies as cute and universally cooed over as sealstheir pups with their large eyes, adorably flippers and twitchy whiskers are widely considered among the most charming of all baby mammals, and thus Im excited to inform you that theres a bay in Namibia where you can kayak into massive crowds of them. The only question remains is if you will still find them precious after they capsize your boat? View the original article to see embedded media. For this tourist in Walvis Bay, Namibia, the answer was a resounding yes. His recent kayak trip off the southwest coast of Africa, in the South Atlantic Ocean, presented him with more juvenile seals than most people could handle. The seals in question were all Cape Fur Seals, a species native to this area of Africa from southern Angola and around the horn of South Africa. Related: Baby Seal Playing With Remote Control Toy Boat Is So Precious In the video, he and his companions kayak out to a spot on the water with so many seal pups in it, it looks like their boat is about to be overrun. The pups are loud, boisterous, and clearly not afraid of humans, as they attempt to chew on his paddles and even climb up into the kayak. Our best guess is that these seals are used to tourist visit, and are perhaps even primed for their arrival by whichever company runs these tours by being fed on the sly. After all, once a wild animal is given food by humans, they may learn to lose their natural fear of them. This is a process known as habituation, and it may have sinister implications, especially in Namibia. All About Cape Fur Seals As the name might indicate, Cape Fur Seals were a species once prized for its valuable fur, and they were almost hunted to extinction early in the last century. Cape Fur Seals actually resemble sea lions more than true seals, as they have exterior ear flaps and long flippers that make them more agile when they are traveling on the beach. Their thick, insulating fur was a major luxury item, and certain parts of their anatomy still fetch a high price in exotic markets today. Thanks to protections put in place, the population of seals is now stable at over two million, and many seal-based products are banned in Europe and other places which drives down the demand for them. Seal Culling However, Cape Fur Seals are still hunted in enormous numbers in Namibia. Seal pups, in particular, are culled in numbers greater than eighty thousand per year, largely by clubbing over the head with a pipe. According to the government, this practice is meant to protect fishing stocks off the coast, but some environmentalists say that the seals actually protect the kinds of fish harvested by commercial fisheries by eating mainly their predators like Goby and Lantern fish, which are not eaten by humans. One argument against the practice is that the country can make more in tourist dollars seal watching than in selling seal products due to the bans in so many other countries. However, watching the seals swarm this tourist kayak, one wonders if they are not being set up in this charming video for imminent slaughter by humans with very different intentions. 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. A woman has been hit by a car in Glasgow city centre, sparking a huge emergency service response. Police Scotland said the woman was struck by a car on Wellington Lane at about 2.40pm on Tuesday. The force said: Inquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances. More than a dozen police vehicles along with fire and ambulance crews were sent to the scene. More than a dozen police vehicles were sent to the scene (@grame_from_IT/PA) Police Scotland said in a statement: Around 2.40pm on Tuesday August 13 a woman was struck by a car on Wellington Lane, Glasgow. Emergency services are in attendance and inquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances. Road closures are in place on Wellington Street between Cadogan Street and Waterloo Street, and Wellington Lane is closed between West Campbell Street and Wellington Street. Motorists are advised to take an alternative route. A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesperson said: We received a call at 14.39 to attend an incident on Wellington Lane, Glasgow. An ambulance, paramedic response unit and a trauma team were dispatched to the scene. A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: We are currently in attendance alongside emergency service partners at an incident on Wellington Lane, Glasgow. A collision investigation unit was on site and a blue police tarpaulin was erected on Wellington Lane. The roads were reopened shortly before 6pm. A man has been sentenced to 10 months imprisonment after pleading guilty to racially abusing a bus driver and violently attacking a betting shop. The first incident saw Michael Mongan, 39, of Castle Road, Ealing, west London, attack a Ladbrokes branch in Northolt on July 27. He repeatedly hit windows with a large stick and racially abused staff while under the influence of alcohol. A member of the public had to restrain him before he was arrested by police. While in custody, Mongan racially abused a police officer who was driving a van. Mongan pleaded guilty to two counts of racially aggravated behaviour, one charge of criminal damage and one count of causing damage to a police vehicle. The second incident occurred on August 7, while he was on bail for the previous offences, after a bus driver refused to let him board as he did not have the money to pay for his journey. Mongan spat at the bus drivers cab a number of times while shouting Islamophobic abuse and other threats. His lawyer, Giovanna Fiorentino, said Mongan had claimed a member of the public had offered to pay for his fare but the bus driver was still refusing to let him board. A video of the incident was widely shared on social media, and Mongan was identified and arrested on Friday. He was charged with a racially aggravated public order offence and criminal damage. He appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates Court on Tuesday where Judge Ian Comfort sentenced him to 10 months imprisonment for all charges. The sentence included four months in custody for each of the two charges of racially aggravated behaviour, two months for criminal damage to Ladbrokes and one month for criminal damage to a police vehicle. All charges will run concurrently. He was also sentenced to six months in custody for racially abusing the bus driver, which will run consecutively to the other sentences, and one month for damaging the cab door of the bus, which will run concurrently. He was also told to pay 500 to the bus driver, 200 to the police officer he racially abused and 200 to a staff member at Ladbrokes. Sentencing, Judge Ian Comfort told him his actions were appalling and said of the bus incident: This was appalling racial and religious abuse over a sustained period of time. Your behaviour (occurred) when there was violent disorder in other parts of the country against Muslims and other groups. On the Ladbrokes incident, he said: There was racially aggravated behaviour towards staff who were unable to escape your tirade. It caused serious distress and after you were arrested you continued your racial abuse to a Pc. Mongan bowed his head as the sentence was read out to court and told the judge afterwards: They wont see a pound of it from me. Afghan soldiers who travelled to the UK after the Taliban took control in 2021 are not eligible to join the Army - Jason P Howe Former Afghan troops who fought the Taliban alongside British forces are being blocked from joining the Army for at least five years because of citizenship regulations. The once-elite troops are now working as cleaners and food delivery drivers in the UK because obtaining citizenship takes too long, The Times reported. Among those affected is a former major general who commanded thousands of elite Afghan troops during the war, the newspaper said. British citizenship rules state a person must have lived in the UK for five years before they can be granted nationality, and the Army will only accept recruits who are British or Commonwealth citizens. This means the Afghan soldiers who travelled to the UK after the Taliban took control in 2021 are not eligible. A former Afghan major general said: To switch off and join the civilian world is difficult for me' - Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images Mirahmed Azimi, who led nearly 9,000 Afghan special forces units in their fight against the Taliban, said he knew of as many as 30 or 40 Afghans who would sign up if the rules changed but most of them were just cleaning and driving. He added: They would be happy to go. There will be too many people. The only job they are keen for and already have the skills for is the military. Most of them are just going cleaning or driving but they dont like it. These are really talented, fit and trustworthy people. I spent all my life in the military and to switch off and join the civilian world is difficult for me. I love to wear my uniform, I love to serve others. I would 100 per cent join the British Army because I love it. This is despite the recruitment crisis which has threatened to engulf all services within the military in recent years. Earlier in 2024, The Telegraph revealed the Navy had so few sailors it has had to decommission ships to staff its new fleet of frigates, while employment for both the RAF and Army has also fallen. Government figures uncovered in March 2024 showed three quarters of would-be recruits drop out of the militarys application process because it takes too long. In the past 10 years, 83 per cent of the 707,000 people who applied to join the Army voluntarily withdrew their application, and fewer than 80,000 were recruited. Click here to view this content. The Ministry of Defence is under pressure to change its policy so those who have worked with the British military can apply to serve the nation if they come to the UK. Labour sources told The Telegraph a change to the policy was not something the Government was considering. A spokesman said: This Government has a new drive to ensure that all Afghans who have relocated to the UK are supported to build their new lives, and to address shortcomings of the Arap scheme at pace. In the UK, Afghans who have been relocated are entitled to work and support is provided including language training, recognition of qualifications and specialist employment advice, to help people find jobs. Afghans who obtain British citizenship can apply for roles in the military provided they meet other necessary criteria including age requirements, education specifications and medical standards. Hannah Jacobs died at the age of 13 after a severe allergic reaction to a hot chocolate made with cow's milk - Alice Hepple/PA A Costa Coffee barista who served cows milk hot chocolate to a girl with severe dairy allergies has admitted that she struggled to understand customers from behind a plastic screen. Hours after taking a sip from a drink her mother had ordered for her in Barking, east London, 13-year-old Hannah Jacobs died, an inquest heard on Tuesday. Abimbola Duyile has claimed that she asked for two soya milk hot chocolates, telling Costa employee Urmi Akter that her daughter had allergies. However, giving evidence with a Bengali translator at East London coroners court, Ms Akter told the hearing Ms Duyile had only asked for one small and one medium hot chocolate. She said she had not heard Ms Duyile say she wanted two soya milk hot chocolates. Ms Akter admitted Ms Duyile had told her of her daughters dairy allergies but said she only asked for the jug used to froth the milk to be thoroughly washed. Dr Shirley Radcliffe, the assistant coroner, asked Ms Akter: Have you ever had any difficulty understanding what someone has said from behind the [clear plastic] screen [of the Costa till]? Not too much, Ms Akter replied. Sometimes. Allergy book Ms Akter, who had been working at the Barking branch of Costa Coffee for eight months at the time of the incident last February, said Hannah appeared angry at her mother as they ordered their drinks. Dr Radcliffe read to the court from Ms Akters account of the incident, given to police, in which she claimed she had replied to Ms Duyile after she placed her order. Dr Radcliffe told Ms Akter: You said: You are asking me to wash the jug but a hot chocolate is made with milk. [Ms Duyile] said: That is fine. Give me extra hot and my daughters normal. You said: She never asked for non-dairy [milk], she just asked me to wash the jug. Emily Slocombe, the lawyer for Ms Duyile, observed that Ms Duyile had claimed Ms Akter made no reply to her after she placed her order. Julia Kendrick, representing Ms Akter, continually advised her client that, under Rule 22, she did not have to answer questions that could expose her to criminal liability. Ms Akter responded no answer to many questions. Despite Costas allergy training instructing staff to show an allergy book to customers who reported allergies, Ms Akter did not do so, the hearing was told. Dr Radcliffe asked: Why did you not show the allergy book [to Ms Duyile]? Warned by Ms Kendrick, who said Rule 22 before her client could reply, Ms Akter said: No answer. Ms Slocombe asked Ms Akter if she remembered being given allergy training, whether it was given in Bengali and whether there was refresher training. She received no answer to these questions. Ms Slocombe said: If you had got out the allergy book and shown and discussed this with Hannahs mother, this would have been an opportunity for any miscommunications to be cleared up, wouldnt it? She added: You didnt repeat the order back to Abi [Ms Duyile], did you? Knowing [about] a severe dairy allergy, why didnt you confirm that cows milk was being used? Ms Akter again gave no answer to the questions. Began vomiting Hannah began vomiting at a dental practice in Barking, where her mother took her for an emergency extraction, after taking just one sip from her drink. She immediately told her mother the drink was not soya milk. Iqra Fahad, Hannahs dentist, told the inquest a dental nurse offered Ms Duyile an EpiPen with 300mg of adrenaline, which doctors say could have saved her life. Giving evidence via video link from Pakistan, Ms Fahad said Ms Duyile had refused the EpiPen, adding: When the child left the room, I think one of the nurses asked mum if she needed an EpiPen, which mum refused. Mum did mention she was going to the pharmacy to get [the antihistamine] cetirizine. I didnt think it was the point where we needed an EpiPen. Ms Duyile shook her head in the coroners court whilst listening to some of Ms Fahads answers. The inquest continues. NHS England says a 30 per cent reduction in GP activity could mean an extra 1.2 million cases in A&E over four months - Richard Baker/In Pictures via Getty Images Almost half of GP practices are taking part in industrial action, in a drive to bring the NHS to a standstill. Polling of surgeries across the country shows widespread participation in protest measures designed to wreak chaos. Almost half have already abandoned normal service, with even more saying they are willing to escalate to a full strike, meaning practices could close their doors. The snapshot survey is the first to be carried out since the British Medical Association (BMA) declared the results of a ballot which backed immediate action from Aug 1. GPs have been told to pick and choose from up to 10 protest measures including cutting the number of appointments. In total, 46 per cent of GP partners said they were now taking part in some form of collective action and 80 per cent of them were planning or considering to take action in future. In total, 46 per cent of GP partners said they will now take part in collective action - Anthony Devlin/PA A quarter of those polled admitted they expected the actions would increase harm to patients in the short-term. Yet, more than half of those who responded to the survey wanted such actions introduced indefinitely. Until now, the work to rule actions drawn up by the BMA have kept GPs working within their contracts, while causing widespread disruption. But 50 per cent of those polled by Pulse magazine said they would be willing to escalate action further to take part in full strikes. So far, 26 per cent of GP partners taking part in the collective action have capped patient numbers, with many introducing the measure even before the BMA vote was declared, the survey shows. A further 44 per cent of those polled were considering introducing such limits. According to the BMA, more than 8,500 GPs took part in the vote on collective action, with 98.3 per cent in favour. The BMA said the action aims to bring the NHS to a standstill but has insisted the protest is aimed at policy makers and administrators, not patients. The moves come despite warnings from NHS leaders that doing so would be catastrophic, heaping pressures on A&E departments. The BMA has proposed that GPs deal with a maximum of 25 cases per day, including simple transactions such as repeat prescriptions. It would cut average caseload by one third, and in some cases by half. A quarter of GPs who responded thought the collective action would cause patient harm in the short-term - Anthony Devlin/PA Internal modelling drawn up by NHS England suggests that a 30 per cent reduction in GP activity could mean an extra 1.2 million cases in A&E over four months. Such a shift could also push up NHS costs by more than 500 million, given that patients could end up being treated when illness was far more severe. The survey, which had responses from 283 GP partners, from different practices found that while 46 per cent were already taking part in action, a further 20 per cent intended to, while 22 per cent were considering it. Seven per cent of those polled had ruled our taking any action. In total, 25 per cent of GP partners who responded thought the collective action would cause patient harm in the short-term. Fourteen per cent thought the changes would reduce risks to patients, while 57 per cent expected they would have little effect. Asked about long-term impact on patients, 19 per cent expected it would increase harm, but 49 per cent thought it would decrease the risk, while 29 per cent expected little impact. GPs have embarked on industrial action because they say the current system is underfunded. The Department of Health and Social Care said GPs had been balloted at the point when the GP contract was due to rise by 1.9 per cent, saying the funding uplift for 2024/25 would now be rising by 6 per cent. Dr Julius Parker, of the BMA, said: 'We want to show NHS England and the Government what happens when GPs stop jumping through bureaucratic hoops' - Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, has urged GPs not to take part in action which will punish patients, saying the action is unnecessary when the Government wants to rebuild general practice. Dr Julius Parker, the deputy chairman of the BMAs GP committee for England, said: We want to show NHS England and the Government what happens when GPs stop jumping through bureaucratic hoops and instead prioritise their patients needs, giving patients the time they deserve, instead of hurried consultations with tired doctors who are often working beyond safe working limits. Dr Amanda Doyle, the NHS national director for primary care and community services, said: As some practices continue collective action, it is vital that patients continue to come forward for care in the usual ways - practices remain open and services are still running. We will be monitoring the impacts of this action to ensure practices fulfil their contractual requirements and continue to meet the needs of patients. Tim Walz speaks at the campaign rally with Kamala Harris in the lead up to the presidential election. Photograph: Phil Lewis/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock In November 2016, the Democrats were in disarray. Donald Trump had just been declared the winner of the US presidential election, and congresspeople and staffers alike were panicking about the future of American democracy and their own jobs. It was a tricky time to organise an event about Hong Kong, a Chinese city that few people in the Capitol had given much thought to since the Umbrella Movement of 2014. For a while, it seemed that no one from Congress would turn up to meet Joshua Wong, the bespectacled and now imprisoned student leader who was flying to Washington for a briefing organised by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), a government agency. Shortly before the event, however, a congressperson from Minnesota agreed to come. He took the podium and he just talked at least for six or seven minutes, just non-stop, remembered Jeffrey Ngo, a US-based Hong Kong activist who helped to organised the session. Unlike other congresspeople who normally rely on written notes, he spoke from his heart about the importance of human rights and democracy in Hong Kong, Ngo said. I just remember thinking that he really knew his stuff. Related: Tim Walz pick excites hopes of taking US healthcare beyond Obamacare era Tim Walz, who on 6 August was announced as Kamala Harriss running mate for the US election in November, has a long history with China. Republicans have pounced on this to accuse the now-governor of Minnesota of being pro-Beijing. In a post on X, Tom Cotton, an Arkansas senator, said that the American people were owed an explanation about Walzs unusual relationship with China. But Walzs admirers, including critics of the Chinese government, have welcomed the sudden prominence of an American politician who is seen as having a nuanced and people-centric approach to the USs major geopolitical rival. Walz first went to China in 1989 as a college graduate, to teach English at Foshan No 1 High School in south Chinas Guangdong province. The posting was nearly called off shortly before he was due to enter China, as early on 4 June 1989, soldiers from the Peoples Liberation Army opened fire on peaceful protesters in Beijings Tiananmen Square, killing hundreds if not thousands of civilians. But Walz and his fellow teachers decided to follow through with their plan to teach in China. He later recalled that a large number of people were very angry about that decision. But it was my belief at the time that the diplomacy was going to happen on many levels, certainly people to people, and the opportunity to be in a Chinese high school at that critical time seemed to me to be really important, Walz said in 2014. While at Foshan, Walz was treated like royalty according to a former colleague, a teacher surnamed Pang, who was interviewed by Chinese-language outlet Initium Media. We all had a good impression of him his smile is very contagious, said Pang, who recalled Walz spending his monthly salary in the humid city on ice-creams. Another former Foshan teacher, Chen Weichuan, described Walz as easygoing and someone who smiled all day. After returning to the US, Walz set up a company with his wife to facilitate summer trips to China for American students. Jillian Walker, a Minnesota lawyer who went on one of the trips in 1997, said last week that Walz helped to mould me into a new way of thinking. I can read about China in a book, but if I go there, think how impactful that could be, Walker said. Former US students have recalled how Walz would take them to Tiananmen Square to explain the history of the bloody crackdown. In a 2014 testimony, he said that the lesson he drew from the massacre was that, when you watch these things happen you can justify and make up in your mind any reason possible that you didnt stand up or that something didnt happen or that no one remembered. Walz wanted to remember that moment so much so that he even got married on the massacres fifth anniversary, because he wanted to have a date hell always remember, according to his wife. Walzs ongoing support for human rights in China, including places considered especially sensitive by the Chinese Communist party (CCP) are at odds with Republican attempts to portray him as being pro-Beijing. In 2009, long before human rights abuses in Xinjiang were a mainstream issue in Washington, Walz spoke of a culturacide cultural genocide taking place there and in Tibet. In 2016, he met the Dalai Lama, an experience he described as life-changing. That same year he brought students from Minnesota to meet with the leader of the Tibetan government in exile. Beijing regularly condemns any foreign leaders who meet with the Tibetan spiritual leader. Walz is someone who seems to genuinely care about Tibet and [has] sought to understand it, said John Jones of Free Tibet, a London-based NGO. It is not rare to find politicians in the US and the UK who are broadly critical of the Chinese government but that is not the same as being pro-Tibet. Tibetans greatest supporters are those who seek to understand how Tibetans have built democratic institutions in exile and are informed enough to raise specific abuses against Tibetans. This is what marks someone out as a friend of Tibet. In the 35 years since Walz first set foot in China, relations between Washington and Beijing have been tumultuous. As he vies to take the second-highest office in the US, they are at a low point. Analysts have pointed out that vice-presidents often, although not always, have a limited role in foreign policy. So its not yet clear what influence Walzs personal knowledge of China could have on a potential Harris administration. In his brief time on the campaign trail, he is yet to make any major statements about China. But as the first person on a presidential ticket to have lived in China since George HW Bush, Walz has been largely welcomed by China experts. Woman walks past anti-Israel banner in Tehran - ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK Iran will not launch an attack on Israel if there is a ceasefire deal in Gaza, officials in Tehran said on Tuesday. It is the first time Iran has linked its threatened retaliation against Israel to the Gaza peace and hostage negotiations. Israel has been braced for a twin attack from Iran and its proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon for two weeks after the assassinations of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas political leader, in Tehran and a Hezbollah commander in Beirut. Iran is said to fear an attack on its nuclear facilities should a regional war break out, while Israel is reportedly plotting strikes on the countrys water and oil infrastructure to shatter its economy and bring down its hard-line Islamic regime. For two weeks, the US has sought to avert an escalation by rushing massive military capability into the region while pursuing a peace deal. Its strategy hinges on a new round of ceasefire talks scheduled to take place in Doha, the Qatari capital, on Thursday. Billboard depicts Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian, right, and slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh - ATTA KENARE/AFP via GETTY IMAGES On Tuesday night, Joe Biden said it was his expectation that Iran would hold off on a retaliatory strike if a ceasefire agreement is reached. Three senior Iranian officials quoted by Reuters have now linked the countrys planned military response to the Doha talks. Iran was even considering sending a representative to the talks as an observer to maintain a line of diplomatic communication with the US while negotiations proceeded, one of the unnamed officials said. Iran, along with allies such as Hezbollah, would launch a direct attack [on Israel] if the Gaza talks fail or it perceives Israel is dragging out negotiations, Reuters reported one of the sources as saying. The sources did not say how long Iran would allow for talks to progress before responding. Iran does not directly control Hezbollah but has significant influence over both it and Hamas as the principal funder of both terrorist groups. Reuters quoted a source close to Hezbollah who said Iran would give the negotiations in Doha a chance but would not give up entirely on its intention to strike Israel. A ceasefire in Gaza would give Iran cover for a smaller, symbolic response, one of the sources said. Night sky over Amman in Jordan in April when Iran launched drones targeting Israel - SEMYON GALPERIN via REUTERS The US-led diplomatic effort to avert war remains intense, with Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, expected to arrive in the region on Tuesday night. Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, and Olaf Sholtz, the German chancellor, spoke to Masoud Pezeshkian, Irans president, on Monday, expressing their concern about a regional war if Iran followed through on its threats to attack Israel directly. The US, Britain, France, Italy and Germany urged Tehran to stand down in a joint letter. However, Iran continued to insist on its right to respond to an attack on its soil. Nasser Kanaani, the spokesman for the Iranian ministry of foreign affairs, said: The declaration by France, Germany and Britain, which raised no objection to crimes of the Zionist regime, brazenly asks Iran to take no deterrent action against a regime which has violated its sovereignty. Instead of issuing such demands, Western nations should once and for all stand up against the war in Gaza and the warmongering of Israel, Mr Kanaani added. A drone launched from undisclosed area in Iran towards Israel - TASNIM NEWS AGENCY/ZUMA PRESS/EYEVINE Iran would never give in to pressure, to sanctions and to bullying and considers it has the right to respond. Israels Army Radio reported that Israel had conveyed messages to its allies warning that it would strike Iran if it launched an attack. We take the declarations and statements of our enemies seriously. Therefore, we are prepared at peak readiness in offence and defence, said Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, an IDF spokesman. On Tuesday, it was reported that Mr Blinken would visit Israel, Egypt and Qatar in a last-ditch attempt to secure a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. Hamas had been holding out on attending the talks but on Tuesday the US said that may change. Qatar has assured us that they will work to have Hamas represented, said Vedant Patel, a state department spokesman. The grieving partner of a devoted mother who died protecting their baby during a stabbing spree in an Australian mall says the outpouring of support since then showed him there's "more good in this world, than bad." In a message posted on the GoFundMe website, Dan Flanagan publicly thanked the "thousands of people who have left messages and generously donated through this page" in the wake of Ashlee Good's horrific slaying. Flanagan said he was overwhelmed by the kindness shown to him and daughter Harriet, who needed surgery to recover from wounds to her chest and arm. "Please know that you've provided us with both comfort and strength during this difficult time, and that every message and donation has been read and received," he wrote Sunday. "To say they've been deeply appreciated would be an understatement." Flanagan added, "The day our family of three became a family of two will never make sense to me, but countless people including every single one of you who wrote messages and donated through this page have shown me that while tragic things do unfortunately happen, there is more good in this world, than bad." Flanagan also offered his "heartfelt and deepest condolences to the other families, friends and communities dealing with their own loss and trauma" from the April 13 carnage in the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping mall in Sydney. Good, 38, was among five women and a male security guard who were stabbed to death before police fatally shot the 40-year-old killer. His father later told reporters his son had struggled with mental illness and apparently targeted women because he "wanted a girlfriend and he's got no social skills and he was frustrated out of his brain." The GoFundMe appeal on behalf of Flanagan and Harriet, who was 9 months old when her mom was killed, has raised more than $55,000 as of Tuesday. The Tory leadership candidates (clockwise from top left): Meghan Gallacher, Liam Kerr, Murdo Fraser, Brian Whittle, Jamie Greene, Russell Findlay - PA & Alamy The Scottish Tories have backed down on allowing media access to their leadership hustings after all the potential candidates condemned a mooted ban. The six potential contenders took to social media to criticise any plan for a media blackout of the events and make clear they were happy for the debates to be reported. Party insiders said the media had not attended hustings in previous leadership contests, but indicated that arrangements would now be made to allow access to one or two events, probably in Edinburgh or Glasgow. The ban was mooted despite the Scottish Tories being at the forefront of criticism of the SNP last year when they initially banned the media from the hustings between Humza Yousaf and Kate Forbes. Craig Hoy, the Scottish Tory chairman, said at the time that the SNP was desperate for their internal civil war to be conducted in private, rather than airing their dirty linen in public. The nationalists later allowed the media to attend. The Scottish Tories are planning to stage eight hustings between those candidates who achieve the requisite 100 nominations from party members, including one being held online. Russell Findlay, the shadow justice secretary and the bookmakers favourite in the contest, tweeted: As a former journalist, Im pro transparency. Its up to our members but Id support media access to hustings. Murdo Fraser, another of the frontrunners, tweeted: This is a disappointing decision. As a candidate I would be happy to see the media invited to at least one of our hustings. Our messages need to get out to the wider public, not just our own @ScotTories members. Liam Kerr, who is also standing, described Mr Frasers view as correct. Six candidates expected to run to replace Douglas Ross (pictured) as Scottish Tory leader - Andrew Milligan/PA Wire Meghan Gallacher, the partys deputy leader and another candidate in the contest, said: Media should be welcome at our upcoming leadership hustings events. Candidates have already agreed to other hustings organised by broadcasters and journalists. I hope this decision is overturned. Jamie Greene, another candidate, said: Im perfectly fine with the media attending hustings for the record. There is always a time and place to speak to members in private, as all parties wish to do, but the next leader has to speak to the country more widely. His message was reposted by Brian Whittle, meaning all the potential candidates criticised the decision. After the hustings have been held, ballot papers will be posted to members on Sept 4 and they will be asked to rank the candidates in order of preference. The bottom-ranked candidate will be eliminated in each round, with their first-preference votes redistributed until one candidate receives over 50 per cent of the votes cast. The winner will be announced on Sept 27. A Scottish Conservative spokesman said: The hustings are arranged to enable party members to question the candidates, so that they can make an informed choice on who to vote for as leader. The party will announce the format for hustings, and arrangements for media access to them, after consulting with all of the candidates. Unsustainable benefits The row over media access blew up as Mr Findlay warned that Scotlands unsustainable benefits bill must be cut, warning the SNPs virtue-signalling income tax hikes would not cover the spiralling cost. Writing in The Telegraph, he said Labour and the SNP viewed the surging welfare bill as a benchmark of a nations success when it actually demonstrates a total failure of their socialist consensus. Mr Findlay argued that millions of pounds should instead be diverted into helping Scotlands struggling NHS to cut record waiting lists, and this would have the knock-on effect of reducing benefits spending. This will create a positive cycle where more people can get back into work, fewer people are in poverty, and everyone benefits from faster NHS treatment, he concluded. A report by Holyroods finance committee last year warned the annual cost of devolved social security was to surge from 5.2 billion in 2023-24 to almost 7.3 billion in 2027-28, following the SNPs decision to introduce a series of new benefits. The Scottish Government was approached for comment. Josh Kettler left the job after both sides 'agreed it wasn't the right fit' The Duke of Sussexs chief of staff has quit after three months. Josh Kettler, who was hired on a trial basis, has left his position in a mutual decision made by himself and the Duke. Both sides agreed it wasnt the right fit, sources said. Mr Kettler started in the role a week before Prince Harry and Meghans visit to Nigeria in May. He also accompanied the Duke on his trip to London to mark the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games. The Duke and his wife in London for the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games - AKGS/Mischa Schoemaker The timing of his departure will be a blow to the Sussexes as it comes just ahead of their four-day tour of Colombia, which begins this week. It also highlights the problems the couple have had experienced in attracting and retaining the right staff. Mr Kettler, who is based in Santa Barbara, California, where the Duke and Duchess live, was hired to guide (Prince Harry) through his next phase. He was previously chief of staff and head of strategic partnerships at communication platform Cognixion. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex at an event, with Josh Kettler on the right He had previously spent more than a decade working for outdoor clothing company Patagonia and then a year at the San Francisco-based Better Place Forests. He describes himself on LinkedIn as an experienced executive accelerator, organiser and confidant. He is also an avid trail runner, skier and a steadfast supporter of conservation and the environment. The Sussexes will shortly be flying to the Colombian capital, Bogota, for their second joint international tour since quitting royal duties and moving to the US. The visit will also include stops in Cartagena and Cali. Francia Marquez, Colombias vice-president and the first black woman to hold the position, said 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. 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. Whereas the couples recent visit to Nigeria was centred on the Invictus Games, in Colombia they will focus on their campaign for safer digital environments ahead of the first World Ministerial Conference on the Elimination of Violence Against Children, hosted by the country in November. The Sussexes previous chief of staff was Catherine St-Laurent, a former adviser to Bill and Melinda Gates, who joined Archewell in April 2020 but left after barely a year, despite resigning from a highly sought-after role advising Mrs Gatess Pivotal Ventures social progress project to take up the post. At the time, it was suggested that she had simply come to the end of her fixed one-year contract and had transitioned to become a senior adviser to the Sussexes. James Holt, the Sussexes former communications director, took over the role as he was named executive director of Archewell, a position he retains. Meanwhile, it has been claimed the Duchess is searching for a chief executive officer for American Riviera Orchard, her new commercial venture, but has yet to find the right person. Click here to view this content. Ekaterina Barrett (pictured left) outside the High Court after the hearing over her row with dress shop owner Bridget Hutchcroft, right A fashionista who was sued by her former friend after failing to repay a 1.3 million loan forged her signature on a document claiming they had agreed a settlement, a High Court judge has ruled. Ekaterina Barrett was sued by Bridget Hutchcroft, whose Pandora Dress Agency boutique was a favourite of Diana, Princess of Wales, for failing to pay back the money she had borrowed to get through a divorce. Ms Hutchcroft, 63, claimed that when she asked for her money back, Barrett responded: The next time you ask, Ill not pay you for a hundred years. In 2022, Ms Hutchcroft secured a judgment against Barrett, 67, for more than 1.6 million including interest, but accused her of a string of lies to avoid paying. Pandora Dress Agency is located in Knightsbridge, west London, just behind Harrods - ANL/Shutterstock A High Court judge found Barrett in contempt of court after discovering that a crucial document she put forward as part of her case contained the forged signature of Ms Hutchcroft. Mrs Justice Heather Williams said she was sure that Barrett was responsible for the faked document, which she had claimed showed her former friend and her company had agreed to settle the case for only 800,000. The case returned to court on Monday for sentencing, with the judge deciding to suspend Barretts sentence due to her poor health and the fact she cares for her mother, who is in her 90s. However, during her sentencing remarks, the judge broke off to warn Barrett about her conduct in court after she was seen blowing kisses. You should listen to me rather than blow kisses around the court, which is not helpful, the judge told her. Ms Hutchcrofts Pandora Dress Agency has been a fixture in Knightsbridge, west London, since its establishment shortly after the end of the Second World War. Located just behind Harrods, the boutique sells second-hand designer clothes from labels such as Chanel, Hermes, Versace and Prada. Fraudulent misrepresentation As well as the late Princess of Wales, it has also attracted Hollywood stars, including Catherine Zeta-Jones and Ava Gardner. Ms Hutchcroft and Barrett originally met when Barrett began visiting Pandora seven years ago while she was living in a 4.2 million Mayfair flat. They became close after Ms Hutchcroft bought some of her designer fashion items to sell in her shop. But after her former friend failed to repay loans when asked, Ms Hutchcroft sued her over the debt, claiming she was the victim of fraudulent misrepresentation at the hands of her exploitative friend. Ms Hutchcroft accused her of posing as a multi-millionaire with riches equivalent to a Rothschild to get her to hand over her cash. The pair reached a settlement over the missing money but in October 2022, with it still unpaid, Ms Hutchcroft secured a High Court judgment against Barrett for 1,665,560, covering the loan plus interest. In her defence, Barrett had denied borrowing the cash, insisting that the transactions related to the sale of designer clothes. With the 1.6 million court bill still unpaid, Ms Hutchcroft and her company then went back to court in a bid to pin Barrett down about the extent of her wealth. Case had already been settled In a short High Court hearing in June 2023, Barrett insisted she is not a wealthy woman and that her lifestyle is funded entirely by her family. However, returning to court last month, Ms Hutchcrofts lawyers claimed she had lied about her wealth, masking the fact that she owned a home in Monaco worth millions. Barrett had also submitted to the court a document with a forged signature on it in a bid to prove that the case against her had been settled before reaching court, they claimed. In an email sent by Barrett in May 2024, she wrote that she understood the case had already settled at a meeting between me and Bridget Hutchcroft for 800,000 attaching the settlement agreement supposedly signed by Ms Hutchcroft. James McWilliams, for Ms Hutchcroft, described the document as an obvious forgery and said it was fanciful to suggest that she would have struck a deal with Barrett for 800,000 when she already had a judgment against her for more than 1.6 million. Even after the contempt trial began, Barrett continued to insist that her former friend was intent on settling the case. Plainly disadvantageous Labelling Ms Hutchcroft an honest witness, she said there was no evidence that she agreed to settle the dispute, as Barrett claimed. As well as finding she had misled the court about her ownership of the Monaco apartment, the gudge said the signature of Ms Hutchcroft on the purported March 2024 settlement agreement was faked. Most brazenly, in an email, Barrett told the court that the claimants had compromised the claim against her for a much smaller sum than she owed her and on terms plainly disadvantageous to them, said the judge. She attached what purported to be a settlement agreement, on which I am quite satisfied that Ms Hutchcrofts signature had been faked. This was plainly a premeditated deception of the court. She said she was quite sure Barrett was responsible for the document. Ms Barrett had a motive to try and derail the committal proceedings against her, she said. 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. Saint Andre the luxury block in Monte Carlo where Ms Barrett is said to have a 19m apartment - Supplied by Champion News She sentenced Ms Barrett to a four-month prison term, suspended for 12 months in light of her age and poor health, for her contempt of court. The court heard that Ms Barrett has been plagued by acute gastric problems due to past surgery to remove her spleen which has severely impaired her immunity and left her vulnerable to bacterial infections. Ms Barrett also suffers from a sleep disorder, panic attacks and depression, the court heard and helps care for her mother. She was also ordered to pay 100,000 towards her debt in favour of Ms Hutchcroft and her company which now stands at around 1.9 million within six months. In deciding to suspend the term, I am primarily influenced by your age and your multiple medical conditions, said the judge. I accept that a period of imprisonment would be particularly difficult for you in light of these matters. I also take account of the support you provide for your mother. Referring to the 100,000 payment, the judge added: You should be in no doubt that if you fail to comply with these terms within six months then the term of imprisonment is very likely to be activated. President Nicolas Maduro meets with security officials in Caracas on Monday amid a crackdown on protesters who claim he stole the recent election. Photograph: Prensa Miraflores/EPA United Nations human rights investigators have urged Venezuelas authoritarian leader, Nicolas Maduro, to halt the fierce repression being perpetrated by his security forces after last months allegedly stolen presidential election. In a statement published two weeks after the 28 July vote, the UNs fact-finding mission to Venezuela condemned Maduros escalating crackdown, during which more than 100 children and teens have been detained. The UN investigators said they had recorded 23 deaths, the vast majority caused by gunfire and nearly all young men. Street protests, as well as criticism on social media, in the weeks following the election have been met with fierce repression by the state, as directed by its highest authorities, inducing a climate of widespread fear, added the group, calling for a thorough investigation of the spate of grave human rights violations that are currently occurring. Maduro, who claimed victory in the recent election despite compelling evidence that actually he lost heavily to his rival Edmundo Gonzalez, looks unlikely to heed the UNs call. On Monday, Venezuelas strongman leader ordered officials to treat his fascist opponents with an iron fist and vowed to severely punish those challenging his government. Maduro, who has governed in an increasingly authoritarian manner since being elected in 2013, has refused to release detailed election data supporting his supposed victory, despite calls from countries including Brazil and Colombia to do so. The opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who was the driving force behind Gonzalezs presidential campaign, has called fresh anti-Maduro protests for next Saturday in cities around the world. Related: World must confront Maduros campaign of terror, Venezuelan opposition leader says In a recent interview with the Guardian, Machado urged the world to challenge Maduros campaign of terror. What is going on in Venezuela is horrific. Innocent people are being detained or disappeared as we speak, said the charismatic conservative who experts describe as the most significant political challenge Maduros Chavista movement has faced since it came to power 25 years ago with the election of it creator, Hugo Chavez. [Maduros government has] decided that their only option to stay in power is using violence, fear and terror against the population, she added. The fact-finding mission which was set up by the UN human rights council in 2019 amid growing international concern over abuses being committed by Maduros regime said there were political leaders and activists, journalists and human rights defenders among the more than 1,260 people detained in recent days. However, the vast majority of those detained were simply individuals who voiced their rejection of the presidential election results announced by the authorities, added the group. Many of these detentions occurred after individuals participated in protests or expressed their opinions on social media, with authorities selectively targeting them at their homes. The UN investigators said they had also received particularly concerning information about the detention of over 100 children and adolescents who, despite their young age, were being charged with extremely serious crimes such as terrorism, conspiracy and hate crimes. These children have not been accompanied by their parents or guardians during judicial proceedings, the statement noted. Krishna Maharaj in 2012. He had been a successful businessman until his sentence for the murders of two people in 1986. Photograph: David Adams/Reuters During the 38 years Kris Maharaj spent incarcerated in Florida prisons insisting he was innocent of murder, his wife, Marita, dreamed of a life together back in Britain. This week they will finally be reunited on home soil but not in the way she had hoped. Maharaj died in a prison hospital on 5 August at the age of 85. His body is expected to be flown home by the weekend once final bureaucratic hurdles are cleared. The human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith has represented Maharaj pro bono since 1993 when he was on death row and now he is focused on getting his body back. In April Stafford Smith brought Marita to resettle in Britain in his own home town of Bridport, Dorset, hoping that her husband could follow her. Instead, it is here where she plans to bury him. Marita said: I never dreamed that that would happen. I always had the hope that we would have, not long, but a few years together. Stafford Smith succeeded in commuting Maharajs sentence to one of life imprisonment but was unable to persuade the authorities to release him, despite a judge declaring in 2019 that Maharaj had proved his innocence by clear and convincing evidence. Related: Briton Kris Maharaj framed for Florida killings, claims Pablo Escobars ex-hitman The bar to Maharajs release was a law that meant evidence of innocence was not enough to free him and last year the US federal supreme court declined to review it. Stafford Smith said: It was at that point that I sat Kris down and said, look, this is hopeless. We need to try to transfer you back to Britain. Maharaj was convicted of the 1986 Miami murder of his ex-business partner Derrick Moo Young, as well as Derricks son Duane. Moo Young allegedly owed Maharaj money from a property deal but evidence unearthed since points to the double murder being carried out by hitmen for notorious Colombian cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar. Stafford Smith established that the Moo Youngs were said to have stolen laundered money from Escobars cartel. Former members of the cartel later testified that the mens deaths were an ordered hit. A former US drugs enforcement agent then revealed in 2017 that the hotel room opposite the one where the Moo Youngs were killed was occupied by known cartel hitmen and launderers at the time of the murders. Maharajs health had deteriorated significantly in recent years, and he had diabetes, heart trouble and a kidney condition. His cataracts meant he could no longer enjoy his passion for reading. Once Marita arrived in Britain this year the plan was for Maharaj to be handed over to the UK authorities who would probably have released him. But a transfer application made to state authorities in April had still not been responded to when he died. The British Trinidadian businessman moved to England in 1960 and made his fortune importing bananas. The millionaire once owned racehorses and kept a fleet of Rolls-Royces at his home in Peckham, south London. Marita maintained constant support for her husband, staying in Florida in increasing penury and with precarious immigration status. She was only able to stay in a studio flat thanks to charity and would wait by the phone for her husbands daily five-minute call from prison. For decades she even set his place at the dinner table. Now she is determined to fulfil his final wishes. I feel guilty that I came here because I told him before that I will never leave without him, she said. There were three things that he wanted to do. He wanted to clear his name, to move to our home that is England and that when we died we would be buried together. He and myself side by side so well never be separated. Im trying to do all these things. Im trying to keep fighting to clear his name because I know thats one thing he always wanted. Stafford Smith is also determined to continue that work. Well carry on I want my revenge on the state of Florida, I just think what theyve done to Kris is so bad. Assuming Maharajs body is successfully transferred to Britain in the coming days, his funeral is planned to take place at Bridport Catholic church on 27 August. At 65, much of Stafford Smiths work is now focused on finding the next generation of human rights advocates. He has set up the Justice League, using apprenticeships and work in schools to encourage young people in Britain and America to become legal human rights specialists. As part of this, he has also established the postmortem project, using lawyers and students to represent 187 people who were executed with potential wrongful convictions. Not one to walk away from clients, Stafford Smith has also kept on those death row and Guantanamo cases that remain unresolved after formally standing down from his role at Reprieve, the organisation he founded to represent victims of human rights abuses. But no case has haunted him as much as Maharajs. I view this as one of my massive failures, he said. The idea that he didnt prevail, I just cant fathom it. The Sandyford gender clinic, where hundreds of children and young people can still be treated despite the end of self-referrals - Victoria Stewart/Daily Record A Scottish child gender clinic dubbed the tartan Tavistock by critics will still treat more than 1,000 children and young people who believe they are trans, despite banning self-referrals, it emerged today. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) said the service operated from its Sandyford Gender Identity Clinic in Glasgow would now require patients to be referred by a clinician. The change would ensure patients were supported and placed appropriately on waiting lists, the health board said. The changes also affect the adult gender service for the west of Scotland. However, the ban on self-referrals will not apply to more than 1,000 children and young people already on the waiting list. A recent review found that nearly half of children and young people on waiting lists for the clinic were self-referrals (49 per cent), with only 30 per cent referred by their GP. The remainder came from other sources. NHS chiefs were under mounting pressure to remove self-referrals following the publication of the Cass review into gender identity services for children in England. Retired consultant paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass was a key figure in a report that delivered changes to controversial gender identity services for under-18s - Yui Mok/PA Dr Hilary Cass, one of the UKs most eminent paediatricians, found that the evidence for allowing young people and children to change gender was built on weak foundations. This prompted the Sandyford Clinic to announce that it would also no longer prescribe gender-affirming hormones to new patients aged under 18. SNP ministers accepted the reviews findings where we feel they should apply in a Scottish context and published a report in July from senior clinicians about the implications for Scotland. This recommended that access to services should be by referral from a GP after an initial assessment as would be the case for a referral to any other child or adolescent specialist service. It added: This means that self-referral would not be available as is also the case with other specialist services. Click here to view this content. Dr Emilia Crighton, NHSGGC director of public health, said: Ensuring that our patients have the appropriate support and care they need is a priority for us and updating this referral process enables us to do that. Gender patients will now be referred by their GP, CAMHS (child and adolescent mental health services), or adult mental health service clinician. In doing so, they are also advised of self-care and signposted to the appropriate support while they wait for their first gender service appointment. She said this would ensure we have an accurate background for them and can immediately plan the most appropriate path of care. Fiona McAnena,of human rights charity Sex Matters, said: This is an overdue and welcome change. People with gender issues should receive the same standards of care as everyone else. Ensuring referrals can only be from suitably qualified clinicians will help protect vulnerable people, especially children and young people, from activists. Campaigner Maggie Mellon, founder of Evidence Based Social Work Alliance, said: While it is welcome news that there will no longer be self-referral to the Sandyford for or by children, the NHS in Scotland has yet to acknowledge the findings of the Cass report. The Sandyford needs to be stopped from accepting any referrals until their work and the outcomes for children they have socially and medically transitioned has been subject to a transparent and robust review. Meghan Gallacher, the Scottish Conservative deputy leader, said: I welcome this sensible and pragmatic decision from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. To protect the health and wellbeing of vulnerable young people, its right that only a doctor should be able to refer them to gender services for potentially life-changing treatment. This policy change should reassure both parents and young people that their best interests will always be served. A Scottish Government spokesman said: We welcome the work NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde are doing on referral pathways into their adult and young peoples gender services - bringing them in line with the other gender identity clinics in Scotland. As a result, these services will no longer accept self-referrals and will require a referral from a clinician, for instance a GP, to access the services. This change will ensure both services have any clinical information they need prior to a patients first appointment and the referring clinician will also be able to make sure that the person referred receives care for any other health problem they may face. Anyone already on the waiting list for either of these services, whether they were referred by a clinician or self-referred, will not be impacted by this change. The Sandyford has been branded the tartan Tavistock as its critics say it follows the same affirmative treatment model as the London clinic which closed in scandal in 2022. The Scottish clinics methods are based on American guidelines denounced by Dr Cass as lacking developmental rigour. Its adult service accepts users from Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Ayrshire and Arran, Dumfries & Galloway, Western Isles, Forth Valley and Lanarkshire NHS boards and from the Argyll and Bute area. John Swinney of the SNP and Anas Sarwar of the Labour Party would rather use benefits to weigh people down, says Russell Findlay - Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images The social security bill in Scotland is already unsustainable. Yet it is going to rise far higher and rapidly so in coming years. By 2028-29 its projected to increase by 51 per cent to 8 billion. The SNPs virtue signalling income tax increases, with those earning more than 28,500 paying more than those in the rest of the UK, wont come close to covering the cost. The Left-wing consensus at Holyrood seems to think that an ever-increasing benefits bill is a good thing. The SNP and Labour think it is something to be proud of, a benchmark of a nations success. I dont see it that way. I believe that it confirms a dearth of opportunities for Scots to improve their lot in life. It further confirms that socialism, whether from Swinney or Sarwar, would rather use benefits to weigh people down than as a safety net. Above all else, I think this extraordinary cost demonstrates a total failure. Not the failure of those people struggling to make ends meet. Everyone can suffer unexpected hard times. Thats why we need a safety net but it should be a net that helps people back up, not one that traps them permanently and harmfully. The failure is on the socialist consensus that for decades has told Scotland the only way to help people is their paternalistic Left-wing approach. They insist that a higher social security bill is a necessity and unavoidable. I dont think we can afford any more of their short-sighted thinking. We cant afford 3 billion more in these payments each year, as projected, especially when economic growth is so stagnant. Support the most vulnerable But neither should we abandon those in genuinely difficult circumstances. We need to find ways to bring this bill down with measures to ensure we continue supporting the most vulnerable. We need tangible solutions that target the causes of the rising bill. If Im elected as leader of the Scottish Conservatives, I will be bold in putting forward ideas to bring this down to an affordable level. Here is an example. A key way to reduce benefits is by reducing lengthy NHS waiting lists. Evidence shows the long waits to see a GP, dentist or at A&E have contributed to the increasing benefits cost. A recent Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC) report attributed the increased demand to a combination of factors, including a long-term increase in mental health-related cases, NHS waiting lists and the cost of living crisis, which together could exacerbate existing health conditions or increase the likelihood of people applying for disability payments. The SFC said these trends were expected to add 60 million to benefits spending in 2023-24, reaching 223 million in 2027-28. In the context of an increasing social security bill of 3 billion, that might not seem much. But its still hundreds of millions of pounds. Its enough to build a couple of ferries, provided the SNP dont get involved. Its enough to bring tax down a bit for hard-working families or invest in better schools. Create a positive cycle So, as leader, I would argue the SNP should be targeting taxpayers money at bringing down NHS waiting lists first. Dont just keep pouring ever more cash into a social security black hole. If we invest to reduce NHS waiting lists, the social security bill will reduce. This will create a positive cycle where more people can get back into work, fewer people are in poverty and everyone benefits from faster NHS treatment. Of course, in the short term, it means taking the difficult decision of putting NHS funding before social security payments. Thats the kind of tough call that the SNP and Labour run a mile from, but we Conservatives must not. I would challenge the cosy Holyrood consensus because if we can sort out NHS waiting lists, several hundred million pounds of taxpayers money could be saved. And that is just the start. Russell Findlay is the Scottish Conservative leadership candidate and shadow justice secretary Premier Jacinta Allan has failed to manage the narrative as effectively as her predecessor, according to one Victorian Labor MP. Photograph: Diego Fedele/AAP The phrase never waste a day was often repeated by the Victorian Labor government as it jumped from one progressive reform to another at a seemingly relentless pace. But as one Labor MP quipped this week, its been a while since you would have seen that on a press release. Indeed, most of Jacinta Allans tenure as premier has been spent unravelling several previously flagged reforms. Related: Betrayal: Indigenous and legal groups condemn Victorias backflip on raising the age The latest a decision to walk away from her predecessor Daniel Andrews commitment to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 by 2027 has probably prompted the most outcry. Several Indigenous organisations, legal experts and human rights groups were quick to describe the decision as a betrayal of Victorias most vulnerable children, a heartless backflip, weak backdown and a capitulation to the police, opposition and conservative media. Nerita Waight, from the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, put it bluntly when she said Allan caved to a scare campaign from Victoria police and the Herald Sun, and warned neither would reward the government for bending the knee. Its true youth crime has been making headlines for months, largely due to some tragic events. Labor ministers argue crimes allegedly committed by what has been identified as a small group of repeat youth offenders are hurting the partys standing with voters. We do not want an election on law and order, one said. It is probably the number one issue my office is hearing from constituents on. They do not trust that we are doing enough and there is a perception we care more about the perpetrators than the victims which is absolutely incorrect but is proving incredibly hard to shake. While walking away from raising the age to 14 may be a signal to voters that they are tough on crime, crime statistics show that alleged offenders aged 10 to 13 are associated with a very small minority (1%) of all alleged offender incidents, compared to those aged 14-17 (10%) and adults (88%). The premier herself stated there are now no children in custody aged under 14. The proposed timing to raise the age to 14 was also years away. We couldnt go to an election in 2026 with that question of whether we were going to raise the age hanging over our heads, a senior Labor figure said. The Libs would have had a field day. It isnt the only decision the government has made after a fear campaign last week it was about reforming the states hospital network. In the wake of the pandemic, the government commissioned experts to examine the fragmented nature of its 76 health services. The committee recommended a merger into 11 services, which would bring Victoria into line with other states, improve patient care and reduce costs. But amid claims from the opposition it was undertaking health cuts, threats from hospital boards who risked losing their own jobs in the merger process and community outcry, the government backed out. It said there would be no forced mergers and allowed hospitals to retain their boards. The government also topped up hospitals budgets to the tune of $1.5bn a huge figure for a government trying to reduce a ballooning debt. Several Labor MPs at the time said concerns the party could be seen as losing on the issue of health had prompted cabinet to agree to a pared-back response to the report. Before that, there was the scrapping of plans to open a second injecting room in Melbournes CBD in April (rejecting a key recommendation from another expert review but vehemently opposed by sections of the media), and a decision to ignore a government-led inquirys recommendation to ban duck hunting. In October 2023, the government ditched proposed changes to youth bail in favour of a trial of ankle bracelets. The attorney general, Jaclyn Symes, at the time conceded public perceptions of a youth crime crisis influenced the decision. The culmination of all these decisions has led to discontent within Labor ranks. While those in cabinet argue the premier has shown she is able to solve problems, make tough decisions and appeal to the middle ground, Labor MPs who were supportive of the change argue the government is at risk of losing all our progressive credentials. Contrary to what some newspapers may think, Daniel Andrews actually won us elections, one MP said. They argued against us then and they will continue to argue against us now even if we capitulate to all their demands. Another said Allan had failed to manage the narrative as effectively as the former leader and risked becoming reactive to every scare campaign rather than running her own. As she looks to mark one year in the job next month, they hope she will begin to chart her own way forward. Russian soldiers prepare rockets for launch in the Donetsk region - RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY PRESS SERVICE/HANDOUT HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Russia will drop prosecutions against people charged with criminal offences if they sign up to fight in Ukraine as part of the latest Kremlin ruse to boost recruitment. News agencies reported that Russias Supreme Court was drafting a law that allows for the exemption of criminal liability for defendants who have entered into a military contract. Hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers have been killed or badly injured in Vladimir Putins two-and-a-half-year war in Ukraine and the Kremlin is desperate to replenish its army. Last month the Moscow city authorities doubled signing-on bonuses for men agreeing to fight in Ukraine and Russian officials have been pressuring naturalised migrant workers from Central Asia to fight or have their citizenship revoked. Analysts said that Putin was determined to avoid ordering another partial mobilisation, as he did in September 2022, but has been finding recruitment tough. Prisoners could apply for a pardon in exchange for a six-month tour of duty - ANATOLIY ZHDANOV The Russian state has been finding it harder to sustain the call-up rates that it needs for the war, said Nigel Gould-Davies, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Thats why he scraped out the prisons. The Wagner mercenary group first recruited from Russian prisons in 2022, a tactic adopted by Russias ministry of defence the following year. Prisoners could apply for a pardon in exchange for a six-month tour of duty. No official prison recruitment numbers exist but data from Russias prison journal showed that in 2023, the prison population fell by 58,000 men. Analysts said that Putin is determined to avoid ordering another partial mobilisation - Gavriil Grigorov Russian officials had promised that only non-violent prisoners could be freed from prison to serve but there have been dozens of cases of murderers and rapists being released. Last week, Temirlan Eskerkhanov, one of the murderers of Boris Nemtsov, a Russian opposition leader who was shot dead on a bridge by the Kremlin in 2015, was released to fight in Ukraine. He was assigned to an assault unit and is now carrying out combat missions, a government source told the TASS news agency. The source added that four other Chechen men convicted of murdering Nemtsov had declined a pardon in exchange for a stint on the frontline, where the chances of survival are considered low. Lord Cameron, flanked by Rishi Sunak and James Cleverly, will remain impartial throughout the contest - Karwai Tang/WireImage Lord Cameron will not be endorsing anyone for the Tory party leadership, The Telegraph understands. The former prime minister, who made a shock return to the political front line last year as Rishi Sunaks foreign secretary, will remain impartial throughout the contest. That is likely to come as a disappointment to some of the more centrist contenders, such as Tom Tugendhat and Mel Stride, who may have been hoping to secure the backing of the moderate Tory peer. Recent polling suggests Lord Camerons support would have delivered a boost for his chosen candidate, albeit by a narrow margin, as opposed to endorsements from Liz Truss, Mr Sunak or Boris Johnson, which were expected to do more harm than good. An Ipsos survey found that 32 per cent of Britons thought Lord Camerons backing would have had a positive impact on the candidates chances, compared with 31 per cent who predicted that it would make things worse. In contrast, nearly two-thirds of those surveyed said an endorsement from Ms Truss would have harmed her chosen candidates prospects, while more than two in five people said the same about Mr Sunak and Mr Johnson. Ms Truss, Mr Sunaks predecessor, told The Daily T podcast that the next party leader needed to take on the establishment and groupthink, but declined to endorse any of the six candidates. Click here to view this content. Asked who Lord Cameron would be supporting, a source close to him told The Telegraph: As a former leader, he is not backing anyone. [It is] important he stays impartial. The Tory peer, who led the party from 2005 to 2016, did not back anyone in either of the partys leadership contests in 2022. He also kept his counsel in 2016, when Theresa May won, and when Mr Johnson took the job in 2019. Mr Johnson is also planning to stay impartial during this years contest, with an ally of the former prime minister indicating last month that he would not be giving his seal of approval to any of the contenders. He took the same approach in 2022, insisting at the time that he wouldnt want to damage anybodys chances by offering my support. While both Lord Cameron and Mr Johnson have refrained from endorsing any leadership candidates since stepping down themselves, other former leaders have taken a more involved approach. Sir Iain, who led the Tories from 2001 to 2003, backed Ms Truss in the first Tory leadership contest of 2022, before endorsing Mr Sunak as her replacement. Lord Hague, in charge from 1997 to 2001, declared his support for Jeremy Hunt in 2019 and Mr Sunak in 2022, while Lord Howard, the Conservative leader from 2003 to 2005, also backed Mr Sunak two years ago. On Tuesday, David Gauke, the former Tory Cabinet minister, said the candidates appeared to be taking inspiration from Sir Keir Starmers campaign. All of the candidates are looking at a very successful model that was employed in 2020, which was Keir Starmer, who ran as a continuity candidate for the Labour Party, he told Times Radio. Then when he won, or about a year after he won, changed strategy, then did demonstrate some leadership, was a change leader trying to modernise successfully his party, and that resulted in success. At the moment, you feel that all of the candidates are too tentative to do that, that theyre too frightened of the party membership. Maybe get through on the other side, and then who knows what you can do. But at the moment, by and large, they feel as if theyre just wanting to get there first and then will do the modernisation afterwards. The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office is looking for a suspect in connection with a burglary at the Trump for President 2024 campaign office in Ashburn, VA, that occurred on August 11. The office, located in the 20000 block of Ashbrook Place, is reportedly being leased by the Trump campaign and also serves as the headquarters of the Virginia 10th District Republican Committee. Authorities were notified of the burglary at roughly 9:00 p.m. on Sunday. While the investigation is ongoing, the sheriff's office has video surveillance of the suspect, who is described as a white adult male, wearing dark clothing, a dark cap, and a backpack when he entered the premises. "It is rare to have the office of any political campaign or party broken into," said Sheriff Mike Chapman. "We are determined to identify the suspect, investigate why it happened, and determine what may have been taken as well as what may have been left behind." Researchers found people who developed MCI had a faster decline in psychological wellbeing compared with people who were cognitively intact. Photograph: Tero Vesalainen/Alamy Lacking purpose in life and having few opportunities for personal growth may increase the risk of developing mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a frequent precursor of dementia, a study suggests. These aspects of psychological wellbeing noticeably decline two to six years before memory loss and thinking problems are diagnosed, researchers found. The study adds to mounting evidence linking psychological wellbeing to brain ageing, including the development of dementia. Researchers tracked 910 people in Illinois in the US for an average of 14 years to assess whether they developed MCI or dementia. An annual psychological wellbeing assessment of participants included gathering data on purpose in life, positive relations with others, personal growth, self-acceptance and autonomy. During the follow-up, 29% were diagnosed with MCI. Among this group, 34% were diagnosed with dementia. The final analysis was based on 229 participants with complete before and after data, including 73 who developed dementia. Compared with participants who remained cognitively intact, those who developed MCI were more likely to have lower levels of psychological wellbeing. Similarly, compared with those who didnt develop dementia, those who did were more likely to have a lower level of psychological wellbeing. The researchers from the US, China and Sweden, whose study was published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, found that people who developed MCI had a faster decline in psychological wellbeing compared with people who were cognitively intact. They had lower wellbeing scores two years before they were diagnosed with MCI, experts found. The researchers also found that people who developed MCI lacked a purpose in life three years before diagnosis, and had lower levels of personal growth six years before diagnosis. The researchers cautioned that this was an observational study, so no firm conclusions could be drawn about cause and effect. The participants were well educated, which may have introduced selection bias because of the healthy volunteer effect. Most of the participants were also white and female, which may limit the generalisability of the findings, the researchers acknowledged. They also conceded that poorer cognition might influence psychological wellbeing as well as the other way round. The research team said: Psychological wellbeing (specifically purpose in life and personal growth) became significantly lower before MCI diagnosis. Reduced psychological wellbeing may serve as a predictor for impaired cognitive function. Dr Richard Oakley, associate director of research and innovation at the Alzheimers Society, said there was substantial research evidence to show that looking after your mental wellbeing and staying socially active throughout your life could help to reduce the risk of developing MCI and dementia. He added: This research looked at individuals who were diagnosed with MCI, which can be an early indicator that an individual will go on to develop a type of dementia. The results suggest that wellbeing factors, such as feeling a purpose in life and personal growth, are not necessarily an early indicator of dementia but could be an early indicator that someone may go on to develop mild cognitive impairment. Further research was required, Oakley said. At this stage it is not clear whether we can use these wellbeing factors as a predictor of MCI and we need research to demonstrate if tackling these factors might change the trajectory of a decline in memory and thinking skills. After Ervin Baraku was stabbed in the chest, he stumbled into Seven Sisters station and collapsed, a court was told - UKNIP Two men chased a stranger into a London Tube station and stabbed him to death following a row outside a grocery shop, a court heard. Ervin Baraku, 33, was attacked at Seven Sisters Underground station and fatally stabbed in the chest at around 8.40am on July 23 after a confrontation near a food shop, it is alleged. Prosecutors told the court that when he ran away, he was chased by Milumo Pedrinho and Kevin Nguyen, both 20, who caught up with him as he fell on the steps at the station in north London, it is claimed. Mr Baraku was stabbed once in the chest and suffered a 15cm deep wound. He stumbled into the station and collapsed with laboured breathing, the Old Bailey heard. The victim called for the police before he became unconscious at the scene. He died from his injuries on July 30. The scene of the incident at Seven Sisters Tube station - UKNIP The alleged knifeman, Mr Pedrinho, had initially been charged by British Transport Police with attempted murder and possession of a bladed article in a public place. Following the victims death, Mr Pedrinho and Mr Nguyen were both charged with his murder, with Mr Nguyen also accused of perverting the course of justice. A court was told there was no evidence to suggest the defendants knew Mr Baraku before the day of the stabbing. On Tuesday, Mr Nguyen appeared at the Old Bailey by video link from Belmarsh prison for a preliminary hearing. Judge Mark Lucraft KC set a timetable for both defendants with a plea hearing on Oct 22 and a provisional four-week trial from May 12 next year. The defendants, both from Tottenham, north London, remain in custody. Court sketches of Anne and Robert Geeves during the Amber Haigh murder trial. Illustration: Leigh Hewitt/The Guardian As police were still searching for missing teenager Amber Haigh, Robert and Anne Geeves were speaking about her in the past tense in police interviews because they knew she was already dead, prosecutors have argued before the New South Wales supreme court. In closing submissions to the nine-week trial over Haighs alleged murder, the crown prosecutor Paul Kerr argued Justice Julia Lonergan would be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Amber Haigh is dead and that she is dead because Robert and Anne Geeves in the execution of a joint criminal enterprise murdered her. He told the court on Monday the language the Geeveses used after she vanished was revelatory: There are times during [recorded police interviews] and during the listening device products (placed in the Geeves home) that Robert and Anne Geeves speak of Amber in the past tense. Related: Amber Haighs body may have been put in Pajero and dumped on way to train station, murder trial hears The crown submits that Robert and Anne Geeves have, at times, acted in a manner that is consistent with them knowing that Amber Haigh is dead. Haigh, who had an intellectual disability, was 19 when she vanished from the New South Wales Riverina in June 2002, leaving behind her five-month-old son. More than two decades since her disappearance, the father of Haighs child, 64-year-old Robert Geeves, and his wife, Anne Geeves, also 64, are on trial for her alleged murder. Both have pleaded not guilty. The Geeveses have consistently maintained they last saw Haigh on the night of 5 June 2002 when they drove her from their home in Kingsvale, in the Riverina, to Campbelltown station, on Sydneys southern outskirts, from where she intended to catch a train to visit her dying father. Haigh never arrived at Mt Druitt hospital to see her father. She has never been seen since. The Geeveses reported Haigh missing a fortnight later, going to police on 19 June. The prosecution has asserted the Geeveses killed Haigh so they could take her baby, which the defence denies. On Monday, Lonergan asked Kerr to provide specific examples of the Geeveses speaking about Haigh in the past tense in the immediate aftermath of her disappearance. I need those places identified with specificity, she said. Robert and Anne Geeves police interviews were played for the court last week. These interviews were conducted on 25 June and 18 July 2002: six days, and then three weeks after Haigh was reported missing: she was still, ostensibly, a missing person. During his initial interview with police, Robert Geeves said: Amber wasnt the most reliable person. One of the reasons he gave for the delay in reporting her missing was: I didnt want to come to police due to the fact Amber just didnt like police. And he said of his sexual relationship with the teenager: Amber wasnt really into intimate relationships. Anne Geeves told police of Haighs demeanour: She wasnt always happy, no. It was 14 days after the Geeveses last allegedly saw Haigh that they reported her missing, during which time the couple made no attempt to contact her despite having custody of her son Kerr told the court in closing submissions on Monday. He said the Geeveses lied to investigators that they did not have phone numbers for people Haigh might have been staying with in Sydney, arguing, instead, they made no effort to find Haigh because they knew she could not be found. The Geeves didnt ask, because they didnt care. Because they already knew where Amber Haigh was, she was gone and [Haighs baby] was in their care. Kerr told the court there was no plausible scenario besides murder before the court explaining what happened to Haigh. A body has never been found, but Haigh has never attempted to contact her son or any family member, refilled her prescription for the epilepsy medication she required daily, touched her bank account, travelled on a passport, or used a government service. There is no evidence she met with foul play at Campbelltown railway station, no evidence she committed suicide. There are no other signs of life, Kerr told the court. Kerr said the Geeveses attempt to manufacture evidence of Haighs presence at Campbelltown on 5 June by using her bankcard at an ATM was an effort to deceive police. The idea that Amber was driven to Campbelltown railway station by Robert and Anne Geeves with [her infant son] in the car, and that she simply walked away from her son in those circumstances is simply implausible. The crown respectfully submits there is only one verdict your honour can return: that is that between 1 June 2002 and 6 June 2002, Robert Geeves and Anne Geeves intentionally took the life of Amber Haigh. Haighs unresolved disappearance has been an enduring mystery in NSWs Riverina, where she was last seen alive more than two decades ago. She left behind her then infant son who the court has heard she adored and never let out of her sight. The crown case has been that the Geeveses arrested in 2022 impregnated Haigh in order to be able to take her baby from her, and had her removed from the equation by killing her. The court has previously heard the Geeveses had had one child together a son the same age as Haigh, who had previously dated her but the couple wanted more children, having subsequently endured three miscarriages and a stillbirth. Lawyers for Robert and Anne Geeves will begin their closing submissions to the court on Wednesday. But they have argued during the trial that the case against the couple, now two decades old, is deeply flawed. The defence barrister Michael King, acting for Anne Geeves, said his client did not kill Haigh and had no motive to kill Amber, or even wish her dead. King said others in the community who disapproved of Robert Geevess relationship with Haigh were all too quick to point the finger at the couple when she disappeared. Everything they did was viewed through a haze of mistrust and suspicion, he told the court. Paul Coady, the defence counsel for Robert Geeves, told the court his client had denied being in any way involved in her disappearance or murder. He said community distaste at Robert Geevess relationship with a much younger woman with intellectual disabilities fuelled gossip and innuendo. Many witnesses harboured grievances or suspicions, particularly against Mr Geeves. Defence closing submissions were expected to argue, the court heard on Monday, that police unfairly targeted Robert and Anne Geeves as the primary and only suspects in their investigation, largely because of Robert Geevess police history. Closing submissions were expected to conclude this week, before a decision in the judge-alone trial by Justice Lonergan. Policing and jail can stop riots, but they will not build understanding and empathy, says Diana Basterfield. Photograph: Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock I was dismayed to read readers replies criticising Joe Mulhalls article and appearing to echo the characterisation by some rightwing commentators that the riots arise from genuine grievances or legitimate root causes (Letters, 7 August). Lets be clear: the root cause of these disturbances is anti-immigrant racism. There is no justification for that and it should never be appeased or excused. Anyone who felt the serious anxiety of non-white friends or colleagues during the riots is disinclined to temper their descriptions of these people or admit genuine grievances. Their prosecutions have shown that they are often not deprived, jobless or even young, and have travelled to other communities to spread hate and fear. Yes, it is important to counter deprivation and work for social cohesion, but what we have just seen is the old stain of fascism, not some cry for help from the disadvantaged. Keith Oliver Nottingham Elaine Henderson doubts that the situation can improve in the long term (Letters, 7 August). How about this? Set up a programme across all secondary schools where, say, once a month, all the students and staff are shown films about the reasons behind the development of racist attitudes and beliefs. They would learn that, as Britain began to exploit resources overseas, people of colour were deliberately denigrated so that the consciences of Christian colonisers would not be troubled by the inhumane exploitation and violence required to build wealth. There is so much archive material to choose from, eg David Olusogas Black and British: A Forgotten History. Racist attitudes that developed over centuries will take a long time to eradicate, and educational settings are the best places to start. Policing and jail can stop riots, but they will not build understanding and empathy. Diana Basterfield Stroud, Gloucestershire Eleanor Creed (Letters, 7 August) writes: even on the Guardian letters page I read language such as neo-Nazi scum. The prime minister and the home secretary call the rioters thugs. There is also pressure to call them terrorists. This name-calling does not help. Does she, in that case, have any helpful suggestions as to what we should instead call people who injure policemen, torch cars, burn down libraries and loot shops? Not to mention stamping on heads. Thugs sounds fairly accurate. So does terrorists, since their aim is to terrorise others. Poor misunderstood victims of society is possible, I suppose, but might give the wrong impression. Sheenagh Burns Hoswick, Shetland Do you have a photograph youd like to share with Guardian readers? If so, please click here to upload it. A selection will be published in our Readers best photographs galleries and in the print edition on Saturdays. Vladimir Putin has appointed Alexei Dyumin (left) as 'kurator' of the operation to liberate the Kursk region - Sergei Chirikov/AFP via Getty Images Russia has pulled troops back from Ukraine to help defend the escalating invasion of its own land, according to Ukrainian officials. On Monday, Vladimir Putin ordered his military to drive out the Ukrainian forces that have seized a swath of the southern border regions of Kursk and Belgorod. He appointed Alexei Dyumin, his former bodyguard, as the commander in charge of the operation on Tuesday. Mr Dyumin gained favour by once protecting Putin from a bear and is seen as a potential successor to him in the Kremlin. Russia has relocated some of its units from both Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions of Ukraines south, Dmytro Lykhoviy, a Ukrainian army spokesman, told Politico. Forcing Moscow on to the defensive had been seen as one aim of the cross-border raid that entered its eighth day on Tuesday. Ukraines advance has not relieved pressure on the eastern city of Pokrovsk, where Russia has been mounting an offensive, according to the general staff of the Ukrainian army. However, Moscow was unable to send further reinforcements to the battlefront in the Donetsk region, a spokesman for Ukraines foreign ministry said. Oleksander Syrsky, Kyivs top general, said on Monday that his forces were in control of 1,000 sq km (386 sq miles) of Russian land. The Telegraph was not able to verify that figure and independent analysts put the total lower. But Russia has not been able to capture 1,000 sq km of Ukrainian land in eight months of heavy fighting, Telegraph analysis found. Since December 2023, Moscows forces have advanced 994 sq km into Ukraine, according to maps published on Deep State, the authoritative Ukrainian website. On Tuesday,Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine said that 74 Russian settlements were now held by Ukrainian forces and suggested they could be swapped for Ukrainian territory. Click here to view this content. Despite the difficult, intense battles, the advance of our forces in the Kursk region continues, the exchange fund for our state is being replenished, he wrote on the Telegram messaging app. He said inspections and stabilisation measures were being carried out across the newly occupied areas, as well as humanitarian work. Russias defence ministry said on Tuesday the army was using air strikes, drone attacks and artillery fire to halt further Ukrainian advances. It said it had cleared a Ukrainian-occupied village and that its forces had killed at least 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers since the start of the operation. Putin formally appointed Mr Dyumin to repel the Kursk offensive on Tuesday, amid rumours he is dissatisfied with his top generals for allowing it to spread so far. Click here to view this content. The 51-year-old My Dyumin guarded Putin during his first two terms as president. In a 2016 interview with Kommersant newpaper, he recalled protecting the Russian leader from a bear in the early 2000s. The animal had wandered up to a glass door at one of Putins residences while the Russian leader was sleeping inside. We looked each other in the eyes, he stepped back a bit. I opened the door and unloaded the entire cartridge of my pistol under his legs, Mr Dyumin said. I felt pity for the bear. Mr Dyumin has long been seen as an emerging star in Putin's entourage - Gavriil Grigorov/via Reuters The animal retreated and Putin later praised him for sparing the bear, he added. Mr Dyumin was appointed governor of Tula region in 2016, where he gained a reputation as an effective and relatively popular administrator. Several of Putins other bodyguards have been promoted without such success. This year he was made head of the state council, an advisory body to Putin, in what was seen as possible preparation for higher office. His new job dealing with the Ukrainian invasion of Kursk will reinforce his reputation as one of Putins most trusted lieutenants, having previously been appointed to run the GRU, Russias military intelligence agency. Mr Dyumin is sanctioned by both the UK and US for his role in the annexation of the occupied peninsula of Crimea and the war in Ukraine. The appointment was hailed by Russian military bloggers. Dyumins appointment means Putins team takes full control of the situation in order to stop the fraud window dressing, and also to begin to solve the problem rather than try to freeze it, wrote Rybar, one of the most influential pro-Kremlin voices. Click here to view this content. Mel Stride says Britain needs to think 'much harder' about providing disadvantaged white boys with access to opportunities - Thomas Krych/Story Picture Agency The riots have shown that white working-class boys feel distanced from society, Mel Stride has said. The Tory leadership candidate argued that the unrest took place against s backdrop of both job security and home ownership feeling out of reach for disadvantaged white boys. He said Britain needed to think much harder about providing them with access to opportunities. Violence broke out across the UK after the Southport attack, in which three children were killed, amid false information on social media claiming the suspect was an asylum seeker who arrived on a small boat. Some protests saw chants of we want our country back, with disorder taking place in many of Englands most deprived areas. Some 1,024 arrests had been made as of Tuesday night, with 575 charged. In an interview for The Telegraphs Politics Newsletter, Mr Stride, who was Rishi Sunaks work and pensions secretary, was asked about the underlying causes of the riots. I think it does throw up deeper issues, some of them around social media and the way that has played into the problems, and the responsibilities of social media platforms, he said. But I think the other thing is about community cohesion and is to a degree actually about poorer, white, working-class males, who I think we need to think much harder about in terms of making sure that we give them the kind of opportunities that society has, that I think many of them feel quite distanced from at the moment. Seven out of the 10 most deprived areas in England have experienced rioting in the past fortnight, according to the Financial Times. White teenagers are proportionately the least likely ethnic group to attend Britains top universities, while only one in four poorer white pupils passed at least five of the tougher GCSE subjects last year. Saying that improving the life chances of white working-class boys amounts to a levelling up issue, Mr Stride added: I think its got to be jobs, careers, its got to be getting on in life. Its got to be getting a stake in society. So that means the kinds of things that I benefited from, so I had an education which didnt set me up with loads of debt. I managed to go and seize opportunities there, in my case growing businesses, I managed to get on the property ladder, which really set the foundation for the rest of my life. Mr Stride is the self-described dark horse in the race to replace Mr Sunak and was the force behind sweeping welfare reforms in the past year. He also declared he wanted to see net migration capped at five figures, a Tory manifesto commitment that was made by Lord Cameron and Theresa May. I would say its got to be down in the kind of tens of thousands, he said. But I think these are issues that we need to work out in the parliamentary party and come to a settled view on it. He said he would also consider ensuring some kind of relationship between the amount of housing that were building, for example, and the level of net migration that we permit. Robert Jenrick, one of Mr Strides Tory leadership rivals and a former immigration minister, has previously pushed for an annual cap of 100,000 net arrivals. Click here to view this content. Mr Stride entered the Commons at the 2010 general election, aged 48, and argued that his outside experience in the real world would help him unite the party. I spent many years creating my own businesses sitting at the kitchen table, coming up with ideas, working with teams of people, delivering on that, climbing metaphorical mountains. Mr Stride has been heavily critical of Nigel Farage over his response to the riots, accusing the Reform UK leader of fuelling conspiracy theories in the wake of the Southport stabbings. Denying his attacks on Mr Farage were personal, he said: I do think its appropriate to call him out when he says things such as suggesting that the police are being untruthful, at a time when there was an acute crisis around rioting. The MP for Central Devon declined to be drawn on future membership of the European Convention on Human Rights, but echoed Mr Sunaks insistence that Strasbourg should not stand in the way of controlling British borders. Asked for his message to voters who abandoned the Tories in last months general election drubbing, Mr Stride said: That there is a Conservative vision of the future based on conservative values of aspiration and opportunity and achievement. That has sadly been obfuscated and lost but I will bring it back. The protest happened at the Elbit Systems UK building near Patchway, South Gloucestershire, on 6 August. Photograph: Baz Ratner/Reuters Seven people have appeared in court over a Palestine Action protest at an Israeli-based defence firms site and face claims from prosecutors that they were involved in terrorist-related activities. The Crown Prosecution Service said that an incident at the Elbit Systems UK building near Patchway, South Gloucestershire, on 6 August had a terrorist connection. A vehicle was driven into the doors, Westminster magistrates court was told on Tuesday. Counter Terrorism Policing South East said a group of people forced their way into the building, using a vehicle to smash through the doors, before employees were seriously assaulted. The force said two of its officers who attended the disruption were also seriously assaulted in the course of their duties. Video footage shared by the group last week showed activists spraying red paint and using sledgehammers to damage machinery inside the facility. Samuel Corner, 22, is charged with grievous bodily harm for unlawfully and maliciously wounding Sgt Kate Evans with intent to resist or prevent the lawful apprehension or detention of another. It is also alleged that he caused actual bodily harm to Angelo Volante and PC Aaron Buxton. The court heard that Corner, who lives with his parents in Georgeham, Devon, has a linguistics and philosophy degree from the University of Oxford and wants to complete a masters. Jordan Devlin, 30, Charlotte Head, 28, Leona Kameo, 28, Fatema Rajwani, 20, and Zoe Rogers, 20, have all been charged with criminal damage, violent disorder and aggravated burglary. Hannah Davidson, 51, has been charged with criminal damage and aggravated burglary. Head, Rajwani and Rogers appeared in court first and denied criminal damage and violent disorder. They entered no pleas for aggravated burglary as it is an indictable-only offence and must be dealt with by a crown court. The three defendants were remanded in custody. Corner, Devlin, Kamio and Davidson entered no pleas and were also remanded into custody. All seven will next appear at the Old Bailey on 13 September. They were all charged by Counter Terrorism Policing South East, which is leading the investigation. A 45-year-old man from Warwickshire remains in custody on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism under section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000 after magistrates granted a warrant allowing detectives to further question him until Friday. A 33-year-old man from Manchester also remains in custody on suspicion of the same offence, with magistrates granting detectives a warrant to question him until Saturday. Supt Dan Forster, the north-east area commander for Avon and Somerset police, said: At this stage, it appears those involved have travelled into the Avon and Somerset police area from other parts of the country to commit these serious offences. Were not aware of any wider risk to the local community in South Gloucestershire, or any other part of our force area, but wed encourage anyone with concerns to speak with a member of their neighbourhood policing team, either through 101 or through our website. A spokesperson for Palestine Action said: Despite arrests under the Terrorism Act, giving the police the ability to detain without charge for up to 14 days, none of the activists have been charged with terrorism offences. This not only vindicates the activists but proves the state was abusing their powers by holding them under draconian laws which saw them interrogated day after day all in a bid to protect Israels biggest weapons manufacturer. Head teacher Emma Pattison with her husband George and daughter Lettie - JOHN WILDGOOSE/EPSOM COLLEGE/PA Gun laws must be tightened to protect the public, a coroner has ruled after the shooting of the Epsom College head teacher and her seven-year-old daughter. More people are at risk of succumbing to the same fate as Emma Pattison and her daughter Lettie unless gun ownership laws are changed, senior coroner Richard Travers said. George Pattison, 39, had a history of mental health issues but still was able to renew his gun licence before shooting dead his 45-year-old wife and their daughter before turning the shotgun on himself on Feb 4 last year. Mr Travers, of Surrey coroners court, found that Pattison had dodged questions about his medical history when he renewed his shotgun licence, despite having been prescribed a significant amount of medication for anxiety. Pattison, a chartered accountant, was able to avoid current safeguarding because he had consulted an online doctor, Mr Travers found. Issuing a Prevention of Future Deaths Report following the inquest last month, Mr Travers warned that gun laws need to be stricter to avoid similar killings happening again. He found that the shotgun licensing officer was also unaware of existing evidence that Pattison had previously subjected his wife to domestic abuse or coercive controlling behaviour. Police at the scene of the tragedy - EDDIE MULHOLLAND The inquest into the deaths of Mrs Pattison and her daughter had heard that the head teacher had watched a game of rugby on television with friends and their children at their home in the grounds of the 42,000-a-year Surrey boarding school, Epsom College, before ordering a 50 takeaway Chinese meal for her family. However, she reportedly sent a concerning message to her sister saying Pattison had hit her. Sometime between 11pm and 12.40am, Pattison, who had been drinking heavily, shot his wife in the chest before shooting Lettie in the head and then turning the gun on himself. Outlining the flaws in the gun licence system that had allowed Pattison to receive a licence renewal, Mr Travers said in his report: The last renewal application required completion of a new form by the applicant, providing details of the applicants GP and answers by him to medical questions The questions included had he ever been diagnosed or treated for any of a number of medical conditions, which included depression or anxiety, to which he responded No. Significant amount of propranolol The report continued: The inclusion of the GPs details and medical questions is a safeguard to ensure that the licensing officer is aware of an applicants medical history. However, George Pattison had consulted an online GP and, over the course of 2019 to 2021, had been prescribed a significant amount of propranolol, the purpose of which was to assist with the symptoms of anxiety. It is unknown whether knowledge of that medical history on the part of the licensing officer would have affected the renewal of the shotgun certificate to Mr Pattison. The coroner added: Further ... in 2016 there was an allegation of assault made by Mr Pattison against Mrs Pattison. It would appear that, at the time, no consideration was given as to whether this might have been an example of coercive controlling behaviour on the part of Mr Pattison. However, there was evidence within the papers of subsequent domestic abuse/coercive controlling behaviour on the part of Mr Pattison towards Mrs Pattison. That evidence does not appear to have come to the attention of the licensing officer at the time of Mr Pattisons most recent application for renewal of the licence. Three issues that need action Mr Travers report concluded: During the course of the inquest the evidence revealed matters that gave rise to concerns that circumstances creating a risk of other deaths will continue to exist in the future unless action is taken. He proceeded to outline three areas in which action must be taken, stating: 1. An applicant for a shotgun certificate is able to obtain medication from an online doctor without the knowledge of their GP, giving rise to a risk that a licensing authority might grant a shotgun certificate to an applicant who has a relevant previous medical history about which the authority is not aware. 2. In consulting an online doctor, it is possible for an applicant for a shotgun certificate to avoid the current safeguards relating to full disclosure of their previous and current medical history. 3. Consideration should be given as to how a licensing authority can obtain full and accurate disclosure of an applicants history of coercive controlling behaviour towards another/others. The report is being sent to Surrey Police, the National Police Chiefs Council, the Home Office, Department of Health and Social Care and the General Practitioners Committee as the coroner believes they have the power to enforce changes. They have 56 days to respond. The inquest had concluded that Mrs Pattison and Lettie were unlawfully killed, having been shot by Pattison, and that Pattison died by suicide. Near the Ukraine-Russia border crossing point at Sudzha. The white triangle on the vehicle indicates it is Ukrainian. Photograph: Julia Kochetova/The Guardian The journey from the Ukrainian city of Sumy to the Russian border is short. In about three-quarters of an hour it is possible to arrive at a smashed-up Ukrainian border post and stare over two simple lines of fencing into Russian fields to the right. Except the territory beyond is no longer under Kremlin control. The Sudzha crossing is now 5 miles or so from the current frontline inside Russias Kursk oblast. For now at least, it remains very much in Ukrainian hands a full week into the border incursion; on a brief visit what could be heard were the pops of outgoing artillery, not the crumps of incoming shells. Edgy military guards, clips of rifle ammunition tucked into chest pouches, blocked further progress into Russia, a swathe of territory that Ukraines foreign ministry said on Tuesday it had no interest in permanently occupying. Instead, it said the attack was justified to protect the lives of our people part of a creative attempt at self-defence, striking where the Russians are weakest. Related: Ukraines incursion into Russia explained in maps, footage and photos The crossing fell on the first day of Ukraines incursion, and videos released by Ukrainian sources showed a few dozen Russian border guards surrendering, overwhelmed by a surprise, mobile attack. But though severely damaged on the Ukrainian side, most of the destruction was caused earlier in the war: the most notable evidence of the incursion was old debris swept aside to clear the road. Eight days on, in an area of few roads and remote uncultivated fields, Ukrainian military vehicles, all marked with distinctive white painted or taped triangles are still on the move. Ukrainian sources say Kyiv has committed thousands of the troops to the raid, but what is also notable is the number of armoured vehicles in the region, many more than at other points in the two-and-a-half-year-long war. Though Ukrainian civilians from the villages north of Sumy reported intense Russian glide bombing and shelling in the immediate aftermath of the start of the incursion on the morning of 6 August, the advance has been such that there are tentative signs that some Ukrainian areas are no longer being hit because Russian guns have been pushed back. But elsewhere north and north-west of Sumy, where the frontline remains the border, a sense of foreboding remains as military activity has surged. When two aid workers from Global Empowerment Mission, led by a former featherweight boxer Oleg Malynovskyi, visited the apparently deserted village of Bilopillya, six miles from the Russian border, to drop off food packages, a group of mostly elderly residents appeared suddenly to grab what they could before heading off without wanting to speak. Related: Russian authorities scramble to quell Ukraines week-long Kursk incursion Down the road, Mykola Martinenko, 67, said he now sleeps in a basement next to a neighbour this is how we live he said showing a makeshift bed in a dusty darkened space with compacted soil for a floor. Russian shelling, he said, been getting progressively worse, since the end of April and has been more frequent since Ukrainian incursion began. As if to amplify the point, bangs in the distance, probably from the border, could be heard back at the top of the stairs. Martinenko said he had no intention of leaving, not least because he had, with a grim irony, moved from the prewar frontline city of Mariupol to what he thought would be a quiet region in Ukraines north. I lived near Azovstal, he said, referring to the steel factory where Ukrainian soldiers made a last stand before surrendering in May 2022. But others from the village were preparing to leave for good. At the mayors office, Inna, 31, said the situation had become unbearable, describing regular powerful strong shelling when its close I grab my children and go to the basement. Clinging closely to her, but remaining silent, were Rostyslav, six, and Snizhana, three. It has become too loud, Im scared for the children, they need to live a normal life, Inna said. Her plan is to evacuate first to Sumy but then to move on, go further away, its too dangerous. Innas husband is in the military, and she is supportive of the Ukrainian incursion Its good they went in there she adds: I cant put up with this suffering any more. She will join about 3,800 Ukrainians who, the regions governor, Volodymyr Artyukh, said, have evacuated from the northern Sumy region in the past week. The exodus has left Bilopillya as a depopulated grey zone, according to its mayor, Yuri Zarko, who works with his small team in a basement bunker. Zarko shows the Guardian around bomb sites in the village. The mayor said he once had hopes of developing industry in Bilopillya, including a green hydrogen plant, but this was scuppered by Russias full-scale invasion in February 2022. Now, he says, semi-seriously, that the regions best hope for growth would be Nato bases on the border. At least young soldiers could help with the population problem. Matthew Phillip Hart and Max Samuel Bennett Turbett, a pair of Australia-based former soldiers are facing several charges in Los Angeles, after allegedly pretending to be law enforcement officers. Photograph: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters Two former soldiers based in Australia allegedly pretended to be law enforcement officials and threatened a Los Angeles businessman with violence and deportation unless he handed over almost US$37m, according to US court documents. Matthew Phillip Hart, 41, a former member of the Australian military, and Max Samuel Bennett Turbett, 39, a former member of the British military and UK citizen who lives in Australia, were charged along with two other men on 1 August, the US attorneys office said in a statement. The four men were allegedly acting on behalf of a wealthy Chinese national who financed the bogus raid in order to settle a dispute with her former business partner, the office said. They have been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit extortion, one count of attempted extortion, one count of conspiracy against rights, and one count of deprivation of rights under color of law. The quartet were expected to face court in Los Angeles on Monday (local time). If convicted, the defendants face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each extortion-related count and up to 10 years in federal prison for each deprivation of rights-related count. The indictment obtained from the court alleges the former business partner emailed Turbett, who operates an Australia-based private investigation and asset recovery business, on 16 December 2018. In the email, she claimed the alleged victim was wanted by the Chinese government and had stolen from her. The businesswoman, who is not named and is described as Coconspirator A in the indictment, told Turbett that if he helped solve this then we can both retire. She has not been indicted. The dispute related to the alleged victim and alleged co-conspirators respective ownership interests in Jiangsu Sinorgchem Technology Co Ltd, a China-based rubber chemical manufacturer. There had been four lawsuits in China and Atlanta relating to the dispute, the US attorney said. I pay so much for the lawyers. But now I think used [sic] lawyers is not the smart way to do it, Coconspirator A allegedly said in an email to Turbett. So I want you to find a solution going to finish this problem. About June 2019, Turbett hired Glen Louis Cozart, a former Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department (LASD) deputy who owned a private investigation and security services company, to find the former business partner, according to the indictment. Cozart hired Steven Arthur Lankford, another former LASD deputy, to assist, the indictment says. The pair are the other two men charged in the case. While Lankford was a former deputy, he continued to work on a contract basis for the department, meaning he had access to law enforcement databases, according to the indictment. He allegedly used these databases to locate the business person, and recruited another law enforcement officer who spoke Chinese to assist in the case. Turbett arrived in Los Angeles on a flight from Sydney on 10 June 2019, with Hart arriving two days later after travelling the same route. They met later that day with Cozart and Lankford to discuss the plan to obtain the businessmans signature on a document which would entitle Coconspirator A to almost US $37m, the indictment alleges. She would also be entitled to his company, worth many millions more. On 17 June 2019, the four men and several others who were not charged arrived at the businessmans home, according to the indictment. Lankford allegedly knocked on the door and showed his LASD deputy identification card. He and Cozart asked to speak to the man inside. Turbett and Hart then also allegedly entered the home. The group allegedly swept the home, ordering the man, his wife and two sons to sit in the same room, and seized their phones. Lankford allegedly told the man and his wife they risked deportation if they did not sign the documents, and that if they were deported their four-year-old son would be placed into foster care and they would never see him again. When the man tried to escape, Hart allegedly grabbed him by the neck and shirt, yanked him backwards up a set of stairs, slammed him against the wall, and choked him, according to the indictment. Dont fuck with me. Im not the police, Hart allegedly said. The mans adult son tried to pull Hart off his father, but was allegedly shoved by Hart into a wall. The man eventually agreed to sign the documents, after speaking with his former business partner on the phone. She allegedly told him an Interpol red notice would be withdrawn if he signed the documents. The notice, that facilitates an international arrest and extradition, had been taken out against him by Chinese authorities on her behalf, but was unlikely to be acted on by US authorities. The group left the mans house after about three hours and some of them went to celebrate the successful mission at lunch, according to the indictment. The man then called the police. The FBI later made contact with some of the men, the indictment shows. Coconspirator A paid Turbetts company Oracle Investigations about US$420,000 on 31 July 2019, the indictment alleges. Other information regarding smaller payments between various individuals and companies allegedly involved are also in the indictment. It is critical that we hold public officials, including law enforcement officers, to the same standards as the rest of us, the United States attorney, Martin Estrada, said. It is unacceptable and a serious civil rights violation for a sworn police officer to take the law into his own hands and abuse the authority of the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department. Public records show Hart was previously the owner of a company whose website claims to have offered tactical working dog training courses to Australian law enforcement officers. An endorsement reportedly from the Queensland police said the company provided the services firearms and explosive detection dog teams with a handlers development course in 2019 the same year as the alleged US mission. The modern training methodologies provided by the company was a great assistance in the enhancement of our dog teams, the endorsement said. The quality and professionalism of the staff who all displayed worldly hands and knowledge were very approachable and of very high quality. Hart no longer appears to be involved in the business, which has been taken over by a similar company. According to the website of Oracle, the company linked to Turbett, it was headquartered in Melbournes outer east. But an Asic notice shows that the company was wound up and placed into liquidation in January this year. A Texas man is facing attempted murder charges after police say he gave his 4-month-old son gasoline to drink on purpose. Edgar James Bridgemon, 24, admitted to giving his sonthe gasoline with the intention of killing him, authorities said. Police were alerted to the situation on Saturday shortly before noon and responded to the 1300 block of Pine Bluff Street to assist Paris Emergency Services. Upon arriving at the scene, officers say Bridgemon attempted to run away on foot but quickly took him into custody, according to My Paris Texas. Bridgemon was arrested for attempted capital murder and evading arrest and was being held on a $255,000 bond. The child was transported by Paris Emergency Services to Paris Regional Medical Center and later transferred to another facility in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for additional care. The young boy's condition was not released. The case is under investigation. Ukrainian servicemen operate a Soviet-made T-72 tank in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia - AFP Ukraine has taken control of 74 settlements in Russias Kursk border region, Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, said on Tuesday. President Zelenskys comments came as part of his evening address after Moscow previously said that Ukraine had control of 28 settlements. Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander-in-chief of Ukraines army, told Mr Zelensky that Ukraines Kursk offensive had advanced 1-3 kilometres over the last 24 hours. Mr Zelensly said the invasion would mark the end of Vladimir Putins rule. Click here to view this content. Earlier on Tuesday, Kyiv said it had no interest in permanently seizing parts of the southern Russian region. Heorhii Tykhyi, the Ukrainian foreign ministrys spokesman, insisted it launched the cross-border incursion to protect the lives of our people. Instead, he argued Kyiv, which had revealed little of its operational objectives until now, was working to rid Russias borderlands of military assets used to strike Ukraine and draw enemy troops away from eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian troops crossed the Russian border a week ago, in an operation that Western analysts believe was aimed at improving Kyivs negotiating position and diverting Russian resources away from front lines elsewhere. By Monday evening, Ukrainian forces were in control of around 1,000 square kilometres of Kursk, according to Oleksander Syrsky, Kyivs top general. The Telegraph was not able to verify that figure and independent analysts put the total lower. But Russia has not been able to capture 1,000 sq km of Ukrainian land in eight months of heavy fighting, Telegraph analysis found. Click here to view this content. Russian war bloggers reported on Tuesday that there were battles across a widening front as Ukraine tried to expand its area of control near Lgov, more than 32 miles north of the Ukrainian-Russian border. According to Ukrainian officials, Russia has pulled troops back from Ukraine to help defend the escalating invasion of its own land. Putin has ordered his military to drive out the Ukrainian forces and appointed his former bodyguard, Alexei Dyumin, as the commander in charge of the operation on Tuesday. Mr Dyumin gained favour by once protecting Putin from a bear and is seen as a potential successor to him in the Kremlin. 05:31 PM BST Thanks for following todays live blog Thank you for following todays live coverage of the war in Ukraine. Well be back soon with more updates and analysis from the conflict. 05:12 PM BST Ukraine controls 74 settlements in Russia, says Zelensky Ukraine controls 74 settlements inside Russia, Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian President said on Tuesday. There are 74 settlements under the control of Ukraine, Zelensky said in his evening address, after Russia previously said that Ukraine controls 28. President Zelenskys comments came as part of his evening address after Moscow previously said that Ukraine had control of 28 settlements. Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander-in-chief of Ukraines army, told Mr Zelensky that Ukraines Kursk offensive had advanced 1-3 kilometres over the last 24 hours. 05:01 PM BST Latvia prepares to send hundreds of new drones to Ukrainian army Latvia is preparing to send 500 new drones to Ukraine, the countrys defence minister announced on Tuesday. The next drone pack is ready! Andris Spruds proclaimed on X, formerly Twitter. Around 500 drones manufactured in Latvia will provide support for Ukrainians in various combat missions. Gatava nakama dronu pakotne! Ap 500 Latvija razotu dronu sniegs atbalstu ukrainiem dazadu kaujas uzdevumu veiksana. #DroneCoalition #StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/QLPxMkKugn Andris Spruds (@AndrisSpruds) August 13, 2024 04:35 PM BST Civilians evacuated from Kursk to be relocated to Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine Russian civilians who have been evacuated from Kursk will be relocated to Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine, local authorities have said. Alexei Smirnov, the acting governor of Kursk, said on Tuesday that temporary accommodation will be set up in Zaporizhzhia, south eastern Ukraine. The first groups of people will be transferred to temporary accommodation centres in Zaporizhzhia Oblast in the nearest future. Volunteers from Zaporizhzhia [Oblast] have arrived in Kursk Oblast to help local residents right here, on the ground, Smirnov said on Telegram. 04:24 PM BST Moscow watching Gaza conflict with great pain, says Putin Moscow is monitoring the war in Gaza with great pain and anxiety, Vladimir Putin told the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas at a meeting on Tuesday. Everyone is well aware that Russia today, unfortunately, must defend its interests and defend its people with arms in hand, Putin told Abbas, according to a Kremlin transcript. And of course, we are watching with great pain and anxiety the humanitarian catastrophe that has unfolded in Palestine, the Russian President added. Russia has ties to both Israel and Palestine, though Putin has hosted Hamas delegations since the conflict broke out on October 7. Russia's President Vladimir Putin receiving Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Moscow on Tuesday - AFP 04:04 PM BST No plans to host F-16 fighter jets given to Ukraine by the West, says Moldova Moldovas foreign ministry has denied Russian claims it has plans to host F-16 fighter jets given to Ukraine by the West. Moscow has summoned a senior Moldovan diplomat to express concern over speculation that the fighter jets could be based at the countrys airfields before being used to attack Russian territory. Moldova does not and will not host weapons and military equipment, including aircraft destined for Ukraine, Moldovas foreign ministry said in a statement. The Ukrainian Air Force's F-16 fighter jet flies in an undisclosed location in Ukraine on August 4 - AP 03:52 PM BST Putin orders troops out of Ukraine to defend Russia amid incursion Vladimir Putin has ordered a number of troops to move out of southern Ukraine to defend Russian territory amid the ongoing cross-border assault in Kursk, a Kyiv official has said. Russia has relocated some of its units from both Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions of Ukraines south, Dmytro Lykhoviy, a Ukrainian army spokesman, told POLITICO. It is not clear exactly how many troops have been relocated, though Mr Lykhoviy said it was a relatively small number. Russia's President Vladimir Putin looks on during a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas - AFP 03:37 PM BST Russia strikes back at Ukrainian forces in Kursk region Russian forces on Tuesday struck back at Ukrainian troops with missiles, drones and airstrikes in actions that one senior commander said had halted Ukraines advance. Russian war bloggers reported intense battles across the Kursk front as the Ukrainians tried to expand their control, though they said Russia was bringing in soldiers and heavy weaponry and had repelled many Ukrainian attacks. Russias defence ministry published images of Sukhoi Su-34 bombers striking at what it said were Ukrainian troops in the Kursk border region and said it had repelled attacks at villages about 26-28 km (16-17 miles) from the border. Their claims cannot be independently verified. The destroyed border crossing point with Russia in the Sumy region, where Ukraine launched its week-long incursion - AFP Ukrainian troops wait to head for a combat mission near the border with Russia's Kursk region - AFP 03:23 PM BST Russia opens 400 shelters to deal with mass evacuations Russias emergency ministry said it had opened 400 temporary shelters across the country to deal with 200,000 people forced to flee Ukraines offensive which began last week. The move comes as Russia claims to have stalled Ukraines advance into the Kursk region, while Russian military bloggers reported on Tuesday that fierce fighting continues. 02:46 PM BST Pictured: Blindfolded Russian troops driven away from border in Ukrainian vehicle Ukrainian military vehicle drives from the direction of the border with Russia carrying blindfolded men in Russian military uniforms, in the Sumy region - AFP via Getty Images 02:37 PM BST Putin appoints former bodyguard who fought off bear to lead Kursk defence Vladimir Putin has appointed one of his former bodyguards to lead his personal effort to end Ukraines invasion of Russia. Alexei Dyumin, who guarded Putin in his first two terms and is considered a potential successor for the Kremlin leader, was named Kurator of the operation to liberate the Kursk region, Russian military bloggers reported on Tuesday. He rose to prominence after scaring off a bear that approached one of Putins private residences in the 2000s. The move comes after Putin vowed to drive Ukraine off Russian land during a tense meeting with security chiefs on Monday, as Kyivs daring cross-border raid entered its seventh day of fighting. Read more here. Russian President Vladimir Putin talks to Tula oblast Governor Alexei Dyumin during an ice hockey match - Getty 02:26 PM BST Pictured: Russian forces advance toward Ukrainian soldiers Russia's marine assault team ride motorcycles toward Ukrainian troops - AP 02:11 PM BST Watch: Russian FPV drone hits Ukrainian armoured vehicle in Kursk region This is the moment a Russian FPV drone hits a Ukrainian armoured vehicle in Kursk. Footage shows troops struggling to get out of the vehicle after the strike. The soldiers then run away from the vehicle into a nearby forest. Click here to view this content. 01:36 PM BST Ukraine receives crucial 3.6bn in financial aid from EU Ukraine has received 3.6bn (4.2 billion) in crucial financial aid from the European Union (EU), taking the blocs total support for Kyiv above 10bn. Denys Shmhyal, the Ukrainian prime minister, expressed gratitude to the EU and Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commissions president, for the support package. This assistance is crucial to maintain our macro-financial stability, advance recovery and drive key reforms, Mr Shmhyal wrote on X. Together we are building a stronger future. Ukraine received 4.2 billion, bringing the total EU support under the Ukraine Facility to 12 billion. This assistance is crucial to maintain our macro-financial stability, advance recovery and drive key reforms. We are grateful to the @EU_Commission and President @vonderleyen Denys Shmyhal (@Denys_Shmyhal) August 13, 2024 01:25 PM BST Zelensky tells Russia war is coming home as Ukraine makes new gains in Kursk Volodymyr Zelensky told Russia the war is coming home as Ukrainian troops made fresh advances as part of its week-long invasion of the Kursk region. Russia brought war to others, and now it is coming homeUkraine has always wanted peace and we will undoubtedly ensure peace, the Ukrainian leader said in his nightly address soon after his military claimed to have captured 1,000 square miles of territory. Despite Moscows claims that it had stalled Kyivs advance, the Institute for the Study of War said Ukraine was still piercing further into Russia in several areas. Ukrainian forces reportedly launched new incursions into western Kursk Oblast near Slobodka-Ivanovka, Tetkino, Gordeevka, Uspenka, and Viktorovka, the US-based think tank said. Vladimir Putin earlier on Monday vowed to drive out the enemy as he accused the West of fighting us with the hands of Ukrainians in his first public remarks on the assault. Click here to view this content. 12:53 PM BST Ukraine locks down civilians near to Russian border over sabotage fears Ukrainian forces have announced the restriction of civilian movement in the region of Sumy which borders Russia over fears that Russian sabotage groups could try to jeopardise Kyivs cross-border incursion into Kursk. The military command has introduced restrictions on the movement of all categories of citizens in the 12 mile (20-kilometre) border zone of Sumy region, Ukraines general staff said on Tuesday. The temporary measure was needed due to an increase in the intensity of hostilities and the activation of Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups in the area, it said. 12:36 PM BST Zelensky thanks Ukraines sky defenders for downing 30 Shahed drones Volodymyr Zelensky has thanked our sky defenders for protecting Ukrainian lives and infrastructure after the latest Russian aerial attacks. Last night, Russian terror once again received a worthy rebuff. Thirty Shahed drones used by Russian terrorists against Ukraine were destroyed, he wrote on X. I thank all our warriors who ensure the safety of our skies for their precision. Every success of our sky defenders, every enemy target destroyed, results in defended lives and protected infrastructure. Last night, Russian terror once again received a worthy rebuff. Thirty 'Shahed' drones used by Russian terrorists against Ukraine were destroyed. I thank all pic.twitter.com/WpLYGxHDKO Volodymyr Zelenskyy / (@ZelenskyyUa) August 13, 2024 11:59 AM BST Trump praises Zelensky and slams Biden in Musk interview Donald Trump praised Volodymyr Zelensky as honourable and blamed Joe Biden for Russias invasion of Ukraine in his interview with Elon Musk on Monday. Trump argued that his strong relationship with Putin could have prevented the conflict if he had been in office, an argument he has made before. I got along with Putin very well, and he respected me, Trump told Mr Musk. We would talk about Ukraine. It was the apple of his eye. But I told him, dont do it. The Republican presidential candidate added: Im not going to blame, exclusively, but I can tell you, I could have stopped that. 11:44 AM BST US warns of severe response if Iran transfers missiles to Russia The US warned Iran on Monday against sending ballistic missiles to Russia, saying it would invoke a severe response and would counter efforts by Tehran to improve relations. The United States has been in touch with European allies on reports that Iran is planning to deliver hundreds of ballistic missiles to Russia, Vedant Patel, a state department spokesman, said. We are prepared to deliver a swift and severe response if Iran were to move forward with the transfer of ballistic missiles, which would, in our view, represent a dramatic escalation in Irans support for Russias war of aggression against Ukraine, he said. 11:27 AM BST Pictured: Russian rocket launcher fires at Ukrainian positions Russia's 'Grad' self-propelled 122mm multiple rocket launcher fires rockets toward Ukrainian position at an undisclosed location - Russian Defense Ministry Press Service 11:18 AM BST Russia attacks Kharkiv using North Korean missiles North Korean missiles were used in a Russian attack on settlements in the Kharkiv region that injured four children, local authorities said. At least five strikes were recorded in the large-scale missile attack on Monday evening, they added. The results of the inspection of the recovered debris allow us to draw a preliminary conclusion about the type of one of the missiles used: it is the KN-23 (or KN-24), also commonly known as the Hwasong-11, Kharkivs Prosecutors Office said in a statement. Inspectors from Kharkiv's Prosecutor's Office examine fragments of what they say is a North Korean missile - Telegram: Kharkiv Prosecutor Office The missile attack on Monday night injured four children - Telegram: Kharkiv Prosecutor Office 10:56 AM BST Russian troops forced to drink from dirty puddles, says MoD Russian military units are facing drinking water shortages in Ukraine due to its own strikes against critical infrastructure, the UK Ministry of Defence has said. It cited a report from a pro-Russian military blogger which highlighted how Russian pilots had been restricted to one litre of water per day, a quarter of the minimum required. As a result, Russian servicemen have been forced to approach local citizens for water or improvise filtration systems, using stagnant puddles for their daily requirements. Water supply issues faced by Russian pilots will have been exacerbated by record-breaking temperatures in Ukraine, the MoD added. Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 13 August 2024. Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/Bs1ytlZr0C#StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/NlXLXajwwu Ministry of Defence (@DefenceHQ) August 13, 2024 10:39 AM BST Pictured: Russian motorcycle assault in Ukraine Russian marine assault teams ride motorcycles towards a Ukrainian position at an undisclosed location in Ukraine on Aug 12 - Russian Defense Ministry Press Service 10:27 AM BST Ukraine not allowed to use British Storm Shadows in Kursk incursion Volodymyr Zelensky has piled pressure on Britain to allow missile strikes deep inside Russia as he claimed his armys cross-border attack could oust Vladimir Putin. However, The Telegraph understands that the UK Government has not given Ukraine approval to use Storm Shadow missiles as part of its Kursk offensive. There has been no change, a government source said. During a UK visit last month, Mr Zelensky lobbied Sir Keir Starmer to lift restrictions on how the munition, which has a range of about 250 kilometres, is used. Kyiv has also asked Washington for permission to use its Atacms long-range missile during the Kursk offensive, but that has so far also been refused. Read more here. Click here to view this content. 10:13 AM BST Iran shows off new long-range drone at Russian arms fair Iran has showcased one of its newest long-range attack drones at a defence exhibit in Russia, Irans state news agency reported. Western officials have accused Iran of sending drones to Russia including Mohajer-10s predecessor, the Mohajer-6 to be used against Ukraine. Iran released details of the Mohajer-10 system in August last year, saying it had an enhanced flight range, duration and could carry a greater payload. It was accompanied by text saying prepare your shelters in both Hebrew and Persian. According to Iranian media reports, the drone has an operational range of 2,000 km, can fly for 24 hours and carries a payload of 300kg, double the capacity of the Mohajer-6. Iran's 'Mohajer 10' was first unveiled in Tehran in Aug 2023 - AFP 09:57 AM BST Russia steps up assaults in Ukraines east Russian forces stepped up their attacks on the Pokrovsk front in eastern Ukraine over the last 24 hours, the Ukrainian military has said, reporting the largest number of battles in the area in a single day in a week. The increase in fighting comes after Ukraine mounted a surprise cross-border incursion into Russias Kursk region in what some military analysts see as an attempt to divert Russian forces from their main offensives in the east. Russian forces have been trying to advance towards the Kyiv-held logistics hub of Pokrovsk for months, inching forward incrementally and taking advantage of greater troop numbers. Ukraine's 43rd Artillery Brigade fire self-propelled artillery 2S7 Pion towards Russian positions in Pokrovsk, eastern Donetsk - AFP People walk past a heavily damaged university building following an attack in Pokrovsk earlier in August - AFP 09:31 AM BST Belarus sends troops to Russia for training exercises Belarusian troops were sent to Russia this week to take part in training exercises. Crews of missile troops and artillery units of the armed forces of the Republic of Belarus are leaving for the Russian Federation training ground to practice combat use issues, the Belarusian ministry of defence said. During the field exercise, units will undergo a control exercise on managing missile strikes with combat launches from missile systems and multiple launch rocket systems, it added. It follows an announcement last week that Belarus, one of Russias closest allies, would be increasing its military presence near the Ukraine border. Vladimir Putin and Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko met in July - Shutterstock 09:13 AM BST US Senator: Ukraines invasion into Russia is bold, brilliant, beautiful Lindsey Graham, a US Republican senator, called Ukraines surprise cross-border operation into Russias Kursk region bold and beautiful during a visit to Kyiv. What do I think about Kursk? Bold, brilliant, beautiful. Keep it up, he told reporters, while urging the Biden administration to provide Ukraine with the weapons it needs. Bottom line is to the administration... Give them weapons they need to win the war they cant afford to lose, he added. 09:05 AM BST Russian sources claim Ukraine attempting to attack second region Russian military bloggers have reported an attempt on Monday by Ukraines forces to attack a border crossing in Belgorod region. Belgorod neighbours the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces began their cross-border raid on Aug 6. Russias state news said that authorities had completely closed entry to the Krasnoyarsk district in western Belgorod, where 11,000 were evacuated from on Monday. Ukraine has not commented on the reports. 08:44 AM BST Zelensky making insane steps, says Russias spy service Volodymyr Zelensky is taking insane steps that threaten escalation far beyond Ukraine, Russias RIA state news agency reported on Tuesday, citing the press office of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service. 08:29 AM BST Watch: Ukraines answer to Russias Z The first foreign invasion of Russian soil since the Second World War has been branded Operation Triangle after the white marks appeared emblazoned on the sides of Ukraines tanks, trucks and Nato military equipment. Ukrainian sources have said the tactical marking of a triangle is no more than a way for Kyivs forces to avoid friendly fire as they operate behind enemy lines as part of their week-long incursion into Russias Kursk region. When Russian tanks and fight vehicles invaded Ukraine in February 2022, many were daubed with Z symbols in white paint a marking that quickly became synonymous with support for Vladimir Putins war. Click here to view this content. Click here to view this content. Click here to view this content. 08:15 AM BST End Ukraine war if you are worried about being invaded, US tells Putin John Kirby, the White Houses National Security spokesman, has told Vladimir Putin to end the war against Ukraine if he is so concerned about the situation in Kursk Oblast. The only ones who are in a state of war in Ukraine are the Russians themselves. They are the ones invading Ukraine, and Ukraine is defending itself from aggression, he said. This is Russias war against Ukraine, nothing more and nothing less, and it has been like that from the very beginning. John Kirby, spokesman for the US National Security Council, told Russia to end the war that it started - AFP 08:06 AM BST Ukraine pummels two Russian regions in bid to carve out more territory Ukraine pummelled two Russian regions with drones on Tuesday as its ground forces tried to smash through defensive lines in a bid to carve out even more territory in its biggest attack on Russian territory since the war began. Russias defence ministry said its air defence units destroyed 12 drones over the Kursk region, one over the Belgorod region and one over Voronezh. Russian officials in Kursk and Belgorod put out warnings of missile attacks. Russian war bloggers reported intense battles across the Kursk front as Ukrainian forces tried to expand their control near Lgov, Bolshoy Soldatskoye and Korenevo though they said Russia was bringing in both soldiers and heavy weaponry and repelled some of the Ukrainian attacks. 07:53 AM BST How Ukraines white triangle invasion stunned Putin As Ukrainian armoured vehicles maraud around the Russian countryside, they all sport the same symbol a white triangle. Tanks, trucks and Nato military equipment bearing the marking, daubed in paint or stuck on with tape, have forced the evacuation of some 180,000 Russian citizens from their homes. It has been enough for some to brand the first invasion of Russian soil since the Second World War operation triangle. In Ukraines Sumy region, a T64 tank with a triangle on its frontal armour was seen edging down a dirt road near the border. Read the full story here. Click here to view this content. 07:43 AM BST Ukraine says it downed Putins missile and drone blitz Russia launched 38 attack drones and two Iskander-M ballistic missiles at Ukraine overnight, Ukraines air force said. Thirty of the drones were destroyed over eight Ukrainian regions, the air force said on Tuesday. It was not clear what happened to the weapons that were not destroyed. Sumy regional authorities said the attack injured one person and damaged a power line and a gas pipeline, leaving some residents of the city of Sumy without electricity and gas supplies. The attack also damaged a hospital building and several cars in the region, the authorities said. Russia has stepped up its attacks on the northern region since Ukraine launched its incursion into the bordering Russian Kursk region. 07:41 AM BST Hello and welcome to our live coverage Were bringing you all the latest on the war in Ukraine and Kyivs ongoing invasion of Russias Kursk region. A construction worker drinks a cold beverage during a heatwave where temperatures climbed over 110F for 27 consecutive days, in Scottsdale, Arizona, on 28 July 2023. Photograph: Carlos Barria/Reuters As temperatures in Baltimore neared 100F earlier this month, 36-year-old sanitation worker Ronald Silver II died after he was found lying on the hood of a car and asking for water. Its the kind of tragic workplace heat-related death that advocates say could have been avoided with the right labor protections. So this week, during what will probably be the USs hottest summer on record, frontline workers are organizing actions in 13 cities across the country, raising the alarm about workplace heat exposure. We have to keep struggling until the right to water, shade and rest is given to all workers in this country, Lourdes Cardenas, an agricultural worker with United Farm Workers in California, told reporters on Monday speaking via translator. As part of Heat Week, Cardenas and other farm workers are joining fast-food workers represented by the Union of Southern Service Workers and Starbucks Workers United, as well as laborers from other sectors, to lead marches and town halls. Airport service workers will deliver letters to the countrys four largest airlines calling for heat protections, and on Thursday, workers and allies from across sectors will take a coordinated drink of water in a display of solidarity aimed at showing the importance of workplace heat safety. The campaign comes one month after the White House revealed a long-anticipated proposal to establish the countrys first-ever federal workplace heat standard, which, if finalized, would require access to water, shade, breaks and training for about 36 million workers. But the rule could take many months for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Osha) to finalize, and could be torpedoed by Donald Trump if he wins Novembers presidential election. When and if its implemented, it will save lives, but only if we hold [the Biden administration] accountable and keep the standard strong, the Service Employees International Union president, April Verrett, said about the proposal on the Monday press call. Verrett and other Heat Week organizers say the labor movement cannot afford to wait for Osha to finalize those rules. So they are demanding all US employers meet the standards laid out in the Biden administrations heat proposal immediately. Related: Biden attacks Republican climate deniers as he unveils extreme-heat rules They are also calling on elected officials at every level to ensure that every worker in their jurisdiction, including public and private sector workers, are shielded from dangerous heat, Verrett said. And they are bringing extreme-heat protections, such as mandatory shade and water breaks, to bargaining tables across the country in an effort to enshrine them in union contracts. Workers on the press call laid out the risks posed by sweltering workplace temperatures. One of them was Cecilia Ortiz, an airport worker in Phoenix who assists customers with special needs. Ortiz said she loves her job, but that it was challenging, especially in the heat when she is forced to don a heavy polyester uniform and walk 10 to 15 miles a day while pushing wheelchairs and luggage. Often, she must also stand on jet bridges that connect airport terminal gates to airplanes, where temperatures often reach 100F. Despite these conditions, she said, she is only paid $16 an hour poverty wages, she said. A fast-food worker in Columbia, South Carolina, Shae Parker, said she went on strike last year. We definitely experienced the heat crisis, said Parker, who said workers were required to wear heavy shirts with aprons, and added that the restaurants air conditioners were frequently broken and that employees were forced to pay for water. This year, Parker said she had to leave her shift early and on a stretcher to go to the emergency room due to heat exhaustion. She was not paid for the remainder of her shift, she said. Texas representative Greg Casar, a member of the progressive congressional Squad and Green New Deal advocate, also spoke on Mondays call. Before I was an elected official, I was a labor organizer, and we organized at workplaces, but unfortunately, I also had to organize vigils to remember fallen workers, he said. From 1992 to 2022, 986 workers across the United States died from exposure to heat, federal data shows. As the climate crisis pushes up summer temperatures, those numbers could rise dramatically. Amid rising summer temperatures, workers have increasingly been organizing against excessive heat exposure. But in the absence of better protections, workers such as Baltimores Ronald Silver II could continue to die, advocates on the call said. He was a human being and he deserved better, Verrett said about Silvers death. This kind of tragedy is unacceptable. It should not take workers dying on the job for employers to act. An arsonist set himself on fire after pouring petrol over a barber shop he had broken into, CCTV footage released by Australian police shows. The footage, taken just before midnight on July 6, shows two individuals pulling up to the Gold Blade barber shop in Gungahlin, Canberra, on pushbikes. One of the men uses a hammer to smash through the glass front door, allowing their accomplice to climb into the shop, armed with a red jerry can. The individual douses the shop with accelerant, using a lighter to set fire to it. Flames engulf the store and the arsonist is set on fire, forcing him to make a hasty exit. The CCTV footage shows the man diving through the smashed front door and onto the pavement, rolling over several times in an attempt to put out the flames. Once he does, the pair flee, leaving the shop to burn. Police have struggled to identify the two individuals, who were wearing motorcycle helmets to cover their faces. Community police are appealing for help in locating them and have urged anyone with information about the incident to get in touch. Police stand guard during riots in Bristol on Aug 3 - YAT HIM WONG A 13-year-old girl, who is thought to be Britains youngest female rioter, arrived at court with her mother and stepfather. The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted violent disorder in Aldershot outside a hotel two days after the attack in Southport. Accompanied by her mother and stepfather, the court was told she could be facing two years in prison had she been an adult. On Tuesday, in the youth court at Basingstoke magistrates court, Hampshire, the girl fidgeted in her chair as she was spoken to. Dressed in a cream-striped jumper, shorts and trainers she spoke quietly and only did so to confirm her name and address and plead guilty to violent disorder. The court heard the offence took place during a protest at Potters International Hotel, in Aldershot, on July 31. Using or threatening unlawful violence The teenager admitted using or threatening unlawful violence when present together with others which would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his or her personal safety. Kerry Richardson, the prosecutor, told the court that if the girl had been an adult, she would be looking at two years in custody due to the serious nature of events. District Judge Tim Pattinson warned her she would be committing an offence if she did not attend the next court hearing and ordered her to co-operate with probation. She will be sentenced on Sept 30. It comes as a 26-year-old man pleaded guilty on Monday to kicking at riot police and smashing shopping trollies into officers who were protecting a mosque in Sunderland on Aug 2. John Kirtley, from Sunderland, was caught on camera throwing bricks and a beer keg towards police officers while draped in a St Georges flag, South Tyneside magistrates court heard. John Kirtley smashed trollies into officers during riots in Sunderland - Northumbria Police Footage of the violent clash showed Kirtley shouting England till I die while waving a flare. He admitted violent disorder and has been remanded in custody and will be sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court on Thursday Aug 22. While the majority of those charged with offences relating to the riots have been male, several women, including 34-year-old Stacey Vint, who pushed a burning bin into a line of officers during a riot in Middlesbrough, have received substantial sentences. Stacey Vint was jailed for 20 months for pushing a burning wheelie bin into a police line The 13-year-old is understood to be the youngest known female rioter to be convicted for their participation in the riots which broke out following the fatal stabbing of three girls in Southport. The girl is not the only child to appear in court charged with offences relating to the anti-immigration protests. On Monday two 12-year-old boys were convicted over violent protests in Southport and Manchester. At South Tyneside magistrates court on Monday, Kirtley was among three men to be convicted over their roles in the disorder in Sunderland. He was identified when images and videos of the disorder were shared with police, which included footage of Kirtley kicking out at front-line officers. After police issued a public appeal, Kirtley handed himself in at Southwick Police Station on Sunday Aug 10, the court heard. Doctors caring for people with serious mental illness should be held responsible for putting dangerous people on our streets, according to the father of Grace OMalley-Kumar, who was stabbed to death last year. Dr Sanjoy Kumar, whose daughter was killed by Valdo Calocane last year, condemned the irresponsible decision to discharge Calocane from specialist care. A new report into the care Calocane received from his local mental health trust highlights how he was discharged back to his GP in September 2022. But the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said the evidence indicated beyond any real doubt that Calocane would relapse into distressing symptoms and potentially aggressive behaviour and the decision to send him back to GP care did not adequately consider or mitigate the risks of relapse. Dr Kumar said the public is crying out for safety from these crimes as he revealed that Health Secretary Wes Streeting told families he would slow down modifications to the Mental Health Act. He has promised that we will be able to work with people who are working with the law, Dr Kumar told Sky News. A change is needed. We need to step back a little bit and really see what is safe for the public. We have lost the absolute love of our life, our lovely, beautiful and brave daughter, Gracie, and at the end of the day what we want to see is that the public are safe. I think the nation are crying out for safety from these crimes. At the end of the day, we want to get the Mental Health Act right its not about depriving people of their liberty. Its about holding clinicians responsible who put people like that out on our streets, any psychiatrist who puts out a dangerous person on our streets has to be held responsible for putting that patient out if he has not done a comprehensive risk assessment these must be done under the law when the Mental Health Act is fully modified and completed. Victims Ian Coates, Barnaby Webber and Grace OMalley-Kumar (Nottinghamshire Police) On Tuesday, it emerged that a public inquiry will be held to examine the events which led to Calocane stabbing three people to death in Nottingham last year. Calocane killed 19-year-old students Barnaby Webber and Miss OMalley-Kumar before killing 65-year-old Ian Coates in the early hours of June 13. Emma Webber, the mother of Mr Webber, said there was a catalogue of continual failures over years. She welcomed the news of a public inquiry but told Good Morning Britain: We just now need to make sure its the right public inquiry, that it is a statutory public inquiry. Dr Kumar told Sky News: We would like the terms of reference to cover a wide spectrum of all of the failings, because there were so many failings. Every victim today in England, who has suffered the way we have, we want justice for them, we want the law changed for them, we fight in their name. We really want to change things for the better, so that no other family ever fears for their child getting on a school bus, going to school, going to college, and being away from their family. It comes after the final part of a special CQC review into the care of Calocane by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) found risk assessments minimised or omitted key details of the serious risk he posed to others. Calocane was handed an indefinite hospital order in January after admitting manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility (Nottinghamshire Police) It also questioned how well the trust engaged with Calocanes family, who raised concerns about his mental state. Dr Kumar said the report was devastating to read. The risk assessments in his case were really poor by treating consultants and he was sectioned four times there were four opportunities to change his medication, change it to (injectable) medication, which means that the patient complies, he told Sky News. We had a simple case of a culpable person who just did not take his medication. All of this is devastating to read. It was so basic, the errors were not technical they were basic, basic errors and repeated four times over. There was so many chances to change the course of Calocane, but none of those opportunities were taken by any of the doctors. The doctor who actually discharged him, that was the most irresponsible thing to do. Mr Streeting said he wanted to assure myself and the country that the failures identified in Nottinghamshire are not being repeated elsewhere, while his opposite number Victoria Atkins said she would work with the new government wherever possible in order to ensure the reports measures are implemented. Health bosses in England have ordered NHS organisations to review how they care for patients with serious mental illnesses. This includes a reminder to trusts that they should not discharge patients with serious mental health issues if they do not attend appointments and to ensure they have policies in place for patients where they need intensive treatment but engagement is a challenge. On Monday, a Panorama programme exposed that a psychiatrist warned Calocane could end up killing someone three years before the attacks in June 2023. Dr Sinead OMalley, Miss OMalley-Kumars mother, told Sky News: The CQC report clearly also says that there was no doubt that he was that Valdo Calocane was going to relapse, given his non compliance with his medication and lack of engagement. And ultimately, statistics show that if there is even a basic standard of delivery of care homicide does not occur. Chris Dzikiti, the CQCs chief inspector of healthcare, was asked if the Nottingham killings could have been prevented if all the authorities had behaved as they should have done. He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: For the individuals involved, their families, and loved ones, the damage cannot be undone. However there is action that can be and must be taken to better support people with serious mental health needs and provide better protection for the public now and in the future. Calocane was handed an indefinite hospital order in January after admitting manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. Prosecutors accepted his not guilty pleas to murder after multiple medical experts concluded he had paranoid schizophrenia. Have you ever suspected that your dog doesn't listen to you? Or worse, that they know you're talking to them, but they're ignoring you? Well do we have a suggestion for you baby talk. One woman recently discovered her dogs love it. So much so, that it seems like she could pretty much say anything in baby talk and her dogs would go along with whatever she was saying. There's no problems that baby talk can't fix none. Or so we now believe, thanks to the dog mom. It's not a secret that dogs love praise. But mix praise with baby talk and your dog is pretty much in heaven. So the dog mom wanted to test a theory would her Pit Bulls respond to any name she called them, as long as it was in baby talk? The answer was hilariously yes. Related: Annoyed Pit Bull Throws the Cutest Temper Tantrum, and TikTok Can't Get Enough "Car insurance," she cooed in the clip. "Orange juice!" "Hi bank robber!" she added. "POV: Your dogs don't actually know their names, just the baby names," she joked in the text overlay. But don't worry, "They actually do know their names, they are trained! They just love the baby voice!" she clarified in the caption. People in the comments section were cracking up. "Happy babies! Typical Pitties, head empty no one home," joked one person. "My Pittie used to respond to 'Xbox' (her name was Maeby)," someone else added. "They both said 'Hewwoooo,'" joked another commenter. "They know their names, they're just playing along trying to get a leg up on the two legs," one person pointed out. Why Do Dogs Like Baby Talk? It's not just human observation, dogs really do like baby talk. A study published in "Animal Cognition" and conducted by the University of York in the United Kingdom, examined two types of speech on dogs. The first experiment used normal speech, like the kind you use to speak with another adult. While the second was "dog-directed speech," aka using an exaggerated intonation like we do with babies. What they found isn't a shocker, dogs responded to baby talk when paired with dog-relevant subject matter. It's not exactly clear why this is, but one theory is that dogs learn to associate the higher pitched tone of baby talk with getting things like attention or treats. Or dogs might innately prefer baby talk, researchers aren't sure. What is clear is that humans like doing baby talk. So as far as we're concerned this all is a very fair exchange. 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. Happy days are here for a cow named George at the Uncle Neil's Home animal rescue. George was recently rescued from a dairy farm. And now video of the cow eagerly awaiting his new family has people online just so darn happy. It goes without saying that things could've gone so differently for George. Being taken in by the New Jersey rescue is surely the best thing that could've happened to him. The rescue showed the day that the cow finally got out of his months long quarantine. As the rescue explained in the video, George was at the dairy farm for five years practically a lifetime for a cow. Related: Cow's Excited Reaction to Having His Carrot Treat Is Such a Gift The footage shows George practically bouncing while waiting to meet his new herd. Cows are very social animals, so we can only imagine how hard it was for him to be stuck in quarantine for so long. He even let out a happy "roar" when he saw his new herd coming towards him. This was one happy boy! The rescue even joked that George threw himself a "welcome party" by rolling his face on the ground. Something tells us that George is finally home. George's happiness had everyone moved in the comments section. "Look at him being the grass puppy he always deserved to be," wrote one person. "I didn't even know cows showed happiness like this," someone else admitted. "Never in my life seen a cow so happy. You normally see them standing looking sad eating grass. But this cow. Its like watching a cartoon lol. Hes sooo cute," one commenter praised. George Was Saved by an Employee at the Dairy Farm You never know who will step in to save an animal's life. Thankfully for George, it seems that he had a guardian angel watching out for him. In the caption, the rescue explained that "When George was born, an employee advocated for his freedom and his life was spared-something that almost never happens. She reached out to us to rescue him and we didnt think twice," they wrote. Things have been going so well, that George has been seen cozying up to another cow at the rescue, Peaches. "They gave each other a quick smooch and then grazed side-by-side," the rescue explained in the caption. As you can see, George truly is living his best life. And Uncle Neil's is just as thrilled to have him there. "We are so happy and honored to have been able to welcome George to Uncle Neil Home," they wrote. "He is truly the most funny, sassy guy with the biggest personality," they added, "we and herd are so in love with him so is everyone here!" 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. Seven people have appeared in court after pro-Palestine protesters allegedly broke into an Israeli defence firms site carrying sledgehammers. Elbit Systems UKs site near Patchway, Bristol, was reportedly attacked by members of Palestine Action in the early hours of August 6. A vehicle was driven into the doors, Westminster Magistrates Court was told on Tuesday. It heard that two responding police officers and a security guard were injured. The defendants were charged by Counter Terrorism Policing South East, which is leading the investigation. Samuel Corner, 22, has been charged with criminal damage, violent disorder, grievous bodily harm with intent, two counts of actual bodily harm, and aggravated burglary using a sledgehammer as an offensive weapon. He is charged with grievous bodily harm for unlawfully and maliciously wounding police sergeant Kate Evans with intent to resist or prevent the lawful apprehension or detention of another. It is also alleged that he caused actual bodily harm to Angelo Volante and Pc Aaron Buxton. The court heard Corner, who lives with his parents in Georgeham, Devon, has a linguistics and philosophy degree from the University of Oxford and wants to do a Masters. Jordan Devlin, 30, Charlotte Head, 28, Leona Kamio, 28, Fatema Rajwani, 20, and Zoe Rogers, 20, have all been charged with criminal damage, violent disorder and aggravated burglary using a sledgehammer. Hannah Davidson, 51, has been charged with criminal damage and aggravated burglary also using a sledgehammer. Head, Rajwani and Rogers appeared in court first and denied criminal damage and violent disorder. They entered no pleas for aggravated burglary as it is an indictable-only offence and must be dealt with by a crown court. The three defendants were remanded in custody and people in the public gallery could be heard crying as they were taken away. Corner, Devlin, Kamio and Davidson entered no pleas and were also remanded into custody. All seven will next appear at the Old Bailey on September 13. A 45-year-old man from Warwickshire remains in custody on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000 after magistrates granted a warrant allowing detectives to further question him until Friday. A 33-year-old man from Manchester also remains in custody on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000 with magistrates granting detectives a warrant to question him until Saturday. Superintendent Dan Forster, North East Area Commander for Avon and Somerset Police, said: At this stage, it appears those involved have travelled into the Avon and Somerset Police area from other parts of the country. Were not aware of any wider risk to the local community in South Gloucestershire, or any other part of our force area, but wed encourage anyone with concerns to speak with a member of their neighbourhood policing team, either through 101 or through our website. Shadow minister Tom Tugendhat has accused Sir Keir Starmer of a failure of leadership in his handling of the disorder that swept through parts of Britain while branding Nigel Farages intervention deeply irresponsible and dangerous. The Tory leadership hopeful claimed the Prime Minister fell short in the first test of his premiership, before also hitting out at the policing response in the wake of the unrest, suggesting officers had not acted without fear or favour during some counter-demonstrations. In a far-ranging speech in Westminster on Tuesday, the shadow security minister suggested Sir Keir should have gone further, for example by holding daily Cobra meetings from the start, but instead chose to run as if he was still in opposition. And he insisted the structure of policing needs to change, proposing a new national security police force to deal with counter-terrorism and state threats and criticising the handling of some counter-demonstrations after the initial rioting. Last week we saw a senior officer from West Midlands Police explain that officers had been absent during violence by young Muslim men because they had discussed their plans with community leaders to understand the style of policing we needed to deliver, Mr Tugendhat said. Criminal acts committed during protests, whether by Extinction Rebellion, Just Stop Oil, or the Palestine Solidarity Campaign were not stopped, with police seeming to stand aside by the wayside. In Birmingham, police deferred to so-called community leaders while pubs and cars were attacked, windows broken and citizens intimidated. This is not as the police service requires, policing without fear or favour. No police officer should ever tolerate the presence of a militia, no matter what the provocation or the cause they claim. Tory leadership hopeful Tom Tugendhat arrives to give a speech in Westminster (Stefan Rousseau/PA) But Mr Tugendhat also hit out at Reform UK leader Mr Farage for criticising the breakdown of law and order before the riots but not the riots themselves in a deeply irresponsible and dangerous intervention. He said the initial disorder seen on the UKs streets was completely unacceptable and condemned racist thugs for their part in the unrest. However, the leadership hopeful claimed the Labour Government was guilty of a similar failure of leadership and argued Sir Keir should have sacked Home Office minister Jess Phillips for her intervention during the unrest. Later when masked men gathered in Birmingham brandishing weapons and live on camera threatened female journalists and attempted to slash the tyres of broadcast vans, Jess Phillips, a Home Office minister, chose to justify their behaviour instead of condemning it because these were not far right hooligans but young Muslim men, Mr Tugendhat said. This was a failure of leadership just as surely as that of Nigel Farage, and it is not the only failure of leadership by Keir Starmers Government over these last two weeks. Mr Tugendhat criticised Nigel Farage for not criticising the riots (Danny Lawson/PA) Mr Tugendhat added: This has been the Governments first real test and the Prime Minister fell short. When Jess Phillips sought to justify the militia, vigilantism and violence, to excuse a militia on our streets, Keir Starmer should have sacked her, because ministers must always defend the principle of equality before the law. Elsewhere in his speech, the Tory leadership candidate: Described X owner Elon Musks claim that civil war was inevitable amid the UK riots as delusional and simply false. Ruled out striking a deal with Reform UK if he became Conservative leader. Claimed universities indulge in ideologies of grievance instead of transmitting knowledge and schools, museums and galleries apologise for our countrys history instead of celebrating it. Said equality of opportunity had given way to critical race theory and the UK has seen the politicisation of race in recent years, which he claimed Labour will do nothing to reverse. Proposed setting up a new national security police force to deal with counter-terrorism and replace Scotland Yards confused mix of national and local responsibilities and its reporting to the Mayor and the Home Secretary, with each blaming the other. Reform UK chief whip Lee Anderson issued a statement in response to the speech, accusing the Tories of trying to gaslight and shift the blame from their failures and broken promises over mass immigration. Mr Anderson also said: The awful riots and social unrest we have seen on our streets have been sown by years of Tory failure. Politicians like Tom Tugendhat have failed to listen to community concerns over impacts on access to healthcare, school places and local jobs. A former soldier, Mr Tugendhat is one of six contenders for the Tory leadership, along with former home secretaries James Cleverly and Dame Priti Patel, former immigration minister Robert Jenrick, former business secretary Kemi Badenoch and former work and pensions secretary Mel Stride. This is Mr Tugendhats second bid for the role, having stood in the first leadership contest in 2022. He was eliminated in the third round of voting by MPs. Sophia Rosing, a former University of Kentucky student, pleaded guilty Monday to multiple charges related to a racist attack on a Black student. Rosing, 23, admitted to four counts of fourth-degree assault, one count of disorderly conduct, and one count of public intoxication, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. The incident occurred in November 2022 when Rosing, who is white, assaulted Kylah Spring, a Black student working at the front desk of a campus residence hall. The attack, which was captured on video and widely shared on social media, showed Rosing hitting and kicking Spring while using racial slurs. Following the assault, Rosing was expelled from the university and banned from campus. "The safety and well-being of our students is our top priority, and we will not tolerate behavior that threatens it," the school said in a statement. Her attorney, Fred Peters, said that the guilty plea followed a mediation session between Rosing and Spring. "A lot of things got said, apologies were made and we worked it out," Peters told the outlet. "Her life has been on hold for the past 18 to 20 months. She has had a lot of time to think about what she has done, and she wrote a nice letter of apology." Rosing faces up to one year in jail, 100 hours of community service, and a $25 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 17. This story initially appeared on University Herald As August stretches on, everyone is looking to squeeze out a final bit of rest and relaxation from the long, hot summer. Even the President of the United States recently decamped to his favorite Delaware beach to bury his feet in the sand and chill out under a nice umbrella. So how can we blame this cat, who clearly has a rough life of bird-watching, bathing, and cat naps, from wishing to do the same on a sunny lawn? View the original article to see embedded media. In this clip, we zoom in one what appears to be a tabby and white cat cat lying flat on its back, its legs held stiffly up in the air, on a sunny green lawn. Related: Cat's Brave Back Yard Encounter With a Hawk Is Tough to Watch A Cat Nap He had me scared, reads the caption on the video, clearly anticipating a rigorous mortis type situation. But as the person taking the video grows closer, the cat startles awake, and then in the manner of vaguely annoyed felines everywhere, stretches, wriggles deliciously against the grass, and proceeds to continue his self-grooming regimen. Any cat person can tell you what we just witnessed. This here was a cat who fell asleep mid bath, which explains the position. What is marvelous, however, is that the cat was clearly comfortable enough in the front yard to do so. Best neighborhood in America, reads one comment, while others pipe in to discuss birds of prey, mean neighbors, unleashed dogs, and of course, the growing menace of coyotes. For a cat to go belly up in the middle of a lawn like that either indicates an inordinate level of confidence in it place in that yard, or perhaps an indication that the kitty aint too bright. Should Cats Be Outside? The ongoing debate about whether cats should or should not be allowed to wander freely outdoor rages on. Those in the pro column cite the fact that this is the way housecoats have been treated since the beginning of their vaguely delineated domestication. They were not like dogs, leashed and controlled, primarily because the average cat poses no risk to people, just to small woodland creatures, andof coursethe pests they were domesticated to hunt and keep in check. Naturally people let their cats roam free at nightit was the best time for them to catch mice and rats. But people who are against the idea cite statistics about the dangers cats face in the great outdoors now as opposed to hundreds of years ago. Our technological developments and urban sprawl mean todays housecoats must contend with traffic, poison, too-tall buildings and fences that prevent easy movement, as well as a declining wild bird population of their own making. Cats and Wild Birds Outdoor cats kill over two billion birds each year in North America alone, making them the number one threat to our native species. They have been instrumental in the extinction of over sixty-three bird species. I myself am a keep my adorable invasive predators inside kind of cat owner, but I know others are equally as passionate about their opposite view, claiming that its torture or animal abuse to relegate their kitty to an indoors life. But mine do sunbathe just like this on the carpet, so they dont seem to be suffering too much. 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. ROCHESTER, N.Y. A former Cornell University student who posted antisemitic threats against Jewish students on campus last fall was sentenced Monday to 21 months in prison, the Justice Department announced. Patrick Dai, 22, of Pittsford, New York, was charged late last year, for making online threats against Jewish students at the Ivy League school in Ithaca, New York. His 21 months in prison will be followed by three years of supervised release, the Justice Department said in a statement. He admitted to the threats earlier this year in a guilty plea. U.S. District Judge Brenda Sannes issued a lesser sentence than the 27 to 33 months recommended by advisory sentencing guidelines. Dai's attorney, federal public defender Lisa Peebles, requested that he be sentenced to time served. Peebles said she plans to appeal the sentence. "The defendant's threats terrorized the Cornell campus community for days and shattered the community's sense of safety," U.S. Attorney Carla Freedman for the Northern District of New York said in a statement. 'It's all my fault,' says Patrick Dai As part of his guilty plea, Dai had admitted that on Oct. 28 and Oct. 29, he threatened to bomb, stab, and rape Jews on the Cornell section of an online discussion forum. Dai, who was first diagnosed with autism after his arrest, cried through much of the sentencing and, when he chose to make a statement, was often indecipherable amid his tears and guttural sighs. "Nobody else forced me to do anything," he said. "... It's all my fault, your honor." At sentencing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Brown acknowledged the presence of Dai's mental health struggles but said that the campus suffered in the aftermath of the threats. Dai's postings also included a call for others to attack Jewish students. "He called on others to act," Brown said. "... Those threats terrorized the community and his classmates." US 'drowning in mass shootings': Judge denies bail to ex-Cornell student Patrick Dai Public defender: Dai was beset with depression, anxiety Peebles said that Dai, with misguided thinking, believed that he could engender campus sympathy for Jewish students by pretending online to be a Hamas supporter. Dai, staying anonymous, posted an online apology. That came after he realized some were responding positively to his posts, Peebles said. Dai graduated from Pittsford Mendon High School in 2020. At Cornell, he became isolated and beset with depression and anxiety, Peebles said. After succeeding in high school, he went to Cornell "believing his intelligence was just going to carry him through his four years there," she said. Sannes determined that, under federal guidelines, Dai's offense was a hate crime and also significantly disrupted life on the campus a decision that did place the recommended sentence in the 27 to 33-month range. But she said she also was sympathetic to his case. "There's nothing in your past that would explain your conduct," she said. Contributing: Reuters This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Former Cornell student sentenced for making antisemitic threats Jackson was arrested on Aug. 8 and released hours later, PEOPLE confirms Monica Schipper/Getty Skai Jackson Former Disney star Skai Jackson was arrested on suspicion of domestic battery. Jackson, 22, who starred on the Disney Channel show Jessie, was arrested on Aug. 8 at Universal Studios, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department confirms to PEOPLE. Police responded to Universal after security personnel on site detained Jackson, the spokesperson says. Deputies investigating the incident reviewed surveillance footage, which they allege captured Jackson pushing the victim. There were no weapons involved nor any identifiable injuries, the sheriff's department says. Jackson was taken to the West Hollywood Sheriff's Station and released hours later. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. A spokesperson for Jackson could not immediately be reached for comment. The Los Angeles District Attorney's Office also did not immediately respond to a request for more information, so it is not clear if Jackson has been officially charged in connection with the alleged incident. Jackson played Zuri Ross on Jessie and its spin-off Bunk'd. In 2019, she released her book, Reach for the Skai: How to Inspire, Empower and Clapback and appeared on Dancing With the Stars in 2020. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. A former Kansas police chief who raided a local newspaper and the home of its publisher has been charged with a felony. The case brought notoriety to a small Kansas town last summer amid an outcry they amounted to an overreach against free speech, especially after the elderly co-owner of the newspaper died the day after the raid. Joan Meyer, co-owner of the Marion County Record newspaper, reportedly told the officers, You know, if I have a heart attack and die its going to be all your fault. The next day the 98-year-old died. Her son Eric Meyer and paper sued in federal court and the former police chief has been charged with a felony for trying to impede the judicial process. A special prosecutor on the case charged Gideon Cody on Monday with one count of interfering with a judicial process in connection with the Aug. 11, 2023, raid on the Marion County Record, the home of Eric Meyer and Joan Meyer, and the home of former Vice Mayor Ruth Herbel. Eric Meyer told USA TODAY via email that while he is pleased to "FINALLY be cleared of wrongdoing" and to see criminal charges, he is disappointed the charges didn't address what he sees as constitutional violations. "Even though special prosecutors clearly indicated the raid was wrong, the charges filed arent about the raid but rather about an alleged cover-up afterward Chief Gideon Codys efforts to have supposed victim Kari Newell delete text messages they had exchanged," Meyer wrote in an email. "That's disappointing and a prime reason why the real resolution of this case is likely to come in civil suits we and others have filed in federal court." The Marion Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Court records did not list a defense attorney for Cody as of Tuesday afternoon. The charge is tied to an apparent attempt to cover up what happened, not the actual raids, according to a public report the special prosecutors released last week. The report indicates that the alleged crime stems from text messages after warrants were carried out between Cody and Kari Newell, a local restaurant owner reporters had been investigating. Kansas prosecutors have charged Gideon Cody, a former police chief, with a felony crime after raiding the Marion County Record newspaper in 2023. Why did Marion police raid the Marion County Record? Cody was Marion's new police chief at the time of the raid. The newspaper's owner Eric Meyer emailed Cody about Newell's driving record. While reporter Phyllis Zorn confirmed the driving record through public records available online from the Kansas Department of Revenue, the newspaper decided against publishing a story as they were suspicious that Newell's estranged husband may have been instigating since the couple was going through a divorce. Cody investigated the newspaper for having Newell's driving record, and an officer also called the Kansas Department of Revenue. Officer Zach Hudlin then "reached what appears to have been an honest but mistaken conclusion that journalist Phyllis Zorn had falsified her name and motives to gain access to the KDOR records." Former Police Chief Gideon Cody was charged Monday with interfering with a judicial process in connection with the Aug. 11, 2023, raid on the Marion County Record, the home of Eric Meyer and Joan Meyer, and the home of former Vice Mayor Ruth Herbel. The investigation culminated in Cody applying for search warrants targeting the newspaper. Cody was placed on administrative leave on Sept. 29, 2023, after the city determined that after the raid Cody instructed Newell to delete text messages. He resigned from the top job a few days later, on Oct. 2. The raid thrust Marion, a rural town of about 2,000 people in central Kansas, into the national spotlight. "The specter of ulterior motives, personal animus and conclusions based not on the investigation but rather on assumptions permeates much of this case," the special prosecutors wrote. Joan Meyer died following the raid on her home Eric Meyer co-owned the newspaper with his 98-year-old mother, Joan Meyer, who died the day after the raid. Her son blamed her death on the stress she suffered during the raid. His attorney noted in a federal lawsuit over his mother's death that she told officers at the time, You know, if I have a heart attack and die its going to be all your fault. The suit accuses the city of violating the First Amendment and carrying out an overly broad search. It asks the court to weigh in on "the intolerable violation of their constitutional rights and the constitutional rights of Joan Meyer, and to deter the next crazed cop from threatening democracy the way Chief Cody did when he hauled away the newspapers computers and its reporters cell phones in an ill-fated attempt to silence the press." Meyer's federal lawsuit includes a notice of intent to add a wrongful death claim. The special prosecutors on the criminal case did not charge the officers who executed the warrant with any crimes. They suggested an involuntary manslaughter conviction could be overturned due to hindsight bias. Prosecutors said that people could assume that Meyer would not have died when she did if not for the execution of the warrants, but presumption is not enough to warrant a criminal conviction. While they said the warrants would not have withstood appellate review, the officers executed the warrant in line with how they typically would and were not reckless. "There is no evidence to suggest that the officers intended to cause Mrs. Meyer's death, or that they knew that executing the warrant would cause her death," the report said. Marion County Record cleared of wrongdoing The special prosecutors cleared Marion County Record employees of wrongdoing, writing that there was "no evidence ... of any crime defined by Kansas statute." Police Chief Gideon Cody was investigating the Marion County Record on allegations it illegally obtained the driving record of a local business owner. The investigation culminated in Cody applying for search warrants targeting the newspaper. They were less absolute in their language about not charging other people involved in the raid, including Cody and fellow law enforcement officers. While the special prosecutors were critical of Cody's "inadequate investigation" into the matter, "there is no evidence that Marion law enforcement agents recognized the inadequacy of the investigation." Rather, they said, the local police "genuinely believed they were investigating criminal acts." The special prosecutors found that the Kansas Bureau of Investigation which turned over the case to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation once it came to light that the KBI had some level of involvement before the raid had little involvement and "there is no evidence they were responsible for the issuance or execution of the search warrants." What's the latest in the case? The criminal complaint alleges that Cody "knowingly or intentionally in any criminal investigation induced a witness to withhold information" in a felony case. The complaint lists multiple witnesses for the state, including Meyer, Zorn and former reporter Deb Gruver. The charge comes a week after Wilkerson and Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett, another special prosecutor on the case, issued a 124-page report outlining their findings. "Journalists, attorneys, mental health professionals and members of the clergy each have long-recognized privileges in our law rooted in the freedom of religion, freedom of the press and right to legal representation," Bennett and Wilkerson wrote. "When a member of one of these professions becomes a suspect in a crime, law enforcement has the ability to investigate. However, in these situations, it is incumbent on law enforcement to take precautions to limit the scope of their investigation." The prosecutors said investigators should pursue a subpoena or use other methods before seeking a search warrant for a press room, law office, church or mental health professional's office. Search warrants "should be sought only in extraordinary circumstances and with extreme caution." Jason Alatidd is a Statehouse reporter for The Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jalatidd@gannett.com. Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd. This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Former Kansas police chief charged with crime after raiding newspaper As summer vacations wrap up and kids return to school, one small bird is preparing for a monumental journey. Hummingbird migration season gets underway in August, sending the birds flying to warm destinations thousands of miles away to last out the cold winter months and bringing bird-watchers new opportunities to catch sight of them on their trip. Weighing as little as 2 grams, hummingbirds don't appear to be formidable creatures. But every year as autumn approaches, many birds native to the U.S. set off on a long journey south in search of warmer climates and blooming flowers. Chillier temperatures don't necessarily bother the birds, but finding new food sources is a top priority, said Chad Witko, the National Audubon Society's senior coordinator for avian biology. "Migration is timed with flower phenology," Witko said. "When flowers are coming to bloom, that's when birds are trying to time their migration." A Thalurania fannyi hummingbird is pictured in Dagua, department of Valle del Cauca, Colombia, during the 2024 Colombian Bird Fair on Feb. 15. Hummingbirds cross Gulf of Mexico, travel more than 3,500 miles About 20 of the world's 363 known hummingbird species call the U.S. home, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Most are native to the western U.S., especially Arizona and southern Texas, said David Wiedenfeld, a senior conservation scientist with the American Bird Conservancy. "East of the Mississippi, we really only have one kind," the Ruby-throated hummingbird, he said. When migration season begins, Ruby-throated hummingbirds are still abundant throughout the eastern half of the U.S., according to the Audubon Society's online bird migration explorer tool. "By early October, they are starting to show up in Central America," Wiedenfeld said, and they settle in southern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica for the winter. On their journey, some birds cross the Gulf of Mexico, cruising from the coast of Texas or Louisiana to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico without stopping, according to Wiedenfeld. The trip takes them about 18 hours, "without landing, without eating, without drinking," he said. "For these little, tiny birds, it's a tremendous crossing." The Rufous hummingbird, the only species of hummingbird native to Alaska, is an exceptionally far traveler. Birds traveling south could end up as far as California or Mexico during migration season, according to Wiedenfeld. In January 2010, one Rufous hummingbird was caught and marked in Tallahassee, Florida. Six months later, the bird was caught again southeast of Anchorage a journey of more than 3,500 miles, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Ruby-throated hummingbirds, meanwhile, can reach as far north as Ontario, Canada, during the summer, before flying to Costa Rica over the winter months. Rufous hummingbirds also have a unique looping migration pattern, Witko said. In the spring, they travel north along the Pacific Coast, but as the end of summer approaches, "those birds don't follow the coastline back south," Witko said. "They're migrating further east from the coast," including through the Rocky Mountains. More: Spring is hummingbird migration season: Interactive map shows where they will be Young hummingbirds face the journey alone Bird experts say not all hummingbirds depart at the same time. Males begin the journey first, with females and then juveniles following soon afterward. "There's this kind of asynchronous cycle of migration," Witko said. Since males play a minor role in raising their young, they often embark on the trip south sooner, usually by the first of September, followed by females a few weeks later after their offspring leave the nest. Then, the young hummingbirds set out on the journey alone. "They're doing it for the first time, all on their own," said Witko. "They're just setting off using instinct. They've evolved the signals ... that tell them to go certain directions and certain places." Hummingbirds gather near native plants, bird feeders The onset of migration season means hummingbirds will be out and about, and easier to spot. "Seeing hummingbirds really comes down to finding places where there's native plants, native flowers," Witko said. "Those are always some of the best spots." The Audubon Society maintains an online database of bird-friendly plants native to different areas. Bird feeders also are an easy way to attract hummingbirds to the backyard. And they don't require fancy equipment anyone can make homemade nectar by mixing one part sugar with four parts water, according to a recipe from the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. There's no need to worry that bird feeders will disrupt a hummingbird's natural pattern of searching for food or delay their journey. The birds naturally see feeders as a supplemental source of food, according to the Audubon Society. Hummingbirds aren't skittish, offering bird enthusiasts a close-up view of their furiously beating wings. "You can often watch them fairly close, 15 or 20 feet away," Wiedenfeld said. "Sometimes, if you've got a feeder right outside your window, they'll let you get closer." "It can be amazing to watch what they can do, hovering and flying backward, all the acrobatics they can do. They're amazing." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: As Hummingbird migration begins, how to catch them on their journey Ilhan Omar, the two-term congresswoman became the first woman of color to represent Minnesota in the US House of Representatives in 2019. Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota has won the state Democratic primary for her seat, according to the Associated Press, in a rematch against Don Samuels that comes two years after she barely eked out a victory against him. With 216 of 217 precincts reporting results, Omar was leading Samuels 56.2%-42.9%, according to Minnesota Secretary of State tallies. We run the politics of joy, Omar told supporters in Minneapolis on Tuesday evening. Because we know it is joyful to fight for your neighbors ... We know it is joyful to make sure housing is a human right. We know it is joyful to fight for health care to be a human right. We know it is joyful to want to live in a peaceful and equitable world. Tuesdays race was the last in a series of heated primaries for the progressive Squad of House Democrats who have been vocal in their criticism of Israels war in Gaza. Fellow Squad members Jamaal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri were recently defeated by candidates supported by a deluge of pro-Israel spending. Omar faced a lower-key race. The two-term congresswoman became the first woman of color to represent Minnesota in the US House of Representatives in 2019. While in office, she has allied herself with the left wing of the Democratic party, serving as the deputy chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and backing key progressive measures such as the Green New Deal and Medicare for All. Even before the 7 October Hamas attacks and Israels ensuing offensive, Omar had established herself as a vocal critic of Israel. She memorably drew criticism in 2019 for quipping that US politicians support for Israel was all about the Benjamins, in reference to donations from the American Israel Political Affairs Committee (Aipac). The comment drew accusations of antisemitism and she later apologized for it. In the wake of the 7 October attacks, and as Israel escalated its retaliatory war, Omar was among the first in Congress to call for a ceasefire. She has spoken out in support of the university encampments in solidarity with Gaza. Her daughter was suspended from Barnard College for taking part. These together would seem to make Omar a natural target of pro-Israel groups, but Samuels, a former Minneapolis city councilman has not drawn support from Aipac or its affiliated Super Pac, United Democracy Project. In contrast, UDP dropped more than $20m to unseat Bowman and Bush. The lobby groups have not said why they have not gotten involved in the Minnesota primary but it is possible that Omar just did not provide them the fodder. Despite Aipacs single-issue focus on Israel, its messaging against other Squad members has not focused on the issue. During Bowmans race, his opponent George Latimer focused on Bowmans vote against Joe Bidens landmark infrastructure bill that numerous progressive lawmakers withheld support from in an attempt to build leverage to secure other progressive provisions. The idea that Bowman and Bush, who also voted against the infrastructure bill, had not played ball with Democrats became a centerpiece of Latimers campaign against Bowman and Wesley Bells against Bush. In her primary campaign, meanwhile, Omar has emphasized the money that she has been able to direct to her district and even featured Joe Biden in an ad. Congresswoman Omar, I wanna thank you for being here you never stop working to level the playing field, Biden says in the ad. Additionally, Mark Mellman, the director of Democratic Majority for Israel a pro-Israel group that also weighed in against Bush and Bowman has cited the vulnerability of a candidate as a key factor informing whether the group gets involved in a race. Omar is popular in her district; internal campaign polling recently found her leading Samuels 60% to 33%. Samuels said he was very disappointed with his loss. What I was hoping is that a strong ground game and an attention to the details of folks who felt left out would trump an overwhelming superiority in dollars, he told the Associated press. Clearly money matters a little more in politics than I had hoped. Reuters contributed to this report Oshkosh, Wisconsin, the home of popular children's brand OshKosh B'Gosh, now has a new claim to fame. The midwestern city boasts the hottest real estate market in the U.S., according to a new study from Realtor.com. Oshkosh's relatively affordable home prices, plus idyllic surroundings, including lakefront vistas, have catapulted the city to the top spot on the list of most desirable housing markets in the U.S. The combination of those two factors made it especially attractive to homebuyers as mortgage rates started to climb in 2022 and amid soaring home prices which have remained elevated across much of the country. The U.S. home price index up 47% compared with 2020. "Situated on Lake Winnebago, Oshkosh offers buyers affordability in an idyllic setting," Hannah Jones, senior economic research analyst for Realtor.com, said in a statement. The median home price in Oshkosh is $374,000, coming in below the national median of $439,950 for July, according to Realtor.com, and appealing to budget-conscious homebuyers. The rankings factored in market demand, measured by property views on Realtor.com, plus market pace based on the number of active days properties remained listed on the site. Across the U.S., growing land and home construction costs have been rising faster than Americans' incomes since the 1960s, according to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. Homeownership is becoming such a financial burden that an April survey from Redfin found that some homeowners have even had to skip meals, take a second job or sell their belongings to keep up with their mortgage. Multiple offers, bidding wars House hunters are demonstrating great interest in the area, too. Listings for homes in Oshkosh on Realtor.com received nearly four times more views per property in July compared with the national average. And available homes don't last long they sit on the market for an average of just 18 days, compared with the national average of 50 days. Local real estate agents say they've seen homebuying activity heat up in the area. "We are still getting multiple offers in Oshkosh and even seeing some bidding wars," Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices agent Kate Schlagel-Grier said in a statement. Chris Siamhof, also with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, said clients have been willing to waive home inspections and have offered to pay the owner's property taxes for one year in an effort to close deals. "And we are still seeing some houses going for up to $30,000 over asking," she said in a statement. Some Americans are fleeing bigger cities like Milwaukee in search of deals on homes in places like Oshkosh, where the cost of living is much lower, according to Realtor.com. As a result, demand is rising, and inventory is shrinking, which could eventually put pressure on home prices in the area. Ten Midwest metro areas claimed spots on July's 20 Hottest Markets list; 10 cities in the Northeast also made the cut. Hartford, Connecticut, where the median home price is $444,000, came in second, after Oshkosh. It's appealing in part because of its close proximity to New York City. Manchester, New Hampshire, took the third spot. Here are the top 20 hottest housing markets in the U.S., according to Realtor.com. Oshkosh, WI Hartford, CTManchester, NHRockford, ILAkron, OHMonroe, MINew Haven, CTRochester, NYJanesville, WIProvidence, RICanton, OHSpringfield, ILSpringfield, MASyracuse, NYLancaster, PAPeoria, ILConcord, NHGreen Bay, WISWorcester, MACleveland, OH Ernesto strengthens to a hurricane as it rolls through Caribbean Talks for cease-fire between Israel and Hamas a high priority for Biden Nikki Haley says Trump, GOP need serious shift to win election A Florida man was high on "spice" and hallucinating when he allegedly shot up his own house thinking there were intruders inside, said deputies. Christopher Falkner, 40, called 911 Saturday night to report a possible burglary at his residence in Freeport, Florida, according to the Walton County Sheriff's Office. When deputies arrived, Falkner "exited his garage with a knife," said the sheriff's office. He tossed his weapon to the ground when deputies announced themselves. Deputies cleared the home for "potential threats" and allegedly witnessed "multiple shotgun blasts" and empty casings on the floor of the home. Three guns, ammo, oxycodone and cocaine were purportedly recovered. "The investigation found that no intruders entered the home, the report was made as a result of the Falkner ingesting 'spice' and hallucinating," the WCSO alleged. Falker is a convicted felon on bond for weapons charges. This time, he was arrested on a slew of drug and gun-related charges. He remains held at a Florida jail. By Angelos Tsatsis and Karolina Tagaris ATHENS (Reuters) -Greece's worst wildfire of the year has left one woman dead as it continued to burn on the outskirts of the capital Athens on Tuesday, although milder winds and firefighting efforts helped reduce its intensity, authorities said. Hundreds of firefighters backed by six waterbombing aircraft battled the blaze that broke out on Sunday near the village of Varnavas 35 km (20 miles) north of Athens. Stoked by gale-force winds, the blaze leapt from a hilly area into the suburbs on Monday, torching homes and stirring panic in neighbourhoods that had not seen such a fire so close to the centre in decades. "Thirty-five years living here, a fire had never reached this area," said Meletis Makris, a 65-year-old pensioner in Vrilissia. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected to chair a ministerial meeting later on Tuesday. The Greek government has announced compensation and relief measures for those who have lost homes or property. The blaze reached the suburb of Vrilissia, around 14 km (8 miles) from central Athens by Monday afternoon, where a 64-year-woman was found dead inside a factory, witnesses said. The cause of the wildfire was not yet determined, but the fierce blazes seen on Monday had subsided and the thick smoke that covered central Athens had mostly lifted. "There is no active front, but scattered outbreaks," Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said in a televised statement. WINDS TO PICK UP However, gales were expected to pick up again later on Tuesday and the country will remain on high fire alert until Thursday, with strong winds and temperatures forecast to reach up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). Wildfires have been a common feature of Greek summers for years - its deadliest blaze killed 104 people in the seaside town of Mati in 2018. But climate change has brought hotter weather and less rain, ideal conditions for widespread fires. The southern European country experienced its warmest winter on record this year and was on track for its hottest summer, with scant rain in many areas for months. "The wildfire had all the characteristics that we, as firefighters, don't want a forest fire to have. A combination of hot, dry and windy (conditions)," Nikos Lavranos, head of the Greek federation of fire service employees, told Greek TV. "It was extremely aggressive, difficult to manage and unpredictable," he said. Blazes amid hot weather have broken out across southern Europe this summer, including in Spain and the Balkans. 'NOTHING LEFT' Greece's National Observatory said satellite images showed the fire had damaged around 10,000 hectares of land. Local newspaper Proto Thema said it included 100 homes. Residents and firefighters returned to some areas of northern Athens on Tuesday to assess the damage - kitchens and living rooms blackened by fire, ceilings caved in, cars reduced to sooty frames. "My house was utterly destroyed, even the walls fell down. There's nothing left," said Sakis Morfis, 70, a Vrilissia resident. "The only thing I cared about was saving my dogs, so I left everything (else) behind." More than 30 areas were forced to evacuate, along with at least three hospitals, with power cuts in parts of the wider Athens region. Greece has activated the European Civil protection mechanism and is expecting assistance from France, Italy and the Czech Republic with aircraft and firefighters. Spain and Turkey have also offered help. The measures announced by the climate crisis and civil protection ministry on Tuesday include rent subsidies, a three-year property tax exemption, and financial aid to restore damaged homes and businesses. Opposition parties accused the government of not doing enough to prevent the disaster. Syriza, the leftist main opposition party, questioned the number of aircraft battling the blaze. The socialist Pasok party said Greeks were paying the price of poor fire prevention policies. (Reporting by Renee Maltezou, Karolina Tagaris, Angelos Tsatsis; Writing by Edward McAllister; Editing by Crispian Balmer and Bernadette Baum) Roger Stone at federal district court in Washington DC on 13 November 2019. Photograph: Sam Corum/EPA An alleged Iranian hack on Donald Trumps campaign also saw hackers breach the email account of the longtime Republican operative Roger Stone, an adviser of the former president, according to reports. CNN reported that hackers had compromised Stones email address and had then used his account to try to break into the account of a senior Trump campaign official. The Washington Post reported that phishing emails were sent to Trump officials from Stones account. The news that Stone had been hacked came after Politico revealed it had received emails from an anonymous AOL account which contained a 271-page dossier about JD Vance, Trumps running mate for Novembers presidential election, along with other documents. The former presidents campaign subsequently claimed that Iran was responsible for the hack and distribution of the documents, with a spokesperson saying on Saturday that hackers had obtained access to the account of a high-ranking official. The FBI said this week it was investigating alleged hacking attempts by Iran which targeted both the campaigns of Trump and Kamala Harris, although a spokesperson for the US vice-president said their team was not aware of any security breaches of our systems. The involvement of Roger Stone is curious given he was found guilty of seven felony charges in 2019 in a case that focused on WikiLeaks release of damaging emails about Hillary Clinton in the run up to the 2016 election that she lost to Trump. Stone was sentenced to three years and four months in prison, but Trump commuted the sentence during his presidency. CNN reported that Stone had been informed by Microsoft and the FBI that his email had been hacked by a foreign state actor. The intention was to use Stones account to phish officials in the Trump campaign into opening a link that would give perpetrators access to that persons computer, CNN said, citing anonymous sources. I was informed by the authorities that a couple of my personal email accounts have been compromised, Stone told the Washington Post. I really dont know more about it. And Im cooperating. Its all very strange. During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump showed support for foreign states publishing hacked documents. At a press conference that July, Trump said: Russia, if youre listening, I hope you are able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing a reference to messages sent and received from a private account held by Clinton while she was secretary of state during Barack Obamas presidency. Clinton turned over 33,000 emails to the state department for review, and in 2019 the department said it had found no persuasive evidence of systemic, deliberate mishandling of classified information. A Massachusetts salon owner said she felt "violated" after the U.S. Secret Service covered her security camera and other officials entered her business without permission during an event for Vice President Kamala Harris, according to multiple reports. Alicia Powers, owner of Four One Three Salon in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, told Business Insider she decided to close her business on July 27, when Harris was scheduled for an in-person fundraiser at the nearby Colonial Theater. But her security footage obtained by Spectrum News 1 Worcester shows a person dressed like a Secret Service officer taping over the lens of a security camera positioned outside the building. Powers said the footage from inside the shows several officials in various uniforms coming in while the alarms blared to use the bathroom. "There were several people in and out for about an hour-and-a-half just using my bathroom, the alarms going off, using my counter, with no permission," Powers told Business Insider. USSS spokesperson Melissa McKenzie told USA TODAY Tuesday the woman in the video was an agent, but she did not access the salon nor direct others to access the salon. Nonetheless, the Powers said the USSS reached out to her to apologize. The reported misstep comes after the agency has been under heightened scrutiny following an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, and the director resigned. More: Secret Service will rethink 'unified command post' that doesn't have all parties Supporters wave and holds signs as US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris arrives to speak during a campaign fundraising event at the Colonial Theater in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on July 27, 2024. Security footage shows safety officials in salon with alarms ringing Video shared with Business Insider shows the Secret Service agent walking up to the salon and looking in the cameras and doors, before pulling a chair over to stand on it and apparently tape over the camera. Footage from inside shows two people in emergency medical services uniforms and one person wearing a law enforcement uniform inside the salon. Powers said she came back later that day to tape still over the camera and the door unlocked. She told Spectrum News Worcester she felt "violated, disrespected," and "just totally blown away that there wasnt permission granted or even asked to go into the bathroom. She also said representatives from the Secret Service have since reached out to apologize, both outlets reported. "The U.S. Secret Service works closely with our partners in the business community to carry out our protective and investigative mission," USSS spokesperson Melissa McKenzie said an emailed statement. "The Secret Service has since communicated with the affected business owner. We hold these relationships in the highest regard and our personnel would not enter, or instruct our partners to enter, a business without the owners permission." USA TODAY reached out to Powers for comment. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Secret Service apologizes for Mass. salon break-in, reports Former President Donald Trump said he will return in October to Butler, Pennsylvania, where he was injured during an assassination attempt earlier this summer. The shooting at a Trump rally on July 13 in the township left one spectator, Corey Comperatore, dead and injured two others. Trump was injured in his right ear when the gunman, who was soon killed by a Secret Service sniper, opened fire with an AR-15-style rifle from a nearby rooftop. Trump recounted the experience during a live conversation with Tesla founder Elon Musk on X, formerly Twitter, Monday night and called his survival a "miracle." He told Musk he plans to pick up where he left off in Butler this fall. "We're all set up," Trump said. "It's a great area." The Republican presidential nominee has yet to specify a date or location for his October visit. "President Trump is looking forward to returning to Butler and sharing an important visit with the people of Pennsylvania who he loves," Trump campaign Senior Advisor Brian Hughes said in a statement to USA TODAY. "We will soon have additional details, so stay tuned." Trump has previously mentioned returning to Butler Trump told Musk he has met with Comperatore's relatives and the families of those who were injured. He previously teased a return to Butler in a Truth Social post on July 26 for a rally honoring Comperatore, the firefighter and father who lost his life during the shooting. Butler County Sheriff Mike Slupe told CBS News on July 30 that his office had not been contacted about a second Trump rally but that it stands "ready to assist the United States Secret Service if called upon." Secret Service director resigned after shooting Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned 10 days after the attempted assassination following calls for her to step down from Republican and Democratic lawmakers who lost confidence in her ability to lead the agency. Last week, Butler Township released several hours of videos from body and dashboard cameras showing officers rushing to the scene and responding to the shooting. Rachel Barber is a 2024 election fellow at USA TODAY, focusing on politics and education. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @rachelbarber_ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump plans Butler, Pennsylvania return for October By Kanishka Singh and Mike Stone WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States on Tuesday approved the sale of $20 billion in fighter jets and other military equipment to Israel as it prosecutes a 10-month-old war in the Gaza Strip although the Pentagon said deliveries would not begin for years. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken approved the sale of F-15 jets and equipment worth nearly $19 billion along with tank cartridges valued at $774 million, explosive mortar cartridges valued at over $60 million and army vehicles worth $583 million, the Pentagon said in a statement. The Boeing Co F-15 fighter jets were expected to take years to produce, and deliveries were expected to begin in 2029. Other equipment would begin delivery in 2026, according to the Pentagon. An expert on the process said some deliveries could be even earlier than 2026. "The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to U.S. national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability," the Pentagon said. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, in a post on X, thanked U.S. officials for helping Israel maintain "its qualitative military edge in the region" and the U.S. commitment to Israel's security. The U.S., Israel's biggest ally and weapons supplier, has sent Israel more than 10,000 highly destructive 2,000-pound bombs and thousands of Hellfire missiles since the start of the Gaza war in October, U.S. officials told Reuters in June. The war has devastated Gaza and resulted in a heavy civilian death toll. Hoping to avert a wider Middle East war, Washington has sought with other regional mediators to arrange a ceasefire. President Joe Biden laid out a three-phase Gaza ceasefire proposal on May 31. But efforts have so far been unsuccessful in bringing it to fruition. The latest bloodshed in the decades old Israeli-Palestinian conflict began when Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent assault on the Hamas-governed enclave has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry. It has also displaced nearly the entire population of 2.3 million, caused a hunger crisis and led to genocide allegations at the World Court that Israel denies. Washington has faced mounting domestic and international criticism for its military support for Israel. (Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Mike Stone in Washington; editing by Rami Ayyub, Humeyra Pamuk and Cynthia Osterman) Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News: photos: Alex Brandon/AP, Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images) (Bloomberg via Getty Images) In the United States, winning the most votes nationwide isnt enough to win you the presidency. Just ask Hillary Clinton, who bested Donald Trump by nearly 2.9 million votes in 2016 and still lost the election. The real trick is to rack up the most votes in the right places. So which states will be this years battlegrounds? And which forces local or otherwise will determine whether each battleground state ultimately sides with Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee? Heres a handy Yahoo News guide to the 2024 map. Why do battleground states matter? To win a U.S. presidential election, you dont necessarily need to win the popular vote (i.e., the combined tally across all 50 states). You need to stockpile electoral votes by finishing first in individual states. With minor exceptions, the candidate who gets the most votes in a particular state on Election Day is awarded all of that states electoral votes, which are proportional to its population. Whoever finishes first in enough states to secure at least 270 electoral votes a majority wins the Oval Office. Because of these winner-take-all rules, candidates tend not to campaign in states that consistently vote Democratic (blue states) or Republican (red states). Instead, they focus on the small number of states (known as swing states, battleground states, toss-up states or purple states) that could go one way or the other. How do we know which states will be battlegrounds in November? History helps. Certain demographic groups tend to vote Democratic or Republican, and certain states tend to have a 50/50 mix of Democratic- and Republican-leaning groups. The vote in those states tends to be close. But state demographics can change over time. The political preferences within each demographic group can change too. As a result, a former battleground state might start to lean red or blue. Ohio is a good example. From 1900 to 2012, the Buckeye State accurately chose the winning presidential candidate 93% of the time (including in every election from 1964 to 2016). But as white, working-class voters increasingly gravitated toward Republicans, so did Ohio. In 2020, Trump won there by a comfortable 8-point margin even though Joe Biden won the election. Missouri followed the same trajectory; Florida has been trending rightward as well. New Mexico, Colorado and Virginia, on the other hand, have veered to the left. So to figure out this years battlegrounds, you cant just cut and paste the previous list. You need to look at which states are too close to call right now. And to do that, you need to consult the latest polls. Can we trust state polls? To a degree. National polls tend to be more reliable; on the state level, its hard for pollsters to drill down on the most representative mix of respondents (i.e., one that will have the same demographic characteristics as the eventual electorate). But you can still get a fairly accurate sense of where things stand by averaging together the most trustworthy state polls and you can further improve that average by incorporating it into a statistical model that includes campaign fundamentals as well (such as how the economy is performing and how the state has voted in the past). Data journalist Nate Silver, formerly of the New York Times and FiveThirtyEight, does just that with the latest version of his Silver Bulletin election forecast. Its the most comprehensive ranking of 2024s battleground states to date. Former President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally in Bozeman, Mont., on Aug. 9. (Rick Bowmer/AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) So what are the numbers saying right now? The Silver Bulletin model currently projects that Harris and Trump could finish within 3 points of each other in seven states. Heres how those states rank in terms of closeness, along with how they voted in 2020: 1. Arizona (Trump +0.6% in 2024; Biden +0.3% in 2020) 2. Georgia (Trump +0.9% in 2024; Biden +0.2% in 2020) 3. Pennsylvania (Harris +1.0% in 2024; Biden +1.2% in 2020) 4. Nevada (Harris +1.1% in 2024; Biden +2.4% in 2020) 5. Wisconsin (Harris +1.9% in 2024; Biden +0.6% in 2020) 6. North Carolina (Trump +2.0% in 2024; Trump +1.4% in 2020) 7.Michigan (Harris +2.6% in 2024; Biden +2.8% in 2020) These were the seven closest states in 2020 as well. But under the surface, key dynamics seem to be shifting. Before Biden dropped out in July, polls showed Trump cutting into the presidents 2020 margins among several traditionally Democratic groups: Latino voters, Black voters (especially Black men) and younger voters. Previously, Biden had been outpacing his Democratic predecessors with some groups that usually favor Republicans, including college-educated white voters and senior citizens (especially white seniors). That kept him in the hunt. But the presidents swing-state numbers started to crater after his worrisome debate performance on June 27, and Trump pulled ahead nearly everywhere. Lacking a clear path to victory, Biden was finally forced to step aside. Since entering the race, Harris has largely reversed the damage, taking narrow (forecasted) leads in the Rust Belt states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Yet Trump remains relatively strong compared to 2020 in the younger, more diverse Sun Belt states. The big question going forward is whether Harris a younger, more diverse candidate than Biden can surpass Trump in the Sun Belt as well. Unlike Biden, Harris now leads Trump in the Nevada forecast, and shes partially closed the gap in Georgia, Arizona and North Carolina. Who would win if the election were held today? The nationalpolls now show Harris edging Trump by an average of about 2 to 3 percentage points. She was trailing when she entered the race. In 2020, Biden beat Trump with electoral votes to spare: 306 to 232. If 2024s eventual results match todays Silver Bulletin forecast with Arizona and Georgia flipping to Trump; with North Carolina remaining red; and with Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania staying blue Harris would win with 279 electoral votes. But thats a big if. Another way to think about the election is in terms of probabilities. The Silver Bulletin model currently thinks Harris would win the Electoral College 55 times out of 100; Trump would win the other 45 times. Its hard to get much closer than that. What might change between now and Election Day? In general, voter demographics and distribution determine the vast majority of each states eventual outcome. College-educated white Pennsylvanians, for instance, dont vote in a wildly different way than college-educated white Arizonans. The question is how many of them live and vote in each state. But when the winning margins are narrow like they were in 2020 local dynamics can make a difference. A few to watch between now and November: Could Harris or Trump expand the battleground map by putting other states in play? Thats unlikely. If some big event or force such as an economic collapse or a federal Trump conviction were to alter the fundamental dynamics of the race in favor of one candidate or the other, then yes, the next tier of states could become battlegrounds. These include Florida (Trump +4.7%, according to Silver Bulletin), Virginia (Harris +5.5%), New Hampshire (Harris +5.8%), Texas (Trump +6.8%), Maine (Harris +7.6%), New Mexico (Harris +8.0%) and Ohio (Trump +8.1%). But even then, the current, core group of seven battleground states would still prove decisive, because the margins there are closer so they would break for Trump or Harris first. Piling up extra electoral votes elsewhere would just be icing on the proverbial cake. A 39-year-old Norwegian man was somehow able to board planes twice without a valid ticket at Munich Airport earlier this month. He first bypassed security without a boarding pass on August 4 when attempting to catch a plane to Hamburg; however, airline officials were able to catch him before departure and surrender him over to police. Just one day later, the 39-year-old successfully traveled to Sweden on a flight that was not fully booked, according to The German Press Agency. He was ultimately discovered and apprehended by Swedish police following a tip from airport staff. Authorities are investigating the Norwegian national for trespassing and fare evasion, but noted that he seemingly posed no threat to others. They are currently working to determine how he managed to pass through security without a ticket twice in Munich. remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. by Steve Suwannarat So far, the efforts by governments and international organisations to contain the danger have failed. Dengue fever has no cure and the only prevention is via elimination of the Aedes mosquito. The most dramatic situation is in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh. Bangkok (AsiaNews) Despite the efforts of governments and national and international organisations to combat its spread, dengue remains a threat, although despite a rise in the number of cases, mortality is down. The current summer monsoon has worsened the situation because of heavier rainfall with more standing water, often poor drainage, especially in cities, with already precarious sanitation, and difficulty in accessing timely medical assistance in the event of an infection transmitted by the Aedes mosquito. The increase in rainfall due to climate change-induced longer rainy periods means that a disease previously linked only to the rainy season is becoming a risk all year round and for several experts, it is close to becoming a global pandemic. Dengue fever has no cure and prevention is almost exclusively possible by fighting the insect that carries it, which is hard to eradicate. The increase in cases has been significant since 2020. In India alone, 32,000 infections were reported in the first half of this year, double those of the same period last year. Overall, it is likely that a new record will be set in the current monsoon season after last year's 290,000 cases, which in turn were higher than the 190,000 in 2022. Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka are affected by the same trend, and are liable to stronger and longer monsoons; urbanisation does not help since it is harder to take the necessary precautions in environments that are more susceptible to atmospheric phenomena that favour widespread contagion. This is worse where remediation initiatives are inadequate against the spread of mosquitoes, like fumigations that kill the larvae without causing soil and water contamination. Southeast Asia is another area particularly sensitive to the spread of infection by female mosquitoes of the Aedes genus. Endemic in this region, it seems to be slightly less severe this year, but it could see significant progression in the coming years. Vietnam has the highest number of cases reported so far in the region by the World Health Organisation (while data by other countries indicate higher numbers), just under 19,000 with three deaths. Laos is the most affected country, due to its underdevelopment and a territory that is still covered by vast forests and an abundance of water. However, the worse situation is for 950,000 Rohingya who fled Myanmar, forced to live in 33 densely packed camps in Bangladesh, with poor sanitation and housing. A demographic giant in the region, Indonesia currently has the highest number of cases in Asia, 91,201, with 640 deaths, three times higher over the first six months of 2023. The WHO admits that in many monsoon-prone places, data on dengue-related contagion are often approximate and actual deaths are underestimated. Today's headlines: The United States denies any involvement in government change in Bangladesh. Myanmar releases a Japanese citizen. Lao authorities do not want online scam centres. Water shortages continue in Uzbekistan. Russia too starts to crack down on Falun Gong. INDIA The Adani group, an Indian conglomerate criticised in a report by Hindenburg Research, faced a major share sell-off by the end of trading yesterday, with losses of US$ 2.43 billion. A new investigation has accused Madhabi Puri Buch, the chief of market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), of ties to offshore funds used by the Adani group. BANGLADESH The United States played no role in the ouster of Bangladesh's former prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, the White House said. We have had no involvement at all. Any reports or rumours that the United States government was involved in these events are simply false, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre stated. LAOS Online scam centres in northern Laos have until the end of the month to leave, or they will be subject to police action, local authorities said. The Special Economic Zone along the Mekong River is home to several businesses, often illegal, run by Chinese nationals. In the first half of 2024, 400 call centres were active in the area compared to 305 the previous year. MYANMAR JAPAN Myanmar authorities have released, Hiroshi Kasamatsu, a Japanese executive of the Aeon retail chain, just hours after he was sentenced to a year in prison for violating food price control. Kasamatsu was taken into custody at the end of June. His release is thought to be motivated by a desire to improve trade relations with Japan. RUSSIA CHINA Russian authorities are cracking down on the Chinese Falun Gong spiritual movement, with searches in southern Krasnodar and other regions, confiscating banned Falun Dafa literature, deemed extremist. Falun Gong has been banned in China since 1999, and Moscow is trying to please Beijing. UZBEKISTAN Despite laying new piping, many settlements in Uzbekistan remain without drinking water, and to survive residents have started digging wells again, which are closed with locks to deny access to outsiders. Others are forced to buy water from distant locations or improvised markets, or take it from irrigation dams. UNITED STATES TURKEY IRAN The United States has asked Turkey and other allies to convince Iran to ease tensions in the Middle East after the killing of Hamass political leader in Tehran. We ask all of our allies that have any relations with Iran to prevail on them to de-escalate, and that includes Turkey," said Ambassador Jeff Flake. After years of tense relations, the United States is also trying to involve Turkey with Russia. by Nirmala Carvalho In September, the missionary will meet Pope Francis who will be in Papua New Guinea on his next apostolic journey. Hailing from India, the woman religious has been taking care of children aged 7 to 14 not enrolled in regular school for the past six years. She and other sisters and three teachers offer lessons of various types to guarantee the children a brighter future. Port Moresby (AsiaNews) For six years, Sister Angela Periyanayagam, from India, has been working with street kids in Papua New Guinea. On 7 September, she will meet Pope Francis, who is set to embark at the end of this month on an apostolic journey to Oceania and Southeast Asia. In the Archdiocese of Port Moresby, the Sister from the Society of the Heart of Jesus, takes care of "children from poor settlements, including boys and girls between the ages of 7 and 14," she told AsiaNews. The primary purpose of the street ministry is to ensure underprivileged children have the same opportunities as others, providing them with essential necessities and enhancing their education for a brighter future, she explained. The street children ministry in Papua New Guinea was born thanks to the vision of Card John Ribat (the first native Papuan to be elevated to the cardinalship in 2016), inspired by a group of poor girls in Port Moresby who asked him for food. In 2010 Sister Marilyn Soeder and several other missionaries began their work with a group of 20 children, who no number about a hundred. Together with Sister Angela, three other sisters and three teachers, they take care of street boys and girls. Most of them come from single parents, broken families or are abandoned, the Indian Sister said. How do we get these children? We go to the different settlements to meet them as well as their parents and give them awareness regarding the program in the street ministry, the missionary said. The street ministry provides different programs for children such as basic literacy and numeracy, catechism, moral lessons, food and yoga. We offer classes four days a week. Later, When the children are able to read and write, we enrol them in the mainstream school to continue their education and do the follow-up. At present, we have nearly 40 children in 10 different schools. Ultimately, The aim is to give them basic literacy and numeracy skills and assist them to enter the formal education system or acquire a skill to ensure their livelihood in the future, Sister Angela added. What we wish through the street ministry is to Instill a legacy of hope in the future generation, who are underprivileged, and thus spread the love of God and care for them. Champion local news. Join our community of readers who value daily beat reporting and in-depth stories alike. Your membership allows us to continue the legacy of local, independent journalism in the Roaring Fork Valley. With your support, we can remain a free and accessible source of news for everyone, always without paywalls or corporate influence. Together, we can ensure that vital local stories are told. Chinas new transport UAV with 1,800 km range sets efficiency benchmark with 15-minute cargo turnaround 10:00, August 13, 2024 By Fan Wei and Ma Tong ( Global Times China's new homegrown twin-engine unmanned transport aircraft. (Photo: Courtesy of Sichuan Tengden Sci-tech Innovation Co.) China's new homegrown twin-engine unmanned transport aircraft, with a maximum range of 1,800 kilometers, is a milestone in the country's low-altitude technology, the manufacturer of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) told the Global Times on Monday, adding that the development of the UAV, which only takes 15 minutes to load cargo, will significantly raise regional logistics efficiency. The UAV, designed to meet rising market demand, completed its maiden flight test on Sunday in Zigong, Sichuan Province, Southwest China. The groundbreaking UAV went from development to its first flight in just over a year, producer Sichuan Tengden Sci-tech Innovation Co told the Global Times in an exclusive interview on Monday. Analysts said such rapid success highlights the maker's leading position in UAV technology and reflects China's achievements in its booming low-altitude sector. The aircraft, designed for regional logistics routes of 600 to 1,800 kilometers, will address the inadequate payload capacity and range seen in similar products, a manager of the company who requested anonymity told the Global Times. "It proved that large-scale commercial adoption of unmanned regional logistics is feasible, and is expected to drive technological advancements in the industry that better meet the expanding market demand," the manager added. This UAV breaks new ground in regional logistics efficiency by using cutting-edge technologies, reflecting China's prowess in rapid low-altitude technological innovation. It boasts high automation, with more than 90 percent of its functions controllable by a single button during routine flights, streamlining operations and making it highly suitable for widespread use in unmanned cargo transport. With the largest cargo hold in its class, the UAV increases space utilization by 15 percent. It is designed to fit standard cargo containers and allows for seamless integration with mainline transport without disassembly. It requires only 15 minutes for cargo loading and unloading. The aircraft also features a high-altitude performance with a ceiling of 7,000 meters, making it ideal for global cargo transport, the company noted, saying it covers more than 90 percent of feeder routes globally and has advanced fireproofing and anti-icing features for enhanced safety. To address technical challenges, the company employed an entirely composite structure to reduce the UAV's weight, thereby maximizing cargo space and capacity. It also integrated its latest autopilot technology to enhance the UAV's ease of use. "This approach, involving the design of a new model from scratch, has proven to be more demanding in terms of product design and implementation compared with merely modifying and upgrading existing models," the manager said. China's unmanned logistics industry is picking up pace with the growing use of drones and smart systems, as domestic airspace and flight route management systems open faster and the construction of general aviation airports accelerates. For instance, Central China's Henan Province recently issued a plan to enhance low-altitude economic development, aiming to build about 10 general aviation airports and a batch of helicopter and drone landing sites by 2025 to complete the province's low-altitude infrastructure, people.cn reported on Monday. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) A Denver cardiologist accused of drugging and assaulting nearly a dozen women he met through dating apps was convicted on more than 30 counts Tuesday. A jury found Dr. Stephen Matthews, 36, guilty on 35 counts, including sexual assault and assault charges, according to CBS News. Matthews pleaded not guilty upon his arrest in October 2023. According to prosecutors, Matthews met his female victims on dating apps, like Hinge and Tinder from 2019 to 2023, and assaulted each woman in a similar way. The women recalled after having drinks with the perpetrator and blacking out, leading them to believe they were drugged. Some women sensed they were also sexually assaulted. Prosecutors said Matthews engaged in a pattern when targeting victims. "What we do know is that this is an obvious, obvious case of a man who feels entitled to perpetrate against women for his own benefit, by robbing them of memory, by robbing them of bodily autonomy, and by impairing their memories," prosecutors said, according to the outlet. One of the victims spoke with detectives "about the horrific things she remembers," said prosecutors, according to KDVR-TV. "She remembers brief periods of time where she wakes up handcuffed and she's naked on the defendant's sofa and wakes up vomiting." The defense argued there was a lack of proof. "This would be a case about stories, and at the end of the case, the DA's closing rested largely on stories, accusing stories that changed and often went untested by the government," defense attorneys said. "The case did have a lot of overwhelming emotion. We all were moved by the testimony that you heard. It was tough to listen to, but that's what the case ended up being about, overwhelming emotion and underwhelming evidence." Matthews was acquitted on three sexual assault charges, according to the Denver Post. He will be sentenced Oct. 25. A bull bound for the slaughterhouse escaped its handlers, ran through electrified fences, and jumped a berm before causing a multi-vehicle crash and charging police officers in Massachusetts on Monday, officials said. The Raynham Police Department said officers responded to multiple 911 calls at around 9 a.m. Monday reporting a large, black bull running loose on Jennings Drive near Elm Street East in Raynham, about 40 miles south of Boston. The owners of Mathieu Farms had also called 911 to report the escaped bull, warning that it was "highly aggressive" and would likely need to be killed rather than captured, police said. Workers at Mathieu Farms had been loading the bull onto a truck for transport to a slaughterhouse when it "became enraged" and escaped, police said. The bull "ran through multiple fences, including electrified fences, and jumped over a 6-foot-tall berm to escape." Before officers arrived at the scene, the bull had made it to Interstate 495, where it caused a multi-vehicle crash. According to the Raynham Fire Department, there were three vehicles involved in the crash, and one person was transported to a hospital with injuries. The bull fled into a wooded area at Elm Street East and entered Lake Nippenicket near a Raynham Water District building. The bull continued swimming for a short time before it was located by officers and farm staff. When the bull spotted the officers, it "quickly and aggressively swam toward the group on shore," police said. A Raynham officer fired a department-issued rifle at the bull, but the shots did not stop it. The bull got out of the water and charged at those on shore. Officers fired "several" more rifle shots and struck the bull in the leg, disabling it. Police said that after the bull's injury, it needed to be humanely euthanized, but the department's rifles were not powerful enough. The farm owner retrieved his hunting rifle and euthanized the bull, police said. "I want to commend our brave officers who put themselves in harm's way to make sure that a bad situation did not get worse," Raynham Police Chief David LaPlante said in a statement. "Facing a charging 1,300-pound bull is not something you go into your shift thinking is going to happen, but our officers were able to respond and effectively handle the situation and prevent further injury and destruction." Raynham Police Department Responds After Escaped Bull Causes Motor Vehicle Crash on Interstate 495, Charges at Officers from John Guilfoil Public Relations on Vimeo. --with reporting by TMX 13 August 2024 08:30 (UTC+04:00) Nazrin Abdul Read more Azerbaijan's transport and logistics capabilities are pivotal in strengthening both regional and global cooperation. In recent years, Azerbaijan has made substantial strides in expanding transportation links, especially among the littoral states around the Caspian Basin. As a result, those states are increasingly choosing to transport their cargo through Azerbaijan, acknowledging the nation's strategic role and its substantial contributions to regional connectivity. On August 12, the countries of the Caspian regionAzerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistancelebrate International Caspian Sea Day. This date marks the signing of the convention that established principles for the division of the Caspian Sea among Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan, following extensive negotiations. It is noteworthy that the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Caspian Sea Environment, which came into force on August 12, 2006, is celebrated annually as "Caspian Day." This convention represents the first legal agreement between the Caspian littoral states addressing environmental protection. Without determining the Caspian Seas legal status, effective transportation cooperation among the coastal states would have been challenging. Today, it is possible to say that a solid legal foundation exists between the Caspian littoral countries, with Azerbaijan playing an irreplaceable role in creating and ensuring the functionality of this platform. Since 1992, meetings among the coastal states regarding the Caspian Seas legal status have been ongoing. The signing of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea during the V Summit of Caspian Heads of State in Aktau, Kazakhstan, on August 12, 2018, marked the culmination of these bilateral and multilateral discussions. Throughout all stages of negotiations regarding the legal status, Azerbaijan has firmly protected its national interests based on international law and mutual trust. Despite proposing a fair division of the Caspian Sea under international legal norms for many years, certain artificial obstacles prevented reaching an agreement on the final status. At the V Summit of Caspian Heads of State, President Ilham Aliyev highlighted Azerbaijans active role in establishing the legal framework for cooperation among Caspian countries. Azerbaijan has actively participated in creating the legal basis for cooperation among Caspian states. The III Summit of Caspian Heads of State, held in Baku in 2010, made a significant contribution to strengthening cooperation among our countries, said President Aliyev. Additionally, President Ilham Aliyev noted that the Caspian littoral states do not compete in the energy resources sector but rather engage in successful collaboration. He also emphasized Azerbaijans openness to neighboring countries in valuing its transit opportunities. Azerbaijan engages in multifaceted activities related to the transportation of energy resources. We strive to contribute to energy security. Modern infrastructure has been established in Azerbaijan for delivering oil and gas resources to global markets. This infrastructure can also be offered to meet the interests of neighboring countries. In short, we are ready to present our transit opportunities to our neighbors, the President said. The III Summit in Baku, as recalled by the President, contributed significantly to strengthening cooperation among the countries. At this summit, the "Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Security in the Caspian Sea" was signed, which is crucial for maintaining regional security and stability. This agreement provides an important mechanism for collaboration among border services and other state bodies in combating smuggling, poaching, illegal migration, human trafficking, organized crime, and terrorism. The summits agreement conceptually established sovereignty and fishing zones at a high level. It also included principles for Caspian cooperation, focusing on respect for sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity, as well as transforming the Caspian into a zone of peace, friendly relations, and cooperation. These principles are reflected in the "Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea" signed in Aktau. In subsequent stages, Azerbaijan actively participated in other summit meetings regarding the Caspian Seas legal status, presenting and substantiating its constructive proposals based on international norms. The draft of the "Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea" was finalized during a meeting of the foreign ministers of Caspian states in Moscow on December 4-5, 2017. The Convention signed at the V Summit of Caspian Heads of State in Aktau is a crucial document that ensures equal access for the coastal states to the sea's resources. It establishes fundamental norms for the legal regime of the Caspian Sea and has been evaluated by experts from various aspects. The general consensus is that the Convention provides a legal foundation for the sectoral division of the Caspian Sea among the five littoral states. According to the document, the Caspian states exercise sovereignty, sovereign rights, exclusive rights, and jurisdictions. The agreement signed by the Caspian Five leaders was realized through goodwill, trust, mutual respect, common interests, and friendly relations. Foreign experts note that the signing of the "Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea" marks a turning point for the five littoral countries. In its August 12 post celebrating International Caspian Day, the Russian Embassy in Azerbaijan highlighted the increasing role of the Caspian Sea as a vital coordinating link at the center of Eurasia, considering its potential. The Caspian regions geostrategic, political, transport and economic potential will continue to enhance its role as the most important coordinating link in Eurasia. The importance of the North-South international transport corridor, which passes through all Caspian countries, was also emphasized. The significance of the North-South international transport corridor, which runs through all Caspian countries, is increasing. Five-way cooperation in trade, economic, energy, transport, and other areas is developing rapidly. The Russian Embassy also stressed the importance of addressing ecological issues of the Caspian Sea: This work requires enhanced joint efforts from all coastal states to preserve biodiversity, efficiently use resources, combat pollution, and prevent shallowing of the water body, as well as conducting necessary research and taking preventive measures. It is crucial to maintain and deepen friendly and good-neighborly relations between coastal states, strengthen the unity of the five based on a common approach to various challenges and problems, and contribute to transforming the Caspian into a zone of peace, friendly relations, and cooperation, it was noted. The coastal states have agreed on and adhere to the principle of no third-country armed forces in the Caspian Sea to ensure the regions security and stability. As part of efforts to deepen cooperation in this area, the Caspian Five are negotiating measures to build trust in military activities in the Caspian Sea. In developing the Caspian Seas abundant hydrocarbon resources, coastal states, including companies from Iran and Russia, play a significant role as investors. Additionally, companies from Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan benefit from Azerbaijans state-of-the-art infrastructure for transporting oil and its derivatives. Enhancing investment conditions to further commercial and economic relations, resource development, and international market access remains a top priority for Azerbaijan. This includes creating reliable and secure communication networks and attracting high-revenue, environmentally friendly technologies. Large-scale initiatives are also underway to establish new transport and communication routes. Notably, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are constructing a major fiber-optic cable corridor across the Caspian Sea, a key component of the "Digital Silk Way" project. This ambitious project aims to create a new digital telecommunication corridor between Europe and Asia via the Caspian Sea, promising to significantly influence the future of the region through improved data transmission and accelerated digitalization. As President Ilham Aliyev aptly put it, The Caspian is a sea of friendship and cooperation that unites us. The oil and gas extracted from the Caspian region play a crucial role in the global energy market. Effective collaboration in this area benefits all the Caspian littoral states and serves their collective interests. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 13 August 2024 13:53 (UTC+04:00) In the first seven months of 2024, Azerbaijan's electricity production totaled 16,269 million kWh, representing a slight decline of 0.34% compared to the same period in 2023. Despite this overall decrease, the data reveals a significant upturn in July, where production surged by 12.3% year-on-year to reach 2,711.2 million kWh. Access to paid information is limited Find the plan that suits you best. 13 August 2024 19:48 (UTC+04:00) Fatima Latifova Read more Despite the financial and military aid Armenia receives from abroad, the condition of the country's military personnel remains dire. This raises questions about the effective use of the aid provided. Despite the availability of financial resources, the motivation within military structures and personnel remains low. This indicates serious issues in Armenia's internal governance and defense system. Due to a shortage of soldiers, Armenia has organized the temporary service of police officers at the border. However, Armenian police forces have refused to serve at posts on the border with Azerbaijan. The reason for this refusal was a reduction in their salaries. It is intriguing why Armenia, which receives financial, moral, and military support from numerous countries, is experiencing a shortage of soldiers. Desertion in the Armenian army during the Second Garabagh War In 2020, the Azerbaijani Army's counteroffensive operations culminated in the liberation of Garabagh. Predicting this outcome was not difficult, as Azerbaijan had shown restraint in response to Armenia's provocations until then. During the war, the Armenian Army realized its weakness against Azerbaijani soldiers. After suffering heavy losses in various directions on the front, the personnel of the Armenian armed forces began to refuse further participation in combat operations. It was revealed that villagers were being recruited into combat operations, and this was because the reserve soldiers of the 543rd regiment had refused to go to Garabagh. Another issue was the chaining of Armenian soldiers who refused to fight. When the Azerbaijani Army liberated Hadrut in October 2020, they discovered the bodies of two Armenian soldiers chained together inside a trench. Despite the baseless accusation of Azerbaijan for these incidents, in 2021, Armenian blogger Roman Baghdasaryan stated on his YouTube channel that Armenian military forces had committed the crime. It appears that Armenian officers tried to prevent desertion, a recurring issue in the demoralized Armenian army, by chaining soldiers together. Cowardly ministers of the Puppet State The cowardice and helplessness of Armenia on the battlefield were also reflected in the separatist elements. The anti-terror measures carried out by the Azerbaijani Army in September 2023 further exposed the true nature of the illegal separatist forces. For example, the bizarre escape plan of former separatist leader Ruben Vardanyan, who attempted to flee Khankendi on September 25, became a source of ridicule for a long time. Vardanyan, dressed as a woman passed through the Lachin border checkpoint (BCP) unnoticed. However, anticipating that his identity would be discovered before reaching the BCP, he returned to Khankendi. His choice of women's clothing was not random. He was well aware that Azerbaijani soldiers treat civilians, especially women and children, with humanitarian respect. However, he was also aware of the precision with which Azerbaijan's law enforcement agencies operate. He eventually realized that his plan to escape the country disguised as a woman would fail. This shows that cowardice is not only present among Armenian soldiers but also among the separatists who attempt to create a puppet state on the territory of another country. Where Does the Aid Go? The presence of U.S. aircraft in Armenian territory and the pro-Armenian stance of some Western countries, particularly France, demonstrate the support and interest given to Armenia, but this does not change the stance of the Armenian public. The public's opposition to war lowers the motivation of those serving in the military and negatively impacts the army's combat capabilities. Besides, the aid provided to Yerevan by France and other pro-Armenian states should have laid the foundation for visible progress in such a small country. However, along with the economic backwardness in the country, the declining interest in the military shows that the country's overall potential and war determination are low. Given that such substantial military and financial aid has been renewed over 30 years, the question arises as to where this money and weapons have gone. It should be recalled that the Armenian army did not last even three months during the operations carried out by the Azerbaijani army in 2020 and 2023, resulting in their defeat. This shows that the Armenian leadership has failed to utilize the resources it has received over 30 years effectively. The countries that provide aid to Armenia and support its provocations are expending effort in vain. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 13 August 2024 16:14 (UTC+04:00) Ulviyya Shahin Read more An international feasibility study has affirmed the economic and technical viability of the Black Sea green energy cable project, led by Azerbaijan, Azernews reports, citing Georgias Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development. Conducted by the Italian consulting firm CESI at the request of the Georgian State Electrosystem JCS and supported by the World Bank and Georgias Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, the study began in 2022. The ministry's statement emphasized that the study confirms the Black Sea underwater cable project as both promising and feasible from technical and economic perspectives. The detailed analysis determined the optimal specifications for the electric cable, estimated construction costs, and evaluated the project's economic potential. It also outlined the preliminary route for both land and sea segments of the cable, developed an implementation plan, and formulated a procurement strategy. Additionally, the study described the necessary work for conducting geotechnical, geophysical, ecological, and archaeological assessments of the seabed, along with a technical task related to the tender. Environmental and social impact assessments, as well as an evaluation of the project's effect on the seabed, are scheduled for 2025-2026. In May 2024, a memorandum was signed between Transelectrica and partner operators from participating countriesAzerEnerji (Azerbaijan), Georgian State Electrosystem (Georgia), and MVM (Hungary)to establish a project company. The joint venture, which will be headquartered in Bucharest, Romania, has yet to be named. The cable aims to transport green electricity generated in Azerbaijan through Georgia and the Black Sea to Romania, with further distribution to Hungary and the rest of Europe. The project is expected to be completed within 3-4 years. The European Commission is set to contribute 2.3 billion to support this ambitious initiative. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 13 August 2024 12:26 (UTC+04:00) Laman Ismayilova Read more Gilavar Photo Club continues the implementation of the photo project "Culmination point of danger" regarding landmine victims, Azernews reports. The main goal of the project is to educate society about the danger of landmines, to insure people against mine incidents, and to convey a message to society and the whole world. The project is implemented in the country's regions where mine incidents occur the most and in former frontline areas. The filming crew of the project visits those regions and villages, meetings are held with people affected by mine explosions in different periods. Professional photographers record their situations through photos, bitter life stories are written down. In the end, it is planned to prepare an electronic photo book of the photos taken, organize photo exhibitions in Azerbaijan and abroad, and prepare educational videos. The photo project is implemented with the financial support of the the Agency for State Support to Non-Governmental Organizations of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Gilavar Photo Club is one of the winners of the big grant competition announced by the Agency for 2024 on the topic "Protection of the rights of missing, captured and hostages, the threat posed by mines and unexploded ordnance and combating it". Founded in 2017, the Gilavar Photo Club aims to discover and support talented photographers. 2023 marked the fifth anniversary of the photo club that promotes photography art in the country and beyond its borders. The club's participants are actively engaged in local and international photo contests. Since 2017, the photo club has been a member of the International Association of Art Photographers. In 2020, the Gilavar Photo Club became Azerbaijan's official representative at the association. ---- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 13 August 2024 10:24 (UTC+04:00) Nazrin Abdul Read more Chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC), Mazahir Panahov, addressed OSCE ODIHR observers, Azernews reports. The address was made during a meeting held by the commission on August 12. The CEC chairman stated that if shortcomings are not reported, they will be considered as nonexistent. According to him, over 50,000 local observers have registered for the parliamentary elections. Panahov emphasized that this number will exceed 90,000 once the parties submit their lists. Panahov also noted that 5,831 of these observers were registered with the CEC, while 44,868 were registered with the District Election Commissions (DECs). It should be noted that 267 international observers have been registered for the parliamentary elections scheduled for September 1. These international observers represent 29 organizations and 47 countries. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 13 August 2024 11:43 (UTC+04:00) Fatima Latifova Read more The GUAM observation mission will monitor Azerbaijans snap parliamentary elections scheduled for September 1, Azernews reports. The GUAM Secretariat announced that the five-member delegation will feature GUAM Secretary General Altay Efendiyev, Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada deputy Mykhailo Papiyev, Georgian MP David Matikashvili, and GUAM Secretariat coordinators Sabuhi Tamirov and Teimuraz Kiladze. Following the elections, the GUAM observer mission will publish a report detailing the outcomes. The elections have drawn considerable international attention, with 267 observers from 29 organizations and 46 countries registered to oversee the process. Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry has invited several international bodies to observe the elections, including OSCE ODIHR, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), GUAM, the Non-Aligned Movements Youth Network, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), and the Organisation of Turkic States. Additionally, 13 other international organizations, such as the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS, and the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic-speaking Countries (TURKPA), have also been invited. The snap elections follow a decree by President Ilham Aliyev on June 28, which dissolved the previous parliament. The elections, set for September 1, 2024, mark a significant moment in Azerbaijans legislative process. The countrys electoral system generally elects members for five-year terms, but a 2016 constitutional amendment allows for shortened terms in cases of snap elections, with future elections scheduled for the first Sunday in November five years after the snap vote. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Despite enduring a vicious, slur-filled assault in 2022, which was caught on camera, a Black Kentucky student chose grace over retaliation, simply declaring, "I forgive her". Kylah Spring was a University of Kentucky student employee who Sophia Rosing, also a student, assaulted when she was unable to enter a dorm without a student ID while intoxicated. Rosing pleaded guilty in Fayette County Circuit Court to four counts of fourth-degree assault, one count of disorderly conduct, and one count of alcohol intoxication. Spring was given the opportunity to speak to Rosing during mediation and took the high road following the slur-filled assault when she told LEX18, "I forgive her." Fred Peters, Rosing's attorney, said that Rosing has since quit drinking and learned how hurtful words can be. "She's extremely remorseful," Peters said. "She read a very heartfelt apology to Kylah during our mediation." However, Smith revealed that she does not believe Rosing is remorseful after attending the hearing. "I feel that a person who is remorseful takes actions that are moving towards proving they are remorseful," Spring said. "Not just words." Spring also stated in open court that Rosing did not mention the racial slurs she used against her. "I think her admitting at least a piece of what she's done-admitting the things she said and being able to own up to them-I think it's going to follow behind," Spring said. "Seeing yourself act in that light is not an easy thing to see, I imagine, so I guess there's still a bit of maturing and unpacking she needs to do with that. So I'll give her the space to do that." Rosing was also accused of assaulting an officer during the incident. Prosecutors have recommended a sentence of 12 months total for the charges, along with 100 hours of community service and a mandatory public service announcement for the university about the dangers of drinking. "I forgive her more so for myself," Spring told the news outlet. "I was raised not to hold grudges; I was raised that we give people forgiveness because God forgave us. It's a hard thing for me to come to terms with, but in the end, I want to live a life where people can say I was a kind and forgiving person." Spring has since founded an organization called The Spirit & Grace Project, aimed at creating opportunities, resources, and support for Black women in predominately white collegiate institutions. "I saw there was a lack of support there with what I went through, and I want to be able to give others the support that I don't think I was able to have," she explained. Rosing is scheduled for sentencing on October 17, 2024. 13 August 2024 14:31 (UTC+04:00) Fatima Latifova Read more Under the chairmanship of Mazahir Panahov, the Central Election Commission (CEC) convened for another meeting on Monday, Azernews reports. First, the applications submitted by the Citizens Labor Rights Protection League together with the Oracle Advisory Group (U.S.) and the Taraqqi Social Research Public Union together with SWG S.P.A. Research Company (Italy) were put to a vote and accepted. Subsequently, the commission reviewed queries received by the CEC regarding the snap parliamentary elections scheduled for September 1. The meeting, which included media representatives and members of the international observation mission, featured extensive discussions on applications and the adoption of related decisions. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 13 August 2024 08:00 (UTC+04:00) Uzbekistan and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) have explored potential avenues for deeper collaboration, Azernews reports. According to Uzbekistan's Transport Ministry, Ilham Makhkamov, the Uzbek Transport Minister, recently met with Hayashi Nobumitsu, JBIC Governor. The discussions focused on advancing Uzbekistan's transport infrastructure, including promising projects in road management and aviation with JBICs involvement. In April, Uzbekistan and JBIC also explored new socially significant international public-private partnership (PPP) projects aimed at modernizing drinking water supply and sewerage infrastructure. Additionally, the parties reviewed the potential for attracting investments from Japanese companies across various sectors of Uzbekistan's economy. As of July 2024, the portfolio of joint projects between Uzbekistan and JBIC has exceeded $3.7 billion. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 13 August 2024 19:22 (UTC+04:00) By Alimat Aliyeva India and Russia are working on concluding a deal worth INR 105 billion (more than $1.2 million) for the supply of nuclear fuel and essential components for two new Kudankulam NPP power units. The parties are also considering the possibility of a joint venture (JV) to produce fuel for nuclear power plants in India, Azernews reports. "India and Russia are working on concluding a deal worth 105 billion Indian rupees for the supply of nuclear fuel and basic components for two new power units of the Kudankulam NPP, which will be built with the help of Moscow," the newspaper writes, citing sources. The future agreement provides for "the supply by the Russian fuel company TVEL in the period from 2025 to 2033 of the initial batches and the next five loads for power units 3 and 4 of the Kudankulam project, as well as a set of control rods and fuel assemblies," the sources said. In addition, according to them, the possibility of creating a joint Russian-Indian enterprise with the participation of TVEL to produce nuclear fuel for nuclear power plants in India is being considered. Kudankulam nuclear power plant is located in the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India. The project involves the construction of six power units with VVER-1000 reactors with an installed capacity of 6,000 MW. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 13 August 2024 19:45 (UTC+04:00) By Alimat Aliyeva Lithuanian Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste has signed a draft resolution proposing to allocate an additional 130 million euros this year for the purchase of necessary weapons systems, Azernews reports. Additional funds for the Ministry of Defense will be allocated from borrowed funds. "This year we will be able to accelerate various projects necessary for national defense to start purchasing drones, anti-drone and mobile air defense systems, radio stations, weapons and other purchases. Also, part of the funds will be used for the purchase of military equipment produced in Lithuania and indicated by Ukraine as missing," Skaiste said. It is noted that 20 million euros will be spent on accelerating the acquisition of various types of unmanned aircraft systems and training operators of these systems, 30 million euros - on the promotion and development of the acquisition of anti-drone systems and electromagnetic combat equipment. In addition, 10 million euros are planned to be allocated for the modernization of existing mobile anti-aircraft missile systems and the phased start of the acquisition of Piorun short-range mobile anti-aircraft missile systems, 20 million euros for equipping soldiers with individual weapons according to the modern (maneuverable) soldier program (firearms of various calibers, sights, night vision devices), another 20 million euros - to promote the acquisition of radio stations, etc. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 13 August 2024 20:27 (UTC+04:00) By Alimat Aliyeva The US government may supply Taiwan with the first launchers of HIMARS multiple rocket launchers as early as the end of 2024, Azernews reports In total, Taiwan has signed two agreements with the United States to purchase a total of 29 launchers. Deliveries of the first batch of 11 complexes will begin at the end of this year and will be completed in 2025. The remaining 18 launchers will be transferred by the end of 2026. The second batch is worth 32.5 billion new Taiwanese dollars (about 1 billion dollars) It will also include 864 conventional missiles and 84 MGM-140 ATACMS solid-fuel tactical ballistic missiles with a range of up to 300 km. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 13 August 2024 21:25 (UTC+04:00) By Alimat Aliyeva The contribution of renewable energy sources (RES) to the growth of the Turkish economy in the first half of this year alone amounted to 4.8 billion US dollars. The share of renewable energy sources in electricity generation in the country is constantly growing, Azernews reports. Thanks to renewable energy, the country's security in the energy sector is being strengthened, according to the ministry's message on the social network X. According to the information, due to renewable energy sources, in the first six months of this year, it was possible to reduce gas imports to the country by 14.5 billion cubic meters. The Turkish government previously stated that in the period up to 2035, it is planned to invest 73 billion dollars in the development of the renewable energy sector. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz A Tennessee dad accused in the hot car death of his infant daughter allegedly forgot to drop her off at her babysitter before going to work. Timothy Blackdeer, 35, has been charged with reckless homicide, aggravated child abuse and neglect, and driving on a revoked or suspended license, according to an arrest affidavit, WATE-TV reported. Officers pulled Blackdeer over Monday in Collegedale, Tennessee, after they allegedly witnessed him driving erratically with a baby in his arms. Blackdeer exited his vehicle and stated his daughter required medical attention. The officer, who noticed the baby was unresponsive and limp, took her to his patrol car, when three nurse practitioners approached and initiated unsuccessful lifesaving measures. The baby was pronounced dead at the hospital, according to WTVC-TV and the Chattanooga Times Free Press. During police questioning, Blackdeer explained he stopped by a babysitter's house in the morning, thinking he had dropped three of his youngest children off on his way to work, the affidavit read. The babysitter later texted the children's mother to let her know she only had two of their children. The mother allegedly assumed her infant stayed home with her older kids. It wasn't until hours later when she spoke to the kids that she realized they didn't have their youngest sibling, and she called her husband, according to authorities. At that moment around 3 p.m., he allegedly remembered that he left his daughter in his hot car all day while he was at work and ran out to find her unconscious. More Aurora Borealis Chances After This Morning's Stunning Display on Oregon Coast, Valley, Washington Published 8/12/24 at 7:55 p.m. By Andre' GW Hagestedt, Oregon Coast Beach Connection (Oregon Coast) Washington and Oregon may well get another good shot at those stunning northern lights tonight (Monday night), as the Space Weather Prediction Center in Colorado is saying the region is looking at another geomagnetic storm in the wee hours of August 13 (this coming a.m.). Among the incredible photos this morning were this one in Yachats, taken by Jacklyn Larsen Photography. G2 (Moderate) geomagnetic storming is likely on 13 Aug as CME passage and influences, which began on 11 Aug, continue, the center said on social. Areas like Portland, the Willamette Valley, southwest Washington and much of the Oregon coast are rather cloudy early this evening, and the forecast is generally for cloudy skies later tonight. The south Oregon coast is looking at better conditions, however. See Washington Coast Weather - Oregon Coast Weather In the overnight hours of this morning, many in Washington and Oregon caught some amazing photos of the aurora borealis. It was even visible with the human eye in many places which included Portland (Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff could see it from SW Portland). Outstanding photos were captured as far south as Port Orford. See the stunning collection of them in a companion story posted here soon. Jim Todd, astronomy expert at Portland's OMSI, is a little less optimistic in his predictions. Oregon Coast Beach Connection snagged this rather vague shot of the aurora in Portland at 3 a.m. You could just barely see the purple here with the naked eye, but in the corner are Jupiter and Mars (which will be squished together very close on Wednesday night). Will the auroral show continue for tonight?, Todd said. Before heading out, check both the aurora and local weather forecast. Looking at the current predictions, the chance of seeing the Northern Lights for Oregon (mid latitude 7KP or higher) indicates LOW 35 - 20% for 24 to 48 hours. See the aurora forecast link before heading out. Todd offered one example of the possible strength of the aurora borealis lights, noting that predictions are given in UTC time, which is 7 hours ahead of us here in Portland, Seattle, Salem, Eugene or Ashland. In the KP index, we see a maximum red column of 8 around 12:15UTC on Aug 12 which is 5:15 AM Pacific Time, Todd said. Photo in Damascus, Oregon - Kelly Misenhimer Smith Last night's photographs came at a time when the G4 storm (severe) category was reached, which the Space Weather Prediction Center said was possible last night but not for certain. The aurora prediction circle map shows Oregon is in the zone. Last night at 1 a.m., the center was showing Oregon out of the zone, but the region was hit heavily with the auroral display anyway about that time as well as plenty of meteor showers. This is a good night to check if you have clearer skies. Also Meteor Showers Begin Peak, Jupiter / Mars Conjunction for Oregon, Washington, Coast, Portland, Seattle Make sure you take some long exposures with your camera especially if you have pro equipment and a tripod. The aurora borealis often does not show up for the human eye but can be seen by cameras. Oregon Coast Hotels for this event - South Coast Hotels - Oregon Coast Vacation Rentals - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours MORE PHOTOS BELOW More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast. LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on Oregon Coast Beach Connection All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright Oregon Coast Beach Connection. Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted Mussels, Razor Clams Reopen on Majority of Oregon Coast Published 8/11/24 at 6:25 a.m. By Andre' GW Hagestedt, Oregon Coast Beach Connection (Lincoln City, Oregon) All of the central Oregon coast is back open to razor clam harvesting, although it remains closed from Port Orford south to the California border. Some areas have reopened for mussels as well. (Above: Coos Bay, where razor clamming is once again open) Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) announced late Friday they had once again opened up the region from Tillamook Head (Cannon Beach) down to Cape Blanco, just north of Port Orford. Cape Blanco southward remains closed because of high levels of domoic acid. Seaside and Warrenton are also still closed to razor clams. Razor clam harvesting also remains closed along Clatsop beaches for the annual conservation closure, ODFW said. Razor clam harvesting is now open from Tillamook Head to Cape Blanco and remains closed from Cape Blanco to the California border for high levels of domoic acid. Gathering mussels is back open again from the Washington coast down through Cape Blanco, but it is also closed south of there because of high levels of paralytic shellfish poison (PSP). ODFW said you should always call the Shellfish Safety Hotline (1-800-448-2474) before heading out to harvest shellfish on the Oregon coast or visit the ODA recreational shellfish biotoxin closures webpage . Current harvest closures and openings: Razor clams: Open from Tillamook Head to Cape Blanco. This includes the areas around Manzanita, Rockaway Beach, Tillamook Bay, Oceanside, Netarts Bay, Lincoln City, Newport, Yachats, Florence, Reedsport, Coos Bay and Bandon. See What is This Annoying Domoic Acid Stuff? And Why It's Affecting the Oregon / Washington Coast Mussels: Open from Washington border to Cape Blanco: this includes all the above towns as well as Warrenton and Seaside. Closed from Cape Blanco to the California border. Bay clams are open all around the Oregon coast, as is crabbing. Testing by ODA continues at least twice per month. Reopening an area closed for biotoxins requires two consecutive tests with results below the closure limit, ODFW said. MORE PHOTOS BELOW Oregon Coast Hotels in this area - South Coast Hotels - Oregon Coast Vacation Rentals - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours MORE PHOTOS BELOW PHOTO SEASIDE AQUARIUM More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast. LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on Oregon Coast Beach Connection All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright Oregon Coast Beach Connection. Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted The European Union has had the audacity to attempt to interfere in American politics by dictating what President Trump can or cannot say in his upcoming interview with Elon Musk on Twitter/X. This is an outrageous attack on America's First Amendment and our freedom of speech, and doing so in an election campaign makes it much much worse. Thierry Breton, the EU's censorship czar has wrtiten a letter to Elon Musk demanding that the EU be able to dictate what Trump is allowed to talk about in the interview. This is direct interference in our presidential election and should not be tolerated. https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2024/08/12/election-interference-eu-demands-musk-abide-by-censorship-diktats-during-trump-interview/ https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/eu-commission-tries-to-threaten-musk-into-censoring-trump-podcast/ https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/08/european-union-tyrants-send-letter-elon-musk-demand/ The American media no longer support freedom of speech. A reporter with the hard left Washington Post, now owned by leftwing oligarch Jeff Bezos, suggested to Karine Jean. Pierre at a White House press conference that Biden should take action to stop the Elon Musk interview with Trump. https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/08/washington-post-reporter-wants-joe-biden-intervene-stop/ Now, even a top German newspaper, Die Welt (The World) has published a lead editorial denouncing the EU move as "totalitarian censorship." https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2024/08/13/top-euro-paper-blasts-eus-bid-to-save-freedom-by-killing-freedom/ Hopefully, when President Trump is back in office, he will take strong action against the enemies of free speech. A good start would be to put everyone pushing censorship on an "enemies of freedom" list where they would be persona non grata, not allowed to travel to the US. Thierry Breton should be the first name on the list. There should also be legiislation to allow any American censored by a foreign government to sue that foreign government in American courts. Now that Kamala Harris has been coronated the Democratic Socialist designee for nomination as their candidate for President of these United States, after that political party's contrived primary process "democratically" elected Joseph R. Biden: What are your feelings about this party's progressive posture within their self-styled exercise of "Saving Democracy for America," and how truly critical the outcome of this presidential election will be? 8.7% I am ecstatic that this "Democracy's" First partially Black, First partially Indian, First female Co-Parent, and this nation's primary necessity is to her elect our First woman president.26.09% I really do not care about all these "Firsts." I will continue to pray, and work for this Representative Republic to elect someone competent, and brilliantly patriotic to be our next president.65.22% I will never vote for any politician that "first" does not have the core values to understand how dire this Constitutional Republic's situation has become. The Washington Examiner reports: Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) may have been a social studies teacher, but he would have failed Constitutional Law 101, especially the part about the First Amendment. Theres no guarantee to free speech on misinformation or hate speech and especially around our democracy, Walz said on MSNBC in December 2022, which would be news to the Supreme Court, which unanimously held as recently as 2017 that speech that demeans on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, disability, or any other similar ground is still protected by the First Amendment. Walzs impulse to censor speech he does not like is most definitely shared by his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris, who pushed for Twitter and Facebook to censor then-President Donald Trump even before the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. In Iowa, on Oct. 19, 2019, Harris told Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg, This is not a matter of free speech. This is a matter of holding corporate America and these Big Tech companies responsible and accountable for what they are facilitating. Harriss anti-free speech position was so extreme that even Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) pushed back, saying she wanted to kick Trump only out of the White House, not off social media. But politburo secretariat officer Kamala did not back down. Im calling on everyone to join me, she said. By 2019, Harris already had a well-established history of using government power to silence voices she does not like. As attorney general of California, Harris demanded that select conservative nonprofit organizations turn over sensitive IRS documents that revealed the identities of their donors. She claimed she needed the information to combat fraud in the nonprofit sector, but she failed to identify one case in which the collection of data assisted an actual fraud investigation. In a complete coincidence, Harriss office then posted the private data online, an incident that she claimed was purely accidental. The Supreme Court ruled against Harris, holding that her efforts to intimidate conservative voices by abusing IRS power violated the First Amendment. Harriss war on the First Amendment does not end there. As a senator, she attacked judicial nominees for mere membership in the Catholic fraternal organization, the Knights of Columbus. Were you aware that the Knights of Columbus opposed a womans right to choose when you joined the organization? Harris grilled Judge Brian Buescher. The implication of her line of questioning clearly was that merely being a member of a charitable organization that has conservative views disqualified one from public service. When Democrats such as Walz and Harris use the word misinformation, what they really mean is any information that Democrats dont like. When the Global Disinformation Index made up a list of conservative websites that advertisers should avoid because they spread misinformation, included on that list was this very publication. Our crime? Accurately reporting on an American Family Survey poll that found conservative women were happier with their family life than liberal women. Thats it. The Global Disinformation Index labeled that claim misogynistic disinformation. If elected, a Harris-Walz administration would declare all-out war on the First Amendment under the guise of fighting misinformation. It would browbeat social media platforms with the threat of antitrust enforcement to censor any information that was inconvenient for Democrats. It would weaponize the Department of Justice to go after not just pro-life demonstrators but any organization, such as the Knights of Columbus, that believes abortion is murder. And finally, a Harris-Walz administration would use and abuse the full power of the IRS to harass conservative organizations and bully conservative people. ********* Hattip to Steve Rader for sending us this piece. In 2024, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., have removed practice restrictions from certified registered nurse anesthetists, allowing them to practice independently with fewer physician oversight requirements. The decisions come as a shortage of anesthesia professionals is ongoing nationwide, forcing some facilities to cancel surgeries over a lack of providers. CRNAs currently administer more than 50 million anesthetics to patients in the U.S. every year, especially in rural areas, yet some states still continue to limit their scope of practice citing safety concerns. In addition, several schools are bolstering their CRNA training and licensing programs in an effort to counteract ongoing shortages. Melissa Picceri Croad, CRNA, APRN, who provides anesthesia services throughout Massachusetts and New Hampshire and serves as the government relations director for the Massachusetts Association of Nurse Anesthetists, spoke with Becker's about how CRNAs can serve their communities to alleviate shortages, fears around ongoing reimbursement cuts and ongoing safety concerns surrounding CRNAs' independent practice abilities. Question: Why are CRNAs necessary amid a growing anesthesia provider shortage? Melissa Picceri Croad: One of the things, especially in Massachusetts, it all goes back to practice models. There is a perceived shortage of anesthesia providers between CRNAs and physicians. If physician anesthesiologists are working in practice models where they are not personally administering anesthesia and instead are supervising CRNAs, they are contributing to the shortages. If they stopped supervising nurse anesthetists, who do not need supervision, and started actually providing anesthesia themselves, then that would help alleviate the perceived shortage. In other words, until and unless every provider is personally administering anesthesia at the top of their license, we don't really know what the true shortage is. There are currently more physician anesthesiologists retiring than entering into the profession. Right now, they are struggling to keep up with the demand. Nurse anesthetists are not as bad, and we are putting out way more young talent and opening up way more training programs across the country. In the last year, two or three more programs have opened. Our numbers are not quite as bad as physicians. When we talk about shortages, practice models are often creating perceived shortages. Q: Some physician groups have expressed safety concerns over CRNAs practicing unsupervised. Do you share those concerns or see any in the workplace? MCP: There have been numerous studies showing that nurse anesthetists' outcomes are the same as physician anesthesiologists. It's already happening CRNAs are already working independently. If we were unsafe and killing people, we would know it. My response to that would be, "Where are we stuffing the bodies?" The best study is the status quo. CRNAs are already working independently everywhere and we just don't see a problem with that. Especially in the rural areas. In big Western states with large rural areas like Nebraska and Montana, they are receiving care from about 99% CRNAs. It is hard for me to qualify where they are coming from with safety concerns when this type of care is happening all day every day. Q: What other trends are you keeping an eye on in the anesthesia space? MCP: We're carefully watching staffing shortages versus perceived shortages. We are watching the number of new CRNAs coming out into practice to fill any voids. We are seeing, across the country, the trend away from traditional ratio staffing models, because they are expensive and inefficient. The Northeast in general is notoriously behind on trends and has historically been a very restrictive environment for all advanced practitioners, not just CRNAs. The trend really is turning away from traditional supervisory models, where a physician supervises a set number of CRNAs every day, and turning more to collaborative practice. In Massachusetts, we do not really see this happening yet. We are still very physician led in many places, but there is an organization that took a contract in New Hampshire and CRNAs are crossing the state lines in search of better work environments. Here, we're not restricted and we can utilize and provide the care that we have been trained to give. I come up here about 20 hours a week and work here and it's a dream. It's a wonderful environment where we have wonderful physician anesthesiologists that we work together with. They administer, we administer and we collaborate with each other in an open environment to do what is best for patients. That's a really important trend we are hoping will become more and more normalized. Q: How are recent cuts of CRNA reimbursements poised to impact the industry? MCP: Reimbursements for nurse anesthesia services are being reduced, and this is not a good trend to see. I provide the same service as a physician anesthesiologist, but somehow my services are only worth 85% of whatever the fee schedule is negotiated for physicians. On its face, people say, "Well, I am a physician and you're not." Am I only giving 85% of an anesthetic? Also, you have to think about the consumer. Are they getting a 15% discount if they come to an all CRNA practice? They're still getting 100% of the care and the cost. The other thing about reimbursements is it's not like reimbursements come to me and that's my paycheck. It'll go to the business entity. Reimbursements go to whatever entity where you are employed. Hospitals still have to run their anesthesia departments at cost, yet if certain providers are getting fewer reimbursements, they are at an operating loss as well. An inmate convicted of murder escaped a prison van that was transporting him to an appointment at Hillsborough, N.C.-based UNC Gastroenterology, according to an Aug. 13 report from the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald. Ramone Alston, who is serving a life sentence at the Bertie Correctional Institution, escaped from custody around 7 a.m. on Aug. 13 when the prison transport van arrived at UNC Gastroenterology. Mr. Alston was convicted of first-degree murder in a 2015 death. Deputies in the county are using dogs to search a wooded area near the hospital, as well as a helicopter, according to the report. Traverse City, Mich.-based Munson Healthcare has added two new ASCs to its network, representing a $30 million investment. The new facilities will operate as joint ventures with local surgeons and will enable the health system to free up operating room capacity at its hospitals for higher acuity cases that require overnight stays. The ASCs will be located near Munson Healthcare Cadillac (Mich.) Hospital and Otsego Memorial Hospital in Gaylord, Mich. The health system is investing $15 million in each facility, a spokesperson told Becker's. The Cadillac ASC is slated to open in 12 months, while the Gaylord location is set to open in about 18 months. The additions bring Munson Healthcare's network of ouptatient surgery centers to three. "We recognized a need for outpatient surgical centers and determined that Cadillac and Gaylord were the optimal geographic locations to enhance access to high-quality, low-cost regional healthcare services, given their proximity to our regional hospitals," Laura Glenn, COO at Munson Healthcare, said in a news release. "Were excited to offer a partnership opportunity with local surgeons and to bring advanced surgical services closer to home for residents." As more services shift from inpatient to outpatient settings, many health systems have recently invested in strategic partnerships and joint ventures to develop or manage ASCs as a way to grow and increase ambulatory market share. It may not be worth filing a claim against insurance companies in Justice (Small Claims) Court. Photo provided/David Talukdar/Getty Images Q: I have a $640 claim against two major insurance companies and I am certain I would prevail in small claims court. What do you think my chances are of ever collecting on a judgment in my favor, plus court fees and a small amount for all the time and hassle pursuing this? Are there any powers of enforcement in Texas? A: Rather than go to justice court (often called small claims court), you should first file a complaint with the Texas Department of Insurance. Go to tdi.texas.gov, then click on consumers, and then File a complaint. You can also call the Office of Public Insurance Counsel at 877-611-6742 to seek their assistance. They are an official state agency that represents Texas consumers in insurance matters. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Filing a lawsuit in justice court should be a last resort. You may quickly find yourself challenged by teams of attorneys. You cant sue for your time and hassle, and if you take that route, you will definitely have a lot of both of those. Whether you would be able to win or collect is unclear. Q: I own land and a home with no mortgage in Texas. Will I lose my homestead exemption and over-65 tax exemption if I put my two daughters names on the property as a way to avoid probate? They are equal beneficiaries on all of my accounts and other assets. A: Yes, you will lose part of your homestead exemption if you give them each (presumably) a one-third ownership interest in your home. Of course, there are other problems as well, such as what happens if one of them dies before you do, if one or both of them gets married and divorced, or if one or both of them has creditor issues. Rather than give them an ownership interest in your home, you should either use a Transfer on Death Deed to give them the property when you die, or you should meet with an attorney to explore other ways to avoid probate. If you decide to use a Transfer on Death Deed, you can draft one yourself with forms available at texaslawhelp.org. If you meet with an attorney, you might also be given the option to do a Lady Bird Deed or a Revocable Trust. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Columbus-based OhioHealth is spending $17.2 million to improve the surgical facilities at OhioHealth O'Bleness Hospital, which performed more than 3,000 surgeries last year. The capital investment will be used to update surgical suites, operating rooms, the post anesthesia care unit, sterile processing area and other support and storage areas. OhioHealth said it has invested more than $50 million in the Athens, Ohio, hospital since it joined the system in 2014. In recent years, OhioHealth added a new ICU, expanded the hospital's emergency department, transitioned the hospital to the CareConnect EHR and built a new medical office building. "The project reflects progress toward our goals of keeping care local and creating a regional hub for specialty services," LeeAnn Lucas-Helber, president of the hospital, said in an Aug. 13 news release. "The investment in these facilities will enable us to keep more surgical care local and provide an improved experience for our surgery patients." Construction is anticipated to be completed in January 2026. More than 300 hospitals have started hospital-at-home programs, but critics question how effective they are, The Wall Street Journal reported Aug. 13. At-home care began as a nationwide experiment during the pandemic when hospitals were overcrowded. Regulators allowed hospitals to temporarily care for Medicare patients at home who are stable enough to be home but sick enough to need hospital-level care, and still charge hospital-stay rates. The idea stuck after the pandemic ended and hospital finances rebounded, and the programs have attracted a range of healthcare organizations and technology companies. Despite growing popularity for the program among patients and hospitals, critics worry home-based services raise spending unnecessarily and reduce patient quality and safety. Patients who receive at-home care see a staff member twice a day for prescriptions, blood draws and to provide and monitor equipment that captures patients' vital signs and movement. Hospitals must meet a number of requirements to provide at-home care, including being able to reach patients in 30 minutes, send patients to the hospital if there are concerns, and report unexpected deaths and the percentage of patients who return to hospitals. But beyond that, the requirements for at-home treatments are broad, allowing hospitals leeway to decide how to set up their programs, the report said. More hospitals have relied on remote monitoring of patients rather than sending staff members, which some worry could affect quality of care. There is no standard for the technology, and hospitals argue that caring for patients at home creates logistical challenges for sending staff in person as well as sending equipment and medications. Although hospitals have to report some measures of patient care, such as unexpected deaths, there is no requirement for falls, infections and how frequently patients end up hospitalized twice within 30 days all measures that hospitals have to report. Hospitals also do not report on how easily patients can reach medical staff when needed, according to the Journal. Some critics are concerned that Medicare at-home patients were treated for about one day longer than those in hospitals. Longer stays mean higher costs, which could give hospitals an incentive to overuse the service. Patients at home also have fewer expensive labs and radiology services, federal data found. However, some systems push back on the concerns. Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham, which employs 250 staff members in its at-home program, said the system loses money on at-home patients. Driving between patients is less efficient than moving between beds, and medical staff in the program require higher training and higher wages. In the long run, at-home care may be more profitable for hospitals. And some patients prefer to receive treatment in the comfort of their homes. Overall, hospitals told the Journal that home-based medical care is safe and more comfortable for patients, adding that such programs open beds for patients with higher needs. However, Medicare will stop paying for at-home care after December unless Congress votes to continue the program. The American College of Surgeons has removed Flagstaff (Ariz.) Medical Center's Level 2 Trauma Center verification after an onsite review and renewal application. FMC, which is part of Flagstaff-based Northern Arizona Healthcare, must make five specific improvements, as a hospital can only be noncompliant with three or fewer standards to earn or maintain a verification status, according to an Aug. 9 statement from NAH shared with Becker's. The five citations for the hospital include: 1. Two standards for staffing in the trauma registrars record-keeping role. The hospital is currently experiencing an industry wide challenge with a trauma registrars shortage. 2. Two standards for documentation standards pertaining to when specific surgeons were called to care for patients, the time the surgeons arrived and how long it took for them to get to the hospital. The hospital has already implemented new processes to ensure the documentation happens, the statement said. 3. One standard for performance improvement and patient safety. "Our process for following up on issues needs to better define system issues and their resolution, we are already implementing new processes to ensure this occurs," the statement said. The issues are being resolved so the hospital can submit a new application with anticipation that ACS will conduct a new survey and restore the hospital's Level 2 status. FMC remains a Level 1 Trauma Center, as designated by the Arizona Department of Health Services. The state's health department will closely monitor the hospital's progress and plans to retain the designation. A McLaren Health Care employee claimed staff were told they must use their paid time off to cover the days missed following the cyberattack that struck the organization on Aug. 6, Fox 2 Detroit reported. When IT disruptions began at McLaren, employees were instructed to shut down their computers, a worker told FOX 2. Staff were later given the option to either use their paid time off or go unpaid for the days missed though not all employees had enough PTO to cover their absences. "We need to use (our PTO) or we don't get paid," the anonymous worker told the publication. "Or we can file for unemployment." McLaren Health Care issued a statement to Fox 2, indicating that employees are now eligible to file for unemployment benefits. The hospital system also expressed its willingness to collaborate with staff members who are unable to work due to the cyberattack. This follows an Aug. 12 update from McLaren, in which the health system said it is in the process of fully restoring operations. Some of McLaren's emergency departments remain on ambulance diversion for certain conditions. Becker's reached out to McLaren for comment and will update the story if more information is learned. Healthcare groups, unions and hospitals are weighing in on a proposed bill in California that would strengthen review of private equity deals in healthcare. California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Jim Wood introduced the bill in February. It remains pending in the state Legislature. If passed, the bill would require private equity groups and hedge funds to notify the attorney general and obtain their written consent before a transaction with a healthcare facility, provider or provider group. It would also reinforce the existing prohibition on private equity groups and hedge funds interfering with the professional judgment of physicians, psychiatrists, or dentists in making healthcare decisions. The California Hospital Association opposes the bill, saying it would add costs to the state and reduce healthcare access. "Unfortunately, the recently proposed amendments do not resolve CHA's concerns and create new questions," the group wrote in an Aug. 9 letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee. The letter states that the amendments do not remove hospitals from the bill and "go beyond private equity groups and hedge funds by imposing a new AG review process on nonprofit hospitals." The California Medical Association supports provisions of the bill that maintain the autonomy and integrity of the patient-physician relationship in medical decision-making. The association wrote to lawmakers in support, stating: "Given the dangerous consequences PE has on cost, quality and access to care for all Californians, CMA respectfully requests that the bill move forward to ensure appropriate review of PE transactions and protect the patient-physician relationship against private equity in the healthcare delivery system." Other groups supporting the legislation include the California Academy of Family Physicians, California Dental Association, California Nurses Association, California Physicians Alliance and California Labor Federation. Other groups opposing the legislation include American Investment Council, Association of Dental Support Organizations and the California Chamber of Commerce. Editor's note: This article was updated at 11:03 a.m. CDT on Aug. 14. Amid recent transactions and acquisitions, some health systems have readjusted their leadership teams. Here are three systems that have recently appointed new leadership or are recruiting talent. 1. Davis Health System The Elkins, W.Va.-based system joined Charleston, W.Va.-based Vandalia Health in December. Vance Jackson, president and CEO of Davis Health, retired, a spokesperson confirmed in July. The 17-hospital system named former CEO Mark Doak its interim president. Other Davis Health changes included Kathy Sturm, RN, and Jon Steen exiting from their former chief nursing officer and vice president of human resources roles, respectively. "We are in the process of recruiting to replace these positions, as well as the president of Davis Health System, as it is important to have local leadership who are invested in the community that we serve," a health system spokesperson said. 2. Novant Health The Winston-Salem, N.C.-based system also made changes to both its executive team and its portfolio this year. The health system bought three South Carolina hospitals from Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare for $2.4 billion in February. In the past year, Novant Health has named and promoted top leadership. Appointments include: John Gizdic, COO Alice Pope, CFO Kim Henderson, chief administrative officer Sanjeev Sah, chief information security officer Onyeka Nchege, chief digital and information officer Sanjay Gupta, chief transformation officer Pam Oliver, MD, chief medical officer "As healthcare continues to evolve rapidly, so does the need to evaluate the talent and skills needed to lead Novant Health into the future," Carl Armato, president and CEO of Novant Health, said in a May news release. "These updates on our executive team display our capacity to build the expertise, rigor, creativity and capabilities required to deliver remarkable outcomes for our patients and the communities we serve." 3. West Virginia University Health System The Morgantown-based health system has also tapped multiple hospital leaders this year, while Weirton (W.Va.) Medical Center signed a letter to join WVU Medicine in March. Its hospital leadership gains include the following: Melissa Wilson will join Freestone Medical Center in Plano, Texas, as its next CEO on Aug. 19. Most recently, she was CEO of Concho County Hospital in Eden, Texas. She has spent more than 24 years in healthcare, including over a decade in administrative and executive positions. Ms. Wilson succeeds John Yeary, who is retiring after a six-year tenure as CEO of Freestone Medical Center, which is operated and managed by Community Hospital Corporation. The Alice Walton School of Medicine in Bentonville, Ark., continues to firm out its leadership ranks as it prepares to welcome its inaugural class of students next year. Most recently, the school has recruited Yolangel Hernandez Suarez, MD, to serve as executive vice dean. Dr. Hernandez Suarez's appointment is effective in October, according to an Aug. 12 news release. Over the past two decades, she has held leadership positions in private, public, academic and hospital settings across the Miami area. She will join Walton Medical School from Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine in Miami, where she serves as senior associate dean for student affairs. Dr. Hernandez Suarez was also the founding chief medical officer of Humana's care delivery unit, where she led a team in delivering care to more than 100,000 seniors across three states under a value-based model. "Her track record of building high-performing teams in medical education, university settings and hospital environments provides vital expertise to ensure the school takes significant steps in reaching its strategic goals," said Sharmila Makhija, MD, who was named founding dean and CEO of the medical school in 2023. In April, Walton Medical School appointed several other faculty and administrative leaders. Alice Walton, daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton, founded the four-year medical school in 2021. The MD program aims to "enhance traditional medical education with the arts, humanities and whole health principles," including a focus on self-care and well-being, according to the school's founders. The school plans to welcome its inaugural class of 48 students in the fall of 2025. Hospital workers represented by SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa have reached a tentative labor agreement with CHI St. Joseph's Health in Park Rapids, Minn., averting a potential strike. The agreement between the hospital and the union came Aug. 10, according to an Aug. 12 news release from SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa shared with Becker's. Members will vote on the agreement in the next week, the union said. The deal includes: 1. Market adjustment raises, including raises over 10% for most workers and some who will receive up to 19% above current wages. 2. Additional 4.5% raises in the second and third years of the agreement. 3. A ratification bonus of $250 and retroactive pay back to July 1. Nearly 50 hospital workers had planned to strike for two days starting Aug. 13. The contract for the group including roles such as certified nursing assistants, home health aides, surgical techs, secretary, reception, cook and pharmacy tech expired June 30, according to the release. CHI St. Joseph's Health is part of the Midwest Division of Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health. The hospital was not immediately available for comment. Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita has dropped a lawsuit against IU Health and IU Healthcare Associates, alleging that the Indianapolis-based academic medical center neglected to train its employees and safeguard personal health information after a physician spoke to the media about a 10-year-old girl's abortion. Mr. Rokita's office filed the lawsuit Sept. 15, alleging that IU Health and IU Healthcare Associates failed to properly report, review and enforce HIPAA and Indiana law violations. The lawsuit came about a year after the patient and her mother visited an IU Health hospital to terminate the child's pregnancy, which resulted from rape. The attorney general's office contended that after the abortion, IU Health physician Caitlin Bernard, MD, violated the patient's privacy at a political rally. In May 2023, the Indiana Medical Licensing Board found that Dr. Bernard violated HIPAA and the Indiana patient confidentiality rule. Experts in the medical field disagreed with the board's finding, and IU Health's own probe found Dr. Bernard did not violate privacy law, according to the Indianapolis Star. A notice of voluntary dismissal filed Aug. 7 in federal court states that IU Health filed a motion to dismiss the case in November 2023, which was granted in June 2024. The state then filed an amended complaint in July. "The initial and amended complaints were filed under the State's long held and critically important interest in protecting the health and welfare of its residents and those that receive healthcare within its borders, including the protection of an individual's medical privacy," the notice stated. Mr. Rokita's office wrote in the filing that it has verified that IU Health has undertaken the various actions since July 1, 2022 the day the child's story was published by the Star "all in satisfaction of the deficiencies claimed in the attorney general's complaint and amended complaint." Those actions include training employees to avoid talking about patients in public areas; notifying employees they are required to contact public relations staff before communication so management can verify patient authorization; and conducting employee training on what constitutes protected health information, according to a news release from Mr. Rokita's office. In a statement shared with Becker's, IU Health maintained that it did not violate HIPAA and acknowledged that the attorney general's complaints were dismissed. "However, we are disheartened by the suggestions made in the Indiana attorney general's notice of dismissal that implied corrective action was required by IU Health," the health system said. "IU Health has and will continue to maintain its robust HIPAA compliance policies and training for its team members, as it has for years." Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, left, sits with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on May 8, 2023. Angela Piazza/Associated Press CEO of Tesla Motors Elon Musk speaks at the Tesla Giga Texas manufacturing "Cyber Rodeo" grand opening party, in Austin, Texas, on April 7, 2022. Suzanne Cordeiro, HO / TNS Elon Musk is proving himself a hypocrite when it comes to free speech, behaving like a spoiled billionaire and mobilizing an army of attorneys to bankrupt his critics with costly lawsuits for complaining about his reprehensible behavior. This form of lawfare has a special name: Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, and they are an insidious form of censorship. While Musk claims the universal right to incite civil war during riots in the United Kingdom, he punishes researchers and executives who threaten his profits by speaking out. The worlds wealthiest Texan scored a significant legal victory last week after Twitter, now known as X, filed suit against the nonprofit Global Alliance for Responsible Media, its sponsor, the World Federation of Advertisers, and several major corporations. Advertisement Article continues below this ad WFA and advertisers formed the alliance in 2019 to ensure their marketing did not appear alongside violent, hateful or illicit social media. Advertisers pulled their ads from X after Musk lifted content moderation rules and started reposting controversial content in 2022. Musk also told a business conference that the advertisers who didnt like his policies could go (expletive) themselves. After Xs revenues fell by half, and advertisers did not return, Xs chief executive, Linda Yaccarino, filed an antitrust suit in Wichita Falls, where a judge sympathetic to Musk is guaranteed to hear the case, alleging illegal collusion. The WFA and the alliance denied its members did anything illegal. However, the alliance folded within days of Xs suit because the organization did not have enough cash to fight Musk, whos worth $223 billion. Yaccarino celebrated the alliances demise: This is an important acknowledgment and a necessary step in the right direction. I am hopeful that it means ecosystem-wide reform is coming. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Wealthy corporations and individuals know their attorneys can destroy the average person or a nonprofit simply by launching a complex lawsuit and employing legal tactics that force their opponent to spend huge sums on attorneys. Attorneys call it lawfare because the goal isnt necessarily to win the case but to destroy or silence their clients critics. Musk loves lawfare. Last July, X sued the Center for Countering Digital Hate after researchers documented how hate speech on X rose after Musk took over. A federal judge in California dismissed the suit in March on First Amendment grounds. In November, X sued Media Matters, a left-of-center nonprofit, for publishing data showing corporate ads were appearing next to antisemitic material. Musk promised a thermonuclear lawsuit against Media Matters and its backers for what he called misleading research. Musks lawyers filed the latest suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Wichita Falls, where Reed OConnor is the only judge. The Houston native graduated from the South Texas College of Law Houston, was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2007, and has developed quite the reputation. OConnor agreed with Attorney General Ken Paxton in 2015 that the Obama administration could not extend federal family leave benefits to married same-sex couples. In 2018, he declared the entire Affordable Care Act unconstitutional. Appellate courts reversed OConnor in those cases. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In 2022, he ruled against the U.S. Navys vaccine requirements and, last month, blocked the Biden administration from enforcing new anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ students. While most federal judges would have thrown out the Media Matters case on First Amendment grounds, as the California judge did, OConnor is forcing the social media watchdog to spend tens of thousands of dollars preparing for a preliminary hearing. Thats when Musks attorneys decided to file the new World Federation of Advertisers suit in the same court. Even if X loses cases, the lawfare will financially weaken Media Matters and intimidate corporations to remain silent about Musks frequent promotion of hate speech. Hence the name Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. They employ fear of litigation to censor. Musk could not get away with such suits in Texas' state courts. The Legislature passed the Texas Citizens Participation Act in 2011, which protects us from state lawsuits seeking to intimidate or keep us from speaking our minds. Advertisement Article continues below this ad If a Texan exercises their right to free speech to criticize something happening in their community, and someone tries to sue them, Texas judges may use the act to immediately dismiss the suit and force the plaintiff to pay attorneys fees. St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital has filed an appeal in a case made famous by a Netflix documentary. However, a loss could prove costly for the organization, Tampa Bay Times reported Aug. 12. On Aug. 2, All Children's filed an appeal in Florida's 2nd District Court, seeking to overturn a $208 million judgment awarded to the Kowalski family by Sarasota Circuit Judge Hunter Carroll. The lawsuit, originating from a 2018 case, involves claims of wrongful death, emotional distress and false imprisonment related to the hospital's reporting of suspected child abuse. The appeal could be costly for All Children's. According to the Times, if the appeal fails, the health system would be liable for the award plus interest, which is accruing at approximately $60,000 per day. Additionally, appeals are generally reviewed by a three-judge panel, and resolving a case with extensive briefs, motions and documents could take until next year. The appeal stems from a 2023 verdict where a jury awarded the Kowalskis over $261 million. The case gained widespread attention through the Netflix documentary "Take Care of Maya," which has garnered nearly 14 million views. A New York state Supreme Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit against New York City-based Mount Sinai to keep its Beth Israel hospital open, moving the hospital one step closer to a planned closure following conditional approval from the New York Department of Health. The Community Coalition to Save Beth Israel Hospital and the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary filed the lawsuit in early February that alleged the health system intentionally removed employees and services from Beth Israel and the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary to sell real estate and assets. "We are pleased the judge has dismissed the case," a spokesperson for Mount Sinai said in a statement shared with Becker's. "We will work with the Department of Health and the community to ensure a safe and smooth transition consistent with the approved closure plan." In an Aug. 13 employee update, shared with Becker's, Brendan Carr, MD, CEO of Mount Sinai said that while the lawsuit dismissal is a "significant milestone," a new lawsuit had been filed the evening of Aug. 12 challenging the health department's decision. He also shared that a closure date is not finalized, but that health system will continue to update employees on as new information becomes available. "I mostly believe that he [the judge] understands that if he doesn't sign the TRO [temporary restraining order] and the hospital closes, there's no putting humpty dumpty back together again," Arthur Schwartz, lead counsel for the coalition, told Becker's on Aug. 13 regarding the newly submitted lawsuit. Geriatric care has been in the spotlight for being understaffed and in high demand. And a new movement is pushing hospitals and nursing facilities to work harder to treat dementia patients. The shortcomings of geriatric care were first brought to light in the 1970s and 1980s by Robert Butler, MD, who noticed gaps in his education when caring for older adults, the complex needs of this patient group and the lack of training physicians received. However, little progress has been made. By 2034, the number of adults 65 and older is expected to grow 40%, yet the geriatric care field is already short-staffed. There are fewer than 7,300 physicians who are board-certified geriatricians. This means there is about 1 geriatrician for every 10,000 older adults in the U.S., and few residents are entering geriatric care. In 2023, fewer than 42% of geriatric medicine fellowship positions were filled. Nursing homes have also struggled to provide enough care hours per day an even more difficult feat for many facilities with the new CMS hour requirements that went into effect this year. Some systems are working to address this need for care on a state and system level. For example, Biddeford, Maine-based University of New England received nearly $5 million to educate and train Maine's healthcare workforce in geriatric care. However, CMS and other organizations have taken a special interest in dementia care in recent months with new care models. Addressing dementia In July, CMS launched a dementia care program that will be piloted by 400 organizations. The Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience Model focuses on comprehensive, coordinated care designed to improve the lives of people with dementia, reduce strain on their unpaid caregivers and enable people with dementia to remain in their homes, according to the agency's website. It is a voluntary, nationwide model that began July 1 and will run for eight years. The program will also test alternative Medicare payments for delivering key services, including comprehensive, person-centered assessments and care plans, care coordination and 24/7 access to a support line. The program will include care navigators and nonclinical services such as meals and transportation. This program has been years in the works with systems such as Charlotte, N.C.-based Advocate Health studying different dementia care models to help inform CMS' new program. The focus on dementia care has been due to a growing need among patients and families over the past couple of decades, Mia Yang, MD, associate professor of gerontology and geriatric medicine at Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Wake Forest University School of Medicine, told Becker's. "The payment model of GUIDE has allowed a lot of widespread interest in terms of implementing evidence based dementia care models," she said. "And in parallel, the development of new Alzheimer's drugs has really brought earlier diagnosis and detection of dementia and mild cognitive impairment to the forefront." In the last few years, hospitals have focused on ways to reduce hospitalizations. Some have launched at-home programs and others have turned to disease-specific care to reduce care needs. "That's what GUIDE is trying to do, prevent negative, potentially avoidable hospitalizations and inpatient use," Dr. Yang said. Experts have high hopes for the GUIDE Model, but it will be several years until results come in. What is needed next Experts said CMS' GUIDE Model is a good first step in shifting the way dementia is treated by supporting other payment models, but there is more to be done. "We want CMS to continue to focus on things like telehealth and recognize that there are other ways to engage patients other than traditional brick-and-mortar clinical visits," Jennifer Houlihan, vice president of policy and research application and enterprise population health at Advocate Health, told Becker's. "I think GUIDE is a great first step, and I would like to see more of that nontraditional thinking incorporated by CMS going forward, as well as from other payers." Dr. Yang added that building and supporting more community partnership with organizations that are already caring for this population is another worthwhile element. "We could all work better together in screening for social determinants of health and sharing resources, whether financial or infrastructure, with community organizations that deliver much-needed community-based care," Dr. Yang said. There could also be more done to support the informal caregivers, such as family members and friends, who help those with dementia. "Patients and their families often pay out of pocket for this care because these caregivers are not necessarily licensed certified nurse assistants, but they are the people the person with dementia trusts to be in their home," Dr. Yang said. "For people to actually use respite services both for the caregiver and the patient living with dementia they need the flexibility to use respite payments for someone who may not be certified but is still providing a service." Although burnout is down among healthcare professionals, its persistence still garners attention and solutions from systems. Physician burnout fell from 53% in 2022 to 48.2% in 2023, according to a July 2024 report by the American Medical Association. Emergency medicine physicians saw the highest rates of any specialty, at 56.5% in 2023 and 62% in 2022. Here are four methods four hospitals and health systems are using to address workforce burnout. 1. Ambient documentation At Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham, a large share of burnout stems from documentation burdens, Rebecca Mishuris, MD, told Becker's in July. The hospital addressed this issue by expanding its ambient documentation program to include more than 900 physicians. Success is measured by monitoring documentation burden and burnout levels, Dr. Mishuris said. 2. Designated spaces Some systems have created spaces for workers to decompress. One is Michigan State University Health in Lansing, which created a "ZenDen" for nurses to utilize wellness services such as yoga classes and nutrition counseling, according to an Aug. 8 news release from the system. The space was funded by the Nurse Health and Wellness Grant from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Nursing Program. Seven in 10 nurse practitioners feel burnout and/or depression, with one in eight saying it is so severe they might leave medicine, according to a recent survey from Medscape. 3. Telehealth Northwest Permanente in Portland, Ore., utilizes telehealth visits to focus on patient care and the physician shortage compounded by post-pandemic burnout, its CEO Leong Koh, MD, told Becker's. The hospital also saves physicians time by using AI to triage incoming messages and point patients to the best team member. 4. University partnerships At Dayton, Ohio-based Premier Health, its chief medical officer, Roberto Colon, MD, told Becker's that partnerships are key to addressing burnout. Burnout can affect the workforce pipeline and steer future professionals away from one career path to another, he said. The system's affiliation agreement with Dayton-based Wright State University allows it to improve workforce developments. "For us, it's going to be able to help develop a local pipeline of nurses, physicians, PAs, NPs and respiratory therapists that are going to help further support all of the growing patient needs that we're going to continue to have," Dr. Colon said. Latvian flag carrier airBaltic is the biggest customer in Europe for the A220-300, the wings of which are made in Belfast Latvian airline airBaltic has confirmed a further order for 10 A220-300s, the wings of which are made in Belfast. airBaltic is the biggest customer for the Airbus aircraft in Europe, and the worlds biggest operator of the larger-form A220-300. In total, the Latvian flag carrier has now ordered 90 A220, including 50 A220-300s. It was its first customer in 2016, when the aircraft was launched by Canadian manufacturer Bombardier as the C-Series. However, the C-Series was later sold by Bombardier to Airbus, and relaunched as the A220. Martin Gauss, president and CEO of airBaltic, said: For the first time in the companys history, airBaltic plans to operate a fleet of close to 100 A220-300 aircraft, and these exercised options are the next step in the right direction. "Over the years, this aircraft type has proven its operational capabilities and value it has been the backbone of our operations and has played an integral role in the international success story of airBaltic. "By exercising these options, we are strengthening our unwavering support and trust in the A220 programme and are looking forward to our fleet expansion over the upcoming years. Benoit de Saint-Exupery, executive vice president sales of Airbuss commercial aircraft business, said: We are honoured and thankful that airBaltic is placing its fourth follow-up order. "This latest agreement from Latvias flag carrier is a strong endorsement of the superior value and operational opportunities offered by this latest generation aircraft. The A220 is described as the most modern airliner in its class, carrying between 120 to 150 passengers on flights of up to 3,600 nautical miles. The east Belfast plant where A220 wings and fuselage are manufactured is owned by US company Spirit AeroSystems, which is being taken over by Boeing. In a side deal, Airbus is to acquire the A220 programmes in Belfast. Bombardier is expected to re-acquire the remainder of the Spirit AeroSystems operation, with the company due to visit Northern Ireland this month. Around 40% of the operation is engaged in Airbus work. On Tuesday, Airbus declined to comment on the progress of the deal though in a statement to the Financial Times last month, it said: "While Airbus is focusing its acquisition on the most critical work packages that directly concern Airbus programmes, at this stage, no operational decisions have been made as to how we would manage these work packages. It is our intention to work with the UK Government and Northern Ireland Executive to stabilise and improve Spirit's operations to develop aerospace skills and the supply chain and ensure we can support the long-term ramp-up of Airbus programmes." A spokeswoman for Spirit AeroSystems in Belfast said: "We are evaluating options for our other Belfast operations. "Meanwhile, we continue to operate business as usual across our sites and remain focused on providing the best quality products to all our customers." A Belfast-based design studio has launched a new initiative that converts used textiles destined for landfill into corporate merchandise. The expansion for Titanic Denim comes after the business participated in the government-backed Go Succeed enterprise programme. Titanic Denim was set up over a decade ago by Marie Nancarrow to turn discarded denim into items such as tote and messenger bags. Businesses such as Smiley Monroe, Survitec and Heron Bros have worked with Titanic Denim to create corporate goodies from items which would otherwise be thrown out. Laptop folders have been made from lorry tarpaulin curtains, while drawstring bags have been made from high-vis vests. Ms Nancarrow said: Titanic Denim has always been about promoting sustainability. And through our new initiative, Rescued, were partnering with businesses across NI to boost their sustainability too. For companies that have textile waste that might normally go to landfill, whether it is old uniforms, post-production material or deadstock, we can give the material a new life by transforming it into merchandise or other new products that can be reused in the business. Go Succeed has opened doors, already taking my business to the next level. Ms Nancarrow took part in the Go Succeed programme for small businesses and entrepreneurs through Belfast City Council. Go Succeed has opened doors in that area, already taking my business to the next level. It was given a newfound confidence to move forward, and it has given me many opportunities to meet with new clients. The Kelvin is one of Formation Works' six co-working spaces in Belfast Co-working space, a form of office accommodation which has grown in popularity since the pandemic, is cheaper to rent in Northern Ireland compared to the UK as a whole, a report has said. CoworkingCafe, which monitors the market for co-working spaces, said dedicated co-working desks in NI cost 209 per month, 3% below the national median of 215. Alternatives to traditional offices have expanded since the pandemic, with the trend for hybrid working meaning that many companies no longer want to commit to long-term lets of large buildings. CoworkingCafe said the biggest provider in the market here was Formation Works, which holds nine office spaces in Northern Ireland. It has six co-working spaces in Belfast alone, out of 26 in the city, including Meadow House, near Lanyon Place, and The Kelvin, on Great Victoria Street. Outside Belfast, it has spaces in Armagh, Lisburn and Newtownards. The Kelvin is one of Formation Works' six co-working spaces in Belfast CoworkingCafe said: The co-working trend has been a major shaping force in the development of the post-pandemic work culture, and business hubs across the UK and Ireland have been quick to embrace the flexibility that these modern workspaces offer. Fuelled by the headway of remote and hybrid work models, co-working spaces have emerged as a compelling alternative not just to the home office for freelancers, but also to traditional office spaces as businesses strive to optimise costs and maintain flexibility. Other big players in NI, according to CoworkingCafe, include Craigavon Industrial Development Organisation (CIDO) and Blick Shared Studios, which have three co-working spaces each. Other examples in Belfast include Glandore, which operates Arthur House and Arthur Place, and Clockwise Belfast, which runs offices at River House and VenYou. VenYou runs Ascot House, Scottish Provident Building, Thomas House and Northern Court. CoworkingCafe said London was the UKs epicentre for co-working spaces, with almost 800, followed by Manchester. Bristol placed third with 52, outpunching other bigger cities. Dublin-based flexible-office business Glandore announced the opening of Arthur Place in Arthur Street in June, adding to its existing flexible space at Arthur House. Speaking at the time, Glandore director Clare Kelly said: The office market has changed dramatically in recent years and we are seeing a huge growing demand for flexible workspaces designed to suit individual company needs rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. Global software provider Intapp is the latest company to set up at Arthur Place, opening a 2,500 sq ft space at the site. Co-working spaces are among the category of serviced offices, where overheads such as electricity are included in monthly charges. In its report on the office market for the first half of 2024, commercial property practice CBRE NI said: Whilst the serviced office sector accounts for a relatively small portion of the total office stock in Belfast, this sector is continuing to grow as companies look to build in flexibility and reduce day-one capital costs by not having to invest in a fit-out. Typically, flexible and serviced office space options allow companies to scale up the number of desks they need on flexible terms. Best Commercial Fit-out The 2024 Belfast Telegraph Property Awards will take place at lunchtime on October 25 in Belfasts Crowne Plaza Hotel The foyer of the stalls at Grand Opera House, Belfast, where work was carried out by WH Stephens For the fourth year running, WH Stephens is pleased to sponsor the Best Commercial Fit-out category in this years Belfast Telegraph Property Awards. With involvement in several recent high-profile commercial fit-out projects on City Quays 3 for Belfast Harbour and its incoming tenants in banking, investment, and the software development sectors, WH Stephens has first-hand experience and understands the importance of quality design, workmanship and efficient project delivery. Denis McCotter, managing director of WH Stephens, offered his best wishes to all those who enter this years awards. He said the company was looking forward to meeting up again with clients, friends and colleagues from across the industry at the awards ceremony. Were continuing to be very busy in Northern Ireland, as well as demonstrating growth in the Great Britain and Irish markets, having recently secured a number of high-profile projects across a range of market sectors. Denis McCotter, managing director of WH Stephens WH Stephens is proud to be delivering several key local projects including Belfast Transport Hub, Belfast Harbour Studios at Giants Park, Ballyholme Yacht Club and a series of projects for the Almac Group, together with new research and teaching facilities for Ulster University in Belfast and Magee, building on the successful delivery of the Greater Belfast Campus. Mr McCotter added: Outside of Northern Ireland, we continue to grow our operations in England with projects such as a new 90-bedroom Premier Inn in Windsor, Isle of Wight Retail Park, and in Ireland with ongoing major appointments. In Ireland, its working on 19 new build schools for the National Development Finance Agency, as well as projects for the IDA, Office of Public Works, Trinity College, the Department of Education, DHL and DSV. WH Stephens is a professional construction consultancy specialising in project management, cost management, building surveying and asbestos management. It was formed in Belfast as a partnership in 1865 and is approaching its 160-year anniversary. The 2024 Belfast Telegraph Property Awards will take place at lunchtime on October 25 in Belfasts Crowne Plaza Hotel The company has been a stalwart of consistency and dependability in the development, re-development and conservation of the infrastructure and built environment throughout Ireland. The seven directors that run the company bring together a team of well-matched and accomplished senior professionals, who, in turn are supported by senior surveying and project management professional staff who are chartered members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. The company brings practical and visionary methods to projects, major and minor, working closely with clients, other consultants, and contractors to achieve shared goals. WH Stephens operates from five offices throughout the UK and Ireland, combining international experience with local expertise. Offices are located in Belfast, Dublin, Edinburgh, Northampton and Woking. From individual commissions and reports to full project, programme and cost management, WH Stephens can also provide a full multi-disciplinary design team from their tried and trusted partnership network. To enter the Belfast Telegraph Property Awards, go to www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/propertyawards Givan says no-one will dictate which schools open as he defends meeting with loyalist paramilitaries Historically, Northern Ireland has produced more teachers than available teaching positions (Credit: Getty Images) A teaching union has said there are encouraging signs than more newly qualified teachers are willing to stay to seek employment in Northern Ireland. The National Education Union said it was now feeling cautiously optimistic that the trend in young teachers moving elsewhere for better-paid jobs may be starting to slow. Teachers in NI can now earn a starting salary of around 30,000 a year, following the end of a long-running dispute over pay and conditions, while work is continuing with the Department of Education over workloads. Statistics from The General Teaching Council (GTCNI) revealed that 80% of this years teacher graduates have successfully registered, indicating a strong intention to remain in NI. It comes as a welcome development amidst the ongoing challenge of retaining newly qualified, highly skilled educators within the region. Pauline Buchanan, National Education Union (NEU) regional secretary, said she hopes the latest figures suggest that the trend in teachers leaving is starting to reverse. Northern Ireland has a proud tradition of producing exceptional teachers, she said. However, in recent years, we have seen many of our talented graduates seek better employment opportunities, career progression and competitive pay packages in other regions such as Scotland, the Republic of Ireland and even further afield in the Middle East. This trend has been a significant concern for our sector for a number of years. The recent pay deal for teachers in Northern Ireland may be beginning to show positive effects. While it is too early to draw definitive conclusions, the increased registration figures offer a glimmer of hope that we are making strides in creating a more attractive environment for our new graduates. As the leading voice for educators in Northern Ireland, the NEU remains committed to advocating for the best interests of our teachers, Pauline added. We know that the job landscape may remain tough for new educators and so we are offering 1 newly qualified membership for all newly graduated students. We encourage new graduates to join us, where they will find support and career guidance, professional development opportunities and a community dedicated to enhancing the teaching profession. Together we can ensure that Northern Ireland not only retains but also nurtures its exceptional teaching talent. Pauline Buchanan, regional secretary for the National Education Union Historically, Northern Ireland has produced more teachers than available teaching positions, leading to a surplus of qualified educators and making securing full-time, permanent roles locally a challenge. Limited career advancement opportunities have driven graduates to regions with more structure pathways and a better work-life balance. While Northern Ireland offers a relatively lower cost of living, the allure of better living standards, lifestyle options and amenities in other countries has been attractive to young teachers. Service users in Derry tell of shock after new referrals are suspended A mental health charity hailed as a lifeline to men in Derry for the past 30 years has been forced to immediately suspend new referrals due to a severe shortage of funding. Mens Action Network has supported thousands of men and their families. However, it has never received core funding. Now that the European Social Fund has been cut off, charities are vying for an ever-dwindling pot of money, said Chris Kerr, the co-ordinator of Mens Action Network. He has requested a meeting with Health Minister Mike Nesbitt to seek core funding. The dire lack of sufficient financial support has brought us to a critical juncture where the continuation of our services is gravely threatened, he said. Without urgent and substantial funding, we may be forced to close our doors permanently, a prospect that would leave a significant void in our community. Since its inception, Mens Action Network has been dedicated to providing comprehensive and multifaceted support to men facing a range of challenges. Our services operate seven days a week and include professional counselling, a dads and kids group, social housing advice, a wellness hub that features gym sessions, Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, a writing group, and extensive community outreach. These services are not merely beneficial but essential, offering a lifeline to men and their families in times of need. One service user named Gerry received support from Mens Action Network after being involved in a serious car accident. He explained: I did a lot of damage to my back, all my ribs were broken, I had two punctured lungs and a head injury. I was in hospital for nine months and Im still in rehabilitation. Gerry recalled a time when he didnt see a future, saying every day is about surviving. If your mental health is screwed, youre screwed. It doesnt matter what you have to do, if your head is not in it, then you cant do it, he added. These guys are helping me stay on my feet and to stay away from any and every taboo. Its amazing how it has worked. Gerry said the funding is vital as he believes it has changed the lives of men like him. He asked: How is there no funding for this service? Our government should know what people are going through. Another service user named Patrick said he is registered blind and diabetic, and previously had addiction issues. Coming here has helped me fill that void. No man is an island, if we dont have this place to come to then youre left on your own, he said. The fact that funding is lost has come like a bolt from the blue, its cutting off a lifeline for people. Its a vital service and people need it. Each year, over 750 men here rely on services at Mens Action Network for support, guidance and companionship. Its potential loss would be devastating, Mr Kerr said. He added: The loss of Mens Action Network would result in a significant increase in untreated mental health issues among men, leading to higher rates of depression, anxiety and other mental health disorders. He urged politicians and policymakers to take male mental health seriously and move beyond lip service. A spokesperson for the Department of Health said they fully recognise the important contribution of the voluntary and community sector (VCS) and acknowledge that VCS organisations would have liked to have seen an uplift in funding for this financial year. "Unfortunately, the budget allocated to the Department for 2024/25 fell short of what was required, and this has resulted in severe financial pressures for health and social care. Despite these significant pressures, the Department maintained core grant funding for community and voluntary organisations at the same level as last year. The Department is currently working with the community and voluntary sector through the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA) to redesign the current core grant scheme and would encourage organisations within the sector to engage in this process. Three people arrested on Saturday have also been charged. Trouble has flared in Belfast in recent days Another man has been charged following disorder in Belfast. The man, who was arrested on Monday 12 August in the Belfast area is expected to appear before Belfast Magistrates' Court this morning. The 26-year-old man has been charged with riot and intentionally encouraging or assisting riot. Three arrested on Saturday have also been charged. A 28-year-old man has been charged with encouraging or assisting offences believing one or more will be committed and sending menacing messages through a public electronic communications network. He appeared at Downpatrick Magistrates Court on Monday 12 August. A 30-year-old has been charged with intentionally encouraging or assisting riot, publishing written material intended to stir up hatred, sending menacing messages through a public electronic communications network, and possession of fireworks without a licence. He appeared at Downpatrick Magistrates Court on Monday. . A 58-year-old charged with possessing written material intended or likely to stir up hatred or arouse fear also appeared at Belfast Magistrates Court on Monday. . On Sunday, a 26-year-old-man was charged in connection with public disorder in Belfast. The suspect was one of three men detained on Saturday and has since been charged with a number of offences. They include riot, arson, conspiracy to commit arson, three counts of possession of an offensive weapon with intent, and two of criminal damage. Several nights of rioting ensued after an anti-immigration protest in the city centre last weekend. In the following days police began arresting scores of people in connection with the violence. On Sunday, police said detectives investigating the disorder in Belfast had arrested three men the previous day. Police also confirmed that a 55-year-old man arrested on in Belfast on suspicion of publishing written material intended to stir up hatred has been released on bail to allow for further enquiries. To date a total of 34 people have been arrested in connection with the disorder and 25 people have been charged. Three individuals have been released on bail to allow for further enquiries, while three have been released unconditionally following questioning and three remain in custody. Public and politicians react to disorder in Belfast The founder of a multi-cultural peacebuilding organisation in Belfast said he has never seen this level of fear when it comes to racism and hate crimes in Northern Ireland Darren Ferguson set up Beyond Skin 20 years ago. Now a fully fledged charity, it uses music, arts and new media as a tool for cultural education and exchange in an aim to address issues of racism and sectarianism. Beyond Skin was created in 2004, when NI had hit the headlines for being described by leading European publications as the racist capital of Europe. While Mr Ferguson believes the majority of people here have come a long way from that, he said: Belfast has always been two steps forward, one step back. What weve seen recently is incredibly worrying and sad for our city, he continued. Everybody is terrified. I was brought to tears when I was listening to a mother today shes lived here all her life, shes from the black community, and her children are scared to go out on the street and play with other children now. Its a level of fear which I have never seen before, and Ive lived here all my life. This does not represent Northern Ireland at all, but the problem is this minority is armed and causing violence and that fear is hard to counteract. People have hammers in their hands; they want to hurt people and thats what is causing fear. Beyond Skin often works with asylum seekers, particularly from the Middle East and African regions. Mr Ferguson said many of their stories are horrific already, without having to now face hatred in a country in which they often have no family or friends to rely on. Every single one of them seeking safety has the most horrific story and I dont think we have a clue about how that feels. You are here in a country which does not have your first language. For example, Afghan women coming here the Taliban are vicious and threatening, theyve had to flee from that. And then they are facing this level of hatred. We have quite a number of people in Northern Ireland who served in Afghanistan, protecting girls going to school, so why would you not protect them here on your own shores? That doesnt match up for me at all. PSNI given special powers while Belfast businesses to close early as city gears up for potential disorder The PSNI has said that there is no doubt that there was loyalist paramilitary involvement in recent rioting in Belfast. Mr Ferguson believes it is also important to be sensitive when generalising one community as a whole. We are one of the very few organisations that bring together people of ethnic minorities, people seeking refuge, and people from the loyalist community, making music. Thats ongoing and we have always embraced different communities and they've always worked together, through the arts. There are really high-calibre artists and musicians who have arrived, who want to contribute to our creative economies. I am just back from Peter Gabriels WOMAD Festival in England with two Afghan girls. Weve got to be clear that these are not anti-immigration protests; its racist hate violence we are seeing on the streets now. This is sheer racism. Paramilitaries and the far-right are very blurred, and Northern Ireland has a history of violence and intimidation from white paramilitaries. Thats the people we dont want here. Everybody else is welcome. That distortion is crazy. I think we have to be really careful about how we tar communities with one brush. Weve been working extensively with the loyalist community, which is very diverse like any community. Theres a few bad eggs in there, but a lot of good people, who have helped us out and offered homes for refugees. Distinguished swimmer Bethany Firth set the gold standard with her performances throughout 2023 NI Paralympian Bethany Firth has announced the birth of her first child. Taking to Instagram the swimmer shared photos of her week-old baby girl, Charlotte Eloise Fuller whom she welcomed on August 8. The little girl was born shortly after midnight and was seen with both mum Bethany and dad Andrew Fuller in the photos. "You are so loved. Our precious gift from God, Bethany said. The swimmer had shared news of her pregnancy in February this year with a picture of a scan surrounded by multicoloured flowers. On a holiday to Turkey the following month, she shared photos of her trip with husband Andrew and her growing baby bump as the couple enjoyed their trip. Later, Bethany told her followers the baby was a girl with a gender reveal using pink balloons. The new parents were inundated with messages after announcing the news, including from Bethanys fellow Paralympian, the British swimmer Maisie Summers-Newtown who was quick to offer her congratulations. So too was Dutch Paralympian Lisa Kruger who shared her congratulations with the parents and their new family member when they announced the news of Charlottes safe arrival. Another said: Bethany shes beautiful, congratulations. "What a wee dote, said another poster, who also offered congratulations Co Down native Bethany tied the knot with her scientist husband in May 2022 in The Wool Tower in Broughshane. At her wedding, Bethany wore an antique ivory dress and a veil with 500 hand-sewn pearls made by her mum Lindsey, while she was accompanied by three bridesmaids, her sister Evie and friends Cheryl Mulholland and Chloe Davis. They were dressed in a striking charcoal blue. The happy couple celebrated their big day with 100 members of their family and close friends, including Bethanys beloved miniature Yorkshire Terrier Russie. The 28-year-old has competed for both Team Ireland and Team GB and is one of the most decorated Paralympians with six gold medals and three silver. Bethany won gold in the 100 metres backstroke for both Ireland at the 2012 Summer Paralympics and Great Britain at the 2016 and 2020 Summer Paralympics. These were in addition to the Mixed 4 x 100 metres freestyle relay S14 at the 2020 Games, and 200 metres medley and 200 metres freestyle for Great Britain at the 2016 Games. Officers involved in the original investigation into Katie murder quit PSNI ahead of proceedings Two police officers facing misconduct proceedings over the handling of the Katie Simpson murder case retired before they could be disciplined, it can be revealed. And the PSNI chose not to discipline another officer, who the Police Ombudsman had recommended should be dealt with for misconduct in the initial botched investigation. Katie Simpson, whose fourth anniversary was last week, was murdered by jockey Jonathan Creswell in August 2020. But for several months the PSNI treated the death as a suicide after convicted women beater Creswell claimed hed found her hanging. A Police Ombudsman report which is 1,400 pages long has yet to be made public. That report is the result of complaints being made against 18 officers ranging in rank from Constable to Detective Chief Inspector over the investigation. But last week, Chief Constable Jon Boutcher told a meeting of the Policing Board only three officers were facing PSNI disciplinary proceedings for their roles in the investigation. Chief Constable Jon Boutcher However, earlier this year it was reported that six officers were to be disciplined after sections of the report were leaked to the media. Now the Sunday World has revealed that six became three after two of those officers retired while a third escaped punishment after the Appropriate Authority in Professional Standards deemed it wasnt necessary. The PSNI has not revealed the ranks of those who have been disciplined but the Sunday World understands none of them are senior officers. The PSNI told the Sunday World: A report from the Police Ombudsman made recommendations in respect of six individuals. Upon examination by Professional Standards Department, misconduct proceedings were progressed in three cases. These have now concluded. Meanwhile, lawyers representing DCI John Caldwell have contacted the BBC to complain about a recent Spotlight documentary about the murder. Lawyers complained that the programme contains inaccuracies and false allegations relating to the their client. They told the BBC those false allegations included that he acted in a way that was not befitting of a senior officer or that there was hostility between police teams. Its not clear what the exact nature of the legal action being taken is. However, its understood the senior police officer took great exception to the claims made in the programme by Alliance Party MLA Nuala McAllister. The BBC has remained tight-lipped about the nature of the legal contact and told the Sunday World it was not going to provide comment. The news comes after the PSNI Chief Constable laid into the BBC documentary and the Alliance Party MLA, who spoke out about the police handling of the case on the documentary which aired last week and detailed a series of failings in the initial investigation into the death of the talented showjumper. Chief Constable Boutcher told the Policing Board the comments were not consistent with facts. The programme was disparaging and damaging to DCI Caldwells professional reputation and, in turn, public confidence in the police, he said. Comments included in the programme were not reflective, having read the material, of the facts. John is not subject to misconduct proceedings and did not conduct the role of senior investigating officer in relation to the case. In my view the attention on him is because he is a known public figure for sad and tragic reasons. The use of his name and perceived role is considered an interest to the public, rather than public interest. But the Sunday World can reveal a complaint was made to the Police Ombudsman naming DCI Caldwell as one of the senior officers involved in the initial investigation, before he was shot by dissident republicans in February 2023. DCI John Caldwell One-time top jockey Creswells trial for the rape and murder of 21-year-old Katie was suddenly halted when he was found dead just hours after his trial at Londonderry Crown Court had begun four months ago. Katie died in Derrys Altnagelvin Hospital on August 9 2020. She had failed to regain consciousness after being admitted six days earlier. Creswell had driven the unconscious Katie to the hospital from the home they shared with her sister Christina in nearby Lettershandoney. Concerns were raised by her family and friends into the initial police investigation. Following a new team being tasked with investigating the death, Creswell was charged with Katies murder and rape in 2021. On the first day of his trial the prosecution claimed Creswell was in an illicit relationship with the young woman and he strangled her out of jealously and then tried to cover his tracks by making her death look like suicide. Alliance Policing Board member and North Belfast MLA Nuala McAllister has been to the forefront of looking at how the PSNI responded to Katies death. She told the Spotlight programme: I am aware that there was an individual officer who did a lot of work and actually brought it forward to his superior to say, This isnt right here. He met a lot of resistance, not from his superior but from within the team around the district in which Katie lived and where the death actually occurred. There was a police team in the PSNI who just didnt want to know. Ive been informed it was DCI John Caldwell who led that team. Its those comments which led to DCI Caldwell to instruct a well-known firm of solicitors to contact the BBC. DCI Caldwell is not among the officers facing misconduct proceedings over the Simpson investigation. Mr Boutcher said police systems failed to identify the previous offending of Jonathan Creswell. There are a number of shortcomings in our initial investigation, Mr Boutcher said. I cannot apologise enough to the [Simpson] family for the delay in getting the right response. While the Police Ombudsman report into the case has yet to be published, leaked extracts were published earlier this year by UTV. The Ombudsman found a number of police failures and missed opportunities. It found responding officers in particular failed to adopt an investigative mindset... several officers have talked of taking Creswell at face value. They are trained police officers who should have set about satisfying themselves that this was a non-suspicious death... red flags were ignored. This is in part due to a lack of experience, with one constable attending the scene six days out of training. In the report one senior officer said: Creswells previous conviction or being a bad boy does not make him a murderer and evidence was required. After the Policing Board meeting MLA Nuala McAllister defended her comments, saying: I will continue to hold the PSNI to account as necessary. Katies legacy must be that this never happens again to another woman. She was failed from the very start. She also said that honesty and transparency were very important where there are failings. She said lessons must be learned by the PSNI, adding: We owe it to victims, potential victims, and their families that what occurred in Katies case is never repeated again. A vehicle outside a property in Ballymena was set alight in a deliberate arson attack in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The incident happened shortly after midnight in the Nursery Close area of the town. A police spokesperson said: Its understood the smash of a window could be heard, before the alarm of the vehicle was activated. A bottle had then been thrown into the car which ignited. "Two people who were inside the property at the time, attempted to put the fire out before our colleagues from the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service attended the scene. Luckily no one was hurt but we believe this was a deliberate arson attack, and that a man was involved who was witnessed running from the scene in the direction of Devenagh Court. Speaking after the selection convention, Natasha Brennan said it is a real honour and privilege to be selected to represent the people of Balmoral as a Sinn Fein representative on Belfast City Council. Nicolette Ghirxis body was found as Edward Johnston was involved in standoff with officers near Hilton hotel Nicolette Ghirxi had filed police reports about her former partner An Irish man killed following a standoff with police in Malta, hours after he allegedly stabbed his ex-partner to death, pointed a fake gun at police before being shot dead. Edward Johnston (50) was killed by Maltese police on a beach in the seaside town of St Julians in the early hours of yesterday after a three-hour standoff. Nicolette Ghirxi (48), Mr Johnstons former partner, was stabbed to death in an apartment in Birkirkara, a town about 7km west of the capital Valletta a couple of hours earlier. Police found the body of the woman in her apartment in Swatar, Birkirkara, at about 2am yesterday. She had suffered upper-body knife injuries and two knives were discovered close to her body. Johnston had gone to the Hilton hotel in St Julians at midnight and asked for a drink but pulled out a gun when he was told the bar was closed. Police were alerted when they received a report of a man in St Julians wielding a gun and saying he had murdered someone. Police commissioner Angelo Gafa told a news conference yesterday that Johnston told police he had murdered a woman. A police negotiator was brought in and two police teams were deployed, one to Birkirkara, where they found the womans apartment door locked and had to break in to find the victim dead. The other unit was deployed to the Hilton. Police cordoned off the area behind the Hilton Hotel where Johnston was later shot dead. Johnston was in the sea with a gun pointed at his head at St Julians and despite police negotiators descending on the scene, he leapt at one of the officers, resulting in him being shot. He was transported to Mater Dei Hospital and was later confirmed dead, Mr Gafa confirmed. It transpired the gun Johnston was holding was a replica of a Beretta pistol. Ms Ghirxis family have said Johnston began harassing his former partner when she ended a two-year relationship between them. They alleged he ran a number of fake social media accounts which were used to harass and slander Ms Ghirxi. Some of the posts, seen by the Irish Independent, targeted Ms Ghirxis employment at HSBC in Malta. A colleague revealed that while Ms Ghirxi was discreet about the harassment, everyone at work was aware of it due to the public nature of the posts. Some of the posts displayed Ms Ghirxis profile picture and on occasion, her home address. She filed police reports on two occasions with regard to her former partner, Maltese police confirmed. There were no previous reports of violence between the two but in April, Ms Ghirxi filed two harassment reports against Johnston after receiving some emails from him when they broke up. However, she decided against carrying out a risk assessment, telling police and social welfare officials she did not believe she was at risk. She filed another report of harassment in May, again linked to emails. At the time, police established that Johnston was not in Malta, Mr Gafa said, describing the emails as being harassment but not of a threatening nature. The victim herself told us she did not feel threatened and messages we saw also indicated as much, Mr Gafa said at a press conference yesterday. In July, the victim again contacted police about a number of slanderous social media posts about her and said she suspected Johnston. Ms Ghirxi was so unsettled by the situation that she shared her Facebook account credentials with a family member just in case something happened to her. Last Thursday, she told police by email that Johnston may be in Malta. Roberta Metsola, president of the European Parliament and a Maltese citizen, said: Nicolette Ghirxi should be alive today. Instead, Malta must bury another daughter. Another woman murdered, with her former partner the prime suspect. Our grief must turn into action. Our anger must fuel change. The epidemic of violence against women cannot go on. Not one more. Be their voice. Senior sources have confirmed Johnston was an Irish citizen but had not lived in Ireland for a number of years. He had no previous convictions in this jurisdiction. The police in Malta reported him to be a former soldier from Ireland but a Defence Forces spokesperson said: The Defence Forces has no record of service for a Mr Edward Johnston. A spokesperson for the Irish embassy said it was aware of the incident and would offer consular assistance to relatives. A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said it was aware of the case and was providing consular assistance, and added that the department did not comment on the details of individual cases. Post-mortems are still taking place and investigations are ongoing. With reporting from the Times of Malta News Catch Up: Monday 12 August 2024 A collaboration between police and the NHS to provide optimum care to mental health patients has cut officers potential A&E attendance by around 80%. Since 2018, NHS Lanarkshire and Police Scotland have worked together to provide appropriate psychiatric care for mental health calls, while the demand on policing has increased by 250% since 2019. In May, Chief Constable Jo Farrell said the demands of mental health calls one around every three or four minutes was consuming time equivalent to 600 police officers per year, out of a service of around 16,000 officers, and pledged to tackle it. Monklands Hospital in Airdrie has been a part of the project (Danny Lawson/PA) The clinically led project in Lanarkshire, known as the Community Triage Service (CTS), is focused on supporting the most vulnerable people, although it is estimated that 20,000 officer hours have been freed up since it was launched on June 1 2023. It was hailed by the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) as an example for other regions to consider as it reduced potential A&E attendance by around 80%. Superintendent Andrew Thomson, from the Lanarkshire division, said mental health calls had increased due to the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. Previously, two police officers would accompany a person in distress to A&E, and could spend around 16 hours there, with the patient potentially being deprioritised as more serious casualties were brought in, sometimes causing the person to vent their anger and frustration at NHS workers. But under the CTS, the patient would be referred to a psychiatric liaison nurse (PLN) and given a mental health appointment within the hour if appropriate, as long as they were aged over 16, not significantly intoxicated or suffering from other illness or injury, and had not been sectioned. In 2023, around 2,000 people were assisted by the CTS in Lanarkshire, with 95% triaged over the phone, 2% taken to A&E and 3% given a mental health appointment, with police officers taking them to the location, waiting, and then returning them home. Of the hospital admittances, 17% were kept in, 45% were discharged with no further action, and 38% were discharged with further support. Feedback from professionals was said to be excellent, with a sergeant describing the collaboration as one of the best tools police have got. The primary benefit was described as optimum care for patients, as well as reduced demand on A&E and frontline police, while around half of Lanarkshire police officers have received formal distress training to help people at low risk of suicide. Since 2018 incremental changes have been introduced, and in January 2021 it became a 24 hours-a-day service, focused on compassion and support while allowing police to focus on crime rather than waiting for hours in A&E. It was discussed at an SPA meeting at Motherwell Police Station, North Lanarkshire, on Tuesday, with stakeholders including Suzie Cochrane, NHS Lanarkshires service manager for mental health and learning disabilities. Ms Cochrane said between 35% and 45% of mental health patients who miss appointments need unscheduled care, and added: One of the pathways we know is increasing is Police Scotland, whether due to distress or mental health crisis. Martyn Evans, chairman of the Scottish Police Authority (Jane Barlow/PA Wire). PC Tracey Nell said mental health demands had increased by 250% between 2019 and 2023, and added: Every health board is independent. What we have done is look at organisational limitations and say how can we come up with a model that works for everyone?. Martyn Evans, chairman of the SPA, said: This is clinically led and patient-focused. I hope it is not long before this is the norm. People are being seen within an hour, rather than waiting at emergency departments for hours. The pressure of mental health in society is going up. He said officers could be risk averse in dealing with mental health due to the potential for a death-in-custody probe by the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) as well as by professional standards if a death occurred in custody or after contact with officers. Mr Evans described the Lanarkshire project as advanced, and noted the increasing demand on officers, which he said was a concern to the SPA. He added: I hope the principles can continue to grow and be embedded in other areas. Superintendent Andrew Thomson said: We dont have a Jaffa Cake jury trying to replicate decisions made in the rain at 3am we try to put ourselves in the shoes of the person in that situation. Our potential attendance at emergency departments has reduced in the region of 80% which is phenomenal. Police are investigating a murder case filed against Bangladeshs former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and other officials over the killing of a grocery shop owner during student protests in July, authorities have said. SM Amir Hamza, described as a well-wisher of store owner Abu Sayeed, filed the case at the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Rajesh Chowdhury on Tuesday. Mr Hamza said Mr Sayeed was killed on July 19 amid clashes during the student-led uprising, and that he had filed the case because Mr Sayeeds family did not have the capacity to seek justice. Ms Hasina, who stepped down and fled the country on August 5, was named as a suspect in the petition together with six other people including former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, general secretary of then-ruling Awami League party Obaidul Quader, and top police officials. Protesters climb a public monument in Dhaka as they celebrate the news of Sheikh Hasinas resignation as prime minister (Rajib Dhar/AP) The Dhaka court asked the Mohammadpur police station to register the case. Officers will now investigate the case and file a report to the court. This is the first case against Ms Hasina, and more cases are likely to be filed. The development came amid calls by student protesters to charge Ms Hasina and her supporters with murder for the deaths of more than 300 people including students and civilians during weeks of violence since July 15. The uprising forced Ms Hasina to leave office and flee to India, ending a 15-year rule that turned increasingly autocratic, her critics say. Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has been sworn in as interim leader (Michel Euler/AP) An interim government is now running the country. On Thursday, Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel peace laureate, was sworn in as interim leader. Sixteen people, including two student protest leaders and others drawn mainly from civil society, were included in his interim Cabinet. The new Cabinet members were chosen after talks between student leaders, civil society representatives and the military. Ms Hasina and her partys many top leaders have either gone into hiding or have been barred from leaving the country. Unrest spread even after Ms Hasina resigned as prime minister (Rajib Dhar/AP) Peaceful protests by students began in July against a quota system for government jobs that critics said favoured people with connections to Ms Hasinas party. Ms Hasina, 76, was elected to a fourth consecutive term in January, but the vote was boycotted by her main opponents, with thousands of opposition activists detained beforehand. The US and UK denounced the result as not credible. Ms Hasinas critics say her administration was increasingly marked by human rights abuses and corruption. The chaos on Bangladeshs streets continued after her resignation. Dozens of police officers were killed, prompting police to stop working across the country. Police officers have gradually returned to work. Downtown Conroe is seen in 2023. Conroes continued debt concerns have officials asking the Conroe Industrial Development Corp. for $16 million to help fund the construction of two new water wells to address growing water infrastructure issues caused by rapid growth. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Conroes continued debt concerns have officials asking the Conroe Industrial Development Corp. for $16 million to help fund the construction of two new water wells to address growing water infrastructure issues caused by rapid growth. Conroes population has continued to grow over the last 10 years. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the citys population has grown to 89,995 from 56,207 in 2010. As of July 2023, the bureau estimates Conroes population to be 108,248. Providing more water Our biggest need right now is some help, partnership funding, in our water department, said Norm McGuire, director of public works and assistant city administrator for Conroe. Advertisement Article continues below this ad McGuire said during the corporations Aug. 5 meeting that the $16 million would fund the construction of one well and 50% of a second well. DOGS FOUND DEAD: Animal cruelty charges filed against Cut and Shoot woman after 2 dogs found dead outside home Corp. Chairman David Hairel said he supported providing the funding. Im really hoping to make headway on reducing some of our debt, Hairel said, who also serves on city council. During the councils budget workshop Aug. 1, Hairel supported the city paying cash for the new wells to avoid incurring any further debt. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Debt linked to hotel project The citys debt issues came to light earlier this year when revenue projections for the city-owned $133 million Hyatt Regency Hotel and Convention Center would not cover debt payments. Conroe will have to cover debt until 2050 putting the hook for around $1 million in annual payments until then. Conroe is expected to implement a water fee for apartment complexes and other large water users that could generate $4.7 million to help offset growing infrastructure costs due to growth. The plan is part of the citys proposed 2025 budget of $342 million the council will adopt in September. The citys tax rate of 42.72 cents per $100 valuation will remain the same. While the corporation has not committed to the funding or approved its 2025 budget, Hairel said the corporations water committee would review providing the funds. EYE ON THE TROPICS: Houston safe this week as Tropical Storm Ernesto forms, on track to stay in the Atlantic Advertisement Article continues below this ad Collin Booth, director of finance and assistant city administrator, said the corporations proposed 2025 budget of $13.3 million is about $10 million less than 2024. Booth said the corporations revenue is allocated to debt service and the remaining funds go to the corporations general fund. The corporations projected fund balance for 2025 is $30.8 million and will be used to support the water well projects if approved by the corporation. The corporation is nonprofit and operated under the supervision of council. It acts to promote economic development in the city. The corporation uses revenue from a one-half-cent sales tax levied by the city to provide incentive funding to attract new and expanded business in the city. The corporation has also funded the development of the corporation-owned Conroe Park North industrial park and the R. A. Mickey Deison Technology Park. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Conroe Park North spans 1,655 developed acres and is home to more than 60 businesses, including National Oilwell Varco, Huntsman, Crown, Mckesson, Steris, ProDirectional, Ball, Sabre Industries, Hiland Dairy Foods, UnivarSolutions, Turbo Drill Industries, and Consolidated Communications. NI business siblings on year of 'massive' growth and getting products stocked in Brown Thomas Their mini H&W cranes can be seen in houses across the country, now theyre looking to expand Conor Kelly and Sarah Quinn Louise Finn Tue 13 Aug 2024 at 07:12 We always say we like to make things that wed like to have ourselves, explains Belfast-based businesswoman Sarah Quinn. Labour of love: Singing doctor Joes new album inspired by his soulmate Prostate cancer expert wrote second half of record after striking up new relationship Joe OSullivan (Picture by Peter Morrison) Maureen Coleman Tue 13 Aug 2024 at 08:01 Love, loss and finding a place of refuge in Belfasts Titanic Quarter are the themes behind a new collection of songs from singing professor Joe OSullivan. Coke-smuggling pal of slain drug lord battered mother of his two kids Woman beater given restraining order after threatening to kill former partner Liam Dewar John Toner Tue 13 Aug 2024 at 07:26 A drug smuggler jailed for helping a man who was later murdered in a gangland feud import 180,000 of cocaine has been sentenced for domestic violence offences. If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom. Cut and Shoot resident Alexandra Bravo, 26, is accused of animal cruelty after two dogs were found dead in kennels outside her home, authorities confirmed Monday. She was arrested Sunday at her home in the 13000 block of Chasewood Court on unrelated charges of running a red light and driving without a license. MCSO A Cut and Shoot woman is accused of animal cruelty after two dogs were found dead in kennels outside her home, authorities confirmed Monday. Houston Chronicle A Cut and Shoot woman is accused of animal cruelty after two dogs were found dead in kennels outside her home, authorities confirmed Monday. Alexandra Bravo, 26, was arrested Sunday at her home in the 13000 block of Chasewood Court on unrelated charges of running a red light and driving without a license. She was being held in jail on a $1,500 bond Monday for those two misdemeanor charges when the Montgomery County District Attorneys office accepted misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty, said Montgomery County First Assistant District Attorney Mike Holley. Advertisement Article continues below this ad During a probable cause hearing Monday at the Montgomery County Jail, Associate Judge Jacqueline Bello set Bravos bond of $1,500 for the animal cruelty charges. Bravos bond conditions include no alcohol or drugs, and she is not allowed to own or be around any animals. When Bello asked if she needed a court-appointed attorney, Bravo said no. Im going to hire an attorney, Bravo said during the hearing. Montgomery County Precinct 2 Constables Chief Deputy David Eason said animal cruelty investigators were on the scene Aug. 6 after residents reported finding dead dogs in kennels in Bravos backyard. Bravo was not at home when investigators arrived. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Alton Neeley, an investigator with the Precinct 2 Constables Office, was alerted to the issue Monday afternoon. You are the owner of this article. GREAT BARRINGTON The Board of Health is poised to order Housatonic Water Works Co. to deliver 5-gallon jugs of water to its customers every day until water quality problems are resolved. Under the order, the waterworks also would have to pay for independent testing of its water at various locations every seven days until the board determines that the water supply either does or does not constitute a continuing risk to the public health of the customers. With the help of a public health attorney and policy consultant, the board is drafting a correction order, which it intends to issue effective immediately, that includes these requirements. Any violations would result in fines of up to $1,000 per day. The language of the order is still being edited and is under review by the towns lawyer. A final draft is scheduled for a vote by the board at its Zoom-only meeting on Thursday. The order will affect all of the waterworks customers in Housatonic, as well as those in Great Barrington, Stockbridge and West Stockbridge about 800 in all. Officials anticipate the company will contest the order in the courts. The waterworks has a right to a hearing 10 days after the order is issued. Waterworks co-owner and Treasurer James Mercer declined to comment on the order. The order comes amid outrage that state regulators approved the companys rate hike, effective Aug. 1, forcing customers to pay for system upgrades meant to fix the problems. That rate increase comes after a summer with bouts of discolored water and fears that the companys selective testing of the water, as the order states, does not show the true extent of contaminants. The company says the discoloration is due to excess manganese in the source. This is just one issue the board wants to gather its own scientific data on using its own testing protocol. During a public hearing last week about the draft order, residents said the problem is also a mental health issue. My wife's pregnant, and it's something that weighs on us from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to bed, said Rich Montano. Is our water going to be brown today? Is it safe for our young child? Is it safe for my wife? Also at the hearing, the board reviewed the order with Mike Hugo, a lawyer who is director of policy and government affairs for the Massachusetts Association of Health Boards. Hugo was joined by James Starbard, a public health sanitation consultant with RCAP Solutions who specializes in drinking water. Starbard will help the board, for instance, decide how and when it will do its independent testing. Town officials thought they had run out of options to deal with this. But now it appears the town's public health arm has a weapon to enforce the states public health laws. Hugo, the policy consultant, says the board's involvement makes the order way, way more bulletproof if this goes to litigation. Hugo said the right way to do this is through the Board of Health. The courts," Hugo added, "don't look at select boards with the same level of respect and deference that they do to boards of health and board of health orders. GREAT BARRINGTON The Select Board plans to appeal the unjust decision of a state regulator to approve a rate hike for the Housatonic Water Works Co. Board Chair Stephen Bannon read from a statement at the boards meeting Monday night that said the state Department of Public Utilities July 31 order that approves water service increases may be appealed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court by an aggrieved party of interest within 20 days. The towns lawyer had reviewed the DPU order in a closed-door session with the board and is now poised to file an appeal within the time frame, Bannon said, adding that the appellate path is a narrow one. The towns attorney is also in contact with the town lawyers for Stockbridge and West Stockbridge, Bannon said, and we hope they will join us in the appeal. The appeal will be made public once it is filed with the court, he added. Board member Ben Elliott, who lives in Housatonic, called the DPUs decision, unjust, unwise, bad. The DPU on July 31 approved a settlement agreement between the waterworks and the state Attorney Generals Office on a smaller rate hike than the one initially requested by the private water supplier last year. It is unclear how an appeal, once filed, will affect the rate hike that went into effect Aug. 1, and will be seen on the next bills that have not yet been mailed out. A DPU spokesperson could not immediately be reached to answer the question of whether an appeal would freeze the rate hike until resolved. The rate increases will happen over five years so the company can make $4.5 million in upgrades to an aging system. The first increase is 18 percent. By the end of five years the total increase will be 90 percent. The DPUs order requires the company to seek grants and low-interest loans so as not to place the entire burden on ratepayers. The rate increases are conditional on whether the waterworks abides by the order. The system supplies water to roughly 800 customers, mostly in Housatonic and the rest in Stockbridge and West Stockbridge. A number of customers have been vocal in their outrage over this summers bout of brown and yellow water. They also say that they should not have to pay for what is deferred maintenance, given their suffering with water that is subpar for bathing and laundry, and which health officials say may pose a risk. The Board of Health this week is trying to figure out what that risk might be. The board is finalizing its own correction order with the help of the towns attorney to attempt to force the company to pay for weekly independent water testing, and daily delivery of 5-gallon water jugs to every waterworks customer, among other requirements. Darryl George,18, stands next to his mother, Darresha George in front of Galveston County Court House on Thursday, May 23, 2024, in Galveston. George will spend the remainder of the year in in-school suspension, extending a punishment that was first imposed in August over his hairstyle that district officials say violates their dress code policy. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer With the 2024-2025 school year just days away, Daryl George remains in a legal battle regarding Barbers Hill Independent School Districts dress code a policy his attorneys say violates the CROWN Act. Attorneys have filed an appellate brief requesting the reverse of a lower courts judgment. We're optimistic it will persuade a panel of the First Court of Appeals to reverse the trial court's judgment in favor of BHISD, attorney Dylan Drummond told the Chronicle in June. Last month, Drummond filed an appeal on Georges behalf. On Feb. 22, Judge Chap B. Cain III of the 253rd Judicial District Court in Chambers County ruled in favor of the school district by saying its dress code prohibiting male students from having long hair did not violate the CROWN Act. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In Cains ruling, he told George the immunity he sought could be from lawmakers or school board trustees who could change the verbiage in the states law or the districts policy. Darryl George wears his hair in dreadlocks styled in a barrel roll. IN FAVOR OF BHISD: Judge dismisses some claims in lawsuit filed by Barbers Hill student over hair policy "The CROWN Act could've been written to provide the individuals with braids, locs and twists (to be) exempt from any hair length restrictions, but it has no such exemption," said Judge Chap B. Cain III, of the 253rd Judicial District Court in Chambers County, at the time of his ruling. "The CROWN Act is clear and BHISD's dress and grooming code policy is clear regarding male students." The CROWN Act an acronym for Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair went into effect Sept. 1 of last year, prohibiting school and employment dress codes or grooming policies from discriminating against hair texture or protective hairstyles associated with race. The school districts dress code prohibits male students from having hair below the eyebrows or below the ear lobes. It also mandates that boys hair cannot be below the top of a T-shirt collar or be gathered or worn in a style that would allow the hair to extend below the top of a T-shirt collar, below the eyebrows or below the ear lobes when let down. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Despite the legislatures direct rebuke of the districts disparate punishment of one of its former Black male students for wearing a protective hairstyle commonly or historically associated with race that the Southern District of Texas found more than four years ago was likely unconstitutionally racially discriminatory, pursued with a racially discriminatory motive and enforced retaliatory, the district sued its own then-minor student below, Mr. George, so that it could continue to discriminate against his protective hairstyle as though Texas Education Code section 25.902 was never enacted, court documents read. In the 132-page document, lawyers reference Gov. Greg Abbotts tweet on June 12, 2023, where he wrote no Texan should face discrimination based on their natural hair. The Texas Houses engrossed bill analysis of H.B. 567 noted the central purpose of the billthat Texas students should not be required to change [their hairs] appearance or otherwise divest themselves of their cultural identity in order to adapt or be seen as deserving of opportunities in schools, court documents read. In the tweet, Abbott shared a photo of him posing alongside sponsors of the bill and describing it as a proud moment. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Darryl and Darresha George agree with both the Governor and the Texas House, court documents read. Therefore, they bring this case to ensure the intent of the Legislature and the Governor in enacting H.B. 567 into law at Texas Education Code section 25.902 is reflected in its construction by the courts. In addition to Georges district court case, lawyers have filed a federal lawsuit against the district, Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton. However, last week, a judge dropped both Abbott and Paxton from the lawsuit along with three staff members from the school district. Judge Jeffrey Brown dismissed a race discrimination claim filed by attorney Allie Booker, but allowed a sex discrimination claim to continue. Despite ruling mainly in favor of BHISD, Judge Brown did wonder whether the districts policies brought more harm than good to its students. Not everything that is undesirable, annoying, or even harmful amounts to a violation of the law, much less a constitutional problem, wrote Brown in a 30-page memorandum and order issued on Tuesday. ARCHIVE - According to information from the United Nations, the violence of the military junta in Myanmar against its own population has increased massively over the past twelve months. Photo: Uncredited/AP/dpa Keystone According to the United Nations, violence by the military junta in Myanmar against its own population has recently increased massively. SDA "There is clear evidence that brutal war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Myanmar military have escalated at an alarming rate across the country," writes the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) in its annual report. The country's military staged a coup in February 2021 and ousted the then head of government Aung San Suu Kyi. Since then, the former Burma has descended into chaos and violence, with various rebel groups fighting against the army, sometimes very successfully. Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi (79) is in prison. Junta used ever greater violence More than 400 eyewitness statements, photos, videos, audio material, social media posts and forensic evidence were analyzed for the report. The data covers the period from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024, during which time the military's armed conflict with resistance groups across the country put increasing pressure on the generals. The junta has responded to the resistance with ever greater violence, including airstrikes on schools, religious buildings and hospitals where there was no obvious military target, the report states. Physical mutilations of people arrested in the course of the armed conflicts were also documented - including beheadings and the public display of disfigured bodies. Systematic torture in prisons "We have collected extensive evidence that shows an appalling level of brutality and inhumanity across Myanmar," said IIMM chief Nicholas Koumjian. Many crimes were committed with the intention of punishing the civilian population and spreading fear and terror. Systematic torture of many arbitrarily detained citizens was also documented, including beatings, electric shocks, strangulation and sleep deprivation. "There is also evidence of gang rape, burning of genitals and other violent sexual and gender-related crimes during detention," writes the IIMM. The victims also included children. At the same time, there is also credible evidence of crimes committed by armed groups fighting against the military. These included executions of civilians suspected of being military collaborators. "No one has been held accountable for any crimes, which emboldens the perpetrators and deepens the culture of impunity in the country," Koumjian said. "We are trying to break this cycle." The junta generally does not comment on such accusations. The IIMM was established by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2018. Its aim is to collect and analyze case files that can contribute to the prosecution of individuals in national or international criminal proceedings. SDA The pests could have been brought to Germany from Switzerland. (archive picture) Keystone A Japanese beetle has been discovered for the first time in an animal trap near Lindau on Lake Constance. According to the State Institute for Agriculture (LfL), the beetle got into an animal trap with attractants on the highway 96. SDA The pest must be reported and the discovery has now been officially confirmed. Japanese beetles had previously been found in Switzerland and the German state of Baden-Wurttemberg. According to the LfL, the beetle can feed on more than 400 host plants. These include vines, berries, lawns, maize and soy, but also landscape trees such as lime and birch as well as ornamental plants such as roses and wisteria. In order to monitor the occurrence of the beetle in Bavaria, the LfL set up traps in several regions. Checks around the site where the beetle was found near Lindau revealed no further evidence of the presence of the Japanese beetle, such as feeding damage. Beetles from Switzerland are to be intercepted The trap was placed on the A96 to intercept beetles traveling from infested areas in Switzerland or Italy as close to the border as possible. The nearest known smaller infestation site in Zurich is more than 100 kilometers as the crow flies from where the beetles were found. It can be assumed that the Japanese beetle can spread 1.5 to 5 kilometers per year without activity. According to the LfL, the beetle caught is therefore likely to be a single beetle that has traveled with the beetle. However, further traps have been set up around the site where the beetle was found. SDA Chinese physicists remember Nobel laureate Tsung-Dao Lee Xinhua) 10:12, August 13, 2024 BEIJING, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- A memorial service for Tsung-Dao Lee was held in Beijing on Sunday, at the Institute of High Energy Physics, under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). About 330 academicians, experts, representatives of teachers and students, and people from all walks of life gathered to remember the Nobel laureate and Chinese-American physicist, who died at his home on Aug. 4 in San Francisco, California. Lee, a foreign member of the CAS, was born in Shanghai on Nov. 24, 1926, with ancestral roots in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province. In 1946, he went to the United States to study and later engaged in research at various universities and research institutions in the country. In 1956, Lee, together with Yang Zhenning, proposed the assertion that parity is not conserved in weak interactions. After experimental verification the following year, they were jointly awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics. Zhang Huanqiao, who is over 90 years old and a CAS academician, still remembered the time when they won the Nobel Prize in Physics. "At that time, I had just started my career, and the explosive news greatly inspired me," he said. From that moment on, he became even more steadfast in his conviction to contribute to China's scientific endeavors. Since 1972, Lee has returned to China on many occasions to give lectures and offer advice for universities and research institutions. After the reform and opening up, he spared no effort in promoting the advancement of science education in China, such as the contribution to establishment of the "Special Class for the Gifted Young" at the University of Science and Technology of China, the promotion of the China-U.S. Physics Examination and Application program, and the proposal to set up the postdoctoral mobile station system in China. Gao Yuanning, dean of the School of Physics, Peking University, and a CAS academician, remembered Lee's great contribution to the promotion of academic research at the university. Lee proposed the establishment of the Beijing Institute of Modern Physics and the Center for High Energy Physics at Peking University, and served as the directors of the two institutions himself, which have facilitated the cultivation of young talent and international research cooperation in fields like particle physics, nuclear physics, astrophysics and cosmology. Lee also made significant contributions to the cultivation of academic research and talent in Chinese universities such as Tsinghua University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Fudan University and Zhejiang University. In April 1983, the Beijing Electron-Positron Collider (BEPC) program was officially approved, and in October 1988, it achieved the first electron-positron collision. This marked another major breakthrough in China's high-tech sector following the successful detonation of atomic and hydrogen bombs and the launch of artificial satellites. From the selection of physics research objectives to the finalization of the accelerator design, and from talent cultivation to engineering management, Lee played a crucial role in BEPC construction. "At that time, it started from scratch, and many people thought it was impossible to make it," said Wang Yifang, director of the Institute of High Energy Physics. Lee leveraged his international influence and assisted in solving numerous challenges through various channels, playing a vital role, added Wang, who is also a CAS academician. (Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun) An attendee holds up a sign pointing out that the speaker Megan Jasper, in red, is not a resident of the district as Jasper speaks in favor of the board during the regular meeting of Cy-Fair ISD school board meeting Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Cypress, TX. Michael Wyke/Contributor The board votes on agenda items during the regular meeting of Cy-Fair ISD school board meeting Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Cypress, TX. Michael Wyke/Contributor Trustee Todd Lecompte raises questions with trustee Julie Hinamen about nepotism issues with board memberOs spouses getting committee appointments during the regular meeting of Cy-Fair ISD school board meeting Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Cypress, TX. Michael Wyke/Contributor Trustee Julie Hinamen responds to questions on nepotism from trustee Todd Lecompte regarding board spouses getting committee appointments during the regular meeting of Cy-Fair ISD school board meeting Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Cypress, TX. Michael Wyke/Contributor Board vice president Dr. Natalie Blasingame speaks critically of the boards handling of the reduction of bus routes for the district during the regular meeting of Cy-Fair ISD school board meeting Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Cypress, TX. Michael Wyke/Contributor Board members, top, listen as Amanda Pallanez, at podium, speaks critically against the districtOs reduced bus routes during the regular meeting of Cy-Fair ISD school board meeting Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Cypress, TX. Michael Wyke/Contributor Less than a week before classes are set to start in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, trustees on Monday night passed new Bible study electives for the 2025-26 school year, approved the amended library materials policy and argued over whether spouses of trustees should be able to serve on district committees. Board members also heard concern over a new busing policy that will take effect Monday, the first day of classes. 1. Community voices concern over transportation plan, trustees apologize Cy-Fair ISD eliminated guaranteed busing for students who live less than 2 miles from their campus for middle and high schoolers and 1 mile for elementary schoolers. The decision was an attempt to reduce the districts $138 million shortfall, and trustees discussed the plans at length in board meetings during the spring. But parents whose children wont receive busing next year werent notified until July 31, trustee Christine Kalmbach said, and many came to the public meeting to share their disdain for the decision. Lives are at great risk, said parent Amanda Pallanez. We need solutions, and we need them before school starts on Monday. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Pallanez said she was notified that her student who lives 1.9 miles from their campus will not receive busing next week, and that the only two routes available involved a walk as long as 55 minutes or a shorter walk that went by motels and buildings that she said were sex trafficking hot spots. Sex trafficking was a concern several speakers shared. One even said Houston was one of the top cities to report human trafficking as a crime. Others said their children would have to walk on busy roads without sidewalks, debris leftover from the hurricane, and depending on the time school starts at their campus, might have to do the walks in the dark early in the morning or after late after-school activities. Late buses after extracurricular activities were also taken away as part of the transportation cuts. While school districts in Texas arent mandated to provide busing within 2 miles, Cy-Fair ISD has done it for years, and it is one of the reasons families move to that district for schooling. Trustees on Monday apologized for the way that the communication regarding busing was handled. Advertisement Article continues below this ad I truly am disturbed by the failure of this board, of me, personally, of us in this communication about our transportation. We all knew that this budget situation was coming, said trustee Natalie Blasingame. Kalmbach said she regrets supporting the decision, and she apologized for the way it was handled. This is something that is very serious, and to wait until this time to inform parents, two and a half weeks before school starts, that you no longer have transportation? Kalmbach said. It seems like we have fallen short. I'm concerned with the fact that a great number of parents still don't know they don't have bus service. Trustee Justin Ray also admitted the plan could have been more thorough regarding safety conditions, but he set up the options, arguing that there were no good choices. Between cutting more teacher positions and dipping unhealthily into the districts fund balance, it seemed that the $7 million in savings by reducing busing was the best worst option, Ray said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Superintendent Douglas Killian did not say whether any changes will be made to the proposed bus routes before the start of school next week. 2. Bible-focused electives approved for 2025-26 school year Bible-focused electives will be coming to Cy-Fair ISD in the next school year, after trustees passed the instructional materials for the course Monday in a unanimous vote. This move appears to make Cy-Fair the largest district in the state to offer the elective only taught in around 40 of the state's over 1,200 school districts. One community member, Mary Ann Jackson, who identified herself as a Christian Protestant, said that the textbook in question was not, in her opinion, the best one out there, after reviewing it during public viewing last week, and that it might be outdated by the time of the course. Advertisement Article continues below this ad She said one benefit of the course could be that a teen might be intrigued with this course and start studying the inerrant Word of God on his or her own. It is amazing how God can use anything, a book, a course or a teacher, to open one's eyes. Parent Au Huynh urged the board to consider adding Asian American studies as an elective to the course selection as well, citing that some campuses in the district have a student body with 30% Asian American students. Introducing Asian American Studies electives will send a clear message to CFISD families that we want our schools to be stronger, to a multi-ethnic heritage, that Asian Americans communities are welcome and valued at CFISD, Huynh said. Other students and parents said that while they did not have a problem with offering this class taught in an academic manner, the district should continue to broaden its offerings in other areas as well to balance the curriculum and not show any religious privilege. 3. Updated library policy revisions passed on second reading The board also passed updated library policy revisions that were originally proposed in the June meeting. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The initial proposal received backlash from the community, who came out in droves to advocate against trustees and the superintendent having a period of five days to look at library purchases before they are posted on the districts website for 30 days before they are purchased. That sentence in the updated redlined policy was struck through, although other edits made in the initial proposal remained. Trustees did not discuss the final library policy at Monday's meeting before they voted 6-1, trustee Julie Hinaman dissenting, to approve it. 4. Deleted textbook chapters are difficult to replace Hinaman spoke out about the deletion of textbook chapters during her public comments Monday, citing that curriculum and instruction department leaders had told her that supplemental instructional materials had only been obtained for five of the 13 deleted chapters since the May vote. According to her testimony, instructional materials that meet the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills still need to be obtained for eight chapters, specifically one within the Earth Systems textbook on Minerals and Energy resources, as that unit begins the first week of October, Hinaman said. The chapter under a time crunch to be delivered to teachers involves brand-new guidelines for students to meet, meaning any previous material in the districts possession might not be in-depth enough. Ultimately, the district might need to purchase the supplemental chapters, Hinaman said. At the same time that the board was struggling to find budget reductions due to the deficit, some board members were also focused on or distracted by trying to get paid chaplains to replace school counselors, censoring state-approved chapters in science and career textbooks, and increasing and codifying the power of the board into our library materials policy, Hinaman said. Students are greeted by cheerleaders as they arrive at Health Education and Learning at Nimitz High School for the first day of school in Aldine ISD on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Dr. LaTonya Goffney, Aldine ISD superintendent of schools, high fives students as they arrive for the first day of school Health Education and Learning at Nimitz High School on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Jariyah Harrell works in her warm up assignment in Brittny Prices class on the first day of school at Aldine ISDs Health Education and Learning at Nimitz High School on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Students at Health Education and Learning at Nimitz High School line up to get into the building for the first day of school in Aldine ISD on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Fourth grade student Natalie Guerrero holds the class mascot, Mushu, a bearded lizard, on her shoulder on the first day of school in Brittany Shelvins class on the first day of school at Aldine ISDs Reed Academy on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Brittny Price, right, works with her students on the first day of school at Aldine ISDs Health Education and Learning at Nimitz High School on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Students walk through the hall on their way to class for the first day of school at Aldine ISDs Health Education and Learning at Nimitz High School on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer A school bus pulls into the parking lot as it arrives at Health Education and Learning at Nimitz High School for the first day of school in Aldine ISD on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Jariyah Harrell works in her warm up assignment in Brittny Prices class on the first day of school at Aldine ISDs Health Education and Learning at Nimitz High School on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Malachi Deberry sits in the cafeteria as he waits to go to his first class during the first day of school at Health Education and Learning at Nimitz High School on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Jariyah Harrell, left, works in her warm up assignment in Brittny Prices class on the first day of school at Aldine ISDs Health Education and Learning at Nimitz High School on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Brittny Price, right, works with her students on the first day of school at Aldine ISDs Health Education and Learning at Nimitz High School on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Students at Health Education and Learning at Nimitz High School line up to get into the building for the first day of school in Aldine ISD on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Students are greeted by cheerleaders as they arrive at Health Education and Learning at Nimitz High School for the first day of school in Aldine ISD on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Omar Casto and Javier Contreras shake hands in the cafeteria as they arrive for the first day of school at Health Education and Learning at Nimitz High School on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Kara Kovach helps students pick up their schedules at they arrive for the first say of school at Health Education and Learning at Nimitz High School on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Students at Health Education and Learning at Nimitz High School line up to get into the building for the first day of school in Aldine ISD on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Maria Gonzalez, right, helps students to their classrooms on the first day of school at Aldine ISDs Health Education and Learning at Nimitz High School on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Students get off a school bus as they arrive at Health Education and Learning at Nimitz High School for the first day of school in Aldine ISD on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Students get off a school bus as they arrive at Health Education and Learning at Nimitz High School for the first day of school in Aldine ISD on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Students walk through security as they arrive at Health Education and Learning at Nimitz High School for the first day of school in Aldine ISD on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Students walk through security as they arrive at Health Education and Learning at Nimitz High School for the first day of school in Aldine ISD on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Students are greeted by cheerleaders as they arrive at Health Education and Learning at Nimitz High School for the first day of school in Aldine ISD on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Students walk into the cafeteria for the first day of school at Aldine ISDs Health Education and Learning at Nimitz High School on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Brittny Price, left, checks her student into her classroom for the first day of school at Health Education and Learning at Nimitz High School in Aldine ISD on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Students walk through the hall on their way to class for the first day of school at Aldine ISDs Health Education and Learning at Nimitz High School on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Students walk through the hall on their way to class for the first day of school at Aldine ISDs Health Education and Learning at Nimitz High School on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Eric Barrett, left, guides students to their classrooms on the first day of school at Aldine ISDs Health Education and Learning at Nimitz High School on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Brittny Price works with her students on the first day of school at Aldine ISDs Health Education and Learning at Nimitz High School on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Parents walk their children to Aldine ISDs Hinojosa EC/Pre-K/K School for the first day of school on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Dr. LaTonya Goffney, Aldine ISD superintendent of schools, greets students on the first day of school at Reed Academy on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Students at Reed Academy line up to go to class on the first day of school in Aldine ISD on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Dr. LaTonya Goffney, Aldine ISD superintendent of schools, left, and Principal Delilah St. Julian greet students on the first day of school at Reed Academy on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Dr. LaTonya Goffney, Aldine ISD superintendent of schools, watch students in Olivia Quinteros second grade classroom at Reed Academy on the first day of school on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Students in Olivia Quinteros second grade classroom at Reed Academy raise their hands as they are asked a question on the first day of school in Aldine ISD on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Olivia Quinteros works with her second grade students on the first day of school at Aldine ISDs Reed Academy on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Students at Reed Academy line up to go to class on the first day of school in Aldine ISD on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Fourth grade teacher Brittany Shelvin greets Anthony Melendez as he and his fellow students arrive to her class for the first day of school at Aldine ISDs Reed Academy on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Fourth grade teacher Brittany Shelvin greets her students on the first day of school at Aldine ISDs Reed Academy on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Dr. LaTonya Goffney, Aldine ISD superintendent of schools, talks to students at Reed Academy on the first day of school on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Fourth grade students Chance Epps, left, and Camariyah Johnson work on a worksheet in Brittany Shelvins class on the first day of school at Aldine ISDs Reed Academy on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Fourth grade student Jada Bolling holds the class mascot, Mushu, a bearded lizard, as she fills out a worksheet in Brittany Shelvins class on the first day of school at Aldine ISDs Reed Academy on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Dr. LaTonya Goffney, Aldine ISD superintendent of schools, holds class mascot, Mushu, a bearded lizard, as she visits Brittany Shelvins fourth grade classroom at Reed Academy on the first day of school on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Students at Reed Academy line up to go to class on the first day of school in Aldine ISD on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer As educator and Aldine ISD graduate Loverous Whittaker paced his classroom asking students what excited them most about their first day of high school, students responded with the various meet new people, experience new things, and food, some of the perks of beginning ninth grade in Aldine ISD. But this wasnt just any first day for Whittakers class of 35 students. These freshmen are part of the pilot class for Aldine ISDs new Health Education and Learning high school (HEAL) located in Nimitz High Schools ninth-grade building, a specialty school born out of Aldine ISDs partnership with Memorial Hermann Hospital to provide students with direct pathways into health careers. Other students who stood up to share their answers in Whittakers medical terminology class said they were excited to learn about health careers, take care of people and visit Memorial Hermann Hospital. Advertisement Article continues below this ad FIRST DAY: HISD starts the school year with bus route chaos and air conditioning issues at some schools One teenage girl who was at first shy to stand up said what she is most looking forward to was to graduate. Aldine leadership has said one of the main goals of the new HEAL high school is to help students in the 59,000-student northern Harris County district do precisely that: Graduate high school with career experience under their belts, ready, or almost ready, to enter the workforce. The school, which was created by a $250 million initiative from Bloomberg philanthropies, provides students with experience in health-related careers such as nursing, pharmacy, physical and occupational therapy, nonclinical administration and medical imaging. The program will feature mentorship with Memorial Hermann employees, hospital site visits and mock facilities inside the school to familiarize students with medical equipment. For Aldine leadership, the significance of the program is location. Advertisement Article continues below this ad At 2520 W.W. Thorne Boulevard, and a stones throw west of George Bush Airport, HEAL is located in the middle of a health care desert as Superintendent LaTonya Goffney coined it, meaning that some students and their families have to travel far to receive health maintenance and emergency services. We have identified a problem: health care desert, lack of access. We identified a solution: training up our kids who are going to be amazing, Goffney said. You think about the diversity that's needed, the fact that the majority of our students are bilingual, and what that's going to mean for health care in this area. It's going to be powerful. I know Bloomberg could have gone anywhere. I know Memorial Hermann could have partnered with other districts but that's the significance of partnering here in Aldine ISD, Goffney said. For HEAL Principal Charles Land, who has been with Aldine ISD for 19 years, the significance of the program is location. Southeast and northeast of here, there really arent medical providers, Land said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad But Memorial Hermann recently opened an outpatient clinic next to Nimitz Senior High School, and combined with churning students straight into health care professions, Land said that the most fascinating part about this program is the opportunity to resources, to have health care nearby. While many Aldine students know of nurses, or would want to be a nurse one day, not many actually know a nurse personally. Allison Herrera, 14, said she wants to become a nurse, a doctor and a surgeon when she grows up, and she said that she hasnt had personal experiences with nurses, but she has seen them portrayed on television, like in The Good Doctor, in a caring light that she would want to emulate. It would be super cool about being with patients and helping them, making them feel better, Herrera said. I want to do it so bad. That's what I'm gonna do. That's why I'm here. Aldine ISD is a high-poverty district in the Houston area that educates mostly students of color. In the district, 73% of students are Hispanic, 23% of students are Black, and over 90% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, Goffney said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad We have to be innovative because of the population that we serve. We recognize that we serve school-dependent children, meaning that at school is where the magic happens, Goffney said. Were not responsible for how they come to us, but were responsible for how they leave us. While there are some out-of-district students who came to Aldine specifically for the HEAL program, most are Aldine ISD students who have come from within the district to enroll in the specialty high school. Brooklyn Johnson, 14, said she chose to go to HEAL because she wants to be a nurse, after experiencing surgery and staying at the hospital for an extended period of time. She said when she was in the hospital, she was taken aback by the kindness of her care team, including the staff who would visit with therapy dogs and check in. She said they always asked how she was doing, a simple question that in a time of illness means much more than most people realize. I've been talking about being a nurse for a while, Brooklyn said. Nurses, they were super nice. Theyd always ask like, How are you feeling? and stuff. They were always around and helping. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Combating declining enrollment While HEAL was celebrating its opening on Aldines first day of school, other campuses did not reopen their doors. The district had to close three elementary schools in February, transferring 1,002 students from Sammons, Conely and Gray elementaries to Hill, Carmichael, Spence, Goodman and Stehlik elementaries and Carter academy. Stehlik Elementary will be receiving the most students, 428 students, from closed campuses. Goffney said closing campuses was just facing the reality of declining enrollment. Aldine ISD has lost 10,000 students in the last decade, and 7,000 since the COVID-19 pandemic. Our enrollment is declining. That's a reality that doesn't change, but the needs of our students don't change either, Goffney said. We've got to be good stewards of the resources that we have. And so taking schools offline and making sure our students are at a good school option closest to their homes has continued to be a priority. I think that right-sizing while also innovating can go hand in hand. The district also has extended school years at some campuses, to help fight against the summer slide that many students face when they are off of school for too long. Aldine ISD has also opened other specialty campuses in recent years, such as the Young Womens Leadership Academy, the Impact Leadership Academy and La Promesa school. Goffney said HEAL was just another notch on Aldines innovation belt. Chief Transformation Officer of the district, Adrian Bustillos, said he hoped the model would become a blueprint for health career and technical education (CTE) schools across the country. Another facet of the program is that students will have the ability to earn money through summer internships and obtain certifications for pharmacy technician and nursing careers, for example. A student with a pharmacy tech certification can begin working in a pharmacy as soon as they graduate, and if they choose to take the next step and become a pharmacist, they could have as little as one extra year of post-grad schooling to get there, Bustillos explained. This alone would make a graduate that much more likely to get the degree they would need, because HEAL aims to minimize the amount of time beyond graduation needed for a student to begin their careers. And Memorial Hermann, for its part, hopes to hire as many HEAL graduates as possible. The state of Texas is short some 30,000 nurses, according to Kim Koehn, associate vice president of philanthropy at Memorial Hermann. She said the statewide shortage is affecting Memorial Hermann, too, and the hope is that HEAL students who foster relationships with the hospital would consider working there upon graduation. They will have Memorial Hermann instructors co-partner with the Aldine ISD teachers. They're going to get to know so much about us, and we'll get to know so much about them and know how talented they will be, ready the day after graduation to be hired. Plus, Bustillos said Memorial Hermann might pay for a students tuition depending on the circumstances, meaning that a student could in theory attend school at HEAL and get a job at Memorial Hermann while completing the last semester or year of nursing school to be able to practice full-time, without incurring student loans. At least, thats the goal. Bustillos said they are still ironing out the in-school pharmacy partnerships, which will likely be announced within the next few months. There is also a physical and occupational therapy track at the school, which Goffney said was so far the least-enrolled track, alongside nonclinical administration, but there is still time for students to gain exposure to the potential careers along those tracks and sign up for that pathway. While the ninth-grade class only has 140 students as of day one, the goal is to enroll 190 students, and with 60 students in a pipeline to potentially enroll in the school, Aldine leaders are confident that they will hit their enrollment cap soon enough. But one student, Ricardo Flores, 14, said physical therapy was his preferred track. His father had an accident when he was 1 or 2 years old, and he said his father needed physical therapy to live a normal life due to his injuries. When Ricardo found out about his fathers story, his mind was set on physical therapy as his future. Now that I see he's back on his feet, I do want to help people get back on their feet, Ricardo said. It really gives people a second chance. Soon, HEAL will begin construction to transform from the dusty peach-walled halls of Nimitzs ninth-grade building to the interior of a working hospital and a high school, combined. The Irish Times Group has acquired the 50 per cent interest in Gloss Publications held by co-founders Jane and Sarah McDonnell. The Irish Times already held a 50 per cent share in the luxury publishing and events group since its launch in 2006. Advertisement The acquisition is part of the Irish-owned media groups strategy to expand and enhance its range of premium digital services and products. Managing Director of The Irish Times Group, Deirdre Veldon said: We believe The Gloss represents an enhancement to the portfolio of quality journalism and services we offer and we are delighted to welcome it fully into the Group. "Sarah and Jane have created top-class publications in The Gloss and The Gloss Interiors which are avidly consumed in digital and print by their loyal and discerning audiences. We have enjoyed working as co-shareholders with Jane and Sarah over many years, and we believe now is a good time to build on that relationship to bring their high-end brand of original content and premium events to a wider audience. Co-founder and Publisher of The Gloss, Jane McDonnell said: The strategic and innovative partnership we formed with The Irish Times in 2006 has been key to the success of Gloss Publications. Over the past 18 years, we have invented and reinvented our titles - The Gloss, The Gloss Interiors and thegloss.ie - and created many successful unique event formats, including The Gloss Gala, in multiple sectors. Advertisement "Thanks to the support of our partners and advertisers, both Irish and international and for whom The Gloss represents the best of Irish magazine publishing, we and our talented colleagues have been able to deliver on key projects that are key to the success of their brands in this market. We are looking forward, with The Irish Times, to building on the strong foundations we have established to ensure The Gloss continues to flourish into the future, she said. Ireland Irish Times Group acquires RIP.ie website Read More Co-founder and Editor of The Gloss, Sarah McDonnell said: We set out to create a new media brand, one that combined all the strengths of print with the benefits of digital. Our readership is outstanding in its breadth, and loyalty, to the brand. This highly engaged audience drives us to aspire to excellence in everything we do. The Gloss magazine, which features a mix of fashion, interiors, lifestyle, food, wine, travel and culture, is published on the first Thursday of every month in large glossy print format with The Irish Times. Advertisement The magazine is also published in smaller super-glossy format available to purchase on newsstands from the first Friday of the month. The Gloss Interiors is circulated with The Irish Times in spring and autumn. The Gloss website thegloss.ie features lifestyle and interiors content. Gloss Publications also produces and publishes premium magazines for clients and partners, including universities and luxury brands. The Irish Times Group is the only independently-funded national news organisation that is wholly Irish-owned. The Group owns a portfolio of leading brands including The Irish Times, The Irish Examiner, breakingnews.ie and myhome.ie and recently acquired the death notices site RIP.ie. It is the leader in digital news subscriptions in Ireland and reaches a large Irish audience around the world. A new piece of artwork at London Zoo has been confirmed as belonging to Banksy, marking his ninth artwork in the capital in nine days. The new piece, located on a shutter at the zoos entrance, shows a gorilla lifting it up allowing a number of birds to escape, while the eyes of other animals can be seen lurking in the darkness. Advertisement The work, which the artist has posted on his official Instagram account, appears to tie in to previous pieces, with animals scattered around London outside of their natural habitat. The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) confirmed that it will protect the image, and will leave the shutter down for the thousands of visitors to view the gorilla on Tuesday. It comes after his last piece, a rhino mounting a silver Nissan Micra with a traffic cone on its bonnet, was defaced by a man wearing a black balaclava just hours after it went up. Advertisement Located in Charltons Westmoor Street, the rhino piece was revealed on Monday and a video obtained by BBC News shows a man walking up to the artwork and spray painting it, leaving a white tag on it. The crowd gathered at the piece could be heard saying dont do that and as the person walks away, a voice from the crowd asks: Why did you do that? Why did you do it? Banksy has been posting artwork to his Instagram every day since August 5, and it is unclear how long he will continue dotting artwork around the capital. Rebecca Blanchard, media manager at ZSL, told the PA news agency: This was an incredible surprise and we are, quite frankly, thrilled that hes chosen us to be what could be the grand finale of this series thats been so talked about. Advertisement She added that the latest Banksy artworks in London have brought so much joy and cheer, just like the Regents Park-based zoo. The new artwork unveiled by Banksy at London Zoo (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Ms Blanchard added that they want to protect it from the glare of the Sun so are looking at how to keep the artwork preserved and will leave the shutter at the entrance down so visitors can see the work as they go into the zoo. Advertisement US celebrity photographer Kevin Mazur rushed down to the zoo on Tuesday. Mazur, who was the official snapper for Justin Timberlakes tour stop at the O2 on Monday night, disagrees that the London Zoo image is the last in the animal series. He told PA: Me and my sons had a lot of fun when he came to New York and he was doing one every day for a month. Im hoping that hes doing that for the people here in London, every day for a month. This is number nine, so maybe itll be more. Bristol street artist Banksy created the New York series in October 2013. We have moved #Banksys City of London artwork to Guildhall Yard to ensure it is properly protected and open for the public to view safely. A permanent home for the piece will be decided in due course.#DestinationCity pic.twitter.com/5ahp2hhPZZ City of London (@cityoflondon) August 12, 2024 The rhino follows Sundays piece, piranhas on a police sentry box, which has now been removed from near Londons Old Bailey court to preserve it. The anonymous artist appeared to have used translucent spray paint to turn the box into a giant fish tank for the piece which appeared on Ludgate Hill before being taped off by the local council. The glass-paned box will be kept temporarily by the City of London Corporations offices, a walk of less than 15 minutes from the previous location. A spokesman for the authority said: We have moved the artwork to Guildhall Yard to ensure it is properly protected and open for the public to view safely. A Banksy artwork depicting two elephants poking their heads out of blocked out windows was unveiled on the side of a building in Chelsea on Tuesday (Yui Mok/PA) A permanent home for the piece will be decided in due course. Banksys first piece was a goat perched on top of a wall and has been followed by silhouettes of elephants, monkeys, a wolf, pelicans, and a cat, all of which have popped up in various locations across London. The sixth piece, a stretching cat on an empty, distressed advertising hoarding, was removed from its location in north-west London hours after it was unveiled on Saturday. Crowds booed as the piece in Cricklewood was dismantled by three men who said they were hired by a contracting company to take down the billboard for safety reasons. An artwork depicting piranhas on a police sentry box was removed from near Londons Old Bailey court to preserve it (Emily Pennink/PA) The cat design was the second piece to be removed last week after a howling wolf on a satellite dish was taken off the roof of a building in Peckham, south London, less than an hour after it was unveiled. A spokesperson for Banksy told the PA news agency that the artist was neither connected to nor endorsed the theft of the wolf artwork and that they had no knowledge as to the dishs current whereabouts. The fifth piece to be unveiled was on Bonners Fish Bar in Walthamstow, east London, and shows a pelican stooping to scoop up a fish on the takeaways sign, while another is tossing one in the air. The fish and chip shop had announced in July that it would close from August 1 until September 5, and a message on its Instagram page expressed their gratitude at the artwork. It said: The last few days have been a whirlwind, thank you to all who have sent such kind words, comments and messages. Were so sorry if we havent replied, as you can imagine its been extremely overwhelming! Were over the moon that Banksy decided to choose our little fish and chip shop in wonderful Walthamstow and love the design. Contrary to some beliefs, we didnt ask him to do this, but are very grateful he did! Fundamental change is needed to ensure the Police Service of Northern Ireland is adequately resourced, a political leader has said. Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie was speaking as officer numbers in the PSNI sit at 6,300, well below the 7,500 recommended in the Patten Review more than 20 years ago. Advertisement This week, numbers have been bolstered with an additional 80 officers from Police Scotland, while the PSNI continues to investigate recent disorder in Belfast. Last week, chief constable Jon Boutcher described the PSNI as an outlier compared to any other police organisation in England, Wales or Scotland or the gardai in terms of funding. PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher (Liam McBurney/PA) Advertisement He said the Stormont Executive does not get enough money for public services in Northern Ireland, and said he is pressing ministers and the UK government about the issue. Earlier, retired assistant chief constable Alan McQuillan claimed that Stormont is ignoring a developing police funding crisis. He told the BBC: Stormont has got the blinkers on. Northern Ireland politicians have failed policing. I think we are at the point of crisis now. There is no capacity to recruit and train people. Advertisement Later on Tuesday, Mr Beattie said there is a crisis in policing around resources, staffing and political support. The headline is that our police, which should be sitting at 7,500 officers according to the Patten Review of Policing, is actually sitting at 6,300 officers, he said. Yet that doesnt tell the whole story, because from that 6,300 you need to remove those on long-term or short-term sick, those on maternity leave and those either assigned to an important desk job or are close to retirement. Advertisement Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie (Liam McBurney/PA) The available officers on the beat figure is likely to be below 6,000. This creates an unbearable pressure on the force and on individual officers who are asked to do more with less. He added: If politicians in Northern Ireland are not willing to stand up and address this then we cannot complain when our Chief Constable grabs the nettle and delves into the political arena to save the force he commands. This is a line in the sand for policing in Northern Ireland, we need fundamental change, including direct support from the Home Office. Advertisement The recent riots, with paramilitary influence, combined with ongoing Republican terrorism are without a doubt a threat to national security and our police are on the front line of that threat. They need support, and they need resources if we, as a society, are to turn this around. In a statement around the additional police officers arriving from Scotland this week, the PSNI said: Following a request to the National Police Co-ordination Centre for additional officers to support the policing operation, 80 officers from Police Scotland will arrive in Northern Ireland on Tuesday. We are really grateful for the support from our colleagues from Police Scotland and this will give us the vital additional resilience that we need at this time. A woman in her 20s has died in a three-vehicle collision between a truck, a van and a car at Bartown, Co Wexford. The collision occurred at 6.30am on Tuesday morning along the N25 close to Larkins Cross, which is a primary access route from Rosslare Europort to Dublin, the south-east and south. Advertisement The woman was pronounced deceased at the scene. Her body has been conveyed to University Hospital Waterford for post-mortem examination. The driver of the van, a man in his 40s, was conveyed to Wexford General Hospital for treatment for injuries believed to be non-life-threatening at this time. The scene is currently preserved for technical examination by Forensic Collision Investigators. Gardai are appealing for any witnesses to this collision to come forward. Any road users who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) and were travelling in the area at the time of the incident, are asked to make this footage available to investigating gardai. Anyone with any information is asked to contact Wexford Garda Station on 053 916 5200, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station. A man charged over a knife attack in Dublin, which resulted in another man being hospitalised, has been granted bail with "strict" conditions. The incident happened at around 1pm on Monday at Marlborough Street in the city centre, where thousands had turned out to celebrate the homecoming of the Irish Olympians. Advertisement Viron Hykaj, 39, of Parnell Street, Dublin 1, was accused of assault causing harm to a named man, who is in his 40s, and producing "a large filleting knife" as a weapon during the incident. The injured male was conveyed to the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital for treatment for injuries believed to be non-life-threatening. Mr Hykaj appeared before Judge Cephas Power at Dublin District Court on Tuesday. Garda Michael Doherty told the court that he arrested the accused and brought him to Store Street station. Advertisement The court heard Mr Hykaj "made no reply to charge," and the gardai must prepare a file for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Mr Hykaj, dressed in a white T-shirt, black trousers, and runners, has yet to indicate how he will plead. There was no objection to bail, but the garda said, "I'm asking the court to set strict conditions." Judge Power noted the accused, who did not address the court, had no prior criminal convictions. Defence solicitor Holly Laher said that her client consented to the terms sought, and she provided Hykaj's phone number. Judge Power released him on 400 bail and ordered him to appear again on September 24th for the DPP's directions to be outlined. He warned him to obey bail conditions: reside at his current address and notify gardai of any change for their approval; sign on daily at a garda station; have no contact directly or indirectly with the alleged injured party; be available for contact 24 hours a day on the phone number he provided; and stay away from Marlborough Street. Legal aid was granted after the court heard the accused worked part-time, earning 250 a week. Elon Musks Dublin-based Twitter International UC has been ordered to pay an Irish record unfair dismissal award of 550,131 to a former senior employee. This follows Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) Adjudicator Michael MacNamee finding that the billionaires Twitter International UC unfairly dismissed the companys former source to pay director, Gary Rooney, in December 2022 after he failed to respond to Elon Musks Fork in the Road email. Advertisement On October 28th 2022, Mr Musk acquired Twitter's (now Xs') global business in a deal worth $44 billion and within weeks, Twitter confirmed that 140 employees at its European HQ in Dublin were being made redundant. Accounts published in August 2023 confirmed that Twitter International UC had incurred redundancy costs of 12.7 million since Mr Musks 2022 acquisition. Twitter International UC contested Mr Rooneys claim in full over five days of hearing at the WRC contending that he had resigned voluntarily. 'Fork in the Road' email However, in his findings, Mr MacNamee found that Mr Rooney was dismissed because he did not click yes to Elon Musks Fork in the Road email and for that reason alone. Advertisement On November 16th 2022, Mr Rooney and the Twitter workforce received an email from Mr Musk who said: Going forward, to build a breakthrough Twitter 2.0 and succeed in an increasingly competitive world, we will need to be extremely hardcore. This will mean working long hours at high intensity. Only exceptional performance will constitute a passing a grade.[....]" Mr Musk added: If you are sure that you want to be part of the new Twitter, please click yes on the link below. Anyone has not done so by 5pm ET tomorrow will receive three months of severance. After Mr Rooney, (represented in the case by Arthur Cush BL, instructed by solicitor, Barry Kenny of Bray-based Kenny Sullivan Solicitors) opted not to click yes on the link, three days later on Saturday, November 19th, 2022, Mr Rooney received a further company email which stated that it is to acknowledge your decision to resign and accept the voluntary separation offer. The email stated that Mr Rooneys last working day was Thursday, November 17th and that his access to Twitter systems was deactivated the same day. Advertisement Mr Rooney had commenced work for Twitter in 2013 as 'EMEA Sourcing and Procurement Manager - Dublin' before his promotion to the Director Source to Pay role in February 2021. On November 26th, 2022, Mr Rooney emailed his employer to outline that at no time have I indicated to Twitter that I am resigning my position, nor have I seen any separation agreement let alone accepted one. On December 7th 2022, Twitter told Mr Rooney in an email that You have decided not to click yes in response to Elons email entitled A Fork in the Road sent on Wednesday, November 16, 2022. As we advised you at that time, this was treated as you having served notice to resign your employment with Twitter International Unlimited Company". Mr Rooney instructed his solicitors to write to Twitter on December 13th, 2022, and January 19th, 2023, calling on them to re-engage him and confirming his commitment to working with the company and no response was ever received to these letters. Advertisement Evidence In evidence, Mr Rooney told the WRC that prior to the change of ownership he loved his job. On receiving Mr Musks Fork in the Road email, Mr Rooney said his first reaction was disbelief, and he was initially afraid to even open it for fear that it was spam or malware. On November 17th 2022, Mr Rooney sent two messages to a colleague on the companys internal SLACK messaging system saying Hey wanted to let you know im going and stating later I need to step away for my own sake. Im deeply troubled by whats going on here these days. 'Twitter 2.0' In a message to another colleague later that day, Mr Rooney said: Twitter 2.0 wont be for you and me. Advertisement Ahead of Mr Musks deadline in which to respond to The Fork in the Road email, Mr Rooney emailed a colleague this is mental and the colleague replied wild!. Twitter International UC's senior director of human resources, Ms Lauren Wegman, told the hearing that Mr Musks 'Fork in the Road' email was sent to 270 employees in Ireland, which was the balance of workers not affected by redundancies, and 235 clicked yes. In relation to the remaining 35 employees, Ms Wegman said We accepted their resignations. Ms Wegman said the mood amongst workers at the time was mixed with some excited about Twitter 2.0 while others were more negative and wanted out of the company. Ms Wegman denied that the Fork in the Road Email was an attempt to reduce the workforce. The WRC hearing was told during Mr Wegmans evidence that the Fork in the Road email was a way to determine who wanted to take on the challenge of Twitter 2.0. In his findings in the 73-page decision, Mr MacNamee stated that "the SLACK messages have no relevance to the question as to what brought about the termination of the Complainants employment". Record award The record 550,131 award is made up of Mr Rooneys remuneration losses of 350,131 from January 2023 to May 2024 and estimated future remuneration losses of 200,000. The remuneration losses are based on Mr Rooneys Twitter remuneration of 323,560 made up of 151,225 in pay and 172,335 in deferred cash consideration. Mr Rooney secured a new role with an employer in the banking sector in September 2023 on total remuneration of 129,897. Solicitor for Mr Rooney, Barry Kenny said today that he welcomed the clear and unambiguous finding that my client did not resign from his employment but was unfairly dismissed from his job, notwithstanding his excellent employment record and contribution to the company over the years. Mr Kenny - who specialises in employment law - said: It is not okay for Mr Musk, or indeed any large company to treat employees in such a manner in this country/jurisdiction. The record award reflects the seriousness and the gravity of the case. Twitter International UC* does have the option of appealing the WRC ruling to the Labour Court. A Marshall Middle School student makes their way to the building for the first day of school on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer A Marshall Middle School student makes their way to the building for the first day of school on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Memorial for former Marshall Middle School student Josue Flores, where he was murdered walking home from school, photographed on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Daughter of the late U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Erica Lee Carter, participates in greeting students to Marshall Middle School as students make their way to the building for the first day of school on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer A Marshall Middle School student makes their way to the building for the first day of school on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia speaks with U.S. Dept. Secretary of Agriculture Xochitl Torres as Marshall Middle School students make their way to the building for the first day of school on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Neighbors, teachers and local officials line the walkway to Marshall Middle School as students make their way to the building for the first day of school on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Marshall Middle School principal Jeff Bridgewater addressees those welcoming students to their first day of school at the Northside middle school on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. The event was sponsored by Safe Walk Home Northside. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer A Marshall Middle School student makes their way to the building for the first day of school on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Members of Transendance (cq), Marshall Middle School dance company, prepare to welcome back fellow students to the first day of school on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer A Marshall Middle School student gets a hug as neighbors, teachers and local officials line the walkway to the building for the first day of school on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer A Marshall Middle School student makes their way to the building for the first day of school on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Memorial for former Marshall Middle School student Josue Flores, where he was murdered walking home from school, photographed on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Incensed by his death, Stella Mireles-Walters, Del Torres and other neighborhood residents started Safe Walk Home Northside to help patrol the neighborhood and keep children and residents safe while walking to and from school in the Near Northside neighborhood. The organization kicked off Marshall's first day of school with a welcome procession that included free snacks and school supplies, law enforcement and other community leaders. "We're celebrating the life of Josue Flores, we're celebrating the Northside community and we're celebrating our students as we welcome them back on their first day of school," principal Jeff Bridgewater said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Hundreds of students walk to Marshall and nearby Northside High School to get to school every day, Torres said. Others may ride or walk across the Metro Red Line, which cuts through the neighborhood a few blocks away. The group works with law enforcement agencies including the Metro and Houston ISD police departments to promote safety in the neighborhood. Since 2016, the organization has given more than 800 people training on its first-day patrolling program and now hosts a self-defense program that has been adopted by Harris County Precinct 2, Flores said. Once we came into the schools, into the church and into the community centers, and once we got the backing of the local police departments and elected officials, it took off, Torres said. It takes a villagewe want our kids to have a nice, safe environment. Safe Walk Home Houstons annual event attracts a network of organizations, law enforcement agencies and community leaders, including U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Xochitl Torres Small, U.S. Rep Sylvia Garcia, city council member Mario Castillo, state representatives Ana Hernandez and Christina Morales and Judge Victor Trivino. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Members of the office of late U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a longtime supporter of the organization, presented a commendation to Mireles-Walters at the event. "There's nothing she'd rather do than support our children," said Erica Lee Carter, Jackson Lee's eldest daughter. "Let's continue doing what we're doing for many, many years to come." More than 180,000 students headed to school by car, bus, rail or on foot Monday as Houston ISD began its second school year under the leadership of Texas Education Agency-appointed superintendent Mike Miles. Advertisement Article continues below this ad To keep students and other neighbors safe, Torres said neighbors should stay alert and report anything suspicious to Safe Walk Home or law enforcement. A body has been recovered off the coast of County Waterford in the search for a missing kayaker. A man in his 60s had been reported missing yesterday after he left Helvick Head at around at 11:40am. Advertisement Multiple units of the Coastguard, as well as the R117 helicopter, had been involved in the search operation, which was launched yesterday afternoon. The kayaker left the Helvick Head area at 11.40am and has not been heard from or seen since. The Irish Coast Guard was tasked to search the area at 5.30pm on Monday and searches are focusing along the Clonea area of the coastline. Irish Coast Guard helicopter Rescue 117, the LE Aoibhin, Helvick Lifeboat, Bonmahon Coast Guard, and the Ardmore Coast. The mans body has been brought to a pier in Dungarvan where he will be transferred to University Hospital Waterford for a post mortem examination which will be carried out in the coming days. A Department of Transport spokesperson confirmed that the naval vessel LE Aoibhinn is on site coordinating the search and that the mans body has been recovered. Pictures of Team Ireland welcomed home from the Paris Olympics features heavily on the front pages of Tuesday's papers. The Irish Times leads with a picture of fans cheering as the athletes were congratulated on their success in Dublin on Monday. Advertisement The Irish Examiner leads with a picture of the medallists in rowing and swimming for Ireland. The Echo leads with a report that shows there is no HAP rentals available in Cork city. Advertisement The Irish Independent leads with quotes from Richard Bruton as he says rural drivers should get larger grants to make the switch to electrical vehicles. The Irish Daily Mail leads with the Irish man who was shot dead by police in Malta after he allegedly murdered his partner. Advertisement Both the Irish Daily Mirror and the Irish Daily Star also lead with thi story. Advertisement British Papers A doctors warning about Nottingham killer Valdo Calocane three years before the stabbing spree that claimed three lives features on Tuesdays front pages. The Daily Mirror, Daily Mail and the Metro focus on a report into the case which found a warning from Calocanes health team was ignored with victims families claiming doctors have blood on their hands. Tomorrow's Paper Today THEY KNEW FOR 3 YEARS HE WAS A DANGER Doc warned Calocane would end up killing #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/gpGwywTmxY Advertisement Metro (@MetroUK) August 12, 2024 The Independent also splashes on the Calocane report, revealing the health trust responsible for him was repeatedly warned about poor care and the hospital had seen a steep rise in patient deaths. THE INDEPENDENT: "FAILURE AT NHS HOSPITAL THAT LEFT TRIPLE KILLER"@PeterMBlackburn / @RebeccaSMT report for @Independent. Failures by The NHS Trust that treated Nottingham knife killer have been laid bare.#TheIndependent#IBPapers#TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/NS6zFfyPEG ANDY GIBSON (@AndyGibsonTV) August 12, 2024 In foreign affairs news, The Daily Telegraph says Sir Keir Starmer urged Tehran not to attack Israel in a call with the Iranian president. The front page of tomorrow's Daily Telegraph: 'Starmer warns Iran: No attack on Israel'#TomorrowsPapersToday Sign up for the Front Page newsletterhttps://t.co/x8AV4Oomry pic.twitter.com/cP2FApOMrU The Telegraph (@Telegraph) August 12, 2024 The Times says Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Vladimir Putin that war was coming home as a week-long assault inside Russia forced thousands to flee. The i leads with reports officials have drawn up plans to airlift British nationals from the Middle East amid rising tensions between Israel and Iran. Tuesday's front page: UK plan to evacuate Brit nationals in Israel if Iran triggers war #TomorrowsPapersToday Latest from @singharj: https://t.co/zHRqUh4Fss pic.twitter.com/sgkhm7K3Er The i paper (@theipaper) August 12, 2024 New research shows heatwaves spurred by carbon pollution claimed nearly 50,000 lives across Europe last year, according to The Guardian. Back on British soil, the Financial Times reports billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittals conglomerate will buy a 24.5% stake in BT Group. Just published: front page of the Financial Times, UK edition, Tuesday 13 August https://t.co/QsSUnpuv9V pic.twitter.com/oyYKCRZ8fy Financial Times (@FT) August 12, 2024 The Daily Express says senior Tories are warning the Prime Minister that he needs to get a grip on migrants crossing the English Channel. Tuesday's DAILY EXPRESS: 'Get a grip and fast!' Labour is doing nothing to stop the boats#TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/hbQDZTVO67 Jack Surfleet (@jacksurfleet) August 12, 2024 Lastly, the Daily Star writes picnic lovers have been warned about millions of invading German lager-lout wasps looking for a bit of mindless aggro. Only a ceasefire deal in Gaza stemming from hoped-for talks this week would hold Iran back from direct retaliation against Israel for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on its soil, three senior Iranian officials said. Iran has vowed a severe response to Haniyeh's killing, which took place as he visited Tehran late last month and which it blamed on Israel. Israel has neither confirmed or denied its involvement. The US Navy has deployed warships and a submarine to the Middle East to bolster Israeli defences. Advertisement One of the sources, a senior Iranian security official, said Iran, along with allies such as Hezbollah, would launch a direct attack if the Gaza talks fail, or if it perceives Israel is dragging out negotiations. The sources did not say how long Iran would allow for talks to progress before responding. Risk of broader Middle East war With an increased risk of a broader Middle East war after the killings of Haniyeh and Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr, Iran has been involved in intense dialogue with Western countries and the United States in recent days on ways to calibrate retaliation, said the sources, who all spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. In comments published on Tuesday, the US ambassador to Turkey confirmed Washington was asking allies to help convince Iran to de-escalate tensions. Three regional government sources described conversations with Tehran to avoid escalation ahead of the Gaza ceasefire talks, due to begin on Thursday in either Egypt or Qatar. "We hope our response will be timed and executed in a way that does not harm a potential ceasefire," Iran's mission to the UN said on Friday in a statement. Iran's foreign ministry on Tuesday said calls to exercise restraint "contradict principles of international law". Advertisement Iran's foreign ministry and its Revolutionary Guards Corps did not immediately respond to questions for this story. The Israeli prime minister's office and the US State Department did not respond to questions. "Something could happen as soon as this week by Iran and its proxies... That is a US assessment as well as an Israel assessment," White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Monday. "If something does happen this week, the timing of it could certainly well have an impact on these talks we want to do on Thursday," he added. At the weekend, Hamas cast doubt on whether talks would go ahead. Israel and Hamas have held several rounds of talks in recent months without agreeing a final ceasefire. Advertisement Fears of imminent Iranian response In Israel, many observers believe a response is imminent after supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran would "harshly punish" Israel for the strike in Tehran. Iran's regional policy is set by the elite Revolutionary Guards, who answer only to Khamenei, the country's top authority. Iran's relatively moderate new president Masoud Pezeshkian has repeatedly reaffirmed Iran's anti-Israel stance and its support for resistance movements across the region since taking office last month. Meir Litva, a senior researcher at Tel Aviv University's Alliance Centre for Iranian Studies, said he thought Iran would put its needs before helping its ally Hamas, but that Iran also wanted to avoid a full-scale war. "The Iranians never subordinated their strategy and policies to the needs of their proxies or protegees, Litva said. An attack is likely and almost inevitable but I don't know the scale and the timing. Advertisement Iran-based analyst Saeed Laylaz said the Islamic Republic's leaders were now keen to work towards a ceasefire in Gaza, "to obtain incentives, avoid an all-out war and strengthen its position in the region". Laylaz said Iran had not previously been involved in the Gaza peace process but was now ready to play "a key role". Iran, two of the sources said, was considering sending a representative to the ceasefire talks, in what would be a first since the war started in Gaza. The representative would not directly attend the meetings but would engage in behind-the-scenes discussions "to maintain a line of diplomatic communication" with the United States while negotiations proceed. Officials in Washington, Qatar and Egypt did not immediately respond to questions about whether Iran would play an indirect role in talks. Advertisement Two senior sources close to Lebanon's Hezbollah said Tehran would give the negotiations a chance but would not give up its intentions to retaliate. A ceasefire in Gaza would give Iran cover for a smaller "symbolic" response, one of the sources said. Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed into southern Israel on October 7th, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to the health ministry. April missiles Iran has not publicly indicated what would be the target of an eventual response to the Haniyeh assassination. On April 13th, two weeks after two Iranian generals were killed in a strike on Tehran's embassy in Syria, Iran unleashed a barrage of hundreds of drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles towards Israel, damaging two airbases. Almost all of the weapons were shot down before they reached their targets. "Iran wants its response to be much more effective than the April 13th attack," said Farzin Nadimi, senior fellow with the Washington Institute for Near East policy. Nadimi said such a response would require "a lot of preparation and coordination" especially if it involved Iran's network of allied armed groups opposing Israel and the United States across the Middle East, with Hezbollah the senior member of the so-called "Axis of Resistance," that along with Iraqi militias and Yemen's Houthis have harried Israel since October 7th. Two of the Iranian sources said Iran would support Hezbollah and other allies if they launched their own responses to the killing of Haniyeh and Hezbollah's top military commander, Fuad Shukr, who died in a strike in Beirut the day before Haniyeh was killed in Tehran. The sources did not specify what form such support could take. Chancellor Karl Nehammer said on Tuesday he would introduce steps to bolster Austria's counter-terrorism capacity after authorities last week foiled a suspected ISIS-inspired plot against a concert due to be held by Taylor Swift in Vienna. In a post on X, Nehammer said he was presenting a package of measures to enable "decisive action against terrorist activities", linking to a media report setting out his plans to beef up domestic intelligence services. Advertisement The report referenced by Nehammer in the Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung set out four points, including giving security services the ability to monitor communications sent on messaging apps - currently not permitted in the country. Nehammer, a conservative seeking re-election next month, said after the alleged plot was uncovered that Austria needed to give intelligence agencies more powers to decrypt messages. Opinion polls show the main threat to Nehammer's Austrian People's Party (OVP) is the far-right Freedom Party, which is leading the race to win the Sept. 29 parliamentary election. The FPO rails against what it casts as the "Islamisation" of Austria and has pledged to ban political Islam. Advertisement Nehammer said he would set out his plans at a meeting of the national security council later on Tuesday. The Kronen Zeitung said his package included proposals for combating political Islam by tightening rules around the right to assembly for groups deemed hostile to democracy. They also encompassed measures aimed at deradicalising extremists and provisions to facilitate mandatory pre-trial detention of youth suspects for serious crimes Nehammer's office did not respond to a request for comment. Austria has tight privacy laws on personal data, and efforts by the OVP to make monitoring of communications easier have been bogged down in disputes with its Green coalition partners. Family and friends of US actor Johnny Wactor have called for action from the public and officials to help find and convict his killers. The former General Hospital and Westworld star was shot on May 25 when he interrupted thieves stealing the catalytic converter from his car in downtown Los Angeles, authorities said. Advertisement No arrests have yet been made. Johnny Wactor pictured arriving at the world premiere of The Mule in Los Angeles in 2018 (Willy Sanjuan/AP) Im asking that anybody that knows anything please come forward, the actors mother, Scarlett Wactor of South Carolina, said at a news conference outside Los Angeles City Hall on Tuesday. Advertisement It will help me and his brothers in our healing to know that theyve been captured and convicted. Police made their own plea for public help on August 5 when they released surveillance images of three unidentified suspects and their getaway car a stolen 2018 black Infiniti Q50. Mr Wactor was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and grew up in the nearby town of Summerville. He portrayed Brando Corbin on the ABC soap opera General Hospital from 2020 to 2022. Advertisement He also appeared in films and TV series including Station 19, NCIS and Westworld. Los Angeles council member Kevin de Leon surrounded by friends of the late actor Johnny Wactor (Damian Dovarganes/AP) Scarlett Wactor said previously that her son had left work at a rooftop bar with a co-worker when he saw someone at his car and thought it was being towed. Advertisement A mask-wearing suspect opened fire, his mother added. Grief is my constant companion, she said. I cant wish him happy birthday on August 31 he would have been 38. I cant ask if hes coming home for Christmas. I cant ask how his day went. Others at the news conference called for more action from Mayor Karen Bass and other leaders to combat crime. Advertisement We will make sure that no family has to endure the pain that Scarlett is enduring today, City Councilman Kevin de Leon said. We want justice for Johnny and we shall have it. A man has appeared in court in Belfast charged with rioting offences. Paul McCallister, 26, of City Way in the Northern Ireland capital, appeared before Belfast Magistrates Court on Tuesday morning. Advertisement He has been charged with riotous assembly and also encouraging/assisting others to riot on August 3rd. McCallister indicated he understood the charges. A detective constable said he could connect the accused to the charges. No application for bail was made, and he remained in custody. Advertisement A defence lawyer indicated that an application for bail will be made at his next appearance before the court on August 21st. McCallister is the latest of a number of men to appear before courts in Northern Ireland charged in connection with serious disorder on the streets of Belfast earlier this month following an anti-immigration protest. Police are investigating a murder case filed against Bangladeshs former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and other officials over the killing of a grocery shop owner during student protests in July, authorities have said. SM Amir Hamza, described as a well-wisher of store owner Abu Sayeed, filed the case at the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Rajesh Chowdhury on Tuesday. Advertisement Mr Hamza said Mr Sayeed was killed on July 19 amid clashes during the student-led uprising, and that he had filed the case because Mr Sayeeds family did not have the capacity to seek justice. Ms Hasina, who stepped down and fled the country on August 5, was named as a suspect in the petition together with six other people including former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, general secretary of then-ruling Awami League party Obaidul Quader, and top police officials. Protesters climb a public monument in Dhaka as they celebrate the news of Sheikh Hasinas resignation as prime minister (Rajib Dhar/AP) Advertisement The Dhaka court asked the Mohammadpur police station to register the case. Officers will now investigate the case and file a report to the court. This is the first case against Ms Hasina, and more cases are likely to be filed. The development came amid calls by student protesters to charge Ms Hasina and her supporters with murder for the deaths of more than 300 people including students and civilians during weeks of violence since July 15. The uprising forced Ms Hasina to leave office and flee to India, ending a 15-year rule that turned increasingly autocratic, her critics say. Advertisement Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has been sworn in as interim leader (Michel Euler/AP) An interim government is now running the country. On Thursday, Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel peace laureate, was sworn in as interim leader. Advertisement Sixteen people, including two student protest leaders and others drawn mainly from civil society, were included in his interim Cabinet. The new Cabinet members were chosen after talks between student leaders, civil society representatives and the military. Ms Hasina and her partys many top leaders have either gone into hiding or have been barred from leaving the country. Unrest spread even after Ms Hasina resigned as prime minister (Rajib Dhar/AP) Advertisement Peaceful protests by students began in July against a quota system for government jobs that critics said favoured people with connections to Ms Hasinas party. Ms Hasina, 76, was elected to a fourth consecutive term in January, but the vote was boycotted by her main opponents, with thousands of opposition activists detained beforehand. The US and UK denounced the result as not credible. Ms Hasinas critics say her administration was increasingly marked by human rights abuses and corruption. The chaos on Bangladeshs streets continued after her resignation. Dozens of police officers were killed, prompting police to stop working across the country. Police officers have gradually returned to work. Doctors caring for people in the UK with serious mental illness should be held responsible for putting dangerous people on our streets, according to the father of Grace OMalley-Kumar, who was stabbed to death last year. Dr Sanjoy Kumar, whose daughter was killed by Valdo Calocane last year, condemned the irresponsible decision to discharge Calocane from specialist care. Advertisement A new report into the care Calocane received from his local mental health trust highlights how he was discharged back to his GP in September 2022. Victims Ian Coates, Barnaby Webber and Grace OMalley-Kumar. Photo: Nottinghamshire Police. But the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said the evidence indicated beyond any real doubt that Calocane would relapse into distressing symptoms and potentially aggressive behaviour and the decision to send him back to GP care did not adequately consider or mitigate the risks of relapse. Advertisement Dr Kumar said the public is crying out for safety from these crimes as he revealed that Health Secretary Wes Streeting told families he would slow down modifications to the Mental Health Act. He has promised that we will be able to work with people who are working with the law, Dr Kumar told Sky News. A change is needed. We need to step back a little bit and really see what is safe for the public. We have lost the absolute love of our life, our lovely, beautiful and brave daughter, Gracie, and at the end of the day what we want to see is that the public are safe. Advertisement I think the nation are crying out for safety from these crimes. At the end of the day, we want to get the Mental Health Act right its not about depriving people of their liberty. Its about holding clinicians responsible who put people like that out on our streets, any psychiatrist who puts out a dangerous person on our streets has to be held responsible for putting that patient out if he has not done a comprehensive risk assessment these must be done under the law when the Mental Health Act is fully modified and completed. Advertisement We have published the final part of special review of mental health services at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trusthttps://t.co/viDaONbWQo Care Quality Commission (@CareQualityComm) August 13, 2024 Advertisement On Tuesday, it emerged that a public inquiry will be held to examine the events which led to Calocane stabbing three people to death in Nottingham last year. Calocane killed 19-year-old students Barnaby Webber and Miss OMalley-Kumar before killing 65-year-old Ian Coates in the early hours of June 13th. Emma Webber, the mother of Mr Webber, said there was a catalogue of continual failures over years. She welcomed the news of a public inquiry but told Good Morning Britain: We just now need to make sure its the right public inquiry, that it is a statutory public inquiry. Dr Kumar told Sky News: We would like the terms of reference to cover a wide spectrum of all of the failings, because there were so many failings. Every victim today in England, who has suffered the way we have, we want justice for them, we want the law changed for them, we fight in their name. We really want to change things for the better, so that no other family ever fears for their child getting on a school bus, going to school, going to college, and being away from their family. It comes after the final part of a special CQC review into the care of Calocane by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) found risk assessments minimised or omitted key details of the serious risk he posed to others. Calocane was handed an indefinite hospital order in January after admitting manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. Photo: Nottinghamshire Police. It also questioned how well the trust engaged with Calocanes family, who raised concerns about his mental state. Dr Kumar said the report was devastating to read. The risk assessments in his case were really poor by treating consultants and he was sectioned four times there were four opportunities to change his medication, change it to (injectable) medication, which means that the patient complies, he told Sky News. We had a simple case of a culpable person who just did not take his medication. All of this is devastating to read. It was so basic, the errors were not technical they were basic, basic errors and repeated four times over. There was so many chances to change the course of Calocane, but none of those opportunities were taken by any of the doctors. The doctor who actually discharged him, that was the most irresponsible thing to do. Health bosses in England have ordered NHS organisations to review how they care for patients with serious mental illnesses. This includes a reminder to trusts that they should not discharge patients with serious mental health issues if they do not attend appointments and to ensure they have policies in place for patients where they need intensive treatment but engagement is a challenge. On Monday, a Panorama programme exposed that a psychiatrist warned Calocane could end up killing someone three years before the attacks in June 2023. Dr Sinead OMalley, Miss OMalley-Kumars mother, told Sky News: The CQC report clearly also says that there was no doubt that he was that Valdo Calocane was going to relapse, given his non compliance with his medication and lack of engagement. And ultimately, statistics show that if there is even a basic standard of delivery of care homicide does not occur. Chris Dzikiti, the CQCs chief inspector of healthcare, was asked if the Nottingham killings could have been prevented if all the authorities had behaved as they should have done. He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: For the individuals involved, their families, and loved ones, the damage cannot be undone. However there is action that can be and must be taken to better support people with serious mental health needs and provide better protection for the public now and in the future. Calocane was handed an indefinite hospital order in January after admitting manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. Prosecutors accepted his not guilty pleas to murder after multiple medical experts concluded he had paranoid schizophrenia. Broadcaster Alan Jones has kept an uncharacteristically low profile since this masthead revealed allegations of indecent assault, which he firmly denies. Despite promising in March that hed be back soon, Jones remains conspicuously absent from ADH TV, his James Packer-backed online conservative outrage outlet. Loading But another broadcaster with a checkered past landed among ADH TVs rogues gallery of right-wing pundits this week. Chris Smith, who was dumped by Sky News and 2GB after alleged inappropriate comments to female colleagues at a 2022 work Christmas party, launched his new nightly show on the platform on Monday, opening with a special episode featuring former anti-vax Liberal MP turned One Nation campaign director Craig Kelly, anti-transgender activist and ill-fated Liberal candidate for Warringah Katherine Deves, and former special forces commando-cum-occasional nude OnlyFans model Heston Russell. Hell of a line-up. Smith, whos sworn off alcohol since the Christmas party incident, swiftly landed on his feet after his high-profile sacking, picking up a gig at conservative platform TNT Radio, and setting up a crisis communications company last year. So, is there a new Jones in town? No chance. It might have seemed a chore last November for Australian officials to meet a Nebraska-born former school teacher, sports coach and retired US Army non-commissioned officer-turned-state governor when he visited these shores on a trade tour. Tims talk of the town. Credit: SMH But given that said visitor was Tim Walz, 41st governor of Minnesota and now Kamala Harriss running mate, those who put in the time to meet his trade delegation are hoping the relationship-building pays off after Novembers US presidential election. Walz waltzed into Sydney and Melbourne, meeting NSW Premier Chris Minns but not Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan. Instead, the southern state offered up Deputy Premier Ben Carroll and Victorian Governor Margaret Gardner. Allans loss, we feel. Walz visited companies in what the delegation organised by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) termed MedTech, CleanTech, Agriculture and Higher Ed. Jessica Navarro fits ankle-foot orthosis braces on her daughter, Kaelyn Duffey, on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Porter. Kaelyn, 1, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy after suffering a stroke at birth. She attended regular outpatient therapy appointments at Texas Children's Hospital to regain some brain function, but her parents recently learned that all her therapists had been laid off. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Matthew Duffey and Jessica Navarro place their daughter, Kaelyn Duffey, into her stander on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Porter. Kaelyn, 1, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy after suffering a stroke at birth. She attended regular outpatient therapy appointments at Texas Children's Hospital to regain some brain function, but her parents recently learned that all her therapists had been laid off. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Kaelyn Duffey is placed in her stander, a piece of equipment that helps her stand, on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Porter. Kaelyn, 1, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy after suffering a stroke at birth. She attended regular outpatient therapy appointments at Texas Children's Hospital to regain some brain function, but her parents recently learned that all of her therapists had been laid off. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Jessica Navarro helps her daughter, Kaelyn Duffey, stand on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Porter. Kaelyn, 1, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy after suffering a stroke at birth. She attended regular outpatient therapy appointments at Texas Children's Hospital to regain some brain function, but her parents recently learned that all of her therapists had been laid off. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Jessica Navarro works with her daughter, Kaelyn Duffey, on her play mat on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Porter. Kaelyn, 1, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy after suffering a stroke at birth. She attended regular outpatient therapy appointments at Texas Children's Hospital to regain some brain function, but her parents recently learned that all of her therapists had been laid off. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Kaelyn Duffey, left, plays with her mom, Jessica Navarro, on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Porter. Kaelyn, 1, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy after suffering a stroke at birth. She attended regular outpatient therapy appointments at Texas Children's Hospital to regain some brain function, but her parents recently learned that all of her therapists had been laid off. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Jessica Navarro talks to her daughter, Kaelyn Duffey, on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Porter. Kaelyn, 1, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy after suffering a stroke at birth. She attended regular outpatient therapy appointments at Texas Children's Hospital to regain some brain function, but her parents recently learned that all of her therapists had been laid off. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Jessica Navarro talks to her daughter, Kaelyn Duffey, while she is sitting in a specialized stroller on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Porter. Kaelyn, 1, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy after suffering a stroke at birth. She attended regular outpatient therapy appointments at Texas Children's Hospital to regain some brain function, but her parents recently learned that all of her therapists had been laid off. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Jessica Navarro plays with her daughter, Kaelyn Duffey, on her play mat on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Porter. Kaelyn, 1, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy after suffering a stroke at birth. She attended regular outpatient therapy appointments at Texas Children's Hospital to regain some brain function, but her parents recently learned that all of her therapists had been laid off. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Jessica Navarro and Matthew Duffey packed their belonging last year and moved 180 miles to the Houston area all so their daughter with cerebral palsy could be treated at Texas Childrens Hospital. Their 1-year-old daughter, Kaelyn, was diagnosed with the movement disorder after suffering a stroke at birth. She needed regular outpatient therapy appointments to regain some of her brain function, so Navarro and Duffey decided to leave their home in Athens, Texas, to seek specialized care at the Houston hospital system. Kaelyn had almost started walking when, last week, her parents were informed that all of her therapists had been laid off. All these therapists said to waken the damaged part of her brain, she needs to be in therapy, therapy, therapy, Duffey told the Chronicle. Now here we are with not a single lick of therapy, in the dark. And it sucks. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Over the last week, Navarro and Duffey joined the ranks of anxious families left in the dark about whether their children with complex medical needs will need to wait weeks or months to restart important therapy sessions at Texas Childrens Hospital. An unspecified number of speech, physical and occupational therapists across the system were let go last week, resulting in abrupt appointment cancellations and a scramble for information among parents who worry their children will regress. In a statement Friday, Texas Childrens said it has been working tirelessly to assist patients with rescheduling their appointments throughout our system in order to maintain the high standard of care that our patients deserve. The therapists were among the roughly 1,000 employees who were laid off last week, with Texas Childrens citing multiple causes, including declining Medicaid enrollment. Our teams have been conducting continuous outreach to patients, and a dedicated phone number was provided via their MyChart patient-portal account to call for assistance, the hospital said. As a result of these efforts, we made great strides in the rescheduling process. Texas Childrens expresses our sincerest gratitude to our patients and families for their understanding during this time. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The hospital declined to say how many therapists had been laid off or estimate how long it could take to pair patients with new therapists. The layoffs have compounded an already steep climb for families who seek pediatric outpatient therapy. Just getting an evaluation from a speech language pathologist can take up to nine months because of a nationwide workforce shortage, according to the Texas Childrens website. In addition to Kaelyns parents, the Chronicle spoke to six other families who experienced similar disruptions to their childs treatment at Texas Childrens. All of them said their childs treatment plan consisted of multiple therapy sessions each week. Some appointments had been rescheduled by Monday, and other families were told they would be placed on a priority waiting list. But the hospital offered them little in the way of specifics, the families said. One mother, Vui Tran, said the hospital informed her it could take more than a year to get her 13-year-old son, who has autism and is nonverbal, back into speech therapy at Texas Childrens. Tran received a text on Friday from the hospital, stating it would be in touch with her about rescheduling. She said she had not received a call or additional information by Monday. Navarro and Duffey said they had received no new information since last Tuesday, when the hospital called to advise them to look for a therapist elsewhere. Kaelyn has already missed a weeks worth of appointments, so her parents have been trying to do what they can from home. But their efforts fall short of what the hospital offers. Advertisement Article continues below this ad We dont have a treadmill at home, Duffey said. We dont have all of these extra things they use. Krystal Eicher, whose 11-year-old daughter also has cerebral palsy, said her daughter is on a priority list but there is no timeline for how long she might have to wait for a new occupational therapist. The child last year underwent multiple brain surgeries, which, coupled with therapy, help keep her periodic seizures under control. When you are a special needs mom, you are used to a level of stress that most people cannot fathom, said Eicher, who moved from Chicago to Houston so her daughter could receive care at the hospital. But frankly, we cant handle any more. Joe Rodes, of Katy, was livid when he looked in his sons MyChart account last week and found all the future physical therapy appointments had been canceled. It took around three months for the now 18-month-old child to get his evaluation for physical therapy at the hospitals West Campus, then another month to begin therapy sessions, Rodes said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad A neurologist said Rodes' son, who suffered a brain injury at birth, needed physical therapy twice a week. Texas Childrens had rescheduled one weekly appointment as of Monday, he said. Frankly we feel like were at the mercy of whatever they want to do, Rodes said of the hospital. Kaelyn Duffey plays on her floor mat on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 in Porter. Kaelyn, 1, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy after suffering a stroke at birth. She attended regular outpatient therapy appointments at Texas Children's Hospital to regain some brain function, but her parents recently learned that all of her therapists had been laid off. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Many of the families said they do not have the option of seeing a therapist elsewhere in Houston. As the largest pediatric hospital in the nation, Texas Childrens is relied upon not only because of the convenience of its sprawling service area, but because of the wide range of insurance plans the hospital accepts. Its not financially feasible for many families to seek care from other, smaller practices that offer the same services, said Kim Garcia, a speech pathologist in The Woodlands who owns a private practice. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Garcia said her office saw an uptick in calls last week from families who had previously been with Texas Childrens. Theres only so much help she can offer, she said, because of the limited staff and insurance network. I do think its concerning that some families do not have anywhere to go, she said. Even families who did not lose all their therapists are feeling the impact from the layoffs. Only one of the four therapists who cared for Julia Meyers 7-year-old son was let go. Still, her son had to miss some occupational therapy sessions last week because his remaining therapists had limited availability, she said. Its a crucial time for him to receive consistent therapy, as hes only months removed from a stroke, Meyer said. A long-time voice of the Play School theme song, an untrained actor who learnt his craft on the job, has been named the next artistic director of the Sydney Theatre Company. Mitchell Butel of the State Theatre Company of South Australia succeeds Kip Williams to lead the flagship company following a national and global search. Mitchell Butel replaces Kip Williams as artistic director of the Sydney Theatre Company. Credit: Wolter Peeters The multi-award winning actor and director of theatre and stage musicals was selected to replace Williams because of his versatility, his refined curatorial eye, work ethic and understanding of what audiences want. Ive worked with directors who work from a different viewpoint where its about control, force and about brutality, he said. But I think the best results come when you create a space that empowers people to do their best work. Kays solicitor told Justice Sarah McNaughton the rapist was depressed and living like a hermit because the Herald was challenging a suppression order that had protected his name since 2020. People fall off track and get back on track, and it could take decades for them to rehabilitate, his solicitor, Jordan Portokalli, told the court in July. Graham Kay in 2018. That year, the state watered down restrictions on him. Rapist dog had been scrawled on Kays car, and neighbours had left notes saying the north shore rapist lives in apartment X the last time he resurfaced in the press. When people find out about [Kays] past, particularly the sexual offences, this type of vigilantism clearly occurs, Portokalli said. Kay complained to the court that the attack on his car made him feel intimidated, targeted, threatened and unsafe. He also complained he lived in fear of being recognised while out in public. I exchange greetings with some of my neighbours in my apartment building, and I have formed some work friendships, Kay said in a court document. To my knowledge, none of these people know about my past. If they found out, I doubt they would want to speak to me, and I believe that I would definitely lose [my] job, as I have done previously. The Heralds barrister, Matthew Lewis, and executive counsel Larina Alick said Kays fears were unsupported and not enough to justify keeping his name secret, and he had never been attacked in public. His photograph has been published since 1997, Lewis said, calling the suppression futile. The public, Lewis said in a document, should be armed with sufficient information about a notorious high-risk sex offender to better protect themselves. Graham Kay was sentenced to 20 years in jail after attacking eight women in the 1990s. Credit: Nine News A survivor of Kays attacks had urged the court to expose [Kay] for his crimes, in part because he had continued to exhibit predatory behaviours since his release from prison. Justice McNaughton on Tuesday sided with the Herald and revoked the suppression order. [Kays] offending has occurred, in all cases, in public, and in almost all cases after the defendant has followed a woman for a period of time, McNaughton said in her judgment. It could be seen that it may well be in the public interest for members of the public [especially females] to know about the defendants past crimes and [the states] third ESO application to assist in protecting themselves, or to immediately report concerning behaviour before it escalates to something more serious. The judge also found Kays claims of self-harm or attacks from others had not been supported by the evidence. The evidence rises no further than to indicate that there have, in the past, been some unpleasant online threats, and damage to his vehicle, with the word RAPIST marked on it, she wrote. Repeat offending revealed The removal of the suppression order allows Kays full crimes and missteps by the authorities supervising him to be revealed. Since his parole in 2015, the state of NSW has taken out a series of ESOs designed to keep a close eye on Kay. Beginning in 2017, the ESOs forced electronic monitoring bracelets and a schedule of approved movements on Kay. The rapist asked for his name to be suppressed, but this was opposed by the media and the court refused that year. An electronic tracking tag was removed in 2018, and just weeks later, Kay grabbed and kissed a teenage girl in Woolworths. His departure from his schedule of movements would have been obvious to those monitoring him electronically. A NSW judge after Kay attacked a woman in Sydney The girl recoiled, disgusted and afraid because she knew from media reports that the elderly man who assaulted her was a serial rapist. Authorities then discovered Kay had been hiring a sex worker and bringing her alone to his home, in breach of his ESO. He spent four months in prison and was released. A second ESO was slapped on Kay in 2020 but it came with two crucial changes. First, the state of NSW watered it down. Authorities would no longer force Kay to provide a schedule of his movements to supervisors. Kay would be monitored but could go where he pleased. Second, Justice Stephen Rothman suppressed Kays name after concluding negative press was preventing him from reintegrating into society. She was traumatised In July this year, Kay complained to Justice McNaughton, through his lawyers, that my crimes from 20 years ago are being brought up again. And two years ago, McNaughton replied. The judge was referencing Kays most serious attack since his release from prison he had stalked a young woman through Sydneys CBD for two hours in January 2022. Kay then followed her home into her apartment building and indecently assaulted her as she screamed. The crime was briefly reported in the media, but crucial details remained secret because of the 2020 suppression order. The public could not be told that the state of NSW had not required Kay to follow a schedule of movements since 2020, so he was able to go where he pleased without setting off alarms. That schedule could have been a significant restraint upon Kay as he stalked the woman around the CBD. His departure from his schedule of movements would have been obvious to those monitoring him electronically, Justice Stephen Campbell said during one of the ESO hearings earlier this year. More generally, electronic monitoring and scheduling are complementary; each is more protective of the community when the other is also in force. Further, the suppression order meant the public could not be told Kay was already back in the community, having been out of custody since September 2023. He was not put back on a movement schedule until July 2024. State of NSW backflips on schedule In April this year, the state of NSW applied for a third ESO against Kay. This time, they asked for both the ankle monitor and a reintroduction of the schedule of movements. Flash flooding in Brisbane is possible for the Ekka public holiday, with increasingly heavy rain predicted across the region. Between 15 and 60 millimetres is predicted to fall in south-east Queensland on Wednesday. We could see flash flooding or catchment responses from the rivers, Daniel Hayes from the Bureau of Meteorology says. Minor flash flooding possible in Brisbane. Credit: Felicity Caldwell Before this event the catchments were pretty dry, but they have started to wet up. A bail service operator responsible for monitoring serious organised crime figures and violent offenders is facing more than two dozen charges of perjury and perverting the course of justice. David Millar, founder and chief executive officer of Australian Forensic Treatment Rehabilitation (AFTR), was charged on Friday after an investigation into the operation of his for-profit business and the accuracy of sworn evidence he has provided on behalf of accused criminals. David Millar leaves court on perjury charges. Credit: Joe Armao AFTR, which was founded in 2020 and also operates under the names AFTR Group and AFTR Melbourne, offers privately monitored GPS tracking and outpatient drug and alcohol rehabilitation services to people charged with serious crimes who are seeking to be released back into the community ahead of criminal court proceedings. Court records show the availability of bail and rehabilitation programs has become increasingly influential in the decisions of magistrates and judges to grant bail, but critics have labelled them as a way for wealthy accused particularly organised crime figures to buy bail. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has angered both equality advocates and faith groups after abandoning his election promise to introduce religious discrimination reforms and protect LGBTQ students and teachers in a bid to avoid a culture war. The Greens on Tuesday accused Albanese of cowardice, Equality Australia said he had overlooked LGBTQ Australians, and the Australian Christian Lobby said he had let down people of faith after the prime minister confirmed Labor would not seek to resolve the long-running issue in this term of government. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the time for securing bipartisan support on the issue has lapsed. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen Labor went to the last election vowing to introduce a religious discrimination act while also scrapping faith-based schools right to sack staff and expel students because of their gender or sexuality an issue that plagued the former Morrison government. Albaneses desertion of the pledge is an attempt to stop a divisive debate on religious freedoms when tensions in the community are already running high, and stave off a campaign against Labor by conservative Christian groups who had argued the new laws would not allow schools to maintain communities of faith. Reece and councillors Davyyd Griffiths, Roshena Campbell, Philip Le Liu, Kevin Louey and Jason Chang voted to withdraw from the contracts, while Jamal Hakim, Rohan Leppert, Elizabeth Doidge and Olivia Ball voted against the move. Campbell said the e-scooter trial had caused real harm in Melbourne. We cant afford to lose a life because there is a form of transport that weve had for two years in this city that has been convenient to some, and if this is inconvenient to you, I apologise, she said. Leppert said it would be good if the same logic applied to cars and he was angry that he only found out about the proposed ban in the media. Ive been a councillor for 12 years, and [it] was the first time in those 12 years that I was told by the press before being told by any of my fellow councillors what the motion before the council would be and what the result would be, he said. Leppert said it was procedurally unfair to scrap the contracts with Lime and Neuron as the City of Melbourne had committed to communicate freely and constructively with the e-scooter operators to resolve issues and to use independent mediation if necessary. To the extent that e-scooters are reducing private vehicle usage and congestion, there is a safety benefit as well as a health benefit and an emissions reduction benefit, he said. Dozens of members of the public spoke at the meeting both for and against e-scooters including residents, workers, e-scooter operators and sustainability advocates. The councils decision means Lime and Neuron scooters will be removed from Melbournes CBD and suburbs including Docklands, Carlton, Southbank, South Yarra, Flemington, Kensington, Port Melbourne, Parkville and East Melbourne from mid-September. Details of how the ban would be enforced are yet to be revealed. In July, the Allan Labor Government announced that it would allow hire e-scooters to be used across Victoria with new rules to improve safety but they are legal only in council areas that have an agreement with an operator. Privately owned e-scooters can still be ridden within the City of Melbourne and hire e-scooters will continue to operate in the City of Port Phillip and City of Yarra. Lime government affairs director Will Peters said the company had spent $40 million on its operations in Melbourne. Lime and Neuron frantically campaigned against the rental ban, sending alerts to their app users on Tuesday calling on people to help save the e-scooter program and share with the Lord Mayor why the e-scooter program is so important to you before 3.30. The Age obtained a letter sent by Lime to the City of Melbourne councillors on Tuesday warning that any decision to terminate its contract without prior consultation or discussion would not be a fair use of public power and would lack any procedural fairness. Lime proposed a pause in operations until a raft of measures are implemented, including cameras to prevent footpath riding, reducing the number of hire e-scooters, limiting new riders to day time riding for their first rides and mandatory dedicated parking spots. About 1500 e-scooters were available for hire in Melbourne as part of a two-year trial, but they have been the subject of a flood of complaints, from blocking footpaths to endangering pedestrians. Before the ban, Neuron Australian general manager Jayden Bryant criticised the sudden U-turn and said his company had been in discussions with the council for weeks about how to optimise the citys e-scooter program. It is very odd that a tabled proposal for the introduction of new e-scooter technology can change to become a proposal for a ban in just one day, he said. A notification sent to e-scooter users by Neuron today. If the recommendations provided by council officers were adopted, it would make the citys e-scooter program the most tightly regulated in the world. Bryant said thousands of people relied on e-scooters, which boosted Melbournes economy, and the company had invested significantly in new technology, including cameras to detect and prevent footpath riding. The e-scooters have become a hot topic ahead of the upcoming October council elections with Reece and fellow lord mayoral candidate Arron Wood scheduling competing press conferences on the topic outside the Town Hall ahead of the council meeting. Reece cancelled his press conference, but Wood went ahead and warned that while he proposed a ban on e-scooters in the Hoddle Grid last week, the sudden change by the council meant the e-scooter companies were considering legal action. Mr Reece needs to guarantee that not a single ratepayer dollar will be going to these e-scooter companies in compensation for this failure of leadership, he said. Royal Melbourne Hospital emergency medicine director Mark Putland said he would have supported the original motion focused on improving safety, but there was a strong argument for a ban. He said the large mix of pedestrians, trams and road vehicles in the CBD, together with restaurants, nightclubs and pubs, made the use of e-scooters more risky, especially when drinking was involved. He suggested geo-blocking certain high-risk zones within the Hoddle Grid. Smart things can be done without losing the utility of e-scooters altogether, Putland said. E-scooter injuries cost the Royal Melbourne more than $2 million in 2022, the first year of the e-scooter trial. Putland estimated this would now be $4 million a year with their use in full swing. He said wrist fractures, facial and dental injuries, brain damage and even deaths had resulted from e-scooter use, mostly among young patients. E-scooters in Melbourne last month. Credit: Jason South Stan Capp, president of CBD residents group Eastenders, called on the council to ban the hire e-scooters. Every resident I know has had an unpleasant interaction with commercial e-scooters, and many fear that they will be the next victim to poor behaviour, he said. The trial has been a failure from everything except possibly financial. While City of Melbourne may have pocketed over $1 million, the operators have potentially made super-profits if their data are to be believed. Capp said Lime and Neuron had been unable to remedy poor behaviour by e-scooter users, and it was optimistic in the extreme to expect police to enforce the volume of breaches. Whether it be placing pedestrians and other road users at risk, not wearing helmets, not riding on footpaths, not riding while intoxicated, not double or even triple-dinking, or not obeying road rules such as traffic lights, the operators failed to materially address these issues and their opportunity to do so over 2 years means that the trial has not passed its proof of concept. Associate Professor Alexa Delbosc, of the Monash Institute of Transport Studies, said e-scooters played a role in Melbournes transport system and there would be fewer accidents with pedestrians if the council provided more separated bicycle infrastructure. E-scooters provide connections across the inner city in places where there are no convenient public transport connections, when the trams are packed full, or when the trains arent running at all, she said. The US dismissed the election as a fraud and, according to the Wall Street Journal, is prepared to give Maduro amnesty over outstanding US indictments if he surrenders power. But why would he? He has Xi Jinping on his side. In offering his congratulations, Xi whitewashed the fact Venezuelas economy has collapsed by some 80 per cent over the last decade under Maduro, driving more than seven million citizens out of the country in a quest for food, work and hope. President Maduro has led the Venezuelan government and people, said Xi, making remarkable achievements in the cause of national development. Chinas President Xi Jinping with Venezuelas President Nicolas Maduro back in 2014. Credit: Jorge Silva China would firmly support Venezuelas efforts to safeguard sovereignty, national dignity and social stability, and its just cause of opposing external interference. The last clause, of course, is a reference to resisting the US. With an estimated $US60 billion in Chinese investment in the country, Xi is protecting his turf even though its in Americas traditional sphere of influence. At its closest point, Venezuela is roughly 800 kilometres from the US territory of Puerto Rico. But its about much more than money. Venezuela is important to the full range of Chinas ambitions in the Americas, says Evan Ellis, professor of Latin American studies at the US Army War College. Including access to resources, markets in strategic sectors, political strategic objectives, and military options if it ever must fight a war with the US in the Indo-Pacific. Maduros forces have locked up at least 1300 protesters since the election and killed 24, according to rights group Foro Penal, and they continue a crackdown Maduro calls Operacion Tun Tun operation knock knock an unsubtle reference to the black-clad security goons who knock on peoples front doors at night to seize suspected dissidents. Loading In return for Beijings support, Maduros regime cheerleads Xis political projects, including his crackdown on Hong Kongs liberties and his territorial ambitions in the South China Sea. As China continues to extend its programs of global reach across Asia, the Pacific islands, Eurasia, Africa, Latin America, the Arctic and even Antarctica, Pottinger says the US and all democracies need to be alert to Beijings active exploitation of chaos wherever it occurs. Policymakers in Australia and the US [need to] remain clear eyed about what Beijings true ambitions are, and about the profound lack of sincerity in any offers by Beijing to, quote unquote, stabilise the relationship. This is a direct challenge to the Albanese governments stated aim of stabilising the Australian relationship with China. America is distracted, to say the least. Credit: nna\riwood Although he was a senior official in the Trump administration and is mooted to be so again should Trump win, Pottinger is respected widely as an expert on China, where he worked as a journalist for seven years. Hes currently a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution and a business partner with the Australian former journalist John Garnaut in the advisory firm they co-founded, Garnaut Global. He argues that Xis policy in Latin America is working to destabilise Latin America through things like shoring up a dictator. That policy means that youre going to see millions more refugees walking out of Venezuela and into places like Colombia and all the way up into the US, youre going to see more money laundering and drug trafficking, says Pottinger. Youre going to see Beijing, Moscow and Tehran strengthen their foothold in Americas front yard. Beijings goal in supporting Vladimir Putin and his attacks on Ukraine was to destabilise and fragment Europe, not about stabilisation. Beijings support for Iran, as it was preparing its proxies to wage war in Israel, is about destabilising free countries, and in trying to discredit and undermine American power. Everywhere you look, Beijings goal is to foment chaos beyond its borders. Loading He cites a Xi speech from 2021 that revived a Mao Zedong slogan: The world is in great chaos, situation excellent! Says Pottinger: I mean, you have it straight from the horses mouth. So anyone whos sort of entertained this idea of stable ties with Beijing is really smoking dope. Pottinger says that the democratic world has big advantages. For instance, the US and its allies have combined GDP double that of the combined economic heft of China and Russia. But the allies power is latent, he says, and its time to activate that power to impose costs on China and Russia. The initiative highlights the industrys commitment to safeguarding customers through the Scam-Safe Accord, which includes measures like a new payment system, unique identity checks, and increased intelligence sharing between banks. Sydney and Melbourne saw stable vacancy rates of 1.7% and 1.5% respectively, while Canberra recorded the highest rate at 2.2%. In contrast, cities like Perth and Darwin experienced a tightening in their rental markets with rates dropping to 0.7%. Peter Warren is a general assignment reporter for the Houston Chronicle. He can be reached at peter.warren@houstonchronicle.com. Peter previously lived in Dallas, where he covered the sports as a freelancer for the Dallas Morning News and other outlets. He has been published in Texas Highways Magazine, DMagazine.com, the Star Tribune and Bowlers Journal International. Peter graduated from Northwestern University in 2021. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry (Photo: REUTERS) Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's upcoming tour of Colombia has ignited a firestorm of controversy, with insiders suggesting the trip is a calculated move to send a pointed message to the British royal family. The tour, dubbed by some as a "faux royal tour," marks the Sussexes' second major international visit since stepping down as senior royals and follows their three-day trip to Nigeria in May. The couple's decision to embark on this South American journey, despite Meghan's previous reluctance to visit the UK due to security concerns, has raised eyebrows and fueled speculation about their motivations. According to sources close to the couple, Meghan sees the Colombian tour as an opportunity to showcase her star power and underscore what she perceives as the royal family's loss since her and Harry's departure. "Meghan sees this Colombia tour as her chance to prove to the world what a big star she is and how much the Royal Family misses her," an insider told OK! magazine. "She knows how much she can turn it on, and doing events like this was the one thing about royal life that appealed to her. She was furious when that was taken away because she knows she's such an asset." The source further revealed that Meghan believes she and Harry "really shine when meeting dignitaries and locals," and that the tour will bolster their brand as the "alternative Royal Family." The couple's desire to continue representing the royal family on official tours was reportedly denied when they stepped down, a decision that still stings for Meghan. "When they left, they asked that they could still represent the family on tours but were told no, so she feels it's the ultimate revenge as they were both so upset when they were rejected," the source added. While the specific details of the tour have yet to be finalized, it is known that the couple will visit Colombia's capital, Bogota, as well as its coastal regions. The itinerary is expected to include meetings with young people and youth leaders, aligning with the couple's ongoing advocacy work. However, the decision to tour a country with a high crime rate has drawn criticism, particularly given Meghan's previous security concerns about traveling to the UK. The timing of the tour is also notable, coming on the heels of the resignation of Prince Harry's new chief of staff, Josh Kettler, after just three months in the role. Kettler, a seasoned public relations professional, was brought on board to help guide Harry through his next phase, but the departure is reportedly mutual, with both sides agreeing it wasn't the right fit. Kettler's exit marks the ninth staff departure since the Sussexes relocated to California, fueling further speculation about the challenges of working within the couple's team. A former staffer who worked for the Sussexes in California commented on the high turnover, telling the Daily Mail, "What may be most telling is that the entire time I worked there, I don't think I heard a single current or former employee on their staff say they would take the job again if given the chance. These aren't employees they had just found off the streets. Many of them are people who had previously excelled working for demanding bosses in high-performance companies and environments." The Colombian tour is likely to draw significant media attention, not only for its implications for the Sussexes' ongoing public relations strategy but also for what it reveals about their evolving relationship with the British royal family. Meghan and Harry's decision to undertake such a high-profile tour, despite the potential risks and controversies, underscores their determination to carve out a distinct and influential role on the global stage. From hilarious memes to informative videos, TikTok can entertain you for hours on endand its all thanks to talented content creators such as the ones in attendance for TikTok Awards Malaysia 2024 on 12 August. Held at Dewan Merdeka at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur, this years award ceremony brought together the best Malaysian creators, celebrities and fans to celebrate the countrys rising social media stars and acknowledge their efforts. Under the theme Celebrating New Dreams, the event aimed to highlight and recognise the diverse cultural tapestry of Malaysia and showcased content that resonated locally and globally. Hosted by the legendary Che Puan Sarimah Ibrahim and the bubbly Janna Nick, the spectacular night saw well-loved Malaysian celebrities and creators such as Shaheizy Sam, Bella Astillah, Sophia Albarakbah, Erra Fazira, Tan Kian Meng, Imran Aqil, Aina Abdul, and Faizal Tahir. In addition, the night was filled with electrifying performances as artists such as Zubir Kan, Ezra Kairo, Sarah Suhairi, Alfie Zumi, Naim Daniel, MUAH, and Wani Kayrie lit up the stage with a fusion of diverse musical genres. The TikTok Awards is presented into two main segments: Peoples Choice Awards, which allows fans to vote for their favourite creators in each category; and Judges Pick Awards, where winners are selected by a panel of distinguished judges. One difference from last years TikTok Awards is the addition of a new categoryChangemaker of the Year. This is a special category that honours creators who have made a significant impact on society through the short-form social media platform. Lokoho Punoh Group and Brader Wheelchair were honoured with these awards for inspiring the youth on the importance of waste management in Terengganu and advocating the empowerment of the differently-abled community respectively. Among the big winners of the night are Che Sayang Kitchen who won Creator of the Year for their mouthwatering cooking videos, Agy whose Alamak Raya trend won him Video of the Year, and Aishah Rahim as the Beauty and Fashion Creator of the Year for her jaw-dropping beauty transformations. Without further ado, here is the complete list of local content creators who won at TikTok Awards Malaysia 2024. Peoples Choice Awards: Creator of the Year: @chesayang_kitchen Video of the Year: @agy.official Celebrity of the Year: @bellaastillah_94 TikTok LIVE Creator of the Year: @acaps19 TikTok Shop Creator of the Year: @yang Judges Pick Awards Entertainment Creator of the Year: @kanafly Animation Creator of the Year: @yimotapir Gaming Creator of the Year: @kingshahx Education Creator of the Year: @aminxabid Food Creator of the Year: @tang_guo12 Sports Creator of the Year: @amaranas_ Beauty & Fashion Creator of the Year: @aishahrahim07 For more pop culture news, head here. On Election Day last year, an unusual problem occurred around 6 p.m. the polling place at El Lago City Hall ran out of paper ballots. Republican presiding judge Chris Russo, the election worker running the polling location in the far southeast corner of Harris County, said he had been calling the county elections offices hotline for more than three hours to request more paper. Russo said he told the 40 or so voters waiting in line that they had a few options. If you stay in line, you will vote today, he recounted telling them. But if you think you can make it to another polling location that has ballot paper and you think that is a better use of your time, you are free to do so. When the county finally delivered more paper at 9 p.m., only a handful of people remained and were able to vote. Advertisement Article continues below this ad El Lago was one of about 20 polling locations in Harris County that ran out of paper on Election Day, according to a Houston Chronicle review of county data and interviews with dozens of poll workers. That is a tiny fraction of the 782 polling places across the sprawling county that day. Now, the ballot shortages in Harris County are placing local election officials at the center of a legal showdown and a raging political debate in Austin as the GOP-controlled Legislature is trying to move urgently to strip local officials of the power to oversee elections. County election officials also face scrutiny from lawsuits filed by 22 local Republican candidates who lost and a separate suit by Houston furniture mogul Jim McIngvale. One of the lawsuits, which involved a Texas House race, was dismissed by Speaker Dade Phelan in January. A Houston Chronicle examination of election data found that while there were problems and technical glitches, there remains no evidence voters were systematically disenfranchised. Nor is there evidence the Election Day issues prompted people not to vote in numbers great enough to change the outcome of any of the races being contested. Nonetheless, without all the facts being known, bills filed in Austin this year could make it easier for the state to order new elections and strip the countys oversight and authority to conduct elections. They would also add criminal penalties for running out of ballot paper, create a team of state marshals to investigate election code violations and file criminal charges, and abolish the county Elections Administrators office. The remaining lawsuits filed by 21 local Republican candidates include one from Republican Alexandra del Moral Mealer, whose bid to oust incumbent County Judge Lina Hidalgo fell short by more than 18,000 votes. These candidates are asking judges to overturn the results and order new elections. Most of those candidates lost their races by 12,000 to 29,000 votes, according to official county results. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The argument made in most of those lawsuits is that Election Day problems, including ballot paper shortages and technical issues that delayed the opening of some polls, resulted in polling locations turning away thousands of voters whose ballots could have changed the outcome of those races. Alice Haynes of Houston gets a lesson on the new voting machines with Harris County Elections office employee Lynn Munford during a League of Women Voters Houston event at Emancipation Park on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022 in Houston.It was like going back to school again, said Haynes of the new process. Elizabeth Conley/Staff photographer It is impossible to know if or how many people at El Lago City Hall, let alone countywide, did not vote because of paper shortages or other technical or equipment malfunctions. Harris County uses a countywide voting system, meaning voters could cast ballots at any of 782 polling locations on Election Day instead of being restricted to their home precincts. Voters turned away from one location could go to another polling place, typically about a mile away. To win, the plaintiffs would need to prove that voting irregularities affected the election results. Advertisement Article continues below this ad That could prove a high bar to clear. Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University, said the challenge will be proving that people intended to vote but could not. If they ended up voting, its clear that it wasnt so onerous that they werent able to effectively overcome it, he said. A woman scans her ballot at West Grey Multi-Service Center, 1475 W Gray St., on Election Day Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Bird Milk and Mosquito Bones Author: Priyanka Mattoo Publisher: Penguin Viking Pages: 304 Price: Rs 699 Born in Srinagar, Priyanka Mattoo has lived at 32 different addresses across India, the UK, Saudi Arabia, and the US over the course of four decades. A few years after she was born, her parents decided to relocate abroad for work in order to gain the capital to slowly build their own house in Kashmir. On their trips, the family would collect decorative items and carefully bring them back. This is the context that provides the title to the memoir: There is a Kashmiri phrase, chhari Under the Centre's scheme, youths are to be provided internships in the top 500 companies | Photo: Shutterstock The Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs has intensified efforts to roll out the ambitious youth internship programme, which was announced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget 2024-25 speech. The Ministry has set up a team of Indian Corporate Law Service (ICLS) officers to implement the internship scheme, according to a CNBC TV18 report. Besides, the ministry has also made several new appointments for this purpose. The ministry is also holding discussions with corporate HR leaders in Delhi and Mumbai to finalise the contours of the scheme. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp The officers involved in executing this scheme will be based at the ministry headquarters in New Delhi. They will manage the rollout and administration of the internship program, ensuring its seamless integration with participating companies. Under the scheme, youths are to be provided internships in the top 500 companies. During discussions with HR leaders, the ministry has been suggested to decide on these 500 companies based on their average CSR spending over the past three years. Also, the ministry is planning to set up a helpdesk to address issues and grievances related to the scheme. Separately, participating companies are likely to be asked to appoint a nodal officer to ensure the effective implementation of the scheme, the report added. What is the youth internship scheme? In her Union Budget 2024-25 speech, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced an ambitious youth internship programme to address the pressing issue of youth unemployment while offering valuable work experience. Under the first phase of the programme, internships will be offered to 30 lakh (three million) youths over two years, with an allocated budget of Rs 19,000 crore. Each intern will be eligible for a monthly stipend of Rs 5,000. In her Budget speech, the Finance Minister said that internships will be provided in the top 500 companies. However, the speech did not specify that the 500 companies offering internships must be listed entities. The Ministry of Power has amended a key regulation, enabling power plants that supply electricity to neighbouring countries to sell their output back in India if they encounter difficulties in the foreign markets. This move comes in the wake of ongoing unrest in Bangladesh and is expected to benefit Adani Power, which is currently the sole exclusive electricity provider to Indias eastern neighbour. The ministry has modified the guidelines for the import/export (cross-border) of electricity, 2018, revising the rules governing Indian power generation stations that export electricity exclusively to neighbouring countries. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp The Government of India may permit connection of such generating station to the Indian grid (inter-state or intra-state) to facilitate sale of power within India in case of sustained non-scheduling of full or part capacity or default notice issued by the generator for any default including delayed payment under the power purchase agreement (PPA), stated the notice issued on Monday. At present, Adani Powers 800 Mw Godda power plant in Jharkhand sells electricity exclusively to Bangladesh under a PPA signed with the Bangladesh Power Development Board in 2017. The thermal power plant, which sources coal from the Adani groups mines in Australia, began selling electricity to Bangladesh last year. According to sector experts, while there are other electricity exporters, none have a similar exclusive arrangement. The amendment is focused on electricity sellers with exclusive arrangements, which currently only Adani has. Other exporters either supply pooled electricity to Bangladesh or have power banking or trading agreements with Bhutan, said a senior official. Responding to an e-mail query, a spokesperson for Adani Power said: The said amendment is merely an industry enabling universal provision allowing such generating stations to obtain connectivity to the Indian grid, and as such in no way imposes any financial or other obligation on the Government of of India to purchase the power from such generating station. The spokesperson further said: By connecting such generating stations to the Indian grid, the overall availability of power in the grid will increase, which will help cater to the soaring electricity demand across the country. Increased supply will help in fostering energy security and reducing prices in the domestic energy market. State-owned NTPC Ltd also has an agreement to supply 500 Mw of power to Bangladesh, but this is pooled from various stations. The Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) secured a contract to sell 300 Mw to Bangladesh in 2018 through short- and medium-term agreements but does not have an exclusive PPA, according to a source. A query sent to an NTPC spokesperson did not receive a response at the time of press. Officials noted that Adani Power is currently selling 70 per cent of its electricity production to Bangladesh, with the remainder available for use in India. The Godda power plant had established a dedicated HVDC (high voltage direct current) power transmission line to Bangladesh to facilitate the power supply. The cost of electricity sold ranges from BDT 11-14. This power is costlier but can be used as peaking power. The idea is that since the plant is in India and financed by Indian lenders, the country should also benefit, and the plant should not risk being stranded due to crises in other nations, a power sector consultant based in Delhi explained. The consultant said that this decision was anticipated, as it will encourage future investments by Indian power companies in neighbouring countries. We have hydropower units coming up in Nepal, and we are planning power plants in Bhutan. These projects will now have a safety net, the consultant added. Opportunity in disaster > Power ministry amends guidelines for import/export (cross border) of electricity, 2018 > Allows exclusive cross-border electricity suppliers to sell in India in case of issues faced in other nation > Among power exporters are NTPC, DVC and Adani Power > Only Adani Power has an exclusive power purchase agreement with Bangladesh Healthcare-focused private equity firm Quadria Capital, which recently sold its stake in Akums Drugs and Pharmaceuticals as part of the firms IPO, is set to deploy around $1 billion dollars for the Indian market in the next few years. Sunil Thakur, partner, head, South Asia at Quadria Capital told Business Standard that healthcare sector is highly under penetrated and for the next few decades, we will see a significant amount of growth in order to meet the average infrastructure that is required for a country like India. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp So the scale of opportunity is so huge. Also the next few years will see a lot of consolidation in this space as the market is fragmented, he added. Thakur further said that they intend to deploy around $1 billion in India into various healthcare companies, covering hospitals, pharmaceuticals, lifesciences, medical devices among others. It currently has $1 billion asset under management (AUM) in India and globally has around $3.3 4 billion. Quadria Capital recently sold 10 per cent stake in Akums Drugs and Pharmaceuticals through the firms IPO. Thakur said they made 3-time returns on their investment made in 2019. Quadria continues to hold 5 per cent in Akums after the IPO. Last August, it sold its entire 20 per cent stake in Ahmedabad-based biopharma company Concord Biotech where it had invested in 2016. Thakur feels that the healthcare sector would attract $250 billion over the next few years as India ramps up its infrastructure to the level of global average. Approximately, 70 per cent of this will come from the private sector. For every dollar spent on healthcare, one can make about 3-4 times returns on that, he said. While consolidation is happening in urban centers, tier-1 cities, more bed capacity is needed in tier-2, smaller cities, Thakur felt. We are also interested in hospital assets outside of the tier-1 cities as there is more growth potential beyond the top cities, he said. Quadria thinks that any hospital chain that has a deep regional approach a cluster based approach - is the one to go after. Within the healthcare space, Quadria Capital is interested in healthcare services, hospitals, diagnostics apart from pharma, lifesciences, medical devices companies. It also wants to focus on single specialty healthcare companies like it invested $102 million in India's largest dialysis chain NephroPlus, picking up a minority stake in the company. Similarly, it made 4.2-time gross cash on cash returns from its exit in Asian Institute of Gastroenterology (AIG) Hospitals in April 2022. The Centre has requested the law ministrys opinion on whether the Union government can enforce the proposed labour codes without unanimous agreement from all states, reported Moneycontrol citing official sources. The move comes in the backdrop of West Bengals hesitation to adopt these rules, according to officials cited by the report. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp It might be legally challenging to proceed without every states agreement, as the codes require a uniform rollout, the report quoted an official as saying. Previously, Moneycontrol cited Sumita Dawra, secretary to the Ministry of Labour and Employment, as saying that while approximately 30 states have fully agreed to implement the codes, others like Tamil Nadu and Delhi have only partially notified the draft rules. She added that West Bengal has, for now, declined to participate in the reform agenda, the report highlighted. Another official acknowledged that the situation could become problematic for West Bengal, as the implementation of the labour code would result in the repeal of the existing laws, the report claimed. The official expressed confidence that all states, including West Bengal, would eventually come on board, suggesting that consensus-building efforts are likely to succeed. The Centre would be able to persuade West Bengal to support the new codes by highlighting their benefits, the report noted. What are the new labour codes? To improve the ease of doing business, the government had previously consolidated 29 central labour laws into four labour codes: the Code on Wages, 2019, the Industrial Relations (IR) Code, 2020, the Code on Social Security (SS Code), 2020, and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSH&WC) Code, 2020. Although these codes were cleared by Parliament, their implementation has been delayed since 2020. They are now part of the new governments agenda to be accomplished within its first 100 days after the General Election. Moneycontrol cited a former senior official from the labour ministry saying it would be challenging for the government to enforce the new rules without the consent of every state government. The former official explained that while the government could pass the labour codes without state agreement, a state could challenge the new codes in court, potentially halting their implementation until a judicial decision is made. The former official further explained that state governments cannot indefinitely oppose the central governments efforts. They would be required to provide both a timeline and a valid reason for their objections. Once these concerns are addressed, the state would be expected to comply. The Union government is planning a series of regional workshops to engage stakeholders, including state governments, on the proposed labour codes, as it seeks to build consensus around this reform, Dawra had said on August 9. Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announces corruption charges related to 2022 Election alongside Michael Levine, Chief Assistant District Attorney for Public Corruption; First Assistant/Chief of Courts David Mitcham and Ryan Christian, with the Texas Rangers during a press conference on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024 in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announces corruption charges related to 2022 Election alongside Michael Levine, Chief Assistant District Attorney for Public Corruption; First Assistant/Chief of Courts David Mitcham and Ryan Christian, with the Texas Rangers during a press conference on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024 in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Ryan Christian, with the Texas Rangers stands alongside Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg as they announce corruption charges related to 2022 Election during a press conference on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024 in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer District Attorney Kim Ogg announces corruption charges related to 2022 Election alongside Michael Levine, Chief Assistant District Attorney for Public Corruption during a press conference on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024 in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Michael Levine, Chief Assistant District Attorney for Public Corruption; Ryan Christian, with the Texas Rangers and First Assistant/Chief of Courts David Mitcham stand alongside Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg as she announces corruption charges related to 2022 Election during a press conference on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024 in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer District Attorney Kim Ogg announces corruption charges related to 2022 Election alongside Michael Levine, Chief Assistant District Attorney for Public Corruption during a press conference on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024 in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer The Texas Rangers concluded an investigation into Harris Countys highly scrutinized November 2022 election, finding no evidence that there was an attempt to sway the results, District Attorney Kim Ogg announced Tuesday. The election, marred by a ballot paper shortage that impacted voters at some polling locations across the county, sparked state legislation and more than 20 lawsuits based partly on Republican claims that county officials had deliberately allocated an insufficient amount of ballot paper to polls in conservative areas in an effort to disenfranchise GOP voters. Some have said this (shortage) was directed at one party, Ogg said Tuesday. Our investigation has not found that to be so. Advertisement Article continues below this ad However, a former county election employee now faces charges of theft and tampering with government documents. Ogg said investigators found that Darryl Blackburn, who oversaw supplies, was working two full-time jobs during the 2022 election, which she said led to his failure to properly allocate ballot paper a conclusion that Democratic party leadership swiftly disputed. Mr. Blackburn not only stole thousands of dollars from Harris County, in the sense that he lied on time sheets, Ogg said. Much more importantly, he stole individuals' right to vote, a basic constitutional right in our democracy, because people on both sides were delayed in their voting, halted in their voting, rerouted in their voting. A Chronicle investigation found some of Harris Countys 782 polling locations did run out of paper on Election Day. But because of Harris Countys countywide voting system, voters turned away from one location were able to go to another polling place, typically about a mile away. Lawyer, party leader dispute effect on election Republican candidates have challenged the 2022 election results in court, arguing that thousands of voters were turned away and unable to cast their ballots due to the paper shortage. In the two lawsuits that went to trial, Republican attorneys did not present any witnesses who said they were unable to vote in the election. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Republican state Sen. Paul Bettencourt said Tuesday that the charges against Blackburn affirm the publics worst fears about the lack of supervision from former election officials. Bettencourt passed legislation last year abolishing the countys Elections Administrators office and returning election duties to the county clerk and tax assessor-collectors offices. Harris County Democratic Party chair Mike Doyle, who attended Oggs news conference, blasted the district attorney for arguing that Blackburns alleged crime affected the election. This guy may well have double dipped, Doyle said, but its just another way to repeat the lie that there was an election that somebody didnt get to vote at, which we know after weeks of testimony and years of digging, they never came up with anybody. According to investigators, Blackburn held a full-time job in the oil and gas industry while also working full-time for Harris County, signing false time sheets and submitting a false application for paid parental leave. On Election Day, he claimed that he worked 18 hours with the county while also getting paid for his job in The Woodlands, clocking a total of 26 hours of work that day, investigators said. Blackburns attorney, Charles Flood, called the charges against his client an abuse of power by a district attorney who is cynically playing politics with peoples lives. Advertisement Article continues below this ad This case isnt about the election its about timesheets, Flood said in a statement. The Texas Rangers made clear that the evidence shows no intent or attempt to influence the 2022 election, so it seems Ms. Oggs only motivation is to try and claim my client as some sort of consolation prize. My client is not guilty, and we look forward to defending his innocence. End of investigation that started in 2022 The Texas Rangers launched an investigation into the 2022 election after Gov. Greg Abbott called for state officials to look into widespread problems in Harris County. The allegations of election improprieties in our states largest county may result from anything ranging from malfeasance to blatant criminal conduct, Abbott said in a statement at the time. Voters in Harris County deserve to know what happened. Integrity in the election process is essential. To achieve that standard, a thorough investigation is warranted. Over a year and a half later, investigators have provided some closure on the matter. Advertisement Article continues below this ad I want to be very clear about this: this investigation has revealed no evidence that anyone intentionally acted in any way to suppress voter turnout or to close certain voting locations based on known voting tendencies, Assistant District Attorney Michael Levine said Tuesday. Nor did anyone take any action that we found with an intent to sway an election. But Blackburns miscalculations regarding ballot paper caused major disruptions on Election Day, Levine added. Though Judge David Peeples, a visiting judge from Bexar County, upheld the results in most of the races that were challenged in court, he has ordered a new election in a judicial race that had a razor thin 449-vote margin. Peeples' rulings have included scathing criticism of the countys failure to allocate enough ballot paper. The consequences of the (Election Administrators office)'s decision were foreseeable, avoidable, and costly, Peeples wrote last November. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The charges against Blackburn arent unprecedented. Earlier this summer, a judge quashed indictments against former Houston police officers who participated in an alleged overtime scheme that came to light during the Harding Street raid investigation. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday cautioned that the global outlook for the next five years would be very grim. He attributed this forecast to the ongoing conflicts around the world, including the war in Ukraine, the Israel-Palestine conflict, and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Jaishankar acknowledged that, despite his generally optimistic outlook, the world is currently facing an exceptionally challenging period. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp ALSO READ: Maldives a key ally of India in Indian Ocean region, says EAM Jaishankar ....there is a very grim forecast for the next five years. It is because of what is happening in the Middle-East (West Asia), Ukraine, South Asia, the continued impact of Covid, many have not come out of it." the foreign affairs minister said, while participating at the launch event of the Indiaspora BCG Impact Report in Delhi. CDS Chauhan cautions about global challenges Last Thursday, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan remarked that the world is in its most violent phase since the Second World War. While addressing a conference organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in Delhi, Chauhan noted the ongoing conflicts in countries such as Myanmar, Sudan, and Congo. He said that while the war may have settled at some places, lasting peace is still elusive. The cautious tone used by Indian officials comes at a time when the world is moving through a turbulent period. While the world was already dealing with the blow of the pandemic-induced lockdown and the Russia-Ukraine war, the raging Israel-Gaza war since last October has only made the situation worse. Latest update on Israel-Iran tensions With the recent escalation between Iran and Israel over the killing of a top Hamas leader in the Islamic countrys capital city Tehran, the situation may worsen as Iran is weighing a possible retaliatory attack against Israel. The assassination of Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh in late July has triggered fears over a potential wider escalation of the West Asia tensions. However, Israel has denied its involvement in the murder. On Tuesday, suspected attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels targeted shipping in the Red Sea. Houthis have been disrupting the shipping consignments, heading towards Israel, as a mark of their support for Palestine. So far, Houthi assaults have disrupted the $1 trillion of goods moving through the crucial trade route. In a recent interview with Elon Musk (Left), Donald Trump praised global leaders like Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un while criticising President Joe Biden, claiming his leadership could have prevented the Ukraine invasion. Image: X Former United States (US) President Donald Trump , in an interview with Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk on Tuesday, praised the leaders of Russia, China, and North Korea, describing Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as being "at the top of their game." ALSO READ: Trump-Musk interview: Mocking climate change to mass deportations. Details Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp Despite acknowledging their controversial methods, Trump remarked that these leaders possess a "love" for their countries, though he clarified that it is "a different form of love." "Putin, Xi, and Kim Jong Un are at the top of their game," Trump stated. The Republican candidate for the 2024 US Presidential elections noted that while these leaders are often labeled as dictators, they have a deep love for their countries, albeit in a "different form of love." During the interview on social media platform X, Trump also criticised US President Joe Biden, referring to him as "sleepy Joe" and attributing major geopolitical issues to his presidency. He claimed that under his administration, Russia would not have invaded Ukraine, citing his strong relationship with Putin and his ability to influence the Russian leader to avoid such conflicts. Who did Trump blame for Ukraine invasion in Musk interview? Trump also launched a strong attack on US President Biden, blaming him for the invasion of Ukraine. Trump claimed that Russia would not have invaded Ukraine if Biden were not president. Musk did not challenge Trump's statement, instead agreeing with him by saying, "You've made an excellent point." What did Trump say about his relationship with Putin in Musk interview? Trump also argued that his strong relationship with Russian President Putin could have prevented the conflict. "I got along with Putin very well, and he respected me," Trump said, adding that he often spoke with Putin about Ukraine, describing it as "the apple of his (Putin's) eye." Trump further claimed that he had warned Putin against taking action, saying, "I told him, 'Don't do it. You can't do it, Vladimir.'" ALSO READ: Ukraine's incursion into Russia embarrasses Putin; how will it affect war? Trump claimed that he told Putin what he would do if the latter invaded Ukraine. "He (Putin) said 'no way,' and I said 'way,'" Trump added. Known for his longstanding public sympathy for Putin, Trump recently claimed during his presidential campaign that he would end the Ukraine war within 24 hours if elected. However, he has refused to provide details of his plan. What did Trump say about Putin and Kim Jong Un in Musk interview? Trump went on to say that he "knows" both Putin and Kim Jong Un, describing them as "smart and vicious". "When they see Kamala or sleepy Joe, they can't believe it," Trump added. Why did Trump sit down for an interview with Musk? This commentary is part of Trumps broader strategy to highlight his foreign policy achievements and position himself as a more capable leader than Biden in managing international relations. Trump's interview with Tesla CEO Musk faced a delay due to technical difficulties. The interview was marred by significant disruptions, which Musk attributed to a cyber attack on X. The "no limits" conversation, expected to be a major event, started over 40 minutes late, preventing many viewers from accessing the livestream. ALSO READ: Trump calls Kamala Harris 'phony', Elon Musk offers to host her on X This delay was the latest setback for Trump's campaign, which is striving to regain momentum after President Biden exited the race, leading the Democratic Party to unite behind Vice-President Kamala Harris. It also marked the second instance where Musk encountered issues while attempting to host a highly anticipated X Space with a presidential candidate. The discussion between the former US president and the worlds richest man, who has endorsed Trump, marked Trump's return to X after nearly a year of inactivity on his account. Trump, who was banned from Twitter, was reinstated by Musk. The last time Trump had posted on the platform was in August of the previous year, when he shared his mugshot after being processed at an Atlanta jail in connection with the Georgia election subversion case. Jen Rice is a reporter for the Houston Chronicle covering Harris County government. She can be reached at jen.rice@houstonchronicle.com. A native Houstonian, Jen graduated from Barnard College at Columbia University and earned a master's degree from University of Texas at Austin's LBJ School of Public Affairs. Before coming to the Chronicle, Jen spent three years covering City Hall for Houston's NPR station. Her reporting has aired nationally on NPR's Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Here & Now. Border Patrol agents carry a migrant on a stretcher from the outdoor detention area in Eagle Pass. Jessica Phelps Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at the Sheriffs' Association of Texas 2024 Annual Training Conference at the Fort Worth Convention Center on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, in Fort Worth, Texas. (Amanda McCoy/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/TNS) Amanda McCoy/TNS Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at the Sheriffs' Association of Texas 2024 Annual Training Conference at the Fort Worth Convention Center on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, in Fort Worth, Texas. (Amanda McCoy/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/TNS) Amanda McCoy/TNS Gov. Greg Abbotts call for hospitals to begin tracking the immigration status of patients has been welcomed by proponents as a way to finally track the cost of caring for those in the country illegally. But critics warn it will scare those who need care, including pregnant women, from getting it. Texas paid more than $123 million to reimburse hospitals for emergency services for undocumented immigrants in 2023, according to federal data tracking Medicaid spending. The federal government paid more than $231 million to reimburse hospitals that same year. Advertisement Article continues below this ad But those figures only reflect the amount hospitals were reimbursed for treating those with the very few conditions that qualify for emergency Medicaid coverage. Under Abbotts order, issued last week, hospitals will have to report the full bill to the state beginning next March. Conservatives say thats a good thing, especially as hospitals along the border have treated migrants for a range of conditions, from cuts to dehydration, that likely do not meet the reimbursement requirements of Medicaid or other federal programs. We know how much the states paying, but what are these hospitals having to pay? said Ammon Blair, a senior fellow at the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation. Blair, who worked for the Border Patrol until November, said agents routinely take migrants to emergency rooms for any type of illness or injury. He said that often doctors would come back saying there wasnt anything seriously wrong with them. The hospital had to eat that cost, he said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Abbott said the order is aimed at forcing the federal government to foot more of the bill. Texans should not have to shoulder the burden of financially supporting medical care for illegal immigrants, the Republican said in a statement announcing the order. We will fight to ensure that they pay back Texas for their costly and dangerous policies. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law last year directing hospitals there to track similar information. The state reported in December that the estimated overall cost to care for those in the country illegally was $566 million. After the law took effect, the news outlet Politico found a 54% drop in expenditures billed to Medicaid for emergency care for undocumented immigrants. But critics say there is ample research that such orders deter immigrants from seeking help including especially vulnerable populations. Pregnant women account for a large share of the emergency care covered by Medicaid currently, according to experts. And a quarter of Texas children live in mixed-status families that may be more hesitant to seek care. Theres plenty of evidence showing there have been chilling effects of these types of measures when theyre announced, said Valerie Lacarte, a senior policy analyst at the non-partisan Migration Policy Institute. Just when theyre announced that people will be asked their status its enough. Advertisement Article continues below this ad For example: Trump-era proposals that would have factored in an immigrants use of safety net programs like Medicaid in their application for a green card or temporary visa produced a persistent chilling effect on immigrants using those programs, a recent Urban Institute study found. Nearly a quarter of adults in mixed-status families were still avoiding those programs last year because of green card concerns, even though the Trump-era rules are no longer in place. In Texas, immigrants already enroll in government health care at much lower rates. A recent MPI study found that in the state, just 34% of adult immigrants who were eligible for Medicaid were enrolled, compared with 52% of the eligible U.S. born population. For children, the gap was even greater: 47% of eligible immigrant children were enrolled, compared with 86% of eligible U.S.-born children. Lacarte said immigrants reported that they did not participate in part because they did not want to share their information with the government for fear of how it may be used. The result, she said, is that many wait until it is an emergency to seek care. They go to hospitals that are required to provide that care under federal law. If theyre showing up to the emergency room, theyre not using it as primary care, its that theyve waited as long as they can and they dont have a choice, Lacarte said. The cost will show up in the system somewhere else. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Critics say the concerns over costs are hard to understand when the state has spent more than $11 billion on the governors border security initiative, Operation Lone Star. Abbott and other Republicans have also refused to expand Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act, which would potentially bring billions of federal dollars into the state and allow people to get preventative care that could keep them out of the hospitals in the first place. Texas is one of just 10 states that have not adopted Medicaid expansion. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was seen giving remarks to republican delegates from Texas on the first day of the Texas GOP Convention on May 23, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. Christopher Lee Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was seen giving remarks to republican delegates from Texas on the first day of the Texas GOP Convention on May 23, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. Christopher Lee Since a 2021 court ruling limited Attorney General Ken Paxtons ability to prosecute voter fraud, his offices work combating those crimes has slowed to a crawl. Yet even as Paxtons election fraud unit has seen its caseload dwindle and most of its lawyers disperse, it has continued to spend millions, records obtained by Hearst Newspapers show. Last fiscal year, the unit prosecuted just four cases and spent most of its $2.3 million budget. This fiscal year, which ends Aug. 31, it has closed just two cases and is on track to spend $1 million. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Democrats and voting rights advocates questioned why the attorney general appears to be budgeting more money for the unit when its doing less work and when many agencies in Texas could use his offices support. The spending pattern and legal practices of Attorney General Paxton are troubling and concerning, specifically when you look at the amount of money being spent by the unit with so little to show for it, said Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer of San Antonio, who chairs of the Texas House Democratic Caucus. Paxtons office did not respond to multiple requests for comment. To be sure, the office also seems to be working on cases that are still at the investigation level; those can take a long time and do not always end in a prosecution. Even before the December 2021 ruling, the unit didnt produce a high number of prosecutions, and most cases were resolved with pretrial diversion, which provides an alternative to prosecution, or deferred adjudication, a form of probation. In 2021, for example, the offices lawyers spent tens of thousands of hours working cases but closed just three. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Paxton has made reversing the ruling a top priority, and he launched a successful effort this spring to support primary challengers to three of the Republican judges on the states highest criminal appeals court who co-signed the opinion and were up for reelection. The ruling prevents Paxtons office from filing cases on its own, but it still can assist local officials on cases if they ask for help or take over cases when local officials recuse themselves. Jonathan Diaz, director for voting advocacy and partnerships at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan voting rights group, said the amount of money dedicated to the voter fraud unit, especially one that is now only doing this work in a supportive role, seems like overkill. The people who have the most to gain from proving that voter fraud is this widespread problem, if they could prove it, they would do it, Diaz said. The fact that theyre not even in a state like Texas that has devoted a lot of resources to it I think demonstrates that these crimes are just not happening on the scale that these folks claim they are. He said voter fraud prosecutions are rare because the election system is built with safeguards to protect against ineligible voters casting ballots and because people know that the penalties for committing these crimes are steep. Senate Finance Chair Joan Huffman, R-Houston, said in a statement to Hearst Newspapers that unless there is a specific line-item, the attorney generals office determines how to split funding for larger strategy goals among its various divisions. In this case, the goal was to provide legal services. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Funding for that goal increased from the previous budget cycle in part to increase salaries to attract and retain attorneys and IT staff, Huffman said. She did not respond to questions about whether she considers the more than $2 million budget Paxtons office set for the election fraud unit to be reasonable or about whether she is satisfied with the units performance. The offices overall budget this fiscal year is nearly $800 million. State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, D-Austin, the former Travis County Judge who was a fierce opponent of the Republican-backed voting restrictions passed in 2021, said she would like to see some guidance as to why the unit needs this funding. The offices budget request for the upcoming biennial budget cycle is due Sept. 6. To the extent that there is voter fraud occurring, criminal district attorneys all across the state of Texas are well-positioned, better-positioned, and can handle it, Eckhardt said. They dont need the Office of the Attorney General. That is duplicative; its wasteful; its not necessary. A closer look at the cases The voter fraud unit lost at least six prosecutors in 2023; five transferred to different departments and one left the agency, records show. Ten sergeants and lieutenants, the law enforcement officers who help with investigations, were taken off of the voter fraud specialty. As of August, the unit employed two prosecutors, including the division chief. Advertisement Article continues below this ad One of the two filed cases that the unit handled this fiscal year was out of Johnson County on the southwestern side of the DallasFort Worth area involving a woman who tried to run for reelection to Godley City Council and checked a box saying she had not been convicted of a crime on her application, according to the Dallas Morning News. She told the News she thought a 20-year-old felony charge involving misuse of gift cards had been expunged. The attorney generals office, which took over when the local district attorney recused himself, charged Jennifer Thompson with tampering with a government record for making that false statement on the application. Within two months of being charged, she pleaded no contest and was fined $500 and ordered to do 25 hours of community service. The units division chief, Geoff Barr, spent a total of three work days on the case, during which he logged hours for travel to and from the courthouse and for attending two hearings, records show. Assistant Attorney General Matthew Campbell also worked on a handful of cases. None of those cases appear on a list of all of the election fraud units filed cases, which suggests they are still at the investigation level. A third attorney, Matthew Dennis Ottoway, an appellate lawyer, appeared on a staff list as part of the unit, but the attorney generals office did not provide any hours billed for him. State court records do not show any recent election law cases hes litigating. Advertisement Article continues below this ad As for the second case closed this fiscal year, the unit was deputized by Collin County to prosecute a man accused of violating absentee ballot laws by voting in Connecticut and Texas, according to a notice from the Connecticut clerk of the State Elections Enforcement Commission. Mark Whittaker accepted a plea agreement and pleaded guilty to one count of illegal voting, a second-degree felony, in exchange for five years probation, a $4,000 fine and 100 hours of community service. Connecticuts top prosecutor then decided not to pursue charges of his own. The two cases have been wrapped up since November 2023; since then, and as of this April, the unit had no active cases. The four cases the unit wrapped up last fiscal year involved an alleged voter fraud ring in which four Tarrant County Latina women were accused of getting paid during the 2016 election to forge mail ballot applications and mark the ballots of elderly voters without their knowledge or consent. Greg Westfall, an attorney who represented two of the women, said the attorney generals office tried to falsely paint the womens normal campaign activities as suspicious in a politically motivated attempt to suppress the Latino vote. The attorney generals office moved to dismiss the case in March 2023 before it ever went to trial. The whole thing was bull from the start, Westfall said. It was started by a political consultant up here who did his own investigation, sent it to the secretary of state, who forwarded it onto the attorney general. Even the timing was political, he said, with the charges having been filed just before early voting in October 2018. He added that the case was pretty well unprosecutable, and the investigation was really shoddy. For example, he said state investigators who did not speak Spanish showed up in Tarrant County to interview witnesses who did not speak English, yet the tapes were still used as evidence of guilt. Paxton has been most vocal in recent months about a series of electioneering cases he filed against school officials across the state whom he accused of using taxpayer-funded resources to encourage votes against pro-voucher candidates. He stressed in a press release that he was filing civil cases because he was constrained by the 2021 ruling from filing criminal charges. The cases are not being handled by the election integrity unit but rather the civil litigation division. At least one district attorney in Denton County has filed criminal charges of his own, leading to the grand jury indictments of two public school principals in North Texas. The Harris County District Attorneys Office is looking into a case involving Huffman ISD, but no charges have been made public. Duplication of efforts or deterrence? Paxton has long made prosecuting voter fraud a top priority of his office, continuing a tradition started by his predecessor, Gov. Greg Abbott. His offices voter fraud unit, which has existed in some form or another since 2005, was born years before the proliferation of such units and task forces in Republican-led states after former President Donald Trump in 2020 spread the false claim that the presidential election that year was stolen. In previous interviews, Paxton has said he views a major part of the election fraud units duty as deterrence. Theres not usually much punishment for it, Paxton told KXAN in 2020. But I think the good thing about finding it, and doing a thorough job of investigation and prosecution, is at least you send the message to people that if youre going to do this, there is some risk that youre going to end up in prison for committing voter fraud. Critics have warned that flooding resources onto a small number of fraud cases, including ones in which offenders have said they made an honest mistake, can cause a chilling effect amongst voters, and especially voters of color. A 2021 American Civil Liberties Union analysis found that the majority of the people Paxton had prosecuted since taking office in 2015 were people of color and most were women of color. When you look at the number of actual, successful voter fraud cases that have been prosecuted over the last 20ish years across the country, it is a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent, Diaz said. But proponents say the reason there arent more cases is because there arent enough resources being devoted to it. Election fraud prosecutions arent rare because the fraud doesnt exist, its because the prosecutors dont, wrote Levi Fuller, an assistant attorney general who formerly worked for the unit, in February in an opinion piece for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Austin. Paxton has said he does not trust Democratic district attorneys in the states large urban counties to bring election fraud cases. Hes suggested that the removal of his units unilateral prosecution power could help Democrats win statewide, though there is no evidence of widespread fraud in Texas or anywhere else. 1. What's the ICICI Securities Ltd share price today? ICICI Securities Ltd share price was Rs 869.05 at 01:33 PM IST on 9th Oct 2024 . ICICI Securities Ltd share price was up by 0.06 % over the previous closing price of Rs 868.50 . ICICI Securities Ltd share price trend: Last 1 Month: ICICI Securities Ltd share price moved up by 3.46 % on BSE Last 3 Months: ICICI Securities Ltd share price moved up by 11.00 % on BSE Last 12 Months: ICICI Securities Ltd share price moved up by 40.09 % on BSE Last 3 Years: ICICI Securities Ltd price moved up by 14.93 % on BSE 2. How can I quickly analyse the performance of the ICICI Securities Ltd stock? The performance of the ICICI Securities Ltd stock can be quickly analysed on the following metrics: The stock's PE is 14.41 Price to book value ratio is 7.17 Dividend yield of 3.33 The EPS (trailing 12 months) of the ICICI Securities Ltd stock is Rs 60.26 3. What is the market cap of ICICI Securities Ltd ? ICICI Securities Ltd has a market capitalisation of Rs 28,161 crore. 4. What is ICICI Securities Ltd 's 52-week high/low share price? The ICICI Securities Ltd s 52-week high share price is Rs 921.45 and 52-week low share price is Rs 606.00 . 5. Is the ICICI Securities Ltd profitable? On a consolidated basis, ICICI Securities Ltd reported a profit of Rs 525.86 crore on a total income of Rs 1,643.63 crore for the quarter ended 2024 . For the year ended Jun 2024 , ICICI Securities Ltd had posted a profit of Rs 526.91 crore on a total income of Rs 1,644.11 crore. 6. Which are ICICI Securities Ltd s peers in the Financials sector? ICICI Securities Ltd s top 5 peers in the Financials sector are Motil.Oswal.Fin., ICICI Securities, Angel One, Nuvama Wealth, IIFL Securities . 7. Who owns how much in ICICI Securities Ltd ? Key changes to the ICICI Securities Ltd shareholding are as follows: Coffee Day Insolvency Proceedings NCLT: Coffee Day Enterprises share price were under pressure for a second day on Tuesday. At 1:20 PM, Coffee Day shares were down 15 per cent at Rs 33.89 per share as against 364 points, or 0.46 per cent, dip in the benchmark BSE Sensex. In two days, Coffee day Enterprises share price has tumbled 28.6 per cent after the company informed the exchanges that the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Bengaluru bench, has admitted the company for insolvency proceedings. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp In an exchange filing, after market hours on Friday, the company said: "With regards to the application filed by IDBI Trusteeship Services Limited against the company with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Bengaluru, the plea has been admitted under Section 7 of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 for initiating Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) for Rs 2,28,45,74,180". READ IT HERE Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd (CDEL) is the parent company of Coffee Day Group, which operates Cafe Coffee Day chain of coffee houses. CDEL owns and operates a resort, renders consultancy services and is engaged in the sale and purchase of coffee beans. According to a PTI report, it had defaulted in the payment of coupon payments of redeemable non-convertible debentures (NCDs). IDBI Bank had subscribed 1,000 NCDs through private placement and paid Rs 100 crore towards the subscription in March 2019. For that Coffee Day Enterprises had executed and entered into an agreement with IDBITSL agreeing to appoint as the debenture trustee for the debenture holders. However, Coffee Day Enterprises defaulted in paying the accrued aggregate coupon payments due on various dates between September 2019 and June 2020. Consequently, the debenture trustee, on behalf of all the debenture holders, issued a notice of default on July 28, 2020 to CDEL and approached NCLT. READ FULL STORY HERE Coffee Day Enterprises has been under the line of fire of lenders since the death of founder Chairman V G Siddhartha in July 2019. It is paring its debts through asset resolutions and has significantly scaled down from the time the trouble started. In the April-June quarter of FY25 (Q1FY25) Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd had a total reported default of Rs 433.91 crore on payments of interest and repayment of principal amount on loans from banks, financial institutions, and unlisted debt securities as NCDs and NCRPS. "Due to default in repayment of interest and principal to the lenders, the lenders have sent 'loan recall' notices to the company as well as initiated legal disputes. In view of the loan recall notices, legal disputes and pending one-time settlement with the lenders, the company has not recognised interest from April 2021," the company had said in a filing. Meanwhile, the Board of Directors of Coffee day Enterprises is scheduled to meet on August 14, 2024, to consider and approve the unaudited financial results of the company for the quarter ended June 30, 2024. Russia evacuates Belgorod residents amid escalating tensions on Ukrainian border Xinhua) 11:22, August 13, 2024 A lift truck carries a modular double-reinforced concrete shelter, designed to protect civilians from shelling, in Belgorod, Russia, Aug. 9, 2024. (Xinhua) MOSCOW, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Russia's Belgorod region has begun relocating its residents to safer places amid increased military activity near the Ukrainian border, its governor said on Monday. "We are experiencing a tense morning due to enemy activity near the Krasnoyaruzhsky District border," Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a video released on his Telegram channel. "I am confident our military will do everything necessary to address this threat. However, to ensure the safety and well-being of our residents, we are initiating the relocation of people living in the Krasnoyaruzhsky District to safer locations," said Gladkov. Gladkov said the evacuations are currently being coordinated on the sites, and transport has already been sent. In a separate urgent message, the Belgorod city administration also called for immediate action from residents of the Krasnoyaruzhsky District. "Enemy activity has been observed on the border of our municipal district. All residents are urged to leave their homes immediately. Evacuation sites have been identified," according to the announcement on the city's Telegram channel. Gladkov said that 83 munitions were fired during 19 shellings and 16 drone attacks at a settlement and multiple villages in the Krasnoyaruzhsky District over the past 24 hours, damaging the roof of an uninhabited house and a power line. The governor also reported attacks in other areas bordering Ukraine, including the Belgorodsky, Borisovsky, Volokonovsky and Grayvoronsky districts, resulting in two injuries. A lift truck carries a modular double-reinforced concrete shelter, designed to protect civilians from shelling, in Belgorod, Russia, Aug. 9, 2024. (Xinhua) A man checks a modular double-reinforced concrete shelter, designed to protect civilians from shelling, in Belgorod, Russia, Aug. 9, 2024. (Xinhua) (Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun) HDFC Bank share price today dipped 3 per cent to Rs 1,614.55 on the BSE in Tuesday's intraday trade. The fall came on a lower than expected increase in weight in MSCI index. MSCI has announced that the weight of HDFC Bank will be gradually increased, in two tranches, to full weight of 1. In the coming rebalancing on August 30, it will be increased by just 25 bps as against market expectations of 50bps. This lower than expected increase in weight, analysts at ICICI Securities said, could keep the stock in a range in the near-term. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp With today's decline, HDFC Bank has corrected 10 per cent from its 52-week high level of Rs 1,791.90 touched on July 3, 2024. The stock had rallied 31 per cent (till July 3) from its 52-week low of Rs 1,363.45 hit on February 14. At 09:29 AM, HDFC Bank was trading 2.3 per cent lower at Rs 1,622.50 as compared to 0.08 per cent decline in the BSE Sensex. MSCI, in its index announcement on August 12, said that it will maintain HDFC Bank in MSCI Indices with an increase in the Foreign Inclusion Factor (FIF) from 0.37 to 0.56 as of the close of August 30, 2024 (effective September 2, 2024) coinciding with the August 2024 Index Review. HDFC Bank is subject to a Foreign Ownership Limit (FOL) of 74 per cent and an adjustment factor of 0.5. MSCI will apply an adjustment factor of 0.75 along with the August 2024 Index Review. The remaining increase of the adjustment factor from 0.75 to 1 would be implemented as part of the November Index Review in the event the foreign room continues to be at least 20 per cent at that time. MSCI will continue to monitor the foreign room of HDFC Bank and issue further communication in case there are material changes in its foreign room. As mentioned in the MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes (GIMI) methodology, securities with foreign room greater than 25 per cent are maintained in the MSCI GIMI Indices with the adjustment factor of 1. However, in view of the significant weight of HDFC Bank in the MSCI India Index, MSCI will apply an adjustment factor of 0.75 along with the August 2024 Index Review, MSCI said. The remaining increase of the adjustment factor from 0.75 to 1 would be implemented as part of the November Index Review in the event the foreign room continues to be at least 20 per cent at that time, it added. MSCI will continue to monitor the foreign room of HDFC Bank and issue further communication in case there are material changes in its foreign room. Meanwhile, operationally, HDFC Bank is confident of enhancing its profitability and strengthening the balance sheet. Improved cost-to-income and loan-to-deposit ratios, deepening corporate relationships and improved distribution networks are expected to improve its performance. Additionally, the bank anticipates benefitting from a favourable retail loan mix shift, lower-cost funding, stable credit costs and improved CASA ratio, leading to sustained NIM expansion and improved return on assets, analysts at Geojit Financial Services had said in Q1FY25 result update. The brokerage is optimistic about the company's long-term growth prospects and, therefore, reiterates a 'Buy' rating on the stock with a revised target price of Rs 1,869 based on 2.5x FY26E BVPS. YES Bank, SBI stake sale news: YES Bank share price today fell to the day's low, at around 3:00 PM, amid reports that State Bank of India (SBI) may offload its 24-per cent stake in the former by March end. According to a Reuters report, SBI is planning to sell its 24 per cent stake in YES Bank, worth Rs 18,420 crore ($2.2 billion) by the end of March 2025. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp "Japanese lender Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp and Dubai-based Emirates NBD are in advanced talks to acquire a majority stake in YES Bank. Both the bidders are interested in acquiring a majority 51 per cent stake in YES Bank to get sizable control of the bank's business," the report said. READ REPORT HERE The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has verbally given approval to the proposal and due diligence is on, it added. While Business Standard could not independently verify the report, SBI told Reuters it categorically denies any development in this matter. In a response to Reuters' query, YES Bank said it had "no comments to offer regarding (the) stake sale as these inquiries are speculative in nature." On the bourses, YES Bank share price fell around 1 per cent to Rs 24.23 per share after the news break, weighed by 12.29 million shares on the BSE. The lender, however, was outperforming the market as the BSE Sensex was down 705 points (0.9 per cent) at 78,943 level. SBI share price, meanwhile, fell 1.7 per cent to Rs 798.5 per share. The news comes even as YES Bank, on July 9, said in an exchange filing that news reports claiming the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved for the sale of a 51 per cent stake in the bank is "factually incorrect". "The contents of the said article are factually incorrect and purely speculative in nature," the bank had said in a stock exchange filing last month. READ HERE Notably, YES Bank was restructured by the RBI in March 2020 with the help of a consortium of local banks after its financial health deteriorated. SBI held about 24 per cent in YES Bank at the end of the June quarter, while 11 other lenders, including ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank, together held 9.74 per cent stake. Financial Services Commission of Mauritius on Tuesday said the offshore fund at the heart of the conflict of interest allegation Hindenburg Research levelled against Sebi chief is not domiciled in the Island nation, and that it does not permit the creation of shell companies. In a statement, FSC said it has taken cognizance of the contents of the report published by Hindenburg Research on August 10, 2024, wherein mention has been made of 'Mauritius-based shell entities' and Mauritius as a 'tax haven'. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp "The report of Hindenburg has further cited 'IPE Plus Fund' is a small offshore Mauritius Fund and 'IPE Plus Fund 1, a fund registered in Mauritius'. We wish to clarify that IPE Plus Fund and IPE Plus Fund 1 are not licensees of the FSC and are not domiciled in Mauritius," it said. Hindenburg on Saturday alleged that Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband opened an account in 2015 with a wealth management firm in Singapore to invest an undisclosed sum of money in a Mauritius-registered offshoot of a Bermuda-based fund. The Mauritian fund was run by an Adani director and its ultimate parent was the vehicle used by two Adani associates to round-trip funds and inflate stock prices. FSC, the integrated regulator for the non-bank financial services sector and global business, denied the fund being registered in Mauritius. FSC said the legislative framework in Mauritius does not permit the creation of shell companies. "Mauritius has a robust framework for global business companies. All global business companies licensed by the FSC have to meet substance requirements on an ongoing basis as per section 71 of the Financial Services Act, which is strictly monitored by the FSC," the FSC said. FSC stated that Mauritius strictly complies with international best practices and has been rated as compliant with the standards of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). "As per the peer review conducted by the OECD Forum on Harmful Tax Practices, the OECD is satisfied that Mauritius does not have any harmful features in its tax regimes, thus recognising Mauritius as a well-regulated, transparent and compliant jurisdiction. Therefore, Mauritius cannot be termed as a tax haven," it added. Union minister Giriraj Singh on Tuesday demanded the resignation of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, accusing her of trying to influence the probe into the horrific rape and murder of a doctor in Kolkata. Singh was talking to reporters in Begusarai, his Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp "Mamata Banerjee should be ashamed of the incident which was more ghastly than even the infamous Nirbhaya gang rape that took place in Delhi years ago," he said. The senior BJP leader alleged that the person arrested for the crime was "a dummy" and that real culprits were being shielded on account of their close proximity to Trinamool Congress, which is headed by Banerjee. "As such, people from various walks of life, not just politics, have voiced their distrust in the investigation so far which has been seriously compromised on account of Banerjee being in power," alleged Singh. "Mamata Banerjee should, therefore, give up the CM's post and let West Bengal be under the rule of the governor till the probe is complete. She should resign on her own and not wait till she is asked to do so by the Centre," he added. Singh, who is widely perceived to be a Hindutva hardliner, also trained his guns at Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav for "belatedly" raising concerns over the persecution of minorities in Bangladesh. "They took so many weeks to come out with social media posts on the issue just because the matter concerned Hindus. The 'tukde tukde' gang has been always more worried about Rohingyas," said the BJP leader. He also raked up the police firing that took place decades ago in Ayodhya when the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation was at its peak and Yadav's late father Mulayam Singh Yadav was the CM of Uttar Pradesh. "Akhilesh Yadav belongs to a lineage that practices politics on the blood of Ram Sevaks. Elements like these are to be blamed for the plight of Sanatan Dharma followers," rued Singh. Ethiopian Airlines Group has announced plans to build Africas largest airport in Abusera a critical element of Ethiopians 15-year strategic plan to become one of the most competitive aviation groups in the world. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240812311709/en/ Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Mesfin Tasew and Dars Director of Operations in Ethiopia Tariq Al-Qanni sign consultancy contract for new Abusera International Airport. (Photo: AETOSWire) The airports location allows for progressive growth, empowering the airline to meet the International Air Transport Associations forecasts of more than 200% growth over the next decade growing beyond Bole International Airport, which offers no possibilities for significant expansion. Abuseras lower altitude will elevate aircraft take-off performance, while an express rail link to Addis Ababa facilitates connectivity. In its first phase scheduled for 2029, the airport will have capacity for 60 million passengers annually almost three times Africas current busiest airport creating thousands of jobs to serve Ethiopians expanding customer base and fleet. Ultimately, the airport will serve 110 million passengers annually four times the capacity of Bole International Airport. Ethiopians CEO Mesfin Tasew stated: With its exceptional capacity and world-class facilities, this new airport promises to elevate African aviation. To deliver this transformational new project, Ethiopian Airlines awarded a consultancy contract to a consortium led by Dar Al-Handasah Consultants (Shair and Partners), with Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA), Pascall+Watson Architects, Landrum&Brown, and TY Lin. Dar, TY Lin, and Landrum&Brown belong to Sidara, a global collaborative that ranks 1st in aviation (Engineering News Record 2023). ZHA brings award-winning design capabilities and a global track-record of acclaimed airport projects, while Pascall+Watson Architects has successfully completed over 2,000 aviation projects across 70 airports. Collectively, these companies will cover technical advisory, engineering, project management, and construction supervision services for 600,000 m2 of passenger facilities, 126,000 m2 of airline support facilities, two Code 4E parallel runways along with associated airfield infrastructure, and other major airport facilities and infrastructure. About Ethiopian Airlines Group Ethiopian is one of the fastest-growing airlines globally and the largest in Africa. Building on a highly successful 78-year track record, Ethiopian operates Africas most modern fleet to more than 150 destinations across five continents. https://www.ethiopianairlines.com/et About Dar Dar provides design, planning, engineering, and management services for buildings, cities, transportation, and infrastructure projects. About Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) Founded 45 years ago in London, ZHA offers architecture, design, and planning services worldwide. Source: AETOSWire View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240812311709/en/ Sunday, August 11, 2024 at 10:02AM Photo: Google Susan Wojcicki, the visionary who helped birth Google in her garage and transform YouTube into a global phenomenon, died Friday at 56. A founding member of Google, Wojcicki was instrumental in building the company's advertising empire and served as YouTube CEO for nearly a decade. Her husband, Dennis Troper, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced her passing, revealing a battle with non-small cell lung cancer. Wojcicki joined Google in 1998, renting out her garage to the company's founders. Her strategic mind was evident from the start as she spearheaded the creation of AdSense and orchestrated the pivotal acquisition of DoubleClick, laying the groundwork for Google's dominance in digital advertising. In 2011, she reportedly championed the purchase of YouTube, a platform she would later lead to unprecedented heights, nurturing a generation of digital stars. Wojcicki's influence extended beyond technology, as she was recognized as one of the world's most powerful women. Source Monday, August 12, 2024 at 9:38AM Photo: Lenovo Lenovo's ThinkCentre Neo Ultra was hailed as the best Apple Mac Studio alternative when it launched in January 2024. Now, the company has unveiled a more affordable, graphics-centric version exclusively for the Chinese market: the Yoga Portal. While the ThinkCentre Neo Ultra boasts a top-tier Core i9-14900 processor and RTX graphics, the Yoga Portal opts for a slightly less powerful Core i7-14700 CPU but packs a punch with a full desktop GeForce RTX 4070 GPU. This strategic shift positions the Yoga Portal as a compelling choice for users prioritizing graphics performance, such as content creators and gamers. Despite the different processors, both mini PCs share a compact design, robust cooling system, and extensive port selection. The Yoga Portal's standout feature, however, is its impressive graphics power, delivered by a desktop-grade GPU. However, users should be aware that upgrading this GPU may be difficult due to the custom cooling solution. The Yoga Portal also has 32GB of DDR5 RAM and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD (both upgradable), as well as a dedicated M.2 slot for an independent NPU card. Priced at RMB 17,999 (approximately CA$3,452), the Yoga Portal offers significant cost savings compared to the similarly specced ThinkCentre Neo Ultra, which carries a price tag of roughly US$4,164 (~CA$5,719). Source AN opportunity to try new things, enjoy venues all over town and open up the arts to everyone, Carlow Fringe Arts Festival was deemed another great success last week. Daniel Craig, winner of the busking competition Photos: Luke Wynne It went very well, really positive, enthused Maurice OReilly of Carlow Fringe Arts Festival. A fringe festival is an opportunity to try new things and see what works, and people responded to that, he added. Enjoying the atmosphere on Tullow Street during the festival were Christine Walker and Geraldine Hoy with Theresa and Maria Kennedy Carlow Fringe Festival was officially opened on the Friday evening of the Bank Holiday weekend in An Gairdin Beo and ran throughout the weekend, concluding with the Fiddle & Vittles closing party on Monday evening, also in An Gairdin Beo. Monica Howard and Bryana Donnelly performing in the busking competition The festivals very popular busking competition welcomed local participants, buskers from around the country and even internationally! The buskers added a great atmosphere to Tullow Street over the bank holiday weekend, with the grand final taking place on Monday in An Gairdin Beo. Wed a busker who came up from Cork and also a busker who has connections in Carlow and was visiting from Australia so he took part, so wed an international flavour, said Maurice. It was great to get so many young people involved, he added. The busking competition was won by local performer Daniel Craig, who delighted the judges with his performances all weekend. Another innovative and popular part of Carlow Fringe Festival was the Half a Poem competition, bringing out the creativity in everyone. A patron of the gallery Made in Carlow, Eckert Smith, wrote the first half of the poem and people were encouraged to submit the second half. It was something new that wed never done before, but by the Sunday evening we had an entry of 23 people, which was really good, said Maurice. I think it's something that will grow legs and get increasingly popular, he added. At the launch of the Carlow Fringe Arts Festival were Anne Cuddy, Bridget Monks and Liz Eustace The peaceful and tranquil setting of An Gairdin Beo was the perfect setting for an art exhibition that ran throughout Carlow Fringe Festival, with lots of painting and pieces from artists. Getting the morning off to a relaxing and peaceful start was morning yoga with Laura Lochab, also in An Gairdin Beo. Another highlight of the festival was a raku pottery-firing exhibition with Jim Behan, with several demonstrations held throughout the weekend. Jim is brilliant at explaining the processes and the history of the art and his knowledge of pottery and ceramics from around the world, said Maurice. Pembroke dArt was also busy over the weekend with a performance of playwright and author John MacKennas fascinating play Breathlesson the Friday evening. On Saturday night it was ceol agus craic in Pembroke d'Art with Zoe Hayter, Mary Ann and guest Lisa McAree performing. There was also music throughout the weekend at Tullys Bar as part of the festival. IRELAND does not have a land-use policy in place, a crowd of around 60 people gathered in Walshes Bar, Killerig were told at a meeting organised by local engineer Fergal McGrath. The aim of Wednesday's gathering was to give people an opportunity to outline concerns about solar projects in the area. In July, plans were lodged with the county council for a 326-acre solar farm in the locality. According to Fergal, if this development gets the go ahead, almost 1,000 acres of local land could be used for solar energy, as permission has already been granted for 170-acre and 190-acre site developments, while a further 225-acre site is under consideration. Thats a lot of coverage of good land in a small community, he said. Its his view that Ireland can meet solar energy targets by tapping into the potential of rooftop panels. Every social house in the country, every government building, every council should have solar on the roofs, he said. He also argued that we should look to Italy, where large-scale solar developments on farmland have been banned. These projects are just too big. We need to preserve our green belts, our natural heritage and biodiversity, he said, referencing the proximity to Carlows historic Ducketts Grove. All five local area public representatives were present, as well as some from neighbouring parts of the county and Fine Gael general election candidate Catherine Callaghan, who vowed to take the concerns raised to taoiseach Simon Harris. Questions included the potential impact on house values, the cost of decommissioning, implications for health, taxation and succession. The need for renewable energy wasnt in dispute, and although Fergal told the meeting he respected the IFAs position that farmers were entitled to use their land as they see fit, some in the crowd were heavily critical of the farming body. When are we going to start valuing farmers as guardians of the land? Land thats breathing and has biodiversity. Not the industrialisation of the Irish countryside, noted one person. While another said "Farmers are farming here and not getting a living wage, so why not?. Anthony McNulty of the Protect Moylisha Hill group said taking land out of circulation has impacts on a community. Farm families are the lifeblood of communities. If we cant give sites to young people, if new people coming into an area cant build, then we might not have people to regenerate areas, he said. Another local woman commented: Were supposed to be Irelands Ancient East, and what are we doing? Covering it in panels. Fergal said Ireland needs to adopt the UK model of grading land and making certain areas no-goes. Energy expert, Colm Byrne said that land-based solar has potential and Im certainly not against it, but it definitely doesnt need to go on good land. We need a review of government policy and there is a strong case for a moratorium on developments to be put in place. Fergal encouraged those interested to make a submission before the 14 August. A final decision is due on 4 September. ICMSA dairy committee chairperson Noel Murphy has said that milk purchasers and co-ops are obliged to keep up with current market movements and this should result in an increase across the board for July milk, with 45cpl very achievable. Mr Murphy said July has been a positive month from a spot price perspective, with the average return from both Butter/SMP and WMP over 45cpl after processing costs are deducted. He pointed out that since the middle of May, the gross return of Butter/SMP in the Dutch Dairy quotes has been north of 51cpl before processing costs have been deducted. There is an overwhelming justification for Julys milk price to increase across the board. Quite aside from the market justification, if ever a milk price increase was needed, then its now, he said, alluding to the dire income-outgoings squeeze being experienced by the once-vibrant dairy farmer sector. Co-op boards need to look very hard at the figures both income and outgoings confronting their farmer-suppliers and ask the question: can they really afford not to increase milk price where the market shows that its merited?" he said. The boards have to understand that we are well past temporary difficulties now; we are deep into the space where more and more dairy farmers are considering either drastic stock and volume reduction, or even exit altogether, said Mr Murphy. He remarked that cashflow has never been as tight and that situation will get worse in the coming months if input usage remains high. Remember, its not only how expensive these inputs are but the volume that will need to be purchased. The markets are telling the co-ops that they should be paying 45cpl to their farmer-suppliers and we farmer-suppliers are telling the co-ops that it was never more badly needed, concluded Mr Murphy. Kenneth Fox There is a call for drivers in rural areas to get larger grants towards the cost of electric vehicles. Former Environment Minister Richard Bruton believes the government needs to 'double down' on electrification. Since 2020, just one in 29 cars sold in Co Roscommon has been electric. In Dublin, Kildare and Meath they make up one in six and one in seven new car registrations. Professor of Transportation, Brian Caulfield from Trinity College Dublin says cost could be a factor in the rural urban divide: "We have done some research on this, that does show that in the more affluent areas of the country, which tend to be the urban areas around Dublin and Cork and the other cities, there is a much higher take up of these electric cars. They tend to be the second car that people are purchasing. So it could be a cost thing." GERARD COUZENS Police are investigating the alleged street rape of an Irish tourist on the Algarve. The woman, thought to be aged around 50, told detectives she had been sexually attacked by two men in the popular resort of Albufeira. Police were alerted around 1am on Monday morning. The holidaymaker was taken to hospital for a medical exploration by officers from Portugals GNR police force. Investigators from the Policia Judiciaria (PJ) police have now been called in to lead inquiries and try to identify the two alleged rapists. They are now understood to be trying to speak to potential witnesses as well as checking CCTV cameras in the area. The exact location of the alleged street rape has not been made public and the PJ has yet to make any official statement, as is normal when an investigation is ongoing. There have been no reports so far of any arrests. Last month, police in Albufeira arrested an Irish tourist on suspicion of attempted homicide after several Dutch holidaymakers were critically injured. He was held violence flared around 4.30am on July 29 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 later said the injured men aged between 17 and 21 were all from Holland. Confirming the arrest, a spokesman for the Policia Judiciaria force on the Algarve said on July 31 before the Irishman was bailed by a judge pending an ongoing criminal probe: The PJ arrested a 19-year-old Irish nationali 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." Senegalese cement demand contracts 13% in June Muriel Bal By 13 August 2024 Cement demand in Senegal declined by 12.6 per cent to 522,400t YoY in June 2024 when compared with June 2023 when the market required 598,000t of cement, according to Senegal's Planning and Economic Study Directorate. Domestic production fell by 10.4 per cent YoY to 699,500t in June 2024 from 781,000t in the year-ago period. Of this total, the country exported 142,400t, down 5.6 per cent YoY from 150,900t in June 2023. January-June 2024 In the first half of 2024, domestic dispatches in Senegal remained stable at 3.725Mt when compared with the 1H23 when 3.723Mt were sold. Output from local plants edged up by 2.4 per cent to 4.874Mt in the 1H24 from 4.762Mt in the 1H23. Local producers improved their export volumes by 7.4 per cent YoY to 1.141Mt from 1.062Mt in the January-June 2023 period. Published under New 10Mta Nigerian plant set for 2025 start-up Peter Bell By 13 August 2024 Nigeria-based Residence Cement Co plans to establish a cement factory in the Gwana district of Alkaleri Local Government Area of the state in the first quarter of next year. Gwana State Governor, Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, disclosed that Residence Cement Factory has resolved to invest US$1.5bn in establishing the Gwana cement factory, which would commence in the first quarter 2025. Initial reports in the Society Herald in July 2024 reported that the plant would have a cement capacity of 10Mta. Sinoma Nigerian Co is constructing the plant. Residence Cement is also providing supporting the local community by providing 100MW of electricity, constructing a water dam, building a trailer park, constructing housing units, and providing other social amenities in the area. Senator Bala Mohammed further stated that the Bauchi state government is to construct a bridge at a cost of over NGN5bn (US$3.14m) to link it to the factory site for easy transportation. Published under West International Holdings Ltd begins construction of Buikwe cement plant ICR Newsroom By 13 August 2024 The construction of a new UGX730m (US$196,180.8m) cement factory has begun on a 50-acre (20.2ha) plot in the Buikwe district of Uganda. Chinese-owned West International Holdings Ltd will invest UGX730m in Kavule Cell, Buzika B Ward, Njeru Municipality, after a similar investment in the Karamoja sub-region, according to Group Director, Ambrose Byona, on 10 August. Mr Byona explained that the reason for establishing the unit in the Moroto District, which is expected to be commissioned on July 2025, is the availability of raw materials (limestone) that were previously imported for the manufacture of clinker cement. He remarked, This factory is going to support markets in Central (Kampala areas), Mwanza in Tanzania, and Mugingo in Kenya; we also want to use the railway to transport these products to avoid the wear and tear on roads caused by loaded trucks. The group director announced that the construction of the facility, which is expected to employ 1800 staff and produce approximately 4000tpd, will take 12 months. The surrounding community will also be provided with a health centre and school as part of this project. Peter Lokeris, minister for Karamoja, said the people of the Buikwe district will benefit from the project in numerous ways. A nation can only develop through industrialisation, and such initiatives bring unity with other regions in the country, he stated. Balaam Barugahara, state minister for gender, labour and social development in charge of youth, revealed that his office will work closely with the company to ensure that the hiring of both skilled and unskilled youth in the Buikwe district is prioritised. However, Njeru Municipality Mayor, Yasmin Kyaze, asked the company to ensure its employees are not exploited like those in other factories in Njeru. Published under A small child died after being left in a car all day on Monday while his father was at a construction site, Collegedale Police said. The childs father, Timothy Paul Blackdeer, has been charged with reckless homicide and aggravated child abuse or neglect. On Monday afternoon, Collegedale police officers working in the active school zone at Collegedale Academy made contact with a driver in the 4800 block of College Drive East. Upon being stopped the driver, later identified as Blackdeer, asked officers for help because his small child was unresponsive. Emergency and first responders attempted unsuccessfully to revive the infant, and the child was pronounced dead at T.C. Thompson Childrens Hospital. Police said, "During the event it was revealed that the child had been left unattended in the fathers SUV for most of the day while he was at work on a nearby construction site." TVFCU Riverfront Nights is back on Rosss Landing for their twelfth show of the series this Saturday with Departure: A Tribute to Journey as headliner. This will be an extended evening, so events will kick off at 4 p.m. and a portion of Riverfront Parkway will be closed for the evening. Review for the performers: Returning to the riverfront for the second year, Departure: A Tribute to Journey is the most respected Journey tribute band in the nation. In their 16th year together, Departure replicates the look, sound and feel of the original 80s rock super group; Journey. They pride themselves on giving their audience an incredible high-energy, qualitative stage show from start to finish. Dressed in the iconic tuxedo jacket, Departure lead vocalist, Brian Williams, has an amazing singing voice, flawlessly matching Steve Perrys vocal range and on-stage movements. Departure plays all the hit songs that everyone knows and loves. Their performance is professional and highly engaging for their audience. Everything heard during their performance is live with no pre-recorded tracks used. Performing over one hundred shows nationally per year, Departure brings the very best of Journey to audiences of all ages. Opener Moon Juice is making their TVFCU Riverfront Nights debut this Saturday. This group of Chattanooga natives started the band as a small side project, jamming out for fun and playing for anyone who wanted to listen. Moon Juice explores all genres of rock n roll, and twist and turn it as much as they can to create their very own rock sound. They have created something that will move generations to come. This week marks the twelfth in the 14-week series providing Chattanooga with free music, food vendors, and a family-friendly venue. In addition, Art 120 is bringing their Art Truck to the riverfront. They'll be in the Kids Area with paint, markers, and crayons, allowing kids to create their own art. Guests can claim their spots on the riverfront when the gates officially open at 4 p.m. A portion of Riverfront Parkway between Chestnut Street and Power Alley will be closed for the evening to allow patrons to flow from the Chattanooga Green to Rosss Landing with ease, and vendors and activities will be set up on the Chattanooga Green. Mickey McCamish with Friends of the Festival noted, We hope folks will bring their children, dogs, friends, and picnic blankets to enjoy an extended evening of fun on the river. Departure was a fan-favorite last summer, so we know they are going to bring out a great crowd. Mr. McCamish added that any weather related updates will be posted on Riverfront Nights Facebook, Instagram, and X pages. Friends of the Festival cautions guests not to drink and drive after attending Saturdays show. The Tennessee Highway Safety Office joins the list of sponsors for the month of August, and their goal is to reduce Tennessee traffic fatalities as part of the nation's vision Toward Zero Deaths. Sponsor information for each week can be found at www.RiverfrontNights.com. Mr. McCamish added that any business wishing to join in on Chattanoogas top summer music series as a sponsor should contact him by email: mickey@riverbendfestival.com. Friends of the Festival is a 501 (c) (3) organization that invests all funding and sponsorships into the events it produces for the region to enjoy. More information can be found by visiting www.riverfrontnights.com. An Illinois man who was arrested last September after making plans to have sex with a 15-year-old male during a visit to Chattanooga has been sentenced to serve 10 years in federal prison. Theodore Bello Traister, 41, of Bensenville, Il., was charged with aggravated statutory rape and five counts of solicitation of a minor. State charges were dismissed in General Sessions Court on Monday due to the federal sentence. Authorities earlier said Traister reached out to what he thought was a teen on a Facebook page and arranged to meet the youth in Chattanooga. Traister was arrested at Papa John's on Broad Street. He had said he was going to bring pizza to the youth's house. An undercover operation by special agents with the TBI's Human Trafficking Unit, the Marion County Sheriff's Office, and the 12th Judicial District Drug Task Force resulted in arrests, with two individuals accepting treatment. Over a two-day period starting on Wednesday, as part of an undercover operation aimed at addressing human trafficking in the East Tennessee area, officers placed several decoy advertisements on websites known to be linked to prostitution and commercial sex. The focus of the operation was to identify individuals seeking to engage in commercial sex acts with minors. As a result, agents, deputies, and detectives arrested two men, who were booked into the Marion County Jail. Bryan Edward Lawson, 36, of Georgetown, was charged with three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor by electronic means, with no bond. Jeremiah James Masters, 27, of Chattanooga, was charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a minor by electronic means, with $2,500 bond. In an effort to identify human trafficking victims, law enforcement officials reached out to ads that had been placed on websites linked to prostitution and commercial sex ads. As a result of this part of the operation, one person was arrested and another individual was issued a citation. Both of those individuals were offered and accepted services through a human trafficking victim service organization. Information about human trafficking and TBIs efforts to address this type of crime can be found online at www.ITHasToStop.com. Cherokee Nation citizen Charlie McVicker graduated from Union College in June as co-salutatorian and a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. He plans to relocate to Tahlequah and apply for the Cherokee Language Master Apprentice Program. Nearly 100 percent of people infected with brain-eating amoebas die. In an effort to cure the deadly infections, doctors are trying out new techniques and treatments with the hope of preventing more people from becoming victims. In the past, the amoeba has resulted in tragic deaths for several individuals. Over 10 years ago, an 8-year-old boy in San Antonio, Texas, was rushed to the hospital after five days of headaches, fever, vomiting, and sensitivity to light. The boys mother lived near the Texas-Mexico border and had taken him to clinics in Mexico. However, his condition had grown even worse. By the time the child arrived at the University Hospital in San Antonio, he was unconscious and unresponsive to all stimuli. The doctors discovered an organism called Naegleria fowleri in his brain, which caused the disease of primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). It was the third case that Dr. Dennis Conrad, a pediatrics infectious disease specialist, had ever seen throughout the entirety of his career. The other two patients had died from the brain-eating amoeba. But Dr. Conrad had just heard of a new drug called miltefosine, which had been approved as an experimental treatment for N. fowleri. It was originally used to treat leishmaniasis, an illness caused by a tropical parasite. Conrad administered the drug to the boy. Ultimately, he survived but lost much of his abilities. After months of rehabilitation, he regained some skills, but his family still had to assist him with basic self-care. Around the same time, a 13-year-old girl from Arkansas contracted the amoeba while swimming in an artificial pond. One of the drugs she was immediately given for treatment was miltefosine, and she was able to make a full recovery. The Texas boy and Arkansas girl were the first survivors of the brain-eating amoeba since 1978. Between 1962 and 2022, there were 157 confirmed human cases of N. fowleri infection in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In all that time, only a total of four people have survived. Sign up for Chip Chicks newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox. Illustration by Mallory Rentsch Tlapek / Source Images: Unsplash In recent decades, there has been a significant and sustained trend of Protestants converting to Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. The most notable figure recently is J. D. Vance, the vice-presidential running mate of former president Donald Trump. But hes not alone. Vance is just one name in the growing list of high-profile, theologically conservative Christians who have made public shifts away from their Protestant backgrounds (often evangelical) to these more liturgical or high church traditions. A past president of the Evangelical Theological Society, Francis Beckwith, reverted to Catholicism in 2007, and former Anglican Bishop Nazir Ali, has lately returned to the Catholicism of his youth. Other recent Catholic converts include Cameron Bertuzzi of Capturing Christianity (a popular YouTube channel), historian Joshua Charles, and John Richard Neuhaus, founder of First Things journal. Past prominent converts to Eastern Orthodoxy include Hank Hanegraaff (the Bible Answer Man), Lutheran scholar Jaroslav Pelikan, and English bishop Kallistos Ware. Sign up for Moore to the Point Join Russell Moore in thinking through the important questions of the day, along with book and music recommendations he has found formative. Email* Sign Up This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thanks for signing up. Please click here to see all our newsletters. Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again. Of course, there are always exceptions to every trendas is the case with former Eastern Orthodox priest Joshua Schooping, author of Disillusioned: Why I Left the Eastern Orthodox Priesthood and Church, and the Catholic-turned-Protestant Chris Castaldo, who published Why Do Protestants Convert? with Brad Littlejohn last year. This phenomenon appears less notable in nondenominational churches, since a previous CT article reports that former Roman Catholics have gone from comprising 6 percent of unafilliated congregations to 17 percent in the past 50 years. Also, a 2014 Pew Research Center study highlighted a reverse trend of Catholics converting to Protestantism in Latin America, indicating this may be a geographical trend rather than a global one. Still, Roman Catholicism is the single largest Christian tradition worldwide, with more than a billion followers, and Eastern Orthodoxy is the second largest, with more than 260 million. According to a recent report by the Orthodox Studies Institute, Eastern Orthodoxy in the US has seen an increase in conversions over the past couple yearswith most of the converts from a Protestant background (65%) citing theological reasons for converting (60%). Likewise, the Catholic News Agency recently reported that many US dioceses are seeing a 3070 percent rise in conversions. Its no secret that a growing number of Protestants in the US have become embittered with American evangelicalism. There is, of course, the disillusionment with sexual abuse scandals among well-known leaders and institutionsas well as a distaste for the corporatization and consumerism of the megachurch and celebrity pastor model. In addition, the deconstruction movement, mainline progressivism, and many other forces have exerted pressure on 21st-century Protestantism. But there is also the appeal of these other ecclesial traditions themselves. And while we must be careful not to conflate these two institutions and their significant doctrinal differences, there are similarities in terms of the allure they hold for Protestants who feel disillusioned with their church tradition. A foundational element in the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic institutions is a rich tradition with doctrinal clarity. This can be quite appealing when compared to modern evangelicalism, which has often exhibited an amnesia for even its own theological tradition that often leads to ambiguity and divisiveness. However, I believe this reflects less on historic Protestantism and speaks more to the lack of organizational leadership, doctrinal consensus, and ecclesial unity among todays church leaders. Those who find Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy appealing also share in common a longing for the deeper reverence of liturgy and the sacraments, which is often far more mystical, reflective, and reverent than in Protestantism. Aside from the debates around transubstantiation, we can all appreciate this deep reverence for the Eucharist and other biblical mandates. Yet most Protestants dont realize that many of the early Reformers, like Luther and Calvin, had a similarly high regard for the Lords Supper and baptism and that these historic views could be easily recovered within the tradition. Overall, Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy have done a better job of staying connected to the rich heritage of Christendom, and the more ancient catechisms and wider theological retrievals can be appealing to those jumping from the Protestant ship. If you were to step inside a typical American Protestant church and mention John Chrysostom, Irenaeus, or any other church father other than Augustine, for example, Id wager that most of the congregation would be ignorant of their contributions. And yet these figures are as much a part of our own tradition as they are a part of Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. Sadly, this ignorance can often be weaponized in interdenominational polemics, with which very few Protestants are prepared to engage. Whereas Protestant apologists and theologians have focused most of their efforts on combatting atheism and secularism, Roman Catholic apologists, for instance, have leaned more heavily into ecclesial dialogue when it comes to promoting their traditions, doctrines, and dogmasas evident in the reach and influence of organizations like Catholic Answers. On his podcast, popular Protestant apologist Frank Turek recently spoke with Roman Catholic apologist Jimmy Akin in an episode that revealed his ignorance of the doctrinal differences between Protestants and Roman Catholics. To be honest, I would love the Roman Catholic Church to be the true church. I have nothing against it. I would love it to be. I just dont see it, Turek said. Im happy to know that if we get our terminology right, at least we agree on what I think is the most important thing, and that is justification in terms of theology. I have a lot of respect for Turek, particularly surrounding his ability to engage with current cultural and societal matters. Yet during this discussion with Jimmy Akin, I couldnt help but feel he was out of his depth. For one, Protestants and Roman Catholics inarguably do not have the same shared views on justification. This goes to show that even some of these popular Protestant voices seem unable to accurately discern our theological differences and to graciously engage with important doctrinal distinctions. Protestant leaders should offer better examples of how to respond to claims levied by non-Protestant institutionsboth from the pulpit and in the public square. Otherwise, we will continue to see crises of faith, where people are left questioning their ecclesial identity, even converting to other traditions altogether. So, if Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy have the appearance of richer ecclesial institutionswhy should we remain Protestant? First, Protestantism encourages ecumenical engagement. On an episode of his podcast, Truth Unites, Gavin Ortlund points out that the Protestant tradition is equipped to be more ecumenical toward the global body of Christ. Historically, the claims of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy have often been inherently exclusive and anathematizing to those outside their circles. Protestants, on the other hand, have greater grounds for affirming other church traditions with orthodox Christian doctrines on the Trinity, the Resurrection, and Christs atoning work of forgiving our sins. Every soul craves a deep belonging that is rooted in something bigger and more profound than anything we can conjure for ourselves. And that abiding sense of belonging is one of the greatest gifts Christ has offered believers through his church for the past two millennia. In Jesus, we have an eternal connection to all other Christians as we are fellow participants in the same grace, mercy, and salvation. Secondly, the case for remaining Protestant is bolstered by historical Christianity, which is itself not anti-Protestant. Many Roman Catholics and uninformed Protestants have believed a common misperception that Protestantism is at odds with the ancient church. For instance, Catholic Answers repeated the famous quote from John Henry Newman, Roman Catholic theologian, back in the 19th century: To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant. To the layperson with no sense of the historical depth supporting the Reformation and Protestantism, such an argument can be easily convincing. Yet a deeper examination of the writings of the Reformers tells a different story. In fact, contrary to the claims of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, numerous early church teachings are more closely aligned with Protestantism than non-Protestant traditions. When Reformers like Luther and Calvin argued against the doctrinal distortions of Rome in the 16th century, they leveraged their deep knowledge of church history and pointed back to the early church fathers. This can be seen, for instance, in their denouncement of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy for embracing the extrabiblical practice of venerating icons beginning in the first millennia. And yet most Protestants today are inept and ill-equipped to discuss our history with well-informed Christians from other traditions. As the 21st century faces daunting moral and religious challenges, American Protestants must faithfully study church history to return to our deep historical roots and recover its rich catholicity. As one writer emphasized in a previous CT piece, evangelicals can learn from the likes of theologians like Thomas Aquinas, despite our theological differences. Finally, the Reformation that started Protestantism served an important purpose: Though not perfectly, it removed non-apostolic and non-scriptural doctrines and dogmas that had infiltrated the church over the course of the first 16 centuries. I am convinced that if Protestants researched the driving factors behind the Reformation, they would be alarmed at some of the unbiblical church teachings that existed during that period. I fear many Protestants do not even know what they believe and why the Reformation was an essential corrective. For instance, while every tradition claims belief in Gods grace, I believe Protestantism promotes the most scriptural and apostolic reliance upon divine graceapart from human worksas the sole condition for salvation. I know this may be a contentious statement, and there is much more to say on this subject than we have space to explore here, but I firmly believe the biblical doctrine of divine grace apart from human merit, in its fullness, is one you may forfeit by leaving the Protestant tradition. On Ortlunds podcast, Joshua Schooping shares his story of returning to Protestantism, and in the opening line of his book Disillusioned, Schooping explains that he left the Eastern Orthodox Church because he believed some of its canonical positions have formally and critically wounded the purity of the Gospel. After my own study of Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox doctrines, I share this sentimentand have gained a renewed appreciation for the Reformation. Far from trying to break with tradition, the Reformers were seeking to recover it, a legacy that we must recapture and emulate in our own day, argues Littlejohn and Castaldo in their book. They believe the solution to our present Protestant disenchantment is to dig deeper into the Reformation, not to run from it. Too often, they say, converts are so intent on running away from the Protestantism they grew up in that they dont pause to ask whether it was authentically Protestant at all. For those wrestling with Protestantism, resources like Ortlunds upcoming book, What It Means to Be Protestant: The Case for an Always-Reforming Church, and The Reformation as Renewal: Retrieving the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church by Matthew Barrett can help us first examine and seek to understand our own tradition before considering converting to another tradition. If we do not have a firm grasp of our theological heritage, we cannot expect to have an appropriate response to alternative claims. I urge my fellow Protestants to not make the leap without fully examining all the doctrines you will embraceand those you may leave behind. As we pray about and study such matters, we must all be sensitive to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, wherever he leads. May we remain humble in our convictions, always submitting ourselves to Christs lordship. In doing so, I firmly believe he will direct our steps in grace and truth. Andrew Voigt is a writer, journalist, and passionate student of theology and church history based near Charlotte, North Carolina. Andrew and his family are members of Providence City Church. Home News ABC News accused of 'misinformation' for claiming kids won't be taken from parents under Walz-passed law An exchange debating whether a Minnesota law allows the state to take trans-identified children away from parents who refuse to provide them with hormonal or surgical gender interventions is reigniting a conversation about media bias, with one advocacy group accusing ABC News of engaging in "misinformation." Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio appeared on ABC's "This Week" Sunday for an interview with ABC News' Jonathan Karl. The conversation concluded with Karl pressing Vance about comments former president and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump made at a rally in Montana over the weekend asserting that Democratic vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed a law "letting the state kidnap children" if their parents do not provide them with gender transition interventions. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe "What he said was not true," Karl insisted. Vance pushed back, declaring, "Tim Walz has supported taking children from their parents if the parents don't consent to gender reassignment." After Vance described the legislation as "crazy," Karl continued to reject the characterization of the bill. "He did not sign a law allowing the state to kidnap children," Karl stated. As Vance maintained, "You should not be able to take people's children away from them." Karl declared, "That's not what he's proposing." Vance replied, "He has proposed that." "What I just described to you, I would describe as kidnapping," Vance declared. "You should not be able to take people's children away from them if you disagree with decisions about gender reassignment. Yes, he has proposed that, Jon." The bill discussed by the two is House File 146, which Walz signed into law last year after the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passed the measure in a 68-62 vote and the Democratic-controlled Minnesota Senate approved it in a 34-30 vote. The vote fell primarily along party lines, with Democrats supporting it and Republicans opposing it. One House Democrat joined Republicans in voting against the legislation. HF 146 states that "A court of this state has temporary emergency jurisdiction if the child is present in this state" and "the child has been unable to obtain gender-affirming health care." The bill defines "gender-affirming health care" as "medically necessary health care or mental health care that respects the gender identity of the patient," including "interventions to suppress the development of endogenous secondary sex characteristics" and "interventions to align the patient's appearance or physical body with the patient's gender identity." The socially conservative advocacy organization American Principles Project elaborated on the implications of the bill, warning that "an adult bringing a child to the state to receive transgender drugs or surgeries could petition the court in Minnesota, rather than in the child's home state, for custody of the child and potentially be granted custody." According to the American Principles Project, "The law also prohibits state agencies from cooperating with a custody order from another state if the order would remove the child from a parent or guardian, allowing him or her to receive transgender drugs or surgeries. This could, in practice, prevent a child from being reunited with his or her parents if those parents oppose him or her receiving these drugs and/or surgeries." In a statement, American Principles Project President Terry Schilling cited Karl's assertions about HF 146 during his interview with Vance as an example of media bias in favor of Democrats. "For years, public confidence in the legacy media has been declining, and it's no secret why. Press outlets have become increasingly blatant in their propagandizing for Democrats, efforts which have come to include outright lying on behalf of candidates like [Democrat presidential nominee] Kamala Harris and Tim Walz." "This Sunday's whopper by ABC News's Jonathan Karl is just the latest example," Schilling said. "If the legacy media desire to win back the trust of Americans, they should apologize for their past propagation of misinformation as in this episode and instead commit themselves to covering the news in a non-partisan manner. Otherwise, all they will accomplish in their continued attempts to gaslight the public will be the complete destruction of their remaining credibility." The provision of gender transition procedures and drugs like puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors has become a contentious topic in light of concerns about the long-term effects of such interventions. The American College of Pediatricians has warned that puberty blockers, referred to in HF 146 as "interventions to suppress the development of endogenous secondary sex characteristics," can cause "osteoporosis, mood disorders, seizures, cognitive impairment, and, when combined with cross-sex hormones, sterility." The ACP lists possible side effects as "an increased risk of heart attacks, stroke, diabetes, blood clots and cancers across their lifespan." The most controversial gender transition procedures offered to children in some cases involves the removal of healthy body parts and/or the creation of artificial body parts that align with a child's stated gender identity. Chloe Cole, a detransitioner who once identified as a member of the opposite sex but has seen her gender dysphoria subside, has filed a lawsuit alleging that the double mastectomy she received as a minor left her with suicidal thoughts. She lamented that her experience left her with "deep physical and emotional wounds, severe regrets, and distrust of the medical system." Twenty-six states, including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming, have banned some or all gender interventions for minors. Meanwhile, Minnesota has taken the opposite approach on the issue. HF 146 also forbids cooperation with investigations of parents who travel to Minnesota from a state where the procedures are banned. States that have enacted similar legislation to HF 146 are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. Home News In latest propaganda move, Hamas says its guards killed Israeli hostage; IDF says it cant confirm claims There is no intelligence supporting Hamas claim that its guards murdered an Israeli hostage and wounded two others, the Israel Defense Forces stated on Monday evening. The spokesman for the terror group, Hudhaifa Kahlout, who is also known as Abu Obayda, claimed that guards assigned to the hostages shot and killed a male Israeli and seriously wounded two female Israelis, adding that attempts are being made to save their lives. The statement was issued on Telegram and didnt include any other details, such as the location and date of the purported incident or the names of the hostages. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe The enemy government [Israel] bears full responsibility for these massacres and the resulting reactions that affect the lives of Zionist prisoners, Abu Obayda said. The terrorist organization Hamas has distributed a statement on Telegram that includes a written message claiming that in two separate incidents, a hostage was killed, and two hostages were wounded by Hamas operatives, the IDF commented in the evening. At this point, we do not have any intelligence support that allows us to refute or confirm the claims of Hamas. We continue to check and find out the reliability of the message and will update as soon as possible with any information we have, the army said. Hamas claim comes on the heels of its refusal to participate in the high-level summit planned for Thursday and intended to significantly advance the talks about a hostage and truce deal. Speaking to Ynet News, family members of hostages described their feelings hearing the Hamas claims that a hostage was murdered. From that moment on, the anxieties dont stop, said Eli Elbag, father of kidnapped IDF soldier Liri Elbag. I expect [Shas party chairman Aryeh] Deri and all the MKs to slam the table and get a deal done, he said. Yesterday we were praying in Shoham, while praying, my daughter showed me the text on Telegram. This is another wound and another knife in the heart. It turns our stomachs non-stop. Elbag added that his wife asked IDF officers about the claims and did not receive an unequivocal answer. Everything is too fresh. Zvika Mor, whose son Eitan was kidnapped from the Nova party, noted that the type of deal that was currently being discussed would not immediately free his son, as Hamas generally sees all young men as soldiers and demands the highest prices for their release. I find it very difficult to agree to such a deal as the father of a hostage. This is not the story of the Shalit deal Israel is fighting for its life, he said. Regarding the claim that a hostage was murdered by his guards, Mor said he thought it was part of a propaganda effort to improve Hamas position in the negotiations. There are manipulations that the parties exert on each other. It's meant to pressure us, I guess, said Mor. This article was originally published by All Israel News. Home News House committee opens antisemitism probe into Harvard, Penn, MIT after hearing A Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives committee has opened an investigation into Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, expressing dissatisfaction with administrators' answers this week about their response to antisemitism on campus. The House Committee on Education and the Workforce intends to investigate each university's learning environments and disciplinary procedures, which will include document requests and subpoenas if necessary. After Hamas' Oct. 7 attack against Israel killed 1,200 people, multiple college campuses have faced criticism for their responses to antisemitism from students and faculty members. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe In a Thursday statement, Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., criticized Harvard President Claudine Gay, MIT President Sally Kornbluth and Penn's President Liz Magill. Foxx stressed that the responses from each president regarding how the university deals with antisemitism were "absolutely unacceptable." "Committee members have deep concerns with their leadership and their failure to take steps to provide Jewish students the safe learning environment they are due under law," the chairwoman stated. "The disgusting targeting and harassment of Jewish students is not limited to these institutions, and other universities should expect investigations as well, as their litany of similar failures has not gone unnoticed." In a Friday statement to The Christian Post, Harvard's director of media relations and communications, Jason Newton, told the outlet that the university looks forward to sharing information with the committee as it conducts its inquiry. "Harvard's work to combat antisemitism in our community is advancing with the highest commitment and attention from University leaders," Newton stated. A University of Pennsylvania spokesperson told CP that the university is aware of the investigation and intends to cooperate fully. A spokesperson for MIT said that the university rejects antisemitism "in all its forms," acknowledging it as a threat that is rising throughout the world. The spokesperson emphasized that MIT cannot let antisemitism "poison our community." "That is why MIT has stood up a campus-wide initiative, 'Standing Against Hate,' to ensure that antisemitism has no place in our community," the statement continued. "As we continue to undertake this critical effort, MIT will work with the Committee to address its questions." In a Thursday statement issued by MIT's governing board about the investigation into the school's learning environment, Mark Gorenberg, chair of the corporation, wrote in the statement that he and the executive committee support President Kornbluth. "The MIT Corporation chose Sally to be our president for her excellent academic leadership, her judgment, her integrity, her moral compass, and her ability to unite our community around MIT's core values," the statement reads. "She has done excellent work in leading our community, including in addressing antisemitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of hate, all of which we reject utterly at MIT. She has our full and unreserved support," it continued. During a hearing earlier this week, the university presidents did not directly answer whether calling for the genocide of Jews violated their code of conduct on bullying or harassment. The question came from Rep. Elisa Stefanik, R-N.Y., who asked for a "yes or no" response to the question multiple times during the hearing. MIT's president responded that she had not heard calls for the genocide of Jews on campus but acknowledged that she had heard calls for "intifada" (resistance or uprising), which Kornbluth said could be considered harassment in certain contexts. Both Gay and Magill replied that whether calling for the genocide of Jews violated their respective universities' codes of conduct would depend on the context. "If the speech becomes conduct, it can be harassment," Magill said at one point to Stefanik's question, which clearly surprised the congresswoman. "'Conduct' meaning committing the act of genocide?" Stefanik asked, stating that the Penn president's response was "unacceptable." The lawmaker asked Magill the question again, and she replied, "it can be harassment." After the hearing, Magill released an apology video, stating that she understands calls for genocide are "evil, plain and simple." "There was a moment during yesterday's congressional hearing on antisemitism when I was asked if a call for the genocide of Jewish people on our campus would violate our policies," Magill said in the video. "In that moment, I was focused on the university's long-standing policies aligned with the US Constitution which say that speech alone is not punishable." As CNN reported Friday, a source familiar with Penn's proceedings informed the outlet that Magill is still president following a Thursday board of trustees meeting. However, a growing list of donors, politicians and business leaders criticized Magill's testimony. One of the university's prominent donors, Ross Stevens, has threatened to withdraw a $100 million donation to the school in response to the president's answers during the hearing. Home News Religious Freedom Institute launches new group to protect students of faith on college campuses An organization centered on defending religious freedom has launched a new initiative aimed at protecting such rights on college campuses amid rising intolerance and antisemitism. The Religious Freedom Institute announced last week that it was launching the Campus Faith Alliance group, which will be found at several universities this fall semester. RFI President David Trimble told The Christian Post via email that the Campus Faith Alliance was created in response to growing challenges for students of faith on America's college campuses. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe Religious student groups have common cause to defend religious freedom for all based on a shared commitment to the human dignity of all, he explained. And we concluded that they would benefit from building a coalition with one another on their campuses to address threats to their religious freedom. The widespread unrest and antisemitism on display on campuses last spring, especially at elite universities, only added to our sense that this Campus Faith Alliance could provide an important antidote to some of the harmful forces fueling this unrest. Trimble also told CP that RFI believes there are a variety of more subtle pressures that undermine students in living out their faith on campus and their opportunities to learn how to model peaceful pluralism in society during this formative time in life. Religious freedom doesn't depend on the false notion that all religions are equally true but rather the fundamental premise that all people are equal in dignity and have the right to seek answers to ultimate questions free from violence, coercion or intimidation, he continued. Religious freedom says, I can disagree with you even on life's most important questions while still respecting your dignity. This message needs to be relearned on many campuses today, and the Campus Faith Alliance can be a vehicle for such renewal. Several schools will have pilot chapters of the Alliance, with RFI facilitating the student groups events in cooperation with other religious student organizations on campus. Trimble hopes to build the Alliance by highlighting our initial pilot sites to show how it is working on the ground, in support of real religious student groups on real college campuses. People of faith are increasingly pushed to the margins of American society, and this marginalization is occurring with even greater intensity on public university campuses, he said. Government regulations and institutional rules continue to challenge the freedom of these groups to organize and express themselves in accord with their faith tenets. But at a deeper level a pernicious conception of radical individual autonomy that approaches self-apotheosis is displacing foundational American principles of God-given human dignity and ordered liberty in our public life. This destructive vision of radical individual autonomy is predominant on far too many secular campuses, and it is antithetical [to] the view of reality that religious students continue to hold. RFI was founded in 2016 by multiple college-level academics with the stated goal of advancing religious freedom around the world and helping people who are being persecuted because of their religious beliefs. Home News University of Iowa wrongly discriminated against Christian student group: appeals court An appeals court has ruled that the University of Iowa wrongly discriminated against a Christian student group that wanted to choose its leaders and members on the basis of religious belief and is not protected by qualified immunity. InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and Intervarsity Graduate Christian Fellowship filed suit against the University of Iowa, accusing the school of discriminating against them when they deregistered them as a student group. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued a unanimous ruling on Friday in favor of InterVarsity, arguing that the university engaged in viewpoint discrimination against the Christian group. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe Circuit Judge Jonathan A. Kobes authored the panel opinion, concluding that he was hard-pressed to find a clearer example of viewpoint discrimination. Of course, the University has a compelling interest in preventing discrimination. But it served that compelling interest by picking and choosing what kind of discrimination was okay, wrote Kobes. Basically, some [registered student organizations] at the University of Iowa may discriminate in selecting their leaders and members, but others, mostly religious, may not. If the University honestly wanted a campus free of discrimination, it could have adopted an all-comers policy The opinion referenced an earlier decision on behalf of Business Leaders in Christ, which turned away a student because the student, who was openly homosexual, did not want to adhere to the groups statement of faith. Take LoveWorks, for example. It was formed by the student who was denied a leadership role in BLinC. LoveWorks requires its members and leaders to sign a gay-affirming statement of Christian faith, noted Kobes. Despite that requirementwhich violates the Human Rights Policy just as much as InterVarsitysthe University did nothing. Daniel Blomberg, senior counsel for the Becket law firm that helped to represent InterVarsity during the litigation, released a statement on Friday celebrating the appeals court panel ruling. Schools are supposed to be a place of free inquiry and open thought, but the school officials here punished opinions they didnt like and promoted ones they did all while using taxpayer dollars to do it, stated Blomberg. The good news is that theyve been held accountable, and school officials nationwide are on notice. We are optimistic that in the future, colleges will pursue policies of accommodation, not discrimination, when it comes to religious exercise on campus. In March, another three-judge panel from the Eighth Circuit ruled in favor of BLinC in their lawsuit against the university, concluding that the defendants did not have qualified immunity on all claims. This inquiry takes into account the undisputed facts of the present case: the Universitys creation of a limited public forum for student speech and subsequent viewpoint discrimination against BLinC, a student organization, within that forum, read the March opinion, in part. As a result, we hold that the district court erroneously granted the individual defendants motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity on BLinCs free-speech and expressive-association claims. Home Opinion How was David a man after Gods heart if he was a polygamist? Seemingly, it has become an everyday occurrence to open your favorite Christian news outlet and learn of yet another pastor or ministry leader who has had another sexual indiscretion exposed. For some it occurred last week and for others it was 35 years ago. If you are like me, it can make your head spin with more questions than there seems to be answer to. These sorts of situations drive us, hopefully, back to Gods Word, to get direction and insight into such problematic matters. And yet, when we open the Old Testament, we learn that a man who committed adultery, had her husband killed, and covered it was referred to as a man after Gods own heart. And not only that, but he was also considered a righteous King of Israel while having multiple wives. His name, King David. How do we wrestle with the tension and answer the question, If King David is a man after Gods own heart, why so many wives? I want to first go back to the beginning of Davids life. The genesis of his conception. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe David says in Psalm 51:5: Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. David made this statement upon reflecting of his affair/adultery with Bathsheba. I think he was potentially tying his actions to how he himself came into existence in his own life. The Bible does not mention King Davids mother by name. A Jewish legend has named her Nitzevet, but there is no biblical confirmation of that name. Davids father lived in Bethlehem and was from the tribe of Judah. David was the youngest of eight brothers. He also had at least two sisters, Zeruiah and Abigail. The only thing we know from the Bible about Davids mom is what he said about her in Psalm 86:16, he referred to her as a woman who served God as he did. Now we are not yet answering the question, Is polygamy okay for a follower of Jesus who is termed a person after Gods own heart? But here is what we do know from Psalm 51:5 Adultery is a sin in Gods eyes, Davids eyes, and it would seem Davids moms eyes. The Bible says King Davids actions displeased the Lord. When God established the nation of Israel. He wanted them to be a nation that was set apart, different. He gave instructions to Moses for how a King of Israel was to live, different. Deuteronomy 17:17: He shall not acquire multiple wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away from God (Amplified Bible). This is important to see because God wanted His King to be a husband to one wife. So, how could David be termed, A man after Gods own heart with the number of wives he had? Here are a few reasons: 1. When he sinned with Bathsheba, he knew it was wrong and repented. People after Gods own heart are not perfect people but people who repent and take ownership of their story and the part they play in its destruction. 2. David stopped amassing wives after Bathsheba. I believe this showed his repentance of his actions to amass multiple wives. He realized he was modeling the worlds behavior instead of Gods. He couldnt give the wives back, but he could stop sinning as such and no longer amass more. 3. David continued to fulfill His purpose and calling for God after his sin with Bathsheba. Ultimately, sin does not neutralize Gods purpose for us. However, the person does not make this choice God does through proper authority channels. Nathan told David, God could kill you for this, but He wont. But repentance doesnt then work to cover it up for the good of the Church. Repentance requires humility and a willingness to accept consequences in the face of failure. David did that. He confessed, submitted, and accepted the consequences. I pray ministry leaders today will follow His example. If you are a person after Gods own heart you will come clean, submit, accept the consequences, and work toward healing and restoration for the good of all involved, even at your ministrys expense. May God restore His workers and ministers in our day. Home News Abuse awareness group critical of new ACNA reporting standards for misconduct An organization founded to spread awareness of abuse issues within the Anglican Church in North America is critical of the effectiveness of recently approved standards on reporting misconduct. At a June meeting in Pennsylvania, ACNA leadership added two sections to their bylaws on safeguarding against misconduct and reporting alleged abuse, Religion News Service reported last week. A proposed overhauling of Title IV, which is the standard for enforcing ecclesiastical discipline within ACNA, is still in the works, according to RNS. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe ACNAtoo, which was originally founded in June 2021 to help survivors of abuse in the ACNA Upper Midwest Diocese before focusing on abuse claims within the overall denomination, is critical of these changes. A spokesperson for the abuse awareness group explained in an email to The Christian Post on Monday that [m]ost of the power in the ACNA is delegated to the dioceses; they are allowed to decide how they respond to abuse. While the updated canons claim to impose minimum standards for safeguarding and reports of misconduct on the dioceses, they actually permit dioceses to unilaterally adopt unvetted procedures they regard as of at least equal fairness, transparency, and integrity as the minimum standards, stated the spokesperson. By allowing these inconsistent policies across the dioceses and not providing a clear connection to disciplinary procedures, the updated canons still uphold extreme subsidiarity and fail to protect abuse survivors. The ACNAtoo spokesperson went on to say that the updates to Title I (diocesan structures) cannot be effectively applied while Title IV (discipline) changes remain in draft form. The ACNAs failure to ratify changes to Title IV essentially renders Title I useless. Ultimately, according to the abuse awareness group representative, accountability will require consistent policies across all dioceses, extensive lay education, and more responsive governance procedures. The current reforms attempt to shield the province from liability if dioceses fail to follow their reporting procedures, the spokesperson told CP. Dioceses should proactively educate their laity about their role in diocesan and provincial governance. Lay people in the ACNA should receive adequate time to consider changes to their governance documents and instructions on how they may originate such changes. ACNAtoo also believes that the ACNA Provincial Assembly must hold yearly business meetings to ensure that proposed changes are considered and ratified efficiently, noting that clergy and laity cannot vote on long-awaited changes to Title IV until the next Provincial Assembly in 2029 unless a special meeting is called. CP reached out to the Anglican Church in North America for this article. A spokesperson relayed via email a short statement by the Rev. Christopher Culpepper, head of the ACNA Governance Task Force. The Governance Task Force of the ACNA, working together with the whole of the body of the ACNA, always strives to draft, and improve upon when needed, the Canons of the ACNA for the glory of God, the edification of the Church, and the proclamation of the Gospel, Culpepper stated. Concerns over ACNAs ability to handle misconduct claims stem from 2021 when allegations surfaced that the Diocese of the Upper Midwest under Bishop Stewart Ruch III was failing to properly handle reports of clergy abuse. One prominent example within the Wheaton, Illinois-based diocese was ACNA lay leader Mark Rivera, who was found guilty of multiple charges of sexual assault, including against his 9-year-old goddaughter. In August of last year, ACNA announced that it was going to subject Ruch to an ecclesiastical trial in response to the allegations of mishandling the abuse reports within his diocese. An ACNA Board of Inquiry concluded that there was probable cause to bring Ruch to trial for violations of Canon IV.2.3, Canon IV.2.4, and Canon IV.2.9. Ruch is accused of violating ordination vows, conduct giving just cause for scandal or offense, including the abuse of ecclesiastical power and for disobedience, or willful contravention of denominational bylaws. For his part, Ruch released a statement last year saying that he was thankful and relieved that there will be an occasion to hear all sides and gain some resolution after two years. Please bring your concerns to your clergy, vestry, or parish councils, who will offer care in every way possible. I am so thankful for your faithfulness in praying for healing for all and for the Lords leading during this painful season, Ruch said at the time. Please pray for everyone involved in these proceedings. And pray that, in the meantime, our diocesan churches receive Gods blessing as they continue to carry out their Gospel work. Home News Archaeologists uncover quarry stones possibly used to build road walked by Jesus, disciples Following earlier reports that excavations have uncovered a large limestone stone quarry, it has now been revealed that some slabs were likely taken to build a road used by Jesus and his disciples 2,000 years ago and in building projects commanded by King Herod the Great and his descendants, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). The intriguing find was confirmed in a press release by the IAA excavating in the Har Hotzvim neighborhood of Jerusalem, and reported by the Biblical Archaeology Society (BAS) on Aug. 5. It is believed to be the largest such find from the Second Temple period in the area. Some of the stones, weighing 2.5 tons each, were used as paving slabs in the Pilgrimage Road under excavation in the City of David a 2,000-year-old stone road walked upon by Jesus Himself and His disciples, and connecting the Pool of Siloam where Christ healed a blind man to the Jewish Temple, where he prayed. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe Measuring the dimensions and geological signature confirmed the fact, according to the IAA. The impressive sized stones this quarry produced likely attest to their intended use in one of Jerusalems many royal construction projects in the late Second Temple period, beginning under King Herod the Greats reign in 37-4 BCE, said Cherning and archaeologist Lara Shilov, co-directors of the excavation, in a statement for Times of Israel. Historical sources tell us that Herods construction projects in Jerusalem included, first and foremost, the expansion of the Temple Mount area and the Temple itself. In addition, during his reign, a series of impressive public buildings palaces and fortifications were built throughout the city, requiring a huge supply of high-quality construction stones. Monumental construction projects continued in the city under his successors as well. Herod the Great commanded mass building projects during his reign, making the Judaean region prosperous. Archeologists believe the stones from the quarry would have been used in expanding the Jerusalem Temple, the burial monument containing the remains of Herod, known as the Herodium and also the construction of the Caesarea port city. The IAA excavations may help answer where the Herodian family obtained the building materials for their Jerusalem-based projects, said the BAS news update. About an acre of the quarry has been recovered to date but more of the site is yet to uncover its secrets. The site is earmarked for industrial and commercial development by the Vitania company, which is funding the IAA archeological dig after discovering the site during works, according to Times of Israel. Archaeologists uncovered tens of various-sized building stones, as well as quarrying and cutting trenches whose outlines indicate the size of the blocks being quarried, said the IAA press release. Apart from the temple, built by Herod the Great, the large stones would have been used in Jerusalems Temple Mount. Herod Agrippa I, his grandson, also used the rock materials for Jerusalems "Third Wall" and other first-century palaces and buildings. This article was originally published by Christian Daily International. Home News Catholic Charities asks Supreme Court to overturn denial of tax exemption A Catholic Charities affiliate in Wisconsin is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court to claim a religious tax exemption after the state's highest court ruled it could not. In a petition for a writ of certiorari filed last Friday, the Catholic Charities Bureau of the Diocese of Superior asked the high court to overturn a recent ruling from the Wisconsin Supreme Court requiring the organization to pay into a state unemployment insurance program. "Although all agree Catholic Charities is controlled by a church the Diocese of Superior the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that Catholic Charities is not 'operated primarily for religious purposes' and thus does not qualify for the tax exemption," reads the petition. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe "Religious bodies like Petitioners are deeply affected, having to pay unemployment taxes that otherwise could be helping the needy. Moreover, because Petitioners are forced to pay into the state unemployment compensation program, they cannot participate in their church's own unemployment compensation system along with Wisconsin dioceses, including the Diocese of Superior itself." The charity asked the Supreme Court to address whether the state violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution's religion clauses "by denying a religious organization an otherwise-available tax exemption because the organization does not meet the state's criteria for religious behavior." The charity wants the high court to determine when "addressing federal constitutional challenges," can "state courts require proof of unconstitutionality 'beyond a reasonable doubt?'" Eric Rassbach, vice president and senior counsel at Becket, a legal organization representing Catholic Charities, said in a statement last week that it should not "take a theologian to understand that serving the poor is a religious duty for Catholics." "But the Wisconsin Supreme Court embraced the absurd conclusion that Catholic Charities has no religious purpose. We're asking the Supreme Court to step in and fix that mistake," he added. In 2016, the Catholic Charities Bureau asked the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development to rule that it was exempt from having to pay into the state unemployment insurance program due to its religious nature. The state agency declined the request, arguing that the group was not primarily religious in nature. The charity appealed to an administrative law judge, who reversed the earlier ruling. In response, the DWD petitioned the Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Commission, which ruled against Catholic Charities, arguing that their activities were chiefly secular and did not qualify for a religious exemption. In March, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that the charitable group did not fit the definition of a religious entity and was thus ineligible for the exemption. Justice Ann Walsh Bradley authored the majority opinion, concluding that the charity was "not operated primarily for religious purposes" and had to pay into the unemployment insurance program. "CCB and the sub-entities, which are organized as separate corporations apart from the church itself, neither attempt to imbue program participants with the Catholic faith nor supply any religious materials to program participants or employees," she wrote. "An objective examination of the actual activities of CCB and the sub-entities reveals that their activities are secular in nature." Home News Christian leader of Texas homeless ministry shares Gospel on Joe Rogan podcast In an interview on the The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Alan Graham, founder of the Christian social outreach ministry Mobile Loaves & Fishes, shared the Gospel with host Joe Rogan and outlined how his faith helped him discover innovative solutions to homelessness. I live my life to the best that I possibly can, which is simple: love God and love your neighbor as yourself. So that's what we're gonna do, Graham told the 57-year-old comedian. I believe I'm sitting in this chair right now because of how God has architected us over a few years, coming together, and now we're here. Graham, a former real estate entrepreneur, told Rogan that his faith compelled him to found Mobile Loaves & Fishes in 1998, a ministry that provides food and clothing, cultivates community and promotes dignity to homeless men and women in need. Since its founding, the organization has served over 6.5 million meals to homeless men and women living on the streets in Austin, Texas. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe "I had a powerful experience [at a retreat] that led me to ask, God, what do you want me to do?" Graham explained. I wasnt asking for anything big. The initial concept was simple: to use a catering truck as a distribution mechanism, delivering food from those who have abundance to those who lack it. The organization quickly gained traction, resonating with many in the Austin community who were eager to support those in need. However, the true turning point for Graham came during that same retreat, where he experienced a shift in his relationship with his faith. "The intellectual relationship I had with Jesus dropped into the depths of my heart," he said, describing how this spiritual awakening deepened his commitment to his work with the homeless. Graham also reflected on his early life challenges, including his father's abandonment and his mother's mental illness, which shaped his understanding of compassion and service. As he began to explore his faith more seriously, he became captivated by the complex history of the Church, describing it as "one of the greatest novels ever written in mankind." This intellectual fascination, combined with his newfound spiritual depth, fueled his dedication to serving the homeless. Mobile Loaves & Fishes has since grown beyond its original mission. The organizations Community First Village now provides permanent housing and support for over 400 chronically homeless individuals. This unique community, built on the principles of dignity and respect, has become a national model for addressing homelessness. "It's been an incredible journey of faith, service and community, Graham said. Rogan told Graham it was his commitment to living out his faith with kindness and sincerity that piqued his interest and prompted him to invite the ministry leader on his show. I think you're a very unusual person, because there's a lot of people out there that profess to be Christians, they profess to be in whatever their denomination is, whatever their religion is, but they don't necessarily live it, Rogan said. You abandoned your beautiful house and moved into one of these tiny homes in this homeless community. And then when we went and toured the community and got to see how you interact with everybody, it's beautiful. It's really very extraordinary. And I don't think there's very many people that would do that, what youve done. Graham emphasized the mutual impact of caring for those in need, The interesting thing is how they have shaped my life, and thats where the miracle sets in. When you drive around [cities] and see the homeless crisis it appears hopeless. Its just a mess. ... Our community shows that there is hope, unbelievable hope, if we do things right and get our act together as a civil society. Addressing misconceptions about homelessness, Graham highlighted the importance of compassion and understanding, as exemplified by Jesus. We need a human-to-human, heart-to-heart connection between people who are broken and battered and come from a trauma background, a battlefield background, that you and I can't even begin to understand, he said. Rogan and Graham also discussed the innovative housing solutions implemented at Community First! Village, including the use of 3D-printed homes. We had the second-ever 3D-printed house in history on our property, Graham noted. Its part of our effort to provide dignified, affordable housing for the homeless. In recent years, several guests on the The Joe Rogan Experience podcast have shared their faith. The podcast is the most popular podcast on Spotify, with 14.5 million followers. In February, Aaron Rodgers and Rogan discussed the crucial role Christianity plays in an increasingly chaotic society and the need for Jesus return. I think as time rolls on, people are going to understand the need to have some sort of divine structure to things, some sort of belief in the sanctity of love and of truth, and a lot of that comes from a religion, Rogan said in a Feb. 7 episode of his podcast. A lot of people's moral compass and the guidelines that they've used and follow to live a just and righteous life has come from religion. And unfortunately, a lot of very intelligent people, they dismiss all the positive aspects of religion because they think that the stories are mere superstitious fairy tales, that they have no place in this modern world; we're inherently good, and your ethics are based on your own moral compass, and we all have one, and that's not necessarily true. In March, Rogan and former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines discussed Satan, Jesus, biblical prophecy and the role transgenderism plays in the moral decline of society. Gaines told Rogan that while society is clearly in a moral decline, she finds solace in the fact that, as a Christian, shes confident in the outcome and knowing how this all ends. Really trusting that, and having faith in that, and just knowing the battle is already won that's certainly what keeps me grounded and keeps a smile on my face, and an incredibly light heart even when these crazy freaks at San Francisco are running at me, she said. The first thing I do is pray for them. I'm like, Oh my gosh, you look miserable and I can't imagine having that much hatred in my heart. So I think all of those things are what maybe made me a little different. The combination of those things set me apart from some of my peers. Home News Teacher fired after opposing school's trans affirmation policies cant seek judicial review: judge A High Court judge in the United Kingdom refused permission for a judicial review sought by a primary school teacher fired after voicing safeguarding concerns about her school's affirmation of an 8-year-old trans-identified student. Last Monday, Justice Judith Farbey at Birmingham Civil and Family Justice Center refused the appeal by an East Midlands teacher identified only as Hannah for legal reasons by the Christian Legal Centre, an Evangelical legal organization supporting her case. "This court will not engage with any of the advantages or disadvantages of any education policy," Farbey wrote in her decision, adding that she doesn't believe that the teacher has the standing to bring a judicial review. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe "The claimant in this case does not teach Child X," Farbey added. "She has in the past had a personal dispute with the school about how she could or should treat Child X but that has been resolved. By bringing these proceedings, she seeks to ventilate what she calls 'substantive safeguarding concerns' about Child X. In doing so, she does not claim to represent Child X. As a matter of law, she cannot represent Child Xs interests because she has not sought the courts permission to do so." Farbey also stated that "[The] public is divided on the issue of transgenderism in schools and there is no consensus on the approach." Hannah filed the request for a judicial review over the refusal of her school's governing body and local authority to address her transgender safeguarding concerns. In September 2021, the school implemented a gender-affirmation policy after a child, who was expected to join Hannah's class, expressed a desire to change her gender. She refused to call the student by a boy's name because it was "against her Christian beliefs," and she believed it would cause the child long-term harm. "Injustice has not been done against me but against all the children in our schools," said Hannah in a statement shared by CLC. "How else am I meant to raise the danger of the trans-affirming policies in our schools which are doing such damage?" The child's parents wanted no other children or parents in the school to know their biological sex. The school policy appeared to allow any child at the school, without medical evidence, to be affirmed in whichever gender they choose, CLC contends. The child was also reportedly supported in the gender transition by Mermaids, a charity that the Department for Education in England stopped recommending as a mental health and wellbeing resource for schools earlier this month. The school told Hannah that she had "no choice" but to affirm "Child X" through gender transition or face the consequences. The teacher was suspended and told she could not share her Christian beliefs in the school or her view, after detailed research, that a trans-affirming approach to gender confusion leads to long-term harm. Hannah was later fired for gross misconduct. She has also been reported to the Teacher Regulation Agency. CLC claims she may never be allowed to work as a teacher again. Farbey also took issue with how long it took for the teacher to file a legal claim. "The claimant took months to start proceedings in court against the school," the ruling states. "She did not even arguably bring proceedings promptly. I would therefore also have refused permission to apply for judicial review against the school on grounds of delay." The teacher plans to appeal the judge's refusal and may also appeal her dismissal by the school next month. According to CLC, if Hannah's repeal is rejected, "a full employment tribunal case will follow." "Teachers are being discouraged from questioning trans affirming policies when evidence shows that the actual result of the approach is to put the welfare of children at serious risk," Hannah said. "More must be done to protect vulnerable children across the country from long-term mental, emotional and irreversible physical damage inflicted upon them by this dangerous ideology." The Times reports that the U.K. Charity Commission is assessing complaints against Mermaids following a report by The Daily Telegraph that the group sends "chest binders" to girls as young as 13 without their parents' knowledge. Binders are often used by girls seeking to flatten their breasts to resemble a boy, and they can potentially cause breathing difficulties, damage healthy breast tissue and lead to cracked ribs. Last month, parents Nigel Rowe, 49, and his wife, Sally, 47, who pulled their children out of a church-run school due to its guidance on trans-identified students, were awarded over $23,900 in legal costs and a commitment from the British government to reform trans-affirming policies in schools. The victory for the parents, who raised concerns after two boys in their sons' classes at the age of 6 were allowed to identify as girls at the Isle of Wight school, came after a five-year legal battle. The parents urged the Church of England to change the guidance for its 4,700 primary schools, allowing students as young as 5 to self-identify as the opposite sex. In an open letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, they raised concerns regarding the implementation of guidance that allows school children to identify as their preferred gender identity. "Basic Christian teaching is that we are all created male or female and that the differences between the sexes are beautiful, designed and complementary, and should be respected in society," the Christian parents wrote. "We were also concerned for the harmful effects on the children who were allowed to socially transition, as well as the effects on all the other children in the school." At issue was a guidance titled "Valuing All God's Children," originally issued in May 2014 but later updated by the CofE in the summer of 2019. The guidance states: "Trans young people may require specific support in order to feel comfortable at school, for example, schools may need to make changes to toilet facilities or a trans young person might require support to change their name or the pronoun by which they are referred to by staff and classmates." Home Opinion Prophecy and the role of the Church in politics The recent Newsweek article titled Evangelical Leaders Call Out Danger as Prophets Tie God to Donald Trump raises a crucial debate within the Christian community about the role of the church in politics. The argument centers around whether church leaders should endorse political candidates and the perceived dangers of intertwining faith with specific political figures. While caution is warranted, the Bible provides a compelling case for the involvement of churches in politics, especially when it comes to prophetic guidance and leadership in line with Gods will. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe The biblical mandate for political involvement The Bible is replete with examples of Gods people being called to influence nations and governments. One of the most striking examples is found in the book of Daniel. Daniel, a prophet, served in the courts of Babylonian and Persian kings, providing wisdom and guidance that shaped the course of entire empires (Daniel 2:48). His role was not just spiritual but also political, showing that God can use His people to influence leadership at the highest levels. Similarly, Joseph's rise to power in Egypt under Pharaoh (Genesis 41) demonstrates how God can elevate His chosen individuals to positions of political authority to fulfill His divine purposes. These biblical stories underscore that involvement in politics is not inherently dangerous but can be a means through which God's will is enacted on earth. Prophecy and political leadership Prophecy has always played a pivotal role in guiding God's people, especially in times of crisis or transition. The Old Testament prophets were often called to speak truth to power, offering divine insight into the direction of nations. Amos 3:7 states, Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets. This suggests that God uses prophecy as a tool to guide leaders and nations. In the New Testament, the role of prophecy continues, with the Apostle Paul urging believers not to treat prophecies with contempt (1 Thessalonians 5:20). Prophecy serves as a way for God to communicate His will, including matters of leadership and governance. Therefore, dismissing modern-day prophecies related to political figures like former President Donald Trump could mean overlooking a vital aspect of Gods communication with His people. The danger of political neutrality The Newsweek article highlights concerns that endorsing political candidates from the pulpit could harm the church's witness. However, political neutrality is not always the safer path. In fact, remaining silent on political issues can be just as dangerous, as it may allow unrighteousness to go unchecked. Proverbs 29:2 reminds us, When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn. The Bible calls the Church to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matthew 5:13-16). This mandate extends beyond personal morality and into the realm of social and political influence. If the Church fails to engage in politics, it risks allowing ungodly leaders and policies to prevail, leading to the moral and spiritual decline of the nation. Prophecy and the modern church The rise of prophetic voices in support of former President Donald Trump has sparked controversy, with some Evangelical leaders warning against equating Gods will with that of a political party. Yet, history shows that God has often raised up leaders who are imperfect but chosen to fulfill His purposes. King David, for instance, was far from perfect, yet he was a man after God's own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). The key is discernment churches must prayerfully consider whether a leader aligns with biblical principles and values. Rejecting prophecy outright because it does not fit our preconceived notions of what a leader should be could mean missing out on God's chosen vessel for a particular time and purpose. Why churches must engage in politics The Church has a responsibility to engage in politics, not for the sake of power but to ensure that God's principles and justice prevail in the land. Prophecy is one of the ways God communicates His will for nations, and the Church must not ignore this vital aspect of divine guidance. By carefully discerning the role of prophecy in political leadership, the church can fulfill its biblical mandate to be a guiding light in times of moral and spiritual darkness. Rather than retreating from political involvement, the church should embrace its role as a prophetic voice, calling leaders to righteousness and ensuring that God's will is done on earth as it is in heaven. My upcoming book, The Trump Code (Charisma House/FrontLine, September 17, 2024), delves into various prophecies and their potential connections to contemporary political events, providing a fascinating perspective on the 2024 Presidential Election. Home Opinion Skillets new song Unpopular could be the anthem for a new generation of truth tellers No one likes the feeling of rejection. No one enjoys being put out. It stings to be rejected and it hurts to be cast out. Yet obedience to the Lord often means rejection, while standing for the truth is often the surefire path to being unpopular. Thats why Jesus said, Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets (Luke 6:26). He also said this: Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets (Luke 6:2223). Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe The word blessed here means truly happy, or, as explained in the Classic Edition of the Amplified Bible, it means happy with life-joy and satisfaction in Gods favor and salvation, apart from your outward condition and to be envied. But how can this be? Were supposed to be so happy that we leap for joy when people hate us, exclude us, insult us, and slander us because of our relationship with Jesus? What? Its one thing to say, As miserable as this rejection feels right now, I know I will have a great reward in Heaven, and because of that, I will rejoice. That can be a great encouragement to us for sure, as Jesus said. But even in the here and now, He says that we are blessed when we are rejected for Him and His truth (see also Matthew 5:10-12; 1 Peter 4:12-14). As Acts records, after the apostles were flogged for preaching Jesus, they left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name (Acts 5:41). Do you grasp the significance of this? The apostles thought to themselves, We are being identified with Jesus! The world is treating us the same way it treated Him. What an honor! And so, what was meant to be a badge of shame became a badge of honor. The same people who hated our Master now hate us too! We are blessed! By being excluded, they now found deeper inclusion with their Lord. The negative became a positive. As Hebrew states, ... Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore (Hebrews 13:1213). Back in 2016, in the thick of the presidential race, candidate Hillary Clinton referred to half of the supporters of candidate Donald Trump as a basket of deplorables. Her comments were delivered at a private fundraising event but were leaked to the public. This helped energize Trumps base, which quickly reappropriated her insult and wore it as a badge of honor. We are the deplorables! The term of disparagement became a term of honor to the point that Clinton herself said that her deplorables comment was a factor in losing to Trump. This is what came to mind the moment my good friend John Cooper s ent me an advance copy of Skillets new release Unpopular. (I call John KB, standing for Kid Brother; Im BB to him, Big Brother.) The moment I finished listening to the song, I sent him a voice text saying, This could be the anthem for this young generation! Instantly, the song sounded familiar to me, not like something new that I had to get used to. And the words were easily learned and memorized, to be sung and repeated countless times in the years ahead, as if to say, Go ahead and call me unpopular. I will wear that title proudly! Unpopular could be the song that liberated young people (and old people) from the paralyzing grip of peer pressure and that breaks the chains of conformity to the crowd. After all, if the world is bent on evil, why would I want to be popular in the eyes of that world? If my peers are rejecting truth and morality, why would I want to be accepted by them, let alone respected or praised by them? To put this in the most jarring and stark terms, would you rather be accepted or rejected by drug dealers and human traffickers? Would you rather that such people praised you for your dishonesty or cast you out because of your integrity? As the lyrics of Unpopular say, If freedom is disease, Who would ever wanna be Popular ? To paraphrase, If that is what freedom means, I will pass on it. Thanks, but no thanks! In fact, the last thing I want is to be popular with a world that hates the God I love. Not a chance! To the contrary, as the lyrics declare, if Ive got my family and my sanity, Ive got everything I need. And if Im the one youve been talking about, the one youve been hating, the one you unfriend on social media, the one you mock with your nasty memes, I have one word to say in response: whatever! That is the message of Unpopular, a song that will soon be sung by countless millions of Skillet followers, including a whole lot of young people, who are often the most vulnerable to peer pressure. And while Unpopular is not a call to fleshly independence or prideful stubbornness, it is a call to speak the truth, whatever the cost or consequence might be. To the younger generation in particular, its a call to find identity in being unpopular just like Jesus and the prophets were unpopular. This is the path to real freedom, delivering us from the opinions of people and setting us free from the craving to be praised and liked. So go ahead and bring on the mockery and the rejection and the loss of friends because of our devotion to Jesus. We are more than glad to be unpopular for Him and His cause. Home Opinion Why evangelizing the nations must start with American Gen Zers The US and Europe have been world leaders in global evangelism for decades and continue to send 53% of cross-cultural missionaries today. The United States alone is estimated to send two million short-term missionaries a year. However, repeated studies have shown that American Christianity, and its interest in evangelism, is in decline, especially among younger generations. A 2021 Gallup poll found that church membership has now dropped below 50%, and the Pew Research Centre has repeatedly found that Gen Z is the nations least religious generation, with about a third having no religion at all. In addition, 47% of practicing Christian Millennials believe evangelism in todays society is wrong, and 51% of US churchgoers say they dont know the term the Great Commission. If nothing is done to address this, we will lose our place as the global leader in Christian evangelism and our claim to being the worlds most Christian nation. It is that simple. How can we evangelize to the world if we cannot even evangelize at home? We cant expect to export what we dont live out locally. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe The Bible itself is pretty clear on this, originating the term get your house in order (Isaiah 38:1-5). Replicating past generations of American missionaries will require new generations of missionaries, and that means evangelizing to the future of our churches Gen Z. However, evangelizing to Gen Z is easier said than done, and sometimes the idea itself can feel daunting even to those of us who regularly evangelize to them like I do. We know that we can be met with hostility, treated as irrelevant, and even be made out to be immoral in our beliefs. But Romans 1:16 tells us not to be ashamed of the Gospel. If we truly love someone, we cant help but tell them about Jesus, and how He has transformed our lives. Many of us may avoid evangelizing to younger generations out of fear that it will only further alienate them from God. But I believe that its not evangelism that alienates younger generations, but politics. When we prioritize talking and strategizing about politics in our preaching instead of sharing the Gospel, it can alienate the lost and young, and distract from the true message of Jesus. It is from the Gospel that our politics should flow, not the other way around. The desire that younger generations feel to disassociate themselves from Christianity, I believe, is also a product of not having taught them a biblical worldview. If we arent sharing the Gospel with them, then they wont know their Bible, the source of truth, and young people will instead gravitate to what sounds good rather than what is good and true. Sometimes the truth hurts. Sometimes the truth isnt what we want to hear. Dont have sex until marriage. God created us male and female. God instituted marriage between one man and one woman. These truths are truth whether we want them to be or not. Gods truth keeps us safe. His truth leads to healthy homes. His truth leads to a productive and fulfilling life. We must preach, teach and disciple young people in the Truth of the Word of God so they can filter out the lies of culture and society today. Because of this, we mustn't abandon the preaching of the Gospel just because it isnt culturally or societally accepted. When speaking about the Gospel to young people I often use humor, as I find that it breaks down their defenses and opens their hearts to receive. I also speak into current issues they face and relate them to biblical truths that can help them. For me, my personal testimony is a big way I connect with young people, and that goes for all of us. It is hard to argue with a personal story of transformation through Christ. Gen Z can spot disingenuous Christians. They are not interested in hype; they are looking for a real God with real answers. We must be authentic. As my story is so visual, having no arms or legs, Gen Z can see my brokenness visually. It helps me as I connect with them and their internal brokenness. It helps them trust that I can sympathize with and understand what they are going through. And Im not the only one. Hope for the Heart whose Hope Together Conference I will be speaking at this September have created a Keys for Living library with short, helpful books speaking into over 100 real-life issues that we face, providing clear answers from Gods Word to help those who feel broken. Though our culture has changed dramatically in the last 50 years and become far more digital, preaching the Gospel to large groups of people will always be effective. Jesus ministered to people both one-on-one as well as to crowds. That being said, we do have to be aware of generational, cultural and communication issues and adjust our approach appropriately when we preach to crowds. At NickV Ministries we have leaned into digital evangelism, both directly through our ministry and with evangelism partners. We are finding many people coming to Christ and being encouraged through different media platforms. But we also havent stopped preaching to crowds. This is actually the most fruitful season we have ever experienced in preaching both to live audiences and broadcasting the Gospel to entire nations. Since December 2023, 45 million people have heard the Gospel and 47,000 have given their lives to Christ in person. Sharing our faith with others should be a joy not a burden. Certainly, we need to train Christians to defend their faith, refute false religions, understand the pure Gospel, memorize key Scripture verses, and to prepare to share their personal testimony. But in the end, the greatest thing we can do to spur on the Church in evangelism is to fall more in love with Jesus. Jesus came to earth as a man, to be with us, relate to us, and die as one of us both fully God and fully human. If we live our lives as authentic followers of Christ and are bold in preaching the Gospel and sharing our story, we will see Gen Z in the US and the world come running to Jesus. The Gospel, Jesus birth, death and resurrection, is the most powerful message ever told we just need to keep telling it. If you are looking for biblical training and resources to aid and equip you for evangelism, sign up for Septembers Hope Together Conference, and visit www.hopefortheheart.org. Christians 'fearful' after church statue vandalised Members of a Catholic church in north London have expressed concern for their safety after one of their statues was vandalised. Worshippers at St Joseph's Church in Wembley found their Virgin Mary statue smashed to pieces last week, the Catholic Herald reports, leaving an empty plinth. The incident occurred on the evening of 6 August or in the early hours of 7 August, and the perpetrators have still not been identified. "The Parish community as a whole is saddened by this mindless act," an office staff member told the Catholic Herald. "But we will utilise this opportunity to strengthen our faith." A worshipper at the church told GBNews that the act of vandalism was an "attack" and that they feared more incidents. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the congregant said, "I knew there wasn't going to be news coverage on this." Speculating on who vandalised the statue, they added, "Either it's a lone, crazy man who did this or someone who had a motive of hatred towards Christians. "My family do get worried but nothing will stop us from attending church." They added that "Christians are being attacked too". "It's not only about the church, it's about the attack on Christians worldwide, everywhere. We feel fearful," they said. FM spokesperson's remarks on First Senior Officials' Meeting of China-Indonesia Joint Foreign and Defense Ministerial Dialogue Xinhua) 13:47, August 13, 2024 BEIJING, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- As agreed between China and Indonesia, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Sun Weidong and Deputy Director of the Office for International Military Cooperation of the Central Military Commission Zhang Baoqun will lead a delegation to Jakarta on Aug. 12 to attend the first Senior Officials' Meeting of the China-Indonesia Joint Foreign and Defense Ministerial Dialogue, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday. The China-Indonesia Joint Foreign and Defense Ministerial Dialogue, launched in 2023, is the first 2+2 ministerial dialogue set up between China and other countries. During the Senior Officials' Meeting, the two sides will exchange views on China-Indonesia relations and international and regional issues of mutual interest, the spokesperson said. (Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun) Sacked chaplain seeks judicial review into CofE's handling of his case A chaplain who was sacked after telling school pupils that they did not need to agree with LGBT ideology is seeking a judicial review into the dismissal of his misconduct complaint against the Bishop of Derby. Dr Bernard Randall lost his job at Trent College, Nottingham, over his comments in a 2019 sermon and was reported to the government's terrorism watchdog, Prevent, and the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA). After an investigation, the Diocese of Derby's safeguarding team concluded that he was a safeguarding risk to children and he lost his licence to officiate. Prevent, the TRA, and the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) all said they would not be taking any action against Dr Randall. Despite this, the Diocese of Derby has refused to renew his licence, meaning he remains barred from preaching. He lodged a complaint against the Bishop of Derby, Libby Lane, under the Clergy Discipline Measure 2003, with his lawyers claiming that the safeguarding team under her watch had reached its conclusions against Dr Randall "without evidence and without following official guidance". His legal team alleged a "campaign of harassment" against Dr Randall and claimed that the diocese's actions were motivated by opposition to the 52 year old's orthodox Christian beliefs on human sexuality and marriage. In his complaint, Dr Randall alleged that the bishop's conduct had itself been abusive and that, "The nub of my case is that the bishop discriminated against me on the grounds of my orthodox beliefs on gender and sexual orientation." After the Archbishop of Canterbury refused to support a formal investigation, Dr Randall requested a review of this decision. In response, lawyer Gregory Jones KC reviewed the case on behalf of the Church of England's clergy disciplinary body and concluded in June last year that the Diocese of Derby's findings "do not in my view support any finding of a 'safeguarding' issue as defined by the [Church of England's safeguarding] Guidance". He also questioned what evidence they had for their position and stated that the Archbishop of Canterbury was "plainly wrong" to dismiss the complaint. Despite this, the Archbishop continued to hold that no further action be taken, claiming that, "Bishops should not intervene in safeguarding matters except in the most egregious circumstances, where they have prior notice of a gross error." After Dr Randall sought a review of the Archbishop's decision, the KC said that the Archbishop had "misunderstood the scope of his powers" and that he considered the case involving Dr Randall to be "egregious and the error gross". The matter was then passed to the Church of England's President of Tribunals, Dame Sarah Asplin, who ruled earlier this year that the Bishop of Derby did not have a case to answer, although she acknowledged in her ruling that there appeared to be "serious errors in the process adopted" and that "the whole safeguarding procedure was flawed". The Christian Legal Centre (CLC), which is supporting Dr Randall, said that he has still not been contacted by the Bishop of Derby following this decision and that "there is no sign of him being given his licence back". Having exhausted all avenues for remedy within the Church's ecclesiastical courts, the CLC said that Dr Randall has "no alternative" but to seek a judicial review. Dr Randall said: "In my case, safeguarding has been weaponised as a political tool against a theological position which is wholly consistent with the Church's doctrine. "I have been vindicated by a number of secular bodies, but the CofE, who, on paper, share my beliefs and should be supporting me, are refusing to give me my life back." He added, "The failure to hold anyone to account for such deeply flawed processes is a scandal." CLC chief executive Andrea Williams said: "The evidence shows that even Jesus, let alone Bernard Randall, would have fallen foul of the Diocese of Derby's approach to safeguarding and would have been marked a risk to children. "No evidence has ever been presented that shows that Bernard is a danger to children. From the beginning this scandalous blacklisting has been because of the beliefs that he shares with Jesus, the Bible and, officially, the Church of England." The Church of England and Diocese of Derby have said they cannot comment on the claims due to ongoing legal proceedings. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Aboneaza-te la rubricile dorite si primeste zilnic notificari pe email cu link-uri la articolele care au fost adaugate in ultimele 24 de ore. Notificarile vor fi expediate la adresa indicata mai jos. Daca doresti sa schimbi adresa - o poti modifica editand informatia de profil aici. Charity chief executives have promised to stand in solidarity with riot-hit communities in the UK that have faced racist violence during August. An open letter signed by 58 leaders of international development charities said they would redouble efforts to dismantle racism. No family anywhere in the world should have to fear for the safety of their children, adds the letter , published by Bond on 12 August. There is no justification for racism on the streets of the UK, it says. This violence is not an isolated incident it's a symptom of a deeper, pervasive issue we must stand against and actively work to eradicate. The CEOs said they would, where appropriate, commit to strengthening networks that support anti-racist work within the UK and ensure that our work domestically and internationally resonates with wider global anti-racist action. The letter came a few days after Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, wrote to charities praising them for doing everything in your power to bring people together and provide light in a time of darkness through their response to recent rioting. Unrest swept many UK cities and towns after three girls were killed in a knife attack in Southport at the end of July. The Bond member chief executives said they would support the wellbeing and safety of our colleagues who are directly or indirectly affected by, and fearful of, this violence. Follow-up demonstrations targeting immigration solicitors were threatened last week, but largely failed to materialise. Charities security fears Islamic Relief UK warned this week that some charities have had to reassess their security situation in the wake of recent events. Some of the charitys partners have had to cancel events or change procedures to protect staff, volunteers, supporters and rightsholders who may be targeted by dangerous far-right groups, Islamic Relief UK said in a statement. It cited examples of community support organisations in Leeds and Bradford that had been forced to cut crucial work, including foodbank distribution, because of security concerns. Islamic Relief UK itself had cancelled events, including a vigil and fundraisers, over fears participants in particular Muslim women could be targeted. The charity had also had to close its shops, it said. It is a disgrace that in 2024, charities run by people of colour, who are trying to help the most vulnerable in their community, should have to shut up shop because of this violent thuggery, said Tufail Hussain, Islamic Relief UK director. We commend our local partners who are trying to soldier on in the face of such extreme challenges, but mostly we urge everyone to prioritise their safety first and foremost, Hussain added. Investment to heal social fractures In a second open letter also published on 12 August, representatives and allies of the Pathway Fund , which supports Black and ethnic minoritised-led organisations to access finance, wrote to the prime minister, Keir Starmer, asking for action to tackle the underlying causes of the rioting. Riots come from a number of things: lack of opportunity; embedded racism; and poverty exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis, says the letter, which calls on Starmer to deliver inclusive growth to help rebuild communities. Referencing recommendations from the Adebowale Commission around establishing a 50m social investment fund, and recent suggestions by former Treasury secretary Stephen Timms that the government harness the power of philanthropy, the letter says the Labour administration must push forward with the transformational dormant assets scheme. An expansion to the scheme, which has funnelled hundreds of millions into the charitable sector since 2011, has the potential to unlock an extra 880m . Given recent events, we must look to the future and to the inspiration of further transformation, says the letter, which also calls for a state-funded national conversation about British values and identity. Inclusive economic growth allows those conversations to be had and is one of the best antidotes to addressing fractures in British society. 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, An expansion of the Dormant Assets Scheme may make millions more available for the charitable sector. In a second phase of expansion, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has amended its rules to enable dormant investment assets and client money to be part of the scheme. The expansion of the scheme is estimated to potentially unlock a further 880m. The first phase of the expansion, which covered insurance, pensions, and securities, was completed in August 2022. The government published its response to the consultation on expanding the Dormant Assets Scheme last month. The FCA said: Led by industry and backed by government, the Dormant Assets Scheme aims to reunite people with their financial assets. Where that is not possible, this money supports UK growth through good causes such as getting young people into work or offering affordable credit to families. 350m for England over 2024 and 2028 Since 2011, it has unlocked more than 745m for social and environment initiatives, from over 1.35bn in dormant bank and building society accounts, the FCA reports. The government has said the Dormant Assets Scheme is expected to release 350m for England over 2024 - 2028 , and it intends to allocate this equally between four causes: 87.5m for the provision of services, facilities or opportunities to meet the needs of young people. 87.5m for the development of individuals ability to manage their finances or the improvement of access to personal financial services. 87.5m for social investment wholesalers. 87.5m for community wealth funds. The 350m estimated to flow through into England includes funding from the banking sector, as well as the new expanded sectors. It is estimated 82m will be available to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland over 2024-28. Of the 880m expected to be unlocked through expansion, England is expected to receive 738m of this and the devolved nations are expected to receive 142m. 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, Sign up for The Media Today, CJRs daily newsletter. Steve Bannon is in prison, but his show must go on. Lucky for him, theres a Congress for that. The other week, Bannons popular digital show and podcast, War Room, had an unusual guest host: Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas). Im temporarily sitting in the chair that will be filled again by Steve Bannon after hes busy out there fighting for you and me by sitting in prison, Roy clunkily ad-libbed, from a set that included a Moms for Liberty coffee tumbler and a plaque adorned with a mysteriously punchy Bannon quote (There are NO conspiracies, but there are NO coincidences). Im honored to do it. Roy is one of a handful of lawmakers who have filled in this summer while Bannon serves a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) guest-hosted the show in mid-July; Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) are reportedly slated to take the mic in the coming weeks. (Kari Lake, the election denialist and Republican candidate for Senate in Arizona, and former Virginia congressman Dave Brat have also filled Bannons oversize seat.) Its the latest example of a trend on Capitol Hill, as new tech, coupled with mass media layoffs, has enabled lawmakersespecially, but not exclusively, from the far rightto bypass the nations beleaguered press corps and become the first-person storytellers of Washington. Last year, Greene hosted a short-lived digital show called MTG Battleground, which covered everything from ending the war in Ukraine to her own efforts to impeach President Joe Biden. Boebert hosted a livestream from the Republican National Convention on the conservative platform Rumble. (I want to talk about President Trump, of course, she began. I spoke with him last nightit was just such a blessing to see him in person, hear his words, to have a hug from the president.) Republican leaders are so overjoyed by their members bypassing the traditional press corps and packaging their own stories to their personal audiences that the GOP created a page to list their podcasts. The left, of course, has its own cadre of internet icons who use social media to speak directly to their supporterslike Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who often shares her unfiltered thoughts on Instagram Live. But the political stars on the right are going a step further. After the partys former standard-bearer labeled the press the enemyundermining many Republican voters last vestiges of trust in the mediathese conservatives see themselves as more than just stand-ins for Bannon: theyre the gatekeepers they love to decry. Its a further realization of Rush Limbaughs dream of dismantling the mainstream media and replacing it with unquestioning conservative voices. While he could barely have fathomed it, these days, the effort has gotten an unexpected lift from Congress itself. When theyre not broadcasting from their offices turned setsfurnished largely at taxpayer expenselawmakers can retreat to a set of semisecret studios on the grounds of the Capitol. Those studiosrecently renovated into a state-of-the-art facility complete with green screens, blindingly lit makeup rooms, expensive digital cameras, and spacious podcasting boothsare technically off-limits to the public and press corps alike. (I was given a rare peek a couple of years ago, when a lawmaker brought me in as if I were a member of her staff.) Politicians of both parties use them to do local and national media hits, and to produce their own professionally airbrushed messages. But the line between official communications and personal self-promotion has blurredto stay legal and avoid prohibited electioneering on government property, the bipartisan trick is to refer to the audience as constituents. Gaetzever the media-savvy self-promotermay have blurred the line the most. He has an entire media operation, including his digital show Firebrand, which he hosts from a set in his congressional office, and the Gaetz Networka livestream of what he calls the biggest moments in the United States Congress. (It typically rebroadcasts C-SPAN hits as DJed by team Gaetz.) That allows him to manage his loyal viewers understanding of major eventslike he did during a recording of Firebrand in early July, when he reported on the mood among Democrats who were struggling with what to do about Bidens reelection campaign. I can just tell you from inside the halls of Congress where were currently broadcasting fromRoom 2021 of the Rayburn House Office Building here at the Capitol complexit is like a funeral mentality. Forget man-on-the-street interviewsthis is politicians on the marble, adorned in all the trappings of the mainstream media Gaetz so loves to decry. Sign up for CJRs daily email While Gaetz has amassed an enviable 2.8 million followers on X, and built a sizable fan base on Rumble320,000 followersthat pales in comparison to the reach he and his fellow lawmakers have with Bannons million-strong Rumble posse. Before turning himself in, Bannon promised listeners that the shows not gonna change, and so far, it hasnt. The fill-in hosts have largely sustained Bannons general themes: stoking deep state fears, spreading election disinformationLake used her time to call for volunteers to help clear voter rolls nationwideand rallying their audience as a righteous band appointed by God to clean up Washington. (Roy read from Galatians 6 to open his July episode.) And, of course, building those all-important brands. Keep up the fight. Keep up the Lords work, Roy said as he wrapped up a segment with Gaetz. How can people follow you? Whats your social media, brother? At MattGaetz and at RepMattGaetz everywhere on the internet, Gaetz replied. Well, if youre going to follow him, follow me too, Roy said. Hes got more followers. Matt Laslo has covered Congress since 2006 for outlets ranging from Rolling Stone to Wired. Since 2016, hes taught political communications at Johns Hopkins Universitys MA in Government and Public Policy program. The family of a Texas man who died while working at Teslas Austin-area facility last week is suing the electric vehicle company and his employer. The lawsuit said the worker, Victor Joe Gomez Sr., was at the facility on Aug. 1 to inspect electrical panels before they were set to be energized. But Gomez, an electrician, was unaware that a panel was already energized, and upon inspecting it was immediately electrocuted and knocked unconscious. The filing said the man was transported from the scene by Austin-Travis County EMS to Dell Seton Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. The family is seeking more than $1 million in damages as part of the lawsuit, which was filed Aug. 6 in Travis County, Texas. The lawsuit also asks Tesla to preserve the panel, any surveillance footage and any other potential evidence related to the incident. Tesla couldnt immediately be reached for comment. In addition to Tesla the family also sued Colorado River Project LLC, a Tesla affiliate, and Belcan Services Group L.P., the mans employer. The filing alleges the electric panel posed an unreasonable risk of harm and the defendants had knowledge or reasonably should have known about the dangerous condition and failed to warn Gomez. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has also said that its investigating the incident. Top photo: A sign at a Tesla Inc. electric vehicle dealership in Berlin, Germany, on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. Tesla will produce a new model that will cost 25,000 ($26,863) at its factory near Berlin, Reuters reported, as competition intensifies to produce more affordable electric vehicles for the European market. Photographer: Liesa Johannssen-Koppitz/Bloomberg. Copyright 2024 Bloomberg. Ohio Senator and Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance has come under scrutiny for his role in the downfall of AppHarvest, a startup agricultural company he championed as a venture capitalist. Until stepping down to pursue his political career in 2021, Vance spent four years as a board member and public pitchman for the company, which promised a high-tech future for farming and for workers. The company has since declared bankruptcy in 2023, burdened with hundreds of millions in debt. AppHarvests failure, and Vances role in it, cuts against the image of the Ohio senator as a champion for the working class an image that helped catapult him onto the Republican ticket as Donald Trumps running mate. Launched in Eastern Kentucky, Appharvest promised a high-tech future for farming. Over four years, Vance was a board member and public pitchman for the indoor-agriculture company. Its not just a good investment opportunity, its a great business thats making a big difference in the world, Vance told Fox Business when the company went public in February 2021. Vance left the company a few months later. A new investigation by CNN that reviewed public records surrounding AppHarvest and interviewed former employees concluded that the company didnt just fail financially after pursuing rapid growth. It also failed the working-class Kentuckians who Vance had vowed to help. They described a grim job experience. Employees told CNN they were forced to work in grueling conditions inside the companys greenhouse, a vertical growing hub. Temperatures often reached triple digits, and in complaints to the US Department of Labor and a Kentucky regulator between 2020 and 2023, workers said they were given insufficient water breaks and werent provided adequate safety gear. Workers complained of heat exhaustion or injuries, though state inspectors did not find violations. And despite promising local jobs, AppHarvest began contracting migrant workers from Mexico, Guatemala and other countries, numerous former employees told CNN. By the time Vance took office in 2023, the company was mired in lawsuits filed by shareholders angry over its plummeting stock price and allegations of fraud. Several former workers said they thought Vance and other board members should have recognized and responded to warning signs that company officials were misleading the public and their own investors, CNN reported. Vances campaign team forwarded to CNN a statement from a senior manager, who requested anonymity to discuss confidential exchanges. In the statement, he said, the allegations made against AppHarvest were not discussedin board meetings during Vances tenure, CNN reported. To some, Vances enthusiastic promotion of the company followed an all-too-familiar story line in the region. Eastern Kentucky is well-known for people coming and going. They start up companies, then they disappear, said former AppHarvest worker Anthony Morgan. They didnt care about us. A spokesperson for Vance, Luke Schroeder, said in a statement to CNN that Vance was not aware of the operational decisions regarding hiring, employee benefits, or other workplace policies which were made after he departed AppHarvests board. Like all early supporters, JD believed in AppHarvests mission and wishes the company would have succeeded. See all JD Vance in the news stories. Cleveland.com is closely tracking JD Vances every move and the reactions he provokes, as he becomes the first Ohioan in 80 years to appear on a presidential ticket for either major party. The coverage of JD Vance aims to provide a daily snapshot of the buzz surrounding him, capturing what he says, what he does, and what others are saying about him. WASHINGTON Today is the day that Ohio Sen. JD Vance quipped he would be ready to take the stage against the Democrats presumptive presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris. Vance has been making headlines for his latest attempt to stoke controversy on the campaign trail, challenging Harris to a debatea bold move, considering Harris is leading the Democratic ticket and Vance is riding shotgun for the Republicans, as former President Donald Trumps running mate. Cleveland.com is closely tracking JD Vances every move and the reactions he provokes, as he becomes the first Ohioan in 80 years to appear on a presidential ticket for either major party. Ohio has long been intertwined with the presidency, boasting six presidents who called it home and serving as the birthplace of two more. Our coverage of JD Vance aims to provide a daily snapshot of the buzz surrounding him, capturing what he says, what he does, and what others are saying about him. From his media blitz on Sunday to his increasingly aggressive attacks on Harris, Vance seems determined to assert himself as more than just Trumps number two. Vice presidential candidates often serve as attack-dogs on the campaign trail, focusing on their opponents perceived shortcomings. But Vance has been doing more of the heavy lifting, as Donald Trump has limited his appearances lately. On Sunday, Vance appeared on three network news shows. And hes been making campaign stops in key battle ground states in the Midwest. He took to X to tout those news show appearances and to repeat some of his attacks on Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Kamala Harris isnt running a presidential campaign. Shes producing a movie. Everything is scripted everywhere she goes, Vance said on X. Shes fundamentally a fake person who changes her tune depending on what audience shes in front of. He attached a clip of him speaking with CNNs Dana Bash, an interview in which he referred to Harris as a chameleon. On Tuesday, though, The Washington Posts fact checking operation took him to task for repeating a trio of what it described as silly false claims about Harris on those news shows. No, [Harris] doesnt want to ban red meat or gas stoves or believe that people shouldnt have children because of climate change, The Post said. The Trump campaign has left it to Vance to tail Harris and Walz around the swing states in recent days. Vance has targeted Harris on issues on which the GOP feels shes weak: immigration, crime and the economy. But MSNBC noted on Monday that those are all areas where we could see improvement as the election approaches, potentially blunting Republican attacks. It was on one of those stops that Vance made his quip about the Harris debate. Asked by the New Republic if he would debate Walz, Vance sidestepped, questioning whether Walz would even remain the nominee. So, heres my offer to Kamala Harris: If shed like to do a debate with me on August 13, Ill do it, Vance said. See all JD Vance in the news stories. CNBC's Jim Cramer on Monday said a variety of companies, to their detriment, won't admit they're hurting due to certain ongoing economic trends. "If companies would just own up to their changing circumstances, things would be so much easier for everybody. But who wants to admit that they made mistakes?" he asked. "If they'd just own up, I think they'd earn a lot of credibility for themselves, leading to higher stock prices down the line. Instead, their stocks languish, as investors try to assess what's really going on, and they presume the worst, not the best." For example, Cramer said, some food and beverage companies are loath to acknowledge that the popularity of GLP-1 weight loss drugs could be hurting business. He said these treatments are powerful and seem to have changed consumer behavior, with patients eating less junk food and drinking less alcohol. Cramer pointed to Jack Daniels maker Brown-Forman , which missed estimates during its most recent quarter and is down about 23% year to date. Cramer also mentioned peer spirit company Diageo , which saw sales decline in its most recent quarter and is down more than 14% year to date. Cramer added that other consumer-oriented companies don't recognize that they need to lower prices to attract customers in an inflated landscape. According to Cramer, few companies have lowered prices since they raised them during the Covid-19 pandemic. He noted that outfits that have rolled back prices, such as Costco and Walmart , are doing better than some retail peers. Enterprise software companies are tight-lipped about problems in their businesses, he said, even though they are one of the most poorly performing sectors on the market. Cramer added that it's not clear what exactly is ailing the companies, but suggested they haven't figured out the return on investment in a new landscape where artificial intelligence could make many employees redundant. "Maybe they think if they ignore the problems, they'll go away. Let me ask you: 'Has that ever worked for you?'" he said. "Denial is a powerful defense mechanism, but it is a terrible way to run a business." Brown-Forman and Diageo did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment. Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on August 08, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida. The FBI said Monday afternoon that it is investigating what the Trump campaign has characterized as a successful effort to hack into its campaign and steal private documents. The FBI statement comes after Politico, The Washington Post and The New York Times reported over the weekend that they had received seemingly authentic files stolen from the Trump campaign. A Trump campaign spokesperson said Saturday that it had been hacked in June. NBC News has not received any of the purported files. The FBI has not released any other information or characterized what hack, if any, happened. The Trump campaign has claimed that the files were part of an Iranian hacking operation that Microsoft had announced on Friday, citing the report as evidence. Microsoft has declined to comment, citing its policy of not sharing customer details without permission. The company does share such details if the customer formally asks Microsoft to do so, a spokesperson told NBC News. The Trump campaign did not respond to an email asking it to clarify whether it had authorized Microsoft or any federal agency to speak publicly about the hack. Iran's representative to the United Nations has denied that the country was behind the hack. Cybersecurity and election security experts have consistently warned that foreign efforts to influence U.S. elections could include such "hack and leak" attacks, in which private systems are compromised in order to steal and later leak sensitive information. Hack-and-leak attacks have hit many elections around the world, most notably the 2016 U.S. election, when hackers working for Russian military intelligence stole emails and other files from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary for America organizations and methodically leaked them in the final months of Hillary Clinton's campaign. Security experts with the U.S. government and private organizations have warned that Russia, China and Iran appear to be making efforts to sway the 2024 U.S. election, with Iran seeking to undermine former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee. The recent Microsoft report found that the hackers had broken into the email account of a former senior adviser to a presidential campaign, then used that account to send a phishing email to another high-ranking adviser on that campaign, and that it recently alerted the campaign. Microsoft didn't say whether the phishing email was successful or what campaign had been targeted. As of late Monday afternoon, little else was known about the purported hack, including the extent to which the Trump campaign was willing to work with the FBI. Chris Krebs, chief intelligence and public policy officer at the cybersecurity company SentinelOne, said Trump and his aides may be reluctant to fulsomely cooperate with federal investigators, given the former president's "relationship with federal law enforcement." "There may not be a desire to collaborate all that much," said Krebs, who was director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency under the Trump administration and was fired by the former president after declaring the 2020 election was the most secure in history. A decision not to cooperate fully with federal authorities could hamper and slow down an investigation into the purported hack, Krebs said. "That, unfortunately, can impede from a national security perspective our understanding of the event and what's happening," he said. The claim from the Trump campaign adds to what had already been a deeply antagonistic relationship between Iran and the former president. While president, Trump authorized a 2020 drone strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, a key Iranian military leader. Last month, Biden administration officials said they had reason to believe Iran had planned to attempt to assassinate Trump. Iran's representative to the U.N. also denied that allegation. Tehran has vowed to avenge the general's death, and several former senior officials who worked in the Trump administration have government-funded security teams protecting them around-the-clock. Former U.S. officials and cybersecurity experts have said that the best response to hacks and disinformation efforts is transparency, providing accurate information quickly and exposing attempts to mislead the public. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the former chair of the House Intelligence Committee, called on federal authorities to release any relevant information without delay. "The Intelligence Community should move with great alacrity to declassify and disclose any appropriate information it has concerning the potential foreign nature of this interference. Transparency is still our best deterrent against foreign influence operations," Schiff said in a social media post. Schiff said U.S. intelligence agencies responded too slowly to the Russian election interference operation in 2016. The Democratic lawmaker added that any foreign attempt to interfere in the U.S. election should be condemned, no matter which party is targeted. The apparent hack of Trump campaign files echoes the 2016 Russian campaign against Hillary Clinton, but so far seems notably less elaborate in distributing the hacked files. The Russian operation involved an elaborate scheme, involving a fake hacktivist persona, named Guccifer_2 after a real Romanian hacker. The fake Guccifer had an active Wordpress account and a Twitter handle that they used to share the documents. The Russian effort also gave files to WikiLeaks, which published them. It separately hosted Democrats' files on a website it created called DCLeaks, which had a corresponding Facebook page. There is no apparent similar distribution system for the hacked Trump files, at least so far. If the hackers do work for Iran, that seems to show a lack of foresight on their part, said Simin Kargar, a senior nonresident fellow studying Middle Eastern influence operations at the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab. "They're kind of incompetent. If they really wanted to make a good hack-and-leak operation, they could have done much better," she said. "This is very much in line with Iranian actors." In this article ADANITRANS-IN SBUX @TY.1 .DJI .IXIC Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on May 31, 2024 in New York City. Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images 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. What you need to know today Get the CNBC Daily Open report in your inbox every morning and keep up to date with the markets wherever you are. Subscribe The bottom line SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule "Endurance" is seen during the Crew-3 mission for NASA on May 5, 2022. Wang, 42, was born in Tianjin, China, but now hails from the Mediterranean island country of Malta, having become a citizen last year. Wang said he met his fellow crewmembers while living in Svalbard, the far north Norwegian archipelago, and describes himself as "nomadic," having visited more than 100 countries the past few years. "I've been interested in space from a very young age and for the first time, a private person can plan and design their own very personal mission," Wang told CNBC. For the mission, Wang invited a trio of Arctic specialists to join him: Jannicke Mikkelsen, 38, a Norwegian filmmaker; Eric Philips, 62, an Australian explorer and guide; and Rabea Rogge, 28, a German researcher. Called "Fram2," an ode to the 19th-century polar expedition ship Fram, the mission is scheduled to launch near the end of this year. It will fly on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and use its thrice-flown Dragon capsule named Endurance an apt coincidence, as a NASA crew three years ago named the spacecraft after explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's famed ship. Cryptocurrency speculator Chun Wang bought a SpaceX multi-day flight for an undisclosed amount, the company announced on Monday, with plans to lead the first crewed space mission in polar orbit, flying end-to-end over the Earth. Even as the cost of human spaceflight has come down from the exclusive domain of superpower governments, a multi-day mission is still only accessible to ultra-high-net-worth individuals. SpaceX does not advertise the price of its crewed missions, even though the company does disclose its price tag for launching satellites. NASA has previously disclosed it pays about $55 million per seat to fly astronauts on Dragon, meaning a crewed mission is upward of $200 million. Wang confirmed that "I paid for this mission," but declined to specify how much. Aside from showing off his trips around the world on social media, Wang has kept a low profile and his unspecified net worth appears mostly, if not fully, tied to work mining cryptocurrency. On LinkedIn, Wang says he mined 7,700 bitcoin over two years, an amount that would be worth about $450 million at current prices. He also says he was the co-founder of F2Pool, a self-described decentralized collective that helps generate cryptocurrency and the organization says it's mined more than 1.3 million in bitcoin in the past 11 years, an amount that would be worth over $76 billion in today's dollars. Mikkelsen, who is Wang's neighbor in the Svalbard town of Longyearbyen, said she was shocked when she went from friend to future astronaut. "I absolutely did not believe Chun when he just randomly texted me," Mikkelsen told CNBC. Wang said his proposal to SpaceX for the Fram2 mission came together after the historic private Inspiration4 flight in 2021. Like Inspiration4, the spacecraft will have a "cupola" window installed and will spend three to five days in orbit. The Fram2 crew has plans to conduct a variety of research as well, including studying the upper atmosphere especially looking at "fragments in the aurora" above Earth, Mikkelsen said as well as analysis of spaceflight effects on the human body. The crew members started training with SpaceX this week, having done their own "extreme environment" training in Alaska a month ago, and hope their flight furthers the idea that space is becoming more accessible. Mikkelsen said she hopes to do more than "just film a documentary," but make "an immersive production, so you also can experience it as if you are in Dragon." "We are trying to make the door wider and make people feel that everyone can have their own very personal space mission," Wang added. Hedge fund manager Dan Niles is betting on Apple and Meta Platforms as two stocks that can ride out a potential U.S. recession. Niles, who runs an actively managed fund of 20 to 40 large-cap U.S. stocks at Niles Investment Management , stressed that while a recession is not his base case scenario, investors should focus on companies capable of navigating challenging economic conditions. He pointed to current economic indicators, such as low unemployment rates , job openings, anticipated Federal Reserve rate cuts , and robust GDP growth, as reasons for his optimism about the U.S. avoiding a recession in the near term. However, Niles expressed a more cautious outlook for the broader tech sector and the market as a whole. "My feeling is, for the market overall, we haven't seen the bottom in this correction," he warned, predicting potential market lows in September as companies reassess their revenue streams and growth prospects. Niles highlighted a shift in investor expectations, noting that companies can no longer rely on simply mentioning AI to boost their stock prices. "This quarter that came to a crashing end," Niles told CNBC's Squaw Box Asia Friday. "You're [the companies] actually going to have to show you can generate revenues from all these investments you're doing versus just talking about how wonderful it's going to be five to 10 years from now." "I think you have to try to look for names that can get through if we do have a recession," he added. Among the so-called "Magnificent Seven," Niles singled out Apple and Meta as standout stocks. "Only Apple, which really isn't an AI play right now, and Meta, which does use AI the best, only those two stocks actually beat revenues [earnings per share] and had revenues and EPS go up for the four quarters," he explained. AAPL 1Y line This contrasted sharply with other tech giants like Google and Microsoft , which showed no growth in quarterly EPS figures. Amazon saw its stock prices decline after issuing lackluster forward guidance , and Tesla shares have been on a downward trajectory since it announced a delay to its robotaxi service . Apple Niles expects strong revenue growth in the coming year as consumers upgrade to AI-enabled iPhones. "Their revenue growth has been minuscule the last three years because people already have a smartphone. They bought one during Covid," Niles explained. "I think that revenue growth goes to double digits over 10% probably next year, as people upgrade to an AI-enabled smartphone." Niles's forecast would place Apple's earnings at their best since 2018, except for the 33% growth in 2021 over pandemic-linked work-from-home restrictions, according to FactSet data. He noted that this upward trend could persist even in a recessionary environment, albeit at a slower pace, due to the pent-up demand following several years of consumers holding onto their existing devices. Meta Niles expressed particular confidence in Meta's prospects, praising the company's effective use of AI in its core business. "Meta is using AI incredibly," Niles said. He highlighted the company's ability to leverage AI for content recommendations and targeted advertising, which has contributed to strong financial results. Unlike some other tech giants that have struggled to translate AI investments into tangible results, Niles noted that Meta had successfully integrated AI into its platform. "They're using [AI] to help recommend what you want to see, and then showing you ads that they think you're really going to want to watch. And that's why you saw them beating revenues [and] EPS [expectations], spending more on AI investments, and still having [forecast] numbers go up," he explained. This strategy, combined with potential advertising revenue from the upcoming U.S. presidential election, positions Meta favorably in Niles' view. Elliott Management will launch a proxy fight at Southwest Airlines and intends to nominate 10 directors to the company's 15-person board, the activist said Tuesday evening, a long-expected move following weeks of back and forth between the airline and the investor. Elliott plans to call a special meeting, rather than waiting for the company's annual shareholder meeting. Southwest's last shareholder meeting was held in May. Southwest said in a statement Wednesday it's confident it has the right leadership in place and had made consistent efforts to reach out to Elliott since the campaign began. Elliott had agreed recently to further discussions scheduled for September, the airline said, until the activist "unilaterally" decided to announce it would launch a proxy fight. The activist has already amassed an economic interest of roughly 11%, although only 7% is in common stock. Elliott needs to own at least 10% of the company in order to call a special meeting, under Southwest's bylaws, a threshold that it will likely cross soon. Elliott's ten nominees are: Michael Cawley, former Ryanair David Cush, former Virgin America CEO Sarah Feinberg, a former federal transportation regulator Josh Gotbaum, a former Lazard Dave Grissen, former Marriott International Nancy Killefer, former McKinsey senior partner and Treasury Department administrator Robert Milton, former CEO of Air Canada United Airlines Gregg Saretsky, former WestJet CEO Eash Sundaram, former JetBlue Patty Watson, NCR Atleos "The strong qualifications of these Candidates stand in contrast to those of the current Board, which prior to Elliott's June 10 letter lacked a single independent director with airline experience," Elliott said in a statement. Elliott disclosed its Southwest investment in June, writing to the company's board to say that it believed that CEO Bob Jordan and chairman Gary Kelly were responsible for a precipitous decline in the company's fortunes and that Southwest should move to replace them. Southwest rebuffed those requests, and CEO Jordan since told CNBC that Elliott's engagement with the company had not been meaningful. The activist had already intimated that it would seek to call for a special meeting in its second letter to Southwest's board. The 10-person slate does not include any Elliott employees. The activist has already indicated it has no desire to exert absolute control over the company, but rather is seeking a comprehensive business review in addition to leadership. The news comes the same day that another Elliott-targeted company, Starbucks , announced it would appoint Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol as the coffee chain's new chief. There were signs that Elliott's push at Southwest would also ramp up. Saretsky, one of activist's ten nominees, resigned this week from the board of Sabre Corp ., an airline bookings software company, citing his involvement with a "third party" which was invested in a Sabre client, according to a securities filing. His resignation was effective Monday, before news of Elliott's slate became public, according to the filing. Southwest last month announced the biggest changes to its business model in its more than 50 years of flying, with the end of its open seating model and premium seating that will come with extra legroom. Southwest had been studying such changes for years, but an oversupplied U.S. market has driven down fares, forcing the carrier and its rivals to adopt new business models to drum up revenue. Budget carrier Spirit Airlines, for example, recently said it would start selling a sort of business class with its bigger seats at the front of the cabin that will come with complimentary Wi-Fi, snacks, drinks and checked luggage. The airline's executives will discuss its strategy in more detail during an investor day next month. Rep. George Santos (R-NY) leaves the U.S. Capitol after his fellow members of Congress voted to expel him from the House of Representatives on December 01, 2023 in Washington, DC. The fraud trial against former U.S. Rep. George Santos, slated to start in a matter of weeks, is coming into focus after a federal judge ruled Tuesday that jurors will have their identities kept secret from the public. They won't, however, be required to fill out a written questionnaire gauging their opinions of Santos when they arrive for jury selection Sept. 9, as his lawyers had requested. Judge Joanna Seybert said during a brief hearing in federal court on Long Island that she agreed with the government's assessment that a questionnaire would only bog the proceedings down. She said questioning each potential juror in person would allow her and both sides to ask more varied and probing questions to elicit more truthful responses. Prosecutors told the judge the trial could last three weeks because they expect to call at least three dozen witnesses, including some victims of Santos' alleged crimes. Santos has pleaded not guilty to a range of financial crimes, including lying to Congress about his wealth, collecting unemployment benefits while actually working, and using campaign contributions to pay for personal expenses such as designer clothing. Seybert urged both sides to work together to "streamline" the proceedings where possible. "Make me hopeful. Seriously," she said. "Sit down and discuss what is absolutely necessary." Santos, who was dressed in a blue suit, declined to speak with reporters outside the courthouse after the hearing, the last expected before the trial. But when asked whether he believed his client could receive a fair trial, Santos' lawyer Robert Fantone said, "I think we're going to be alright." In this article GOOG Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Google announced its first smartphone fully powered by its AI "Gemini" system. Google on Tuesday announced new artificial intelligence features that are coming to Android devices. The move to bring its Gemini AI assistant to supported devices shows again how Google aims to put its AI in front of consumers before Apple , which will launch its AI on iPhones, Macs and iPads later this year. Google doesn't make a lot of money from its hardware business but the latest Android features could help drive new revenue through the company's Gemini AI subscription program. "We've completely rebuilt the assistant experience with Gemini, so you can speak to it naturally the way you would with another person," said Android Ecosystem President Sameer Samat in a Tuesday blog post. "It can understand your intent, follow your train of thought and complete complex tasks." "Starting today, you can bring up Gemini's overlay on top of the app you're using to ask questions about what's on your screen," Samat wrote. It will be available on hundreds of phone models from dozens of device makers, according to Google. Google previously had some AI features in Android, but this is the first year it's heavily emphasizing new capabilities powered by a large AI language model installed on devices. One example the company provided involved a user uploading a photo of a concert list and asking Gemini to see if their calendar is free, after which Gemini checks Google Calendar. If the user has availability in their schedule, Gemini offers to create a reminder to check ticket prices later that night. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards The assistant can also perform tasks using information from Google apps. "For example, Gemini can help create a daily workout routine based on your personal trainer's email, or use your resume in Google Drive to write a work bio," the company stated in its blog post. The company also said a user might ask the Gemini assistant to draft an email and "create an image of a cake for someone who loves space," which the assistant can create and attach to the email. Or, in YouTube, a user might ask Gemini a question about the content in a video. You can ask about what's on your phone screen in other apps, too, like Maps, Flights and Gmail. Google said it's working to add support for third-party extensions, which suggests developers may be able to add the option to their apps later. Gemini's assistant has a range of voices. A user can have a human-like conversation through its Gemini "Live" feature, which the company first announced at its May developer conference. "Live" will initially be available for select devices and subscribers to Google's Gemini Advanced program, which costs $19.99 per month. In June, Apple announced its long-awaited artificial intelligence push, Apple Intelligence, that can do tasks like recognize notifications important to personal context, and do cross-application tasking as well as letting Siri tap into OpenAI's ChatGPT when needed for tasks such as its writing tools and creating images. Apple's system is currently in testing. Some early features will launch this fall alongside new iPhones, but the bulk of the system won't be released until next year. New Pixel 9 phones and Pixel Watch 3 Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards The recent broad market pullback has created an entry point into high-quality stocks, says Strategas Securities. Despite the volatility of last week, the S & P 500 managed to recoup most of its losses and closed just 0.04% lower for the week last Friday. Nonetheless, many stocks are trading below their highs from earlier in the year. "With volatility comes opportunity," chief investment strategist Jason De Sena Trennert wrote in a Monday note. "We believe this is an opportunity for long-term investors to add exposure to companies that are not dependent upon 'the kindness of strangers' as the business cycle develops." Trennert said he prefers high-quality names given high-yield spreads, which leave little room for error. With this in mind, the strategist gave a list of promising cash generative companies. Here are the following criteria for his screener: Off 52-week highs Free cash flow yields above 5% EBIT/total interest coverage ratios above 5x Take a look at some of the names and where analysts see them headed next. Energy company Chevron has the highest total interest coverage ratio of 51 on the list. Shares are down 16% from their 52-week high as of Monday morning, per Strategas. Wall Street is bullish on Chevron. The average price target implies around 23% upside from where shares closed on Monday, and the majority of analysts covering the stock rate it a strong buy or buy, according to LSEG. Chevron has a free cash flow yield of 6.3%. Qualcomm is another high-quality stock that was heavily oversold during last week's rout. The stock is trading 29% below its 52-week high. According to the consensus price target, shares could rally nearly 30% from their current level, per analysts surveyed by LSEG. The chipmaker has a free cash flow yield of 5.6% and an interest coverage ratio of 13.9. Nearly 70% of analysts on the stock have issued a strong buy or buy rating. Shares slipped almost 1% on Monday after Wolfe Research downgraded Qualcomm to peer perform from outperform. The firm believes Apple's internal modem use will have an effect on the company. QCOM YTD mountain Qualcomm shares in 2024 Online dating platform Match Group is another name that made the cut. The company has a free cash flow yield of 10.7% and a total coverage ratio of 5.5. Shares are off from their 52-week high by 27% and are negative by around 7.5% year to date. Nonetheless, analysts polled by LSEG believe the stock can climb 25.4% from its current level. About three-fifths of analysts covering the company hold a buy or strong buy rating. CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report. In this article SBUX CMG Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Brian Niccol, incoming CEO of Starbucks. Anjali Sundaram | CNBC Wall Street believes Brian Niccol is the right choice to turn around Starbucks and move the chain past the decadeslong Howard Schultz era. Starbucks tapped Niccol as its latest chief executive and chair on Tuesday. Niccol replaces Laxman Narasimhan, who took over the top job in March 2023 after being handpicked by former CEO Schultz. In its last two quarters, Starbucks reported same-store sales declines as its U.S. business floundered. Once he takes over, Niccol will be charged with rejuvenating demand for the company's coffee. "In our view, Starbucks picks up a hall of fame restaurant CEO, and his appointment as Starbucks CEO and Chairman suggests a new era is underway," TD Cowen analyst Andrew Charles wrote in a note to clients, emphasizing the importance of the combined role. Investors are confident that he can revive the company. Shares of Starbucks climbed 20% in afternoon trading on the news, putting them on pace for their best day since the company's IPO in 1992. Meanwhile, Chipotle's stock fell 9% as shareholders bemoaned the loss of the longtime chief executive. Piper Sandler, TD Cowen and Baird all upgraded Starbucks stock in the wake of the leadership changes. Other analysts wrote glowingly of Niccol, seeing him as the right person to tackle Starbucks' sluggish sales. A challenging consumer environment, worsening customer experience and rising competition from smaller coffee shops have hurt the chain's performance recently. "We view this as a dream hire for SBUX, and could not think of a more equipped leader to take a fresh look at SBUX's operations, competitive positioning and overall strategy," Oppenheimer analyst Brian Bittner said. End of an era? Niccol's hiring could also spell the end of Schultz's huge influence over the company he turned into a global coffee giant. "Importantly, Brian is likely the one restaurant executive that has the gravitas to address the Howard Schultz Founder 'overhang,'" Evercore ISI analyst David Palmer wrote. Schultz served as CEO from 1986 to 2000, from 2008 to 2017 and then from 2022 to 2023, stepping in twice to save the company when sales turned sluggish. His last return sparked concerns about the company's succession. At the end of his last stint, he swore that he wouldn't return as chief executive again, although his presence still looms large over the company. In May, after a brutal quarter for Starbucks, he wrote an open letter on LinkedIn about the company's challenges and offered advice to its leaders without naming Narasimhan. Even after his retirement, Schultz's involvement in the company has remained "a question hanging over the stock," Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Harbour wrote in a note Tuesday. Mellody Hobson, who stepped down as Starbucks chair to become lead independent director as part of Tuesday's leadership shake-up, said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" that she told Schultz about the discussions with Niccol, keeping him in the loop despite him having no formal role within the company anymore. Schultz also remains a major Starbucks shareholder, with a roughly 2% stake. Schultz endorsed Niccol's hiring in the press release announcing the shakeup. In a statement, the chairman emeritus said he believes that Niccol is the leader the company needs at a "pivotal moment in its history." Some analysts believe that having Niccol, an experienced restaurant CEO, in the driver's seat could mean that Schultz finally moves on. Niccol will also succeed Hobson as chair of the board, giving him more latitude to make changes. "This will be the last time investors care what he has to say because Niccol now has the wheel and there is no longer ANY room for a backseat driver," Gordon Haskett analyst Don Bilson wrote. Niccol also has previous experience taking over a founder-led brand and making it his own. When he joined Chipotle in 2018, he took the reins from founder Steve Ells, who had led the chain since 1993. Niccol moved the burrito chain's headquarters from Denver to Newport Beach to attract different talent and maybe evolve the brand from being founder-led, as Bernstein analyst Danilo Gargiulo wrote in a note. Challenges ahead U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her running mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz walk as they prepare to depart at Chippewa Airport in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, U.S., August 7, 2024. Kevin Mohatt | Reuters Six years before Tim Walz was tapped to be Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate, he was busy running for governor of Minnesota. Shortly before Election Day, Walz huddled with dozens of business leaders at a luxurious hotel off the shores of Gull Lake. Eric Gibson, then president of Ultra Machining Company, recalled asking Walz whether the Democrat believed that high corporate and state taxes hurt workers. "We're not taxing people," Walz replied, according to Gibson. "We're taxing businesses." For Geoff Baker, "it was a bit of an 'oh s---' moment," he recalled to CNBC, confirming Gibson's account. "That's not what I wanted to hear," said Baker, president of McFarland Truck Lines. Minnesota currently taxes corporate income at 9.8%. The nonpartisan Tax Foundation says that's the highest corporate tax rate of any state in the nation. Walz's approach to corporate and other business related taxes hasn't changed noticeably since that meeting on Gull Lake. Especially not since Democrats secured a trifecta majority in 2022, taking control of the state House, the Senate and the governor's office. "It's been tense," said Douglas Loon, president and CEO of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, describing the trade association's relationship with Walz. The chamber has over 6,000 members, including Fortune 500 giants like Target , UnitedHealth Group and Best Buy . Democratic presidential candidate, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz take a selfie in front of a sign that reads "Kamala and The Coach" during a stop at a campaign office on August 9, 2024 in Glendale, Arizona. Andrew Harnik | Getty Images CNBC spoke to nearly half a dozen people familiar with the fights, and reviewed letters to the governor and state lobbying disclosure reports. They reveal that Walz's policy battles have had a common theme: Walz supported higher taxes on the rich or on businesses, and corporate leaders fought back. One of the fights was over a 1% surtax that applies to passive investment income in excess of $1 million. Walz also signed legislation that enacts a tax on global intangible low-taxed income[GILTI]. Another new tax on the wealthy that Walz signed into law limits standard and itemized tax deductions for households with gross incomes of more than $220,000. But while Walz was often willing to meet with business interests and hear their arguments, the governor and his fellow Democrats in power rarely budged. The impression that business groups and executives were left with, after meeting with Walz, was that the two-term governor wasn't always interested in compromise. As Harris prepares to release her first economic policy plans later this week, investors and business owners will be watching closely to see whether Walz's approach to the tax code is reflected in the priorities of a potential Harris administration. Payroll tax tensions One of the biggest recent battles between Walz and business in the state was over a new payroll tax to fund universal paid family and medical leave for Minnesotans. That bill, which Walz signed into law in 2023 and goes into effect in 2026, requires a 0.7% payroll tax on employees wages, with the employer and employee splitting the tax payment, according to the Tax Policy Center. At the time, state regulators said the payroll tax could eventually rise to 0.88%, a figure often cited by opponents of the tax. But supporters believed that a new payroll tax could bring in over $300 million to help fund the paid family leave plan, according to the Minnesota Reformer. A fierce lobbying push against the bill featured meetings with the governor himself. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speaks next to Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers at Yellowjacket Union, at University of Wisconsin-Superior, in Superior, Wisconsin, U.S. March 2, 2022. Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters At least eight representatives from the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, including Loon, met with the governor at his capitol office in St. Paul, Minn. last year to push back against the legislation before the governor signed it, according to Baker, who was at the gathering and whose company is a member of the pro-business lobbying group. "We were very concerned about the workplace benefit mandates," including the impact businesses could face from the payroll tax, said Baker. They also tried to encourage Walz to move ahead with more tax reform laws to try to get the state out of being in the top tier of corporate income taxes, Baker explained. Though Walz did hear them out, the governor ended up signing the bill anyway and the state continues to be the top taxed state for corporate income. The Uber compromise For another perspective on Walz and taxes, the Harris campaign referred CNBC to Bill George, a Minnesota businessman and the former CEO of Medtronic. George said Walz has been willing to compromise with business. One example he recalled was a recent bill that would have mandated minimum wage in Minnesota. The bill passed the state legislature, but rideshare giants Uber and Lyft threatened to reduce their presence in the state because of it. Walz vetoed the legislation in 2023. He later signed a separate bill to raise rideshare drivers' pay. watch now George said he sees Minnesota as a great place to do business, but he acknowledged that some taxes are high. "People don't always like the tax environment. But as long as taxes are going to help people, I'm in favor of it," he said. George also admitted that once Walz and Democrats won control of the legislature in the 2022 elections, they moved more quickly to increase some taxes on the wealthy. "They wanted to get some things for the people through," he said. The Harris team noted that Minnesota is ranked sixth in the nation in CNBC's study of the best places to conduct business. They also highlighted several private sector investments in Minnesota, like the $5 billion expansion underway at the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minn. Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on August 08, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida. Former President Donald Trump is facing a wave of calls from Republican supporters to focus his political attacks against Vice President Kamala Harris on policy critiques and to scale back his ad hominem insults and conspiracy theories. "The path forward is to focus on policy. Those are three words for the Republican Party that I think is a path to success: Focus on policy," former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said Tuesday on NPR. "I think Donald Trump has a strong case on all of those counts, and I think he and the Republican Party would be well served to focus on the policy contrasts," said Ramaswamy, who endorsed Trump after dropping his own White House bid earlier this year. "The winning formula for President Trump is very plain to see: It's fewer insults, more insights and that policy contrast," Kellyanne Conway, a former Trump White House advisor, said Monday in a Fox News interview. Conway, who managed Trump's winning 2016 campaign, appeared with fellow Trump White House alum Larry Kudlow, who also had some advice for Trump: "Don't wander off, don't call her stupid and all kinds of names, stay on message." Pleas like these from loyal Trump supporters have echoed through Republican circles in recent days, as the party grapples with the new dynamics of a presidential race against Harris, three weeks after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. As Trump tries to pivot, his talking points against Harris frequently devolve into personal attacks. They include making false claims about her racial identity, insulting her intelligence and commenting on her appearance. He has also promoted false conspiracy theories about the crowds at Harris' huge rallies. "When Trump attacks Harris personally rather than on policy, Harris' support among swing voters rises, particularly among women. It's just a fact of life, right now," Peter Navarro, a former Trump White House aide, said on the conservative WarRoom podcast Monday. Navarro is a loyal Trump ally who recently served four months in federal prison for defying a congressional subpoena in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection probe. "You've got to make this race not on personalities," former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said earlier Monday in an interview on Fox News. "Stop questioning the size of her crowds and start questioning her positions." U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky looks on during a meeting in New York on September 25, 2019, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. Saul Loeb | Afp | Getty Images President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, capital of Ukraine, on July 23, 2019. Hennadii Minchenko | Future Publishing | Getty Images Speaking to Musk during an interview streamed on social media platform X on Monday, Trump referenced the incident, stating: "Zelenskyy, he was very honorable to me because when they went with the Russia hoax and they said I had a phone call with him, he said it was a perfect phone call, it was a great phone call." Trump added, "He could have grandstanded and said, 'Oh, he was very threatening.' [But] He said, no, it was a very nice phone call." Zelenskyy the 'salesman' The praise for Zelenskyy was a far cry from earlier this year, when Trump characterized the president as "maybe the greatest salesman of any politician that's ever lived," suggesting Ukraine's requests for and receipt of U.S. military aid packages were based on Zelenskyy's deftness and skills as a diplomat, rather than on Ukraine's actual needs. "I think Zelenskyy is maybe the greatest salesman of any politician that's ever lived," Trump said in June, segueing from characterizing the Green New Deal as a "scam" straight into a description of Zelenskyy. The former White House leader said of the Ukrainian chief, "every time he comes to our country, he walks away with $60 billion," referring to a major U.S. aid package wrangled over by Republicans and Democrats, and finally agreed in April. Trump corrected himself, MSNBC reported at the time, saying that he "likes" Zelenskyy before returning to his critique of the Ukrainian leader. "[Zelenskyy] just left four days ago with $60 billion, and he gets home, and he announces that he needs another $60 billion. It never ends. It never ends," Trump said. Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a rally at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse at Montana State University on August 9, 2024 in Bozeman, Montana. Michael Ciaglo | Getty Images News | Getty Images Referring to the war in Ukraine, Trump concluded that he'd "settle" the crisis during his post-election presidential period. "Gotta stop it," he said. Trump's ambivalence about the merits of continuing support for Ukraine has come into sharp focus in recent months, particularly as voter polls suggested he could win another term in the White House. Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris is slightly ahead of Trump in several swing states, according to the latest poll by The New York Times and Siena College in early August suggesting that the election race is wide open, however. Another phone call With a close eye on the U.S. presidential contest, Ukraine is having to tread a fine line between its current backers in the Democratic Party and the prospect of a potential Trump presidency in which the U.S. financial and military largesse aid that has largely allowed Kyiv to continue to fight Russia since February 2022 could be curtailed or have new conditions attached. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a coordination meeting on the security situation and state border protection, which was attended by representatives of the Military Command, the State Border Guard Service, and the Heads of Military Administrations of Volyn, Zhytomyr, Rivne, Kyiv, and Chernihiv regions in Volyn Oblast, Ukraine on July 30, 2024. Ukraine Presidency | Anadolu | Getty Images After receiving the Republican nomination in July, Trump said he had spoken again to Zelenskyy and had a "very good" conversation. "I appreciate President Zelenskyy for reaching out because I, as your next President of the United States, will bring peace to the world and end the war that has cost so many lives and devastated countless innocent families," Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. Ukrainian servicemen operate a Soviet-made T-72 tank in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia, on August 12, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Roman Pilipey | Afp | Getty Images Ukraine's audacious incursion into Russian border territory a week ago came as a surprise to many officials within the government in Kyiv, a senior Ukrainian official familiar with the matter told CNBC on Monday only a handful of people knew about the operation beforehand, and government officials have since been ordered to be in "silent mode" as to its strategic goals. Ukraine's initial silence with regard to the cross-border raid, and ongoing tactic of "strategic ambiguity" designed to keep Russia "off balance," appears to have been key to its initial success and current advances into the Kursk region. Russia's slow and sluggish response to what Russian President Vladimir Putin branded a "large-scale provocation" has also exposed weaknesses in its military command, and has humiliated its leadership. One week on from the launch of the border raid and information is slowly emerging as to the size and scale of Ukraine's operation on Russian soil, and its objectives. Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Sunday that it was designed "to put pressure on the aggressor Russia" and to push "the war into the aggressor's territory." Revealing further details in his first public comments on the Kursk operation, Ukraine's top military commander, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Monday that Ukraine now controls around 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of the region. Russian official Alexei Smirnov, the acting governor of the Kursk region, told a solemn-looking Putin via videoconference Monday that Ukraine controlled 28 settlements. Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War said geolocated footage suggests Ukraine controls a higher number of around 40 settlements, as of Monday. In this pool photograph distributed by Russian state owned agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin (L) chairs a meeting regarding the situation in the Kursk region, in his residence in Novo-Ogaryovo outside Moscow, on August 12, 2024. Gavriil Grigorov | Afp | Getty Images Several thousand Ukrainian troops are now operating inside Russia, the senior Ukrainian official told CNBC, and "hundreds" of Russian prisoners of war had already been captured because "they were taken off guard" by the launch of last week's operation. Ukraine has no immediate plans to turn back either, according to the government official, who spoke to CNBC on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the ongoing operation in Kursk. "We are not being overly excited, overly jubilant, because everybody understands that this is still a war ... but what happens, and what continues to develop in Kursk, is going to really have a huge impact on how this war continues to go," the official said, likening the significance of the latest operation to the liberation of Kherson, in southern Ukraine, in late 2022. There was a recognition that a war of attrition was taking place on the front lines in eastern Ukraine and that Kyiv, with finite access to manpower and resources, would not be able to sustain such a position long term. The incursion, the source added, was designed to turn the tide in the war: "Hopefully, if everything goes well, the presence of the Ukrainian troops in Russia will serve as a force to change the dynamics of the war, and it will increase our negotiating power, for example, in the context of the possible peace initiatives." : Ukrainian soldiers run for shelter from Russian army attacks as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues in the city of Toretsk, Donetsk, Ukraine, on July 5, 2024. The situation on the Toretsk front is tense. Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images The official had little optimism for direct talks in the near term but said an intermediary like Turkey or the United Arab Emirates could be involved in future mediation. "So it's far from over. The war continues, but at the same time it's a hugely important development for Ukraine's positions, for Ukraine's morale, for the world's belief in Ukraine's capability," the official noted, adding: "We have shown to the world again that we can surprise, that we're capable of these maneuvers all of a sudden, they're asymmetrical, they're unexpected, and they put us in a better position in terms of our strategic prospects." Russia caught off guard Putin vowed on Monday a "worthy response" to Ukraine's border raid, just as 11,000 more civilians were evacuated in Kursk's neighboring region Belgorod, due to "enemy activity." "The losses of the Ukrainian armed forces are increasing dramatically for them, including among the most combat-ready units, units that the enemy is transferring to our border," Putin told a televised meeting with top security officials and regional governors, according to Reuters. "The enemy will certainly receive a worthy response, and all the goals facing us will, without a doubt, be achieved." Putin did not substantiate his claims or give any further detail on what Russia's response could be. A screen grab from a video released by Russian Ministry of Defense shows Russian forces launching a missile attack, targeting the military equipment of Ukrainian Armed Forces at the border area near Kursk Oblast, Russia on August 08, 2024. Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images Russia's Defense Ministry initially played down the incursion when it started last week but soon revised its position, stating that around 1,000 troops and numerous tanks and armored vehicles were involved. By Sunday, Russia's Defense Ministry had acknowledged that Ukrainian units had advanced up to 30 kilometers into Kursk and that fighting was ongoing. The incursion has undoubtedly rocked Russian defense and government officials, prompting the evacuation of thousands of citizens in Kursk and neighboring Belgorod, and Russian troops and resources to be redeployed to Kursk from areas of intense fighting in eastern Ukraine. Employees of the Russian EMERCOM help the people, who are forced to leave the border settlements, as they have arrived from the Kursk region at a railway station in Oryol, Russia on August 9, 2024. Russian Emergencies Ministry | Anadolu | Getty Images The government official CNBC spoke to emphasized that Ukraine did not want to annex parts of Russia but wanted to try to use its present position as "leverage" to "bring about a just peace, faster." "This is not about Ukraine's desire to seize Russian territory. We're confident the world understands this is not about annexing parts of Russia. We don't need that territory. We just need them to get out from ours," the official said. What comes next? Geopolitical analysts said the Kursk operation needed to be watched closely and could herald a breakthrough in the war. One possible scenario is that more Ukrainian troops could be sent into Kursk to reinforce the operation, although this would deprive crucial front-line positions and leave them weakened and unprotected. Kyiv also maintains that its top priority is protecting its troops. As such, much of what happens next will depend on Russia's reaction to the incursion, with concerns the response could be furious given the Kremlin's humiliation. Matthew Savill, military sciences director at the Royal United Services Institute defense think tank, said Russia had been "severely embarrassed" by the cross-border raid, but the challenge for Ukraine lay in sustaining it. "Sustaining a force of any size in Russia, and defending against counter-attacks, will be hard, given the limited reserves available to Ukraine," Savill said in emailed comments. "While the Ukrainians have reversed the public narrative about being on the defensive, it seems unlikely they would want to sustain a large incursion for months; they will have a decision to make about the best time to trade in the ground they have captured, and to what end," he said. This photo released by the acting Governor of Kursk region Alexei Smirnov telegram channel , shows a damaged house after shelling by the Ukrainian side in the city of Sudzha, Kursk region that borders Ukraine, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024. Governor of Kursk region telegram channel via AP Amid a recent downturn in semiconductor stocks, Jefferies has identified three "top picks" in the sector, which it says present investors with a buying opportunity. The chip industry has experienced a substantial sell-off since mid-July, primarily driven by sector rotation and compounded by fears surrounding China-related restrictions and concerns about artificial intelligence demand, according to the investment bank. For instance, the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) fell into a bear market last week, down 25% from its July 10 peak at $265.49, although it has since pared back some of its losses. The investment bank identified Dutch semiconductor toolmaker ASML and European suppliers to the chip making industry ASM and VAT as its top picks. All three large-cap stocks are also traded in the U.S. "We see the bullish outlook for the sector and our top picks ASML, ASM, and VAT as completely unchanged in the last two weeks; the sell-down therefore represents a buying opportunity, in our view," Jefferies analysts led by Janardan Menon, said in a note to clients on June 26. SOXX has fallen a further 7% since the note was released. The analysts emphasized that the current market conditions should not be viewed as a cause for alarm but rather as a chance for strategic investment as they see semiconductor demand soon gaining momentum. "We expect semiconductor demand to accelerate over the next 6-12 months, led by increased demand for AI servers, iPhones, Android phones, general-purpose servers, AI PCs, consumer devices, and [Internet of Things], with a subsequent recovery in industrial and automotive," the analysts said. This projected surge in demand is expected to positively impact a wide range of companies within the semiconductor industry. Jefferies expects "most semiconductor companies, including foundries, chip vendors, and front-end equipment suppliers, to beat and raise in coming quarters." The current downturn is not unprecedented in the cyclical semiconductor industry. The Jefferies analysts pointed out that similar pullbacks have occurred in the past, such as a 12% drop in the SOX Semiconductor Index in April of this year, followed by a 37% climb over the subsequent three months. SOXX YTD line Are you a current print subscriber to Columbia Gorge News? If so, you qualify for free access to all content on columbiagorgenews.com. Simply verify with your subscriber id to receive free access. Your subscriber id may be found on your bill or mailing label. Apples insistence on taking a slice of subscription sales made on iOS from Patreon seems short-sighted, as it effectively takes money from the pockets of creatives who probably arent earning that much. Of course, from Apples point of view, its rules have to apply consistently and apparently it has not been consistently applying these against Patreon, which hasnt had to cough up this cash until now. The catch is that while Patreon has the scale to pay and still profit, many of the creative types using its service have nothing like those numbers. The choice they face increase fees or swallow the fee can (and probably will) demotivate some authors; its a choice they must make by November. Seinfeld fans already know that NBC treating George Costanza as if he were less important than Ted Danson was a bad omen for the show, but did you know that, in real life, the network caused an industry-wide panic by pretending that Paul Reiser was a full $400,000 more valuable than Jason Alexander? Well, thats not exactly what Alexander said when he discussed his salary on the talk show Charlie Rose in April 1998, mere weeks before the airing of the soon-to-be infamous Seinfeld finale. However, the brilliant acting talent behind one of TV historys most petty and envious a-holes did tell the journalism giant that the Seinfeld pay structure for which he, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Michael Richards fought bitterly with NBC to secure destroyed the TV economy by ensuring that Reiser could command a $1 million paycheck per episode of the significantly less impressive sitcom Mad About You. By the end of Seinfeld, Alexander and his non-Jerry co-stars were earning a market-breaking $600,000 paycheck each per episode, and in an unsurfaced interview that recently went viral on Twitter, Alexander explained why he thought that NBC was stupid to sign such a front-loaded contract that set a precedent for preposterous star salaries and permanently disrupted the power balance in sitcom production. Don't Miss I bet NBC wouldnt cause a TV comedy economic crisis over Ted Dansons contract. According to Alexander, the wedge issue that caused the rift in the Seinfeld-NBC family was the subject of cast compensation for the massively profitable syndication deals that the network could easily strike with every affiliate station across the country, a practice that continues to net huge profits this day. For instance, any Seinfeld fan in Chicago can attest that the busses in the Windy City still sport massive decals advertising the airing of Seinfeld re-runs on a local channel. Advertisement Advertisement However, for Alexander, Louis-Dreyfus and Richards, getting their fair share of the syndication money was an impossible task (as opposed to the comically easy time a certain co-creator castmate had in securing his own bag), so they needed to secure rest-of-their-lives money on salary alone, knowing full well that, as soon as Seinfeld ended, they would face an uphill battle to continue booking work with the specters of George, Elaine or Kramer hanging over them though Elaine would obviously win that war, along with an election or two. While the contract that Alexander and his co-stars eventually signed with NBC factored in the massive and continued profitability of their work, the Seinfeld deal also set the market rate for other A-list actors on sitcoms that wouldnt enjoy the endless profits that come with a quarter-century of syndication shows such as Reisers Mad About You. So, by short-changing the Seinfeld cast on their back-end points, NBC set the precedent that every episode of every show, massively popular or otherwise, should net the actors millions upon millions of dollars that the network would never recoup on local TV 27 years later. Advertisement Still, the most hilariously depressing part of Alexanders breakdown of the bad business deal NBC made with him is that, even though his paycheck was so big that it broke the market for sitcom actors, its still a massive underpay considering the literal billions that Alexanders work continues to earn for NBC (and for Jerry Seinfeld, for that matter). With that in mind, were starting to understand why Alexander bristles at the Yankees turning him into a bobblehead without throwing him a bone George is getting upset. Chase once got in a fistfight just minutes before his monologue Lots of comics have beef with other comics but how many can claim multiple physical fights with funny co-stars? Thats why we have to take off our hats to Chevy Chase, the guy who made Chris Columbus flee National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, scared off super-fan Kevin Smith from a Fletch revival and had his shoulder dislocated in a tussle with Community co-star Joel McHale. Chase is also the undisputed king of Saturday Night Live beef, angering generations of comedians with his a-hole behavior. Don't Miss Here are five times Chase royally pissed off SNL cast members during show week 1 John Belushi According to Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live, one of the shows writers noticed that within two-thirds of the first year, it began to seem that Chevy was more worried about his next cold opening than about being part of the team. John Belushi also noticed. He had been the breakout star when the two comics starred in National Lampoon stage shows, and he fumed when Chase got all of SNLs early attention. I go where Im kicked, Belushi groused about his status on the show. They throw me bones dogs wouldnt chew on. The rivalry played out in a sketch where Belushi welcomes back all the cast members from the summer break while ignoring Chase. Finally, Belushi turns to him and says, Listen, Chevy, Ive been thinking about what I said. Weve been together a long time, friends a long time, and I dont think that should stop us from being friends. Chase and Belushi then exchange a series of complicated high-fives until Belushi punches Chase in the face, sending him tumbling off the stage. It was all a joke but everyone on the show knew how real it was. 2 Will Ferrell Advertisement Worst SNL host ever? Thats easy, explained Will Ferrell in the oral history Live From New York: It was Chase, and it wasnt even close. Maybe Chase swallowed too many back pills that week he returned to host, Ferrell said, but that was no excuse for Chevy to suggest to a female writer, Maybe you can give me a hand job later. In hindsight, I wish wed all gotten up and walked out of the room, Ferrell said. Hed yell at someone down the hallway scream and yell and you would look at him, and hed see you were looking at him and he would smile like, Im just joking. Wed be like, No, I dont think you are. 3 Terry Sweeney Advertisement Advertisement Sweeney was the shows first openly gay cast member, making him a target for Chases brand of homophobic humor. Oh, youre the gay guy, right? Chase said upon meeting Sweeney. Ive got an idea for a sketch for you. How about we say you have AIDS, and we weigh you every week? Jon Lovitz remembers Sweeney asking Chase if he could do anything for him. Well, Chase replied, you can start by licking my balls. Lorne Michaels made Chase apologize, which made him really furious. He was just beside himself, Sweeney remembered. It was just awful. He acted horribly to me. He acted horribly to everyone. 4 Jane Curtin Advertisement After Chase ditched the show to become a movie star, Curtin took over as host of Weekend Update. It was a star turn for Curtin, at least until Chase came back to host. Michaels and Chase called her to the 30 Rock offices while she was on her way to the ballet Chase was kicking her off the segment that week because his fans wanted to see him. You sit there, and you have pieces of your arm bitten off and then you leave, she remembered. But it heals. It grows back. Advertisement The present is in knots over the rightly deserved fear of robots taking human jobs. Even I, who was supposed to be in one of the robot-proofed professions due to creativity, suddenly have a personal investment in artificial intelligence. Who would pay me my outrageous wages when they could simply use an algorithm that thinks Yoda was on the Miami Dolphins at one point because of a fanfic it scraped? There is one robotic employee, though, that is almost always greeted with a smile and possibly, a sigh of relief: the humble vending machine. It knows its lane and excels in it, due to its ability to do what no human can keep sodas cold inside its body. In 2024, theyre ubiquitous, and in Japan, they practically make up their own branch of the evolutionary tree. So you have to wonder where it all started. Similarly, keeping in mind the symbiotic relationship between a vending machine and its contents, what was the product it traded in order to feast on delicious coins? Was it lemonade? Cigarettes? Medicinal tonics that were effectively just bottles of opium? Don't Miss No, none of the above. Not only am I willing to wager that the first vending machine came about a lot earlier than you would guess, Id happily double down on your inability to guess what came out of it. El Nuevo Doge I dont know why, but I feel when the singularity comes, theyll fight on the side of humanity. Thats because the first-ever vending machine was utilized all the way back in the 1st century A.D. by the Christian church. No, it didnt dispense indulgences, though that would have been awesome, and probably have inspired rampant sinning in a 10-foot radius of the machine. What it did dispense, as if it was Fruitopia or Surge, was holy water. Advertisement Apparently, there was a real problem with people taking more holy water than they paid for. As a non-Christian, this is surprising on two levels because first, I didn't think that was something you bought, and second, hoarding holy water seems like a heavy-handed metaphor, not a real problem. Nevertheless, everyone wanted as much of this water as they could get. It was like reverse Dasani. Thus, a man named Hero of Alexandria, which I assure you is his name and not a placeholder I forgot to remove, designed a solution. People would be given tokens that they could trade for their allotment of holy water, like they were in some sort of divine Dave & Busters. When they put the token into the holy water machine, the weight would carry a lever down, and that in turn would open a godly little sluice, pouring holy water into their preferred receptacle. When the token jumped ship upon reaching the levers nadir, the door would shut, and His wet blessing would cease. Public Domain Off to my local library, which isnt on fire and never will be! More than two millennia later, that technology has evolved to the point where it gives me Cherry Dr. Pepper, which I consider a work of God in its own right. The trailer for Saturday Night, the movie about the pressure-packed 90 minutes leading up to the first-ever episode of SNL, dropped last week and John Mulaney is tingling with anticipation. Im very excited about this movie, the comic told Seth Meyers last night. To be clear, Mulaney has nothing to do with the film about his comedy alma mater Zero. But watching those tense two minutes of trailer taught him a lot about his former employer. Now, I worked for five years at Saturday Night Live, Mulaney deadpanned, but I had no idea the kind of pressure cooker that it was. Apparently, its high stakes. The movies preview had a lot of really interesting moments. Like what we know now, youre like, Oh, if only they knew then, right? Mulaney said to a cackling Meyer. Don't Miss What other secrets could Mulaney learn about what its like to work at SNL? He hasnt seen the entire movie yet, but as a Hollywood insider, he was able to get his mitts on a copy of the Saturday Night script. He asked Meyers to read the part of a cab driver to give the Late Night audience a sense of the films flavor. When you hear it, Mulaney cautioned, your hair will stand up on your neck. EXT. NEW YORK CITY STREET NIGHT. Advertisement Young LORNE MICHAELS gets into a cab. LORNE Take me to Rockefeller Center. I'm gonna go do Saturday Night Live, a new show on NBC. CABBIE TV at night? Thatll never work! LORNE (Bleep) you, you (bleep) dumb cabbie. It will be so famous and good at sketch comedy. That tense interaction on the streets of Manhattan is just one more example of whats got Mulaney so excited about the film. The stakes! he reiterated. The stakes are high! Advertisement Mulaney is pointing out the obvious here with 50 years of Saturday Night Live specials, oral histories and tell-all books, is there anything left to say about the show? Even a casual fan knows the show is live and hard to pull together with just a few days to prepare. Mulaney shined his comedy flashlight on the biggest challenge facing Jason Reitmans Saturday Night What we know now, if we only knew then. We know all about SNL now. Is there anything left for the movie to tell us about then? State Grid builds artificial bird nests to protect birds while ensuring power grid safety People's Daily Online) 16:23, August 13, 2024 China's vast territory and diverse climate provide ideal conditions for birds to thrive. The country is home to over 1,500 species of birds, making it one of the countries with the richest bird biodiversity in the world. An issue has arisen in the grassy plateau regions though, as some raptor species prefer nesting in elevated locations, but these regions lack tall trees. As a result, the birds have been nesting in transmission towers, and the materials being used to build their nests like sticks and metal wires are causing power line malfunctions. To ensure power grid safety while protecting birds, the State Grid Corporation of China launched a public welfare project in 2016 to develop artificial bird nests around the transmission towers and lines that are suitable for the birds to nest in. : A raptor flies away from an artificial bird nest on the Ruoergai Grassland in southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Photo/Liao Bin) Workers of State Grid Qinghai Electric Power Company climb a transmission tower to install artificial bird nests in the Sanjiangyuan area located in northwest Chinas Qinghai Province. (Photo/Wang Guodong) : Two birds rest in an artificial bird nest on a transmission tower on the Ruoergai Grassland in southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Photo/An Wei) : A worker installs an artificial bird nest on the Bayanbulak Grassland, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo/Yang Yang) Guiding the birds In the Ruoergai Grassland of southwest China's Sichuan Province, the sky is clear and blue. Near a 110-kilovolt power line, falcons circle a tower and perch on the edge of their nest, where several fluffy chicks await feeding. A nest made from vines by local power grid staff provides a cozy home for the falcon family. Building artificial bird nests on power transmission towers helps prevent birds from interfering with grid safety while maintaining the ecological balance of the grassland, said Huang Jian, a bird protection expert from the Shan Shui Conservation Center. The threat brought by the birds to the transmission towers and power lines goes beyond just the materials they used to build their nests. According to experts, bird droppings are another major concern, accounting for about 80 percent of bird-related transmission line malfunctions. "Birds have very short rectums and cannot store large amounts of feces; the corrosive droppings they excrete at any time can affect the safety of the power grid if they fall onto insulators," says Liu Yong, an electric power expert from the Aba branch of the State Grid Sichuan Electric Power Company. Furthermore, some birds have the habit of pecking at insulators, damaging the insulating function of the tower. When birds take off or land, their larger movements can also affect the safety of power supply. Statistics show that bird-related power line faults are the third most common cause of power outages, after lightning strikes and external damage. In the past, power workers attempted to deter birds from perching on the towers by installing repellent devices, but the effect was limited. "Blocking is not as effective as guiding. Not all parts of the transmission tower are risky, so it's better to proactively build nests in non-risk areas to provide birds with a habitat," Liu explained. Designing and placing the nests Equipped with safety helmets and harnesses, two State Grid employees climbed a 15-meter-high transmission tower. Once they reached a suitable position on the tower, they lowered a rope to the ground. Dang Zhou, the head of an electric service center, tied the artificial nest and wire attachments to the rope and passed them up. "We usually install the nests before the birds' breeding season, during the power line maintenance work, placing them about 90 centimeters away from the live parts in a safe area," Dang explained. To ensure the comfort of the birds, power grid workers have put significant efforts into researching the size and materials of the nests. For size, through consultation with industry experts, nests with a diameter of about 100 centimeters and a depth of about 40 centimeters are used. For materials, initially they used bamboo baskets lined with straw, but due to strong winds in the area, the straw could easily be blown away, and the bamboo baskets could become damaged. Later, they replaced the straw with coconut mats and the bamboo strips with willow branches, binding them together tightly with wire. Eventually, the material was upgraded to vines, which were pre-soaked in preservative solution to increase the durability of the nests, transforming them into "luxury accommodations". The nests are strategically placed on transmission towers near areas that contain rich water and food sources, which provide ideal habitats for birds. In addition, big data and other advanced technologies have been employed to select bird nest sites. Liu said, before finalizing locations for artificial bird nests in Sichuan, they meticulously recorded the places where birds appear, their species, numbers, and activities on transmission towers. In areas without network coverage on the Ruoergai Grassland, innovative wireless communication technologies were used to enable real-time monitoring of birds' nesting activities. So far, the public welfare project has been extended to the grasslands on plateaus of six provincial-level regions, including Sichuan Province, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Gansu Province, Qinghai Province, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and Xizang Autonomous Region, according to an executive of the State Grid Corporation of China. By the end of 2023, 5,207 artificial bird nests and 16 eagle perches had been installed, resulting in the successful hatching of nearly 4,000 chicks. Some regions labeled artificial bird nests with unique "house numbers" for easy monitoring. Patrolling the lines The job isn't finished with just the placing of the nests. A growing number of power workers are joining the ranks of bird protectors, taking on the dual role of patrolling transmission lines and monitoring the condition of artificial bird nests. Kang Zhoujia, a post-90s employee of the Aba branch of State Grid Sichuan Electric Power Company, recently prepared for his daily patrol along a 210-kilometer 10 kV transmission line in the habitat of black-necked cranes in Ruoergai. "We have black-necked cranes, whooper swans, and wild geese here," Kang said, frequently stopping to observe birds with his binoculars during the patrol. He can identify various bird species and their behaviors. Kang's journey began as a hobby but evolved into a passion when he volunteered for the public welfare project in 2021. He immersed himself in studying bird behaviors, poring over field guides, and consulting experts to enhance his knowledge. Thanks to his dedication, Kang has been a valuable reference for selecting locations for artificial bird nests. Kang is only one of the many power grid workers who have taken up an interest in the birds, and have become important players in the efforts to protect the birds and power line infrastructure. "We aim to establish a regular patrol mechanism to ensure the safety of birds and transmission lines, strengthen cooperation with non-profit organizations and research institutions, and promote technological innovation and application to extend the public welfare project to more suitable areas," said an executive of the State Grid Corporation of China. (Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun) Great Rooms A visual diary by Design Editor Wendy Goodman. The Parlor: The 1910 house overlooks the Catskill Mountains. Elliott, left, and Daisy are on the sofa. The papier-mache desk and chairs were made by Phoebe Sung and painted by daughters Freya and Coco. The zebra painting is by McGregor, and the flower painting is by Kayo Lennar. Cold Picnics Sweetie rug is on the floor. Photo: Annie Schlechter A farmhouse was always Phoebe Sung and Peter Buers dream. But more than that: We wanted land and space that our children could continue to return to for the rest of their lives, Sung says. That got harder, but also felt more necessary, when the pandemic hit and they were holed up at home in Ridgewood, Queens, with a young child, dogs, and an ongoing plague of roaches. Sung and Buer are designers of whimsical home goods, including textiles, rugs, and wallpaper. The couple met in Boston while studying art in 2006. They worked together in fashion there, Sung as an apparel designer and Buer as a print designer, and made jewelry on the side. Then they moved to New York and learned how to macrame and hook rugs to make wall hangings, which led to the creation of their company, Cold Picnic, in 2010. Their Private Parts collection of Boob bath mats became a cult hit. It was just, like, boobs were weirdly showing up in our designs, Buer explains. We were doing a lot of circles, and wed say, Oh, we cant do that; it just looks like a boob, and then there was a point where we just owned it. Who knew so many people wanted it? He laughs. In the summer of 2021, with their second child on the way, they were lucky enough to have a relative who owned a place in Sullivan County it happened to be on the 50-acre grounds of a former Girl Scout camp and they could house-hunt from there. Many people had the same idea that summer, of course. Finally, the day before returning to the city, Sung and Buer spied a house in the area that had just come on the market. They did a drive-by before they could schedule a viewing; it was a 1910 farmhouse on a hill with a pond and 17 acres across the line in Delaware County. It was just what they were looking for. They bought it in the fall of 2021. The place didnt need much work to move into. Downstairs is bright and open; upstairs is more dense with pattern; every room is wall-to-wall Cold Picnic rugs, wallpaper, and fabrics from collections over the years. Its four bedrooms, pond, and forest are more than enough space for their daughters, Freya, 5, and Coco, 3, and their dogs to roam. The Study: The lollipop lamp is vintage, and the room is covered in Photo: Annie Schlechter The lollipop lamp is vintage, and the room is covered in Cold Picnic s Holy Smoke rug, wallpaper, and upholstery. The Main Bedroom: s Disappearing Daffodil wallpaper and upholstery are in play. The painting is by Gloria Roberts. Photo: Annie Schlechter Cold Picnic s Disappearing Daffodil wallpaper and upholstery are in play. The painting is by Gloria Roberts. The Guest Bedroom: The chair is Milo Baughman, and the nightstand is vintage Donald Deskey, also with a lollipop lamp. The rug, wallpaper, curtains, and upholstery are Cold Picnics Freckle Flower. Photo: Annie Schlechter The Childrens Bedroom: The girls have matching vintage caned beds. The Eyelash Flower rug, curtains, and wallpaper are by Cold Picnic. The dresser and bedside table are vintage, as are the bedside lamps. Photo: Annie Schlechter The Playroom: Buer and Sung with Freya (standing) and Coco (seated.) The cabinets are Ikea with antique flamingo-head knobs. The sofa was painted by Buer. The rug is Cold Picnics Battenberg Matcha pattern. The framed artwork was made by the children. Photo: Annie Schlechter The Dining Room: The slate-top dining table is vintage, the chairs are by Gio Ponti, and the lamp is Noguchi. The childrens table and chairs are also vintage. The blue painting is by Alexis Serio. The Embrace rug in roasted tomato is Cold Picnic. Photo: Annie Schlechter The living-room centered in this listing photo for a West Village one-bedroom is small, but it feels more spacious with an open layout. Photo-Illustration: Curbed; Photo: Eastpointe Residential For under a million dollars, one can find all sorts of housing configurations: park- and subway-adjacent studios, one-bedrooms hidden in carriage houses or former shoe factories, and even the occasional true two-bedroom. Were combing the market for particularly spacious, nicely renovated, or otherwise worth-a-look apartments at various six-digit price points. This week, we have an entire house with a roomy backyard on City Island and a south-facing one-bedroom in the middle of the West Village. A one-bedroom in Jackson Heights for $485,000 73-12 35th Avenue, #B62 The arched entryways featured in this listing photo show off the prewar charm retained in this one-bedroom co-op. Photo: Corcoran There are many reasons we keep returning to Jackson Heights, such as space, pricing, and original details. This prewar Art Deco co-op was designed by Sylvan Bien, who was behind the Carlyle hotel and a number of Park and Fifth Avenue co-ops. It has a sizable layout with an open living room that flows into the dining room and a kitchen with stainless-steel appliances. The bedroom fits a king-size bed and has two windows, including a nice corner one that overlooks the interior courtyard. Theres also lots of storage space in the form of four closets, and if thats not enough, theres storage downstairs as well, along with a gym. Just dont pay too much attention to the cascading waterfall fountains out front, which look like theyve seen better days. The monthlies are doable at $914, and its off an express 7-train stop so you can zoom into work. A four-bedroom house on City Island for $797,000 73 Caroll Street From left: The four-bedroom Colonial in this listing photo has been owned by the same family for a century. Photo: R New York The kitchen with a sizable island faces a sunny breakfast alcove. Photo: R New York From top: The four-bedroom Colonial in this listing photo has been owned by the same family for a century. Photo: R New York The kitchen with a sizable... more From top: The four-bedroom Colonial in this listing photo has been owned by the same family for a century. Photo: R New York The kitchen with a sizable island faces a sunny breakfast alcove. Photo: R New York Sometimes, you see an entire house for under a million dollars in New York City and you know to proceed with caution. But this one may fulfill your suburban dreams as it comes with a driveway, garage, and backyard. The interiors of this four-bedroom Colonial are a bit out-of-date (it has stayed in the same family for a century), but who cares when you have a covered patio in back, a breakfast alcove, and a backyard this spacious? The house is on a double lot, which means theres room to expand the house or simply to run around in. City Island isnt the most accessible place, but you wont really have to leave its a little microcosm of its own, and the house comes with access to a private beach down the street. A West Village one-bedroom for $800,000 32 Jones Street, #3A From left: Photo: Eastpointe Residential The kitchen featured in this listing photo for a West Village one-bedroom has a south-facing window and is flush with stainless-steel appliances. Photo: Eastpointe Residential From top: Photo: Eastpointe Residential The kitchen featured in this listing photo for a West Village one-bedroom has a south-facing window and is flus... more From top: Photo: Eastpointe Residential The kitchen featured in this listing photo for a West Village one-bedroom has a south-facing window and is flush with stainless-steel appliances. Photo: Eastpointe Residential This prewar co-op is in prime West Village territory, close to the West 4th Street subway stop. Its small, but the open kitchen and high ceilings make it feel spacious. The south-facing windows, including one over the kitchen sink, flood the space with light, and the apartment has a few other features, like exposed brick and built-in bookshelves. Pricewise, its comparable to other one-bedrooms in the neighborhood but is more centrally located and has a bit more space. The monthlies are on the higher end ($1,277) and kitchen storage is lacking, but restaurants like I Sodi and Via Carota are just down the street. A two-bedroom on the Upper East Side for $975,000 75 East End Avenue, #6C The living room centered in this listing photo has huge windows overlooking the East River. Photo: Corcoran For those who need a water view, this co-op has expansive windows that overlook the East River. (Some of the view is obscured by buildings, but the listing promises the river is visible from every window.) The gallery off the combined living-dining room looks like it would work perfectly for a home office, and the rest of the apartment is spacious with two big bedrooms the exception is the small galley kitchen. There are two walk-ins and three other closets, so all your storage needs are handled. The main downside is the high monthlies at $1,844. The building has a gym, a laundry, bicycle storage, and a garage, and its right next to the expansive riverside Carl Schurz Park with a dog run and playground (and its connected to Gracie Mansion). Venezuela Blocks Access To X The Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has issued an order to block X in an attempt to control the flow of information available to users in Venezuela. This follows a public row with the social media owner Elon Musk. The argument between Maduro and Musk has grown after contested election results that saw the Venezuelan President confirming his mandate for six more years. From his X account, Musk dismissed the victory as a "major election fraud" with Maduro accusing the billionaire of "inciting hate." Venezuelas government has also blocked access to crypto exchange Binance and other online services amid unrest over disputed presidential election results. This move has sparked concern both nationally and internationally, with many condemning it as a violation of freedom of speech and an attack on democracy. In response to the X blockage, many Venezuelans have turned to Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to bypass the restrictions and access social media platforms. Indeed, the research team at VpnMentor has detected a remarkable near 500% increase in VPN demand in Venezuela after the blocking of X . The surge in started on Thursday 8th August after Conatel, Venezuelas National Telecommunications Commission, effectively blocked access to the social media platform. VPN demand kept on growing until it reached its peak on Friday August 9. Before the elections of July 28, ProtonVPN started to offer its services for free to Venezuelan residents. Following the implementation of the blockade on Friday, August 9, TunnelBear VPN announced on X that they would offer temporary free access to people living in Venezuela in a show of support. This gesture led to a significant increase in demand for both VPNs across the country but only skyrocketed after the ban of X. The restriction on X marks a concerning development that adds to the constraints on freedom of expression and information access within Venezuela. With Venezuelans persisting in their quest for political transformation and economic equilibrium, global attention remains fixed on the unfolding events. The vpnMentor research team has recorded other similar VPN demand spikes related to protests, social media suspensions, and restricted access to certain apps or websites. For example, an Internet blockade in Bangladesh amid protests resulted in a VPN surge of over 5k%. This is one example of how people use VPNs as a work-around to government censorship, since open access to information and unrestricted communications are crucial instruments for advancing democracy and human rights. From Iran and Pakistan to Belarus and Russia, measures to restrict their citizens access to social media and other uncontrolled media is a hallmark of authoritarian regimes. vpnMentor | Coin Telegraph | Cryptoslate | Techradar | FT | Abijita | Nova News Agency Image: @NicolasMaduro You Might Also Read: Elections 2024 - Fake News & Misinformation [extract]: If you like this website and use the comprehensive 7,000-plus service supplier Directory, you can get unrestricted access, including the exclusive in-depth Directors Report series, by signing up for a Premium Subscription. Individual 5 per month or 50 per year. Sign Up Multi-User, Corporate & Library Accounts Available on Request Cyber Security Intelligence: Captured Organised & Accessible We're an independent student-run newspaper, and need your support to maintain our coverage. Donate Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. 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. My first encounter with Sue Gray the woman at the heart of Government now generating more headlines than any elected politician was when I was a health minister. I had to chair one of the most challenging meetings of my career, and Sue, then Cabinet Office Deputy Permanent Secretary, helped me to prepare. Emotions were running high, with many of those attending becoming upset. I couldn't leave my chair but, instinctively, looked across the room towards Sue. She put down her notepad and pen, picked up a box of tissues and began to hand them out, to fill up water glasses and lay a comforting hand on shoulders. Sue Gray - the woman at the heart of Government now generating more headlines than any elected politician, writes Nadine Dorries From that moment on I thought we had forged a bond, which later moved to a nascent friendship in my early days as Culture Secretary after she invited me to an event at the Edinburgh Festival. All that changed when, as the senior civil servant asked by then prime minister Boris Johnson to investigate Partygate, Ms Gray appointed a Remain-backing Labour supporter as her legal adviser. I quickly learnt how easy it is to be taken in by Sue Gray. She is a slick operator (and a close friend of former Tory Cabinet member Michael Gove, by the way). She hoodwinked me and, I believe, she has done the same to Keir Starmer, to whom she is now Chief of Staff. Barely six weeks in to Labour's reign and No 10 appears to be in disarray with claims that she and the Prime Minister's closest adviser, Morgan McSweeney, are battling it out for dominance. Some of it is laugh-out-loud. When I read that Ms Gray has reportedly 'twice moved [McSweeney's] desk' so that it's further away from the PM's office, an image of Sue Gray sprang to mind, arms outstretched as, almost horizontal, she huffs and puffs as she pushes a vast desk along a corridor while her rival has popped out for his lunchtime Pret. Then he returns, clutching his sandwich and coffee, only to find an empty space where his desk once was. Like something from The Office. More seriously, Ms Gray also stands accused of blocking security advisers' access to Starmer with an imperious 'Tell me...' while even the Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, the most senior civil servant, reportedly has to go through Ms Gray to speak to the PM. Then there are allegations about her 'dominating' negotiations over a controversial 310 million redevelopment of Casement Park Stadium in Belfast, a city with which she has strong historic links. Intriguingly, Sue Gray gave up her Whitehall job to briefly run a pub in rural County Down in what was known as 'bandit country' during the Troubles, and there has long been speculation that she was a spook. T hat's not unusual. Whitehall is packed to the rafters with former security agents now working in senior Civil Service roles. But as detailed in my book, The Plot, she coveted the position of Permanent Secretary at the Northern Ireland Office and even asked Boris Johnson for the job at one of their first meetings during her investigations into Partygate after being blocked by Simon Case. An embarrassed Boris pretended not to hear her request. Not long after that, with her damning Partygate report delivered, it was announced that Ms Gray was leaving the Civil Service to work for Keir Starmer! The reports over the weekend are, of course, being dismissed by both sides and by No 10, but clearly something is afoot and it isn't remotely funny. Remember the chaos, turmoil and far-reaching fallout created by Boris Johnson's one-time senior adviser, Dominic Cummings, when, like Gray, he too appeared to behave as though he thought he was PM? Starmer should recognise the ominous early signs his staff unsettled, briefings and counter-briefings and repeated leaks to the media. It will only get worse for him if he doesn't get a grip soon, because his decision to seemingly allow Ms Gray such a disruptive degree of power in No 10 is indicative of a weak PM with poor judgment. Is there anything he can do? Well, the House of Lords is an option, and I have no doubt that's where Sue Gray will be heading some day soon from where she will, I expect, continue to pursue the causes close to her heart. Why did Amanda wait so long to reveal texts? What is Amanda Abbington up to? I don't know who is advising her, but she needs to stop listening to them or public sympathy is very quickly going to turn to irritation. After she made public her complaint over her treatment on Strictly and placed her dance partner Giovanni Pernice front and centre of it the BBC was forced (quite rightly) to investigate. Now, with the publication of the investigation imminent, she has reportedly delivered a new tranche of text messages which reportedly show that Giovanni stepped over the line. (He vehemently denies any wrongdoing.) Why did she wait until now? Why weren't they handed over at the beginning? Surely she can't have forgotten she received them? All this is doing is dragging the affair out in the headlines, week after week. Oh, wait, unless of course Amanda Abbington and Giovanni Pernice on last year's Strictly Come Dancing Tom's Olympic debt to Queen Top Gun star Tom Cruise completed his latest mission impossible with a style and panache that left us stunned at the Paris Olympics closing ceremony. From the rafters of the Stade de France he leapt into the void to land unfazed on the pitch 115ft below, where he jumped on a motorbike and rode off bearing the Olympic flag. Cue a pre-recorded film of Cruise passing the Eiffel Tower and other landmarks en route to the airport to board a plane across the Atlantic then sky-diving over the Hollywood Hills to hand the flag on to LA, which will host the 2028 Games. In contrast to the soggy opening ceremony it was a finale to be proud of and owed much to the spoof footage of our beloved late Queen's parachuting into the stadium at London 2012. Well, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! Top Gun star Tom Cruise completed his latest mission impossible with a style and panache that left us stunned at the Paris Olympics closing ceremony Reassuring to see that Prince William is just like many dads on a summer holiday, avoiding the razor and nurturing a beard. In a video with Kate during which he thanked the Team GB Olympic competitors, we saw a relaxed William alongside a smiling and thankfully well-looking Kate. Will the beard still be there in September, I wonder. Prince William and a smiling Kate thanked the Team GB Olympic competitors in a video Are tourists staying away? I've just returned from Mallorca, a visit I was nervous about after reports that the locals were angry about too many tourists and their impact on island life. Certainly, it seemed far quieter than usual, but we did witness one unreasonable and angry 'anti-tourist' incident. Maybe it was just the heat? I hope so. I'm a regular visitor to the north of the island and I would hate for the usually welcoming vibe to change. Justin Welby is a man of the Left. It's as simple as that. His record is as plain as a pikestaff. And yet as Archbishop of Canterbury he is supposed to appeal to the whole nation, or at any rate to the whole of England, of whose Established Church he is Primate. In championing a succession of political issues from an overtly Left-wing standpoint, he risks being divisive, and alienating decent people on the Right from our national Church. His latest foray into waters from which he would be wise to steer clear was an article over the weekend in the Observer in which he called far-Right groups involved in the recent riots 'unChristian' and 'racist'. On the face of it, this may not seem a controversial thing to say. Attacking police or threatening to burn down a hostel housing asylum seekers is most definitely not in keeping with Christian values. If he had left it at that, there would have been no objection. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, is supposed to appeal to the whole nation, or to the whole of England, of whose Established Church he is Primate, writes Stephen Glover Labour grandee Margaret Hodge, who stood down at the election after 30 years as an MP, is as much part of the Left as is the Archbishop What is disquieting is his use of the word 'far-Right' to demonise not just the rioters but the views they and, more to the point, millions of non-rioters hold. He wrote of 'the lies and misinformation [that have] flourished in fertile ground, cultivated by years of rhetoric from some of our press and politicians'. This is intended to suggest that some politicians and newspapers have deliberately and malevolently fostered grievances, and that those grievances, which centre on uncontrolled immigration, have little or no basis in reality. It seems not to occur to Dr Welby that there could be respectable reasons for being concerned about the level of mass immigration experienced by this country over the past two decades. Those who have such feelings are implicitly dismissed as being part of the far-Right. Let me, by way of contrast, cite the comments of Labour grandee Margaret Hodge over the weekend. Dame Margaret, who stood down at the election after 30 years as an MP, is as much part of the Left as is the Archbishop. Nevertheless, she accused her party of being traditionally 'too frightened' to discuss immigration. She said: 'It's about talking about why people are here, what they contribute, the richness they bring to society. We also have to show we can control our borders. Those who aren't legitimate asylum seekers, you send back as quickly as you can.' Dame Margaret's record as an opponent of racism speaks for itself. As a secular Jew, she was an outspoken critic of the anti-Semitism rife in Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party. She also defeated far-Right British National Party leader Nick Griffin in her Barking constituency in 2010. Needless to say, Dame Margaret doesn't in the smallest degree condone the thugs and hooligans who have created so much mayhem. But, unlike the Archbishop, she is interested in the causes behind the riots. She notes that the turnout (around 60 per cent) at the general election was very low, and suggests that if we ignore 'this protest vote' we do so 'at our peril'. How vastly preferable are her sensitive reflections to Dr Welby's blanket condemnations! Dame Margaret understands that many people are disturbed by the rate of mass immigration. If the Archbishop cares about their feelings, he doesn't say so in his article. His association of 'far-Right' with 'unChristian' is telling. The historic far-Right, as exemplified by Hitler or Mussolini, employed violent and anti-democratic methods that can fairly be characterised as unChristian. Marine Le Pen, leader of France's National Rally party, is also consistently labelled far-Right The BBC regularly describes Giorgia Meloni, prime minister of Italy, as 'far-Right', even though she has a democratic mandate, strongly rejects violence and is generally moderate But if Dr Welby was implying, as I fear he was, that having concerns about uncontrolled immigration is 'unChristian' well, in that case he is writing off many millions of people, including some who occupy the Church of England's increasingly empty pews. The Archbishop should take more care. Many on the Left set out to demonise those with whom they disagree on the Right, particularly over the issue of immigration, as being 'far-Right' or 'racist'. It is a way of shutting down debate because such language strikes dread in the hearts of decent people. The BBC has got into the habit of using the term far-Right as an ideological put-down of parties or politicians whom it abhors. Earlier this year, it described Reform UK as 'far-Right', although it subsequently apologised, and retracted the term. Does Dr Welby regard Reform, which won 4.1 million votes at the election significantly more than the Lib Dems achieved, and about 60 per cent of the Tories' haul as being far-Right? I should be fascinated to know. I fear he does. The BBC regularly describes Giorgia Meloni, prime minister of Italy, as 'far-Right', even though she has a democratic mandate, strongly rejects violence and is generally moderate. Her 'crime' is to have opposed mass immigration. Marine Le Pen, leader of France's National Rally party, is also consistently labelled far-Right. I may have stupidly done so myself. Auntie's political coordinates sometimes go completely haywire, as when not long ago it decided that the incoming president of Argentina, Javier Milei, was far-Right. He isn't. 'Extreme libertarian' would be an accurate description. To denigrate your political enemies by calling them 'far-Right' has become so common that last year the Labour Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, had the brass neck to apply the term to motorists who protested against the unpopular expansion of his Ultra Low Emission Zone! The BBC and many on the Left realise that employing the phrase 'far-Right' is an effective way of despatching politicians they don't like, and putting them permanently beyond the pale. By contrast, 'far-Left' is very seldom used by the Beeb, and the less derogatory 'hard-Left' usually preferred. And Justin Welby? I've said he's a man of the Left, which is surely not a contentious statement. He led attacks on the Tories' Rwanda scheme in the Lords, encouraged the Church of England to wallow in guilt over its slight and long-distant associations with slavery, and in 2018 backed Labour in calling (misguidedly) for the rollout of Universal Credit to be delayed. Yet I've no doubt that the Archbishop of Canterbury is a good and holy man, if not always a wise one. Moreover, it is certainly part of his role as the leader of our national Church to encourage us to examine our consciences and to ask ourselves, if we are Christians, whether we have behaved as we should have done. For all that, there's nothing 'unChristian' about being troubled by the rapid influx of immigrants which very largely explains an increase in the UK's population of some 8 million since the beginning of the century and the consequent pressure on public services, housing and community cohesion. Millions of people (including not a few immigrants) are worried about the pace of change. The vast majority of them are neither racist nor extremist. As Dame Margaret Hodge has the good sense to say, it would be foolish to ignore their concerns. The Church of England is supposed to be a national Church that speaks to everyone. Sadly, as we all know, it no longer does. It has begun to resemble a sect. Under Justin Welby's leadership, it is becoming an increasingly Left-wing one. Meghan's global trademark difficulties with her American Riviera Orchard-branded jam have been compounded by Netflix. The jam's launch is inextricably linked with a cookery programme already filmed for Netflix which doesn't seem to be in a hurry to show it. Sometime in mid 2025 has been pencilled in. Will we also get to see her new dog treats range? When she unveiled it on the same day that Kate attended Trooping the Colour her first public appearance this year the Princess of Wales won that battle for the headlines. One flunkey referred to Meghan as the Pedigree Chump. Netflix has compounded Meghan Markle's global branding trademark difficulties Her American Riviera Orchard jam (pictured) is linked to a cooking show that Netflix appears to be in no hurry to show The show is now pencilled in for 2025. Will we also get to see her new dog treats range? Emmanuel Macron's splashing out just over 400,000 on a banquet for King Charles's state visit would have appalled the late Queen. The famously frugal monarch had reduced her banquets from eight courses to four and, for Barack Obama in 2011, she axed the soup, cutting them to three. Instead, she dazzled her guests with George IV gold and silver tableware, pudding served on Queen Victoria's 1877 Minton and fruit on George III's hand-painted Tournai. Prince Andrew fretted about the Palace's budget for replacing missing teaspoons, often skulking in a corner at receptions to spot miscreants. And, sometimes, he would ask the Master of the Household's department for a report on losses. A former member whispers that teaspoons regularly disappeared as did napkins, cutlery in general, butter dishes, sugar tongs, glasses and, in the past, ashtrays. In fact, anything that can be swiftly and easily concealed in a 'pocket, bosom or handbag... and avoid the eagle eye of the Duke of York!' Relaxing in her West Sussex beach hut, Kate Winslet is accosted by a passing teacher who struggles to identify her. 'I'll give you a clue,' offers Winslet. 'I was in a film about a boat.' 'Bridget Jones!' exclaims the tutor triumphantly. Kate Winslet was accosted by a passing teacher who struggled to identify her Former Match Of The Day presenter Des Lynam, 81, recalling his first BBC salary of 2,030 a year in 1969, is asked by Radio Times if his successor Gary Lineker is worth 1.3million a year. 'I don't suppose you can justify it in terms of what a nurse or fireman does, but it's the market,' he says. 'You can't say that anybody saying a few words into a television screen is worth more than someone who saves lives, but money dictates. He's a very lucky chap.' The closing credits of the BBC's final Paris Olympics extravaganza contained more names than a Hollywood Ben-Hur-like blockbuster, prompting questions about how much the coverage cost. Certainly more than the Beeb shelled out to the International Olympic Committee for the 1948 London Games. The Corporation offered 1,000 but the IOC let the cameras in for free. The Real Housewives of New Jersey star Gia Giudice has been furiously slammed after she boasted about being 'financially on her own' - despite living with her parents. The 23-year-old is the eldest daughter of reality star Teresa and her ex-husband, Joe, and frequently flaunts her lavish life on screen as well as on her social media. And although viewers may think her glamorous life is thanks to her TV star mom, 52, Gia is setting the record straight by letting fans know that she earns and spends all of her own cash. While speaking to Jason Tartick on his podcast Trading Secrets, Gia bragged about her latest lavish purchase before claiming to listeners that she didn't rely on her parents to fund her costly lifestyle. Following her comments, Gia - who is still living in her mom's house - was furiously mocked by viewers who teased her for branding herself financially independent, despite residing with her family. The Real Housewives of New Jersey star Gia Giudice has been furiously slammed after she boasted about being 'financially on her own' despite still living at home When asked about the funds she has made by starring in the show, she stated that she pays for everything herself. 'I don't really get money from my parents anymore. Financially, I really am on my own, and that's also a big misconception,' Gia said. 'People don't think I'm on my own. People think that I live off of Mommy and Daddy's money.' Then, Gia admitted that her role in the reality series has helped her bring home a flood of cash to splash out on grand purchases. 'I have definitely been able to [change my life] and I'm very grateful for that. I recently leased myself a Porsche so that was a big girl purchase for me,' she said. Gia also had something to say to trolls who criticized her for living at home. 'I do still live at home with my family but financially, I do still cover everything myself,' she added. However, fans weren't quite buying Gia's claims and noted that she couldn't be financially independent if she was still living with Tereasa and her mom's second husband, Luis Ruelas. The 23-year-old is the eldest daughter of reality star Teresa and her ex-husband, Joe, and frequently flaunts her lavish life on screen as well as on her social media And although viewers may think her glamorous life is thanks to her TV star mom, 52, Gia is setting the record straight by letting fans know that she earns and spends all of her own cash While speaking to Jason Tartick on his podcast Trading Secrets, Gia bragged about her latest lavish purchase before telling listeners that she didn't rely on her parents to fund her costly life However, fans weren't quite buying Gia's claims and noted that she couldn't be financially independent if she was still living with Teresa and her mom's second husband, Luis Ruelas One person said: 'She's totally on her own = I pay for own Starbucks when my mom isn't there.' Someone else added: 'On my own at my mom's.' 'I'm on my own... AKA I buy my own make-up & some clothes,' another user commented. 'I mean I could lease a Porsche if I lived with my parents,' one viewer added. Further in the podcast, Gia also revealed that she was already looking ahead on her next career venture. 'The next thing, for sure, is I want to start investing into properties and that was how my dad started, actually, so he's very familiar with the business, with how it works,' she said. In the past, Gia has frequently made headlines, with fans noticing that she is her mom's mini-me. The 23-year-old took to Instagram to show off her washboard abs while donning an orange bikini. Gia has frequently made headlines, with fans noticing that she is her mom's mini-me Gia is a graduate of Rutgers University. Gabriella is 20 years old and a high school graduate Mom Teresa wore a similar two piece while on her lavish summer vacation on the island of Mykonos in Greece in August 2023. Teresa and Luis met and began dating in July 2020 but didn't confirm their relationship until December of that year, when the RHONJ star made their romance Instagram official. Their August 6, 2022, nuptials were filmed for a Bravo special. Teresa has a total of four kids with ex Joe Giudice. Gia is a graduate of Rutgers University. Gabriella is 20 years old and a high school graduate. The new collaboration will be available at major UK retailers from September They both have a cult-like following across the globe, but what happens when you mix Coca-Cola and Oreo together. The answer is Coca-Cola Oreo Zero Sugar - the limited-edition beverage that is set to hit UK stores from September. In line with the sandwich cookie, the limited-edition fizzy drink comes in black and white packaging, with the addition of a red stamp to credit Coca-Cola. The new beverage mixes the refreshing taste of Coca-Cola with hints of Oreo cookies. Inspiration from the new drink comes from friendship, with the brands celebrating what it means to have a best friend. Coca-Cola have collaborated with Oreos to create a new, limited-edition beverage - Coca-Cola Oreo Zero Sugar (pictured) In addition to the new flavour, the brands have partnered with Spotify to create a new, immersive digital element called 'bestie mode'. By scanning the QR code on packs, people can follow the steps to enjoy the new mode, which allows customers to synchronise music preferences with friends. Once connected to a Spotify account, fans will answer questions to see how their taste in music stacks up against their friends. Then, the app generates a playlist with combined music preferences for both friends to enjoy together. Oana Vlad, Global Vice President - Brand Strategy at The Coca-Cola Company. said: 'Bringing together the playfulness of Oreo and the Real Magic of Coca-Cola is so unexpected, but also feels so right because we are alike in so many ways. 'As a first-of-its-kind collaboration for both brands, we are thrilled for besties around the world to join us in celebrating new products, great experiences and unexpected moments of connection.' Meanwhile, Eugenia Zalis, Global Head of Marketing and Brand for OREO, Mondelez International added: 'At OREO, we strive to identify fresh ways to excite consumers, and, with this collaboration, we have truly upped the ante.' 'The bestie bond forged between OREO and Coca-Cola is a playful way to unite our fanbases and celebrate the power of connection and togetherness. The brand new cookie-flavoured Coca-Cola will reach UK major retailers at the start of September 'We cannot wait to see the reaction to the campaign and hope fans are excited to experience the latest twists on two classics.' It comes after Coca-Cola introduced Coca-Cola Spiced and Coca-Cola Spiced Zero Sugar. The drink comes with hints of raspberry and is described as like 'amping up the spices' in a regular coca-cola. Despite its name, Coca-Cola Spiced doesn't actually have a lot of heat - but fans are split on whether they want to try the flavour or not. The drink is available to consumers in North America and took only seven weeks to develop. No UK release date has been planned as of yet. One user on X, formerly known as Twitter, said: 'Coke is rolling out their first permanent flavour in years. Spiced combines raspberry and spiced flavours. Looks kind of good?' The beverage mixes the refreshing taste of Coca-Cola with a hint of Oreo biscuits (pictured: Stock image of Oreo cookies) However, another coke fan wasn't left too impressed: 'I have learned that Coca-Cola is introducing a new permanent flavour called Coke Spiced. Nothing about this sits well with me'. A different user said: 'Coke hopes new raspberry-flavoured Coca-Cola Spiced will excite younger drinkers'. Coca-Cola's North American marketing chief Shakir Moin said at the launch this week: 'If you go to the aisles, you'll see the amount of spiciness has gone up because consumers' taste palates have evolved. 'We realised that could be an opportunity for us. Can we dial up something which is already part of our formula and bring in a taste profile that is interesting, unique, and brings in the next generation of consumers?' The cola giant is guarding its spice recipe closely but claims the drink tastes like an amped-up version of the spices in regular Coke. Coke has been exploring ways to get younger drinkers excited about its signature cola. In 2022, the branch launched Coca-Cola Creations, a series of eight limited-edition Coke flavors in colourful cans and bottles. The brand experimented by adding hints of coconut, strawberry, watermelon and other flavors to its drinks. Moin said customer research for Coca-Cola Creations led to the development of Coca-Cola Spiced. It usually takes Coca-Cola at least a year to develop a new beverage, he said, but Coca-Cola Spiced took just seven weeks. Moin said the company hopes to replicate that speed with future new products: 'Consumers are moving faster. The market is moving forward faster. We've got to be faster than the speed of the market'. When Christine Booker, 79, went into a private hospital for a hip operation in February last year, it promised to be a straightforward procedure that came only weeks after she had celebrated her 60th wedding anniversary with her husband Peter, 84. But what should have been a routine op resulted instead in a tragic series of events and Christine's death. An inquest heard how, during the procedure, the surgeon at the Winterbourne Hospital in Dorchester drilled a hole in her hip socket in order to screw an artificial replacement joint into place. But blood flowed from the drill hole and it only stopped after the surgeon inserted the screw. As a result, Christine, from Wareham, Dorset, lost half a litre of blood considered high for such a routine procedure. Within hours of the surgery, Christine's blood pressure plummeted because of internal bleeding and she fell unconscious. Staff at the private hospital tried to resuscitate her, but in the end had to call an ambulance to rush Christine to the nearby NHS Dorset County Hospital. Christine Booker, 79, with her husband Peter, 84. Christine died after attending a private hospital for a routine hip operation in February last year That's because, as is typical of private hospitals (including those that provide ops for NHS patients), the Winterbourne Hospital did not have the facilities to provide emergency treatment. Instead, it relies on nearby NHS facilities to step in when patients develop serious post-surgical complications. However, the Dorset County Hospital did not run an interventional radiology service (which provides imaging such as X-rays or ultrasound to guide surgeons) out of normal working hours and such imaging was necessary to stem Christine's internal bleeding. So she was flown 27 miles by air ambulance to the Royal Bournemouth Hospital, arriving three hours after her initial collapse. There she underwent embolisation a procedure to stop the bleeding by blocking blood vessels but died the following day of shock from blood loss, the inquest recorded. Both the Dorset coroner, Brendan Allen, and Christine's daughter, Simone Evans, argued the lack of an out-of-hours radiology service at the NHS Dorset County Hospital exposed Christine to an 'increased risk of death'. The coroner had no criticism of the private hospital itself. Clearly, the NHS treatment delay may have worsened her survival chances, yet Christine's case and hundreds like it every year pose a broader and increasingly urgent question: should our hard-pressed NHS really be expected so readily to take on patients from profit-making private hospitals whenever their operations go wrong? Christine was one of more than 740 patients in 2023 who were rushed from private hospitals to NHS units by ambulance because their condition deteriorated beyond the private facilities' ability to cope. And that number is set to grow because private hospitals are taking on more procedures on behalf of the NHS as it struggles to cope with workloads and waiting lists. In August 2022, hip patient Geoffrey Hoad, 86, died after waiting for more than 14 hours for an ambulance to transfer him from a private hospital to an NHS unit less than a mile away Meanwhile, increasing numbers of people are digging deep into their savings rather than endure lengthy NHS waiting lists. A record 73,000 people paid for their own private hospital treatment (rather than use medical insurance) in 2023, according to data from the Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN). Private hospital admissions are also higher than ever nearly 900,000 last year says PHIN. Sadly, Christine's story is by no means unique. In 2022, Carol Hatch, 73, from Leeds, suffered a series of professional errors after hernia surgery at the city's Spire private hospital. Her operation should have been straightforward surgery to repair a hiatus hernia that was causing acid reflux and heartburn. After all, Carol had had the very same operation seven years earlier for a previous hiatus hernia. However, as the coroner's report later pointed out, she became seriously unwell during the night after the surgery. Even though her notes said she had been 'crying in pain' at around 10 pm, no one took any observations on her in the early hours of the morning. It was not until 7am that her surgeon returned and saw the extent of her deterioration. Even then, several hours passed before an ambulance was called to rush Carol to St James's University NHS Hospital in Leeds, since the private hospital did not have adequate facilities for her emergency. Tragically, Carol died after six weeks in intensive care because of septic shock dangerously plummeting blood pressure caused by infection and consequent organ failure. Kevin McLoughlin, the senior coroner for West Yorkshire, issued a 'prevention of future deaths report', which is issued when a coroner believes action should be taken to prevent similar deaths. This report criticised the Spire Hospital in Leeds for 'failure to appreciate the urgency of the situation in a patient who was displaying symptoms of septic shock'. The coroner added his concern that the staff involved had not been reported to their professions' disciplinary regulators by hospital management. In its response to the report, the Spire Hospital said Carol's death was 'regrettably avoidable'. In December 2021, Christina Ruse, 79, died after developing complications following a hip replacement But it added that the problems highlighted 'had already been identified and addressed' and there were no disciplinary grounds to refer the night doctor involved to the General Medical Council (GMC). Meanwhile, it said, the night nurse's agency employer considered the case 'a learning opportunity rather than a disciplinary referral'. Alarmingly, the practice of private hospitals rushing patients to NHS units (which the industry calls 'unplanned transfers') is increasingly common. Latest figures from the PHIN, which is commissioned by the Government to monitor the sector's activity, show that there were more than 740 of these 'unplanned transfers' to NHS emergency care in 2023 up from less than 600 in 2020. It means that around one in 1,000 private healthcare patients needs an emergency post-op transfer. But analysis by the health-policy think-tank the Centre for Health and the Public Interest (CHPI) suggests the true figure may be much higher around one in 250 for some private centres. Such unplanned emergency transfers are fraught with the risk of things going wrong with patients' conditions, care and medication. A report in the journal Critical Care in 2015 found up to 70 per cent of such transfers resulted in 'adverse safety incidents'. PHIN spokesman Alistair Moses told Good Health that most unplanned transfers involve urgent emergencies, though some patients are sent back into the NHS because either the health service had wrongly assessed their treatment needs or the private unit found it didn't have the services to treat them. Meanwhile, private hospitals are taking ever more admissions. In 2022, the total was 835,000 surgical patients. PHIN says the 2023 figure is likely to be a record 881,000, thanks to NHS patients being siphoned into private hospitals. The Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN) said in March that private operators carried out a record 1.67 million procedures on NHS patients in 2023, which is nearly a third higher than in 2019. This amounts to around 10 per cent of all patients' elective procedures, such as hip and knee replacements. In August 2022, hip patient Geoffrey Hoad, 86, died after waiting for more than 14 hours for an ambulance to transfer him from a private hospital to an NHS unit less than a mile away. The retired company secretary from Wingfield, near Diss in Norfolk, had hip surgery under general anaesthetic, without complications, at the private Spire Hospital in Colney, near Norwich. But three days later, while recovering at the facility, his condition deteriorated. Spire Norwich does not deal with emergency treatment and an ambulance was called to transfer him to the NHS Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, which is a five-minute drive. Private hospitals are taking on more procedures on behalf of the NHS as it struggles to cope with workloads and waiting lists But it took paramedics more than 14 hours to arrive. An inquest heard that the ambulance service had told Spire staff there was a delay of six hours, but the delays worsened and, despite eventually being admitted for emergency care, Geoffrey deteriorated further and died from a heart attack later that day. The county's senior coroner, Jacqueline Lake, said at the inquiry: 'Waiting over 14 hours [for an ambulance] is not acceptable by any stretch of the imagination, and these delays are continuing.' However, she said that the Spire Hospital was 'fully aware' of the pressures on the ambulance service and resulting delays, yet 'Spire is continuing to rely on an NHS service which is clearly under great pressure and is clearly struggling to meet its time targets, and delays are continuing. I have concerns that the risk of death continues'. Lawyer Anne Saunderson from Fosters Solicitors, who represented Mr Hoad's family at the inquest, said: 'This is not the first time that HM Coroner has issued warning notices in relation to a death involving significant delays in the provision of ambulances to transfer patients from Spire Norwich hospital to local NHS hospitals.' Indeed, the case echoes two remarkably similar inquests in which Spire Hospital patients in Colney died after their conditions deteriorated and they faced long ambulance delays. In December 2021, Christina Ruse, 79, died after developing complications following a hip replacement. She had opted to go private because of a lengthy NHS waiting list, but there were complications after her surgery. Again, staff called an ambulance to take her to A&E at Norfolk and Norwich NHS hospital, but it took an hour and a half to arrive. In this time, Spire surgeons had rushed her back into theatre to try to stem bleeding that was making her blood pressure plunge and the ambulance did not wait. Another had to be called after her operation and Christina finally arrived at the NHS hospital three hours after the original call. Sadly, she died the following day. Her inquest ruled she had died from blood loss and multiple organ failure. Only ten months previously, in February 2021, 71-year-old Barbara Hollis died after having knee replacement surgery at the same hospital. After the op, her condition deteriorated significantly. Spire staff said at her inquest that they had told emergency services that 'immediate clinical intervention was needed'. Nevertheless, there was a 96-minute delay before she got to hospital and a high-dependency unit bed. Barbara died during the early hours of the next day. She had developed a fat embolism a clot of fat in her blood vessels as a consequence of surgery, and died subsequently of a heart attack, according to her coroner's report. The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust told the inquest it had introduced new procedures to cope with increases in demand for unplanned transfers and subsequent delays in responding to patients. David Rowland, director of the Centre for Health and the Public Interest (CHPI), says that much more must be done to protect private hospital patients when things go wrong with their surgery. 'Transferring unwell patients from a private hospital to an NHS hospital is a known patient safety risk which all patients treated in the private sector face including the increased numbers of NHS patients treated in private hospitals,' he says. 'Despite numerous tragedies, and despite the fact that politicians and regulators are fully aware of this risk, nothing has been done to address it.' Back in 2017, the CHPI published a report on patient safety in private hospitals that made this stark recommendation: 'Private hospitals will not be truly safe unless they have adequate facilities to deal with situations where a patient's life becomes endangered following an operation, ending the hazardous transfer of patients to NHS hospitals.' Indeed, in 2018, the then Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, wrote to the chief executives of all private hospitals that provide surgery, warning that they had to improve their emergency procedures urgently when their operations go wrong. Mr Hunt said the fact that 'many private providers lack appropriate escalation processes [to treat patients whose conditions are deteriorating] or transfer agreements is unacceptable'. And he urged: 'All healthcare providers dealing with routine procedures need to have clear processes for managing deterioration and for escalation.' However, since then, the number of private patients being rushed into the NHS has risen significantly. A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: 'NHS England has, under successive governments, commissioned care from the private sector; this can help the NHS respond to patients' needs, and deliver the commitments set out in the NHS Constitution to provide timely treatment. 'Commissioners of NHS healthcare services must ensure that the NHS provides the highest quality of services possible, on a financially and operationally sustainable footing, which delivers the best outcomes for patients.' A Spire spokesperson told Good Health: 'Transfer of patients out of our facilities is an extremely rare occurrence and significant delays are even rarer. 'We continue to work closely with regional ambulance services and local NHS trusts on ways to ease delays for patients receiving care, recognising that this is a challenge for entire local healthcare systems.' David Hare, chief executive of the IHPN, told Good Health: 'Independent healthcare providers are treating increasing numbers of both NHS and private patients, and are proud of the safe, high-quality patient care they deliver with a CQC [Care Quality Commission] rating over 92 per cent of acute independent hospitals as good or outstanding.' Doctors have issued a warning about getting too drunk at summer parties this year after treating a man who got blackout intoxicated and fell into a coma. The patient, 31, downed an entire 500ml bottle of tequila and two shots of shochu, a type of hard Japanese liquor while partying at a nightclub in Izunokuni, Japan. He passed out and was rushed to the hospital, where tests showed he was in a 'deep coma' and had a dangerous amount of fluid in his lungs. Doctors put him on a ventilator to prevent him from suffocating due to the fluid, which they suspect was vomit that he'd choked on. A 31-year-old man drank the equivalent of 11 shots as well as two cups of a Japanese liquor called shochu (stock) The chest CT scan showed hazy spots and areas of shadowing in the back parts of both lungs, with more significant findings on the left side. This indicates fluid build up in the lungs The patient was a nightclub owner but was otherwise healthy and not an alcoholic. After being transported to the hospital, he was given a score of E1V1M1 on the Glasgow Coma Scale, used to measure a person's level of consciousness after a head injury. The score meant that his eyes wouldn't open, even when stimulated, he did not speak, moan, or make any sounds, and he did not move his limbs or any part of his body in response to commands or painful stimuli such as a pinch. His blood pressure and heart rate were normal, but he was in respiratory distress and was becoming hypothermic. His tongue was also obstructing his airway and crackling sounds were coming from his lungs, indicating fluid there. It was probably due to vomiting while unconscious, causing the stomach contents to leak into the lungs. The doctors who treated the man at Juntendo Shizuoka Hospital in Japan said: 'The main life-threatening consequence of acute intoxication with high blood alcohol concentrations is respiratory depression. 'In these conditions, intoxication also reduces the sensitivity of the airways and the reflex block of foreign bodies, increasing the risk of aspiration.' On day two, he regained consciousness and his lung function improved, allowing doctors to remove the breathing tube. He was discharged from the hospital on day three. The case report was published in the American Journal of Medical Case Reports. The patient drank 500ml and two glasses of liquor which works out at around - the equivalent of 13 shots of spirits. The CDC recommends people have no more than one shot per day, or one beer or wine. Alcohol is considered the most abused drug out there, with 16.3 million US adults reporting heavy alcohol use in the previous month. Around one in five adults say they sometimes drink more than they think they should. This is more common in men than women. Americans now drink the same amount as during the Civil War around 2.5 gallons per year on average. This is up from 2.15 gallons in 1995 and 2.3 gallons at the tail-end of World War II. After years of being told that red wine in moderation, about a glass a night with dinner, had robust heart health benefits, the public has just learned that is not the case. Researchers have found that past evidence to back that claim up is flimsy and has only been documented in observational studies - meaning other factors could be at play. And the World Health Organization meanwhile said no amount of alcohol is safe or healthy. A study conducted in the UK found that even Brits who were classed as low-risk drinkers had an 11 percent higher risk of dying from cancer compared to 'occasional drinkers'. Those from poorer areas had an even harder time, having a 25 percent increased risk of dying from cancer and a 14 percent higher risk of dying overall. Almost half of GP practices in England are already taking some form of industrial action in a row over a new NHS contract, a poll suggests. The British Medical Association said family doctors voted overwhelmingly for action when it announced the result of a ballot earlier this month. The militant union has threatened to bring the NHS to a standstill with a catalogue of crippling measures deployed as a slow burn. But a snap poll of 283 GP partners by trade magazine Pulse reveals 46 per cent are already taking some form of action and 20 per cent plan to do so in the future. Only 7 per cent ruled out taking any action. Nearly half of GP practices in England are taking industrial action that threatens to bring the NHS to a 'standstill' (file photo) But a snap poll of 283 GP partners by trade magazine Pulse reveals 46 per cent are already taking some form of action and 20 per cent plan to do so in the future (file photo) The BMA, which called the new contracts derisory, arguing a proposed budget increase of 1.9 per cent would leave many surgeries struggling to stay afloat, said 98.3 per cent of the 8,500 votes were in favour of industrial action. It is encouraging surgeries to choose from a list of ten actions, with practices able to choose how many they implement and when including some slashing available appointments by half to a maximum of 25 per GP per day. More than a quarter of the practices who responded to the poll were already limiting patient contacts, while 44 per cent said they were considering it. A quarter of GPs said they believe industrial action will affect patient harm in the short term and 19 per cent in the long term. But most feel it will make no difference or decrease harm. Health Secretary Wes Streeting warned the move will punish the public, while experts said the impact is likely to be catastrophic. A little girl who suddenly fell into a prolonged coma despite 'all the medical evidence showing she should be awake and well' has been diagnosed with a rare condition. The girl's mum, Allanah Alison (also known as Allanah Harris), shared a heartbreaking update on Sunday explaining her daughter Daisy has tuberous sclerosis and has fallen into a comatose state for more than 100 hours. The condition causes non-cancerous tumours to grow on the brain and other vital organs, which then in turn causes other complications such as seizures and developmental delays. The lifestyle influencer told her 223,000 followers that her once 'bright and bubbly' toddler was diagnosed with the condition in June after she noticed what she suspected were absent seizures, which appear as 'staring spells' in children. The mum-of-four said these became more frequent, with Daisy having multiple seizures a day, and when she insisted she be tested in hospital she was 'diagnosed with epilepsy on the spot'. The doctors later found the cause of the epilepsy was tuberous sclerosis after doing a brain scan, with the condition also causing other brain disorders including focal cortical dysplasia, infantile spasms and encephalopathy. The toddler had recently been sleeping up to 22 hours each day until she fell into a coma a few days ago. 'Daisy has been unresponsive for over 100 hours and we have no idea when she will choose to wake herself up, this could be tomorrow but it could be in six weeks, it's something that's only safe for her to do when she's ready,' Ms Alison said. Queensland mum Allanah Alison shared a heartbreaking update on her little daughter Daisy The youngster has fallen into a coma with doctors not knowing how or when she will wake The Queenslander said that her daughter has had 'countless needles and blood tests while ''asleep'' and doesn't so much as bat an eye lid'. 'Unfortunately there aren't any medications or stimulants that are safe for Daisy to have to help her wake. 'Even after Daisy decides to wake we will still have the long journey of trying to figure out what is causing this level of sleep and slow brain activity.' Ms Alison said the doctors are already 'bending over backwards' to try to understand why Daisy has gone into a comatose state. 'All medical evidence so far shows that Daisy should be awake and well, with of course the exception of her severe developmental delays. but sadly that isn't the case. 'Investigations are taking place and information regarding Daisy has been expedited to other hospitals around not only Australia but other countries to help find answers.' The lifestyle influencer said doctors are looking for answers globally about Daisy's condition On top of this, doctors had diagnosed Daisy with tuberous sclerosis four years to the day after her older sister died. The devastated family have thanked their supporters and well-wishers. A GoFundMe has been launched by Daisy's grandmother to help pay medical bills. 'It's financially taken a toll and has made it difficult to be able to arrange care for the other three children due to the amount of time in hospital,' Karen George said. 'Allanah and Brock will need to move to the Sunshine Coast where the support network is significantly greater. 'No contribution is too small and will help this beautiful family. 'Any excess funds available, they intend to donate to the RMH and TSC foundations,' she said. Parents of a four-year-old boy who died of sepsis after allegedly being told to take Calpol hope to get answers in an upcoming inquest. Lindita Alushi and Kastriot Klosi took son Daniel to the Royal Free Hospital in Camden, London, four times in the week before his death - but were consistently discharged. During the second and third visits the couple claim doctors advised them to give their son Calpol and Ibuprofen. On the fourth visit Daniel, who had autism, was admitted to the children's emergency department with sepsis but died hours later. His mother Lindita, a pharmacy assistant and qualified doctor in her native Albania, said: 'Daniel was the most adorable little boy and we were so blessed that he was our son. Lindita Alushi said of her son Daniel: 'Daniel was the most adorable little boy and we were so blessed that he was our son' Daniel's parents took him to the Royal Free Hospital in Camden, London , four times in the week before his death - but were consistently discharged. Pictured Daniel at hospital during one of the family's vists 'He loved cooking and baking with me. 'He loved animals, listening to stories and playing with his friends. Daniel was very inquisitive and curious. He was just an absolute delight. 'We still struggle to understand what happened to Daniel and why. 'We kept taking him to hospital and were really concerned about his condition but nothing can prepare you for being told your little boy has died. 'That day our family changed forever. Our days are filled with distress, emptiness and sorrow.' The couple have enlisted help from specialist medical negligence lawyers at Irwin Mitchell and the inquest into Daniel's death is due to start on August 13 at Poplar Coroner's Court. The inquest is expected to last two days and the family hope it will provide some much-needed answers. Lindita, 44, added: 'While time has moved on it has stood still for our family because of the many unanswered questions around what happened to Daniel. 'Every day we wonder if more could have been done to save our little boy. 'We know that hearing everything again at the inquest will be incredibly difficult, but it's something we need to do to honour our son and get the answers we've been seeking for more than a year.' Daniel's parents first took him to A&E at the Royal Free Hospital on March 26, 2023, where he was sent home only a couple of hours later. Four days later they returned to hospital concerned for Daniel's breathing and he was discharged in the early hours of the following day. During the second and third visits the couple claim doctors advised them to give their son, who was sick with sepsis, Calpol and Ibuprofen. Pictured Kastriot Klosi playing with Daniel The inquest is expected to last two days and the family hope it will provide some much-needed answers The pair continued to be concerned about Daniel, who they said had stopped eating, and took him back the next day where they were sent home yet again. They returned again with Daniel at around 4pm that same day where after around four hours in A&E he was admitted. However, his condition deteriorated, and he died in the early hours of the next day, Sunday, 2 April. Lucy Macklin, the medical negligence lawyer representing the couple, said: 'Attempting to try and come to terms with Daniel's death and the events leading up to it has been incredibly difficult for Lindita and Kastriot. 'Understandably they continue to have many questions and concerns about the care their son received and Daniel's death. 'While nothing will ever make up for Daniel's death, we're determined to support his loved ones so they at least can be provided with the vital answers they deserve. 'The inquest is a major milestone in being able to do this. 'If during the course of the hearing any issues in the care Daniel received are identified, it's vital that lessons are learned to improve patient safety for others.' A spokesperson from Royal Free London said: 'We are deeply saddened by the death of Daniel and once again would like to send our sincere condolences to his family. 'We have carried out an investigation into Daniel's care and the findings were shared with his family. 'We await the outcome of the inquest.' A debilitating virus originating in sloths and spread by insect bites, including midges and mosquitos, has been reported for the first time in Europe. The Oropouche virus has been reported in 19 people in the past two months, according to the European Center for Disease Control (ECDC). Twelve were reported in Spain, five in Italy, and two in Germany. There is no vaccine for the disease which originates in pale-throated sloths, non-human primates and birds. Experts say the virus comes from the same family of diseases as Zika virus and Dengue, which are both potentially deadly. Tell-tale signs of Oropouche include headaches, nausea, vomiting, and muscle and joint pains. There is no vaccine for the disease which originates in pale-throated sloths, non-human primates and birds Dr Danny Altmann, a professor of Immunology at Imperial College London, told The Telegraph: 'We should definitely be worried. Things are changing and may become unstoppable.' Symptoms typically start four to eight days after being bitten and in severe cases illness can result in meningitis, according to the NHS Travax website. Although potentially deadly, the ECDC said fatal outcomes are extremely rare and recovery from the disease is common. In most cases symptoms subside within four days. Outbreaks of the virus to date have been reported in several countries across South America, Central America and the Caribbean. In 2024 specific outbreaks have been recorded in Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, and more recently in Cuba. Eighteen of the cases recorded in Europe reported recent travel to Cuba and one case in Italy had travelled to Brazil. According to a report in the Lancet, on July 25 two deaths caused by Oropouche were reported for the first time in Brazil in two young women who had no other underlying health conditions. Although the cases remain low in Europe, between January and mid-July this year more than 8,000 cases have been recorded in Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Columbia and Cuba. Due to these high numbers the ECDC has said the likelihood of infection for EU citizens travelling to or residing in epidemic areas is currently assessed as moderate. The European authority is advising those travelling to affected areas to wear insect repellent and long-sleeved shirts and long trousers to reduce the risk of bites. The strain behind the recent outbreak was first spotted in the tiny village of Oropouche, in Trinidad and Tobago, back in 1955. Five years later, during the construction of the Belem-Brasilia highway, a sloth was tested as carrying Oropouche. Within a year people in the area became ill with the virus and since there have been around 30 outbreaks, all centred in the Amazon basin. It's unclear which insects spread the virus in the jungle where it circulates between sloths, birds and primates. But in an urban setting midges and mosquitos spread the disease among humans. But due to deforestation and increased urbanisation, host animals such as sloths are more displaced, causing midges and mosquitoes to feed on humans rather than wildlife. Soaring temperatures caused by climate change has also meant midges are flying further afield and increased rainfall and flooding provides the perfect breading ground for the biting insects. READ MORE: Family in three states sicked with parasitic illness from BEAR meat Dozens of North Carolina residents have been sickened by a mysterious parasitic illness, health officials warn. The health department in Wake County, home to Raleigh, said this week that it has confirmed 135 cases of Cyclosporiasis, an intestinal illness that causes explosive diarrhea, bloating, and vomiting. Since the first reports were filed in May, officials have investigated three local restaurants, though they believe 'herbs and vegetables' may be the culprit. The department declined to reveal which restaurants were investigated. No deaths have been reported. The health department in Wake County, home to Raleigh, said this week that it has confirmed 135 cases of Cyclosporiasis, caused by the parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis Cyclosporiasis can lead to intestinal distress like watery diarrhea, cramps, bloating, and a loss of appetite, according to the CDC 'We have not identified the specific contaminated food item, and the outbreak appears to be over,' spokesperson with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) told local news station WRAL. Cyclosporiasis is an intestinal illness caused by the parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis, also called Cyclospora. It's native to tropical and subtropical regions and is typically spread when people consume food contaminated with feces. The bacteria usually needs to be in the environment for one or two weeks after being passed in stool for it to infect someone, which means it is usually not spread from one person to another. It's most often found in produce like fresh herbs, romaine lettuce, and berries. In Wake County's case, officials believe the illnesses could be linked to contaminated herbs and vegetables. The department did not specify which particular foods are suspected. Cyclosporiasis may not cause symptoms, but typical signs include watery diarrhea, appetite loss, weight loss, cramping, bloating, gas, nausea, and fatigue. Local resident Haley Trent told WRAL: 'The biggest thing is the scariness of it. That it could happen any time and that there's no way to really protect yourself from it.' Cyclosporiasis is caused by eating produce contaminated with feces Ms Trent experienced body chills, 'extreme' fever, diarrhea, vomiting, and a loss of appetite. 'I couldn't keep any food down and couldn't keep any water or any Gatorades, any type of medicine down,' she said. She had to be rushed to the emergency room twice but has since recovered. Though the parasite typically goes away on its own, patients may need IV fluids and antibiotics to alleviate their symptoms. There were about 2,200 cases of cyclosporiasis in the US last year, according to the CDC, but there were no reported deaths. This is a dramatic increase from just 537 cases in 2016, though officials believe this could be due to DNA and stool sample tests becoming more widely available. To prevent illness, the CDC recommends washing hands with soap and water before and after handling raw fruits and vegetables and cleaning produce before using it. Hundreds of girls aged 12 and under have had 'top surgery' to remove their breasts in the US since 2017, data suggests. And more than 6,000 girls aged 13 to 18 had the 'gender-affirming' surgeries in that time, according to an analysis seen by DailyMail.com. It comes after the Biden Administration came out against transgender surgeries for children in June for the first time, marking a major pivot from its earlier stance. High profile Democrats, including Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, had previously claimed sex change surgeries 'don't happen' on children. Researchers at the conservative Manhattan Institute think-tank carried out what they call the biggest ever analysis of transgender care for minors, reviewing more than 4billion insurance claims from 155million people between 2017 and 2023. The above graph shows the number of gender-affirming top surgeries carried out in the US by year according to the analysis Overall, they found that between 5,288 and 6,294 children under 18 years old had 'top surgeries' over the six years studied. 'Top surgery' or a double-mastectomy is a type of gender-affirming care where the breasts are removed in order to masculinize the chest. There were also between 50 to 179 girls aged 12 years and under who they said had the procedure. The team calculated two estimates, a 'conservative' one using only children diagnosed with gender dysphoria and a 'liberal' one which also looked at children diagnosed with other disorders, such as an endocrine disorder, who then had a double-mastectomy. The researchers said doctors may sometimes record a child suffering from gender dysphoria as one suffering from a separate condition. The team said, however, that their figures may be an under-estimate because they did not include procedures paid for out-of-pocket. Puberty in girls normally begins around the ages of 10 or 11, with breast development being the first physical change that youngsters experience. The above map shows states that have banned aspects of gender-affirming care for children Surgery to remove the breasts leaves long scars on the chest below the nipples, and also leaves youngsters at risk of a serious infection or a loss of sensation in the chest or nipple area. It cannot be reversed. At least 23 Republican states have banned the surgery for minors, citing concerns over its health effects and youngsters ability to understand the effect of the procedures. But at the federal level, there is no age limit on gender-affirming surgeries or other gender-affirming care. In their analysis, researchers analyzed insurance claims data from health systems, data aggregators and other healthcare databases nationwide. Data was analyzed for patients diagnosed with gender dysphoria who then received a double mastectomy or 'top surgery'. A previous research letter published by JAMA suggested there were only 489 'top surgeries' per year in 2019 far below the estimates for this study. But it was based on the Nationwide Ambulatory Surgery Sample, which only covers 34 states and an estimated 68 percent of the US population. In a separate study in JAMA, it was suggested that 3,678 children aged 12 to 18 years old underwent gender-affirming surgery from 2016 to 2020 or about 735 per year. This included those receiving top surgeries, as well as facial feminization or masculinization surgery. It is not common to do genital surgery. Another analysis carried out at Kaiser Permanente Northern California health system found just 209 minors got top surgery between 2013 and 2020. Of these, 10 were aged 12 to 13 years old. Women suffering pregnancy emergencies are being turned away by doctors frightened of breaking confusing new abortion rules, a lawsuit claims. One woman in Texas says she was given a pamphlet on miscarriage and told her to 'let nature take its course' before discharging her without treating her ectopic pregnancy - a deadly condition that sees the unviable embryo grow outside the womb. The 25-year-old bled for three days and has now been rendered infertile. Two women one in Florida and one in Texas were dismissed by doctors and left to miscarry in public restrooms. Kyleigh Thurman [pictured] experienced an ectopic pregnancy that doctors failed to treat, legal documents say, and she ended up losing her fertility Kelsie Norris-De La Cruz [shown] had to have emergency surgery that resulted in losing her right fallopian tube, and she lost approximately 75 percent of her right ovary At least 100 pregnant women in severe medical distress were turned away from emergency departments in 2022, an Associated Press analysis shows. It's not clear how those numbers compared to pre Dobbs but anecdotally doctors are reporting confusion about how to approach abortion issues in hospitals. Experts and healthcare providers attribute the issue to fears doctors have of overstepping abortion bans and facing prison. Two new legal complaints from victims of ruptured ectopic pregnancies, which occurs when a fertilized egg attaches to the fallopian tube instead of the uterus, allege Texas hospitals failed to provide them with the speedy, life-saving treatment they needed, instead sending them home multiple times to fend for themselves. Texas law regarding abortion explicitly says that ending ectopic pregnancies, which are never viable, is legal. Under state law, an 'act is not an abortion if the act is done with the intent to remove an ectopic pregnancy.' Ectopic pregnancy is the leading cause of maternal mortality in the first trimester, accounting for five to 10 percent of all pregnancy-related deaths. The state's law criminalizes abortion from the moment a heartbeat is detected, around five or six weeks gestation except when the pregnant woman's life is put at risk. There are no exceptions for cases of rape and incest. Providers found to have performed an abortion will be forced to pay $100,000 and/or spend the rest of their lives in prison. But the legal complaints for both Texas victims, Kelsie Norris-De La Cruz, 25, of Dallas, and Kyleigh Thurman of Burnet, claim doctors have been scared into running extensive tests despite knowing the diagnosis in order to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the pregnancy is unviable. Texas' six-week abortion ban allows for the procedure in the case of an ectopic pregnancy, which is never viable But in the time doctors are running superfluous tests, they're delaying life-saving medical care and allowing the patient's physical condition to deteriorate. Since the federal guarantee to the right to an abortion was overturned by the conservative-leaning Supreme court in June 2022, the number of states that have passed tight restrictions or all-out bans on abortion has reached 22, with even more considering legislation that aims to curtail rights. Both Texas victims are demanding the federal government investigate the hospitals they were treated at to determine whether they broke federal law by denying them care. Kelsie Norris-De La Cruz, who had experienced two miscarriages previously and was trying to prevent another pregnancy, learned she was expecting in January 2024. She was in her final year of college and she and her boyfriend began to plan for their new lives as parents. But while waiting for her first pre-natal appointment, she noticed something was terribly wrong. She bled for hours before going to the emergency room at Medical City Healthcare in Dallas, where her high hormone levels and heavy bleeding pointed to another miscarriage. She was sent home and told to seek additional care if she continued experiencing cramping and bleeding. And she did, at one point having severe cramps that made it impossible to stand up and drive herself to school. At one point, she began passing blood clots and made an appointment at her colleges health center on February 12. The staff noted severe pain on her right side and told Ms Norris-De La Cruz to go to the hospital emergency room immediately. Norris-De La Cruz had experienced two prior miscarriages before experiencing a near-fatal ectopic pregnancy. She was in her last year of college when she learned she was pregnant once again After rushing to Texas Health Arlington Hospital with her mother, further hormone tests revealed they were surging. It gave Ms Norris-De La Cruz a glimmer of hope: maybe her pregnancy was still viable after all. But her world crumbled when she learned it was an ectopic pregnancy. She could either undergo surgery or receive a shot of methotrexate, which stops the growth of pregnancy tissue that has implanted outside the uterus and allows the body to absorb that tissue. She opted to surgically remove the mass, believing it would give her a better chance of having the situation resolved completely without needing follow up care. When the on-call OB/GYNs arrived, the hospital wouldn't treat Ms Norris-De La Cruz for her ectopic pregnancy. Even though two doctors at the hospital knew her pregnancy could rupture, they still refused to help her and sent her home, asking her to come back in 48 hours for another blood test, according to the legal complaint. The complaint states: As the conversation became more heated, the OB/GYN confirmed it was possible that [Ms Norris-De La Cruz's ectopic pregnancy] could rupture over the next 48 hours and subsequently stormed out of the room.' A ruptured ectopic pregnancy leads to severe, life-threatening internal bleeding as well as a risk of infection and, typically, impaired fertility. The OB/GYN recorded in Ms. Norris-De La Cruzs chart that although this is likely an ectopic pregnancy if she has not [had] intercourse since December, [Ms. Norris De La Cruz] is not a reliable historian as she is very angry and upset,"' according to the complaint. Desperate for treatment, and even after another emergency room doctor noted in Ms. Norris-De La Cruzs file: I do not feel comfortable discharging her home and do not think that is in her best interest, she was told to go home and return in two days for another blood test. She and her mother knew then Texas Arlington would not help her, and even Houston hospitals said she would receive the same treatment there. Coincidentally, her close friend was at an OB/GYN appointment when she showed her doctor Ms Norris-De La Cruzs scans, which showed a mass so large the doctor could see it from far away. That doctor performed emergency surgery and had to remove most of Ms Norris-De La Cruzs right fallopian tube, and she lost approximately 75 percent of her right ovary. The removal of the fallopian tube and ovary, that was necessitated by the delay in treatment, likely will impact her ability to have a child in the future. While this doesn't necessarily mean she will never be able to carry a child again,as she still has one fallopian tube to serve as a pathway for the fertilized egg to travel to the uterus. But the loss of a major portion of her right ovary decreases her overall egg reserve drastically, meaning there will be far fewer eggs available during ovulation when she next wants to get pregnant. Kyleigh Thurman's legal complaint is similar. Ms Thurman, a massage therapist, had never been pregnant before January 2023, when she suspected something was wrong with her body. Her period was irregular, she had severe cramping in her abdomen and had been experiencing continuous bleeding for a month. Kyleigh Thurman knew something was wrong when she became pregnant in January 2023. When doctors finally obliged to give her the necessary care to remove the mass on her fallopian tube, it was too late. It had ruptured, causing severe internal bleeding In February of that year, her OB/GYN told her to rush to the emergency room, suspecting she had an ectopic pregnancy. Her hometown emergency room could not find a pregnancy in her uterus, measured her hormone levels, and sent her home. Ms Thurman returned to the same ER two days later after her doctor said she needed injectable methotrexate to remove the mass on her fallopian tube before it ruptured, which could potentially kill her. The ER reportedly did not stock methotrexate, so Ms Thurman rushed to Ascension Williamson Hospital an hour away. Doctors in the ER could see the mass there, too, and noted her hormone levels had plummeted, both telltale signs of an ectopic pregnancy. Still, the hospital denied her methotrexate or any other treatment for ectopic pregnancy and she was sent home, told yet again to return in two days. Finally, after her OB/GYN rushed to the hospital to advocate for her patient, medical staff at Ascension Williamson Hospital obliged and gave her a shot of methotrexate. Ms Thurman told the Associated Press: [My doctor] came in and shes like, "Youre either going to have to have a blood transfusion, or youre going to have to have surgery or youre going to bleed out." Thats when I just kind of was like, Oh my God, Im dying. Doctors at Ascension said she was bleeding out and in emergency surgery had to remove her right fallopian tube. Her lawyers said: After the surgery, Kyleigh was overwhelmed by the horror of the ordeal. The removal of the fallopian tube that was necessitated by the delay in treatment likely will impact her ability to have a child in the future. Ms Thurman was told repeatedly by doctors in the ED to go home and wait two days before returning to the hospital. She was not sick enough for them to feel legally safe to perform a procedure that would treat her ectopic pregnancy In addition to the physical toll, this experience caused Kyleigh significant psychological harm. Waiting any longer could have cost Ms. Thurman her life. Texas six-week abortion ban has had disastrous consequences for women with PPROM. A 2022 study in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology reported that in cases where patients waited for treatment, 57 percent experienced serious health problems compared to 33 percent of patients who chose to end the pregnancy right away in states without similar laws. The researchers concluded that Texas law that requires waiting for treatment of pregnancy complications around the time a baby can survive outside the womb was associated with significant maternal morbidity. Another woman in Texas presented to Sacred Heart Emergency Center where she was bleeding profusely. But staff manning the front desk refused to check her in, saying that because she was not an established patient of the hospital's medical staff, they could not treat her. Her husband watched as she miscarried in the ER's restroom, talking to paramedics on 911 who could bring her to a different hospital. Dr Amelia Huntsberger, an OB/GYN in Oregon, said: It is shocking, its absolutely shocking. It is appalling that someone would show up to an emergency room and not receive care -- this is inconceivable. Their stories of being denied care in red states with rigid abortion restrictions are not unique. In Florida, abortion is banned after 6 weeks except when the procedure would either save the pregnant womans life or avert a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function. But the law failed Broward County native Anya Cook, according to federal documents. Ms Cook, just over 15 weeks pregnant, was on the toilet in her hair salon, thinking she was about to die. Her baby was not alive and she was bleeding profusely. Over the course of the day, scrambling for care, she lost half the blood in her body. She was leaking amniotic fluid, which protects the baby in the womb. She went to the hospital that night, but was told that there were no beds available and they couldn't help her. They sent her home to deal with her miscarriage on her own. Doctors diagnosed her with pre-viability preterm prelabor rupture of the membranes (PPROM), which occurs in less than one percent of pregnancies. An ultrasound at the hospital had shown a heartbeat, meaning she couldn't have an abortion. And she wasn't sick enough yet for doctors to comfortably induce labor. After passing her dead fetus in the hair salon bathroom two days later, paramedics rushed in, carried her out on a stretcher, and took her to the hospital. The on-call OB/GYN there said she was critically ill and needed to be put on a ventilator. According to records, Cook was sedated for more than 12 hours and woke up the next morning. She learned the doctors were able to save her uterus. However, several physicians said the procedure to stop the bleeding might have permanently damaged the arteries supplying blood to her uterus, which could lower her chances of having a healthy pregnancy in the future. Level of fines will increase for the first time since their introduction in 2013 Parents could be fined hundreds of pounds if they take their children out of school in term time, as the Government looks to improve school attendance. Fines for unauthorised absences will be 20 higher per day for the coming academic year, marking the first time the fine has increased since its introduction in 2013. The new fines, which were introduced under the previous Government, will come into effect next week. We explain why the Government has increased fines, how they work and how much you could be charged. Parents risk a penalty charge notice if they take their children on holiday in term-time When will parents be fined? The current rules say that children can only miss school if they're too ill to go in or have received advance permission from the school. If a parent wants to take their children out of school in term time, there need to be 'exceptional circumstances' and they need to make an application to the head teacher in advance, who will authorise the absence at their discretion. Local authorities control their own policies on when to issue fines, so the likelihood of being fined will depend entirely on which council a child's school is in. To avoid inconsistencies across councils, the previous Government issued a new 'national framework' for when a penalty notice must by considered by all schools. These new guidelines say that schools should consider a fine if a child has missed 10 sessions, equivalent to five days of school, without advance permission. How much will parents be fined? The minimum fine for parents who take their children out of school in term time without permission is currently 60, but will rise to 80 from 19 August. If parents fail to pay their fine within 21 days it doubles to 120, or 160 from August. The penalty notices are issued to each parent who allows their child to be absent. This means that three siblings who had an unauthorised absence in term time would result in each parent who allowed the absence, receiving three separate fines. While some families might pay the fine to save money on holidaying outside of the summer holidays, when prices for flights and hotels soar, they could face steeper fines. If a parent receives a second fine for the same child within any three-year period, they will immediately be charged 160. Fines per parent will be capped at two fines within three years and once that limit has been reached, the Department of Education says a parenting order or prosecution will be considered. If you attend court because your child hasn't been attending school, you could receive a fine of up to 2,500 and it could show up on a parent's future DBS certificate due to 'failure to safeguard a child's education'. Why are the fines rising? The 20 rise in absence fines come after nearly 400,000 penalty notices were issued to parents in England in 2022/23 for unauthorised school absences. A record 350,000 parents, out of the 399,000 who received penalty notices, were fined for taking their children out of school for unauthorised holidays. Earlier this year, the Conservative Government introduced 'attendance hubs' to help reduce persistent absences after the pandemic. Education secretary Bridget Phillipson confirmed the increase in fines would remain in place after Labour won the election. She told the BBC that there 'will have to be consequences' for parents and that the practice is 'here to stay'. The government says: 'For most pupils, the best place to be during term-time in is school, surrounded by the support of their friends and teachers. 'This is important not just for your child's learning, but also for their overall wellbeing, wider development and their mental health.' At the time, the fine increases were announced, Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders said: 'It is not unreasonable to increase the level of fines for unauthorised absence given that they have been fixed at 60 for several years. 'However, it is important to understand that these fines predominantly relate to pupils who are taken out of school for term-time holidays. While nobody wants to be in a position of finning parents there simply has to be a marker that this is not acceptable. 'Not only does it affect the child's education but it means teachers then have to spend time helping children to catch-up with lost learning. If everybody did this it would be chaos.' When is the best time to go electric? Should you make the leap soon or wait until new petrol and diesel cars are banned and you're left with no alternative option? For BMW owners, the decision could be made easier in the form of its new smartphone app which analyses driver behaviour and journeys. From there, it tells them if they will be better off ditching their petrol or diesel car and switching to an EV. It's the latest example of a car maker deploying new tactics to encourage motorists to transition to battery-powered models with electric vehicle demand dwindling. Owners of petrol and diesel BMWs who use the car maker's official smartphone app will have their journeys tracked so the brand can tell them if they could instead live with an EV The 'Electric Vehicle Analysis' function has been added to the company's MyBMW App, which is available to all owners of the German brand's latest cars. It says customers who drive a combustion engine car can use the new feature to 'simulate how well an all-electric BMW would suit their personal driving profile' in a bid to convince more motorists to splash out on its expensive range of EVs. Drivers are able to selects an electric model as an alternative vehicle in the smartphone application. The Electric Vehicle Analysis feature will monitor 200 journeys taken by owners and then crunch the numbers on how many of these trips could have been completed by the EV alternative without needing to stop to charge BMW says the app will provide its petrol and diesel customers with a 'sound basis for deciding which drive type to choose in their next vehicle' Once they have driven 200 journeys and covered a distance of 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles), the analysis will crunch the numbers on how many of these excursions could have been completed by the EV alternative without needing to stop to charge. It will take into account the real-world fuel economy of the combustion car, which is collected in the 'My Trips' section of the app. 'This is intended to combat the range anxiety and concerns about the everyday practicality of all-electric vehicles that are still prevalent today,' BMW said in a statement about the technology. 'Thanks to this individual database, Electric Vehicle Analysis is able to provide the customer with a sound basis for deciding which drive type to choose in their next vehicle.' 'Our app's Electric Vehicle Analysis helps our customers to make an informed judgement in their choice of drive system,' said Dirk Wiedmann, senior vice president of sales steering, strategy and digitalisation at BMW BMW promises that the system will be upgraded in the future so the app can make an even better educated suggestion to drivers about whether they're ready to move to an EV or not. This will include evaluations of the time vehicles are not in use and of long-distance journeys, combined with information on charging facilities and the time required for charging. However, there is no suggestion that it can provide a financial calculation on when an EV might be cheaper to own, including how many miles it will take before the battery-powered alternative will pay back its premium price tag via cheaper electricity costs over filling up with petrol and diesel. 'Electric vehicles can already be incorporated perfectly into the daily routine of many customers it's just that the majority of them haven't tried it yet,' said Dirk Wiedmann, senior vice president of sales steering, strategy and digitalisation. 'Our app's Electric Vehicle Analysis helps our customers to make an informed judgement in their choice of drive system.' The app also notify the user of facilities nearby that have charging stations, such as restaurants, cafes, banks and supermarkets and has a Charging Wallet that allows users to choose the cheapest tariffs when they plug into the network. Last week, This is Money revealed how car makers are having to resort to tactics 'not seen in the industry for 40 years' in a ploy to increase EV sales in order to meet binding targets to set out by the Government. The Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate was introduced in January in what ministers called 'the world's most ambitious regulatory framework for the transition to electric vehicles'. Requiring manufacturers to sell more EVs in the build up to the 2035 ban on new petrol and diesel models, it's become the big stick to beat mainstream motor brands into accelerating their green ambitions. Every major car maker will need to have a 22 per cent proportion of all sales as EVs by the end of 2024. Those who don't meet targets can face a fine of 15,000 each on petrol or diesel cars sold. EVs currently make up only 16.8 per cent of the new car market after the first seven months, meaning many brands are well short of the binding thresholds. As such, automotive brands are having to resort to increasingly drastic methods of market manipulation to inflate their EV numbers, according to an industry insider who spoke to us exclusively. My best friend of 33 years died suddenly in June. Tragically, he had a stroke just 13 days after his 50th birthday. His children had clubbed together at Christmas to buy him two general admission weekend tickets for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in July. They had planned for it to be a treat as part of his 50th birthday celebrations. He was excited beyond words, and I was fortunate enough to be his plus one. His family and I are absolutely devastated by his death. Their distress was compounded when his children contacted Silverstone to explain the situation and ask for a refund. They were shocked to be told that no refund would be given, and the tickets could not be transferred or sold on. It is shameful that they could be so cruel. The owner of the Airbnb I had booked for the weekend refunded the full cost, so why cant Silverstone? G.S., Kirkcaldy, Fife. Sally Hamilton replies: I was saddened to read about your friend's death at such an early age and like you, was shocked that his children were refused a refund for the special treat they had planned for his milestone birthday. One of his daughters attempted to get the not insubstantial 538 back, but was confused to be told the main ticket holder had to retain one ticket, while the other could be given away perhaps to a family member. She felt this was inappropriate as no-one in the family was in a fit state to attend the event, and neither were you. Upset by the response, she decided to just let the matter lie as she was in no mood to fight. But you were so fired up when you heard what happened that you went into overdrive and got in touch with me. I contacted Silverstone to express my concern at the situation. I am pleased to say it saw immediately that something had gone wrong and its resolution was speedy. It contacted your friend's daughter the same day to apologise and arrange for the money to be returned. It said that his daughter had been given a standard response regarding refunds by an inexperienced team member who failed to escalate the matter to a more senior decision maker. A spokesman says: 'As soon as we were made aware of the situation, we called (the customer) to express our heartfelt condolences and to apologise for our oversight. 'We would never wish to add to their upset at this difficult time. Of course, we agreed to immediately refund the tickets.' Can Sally Sorts It help you? Do you have a consumer problem you need help with? Email Sally Hamilton at sally@dailymail.co.uk include phone number, address and a note addressed to the offending organisation giving them permission to talk to Sally Hamilton. Please do not send original documents as we cannot take responsibility for them. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail or This Is Money for answers given. British Gas wants 5,858 from my son... My son has had a dreadful two years dealing with British Gas. He had billing issues which, after much back and forth he thought were successfully resolved. British Gas confirmed his bills were up to date, returned 590 of his money and paid him compensation of 30. He then switched to Octopus, and thought his troubles were over. But then he received another bill from British Gas for nearly 4,000 which he disputed yet again. They then reissued it - for 5,858. Please help him. S.H., Stourbridge, W. Mids. Sally Hamilton replies: You told me how the stress in trying to resolve his billing nightmare for over two years has taken its toll on your son and his wife. While he was battling to prove he didn't owe the high sums British Gas demanded, the couple were trying for a baby. Nothing was happening so they made an appointment for IVF treatment. As luck would have it, they finally managed to conceive naturally. Your son thinks it is no coincidence that this was soon after they thought the frightening gas bill had finally gone away. With this financial worry seemingly behind them, everything was looking bright again until the bombshell 5,858 gas bill recently landed in their account. Your son was reduced to tears when he saw it. You came to me in the hope I could get British Gas to see sense over this crazy bill and end your son's torture. The energy supplier agreed to investigate. Some days later it came back to me with an explanation. Your son had been thrown in to this purgatory, it emerged, because his previous energy provider was Bristol Energy, part of Together Energy, which went bust in January 2022. British Gas was appointed 'supplier of last resort' by the industry regulator Ofgem and took over Together's customers. SCAM WATCH Mobile phone users should beware fake text messages claiming to be from delivery company Evri, consumer website Which? warns. In these texts, fraudsters claim that the item has been put on hold due to incorrect address information and cannot be delivered. The messages ask you to update your address by clicking on the link provided and this must be done within 24 hours. But the link should not be clicked on as it can lead you to malicious websites that steal your information. Instead forward the message to 7726 and then delete it. Customers are meant to experience a smooth transition in such circumstances, but I'm afraid it didn't work out that way for your son. After I got involved, British Gas finally applied fuel to its investigations and found that Together had given it the wrong meter details for your son's supply, which triggered the catalogue of errors over his billing. It has now established the correct meter credentials and put the account on hold while working out what your son genuinely owes. It has also taken into account official back billing rules, which state that you cannot be charged for energy used more than 12 months ago if you have not had an accurate bill for it before, even though you asked for one. It's shameful that British Gas did not discover this meter error during your son's many interactions with customer service. This could have spared him more than two years of torment. Instead, he was constantly told the bill reflected his consumption, with British Gas adding to his financial woes by increasing his quarterly direct debit threefold to 424 while the account was 'under review' from February to May this year. Your son and I waited and waited for British Gas to resolve matters, but it turned out it had hit problems in resolving your case because your son is now with Octopus Energy. I wasn't totally convinced by this explanation, but the good news is that British Gas finally took the pragmatic approach and extinguished the erroneous 5,858 bill and by way of apology for what your son has been through, also wiped the true bill, which turned out to be 2,291 for both gas and electricity. Quite right. A British Gas spokesman says: 'The customer came over to us through the supplier of last resort process after his previous energy provider went into administration. 'They gave us the wrong meter details when we took over his supply which caused the issue with his bill. We've spoken with him to say sorry for not resolving this when he first contacted us.' Record numbers of passengers are travelling through Heathrow as the airport enjoys a holiday travel boom. The West London hub saw 7.98m travellers in its terminals in July alone marking its busiest ever month. And the site was Europes busiest airport in the first six months of the year, beating Amsterdam Schiphol, Frankfurt, Madrid and Paris Charles de Gaulle. Take-off: Heathrow saw 7.98m travellers in its terminals in July alone marking its busiest ever month But Heathrows chief executive warned it had lost 90,000 passengers on routes subject to a devastating 10 per person charge. Despite that, the airport smashed records and saw six of its busiest ever departure days in July as traveller numbers soared after schools broke up for the summer. And holidaymakers avoided disruption from Just Stop Oil protests and the CloudStrike outage that triggered a global IT meltdown last month. Popular destinations for Britons travelling abroad this summer included Venice in Italy and Larnaca in Cyprus. Qatari capital city Doha, Dublin, Dubai, and New Yorks JFK were the latest routes to hit 1m passengers this year. There was also huge demand for flights to Orlando in Florida and many other US destinations such as Chicago, San Francisco, Boston and Dallas, a Heathrow spokesman said. Before last month, the airport had never exceeded 1.8m passengers in a week but beat that record three weeks in a row in July. In the week that schools broke up for the summer holidays from July 22 more than 140,000 direct departing passengers and almost 140,000 bags left the airport daily. Cargo tonnage increased 8 per cent in July 2024 compared to a year earlier, which Heathrow said underscores the airports position as the UKs leading air cargo hub. Heathrow boss Thomas Woldbye said: In July we were smashing a passenger record almost every single day and were chasing down our never-before-seen goal of serving 8m passengers in a single month. But despite rising passenger numbers, Heathrow warned the rollout of the electronic travel authorisation (ETAs) system introduced last year could be devastating. Nationals travelling from Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Jordan without a visa must have an ETA, costing 10 per person. An Indian billionaire will become BTs biggest shareholder after agreeing to buy nearly 25 per cent of the telecoms group. Sunil Bharti Mittals conglomerate Bharti Enterprises will snap up the 24.5 per cent of BT that is owned by embattled French tycoon Patrick Drahi. The deal will take place in two parts, with Bharti initially acquiring a 9.99 per cent stake followed by a further 14.51 per cent once it receives national security clearance from the Government. It comes just two months after Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim bought a 3.2 per cent stake in BT. Connecting: Sunil Bharti Mittal (pictured) will snap up the 24.5% of BT currently owned by embattled French tycoon Patrick Drahi through his conglomerate Bharti Enterprises Mittal whose Bharti Airtel telecoms business has more than 400m customers in India and operations in Africa said he has not asked for a seat on the board and has no intention of launching a full-blown takeover bid from the company. This investment demonstrates the confidence we have in BT and in the UK, he said. BT shares jumped 8.4 per cent, or 11p, to 141.5p. That valued the company at 14billion and Bhartis proposed 24.5 per cent stake at 3.4billion, though the shares remain well below recent peaks. The move comes just six months after Allison Kirkby took over as BT chief executive from Philip Jansen. Since then, she has been pushing forward with a turnaround plan, which has included job cuts, and shares have risen 26 per cent. She said yesterday: We welcome investors who recognise the long-term value of our business, and this scale of investment from Bharti is a great vote of confidence in the future of BT and our strategy. The deal marks the end of the seemingly uneasy relationship between BT and Drahi. His Altice group, one of Frances largest telecoms companies, bought a 12 per cent stake in BT in July 2021 before increasing it to 18 per cent five months later and then to 24.5 per cent last summer. Loses: French tycoon Patrick Drahi has seen the value of his BT stake tumble This raised speculation that Altice was looking to make a takeover bid for BT. However, the value of the stake has slumped leaving Drahi nursing losses of close to 1billion on some estimates and speculation has been mounting that he was looking to offload the shares. The deal with Bharti comes as Altice sells assets due to its 48billion debt pile. Last week Drahi agreed to sell a minority stake in auction house Sothebys to Abu Dhabis sovereign wealth fund. James Ratzer, an analyst at telecoms insight group New Street Research, said: We believe that Mr Drahis bankers are likely requiring him to sell down his BT shares. He added that there were also likely concerns from bankers about the rest of the Altice group. BTs relationship with Bharti dates back almost three decades, with the company holding a 21 per cent stake and two board seats in the Indian telecoms firms Airtel subsidiary from 1997 to 2001. BT has enjoyed a long association with Bharti, and Im pleased that they share our ambition and vision for the future of our business, said Kirkby. They have a strong track record of success in the sector, and I look forward to ongoing and positive engagement with them in the months and years to come. Mittal is just the latest high-profile investor to join the share register where he now sits alongside Slim and German group Deutsche Telekom, which has a 12 per cent holding. Paolo Pescatore, telecoms at PP Foresight, said Mittals move on BT reinforces BTs current strategy for long term growth. Russ Mould at broker AJ Bell said: Management will be glad to hear Bharti are supportive of the companys current strategy, although clearly they will want to see evidence of progress that can revive a share price which has gone nowhere in the last five years. On Saturday night, Vice President Kamala Harris promised to abolish tax on tips for service workers if she wins the election in November. Her announcement triggered howls of outrage from Donald Trump who accused her of stealing his idea after he made the same promise in June, when a server in Nevada told him she felt the government was taking too big a share of her tips. But an exclusive poll for DailyMail.com shows why Harris won't care about charges of theft: The policy is overwhelmingly popular with voters. Almost two thirds of likely voters say they support the idea. And it is popular across all demographics and groups. Trump voters, white voters, Hispanic voters, Harris voters, the young and the old, graduates and non-graduates all support the idea of abolishing tax on tips. J.L. Partners polled 1054 likely voters from Aug 8 to 9. It found that Donald Trump's two signature tax proposals are wildly popular That sentiment minimizes any blowback from copying an opponent's proposal, said James Johnson, co-founder of J.L. Partners which conducted the poll of 1054 likely voters last week. 'Turns out there's a reason Harris stole Trump's tax tip policy: It's barnstormingly popular with the public. 'It gets support among every age group, gender and race, regardless of political affiliation. For Americas public they look at the idea and think it's a no brainer. 'If Trump had kept it for himself, he would have been able to use it as a genuine electoral asset. Now, its relevance has been sprung from the race.' Trump's two tax big proposals are hugely popular. Abolishing tax on tips and on Social Security payments are the sort of populist moves that have resonated with voters, even if economists warn they would leave a black hole in federal finances. On Saturday, a day after the Culinary Workers Union endorsed Harris, she used a rally at the University of Nevada (a state where tipped staff could hold balance of power) to announce she was following in Trump's footsteps. 'It is my promise to everyone here, when I am president, we will continue to fight for working families, including to raise the minimum wage and eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers,' she said. The move is not without problems. A campaign official later said it would mean working with Congress to introduce legislation that would set income limits on tax-free tips, and prevent other workers structuring their pay to try to take advantage. The policies are popular with voters across all groups Vice President Kamala Harris and Former President Donald Trump on Saturday held duelling rallies. Harris used hers to promise to end tax on tips for service industry workers Trump slammed Harris on his Truth Social website, saying the proposal as a 'Trump idea' MAGA Inc., a pro-Trump Super PAC, is offering stickers to promote Donald Trump's new pledge to lift taxes on tips. It comes after diners shared receipts on which they had written in support of the policy to help workers who rely on gratuities Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance signs the check 'no tax on tips!!' as he leaves $200 in cash for a gratuity at the Park Diner, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Waite Park, Minn. Even so, Trump quickly took to social media to slam Harris for stealing his idea. 'The difference is, she wont do it, she just wants it for Political Purposes!' he wrote, using his idiosyncratic style of capitalization.' 'This was a TRUMP idea - She has no ideas, she can only steal from me.' Harris has leapt ahead of Trump in the polls after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. A rolling average of surveys maintained by the statistics website FiveThirtyEight gives her lead of more than two points over her Republican opponent. She has also moved ahead of him on betting markets. Oddspedia reported Monday that the numbers give her a 52.4 percent chance of victory, against his 47.6 percent. Katie Price's former social worker Lynne Rickwood has become the model's rock whom she's turned to for support amid her financial woes, MailOnline can reveal. Lynne accompanied Katie to the High Court last Friday for her latest bankruptcy hearing and was introduced to judge Daniel Schaffer as an 'appropriate adult' - a term used to describe a person helping someone who is vulnerable. She sat alongside the troubled reality star during the short meeting and is likely to be by Katie's side when the model returns for a public examination into her finances later this month. Her court date with Katie - who owes 750,000 in an unpaid tax bill - comes nine months after she was reportedly sacked from her social worker position for getting too close to the mother-of-five, but Lynne, 47, has remained committed to the 46-year-old and her family, with pals telling Mailonline she has become her rock. A friend said: 'Lynne has been a godsend to Katie. During her time of need she has been there for her, playing various roles but ultimately she's just a huge support. Katie Price is seen arriving at the Royal Courts of Justice on Friday for her latest bankruptcy hearing with her former social worker Lynne Rickwood (right) Ms Rickwood (pictured) was sacked as Katie's social worker for reportedly getting too close to the foremer glamour model and being offered a job as her nanny. Friends say she has become a rock to Katie during her latest financial issues Katie, who is also mother to Harvey, 22, Junior, 19, Princess 17 and Bunny, nine, is understood to have undergone her sixth facelift at the Trio Clinic in Istanbul 'Katie sees her very much as her rock, there's not many people she can turn to for guidance but Lynne is the sensible head she really needs right now. 'Lynne has become wrapped up in Katie's life and seems to enjoy the showbiz side of things. 'It's totally new for her and it's exciting, but she does have sympathy for her plight and wants to ensure both Katie and her kids get through it'. Lynne was reportedly fired by Sussex Council last November after concerns her professional boundary with Katie had become blurred and the pair grew 'too close'. She was previously part of the Sussex County Council safeguarding team and was assigned Katie's case after concerns about the welfare of her kids were raised when she revealed her second youngest child, Jett, ten, had not attended school for a year and was being home schooled. The model's hectic love life and repeated arrests for motoring offences were also said to have been a concern that led Lynne being appointed as her social worker. But social services chiefs were alarmed to discover that Lynne had considered taking a job as a nanny to Katie's two youngest children, which jarred with her duties. It is not thought Lynne, from Brighton, West Sussex, took up the position full time, but after details of her sacking became known, she was seen driving Katie's children in her car. Ms Rickwood pictured driving Katie Price's children after she was sacked by a council in 2023 Ms Kirkwood accompanied Katie to court - and was introduced to the judge as an 'appropriate adult' - a term used to describe a person helping someone who is vulnerable Katie's head is currently covered in bandages and black tape after her facelift in Turkey Court artist drawing by Elizabeth Cook of Price with her knees up at court on Friday Katie was arrested at Heathrow Airport on Thursday night after returning to the UK from Turkey Katie was later pictured exiting the back of a police van at Heathrow police station on Thursday night shortly after being arrested Katie arrived at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London last Friday alongside Lynne sporting head bandages from her recent 10,000 facelift in Turkey. Her court appearance came hours after she was arrested at Heathrow Airport over a failure to attend bankruptcy proceedings. Deputy Insolvency and Companies Court Judge Schaffer ordered the model to give an 'undertaking' to the court that she would attend a further hearing to face questions over her finances on August 27 at 10.30am. He said: 'You have to attend that date, no ifs or buts, no going abroad, no holidays.' Katie confirmed that she understood she must attend and later said: 'I will move my diary for it.' Judge Schaffer also discharged the arrest warrant issued against her on July 30 by a different judge after she failed to attend a previous hearing. Katie, who is also mother to Harvey, 22, Junior, 19, Princess 17 and Bunny, nine, is understood to have undergone her sixth facelift at the Trio Clinic in Istanbul. She recuperated from the op staying at the five-star 133 per-night Sheraton Atakoy Hotel in the Turkish capital. But her presence at the resort didn't go down well holidaymakers, one of which slammed the former Loose Women host television personality for using the pool with 'staples holding their scalp on and incisions weeping with pus' in a scathing review on Trip Advisor. The two star review read: 'We're here at the moment and couldn't fault this wonderful hotel until an infamous British celebrity and her entourage arrived and our opinion changed dramatically. 'Who wants to relax and dine at a hotel looking at someone with blood all over their face, staples holding their scalp on and incisions weeping with pus. 'Oh and she used the swimming pool as well... I'm not sure this hotel should be used as a recovery facility for plastic surgery. 'It's certainly put me off both visiting again and recommending it to anyone.' READ MORE: Why many Australian electric vehicle owners are getting fed up A couple has exposed the difficulties of driving an 'affordable' electric vehicle long distances after going on an interstate road trip. Tony Hill and his wife embarked on a 1,800km road trip from their home in Naracoorte, South Australia, to Grafton in NSW, to visit family. The pair travelled in their new BYD Dolphin - the budget-friendly and smallest model from the Chinese manufacturer, which is priced at $36,890 before on-road costs. The BYD provides Aussies with a cheaper alternative to a Tesla, which currently dominates the Australian EV market. However, the Hills faced a range of problems while on their journey in their BYD, which may have been avoided if they had been driving a Tesla. In preparation for their lengthy trip, the couple used an app to locate and map charging stations along the route. They found many of the power stations had Tesla chargers, which were not designed or even compatible with their EV. 'Usually we had avoided Tesla chargers,' Mr Hill told Yahoo. Tony Hill and his wife (pictured) embarked on a 1,800km road trip from their home in Naracoorte, a rural town in South Australia to Grafton in NSW to visit family The pair travelled in their new BYD Dolphin (pictured) but faced a slew of problems while on their cross-country journey, which may have been avoided if they had been driving a Tesla 'Many of them have very short cables, designed only to reach the back of a Tesla... we had to park in some ingenious ways to make use of them.' Mr Hill added BYD cars sold after October 2023 also had compatibility issues while using some Tesla superchargers. The pair faced another issue with the EV's 'onboard navigation' system after it directed them to non-existent chargers. 'Three of the first five chargers we were directed to in Adelaide had not been built yet,' Mr Hill said. He explained, the navigation system instructed him to drive 'two-sides of a 13km triangle' instead of suggesting a U-turn. Another feature which the Hills found less than ideal was the model's glass roof. While the feature allows a scenic view for the driver and passengers, Mr Hill said it does little to filter the heat out of the Aussie sun. Mr Hill said he and his wife had to buy a screen to fit in their car so that they could keep cool during their trip. He added the BYD's range was also 'considerably reduced' while driving on highways at high speed - which meant the Hills had to stop more often to recharge their car. 'The Dolphin is more efficient around town where regenerative breaking is most effective, but at high speed on the open road the range is considerably reduced,' Mr Hill said. Mr Hill said stopping more times to recharge had its benefits as it allowed the couple to speak with locals and explore quaint towns they would have missed. The BYD Dolphin Dynamic has a single electric motor powered by a 44.9kWh Blade battery and has a range of up to 340km. The pair found many of the power stations had Tesla chargers (pictured) which are not designed or even compatible with BYD EVs Sales of battery electric vehicles in July fell by almost 1.5 per cent, compared to July 2023, with a total of 6,743 EVs sold. The data, published by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries as well as Tesla and Polestar, showed sales were at 6.6 per cent of the market down from 7.0 per cent. Tesla was the market leader with 2,592 electric vehicle sold, however, this down by 34.1 per cent compared to July 2023 figures. Meanwhile, BYD recorded a significant increase in sales and was up by 77.7 per cent with 1,786 EVs sold. Hybrids were also up 88.4 per cent with 18,039 sales, while pug-in hybrids saw a whopping increase of 128.9 per cent with 2,209 cars sold. Former President Donald Trump's Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said she'd return to the White House for a second term - despite dramatically quitting the administration over January 6. DeVos appeared at a fundraiser for Michigan Republican Senate hopeful Mike Rogers on August 5. There she told The Detroit News that she was open to coming back into the fold. 'I don't think President Trump would ask me again,' DeVos conceded. She added that she was open to the idea 'only if it was with the goal of phasing out the Department of Education as we tried to do through budgetary process in the first administration.' Former Trump Education Secretary Betsy DeVos told The Detroit News last week that she would be open to returning to a position in a second Trump administration, despite quitting her Cabinet-level position over the January 6 Capitol attack 'Also getting a commitment to passing a major education freedom bill in the form of a tax credit mechanism at the Department of Treasury,' DeVos added. Conservatives have long wanted to kill off the federal Department of Education - pushing for education tax dollars to go toward policies like school voucher programs as opposed to financing the system of public K-12 schools in the United States. Trump has said he's open to closing the Department of Education, saying at a recent rally he would 'move everything back to the states where it belongs.' Congress would have to pass legislation in order for that to happen and it's unlikely it would survive a filibuster threat in the U.S. Senate. The Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 has outlined some ways Trump could dismantle the Department of Education if elected in the fall. While Trump has had a falling out with a number of ex-aides who have then been brought back into the fold - Steve Bannon being a prime example - it's unclear if he would be open to re-hiring DeVos, a Michigan-based billionaire. DeVos was one of two Cabinet secretaries to quit over the Capitol assault. Betsy DeVos was among the officials working for President Donald Trump (left) who quit the administration over the U.S. Capitol attack (right) on January 6, 2021, in which a crowd of Trump supporters ransacked the Capitol and interrupted the election certification She resigned after Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao - wife of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell - said she was done. 'There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me,' DeVos told Trump in a letter announcing her resignation. 'We should be highlighting and celebrating your administration's many accomplishments on behalf of the American people,' she also offered. 'Instead, we are left to clean up the mess caused by violent protesters overrunning the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to undermine the people's business,' DeVos added. President Joe Biden's 2020 election win was being certified the day of the Capitol attack. DeVos also acknowledged that she had spoken with other Cabinet members about invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from power prior to Biden's 2021 inauguration. Still, she told the Detroit News that while she hasn't officially endorsed Trump's 2024 run, she would be 'definitely supporting the Republican ticket' in the November election. A Muslim senator who sensationally left Labor over its handling of the war in Gaza has accused the party of treating her as a 'diversity hire'. Senator Fatima Payman, 29, says that she decided to leave the party last month as she felt she was continuously controlled and censored at 'every' public event. The Afghanistan-born representative for Western Australia accused Labor of editing her speeches and silencing her view on the Middle East. 'Every move, every interaction, every event I went to, every speech I delivered was controlled, was reviewed,' she told Sky News on Monday. 'There comes a point where you lose your agency as an individual and you wonder, what am I doing here?' Senator Payman accused Labor of only keeping her in the party to tick a 'diversity box' but said they weren't prepared to deal with 'diversity in thoughts and values and representation'. 'If parties do not recognise and appreciate and allow for voices of dissent and difference of views, then I don't think they're fit for purpose and fit to lead,' she said. 'In particular because modern day Australia looks very different to what it did 50 years ago,' she said. Senator Fatima Payman (pictured) left the Labor Party in July, citing its handling of the Gaza conflict as the reason for her exit Senator Payman on Monday accused Labor of treating her as a 'diversity hire' and censoring her public appearances Ms Payman's exit sparked a debate over the principle of caucus solidarity. Ms Payman believes the censorship she experienced under Labor is a clear sign it has abandoned its former values. 'I feel like the same Labor Party that I campaigned so hard for wasn't the same Labor Party that I found myself fighting against,' she said. When Ms Payman withdrew from the Party in early July, she cited unresolvable tensions as the reason for her exit. She accused Labor of failing take a stance on the situation between Israel and Palestine, and the 38,000 people killed in Gaza since the situation escalated following a surprise attack by extremist group Hamas last year. 'With a heavy heart, but a clear conscience, I have announced my resignation from the Australian Labor Party,' she said. 'My family did not flee from a war-torn country to come here as refugees for me to remain silent when I see atrocities inflicted on innocent people.' Senator Payman (pictured) claimed Labor only kept her in the party to tick a 'diversity box' but wasn't prepared to deal with 'diversity in thoughts and values and representation' Ms Payman's family were refugees who fled to Pakistan from Taliban-held Afghanistan, before they joined other family members in Perth when she was about eight-years-old in 2003. Ms Payman was elected to a six-year term in 2022 during sweeping Labor victories in Western Australia. She will serve the remaining four years as an independent. Mr Albanese had reportedly privately told senator Payman that she was elected using Labor's platform, and urged her to quit the Senate entirely so the government could reappoint someone from within to the Senate position. A pregnant woman and her mother have lost their lives in a car crash, with both of their husbands rushed to hospital with serious injuries. Marvic Estrada, 60, and her pregnant daughter Mary Joy Estrada Dela Cruz, 35, were in a Nissan Navara when it collided with a Toyota LandCruiser at Mount Marlow, in Queensland's Whitsundays region, just after 1pm on Sunday. The two women, along with Ms Dela Cruz's unborn baby, were killed. Ms Dela Cruz's husband, who was driving, was airlifted to hospital in a critical condition, while her father suffered serious injuries. Ms Estrada and her husband Jerry had been visiting from the Philippines at the time of the crash. It's understood the Navara veered onto the other side of the road before colliding Tributes from loved ones have poured in for Ms Dela Cruz and her mother, who have been remembered as 'angels'. Marvic Estrada, 60, (right) and her pregnant daughter Mary Joy Estrada Dela Cruz, 35, (left) were killed in a car crash on Sunday Ms Dela Cruz and her husband (pictured left) were travelling in a Nissan Navara with her parents (right) when it struck a Toyota LandCruiser on Sunday. Both women were killed and their husbands rushed to hospital 'Will forever cherish your kindness and generosity,' one friend wrote. 'My go-to house whenever I was in the Philippines since elementary days until adulthood. 'Endless talks and food from morning until evening and still felt like time was not enough to catch up. '(Ms Dela Cruz) is not just a friend but more of a sister and (Ms Estrada) has been a mother to me as well. 'It breaks my heart but I am comforted by the truth that God has a purpose of everything that's happening. We may not understand it now but in time we will.' Tributes have flowed for Ms Dela Cruz (left) and her mother Ms Estrada and her husband had been visiting from the Philippines at the time of the fatal crash Ms Estrada's daughter-in-law described the 60-year-old as the 'strongest and bravest woman'. 'I am so blessed for having a mother-in-law like you,' she said. 'To (Ms Dela Cruz), thank you for all your love and care to us. You have been the rock of the family. Thank you for being a good sister and a supportive friend to me.' A GoFundMe has been set up to help support the family, with both men still recovering in hospital. More than $11,000 has been raised so far. Investigations into the crash are continuing. Large areas of Australia's east are set for a drenching with the heaviest August rain in decades forecast to fall this week. Flood watches have been issued by the Bureau of Meteorology for an area stretching from the central Queensland coast down to northeast NSW. While this region is where the most intense rain is expected, there will be significant rainfall from Townsville in North Queensland down to Albury on the Victorian border, including Sydney and Canberra, and inland to western NSW. 'Warnings are current for heavy rainfall in northeast NSW particularly around the Evans Head area,' Dean Narramore from the Bureau of Meteorology said. 'From Mackay down to Byron Bay there could be flash or riverine flooding over the next few days... there's also likely to be big swells which could lead to inundation of some beachside properties.' An upper level trough and a moist on-shore airflow are combining to cause the rain on the east coast, the Bureau said, while a separate system is also producing rain in the Perth area. Ben Domensino from Weatherzone said the heaviest falls in the 24 hours to Tuesday were recorded in northeast NSW with Evans Head and Repentance seeing 157mm and Goonengerry recording 164mm. He said the rain should ease by Thursday though some light showers could remain for the latter half of week. A map showing predicted rainfall until Wednesday in Australia's east Sydney Tuesday: Max 20, rain easing. Possible rainfall: 2 to 10 mm. Chance of any rain: 80 per cent. Region: Cloudy. Very high chance of rain, easing to a medium chance of showers late this morning. Light winds. Wednesday: Min 13 Max 19, rain. Possible rainfall: 2 to 25 mm. Chance of any rain: 80 per cent. Region: Cloudy. High chance of rain, most likely in the morning and afternoon. Light winds. Thursday: Min 12 Max 19, shower or two. Possible rainfall: 0 to 3 mm. Chance of any rain: 50 per cent. Region: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the morning and afternoon. Light winds. Brisbane Tuesday: Max 20, rain. Possible rainfall: 9 to 30 mm. Chance of any rain: 100 per cent. Region: Cloudy. Very high chance of rain. Winds easterly 15 to 25 km/h. Wednesday: Min 17 Max 22, rain. Possible rainfall: 15 to 50 mm. Chance of any rain: 95 per cent. Region: Cloudy. Very high chance of rain, most likely in the morning and afternoon. Winds easterly 15 to 25 km/h becoming light in the evening. Thursday: Min 16 Max 25, shower or two. Possible rainfall: 0 to 4 mm. Chance of any rain: 60 per cent. Region: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers. Light winds. Melbourne Tuesday: Max 20, mostly sunny. Chance of any rain: 5 per cent. Region: Mostly sunny. Winds northerly 20 to 30 km/h, decreasing to 10 to 20 km/h during the evening. Wednesday: Min 13 Max 21, partly cloudy. Chance of any rain: 20 per cent. Region: Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a shower. Winds northerly 15 to 25 km/h. Thursday: Min 12 Max 21, partly cloudy. Possible rainfall: 0 to 1 mm. Chance of any rain: 30 per cent. Region: Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a shower, most likely in the evening. Winds northerly 20 to 30 km/h. Residents in southeast Queensland and northeast NSW will get the heaviest rainfalls but Sydney and Canberra residents will also be in for a wet Wednesday Canberra Tuesday: Max 18, partly cloudy. Possible rainfall: 0 to 1 mm. Chance of any rain: 50 per cent. Region: Partly cloudy. Slight chance of showers, most likely in the evening. Light winds. Wednesday: Min 5 Max 17, shower or two. Possible rainfall: 0 to 3 mm. Chance of any rain: 60 per cent. Region: Cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the morning and afternoon. Light winds. Thursday: Min 3 Max 19, partly cloudy. Possible rainfall: 0 to 1 mm. Chance of any rain: 30 per cent. Region: Partly cloudy. The chance of morning fog. Slight chance of a shower. Light winds. Adelaide Tuesday: Max 22, becoming cloudy. Possible rainfall: 0 to 1 mm. Chance of any rain: 30 per cent. Region: Mostly sunny morning, becoming cloudy during the late morning and early afternoon. Slight chance of a shower, most likely late this afternoon and evening. Winds northerly 15 to 25 km/h tending northwesterly in the middle of the day then turning north to northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h in the late afternoon. Wednesday: Min 12 Max 21, sunny. Possible rainfall: 0 to 1 mm. Chance of any rain: 30 per cent. Region: Sunny day. Slight chance of a shower, most likely at night. Winds north to northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h becoming light before dawn. Thursday: Min 13 Max 24, showers developing. Possible rainfall: 1 to 7 mm. Chance of any rain: 90 per cent. Region: Partly cloudy. Very high chance of showers, most likely in the evening. Winds north to northeasterly 20 to 30 km/h, turning northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h during the afternoon. Perth Tuesday: Max 20, showers increasing. Possible rainfall: 4 to 15 mm. Chance of any rain: 95 per cent. Region: Partly cloudy. Very high chance of showers, most likely during this afternoon and evening. The chance of a thunderstorm during this evening. Light winds becoming northwesterly 20 to 30 km/h in the morning then tending westerly in the late evening. Wednesday: Min 13 Max 20, showers easing. Possible rainfall: 2 to 9 mm. Chance of any rain: 90 per cent. Region: Partly cloudy. Very high chance of showers. The chance of a thunderstorm in the southwest. Winds westerly 25 to 35 km/h turning southwesterly 20 to 30 km/h in the evening. Thursday: Min 11 Max 19, possible shower. Possible rainfall: 0 to 1 mm. Chance of any rain: 40 per cent. Region: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the morning. Winds southwesterly 20 to 30 km/h becoming light during the afternoon. There are flood watches in place from Mackay in Queensland down to Byron Bay in NSW Hobart Tuesday: Max 20, partly cloudy. Possible rainfall: 0 to 1 mm. Chance of any rain: 30 per cent. Region: Partly cloudy. Slight chance of an evening shower. Winds north to northwesterly 15 to 25 km/h. Wednesday: Min 12 Max 18, shower or two. Possible rainfall: 0 to 3 mm. Chance of any rain: 60 per cent. Region: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the late morning and afternoon. Winds north to northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h tending west to northwesterly in the middle of the day then becoming light in the late afternoon. Thursday: Min 7 Max 16, shower or two. Possible rainfall: 0 to 2 mm. Chance of any rain: 50 per cent. Region: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon and evening. Light winds. Darwin Tuesday: Max 33, sunny. Chance of any rain: 0 per cent. Region: Sunny. Winds east to southeasterly 15 to 25 km/h becoming light in the late afternoon. Wednesday: Min 20 Max 31, sunny. Chance of any rain: 5 per cent. Region: Sunny. Light winds becoming northwest to northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h in the early afternoon then becoming light in the late afternoon. Thursday: Min 19 Max 31, sunny. Chance of any rain: 5 per cent. Region: Sunny. Light winds becoming northwest to northeasterly 15 to 25 km/h during the afternoon then a light breeze during the evening. A woman's body has been found in bushland in south-western Sydney during a police search on Monday afternoon. The body is believed to be that of Tanatorn Tiyata, 66, who was reported missing to Campbelltown police last month. Police searched bushland in the suburb of Denham Court, north of Campbelltown, at about 1pm on Monday when they discovered the body. Ms Tiyata was last seen in Denham Court on July 26 before being reported missing. Her family had concerns about her welfare due to her having several medical conditions. The identity of the woman has not been confirmed and a report will be prepared for the coroner. A woman's body, believed to be Tanatorn Tiyata (pictured), has been found in bushland in south-western Sydney A mechanic is attracting praise on social media for urging customers to pay with cash. A sign spotted at the Home or Away Mechanical Services shop in the southeast Queensland city of Loganlea attracted plenty of accolades after it was posted on a popular Cash is King Facebook page. 'Yes we take cash,' the sign said. 'We do not support a cashless society.' The sign then listed things the business supported such as pocket money, community cash purchases (Marketplace and Gumtree), garage sales, cash in cards for Christmas and financial autonomy 'From a small business paying close to $400 per month in EFTPOS fees, bank fees and hire charges for the EFTPOS machine, we request if possible to pay cash,' the sign said. 'This will benefit the every day hard working people and not the big banks. 'Dont let Australia become controlled even more we do want a cashless society.' A sign spotted at the Home or Away Mechanical Services shop in the south east Queensland city of Loganlea The sign attracted plenty of praise. 'Good for them,' one person wrote. 'Maybe I should change mechanics?' another said. 'I love this I want to get it printed for my salon,' read another comment. 'Why take something away when its worked for so many years,' someone else asked. 'I support cash usage too it's legal tender, I will not support digital currency,' wrote another in agreement. Last months massive tech outage due to a faulty software update by US company CrowdStike was seized on by many to show the dangers of going cashless, despite some experts saying it is inevitable. Banks, businesses, airlines, broadcasters and government agencies were thrown into chaos when Microsoft operating systems went down in Australia and worldwide. Denied the option of digital payments, supermarkets along with retail and hospitality businesses were forced to accept cash only, while the 'blue screens of death' even forced some outlets to close on July 19. The south east Queensland mechanics said it forked out around $400 per month to take digital payments RMIT University finance academic Angel Zhong has previously suggested Australia will become a functionally cashless society by 2030, earlier than the Commonwealth Bank's forecast of 2026. Functionally cashless, she explains, means digital payments make up more than 90 per cent of total payments, although cash would retain its value and not disappear. Her calculation is based on consumer preference data from the RBA. The latest 2022 survey, published in June 2023, shows cash made up 13 per cent of total payments, down from 69 per cent in 2007 and 27 per cent in 2019. Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Michele Bullock warned in December the declining circulation of cash was putting pressure on the economics of ATMs and physically moving notes and coins around. She even suggested businesses could start to push those costs onto consumers by charging extra to use cash. Home or Away Mechanical Services has been contacted for comment. Medics and police have 'blood on their hands' over psychotic killer Valdo Calocane, his victims' families said. Grieving relatives hit out as a damning report today lays bare a 'series of errors, omissions and misjudgments' in his treatment before he killed three people in Nottingham last year. It reveals how clinicians 'minimised or omitted' key details that would have exposed the serious risk Calocane, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia three years earlier, posed to the public. It means he was left free to stab students Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, both 19, as they returned from a night out on June 13 last year before killing caretaker Ian Coates, 65. The victims' families also blasted Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire police forces over the contact they had with Calocane before the triple killing. Grieving relatives hit out as a damning report today lays bare a 'series of errors, omissions and misjudgments' in his treatment before Valdo Calocane killed three people in Nottingham last year Calocane killed 19-year-old student Grace O'Malley-Kumar as she returned from a night out on June 13 2023 Calocane killed 19-year-old student Barnaby Webber as he returned from a night out on June 13 2023 Calocane also killed 65-year-old caretaker Ian Coates. Clinicians 'minimised or omitted' key details that would have exposed the serious risk Calocane posed to the public CCTV from the morning of June 13 2023 shows Calocane walking along a street in Nottingham after he he stabbed Barnaby and Grace The report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) comes the day after a damning BBC Panorama documentary revealed a doctor warned three years before the attack that Calocane's mental illness was so severe he could 'end up killing someone'. The care regulator's review into the Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) found risk assessments played down the fact Calocane was refusing to take his medication, was having ongoing symptoms of psychosis and had become increasingly violent towards others. The CQC also questioned how well the Trust engaged with Calocane's family, who had raised concerns about his mental state, and how well his discharge was planned. The victims' families said today's report 'demonstrates gross, systematic failures' and warned clinicians 'must bear a heavy burden of responsibility for their failures and poor decision-making'. A statement from the families of Barnaby, Grace and Ian added: 'Sadly, this is the first of what we expect to be a series of damning reports concerning failures by public bodies in the lead-up to the killings of our loved ones and beyond. 'We were failed by multiple organisations pre and post June 13, 2023. Along with the Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire police forces, these departments and individual professionals have blood on their hands. 'Alarmingly, there seems to be little or no accountability amongst the senior management team within the mental health trust. We question how and why these people are still in position.' From left to right: (left-right) Dr Sinead O'Malley and Dr Sanjoy Kumar, parents of Grace O'Malley-Kumar, James Coates, son of Ian Coates, and Emma and David Webber, parents of Barnaby Webber. The victims' families blasted Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire police forces over the contact they had with Calocane before the triple killing Court sketch of Calocane. The report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) comes the day after a damning BBC Panorama documentary revealed a doctor warned three years before the attack that Calocane's mental illness was so severe he could 'end up killing someone' The special review of mental health services at the NHFT was ordered by then health secretary Victoria Atkins in January after Calocane was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order. The CQC said his records make it 'clear' he was 'acutely unwell' throughout the two years he was under the care of the Trust after being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2020. Between May 2020 and February 2022, eight risk assessments were completed for Calocane by the Trust. While some risks were highlighted, the CQC said other assessments 'minimised or omitted key details'. Month after month, how DID services not stop him? May 2020 Valdo Calocane is first admitted for mental health treatment after breaking into neighbours' flats on two occasions, believing his mother was being raped inside. He is released, but arrested again within hours after another break-in attempt and sectioned. June 2020 Calocane is released from hospital. July 2020 Calocane is arrested for attempting to force his way into another flat and is sectioned again. During this hospital stay, a psychiatrist records concerns that Calocane could kill someone. August 2020 Calocane is released again from Highbury Hospital. September 2021 Calocane is sectioned again after concerns are raised about his deteriorating mental health. He assaults a police officer while being detained. October 2021 Calocane is discharged into the care of his community mental health team. January 2022 Calocane is sectioned for a fourth time after assaulting his housemate in their student flat. February 2022 Calocane is discharged to his local mental health team. September 2022 The mental health team responsible for Calocane's care lose contact with him and discharge him to the care of his GP. On the same day, a warrant for his arrest is issued by a judge after Calocane fails to appear in court over the assault on a police officer. It is not acted upon by police. June 2023 In the early hours of June 13, Calocane stabs two students to death before killing a school caretaker. He then drives a stolen van into three other people, seriously injuring them. Advertisement Despite his failure to engage with the Trust's services and the fact he was known to police, he was still discharged into the care of his GP in September 2022. Chris Dzikiti, interim chief inspector of healthcare at the regulator, said: 'This review identifies points where poor decision-making, omissions and errors of judgments contributed to a situation where a patient with very serious mental health issues did not receive the support and follow-up he needed. 'While it is not possible to say that the devastating events of June 13, 2023, would not have taken place had Valdo Calocane received that support, what is clear is that the risk he presented to the public was not managed well and that opportunities to mitigate that risk were missed.' Among its recommendations, the CQC said the NHFT should review treatment plans for people with schizophrenia regularly and ensure clinical supervision of decisions to detain people under the Mental Health Act. It also called for NHS England to publish guidance setting out national standards of care for people with complex psychosis and paranoid schizophrenia in the next 12 months. The handling of the Calocane case prompted a national outcry and led to numerous inquiries into the public bodies involved, including Nottinghamshire Police and Leicestershire Police. The families said they have had confirmation that a public inquiry will take place after meeting Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Attorney General Richard Hermer. Although the final form of the inquiry 'is yet to be determined', they are calling for 'a statutory, judge-led one'. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is understood to back the idea, although the Government has not publicly confirmed one will take place. Mr Streeting said: 'This report makes for distressing reading, especially for those living with the consequences of their loss in the knowledge that their untimely deaths were avoidable. Action is already underway to address the serious failures identified by the CQC. I want to assure myself and the country that the failures identified in Nottinghamshire are not being repeated elsewhere.' Marjorie Wallace, founder of mental health charity Sane, said the report was 'the most damning indictment of the fact that psychiatric services are not in crisis but in complete breakdown'. The families said they have had confirmation that a public inquiry will take place after meeting Health Secretary Wes Streeting Brian Dow, of the charity Rethink Mental Illness, said the recommendations published today 'must be implemented without delay'. He added: 'There were multiple opportunities for mental health services to intervene, and it's shocking to learn of the errors and misjudgements in [Calocane's] care.' An NHFT spokesman said: 'We acknowledge and accept the conclusions of this report and have significantly improved processes and standards since the review was carried out.' Claire Murdoch, national director for mental health at NHS England, expressed her sympathies to the victims' families. She added that the health service has already started work to 'enact all of the CQC's recommendations'. Two women and a nine-week-old baby who were killed in a horrific crash were travelling home from a funeral. The 33-year-old mother, a 21-year-old woman and baby boy died after their Toyota Hilux rolled on GeraldtonMount Magnet Road near Yalgoo, regional Western Australia, at about 10.50pm on Saturday. Three other men inside the ute were rushed to Royal Perth Hospital with serious and critical injuries. A 22-year-old man remained in a critical condition on Monday night while the two other passengers, aged 22 and 43, were stable. The family was returning to Geraldton after attending a funeral in Meekatharra when their car crashed, 7News reported. Mount Magnet Shire president Jim McGorman said his wife had previously taught the two women who died in the crash and described the tragedy as 'incomprehensible'. 'They went to school here - my wife taught two of the girls involved in the incident, so it is quite close to a lot of us,' he said. Their deaths brought the state's road toll for the year to the highest it's been in over a decade, with 114 people now deceased. A family who crashed near Yalgoo (pictured) were travelling home to Geraldton after attending a funeral A 22-year-old man remained in a critical condition on Monday night while the two other passengers, aged 22 and 43, were stable (stock image) Western Australian premier Roger Cook on Sunday shared his condolences. 'So, our hearts go out to the families of the victims and the first responders,' he said. 'We thank them for their incredible work. 'It must have been a harrowing scene, and we wish everyone who is touched by this incident all the best.' Do you know more? Email max.aitchison@mailonline.com Do you know more? Email max.aitchison@mailonline.com Pilot died at the scene with two hospitalised EXCLUSIVE The helicopter pilot who crashed a stolen aircraft into a waterfront hotel partied with colleagues at a boozy farewell dinner held in his honour before he embarked on the fatal flight. New Zealander Blake Wilson, believed to be in his mid-20s, was piloting a Robinson 44 helicopter when it crashed into the roof the DoubleTree by Hilton in Cairns, Far North Queensland, at 1.50am on Monday. The 'unauthorised', four-minute journey took off from the Nautilus hangar at Cairns Airport shortly after 1.45am, completing several circuits across the mudflats and over the city's Esplanade, which is a no-fly zone. Witnesses reported seeing the aircraft flying dangerously low before it smashed into the hotel roof and burst into flames. Mr Wilson landed a ground crew role with Nautilus Aviation in April this year and had just been promoted to a position as a refueller on Horn Island above Australia's Top End, which he was due to start on Monday. Colleagues at Nautilus held a farewell dinner for Mr Wilson on the Sunday evening, just hours before he embarked on his fatal flight. Nautilus Aviation said in a statement released on Tuesday afternoon that the dinner was 'not a work event and was coordinated by friends'. New Zealander Blake Wilson (pictured right) was piloting a Robinson 44 helicopter when it crashed into the roof the DoubleTree by Hilton in Cairns, Far North, at 1.50am on Monday Mr Wilson gained his private pilots licence with Christchurch Helicopters in April 2022, but never worked for Nautilus Aviation as a pilot 'We can confirm this event did occur and was a privately organised send-off for the individual involved in Monday morning's incident, who was recently promoted to a ground crew position at another one of our bases,' the statement added. Aaron Finn, CEO of Nautilus, described the crash as 'very unfortunate' and suggested it was not being treated as deliberate by investigators. 'He was a great employee, we had no concerns about his well being or his mental state,' Mr Finn said. Nautilus Aviation confirmed that the pilot was 'a current employee in a ground crew position, joining approximately four months ago'. 'Although the employee held a New Zealand CPL(H) pilot's licence, they have never flown in Australia or for Nautilus Aviation and were not authorised to fly Nautilus Aviation helicopters,' the statment added. Aaron Finn (pictured), CEO of Nautilus, described the crash as 'very unfortunate' and suggested it was not being treated as deliberate by investigators The company said it had completed interviews with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) and Queensland Police and had 'cooperated with full transparency and disclosure of all events leading up to and following the incident on Monday morning'. It added: 'We offer our heartfelt condolences to the individual's family and all who have been affected by this tragedy and continue to offer our support to our employees during this very challenging period.' The young pilot is originally from Palmerston North on New Zealand's North Island. Mr Wilson gained his private pilots licence with Christchurch Helicopters in April 2022. Emergency services were called to the Double Tree Hotel by Hilton in Cairns after a helicopter crashed into the roof of the building, sparking a massive blaze The helicopter slammed into the roof of the luxury Cairns hotel - with two of its propellers falling off on impact Nautilus Aviation said it had completed interviews with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) and Queensland Police and had 'cooperated with full transparency and disclosure of all events leading up to and following the incident on Monday morning' (the company's headquarters are pictured) The Robinson 44 was only in the air for four minutes before it crashed, with witnesses claiming the chopper was flying at a high speed and low to the ground. The crash caused a massive fire on the roof of the hotel and a mass evacuation of up to 400 guests and staff during the early hours of Monday. An 83-year-old man and a 76-year-old woman were taken to Cairns Hospital in a stable condition after they were assessed by paramedics. Debris from the helicopter was found up to 80 metres from where it crashed, with two of its rotor blades dislodging. One of the blades was found in the hotel pool, located on the bottom floor, while the second landed on the Cairns Esplanade opposite the hotel. Police have confirmed the pilot was the sole occupant of the helicopter and was declared dead at the scene. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has launched an investigation, which will focus on the sequence of events that led to the crash. Convicted double-murderer Wade Wilson was seen on police body camera footage driving away from a police car while shirtless the same day he brutally killed his two female victims. Dubbed the 'Deadpool Killer' as he shares a name with the Marvel character, 30-year-old Wilson was convicted of slaughtering two Florida women during an hours-long crime spree on the same night in October 2019 in Cape Coral, with his appearance drawing widespread interest in his case. On the day of the killings, Wilson - who faces a potential life sentence in prison August 27 - was stopped by police after they'd received a call from ex-girlfriend Melissa Montanez after she said he attacked her at the spa she runs and stolen her car. In the clip - which was shown in court on June 11 - Wilson is found without a shirt on in Montanez's car outside a local restaurant and tells an office that he was waiting there for her. He asks why he's being stopped. The officer, after claiming he'll explain further when his partner shows up and reminding Wilson he's on probation, says: 'I'm going to detain you, not arrest you right now, okay? I can't have any problems, you understand me?' Convicted double murderer Wade Wilson was seen on police body camera footage driving away from a police car while shirtless the same day he brutally killed his two female victims Dubbed the 'Deadpool Killer' as he shares a name with the Marvel character, 30-year-old Wilson was convicted of slaughtering two Florida women during an hours-long crime spree on the same night in October 2019 in Cape Coral, with his appearance drawing widespread interest in his case Eventually, the officer tells him was going to be arrested 'because of the battery this morning'. Wilson denies that he attacked Montanez. The officer asks Wilson to turn off the car and turn over the keys and tells him to stay in the vehicle until they can obtain backup. Wilson simply restarts the car and drives away. The officer can be heard saying: 'Don't go anywhere, don't do it'. Wilson was convicted over the murders of Kristine Melton, 35, and Diane Ruiz, 43, who prosecutors said he killed 'for the sake of killing.' He was also convicted of a number of charges during an hours-long crime spree, including the battery of Montanez, 41, the burglary and theft of two homes, and the grand theft auto of Melton's car. He began on the afternoon of October 6, 2019, when he met Melton at a live music bar and went home with her. Wilson strangled her to death inside her home in Cape Coral, Florida the next day, where her body was found inside. The same day, Ruiz was reported missing after she was seen being asked for directions by Wilson while on her walk to work. The officer asks Wilson to turn off the car and turn over the keys and tells him to stay in the vehicle until they can obtain backup. Wilson simply restarts the car and drives away On the day of the killings, Wilson - who faces a potential life sentence in prison August 27 - was stopped by police after they'd received a call from ex-girlfriend Melissa Montanez after she said he attacked her at the spa she runs and stolen her car He was driving a car he stole from Melton's home after he murdered her, which Ruiz got into before she was also strangled to death. In testimony from Wilson's father, it was said that he went onto 'run her over until she looked like spaghetti.' Ruiz's body was found three days later in a field behind a Sam's Club. The 30-year-old killer also drove to Fort Myers in Melton's car and attacked Montanez, his ex-girlfriend. Wilson was arrested on October 8, where he remained behind bars without bail until he was found guilty of murder this month. Wilson added a number of tattoos since he was arrested, and his face includes several Swatika's, menacing Joker-like mouth tattoos, and a neck tattoo reading: 'Bred for war.' Jurors voted to send him to death row, with Wilson seen in courtroom footage appearing emotionless as he learned his fate. Wilson's father Steven Testasecca, 46, said in his testimony that Wilson had been adopted as a baby because he and the killer's mother were teenagers when they had him. He said his contact with his son had been 'sporadic' since they reconnected when he turned 18, but said Wilson reached out to him on October 7 after he killed Melton and Ruiz. Wilson was convicted over the murders of Kristine Melton, 35, and Diane Ruiz, 43, who prosecutors said he killed 'for the sake of killing' Wade Wilson adjusts his suit during his capital murder trial at the Lee County Courthouse in Fort Myers on Monday, June 3 'He said, 'I'm a killer,'' Testasecca said, adding that he initially believed his son was merely telling him a 'story.' 'He's a good storyteller,' he testified. Later that day, after another phone call, he said it dawned on him that his son was telling the truth. Testasecca said his son then went into gory details of how he killed the two women, including how he choked Melton after she fell asleep. Ruiz was also still breathing when she was repeatedly ran over by Wilson, Testasecca said he was told. 'He was excited,' he said. 'He was wanting me to feel the same way he was feeling... he would've done it again.' Apparently a bloodied Wilson then went to a restaurant owned by an acquaintance and told them of the killings. When the owner threatened to call 911, Wilson is said to have fled, later breaking into the home of Fanny and Kent Amlin, a retired couple who were out of town. He was reportedly found inside the home with a number of White Claw alcoholic beverages. In heartbreaking victim impact statements following Wilson's trial, Melton's cousin Samantha Catomer said she was a quick witted and kind person who dreamed of becoming a mother. In testimony from Wilson's father, it was said that he ran Ruiz over 'until she looked like spaghetti.' Her body was found three days later in a field behind a Sam's Club Wilson strangled her to death inside her home in Cape Coral, Florida after meeting her at a live music bar 'Kristine will never experience motherhood, a role she was born to play,' she said. Zane Romero, 19, one of Ruiz's two sons, said that his mother was murdered just days before he was set to debut in his school marching band, which he said she was looking forward to. 'I never got to see her in the crowd,' Romero said. 'My mom will never get to see me get married.' Ruiz, a bartender, was remembered by her colleagues as 'the heartbeat of the bar' where she worked, who never missed a shift for over five years. 'She always had everybody's back. She just had that personality that was really magnifying. She has this really loud laugh that you could hear it like a mile away,' she said. A second-hand clothing store has been slammed by a shopper who spotted a designer jacket's eye-watering price. The Brisbane woman was shocked by the Burberry blazer's $850 price tag at an op-shop near her home, asking: 'Who shopping at an op-shop could ever afford that?' The checked wool blazer from the designer label's Summer/Spring collection in 2020 retailed for about 2,300 in Europe, or A$3,850, when first released. It's price on online marketplaces has since plummeted to about A$1,150, making it still more expensive than the op-shop price. A number of Aussies said the price reflects the skyrocketing cost of second-hand items at both charity and for-profit op-shops. One Facebook user said customers who can only afford cheaper second-hand items have been left behind. 'It's not like it used to be to be, when it was for the poorer people to shop and get a bargain,' a Facebook user wrote. 'You might as well go to a retail shop and you can buy most things cheaper.' A Brisbane woman has slammed her local op-shop for pricing a Burberry jacket at $850 (pictured) as people online lamented how expensive second-hand stores have become Other Aussies argued that those less well off weren't looking for a Burberry jacket and that vintage resellers had ruined the market. 'You do realise there are people scouring op shops for items for their own shops,' a user wrote in a comment on a Yahoo article. 'They wouldn't hesitate to put more on their price tags, so why not sell them at a charity shop. 'And I'm sure the donor would like to see charity get as much as they can for their clothes.' Another said those 'having a sook' about reasonably priced designer items are those who can't 'make a profit when they sell it'. 'The money they make in the shop goes to the needy, the needy don't necessarily go there to do their shopping,' they wrote. The designer label's blazer (pictured) was part of its 2020 Spring/Summer collection and originally retailed for about 2,300 in Europe, or A$3,850 A Salvos store was criticised last week after a shopper found a pair of used R.M. Williams boots for $400 despite the fact they cost $649 brand new. 'That's disgusting. It's supposed to be a shop to help people. It's getting ridiculous,' one wrote. 'Daylight robbery. They get everything for free and sell for ridiculous prices. Sometimes it's cheaper to go to Kmart,' a second added. Another commenter said: 'They are a business, now they have forgotten people actually go there to shop because they have little money to spend.' Op-shops were started to offer items at bargain prices with the money raised diverted to helping those in need. The Salvation Army states on its website: 'Our Salvos Stores and op-shops specialise in the sale of pre-loved items generously donated by the Australian public. 'You can find a second-hand or vintage piece at an affordable price while helping raise funds to support our vital work in the community.' Daily Mail Australia contacted the Salvation Army for comment. It's a depressingly familiar story. A man with extreme personality disorder who should have been under strict supervision is allowed to roam the streets unchecked. He is sectioned four times in three years, but only for brief periods. He claims to hear 'malign voices' and is diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. One doctor warns: 'He could end up killing someone.' Yet even after missing appointments, failing to take his medication and committing a number of violent crimes, including a nasty assault on a police officer, he is not detained. Eventually, after being 'unmedicated and out of touch with psychiatric services for almost 12 months', the inevitable happens. On June 13 last year, Valdo Calocane went on a deadly rampage in Nottingham, fatally stabbing two 19-year-old students and a school caretaker, then driving a stolen van into a bus queue. DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Valdo Calocane went on a deadly rampage in Nottingham , fatally stabbing two 19-year-old students and a school caretaker, then driving a stolen van into a bus queue on June 13 last year Flowers left on Ilkeston Road in Nottingham to mark the first anniversary of the attack So here we are again. Another system failure. Three more families bereft, angry and searching for answers. The killer's relatives stunned and uncomprehending. Another hospital trust in disgrace. In its report yesterday, the Care Quality Commission made recommendations, but they are far from radical review treatment plans, improve supervision, more robust discharge policy etc. All very worthy, no doubt, but shouldn't those things be happening already? We are talking about dangerous people here who are like timebombs ready to go off. These profoundly sick people should surely either be in secure accommodation or under the most vigilant monitoring. It's 30 years since the inquiry into the killing of Jonathan Zito on a London tube station platform by another paranoid schizophrenic, Christopher Clunis. The similarities are clear. Clunis had been bounced between nine psychiatric units in five years, had 22 violent incidents on his record, including attacking a couple with a bread knife a week before the killing. Yet he had been discharged from hospital and was living unmedicated in a bedsit. It was, said the report, 'a catalogue of failure and missed opportunity', which must not be allowed to happen again. But here we are, three decades later and it has. How many more Calocanes and Clunises are ticking away? And how many more innocents must die before we have a system which catches them before they explode? Where's boat plan? In an interview last year, Yvette Cooper said Labour aimed to stop all the small boats bringing migrants across the Channel. Then, she was in opposition and could make such pledges without having to fulfil them. Today she is Home Secretary and must back up her bold words with action. More than 700 migrants reached our shores on Sunday on 11 boats the highest daily total under Labour. That makes 18,432 so far this year and counting. Yvette Cooper said last year that Labour aimed to stop all small boats bringing migrants across the Channel. Now she must back up her bold words with action Over 700 migrants reached our shores on Sunday on 11 boats - the highest daily total under Labour Tragically, two drowned off the French coast, showing again the dangers of this movement of human traffic. But scrapping the Rwanda deterrent will have given the gangs behind it a huge lift. Meanwhile, Ms Cooper's much-heralded Border Security Command is yet to get off the ground, and there is no sign of the promised closer co-operation with France. During the election campaign, 'smashing the gangs' was her top priority. It now seems to be slipping on to the back burner. This will make many wonder whether Labour was ever really serious about stopping the boats, or if it was just another election pretence to win votes. Woolworths is rolling out controversial security gates that prevent customers from leaving if they have not paid - following in the footsteps of Coles. The gates are part of an advanced security system that uses sensors on the store's roof to track shoppers as they enter the self-service checkout area. The sensor then sends a signal to open the exit gate, allowing shoppers to leave if they have paid for their items. However, if the sensors detect that a shopper may be stealing, the gates stay closed, preventing their exit. Woolworths told Daily Mail Australia shoppers remain unidentifiable throughout the process as the technology does not use facial recognition or CCTV. The grocery giant started introducing the gates in August of last year, and since then, they have been installed at eight locations across New South Wales and Victoria. The security gates have been rolled out in eight locations across New South Wales and Victoria. It's understood they will be installed in more stores as they are upgraded. One such gate was newly installed at Sydney's Central Park shopping centre recently. 'Exit gates are one of a number of initiatives, both covert and overt, to minimise instances of retail crime in store networks across the Group,' a spokesman told Daily Mail Australia. Woolworths is rolling out controversial security gates at more stores across Australia that prevent customers from leaving if they have not paid Coles introduced similar security gates last year across several stores. Coles uses security cameras above the self-service checkout machines that track all items being scanned and placed into bags. If discrepancies are found, the smart gates shut and an alarm rings out, keeping the customer within the store. If that fails to keep a suspected thief from leaving the store, the wheels on new high-tech trolleys will completely lock up the moment they leave the store. Grim police footage has laid bare the moment a scorned fiancee realizes she faces years in jail after beating up her partner's lover and leaving her for dead. Antonetta Stevens, 27, pretended to be her partner to lure his lover Ashley Bocanegra to their home in Burford, Georgia, with a text message from his phone. In the newly-released footage filmed by her cackling partner's sister Janine, Stevens stormed over to the mother-of-one as she arrived, grabbing her hair, forcing her to the ground and launching a flurry of blows against the 30-year-old. Bocanegra took herself to hospital where she later died from internal bleeding. Police later arrived at the home to inform Stevens about the fatal consequences of her jealousy. Upon learning Bocanegra had died as a result of her injuries, she callously responded to cops: 'Okay, um wow I'm so sorry about that, um, that was not my intention.' 'I've been mentally going through a lot,' she bleats. 'I have bipolar depression and I'm just going through a lot right now.' Antonetta Stevens, 27, pretended to be her partner to lure his lover Ashley Bocanegra to their home in Burford, Georgia, before launching her murderous attack Bocanegra, 30, was the married mother to a seven-year-old son and died as a result of her injuries after the brutal attack The killing in August 2022 made headlines across the country but the extensive police interview footage has just been published by Law & Crime. Both women are now in Arrendale State Prison serving 20-year sentences for voluntary manslaughter and robbery by force. The drama began after Stevens found out her partner of five years and father of her three-year-old son, Daniel Gonzalez, was having an affair. Bocanegra was his manager at a nearby Floor and Decor depot, and Gonzalez had confided with his 17-year-old sister Janine about his tryst. Janine told Stevens who hatched her revenge plot after seeing her partner and his lover walking together near the store on his lunchbreak. The following day she marched up to Bocanegra as she approached the apartment block in response to the bogus text message. Janine was following right behind filming the encounter on her phone as Stevens approached her victim shouting 'I will murder you'. 'I will do worse to you,' she screams as she punches Bocanegra in the face. 'That's why he was trying to protect you, but now he don't care for you to get your a** beat.' Janine dragged the helpless victim along the street, pulling her hair, as Stevens rained lethal blows down on the woman. The pair grabbed her phone, intending to use it to inform Bocanegra's husband about her affair and left her sitting battered and bloodied in the street as they returned to the apartment. She was left battered and bloodied in the street from the furious assault before dying from her injuries in hospital later that night Stevens, left, was incensed when she discovered that partner Daniel Gonzalez was having an affair with his slightly-built co-worker. She's seen here when officers made their first visit to the home after the incident was reported to police before the full extend of Bocanegra's injuries were known Gonzalez had been obliviously asleep while the attack took place and awoke to the sound of his lover knocking at the door asking for her phone back. Her attackers handed it back and she had limped away before police arrived in response to neighbors' 911 calls. They were back again that evening after their victim, who was mother to a seven-year-old son, deteriorated in hospital to inform the pair that the victim had died. 'Okay, um wow I'm so sorry about that, um, that was not my intention,' Stevens cold-heartedly tells them. 'I've been mentally going through a lot,' she bleats. 'I have bipolar depression and I'm just going through a lot right now.' When officers returned to the home for a second time, Stevens and Janine faced more questions The pair were delivered the news Bocanegra had passed away when Stevens was heard telling police 'I'm not that person' Janine too was hauled down to the precinct where she repeatedly laughs as she recounts what took place seemingly unaware that her freedom is hanging by a thread. 'So she's coming and we go and she comes to the house you know its a big fight, a big fight. 'So um after the fight we took her phone we were going to her husband to let him know. 'You know, just stir some,' she giggled. 'She starts banging on the door like crazy cos, you know, we got her phone. 'She gets her phone back yeah so, I don't know how she left like I wasn't watching after that cuz my brother was mad as hell and you know he don't want me in the business. 'I was already in it too much, so he's like on my a** so I'm just like 'okay'.' Daniel Gonzalez was seen on bodycam discussing the incident with police. Officers later told him that his co-worker with whom he was having a relationship with on the side had not made it Stevens' accomplice Janine Gonzalez, 17, filmed the attack on her phone and laughed and giggled through a police interview after learning of Bocanegra's death But her face turned to horror when her interviewer informed her that she too was being charged with murder In the other interview room Stevens' head falls to the table as she is left alone momentarily with a homicide charge now hanging over her. 'I don't go out looking to harm anybody,' she tells detectives. 'It wasn't my intention to even get into an altercation with her today.' Janine's grin freezes on her face and changes to a look of horror as her interviewer calmly informs her that she too is being charged with murder. 'Me!' she gasps. 'Whoa, that's, that's, that's too bad. 'No, no, no, no, what? Murder? I barely laid hands on her. 'All I did was pull her hair.' Stevens' head fell to the table when she was left alone momentarily with a homicide charge now hanging over her. 'I don't go out looking to harm anybody,' she told detectives An Aussie tradie has been praised for his hilarious response to his Uber driver being pulled over by police for speeding. Fynn Ellmers was riding in the passenger seat of the rideshare car when the driver was pulled over by highway patrol in the Gold Coast last week. Mr Ellmers volunteered to translate on behalf of the cop as the driver appeared to struggle to understand English. 'Excellent, that would be good,' the grateful cop replied. The officer then told the driver he would undergo a random breath test after he was caught driving 18km/h over the speed limit. 'You can translate [that] if you like,' he told Mr Ellmers. Aussies were left in hysterics after the tradie leant over to the driver, tapped him on the shoulder and told him: 'Brother, too fast'. 'You don't speak...? That's excellent. You're a real champion,' the officer replied, unimpressed. Fynn Ellmers left Aussies in hysterics after he posted video from an Uber ride last week Mr Ellmers reassured the driver he would still give him five stars on the app. 'Oh well my bro, you can't cry over spilt milk,' he said. 'You can still drive me bro. I love you. Thank you, five stars. 'Thank you for taking me home.' Aussies were quick to praise Mr Ellmer's 'cheeky' response to the cops on Instagram where the video has racked up over 4million views. 'I am howling I don't how many times I've watched this on repeat,' one person wrote. Tradesman Fynn Ellmers (left) told the officer he could translate for the driver Mr Elmmers told Daily Mail Australia he intended to make more videos 'This is exactly the behavior I think of when I hear the word 'cheeky',' a second said. A third commented: 'Been a while since I laughed that hard.' Mr Elmmers told Daily Mail Australia he intended to make more videos. 'Was so random a friend had seen it on my Snapchat story and thought it was hilarious so I posted it on TikTok, then Instagram and I think it's got like 4.2million on Insta which is crazy,' he said. 'I just need some luck and a bit more confidence to keep on making more funny videos and it would definitely be a good way to make it off the trade site.' The Labor government is pressing ahead with laws that would require accountants to disclose their personal mental health issues despite strong objections, Daily Mail Australia can reveal. Now former Australian of the Year and leading mental health expert Professor Patrick McGorry has weighed in, condemning the changes and calling on the government to reverse its decision. Professor McGorry 'supports clarification in the Determination that tax agents should not be required to disclose their mental health history or status'. A Determination is a legal instrument used to change the law. Stephen Jones, the Assistant Treasurer and a factional ally of Anthony Albanese, is pressing ahead with the change, which is before the Senate. It would require tax practitioners to disclose 'any' matter that might influence a client to engage their services. This could include someone's mental health history, perhaps even their religion or sexual orientation, needing to be disclosed to clients. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been made aware of the issue - but has failed to solve it But the Labor Party appears to be in denial about the implications of its changes, refusing to even acknowledge the unintended consequences they are creating. The chair of the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB), Peter de Cure, who is responsible for enforcing the rules, has said that mental health 'could possibly be relevant' as a matter for disclosure. The Prime Minister's office failed to respond to questions from Daily Mail Australia when asked directly if the chair of the TPB is wrong to say that mental health might need to be disclosed by accountants. Former Australian of the Year Patrick McGorry has condemned the change The bizarre rules could require an accountant battling depression to be forced to reveal their condition to a worker seeking to complete their tax return. A pro-Palestinian client might need to be told that their accountant is Jewish, if the tax practitioner thinks that would influence a client choosing to engage their services. That might also be the case for a same sex married accountant asked to do the tax returns of a religiously conservative client who they know has been vocal on the issue. 'These rules are so badly drafted the Labor Party should be embarrassed,' one accountant who wanted to remain anonymous told Daily Mail Australia. While none of these scenarios are the intended purpose of the new laws, the government won't change their open ended wording, despite the profession saying changes could easily be made. That is why tax professionals are advocating for the determination to be amended or dumped altogether. Accountants could have to declare their mental health history, sexual orientation or complaints against them to their clients, if relevant - making tax time incredibly awkward Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has been made aware of the issue but won't act to resolve it. That's despite accountants that Daily Mail Australia has spoken to saying the uncertainty surrounding the changes is already affecting their health and wellbeing. The changes being made will also require accountants to disclose any allegation made against them to all their clients, in writing, before the truthfulness of any allegations have even been tested. And before any findings are made. No other profession requires allegations to be made public ahead of findings in this manner. And when Labor established its new federal anti-corruption body it refused to allow allegations to the watchdog to become public before investigations and findings are completed, claiming that it didn't want MPs and Senators to be unfairly tarnished by allegations that aren't proven. Labor's changes aren't giving accountants the same protections. The sector says this could adversely affect tax practitioners who are wrongly accused. Last year only seven per cent of allegations of wrongdoing made against accountants were upheld by the TPB, yet according to Labor's rule changes the other 93 per cent found to have done nothing wrong would be forced to inform their clients, in writing, of the vexatious allegations made against them, crippling their businesses. 'Can you imagine how damaging that would be?' one accountant told Daily Mail Australia. Which is why the accounting profession - not known for its passion - is up in arms about the Labor government's changes and is asking the Opposition and the crossbench to block the changes. A former police officer accused of killing Channel 10 presenter Jesse Baird and boyfriend Luke Davies with his service firearm inside an inner-city Sydney home has had multiple charges dropped. Beau Lamarre-Condon, 29, appeared before Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday via video link from custody as he faced two charges of murder and DV-related murder, and one charge of break and enter. Police allege the former NSW Police constable killed the couple inside their home in Paddington in February before their bodies were later found in surfboard bags in the Southern Tablelands. Returning before the court, Lamarre-Condon's lawyer, John Walford, said police had certified the former officer's charges and would be withdrawing the murder charges and proceeding with two charges of DV-related murder and the break and enter charge. Magistrate David Covington told the court that general access had also been granted for a subpoenaed password-protected USB device, with the matter due back in court in October following a case conference next month. Asked about the progress of the case outside court, another lawyer representing Lamarre-Condon said he had no comment, including about the USB, before adding 'next time', without elaborating. Lamarre-Condon was seen on the video link in a prison green-coloured hooded jumper and did not apply for release on bail. He spoke only briefly, telling Mr Covington, 'Thank you, Your Honour'. Former NSW Police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon is charged with two counts of DV-related murder Channel 10 presenter Jesse Baird is pictured Qantas flight attendant Luke Davies is pictured. Lamarre-Condon has been charged over his death Police allege the murders occurred after a pattern of 'predatory' behaviour by Lamarre-Condon, a senior constable who had been in a brief relationship with Mr Baird months before his death. A triple-zero call was made from Mr Davies' mobile phone four minutes after neighbours heard gunshots at the Paddington house. Following his arrest, Lamarre-Condon provided information to police that led to the discovery of the couple's bodies following a widespread search. The couple's bodies were found on February 27 inside surfboard bags at the fenceline of a rural property in Bungonia, near Goulburn, about 200km southwest of Sydney. Lamarre-Condon has since been dismissed from the NSW Police Force. He joined the force in 2019 and previously ran a celebrity blog, posing in photos with dozens of A-listers including Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus and Harry Styles. The matter will return to court on October 8. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) Lifeline 13 11 14 An expert in the risk of chemicals has issued a scathing assessment of the guidelines in place for Australia's drinking water quality. Dr Mariann Lloyd-Smith, a senior policy adviser for the International Pollutants Elimination Network, said Australia is falling behind other countries in drinking water safety. The amount of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) allowed in drinking water are the subject of new limits in the US, where the laws are far more restrictive than Australia's. 'Australia cannot continue to use drinking water guidelines that are an international embarrassment,' Dr Lloyd-Smith told ABC's Radio National. PFAS are also known as 'forever chemicals', and in 2023 the World Health Organization declared that PFOA, which is one of the roughly 14,000 known variants of PFAS, is a class one human carcinogen. 'Australian standards are out of date, out of touch and totally are not usable for protecting human health,' Dr Lloyd-Smith said. 'We really do need to move on these chemicals quickly. And particularly when it's in drinking water, something that everybody has to consume. It just is totally unacceptable.' In Australia, PFAS chemicals have been used widely in firefighting foam in Defence Force bases due to their resistance to heat and flames. An expert in the risk of chemicals has issued a scathing assessment of the guidelines in place for Australia's drinking water quality (stock image) The chemicals, which were developed in the 1940s and 1950s, are also known for their resistance to water and stains and are used in products such as rain coats and non-stick frying pans. Nick Chartres, of the University of Sydney's medicine and health faculty, said they are 'the most mobile, persistent and toxic chemicals in the world'. 'We know that they can get into the Arctic ice caps, they can get into the ice in Antarctica, they get into the deep-sea floor soil sediment. They basically travel everywhere,' Dr Chartres said. PFAS' in drinking water has led to the new regulations in the US. Most Australians already probably have very low levels of PFAS in their bodies from using items such as sunscreen and cosmetics. But prolonged exposure, which could happen through drinking contaminated water over a long period, can lead to immune and heart problems, and can also affect fetal and infant growth. Dr Chartres said the US Environmental Protection Agency found 'based on the best available evidence that we have there is actually no safe level (of exposure to PFAS)'. 'So if you get exposed across a lifetime, at any level, your risk of these diseases starts going up incrementally based on the level of exposure.' He said that the US law change should be a wake-up call for Australia. 'We now have to look to that and say, how do our standards (compare)? And if there's any type of divergence with the Australian (laws), why is there a divergence?' In the US, the maximum level allowed for PFOA and another variant, PFOS, in drinking water is four parts per trillion. But in Australia, PFOS and PFHxS - yet another PFAS variant - are allowed up to a level of 70 parts per trillion. 'And for PFOA, which is so much more toxic, we've set a level of 560 (parts per trillion),' Dr Lloyd-Smith said. She cautioned against buying bottled water to use instead of tap water, though. 'We've found PFAS in bottled water too, so that's not the solution,' she said. Filtration systems can lower PFAS levels in drinking water, but they are expensive and unaffordable for many people. Dr Mariann Lloyd-Smith, a senior policy adviser for the International Pollutants Elimination Network, said Australia is falling behind other countries in drinking water safety (Warragamba Dam in NSW is pictured) Dr Lloyd-Smith said people should try to reduce their exposure to PFAS beyond its presence in drinking water. She advised people to check labels and read the ingredients in the make-up products they use. People should also research how their clothes, food and food packaging are made, and what chemicals they could contain. 'Australia must ... assess (PFAS) as a class and aim to restrict and eliminate all uses of PFAS,' Dr Lloyd-Smith said. An erratic woman was filmed having an epic meltdown at a Los Angeles police station and launching into a racist tirade at a man in the lobby. The video, apparently captured from the Hollywood Police Station on August 6 at 12.01am, shows the unidentified woman getting into a shouting match with the man filming her after she allegedly demanded the cops shoot homeless people. He began to insult the woman - saying she was 'shaped like an apple with little skinny legs' and looks like a 'slob.' The woman could then be seen yelling at him to 'go back to the jungle' and 'go back to Africa' before she is escorted out of the police station. An unidentified woman was caught on camera having a meltdown at the Hollywood Police Station in the early morning hours of August 6 The footage begins with the woman standing at the counter at the Hollywood Police Station, complaining to cops seated behind a glass partition about the city's homelessness problem. 'You guys can't go out there and stand on the street and arrest these people,' she screams. When the officer tries to reply, she cuts him off and says, 'No because you know what, because you're too afraid to confront them. That's your problem. 'You guys can't confront these people and get them off the street,' she continues, before asking the officer, 'What's your gun for?' 'You don't know how to use your gun, sir,' she accuses the officer. 'That's why they have you sitting here doing the computer.' The woman was filmed yelling at officers, and suggesting they should shoot homeless people The woman goes on to argue that officers should go after 'the druggies, homeless black people that roam around here'. 'They're vandalizing cars. And you're letting these people stay here,' she accused the cops, arguing it 'is the city's responsibility' because 'they're loitering.' At that point, the black man standing in line interrupted. 'She wants to shoot homeless people,' he said, incredulously. But the woman tells him, 'Sir, it's none of your f***ing business.' 'It is my business, you dumb b***h,' he retorts. 'Shut your mouth!' Still, the woman tells him 'it's none of your f***ing business.' 'Well you're here in public talking, so I'll speak up,' the man said, before insulting her. 'Your love handles are seeping over the sides. That's why you look like a ... slob. Look at you. You literally look like a slob. 'Get your s*** together, lady. You look disgusting. You're just miserable. 'No wonder you're miserable, look at you. You're shaped like an apple with little skinny legs,' the man continues. 'You look like... You know what? Look at you, you're f***ing broke. You're broke. Your life sucks.' When a black man interjected, the woman launched into a racist tirade - repeatedly telling him to 'go back to the jungle' and 'go back to Africa' At that point, the woman started making racist remarks. 'Go back to the jungle!' she told the man. 'Go back to the jungle. 'Go back to Africa! Go back to Africa! Go back to the jungle.' Officers behind the counter could be heard telling the woman to 'stop,' but she quickly pointed at the man and retorted, 'he started it.' Still, the man continued to tell her 'your life sucks,' prompting the woman to once again tell him to 'go back to your f***ing jungle. 'Look at you, you're the one from the jungle lady, with your little $5 outfit,' he shoots back, telling her she should go back to the jungle instead. 'No, I'm American. Nobody brought me here,' she says. The man then continues to insult the woman, saying, 'You look disgusting. It is too bad! It's a damn shame. Look at you, you're disgusting. You look filthy. You're the one who started it lady,' he yells, as an officer escorts her out. She was escorted by police out of the station, and was not charged with any wrongdoing Many on Reddit praised the man for standing up to her, with one saying the 'world could do with a few more people like him calling people out for their s**t.' Another derided the woman as a 'disgusting human being,' and said he was 'glad' the man 'talked to her in that way, she deserved it.' But a third suggested the woman may be suffering from 'mental illness and/or a failing liver' and is 'probably drunk' but is 'definitely belligerent and churlish. 'She deserves to be treated poorly, but it won't teach her any type of lesson, she'll just be even worse,' the Redditor suggested. 'The best course of action is to arrest her for disturbing the peace.' Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department, however, say the woman went to the police station to file a crime report and her rant got the attention of the black man in the lobby. 'The gentleman and her were arguing and we separated the two and kept the peace,' a spokesman for the department told DailyMail.com. He added that the woman was not charged with any wrongdoing, and her police report was filed. Donald Trump remarked on Kamala Harris' Time Magazine cover, saying he thought the vice president resembled his wife and former First Lady Melania during his interview with Elon Musk. Harris was featured on the cover of the long-running periodical despite continuing to refuse one-on-one interviews. The magazine used an illustration of Harris with the headline 'Her Time' and Trump commented on how he felt she looked like a familiar face when talking to Musk during their conversation on X Spaces. 'She looked very much like our great first lady, Melania,' Trump told Musk, as they discussed the cover image of Monday's issue. Trump also appeared to mispronounce Kamala's name, though this time, it sounded more like 'Camilla'. Donald Trump remarked on Kamala Harris ' Time Magazine cover, saying he thought the vice president resembled his wife and former First Lady Melania during his interview with Elon Musk 'She looked very much like our great first lady, Melania,' Trump told Musk, as they discussed the cover image of Monday's issue 'She didn't look like Camilla but of course, she's a beautiful woman, so we'll leave it at that,' Trump said of the cover. Time's new cover story on Harris features the phrase, 'Her Moment,' alongside a black-and-white illustration of the vice president. Trump noted this, calling it a 'free ride' from the media and that the image presented her as if she was 'the most beautiful actress ever to live'. The magazine has caught some critique for putting out the story, for which Harris declined to be interviewed, amid Republican outrage that she hasn't sat for a media interview since Biden quit the campaign, making way for her. Musk's interview with former President Donald Trump finally kicked off about 40 minutes behind schedule. He said that his conversation with former President Donald Trump would happen with a smaller audience and he would release an audio recording directly afterward after a tech snafu derailed Monday night's programming. Musk said his website, X, was the victim of a cyber-attack, which is why the Trump interview wouldn't load. 'We tested the system with 8 million concurrent listeners earlier today,' the SpaceX and Tesla CEO insisted. Trump also appeared to mispronounce Kamala's name, though this time, it sounded more like 'Camilla' Musk's interview with former President Donald Trump finally kicked off about 40 minutes behind schedule X users were greeted with loud music as they attempted to get into Donald J. Trump's 'Space' to hear the former president converse with X owner Elon Musk. Eventually the music stopped and a ruffling sound could be heard. Then Trump appeared to have muted his line. The highly anticipated interview was supposed to kick off at 8 p.m. Musk endorsed Trump on the heels of the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. The SpaceX and Tesla CEO then explained that the Q&A would be a conversation not a hostile interview. 'It's hard to catch a vibe about someone if you just don't hear them talk in a normal way,' Musk said. The tech snafus plaguing Trump's interview Monday night were reminiscent of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis trying to launch his 2024 presidential campaign on the social media platform. Musk endorsed Trump on the heels of the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania In May 2023, DeSantis announced he was running for president via X but the site melted down. At the time, Trump trolled his rival. 'Wow! The DeSanctus TWITTER launch is a DISASTER! His whole campaign will be a disaster. WATCH!' Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time. DeSantis only made it through the Iowa caucuses - coming in a distant second place to Trump. He attempted to gain strength in Nikki Haley's home state of South Carolina but ended up dropping out ahead of New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary, endorsing Trump on his way out. Once they got going, Trump and Musk chatted on a variety of issues, with much of Trumps responses mirroring some of the multitopic stem-winding thats typical of his rallies and speeches. That included anecdotes about his interactions with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as critiques on what both men characterized as Democrats failures in securing the U.S.-Mexico border and tamping down crime in American cities. There was also specific discussion of Harris, with both Trump and Musk warning of the direction into which they felt she would lead the U.S. as president. Much of the convivial back and forth sounded less like a newsmaker interview and more like a conversation between similarly minded allies, as appeared to be Musk's intent. Musk endorsed Trump just after the assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania campaign rally last month. Prosecutors have demanded a year in jail and 100 hours of community service for a University of Kentucky student who assaulted staff and police officers during a prolonged tirade of racist abuse. Former business and marketing major Sophia Rosing, 23, called a young female desk clerk the N-word 200 times as she stumbled drunkenly towards her dorm in November 2022. She was still yelling it as she was led away by police officers she had bitten, kicked and informed of her 'wealth' as they tried to restrain her. She pleaded guilty on Monday to six counts including four of assault after they were amended to fourth-degree-minor injury as part of a plea deal. 'I told her that she didn't break my spirit,' desk clerk Kylah Spring said after the hearing. 'That was one of the things I said the first time I ever spoke about what happened and that rings true today.' Former University of Kentucky student Sophia Rosing, 23, racially abused college desk clerk Kylah Spring hundreds of times in a violent 10-minute drunken tirade in November 2022 Prosecutors have demanded 12 months in jail and 100 hours of community service after she admitted six charges including assaulting a police officer Rosing pleaded not guilty at an initial hearing with her attorney Fred Peter in November 2022. She had stumbled back onto campus in Lexington, Kentucky, after a night out drinking before launching herself at Spring who was manning the front desk. Some students tried to intervene and others took out their phones to record the 10-minute tirade during which she swung punches at Spring, told her to 'do her chores', and repeatedly called her an 'ugly n***** bitch'. When University of Kentucky police officers arrived to detain her at 4am she told them she gets 'special treatment' because she has 'lots of money', and refused to identify herself to officers as she was slung into jail. She was suspended by the university within hours of the incident, and permanently banned from campus three days later. It later emerged that she allegedly doxed a 15-year-old girl while they were at high school together, publicly posting that she would 'send nudes' and falsely claimed she had an abortion. Spring made an impassioned speech at an anti-racism march the day after the incident. The university freshman became emotional as she addressed the dozens of people who attended the march in her honor. She told the crowd: 'I was physically, verbally and racially assaulted by Jane Doe, aka Sophia Rosing. She was arrested in the early hours of November 6 after she stumbled into the dorms on campus in Lexington, Kentucky, before she launched herself Spring who was working the front desk Spring met Rosing after the incident as part of the court mediation service but was not convinced of her attacker's remorse Rosing pleaded not guilty at an initial hearing with her attorney in November 2022 Rosing, pictured in high school, allegedly started rumors about a fellow pupil 'getting pregnant and getting an abortion' in high school, which was not true Her parents, Jill and Don Rosing, are seen at a previous court appearance 'This is a recurring issue in and across the American school system no matter what age. 'I am deeply saddened by the events that took place, but I am most grateful for justice that is to come. 'To Miss Rosing. You will not break my spirit and you will be held accountable for your actions. I only pray that you open your heart to love and try to experience life differently and more positively. 'As Michelle Obama once said, when they go low, we go high. I will continue to address this situation with grace and humility.' A year before the vile racist incident, Rosing had bragged to fellow students: 'I'm rich as f*** and you're obviously not'. DailyMail.com previously revealed how she grew up in a modest three-bedroom and two-bathroom family property in Fort Mitchell with her parents and siblings. Rosing's attorney Fred Peters told Lex18 that his client has since stopped drinking. 'She's extremely remorseful,' he added. 'She has had a lot of time to think about what she has done, and she wrote a nice letter of apology.' But Spring said Rosing did not address her behavior in court, and she remains unconvinced of her remorse. A former classmate of Rosing (pictured), who attended Beechwood with her, branded her a 'bully' who had her 'true personality' exposed by her own vile rant DailyMail.com revealed that she grew up in a modest three-bedroom and two-bathroom family property in Fort Mitchell with her parents and siblings after she bragged that she was 'rich' Rosing will return to Fayette County Circuit Court on October 17 for sentencing 'I feel that a person that is remorseful takes actions that are moving towards proving they are remorseful,' she said. 'Not just words.' 'I think her admitting at least a piece of what she's done admitting the things she said and being able to own up to them I think it's going to follow behind. 'Seeing yourself act in that light is not an easy thing to see, I imagine, so I guess there's still a bit of maturing and unpacking she needs to do with that. So I'll give her the space to do that.' 'I forgive her more so for myself, she added. 'I was raised not to hold grudges, I was raised that we give people forgiveness because God forgave us.' Rosing will return to Fayette County Circuit Court on October 17 for sentencing. An Arizona mother has been accused of committing a horrible offense at her children's school. Scottsdale police say Nubia Gonzalez, who has four children in the city's school district, stole more than $35,000 from the Cocopah Association of Parents and Teachers - which raises money for school activities, field trips and other activities at Cocopah Middle School. She had been elected treasurer of the APT in April, and was a well-liked mother who frequently volunteered in her children's classrooms, Fox 19 reports. But she has since gone missing, as she stands accused of defrauding the school district so that she could transfer the funds from the volunteer group to her personal account. Gonzalez was even caught on camera depositing the stolen funds into her bank account before she disappeared - shutting down her phones and social media accounts. Police in Arizona are searching for Nubia Gonzalez, a mother of four, who is accused of stealing more than $35,000 from her children's middle school Police say that shortly after the mother-of-four was elected treasurer of the APT, she began withdrawing funds that were turned over to the association. The association's president then returned home from a trip on July 2, and noticed the account was empty, according to KTAR. The bank then informed the president that several withdrawals - totaling $36,500 - had been made between June 28 and July 1. Officers later discovered Gonzalez had used fraudulent documents and a fake home address when she signed onto the bank accounts, but when cops went to question her, she went missing. 'It was a false address she gave, not only to the police department, [Scottsdale Unified School District], everyone,' Scottsdale Police Sgt. Allison Sempsis told Fox 19. 'So we don't know where they were living at this point.' Several parents, school employees and police officials have since tried to contact Gonzalez, but her phone numbers are no longer in service, KTAR reports. Gonzalez was caught on surveillance footage depositing the stolen funds into her personal bank accounts Police now suggest Gonzalez had planned to steal the money as soon as she was elected. 'That was her sole intent; she became treasurer in April, and as soon as she got access to bank accounts, she cleaned them out.' Many parents of children at the middle school have since expressed shock and outrage at the mother's alleged actions. 'I have a finance background and accounting background, and it blows my mind that there's somebody who would do this, knowing they were taking these types of funds away from children,' Rebecca Ryerson said. Tanya Roberts, another mother, called Gonzalez's alleged actions 'devastating.' The parents are now worried about how they will replace the large sum of money, and are praying that families will see the importance of investing in their children's education as the school year starts. 'I want the people to feel like the community that we built is just as strong as it was 30 days ago, before we knew about this event,' Ryerson said. 'I hope they'll see our community in Cocopah and get behind our fall fundraiser.' Parents and school officials at Cocopah Middle School now worry they will not be able to get back the funds In a statement to parents, Scottsdale Unified School District officials also said they were 'disappointed to learn about the alleged theft involving the treasurer of the Cocopah Middle School APT. 'It is disheartening to think that someone would take advantage of the hard work and dedication of our parent groups. 'Our APTs, PTOs and Booster Clubs operate as separate nonprofit organizations, and we greatly appreciate their tireless efforts to support our students, staff and schools,' district officials continued. 'The core purpose of these groups is to enhance the educational experience for our students, and we are grateful for their unwavering commitment. 'We want to assure our community that this incident does not reflect the values and integrity of our many volunteers and community partners. 'We hope that this unfortunate situation will not deter our engaged community from continuing to serve and give in support of their children.' A colourful, long-serving mayor is under fire after referring to a fellow councillor as a 'ranga'. Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate is being investigated for improper conduct over what he said was just a joke, and that he had 'no idea it was offensive'. A complaint was made to the Office of the independent Assessor (OIA) after Mr Tate's comments at a media conference in April after the council elections. 'I am disappointed that the OIA has seen fit to have this matter further investigated,' the mayor told Daily Mail Australia. 'These matters are time consuming and costly and whether it's the OIA's time or Council's time, the taxpayer and ratepayer has to foot the bill.' Making matters more complicated, the person who complained about the remark was not the councillor who was the butt of the joke - Joe Wilkinson - but an anonymous person who took offence. The OIA upheld the complaint that the term 'ranga' refers to an orangutan, is associated with 'discriminatory feelings' and said Mr Tate's use of the word was 'not funny' and 'extremely derogatory'. But the mayor said it was all a misunderstanding and that he meant no harm by the comment. Colourful, long-serving Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate is under fire after referring to a fellow councillor, Joe Wilkinson (pictured) as a 'ranga' 'I had no idea that the term "ranga" was offensive to some people and I certainly did not intend to cause any offence,' he said. 'In using the term, I was actually responding to a direct question from a journalist.' He said using nicknames based on someone's appearance was common when he was younger. 'When I went to school people with red hair were called 'blue' and sometimes particularly tall people were called 'stretch'. 'With my Asian heritage, I was often called more colourful things.' Mr Wilkinson said he 'didn't personally take offence' at being called a 'ranga' by Mr Tate. '(But) unfortunately, we're in a position that if someone does take offence, there is an investigation process (to be followed).' Surprisingly, given he was the subject of the mayor's comment, he was not contacted about it. 'No one in the OIA reached out to me,' he said. 'This is a time consuming and costly process and I wish they would concentrate on more serious matters. Poll Do you think it's offensive to call someone with red hair a 'ranga'? Yes No Depends on the circumstance Do you think it's offensive to call someone with red hair a 'ranga'? Yes 2 votes No 9 votes Depends on the circumstance 2 votes Now share your opinion 'It's just crazy.' The OIA said the mayor was suspected of having contravened standards of behaviour that require councillors to 'treat people in a reasonable, just, respectful and non-discriminatory way'. He is also suspected of having contravened the standard to 'treat fellow councillors, local government employees and members of the public with courtesy, honesty and fairness' and 'have proper regard for other people's rights, obligations, cultural differences, safety, health and welfare'. 'While the conduct may well be argued to be in jest or intended to be humorous, it was considered in assessing this matter that the term (ranga) was still capable of being discriminatory and unreasonably causing offence to particular groups,' the OIA said. It added that 'The complaint referred to the mayor's behaviour as "not funny" and "extremely derogatory".' Mayor Tom Tate (pictured) said he was 'disappointed' that the matter was being further investigated Mr Tate does not accept that he breached the councillor code of conduct, though, and 'will be defending the allegation that I have committed a conduct breach and I am seeking advice in that regard'. The OIA referred a previous complaint to the council after Mr Tate said: 'You wouldn't want to put a Chinese (person) next to someone who's got a cat, you know. She might be breakfast.' It was noted that Mr Tate had apologised for that 2021 comment, saying it was a 'poor joke' and the matter was discontinued. If the OIA finds the mayor guilty, he may have to to issue another public apology or be issued with a misconduct warning. The silver Nissan Micra which formed part of the new rhino Banksy piece has been removed after the mural was defaced within just seven hours of being unveiled. The artwork featured a rhino mounting the car with a traffic cone on its bonnet but was ruined with a white spray paint tag on Monday. Council chiefs described the vandalism of the graffiti artist's latest piece on Westmoor Street in Charlton, south-east London, as a 'real shame' as the vehicle was removed on Tuesday. Onlookers described how the 'brazen' vandal, wearing a balaclava, was 'jeered' as he carried out the damage at about 7.45pm. The mural was the eighth in what has been a new daily series of contributions across the capital this month by Banksy. Slide me Council chiefs described the vandalism of the graffiti artist's latest piece on Westmoor Street in Charlton, south-east London , as a 'real shame' as the vehicle was removed on Tuesday Street artist Banksy posted a picture of his mural to his official Instagram showing a rhino mounting a Nissan Micra with a traffic cone on its bonnet on Westmoor Street in Charlton Onlookers captured how Banksy's rhino mural was vandalised in Charlton, south-east London A vandal has now damaged with a spraypainted 'tag' the rhino mural by Banksy which was unveiled in Charlton, south-east London, on Monday A spokeswoman for the Royal Borough of Greenwich said: 'We are aware of Banksy's latest artwork and are glad the renowned international artist recognises our status as one of London's cultural hotspots. 'It's a real shame that a mindless vandal has defaced the mural, which has already drawn visitors and brought so much joy to many. 'The council is now considering what would be reasonably possible for the future of the artwork and will be closely monitoring it.' The pelicans mural was unveiled above Bonners Fish Bar in Walthamstow, north-east London, last Friday - depicting a bird stooping down to scoop up a fish on the takeaway outlet's sign, while another is seen tossing one in the air. Fans have been congregating outside the fish bar - as they have been at other sites across the capital where new Banksy creations have been revealed. Bonners Fish Bar had previously announced in July from August 1 until September 5, a period of closure which owners have now confirmed in an Instagram post - which did also welcome the 'kind words' of admirers during the 'whirlwind' last few days. The outlet's social media post said: 'The last few days have been a whirlwind, thank you to all who have sent such kind words, comments and messages. 'We're so sorry if we haven't replied, as you can imagine it's been extremely overwhelming! 'We're over the moon that Banksy decided to choose our little fish and chip shop in wonderful Walthamstow and love the design. 'Contrary to some beliefs, we didn't ask him to do this, but are very grateful he did!' The takeaway owners also thanked Walthamstow's Labour MP Stella Creasy, Waltham Forest council and local street artist Mark McClure from Wood Street Walls for helping to keep the artwork protected. 'Thank you to the security team who have been keeping watch, we hear you've been doing an amazing job,' the Instagram update added. 'Fish and chips will be waiting for you when we reopen. We're loving seeing all your photos and videos with the shop and the Banksy art, and once again are immensely grateful for all your love and support. The pelicans appeared above Bonners Fish Bar in Walthamstow, north-east London, last Friday Owners of Bonners Fish Bar have described the last few days as 'extremely overwhelming' Banksy fans have been gathering outside the takeaway in Walthamstow, north-east London 'Looking forward even more to serving you all after our break from the 5th of September.' Banksy's latest artwork sees a rhino mounting a silver Nissan Micra with a traffic cone on its bonnet, on Westmoor Street in Charlton. Yet this was vandalised with a 'tag' spraypainted on by a man wearing a black balaclava at about 7.45pm yesterday, it has been revealed. Stephanie Lester told BBC News the man then 'walked away from a jeering crowd', while another witness Devan Vadukul described how a 'random youth' wearing a balaclava 'brazenly walked up and defaced the installation with a graffiti tag'. He added: 'The whole incident took place within less than 30 seconds before he disappeared with another male accomplice further down the road.' Members of a crowd gathered at the piece could be heard saying 'Don't do that' and asking: 'Why did you do that? Why did you do it?' Banksy, identified as Robin Gunningham by the Mail on Sunday, began his animal-themed artwork spree across London last Monday. Sunday's rhino came a day after his depiction of e giant fish tank on a police sentry box in London - and following dark silhouette images of a goat, elephants, monkeys, a wolf, pelicans and a cat. The first piece of graffiti in the series, last Monday, is near Kew Bridge in south-west London and shows a goat with rocks falling down below it - just above where a CCTV camera is pointed. On Tuesday, the artist added silhouettes of two elephants with their trunks stretched towards each other on the side of a building in the Chelsea area of west London. A balaclava-clad man was seen spraypainting a 'tag' on to the artwork unveiled on Monday Stephanie Lester told BBC News the man then 'walked away from a jeering crowd' Admirers have been gathering to take pictures of the mural - seen here before it was later damaged by a man in a balaclava The rhino artwork was the eighth in Banksy's animal-themed series across London this month The following day three monkeys looking as though they were swinging underneath a bridge over Brick Lane in east London appeared. The fourth artwork appeared on a rooftop in Peckham on Thursday and showed the silhouette of a lone wolf howling into the night sky against the backdrop of a satellite dish - which seemed to represent a moon. It was removed by a group of masked men within minutes of being unveiled - Banksy has denied any involvement in the theft after fans speculated that it could have been another one of his controversial stunts. The famed guerilla artist confirmed on Friday that he was neither connected to nor endorsed the theft, adding that he has 'no knowledge as to the dish's current whereabouts'. The fifth design, of the pelicans pinching fish, was revealed on Friday. Local Labour MP Stella Creasy praised the work, saying: 'Walthamstow. Where even our chippy is just a bit cooler than everyone else's. 'Even if this isn't a Banksy it's brill and the chips there are magic, though the owner's on holiday at moment so you will have to wait to confirm that yourself. So thank you whoever added this bit of magic to our street art today.' Next came a large cat silhouette on Saturday which was sprayed onto an abandoned billboard in Cricklewood, appearing to show the animal stretching and scratching at a broken part of the wood. The broken fence, along with the Banksy artwork, was taken down the same day. Banksy first posted artwork of a goat perched on top of a wall near Kew Bridge in Richmond, south-west London, on Monday last week Another new artwork showing two elephants, confirmed to be by Banksy, was unveiled on a wall of a house in Chelsea in west London last Tuesday On Wednesday, Banksy confirmed that the three monkeys looking as though they were swinging underneath a bridge over Brick Lane, east London, as the third artwork in the series An artwork showing the silhouette of a wolf howling appeared on a rooftop in Peckham, south London, last Thursday - the fourth piece in the animal-themed series of murals Within hours of its unveiling, a hooded man with a mask was seen holding the satellite dish while standing on top of the building - and the wolf artwork's whereabouts are now unknown On Saturday, a large cat silhouette was sprayed onto an abandoned billboard in Cricklewood, appearing to show the animal stretching and scratching at a broken part of the wood Contractors were later seen taking down Banksy's sixth animal-themed artwork, the silhouette of a cat on a billboard in Cricklewood Banksy's artwork of piranhas swimming on a police sentry box has been taken away by council officials from the City of London to a safe location, amid fears that it could be otherwise stolen Sunday's artwork of piranhas swimming on a police sentry box has now been taken away by council officials from the City of London to a safe location, amid fears that it could be otherwise stolen. The City of London Corporation confirmed on Monday that the artwork - one of eight pieces that have been unveiled in recent days by the famed street artist - had been taken away so that it is 'properly protected'. A spokesperson said on Monday of the artwork, which was close to London's Old Bailey court: 'We have moved the artwork to Guildhall Yard to ensure it is properly protected and open for the public to view safely.' A permanent home for the piece will be decided in due course.' A famous Chinese restaurant has been fined 470,000 after immigration officials raiding it discovered illegal workers - with one staff member being paid an hourly rate of 6 while carrying out 66-hour weeks. The Home Office has now launched a bid to have the Royal China restaurant in Baker Street, central London, stripped of permission to serve alcohol - labelling it 'the worst licensed premises in Westminster'. Their application has been backed by the Metropolitan Police, with a report accusing the outlet of repeatedly flouting employment laws. Bosses are alleged to have kept on staff who have either lacked or overstayed right-to-work visas - while employees told officials of being paid below minimum wage, according to complaints made to Westminster City Council. Police say at least 20 people have been arrested during three raids since 2018 on the venue which had been praised in the past for its dim sum dishes. The Home Office has launched a bid to have the Royal China restaurant in central London's Baker Street (pictured) stripped of permission to serve alcohol Bosses of the restaurant at 24-26 Baker Street are alleged to have kept on staff who have either lacked or overstayed right-to-work visas In an application filed with the council for the restaurant's alcohol licence to be revoked, the Home Office told of staff working long shifts for little pay. One employee said they were paid only 6 an hour for 66-hour working weeks washing dishes, in stark contrast to the legal minimum wage of 11.44 per hour. The Home Office report stated: 'The workers reported being paid less than the minimum wage and working excessive hours. 'It is important that businesses pay the minimum wage to provide workers with enough money to live on and meet their essential need.' The latest raid by the Home Office's Central London ICE (Immigration Compliance and Enforcement) team is said to have taken place on May 10 this year, with nine members of staff detained - almost a third of those on duty at the time. The Royal China Group was fined 360,000 on that occasion, with six Indonesian and two Malaysian men deemed to have overstayed visas while a Chinese woman was working in breach of hers, the report says. This penalty followed an 80,000 fine in October 2018 after a raid in which nine people were also arrested, including two women and a man originally from China who entered the UK illegally. Also detained that month were three Malaysian men and three Chinese women found to have overstayed or breached visa terms. Police say at least 20 people have been arrested during three raids since 2018 on the venue And a further 30,000 fine was handed out after a second enforcement visit in May 2019 when officials discovered two Chinese nationals working there who had 'overstayed their visit visas and had no right to work', according to the report put together for Thursday's council licensing sub-committee meeting. Employers are legally required to carry out right-to-work checks on staff having permission to work in Britain. The Home Office application states: 'Royal China is currently the worst licensed premises in Westminster that we are dealing with for illegal working. 'Despite our best efforts to try and drive compliance through engaging with the premises and by imposing civil penalties, it has had no meaningful lasting impact. 'We have used and will continue to use immigration powers, but it does not seem to have had an impact as a preventative measure and they continue to re-offend and not conduct right to work checks. 'Having the benefit of a licence has enabled the restaurant to make increased sales through alcohol and late night refreshment, with which money they are then paying off the civil penalties and continuing to hire illegal workers.' Their bid has been backed by the Metropolitan Police, who said in a statement: 'The premises licence holder has clearly not carried out any checks for right to work and has taken no note of any government rules on minimum wage. 'The hours worked and the pay given could fall within the definition of modern slavery. It is of serious concern that 20 people have been detained in one venue operated by the licence holder. The restaurant's alcohol licence is set to be reviewed by the sub-licensing committee of Westminster City Council (pictured) this coming Thursday morning 'It is clear that the premises licence holder takes no notice of the punishment from the Home Office and is also not suitable to hold a premises licence.' The Royal China Group has seven outlets in London, including the Royal China Club also in Baker Street and restaurants in areas such as Chinatown, Fulham and Harrow. MailOnline has contacted the firm for comment. Members of Westminsters City Council's licensing sub-committee are scheduled to discuss the matter at a meeting starting at 10am this Thursday. A 32-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder after an 11-year-old girl was stabbed in Leicester Square, central London, on Monday. Ioan Pintaru, of no fixed address, was charged with attempted murder and possession of a bladed article, the Metropolitan Police said today. He was remanded in custody to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court later this morning. Police were called to tourist hotspot Leicester Square shortly after 11.30am yesterday following reports of a stabbing and found the girl, 11, with stab wounds. She was taken to hospital where her injuries, while serious, were assessed as non-life threatening. Police officers were called to the scene following reports of a stabbing in Leicester Square, in central London, at about 11.30am on Monday It was initially believed that the girls mother, a 34-year-old woman, was also hurt - but it was later confirmed that blood from her daughters injuries had been mistaken for injuries of her own, Scotland Yard said. A shop security guard named Abdullah told yesterday how he intervened to help the 11-year-old girl, saying: 'I just tried to save her - It's my duty to just save them.' Abdullah, 29, who works at TWG Tea shop in the square, described hearing 'a scream' before he and colleagues gave first aid to the child until police took over. The square and the surrounding area attracts an estimated 2.5million visitors each week, being home to shops, theatres, cinemas and restaurants. A police cordon sealing off the crime scene surrounded the double doors of the TWG Tea shop, which is beside the Lego store and in front of the M&Ms store. Detective Chief Superintendent Christina Jessah, in charge of policing for Westminster, said on Monday: 'This is a horrific incident and our thoughts are with the victims and their family. We will continue to provide support to them over the coming days and weeks. 'I would like to pay tribute to the members of the public, including staff from local businesses, who bravely intervened in this incident. They put themselves at risk and showed the best of London in doing so. 'An urgent investigation is now ongoing and detectives are working to establish the details around exactly what happened. A shop security guard named Abdullah (pictured) told yesterday how he intervened to help the 11-year-old girl, saying: 'I just tried to save her - It's my duty to just save them' The area outside a tea shop next to the LEGO store was cordoned off with police tape The Metropolitan Police has today said a 32-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder following the incident in the tourist hotspot on Monday Ioan Pintaru, of no fixed address, was charged with attempted murder and possession of a bladed article, after officers were called to Leicester Square at about 11.30am yesterday A woman, 34, and a girl, 11, were treated at the scene by the London Ambulance Service The square and the surrounding area attracts an estimated 2.5million visitors each week, being home to shops, theatres, cinemas and restaurants 'At this stage we don't believe the suspect and the victims were known to each other. 'While we continue to work to establish the suspect's motive, at this stage there is nothing to indicate the attack was terror-related. 'Detectives will be keen to speak to anyone who was in the area and may have information that can assist with their enquiries. I would urge anyone who can help to get in touch.' Witnesses, or anyone with footage or photos of the incident, are asked to call 101 or to contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111, giving the reference 2745/12AUG. Hamas fighters have shot dead one Israeli hostage and wounded two others, the group has declared, in the first public admission it has harmed prisoners taken from Israel on October 7. The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades - the militarised wing of Hamas - said in a statement yesterday that two of its fighters 'assigned to guard' the hostages had fired at them in 'two separate incidents'. One male hostage was killed, while two female hostages sustained gunshot wounds and are feared to be in critical condition. 'Attempts are underway to save their lives,' Abu Obeida, the spokesperson for the Al-Qassam Brigades, said in a statement on the messaging app Telegram. He went on to declare the Israeli government is committing 'massacres' in Gaza and must therefore bear responsibility for 'the resulting reactions that affect the lives of Zionist prisoners'. Though dozens of other hostages have died in Hamas captivity since October 7, the group had never previously admitted to killing its captees, claiming their deaths came as a result of Israeli bombardment. The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades - the militarised wing of Hamas - said in a statement yesterday that two of its fighters 'assigned to guard' Israeli hostages had opened fire on them A Hamas spokesperson said the Israeli government is committing 'massacres' in Gaza and must therefore bear responsibility for 'the resulting reactions that affect the lives of Zionist prisoners' (Al-Qassam brigades fighters are pictured in Gaza in 2021) Flames rise following an Israeli strike on a residential building, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, in this screen grab taken from a video, August 11, 2024 Displaced Palestinians make their way as they flee Hamad City following an Israeli evacuation order, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip August 11, 2024 Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson Avichay Adraee in response issued a tight-lipped statement on social media platform X that the Palestinian group had 'published a written report claiming that in two separate incidents, Hamas activists killed an Israeli captive and wounded two women captives'. 'At this stage there is no intelligence document to confirm or refute Hamas's allegations. We continue to investigate the credibility of the statement and will provide information where we have it,' Adraee concluded. The non-committal statement was echoed by the IDF's Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari who said: 'We will update as soon as possible with any information we have.' In the days following Hamas' ruthless October 7 attacks, there were fears that Israeli hostages would face torture and executions - threats made by the same Hamas spokesperson that yesterday declared one of the hostages had been shot dead. Many of the hostages were later released amid a brief ceasefire, but dozens of the captees are believed to have died in Gaza. More than 70 Israeli hostages are thought to remain alive, with representatives of Israel, Hamas and international mediators engaged in ongoing ceasefire talks. But the shooting of the Israeli hostages in captivity this week comes as tensions are soaring in the region amid heightened fears that Iran is set to launch a major attack on Israel following the assassination of former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month. The United States and European allies yesterday called on Iran to 'stand down' in an effort to prevent an all-out war in the Middle East, with Washington rushing a missile submarine and an aircraft carrier group to the region in a show of support for its key ally. Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah have vowed revenge for the killing of the political leader of the Palestinian group Hamas in Tehran, and of a Hezbollah commander in Beirut. 'We called on Iran to stand down its ongoing threats of a military attack against Israel and discussed the serious consequences for regional security should such an attack take place,' US President Joe Biden and the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Britain said in a joint statement yesterday. The White House warned that a 'significant set of attacks' by Iran and its proxies was possible as soon as this week, saying that Israel shared the same assessment. As the frantic diplomacy continued, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer both called on Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to de-escalate the situation. Pezeshkian said Monday his country has the 'right to respond to aggressors.' Many hostages were released by Hamas amid a brief ceasefire last year (pictured), but dozens of the captees are believed to have died in Gaza Fighters from Hamas' military wing are present at the prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas, mediated by the United States of America, Egypt and Qatar, in Khan Younis, Gaza on November 29, 2023 A woman reacts as people inspect the damage following Israeli bombardment in Gaza City's Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood on August 11, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas People inspect the damage in Gaza City's Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood following Israeli bombardment on August 11, 2024 A man stands on the rubble of the house of deputy chief of the People's Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Jamil Mazhar, which was targeted in overnight Israeli strikes on Nusseirat in the Central Gaza Strip on August 12, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh had been in Tehran for the new Iranian president's inauguration last month when he was killed in an attack that Iran has blamed on Israel. Israel assassinated Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut a day earlier, leaving the region on edge. IDF spokesman Hagari said yesterday that his country was 'ready to foil any threat in real time' but added that he was 'not familiar' with reports that Iran was expected to launch an attack in the next 24 hours. Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the country had strengthened defences and organised 'offensive options' as 'threats from Tehran and Beirut may materialise'. Washington and the four European nations have also intensified their calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, regarding the conflict sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel as the root cause of the tensions in the Middle East. Smoke billows following Israeli bombardment in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on August 11, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas They backed a call by Biden and the leaders of Egypt and Qatar for renewed talks between Israel and Hamas this Thursday, 'and stressed there is no further time to lose.' They also called for 'unfettered' delivery of aid to devastated Gaza, where 93 people are believed to have been killed on Saturday in an Israeli airstrike on a school housing displaced Palestinians. Israel said it targeted militants operating out of the school and mosque. The IDF's incessant bombing and military offensive in Gaza has killed at least 39,897 people, according to a new toll from the territory's health ministry. Kamala Harris has slammed Donald Trump's 'extremism and dangerous agenda' after his rambling two-hour interview with Elon Musk. The Republican nominee returned to X Monday for an interview with the Tesla billionaire that was riddled with technical delays and saw Trump 'slur', talk with a 'lisp' and claim that Harris looks like his wife Melania. Trump, 78, during the conversation insulted Harris several times, referring to her as 'third rate', 'incompetent' and 'a radical left lunatic', and expressed anger that she had been swapped in for President Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket. He also praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un - all authoritarian strongmen - as at the 'top of their game'. The Vice President's campaign, after the interview concluded, issued a fiery response on X, mocking the pair's technical challenges and slamming Trump for only aiming to serve 'self-obsessed rich guys like himself'. Kamala Harris has slammed Donald Trump's 'extremism and dangerous agenda' after his rambling two-hour interview with Elon Musk. Trump is pictured on Monday night, participating in the interview The Harris campaign, after the interview concluded, mocked the pair's technical challenges and slammed Trump for only aiming to serve 'self-obsessed rich guys like himself. Pictured: Kamala Harris at a campaign rally in Vegas on Sunday 'Donald Trump's extremism and dangerous Project 2025 agenda is a feature not a glitch of his campaign, which was on full display for those unlucky enough to listen in tonight during whatever that was on X.com,' the Harris HQ account tweeted. 'Trump's entire campaign is in service of people like Elon Musk and himself - self-obsessed rich guys who cannot run a livestream in the year 2024.' Trump sat Monday for a friendly two-hour interview with the SpaceX founder on Musk's social media platform X after technical problems delayed the start of the event for more than 40 minutes. The technical issues recalled a similar event on X in May 2023, when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis suffered a chaotic start to his bid for the Republican presidential nomination due to glitches on the platform. At the time, Trump mocked DeSantis on his own, social media platform, Truth Social. 'Wow! The DeSanctus TWITTER launch is a DISASTER! His whole campaign will be a disaster,' Trump wrote at the time. He added: 'My Red Button is bigger, better, stronger, and is working (TRUTH!). Yours does not.' The Harris campaign seemingly mocked Monday night's glitches by resharing the former president's old Truth Social post. Trump's campaign spokesman Steven Cheung hit back at the Harris campaign's response, tweeting Monday: 'All these statements, yet nobody ever puts their name on them. F*****g cowards.' The Harris campaign issued a fiery response to the interview which saw Trump insult Harris several times, referring to her as 'third rate', 'incompetent' and 'a radical left lunatic' The Harris campaign seemingly mocked Monday night's glitches by resharing the former president's old Truth Social post slamming X over the technical issues the platform suffered when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis launched his bid for the Republican nomination The interview chat offered Trump an unfiltered chance to air his usual mix of grievances, personal attacks and overstated or false claims. Trump took aim at Biden and Harris, blaming the pair for a rise in illegal immigration. 'She is a San Francisco liberal who destroyed San Francisco, and then as attorney-general, she destroyed California,' he said. 'She's going to be worse than him,' he added, referencing Biden, saying the country needed to prevent anything happening under 'stupid people like Biden'. Musk let Trump lead the conversation and did not challenge Trump's inaccurate statements, like the assertion that other countries were sending criminals from their prisons across the southern US border, or that bacon prices had risen four or five times. Studies show immigrants, including those in the US illegally, do not commit crimes at a higher rate than native-born Americans. The interview seemingly was Trump's latest effort to seize the spotlight from his Democratic rival, whose 11th-hour entry into the race has galvanized her party and boosted Democratic fundraising. Trump started by talking about last month's assassination attempt at a campaign rally, pledging to return to the Pennsylvania town of Butler where a bullet hit his ear. 'Doctors later told me that the ear is a place, that is a very bloody place if you're going to get hit,' he said. 'If I had not turned my head, I would not be talking to you right now - as much as I like you.' The Tesla chief lauded Trump for his bravery during the attempt on his life last month and Trump congratulated Musk (pictured in May this year) for his willingness to fire workers demanding better conditions Mr Musk claims that 1billion people have listened, interacted or tweeted about the 99 minute interview Trump also trumpeted his good relationships with Putin and Kim-Jong Un, while Musk questioned whether Harris was tough enough to stand up to overseas leaders. 'There's some real tough characters out there,' he said. 'And if they don't think the American president is tough, they will do what they want to do.' And although Trump insulted his rival several times, he also praised her looks. He likened the recent Time magazine cover illustration of Harris to another highly visible woman adjacent to American politics: his own wife. 'She looks like the most beautiful actress ever to live,' he said. 'It was a drawing, and actually, she looked very much like a great first lady, Melania.' Additionally, he claimed that Biden dropping off the Democratic ticket was a 'coup' and expressed anger over Harris' response to the situation. 'She hasn't done an interview since this whole scam started,' Trump said. Trump had been leading Biden in many polls of battleground states likely to be critical to the outcome of the Nov. 5 election, but is now trailing Harris in some of the same states. Donald Trump remarked on Kamala Harris ' Time Magazine cover, saying he thought the vice president resembled his wife and former First Lady Melania during his interview with Elon Musk 'She looked very much like our great first lady, Melania,' Trump told Musk, as they discussed the cover image of Monday's issue Trump appeared to enjoy the chat (pictured) where he laid into Kamala and Mr Musk joined in The conversation saw Musk - who has endorsed Trump in the upcoming election - and the former President exchange praise repeatedly. The Tesla chief lauded Trump for his bravery during the attempt on his life last month and Trump congratulated Musk for his willingness to fire workers demanding better conditions. 'You're the greatest cutter,' Trump said. 'I mean, I look at what you do. You walk in, you just say: "You want to quit?" They go on strike - I won't mention the name of the company - but they go on strike. And you say: "That's okay, you're all gone".' Musk, the world's richest person, announced his support for Trump shortly after the assassination attempt against him - despite the Republican's opposition to state support for electric carmakers like Tesla. The Tesla CEO did back Biden in 2020 but has tacked rightward since. 'I think we're at a fork in the road of destiny, of civilization, and I think we need to take the right path, and I think you're the right path,' he told Trump as the interview concluded. Despite being a longstanding critic of electric vehicles, Trump has also shifted gears since Musk's endorsement and on Monday described the electric cars made by Tesla as 'incredible.' The interview was delayed at the start due to technical issues. Musk blamed the difficulties on a distributed denial-of-service cyber attack, in which a server or network is flooded with traffic in an attempt to shut it down - though his claim could not be verified. Trump sought to turn the problems into a positive, congratulating Musk on the number of people trying to tune in. A counter on X showed as many as 1.3 million people were listening at times during the lengthy conversation. Ahead of Monday's event, Musk had written: 'Am going to do some system scaling tests tonight & tomorrow in advance of the conversation.' X did not respond to requests for details or evidence of the alleged cyberattack. Mr Musk admitted that a 'massive' cyber attack had hit the interview as it was about to begin This is what listeners were left with when they tried to log on to listen as the interview was delayed by 43 minutes Trump also returned to X with a series of posts on Monday for the first time in a year, reviving an account that had served as a main method of communication in previous campaigns and his four years in the White House, including his followers' Jan. 6 2021 attack on the US Capitol. Trump's access to his account, @realDonaldTrump, was restored a month into Musk's ownership of X after being suspended by the platform's previous owners following the Jan. 6 attack, citing concerns he would incite violence. Trump frequently posts on his Truth Social platform, which was launched in February 2022, but his posts there reach a much smaller audience than on X. Musk, who has echoed Trump's false claims about voter fraud and Biden's immigration policies, started an external super PAC spending group to support Trump's campaign. The political action committee is now under investigation in Michigan for possible violations of state laws on gathering voter information. Residents of a quiet seaside estate got a surprise after travellers pitched up caravans in the middle of their well-kempt lawn. Five caravans and a people carrier could be seen on the grass at Millfield Overstrand, a private estate off Overstrand Avenue in Rustington, West Sussex, on Monday. Tables and chairs were also set up by the visitors, who looked to be enjoying the sun. A Sussex Police spokesman said the force was 'monitoring the situation in support of the lead agency'. Aeria photographs showed the new encampment in the middle of the estate People could be seen sitting around a table and enjoying the sun and proximity to the sea Estate residents were seen apparently in conversation with local police about the visitors The police were contacted for further comment. Locals vented their frustrations on a Facebook page, with one resident posting: 'Just in front of our flats and more just came in. 'Their kids are jumping and peeing into flower crops, mess is already everywhere. 'We can probably expect a few noisy nights. 'I feel like Im in the middle of summer festival.' Another added: 'My dad lives in this block, he is 79 the stress that this is causing is huge. 'He is so worried he is sleeping in his chair tonight. 'I dont expect for one minute the travellers consider that.' A police car was seen parked in the estate where the caravans have suddenly appeared The estate is clearly marked as private and for residents only, but the caravans still arrived Later, another poster revealed that at least one van had been towed away and that the visitors were 'all now gone'. West Sussex County Council said that 'as the group is stationed on private land, it is the responsibility of the landowner'. Happily, estate manager Hobdens said the situation was resolved swiftly. 'We were first alerted to the situation on the afternoon of Sunday, August 11th, by our client. In response, we promptly contacted the relevant authorities, and worked closely with them to ensure the matter was resolved swiftly and satisfactorily. The encampment remained in place for a total of 28 hours before they were moved on', a spokesman said. The quiet coastal village, which lies between Brighton and Chichester, was previously in the headlines after a resident baker, Paul Pegrum, created a record-breaking 43kg hot cross bun in 2002. This is the incredible moment two airline pilots spot several white 'UFO' orbs during a flight that did not show up on the radar. The video, which was posted on YouTube by Captain Ruud Van Pangemanan, shows two pilots flying a Boeing 747 from Saudi Arabia to Nigeria. Suddenly, the pair spotted objects that they described as being 'extremely bright' and 'moving freely' in the sky. According to Captain Ruud, the supposed UFO orbs showed up around 30 minutes into the flight after a 'normal take off and cruising'. The video, which is titled 'UFO Intercept Captain Ruud Flight with Boeing 747' ends with the pilot convinced he has seen a UFO. He says: 'This is my experience of seeing something strange or UFO. This is the incredible moment two airline pilots spot several white UFO orbs on flight that did not show up on the radar 'What we see is still a mystery. 'Before that, we thought it was a light plane but it wasn't on our radar. 'We thought maybe it was a star but the stars didn't move. 'The UFO light shone for a long time and moved.' The pilots can be heard in the clip discussing different theories as to what they saw in the sky. They said they initially thought they were 'aircraft' but these would show up on the radar. The pair then considered drones but dismissed this theory as well as drones need to use the radar and don't have such bright lights. Their final consideration was satellites but Captain Rudd was not convinced by this idea either due to the way they moved 'in various ways'. However social media users reacting to the video were more sceptical of what the pilots saw. One person posted in response to a version of the clip on Reddit: : 'As an airline pilot we see these lights just about every late night/early morning flight we do.' The pilots described the objects they saw as being 'extremely bright' and 'moving freely' in the sky They added: 'They always appear over the same part of the sky depending on the time and direction we are flying.' Captain Ruud has 32 years of flying experience according to his Instagram account that has more than 130,000 followers. He works for Max Air which is a Nigerian airline operating domestic and international flights. The sighting comes after a Pentagon chief admitted last year that UFOs have been spotted 'all over the world'. Physicist Dr Sean Kirkpatrick, director of the Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), said: 'We see these ['metallic orbs'] all over the world, and we see these making very interesting apparent maneuvers.' Dr Kirkpatrick presented AARO's latest findings to NASA's independent team of scientists and other experts who have been tasked with studying the UFO phenomenon in May last year. She added that roughly two to five percent of around 800 cases their organisation constituted real and baffling anomalies. Yesterday Brits were treated to the hottest day of the year so far, with temperatures hitting almost 35C in some parts of the UK. Looking to combat the heat, many sought refuge at parks and beaches as homes became too hot to stay inside. However, experts have revealed there are ways to keep your home cool during even the warmest days - without air conditioning. Leaving bowls of water out, limiting appliance use and putting your feet in cold water can all help staying cool, according to The Telegraph. Find the full list of hacks to keep your home cool in the summer below. Brits will be looking to keep their homes cool any way they can after the hottest day of the year yesterday Leave bowls of water around the house Leaving bowls of water around the house can act as a DIY air-con. This works especially well near a breeze if you have an open window, because the gusts circulate water vapour around the house as it evaporates. Limit the use of appliances Appliances like kettles and fridges can heat your kitchen up more than you might expect. Try and limit how much you use these appliances, which in the case of the fridge means opening the door as little as possible. When you open the fridge door it lets hot air in, which it then has to use energy to bring down to its target temperature. In doing so, it will release more hot air through the back of the fridge, heating up the room. Close curtains AND windows It might seem sensible to keep your windows open as long as possible on a hot day, but when it is actually hotter outside than inside this is counter-productive. Instead, keep to ventilating your home at night and in the day do as much as possible to keep the heat out. This means closing both curtains and windows as Caroline Abrahams, ,director of Age UK, says we can learn from the Mediterraneans who have to deal with these problems more frequently than us. Be careful with conservatories While conservatories can seem like a lovely place to spend a sunny day, when it gets too hot these can become much more like greenhouses. If the temperatures are really high, avoid spending time in the conservatory, and try to close any doors to it if possible to trap what heat does build up there inside. Keep doors closed Similarly to keeping windows shut, on the hottest days circulation of air can be a lost cause. Keeping all doors shut, not just to a conservatory, will allow you to find the coolest room in the house and keep it that way. Spend time in north facing rooms These cooler rooms will likely be north facing, as these see less of the sun. Try to get ahead by shutting these rooms off for when you need them most in the hottest hours of the day. Use fans strategically Fans can make a significant difference in keeping your home cool - but beware. Fans can stir up dust and allergens if not cleaned regularly or used in tandem with an air purifier. Prolonged fan use can also dry out your skin, eyes and nasal passages, so take care to balance your cooling strategy with your overall comfort and health. Cool treats for the feet Cooling anything near our feet can effectively cool down our entire body. Consider chilling socks in the fridge for a cooling sensation. If you are sitting still, you could fill a bucket with cold water and dunk your feet in that instead. Like with the bowls of water, try to save the water once you are done with it by using it to water plants. For the rest of your body, you could fill and freeze a hot water bottle and use it as you would in the winter. Another good way to cool your body down is to wrap a wet towel over your shoulders. Ditch the duvet It seems obvious but if you are too hot at night, don't bother with a duvet. If you still need that comforting feel of something being over you, try just using a sheet or duvet cover. And for the most breathable bedding, try and use anything which is 100 per cent cotton - the same goes for pyjamas. Cook later Cooking in the middle of the day can be fatal if you are trying to keep your kitchen cool. Avoid any late morning fry ups or cooked lunches and opt for a later dinner to make sure you are not sacrificing the temperature of your home for a hot meal. It might also be nicer to have cold food like salads on the hottest days anyway. Residents are fighting to stop the bakery chain Gail's opening a site on their high street amid fears it could run independent cafes out of business in one of London's most gentrified areas. Hundreds of residents of Walthamstow Village in east London have signed a petition to stop a Gail's opening after plans were announced to open 35 new sites across Britain. The organiser, James Harvey, believes that if the brand opens local alternatives will be forced to close and the village will lose its character. He warned: 'This could lead to decreased visibility and pedestrian traffic towards independently run businesses, threatening their very existence and dismantling the character and diversity crucial to Walthamstow's charm.' Walthamstow Village: Residents of the 12th century village are fighting to stop a Gail's opening A Gail's bakery next to another massive international chain Pret on a central London street The petition which has been set up to stop Gail's bakery opening a new store in Walthamstow Village The petition has attracted more than 400 supporters so far, and is aiming to reach 500. Gail's prides itself on its bread and the petition cheekily makes reference to this on the website Change.Org with two baguettes crossed over each other. The chain has more than 130 shops across Britain already and is seen by many as the successor to Waitrose. It opened in 2005 in Hampstead, north London, and slowly began to spread across the capital before cherry picking new towns and cities to set up in. These include Wilmslow, Cheshire, and Epsom in Surrey. Both are avowedly middle-class areas with locals often commuting to cities for their work but preferring to live away from the rush of urban life to raise families. Locals in these areas have told how they are desperate for a Gail's because 'it's the ultimate sign of gentrification'. Gail's CEO Tom Molnar in an interview with the Mail's magazine said it was a huge compliment that people ask him for a Gail's in their locality. Despite plans to open another to shops in London and having more than 130 openings, managers at Gail's do not consider themselves a chain. In an interview with trade publication British Baker, Marta Pogroszewska said she believed 'scale' was an uncomfortable term and the company will always focus on being a 'neighbourhood bakery' rather than a chain. The local village bakery which locals fear could be run out of business if Gail's launch a shop Loyal customers of The Village Bakery enjoying a coffee and a selection of freshly made bread The arrival of a Gail's in a town is a boost for property prices and a sure indicator that that the area is on the up and up. Or as Dominic Agace, CEO of Winkworth estate agents, said: 'Gail's marks an area as a prime property market.' But for the locals, represented by Mr Harvey in Walthamstow, the introduction of the brand threatens their individuality. Mr Harvey added: 'Walthamstow Village, a vibrant local neighbourhood in London, UK, is treasured for its collection of local, independent, and family-run businesses. 'Our high street, a spotlight for these coveted establishments, faces a threat to its uniqueness with the prospect of Gail's, a large-scale bakery chain, setting up shop on it. 'Gail's, although respected for their quality, bring a risk of overshadowing our much-loved local stores due to their massive scale and advertising reach.' Such is the pull and marketability of Gail's it reach has even extended beyond the property ladder and into the realm of politics. For Gail's was recently used in the general election as a means of typecasting a particular voter. The Liberal Democrats targeted constituencies where there are Gail's believing they were Conservative voters who could be prepared to swing. Sir Ed Davey launched the scheme, calling it 'Operation Cinnamon Bun'. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given Walthamstow Council has been run by Labour since 2010 when Stella Creasy was elected, he had little luck in the area. But should a Gail's open, perhaps it will swing the election result in the area. A spokeswoman for Gail's Bakery said: 'We understand the concern around chains, but our view is that a healthy high street is one with a diversity of quality offers each delivering their best. 'High streets evolve over time and we open our small bakeries often in closed banks or stranded restaurants. 'All of our bakeries exist in areas where the choices are wide and growing - we should be celebrating the improvement in our food landscapes'. A beloved street cleaner who was denied the trip of a lifetime by his waste firm employer's strict rules will now finally get to go on holiday thanks to a loophole. Neighbours in Beckenham, south-east London, cobbled together more than 3,000 to send Elvis-loving Paul Spiers, 63, on a well-earned break after he captured their hearts by tidying up the roads, often playing music as he did so. But in a cruel twist, his employer waste firm Veolia banned the 'adored' cleaner from accepting the gift, claiming its strict rules prohibit staff from taking monetary gifts or incentives beyond their regular salary. The company instead offered to match the sum raised and donate it to a charity of his choice, while locals suggested bosses had also appeared to give Paul a new cap to wear while going about his work. Now, just 24 hours after the debacle went viral, MailOnline can reveal that Paul has won a dream trip to Portugal following an 'extremely specific' competition run by package holiday company, OnTheBeach. The firm said the winner of its spontaneously-produced contest 'must love Elvis, be between the ages of 62 and 64, have a surname of Spiers, be a street cleaner in Beckenham and be loved by your local community'. Veolia told MailOnline today it had 'no objection to him accepting his win'. Paul Spiers, who turned 63 last week, has been cleaning the streets of Beckenham since 2017 Beckenham clean streets (pictured yesterday) which Paul has been working on for the last seven years Paul is 'adored by all' in the local community, according to his friend Lisa Knight, who hailed him for 'lifting everyone's spirits' with his 'positive presence' WE NEED YOU To help us to find our competition winner who has snapped up a 3000 holiday to Portugal! Not-specific competition terms & conditions below: pic.twitter.com/mASQcbNBwk On the Beach (@OntheBeachUK) August 13, 2024 Zoe Harris, chief customer officer at On the Beach, said: 'Congratulations Paul. Who would have thought that just a day after he was denied a holiday, he would win one in a competition! What are the odds? 'We're all for the fundraised money going to charity, but everyone deserves a holiday, it's one of those moments that we dream of all year round. 'We know how much Paul dreamed of going to Portugal again and so for him to win the competition is fantastic.' Paul has only been abroad once to Portugal and dreamed of visiting again, leading to his neighbours to set up the fundraiser. But instead the waste firm said the cash would go to a charity of his choice, sparking outrage from members of the public who called the decision 'absolutely senseless' and 'vile'. Residents also said he appeared to be wearing a new company cap. Ms Harris, continued: 'Our holidays to Portugal start from as little as 199pp so we can't wait to see how far the voucher will take Paul, we hope that he has the holiday of a lifetime, a well-deserved one too!' Paul is encouraged to contact On the Beach directly to claim his holiday voucher, where colleagues will help book him his dream jolly. A Veolia spokesperson said: 'We understand that Paul has won a competition and we can confirm that we have no objection to him accepting his win. 'We are very grateful for the support and recognition shown by the community to Paul, who alongside a hardworking street cleansing team, does a fantastic job keeping Bromley's streets clean. 'Our position regarding the funds raised by the community has not changed and the decision about what happens to that money is a matter for the fundraiser. 'Veolia has matched the amount raised as of Friday 9th August and this will be donated to Cancer Research, a charity close to Paul's heart.' The gofundme page has raised almost 3,000 for Paul through kind donations from people in the community Beckenham town centre pictured yesterday, where Paul is regularly seen cleaning by locals Paul and Lisa (pictured) became friends over their shared love for Elvis Presley The GoFundMe page had been created by Mr Spiers' friend Lisa Knight who hailed the cleaner for 'lifting everyone's spirits' with his 'positive presence'. She wrote on the donation site; 'As an integral part of our Beckenham village, Paul is adored by all. 'Giving him this incredible gift would be a heartfelt way to show our appreciation for everything he does. Let's come together to make this dream happen for someone who truly deserves it.' The pair became friends over their shared love of Elvis Presley. This week she wrote: 'Unfortunately, we have received news that Paul is unable to accept the donations due to restrictions set by his employer, Veolia, in accordance with their contract with Bromley Council. These rules prohibit staff from accepting any monetary gifts or incentives beyond their regular salary. 'We're deeply disappointed that this decision prevents Paul from enjoying this well-deserved holiday as a recognition for all of his hard work for the Beckenham community. 'We have expressed our disappointment to both the council and Veolia and intend to continue to push on this, but please be rest assured, if we are unsuccessful in doing so you will all be refunded. 'Once again, thank you for your incredible support and for being part of this fundraiser.' Paul (left) has only been abroad once, to Portugal, and has dreamed of going back ever since Beckenham High Street at Thornton's Corner (pictured) A Veolia spokesperson said yesterday: 'We are truly grateful for the support and recognition shown by the community to Paul, who alongside a hardworking street cleansing team, does a fantastic job keeping Bromley's streets clean. 'We are always happy to hear from members of the public who want to recognise our teams. Unfortunately on this occasion, we were not made aware of the fundraising and were therefore unable to work together to find the most appropriate way to recognise Paul. 'Our contract with Bromley Council does not permit our staff to accept any monies or incentives outside of agreed pay structures. We have agreed with Paul that we will match the amount raised as of Friday 9th August to be donated to a charity of his choice. 'Veolia has a number of recognition schemes across the UK that reward our colleagues for exceptional services to the community and Paul will be the recipient of Bromley's Employee of the Quarter - an internal financial reward to recognise his hard work and dedication.' Liam Conlon, MP for Beckenham and Penge wrote a letter to the leader of Bromley Council yesterday to ask what action can be taken to support Paul. He wrote: Paul has worked for Bromley Council through a contractor for years, keeping our streets clean and ensuring Beckenham is a great place to live. It is a sign of how highly Paul's hard work is valued by residents and local businesses that so many people have generously contributed to the fundraising effort. 'Like many, however, I am very disappointed to learn that the contractor, Veolia, has told Paul he cannot accept this gift due to conditions in its contract with Bromley Council. Beckenham High Street (pictured) where Paul can be found working and playing music as he goes Liam Conlon, MP for Beckenham and Penge wrote a letter to the leader of Bromley Council yesterday to ask what action can be taken to support Paul He added: 'I hope you will be able to take a common-sense approach: to find a solution which maintains the council's high ethical standards, whilst allowing Paul to enjoy the holiday we all want him to have.' Social media users had also been left outraged by the news. They wrote on the Beckenham Appreciation Facebook group to express their anger. One person wrote: 'Gift it to him, you purchase it and add his name. The world has bloody gone mad!!!' Another said: 'How on earth can his employer stop him from receiving a gift from the community? The donated money isn't a 'bonus' or a 'tip' it's a gift totally separate from him work. What the hell am I reading? 'This also implies you couldn't even give him a pat on the back at Christmas and give him a fiver for a pint? God I hate these vile corporations.' 'There is NO WAY the money can be given to a charity when it was meant for Paul, he HAS to get that holiday. It would just be the worst thing if he didn't go now. Veolia needs to review their utterly senseless decision,' said another. Another person added: 'If he's retiring soon can the gift be given to him after he retires? Then he has no obligations to Veolia.' Bromley Council have been contacted by MailOnline for comment. It was reported by Unite the Union that nearly 100 refuse workers employed by Veolia in Sheffield were taking strike action last month. Workers were reportedly furious that their employer was 'refusing to allow collective bargaining agreements' with Unite despite the membership of the union representing around 80% of the depot's workforce. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said at the time: 'It is absurd that a union representing 80 per cent of a workforce is blocked from making collective bargaining arrangements by an employer, especially one it has national agreements with up and down the country. 'Our members are rightly angry at such game-playing and having exhausted all negotiations are taking to the picket line to state their case. Unite will be backing them one hundred per cent of the way.' Ms Graham said at the time: 'The spirit of Scrooge is alive and kicking this Christmas. Veolia is an incredibly wealthy company. Its workers are already poorly paid but somehow it thinks it is acceptable to offer them just a few pence extra, during the worst cost of living crisis in a generation. 'Unite is entirely committed to defending and enhancing the jobs, pay and conditions of its members and the workers at Veolia will receive the union's complete support.' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has declared 'war is coming home to Russia' as battalions of tanks bearing a new, distinctive symbol roar deeper into Kursk, with the Russian death toll increasing dramatically, sources claim. Delivering a defiant address last night, Zelensky said it was 'only fair' that his troops 'kill the Russian terrorists where they are and where they launch their strikes from'. 'Russia must be forced into peace if Putin wants to continue waging war so badly... This always happens to those who despise people and any rules - Russia brought war to others, and now it is coming home,' he said stoically. 'Ukraine has only ever wished for peace - and it will ensure peace.' The president's commitment to wreak havoc in Kursk was evident in footage from the frontlines which has seen Ukrainian tanks emblazoned with a white triangle surging through Russian fields. The marking, likened to the infamous Russian 'Z' that became inextricably associated with Vladimir Putin's so-called 'special military operation', first appeared on Ukrainian vehicles in June - reportedly as a way to avoid friendly fire. But it has since been painted on a host of Ukrainian heavy armour and is now seen as a sign of resistance in the face of Russian aggression. Ukrainian commanders claim to have captured some 386 square miles of territory in just one week since their incursion began, as Kyiv's soldiers scythed through Russian units caught completely unawares. Several Russian warblogging channels claim huge numbers of Putin's troops have been killed since the offensive began last Tuesday amid reports hospital and morgue workers are struggling to process a constant stream of bodies. Meanwhile, sources in Russia's SVR foreign intelligence service today described the Ukrainian offensive as a 'crazy step that threatens to escalate far beyond Ukraine'. 'Russia must be forced into peace if Putin wants to continue waging war so badly... This always happens to those who despise people and any rules - Russia brought war to others, and now it is coming home,' Zelensky said stoically in his latest address The president's commitment to wreak havoc in Kursk was evident in footage from the frontlines which has seen Ukrainian tanks and armoured personnel carriers emblazoned with a white triangle surging through Russian fields Ukrainian servicemen operate a Soviet-made T-72 tank in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia, on August 12, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine This photo taken from video released by Russian Defence Ministry press service on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, shows Russian military vehicle boarding a lowboy for transfer to Kursk region A room filled with Russian prisoners of war is seen in this image released by Ukrainian soldiers Ukrainian soldier stands guard as he surveys a line of Russian POWs taken in Kursk A Ukrainian soldier raises a Ukrainian flag in Guevo, Kursk Oblast, Russia released August 11, 2024 in this still image obtained from a social media video Ukraine's army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi yesterday declared his troops had ruthlessly and efficiently seized huge swathes of Russian territory in Kursk, claiming 1000 square kilometres - 386 square miles - were now under his control. 'The troops are fulfilling their tasks. Fighting continues actually along the entire front line,' Syrskyi said - though Matthew Savill, the Director of Military Sciences at the RUSI thinktank, disputed the claim and said the total area covered by the incursion appears to be around 400 square kilometres. The Ukrainian operation is under tight secrecy, and its goals remain unclear with officials saying little other than to confirm the offensive was underway. Analysts largely agree that the move could be geared towards putting Ukraine in a more favourable bargaining position in the event of ceasefire talks ahead of the US presidential election in November. Ukrainian soldiers also told reporters that the offensive could help to draw Russian resources away from other key battles on Ukrainian soil, giving defenders time to regroup, re-equip and hopefully regain the initiative after months of grinding, bloody battles. 'There have been no significant victories in Ukraine in recent months. Only the Russians were advancing,' one Ukrainian fighter said. He said the assault was de facto a win for Ukraine because it would force the Kremlin to reinforce other weak border regions with troops that could then not be deployed to Ukraine. 'If they keep some grouping of forces in Kursk that they can't use (in Ukraine) then it's already a success. Let's see how it develops,' he added. Russian forces meanwhile are still scrambling to respond to the surprise Ukrainian attack after almost a week of fierce fighting. Acting Kursk Governor Alexei Smirnov reported that Ukrainian forces had pushed 7.5 miles into the Kursk region across a 25-mile front and currently control 28 Russian settlements - though reports suggest some Ukrainian units have forged as far as 20 miles deep into Russia. Smirnov said 12 civilians have been killed and 121 others, including 10 children, have been wounded. About 121,000 people have been evacuated or left the areas affected by fighting on their own, he said. The death toll among Russian troops is said to be far higher. The family of Alexander Vasin - one of many Russian reservists killed in Kursk - told Russian opposition Telegram channel VChK-OGPU that he was confirmed dead on the second day of the Ukrainian offensive last Wednesday, but his body still had not arrived in the morgue due to the sheer quantity of casualties. 'There are a lot of dead, so the bodies are not being taken to Rostov, there has been no identification since August 7,' said the channel. 'The deceased (Vasin) was never officially taken to the military morgue due to the large number of fallen soldiers.' Last week, shocking footage emerged showing the remains of an entire Russian convoy that was struck in Kursk's Rylsky district in what was reportedly a Ukrainian HIMARS strike. Hundreds of Russian troops are said to have been killed in the standalone attack that left dozens of trucks and military vehicles lying charred and destroyed in the dirt, with the bodies of burned soldiers clearly littered about the scene. Ukrainian servicemen operate an armoured military vehicle in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia, on August 12, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine A woman evacuated from a fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces in Kursk region chooses clothes at a temporary residence center in Kursk, Russia, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 Medics provide assistance in a vehicle near a mobile medical station, which was opened by volunteers to treat wounded Russian military personnel and local residents, following an incursion of Ukrainian troops in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the Kursk region, Russia August 11, 2024 Russia's President Vladimir Putin (L) chairs a meeting regarding the situation in the Kursk region, in his residence in Novo-Ogaryovo outside Moscow, on August 12, 2024 Relatives of Russian reservist Alexander Vasin, 20, who was killed in Kursk region, claimed his body wasn't delivered to the military morgue because there are too many casualties to process Russia last week suffered one of its most crushing blows of the war as hundreds of troops were reportedly killed when a military convoy was hit by Ukrainian HIMARS missiles in Kursk Ukrainian servicemen of the 43rd Artillery Brigade fire self-propelled artillery 2S7 Pion toward Russian positions, in an undisclosed area, in the Pokrovsk district, in the eastern Donetsk region, on August 8, 2024 The Ukrainian advance in Kursk has also delivered a blow to Putin's efforts to pretend that life in Russia has been largely unaffected by the war. An enraged President Putin yesterday lambasted the incursion as the Western plot in its war with Russia, using Ukrainian soldiers to do their dirty work. 'It is now clear why the Kyiv regime refused our proposals to return to a peaceful settlement plan. 'To all appearances, the enemy, with the help of its Western masters, is doing their will. By the hands of the Ukrainians, the West is at war with us. 'But what kind of negotiations can we even talk about with people who indiscriminately strike at civilians, at civilian infrastructure, or try to create threats to nuclear power facilities?' the Russian president asked rhetorically. His comments regarding Ukraine's alleged indiscriminate strikes on civilians and civilian infrastructure will undoubtedly be ridiculed in Kyiv and the West. More than 120,000 Russian citizens have been forced to flee their homes amid widespread regional evacuations since last Tuesday, while 12 civilians are said to have died. By contrast, the Kremlin chief's so-called 'special military operation' in Ukraine has killed thousands of civilians and driven millions from their homes. Russia has seen previous small-scale incursions into its territory since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022. But the foray into the Kursk region marked the largest attack on Russian soil since World War II and constituted a milestone in the hostilities. It was also the first time the Ukrainian army proper had spearheaded an incursion, rather than pro-Ukraine Russian fighters that had defected. Ukrainian soldier of the 'Da Vinci Wolves' battalion in a shelter in the direction of Pokrovsk, Ukraine, 31 July 2024 Emergency workers extinguish a fire that destroyed a private house after a Russian strike on a residential area in Pokrovsk amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, August 3, 2024 A Ukrainian wounded serviceman who was brought back from positions is treated by Ukrainian military medics at a stabilization point of the 47th Mechanized Brigade 'Magura', in Pokrovsk district, in the eastern Donetsk region, on August 6, 2024 Ukrainian tank crew take a break while operating a Soviet-made T-72 tank in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia, on August 12, 2024 People evacuated from a fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces queue to receive humanitarian aid at a distribution center in Kursk, Russia, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 A man reacts while standing next to burnt-out remains of cars in the courtyard of a multi-storey residential building, which according to local authorities was hit by debris from a destroyed Ukrainian missile, in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Kursk, Russia August 11, 2024 Retired General Andrei Gurulev, a member of the lower house of the Russian parliament, harshly criticised the military yesterday for failing to protect the border and accused Russian commanders of failing to report the facts to superiors. 'Regrettably, the group of forces protecting the border didn't have its own intelligence assets,' he said on his Telegram channel. 'No one likes to see the truth in reports, everybody just wants to hear that all is good.' Despite the offensive in Kursk, Moscow's troops have seemingly kept up their offensive along the frontline in Ukraine thus far - particularly in the battle for the strategic town of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region. Russian forces stepped up their attacks on Pokrovsk over the last 24 hours, the Ukrainian military said in an update early this morning, reporting the largest number of battles in the area in a single day in a week. Putin's men have been trying to advance towards the Kyiv-held logistics hub of Pokrovsk for months, inching forward incrementally and taking advantage of greater troop numbers. In a daily readout, the Ukrainian military's General Staff said there had been 52 battles on the Pokrovsk front, a visible increase from figures of between 28 and 42 per day that have been reported over the past week. Ukraine last reported more than that in the first days of August, before Kyiv's forces launched their attack into Kursk. The Russian attacks in the last 24 hours were focused around the villages of Hrodivka and Zhelanne, some 12 miles from Pokrovsk, the General Staff said. A Polish LGBT couple are facing 10 years in jail after their starved and battered 4-year-old son was found wandering the streets in nothing but his shoes. Julia Bilkiewicz, 27, and Patrycja Januszkiewicz, 29, were arrested after the naked infant covered in scratches, bruises and bite marks approached a local woman in Gliwice, southwest Poland, and asked for a drink of water. The concerned woman immediately took the child, identified only as Ignacy Z, to a local police station where officers discovered that he had managed to escape the house of horrors after suffering months of abuse. After being taken to hospital, doctors also discovered that Ignacy suffered from a congenital bone condition that had left him partially disabled in one leg and which had required several months of surgery. Prosecutor Karina Sprus said: 'The child's body had numerous injuries, including injuries to the left arm, chest, right cheek, and an injury to the left eye socket. Julia Bilkiewicz, 27, pictured with her son Ignacy as a baby Ignacy, 4, was found wandering the streets in nothing but his shoes in Gliwice, southwest Poland Patrycja Januszkiewicz, 29, mentally abused her partner's child, prosecutors said 'Patrycja J. physically and mentally abused her partner's child, by calling the child abusive words, threatening to send him to an orphanage, punishing him by locking him in a closet for long periods of time, depriving him of food and drink, forbidding him to relieve himself, throwing him against a wall, pulling his ears, biting him, hitting him all over his body with fists and a cable, and strangling and kicking the minor.' She added that Ignacy's biological mother, Bilkiewicz, 'did not react to her partner's behaviour and herself used verbal and physical violence against the child in the form of slaps and calling him abusive words.' According to local media, Bilkiewicz and Ignacy moved in with Januszkiewicz and her two young daughters in October 2023, after the two women began a relationship. Neighbours often heard the couple fighting before making up and declaring their love for each other. One neighbour told the Fakt newspaper: 'This Patrycja doted on her daughters, but she abused Ignacy, her partner's son. 'She was such a cruel, loud woman. 'Three weeks ago I heard these women fighting again, calling each other sluts. 'Patrycja was beating Julia, and she begged her that she had nowhere to go. Ignacy was taken to a local police station where officers discovered that he had managed to escape the house of horrors after suffering months of abuse Julia Bilkiewicz, 27, (left) and Patrycja Januszkiewicz, 29, (right) were arrested after Ignacy was found on the street Ignacy, 4, was found wandering the streets in nothing but his shoes in Gliwice, southwest Poland According to local media, Bilkiewicz and Ignacy moved in with Januszkiewicz (pictured) and her two young daughters in October 2023, after the two women began a relationship Ignacy's biological mother, Bilkiewicz, 'did not react to her partner's behaviour, according to prosecutors 'Then they made up and confessed their love to each other, it was such a strange relationship. 'Someone later said that little Ignacy was sitting on the stairs in the basement, he was afraid.' Other neighbours admitted they had sometimes heard a child screaming and crying but had not contacted the police. One neighbour told Fakt newspaper: 'Arguments, fighting and shouting were the norm.' Both women have now been charged with child abuse using particular cruelty. District prosecutor Katarzyna Preidl said: 'The investigation into this case has only been ongoing for a few days. 'A lot of information needs to be verified. 'The most important thing is that the boy is safe.' Donald Trump suggested during his interview with Elon Musk that he could flee to Venezuela if he loses the election, because it is 'far safer' than the United States. During his two-hour conversation with the tech mogul on X's Spaces, the former president said the South American nation is 'emptying out' its prisons and sending murderers and rapists to the southern border. 'If something happens with this election, which would be a horror show, we'll meet the next time in Venezuela, because it'll be a far safer place to meet than our country. 'OK, so we'll go. You and I will go, and we'll have a meeting and dinner in Venezuela'. 'Venezuela - their crime is down 72 per cent,' the former president said during the interview, claiming 'drug dealers', 'murderers', 'rapists' and other violent criminals are being released from prison. 'Venezuela has not gotten rid of all of them. They've gotten rid of about 70 percent of their really bad people,' he told Musk. 'Their jails are about 50 percent, put into the United States. Same with other countries, over 30 percent. Some are at 50 percent. They're all different. 'But the bottom line is they're all going to be 100 percent. Why wouldn't you put 100 percent of it?' 'Their crime rate is coming down and our crime rate is going through the roof. And it's so simple,' he said. 'You haven't seen anything yet because these people have come into our country and they're just getting acclimated and they don't know about being politically correct, law enforcement or lack of law enforcement and our police.' Donald Trump suggested during his interview with Elon Musk that he could flee to Venezuela if he loses the election, because it is 'fare safer' than the United States The Republican nominee has repeatedly alleged that other countries and sending criminals across the border, resulting in an uptick in American crime rates. Studies have shown immigrants, including those in the US illegally, do not commit crimes at a higher rate than native-born Americans. Trump claimed that New York City has become 'overwhelmed' with illegal immigration, citing a rape and a stabbing that had occurred over the weekend. 'I saw it today in New York, where somebody was knifed, where they raped the girlfriend of a man that stood there watching in New York in one of the shelters and started pulling out the knives,' he told Musk. Trump was referencing how a 46-year-old woman was raped at knifepoint by a suspected migrant next to the Coney Island boardwalk on Sunday, while another asylum seeker fought off her 34-year-old boyfriend. The unprovoked attack reportedly happened outside a hotel housing asylum seekers Sunday around 9pm, and has since resulted in rumored Nicaraguan migrant David Davon-Bonilla, 24, and 37-year-old Mexican Leovando Moreno's arrest. Moreno is said to have struck the boyfriend with an unidentified object, while the woman, who reportedly lives under the boardwalk, was allegedly violated by Davon-Bonilla. Moreno was charged with first-degree rape, second-degree assault, first-degree sexual abuse, menacing and criminal possession of a weapon, while his accomplice was charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon for his fending off of the male victim. Trump was also seemingly referencing the violent clash outside the Randall's Island mega shelter Sunday morning that saw a migrant get stabbed in the stomach. The 26-year-old victim was knifed near a tent used by asylum seekers during the feud, the New York Post reported. He was taken to a nearby hospital and is understood to be in stable condition. No arrests have yet been made in the case. 'Bad things happen today, but this is happening every day,' Trump said of the violence in New York. 'We're already overwhelmed. Elon, we're overwhelmed. 'You had to see the news tonight about New York - New York, and I love that place, and what they're doing to it is horrible. What they're doing to it, and all the courts do is they try and focus on Trump. Trump has previously branded Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as a dictator A 46-year-old woman was raped at knifepoint by a suspected migrant next to the Coney Island boardwalk on Sunday, right on this stretch of street adjacent to the famed boardwalk Reported Nicaraguan migrant David Davon-Bonilla, 24, (left) and 37-year-old Mexican Leovando Moreno (right) were arrested Sunday, after Davon-Bonilla allegedly raped a 46-year-old tourist close by. Moreno fought back the woman's boyfriend as the rape took place, cops said Trump criticized Harris' immigration record, claiming she had been Biden's 'border czar' and saying she oversaw a huge rise in unauthorized crossings after being put 'in charge' of the Mexico-US border. 'She was the border czar, and people can't allow them to get away with their disinformation campaign,' Trump told Musk. 'Now, she's saying she wasn't really involved she was totally in charge.' Border security is overseen by the Department of Homeland Security, which during the Biden Administration is run by Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Biden in 2021 tasked the Vice President with a limited immigration-related assignment in which she was meant to 'lead diplomatic efforts' with El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Harris coordinated with foreign countries to address poverty, security issues and other 'root causes' that were driving people into the US, but was not directly responsible for border policy. Trump further slammed Harris for promising during a campaign rally in Arizona last week that she was going to fight for 'strong border security'. 'She's saying she was strong on the border. "We're going to be strong." Well, she doesn't have to say [it]; she could close it up right now,' Trump stated, adding: 'They could do things right now. It's horrible.' He also inflated the number of illegal migrants that have come to the US under the Biden-Harris Administration. 'You have millions of people coming in a month,' he told Musk. 'They are coming in from everywhere and they have another five months.' But Customs and Border Protection data shows that in June - the most recent monthly report - only 205,019 so-called border 'encounters' were recorded. December 2023 saw a 'peak' in border encounters, with 370,890 recorded that month nationwide. He also alleged that under the Administration 'over 20 million people came into our country, many coming from jails, from prisons, from mental institutions, or a bigger version of that is insane asylums.' CBP data shows that from February 2021 through June 2024 there were roughly 10 million encounters nationwide. Trump inflated migrant crossing figures, falsely claiming 'millions of people [are] coming in a month', and made an erroneous claim that '22 murderers came from the Congo'. Pictured is the US-Mexico border wall on August 11 Trump complained extensively about undocumented immigrants making their way to the US, repeating a claim he has made before that migrants are coming from 'the Congo'. But Trump failed to specify whether he was referring to the Republic of Congo or the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. 'Elon, what's happened is unbelievable,' he told 1.2 million X listeners during his chat with the social media site's owner. 'They're coming from the Congo, and 22 people came in from the Congo recently, and they're murderers.' Trump, without any challenge from Musk, then claimed criminals were being released from Congolese prisons and being sent across the southern US border. 'They drop 'em. They take 'em out of jails - which is very expensive, you know, to maintain the jails - they don't do too much maintaining, I can tell you,' he said. 'But they take 'em out of jails, prisons. They take 'em out, and they bring them to the United States.' Trump made a similar allegation earlier this year, prompting response from government officials in both the Republic of Congo and DR Congo who said his assertions were false. 'Everything he is saying isn't true,' Democratic Republic of Congo spokesperson Patrick Muyaya Katembwe told CNN in March after Trump claimed 'the Congo' was sending violent criminals into the US. Katembwe said Trump's allegations that violent offenders were being emptied from prison was 'not true' and said 'we want him to stop' spreading this misinformation because it is 'very bad for the country'. Serge Mombouli, the Republic of Congo's ambassador to the US, echoed the response, telling the broadcaster: 'There is no truth or any sign nor a single fact supporting such a claim or statement.' US Border Patrol police intervene with migrants crossing the border to Jacumba Hot Springs, California on June 10, 2024 Migrants from South and Central America hold hands as they stride towards a gap in the border wall before crossing into Boulevard, California from Tecate, Mexico, May 20, 2024 He also alleged that the Venezuelan government is 'emptying out their and prisons' sending criminals to America, resulting in an uptick in crime. Roberto Briceno-Leon, founder and director of the Venezuelan Observatory of Violence, in June denied Trump's allegations that criminals were being send abroad. He told FactCheck.org: 'We have no evidence that the Venezuelan government is emptying the prisons or mental hospitals to send them out of the country, whether to the USA or any other country.' Briceno-Leon instead attributed to drop in crime figures to the country's massive out-migration fueled by worsening economic and living conditions. Trump criticized the Vice President's immigration record, claiming she had been Biden's 'border czar' and saying she oversaw a huge rise in unauthorized crossings after being put 'in charge' of the Mexico -US border. Pictured: Kamala Harris at a campaign event on August 8 Trump is pictured on Monday night, participating in his interview with Elon Musk Furthermore, Trump oddly claimed during the interview that 'illegal immigration saved my life'. Discussing the assassination attempt during his campaign rally on July 13, the former president alleged that gunman Thomas Crooks missed because Trump had turned his head to look at an illegal immigration chart. The bullet instead grazed his ear. 'Doctors later told me that the ear is a place, that is a very bloody place if you're going to get hit,' he said. 'If I had not turned my head, I would not be talking to you right now - as much as I like you.' He also pledged to return to the Pennsylvania town of Butler where he was shot. Conservative leadership hopeful Tom Tugendhat will today call for a 'brutally honest' national conversation about the social unrest behind Britain's recent riots. The shadow security minister - one of six Tory MPs bidding to replace Rishi Sunak as party leader - will bemoan a 'culture of denial' that glosses over acts of violence. In his first major speech since declaring his leadership bid, Mr Tugendhat will blast Sir Keir Starmer's 'failure of leadership' over the chaotic disorder in towns and cities. He is expected to warn that public order 'can be difficult to regain' once it has been lost, while he will also take aim at Reform UK leader Nigel Farage. Mr Tugendhat will call for action to address eroding social trust, which he is set to argue is partly caused by the spread of misinformation and reckless remarks by some politicians. Conservative leadership hopeful Tom Tugendhat will today call for a 'brutally honest' national conversation about the social unrest behind Britain's recent riots Your browser does not support iframes. The shadow security minister - one of six Tory MPs bidding to replace Rishi Sunak as party leader - will bemoan a 'culture of denial' that glosses over acts of violence In his first major speech since declaring his leadership bid, Mr Tugendhat will blast Sir Keir Starmer 's 'failure of leadership' over the chaotic disorder in towns and cities Mr Tugendhat is expected to warn that public order 'can be difficult to regain' once it has been lost In the wake of the riots following the Southport stabbing attack, he will say: 'Too often, over the last two decades or more, we have avoided being brutally honest, preferring instead the warmth and false comfort of denial and complacency. 'We need to end the culture of denial the tendency to move hurriedly on from acts of extreme violence, to obfuscate about the identities and motives of the perpetrators.' Mr Tugendhat will call on Sir Keir to clamp down on all forms of sectarianism and take a robust approach to ensuring that the police have all the resources they need to bring any individual involved in lawlessness and thuggery to justice. He will add: 'Once lost, public order can be difficult to regain, which is why the police response to disorder must always be swift and determined. 'For officers on the streets, policing a violent crowd is a dangerous job. 'We sometimes hear of the need to go softly, softly, and to make arrests later. But visible lawlessness encourages others to join in and commit crime. 'Once people cross the line, they need to be met with uncompromising force.' Mr Tugendhat will also argue that prison both provides effective punishment and keeps dangerous offenders off the streets. He will criticise Labour's decision to reduce the amount of their sentence many offenders will have to serve before being released on parole. Faced with the prospect of running out of prison spaces, the Government in its first weeks in charge announced plans to temporarily reduce the proportion of a sentence offenders must spend behind bars from 50 per cent to 40 per cent. There are exceptions for terrorists, sex offenders, people convicted of crimes linked to domestic abuse, and violent criminals serving more than four years. Mr Tugendhat will say: 'Prison punishes offenders and takes dangerous and prolific criminals out of circulation, allowing the rest of us to live in peace. 'We should be updating and improving our prisons, not releasing criminals.' A former soldier, Mr Tugendhat is battling former home secretaries James Cleverly and Dame Priti Patel, former immigration minister Robert Jenrick, former business secretary Kemi Badenoch and former work and pensions secretary Mel Stride for the Tory leadership. This is Mr Tugendhat's second bid for the role, having stood in the first leadership contest in 2022. He was eliminated in the third round of voting by MPs. Former Colorado clerk Tina Peters, the first local election official to be charged with a security breach after the 2020 election as unfounded conspiracy theories swirled, was found guilty by a jury on most charges Monday. Peters, a one-time hero to election deniers, was accused of using someone else's security badge to give an expert affiliated with My Pillow chief executive Mike Lindell access to the Mesa County election system and deceiving other officials about that person's identity. Lindell is a prominent promoter of false claims that voting machines were manipulated to steal the election from Donald Trump. His online broadcasting site has been showing a livestream of Peters' trial and sending out daily email updates, sometimes asking for prayers for Peters and including statements from her. Prosecutors said Peters was seeking fame and became 'fixated' on voting problems after becoming involved with those who had questioned the accuracy of the 2020 presidential election results. Former Colorado county clerk Tina Peters arrives at the Mesa County Justice Center for her trial Wednesday, July 31, 2024, with her team of lawyers in Grand Junction, Colo. Yesterday she was convicted in Colorado election interference case Pictured: MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. Peters was accused of using someone else's security badge to give an expert affiliated Lindell access to the Mesa County election system and deceiving other officials about that person's identity Lindell is a prominent promoter of false claims that voting machines were manipulated to steal the election from Donald Trump (pictured) The breach Peters was charged of orchestrating heightened concerns over potential insider threats, in which rogue election workers sympathetic to partisan lies could use their access and knowledge to launch an attack from within. Peters was convicted of three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, first-degree official misconduct, violation of duty and failing to comply with the secretary of state. She was found not guilty of identity theft, one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation and one count of criminal impersonation, rejecting that in those instances Peters had used the identity of the security badge's owner, a local man named Gerald Wood, without his permission. Peters stood next to one of her attorneys at the defense table as the verdict was read in a quiet courtroom. Judge Matthew Barrett had warned those in the courtroom that he would not tolerate any outbursts. She will be sentenced on October 3. In a post on the social media platform X after the verdict, Peters accused Colorado-based Dominion Voting Systems, which made her county's election system, as well as lawyers for state election officials of stealing votes. Former Mesa County, Colo., county clerk Tina Peters, center, arrives at the Mesa County Justice Center for her trial Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in Grand Junction, Colo Former Mesa County, Colo., Tina Peters, center, laughs as she waits with her supporters for an elevator at the Mesa County Justice Center Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in Grand Junction, Colo 'I will continue to fight until the Truth is revealed that was not allowed to be brought during this trial. This is a sad day for our nation and the world. But we WILL win in the end,' she said. Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, whose office helped launch the investigation into Peters, said she will now face the consequences for compromising her own election equipment 'trying to prove Trump's Big Lie.' Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said the verdict sent a message. 'Todays verdict is a warning to others that they will face serious consequences if they attempt to illegally tamper with our voting processes or election systems. I want to be clear-our elections are safe and fair,' he said in a statement. The verdict came just hours after prosecutors urged jurors to convict Peters, saying she deceived government employees so she could work with outsiders affiliated with Lindell. In closing trial arguments, prosecutor Janet Drake argued that the former clerk allowed a man posing as a county employee to take images of the election system's hard drive before and after a software upgrade in May 2021. Drake said Peters observed the update so she could become the 'hero' and appear at Lindell's symposium on the 2020 presidential election a few months later. 'The defendant was a fox guarding the henhouse. It was her job to protect the election equipment, and she turned on it and used her power for her own advantage,' said Drake, a lawyer from the Colorado Attorney General's Office. Former Colorado county clerk Tina Peters, third from left, arrives at the Mesa County Justice Center for her trial Wednesday, July 31, 2024, with her team of lawyers in Grand Junction Drake has been working for the district attorney in Mesa County, a largely Republican county near the Utah border, to prosecute the case. Before jurors had begun deliberating Monday, the defense told them that Peters had not committed any crimes and only wanted to preserve election records after the county would not allow her to have one of its technology experts present at the software update. Defense lawyer John Case said Peters had to preserve records to access the voting system to find out things like whether anyone from 'China or Canada' had accessed the machine while ballots were being counted. 'And thank God she did. Otherwise we really wouldnt know what happened,' he said. Peters allowed a former surfer from California affiliated with Lindell, Conan Hayes, to observe the software update and make copies of the hard drive using Wood's security badge. Peters told visiting officials that Hayes, posing as Wood, worked for her. But while prosecutors said Peters committed identity theft by taking Wood's security badge and giving it to Hayes to conceal his identity, the defense said Wood was in on the scheme so Peters did not commit a crime by doing that. Wood denied that when he testified during the trial. Political activist Sherronna Bishop, who helped introduce Peters to people working with Lindell, testified that Wood knew his identity would be used based on a Signal chat between her, Wood and Peters. No agreement was spelled out in the chat. The day after the first image of the hard drive was taken, Bishop testified that she posted a voice recording in the chat. The content of that recording was not included in screenshots of the chat introduced by the defense. The person identified as Wood responded to that unknown message by saying 'I was glad to help out. I do hope the effort proved fruitful,' according to the screenshots. Prosecutor Robert Shapiro told jurors that Bishop was not credible. Have YOU been impacted by the wildfires in Greece? Several 100-foot high wildfires are moving 'like lightning' through Greece, threatening Athens, while Portugal and Italy also suffer infernos as France and Germany are sweltering under a tropical 'heat dome'. Greece's worst wildfires of the year have already killed one person and continued to burn on the outskirts of the capital Athens on Tuesday after the walls of flames as high as 100ft spread 'like lightning' due to gale-force winds, a fire brigade spokesperson said. More than 500 firefighters backed by fire engines and waterbombing aircrafts have been battling the blaze that broke out near the village of Varnavas 20 miles north of Athens two days and torched homes, vehicles and swathes of bone-dry forest. Meanwhile areas of Portugal and Italy have also suffered infernos, with fires currently burning in Italy's Latina Province and in the north of Portugal. Europe is sweltering under high temperatures, with the hotter weather and less rain providing ideal conditions for large-scale fires. In France, Spain, Germany and Italy, a tropical 'heat dome' has brought record temperatures, with Germany expecting the hottest day of the year at 37 degrees Celsius, while traditionally cooler areas of Spain are seeing abnormally high temperatures of more than 40 degrees. GREECE: A man holding the water hose tries to extinguish the fire in a timber warehouse in Gerakas suburb of the Greek capital on August 12 GREECE: The Parthenon temple atop the Acropolis hill is seen shrouded in a smoke cloud from a wildfire, in Athens on August 12 This map shows active wildfires, which are predominantly burning in the Balkans, Italy and Greece ITALY: Tourists walk during a new heatwave as temperatures are expected to reach 40 degrees Celsius in some cities, including Venice, Italy, August 10 This combination of Planet Labs handout satellite pictures created on August 12 shows East Attica, Greece, on August 11, 2024 (left) and during a wildfire on August 12, 2024 (right) SPAIN: People crowd a beach during a hot day in Valencia, Spain, August 11 FRANCE: Pedestrians line up at a fountain to fill up water bottles at a fountain during a heatwave at the Ile de la Cite, in Paris on August 12 GREECE: A burned house is seen in Chalandri, suburb of Athens, on August 13 following a major wildfire that has burned into the northern suburbs of the Greek capital, triggered multiple evacuations The blaze in Greece leapt from a wooded, hilly area into the suburbs on Monday, choking the city with smoke and ash and stirring panic in neighbourhoods that had not seen such a fire so close to the centre in decades. It reached Vrilissia, around 8 miles from central Athens, a day ago, where one person was found dead, according to the fire brigade. The cause of the wildfire was not yet determined. Winds were expected to pick up again later in the day on Tuesday and the country will remain on high fire alert until Thursday, with strong winds and temperatures forecast to reach up to 40 degrees Celsius. 'The overall picture looks improved but there are still many fronts in various areas,' said a fire brigade official. Wildfires have been a common feature of Greek summers for years, but climate change has brought hotter weather and less rain, ideal conditions for large-scale fires. The southern European country experienced its warmest winter on record this year and was on track for its hottest summer, with scant rain in many areas for months. The worsening situation was mirrored across southern Europe, including in Spain and the Balkans. The above map shows the wildfire danger in Europe, with areas in Spain, Italy, Greece and Turkey being particularly prone to wildfires at the moment Volunteers hold a water hose in order to help firefighters extinguish a fire in a wood factory in Vrilissia, on the outskirts of Athens, on August 12, 2024 A man riding a scooter watches as a wildfire engulfs a firewood business, in Penteli, northeast of Athens, Greece, August 12 A timber warehouse is seen ablaze while people gather outside in Gerakas suburb of the Greek capital during a wildfire that burned down houses, August 12 GREECE: A firefighting helicopter drops water at a resurgence near Nea Makri, east of Athens, Greece, August 13 Volunteers working to slow the flames stand in front of a small pocket of fire as wildfires burn near Penteli, Greece on August 12, 2024 Volunteers hold a water hose in order to help firefighters extinguish a fire at a construction business in Vrilissia, on the outskirts of Athens, on August 12 The Greek fire left in its wake abandoned homes, burned cars and charred fields. Local newspaper Proto Thema said the damage spanned 39 square miles and included 100 homes. Greece has activated the European Civil protection mechanism and is expecting assistance from France, Italy and the Czech Republic with aircraft and firefighters. Spain and Turkey have also offered help. More than 30 areas were forced to evacuate, along with at least three hospitals, with power cuts in parts of the wider Athens region. Passenger ferries heading to the port of Rafina northeast of the capital were diverted. Police have helped evacuate more than 250 people, and some residents spent the night in shelters. Hundreds of wildfires have broken out across Greece since May. While summer fires are common in Greece, extraordinarily hot and dry weather linked to climate change have made the blazes more frequent and intense, according to scientists. This year's June and July were the hottest months ever recorded in Greece, which also recorded its warmest winter ever. Both meteorologists and government officials have warned of the heightened danger of wildfires because of weather conditions from Sunday until Thursday. Half of the country is under a 'red alert' for wildfire hazard, climate crisis and civil protection minister Vassilis Kikilias said, with weather experts warning of a 'very difficult week'. In Portugal, firefighters in northern regions like Vimioso, which is near the border with Spain, and Carregosa, south of Porto, have been battling wildfires since Sunday. And in Italy, fires were burning near Terracina, Latina Province, with several residents evacuated to escape the flames. Meanwhile the heatwave in Europe is also pounding the traditionally cooler northern Spain, with regions sweltering in abnormally high temperatures of over 40 degrees on Sunday. Temperatures soared over the weekend across Spain but especially in the traditionally cooler northern Cantabrian Sea area, triggering 'extreme risk' alerts in the regions of Cantabria and the Basque country, weather service AEMET said. FRANCE: Children play under water jets as they cool off in fountains at the Andre-Citroen Park in Paris on August 12 People wait in line before entering Reina Sofia Museum, which the City of Madrid encourages to be used as a climate refuge during the fourth heatwave of the summer in Madrid, Spain, August 12 People crowd a beach during a hot day in Valencia, Spain, August 11 A man and a girl cool off with a fan in Rome on August 10, 2024, as high temperatures continue to rise across Italy People enjoy the beach at the Baltic Sea during a heatwave, at the seaside resort of Kuehlungsborn, Germany, August 6 A child plays under the water jets as he cools off in a fountain during a heatwave in Montpellier, southern France on August 12 People wait in line before entering Reina Sofia Museum, which is part of the initiative carried out by the City of Madrid encouraging people to use cultural spaces as climate refuges during the fourth heatwave of the summer in Madrid, Spain, August 12 A woman protects herself from the sun with a fan in front of La Concha beach during a hot day in San Sebastian, Spain, August 11 People crowd a beach during a hot day in Valencia, Spain, August 11 A cyclist riding in the Italian town of Viterbo, Lazio, for which an extreme heat warning has been issues, on August 11 People wore hats and cooled themselves with fans in the Basque country's Bilbao, one of the worst affected cities. 'It's too hot, you can't just be in the streets, neither at the beach,' Josefa Castillo told Reuters. Patrick Heremans, a Belgian tourist, was shocked by the heat: 'We're unused to this kind of temperature, but we're going to the museum today, where there's air conditioning,' he said. Spain's health ministry told people to drink water, protect themselves against the sun and pay particular attention to the young and the elderly. In Italy, a red alert has been issued for extremely high temperatures for 13 Italian cities and the region of Lazior on August 11. And in Germany, temperatures are expected to climb to 37 degrees today, which would make it the hottest day of the year so far - and hotter than milder temperatures in Barcelona, where it will only be around 30 degrees at the same time. This comes as a new report revealed that more than 47,000 people died in Europe due to the scorching temperatures in 2023. The Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) published the report on Monday. Last year was the world's hottest on record. As climate change continues to increase temperatures, Europeans live in the world's fastest-warming continent, facing growing health risks stemming from intense heat. Smoke rises over Parthenon temple during a wildfire near Athens, Greece, on August 12 Women embrace after being rescued during a wildfire in Varnavas, north of Athens, on August 11 A local gets into a car with the help of a firefighters to evacuate during a wildfire in Dione on August 12 A fire approaches houses at Penteli mount, northeast Attica, Greece, August 12 Firefighters try to extinguish a wildfire burning in Dionysos, Greece, August 12 Firefighters try to extinguish a wildfire burning in Dionysos, Greece, August 12 Firefighters are desperately trying to extinguish the inferno in Dionysos, Greece, on August 12 The 2023 death toll - below the more than 60,000 heat-related deaths estimated for the previous year - would have been 80 per cent higher without measures introduced in the past 20 years to help people adapt to rising temperatures, such as early warning systems and healthcare improvements, according to the report by the Spanish research centre. 'Our results show how there have been societal adaptation processes to high temperatures during the present century, which have dramatically reduced the heat-related vulnerability and mortality burden of recent summers, especially among the elderly,' said Elisa Gallo, researcher at ISGlobal and lead author of the study. Researchers used death and temperature records from 35 European countries. They estimate that 47,690 died from causes related to high temperatures. Adjusting the data for population, Greece, Bulgaria, Italy and Spain were the countries with the highest mortality rates related to heat. Greece recorded its hottest July this year since 1960, according to preliminary meteorological data, and Italy, in the midst of one of its worst droughts in half a century, also went through scorching temperatures. A thousand Croatian islands with their idyllic beaches in the Adriatic had daytime temperatures of almost 40 degrees Celsius - as did much of Spain and the south of France. Doctors caring for people with serious mental illness should be held responsible for putting 'dangerous' people on our streets, according to the father of Grace O'Malley-Kumar, who was stabbed to death last year. Dr Sanjoy Kumar, whose daughter was killed by Valdo Calocane last year, condemned the 'irresponsible' decision to discharge him from specialist care. A new report into the care Calocane received from his local mental health trust highlights how he was discharged back to his GP in September 2022. But the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said the evidence 'indicated beyond any real doubt' that Calocane would relapse 'into distressing symptoms and potentially aggressive behaviour' and the decision to send him back to GP care 'did not adequately consider or mitigate the risks of relapse'. Dr Kumar said the public is 'crying out for safety from these crimes' as he revealed that Health Secretary Wes Streeting told families he would 'slow down' modifications to the Mental Health Act. Ian Coates, Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar (l-r) were the killer's victims Calocane, 32, admitted three charges of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility at Nottingham Crown Court Calocane killed 19-year-old student Grace O'Malley-Kumar as she returned from a night out on June 13 2023 'He has promised that we will be able to work with people who are working with the law,' Dr Kumar told Sky News. 'A change is needed. We need to step back a little bit and really see what is safe for the public. 'We have lost the absolute love of our life, our lovely, beautiful and brave daughter, Gracie, and at the end of the day what we want to see is that the public are safe. 'I think the nation are crying out for safety from these crimes. 'At the end of the day, we want to get the Mental Health Act right - it's not about depriving people of their liberty. 'It's about holding clinicians responsible who put people like that out on our streets, any psychiatrist who puts out a dangerous person on our streets has to be held responsible for putting that patient out if he has not done a comprehensive risk assessment... these must be done under the law when the Mental Health Act is fully modified and completed.' CCTV from the morning of June 13 2023 shows Calocane walking along a street in Nottingham after he he stabbed Barnaby and Grace Court sketch of Calocane. The report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) comes the day after a damning BBC Panorama documentary revealed a doctor warned three years before the attack that Calocane's mental illness was so severe he could 'end up killing someone' On Tuesday, it emerged that a public inquiry will be held to examine the events which led to Calocane stabbing three people to death in Nottingham last year. Calocane killed 19-year-old students Barnaby Webber and Miss O'Malley-Kumar before killing 65-year-old Ian Coates in the early hours of June 13. Emma Webber, the mother of Mr Webber, said there was a 'catalogue of continual failures' over years. She welcomed the news of a public inquiry but told Good Morning Britain: 'We just now need to make sure it's the right public inquiry, that it is a statutory public inquiry.' Month after month, how DID services not stop him? May 2020 Valdo Calocane is first admitted for mental health treatment after breaking into neighbours' flats on two occasions, believing his mother was being raped inside. He is released, but arrested again within hours after another break-in attempt and sectioned. June 2020 Calocane is released from hospital. July 2020 Calocane is arrested for attempting to force his way into another flat and is sectioned again. During this hospital stay, a psychiatrist records concerns that Calocane could kill someone. August 2020 Calocane is released again from Highbury Hospital. September 2021 Calocane is sectioned again after concerns are raised about his deteriorating mental health. He assaults a police officer while being detained. October 2021 Calocane is discharged into the care of his community mental health team. January 2022 Calocane is sectioned for a fourth time after assaulting his housemate in their student flat. February 2022 Calocane is discharged to his local mental health team. September 2022 The mental health team responsible for Calocane's care lose contact with him and discharge him to the care of his GP. On the same day, a warrant for his arrest is issued by a judge after Calocane fails to appear in court over the assault on a police officer. It is not acted upon by police. June 2023 In the early hours of June 13, Calocane stabs two students to death before killing a school caretaker. He then drives a stolen van into three other people, seriously injuring them. Advertisement Dr Kumar told Sky News: 'We would like the terms of reference to cover a wide spectrum of all of the failings, because there were so many failings. 'Every victim today in England, who has suffered the way we have, we want justice for them, we want the law changed for them, we fight in their name. 'We really want to change things for the better, so that no other family ever fears for their child getting on a school bus, going to school, going to college, and being away from their family.' It comes after the final part of a special CQC review into the care of Calocane by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) found risk assessments 'minimised or omitted' key details of the serious risk he posed to others. It also questioned how well the trust engaged with Calocane's family, who raised concerns about his mental state. Dr Kumar said the report was 'devastating' to read. 'The risk assessments in his case were really poor by treating consultants and he was sectioned four times - there were four opportunities to change his medication, change it to (injectable) medication, which means that the patient complies,' he told Sky News. 'We had a simple case of a culpable person who just did not take his medication. All of this is devastating to read. 'It was so basic, the errors were not technical - they were basic, basic errors and repeated four times over. 'There was so many chances to change the course of Calocane, but none of those opportunities were taken by any of the doctors. 'The doctor who actually discharged him, that was the most irresponsible thing to do.' Health bosses in England have ordered NHS organisations to review how they care for patients with serious mental illnesses. This includes a reminder to trusts that they should not discharge patients with serious mental health issues if they do not attend appointments and to ensure they have policies in place for patients where they need intensive treatment but 'engagement is a challenge'. On Monday, a Panorama programme exposed that a psychiatrist warned Calocane could 'end up killing someone' three years before the attacks in June 2023. Dr Sinead O'Malley, Miss O'Malley-Kumar's mother, told Sky News: 'The CQC report clearly also says that there was no doubt that he was that Valdo Calocane was going to relapse, given his non compliance with his medication and lack of engagement. And ultimately, statistics show that if there is even a basic standard of delivery of care homicide does not occur.' Chris Dzikiti, the CQC's chief inspector of healthcare, was asked if the Nottingham killings could have been prevented if all the authorities had behaved as they should have done. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'For the individuals involved, their families, and loved ones, the damage cannot be undone. 'However there is action that can be and must be taken to better support people with serious mental health needs and provide better protection for the public now and in the future.' Calocane was handed an indefinite hospital order in January after admitting manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. Prosecutors accepted his not guilty pleas to murder after multiple medical experts concluded he had paranoid schizophrenia. A mental health nurse accused of killing her husband has cried in court after she was granted bail. Caroll Hopkinson, 58, has spent the last five weeks behind bars after she was charged with the murder of her husband Simon, 60, in their Taperoo home in Adelaide's west on July 7. A court previously heard that Hopkinson called emergency services after allegedly stabbing her husband during a tussle with a knife. She appeared in Adelaide Magistrates Court via videolink for a bail hearing on Tuesday. Her lawyer Jeff Powell argued that his client posed no risk and was not a risk of reoffending or absconding. The police prosecutor also expressed concerns for Hopkinson's mental health while in court, the Adelaide Advertiser reported. 'The main concern we have is knowing whether her mental health is going to be stable enough, and that stability maintained, throughout the proceedings so we can ensure she's still with us for those proceedings,' the prosecutor told the court. 'Our fear is that she may take her own life.' Carroll Hopkinson left the Adelaide Women's Prison shortly after 6pm on Tuesday night after she was earlier grant bail The mental health nurse is accused of stabbing her husband Simon to death last month The prosecutor recommended home detention for Hopkinson. But Mr Powell told the court that his client's mental health 'would be greatly improved' by her returning to the community and receiving treatment from home. He noted her own training as a mental health nurse and her links to the nursing profession would help her navigate her struggles. She also had a doctor she could see for mental health support and she was receiving medication, Mr Powell added. Chief Magistrate Mary Hribal agreed that there was 'nothing to suggest' that Hopkinson posed no risk to the community and her health state could be effectively managed through treatment while on bail. The court was told Hopkinson had secured a guarantor who would stay with her and help her at home she had a 'supportive daughter' who would help her. 'For those reasons ... I'm prepared to release her on bail,' Magistrate Hribal said. The magistrate agreed that Caroll Hopkinson (left) posed no threat to the community She ordered a string of strict bail conditions. Hopkinson can't leave South Australia and is banned from consuming drugs and alcohol She will remain under the supervision of Community Corrections officers and must undertake psychological or psychiatric treatment deemed appropriate. Hopkinson left the Adelaide Women's Prison shortly after 6pm on Tuesday night, wearing a bright coloured striped jumper and orange pants and clutching a black bag filled with belongings. She was asked by reporters whether relieved to be leaving custody 'I am,' she replied before she was driven away. Caroll Hopkinson, 58, has spent the last five weeks behind bars Caroll Hopkinson told reporters she was relieved to be free on bail before she was driven away Mr Powell previously told the court that Hopkinson woke up on the morning to a strange noise coming from the bathroom. Hopkinson allegedly found Simon, also a mental health nurse, trying to end his life. Panicked, she ran to get a knife to stop him but an 'aggressive' Simon then turned on her, according to her lawyer. 'She understood his reaction to be 'why are you stopping me from something that I need to do'. That is how she interpreted his reaction,' Mr Powell told the court last month.. 'He took the knife from her and assaulted her. She had cuts on her hands from trying to defend herself. There was a struggle, and then she took the knife back.' Simon then lunged at his wife, who allegedly stabbed him in fear of her life. Hopkinson was bailed until her next court appearance in November. No plea has yet been entered. A woman who travelled from Spain to steal 20,000 worth of handbags from Harrods in five separate raids has been jailed. Margarita Del Carmen Valdes Torres, 38, visited the world famous department store in London on five separate occasions between October and May to steal bags made by luxury brands Hermes, Valentino, Chanel, YSL and Gucci. On October 25, the Spaniard stole a Hermes bag worth 2,120 after arriving in the UK as a tourist. Three days later, she was spotted on CCTV evading the store's security staff and running off with a 2,400 Valentino bag. After returning home with the two bags, the mother-of-five re-visited Harrods on March 14 to grab a 5,220 Chanel bag, before helping herself to a 2,880 YSL bag two days later. Valdes Torres was eventually spotted on May 10 attempting to steal a Gucci bag and sunglasses worth a total of 6,735. She was subsequently chased down Brompton Road, Knightsbridge, towards the V&A museum by a security guard and arrested. When police officers searched her handbag, they found an electronic de-tagger and wire cutters. Margarita Del Carmen Valdes Torres (pictured) visited the Harrods department store in London on five separate occasions between October and May to steal bags Appearing at the Old Bailey on Monday, Valdes Torres admitted five counts of theft and one count of going equipped for theft. The total value of the theft was 19,355. Lyall Thompson, defending, said: 'This defendant has expressed remorse for what she has done. 'She understands its seriousness. I detected an element of relief that she was caught when she was. She said it could have gotten even worse if she had not been caught.' 'She made a full admission to the security guard when she was stopped and entered guilty pleas at the earliest possible opportunity.' Sentencing the thief, Judge Jeremy Brier said: 'The sentencing must reflect the fact that the total value of the theft was almost 20,000 and there were five separate occasions of theft. 'It is aggravated by the going equipped count. 'In terms of mitigating factors I take into account your good character prior to this offence and the fact that you made full admissions and have shown remorse for your offending and have used your time in custody productively.' Torres was jailed for 28 weeks. She will serve half her sentence in custody. Elon Musk issued a foul-mouthed retort to the European Union after a top Brussels official threatened action against his X social media site. The controversial billionaire, estimated to be the world's richest person, clashed with the bloc's digital chief Thierry Breton ahead of his interview with Donald Trump. In response to Mr Breton's warning about the spread of online hate and disinformation in the wake of UK riots, Mr Musk shared an expletive-laden meme. Posting an image from the Tropic Thunder film, he told the EU official: 'Take a big step back and literally, f*** your own face!' The clash came just hours before Mr Musk streamed his chat with Mr Trump on X, which followed the former US president rejoining the site once known as Twitter. Elon Musk issued a foul-mouthed retort to the European Union after a top Brussels official threatened action against his X social media site. The controversial billionaire, estimated to be the world's richest person, clashed with the bloc's digital chief Thierry Breton ahead of his interview with Donald Trump The EU commissioner for internal market noted the conversation between Mr Musk and Mr Trump would be accessible to around 100 million X users in the EU In his warning to Mr Musk, Mr Breton made reference to the recent riots in Britain. There are concerns the disorder was whipped up by online misinformation on sites such as X In his letter to Mr Musk, Mr Breton issued a stern warning to the South African-born businessman ahead of his broadcast with the Republican presidential nominee. The French politician, the EU commissioner for internal market, noted the conversation between Mr Musk and Mr Trump would be accessible to around 100 million X users in the EU. He pointed out, under EU laws, X is obliged to ensure 'all proportionate and effective mitigation measures are put in place regarding the amplification of harmful content'. 'This is important against the background of recent examples of public unrest brought about by the amplification of content that promotes hatred, disorder, incitement to violence, or certain instances of disinformation,' he added. Mr Breton made reference to the recent violent disorder in towns and cities across Britain in the wake of the Southport stabbing attack. There are concerns the mayhem was partly whipped up on sites such as X, including due to the spread of online misinformation about the Southport suspect. Mr Musk recently engaged in a spat with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer amid the chaos on UK streets by claiming 'civil war is inevitable'. He used the hashtag #TwoTierKeir on his social media site, in reference to allegations of 'two tier policing' in Britain. Mr Musk was also left red-faced as he pushed false claims about the PM setting up detainment camps in the Falkland Islands for rioters. In his letter ahead of the Trump interview, Mr Breton told Mr Musk: 'As the relevant content is accessible to EU users and being amplified also in our jurisdiction, we cannot exclude potential spillovers in the EU. 'Therefore, we are monitoring the potential risks in the EU associated with the dissemination of content that may incite violence, hate and racism in conjunction with major political - or societal - events around the world, including debates and interviews in the context of elections. He warned that 'any negative effect of illegal content on X in the EU' which could be attributed to the 'ineffectiveness' of X's monitoring of content would form part of the EU's ongoing probe into whether the site complies with Brussels' rules. 'This is in line with what has already been done in the recent past, for example in relation to the repercussions and amplification of terrorist content or content that incites violence, hate and racism in the EU, such as in the context of the recent riots in the UK,' he added. In his letter to Mr Musk, Mr Breton issued a stern warning to the South African-born businessman ahead of his broadcast with Mr Trump Mr Musk hit back at the EU official by sharing an expletive-laden meme from the Tropic Thunder film In his chat with Mr Trump on X, Mr Musk attempted to engage the former president in a discussion about 'censorship' of Americans 'from other countries' Mr Breton said he would 'not hesitate to make full use of our toolbox, including by adopting interim measures, should it be warranted to protect EU citizens from serious harm'. It has previously been reported how, in a video meeting with Mr Musk in 2022, Mr Breton threatened to ban X unless it abides by strict rules on content moderation. In a response to Mr Breton's letter last night, which the EU official posted on X, Mr Musk wrote: 'To be honest, I really wanted to respond with this Tropic Thunder meme, but I would NEVER do something so rude & irresponsible!' He also shared the expletive-laden meme from the Tropic Thunder film. Linda Yaccarino, the chief executive of X, said of Mr Breton's letter: 'This is an unprecedented attempt to stretch a law intended to apply in Europe to political activities in the US. 'It also patronises European citizens, suggesting they are incapable of listening to a conversation and drawing their own conclusions.' In his chat with Mr Trump on X, Mr Musk attempted to engage the former president in a discussion about 'censorship' of Americans 'from other countries'. Mr Trump responded by claiming the EU is 'bad' on trade with the US and criticising NATO for not spending enough on defence. 'That's probably why they notified you,' he said. 'They don't treat our country well.' Mr Trump's X account had earlier posted a series of tweets for the first time in almost a year. He was previously suspended from the site in January 2021 in action the company said was 'due to the risk of further incitement of violence' from his account. It followed the storming of the US Capitol by the former president's supporters. A thug draped in a St George's flag who kicked out at riot police and smashed trollies into officers is among the latest rioters convicted over the violence on Britain's streets. John Kirtley, 26, of Sunderland, was caught on camera as violence erupted when far-right demonstrations turned to chaos. Today the thug admitted violent disorder in connection with his role in the protests, with dramatic footage showing Kirtley forcefully hurling trolleys at officers. The rioter was caught on camera throwing bricks and a beer keg towards police officers who were protecting a mosque, South Tyneside Magistrates' Court heard. He also shouted 'England till I die' as he waved a flare. It comes as a 13-year-old girl became the youngest known female rioter to be convicted today following anti-immigration protests as a result of the Southport stabbings. The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted violent disorder in Aldershot outside a hotel two days after the attack in Merseyside - having punched and kicked the entrance to the building. John Kirtley, 26, was caught on camera violently pushing shopping trolleys at officers Kirtley has been convicted of violent disorder at South Tyneside Magistrates court Footage shows Kirtley kicking out at frontline officers during the chaos Accompanied by her mother and step-father, the court heard she would be looking at two years in jail if she were an adult. Today, in the youth court at Basingstoke Magistrates' Court, Hants, the nervous-looking girl from Aldershot fidgeted in her chair as she was spoken to. She spoke quietly and only did so to confirm her name, address and plead guilty to violent disorder. The court heard the offence took place during a protest at Potters International Hotel in Aldershot on July 31. The teenager admitted 'using or threatening unlawful violence' when present together with others which 'would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his or her personal safety'. Prosecutor Kerry Richardson told the court that if the girl had been an adult, she would be looking at two years in custody due to the 'serious nature' of events. District Judge Tim Pattinson warned her she would be committing an offence if she did not attend the next court hearing and ordered her to 'cooperate' with probation. She was granted unconditional bail ahead of being sentenced on September 30. Thomas Power, a Senior Crown Prosecutor with CPS Wessex, said after today's hearing: 'This alarming incident will have caused genuine fear amongst people who were being targeted by these thugs and it is particularly distressing to learn that such a young girl participated in this violent disorder. Today Kirtley admitted violent disorder in connection with his role in the protests, with dramatic footage showing Kirtley forcefully hurling trolleys at officers Protesters are seen outside Potters International Hotel in Aldershot on August 4 The crowds gathered as part of what were described as 'Enough Is Enough' demonstrations 'Large scale public unrest is never acceptable and the Crown Prosecution Service will not hesitate to respond swiftly and robustly to uphold law and order. 'We will continue working with our partners in policing and the wider criminal justice system to make sure those who bring violence and panic to our communities face the consequences of their actions.' Five men also appeared in court charged with using or threatening unlawful violence following a protest at the Aldershot hotel housing asylum seekers. Kieron Marney, 25, of Ash, Clive Patfield, 60, of Farnham, Alby Brannan, 18, of Ash, Jamie Lee Turvey, 34, of Farnborough, and Cameron Bowling, 40, of Farnborough, gave no indication of plea to the alleged offence on July 31 at Basingstoke Magistrates' Court on Tuesday. District Judge Tim Pattinson said their cases were too serious to be dealt with at magistrates' court and they would next appear at Winchester Crown Court on September 4. They were granted bail with conditions not to attend or loiter at any accommodation occupied by asylum seekers and not to go to Potters International Hotel or its grounds. Elsewhere, a man who looted cosmetics chain Lush during riots in Hull has pleaded guilty to violent disorder, burglary and racially aggravated criminal damage. John Honey, 25, admitted three charges of burglary at Lush, the O2 store and Shoezone in the city on August 3. Kieron Marney, 25, is pictured outside Basingstoke Magistrates Court in Hampshire after appearing charged with using or threatening unlawful violence following a protest Alby Brannan, 18, also appeared at the court and likewise made no indication of plea Fellow defendant Jamie Lee Turvey, 34, outside Basingstoke Magistrates Court today He also pleaded guilty to the racially aggravated criminal damage of a BMW and damaging nine other cars. Judge John Thackray KC, the Recorder of Hull, said he hoped to be able to sentence Honey later on Tuesday. Jack Fowler, 24, of Beaumont Terrace, Newcastle, also admitted the charge at the same court as Kirtley. Both will be sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court later this month. Police say the pair were identified when images and footage of the disorder were shared with police, which included shocking scenes of Kirtley kicking out at frontline officers. After officers issued a public appeal to locate Kirtley he handed himself in at Southwick Police Station on Sunday. Meanwhile James Aspin, 34, of Briardale Road, Blyth, appeared at South East Northumberland Magistrates' Court in Bedlington yesterday, charged with one count of distributing a recording to stir religious hatred. Aspin pleaded guilty to the offence and was remanded in custody, he will appear at Newcastle Crown Court on Monday, August 19 for sentencing. Honey is seen outside a Lush store in Hull on August 3 John Honey, 25, admitted three charges of burglary at Lush, the O2 store and Shoezone in Hull on August 3 Jack Fowler, 24, who has been convicted of violent disorder at South Tyneside Magistrates court Police were made aware of content posted by Aspin last Friday gaining traction on TikTok, making hateful and threatening comments. He was arrested in the early hours of the Saturday morning, after being recognised by officers. Det Chief Insp Graeme Barr, of Northumbria Police's Major Investigations Team, said: 'We are continuing to see great results following the persistent efforts of our officers. 'Our net is tightening all the time as we trawl through hundreds of hours of footage and intelligence to find those who have played any part in the region's recent disorder. 'The behaviour demonstrated by these men is certainly not welcome in our communities - and we will continue to do everything in our power to ensure they are held accountable. 'Over the past week, we have seen a great show of community togetherness and the support for the Force has been truly heartwarming. 'We will continue to engage with communities to offer reassurance and gather intelligence to support our enquiries - and we welcome anyone who thinks they have anything useful to share to come forward.' Meanwhile, four men - including one described as the 'least involved' a judge has seen - have been jailed for violent disorder during an anti-immigration protest in Plymouth. Gary Harkness, 51, of North West Road, John Cann, 51, of Patna Place, Ryan Bailey, 41, of no fixed address, and Amer Walid, 24, of Central Park Towers, were sentenced at Plymouth Crown Court on Tuesday. Cann, Bailey and Harkness were handed three-year, 30-month and 12-month sentences respectively, while Walid, a counter-protester, was jailed for 20 months. All four previously pleaded guilty at magistrates' court on Monday. Gary Harkness, 51, was sentenced at Plymouth Crown Court on Tuesday and given 12 months for violent disorder during an anti-immigration protest in Plymouth Amer Walid, 24, was sentenced at Plymouth Crown Court on Tuesday for 20 months for violent disorder as a counter-protester Plymouth Crown Court today sentenced John Cann, 51, for three years for violent disorder during an anti-immigration protest in Plymouth The same court gave Ryan Bailey, 41, 30 months for violent disorder during an anti-immigration protest in Plymouth Harkness was described by Judge Robert Linford as being the 'least involved' in terms of 'direct violence' to come before him. Handing out his sentence, Judge Linford said: 'Of the people I have thus far sentenced you are the person who provides me with the most difficulty because it cannot be levelled at you that you hit anyone, neither have you thrown anything, neither is it said that you spat at anybody. 'But it is accepted by you that you were a party to this disorder and I have to sentence you on the basis, and you also know that anyone party to it has to receive a custodial sentence." He added: 'On August 5 this city was blighted by widespread disorder that was centred on the Royal Parade - there was one faction on one side and one faction on the other. 'You didn't attend this evening, I'm satisfied, with the intention of starting or being involved in any trouble. 'You didn't align yourself with either faction, but you became involved and as a consequence of that you have now pleaded guilty to violent disorder. 'Your plea accepts that you threatened unlawful violence and your conduct could lead people to fear for their safety.' Harkness, who admitted having drunk heavily that day, was seen making lewd gestures and swearing during the evening and at another point pushes or is pushed by a police officer. At one point in the trial, after watching body-worn camera footage from the event, the judge halted the hearing, seeming frustrated that Harkness was before him. The case was adjourned while the judge spoke to the prosecution's Lewis Aldous. Following the adjournment, Mr Aldous told the court that Harkness had effectively encouraged the disorder. Police officers with dogs intervene after far-right protesters crossed to the side of anti-racism activists and clashed with the police at Guildhall Square in Plymouth on August 5 Police officers were seen detaining some far-right protesters after they tried to cross to the side of the opposing group in Plymouth on August 5 Sentences were today handed down to rioters convicted of carrying out violent disorder during an anti-immigration protest in Plymouth on Monday last week The court also heard that Cann and Bailey had been involved in the far-right protest on August 5, while Walid had attended a counter-protest on the opposite side of the police barricade. Video was shown to the court of Cann on a bike, launching a firework or flare towards the counter-protesters, as well as picking up objects from the floor and throwing them. Mr Aldous told the court that Cann told police he thought the protest would 'kick off' because 'an immigrant had killed some girls' but insisted he was not racist. Bailey was seen throwing a can and heard chanting along with others, saying: 'Immigrants not welcome here'. Walid was seen throwing cans on four occasions back at the far-right side of the protest and surrounded by placards saying 'Love not hate'. Sentencing Walid, Judge Linford accepted he had not entered the city 'looking for trouble' and that protesters had been throwing missiles and making 'deeply offensive racist chants'. Police chiefs are exploring powerful new technology which could pave the way for Orwellian live facial recognition, it was warned last night. Known as BriefCam, the system has been used previously by local authorities in conjunction with CCTV for traffic management. But now police plan to expand its use to search images from CCTV cameras for specific objects such as items of clothing. Big Bother: Critics fear facial matching may be used This could be a huge boost for officers, saving vital time during missing person inquiries or while hunting suspected criminals. But last night privacy campaigners warned that BriefCam could be used in future for facial recognition which critics have warned is incompatible with a democratic society. Jake Hurfurt, head of research and investigations at Big Brother Watch, said: Artificial intelligence-powered surveillance has the potential to put all our privacy at risk if misused. Police Scotland must be very careful to ensure that it is only used when necessary and steps are taken to protect the publics privacy, as otherwise we face this kind of technology becoming normalised and creeping further into our daily lives. The force insists that BriefCams ability to use facial matching would be switched off, so that it would be used solely for object matching. But the Mail revealed this year that Police Scotland is looking at bringing in live facial recognition cameras to tackle shoplifters and people who break bail conditions. New tech: Jo Farrells Police Scotland looking at options Critics fear BriefCam could be a way of introducing facial recognition by stealth. Sir Keir Starmer has said the use of facial recognition would be ramped up in England to counter public disorder. Police Scotland, led by Chief Constable Jo Farrell, told the Mail it was exploring new technology called BriefCam, to be used in conjunction with CCTV. It said: BriefCam will provide an object-matching capability items of clothing, bags, hats, etc. Whilst BriefCam does have facial matching capabilities, Police Scotland will not be using this element. BriefCam will not monitor number plates but would have the capability to identify vehicles. Police Scotland said BriefCam makes use of enhanced search software to assist operators to review data more quickly. The force said: It is anticipated that this would significantly reduce the time officers spend on inquiries; however, a decision will not be made until it has been through our Rights Based Pathway [a process of checking that human rights and civil liberties will not be breached]. Big Brother Watch has said live facial recognition technology is Orwellian and incompatible with a democratic society. Last night Alexandrine Pirlot de Corbion, director of strategy at campaign group Privacy International, said: The onus is on Police Scotland to show the public that they are justifiably using this invasive technology. A Scottish Government spokesman said: The decision to use any technology with facial recognition capability is an operational matter for Police Scotland. Spanish police have joined the war on tourists by confiscating the loungers and umbrellas of selfish beach hoggers who set up shop then leave - sometimes before dawn. Council chiefs at popular resorts on the Spanish mainland and in the Balearics and Canaries have introduced fines for sunseekers who abandon their belongings while they have lunch or even go back to bed. The loungers and umbrellas are taken to the local police station and tourists must pay the equivalent of 210 to retrieve them. The new rules are just the latest development in Spain's war on tourists that has seen widespread protests and visitors even attacked with water guns this summer. Protesters have also occupied beaches on the island of Majorca in an attempt to reclaim them for local people. Spanish police have joined the war on tourists by confiscating loungers and umbrellas of unruly holidaymakers Picture shows a police car piled high with the confiscated chairs and umbrellas Police officers in Malaga confiscate unoccupied beach chairs The loungers and umbrellas are taken to the local police station and tourists must pay the equivalent of 210 to retrieve them Local laws in coastal areas now ban the setting out of chairs, sunbeds or umbrellas before 9am in an attempt to prevent them getting in the way of beach cleaning at the resorts. Photos shared on social media show police in Malaga enforcing the rules with uniformed officers removing chairs from the beach. Separate pictures show police cars piled high with the confiscated chairs and umbrellas. The angry user captioned the post on TikTok 'you can't occupy a place on the beach while you go to have lunch but yes they can occupy your house' - in a reference to Spain's unpopular squatting laws. Others however welcomed the new rules. One Facebook page dedicated to Spanish tourism said: 'Where are the people? We'll tell you... sleeping or having breakfast at home. 'This practice, which has been carried out for many years, is beginning to be regulated by coastal town councils, because it is not normal to arrive at 9 or 10 in the morning and find the first and second rows of beach full and no one around. 'Only those who have suffered it understand the importance that town councils, through their local police, regulating the proper use of these spaces.' Spanish media has reported that the rules prohibit the 'indiscriminate occupation of public domain land and makes special reference to taking up beaches with elements such as chairs, deckchairs and parasols from the early hours of the morning.' The local laws also state umbrellas, chairs or deckchairs left unattended for more than three hours can be removed. If there is evidence the items have been left without the owner present, the town hall, through the local police or its cleaning staff, may remove them. A Spanish news outlet reported: 'For some years now, the council has been receiving numerous complaints every summer about spaces being reserved on the beaches, as when users arrive at the beach mid-morning they find much of the sand occupied by items belonging to people who are not there. 'Items which have been removed are deposited at the local police station, from where owners have to pay 250 to recover them, in accordance with article 54 of the bylaw regulating the police, good governance and taxation of street trading.' This summer thousands of protesters have descended on the streets of Spain to speak out against mass tourism in the country. In July, thousands of protesters marched through Barcelona waving placards and squirting holidaymakers with water guns. The protest was organised under the slogan 'Enough! Let's put limits on tourism' to demand a new economic model that would reduce the millions of tourists that visit every year. Demonstrators march shouting slogans against the Formula 1 Barcelona Fan Festival in downtown Barcelona, last week A banner reading 'No tourist flats' hangs from a balcony to protest against holiday rental apartments for tourists in Barcelona's neighborhood of Barceloneta A family walk past anti-tourism graffiti in Barcelona A group of tourists on a bike tour pass an anti-tourism graffiti reading Your Trip Our Misery 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 per cent in June from a year earlier in tourist cities such as Barcelona and Madrid, according to the property website Idealista. Protests have also taken place on the beaches of Majorca this summer, calling on locals to reclaim the spaces. This weekend anti-tourism protesters armed with banners and placards have stormed a popular party beach on the island. Campaigners in Majorca have blamed visitor numbers for problems such as the rising cost of living and a lack of housing for locals. One protester said: '40 years ago, when I was young, I used to come here to swim, then people started coming to drink and it has deteriorated.' Another added: 'We are trying, for a moment, for a few hours, to remember that these sandbanks are the property of all Majorcans not just tourists, we can all enjoy them too. Members of the Mallorca Platja Tour association demonstrate against tourism with a banner that reads 'Let's occupy our beaches!' on Palma de Mallorca beach on August 11 Members of the Mallorca Platja Tour association demonstrate against the tourist saturation on the beach of Palma de Mallorca Protesters demonstrate against tourism levels on the beach of Palma de Mallorca on August 11 Campaigners in Majorca have blamed visitor numbers for problems such as the rising cost of living and a lack of housing for locals Sunday's demonstration was one of multiple protests this summer over excessive tourism in Majorca Members of the Mallorca Platja Tour association demonstrate against the tourist saturation on the beach of Palma de Mallorca on August 11 Three signs attached to an umbrella at the beach read 'stop drunk tourists' 'Many tourists understand this, it is easy to understand that the rent has doubled, that everything is full.' Last month anti-tourist campaigners in Majorca mocked England's Euro 2024 final defeat against Spain and demanded Britain 'takes back its drunks'. Up to 50,000 locals descended onto the streets of the Majorcan capital Palma on July 21 as they called for curbs on the amount of foreign visitors allowed on the Spanish island. Among them was one who held aloft a picture of England full-back Kyle Walker accompanied by the words: 'The only thing coming home is you'. Police have today been scouring a lake in search of a missing teenage boy who got into difficulty in the water. The boy, believed to be 16, from Essex, was swimming at Burnside Lakes in Cherry Hinton, Cambridge, with a group of friends when he got into difficulty just before 5.30pm yesterday. Police said specialist teams had been at the location since the call came in, but the boy has not yet been found. A police spokeswoman said: 'We were called at 5.26pm yesterday evening by the ambulance service reporting concerns for a teenage boy in the water at Burnside Lakes in Cherry Hinton, just outside of Cambridge. A police officer was pictured on the scene in the Cherry Hinton area of Cambridge this morning Burnside Lakes in Cherry Hinton, Cambridge, where a search is taking place for a teenage boy who is missing Police and rescue teams at the scene at Burnside Lakes in the Cherry Hinton area of Cambridge Police have been scouring a lake in search of a missing teenage boy who got into difficulty in the water 'Emergency services and specialist teams attended, however the boy has not yet been found. She added: Search teams remain at the lake to find the boy and we ask that members of the public stay away from the area while this work is carried out. The boy's family are aware.' The three lakes in Cherry Hinton are former chalk pits, which closed in the 1950s and contain deep water, together with equipment left from when chalk was extracted. Specialist teams attended but as of yet the boy has not been found The incident happened shortly before 5.30pm on Monday at Burnside Lakes They are jointly owned by The Anderson Group, Cambridge City Council and Peterhouse College. During lockdown in 2020 Cambridgeshire police issued a dispersal order preventing people from visiting the site and discouraging 'dangerous swimming' in the lake. It comes after a toddler drowned in a canal in Ettingshall, Wolverhampton yesterday. The tiny boy is believed to have escaped unnoticed from his home after his parents left the front door open in the stifling heat, his heartbroken neighbours revealed. After releasing their youngster was missing, his frantic mother and father raced to the canal less than 100 metres away to search for him. Friends and fellow residents joined the desperate hunt shortly before 6pm yesterday near Catchem Corners Bridge in the suburb of Ettingshall. An international fashionista sued by a boutique boss former pal who claimed she ran off with her fortune blew kisses around court as she escaped being jailed following their 1.6m court battle. Ekaterina Barrett was sued by Bridget Hutchcroft, whose Pandora Dress Agency boutique was a favourite of Princess Diana, for failing to repay 1.3m she had borrowed to get through a 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 a string of lies to avoid paying. Earlier this month, a High Court judge found Ms Barrett in contempt of court after finding that a crucial document she put forward as part of her case contained the 'forged' signature of Ms Hutchcroft. Ekaterina Barrett outside the High Court after a hearing Bridget Hutchcroft outside Londnon's High Court The Pandora dress agency in Knightsbridge Mrs Justice Heather Williams said she was sure that Ms Barrett was 'responsible' for the faked document, which she had claimed showed her former friend and her company had agreed to settle the case for only 800,000. The case returned to court yesterday for sentencing, with the judge deciding to suspend Ms Barrett's sentence due to her poor health and the fact she cares for her mum, who is in her 90s. But during her sentencing remarks, the judge broke off to warn Ms Barrett about her conduct in court, telling her: 'You should listen to me rather than blow kisses around the court, which is not helpful.' Ms Hutchcroft's Pandora Dress Agency has been a successful fixture in Knightsbridge, west London, since its establishment shortly after the end of the Second World War. Located just behind Harrods, the boutique sells second-hand modern designer clothes from labels such as Chanel, Hermes, Versace and Prada. As well as the late Princess Diana, it has also attracted some of the cream of Hollywood, including Catherine Zeta-Jones and Ava Gardner. Ms Hutchcroft and Ms Barrett originally met when Ms Barrett began visiting Pandora seven years ago while she was living in a 4.2million Mayfair flat and driving around town in a Bentley. They became close after Ms Hutchcroft bought up some of her designer fashion items to sell in her shop, and took a shine to her two greyhounds. But after her former friend failed to repay loans when asked, Ms Hutchcroft sued her over the debt, claiming 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 get 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 a settlement over the missing money, but in October 2022 - with it still unpaid - Ms Hutchcroft secured a High Court judgment against Ms Barrett for 1,665,560, covering the loan plus interest. In her defence, Ms Barrett had denied borrowing the cash, insisting that the transactions related to the sale of designer clothes. With the 1.6m court bill still unpaid, Ms Hutchcroft and her company then 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, returning to court last month, Ms Hutchcroft's lawyers claimed she had lied about her wealth, masking the fact that she owns a home in Monaco worth millions. On top of that, Ms Barrett had submitted to the court a document with a forged signature on it 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' and said it was 'fanciful' to suggest that she would have struck a deal with Ms Barrett for 800,000 when she already had a judgment against her for more than 1.6m. Even after the contempt trial kicked off, Ms Barrett continued to insist that her former pal was intent on settling the case, claiming Ms Hutchcroft had 'instigated' a meeting at Harvey Nichols beauty salon on the morning of the last day of the hearing. Ms Barrett's solicitors 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 had her eyebrows done. Labelling Ms Hutchcroft an 'honest witness,' she said there was no evidence that she agreed to settle the dispute for 800,000, as Ms Barrett claimed. '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. A well as finding she had misled the court about her ownership of the Monaco apartment, she said the signature of Ms Hutchcroft on the purported March 2024 settlement agreement was faked. 'Most brazenly, in an email, Ms Barrett told the court that the claimants had compromised the claim against her for a much smaller sum than she owed her and on terms plainly disadvantageous to them,' said the judge. 'She attached what purported to be a settlement agreement, on which I am quite satisfied that Ms Hutchcroft's signature had been faked. 'This was plainly a premeditated deception of the court.' She said she was 'quite sure' Ms Barrett was 'responsible' for the document. 'Ms Barrett had a motive to try and derail the committal proceedings against her,' she said. '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.' She sentenced Ms Barrett to a four-month prison term, suspended for 12 months in light of her age and poor health, for her contempt of court. The court heard that Ms Barrett has been plagued by acute gastric problems due to past surgery to remove her spleen which has severely impaired her immunity and left her vulnerable to bacterial infections. On top of that, she suffers from a sleep disorder, panic attacks and depression, the court heard, and helps care for her mum, who also looks after her dogs. She was also ordered to pay 100,000 towards her debt in favour of Ms Hutchcroft and her company - which now stands at around 1.9m - within six months. 'In deciding to suspend the term, I am primarily influenced by your age and your multiple medical conditions,' said the judge. 'I accept that a period of imprisonment would be particularly difficult for you in light of these matters. 'I also take account of the support you provide for your mother.' Referring to the 100,000 payment, the judge added: 'You should be in no doubt that if you fail to comply with these terms within six months then the term of imprisonment is very likely to be activated.' A looting thug dressed in a St George's flag t-shirt who smashed up a Shoezone with a chair and raided an O2 and Lush has admitted a string of charges in court. John Honey, 25, admitted three charges of burglary at the bath and shoe stores in the city of Hull on August 3. He also pleaded guilty to the racially aggravated criminal damage of a BMW and damaging nine other cars. Judge John Thackray KC, the Recorder of Hull, said he hoped to be able to sentence Honey later today. Footage shared on social media shows Honey entering various stores during the riots in Hull that left 11 police officers injured. His St George's Cross rugby shirt meant he was easy to identify as he took bath products from Lush and smashed up the shoe store with a chair. John Honey, 25, pictured outside Greggs with stolen goods in Hull on August 3 Honey is seen outside a Lush store in Hull which he stole products from amid the riots Honey admitted three charges of burglary at the bath and shoe stores in the city of Hull It comes as even more people are set to appear in court on Tuesday after the violent disorder last week. John Kirtley, 26, of Sunderland, has been convicted after he kicked out at riot police and smashed trollies into officers. Today the thug admitted violent disorder in connection with his role in the protests, with dramatic footage showing Kirtley forcefully hurling trolleys at officers. The rioter was caught on camera throwing bricks and a beer keg towards police officers who were protecting a mosque, South Tyneside Magistrates' Court heard. He also shouted 'England till I die' as he waved a flare. A 13-year-old girl became the youngest known female rioter to be convicted today following anti-immigration protests as a result of the Southport stabbings. The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted violent disorder in Aldershot, outside a hotel two days after the attack in Merseyside. Accompanied by her mother and step-father, the court heard she would be looking at two years in jail, if she were an adult. John Kirtley, 26, was caught on camera violently pushing shopping trolleys at officers Kirtley has been convicted of violent disorder at South Tyneside Magistrates court Footage shows Kirtley kicking out at frontline officers during the chaos Today, in the youth court at Basingstoke Magistrates' Court, Hants, the nervous-looking girl from Aldershot fidgeted in her chair as she was spoken to. She spoke quietly and only did so to confirm her name, address and plead guilty to violent disorder. The court heard the offence took place during a protest at Potters International Hotel, in Aldershot, on July 31. The teenager admitted 'using or threatening unlawful violence' when present together with others which 'would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his or her personal safety'. Prosecutor Kerry Richardson told the court that if the girl had been an adult, she would be looking at two years in custody due to the 'serious nature' of events. District Judge Tim Pattinson warned her she would be committing an offence if she did not attend the next court hearing and ordered her to 'cooperate' with probation. She will be sentenced on September 30. An 11-year-old girl will require plastic surgery after being stabbed eight times with a steak knife at Leicester Square while on holiday with her mother, a court has heard. Ioan Pintaru, 32, allegedly put the child in a headlock while attacking her before he was restrained by members of the public, then police arrived and arrested him. The girl was left with injuries to the face, shoulder, wrist and neck after the 'random attack' at the London tourist spot with her 34-year-old mother at 11.34am yesterday. Pintaru, a Romanian citizen of no fixed abode, appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court today charged with attempted murder and possession of a bladed article. He wore a grey prison-issue sweatshirt and the court heard he is a Romanian citizen. The charges were read to him through an interpreter during the ten-minute hearing. Pintaru was remanded in custody to next appear at the Old Bailey on September 10. He has a four-year-old child who lives in Manchester, but he is currently homeless. Ioan Pintaru, 32, allegedly put the 11-year-old girl in a headlock before attacking her yesterday A court artist's sketch of Ioan Pintaru appearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court today Police officers stand in front of the cordoned off area in London's Leicester Square yesterday Police were seen detaining a man in Leicester Square after an 11-year-old girl was stabbed on Monday David Burns, prosecuting, told the court that a woman and her 11-year-old daughter were in Leicester Square as tourists when the defendant 'approached the 11-year-old girl, placed her into a headlock, he's then stabbed her eight times to the body'. He added: 'She sustained wounds to the face, shoulder, wrist and neck area. Fortunately members of the public intervened, which prevented any further injury being made to the child.' Mr Burns said officers were called and 'found the defendant being held by the members of the public'. The prosecutor added: 'He was detained and searched and found a knife on his person. 'In relation to the complainant - she was taken to hospital and she currently resides in hospital where she's undergoing treatment. 'I understand that she required plastic surgery for the injuries she sustained.' District Judge Michael Snow described the incident as a 'random attack on a child'. Ioan Pintaru appeared in court charged with the attempted murder of an 11-year-old girl Discarded clothing and emergency medical equipment in the TWG Tea shop yesterday He told Pintaru: 'These charges must be tried at the Central Criminal Court. You must remain in custody pending that appearance.' The girl's 34-year-old mother was initially thought to have also been hurt but blood from her daughter's injuries was mistaken for injuries of her own, the Metropolitan Police said. The girl went to hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries. Detectives added that that there was no suggestion the incident was terror-related, and they do not believe the suspect and the victims were known to each other. A police cordon sealing off the crime scene surrounded the double doors of the TWG Tea shop yesterday, which is beside the Lego store and in front of the M&Ms store. Leicester Square and the surrounding area attracts an estimated 2.5million visitors every week and is home to shops, theatres, cinemas and restaurants. Police officers at the scene in London's Leicester Square yesterday after a man was arrested An aerial view of the police cordon at the scene in London's Leicester Square yesterday Detective Chief Superintendent Christina Jessah said: 'This is a horrific incident and our thoughts are with the victims and their family. We will continue to provide support to them over the coming days and weeks. 'I would like to pay tribute to the members of the public, including staff from local businesses, who bravely intervened in this incident. They put themselves at risk and showed the best of London in doing so. 'An urgent investigation is now ongoing and detectives are working to establish the details around exactly what happened.' Witnesses or anyone with footage or images of the incident have been asked to call 101 or to contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, ref 2745/12AUG A teenage motorcyclist hit and killed by a stolen BMW was planning to propose to his girlfriend later that day. Emergency services were called to the intersection of Bell Street and Victoria Street in Preston, in Melbourne's north, early on Sunday morning following reports a BMW had struck a motorcycle. Police arrived at the scene and performed CPR on critically injured 19-year-old Davide Pollina, who died at the scene. Police believe that two occupants in the BMW fled from the scene. Mr Polina's girlfriend Sylvana Kassab was travelling in a car alongside him at the time and witnessed the crash and his harrowing final moments. She's since been told he was planning to pop the question to her later on Sunday 'I was told he had planned to propose to me the day he passed, however, his life was cut too short and I didn't have the chance to say the easiest yes I could have said,' Kassab told Seven News. 'We had so much planned for the future, however, the precious memories we shared will never be lost within me.' Davide Pollina (right) was planning to propose to his girlfriend Sylvana Kassab (left) Davide Pollina was killed on his way home when he was struck by a stolen BMW 'I will never be able to move past this, from life to death he was my person, he will always be my forever. Mr Pollina's best mate is also shattered. 'I know (he's) in a better place and he's up there looking down on me and I'm so grateful for him for (and) what he has done for me,' Youssef Soueid said. Police say the BMW and a Mazda were stolen from a home on Coonans Road, in Pascoe Vale South, at about 11.40pm on Saturday night, an hour before the collision. A 16-year-old boy, was arrested shortly afterwards and interviewed by detectives before being released, pending further enquiries. No charges have been laid. The other occupant remains on the run. Investigations into the crash are continuing. It comes after Mr Pollina's grieving parents issued a harrowing plea to those who were in the BMW at the time of the crash to present themselves to police. Davide Pollina brought his first car three years ago Investigations into Sunday morning's horror crash (scene pictured) continue Davide moved to Australia with his parents and older sister from Sicily in search of a better life about a decade ago. Mr Pollina had celebrated his son's achievement of buying his first car in 2021, writing on social media: 'You're our pride.' Davide was remembered as a 'handsome and respectful boy' to locals from his home town in Italy and as avid motorcycle and car enthusiast to his Aussie friends. Colleagues of the concrete pumper also paid their respects to 'one of the best'. At his old worksite, all equipment was raised in the air as a final salute. A GoFundMe organised on behalf of Davide's family said he was 'travelling home on his motorbike ... when he was suddenly struck by an (allegedly) stolen vehicle'. 'Davide was only 19, with a full life ahead of him,' the fundraiser reads. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump sat down with billionaire Elon Musk on X yesterday in a two-hour chat that took in immigration, religion, global warming and much more. Even before the rambling interview kicked off it was beset by problems as a cyber-attack just before the pair went live resulted in a 43-minute delay. But once up and running, Trump spoke about becoming more religious after the attempt on his life in Pennsylvania on July 13, a shooting that Musk said showed Trump's courage, while Musk urged Americans to vote for the Republican presidential nominee over Kamala Harris. As the conversation continued the two touched on an extraordinary range of subjects including admiration for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and Trump accusing Joe Biden of having a low IQ. Here are some of the most bizarre moments from their wide-ranging exchange. Trump said Kamala Harris looked like his wife Melania Trump discussed vice president Kamala Harris several times throughout the interview, but there was a particular awkward moment that might put the politician in the doghouse at home where he told Musk that his presidential rival bore a resemblance to his wife. Trump discussed vice president Kamala Harris several times throughout the interview, but there was a particular awkward moment that might put the politician in the doghouse at home where he told Musk that his presidential rival bore a resemblance to his wife.vice president Kamala Harris several times throughout the interview, but there was a particular awkward moment that might put the politician in the doghouse at home where he told Musk that his presidential rival bore a resemblance to his wife. Discussing Kamala's Time cover he said: 'She looks like the most beautiful actress ever to live. It was a drawing, and actually, she looked very much like a great first lady, Melania'. 'But, of course, she's a beautiful woman, so we'll leave it at that, right', he added. Donald Trump remarked on Kamala Harris ' Time Magazine cover, saying he thought the vice president resembled his wife and former First Lady Melania during his interview with Elon Musk Former first lady and wife of Donald Trump, Melania. The ex US president told Musk last night that Kamala Harris bore a resemblance to Melania Social media users poked fun at Trump's unexpected comment about Harris, with one X account saying: 'Do I hear wedding bells?' 'He caught himself complimenting how Kamala looked and then realized he can save it by comparing her to how great his wife looks.' Others weren't as amused, with people condemning Trump's comment as inappropriate. 'This was the weirdest part of the entire conversation. He's so gross', one X user said, while another wrote: 'This is what he saw: a smart and strong woman. He is intimidated, and all he can see is his own sexual desire when he looks at women. He's a pig.' Trump appeared to lisp Perplexed listeners noticed that at several points during Monday night's interview, Trump appeared to have a lisp or even slurred his words at points, struggling with words containing 's' sounds. While it was not clear if the former US president was actually lisping or whether were were ongoing audio issues, memes of Trump as Mike Tyson and Donald Duck immediately began trending online. One X user said on the social platform: 'Are his dentures not fitted properly or what?'. 'Must be your s***ty hearing. Get your ears checked out,' Trump's spokesperson responded to reporters amid a debate over whether it was dentures or audio problems. Listeners noticed that Trump had a lisp during his interview with Elon Musk last night, resulting in Donald Duck and Mike Tyson memes. Internet explodes with Mike Tyson memes following Trump's interview last night 40-minute delay amid 'massive' cyber-attack Trump and Musk's conversation was beset with problems including a major delay because of a 'massive' cyber attack. The interview started 43 minutes late after the social media site's servers were hammered with a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. This meant that those who logged onto X to listen encountered a blank page, which Musk quickly confirmed as a cyber attack. Once the issue was fixed, the pair rambled on for about two hours as 1.3 million listeners tuned in. This is far fewer than the '60 million or something' Trump at one point said had tuned in. Trump and Musk LIVE: X interview was off to a shaky start as audio stream failed to load Trump said Jo Biden's IQ is so low he might not have one at all In what might have been one of the interview's funniest moment, Trump took a jibe at President Joe Biden after he proclaimed that his IQ is so low, 'he might not even have an IQ at all'. 'There's nothing on the board that goes this low', he added. This was in reference to the Russia-Ukraine war, saying that Biden had let the conflict spiral into a 'bloody war'. 'I'm not going to blame exclusively, but I can tell you I could have stopped that, and a smart president could have stopped that', he said. U.S. President Joe Biden, granddaughter Naomi and first lady Jill Biden sit under umbrellas at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, U.S., August 10, 2024. Last night, Trump attacked Biden, saying he had a low IQ. Trump said Vladimir Putin Xi Jingping and Kim Jong Un were top of their game Trump also said that the leaders of Russia, China and North Korea were 'at the top of their game'. 'I know Putin. I know President Xi. I know Kim Jong Un,' the ex-president said. 'They're tough; they're smart; they're vicious and they're going to protect their country.' He also said that 'when they see a Kamala, or when they see a Biden, sleepy Joe, they can't even believe it'. Exactly why a young trainee pilot who was enjoying an 'adventure' in Australia decided to embark on a fatal helicopter flight after a night of drinking to celebrate a recent promotion still remains a mystery 48 hours after his death. Daily Mail Australia revealed on Tuesday that New Zealander Blake Wilson, who is believed to be in his mid-20s, was the pilot on board a Robinson 44 helicopter which smashed into the roof the DoubleTree by Hilton in Cairns in Far North Queensland at 1.50am on Monday. The 'unauthorised' journey took off from the Nautilus Aviation hangar at Cairns Airport shortly after 1.45am, flying down over the city's Esplanade, which is a no-fly zone. Just four minutes into the flight, witnesses reported seeing the aircraft flying dangerously low over the mud flats before it smashed into the hotel roof and burst into flames. Miraculously, only Mr Wilson was killed. Two elderly guests were treated at hospital for smoke inhalation, while almost 400 people had to be evacuated in the middle of the night. As investigators for Queensland Police and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) puzzle over the case, Daily Mail Australia takes a look at the key questions - and those that remain unanswered. New Zealander Blake Wilson was the pilot on board a Robinson 44 helicopter which smashed into the roof the DoubleTree by Hilton in Cairns Mr Wilson had been out celebrating a recent promotion with colleagues at Nautilus Aviation before he drove to the company headquarters and embarked on the 'unauthorised' flight Was he qualified to fly a helicopter? Mr Wilson only moved to Cairns from his native New Zealand in March. The young trainee pilot, who is originally from Palmerston North on New Zealand's North Island, gained his private pilots licence Christchurch Helicopters in April 2022, later becoming a fully qualified commercial pilot with the company in September that year. He moved to Cairns with his girlfriend in March this year and had interviews with several different helicopter charter companies. Mr Wilson was described as a clean-cut and serious, yet personable, young man by some of those he encountered in the tight-knit industry. He quickly landed a job in April as a member of the ground crew with Nautilus Aviation, a private charter company which operates from seven bases across Northern Australia. Despite his qualifications back home, he was not permitted to fly helicopters in Australia. Mr Wilson (pictured) gained his private pilot's licence with Christchurch Helicopters in April 2022, but never worked for Nautilus Aviation as a pilot 'Although the employee held a New Zealand CPL(H) pilot's licence, they have never flown in Australia or for Nautilus Aviation and were not authorised to fly Nautilus Aviation helicopters,' the company said in a statement released on Tuesday afternoon. This suggests Mr Wilson had not flown a helicopter for almost six months when he decided to get behind the controls of the Robinson 44. What happened in the lead-up to the incident? Mr Wilson had just received a promotion to work as a refueller for Nautilus on Horn Island, above Australia's Top End, which he was due to start on Monday. Colleagues at the company held a farewell dinner and drinks for Mr Wilson on the Sunday night, just hours before he embarked on his fatal flight. Nautilus Aviation said in a statement released on Tuesday afternoon that the dinner was 'not a work event and was coordinated by friends'. The helicopter slammed into the roof of the luxury Cairns hotel - with two of its propellers falling off on impact. Pictured is one of the damaged rooms on the top level 'We can confirm this event did occur and was a privately organised send-off for the individual involved in Monday morning's incident, who was recently promoted to a ground crew position at another one of our bases,' the statement added. One witness told Nine News that Mr Wilson had been 'intoxicated' at the celebratory dinner and had to be put to bed. It's understood that at some point later in the night, he left his room and got behind the wheel of a Nautilus vehicle which he then drove to the company's headquarters at Cairns airport. From there, he was able to access the hangar due to his role as ground crew. It's understood he used a trolley jack to move the helicopter on to the tarmac. The weather early Monday morning was overcast with low visibility. It is understood that a after being put to bed by his colleagues, Mr Wilson later left his room and got behind the wheel of a Nautilus vehicle which he then drove to the company's headquarters at Cairns airport (pictured) From there, he was able to access the hangar due to his role as ground crew. It is understood he used a trolley jack to move the helicopter on to the tarmac (pictured: a Nautilus hangar) What happened on the flight? The flight only lasted four minutes and no mayday call was made. ATSB chief commissioner Angus Mitchell said that investigators faced a difficult task of establishing exactly what happened due to the impact of the collision and the subsequent fire. 'We'll spend the next couple of days going through witness statements interviewing the operator and trying to build a better picture,' he told reporters on Tuesday. 'What was the nature of this flight? And what was the flight path taken? And particularly, what were those final seconds of flight phase into the building?' He added: 'We understand it has taken off from Cairns Airport and it's done one lap down through Cairns. ATSB chief commissioner Angus Mitchell said that investigators faced a difficult task of establishing exactly what happened Pictured: investigators examine the site of impact on Tuesday morning 'Not too long after that it's been out over the mud flats and then come back into the building. Investigators will scour the hours leading up to the flight, CCTV from the Esplanade, phone recordings of the actual incident, radar from the airport and any recording devices still in tact within the helicopter itself. This would allow investigators to determine whether it was a transport safety matter or more of a 'regulatory' question, Mr Mitchell added. He said that the 83-year-old man and the 76-year-old woman who emerged almost completely unscathed after the helicopter landed in their room were 'very lucky'. 'You can appreciate that an almost three-quarters of a tonne helicopter going into the side of a building is going to result in a lot of catastrophic damage,' Mr Mitchell said. Mr Wilson quickly landed a job in April as a member of the ground crew with Nautilus Aviation, a private charter company which operates from seven bases across Northern Australia.(the company's headquarters are pictured) Nautilus Aviation said it had completed interviews with the ATSB and Queensland Police and had 'cooperated with full transparency and disclosure of all events leading up to and following the incident on Monday morning'. The company added: 'We offer our heartfelt condolences to the individual's family and all who have been affected by this tragedy and continue to offer our support to our employees during this very challenging period.' Is anything known about his mental state? He relocated to Cairns with his girlfriend in March and excitedly documented the move on social media. The new home in Far North Queensland. Excited to see what this adventure brings,' he captioned a picture of the city's Esplanade on Instagram. The young Kiwi appeared to be enjoying his time in Cairns, documenting day trips to waterfalls and parties out at local night clubs. Gotta go to the places that the crocs can't get ya, he captioned a series of photos taken at a waterfall. Chasing Waterfalls definitely isn't a bad way to spend days off. Mr Wilson (pictured) was described as a clean-cut and serious, yet personable, young man by some of those he encountered in the tight-knit helicopter industry Nautilus chief executive Aaron Finn described the crash as 'very unfortunate It appears Mr Wilson was on a trip to the Great Barrier Reef with a friend just five days before his fatal plunge from the sky. A picture of a helicopter parked on a sand spit in the ocean was captioned: Casual Wednesday on a day off. However, Daily Mail Australia understands that he had recently broken up with his girlfriend. It is not clear if they were back together at the time of his death. Nautilus chief executive Aaron Finn described the crash as 'very unfortunate' and suggested it was not being treated as deliberate by investigators. 'He was a great employee, we had no concerns about his well being or his mental state,' Mr Finn said on Tuesday afternoon. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign office in the suburbs of Washington D.C. has been broken into, authorities said, after they released CCTV images of the suspect. The Loudon Country Sheriff's Office said it was looking for a suspect in connection with a break-in at Trump's office in Ashburn after responding to a burglary report on Sunday night. Officers are reviewing CCTV footage that shows a man wearing a grey hoodie and a black cap shoving items into his backpack. The investigation is ongoing, the LCSO said. It is not currently clear if the man stole anything. Loudon Country Sheriff's Office are looking for a suspect in connection to a burglary at the Trump for President 2024 campaign office 'It is rare to have the office of any political campaign or party broken into,' said Sheriff Mike Chapman. 'We are determined to identify the suspect, investigate why it happened, and determine what may have been taken as well as what may have been left behind.' Police have urged anyone who may have information on who the suspect is or his whereabouts to get in touch. According to LCSO, the Trump for President Campaign is leasing the office, which also serves as the headquarters of the Virginia 10th District Republican Committee. Ashburn is a Northern Virginia suburb about 30 miles northwest of the US capital. Trump for President 2024 campaign office in Ashburn The news emerges just hours after Trump was interviewed by tech billionaire Elon Musk on the latter's platform X. The conversation touched on Kamala Harris, Trump's assassination attempt last month, Joe Biden, as well as the leaders of North Korea, China and Russia. Musk also showered the ex-president with compliments and urged Americans to vote for the Republican presidential nominee over vice president Harris. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is teaming up Sir Keir Starmer to push for the the EU's police agency to focus on tackling illegal migration, it has been revealed. Ms Meloni has reportedy proposed either a wholesale reorganisation of Europol or for the organisation to be given a special mission to combat people smugglers. The Italian premier previously had a close working relationship with ex-PM Rishi Sunak on efforts to crack down on illegal migration. According to the Telegraph, Ms Meloni has now enlisted the support of Sir Keir since he replaced his Tory predecessor in Downing Street last month. The newspaper said Sir Keir gave his backing to Ms Meloni's plan for an overhaul of Europol when they met at the recent European Political Community summit. The PM also floated the idea of UK police officers and their Europol counterparts conducting joint operations, it reported. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is said to be teaming up Sir Keir Starmer to push for the the EU's police agency to focus on tackling illegal migration The Italian premier previously had a close working relationship with ex-PM Rishi Sunak on efforts to crack down on illegal migration A group of people are pictured travelling in a dinghy towards England's south coast after crossing from France Prior to winning power, Sir Keir and Yvette Cooper, now Home Secretary, visited Europol headquarters in The Hague for talks Prior to winning power, Sir Keir and Yvette Cooper, now Home Secretary, visited Europol headquarters in The Hague for talks. The Labour pair used the visit in September last year to outline their plans for closer co-operation with the EU in tackling Britain's small boats crisis. Sir Keir has focused his efforts on combating illegal migration on anti-terrorism style tactics to 'smash the gangs' bringing people across the Channel. He also wants to deepen intelligence ties with Brussels as part of a proposed new post-Brexit security pact. The PM and Ms Cooper are under increasing pressure to tackle the small boats crisis, having scrapped the Tories' flagship Rwanda scheme immediately after taking office. According to Home Office figures, 703 people arrived in the UK on Sunday after crossing the Channel in 11 small boats. This was the highest number of daily migrant crossings since Sir Keir became PM on July 5. Tory shadow home secretary James Cleverly accused Labour of sending 'the wrong signal' by ditching the Rwanda plan, which was meant to provide a deterrent to migrants considering travelling to the UK. The Conservative leadership hopeful claimed the numbers crossing the Channel showed Labour's 'phantom border command clearly isn't working', in reference to the Government's launch of a new 'Border Security Command' last month. An Italian government source told The Telegraph talks between Sir Keir and Ms Meloni 'dealt with ways to further increase Europol's effectiveness in combating human trafficking' including 'strengthening cooperation with third countries' such as the UK. A spokesman for Ms Cooper said: 'Criminal gangs are undermining our border security and putting lives at risk as we saw in the Channel again tragically this week. 'An entire criminal industry has been allowed to take hold both along our border and through sophisticated criminal networks across Europe and beyond. It is appalling that for so long they have just been able to get away with it. 'We are determined to launch major new operations to pursue the gangs, the boats and the money. 'Our Border Security Command will coordinate efforts across our intelligence agencies, Immigration and Enforcement and Border Force, police and National Crime Agency to boost our border security, with new powers in place and we are already increasing our work with Europol to plan new operations across the continent. 'The Conservative government failed to ever have a comprehensive plan to go after the gangs and they've been getting away with it for too long. That changes now.' The Trump campaign has hit back at claims that the former president had a 'lisp' during his rambling conversation with Elon Musk. Trump, 78, has been accused of 'slurring' his words, sounding like a cartoon character and speaking with a 'lisp' Monday night during his two-hour conversation with the tech mogul on X's Spaces. A Trump campaign spokesperson has denied any sort of speech condition, telling left-leaning Huffington Post's White House correspondent S.V. Date: 'Must be your s***ty hearing. Get your ears checked out.' Meanwhile video recorded next to Trump in the makeshift studio from where he participated in the livestream also showed how the ex-president spoke clearly during the call, with his speech sounding fairly crisp. But the broadcast transmitted on X sounded tinny and distorted, leaving armchair sleuths to put forward several theories for his alleged lisp including audio issues associated with the platform, poor microphone quality and even the 'unlikely' case that he underwent bad dental work or wears dentures. The Trump campaign has hit back at claims that the former president had a 'lisp' during his rambling conversation with Elon Musk. Trump is pictured during the interview The broadcast transmitted on X (pictured) Monday night sounded tinny and distorted, leaving armchair sleuths to put forward several theories for his alleged lisp Listeners have claimed that during certain points of Trump's two-hour conversation with the tech mogul on X's Spaces his voice sounded similar to that of two of the more famous lispers in cartoon history: Daffy Duck and Sylvester the Cat. Conspiracy theorists jumped to the conclusion that Trump was suffering difficulties related to dental work or dentures. But Dr Mervyn Druian, one of the UK's leading experts in cosmetic dentistry, has told DailyMail.com the ex-president's dental care likely did not play a role is the distortion. 'I am 100 per cent sure Trump doesn't have dentures. He's had very sophisticated cosmetic dentistry including veneers,' Druian said. 'That's why, at his age, his teeth look so perfect and white, which you wouldn't see naturally. 'People have dentures if they lose teeth, but for starters it's unlikely someone as wealthy as Trump, with all the access to dentistry and healthcare he has, would suffer this problem to a significant degree. 'If he did, it would be likely he'd opt for dental implants, which is the gold standard these days. Unlikely dentures, these are permanent and behave exactly like real teeth. He added: 'Not everyone has implants because they can cost from 1,000 ($1200) per tooth but this wouldn't be an issue for Trump. Badly fitting dentures can affect speech but it's just not going to be the case for someone like Trump. 'I'm not sure what might have caused the lisping sound in the interview, but it wasn't dentures.' It came after social media users tried to rationalize Trump's distorted speech with baseless allegations about his teeth. 'Trump is slurring so badly. My God dude secure your dentures before audio interviews,' one user wrote. 'I know the last thing you want to do is listen to Trump speak but lisssten to thissss! Trump forgot to put his dentures in. It's pretty gross actually,' another tweeted. One user hypothesized: 'I realize why it sounded like his dentures were falling out. We've never seen him talking facing down so gravity was sliding them thangs out. richest man in the world outed Trump with dentures. Checkmate sir!' Another wondered: 'Trump sounded like he was slurring his words a bit. Did he get dental work done? Elon sounds like he always does.' Other sleuths suggested that Trump was having difficulties related to dental work or dentures Another suggested Trump was 'slurring' because he did not 'secure' his 'dentures' One suggested that Musk intentionally 'outed' the former president for wearing dentures - however a leading expert in cosmetic dentistry has said he is '100 per cent sure Trump doesn't have dentures' Newscasters, podcasters and social media users alike have also rushed to Trump's defense, blaming the lisp-like distortion on technological errors. Streamer Hasan Piker claimed it was how X Spaces' audio quality always made people sound. 'It's probably due to audio compression issues but trump sounds like he has a lisp,' he said. Michael Tracey, a journalist, also noted that he'd had similar problems with the service. He tweeted: 'Trump isn't slurring his words, I've also had that weird thing happen on Spaces where it sounds like I have a comically outrageous lisp'. Fox News anchor David Asman added: 'You can hear and see from this that the slurring sound on the audio only steam was NOT happening in real time. Either something was wrong with the mic or transmission feed or something else. But Trump wasn't slurring.' Video captured in the room where Trump recorded the interview revealed that he spoke clearly in real time, implying the 'lisp' noise may have occurred during the transmission of the broadcast. Listeners have claimed that during certain points of Trump's two-hour conversation with the tech mogul on X's Spaces his voice sounded similar to that of two of the more famous lispers in cartoon history: Daffy Duck and Sylvester the Cat Trump, 78, has been accused of speaking with a 'lisp' Monday night during his two-hour conversation with the tech mogul on X's Spaces Video captured in the makeshift studio where Trump participated in the livestream also showed how the ex-president spoke clearly during the call, with his speech sounding fairly crisp Michael Tracey, a journalist, also noted that he'd had similar problems with the service Fox News anchor David Asman added that 'the slurring sound on the audio only steam was NOT happening in real time' Others have suggested that the quality of the microphone Trump used during the interview could have caused the lisp-like noise. One, joking at how he didn't use studio-level recording equipment wrote: 'Trump using a special Mic, an iPhone and Light mode for his interview!' 'Something about the audio on Spaces often give speakers a weird lisp. Elon's voice was fine last night but that constant Spaces lisp was very pronounced for Trump,' wrote one X user. '@elonmusk should look into what causes this.' 'Maybe it is just me, somehow, but X spaces give everyone a lisp. I've noticed it in several spaces. It could have to do with the devices involved, too,' one suggested. Another echoed: 'For all the idiots saying Trump has a lisp or slurring...this live video shows it was bad audio on XSpace.' 'It's called a 'slush' and caused by audio compression issues, dum dum,' one listener added. Some social media users alike have rushed to Trump's defense, blaming the lisp-like distortion on technological errors Others have claimed that the distortion is common on Musk's X Spaces One user criticized Kamala Harris' campaign for accusing Trump of 'slurring' during the chat One user urged Musk to investigate why 'Spaces often gives speakers a weird lisp' One suggested that the interview could have been impacted by the alleged cyberattack on X - which Musk has blamed for delaying the conversation and its abrupt ending Others have suggested that the quality of the microphone Trump used during the interview could have caused the lisp-like noise Another suggested that the interview could have been impacted by the alleged cyberattack on X - which Musk has blamed for delaying the conversation and its abrupt ending. 'It was an amazing interview. The audio compression from the mic was a little off and the was a Malware attack on X. Hardly the fail that the media wants you to think,' the user wrote. Musk's interview with former Trump kicked off about 40 minutes behind schedule on Monday night. The Tesla billionaire said his website, X, was the victim of a cyber-attack, which is why the Trump interview wouldn't load. 'We tested the system with 8 million concurrent listeners earlier today,' he insisted. Furious San Francisco neighbors say they are losing sleep over a parking lot full of driverless cars that continually honk at each other. California residents near 2nd Street and Harrison Street in the South of Market neighborhood have recorded Waymo vehicles honking in a nearby parking lot throughout all hours of the day. The dystopian video shows the cars driving in circles around the lot with their lights on in the middle of the night as they randomly start beeping at each other. Initially neighbors were excited to welcome the robotaxis to the area a few weeks ago - then the sounds started disrupting their sleep. 'At first I actually found it really funny, these cars are honking at each other,' 57-year-old resident Randol White told the Los Angeles Times. 'I don't find it funny anymore.' Video shows driverless cars in a San Francisco neighborhood driving in circles around a parking lot randomly beeping at each other Resident Randol White (pictured) said at first excited to welcome the robotaxis but then they started waking him up at 4 a.m 'I was happy to see the Waymos coming in, but this aspect of it, I'm not a fan.' White said he was first disturbed by the vehicles two weeks ago when they were going off around 4 a.m. He has taken his concerns to the company, but is infuriated that there is nothing he can do to make the cars stop. 'There's no one for me to go down there and have a conversation with, because they're a robotaxi. That's the most frustrating thing, you're just yelling into the void,' he said. Waymo told KGO they know about the problem and are working to fix it. 'We are aware that in some scenarios our vehicles may briefly honk while navigating our parking lots. We have identified the cause and are in the process of implementing a fix,' said the company. Longtime area resident Russell Pofsky told the local news station in all his years living in the area he was never experienced a disturbance like this. 'Over the past two weeks I've been woken up more times overnight than I have combined over 20 years,' said Pofsky. 'I could not be more cranky today for a Monday after these past two weeks. It's really at a high level. It's just really, really... it's tough. It affects the way you feel.' One longtime area resident said he was never experienced a disturbance like this in the 20 years he has lived there Residents said the honking is happening all throughout the day and also find it annoying when they are trying to work from home Christopher Cherry told NBC Bay Area he was 'really excited' to welcome Waymo to the neighborhood, but now just wishes the honking would stop. 'We started out with a couple of honks here and there, and then as more and more cars started to arrive, the situation got worse,' Cherry said. 'It's very distracting during the work day, but most importantly it wakes you up at four in the morning. 'We love having them there, we just would like for them to stop honking their horn at four in the morning repeatedly.' Country music legend Jeannie Seely was hospitalized after traveling from Nashville to her home state of Pennsylvania for an event honoring her career. The 84-year-old Grand Ole Opry member was en-route to the Keystone State when she had to check in to the hospital 'for dehydration and acute diverticulitis'. Diverticulitis is a condition described as inflammation of irregular bulging pouches in the wall of the large intestine and is common among people above the age of 50. Symptoms include nausea, fever, pain in the abdomen sudden diarrhea or constipation. Country music legend Jeannie Seely, 84, has been hospitalized while she was on a trip to her home state, Pennsylvania for an event honoring her But despite the severity of Seely's situation, doctors at the St. Clare Hospital in Pittsburgh were able to treat her with antibiotics. In a Facebook statement, the Grammy award winner told fans that she has been feeling better since since being discharged and is being able to get some sleep. 'Good morning everyone! Its been a rough couple of weeks for me but Im feeling better this morning and got some sleep last night. 'Except for about 3am when the ring doorbell went off and I found a beautiful deer standing there she wasnt selling anything at least she can read the No Solicitors sign she just came to visit. 'Could have chosen a more convenient time,' she wrote on August 10. The Grand Ole Opry member was found suffering from dehydration and acute diverticulitis. she is pictured at the Pennsylvania event where her career was honored During her 55-year and ongoing tenure, she has released several top ten and 20 songs including A Wanderin' Man, I'll Love You More (Than You'll Need), Can I Sleep in Your Arms and Lucky Ladies Seely also expressed gratitude to the medical professionals who took care of her. 'It had not crossed my mind to visit a hospital on my trip home, but when it became necessary, it was yet another opportunity to experience Pennsylvania hospitality. 'I could not have received better care or more respect than I did at St. Clare Hospital in Pittsburgh or the courtesy shown at Pittsburgh International Airport. The kindness is appreciated and I'm very proud to call the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania my birthplace,' she said. In a Facebook statement, the Grammy award winner told fans that she has been feeling better since since being discharged and is being able to get some sleep She is currently married to Nashville attorney Gene Ward and has a daughter as well as three sons from her previous marriage to Hank Cochran Known as 'Miss Country Soul', Seely has been a staple of the country genre since the mid-1960s. During her 55-year and ongoing tenure, she has released several top ten and 20 songs including A Wanderin' Man, I'll Love You More (Than You'll Need), Can I Sleep in Your Arms and Lucky Ladies. Apart from this, Seely has appeared in the 1980 movie Honeysuckle Rose and Changing Hearts in 2002. She is currently married to Nashville attorney Gene Ward and has a daughter as well as three sons from her previous marriage to Hank Cochran. UK-bound migrants suffered suspected 'punishment shootings' in France in the latest evidence of horrific violence among organised crime traffickers, a French investigator has claimed. The two teenagers were treated for leg injuries after the attack on Sunday before being released to continue their journeys from France to Britain, the Mail can reveal. A French investigative source said the two Sudanese boys one aged just 16 - were attacked in Calais on Sunday by a group of Afghans. After being treated in hospital for knee and thigh wounds they refused to cooperate with police and were free to carry on attempting to cross the English Channel. It came as the Home Office confirmed 125 migrants reached Britain on Monday bringing this year's running total to 18,467, including 4,893 since Labour came to power. A group of people thought to be migrants, including young children, are escorted by french police officers as they walk across the beach in Gravelines, France, during an attempt to board a small boat and cross the Channel on July 29 Both the injured Sudanese teenagers were caught up in the increasingly vicious gang wars involving ruthless traffickers who provide 1,000-a-head trips to Britain by small boat. The 16-year-old was the most seriously injured, with a gunshot wound to a knee. 'He was shot on a road that runs alongside Calais ferry port on Sunday morning,' said an investigating source. 'Afghans are thought to have punished him for unknown reasons perhaps because he owed them money for his sea journey. 'After being released from hospital, the victim was free to carry on trying to get to England.' The second victim, 18, and was wounded in the right thigh before being found hiding about three miles away from Calais port. He was treated in hospital but left 'without giving any information on the motives or the exact sequence of events,' said Guirec Le Bras, the public prosecutor in Boulogne-sur-Mer. Mr Le Bras added: 'It's the same case, because the events unfolded at the same time. 'The shots came from a perpetrator or a group of perpetrators, who appear to be the same.' So-called 'kneecapping' was a common street punishment administered by paramilitaries during the Troubles. The fact that it is now apparently being used by groups traffickers in northern France will be of huge concern to the authorities on both sides of the Channel. Sunday also saw two men die when their small boat capsized in French waters. Boulogne prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into the deaths and the two shootings. Judicial police are also trying to find the smugglers responsible for organising the crossings on Sunday. A group of people thought to be migrants, including small children leave the beach in Gravelines, France, following an unsuccessful attempt to board a small boat and cross the Channel on July 29 At the weekend a mother described how her 21-year-old daughter was crushed to death in a packed Channel boat. Dina Al Shammari was with three siblings aged 13 to 19 and her mother Amira when she died off the coast of Calais on July 28. Mrs Al Shammari, 52, said the family who are Kuwaiti Bidoon, a stateless Arab minority would continue trying to reach Britain after being refused asylum in Germany. She said they had expected 60 migrants to have been on the boat but the numbers were 'double'. Mrs Al Shammari added that other migrants were 'squeezing Dina from all over the place. She wasn't able to breathe'. Some aboard wanted to get help but others threatened the captain with a knife so he kept going. French coastguards could not save Dina. They took 34 people off the dinghy, including her family. The rest stayed on board. A disgruntled former employee posted cryptic messages on his WhatsApp before he crashed a small airplane into a warehouse where he used to work in Argentina. A dramatic video showed Juan Manuel Medina, 46, flying a Cessna 152 directly into the Air Liquide facilities in Rosario last Friday, where he instantly died. The aircraft slammed into a concrete column where inflammable gases are stored and miraculously didn't set off an explosion. Medina was hired by Air Liquide, which supplies oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen to medical facilities, in July 2023 and was allegedly laid off in March due to a reduction in staff, Canal 3 reported Monday. Juan Manuel Medina was killed Friday in Rosario, Argentina after he flew a Cessna 150 directly into the Air Liquide warehouse, where he was fired from in March. The 46-year-old shared a selfie prior to the accident with a caption in Spanish that read: 'To the big liars' A Cessna 150 was spotted crashing into the Rosario, Argentina facilities of Air Liquide, which provides oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen to medical facilities. The aircraft was piloted by Juan Manuel Medina, who has been fired from the company in March On Friday at 9:39 am, he posted the iconic World War II picture of a cloud forming over Nagasaki, Japan on August 9, 1945 after the United States dropped a bomb. He had also shared a selfie with a caption in Spanish that read: 'To the big liars.' Medina later visited the Rosario Aeroclub, where he was an active member, and rented the aircraft that is primarily used for flight training and personal use. He took off at approximately 11:30 am and crashed into the warehouse around noon. Medina had more than 500 flight hours and renewed his pilot license four months ago. Clarin newspaper reported that he had a first-class license that permitted him to fly aircrafts that weighed up to 44,092 pounds, however he was not allowed to operate planes over residential areas. 'Medina was a commercial pilot and an aerial applicator a pilot who is dedicated to launching chemical products from an airplane,' a Rosario Aeroclub member told the outlet. 'He had a lot of experience. He had his psychophysical certificate, renewed annually, valid until April 2025. He complied with all the regulations of the club and ANAC (National Civil Aviation Administration).' The flight club member recalled seeing Medina inspecting the small aircraft before departing. 'He is seen carrying out the pre-check (of the plane) in a normal way, loading fuel with another pilot from the club, checking oil as well. And 20 minutes after takeoff, the first videos appear on the networks,' they said. Juan Manuel Medina made a cryptic post on his WhatsApp status Friday morning and share the iconic World War II photo of a cloud of smoke over Nagasaki, Japan, after the United States dropped an atomic bomb Juan Manuel Medina rented the Cessna 150 from Rosario Aeroclub and was spotted by one of the members inspecting the small airplane before he took off at 11:30 am and crashed half hour later at the Air Liquide facilities Juan Manuel Medina had a current pilot's license that was set to expire in April 2025 Jorge Martinez told El Tres television that he had served as Medina's flight instructor in the past and never saw any warning signs. 'He flew with me in 2018, a short flight to readapt, and he asked me to come back in 2019. A very good pilot,' he said. Mariel Ortega, the lead prosecutor in the investigation, told La Nacion newspaper that Medina may have deliberately crashed into the warehouse. Some witnesses told the newspaper that they spotted Medina flying in circles around the residential neighborhoods moments A woman who dated Medina 10 years ago told Telefe television that she initially was not aware that he was behind the crash after one of her students shared the news. 'I knew he worked there and that he was a pilot, but I was not sure of his age,' Marisa said. 'We stopped dating ten years ago, he was a very unpredictable person.' A Nicaraguan migrant who allegedly raped a woman next to the Coney Island boardwalk was jailed for another sexual assault last year. David Davon-Bonilla, 24, allegedly attacked the 46-year-old on Surf Avenue and 16th Street outside a hotel housing asylum seekers about 9 pm on Sunday. The victim was with her boyfriend when the attack happened, and he was allegedly bashed with a pipe by Mexican migrant Leovando Moreno, 37. Moreno allegedly struck the 34-year-old man as he tried to save his girlfriend, while the woman, who reportedly lives under the boardwalk, was allegedly violated by Davon-Bonilla. David Davon-Bonilla, 24, allegedly attacked the 46-year-old on Surf Avenue and 16th Street outside a hotel housing asylum seekers about 9pm on Sunday The victim was with her boyfriend when the attack happened, and he was allegedly bashed with a pipe by Mexican migrant Leovando Moreno, 37 (pictured) Davon-Bonilla is charged with first-degree rape, second-degree assault, first-degree sexual abuse, menacing and criminal possession of a weapon. He entered the US as asylum-seeker in December 2022 and raped a woman at La Quinta Hotel on Third Avenue in Park Slope, which was being used as a migrant shelter, just four months later. He spent about a year in prison after a plea deal, and was released in June, prosecutors and court officials told the New York Post. Moreno was charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon for his fending off of the male victim. Reported Nicaraguan migrant David Davon-Bonilla, 24, and 37-year-old Mexican Leovando Moreno were cuffed Sunday, after Davon-Bonilla allegedly raped a 46-year-old tourist close by. Moreno fought back the woman's boyfriend as the rape took place, cops said The unprovoked attack reportedly took place outside a hotel housing asylum seekers Sunday around 9pm in Coney Island, right on this stretch of street adjacent to the famed boardwalk Davon-Bonilla was pegged as a Nicaraguan migrant by law enforcement sources who spoke to The New York Post, after cops confirmed he had a prior arrest for sex abuse for allegedly assaulting a 34-year-old woman in Brooklyn last year. Sources told the Post how he once lived at a La Quinta Hotel on Third Avenue, which also repurposed into a migrant shelter amid the influx of recent arrivals. It was there, a law enforcement insider said, that another victim, a 34-year-old woman, was raped and sodomized by Davon-Bonilla on April 23, 2023 - four months after he reportedly entered the country. The source did not say why the suspect was allowed to remain in the US following his release in relation to that case. The hotel near the crime scene, meanwhile, is located right by the boardwalk where the more recent victim is said to reside, and feet away from the Brooklyn Cyclones Ballpark and the famed first-ever Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs location. The street is thus often crowded with locals and tourists. Both men were arrested shortly after parting ways with the pair while still near the famed footpath. DailyMail.com has reached out to the NYPD for more information, as both suspects were set to be arraigned sometime Monday. Sources familiar with the matter told The Post that Davon-Bonilla demanded sex from the victim in this case, resulting in the violent altercation. The incident occurred feet away from the Brooklyn Cyclones Ballpark and the famed first-ever Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs location, also on Surf Avenue. Both men were said to be migrants by insiders who spoke to the New York Post, but cops have only said they are homeless Insiders told the Post the victim was homeless, living under the boardwalk after moving in from out of state. They also said the woman was taken to Coney Island Hospital following her ordeal, where she was said to be in stable condition They also said the woman was taken to Coney Island Hospital following her ordeal, where she was said to be in stable condition. Her boyfriend refused medical attention, cops said. As for the woman - who sources told the Post settled under the boardwalk after arriving from out of state - her status as of Monday remained unknown. She was allegedly forced to the ground during the attack. This all happened as Davon-Bonilla held a knife to her throat, before violating her as her helpless boyfriend and his alleged accomplice fought, cops said. As of writing, the incident is still under investigation, with more details likely to come out in court. Both suspects were said to be migrants by the insiders who spoke to the New York Post, but cops have yet to confirm. Sources who spoke to the Post Monday, however, said Davon-Bonilla entered the US illegally through Texas in December 2022, while Moreno's journey into the country remains less clear. The NYPD did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for more information. The incident comes the same day that a Venezuelan migrant accused of leading the attack against NYPD officers in Times Square earlier this year was arrested again for theft, and weeks after a suspected illegal was arrested for the rape of a 13-year-old girl in a New York City park. This is a developing story; please check back for updates. Washington DC has been labelled as the least desirable place in the country to live, according to a new poll. In a new study from Clever, the company polled 1,000 people in June as well as analyzed migration data from the US Census. The company found that the the nation's capital, for the second year running, is the one Americans feel the largest distaste for. According to the findings, 33 percent of respondents said it is one of the top five worst cities in the country, up from 20 percent last year. 65 percent of people said that a high cost of living makes a place undesirable, with New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco also ranking on the list of unfavorable places. The company found that the Washington DC, pictured here in 2020, is the one Americans feel the greatest distaste for Healy Hall on the campus of Georgetown University, Washington, D.C is seen here DC has become notorious for squalor and crime, with 274 murders in 2023 - the highest number since 1997. The city's Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser has pursued an 'equitable' approach to tackling crime which some residents claim has ruined their quality of life. Despite DC ranking first, a recent study found that the city was the best place for working parents to live. It topped the rankings with high scores in work and health categories, with 25 percent of its workforce being remote and 350 registered pediatricians per 100,000 children. One main contributing factors was the cost of housing, with near all cities on the undesirable list having high housing costs out of reach for the average earners. The only exception to that was Birmingham, Alabama, with Los Angeles being the worst offender for housing costs with the annual income necessary for a home estimated to be $162,000. While other cities proved more affordable on the list, they lacked public safety. Baltimore, which was ranked seventh on the undesirable list, leads the US in murders and robberies per 100,000 residents. Meanwhile Detroit ranks first for rape and second for murder and aggravated assault. Topping out the most desirable city in the country for 2024 was Tampa, Florida, which 23 percent of people listed in their top five Those two cities, as well as Birmingham and Buffalo, New York, are all struggling with a decline in industrial infrastructure. Topping out the most desirable city in the country for 2024 was Tampa, Florida, which 23 percent of people listed in their top five. Boasting year-round warm sunny weather, it also has low crime rates and affordable homes than any other cities compared to its size. Its median home price sits at $361,117 which is far below Orlando's $379,039 and Miami's. The state has no income tax which also appeals to outsiders. Other cities in the top ten desirable list include Charlotte, North Carolina, Virginia Beach, Virginia, Nashville, Tennessee, and Orlando. The findings also pointed as to how 73 percent of Americans find that they are happy with where they live. While 59 percent still feel frustrated by their place of residence and an additional 43 percent say their state embarrasses them. Salt Lake City in Utah, which was recentl ranked as the best state in America to move to Just last week, the state of Utah was ranked as being America's best state to live in according to a ConsumerAffairs poll. California ranked at the bottom of the scale thanks to is poor scores in education, health, quality of life, and safety. The Golden State was followed at the bottom of the table by New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Alaska. Matt Wolfinger, a researcher, said 'Utah should get top consideration as a new home.' 'It finished first in affordability, third in economy and third in quality of life,' Wolfinger added. The Duke of Sussex's chief of staff has left his role after just three months after mutually agreeing he was not the right fit for the role, it was claimed today. Josh Kettler is understood to have been hired on a trial basis when he took up the senior post working with Harry in May ahead of the Sussexes' tour of Nigeria. He was also expected to join the couple on their working trip to Colombia from Thursday, but the Daily Mail revealed last night that he had suddenly left his job. Now, US magazine People has reported that 'hired on a trial basis, the decision to part ways was mutual, with both sides agreeing it wasn't the right fit'. Back in May the publication - which is known to be friendly with the Sussexes - had claimed Mr Kettler was preparing to 'guide' Harry 'through his next phase'. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with Josh Kettler (circled) by their side while in Nigeria in May Josh Kettler arrives at St Paul's Cathedral in London for Harry's Invictus Games service in May Harry and Meghan have gained a reputation for losing staff as they forged ahead with their charitable and production ventures in the US. The Sussexes are now thought to have lost at least 18 staff since they married in 2018. Nine or more have left since they left Britain for California in 2020. Mr Kettler, who was previously chief of staff at communication platform Cognixion, travelled to London with the Duke in May to attend the 10th anniversary celebrations of the Invictus Games at St Paul's Cathedral. He then joined the Sussexes on their three-day tour of Nigeria, which followed straight after, and was by the Duke's side as he met government officials. But a source in California told the Mail yesterday: 'Josh Kettler is no longer working for them.' Harry and Meghan at the State Governor House in Lagos on May 12 during their tour of Nigeria Meghan receives flowers from a girl on arrival for a sitting volleyball match in Abuja on May 11 A former member of staff also told the newspaper: 'What may be most telling is that the entire time I worked there, I don't think I heard a single current or former employee on their staff say they would take the job again if given the chance. 'These aren't employees they had just found off the streets. Many of them are people who had previously excelled working for demanding bosses in high-performance companies and environments.' Harry and Meghan are set to tour Colombia later this week at the invitation of the country's vice president Francia Marquez. Ms Marquez, a lawyer and human rights and environmental activist, said the pair would join her in visiting the capital Bogota, as well as the Caribbean and Pacific regions of Cartagena and Cali. Details of the couple's itinerary have not yet been released, but the vice president said they would engage in several activities related to safeguarding young people online and in physical spaces. In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning earlier this month on August 4, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spoke about the impact of online experiences on young people's wellbeing Prince Harry and Meghan at the 2024 ESPY Awards at Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on July 11 Meghan and Harry have long been vocal about highlighting the threat posed to children by the internet. They launched a new initiative The Parent Network earlier this month to provide parents with a safe and free-to-access support network to help those whose children have been harmed by social media. In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning on August 4, Harry said the impact of online experiences on young people's wellbeing was at the stage where 'almost every parent needs to be a first responder, and even the best first responders in the world wouldn't be able to tell the signs of possible suicide'. The so-called 'DIY royal tour' is the Sussexes's second this year, after their three-day visit to Nigeria at the invitation of the West African nation's chief of defence staff. Harry and Meghan are set to tour Colombia at the invitation of the country's vice president Francia Marquez, who is pictured at the Festival Of Culture in New Orleans on July 6 The UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office states that it 'advises against all but essential travel to parts of Colombia'. The areas affected are those shaded in orange in the above map Harry and Meghan stepped down from the working monarchy in 2020 and no longer travel at the request of the UK Government on official overseas royal visits. The Foreign Office warns against all but essential travel to certain parts of Colombia, with kidnapping rates remaining high. It describes the country as 'seriously afflicted by conflict' with a resurgence in violence in parts of Colombia despite the peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) movement to end the civil war. Harry maintained last month that it was 'still dangerous' for Meghan to return to the UK. He lost a High Court challenge against the Home Office in February over a decision to change the level of his personal security when he visits the UK, but he has been given the green light to appeal. During the case, the court was told Harry believes his children cannot 'feel at home' in the UK if it is 'not possible to keep them safe' there and that he faces a greater risk than his late mother, with 'additional layers of racism and extremism'. An Irish businessman who allegedly slit his ex-girlfriend's throat before he was shot dead by police in Malta has now been pictured. The man, named by local media as Edward William Johnston, 50, has been accused of killing Nicolette Ghirxi, 48, with a knife before engaging in a three-hour standoff with police early on Monday morning in the St Julian's area. The stabbing victim, who is from the Mediterranean island, is understood to have filed two harassment reports against Johnston earlier this year. She also informed police that she believed her ex was in Malta a number of days ago but declined to take a domestic violence assessment as she did not believe her safety was at risk. Johnston, from Dublin, has been described as an 'Irish man and ex-soldier' although a security source confirmed he was never a member of the Irish Defence Forces. His social media profiles show he ran a trading company called Sambora Trading Academy and he also had a YouTube channel where he offered his followers advice on how to be successful in the industry. He claimed he worked in middle management for years in a distribution and logistics company. Edward Johnston (pictured), from Dublin, has been described as an 'Irish man and ex-soldier' Johnston, 50, has been accused of killing Nicolette Ghirxi, 48, (pictured) with a knife Johnston reportedly used a knife to slit the throat of Ms Ghirxi inside her apartment in the city of Birkirkara. He is then said to have fled the scene before entering a hotel in St Julian's around midnight where he proceeded to threaten employees. When police were called, Johnston was seen walking towards the shoreline behind the hotel while holding what is now confirmed to be a replica firearm. A three-hour standoff ensued with negotiators attempting to persuade him to peacefully surrender. However, Johnston then walked into the sea while pointing the gun to his head. According to Malta Today, he began to shout at the police asking them whether they were prepared to die, 'because I am ready'. Sources told the publication that he was shot four times in the chest after he aimed his imitation weapon at officers. During the ordeal, police forcibly entered the apartment of Ms Ghirxi at about 2am, where they found her lifeless body and two knives next to her. At a news conference following the standoff with Johnston, police commissioner Angelo Gafa said that they chose to open fire as they deemed it a life-threatening situation. He said that the shooting took place at approximately 3am 'in pitch darkness' and confirmed that Johnston died shortly afterwards in hospital. The area where police had a standoff with Edward Johnston on Sunday night Mr Gafa explained that at around midnight Johnston arrived at the Hilton hotel and asked for a drink, but pulled out a replica Beretta pistol when he was informed the bar was closed. Staff then made contact with the police reporting that a man was wielding a gun and confessing that he had just murdered someone. 'The employees and police both thought it was a real weapon,' the commissioner said. He added: 'It was pitch darkness and even in daylight it would have been difficult to determine if it was real until it was opened.' Mr Gafa said the victim and suspected culprit were in a relationship which had broken down. While Ms Ghirxi made no complaints of violence, she had filed two harassment reports against Johnston in April and May of this year after he sent her a number of emails which concerned her. However she did not take the complaints further as she did not believe she was at risk. The senior police officer added that the victim informed the Maltese authorities in July about slanderous posts made about her on social media. And last Thursday at about 9pm, Ms Ghirxi informed police that Johnston might be in Malta. 'The victim herself told us she did not feel threatened and messages we saw also indicated as much,' Mr Gafa said. The Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that it was aware of the case and was providing consular assistance. 'As with all consular cases, the department does not comment on the details of individual cases,' it added. European Parliament president Roberta Metsola, who is from Malta, said Ms Ghirxi 'should be alive today'. 'Instead, Malta must bury another daughter,' she said on social media. 'Our grief must turn into action. Our anger must fuel change. The epidemic of violence against women cannot go on. 'Not one more. Be their voice.' Close friends of Ms Ghirxi have expressed shock on social media. A forensic officer is seen carrying out investigations at the building where the alleged murder was carried out One person wrote: 'Today is a day filled with sadness as we mourn the loss of a truly beautiful person. 'Nicolette Ghirxi, you always had a radiant smile that could light up any room. 'We shared many childhood memories together, spending our summer holidays playing Monopoly at your or my house. You were by my side when I got my first pet... May you rest in peace, Nicolette. You will be deeply missed.' A co-worker of the victim added: 'Too upset, shocked and angry to express what I'm really feeling right now. Nicolette was my colleague a wise, busy and competent woman.' An Indiana mother-of-three has been fatally shot while filming a TikTok video. Kaitlynn Lee died from bullet wounds to the head on Saturday, and her ex-boyfriend Joshua Thompson has been charged with her murder. The horror unfolded at an apartment on Village Drive in New Albany, on the outskirts of Louisville, Indiana, where Lee had been hanging out with a friend. Lee's friend told police they had been filming a TikTok video in the kitchen when they heard a man - later identified as Thompson - banging on the window. She said Lee approached the window and asked 'what are you doing here?' before her ex allegedly aimed a gun and fired two to three shots at her head. Indiana mother Kaitlynn Lee (pictured) died from gunshot wounds to the head on Saturday while she was filming a TikTok video with a friend Kaitlynn Lee died from gunshot wounds to the head on Saturday, and her ex-boyfriend Joshua Thompson has been charged with her murder. (Pictured: Lee and Thompson) Thompson has been charged with murder, invasion of privacy, criminal recklessness and unlawful carrying of a handgun Thompson, who shares a child with Lee, had an active no-contact order with the mom, according to local reports. Investigators said they have reviewed the TikTok video, which showed Lee and her friend 'laughing, dancing and lip-synching' to a song before horror struck. They added that Lee's body fell out of view and smoke was left 'hanging in the room' before it abruptly ended, according to WHAS11. Thompson has been charged with murder, invasion of privacy, criminal recklessness and unlawful carrying of a handgun. He will be held without bond until his trial on March 24. The witness told police Lee and Thompson had 'a toxic relationship', and that Lee had previously told her that if she was ever found dead, he would be responsible, per WHAS11. An Indiana mother-of-three has been fatally shot while filming a TikTok video 'We take domestic violence allegations seriously. And we're taking them seriously in this case,' said Floyd County Prosecutor Chris Lane. 'Unfortunately this is not unusual for these allegations and circumstances, relationships can lead to tragic results and unfortunately the allegations are that's what happened.' Lee's family launched a GoFundMe page to raise money for her funeral and three children. 'I am making this account because of this horrible incident to raise money to give her a proper funeral/burial,' they wrote. 'Any extra money will go to helping with the expenses of her children during this time. 'She deserves this, at the very least. She didn't deserve what happened to her. Those babies do not deserve to have to go through this.' Kaitlynn Lee died from gunshot wounds to the head on Saturday, and her ex-boyfriend Joshua Thompson has been charged with her murder. (Pictured: Thompson and Lee with her children) After the shooting, Thompson fled the scene before calling his brother around 5am Sunday 'crying and distraught, telling him he shot the mother of his child in the head and killed her', according to court documents seen by WHAS11. His brother urged him to call the police and explain what happened. This video is no longer available This video is no longer available An international student who came to Australia to make something of himself has been allowed to stay in the country after an alleged attack left him a paraplegic. Devarshi 'Dev' Deka, 33, began studying at the University of Tasmania last year before his exciting new life took a tragic turn last November. The Indian student was at the Salamanca Market on Hobart's waterfront celebrating finding a second job when he was allegedly attacked by a stranger. Mr Deka, also known as 'Dave' to his Aussie mates, spent several months in a coma after he was left a paraplegic on top of brain damage and serious injuries to his eyes. 'I came here to study, I had a dream of making something of myself,' Mr Deka told A Current Affair. Ms Deka, who has been receiving treatment in hospital, has been desperate to stay in Australia to access the medical care he needs. He faced the prospect of being deported back to India if he wasn't granted permanent residency. Mr Deka's family had earlier said he would be unable to access the much-needed medical support he needs in India as the nearest hospital would be 130km away. Devarshi 'Dev' Deka, 33, (pictured) was placed into an induced coma for several months following the alleged attack at the Salamanca Market, in Hobart, in November 2023 He has finally won the battle to remain in Australia after officials from Home Affairs Department visited him in hospital to tell him the heartwarming news. Mr Deka's eyes filled with tears of joy when he learned that he could stay. 'He looked at me and he said 'is that true' and I said 'yes, you are a permanent resident know,' close friend Rishabh 'Rick' Kaushik said. 'He's just full of gratitude and he's just thankful to everybody who has played a part in this'. A GoFundMe had earlier been set up to help cover Mr Deka's medical bills and keep his family united in Tasmania, which raised more than $94,000. UTAS had also agreed to extend Mr Deka's accommodation for as long he needs. Ms Kaushik said it was an 'emotional moment' for his parents, who also broke down after they were informed about the decision made to approve their son's application. The Indian international student (pictured centre) has finally won the battle to remain in Australia after the Home Affairs Department gave him the heartwarming news in hospital He said Mr Deka's life was taken away from him in an instant and said the support his friend has received from locals has been overwhelming. 'This is the least we can do for somebody who is going through such a tough time in their life,' Mr Kaushik said. 'I think that is the Aussie spirit because we help mates and this is what we've done'. Mr Deka says his main goal is to be able to walk on his own again. His parents will now travel between India and Australia to monitor his progress. Mr Deka (pictured) says his main goal is to be able to walk on his own again, with his parents (pictured left and right) set to travel between India and Australia to monitor his progress Benjamin Dodge Collings, 24, was charged over the alleged assault and appeared in Hobart Magistrates Court in June. He's expected to appear in the Supreme Court at a later date. A department spokesperson said they do not comment on individual cases. 'All non-citizens who wish to enter or remain in Australia must satisfy the requirements of the Migration Act 1958 (the Act) and Migration Regulations 1994,' the spokesperson said. 'Portfolio Home Affairs Ministers have personal intervention powers under the Act that allow them to intervene in individual cases, if they think it is in the public interest. What is in the public interest is a matter for the Minister to determine'. A teenage father who threw 'flaming arrows' at police during a riot outside a hotel housing asylum seekers has been jailed after giving himself up and admitting he would not be seeing his daughter again. Drew Jarvis, 19, was sentenced to three years behind bars after being caught on TikTok throwing a brick at police guarding the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham on Sunday last week. Sheffield Crown Court saw footage filmed from an upstairs window of the hotel, in which Jarvis - wearing a blue Adidas hoodie and face mask - was recorded throwing a plank of wood at the hotel around midday. Later on Jarvis, said to be 'at the fore' of about a dozen violent individuals, was shown throwing a brick at police officers - then at 5.40pm he was videoed lighting arrows and launching them at the police line. Elsewhere, in the latest example of the courts' crackdown following the recent disturbances across the country, a woman accused of buying eggs and water for rioters was remanded into custody. Drew Jarvis, 19, was sentenced to three years behind bars after being caught on TikTok throwing a brick at police guarding the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham on Sunday last week A police officer is seen trying to extinguish flames after a mob set a wheelie bin alight at the Holiday Inn Express hotel in Rotherham which was housing asylum seekers Drew Jarvis was said to be 'at the fore' of about a dozen violent individuals at the Rotherham riot - seen here being responded to by police at the Holiday Inn Express on August 4 When sentencing Jarvis, Recorder of Sheffield Judge Jeremy Richardson today said the conduct of him and the mob was 'vile towards the occupants of the hotel and the police'. He added: 'You were desirous of provoking both. You were desirous of spreading hate." Prosecutor Neil Coxon told the court that Jarvis handed himself in to Wombwell Police Station last Thursday and pleaded guilty at Sheffield Magistrates' Court to violent disorder. Jarvis said: 'I got in with the wrong crowd. I don't know what I did it.' He claimed he was drunk at the time, adding: 'I'm f***ed and I'm not going to be able to see my daughter again.' The court heard the mob was shouting 'We are England', but Jarvis claimed he was not chanting - though does believe the asylum seekers would be better off in their own countries. Jarvis, who was visibly shaking in his chair via a video link from HMP Doncaster for sentencing, has an eight-month-old child and has not worked since he left school aged 16 with no qualifications. In one video a fire alarm was heard, alerting hotel residents to evacuate by the nearest exit. Judge Richardson noted: "Anybody in that hotel would be terrified. The incidents in which you were involved was part of wider national civil unrest. 'It was racist in character and extremely frightening for anyone who was there. You were part of this mob of ignorant and violent individuals.' Anti-migration protesters are seen attempting to enter the Holiday Inn Express Hotel in Rotherham, housing asylum seekers, on August 4 Objects were thrown at the hotel as trouble during an anti-immigration protest outside the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham Pictures taken the morning after the disorder in Rotherham showed some of the damage done A police cordon remained in place last Wednesday, three days after the Rotherham riot The judge sentenced Jarvis to three years in a young offenders' institution and handed him a 10-year criminal behaviour order. It came as a woman denied purchasing eggs and water for protesters to throw at police outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Manchester. Barbara Barker, 52, of Tyndall Avenue, Manchester, pleaded not guilty to violent disorder at Manchester Magistrates' Court on Tuesday afternoon. Prosecutor Suzanne Ludlow alleged Barker was a 'willing participant in the disorder' and 'aided and abetted the riots' by buying eggs and water from a nearby shop for protesters on July 31. Defending, John Black told the court Barker went to the area because she was 'nosy' and said she was not present when 'violence occurred'. Mr Black said Barker had 'no reason' to believe the eggs she bought would be 'used in any unlawful purpose'. Barker was remanded into custody and will appear at Manchester Crown Court on September 3 for a plea and trial preparation hearing. Meanwhile, a thug draped in a St George's flag who kicked out at riot police and smashed trollies into officers was convicted over the violence on Britain's streets. John Kirtley, 26, of Sunderland, was caught on camera as violence erupted when far-right demonstrations turned to chaos. Today the thug admitted violent disorder in connection with his role in the protests, with dramatic footage showing Kirtley forcefully hurling trolleys at officers. The rioter was caught on camera throwing bricks and a beer keg towards police officers who were protecting a mosque, South Tyneside Magistrates' Court heard. He also shouted 'England till I die' as he waved a flare. A 13-year-old girl became the youngest known female rioter to be convicted today following anti-immigration protests following the Southport stabbings. The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted violent disorder in Aldershot outside a hotel two days after the attack in Merseyside - having punched and kicked the entrance to the building. John Kirtley, 26, was caught on camera violently pushing shopping trolleys at officers Kirtley has been convicted of violent disorder at South Tyneside Magistrates court Footage shows Kirtley kicking out at frontline officers during the chaos Accompanied by her mother and step-father, the court heard she would be looking at two years in jail if she were an adult. Today, in the youth court at Basingstoke Magistrates' Court, Hants, the nervous-looking girl from Aldershot fidgeted in her chair as she was spoken to. She spoke quietly and only did so to confirm her name, address and plead guilty to violent disorder. The court heard the offence took place during a protest at Potters International Hotel in Aldershot on July 31. The teenager admitted 'using or threatening unlawful violence' when present together with others which 'would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his or her personal safety'. Prosecutor Kerry Richardson told the court that if the girl had been an adult, she would be looking at two years in custody due to the 'serious nature' of events. District Judge Tim Pattinson warned her she would be committing an offence if she did not attend the next court hearing and ordered her to 'cooperate' with probation. She was granted unconditional bail ahead of being sentenced on September 30. Thomas Power, a Senior Crown Prosecutor with CPS Wessex, said after today's hearing: 'This alarming incident will have caused genuine fear amongst people who were being targeted by these thugs and it is particularly distressing to learn that such a young girl participated in this violent disorder. Today Kirtley admitted violent disorder in connection with his role in the protests, with dramatic footage showing Kirtley forcefully hurling trolleys at officers Protesters are seen outside Potters International Hotel in Aldershot on August 4 The crowds gathered as part of what were described as 'Enough Is Enough' demonstrations 'Large scale public unrest is never acceptable and the Crown Prosecution Service will not hesitate to respond swiftly and robustly to uphold law and order. 'We will continue working with our partners in policing and the wider criminal justice system to make sure those who bring violence and panic to our communities face the consequences of their actions.' Five men also appeared in court charged with using or threatening unlawful violence following a protest at the Aldershot hotel housing asylum seekers. Kieron Marney, 25, of Ash, Clive Patfield, 60, of Farnham, Alby Brannan, 18, of Ash, Jamie Lee Turvey, 34, of Farnborough, and Cameron Bowling, 40, of Farnborough, gave no indication of plea to the alleged offence on July 31 at Basingstoke Magistrates' Court on Tuesday. District Judge Tim Pattinson said their cases were too serious to be dealt with at magistrates' court and they would next appear at Winchester Crown Court on September 4. They were granted bail with conditions not to attend or loiter at any accommodation occupied by asylum seekers and not to go to Potters International Hotel or its grounds. Elsewhere, a man who looted cosmetics chain Lush during riots in Hull has pleaded guilty to violent disorder, burglary and racially aggravated criminal damage. John Honey, 25, admitted three charges of burglary at Lush, the O2 store and Shoezone in the city on August 3. Kieron Marney, 25, is pictured outside Basingstoke Magistrates Court in Hampshire after appearing charged with using or threatening unlawful violence following a protest Alby Brannan, 18, also appeared at the court and likewise made no indication of plea Fellow defendant Jamie Lee Turvey, 34, outside Basingstoke Magistrates Court today He also pleaded guilty to the racially aggravated criminal damage of a BMW and damaging nine other cars. Judge John Thackray KC, the Recorder of Hull, said he hoped to be able to sentence Honey later on Tuesday. Jack Fowler, 24, of Beaumont Terrace, Newcastle, also admitted the charge at the same court as Kirtley. Both will be sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court later this month. Police say the pair were identified when images and footage of the disorder were shared with police, which included shocking scenes of Kirtley kicking out at frontline officers. After officers issued a public appeal to locate Kirtley he handed himself in at Southwick Police Station on Sunday. Meanwhile James Aspin, 34, of Briardale Road, Blyth, appeared at South East Northumberland Magistrates' Court in Bedlington yesterday, charged with one count of distributing a recording to stir religious hatred. Aspin pleaded guilty to the offence and was remanded in custody, he will appear at Newcastle Crown Court on Monday, August 19 for sentencing. Police were made aware of content posted by Aspin last Friday gaining traction on TikTok, making hateful and threatening comments. He was arrested in the early hours of the Saturday morning, after being recognised by officers. Honey is seen outside a Lush store in Hull on August 3 John Honey, 25, admitted three charges of burglary at Lush, the O2 store and Shoezone in Hull on August 3 Jack Fowler, 24, who has been convicted of violent disorder at South Tyneside Magistrates court Det Chief Insp Graeme Barr, of Northumbria Police's Major Investigations Team, said: 'We are continuing to see great results following the persistent efforts of our officers. 'Our net is tightening all the time as we trawl through hundreds of hours of footage and intelligence to find those who have played any part in the region's recent disorder. 'The behaviour demonstrated by these men is certainly not welcome in our communities - and we will continue to do everything in our power to ensure they are held accountable. 'Over the past week, we have seen a great show of community togetherness and the support for the Force has been truly heartwarming. 'We will continue to engage with communities to offer reassurance and gather intelligence to support our enquiries - and we welcome anyone who thinks they have anything useful to share to come forward.' Meanwhile, four men - including one described as the 'least involved' a judge has seen - have been jailed for violent disorder during an anti-immigration protest in Plymouth. Gary Harkness, 51, of North West Road, John Cann, 51, of Patna Place, Ryan Bailey, 41, of no fixed address, and Amer Walid, 24, of Central Park Towers, were sentenced at Plymouth Crown Court on Tuesday. Cann, Bailey and Harkness were handed three-year, 30-month and 12-month sentences respectively, while Walid, a counter-protester, was jailed for 20 months. All four previously pleaded guilty at magistrates' court on Monday. Gary Harkness, 51, was sentenced at Plymouth Crown Court on Tuesday and given 12 months for violent disorder during an anti-immigration protest in Plymouth Amer Walid, 24, was sentenced at Plymouth Crown Court on Tuesday for 20 months for violent disorder as a counter-protester Plymouth Crown Court today sentenced John Cann, 51, for three years for violent disorder during an anti-immigration protest in Plymouth The same court gave Ryan Bailey, 41, 30 months for violent disorder during an anti-immigration protest in Plymouth Harkness was described by Judge Robert Linford as being the 'least involved' in terms of 'direct violence' to come before him. Handing out his sentence, Judge Linford said: 'Of the people I have thus far sentenced you are the person who provides me with the most difficulty because it cannot be levelled at you that you hit anyone, neither have you thrown anything, neither is it said that you spat at anybody. 'But it is accepted by you that you were a party to this disorder and I have to sentence you on the basis, and you also know that anyone party to it has to receive a custodial sentence." He added: 'On August 5 this city was blighted by widespread disorder that was centred on the Royal Parade - there was one faction on one side and one faction on the other. 'You didn't attend this evening, I'm satisfied, with the intention of starting or being involved in any trouble. 'You didn't align yourself with either faction, but you became involved and as a consequence of that you have now pleaded guilty to violent disorder. 'Your plea accepts that you threatened unlawful violence and your conduct could lead people to fear for their safety.' Harkness, who admitted having drunk heavily that day, was seen making lewd gestures and swearing during the evening and at another point pushes or is pushed by a police officer. At one point in the trial, after watching body-worn camera footage from the event, the judge halted the hearing, seeming frustrated that Harkness was before him. The case was adjourned while the judge spoke to the prosecution's Lewis Aldous. Following the adjournment, Mr Aldous told the court that Harkness had effectively encouraged the disorder. Police officers with dogs intervene after far-right protesters crossed to the side of anti-racism activists and clashed with the police at Guildhall Square in Plymouth on August 5 Police officers were seen detaining some far-right protesters after they tried to cross to the side of the opposing group in Plymouth on August 5 Sentences were today handed down to rioters convicted of carrying out violent disorder during an anti-immigration protest in Plymouth on Monday last week The court also heard that Cann and Bailey had been involved in the far-right protest on August 5, while Walid had attended a counter-protest on the opposite side of the police barricade. Video was shown to the court of Cann on a bike, launching a firework or flare towards the counter-protesters, as well as picking up objects from the floor and throwing them. Mr Aldous told the court that Cann told police he thought the protest would 'kick off' because 'an immigrant had killed some girls' but insisted he was not racist. Bailey was seen throwing a can and heard chanting along with others, saying: 'Immigrants not welcome here'. Walid was seen throwing cans on four occasions back at the far-right side of the protest and surrounded by placards saying 'Love not hate'. Sentencing Walid, Judge Linford accepted he had not entered the city 'looking for trouble' and that protesters had been throwing missiles and making 'deeply offensive racist chants'. A teen girl with severe dairy allergies was served a hot chocolate with cow's milk by a Costa barista after an alleged miscommunication, an inquest heard today. Hannah Jacobs, 13, died just hours after taking one sip from a drink her mother had ordered for her in Barking, East London. Abimbola Duyile claims she asked for two soya milk hot chocolates, telling Costa employee Urmi Akter her daughter had allergies. However, giving evidence at East London Coroner's Court today, Ms Akter told the hearing Ms Duyile asked for one regular and one medium hot chocolate. She says the mother asked for her medium drink to be 'extra hot' and for her daughter's to be 'normal'. Ms Akter admitted Ms Duyile told her of her daughter's dairy allergies - but says she only asked for the jug used to froth milk to be thoroughly washed. Hannah had taken a sip of a hot chocolate purchased at a Costa Coffee branch Hannah Jacobs, 13, of Barking, East London, died following a suspected anaphylactic reaction Hannah was pronounced dead at Newham General Hospital in East London Ms Akter, who had a Bengali translator with her, said she had not heard Ms Duyile say she wanted two soya milk hot chocolates - despite the mother saying this was what she had ordered yesterday. Ms Akter said she washed the jug between making the two hot chocolates - both made with cow's milk by colleague Nicoleta Matei - as the mother requested. Hannah began vomiting in a dental practice after taking just one sip from her drink. In a statement read to the court by Assistant Coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe, Ms Akter, who had been working at the Barking franchise of Costa Coffee for eight months at the time of the incident in February last year, said Hannah had appeared 'angry' at her mother as they ordered their drinks. 'The mother said, 'I want two hot chocolates - one small one medium Can you wash the [milk] jug because my daughter has a dairy allergy'. 'You said, 'You are asking me to wash the jug but the hot chocolate is made with milk, but you say she has an allergy to milk'. '[Ms Duyile] said: 'That's fine, just wash the jug'. 'You passed the order to your colleague, Nicoleta, so she could make the drinks. 'You took the jug and washed it properly [after the mother's drink was made]. You gave it [back] to your colleague.' Hannah Jacobs, 13, of Barking, East London, died following a suspected anaphylactic reaction Despite Costa's allergy training instructing staff to show an 'allergy book' to customers who report allergies, Ms Akter did not do so, the hearing was told. Dr Radcliffe, continuing to read from Ms Akter's police report, went on: 'You said, 'You are asking me to wash the jug but a hot chocolate is made with milk'. '[Ms Duyile] said: 'That is fine. Give me extra hot and my daughter's normal'. 'Your colleague made the drinks - the extra hot first - and passed it [to the mother]. 'Then you took the jug and as the mother had requested and washed it properly. 'You then gave it to your colleague who made the [second] drink. '[Ms Duyile] said, 'Thank you, darling', and then left. '[You say] you have four non-dairy milks. 'They must ask for it and we will give it'. 'You say, 'She never asked for non-dairy [milk], she just asked me to wash the jug'. 'You were asked: did you think about showing the intolerance book?' Dr Radcliffe then asked Ms Akter a series of further questions. However, Julia Kendrick, representing Ms Akter, continually warned her client that she didn't have to answer questions that could expose her to criminal liability, under Rule 22. Dr Radcliffe asked: 'Have you ever had any difficulty understanding what someone has said from behind the [perspex] screen [of the Costa till]?' 'Not too much,' Ms Akter replied. 'Sometimes' Dr Radcliffe continued: 'In your training, if someone mentions they have an allergy there is the allergy book under the till 'Why did you not show the allergy book [to Ms Duyile]?' Warned by Ms Kendrick, who said 'Rule 22' before her client could reply, Ms Akter said: 'No answer.' 'Am I going to get no answer for these Rule 22 questions?', Dr Radcliffe asked. 'Yes,' came Ms Kendrick's reply. Dr Radcliffe pressed on anyway, asking: 'Did you not think it was strange that the mother was asking you to wash out the jug between making the two drinks when they were both being made the same? 'As far as I understand, you said the mother mentioned the dairy allergy. 'The book was not shown to the mother, and the only thing done was to make one drink, wash the jug and make the other drink' Emily Slocombe, Hannah's family's lawyer, also received responses of either 'no answer' or 'no comment' from Ms Akter to her questions. 'Do you remember being given allergy training?' Ms Slocombe asked. 'Was any training given in your native language? Any refresher training? Did you understand what an allergen was? Did you know the potential consequences of being exposed to allergens?' 'No answer,' replied Ms Akter to all questions. 'You heard Abi (Ms Duyile) say she ordered two soya hot chocolates,' Ms Slocombe said. 'Is that what you heard?' Again, Ms Akter replied: 'No answer.' Ms Slocombe added: 'You heard in [mother] Abi's evidence that she said you didn't reply to her, didn't say anything to her. 'If you had got out the allergy book and shown and discussed this with Hannah's mother, this would have been an opportunity for any miscommunications to be cleared up, wouldn't it? 'You didn't repeat the order back to Abi, did you? 'Knowing [about] a severe dairy allergy, why didn't you confirm that cows milk was being used? 'Since you had taken the order, did you tell Nicoleta about the order?' Ms Akter again gave no answer to the questions. Upon having an allergic reaction to her drink - which she immediately told her mother was 'not soya milk' - Hannah began vomiting at a dental practice in Barking, where she had gone for an emergency examination and extraction. Dentist Iqra Farhad told the inquest she had offered Ms Duyile an EpiPen with 300mg of adrenaline, which doctors say could have saved her life. But Ms Farhad, giving evidence via video link from Pakistan, said Ms Duyile had refused the epi-pen and instead left with her daughter to get antihistamines from a nearby pharmacy. 'When I spoke to the patient she said she's fine and wanted to have the extraction done today. '[Hannah] spat up a white liquid. The mum was all fine. When the child [went to the toilet] the mum asked me to reschedule the appointment. 'There was no sign of panicking or distress.' Dr Radcliffe asked: 'You are aware that an epi-pen can be life-saving, and there's little harm to be done by using it if in doubt?' 'Yes,' Ms Farhad replied. 'And you had EpiPens on the premises?' the coroner added. Ms Farhad said: 'Yes. When the child left the room, I think one of the nurses asked mum if she needed an EpiPen, which mum refused. 'I am mum to a daughter severely allergic to nuts. I have been told by doctors when I need to give an EpiPen. 'Mum did mention she was going to the pharmacy to get [the antihistemine] cetirizine. 'I didn't think it was the point where we needed an EpiPen. Ms Duyile shook her head in the coroner's court whilst listening to some of Ms Farhad's answers. The inquest continues. On Tuesday, August 6, around 1,000 brave Ukrainian soldiers supported by a few tanks launched what seemed like a reckless at best - and catastrophic at worst - incursion into Russia's Kursk region. Within 48 hours of the first reports of the border breach, Russia's stonefaced army chief Valery Gerasimov - who reportedly dismissed intelligence reports indicating a Ukrainian troop buildup along the border two weeks prior - declared the invasion had been stopped in its tracks. Now, one week later, not only have Kyiv's soldiers made a fool of Gerasimov, but AFU commander Oleksandr Syrskyi claims his troops have seized one square kilometre of territory for each soldier that poured across the border - and that the initial invasion force has been reinforced by thousands more troops backed by Western armour. With the offensive still grinding on, a Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson declared today that 'as long as Putin continues the war, he will receive such responses from Ukraine'. That defiant statement came hours after his president Volodymyr Zelensky told the world that 'war was coming home' to Russia and vowed to 'kill the Russian terrorists where they are and where they launch their strikes from'. MailOnline spoke to several experts to examine the invasion so far, explain what its goals might be, and predict how long the valiant Ukrainian units tasked with launching the first invasion of Russia since World War II can hope to hold out. 'Russia must be forced into peace if Putin wants to continue waging war so badly... This always happens to those who despise people and any rules - Russia brought war to others, and now it is coming home,' Zelensky said stoically in his latest address Ukrainian servicemen operate an armoured military vehicle in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia, on August 12, 2024 This photograph shows a road sign showing the distance to the Russian town of Kursk next to the destroyed border crossing point with Russia, in the Sumy region, on August 13, 2024 How did the invasion unfold and how many Ukrainian troops are now in Russia? In the early hours of Tuesday, August 6, a contingent of Ukrainian troops launched their first incursion across the border from the Sumy region into Russia's Kursk oblast. They have since managed to advance up to 20 miles in some directions, have captured dozens of towns and settlements, and have as of this morning reportedly seized Sudzha - a strategic town that is also a key transit hub for Russian gas flowing into Ukraine. More than 120,000 Russian citizens have been forced to flee their homes amid widespread regional evacuations since last Tuesday, while 12 civilians are said to have died. Russia has seen previous small-scale incursions into its territory since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022, but the foray into the Kursk region marked the largest attack on Russian soil since World War II. It was also the first time the Ukrainian army proper had spearheaded an incursion, rather than pro-Ukraine Russian fighters that had defected - and the first offensive in Russia to be acknowledged by Zelensky. Matthew Savill, the Director of Military Sciences at the RUSI think tank, told MailOnline there could be as many as 10,000 Ukrainian troops now in Russia. 'There's evidence of Ukrainian forces from at least four different brigades - 22nd and 88th Mechanised and 80th and 82nd Air Assault, and possibly more - now involved in the offensive in Kursk. 'These brigades are using Western-provided equipment like infantry fighting vehicles as well as Soviet-era tanks. 'It's hard to judge numbers, but it might be enough for around a division - perhaps 10,000 - given the spread of fighting now underway. 'But we should be very cautious about determining exact size, because units are being rotated, and the presence of elements doesn't tell us the whole unit has been deployed. 'That ambiguity suits the Ukrainians.' Savill did however challenge the assertion that Ukraine had seized up to 1,000 square kilometres of Russian territory. 'The total area covered by the incursion appears to be around 400 square kilometres, but we don't know what is controlled within this,' he said. Dara Massicot, an analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, added that the Ukrainian breakthrough was so effective because it exploited key gaps between various Russian commands in Kursk: border guards, Ministry of Defence forces and Chechen units that have been fighting on Russia's side in the war. This photograph shows 'dragon's teeth' and other fortifications at the destroyed border crossing point with Russia, in the Sumy region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine Ukrainian servicemen operate a Soviet-made T-72 tank in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia, on August 12, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine Ukrainian servicemen wait in a military vehicle to head for a combat mission, in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia, on August 13, 2024 Ukrainian soldier stands guard as he surveys a line of Russian POWs taken in Kursk A Ukrainian soldier raises a Ukrainian flag in Guevo, Kursk Oblast, Russia released August 11, 2024 in this still image obtained from a social media video What does Ukraine hope to achieve by invading Russia? Most experts agree that Ukraine's incursion into Russia is a two-pronged tactic designed primarily to signal to its Western partners that its military is still a capable fighting force, while also seeking to put Kyiv in a more favourable bargaining position in the event of ceasefire talks ahead of the US presidential election in November. That analysis was supported by a statement from a Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson, who today told reporters in Kyiv: 'The sooner Russia agrees to restore a just peace, the sooner Ukrainian raids on Russian territory will stop.' The spokesperson did however add that: 'As long as Putin continues the war, he will receive such responses from Ukraine,' suggesting Kyiv could seek to extend the offensive indefinitely. He also said that Russia had launched more than 2,000 strikes from the Kursk region in recent months using anti-aircraft missiles, barrel artillery, mortars, drones, 255 glide bombs and more than 100 missiles, and explained that 'the purpose of this operation is to preserve the lives of our children, to protect the territory of Ukraine from Russian strikes'. Meanwhile, Ukrainian soldiers told reporters this week that the offensive could help to draw Russian resources away from other key battles on Ukrainian soil, giving defenders time to regroup, re-equip and hopefully regain the initiative after months of grinding, bloody conflict. Retired US Army Brigadier General and former US Defence Attache in Moscow Kevin Ryan said: 'Zelensky's goals with the incursion into Russian territory are becoming clearer with time. 'It appears that the attacking force, which is composed of some of Ukraine's best units, is intent on achieving real military objectives and possibly holding some of the ground they take... '(Russian reports claim) Ukrainian forces are digging in along parts of the new front. This would indicate an intent to hold the territory that Ukraine has seized in the Kursk/Belgorod region.' Jacob Parakilas, research leader for Defence Strategy, Policy and Capabilities at the thinktank RAND Europe, said: 'The Ukrainians have been understandably cagey about what their intended goals are, but there are a few things they could be seeking to simultaneously accomplish. 'Pushing into Russian territory upsets the narrative that Ukraine is on the defensive and embarrasses Putin. 'On a more tactical level, it forces Russia to divert its own forces towards territorial defence rather than offence although thus far it seems as though Russian forces are continuing to push forward on Ukrainian territory. 'There are various pieces of strategic infrastructure that Ukraine might be seeking to capture or disable, notably the gas transfer station in Sudzha.' This photograph shows the destroyed border crossing point with Russia, in the Sumy region, on August 13, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine Ukrainian servicemen operate an armoured military vehicle in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia, on August 12, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine Russia last week suffered one of its most crushing blows of the war as hundreds of troops were reportedly killed when a military convoy was hit by Ukrainian HIMARS missiles in Kursk A man reacts while standing next to burnt-out remains of cars in the courtyard of a multi-storey residential building, which according to local authorities was hit by debris from a destroyed Ukrainian missile, in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Kursk, Russia August 11, 2024 RUSI's Savill agreed with the above comments but posited the offensive could have some additional aims not yet revealed by Ukrainian officials. 'It's also about boosting Ukrainian morale after months on the defensive. This seems to be the case in the north - though could easily turn if they take losses which are hard to replace. 'It could also be a diversion, or linked to other, undeclared operations; for example, an advance that threatens the supply lines for Russian troops that crossed the border near Kharkiv, and intends to cause the collapse of those pockets of Russian forces over the border. 'This is a risky operation... but the Ukrainians have shown themselves to be resourceful. They appear to have some air defences with them and have successfully used drones to attack Russian helicopters in the air. 'Moreover, the Russians have been severely embarrassed and the loss of territory and evacuation of civilians will play poorly back in Russia as evidence they ''can't defend themselves'' - especially alongside continued Ukrainian drone attacks as deep strikes.' How is Russia responding? Vladimir Putin on Monday lambasted the incursion as the Western plot in its war with Russia, using Ukrainian soldiers to do their dirty work. 'It is now clear why the Kyiv regime refused our proposals to return to a peaceful settlement plan,' he declared. 'To all appearances, the enemy, with the help of its Western masters, is doing their will. By the hands of the Ukrainians, the West is at war with us. 'But what kind of negotiations can we even talk about with people who indiscriminately strike at civilians, at civilian infrastructure, or try to create threats to nuclear power facilities?' he asked - comments that will undoubtedly be ridiculed in Kyiv and the West given the scale of the destruction wrought by Russian missiles, drones and soldiers in towns and cities across Ukraine. RUSI's Savill said: 'The Russians seem to have been caught by surprise, or at least not prepared. 'Their initial force of border guards and FSB seems to have been overwhelmed, early public messages that the attack had been ''repulsed'' have been deleted, and a state of emergency has been announced in several oblasts,' he said, adding that tens of thousands of civilians were evacuated with tens of thousands more choosing to flee. He added: 'Over the weekend, it seems like more Russian forces, including some pulled from inside Ukraine, have started arriving and may have now halted further Ukrainian advances, but it's not been a particularly impressive response yet.' A slew of video footage published late last week showed how homes in various settlements had come under attack from Ukrainian drones and artillery fire, while various Russian warbloggers said hundreds of their troops had perished in a brutal HIMARS strike on a convoy in the Rylsky district of Kursk. Seeking to blame the incursion on Ukraine's allies in the West, the humiliated Russian President cursed Kyiv's troops for refusing to 'return to a peaceful settlement plan' before ironically condemning them for 'intimidating Russian society' and 'targeting civilians' This photo taken from video released by Russian Defence Ministry press service on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, shows Russian military vehicle boarding a lowboy for transfer to Kursk region Ukrainian servicemen drive Soviet-made T-64 tanks in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia, on August 11, 2024 People evacuated from a fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces queue to receive humanitarian aid at a distribution centre in Kursk, Russia, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 Russian forces launch an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attack, targeting the tank of Ukrainian Armed Forces at the border area near Kursk Oblast, Russia on August 12, 2024 As of this morning, however, Moscow's forces appear to have begun mounting a more robust defence of their territory. Army units, fresh reserves, army aircraft, drone teams and artillery forces have now been funnelled into the conflict to stop Ukrainian armoured mobile groups from moving deeper into Russia. A Russian defence ministry statement issued today said that those units had managed to halt the Ukrainian offensive near the Kursk settlements of Obshchy Kolodez, Snagost, Kauchuk and Alexeyevsky - though those reports are yet to be corroborated. It remains to be seen just how many troops and resources the Kremlin's military chiefs are willing to throw in to defend and retake land in Kursk. How long could Ukraine's offensive in Russia last? Russian military blogger Vladislav Shurygin last week encapsulated the efficacy of Ukraine's surprise offensive in a lengthy observation. He wrote that Ukraine had 'very skilfully and accurately chosen a different strategy - taking advantage of the bureaucratic rigidity and sluggishness of the Russian management system, to exhaust Russia with continuous unexpected strikes on sensitive infrastructure and the civilian population, provoking discontent, disappointment and apathy.' But analysts are split on whether the offensive will endure, with many warning the Ukrainians would be sorely outmatched once Russia's disorganised military command is able to mobilise the requisite resources. Brig. Gen. Ryan said: 'If, in going to the defence Ukraine can turn this part of the front on Russian soil into the same kind of positional war that has evolved along the rest of the front in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv's forces could hold this ground for weeks or even months.' Other experts added that Russia could feasibly repel the invasion in short order, but stressed they would likely need to withdraw troops from frontline positions in Ukraine to do so. RUSI's Savill was more sceptical that Ukraine could - or would even want to - maintain their offensive over the long term. 'Much will depend on the ambition around any consolidation and whether this is intended to play into negotiations - and therefore how long they try to hold on,' he said. 'While the Ukrainians have reversed the public narrative about being on the defensive, it seems unlikely they would want to sustain a large incursion for months; they will have a decision to make about the best time to trade in the ground they have captured, and to what end... 'Media reporting over the weekend suggested that the Ukrainians had deployed some of their most effective mechanised units, and pulled troops from the east because they were at a higher level of readiness. That could result in a short-term gain, for long-term disadvantage.' RAND Europe's Parakilas concluded that the long-term success of Kyiv's offensive in Kursk is largely dependent on Russia's willingness to sacrifice its gains in eastern Ukraine, particularly as summer rapidly gives way to autumn with cold conditions around the corner. 'The extent to which the Ukrainian offensive in Kursk will last depends heavily on the forces that Russia is willing to commit to retaking its own territory. 'Thus far it seems as though the bulk of the forces that have been engaging Ukrainian troops on Russian territory have been reserve and paramilitary units, which have apparently been unable to retake the territory lost to Kyiv's troops. 'If Russia is willing to pull more experienced and capable formations out of Ukraine and put them to the task, they would increase their odds of reversing the Ukrainian gains. 'But that would also force them to slow the pace of their own offensive on key strategic positions in eastern Ukraine in the key window of time remaining time before colder weather makes offensive operations more difficult.' Prince Harry should use his trip to Colombia as a chance to say sorry for taking cocaine in his youth - as the South American state bravely fights the 'disgusting' and illegal drugs trade, a friend of Prince William has reportedly said. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will land in Bogota on Thursday for a quasi-royal visit now expected to include a private meeting with President Gustavo Petro. President Petro, Colombia's first left-wing leader in recent history, was swept to power in 2022 after declaring that his nation's famous decades long 'War on Drugs' had failed and a new global approach was needed to shut it down and 'unite' his state. Harry and Meghan are set to meet him to discuss projects to protect and educate the children of Colombia. But a friend of his brother Prince William has been quoted in the US press saying that Harry should also use these talks to apologise for his own cocaine use as a teenager, which is discussed in his memoir Spare and in an interview on CBS' 60 Minutes with Anderson Cooper. 'Harry admitted to doing coke in his book,' the insider told The Daily Beast. 'His trip to Colombia should include an admission that the country has been destroyed by narco-terrorists servicing wealthy drug users in the West, and he should stand up and apologise for his own participation in that disgusting trade'. Given the battle with drugs gangs that President Petro is fighting, saying sorry 'would be a helpful intervention', the friend of William said. Prince Harry and Meghan at the 2024 ESPY Awards at Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on July 11. They are due to land in Colombia on Thursday where they are expected to meet the President. Harry has been urged to apologise for his drug use in his youth Harry, pictured on 60 Minutes with leading US TV anchor Anderson Cooper as he launched a publicity blitz before the release of his explosive book Spare, revealed all about his life and his relationship with his brother William, pictured yesterday, who he is estranged from MailOnline asked Prince Harry's spokesman to comment. They declined. The Duke of Sussex remains at the centre of a legal case over the issue of drugs. Donald Trump has previously suggested that Harry - who has lived in the US since 2020 - would not get special privileges and indeed may be deported if he is found to have falsified information on his visa form. In Spare Harry admitted to having taken cocaine and magic mushrooms - there is a legal battle in the US to get his visa forms released In the Princes memoir, Spare, he revealed he previously took drugs including cocaine, cannabis and psychedelic mushrooms - which under US law would typically be grounds for a visa application to be rejected. In Spare, Harry sensationally admitted to taking cocaine a 'few' times during his wilder party years. The Duke of Sussex described being dragged into the office of an unnamed member of the Royal Household staff during his grandmother the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002 after a journalist asked the Palace about his drug-taking habits. 'Of course I had been taking cocaine at that time, he said. 'At someones house, during a hunting weekend, I was offered a line, and since then I had consumed some more. It wasnt very fun, and it didnt make me feel especially happy as seemed to happen to others, but it did make me feel different, and that was my main objective. To feel. To be different. 'I was a 17-year-old willing to try almost anything that would alter the pre-established order'. In his memoir, which widened the rift with his British family, Harry also sensationally claimed he hallucinated that a bin was speaking to him after taking magic mushrooms washed down with spirits. Harry claimed the experience happened at a party with his friends. Prince Harry, pictured here leaving Bouijis in South Kensington in 2006, claims he was confronted by a talking bin during a bad mushroom trip The duke, pictured here with his brother at Christmas Day Service in Sandringham in 2008, also admitted to taking cocaine a 'few' times In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning earlier this month on August 4, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spoke about the impact of online experiences on young people's wellbeing, This will form a major part of their Colombia visit The prince said they spied a box of mushroom chocolates in a fridge and decided to eat them before washing them down with tequila. The trip did not go as intended however, with the duke ending up having a terrifying experience with a bin in the bathroom. He said: 'Beside the toilet was a round silver bin, the kind with a foot pedal to open the lid. I stared at the bin. It stared back. Then it became... a head. 'I stepped on the pedal and the head opened its mouth. A huge open grin. 'I laughed, turned away, took a p***. Now the loo became a head too. The bowl was its gaping maw, the hinges of the seat were its piercing silver eyes. It said, "Aaah".' During an interview with Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes, he was asked about his drinking and drug taking. He said it was a reaction to his mother's death. 'I had a lot of anger inside of me that luckily, I never expressed to anybody. 'But I resorted to drinking heavily. Because I wanted to numb the feeling, or I wanted to distract myself from how whatever I was thinking. And I would, you know, resort to drugs as well'. He also said that psychedelics including mushrooms helped him. 'I would never recommend people to do this recreationally but doing it with the right people if you are suffering from a huge amount of loss, grief or trauma, then these things have a way of working as a medicine. For me, they cleared the windshield, the windshield of the misery of loss. 'They cleared away this idea that I had in my head that that my mother, that I needed to cry to prove to my mother that I missed her. When in fact, all she wanted was for me to be happy'. Yesterday it emerged that Joe Rogan has used his new Netflix stand-up show to savagely lampoon Prince Harry, calling him a 'b**ch' and joking about the royal taking magic mushrooms. The podcast star, 57, also mimicked the Duke of Sussex's British accent as he accused the California-based Windsor of 'talking s**t about me' - a reference to the Sussexes' public concerns about 'Covid misinformation' on the vaccine-sceptic's Spotify show. He also mocked Harry by imagining what it would be like to take drugs with him - and then fantasised about hammering him over their row over vaccines while high on hallucinogens. New Jersey-born Mr Rogan said he would get Harry tipsy and then encourage him to get high with him. 'Could you imagine doing mushrooms with Prince Harry? You imagine if you could trick that guy into doing mushrooms with you', he said. 'The moment you see him chew it and swallow it. There's a moment when you do mushrooms, like 20 minutes after you swallow it, when you know you can't throw it up anymore. 'And you're like "Oh no it's going to happen" and you're sitting eye to eye with the prince. And here's the thing. Mushrooms take about 40 minutes to kick in, but about 35 minutes in you hear them coming. You hear footsteps in the distance. Meanwhile, Prince Harry is tripping balls'. To more laughter from the audience he said: 'I'm going to hover over him and say: "Are you sure vaccines are safe?" B**ch you're not a scientist'. Harry and Meghan are set to tour Colombia later this week at the invitation of the country's vice president Francia Marquez. Ms Marquez, a lawyer and human rights and environmental activist, said the pair would join her in visiting the capital Bogota, as well as the Caribbean and Pacific regions of Cartagena and Cali. Details of the couple's itinerary have not yet been released, but the vice president said they would engage in several activities related to safeguarding young people online and in physical spaces. Meghan and Harry have long been vocal about highlighting the threat posed to children by the internet. They launched a new initiative The Parent Network earlier this month to provide parents with a safe and free-to-access support network to help those whose children have been harmed by social media. In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning on August 4, Harry said the impact of online experiences on young people's wellbeing was at the stage where 'almost every parent needs to be a first responder, and even the best first responders in the world wouldn't be able to tell the signs of possible suicide'. The so-called 'DIY royal tour' is the Sussexes's second this year, after their three-day visit to Nigeria at the invitation of the West African nation's chief of defence staff. Harry and Meghan are set to tour Colombia at the invitation of the country's vice president Francia Marquez, who is pictured at the Festival Of Culture in New Orleans on July 6 The UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office states that it 'advises against all but essential travel to parts of Colombia'. The areas affected are those shaded in orange in the above map Harry and Meghan stepped down from the working monarchy in 2020 and no longer travel at the request of the UK Government on official overseas royal visits. The Foreign Office warns against all but essential travel to certain parts of Colombia, with kidnapping rates remaining high. It describes the country as 'seriously afflicted by conflict' with a resurgence in violence in parts of Colombia despite the peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) movement to end the civil war. Harry maintained last month that it was 'still dangerous' for Meghan to return to the UK. He lost a High Court challenge against the Home Office in February over a decision to change the level of his personal security when he visits the UK, but he has been given the green light to appeal. During the case, the court was told Harry believes his children cannot 'feel at home' in the UK if it is 'not possible to keep them safe' there and that he faces a greater risk than his late mother, with 'additional layers of racism and extremism'. A new street drug taking over San Francisco is driving a spike in crime as the city aggressively tries to battle its homelessness crisis. The drug called 'soap' - a diluted version of fentanyl - is overpriced and poor quality, causing an uptick in robberies, according to The San Francisco Standard. Mayor London Breed recently said the time for compassion is over as she announced plans to tackle the city's homeless crisis which has left locals fearing for their safety. Homeless addicts told the local newspaper that despite the city's efforts to crack down on drugs, the weaker quality fentanyl is forcing them to want more and resort to desperate measures to obtain it. 'People get crazy, they start robbing and hurting each other,' said homeless Tenderloin resident Samuel Boles. A street drug called 'soap' - a diluted version of fentanyl - is infiltrating San Francisco Addicts said 'soap' is overpriced and poor quality which is causing an uptick in robberies 'There's only one or two people in town who actually have anything good, it's extremely difficult for people living outside the city.' The rise in the number of homeless, now about 8,300 people, has brought with it a myriad of other associated problems filling the sidewalks with illegal drug dealers, fentanyl users and all round violent and intimidating behavior close to the tent encampments. Certain parts of the city, including the troubled Tenderloin district have become known for their squalor and misery, becoming so bad that local businesses unable to recruit staff and residents have felt forced to flee. There have been 1,671 robberies, 3,579 burglaries, 4,313 motor vehicle thefts and 21,497 larceny thefts in the city this year to date, according to police data. Some addicts said now that 'soap' has infiltrated the market they are finding it harder to do things because the high is so brief and they are quickly looking for more Mayor London Breed recently said the time for compassion is over as she announced plans to tackle the city's homeless crisis 'It's almost harder to quit now that it's worse. It makes it harder to make it to appointments,' Tenderloin resident Karl Ramsey told The Standard. Drug Enforcement Administration data shows that fentanyl purity across California has decreased from an average 29 percent to 23 percent this year. As of July 8, there have been 374 overdose deaths this year, 268 from fentanyl, according to the San Francisco medical examiner's office. However, some advocates argue that the decreasing fentanyl potency is a win for the city's battle against the opioid crisis. 'It's a good thing,' said Cregg Johnson, founder of the nonprofit Positive Directions Equals Changes. 'It's going to help address the ODs, because the dope is death.' This is the dramatic moment a 14m superyacht caught fire and sunk off the coast of Sardinia. Sixteen passengers and crew miraculously escaped from the Atina before it was completely engulfed in flames on Saturday evening whilst it was moored in the Gulf of Olbia. The tourists, who were from Turkey, were collected by firefighters and coastguards. There were no reported injuries. Among those on board is believed to be Serkan Borancili, who owned the 47-m-long vessel. The Turkish entrepreneur co-founded the troubled grocery delivery app Getir in 2015, which was recently forced to exit both the European and US markets after a rapid expansion. This is the dramatic moment a 14m superyacht owned by the founder of troubled grocery app Getir caught fire and sunk off the coast of Sardinia Sixteen passengers and crew escaped from the Atina before it was completely engulfed in flames on Saturday evening whilst it was moored in the Gulf of Olbia The tourists, who were from Turkey, were collected by firefighters and coastguards and there were no reported injuries Footage released by the Olbia Coast Guard shows the multi-million-pound yacht sinking while being doused with an extinguisher in the port that has been dubbed 'Billionaire's Playground'. It ended up on the seabed about 7m deep and local media has said that clean-up operations are currently underway. The yacht was carrying around 50,000 litres of fuel but the Olbia Port Authority said no spills had been detected. The fire is believed to have begun in the superyacht's engine compartment but the cause of the blaze is currently being investigated. The Atina was sold in 2021 for more than 14million and it won an award at the World Superyacht Awards in 2009. It underwent an eight-month-long revamp when it was bought three years ago with the top deck completely redesigned. The yacht was complete with five cabins, lounge areas and an entertainment system installed throughout. The Atina was priced at 220,000 per week and operated in Corsica and the French Riviera, according to BOAT international. Pictured: Serkan Borancili who co-founded the troubled grocery app Getir Footage from the Olbia Coast Guard shows the yacht sinking while being doused with an extinguisher Borancili co-founded Getir with Nazim Salur in 2015 and the company thrived during lockdown. The business was once valued at 9.5 billion and has links to two Russian oligarchs, Vladimir Potanin and Arkady Volozh. Earlier this year, Getir announced it will leave the UK, with an estimated 1,500 jobs to be lost. The firm will also leave Europe and the US to focus solely on its home market in Turkey, bringing an end to its rapid expansion across the regions since the pandemic. The announcement came after speculation that Getir's UK and European operations were struggling financially, following its decision to pull out of Italy and Spain last year. It said it now only makes about 7 per cent of its revenue outside of Turkey. The incident involving Borancili's yacht at the weekend comes after an Italian vessel started sinking off an idyllic Greek holiday island after a member of the crew left a side door open in July. The 150ft mega yacht 'Ethos', setting renters back a whopping 180,000-a-week, was seen taking in water off the coast of Kefalonia while in the Paleokaravo Bay. A luxury boat first got into trouble at around 10am local time on August 10 off the coast of Majorca In footage posted by Majorca's coast guard the yacht, which is valued at an eye-watering 800,000, can be seen listing on its stern with the bow of the vessel rising up above the water The five tourists on board the yacht were safely rescued after it ran aground in Evretis Bay, where it was anchored. Similarly a luxury yacht sunk off the coast of Majorca in August, prompting a dramatic rescue operation. The luxury boat got into trouble at around 10am local time on August 10 when other ships noticed that it was partially submerged off the coast of Camp de Mar on the south west of the Balearic Island. An emergency alert was issued shortly afterwards and the Spanish coast guard scrambled on its boats to head to the scene - with local police following behind. Luckily, before emergency services could get there, a private boat was able to pick up the yacht's five passengers- which included a German couple and their son. Two toddlers in their diapers were seen tottering on a Texas freeway after being thrown from a car that flipped over several times during a crash. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez confirmed that a two-car crash had occurred on the Interstate 10's East Freeway at Freeport - causing one of them to flip several times, 'ejecting' an adult and the two young children. Footage from the scene shows one of the diaper-wearing babies trying to regain their balance and stand up while another looked around. Neither appeared to be badly injured. It is unclear if either was in a car seat or properly restrained at the time of the smash, the cause of which remains under investigation. Two toddlers are pictured tottering around a Texas freeway after being ejected from a car during a multi-vehicle smash DailyMail.com has reached out to the Harris County Sheriff's Office for further comment. Americans have been left enraged and praying for the children as the video continues to be shared on various social media platforms. 'This video will make any parents heart completely sink,' an Instagrammer wrote. While another demanded: 'Driver should be charged for child endangerment!' One social media user also quipped: 'Not putting your kids in child seats and seatbelts should be a federal crime.' 'God mustve been watching over these kids because theyre still alive and theyre walking. Thank you God for watching over your children. Amen,' one viewer praised. Another simply added: 'Thank god the kids are okay.' As the two kids were left stranded in the middle of the 14-lane highway, two men can be seen running towards them and catching ahold of them while asking for help @HCSOTexas deputies responded to a major crash on the main lanes of the East Freeway at Freeport. A two-car crash where one of the cars flipped over several times causing ejection. The car was occupied by one adult and two children. They are being 1/2 pic.twitter.com/5U5ibhQDZI Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) August 12, 2024 The incident reportedly occurred on Interstate 10's East Freeway at Freeport The incident comes months after an Amish toddler was the only survivor of a Wisconsin horror crash that killed nine people. That child was thrown from the van and rescued from the wreckage by a retired Marine. Micah Schrock, two, was found and rescued by Nathaniel Jahn who happened to be driving past the crash Friday in Clark County, Wisconsin, near the intersection of Highway 95 and County Road J back in March. Jahn witnessed the van carrying nine people pull out into the intersection where it collided with a truck and trailer, killing eight people in the van and the driver of the truck. The former Marine ran over and found Schrock lying under the truck's wreckage, he told TMJ4: 'I heard a whimpering sound coming from next to one of the victims, under debris. It turned into a cry.' The toddler was the sole survivor. Ellen and Orlah Schrock and their baby daughter, Judy Rose, were killed along with van driver James McCoy, Linda Byler, 44, Lydia Byler, 24, Delilah Schrock, Suzanna Hertzler and the driver of the truck. An Ohio restaurateur who drew headlines after announcing a boycott of the Olympics over its controversial Last Supper recreation is now facing a string of serious criminal charges. Bobby George, 43, turned himself in this week on charges of attempted murder, kidnapping, strangulation, assault and rape in relation to the alleged abuse of a woman between November 2023 and July 2024. According to a warrant reported by Cleveland19, George's alleged victim said she lived with the businessman, and suffered a barrage of abuse including being attacked at gunpoint. In one alleged instance, George is accused of shoving a towel down the woman's throat and asking her: 'You think God is going to help you?' Last month, George - a well known restaurateur in the Cleveland area - drew the spotlight after announcing his businesses would boycott the Olympics over its controversial 'Last Supper' opening ceremony, which he branded 'insulting to the Christian faith.' Bobby George, 43, an Ohio restaurateur who drew headlines after announcing a boycott of the Olympics, is now facing a string of serious criminal charges including rape and attempted murder Last month, George slammed the Olympics' opening ceremony for over its controversial 'Last Supper' parody, which he branded 'insulting to the Christian faith' George owns a number of bars, restaurants and businesses in Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, including a wellness space where his alleged victim said she was attacked. The 43-year-old denies the allegations against him, which saw him charged with causing a number of injuries to the woman in several separate incidents. In one instance in November 2023, George allegedly pinned his victim to the ground and throttled her neck with his hands, which 'made her unable to breathe or move', the arrest warrant said. While allegedly strangling her, George was said to have slammed her head multiple times, leaving her with 'blurred vision, ringing in her ears and bleeding from her ears.' The victim was treated by George's business' nurse practitioner, who diagnosed her with post-concussion syndrome, the warrant said. In another alleged attack, George was said to have followed the woman to her car after she left his home, before pointing a gun at her, holding the gun to her stomach and walking her back to his property. George owns a number of bars, restaurants and businesses in Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, including a wellness space where his alleged victim said she was attacked Between June 8 and 10 this year, George is also accused of shoving a towel down his victim's throat. After the woman began praying for her life, he allegedly responded: 'You think God is going to help you?' The arrest warrant also reportedly detailed instances where George attempted to strangle the woman and throw her around the home they shared, which he denies. He is also accused of raping her as she was coming out of the shower, and he allegedly threw her into a closet during one altercation. The most recent allegations against him came just weeks before George drew headlines in Ohio by announcing that his numerous bars and restaurants would refuse to show the Olympic Games. He slammed the Olympics' opening ceremony as 'irresponsible' and 'insulting to the Christian faith' after its controversial revision of the 'Last Supper'. The spectacle was criticized for a banquet scene where an actor playing the Greek god Dionysus took center stage on a table surrounded by drag queens. George, seen during an interview about his business ventures, turned himself in this week after an arrest warrant was issued related to alleged attacks from November 2023 to July 2024 In a post to Instagram cited to a number of George's bars, he said his companies 'unapologetically uphold a standard where all religions, races, sexual orientations, national origins, disabilities, ages, and gender identities are respected.' 'We will not tolerate any form of discrimination or desecration,' the post said. 'Therefore, we will not be broadcasting the Olympic Games at any of our restaurants.' As a well-known figure in the Ohio restaurant scene, George and his family are also notable supporters of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr, which included hosting an event for Kennedy on June 27. In a statement to Cleveland19 after George turned himself in, the City of Cleveland said: 'This is a case that involves multiple incidents and, in this instance, several pieces of evidence were obtained before a charging decision was made. 'Its imperative for the public to know that this case was treated according to standard protocols like any other case regardless of the defendants name, title, or occupation. The investigation remains ongoing.' A man who went on a spending spree with more than $6million that was mistakenly transferred into his bank account has been jailed for three years. Jatinder Singh, 39, in May 2021 placed a $100 deposit in his then-partner Thevamangari Manivel's account on cryptocurrency website Crypto.com. The Indian national was notified his investment would be refunded because of a discrepancy in account names. But in what County Court Judge Martine Marich described as a significant accounting mistake, the staff member issuing the refund typed a bank account number into the funds box - transferring more than $10.4million into Manivel's bank account. Singh told his partner to transfer the large sum of cash from her Commonwealth Bank account to their shared bank account before the transaction could be reversed. Singh was on Tuesday sentenced to three years in prison over the theft of $6million spent in a flurry of 160 transactions ranging from $5,000 to more than $1million during 10 months. When the cryptocurrency platform realised the mistake - seven months later during an audit - it and the Commonwealth Bank attempted to contact the pair to recover the money. The pair ignored the companies' repeated attempts, believing it was a scam. Jatinder Singh (pictured at previous court appearance) was jailed for three years on Wednesday Singh's former partner Thevamanogari Manivel was jailed for 209 days last year after she was arrested attempting to board a flight to Malaysia with a one-way ticket By that time, they had already gone on a spending spree, including buying two properties and gifting $1million to a friend. Manivel made two separate transfers of $2million to a bank account in Malaysia. Another $1.2million was used to buy a luxury home in Craigieburn and a $56,000 deposit went on a home in Mickleham. Police allege Manivel lavished gifts on her daughters, giving $500,000 to one, $430,000 to another and $200,000 to a third daughter. Another $70,000 was used to buy her daughter in Melbourne a car and $1.2million gifted to one of Singh's mates to pay off his mortgage on a Mickleham property. The rest was allegedly blown on furniture, art and other luxury items. Singh was arrested and charged with theft in March 2022 when he told police in an interview he believed the money came from 'winning something' on the Crypto.com website. Judge Marich in her sentencing remarks noted Singh's cognitive challenges, including an 'extremely low' IQ, which reduced his ability to foresee the impacts of his actions. 'Cognitive limitations and challenges in navigating social rules weigh more heavily on you than it would for others,' she said. She accepted a psychologist's interpretation that Singh's offending was an 'opportunistic and poorly considered series of acts' associated with poor understanding of cryptocurrency trading, limitations to his problem solving and consideration of possible consequences. A difficult stint on remand, including racial bullying, exacerbated his deteriorating mental health including anxiety and depressive symptoms and suicide ideation. The impact of media coverage of his crimes left him feeling scared to leave his house, fearing his reputation would be harmed by the charge, Judge Marich told the court. '(You were afraid) of others in the Punjab community judging and gossiping about you and fear that your parents will learn of your offending,' she said. Indian national Jatinder Singh will be eligible for parole after two years after already serving 361 days in prison. Among the couple's purchases was this $1.95million home in Craigieburn The judge said he had very good prospects of rehabilitation. 'I can safely say that situation is unlikely to recur,' she said. 'You have not reoffended since being granted bail, a lack of priors and a pro-social lifestyle aside from this offending leads me to conclude that you present with a low risk of reoffending.' The judge acknowledged a conviction against his name would weigh against future visa applications. The Indian national will be eligible for parole after two years after already serving 361 days in prison. Singh's former partner and co-accused Manivel was jailed for 209 days in 2023 after she was arrested attempting to board a flight to Malaysia with a one-way ticket. Crypto.com launched civil proceedings against Singh but has declined to reveal how much it has been able to recover. For confidential 24-hour support call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636. After 'luck' saved Donald Trump from being 'murdered,' a top Democrat is demanding sweeping reforms to the Secret Service due to conspicuous failures. Since the near-assassination of Donald Trump and the murder of retired firefighter Corey Comperatore at a Butler, Pennsylvania, rally exactly one month ago, lawmakers are cracking the whip on the agency. Putting forward a tranche of Secret Service-related bills Tuesday on the one-month anniversary of the shooting, Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., wants to avoid another tragedy. Speaking exclusively with DailyMail.com, Torres torched the agency's performance, saying Trump was saved by 'luck' and 'not the skill of the Secret Service.' 'We cannot leave the security of a president or a presidential candidate the chance,' the Democrat said. Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., put forward several measures this week to streamline the Secret Service's responsibilities and ensure that its protective radius around politicians is drastically increased following Donald Trump getting shot a month ago by Thomas Matthew Crooks 'If the former president had moved even slightly, he would have been murdered. If the shooter had been a little more precise in his targeting, the former president would have been murdered,' Torres said bluntly. He said there are two main 'conspicuous failures' that need to be fixed in the aftermath of Trump's shooting. 'First, why on earth was the security perimeter narrower than the firing range of an AR-15, which is a common weapon in an assassination or in a mass shooting,' he said. 'Common sense would dictate that the security perimeter should be at least coextensive with the firing range of weapons most commonly employed in an assassination of mass shooting.' One of Torres's two measures revealed Tuesday demands that the agency establish a minimum 500-yard perimeter around protected politicians. If passed the 'AR-15 Perimeter Security Enhancement Act' would mandate the Secret Service Director to ensure that any security perimeter covers a radius of at least 500 yards. 'Second, why were the rooftops and the elevated positions within the firing range of an AR-15 not secured by the Secret Service?' Torres said. 'The rally was not held in a densely populated urban environment with 1000s of buildings and rooftops.' 'It was held in a rural environment that only had a few rooftops and a few elevated positions, and there was no excuse for not securing them, and you could secure them, not only with people, but with drone technology,' Torres told DailyMail.com. U.S. Secret Service agents and counter assault team react moments after shots were fired toward Republican presidential candidate former president Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, PA. Shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on the former president from within 160 yards, prompting critics to slam the agency for letting him get so close to Trump U.S. Secret Service agent on watch before Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris arrives at a campaign event in Eau Claire, Wisconsin on August 7 The bill would also require the director to ensure 'all elevated positions within the firing range' of an AR-15 rifle are secure. The impetus for the quarter-mile security radius, Torres says, is to prevent another shooter from getting in range of a protectee with an AR-15. Trump shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks used that same rifle to shoot Trump and several rally goers from roughly 150 yards away. The common high-powered rifle generally has an effective range up to 600 yards, less than the proposed radius in Torres's bill, but far more than the 150-yard range the Crooks was able to open fire from. 'It requires the Secret Service to establish a security perimeter, and it's every bit as extensive as the firing range of an AR-15, and it requires the Secret Service to secure every elevated position and every rooftop within the firing range of an AR-15.' Security analysts have bemoaned how Crooks, a 20-year-old high school graduate, was able to thwart Secret Service's many protective protocols, with one even saying how the shooter was in the 'perfect' location despite the agency's best efforts. The Secret Service began in 1865 to combat financial crimes related to counterfeiting, which was a major issue in post-war America. Then after the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901, the agency was given politician protective duties in addition to their financial work. Snipers stand on a roof at Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania In addition to introducing legislation to expand the protective radius, Torres announced a bill that will sever the Secret Service's financial crimes division. His 'Focus on Protection Act,' announced Tuesday would transfer the Secret Service's investigative jurisdiction over financial systems and payments to the Treasury Department. 'The Secret Service has too few resources and too many responsibilities,' Torres said, adding that the agency's financial responsibilities 'distract' from its 'core mission' of protecting politicians. 'The Secret Service is not only responsible for protecting the president and presidential candidates, it is also responsible for protecting the financial system, which is a relic of the 19th century. 'It seems to me that the Secret Service should be exclusively focused on the mission of protecting the president and presidential candidates.' The agency was created in 1865 to combat financial crimes related to counterfeiting - which was a major issue in post-war America. The Secret Service was initially set up within the Treasury Department. Then after the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901, the agency was given politician protective duties in addition to their financial work. After mainly focusing on protecting politicos in the ensuing century, the agency was transferred from the Treasury to the Department of Homeland Security in 2003. Torres's measure would force the Secret Service to hand over the financial crimes unit back to the Treasury Department within 180 days of passage. Former President Donald Trump is surrounded by Secret Service agents during a campaign event at Butler after getting shot A screen grab captured from a video shows the shooter Crooks was killed by the Secret Service, according to a source from the agency 'We want to shift the financial law enforcement function of the Secret Service to the Treasury Department, where it belongs,' Torres told DailyMail.com. 'The Treasury Department specializes in the financial system.' 'We should ask ourselves a simple question, do you want the Secret Service Director thinking about protecting the president 100 percent of the time, only 50 percent of the time.' 'I would prefer 100,' he added. Secret Service Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi told DailyMail.com: 'The U.S. Secret Service does not discuss proposed or pending legislation.' Though he did say 'The U.S. Secret Services investigative mission makes our protective operations stronger, and our agents are most successful when they are able to gain experience and learn from both missions.' Besides the two bills Torres introduced Tuesday, he also worked with New York Republican Rep. Mike Lawler to introduce a bill offering a Secret Service detail for independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The bipartisan measure was released the day after Trump's shooting on July 14. 'Last nights attempted assassination of former President Trump was a dark moment in our nations history,' they wrote, adding 'Its clear that more protection is needed for all major candidates for president.' Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attends a campaign rally at the Fox Theatre in Tucson, Arizona, U.S. February 5, 2024. President Biden directed his administration to provide Kennedy a detail after Trump's shooting The assassination attempt had raised concerns over the security of all presidential candidates, particularly Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who had up until July been refused Secret Service protection. However, the lawmakers were preempted by President Biden's administration, which directed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to 'provide protection to' RFK. The independent candidate later thanked the president for allowing him to finally receive a protective detail last month. A San Francisco woman is saying she is the victim of police brutality after she was violently thrown against a wall by police who accused her of jaywalking - resulting in a concussion and a separated shoulder among other injuries. Christiana Porter, 34, says she was wrongfully stopped while crossing the street in front of a police car in the Richmond District on July 29th. 'What did I do wrong? I'm just walking across the street,' Porter told local Fox affiliate KTVU on Monday. Video footage shows an officer driving against traffic to confront Porter, who was wearing headphones and apparently unaware that he was was trying to get her attention. After exiting his police car, the officer pushes Porter against a wall. A San Francisco woman is alleging police brutality after a violent arrest for jaywalking Christiana Porter (pictured), 34, says she was wrongfully stopped while crossing the street in front of a police car in the Richmond District on July 29th A bystander's video captures Porter screaming, 'I'm not resisting.' 'Honestly, as a Black woman, just trying to stay alive. I thought about my five kids, trying to make it home to my kids,' she said. More officers arrived on the scene with sirens blaring to assist the violent officer. 'I just don't trust them no more,' Porter said. 'I seriously don't trust them. I feel like they abuse and use their power and authority to brutalize and just torment and harass civilians.' Officer Josh McFall justified the use of force by claiming Porter was noncompliant, refusing to identify herself or keep her hands visible. He told a witness he felt compelled to act due to concerns about potential weapons concealed in Porter's pockets or purse. 'I didn't want it to go this way, but when people put me in that position, I don't have a choice,' McFall said to the witness. Porter sustained a concussion, separated shoulder, and nerve damage. She claims the officer ignored her statement that she was a domestic violence survivor, which only added to her trauma. 'I'm not a threat, I'm just trying to get my life back,' she said tearfully. 'When I told him I was a survivor, he was just, 'I don't care, this doesn't matter right now.'' Her attorneys argue that the officer violated department regulations by ticketing her for jaywalking without an immediate safety risk. They also criticize the disproportionate use of force for a minor offense, and question why Porter was on their radar given the epidemic of major crime in the city. Video footage shows an officer driving against traffic to confront Porter, who was wearing headphones and apparently unaware that he was was trying to get her attention After exiting his police car, the officer pushes Porter against a wall 'There are more serious crimes that should be addressed by the San Francisco Police Department, especially since they claim they're understaffed,' said attorney Lateef Gray. Attorney Treva Stewart suggested Officer McFall's actions were driven by personal anger rather than legitimate law enforcement concerns. She characterized the incident as an example of 'contempt of cop.' Assembly member Phil Ting's recent law decriminalizes jaywalking, except in cases posing a danger to pedestrians or drivers. "If there's something happening that puts the pedestrian or the driver at risk, that's when there should be a citation," Ting said. The incident has sparked outrage and renewed calls for police reform. This get-out-of-jail card was not enough for two inmates trying to fool officers at a prison in Brazil. Two male gang members disguised themselves as women as part of an attempt to walk out of the Professor Jose Sobreira de Amorim Prison Unit in Itaitinga on Sunday. Francisco da Silva and Carlos Oliveira took advantage of the visitation hours and traded in their prison garb for womens clothing while adding the subtle touch of fake breasts and wigs to complete the look. One of the men appeared in filtered images, posted on social media, sporting fake grey hair with a white t-shirt and a long pink skirt, standing alongside prisoners and visitors. One of the two male prisoners (seen here in the grey wig) who tried to disguise himself as a woman in a failed attempt to walk out with visitors from a prison in Itaitinga, Brazil on Sunday Cops prevented two prisoners dressed as women from fleeing the Professor Jose Sobreira de Amorim Prison Unit in Itaitinga, Brazil on Sunday during visitation hours Da Silva and Oliveira were just steps away from pulling off their stunt when they were spotted by the prison police. They were separated from the visitors and returned to their respective jail cells, the Ceara Secretariat of Penitentiary Administration and Reintegration said in a statement. Da Silva and Oliveira's rap sheets include arrests for murder, drug trafficking, robbery and criminal organization affiliation. The Ceara Civil Police is looking into whether anyone assisted them. Under Brazilian law, assisting or allowing inmates is considered a crime. A person who is convicted of participating in the escape of a prison can be sentenced six to two years in prison. A male prisoner (grey hair) seemed focus in an attempt to escape from a prison in Itaitinga, Brazil before he and another inmate were busted in women clothing with fake breasts The botched escape came just nine days after 22 inmates tried to flee from the Professor Jose Sobreira de Amorim Prison Unit just six miles down the road. The group was being led to their cell when they took three police officers hostage. One of the men grabbed one of the guards and placed him on a chokehold and threatened him a knife. They attempted to rush out of the prison, but were met with resistance and forced to retreat to their cells. One of the prisoners was shot and suffered a non-life-threatening wound. Relatives of the Oklahoma college girls who say they were drugged at a Mexican resort have revealed what they believe motivated the attack. Students Zara Hull and Kaylie Pitze were left in wheelchairs after drinking water at a poolside bar August 2 - and doctors think they were spiked with synthetic fentanyl. The duo had been on their dream vacation in Cancun with their boyfriends when the horror unfolded. Stephanie Snider, the mother of Hull's boyfriend Jake, said she believes they were spiked by people who wanted to harvest their organs or subject them to trafficking. 'We believe they were planning to take her away to be trafficked or perhaps even to take her organs (which is what we were later told is a common thing that is done),' Snider wrote in an emotional Facebook post. A terrifying photograph shows the moment two Oklahoma college students were potentially drugged at a swim-up bar in Cancun Zara Hull and Kaylie Pitze became dangerously sick on their dream vacation to Cancun Zara Hull's boyfriend, Jake Snider, rushed her to the hospital and remained by her side as staff reportedly demanded thousands of dollars 'They most likely would have done something to my son as well, possibly even death.' 'This is really hitting home tonight as I sit here and think about just one week ago today our worst nightmare started,' Snider said on Friday. 'This time last Friday night we were in constant contact with my son on the phone while his girlfriend was in the so-called ICU in a Mexico hospitalso sedated that she couldnt open her eyes or speak.' Snider said her son was not allowed to stay with Hull, 20, and they had to fork out $200 for him to stay in another hospital room that night. 'He was afraid to sleep or close his eyes for fear of someone coming in and doing something to him,' Snider said. 'He couldnt get in downstairs again to see Zara until the next morning. We sat in two different countries-praying all night for safety and health.' Hull initially could not breathe on her own and was put on a ventilator Hull says she now worries that she will never get better When Snider's son was eventually allowed to see Hull the next morning, she was on a ventilator and the ICU 'officials' were attempting to take her to a separate room for an MRI. He protested the move on the basis that he thought they intended to subject her to human trafficking or harvest her organs. Hull previously recalled the horrific experience during an interview with CBS News. 'We both got water and within two minutes, Jake had turned around and we both hit the bar, heads down at the same time,' she said. Hull said she experienced convulsions before passing out and becoming 'basically paralyzed.' Snider rushed her to the hospital and remained by her side as staff reportedly demanded thousands of dollars for treatment. 'They had increased the money they wanted. The baseline was $10,000 for them to even look at me,' Hull said. 'They were holding me captive. We're college students; we don't have the money they're asking for.' Meanwhile, she suffered from seizures throughout the night, and the doctors intubated her. The two Oklahoma college students were on a trip with their boyfriends 'The hospital was NOT treating her, they were pumping her full of so many drugs to keep her sedated,' Jake's mother previously wrote on Facebook. 'They intubated her and told Jake it was "sedation for the MRI," she continued. 'There was no reason to sedate her, let alone intubate her.' 'We knew we needed to get her back and to the US.' But hospital staff demanded even more money to release her, and the air ambulance to bring Hull back to the United States cost $26,000. A day after ingesting the suspicious beverage, the group secured a private plane to fly them to Dallas, where Hull remains in the hospital as doctors continue to work to determine what may have happened to her. She initially could not breathe on her own and was put on a ventilator. Doctors say they have not found anything wrong with Hull, even though she has experienced at least 18 convulsions. They say it is possible that the she was drugged. 'We think it was possibly synthetic fentanyl,' Hull told KFOR. She will require physical therapy to learn how to walk again. Kaylie did not end up in the hospital, but had a tough 24 hours after she was possibly drugged. Her boyfriend, Jake, had to pay $200 to stay in a room at the hospital overnight Hull's family friends said the hospital in Mexico kept her sedated Hospitals back in the United States refused to admit Hull because the Mexican hospital refused to send over the paperwork 'It's been three days now and she still doesn't feel back to herself,' Stephanie Snider said. 'Neither of the girls have any memory of what happened after they took that last drink, which happened to have been a glass of WATER.' The college students have declined to reveal the names of their hotel or hospital, fearing for their safety. The families have started several GoFundMe pages to ask for help covering the students' medical costs. Since returning to the U.S., Hull has made some progress, her family said. On Sunday, she was able to start breathing on her own and was taken off a ventilator, a family friend wrote in the online fundraiser for her medical expenses. 'She is awake and able to communicate with family and her health care team,' the update said. Then on Monday night, her family friend said she was able to get out of bed, and with help she was able to walk to the bathroom. Hull has since been moved out of the intensive care unit and is now in a neurology unit out of precaution. Pitze had a tough 24 hours after she was possibly drugged in Cancun Still, she says she is struggling - even as her friends came to visit her in the hospital. 'It's so scary because there's times I am like, 'Am I going to make it out of this?' she said. This is the shocking moment a man attempts to steal an old lady's handbag outside a five-star hotel in another example of lawless London. The brief incident took place in front of the famous Brown's Hotel, in Mayfair, London, where rooms cost upwards of 800 a night. On Friday 9 August, the woman is seen exiting the front of the grand establishment holding a black bag. Suddenly a man wearing a green coat, black jeans and white trainers attempted to wrestle the bag from her grasp, as reported by website Need To Know and shown in what appears to be CCTV filmed on another mobile phone. The thief approaches from the right towards the unsuspecting visitors He bends down as if pretending to help her across the road After it becomes clear his intentions are evil, he is grabbed by a younger woman and man Members of the public rushed to her aid, grabbing the thief and shielding the woman. Another man with his hood up, possibly an accomplice to the crime, jumps around ineffectually during the ruckus. Eventually, a larger man wrestles the criminal away, who drops the bag as he escapes, running off along with the man in blue. Members of the public were left disgusted by the incident but praised the strangers who jumped in to help, commenting online: 'Robbing the elderly is the lowest', 'Scum of the earth' and 'Well done that man who helped her.' Brown's Hotel was contacted for comment. Scotland Yard said they had no record of an incident taking place. The hotel, which was established in 1832, has been visited by the likes of Princess Diana and Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi during its illustrious history. The besuited man manages to wrestle him away The bag slips from the thief's hand as he sprints away along with a second man in blue The grand hotel sits in the heart of Mayfair It is currently owned by the famed Rocco Forte Hotels. Illustrating the troubling crime trend in the capital, billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe earlier this week said London is 'not safe' anymore and revealed that refuses to wear a watch in the capital because he is scared he will be mugged. Last year, Sir Jim witnessed someone being stabbed to death on CCTV outside his Knightsbridge office on Brompton Road over a Rolex watch. The 71-year-old billionaire told the Sunday Times: 'I can't wear a watch in London, and I just need to be a bit wary, a bit careful'. London's Labour mayor Sadiq Khan has been accused of losing control of crime in the city after data revealed it has surged since he became Mayor of London in 2016. An Israeli crowd led by hard-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir entered Jerusalem's most holy site today in a pilgrimage seen by Muslims as provocative. His visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound - known to Jews as Temple Mount - launches a fresh challenge to rules covering one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East - with tensions over the compound fuelling violence before. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned the visit - which took place on a Jewish holiday- as a 'provocative intrusion' that endangered the fragile status quo regarding the Jerusalem compound. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly denied there would be any change to rules that prohibit Jews from praying at the site, which is holy to both Muslims and Jews, and rebuked Ben-Gvir, the national security minister. 'There is no private policy of any minister on the Temple Mount - neither the Minister of National Security nor any other minister,' Netanyahu's office said in a statement. His remarks come at an especially sensitive time, with the war in Gaza at risk of escalating into a wider conflict, potentially drawing in Iran and its regional proxies. Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Tuesday An Israeli crowd led by hard-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir entered Jerusalem's most holy site today in a pilgrimage seen by Muslims as provocative (the site pictured on August 13) Approximately 1600 activist Jews, accompanied by Israeli police, enter the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Mosque compound Ben-Gvir, Israel's National Security Minister, visited the site as Jews marked Tisha B'Av, a day of mourning commemorating the destruction of the biblical Temples. It marks a day when a number of disasters in Jewish history occurred, primarily the destruction of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem in the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 587 BCE. The Al-Aqsa compound is revered by Jews as a vestige of their two ancient temples and is administered by a Jordanian religious foundation. But under rules dating back decades, although Jews are allowed to visit, they may not pray there. 'Our policy is to allow prayer,' Ben-Gvir said as he passed a line of Jewish visitors at the site earlier today. In video released by his office, Ben-Gvir was also seen strolling through the compound singing, 'The people of Israel live!' while accompanied by dozens of supporters. One supporter yelled a Jewish prayer, which is not permitted under the longstanding arrangement in place at the site meant to ease regional tensions. Ben-Gvir has said he is changing the policy and, despite previous assurances to the contrary by Netanyahu, he repeated this stance today. The security minister added that 'very large progress' had been made to allow Jewish prayer at the site. The Al-Aqsa compound is revered by Jews as a vestige of their two ancient temples and is administered by a Jordanian religious foundation Activist Jews, under the protection of Israeli forces, enter the Old City of East Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Tuesday The Al-Aqsa compound is revered by Jews as a vestige of their two ancient temples and is administered by a Jordanian religious foundation Under rules dating back decades, although Jews are allowed to visit, they may not pray there The Waqf, the foundation that administers the site, said some 2,250 Jews entered the site on Tuesday. The spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denounced Ben-Gvir's visit as a 'provocation' and called on the United States to intervene 'if it wants to prevent the region from exploding in an uncontrollable manner'. Ben-Gvir, head of one of the religious-nationalist parties in Netanyahu's right-wing coalition, has clashed repeatedly with other ministers over his calls to allow prayer at the compound. Moshe Gafni, head of United Torah Judaism, one of the religious parties in the government, criticized Ben-Gvir's visit to the compound, which many Orthodox Jews believe is too sacred a place for Jews to enter. 'The damage it causes to the Jewish people is unbearable, and it also causes unfounded hatred on the day of the destruction of the Temple,' he said in a statement. The spat between Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir has once again laid bare the divisions that have been a feature of the Israeli Prime Minister's coalition ever since it came to power at the end of 2022. Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits the Al-Aqsa compound on Tuesday Approximately 1600 activist Jews, accompanied by Israeli police, entered the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Mosque compound today The visit came as Jews marked Tisha B'Av, a day of mourning commemorating the destruction of the biblical Temples On Monday, Netanyahu reprimanded Gallant after the minister was quoted in the Israeli press dismissing as 'nonsense' Netanyahu's often repeated aim of 'total victory' in the war with Hamas. Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, head of another religious-nationalist party, have clashed repeatedly with Gallant over issues ranging from the conduct of the war in Gaza to policy regarding the occupied West Bank and moves to curb the power of the courts. So far, however, electoral calculations have kept the coalition together, while Gallant has been determined to remain in government to act as a counterweight to the nationalist religious bloc. On Tuesday, Ben-Gvir repeated his call for final victory in Gaza, saying the aim of the war should be to defeat Hamas, and 'bring them to their knees'. A woman accused of buying eggs and water for rioters to throw at police outside a hotel housing asylum seekers has been remanded into custody. Barbara Barker, 52, of Tyndall Avenue, Manchester, pleaded not guilty to violent disorder at Manchester Magistrates' Court on Tuesday afternoon. Prosecutor Suzanne Ludlow alleged Barker was a 'willing participant in the disorder' and 'aided and abetted the riots' by buying eggs and water from a nearby shop for protesters on July 31. Defending, John Black told the court Barker went to the area because she was 'nosey' and was not present when 'violence occurred'. Mr Black said Barker had 'no reason' to believe the eggs she purchased would be 'used in any unlawful purpose'. Barker was remanded into custody and will appear at Manchester Crown Court on September 3 for a plea and trial preparation hearing. Elsewhere, a teenage father who threw 'flaming arrows' at police during a riot in Rotherham has been jailed after giving himself up and admitting he would not be seeing his daughter again. Barbara Barker is accused of buying eggs and water for rioters to throw at police outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Manchester (pictured) Violent disorder broke outside the Holiday Inn on Oldham Road in Newton Heath on July 31 Riot police were called after violence erupted outside a Manchester hotel housing asylum seekers Drew Jarvis, 19, was sentenced to three years behind bars after being caught on TikTok throwing a brick at police guarding the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham on Sunday last week. Sheffield Crown Court saw footage filmed from an upstairs window of the hotel, in which Jarvis - wearing a blue Adidas hoodie and face mask - was recorded throwing a plank of wood at the hotel around midday. Later on Jarvis, said to be 'at the fore' of about a dozen violent individuals, was shown throwing a brick at police officers - then at 5.40pm he was videoed lighting arrows and launching them at the police line. Elsewhere, in the latest example of the courts' crackdown following the recent disturbances across the country, a woman accused of buying eggs and water for rioters was remanded into custody. When sentencing Jarvis, Recorder of Sheffield Judge Jeremy Richardson today said the conduct of him and the mob was 'vile towards the occupants of the hotel and the police'. He added: 'You were desirous of provoking both. You were desirous of spreading hate.' Prosecutor Neil Coxon told the court that Jarvis handed himself in to Wombwell Police Station last Thursday and pleaded guilty at Sheffield Magistrates' Court to violent disorder. Jarvis said: 'I got in with the wrong crowd. I don't know what I did it.' Drew Jarvis, 19, was sentenced to three years behind bars after being caught on TikTok throwing a brick at police guarding the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham on Sunday last week A police officer is seen trying to extinguish flames after a mob set a wheelie bin alight at the Holiday Inn Express hotel in Rotherham which was housing asylum seekers Drew Jarvis was said to be 'at the fore' of about a dozen violent individuals at the Rotherham riot - seen here being responded to by police at the Holiday Inn Express on August 4 He claimed he was drunk at the time, adding: 'I'm f***ed and I'm not going to be able to see my daughter again.' The court heard the mob was shouting 'We are England', but Jarvis claimed he was not chanting - though does believe the asylum seekers would be better off in their own countries. Jarvis, who was visibly shaking in his chair via a video link from HMP Doncaster for sentencing, has an eight-month-old child and has not worked since he left school aged 16 with no qualifications. In one video a fire alarm was heard, alerting hotel residents to evacuate by the nearest exit. Judge Richardson noted: 'Anybody in that hotel would be terrified. The incidents in which you were involved was part of wider national civil unrest. 'It was racist in character and extremely frightening for anyone who was there. You were part of this mob of ignorant and violent individuals.' Anti-migration protesters are seen attempting to enter the Holiday Inn Express Hotel in Rotherham, housing asylum seekers, on August 4 Objects were thrown at the hotel as trouble during an anti-immigration protest outside the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham Pictures taken the morning after the disorder in Rotherham showed some of the damage done A police cordon remained in place last Wednesday, three days after the Rotherham riot The judge sentenced Jarvis to three years in a young offenders' institution and handed him a 10-year criminal behaviour order. Meanwhile, a thug draped in a St George's flag who kicked out at riot police and smashed trollies into officers was convicted over the violence on Britain's streets. John Kirtley, 26, of Sunderland, was caught on camera as violence erupted when far-right demonstrations turned to chaos. Today the thug admitted violent disorder in connection with his role in the protests, with dramatic footage showing Kirtley forcefully hurling trolleys at officers. The rioter was caught on camera throwing bricks and a beer keg towards police officers who were protecting a mosque, South Tyneside Magistrates' Court heard. He also shouted 'England till I die' as he waved a flare. A 13-year-old girl became the youngest known female rioter to be convicted today following anti-immigration protests following the Southport stabbings. The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted violent disorder in Aldershot outside a hotel two days after the attack in Merseyside - having punched and kicked the entrance to the building. John Kirtley, 26, was caught on camera violently pushing shopping trolleys at officers Kirtley has been convicted of violent disorder at South Tyneside Magistrates court Footage shows Kirtley kicking out at frontline officers during the chaos Accompanied by her mother and step-father, the court heard she would be looking at two years in jail if she were an adult. Today, in the youth court at Basingstoke Magistrates' Court, Hants, the nervous-looking girl from Aldershot fidgeted in her chair as she was spoken to. She spoke quietly and only did so to confirm her name, address and plead guilty to violent disorder. The court heard the offence took place during a protest at Potters International Hotel in Aldershot on July 31. The teenager admitted 'using or threatening unlawful violence' when present together with others which 'would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his or her personal safety'. Prosecutor Kerry Richardson told the court that if the girl had been an adult, she would be looking at two years in custody due to the 'serious nature' of events. District Judge Tim Pattinson warned her she would be committing an offence if she did not attend the next court hearing and ordered her to 'cooperate' with probation. She was granted unconditional bail ahead of being sentenced on September 30. Thomas Power, a Senior Crown Prosecutor with CPS Wessex, said after today's hearing: 'This alarming incident will have caused genuine fear amongst people who were being targeted by these thugs and it is particularly distressing to learn that such a young girl participated in this violent disorder. Today Kirtley admitted violent disorder in connection with his role in the protests, with dramatic footage showing Kirtley forcefully hurling trolleys at officers Protesters are seen outside Potters International Hotel in Aldershot on August 4 The crowds gathered as part of what were described as 'Enough Is Enough' demonstrations 'Large scale public unrest is never acceptable and the Crown Prosecution Service will not hesitate to respond swiftly and robustly to uphold law and order. 'We will continue working with our partners in policing and the wider criminal justice system to make sure those who bring violence and panic to our communities face the consequences of their actions.' Five men also appeared in court charged with using or threatening unlawful violence following a protest at the Aldershot hotel housing asylum seekers. Kieron Marney, 25, of Ash, Clive Patfield, 60, of Farnham, Alby Brannan, 18, of Ash, Jamie Lee Turvey, 34, of Farnborough, and Cameron Bowling, 40, of Farnborough, gave no indication of plea to the alleged offence on July 31 at Basingstoke Magistrates' Court on Tuesday. District Judge Tim Pattinson said their cases were too serious to be dealt with at magistrates' court and they would next appear at Winchester Crown Court on September 4. They were granted bail with conditions not to attend or loiter at any accommodation occupied by asylum seekers and not to go to Potters International Hotel or its grounds. Elsewhere, a man who looted cosmetics chain Lush during riots in Hull has pleaded guilty to violent disorder, burglary and racially aggravated criminal damage. John Honey, 25, admitted three charges of burglary at Lush, the O2 store and Shoezone in the city on August 3. Kieron Marney, 25, is pictured outside Basingstoke Magistrates Court in Hampshire after appearing charged with using or threatening unlawful violence following a protest Alby Brannan, 18, also appeared at the court and likewise made no indication of plea Fellow defendant Jamie Lee Turvey, 34, outside Basingstoke Magistrates Court today He also pleaded guilty to the racially aggravated criminal damage of a BMW and damaging nine other cars. Judge John Thackray KC, the Recorder of Hull, said he hoped to be able to sentence Honey later on Tuesday. Jack Fowler, 24, of Beaumont Terrace, Newcastle, also admitted the charge at the same court as Kirtley. Both will be sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court later this month. Police say the pair were identified when images and footage of the disorder were shared with police, which included shocking scenes of Kirtley kicking out at frontline officers. After officers issued a public appeal to locate Kirtley he handed himself in at Southwick Police Station on Sunday. Meanwhile James Aspin, 34, of Briardale Road, Blyth, appeared at South East Northumberland Magistrates' Court in Bedlington yesterday, charged with one count of distributing a recording to stir religious hatred. Aspin pleaded guilty to the offence and was remanded in custody, he will appear at Newcastle Crown Court on Monday, August 19 for sentencing. Police were made aware of content posted by Aspin last Friday gaining traction on TikTok, making hateful and threatening comments. He was arrested in the early hours of the Saturday morning, after being recognised by officers. Honey is seen outside a Lush store in Hull on August 3 John Honey, 25, admitted three charges of burglary at Lush, the O2 store and Shoezone in Hull on August 3 Jack Fowler, 24, who has been convicted of violent disorder at South Tyneside Magistrates court Det Chief Insp Graeme Barr, of Northumbria Police's Major Investigations Team, said: 'We are continuing to see great results following the persistent efforts of our officers. 'Our net is tightening all the time as we trawl through hundreds of hours of footage and intelligence to find those who have played any part in the region's recent disorder. 'The behaviour demonstrated by these men is certainly not welcome in our communities - and we will continue to do everything in our power to ensure they are held accountable. 'Over the past week, we have seen a great show of community togetherness and the support for the Force has been truly heartwarming. 'We will continue to engage with communities to offer reassurance and gather intelligence to support our enquiries - and we welcome anyone who thinks they have anything useful to share to come forward.' Meanwhile, four men - including one described as the 'least involved' a judge has seen - have been jailed for violent disorder during an anti-immigration protest in Plymouth. Gary Harkness, 51, of North West Road, John Cann, 51, of Patna Place, Ryan Bailey, 41, of no fixed address, and Amer Walid, 24, of Central Park Towers, were sentenced at Plymouth Crown Court on Tuesday. Cann, Bailey and Harkness were handed three-year, 30-month and 12-month sentences respectively, while Walid, a counter-protester, was jailed for 20 months. All four previously pleaded guilty at magistrates' court on Monday. Gary Harkness, 51, was sentenced at Plymouth Crown Court on Tuesday and given 12 months for violent disorder during an anti-immigration protest in Plymouth Amer Walid, 24, was sentenced at Plymouth Crown Court on Tuesday for 20 months for violent disorder as a counter-protester Plymouth Crown Court today sentenced John Cann, 51, for three years for violent disorder during an anti-immigration protest in Plymouth The same court gave Ryan Bailey, 41, 30 months for violent disorder during an anti-immigration protest in Plymouth Harkness was described by Judge Robert Linford as being the 'least involved' in terms of 'direct violence' to come before him. Handing out his sentence, Judge Linford said: 'Of the people I have thus far sentenced you are the person who provides me with the most difficulty because it cannot be levelled at you that you hit anyone, neither have you thrown anything, neither is it said that you spat at anybody. 'But it is accepted by you that you were a party to this disorder and I have to sentence you on the basis, and you also know that anyone party to it has to receive a custodial sentence.' He added: 'On August 5 this city was blighted by widespread disorder that was centred on the Royal Parade - there was one faction on one side and one faction on the other. 'You didn't attend this evening, I'm satisfied, with the intention of starting or being involved in any trouble. 'You didn't align yourself with either faction, but you became involved and as a consequence of that you have now pleaded guilty to violent disorder. 'Your plea accepts that you threatened unlawful violence and your conduct could lead people to fear for their safety.' Harkness, who admitted having drunk heavily that day, was seen making lewd gestures and swearing during the evening and at another point pushes or is pushed by a police officer. At one point in the trial, after watching body-worn camera footage from the event, the judge halted the hearing, seeming frustrated that Harkness was before him. The case was adjourned while the judge spoke to the prosecution's Lewis Aldous. Following the adjournment, Mr Aldous told the court that Harkness had effectively encouraged the disorder. Police officers with dogs intervene after far-right protesters crossed to the side of anti-racism activists and clashed with the police at Guildhall Square in Plymouth on August 5 Police officers were seen detaining some far-right protesters after they tried to cross to the side of the opposing group in Plymouth on August 5 The court also heard that Cann and Bailey had been involved in the far-right protest on August 5, while Walid had attended a counter-protest on the opposite side of the police barricade. Video was shown to the court of Cann on a bike, launching a firework or flare towards the counter-protesters, as well as picking up objects from the floor and throwing them. Mr Aldous told the court that Cann told police he thought the protest would 'kick off' because 'an immigrant had killed some girls' but insisted he was not racist. Bailey was seen throwing a can and heard chanting along with others, saying: 'Immigrants not welcome here'. Walid was seen throwing cans on four occasions back at the far-right side of the protest and surrounded by placards saying 'Love not hate'. Sentencing Walid, Judge Linford accepted he had not entered the city 'looking for trouble' and that protesters had been throwing missiles and making 'deeply offensive racist chants'. Republican strategists have a stark warning for Donald Trump and his campaign regarding effectively attacking his political foe Kamala Harris. The GOP presidential nominee has struggled to stake out a clear line of attack against Harris after the shake-up at the top of the Democratic presidential ticket. He recently caused controversy when claiming he 'didn't know' that Harris is black and has also focused on comparing her crowd sizes to his own at campaign rallies. His top allies have told him he needs to focus on Kamala Harris' record as vice president, and ignore the other nonsense, in order to bring her down in November. Trump joined X's Elon Musk for a rambling interview on Monday night where the pair discussed a variety of topics, but strategists believe it did little to change minds in a close race with just months to go before Election Day. 'Every day that Trump doesn't spend in a battleground state, defining Kamala Harris on issues like the economy and border security, is a lost day,' said Republican strategist Kevin Madden, who worked on the Mitt Romney presidential campaign. 'The key to winning swing voters right now is to persuade them with a message focused on the economy and be relentless about it,' he added. Former President Trump held a rally in Bozeman, MT on August 9. It was his only stop on the campaign trail last week. He will head to North Carolina on Wednesday and Pennsylvania on Friday The latest polls show that Harris has wiped out Trump's lead from when he was running against President Joe Biden. The Real Clear Politics average has Harris up in a head-to-head matchup by just over one point - a statistical tie. Recent polls out of battleground states also showed Harris closing the gap and in some states leading the ex-president as she ramps up her ground campaign. But Trump has been largely off the campaign trail over the last two weeks. On Friday, he traveled to Montana for a rally. The state is considered a safe red state, not a battleground. On Wednesday, he will return to North Carolina, a swing state he won in 2016 and 2020. He will also head to Pennsylvania to campaign on Saturday ahead of the Democratic National Convention next week in Chicago. Former President Donald Trump joined Elon Musk for an interview on X that went for two hours after a late start due to tech issues. Musk is a supporter of the GOP presidential nominee GOP consultant Mike Madrid suggested Trump is running out of time to turn things around. The anti-Trump Republican strategist shared his views in a post on X. 'Trump has two essential objectives to get back into a stronger position: 1. He has to define Kamala and theyre losing that battle. The window is closing. 2. He has to redefine himself. Good luck,' he wrote. Madrid said if Harris goes into her convention next week with continuing positives and momentum, it is going to be 'really tough' for Trump to turn it around. 'Public opinion will start to cement in place,' he wrote. While not on the trail, the 78-year-old Republican presidential nominee has taken to social media for a series of posts as well as online interviews like the one he did on X with Musk on Monday. His interview with the tech billionaire lasted for two hours with the ex-president going off over crowd sizes, immigration, crime and repeated his false claims about the 2020 election. Trump also went after Harris as 'a radical left lunatic' and 'third rate' while praising her looks from a new Time magazine cover, comparing her to his wife Melania Trump. Kamala Harris is headed to North Carolina for a policy speech on Friday before Democrats head to Chicago for the Democratic National Convention next week in Chicago 'Unfortunately, if you were somebody who tuned in and maybe were on the fence or if you were just somebody that was curious to hear what he had to say, but you've already made up your mind, I don't think really it changed too many minds,' said Amy Tarkanian, a Republican strategist and former GOP Nevada state chairman in an interview in CNBC. She suggested the one positive for the Trump campaign was the two free hours of advertising as more than one million people tuned in to listen. But Tarkanian noted that Harris is leading among women voters and young voters. She suggested some of Trump's running mate J.D. Vance's comments have also not helped with the Trump ticket there, so the former president has an 'uphill battle.' 'Whether if you agree with Vice President Harris' policies and stances or not, unfortunately what we're now dealing with are you're going to have voters who are going to rely heavily upon either single issues like abortion, or you're going to have voters who are more concerned about how do you make me feel, and it's going to be an emotional vote,' she said. Tarkanian said Trump is not exuding things that make people feel good such as hope and joy. 'He's still coming across as somebody who is angry,' she argued. Bec Judd's war against youth crime has continued with a renewed public plea to get repeat offenders off the streets. The former AFL WAG and influencer has cautiously welcomed Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan's plans to overhaul the state's bail laws as Melbourne's youth crime crisis escalates. On Tuesday, the Premier backflipped on a previous government promise to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 while vowing to implement 'tougher consequences for repeat and serious youth offenders'. Judd, a self-appointed crime fighter in her affluent suburb of Brighton, welcomed the amendments. But she believes more needs to be done to ensure Victorians feel more safe. 'This is a start,' she told her 750,000 Instagram followers. She pointed out that 'three innocent lives' had allegedly been lost to 'out of control teens' in the last 12 months. 'Never have Victorians felt so unsafe in their own homes. Violent, repeat offenders must be off the streets. Let's see how these changes go,' she added. Bec Judd (pictured) has continued her one-woman war on youth crime The AFL WAG weighed in on the Victorian government's plans to beef up bail laws It's not the first time Judd has made her feelings known about youth crime. Earlier this month, Judd expressed her anger that one of the youths allegedly involved in the kidnapping of teenager Benjamin Phikhohpoom in Melbourne that left him with permanent brain damage had walked free despite pleading guilty. 'Victoria, this is not OK but sadly just another case of a violent offender let off because our laws are weak,' Judd wrote on social media. She also recently slammed Melbourne as 'woke, broke and violent' after residents were encouraged to put Apple AirTags in their cars amid a crimewave in the city. 'I can't believe we are living like this,' Judd wrote online. She also took aim at the Victorian authorities after a teenager charged over a fatal car crash last month allegedly skipped bail. Judd has also in recent months responded to multiple reports of youth running amok in Melbourne and reacted the news of a violent home invasion that left a homeowner in hospital from the upmarket suburb of Beaumaris, a stone's throw from Judd's $7.3million Brighton mansion. Premier Jacinta Allan has unveiled the government's plans to overhaul the state's bail laws The amended government legislation will still raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12. Under former premier Daniel Andrews, the government pledged in 2023 to lift the age to 14 by 2027, with exceptions for serious offences such as murder and terrorism. But following a series of prominent incidents involving youth offenders, including two fatal car crashes in the past two months, Ms Allan said it would remain at 12 years. 'This decision has been made at a different time by a different government with a different premier,' Premier Allan told reporters. No children under 14 are incarcerated in Victoria and the premier said passing the youth justice bill would keep it that way. Her government will move amendments to the bill this week, including changes to the Bail Act so people will be kept on remand if they pose an 'unacceptable risk' of committing offences such as aggravated burglary, carjacking, dangerous driving or family violence. It will also be made an offence for adults and children to commit a serious offence while on bail. Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes argued the new offence was different from the one of committing an indictable offence while on bail that was repealed in March. 'It was remanding vulnerable cohorts,' she said. 'What we're bringing back is an offence for committing high-end serious harm.' Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton welcomed the targeting of dangerous driving, aggravated burglary, home invasion and armed robbery. A beloved street cleaner has said he is 'over the moon' to have 'won' his dream holiday to Portugal, after bosses initially refused to let him accept a 3,000 gift from his local community. Neighbours in Beckenham, south-east London, cobbled together more than 3,000 to send Elvis-loving Paul Spiers, 63, on a well-earned break after he captured their hearts by tidying up the roads, often playing music as he did so. But in a cruel twist, his employer waste firm Veolia banned the 'adored' cleaner from accepting the gift, claiming its strict rules prohibit staff from taking monetary gifts or incentives beyond their regular salary. The company instead offered to match the sum raised and donate it to a charity of his choice, while locals suggested bosses had also appeared to give Paul a new cap to wear while going about his work. Just 24 hours after the debacle went viral, MailOnline revealed that Paul had won a dream trip to Portugal following an 'extremely specific' competition run by package holiday company, OnTheBeach. Now, Paul has told MailOnline that he is excited to be taking his dream Portugal holiday after all, saying it's 'absolutely brilliant'. And there's no one thing he's most excited about, he said: 'Everything, the drinks, the beach, the coffees. Everything.' Paul Spiers pictured today with his friend and the organiser of the fundraiser: Lisa-Marie Knight Paul Spiers, who turned 63 last week, has been cleaning the streets of Beckenham since 2017 Paul (left) has only been abroad once, to Portugal, and has dreamed of going back ever since WE NEED YOU To help us to find our competition winner who has snapped up a 3000 holiday to Portugal! Not-specific competition terms & conditions below: pic.twitter.com/mASQcbNBwk On the Beach (@OntheBeachUK) August 13, 2024 Paul will be heading on the trip with a special travel buddy, he said: 'My brother Dave'. The well-loved streetsweeper added: 'I didn't realise I was that well-liked. I just come down, do my job and I just started playing music after about three months. 'It just made everyone happy, especially Lisa, so I carried on.' The Elvis fan also thanked OnTheBeach, he said: 'I'm just happy that they've given me that chance to win the holiday. 'I forgot all about it, that I'd entered and put it to one side. And then they got in contact with Lisa and here we are.' OnTheBeach said the winner of its spontaneously-produced contest 'must love Elvis, be between the ages of 62 and 64, have a surname of Spiers, be a street cleaner in Beckenham and be loved by your local community'. Veolia told MailOnline today it had 'no objection to him accepting his win'. Zoe Harris, chief customer officer at On the Beach, said: 'Congratulations Paul. Who would have thought that just a day after he was denied a holiday, he would win one in a competition! What are the odds? 'We're all for the fundraised money going to charity, but everyone deserves a holiday, it's one of those moments that we dream of all year round. Paul said he didn't realise he was that well-liked by the local community Paul and his friend Lisa-Marie in Beckenham today Beckenham clean streets (pictured yesterday) which Paul has been working on for the last seven years The gofundme page has raised almost 3,000 for Paul through kind donations from people in the community (pictured Monday) Beckenham town centre pictured yesterday, where Paul is regularly seen cleaning by locals 'We know how much Paul dreamed of going to Portugal again and so for him to win the competition is fantastic.' Paul has only been abroad once to Portugal and dreamed of visiting again, leading to his neighbours to set up the fundraiser. But instead the waste firm said the cash would go to a charity of his choice, sparking outrage from members of the public who called the decision 'absolutely senseless' and 'vile'. Residents also said he appeared to be wearing a new company cap. Ms Harris, continued: 'Our holidays to Portugal start from as little as 199pp so we can't wait to see how far the voucher will take Paul, we hope that he has the holiday of a lifetime, a well-deserved one too!' Paul is encouraged to contact On the Beach directly to claim his holiday voucher, where colleagues will help book him his dream jolly. A Veolia spokesperson said: 'We understand that Paul has won a competition and we can confirm that we have no objection to him accepting his win. 'We are very grateful for the support and recognition shown by the community to Paul, who alongside a hardworking street cleansing team, does a fantastic job keeping Bromley's streets clean. Paul is 'adored by all' in the local community, according to his friend Lisa Knight, who hailed him for 'lifting everyone's spirits' with his 'positive presence' Paul and Lisa (pictured) became friends over their shared love for Elvis Presley 'Our position regarding the funds raised by the community has not changed and the decision about what happens to that money is a matter for the fundraiser. 'Veolia has matched the amount raised as of Friday 9th August and this will be donated to Cancer Research, a charity close to Paul's heart.' The GoFundMe page had been created by Mr Spiers' friend Lisa Knight who hailed the cleaner for 'lifting everyone's spirits' with his 'positive presence'. She wrote on the donation site; 'As an integral part of our Beckenham village, Paul is adored by all. 'Giving him this incredible gift would be a heartfelt way to show our appreciation for everything he does. Let's come together to make this dream happen for someone who truly deserves it.' The pair became friends over their shared love of Elvis Presley. Beckenham High Street at Thornton's Corner (pictured) This week she wrote: 'Unfortunately, we have received news that Paul is unable to accept the donations due to restrictions set by his employer, Veolia, in accordance with their contract with Bromley Council. These rules prohibit staff from accepting any monetary gifts or incentives beyond their regular salary. 'We're deeply disappointed that this decision prevents Paul from enjoying this well-deserved holiday as a recognition for all of his hard work for the Beckenham community. 'We have expressed our disappointment to both the council and Veolia and intend to continue to push on this, but please be rest assured, if we are unsuccessful in doing so you will all be refunded. 'Once again, thank you for your incredible support and for being part of this fundraiser.' A Veolia spokesperson said yesterday: 'We are truly grateful for the support and recognition shown by the community to Paul, who alongside a hardworking street cleansing team, does a fantastic job keeping Bromley's streets clean. 'We are always happy to hear from members of the public who want to recognise our teams. Unfortunately on this occasion, we were not made aware of the fundraising and were therefore unable to work together to find the most appropriate way to recognise Paul. 'Our contract with Bromley Council does not permit our staff to accept any monies or incentives outside of agreed pay structures. We have agreed with Paul that we will match the amount raised as of Friday 9th August to be donated to a charity of his choice. Beckenham High Street (pictured) where Paul can be found working and playing music as he goes 'Veolia has a number of recognition schemes across the UK that reward our colleagues for exceptional services to the community and Paul will be the recipient of Bromley's Employee of the Quarter - an internal financial reward to recognise his hard work and dedication.' Liam Conlon, MP for Beckenham and Penge wrote a letter to the leader of Bromley Council yesterday to ask what action can be taken to support Paul. He wrote: Paul has worked for Bromley Council through a contractor for years, keeping our streets clean and ensuring Beckenham is a great place to live. It is a sign of how highly Paul's hard work is valued by residents and local businesses that so many people have generously contributed to the fundraising effort. 'Like many, however, I am very disappointed to learn that the contractor, Veolia, has told Paul he cannot accept this gift due to conditions in its contract with Bromley Council. He added: 'I hope you will be able to take a common-sense approach: to find a solution which maintains the council's high ethical standards, whilst allowing Paul to enjoy the holiday we all want him to have.' Social media users had also been left outraged by the news. They wrote on the Beckenham Appreciation Facebook group to express their anger. One person wrote: 'Gift it to him, you purchase it and add his name. The world has bloody gone mad!!!' Another said: 'How on earth can his employer stop him from receiving a gift from the community? The donated money isn't a 'bonus' or a 'tip' it's a gift totally separate from him work. What the hell am I reading? 'This also implies you couldn't even give him a pat on the back at Christmas and give him a fiver for a pint? God I hate these vile corporations.' Liam Conlon, MP for Beckenham and Penge wrote a letter to the leader of Bromley Council yesterday to ask what action could be taken to support Paul 'There is NO WAY the money can be given to a charity when it was meant for Paul, he HAS to get that holiday. It would just be the worst thing if he didn't go now. Veolia needs to review their utterly senseless decision,' said another. Another person added: 'If he's retiring soon can the gift be given to him after he retires? Then he has no obligations to Veolia.' Bromley Council have been contacted by MailOnline for comment. It was reported by Unite the Union that nearly 100 refuse workers employed by Veolia in Sheffield were taking strike action last month. Workers were reportedly furious that their employer was 'refusing to allow collective bargaining agreements' with Unite despite the membership of the union representing around 80% of the depot's workforce. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said at the time: 'It is absurd that a union representing 80 per cent of a workforce is blocked from making collective bargaining arrangements by an employer, especially one it has national agreements with up and down the country. 'Our members are rightly angry at such game-playing and having exhausted all negotiations are taking to the picket line to state their case. Unite will be backing them one hundred per cent of the way.' Ms Graham said at the time: 'The spirit of Scrooge is alive and kicking this Christmas. Veolia is an incredibly wealthy company. Its workers are already poorly paid but somehow it thinks it is acceptable to offer them just a few pence extra, during the worst cost of living crisis in a generation. 'Unite is entirely committed to defending and enhancing the jobs, pay and conditions of its members and the workers at Veolia will receive the union's complete support.' A California woman was found mauled to death by a pack of 25 Great Danes while she was on a walk in a popular hiking area. Davina Corbin, 56, was discovered covered in numerous bite marks and injuries near the Blackhawk Trail in Feather Falls by officials at around 2am last week. After analyzing the autopsy, it was revealed that the cause of Corbin's death was the result of a domestic dog attack. Lab analysis results showed that the victim's clothes were covered in DNA consistent with domestic dogs. Davina Corbin, 56, found mauled to death by a pack of 25 Great Danes while she was on a walk in a popular hiking area Neighbors later also said that she lived in the area, did not have a car and had often been spotted walking on the trail near Craig Access. Based on these revelations, Butte County deputies began searching a residence near to where Corbin was found and soon discovered around 25 Great Dane dogs that were loose in the area. According to an official press release, authorities spent the entire day capturing the dogs and were able to turn 23 of them over to Animal Control. Detectives are still trying to capture the remaining two. According to an official press release, authorities spent the entire day capturing the dogs and were able to turn 23 of them over to Animal Control Max Hecker, who lives in the neighborhood, revealed that him and the other neighbors have complained to Butte County Animal Control multiple times in the past about the pack but this is the first time any action has been taken Max Hecker, who lives in the neighborhood, said has had more than one run-in with the pack of Great Danes in the last two years - out of which, sometimes they have tried to attack him 'The Great Danes, they come across the road here at me. I jumped in the car and left. 'This road would be solid tracks of the dogs, and they'd be out here in the road, and you would have to wade through 'em',' he said. He also revealed that him and the other neighbors have complained to Butte County Animal Control multiple times in the past about the pack but this is the first time any action has been taken. Corbin's body was found covered in bite marks and injuries near the Blackhawk Trail in Feather Falls 'What I'm saying is animal control is just as much at fault about that death as them dogs. They didn't do anything about any of this. 'This is what I'm mad about; that lady should have never died,' Hecker told KCRA. Great Danes, a German breed of large mastiff-sighthound, tower over a majority of other dogs and when standing on their hind legs, they are taller than most people. Despite the fatal mauling in California, they're generally considered 'gentle giants' who are docile and friendly towards humans. A father has lost his four-day-old twins, his wife and mother-in-law in an Israeli airstrike as he went to get the twins' birth certificates. Mohammed Abu al Qumsan's newborn twins - a boy, Asser, and a girl, Ayssel - were born over the weekend and were just four days old when they were killed in the strike on their home near the central city of Deir al-Balah. His wife, Joumana Arafa, a pharmacist, had given birth by Cesarean section and announced the twins' arrival on Facebook. She and her mother, Abu al Qumsan's mother-in-law, were also killed in the airstrike. On Tuesday, Abu al Qumsan had gone to register the births at a local government office. While he was there, neighbors called to say the home where he was sheltering with his family had been bombed. 'I don't know what happened,' he said. 'I am told it was a shell that hit the house.' Footage shoes the hysterical father being consoled by others at the hospital as he is holding up the twins' birth certificates in tears. Mohammed Abu al-Qumsan cries and mourns as he shows the birth certificates of his twins after he learnt the news that his wife, 4-day-old twins babies and mother-in-law had died following Israeli attacks at the morgue of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al Balah, Gaza on August 13 This picture was shared widely on social media purportedly showing the twins shortly after they were born Footage shoes the hysterical father being consoled by others at the hospital Abu al Qumsan and his wife had heeded orders to evacuate Gaza City in the opening weeks of the war and went further south, where they sought shelter in central Gaza, as the army had instructed. More than 10 months into its war with Hamas, Israel's relentless bombardment of the isolated territory has wiped out extended families. It has left parents without children and children without parents, brothers or sisters. And some of the sole survivors are so young they will have no memory of those they lost. Reem Abu Hayyah, just three months old, was the only member of her family to survive an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip late Monday. The Israeli strike destroyed a home near the southern city of Khan Younis, killing 10 people. The dead included Abu Hayyah's parents and five siblings, ranging in age from 5 to 12, as well as the parents of three other children. All four children were wounded in the strike. 'There is no one left except this baby,' said her aunt, Soad Abu Hayyah. 'Since this morning, we have been trying to feed her formula, but she does not accept it, because she is used to her mother's milk.' The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strikes. The military says it tries to avoid harming Palestinian civilians and blames their deaths on Hamas because the militants operate in dense residential areas, sometimes sheltering in and launching attacks from homes, schools, mosques and other civilian buildings. But the army rarely comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children. Gaza's Health Ministry says nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, without saying how many were fighters. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 in the October 7 attack into southern Israel that ignited the war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has often said that 'they killed parents in front of their children and children in front of their parents' to illustrate the brutality of the attack, most recently in his address to the U.S. Congress last month. His wife, Joumana Arafa, a pharmacist, had given birth by Cesarean section and announced the twins' arrival on Facebook . She and her mother, Abu al Qumsan's mother-in-law, were also killed in the airstrike On Tuesday, Abu al Qumsan had gone to register the births at a local government office. While he was there, neighbours called to say the home where he was sheltering with his family had been bombed (pictured: Abu al Qusam standing over the bodies of his family) The father was consoled by others at the hospital as he was crying hysterically Reem Abu Hayyah (pictured), just three months old, was the only member of her family to survive an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip late Monday The Israeli strike destroyed a home near the southern city of Khan Younis, killing 10 people. The dead included Abu Hayyah's parents and five siblings, ranging in age from 5 to 12, as well as the parents of three other children. All four children were wounded in the strike Israel's offensive has left thousands of orphans - so many that local doctors employ an acronym when registering them: WCNSF, or 'wounded child, no surviving family.' The United Nations estimated in February that some 17,000 children in Gaza are now unaccompanied, and the number is likely to have grown since. The Abu Hayyah family was sheltering in an area that Israel had ordered people to evacuate from in recent days. It was one of several such orders that have led hundreds of thousands to seek shelter in an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone consisting of squalid, crowded tent camps along the coast. The vast majority of Gaza's population has fled their homes, often multiple times. The coastal strip, which is just 25 miles long by about 7 miles wide, has been completely sealed off by Israeli forces since May. Around 84 per cent of Gaza's territory has been placed under evacuation orders by the Israeli military, according to the United Nations. Many families have ignored the evacuation orders because they say nowhere feels safe, or because they are unable to make the arduous journey on foot, or because they fear they will never be able to return to their homes, even after the war. Three in five Brits don't care who becomes the next Tory leader, according to a new poll showing a 'high level' of public apathy over the party's latest leadership battle. The Ipsos survey found 62 per cent do not care very much or at all who replaces Rishi Sunak, compared to 35 per cent who care a great deal or a fair amount. Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly, Robert Jenrick, Priti Patel, Mel Stride and Tom Tugendhat are currently battling it out to be crowned the next Conservative leader. The six contenders will be whittled down to four prior to the Tories' annual conference in late September, with a final pairing decided by mid-October. A winner will be declared on 2 November following a vote of the party's membership. An Ipsos poll found 62 per cent do not care very much or at all who replaces Rishi Sunak, compared to 35 per cent who care a great deal or a fair amount The survey showed 18 per cent of Brits believe James Cleverly, the shadow home secretary, would do a good job (clockwise from top left) Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, Mel Stride, Priti Patel, Tom Tugendhat and Mr Cleverly are currently battling it out to be crowned Tory leader Tom Tugendhat claims Keir Starmer 'failed' over riots Tom Tugendhat today accused Sir Keir Starmer of a 'failure of leadership' in his handling of recent riots while branding Nigel Farage's intervention 'deeply irresponsible and dangerous'. The Tory leadership hopeful claimed the PM 'fell short' in the first test of his premiership, before also hitting out at the policing response in the wake of the unrest, suggesting officers had not acted 'without fear or favour' during some counter-demonstrations. The shadow security minister said Sir Keir should have held daily Cobra meetings from the start of the violent disorder, but instead chose to 'run as if he was still in opposition'. Mr Tugendhat also hit out at Reform UK leader Mr Farage for criticising the breakdown of law and order before the riots 'but not the riots themselves' in a 'deeply irresponsible and dangerous' intervention. Mr Tugendhat argued Sir Keir should have sacked Home Office minister Jess Phillips for her intervention during the unrest. He added: 'When masked men gathered in Birmingham brandishing weapons and live on camera threatened female journalists and attempted to slash the tyres of broadcast vans, Jess Phillips, a Home Office minister, chose to justify their behaviour instead of condemning it because these were not far right hooligans but young Muslim men. Elsewhere in his speech, the Tory leadership candidate: Described Elon Musk's claim that civil war was 'inevitable' amid the riots as 'delusional'. Ruled out striking a deal with Reform UK. Claimed universities 'indulge in ideologies of grievance instead of transmitting knowledge'. Proposed setting up a new 'national security police force' to deal with counter-terrorism and replace Scotland Yard's 'confused mix of national and local responsbilities'. Advertisement The Ipsos poll found 18 per cent of Brits believe Mr Cleverly, the shadow home secretary, would do a good job. Dame Priti, the former home secretary, and Mr Tugendhat, the shadow security minister, follow close behind with 17 per cent believing they would do a good job. But 44 per cent said Dame Priti would do a bad job, giving her the lowest net approval rating of any Tory leadership candidate at -27. The survey also revealed none of the Tory contenders are well known by a majority of the British public. Dame Patel was the candidate people are most familiar with 45 per cent saying they know a great deal or a fair amount about her, followed by 26 per cent for Mr Cleverly and 24 per cent for Ms Badenoch. Trinh Tu, managing director of public affairs at Ipsos, said: 'This new poll suggests a high level of public apathy about the Conservative leadership race. 'James Cleverly, Priti Patel, and Tom Tugendhat emerge as early front runners, with former home secretary Priti Patel appearing to be the most divisive figure. 'However, a significant portion of Britons are unfamiliar with the main candidates and say they do not care very much about who will emerge as the winner.' Ms Badenoch last night blasted critics for 'clutching at straws' after opponents seized on past comments in which she welcomed relaxed immigration rules. In a House of Commons speech in 2018, Ms Badenoch hailed the scrapping of limits on visas for skilled workers and foreign students. The North West Essex MP said: 'I'd like to thank the home secretary for removing annual limits on work visas and also on international students, both of which I lobbied for on behalf of the Wellcome Sanger Institute and Anglia Ruskin University, which serve my constituency.' Critics compared those remarks with her now tough stance on immigration. A Tory source told The Sun newspaper: 'Either she misled the Commons in 2018 or Kemi is misleading the public now with any claim she would reduce migration numbers.' And Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: 'If Kemi becomes leader Reform will boom.' But, in a post on X yesterday evening, Ms Badenoch said: 'We need a truthful debate in this contest about immigration. 'Pretending that public statements (on party policy from 3 elections ago!) are new 'bombshell' revelations is clutching at straws. 'In 2018 we still had unlimited EU migration. Our party policy was to bring in highly-skilled people, but limit low-skilled ones. 'By 2022, I could see it wasn't working. It's why I was so vocal about it in the last leadership contest.' Ipsos polled 1,091 British adults between 2-5 August. For more than a week, animal-themed Banksy murals have been popping up all over London. This morning, a ninth portrait of a gorilla appearing to lift up the base of a white shutter to release birds and a seal appeared at the London Zoo near Regents Park. It marks the latest in a series of nine animal-themed graffiti by the elusive artists that has appeared in the capital since August 5. Banksy has confirmed he is responsible for the new artwork at around 1pm each day leaving fans anticipating what else might appear this week and speculating what the meaning is behind the jungle of animals. As more and more pieces appear over the city, check out MailOnline's map to see if there is a mural near you. Map of everywhere Banksy murals have been spotted across London in the last nine days The artist's new piece in London features the goat silhouette with rocks falling down below it People photograph the new artwork unveiled by Banksy in Chelsea, South West London Banksy's fifth painting of two pelicans eating fish appeared in Walthamstow this morning August 5 - goat mural appears at Kew Bridge Banksy's first piece that appeared last week showed the silhouette of a goat balancing on top of some masonry on an exterior wall. The street art showed the goat looking down towards the ground of the building near Kew Bridge in West London, with debris falling down its side. The artwork was the first Banksy since a stunt at Glastonbury Festival in June in which an inflatable dinghy full of dummies dressed as migrants launched into the crowd, live on the BBC. Art teacher, Amber Doffman, 26, spotted the artist's Instagram post and immediately recognised its location before rushing straight out the door to go and find it. She said: 'I saw his post on Instagram 40 seconds after it went up and I immediately recognised where the art was. So I got in my car and raced there. I was there 15 minutes after he posted on Instagram - and the paint was still wet.' Banksy has revealed a new artwork featuring a goat perched on top of a wall in West London People look at the the new Banksy piece of artwork near Kew Bridge of a goat on a wall today A new Banksy mural has appeared by Kew Bridge in London today One of the men in Kew Bridge, who is masked (right), is believed to be elusive artist Banksy August 6 - two elephants appear in Chelsea The second piece appeared the next day in Chelsea, showing the two elephants silhouettes placed in boarded up window frames with their trunks stretched out towards each other. Tourists also descended to view the artwork which is located on the side of a three storey building composed of three flats and faces onto Edith Grove, one of the busiest roads in the area. As with the day before, the Bristol-based artist did not write a caption for either Instagram post which has caused fans to speculate on the meaning of the artwork - with some saying the piece could be a reference to 'elephants in the room'. The woman seen walking in front of the house on the corner of Edith Terrace and Edith Grove in the picture shared by Banksy had no idea the picture was taken. Lucy Boultbee-Brooks, 32, who was walking her dog Rufus, told MailOnline: 'I couldn't believe it when I got sent the picture. I was just on a dog walk early this morning and unfortunately didn't see anything.' Banksy has unveiled another new artwork in Chelsea depicting two elephants poking their heads out of blocked out windows - his second piece to appear in London in less than 24 hours The artwork showing two elephants poking their heads out of blocked out windows in Chelsea The artwork is located on the corner of Edith Terrace and Edith Grove in Chelsea August 7 - monkeys appear on a bridge in Brick Lane The third Banksy artwork appeared above a railway bridge in Brick Lane, showing three monkeys swinging along. The elusive artist confirmed the monkey mural was his on Instagram but did not caption the post, fuelling speculation about its meaning. Three monkeys have been associated with the Japanese proverb 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil'. In Banksy's work the monkeys are not covering their eyes, ears or mouths. It has been sprayed black, near a vintage clothing shop and a coffee house in the popular market street, not far from Shoreditch High Street. The painting, which shows three monkeys swinging from a railway bridge, popped up in Brick Lane The elusive artist confirmed the piece was his on Instagram but did not caption the post, fuelling speculation about its meaning August 8 - Wolf appears in Peckham On the fourth day of Banksy installations across the capital, a howling wolf was painted onto a satellite dish in Peckham. The striking painting of the canine howling into the night sky, however, was stolen just hours after it was revealed. Footage has emerged showing the shocking moment the artwork was dismantled before being carried away - but some suggested it was just another stunt from the artist. The group of hooded men wearing facemasks and gloves were spotted scaling the building, removing the satellite dish, and walking off. The apparent theft rings echoes of a similar incident last year where another piece by Banksy - a traffic stop sign with three military drones - was also taken. The artwork showing the silhouette of a wolf howling appeared on a rooftop in Peckham. It is the latest piece in a series of murals that have been unveiled this week A hooded man with a mask holding the satellite dish while stood on top of the building Another is seen walking off with the Banksy artwork which had just been unveiled this afternoon August 9 - Pelicans appear on a fish bar in Walthamstow Banksy's fifth new artwork showed two pelicans eating fish above a chippie has appeared on a quiet residential street in Walthamstow. The mural, which is placed atop Bonners Fish Bar, on Northcote Road, portrays one pelican attempting to catch a fish in the air, while the other has its head facing down, eating an identical fish design that was already on the chippie's signboard. Pictures circulating on social media this morning have captured the moment the guerilla artist - whose identity remains a mystery - was creating his latest masterpiece. Caught on camera by an onlooker, two men were spotted in a cherry picker van at the site of the graffiti while dressed in orange high-vis clothing and helmets. One fan posted the picture of the cherry picker on X, writing: 'Is the latest Banksy in Walthamstow?' The mural sits above Bonners Fish Bar, on Northcote Road. It is based on a quiet residential street in east London Banksy was spotted painting his latest artwork. One of the two men are believed to be the guerilla artist August 10 - Stretching cat appears in Cricklewood On the sixth day, a silhouette of a stretching cat appeared on an abandoned billboard in Cricklewood, north London, appearing to show the animal stretching and scratching at a broken part of the wood. The man who was 'first' to spot the new Banksy says he feels like he's 'won the lottery'. Simon Stephenson, 53, said: 'I just didn't doubt it for a second - not a split second. Everything about the piece was so typical of Banksy's style, right to the design of the tail. 'It's great to see it is by him - I couldn't believe my eyes when I found it. I guess I was just at the right place, at the right time. I've always wanted to be the first person to spot a Banksy - I feel like I've won the lottery.' August 11 - Fish tank appears on police box in the city The seventh installation appeared on a police sentry box in Ludgate Hill in the City of London. The artist appears to have used translucent spray paint on the glass windows to create the design, turning the sentry box into what looks like a giant fish tank, differing from his dark silhouette images. The glass-paned box was then taped up by the local council and will be kept temporarily by the City of London Corporation's offices, a walk of less than 15 minutes from the previous location. A spokesman for the authority said: 'We have moved the artwork to Guildhall Yard to ensure it is properly protected and open for the public to view safely. 'A permanent home for the piece will be decided in due course.' Banksy has confirmed the swimming fish artwork which appeared on a City of London police box was his own work A cyclist passes by the new artwork which has appeared on a City of London police box The design differs from Banksy's usual style and has been painted with more detail and tone August 12 - Rhino appears mounting a car in Charlton On the eighth day, the artist posted a picture of his mural to his official Instagram showing a rhino mounting a Nissan Micra with a traffic cone on its bonnet on Westmore Street in Charlton, south east London. Yet within seven hours of the new graffiti being confirmed, it was defaced and the car had been removed. Council chiefs described the vandalism of the graffiti artist's latest piece on Westmoor Street in south-east London, as a 'real shame' as the vehicle was removed on Tuesday. Onlookers described how the 'brazen' vandal, wearing a balaclava, was 'jeered' as he carried out the damage at about 7.45pm. Street artist Banksy posted a picture of his mural to his official Instagram showing a rhino mounting a Nissan Micra with a traffic cone on its bonnet on Westmoor Street in Charlton The rhino artwork was the eighth in Banksy's animal-themed series across London this month A vandal has now damaged with a spraypainted 'tag' the rhino mural by Banksy which was unveiled in Charlton, south-east London, on Monday Onlookers captured how Banksy's rhino mural was vandalised in Charlton, south-east London August 13 - Gorilla and seal revealed outside London Zoo Today, Banksy confirmed his ninth installation. The new mural was painted on a white shutter at the zoo, and appears to show a gorilla lifting its base to release birds and a seal. The new mural, located on a shutter at the zoo's entrance, ties in to previous pieces, with different animals scattered around the city. Zoo official Daniel Simmonds said: 'We're quite honoured. I think it's absolutely brilliant.' The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) confirmed that it will protect the image with a Perspex cover, and will leave the shutter down for the thousands of visitors to view the gorilla on Tuesday. Rebecca Blanchard, media manager at ZSL, added: 'This was an incredible surprise and we are, quite frankly, thrilled that he's chosen us to be what could be the grand finale of this series that's been so talked about.' The new Banksy mural has been painted on a white shutter at London Zoo, and appears to show a gorilla lifting its base to release birds and a seal The new Gorilla mural is located on a shutter at the zoo's entrance A new poll of likely voters shows Vice President Kamala Harris closing the gap with former President Donald Trump in his home state of Florida. The USA TODAY/Suffolk University/WSVN-TV survey found the ex-president with 47 percent support while the Democratic presidential nominee has 42 percent support in the Sunshine State. But the poll has a 4.4 percent margin of error, meaning Harris is within 'striking distance' of the Republican presidential nominee with less than three months to go before Election Day. The new poll is the smallest gap between the former president and Harris in the state since she took over the top of the Democratic presidential ticket with President Biden's exit from the presidential race in July. A new poll out of Florida shows Kamala Harris closing the gap with President Donald Trump in his home state Florida was once considered the biggest presidential battleground state in the country, but it has been trending red in recent elections. The last Democrat to win the state in a presidential election was former President Obama in 2012. Trump won the state in 2016 and in 2020 when he beat President Biden by more than three points despite losing the election. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis crushed his Democratic opponent in the 2022 governor's race there with a 19 point victory, and Republicans also have a massive advantage in Florida when it comes to registered voters with more than one million more than Democrats ahead of November's election. While the GOP still has a sizable advantage in the state, Harris is closing the gap thanks in part due to a major boost in enthusiasm since she took over the top of the ticket. The USA TODAY/Suffolk University/WSVN-TV poll of likely Florida voters found Harris now matches Trump when it comes to enthusiasm for their party's candidate. 89 percent of each group say they are very or somewhat excited to vote for their candidate this fall. For Democrats, that's a massive change from when Biden was at the top of the ticket. In June, only 60 percent of supporters nationwide were excited to vote for the incumbent president. The vice president also has an advantage over Biden when it comes to favorability in the state. 44 percent of voters say they have a favorable view of her while only 39 percent said the same of Biden. However, Harris is still at a disadvantage to Trump when it comes to favorability in the state where 50 percent of voters view him favorably. Even before Biden exited the race, his campaign argued that Florida was in play for the president, especially with abortion rights front and center in the state with the six week abortion ban which went into effect earlier this year and a ballot measure. While Harris has traveled to the state as vice president she has yet to revisit the state as the Democratic presidential nominee, instead campaigning in must-win battleground states so far. In May, Harris visited Florida to mark the state's six week abortion ban going into effect. Her campaign continues to make abortion access a key issue on the campaign trail, which could help Democrats as it has been a galvanizing issue in recent elections. However, abortion rights did not have the same impact on the 2022 midterms in Florida as it did elsewhere such as Michigan and Pennsylvania after Roe v Wade was overturned. Meanwhile, Trump has held multiple campaign events including rallies in Florida as he seeks a second term in the White House. A shocking video circulating on social media has exposed staff members at a Knoxville, Tennessee dental office for mercilessly mocking a cancer patient's private diary while reading it aloud. The footage, which appears to have been recorded and shared online by a giggling employee, shows a staff member of Premier Dental Group of Knoxville reading passages from a patient's journal to nearby colleagues. The video shows employees laughing at the patient's thoughts on different treatment options and concerns about various procedures. The incident has sparked widespread outrage, with many condemning the dental practice and calling for a boycott, KVUE reported. Premier Dental Group of Knoxville posted an apology on Facebook, acknowledging the 'inappropriate video created and shared by some of our employees that addressed an individual's medical condition in a disrespectful and unprofessional manner.' The video shows employees laughing at a patient's thoughts on different treatment options and concerns about various procedures The footage, which appears to have been recorded and shared online by a giggling employee, shows one staff member reading aloud passages from a patient's journal to two colleagues However, the practice's profile disappeared shortly after the statement was published. 'We deeply regret this incident and the hurt has caused,' the practice wrote in the since-deleted apology, according to WBIR. The group acknowledged the gravity of the situation and claimed to be investigating. 'We take this matter very seriously. We have initiated a thorough investigation into the incident and are taking immediate steps to address it. The employees involved have been addressed and we are reviewing our internal policies and training procedures to ensure that such an incident does not happen again.' In response, Premier Dental Group of Knoxville posted an apology on Facebook. The practice's account has since been deleted In 2023, the practice agreed to pay around $1 million to settle a lawsuit over allegations of scamming the Tennessee's Medicaid program Some took to social media to blast the practice. 'It's pretty disturbing that these girls thought this was funny and to think they handle patients private information EVERYDAY,' one wrote. 'So there's no telling what they're doing with everyone else's personal information.' This wasn't Premier Dental Group of Knoxville's first controversy. In 2023, the practice agreed to pay around $1 million to settle a lawsuit over allegations of scamming the Tennessee's Medicaid program and potentially endangering patients through unqualified staff and unnecessary procedures, KVUE reported. It's been called the 'urban doom loop.' And it presents the mayors of big, Democrat-run cities with a scary headache. Families fled major urban hubs during the pandemic and they've continued to leave. A new study charts just how 'shocking' the drop-off has been. In New York City, the worst affected hub, the number of under fives has collapsed by 18 percent since April 2020. Chicago and Los Angeles saw their numbers fall by 15 and 14 percent respectively in the same period. A girl plays alone at a playground in Chicago, where the number of under-fives has tumbled by a staggering 15 percent. America's largest cities have seen the greatest decline in the number of under-fives. The trend poses far-reaching challenges for cities seeking to rebuild their economies, while upending plans for providing schools and healthcare to a shrinking youth population. It also comes as decisions about whether to have children, and the rising costs of daycare, become issues in this year's divisive presidential contest. Connor O'Brien, who wrote the report for the Economic Innovation Group, says 'demographic collapse has arrived in major American cities.' 'Falling birthrates mean the number of young kids nationwide is falling, but it's falling much more quickly in large urban counties,' says O'Brien The research, based on US recent Census Bureau data, shows how big cities are still grappling with the after-effects of the pandemic. As the virus spread, urbanites fled to smaller cities, the suburbs, and the country. The departures of small children has slowed in recent months, but they're still leaving. The continued loss of families risks a so-called 'urban doom loop' as cities struggle to retain this vital demographic. 'If progressive cities could run on a sort of policy autopilot pre-covid, it's clear they can't anymore,' warns O'Brien. A boy makes his way to school in Brooklyn, New York City, which has seen its under-five population collapse by 18.7 percent Families have exited all New York City's boroughs, but none less so than Manhattan. A six-year-old student walks out of her school in Long Beach, California. The state has seen some of the biggest drop-offs in the number of under fives. Birth rates are falling across the US, but they're dropping much faster in urban areas. That's a double-whammy for the numbers of youngsters in cities, EIG found. Nationwide, the under-fives population has dropped 4.6 percent. In large urban areas, it is nearly twice the size, at 8.1 percent. New York City was the worst affected. The Big Apple lost a staggering 100,000 young children in just 39 months. Manhattan alone has lost more than a fifth of its under fives. For some parents, it was an economic decision made possible as lives were upended by the pandemic. Daycare costs in New York can easily exceed $3,000 per month. Meanwhile, renting an apartment with an extra bedroom for junior typically costs $1,700 more each month. For other parents, the move is a lifestyle choice, and moving to the suburbs or rural areas for more space, better schools, lower crime rates, and perhaps a yard for junior to play in. O'Brien says it is changing the face of cities, where he says a 'cultural norm' of childlessness has started to 'gather momentum.' 'Suddenly you're almost weird if you start a family in New York,' he told Bloomberg. Still, some counties in the Sun Belt have seen more under-fives than before. The number of under-fives is falling across the US, though not everywhere. JD Vance calls himself 'pro-family' but has faced criticism for branding Democrats a bunch of 'childless cat ladies.' Florida's Polk County, home to Legoland and not far from Walt Disney World, added a net 5,100 young kids since April 2020, an increase of more than 12 percent. Suburbs in the two biggest Texas metro areas have also recorded gains in the under-five population. In the Dallas suburbs, Collin County saw a 7.8 percent rise, while Montgomery County in the Houston area registered an 11 percent boost. The study echoes findings in last year's report by Manhattan Institute fellow Robert VerBruggen, who found that crime, and housing and living costs were pushing ever more families out of cities. VerBruggen said parents might remain in cities if they were more affordable and had better school options. The debate comes amid a tense election campaign in which families and parenting are a frontline between Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, and her Republican rival, former president Donald Trump. Trump's running mate, JD Vance, has faced criticism for criticized liberal women who he called 'childless cat ladies' while talking up the pro-family policies of a second Trump administration, including by expanding the child tax credit. Harris has touted helping the middle class as a key part of her campaign, calling for cheaper housing, health care and child care, and for making paid family leave easier to access nationwide. Iran today rejected the 'impudent' calls from the West to de-escalate its threat against Israel over the alleged killings of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut last month. The Iranian foreign ministry said calls to stand down from Britain, France and Germany 'lack political logic and contradict principles of international law', after the three powers made a statement yesterday urging calm and restraint. But sources close to the regime indicated that they would only strike if peace talks due to restart tomorrow fail. No timescale was given for how long Iran would wait before taking action. Haniyeh was killed with a 'short-range projectile' fired outside his guesthouse during a visit to Tehran on July 31, according to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IGRC), prompting threats of retribution against Israel. Israel has not claimed responsibility. Israel was responsible for the assassination of Hezbollah leader Fuad Skukr in Beirut several hours prior, drawing outcry from the Lebanon-based Iranian proxy group - and potentially throwing a hostage deal into jeopardy. As tensions simmer, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have approved a multi-front battle plan against Tehran and Hezbollah, limiting troops' travel abroad as they brace for an attack in the coming days - and prepare to retaliate. Iran has vowed revenge on Israel for the attack on Iranian soil against Haniyeh late last month The US has urged the USS Abraham Lincoln (pictured, file) to hurry its approach to the region Houthi supporters hold placards with pictures of Ismail Haniyeh (L) and Hezbollah senior commander Fuad Shukr (R) during a protest following their deaths, in Sana'a, on August 2 Smoke billows over Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip amid the Israeli offensive, on August 11 A poster of new Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar hangs on a wall at the Palestine Square in Tehran A child sits beside the corpses of people killed in an Israeli strike in Deir el-Balah, Aug 10 Nasser Kanaani, spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, lamented that the joint statement from Britain, France and Germany 'impudently requires Iran not to respond to a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity'. He instead challenged the Europeans to 'once and for all stand up against the war in Gaza and the warmongering of Israel'. The original statement, dated August 12, called on Iran and its allies to 'refrain from attacks that would further escalate regional tensions and jeopardise the opportunity to agree a ceasefire and the release of hostages' still held in Gaza. The letter, signed by French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, said Iran would 'bear responsibility for actions that jeopardise this opportunity for peace and stability'. President Pezeshkian told German chancellor Olaf Scholz his country will never give in to pressure, to sanctions and to bullying, and considers it has the right to respond to aggressors in accordance with international norms. It followed the latest warning from new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, insisting Iran has 'the right to respond' to any aggression on its soil, following the death of Haniyeh in Tehran. A senior security official in Tehran said they would only launch a direct attack if talks fail or if they drag on. Hezbollah has also vowed a major response against Israel for the assassination of Shukr in Beirut. Israel has reportedly conveyed messages to allies that it will respond with an attack on Iranian territory if attacked, even if there are no casualties, pushing its allies to seek carve out diplomatic channels with Iran themselves. Sir Keir and Pezeshkian spoke on the phone last night in a bid to cool tensions, the Prime Minister reiterating his 'concern' about the situation and calling on all parties to 'de-escalate'. He added that there was a 'serious risk of miscalculation and now was the time for calm and careful consideration', according to a readout of the conversation from No10. The focus should be on diplomatic negotiations, Starmer said. Iran's president said war anywhere in the world was in no one's interest but that states had the right to 'punitive responses against an aggressor', the official news agency IRNA reported. 'The support of some Western countries for the Zionist regime (Israel) is irresponsible and contrary to international standards since it endangers regional security by encouraging the Zionist regime to continue its crimes,' Pezeshkian told Starmer. 'While emphasizing diplomatic solutions to issues, Iran will never give in to pressure, to sanctions and to bullying, and considers it has the right to respond to aggressors in accordance with international norms,' Pezeshkian said in a separate call to Scholz. Edmund Fitton-Brown, Senior Advisor to the Counter Extremism Project and former Ambassador of the UK to Yemen, told MailOnline this evening 'it could all very easily spiral out of control'. 'In essence, I think Iran and Israel would both prefer to avoid escalation out of control,' he said. 'But Iran (and Hezbollah) both want to be seen to respond to the Israeli assassinations. 'Calibrating such responses in such a way as to save face and yet avoid escalation gets more difficult with each successive round of skirmishing. 'The US is also part of this picture, seeking both to restrain Israel and to deter Iran,' he said. In its bid to deter Iran, the United States has sought to increase its military presence in the region. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said yesterday that President Joe Biden is in talks with European allies about reinforcing Israel with supplies, fearing retaliation from Iran as soon as this week. What's in the $20bn in new weapons sales? In a notification to Congress, the State Department said it had approved a sale of 50 F-15 fighter-jets to Israel for $18.82 billion. Israel will also buy nearly 33,000 tank cartridges, up to 50,000 explosive mortar cartridges and new military cargo vehicles. The F-15 aircraft, which will begin to be delivered in 2029, will upgrade Israel's current fleet and include radars and secure communications equipment. 'The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to US national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability,' the State Department said in its notice on the F-15s, which are made by Boeing. On the tank cartridges, the United States said the sale 'will improve Israel's capability to meet current and future enemy threats, strengthen its homeland defense and serve as a deterrent to regional threats.' Congress can still block weapons sales, but such a process is difficult. Via AFP Advertisement The US Defence Department said that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had ordered a guided missile submarine to travel to the Middle East and told the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to hurry its approach to the region. And more than $20bn in new weapons sales to Israel were approved on Tuesday despite backlash from rights activists to withhold shipments over the humanitarian toll on Gaza. Meanwhile, amid rising tensions in the region, top US diplomat Antony Blinken suddenly pulled out of his planned trip to the Middle East. The secretary of state was set to visit Israel, Egypt and Qatar in a last-ditch attempt to reach a deal. According to US news website Axios, Mr Blinken postponed his travel plans due to uncertainty about the situation. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US' ambassador to the UN, stressed today that the overall American goal in the Middle East is still to 'turn the temperature down'. 'That starts with finalizing a deal for an immediate ceasefire with hostage release in Gaza. We need to get this over the finish line,' she told a U.N. Security Council meeting on the war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas in Gaza. The threat of regional escalation also appears to have interrupted ceasefire talks, with Hamas on Sunday casting doubt over plan to join a diplomatic meeting on Thursday to hash out peace terms. But onlookers believe neither Iran nor Israel has the appetite for wider escalation of the conflict, and will look to de-escalate after a show of force to 'save face'. 'All sides don't want all out war,' Dr Andreas Krieg, associate professor of Security Studies at King's College London, told MailOnline upon news of Haniyeh's death. '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.' On April 13, Iran - with help from Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen - launched more than 200 drones and missiles at Israel in a move military insiders said was also designed to 'save face' after Israel killed two Iranian generals in a bombing of the Iranian embassy in Damascus. IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said at the time the Iron Dome defence system had intercepted virtually all of the weapons before they entered Israeli territory, reporting one injury. Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said 'very little damage was caused', despite being the largest attempted drone strike in history. Israel responded with limited strikes on Iran on April 18, before Iran said it would not escalate the back-and-forth any further, brushing off the weapons used as being 'more like toys'. Hezbollah fighters train on motorbikes in the Jezzine District of Lebanon in May 2023 Israeli soldiers patrol an area near the northern kibbutz of Kfar Blum close to the border with Lebanon in January Israel's Iron Dome intercepts rockets fired from southern Lebanon on August 4 A Palestinian carries a man injured in Israeli bombardment to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on August 13 People walk past posters of Israelis held hostage by Palestinian militants in Gaza since October 7, on a street in Tel Aviv today Protests mount in Tel Aviv for Israel to seek a ceasefire and the return of hostages Dr Krieg suggested that the death of Haniyeh could ultimately assist Israel in building a 'victory narrative' to enter peace talks with a claim to having achieved its war objectives of vanquishing Hamas and returning the hostages taken on October 7. 'What this offers is a head on a silver platter,' he said. '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.'' The conflict erupted on October 7 when Hamas and affiliated factions launched a brutal incursion into southern Israel, killing some 1,170 people and taking some 250 hostage. Israel has responded with a devastating campaign across the Gaza Strip, displacing the majority of the population and killing nearly 40,000 people, according to the local Health Ministry. Mediators have spent months trying to get the sides to agree to a three-phase plan in which Hamas would release the remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, and Israel would withdraw from Gaza. Prince Harry will not attend the funeral of his uncle Robert Fellowes, it was claimed today 'amid security concerns in the UK'. Lord Fellowes, who died last month, was married to his aunt, Lady Jane, and was brother-in-law to his late mother, Princess Diana. He also worked as an advisor to Queen Elizabeth for 13 years. News of his death had sparked speculation that Harry could be forced to face his estranged brother, Prince William, for the first time following his bitter tell-all memoir in which he laid bare the depth of their rift, and even hit out at his sister-in-law, the Princess of Wales. But People magazine, a US publication with particularly close links to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, has reported that he will not be attending amid his ongoing battle with the Home Office over the decision to withdraw his family's round-the-clock Metropolitan Police security, funded by British taxpayers, when they quit the UK. Prince Harry will not attend the funeral of his uncle Robert Fellowes, it was claimed today 'amid security concerns in the UK' Lord Fellowes (pictured), who died last month, was married to his aunt, Lady Jane, and was brother-in-law to his late mother, Princess Diana Robert Fellowes and Lady Jane Fellowes pictured in Woodbridge together in April 2011 The Mail also understands that Harry will not be attending his uncles funeral service. Details of the funeral have not been made public but this publication understands it will take place at the 'end of the month' in Norfolk. There will be a 'very small' and private funeral service for close family, which will be followed by a private memorial service for 'wider' family and friends. There are also plans for a public memorial service in the future. The Mail has not published further details of the timing or venues as the Fellowes family have requested that exact details of the services are not made public. But it is likely that Prince William, who is also in Norfolk for the summer with his family, will attend - a task no doubt made easier by his brother's decision to opt out. Both he and Harry remain close to their mother's family. Lord Fellowes, who remained a senior figure in royal circles throughout his life, died on July 29 aged 82. Details of his death have not been disclosed. Harry is continuing to wage a bitter battle in the British courts over the the decision by RAVEC, the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures, to discontinue with his security when he quit royal duties to live in California and pursue lucrative business opportunities in 2020. Sources close to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex , has reported that he will not be attending amid his ongoing battle with the Home Office Prince Harry pictured with aunt Lady Jane Fellowes and uncle Early Spencer back in July 2021 Although he unequivocally lost his High Court challenge in February, he was granted permission to appeal in June. Earlier this month multiple sources with links to the Sussexes also briefed People magazine in great detail about the court battle, claiming it had driven a wedge between himself and his father, King Charles. Harry says he no longer feels it is safe to bring his family to the UK, although he has been told he can be given limited security if he notifies British authorities more than 28 days ahead of travel. Ironically, following the couple's trip to Nigeria earlier this year, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are on Thursday due to begin a four-day 'quasi royal tour' to equally crime-ridden Colombia. The couple have been invited by the country's vice president to 'engage with young people and women' in Cartagena and Cali. Colombia is deemed, according to the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, to have a 'high level' of terrorist attack and kidnap for ransom, particularly affecting British Nationals. The FCDO says terrorists are 'very likely' to try and carry out attacks with little or no warning and says kidnapping rates remain high for both ransom and political purposes. It adds: 'Drugs, organised crime and terrorism are inextricably linked in Colombia.' Wildlife officials in Montana have euthanized a black bear they believe attacked and injured a 3-year-old girl in a tent over a weekend. At around 10pm on Sunday evening, the young girl was attacked by the predator and taking to a hospital in Billings. Her condition remains unknown. The young girl, whose identity remains unknown, had been in a tent at Perry's RV campground just north of Yellowstone National Park. It is unclear if there were any adults with her at the time. The campground was evacuated and traps were placed in the area with a bear believed to have been involved then captured and euthanized on Monday afternoon. Game warden Randy Hutzenbiler said that 'there were attractants in the area', which included food and unsecured garbage. The campground was evacuated and traps were placed in the area with a bear believed to have been involved then captured and euthanized on Monday Game warden Randy Hutzenbiler said that 'there were attractants in the area', which included food and unsecured garbage The wildlife agency recommends keeping food, garbage and anything with a scent out of tents and stored in bear-resistant containers or vehicles. According to the North American Bear Center, there are an estimated 750,000 black bears in North America. Yellowstone is home to two species of bear, black and grizzly and it is one of the few areas outside of Canada where the bears coexist. Park regulations say that people should stay at least 100 yards from bears unless they are in their cars. In May of this year, Shayne Patrick Burke, 35, suffered serious injuries as a result of an attack in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. He revealed in a post to Instagram how he was in the 'wrong place at the wrong time' when a mother grizzly bear attacked him. The full-grown animal had been protecting her cub, he said - resulting in a vicious attack the combat veteran said was the 'most violent' thing he's ever experienced. The young girl, whose identity remains unknown, had been in a tent at Perry's RV campground just north of Yellowstone National Park Burke revealed in a post to Instagram how he was in the 'wrong place at the wrong time' when a mother grizzly bear attacked him He credited a can of bear spray with saving his life, administered as the beast was gnawing on his hands, legs, and the back of his neck, nearly ending him then and there. The attack, he added, occurred on Signal Mountain - an isolated summit standing some 7,720 feet above sea level in Grand Teton National Park. Once there for an hour in search of a Great Grey Owl to photograph, he had the surprise encounter with the brown bear, he wrote online. After investigating the incident, the National Park Service (NPS) said it would not attempt to capture or kill the grizzly, as the animals are typically only aggressive when threatened, especially when it comes to their young. An outbreak of the Legionnaires' disease has left three people dead and dozens more infected at a popular holiday spot in Italy, prompting a desperate inspection of the water supply as health authorities try to pin down the source. At least 49 cases of the disease have so far been recorded in the Lombardy region of northern Italy following an outbreak that began in April, according to the European Center of Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). A dozen of those infected remain in hospital with potentially life-threatening symptoms, while three have died, the ECDC states. The disease, a form of pneumonia, has infected people from the ages of 26 to 94, with the vast majority suffering from some underlying health condition that puts them at a higher risk of serious illness. Legionnaires' disease, caused by the Legionella bacteria, is a lung infection contracted by inhaling droplets of water from things like air conditioning units, spa pools, hot tubs and infrequently used taps, according to the NHS. Legionella disease can be contracted through water, causing a nasty lung infection Health authorities are looking at potential sources of the outbreak in Milan, Lombardy Water samples have already been collected from several sampling sites of the municipal water supply system in Milan, according to an ECDC report from August 8. Most of the cases recorded so far were in the Corsico municipality, an idyllic commune southwest of the city. Symptoms were present in the first case from April 11, though most started showing indicators of the disease in late July. Dr Brian Labus, Assistant Professor at the Deparment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Nevada, told MailOnline this evening that cases tend to rise in the summer months, with the bacteria growing best in warm water. 'People also travel more in the summer months, so a lot more people can be exposed at resorts, hotels, and pools,' he said. Cases and outbreaks can occur at any time, he said. Twelve patients remained hospitalised as of August 8, with three associated deaths reported to date. The ECDC has not yet identified any cases associated with travel. What are the symptoms of Legionnaires' disease? The NHS urges people to ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 if they have symptoms lasting three weeks or more. These may include: - A lasting cough; - Coughing up blood; - Chest pain that comes and goes, or happens when breathing or coughing; - Shortness of breath. Other symptoms may include: - A high temperature - Flu-like symptoms Advertisement As such, the ECDC claims the infection risk is limited to people living in or visiting the region - and not those living further afield. Dr Labus said: 'Legionnaires' disease does not spread from person to person so there is no risk of spread beyond the locations where the outbreaks are occurring. 'The disease is caused by breathing in bacteria that are growing in water and you have to personally visit the location with the problem to be at any risk of infection.' Public health authorities are now trying to curb the outbreak by disinfecting the local water supply with chemicals as investigators review other potential sources of infection. Italy previously reported dozens of cases of Legionnaires' disease during an outbreak in 2018. Those over 50 are more at risk of developing the disease from inhaled droplets of water containing the bacteria than younger people, as well as those already immuno-compromised. Smokers are also a risk group, according to the ECDC. Dr Labus added: 'People of any age can get Legionnaires' disease, but the people at highest risk of infection and disease are people 50 and over, smokers, people with chronic lung conditions and those with weakened immune systems.' Legionnaires' has a mortality rate of between five and 15 per cent, depending on age and comorbidities. The bacteria are 'quite common' and exist naturally in rivers, lakes and reservoirs. The disease cannot be contracted from drinking water, but inhaling 'aerosols', or water droplets, that get into the lungs and cause pneumonia - a lung infection. There is currently no available vaccination against the disease, although antibiotics can help if the disease is caught early enough. The disease can collect in unused taps or stagnant water. Some experts urge tourists to run taps and showers when staying in temporary accommodation abroad. Legionella spreads through aerosols, or water droplets, in things like air conditioning units Bacteria pneumonia carries particular risk to older people, smokers and people already sick Millions of Australians have been warned to stay vigilant as an outbreak of the disease sweeps Melbourne. Victoria's Deparment of Health is also currently investigating a surge in cases across the region, also mostly affected those over 40 and with existing conditions. Victorian Chief Health Officer Dr Clare Looker told listeners to ABC Radio Melbourne at the end of last month: 'This is a nasty type of pneumonia ... so people can become quite sick, quite quickly. 'We are concerned. This is a significant increase on normal. 'Most of our cases at the moment are in hospital, a number in ICU... so they're critically unwell.' For the moment, authorities are still investigating the source of the outbreak. 'People who live in, work in or have visited metropolitan Melbourne and surrounding areas, and develop symptoms of Legionnaires' disease, should seek urgent medical care,' a department statement read. A video shows the chilling moment a gang of teenagers celebrated and danced with a machete not long after stabbing, shooting and almost killing a rival in broad daylight. The incriminating footage, found on a phone belonging to one of the teenagers, helped convict the group, who were collectively sentenced to 77 years in prison after they attempted to murder a 20-year-old man. Their victim sustained multiple stab injuries and was shot in the leg, requiring him to have life-saving treatment. Following a British Transport Police investigation, the four men, aged between 18 and 19, were sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court last Wednesday. They had previously received guilty verdicts at the same court on 22 May. A video shows the chilling moment a gang of teenagers celebrated and danced with a machete not long after stabbing, shooting and almost killing a rival in broad daylight The incriminating footage, found on a phone belonging to one of the teenagers, helped convict the group, who were collectively sentenced to 77 years in prison for attempted murder Following a British Transport Police investigation, the four men, aged between 18 and 19, were sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court last Wednesday Elisandro Pinto Alves, 18, of Overbury Street, Hackney, Hanzell Greenaway, 18, of Munro Way, Hackney, and Jaheim Thomas, 18, of Cassland Road, Hackney, were all found guilty of attempted murder, possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, two counts of possession of a pointed or bladed article in a public place, and violent disorder. Pinto Alves was sentenced to 17 years in prison, while Greenaway and Thomas were given 19 years. Marvin Edokpolo, 19 of Dalson Lane, Hackney, was found guilty of attempted murder. He was sentenced to 22 years and three months. The judge ordered for the men to serve two thirds of their sentences with the remainder on licence. The court heard how, on 1 March 2023, at around 1.10pm, the victim a man aged 20 at the time - was on board a train heading to Hackney. Edokpolo was made aware the victim was on the train and heading into the Hackney area. He contacted Greenaway, who was with Thomas and Pinto Alves in a McDonalds close to Hackney station. The trio left the restaurant and headed towards Hackney Central railway station, where they began looking for the 20-year-old man. In scenes caught on CCTV, the victim left the train and called down the lift on the ground level platform. At the same time, a 64-year-old woman had entered the lift to travel to the ground level. While the victim waited, he noticed the three teenagers approaching him and pulled out a knife. At the same time, Greenaway began slashing his own knife towards him. The gang's vicious daylight attack shows one of the trio assaulting their victim by the lift A second gang member arrives with a gun and between them they stab and shoot at their 20-year-old victim Behind them, the lift doors opened and the terrified victim retreated into the lift where the woman was standing. As she attempted to avoid the slashing knife in the small lift, the victim was stabbed. He managed to push Greenaway out of the lift, however he was stabbed again. He managed to get himself back to the lift as the two other teenagers approached: Pinto Alves with a knife slashing at the victim, and Thomas with a gun. Thomas proceeded to shoot into the lift while the victim used the woman as a shield. The trio fled the station on bikes. Armed BTP officers arrived on the scene within minutes followed shortly by London Ambulance Service. The victim sustained life-threatening injuries from the attack, including multiple laceration wounds and a single gunshot to the leg. He received life saving treatment from paramedics at the scene and enroute to hospital. Thankfully, the woman in the lift was physically unharmed. Significant evidence was retrieved from the scene including a knife, phone charger and cable, blood, a bullet, and bullet casing. Hanzell Greenaway, 18, of Hackney, and Jaheim Thomas, 18, of Hackney, were found guilty of attempted murder, possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, two counts of possession of a pointed or bladed article in a public place, and violent disorder Elisandro Pinto Alves, 18, of Hackney, was found guilty of attempted murder, possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, two counts of possession of a pointed or bladed article in a public place, and violent disorder. He received 17 years in prison Marvin Edokpolo, 19 of Dalson Lane, Hackney, was found guilty of attempted murder. He was sentenced to 22 years and three months An extensive investigation was launched including CCTV reviews, mobile phone enquiries and vehicle tracking, which helped trace the movements of Pinto Alves, Greenaway, and Thomas between London, Dunstable and Folkestone. On 3 March, following extensive enquiries, a vehicle was tracked to a location in London and was believed to have Greenaway and Thomas inside. Metropolitan Police officers conducted a planned stop on a vehicle with five people inside, including Greenaway, Thomas and Pinto Alves. A live firearm was also recovered from underneath the vehicle and was later confirmed to be the firearm used in the attack. Edokpolo was finally arrested on 7 March. Senior investigating officer, Detective Inspector Paul Attwell said: 'This was a shocking attack in broad daylight that was fortunate not to be fatal, not only to the intended victim but the innocent witness in the lift. 'Thankfully, incidents of violence involving firearms on the rail network are extremely rare, but when they do occur we will do everything in our power to bring those responsible to justice. 'This was a highly complex investigation and I thank those at BTP who worked tirelessly to build this case. 'This outcome reflects their hard work and professionalism, and I'm grateful to see these sentences handed down.' When Harry and Meghan's outgoing chief of staff was hired just three months ago sources dubbed him as the perfect man to 'guide' the Duke 'through his next phase'. But now, as the Daily Mail revealed Josh Kettering was departing from his role, insiders close to the royal couple are claiming the experienced staffer was only handed the job on a 'trial basis'. Mr Kettering was hired by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex earlier in May just weeks ahead of their 'quasi-royal tour' in Nigeria. He was pictured alongside the pair during the visit after being spotted accompanying Harry to the 10th anniversary ceremony of the Invictus Games at St Paul's Cathedral, while Meghan stayed at home. Yet just days before the pair are due to fly out to Colombia for another so-called 'DIY royal tour' it was announced Mr Kettering, who was the former chief of staff of communication platform Cognixion, had left the job. Josh Kettler arrives at St Paul's Cathedral in London for Harry's Invictus Games service in May Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with Josh Kettler (circled) by their side while in Nigeria in May It marks the latest blow for the Californian-based couple who have lost at least 18 members of staff staff since they married in 2018 A source in California told the Mail yesterday: 'Josh Kettler is no longer working for them.' A former member of staff also told the newspaper: 'What may be most telling is that the entire time I worked there, I don't think I heard a single current or former employee on their staff say they would take the job again if given the chance. 'These aren't employees they had just found off the streets. Many of them are people who had previously excelled working for demanding bosses in high-performance companies and environments.' Yet today insiders close to Harry and Meghan hit back telling the US magazine People that Mr Kettering was only 'hired on a trial basis, the decision to part ways was mutual, with both sides agreeing it wasn't the right fit'. It marks the latest blow for the Californian-based couple who have lost at least 18 members of staff staff since they married in 2018. Around nine of those have left since they left Britain for the United States in 2020. The revolving door of staffers shows that ongoing issue the Sussexes' are having in retaining staff in recent years after losing several key members from their company Archewell. The blow comes as Harry and Meghan prepare to travel to Columbia later this week after being invited by the country's vice president Francia Marquez. Ms Marquez, a lawyer and human rights and environmental activist, said the pair would join her in visiting the capital Bogota, as well as the Caribbean and Pacific regions of Cartagena and Cali. Harry and Meghan at the State Governor House in Lagos on May 12 during their tour of Nigeria Harry and Meghan are set to tour Colombia at the invitation of the country's vice president Francia Marquez, who is pictured at the Festival Of Culture in New Orleans on July 6 The UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office states that it 'advises against all but essential travel to parts of Colombia'. The areas affected are those shaded in orange in the above map Details of the couple's itinerary have not yet been released, but the vice president said they would engage in several activities related to safeguarding young people online and in physical spaces. The all-but-in-name Royal tour is the Sussexes's second this year, after their three-day visit to Nigeria at the invitation of the West African nation's chief of defence staff. Harry and Meghan stepped down from the working monarchy in 2020 and no longer travel at the request of the UK Government on official overseas royal visits. The Foreign Office warns against all but essential travel to certain parts of Colombia, with kidnapping rates remaining high. It describes the country as 'seriously afflicted by conflict' with a resurgence in violence in parts of Colombia despite the peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) movement to end the civil war. Harry maintained last month that it was 'still dangerous' for Meghan to return to the UK. He lost a High Court challenge against the Home Office in February over a decision to change the level of his personal security when he visits the UK, but he has been given the green light to appeal. During the case, the court was told Harry believes his children cannot 'feel at home' in the UK if it is 'not possible to keep them safe' there and that he faces a greater risk than his late mother, with 'additional layers of racism and extremism'. Disney has sought to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit by the family of a New York University doctor because of a loophole in their terms and agreement conditions. Kanokporn Tangsuan, a 42-year-old medical doctor at NYU Langone in New York, and her family had dined at Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant in Disney Springs on October 5, where she had a deadly allergic reaction. Jeffrey Piccolo, the doctor's husband, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Florida, claiming Walt Disney Parks and Resorts was negligent and failed to properly train their staff about food allergies. The House of Mouse argued the case should be sent to arbitration rather than a jury trial because the terms and agreements of creating a Disney account includes a 'binding arbitration clause,' court records show. 'Walt Disney Parks and Resorts nonetheless improperly attempts to negate this distinction by making the preposterous argument,' Piccolo's lawyers said. Jeffrey Piccolo (left) filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Disney after his wife Kanokporn Tangsuan (right) died from an allergic reaction Tangsuan and her family had dined at Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant (pictured) in Disney Springs on October 5, shortly before she had a deadly allergic reaction In a May 31 filing, Disney cited that Piccolo created a Disney+ account in November 2019 and bought tickets to Epcot in 2023, which required him to agree to their terms and conditions. When signing up for a free trial of streaming service, Disney argued Piccolo agreed to the terms of their 'Subscriber Agreement' which include an arbitration clause in Section 7 titled 'Binding Arbitration and Class Action Waiver.' '[The section] applies to "all disputes" including those involving "The Walt Disney Company or its affiliates." Walt Disney Parks and Resorts is an affiliate of The Walt Disney Company,' the company said. They also said Piccolo agreed to the 'Walt Disney World terms' when he purchased park tickets for him and his wife in September 2023 which include the same arbitration clause. Disney also noted by agreeing to the terms he represented his deceased wife while doing so. 'Whether Piccolo actually reviewed the Disney Terms is also immaterial,' said the company. Piccolo's lawyers argued Disney gave up their right to seek arbitration when it filed its first answer to the lawsuit without bringing the matter up. Disney said the matter should go to arbitration because that is what Piccolo agreed to when he created a Disney+ account in November 2019 Disney also argued Piccolo agreed to their terms and conditions of arbitration when he bought tickets to Epcot 'Even if the Court were to consider the substantive part of WDPRs untimely Motion, it is based on the incredible argument that any person who signs up for a Disney+ account, even free trials that are not extended beyond the trial period, will have forever waived the right to a jury trial enjoyed by them and any future Estate to which they are associated,' Piccolo's attorney said. Piccolo is seeking in excess of $50,000 from Disney for mental pain and suffering, funeral expenses, medical expenses and loss of income. He said his wife was highly allergic to dairy and nuts and the couple chose to eat at the pub because they believed Disney would have proper safeguards in place. The couple repeatedly asked their server about allergen-free food, and claimed the waiter even went to confirm with the chef. 'The waiter unequivocally assured them that the food would be allergen free,' the lawsuit read. Tangsuan ordered the following menu items: 'Sure I'm Frittered,' 'Scallop Forest,' 'The Shepherd Went Vegan,' and 'Onion Rings.' The bottom of the menu available online notes, 'Cross-contamination may occur and thus we CAN NOT GUARANTEE that any dish we prepare will be completely free of gluten/allergens.' She began having severe difficulty breathing and collapsed to the floor, 911 was called and the caller told the dispatcher Tangsuan had self-administered an epi-pen. Piccolo and his mother Jackie had tried calling Tangsuan to meet back up with her, but a person answered her phone and told them she had been taken to the hospital. Tangsuan was highly allergic to dairy and nuts and the couple chose to eat at the pub because they believed Disney would have proper safeguards in place Piccolo said they repeatedly asked their server about allergen free food, and they said the waiter even went to confirm with the chef Tangsuan was a medical doctor at NYU Langone in New York and her husband is seeking in excess of $50,000 from Disney She died at the hospital and the medical examiner investigation determined the cause of death was a result of anaphylaxis due to elevated levels of dairy and nut in her system. The lawsuit notes that although Disney does not own the pub, 'Disney had control over the menu of food offered, the hiring and/or training of the wait staff, and the policies and procedures as it pertains to food allergies at Disney Springs restaurants, such as Raglan Road.' They argue Disney failed to properly train its employees on food allergies, and the employees failed to properly warn Tangsuam about allergens in her food. The filing said Disney and the pub, 'owed a duty of care to its invitees/guests to ensure that food that was designated as allergen free and/or food that was requested to be prepared allergen free, was in fact free from allergens that would cause death or serious physical harm to guests with food allergies.' A scaffolder accused of joining a mob that threw missiles at police during protests in Aldershot was blasted by a judge after he missed his court appearance because he is on holiday in Dubai. Perrie Fisher, 28, was due to appear in court after being charged with violent disorder on Friday over his conduct at a protest at Potters International Hotel in Hampshire on July 31. But Fisher, of Farnham, Surrey, instead jetted off to the Middle East on Sunday for seven nights. Anna Renou, representing Fisher, said the trip was 'pre-booked'. District Judge Tim Pattison, addressing Renou, told Basingstoke Magistrates' Court today: 'To say these are serious matters is an understatement. They have attracted national attention at the very highest level.' 'My view is it's not acceptable for your client to fail to attend court,' he said, issuing a warrant without bail for Fisher upon his return to the UK. Perrie Fisher missed his court appearance today while on holiday in Dubai, the court heard Hampshire Police said a minority of the 200 people who gathered outside the Potters International Hotel (pictured) became involved in the disruption on July 31 Anti-migration demonstrators during a protest outside the hotel housing migrants on August 4 The judge continued: 'It seems it's a flagrant disregard for a court order in effect. '[Fisher] hadn't made any proper arrangements to seek permission to adjourn..' Perrie Fisher was among five charged with violent disorder following a protest in Aldershot on Wednesday, July 31. 'Although the majority gathered in a peaceful manner, some disorder was reported,' Hampshire Police said in a statement at the time. 'Sadly, one of our officers suffered a minor injury as a result of the disruption. 'Officers launched an investigation and have now charged five men with violent disorder.' Two more were subsequently charged with violent disorder at the protest, named as Jamie Lee Turvey, 34, and Alby Brannan, 18. Cameron Bowling, 40, Clive Patfield, 60, Kieron Marney, 25, and Joe Howell, 19, were named alongside Fisher as those charged, all to appear in court today. Joe Howell was also charged with assault by beating of an emergency worker, Hampshire Police reported. Joe Howell made no indication of plea to violent disorder and denied assault by beating of an emergency worker at Basingstoke Magistrates Court today. The court heard the offence took place during the same protest outside the Aldershot hotel. Turvey, Brannan, Bowling, Patfield and Markney also gave no indication of plea for the charge of violent disorder. They were bailed with conditions and are due to appear at Winchester Crown Court on September 4. Joe Howell made no indication of plea to violent disorder and denied assault by beating of an emergency worker during his appearance in Basingstoke today Alby Brannan, 18, pictured outside Basingstoke Magistrates Court today Steven Tiquin, pictured at Basingstoke Mags Court today, was charged with four counts of assaulting an emergency worker, affray and a racially aggravated public order offence A 13-year-old girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, today pleaded guilty to violent disorder following the protest on July 31. She was bailed and is due to be sentenced at Basingstoke Magistrates Court on September 30. Police visited the hotel in Aldershot days after the protest, on August 3, and reported than an officer was assaulted by a man. The officer had to go to hospital with a minor injury. Steven Tiquin, 40, was charged with four counts of assaulting an emergency worker, affray and a racially aggravated public order offence. Southport rioter Connor Prescott, 25, was jailed for 28 months after admitting violent disorder. Liverpool Crown Court heard the convicted drug dealer was seen to be throwing bricks, large pieces of masonry and wheelie bins towards the police. Police are urging people not to speculate about the circumstances surrounding the incident on July 31 online. A Kansas mom is standing trial accused of causing a car crash which killed three Girl Scouts, including her own eight-year-old daughter. Jury selection has begun in the trial of Amber Peery, who allegedly triggered the fatal incident by attempting to U-Turn down a busy highway in October 2022. Prosecutors say Peery's Dodge van was traveling south on the on I-335 in Kansas when she tried to turn through the barrier wall on the turnpike and a Kenworth semi-truck ploughed into it. Her daughter Brooklyn Peery, eight, along with Laila El Azari and Kylie Lunn, both nine, were killed in the collision. Peery was seen leaving court on a break from her hearing Monday. When reporters asked whether she had any comment, she simply said 'no' and speed-walked away. Jury selection has begun in the trial of Amber Peery, who allegedly triggered the fatal incident by attempting to U-Turn down a busy highway in October 2022. (Pictured: Peery outside the courthouse on Monday) Kylie Lunn, 9, (above) also lost her life in the horrific crash off I-335 Her best friend, Laila El Azri (above), 9, was the third fatality in the crash At the time of the crash, two more children were in Peery's van and one was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. Peery also needed hospital treatment. She was eventually charged with seven counts related to the incident in June 2023. She is accused of three counts of reckless involuntary manslaughter, two counts of aggravated battery, improper crossover on a divided highway, and failure to check for safe passage before passing from a single lane. The semi-tractor trailer truck was driven by Robert Hosey Russell, who was then 70. He was unharmed in the collision and has not been charged. Peery and the girls, all from Topeka, Kentucky, had been on their way to a Girl Scout event at the time of the crash. Peery was seen leaving court on a break from her hearing Monday. When reporters asked whether she had any comment, she simply said 'no' and speed-walked away Pictured: Peery's vehicle after the crash in October 2022 'I honestly don't know how I'm going to keep going without you, but I know I have to and everything I do will be with a purpose for you,' Peery wrote on Facebook after the crash Neighbors of Laila and Kylie set up a memorial site where the girls often played Shortly afterward, Peery shared a heartbreaking message to her deceased daughter over Facebook. 'I honestly don't know how I'm going to keep going without you, but I know I have to and everything I do will be with a purpose for you,' she wrote at the time. 'Mommy loves you so much sweet girl and all I want is to be able to hold you in my arms again.' Residents told WIBW 13 at the time that cars frequently use the emergency U-turn opening by the barrier wall where Amber's car was hit. Also mourning her daughter was Tiffany Lunn, who said her daughter Kylie was best friends with fellow victim Laila. Both girls were fourth graders at Farley Elementary School. 'She was my everything and I was her everything and my heart is just broken right now,' Tiffany wrote on Facebook. 'I just don't know where to go from here, she was my purpose, she was my everything, I'm just lost without her.' Hundreds of pupils face a scramble for places days before the start of term after two private schools announced their closure following Labours VAT bombshell. Kilgraston School, near Bridge of Earn, Perthshire, closed with immediate effect yesterday, with bosses citing the impact of the tax hikes on fees as a factor. Cedars School in Greenock, Renfrewshire, will close next month, fuelling fears that other independent schools will also be forced to shut down in coming months. Labour is pushing ahead with its plans to remove the VAT exemption and business rates relief for private schools from January 1 in a bid to raise 1.5billion. Chris McGovern of the Campaign for Real Education said: Private schools are being destroyed by the politics of envy. Kilgraston School near Bridge of Earn closed with immediate effect yesterday Local authorities are now rushing to accommodate the 249 pupils affected in council-run schools, where space is at a premium, as the new academic term gets under way. Last night Scottish Tory education spokesman Liam Kerr said: The confirmation of Kilgrastons closure is an early indication of the impact of Labours policy of imposing VAT on education. Its not just desperately sad news for staff, students and parents, but damaging to the local community. The knock-on effect of these independent school closures and this is likely to be the first of many on the already-overwhelmed state sector is likely to be significant. Scotlands state education system is already under tremendous pressure thanks to the SNPs underfunding and the resultant fall in teacher numbers. Labours ill-considered policy is likely to make that crisis even worse. The UK Government will apply 20 per cent VAT to private schools in the UK from January 1 next year. Kilgraston - Scotlands only Catholic boarding school - was saved from closure last year after an extraordinary call to action by parents which raised 1.2million in 48 hours. Cedars School in Greenock announced it will close its doors for good next month Bosses at the school, founded in 1930, blamed Covid lockdowns and travel restrictions for undermining demand from international boarders. Parents launched a 2million fundraising campaign as parents canvassed alumni, previous donors, and the families of prospective students. After it raised 1.2million, the education provider Achieve Group agreed to match funding, and to create a further investment plan to keep the school open. Achieve Group runs leading independent school Abbotsholme in Staffordshire, and Michael Farmer, a former Kilgraston headteacher, sits on the groups board of directors. But it is now no longer able to buy Kilgraston because of its owner Ming Baos ill health leading to the schools closure. In a letter to parents and former students, the school claimed the potential impact of changes to VAT exemptions for private schools and a roll of just 173 pupils were factors in the closure. It also claimed it would need 210 pupils to break even and would have to plug a black hole in its finances for the next academic year. The school, which has 3.4million of loans and finance commitments outstanding, charged annual fees of 41,634 for senior boarders. The board of trustees said the possible impact of VAT on school fees, and with an expected roll of 173 pupils, we were facing a serious short-term funding shortfall of 860,000 for the forthcoming academic year. Affected pupils will be offered places at Glenalmond College and Craigclowan School, but some parents may decide for financial reasons to switch to the state sector. Perth and Kinross Council said it recognises that parents/carers of current Kilgraston pupils will be trying to find another school for their child to attend. It said: Parents/carers will be entitled to seek a space in their local authority catchment school determined by their permanent home address should they wish to do so, and normal admission arrangements will apply. Meanwhile, Cedars School will close next month, partly due to the impending introduction of VAT on fees. Cedars School, with fees of 9,187 a year, is a small, independent Christian school catering for both primary and secondary pupils. It has described itself as an aspirational community founded on Christian values and ethos open to pupils from all faiths and none, and has been run as a branch of Struthers Memorial Church. School pupils in Inverclyde are due to return to class on Friday (AUGUST 16), leaving just a few days for parents to find places for their children. A spokesman for the school said: We are deeply saddened to report that Cedars will close on September 27, after 25 years offering a caring and Christian education to children in Inverclyde and the surrounding areas. The school said it had charged lower than average fees and delivered excellent academic results as both National 4 and 5 and Higher / Advanced Higher. Despite having a maximum capacity of 120 pupils, the school roll for the most recent year had fallen to 76, with a focus on marketing activity failing to reverse the decline. Fees had recently been increased by 10 per cent - but the implementation of the new Labour governments VAT policy was due to push costs higher still. A spokesman for the school told the Mail that funding from Struthers Memorial Church had been secured and bosses had been planning for Labours VAT hike in September next year, rather than in January during this financial year. He said: The timing of the introduction of VAT wasnt part of our plans and we had difficult decisions to make would parents want their children to stay on at the school, for example in an exam year, knowing that within months the fees would increase, for them and for other parents, and they may not be able to afford them? Last night Emma Rukin, headteacher of Cedars School, said: I am immensely proud of what Cedars has achieved and the lasting, positive impact it has had on young lives in our area. Tanya Davie, the headteacher of Kilgraston School which has closed with immediate effect An Inverclyde Council spokesman said: We have been in close contact with the schools board of directors and parents to offer support. A spokesman for the Scottish Council of Independent Schools said: The news of the closure of Kilgraston school in Perthshire and Cedars School in Greenock is extremely sad for the pupils, families and staff involved and for the wider communities in which they are based. The UK Government has not assessed the impact which VAT on school fees will have on both the independent and state sectors in Scotland. Independent evidence has shown the policy will cost the state money in Scotland given the increased burden it will place on state schools. We are calling on the UK Government to delay the implementation of VAT on fees until September 2025 to give schools and families time to prepare for this significant change. The Treasury declined to comment on individual school closures but ministers believe that it is right that we introduce [VAT on fees] as soon as possible in order to raise the funding needed to deliver our education priorities for 2025-26. The Government believes that ending tax breaks on private schools will help to raise the revenue needed to fund our education priorities for next year, such as recruiting 6,500 new teachers. The Scottish Government declined to comment. A student nurse accused of attempting to kidnap a newborn baby told jurors today she had suffered a miscarriage weeks earlier. Safia Ahmadei, 36, allegedly wanted a child 'who could pass for her own after faking a pregnancy', and had repeatedly entered the neonatal ward at the hospital where she was on placement to 'scout' for a baby. But Ahmadei told jurors she had 'lied' to her husband that she had given birth to twin boys out of fear he would leave her if he knew the truth. Ahmadei sobbed on the witness stand this afternoon as she told of a chequered relationship history involving an unhappy first marriage before she became the second wife of another man whose wife had been unable to conceive. The court heard she 'took vows' with him in an Islamic Nikah marriage ceremony in order to sleep with him for the purpose of 'conceiving a child for them'. The 36-year-old is accused of attempting to kidnap a premature baby from a hospital neonatal ward after tricking her husband into believing she was pregnant (file image) Safia Ahmadei wanted a child 'who could pass for her own after faking a pregnancy', and was becoming 'increasingly desperate' after telling her husband she had given birth to twins weeks earlier, jurors were told. Pictured: Wolverhampton Crown Court But by the end of January this year the man - who lived with his wife in the same block of flats but would visit Ahmadei regularly - was expecting her to soon give birth to the twin boys she told him she was pregnant with. Ahmadei told jurors she had miscarried at the end of a nightshift at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, earlier that month, but had been too 'scared' to tell the husband because he had been left 'sad and broken' when she suffered another miscarriage early last year. As a result, when he asked her if she had given birth, she told him she had, but that one of the twins had died and the other was in a 'poor condition' in the hospital. Prosecutor Seamran Sidhu had previously told Wolverhampton Crown Court that by the time the trainee nurse was arrested after repeatedly entering the neonatal ward in mid-February, she had become 'increasingly desperate' and 'needed to produce a baby'. But Ahmadei told jurors she could not tell her husband that both babies died at the same time 'because it would be too much to take'. 'In my mind, I thought after a few days I would tell him that the second baby had died', she added. She continued: 'I lied to him, I was just thinking how to get out of the situation. 'He told him I had given birth because I was scared that if I told him I had a miscarriage I would become angry and leave me.' The court heard that Ahmadei went to hospital last November claiming she was pregnant and suffering bleeding, but when staff did a pregnancy test it was negative. Jurors were also told she did not tell police she had suffered a miscarriage when she was interviewed. She told the jury: 'In Afghanistan, in our community it is not good to be separated from a husband and get married to another person. 'That's why I didn't give information about (the husband) or my life with him.' Jurors have been told Ahmadei took a 'particular interest' in a premature baby girl after befriending her mother and quizzing the woman on their 'racial heritage' while on the maternity ward. But Ahmadei, who had two children from an earlier marriage and was 'Islamically but not legally' divorced from the husband, denied intending to kidnap the baby girl. She said she had returned with blankets because the infant's mother had complained about the air conditioning system making her baby cold. She said the pair had chatted and the mother had told her she didn't have a sister in the local area, so Ahmadei said that she offered to be her 'sister' and invited her to her home once the woman was discharged. Asked by her barrister Kevin Metzger what would have happened if she had taken a baby girl home to her husband, she said: 'He would not accept (her) because he's thinking that he had a baby boy. In our culture, they value a lot a baby boy'. Ahmadei, of Wolverhampton, denies one count of attempting to kidnap between February 12 and 14. The case continues. Anti-Israel protesters brought traffic to a standstill on a busy Los Angeles highway demanding for a ceasefire in Gaza. Protesters from the group IfNotNow Los Angeles walked onto the southbound 405 Freeway near Venice Boulevard around 9 a.m. PT Tuesday creating an instant traffic jam. Video from Fox 11 showed the group walking along the highway carrying posters as piles of cars began mounting behind them. California Highway Patrol were seen arresting the dozens of protesters and sitting them along the road barrier. Anti-Israel protesters brought traffic to a standstill on the 405 Freeway near Venice Boulevard California Highway Patrol were seen arresting the dozens of protesters 'American Jews and allies have shut down the 405 freeway in West Los Angeles in protest of U.S. support for Israel's assault on Gaza,' the organizers said in a statement to KABC. 'With one week to go before the Democratic National Convention, protesters are coalescing around three demands for all elected officials: call for a lasting ceasefire, reject the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and legislate an arms embargo.' Eight protesters were arrested and in total there were around 40 protesters, most of whom left on foot when police arrived, reported KTLA. Protesters from the group IfNotNow Los Angeles caused the standstill to demand a ceasefire in Gaza Eight protesters were arrested and in total there were around 40 protesters Drivers were advised to get off at Olympic Boulevard and avoid the 10 Freeway, which was reopened to the slow moving traffic about an hour later. No injuries were reported. The group has been calling for the United States to stop supporting Israel's attack on Hamas following the October 7 attack when the terrorist organization killed 1,200 Israelis and took hundreds hostage. Since then almost 40,000 people have died in Israeli attacks on the Palestinian enclave of Gaza. Talks are due to resume this week aimed at securing a ceasefire and the return of remaining hostages held by Hamas. A woman who was allegedly raped at knifepoint under Coney Island's boardwalk said she feared for her life during the hellish ordeal. The homeless victim, 46, who is not named, was allegedly set upon by two migrants on Sunday evening, with one said to have held her boyfriend back as he watched the attack. 'It was attempted murder,' she told DailyMail.com. 'He was putting a knife to my throat, was slashing my face, choking me... it's attempted murder.' She recalled that she was smothered and attacked for over 45 minutes, and claimed one of the men called out 'she's enjoying it.' It comes as Nicaraguan migrant Daniel Davon-Bonilla, 24, was charged over the brutal assault, with alleged accomplice Leovando Moreno, 37, also accused of fending off her boyfriend with a brick. Nicaraguan migrant David Davon-Bonilla, 24, is charged with the rape of a homeless woman on Coney Island on Sunday, with his alleged victim branding the attack an 'attempted murder' Leovando Moreno, a 37-year-old Mexican man, is accused of assaulting the victim's boyfriend while the attack took place The alleged attack came late on Sunday evening near a popular section of New York City's Coney Island, when the victim's boyfriend Ray Ramsammy, 34, (pictured) said he stepped away to grab a coffee The alleged attack came late on Sunday evening near a popular section of New York City's Coney Island, when the victim's boyfriend Ray Ramsammy, 34, said he stepped away to grab a coffee. When he came back, Ramsammy said he found his partner being savagely attacked at knifepoint, before he was also targeted as he attempted to fight them off. 'He picked up a knife and tried to stab me,' Ramsammy told DailyMail.com. 'And then he hit me with a pipe... and then the other guy, he picked up a brick and pelted me in my back.' He explained that he feared that another blow to the head would have knocked him out and allowed the men to stab him, so he ran into the street to plead for witnesses to call the police. 'When I finally made it out, I ran to the other side (of the street) where I know the public are and they could see what was going on. 'Everybody was watching him with a knife in his hand, still trying to stab me,' he continued. 'I was telling them, 'somebody call the police!'' Ramsammy claimed that despite the chaotic scenes, nobody from the public called the police, and he was forced to rush back under the boardwalk to retrieve his phone so he could call 911 himself. The two suspects, seen here in their mugshots, allegedly attacked the homeless woman at knifepoint, with their alleged victim saying she hopes they are imprisoned for a 'long time' The attack took place on Sunday evening near a popular section of New York City's Coney Island (pictured) As he recounted the story, Ramsammy's girlfriend sat with her head in her hands and shook her head. She added to DailyMail.com that the men seemed intent on getting her in a vehicle to kidnap her. Ramsammy said he and the victim have only known each other a few weeks while they live in a homeless encampment on Coney Island, and admitted the attack has left his girlfriend traumatized. Police arrested Moreno and Davon-Bonilla on the same night of the attack, and the victim added to the Post that she hopes the suspects 'get a long time' behind bars. 'I'm afraid he's going to kill somebody,' she said of Davon-Bonilla, who was allegedly the one who raped her while Moreno allegedly held back Ramsammy. The unprovoked attack reportedly took place under a boardwalk outside a hotel housing asylum seekers (pictured), right on this sandy stretch adjacent to the famed boardwalk When DailyMail.com visited the scene of the grisly attack, tents, drugs and liquor bottles filled the area under the boardwalk Following his arrest, it was revealed that Danon-Bonilla also faced rape charges in April 2023, and had been out of jail less than two months before Sunday's rape on Coney Island. Sources told the Post that in his first known arrest, he allegedly raped and sodomized a 34-year-old woman at a hotel-turned-migrant shelter. It came four months after he reportedly entered the country illegally in Texas, but it is not clear why he was allowed to remain in the US after that release. While he now faces charges of first -degree rape, second-degree assault, first-degree sexual abuse, menacing and criminal possession of a weapon, Meanwhile, Moreno was charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon for his fending off Ramsammy. The incident came the same day that a Venezuelan migrant accused of leading the attack against NYPD officers in Times Square earlier this year was arrested again for theft, and weeks after a suspected illegal was arrested for the rape of a 13-year-old girl in a New York City park. A mother who put her own child at risk when she took them to a riot outside a migrant hotel sobbed in the dock today. Nevey Smith, 21, wept throughout the hearing at Manchester magistrates' court as she admitted a charge of violent disorder after she threw 'liquid' from a bottle at police in Newton Heath on July 31 when she 'lost her temper'. Smith, of West Street, Failsworth, was taking the child in a pushchair to see her grandmother when she spotted her auntie standing and chatting with other people near the hotel. Today she said she was 'deeply sorry' for her attack on the police as a judge told her: 'You put your own child at risk.' Prosecutor Tess Kenyon said that there was a large-scale disturbance outside a hotel on Oldham Road, during which Smith was seen to throw a liquid from a bottle towards the police officers. Nevey Smith, 21, wept throughout the hearing at Manchester magistrates' court as she admitted a charge of violent disorder as a judge told her she put her own child at risk when she took them to a riot outside a migrant hotel Riot police outside the hotel in Newton Heath on July 31 where Smith threw 'liquid' at officers after she 'lost her temper' 'This was after two people who were seeking asylum had gone into the hotel,' she said. 'She had a child in a stroller with her at the time.' Mitigating, Robert Moussalli said his client was 'deeply sorry'. 'She was taking her child to her grandmother's when she saw her auntie standing with some people near to the hotel and went to talk to her,' he said. 'Then people started shouting and she moved to the front of the group and her auntie went to the back with her child. She wasn't planning to do anything.' He said Smith had thrown water, but it had not made contact with the officers. He added that she 'lost her temper' when someone from behind the police 'shouted at her'. 'I accept she brought it entirely on herself,' Mr Moussalli added. Granting her bail with stringent conditions, District Judge Joanne Hirst said: 'I am prepared to give you one opportunity. You put your own child at risk.' Meanwhile, a desperate grandmother said today that she had reached the end of her tether with her 12-year-old grandson branded by a judge as 'Britain's worst rioter' adding that she does not know how he can be helped back onto the straight and narrow. The boy - whose father is in prison - was in court yesterday where he admitted joining two mob rampages through Manchester in three days. His mother looked on tearfully as a judge said he was 'more involved in the violence and disorder than any other defendant'. The boy was warned he would face consequences as the judge told him: 'It's time to stop letting your mum down now.' But the lout's exasperated grandmother today claimed she spent seven months looking after the boy before he clashed with her disabled son and messed up her home. He then went back to stay with his mother - and had gone missing for a week before getting involved in rioting. The 12-year-old boy - whose father is in prison - was in court yesterday where he admitted joining two mob rampages through Manchester in three days The lout's exasperated grandmother today claimed she spent seven months looking after the boy before he clashed with her disabled son and messed up her home Police outside a Holiday Inn hotel in Newton Heath, Manchester, on July 31 following rioting Yesterday, a youth court in Manchester was told that the boy was involved in two incidents of disorder within the space of four days. Prosecutor Tess Kenyon said he was in a group gathered outside a Holiday Inn hotel in Manchester that housed asylum seekers on July 31, two days after the Southport stabbings. She said he was seen on video 'handing a rock to another youth during the disorder' and kicking the side of a bus as it drove past. His mother told the court he had ADHD and went to live with his grandmother for seven months because of his behaviour at home but returned 'as she couldn't handle him'. District Judge Hirst said the case was the first she had dealt with of a person attending both incidents. She added: 'He's more involved in the violence and disorder than any other defendant I've seen coming through these courts, adult or child.' Almost three weeks ago, in the aftermath of Joe Biden being forced out as the Democratic presidential candidate and in the first flush of growing enthusiasm for his replacement, Kamala Harris, I argued that this was still Donald Trump's election to lose. But, unless he got a grip on his campaign, lose it he would. Since then, Harris's star has stayed in the ascendant and Trump's campaign has gone from bad to worse. As things stand, Trump looks more like a loser than a winner. Of course, a lot can happen between now and November 5 and probably will in this febrile and surprising US election campaign. But it will get worse for Trump before it gets better, if it ever does. Since Harris was gifted the Biden nomination, unchallenged, by Democratic powerbrokers she has monopolised the news, much to Trump's fury. His anger is compounded by the fact her rallies now rival his in terms of numbers and enthusiasm. This is especially infuriating for a man for whom crowd size is a key metric of success; and publicity is as vital to his wellbeing as oxygen is to the rest of us. As things stand, Trump looks more like a loser than a winner. Of course, a lot can happen between now and November 5th - and probably will in this febrile and surprising US election campaign. But it will get worse for Trump before it gets better, if it ever does. Harris will continue to dominate the headlines through the Democratic Convention later this month in Chicago, which will be a glitzy, star-studded, prime-time coronation for Queen Kamala, and propel her to Labor Day (the first Monday of September), when the campaign proper begins. She will hit the ground running. Trump will probably still be floundering and flailing to come up with attack lines that work. So far, everything he's tried to regain the initiative has failed. On Monday, he spent two hours talking to Elon Musk on the tech billionaire's X (formerly Twitter) social media platform. It didn't help that the start was delayed for 40 minutes by a technical glitch (must have been the American 'deep state' or 'Iranian hackers' claimed his more conspiratorial supporters, with zero evidence). But when the conversation eventually started it was so 'ho-hum' that it struggled to make much news. Trump trotted out all his usual grievances, personal insults and well-aired falsehoods, none of which Musk challenged. Trump likes his inquisitors supine. Harris was 'third rate' even 'lunatic' but the presidents of Russia, China and North Korea were 'tough', 'smart', 'at the top of their game'. It is a curious, some might think bizarre, strategy to run for president of the world's greatest democracy by praising three of the globe's most evil autocrats. But then Trump has never met a strongman he didn't admire (and probably wished to ape). The week before, in a previous attempt to grab back the spotlight, Trump held a press conference at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida Palace of Bling. It was staged to underline his willingness to be questioned, compared with Harris, who has yet to give a proper interview or press conference since replacing Biden. She prefers the safety of the teleprompter to unscripted exposure, in which past experience suggests she'd be vulnerable. But, again, Trump had nothing of substance to say. Instead of mounting a critique of Harris's threadbare record as vice president and her previous embrace of every fashionable Left-wing cause under the sun, he was typically false, obtuse, petty and vindictive. This worked in 2016 against Hilary Clinton, whom even the Democrats did not like. It is not working against Harris, whose popularity is growing from a low base, partly because she remains hermetically sealed from scrutiny. Trump's failing campaign is already being reflected in the polls. Before the June debate with Biden, which was a car crash for the President, Trump had been slightly ahead in the polls in most of the swing states but not by much. Harris will continue to dominate the headlines through the Democratic Convention later this month in Chicago , which will be a glitzy, star-studded, prime-time coronation for Queen Kamala. After the debate, Trump's lead widened and he began to look unstoppable. But when Harris replaced Biden the polls returned to where they'd been before. Now they're moving Harris's way. The latest New York Times poll in three crucial swing states Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan has Harris ahead by decent margins (50 per cent to 46 per cent) in all three among likely voters. Still within the margin of error because polling samples in each state are quite small (under 700); but it is clear the momentum is with her. Her favourability rating is rising and Democratic support for their candidate has risen from 60 per cent in May to 87 per cent now. A savvy Trump campaign would spot an opportunity in that. Moderates are still up for grabs so the Republican election strategy should be to pound her previous policy positions remorselessly against private health insurance (the basis of the US health system), against fracking (the reason America is energy independent) and in favour of defunding the police, decriminalising illegal entry to the country, a socialist-style Green New Deal and gun confiscation while pointing out that in Minnesota Governor Tim Walz she has a running mate who will not curb her Left-wing tendencies but encourage them. You wouldn't think it too hard for Trump to base a winning campaign on these attack lines. After all, the economy and immigration are the two most important issues for voters and he has a lead over Harris in both. But he's not interested in matters as mundane as policy. Instead he's taken to howling at the wind. Furious that Harris rallies might outnumber his, he's accusing her people of enhancing the numbers using artificial intelligence, claiming 'nobody was there' when pictures of a Harris rally at a Detroit airport hangar show around 10,000 present. I yield to no one in my low regard for America's overwhelmingly partisan Democratic media, but for Trump's claim to be true they'd all have to be in on the AI conspiracy since ever major newspaper and broadcaster covered the Detroit event. It is patently absurd, even deranged a word quietly but increasingly being used to describe Trump, even in some Republican circles. He has no focus on the issues which matter and could determine the election. No consistent case to justify why he should have four more years in the White House. But he recently told supporters 'Biden was locked and loaded ready to take me out'. He's even musing out loud that Biden could turn up in Chicago to grab the nomination back from Harris. Deranged indeed. Whisper it softly but some say his age (78) is becoming a factor, that he is now the Biden of the 2024 campaign. He slurred some words in his Musk interview. Some even speculate that he could be at risk of a breakdown. Far-fetched, perhaps. But his core support is losing its enthusiasm. He rambles for longer and more incoherently than ever at his rallies. Harris-Walz are eminently beatable. Almost any competent mainstream Republican ticket could do it. But somtimes Trump is his own worst enemy. If he is the loser again in November he'll have nobody to blame but himself. Some Republican strategists have given up hopes of the White House and think it's best to concentrate on controlling a Harris-Walz administration with a Republican-controlled Congress. European capitals will take comfort in the prospect that, though Harris is no great shakes at foreign policy, NATO should be safe with her in the Oval Office. In theory, there is still all to play for. Harris-Walz are eminently beatable. Almost any competent mainstream Republican ticket could do it. There will be at least one Harris-Trump debate (September 10) during the campaign and maybe up to three. Harris will be at her most vulnerable, with no teleprompter to protect her. Trump could be at his most dangerous. But not if he eschews policy critiques for pathetic, childish personal attacks. That will not go down well with voters. These are dangerous times and Americans want grown up debates between those who would be their president. It seems such an obvious point for Trump to comprehend, but sometimes he just doesn't get it. Sometimes he's his own worst enemy. If he is the loser again in November he'll have nobody to blame but himself. A little girl was found dead inside the trash near her home in Brazil - after the local child protection services received 20 phone calls from a concerned neighbor about her wellbeing. Kerollyn Ferreira, nine, had a history of being allegedly being abused by her mother, Carla Souza, who was arrested Saturday, a day after the tragic discovery in Guaiba, Rio Grande do Sul. Souza was placed in pretrial detention for 30 days after a judge signed off on the Public Prosecutor's office request. They said there is sufficient proof that will demonstrate that Souza had made prior comments about murdering Ferreira. Fernanda Cardoso told Brazilian news outlet G1 that she sent the Guaiba Child Protection Council a picture of the child on multiple occasions, but that nothing was done to save Ferreira from her mother's wrath. Kerollyn Ferreira (pictured) was found dead inside a garbage container near her home in Guaiba, Brazil last Friday The lifeless body of nine-year-old Kerollyn Ferreira was found in a garbage bin near her home in Guaiba, a city in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul 'I called more than 20 times, I asked to please resolve it,' Cardoso said. 'I sent a photo of the child, I sent everything.' 'The child in the rain, begging. She was always at my door begging. She asked for water, for a hug, for a kiss.' Cardoso last spoke to an agency worker a week before Ferreira was killed and was informed that someone was looking into the allegations. Ferreira's body was spotted inside the large plastic container Friday, but it didn't show signs of violence, according to court documents reviewed by the outlet. A police report indicated that Souza subjected Ferreira to physical and mental abuse. 'Regarding the request for temporary arrest, I believe that the order is appropriate and sufficient for the continuation of investigations and determination of the authorship of the crime of homicide, currently under investigation,' judge Joao Leal Jr. wrote as part of his ruling. A cop assigned to Rio Grande do Sul State Military Police visited the girl's residence, where Souza acknowledged she was Ferreira's mother and claimed she didn't sleep at the home on Thursday. Souza didn't not show any signs of being worried when she was informed her daughter had been found dead and then became upset when the cops signaled her as a potential suspect. Matheus Ferreira with his daughter Kerollyn Ferreira, who was allegedly killed by her mother and abandoned in a dumpster last Friday The Guaiba Child Protection Council was contacted more than 20 times by a neighbor concerned about Kerollyn Ferreira's well-being. The nine-year-old was found dead inside a dumpster last Friday Rio Grande do Sul Civil Police chief Fernando Sodre said that Ferreira 'lived free, abandoned, even sleeping in an abandoned car, often, which was close to the house and school.' Ferreira's father, Matheus Ferreira, told G1 that she lived with him for the first couple of months of her life and then until she was seven years old before she returned to live with Souza. He said he was not aware of his daughter's mistreatment and asked Souza to allow Ferreira to live with him if she believed she couldn't care after her. 'The girl slept on the street, the girl ate food from the trash, the neighbors told me,' Matheus Ferreira said. 'It was a situation that I didn't know about, I wasn't aware of what was happening.' 'I always made it clear to her (Souza), 'Man, if you don't want to take care of the girl, if you don't have patience, then give the girl to me, let her stay with me, I'll take care of her and it's no problem,'' he said. 'But she never wanted it, she never accepted it.' A joint report released Tuesday by the Brazilian Public Security Forum and the United Nations Childrens Fund (Unicef) found that 15,101 minors where killed between 2021 and 2023 in the South American nation. At least 91.6 percent of the victims were between the ages of 15 and 19 and 82.9 percent of the total were Black children. A group of Ohio mothers have come together to show their support for a woman who was asked to breastfeed in private rather than near a swimming pool. Vanessa Dyckman was breastfeeding her baby at a public swimming pool in New Albany, near Columbus, last week when a lifeguard walked up to her. 'Lifeguard was like, "Excuse me, you actually can't nurse here. We would prefer you went to the bathroom or something instead",' she recalled to KXII. She further said: 'I can definitely say that I was still remaining rather modest while nursing. We were not being flashy or trying to cause a scene. 'They whistled and their manager came over, and he proceeded to tell me that I was not allowed to nurse in the pool area at all.' A group of Ohio mothers have come together to show their support for a woman who was asked to breastfeed in private rather than near a swimming pool Soon after, Dyckman and her friends came together in protest of the woman being reprimanded. Video footage from the moment shows over five woman sitting on the edge of the pool and breastfeeding as they enjoy the sun. Talking of the display of power and friends' support, Dyckman said: 'My breastfeeding journey, in part, has been as successful as it is because of this group of friends.' Her friend and educator, Brittany Kovacs added: 'I'm a breastfeeding educator and so I knew right away that it is legal to breastfeed your baby in public, covered or uncovered, whatever the mothers preference is.' Vanessa Dyckman (pictured) was breastfeeding her baby at a public swimming pool in New Albany, near the capitol of Columbus last week when a lifeguard scolded her Soon after, Dyckman and her friends came together in protest of the former being reprimanded Video footage from the moment shows over five woman sitting on the edge of the pool and breastfeeding as they enjoy the sun Cierra Rider, another one of the protestors who is Dyckmans friend said: 'It is a big deal for moms to be nursing in public. Sometimes its a lot. The way that people view it is sometimes negatively seen.' According to Section 3781 of Ohio Revised Code, 'a mother is entitled to breastfeed her baby in any location of a place of public accommodation wherein the mother otherwise is permitted.' Since then, officials have apologized for the misunderstanding and clarified that the township supports and welcomes all breastfeeding moms. Authorities also said they were going to use this moment as a training opportunity to teach lifeguards about breastfeeding laws in Ohio. Kamala Harris' running mate Tim Walz gave a fiery defense of his military record as Republicans go on the attack accusing him of 'stolen valor' and abandoning his National Guard unit before it deployed to Iraq. 'I'm going to say it as clearly as I can. I am damn proud of my service to this country,' Walz said. 'And I firmly believe you should never denigrate another person's service records. To anyone brave enough to put on that uniform for our great country including my opponent, I just have a few simple words: Thank you for your service and sacrifice.' The Democratic vice presidential nominee has been under fire by Republicans since joining the Harris ticket for his words about carrying a weapon in war and over when he left service. 'I signed up for the Army National Guard two days after my 17th birthday. I served for the next 24 years for the same reason all my brothers and sisters in uniform do. We love this country,' Walz said on Tuesday. 'Then in 2005, I felt the call of duty again, this time being service to my country in the halls of Congress,' he went on. He spoke of being a member of the Veterans Affairs Committee. Kamala Harris running mate Governor Tim Walz responded to criticism of his military record on Tuesday, saying he is 'damn proud' of his service and believes people should never denigrate another person's service record Walz made the remarks during his first solo campaign stop since joining the Harris ticket when he gave a speech before the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) convention in Los Angeles. His defense of his service record comes after Walz's political opponent J.D. Vance went after him on the campaign trail over his record in the National Guard in an attack reminiscent of those leveled against John Kerry in 2004. Walz retired from the National Guard in May 2005. At the time, his first congressional campaign said he planned to run despite a possible mobilization. Three months later, the Army issued the mobilization order for his unit which was sent to Iraq in 2006. Vance told DailyMail.com last week it was 'shameful' for Walz to retire as his unit was preparing to go to war. 'Your job as a senior enlisted guy in a unit is to keep your people safe. That's not a job you can switch out of on a moment's notice,' Vance, who served in the U.S. Marines for four years, said in an interview. 'So if he abandoned his troops before they went to Iraq or wherever ... absolutely shameful.' Republicans accuse Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of skipping out on his National Guard unit in 2005 to begin his political career just before it deployed to Iraq. He served 24 years after enlisting at the age of 17 During his service, Walz also achieved the rank of command sergeant major, but because he did not finish coursework before his retirement, he retired as a master sergeant for benefits purposes. The Minnesota governor has also been criticized for speaking about carrying a weapon of war even though he was never deployed to a combat zone. A clip posted by the Harris campaign included remarks from Walz in 2018 disucssing gun control where he said 'We can make sure that those weapons of war, that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at.' The campaign clarified that Walz 'misspoke' when he mentioned handling weapons 'in war.' Vance, who also served as a U.S. responded to Walz on Tuesday on X. 'Hi Tim, I thank you for your service. But you shouldn't have lied about it. You shouldn't have said you went to war when you didn't. Nor should you have said that you didn't know your unit was going to Iraq. Happy to discuss more in a debate,' Vance wrote. Hi Tim, I thank you for your service. But you shouldn't have lied about it. You shouldn't have said you went to war when you didn't. Nor should you have said that you didn't know your unit was going to Iraq. Happy to discuss more in a debate.https://t.co/6vUlF9dBkJ JD Vance (@JDVance) August 13, 2024 Walz used his appearance at the AFSCME convention in Los Angeles to go after Donald Trump's record as a businessman and as president Walz used his first solo appearance on Tuesday to also address his service as a teacher, noting that he was a dues paying teacher for years before an audience of members of the largest union of public service workers in the country. 'I happen to be the first union member on a presidential ticket since Ronald Reagan,' Walz told the crowd. 'But rest assured, I won't lose my way.' He touted Harris service as vice president before turning his ire on Donald Trump as he takes on the role of attack dog in the Harris campaign. 'You know Vice President Harris grew up in a middle class family, picked up shifts at that McDonald's as a student,' Walz said. 'I keep asking this to make a contrast here. Can you simply picture Donald Trump working at a McDonald's trying to make a McFlurry or something?' Walz joked that Trump couldn't run 'that damn McFlurry machine' as the crowd laughed. He also accused the ex-president of stiffing service workers for decades as a businessman and cutting overtime benefits for millions of workers as president. Walz will be making several more stops across the country as part of his first solo fundraising blitz this week after campaigning with Harris last week in battleground states. Ten prisoners have been rushed to hospital after suspected overdoses from a synthetic drug at a prison in Ireland. Numerous inmates at Portlaoise are understood to have consumed a quantity of white power, believed to be a synthetic drug smuggled into the high-security prison. One inmate is reportedly now fighting for their life, with at least three others understood to be serious ill from ingesting the unnamed drug. Six were initially transferred to hospital yesterday, while a further three were hospitalised a number of hours later. Some are being treated at Midlands Regional Hospital Portlaoise, while others were taken to Midland Regional Hospital in Tullamore, Co Offaly. Several inmates from Portlaoise Prison have been rushed to hospital since ingesting the drug Portlaoise is a high-security prison in Ireland which houses some of our most volatile criminals The Irish Prison Service (IPS) said it is 'working closely' with the HSE in response to the number of overdose presentations in custody. The drugs retrieved have since been sent for analysis. The IPS also confirmed it has secured extra naloxone kits for future use. This medication is used to temporarily reverse the effects of opioid drugs, such as heroin, morphine, codeine and methadone. If someone experiences an overdose, naloxone can help keep them alive until an ambulance arrives. The IPS said extra vigilance is being taken across the prison estate, and an information campaign has commenced around the dangers of consuming contraband drugs. 'The Irish Prison Service is committed to preventing the access of contraband, including drugs, into prisons and [it] continues to be a high priority. 'The Irish Prison Service has committed to continuing to invest in new technologies and measures to support our efforts to keep contraband out of prisons.' The statement noted that prison staff have increased 'random and intelligence led' cell searches on a daily basis to combat drugs use. 'Our Canine Unit carry out searches around the prisons, including a greater focus on searching deliveries into prisons. 'The Operational Support Group work closely with their colleagues in An Garda Siochana on a regular basis and the sharing of intelligence has led to target searches resulting in the seizure of contraband. 'The Irish Prison Service are committed to strengthening our measures in keeping drugs out of prison and in this regard a new drug strategy was published last November.' One inmate is reportedly now fighting for their life, with at least three others 'seriously ill' Naloxone, pictured here in spray form, can save lives by rapidly reversing opioid overdose The Mail recently reported that hundreds of potentially fatal drugs were handed over to prison officers by inmates in Mountjoy following the death of a prisoner in July. The 21-year-old inmate was suspected of overdosing on the powerful drug Nitazene. It marked the third death in custody this year suspected to be linked to Nitazene. The other two were in Cork and Limerick prisons. Due to the high risk of the drug, inmates started to hand over drugs in a 'self-amnesty'. 'The death of this man from Darndale has scared the inmates and they've started handing them in or dropping them off places for the guards to find,' said a source at the time. The HSE National Drug Treatment Centre Laboratory was involved in confirming the presence of the drug. The young pilot who died after he stole a helicopter and crashed it into a Cairns hotel posted just months ago about how excited he was for his 'next adventure'. New Zealander Blake Wilson, 23, was piloting the R44 Robinson helicopter when it crashed into the roof of DoubleTree by Hilton at about 1.50am on Monday. He died at the scene. The tragedy comes months after the young man had moved to Cairns to live out his dream after completing his training to be a pilot at Christchurch Helicopters. He held a New Zealand pilot's licence but had never flown in Australia. In March he posted on Instagram about how excited he was for his next adventure in Far North Queensland. 'I'm very proud to announce that I'm officially a Commercial Helicopter Pilot. 'It was a busy 18 months of hard mahi (work), late nights in the books and some challenging days in the seat but all up an incredible experience,' he captioned the post. New Zealander Blake Wilson (pictured) was piloting a R44 Robinson helicopter when it crashed into the roof of DoubleTree Hotel by Hilton crash in Cairns Mr Wilson (pictured) had moved to Cairns to live out his dream after completing his training to be a pilot at Christchurch Helicopters Mr Wilson had posted just months ago about how excited he was for his 'next adventure' 'Big thanks to Christchurch Helicopters for giving me the opportunity and tools to launch into the start of my career. 'Also my friends, family and others who have supported me and helped me fulfil this dreams. 'It's the closure of the first chapter in this adventure and I look forward to many more.' The young man shared multiple pictures from his time training to be a helicopter pilot. In one post he described training to be 'one of the harder but most rewarding things I've done'. His final post, from May, shows him on a hike with friends and swimming in a waterfall. A friend shared a post on Tuesday night, describing Mr Wilson as 'caring' and 'genuine'. 'I will miss you immensely,' they said. Mr Wilson, from Palmerston North, had worked as ground staff for Nautilus Aviation for about four months. He was not cleared to fly helicopters. 'Although the employee held a New Zealand CPL(H) pilot's licence, they have never flown in Australia or for Nautilus Aviation and were not authorised to fly Nautilus Aviation helicopters,' the company said in a statement. Mr Wilson had been celebrating at his own leaving do on Sunday evening after securing a new job at Nautilus Aviation's base on Long Island in the Whitsundays when the tragedy unfolded. Up to 400 people were evacuated from the Far North Queensland hotel in the early hours of Monday morning. Mr Wilson (left) held a New Zealand pilot's licence but had never flown in Australia prior to the crash In one post Mr Wilson (pictured) described training to be 'one of the harder but most rewarding things I've done' Nautilus Aviation, the company that owned the helicopter, confirmed the pilot had worked for them as a ground crew member for about four months and had been celebrating their final day with colleagues before moving to another air base. 'We would like to address rumours regarding a gathering of some Nautilus Aviation employees, including off-duty pilots, on Sunday night,' the company stated. 'We can confirm this event did occur and was a privately organised send-off for the individual involved in Monday morning's incident, who was recently promoted to a ground crew position at another one of our bases. 'This was not a work event and was co-ordinated by friends.' Queensland Fire Gold Coast zone commander Greg Tomlinson said earlier on Tuesday it was 'pure luck' no one else was injured in the incident. Cairns airport chief executive Richard Baker confirmed a review was conducted following the incident 'Cairns airport operates under a federally approved, multi-layered transport security program,' Mr Baker said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon. 'To reassure our community, we wish to confirm a review has been conducted, showing no compromise of our airport fence or access points. 'To allow investigators to do their vital work, we will not provide further comment at this time.' Mr Wilson died after the helicopter crashed into the roof of DoubleTree Hotel by Hilton about 1.50am on Monday Mr Wilson (pictured), from Palmerston North, had worked as ground staff for Nautilus Aviation for about four months. He was not cleared to fly helicopters Mr Baker added his thoughts were with those affected by the incident, including the loved ones of the pilot and those at charter company Nautilus Aviation, which owned the helicopter, and the airport. Queensland Police Service Acting Chief Superintendent Shane Holmes was repeatedly asked on Monday if he knew the motivation of the pilot but declined to give a conclusive answer. When asked if it looked like a deliberate act or an accident, Superintendent Holmes simply said it was 'unknown at this stage' but believed it was an 'isolated incident'. The major unanswered questions about the helicopter tragedy Was he qualified to fly a helicopter? Mr Wilson only moved to Cairns from his native New Zealand in March. The young trainee pilot, who is originally from Palmerston North on New Zealand's North Island, gained his private pilots licence Christchurch Helicopters in April 2022, later becoming a fully qualified commercial pilot with the company in September that year. He moved to Cairns with his girlfriend in March this year and had interviews with several different helicopter charter companies. Mr Wilson was described as a clean-cut and serious, yet personable, young man by some of those he encountered in the tight-knit industry. He quickly landed a job in April as a member of the ground crew with Nautilus Aviation, a private charter company which operates from seven bases across Northern Australia. Despite his qualifications back home, he was not permitted to fly helicopters in Australia. 'Although the employee held a New Zealand CPL(H) pilot's licence, they have never flown in Australia or for Nautilus Aviation and were not authorised to fly Nautilus Aviation helicopters,' the company said in a statement released on Tuesday afternoon. This suggests Mr Wilson had not flown a helicopter for almost six months when he decided to get behind the controls of the Robinson 44. What happened in the lead-up to the incident? Mr Wilson had just received a promotion to work as a refueller for Nautilus on Horn Island, above Australia's Top End, which he was due to start on Monday. Colleagues at the company held a farewell dinner and drinks for Mr Wilson on the Sunday night, just hours before he embarked on his fatal flight. Nautilus Aviation said in a statement released on Tuesday afternoon that the dinner was 'not a work event and was coordinated by friends'. 'We can confirm this event did occur and was a privately organised send-off for the individual involved in Monday morning's incident, who was recently promoted to a ground crew position at another one of our bases,' the statement added. One witness told Nine News that Mr Wilson had been 'intoxicated' at the celebratory dinner and had to be put to bed. It's understood that at some point later in the night, he left his room and got behind the wheel of a Nautilus vehicle which he then drove to the company's headquarters at Cairns airport. From there, he was able to access the hangar due to his role as ground crew. It's understood he used a trolley jack to move the helicopter on to the tarmac. The weather early Monday morning was overcast with low visibility. What happened on the flight? The flight only lasted four minutes and no mayday call was made. ATSB chief commissioner Angus Mitchell said that investigators faced a difficult task of establishing exactly what happened due to the impact of the collision and the subsequent fire. 'We'll spend the next couple of days going through witness statements interviewing the operator and trying to build a better picture,' he told reporters on Tuesday. 'What was the nature of this flight? And what was the flight path taken? And particularly, what were those final seconds of flight phase into the building?' He added: 'We understand it has taken off from Cairns Airport and it's done one lap down through Cairns. 'Not too long after that it's been out over the mud flats and then come back into the building. Investigators will scour the hours leading up to the flight, CCTV from the Esplanade, phone recordings of the actual incident, radar from the airport and any recording devices still in tact within the helicopter itself. This would allow investigators to determine whether it was a transport safety matter or more of a 'regulatory' question, Mr Mitchell added. He said that the 83-year-old man and the 76-year-old woman who emerged almost completely unscathed after the helicopter landed in their room were 'very lucky'. 'You can appreciate that an almost three-quarters of a tonne helicopter going into the side of a building is going to result in a lot of catastrophic damage,' Mr Mitchell said. Nautilus Aviation said it had completed interviews with the ATSB and Queensland Police and had 'cooperated with full transparency and disclosure of all events leading up to and following the incident on Monday morning'. The company added: 'We offer our heartfelt condolences to the individual's family and all who have been affected by this tragedy and continue to offer our support to our employees during this very challenging period.' Is anything known about his mental state? He relocated to Cairns with his girlfriend in March and excitedly documented the move on social media. The new home in Far North Queensland. Excited to see what this adventure brings,' he captioned a picture of the city's Esplanade on Instagram. The young Kiwi appeared to be enjoying his time in Cairns, documenting day trips to waterfalls and parties out at local night clubs. Gotta go to the places that the crocs can't get ya, he captioned a series of photos taken at a waterfall. Chasing Waterfalls definitely isn't a bad way to spend days off. It appears Mr Wilson was on a trip to the Great Barrier Reef with a friend just five days before his fatal plunge from the sky. A picture of a helicopter parked on a sand spit in the ocean was captioned: Casual Wednesday on a day off. However, Daily Mail Australia understands that he had recently broken up with his girlfriend. It is not clear if they were back together at the time of his death. Nautilus chief executive Aaron Finn described the crash as 'very unfortunate' and suggested it was not being treated as deliberate by investigators. 'He was a great employee, we had no concerns about his well being or his mental state,' Mr Finn said on Tuesday afternoon. Democratic vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is in hot water for past comments he made praising a Muslim cleric who has since shared antisemitic content. The Washington Examiner reported Tuesday that Walz called Asad Zaman of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota a 'master teacher' when they met in 2018, during Walz's first gubernatorial race. Zaman has since celebrated Hamas' October 7 terror attack on Israel and promoted a film that glorifies Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. 'I am a teacher, so when I see a master teacher, I know it,' Walz said of Zaman during a 2018 campaign stop. 'Over the time we've spent together, one of the things I've had the privilege of is seeing the things in life through the eyes of a master teacher, to try and get the understanding.' The Examiner also reported that Zaman had been hosted by the Minnesota governor on at least five occasions over the years, though the Harris-Walz campaign is pushing back. Asad Zaman (left) of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota has become a political problem for Democratic vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (right) 'The Governor and he do not have a personal relationship. Governor Walz strongly condemns Hamas terrorism,' Harris-Walz campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt told the Examiner. Still, the Republican Jewish Coalition went after Walz for the association. The group called it an 'outrage' and noted that Zaman 'disgustingly' asserted that he 'stands in solidarity with Palestinians against Israeli attacks' after October 7. The RJC also went after Walz by saying that one of his 'best friends includes vicious antisemite Ilhan Omar,' a Democratic member of Congress who represents a Minneapolis district. 'At a time of spiking antisemitism here at home and as Israel faces an existential war for survival, it is essential for the American Jewish community to have confidence in our leaders - and it is clear that we cannot trust Kamala Harris and Tim Walz,' a statement from the Republican Jewish Coalition said. 'Their priorities are not our priorities, and the American people will reject their radicalism and extremism in November.' The criticism comes as Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Walz, are having to navigate a tough political landscape within their own party due to the war in Gaza. Progressives cheered Harris' choice of Walz because he had never taken campaign donations from AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby. Harris has tried to talk tough on Israel due to widespread condemnation from the political left on how Israel is waging the war against Hamas to get the country's hostages back - killing thousands of Palestinian civilians in the process. But with the race looking tight, the Democrats can't afford to lose support among Jewish-Americans, a group that traditionally votes Democratic, but who former President Donald Trump believes he can siphon off if the Democrats look too cozy with the Palestinian cause. Trump has had his own scandal involving antisemites. Over Thanksgiving in 2022, Trump dined with Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes and rapper Kanye West, who's made a number of anti-Semitic statements. Trump was reportedly 'very taken' by Fuentes, though later claimed he had not idea the young man was a white supremacist. 'This past week, Kanye West called me to have dinner at Mar-a-Lago. Shortly thereafter, he unexpectedly showed up with three of his friends, whom I knew nothing about,' the ex-president said on Truth Social. 'We had dinner on Tuesday evening with many members present on the back patio. The dinner was quick and uneventful. They then left for the airport.' A teenage private schoolgirl who suffers from several medical conditions has been missing for more than 48 hours. NSW Police have asked the public for help finding Eloise Christie, 15, after she disappeared from Sydney's east on Monday. Eloise, who is a Year 10 student at St Vincent's College in Potts Point, was last seen on Stanley Street, Queens Park, at about 7.30am. At the time, she was wearing a grey jumper, grey tights, brown ugg boots, and carrying a blue handbag. She is described as being of Caucasian appearance, about 165cm tall, of thin build and with long blond hair. Police are concerned for the teenager's welfare as she suffers from a number of medical conditions which require her to take daily medication. 'When she could not be located or contacted, officers attached to Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command were notified and commenced inquiries into her whereabouts,' a statement read. Anyone with information into her whereabouts is urged to call Eastern Suburbs Police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Eloise Christie (pictured), aged 15, was last seen on Stanley Street in Queens Park, east Sydney, on Monday morning Staff at a north London hospital missed and made incomplete medical checks on a four-year-old boy in the days before he died from sepsis, an inquest has heard. Daniel Klosi died at the Royal Free Hospital in Camden on April 2 last year having been taken to the hospital four times in a week, including twice in one day, by his parents. His family and several staff members who helped care for Daniel gave evidence at an inquest into his death at Poplar Coroner's Court on Tuesday. In a statement read out in court, Kastriot Klosi, Daniel's father, described his son, who had autism, as a 'lively boy' with no other health issues. On March 26 he and Daniel's mother, Lindita Alushi, noticed Daniel was 'wheezing and had a barking cough' and took him to the Royal Free emergency department, where he was diagnosed with crepitation of the lungs. Daniel Klosi (pictured) died on April 2 last year after being taken to the Royal Free Hospital in north London four times in a week by his parents Lindita Alushi (left) said of her son Daniel (right): 'Daniel was the most adorable little boy and we were so blessed that he was our son' They returned on March 30 when a doctor and nurse insisted Daniel had picked up a virus, and said he should 'go home and rest', the statement said. The parents called 111 and were booked in for triage at the hospital on April 1 after Daniel 'suddenly stopped eating and drinking', and he was seen at around 1pm. 'I was told his chest was clear and he was suffering from a virus,' Mr Klosi said. 'I was really concerned and I felt as if the doctor was fixated on telling me Daniel had a virus rather than finding out what the real problem was.' After Daniel was again discharged, the family, of Kentish Town, north London, went back at around 4.30pm and he started 'deteriorating' in front of them, with his nose, hands and feet 'turning purple' and his lips becoming cracked and blue. Daniel died in the early hours of April 2. Dr Shrabhi Agarwal, an emergency physician in the A&E department, first saw Daniel at around 3.30am on March 31. She told the inquest Daniel looked 'a bit unhappy' but not clinically unwell, and his chest 'seemed clear'. The doctor took a viral swab at around 3.30am and said his temperature was 'normal again' around an hour later. 'Because all the swabs were negative and Daniel was feeling better, I decided to discharge them,' Dr Agarwal said. During the second and third visits, Kastriot Klosi (pictured) and Lindita Alushi say doctors advised them to give their son Calpol and Ibuprofen On the fourth visit, Daniel, who had autism, was admitted and died hours later from sepsis She told the inquest she decided not to book a blood test because there were 'no concerning signs'. The inquest heard that the last set of medical observations of Daniel during the visit were at 4.30am, but he was not discharged until 8am. Coroner Mary Hassell asked: 'That really is too long a gap, isn't it?' 'Yes,' Dr Agarwal said. Asked if it is good practice to have another set of observations before patients leave, Ms Agarwal replied: 'Yes.' Asked if she should have asked for more observations, she said: 'Yes, I should have.' Asked by Ms Hassell if she would have done anything differently, Dr Agarwal replied: 'In hindsight, maybe we could have started him on antibiotics earlier.' The witness added: 'At that time I followed all the guidelines, all the protocols. I made a decision based on my examination and findings.' Dr Mudhen Al-Adnani, the pathologist who conducted the post-mortem examination on Daniel, told the inquest the boy's left lung was 'heavy' and that he had pneumonia. Dr Al-Adnani gave the cause of death as sepsis after the infection had breached Daniel's bloodstream, which he said could take 'from several hours to several days' to show. Lucy Parker, who was Daniel's triage nurse at the Royal Free on the morning of April 1, told the inquest she could not perform a full set of observations of Daniel 'due to his distress', adding: 'With those observations I did manage to obtain, there were no immediate alarm bells ringing.' This meant readings of Daniel's heart rate and blood pressure were not taken or logged. Asked by Ms Hassell what was causing the distress, she replied: 'It is difficult to say.' She added that some of her colleagues tried to repeat some of the observations. Asked whether she may record a patient's complexion, with Daniel's parents expressing concern that he looked pale, she said: 'I may.' Asked by the coroner why she had not made a note of Daniel's earlier hospital visit on March 26, which she knew about, Ms Parker said there was 'limited space on the triage to write certain information' and did not believe it was an error. Ms Parker told the inquest she had seen Daniel at different times walking around the department, opening and closing doors and being carried by his father. Daniel a looked 'a bit more uncomfortable' on his fourth visit later that day and the department was very busy that afternoon, Ms Parker said. Dr Kavita Sumaria, a paediatric consultant, met Daniel and his father as she was finishing her morning shift on April 1 after noticing the boy had been waiting for four hours to be seen. She told the inquest she found them both asleep in a sofa chair and woke them for a discussion about taking some tests. Dr Sumaria said: 'To my assessment I thought he [Daniel] had been a child who had been worse the previous night and was starting to improve.' She told the inquest she did not realise at the time that it was Daniel's third visit to the hospital, and that she did not read the triage medical notes logged for him. 'I thought I had a clear picture of what was going on - in retrospect, that obviously was not the case,' she said. Ms Hassell said: 'I find it very difficult to understand your thinking in all of this consultation. The coroner said one interpretation of the evidence was that the consultant had been working with 'one hand tied behind your back', adding: 'The only person responsible for having half a story was you.' Asked by Ms Hassell if she thought administering antibiotics to Daniel at 3.30pm that day would have saved him, Dr Sumaria replied: 'I cannot quantify it.' The witness told the inquest she felt there was an 'agreement' between her and Daniel's father when she diagnosed and discharged the boy, but she 'may have misinterpreted that'. The inquest will continue on Wednesday. Former President Donald Trump's 'mommy issues' were on full display in his Monday night interview with Elon Musk, an ex-FBI agent has claimed. At one point in the rambling discussion, the Republican presidential nominee, 78, was discussing a Time Magazine cover story about his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, when he weirdly compared the Democrat to his wife, Melania. He accused Harris, 59, of getting a 'free ride' from the press as she continues to forego media interviews - when he off-handedly remarked that Harris bears a resemblance to his wife. 'But I saw a picture of her on Time Magazine today, she looks like the most beautiful actress ever to live,' Trump said. 'It was a drawing. And actually, she looked very much like a great first lady: Melania.' Former President Donald Trump bizarrely compared his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, to his wife during a rambling interview with Elon Musk on Monday Former FBI agent Asha Rangappa said the comment was proof of Trump's 'mommy issues' He went on to mispronounce the vice president's name, repeatedly referring to her as 'Camilla.' 'She didn't look like Camilla,' Trump said. 'That's right. 'But of course, she's a beautiful woman. So we'll leave it at that.' Americans across the country watched the exchange happen live - and many said on social media they found Trump's comments about the vice president off-putting. Former FBI agent Asha Rangappa, however, did not seem surprised by the former president's remarks. 'I KNEW IT. His brain is short-circuiting because she is attractive AND formidable,' she posted on X. 'Lol he is toast.' The former president was discussing a new Time Magazine cover story about Harris He said that the drawing on the cover 'looked very much like a great first lady: Melania' She said the former president 'recognizes and is slightly scared of - and in a weird way, craves the approval of - strong intelligent women,' saying there are 'some mommy issues going on there.' Rangappa also claimed that Trump equates attractive women with being 'dumb or weak' so he can 'sexualize and exploit and dismiss.' Trump has been accused of having 'mommy issues' in the past, with Former President Barack Obama saying at his second annual Obama Foundation summit in 2018 that progress is hindered in the US because 'we are still confused, blind, shrouded with hate, anger, racism [and] mommy issues.' Many in attendance and in the media took that as a swipe at then-President Trump as it came just a few months after Politico Magazine published an article entitled 'Donald Trump's Mommy Issues.' In the article, author Peter Lovenheim argues that his apparent failure to bond with his mother may have played a role in Trump's personal and professional life. Trump has been accused of having so-called 'mommy issues' in the past. He is pictured here (left) with his parents and sister, Maryanne He notes that Trump's mother, Mary Anne Trump, sustained a life-threatening illness when the former president was just a toddler. With his mother incapacitated with the illness and his father, Frederick Trump, never home as he focused on building his real estate empire, Lovenheim posits that Trump never successfully bonded with a primary caregiver as a child. He said such an issue can result in two common psychological issues: either an individual develops 'attachment anxiety, leading them as adults to crave intimacy, but having difficulty seeking reassurance - or they have attachment avoidance, where as adults, they generally distrust others and convince themselves they don't need close relationships.' Lovenheim argued at the time that Trump was displaying signs of having attachment avoidance, pointing to what he described as the former president's sense of self-reliance and inability to acknowledge self-doubt; his boasting of sexual encounters and the fact that he has had multiple marriages and very few close friends. The author also cited Trump's many flattering comments over the years about his mother - calling her 'fantastic,' 'tremendous,' 'very warm' and 'very loving - but providing a lack of early childhood memories to support those sentiments. Ukrainian troops have now seized more land in one week than Russia managed in eight months, according to figures shared by Kyiv's top general. Kyiv claims to have snatched 1,000sq-km, or 386sq-miles, from Russia after taking responsibility for a shock cross-border incursion into Kursk, ongoing since last Tuesday. The foray east, initially with a contingent of around 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers and several vehicles, has driven out overstretched 'conscripts and irregular forces' and displaced tens of thousands of people in the biggest Ukrainian attack of the war. Six days in, Russian forces are still scrambling to reallocate resources to broken lines and halt the Ukrainian advance. In that time, Ukraine claims it has gained control of 28 villages in Kursk - and more land in total than Russia has claimed since December. During that time, Kyiv estimates that Moscow has lost around 300,000 troops, either killed or wounded in attempts to break the deadlock in Ukraine. Ukrainian servicemen operate a Soviet-made T-72 tank in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia, on August 12, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine Ukrainian servicemen operate an armoured military vehicle in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia, on August 12, 2024 This photograph shows a road sign showing the distance to the Russian town of Kursk next to the destroyed border crossing point with Russia, in the Sumy region, on August 13, 2024 Putin has lost more land in six days than his forces gained in eight months, analysis suggests Pro-Kyiv forces stormed into the region of Kursk, sharing a border with Ukraine, with around 1,000 troops and more than two dozen armoured vehicles and tanks last Tuesday, according to the Russian army. Meanwhile, Moscow has hit back with air strikes and drones in a desperate bid to halt their advance. On Monday, Vladimir Putin ordered his generals to kick the enemy out of our territory as thousands of civilians fled. He said: One of the obvious goals of the enemy is to sow discord and destroy the unity and cohesion of Russian society. Artillery strikes were also launched against targets in northern Ukraine to prevent further deployments after Russia was humiliated by the incursion into the Kursk region. Putin has appointed his former bodyguard Alexei Dyumin, who once single-handedly scared off a bear from the presidents mountain residence, to lead the charge. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, suggested the lines were taken by surprise, with hardened soldiers deployed elsewhere in Ukraine. In Kursk, the defenders appeared to be 'conscripts and irregular forces', largely caught off guard. 'The lack of a coherent Russian response to the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk... and the reported rate of Ukrainian advance indicates that Ukrainian forces were able to achieve operational surprise,' the Washington-based ISW said late Thursday. 'The Russian military command may currently be resisting operational pressures to redeploy forces from other operational directions to prevent the Ukrainian incursion from disrupting Russian offensive operations in eastern Ukraine,' it assessed. Russia had attempted to save face when Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff, claimed the invasion had been stopped two days in - after reportedly dismissing intelligence briefs about a build-up of Ukrainian troops on his border. But by Saturday, Russian officials were forced to evacuate some 76,000 residents from the region as Ukraine pushed deeper into the region. On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy finally acknowledged his troops were behind the assault. Ukraine has sought to make the most of its momentum with a second cross-border offensive into the border region of Belgorod, forcing more evacuations. Shock tactics have now given Ukraine more land to bargain with than Russia was able to taken in more than eight months, according to analysis by The Telegraph. Russia had leveraged its position inside Ukraine to assert that it would be willing to agree peace terms - at a territorial cost to Kyiv. Yesterday, Ukraine offered to halt its incursion, the biggest attack by a foreign army on Russian soil since the Second World War, if Moscow agreed to a just peace deal. Foreign ministry spokesman Georgiy Tykhy said Kyiv was not interested in taking over Russian territory and defended Ukraines actions as absolutely legitimate. He added: The sooner Russia agrees to restore a just peace, the sooner the raids by the Ukrainian defence forces into Russia will stop. Ukrainian servicemen ride a BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle near the border in Sumy, Ukraine Ukrainian servicemen ride a military vehicle near the border with Russia on Saturday A jet flies overhead during the Ukrainian assault into the Kursk region of Russia last week A Ukrainian military vehicle drives from the direction of the border with Russia carrying blindfolded men in Russian military uniforms, in the Sumy region, on August 13 A military vehicle driving past a destroyed Ukrainian military vehicle in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia, on August 13 Well-placed sources suggested in May that Moscow would be willing to consider a deal that would freeze the then-current occupation of about a fifth of Ukraine. These battle lines were the result of more than two years of direct conflict, with both sides largely held to a dire state of attritional warfare. Indeed, Moscow has not been able to capture a 1,000sq-km swath of land in any month since December 2023. The 994sq-km recorded by The Telegraph has come at the cost of nearly a third of a million troops. The financial cost of the war is kept secret, though its overall defence spending commitment for 2024 is set to be around 87bn. In February, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) estimated Russia was spending about a third of its budget on defence in total and had enough weapons and troops to sustain the effort for another two-to-three years. Russia responded that month with advances in Avdiivka, a city in the western Donetsk oblast. Ukraine suffered as a long-awaited aid-package was held up in US Congress. In May, then-Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron lifted a previous restriction on British rockets only striking enemy targets within Ukraine, clearing the way for Kyiv to take the fight to Russia. French President Emmanuel Macron even entertained the possibility of sending French troops to Ukraine to help defend the country if needed. Russia responded with fierce threats against Ukraine's foreign backers, and reopened its offensive in Kharkiv, in the north, in May. The assault was Russia's biggest gain in 17 months, the Telegraph reports, swallowing up 250sq-km. Russian troops made it six miles before Ukraine stabilised the situation. And in consequence, the attack invited the US to concede the restrictions it had placed on only using its supplied weapons on Russian targets within Ukraine. 'The hallmark of our engagement has been to adapt and adjust as necessary, to meet what's actually going on on the battlefield, to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs, when it needs it,' US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the time. Soon followed Ukrainian attacks with foreign missiles over the border, drawing outrage from Putin and his cronies. Ukraine's gains in Kursk shift the balance of play. While Russia was making limited progress in Ukraine, it always held the leverage of land in negotiations. Now, Ukraine has a significant grip on Russian territory - and has reassured its foreign backers it is still very much in the fight. While Chechen forces claimed Russia had started to reclaim some land today, more than 120,000 Russian citizens have now been forced to flee their homes since last Tuesday, while 12 civilians are said to have died in the incursion. The videos of locals appealing to Putin for help amid the chaos only deepens the humiliation of Russia's disorderly response to the incursion. A Kremlin official told Russian outlet Politika.Kozlov last week it had been a 'slap in the face for the president' as Russia had been 'unable to push the enemy back'. 'Russia must be forced into peace if Putin wants to continue waging war so badly... This always happens to those who despise people and any rules - Russia brought war to others, and now it is coming home,' Zelensky said stoically in his latest address Russia has seen previous small-scale incursions into its territory since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022, but the foray into the Kursk region marked the largest attack on Russian soil since World War II. It was also the first time the Ukrainian army proper had spearheaded an incursion, rather than pro-Ukraine Russian fighters that had defected - and the first offensive in Russia to be acknowledged by Zelensky. Matthew Savill, the Director of Military Sciences at the RUSI think tank, told MailOnline there could be as many as 10,000 Ukrainian troops now in Russia. 'There's evidence of Ukrainian forces from at least four different brigades - 22nd and 88th Mechanised and 80th and 82nd Air Assault, and possibly more - now involved in the offensive in Kursk. 'These brigades are using Western-provided equipment like infantry fighting vehicles as well as Soviet-era tanks. 'It's hard to judge numbers, but it might be enough for around a division - perhaps 10,000 - given the spread of fighting now underway. 'But we should be very cautious about determining exact size, because units are being rotated, and the presence of elements doesn't tell us the whole unit has been deployed. 'That ambiguity suits the Ukrainians.' Savill did however challenge the assertion that Ukraine had seized up to 1,000 square kilometres of Russian territory. 'The total area covered by the incursion appears to be around 400 square kilometres, but we don't know what is controlled within this,' he said. Dara Massicot, an analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, added that the Ukrainian breakthrough was so effective because it exploited key gaps between various Russian commands in Kursk: border guards, Ministry of Defence forces and Chechen units that have been fighting on Russia's side in the war. This photograph shows 'dragon's teeth' and other fortifications at the destroyed border crossing point with Russia, in the Sumy region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine Ukrainian servicemen wait in a military vehicle to head for a combat mission, in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia, on August 13, 2024 Ukrainian soldier stands guard as he surveys a line of Russian POWs taken in Kursk A Ukrainian soldier raises a Ukrainian flag in Guevo, Kursk Oblast, Russia released August 11, 2024 in this still image obtained from a social media video What does Ukraine hope to achieve by invading Russia? Most experts agree that Ukraine's incursion into Russia is a two-pronged tactic designed primarily to signal to its Western partners that its military is still a capable fighting force, while also seeking to put Kyiv in a more favourable bargaining position in the event of ceasefire talks ahead of the US presidential election in November. That analysis was supported by a statement from a Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson, who today told reporters in Kyiv: 'The sooner Russia agrees to restore a just peace, the sooner Ukrainian raids on Russian territory will stop.' The spokesperson did however add that: 'As long as Putin continues the war, he will receive such responses from Ukraine,' suggesting Kyiv could seek to extend the offensive indefinitely. Tykhyi also said that Russia had launched more than 2,000 strikes from the Kursk region in recent months using anti-aircraft missiles, barrel artillery, mortars, drones, 255 glide bombs and more than 100 missiles, and explained that 'the purpose of this operation is to preserve the lives of our children, to protect the territory of Ukraine from Russian strikes'. Meanwhile, Ukrainian soldiers told reporters this week that the offensive could help to draw Russian resources away from other key battles on Ukrainian soil, giving defenders time to regroup, re-equip and hopefully regain the initiative after months of grinding, bloody conflict. Retired US Army Brigadier General and former US Defence Attache in Moscow Kevin Ryan said: 'Zelensky's goals with the incursion into Russian territory are becoming clearer with time. 'It appears that the attacking force, which is composed of some of Ukraine's best units, is intent on achieving real military objectives and possibly holding some of the ground they take... '(Russian reports claim) Ukrainian forces are digging in along parts of the new front. This would indicate an intent to hold the territory that Ukraine has seized in the Kursk/Belgorod region.' Jacob Parakilas, research leader for Defence Strategy, Policy and Capabilities at the thinktank RAND Europe, said: 'The Ukrainians have been understandably cagey about what their intended goals are, but there are a few things they could be seeking to simultaneously accomplish. 'Pushing into Russian territory upsets the narrative that Ukraine is on the defensive and embarrasses Putin. 'On a more tactical level, it forces Russia to divert its own forces towards territorial defence rather than offence although thus far it seems as though Russian forces are continuing to push forward on Ukrainian territory. 'There are various pieces of strategic infrastructure that Ukraine might be seeking to capture or disable, notably the gas transfer station in Sudzha.' This photograph shows the destroyed border crossing point with Russia, in the Sumy region, on August 13, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine Ukrainian servicemen operate an armoured military vehicle in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia, on August 12, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine Russia last week suffered one of its most crushing blows of the war as hundreds of troops were reportedly killed when a military convoy was hit by Ukrainian HIMARS missiles in Kursk A man reacts while standing next to burnt-out remains of cars in the courtyard of a multi-storey residential building, which according to local authorities was hit by debris from a destroyed Ukrainian missile, in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Kursk, Russia August 11, 2024 RUSI's Savill agreed with the above comments but posited the offensive could have some additional aims not yet revealed by Ukrainian officials. 'It's also about boosting Ukrainian morale after months on the defensive. This seems to be the case in the north - though could easily turn if they take losses which are hard to replace. 'It could also be a diversion, or linked to other, undeclared operations; for example, an advance that threatens the supply lines for Russian troops that crossed the border near Kharkiv, and intends to cause the collapse of those pockets of Russian forces over the border. 'This is a risky operation... but the Ukrainians have shown themselves to be resourceful. They appear to have some air defences with them and have successfully used drones to attack Russian helicopters in the air. 'Moreover, the Russians have been severely embarrassed and the loss of territory and evacuation of civilians will play poorly back in Russia as evidence they ''can't defend themselves'' - especially alongside continued Ukrainian drone attacks as deep strikes.' How is Russia responding? Vladimir Putin on Monday lambasted the incursion as the Western plot in its war with Russia, using Ukrainian soldiers to do their dirty work. 'It is now clear why the Kyiv regime refused our proposals to return to a peaceful settlement plan,' he declared. 'To all appearances, the enemy, with the help of its Western masters, is doing their will. By the hands of the Ukrainians, the West is at war with us. 'But what kind of negotiations can we even talk about with people who indiscriminately strike at civilians, at civilian infrastructure, or try to create threats to nuclear power facilities?' he asked - comments that will undoubtedly be ridiculed in Kyiv and the West given the scale of the destruction wrought by Russian missiles, drones and soldiers in towns and cities across Ukraine. RUSI's Savill said: 'The Russians seem to have been caught by surprise, or at least not prepared. 'Their initial force of border guards and FSB seems to have been overwhelmed, early public messages that the attack had been ''repulsed'' have been deleted, and a state of emergency has been announced in several oblasts,' he said, adding that tens of thousands of civilians were evacuated with tens of thousands more choosing to flee. He added: 'Over the weekend, it seems like more Russian forces, including some pulled from inside Ukraine, have started arriving and may have now halted further Ukrainian advances, but it's not been a particularly impressive response yet.' A slew of video footage published late last week showed how homes in various settlements had come under attack from Ukrainian drones and artillery fire, while various Russian warbloggers said hundreds of their troops had perished in a brutal HIMARS strike on a convoy in the Rylsky district of Kursk. Seeking to blame the incursion on Ukraine's allies in the West, the humiliated Russian President cursed Kyiv's troops for refusing to 'return to a peaceful settlement plan' before ironically condemning them for 'intimidating Russian society' and 'targeting civilians' This photo taken from video released by Russian Defence Ministry press service on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, shows Russian military vehicle boarding a lowboy for transfer to Kursk region Ukrainian servicemen drive Soviet-made T-64 tanks in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia, on August 11, 2024 People evacuated from a fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces queue to receive humanitarian aid at a distribution centre in Kursk, Russia, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024 Russian forces launch an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attack, targeting the tank of Ukrainian Armed Forces at the border area near Kursk Oblast, Russia on August 12, 2024 As of this morning, however, Moscow's forces appear to have begun mounting a more robust defence of their territory. Army units, fresh reserves, army aircraft, drone teams and artillery forces have now been funnelled into the conflict to stop Ukrainian armoured mobile groups from moving deeper into Russia. A Russian defence ministry statement issued today said that those units had managed to halt the Ukrainian offensive near the Kursk settlements of Obshchy Kolodez, Snagost, Kauchuk and Alexeyevsky - though those reports are yet to be corroborated. It remains to be seen just how many troops and resources the Kremlin's military chiefs are willing to throw in to defend and retake land in Kursk. How long could Ukraine's offensive in Russia last? Russian military blogger Vladislav Shurygin last week encapsulated the efficacy of Ukraine's surprise offensive in a lengthy observation. He wrote that Ukraine had 'very skilfully and accurately chosen a different strategy - taking advantage of the bureaucratic rigidity and sluggishness of the Russian management system, to exhaust Russia with continuous unexpected strikes on sensitive infrastructure and the civilian population, provoking discontent, disappointment and apathy.' But analysts are split on whether the offensive will endure, with many warning the Ukrainians would be sorely outmatched once Russia's disorganised military command is able to mobilise the requisite resources. Brig. Gen. Ryan said: 'If, in going to the defence Ukraine can turn this part of the front on Russian soil into the same kind of positional war that has evolved along the rest of the front in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv's forces could hold this ground for weeks or even months.' Other experts added that Russia could feasibly repel the invasion in short order, but stressed they would likely need to withdraw troops from frontline positions in Ukraine to do so. RUSI's Savill was more sceptical that Ukraine could - or would even want to - maintain their offensive over the long term. 'Much will depend on the ambition around any consolidation and whether this is intended to play into negotiations - and therefore how long they try to hold on,' he said. 'While the Ukrainians have reversed the public narrative about being on the defensive, it seems unlikely they would want to sustain a large incursion for months; they will have a decision to make about the best time to trade in the ground they have captured, and to what end... 'Media reporting over the weekend suggested that the Ukrainians had deployed some of their most effective mechanised units, and pulled troops from the east because they were at a higher level of readiness. That could result in a short-term gain, for long-term disadvantage.' RAND Europe's Parakilas concluded that the long-term success of Kyiv's offensive in Kursk is largely dependent on Russia's willingness to sacrifice its gains in eastern Ukraine, particularly as summer rapidly gives way to autumn with cold conditions around the corner. 'The extent to which the Ukrainian offensive in Kursk will last depends heavily on the forces that Russia is willing to commit to retaking its own territory. 'Thus far it seems as though the bulk of the forces that have been engaging Ukrainian troops on Russian territory have been reserve and paramilitary units, which have apparently been unable to retake the territory lost to Kyiv's troops. 'If Russia is willing to pull more experienced and capable formations out of Ukraine and put them to the task, they would increase their odds of reversing the Ukrainian gains. 'But that would also force them to slow the pace of their own offensive on key strategic positions in eastern Ukraine in the key window of time remaining time before colder weather makes offensive operations more difficult.' Britain's railways are becoming more dangerous with thousands of women and girls being violently attacked and sexually assaulted on trains every year, new figures have revealed. The number of violent crimes has risen by 50 per cent in the last two years from 7,561 in 2021 to 11,357 in 2023, according to The Times. Sexual assaults rose by 10 per cent in the same period from 2,235 to 2,475, while sexual harassment cases doubled to 1,908. Labour's Jess Phillips, who was handed the portfolio for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, said 'no woman should have to plan her journeys by public transport based on where and when she will feel safe'. She said: 'Yet that is the daily experience for millions of women whether they are commuting to and from work, or arranging an evening out with friends. Getting on a night bus or a near empty train to go home should not feel like taking your life in your hands. Britain's railways are becoming more dangerous with thousands of women and girls being violently attacked and sexually assaulted on trains every year, new figures have revealed (stock image of Victoria station) Edgar Junior, 50, (left) was jailed for 20 months having admitted sexually assaulting a women on an Elizabeth Line train as it approached Reading station. While 'depraved' Ryan Johnston, 37, (right) was jailed in December for nine years for raping a woman as she slept on the Piccadilly Line Junior was also handed a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order, banning him from subjecting other women or girls to unwanted attention and drinking alcohol in a public place. She added that the 'level of violence, harassment and sexual offences that women and girls are facing... is completely unacceptable' and it can not be allowed to go unchallenged. British Transport Police (BTP) said the stark rise was because victims were more willing to report the offences. Detective Chief Inspector Sarah White, the head of crime and public protection at BTP, said they are 'working tirelessly to stamp out this unacceptable behaviour'. 'We have patrols of uniformed and specially trained plain clothes officers across the railway day and night to catch offenders and reassure passengers as they travel, along with access to over 150,000 cameras across the railway network, which can provide us with clear, high-quality images,' she said. MailOnline has contacted BTP for further comment. It comes after BTP data last November indicated that most assaults occur during the evening rush hour when trains are packed and busy. Unacceptable behaviour such as leering, catcalling, touching, pressing, upskirting or indecent exposure is being experienced by women more than ever, with 51 per cent of female victims stating that other rail passengers intervened to try to help. However, only one in five people who have witnessed incidents of sexual harassment reported it to police. BTP Detective Chief Superintendent Paul Furnell called on the community to watch out and stand up for each other while catching the train or tube. In September, comedian Katherine Ryan praised British Transport Police for their efforts in dealing with a group of men who were harassing her 14-year-old daughter Violet and council Lily, 16, during a tube journey while on a trip to London. She said the pair were filmed by 'grown men' during their journey. Ms Ryan outlined details on the incident on her Telling Everybody Everything podcast. Comedian Katherine Ryan, pictured right, said last year her eldest daughter Violet, 14, left, faced sexual harassment along with her cousin while travelling by tube Jess Phillips, who was handed the portfolio for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, said 'no woman should have to plan her journeys by public transport based on where and when she will feel safe' (Pictured here during her election winning acceptance speech) In response, Lucy D'Orsi, Chief Constable of British Transport Police replied: 'I listened to your podcast where you talk about Violet and her cousin's dreadful experience in London. That was completely unacceptable. I have responsibility for policing the tube and trains. 'If you've not reported this already, please do so. I'm trying to encourage young women and girls to report unwanted behaviour.' Violet captured footage of some of the abuse. In July, Edgar Junior, 50, was jailed for 20 months having admitted sexually assaulting a women on an Elizabeth Line train as it approached Reading station. British Transport Police were waiting for Junior as the train arrived at the station and arrested him immediately. As well as a jail term, Junior was handed a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order, banning him from subjecting other women or girls to unwanted attention and drinking alcohol in a public place. Meanwhile, 'depraved' Ryan Johnston, 37, was jailed in December for nine years for raping a woman as she slept on the Piccadilly Line in front of a horrified passenger and her 11-year-old son. Head of Crime and Public Protection, T/Detective Chief Superintendent Sarah White, said: 'Tackling sexual offences is a priority for British Transport Police and we take all reports seriously. 'There is absolutely no place for sexual harassment or sexual offences on the network, and we are working tirelessly to stamp out this unacceptable behaviour. 'We have patrols of uniformed and specially trained plain clothes officers across the railway day and night to catch offenders and reassure passengers as they travel, along with access to over 150,000 cameras across the railway network, which can provide us with clear, high quality images. ' 'We know that these crimes commonly go under-reported, that is why we continue to relentlessly campaign to encourage victims and witnesses to report to us - and with this we expect the number of reports to continue to increase. 'Each report we receive provides us with valuable information which we can use to build a picture of an offender. Often it allows us to notice a pattern of offending behaviour so we can take action. 'If you experience or witness sexual harassment or a sexual offence on the railway, we urge you to report it to us by texting 61016 or via the Railway Guardian app. In an emergency always dial 999.' Newborn twins, just four days old, were among at least 16 people were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, Palestinian medical officials have said. Baby boy Asser and baby girl Ayssel were tragically killed alongside their mother at home while their father Mohammed Abu al-Qumsan had gone to collect their birth certificates. While he was away he received a call from his neighbours telling the airstrike had struck his home in the city Deir al Balah, killing his family, including his mother-in-law. 'I don't know what happened,' he said. 'I am told it was a shell that hit the house. 'I didn't even have the time to celebrate them,' the newly bereaved father and widow added. Mohammed Abu al-Qumsan cries and mourns as he shows the birth certificates of his twins after he learnt the news that his wife, four day-old twins babies and mother-in-law had died This picture was shared widely on social media purportedly showing the twins shortly after they were born Footage shoes the hysterical father being consoled by others at the hospital Footage shoes the hysterical father being consoled by others at the hospital as he is holds up the twins' birth certificates in tears. His wife, Joumana Arafa, a pharmacist, had given birth by Cesarean section and announced the twins' arrival on Facebook over the weekend. The couple had followed orders to evacuate Gaza City in the opening weeks of the war and went further south, where they sought shelter in central Gaza, as the army had instructed. Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry claim 115 infants have been born and killed in the war-torn enclave since the conflict broke out following Hamas' attack on Israelis in October. On Tuesday, officials said that four women and seven children were amongst the 16 dead while four further children were orphaned. Ten people were killed in a strike late on Monday on a house near the southern city of Khan Younis, where Israel ordered mass evacuations in recent days, saying it must act against Palestinian militants. Bodies, counted by AP news agency, were taken to Nasser hospital, where a three-month-old baby was amongst those wounded. The tragic child, called Reem Abu Hayyah, was the only member of her family to survive an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip late Monday. Reem Abu Hayyah (pictured), just three months old, was the only member of her family to survive an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip late Monday The Israeli strike destroyed a home near the southern city of Khan Younis, killing 10 people. The dead included Abu Hayyah's parents and five siblings, ranging in age from 5 to 12, as well as the parents of three other children. All four children were wounded in the strike Children, injured in an Israeli attack on a Palestinian family's house in Bureij refugee camp are seen as others also are being brought to Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital The dead included Abu Hayyah's parents and five siblings, ranging in age from 5 to 12, as well as the parents of three other children. All four children were wounded in the strike. 'There is no one left except this baby,' said her aunt, Soad Abu Hayyah. 'Since this morning, we have been trying to feed her formula, but she does not accept it, because she is used to her mother's milk.' Abu al-Qumsan family were killed in a separate strike near Deir al-Balah, while another strike in central Gaza killed a man and his nephew. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strikes. The IDF says it tries to avoid harming Palestinian civilians and blames their deaths on Hamas because the militants operate in dense residential areas, sometimes sheltering in and launching attacks from homes, schools, mosques and other civilian buildings. But the army rarely comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children. Gaza's Health Ministry says nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, without saying how many were fighters. The updated death toll from Palestinian officials comes as the United States approved a $20billion arms sale to Israel. It includes scores of fighter jets and advanced air-to-air missiles the State Department announced. The father was consoled by others at the hospital as he was crying hysterically On Tuesday, Abu al Qumsan had gone to register the births at a local government office. While he was there, neighbours called to say the home where he was sheltering with his family had been bombed (pictured: Abu al Qusam standing over the bodies of his family) A man carries a bottle of water as Israeli army issues an evacuation warning to Palestinians in the Hamad area of Khan Yunis, Gaza Congress was notified of the impending sale, which includes more than 50 F-15 fighter jets, Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles or AMRAAMs, 120mm tank ammunition and high explosive mortars and tactical vehicles. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 in the October 7 attack into southern Israel that ignited the war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has often said that 'they killed parents in front of their children and children in front of their parents' to illustrate the brutality of the attack, most recently in his address to the U.S. Congress last month. Israel's offensive has left thousands of orphans - so many that local doctors employ an acronym when registering them: WCNSF, or 'wounded child, no surviving family.' The United Nations estimated in February that some 17,000 children in Gaza are now unaccompanied, and the number is likely to have grown since. The Abu Hayyah family was sheltering in an area that Israel had ordered people to evacuate from in recent days. It was one of several such orders that have led hundreds of thousands to seek shelter in an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone consisting of squalid, crowded tent camps along the coast. The vast majority of Gaza's population has fled their homes, often multiple times. The coastal strip, which is just 25 miles long by about 7 miles wide, has been completely sealed off by Israeli forces since May. Around 84 per cent of Gaza's territory has been placed under evacuation orders by the Israeli military, according to the United Nations. Many families have ignored the evacuation orders because they say nowhere feels safe, or because they are unable to make the arduous journey on foot, or because they fear they will never be able to return to their homes, even after the wa Labor minister Bill Shorten has admitted having rich parents is 'more important than ever' for young Australians after a boomer confessed he paid just $22,000 for his first home. Self-funded retiree Phillip Irvine questioned Mr Shorten and Independent senator Jacqui Lambie about how his grandchildren will ever be able to afford a home during ABC's Q&A on Monday night. Mr Irvine conceded his generation had 'won the lottery in life' having entered adulthood with an abundant job market and free tertiary education. Mr Irvine said he was also able to buy his first property for $22,000 having 'borrowed the lot'. 'We had a good start in life. I've managed to give my kids a pretty good start in life as far as getting houses and all the rest of it. For my grandchildren, house prices are unattainable,' he said. Mr Irvine was painfully aware his eight grandchildren are dealing with a very different reality to the one he had as a young adult. He questioned how Mr Shorten and Ms Lambie planned to resolve the 'structural issues' making home ownership impossible for many young Australians. Home prices around Australia reached a new high in July, PropTrack reported, and are up 6.28 per cent compared with 12 months ago. Self-funded retiree Phillip Irvine (pictured) said he was able to buy his first property for $22,000 Mr Irvine questioned NDIS Minister Bill Shorten (left) and Independent senator Jacqui Lambie (right) about how his grandchildren will ever be able to afford a home The average price of a home in Sydney is now more than $1.1million, $803,000 in Melbourne and $853,000 for Brisbane. Shorten argued there was no intergenerational inequality so long as young Australians have rich parents. 'If you have rich parents, if they have a big superannuation account with million bucks and they've got a couple of investment properties, then you do not have an intergenerational gap,' he said. 'Having well-off parents has always been a sort of useful head start in life but I think it's now more important than ever.' He agreed young adults are 'doing the heavy lifting in this economy' while suffering slow real wages growth, a housing shortage and growing education fees. 'The way you deal with it is free TAFE, reduce student debt, start investment in longer-term jobs here in this country, make things here,' Shorten said. However, Lambie argued both intergenerational and class inequality was worsening the financial state for young Australians. 'The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer,' she said. 'You are paying more on your HECS debt than what we get from royalties and gas from the gas cartels are putting back You are paying the price instead of people who should be paying the price.' Her solution was a temporary ban on foreigners buying property in Australia so locals can 'catch up' and 'have a roof over their head'. Further, Lambie believed the success of many Aussies' relied on 'who mummy and daddy know' over their qualifications. Mr Irvine was concerned about how his eight grandchildren will ever afford to buy a property amid the housing shortage 'Between your degree and trying to buy a house, if you are between 18 and 30, good luck to you,' Lambie said. 'My heart goes out to you because unless you've got rich parents, you're never going to own a bloody house, let's be honest.' Shadow finance minister Senator Jane Hume, economist Joseph Stiglitz, and Australian Financial Review editor-in-chief Michael Stutchbury also sat on Monday's Q&A panel. Hume called for 'all levels of government' to find a solution to the short supply of houses and improve property affordability. The collapse of an ancient pyramid in Mexico has sparked fear among the local tribe who warned the destruction is a 'bad omen.' The 1,100-year-old brick pyramid, located at the Ihuatzio Archaeological Zone in the Mexican state of Michoacan, crumbled on one side due to heavy rainfall in the region. The pyramids were built on the eastern shore of Lake Patzcuaro, occupied by the Purepecha Empire from 900 AD until Spanish conquerors arrived in the region in 1530 AD. Descendants of the ancient Purepecha tribe, which built the structure, said the storm could signal impending doom as a similar event happened 'because gods were displeased.' The pyramids collapsed on July 30, brought on by increased rainfall, high temperatures, and drought The 1,100-year-old pyramids were built by the ancestors of the Purepecha people and had been one of the tribe's last archaeological sits in the area The pyramid came crashing down in the early hours of July 30, following a storm that swept through the region. Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) stated that heavy rains had fallen in the lake basin, accumulating above the expected precipitation average. 'A collapse occurred in the central part of the southern facade of one of the pyramidal bases of the Ihuatzio Archaeological Zone,' INAH continued in a statement. 'The high temperatures, previously recorded in the area, and the consequent drought caused cracks that favored the filtration of water into the interior of the pre-Hispanic building.' At least six of the steps of the pyramid on the exterior wall slabs had been damaged. Images of the scene showed a waterfall of bricks cascading down the side and into a pile near the structure. Despite INAH claiming that the collapse was due to natural causes, a Purepecha tribe member suggested that something more sinister was at work. 'For our ancestors, the builders, this was a bad omen that indicated the proximity of an important event,' Tariakuiri Alvarez, a member of the tribe wrote on Facebook. 'Before the arrival of the conquistadors, something similar happened, which for the Purepecha worldview of that time was because the gods, Nana Kuerhaepiri and K'eri Kurikweri, were displeased.' The Ihuatzio zone was considered the capital of the Purepecha people's domain during the height of its occupation until the tribe's reign came to an end in the early 16th century. The cracks in the pyramids caused by weather allowed rain to seep in to the pyramids' walls, causing both the interior and exterior to deteriorate over time At its peak, the site covered approximately 370 acres and was home to at least 84 structures, seven of which are still displayed at the archeological park. It also served as the backdrop for the Purepecha people's defeat of the Aztec Empire in the 1470s - making the tribe one of the only indigenous groups in the region that weren't conquered by the Aztecs. For nearly 10 years, the Purepecha Empire's King Tzitzic Pandacuare defended his tribe against the Aztec attack as they tried to gain domination over the entire region. During the battle, his people reportedly killed more than 20,000 Aztec soldiers, allowing the Purepecha to keep its hold on Western Mexico from the 14th to early 16th centuries. The structures served as a symbol of power and authority for the local tribe and was used for spiritual rituals and ceremonies Today, the Ihuatzio pyramids is considered one of the top major archaeological sites in the region. The INAH said it has taken steps to protect and rebuild the pyramids, saying it notified the Agroasemex Insurance Company that covers any archaeological sites to begin the process of obtaining funds. 'Damage assessment activities continue and are focused not only on recovering the affected part, but also on thoroughly repairing the structure of the building,' the INAH said. The decimated structures also follow the disintegration of a popular site in a Utah national park which suddenly collapsed due to erosion on Thursday. The Double Arch, which is also called the Toilet Bowl and Crescent Pool, formed from 190-million-year-old Navajo sandstone that originated during the late Triassic to early Jurassic periods. Since its formation, this fine-grained sand feature has been subject to spalling and erosion from weather, wind and rain. The National Park Service said they aren't yet aware of what caused the Toilet Bowl's collapse and said no resulting injuries have been reported. DailyMail.com has reached out to the Mexican National Institute for Anthropology and History and Purepecha tribe for comment. Archaeologists in Turkey made a stunning discovery while completing earthquake restoration work - which is set to 'offer a new perspective' on life in 15th-century BC. The Akkadian cuneiform tablet, which was found in the ancient archaeological site of Accana Hoyuk, dates back thousands of years. A cuneiform is a proper way of writing distinct from the alphabet, according to London's British Museum. The relic measures 4.2 to 3.5 cm and is 1.6 cm in thickness, according to a press release by the Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey. It is thought to be an administrative record - or shopping receipt - and details a large amount of furniture purchases. Archaeologists in Turkey made a stunning discovery while completing earthquake restoration work - which is set to 'offer a new perspective' on life in 15th-century BC 'A very important tablet came to light during the ongoing work in Accana Hoyuk, known as "Old Alalah" in Hatay's Reyhanl district,' Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, the Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey, wrote. 'According to first readings, B.C. The Akkadian cuneiform tablet, dating back to the 15th century, contains records of large amounts of furniture purchases. 'We believe that this tablet, weighing 28 grams, will offer a new perspective to understand the economic structure and state system of the Late Bronze Age.' The minister noted the newly discovered artifact appears to be written in Akkadian, a type of cuneiform. According to British Museum, cuneiform script is the oldest form of writing in the world. The website notes the tablet does not have 'letters' but instead it uses between 600 and 1,000 characters impressed on clay to spell words by dividing them up into syllables. In 2018, researchers came across a similar clay tablet that was etched with a complaint from a disgruntled customer. The shopper had purchased some copper and was apparently dissatisfied, sharing their thoughts with a shop keeper named Ea-nasir in the ancient city state of Ur, in around 1750 BCE. The minister noted the newly discovered artifact appears to be written in Akkadian, a type of cuneiform Anadolunun zengin mirasn gelecek nesillere tasmak uzere buyuk bir titizlikle calsyoruz. Hatayn Reyhanl ilcesinde "Eski Alalah" olarak bilinen Accana Hoyukte suren calsmalarda oldukca onemli bir tablet gun sgna kavustu. Ilk okumalara gore M.O. 15'inci yuzyla pic.twitter.com/vW9gqbgZwQ Mehmet Nuri Ersoy (@MehmetNuriErsoy) July 22, 2024 Earlier in the year, archaeologists have discovered what is thought to be the world's oldest calendar also in Turkey. Etched in a 12,000-year-old stone pillar at the mysterious Gobekli Tepe site, with experts saying it could rewrite our timeline of civilization. The timekeeping system strongly suggests ancient humans had accurate ways to keep time 10,000 years before it was documented in Ancient Greece in 150 BC. Last week, archaeologists may have proven the existence of a long-lost temple where Jesus is said to have performed miracles. Several passages in the New Testament describe how he preached and healed the sick inside a synagogue in the ancient Israeli city of Chorazin. Jews from around the world have been traveling to a holy site in Korazim National Park, in the north, where historical records placed the temple. A synagogue built in 380 AD was discovered in the early 1900s, but there was no physical evidence dating it back to the times of Jesus - until now. While excavating the synagogue uncovered in 1905, a team of archaeologists uncovered the ruins of an even older temple buried beneath. Some of the greatest minds, such as Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin, exhibited strange behaviors like solitude and burning the midnight oil. And while the world may have found those habits as odd, numerous studies have linked them to having high IQs. That is because our daily practices have a big impact on our intelligence - and can even change the way we think. And psychologists have pinpointed at least seven strange behaviors that they believe are signs of a genius. Geniuses like Albert Einstein are known for having quirky habits. Scientists say these seven odd behaviors may be linked to a high IQ 1. Talking to yourself If you talk to yourself, you're not crazy. It may actually be a sign that you're smarter than the average person. Even though this behavior is somewhat irrational, a growing body of evidence has suggested that it has big cognitive benefits - including better memory recall, confidence, focus and more. In a 2012 study, a team of American researchers showed participants 20 pictures of various objects and asked them to find a a specific one. Scientists found that people who talked to themselves while looking at the images were able to identify the object faster. Another study, conducted in 2017 by UK researchers, discovered that our brains act much like those of monkeys when we stop talking to ourselves - activating separate visual and sound areas of the brain for each task. In the experiment, researchers asked participants to repeat meaningless sounds out loud, such as 'blah-blah-blah,' while performing visual and sound tasks. 'Because we cannot say two things at the same time, muttering these sounds made participants unable to tell themselves what to do in each task,' Paloma Mari-Beffa, senior lecturer at Bangor University, wrote in The Conversation. 'Under these circumstances, humans behaved like monkeys do, activating separate visual and sound areas of the brain for each task.' So the next time you're caught muttering to yourself, don't be embarrassed. That strange habit is helping you process information and stay sharp. 2. Staying up late The early bird may get the worm, but evidence has suggested that night owls actually have higher IQs. A study, published in January, analyzed data from 26,000 adults, finding those who stay up late scored significantly higher on cognitive tests than early risers. Many brilliant minds have been known to have nocturnal habits, including Charles Darwin Night owls scored about 13.5 percent higher than morning types in one group and 7.5 percent higher than morning types in another group. Many brilliant minds have been known to have nocturnal habits, including Darwin and Marcel Proust. If your mind is most active while the rest of the world sleeps, you may have a high IQ. 3. Daydreaming Getting lost in daydreams is often perceived as absent-mindedness. But scientists have said that this is actually a sign that you're smart and creative. 'People with efficient brains may have too much brain capacity to stop their minds from wandering,' said Eric Schumacher, a Georgia Tech associate psychology professor, said in a statement. His research found that people who report more frequent daydreaming score higher on intellectual and creative ability tests. MRI scans also showed that these people had more efficient brain systems. This evidence suggests that daydreaming is actually a great workout for your brain. So if you find your mind wandering, that's a good sign. 4. Thriving in clutter Some people can't stand a messy room or desk. But the highly intelligent don't seem to mind it - or perhaps even prefer it. A team of researchers set out to determine why that is. They put study participants in either a messy or tidy office space and asked them to come up with new uses for ping pong balls. Though both groups came up with a similar number of ideas, the researchers found that the participants in the messy room came up with more creative and interesting ideas. 'Disorderly environments seem to inspire breaking free of tradition, which can produce fresh insights,' said Kathleen Vohs, lead scientist behind the experiment, in a press release. Some people can't stand clutter. But people who thrive in a messy environment may have higher intelligence 'Orderly environments, in contrast, encourage convention and playing it safe.' So, leaving your space untidy may help you think outside the box. 5. Asking lots of questions If you're constantly asking how things work, where they come from, and dozens of other questions that pop into your head, you're probably highly intelligent. Curiosity is one of the most common signs of brightness. It's a sign that your mind is always seeking to understand the world around you. It also means that you're always learning and storing new information. The more questions you ask, the more your understanding expands. To some, it may seem annoying. But for people with high IQs, this insatiable curiosity is natural. As Einstein once said, 'I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.' 6. Being introverted Many geniuses have been known to hide themselves away to work or think in peace and quiet. It makes sense - it can be difficult to focus while surrounded by the constant chatter and stimulation of a social environment. Plus, studies have shown that introverts tend to engage in deeper cognitive processing than extroverts. They tend to think more thoroughly and critically, which can be associated with a higher IQ. Introverts also tend to prefer activities that require concentration and sustained mental effort, such as reading and research, which can foster intellectual development. 7. Devouring books Avid readers are constantly learning new information, vocabulary words, complex ideas and different perspectives. It's like a workout for the mind. Additionally, reading helps strengthen mental focus, imagination and our ability to empathize with others. People who read a lot are constantly developing their intelligence, which means they're more likely to have a high IQ. Take business mogul and investor Warren Buffet for example. He spends almost eight hours a day reading. So if you constantly have your nose in a book, you're actually getting smarter by the page. Watching a meteor shower light up the sky is a thrilling experience for any keen stargazer. But last night, those who set out to catch the Perseid Meteor Shower got more than they bargained for as the Northern Lights burst into life. Stunning photos from North Yorkshire to New York capture the amazing moment these astronomical wonders came together in a single display. If you missed out last night, experts say there is still a good chance to see the Perseid Meteor Shower and Northern Lights tonight. Jess Lee, astronomy education officer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, told MailOnline: 'Dark skies and late nights will get you the best views, but it's possible to see meteors as soon as the sun has set, and you can also see them from places with some light pollution, so it's worth looking out for them wherever you are.' Stargazers have captured incredible images of the Northern Lights and Perseid meteor shower as they came together last night The Perseid Meteor Shower is a particularly active meteor shower which reaches its peak on August 12 and 13. At its most active it can produce up to 100 meteors per hour and is known for its particularly bright shooting stars. Ms Lee says: 'The Perseids are named after the constellation of Perseus, because if you trace the meteors back across the sky they appear to have come from that area. 'However, you can see them in any part of the sky, and they don't have any connection to the stars of Perseus.' Rather, the Perseid Meteor Shower is caused by the debris left behind by a comet called 109P/Swift-Tuttle. As the Earth sweeps through this trail of cosmic dust, those particles burn up in the atmosphere and bust into the bright flashes of light we see as meteors. Photographer Andrew Stuart captured the moment a meteor burned up in the sky above the Northern Lights as they illuminated the waters of Meols, on the Wirral Last night the peak of the meteor shower just so happened to coincide with unusually strong activity in the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights. The spectacular glow of the Northern Lights is triggered by the arrival of charged particles from the sun which collide with gases in our atmosphere. When events called 'coronal mass ejections' send large waves of particles towards Earth, this causes the Northern Lights to become bright enough that they can be seen over lower latitudes. Although these events are completely unrelated, last night the two came together by chance to produce an even more stunning view. Incredible pictures show the Northern Lights reaching as far south as Dorset in the UK. A geomagnetic storm caused the Northern Lights to be particularly bright over the Northern Hemisphere, triggering spectacular displays over Northumberland (pictured) The activity was so intense that the Northern Lights were visible in the UK as far south as Christchurch, Dorset (pictured) into the early hours of the morning Elsewhere in Britain, budding astrophotographers captured impressive snaps of the aurora lighting up the skies over North Yorkshire and Northumberland. In Europe, pictures showed the bright glow of the Northern lights stretching over Germany and Poland and even reaching the town of Lviv in Ukraine. The US also saw spectacular displays of activity over New York, Pittsburgh, and California. In the most impressive images, some photographers even managed to capture the moment a shooting star passed through the glow of the Northern Lights. With each shooting star lasting no more than a second or two, this is a truly impressive photographic feat. Stargazers in Brandenburg, Germany (pictured) spotted a shooting star from the Perseid Meteor Shower (right) appear during a particularly strong outburst of the Northern Lights The lights stretched as far south over Europe as the town of Lviv in Ukraine (pictured) where the glow was visible despite city lights Photographer Paul Smith shared these stunning images of Oklahoma (pictured) as the Perseid Meteor Shower arrived during a flare of the Northern Lights. The meteor shower is currently at its peak and can produce up to 100 meteors an hour However, as many have previously noted, the bright colours shown in these photographs do potentially exaggerate how the display would have looked. By using a longer exposure time, modern cameras are able to let in more light which boosts the contrast and colours of the Northern Lights. This means that your phone can often pick up stunning photos of the Northern Lights even when there are none to be seen with the naked eye. If these pictures are filling you with astronomical envy there is still a good chance to see these two phenomena for yourself. The Perseid Meteor Shower is active for almost a full month between July 17 and August 24 so you have plenty more chances to catch it this month. The shower will be at its peak tonight meaning you could see up to 100 meteors per minute under the right conditions. Over Pittsburgh (pictured), despite bright light pollution one photographer was able to capture the Northern Lights in the early morning In Yosemite National Park (pictured) the flash of a meteor could be seen over the purple glow of the aurora Although today's display is likely to be less intense than those seen over New York (pictured), experts predict that the Northern Lights should still be visible And there is even a chance that the Northern Lights could still be visible over parts of the country. The coronal mass ejection that triggered last night's aurora is likely to pass as the day goes on, reducing the geomagnetic activity that prompts the Northern Lights. However, Earth will soon be hit with glancing blows from two further waves of solar material which could give the aurora a boost. The Met Office Space Weather Forecast says: 'Another CME [coronal mass ejection] enhancement is possible early 13 Aug, this will bring a chance of visible aurora to Scotland and parts of Northern England overnight The Met Office predicts a moderate geomagnetic storm tonight before conditions fade back to normal by tomorrow. Met Office spokesperson Stephen Dixon told MailOnline: 'Another coronal mass ejection enhancement is possible later today, which may bring a chance of visible aurora to Scotland and parts of northern England on Tuesday night. The Met Office predicts moderate geomagnetic storms this evening (pictured) which should create some aurora activity over Scotland and parts of Northern England This makes tonight the last chance to catch the Perseids at their peak while there is a chance of seeing the Northern Lights. Ms Lee says: 'This year, due to the current phase of the Moon, the sky should be dark enough for many of the shooting stars to be visible.' Unfortunately, cloud cover over much of the country might make getting the best view more difficult. Mr Dixon says: 'Those further south are unlikely to see anything, with cloud and rain further restricting any chances of visibility. 'Aurora activity is likely to return to background levels in the coming days, with any significant enhancements unlikely and restricted to the far north of Scotland, at best.' Conditions tonight are not ideal as there will be intermittent cloud cover (left) over most of the UK, however, conditions will remain dry with only small bands of rain (right) While conditions for viewing will otherwise be good, both the Northern Lights and meteor shower can also be quite faint. This means that you will need to take a few simple steps to ensure you get the best chance of seeing tonight's display. 'Unfortunately, like many astronomical phenomena, you'll need to be viewing away from a light-polluted area for the most spectacular views,' says Ms Lee. 'If you do want to spot some meteors try to go out after midnight, as far from any streetlights as you can, to an area with lots of the sky visible if possible. It's then just a case of getting comfortable, looking up, and waiting.' If you are struggling to spot the Northern Lights with the naked eye, you can also try using your phone to get a better view. By taking a photo without the flash your phone should automatically enhance the image and reveal whatever aurora there is to see. Cybersecurity experts have uncovered a widespread hacking campaign targeting Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. Criminals are posting malicious websites on the popular search engines, which masquerade as legitimate software for sites like YouTube and Roblox. When victims download the fake software, they allow bad actors to access login credentials for sensitive data and other personal information that could include banking details. Experts explained that this malware is particularly dangerous because it can't be removed by simply deleting the file because it will reinstall each time the PC device restarts, but have identified specific extensions used in the attacks. At least 300,000 people have fallen victim to the nationwide malware attack since 2021 which can steal user's browser search history to capture login credentials for sensitive data like banking information At least 300,000 people have fallen victim to the nationwide malware attack since 2021, according to ReasonLabs that uncovered the attack. Kobi Kalif, CEO and co-founder of ReasonLabs, said: 'This newly discovered malware campaign is just the latest example of how cybercriminals are targeting consumers in the digisphere. 'Our research team remains committed to hunting these threats and providing our users with the tools, knowledge, and information to stay protected online. 'We alerted Google and Microsoft as soon as we became aware of the issue and they are taking the appropriate measures.' People have unwittingly downloaded the software thinking they're installing a Chrome extension, but are instead uploading a PowerShell Script to the computer. PowerShell is Microsoft's version of a command-line tool for Windows, which are programs designed for more experienced coders to program their own computer's core code directly. The hackers' fake error messages encourage unwitting users to copy and paste raw code and then install it as a 'fix' by running or 'executing' that code in PowerShell This downloads what's called a 'next-stage payload,' which connects the hacker's remote server to the victim's computer to modify the Window Registry and force Chrome and Edge to fully install the malicious software. Once added to the PC device, 'the extension cannot be disabled by the user, even with Developer Mode 'ON,'' ReasonLabs said. Developer Mode is used to protect people from installing harmful software on their computers to reduce the possibility of becoming the target of a cyberattack. The hackers can then steal user queries from sites like Ask.com, Bing and Google, giving them access to the user's data. DailyMail.com has reached out to Google and Microsoft for comment. Microsoft Edge users have been compromised by installing malicious software extensions on their computers that can be increasingly difficult to remove How to identify the malware Although the name of the malware varies, users can identify it by its path name, which says: 'c:/windows/system32' and the PowerShell script that ends in '.ps1.' To access this, users should open the 'Task Scheduler' from the start menu and open the library option to reveal all the downloaded 'tasks' that were installed on the PC. To identify the file details and find the path name, the user should click on 'actions' followed by the 'file details' option. How to remove the malware ReasonLabs said 'newer versions of the script remove browser updates.' Fortunately, if you don't want to update to a newer version of Chrome or Edge, there is a way to manually remove the malware from your device to ensure it's completely off the PC, although it is a lengthy process. After identifying which tasks are the malware, users need to remove the registry keys that are forcing the computer to reinstall the software and keep it running in the background. Select the 'registry editor' option from the start menu and click on the Chrome extension Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome\ExtensionInstallForcelist from the right panel and select delete. Users will need to also delete the extension: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Policies\Google\Chrome\ExtensionInstallForcelist from the registry key. These steps will need to be repeated for the Edge extension as well by deleting the registry key: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\ExtensionInstallForcelist. Google fans' wait is over at last as four new AI-powered smartphones are revealed about a month ahead of Apple's new offerings. Today, Google has unveiled its next generation of Pixel smartphones with the release of the 799 Pixel 9, 999 Pixel 9 Pro, and 1,099 Pixel 9 Pro XL. These will be joined by the 1,749 Pixel 9 Pro Fold, a long-awaited successor to the Google Pixel Fold. All of Google's latest offerings are boosted with the latest AI features thanks to an on-phone AI assistant and even more powerful chips. Google's AI-powered phones are now be capable of everything from creating recipes based on what's in the fridge to adding people into selfies. Google fans' long wait is over as the tech giant reveals four new phones, including the long-anticipated Pixel 9 Pro Fold Pixel 9: Key Specs Price: 799 Display: 6.3-inch Battery: 4700 mAh Memory and storage: 12 GB RAM, available with 128 GB or 256 GB Front camera: 10.5 MP Dual PD selfie camera with autofocus Rear cameras: 50 MP wide camera and 48 MP Quad PD ultrawide camera with autofocus Colours: Obsidian, Porcelain, Wintergreen, Peony Advertisement The four phones are now available to pre-order, with the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro XL on shelves from August 22 and the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro Fold on shelves on September 4. Pixel 9 The Pixel 9, the base model for the series, comes in at 799 - making it 100 more expensive than the 699 Pixel 8 was on release. But for that extra 100 Google claims you get a phone that is more powerful, twice as durable, and lasts longer on a single charge. The 6.3-inch screen is slightly larger than its predecessors and Google claims the new display is 35 per cent brighter. With the Pixel 9, Google opted to keep the 50MP Pixel camera from the Pixel 8 for the main lens. But the Pixel 9 also boasts a new 48 MP ultrawide camera which Google claims can be used for 'Macro Focus closeups'. However, it is on the inside where you can expect to find the biggest changes. The phone features a bigger, faster charging battery which Google says can last all day and charge to 55 per cent in just half an hour. The Pixel 9, like all of the new phones, is powered by the brand new Google Tensor G4 chip upgraded with 12GB of RAM. The improved chip will not only make the phone faster and more efficient for everyday tasks but offer a big boost for new AI features. Google says that the tensor G4 chip has been designed with AI company DeepMind and has been 'optimized to run our most advanced AI models'. The Google Pixel 9 (pictured) is the base model for Google's new line of smartphones and is a direct upgrade from the older Pixel 8 The Pixel 9 features an upgraded screen, better battery life, and an additional rear camera for macro photos Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL key specs Feature Pixel 9 Pro Pixel 9 Pro XL Display 6.3-inch 6.8-inch Battery 4700 mAh 5060 mAh Rear Cameras 50MP wide camera48 MP Quad PD ultrawide camera with autofocus48 MP Quad PD telephoto camera 50MP wide camera48 MP Quad PD ultrawide camera with autofocus48 MP Quad PD telephoto camera Front Camera 42 MP Dual PD selfie camera with autofocus 42 MP Dual PD selfie camera with autofocus Colours Obsidian Porcelain Hazel Rose Quartz Obsidian Porcelain Hazel Rose Quartz Price 999 1,099 Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL In addition to the standard Pixel 9, Google has also released two more premium options in the form of the 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL. The Pixel 9 Pro keeps the same slim form as the Pixel 9 but features a slightly brighter display, more memory and storage, and an even more powerful camera. The Pixel 9 Pro XL, meanwhile, is exactly the same as the Pro but slightly larger - measuring 6.4 inches by 3 inches as opposed to 6 inches by 2.8 inches. That increase in size gives the Pro XL a whopping 6.8-inch display which is even bigger than the iPhone 15 Pro Max's hefty 6.7-inch screen. The Pixel 9 Pro (pictured) is the same size as the Pixel 9 but features a slightly improved screen, more memory, and the most powerful camera on a Pixel device The front 42 MP camera on the Pixel 9 Pro (pictured) is the highest quality and widest field of view on any Pixel phone. Google claims that the camera on the Pro models is the best camera system the company has ever produced. The triple rear camera system offers high-quality images at different zoom levels and can now take 8K video. The front 42 MP camera, meanwhile, is the highest quality and widest field of view on any Pixel phone. Just like the Pixel 9, the Pixel 9 Pro models feature internal upgrades to make the most of Google's new AI tools. Both feature the same G4 tensor chip but with an even more impressive 12 GB of RAM. Customers who purchase either the Pixel 9 Pro or 9 Pro XL will also receive a free year of Google One AI Premium plan which gives access to more advanced AI services. For the first time, Google is offering a different size option for the Pro range. The Pixel 9 Pro XL has a whopping 6.8-inch display which is even bigger than the iPhone 15 Pro Max's 6.7-inch screen Pixel 9 Pro Fold - key specs Price: 1,749 External Display: 6.3-inch Internal Display: 8 inch Battery: 4,650 mAh Memory and Storage: 16 GB RAM, available with 256 GB or 512 GB Front Camera: 10 MP Dual PD selfie camera with autofocus Rear Cameras: 48 MP Quad PD wide camera, 10.5 MP Dual PD Ultrawide camera, 0.8 MP Dual PD telephoto camera Colours: Porcelain and Obsidian Advertisement Pixel 9 Pro Fold Google has now put an end to months of speculation as it finally reveals the Pixel 9 Pro Fold a new foldable phone. This is an upgraded, slimmed-down version of the Pixel Fold which Google released in June last year. However, Pixel 9 Pro Fold still remains a radically different kind of device to anything else in Google's lineup. Thanks to inner and outer displays the device can function either as a regular phone or a tablet depending on how you fold it. When closed, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold features a 6.3-inch outer display - making it the same size as the Pixel 9 and 9 Pro. In terms of technical specifications that screen is actually exactly the same as the screen on the Pixel 9, featuring the same resolution, refresh rate, and brightness. On the inside, you have an enormous 8-inch display which Google claims is 80 per cent brighter than the one on the original Pixel Fold. Even more impressively, when folded the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is only 10.5mm thick which makes it only 1.5mm thicker than the Pixel 9. Addressing some of the key concerns around foldable devices, Google also claims that this does not come at the cost of durability. The display is supposedly scratch and water-resistant and features an 'aerospace grade' aluminum alloy hinge. However, these upgraded features do come with an eye-watering new price tag of 1,749. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is the hotly-anticipated successor to the Pixel Fold which was released in May last year. It features both an external screen the same size as that on the Pixel 9 and an 8-inch interior display With the external screen, users can use the more powerful rear cameras on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold (pictured) to video call while still seeing themselves and who they are speaking to What AI features are coming to Google devices? In addition to four new phones, Google has also revealed that these devices will be packed with powerful AI capabilities. With this release, Google says it is 'rebuilding the operating system with AI at the core' and potentially unlocking a whole host of new features. And, in good news for photography fans, the AI updates also include some new tools to make the most of the Pixel 9's impressive cameras. The new 'Add Me' tool means that Google smartphones will no longer require an outstretched arm to get everyone in a group photo. Instead, users will now be able to take a photo from behind the camera and simply add themselves in using AI. They then hand the phone over to another member of the group, who takes a second shot of the same scene, this time with them in it. Googles AI then overlays the two pictures and stitches them together to appear as though everyone was in it in the first place. With the new AI-powered 'Add Me' feature, users can combine two photos using AI so that the photographer never has to be absent from a group photo There's usually the one designated photographer whos left out of group pictures, Google said at its Made By Google event in California. 'With Add Me youll get a photo with everyone who was there - photographer included - without having to pack a tripod or ask a stranger for help.' This will come in addition to the Magic Eraser and Best Take AI features which Google had previously added. Most of the other new AI tools centre on Google's on-device assistant 'Gemini' which is being given a huge overhaul. From today, Google users will be able to bring the Gemini overlay up over an app they are using to ask questions about what is being displayed. For example, you could ask the AI to find specific information about a video you are currently watching. And, since Gemini is integrated with Google's operating system, the AI can interact directly with certain apps. Google says that Gemini will be integrated with Keep, Tasks, Utilities, Gmail, and YouTube Music. As an additional feature, the AI can also be operated without the need to speak into your phone. Holding down the power button will bring up the Gemini overlay from which users can simply tap 'Ask about this screen'. Google has unveiled a host of new AI-powered features, many of which centre around the Gemini AI assistant Gemini will also have access to screenshots on the Pixel 9, allowing it to recall important information which you want to save. You can even take a picture and ask Gemini questions about what is shown. For example, that could let you ask the AI what recipes could be made with the ingredients in your fridge or how to save a dying houseplant. Google is also launching a new conversational voice assistant called Gemini Live. Similar to OpenAI's recent voice assistant, Google says users will be able to a 'free-flowing conversations' with their AI. Google says: 'You can even interrupt mid-response to dive deeper on a particular point, or pause a conversation and come back to it later. 'It's like having a sidekick in your pocket who you can chat with about new ideas or practice with for an important conversation.' Since Google's Gemini assistant is integrated into the operating system, the AI is able to operate across a number of different apps and even recall information from your screenshots Users have the option to leave it on constantly in the background, allowing them to chat hands-free 'just like you might on a regular phone call', it added. As an example of how customers might actually use this feature Google suggests that it could be handy for planning a 'fun tailgate' or 'thinking through household repairs'. While that might raise concerns over privacy Google insists that no third party would have access to the data. To further improve security, the new range of Pixel devices will also take on some of the AI processing themselves rather than sending the data to the cloud. The new Tensor G4 chip has been optimised to run a model called Gemini Nano so your data never needs to leave your phone in 'sensitive use cases'. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Netflix show FUBAR is being accused of plagiarism, legal letters obtained by DailyMail.com show. A major plot point in the action series revolves around a supermarket app invented by Schwarzeneggers characters son but an entrepreneur says show writers stole the app idea from him, and is demanding $1.5 million compensation. Entrepreneur and former rock star Aharon Jason Curtis claims he came up with the idea for Aisle in 2015, an app that knows the location of items in grocery stores, plots a route through the store, reminds users of items they forgot, and allows them to scan bar codes. Curtis, 54, says he only told two people: his manager at the time, who now works as a writer specializing in scripts for action films and streaming series according to a legal letter, and a friend who is now a writer working at Netflix in Los Angeles. Curtis who, as Aharon, had fleeting fame with his 2004 hit Dreamer says he was shocked when he turned on the TV in September 2023 and saw his app idea featured in FUBAR. Entrepreneur and former rock star Aharon Jason Curtis, 54, (pictured) claims writers from Arnold Schwarzenegger's hit Netflix series FUBAR stole his app idea from him In the series, Schwarzenegger's character's son develops a supermarket app called 'Maisle'. Curtis claims he came up with the idea for that app in 2015 called Aisle. (pictured: Schwarzenegger at the FUBAR premiere in May 2023) In FUBAR, Schwarzeneggers characters son, Oscar, played by Devon Bostick, develops an app that is unmistakably copied directly from the Aisle app that Curtis developed, an April 3 letter from Curtiss attorney Edward Johnson to Netflix, Skydance Television and Blackjack Films, said. The app in FUBAR is designed to optimize the grocery-shopping experience in the same way as Aislein any supermarket it will tell you the exact aisle the item youre looking for is in. The app in FUBAR even has an almost identical nameMaisle, explained as pushing together my and Aisle. In total, Aisle features in at least four episodes (half the series) and is mentioned no less than seven times. Neither Skydance nor Netflix responded to DailyMail.com's requests for comment. The lawyer's letter accuses the production companies of copyright infringement, trade secret misappropriation and unjust enrichment. When I watched FUBAR for the first time, I was like, what the? Wait a minute! Thats my idea, I wrote that! Thats my app! Curtis told DailyMail.com. A legal letter on behalf of Curtis accuses the production companies of copyright infringement, trade secret misappropriation and unjust enrichment On May 24 Skydances attorneys hit back with their own letter dismissing the claims I felt violated. Like someone had come into my home, someone I trusted and stolen from me. Mr. Curtis is prepared to forego litigation and provide a full release for a payment of $1.5 million, his lawyers letter said. If we dont hear from you, we intend to promptly commence a court action to vindicate Mr. Curtis rights. On May 24 Skydances attorneys hit back with their own letter denying the claims. Nicolas Jampol of law firm Davis Wright Tremaine LLP wrote that Curtiss idea was unprotectable because he hadnt actually built the app yet. While you contend that your client has conceived of the App, and written down some ideas for the App, he has not actually developed or created the App, or fixed the App in any tangible medium of expression, Jampol wrote. He added that Skydance produced the Series, not Netflix, and that Curtis had failed to show any links between his confidants and Skydance needed for a copyright claim. Jampol argued that other apps with similar ideas already existed, so there were no trade secrets in the case. However, in an interview with DailyMail.com, Curtiss lawyer Johnson pointed out that the Skydance lawyers did not provide any factual rebuttal to his clients claims. Curtis says he is now preparing to file a lawsuit against Netflix, Skydance and others. I want to be fairly compensated and credited for my work, he said. She suffered more than 20 stab wounds during the horror attack on May 23 The Los Angeles makeup artist left for dead by her abusive actor ex-boyfriend has spoken out for the first time, telling DailyMail.com that she will attend all his court hearings to make sure 'he knows I'm still here'. Brave Allie Shehorn, 35, showed off scars on her neck, shoulder, arms and wrist as she rarely took her eyes off How I Met Your Mother actor Nick Pasqual in court in San Fernando, California. She suffered more than 20 stab wounds in the horror attack launched allegedly by Pasqual at her Sunland home on May 23. Pasqual then attempted to flee to Mexico but was apprehended on the Fort Hancock International Bridge in tiny Sierra Blanca, Texas, before being extradited back to California in June. Pasqual, 35, is now banged up at the North Valley Correctional Facility in Castaic, California and is facing multiple charges including attempted murder, burglary and domestic violence. Allie Shehorn continues to recover from the brutal May 23 attack that saw her ex-boyfriend Nick Pasqual slash her 20 times at her LA home The lesser known actor was seen wearing blue prison scrubs during a court hearing on Monday as he faces charges of attempted murder, first-degree home invasion, and domestic violence injury, over his attack on Shehorn (pictured together right) He is also facing charges over another attack on Shehorn three days prior to the stabbing that allegedly included banging her head on the floor of their home. She applied for a restraining order in the aftermath. Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, Shehorn revealed that she almost died from the stab wounds inflicted on her and will attend every hearing in the case to show Pasqual 'he can't get away with it'. 'I just hope that there's justice served,' she said. 'People should know that this shouldn't happen and he can't get away with it. 'I'll be at every court hearing, even if I don't have to be, just to show him that I'm still here.' The talented special effects make-up artist spent more than a week in hospital following the attack and still bears the marks, including vivid scarring to her throat. One of her hands remains in a cast and she says she does not know whether it will recover enough for her to be able to return to work. 'That's the goal,' she told DailyMail.com. 'I still don't have feeling back in my hands and partial vision loss that I can't get back. Shehorn, a talented makeup artist, fortunately survived the brutal attack but still bears the marks, including scarring to her throat and arms. She is seen wearing a cast on her left arm She spent over a week in the hospital where she almost died from the stab wounds inflicted on her, Shehorn exclusively told DailyMail.com on Monday Shehorn vowed to attend every court hearing to face her abuser. On Monday he was seen hunched in a bright blue prison jumpsuit (right) with his hair scraped into a bun inside a cage, looking only at his lawyer According to Shehorns application for the restraining order, Pasqual allegedly attacked her on a number of other occasions: hitting her with a belt on January 29, breaking down several doors in their home on March 6 and raping and choking her on April 14. Shehorn added: He has been violent in the past but never physically with me apart from two nights where he ripped clothes off of me. In the application, the special effects make-up artist also asked for protection for her 'surrogate mother Christine White, 62, and also for the couples white husky-mix dog Riley. A hearing over whether to make the temporary restraining order permanent had been scheduled on June 11 in Pasadena while Pasqual was due to appear in court on a felony charge in San Fernando on June 12 dates he missed due to being locked up in Texas befoore his extradition. 'Every day is different and it's a struggle, and just dealing with the permanent damage is really hard. I can't go back completely to how I was.' Shehorn was speaking to DailyMail.com following a brief court hearing in San Fernando, California, in which Pasqual refused to make eye contact with her. Instead, he sat hunched in a bright blue prison jumpsuit with his hair scraped into a bun inside a cage, looking only at his lawyer. Both he and his attorney had objected to media coverage of the court case but their objections were overruled by Judge Bernie LaForteza. During the five minutes he spent in court, Pasqual spoke just once to tell Judge LaForteza that he understood he was waiving his right to a speedy trial. He faces a fresh hearing on October 8. Pasqual appeared in CBS's How I Met Your Mother in 2011 Shehorn, 35, is known for her work on blockbusters including Mean Girls and Rebel Moon He sat impassively as the prosecution said they will be bringing an extra charge with which he will be arraigned in the fall. Shehorn, who was dressed in a black vest and loose pants that did nothing to hide the wounds, sat looking directly at Pasqual for most of the proceedings, as she was flanked by two friends. She told DailyMail.com she also attended his initial arraignment and will make sure he sees her at every court date. In the meantime, she is continuing to recover and is having therapy sessions in a bid to deal with the trauma while being supported by 'a good group of friends'. She said: 'I'll be there as much as possible.' Shehorn also had a message for other women experiencing domestic abuse. 'You never expect it to happen, but you all have to notice the signs and get out while you can.' Pasqual will return to court on October 8. Wynonna Judd's daughter Grace Kelley appeared sullen in a mugshot released to the public Monday, less than two weeks after she was arrested in connection with multiple transportation-related offenses. Kelley, 28, was arrested in Georgia August 3 and charged with misdemeanor counts of fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, driving with a suspended/revoked license and not using motorcycle equipment properly, per the Carroll County Jail's records. In her mugshot, the normally dark-haired woman sported a cropped, platinum-blonde pixie cut and a sullen expression. Police records obtained by ET show Kelley was booked at the Carroll County Jail and released a day later on a $2,750 bond. Kelley's most recent arrested occurred about four months after her arrest on prostitution and indecent exposure charges. Wynonna Judd's daughter Grace Kelley, 28, was pictured in a mugshot publicly released Monday, less than two weeks after her arrest in connection with multiple transportation-related offenses. Pictured August 3 at the Carroll County Jail in Carrollton, Georgia Her latest arrest and charges come after she was charged with indecent exposure, obstructing governmental operations and prostitution in April in Alabama. The single mom exposed 'her breasts and lower body' on a busy highway in Alabama which led to the charge of soliciting prostitution. Her bond was set at $2,000, before being increased to $2,500 on April 17. Millbrook police chief P.K. Johnson told DailyMail.com exclusively after her April arrest that she was partially dressed and holding up a sign that read: 'A Ride for a Ride.' This was the basis for the soliciting prostitution charge. He told us: 'We responded to two calls involving her. In the first, she was observed in the area of businesses on Highway 14 near Murphy Oil by Walmart. She had a sign, displayed that said, 'A Ride for a Ride'. 'And when she made contact with our officers, she argued with them about the legality of what she was doing. And that it was not illegal for her to offer herself in exchange for rides.' The prostitution charge was later dropped and her indecent exposure charge was reduced to public lewdness, per The Daily News. Local news outlet WSFA reported that Kelley pleaded guilty to both the remaining charges. The public lewdness charge ordered her to pay a $200 fine with a 90-day suspended sentence. The other charge slammed her with 60 days in jail. She was released from jail on May 23. Grace is the daughter of country music superstar Wynonna, 60, and her first husband, Arch Kelley III. They are also parents to son Elijah, 29. These were not Kelley's first arrests. Six years ago in 2017, she pleaded guilty to the manufacture, delivery and sale of methamphetamine. After leaving a court-ordered drug recovery program, she was sentenced to eight years and served time at the Debra K Johnson Rehabilitation Center in Nashville, Tennessee. However she was paroled in 2019, then found herself in and out of prison again on drugs charges. While on a temporary leave of absence from jail in March 2022, she gave birth to Kaliyah. It has been reported Wynonna has been taking care of the toddler. The troubled 28-year-old was arrested again earlier this week, four months after her arrest on prostitution and indecent exposure charges Kelley was arrested in Georgia and charged with the misdemeanor counts of fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, driving with a suspended/revoked license and not using motorcycle equipment properly, per the Carroll County Jail's records Police records obtained by ET show Kelley was booked at the Carroll County Jail and released a day later on a $2,750 bond, seen here after her arrest in April in Alabama These were not Kelley's first arrests. Six years ago in 2017, she pleaded guilty to the manufacture, delivery and sale of methamphetamine. Pictured here after an arrest in Tennessee Grace is the daughter of country music superstar Wynonna, 60, and her first husband, Arch Kelley III. They are also parents to son Elijah, 29. Wynonna pictured here at the 2023 CMA Awards Wynonna called her daughter, 'the strongest Judd woman, Grace seen here in her prison transport after her April arrest In 2023, she served a five-month sentence at Putnam County Jail in Tennessee after she was arrested in May of that year for violating parole and an order of protection. She had been released from jail in December 2022, but was re-arrested on May 1, 2023, on charges of breaching a restraining order and violating her parole. Despite her daughter's serious legal problems, Wynonna called her the 'strongest Judd woman' on The Pursuit! With John Rich in 2020. 'I will tell you this. My daughter is the strongest Judd woman in our 'herstory,' Wynonna told Rich. Dina Lohan has been called out by fans online for allegedly filtering and airbrushing her selfies. The 61-year-old, who is the mother of actress Lindsay Lohan, has raised eyebrows in recent months with her suspiciously smooth and youthful appearance on social media. Some of Dina's age-defying selfies have even led the Living Lohan star's followers to accuse her of using editing tools like FaceApp to turn back the clock. 'Someone take FaceApp from this woman. You can't just crank the filter up and expect it not to be obvious,' one commented. 'You didn't look like this TWENTY years ago. No one is fooled. This is sad,' another wrote. Dina Lohan has been called out by fans online for allegedly filtering and airbrushing her selfies The momager is pictured at an event in July (left) and on Instagram (right) Some of Dina's followers have accused the 61-year-old of trying to look younger than her daughter Lindsay (both pictured in February 2023) One even accused Dina of trying to outdo her famous daughter, Lindsay. 'I don't understand why mothers these days want to look younger than their own daughters,' they wrote. Another commented, 'This is so ridiculous. How old do you think you look in this filter? Just be real. This is an embarrassment.' Last year, Dina revealed that she had a custom facial rejuvenation surgery done, along with a facelift and necklift. 'I always believed in growing old gracefully, but if you want to do something for yourself, go for it,' she told Page Six. To get the look, she turned to Dr. Ira Savetsky, a plastic surgeon based on the Upper East Side of New York. 'I wanted to look like a younger version of myself. Most of my friends did this 10, 15 years ago,' she added. She's since been flaunting her youthful looks all over social media in various selfies. Some of Dina's age-defying selfies have even led the Living Lohan star's followers to accuse her of using editing tools like FaceApp to turn back the clock 'Someone take FaceApp from this woman. You can't just crank the filter up and expect it not to be obvious,' one commented Another commented, 'This is so ridiculous. How old do you think you look in this filter? Just be real. This is an embarrassment' Dina, who was married to Lindsay's father Michael from 1985 to 2007, is also open to meeting Mr. Right - possibly on reality TV. 'Lindsay is like, "You need a talk show,"' Dina told the publication. 'My kids are like, "Mommy, it's your turn." I just heard Candace Bushnell is doing a show about dating in New York City,' she said, referencing Bushnell's upcoming unscripted series about women in their 50s finding love. 'We live in a swipe-left society; everything about relationships is so easily disposable and on to the next. I believe in marriage. I'm old school,' she added. 'I'm looking for long-term love, not just today.' Last year, Dina revealed that she had a custom facial rejuvenation surgery done, along with a facelift and necklift (pictured in July 2023) Dina was married to Lindsay's father Michael from 1985 to 2007. The family pictured in 2003 She is now penning a memoir and pitching a reboot of her 2008 E! reality series, Living Lohan. She added of the book: '[It's about] what I've been through being a New York performer, navigating Hollywood, divorce, fighting adversity to protect my children.' Dina, who has undergone her own trials including a 2020 arrest for DWI, said she hoped to 'help people' with the tome. 'You can get through to the other side and still be successful. Even when you take a hit. It's harder as you're older but it also still drives you,' she said. The memoir will include contributions from her children, including daughter Lindsay. Glamorous Byron Bay influencer Ruby Tuesday Matthews revealed on Monday that she has never caught a train in Australia. The mum-of-three, 31, who often shares photos of her lavish and wealthy lifestyle, took to Instagram with a snap of her slumming it inside a railway carriage, saying it was her first time taking a locomotive trip Down Under. In the snap, captured by Instagram watchdog account instagram.updates.au, Ruby was enjoying a view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge through the windows. 'When you're 31 and it's the first time catching a train in Aus,' she captioned the snap alongside a laughing-crying emoji. Ruby made headlines for all the wrong reasons in 2020 when she famously held up a Jetstar flight to indulge in oysters at a fancy restaurant. She was supposed to be flying from Byron Bay to Sydney in the afternoon but a technical issue caused the flight to be delayed. Jetstar asked travellers to stay at the airport while they flew an engineer in from the Gold Coast and said the new departure time would likely be 7.30pm that evening. However, Ruby and her travel companion decided to leave the airport to grab a bite to eat at a beachside restaurant as others ate at the airport. Glamorous Byron Bay influencer Ruby Tuesday Matthews, 31, (pictured) revealed on Monday that she has never caught a train in Australia The influencer later posted a video to Instagram showing her eating oysters with a friend, captioning the footage: 'Flight delayed f*** my life.' She kept frustrated passengers waiting on the tarmac and was heckled by them as she boarded 30 minutes after the plane was due to take off. Video footage shows passengers shouting 'how were the oysters' and 'what a day to be pretty' as she entered the aircraft. The mum-of-three, 31, who often shares photos of her lavish and wealthy lifestyle, took to Instagram with a snap of her slumming it inside a railway carriage, saying it was her first time taking a locomotive trip Down Under While the pair enjoyed their meal, those at the airport were advised the engineer had arrived sooner than expected and the flight would board at 6.20pm instead. But passengers were forced to sit on the tarmac as Jetstar tried to trace a group of missing passengers, including Ruby and her mate. It is understood an employee had to call her to advise her the plane was ready to depart and she needed to return to the airport as soon as possible. The brunette beauty shares children Rocket, five, Mars, four, and Holiday, one, with her ex partner Ryan Heywood and current fiance Shannan Dodd. Fitness guru Michelle Bridges has been slammed for seemingly missing the point of a racy Abbie Chatfield Instagram post. Abbie, 29, took to social media on Sunday to share a photo showing her seductively sitting on her partner, Peking Duk star Adam Hyde's knee. The FBoy Island Australia host wore a sheer satin blouse over some skimpy red lingere for the shot that showed Adam biting her chest. Taken backstage after Peking Duk's sold out DJ set in Sydney on Saturday, Abbie captioned the steamy pic with a heart congratulations for her beau. 'SO PROUD OF YOU I LOVE YOU SO MUCH,' she exclaimed. 'Tysm for putting some charli in the set !!!!! I'm ur biggest fan forever @keliholiday Chiming in with a message of support, Michelle, 53, praised Abbie's seemingly enviable life of being single, despite the fact she has been in a relationship with Adam since 2023. 'Omg the chapter of single and no kids,' Michelle wrote. 'Go lady.' Pointing out the obvious, one fan quickly chimed with with 'She's not single though.' Fitness guru Michelle Bridges has been slammed for seemingly missing the point of a racy Abbie Chatfield Instagram post Adding that the former Biggest Loser star may've missed the point of the post, another fan chimed in with: '@mishbridges this post is literally about her supporting her boyfriend.' Another commenter, replying to Michelle, took some time to throw some shade at Abbie and her choice of nightclub attire. '@mishbridges the chapter to show young teens that its OK to go to nightclubs dressed in your lingerie with your a**e & t**s hanging out, while your boyfriend sucks on them?? #ZEROclass.' Other comments slammed Abbie's 'cringe' post. Abbie, 29, took to social media on Sunday to share a photo showing her seductively sitting on her partner, Peking Duk star Adam Hyde's knee Chiming in with a message of support, Michelle, 53, praised Abbie's seemingly enviable life of being single, despite the fact she has been in a relationship with Adam since 2023 Another commented with a similar: 'Wow, love yourself a bit more.' However, other fans were quick to hit back at this comment with one rebutting: 'What's wrong with a woman who's strong, confident, and loves herself? A high value man can handle it.' Following Adam's DJ set on Saturday, Abbie was rushed to hospital when she suffered a 'bad' urinary tract infection (UTI). She shared a video of herself lying in a hospital bed on Monday as her musician boyfriend fed her chips. 'DW it's just a bad UTI and I didn't have to stay the night!' she explained to her followers of her condition. A UTI is an infection most commonly seen in women which occurs when bacteria enters the urethra and spreads through to the bladder. According to the Mayo Clinic, infection can happen anywhere in the urinary system - kidney, ureters, bladder and urethra - but mostly occurs in the lower urinary tract. A UTI is generally painful, with symptoms becoming worse if the infection is left untreated and allowed to spread to the kidneys. Jack Whitehall has reportedly become one of the Britain's richest comedian behind Peter Kay, Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais. The funnyman, 36, is said to have amassed a whopping 11.4M fortune, after raking in 2.3M and welcoming his first child with girlfriend Roxy Horner, baby daughter Elsie during a very busy 2023. According to The Sun Jack's dosh is mostly thanks to his show's on Netflix, including Travels With My Father where he globe trots with grouchy dad Michael, as well as his own comedy special that debuted on the streaming service last year. In new filings the publication reports that the comedian's company Jackpot Productions grew its shareholders' fund to 11,420,635 from 9,585,293 over the last year, as well as having a whopping 4.4M in the bank. A source said: 'There is no stopping Jack. Even becoming a dad hasn't slowed down his earnings and the commissions keep coming'. Jack Whitehall, 36, has reportedly become one of the Britain's richest comedian behind Peter Kay , Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais The funnyman is said to have amassed a whopping 11.4M fortune, after raking in 2.3M and welcoming his first child baby daughter Elsie during a very busy 2023 'He remains hugely likeable, and crucially his comedy appeals to advertisers as it's safe and clean. 'Leaning on the relationship he has with his grouchy dad Michael and fun-loving mum Hilary has helped take him from laddy topics to more relatable topics, too. It's hard to see a time when Jack won't be popular.' MailOnline have contacted Jack's reps for comment. The publication reports that Kay, 51, is currently the nations richest comedian with a fortune of over 34M. Following behind are Office creators Merchant on 26.2M and Gervais with 25.8M. Elsie was born in the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital, famous for a host of Royal births, most recently The Princess of Wales' three children. Speaking of becoming a father on This Morning, Jack said: 'I still feel like I am very much in the trenches, my baby daughter is amazing and it's all so full on.' 'People do say there is a honeymoon period and the first week was so amazing and blissful, Then by the second week I was googling boarding schools, it happened that quickly.' According to reports Jack's dosh is mostly thanks to his show's on Netflix , including Travels With My Father where he globe trots with grouchy dad Michael (pictured) He also had his own his own comedy special Settle Down debut on the streaming service last year The publication reports that Kay, 51, is currently the nations richest comedian with a fortune of over 34M Following behind are Office creators Merchant (R) on 26.2M and Gervais (L) with 25.8M Jack, Roxy, and Elsie live in a 12 million converted pub mansion - complete with a swimming pool, gym, and sauna. The couple met during his trip to Australia and quickly fell into a relationship when the pandemic and lockdown hit. Long before Jack, Roxy had made a name for herself. Signed to Premier Management, she appeared in British Vogue at just 17. It comes after Prime Video has unveiled a first look at Jack in the new upcoming psychological drama Malice. The new series will see him as Adam Healey a charming 'manny' who sets out to infiltrate the world of a wealthy family to reveal their secrets and destroy them. In the exciting new thriller series, Jack will also be joined by X-Files star David Duchovny, 63, and Game Of Thrones icon Carice van Houten, 47. Other cast members in the series include Christine Adams, 49, Raza Jaffrey, 49, Rianna Kellman, and Jade Khan. To mark the end of filming Prime Video released a first look at Malice by releasing a set of still images from the set. Elsie was born in the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital, famous for a host of Royal births, most recently The Princess of Wales' three children Jack, Roxy, and Elsie live in a 12 million converted pub mansion - complete with a swimming pool, gym, and sauna Jack, also known in the series as Adam, can be seen enjoying a sunny holiday in Greece with the Tanner family. While in another snap, he is spotted having a meaningful chat with David as the pair enjoy cocktails by the sea. Jack recently shared that the past 18 weeks of filming the show had been 'incredible'. He said: 'What an incredible 18 weeks its been from shooting in London in February to ending in 37-degree heat in Paros, the whole shoot has been an amazing experience and I couldnt be prouder of what weve achieved.' 'I feel so lucky to have been able to go to work every day with so many insanely talented people on this job.' 'I cant wait for you to see the end result when it launches worldwide next year on Prime Video!' Maya Jama wowed in a summery white dress as she left the first night of new play Shifters - which she is now a producer for. The Love Island host, 29, stunned in the off-the-shoulder garment which costs 185 from Frankies Bikinis, as she headed home from the Duke of York theatre after the performance. Last week it was revealed she would work on the West End transfer of Bush Theatre's Shifters with actor Idris Elba, 51, and Little Simz. The trio, who will produce the play, will be joined by Eleanor Lloyd Productions, Chuchu Nwagu Productions and Sonia Friedman Productions. As she stepped out Maya completed her outfit with a pair of stylish sliders and had a sleek black leather bag slung over her shoulder. Maya Jama wowed in a summery white dress as she left the first night of new play Shifters - which she is now a producer for The Love Island host, 29, stunned in the off-the-shoulder garment as she headed home from the Duke of York theatre after the performance She wore her long brunette tresses in loose waves over her shoulders and opted for a low-key, natural makeup look. 'I'm so excited to be a part of bringing Benedict Lombe's beautiful play, Shifters, to the West End,' Maya said in a statement about the play last week. 'I fell in love with the play the moment I read it I feel like I know these characters, I know their story, and it's also really wonderful to be able to see yourself represented in art, that's the most important part of it.' She continued: 'I really hope you fall in love with these characters and their journey as much as I have.' Idris added: 'This play is so well written by Benedict Lombe and so well performed by Heather Agyepong and Tosin Cole, we feel very, very privileged to be a part of its transition into the West End.' Little Simz said she was 'moved to tears' by Shifters after seeing the show and said: 'Tosin and Heather spoke Benedict's words with such conviction and truth. 'Their performances were exceptional. I'm so glad it's showing again in the West End as this is a really important story that needs to be told. Get your tickets now before it's too late.' A synopsis for the play reads: 'With the clock counting down until Des has to leave again, memories of their teen years collide with their present and they're forced to question if destiny has brought them back together for a reason. Last week it was revealed she would work on the West End transfer of Bush Theatre's Shifters with actor Idris Elba, 51, and Little Simz The trio, who will produce the play, will be joined by Eleanor Lloyd Productions, Chuchu Nwagu Productions and Sonia Friedman Productions As she stepped out Maya completed her outfit with a pair of stylish sliders and had a sleek black leather bag slung over her shoulder She wore her long brunette tresses in loose waves over her shoulders and opted for a low-key, natural makeup look 'I'm so excited to be a part of bringing Benedict Lombe's beautiful play, Shifters, to the West End,' Maya said in a statement about the play last week She continued: 'I really hope you fall in love with these characters and their journey as much as I have' 'Shifters is a beautifully intoxicating and relatable reminder of the enduring power of memory and young love.' The West End Transfer of Shifters will preview August 12 at London's Duke of York's Theatre and runs until October 12. Tickets, here. Maya has become one of the nation's most famous faces since landing one of the biggest gigs on TV as host of Love Island. The presenter has since gone on to bag other high profile jobs including hosting The BRITs, Comic Relief, as well as becoming the face of Dolce & Gabanna and gracing the cover of Vogue. But after January's spin-off Love Island: All Stars' received it's lowest ever ratings for a final it is unclear if she will return next year. PR expert Nick Ede told MailOnline: 'Maya may have just come off the latest season of Love Island and split with her own love interest Stormzy but she is still one of the UK's biggest and brightest stars'. Idris added: 'This play is so well written by Benedict Lombe and so well performed by Heather Agyepong and Tosin Cole, we feel very, very privileged to be a part of its transition into the West End' Little Simz said she was 'moved to tears' by Shifters after seeing the show and said: 'Tosin and Heather spoke Benedict's words with such conviction and truth' She put on an animated display as she stood in the theatre entrance and chatted to some pals of hers She was seen chatting to some pals inside the theatre before she headed out and got into the cab 'Im so excited to be a part of bringing Benedict Lombes (pictured) beautiful play, Shifters, to the West End,' Maya said in a statement Amanda Holden looked every inch the doting mother as she shared a sweet image with her daughter Hollie to Instagram on Monday. The Heart FM presenter, 53, was the epitome of chic as she posed up a storm wearing a white high collared dress. To accessorise, the blonde beauty paired her classy garment with a black Van Cleef & Arpels bracelet and some bronze-tinted sunglasses. She lovingly graced her arms across Hollie's shoulders as the pair looked out over a balcony. Amanda captioned her sweet post: 'My little growing up so fast ' Amanda Holden, 53, looked every inch the doting mother as she shared a sweet image with her daughter Holiie, 12, to Instagram on Monday The cute mother-daughter post comes after she showed off her sensational figure in a gold metallic swimsuit as she posed for sizzling Instagram snaps on a yacht in Greece on Sunday The cute mother-daughter post comes after she showed off her sensational figure in a gold metallic swimsuit as she posed for sizzling Instagram snaps on a yacht in Greece on Sunday. The Britain's Got Talent judge soaked up the sun in the glamorous 254 scoop back one-piece by Melissa Odabash. Leaving her long wet blonde tresses loose, Amanda shielded from the sun behind a pair of stylish sunglasses as she perched on the bow of the boat. The radio presenter seemed in good spirits as she worked on her glowing tan during the luxury yacht trip. She showcased her amazing figure as she posed for a number of photos in front of the picturesque ocean backdrop. The Britain's Got Talent judge soaked up the sun in the glamorous 254 scoop back one-piece by Melissa Odabash Amanda's holiday snaps comes as it was reported ITV want to lure her and Alan Carr away from the BBC with an offer of a new travel show. The duo are said to have caught the eye of bosses at the broadcaster following the huge success of their DIY programme, Amanda & Alan's Italian Job on the rival network. The double act became an instant hit with viewers and are now filming their third series after millions tuned in to watch them renovate dilapidated houses. According to a TV insider, ITV want to create a 21st century version of the 1970s show Wish You Were Here?. 'It's ironic because Alan has joked that Amanda - who's often pictured holidaying in a luxurious foreign resort - is a modern-day Judith Chalmers,' a source told The Sun. 'But in recent years many of her journeys abroad have been with Alan by her side, and their friendship has grown deeper while making the three series of the Mediterranean travel shows. 'The duo are even on holiday together now in Greece and the most recent video of them messing around in the Med has been watched eight million times, that just goes to show their pairing is a winning combination - she brings the glamour, he brings the giggles.' MailOnline has contacted ITV and Amanda and Alan's representatives for comment. Leaving her long wet blonde tresses loose, Amanda shielded from the sun behind a pair of stylish sunglasses as she perched on the bow of the boat The radio presenter seemed in good spirits as she worked on her glowing tan during the luxury yacht trip She showcased her amazing figure as she posed for a number of photos in front of the picturesque ocean backdrop Bindi Irwin has been forced to defend herself after fans accused her of Photoshopping her latest Instagram post. The Australian TV personality, 26, shared a series of photos on Sunday of a red panda on the lap of her three-year-old daughter Grace. In a second image, the animal is seen standing on Bindi while she sits near her young daughter. 'Meet Teddy. The sweetest red panda with a true love for snack time. I hope you can meet him on your next #AustraliaZoo adventure,' Bindi captioned the post. However, some fans were quick to question if Teddy had in fact been Photoshopped to make it appear as if he was standing on Bindi's lap. 'Pretty sure that's a Photoshop image....' one follower commented on the post. 'He looks Photoshopped into the second one!' another said while a third wrote: 'It almost looks fake.' Other fans questioned the size of the panda and whether he had been enlarged. Bindi Irwin has been accused of Photoshopping a red panda onto the lap of her three-year-old daughter Grace in new images shared to her Instagram page The debate grew so heated that Bindi was forced to address the speculation in the comments section. 'I think it's so funny how some people think that our sweet red panda was Photoshopped,' she wrote. 'I can tell you with absolute certainty that these photos are 100% real (thank you @kateberryphotography for taking such beautiful pictures) and Teddy is in no way Photoshopped.' Kate Berry is a Brisbane-based ecologist and professional wildlife photographer who is employed by Australia Zoo. Bindi didn't appear too fussed by the comments, gently ribbing Teddy's detractors. 'Hope you have a wonderful day and just a noteI'll always share real wildlife moments with you. That's kinda my thing' she ended, adding a golden-heart emoji. Some fans were quick to question if the panda named Teddy had in fact been Photoshopped to make it appear as if he was standing on Bindi's lap in the second image Some fans defended her, with one saying: 'Why would this page ever Photoshop themselves with an animal, it's a ZOO.' 'We saw Teddy yesterday and he was the sweetest lil' thing,' another said. Bindi also posted video clips of the encounter with Teddy, putting to rest any further speculation. 'Teddy absolutely adoring his snacks. It's so important to me to share our wildlife with you and hopefully encourage everyone to take part in conserving, loving and respecting our natural world. Plus, it makes my heart beyond happy to see Grace's JOY with our darling red panda,' she captioned the short video. The debate grew so heated that Bindi was forced to address the speculation in the comments section It comes after I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! Australia viewers threatened to boycott the Channel Ten series amid reports the Irwins are attempting to take it over. Daily Mail Australia exclusively revealed last week that 'mumager' Terri Irwin may be attempting to secure a co-host position for Bindi alongside her brother Robert next year. Though Channel Ten have denied the rumours, fans have flocked together with threats they'll never watch the show again if Terri, 60, installs her kids as sole hosts. 'Another reason to avoid Channel 10,' one disgruntled Facebook user wrote, while someone else added: 'That's one way to tank the show.' It comes after I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! Australia viewers threatened to boycott the Channel Ten series amid reports the Irwins are attempting to take it over. Pictured Bindi with mother Terri and brother Robert Others commented, 'The end,' and: 'RIP Channel 10, you have lost the plot.' 'No way, Bindi, let this be Robert's time to shine. Don't take this from him,' yet another begged. Several others said they'd rather see the whole show be cancelled than Julia Morris be supplanted by the Irwins. 'If that's the case then cancel the whole show in my opinion. I'm sure I won't be watching it,' a viewer commented. An Australian woman has shocked Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O Henderson after detailing how she was banned from entering the United States for ten years. Kyle, 53, and Jackie, 49, were asking callers to spill the details on how they had been banned from various countries. And caller Mel phoned in to recount a nightmare trip to the US where she had planned to go to visit her then-boyfriend. Believing Mel may have had ulterior motives for her visit, she claimed US Customs and Border Protection officers seized her phone and began combing through messages to establish if the relationship was real. 'What they actually did was take away my phone and went around the corner and then downloaded all of our messages and photos and stuff to their database.' Mel told the radio hosts. Kyle then chimed in saying customs officers in the US are within their rights to take such action admitting it had happened to 'many' of his friends as well. He added: ' A lot of young girls also get caught up in that as well. If they see a young pretty girl travelling alone, the US Customs will assume she is a prostitute there to earn money and keep them. 'They really put people through the wringer.' An Australian woman has shocked Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O Henderson after detailing how she was banned from entering the United States for 10 years Mel added that that customs officers even messaged her partner from her phone, pretending to be her. 'So they pretended to be me, messaging the guy who was waiting for me outside, my boyfriend and pretty much saying, "Hey, babe, are we going to get married?" 'And he's on the other end waiting for me thinking: 'Oh, this poor girl has just flown 13 hours to come see me, she's obviously left her family and friends and she's a little bit worried. Believing that caller Mel may've had ulterior motives with her visit, she claimed that US Customs and Border Protection officers seized her phone and began combing through messages to establish if the relationship was real Mel continued: 'So he was like, Well, yeah, sure, baby, If everything works out well with our relationship, that's sort of the pathway that we're going to take.' 'They were impersonating you?,' a shocked Kyle asked. Agreeing, Mel then revealed that she was interrogated by customs officers for 13 hours. 'Then they took me to a little cell room, started interrogating me some more for, like, 13 hours, took my mug shot, fingerprints and I didn't do anything wrong. 'I think they just thought I had intent to migrate and elope with him, which wasn't the case at all.' Mel added that that customs offers even messaged her partner from her phone, pretending to be her Mel then admitted that her quest for entry into the US was denied and she was actually banned from entry for ten years. 'I've got 2.5 years more to go,' Mel added before Jackie asked if the international incident ended the relationship. 'He had to come chase me in Australia and live with me here for a bit, but it turned out to a shocking relationship,' she laughed. Kyle added: 'Isn't it weird, Melanie, that you You have a ten-year ban from something you didn't even do wrong.' Mel agreed, pointing out, 'When they locked me up in the room, like the holding cell, I was probably sitting next to a real-life terrorist, you know, drug importers and little old me, an Australian who loves Australia and doesn't want to leave.' According to US Customs and Border Protection, officers are perfectly within their rights to conduct such action. 'Travelers are obligated to present electronic devices and the information resident on the device in a condition that allows for the examination of the device and its contents,' its Electronic Devices guidelines state. 'Failure to assist CBP in accessing the electronic device and its contents for examination may result in the detention of the device in order to complete the inspection.' It continues: ' If CBP determines that the detained device(s) is subject to seizure under law for example, if the device or devices are subject to forfeiture or contain evidence of a crime, contraband, or other prohibited or restricted items or information then you will be notified of the seizure as well as your options to contest the seizure through the local CBP Fines, Penalties, and Forfeitures Office.' Julie Chrisley has been ordered to appear at an upcoming resentencing hearing in person, after requesting to attend virtually. The 51-year-old reality star made headlines in June when her seven-year prison sentence for her bank fraud and tax evasion charges was overturned. Her husband Todd Chrisley was sentenced to 12 years in prison, though now his wife Julie may be getting out much early. Julie's lawyers requested a virtual appearance for, 'an unnecessarily extended period of time and impose undue physical hardship,' via Atlanta's WSB-TV. She is currently being held at FMC Lexington in Kentucky and she's now required to travel to Atlanta for the hearing. Julie Chrisley has been ordered to appear at an upcoming resentencing hearing in person, after requesting to attend virtually The 51-year-old reality star made headlines in June when her seven-year prison sentence for her bank fraud and tax evasion charges was overturned 'Because Mrs. Chrisley is presently in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) outside the state of Georgia, BOP likely would transfer her via the transfer facility in Oklahoma City or place her in a van for a lengthy, multiple-hour trip while shackled to facilitate her appearance in court,' read a filing from Chrisley's legal team. The judge turned down the request, demanding her to show up in person at the hearing, scheduled for September 25. Her husband Todd has had his sentence reduced to 10 years while Julie's was trimmed by 14 months. However, a judge ruled in June that Julie's prison sentence be thrown out because the previous judge miscalculated her sentence. 'After careful consideration, and with the benefit of oral argument, we affirm the district court on all issues except for the loss amount attributed to Julie,' the judge stated back in June. 'The district court did not identify the evidence it relied on to hold Julie accountable for losses incurred before 2007, and we cannot independently find it in the record,' the judge's statement added. The case was sent back down to the lower court so they could, 'resentence her accordingly.' 'The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Ms. Chrisleys sentencing and remanded the case for her to be resentenced,' Julie's legal team said in their statement. Her husband Todd has had his sentence reduced to 10 years while Julie's was trimmed by 14 months. However, a judge ruled in June that Julie's prison sentence be thrown out because the previous judge miscalculated her sentence 'After careful consideration, and with the benefit of oral argument, we affirm the district court on all issues except for the loss amount attributed to Julie,' the judge stated back in June Chrisley's family said in their own statement that they were staying positive about the resentencing 'While this is not a dismissal of the case against her, it will result in [a] new sentence conforming with the Appeals Courts instructions,' they added. Chrisley's family said in their own statement that they were staying positive about the resentencing. 'Were pleased that the Court agreed that Julies sentence was improper, but were obviously disappointed that it rejected Todds appeal, Alex Little, an attorney for the family, said in a statement. 'With this step behind us, we can now challenge the couples convictions based on the illegal search that started the case,' the attorney added. Pregnant influencer Sarah's Day is up in arms about the expensive cost of coffee in Hawaii, despite dropping thousands of dollars on Qantas business class flights. The cashed-up online personality, 31, took to Instagram on Monday with a video slamming the price of the beverage during her lavish stay on the tropical island. Meanwhile, Sarah is believed to have spent $48,000 on flights for her husband Kurt Tilse and their sons Fox, five, and Malakai, two, reported the Outspoken podcast. 'Unfortunately for us, the Australian dollar... like a normal coffee price, like let's say we would get a $6 coffee,' Sarah began her rant in the now deleted video. 'We're paying like $10 a coffee because when we transferred our money, for every dollar we transferred, we got like 60 cents.' Just hours later, sisters Amy, Kate and Sophie Taeuber revealed the shocking amount Sarah dropped on flights on their Outspoken podcast. 'One [Qantas] business class ticket to Hawaii from Sydney costs $6,000. So to fly business class return for a family of four, that works out to $48,000,' they said. When fans pointed out in the comments the irony of complaining about expensive coffee after spending thousands on flights and accommodation, Sarah hit back. Pregnant influencer Sarah's Day, 31, (pictured) is up in arms about the expensive cost of coffee in Hawaii , despite dropping thousands of dollars on Qantas first class flights 'It's the principle and what I'm getting for money. It makes sense in my mind,' she said alongside a laughing emoji. It comes after Sarah gave fans a sneak peek of her controversial and massive holiday home renovation, which she will begin in 2025. The cashed-up influencer sparked backlash over the purchase when she first announced she bought the property in March last year. Sarah shared photos of the home's exterior design, including the front porch and back courtyard, writing: 'Over a year of architectural design and we're almost there!' 'I haven't updated you hardly at all on our build because we are still tweaking landscape and architectural design,' she explained. 'But once the juicy demo and build star next year I will bring you along don't worry.' The property design features a white-painted exterior with a cobblestone driveway, timber garage and wood panels leading up to the arch front entrance. She is said to have spent $48,000 on flights for her husband Kurt Tilse and their sons Fox, five, and Malakai, two, (all pictured) reported the Outspoken podcast Sarah was slammed on social media after she announced buying a second 'garbage' home, which she explained she and Kurt would use for photo shoots and family holidays. The online personality, who already owns a home in Cronulla, was criticised as it came at a time when so many were struggling with the housing crisis. 'I will be sharing some big life updates that will essentially take up a lot of my time for the next few years and change our life really, forever,' she said. After revealing her purchase on her YouTube channel, fans turned on Sarah, accusing the influencer of being tone deaf. 'Hardly call that life changing lmao. What a privilege in the actual crisis that most people are living in at the moment,' one wrote. Another said: 'So many things wrong with this. Firstly, not life changing news really, is it? Just clickbait for us to watch her YouTube video so she gets more views - more money.' Vicky Pattison has admitted that her 'heart breaks' every time she is forced to fork out more dosh for her upcoming wedding, branding her big day 'f*****g expensive' The Geordie Shore star, 36, is set to tie the knot with fiance Ercan Ramadan in Italy in September and previously admitted her 'dream day' would cost 'the same price as a house'. Vicky also slammed the wedding industry claiming prices had increased in a bid to capitalise on people's desire to 'make up for lost time' following COVID lock down. She told The Mirror: 'So they're f**king expensive. There's no other word for it. So, yeah, I've had to work. Everybody has to work. I'm extremely lucky. Like, I like my job. I'm hardly down the mines, am I?'. 'I've worked hard, but it's for the wedding of my dreams, you know? So I feel really, I feel excited. I do feel somewhat heartbroken every time I say big chunks of money going.' Vicky Pattison, 36, has admitted that her 'heart breaks' every time she is forced to fork out more dosh for her upcoming wedding, branding her big day 'f*****g expensive'. The Geordie Shore star is set to tie the knot with fiance Ercan Ramadan in Italy in September and previously admitted her 'dream day' would be costing 'the same price as a house' Vicky also slammed the wedding industry claiming prices had increased in a bid to capitalise on people's desire to 'make up for lost time' following COVID lock down She also teased how fans would get a glimpse of the preparations in her upcoming E4 documentary Destination Wedding. Saying: 'You'll see bits of it on the show. There are moments where I'm really excited and, you know, just really invested in the planning element. And then there's times where I'm quite stressed out trying to balance it all. But I think that's also being a woman.' Speaking to Rock My Wedding, earlier this year Vicky admitted that despite trying to be a little sensible in places, she will be wearing four wedding dresses on the day. But she has limited certain luxuries and won't be splashing out on the flower installation she had her eye on for their welcome dinner. Vicky said: 'I knew weddings were a big money business and, like I say, it's not my first rodeo in this space, but everything's just got more and more expensive. 'I was really shocked.' 'I don't want to be paying it off for the next 10 years, or remortgaging my house for a wedding,' she added. She admitted that at first she thought she was going to have the 'wedding of the century' but the reality quickly set in when she realised the cost, despite having a healthy budget, She said : 'So they're f**king expensive. There's no other word for it. So, yeah, I've had to work. Everybody has to work. I'm extremely lucky. Like, I like my job. I'm hardly down the mines' 'I've worked hard, but it's for the wedding of my dreams, you know? So I feel really, I feel excited. I do feel somewhat heartbroken every time I say big chunks of money going' Unfortunately, her wedding planner revealed that what she wanted was impossible with her initial wedding fund. After hosting 300 guests for their engagement party in London's 14 Hills, Vicky and Ercan decided to officially marry at Marylebone Town Hall with an attendance of 100. They will then head to Italy for a welcome dinner, wedding ceremony and evening reception, which has attracted 150 guests so far. Vicky teased that she will be wearing a sixties-inspired gown for her UK wedding and said she loves the short veil and big sunglasses look. The pair got engaged in the summer of 2019, when Ercan proposed to her on the beach in Dubai. He popped the question with a stunning emerald-cut solitaire with a diamond band. British jeweller Rox predicted that the piece would cost around 200,000. The Bachelor's Cass Wood has announced she is expecting to welcome her first child with husband Tyson Davis. The reality star, 30, who starred on Nick 'Honey Badgers' Cummins' season, shared the exciting news to Instagram on Monday. 'SURPRISE. Baby Davis incoming...,' she captioned a sweet carousel of photos taken with Tyson on the beach at sunset. In one image, the couple shared a kiss as Cass held an ultrasound image towards the camera. In another photo taken at the couple's home, Cass and Tyson held up a baby onesie, which had 'Baby Davis coming February 2025' printed on the front. Their dog also got in on the celebration action, meriting her own custom bandana labelled: 'Soon to be, big sister.' Cass' celebrity friends inundated the post with well wishes, with Bachelorette Brooke Blurton writing: 'Congrats,' alongside heart emojis and clinking champagne glasses. Tenille Favios, who also starred on Nick Cummins' 2018 season of The Bachelor, also commented her congratulations with three hearts. The Bachelor's Cass Wood has announced she is expecting to welcome her first child with husband Tyson Davis Meanwhile, radio host and podcaster Brittany Hockley said: 'Congrats guys, this is so cute.' Dance Academy actress Alicia Banit, model Shannon Lawson, MAFS' Selina Chhaur, and celebrity stylist Jamie Azzopardi also offered their congratulations. Cass rose to fame after starring on Honey Badgers' season of The Bachelor in 2018 and made her second attempt at finding love on reality TV on Bachelor in Paradise in 2019. She married her longtime fiance, rugby player Tyson in a stunning semi-regional ceremony in Gerringong in September last year. Cass and Tyson briefly dating in 2017 but broke up shortly before Cass appeared on Bachelor In Paradise. While on the show she fell for ex-Bachelor Richie Strahan, but their romance was short-lived. The reality star, who starred on Nick 'Honey Badgers' Cummins' season, shared the exciting news to Instagram on Monday Their dog also got in on the celebration action, meriting her own custom bandana labelled: 'Soon to be, big sister' Cass and Tyson reconnected in 2019 after she returned from filming in Fiji. Cass previously revealed she was the happiest she had ever been after welcoming Tyson back into her life. 'It may seem like Bachelor in Paradise was a little like De Ja Vu for me, but the intensity of both those experiences and any pain,' she wrote on Instagram in 2019. 'I felt is all worth it since having this guy walk back in to my life at the most perfect time. And yes I say 'back' into my life, as we met back in 2017. I can gladly say I'm the happiest I've ever been.' Vince Vaughn made a rare public appearance with his family to celebrate the unveiling of his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Monday. The Swingers star, 54, was joined by his wife Kyla, 45, and their two children, 13-year-old daughter Locklyn and 11-year-old son Vernon, as he delivered a heartfelt tribute to them from the podium during the ceremony. 'My beautiful wife Kyla, I'm so glad that you're with me on this now, I'm so grateful for you and these beautiful kids and for all the laughter that we share together,' Vince gushed about his wife, whom he married in 2010. 'As much as all this means, Vernon and Locklyn, you guys really do need to know that you guys are the most important thing in the world to me,' he added. The event also saw appearances from celebs like Mel Gibson and Peter Billingsley, as well as Bill Lawrence, the mastermind behind Scrubs and Ted Lasso, who is currently serving as an executive producer on Vaughns latest series Bad Monkey. Vince Vaughn made a rare public appearance with his Kyla, 45, and their two children, 13-year-old daughter Locklyn and 11-year-old son Vernon to celebrate the unveiling of his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Monday 'My beautiful wife Kyla, I'm so glad that you're with me on this now, I'm so grateful for you and these beautiful kids and for all the laughter that we share together,' Vince gushed about his wife, whom he married in 2010 During his speech, Vince playfully remarked that while it was great to have famous friends in the crowd, his wife and children were the most important people present. 'You're not as lucrative and you don't give me access to the kind of stuff that this kind of thing does,' he joked. 'But with that all being said, you guys are the most important and I love you very much. It's great to have you guys with me.' Also present in the audience were Vaughns parents, Vernon Vaughn and Sharon Eileen Depalmo. His two sisters, Valeri and Victoria Vaughn, also joined in to celebrate the special occasion with the family. In a recent interview with The New York Times Magazine, Vaughn expressed that fatherhood has been a tremendous 'joy,' noting it has made him more 'empathetic, patient, and skilled at encouragement.' While Vince is promoting his new Apple TV+ series Bad Monkey, he recently spoke about doing a follow up to his smash hit Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. 'They've always talked about these things forever and I had an idea that was fun and the studio likes it, so we'll see where it goes,' Vaughn told The Hollywood Reporter. The event also saw appearances from celebs like Mel Gibson (pictured) and Peter Billingsley Oscar winner Mel dressed up for the occasion in a pair of board shorts Vince was last seen in public with his family at the Los Angeles Lakers game against the Houston Rockets in Crypto.com Arena in January 2023 In a recent interview with The New York Times Magazine , Vaughn expressed that fatherhood has been a tremendous 'joy,' noting it has made him more 'empathetic, patient, and skilled at encouragement' In the original film, written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, a ragtag group of underdogs competes in a dodgeball tournament in Las Vegas to save their beloved local gym from a ruthless corporate fitness chain. Released 18 years ago, the film was a worldwide hit, earning $188.4 million against a $20 million budget. Vince, who portrayed Pete LaFleur, the owner of Average Joe's Gym, revealed that Ben Stiller is open to reprising his role as White Goodman, the scheming owner of Globo Gym, provided there is a fresh and humorous script. 'I think Ben [Stiller] is open to doing it, I think he's in the same boat as me actually which is if it's a really fun and great idea then that's fun, but if it's just something to go do it again then why?' Vaughn explained. She instantly became a pop culture icon after bursting into the public eye as loudmouthed Page 3 girl, Jordan. Having tried her hand at modelling, singing, presenting, campaigning and reality TV, the glamour model quickly became a household name in Britain. Yet while Katie Price's moniker will ring a bell for both young and old, you would be forgiven for not recognising the star on sight alone, with Katie famously undergoing numerous cosmetic procedures over the years. After two decades in the spotlight, Katie is almost unrecognisable from the naturally pretty teenager who burst on to the modelling scene at the age of 16, with her natural curls and fresh-faced beauty winning her an army of fans. Katie, now 46, has undergone an array of procedures over the years, including rhinoplasty, a silhouette facelift, 3D, veneers, lip fillers and Botox, culminating in her first facelift in 2017. Now, after two decades under the surgeon's scalpel, MailOnline takes a look at the many faces of Katie Price. The many faces of Katie Price: MailOnline takes a look at the star's changing look after two decades of boob jobs, Botox and face lifts 1995 - Barefaced beauty At the age of 17, Katie Price was a fresh-faced natural beauty looking to make it into the world of glamour modelling. At a friend's suggestion, the teenager had professional photographs taken and was quickly snapped up by a modelling agency who landed her a Page 3 slot in The Sun newspaper the following year, sparking the creation of her glamour model alter ego, Jordan. Speaking last year, Katie revealed she was glad that she wasn't exposed to social media at the time as she had 'no idea what Botox was or fillers', otherwise she may have started her tweaks and enhancements at an even earlier age. 1995: At the age of 17, Katie Price was a fresh-faced natural beauty looking to make it into the world of glamour modelling 1998 - First boob job Having just turned 20, the rising glamour model experienced her first taste of cosmetic surgery, boosting her 32B cup breasts to a 32C. The procedure cost 4,500 and it's thought her mum Amy and stepdad Paul helped pay for her to have the procedure. Katie has since spoken out about her decision to go under the knife, admitting she was 'too young' and that she feels sorry for young girls growing up these days in a world of social media and filters. 1998: Having just turned 20, Katie experienced her first taste of cosmetic surgery, boosting her 32B cup breasts to a 32C 1999 - Second and third boob job Despite having only just increased her breast size, Katie opted to have two more procedures the following year at the age of 21. Katie boosted her bust from a C cup to a D cup and just a few months later went up again to a F cup. Katie has previously claimed that she has only paid for two of her boob jobs over the course of her career - it is not known if these were the ones. 1999: Despite having only just increased her breast size, Katie opted to have two more procedures at the age of 21 2001 - Lip fillers At the age of 21, Katie had her first cosmetic procedure on her face, opting for lip fillers. While the glamour model did not confirm the rumours at the time, she was seen sporting a noticeably fuller pout while out enjoying the party scene. Her overall look had also started drastically transforming, with the model sporting dramatic false lashes, bright lipstick and pale hair extensions. 2001: At the age of 21, Katie had her first cosmetic procedure on her face, opting for lip fillers 2004 - Botox Aged 26, Katie began to experiment with Botox injections that relax the muscles in your face to smooth out lines and wrinkles. She made no secret of her love of the procedure, announcing at the time: 'I get my forehead and around my eyes Botoxed every six months and I love it. You can't beat it. It just freezes all the wrinkles and that's what you want.' At the time, Katie insisted she would never take things further and have a facelift, explaining: 'I'd never have a full facelift. I've seen what they can do to people and I don't want to go through that.' 2004: Aged 26, Katie began to experiment with Botox injections that relax the muscles in your face to smooth out lines 2006 - Fourth boob job Katie went under the knife yet again to take her F cup breasts up to a G cup. The glamour model also played around with her overall look and embraced her dark side with a new brunette hairstyle. She also continued to dabble with fillers and Botox. 2006: Katie went under the knife yet again to take her F cup breasts up to a G cup 2007 - First nose job and veneers At the age of 29, Katie took her love of surgery to the next level, undergoing rhinoplasty, a chemical peel and treating herself to a 25,000 set of new veneers. 'Oh my God, it burned like hell!' she said at the time. 'The next day I had this hideous red rash on my chin but two days later there wasn't a single spot left.' Speaking about her nose job at the time, she admitted to liking her original nose, explaining: 'I liked my nose before and now. If I had a cupboard with both noses, I would alternate between them!' 2007:Katie took her love of surgery to the next level, undergoing rhinoplasty, a chemical peel and a 25,000 set of veneers 2008 - Fifth boob job Despite gradually increasingly her bust size over the year, Katie fancied a change on her 30th and brought her bra size back down from an F cup to a C cup. The procedure meant that Katie had returned to the size of her first boob job 10 years prior. Katie's changing shape also coincided with the launch of her first clothing line - an equestrian range. 2008: Despite gradually increasingly her bust size, Katie fancied a change and brought her bra size back down to a C cup 2011 - Sixth boob job Katie's smaller chest didn't last long, and at age 33 she went back under the knife again to boost her bust to an F cup. Katie also underwent body-contouring treatment and cheek and lip fillers. The Loose Women panelist admitted that she loved having her cheeks filled to give her a 'plumper, more youthful look'. 2011: Katie's smaller chest didn't last long, and at age 33 she went back under the knife again to boost her bust to an F cup 2015 - Seventh and eighth boob job Just before appearing on Celebrity Big Brother, the reality star had a botched boob reduction that left her with a hole in her breast and an implant protruding from her flesh. Katie told her shocked housemates: 'Ive got no tits anymore. Theyve gone. Theres not even anything there. If you saw what Im like underneath. The scars gone septic. My whole implant was hanging out on New Years Day.' Shortly after leaving the Big Brother house she underwent corrective surgery and had her implants swapped for a D-cup. 2015: Just before Celebrity Big Brother, the star had a botched boob reduction that left her with a hole in her breast 2016 - Ninth boob job and tattooed makeup Despite her surgery horror the year before, Katie was undeterred and flew to a Brussels clinic to go under the knife yet again, this time settling on a 32GG bust. The reality star also had her eyebrows and lips tattooed, also known as 'permanent make-up', explaining that she prefers to go make-up free on a day-to-day basis. Additionally the star has regular facial treatments, last year sharing a bloodied selfie after having a dermal roller micro-needling treatment, which sees a dermaroller with many tiny needles rolled across into the skin - designed to stimulate cells into regeneration. 2016: Despite her surgery horror the year before, Katie flew to a Brussels clinic to get another boob job, this time a 32GG cup 2017 - First face lift, new veneers and 10th boob job Despite insisting she would never have a face lift and could rely on Botox, Katie went back on her word undergoing a 'Silhouette' face lift. The procedure is designed to lift a sagging cheeks and blurred jawline, using 'sutures' implanted under the skin to sculpt features. However, Katie was soon spotted with puffy features, revealing that she suffered an allergic reaction to anesthetic penicillin after having further work on her veneers. She also had her breast implants reduced from 1000ml implants to 795ml. 2017: Despite insisting she would never have a face lift and could rely on Botox, Katie went back on her word 2018 - Second face lift Katie claimed her first face lift had been a botched job and went back under the knife the following year aged 40 to correct it. She said at the time 'I need to get my face re-corrected after surgeon has totally f**ked my face up', admitting it had He agent added: 'She had the thread and it really quite distorted her look. She got a lot of backlash, a lot of negative press, a lot of trolling, everyone saying shed taken it too far, when actually it was a job that had not gone to plan.' 2018: Katie claimed her first face lift had been a botched job and went back under the knife the following year aged 40 2019 - Third face lift, boob job first Brazilian bum lift and 11th boob job Katie jetted to Turkey to overhaul her entire look with a full body transformation. The reality star opted for a face, eye and eyelid lift, Brazilian bum lift along with a tummy tuck. Just three months later she returned to the clinic and opted for another boob job, going back down to a D cup. 2019: Katie jetted to Turkey to overhaul her look with a face, eye and eyelid lift, Brazilian bum lift along with a tummy tuck 2020 - 12th boob job and another set of veneers Katie returned to Turkey to have another set of veneers and revealed her real teeth had been reduced to stubs as she flashed a smile on her YouTube channel. The mother-of-five then jetted to Belgium to correct botched surgery on her breasts, saying her surgeon was utterly shocked by the 'awful' previous procedure. Katie said: 'They looked deformed, they were absolutely awful. That's the first time I've gone to a different surgeon. I had to go back to Frank with my head down, ashamed that I'd been to another clinic.' 2020: Katie returned to Turkey to have another set of veneers then jetted to Belgium to correct a botched boob job 2021 - Liposuction, eye and lid lifts and 13th boob job Amid the Covid pandemic, Katie jetted off to then red-list Turkey for a complete cosmetic surgery overhaul, undergoing full body liposuction, eye and lip lifts, liposuction under her chin, and fat injected into her bum. The reality star also visited Belgium to have her 13th boob job as well as full body liposuction with bum fat removal. The plastic surgery - performed by Dr Frank Plovier - came just five days ahead of the glamour model's sentencing for her shocking drink-drive crash. 2021: Katie jetted to Turkey for a complete cosmetic surgery overhaul, undergoing full body liposuction, eye and lip lifts 2022 - Another brow and eye lift Katie secretly jetted back to Belgium at the beginning of 2022 for an eye and brow lift and had been concealing her new look with her head in a bandage. Dr Judy Todd, an aesthetic doctor at Clinica Medica in Glasgow, said: 'It appears like she's had a face lift, temporal brow lift, and possibly an upper blepharoplasty.' It was reported last month that Katie plans to travel to Turkey imminently for yet more plastic surgery, amid claims she wanted to get some tweaks in after being unhappy with her latest work. Sian Dellar, Brow Specialist and Founder of Sian Dellar Permanent Makeup Clinic, added: 'Katie's eyebrows, like the rest of her, have changed lots over the years! 'Back in the 90s she had a very thin over plucked brow which was the fashion at the time, and today she has an extremely thick and unnatural looking brow. 'Currently it seems the face or eye lift that shes had have pulled her brows outward which looks unnatural and makes the brows appear almost stretched. 'Of course, as with any enhancement, its personal preference but we recommend not going too many shades darker, and keeping the shape as natural looking as possible and work to create or enhance brows to frame the face. 'Katies choice to have them so thick and dark and in that unusual positioning means they dominate her face and are the first thing the eye is drawn to. I would love to see Katie take her brows back to 2015/2016 when the fuller brow became a big trend. She got it right then and they framed her face well.' 2022: Katie secretly jetted back to Belgium for an eye and brow lift and is planning to to travel to Turkey for more surgery 2023 - 16th and 'biggest ever' boob job It's not clear if Katie lost track of the number of breast augmentations or opted to keep some of her surgery private but by 2023 it emerged she'd undergone her 16th boob job, two years after claiming to be on her 13th. The star went under the knife in a bid to have the 'biggest in Britain' and was subsequently pictured being wheeled into surgery at the Be Clinic in Belgium. She is said to have wanted even bigger breasts, opting for 2120 CC implants in a bid to boost her already large bust size. Katie told OK! magazine of her boobs: 'I love them. They healed really quickly and they didn't hurt at all. That probably doesn't help. Because I heal quickly, it doesn't put me off and I have more. 'I would go bigger as well and I will eventually. I just love having big boobs and a small body. I've always loved that look. In my eyes, if I'm having a boob job, I want them to look fake, I don't want them to look natural. I don't like the natural look. 'I just like that old-school American Playboy pin-up look. When I have surgery, that is what I'm striving for. If I could look like my airbrushed pictures, that would be amazing. But that's impossible to achieve.' 2023: It's not clear if Katie lost track of the number of breast augmentations or opted to keep some of her surgery private but by 2023 it emerged she'd undergone her 16th boob job, two years after claiming to be on her 13th 2024 - MORE facial surgery In July 2024 Katie confirmed she is travelling to Turkey for facial surgery, to be filmed for a new documentary, after failing to attend a bankruptcy hearing. The former glamour model was absent at a scheduled 760,000 bankruptcy court hearing having flown overseas for her latest cosmetic procedure. A warrant was subsequently issued, with Katie admitting she's 'doing the best she can' to rectify her financial issues after receiving 'very clear warnings' that she needed to attend court. Anastasia 'Stassie' Karanikolaou shared a series of sexy bikini snaps as well as clips of herself swimming with sharks on Monday. The social media personality, 27, took to Instagram to show off her mesmerizing beauty and enviable curves in a post, which she simply captioned: 'I [heart] sharks.' In photos and videos, she was seen flipping her hair as she posed on the beach with clear, crystal blue waters lapping the rocky shoreline. She also shared footage of herself wearing the same bikini but this time with a light pink trucker cap on her head as she took a dip in shallow waters with baby sharks circling her. Her post comes shortly after she celebrated her best friend Kylie Jenner's 27th birthday on a yacht in the Bahamas over the weekend and after she joined the makeup mogul as well as her two toddlers for a sun-soaked Italian getaway in July. Anastasia 'Stassie' Karanikolaou shared a series of sexy bikini snaps as well as clips of herself swimming with sharks on Monday In snaps from a recent vacation, the influencer modeled a twisted bra top with thin halter straps. She also wore a body chain very low on her hips and layered underneath her cheeky bikini bottoms. Her dark brunette tresses were down in beach waves, wet from swimming, and her skin was glowing and radiant after soaking up the sun. She also appeared to be wearing little to no makeup as she showcased her beauty. She accessorized with a dainty bellybutton ring, a gold pendant necklace and layers of beaded bracelets on her wrist. In her striking photo series, she also included a snap of herself sitting on the edge of a boat and laughing so hard that she spit out her best friend Jenner's seltzer and held a can of Sprinter. She was seen wearing the same bikini and with her hair tied up in a messy bun as well as sporting a pair of sunglasses with rose-tinted lenses. She also shared a clip on her Instagram Story of herself swimming alongside the sharks and petting them as they passed by her. The social media personality, 27, took to Instagram to show off her mesmerizing beauty and enviable curves in a post, which she simply captioned: 'I [heart] sharks' In photos and videos, she was seen flipping her hair as she posed on the beach with clear, crystal blue waters lapping the rocky shoreline Her dark brunette tresses were down in beach waves, wet from swimming, and her skin was glowing and radiant after soaking up the sun Karanikolaou also reposted a snap of her and Jenner sitting aboard a yacht, playing poker at a table and twinning in matching outfits. The pair also recently were featured in each other's mukbang TikTok videos, in which they indulged on wings and cookies. The longtime pals first met through mutual friends when they were 13 and hanging out at a book store, Karanikolaou revealed on an episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast released in 2022. Since then, they have remained close and constant friends through their steady rise to fame. When Jenner celebrated her 27th birthday over the weekend, Karanikolaou was present to party with her and was even featured on her Instagram post declaring that she had the 'best birthday ever.' During the same podcast appearance, Karanikolaou also got candid about getting plastic surgery at a young age. She opened up about the specific procedures she's had done but denied getting any work done on her backside. 'I have not had butt implants. The only implants that I have are in my t*tties,' she said. 'And I'm not saying that I haven't done other things and I haven't, you know, moved some things around or whatever the case may be. But I just feel like I was at a point in my life when I was younger and I felt like my lips needed to be big, my boobs needed to be big. Everything ... my butt needed to be big.' About her decision to get candid, she also stressed the importance of being open about cosmetic enhancements. In her striking photo series, she also included a snap of herself sitting on the edge of a boat and laughing so hard that she spit out her best friend's seltzer and held a can of Sprinter. She was seen wearing the same bikini and with her hair tied up in a messy bun as well as sporting a pair of sunglasses with rose-tinted lenses She also shared footage of herself wearing the same bikini but this time with a light pink trucker cap on her head as she took a dip in shallow waters with baby sharks circling her She also shared a clip on her Instagram Story of herself swimming alongside the sharks and petting them as they passed by her 'There's such a stigma in plastic surgery and I feel like whether you say that you've done it or whether you don't say you've done it, people are going to find a way to say something about it and like make it a negative thing,' she said. 'No one needs to tell anyone anything if they don't want to.' However, she continued to open up about the 'taboo' subject and explained that the very first procedure she had was lip filler but 'not at a good place,' she said. Since then, she said she continues to receive negative comments about her appearance on social media and even once in real life when she was vacationing in Greece. When a stranger told her she was 'full of plastic,' she said it upset her. 'I wanted to start crying,' she said. 'I don't want to look plastic. I don't want to look fake.' Afterwards, she said that she started revising her work to look 'more natural.' She also mentioned beauty standards and how they change like trends but noted that she has no regrets even though she wants a different look nowadays. 'I wouldn't say regret. I would say I've gotten stuff done that I didn't like the result but not regret," she said. 'At the time I wanted it and for the time I liked it. But I have taken it back.' Matt Damon has said he 'could never imagine living like' Ben Affleck amid the actor's rumoured divorce from Jennifer Lopez. The childhood pals first found fame after they wrote and co-starred in 1997's smash hit drama Good Will Hunting. Now Matt, 53, said that was fortunate his own personal life had been mostly ignored due to his 19-year marriage to Luciana Barroso being considered 'boring'. Promoting his new film The Instigators which he stars in alongside Ben's brother Casey, 49, Matt told Radio Time Podcast: '25 years ago, the gossip magazine culture was huge but they ignored me. 'I wasnt an exciting story; the guy whos married, its boring! Scandal and sex, thats what people would read magazines for. Ive been really lucky'. Matt Damon, 53, has said he 'could never imagine living like' Ben Affleck, 51, amid the actor's rumoured divorce from Jennifer Lopez The childhood pals first found fame after they wrote and co-starred in 1997's smash hit drama Good Will Hunting (pictured together in 2021) Now Matt said that was fortunate his own personal life had been mostly ignored due to his 19-year marriage to Luciana Barroso being considered 'boring' He continued: 'Especially when I look at Caseys brother, Ben. Weve had parallel careers in a lot of ways, but I cant imagine living under that scrutiny for 25 years'. Matt and Luciana wed in 2005 and have three daughters together: Isabella, 18, Gia, 16, and Stella, 13. Luciana is also mom to daughter Alexia, 24, from a previous relationship. It comes after JLO fans thought she sent her reportedly estranged husband Ben, 51, a secret message in her latest Instagram post. On Sunday the 55-year-old Hustlers star appeared in a video to promote Delola. She looked beautiful in a yellow and white striped tank top while by the swimming pool of her $65M Los Angeles mansion she is trying to sell. And she also had her wedding rings from Ben on. 'Slush summer crush,' her caption read. But her choice of music for the post was suspect. Lopez used a remix of her old hit song If You Had My Love. Fans think this was meant for Ben as the lyrics bring up skepticism about a relationship. It also mentions cheating. 'Is this song for Ben???' asked one follower. Promoting his new film The Instigators which he stars in alongside Ben's brother Casey, Matt said : '25 years ago, the gossip magazine culture was huge but they ignored me' (pictured at 1997 Oscars) He continued: 'Especially when I look at Caseys brother, Ben. Weve had parallel careers in a lot of ways, but I cant imagine living under that scrutiny for 25 years' (Matt and Luciana in 2006) He continued: 'Especially when I look at Caseys brother, Ben. Weve had parallel careers in a lot of ways, but I cant imagine living under that scrutiny for 25 years' (ben and Jen in 2023) In the song she croons: 'If you had my love, And I gave you all my trust, Would you comfort me? And if somehow you knew, That your love would be untrue, Would you lie to me? And call me baby. 'Now if I give you me, This is how it's got to be, First of all, I won't take you cheating on me, Tell me who can I trust, If I can't trust in you, And I refuse to let you play me for a fool, You said that we, Could possibly, Spend eternity, See that's what you told me. 'That's what you said, But if you want me, You have to be, Fulfilling all my dreams, If you really want me, babe.' The song was first released in 1999, which was three years before she met Ben on the set of their movie Gigli. They became engaged then famously split before their nuptials. Last week it was claimed JLo's inner circle doesn't like Ben. That includes Jennifer's longtime manager Benny Medina, a source told Page Six. 'The two of them cant stand each other. They dont get along and theres still bad blood,' they claimed. It comes after J LO fans thought she sent her reportedly estranged husband Ben a secret message in her latest Instagram post Lopez used a remix of her old hit song If You Had My Love. Fans think this was meant for Ben as the lyrics bring up skepticism about a relationship. It also mentions cheating. 'Is this song for Ben???' asked one follower Last week it was claimed JLo's inner circle doesn't like Ben (pictured 2023) Benny had worked with Jennifer during many of her early success, but their working relationship came to an end in 2003. Multiple sources reportedly said that Affleck played a role in Lopez's decision to ditch Medina. Radio Time is out now However, she brought Benny back into the fold as her manager just a few years after she and the Armageddon star had called off their engagement in 2004. Since then, he has continued to be one of her closest advisors, and she has been seen spending time with him while staying out in the Hamptons away from Ben, who remained in Los Angeles. A different source told Page Six that Benny tried to keep his 'mouth shut' for a more diplomatic approach to Jennifer's second romance with Ben. 'His attitude was, "Im gonna say nothing." [There] was no, "Good for you," but also, [he] wasnt negative,' they claimed. The source said there was no point in protesting, as he was allegedly convinced that Jennifer would marry Ben regardless of his input. Another person whose ties to Jennifer were temporarily severed amid her relationship with Ben was her good friend Leah Remini, though the Gone Girl star doesn't appear to have played a direct roll in that friendship ending. The Block will feature All-Star appearances in the 20th anniversary season this year, but insiders have revealed they struggled to find teams who wanted to return. One source told Daily Mail Australia recently that the returning cast members the network managed to nab were 'disappointing' compared to earlier teams. Meanwhile, some former contestants from the show's heyday said the show 'isn't what it once was', while others didn't want to 'revisit trauma'. 'They only managed to go back as far as 2012 in regard to signing up previous Blockheads,' one insider said. 'The early season's participants were not interested in returning... There will be no appearances from the first 4 seasons contestants. 'That's a pretty disappointing omission when you look at this being a 20th birthday celebration.' 'The answer was "no" from those who had been on the show as far back as 2003. They just didn't get much interest from those phone calls. 'Even the returning contestants aren't the most exciting. It is clear they just made do with what they had.' The Block will feature All-Star appearances in the 20th anniversary season this year, but insiders have revealed they struggled to find teams who wanted to return. Pictured: hosts Scott Cam and Shelley Craft The Block 2024, which has been filmed on Phillip Island, will welcome back 11 teams from eight different seasons, with the earliest being 2012. Some of the original stars invited back include Dale and Sophie Vine from 2012, Michael and Carlene Duffy, and Kyal and Kara Demmrich - both from 2014. However, the source pointed out that it was odd not to have the likes of fan-favourites Gavin 'Gav' Atkins and Warren 'Waz' Sonin or Amity Dry. 'Dale and Sophie came fourth in their series in 2012 which was filmed on Dorcas St in the inner city of Melbourne's south,' they said. 'The Victoria couple are hardly stand out personalities in the overall run of the renovation series. You would expect to see Gav and Waz or Amity Dry. Surely.' One source revealed to Daily Mail Australia recently that the returning cast members the network managed to nab were 'disappointing' compared to earlier teams. Pictured: season one stars Amity Dry with her now ex husband Phil Rankine in 2005 Meanwhile, some former contestants from the show's heyday said the show 'isn't what it once was', while others didn't want to 'revisit trauma'. Pictured: cast of season one with former host Jamie Durie in 2003 However, the source went on to say that Nine struggled to get any of the more popular teams from the earlier seasons to return to the show. 'The feeling was allegedly mutual from the alumni features between 2003 and 2010. The show has changed a lot since back then,' the insider added. 'It is no longer as much about the renovation, it is more about the drama that goes on between the houses. 'I don't even think the early contestants would work in the format that is still one of Channel Nine's biggest success stories.' To back these claims, one pair of anonymous contestants said: 'The show isn't what it once was and truth be told most contestants don't keep up watching the show. 'Once you have seen how the show is made it feels more like revisiting trauma rather than revisiting a cherished memory.' 'They only managed to go back as far as 2012 in regard to signing up previous Blockheads. The early season's participants were not interested in returning,' one insider said. Pictured: season one favourites Gavin 'Gav' Atkins and Warren 'Waz' Sonin in 2003 Meanwhile, some of the couples from earlier seasons seem to be more happy living their lives without the stress of appearing on reality TV again. A close friend of couple Gav and Waz from series one said they refused to return to the show because 'they aren't really interested in appearing on TV these days'. 'They are just happy living their best lives under the radar.' Due to the lack of worthwhile returning contestants, it was said Nine producers were forced to 'pivot' from the idea of doing an All-Stars only season. Instead, the renovation show will feature select teams from more recent years in a different aspect as they help the new contestants build a secret project. A close friend of couple Gav and Waz from series one said they refused to return to the show because 'they aren't really interested in appearing on TV these days'. 'They are just happy living their best lives under the radar' Among the returning contestants, fans can expect to see 2023 winners Steph and Gian Ottavio along with 2022 record-breakers Omar Slaimankhel and Oz Said. The star-studded group will be made up of 11 teams from eight different seasons, including season 19 favourites Eliza and Liberty Paschke. Season 18 stars Tom and Sarah-Jane Calleja will also make a return, as well as Ronnie and Georgia Caceres who competed on season 13 and 17. Winners from the 2020 season Jimmy and Tam Wilkins will also participate, along with Andy and Deb Saunders who competed in 2019. Rounding it out are Kyal and Kara Demmrich (2014), Michael and Carlene Duffy (2014), Dale and Sophie Vine (2012), and Alisa and Lysandra Fraser (2013 and 2014). Daily Mail Australia have reached out to Nine for comment. They were Aussie rock icons from their formation in 1989 until their heartbreaking 2010 disbandment. But now, 14 years later, Powderfinger are coming back together for a special event in Sydney later this month. However, in a move that will no doubt disappoint their fans, the five members of the beloved group won't be rocking out onstage. Instead, the These Days hitmakers will be presented with an award for their contribution to the Australian recording industry at the Music in The House fundraiser on August 20, reported the Herald Sun on Tuesday. The five members of the group - Bernard Fanning, Ian Haug, John Collins, Darren Middleton and Jon Coghill - will receive the Excellence in the Community Award after they raised a whopping $500,000 for charity. Marcia Hines and Midnight Oil have been past recipients of the prestigious industry gong. Powderfinger raised the cash after staging a 'virtual concert' in 2020 during lockdown. Since then the video of the show, called 'One Night Only 2020', has been viewed 1.1 million times on You Tube. Fourteen years after their heartbreaking split in 2010, Powderfinger are coming back together for a special event in Sydney later this month. Pictured: Powderfinger in 2010 The money raised from the concert went to the charity Beyond Blue and Support Act, an organisation that provides assistance to Aussie musicians who have fallen on hard times. Powderfinger will be honoured during the Music in the House dinner by a group of their famous fans including Sarah Blasko and Paul Dempsey, who will perform the band's songs on the night as a tribute. Their 'One Night Only' show was a skillful display in which the band was able to play 'together' via video link even though each of the group's members were performing in five separate locations across three states. The These Days hitmakers will be presented with an award for their contribution to the Australian recording industry at the Music in The House fundraiser on August 20 reported the Herald Sun on Tuesday. Pictured: Powderfinger performing live in 2007 The show included their hits On My Mind and My Happiness. This is the second time in a year that the members of Powderfinger have reunited. In August 2023 the band got together in Brisbane to celebrate their classic fifth album Vulture Street LP, which was first released in 2003 and included the hit Sunsets. The sold out event included an exclusive Q&A session with the band and a screening of a documentary produced during the band's Live on Vulture Tour in 2004. Vulture St. went on to win the ARIA Music Award for Best Rock Album that year after number #1 on the Aussie charts. During the event front man and lead vocalist Bernard Fanning was heard to tell the packed audience that the band had no plans to reform because each of the members was 'too busy'. Powderfinger split in 2010, after playing their final show in Brisbane. The five members of the group - Bernard Fanning (pictured) Ian Haug, John Collins, Darren Middleton and Jon Coghill - will receive the Excellence in the Community Award after they raised a whopping $500,000 for charity They said at the time: 'With the completion of our last album, Golden Rule, we feel that we have said all that we want to say as a musical group. 'We firmly believe that it is our most complete and satisfying album. 'And [we] can't think of a better way to farewell our fans than with music that we all believe in and also with, hopefully, our best tour to date.' Former Vanderpump Rules co-stars Lala Kent and Brittany Cartwright reunited in Los Angeles on Monday, appearing in high spirits as they arranged a playdate for their kids. The 33-year-old pregnant reality star, dressed in a black sweatsuit that highlighted her growing baby bump, carried her daughter Ocean, three, as they made their way through a parking lot. Lala, who is expecting her second child via intrauterine insemination with a sperm donor, shares Ocean with her ex, Randall Emmett. Brittany, 35, looked chic in a green mini dress as she walked alongside her toddler son Cruz, three, whom she shares with her estranged husband Jax Taylor. The outing comes a few days after Brittany who recently sparked romance rumors with The Bachelorette star Tanner Courtad slammed Jax for 'lying' about donating to charity. Former Vanderpump Rules co-stars Lala Kent and Brittany Cartwright reunited in Los Angeles on Monday, appearing in high spirits as they arranged a playdate for their kids The 33-year-old pregnant reality star, dressed in a black sweatsuit that highlighted her growing baby bump , carried her daughter Ocean, three, as they made their way through a parking lot The drama began after Jax revealed that he's now on the Cameo app, where fans can pay for personalized video messages from their favorite stars. 'I'm now on Cameo, so hit me up. I'd love to help you guys out. Also, you're helping me out, because I'll be donating my money to cancer research. Actually, esophageal cancer, because obviously that is near and dear to my heart, so hit me up. I'd love to shoot you a message,' Taylor said in the clip, per TMZ . Brittany then reposted Jax's video to her Instagram Stories on Friday, captioning it, 'Just realized Jax has this on his cameo and it's disgusting because he hasn't donated a dime. FYI @cameo.' She swiftly deleted the post, but not before screenshots had already been captured. The outing comes after Jax checked himself into an in-patient facility last week and not only is he allegedly still in the Los Angeles area, a source claimed to DailyMail.com, but is also still in communication with Brittany and Cruz. 'He's still in communication with Brittany and his son,' a source exclusively revealed to DailyMail.com. The source went on to say that, at this point in time, it's not known how long the Vanderpump Rules alum will be in treatment. Lala, who is expecting her second child via intrauterine insemination with a sperm donor , shares Ocean with her ex, Randall Emmett 'He is unsure how long he will be staying. It'll be however long he needs,' the source added. Another source spilled, 'Brittany's priority is taking care of their son while Jax is away, and she is making sure Cruz still gets to speak to his father.' Brittany and Jax announced their separation in February after nearly five years of marriage. She has since moved out of their $1.9 million Valley Village home and into an Airbnb. 'Brittany is supportive of Jax seeking treatment. She has been begging him to get therapy for years, so she's glad he's finally decided to get help for his mental health struggles,' a source told DailyMail.com. The former couple are 'putting a pause' on any talk of next steps, per the source. 'Jax and Brittany have put a pause on their relationship. They are still separated and dealing with their marital problems. Jax Taylor is still 'in communication' with his son Cruz and estranged wife Brittany Cartwright while in mental health facility Taylor and Cartwright are 'putting a pause' on any talk of next steps, per the source; pictured April 2024 Cartwright and Taylor welcomed their son 'Now it's about Jax getting help for his mental health before they can continue their conversation about their marriage and what's next,' the source shared. DailyMail.com has reached out to Cartwright's representatives who declined to comment. Meanwhile, Brittany is holding down the fort at Jax's Studio City, hosting weekly The Bachelorette watch parties with pals Tom Schwartz, Jasmine Goode and Charity Lawson. Charity, who was the lead for season 20 of The Bachelorette, 'played a part' in introducing one of her former suitors, Tanner Courtad, to Brittany, according to a source who spoke exclusively with DailyMail.com. Brittany and Tanner 'have been hanging out together' ever since they met at The Bachelorette watch party for Jenn Tran's season on July 15 at Jax's Studio City. Tanner, 31, then attended another watch party with the reality star the following week on July 22 and 'has been tagging along as Brittany films The Valley,' per the source. 'They recently filmed at Dave and Buster's with the rest of the cast for Janet [Caperna's] birthday.' The Kentucky native, who had Tanner on her August 2 podcast When Reality Hits with Jax & Brittany, is reportedly 'a lot happier,' and has even lost some weight in recent weeks. Brittany has been 'hanging out' lately with former Bachelorette suitor Tanner Courtad, sparking romance rumors on social media Cartwright has recently paid off her $35k tax debt, DailyMail.com can exclusively report; (seen in June) 'Brittany has been happier lately and less stressed, and her happiness is contributing to her eating healthier and living a healthy lifestyle,' the source revealed. 'Separation and the time apart from Jax has been a really good thing for her for sure.' Another reason why she might be 'less stressed' is because she has recently paid off her $35k tax debt, DailyMail.com can exclusively report. Documents obtained by DailyMail.com reveal a release on Brittany's state tax lien for $35,239.88 was filed by the Franchise Tax Board of the State of California on July 26, 2024, just over a month after she was slapped with the lien. DailyMail.com previously reported that she was hit with the tax lien on June 12, 2024, months after she was forced to move out of her marital home she once shared with Jax. Jax did not leave their 3,765-square-foot five-bedroom mansion in San Fernando Valley, which they purchased in 2019. 'I knew that he wasn't gonna leave so I had to leave,' Brittany confessed last season of The Valley. 'It was too toxic of a situation, especially for my son.' Brittnay and Jax who share three-year-old son Cruz announced their separation in February after nearly five years of marriage; (seen with their son in May 2023) The former pair started dating in 2015. They got engaged in 2018, married in June 2019 and welcomed their son Cruz in 2021; (seen in March 2023) Jax, for his part, took to his Instagram while in treatment to inform his fans that he was in a wellness facility to get better for his little boy. 'Working on getting better for you and myself buddy, I love you,' he captioned a photo of himself kissing Cruz. A rep for Jax told TMZ, 'Jax has always been candid about his mental health struggles, especially during the past few months on his podcast. '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.' ABC News Breakfast weather presenter Nate Byrne was forced to halt his report in the middle of Tuesday morning's broadcast after suffering a panic attack live on-air. Byrne cut short his broadcast just before 6.30am, telling viewers 'I'm going to need to stop for a second'. Voice quivering, he told viewers: 'Some of you may know that I occasionally get affected by some panic attacks, and actually thats happening right now. 'Lisa (Millar), maybe I could hand back to you.' Co-host Millar quickly took over the broadcast while Byrne recovered off camera. Byrne has spoken openly about his struggles with anxiety - publishing an article in 2022 where he documented his experiences of on-air panic attacks. The weather presenter was later welcomed back to the show and apologised for stepping out. 'Sorry if I gave anybody a bit of a scare,' he said. ABC News Breakfast weather presenter Nate Byrne had to pause in the middle of Tuesday morning's broadcast after suffering a panic attack live on-air. Pictured during the event Rowland responded in jest that he was only scared that he might have had to step in and report the weather. Byrne has previously described his experience of a live TV panic attack as leaving him 'gasping for breath'. 'As I stood there under the studio lights, talking to people having their morning coffee and wiping sleep from their eyes, my heart was racing. 'I was gasping for breath and sweat was pouring out of every pore as my brain screamed "RUN!". 'But I was standing in one of my favourite places, doing the thing I love most.' Byrne said that as soon as the camera was off him, he dropped his on-air demeanour and 'doubled over, trying to catch my breath, light headed and confused about what was happening.' He has since been working with a psychologist to learn and action coping skills so that he can continue to do his job. Rowland has since shared an update on social media that Byrne has rested and is now doing OK. 'You might have seen Nate experience a panic attack earlier this morning while presenting the News Breakfast weather,' he captioned footage of this morning's broadcast, which was shared to his personal Instagram account at midday. The ABC weather presenter regularly suffers from panic attacks His ABC News Breakfast colleagues commended Nate for being open and honest about his anxiety. Pictured: Nate (right) with Lisa Millar (centre) and Michael Rowland 'Nate's open about his panic attacks he's even written about them before and he's doing okay!' Rowland shared. The news presenter and journalist profusely thanked the breakfast show's viewers for their kindness and understanding. He also cheekily noted that he hopes he didn't 'make matters worse' for Byrne by giving him a 'big bear hug off camera' after the incident. 'Thank you for all the supportive messages (There have been so many. What a wonderful audience we have!),' Rowland continued. 'As a team, well always have your back, Nate.' 'Always'. TV colleagues, high-profile Australians, and viewers alike flocked to the comments to offer their support, with many praising Byrne and his colleagues for 'normalising' anxiety and modelling how to effectively and compassionately support someone going through it. 'Sending love to Nate! Well done to Nate and the team for navigating that so well. We are all human and many of us have been in similar situations. What a beautiful role model you are Nate, honest and authentic,' one viewer wrote. 'They are awful things. Love to him,' Karl Stefanovic wrote. 'Live TV is challenging,' Notre Dame mental health professor Sophie Scott commented. 'Showing your humanity and vulnerability will help others who live with anxiety and panic attacks.' Australian writer and 'appearance activist' Carly Findlay OAM also chimed in: 'You are so amazing Nate.' 'Thank you for your openness and honesty. Makes it easier for others to speak up,' another added. Sharna Burgess has opened up about being a stepmother to Megan Fox's children following her engagement to the actress' ex husband Brian Austin Green. The Dancing With The Stars judge, 39, said she and her 90210 star fiance, 51, are a 'great team' and make it work with their 'pack'. Brian is currently a father of five, sharing Kassius, 21, with ex-wife Vanessa Marcil, 55, and Noah, 11, Bodhi, 10, and Journey, seven, with 38-year-old Megan. While Brian happily co-parents with the Transformers star, he and Sharna also share their own son, Zane, who is two-years-old. Despite loving their blended family, Sharna, who is based in the US, said she would love nothing more than to move back to Australia with Brian and her 'bonus babies'. 'I miss everything about Australia - it will always be my home,' she told WHO Magazine on Tuesday. 'I wish I could take all of my kids, my bonus babies and Zane, back to Australia and we could all just live there, but unfortunately, we can't.' The professional ballroom dancer went on to say she and Brian are 'in our parent era', but will one day return 'to being a cool, sexy couple that does things just us'. Sharna Burgess, 39, (left) has opened up about being the stepmother to Megan Fox's, 38, (right) children since getting engaged to the actress' ex husband Brian Austin Green, 51, (left) She added: 'But right now, we are travelling as a pack - we have the baby seats, the strollers, all the snacks, and that is our life right now.' It comes after Sharna shared with Stellar Magazine last month that she and her partner Brian grew closer when they starred together on DWTS in 2021. 'We had so much fun dancing and truly, he got to know so much about me, who I am, what I do, what makes me tick and how I work,' she said. The Dancing With The Stars judge said she and her 90210 star fiance are a 'great team' and make it work with their 'pack'. Pictured with their children Kassius, 21, Noah, 11, Bodhi, 10, Journey, seven, and Zane, two 'It was such a beautiful insight for him. So we are so grateful to have had that opportunity together.' Sharna was a professional dancer on the American version of DWTS and is now a judge on the Australian version of the dancing competition. 'This show gave me a life that I could never have dreamed of. It's given me a platform and a way to express myself that I could never have imagined,' she told Stellar. Sharna and Brian began dating in 2020, the same year he and Megan split for good, and went on to get engaged in June last year. Robert Irwin opened up about the hilarious way he accidentally got 'drunk' for the first time before presenting at the 2018 Logie Awards in Sydney. The reality TV host, 20, who has been nominated for a Gold Logie at this year's upcoming awards, revealed the amusing mishap occurred after he ate some candy without realising it contained alcohol. 'I had this gift pack and there was a big pack of chocolates. My mum goes, "Oh there you go. You've got chocolates, little sugar hit",' Irwin told news.com.au on Tuesday. 'So I'm eating these chocolates and I'm thinking, are they in date? Mum goes, "Yeah, they're in date." And then she goes, "Oh no, they're alcoholic chocolates".' Irwin added he was still feeling the effects of the alcohol when he took the Logies stage to present an award alongside Dr. Chris Brown. 'I don't drink at all, and I was 14 at the time. So then I go on stage and I'm like, now I've got to present this award... That's my memorable Logies story.' Fortunately Robert managed to hold his own against Chris on the stage and presented with his trademark enthusiasm and flair. It follows reports Irwin is the 'hot favourite' to win this year's Gold Logie at the 64th annual TV Week Logie Awards on August 18. Robert Irwin (pictured) opened up on Tuesday about the hilarious way he accidentally got 'drunk' the first time when he presented at the 2018 Logies ceremony in Sydney And there is one very special guest he will invite along to share the monumental moment with. Sources tell Daily Mail Australia the celebrity conservationist will be accompanied by his mother and matriarch of the Irwin family, Terri, despite recent backlash from fans who think the pair are 'joined at the hip'. It is said producers of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, which Robert hosts alongside Julia Morris, are concerned having his mother, 60, on his arm could 'land with a massive thud with his core fans'. The reality TV host, 20, who has been nominated for a Gold Logie at this year's upcoming awards, revealed the hilarious mishap after he ate some candy without realising it contained alcohol. Pictured: Irwin with Dr Chris Brown at the 2018 Logies 'The son of the late Steve Irwin is arguably Australia's most talked about "bachelor" in the TV industry and everyone knows he wouldn't find it hard to pull a date. Which is why his decision seems a little odd,' the insider said. 'He told the producers of I'm A Celebrity he plans to share the night's celebrations with his Mum - who has been his biggest supporter.' The question of who Robert would pick to be on his arm at the Logies this year was widely speculated among industry insiders, given most attendees aren't allowed to bring guests along with them. However, it seems Robert is intent on giving that coveted guest seat to mother, who also accompanied him to South Africa and was on set while he filmed I'm A Celebrity for Network Ten this year. Jenn Tran brought the final seven contestants down to the top four for her Hometowns week on Monday's episode of The Bachelor. The episode was not without controversy, with Sam - who Jenn gave the First Impression Rose to on the first night - sent away after some controversial antics. This week's episode took place in Seattle, where a group date brought the top seven - Devin, Sam, Jonathon, Grant, Marcus, Spencer and Jeremy - to a radio station where the men were supposed to open up more about their feelings for Jenn. Sam's responses were awkward at best, and when Jenn pressed him on his feelings, it got even worse, to the point where Jenn booted him before the rose ceremony. She also eliminated Grant and Spencer at the end of the week n Seattle, with Devin, Jonathon, Marcus and Jeremy moving forward to Hometowns. Jenn Tran brought the final seven contestants down to the top four for her Hometowns week on Monday's episode of The Bachelor Sam's responses were awkward at best, and when Jenn pressed him on his feelings, it got even worse, to the point where Jenn booted him before the rose ceremony The episode begins in Seattle, after a trip to New Zealand, where Bachelorette Jenn Trann admitted she was able to, 'break down my walls with the guys,' adding, 'I felt so seen by each and every one of them. But next week is hometowns. I can see my future with all of them.' 'So it's all about figuring out who those four guys are going to be, that I'm going to meet their families next week. Like, it scares me because I'm going to send home a really strong connection. It's probably going to be one of the hardest decisions yet. It's not going to be easy. On Joey's season, I was sent home the week before hometowns, and at that time, I know all the feelings I had, and I can only imagine where these guys are at now, and so that's why this week is going to be so hard for me, is because these are serious relationships at this point. I think I just want to talk to someone who's done this before,' she said, before meeting with Charity Lawson from last season. 'Charity's been the Bachelorette. She's found love in this same journey, and that's what I want. I hope that I can get some really good advice from Charity,' Jenn says in confession. 'I've been dying to talk to you, actually,' as Charity asks, 'Okay, well, I just want to see, like, how you're holding up with everything because I know it's a lot.' 'Yeah, I mean, like, Hometowns is next week. I just don't want to make the wrong decision,' Jenn says. Charity says, 'I know. It's always going to be like a what if a little bit, which is hard. It's hard to come to terms with.' Jenn asks, 'Like, how did you discern like what you needed from certain people, like, you know?' Charity says, 'Yeah, I literally had a list of everyone's names, and like every week when I would talk to them, I would write down something else that was like a quality that, you know, that they brought.' The episode begins in Seattle, after a trip to New Zealand , where Bachelorette Jenn Trann admitted she was able to, 'break down my walls with the guys,' adding, 'I felt so seen by each and every one of them. But next week is hometowns. I can see my future with all of them' 'Charity's been the Bachelorette. She's found love in this same journey, and that's what I want. I hope that I can get some really good advice from Charity,' Jenn says in confession Charity says, 'Yeah, I literally had a list of everyone's names, and like every week when I would talk to them, I would write down something else that was like a quality that, you know, that they brought.' Jenn says, 'That's smart. I should have done that,' as Charity adds, 'It's okay. You still have time. So when I like would reflect, I had to, like, look deeper at like things that I wanted. And then what do I need from them?' Jenn adds she still has seven guys to choose from and getting that down to four will be 'really, really hard for me.' Charity asks, 'Do you feel like any of the guys are, like, holding back?' Jenn answers, 'I think Sam's holding back a little bit. He does remind me a lot of, like, my previous. Like, guys I've gone for, in a sense, where we had, like, this physical connection, and I think there's more to be, like, explored with, like, emotionally. Is this just, like, physical? Like, what is it? And I think that's maybe the part that is scaring me.' Jenn adds that Jeremy, 'is someone who I laugh with nonstop. Like, I feel like 110% myself with him. Like, we have the same exact sense of humor. But I don't know if there's going to be more there.' Jenn also adds that she thinks, 'Marcus is holding back a little bit,' adding, 'I think he's expressed that it's hard for him to be vulnerable, which makes me want to hold back a little bit, too. But I do agree. Like, this week is huge, and I want to feel confident in giving out these roses and knowing that there is a future there.' Charity asks, 'Do you, like, see yourself at the end of it, like being engaged?' Jenn answers, ' I do really feel like I can get there with some of those guys, and I'm excited for it. Like, I'm more excited than I am nervous.' The guys all arrive in Seattle as Marcus says the Emerald City is his, 'old stomping grounds' and he's excited to be back. The guys are all hanging out as Jeremy - the only one in the group who hasn't had a one-on-one date - hopes Jenn is, 'saving the best for last.' Charity asks, 'Do you feel like any of the guys are, like, holding back?' The guys all arrive in Seattle as Marcus says the Emerald City is his, 'old stomping grounds' and he's excited to be back 'It might just be delusion at this point, but I feel -- I still feel like there's something strong between me and Jenn, so I'm expecting to get a one on one,' Jeremy says in confession. Jeremy is disappointed when Marcus gets the one-on-one date, with the date card reading, 'Marcus, let's find love in Emerald City. Love, Jenn.' The date card comes with a box - which contains a green letterman's jacket - which Marcus admits he doesn't know what that means but says he's, 'buzzing.' 'If I get a rose tonight, that means that Jenn will be meeting my family, and that is the biggest deal to me. Because without them, I'm nothing. So like it's crucial. But my only fear would be kind of getting in my own way and kind of keeping up a guard and getting sent home. I think sometimes the scariest thing that you can do is, like, open yourself up to the possibility of love. I feel like I'm, like, bracing for impact right now. You're like, 'Oh, relax.' But you're like -- but what if I get hurt?' Marcus says. Jenn meets up with Marcus for her second one-on-one date with him, which Jenn says is, 'huge for us.' 'I have so many feelings for him. And we have a strong connection, but Marcus tends to hold back a little bit. You know, next week is hometowns, and if we can't push past that, I think it would be detrimental to our relationship. I want to keep growing and moving forward. So the stakes are high today,' Jenn says in confession. They meet with host Jesse Palmer as he says they're going to celebrate the upcoming movie Wicked since they're in the 'Emerald City.' Jesse says, 'The movie is all about love, it's about adventure, and it's also about understanding someone's true character. All of very important parts of today's date.' The date card comes with a box - which contains a green letterman's jacket - which Marcus admits he doesn't know what that means but says he's, 'buzzing.' 'If I get a rose tonight, that means that Jenn will be meeting my family, and that is the biggest deal to me. Because without them, I'm nothing. So like it's crucial. But my only fear would be kind of getting in my own way and kind of keeping up a guard and getting sent home. I think sometimes the scariest thing that you can do is, like, open yourself up to the possibility of love. I feel like I'm, like, bracing for impact right now. You're like, 'Oh, relax.' But you're like -- but what if I get hurt?' Marcus says I have so many feelings for him. And we have a strong connection, but Marcus tends to hold back a little bit. You know, next week is hometowns, and if we can't push past that, I think it would be detrimental to our relationship. I want to keep growing and moving forward. So the stakes are high today, Jenn says in confession Jenn says in confession, 'I've seen the musical Wicked. For me personally, what I love about it is the idea that there's so much more to a person than what meets the eye. And today with Marcus, I want to be able to see if our relationship can continue to grow.' Marcus admits, 'I do feel a little guarded still. Jenn has definitely encouraged me to open up and to be vulnerable. I struggle to let people in my life. But for Jenn, all I want to do is try to be open to the possibility of being vulnerable and, you know, finding love.' They are greeted by Kelsey Anderson and Daisy Kent from Jenn's Bachelor season, at the start of a makeshift yellow brick road. 'Daisy and Kelsey are here. I could not be happier to see them. You know, they're two people who I got to know really close on Joey's season, and to have them a part of this journey means so much,' she says in confession. They go on a journey down this Yellow Brick Road where they're asked, 'to be honest with your preferences, but make a final decision together, because that's what a relationship is all about.' They come across two boxes - Spicy and Sweet - and they both pick spicy, and find a bunch of peppers under it. They both try a pepper and it doesn't seem to faze Marcus much as Jenn says, 'I can't believe you're not dying. This is so unfair.' Daisy says in confession, 'I think Jenn and Marcus have a lot of chemistry. They seem very, like, complementary to each other. Jenn says in confession, 'I've seen the musical Wicked. For me personally, what I love about it is the idea that there's so much more to a person than what meets the eye. And today with Marcus, I want to be able to see if our relationship can continue to grow' Marcus admits, 'I do feel a little guarded still. Jenn has definitely encouraged me to open up and to be vulnerable. I struggle to let people in my life. But for Jenn, all I want to do is try to be open to the possibility of being vulnerable and, you know, finding love' They are greeted by Kelsey Anderson and Daisy Kent from Jenn's Bachelor season, at the start of a makeshift yellow brick road They come across two boxes - Spicy and Sweet - and they both pick spicy, and find a bunch of peppers under it They get to another set of boxes - Scream and Whisper - as they both pick Scream. They lift the box and it says, 'Scream your feelings.' Marcus screams, 'I like Jenn!' Jenn says, 'I feel like a real couple with Marcus going down the yellow brick road and making decisions. Little playful action. I like it.' They come across another set of boxes that reads 'Playful' and 'Passionate' as they pick playful and get into a pillow fight but they end up making out on a pile of pillows. 'I know it was playful, but jumping on to Marcus on this pile of pillows feels pretty passionate right now,' Jenn says. Marcus says, 'When I woke up today, I did not think that I would be making out with Jenn on top of a mountain of pink pillows. On to the next one? - Yeah. - Marcus: You know, I think this is the perfect date for Jenn and I because life is a journey and it's full of difficult choices. And I think that we're definitely off to a strong start.' They come across two more boxes - Fast and Slow - though Jenn picks Fast and Marcus picks Slow. Marcus says, 'In relationships. Yeah, I think I take a while to, to warm up. - Okay. - Yeah. Between going fast or going slow, I pick slow because when I let someone into my life, that decision is like a permanent decision, for better or worse, which is scary.' Jenn tells him, 'I'm a fast girl. You got to keep up,' as Jenn says in confession, 'That's concerning. Marcus, he's more of a slow burn than I am, so I think that freaks me out a little bit.' Marcus screams, 'I like Jenn!' Jenn says, 'I feel like a real couple with Marcus going down the yellow brick road and making decisions. Little playful action. I like it.' They come across another set of boxes that reads 'Playful' and 'Passionate' as they pick playful and get into a pillow fight but they end up making out on a pile of pillows They come across two more boxes - Fast and Slow - though Jenn picks Fast and Marcus picks Slow. They take a bike ride down the Yellow Brick Road and meet Charity Lawson again, who tells them that, 'the next step in your journey is uncovering pieces of home that made you who you are today. Behind me are some of Glinda's famous popular bubbles. You'll need my wand to help you burst these special bubbles.' They pop one of the bubbles and find a picture of Marcus and his sister, when he graduated basic training. He tells her, 'We talk every day. So if I make it to hometowns, you'll definitely meet her. She's the most important person in my life. Life has been difficult at times. My sister's the one constant in my life that's been through everything that I've been through. And, um, she's been there for all the highs and all the lows.' They play a video of Marcus' sister Gabby who says, 'Hey, big brother, I hope everything is going good. I hope that you're having the time of your life on this amazing journey that you are on. I can't wait to see you. I miss you. Better come home with a fiancee on your arm.' Marcus says, 'For Jenn to see how special, you know, my sister is to me, like, I want her to know all about that.' Jenn gets a note from her mom that says, 'My dear daughter, I hope all is well with you. I miss and love you so much. I'm excited to follow your journey in finding true love. I'm sorry for not being able to give you a perfect family with both parents. I never wanted it to happen, but I tried my best but couldn't because that's out of my hands. I'm always right there in your heart. I love you more than anything in this world. And you're everything to me. Love, Mom.' Jenn says, 'My mom, I know that she tried her best, and she didn't want me to feel like I came from a broken family. She didn't want me to feel like I had anything missing.' She says in confession, 'Growing up, I definitely felt like things were broken. But I mean, being who I am now, like, I am who I am today, and I've made it through this horrible past I've had. This whole thing is a lot bigger than just each other. You know, I feel like my family would love Marcus.' They take a bike ride down the Yellow Brick Road and meet Charity Lawson again, who tells them that, 'the next step in your journey is uncovering pieces of home that made you who you are today. Behind me are some of Glinda's famous popular bubbles. You'll need my wand to help you burst these special bubbles' They pop one of the bubbles and find a picture of Marcus and his sister, when he graduated basic training Jenn gets a note from her mom that says, 'My dear daughter, I hope all is well with you. I miss and love you so much. I'm excited to follow your journey in finding true love. I'm sorry for not being able to give you a perfect family with both parents. I never wanted it to happen, but I tried my best but couldn't because that's out of my hands. I'm always right there in your heart. I love you more than anything in this world. And you're everything to me. Love, Mom' They're met by the very first Bachelorette, Trista Sutter, who says, 'Many, many years ago, I found love on the very same road. It's scary to be vulnerable, but you have to be honest with what you want in love. So let your love defy gravity above the city.' They go on a hot air balloon ride above the city - their first time ever in a hot air balloon, as Jenn admits in confession, 'This moment just makes me so hopeful for for Marcus and I. But I'm also fearful that I might be on a different level that Marcus is at. Tonight is the first hometown rose. And I hope that we can get there.' Back at the hotel, Grant said he was hoping to get another one-on-one date with Jenn even though he just had one with her last week. However, the date card comes and Spencer, Jonathon, Sam, Devin and Grant get the group date and Jeremy finally gets his one-on-one date. Grant says in confession, 'I didn't get the one on one. And I'm really bummed about it. Getting that connection and then not being able to see the person, and I know she's on another date, it's like, damn. It doesn't feel great at all. It sucks.' Jenn says in confession she had a 'such a great date' with Marcus but she was, 'fearful that I might be investing too much, too fast into Marcus.' 'I feel very strongly for Marcus, but there is a lingering fear that I might be further along than he is, and that's scary. Thank you. So tonight, I just need him to be more vulnerable with me and more open with me, just like how I would be for my partner. And if Marcus isn't where I'm at tonight, I mean, that's going to be devastating,' she adds. They head to T-Mobile Park - home of the MLB's Seattle Mariners - for a romantic dinner at a table right on home plate. They're met by the very first Bachelorette, Trista Sutter, who says, 'Many, many years ago, I found love on the very same road. It's scary to be vulnerable, but you have to be honest with what you want in love. So let your love defy gravity above the city' They go on a hot air balloon ride above the city - their first time ever in a hot air balloon, as Jenn admits in confession, 'This moment just makes me so hopeful for for Marcus and I. But I'm also fearful that I might be on a different level that Marcus is at. Tonight is the first hometown rose. And I hope that we can get there' They head to T-Mobile Park - home of the MLB's Seattle Mariners - for a romantic dinner at a table right on home plate During the dinner, Jenn says she would have never been able to open up last week if he wasn't there, and she wants to give him a, 'safe space' to open up too. Marcus says in confession, 'Hometowns are coming up, and opening up to Jenn about where I came from and how I feel about it is something that I like, don't share with anyone really. Like even some of my closest friends don't really even get that side of me. So yeah, I think I just kind of want to be honest with her about everything and see, you know, how she takes that.' During dinner, Marcus tells her, 'The part that's like sticking out to me the most about today was like the comment that your mother had made about, you know, her doing the best that she could for you. And, you know, even though that you're, like, dad wasn't around the way that maybe he, like, could have been or should have been. Um, and I want you to know that that strikes a chord with me. It hits home with me because I do not come from a perfect family, far from it. Um... My sister, when we were young, when we were kids, uh, we were kind of born into, like, a pretty, like, rough situation.' He adds 'we had parents who couldn't like, really, like, take care of us. They were a bit like... Just like unstable and just like they weren't fit to be parents, and they, like, brought us to daycare one day and just, like, never came back for us.' Marcus continues, 'That was that was the start of, like, you know, like a very rough chapter in my childhood. Like, I had to, like, take on the the role of looking after my sister. We lived in a foster home together. Families would like try us on for size. And there was a lot of times where I thought that I was going to, like, have a mom and dad, and then they would, like, change their mind, and then, like, me and my sister would end up back at, you know, a foster home. So I think that experience kind of made me feel like there was, like, something wrong with me.' Jenn insists, 'There's nothing wrong with you,' as she says in confession, 'Hearing Marcus tell me his story tonight, it's so heartbreaking, and for him to be open to me and to really share what he was feeling in those moments makes me understand why he was holding back and always just had a guard up. I get it. It just makes sense.' Marcus tells her, 'You know, I feel like there's a huge canyon in between liking someone and loving someone. And especially after today, like, I'm at a point where I want to kind of fall into that canyon and I want, like, a love that's going to stay when anyone else would leave.' She says, 'I hope you know how strong you are. I hope you truly believe that and you see that. And like sharing your story doesn't show weakness, doesn't show that you're broken, doesn't show that you're not worth anything. It shows how incredible of a person that you are to have overcome all of that. I see that, and I see you, and I want you to know how happy I am that you're here, because I can't imagine this journey without you, honestly.' During the dinner, Jenn says she would have never been able to open up last week if he wasn't there, and she wants to give him a, 'safe space' to open up too Marcus continues, 'That was that was the start of, like, you know, like a very rough chapter in my childhood. Like, I had to, like, take on the the role of looking after my sister. We lived in a foster home together. Families would like try us on for size. And there was a lot of times where I thought that I was going to, like, have a mom and dad, and then they would, like, change their mind, and then, like, me and my sister would end up back at, you know, a foster home. So I think that experience kind of made me feel like there was, like, something wrong with me' He adds 'we had parents who couldn't like, really, like, take care of us. They were a bit like... Just like unstable and just like they weren't fit to be parents, and they, like, brought us to daycare one day and just, like, never came back for us' She says in confession, 'Hearing Marcus' story and really understanding where he comes from made me understand him so much more as a person and why he is the way he is and how he reads relationships. And it's exactly the way that I view relationships. I mean, we're just so similar because we grew up in such untraditional families. It's like we're both scared, but we both know, like, once we fall in love, like, that's it.' She tells him, 'Today has been a dream. And tonight getting to know you even more means so much to me. If you ever felt unlovable, I want you to know that you're worthy to me. So, Marcus, will you accept this rose?' He says, 'I would love to. Thank you.' Marcus says, 'This is the love story that I've always wanted when I was a kid. This is a love story that I thought I was never worthy of. And it's happening. I feel like I'm living in a dream.' They both watch fireworks being shot over the park as they make out as Marcus admits in confession, 'I feel like lighter. Like I can breathe now after being vulnerable with Jenn. She's accepting me for who I am, imperfection at all. Jenn is going to meet every single person that I care about. So I feel like the luckiest person alive.' The group date is at a radio station called Love On Air Seattle, where Jenn and the guys are joined by DJs Bender and Jubal, along with Jason and Molly Mesnick, who tied the knot in 2010, and appeared on that very same radio station 15 years earlier. Molly asked if, 'anybody that stuck out right away for you,' and she said, 'on night one, I only kissed one guy, and it was Sam, and it is more physical right now than emotional, but I want it to get more emotional. So it's all about really like breaking that barrier and really continuing to do that.' When she's asked who she just falls into and feels safe with and she said Sam as well, adding, 'Yeah, he's a great snuggle.' Jenn admits in confession, 'I feel a strong connection with Sam. He's smooth. He's hot, and we've had this physical connection. And I think we've had a little bit of an emotional connection on our one on one date. But I mean, there's red flags, too. I just want to feel more secure in our relationship, and I just don't. There's something missing there. And I want to be able to pull that out today.' She tells him, 'Today has been a dream. And tonight getting to know you even more means so much to me. If you ever felt unlovable, I want you to know that you're worthy to me. So, Marcus, will you accept this rose?' He says, 'I would love to. Thank you' Marcus says, 'This is the love story that I've always wanted when I was a kid. This is a love story that I thought I was never worthy of. And it's happening. I feel like I'm living in a dream.' The group date is at a radio station called Love On Air Seattle, where Jenn and the guys are joined by DJs Bender and Jubal, along with Jason and Molly Mesnick, who tied the knot in 2010, and appeared on that very same radio station 15 years earlier The guys all walk in and realize that they're at a radio station, as Devin admits in confession that he thinks the cocky Sam is, 'in trouble.' 'It's a funny thing when you get put on the spot and have to say things that you actually are supposed to truly feel. In Sam's case, I'm sure he'll blow it, but, you know, we'll see how that goes,' Devin says. Molly says that Jenn wants to get to know 'the deeper side of all you guys,' and they start with 'rapid fire word association. They start with Spencer and say, 'rose,' and he says, 'Me,' as Grant is given, 'Shower,' and he says immediately, 'Every day.' They get to Sam and give him, 'Fantasy suite,' and he hesitates, but when he's reminded it's, 'rapid fire,' he says, 'Aggressive,' which surprises everyone. They ask Grant to use 'three adjectives to describe Jenn and he says, 'She's witty, charming, intellectual.' Devin says, 'Jenn is exhilarating, breathtaking. And I think the most fun one is spontaneous.' Jonathon says, 'Driven. Exciting. And to me, the most important is open minded,' as Jenn says in confession, 'There's a lot of questions being asked, and I almost feel like it's a who loves Jenn more competition, and I am eating up every second of it. I want to know who loves Jenn more, too.' Molly says that Jenn wants to get to know 'the deeper side of all you guys,' and they start with 'rapid fire word association They get to Sam and give him, 'Fantasy suite,' and he hesitates, but when he's reminded it's, 'rapid fire,' he says, 'Aggressive,' which surprises everyone Jenn says in confession, 'There's a lot of questions being asked, and I almost feel like it's a who loves Jenn more competition, and I am eating up every second of it. I want to know who loves Jenn more, too' When it comes to Sam, he says, 'Um. I would say... Just fire and, like, strong passion, so, uh... Yeah, to say that I've been doing nothing but falling in love with you from, uh, from the first time that we had a conversation would be, uh, yeah, that would be a lie. I didn't know if you would be able to show love the way that I knew how to. And it literally took you giving a toast to all of us saying cheers to a ferocious love. Um, for that to be so unorthodox, and I describe my love as reckless.' Devin says in confession, 'I have been saying this since he got here. Sam, that he talks, for the life of him, but nothing ever comes out of his mouth.' Sam continues, 'I feel like I'm somebody that, like I say, it constantly pours into somebody else's cup' Jonathon adds in confession, 'I'm sitting here listening to Sam, and you can tell she's, like, not feeling the answers. You know, she's listening to what's being said, but what's being said isn't answering the question. Jenn admits, 'I'm so confused. I don't know, I don't feel like his answers make sense to me, and I'm not sure how authentic his answers are. All the other guys in the room you know, they're being open and honest, and I appreciate that.' The DJ's say, 'I'm going to ask most of you guys to leave. And for one person, uh, we truly believe needs to get to know Jenn better and Jenn to get to know them better is going to be Sam.' Spencer says, 'They choose the person they thought needed more time with Jenn, and that's Sam. So Sam gets more time with Jenn, and we get pulled into a room where we get the distinct pleasure of watching it on a screen.' Jenn asks, 'Okay. How was your first impression of me, and how has that changed over time?' When it comes to Sam, he says, 'Um. I would say... Just fire and, like, strong passion, so, uh... Yeah, to say that I've been doing nothing but falling in love with you from, uh, from the first time that we had a conversation would be, uh, yeah, that would be a lie. I didn't know if you would be able to show love the way that I knew how to. And it literally took you giving a toast to all of us saying cheers to a ferocious love. Um, for that to be so unorthodox, and I describe my love as reckless' Devin says in confession, 'I have been saying this since he got here. Sam, that he talks, for the life of him, but nothing ever comes out of his mouth' Sam continues, 'I feel like I'm somebody that, like I say, it constantly pours into somebody else's cup' Jenn admits, 'I'm so confused. I don't know, I don't feel like his answers make sense to me, and I'm not sure how authentic his answers are. All the other guys in the room you know, they're being open and honest, and I appreciate that' Sam says, 'It's a testament to this process. I've told you I almost didn't even make -- I almost didn't even come here, and I thought, no, like, there's an opportunity to find my wife here. And that's exactly what I'm going to do.' In the other room, Devin says, 'She asked what it is about her, and he's talking about himself.' Sam tells her, 'And then I got out of the limo. I'm like, 'Okay, this girl is not my type.' Like, this is that whole idea of, like, the unknown right there. I thought the Bachelorette was going to be Daisy or Maria.' Sam tells her, 'Obviously, like, you're you're stunning. There's no doubt about that right there. But like, that's -- I know that that fades, but I think I trust the process.' Sam tells her, 'I truly feel like I'm like meant to be here. My dream is to be a father, is to be a husband. Um, my parents have been together for 30 plus years. But, like, I think you know everybody wants a love that's lasting and real. But I think, like, what is it about me that makes you feel like we could have a really great future together, besides the fact that we both want this ferocious love? Truly your selflessness. Because I consider myself a very selfless person, as well.' She asks, 'How do you know that I'm selfless?' He says, 'I mean, you're either selfless or you're full of s**t. One or the other. At the end of the day, like, I'm somebody that's trusting this process. I've told you that. Also this is how I know you're selfless, actually. After night one, that connection that we had was...hot.' Jenn expresses her frustration in confession, stating, 'Sam's not really answering any of my questions. He's kind of giving vague answers.' Sam tells her, 'I, like, cannot express to you enough how serious I am about this situation right here.' Sam tells her, 'And then I got out of the limo. I'm like, 'Okay, this girl is not my type.' Like, this is that whole idea of, like, the unknown right there. I thought the Bachelorette was going to be Daisy or Maria' Sam tells her, 'Obviously, like, you're you're stunning. There's no doubt about that right there. But like, that's -- I know that that fades, but I think I trust the process' Sam tells her, 'I, like, cannot express to you enough how serious I am about this situation right here' Jenn says to Sam, 'I am frustrated because all these little moments have been building up. At this point in the journey, I need to feel reassured and secure in our relationship. I don't know. Like, how can you be so sure about being an engagement at the end of this with me when -- do you feel like you really know me?' Sam says, 'Honestly, you know, I told you from early that my love language is physical touch. It's like this. It's like' as he starts to kiss her. Jenn admits in confession, 'I don't know why he's doing this. I need him to tell me why he sees me as his wife and what exact qualities in me that he sees that he wants in the future. I didn't feel as if I got any answers. Calm down, cowboy. - Well, Jenn, I think it's time for you to take the boys for the rest of your evening. - That's all the time we have on this episode of Love On Air Seattle. Tonight, it's important to understand what he sees in me and if he understands me at all.' Jenn meets up with the guys after their group date and says, 'I was actually really looking forward to spending the day with you guys today. I feel like it's been so long since we've been able to chat since the last rose ceremony, so today was so fun for me and you guys made me feel so seen today and made me feel like I'm picking the right relationships here. Uh, there was one conversation in which I left feeling a little bit unsettled. I'm not in the business of making another mistake again. And with hometowns being next week, I need tonight to be about how we're going to fit into each other's futures.' The guys all believe that the guy who 'frustrated' her was Sam as Grant tells Jenn that he's nervous because, 'this is a different experience. It's something that I hold close to my heart. And, um, I cherish it. And I see a future in you. I just want you to know that I am falling in love with you. And I mean that when I say it.' Jenn says in confession, 'Grant expressed his feelings of love for me tonight, and obviously, it makes me so happy to hear that he's there. And it makes me so happy to hear with him. I know that it's coming from a real place.' Jenn meets with Jonathon and says, 'To see you today made me really excited. And then also to hear you, like, express how you felt about me and everything that you said about me today, it made me feel even more for you because you really saw me today.' Jonathon says, 'Everything from today and a huge point that I wanted to make was the feelings I have for you skyrocketed. And it makes me so happy.' Jenn admits in confession, 'I don't know why he's doing this. I need him to tell me why he sees me as his wife and what exact qualities in me that he sees that he wants in the future. I didn't feel as if I got any answers. Calm down, cowboy. - Well, Jenn, I think it's time for you to take the boys for the rest of your evening. - That's all the time we have on this episode of Love On Air Seattle. Tonight, it's important to understand what he sees in me and if he understands me at all' Jenn says, 'Jonathon says that he feels strongly for me, and that's exactly what I needed to hear. He's someone who I see challenges me in a lot of different ways, especially emotional depth.' Spencer tells Jenn, 'We had so much momentum coming off of our one on one. It was the best date I've ever been on, and, like, thank you for letting me know that you see me and' Jenn says, 'I do, and I see you trying. And I know it's hard because it's hard for me to. It doesn't come easy to me. I want you to know that. Like, you've given me so much more than any of my previous relationships have. Jenn says in confession, 'With Spencer, I feel so seen and understood, and I feel so good with where I'm at with a lot of these guys. There are so many great parts to tonight and so many parts that I'm so excited about.' Devin says to Jenn, 'I want you to know that I actually am enjoying the thought of you coming home to my family because I know exactly who you are, which is something that I could never say about my previous relationship. I feel so strongly about you, and I have no doubts about who you are and the way you make me feel. I have only ever told my mom that I want to bring a girl home that makes me proud and makes her proud. And you are the definition of both of those things, so' Jenn says to him, 'I want you to know how much the way that you've been throughout this entire journey has meant to me. And I feel so seen by you, and I feel like you're someone who gets me, like and that's not an easy feeling to come by. And you've expressed before like you're falling in love with me. And I want you to know that today, like, I feel all the same things and I'm falling for you as well.' Devin says, 'I feel fantastic. She told me she was falling for me. All I needed to hear was that, and there's no turning back. I couldn't be happier.' Devin tells her, 'I have such a strong sense of who you are in such a short amount of time. And it blows my mind that you can continue to surprise me every single day.' Devin asks Sam if she was talking about him when she said she was frustrated and he said he wasn't sure. Jenn says, 'I'm feeling really confused about Sam. There is something that is not connecting that I am not understanding and I am not seeing, and it's because I don't feel like he can back up his feelings for me. I don't understand where we're missing it with each other. Like, we've had such amazing moments together that it's like -- It's frustrating because, what is going wrong? I don't know.' Devin says to Jenn, 'I want you to know that I actually am enjoying the thought of you coming home to my family because I know exactly who you are, which is something that I could never say about my previous relationship. I feel so strongly about you, and I have no doubts about who you are and the way you make me feel. I have only ever told my mom that I want to bring a girl home that makes me proud and makes her proud. And you are the definition of both of those things, so' Jenn says, 'I'm feeling really confused about Sam. There is something that is not connecting that I am not understanding and I am not seeing, and it's because I don't feel like he can back up his feelings for me. I don't understand where we're missing it with each other. Like, we've had such amazing moments together that it's like -- It's frustrating because, what is going wrong? I don't know.' Jenn tells him, 'I do need to be honest with you I don't know. I feel like you didn't really see me, you didn't really understand me today. And we had such a great spark and chemistry from night one, but there's just something that's missing, and I feel like today it was becoming more and more apparent. And I don't want to -- I don't want this to come off as, like, I'm, like, badgering you into -- but, like, I just -- I need answers, and I need to know how you feel and I need -- I need clarity.' Sam says, 'Yeah. So, the word that I gave you today was 'Selfless.' Like, I don't -- I don't know. And I feel like That's what I need, where I feel like every other relationship I had I'd didn't have that emotional support. And, like, yeah, so I come into this right here with this idea of, like, 'Yeah, how do I know it's you?' I don't. I do trust that I'm here for a reason.' Jenn says, 'But that's you, and that's your journey and wanting to be here, and I don't -- I don't -- How do I fit into that?' Sam says, 'Like, you sit here and talk about how do you fit into this right here? It's a tough feeling. Like, I can't say that I can just sit here and, like -- Like, it's just something that I feel.' Jenn says, 'But why me?' as Sam seems to break down emotionally as Jenn says, 'I think it's important for me to be able to understand where you're coming from and to be able to understand why. It's like you're saying that you want this, and I want this and' as Sam blurts out, 'Because I love you.' Sam adds, 'You want to know why? Like, there's things that I have waited to say. And, like, that feeling is extremely scary to me. Like, this is it.' Jenn admits in confession, 'I'm feeling frustrated and confused. Where the hell is this coming from? To not be able to back up such a bold proclamation. I don't feel like...it's real to me.' She tells him, 'I just don't even feel like we truly know each other. You can't even express to me who I am to you. And -- And it can't just be a feeling. Like, that's not real love.' Jenn tells him, 'I do need to be honest with you I don't know. I feel like you didn't really see me, you didn't really understand me today. And we had such a great spark and chemistry from night one, but there's just something that's missing, and I feel like today it was becoming more and more apparent. And I don't want to -- I don't want this to come off as, like, I'm, like, badgering you into -- but, like, I just -- I need answers, and I need to know how you feel and I need -- I need clarity' Sam adds, 'You want to know why? Like, there's things that I have waited to say. And, like, that feeling is extremely scary to me. Like, this is it' Sam says, 'We skipped over all of, like, the little conversations and stuff like that, and we just jumped, like, straight, like -- talking about, you know, ferocious love, talking about reckless love.' Jenn says in confession, 'In the back of my head, like, it's like we're having the same conversations about ferocious love, but there's no substance there, there's no logic there. Like, I'm a little confused still. And I think, like, we just need more time to get there and more conversations to be had to, like, really understand each other and where we're at and -- and to get on the same page.' Jenn goes back and tells the group that there will be no group date rose and adds that she thought she was so sure she wanted to meet Sam's family but now she's not so sure. Sam says the next day that he loves her and he hopes she knows he's telling the truth before Jenn goes on her one-on-one date with Jeremy. 'A whole one-on-one date is so eye-opening that I am so hopeful, but the whole date could also go really badly and I could not see a future with Jeremy at the end of the day,' she admits. They go to Pike's Place Market as Jenn admits she's nervous and she and Jeremy are the most 'behind' with their feelings. Jeremy asks to go make her a bouquet, which she loves as Jeremy says he wants to make sure she's in 'good spirits.' 'I want her to come meet my family. And I know she would love them and they would love her. It's a big deal to me. But right now, I'm just trying to take advantage of every minute I have with her and put a smile on her face,' Jeremy says in confession. Sam says the next day that he loves her and he hopes she knows he's telling the truth before Jenn goes on her one-on-one date with Jeremy They go to Pike's Place Market as Jenn admits she's nervous and she and Jeremy are the most 'behind' with their feelings Jeremy asks to go make her a bouquet, which she loves as Jeremy says he wants to make sure she's in 'good spirits' 'I do really like her, and I have so much fun with her, but at the same time I feel pressure just because other guys are further along. So it's a big day,' he says. They go a 'romance test' machine and it is 'uncontrollable' as they visit a 'psychic chicken' as well. They go to get their palms read and she starts to predict uncanny things like Jeremy being a drummer and a black belt. They visit Seattle's famous Gum Wall and he goes to touch it and she says not to and playfully calls him a 'weirdo.' They go and catch fish at the famous Pike's Place Market and are cheered on by the crowd. Jenn says in confession, 'A future Jeremy looks so exciting to me. And we'd be laughing our little booties off. It's effortless because I'm so able to be myself at all times with Jeremy. You know, I haven't had that in a lot of other relationships. And I feel like he really cares about me.' They go for lunch as Jeremy asks how her night was, as she says, 'It was a really interesting night for me. I think the whole day the whole day was good. And then there was, like, a moment of confusion and frustration.' Jenn says, 'Today was a really, really good day. I know that I can have fun with Jeremy and laugh and just have a good time, but hometowns are next week. And for me to be able to give a rose at the end of tonight, I need to feel confident that we have that emotional connection that I do have with these other guys here. So there's a lot riding on today.' They go a 'romance test' machine and it is 'uncontrollable' as they visit a 'psychic chicken' as well They go to get their palms read and she starts to predict uncanny things like Jeremy being a drummer and a black belt They visit Seattle's famous Gum Wall and he goes to touch it and she says not to and playfully calls him a 'weirdo' They go for dinner as Jeremy says, 'I was just gonna thank you for an amazing day. Which I guess is a toast in itself. So thank you for an amazing day.' Jenn says, 'Going into tonight, I wanted to make sure that every single person that I'm bringing into hometowns this next week knows who I am and knows what they want and I feel aligned with. So I want to see if Jeremy and I could do more than just have fun together. Can we have the same outlook on life and culture, tradition, family, and love? I'm going to need more from Jeremy to give him this hometown rose tonight.' Jeremy tells her, 'I didn't know what we were going to do, but actually it was perfect because it was like a normal day to me. And I feel super close to you after today. It was fun exploring with you. Jenn says, 'I do feel like a lot of our relationship is, like, laughing and having fun together because you bring out the most me out of anybody here. But I also was like, you know, I really wanted tonight to be able to dig into, like, a lot more serious stuff with you, like with hometowns being next week. I don't know. Meeting families is important to me. And I think I need to be asking more serious questions of like, what do these guys see in me? Because at the end of the day, like, you can say you want an engagement, you can say you want a serious relationship, but, like, why with me? And how we're gonna fit our futures together into all of this, you know?' Jeremy says, 'At a certain point, it's just like, who do I want to be with that, like, makes me comfortable. And, like, makes me smile and laugh and that, like, right now, that's you. Like, I love spending time with you. And I feel like I've always looked for someone who's like -- I'm not trying to compare you to my mom, but someone who's as, like, caring as my mom. She would do anything for the people that she loves... Like you said you are. She's, like, the nicest person I know, to a fault. Like, to an annoying part sometimes, which I've told her. She worries so much. Very Jewish mom of her.' Jenn says, 'My mom's the same way. She's overbearing as hell, but it's all coming from a place of love, so I feel the struggle.' Jeremy says, 'Like, if -- if you meet her, like, which hopefully you do She'll be like the nicest person ever.' Jenn says, 'I do feel like a lot of our relationship is, like, laughing and having fun together because you bring out the most me out of anybody here. But I also was like, you know, I really wanted tonight to be able to dig into, like, a lot more serious stuff with you, like with hometowns being next week. I don't know. Meeting families is important to me. And I think I need to be asking more serious questions of like, what do these guys see in me? Because at the end of the day, like, you can say you want an engagement, you can say you want a serious relationship, but, like, why with me? And how we're gonna fit our futures together into all of this, you know?' They go for dinner as Jeremy says, 'I was just gonna thank you for an amazing day. Which I guess is a toast in itself. So thank you for an amazing day' She asks, 'Have you introduced a lot of girls to your family before?' He says, 'I've brought two girls to my -- to my parents before. My mom has always made jokes like, 'Oh, gotta marry a Jew.' But, like, also, both my exes were Catholic, and she loved both of them. Being Jewish, like, culturally, is, like, very important to me. I don't expect you to convert. I don't need you to convert. But eventually I do want kids. And I think that having a Jewish identity... Just 'cause of like obviously what's happened to Jews in the past. And, like, my grandmother, who you'll maybe be able to meet -- like, her grandfather was, like, a very, like, famous rabbi in Lithuania. You know, died in the country because he wouldn't leave, like, when -- during World War II. Um, so, it is super important to me. And I'm curious if that's something you'd ever be open to.' Jenn says, 'Well, I have a lot of Jewish friends in Miami. We do a little Shabbat. We break some bread. We say 'Shabbat shalom.' It's fun. Well, I'm like, just, like, really open to a lot of different things. But I also am Buddhist. And my family grew up going to temple for big holidays, which are things that I wouldn't want to give up. And just, like, being around the faith, which I do love. And, um, I would want to be able to have my mom really, like, teach those things, like, to our kids and stuff like that.' Jeremy says, 'And obviously, if I'm asking for you to be willing to, I'm obviously open to that also. It's really, like, the culture and family aspect... - Absolutely, yeah. - ...Which I could tell you're about, too, so,' as Jenn says, 'I love that you said that. That's what I want in my future family is, like, I really want to blend families together' Jenn says, 'Jeremy makes me feel seen and heard. I'm Buddhist, and, like, having two different cultures come together is never easy. But Jeremy and I talk a lot about faith and religion, and hearing him talk about kids, family, like, tradition makes me very sure that we can get deep and that there is another side to him. And it makes me feel really hopeful for our future.' Jenn grabs a rose and says, 'Well, I think going into today, I was like, we can have so much fun together and we are so comfortable with each other, But I did want to know, like, if there was more there. We were able to touch on a lot of different things that make us who we are and what we want in the future, and I think we align on a lot of those. I do feel like, you know, you speak so highly of your family, and I'm so excited to meet your... Mishpachah,' as they both laugh. 'Do you feel like you want that for us?' she asks and Jeremy says, 'I'm so excited to introduce you to my family. And I know they'll love you,' as he accepts her rose. 'Today has been incredible. I had a great conversation with Jenn. We see relationships the same. We see family the same. Yeah. Especially after tonight, I see a future with Jenn, and I really couldn't be happier,' Jeremy says in confession. 'I'm feeling so good. Mishpachahmeans 'Family' in Hebrew, and I am excited to meet his mishpachah. Are you excited? - Very excited. Are you? - Good. With Jeremy tonight, I got to see a different side of him that I haven't seen yet. He completely surprised me. He's someone that I can have fun with and have that emotional connection with. And what we have is exactly what I've been looking for and what I know that I deserve,' Jenn says. Jenn says, 'Well, I have a lot of Jewish friends in Miami. We do a little Shabbat. We break some bread. We say 'Shabbat shalom.' It's fun. Well, I'm like, just, like, really open to a lot of different things. But I also am Buddhist. And my family grew up going to temple for big holidays, which are things that I wouldn't want to give up. And just, like, being around the faith, which I do love. And, um, I would want to be able to have my mom really, like, teach those things, like, to our kids and stuff like that.' 'Do you feel like you want that for us?' she asks and Jeremy says, 'I'm so excited to introduce you to my family. And I know they'll love you,' as he accepts her rose' Going into the rose ceremony, Jenn says, 'I only have two hometown roses to give out, so I have some really big decisions to make. The biggest thing I have to deal with tonight is Sam. I like Sam. I see something with him. On night one, we had an amazing natural chemistry. I gave him my first impression rose. I left that night feeling so excited for this journey with him. I had no doubt that I was gonna meet Sam's family because we had such a strong connection. He just made me so happy. But on the radio date, I thought I was gonna learn some more things about how Sam felt about me. And he just can't even come up with one thing. He can't even come up with an adjective, a story, like, nothing. And he just blurts out that he loves me? Like, I What the hell? I have so many questions that I need answers to. I'm confused. I don't understand. But maybe there was something that I'm still missing. My connection with Sam has been so strong. It's like, if we can get through one more challenge together, it just seems like maybe we could get through anything. And I owe it to myself to have a conversation with Sam and get to the bottom of this. And I'm gonna do that right now before the rose ceremony.' Jenn goes in to talk with Sam, surprising the other guys as they were not expecting her but she finally finds her. She asks how he's feeling and he says he's, 'Terrified,' and he says, 'And I've been trying to walk this fine line of being vulnerable and also protecting my feelings in the same breath. But the only way for me to see it was to fall in love again.' Jenn admits, 'Okay. I'm confused. I don't even know. I thought you were gonna say, like, 'Oh, I didn't mean to say I love you,' like' Sam says, 'That's not -- I meant to say it. - Like, what -- To you, what does it mean to love somebody? - For me, love is selfless. Love is sacrifice. Love is understanding and listening to the person that is in front of you, always validating them in whatever way that that means, making sure that this other person knows that you're the only person in the world that I see.' Jenn admits, 'You're saying all the right things, and I just It's hard for me to believe you.' She adds in confession, 'Hearing Sam, nothing sounds genuine to me. I'm nervous that he's saying things to make me happy, and I just don't believe him when he says that.' Sam admits, 'Having to put your feelings in words -- this is not my strong suit. I am -- This is, like, the biggest learning curve for me right now. There's no words that I can say that can describe the love because any-- everything that comes out of my mouth, I feel like I'm downplaying the way that I actually love. We're right there to getting, you know, to hometowns, where everything that I'm trying to say would just be so f***ing evident in the way that I interact with my family and my friends. She asks how he's feeling and he says he's, 'Terrified,' and he says, 'And I've been trying to walk this fine line of being vulnerable and also protecting my feelings in the same breath. But the only way for me to see it was to fall in love again' Jenn admits in confession, 'I am so confused. He's telling me, 'Oh, you'll see the love when I see my friends and family. Like, you'll see the way' Like, I know you love your friends and family. But that doesn't mean that he loves me. Right now, I need to know that he sees me and he understands me and he listens to me. I genuinely see something in you, and I genuinely want this to work. And I was so confused of like, how could someone that I feel like I have such a strong connection with not be seeing me? So, what do you see in me?' He tells her, 'I could go on about your passion for love, your desire for wanting a family, all these things that resonate with me. But the fact of the matter is, is that there's other people out there with the same characteristics of you. I've had those people in front of me. Like, you look at me, and you're like -- You ask me these questions, hey, how do I know this? How do I know that? Like, I feel like you're looking at me waiting for this -- like, these answers with words. I feel like Jenn says, 'That's not -- That's not what I'm saying. That's not what I'm saying. Sam admits, 'Here's my story. I stepped out of the limo. Your energy soothed my nerves. That emotional connection.' Jenn says, 'But that's just energy. I don't think that that's emotional connection,' as Sam says, 'This is the story. You cheersed to a ferocio]us love. I felt that. That was another thing.' Jenn says, 'I'm not looking for a script. Love isn't a script. You tell somebody' Sam says, 'It's not a script. It's knowing that the person that you share a life with, you couldn't imagine a day without them.' Jenn admits, 'I'm getting confused again. This is, like, just not good. And, like, he's dismissing me and he's not listening and he's not asking and it was just like -- I'm not seeing the love.' Sam says to her, 'The second time that I got to talk to you was at the next rose ceremony. I took the biggest breath of air, and I felt life again. But, really, where everything switched for me was after the whole stripping thing. You're, like, pouring into my emotional part.' Jenn admits in confession, 'I am so confused. He's telling me, 'Oh, you'll see the love when I see my friends and family. Like, you'll see the way' Like, I know you love your friends and family. But that doesn't mean that he loves me. Right now, I need to know that he sees me and he understands me and he listens to me. I genuinely see something in you, and I genuinely want this to work. And I was so confused of like, how could someone that I feel like I have such a strong connection with not be seeing me? So, what do you see in me?' Jenn says in confession, 'What the hell does that even mean?' Sam adds, 'And then we get to the one-on-one,' and Jenn asks, 'What did you learn about me that night?' Sam says, 'I learned that you yearn for a love that's so powerful, that's endless,' and Jenn asks, 'What else did you learn about me that night?' Sam says, 'First... You have no idea how much I appreciate you. And now I see it. I love you.' Jenn says in confession, 'But to love someone means to really understand them. He's fighting for this love and this relationship for who? I could -- I could literally be anybody right now, and it wouldn't matter.' Sam tells her, 'I'm a firm believer that you don't get to pick who you love. You saw the best in me whenever I couldn't even see it,' as Jenn says, 'I just need a second. I think I just need a second,' and storms out of the room. Jenn says in confession, 'I just -- I feel confused. It's just words and words and words, and it's not -- It's not -- I don't know. It's not answering anything for me. I feel annoyed, frustrated, dismissed, ignored. It's like, he hasn't even asked me how I'm feeling. He doesn't even ask me where my head is at. And he's just talking, talking, talking. It's like, I'm, like, trying to listen to him, and now I'm even more confused. And that's why this is making it so hard for me to see. Oh, it is so -- I don't -- Like, it's not black and white, right? It's not clear-cut. And I don't know what to do.' The rest of the guys try to figure out what's happening as Jenn goes back to Sam and tells him, 'I think that it's been a confusing week. It's been a confusing journey for us both. But, like, since the beginning, there was so much there, and I really want it to work for us and I really want it to be real between us. But I feel like going into this conversation today, like, I wanted to be able to also explain to you how I was feeling about everything, and you didn't even ask me what I need from you. And I feel like we're just like at this disconnect and I don't know what it is and I just don't' Sam blurts out, 'I feel like you've been looking -- You've been -- You're waiting for this, like, answer and this response.' Sam blurts out, 'I feel like you've been looking -- You've been -- You're waiting for this, like, answer and this response.' Jenn says, 'I'm not. You tell somebody you love them, you should be able to say 100 other things that you love about them or even like about them and that you see in them and want to know about them and' Sam says, 'Yeah. Like I said, this whole -- this whole journey for me,' as Jenn cuts her off, 'For you. Again. I -- I can't do this. I can't sit here with someone who says that they love me, but doesn't even really want to get to know me and understand me and see me.' Sam says, 'Everything that I said to you, you didn't hear,' as she says, 'I heard them. I just don't think there was any weight to them. And I don't think that -- Like, you telling me that you love me? You don't understand me. You don't know me. And it's like, I know what I deserve, and I know the love that I deserve. And the way that this is reminds me so much of a relationship that I'd already put in the past. I've been through this so many times, teaching people what love means, teaching people how to prioritize me. I've closed this chapter in my life already. I'm done. I'm done with it. She gives him a hug and storms out of the room as Sam starts packing. 'Yeah, that's frustrating. Um, I didn't think that today was gonna be my time to go home. You know, it sucks, but the energy that she brought was very dull. It's not my fault, you know? And this is one thing that I stand 10 toes down on. At the end of the day, it just -- It is what it is. I will always keep the main thing, the main thing. And my main thing is finding that person that I love and the person that I want to spend the rest of my life with, so... Yeah.' Sam packs up and leaves the show as Jenn explains, 'It's just not my definition of love. It's just not -- It's not right. Listen, I don't know exactly what love is, but I know that that is not what love is. I really pride myself on reading people well and being intuitive, and I am so mad that I got it wrong. It was a relationship in which it was mainly physical. He didn't really try to get to know me and had this idea of me. It's not me. Like, he doesn't know me. This is another turning point. I would not have been able to do this a year ago, maybe even a couple months ago. I understand my worth and what I deserve and understand what I want. What I want is not Sam. I've been there, done that, and I'm not doing it again. I'm done. This is not what love should feel like. Putting somebody else first. That's what love is.' The remaining six get ready for the rose ceremony as Jonathon admits that Sam leaving was not expected. Two more roses are left to give for the hometowns, with two set to be eliminated as Spencer says if he doesn't get picked it would be, 'a dagger to the heart.' She gives Devin and Jonathon roses, sending Grant and Spencer home just before Hometown Week. Sam says, 'Yeah. Like I said, this whole -- this whole journey for me,' as Jenn cuts her off, 'For you. Again. I -- I can't do this. I can't sit here with someone who says that they love me, but doesn't even really want to get to know me and understand me and see me.' He calls his mother and tells her he's coming home as the four remaining bachelors - Devin, Jonathon, Marcus and Jeremy - toast to, 'our futures, to meeting your loved ones, to Hometowns,' as the episode comes to an end. Grant says, 'I feel empty right now. I don't know, Jenn's a great woman. She's a great woman, and, uh I expressed my love for her. Like, I poured everything out, and it wasn't good enough.' He adds, 'It just sucks knowing that you feel some way about somebody and that they don't feel the same about you, you know? - Okay. Grant: I want a family, you know? I want to be happy. I want a wife. I want to be in love. I want that, you know? I want to give everything to somebody, and I want them to give everything to me in return. I don't know what else to say. I did not think that was gonna happen tonight. Spencer says, 'Jenn's the first woman I've met since my last breakup where I've, like -- I've seen the path towards an engagement. And losing that stings. It's just, every time, it just doesn't work out. I don't know what to do.' He calls his mother and tells her he's coming home as the four remaining bachelors - Devin, Jonathon, Marcus and Jeremy - toast to, 'our futures, to meeting your loved ones, to Hometowns,' as the episode comes to an end. Former Channel Seven journalist Denham Hitchcock has announced he is expecting a baby boy with his wife Mari. The television reporter took to Instagram on Tuesday to share a clip of an intimate celebratory gender reveal party in Fiji. The video, augmented by the strains of Love and Happiness by Al Green, showed an excited Denham in a colourful floral shirt and grey shorts while holding his daughter Kaia, three, next to his Brazilian wife. Mari looked equally casual for the baby announcement, wearing a simple blue dress and going barefoot for the occasion like her husband. Standing before a small retinue of well wishers, Denham raised a fist in triumph as blue smoke, confetti and streamers were showered on the burgeoning family, indicating they are due to welcome a baby boy into the world. Captioning the happy clip, Denham said that his boat Rio, in which his family is currently sailing around the world, was about to have a 'full crew.' 'We have a stowaway on board!' Denham excitedly wrote. 'Looks like Rio will have a full crew by the end of the year. Thanks so much to @sailing_thiswayup for organising the Fiji gender reveal. Geez can't tell I'm happy about the result. Former Channel Seven journalist Denham Hitchcock has announced on Instagram that he is having a baby boy 'Such a great day celebrating with the other pirates in Fiji.' The post was met with a flurry of congratulations in the comments. 'Could this family possibly be more perfect?' one fan wrote. Another commented on daughter Kaia's seemingly nonplussed reaction in the clip. 'Congrats guys! Kaia doesn't looked very thrilled to share her parents though,' they wrote. The video, augmented by the strains of Love and Happiness by Al Green, showed an excited Denham in a colourful floral shirt and grey shorts, holding his daughter Kaia, three, next to his Brazilian wife Mari. Standing before a small retinue of well wishers, Denham raised a fist in triumph as blue smoke, confetti and streamers were showered on the burgeoning family, indicating they are due to welcome a baby boy into the world Denham made headlines in January 2022 when he resigned from the Seven Network to embark on a sailing trip with his young family. Best known as a top reporter for 7News Spotlight, Denham confirmed the news via a lengthy Instagram post, telling fans he plans to work as a freelance journalist while travelling at sea. Denham, who was living on a boat after selling all his possessions four years ago, when he resigned, said he was ready to follow his heart and live off-grid. 'The ocean is calling once more and this salty boat life needs further exploring, in the pacific islands, and potentially beyond,' he declared. He went on to praise his colleagues at Seven's Spotlight documentary unit and vowed to honour the network's commitment to 'fearless reporting' as he embarked on a freelance career. Denham returned to screens in May 2023, in the true crime documentary 'Who Killed Marea?', which examines a 20-year-old cold case. He led the Sky News investigation into the mysterious and brutal slaying of Marea Yann who was killed in her home in rural Victoria in 2003. She piqued the curiosity of social media users and similarly incited their fury after going viral in a recent profile. And Hannah Neeleman of Ballerina Farms continued to play on her newfound fame in an Instagram post shared on Monday. In her latest dispatch from her Utah farm, where she raises her eight children with her wealthy heir husband, the former Ballerina showed her family cooking up a storm on their massively expensive Aga cast iron range. The gorgeous green stove, which can cost over $30,00 for the most opulent models though more modest stoves can cost in the $5,000 to 10,000 range is constantly running and features multiple chambers heated to different temperatures. Hannah and her family recently sparked controversy following a Times of London profile in July that left some readers concerned that she had allegedly been forced to give up her passions in favor of the whims of her husband. Hannah Neeleman, the former ballerinaturned'tradwife' influencer, shared her family's Sunday morning pre-church routine in an Instagram video posted Monday The clip prominently featured the family's enormous Aga stove, which is on 24 hours a day and leads to astronomical energy bills. The stove's can cost over $30,000, though smaller models can cost as little as $5,000 to $10,000 Hannah's video featured rapid-fire cuts showing her holding her holding one of her eight children, before cutting to one of her older daughters putting a kettle on the stove while wearing an adorable pink tutu. Despite the fact that the pricy Aga stove is always on, the former ballerina previously revealed that it only ever gets 'warm but not hot to the touch' on the outside,' so her daughter wasn't in much danger of burning herself by touching the side of the stove, though a boiling plate and simmering plate on top of the stove are constantly set at temperatures of 600 and 400 degrees Fahrenheit, respectively. She gave her 9.9 million followers a demonstration later in the clip with an overhead shot of a yellow enameled cast iron post in which she was boiling eggs. Hannah's husband Daniel also made a brief appearance in the video as he held one of the children. His voice could be heard in the background as the little ones assisted their mother in mixing eggs to make some hearty, pleasantly brown muffins that they then assembled in a basket on the plain-looking wooden dining table. Later, some of the older kids were spotted outside in a field as they attended to a cow. 'Before church on Sundays,' Hannah captioned her video, and she fittingly concluded with herself and her children getting dressed in their Sunday finest. The Mormon housewife applied her makeup in the mirror after changing into a lovely blue floral sleeveless dress. Hannah's video featured rapid-fire cuts showing her holding her holding one of her eight children, before cutting to one of her older daughters putting a kettle on the stove while wearing an adorable pink tutu Hannah's husband Daniel also made a brief appearance in the video as he held one of the children. His voice could be heard in the background as the little ones assisted their mother in mixing eggs to make some hearty, pleasantly brown muffins One of her older daughters assembled the muffins in a basket on the plain-looking wooden dining table Hannah shares eight children with her husband Daniel Neeleman, the son of the billionaire JetBlue founder David Neeleman A Times of London profile from July sparked concern from readers after painting a picture of a ballerina who gave up her passion in order to move to rural Utah at the behest of an allegedly controlling husband Her older daughter had on a white dress with a tulle skirt, while the baby wore a cute pale green floral dress for church. Hannah pouted her lips comically while steadying her youngest child on their feet to wrap up her video. The internet first became transfixed by Hannah after a New York Times profile earlier this year detailed how she competed in beauty pageants just weeks after welcoming her eighth child. But a darker picture of her life on the farm emerged after the Times of London profile, which some readers thought painted her husband as controlling. Daniel, who is the son of the billionaire JetBlue founder David Neeleman, had allegedly dictated the family's move to Utah and Hannah's current rural life. 'Daniel wanted to live in the great western wilds, so they did,' the profile claimed. 'He wanted to farm, so they do; he likes date nights once a week, so they go (they have a babysitter on those evenings); he didnt want nannies in the house, so there arent any. The only space earmarked to be [Hannah]s own a small barn she wanted to convert into a ballet studio ended up becoming the kids schoolroom.' Hannah had formerly been a New York Citybased ballerina, but she seemingly had to give up that passion in order to raise her growing family. However, Hannah disputed the Times of London article, calling it an 'attack' on her 'family.' But she disputed the tone of the profile and claimed she was happy with her life. She also said her husband ended his lacrosse career at Brigham Young University early, which she apparently considered a similar sacrifice Hannah wore a lovely blue floral dress as she got ready for church with her daughters Readers also were concerned to read that Hannah spent a week in bed due to exhaustion, as her husband allegedly wanted her to raise their eight children without the aid of nannies She rejected its portrait of her husband Daniel as controlling, though she seemed to object primarily to its tone rather than claiming it got facts wrong about her life. However, though she admitted having to give up her passion for ballet to start a family in rural Utah with her husband, she said he had also been forced to end his lacrosse career at Brigham Young University early to live with her in New York for a short time, which she apparently considered to be a similar sacrifice. They later moved to Sao Paulo, Brazil, for multiple years, before moving out to Utah. Although many readers and followers of Hannah considered her a spokesperson for the so-called 'tradwife' movement, she doesn't use the term to describe herself and has downplayed any connection to other women who use the term to describe themselves. Katherine Ryan has claimed she won't take part in Strictly Come Dancing because she's not ready to chat on her husband. The BBC show has long been known for the 'curse' that befalls some contestants who end up dating their dance partner, despite some being already in relationships. And in an exclusive interview with MailOnline, the comedian, 41, noted that she would decline the dance show because she's not ready to be unfaithful to her partner Bobby Koostra - before quipping that it doesn't mean she wouldn't change her mind in the future. She divulged: 'I would, but I dont think Im a good enough dancer, and Im not ready to cheat on my husband, but down the road.' Katherine added of the dreaded Strictly curse: 'I would be excited. I would be welcoming the curse.' Katherine Ryan has claimed she won't take part in Strictly Come Dancing because she's not ready to chat on her husband In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, the comedian, 41, noted that she would decline the dance show because she's not ready to be unfaithful to her partner Bobby Koostra - before quipping that it doesn't mean she wouldn't change her mind in the future The TV star and Bobby were childhood sweethearts at high school and reconnected decades later before marrying and having two children together - Fenna, two, and Fred, three. Katherine isn't the only celebrity shunning Strictly, with Gemma Collins declaring she won't take part due to the scandal surrounding the show. Strictly is currently facing its biggest crisis in its 20 years, as a wave of complaints from past celebrity contestants have been made in recent months over claims of 'abuse' and 'bullying'. Professional Graziano Di Prima, 30, was axed from the show following claims he hit and spat at his dancing partner Zara McDermott, 27, during rehearsals. Further reports said he had been accused of 'chasing' after Zara while 'screaming abuse,' leaving her so frightened that she 'locked herself in a toilet', as well as 'called her nasty names, asked if she had gained weight and was forceful' leaving her 'visibly demoralised' and 'in tears.' Weeks before, Giovanni Pernice, 33, was suspended while a BBC probe is conducted over claims of off-camera misconduct made by Amanda Abbington, 50, and two other former celeb partners. Meanwhile in the chat, Katherine opened up about her parenting style, quipping that she's more like her children's grandmother than their mother as she's always treating them with sweets. Katherine, who also has a 15-year-old daughter Violet from a previous relationship, said: 'I used to think I was my babys dad, because I work and my husband stays at home, but Ive realised Im the babys grandmother, because Im always giving them sweets, and Im really fun, and Im really old. The BBC show has long been known for the 'curse' that befalls some contestants who end up having flings with their dance partners including Seann Walsh and Katya Jones Katherine added of the dreaded Strictly curse: ' I would be excited. I would be welcoming the curse' 'So Violet was raised my her mom, and Im like a fun grandma for the youngest two. Im like, Sure lets do it! Im like a camp, eccentric grandmother, wholl take them on nice trips, and have fun, and I never say no.' Detailing her attachment parenting style, she went on: 'Im actually there all the time, but Im like a live-in grandma. Im about to go tour in the autumn, and then I will be away a little bit, but so far, Im like an attachment parent. 'I still sleep with the babies Im too hands-on some would say, but the babies are obsessed with me. They will vomit if I go into another room, so I had to pull it back.' Katherine previously opened up about her life as a mother, admitting she's getting better at embracing her role as a father after claiming her marriage has 'taken a back seat'. The Canadian UK-based comedian said she has decided to stop thinking of herself as being a 'terrible mum' whenever she gets mum guilt and instead is calling herself a 'great dad. ' Meanwhile in the chat, Katherine opened up about her parenting style, quipping that she's more like her children's grandmother than their mother as she's always treating them with sweets Katherine shares two children Fenna Grace, two, and Fred, three, with her husband of five-years Bobby Kootstra (pictured) as well as Violet, 15, with her ex-boyfriend Alex Edelman Katherine previously opened up about her life as a mother, admitting she's getting better at embracing her role as a father after claiming her marriage has 'taken a back seat' Her reasoning is that she works in the patriarchal sense but also 'cooks, cleans, is hands-on, earns money and isn't cheating on anyone'. Speaking to Heat magazine, Katherine opened up on juggling parenthood and the guilt she sometimes feels as a mother. She said: 'I'm getting better at embracing my role as a dad. I was always thinking to myself "If I leave my kids with the babysitter or if I leave my kids with my husband, that makes me a terrible mother. 'But I started thinking, "Well, actually, I'm a dad. I'm really hands-on, I come home every night, I'm not cheating on anyone, I'm never in a bad mood, I'm not drinking, I earn money, my kids love me, I'm home all the time, I cook, clean and do laundry when I can... I'm a great dad". 'I think anyone who's like "Oh, I'm a terrible mum", you're not. You're just a great dad.' Samantha Armytage has won the Lotto - though she won't be resting on her laurels just yet. The television personality shared her big win to Instagram Stories on Tuesday, showing off the handful of cash she collected after some gambling. 'Won Lotto last Saturday night... won't be retiring any time soon,' she joked in a caption alongside an image of the winnings. Sam cleaned up with a win of a little under $8 - enough to get herself a good cup of coffee if not to retire on. Sam recently shocked fans when she decided to quit Seven and leave Farmer Wants A Wife, and now details have emerged of the new contract she turned down. The former Sunrise star, 47, appeared as a guest host on matchmaking reality series FWAW in 2022 before she pushed out Natalie Gruzlewski to become the face in 2023. A source has now alleged that Sam threw in the towel after two seasons as the host because Seven wanted to cut her massive salary, reported Woman's Day on Monday. 'Sam wanted similar money to what Natalie Barr and Sonia Kruger are on,' the insider told the publication. Samantha Armytage (pictured) has won the Lotto - though she won't be resting on her laurels just yet 'Sam was still on breakfast TV money from an old contract and that's just not what you get paid to host one reality show these days. 'She was asking for what Sonia gets paid for three shows. It wasn't going to happen. Seven just didn't have the money.' They went on to say that Seven also refused to allow Sam more 'creative control' on the reality TV series, which also soured the media personality. Now, after 21 years at Seven which saw her salary get up to a reported $500,000 per year, Sam's agents are said to be setting up meetings with Nine and Ten. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Seven and Samantha Armytage for comment. The television personality shared her big win to Instagram Stories on Tuesday, showing off the handful of cash she collected after some gambling 'Won Lotto last Saturday night... won't be retiring any time soon,' she joked Despite losing her massive TV paycheck, Sam is the proud owner of several luxury properties across Australia, to the collective value of $10million. She purchased her most recent property in May, a stunning three-bedroom, two-bathroom renovation project located in Moss Vale, Southern Highlands. Sam paid $1.3m for the breathtaking property, which is located 130km from Sydney, which features spacious rooms and stunning nature views. The blonde beauty also purchased a stylish investment property for $1.575 in 2021 in the trendy Sydney suburb of Rushcutters Bay. It is an exquisitely designed two-bedroom waterfront property located in an exclusive inner city apartment complex. Sam also owns an additional two properties, one is a holiday rental in Hyams which she bought for $3.2m and leases out to holidayers for about $1200 a night. Meanwhile, Sam has also made a nice profit from selling part of her property portfolio, after she sold her exquisite North Bondi home in July 2020 for $3.15m. The veteran presenter purchased the house in 2014 for $2.15m, meaning she made a significant profit once the sale was finalised. Sam recently shocked fans when she decided to quit Seven and leave Farmer Wants A Wife All up, Sam's stunning property portfolio is believed to be worth over $10m, which could give her something to fall back on after she leaves Channel Seven. Samantha announced her departure from the network last week when she declined a new deal with Seven after her current contract expires in October. Describing the departure as 'sad and bittersweet,' she told The Daily Telegraph that she felt her time had come and that she was excited about her future. 'I'm big on instinct. I listen to my instinct. I know when the time comes. I am proud of the fact that I back myself enough to say: "I've done what I can do here" and I move on,' she said. 'This is not the end. It's just the end of this chapter.' Samantha will still appear at the upcoming Logies, with her show Farmer Wants A Wife nominated for Best Structured Reality Program, but she will not return to host the show's next series, which is currently in pre-production. Just a month after his secret wedding with Olivia Munn, John Mulaney confirmed the nuptials on Late Night with Seth Meyers. The 41-year-old Chicago native had been married to Annamarie Tendler for eight years when their relationship quickly ended and Mulaney started seeing Munn, 44, in 2021, with the couple welcoming their son Malcolm Hiep Mulaney in November 2021. The couple took fans by surprise in July when they announced they had secretly tied the knot in New York City. The comedian's old friend Meyers mentioned the wedding at the start of the interview, which Mulaney said, 'Yes. I did. I got married. Thanks a lot.' He added, 'It's the best. It's the best. And my mom is here as well,' though when they cut to his 'mom,' it was actually his mother-in-law, Kim, who he calls, 'Miss Kim.' Just a month after his secret wedding with Olivia Munn, John Mulaney confirmed the nuptials on Late Night with Seth Meyers The couple took fans by surprise in July when they announced they had secretly tied the knot in New York City. He added, ' It's the best. It's the best. And my mom is here as well,' though when they cut to his 'mom,' it was actually his mother-in-law, Kim, who he calls, 'Miss Kim' Kim immigrated to America from Vietnam in 1975 and settled in Oklahoma City, where she met Olivia's father, Winston. When Meyers points out that is Munn's mother, Mulaney said, 'Oh, yeah. But like you said, we got married, so that's -- I call her I'll say in-law.' Meyers asked how he thinks he fared with his in-laws, Mulaney said, 'It's the greatest single time in my life.' 'I've been in a lot of interesting situations. I've never -- marrying into a large Vietnamese family is one of the most fun things I've ever done,' he said. When pressed for more details about marrying into this family, Mulaney said, 'If I did a perfectly accurate impersonation of my mother-in-law, it would be a career ender. So, we all, kind of, know that.' He added how happy he was that Miss Kim came with him, joking, 'One of them will come with you anywhere. [ Light laughter ] And they call me John Mulaney, full name. A little wrong, full name all the time. "Olivia is here with John Mulaney." Yeah. And they're the greatest.' The comedian added that his family is, 'uptight about a lot' of different things like, 'Money, health, anything -- almost everything is taboo.' 'The Luong family, they talk about anything immediately upon meeting you. Like, how much money you have? Why you so skinny?' Kim immigrated to America from Vietnam in 1975 and settled in Oklahoma City, where she met Olivia's father, Winston When Meyers points out that is Munn's mother, Mulaney said, 'Oh, yeah. But like you said, we got married, so that's -- I call her I'll say in-law.' 'I've been in a lot of interesting situations. I've never -- marrying into a large Vietnamese family is one of the most fun things I've ever done,' he said When pressed for more details about marrying into this family, Mulaney said, 'I f I did a perfectly accurate impersonation of my mother-in-law, it would be a career ender. So, we all, kind of, know that' He added a story about Miss Kim's brother Foo, an engineer in Indianapolis, who came to visit him and Olivia in Chicago. 'And he came, midnight, you know how people arrive? And we were waiting up for Foo to arrive. And he comes in. All of his luggage is in a green garbage bag. And he walks up to me and he goes, "What state is your residency?" Immediately. First question,' Mulaney says. When asked if this was a 'whole new world' for him, he added, 'It's the most new world. And also, they're Vietnamese, but they're Oklahoma Vietnamese, which is an extremely specific group,' adding that Miss Kim was just under 20 when she came to the United States and some of the siblings were, 'almost 12.' 'So, they grew up more in So, they have Vietnamese and Oklahoma accents. So, like, I'll do it. But... that's because it's really -- it needs to be done and also max, there's like, seven people in the world who could be offended by this accent,' he said, before demonstrating he accent. Ridley Scott made a rare red carpet appearance as he stepped out for the LA premiere of Alien: Romulus. The acclaimed British filmmaker 86, directed the original Alien in 1979 and serves as a producer on the latest flick in the franchise. Ridley joined some of the 20th Century Fox film's cast at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on Monday night. For the event, Ridley sported in a grey suit jacket, with cream chinos and a light blue sweater, as well as a pair of gold-buckled black loafers. He posed for snaps with cast members Isabela Merced, Aileen Wu, Archie Renaux and Spike Fear, along with the film's director Fede Alvarez. Ridley Scott made a rare red carpet appearance as he stepped out for the LA premiere of Alien: Romulus on Monday The acclaimed British filmmaker 86, directed the original Alien in 1979 and serves as a producer on the latest flick in the franchise The new movie from Don't Breathe filmmaker Fede - which hits cinemas on August 16 - is set between the franchise's first two films: 1979's Alien and 1986's Aliens. Alien: Romulus sees Isabela as Kay, Aileen as Navarro, Archie as Tyler and Spike as Bjorn. It also stars Cailee Spaeny as Rain Carradine and David Jonsson as Andy but both were absent from the premiere. Instant Family star Isabela turned heads at the premiere as she arrived in a stunning black ruched wrap gown, complete with a head scarf. The 23-year-old star's gown was complete with dramatic pointed hip pads before hugging her figure and finished with a train. Isabela's brunette locks were styled in glamorous curls and swept to one side, and she paired the look with a brown lip colour. Joining Isabela on the carpet was English actor Archie, 26, who has starred in Netflix's Shadow and Bone and the motion picture Morbius. Archie looked dapper for the premiere as he wore a trendy navy satin suit, complete with high-waisted pants and a casual vest. He finished off the look with a pair of patent shoes and wore a collection of silver chain necklaces. For the event, Ridley sported in a grey suit jacket, with cream chinos and a light blue sweater, as well as a pair of gold-buckled black loafers Ridley joined some of the 20th Century Fox film's cast at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on Monday night (Pictured left to right are Spike Fearn, Aileen Wu, Fede Alvarez, Ridley Scott, Isabela Merced and Archie Renaux) The new movie from Don't Breathe filmmaker Fede - which hits cinemas on August 16 - is set between the franchise's first two films: 1979's Alien and 1986's Aliens Instant Family star Isabela turned heads at the premiere as she arrived in a stunning black ruched wrap gown, complete with a head scarf Isabela's brunette locks were styled in glamorous curls and swept to one side, and she paired the look with a brown lip colour Joining Isabela on the carpet was English actor Archie, 26, who has starred in Netflix's Shadow and Bone and the motion picture Morbius Archie looked dapper for the premiere as he wore a trendy navy satin suit, complete with high-waisted pants and a casual vest Also in attendance was another English actor, ITV's Tell Me Everything star Spike, 24. The Brit opted for a chic tan linen suit with large shoulder pads for the outing, as well as a pair of patent heeled boots and a cream satin top. Completing the cast lineup in attendance was Aileen, who makes her feature debut in Alien: Romulus. The Chinese-American actress and producer looked incredible in a black scarf-style sweetheart neckline gown - which had a cut-out at the waist before going out into a full skirt. Aileen finished off her look with a pair of black bow sandals and a pair of drop pearl earrings. Alien: Romulus's trailer begins with a space ship flying towards a space station, along with glimpses of the seemingly-abandoned space station. The opening shots are very reminiscent of the opening moments of Ridley Scott's original Alien. Also in attendance was another English actor, ITV's Tell Me Everything star Spike, 24 The Brit opted for a chic tan linen suit with large shoulder pads for the outing, as well as a pair of patent heeled boots and a cream satin top Completing the cast lineup in attendance was Aileen, who makes her feature debut in Alien: Romulus Spike, Aileen, Isabela and Archie at the premiere of Alien: Romulus held at TCL Chinese Theatre As the camera moves throughout the space station, we can faintly hear people talking... as the conversations get more and more intense. The camera then pans to a pod of some sort, which is covered in blood as we can hear a woman screaming. A male voice is heard saying simply, 'Run,' as we see the iconic Facehugger creatures from the original chasing after a character. There are also several shots of people walking or running, though there are only brief glimpses of their faces. We ultimately get better looks at Andy, Kay and Rain, plus another shot of a Facehugger finding a new victim. The final shot offers a close-up look at Rain, intensely surveying her surroundings with a huge gun, before she looks up and the iconic Xenomorph opens its jaws. Director Fede offered some more insight into the highly-anticipated film in a new interview with Variety, including when exactly the film is set in the 57 years between Alien and Aliens. Alien: Romulus is slated to hit cinemas on August 16, which will place it in direct competition with Kevin Costner 's Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 2 20th Century Fox is going back to the one place no one can hear you scream: outer space with the first trailer for the highly-anticipated Alien : Romulus. We ultimately get better looks at Andy (above), Kay and Rain, plus another shot of a Facehugger finding a new victim '(The movie) takes 20 years after the first one, and for me, I dont see it as upsetting the canon,' Fede admitted. 'It's something I take personal pleasure in doing, making sure that it all tracks and is all part of the big Alien franchise story not only in the story, but also when it comes to how to make it,' he added. The director said that he spoke with original Alien director Ridley, who serves as a producer on the new film, and, 'had long chats' with Aliens director James Cameron about the movie. He added: 'After the movie was done, I showed it to them,' also revealing he hired the VFX superviser from Aliens to make the miniatures for the film. A fan favourite BBC star has unexpectedly quit their show after five years, announcing their plans to 'go out with a bang'. Elise Evans, 34, took to X (formerly Twitter) on Friday to break the news to her fans and thank them for the 'memories,' with many of them in turn flooding her replies with support. She revealed that her final show on Birmingham and Black Country radio will be in a matter of weeks, before she steps down for good to take on a 'new adventure'. In her social media statement, the radio star quipped: 'I'm leaving @bbcwm. What a mad 5 years! Highs & lows but got to work with some lovely folk & had some brill experiences. 'Time for some new adventures. Last show is 25th August and we're going out with a BANG! More info coming soon! For now, Radio WM - thnx 4 the memories x.' A BBC Birmingham and Black Country radio star has unexpectedly quit the show after five years and announced their plans to 'go out with a bang' on their last show Elise Evans, 34, took to X (formerly Twitter ) on Friday to break the news to her fans and thank them for the 'memories,' with them in turn flooding her replies with support She also shared some snaps of her favourite guests, including Niall Horan and Fleur East. The BBC presenter's devoted listeners and those who have worked with her at the station flocked to the replies to offer their support and wish her luck for the future, writing: 'Thank you for being so generous with the many, many guests I've pushed in your direction! Always appreciated your support. Look forward to seeing what you do next. Delighted that I will see you on the 25th!' 'In the same 5 years I've had, I've watched you achieve so many amazing things there has never been anyone like you Elise & there never will be.' 'Aw... I'm sad to hear this... I remember those COVID breakfast shows with you and Sam on news, and Liz and Matt in Ops... Brightened some very grim days... All the best for the future.' 'Wishing you all the best - hope you're on to exciting new places.' 'Sooo sorry to hear this. It's been a joy to have you on CWR, you made it a brilliant weekend show. Always a joy to pop up on it every so often too. All the best I really hope amazing things are coming for you! X' 'Noooo.......However, I really wish you the very best for your new adventures you so deserve it. Always tuned in when you were on the radio right from the beginning.' In her social media statement, the radio star quipped: 'I'm leaving @bbcwm. What a mad 5 years! Highs & lows but got to work with some lovely folk & had some brill experiences' The BBC presenter's devoted listeners and those who have worked with her at the station flocked to the replies to offer their support and wish her luck for the future She revealed that her final show will be in a matter of weeks, before she steps down for good (pictured with Niall Horan) She also shared some snaps of her favourite guests, including Niall Horan and Fleur East 'Awwww! Youll be missed for sure, but I cant wait to hear what youre next adventure is!' It comes just after an ITV News legend announced her plans to quit the show after a whopping 36 years on screens. Lucy Meacock, 64, said she was 'bowing out quietly' after 'one of the saddest weeks' - a reference to the tragic Southport stabbings when three young girls lost their lives. In her post she shared a heart-wrenching video of families laying flowers at the scene where the horrific murderers happened. She has been one of the main female news presenters of ITV regional news programme, Granada Reports since 1988 and celebrated 35 years presenting the programme in November 2023 at age 64. It was confirmed last month that the popular presenter had decided to 'move on' after more than three decades presenting the North West news programme. Halle Berry was left shrieking in shock after her co-star Mark Wahlberg surprised her with a very unexpected gift. The actors are currently on the promotional trail for Netflix release The Union. And during the tour, Mark, 53, surprised Halle, 57, by sending his burger food truck to her doorstep on Tuesday. While promoting The Union, Halle previously told Mark that she hadn't yet tried Wahlburgers, his popular burger fast-food chain in the USA. Mark then mentioned to Halle that he would send a food truck over to her place. Halle brushed off Mark's comments as a joke at the time only to be surprised with a dazzling Wahlburgers food truck. Mark Wahlberg, 53, surprised his co-star Halle Berry, 57, by sending his burger food truck to her doorstep on Tuesday While promoting The Union, Halle told Mark that she hadn't yet tried Wahlburgers, his popular burger fast-food chain in the USA, to which he said he would send his truck over to her place Halle brushed off Mark's comments as a joke at the time only to be surprised with a dazzling Wahlburgers food truck on her doorstep Halle and her partner Van Hunt, 54, received an entire food truck delivery from Wahlburgers, and in a video shared to her Instagram, the actress looked shocked as she descended her driveway to see a large truck with Mark's face on. She screamed in excitement and ran towards the large green truck before calling Mark to thank him. She joked to him on the phone: 'Why didn't you tell me? I was just kidding.' To which Mark sweetly responded: 'You said you'd never had the burgers so I said I gotta send the truck to your house and you said okay.' Halle then thanked her co-star by saying: 'Thank you so much you are so crazy' before eagerly running to the truck to try some treats. The actress and her neighbours enjoyed freshly prepared Wahlburgers and sipped on many glasses of margaritas. Children in Halle's neighbourhood also flocked to the burger van to try out the famous burgers. Calling Mark a 'man of his word' Halle captioned her Instagram post with: 'When your co-star actually is a man of his word! @markwahlberg your @wahlburgers are banging and the margaritas were a nice touch! Thank you and love you man! Halle and her partner Van Hunt, 54, received an entire food truck delivery from Wahlburgers, and the actress looked shocked as she descended her driveway to see a large truck with Mark's face on She screamed in excitement and ran towards the large green truck before calling Mark to thank him 'Watch 'The Union' August 16th only on @netflix!' The burger truck surprise comes after Halle put on a daring display in an entirely see-through dress at The Union premiere in Los Angeles on Monday evening. Her head-turning outfit featured a plunging low-cut jumpsuit with satin details mimicking corset-style ribbing as well as a high-rise, knee-length skirt. The Catwoman star who recently lost the bid to force her ex, Olivier Martinez, to attend co-parenting therapy to resolve conflicts around their 10-year-old son paired her daring ensemble with black Mary Jane pumps. At the premiere, she was also seen posing on the red carpet alongside her co-star, Mark. Mark also brought along his wife Rhea Durham and three of their four children. The actor and former rapper cut a laidback figure in a white T-shirt paired with a muted blue zip-up jacket. He also sported black nylon trousers and a pair of crisp white trainers for an effortlessly stylish look. The Oscar nominee grinned widely for a family photo as he showed off his supermodel wife and their kids. The actress and her neighbours enjoyed freshly prepared Wahlburgers and sipped on many glasses of margaritas The burger truck surprise comes after Halle put on a daring display in an entirely see-through dress at The Union premiere in Los Angeles on Monday evening The couple, who have been married since 2009, share four children Ella, 20, Michael, 18, Brendan, 15, and Grace, 14. The Union stars Mark as Mike, a down-to-earth construction worker based in New Jersey, while Halle plays his high school sweetheart, Roxanne. The Julian Farino-directed action-thriller follows Mike as he goes from a regular guy to an aspiring spy when his long-lost love recruits him for a high-stakes intelligence espionage mission. The movie also stars Mike Colter, Alice Lee, J.K. Simmons, Lorraine Bracco, Jessica De Gouw, and Dana Delany. The Union will premiere on August 16 and will be available to stream on Netflix. Raygun became an overnight sensation after her performance in Paris at the 2024 Olympics went viral. The Australian breakdancer has also captured the interest of American late night host Jimmy Fallon, who mocked her on his Tonight Show on Monday night. In the clip, Fallon discussed Raygun's headline-making dance routine, saying: 'Breakdancing made its Olympics debut and everybody is talking about the competitor from Australia, Raygun'. He then played a clip of the routine before adding that 'she actually received zero points for that', to laughter from the audience. 'You have to wonder where Raygun is right now,' Jimmy pondered, at which point comedian Rachel Dratch appeared on stage, dressed in Raygun's Olympic uniform. The Saturday Night live actress mimicked Raygun's routine, with Jimmy hilariously joining in. The routine left Jimmy and the audience in stitches as Rachel did her version of her infamous kangaroo hop and sprinkler moves. The 36-year-old, whose real name is Rachael Gunn, garnered attention after awkwardly squirming on the dance floor, displaying a much lower skill level than many of her competitors. Raygun captured the interest of American late night host Jimmy Fallon (right), who mocked her on his Tonight Show on Monday night On Saturday, she was dubbed 'the Queen of Australia' in a new viral video shared to Facebook by comedians The Inspired Unemployed. In the clip, she danced down the street with the duo, showing off the skills that made her famous. However, not everyone was impressed, with several comments below the video sharing harsh opinions on the athlete. 'Pathetic! She made a mockery of the sport and took the opportunity away from a real Aussie breakdancer,' wrote one person. 'You have to wonder where Raygun is right now' Jimmy asked, at which point comedian Rachel Dratch (pictured) appeared on stage, dressed in Raygun's Olympic uniform The Saturday Night live actress mimicked Raygun's routine, with Jimmy hilariously joining in 'This is what happens when you give participation awards...' said another person while one more added, 'Omg! Don't encourage her! It was embarrassing the 1st time'. 'This made me so angry. You know how many EXCELLENT breakdance champions there are in Australia,' someone else said. 'They treat it seriously and are effing talented and amazing to watch. How did this woman get selected to represent us over other experts??' they added. 'Worst Australian Olympian ever, I wouldn't describe her as iconic,' one more chimed in. Others defended the dancer, with one person saying: 'All these embarrassed and offended people have done what for the country? At least Raygun has brought joy to many. Having a go and having a fun time in the process is the definition of Australian spirit I reckon,' they added. On Saturday, Raygun was dubbed 'the Queen of Australia' in a new viral video shared by comedians The Inspired Unemployed (pictured) 'She is an icon! Leave her alone! She represented our Country! And everyone is talking about her! Enjoy the ride kids!' someone else said. Yet another added: 'This woman has more talent in her little finger than half the commentators. Don't ever stop dancing!!!!' Raygun competed in three qualifying rounds on Friday, and the Australian ultimately scored no points against any of her three rivals. She is, however, Australia's top-ranking breakdancer and a creative arts researcher specialising in 'the cultural politics of breakdancing' at Sydney's Macquarie University. Shortly after her performance on the world stage, she broke her silence by sharing a cryptic message on Instagram. Reposting a message from the 'Breaking for Gold' account, she quoted herself saying: 'Don't be afraid to be different. Go out there and represent yourself, you never know where that's gonna take you.' Raygun is Australia's top-ranking breakdancer and a creative arts researcher specialising in 'the cultural politics of breakdancing' at Sydney's Macquarie University Brie Larson stunned in a pink tweed mini skirt as she appeared at the Foundation Conversations series on Monday alongside actress Aja Naomi King. The actress, 34, who plays Elizabeth Zott, looked very chic in her suit as she discussed her Apple TV series Lessons In Chemistry with her co-star Aja. The Oscar-winner wore a a 1,120 Versace tweed mini skirt with a dainty belt buckle detail and a pink and white striped Versace cropped shirt. The star finished off her look with a pair of silver court shoes and opted for minimal jewellery, accessorising with a couple of dainty silver rings and small pink studs. The blonde beauty was joined by her cast mate Aja, 39, for the speaking event and the pair appeared to be getting on like a house on fire as they laughed and joked. Brie Larson stunned in a pink tweed mini skirt as she appeared at the Foundation Conversations series on Monday alongside actress Aja Naomi King The actress, 34, who plays Elizabeth Zott, looked very chic in her suit as she discussed her Apple TV series Lessons In Chemistry with her co-star Aja The blonde beauty, who produced and starred in the show, was joined by her cast mate Aja Naomi King, 39, for the speaking event The actress, who stars alongside Brie, wore a blue dress with an off the shoulder detail. Aja added clear strappy heels to her look and styled her hair into a chic bob for the intimate discussion panel which took lace at The Meryl Streep Center for Performing Artists on in Los Angeles, California. The discussion was chaired by Titanic actress Rochelle Rose and Brie looked animated as she chatted away to her about the show she produced and starred in. Adapted from the bestselling novel, Lessons In Chemistry transports viewers to early 1950s America, delving into the journey of Elizabeth Zott (portrayed by Larson). As she grapples with pregnancy, isolation, and dismissal from her laboratory position, Elizabeth takes an unexpected turn, embracing a role as a television cooking show host. As Brie's career thrives, so has her romantic life, with her bond with Benjamin Styer, 33, growing stronger by the day. The pair were spotted packing on the PDA back at a comedy show back in January. Benjamin was born in Framingham, Massachusetts and received his BFA in art from the University of Massachusetts in Boston, Massachusetts. Aja wore a blue dress with an off the shoulder detail, pairing it with clear strappy heels and styling her hair into a chic bob for the discussion which took lace at The Meryl Streep Center for Performing Artists in LA Benjamin's debut exhibition, Crystal Piano Rain, was on view at Moskowitz Bayse in Los Angeles, California in 2021. He lives and works in Northampton, Massachusetts. According to his website, his art 'combines medieval marginalia, folk textile, commercial ephemera and surrealist vignettes.' In March 2023, Brie confirmed the end of her romance with Elijah Allan-Blitz. The star has recently been throwing herself into her project and even dressing the part. The actress's outfits have been matching the style of her highly anticipated retro show, and she has been donning a series of chic and understated looks. In June, Brie looked incredible in a chic 1950s-inspired combo as she arrived at the Emmy FYC event in Los Angeles. The star radiated charm in a bright blue, short-sleeve sweater and long black skirt, accentuated by a single gold chain. Completing the look with a pair of black high heels, Brie kept her sandy blonde locks styled in a loose ponytail. The star has had a busy few months and has been jetting across the US and Europe while sharing snaps from behind the scenes of the reto show. The star has also been giving her 6.9million followers a sneak peek of her on set, sharing a series of photos to Instagram with her on-screen daughter, Alice Halsey Damon Albarn's father Keith Albarn has died aged 85. The father of Blur frontman Damon, 56, was a long-standing expert in the field of art and design, having written books and articles as well as appearing on TV and radio. Keith passed away on July 25 after being diagnosed with cancer. Further details of his illness have not been publicly reported. According to The Times obituary, Keith was best known academically for his research into patterns, he was also active in many art organisations, including being a trustee at The Minories and Colchester Arts Centre. He was also head of the School for Art, Design, and Media at Colchester Institute. Damon Albarn's father Keith tragically died of cancer on July 23, aged 85 (Keith pictured with his son Damon, daughter Jessica, and wife Hazel in October 2014) The father of Blur frontman Damon, 56 , was a long-standing expert in the field of art and design, having written books and articles as well as appearing on TV and radio (pictured with Ian Knight in September 1965) In 2013, The Minories gallery presented a body of work that was developed from over 40 years of research; a progression of patterns developed from a simple number game. And for over 40 years, Keith had been researching number systems and patterns, and their relationship to belief symptoms and creativity. He developed an infinite number of new patterns which connect across various dimensions allowing endless possibilities for outcomes. Some of these possibilities were displayed at The Minories Galleries through a patterned environment, prints, sculptural forms, artist's games and soundworks. Although he eventually came to describe himself as an environmental artist, he initially trained as an architect, believing that the career path was the best outlet for his creative ideas. It seems his love for architecture was something of a family trait as his parents Edward Albarn and Lucy had respectively studied architecture and art at Leicester College of Arts and Technology. Just like his father, Keith also married an artist named Hazel whom he met while studying at Nottingham School of Art. The newlyweds then moved to London and Keith went on to study sculpture at the Hammersmith School of Art. Together with Hazel and his friend Ian Knight, who is an events designer, they established Keith Albarn and Partners Ltd on Kingly Street. Although he was best known academically for his research into patterns, he was also active in many art organisations, including being a trustee at The Minories and Colchester Arts Centre After opening his establishment, Keith was thoroughly embedded in the London art scene and in 1966 he helped to organise Yoko Ono's, 91, first exhibition at the Indica Gallery, where Yoko met John Lennon for the first time. In 1967, he also hosted his first exhibition of work by Malcolm McLaren. Keith also briefly managed rock band Soft Machine and took a lorry full of Ekistikit units to the French Riviera where the band was due to play a residency of shows. Keen to make an impression on fans, Keith doused the bay in petrol, and when the band came on stage to perform, he lit the units and the expanse behind the band went up in flames. Keith also inadvertently expedited the childhood friendship between his son Damon and Graham Coxon, 55, which eventually led them to form the rock band Blur in 1989. Skai Jackson has been arrested after she was reportedly embroiled in a public fight with her boyfriend last week. The Disney child star, 22, was arrested for 'misdemeanour domestic battery' after police officers were called to Universal CityWalk in Los Angeles. According to TMZ, security guards in the area spotted the Jessie actress and her boyfriend, whose name is unknown, in the midst of a blazing row. Skai allegedly pushed her partner more than once and security were forced to to detain the couple who were spotted in the area around Universal's theme park. Despite the alleged physical altercation, Skai denied there was anything wrong and told police that the pair are happily engaged and expecting their first child together. Skai Jackson has been arrested for after she was reportedly embroiled in a public fight with her boyfriend last week Skai pictured in her role of Zuri Ross in Disney channel show Jessie Skai shared this image to her Snapchat on Monday evening, three days after her reported arrest. The identity of her partner is not clear After police reviewed CCTV footage which reportedly showed Skai pushing her boyfriend, she was arrested for misdemeanour domestic battery, cited and released a few hours later. TMZ added that the case will be reviewed by the Los Angeles. County District Attorney's Office to decide if charges are warranted. The Sheroes actress and has kept her relationship largely secret and has not revealed her partner's name. Little is known about him and he does not feature on any of Skai's social media posts. MailOnline has contacted Skai for comment. The actress, who is set to star in the The Man in the White Van, has previously had to use the force of the law to protect herself. The Jessie star filed a restraining order against rapper Bhad Bhabie, whose real name is Danielle Bregoli, after threats against her life in 2020. Skai filed the restraining order against the then 16-year-old Danielle in Los Angeles stating at the time that she was afraid to leave home by herself after the rapper had made direct threats towards her. The actress added that at the time she hadn't slept well since the threats were made against her and felt Danielle was 'mentally unstable.' In the filing, TMZ reported that Skai also included past text messages from the Gucci Flip Flops rapper, in which Bregoli allegedly said she wanted to fight Skai and that she 'better hide.' According to TMZ , security guards in the area spotted the Jessie actress and her boyfriend, whose name is unknown, in the midst of a blazing row Skai is best known for her roles on Disney Channel sitcom Jessie and spin-off Bunk'd, both of which ended in 2018 Skai is best known for her roles on Disney Channel sitcom Jessie and spin-off Bunk'd, both of which ended in 2018. Last year, she was roasted for the 'Disney money running out' after she ordered her fans send her $5 to enter a 'raffle' to win a MacBook. Fans mocked her fundraising efforts, leading Jackson to insist in a follow-up TikTok that she 'doesn't need the money' and is 'not that serious.' She joins a growing list of former Disney stars to have brushes with the law. Among them is former That's So Raven star Orlando Brown, who has been imprisoned several times on charges including domestic violence and burglaries. Mitchell Musso, who starred in Hannah Montana, was also arrested last year for public intoxication and theft in Texas. Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan's daughter has revealed that her parents have 'really struggled' at times during their 38-year marriage. The iconic duo first met back in the 80s while working at ITV Granada Television, before going on to tie the knot in 1986. The couple went on to welcome children Jack and Chloe, while also carving out a successful presenting career together, fronting shows including This Morning and their very own teatime magazine show. And in a new interview, daughter Chloe, 37 - who recently split from husband James Haskell - opened up about how her parents have navigated their four-decade long relationship as she divulged the secret to their long-lasting union. When asked how her folks had sustained such a lengthy marriage, she told Closer magazine: 'They would honestly say the same thing - that the secret to them having such a long marriage is to not get divorced. Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan's daughter has revealed that her parents have 'really struggled' at times during their 38-year marriage [pictured in April] Chloe opened up about how her parents have navigated their four-decade long relationship as she divulged the secret to their long-lasting union 'Theyve been together for over 40 years and during that time there have been periods where they have really struggled, but they kept going and stayed together. I dont think it was ever bad enough for them to split.' The personal trainer went on to praise the pair for setting a 'pretty gold standard' before noting that she 'hit the jackpot' when it came to parents. Despite their successful union, Chloe admitted that she never felt any 'pressure' to continue with her own marriage because of her parents. Chloe, who co-parents two-year-old daughter Bodhi with estranged husband James, 39, explained: 'I have never felt pressure to stay with James because of my parents. I wanted very much for my marriage to work out, especially after we had Bodhi, but as time went on, it just became clearer and clearer that it wasn't working and that we wouldn't be together for the rest of our lives.' 10 months on from announcing her shock split from the rugby player, Chloe has now told that she's 'open' to dating again. Describing herself as a 'lazy romantic' who wants to be with some one she can drink wine and watch TV with, Chloe said she said it would be 'nice' to be with a partner again. However, she insisted that she has no interest in dating apps. with her daughter and fitness business currently her main priority at the moment. Meanwhile, as Chloe navigates single life, her famous parents recently reflected upon their relationship in their Channel 5 documentary, Our Best Bits - In Our Own Words, which aired last month. When asked how her folks had sustained such a lengthy marriage, she told Closer magazine: 'They would honestly say the same thing - that the secret to them having such a long marriage is to not get divorced' [pictured in 2013] 'Theyve been together for over 40 years and during that time there have been periods where they have really struggled, but they kept going and stayed together [pictured in 2019] The iconic duo first met back in the 80s while working at ITV Granada Television, before going on to tie the knot in 1986. [pictured in 1988] The pair spoke about the first time they met at Granada and the initial chemistry between them. At the time Judy was wedded to journalist David Henshaw and Richard was in the midst of separating from his first wife Lynda. Judy said: 'I remember you coming into the newsroom on your first day, you were wearing a ridiculous sky blue suit... you just looked like a pr**. 'I was assigned as your minder, they had a system at Grenada that the newbie would be assigned a father or a mother to show them the ropes literally, and I was your mother.' Reminiscing, Richard said: 'I suddenly felt two hands on the back of my neck and I heard this voice saying ''I'm your mummy'' and I turned around and it was this beautiful blonde. Despite their successful union, Chloe admitted that she never felt any 'pressure' to continue with her own marriage because of her parents [pictured with estranged husband James Haskell] 10 months on from announcing her shock split from the rugby player , Chloe has now told that she's 'open' to dating again Meanwhile, as Chloe navigates single life, her famous parents recently reflected upon their relationship in their Channel 5 documentary , Our Best Bits - In Our Own Words, which aired last month [pictured] 'It seemed an off thing to say so I was like ''what??'' So yeah she was my assigned mummy.' Opening up about their first kiss the pair revealed it was after a working day in Blackpool in the back of a black cab. 'We were filming in Blackpool, we spend a very long day filming promos, we really hit it off. We ended up getting a black cab, because the crew had gone, we went back to Manchester which was a good hours drive. 'It was in the darkness of the cab that we kind of fell for each other really, and kissed.' Mia McKenna-Bruce has revealed the adorable way her now-husband Tom Leach proposed to her - after the pair wed earlier this month. The actress tied the knot with her actor boyfriend Tom at a country house in Somerset a year after they welcomed their son Leo. And the How to Have Sex star, 27, has now lifted the lid on how her beau popped the question, revealing that he made her favourite breakfast and surprised her with a card. Speaking to British Vogue about the nuptials, Mia reminisced on the engagement as she said: 'He made me a lovely breakfast spread with crumpets because I love crumpets. Then he gave me a card, which actually isn't like Tom, he's not really one for romance and it said: "Are you ready to get married, yes or no?" with boxes to tick.' Fast forward to the pair's wedding day at Brympton House, in Yeovil, Mia said that Tom mentioned in his speech that she never actually ticked yes. 'I was too busy screaming,' she laughed. Mia McKenna-Bruce revealed to British Vogue the adorable way her now-husband Tom Leach proposed to her - after the pair wed earlier this month The actress tied the knot with her actor boyfriend Tom at a country house in Somerset The couple hired out the entirety of the 31 bedroom estate for her family and many actor friends to stay in and celebrate their big day. Mia had stunning weather for the day of her wedding, but according to her this is no coincidence. She said that her and Tom had heard that burying a sausage the night before will bring a day of sunshine so decided it was worth a try. However, with no sausage on hand the pair instead buried pepperoni from a slice of pizza. A talent-filled affair, Mia revealed that Tom's father used to be in a band and she had previously asked him to sing at their wedding - but he said he couldn't. But in a shock twist, and despite his nerves, he surprised the bride with a rendition of her favourite song Wonderwall. 'Stealing the show,' was the the couple's son Leo, who was said to be playing a game of hide and seek in Mia's wedding dress. Mia wore a veil and tiara with her floor-length ivory gown which hit a large black medical boot that is currently protecting a broken foot. She danced to Sweet Caroline on the gravel front of the Grade I listed manor with her friends and new husband who she met in 2019 on the set of the Rebels. The house was featured in Netflix's adaptation of Jane Austen's Persuasion in 2022 where Mia starred opposite Dakota Johnson's Anne Elliot as her younger sister, Mary Elliot. The adorable couple's nuptials came one year after they welcomed their son Leo The How to Have Sex star, 27, has now lifted the lid on how her beau popped the question, revealing that he made her favourite breakfast and surprised her with a card Speaking to British Vogue about the nuptials, Mia reminisced on the engagement as she said: 'He made me a lovely breakfast spread with crumpets because I love crumpets' Guests arrived on the Saturday ahead of the Sunday afternoon wedding ceremony, staying overnight at the exclusive venue where wedding packages can cost up to 37,500. The Witcher star was snapped sipping a mimosa in a pair of white pyjamas while wearing under eye masks as she got ready with her sister, Anya. And bridesmaids on the morning of the wedding. A pamper suite was on offer in the morning for the wedding party to prepare for the big day with a Bucks Fizz breakfast including a four-course meal with 'midnight munchies' provided after the dinner. The venue offered a spend of 3,000 on the flowers, a sparkler arch and the choice between a photo booth or a Nightcap package. The next day Mia was seen in a green silk dress and sunglasses lying on a grand four poster bed with her best friends and captioned the picture: 'We're hitting the post wedding come down.' It's been a whirlwind year for the child star after she gave birth to her son Leo in August last year and unexpectedly won BAFTA's Rising Star award in February. In attendance was the Hollyoaks star and fellow BAFTA winner, Emily Burnett, who Mia met on the set of the CBBC Tracey Beaker spin-off, the Dumping Ground, in 2013. Her How To Have Sex co-star Lara Peake was among the wedding guests and the show's director Molly Manning Walker, make-up artist Dominique Desveaux and costume designers Nancy Kane and George Buxton were also in attendance. The How to Have Sex star hired out the entirity of the 31 bedroom estate, Brympton House, in Yeovil for her family and many actor friends to stay in and celebrate her big day In attendance was the Hollyoaks star and fellow BAFTA winner, Emily Burnett, who Mia met on the set of the CBBC Tracey Beaker spin-off, the Dumping Ground, in 2013 The mother-of-one celebrated her hen-do two weeks before her wedding at an Italian-themed event in Kent The actress and producer, Augusta Woods, who starred opposite Mia in the 2024 short film Sister Wives was also in attendance and shared various snaps of her close friend on her big day to her Instagram. The mother-of-one celebrated her hen-do two weeks before her wedding at an Italian-themed event in Kent. She shared a series of pictures from the weekend which saw her posing in a short white dress revealing her crutches and medical boot with a Bride tiara on. Charlotte Crosby has revealed that she was reduced to tears on Celebrity MasterChef. The Geordie Shore star, 34, appeared on Monday's episode of The One Show with co-star Edith Bowman as they reflected on filming the celebrity cooking show. Charlotte told hosts Alex Jones and Lauren Laverne that she had a false sense of security before filming, walking in with the attitude 'I'm going to win this!' Yet she soon realised she was wrong to be so confident, with the mother-of-one and Laverne discussing the tough process. Laverne began by noting: 'any kitchen you're in, if you're in it with Charlotte it's the best place to be - you walk in and its really nerve-wracking!' Charlotte Crosby revealed on Monday's The One Show that she was reduced to tears on Celebrity MasterChef as she detailed her 'emotional' time filming She explained: 'There's something about that space and that studio you feel like a little kid again.' Charlotte agreed, confessing: 'It's horrible, all the lights are on you. The pressure - it's really scary. There was a lot of emotion!' Edith then confessed: 'We both cried!' Charlotte and Edith will be joined in the kitchen this week by This Morning's Craig Doyle, Steps popstar Ian 'H' Watkins and TV and radio presenter Snoochie Shy. Talk also turned to another BBC show, Strictly Come Dancing, yet Charlotte insisted she wouldn't be signing up anytime soon. 'I've got two left feet!' she confessed. 'Awful. The only dance move I can do is the twerk and not even that's sexy!' Charlotte burst onto the showbiz scene in 2011 with Geordie Shore. She became famed for her partying antics and love of plastic surgery yet in recent years she has slowed down with her procedures. Last year she had her lip filler dissolved and admitted she never thought she'd 'see the day' that she would opt for a more natural look after first adjusting her lips back in 2014. Charlotte, who welcomed baby daughter Alba Jean in 2022 with her fiance Jake Ankers, made the revelation just a year after Channel 5 pulled a documentary about her changing appearance following complaints. Charlotte confessed: 'It's horrible, all the lights are on you. The pressure - it's really scary. There was a lot of emotion!' Edith Bowman added: 'There's something about that space and that studio you feel like a little kid again... We both cried!' L-R Charlotte, Ian 'H' Watkins, Edith, Craig Doyle and Snoochie Shy star in the latest series of Celebrity MasterChef returning on Tuesday at 8pm on Celebrity MasterChef Posting the words over a snap, Charlotte wrote: 'I'm just putting it out there... I'm getting my lips dissolved. Never thought I'd see the day I'd say that. But It's happening'. Fillers are dissolved with injections of hyaluronidas which to break it down, speeding up the dissolving process that would take place over time. Charlotte previously hit out after she was criticised for having surgery, Botox and lip filler in a now-infamous 2021 Channel 5 documentary. The channel removed the documentary from its streaming service after receiving 7,000 complaints to Ofcom. The programme criticised her 'plastic face' and 'duck lips,' which came after years of of Charlotte being targeted by trolls due to her appearance. Charlotte has openly discussed having various procedures including a nose job, lip filler and breast enhancement. Charlotte previously discussed her decision to have a nose job in 2016, after splashing out 4,000 for the procedure. In October 2017, Charlotte also confirmed she had undergone surgery to correct her 'uniboob' after she was bodyshamed by vicious online trolls. Speaking to Heat magazine, the reality sensation - who suffers from a medical condition called congenital symmastia - admitted that she would also compare herself to other girls, leading her to undergo the corrective surgery. She confessed to the publication: 'My uni-boob made me feel under-confident. It (congenital symmastia) really limited what I could wear without people saying, "What the f***'s wrong with her boobs?"' The One Show appearance comes after Charlotte recently returned from Australia where she'd been filming upcoming Geordie Shore spin-off show, Aussie Shore. She has dabbled in Australian showbiz before, appearing on I'm A Celebrity Australia in 2020 and The Masked Singer Australia in 2023. Celebrity MasterChef returns on BBC One on Tuesday 13 August at 8pm, with the second to follow on Thursday at the same time and a third on Friday at 9pm. Charlotte recently returned from Australia with her fiance Jake Ankers and their daughter Alba Jean, 20 months (all pictured) Charlotte burst onto the showbiz scene in 2011 (pictured) with Geordie Shore. She later became famed for her partying antics and love of plastic surgery Ray Martin was firing on all cylinders on Tuesday night. The veteran journalist appeared on The Cheap Seats to discuss his SBS documentary series which explores cultural traditions surrounding death. Host and comedian Tim McDonald was quick to crack a self-deprecating pun on the subject of death he soon wished he hadn't. 'I've died every week for eight minutes,' he told the industry icon, referencing that his comedy sometimes falls flat on the panel show. 'I've noticed,' Ray quipped, to laughter from Tim, who added, 'Thank you, Ray.' Ray then put the boot in, chiming in with: 'Well, maybe, Tim, you've got actually an expert insight into this because they say when you die, your life actually flashes before your eyes.' This caused further laughter from Tim, who took the cheeky quip in the jocular manner it was intended. Ray is hosting the SBS three-part series, called Ray Martin: The Last Goodbye, which will explore various taboos surrounding death. Ray Martin (pictured) was firing on all cylinders on Tuesday night. The veteran journalist appeared on The Cheap Seats to discuss his SBS documentary series which explores cultural traditions surrounding death At 79 years old, Ray said in a statement that statistically he is only four years away from his own death, and he will inject his trademark style and humour into the show. The series will investigate various funeral trends and rituals and will address some deep questions, including why people choose certain ceremonies, songs and resting places. Martin will discuss the topic with a variety of celebrity guests on the show, including veteran presenter Gretel Killeen, 61, and comedian Alex Lee. SBS Commissioning Editor Bethan Arwel-Lewis said: 'At SBS we aren't scared to tackle those subjects that are sometimes provocative or difficult in our programming. 'So an exploration of death one of our last taboos is the perfect subject for us to lift the lid on, and who better to take us into this world and get us talking and even laughing about death, than Ray Martin.' Host and comedian Tim McDonald (right) was quick to crack a self-deprecating pun on the subject of death he soon wished he hadn't. Pictured, left, Georgie Tunny The veteran journalist will host the the three-part series, called Ray Martin: The Last Goodbye, which will explore the various taboos surrounding death Last year, Martin insisted that he still has a lot of life left in him, as he grows older gracefully. 'I'm never going to retire. David Attenborough is in his 90s and he's my role model. He says you've got to keep doing what you love,' he told Woman's Day magazine. He added the workaholic lifestyle he once had prevented him from enjoying the important things in life and he was never going to repeat that mistake. 'I lived in New York for 10 years as the ABC correspondent and I worked eight days a week. Yet I think of all the things I didn't do and should have done. 'You've got forever to sleep, you've got to have a go.' The esteemed A Current Affair host added that, as he gets older, he is more committed than ever to spending time with his children Jenna and Luke and two grandchildren. Ray Martin: The Last Goodbye will premiere on Wednesday, August 14 at 8.30pm on SBS and SBS On Demand Kathie Lee Gifford has shared an important update on her health two weeks after she was hospitalized with a fractured pelvis and claimed that her doctor has branded her 'speedy recovery' as a 'miracle.' The former TV host, who will turn 71 this week, appeared on Today on Tuesday morning and explained to her former cohost, Hoda Kotb, how she had ended up in hospital at the end of July - just weeks after undergoing a hip replacement. Prior to her surgery, Kathie had been in 'horrible pain' for more than two years, and post-operation she was doing 'really, really well' and was still in physical therapy, but sadly set herself back when she had an accident at home last month. She recalled: 'I was running down the stairs here at my home in Tennessee because my friend was locked out of my back door and it was 100 degrees outside and I live in a four-story brownstone. So I just went too fast, in stupid shoes, and I went tumbling.' Kathie confirmed that the fall left her with a 'cracked pelvis in the front and the back,' but after a short stay in hospital, she was back at home 'walking around on a walker' and realized that she 'wasn't in any pain at all.' Kathie Lee Gifford (right) shared an important health update with her former Today cohost Hoda Kotb on Tuesday morning Kathie Lee Gifford joins TODAY to talk about her recent health challenges, gives an update on her pelvis fracture after a fall and talks about her book, Herod & Mary. "I fell off the best seller list when I fell down the stairs," @KathieLGifford joked. pic.twitter.com/PWaJwdfmER TODAY (@TODAYshow) August 13, 2024 'I was off painkillers, I was off all that stuff and I called my doctor and I said, "Shouldn't I be in a lot of pain?" And he goes, "Yes you should, it's not even been two weeks." So he said, "Come in, I'll give you another X-ray." 'I went in, and this was just last Thursday, and I know that hundreds of thousands of people have been praying for me because I've heard from them... and, you guys, I'm telling you right now, he comes in with my X-ray and he goes, "Look at this Kathy." He said, "Do you wanna see your X-ray?" 'And I go, "That's my X-ray?" [and] he goes, "Yeah, you're completely healed, you are cured. And he's an incredible man of God but he doesn't see that very often. He said, "You are healed, it is a miracle and now you can have one glass of wine if you want,"' Kathie added as Hoda and her cohosts - Craig Melvin, Al Roker and Sheinelle Jones - burst out laughing. 'Anyway, I have been in no pain now and when that happens to you, you have to give credit and glory... credit to all the prayers, and when I think about the people that have reached out to me and said, "Kathie, have a speedy recovery, we're praying for a speedy recovery," that's about as speedy as you get!' Kathie added. The mother-of-two then advised: 'So, if people are out there looking for hope, waiting for their miracles, keep waiting guys, God hears your prayers and he knows what you're going through. 'I'm deeply grateful and I'm still praying for all the friends and loved ones in my life that have not received their healing yet.' Kathie's appearance on Today come just days after she told ET that she was 'doing well' and felt '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,' the TV star said on August 1. The TV star explained that her doctor described her 'speedy recovery' as a 'miracle' Kathie, pictured here in April 2024, will celebrate her 71st birthday on August 16 Kathie 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.' Over the weekend, Kathie shared a smiley picture of herself relaxing at home as she tucked some food in the sunshine. She captioned the post: 'So grateful to my wonderful friends @jeffrubysnashville for sending the most incredible crab legs, steaks and all the fabulous fixings to celebrate my speedy recovery. And thank you to everyone who has been so faithful to pray for me. God bless you all.' Her 642,000 followers were quick to comment on the photo, with one person writing: 'Best wishes for a speedy recovery!!! You look wonderful!!!' while another said: '@kathielgifford you are such a bright light in the world. Your sense of humor is unmatched. Sending love and light your way!!' A third fan commented: 'kathie u r just too gorgeous,' and a fourth person added: 'So glad to see that face out again.' Anna Maxwell Martin has undergone a striking new look in David Mitchell's new BBC comedy Ludwig. The Line Of Duty actress, 47, who will play Lucy Betts-Taylor, is starring in the six-part detective series alongside David himself and a very familiar face Rose Ayling-Ellis. Strictly Come Dancing champion and former EastEnders star Rose, 29, will be making an appearance as Freya Chordwell in the new series. Rose looked completely unrecognisable as she slipped into a long-sleeve blue blazer and polka dot dress. Meanwhile Motherland star Anna swapped her blonde locks for a short brunette bob with minimal makeup. Anna Maxwell Martin, 47, has undergone a striking new look in David Mitchell 's new BBC comedy Ludwig Strictly Come Dancing champion and former EastEnders star Rose, 29, will be making an appearance as Freya Chordwell in the new series David's character John 'Ludwig' Taylor sees his life turn 360 degrees when his identical brother, James, disappears without a trace. Ludwig takes matters into his own hands and takes over his brother's identity in a quest to find out his whereabouts. Unlike Ludwig, his brother James is a family man and a highly respected DCI within Cambridge's Major Investigations Team. But will Ludwig be able to fill James' shoes and find him all at the same time? Anna is starring as Ludwig's sister-in-law and wife of his missing brother James. Derek Jacobi, Felicity Kendal, Rose, Karl Pilington, Allan Mustafa, Paul Chahidi and Hammed Animashaun are among the guest stars in the series. The six-part 60 minute-episode series is due to air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the Autumn. Other stars appearing in the series include Dipo Ola, Gerran Howell, Izuka Hoyle, Dylan Hughes, Dorothy Atkinson, Sophie Willan and Ralph Ineson. The Line Of Duty actress, who will play Lucy Betts-Taylor, is starring in the six-part detective series alongside David (pictured) himself Meanwhile Motherland star Anna swapped her blonde locks for a short brunette bob with minimal makeup David's character John 'Ludwig' Taylor (left) sees his life turn 360 degrees when his identical brother, James, disappears without a trace Ludwig takes matters into his own hands and takes over his brother's identity in a quest to find out his whereabouts The six-part 60 minute-episode series is due to air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the Autumn Ludwig is a Big Talk Studios in association with That Mitchell And Webb Company production for BBC One and BBC iPlayer. It was commissioned by Jon Petrie, Director of Comedy Commissioning at the BBC and is written and created by Mark Brotherhood. Executive Producers of the gritty drama are Kenton Allen, Mark Brotherhood, Saurabh Kakkar, David Mitchell, Kathryn OConnor and Chris Sussman, the Producer is Georgie Fallon. The series is produced in association with ITV Studios, which will distribute the series internationally. Advertisement Stunning swimsuit model Charlotte McKinney looked incredibly toned as she posed on a beach in Greece. The star had on a very skimpy leopard print string bikini with gold ring accents that barely contained her generous assets. The 31-year-old former Guess model - who has been trying stand-up comedy this year - was seen on a rocky coastline during her Mediterranean vacation. The cover girl posted the eye-popping shot to her Instagram account on Monday along with other images from her down time. The 5ft8in blonde bombshell from Orlando, Florida captioned the post, 'Last vacation photo dump I promise.' The ex-girlfriend of actor Stephen Dorff received plenty of praise from her followers who called her 'beautiful,' 'perfect,' and 'a knockout.' Stunning swimsuit model Charlotte McKinney looked incredibly toned as she posed on a beach in Greece. The star had on a very skimpy leopard print string bikini that barely contained her assets McKinney is a model and actress who first gained attention as an Instagram personality, eventually achieving wider recognition for her appearance in a Carl's Jr. commercial which aired regionally during Super Bowl XLIX in 2015. The star has already be on the cover of GQ and Vanity Fair. And Charlotte has competed on Dancing With The Stars and acted in the Baywatch remake. This new sighting comes two months after she landed one of her most scintillating ad campaigns of her long career. The blonde beauty was seen posing in skimpy lingerie to plug a major shoe brand in Miami. The face of Larroude footwear as she was seen pouting for the camera in new eye-popping images shared to her Instagram page. 'New @larroude spring collection out now!' wrote the ex of Stephen Dorff in her brief caption. Here the cover girl was seen in a mini dress that was low cut as she celebrated her 31st birthday with friends She wore a white bikini top and a red skirt while at her coastal resort on the bare island Her villa was white and offered a generous view of the valley below with its twinkling lights The model also shared a photo of the fruit section of a market as she wore a scarf top and denim skirt 'Shooting this campaign was extra special because the first time I wore their shoes I fell in love and became such a fan of the line but all that aside I had the chance to work with some of the most kindest and bad a** people.' The Hollywood veteran then added hashtags for the brand as well as the glam team. The star had on a pale pink sheer corset that had applique over her chest. McKinney also wore very tiny briefs that barely covered her up. The outfit was used to plug the pale pink high heels from Larroude, though it is debatable if anyone was checking out her feet as her body seemed to be the focus. The fashion industry personality left little to the imagination while showcasing her shapely form. The social media figure let her blonde hair fall down over her bare shoulders and her glam was on point. McKinney began her modeling career by building a large presence on Instagram in the mid-2010s. The model spoke about her platform during an interview with Marie Claire, where she pointed out that what she shared on her account was not indicative of what her life was normally like. Her big breakout role: She came to fame when she modeled a bikini top and micro shorts for a Carl's Jr campaign in 2015 'Social media is an interesting part of life, and it's not all it looks like from the outside. Instagram is just an outlet to exude this image of what you deem as a perfect life,' she stated. McKinney went on to express that she was not necessarily fond of using the social media outlet, although she recognized its necessity in her professional life. 'I have such a love hate relationship with it, being a private person but it plays such an essential part of my career,' she said. The fashion industry personality concluded by expressing that prospective models should consider utilizing unconventional means while looking for success. 'Now more than ever, there isn't just one path to wherever you want or need to go. Explore as many options as possible, and don't rely on one straight road,' she said. Amazon Prime released new first-look images of upcoming drama A Very Royal Scandal on Tuesday and announced when it will drop on the streamer. Set to retell the story of Prince Andrew's 'car crash' interview the dramatisation stars Michael Sheen as the Duke of York and Ruth Wilson as journalist Emily Maitlis. The three part series will premiere on 19 September exclusively on Prime Video in the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It comes just five months after rival streaming platform Netflix's version, which was out on April 5. New stills this week show the actors as they recreate the famous BBC interview which made television history when Prince Andrew spoke out about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and claimed he did not sweat. Amazon Prime released new first-look images of upcoming drama A Very Royal Scandal on Tuesday and announced when it will drop on the streamer Set to retell the story of Prince Andrew's 'car crash' interview, the dramatisation stars Michael Sheen (L) as the Duke of York: Prince Andrew seen, right Michael is pictured with The Duke of York's white hair while Ruth looks almost unrecognisable in a blonde wig. The upcoming series by Amazon MGM Studios will focus far more on Emily Maitlis - who serves as an executive producer, whereas Netflix's Scoop focused on Prince Andrew. A spokesperson for Amazon confirmed the series will 'follow Emily Maitlis' professional and personal journey as a Newsnight journalist, leading up to her acclaimed interview with Prince Andrew.' A press released added: 'A Very Royal Scandal follows the action of Maitlis and Prince Andrew in the lead-up to the interview, the ground-breaking event itself and the many questions left in its wake that would change their lives forever.' The first episode sees Prince Andrew attempt to declare his innocence as he finds himself at the centre of an international scandal while Newsnight presenter, Emily, does everything within her power to secure an interview with him. The second instalment features the interview but the meeting takes various twists and turns that neither Emily, nor the Newsnight team, could have expected. Finally, in the third episode Prince Andrew is left to navigate the fallout for himself, his family, and the Royal firm as Emily considers her reputation and the future of her career. Along with Sheen and Wilson, the series will star Joanna Scanlan as Amanda Thirsk, Alex Jennings as Sir Edward Young, Eanna Hardwicke as Stewart Maclean and Claire Rushbrook as Sarah Ferguson. Ruth Wilson (L) will star as journalist Emily Maitlis (R) The actress (pictured in May) looks almost unrecognisable in a blonde wig Michael is pictured with The Duke of York's white hair in the new stills (seen in March 2024) The three part series will premiere on 19 September exclusively on Prime Video in the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand New stills this week show the actors as they recreate the famous BBC interview which made television history when Prince Andrew spoke out about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and claimed he did not sweat The upcoming series by Amazon MGM Studios will focus far more on Emily Maitlis - who serves as an executive producer, whereas Netflix's Scoop focused on Prince Andrew Emily told Deadline: ''I think that probably is overplayed, overstated. This [the Amazon series] will be a very different beast. Im sure theres room for both' (pictured here at The Variety Club Showbusiness Awards 2024) Speaking of the rivalry between the Netflix and Amazon projects, Maitlis, 53, told Deadline: 'I think that probably is overplayed, overstated. This [the Amazon series] will be a very different beast. Im sure theres room for both. The former BBC presenter added that she left the team behind Scoop 'to do their own thing because I think the last thing they want is me peeking around the edges. 'It says its based on a fictional account, so I think it goes into different places and it does different things [to the Amazon series].' Netflix issued a disclaimer at the start of Scoop that said: 'This film is based on real events - however certain elements have been fictionalized for dramatic purposes.' Netflix's Scoop was based on a book of the same name by Sam McAlister and follows the BBC producer, played by Billie Piper, as she fights to secure an interview with Prince Andrew, played by Rufus Sewell, at Buckingham Palace. Gillian Anderson plays Emily Maitlis as she pointedly questions the Duke. Netflix's Scoop was based on a book of the same name by Sam McAlister and follows the BBC producer, played by Billie Piper, as she fights to secure an interview with Prince Andrew, played by Rufus Sewell, at Buckingham Palace (Rufus as Prince Andrew pictured) She is one of the biggest names to emerge from the Real Housewives franchise but Kim Zolciak insists no amount of money would make her ever want to repeat the experience. In a sneak peek of the next episode of Surreal Life: Villa of Secrets, Kim, 46, opened up about departing The Real Housewives of Atlanta following five seasons as a cast member. At the time of her exit, she and her then-husband Kroy Biermann, 38, were expecting their now 13-year-old son, Kroy 'KJ' Jagger, Jr. 'I walked away from millions of dollars,' she relayed to her castmates. 'I was eight months pregnant with my son. Glasses being thrown.' 'It was that bad?' Josie Canseco asked. Kim Zolciak opened up about departing the Real Housewives of Atlanta in a sneak peek of The Surreal Life 'It was f**king terrible,' Kim insisted. 'I have PTSD from it, like, severe,' she continued. 'There's not enough money to ever go through what I went through, ever.' Fellow housemate Macy Gray commended Zolciak for her decision to step away. 'Its really interesting to hear that,' she said in a confessional. 'To me, it says shes a good person because she stepped away from money and fame because she felt like it was toxic.' 'Karma comes full circle. I've watched it happen to people and here I am and well, where are the others a couple of them?' Kim continued over the dinner table with her co-stars. 'Hollywood problems,' Chet Hanks said with a laugh. Kim got her own spin-off show after she left RHOA in 2012, a show called Don't Be Tardy. It was originally titled 'Don't Be Tardy for the Wedding' and initially chronicled her nuptials to Kroy before it returned for a second season under a new name. That show lasted for eight seasons and followed her life with Kroy and their six children. 'I walked away from millions of dollars,' she relayed to her castmates. 'I was eight months pregnant with my son. Glasses being thrown' 'I have PTSD from it, like, severe,' she continued. 'There's not enough money to ever go through what I went through, ever' 'It was that bad?' Josie Canseco asked Kim shares daughters Brielle, 27, Ariana, 22, sons Kroy Jr., 13, Kash, 11, and 10-year-old twins Kaia and Kane with Kroy. Her eldest daughters Brielle and Ariana are from previous relationships but Kroy adopted them after their wedding. Nowadays, Kim is in the midst of a bitter and very public divorce from Kroy. A reboot of The WB series of the same name, season two of Surreal Life: Villa of Secrets debuted last month. In addition to Kim, the cast features Macy Gray, Chet Hanks, Josie Canseco, O.T. Genesis, Johnny Weir, and Tyler Posey. The villa the cast are residing at is located in Medellin, Colombia. Macy Gray commended Zolciak for leaving the show 'Hollywood problems,' Chet Hanks said with a laugh Zolciak shot to stardom after first starring on The Real Housewives of Atlanta Kim has formed a flirtation with Chet, and on the last episode slipped him a note under his door and chatted with him late into the night in her bathroom with their mics off. 'Flirting with Chet is just fun,' Kim said in a confessional on the last episode. 'He's like an easy distraction from home. He's funny.' Amanda Abbington is reportedly being supported by her ex-partner Martin Freeman amid the ongoing Strictly Come Dancing scandal. Sherlock actress Amanda, 50, has made a series of accusations about her pro Giovanni Pernice's teaching methods and has described his behaviour as 'unnecessary, abusive, cruel and mean'. He strongly denies all of the claims. In one interview, Amanda compared the dance show to 'the trenches' telling Channel 4 News that BBC producers had been left 'horrified' by clips that also allegedly exhibited 'humiliating behaviour of a sexual nature'. Amanda and actor Martin, 52, were together for 16 years from 20002016 and share two children, Joe and Grace. Martin has reached out to her to support after the scandal and been someone to lean on amid the turbulent time, as well as her fiance Jonathan Goodwin, reports The Sun. Amanda Abbington is reportedly being supported by her ex-partner Martin Freeman amid the ongoing Strictly Come Dancing scandal (seen in 2014) She has made a series of accusations about her pro Giovanni Pernice's teaching methods and has described his behaviour as 'unnecessary, abusive, cruel and mean'. He denies all claims It is expected that the probe into Giovanni will soon be completed by the BBC after several weeks of investigations. A source told the publication: 'Martin has made a point of making sure Amanda is OK with everything that has happened recently. They share two children together so have always remained close for their sake. 'He was left worried and concerned at learning about the things which Amanda has been going through. And it's been really heartening for Amanda to know that she has Martin's support. 'She's been through hell recently, and had to endure death threats and hateful messages. She's relied heavily on her fiance Jonathan who has been an absolute rock throughout all of this.' A representative for Amanda has been contacted by MailOnline for comment. It comes after it was reported that Amanda recently handed over more texts with fresh revelations over Giovanni's behaviour on Strictly. It has been claimed the dramatic intervention has thrown the BBC investigation into professional Giovanni's behaviour into chaos and has 'changed the course of the probe'. The Sun reports that Amanda has come forward with new bombshell messages just as the probe was about to conclude which reportedly show that Giovanni did 'step over the line of what is acceptable'. A source has told the publication of the new disclosures: 'The investigation is set to conclude this week but it has been made more difficult by the new disclosure from Amanda. Martin has reached out to her to support after the scandal and been someone to lean on amid the turbulent time, as well as her fiance Jonathan Goodwin, reports The Sun (seen in 2015) Amanda and actor Martin, 52, were together for 16 years from 20002016 and share two children, Joe and Grace (seen with Amanda's fiance Jonathan Goodwin) Amanda is also being supported by her 'rock' Jonathan who she is seen here with back in May 2022 'It has turned the course of the probe. It seemed Giovanni would be cleared but this new information has changed everything again. 'Giovanni, it seems now, did appear to step over the line of what is acceptable for a BBC representative but more discussions need to be had. 'Every time they seem to reach a conclusion, something else gets thrown in that throws the investigation in a new direction.' The BBC has been contacted by MailOnline for comment. It came after earlier this week Amanda was reportedly questioned by BBC bosses for a second time about 'crude comments' she claimed were made by Giovanni. She is said to have been quizzed via video call last week as she sat down with two ex-Met detectives to discuss her allegations about the professional dancer, 33. They reportedly discussed claims of sexual comments during rehearsals, as well as 'new evidence'. Giovanni has denied all allegations made against him. MailOnline contacted representatives for Amanda, Giovanni, and The BBC for comment. Amanda has made a series of accusations about Giovanni's teaching methods and has described his behaviour as 'unnecessary, abusive, cruel and mean'. He strongly denies all of the claims. In one interview, Amanda compared the dance show to 'the trenches' telling Channel 4 News that BBC producers had been left 'horrified' by clips that also allegedly exhibited 'humiliating behaviour of a sexual nature'. In another, where she spoke to Christine Lampard on Lorraine, she said: 'It was inappropriate, it was mean, it was nasty, it was bullying and I put up with it for five, six weeks. 'It started very early on and when it started to happen I would shut down because I recognised those red flags. 'And so I would shut down and it would be difficult to get in, and that would be a self-fulfilling prophecy.' Talking about her schedule on the show, she said: 'I was going into the rehearsal room every day. I've been in rehearsal rooms for 32 years. 'I know what rehearsal rooms are supposed to be like. 'I don't care what background you're from whether it's dancing, acting, singing you have a duty of care to bring into that rehearsal room compassion, understanding, sensitivity and kindness. 'And that wasn't extended to me (at Strictly). And so I just said I don't think this is right.' The update came just after police visited the home of Amanda, as an investigation into a chilling death threat sent to the actress continues. Met detectives were alerted on Friday afternoon to a threatening email sent to the north London theatre where Amanda is performing. The actress is starring in new play When It Happens To You at the Park Theatre in Finsbury. The frightening email warned 'she should be prepared to die onstage' unless she withdrew her complaint about former Strictly partner Giovanni. Park Theatre quickly alerted the force who are taking the threat 'very seriously' and are working to 'unmask' the person who sent it. The Sherlock actress has now been interviewed by officers twice and her home she shares with fiance Jonathan Goodwin was visited by police. Although the Met Police have not formally identified anyone involved in the investigation, a spokesman confirmed that officers were called to a theatre in Finsbury Park 'following receipt of an alleged malicious communication.' The spokesman continued: 'There have been no arrests, enquiries are ongoing.' A source told the publication: 'Martin has made a point of making sure Amanda is OK with everything that has happened recently. They share two children together so have always remained close for their sake' In one interview, Amanda compared the dance show to 'the trenches' telling Channel 4 News that BBC producers had been left 'horrified' by clips that also allegedly exhibited 'humiliating behaviour of a sexual nature' Giovanni, 33, was suspended while a BBC probe is underway over allegations made by Amanda and two other former celebrity partners (pictured in June) A source close to the investigation told MailOnline: 'Specialist officers have been looking at the email closely over the last 72 hours, and now believe they are close to identifying where it was sent from. 'They are liaising with another force on this now. This, in turn, they hope will go on to lead them to the person behind the threat. 'Officers have told Amanda they will do all they can to find out who the person is behind the email. 'They are treating it as a very serious and very credible threat and want to unmask the person behind it.' Conor McGregor gifted his fiancee Dee Devlin a 105,000 Cartier necklace for her 37th birthday and threw her a lavish birthday bash onboard their 3m yacht. The former UFC champion, 36, and his fiancee Dee, 37, who have been in a relationship since 2008, announced their engagement in 2020. And it appears the couple are still in their sweet engagement bubble as Conor went all out for her birthday and the pair spent some quality time together on The Devocean - Conor's yacht dedicated to Dee. Posting a slew of sweet snaps to her Instagram on Tuesday, Dee looked nothing short of sensational as she showed off her incredible figure in a Burberry triangle bikini. She teamed the stylish triangle bikini top with a matching Burberry sarong and further accessorised the look with the Juste Un Clou Cartier Necklace she was gifted by Conor. Conor McGregor gifted his fiancee Dee Devlin a 105,000 Cartier necklace for her 37th birthday and threw her a lavish birthday bash onboard their 3m yacht The former UFC champion, 36, and his fiancee Dee, 37, who have been in a relationship since 2008, announced their engagement in 2020 The family spent a large part of Dee's special day on the boat before taking up a spot of diving. To mark her special day, Conor also ensured the boat was heavily decorated with balloons, some of which were wrapped in flowers and spelled out her name. After making the most of the sun on the yacht, Dee swapped her bikini for a more glamorous ensemble as Conor took her out for a romantic dinner. The beauty looked incredible as she wore a white broderie crop top and jeans to match. Meanwhile, Conor looked incredibly suave in an emerald green satin shirt which he left unbuttoned to show off his chest tattoos. The UFC fighter celebrated his own birthday last month and raised fight fans eyebrows as he shared a startling image of himself. The ex-featherweight and lightweight king of the Octagon posted a snap of himself wearing a pair of swimming trunks as he flexed his muscles on the deck of a yacht in Ibiza, accompanied by the caption, '36, in some nick'. But it wasn't the Irishman's bulging biceps that caught fans' attention; they flooded the post with comments about McGregor's manhood, which was prominently displayed in the shot. And it appears the couple are still in their sweet engagement bubble as Conor went all out for her birthday by gifting her expensive gifts and treating her to a romantic dinner To mark her special day, Conor showered Dee with a gorgeous bunch of red roses He also ensured no expense was spared as he gifted her a 105,000 Juste Un Clou Cartier diamond Necklace The family spent a large part of Dee's special day on the boat before taking up a spot of diving To mark her special day, Conor also ensured the boat was heavily decorated with balloons, some of which were wrapped in flowers and spelled out her name Dee also shared a glimpse of their extravagant dinner table set up After making the most of the sun on the yacht, Dee swapped her bikini for a more glamorous ensemble as Conor took her out for a romantic dinner 'Only Fans birthday,' wrote one commenter, with another adding, 'Happy birthday big fella.' 'Buddy packing a hog,' another fan said, while a fourth wrote, 'Dude can you put that thing away there's like children here'. Other comments included, 'Stop putting socks in ya undies,' 'Do you have a cup on?', 'This is not onlyfans Conor', 'Happy birthday BIG', 'Bro it's in the middle of my screen put it away', 'It's staring at me' and 'put some pants on'. McGregor's long-awaited return to the UFC was put on hold in June when his fight with Michael Chandler was called off because he'd suffered an injury. That led to former MMA fighter Chael Sonnen hinting that 'The Notorious' actually pulled out of the fight because he had checked into rehab for alcohol and substance abuse. Conor's camp strenuously denied the claim, telling DailyMail.com: 'Mr McGregor is with his family. Dee's birthday celebrations comes after Conor's birthday post on Instagram (pictured) sent fight fans wild last month - and not because he was flexing his biceps on his yacht The 36-year-old recently made headlines when he pulled out of his highly anticipated return to the Octagon against Michael Chandler (pictured in 2016) 'The fight was cancelled after an injury he sustained during training. He is looking forward to a new date.' While Chael didn't name Conor directly, there can be no doubt who he was talking about as he dropped several references to his 'Proper Twelve' whiskey brand. In a conversation about the postponed fight with Daniel Cormier, Chael spoke about how both Chandler and Conor have promoted alcohol during their careers. 'What incredible irony that both sides have these massive interests in alcohol, and one side is in the middle of rehab for substance abuse, including alcohol,' he said, before sarcastically stroking his chin and adding: 'Not that that has anything to do with this,' during an appearance on ESPN.' Conor published a statement about the fight being off, saying: 'Very tough to be ruled out of my scheduled return bout.' 'The decision to postpone the fight was not made lightly, but one made in consultation with my doctors, the UFC, and my team. My fans and opponent deserve me at my best for this fight and we will get there!' A new trailer for the fourth season of Only Murders in the Building dropped on Tuesday. Charles (Steve Martin), Mabel (Selena Gomez) and Oliver (Martin Short) have gone from New York City to Hollywood to work on a movie about how their podcast was created. Eugene Levy, Eva Longoria and Zach Galifianakis will play the detective trio in the movie. But the three pals experience several surprises once they land in Southern California. Also seen in the clip is Meryl Streep who is back in her old role, and new faces like Melissa McCarthy and Molly Shannon. A new trailer for the fourth season of Only Murders in the Building dropped on Tuesday Charles (Steve Martin), Mabel (Selena Gomez) and Oliver (Martin Short) have gone from New York City to Hollywood to work on a movie about how their podcast was created There is a murder to solve as well, of course, as every season involves a murder the pals have to figure out. Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch), who is Charles' stunt double, has been killed. But they think that the murder was meant for Charles, not Sazz. Now the three sleuths want to track down the killer. Only Murders in the Building Season 4 premieres on Hulu on August 27. Unlike previous seasons, episodes will air on a weekly basis rather than all at once. 'New season. New case. Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez return for Season 4 of #OMITB. August 27. Streaming on Hulu and with Hulu on Disney+ for Disney Bundle subscribers,' it read on Hulu's Instagram page. In May the first teaser was shared for Only Murders In The Building. Gomez as well as Martin and Short stepping out of an elevator inside their apartment building. Zach Galifianakis, Eva Longoria and Eugene Levy will play the detective trio in the movie The three pals experience several surprises once they land in Southern California There is a murder to solve as well. Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch) is Charles' stunt double. But an attack meant for Charles killed Sazz Now the three sleuths want to track down the killer The former Disney channel star - who portrays the character of Mabel - could be seen in a glittering, gold dress as she talked to both Steve (Charles) and also Martin (Oliver). 'So, what's next podcast wise?' she asked, with Martin replying with, 'What we need, is a, hot fresh, dead body. Preferably, right here or very near to here.' The scene then jumped to Lynch's dead body after being killed - which occurred at the very end of the third season. 'Somewhere lay a sniper's nest,' Short could be heard saying in a different scene. 'You know this is happening. We might as well just start,' he told Steve. Only Murders in the Building Season 4 premieres on Hulu on August 27 Here the trio is seen in Beverly Hills in a teaser shared in May The clip then cut to Selena reading out a message she received on her phone. 'I just got an email that a Hollywood studio wants to make a movie about our podcast.' Martin, who was sitting on the floor, excited stood up and exclaimed, 'The pictures? Pack your bags b****es! We are going to the movies!' Text on the screen appeared over different shots of Los Angeles and teased fans: 'Get ready for the starriest season yet.' The video kicked off with Gomez, as well as Martin and Short stepping out of an elevator inside their apartment building The scene then jumps to Lynch's dead body after being killed - which occurred at the very end of the third season 'Somewhere lay a sniper's nest,' Short could be heard saying in a different scene. 'You know this is happening. We might as well just start,' he told Steve The clip jumped to Selena reading out a message she received on her phone. 'I just got an email that a Hollywood studio wants to make a movie about our podcast' Martin, who was sitting on the floor, excited stood up and exclaimed, 'The pictures? Pack your bags b****es! We are going to the movies!' Text on the screen that appeared over different shots of Los Angeles teased fans: 'Get ready for the starriest season yet' Other celebrities that will star in the anticipated season include Meryl Streep, Eugene Levy, Eva Longoria, Melissa McCarthy, Zach Galifianakis, Molly Shannon, Kumail Nanjiani, Richard Kind, Michael Curil Creighton and Da'Vine Joy Randolph' A montage of Selena, Steve and Martin attempting to solve the murder mystery appeared during the trailer, such as Gomez looking through a dimly lit kitchen with her phone and a pig running down a hall. Another scene showed Steve calling out, 'Hello Hollywood!' while the trio stood through the sun roof of a sleek limo while being driven down a street lined with scenic palm trees as they ate what appeared to be In-N-Out. Towards the end of the trailer, Gomez, Martin and Short sat in a meeting with Hollywood executives, and The Pink Panther actor humorously began to negotiate payment with Molly Shannon. He wrote down a number on a piece of paper, and scooted the item towards Shannon who sat across from him. However, he was only was able to move it a few centimeters away from him, and pushed the paper farther, but succeeded in moving it just a short distance. Steve then stood up and bent halfway over the table to keep shoving it in Molly's direction as Selena had an embarrassed look on her face while watching the humorous incident unfold. 'What we need is a number,' Steve explained, and finally when Shannon retrieved the paper, she said out loud with a look of confusion, 'It's just a four.' He nodded and said, 'Four. Four hundred. Four thousand...million...,' with Short chiming in to add, 'Or five.' A montage of Selena, Steve and Martin attempting to solve the murder mystery appeared during the trailer, such as Gomez looking through a dimly lit kitchen with her phone and a pig running down a hall Another scene showed Steve calling out, 'Hello Hollywood!' while the trio stood through the sun roof of a sleek limo while being driven down a street lined with scenic palm trees as they ate what appeared to be In-N-Out Towards the end of the trailer, Gomez, Martin and Short sat in a meeting with Hollywood executives, and The Pink Panther actor humorously began to negotiate payment with Molly Shannon The trailer came to end with Gomez defeatedly placing her head into her hand while letting out a sigh. In recent months, the actress along with Steve and Martin have been seen filming scenes in the Big Apple. Selena has also been keeping her fans and followers on Instagram updated by sharing a few behind-the-scenes snippets as she had a blast on set. During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter last year in October, the showrunner, John Hoffman, opened up about the fourth season as well as the main theme that the series will follow: 'consequences.' 'I think the idea of what you create is a thing you put out to the world, and sometimes you can't be prepared for the repercussions of what potentially the world does with your thing, and how they feel about it,' he stated. 'That's a challenging line to walk, and sometimes you have to face it in that way,' Hoffman continued. 'So, the podcast and everything else that's happened, and what it all means, and what it could have been meaning all along. That's a really interesting world to look at for these three who stepped in that way.' Along with the trailer officially dropping on Tuesday, the premiere date was also revealed during Disney's upfront presentation to advertisers in NYC, per The Hollywood Reporter. 'I think the idea of what you create is a thing you put out to the world, and sometimes you can't be prepared for the repercussions of what potentially the world does with your thing, and how they feel about it,' he stated 'That's a challenging line to walk, and sometimes you have to face it in that way,' Hoffman continued Selena has also been keeping her fans and followers on Instagram updated by sharing a few behind-the-scenes snippets as she had a blast on set According to Deadline, Gomez later made an appearance on stage to reveal the title of the Wizards Of Waverly Place spin-off, which will be called: Wizards Beyond Waverly Place. She will be reuniting with some of her past co-stars from the hit Disney series, such as David Henrie - who played her brother, Justin Russo, in the show. Kim Kardashian caught up with power couple Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner over dinner in Malibu on Monday. The reality star, 43, was spotted grabbing dinner with her longtime friend Ivanka, 42, and her husband Jared, 43, at the beachside restaurant Nobu. Heads turned as Kim arrived to the swank eatery with her cleavage on show in a fitted black look with an edgy coat fashionably draped over her body. The low-cut look was paired with a sexy pair of matching peep toe heels that Kim effortlessly strutted upon as she entered the restaurant. Her jet black hair was slicked back into a chic bun and her complexion radiated with a dusting of blush and long, sexy lashes. Kim Kardashian caught up with power couple Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner over dinner in Malibu on Monday The trio were seen in the parking lot after their dinner A bedazzled purse hung from her shoulder while her nails added another pop of glam with a baby pink coat of polish. The sun was still shining when Kim arrived at the restaurant with her entourage but she was not seen with Ivanka or Jared. They were seen arriving separately from Kim. By the time it was time to leave, however, night had fallen and Kim was spotted chatting with the couple in the parking lot. Ivanka wore a dazzling beaded dress with elegant waves in her hair while her husband opted for a black sweater and white T-shirt. The trio headed out to their rides, with Jared and Ivanka seen climbing into their parked car as Kim walked off in a different direction. Kardashian and Ivanka have been friends for over a decade, after initially bonding 'nearly a decade ago at the Met Gala over motherhood and being new moms,' as reported by Us Weekly. Ivanka turned out for Kim's lavish 43rd birthday party last October and they attended the grand opening of the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas in December. The trio dined at the swank beachfront restaurant Nobu They were all seen retreating to their cars after their dinner Kim is long-time friends with the daughter of former President Trump Ivanka and Kim initially bonded 'nearly a decade ago at the Met Gala over motherhood and being new moms,' as reported by Us Weekly Ivanka recently made an appearance on Kim's reality show, The Kardashians Kim was dressed in an edgy black coat and dazzling purse The reality star turned heads in a busty look She opted for a sleek bun and flawless face of makeup A black leather coat partially concealed her fitted catsuit The sun was still shining when Kim arrived at the restaurant She entered the restaurant with her entourage They've also worked together on prison reform since Kim famously convinced Ivanka's father, then-president Donald Trump, to overturn Alice Marie's conviction in 2018. Ivanka even appeared on an episode of The Kardashians back in June alongside Lauren Sanchez. Both Ivanka and Lauren, the 54-year-old fiancee of billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, were among the first celebs seen arriving at a party thrown for Kim by her sister Khloe Kardashian at Funke in Beverly Hills. When all the guests were seated at the restaurant, Ivanka was in prime position right next to Kim on her right-hand side, while Lauren was two seats down. She turned heads in her edgy yet sexy ensemble Ivanka and her husband arrived separately from Kim to the beachfront eatery The couple headed towards the restaurant Ivanka followed after her husband as they headed to the vehicle Kim walked off as her pals entered their car Ivanka and her husband retreated to their vehicle after their dinner To Kim's left was one of her closest friends - Allison Statter - one of six inner circle pals she's known her entire life and she affectionately calls 'lifers.' Given Ivanka and Lauren's VIP placement on the seating chart, it's clear they have quickly made their way to the top of Kim's friendship group. Last month Ivanka and her husband were back in the spotlight as they attended the Republican National Convention to watch Trump accept the Republican nomination for president. Ben Affleck was seen smiling on Tuesday morning when heading to his Los Angeles office. The Air actor - who turns 52 on Thursday - looked to be in great spirits as he wore a dark blue suit with dress shoes as he added Ray-Ban sunglasses while carrying a black duffel bag. This sighting comes after he reportedly spent time with 'estranged' wife Jennifer Lopez at his rented Los Angeles house on Sunday. The Atlas actress was dropping off his son Samuel, 12, after she took the child shopping. She seemed to stay at the house longer to reportedly chat with Ben. The two have not been photographed in public together since June as reports persist that they are set to divorce. Some outlets have claimed that they are waiting for the release of their film Unstoppable - which comes out next month - before they will announce the end of their marriage. Others have suggested they want to hold off until their two year wedding anniversary - which falls on August 20 - to break the unfortunate news. Ben Affleck was seen smiling on Tuesday morning when heading to his Los Angeles office The Air actor - who turns 52 on Thursday - looked to be in great spirits as he wore a dark blue suit with dress shoes while carrying a black duffel bag People claimed on Monday that Jennifer was with Ben on Sunday. The diva, 55, had earlier taken Samuel, the 12-year-old son he shares with ex-wife Jennifer Garner, shopping at the Century City Mall, and was dropping the child off before she entered the home. A source has told the site that she likes to keep in touch with Ben's children after living with them at their Bel Air mansion which is now on the market for $68M. The former Fly Girl has already been seen a few times with his daughter Violet. Affleck and Garner also have Serpahina, who goes by Fin. This comes after fans claimed that Jenny was sending a secret message to Ben. Over the weekend, Lopez shared a post to Instagram where she played a remix of her 1999 song If You Had My Love. In the song she warns a man she won't tolerate him cheating on her. Ben Affleck got a visitor to his new Los Angeles rental on Sunday. The Oscar-winning star spent time with estranged wife Jennifer Lopez, People claimed on Monday. Seen July 25 in NYC The clip was to promote her cocktail Delola. She looked beautiful in a yellow and white striped tank top while by the swimming pool of her Los Angeles mansion she is trying to sell. And she also had her wedding rings from Ben on. 'Slush summer crush,' her caption read. But her choice of music for the post was suspect. Fans think this was meant for Ben as the lyrics bring up skepticism about a potential relationship. 'Is this song for Ben???' asked one follower. In the song she croons: 'If you had my love, And I gave you all my trust, Would you comfort me? And if somehow you knew, That your love would be untrue, Would you lie to me? And call me baby. Some outlets have claimed that they are waiting for the release of their film Unstoppable - which comes out next month - before they will announce the end of their marriage. Jennifer is seen right with Jharrel Jerome Others have suggested they want to hold off until their two year wedding anniversary - which falls on August 20 - to break the unfortunate news 'Now if I give you me, This is how it's got to be, First of all, I won't take you cheating on me, Tell me who can I trust, If I can't trust in you, And I refuse to let you play me for a fool, You said that we, Could possibly, Spend eternity, See that's what you told me. 'That's what you said, But if you want me, You have to be, Fulfilling all my dreams, If you really want me, babe.' The song was first released in 1999, which was three years before she met Ben on the set of their movie Gigli. They became engaged then famously split before their nuptials. Last week it was claimed JLo's inner circle doesn't like Ben. That includes Jennifer's longtime manager Benny Medina, a source told Page Six. 'The two of them cant stand each other. They dont get along and theres still bad blood,' they claimed. Benny had worked with Jennifer during many of her early success, but their working relationship came to an end in 2003. This comes after Lopez shared a post to Instagram where she played a remix of her 1999 song If You Had My Love which warns a man she won't tolerate him cheating on her Multiple sources reportedly said that Affleck played a role in Lopez's decision to ditch Medina. However, she brought Benny back into the fold as her manager just a few years after she and the Armageddon star had called off their engagement in 2004. Since then, he has continued to be one of her closest advisors, and she has been seen spending time with him while staying out in the Hamptons away from Ben, who remained in Los Angeles. A different source told Page Six that Benny tried to keep his 'mouth shut' for a more diplomatic approach to Jennifer's second romance with Ben. 'His attitude was, "Im gonna say nothing." [There] was no, "Good for you," but also, [he] wasnt negative,' they claimed. The source said there was no point in protesting, as he was allegedly convinced that Jennifer would marry Ben regardless of his input. Another person whose ties to Jennifer were temporarily severed amid her relationship with Ben was her good friend Leah Remini, though the Gone Girl star doesn't appear to have played a direct roll in that friendship ending. Sources who spoke to Page Six claimed some of her inner circle have had bone to pick with Affleck going back to their first relationship in the early 2000s; seen in January They first dated 20 years ago; seen holding hands while filming her new music video at Barefoot restaurant in Beverly Hills in 2002 It was previously reported that Jennifer had iced out Leah and even refused to invite her to her wedding after the King Of Queens star urged her to consider whether the aspects of Ben that allegedly caused them to split the first time were still a factor. But the former friends managed to move on from their disagreement earlier this year, and Leah was reported to have spent time with Jennifer and comforted her amid her alleged marital issues with Ben. According to the second source, 'No one, except [Lopezs] mother, likes Ben Affleck. Hes a triple-A a**hole.' As evidence, they pointed to recent reports that Affleck has allegedly been delaying a divorce filing in hopes of not Jennifer. But insider previously told the publication that it was much too late for that, and that Jennifer was already 'humiliated' after Ben 'initiated getting back together' in a relationship that only lasted such a short time. 'This was definitely not on her bingo card,' the second source said. 'She wouldve scratched someones eyes out if they told her [theyre] splitting up less than two years in.' Katie Piper looked incredible as she wore a green bikini in Spain on Tuesday. The Loose Women panellist, 40, has been enjoying a holiday in the sun for the past week and took to social media to post a video wearing the tiny two-piece Katie suffered major injuries and blindness in one eye after she was attacked with acid by her ex-boyfriend Daniel Lynch and accomplice Stefan Sylvestre in 2008. In her new post, she explained how, as a burns survivor, she manages to look after her skin in the intense heat. She said: 'I've been in holiday all week, and it's been factor 30 on the body. 50 on the face. Life of a burns survivor. Katie Piper looked incredible as she wore a green bikini in Spain on Tuesday Katie suffered major injuries and blindness in one eye after she was attacked with acid by her ex-boyfriend Daniel Lynch and accomplice Stefan Sylvestre in 2008 'Everywhere that is not burned is a nice golden brown, I'm gonna have to do some serious fake tan so the curtains match the cuffs!' The Katie Piper's Breakfast Show host also donned a visor across her face, and revealed that she was inspired to do so by her Loose Women co-star Olivia Attwood. She said: 'So here's my secret, although I wanna say it's not my secret, I stole this off Olivia Attwood. I saw this on her Stories. 'Check it out. Full-blown beekeeper, factor 50. So, underneath, I've got my La Roche Posay Invisible Fluid, SPF50. 'And then I saw Olivia wear this on holiday, so I bought one. And it hasn't left my face for the whole week in Spain!' The TV star has endured a number of operations since her horrific attack and in December 2023, she revealed that she was forced to have her eye sewn shut to allow it to heal. Katie told her fellow Loose Women panellists: 'I had a planned procedure called a tarsorrhaphy, which is a semi-permanent closure of the eye. So, it's an operation done in theatre and your eye is sort of fully or partially stitched up. The TV star was clearly impressed with the handy accessory as she noted she hadn't really taken it off her entire trip The Katie Piper's Breakfast Show host also donned a visor across her face, and revealed that she was inspired to do so by her Loose Women co-star Olivia Attwood Katie joined the panel of Loose Women in July 2021, and Olivia started appearing on the show last year Traumatic: Katie Piper (pictured left in 2009 and right in 2022) was left with horrific injuries after Stefan Sylvestre, then 19, threw acid at her in 2008 'Some people might be familiar with it, you normally see it when somebody has some kind of disease of the cornea. And closing the eye gives it the optimum environment for it to heal.' 'So, I've had quite a lot of problems with my eye in the last year-and-a-half. I don't like to go on about it, because there's always somebody worse off!' Katie's ex Daniel was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 16 years for the violence inflicted on Katie when she was just 24 years old. She filmed a documentary titled Katie: My Beautiful Face which charted her life after the attack, released her memoir in 2011 and also started up the Katie Piper Foundation to help other burns survivors. Bianca Censori was joined by her sister in modeling sultry looks on social media on Monday. The model, 29, best known as the wife of controversial rapper Kanye West, 47, donned one of the sexy looks she has become known for wearing while out in public. A day prior she was caught on video dancing suggestively with female partygoer at West's listening party for his new album Vultures 2 in Los Angeles. The trained architect pulled her dark hair back into a bun and displayed her firm derriere in a solo shot. Her younger sister Angelina followed suit, wearing a tight fitting beige top with a high neckline paired with a beige and taupe Miu Miu boy short panties with black knee high boots. Bianca Censori, 29, and her sister Angelina, showcased their curves in skimpy looks for Kanye West's Vultures 2 listening party over the weekend Her long, dark hair was styled in loose curls and her makeup looked natural with a soft red lip. Angelina posted the snaps on social media using only a yellow bird emoji and white heart emoji for explanation Monday after attending a listening party for West's new album Vultures 2 over the weekend. The party featured some new tracks including Cash Cow, featuring Skepta, according to Hype Beast. Other songs includes TAKE OFF YOUR DRESS, BELIEVER, and DRUNK featuring Kodak Black and Peso Pluma. Another song feature's former sister-in-law Kylie Jenner's ex, Travis Scott on CAN U BE. The album, which was released August 2, is the second in a series of three and has received mixed reviews. 'For every clever detail the degraded voice sample in Lifestyle theres a mindless one, such as the sampling of Portisheads Machine Gun on boring posse cut Field Trip, which muddies the beat,' wrote Ben Beaumont-Thomas of The Guardian. Rolling Stone's Mosi Reeves declared 'Vultures 2 feels like second helpings of a memorably distasteful meal.' Bianca wore a taupe sating top with slashes across the bust and ruched torso with a pair of matching lacy thong panties and black Mary Jane mule pumps The sisters posed with their pal Serafina V in another sexy snap on social media While taking a moment for themselves, the sisters posed with their pal Serafina V in another sexy snap on social media. Their friend looked relaxed displaying her tattoos in a black tank top and a pair of loose fitting jeans. Angelina put her hand on Serafina's bottom to add some spice to the scene. The photos were met with the reaction the sisters seemed intent on receiving. Comments included 'gorgeous girls,' and 'breaking the internet.' Their mom, Alexandra, added her own take, calling her daughters, 'My beautiful girls ' At the listening party, Bianca was seen putting on a show for her husband of nearly two years by dancing suggestively with another woman while the rapper acted as DJ. Vultures 2, which was released August 2, is the second in a series of three and has received mixed reviews (Pictured in Inglewood, CA in March) Bianca's clothing choices and behavior have been cause for concern. An insider told Daily Mail her 'friends fear she is drinking to cope with the fact that she is stuck in his dark world and sees no way out... It is deeply concerning' (Pictured in Milan in February) Many of her often sheer outfits and some outlandish behavior have gotten the couple in trouble. An extended trip in Italy in 2023 prompted some calls for the pair to be arrested for 'indecent exposure,' especially after a suggestive taxi ride in Venice in which the couple were believed to have oral sex. Fears for Bianca's well-being were recently fueled after Kanye's ex-chief of staff made a slew of allegations against the rapper in a bombshell affidavit filed with the California Dental Board in which he claimed the musician is addicted to nitrous oxide or 'laughing gas' having allegedly been supplied with the neurotoxin by his dentist, Thomas P. Connelly. The rapper has vehemently denied the claim, but 'Friends fear [Bianca] is drinking to cope with the fact that she is stuck in his dark world and sees no way out,' an insider told Daily Mail exclusively. 'She was never like this before. It is deeply concerning.' 'It is clear to everyone who knows Bianca that she is in over her head right now,' the source claimed. Katie Holmes stepped out for a stroll in Manhattan on Tuesday with wet hair while clad in a white cardigan over a grey t-shirt, blue Carpenter jeans, and black ballet flats. It was the same day the 45-year-old Dawson's Creek alum made rare comments about her daughter Suri Cruise gearing up to move into her dorm at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA on August 17. 'I'm proud of my daughter. Of course, I will miss the close proximity, but I'm really proud of her and I'm happy,' Katie gushed in her Town & Country cover story. 'I remember being this age, this time of beginnings. It's exciting to learn about yourself, and I loved that time, so it makes me happy to think about it like that.' Holmes received her final child support payment of $33K from ex-husband Tom Cruise after Suri became a legal adult at 18 on April 18, but he agreed to continue paying for her tuition, medical, dental, and insurance expenses. Katie Holmes stepped out for a stroll in Manhattan on Tuesday with wet hair while clad in a white cardigan over a grey t-shirt, blue Carpenter jeans, and black ballet flats It was the same day the 45-year-old Dawson's Creek alum made rare comments about her daughter Suri Cruise (R) gearing up to move into her dorm at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA on August 17 The 62-year-old Olympics Closing Ceremony action star hasn't been pictured with his youngest child since ending his six-year marriage in 2012 to the Ohio-born beauty, who receives no spousal support. Tom has had 'no part' in Suri's life, and some speculate his alleged estrangement has to do with the mother-daughter duo 'disavowing the Church of Scientology' and devotees don't associate with SPs (suppressive people). Cruise is also father to two adult children - Isabella Jane Cruise, 31; and Connor Antony Cruise, 29 - from his decade-long marriage to ex-wife #2 Nicole Kidman, which ended in 2001. Katie - who dated the four-time Oscar nominee's Collateral co-star Jamie Foxx from 2013-2019 - has been single since ending her eight-month romance with bass player Bobby Wooten III in 2022. On Monday, Holmes coordinated with her Our Town co-star Zoey Deutch in matching mustard tops ahead of their mother-daughter roles as Myrtle Webb and Emily Webb alongside castmates Ephraim Sykes and Richard Thomas in the Broadway revival of Thornton Wilder's 1938 Pulitzer Prize-winning play. The Rare Objects director-star bonded with co-star Jim Parsons - who plays the stage manager - as they made a pilgrimage to New Hampshire to see landmarks that inspired fictional Grover's Corners. The 28-strong, multi-racial cast then performed their first read-thru lead by director Kenny Leon, who gushed to T&C: 'People don't realize Katie's breadth and wealth of talent...She can play love, envy. I just want the presence that is Katie Holmes on stage.' 'This play is important after what we've all been going through,' Holmes said of the COVID-19 pandemic. Katie gushed in her Town & Country cover story: 'I'm proud of my daughter. Of course, I will miss the close proximity, but I'm really proud of her and I'm happy. I remember being this age, this time of beginnings. It's exciting to learn about yourself, and I loved that time, so it makes me happy to think about it like that' Holmes received her final child support payment of $33K from ex-husband Tom Cruise (pictured Sunday) after Suri became a legal adult at 18 on April 18, but he agreed to continue paying for her tuition, medical, dental, and insurance expenses The 62-year-old Olympics Closing Ceremony action star hasn't been pictured with his youngest child since ending his six-year marriage in 2012 to the Ohio-born beauty, who receives no spousal support On Monday, Katie coordinated with her Our Town co-star Zoey Deutch (L) in matching mustard tops ahead of their mother-daughter roles as Myrtle Webb and Emily Webb alongside castmates Ephraim Sykes (2-L) and Richard Thomas (2-R) in the Broadway revival of Thornton Wilder's 1938 Pulitzer Prize-winning play Holmes bonded with co-star Jim Parsons (R) - who plays the stage manager - as they made a pilgrimage to New Hampshire to see landmarks that inspired fictional Grover's Corners The 28-strong, multi-racial cast then performed their first read-thru lead by director Kenny Leon, who gushed to T&C: 'People don't realize Katie's breadth and wealth of talent...She can play love, envy. I just want the presence that is Katie Holmes on stage' 'This play is important after what we've all been going through,' The Rare Objects director-star said of the COVID-19 pandemic Previews of the strictly-limited engagement begin September 17 at the Barrymore Theatre in Midtown Manhattan and Our Town officially opens October 10. It marks the Alone Together director-star's first professional acting gig since playing movie star Julia Cheever in Roundabout Theatre Company's off-Broadway play Wanderers, which ran from January 26, 2023April 2, 2023 at the Laura Pels Theatre in Manhattan. Katie also previously starred in two prior Broadway productions for The Shubert Organization - Arthur Miller's All My Sons at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre in 2008-2009 and Theresa Rebeck's comedy Dead Accounts at the Music Box Theatre in 2012-2013. Holmes is also penning several screenplays and signed on to star in Dito Montiel's thriller Captivated alongside Al Pacino, and she'll guest star in the second season of Peacock's murder mystery Poker Face lead by Natasha Lyonne. Freddie Brazier is still 'trying to figure out' what he wants to do. The 19 year old son of Big Brother legend Jade Goody - who died of cancer in 2009 aged 27 - and her former partner Jeff Brazier, 45, joins his dad on the new series of Celebrity Race Across The World. But the teenager - whose brother Bobby, 21, stars in EastEnders and last year reached the final of Strictly Come Dancing - admitted that he is not quite sure what his future holds just yet. He said: 'Right now Im figuring out what Im going to do with my life. 'I think thats quite tough. Who is Freddie Brazier? I dont know, but I hope the race will help me find who I am'. Just after the full lineup was revealed , Freddie revealed when asked if he was looking forward to the series that he was excited for the rare chance to spend time with his dad The 19 year old son of Big Brother legend Jade Goody and her former partner Jeff Brazier , 45, joins his dad on the new series of Celebrity Race Across The World On the opening episode of the show, Jeff admitted that he was most looking forward to getting to spend some time with his son as they join a host of other famous faces on the reality travel show. He said: The thing Im most looking forward to is I feel like Im going to learn a lot more about my son. 'He isnt at home loads and as a result I dont see loads of him, but the beauty of this trip is that hes with me and he cant shake me off'. But Jeff also joked that Freddie is 'not the best decision maker' as he recounted to his son on camera that he had gone off to meet a girl instead of packing for their trip. He said: 'One of those moments was last night when you should have been packing for our trip but instead you travelled to see a girl in. 'Classic Fred.' Just after the full lineup was revealed, Freddie revealed when asked if he was looking forward to the series that he was excited for the rare chance to spend time with his dad. Just after the full lineup was revealed , Freddie revealed when asked if he was looking forward to the series that he was excited for the rare chance to spend time with his dad. Jeff admitted that he was most looking forward to getting to spend some time with his son as they join a host of other famous faces on the reality travel show. Since he appeared on Shipwrecked in 2001, Jeff has become a familiar face on TV and regularly appears on Loose Women and This Morning Freddie's older brother Bobby (left) stars on EastEnders and last year reached the final of Strictly Come Dancing He said: '100%. It'll be nice to spend that time with Dad, just me and my dad. 'Dads got a busy life, he works a lot and there arent loads of times where we've done stuff just the two of us. 'But when we do Im really lucky whether it's going to the cinema, going to the driving range, its all good. The famous faces will say goodbye to lavish transport, smartphones and bank cards and instead must rely on their skills, cunning and ingenuity as well as the kindness of strangers. Strictly bosses are reportedly worried that they could face criticism as part of the bullying probe which is currently underway. An investigation was launched after several celebrities including Amanda Abbington and Zara McDermott sparked abuse and bullying scandals on the family show. And now as the report is understood to be nearing its completion, the probe is looking further than just Sherlock actress Amanda's claims against pro Giovanni Pernice. The probe is also looking at how staff dealt with the situation and whether concerns were adequately escalated, reports The Mirror. A source told the publication: 'The probe will look at whether producers heeded the warnings that someone may have been struggling and what was done about it. Strictly bosses are reportedly worried that they could face criticism as part of the bullying probe which is currently underway (Amanda Abbington seen) An investigation was launched after several celebrities including Amanda Abbington (seen) and Zara McDermott sparked abuse and bullying scandals on the family show 'It's difficult to see how the BBC can emerge from this without any blame whatsoever but time will tell. There are always learnings from things like this.' The BBC has been contacted by MailOnline for comment. It comes after it was reported that Amanda recently handed over more texts with fresh revelations over Giovanni's behaviour on Strictly. It has been claimed the dramatic intervention has thrown the BBC investigation into professional Giovanni's behaviour into chaos and has 'changed the course of the probe'. It was thought at the time they related to messages between her and Giovanni. But The Mirror is now claiming that it relates to messages between her and 'third parties' and that Giovanni 'would be unaware of the contents'. It came after her co-star on the show Krishnan Guru-Murthy said he set up a WhatsApp group for the cohort where people would share their struggles in training. The Sun reported earlier this week that Amanda has come forward with new bombshell messages just as the probe was about to conclude which reportedly show that Giovanni did 'step over the line of what is acceptable'. And now as the report is understood to be nearing its completion, the probe is looking further than just Sherlock actress Amanda's claims against pro Giovanni Pernice The probe is also looking at how staff dealt with the situation and whether concerns were adequately escalated, reports The Mirror Pro Graziano Di Prima, 30, was axed from the upcoming series over reports he verbally and physically abused his celebrity partner Zara McDermott, 27, during last year's competition BBC Director General Tim Davie is seen A source has told the publication of the new disclosures: 'The investigation is set to conclude this week but it has been made more difficult by the new disclosure from Amanda. 'It has turned the course of the probe. It seemed Giovanni would be cleared but this new information has changed everything again. 'Giovanni, it seems now, did appear to step over the line of what is acceptable for a BBC representative but more discussions need to be had. 'Every time they seem to reach a conclusion, something else gets thrown in that throws the investigation in a new direction.' The BBC has been contacted by MailOnline for comment. It came after earlier this week Amanda was reportedly questioned by BBC bosses for a second time about 'crude comments' she claimed were made by Giovanni. She is said to have been quizzed via video call last week as she sat down with two ex-Met detectives to discuss her allegations about the professional dancer, 33. They reportedly discussed claims of sexual comments during rehearsals, as well as 'new evidence'. Giovanni has denied all allegations made against him. MailOnline contacted representatives for Amanda, Giovanni, and The BBC for comment. Amanda has made a series of accusations about Giovanni's teaching methods and has described his behaviour as 'unnecessary, abusive, cruel and mean'. He strongly denies all of the claims. In one interview, Amanda compared the dance show to 'the trenches' telling Channel 4 News that BBC producers had been left 'horrified' by clips that also allegedly exhibited 'humiliating behaviour of a sexual nature'. In another, where she spoke to Christine Lampard on Lorraine, she said: 'It was inappropriate, it was mean, it was nasty, it was bullying and I put up with it for five, six weeks. 'It started very early on and when it started to happen I would shut down because I recognised those red flags. 'And so I would shut down and it would be difficult to get in, and that would be a self-fulfilling prophecy.' Talking about her schedule on the show, she said: 'I was going into the rehearsal room every day. I've been in rehearsal rooms for 32 years. 'I know what rehearsal rooms are supposed to be like. 'I don't care what background you're from whether it's dancing, acting, singing you have a duty of care to bring into that rehearsal room compassion, understanding, sensitivity and kindness. 'And that wasn't extended to me (at Strictly). And so I just said I don't think this is right.' The update came just after police visited the home of Amanda, as an investigation into a chilling death threat sent to the actress continues. Met detectives were alerted on Friday afternoon to a threatening email sent to the north London theatre where Amanda is performing. The actress is starring in new play When It Happens To You at the Park Theatre in Finsbury. The frightening email warned 'she should be prepared to die onstage' unless she withdrew her complaint about former Strictly partner Giovanni. Park Theatre quickly alerted the force who are taking the threat 'very seriously' and are working to 'unmask' the person who sent it. The Sherlock actress has now been interviewed by officers twice and her home she shares with fiance Jonathan Goodwin was visited by police. Although the Met Police have not formally identified anyone involved in the investigation, a spokesman confirmed that officers were called to a theatre in Finsbury Park 'following receipt of an alleged malicious communication.' The spokesman continued: 'There have been no arrests, enquiries are ongoing.' In one interview, Amanda compared the dance show to 'the trenches' telling Channel 4 News that BBC producers had been left 'horrified' by clips that also allegedly exhibited 'humiliating behaviour of a sexual nature' Giovanni, 33, was suspended while a BBC probe is underway over allegations made by Amanda and two other former celebrity partners (pictured in June) A source close to the investigation told MailOnline: 'Specialist officers have been looking at the email closely over the last 72 hours, and now believe they are close to identifying where it was sent from. 'They are liaising with another force on this now. This, in turn, they hope will go on to lead them to the person behind the threat. 'Officers have told Amanda they will do all they can to find out who the person is behind the email. 'They are treating it as a very serious and very credible threat and want to unmask the person behind it.' Kylie Jenner has become the first Kardashian-Jenner to grace the cover of British Vogue. The reality star, 27, has previously appeared in Vogue Czechoslovakia and in a Hong Kong issue, but has now followed in the footsteps of Rihanna, Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell by appearing on British Vogue's September cover. Kylie looked incredible on the cover in a purple satin thigh-split gown and discussed 'finally finding her feet' in the fashion industry after devoting her 20s to motherhood. The mother-of-two explained: 'I feel like I'm finally finding my fashion feet. 'I feel like I've been in full mommy mode in my early 20s, [so] just to do something more for me after I had my son... Kylie Jenner has become the first Kardashian-Jenner to grace the cover of British Vogue The reality star, 27, has previously appeared in Vogue Czechoslovakia and in a Hong Kong issue, but has now followed in the footsteps of Rihanna , Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell by appearing on British Vogue's September cover 'I've been way more into the fashion world and fashion week, and it's been so much fun. I'm like, 'Why didn't I do this sooner?' Every time I go to Paris things just happen. I love the fast pace. It's a whole new world.' All of the Kardashian-Jenner Vogue covers: Kendall has been on the cover of Vogue many times since she started working as professional model in her teens Kylie has appeared on the cover of several editions of Vogue like Czechoslovakia and Hong Kong Kim posed with Kanye West and has posed alone as well. Her most recent Vogue US cover was in March 2022 Kourtney was on Vogue Arabia and Mexico Advertisement During the stunning shoot, Kylie showed off her toned figure in a plunging white bodysuit and a brown mesh mini dress. In another adorable snap, Kylie was joined by her daughter Stormi and son Aire Webster, who she shares with her ex-partner Travis Scott. On her relationship with herself after having her daughter, Stormi: 'I have this daughter and I just want the best for her and I want her to just love herself unconditionally. It's taught me so much.' Speaking more on parenthood, she added: 'I was 19 when I got pregnant, 20 when I had her. 'Looking back at it, I give myself more empathy and grace. But when I was a teenager, even my family were like, "You arent that young." I think maybe I carried myself [a certain way] or Id already been working for 10 years. It didnt hit me [straight away]. But it was a huge life change. 'No matter what Im going through or what I look like or what the internet writes about me that day, I come home and my kids just love me unconditionally. Theyre just obsessed with me and thats taught me to walk through life a little easier. 'Im like, "OK, well I have these little humans at home that need me and love me and think Im the most perfect person in the world, so I dont really need validation from outside sources."' Kylie was joined by her daughter Stormi and son Aire Webster, who she shares with her ex-partner Travis Scott The mother-of-two explained: 'I feel like I'm finally finding my fashion feet. I feel like I've been in full mommy mode in my early 20s, [so] just to do something more for me after I had my son...' Kylie's sister's - except for Khloe - and their momager Kris have all appeared on the front of the fashion bible, but not the British version 'Im like, "OK, well I have these little humans at home that need me and love me and think Im the most perfect person in the world, so I dont really need validation from outside sources."' 'I'm 26 and I have a first-grader. I'm going to be 40 with a 20-year-old,' she cries, then adds: 'And we're going to be best friends.' Kylie's sister's - except for Khloe - and their momager Kris have all appeared on the front of the fashion bible, but not the British version. Kendall has been on the cover of Vogue many times since she started working as professional model in her teens. Kim posed with Kanye West and has posed alone as well; her most recent Vogue US cover was in March 2022. And Kourtney was on Vogue Arabia and Mexico. Khloe has yet to appear on the cover of Vogue, but she has fronted several other publications such as Cosmopolitan, Shape and Health. Kylie is the youngest and richest of the entire Kardashian-Jenner family. She started her make up line in 2015 by selling $29 lipstick kits Kylie is the youngest and richest of the entire Kardashian-Jenner family. She famously made it onto the billionaires list in March 2019 and in 2020 became Forbes youngest 'self-made' billionaire for the second year in a row. She started her make up line in 2015 by selling $29 lipstick kits. Then in November last year, she sold off 51% of her Kylie Cosmetics brand to beauty brand Coty Inc. for $600 million. The deal, which closed in January, means her business is now valued at around $1.2 billion. She still solely owns the other 49 percent stake. The site also reveals that money from the sale means she is one of just 2,095 people in the world with a a fortune of ten digits. Rochelle Humes looked radiant in a slew of sizzling social media snaps on Monday from her recent trip to Ibiza. In one racy image, the This Morning host, 35, showcased her dropping figure in a skimpy orange bikini. She later covered up in a colourful mesh dress, teamed with a pair of oversized earrings, chic shades and a designer pink handbag. Rochelle later posed for a loved-up selfie with husband Marvin Humes, 39, who she wed in 2012, during the lavish yacht trip. The couple enjoyed a rare break from their beloved children Alaia-May, 11, Valentina, seven, and Blake, three. Rochelle Humes looked radiant in a slew of sizzling social media snaps on Monday from her recent trip to Ibiza In one racy image, the This Morning host, 35, showcased her dropping figure in a skimpy orange bikini Rochelle and Marvin celebrated their 12th anniversary and 'almost 15 years together' in July. Rochelle and Marvin were in Ibiza to celebrate her little sister Lili Piper's 29th birthday. Later in the evening, the group hit the town, with Rochelle putting on a very leggy display in a white satin mini dress. Another night, Rochelle showcased her sensational style in a black leather corset, which she wore over a green mesh dress. Lily shared a number of photos to her Instagram page of her fun-filled weekend, but her younger sister Sophie Piper did not feature. The birthday girl stunned in one snap which saw her stand to the side in a tiny off-white crop top and matching maxi skirt. In another, Lili sat still on a speedboat as her hair whipped around her and she looked glamorous in a green pair of Prada sunglasses. She took a final selfie with Rochelle in which they both wore straw cowboy hats emblazoned with the letter 'B'. She later covered up in a colourful mesh dress, teamed with a pair of oversized earrings, chic shades and a designer pink handbag Rochelle opted for a soft glam makeup look and styled her raven tresses straight Rochelle later posed for a loved-up selfie with husband Marvin Humes, 39, who she wed in 2012, during the lavish yacht trip The couple enjoyed a rare break from their beloved children Alaia-May, 11, Valentina, seven, and Blake, three (pictured) Later in the evening, the group hit the town, with Rochelle putting on a very leggy display in a white satin mini dress Another night, Rochelle showcased her sensational style in a black leather corset, which she wore over a green mesh dress Lili captioned her post '48 hours in Ibiza' and Rochelle commented: 'Blessed with the best!! I love you so much '. Meanwhile, MIA Sophie wrote: 'Birthday queen' followed by a fire emoji. Rochelle was raised by her white mother Roz, in a council house in Barking, East London, after her Jamaican-born father Mark Piper left when she was a baby. When she was younger, Rochelle felt 'embarrassed' about being a mixed-race child in an all-white family. 'Me and my sister looked completely different she is white and I am half-black,' she has said in the past. 'I used to feel I had to explain everything: 'This is my sister. I know we don't look alike.' 'I'd come with this whole disclaimer defending what people saw because I was worried people would think: 'Oh, what's going on there then?' She has since built a relationship with her three grown-up half-siblings, Sophie, Lili and Jake, describing them as 'one big blended family'. Rochelle stunned in a selfie shared to Instagram as she celebrated her little sister Lili Piper's 29th birthday with her in Ibiza Lily shared a number of photos to her Instagram page of her fun-filled birthday weekend, but her younger sister Sophie Piper did not feature In another, Lili sat still on a speedboat as her hair whipped around her and she looked glamorous in a green pair of Prada sunglasses But she still doesn't speak to her father, although she insists she has forgiven him, and he doesn't know his grandchildren: 'He hasn't ever reached out to me and I haven't reached out to him.' At 12-years-old she was catapulted into the spotlight, performing as one-eighth of S Club Juniors the all-singing-all-dancing spin-off act from pop group S Club 7. The band, whose members ranged in age from ten to 13, were chosen from thousands of hopefuls through rigorous auditions on a 2001 TV series, and released a series of wholesome, catchy pop hits before disbanding in 2004. She later joined The Saurdays in 2007 before the band went their separate ways to focus on their solo careers. Alinas attacked, Dee-Dee rumbles Joel, and Toyahs sex secret is out. 1. Unhappy families for Tyrone Alina pays a visit to Tyrone and Fiz with little Dorin. While Ruby loves the idea of her new brother, Hope wants nothing to do with him. When Alina starts receiving menacing calls she fears are from the traffickers, Ty worries that its really Hope who is to blame. 2. Dee-Dee works things out Dee-Dee turns detective as she heads to the jewellers where Joel claims he bought the bracelet for his daughter. Once there, she comes to a shocking conclusion and heads off to visit Lauren at the hospital. When Lauren reveals that shes moving to Belfast, its clear Dee-Dee has made a connection. She follows Joel and is soon demanding the truth from her evil fiance. 3. Toyahs secret shame revealed Toyah realises that Nick has told David about their fling and is left embarrassed to have it out in the open. Nick and Toyah agree to try and keep their distance, however its Nick whos by Toyahs side when she attends her hospital appointment hoping for good news. 4. Beth in a quandary Fiz and Kirk wonder why Beth quit her job at the factory, as she heads off to a job interview. With Craig and Beth estranged since he uncovered her t-shirt racket, Kirk begs Craig to give his mum another chance. Craig, in turn, urges Beth to tell Kirk the truth about what happened. 5. Fizs fears for the future Kirk is left fuming when she discovers that Ty paid Adam for a consultation to find out where he stands with Dorin but kept it a secret from her. Fiz is further horrified when Tyrone reveals that he would like Alina and Dorin to move to Weatherfield, worried that Ty spending time with his ex could reignite their passion. 6. Amy chucks in the towel Rowan turns on the charm, telling Amy that its still not too late to invest in the new resource centre. Fed up with being left alone to run the bistro, Amy tells Nick she should have listened to Rowan in the first place and is quitting her job. Rowans delighted by the news and soon arranges an upload session for Amy. 7. Joels women get together Dee-Dee summons Joels ex-wife Emily to the solicitors office. She knows they have to have a difficult chat and braces herself as Emily arrives. But what does Dee-Dee have to tell her and how will Emily react? 8. Sarah gets a grilling DS Swain hauls Sarah in for questioning, accusing her of planting Laurens DNA in Nathans van. Sarah denies it, but Swain is not the only one who is suspicious. Daniel later tells Daisy that he doesnt trust Kit and theres something that doesnt sit right for him about Nathans conviction. 9. Terror for Alina Alina arrives at Fiz and Tyrones, explaining she is worried that she is being watched. As shes later getting ready to head to court to make her testimony, Alina is confronted by a thug who barges into her room. He threatens Alina, ordering her not to give evidence, but will Alina do as he says? Juniors love secret is revealed, Teddy moves in to infamous No1, Albert Square and Sonia and Reiss are arrested on suspicion of killing Debbie 1. Reiss is on borrowed time Reiss is a nervous wreck as he knows Phil's deadline has arrived. Hoping to escape the heat, he tries to convince Sonia to leave Albert Square for a day, but she refuses. Sonia is touched when Kathy, who has returned from the USA, offers to throw her and Reiss an engagement party. Later, Phil turns up on the doorstep in a fury and Reiss is forced to tell Sonia that he is supposed to pay him back today but can't do it. 2. Cindys shock at Juniors girlfriend George and Gina are both curious to find out who Juniors mystery woman is, and Cindy spots Gina trying to break into Junior's phone. Gina admits what she's up to and Cindy quickly relays the news to Junior. Later, Cindy is left angry when Junior fails to show up for one of their secret meetups. Things get worse for Cindy when she walks into the Queen Vic to find George introducing an attractive blonde named Maxine to his family. 3. Teddy makes a deal With Phil raging at Reiss, Sharon and Teddy manage to cool down the situation. Sonia buys her and Reiss some time by pleading with Sharon to help with Phil. However, with Teddy having taken in the situation, he decides to buy the debt from Phil. Teddy tells a shocked Reiss the news, and they shake on the deal. While Reiss is grateful, he cant help but worry that its all too good to be true. 4. Martin is quizzed Sonia is shocked when Sharon lets slip that Teddy has taken on Reiss debt from Phil. At their eight-week viability scan, Sonia scolds Reiss feeling that its madness to make this sort of deal with someone they barely know. When they arrive back on the Square, Martin warns Reiss that the police have been at the cafe asking questions about him and Debbie. 5. Arrested for murder! The pressure building, Reiss has a panic attack and Sonia has to calm him down. Later things look brighter when they arrive at their engagement party to find their family and friends in a celebratory mood. However, the good times dont last for long as the police arrive and arrest both Sonia and Reiss for Debbie's murder. 6. Cindy gets clingy Junior explains to Cindy that he only took Maxine on a date to put George and Gina off the scent. However, Cindy is still furious about it, and things get worse when she hears Gina gossiping that Junior slept with Maxine. Cindy gives Junior an ultimatum if he's with her, he can't be with anybody else. 7. Question time for Sonia and Reiss As the Square gossips over the arrest, a shocked Sonia and Reiss are both questioned by detectives. They are shocked to discover that the police have physical evidence which points to the fact that Debbie was murdered. Are they both heading to jail? 8. The Mitchells move in Teddy has bought no.1 for him and his family. Billy and Honey fill him in on Gray killing both Tina and Chantelle in the house. Teddy is unfazed by the grisly history, but Harry makes a remark that makes Chelsea furious. Teddy forces Harry to apologise and reminds his son of the trouble they've left behind and that they need to make friends. 9. Teddys surprise for Chelsea Teddy throws a housewarming party and gets on a charm offensive as he hands out invites, winning Chelsea over in the process. At the party, Teddy reveals he insisted on a last-minute clause in his deal to buy Gray's house, and Chelsea is shocked when Teddy tells her what he has negotiated. 10. Blast from the past Later at the party, Harry sidles up to Teddy to tell him some news, informing his dad that 'you know who' has been sniffing around their old place and is trying to find out where they've gone. While Harry is clearly concerned. Teddy insists he's got everything under control. US banks closed nine locations across the country in just one week. The closures included branches of major banks such as Bank of America, Chase and Santander. The rest were closed by BMO, Hawaii National Bank, Nicolet and Valley. Scroll down for the full list with addresses. The closures, which spanned from Hawaii to New Jersey, were confirmed to the federal regulator between July 29 and August 4. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) monitors branch closures and openings and publishes them in a weekly bulletin. Santander was among the large banks that closed locations JP Morgan Chase also shuttered some of its branches Major banks are increasingly moving away from expensive brick-and-mortar branches in favor of online services. 'The majority of Americans, from Gen Z to boomers, are in less need of a traditional bank, which may explain the rising number of physical branches that have been closing over the past year' Andrew Murray, lead data researcher at GOBankingRates told DailyMail.com. A recent survey by GOBankingRates found that even seniors prefer online banking to in-branch services. Overall 78 percent of Americans prefer using mobile and online banking and almost one in four did not visit their bank in the past year. 'It's likely that overhead costs (rent, maintenance, supplies and staff salaries) are a large factor especially given that our survey shows how infrequently people visit brick and mortar banks,' Murray said. Indeed closures can lead to significant savings since the average freestanding bank branch costs around $2.6 million a year to run. US banks closed 539 branches in the first six months of the year US banks shut 539 branches in just the first half of the year, research by DailyMail.com shows. The worst hit state was California which saw 72 closures. New York was second with 51 closures, followed by Pennsylvania at 40. 'Over the last several years, we have rightsized our branch network, and we may continue to combine two older existing branches into one better situated location' Wells Fargo told DailyMail.com. 'Doing so does not take away the importance of our customers and the communities we serve.' US bank also highlighted clients' migration towards online banking and 'desire for greater simplicity' as reasons for their mass closures. 'As we evolve along with our clients, we are reevaluating our physical footprint, and in some instances, consolidating branch locations in select markets,' the bank said in a statement. The narrative of an American hand in political unrest in South Asia sells, even as the root cause of instability often lie with its own politicians The United States of America did not have a significant role in the run-up to the independence of the Indian subcontinent from the British Raj. Indeed, the Gadar Party started as a San Francisco-based anti-colonial organization, as did the New York-based India Home Rule League founded by Lala Lajpat Rai, but the Government of the USA had remained largely oblivious of the subcontinental developments. It was only in the post-World War 2 tensions between the competing blocs, when the Cold War started in earnest, that the USA went into overdrive to control the subcontinental narrative.To further its interest, the USA had backed military dictators in Pakistan, and undemocratic monarchies in Afghanistan and Nepal, while remaining decidedly hostile towards India. Washington DC tellingly overlooked the genocidal conduct of the Pakistani Generals in what later became, Bangladesh. Americans were instrumental in harnessing toxic religiosity by creating the Afghan mujahedeen, the curse of which continues to this date. Pakistan was a Major Non-NATO Ally and did most of its bidding in the region. The end of the Cold War with the implosion of the Soviet Union in the early 90s coincided with the rise of China as the new principal enemy. This led to a recalibration of allies and enemies, which eventually warranted a more pro-India outlook from Washington DC, even though an unnatural alliance with Pakistan persisted owing to the necessities of Afghanistan and tackling religio-terror. For a variety of reasons, including the continuing War on Terror in Afghanistan, the Middle East, and Iran, to now the latest Israel-Palestine War, perceptions of America within the Ummah (Islamic World), made it naturally unsavoury. This often makes the USA the prime suspect for anything that went wrong in Tehran, Kabul, Damascus, Islamabad to even Dhaka. Invariably the Americans are seen to be partaking in Samuel P Huntingtons Clash of the Civilisations, which seemingly pits the Americans as a force against the Ummah. America-bashing is a latent and potent undercurrent that is tapped by various political parties in the Islamic countries of the region like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Maldives or Bangladesh, even if the same is genuinely warranted or not. There is no denying that America has had an amoral past with many missteps and convenient overlooking of events, but it is equally true that many political parties have twisted and even extrapolated the same to suggest outsized agendas for Washington DC because they know that such a spiel feeds into the popular and basic instincts of their citizenry. In Pakistan, amidst the turf wars between the Military establishment and Imran Khans Tehreek-e-Insaaf government, the wily Imran Khan dialled up a phoney cypher controversy entailing a foreign power i.e., the USA. This move sought to conflate two enemies (one already imagined i.e., USA, and the other requiring some context i.e. Pakistani Military) to apportion a disproportionate role for the Americans, as it was safe and popular to do so. The Americans have historically had a say in Pakistani affairs, but the ouster of Imran Khan had more to do with the Pakistani establishment taking the initiative with Americans agreeing to the same, as opposed to the other way round. Today, realising his folly of having overplayed the America-hand storyline, Imran Khan has deftly redirected the attack onto his local political rivals as opposed to the Americans or even the Pakistani establishment, as done earlier. Now, after the self-created tinderbox-like situation and the subsequent implosion, Bangladeshs former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is believed to have drummed up the US hand in the recent coup. While it is true that Dhaka under Hasina had adopted a belligerent stance and even cosied up to its nemesis i.e., China, by accepting Beijings overtures Bangladesh was not Chinas bunny in the same way as Pakistan is, nor was it poised to go that way, either. It is true Hasina had declined the American request for a Military base in its Saint Martin Islands, but that was more out of good sense given the societal sentiments that prevailed and good local politics. The only thing that riled out Hasina was the routine concerns expressed by the USA that Hasina was increasingly undemocratic, intolerant and authoritarian (which she was) but other than these concerns, both Hasina and the Americans had a common enemy in religious-extremist forces that threatened the interests of both sides. Hasina also amplified her American rhetoric as it was without any accompanying risks and could endear her to Bangladeshi society, as the Ummah has been wounded by emotions of the Palestine war, and the tacit role of the USA. Hasinas purported accusation of the USA plotting regime change in Bangladesh (in her undelivered speech) needs to be read contextually. His supposed stance that shed be in power if she had given away, Saint Martin and Bay of Bengal, is more theatrical than factual as Bangladeshis (especially youth) had genuinely tired of her rule. If anything, the forces that have come to power reflect the sort of spirit and religious tenor that militates against American preferences. Hasinas exit has more to do with her hubris and excesses than with America working overtime to dislodge her. America is just a convenient (though often justified) enemy in Islamic countries and those who are inelegantly bumped out resort to blaming the USA hand on the rebound e.g., Pakistan earlier, Bangladesh now. (The writer, a military veteran, is a former Lt Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Puducherry. The views expressed are personal) Vinay Mohan Kwatra has assumed charge as India's Ambassador to the US here and vowed that he and his team will continue to work intensely to strengthen the crucial partnership. Kwatra, 61, who retired as India's Foreign Secretary on July 14, arrived here in the US capital on Monday. He succeeds Taranjit Singh Sandhu, who retired from the foreign service early this year and served as India's top diplomat in the US from 2020 to 2024. Privileged to assume charge as the Ambassador of India to the United States of America. Team @IndianEmbassyUS will continue to work intensely to strengthen this crucial partnership, Kwatra posted on X soon after assuming charge on Monday. Kwatra, who previously served as Minister of Commerce in the Indian Embassy here, was also India's Ambassador to France and Nepal, after which he was appointed as the Foreign Secretary in New Delhi. In a verdict welcomed by the medical fraternity which was fearing destruction of evidence by the State police in the brutal rape and murder of a resident doctor of RG Kar Medical College Hospital, Kolkata, in the medical colleges seminar hall, the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered a court- monitored probe by the CBI into the crime. Ironically, R G Kar Medical College Hospital was considered till a few years ago the best medical college in eastern India. The Bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya, hearing five public interest litigations (PIL) and a private plea, in its order directed the Kolkata Police to immediately hand over the case diary to the CBI official present in the court. Other related documents are to be handed over to the Central agency by 10 am on Wednesday. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had on Monday set the State police a deadline till Sunday to crack the case failing which, she warned, she would consider transferring the case to the Central agency. The agitators demanding justice for the 31-year-old victim, however, took the Chief Ministers decision with a pinch of salt wondering whether she was giving the police some extra bit of time to tamper with or destroy evidence. They also questioned her move to transfer Sandip Ghosh the principal of the RG Kar Medical College to the NRS Medical College. While passing the order, the court was particularly perturbed at the facts that the college authorities did not lodge any FIR and tried to let the crime pass as a suicide case whereas the police registered an unnatural death (UD) case, there was clearly something in it and some people (the authorities) were trying to protect which could not escape the High Court justices notice, Kaustav Bagchi, a BJP leader and a lawyer who is also one of the petitioners said. The post-graduate student who was sleeping inside the seminar hall at the medical college after completing 36-hours of work was on Friday morning found dead with her body in a semi-nude condition setting off massive protests by doctors across the State. Later, resident doctors in several cities in other States, too, joined the agitation for bringing the culprit/culprits to justice. Apparently, in a damage control exercise, the Kolkata Police immediately set up a special investigation team, and arrested one Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer. However, the resident doctors said there were other insiders with high connections involved in the crime. They also attacked the principal for calling him the fountainhead of everything that is bad and deplorable in the college. The court on its part wondered why the Health Department transferred Ghosh to the NRS Medical College within hours of his resigning from his post following intense public outcry. The judges directed the Health Department to force the principal to go on long leave which he did by the end of the day. The medical students across the State, including those of the RGKMCH, however, said they were not immediately calling off the cease work stir and would take a decision only after a general body meeting. Welcoming the court order, Bengal Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari said his next step would be to demand the resignation of the Health Minister Mamata who is also the Chief Minister. He said, The BJP MLAs will start a dharna at the State Assembly from tomorrow seeking her resignation because she had gone to the victims house not to express her sympathy but to manage her family this Ghosh who is a real racketeer and is close to Dr SP Das, the family physician of the Chief Minister, and so he does whatever he wants the principal and the TMC students union have held the college to ransom the situation is almost the same in other medical colleges of the State these are a den of corruption and everyone knows where the money goes so Mamata gave the principal a reward posting him elsewhere after he resigned. Uncertainty over who will hoist the national flag in the absence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, ended on Tuesday after Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena nominated Delhi Home Minister Kailash Gahlot to hoist the national flag at State Government function on Independence Day at Chhatrasaal Stadium. A controversy erupted with the jailed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal directing Cabinet member Atishi to do the same. Lieutenant Governor is pleased to nominate Minister (Home), GNCTD, Kailash Gahlot to unfurl the National Flag at the State level Independence Day celebrations at Chhatrasaal Stadium. Necessary arrangements may be made accordingly, Lieutenant Governors principal secretary Ashish Kundra said in a written communication to Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar. Contrary to Kejriwals wish, Atishi wont be able to hoist Tricolour during the State Government function on the occasion of Independence Day. This year, because Kejriwal has been in custody since March in connection with the excise policy case, the AAP convener, nominated Atishi to replace him in a letter to the Lieutenant Governor on August 6. This is the first time both AAP and Delhi BJP are on the same page and welcomed the LGs decision. Earlier in the day, both Saxena and Gahlot have attended a state level function, to laid the foundation stone of a multi-level electric bus depot in the Vasant Vihar area in the morning. Keeping in view the current impasse created because of peculiar circumstance of non-availability Chief Minister, this Secretariat had sent a reference to the Ministry of Home affairs, Government of India. Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India has the remit of issuing guidelines for celebrations of Independence Day at the Centre as well as the State level. The Ministry vide its letter dated 13.08.2024 has authorized Lt. Governor to nominate any Minister of GNCTD to unfurl the flag at the State Level function of Independenceday,2024 to be held at Chhatrasal Stadium, Delhi, Raj Niwas said in its communique to Chief Secretary. Earlier in the day, the Delhi governments General Administration Department (GAD) refused to implement department minister Gopal Rais direction for the hosting of national flag by Education Minister Atishi. This comes a day after GAD minister Gopal Rai directed the department to make necessary arrangements for Atishi to hoist the national flag, as Kejriwal desired. The GAD organises annual Independence Day celebrations at Chhatrasal Stadium, where the Delhi chief minister hoists the national flag as per tradition and rules. Replying to Delhi minister Rais communication, Navin Kumar Chaudhary, additional chief secretary GAD said that the department had sought convenience of the chief minister for his availability for the Independence Day but the office of chief minister has indicated his non-availability being in judicial custody. The issue has therefore been brought to the notice of higher authorities and a decision is awaited, the communication states. Chaudhary further said, It is absolutely clear that the above communication (Minister Letter) does not qualify in the permissible communication which can be sent outside prisonAny communication, written or oral, in contravention of the rules quoted above, is not legally valid and therefore cannot be acted upon. There are detailed laid down provisions for celebrating them as per the stature they deserve. Any deviations thereto or subjugation thereof will not only undermine the sanctity associated with them but may also amount to statutory illegality, Chaudhary said. He said Independence Day and Republic Day are national events with supreme constitutional sanctity. As per practice, Delhi Police is responsible for the ceremonial march-past parade after unfurling of the national flag. The Minute to minute programme of the State level function of Independence Day is finalized by the Delhi Police/ Home department. The Home Department GNCTD and the Delhi Police play a primary role vis-a-vis the State Level Function of Independence Day apart making security arrangements for the function. Honble Lieutenant Governor has also noted that matters related to police have been assigned to Home Department under the Allocation of Business Rules, 1993. In view of the above, Honble Lieutenant Governor is pleased to nominate the Honble Minister (Home), GNCTD, Kailash Gahlot to unfurl the National Flag at the State level Independence day celebration sat Chhatrasaal Stadium. Necessary arrangements may be made accordingly, it said. Medical services such as working of Outpatient Departments (OPDs) and non-emergency surgeries at various Government hospitals across the country, including the national Capital, continued to remain paralysed on Tuesday as the resident doctors agitation against the rape-murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata. On Tuesday, more resident doctors joined the strike led by the Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA). The incident has sparked widespread protests, with over three lakh junior doctors and healthcare workers expressing deep concern over their safety. Amid the strike led by the FORDA, which said the strike will not be lifted until justice is done and our demands are met, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notices to the West Bengal Government and the States police chief in the matter. The commission on Tuesday said it has sought the reports from these authorities in two weeks. However, acting tough, as the Delhi AIIMS Resident Doctors Association (RDA) continued their indefinite strike on Tuesday too, the hospital administration warned them against holding any demonstration on or around the hospital campus stating it was in violation of High Court directions and amounts to contempt of court. The administration issued an office memorandum drawing the attention of all resident doctors to the Code of Conduct as laid down by the High Court. It further stated that the violation of the High Court orders by the individual/students/employees/group of employees, students/Resident Doctors/Associations/ Unions etc will be in contravention of the directions of High Court and make them liable for disciplinary actions and also for contempt of court. It also asked all HoD and centre chiefs to send the attendance of the Resident Doctors everyday by 3 pm. Voices across the country are expressing deep concern over the safety gaps exposed by the recent rape and murder of a trainee doctor at a Kolkata medical college. Joint secretary of the Association of Resident Doctors, PGIMER, Chandigarh Dr Perugu Praneeth Reddy said that our protest continue today. But the emergency services at the hospital were on. We are demanding that safety for the doctors be ensured at hospitals. After the junior doctors went on the strike on Monday, PGIMER authorities said that emergency services will be on but the outpatient department services would be curtailed, with the registration of only follow-up patients in respective departments. A doctors association in Uttar Pradesh has written to Union Health Minister J P Nadda, pressing for security measures at medical institutions. Uttar Pradesh RDAs president Dr Hardeep Jogi said the association has written to the Union Health Minister, urging for safety and security measures at hospitals in light of the disturbing and horrific murder the postgraduate student in the West Bengal capital four days ago. The RDA Uttar Pradesh expresses its profound condolences for the loss of this young woman and strongly denounces the failures that permitted such a grave offence to occur. The inability to safeguard our institutions reflects a critical lapse in administration. And governance, it stated. The RDA also sought an urgent meeting with the health minister to discuss the pressing issues faced by the medical community, the escalating violence against doctors and the deteriorating working conditions which have created an atmosphere of fear. This must be addressed to prevent future tragedies, it said. Junior doctors at state-run Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi on Tuesday started pen-down agitation by boycotting OPD services and elective surgeries in protest against the rape and murder of a woman doctor in Kolkata. Around 200 doctors have joined the agitation and senior resident doctors have also supported our stir. Our protest excludes emergency services as we do not want any patient in need to suffer, Ankit Kumar, president of Junior Doctors Association (JDA) at RIMS, told a news agency. Meanwhile, senior residents and junior doctors of MGM Medical College and Hospital (Jamshedpur), Shaheed Nirmal Mahto Medical College and Hospital (Dhanbad), Phulo Jano Medical College and Hospital (Dumka), Sheikh Bhikari Medical College and Hospital (Hazaribag) and Medinirai Medical College and Hospital (Palamu) too joined the protest on Tuesday. The Jaipur Association of Resident Doctors (JARD) announced immediate suspension of non-essential services. JARD president Dr Manohar Siyol said that emergency services are unaffected on Tuesday. The resident doctors also held a demonstration against the incident. Resident doctors in Maharashtra started an indefinite strike on Tuesday morning in support of the nationwide protests by their colleagues against the rape-murder of a post-graduate trainee at a medical college in Kolkata. All elective services in hospitals across the state have been halted, but emergency services will continue uninterrupted, Maharashtra State Association of Residential Doctors (Central-MARD) president Dr Pratik Debaje said. FORDA president Aviral Mathur said that as the meeting with the Union Health Minister JP Nadda on Monday remained inconclusive said that the strike would continue. I, along with the association members and doctors, met with the Union health ministers team on Monday. Since no resolution was reached regarding the demands, the strike will continue for another day, Mathur had said. He had also clarified that emergency services would continue to function. Reaching out to the distressed Hindu community members at the famous Dhakeshwari Temple here, Bangladeshs Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus on Tuesday urged the people to exercise patience before judging his Governments role. Yunus, who took charge as the Chief Advisor of the interim Government on August 8 amid ongoing violence and vandalism, including against the minorities, also said each ones rights should be ensured and blamed institutional decay for the predicament that his country has fallen into. The meeting comes close on the heels of attacks on the minority Hindu population, vandalisation of their business and properties and devastation of Hindu temples hours in the violence that ensued for days following the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on August 5. Dhakeshwari temple is one of the prominent shakti peethas. Meanwhile, the apex body of Hindus in Bangladesh on Tuesday said the minority Hindu community faced attacks and threats in 278 locations across 48 districts since the fall of the Hasina-led Government on August 5 and termed it as an assault on the Hindu religion. The Bangladesh National Hindu Grand Alliance members also pointed to the increase in attacks in recent times and asserted, We too have rights in this country, we were born here. The minority Hindu population has faced vandalisation of their business and properties and devastation of Hindu temples in the students violence that ensued for days following the ouster of prime minister Hasina, who soon fled to India on August 5. The Alliances press conference took place on the same day as Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who took charge as Chief Advisor of the interim government on August 8, reached out to the distressed Hindu community members at the famous Dhakeshwari Temple here earlier in the day and urged the people to exercise patience before judging his governments role. Palash Kanti Dey, the Alliances spokesperson and executive secretary said: The incidents of vandalism, looting, arson, land grabbing, and threats to leave the country have been repeatedly inflicted on the Hindu community due to the shifting political landscape. This is not just an attack on individuals but an assault on the Hindu religion, Dey alleged during a press conference here. As of Monday, there have been attacks and threats against the Hindu community in 278 locations across 48 districts. We have conveyed our concerns to Home Affairs Advisor Brigadier General (Retd) M Sakhawat Hussain, who has assured us that these issues will be raised at the next cabinet meeting, he was quoted as saying by The Dhaka Tribune newspaper. Dey also emphasised that the alliance had long expressed its demands to various political parties over the past 24 years, but they had remained unmet. We now hope that the interim government will address our longstanding demands. Additionally, we support the nationwide movement led by our students, he added. Alliances President Prabhas Chandra Roy lamented the recurring violence against the Hindu community during times of political change and said, Whenever there is a change in government, Hindus are the first to be attacked. Although there were fewer incidents in the past, they have increased recently. We want to live in this country with security. We were born here, and we have rights in this country, he said. The press conference by the group came a day after they seven demands to the government, including a judicial inquiry into recent attacks on Hindu communities, the creation of a minority protection act and commission, and the restoration of temples and homes at public expense. They also demanded speedy trials and public investigation reports for those convicted, the release of minority abuse reports from 2000 to the present, a three-day holiday during Durga Puja, and the establishment of a minority ministry, the Dhaka Tribune said. Earlier on Saturday, two Hindu organisations -- Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council and the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad -- had claimed that members of the minority communities in Bangladesh faced at least 205 incidents of attacks in 52 districts since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government on August 5 till the weekend. Meanwhile, during his interaction with the members of the Hindu community, Yunus said: Rights are equal for everyone. We are all one people with one right. Do not make any distinctions among us. Please, assist us. Exercise patience, and later judge what we were able to do and not. If we fail, then criticise us. Bangladeshs deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and six others, including two senior Ministers of her Cabinet and the sacked police chief, would face trial on murder charges, court officials said on Tuesday. The murder case filed against 76-year-old Hasina is the first so far against her since she resigned and fled to India on August 5. She and six others over the death of a grocery shop owner during last months violent clashes that led to the fall of her Government. In line with a case filed by a resident of (Dhakas) Mohammadpur area, Metropolitan Magistrate Rajesh Chowdhury has asked police to register it as an FIR, a court official said. He said that six others who were named in the case are: Awami League general secretary and former road transport minister Obaidul Quader, home minister Asaduzzaman Khan and sacked inspector general of police (IGP) Abdullah Al Mamun, Dhakas police commissioner Habibur Rahman, Additional IGP Harun-or-Rashid and additional joint commissioner Biplab Kumar. While Hasina fled to India, the two ministers are believed to have secretly left the country hours before her resignation on August 5 while the whereabouts of the police officers remained unknown to the media. According to court officials, the magistrate asked Mohammadpur police station to record the case. A police official preferring anonymity said it was unclear which agency would be tasked to investigate the case. Home Affairs Adviser Brigadier General (retd.) Sakhawat Hossain speculated that 500 or more protestors and policemen were killed during the three weeks of violence which originated from a movement by Students Against Discrimination. The case against Hasina and six others was lodged on charges of killing a grocery shop owner in the Mohammadpur area in police firing on July 19 during a street march in support of the students movement for reforms in a controversial quota system for government jobs. The case was filed by a well-wisher of the grocery store owner Abu Sayed. Besides, several unnamed high-ranking police officials and government officials were also accused in the case, according to the media reports. Over 230 people were killed in Bangladesh in the incidents of violence that erupted across the country following the fall of the Hasina government on August 5, taking the death toll to 560 since the anti-quota protests first started in mid-July. An interim government was formed after the fall of the Hasina-led government, and its Chief Adviser, 84-year-old Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, announced the portfolios of his 16-member council of advisors last week. On Monday, seven political parties, including the Awami Leagues arch-rival Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), met Yunus separately and said the interim government could take the time necessary to create a conducive environment for holding free and fair elections, The Daily Star newspaper reported. We have given this interim government the time required to create a proper environment for holding an election, the report quoted BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. He said they did not discuss the election and that the BNP did not mention any specific time frame for the next election. The BNP was extending its full support to all the activities of the interim government, he said. Quoting sources, the report said that the party urged the Yunus to have all the cases against its leaders, including those against party chairperson Khaleda Zia and acting chairman Tarique Rahman, withdrawn. Former prime minister Zia, 79, was released from jail after Hasinas ouster. She was sentenced to 17 years in prison for graft in 2018. Days after the tragic sexual assault and murder of a post-graduate student at a medical college in West Bengal triggering nationwide agitation, Union Health Minister and BJP national president JP Nadda on Tuesday condemned the incident and hoped that the CBI probe will bring out the truth in the case. However, Nadda did not commit to implementing new laws related to the safety of doctors, a key demand of the medical community which under the banner of the Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) has been on strike, disrupting medical services in the hospitals. He, however, assured that the Central Government would take necessary actions against those involved in the incident and promised to address the broader concerns raised by doctors. Nadda said the incident that took place with the young woman, a PG student in West Bengal, is really heart-wrenching and has shaken the world and the country. I condemn it and feel sorry that such an inhumane incident has happened. The way the incident took place and the way the Government has tried to hush it up, no amount of condemnation will be enough. Bengal has become a State where there is no such thing as law and order. Lawlessness is at its peak and the sad thing is that atrocities on women are increasing day by day and all this happening despite the State having a woman Chief Minister. This is even more worrying. I would also like to say the way the West Bengal Government has tried to hush up and suppress this case, is condemnable in the strongest terms. I welcome the decision of the High Court for the CBI enquiry. The CBI enquiry will bring out the truth. Regarding his meeting with the delegations of Doctors Association in the last two days, he said he has assured them that the Central Government will take action against anyone connected with this incident. I will definitely find a remedy for this and I am sure that whatever steps are necessary for this, the Government and the Ministry will take them. Meanwhile, the National Medical Commission (NMC), as directed by the Health Minister, issued advisory to all the medical colleges to ensure a safe working environment for doctors across the country. The advisory said, Incidents of violence against doctors in medical colleges have been reported in recent past. All medical colleges are requested to develop a policy for creation of a safe work environment within the college and hospital campus for doctors. The policy should ensure adequate safety measures at OPD, wards, and quarters. Corridors and campus are well lit in the evening for staff to walk safely from one place to another and all sensitive areas are covered by CCTV for monitoring. Furthermore, the advisory stressed the importance of implementing sufficient security steps, including the deployment of adequate security staff (both male and female) in various areas of the medical college and hospital campus, such as the OPD, wards, casualty, labour rooms, hostels, residential quarters, and other open spaces. The advisory also emphasised the importance of immediate action by college management in cases of violence against medical students and required that an FIR be lodged with the police. It stipulated that a detailed report on the actions taken must be submitted to the National Medical Commission (NMC) within 48 hours of the incident. Earlier, Nadda met with representatives from the Indian Medical Association (IMA), promising to address their demands for a swift investigation and improved safety measures for doctors in medical institutions. Over 600 Delhi Police personnel of the northeast district on Tuesday practised firing with short-range weapons at the police shooting range here ahead of the Independence Day celebrations. Bracing up for the security arrangements in the national Capital for the big event, DCP North East Joy Tirkey said that ahead of any big event, including Independence Day, Republic Day, or even the Lok Sabha or state election they try to refresh the weapon training of the police officers. Hence, ahead of the upcoming Independence Day celebrations and while honing their skills and proficiency, we managed to get 681 police personnel of North-East District to practice firing from Short-Range weapons, he added. The police personnel, who practised firing with short-range weapons, will be deployed at different strategic locations in Delhi, said a senior police officer, adding all the police personnel are combat-ready and can deal with any untoward condition. The officer further said that they have already intensified night patrolling in the border areas. Multi-layered barricading were installed at Delhi-Haryana and Delhi-Uttar Pradesh borders. SHOs are instructed to check all the vehicles and their owners documents entering the national capital, he added. On the occasion of the Independence Day, more than 3,000 traffic police personnel will be deployed to regulate the traffic and will be deployed at major junctions across the national capital, and also on roads connecting the border to the Red Fort. Security has been beefed up in the national capital and deployment of over 3,000 traffic police officers, more than 10,000 police personnel and 700 AI-based facial recognition cameras in the national capital ahead of the Independence Day celebrations, said the officer. The Delhi Police arrested an Indrive app bike driver who tried to sexually assault an air hostess, working with a top Indian airline, and attempted to kill her for objecting to the rape in New Delhis Chanakyapuri. According to the police on Tuesday, he fled when an elderly couple stopped their car to rescue her in New Delhis Lutyens Zone, near Buddha Jayanti Park, when Delhi is on high alert for Independence Day.The driver was completely drunk and has an FIR against him at the Hauz Khas Police Station in Delhi. According to sources, the accused driver told the victim that she wasnt his first target and had raped several female passengers. The victim, a science graduate working as an air hostess with a top airline, lives in South Delhi. She had gone to East Delhi to meet a friend and go shopping. On her way back to Dwarka, she booked a bike ride through the Indrive app, which was accepted by driver Jaideep. The ride started at 11:47 pm. I was shocked when he asked me to buy him an ice cream. He kept talking to me while riding and gave me his two phones to carry, asking me to give directions according to the map. I was totally shocked, the victim told the police. She added that ten minutes later, the driver demanded his phone back, saying he needed to make a call and later closed the location map. He took a wrong turn, despite the victims objections. When she questioned him, he claimed it was a shortcut. After a few metres, the driver stopped the bike, and the victim became scared. She tried to signal other drivers for help, but nobody stopped. The accused then manhandled her, took her to a secluded area near a tree, and attempted to strangle her. Punjab Police Sends Notorious Drug Smuggler Billa to Assams Dibrugarh Jail Chandigarh: Punjab Police has transferred the notorious drug smuggler Balwinder Singh alias Billa facing over 15 criminal cases under NDPS Act and Arms Act to Dibrugarh Jail in Assam. The unprecedented move marked a first under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav on Tuesday announced the transfer on X (formerly Twitter), detailing the joint operation conducted with the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). Billa, previously out on bail, was arrested in Gurdaspur during a coordinated effort involving the local police and NCB teams. He is facing multiple charges under Section 3(1) of the NDPS Act and is linked to cross-border drug smuggling networks with Pakistani connections. Yadav highlighted Billas extensive criminal history, noting that he had been involved in over 10 cases related to drug trafficking. The decision to relocate Billa to Dibrugarh Jail aimed at curtailing his influence and disrupting his smuggling operations. The transfer to Dibrugarh Jail represented a significant step in managing high-profile drug offenders and is expected to serve as a precedent for future cases. The development highlights the concerted efforts of Punjab and central agencies in their ongoing battle against drug trafficking. RBI Regional Director and Himachal CM discuss banking developments in state Shimla: Reserve Bank of India Regional Director Anupam Kishore on Tuesday called on Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and discussed initiatives to improve financial literacy and inclusion in Himachal Pradesh. They also discussed recent advancements in the banking sector. Sukhu congratulated the RBI on its 90th anniversary and lauded the institution's unwavering commitment to financial stability and economic growth. He also acknowledged the RBI's crucial role in supporting national development goals. During the meeting, Anupam Kishore briefed the chief minister about various initiatives taken by the RBI to enhance financial literacy and inclusion in the state. He also apprised Sukhu about the nationwide and state-level quiz on financial literacy held in Shimla for undergraduate students organised as part of the RBI's 90th-anniversary celebrations. Dera chief Ram Rahim walks out of jail on a 21-day furlough Chandigarh Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim on Tuesday walked out of Rohtaks Sunaria jail on a 21-day furlough. He was released after the Rohtak Divisional Commissioner passed an order in his favour. During his temporary release period, the Dera chief will go to Baghpat ashram in Uttar Pradesh. On August 9, the Punjab and Haryana High Court disposed of the SGPCs petition which challenged the grant of temporary release to Ram Rahim, observing that a plea for temporary release be considered by the competent authority without any arbitrariness or favourtism. Ram Rahim in June this year had moved the high court, seeking directions to grant him a 21-day furlough. On February 29, the high court had asked the Haryana Government not to grant further parole to the Dera Sacha Sauda chief without its permission. Ram Rahim is serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his disciples. He was granted a 50-day parole on January 19. Full dress rehearsals in Chd for 78th I-Day Celebrations Chandigarh: The Chandigarh Administration on Tuesday conducted full dress rehearsals for 78th Independence Day Celebrations at Parade Ground, Sector 17 to ensure that every detail is flawlessly executed on the day of the event. Rehearsals were carried out with the same level of rigor and attention to detail that will be seen during the main event, a statement said. Every aspect of the ceremony, from the timing of the parade to the coordination between various participants, was meticulously planned and executed. The parade featured disciplined contingents from the Police, Armed forces, Police Band, and NSS students, all marching in unison. The participation of schoolchildren added a vibrant touch to the parade, exemplifying the spirit of unity, patriotism, and youthful enthusiasm. Deputy Commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh , who was present to oversee the full dress rehearsals, for the celebration of the event Chandigarh Police, under the leadership of DGP Surendra Singh Yadav, has put in place a comprehensive security plan, the official added. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati on Tuesday joined the opposition in calling for a high-level investigation into the allegations made in the Hindenburg Report concerning the Adani Group and SEBI chief, which has sparked renewed controversy. The entire opposition is already demanding a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC). In a statement posted on social media platform X, Mayawati said: The Hindenburg report regarding the Adani Group and SEBI Chief has once again become a major topic of discussion. The accusations and counter-accusations have escalated, impacting national interests. Despite the Adani Group and SEBIs attempts to clarify their positions, the controversy continues to grow rather than subside. Mayawati further noted, This issue is now affecting not only the ongoing debate between the government and opposition but also the credibility and trustworthiness of the Central government. It would have been more prudent for the Central government to initiate a high-level investigation, such as a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) or a judicial inquiry, to address the matter effectively. In addition, Mayawati highlighted the need for enhanced protection and respect for women, citing recent incidents including a rape and murder in Kolkata. The issue of safety and respect for women in both governmental and non-governmental sectors, as well as in everyday life, is of paramount national importance. There is an urgent need for increased awareness and vigilance to prevent tragic and shameful incidents similar to that of the lady doctor in Bengal. To combat such heinous crimes nationwide, both Central and state governments must implement sensitive measures and take prompt, strict action against perpetrators, Mayawati said. The former chief minister if UP also expressed concern over incidents of sexual assault and murder in Bihar. She condemned recent reports from Bihar detailing two tragic cases involving the brutal assault and murder of young Dalit girls. In Madhubani district, an 18-year-old Dalit girl was gang-raped and murdered by Kamlesh Yadav and his associates. In Muzaffarpur district, a 14-year-old Dalit girl suffered a similar fate at the hands of Sanjay Rai (Yadav) and his accomplices. The Bihar state unit of BSP has expressed deep concern and sorrow over these incidents. The Bihar government is urged to take these cases very seriously and ensure strict action against all those involved, with a special focus on the protection and respect for Dalits, Mayawati said. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav inaugurated the Tiranga Yatra from Bharat Mata Chowk as part of the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign. He hoisted the tricolor and released tricolor balloons into the sky to mark the occasion. The Chief Minister also paid floral tributes at the statue of Bharat Mata. MLA Shri Bhagwan Das Sabnani was present during the event. Chief Minister Yadav presented the tricolor to a girl dressed as Bharat Mata, offering her his blessings and encouragement. He also motivated the school children dressed as freedom fighters. The Tiranga Yatra, which began at Bharat Mata Chowk and concluded at Shaurya Smarak, saw enthusiastic participation from a large number of locals, senior citizens, women, and children. Waving the tricolor to the tune of patriotism with the slogan of Bharat Mata Ki Jai, the youth were spreading the spirit of love for the nation. The atmosphere in the area was full of enthusiasm and zeal as the people marched towards their destination in the form of an expedition. Amidst the ongoing special drives to ensure peaceful celebrations of forthcoming Independence Day-2024, Punjab Polices State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) has busted a cross-border smuggling module with the arrest of two suspects from Chabal in Tarn Taran, recovering sophisticated weapons from their possession. Sharing details, the state Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav on Tuesday said that those arrested have been identified as Jatinder Singh, a resident of village Thatha in Tarn Taran; and Navtej Singh, a resident of Muhawa, now village Thatha, in Tarn Taran. Police have also recovered four 9MM Glock pistols (small factor) along with four magazines from their possession and also impounded the Honda Delux motorcycle bearing registration number PB76A8099, on which they were travelling. DGP Yadav said that SSOC Amritsar had received an intel-input about the involvement of accused Jatinder Singh and his associate Navtej Singh in cross-border smuggling of illegal weapons. Input further elaborated that suspects are in touch with various Pak-based smugglers and had recently procured a consignment of smuggled weapons, which they are going to deliver to a party near Baba Budha ji Charitable Hospital near Chabal, Tarn Taran on their motorcycle, he said, adding that acting swiftly on the input, the team of SSOC Amritsar cordoned off the specified area in a planned manner and apprehended both the accused persons and recovered the weapon consignment. DGP Yadav said that during preliminary investigations, it was discovered that both accused have been receiving consignments of illegal weapons sent through drones by their cross-border handlers. Sharing more details, AIG SSOC Amritsar Sukhminder Singh Mann said that further investigations are being conducted to determine past smuggling activities orchestrated by both the accused persons. Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) More than 2,000 international astronomers are attending the 32nd General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in Cape Town this week After the prompt cognizance of the Chief Minister Hemant Soren on the news published in a leading daily titled "No bench, no desk, children of CM School of Excellence studying sitting on the ground", desks has been made available to Sakchi Balika Mukhyamantri Utkrishta Vidyalaya within 24 hours. As soon as the news came to the notice of the CM Hemant Soren, instructions were issued and the team under the leadership of the District Education Officer inspected the school and immediately completed the process of providing desks. The team has also supplied other necessary resources to the school. The girl students of the school have expressed their gratitude to the Chief Minister. With the quality and free education being provided in the CMs Schools of Excellence being run by the State government and recognized by the CBSE Board, now a large number of children from private schools are also getting enrolled in these schools. Keeping in mind the increasing number of students, resources are being supplied to each CM School of Excellence and Block level Adarsh Vidyalayas. To overcome the shortage of teachers in these schools, the School Education and Literacy Department of the State Government has also deputed and posted qualified and experienced teachers of CBSC in all 80 CMs Schools of Excellence. In the first week of August, 2024, all the deputed and posted teachers were also given special training at Jharkhand Academic Council. In order to develop discipline and leadership skills among the teachers, they have been given special training at IIM Ranchi and IIM Ahmedabad. Students are also showing enthusiasm for enrollment in CMs Schools of Excellence. More applications have been received in proportion to the seats set for enrollment for the session 2024-25. This year 51,500 students have applied for enrollment in Chief Minister's Schools of Excellence. The process of enrollment in class 9th and 11th is still going on. In view of the increasing trend of children in enrollment, the number of seats has also been increased by the department this year. In the last session, enrollment was taken in 63,554 seats, while this year the number of seats has been increased to 73,554. With the increasing number of children, the sections have also been increased. Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Tuesday inaugurated and laid the foundation stones for 600 projects worth Rs 3400 crore across the state through video conferencing during a state-level programme in Panchkula. On the occasion, the Chief Minister inaugurated 220 projects worth Rs 1190 crores and laid the foundation stones for 380 projects costing Rs. 2210 crores. Addressing the gathering, Saini said, Following the mantra of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Prayas, and Sabka Vishwas, the State Government has reaffirmed its commitment to ensure equitable development in Haryana. During the programme, he also handed over appointment letters to 104 TGT-Punjabi and 3878 Group-D candidates. He congratulated the selected candidates and their families, highlighting that their hard work has made it possible to get government jobs on a merit basis. Portal for Gramin Awas Yojana-expansion launched During the event, Saini launched a portal for Mukhya Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana-Expansion. Under this scheme, plots of 100 yards will be provided in villages and 50 yards in Mahagram villages to those who do not own land. He criticized the previous government for its discriminatory practices in allotting plots, stating that they failed to provide possession or documentation, leaving people struggling. The present state government has rectified this by giving plot possession to those who were previously denied. The Chief Minister said that this is the 10th event where projects have been inaugurated or foundation stones laid online, adding up to a total of 2891 projects worth Rs. 24,221 crores. These projects include roads, water facilities, health institutions, schools, colleges, power stations, canals, drains, and bridges, benefiting various aspects of connectivity, infrastructure, health, transport, education, and tourism. The Chief Minister said, Bachon ko padhai, Yuvayon ko kamai, Buzurgon aur gareebon ko muft dawaai, Kisano ko tail tak sinchai, Jan-jan ki sunwai, yehi hai vikas ka rajmarg (Education for children, employment opportunities for youth, free medicine for the elderly and Antyodaya, welfare of farmers, and accessibility for allthis is the roadmap to development) The Chief Minister emphasized that infrastructure is a crucial measure of development. The simultaneous inauguration and foundation-laying of these projects reflect a vision of comprehensive development across all sectors. Before 2014, Haryana was marred by despair, distrust, and regionalism. The present state government has prioritized merit over favoritism, ensuring job transparency and efficiency, said Sh. Nayab Singh Saini. Saini said that before 2014, getting a job was nearly impossible for youths, but now jobs are provided transparently. Today, candidates prepare for competitive exams rather than seeking political and other favours. The government's continuous efforts to open libraries and e-libraries across villages affirmed that Bharti Roko Gang' will not succeed in their objectives, he added. Four bereaved families of poll personnel who died performing poll duties in lok sabha election 2024 here in Palamu were given ex gratia relief worth 15L each under the provision of the ECI by Palamu DC Shashi Ranjan today. Among the 4 poll personnel who died in election duty this lok sabha election included 2 para teachers, HG jawan and police constable, said the deputy election officer Kanu Ram Naag. The bank demand drafts were presented in two sessions because one bereaved family turned up too late. DC Shashi Ranjan gave 3 demand drafts one each of 15L rupees first to 3 bereaved families. After hours turned up the fourth bereaved family. DC Shashi Ranjan again showed up and handed over the bank draft worth 15L to this fourth bereaved family. Additional collector Kundan Kumar was present during the disbursement of the demand draft to the fourth bereaved family. It was the deputy election officer Kanu Ram Naag who went extra miles to have this ex gratia relief to 4 bereaved families otherwise it used to take months and years to get the ex gratia relief. Sources said the chief electoral officer Jharkhand K Ravi Kumar too put his best foot forward to arrange this ex gratia relief to 4 bereaved families in the shortest possible time. One para teacher died in a road accident while on way to poll training duty. Another para teacher died after the poll training at his house. The Home Guard jawan died due to a massive heart attack. Constable died in the AIIMS Delhi where he was referred to by the RIMS Ranchi following his injuries that he sustained when a huge tree had fallen on him while he was on poll duties. Bereaved families wore a thank you attitude towards the DC and his team for the ex gratia relief. Issuing a detailed and passionate response to the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday reaffirmed the State Government's commitment to supporting National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) projects while addressing critical concerns related to land acquisition and project execution. Mann, in his letter, emphasized the vital role that agriculture plays in the lives of Punjabi farmers, describing land as like a mother to them. He highlighted that land is not just a physical asset but a primary source of livelihood and cultural significance for the farming community. The Chief Ministers response comes in light of recent disputes and issues reported in relation to NHAI projects in Punjab. The Chief Minister assured Gadkari that the Punjab Government fully acknowledged the importance of NHAI projects for both national development and state progress. The state has been actively supporting NHAI in land acquisition processes and other related matters, which is reflected in the general progress of most NHAI projects in the State. He noted that the Government has been proactive in facilitating these projects, barring a few exceptions where challenges have arisen. Addressing specific concerns raised by Gadkari, Mann detailed incidents where local police registered FIRs and made arrests concerning issues with NHAI projects. He pointed out that one of these incidents involved the over-excavation of land by an NHAI contractor, while another stemmed from the contractors failure to pay financial dues to a subcontractor. Mann attributed these problems to the contractors mismanagement rather than to any shortcomings on the part of the state or its police forces. Mann also highlighted the state polices commitment to ensuring safety and order around NHAI project areas, noting that he has directed the local police to enhance patrolling to address security concerns. Regarding land acquisition, he underscored the farmers attachment to their land and the high land prices in Punjab, which contribute to their reluctance to part with their property unless they receive fair compensation. The Chief Minister criticized NHAIs handling of some land acquisition cases, pointing out that delays in accepting arbitration awards and mobilizing machinery have led to further complications. He explained that in several instances, while land was formally handed over to NHAI, contractors delays in commencing work caused farmers to resume cultivation, further complicating the process. Mann asserted that once land is transferred to NHAI, it is the responsibility of the authority and its contractors to maintain possession and ensure project continuity. He disclosed that the Chief Secretary is holding regular review meetings with the Deputy Commissioners and NHAI officials to address and resolve these issues. Additionally, Mann expressed his intent to personally engage with farmers to address their concerns and ensure a smoother implementation of development projects. Every day, countless lives are lost due to the lack of timely organ donationslives that could have been saved with greater awareness and participation. The gap in organ donation awareness leads to many preventable deaths. To address this critical issue, the social organization Samvedna of Prestige Institute of Management and Research (PIMR) organized a special awareness session on World Organ Donation Day. The initiative aimed to educate the public, dispel misconceptions about organ donation, and inspire more people to become donors. Dr. Jyoti Vyas Bajpai, the faculty coordinator of Samvedna, emphasized that during the event, Dr. Manish Purohit, the nodal officer for organ and tissue transplantation, delivered an insightful lecture. His talk focused on the importance of organ donation and debunked common myths that often deter people from becoming donors. Dr. Purohits session aimed to inspire a broader acceptance of organ donation, ultimately saving countless lives. The event featured personal stories from several organ donors, who shared their experiences and the profound impact of their decision to donate. PIMR's Group Director, Dr. S.S. Bhaker, recognized and honored these donors in a heartfelt ceremony. Additionally, the faculty and staff members of PIMR took a collective oath to donate their organs, further demonstrating their commitment to this life-saving cause. Davish Jain, Chairman of the Prestige Education Foundation, expressed the institutions dedication to providing world-class education and fulfilling its social responsibilities. He stated, "The primary objective of this event was to raise awareness about organ donation and eliminate the myths surrounding it, encouraging more people to become organ donors. By doing so, we can save the lives of those who are at risk due to a shortage of donated organs." Through this initiative, the Prestige Education Foundation continues to play a vital role in shaping a more informed and compassionate society, Dr. Jain added. Punjab government is planning to introduce Aapka MLA, Aapke Dwaar (your MLA at your doorstep) scheme a new initiative by the aam Aadmi party (AAP) led state government designed to strengthen public engagement and address local issues more effectively. Discussed and announced by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann during a strategic meeting with the legislators in Chandigarh on Tuesday, the initiative is aimed at bringing the elected representatives closer to their constituents by encouraging them to visit their respective constituencies, neighborhoods, and villages to directly engage with residents and resolve their concerns. The scheme is planned on the lines of the State Governments ambitious Sarkaar Aapke Dwaar initiative, where government officials visited villages to address peoples grievances. The new program shifts the focus to MLAs, making them more accessible and accountable to the people who elected them. AAP-led Punjab Governments Sarkaar Tuhade Dwar initiative is a transformative step towards making governance more accessible and people-centric. The scheme brings essential government services directly to the citizens by setting up service camps across the State. These camps act as convenient points of contact, allowing people to address their grievances and access services without the need to visit government offices. Sarkaar Tuhade Dwar aimed at bridging the gap between the administration and the public, promoting transparency and accountability within the government. By decentralizing service delivery, the initiative empowers the citizens and ensures that their voices are heard in the governance process. The scheme is designed to streamline bureaucratic processes, reduce corruption, and enhance public satisfaction. By bringing services to the doorsteps of the people, the Punjab Government ensures that the benefits of its programs reach even the most vulnerable and marginalized sections of society. This citizen-focused approach fosters a more inclusive and equitable society, where every individual has equal access to the resources and services they need. Under the scheme, the Chief Minister has himself led the camps at various places, personally listening to the peoples grievances, issuing on-the-spot directions to the officials concerned, while also taking direct feedback from the people to improve the governments functioning and formulating its policies. Former Minister and AAP MP from Sangrur Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, who also attended the meeting, stated that the scheme reflected the Governments commitment to ensure that public servants remain closely connected with the citizens they serve. He emphasized that this initiative is a critical step in fulfilling the governments duty to address the challenges faced by the people of Punjab. In addition to unveiling the Aapka MLA, Aapke Dwaar scheme, the meeting included a comprehensive review of ongoing projects across various regions of Punjab. Discussions centered on the progress of several national highway projects under the Central Government's purview, which are vital for improving the states infrastructure. The review also touched upon recent FIRs filed in key urban centers like Ludhiana and Jalandhar, reflecting the governments focus on law and order issues. Another key topic during the meeting was the upcoming Panchayat elections. While details from the MLAs remained limited, there is a widespread anticipation that the State Cabinet will give the green light for these elections during its meeting scheduled for Wednesday. Punjab Government has already communicated to the High Court that the Panchayat elections will be held in September. The Aapka MLA, Aapke Dwaar scheme is expected to enhance the relationship between elected representatives and the public, ensuring that government initiatives and actions align more closely with the needs and aspirations of the people. By fostering direct communication between MLAs and their constituents, the scheme aims to make governance more responsive and effective, addressing the concerns of the people in real-time. This initiative is seen as a significant step towards making the government more accessible and accountable, reinforcing the democratic principle that elected representatives should serve the people who elected them. Ranchi Police on Tuesday arrested PLFI extremist Arjun Singh alias Nepali. On the instructions of SSP Chandan Sinha, the police team took action and arrested absconding extremist Arjun from Nagdi police station area. He is originally a resident of Sogada village under Sisai in Gumla. Ranchi Police is on alert in view of Independence Day. Under this, the police is continuously conducting raids in search of criminals. Nine cases are registered against Arjun in Gumla district, in which he was absconding. Since no case is registered in Ranchi district, further action is being taken by informing Gumla Police. The extremist was living in Nagdi area of Ranchi by hiding his identity. But Ranchi Police came to know about the case and arrested him by conducting raids. Investigation also revealed that Gumla Police has taken action to attach Nepal Singh's house. Ranchi Police team arrested Nepal Singh and also searched the entire house. But, no weapon has been recovered from Nepal's house. Ranchi police is busy investigating Nepal Singh's entire criminal history. According to information received from the police, 9 cases are registered against Nepal Singh in Gumla district. Nepal was absconding in all these cases. It has also been revealed that Gumla police had taken action to confiscate Nepal Singh's house. Rotaract Club of Steel City, in collaboration with the Rotary Club of Jamshedpur Steel City and the Rotary Club of Jamshedpur Dalma, successfully organized "Rotaract Pathshala" at Kerala Samajam Model School. The event aimed to shape future leaders by enhancing leadership skills and fostering community spirit. A total of 85 Rotaractors from various clubs participated, including DBMS College of Education, Karim City College, Arka Jain University, Social Crew (NSU), Mrs KMPM Vocational College, Co-operative B.Ed College, MGM Medical College, Steel City, and Kalimati Jamshedpur. The program featured an impressive lineup of speakers, including PDG Pratim Banerjee, Anjani Nidhi, Maneesh Jain, Amitava Bakshi, Simran Saggu, Murali, DRR Rtr Rinku, and Shekhar. Each speaker shared valuable insights on leadership, personal development, and the importance of community service, inspiring the young Rotaractors to continue their journey of service above self. The event served as an excellent platform for networking, collaboration, and the exchange of ideas among the youth leaders. The event was made possible with the help of Kerala Samajam Model School. This initiative demonstrates the dedication of young leaders in Jamshedpur, committed to making a positive impact in their communities. A special PMLA court in Jalandhar on Tueesday convicted Ranjit Singh Kandola, a notorious Punjab-based drug dealer, and his wife Rajwant Kaur on money-laundering charges. The court sentenced Kandola, also known as Raja Kandola, to nine years in prison, while Kaur was ordered to serve three years behind bars. The case stemmed from a massive narcotics bust in June 2012, where Punjab Police seized drugs valued at approximately Rs 200 crore from a syndicate alleged to be operated by Kandola and his associates. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) initiated the money-laundering probe following this seizure, leading to the recent convictions. Kandolas criminal enterprise was reputed for its sophistication and international reach. According to the ED, Kandola was orchestrating a racket to manufacture Ice (a party drug) using methamphetamine and ephedrine, while also sourcing heroin from across the Pakistan border. The extensive investigation revealed Kandolas involvement in drug distribution across Punjab, Delhi, and other major cities. The Courts decision marked a significant milestone in the case, which had been under judicial scrutiny for several years. Kandola, currently imprisoned in Delhi's Tihar Jail, had a tumultuous legal history. He was initially arrested by Punjab Police in June 2012 but managed to escape custody later that year. He was subsequently rearrested in Delhi. The prosecution presented a detailed case, showing that Kandolas network extended beyond Indian borders, with connections to drug trafficking operations in Canada, Australia, and the United States. The EDs chargesheet, filed in 2015, detailed Kandolas illicit activities, including money laundering linked to his drug trafficking operations. The courts judgment also addressed the involvement of Kaur, who was sentenced to three years in prison. Both Kandola and Kaur were fined Kandola received a penalty of Rs one lakh, while Kaur was fined Rs 25,000. Their son, Bally Singh, was acquitted in this case, marking a partial relief for the family. The case's complexity was compounded by earlier judicial challenges. In December 2023, a District and Sessions Judge had acquitted Kandola and 13 others, citing procedural flaws, including the involvement of an investigating officer who was not appropriately ranked to handle an NDPS case. This ruling highlighted issues within the investigation process, which had led to calls for a more rigorous legal approach. Adding to the case's intrigue, another investigating officer, Inderjit Singh, faced accusations in a separate drug smuggling case, further complicating the legal landscape. Former Deputy Director of the ED, Niranjan Singh, was present in the court to ensure that justice was served. My work on Kandola, (Jagdish) Bhola cases stands vindicated, said Niranjan Singh, after the verdict. To bolster healthcare services and strengthen critical care capabilities across Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Adityanath government has introduced a specialised training initiative for ICU professionals under the CARE-UP (Critical Care Advancement and Readiness Enhancement for Upcoming ICU Professionals) programme. The first batch has already completed their training in Jhansi, while the training of the second batch is currently underway. The programme is comprehensive, providing advanced training not only to doctors but also to nurses and lab technicians, aiming to bolster the states critical care capabilities. Principal Secretary, Health and Medical Education, Parth Sarathi Sen Sharma, said: While all district hospitals in the state are equipped with ICUs, the lack of trained staff has led to the need for referring serious patients elsewhere. Despite having ventilators and oxygen facilities in these ICUs, their full potential cannot be utilised due to the shortage of skilled personnel. Recognising this challenge, the Yogi government took decisive action by initiating the training of doctors and paramedical staff in all district hospitals. He further explained that the Yogi government entrusted this responsibility to Prof Anshul Jain, head of the department of anaesthesia at Maharani Laxmi Bai (MLB) Medical College, Jhansi, who also serves as the director of MLB Paramedical College. Prof Jain noted that in the first batch, 10 staff members, including nurses and lab technicians, received training, along with Dr Abhishek Kumar Singh from Lucknows Civil hospital, five staff members from Lok Bandhu Hospital led by Dr Deepak Kumar Maurya, and staff from Jhansi District Hospital. As a result, the ICUs of all three hospitals are now fully operational, providing critical care to serious patients. Director-General of Family Welfare Dr Narendra Agarwal said that in the second batch, doctors from Gorakhpur, Banda, and Prayagraj district hospitals were currently undergoing training. Similarly, doctors from other district hospitals will also be trained in ICU operations in phases. The goal is to have all ICUs fully operational by the end of next year. Our aim is to equip as many doctors, nurses, and paramedical staff as possible with the skills needed to effectively use ventilators and other modern medical equipment. This will ensure that the people of the state receive improved healthcare services while also reducing their financial burden, he added. Meanwhile, ICU incharge, Lok Bandhu Hospital, Dr Deepak Kumar Maurya claimed that the training had yielded significant benefits, with an 11-bed ICU now operational at the facility. In the past month alone, over 150 patients had been admitted and treated there. The newly trained staff is effectively managing ventilators and other equipment, ensuring that patients receive seamless care, he added. ICU incharge, Civil hospital, Dr Abhishek Singh said that all the staff who participated in the training had gained considerable expertise. Staff nurses are now proficiently operating ventilators and other equipment, leading to significant benefits for the patients. As a result, the number of patients in the ICU at the hospital has increased over the past month, he added. Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - The head of the UN Palestine refugee agency, UNRWA, upheld the need to protect civilians, civilian infrastructure, detainees and humanitarians amid armed conflict The water level in the Yamuna is rising due to the discharge of water in the river from Haryanas Hathinikund barrage, Delhis Irrigation and Flood Control Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said on Tuesday, after reviewing the preparations to tackle the situation in case of flood. The water level of the river has touched 204.35 metre at the Old Railway Bridge (ORB). The warning level is at 204.5 metre, Bharadwaj said, adding that around 10,000 to 13,000 cusecs of water is being discharged from the Hathinikund barrage presently. Munadi (announcements) to warn people to stay away from the river and stop children from going near the river or swimming in it will start from Tuesday, the minister said. During the inspection, senior officials of I&FC department, senior officials of the revenue department, and the District Magistrate and Sub-Divisional Magistrate of the area were also present with him. All adequate arrangements have been made by the Irrigation and Flood Control department. Water boats, announcement equipment and all other necessary arrangements have been made. At present there is no danger of any kind, all situations are under control, he stated. Informing about the steps taken earlier by the department, Bharadwaj said, Before the onset of monsoon, pilot cuts were made by the department in the middle of the mud islands in the middle of Yamuna, which have proved to be very effective this time when monsoon arrived. The senior AAP leader added that people living in areas around Yamuna will be displaced and shifted to the upper parts if and when such a situation arises. The government makes all the arrangements for their accommodation, food and medicines. Right now no such situation is seen to be arising in Yamuna that the people living on the banks of Yamuna should be shifted, but if any such situation arises, then all preparations have been completed by the department, he mentioned. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav stated that in Indian culture, women are regarded as symbols of strength and power. The bravery and abilities of figures like Rani Lakshmi Bai, Devi Ahilya, and Rani Durgavati continue to inspire us today. The blessings and good wishes of sisters have always brought good fortune to their brothers. Acknowledging the vital role of women in society, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has ensured 33 percent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha. The state government is offering 50 percent reservation for women in local bodies, the highest in the country. In the near future women will not only be entrepreneurs but also industry ministers. To support women industrialists and entrepreneurs, the government is providing essential training, incentives, and streamlining processes. This includes initiatives like releasing funds directly into accounts with a single click and conducting simultaneous dedication ceremonies and bhoomi pujan for industrial units, embodying the spirit of prompt and efficient action. Chief Minister Dr. Yadav made these remarks while addressing the Women Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Conference at Kushabhau Thackeray Auditorium. He inaugurated the conference by lighting the lamp and performing kanya pujan. Transfer of Funds along with dedication-bhoomi pujan Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav transferred Rs275 crore in incentives to 850 MSME units with a single click. He also virtually dedicated 99 units and performed the Bhoomi pujan for 12 others. Seven sisters, representing the women entrepreneurs of the state, tied Rakhi to Chief Minister Dr. Yadav, and a large Rakhi was also presented to him. Sawan Utsav was also celebrated on this occasion. Short films focusing on success stories of women entrepreneurs were screened at the event. Women entrepreneurs Sushri Shivani Jharia, Sushri Kumud Tiwari, Sushri Seema Mishra shared experiences related to their entrepreneurial ventures. Special Workshops for Women Entrepreneurs: Everyone Will Have a Chance to Advance Chief Minister Dr. Yadav announced that special workshops will be organized in the state to train and encourage women entrepreneurs. Additionally, the state government is exploring the construction of dedicated facilities for their enterprises. Efforts are underway to foster industrial activities and provide opportunities for advancement by engaging all segments of the population. Various entrepreneur and industrialist organizations are also participating in this initiative. Out of 4 thousand 445 start-ups in the state, 2082 are run by women Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Shri Chaitanya Kashyap said that out of 4 thousand 445 startups registered by the Government of India in the state, 2082 of them are run by women, which is 47 percent of the total start-ups. Special provisions have also been made to encourage micro and small enterprises owned by women entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneurs organizations also take part in the conference Women entrepreneurs and officials of Madhya Pradesh Association of Women Enterprises, FICCI, CIIs Indian Women Network, Laghu Udyog Bharti, DICCI, BICBI, PHD Chamber, BNI and IM Start-up Organization participated in the Women Entrepreneur Conference. AIIMS Bhopal, under the leadership of Executive Director Prof. (Dr.) Ajai Singh, continues to enforce a zero tolerance policy towards ragging within the institute. Ragging in any form is strictly prohibited, and the institute is committed in taking immediate and severe action against anyone involved in such activities. To reinforce this policy, an anti-ragging session was organized on Monday, 12th August 2024, for the students of the MBBS 2021, 2022, and 2023 batches. During the session, the students were thoroughly briefed on the anti-ragging rules in place at the institute. The session highlighted the detrimental effects of ragging on the academic environment of a medical college and emphasized the importance of maintaining a safe and respectful campus. Students were urged to report any incidents of ragging immediately to the anti-ragging committee, squad, or hostel superintendents. In this connection, today the students of BSc Nursing 2024 batch were also given information related to ragging. On this occasion, they were encouraged to make Instagram reels, short videos and e-posters related to anti-ragging. In addition, the new students were encouraged to stay focused on their studies and to seek support whenever needed. The institute reminded students of the UGC's helpline number 1800-180-5522, available 24/7 for reporting any concerns related to ragging. Those found guilty of ragging will face strict punishment. Junior doctors across West Bengal continued ceasework on Tuesday protesting the rape and murder of a woman doctor at a state-run medical college and hospital in Kolkata and demanding justice for her. The stir affected healthcare services as long queues of patients were seen at out-patient departments (OPDs) of all government hospitals since early Tuesday morning as senior doctors were substituting their junior counterparts to address the rush. The agitating junior doctors, who have been pressing for magisterial probe into the killing of the woman doctor and removal of senior officials from RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, on Tuesday set a deadline of August 14 for the Kolkata Police to complete their investigation. "The ceasework and protest will continue till our demands are met. We have been very clear about our demands. We want a judicial probe into the incident," a protesting junior doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital said. "Why do they need a deadline till Sunday? We are asking the police to complete their investigation by Wednesday," he added. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, after paying a visit to the parents of the deceased on Monday, gave a deadline of August 18 to Kolkata Police to solve the case, failing which she said she would hand over the matter to the CBI. The body of a woman doctor was found in a seminar hall at the hospital on Friday morning, and a civic volunteer was arrested on Saturday in connection with the crime. Till Sunday, junior doctors had attended to emergency duties, but from Monday morning, they stopped all work. The state government has cancelled the leaves of all senior doctors to handle the influx of patients, mostly in the OPDs. Talking about managing the rush of patients, an official of state-run SSKM Hospital said that since most of the senior doctors were present on Monday, the pressure could be well tackled. However, some patients, scheduled to get admitted at different hospitals for surgeries, had to return home after they were given an alternate date by the authorities. Saiful Alam, a resident of Murshidabad district, reached Kolkata on Sunday evening to get admitted at Shambhunath Pandit Hospital early on Monday. "I had come to Kolkata on Sunday evening and spent the entire night on the hospital premises. But the next morning, I was given another date for admission," Alam claimed. Similar scenario was witnessed in other hospitals as patients coming to visit doctors at the OPD or getting admitted for scheduled surgeries were sent back home after rescheduling their appointments. As fallout of the protests, the hospital's principal Sandip Ghosh resigned on Monday morning, but was moved to the Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital (CNMC). Junior doctors, interns and house staffers expressed their reservations against Ghosh being moved to the CNMC and locked the doors of the chamber on Monday night. "We will not allow a person like Sandip Ghosh to take charge of CNMC. We are not feeling secure about this posting. We will not allow him to enter CNMC," one of the agitating junior doctors said. The doctors, who have been sitting on guard in front of the principal's office, also denied to talk to Trinamool Congress leader and Entally MLA Swarna Kamal Saha and state Disaster Management Minister Javed Khan, who went there this morning. The agitators also asked Saha, who is also the chairman of the medical college's Rogi Kalyan Samiti, and Khan to leave the hospital premises immediately. A fresh plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to SEBI for speedy conclusion of its investigation in two pending cases related to allegations of stock price manipulation by the Adani group. The petitioner has claimed that the fresh report of US short-seller Hindenburg Research against SEBI chairperson Madhabi Buch alleging that she and her husband had stakes in obscure offshore funds used in the alleged Adani money siphoning scandal has created an "atmosphere of doubt" in the minds of the general public and investors. Vishal Tiwari was one of the petitioners before the top court in 2023 and had sought a probe into the allegations of stock price manipulation by the Adani group. On January 3, in a significant win for the group, the top court had refused to transfer the probe into allegations of stock price manipulation by it to a special investigation team or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), saying the market regulator was carrying out a "comprehensive investigation" and its conduct "inspires confidence". In his fresh application, Tiwari challenged an order of the Supreme Court registrar of August 5 refusing to register his plea for expeditious completion of the pending investigation by SEBI in two cases related to the allegations levelled against the Adani group. Referring to the latest Hindenburg report, Tiwari said, "...the SEBI chief has denied these allegations as baseless and this court also held that third party reports cannot be considered. But this all has created an atmosphere of doubt in the minds of public and investors and in such circumstances, it becomes incumbent for SEBI to conclude the pending investigations and declare the conclusion of the investigations." He added, "The report cited whistleblower documents. The report comes a year and a half after its damaging report on the Adani Group that had far-reaching consequences, including the cancellation of the company's flagship Rs 20,000 crore follow-on public offer". After the Hindenburg report was published, Madhabi Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch in a joint statement strongly denied the "baseless allegations and insinuations made in the report". The same, they asserted, "Are devoid of any truth". In his application, Tiwari told the top court that it is in public interest and the interest of the investors who lost their funds after the publication of the Hindenburg report in 2023 to know about the investigations led by SEBI and its conclusions. Tiwari contended that by refusing to register his plea on the grounds of "no reasonable cause for registration", the registrar has virtually suspended his fundamental right and has closed the door of the apex court for the petitioner forever. "This court has clearly fixed the timeline of three months for the completion of investigations by the SEBI. By using the word "preferably" it cannot be understood that no timeline was fixed. When specifically three months have been mentioned in the order, it is sufficient to be understood as prudent that a fixed time period is laid down for the completion of the pending investigations," his application said. Referring to the August 10 report of Hindenburg Research, Tiwari said it alleged that the current chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), and her husband had stakes in offshore funds linked to the Adani Group's alleged money siphoning scandal. Tiwari submitted that dismissal of a plea filed by another petitioner seeking review of the January 3 verdict will have no bearing on the present application as he has not sought the review of the order nor has he challenged the same. "The nature and grounds of review petitionwere totally different from the present miscellaneous application filed by the petitioner herein for the compliance of the order dated January 3, 2024," his application said. On January 3, the top court held that the power of the court to enter the regulatory domain of SEBI in framing delegated legislation was limited and directed the market regulator to complete the two pending investigations expeditiously, preferably within three months. A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud had said reliance placed by the petitioners on newspaper articles or reports by third-party organisations like Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) to question a comprehensive investigation by a specialised regulator does not inspire confidence. It had noted that SEBI has completed 22 out of the 24 investigations into allegations levelled against the Adani Group. The apex court had delivered its verdict on a batch of petitions on the Adani-Hindenburg Research row over allegations of stock price manipulation by the Indian business conglomerate. The Adani Group had dismissed the charges as lies, saying it complies with all laws and disclosure requirements. KBR (NYSE:KBR Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday. A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on KBR. DA Davidson reiterated a buy rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of KBR in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of KBR from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of KBR from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on KBR from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $76.00. Get KBR alerts: Check Out Our Latest Report on KBR KBR Stock Performance Insider Activity Shares of NYSE KBR traded up $0.51 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $64.78. The company had a trading volume of 650,892 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,169,987. KBR has a 12 month low of $49.37 and a 12 month high of $69.37. The stock has a market cap of $8.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.74, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $64.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.66. In related news, EVP Sonia Galindo sold 4,660 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.00, for a total transaction of $307,560.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 21,409 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,412,994. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.08% of the companys stock. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its holdings in KBR by 96.9% during the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 26,396 shares of the construction companys stock worth $1,693,000 after buying an additional 12,988 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of KBR during the 2nd quarter worth $390,000. Blair William & Co. IL bought a new stake in shares of KBR during the 2nd quarter worth $1,270,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in shares of KBR by 6.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 15,165 shares of the construction companys stock worth $973,000 after purchasing an additional 901 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of KBR during the second quarter worth $367,000. 97.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. About KBR (Get Free Report) KBR, Inc provides scientific, technology, and engineering solutions to governments and commercial customers worldwide. It operates through Government Solutions and Sustainable Technology Solutions segments. The Government Solutions segment offers life-cycle support solutions to defense, intelligence, space, aviation, and other programs and missions for military and other government agencies in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for KBR Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for KBR and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC Free Report) (NYSE:MFC) had its price objective hoisted by Royal Bank of Canada from C$38.00 to C$39.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on MFC. Evercore lifted their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from C$36.00 to C$37.00 in a report on Friday, May 10th. TD Securities upped their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from C$40.00 to C$41.00 in a report on Friday, July 12th. National Bank Financial upgraded Manulife Financial from a sector perform market weight rating to an outperform market weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. National Bankshares boosted their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from C$38.00 to C$43.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from C$43.00 to C$42.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Manulife Financial has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of C$39.20. Get Manulife Financial alerts: Read Our Latest Stock Report on Manulife Financial Manulife Financial Trading Down 0.3 % Manulife Financial Announces Dividend MFC opened at C$34.32 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 29.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.44. Manulife Financial has a 52 week low of C$23.69 and a 52 week high of C$37.46. The businesss 50 day moving average is C$35.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$33.84. The firm has a market cap of C$61.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.56 and a beta of 1.10. The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.66%. Manulife Financials dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.18%. Insider Activity In related news, Director Philip James Witherington sold 97,640 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$35.17, for a total value of C$3,433,852.34. Insiders own 0.02% of the companys stock. About Manulife Financial (Get Free Report) Manulife Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services in the United States, Canada, Asia, and internationally. The company operates through Wealth and Asset Management Businesses; Insurance and Annuity Products; and Corporate and Other segments. The Wealth and Asset Management Businesses segment offers investment advice and solutions to retirement, retail, and institutional clients through multiple distribution channels, including agents and brokers affiliated with the company, independent securities brokerage firms and financial advisors pension plan consultants, and banks. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Manulife Financial Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Manulife Financial and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Northeast Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEARCA:GLD Free Report) by 34.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,386 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 7,408 shares during the period. SPDR Gold Shares makes up 1.3% of Northeast Financial Group Inc.s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Northeast Financial Group Inc.s holdings in SPDR Gold Shares were worth $3,093,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GLD. Ballast Inc. raised its position in shares of SPDR Gold Shares by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ballast Inc. now owns 1,295 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Burkett Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in SPDR Gold Shares by 9.9% in the second quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 512 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. KG&L Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of SPDR Gold Shares by 2.2% during the first quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC now owns 2,205 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $454,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of SPDR Gold Shares by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 12,803 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $2,634,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, American National Bank increased its position in shares of SPDR Gold Shares by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. American National Bank now owns 150 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.19% of the companys stock. Get SPDR Gold Shares alerts: SPDR Gold Shares Stock Performance GLD stock traded up $3.82 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $228.38. 5,538,575 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,224,933. SPDR Gold Shares has a one year low of $168.30 and a one year high of $229.65. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $219.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $209.88. About SPDR Gold Shares SPDR Gold Trust (the Trust) is an investment trust. The investment objective of the Trust is for the Shares to reflect the performance of the price of gold bullion, less the Trusts expenses. The Trusts business activity is the investment of gold. The Trust creates and redeems Shares from time to time, but in one or more Baskets (a Basket equals a block of 100,000 Shares). Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GLD? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEARCA:GLD Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for SPDR Gold Shares Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for SPDR Gold Shares and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Information Services (TSE:ISV Free Report) had its price target lifted by Royal Bank of Canada from C$27.00 to C$30.00 in a report published on Friday, BayStreet.CA reports. Information Services Trading Down 1.5 % Shares of Information Services stock opened at C$26.70 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 110.16. Information Services has a 12-month low of C$19.22 and a 12-month high of C$28.65. The company has a market capitalization of C$484.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.92, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.58. The firms 50-day moving average price is C$25.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$25.62. Get Information Services alerts: Information Services Dividend Announcement The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. Information Servicess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.32%. Insider Buying and Selling at Information Services About Information Services In other Information Services news, Senior Officer Shawn Peters bought 5,000 shares of Information Services stock in a transaction on Monday, May 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of C$26.03 per share, with a total value of C$130,145.00. Company insiders own 30.05% of the companys stock. (Get Free Report) Information Services Corporation provides registry and information management services for public data and records in Canada. It operates through three segments: Registry Operations, Services, and Technology Solutions. The company provides land titles registry services that issues titles to land and registers transactions affecting titles; land survey services, which registers land survey plans and creates a representation of Saskatchewan land parcels in the cadastral parcel mapping system; and geomatics services that manages geographic data in relation to the cadastral parcel mapping system. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Information Services Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Information Services and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by Bank of America from $110.00 to $115.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a neutral rating on the real estate investment trusts stock. Bank of Americas target price suggests a potential upside of 3.94% from the companys previous close. CCI has been the subject of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Crown Castle from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Crown Castle from $126.00 to $123.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Argus cut Crown Castle from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Crown Castle from $111.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $113.53. Get Crown Castle alerts: Read Our Latest Analysis on CCI Crown Castle Trading Down 0.1 % Crown Castle stock traded down $0.09 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $110.64. 465,056 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,738,066. Crown Castle has a 52-week low of $84.72 and a 52-week high of $119.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $102.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $102.85. The company has a market capitalization of $48.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.62 and a beta of 0.83. Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.04. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 19.20% and a net margin of 17.98%. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.05 earnings per share. The companys revenue was down 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Crown Castle will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Insider Activity at Crown Castle In related news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.72, for a total value of $1,128,784.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,127 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $7,792,172.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.39% of the companys stock. Institutional Trading of Crown Castle A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $581,503,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Crown Castle by 4,097.8% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,524,226 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $246,617,000 after acquiring an additional 2,464,094 shares during the period. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in Crown Castle during the 1st quarter worth approximately $221,573,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC acquired a new stake in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $201,582,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Crown Castle by 18,200.7% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,651,456 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $190,231,000 after acquiring an additional 1,642,432 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Crown Castle Company Profile (Get Free Report) 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. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Crown Castle Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Crown Castle and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Washington, DC, United States (PANA) - The World Bank Group has announced the launch of the High-Level Advisory Council on Jobs, a new initiative that will identify actionable policies and programmes to address the looming jobs crisis in the Global South StockNews.com started coverage on shares of China Pharma (NYSE:CPHI Free Report) in a research report report published on Saturday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the stock. China Pharma Stock Performance Shares of NYSE:CPHI opened at $0.18 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $0.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $0.33. China Pharma has a 52 week low of $0.17 and a 52 week high of $1.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Get China Pharma alerts: China Pharma (NYSE:CPHI Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 15th. The company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter. China Pharma had a negative net margin of 55.42% and a negative return on equity of 54.31%. The company had revenue of $1.37 million for the quarter. About China Pharma China Pharma Holdings, Inc develops, manufactures, and markets generic and branded pharmaceutical, and biochemical products to hospitals and private retailers in the People's Republic of China. The company provides products in the form of dry powder injectables, liquid injectables, tablets, capsules, and cephalosporin oral solutions. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for China Pharma Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for China Pharma and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Cooper Financial Group trimmed its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T Free Report) by 7.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 42,491 shares of the technology companys stock after selling 3,190 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Groups holdings in AT&T were worth $812,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 1.3% in the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 42,154 shares of the technology companys stock worth $806,000 after buying an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 35,098 shares of the technology companys stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares during the last quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 19,889 shares of the technology companys stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares during the last quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,601 shares of the technology companys stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMG National Trust Bank lifted its position in shares of AT&T by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 60,064 shares of the technology companys stock worth $1,008,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares during the last quarter. 57.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get AT&T alerts: Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several equities analysts recently issued reports on T shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on AT&T from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays upped their price objective on AT&T from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Scotiabank lowered AT&T from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. UBS Group reiterated a buy rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of AT&T in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded AT&T to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $22.33. AT&T Stock Up 0.1 % T stock traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $19.45. 8,896,262 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,448,879. The company has a market cap of $139.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.45, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.58. The firms 50-day moving average is $18.69 and its 200-day moving average is $17.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.66. AT&T Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.92 and a 12 month high of $19.99. AT&T (NYSE:T Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.57. AT&T had a return on equity of 14.16% and a net margin of 10.41%. The company had revenue of $29.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $30.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. AT&Ts revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that AT&T Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year. AT&T Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.2775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.71%. AT&Ts dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.68%. AT&T Profile (Free Report) AT&T Inc provides telecommunications and technology services worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Communications and Latin America. The Communications segment offers wireless voice and data communications services; and sells handsets, wireless data cards, wireless computing devices, carrying cases/protective covers, and wireless chargers through its own company-owned stores, agents, and third-party retail stores. Read More Receive News & Ratings for AT&T Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for AT&T and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Doman Building Materials Group (TSE:DBM Get Free Report) had its price objective dropped by analysts at National Bankshares from C$10.50 to C$8.50 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage presently has an outperform rating on the stock. National Bankshares price objective would indicate a potential upside of 29.57% from the companys current price. Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on DBM. CIBC dropped their target price on shares of Doman Building Materials Group from C$9.00 to C$8.50 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on shares of Doman Building Materials Group from C$10.00 to C$9.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Doman Building Materials Group from C$10.75 to C$9.75 and set a strong-buy rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Doman Building Materials Group from C$10.00 to C$9.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Buy and a consensus price target of C$9.29. Get Doman Building Materials Group alerts: Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on DBM Doman Building Materials Group Trading Down 0.9 % Insider Activity at Doman Building Materials Group Doman Building Materials Group stock traded down C$0.06 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching C$6.56. The stock had a trading volume of 216,146 shares, compared to its average volume of 187,149. The stock has a market cap of C$571.64 million, a PE ratio of 7.64 and a beta of 1.58. Doman Building Materials Group has a 52 week low of C$6.32 and a 52 week high of C$8.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 142.37, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of C$6.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$7.55. In related news, Director Amar Doman acquired 73,500 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of C$7.13 per share, with a total value of C$524,415.15. 19.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. About Doman Building Materials Group (Get Free Report) Doman Building Materials Group Ltd., through its subsidiaries, engages in the wholesale distribution of building materials and home renovation products in the United States and Canada. The company offers treated wood; siding and trim; decking and aluminum railing; engineered wood products; roofing products; insulation and wrap products; and lumber and plywood products. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Doman Building Materials Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Doman Building Materials Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Kimberly-Clark de Mexico, S. A. B. de C. V. (OTCMKTS:KCDMY Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 25,600 shares, an increase of 319.7% from the July 15th total of 6,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 73,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.3 days. Kimberly-Clark de Mexico, S. A. B. de C. V. Price Performance OTCMKTS:KCDMY traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $8.97. 40,109 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 31,025. The firms fifty day moving average price is $8.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.35. Kimberly-Clark de Mexico, S. A. B. de C. V. has a 52-week low of $7.95 and a 52-week high of $12.30. The company has a market cap of $5.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.63 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.18. Get Kimberly-Clark de Mexico S. A. B. de C. V. alerts: Kimberly-Clark de Mexico, S. A. B. de C. V. (OTCMKTS:KCDMY Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The basic materials company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter. Kimberly-Clark de Mexico, S. A. B. de C. V. had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 154.59%. The firm had revenue of $816.94 million for the quarter. Kimberly-Clark de Mexico, S. A. B. de C. V. Dividend Announcement About Kimberly-Clark de Mexico, S. A. B. de C. V. The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.1229 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 2nd. Kimberly-Clark de Mexico, S. A. B. de C. V.s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.01%. (Get Free Report) Kimberly-Clark de Mexico, S. A. B. de C. V., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, distributes, and markets disposable products in Mexico. The company offers baby diapers, training pants, swim pants, wet wipes, shampoos, creams, bar soaps, and feeding products. It also provides toilet papers, napkins, facial tissues, paper towels, feminine pads, panty liners, tampons, intimate wipes, and menstrual cups. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Kimberly-Clark de Mexico S. A. B. de C. V. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Kimberly-Clark de Mexico S. A. B. de C. V. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE:QSR Get Free Report) (TSE:QSR) has received an average rating of Moderate Buy from the twenty-eight research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $83.22. A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Restaurant Brands International from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Restaurant Brands International from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. TD Cowen reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of Restaurant Brands International in a report on Thursday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Restaurant Brands International in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. They set a buy rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Restaurant Brands International from $86.00 to $83.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Get Restaurant Brands International alerts: Read Our Latest Report on Restaurant Brands International Institutional Investors Weigh In On Restaurant Brands International Restaurant Brands International Stock Down 1.0 % Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Restaurant Brands International in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Restaurant Brands International in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Restaurant Brands International in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Restaurant Brands International by 209.0% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 411 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the period. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Restaurant Brands International during the first quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.29% of the companys stock. NYSE:QSR opened at $69.81 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $70.18 and a 200-day moving average of $73.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.12 billion, a PE ratio of 17.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.92. Restaurant Brands International has a 52 week low of $61.77 and a 52 week high of $83.29. Restaurant Brands International Dividend Announcement The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 20th will be given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 20th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. Restaurant Brands Internationals dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.79%. Restaurant Brands International Company Profile (Get Free Report Restaurant Brands International Inc operates as a quick-service restaurant company in Canada, the United States, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Tim Hortons (TH), Burger King (BK), Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen (PLK), and Firehouse Subs (FHS). The company owns and franchises TH chain of donut/coffee/tea restaurants that offer blend coffee, tea, and espresso-based hot and cold specialty drinks; and fresh baked goods, including donuts, Timbits, bagels, muffins, cookies and pastries, grilled paninis, classic sandwiches, wraps, soups, and other food products. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Restaurant Brands International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Restaurant Brands International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. cut its holdings in FS KKR Capital Corp. (NYSE:FSK Free Report) by 48.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,343 shares of the companys stock after selling 10,457 shares during the period. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co.s holdings in FS KKR Capital were worth $229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of FS KKR Capital by 26.9% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,603,828 shares of the companys stock valued at $125,935,000 after acquiring an additional 1,398,998 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in FS KKR Capital by 3.4% in the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 4,331,784 shares of the companys stock worth $82,607,000 after buying an additional 141,625 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in FS KKR Capital by 1.6% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 2,143,793 shares of the companys stock worth $40,882,000 after buying an additional 34,416 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its position in FS KKR Capital by 3.2% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,966,418 shares of the companys stock worth $37,500,000 after buying an additional 60,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its position in FS KKR Capital by 21.0% in the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,218,960 shares of the companys stock worth $23,411,000 after buying an additional 211,961 shares during the last quarter. 36.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Get FS KKR Capital alerts: Insiders Place Their Bets In related news, Director Barbara Adams acquired 3,381 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $20.10 per share, for a total transaction of $67,958.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 22,082 shares in the company, valued at $443,848.20. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other FS KKR Capital news, insider Daniel Pietrzak purchased 5,000 shares of FS KKR Capital stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $19.21 per share, for a total transaction of $96,050.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 44,800 shares in the company, valued at $860,608. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Barbara Adams purchased 3,381 shares of FS KKR Capital stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $20.10 per share, for a total transaction of $67,958.10. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 22,082 shares in the company, valued at $443,848.20. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 8,851 shares of company stock valued at $173,737 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.25% of the companys stock. FS KKR Capital Price Performance NYSE:FSK traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $19.31. 1,097,994 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,496,673. The firm has a market cap of $5.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.04 and a beta of 1.26. FS KKR Capital Corp. has a 52 week low of $18.31 and a 52 week high of $20.99. The businesss fifty day simple moving average is $19.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.67. The company has a quick ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. FS KKR Capital (NYSE:FSK Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $439.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $426.41 million. FS KKR Capital had a return on equity of 12.42% and a net margin of 37.06%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that FS KKR Capital Corp. will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. FS KKR Capital Announces Dividend The company also recently declared a None dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a yield of 14.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 11th. FS KKR Capitals dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 106.67%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades FSK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on FS KKR Capital from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on FS KKR Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, B. Riley reissued a buy rating and issued a $21.00 target price (up from $20.00) on shares of FS KKR Capital in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FS KKR Capital currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $20.06. View Our Latest Analysis on FS KKR Capital FS KKR Capital Company Profile (Free Report) FS KKR Capital Corp. is a business development company specializing in investments in debt securities. It provides customized credit solutions to private middle market U.S. companies. It invest primarily in the senior secured debt and, to a lesser extent, the subordinated debt of private middle market U.S. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for FS KKR Capital Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for FS KKR Capital and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Virgin Money UK PLC (OTCMKTS:CBBYF Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,184,800 shares, a growth of 189.5% from the July 15th total of 409,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 0 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently days. Virgin Money UK Stock Performance CBBYF stock remained flat at $2.20 during midday trading on Tuesday. Virgin Money UK has a one year low of $1.96 and a one year high of $2.20. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.12. Get Virgin Money UK alerts: About Virgin Money UK (Get Free Report) Featured Articles Virgin Money UK PLC provides banking products and services for consumers, and small and medium sized businesses under the Clydesdale Bank, Yorkshire Bank, and Virgin Money brands in the United Kingdom. The company offers savings and current accounts, mortgages, credit cards, and home loans; business loans, overdraft facilities, treasury solutions, and corporate and structured finance; risk management; asset and invoice finance services; international trade services; and home, car, and life and critical illness insurance products. Receive News & Ratings for Virgin Money UK Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Virgin Money UK and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Skeena Resources Limited (TSE:SKE Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as C$10.07 and last traded at C$9.95, with a volume of 99883 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$9.67. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades SKE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Skeena Resources from C$17.00 to C$17.25 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Skeena Resources from C$18.00 to C$20.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Skeena Resources from C$13.00 to C$14.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Skeena Resources from C$14.00 to C$12.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Desjardins boosted their price target on shares of Skeena Resources from C$19.75 to C$20.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of C$16.71. Get Skeena Resources alerts: Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Skeena Resources Skeena Resources Stock Up 3.3 % The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 32.89, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 3.11. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of C$7.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$6.65. The stock has a market cap of C$1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.55 and a beta of 1.64. Skeena Resources (TSE:SKE Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 10th. The company reported C($0.30) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C($0.06) by C($0.24). Equities research analysts predict that Skeena Resources Limited will post -0.4862973 earnings per share for the current year. Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, Senior Officer Justin Reed Himmelright sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$8.52, for a total value of C$68,136.00. 1.52% of the stock is owned by insiders. About Skeena Resources (Get Free Report) Skeena Resources Limited explores for and develops mineral properties in Canada. The company explores for gold, silver, copper, and other precious metal deposits. It holds 100% interests in the Snip gold mine comprising one mining lease and nine mineral tenures that covers an area of approximately 4,724 hectares; and the Eskay Creek gold mine that consists of eight mineral leases, two surface leases, and various unpatented mining claims comprising 7,666 hectares located in British Columbia, Canada. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Skeena Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Skeena Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Tensions are reaching a critical point in the Middle East, signalling what could be the beginning of a broader global conflict. Israeli intelligence reports suggest that an anticipated Iranian attack could occur within the next few days, marking a significant escalation in a region already fraught with instability. The third world war has been continually conducted as an economic war and through proxies, but is slowly reaching a stage when the primary players who are conducting this conflict will assume their principal roles. This Iranian strike either directly or through its many proxies, is expected as retribution for the recent killings of senior commanders from Hamas and Hezbollahboth backed by Iran and could ignite a chain of events with far-reaching consequences, potentially drawing in global powers and pushing the world closer to a third world war. Israel, bracing for the potential assault, has elevated its military to its highest alert level. The United States shares these concerns, with National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby indicating that an attack by Iran or its proxy groups could happen this week. In response, the US is deploying a guided missile submarine and other naval assets to the region, signalling its readiness to engage if deterrence fails. However, this move risks leaving the Pacific vulnerable, a concern that could embolden China at a time when global tensions are already high. Xi Jinping and the PLA have been itching to take Taiwan for decades, and now that the USA is at its weakest point under lame-duck president Biden is possibly the best time to attack. The situation is further complicated by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, where recent Ukrainian incursions into Russian territory have added another layer of instability. As Russia becomes increasingly embroiled in its war with Ukraine, its alliances with countries like Iran and Syria are also being tested, potentially leading to a broader alignment of powers against Western interests. The escalation in the Middle East could serve as a flashpoint, drawing in nations already involved in other conflicts, such as Russias involvement in Ukraine, and possibly leading to a more widespread, global confrontation. For weeks, international efforts have been made to dissuade Iran from following through with its strike against Israel. The UK, France, and Germany issued a joint statement warning that any retaliation would be detrimental to regional security. Initially, this pressure seemed effective, but recent reports suggest Tehran, under Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, is not backing down. Within Iran, there are internal debates, with newly-elected President Masoud Pezeshkian reportedly advising caution, fearing that a conflict could destabilise his presidency and exacerbate domestic issues. Irans approach to conflict appears to be shifting. Traditionally, Iran has engaged in indirect confrontations with Israel through proxy militias like Hezbollah, avoiding direct military conflict. However, recent rhetoric from Tehran suggests a growing appetite for risk and a potential shift toward direct engagement. This change could have been influenced by a miscalculation during a missile barrage toward Israel in April, which rather than deterring Israel, may have only escalated tensions further. The Pentagons decision to announce the deployment of additional naval forces to the Middle East is a clear attempt to deter Iran from escalating the situation. However, this strategy comes with significant risks. Moving these assets from the Pacific to the Middle East leaves other regions vulnerable, particularly at a time when Chinas assertiveness in the South China Sea is raising alarms. Defence analysts warn that this could signal to China and other adversaries that the US may be stretched too thin to adequately cover all global theatres of potential conflict. As the situation in the Middle East continues to escalate, the world stands on the brink of a broader conflict. The intertwining of regional tensions, such as Irans potential strike on Israel, with the ongoing war in Ukraine, sets the stage for a dangerous escalation that could spiral into a global confrontation. The actions of the coming days and weeks will be critical in determining whether these regional conflicts can be contained, or if they will spark the flames of a more direct and involved third world war. The Snapshot Halifax-based Coloursmith leveraged support from Creative Destruction Lab - Atlantic, the Dalhousie-based arm of the global startup program, and is now working with the vision care industry to commercialize its technology that helps colourblind people see colour more vividly. The Idea The first glimpse of the idea behind Coloursmith was spied by Gabrielle Masone, the companys CEO, during a business validation course she took while studying chemistry at Dalhousie. The alumnus examined the technologies available to people with colour blindness, which affects one in 12 men and one in 200 women. She saw an opportunity to expand their options to include contact lenses. Shown left Gabrielle Masone, CEO, Coloursmith. (Aaron McKenzie Fraser photo) She experienced a revelatory moment after presenting her chemistry-based concept at a Dalhousie pitch competition, where she received a positive response from potential supporters and investors. I got a lot of interest from different entrepreneurial support organizations, like National Research Council Canada and Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, recognizing that, 'Hey, this is pretty compelling,' Masone recalls. Buoyed by the reaction, she founded Coloursmith shortly after and began pursuing her solution to the problem. The Challenge Its easy for those with normal vision to overlook the impact of colourblindness. Many important signals streetlights being the most obvious are delivered using colour. Our world is very color based, Masone explains. If you have difficulty interpreting or differentiating those colours then you're missing a lot of visual cues. So, colourblindness is very impactful in everyday life. It makes it difficult to do certain activities. Traditionally, sunglasses with special light-filtering lenses are used to correct the issue. Sunglasses, however, have functional limitations. You can't wear sunglasses indoors, in class, on dates, Masone notes. She realized that there was an opportunity for Coloursmith if the company could apply the existing light-filtering and colour-enhancing technology to contact lenses, which she says hadnt yet been done because lens manufacturers struggled to incorporate light-filtering ingredients. Vials of Coloursmith's ingredients prior to being formulated into contact lens products. (Submitted photo) So, the company started off with a very simple question: Why dont these products currently exist on the market? We wanted to identify the chemical explanation as to why these things weren't already incorporated into the existing technology, and to propose a solution for that problem, Masone explains. It was very much a chemical challenge. However, that phase of intensive R&D and aggressive patenting of Coloursmiths ideas required funding. Masone found her initial investors while taking part in Creative Destruction Lab Atlantic, which is housed at Dalhousie. As a company founder participating in CDL, you're receiving insight and guidance from some of the region's top technical and business minds, she says. Its also a rare chance to spotlight the region's most attractive early-stage investment opportunities. With that dynamic in place, it allows for the development of long-term professional relationships that are highly beneficial to a founder straight out of university. The fledgling startup also needed to squeeze the most R&D possible from those fundraising dollars. On that front it was aided by Emera ideaHUBs ideaBRIDGE program, which helps startups move from a minimum viable product to commercialization. Coloursmith received much-needed engineering and 3D modeling resources equipment that was essential for the companys R&D efforts. The Solution From that R&D process, Coloursmith developed proprietary encapsulation technology that add performance-enhancing elements such as light-filtering ingredients to contact lenses. The tech boosts UV protection, enhances colour definition, and allows contact lens manufacturers full control of the light permissibility through the lenses. Gabrielle Masone at work in the Coloursmith lab. (Danny Abriel photo) Our encapsulation technology makes the ingredients biocompatible so it can stay within the contact lens material, Masone notes. A contact lens is very similar to a sponge. It's permeable. It's porous. What goes in will come out. So, if you put material into a contact that doesn't bind permanently, it'll eventually come out into your eye. You obviously don't want that. Coloursmiths technology takes those materials and wraps them in a microscopic, proprietary shell. In the case of dyes, they maintain their light-filtering properties without harming or leaching from the contact lens. We're working with a variety of companies in the vision care industry to collaborate on the co-development of new products using this technology, Masone says. We have a whole pipeline of products that we hope to see on the market in the next couple of years. The Impact The immediate strategy is to apply Coloursmiths technology to as many applications in the vision-care sector as possible. The ultimate goal of the technology is to give people improved color vision functionality, Masone notes. But she also sees applications for the companys encapsulation technology beyond vision care, including in the cosmetics industry, where she points to sunscreen as a target. It's about tweaking our encapsulation technology so we can do the same thing in other areas: enabling new, beneficial materials to be used in these products where normally they can't easily be used. The Coloursmith team at The Labs, an Invest Nova Scotia facility where the company is located. (Aaron McKenzie Fraser photo) She views her 10-person company more as a platform, licencing its technology across sectors, all while maintaining its base and perhaps its own manufacturing in Nova Scotia. We're trying to build the company here in a way that brings new jobs and opportunities to the region, and really links us into the greater vision care industry, which is a $120-billion global industry. It would be really impactful to bring some of that to Nova Scotia. East Derry MLA Cara Hunter has raised concerns over school funding and has claimed that most schools could be in a financial deficit by the end of the year. Ms Hunter said: The news today from the Education Authority that 80% of our schools are set to be in financial deficit by the end of the year is a shocking indictment on the management of our schools. Our school workers, including classroom assistants, bus drivers and canteen staff, are already in dire need of increased pay and even without increases forthcoming, more than half of our schools are operating in the red. We have been hearing for more than two years that our education system is in crisis and the news today from the EA further confirms the scale of the crisis facing our schools. Our school leaders do a remarkable job in providing great education despite the immense pressures facing them, but we must recognise that the wheels are soon to fall off without immediate intervention. Having spoken with countless parents, teachers and school leaders, I am acutely aware of the stress placed on staff and the impact that this is having on teaching and learning. I am calling on the Minister of Education today to enter into urgent talks with the British government to secure immediate funding to ensure our schools are able to excel. To build a healthy, thriving society, it is essential to have a school system that functions and to ensure a first class education system we need the funds to support this. It is time for the Executive to take the wellbeing and futures of our young people seriously and act to avert a serious crisis. Over three-quarters of schools in the North are expected to be in the red this year if they do not receive more funding. Schools in the North have already been in financial deficit from the end of March 2024. This information was provided to the board of the Education Authority (EA). The EA board has recently been told that "if no further funding was allocated to schools in a year, this figure would rise to 80%". St. Eugenes Cathedral has unveiled its A man for all seasons exhibition to explore the life and legacy of Bishop Edward Daly. The exhibition highlights the multifacetedness of Bishop Dalys influence throughout the city and beyond. Bishop Daly, at the time a priest, is iconic for waving a white handkerchief on Bloody Sunday in 1972 as he attempted to escort 17-year-old Jackie Duddy, a wounded protester, to safety. Duddy would die of his injuries soon after, and Daly administered the last rites. Mary Durkan posted on Facebook about the image while discussing the exhibition. She said: The iconic image... endures as a reminder of Bishop Dalys pivotal pastoral role in our city during turbulent and tough times. He was appointed Bishop of Derry in 1974at 40, he was the youngest bishop in Ireland. Bishop Daly had a keen interest in the criminal justice system, seeking to attend to the needs of prisoners, internees, and victims of miscarriages of justice, including the Birmingham Six. Ms. Durkans said: The many lives he touched through his work with Foyle Hospice and his role in establishing #InnerCityTrust. He was a major player in the rich arts and culture scene in Derry, having founded the 71 Players. He worked with people of all faiths and none. A true champion of Derry. A man for all seasons! The exhibition will be on display until Sunday, August 31, 2024. Stormont Justice Minister Naomi Long has been urged to reconsider a decision not to call a public inquiry into the case of Arlene Arkinson. The Co Tyrone schoolgirl went missing in August 1994 after a night out in Donegal. Her body has never been found, despite extensive searches. Convicted child killer Robert Howard was found responsible, on the balance of probabilities, for the death of the 15-year-old following an inquest in 2021. He had been out on bail at the time of Miss Arkinsons disappearance and was the last person seen with the teenager. Howard, originally from Co Laois, had been charged with her murder in 2002, but acquitted in 2005. He died in prison custody in England in 2015 while serving a life sentence for the rape and murder of 14-year-old Hannah Williams from London. Speaking ahead of the 30th anniversary of Miss Arkinsons disappearance, her sister Kathleen said the whole system let Arlene down. The familys solicitor, Des Doherty, has urged Ms Long to reconsider the decision not to call a public inquiry. He said any public inquiry should focus on the activities of Howard more closely, but also look at the legal system in this jurisdiction and how the law and the police behaved in relation to this case and how it was dealt with. If a public inquiry is the only way to keep their case in the public eye, then so be it, he told the BBC. I do not see any other legal option (other than a public inquiry) that is available to the family at this point. I think new information will come to light. In a statement, Ms Long said she took the decision not to call a public inquiry into the case after concluding there were not sufficient grounds. Having met with the Arkinson family, I fully appreciate that the past 30 years have been deeply traumatic as they have continued to grieve and search for answers on behalf of Arlene, she said. My decision not to establish a public inquiry was taken after very careful consideration of everything that had been put before me both verbally and in writing by the Arkinson family and by their legal representative. I also took account of the coroners detailed inquest findings, the Police Ombudsman report into the handling of the police investigation into Arlenes disappearance, and the significant changes to police missing person policies. In weighing up all of the relevant factors it was my conclusion that there were not sufficient grounds for a public inquiry into this tragic case. Fundamental change is needed to ensure the Police Service of Northern Ireland is adequately resourced, a political leader has said. UUP leader Doug Beattie was speaking as officer numbers in the PSNI sit at 6,300, well below the 7,500 recommended in the Patten Review more than 20 years ago. This week, numbers have been bolstered with an additional 80 officers from Police Scotland, while the PSNI continues to investigate recent disorder in Belfast. Last week, chief constable Jon Boutcher described the PSNI as an outlier compared to any other police organisation in England, Wales or Scotland or the gardai in terms of funding. He said the Stormont Executive does not get enough money for public services in Northern Ireland, and said he is pressing ministers and the UK government about the issue. Earlier, retired assistant chief constable Alan McQuillan claimed that Stormont is ignoring a developing police funding crisis. He told the BBC: Stormont has got the blinkers on. Northern Ireland politicians have failed policing. I think we are at the point of crisis now. There is no capacity to recruit and train people. Later on Tuesday, Mr Beattie said there is a crisis in policing around resources, staffing and political support. The headline is that our police, which should be sitting at 7,500 officers according to the Patten Review of Policing, is actually sitting at 6,300 officers, he said. Yet that doesnt tell the whole story because from that 6,300 you need to remove those on long-term or short-term sick, those on maternity leave and those either assigned to an important desk job or are close to retirement. The available officers on the beat figure is likely to be below 6,000. This creates an unbearable pressure on the force and on individual officers who are asked to do more with less. He added: If politicians in Northern Ireland are not willing to stand up and address this then we cannot complain when our Chief Constable grabs the nettle and delves into the political arena to save the force he commands. This is a line in the sand for policing in Northern Ireland, we need fundamental change, including direct support from the Home Office. The recent riots, with paramilitary influence, combined with ongoing Republican terrorism are without a doubt a threat to national security and our police are on the front line of that threat. They need support and they need resources if we, as a society, are to turn this around. In a statement around the additional police officers arriving from Scotland this week, the PSNI said: Following a request to the National Police Co-ordination Centre for additional officers to support the policing operation, 80 officers from Police Scotland will arrive in Northern Ireland on Tuesday. We are really grateful for the support from our colleagues from Police Scotland and this will give us the vital additional resilience that we need at this time. Taiwan's drone industry gains momentum, sparks annual expo debut in October Taiwan's government is intensifying its efforts to develop the domestic drone industry, designating it as one of the five key pillars in the nation's trusted supply chain initiative. Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo recently announced that the National Development Council (NDC) will allocate funds from the National Development Fund to support the drone sector, aiming to achieve a production value of NT$30 billion (approximately USD 950 million) by 2028. The Taiwanese drone industry is gaining momentum as a vital partner for the United States, especially amid heightened U.S. demands for decoupling from China. With Chinese brands currently dominating 70% of the global drone market, the U.S. is keen to diversify its drone supply chain, positioning Taiwan as a crucial ally in this effort. International collaboration is already underway. During the U.S.-Taiwan Defense Industry Forum in June 2024, nearly 30 American defense contractors, including those from the drone sector, visited Taiwan. Betsy Shieh, Head of the Commercial Section at the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), confirmed that another delegation of 26 U.S. drone companies will visit Taiwan in September, focusing on partnerships with Taiwanese suppliers in counter-drone systems. As the industry grows, Taiwan is preparing to showcase its capabilities. The first dedicated drone exhibition is scheduled for October 2024 in Taipei's Nangang district. While the inaugural event may be modest, it's expected to evolve into a fully independent expo by 2026, reflecting the sector's increasing prominence. Currently, Space Chiayi serves as the main hub for Taiwan's drone development. A recent drone expo held there announced the formation of a Taiwan drone supply chain alliance, aiming to attract more upstream and downstream industry players. Reports indicate that over 30 companies have already joined the alliance, pooling resources to capitalize on global opportunities in the decoupled supply chain. This strategic focus on the drone industry demonstrates Taiwan's commitment to innovation and its potential to become a significant player in the global market. As geopolitical tensions reshape supply chains, Taiwan's drone sector is well-positioned to meet growing international demand and contribute to the nation's economic growth. 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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 The residents of Marian Park in Dundalk are gearing up for major celebrations this September, as the Dundalk housing estate marks 65 years since its first tenants took residence in 1959. The newly established Marian Park Residents Committee has been incredibly active since November 2023, ensuring the place remains tidy and preparing for the upcoming celebrations. The Dundalk Democrat spoke to James McCrave of the resident's committee, who shared some of the remarkable background to the history of the estate and the plans for the 65th anniversary celebrations. The construction of Marian Park first began in the mid-1950s, with the first tenants taking residence on April 3 1959. Marian Park takes its origins from the Marian Year started by Pope John XXIII, when many estates and shrines around the country were named after the Virgin Mary. Construction commenced around 1957, it was finished in four phases. James tells the Dundalk Democrat that Marian Park was a great place to grow up. Over the past number of weeks he has been compiling some of the history of the estate, with the help of old news and community archives in preparation for the 65th anniversary. He has uncovered a wealth of information about the various variety groups from Marian Park, and the activities that took place in the estate over the years. A lot of things happened over the years here, you would be surprised, he reveals. They used to have discos, the variety groups used to win competions in Ireland, there's a lot of history there. Marian Park used to have a variety group here, years and years ago, it used to be run by a Councillor who lived here, Jimmy Bellew. He used to run the variety groups. There used to be teams coming down from the North, there was a team called Ballygawley used to come down in the 70s, they used to always beat us! Revealing some of the history he uncovered during his research, James says that they used to have a lot of Irish dancers, they used to have beekeepers, they used to have loads and loads of stuff. There's loads of history, you could be talking about it the whole day. James adds that back in the day, people from all over the town wanted to go into Marian Park because there was that much happening in the street. That's what I was told from a few of the past residents. People would travel from different parts of the town to see what Marian Park were doing because they were doing that much. There's a load of history there. Last November a new residents committee was set up in the area. The residents committee used to do a lot of things years ago for the residents, that's how all that stuff came about, day trips and all that kind of thing as well. But there hasn't been any residents committee here since the late 80s, it kind of got disbanded. All the residents were getting older. Also, the people who were running it had their own families and hadn't got time to run it, so it's only now, last year, that we put together a Marian Park Residents Committee. James has shared with the Dundalk Democrat, some of the photos and stories of Marian Park, that he uncovered while carrying out his research, including some old Dundalk Democrat archives. See next week's Dundalk Democrat for more stories and archive photos of Marian Park over the past 65 years. The committee has plenty in store this September for the 65th anniversary celebrations. On Saturday 7 September from 11:15am 12:15pm, the St Brigid Pipe Band will march around the streets in Marian Park and play some tunes. Also on the Saturday, from 1pm to 5pm, there will be a Family Fun Day at the Redeemer Resource Centre for residents, kids, and grandkids. There will be a fun course, bouncy castles, slides, and face painting. On Sunday 8 September at 2pm, there will be an outdoor mass for deceased residents of Marian Park on the astro pitch. The parish priests will bless the street after mass. This will be followed by a street party from 3:30pm to 6:00pm. Then on Friday 20 September, starting at 6.30pm, there will be a Marian Park reunion for past and present residents at the Lisdoo Arms on the Newry Road. Expect live music and a disco by Paddy Mac, with special guest Beki Hemingway and husband guitarist Randy Kerkman. Tickets are 20 and are available now. Contact James at 087 2202173 for more. Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. Ten prisoners are being treated for suspected overdoses at Portlaoise Prison. A number of prisoners were taken to hospital by ambulance after the incidents while others received treatment at the prison. The Irish Prison Service (IPS) said it is working closely with the HSE in response to a number of overdose presentations in custody. A spokesman said: The is a live operational situation for the IPS and the HSE. Both agencies are working to provide the highest quality health service to those impacted. A number of people are currently receiving medical treatment both in prison and in hospital. The prison service said extra vigilance is being taken and added that extra naloxone kits, which are used in the treatment of overdoses, had been secured. In a statement, the IPS said preventing drugs and other contraband from entering prisons is a high priority. It said: The Irish Prison Service has committed to continuing to invest in new technologies and measures to support our efforts to keep contraband out of prisons. Prison staff have increased the use of random and intelligence-led cell searches on a daily basis. Our Canine Unit carry out searches around the prisons, including a greater focus on searching deliveries into prisons. The Irish Prison Service continues to engage with An Garda Siochana with regard to preventing contraband entering our prison and this happens at both local and national level. It has also carried out an information campaign for prisoners about the dangers of drugs. The Department of Justice declined to comment on the incidents. It comes less than a month after the IPS issued an urgent drug alert to all prisons about a nitazene-type substance following a fatal overdose. The HSE National Drug Treatment Centre Laboratory was involved in confirming the presence of the drug. Blog Archive: Oct 2024 (45) Sep 2024 (149) Aug 2024 (155) Jul 2024 (155) Jun 2024 (150) May 2024 (153) Apr 2024 (149) Mar 2024 (155) Feb 2024 (145) Jan 2024 (156) Dec 2023 (155) Nov 2023 (150) Oct 2023 (155) Sep 2023 (150) Aug 2023 (155) Jul 2023 (155) Jun 2023 (150) May 2023 (155) Apr 2023 (150) Mar 2023 (155) Feb 2023 (140) Jan 2023 (155) Dec 2022 (156) Nov 2022 (150) Oct 2022 (155) Sep 2022 (150) Aug 2022 (155) Jul 2022 (154) Jun 2022 (150) May 2022 (155) Apr 2022 (150) Mar 2022 (155) Feb 2022 (140) Jan 2022 (156) Dec 2021 (156) Nov 2021 (150) Oct 2021 (155) Sep 2021 (150) Aug 2021 (155) Jul 2021 (155) Jun 2021 (150) May 2021 (155) Apr 2021 (150) Mar 2021 (155) Feb 2021 (140) Jan 2021 (155) Dec 2020 (155) Nov 2020 (150) Oct 2020 (158) Sep 2020 (150) Aug 2020 (130) Jul 2020 (124) Jun 2020 (120) May 2020 (124) Apr 2020 (120) Mar 2020 (124) Feb 2020 (116) Jan 2020 (125) Dec 2019 (126) Nov 2019 (120) Oct 2019 (124) Sep 2019 (120) Aug 2019 (125) Jul 2019 (124) Jun 2019 (120) May 2019 (123) Apr 2019 (121) Mar 2019 (124) Feb 2019 (112) Jan 2019 (125) Dec 2018 (126) Nov 2018 (120) Oct 2018 (124) Sep 2018 (121) Aug 2018 (124) Jul 2018 (125) Jun 2018 (120) May 2018 (124) Apr 2018 (121) Mar 2018 (124) Feb 2018 (112) Jan 2018 (123) Dec 2017 (124) Nov 2017 (124) Oct 2017 (141) Sep 2017 (135) Aug 2017 (138) Jul 2017 (137) Jun 2017 (134) May 2017 (138) Apr 2017 (135) Mar 2017 (139) Feb 2017 (129) Jan 2017 (143) Dec 2016 (135) Nov 2016 (138) Oct 2016 (142) Sep 2016 (128) Aug 2016 (133) Jul 2016 (136) Jun 2016 (138) May 2016 (164) Apr 2016 (311) Mar 2016 (348) Feb 2016 (320) Jan 2016 (348) Dec 2015 (314) Nov 2015 (338) Oct 2015 (363) Sep 2015 (358) Aug 2015 (399) Jul 2015 (374) Jun 2015 (331) May 2015 (337) Apr 2015 (319) Mar 2015 (320) Feb 2015 (271) Jan 2015 (286) Dec 2014 (254) Nov 2014 (238) Oct 2014 (287) Sep 2014 (267) Aug 2014 (259) Jul 2014 (260) Jun 2014 (238) May 2014 (241) Apr 2014 (228) Mar 2014 (240) Feb 2014 (217) Jan 2014 (263) Dec 2013 (226) Nov 2013 (254) Oct 2013 (256) Sep 2013 (252) Aug 2013 (263) Jul 2013 (261) Jun 2013 (251) May 2013 (250) Apr 2013 (221) Mar 2013 (193) Feb 2013 (164) Jan 2013 (157) Dec 2012 (155) Nov 2012 (240) Oct 2012 (526) Sep 2012 (411) Aug 2012 (394) Jul 2012 (284) Jun 2012 (229) May 2012 (213) Apr 2012 (213) Mar 2012 (253) Feb 2012 (269) Jan 2012 (298) Dec 2011 (273) Nov 2011 (219) Oct 2011 (204) Sep 2011 (201) Aug 2011 (236) Jul 2011 (217) Jun 2011 (211) May 2011 (206) Apr 2011 (215) Mar 2011 (215) Feb 2011 (186) Jan 2011 (215) Dec 2010 (107) Nov 2010 (98) Oct 2010 (55) People living in Cork city centre cannot rely solely on public transport to get around, a city councillor has said in response to news that a proposed 100m development of over 200 dockland apartments will not have attached parking. City councillor Paudie Dineen said it was concerning that plans for 217 cost-rental apartments on the former Sextant and Careys Tool Hire site on Albert Quay do not include a basement car park. The plans for The Railyard Apartments, proposed by Cork City Council in partnership with the JCD Group, would deliver 217 new homes, consisting of a mix of studios, one, two, and three bedroom units, in a 24-storey tower which would step down to 12 storeys and then nine storeys. Mr Dineen said it was a myth that 217 families living in the city centre would be able to depend exclusively on public transport. I welcome the development of the Docklands, and I welcome the development of homes, but we cannot have that amount of properties being built without providing adequate parking, he said. Its just not doable, but its a myth that people can just rely on public transport alone. Public transport is fine if you wish to go from A to B and back again but if you wish to travel anywhere else its very problematic. Therefore, people will always be reliant on cars, and they will need parking. With regards to the Docklands, Ive been pushing that the council should encourage a couple of multi-storey car parks to be built within the development to provide the parking that will be required, Mr Dineen said. The Lord Mayor of Cork, Green Party councillor Dan Boyle, said that an underground car park at the proposed Railyard development would increase the cost per housing unit by 50,000. In terms of developing the inner city and the city centre, the priority is in housing people, not cars, he said. For every five cars you want to garage, you can have a housing unit, and these are the choices were going to have to make. He claimed that cars are parked 92% of the time, and he cited Utrecht in Holland, where public transport is free to people travelling to their cars, which are parked within a kilometre of their homes. Its the people you think of first, not the cars, and in terms of how people get from A to B, you have a sustainable transport policy that helps them to do that, Mr Boyle said. The Railyard Apartments development is a collaboration between Cork City Council and JCD Group and arises from Cork City Councils Competitive Dialogue procurement process which seeks to deliver solutions to social and affordable housing delivery in the city. Cork City Council proposes to partner with an approved housing body for the ultimate delivery of this mixed tenure scheme. The proposed mixed tenure cost-rental and social housing development, to include Rightsizing homes for older persons, is progressing through the Part 8 Planning process which includes a public consultation process. The proposed development will be put forward for the approval of the elected members of Cork City Council later in the Autumn. If planning is granted on the development, construction is expected to start in Q1 2025. Fine Gael councillor Des Cahill said he was not concerned about the lack of parking in the proposed development. Theres an awful lot of people live in the city centre without parking and they dont have cars. Personally I would have preferred to see an underground car park but that wasnt part of the remit, Mr Cahill said. Theres huge restriction in putting parking in the city centre, particularly in the docklands, which is a statutory requirement. The housing charity Threshold welcomed the proposals, particularly as the scheme would deliver one, two and three-bed homes. Cost-rental, a relatively new tenure in Ireland, is vital for ensuring access to affordable and secure housing to a broad cohort of society, Ann-Marie OReilly, Thresholds national advocacy manager, said. This type of housing is needed throughout the country, and we look forward to seeing much more of it. The CEO of Cork Chamber, Conor Healy, said the development would, as part the wider regeneration of the docklands, greatly enhance the fabric of the city, bringing additional residents and businesses into the centre of Cork. I hope that [this] announcement will serve to stimulate further development as part of the rejuvenation of the docklands area, but the Government must continue to prioritise supports and incentives for city-centre housing development as we look to Budget 2025, Mr Healy said. There were no HAP properties available to rent in Cork City centre or suburbs during a three-day Simon Communities of Ireland study. The charitys Locked Out of the Market Report, a snapshot study undertaken every quarter, showed an increase in properties for rent in Cork City, but a decrease in the suburbs, compared to their last report in March. The study, undertaken from June 17-19, tracked the number of properties advertised to rent within the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (DHLGH) Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) limits. Details were gathered from Daft.ie for Cork City centre and Cork City suburbs, as well as areas in Dublin, Galway, Limerick, Kildare, and Waterford. In 10 of the 16 study areas there were no properties available to rent through HAP in any household category, with both Cork City centre and Cork City suburbs among this group. The report added that, according to Daft.ie, the average rent in Cork City has increased by 8% since last year and now sits at 1,870. It also stated that the average rent in Cork county has increased by 4.1% since last year and now sits at 1,427. Some 76% of the properties available to rent at any price were in Dublin, with the Cork City suburbs down three properties and Cork City centre up by 13 since the March 2024 report. When searching with no minimum cost, there were 35 properties available each day and 40 across the three days in Cork City centre, compared to 27 in March, a 48% increase, while the level of HAP properties was unchanged, at zero. In Cork City suburbs, there were 28 properties to rent across the three days in June 2024 and an average of 25 per day, a decrease of 10% since March, when there were 31 properties to rent. One HAP property was found for the area in the March report, but none in June. COSTS The report also looks at costs, and found that in Cork City centre, the costs for one-beds were between 1,026 and 2,100, for two-beds between 1,338 and 2,500, and for three-beds between 1,800 and 3,450, In Cork City suburbs, costs for one-beds were between 1,110 and 1,750, for two-beds between 1,622 and 2,975, and three beds were between 1,597 and 2,950. Nationally, rents for new tenancies are now 16% higher than for existing tenancies, with the report saying: The Simon Communities of Ireland continue to highlight this concerning trend. The large gap between the cost of new and existing tenancies is one that many households cannot afford to fill. This is particularly concerning, given the large numbers of households receiving eviction notices. If these households are fortunate enough to find alternative housing in the private rental sector, they are likely to be faced with significantly higher monthly rents. For households reliant on HAP, these issues are especially pronounced. The prospect of finding a rental property within HAP limits remains extremely difficult, especially outside of Dublin, where supply is even more limited, and HAP limits are set much lower. More than 88,000 people including over 10,000 children were on waiting lists at Cork hospitals at the end of July, according to newly released figures from the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF). The figures show that Cork hospital waiting lists have increased by around 2.7% from July 2023. Some 7,434 adults and 765 children were on inpatient waiting lists, with South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital (SIVUH) having the highest amount of people awaiting inpatient treatment. A total of 4,065 adults and 400 children were awaiting treatment in SIVUH followed by 1,541 adults and 346 children in Cork University Hospital (CUH). SIVUH inpatient waiting lists show 2,939 people waiting for 0-6 months, 811 for 6-12 months, 382 for 12-18 months, and 333 for more than 18 months, while 1,108 in CUH had been on the list for 0-6 months, 414 for 6-12 months, 156 for 12-18 months, and 209 for longer than 18 months. There were also 636 adults and 17 children on waiting lists for inpatient treatment in the Mercy, 547 people in Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH), 413 adults and two children in Mallow, and 232 people in Bantry. The outpatient waiting lists were almost 10 times as high as the inpatient lists, with 70,156 adults and 9,740 children awaiting inpatient treatment. CUH had the highest waiting lists for outpatient procedures, with 30,881 adults and 6,195 children, followed by SIVUH with 26,507 adults and 2,938 children on lists. There were 5,819 people on outpatient waiting lists in the Mercy, 3,780 adults and 547 children in Mallow, 2,325 adults and 60 children in CUMH, and 844 people in Bantry also. Some 19,567 people in CUH had been waiting up to six months for outpatient treatment, 8,054 are waiting 6-12 months, 4,363 are waiting 12-18 months, and 5,093 are waiting more than 18 months. Nationally, waiting list figures have also increased, with the Department of Health saying the figures demonstrate the continuing demands for care in our acute hospitals. They explained that the July figures show that there have been significant reductions in the number of patients waiting longest, saying: There has been a c.30% reduction in the total number of patients waiting over 18 months since this time last year. Enable Ireland is appealing to the people of Cork to support its newest fundraising campaign, Dress To Enable. The charity is asking members of the public to donate one good, high quality item they no longer need from their wardrobe to the organisation throughout the month of September. Donated items will then be sold at an event in Enable Irelands Childrens Disability Services Centre in Curraheen on October 6, with funds raised going towards vital equipment for the 13,000 children and adults with disabilities the charity supports nationally. Young Offenders actress, Hilary Rose said: I am delighted to support such a fantastic organisation as Enable Ireland. Ive seen first-hand how vital their services are for children and families who need them. They are asking the public to get behind this great cause and donate their coats, dresses and handbags to help raise funds for vital equipment. Anna and Donal Guerin, parents of Siobhan Guerin, 18, who assisted in the campaign launch, said: Were very happy for Siobhan to be involved in the Dress to Enable event. Over the last 16 years she has had essential therapies and support from Enable Ireland including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, psychology and respite. This support has helped Siobhan to become the person that she is today. Christopher McCarthy, father of Denise Griffin McCarthy, 13, who also assisted in the campaign launch said: Denise has received fantastic support from the Enable Ireland Physiotherapy Department as she was born with cerebral palsy. We are delighted to help spread the word about this campaign and hope the public comes on board to help too. Director of services at Enable Ireland in Cork, Gillian Darrer said: We are very grateful for the publics support with this one day sales event. We will be delighted to welcome the public to our childrens centre in Curraheen. The fundraising team will be available Monday to Friday from 9am to 4.30pm at the childrens centre in Curraheen throughout next month to accept donations. Tens of thousands of people have been arrested for drug offences in Cork over the past decade, with a Cork public representative calling for more Gardai and a stronger naval service to tackle this. Figures released to Aontu by the Minister for Justice show that 36,133 people have been arrested throughout the county for drug offences with the number of arrests peaking in 2021 and 2022 when there were 4,046 and 4,356 respectively. Figures from 2014 to 2024 so far show that there were 21,132 drug arrests in Cork City over the last ten and a half years, and 9,378 in North Cork and 5,623 in West Cork during the same time period. There have been 1,152 arrests in Cork City, 526 in North Cork and 239 in West Cork up to the 11 July this year, suggesting the total figure for Cork could be as high as 4,000 again this year. 'SCOURGE' Cork Aontu Representative Becky Kealy says the figures should be a wakeup call to the Government to get a handle on the scourge of drugs in towns and villages throughout the county for once and for all. She said, There is hardly a village in Cork that is untouched by drugs. The ease with which people of all ages and of all backgrounds can access them is frightening and the knock-on ramifications are huge. Crime, serious addiction, family breakdown, desolation and desperation are their hallmarks, and they leave indelible marks on their users. Ms Kealy added, Our naval fleet has been decimated by this and successive Governments, saying Ireland is seen as a soft touch by drug lords. She asked, Why are so many Naval boats in Ireland tied up - we spent millions buying two more from New Zealand in the past couple of years, just to bring them in and tie them up to our ports and pier walls as we cannot find the resources to employ enough Naval staff to put them to sea. This is coupled with falling Garda numbers; for every year that Fine Gael has been in government the number of Gardai has fallen, morale is at an all-time low and the number of resignations has skyrocketed. Its a perfect storm, Ms Kealy added. Minister for Justice Helen McEntee told Mr Toibin, The Government is investing record amounts into An Garda Siochana to target those involved in the sale and supply of illegal drugs through Operation Tara. Operation Tara has a strong focus on tackling street-level dealing across the country, also seeks to disrupt and dismantle the drug trafficking networks that impact on our communities and prosecute those involved at every level. She assured him that the Government is committed to limiting access to illegal drugs to the greatest extent possible and are committed to taking a number of direct actions to tackle this, including by increasing the maximum sentence for conspiracy to murder from 10 years to life in prison to tackle those who direct gangland and drug related crime. They are also introducing new legislation which will criminalise the grooming of children into a life of crime, rolling out a support programme to break the link between the gangs and the children they try to recruit and strengthening CABs ability to target the proceeds of crime and speed up the process to dispose of the asset for the benefit of the State. Do not swim notices have been issued for two West Cork beaches due to high levels of bacteria in the water. On Tuesday, Cork County Council posted on social media that due to high levels of bacteria in the bathing water, in the interest of public health, an Advisory Notice (Not to Swim) has been issued for Owenahincha Beach, in consultation with the HSE. It added: Further microbiological tests are being carried out today and in the coming days. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) advised that there are current swim restrictions at Owenahincha due to pollution, advising against bathing. Advised It advised that water quality deteriorated due to suspected agricultural activities/runoff and that the expected duration of the restriction is five days. It follows another notice issued by Cork County Council on Monday for the nearby Warren Beach, with further microbiological tests also being carried over the coming days. This is the second do not swim notice for this beach, which was closed to swimmers earlier in the summer due to water quality. There have been ongoing issues with pollution there due to sewage over the last 15 years. The EPA said that the do not swim notice for Warren Beach was also expected to last five days, writing that it was put in place due to risk of deterioration in water quality due to emergency sewage overflow. Cork South-West TD Christopher OSullivan told The Echo: Its incredibly disappointing this is happening during peak tourist season. I think fingers, once again, have to be pointed at the fact that right within the vicinity of both of these two beaches is a wastewater treatment plant that is having to be desludged. That has to be properly investigated, because the evidence seems to be overwhelming that the pollution seems to be emanating from that. Following the expansion of the free schoolbooks programme to include junior cycle students at secondary level, a Fine Gael Cork North Central TD has called for this expansion to further extend to senior cycle students. The expansion of the scheme, announced earlier this year, saw a further 212,000 junior cycle students across 670 secondary schools nationwide encompassed by the programme, bringing the total number of students availing of the scheme to 775,000 across secondary, primary, and special education schools. Beyond economic relief The campaign was described by Minister of State at the Department of Health Colm Burke as an initiative that goes beyond just economic relief. This initiative not only saves Cork families money but also time that they would have spent gathering school supplies, he said. Schools are now fully equipped to distribute all essential materials before the school year starts, [so] parents and guardians in Cork can now feel relieved as the school year approaches. This initiative ensures that every student in Cork, no matter their background, has access to necessary educational resources. In light of these benefits, it is now crucial for the Minister for Education to consider extending free schoolbook services to senior cycle students, he added. Commitment Mr Burke said his party has undertaken serious commitment to support educational paths for students and to lessen cost-of-living stresses for families into the future. This kind of equality in the classroom enhances the learning experience for everyone, he said. We are dedicated to ensuring that every child has the best possible start in life and will continue to strive to eliminate educational barriers. This effort is proof of our commitment to building a better future for families across the country, he concluded. The Shelbourne Bar on MacCurtain Street has been refused retention permission for its front awning. Though planning officers said that the development is an improvement to the business, they raised issues regarding its visual impact on the area. The conservation officers report stated that no contact was made with their office prior to the construction of the large, non-retractable awning. They added: The awning impacts significantly on the adjacent protected structure, the Everyman Theatre, with its distinctive entrance canopy and original upper-floor proportions, saying that views of this are almost totally obscured. Contravention It was noted that the awning was in contravention of Section 11.193 of the Cork City Development Plan which states: Planning permission is required for the erection of canopies. Canopies of traditional design and retractable materials will be favoured. Philip Gillivan, who runs The Shelbourne Bar, said that they have appealed the decision to An Bord Pleanala, adding: We will now let due process happen. 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. Today is World Elephant Day, and conservationists have petitioned Tanzania to stop issuing permits for the trophy hunting of the gentle and intelligent pachyderms. Wild African elephants including the super-tuskers who are hunted for their ivory tusks roam freely across the border into Tanzania from Kenyas Amboseli National Park, where their vast herds are protected from poachers. The loss of these elephants is not just a blow to elephant populations but to our collective efforts in conservation, said Cynthia Moss, Amboseli Trust for Elephants founder, as Reuters reported. Roughly 2,000 elephants roam the Amboseli in Kenya and Tanzanias Enduimet Wildlife Management Area. Tanzanias allowance of the blood sport has led to instances where hunters have killed Kenyan elephants across the border. According to conservationists, the Amboseli ecosystem has the highest density of super-tuskers who have tusks weighing close to 100 pounds, but just 10 of these great animals remain. Hunting could cause the super-tuskers to disappear within the next three years, the petition said, as reported by Reuters. In 1995, both countries made an agreement that Tanzania would cease the issue of hunting permits following Kenyan elephants being killed by hunters on the Tanzanian side of the wildlife reserve. But in 2002, Tanzania began issuing the permits again, according to the petition. Elephants are simply one more natural resource that is being caught up in human greed on the one hand and human need on the other. We somehow need people to become reacquainted with nature or they can have no clue as to the interrelatedness of cause and effect, said Dr. Stephen Blake, a scientist with the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, on the World Elephant Day website. The petition by more than 50 Africa conservation organizations has been signed by more than 500,000 people. The official theme of this years World Elephant Day is Personifying Prehistoric Beauty, Theological Relevance, and Environmental Importance. World Elephant Day was started in 2012 to call attention to the plight of African and Asian elephants as their habitat is destroyed, climate change causes them to suffer from extreme temperatures and lack of water and they are hunted for their ivory tusks. We admire elephants in part because they demonstrate what we consider the finest human traits: empathy, self-awareness, and social intelligence. But the way we treat them puts on display the very worst of human behavior, said editor of Vanity Fair Graydon Carter on the World Elephant Day website. 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. Satellite image of Ernesto, expected to become a hurricane overnight, in the Caribbean Sea at 5:10 p.m ET on Aug. 13, 2024. CIRA / NOAA Puerto Rico has activated the National Guard as the Atlantic Oceans fifth named storm of 2024 Tropical Storm Ernesto barrels through the Caribbean toward the islands. Officials in the United States territory opened shelters, closed schools and moved dozens of Puerto Ricos endangered parrots into hurricane-safe rooms, reported The Associated Press. Forecasters predicted Ernesto would gain enough strength to become a hurricane, and a hurricane watch was issued for the Virgin Islands, as well as the small Puerto Rican islands of Culebra and Vieques. Ernesto could be near or at hurricane strength in about 24 hours, an advisory from Miamis National Hurricane Center said late Tuesday morning, as The Associated Press reported. The storm is expected to move near or over the U.S. Virgin islands Tuesday evening before passing north-northeast of Puerto Rico later that day into early Wednesday. Puerto Rico has already begun to get strong winds and heavy rains from the storm, and officials warned it would cause widespread power outages due to a power grid that has not been fully rebuilt since Hurricane Maria a Category 4 devastated the island in 2017. We expect Ernesto to be a strong tropical storm as it interacts with Puerto Rico late Tuesday night to Wednesday, said Alex DaSilva, lead hurricane expert with AccuWeather. Theres a chance it may even become a hurricane in the waters surrounding the island. Sustained winds from Ernesto had increased by 10 miles per hour to 50 mph Tuesday morning, reported CNN. Gusty winds had begun, with a 65 mph gust reported at Saint Barthelemy when the tropical storm was still approximately 100 miles away. The storms strong gusts could potentially cause trees and power lines to topple and damage some structures. Floods from heavy rains of as much as 10 inches in areas of Puerto Rico were possible, with widespread rainfall totals over the region of four to six inches. Flash flooding and mudslides were possible in the more elevated areas of southern and eastern Puerto Rico. Albert Bryan Jr., governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, said people needed to take Ernesto seriously, The Associated Press reported. This is a practice run to make sure were really prepared, Bryan said, emphasizing that peak hurricane season is on its way. Some forecasters have warned Ernesto could become a major Category 3 hurricane. An above-average hurricane season of 17 to 25 named storms has been predicted for the Atlantic by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration due to record ocean temperatures. Of these storms, four to seven were expected to become major hurricanes. Ocean temperatures across the Atlantic basin as a whole remain near record levels, only trailing 2023 values, DaSilva explained. Factors such as near-record ocean heat content levels can help to significantly contribute to the rapid intensification of hurricanes. Both Hurricane Beryl this year and Hurricane Ian in 2022 took advantage of very high sea-surface temperatures and ocean heat content, which allowed these storms to rapidly intensify as a result. Googles new Pixel 9 lineup of phones will be different from all other Android phones in one big way: The default assistant on these devices will be Gemini, Googles AI-powered chatbot, not Google Assistant. On mobile, Gemini is an evolution of the Assistant, Sissie Hsiao, Googles vice president and general manager of Gemini Experiences, told Engadget in an interview. Users can go back to the classic Google Assistant, but this is the new Assistant now. Hsiao just answered a question that has swirled since May when Google announced that it was building Gemini right into Android: What happens to Google Assistant? Hsiao said that Gemini, which is powered by Googles own family of large language models, would be compatible with everything that the classic Google Assistant could do. This means that you can ask Gemini to do simple things like turn on the lights or play music, or you can pose more complex questions like Whats the weather on the weekend in Mountain View and San Francisco, and which one is hotter? to decide which place you want to visit. Its much more powerful, even for the things that people used to do in the old Assistant, said Hsiao. Its really a huge generative AI evolution of that product. It can do all the generative AI things like image generation and text generation, but it can also do all the things of the past in this much richer, much more fluid way. To be clear, you can still use Gemini as your assistant on most current Android phones, Pixels or otherwise but only if you opt in. You must first fire up Google Assistant and tell it to replace itself with Gemini when asked. Google has previously refrained from answering whether Gemini will replace Google Assistant in the future. The way to look at it is that Gemini is an opt-in experience on the phone, Sameer Samat, president of the Android ecosystem at Google, told Wired back in May. I think obviously over time Gemini is becoming more advanced and is evolving. We dont have anything to announce today, but there is a choice for consumers if they want to opt into this new AI-powered assistant. They can try it out and we are seeing that people are doing that and were getting a lot of great feedback. Catch up on all the news from Googles Pixel 9 launch event right here! Googles Pixel 9 lineup is powered by cutting-edge hardware like the Tensor G4 processor and tons of RAM that should help keep your phone feeling fast and fresh for years to come. But all that hardware is also designed to power brand new AI experiences. Android is reimagining your phone with Gemini, wrote Sameer Samat, Googles president of the Android Ecosystem, in a blog post published on Tuesday. With Gemini deeply integrated into Android, were rebuilding the operating system with AI at the core. And redefining what phones can do. Here are the big new AI features coming with the new Pixel devices. Gemini overlays and Gemini Live Gemini, Googles AI-powered chatbot, will be the default assistant on the new Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL and Pixel 9 Pro Fold phones. To access it, simply hold down your phones power button and start talking or typing in your question. A big new change is that you can now bring up Gemini on top of any app youre using to ask questions about whats on your screen, like finding specific information about a YouTube video youre watching, for instance. Youll also be able to generate images directly from this overlay and drag and drop them into the underlying app, as well as upload a photo into the overlay and ask Gemini questions about it. Google If you buy the pricier Pixel 9 Pro (starting at $999), Googles bundling in one free year of the Google One AI Premium Plan that typically runs $19.99 a month for access to 2 TB cloud storage and access to Gemini Advanced, which lets you try Gemini directly in Google products like Gmail and Docs to help you summarize text and conversations. Crucially, Gemini Advanced also includes access to Gemini Live, which Google describes as a new conversational experience to make speaking with Gemini more intuitive (Im not the only one having a hard time keeping track of all the things Google brands Gemini, dont worry). You can use Gemini Live to have natural conversations with Gemini about anything thats on your mind, including, Google says, using it for help with complex questions and job interviews, choosing between a variety of voices that sound stunningly lifelike, according to demos that Google showed Engadget earlier this month. Google Recently, OpenAI released Advanced Voice Mode, a similar feature, to paying ChatGPT customers with a voice assistant that can talk, sing, laugh and allegedly understand emotion. When asked if getting Gemini Live to sound as human-like as possible was one of Googles goals, Sissie Hsiao, the companys vice president and general manager of Gemini Experiences told Engadget that Google was not here to flex the technology. Were here to build a super helpful assistant. Photos and Camera features Google is using AI to make both taking and editing pictures dramatically better with the Pixel 9 phones, something theyve focused on for years now. A new feature called Add Me, which will be released in preview with the new devices, for instance, will let you take a group photo and then take a picture of the photographer separately and add it to the main picture seamlessly handy if you dont have anyone around to take a picture of your entire group. Meanwhile, Magic Editor, the built-in, AI-powered editing tool on Android, can now suggest the best crops and even expand existing images by filling in details with generative AI to get more of the scene. Finally, a new reimagine feature will let you add elements like fall leaves or make grass greener punching up your images, yes, but blurring the line between which of your memories are real and which are not. Circle to Search now lets you share You can already search anything that you see on your phone by simply circling it, but now, AI will intelligently clip whatever youve circled and let you instantly share it in a text message or an email. Handy. Google Pixel Screenshots Google If you can't figure out how to sort through the tons of pictures of receipts, tickets and screenshots from social media littering your phone's photo gallery, use AI to help. A brand new app called Pixel Screenshots available on the new Pixel devices at launch will go through your photo library (once you give it permission), pick out screenshots, and then identify what's within each picture. You can also click pictures of real-world signs (such as a music festival you want to attend, for example), and directly ask the app relevant questions like when do the tickets for the festival go on sale. Call Notes A new feature called Call Notes will automatically save a private summary of each phone call. so you can refer back to a transcript to quickly look up important information from the call like an appointment time, address, or phone number later. Google notes that the feature runs fully on-device, which means that nothing is sent to Google's servers for processing. And everyone on the call will be notified if you've activated Call Notes. Pixel Studio Google We've been able to use AI to generate images for a long time now, but Google is finally building in the feature right into Android thanks to Pixel Studio, a dedicated new image-generation app for Pixel 9 devices. The app runs on both, an on-device model powered by the new Tensor G4 processor and Google's Imagen 3 model in the cloud. You can share any images you create in the app through messaging or email directly. A similar feature called Apple Image Playground is coming to newer iPhones with iOS 18 in September. Custom weather reports Google will use AI to create custom weather reports for your specific location right at the top of a new Weather app so you "don't have to scroll through a bunch of numbers to get a sense of the day's weather," according to the company's blog post. We have received compensation to create this article, and receive commission from purchases made via links on this page. Pricing and availability are subject to change. Google just officially revealed the Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL smartphones at its latest Made by Google event. These offer some major improvements when compared to the standard Pixel 9, which was also announced today. First of all, its important to note that the Pro and Pro XL are essentially the same phone. The XL has a bigger screen, at 6.8-inches, and can charge up a bit quicker, but thats it. So which one you choose should depend entirely on whether or not you want that added screen real estate. I personally like gigantic screens, even if the phones tend to be a bit cumbersome. Google The specs here are excellent, and should give Samsungs latest high-end handsets a run for their money. The Pixel 9 Pro line features the brand-new Tensor G4 processor and an astounding 16GB of RAM. This RAM is pretty much required to simultaneously power all of the AI software thats running underneath the hood. These phones are designed to handle a vast array of AI tasks, with Gemini baked into chats, photos, note-taking and more. To help seal the AI deal, the companys packing in a one-year subscription to the Google One AI Premium Plan. This gives unlimited access to everything Gemini has to offer. Another huge update is the camera system. Google phones are widely known for having some of the best cameras in the business, and the Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL look to be keeping this tradition alive. The front camera has been upgraded to a 42 MP dual-pixel autofocus system. The triple rear camera system has also been enhanced, with a 50 MP main sensor, a 48 MP ultrawide sensor and 48 MP telephoto sensor. Google The camera software has also gotten a boost to take advantage of the aforementioned specs. Video footage can be automatically enhanced to 8K, with the option for Super Res Zoom. Theres a macro focus tool and night sight capabilities. Users will also have access to all of the aforementioned AI bells and whistles, including stuff like Magic Eraser and Magic Editor. Now onto the display. The standard Pixel 9 Pro includes a 6.3-inch Super Actua OLED with a 20:9 aspect ratio, 495 PPI, a variable refresh rate (up to 120Hz) and up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness. Its also covered by ultra-durable Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, so it should be able to take a licking and keep on ticking. The Pixel 9 Pro XL boasts the exact same display specs, but with a 6.8-inch screen. Both of these phones are available in four colors, including black, white, hazel and rose quartz. The Pixel 9 Pro starts at $1,000 and Pixel 9 Pro XL starts at $1,100, with pre-orders available now and open availability starting on August 22. Each model ships with 16GB of RAM, and thats the only available option. Customers can add internal storage, however, with drives ranging from 128GB to 1TB. Engadget has been testing and reviewing consumer tech since 2004. Our stories may include affiliate links; if you buy something through a link, we may earn a commission. Read more about how we evaluate products . Practical. Functional. Different. Those are the ways we've typically described Google's Pixel smartphones since they debuted in 2016. Google was always less concerned about making its phones look as cool as competitors instead, its focus has been on unique camera tech and early AI capabilities. Since 2021's Pixel 6, their cases have also been dominated by a massive rear camera bar, something that allows for large sensors but is undoubtedly polarizing. You either love it as an example of Google going against the grain, or you hate it. Photo by Google Now with the Pixel 9, which debuted today at the company's 2024 Made By Google event, the company is finally trying to make the camera bar a bit less ugly. You could dare call it stylish. The new camera bar loses the edges of the old rectangular iterations and looks more like a wide pill box (it's almost as if Google is trolling Apple for its Magic Island). Together with a thinner design, a glass rear cover and satin metal edges, the Pixel 9 finally looks like a phone that can sit beside Samsung's latest Galaxy devices or an iPhone without shame. Those good looks will cost you though: The Pixel 9 starts at $799, $100 more than the Pixel 8. Photo by Google Beyond the facelift, the Pixel 9 also includes a slew of hardware upgrades that should make it more capable for AI tasks. There's Google's new Tensor G4 chip and 12GB of RAM, up from 8GB on the Pixel 8. The battery is slightly larger than before, and it can charge up to 55 percent in 30 minutes. And the screen has been upgraded as well: Google's 6.3-inch Actua OLED display is slightly larger than before as well as 35 percent brighter, reaching up to 2,700 nits. The Pixel 9's cameras have also been totally revamped. In addition to the 50 megapixel main lens, there's also a new 48 megapixel ultrawide (up from a 12MP ultrawide last year) that can take Macro Focus shots. The 10.5MP front camera also gets auto focus this year something that was surprisingly left out in the past. At least you won't have to worry about blurry selfies as much. Photo by Google As you'd expect, Google is touting the Pixel 9 as the perfect vessel for its Gemini AI. In addition to generating images or text on demand, the Pixel 9 will also be able to remember information via Pixel Screenshots. It's an on-device AI feature that sounds similar to Microsoft's Recall, but instead of relying on constant monitoring of your device, it's only going off of the screenshots you take. You could, for example, take a picture of a party invitation and then ask Gemini to recall it for you. Add Me, another on-device AI feature, will let you take a picture of friends and add yourself in later. The Pixel 9 starts at $799 with 128GB of storage, but you can also upgrade to 256GB for $899. It'll be available on August 22, and it's coming in a slew of colors: Porcelain, Wintergreen, Peony and Obsidian. Catch up on all the news from Googles Pixel 9 launch event right here! Water exists on Mars, according to a team of geophysicists, and not just as ice on its poles or as vapor in its atmosphere. The scientists have found evidence of liquid water deep in its outer crust, based on their analysis of data provided by NASA's Mars Insight Lander. Specifically, they analyzed four years' worth of ground motions recorded by the lander's seismometer. By looking at seismic velocities, or how fast seismic waves travel on the planet, they were able to determine the materials that the waves moved through. What they found was that Mars' mid-crust has fractured igneous rocks saturated with liquid water. One of the scientists involved in the study, Prof Michael Manga from the University of California, Berkeley, told the BBC that they implemented the same techniques used "to prospect for water on Earth, or to look for oil and gas." He said his group's findings can answer the question of where all the water on Mars had gone, because features on the planet's surface showed that it had lakes and rivers around three billion years ago. While there's a theory that most of that water was lost to space, scientists have challenged that idea in recent years. One study by Caltech and NASA JPL published in 2021 found data that most of that water is still trapped in the planet's crust. The scientists involved in this newer study, published in PNAS, were only able to analyze seismic velocity data taken from underneath the lander. However, they believe that similar underground water reservoirs exist all over the planet, and they estimate that there's enough liquid water under the surface to form a layer across Mars that's half a mile deep. Manga told the the BBC that "much of our water is underground and there's no reason for that not to be the case on Mars too." While the team's findings could be taken as good news for space agencies and private companies looking to visit and even form human colonies on the planet, it won't be easy reaching Mars' water reservoirs. They're located around 7 to 12.5 miles below the surface, which won't be easy to reach even on our planet. "Drilling a hole 10km (6 miles) deep on Mars even for [Elon] Musk would be difficult," Manga said, adding that "without liquid water, you don't have life." Donald Trump has a "historical" plan for immigration, as well as a strong opinion regarding Kamala Harris' presidential nomination. Tesla boss Elon Musk sat with the controversial Republican presidential nominee for a highly-anticipated interview live on X Spaces, where the two discussed the assassination attempt, the border, the economy, his plans for immigration, and more. Fans were bubbling with excitement, as a jaw-dropping 1.3 million users on Twitter, now X, crammed into Donald J. Trump's space nearly 45 minutes late as Musk claimed the interview was being sabotaged by "a massive DDOS attack on X." There appears to be a massive DDOS attack on . Working on shutting it down. Worst case, we will proceed with a smaller number of live listeners and post the conversation later. Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 13, 2024 Musk, who claimed he was happy to endorse the MAGA candidate by having him join the live, decided to jump right into the assassination attempt, which Trump called "not pleasant." "I didn't know I had that much blood," the 44th president explained. "You can't fake bravery in such circumstances," Musk, 53, told Trump. "I think a lot of people admire your courage under fire." "Illegal immigration saved my life," Trump joked to Musk, referring to the moment he turned his head to look at the immigration chart. The 78-year-old plans to go back to Butler, Pennsylvania, where he says he plans to comedically open his speech with, "As I was saying." Trump also cleared the air regarding migrants coming into the country, declaring that "they have to come in legally." "We have a defective government," Trump declared. "These are defective people. Kamala had 3.5 years and by the way, she's got another 5 months. But she still won't do anything," the former president criticized. "These are criminals that make our criminals look like nice people. And she's in charge of it," he said of the undocumented entering the country. Trump who claims he's concerned about citizens borrowing money just to live maintained that it's not possible for the United States to absorb migrants "from everywhere." He also explained that despite his love of New York City, "what they're doing to it is horrible." "We're going to have the largest deportation in history," Trump declared in the event that he is elected. The nominee who recently was caught red-handed in a photo with the mastermind behind Project 2025 after months of denying the accusations claimed Harris is a "radical left lunatic." "She wants to be more Trump than Trump if that's even possible," he said, but the former 'Apprentice' star wasn't done yet. He alleged that democratic candidate Harris, 59, was a "San Francisco liberal" who he deemed to be farther left than Democratic socialist Bernie Sanders. "This was a coup," Trump said of Harris' nomination. "He [Joe Biden] didn't want to leave and they said, 'We can do it the nice way, or we can do it the hard way.' " Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have agreed to debate on 'ABC News' on September 10. Prince Harry received a series of bad news, including an apparent major flop, ahead of a trip that his wife Meghan Markle allegedly views as the "ultimate revenge" on the royal family. The Duke of Sussex allegedly "wanted to hide" after he was hit with the news that his appearance in the documentary "Tabloids on Trial" did not make a splash and that his uncle Lord Robert Fellowes had died, an unnamed royal source told New Idea. The documentary, which premiered on ITV on July 25, touched on Prince Harry's ongoing legal fight against tabloids and how it affected his relationship with the royal family. However, GB News, citing figures from ThinkBox, reported that the documentary garnered just under 1.1 million viewers and did not make the list of the top 30 most-watched programs on the network that week. The royal insider suggested this showed that "the public appetite for his complaints is waning." Along with the documentary's failure, the death of Fellowes, who was the husband of Princess Diana's elder sister Lady Jane Spencer, at 82 also contributed to Prince Harry's "week from hell." "He just had the week from hell. From the failure of his latest TV interview cutting through, to some personal family losses, it's no wonder Harry wanted to hide," the source claimed. According to the insider, Prince Harry may have also been affected by the news that his ex-girlfriend Cressida Bonas' sister Pandora died of cancer around the same time as his uncle's passing. The two deaths "will have hit Harry hard," the source claimed. The Duke of Sussex received more bad news this week as People reported that his chief of staff Josh Kettler has left his role after three months and that Prince Harry won't be able to attend Fellowes' funeral. However, he and Markle also have something to look forward to as they will soon visit Colombia in what is set to be their second official international tour this year. Just months after their three-day trip to Nigeria, the Sussexes accepted an invitation from the Colombian government to visit the country. Prince Harry and Markle are expected to visit the cities of Bogota, Cartagena, and Cali during the upcoming tour. An unnamed source told OK! that Markle allegedly sees the Colombia tour as "her chance to prove to the world what a big star she is and how much the royal family misses her." "She knows how much she can turn it on and doing events like this was the one thing about royal life that appealed to her. She was furious when that was taken away because she knows she's such an asset," the insider claimed. They went on to claim that Markle and Prince Harry felt "rejected" and hurt when they were allegedly told they could not "represent" the royal family on tours. "When they left, they asked that they could still represent the family on tours but were told no," the source added, "so she feels it's the ultimate revenge as they were both so upset when they were rejected." A Missouri woman will serve a life sentence without the possibility of parole after admitting to kidnapping and murdering a pregnant woman from Arkansas. Amber Waterman from Pineville, Missouri confessed in court to charges including kidnapping resulting in death and the unlawful killing of a child in utero. According to US Attorney Teresa Moore, Waterman's sentence is mandatory life imprisonment, with the formal sentencing set for October 15. Read more: Man Arrested 25 Years Later For Murdering Wife And Scattering Remains Around Atlanta In her guilty plea, the 44-year-old revealed she used a fake identity to reach out to Ashley Bush, a 33-year-old from Siloam Springs, Arkansas, through Facebook. At the time of their interaction, Bush was approximately 31 weeks pregnant, 'CNN' reports. Federal prosecutors detailed that Waterman and Bush arranged to meet at an Arkansas convenience store on October 31, 2022, supposedly to discuss employment opportunities that Waterman was offering. However, Waterman instead took Bush to her residence in Pineville. Later that day, emergency services were summoned to Waterman's home due to an unresponsive baby. The infant was declared deceased upon arrival. Initially, Waterman claimed she had given birth, but she later admitted that the baby belonged to Bush, who had three other children. Bush's body was discovered at a different location, with authorities confirming she died from a gunshot wound. However, details about the circumstances surrounding the infant's death were not disclosed by the police or prosecutors. Additionally, Waterman's husband, Jamie Waterman, faces charges as an accessory after the fact, accused of assisting in the disposal of Bush's body. His trial is slated for October. The medical community across India demonstrated to demand justice and a safer workplace following the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata. CNMCH students, junior doctors protest against Sandip Ghosh's appointment With the erstwhile head of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital, Dr Sandip Ghosh scheduled to take charge as the principal of Calcutta National Medical College & Hospital from Tuesday, the students and junior doctors of CNMCH protested and were determined not to allow him to occupy the chair. After locking the principals room from outside on Monday evening, the medical students and junior doctors assembled in front of the same room on Tuesday morning so that under no circumstance Ghosh could enter and occupy the chair at any cost. The protesters also formed human barricades at different places in the CNMCH premises. The local Trinamool Congress legislator, Swarnakamal Saha, reached the spot and tried to convince the protesters to restrain from the agitation. He was accompanied by the state Disaster Management Minister, Javed Khan. However, the protesting medical students and junior doctors remained adamant in their stand of not allowing Ghosh to occupy the principals chair. We demand that Ghosh should not be allotted any kind of administrative assignment connected to the state health services. He should not be appointed as the principal of not just CNMCH but any other medical college and hospital in the state, a protesting junior doctor said. Another protester said that they are scared since they heard of the appointment of Ghosh as the principal of CNMCH. We do not want CNMCH to be another R.G Kar, he said. A protesting doctor said that although they are currently observing cease-work at CNMCH, they are not creating obstructions to the functioning of the emergency department of the hospital. Sandip Ghosh was appointed as the principal of the National Medical College & Hospital (NMCH) through a notification issued by the West Bengal Health Department hours after resigning as the principal of state-run R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital on Monday, Meanwhile, a two-member team of the National Commission for Women (NCW) led by member Delina Khondup reached the RG. Kar Medical College and Hospital in the morning and were in conversation with the newly appointed principal there, Dr Suhrita Paul. Monday, August 12, 2024 Last week, financial markets were volatile. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), which is known as Wall Street's fear gauge, rose to the highest level in four years before cooling down. "While spikes in the VIX often coincide with deep market sell-offs, they can also be short-lived and precede a rebound for stocks," reported Jesse Pound of CNBC. Investor uncertainty contributed to market fluctuations last week. There were many reasons for the uncertainty. For example, some investors: Were unsettled by economic data. Markets stuttered after a weaker-than-expected jobs report. Some investors panicked, believing the United States might be headed for a recession rather than a soft landing. "A slowing economy could create challenges for equities to achieve the kind of earnings growth that analysts were penciling in for the quarters ahead," noted a source cited by Connor Smith of Barron's. On Thursday, investors regained some confidence after data showed the number of people filing for unemployment claims was lower than expected. The information suggested the labor market remained solid. The subsequent rally was unexpected because jobless claims don't normally move the market, reported Barron's. Concerned about geopolitical risks. Recently, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, France, Canada, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Turkey and Jordan all warned their citizens to leave Lebanon as quickly as possible on fears that hostilities in the Middle East may escalate, reported Tom Bennett and Hugo Bachega of the BBC. "Iran, Israel and Hezbollah all have the capabilities to continue to attack each other without triggering physical supply cuts in energy or blocking global shipping. Those are the kinds of effects that would trigger a major market reaction. Though a persistent danger is that, in the fog of war, one party or other goes too far or misreads its adversaries' intent. Events can quickly spiral out of control," reported Matt Peterson in Barron's. May have been less experienced. It's summertime and peopleincluding money managers and tradersare vacationing. The Economist explained, "Spare a thought, then, for the 20-somethings left to run the northern hemisphere's trading desks over the next few weeks, while their bosses doze on a beach. Possibly for this reason, markets are often more jittery than usual during the summer months. Last year, for example, it was in August that American share prices began their final protracted fall before a storming bull run that took them to new all-time highs. That may be down to liquidity, whichtends to be slightly thinner during the holiday season than in the rest of the year. It may also be that the lack of veterans on banks' trading floors allows panic to set in more easily. Prices can swing a lot further before someone musters the courage to push back." For more information on how to be financially prepared, contact our office at (405) 340-1717 or email greg@womackadvisers.com Greg Womack 1366 E. 15th Street Edmond, OK 73013 Phone: (405) 340-1717 www.womackadvisers.com SALEM, Ohio The Farm and Dairy editorial team recently received national and international recognition for its excellence in writing, reporting and producing engaging content. Reporter Liz Partsch, Editor Rachel Wagoner and Art Director David Hartong received honors in two contests. North American Agricultural Journalists Writing Contest Reporter Liz Partsch received first place in the Photojournalism category for the photos that accompanied her story titled Bee hives in Pittsburgh produce lanternfly honey published on Nov. 16, 2023. The judge commented on Partschs masterful work with color, texture, depth and angles in the photos that accompany this story. There were 11 entries in the Photojournalism category. Editor Rachel Wagoner received first place out of 11 in the Spot News category for her coverage of farm evacuations after the East Palestine train derailment in February 2023. Wagoner also earned third place out of 25 in the Ongoing Coverage or Series category for her coverage of the East Palestine train derailments impact on farmers and rural communities. The judge called it local reporting at its best. The North American Agricultural Journalists is a professional international group of agricultural editors and writers with members in the U.S. and Canada. The contest winners were recognized during the groups annual meeting April 15 in Washington, D.C. National Newspaper Association Foundations Better Newspaper Contest Partsch again took first place in the NNAF contest in the Best Business Feature Story category for non-daily publications with a circulation of 6,000 or more. Her story titled Pennsylvania cideries reinvent hard cider industry originally published Oct. 26, 2023. The judge said Partschs story had compelling writing and a fun angle from which to profile two local businesses for their sustainable approaches to their craft. This piece is not only likely to increase reader awareness but also to invigorate a customer base. Her story on lanternfly honey in Pittsburgh also took third place in the Best Agricultural Story for daily and non-daily publications with a circulation of 6,000 or more. Art director David Hartong took first place in the Best Front Page Design category, for non-daily publications with a circulation over 10,000, for his Aug. 10, 2023 front page. The judge said it was a beautiful front page with a large photo to draw the eye. He also earned third place for an information graphic titled Safety tips for Ohios fall wildfire season that ran on Oct. 19, 2023. Wagoner received first place in the Best Profile Feature story category for non-dailies with a circulation over 10,000 for her story, Emily Mullen ushers family dairy farm into future by bottling milk. The story originally ran July 6, 2023. The judge commented: This story hit me hard. It is a fleeting way of life and hard, just as the writer described. The details all perfectly placed. The photos absolutely essential to the story being told Well written. Beautifully done. Bravo. She also received second place in the Best Breaking News Story category for non-dailies with a circulation over 12,000 for her story on the fire that destroyed Brunton Dairys barn and milk bottling plant in October 2023. Wagoner earned an honorable mention in two other categories for her coverage of leaking gas wells in Trumbull County and the increased interest in youth shooting sports. There were 1,513 entries in the Better Newspaper Editorial Contest, with 676 awards won by 92 newspapers in 32 states. Established in 1885, the National Newspaper Association is one of the largest newspaper associations in the country. The foundation is its educational arm. Winners will be recognized during an awards ceremony Sept. 27 during the NNAFs 138th annual Convention and Trade Show in Omaha, Nebraska. The NFU Mutual Charitable Trust has announced its first round of donations for 2024, totalling more than 500,000 for 11 rural causes across the UK. This is the first of two rounds of funding which will be delivered across the year, with the Trust expecting overall donations to reach at least 1m by the end of 2024. This latest round of funding will help to deliver a range of initiatives, including rural poverty relief, helping small farming businesses to thrive, educating and mentoring young people, and supporting mental wellbeing. Organisations set to benefit from the donations include the Addington Fund, Farms for City Children, NFU Education, RSABI and Oxford Farming Conference. Others include Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust, the Gareth Raw Rees Memorial Scholarship and Wales Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs. The donations will be available immediately, allowing the organisations to continue to provide their crucial support services. Jim McLaren MBE, chairman of NFU Mutual Charitable Trust, said: NFU Mutual is committed to making a positive impact for our members and wider society through our charitable giving programme. "We are very proud to be championing the work of these great causes through the NFU Mutual Charitable Trust. The Royal Countryside Fund, a charity which empowers family farms to thrive, will be using their donation of 75,000 to help Farm Support Groups and ensure they can continue providing a vital service to their local communities. Keith Halstead, executive director at the Royal Countryside Fund, explained how the Trusts donation will be making a difference. "We will be able to increase the capacity of groups within the network to deliver more vital services and support to those in need," he said. "We would like to say a huge thank you to the NFU Mutual Charitable Trust for helping us provide this crucial support that so many within farming communities depend on. The NFU Mutual Charitable Trust is one of the main ways the UKs leading rural insurer NFU Mutual provides charitable donations. Its work forms part of NFU Mutuals 3.25m charitable giving pledge to support its members and their communities during 2024. Applications for the Trusts next round of donations are now open, and details can be found on NFU Mutuals website. Thousands of farms and rural homes are set to receive major internet speed upgrades as part of an 800 million fund unveiled by the new government. The investment is being made available to modernise broadband infrastructure in rural areas of England, Scotland and Wales. The deal will provide access to 'lightning-fast' gigabit-capable broadband to around 312,000 rural homes and businesses, the government said. It is the first time Wales, the region with the lowest percentage of gigabit coverage, will benefit from this programme. It will mean farmers in harder-to-reach areas will finally gain access to some of the fastest connections on the market. According to a survey by the NFU, fewer than half of farmers reported broadband speeds which they said were adequate for their business. But today's (13 August) new landmark deal with telecoms provider Openreach and the government represents one of the biggest milestones in the rollout of Project Gigabit. This targets places too expensive for providers to reach in their commercial build and which would otherwise be left behind with poor digital infrastructure. The news follows the new Labour governments vow to redouble its efforts to achieve full gigabit coverage by 2030. Secretary of State for Technology, Peter Kyle said over the past decade, the UKs broadband rollout had 'clearly not happened fast enough' and had overlooked too many areas, especially in Scotland and Wales. He said: "Robust digital infrastructure is essential for growth, productivity and competitiveness and this shortfall not only poses risks to our economic stability, but also entrenches existing inequalities across the country. "We are fixing this by delivering for hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses up and down the country, focusing on the areas that were not prioritised by the previous government, such as Wales. "Today marks a significant milestone in delivering on our promise to redouble our efforts to achieve full gigabit coverage by 2030 and lay the foundations for a more inclusive, dynamic and prosperous future for all citizens." Contracts worth 288m have already been signed with Openreach under the agreement to connect approximately 96,600 homes and businesses in England and Wales. Areas to benefit include Lancashire, North Wiltshire, South Gloucestershire, West and Mid-Surrey, Staffordshire, West Berkshire and Hertfordshire, West and North Devon, and North West, Mid and South East Wales. Talks are now underway with Openreach to agree further contracts to benefit around 215,800 more premises, with more announcements expected in the coming months. Areas expected to benefit include Central and North Scotland, North and South West Wales, Mid and South Devon, East and South Shropshire, North Herefordshire, North Somerset, Essex, North East England and Worcestershire. There has been an 'alarming rise' in illegal sheep meat imports, with the sector warning they could pose significant threats to UK farmers and public health. The National Sheep Association (NSA) said the new Labour government must roll out 'swift and effective measures' to halt these illegal imports. Intelligence gathered over recent months by the British sheep sector has uncovered substantial quantities of illegal sheep meat, bypassing safety and quality controls at the UKs borders. NSA chief executive, Phil Stocker said this not only undermined the integrity of domestic sheep farming, but also jeopardised food security. "This situation is not just about unfair competition; its about the potential for severe long-term damage to the UKs agricultural industry," he warned. "These illegal imports could introduce diseases and lower the standards that we have worked tirelessly to maintain. Industry bodies have repeatedly highlighted frustrations by the continued delays in implementing full border controls on EU imports, a situation that has exacerbated the problem. Farm leaders have warned that the absence of stringent checks is creating an unlevel playing field, putting British farmers at a disadvantage while compromising the quality and safety of food entering the UK. The UKs sheep industry, already under immense pressure from rising costs and market volatility, cannot afford the added burden of competing against unlawfully imported meat, the NSA warned. Mr Stocker said: "NSA is urging the government to prioritise the enforcement of full import controls, ensuring that all meat products entering the UK are subject to the same rigorous checks as those applied to UK exports. "This will help protect both consumers and the domestic farming industry from the dangers posed by these illegal imports. Cat owners are more lonely and anxious than those who have dogs. Cat owners are more lonely and anxious than people with dogs Experts in Australia have found that those with pet felines are more neurotic than dog owners - suggesting that the 'crazy cat lady' stereotype could have an element of truth to it. However, dog owners are more likely to have the resilience to cope with and adapt to difficult situations. Psychologists Jessica Oliva and Leah Michelle Baines, who conducted the study for James Cook University in Queensland, said: "Cat ownership positively predicted neuroticism. "The type of people that enjoy owning dogs are also the type of people that can 'bounce back' from stressful situations more easily. "Conversely, the type of people that like to own cats may be more susceptible to the negative impacts of stress." However, it has not been established whether owning a cat makes a person neurotic or if anxious individuals are simply more likely to buy a moggy. US President Donald Trump After former US President Donald Trump said on Monday that illegal immigration "saved" his life, he remarked that he wants to shut down the federal department of education. Trump spoke about the assassination attempt on him at an election rally in a highly anticipated interview with Elon Musk on the latters social media platform X, which was delayed because of a cyberattack. In an audio interview heard by more than a million people on X, Trump and Musk discussed a wide range of issues from immigration to the economy, education, climate change, Russia and Ukraine, relationships with North Koreas Kim Jong-un, Russias Vladimir Putin and China Xi Jinping in the context of the 2024 presidential election in which the X owner has endorsed the former President against his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris. The broadcast of the interview was delayed by a distributed denial of service, according to a post on X by Musk. But once it went on, the two had a freewheeling conversation that lasted about two hours. They began by talking about the assassination attempt on Trump at an election rally in Butler, Pennsylvania and Musk acknowledged that Trump won his support and endorsement when he called out fight, fight as he was being led out of the arena by Secret Service personnel. Trump recalled that he had turned his head towards a chart on illegal immigration and that that might have saved his life, agreeing with Musk. Illegal immigration saved my life. You're right." The incredible thing though, when you talk about the odds, you had to be exactly at that angle, but, the incredible thing is that the chart, I used it less than 20 per cent of the time. It was just a moment, yeah, it's always on my left, never my right, and it's always at the end of the speech. So we have it, it's on the right, not the left. It's at the beginning, not the end. And even the people that put it up, they were unprepared, and they did a great job. They got it up immediately, fortunately. But I looked to the right and the bullet came whizzing by, hitting my ear, so it was too busy. But when you think of the odds of that, and you know that normally, you wouldn't use it, normally, I wouldn't have the thing, and then, you know, would have been a very different story. It's, very much, I say, an act of God. It's a miracle that it happened, and I'm honoured by it. Trump has made undocumented immigration a centerpiece of his critique of the Biden-Harris administration saying that it threw open the southern border with Mexico. But he forced Republican lawmakers to kill a bipartisan legislation to end it because he did not want to be denied the chance to run on the issue. The former President also vowed to shut down the federal department of education that was created in 1980, according to its website, to lay down policies on federal financial aid for education, and distributing as well as monitoring those funds; collecting data on America's schools and disseminating research; focusing national attention on key educational issues; and prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equal access to education. Trump said: Were ranked at the bottom of every list of the top 40. We're ranked number 40, number 38 Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, different countries are ranked good. Actually, China is pretty close to the top. There are top six or seven, but we're ranked at the bottom, almost at the bottom, 38 3940 In other words, horrible. And yet we spend more per pupil than any other country in the world. And what I'm going to do is one of the first acts, and this is where I need an Elon Musk. I need somebody that has a lot of strength and courage in sports. I want to close up the Department of Education. The highly anticipated interview of former US President Donald Trump by Elon Musk on X was way behind schedule because of technical issues. There appears to be a massive DDOS attack on X, Musk posted on X 18 minutes after the scheduled start time of 8 p.m. US Eastern Working on shutting it down. Worst case, he added, We will proceed with a smaller number of live listeners and post the conversation later. A distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack is a type of cyberattack in which an attacker overwhelms a website, server, or network resource with malicious traffic, according to one explanation. Six minutes later, Musk posted again: We tested the system with 8 million concurrent listeners earlier today. Three minutes later, he wrote on X: We will proceed with the smaller number of concurrent listeners at 8:30 ET and then post the unedited audio immediately thereafter. The former President was permanently suspended from X in January 2021, when the social media platform was known as Twitter. The ban was lifted by Musk after he bought the platform. Trump returned in August 2023 and has posted just one message since. He remains active, however, on Truth Social, the look-alike social media platform that he launched after being banned from X/Twitter. Trump returned to X with a flurry of posts and picked up over 300,000 new followers taking up his total to 88.3 million followers, which is 80.8 million more than the 7.5 million he has on Truth Social. X gives Trump a much bigger platform, which, according to Musk, has 600 million monthly active users (other estimates put it at 540 million). Truth Social is much smaller it had only 5 million monthly active users according to papers it filed during its IPO in March 2024 as reported by Axios. The vast difference in the reach of X and Truth Social wont be lost on Trump, who pays a lot of attention to the size of crowd for his election rallies and events. Musk is a supporter of Trump and is likely to be a friendly interviewer, but the former President is known to be both a showman and unpredictable and the interview will be closely followed by allies and the Harris campaign. The Trump campaign needs a bump. Trump had the upper hand in the 2024 presidential election till President Joe Biden was in the fray. The race has changed since Biden dropped out and endorsed his deputy, Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris has changed the race. She has energised the Democratic party, raised more funds and has taken the lead in polls, even in key battleground states. Ed Sheeran stunned supermarket shoppers by making a surprise appearance in a food truck to dish out sauceographs'. Ed Sheeran dishing out a 'sauceograph' to a lucky fan The 'Perfect' hitmaker pulled up at the Sainsburys supermarket in London Colney on Tuesday (13.08.24) to turn fans' groceries into memorabilia, with the entrepreneur signing everyday essentials using his Tingly Teds hot sauce. Lettuce, bread loaves, blocks of cheddar and even the occasional roll of kitchen paper were transformed into sauceographs, each one a spicy reminder of the extraordinary encounter. Excited shoppers were seen rummaging their trollies and shopping bags, looking for items for the chart-topper turned cart-stopper to sign with no pen and paper to hand. One shopper even pulled out a floret of broccoli to be signed in sauce, while another got a vinyl record signed in hot sauce by Sheeran. Fans soon took to social media to share snaps of their sauce signed goods and Sheeran, who was also offering fans a taste of his latest passion project, serving up free slices of pizza generously topped with Tingly Teds hot sauce. Many astute shoppers turned their store visit into a money-making opportunity by listing their sauceograph items on online auction websites. On his surprise supermarket appearance, Ed, 33, said: "It was super exciting popping into Sainsburys and surprising some shoppers. Tingly Ted's has been such a fun project so far, hope everyone is enjoying mixing it with whatever food they like, Im still discovering meals that it makes even better. Satwinder Hayre, Store Manager at Sainsburys London Colney, added: "We were delighted that Ed Sheeran made a surprise visit to our store today to show off his Tingly Ted's hot sauces, it certainly gave our customers shivers! Tingly Teds, named after Eds childhood nickname, comes in a range of two hot sauces: Tingly and Xtra Tingly. Making its debut on supermarket shelves in February 2023, the collection of hot sauces was the result of nearly two years of meticulous crafting by Ed and his band of sauce experts. Tingly Teds is available to purchase nationwide at Sainsburys and all other major supermarkets at an RRP of 3.00. Until the 16th September, Tingly Teds is just 1.50 for Nectar users at Sainsburys. Zooey Deschanel has hailed Jonathan Scott as a "total dreamboat person". Zooey Deschanel and Jonathan Scott announced their engagement in 2023 The 44-year-old actress has taken to social media to celebrate their five-year anniversary, and to heap praise on her fiance. The brunette beauty - who announced her engagement to Jonathan, 46, in 2023 - wrote on Instagram: "5 years ago today I was lucky enough to go on a first date with this total dreamboat person. Here we are and hes still making me smile every day. [heart emojis] (sic)" Jonathan and Zooey are keen to have an "intimate" wedding when they eventually tie the knot. The TV star previously admitted that the loved-up couple already have a firm idea of what they want their wedding day to look like. Jonathan told Us Weekly: "The ceremony and the pomp and circumstance, well get that out of the way, and then its the reception. Its going to be a blast." Jonathan and Zooey were "very different people" during their younger years. But the TV star suggested that their interests and ambitions have become more closely aligned over recent times. He said: "I mean, weve both been married before, but even when we were younger, youre looking for different things, and who knows what we were looking for at that time?" Prior to that, Zooey claimed that she and her fiance are "so compatible". The actress - who is best known for playing Jess Day on the hit TV sitcom 'New Girl' - joked that herself and Jonathan both "identify as nerds". She told PEOPLE: "Our personalities are so compatible. Its just that were from different worlds. We identify as nerds, well have you know." Bangladeshs readymade garment (RMG) exports during the last fiscal (FY24) were around 3.2 times of Indias, but during the first quarter (Q1) of this fiscal (FY25), this ratio narrowed down to around 2.5 times, reflecting India eating into the share of Bangladesh, according to CareEdge Ratings. Apart from the impact of socio-political upheavals in Bangladesh, this was also aided by various initiatives to enhance the competitiveness of Indian RMG exports, the Indian rating agency noted. Bangladesh's FY24 garment exports were around 3.2 times of India's, but this ratio was 2.5 times in Q1 FY25, reflecting India eating into the share of Bangladesh, CareEdge Ratings said. India may gain around 6-8 per cent and 10 per cent of Bangladesh's monthly export orders in the near term and medium term respectively if the unrest in the latter continues. The socio-political uncertainties prevailing in Bangladesh may result in global RMG brands and retailers with a significant presence in Bangladesh diversifying their sourcing for meeting their delivery schedules, especially if the crisis persists for more than a quarter or two, it said in a release. In such a situation, India is expected to gain around 6-8 per cent and 10 per cent of Bangladeshs monthly export orders in the near term and medium term respectively, translating into monthly incremental export opportunity of around $200-250 million in the near-term and $300-350 million in the medium-term, it said. India has enough headroom to increase RMG exports by 20-25 per cent given the available capacities in the sector. With the China+1 sourcing strategy already in the works, global RMG brands and retailers have limited alternatives such as India, Vietnam and Cambodia to replace Bangladesh, and India is in a prime position to capitalise on the opportunity, it said. Bangladeshs RMG exports registered a 17-per cent de-growth in Q1 FY25 on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, while Indian RMG exports have grown by 4 per cent during the same period. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS) The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has reduced its global cotton production forecast for 2024-25 by 2.6 million bales (226.8 kg (500 pounds) each), bringing the total to 117.64 million bales, as per its August 2024 World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report. The WASDE report also lowered the global end-of-period inventory estimate to 77.61 million bales, down from 82.63 million bales the previous month. Global consumption was reduced by nearly 1 million bales, primarily due to decreased consumption in China. USDA's August 2024 WASDE report has reduced the global cotton production forecast for 2024-25 to 117.64 million bales. The global end-of-period inventory estimate was also lowered to 77.61 million bales, with consumption reduced due to lower demand in China. For US cotton, the production forecast dropped by 1.9 million bales to 15.11 million. For US cotton, the USDA cut its 2024-25 production forecast by 1.9 million bales to 15.11 million bales. The US cotton yield forecast was slightly reduced to 840 pounds per acre, down from 844 pounds per acre. The ending inventory forecast for 2024-25 now stands at 4.5 million bales, down from 5.3 million bales. The all-cotton planted area has been reduced by approximately 500,000 acres based on Farm Service Agency data, with the abandonment rate estimated at 23 per cent, up 6 per cent from last month. Consequently, the estimated harvested area of 8.6 million acres is about 11 per cent lower than the July WASDE forecast. The all-cotton yield estimate of 840 pounds per acre is slightly lower than last month's figure. Exports are reduced by 1 million bales due to lower global trade and a smaller crop. Ending stocks are down by approximately 800,000 bales to 4.5 million, or 32 per cent of use, mainly due to the smaller estimated crop. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL) FLYHT Aerospace Solutions Ltd. (TSXV:FLY)(OTCQX:FLYLF) (the "Company" or "FLYHT") today announced that it will host a conference call to discuss the results for the second quarter of 2024, the period ended June 30, 2024, on Thursday, August 29, 2024 at 7:30 a.m. MT (9:30 a.m. ET). The conference call will include prepared remarks followed by a question-and-answer session with Kent Jacobs, President & Interim CEO and Alana Forbes, CFO. To access the conference call by phone within Canada and the U.S., the toll-free number is 1-844-763-8274. Outside Canada and the U.S., dial 1-647-484-8814. Callers should dial in five to ten minutes prior to the scheduled start time. Management will accept questions by telephone and e-mail. Individuals wishing to ask a question during the call can do so by pressing *1. Questions can be emailed in advance or during the conference call to investors@flyht.com. An archive of the conference call will be posted on the Investor Relations section of FLYHT's website as soon as it is available from the conference call provider. In addition, at FLYHT's Annual & Special Meeting of Shareholders held on June 19, 2024, shareholders of the Company approved the 2024 Omnibus Equity Incentive Compensation Plan (the "Omnibus Incentive Plan") to replace the existing stock option plan. The Omnibus Incentive Plan is a "rolling up to 10% and fixed up to 10%" share-based compensation plan pursuant to which up to an aggregate of 10% of the Common Shares issued and outstanding may be reserved for issuance under it and any other security-based compensation plans of the Corporation, in the form of stock options, restricted share units ("RSUs"), deferred share units ("DSUs") and performance share units ("PSUs"). A copy of the Omnibus Incentive Plan and further details are included in the Company's management information circular regarding the meeting dated May 29, 2024, and available on SEDAR at www.sedarplus.com. The Omnibus Incentive Plan has received the final approval of the TSXV and has subsequently been implemented. About FLYHT Aerospace Solutions Ltd. FLYHT provides airlines with Actionable Intelligence to transform operational insight into immediate, quantifiable action, and delivers industry leading solutions to improve aviation safety, efficiency, and profitability. This unique capability is driven by a suite of patented aircraft certified hardware products, AFIRS. Solutions include an aircraft satcom/interface device that enables cockpit voice communications, transmission of aircraft data both while inflight via satellite and post-flight via 5G, real-time aircraft state and fleet status analysis, and preventative maintenance solutions. FLYHT's hardware products can also be interfaced with FLYHT's proprietary relative humidity sensors to deliver airborne weather and humidity data in real-time. FLYHT is headquartered in Calgary, Canada, and is an AS9100 Quality registered company. For more information, visit www.flyht.com. Contact Information: FLYHT Aerospace Solutions Ltd. Alana Forbes Chief Financial Officer 403.291.7437 investors@flyht.com FNK IR LLC Matt Chesler, CFA Investor Relations 646.809.2183 mchesler@flyht.com 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. SOURCE: FLYHT Aerospace Solutions Ltd. View the original press release on accesswire.com Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 12, 2024) - CopAur Minerals Inc. (TSXV: CPAU) (OTCQX: COPAF) ("CopAur" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has completed its previously announced (see news release disseminated July 8, 2024) acquisition from Nevada Sunrise Metals Corporation ("Nevada Sunrise") of Nevada Sunrise's 18.74% ownership interest in Kinsley Gold LLC ("LLC"), the joint venture vehicle that holds rights to the Kinsley Mountain Gold Project in Nevada ("Kinsley Project"). The Company now owns 100% of the Kinsley Project, a gold exploration project in Elko County, Nevada. The Kinsley Project comprises 513 unpatented lode claims on U.S. Bureau of Land Management land plus 6 leased patents totaling 4,213 hectares (10,410 acres), and hosts a past-producing mine with an extensive exploration database and numerous, untested gold targets. The leased claims are subject to a 3% net smelter returns royalty on production. Under the terms of a membership purchase agreement CopAur acquired Nevada Sunrise's 18.74% ownership interest in the LLC in consideration of the payment of CDN$475,000 and the issuance of 1,000,000 common shares of CopAur ("Consideration Shares") to Nevada Sunrise. The Consideration Shares are subject to a four-month statutory hold period (the "Statutory Hold Period") and voluntary hold periods for an additional nine month period. The first 250,000 Consideration Shares will be released on expiry of the Statutory Hold Period and the remaining shares will be released in equal tranches every three months following the first release. Chief executive officer Jeremy Yaseniuk stated: "We are pleased to have completed this transaction to acquire 100% ownership of the LLC, which provides us with full control over the Kinsley Project and the ability to concentrate our efforts on further advancing this exciting project. The Kinsley Project has both oxide and sulphide gold resources. Recent drilling by the Company has yielded multiple near-surface oxide intercepts at the Main Pit North target and high-grade sulphide gold mineralization at the Western Flank (news releases Oct. 4, 2023 and Nov. 10, 2023)." The Kinsley Project hosts a National Instrument 43-101 mineral resource that CopAur is working to upgrade and expand. The Kinsley Project is a historical past producer that yielded 138,000 ounces of near-surface open-pit gold between 1995 and 1999, when mining was suspended. A technical report on the Kinsley Project titled "Technical Report of the Kinsley Project, Elko and White Pine Counties, Nevada, U.S.A.", dated June 21, 2021, with an effective date of May 5, 2021, prepared by Michael M. Gustin and Gary L. Simmons, is available for review under New Placer Dome Gold Corp.'s issuer profile on SEDAR+. About CopAur CopAur is an exploration company focused on developing projects within the emerging, mineral-rich mining regions of Nevada. The Company is backed by a dynamic and experienced team of resource professionals advancing its projects in Nevada with the flagship project being Kinsley Mountain gold property, a Carlin-style project located 90 kilometres south of the Long Canyon mine (currently in production under the Newmont/Barrick joint venture, Nevada Gold Mines). Qualified Person The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Kristopher J. Raffle, P.Geo. (British Columbia), principal and consultant, of Apex Geoscience Ltd. of Edmonton, Alta., and a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 (Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects). For more information, please contact: CopAur Minerals Inc. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Forward Looking Information This news release contains 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. 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 and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revised any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable securities regulations. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/219743 SOURCE: CopAur Minerals Inc. NANJING, China, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Mazda recently showcased the design and development process of its first electric sedan, the MAZDA EZ-6, to users from China for the first time in its headquarters in Hiroshima. In July, the vehicle successfully rolled off the assembly line at Changan Mazda, Mazda's joint venture in China. Concurrently, Mazda and Changan Mazda signed an Agreement on Electric Vehicle Export Cooperation, designating Changan Mazda as its exclusive Chinese new energy R&D and production base facing the global market. This fully demonstrates that the MAZDA EZ-6 will be Mazda's first global new energy vehicle. The MAZDA EZ-6 would be officially launched in the fall of 2024 as a global model, and first available in the Chinese and European markets. At the Beijing International Auto Show in April, Mazda President Masahiro Moro and Changan Automobile Chairman Zhu Huairong, jointly attended the global debut of the MAZDA EZ-6, which showed the high regard of both parties place on this global model. Although the driving form has changed, Mazda has leveraged its extensive expertise in dynamic performance tuning from the gasoline vehicle era to elevate driving pleasure for MAZDA EZ-6, transcending the Jinba-Ittai (car and driver as one) offered by MAZDA6. Previously, experts from Mazda's European R&D center had completed dynamic performance tuning and validation of the MAZDA EZ-6 at the Chongqing Automobile Testing Grounds, the highest specification automotive test field in China. As for intelligence, the MAZDA EZ-6 adopts the leading intelligence and electrification technology of Changan Automobile, Mazda's Chinese partner. The new car will be equipped with Level 2.5 autonomous driving assistance, a 7nm Qualcomm SA8155P chip, four high-definition panoramic cameras, and twelve high-performance ultrasonic radars. It will realize various intelligent driving scenarios such as autonomous parking, remote parking, remote intelligent parking, and trace-back parking. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2479888/Users_Chinese_market_visit_Mazda_Design_Center_Hiroshima_time.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2479889/Vehicle_dynamic_performance_expert_Mazda_Europe_R_D_center__right__communicates.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/mazda-ez-6-confirmed-as-a-truly-global-model-302220500.html Roland Li covers commercial real estate for the business desk, focusing on the Bay Area office and retail sectors. He was previously a reporter at San Francisco Business Times, where he won one award from the California News Publishers Association and three from the National Association of Real Estate Editors. He is the author of Good Luck Have Fun: The Rise of eSports," a 2016 book on the history of the competitive video game industry. Before moving to the Bay Area in 2015, he studied and worked in New York. He freelanced for the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and other local publications. His hobbies include swimming and urban photography. LOS ANGELES, Aug. 12, 2024, representing the interests of kava producers, advocates, scientists and consumers around the world, welcomes a landmark decision by the German court on 18 June 2024, removing arguments for long-standing restrictions imposed by BfArM (the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices) on the marketing of kava as a pharmaceutical in Germany. This decision marks the end of over two decades of impediments that had prevented kava's reintroduction into the German market. BfArM, Europe's largest drug approval authority, had maintained barriers to kava based on outdated and contested scientific grounds, effectively stalling meaningful discussions and consumer access. Recent developments have vindicated long-standing objections raised by kava advocates, highlighting discrepancies in BfArM's handling of kava extracts and the unjust use of "tudei" kava varieties in their assessments. "The court's decision to overturn BfArM's objections is a clear recognition of insubstantial evidence backing their arguments," said Matthew Lowe, Executive Director of the Kava Coalition. "Germany, and other European countries, should remove illegitimate barriers to kava and make it legal, regulated, and safe for consumers." The recent pivot marks a significant milestone for kava legalization in Germany after a long journey. Documented original cases from Switzerland, upon which BfArM based its decisions, were attributed to an acetonic extract. Similarly, a detailed analysis of the data available for the ethanolic extracts did not conclude on risks. BfArM had been informed from the start that the quality of the plant material used in the acetonic extract was different from that used in the ethanolic extracts. It is now confirmed that a so-called "tudei" kava form, not regularly consumed in the kava-producing countries of the South Pacific due to its prolonged hangover effects, was used in the manufacture of the acetonic extract. "The basis for BfArM's decision should not have been used," stated German scientist Mathias Schmidt. "The evidence clearly shows that the 'tudei' kava type is not representative of the traditional kava consumed in the South Pacific, and it is inappropriate to base safety assessments on this variety." On Wednesday, 25 July, BfArM filed its appeal against the ruling of the Administrative Court of Cologne to the Upper Administrative Court of Munster. Until a decision on the appeal is taken, the marketing authorizations for the kava products remain suspended. "We are confident the court will drop the appeal and the marketing authorizations will be automatically reinstated to the 2019 status," said Schmidt. "We applied for a swift treatment of the appeal. It is in the hands of the Upper Administrative Court now." Experience from the past 24 years vindicates the actions taken by kava advocates, as the court's intervention removes a major barrier that had prevented kava's reintroduction in Germany. The unsuitability of the argument for the refusal of post-marketing authorization is now obvious. Today, the Kava Coalition calls on German authorities to restore kava to the marketplace. "Marketing authorization would be great news for kava, whose name has finally been cleared after over 20 years of having its reputation tarnished for no scientific reason," said Vanuatu Deputy Prime Minister The Honorable Matai Seremaiah. "We trust that other European Union countries will also follow the same path and re-legalize kava, opening new horizons for our farmers." From the early 2000's until the present day, kava advocates in Germany continually called for the courts to intervene. These advocates challenged BfArM's objections, including a new 2019 drug safety protocol and marketing objections, leading to the court's decision to remove BfArM's barriers. The court in 2015 and 2024 decided on a positive benefit-to-risk ratio in the indication "nervous anxiety, stress and restlessness", as confirmed by the monograph of the German advisory Commission E in 1990. In 2018, the court had ruled that warning labels are to be accepted, but the court did not talk about the indication and the efficacy. Even though BfArM had paved the way for a change in indication (that was then used against kava) in 2016 by having the HMPC write an Assessment Report on the lack of efficacy against generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), they only used this in official decisions in 2019. Now, in 2024, the issue was for the first time discussed in court. "Now that BfArM's arguments prohibiting kava have been dismissed, the next step is for the German government to lead the way in restoring a regulated but consumer-accessible kava market in Germany. With a foothold in Germany, it is all but certain that other European restrictions on kava will begin to fall," said Lowe. About the Kava Coalition Kava Coalition (KC) is a global alliance of kava consumers, experts, and industry leaders committed to advancing kava education, advocacy, and choice. Through educational initiatives and community engagement, KC promotes awareness and appreciation for kava's traditional practices and cultural significance. Simultaneously, KC advocates for modern regulation that reflects current scientific knowledge, ensuring consumer safety and product integrity. Media Contact Byron Johnson bjohnson@kavacoalition.org +1 202-680-8129 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 12, 2024 / Nepra Foods Inc. (CSE:NPRA)(FSE:2P6)(OTC PINK:NPRFF) ("Nepra Foods" or the "Company"), a leading ingredient supplier to the gluten-free bakery industry, based in Denver, Colorado, leveraging its expertise in product development and ingredient production, blending and sales, is pleased to announce that William (Billy) Hogan has accepted the appointment of Chief Executive Officer and a director of the Company, effective August 9, 2024, succeeding Chadwick White who has been appointed Chief Visionary Officer. Mr. Hogan has an established and proven track record of operational leadership, strategic planning and team building that over the past several months has proven invaluable to the Company and with his leadership, the Company is now positioned to expand with a focused results-oriented mandate. Mr. Hogan brings to the Company broad-based experience in CPG brand management, E-commerce, in addition to his recent and significant financial investment in the Company. As a brand advisor and investor, the Board welcomed Mr. Hogan and his wealth of experience in managing over $100mm in product sales in the past five years. Mr. Hogan is both a close friend and business colleague of Chadwick White, who has served in the CEO role on an acting basis while the right individual was found to help shape the Company's future. Mr. White's continued and dynamic role with the Company now shifts to that of CVO where he can now focus on the key success factors that have propelled the Company to its status; that of a highly regarded science-based supplier of ingredients and products to the ever-growing gluten-free marketplace. With the strategic pathway now clearly defined, Chadwick's team can continue to specialize in creating gluten-free bakery products with the texture and taste needed to attract customers, formulated with plant-based proteins and fibers, and offering lower calorie substitutes for sugar-heavy recipes. Chadwick commented that "the appointment of Billy to the position of CEO and director is a major step for the Company in so many respects. Furthermore, as a Company we are particularly grateful that Mr. Hogan saw our vision and was able to architect a meaningful long-term role in the future of Nepra." Mr. Hogan commented that "I am delighted to formally join Nepra having known Chadwick for many years and observed the strength and tenacity of the Nepra team. It is truly my pleasure to take on the CEO role and provide band width for Chadwick and his team to fully realize on their potential." About Nepra Foods Inc. Nepra Foods is grounded in a passion for food. We believe eating healthy should be easy. Everybody deserves food options that are truly nutritious and taste good. Food should be allergen-free so that everyone in the family can enjoy eating it together. Plant-based foods can offer high-quality nutrition and taste great while maintaining a low-carb profile. Nepra Foods is on a mission to make healthy, enjoyable food for everybody. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS David Wood, Chief Operating Officer and Interim CFO investors@neprafoods.com Investor Relations Toll-free (844) 566-1917 The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward Looking Statements This news release contains statements and information that, to the extent that they are not historical fact, constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking information may include, without limitation, statements regarding the future developments and the business and options of the Company. Forward-looking information is based on the reasonable assumptions, estimates, analysis and opinions of management made in light of its experience and its perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances at the date that such statements are made, but which may prove to be incorrect. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information, including, but not limited to, statements relating to the Company's financial performance, business development, results of operations, and those listed in filings made by the Company with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities (which may be viewed at www.sedarplus.ca). Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any such forward looking information. Further, any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for the Company's management to predict all of such factors and to assess in advance the impact of each such factor on the Company's business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking information to reflect information, events, results, circumstances or otherwise after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law including securities laws. SOURCE: Nepra Foods View the original press release on accesswire.com Progress on share buyback programme ING announced today that, as part of our 2.5 billion share buyback programme announced on 2 May 2024, the company repurchased 16,768,469 shares during the week of 5 August 2024 up to and including 9 August 2024. The shares were repurchased at an average price of 15.01 for a total amount of 251,621,919.02. For detailed information on the daily repurchased shares, individual share purchase transactions and weekly reports, see the ING website at www.ing.com/investorrelations. In line with the purpose of the programme to reduce the share capital of ING, the total number of shares repurchased under this programme to date is 95,152,159 ordinary shares at an average price of 15.99 for a total consideration of 1,521,875,978.89. To date approximately 60.88% of the maximum total value of the share buyback programme has been completed. Note for editors For more on ING, please visit www.ing.com. Frequent news updates can be found in the Newsroomor via X @ING_newsfeed. Photos of ING operations, buildings and its executives are available for download at Flickr. Press enquiries Investor enquiries Marc Smulders ING Group Investor Relations +31 20 576 5000 +31 20 576 6396 Marc.Smulders@ing.com (mailto:Marc.Smulders@ing.com) Investor.Relations@ing.com (mailto:Investor.Relations@ing.com) ING PROFILE ING is a global financial institution with a strong European base, offering banking services through its operating company ING Bank. The purpose of ING Bank is: empowering people to stay a step ahead in life and in business. ING Bank's more than 60,000 employees offer retail and wholesale banking services to customers in over 40 countries. ING Group shares are listed on the exchanges of Amsterdam (INGA NA, INGA.AS), Brussels and on the New York Stock Exchange (ADRs: ING US, ING.N). ING aims to put sustainability at the heart of what we do. ING's sustainability efforts have been recognised externally by environmental, social and governance (ESG) rating agencies and other benchmarks. In 2023, Sustainalytics assessed our management of ESG material risk as 'strong'. In July 2023, ING's ESG rating by MSCI was reconfirmed as 'AA'. ING's shares are included in the sustainability indices of Euronext, STOXX, FTSE Russell and Morningstar. Important legal information Elements of this press release contain or may contain information about ING Groep N.V. and/ or ING Bank N.V. within the meaning of Article 7(1) to (4) of EU Regulation No 596/2014 ('Market Abuse Regulation'). ING Group's annual accounts are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union ('IFRS- EU'). In preparing the financial information in this document, except as described otherwise, the same accounting principles are applied as in the 2023 ING Group consolidated annual accounts. All figures in this document are unaudited. Small differences are possible in the tables due to rounding. Certain of the statements contained herein are not historical facts, including, without limitation, certain statements made of future expectations and other forward-looking statements that are based on management's current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to di?er materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Actual results, performance or events may di?er materially from those in such statements due to a number of factors, including, without limitation: This document may contain ESG-related material that has been prepared by ING on the basis of publicly available information, internally developed data and other third-party sources believed to be reliable. ING has not sought to independently verify information obtained from public and third-party sources and makes no representations or warranties as to accuracy, completeness, reasonableness or reliability of such information. Materiality, as used in the context of ESG, is distinct from, and should not be confused with, such term as defined in the Market Abuse Regulation or as defined for Securities and Exchange Commission ('SEC') reporting purposes. Any issues identified as material for purposes of ESG in this document are therefore not necessarily material as defined in the Market Abuse Regulation or for SEC reporting purposes. In addition, there is currently no single, globally recognized set of accepted definitions in assessing whether activities are "green" or "sustainable." Without limiting any of the statements contained herein, we make no representation or warranty as to whether any of our securities constitutes a green or sustainable security or conforms to present or future investor expectations or objectives for green or sustainable investing. For information on characteristics of a security, use of proceeds, a description of applicable project(s) and/or any other relevant information, please reference the offering documents for such security. This document may contain inactive textual addresses to internet websites operated by us and third parties. Reference to such websites is made for information purposes only, and information found at such websites is not incorporated by reference into this document. ING does not make any representation or warranty with respect to the accuracy or completeness of, or take any responsibility for, any information found at any websites operated by third parties. ING specifically disclaims any liability with respect to any information found at websites operated by third parties. ING cannot guarantee that websites operated by third parties remain available following the publication of this document, or that any information found at such websites will not change following the filing of this document. Many of those factors are beyond ING's control. Any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of ING speak only as of the date they are made, and ING assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or for any other reason. This document does not constitute an o?er to sell, or a solicitation of an o?er to purchase, any securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction. Attachment The global biomass briquette market is experiencing growth due to compressed organic materials, which have gained significant attention in biomass briquette. Biomass briquettes, as a renewable and carbon-neutral energy source, offer a promising alternative to traditional fossil fuels. They help in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on non-renewable energy resources, making them an attractive option for both developed and developing countries aiming to meet their renewable energy targets and commitments under international agreements such as the Paris Agreement. WILMINGTON, Del., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Biomass Briquette Market by Type (Sawdust Briquettes, Agro waste Briquettes and Wood Briquettes), Application (Power Generation, Heating, Cooking and Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2024-2033". According to the report, the biomass briquette market was valued at $0.9 billion in 2023, and is estimated to reach $1.9 billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 7.9% from 2024 to 2033. Download PDF Brochure: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/3438 Prime determinants of growth The global biomass briquette market is experiencing growth due to growing awareness and regulations favoring sustainable energy sources drive demand for biomass briquettes. However, high initial costs associated with briquette production facilities are expected to hinder the growth of biomass briquette market. Moreover, growing emphasis on carbon-neutral fuels offers remunerative opportunities for the expansion of the global biomass briquette market. Report coverage & details: Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2024-2033 Base Year 2023 Market Size in 2023 $0.9 billion Market Size in 2033 $1.9 billion CAGR 7.9 % No. of Pages in Report 300 Segments Covered Type, Application, and Region Region Covered North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, LAMEA Drivers Rapid urbanization and industrialization Regulatory support driving demand for biomass briquettes Opportunities Surge in the use of co-firing biomass briquettes with coal in power plants Restraint Competition from other renewable energy sources The wood briquettes segment is expected to remain the largest type throughout the forecast period. By type, wood briquettes serve as a renewable energy source, helping to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and decrease greenhouse gas emissions. Unlike coal or natural gas, burning wood briquettes releases a lower amount of carbon dioxide, as the carbon released during combustion is roughly equivalent to the amount absorbed by the trees during their growth. This creates a more balanced carbon cycle and lessens the overall environmental impact. Procure Complete Report (300 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Tables, and Figures) @ https://bit.ly/3SNvgDI The heating segment is expected to lead throughout the forecast period. By application, biomass briquettes are a sustainable and efficient alternative to traditional fossil fuels, particularly in heating applications. Biomass is a renewable energy source, meaning that its use helps to reduce reliance on finite fossil fuels and decrease greenhouse gas emissions. When burned, biomass briquettes release carbon dioxide, but this is offset by the carbon dioxide absorbed by the plants during their growth, resulting in a carbon-neutral cycle. Additionally, the use of biomass briquettes helps to reduce waste by converting agricultural and forestry residues into a valuable energy source, thus minimizing the environmental impact of waste disposal. Asia-Pacific to maintain its dominance by 2032 Region wise, biomass briquettes have gained significant traction across Asia-Pacific countries as a sustainable alternative to traditional fuels like coal and wood. In countries such as India, the use of biomass briquettes has been actively promoted to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and mitigate environmental impact. In China, biomass briquettes are utilized extensively in industries and households alike, contributing to the country's strategies for reducing carbon emissions and improving energy efficiency. Briquettes are produced from various biomass sources including crop residues, sawdust, and agricultural wastes, providing a cost-effective and environmentally friendly fuel option. Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand and Vietnam have also embraced biomass briquettes as part of their renewable energy initiatives. These countries utilize agricultural residues such as rice husks and bagasse to produce briquettes, which are used in industries such as agriculture, brick kilns, and food processing. The adoption of biomass briquettes not only reduces dependency on imported fossil fuels but also supports rural economies by providing income opportunities through biomass collection and briquette manufacturing. For Purchase Inquiry: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/biomass-briquette-market/purchase-options Players: - Radhe Industrial Corporation C.F. Nielsen A/S Jaykhodiyar ECOSTAN RUF US, Inc Gattuwala MaxTon Industrial Co., Ltd. WEIMA VOTECS GROSS Apparatebau GmbH The report provides a detailed analysis of these key players in the global biomass briquettes 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. Trending Reports in Energy & Power Industry: Biomass Briquette Fuel Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report, by Raw Material, by Application, by End-Use Industry: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2024-2033 Wood Pellets Biomass Boilers Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report, by Type, by Application: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032 Biomass Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report, by Feedstock Type, by Technology, by Application and, by End User: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032 Biomass Power Generation Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report, by Feedstock, by Application and, by Region: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032 Biopower Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report, by Feedstock, by Technology, by End Use: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031 Wood Pellet Fuel Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report, by Feedstock, by Application, by End-Use: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032 Waste to Energy Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report, by Technology: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032 About us: 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. Contact us: David Correa 1209 Orange Street, Corporation Trust Center, Wilmington, New Castle, Delaware 19801 USA. Int'l: +1-503-894-6022 Toll Free: +1-800-792-5285 Fax: +1-800-792-5285 help@alliedmarketresearch.com Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/reports-store/energy-and-power Follow Us on | Facebook | LinkedIn | YouTube Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/636519/Allied_Market_Research_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/biomass-briquette-market-to-reach-1-9-billion-globally-by-2033-at-7-9-cagr-allied-market-research-302220721.html Regenics raises NOK 20.4 million in new equity, in the first of a total NOK 54 million two-tranche investment, from Nordic Blue hf., a newly formed Icelandic holding company focusing on investments in Blue Economy. OSLO, Norway, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Regenics AS, a private Norwegian biotechnology company based in Oslo (the "Company"), today announced that it has closed the first tranche of a non-brokered private placement with Nordic Blue hf. by issuing up to 2,523,647 units (the "Units") at a price of NOK 8.1 per Unit which represent aggregate gross proceeds of NOK 20.4 million. Nordic Blue will after the first tranche own 20.0 % of outstanding shares in Regenics. Each Unit consists of one common share in Regenics AS and one- and one-half share purchase warrants (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will entitle Nordic Blue to purchase one common share, at a price of NOK 9 per unit, until December 31st 2024, representing an additional capital raise of 34 MNOK. The Company anticipates closing the second and final tranche of the private placement within the next six months. The closing of the final tranche is subject to the Company achieving certain company and product development milestones. In connection with the Private Placement, the Company, two of the largest current investors, and Nordic Blue have entered into an Investor and Shareholder Agreement whereby the Company has granted certain rights to Nordic Blue including a nomination right with respect to two directors on the board of the Company. The Haf Investments fund, managed by Iceland Funds, is the largest investor in Nordic Blue, and will take one of the board positions in Regenics. "We are excited to bring in such knowledgeable investors that have had previous success in the field of bio tech and who recognize the potential that our company and products represent," said Jan A. Alfheim, Board Chair of Regenics. "Their investment and participation at the board level will be of great value in helping Regenics bring our first lead candidate Collex into a phase one clinical trial in treatment of burns and further onto the market." Brynjolfur Eyjolfsson, Fund Manager, Haf Investments and chairman of Nordic Blue hf. commented, "We are excited to embark on this journey with Regenics, which aligns perfectly with the marine biotech emphasis in the investment strategy of the Haf Investment fund. We believe that Regenics has established a strong foundation and has an enormous potential in the field wound care. Partnering with experienced investors to pave the way for success is decisive and we look forward to the journey ahead." About Collex Collex is an advanced wound dressing designed to aid healing of partial thickness burns and chronic wounds, including diabetic and chronic vascular ulcers. With Collex, Regenics aims to redefine the current standards of care in wound treatment. Collex is a hydrogel wound dressing constructed with all-marine ingredients, sourced from the Norwegian coast. One of Regenics' major innovations, HTX, is a key component of Collex and is sourced and purified from unfertilized salmon roe. Collex is currently in the late pre-clinical stage, with significant beneficial effects on wound healing rates demonstrated. About Regenics Regenics AS is a private Norwegian biotechnology company based in Oslo. The company is developing a range of wound care products, with a current pipeline of two medical devices and one novel drug product candidate to meet unmet medical needs in a multi-billion dollar wound care market. Target indications for Regenics product candidates include burns, diabetic wounds, chronic wounds, and enzymatic wound debridement. About Nordic Blue Nordic Blue Is a a newly formed Icelandic holding company focusing on investments in Blue Economy, with versatile shareholders, with many of the investors having a background in marine biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and fisheries. About Haf Investments Haf Investments (IS Haf Fjarfestingar slhf.) invests in unlisted companies across the seafood value chain and in supporting industries. The investment strategy covers five categories, from fishing and aquaculture to high technology, infrastructure development, marketing and marine biotechnology. The largest investors in the fund are Icelandic pension funds together with UR Seafood (Utgerarfelag Reykjavikur hf.), which is a cornerstone investor in the fund, and Brim hf. The fund is managed Iceland Funds hf., which is the first and one of the largest Icelandic fund management companies, established in 1994. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Islandsbanki and is supervised by the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority (FME). The company provides investments offering for individuals, companies, municipalities, pension funds and other institutional investors. For further information, please contact: Jan A. Alfheim, Board Chair Cell: +47 46 44 00 45 Email: jal-alfh@online.no or Karl Bryn, CEO Cell: +47 92 80 93 90 Email: karl@regenics.no This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/regenics-as-completes-first-tranche-of-a-nok-54-m-private-placement-to-initiate-collex-clinical-trials-302220738.html Acquisition strengthens NFP's employee benefits and wealth management capabilities in Ireland DUBLIN, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- NFP, an Aon company and a leading international insurance brokerage and consulting firm, today announced its acquisition of Orca Financial Group, a specialist financial brokerage based in Leopardstown, County Dublin. The Orca team will join NFP's employee benefits and wealth management businesses in Ireland, and John Molloy, currently managing director of Orca, will retain the same title with NFP. "We're delighted to add the Orca team's skill and experience to our already strong employee benefits and wealth management businesses," said Colm Power, managing director, NFP in Ireland. "John and his team will allow us to offer a more diverse portfolio of specialist solutions to our clients, and their knowledge will drive innovation and future growth for NFP in Ireland." Orca Financial Group was founded in 2004 to enhance the service delivery model across the pension market. In the past two decades, they have seen considerable growth, organically and through acquisitions and now provide specialist financial support to over 2,000 clients across Ireland from their offices in Leopardstown and Portlaoise. "There's been a growing demand from Irish employers to access a full range of pension and wealth solutions from one brokerage firm," said Molloy. "We're excited about working with Colm and the growing NFP team in Ireland to meet this demand. Joining NFP will mean added value for our existing and future customers through the greater range of solutions and services available to us as part of NFP." About NFP NFP, an Aon company, is an organisation of consultative advisors and problem solvers helping companies and individuals address their most significant risk, workforce, wealth management and retirement challenges. We are more than 7,700 colleagues in the UK, Ireland, US, Puerto Rico and Canada serving a diversity of clients, industries and communities. Our global capabilities, specialised expertise and customised solutions span commercial business insurance, employee benefits, people consultancy, health and safety, and individual financial planning. Together, we put people first, prioritise partnerships and continuously advance a culture we're proud of. Visit www.nfpireland.ie to learn more. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/945522/nfp_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/nfp-acquires-orca-financial-group-a-specialist-financial-brokerage-302220271.html Airport slot co-ordination is an intriguing science; the allocation of slots is highly competitive and the top slots fiercely guarded. Artemis Aerospace investigates how airline slots are apportioned. WISTON, England, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- As you follow a flight on Flightradar or gaze up at contrails criss-crossing a clear blue sky, have you ever wondered exactly how aircraft slots are organised? It may be that you thought it's a global free-for-all, and that any airline can decide to put on a flight from Heathrow to Sydney whenever they felt like it, and if they then change their mind and want to go from Gatwick to Melbourne there's nothing to stop them from doing that. Well, you'd be wrong - each and every flight worldwide from a major airport has to stick to its allocated slot. An airport slot is simply permission to use the airport infrastructure such as the runway, gates and terminal building, on specific dates and at specific times to enable an aircraft to take off or land. Slots are issued under guidelines released biannually by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Worldwide Airports Slots Group after consultation with airlines and other stakeholders. Their intention is to provide fair access and the necessary coordination to all airlines and promote safety and effectiveness at the busiest airports. In the UK, slots are then allocated by the operator and airport-funded company Airport Coordination Ltd (ACL), which was the world's first independent slot coordinator, and which assigns slots for winter and summer travel. There are three levels of this coordination: Level 1 - no coordination needed as the airport capability is usually adequate to meet demand. Level 2 - coordination is mutually agreed with airlines as there is potential for congestion at peak times. Level 3 - an airport where its ability to handle flights is considerably exceeded by demand on its services; all airlines and operators have slot allocations. IATA holds a conference twice a year to decide on slots which is attended by over 400 representatives of airports and operators, all of whom are jockeying for slots which will enable them to grow their aviation business in the most advantageous way. As slots are limited and many are in great demand, some airlines used to acquire them in order to assert their dominance over a particular route, blocking competition but not actually using them themselves. This practice was banned by the introduction of a series of rules, the main one of which is the 80/20 'use it or lose it' rule. This states that airlines must use at least 80% of their slot allocation per airport, and if they fail to do this the slot will be given to another airline. During major global crises such as the Covid pandemic, however, these rules were temporarily suspended. According to IATA, there are more than 200 Level 3 airports worldwide, and around 50% of all airline passengers depart from a Level 3 airport, with 35% of all flights operating between two Level 3 airports. London Heathrow is the UK's biggest airport and the fourth busiest in the world, serving nearly 80 million passengers in 2023 - it's also the holder of some of the most valuable slots in the world. ACL's data for the winter season 2023-2024 shows that British Airways held 4779 slots at Heathrow, by far the largest number and over half the total number of slots allocated. In second place by a very long way comes Virgin Atlantic with 392 slots. Lufthansa is third with 290, Aer Lingus fourth with 288, United Airlines fifth with 278 and American Airlines sixth with 270. The desirability of a slot can wax or wane depending on the popularity of a specific destination. Winter and summer travel show obvious differences, and slots which dovetail neatly with commercial travellers' needs are always high on the popularity list. Sometimes more unusual reasons can trigger a slot demand, such as 'screen tourism' - Aer Lingus acquired a new slot from Ireland West Airport to Heathrow after the film 'Banshees of Inisherin' showcased the beauty of the west of Ireland. The shortage of slots means that competition is fierce for the most profitable ones. Although IATA does not promote sale or bidding wars, it permits airlines to trade slots, or lease them if they aren't utilising them, as otherwise they would be forfeited. One legendary trade took place in 2016 when Oman Air bought a pair of Heathrow slots from Air France-KLM for US$75 million. Bargains are also to be had in the wake of global events - Aeroflot's ban from Heathrow after the invasion of Ukraine meant a field day for the six airlines which picked up around 1300 slots. Slot allocation is intended to prevent delays, safeguard passengers and ensure the optimum passage of aircraft in and out of the airport - so when you next glance up and spot an Airbus winging its way across the sky, think of the complex transactions which allowed it to get there. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2476477/Artemis_Aerospace_Slots.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/artemis-aerospace-explores-the-history-of-airline-slot-allocations-302215712.html Kelowna, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 13, 2024) - F3 Uranium Corp (TSXV: FUU) (OTCQB: FUUFF) ("F3" or "the Company") is pleased to announce recent JR Zone high grade infill summer drilling highlighted by PLN24-161, which intersected mineralization over 12.0m, including 2.0m of high grade (>10,000cps) also hosting 0.71m of composite off-scale mineralization (>65,535 cps). Drill hole PLN24-163 at JR intersected 0.90m of composite high grade mineralization (>10,000 cps) within 20.5m of mineralization (>300cps). JR Zone infill holes targeted areas of low drill hole density within the high-grade core of the zone. These holes help to improve and define the continuity of grade within the JR Zone. F3 engaged Computational Geosciences to provide new geologically constrained inversions of ground loop time domain electromagnetic (GTEM) and direct current (DC) resistivity data already collected on the ground. These parametric models of electric conductivity (see Figure 1) defined a clear extension of the B1 trend which was tested and validated with drillhole PLN24-168, a 700m step-out along strike from PLN24-126, which was the most southeasterly hole along the B1 shear zone previously and 1,300m from its northwest end. Drill hole PLN24-168 intersected a 14.2m strongly prospective and wide clay altered graphitic shear zone approximately 110m below the Athabasca Unconformity in the down-dip direction (see Photo 1). Additionally, the inversion indicated the B1 conductor trend to continue to the southeast an additional 700m to the edge of the survey block resulting in an approximate 80% increase in the total implied strike length of the B1 shear zone to 2.7km. Sam Hartmann, Vice President Exploration, commented: "PLN24-168 was collared on line 4245S, approximately 1.2 km along strike from the Harrison Fault and PLN24-152 area, opening up an additional 700m of prospective strike from previous drilling. This wildcat hole was collared conservatively, testing the newly defined conductive feature well below the Athabasca Unconformity; an altered and strongly graphitic shear representing the continuation of B1 was intersected as predicted from the conductivity model; it also exhibited elevated radioactivity averaging 200 cps peaking up to 240cps; although that doesn't quite meet our reporting threshold of 300 cps, it adds to the prospectivity and follow-up holes are now being planned for that area. Geochemistry results from this ongoing drill program are being integrated into our models and drill plans as they arrive which is assisting us with targeting with greater confidence." Figure 1 To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8110/219744_d09f67fd247b8b6d_002full.jpg Summer 2024 JR Zone Handheld Spectrometer Highlights: PLN24-161 (line 035S): 12.0m interval with mineralization from 205.0m to 217.0m, including 0.71m composite off-scale radioactivity (> 65,535 cps) between 208.2m and 209.25m interval with mineralization from 205.0m to 217.0m, including PLN24-163 (line 095S): 20.5m interval of mineralization between 197.0m to 217.5m, including 0.90m composite high-grade mineralization (> 10,000 cps) between 205.25 m and 206.5m Summer 2024 Exploration Handheld Spectrometer Highlights: PLN24-167 (line 3450S): B1 Exploration 0.5m mineralized interval from 453.5m to 454.0m Photo 1: PLN24-168 - 700m Step-Out Along Strike at B1 To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8110/219744_d09f67fd247b8b6d_003full.jpg Table 1. Drill Hole Summary and Handheld Spectrometer Results Collar Information * Hand-held Spectrometer Results On Mineralized Drillcore (>300 cps / >0.5m minimum) Athabasca Unconformity Depth (m) Total Drillhole Depth (m) Hole ID Section Line Easting Northing Elevation Az Dip From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Max CPS PLN24-161 035S 587791.0 6410763.9 546.4 -80.3 57.0 205.00 205.50 0.50 460 179.8 269 205.50 206.00 0.50 <300 206.00 206.50 0.50 450 206.50 207.00 0.50 1500 207.00 207.50 0.50 3800 207.50 208.00 0.50 50600 208.00 208.20 0.20 44000 208.20 208.50 0.30 >65535 208.50 208.66 0.16 >65535 208.66 208.80 0.14 62700 208.80 208.90 0.10 >65535 208.90 209.00 0.10 56700 209.00 209.10 0.10 53700 209.10 209.25 0.15 >65535 209.25 209.50 0.25 52200 209.50 210.00 0.50 8800 210.00 210.50 0.50 3900 210.50 211.00 0.50 1800 211.00 211.50 0.50 910 211.50 212.00 0.50 1800 212.00 212.50 0.50 6500 212.50 213.00 0.50 4200 213.00 213.50 0.50 980 213.50 214.00 0.50 960 214.00 214.50 0.50 9100 214.50 215.00 0.50 4600 215.00 215.50 0.50 4300 215.50 216.00 0.50 15900 216.00 216.50 0.50 1200 216.50 217.00 0.50 950 PLN24-162 2850S 589301.3 6408383.6 538.0 -67.9 54.5 426.50 427.00 0.50 340 184.0 521 PLN24-163 095S 587813.1 6410709.8 546.9 -78.5 52.4 194.00 194.50 0.50 310 181.33 305 197.00 197.50 0.50 760 197.50 198.00 0.50 <300 198.00 198.50 0.50 400 198.50 199.00 0.50 640 199.00 199.50 0.50 580 199.50 200.00 0.50 3700 200.00 200.50 0.50 1200 200.50 201.00 0.50 540 201.00 201.50 0.50 580 201.50 202.00 0.50 300 202.00 202.50 0.50 410 202.50 203.00 0.50 690 203.00 203.50 0.50 710 203.50 204.00 0.50 1100 204.00 204.50 0.50 4800 204.50 205.00 0.50 3200 205.00 205.25 0.25 5700 205.25 205.50 0.25 21100 205.50 206.00 0.50 19000 206.00 206.35 0.35 5400 206.35 206.50 0.15 11500 206.50 207.00 0.50 4700 207.00 207.50 0.50 400 207.50 208.00 0.50 2800 208.00 208.50 0.50 2600 208.50 209.00 0.50 1200 209.00 209.50 0.50 970 209.50 210.00 0.50 950 210.00 212.00 2.00 <300 212.00 212.50 0.50 580 212.50 214.00 1.50 <300 214.00 214.50 0.50 810 214.50 215.50 1.00 <300 215.50 216.00 0.50 590 216.00 216.50 0.50 500 216.50 217.00 0.50 640 217.00 217.50 0.50 420 PLN24-164 2880S 589259.5 6408356.8 538.2 -65.3 68.9 A1 MSZ Exploration; no radioactivity >300 cps 187.52 551 PLN24-165 3195S 589613.8 6408183.7 535.0 -72.4 55.0 B1 MSZ Exploration; no radioactivity >300 cps 347.18 526 PLN24-166 735S 587974.1 6410035.3 555.2 -60.4 54.9 A1 MSZ Exploration; no radioactivity >300 cps 182.33 512 PLN24-167 3450S 589969.9 6408137.0 534.4 -74.2 51.5 453.50 454.00 0.50 310 336.7 512 PLN24-168 4245S 590177.6 6407291.5 542.3 -70.3 55.3 B1 MSZ Exploration; no radioactivity >300 cps 365.08 557 Handheld spectrometer composite parameters: 1: Minimum Thickness of 0.5m 2: CPS Cut-Off of 300 counts per second 3: Maximum Internal Dilution of 2.0m Natural gamma radiation in the drill core that is reported in this news release was measured in counts per second (cps) using a handheld Radiation Solutions RS-125 scintillometer. The Company considers greater than 300 cps on the handheld spectrometer as anomalous, >10,000 cps as high grade and greater than 65,535 cps as off-scale. The reader is cautioned that scintillometer readings are not directly or uniformly related to uranium grades of the rock sample measured and should be used only as a preliminary indication of the presence of radioactive materials. All depth measurements reported are down-hole and true thickness are yet to be determined. About Patterson Lake North: The Company's 4,078-hectare 100% owned Patterson Lake North property (PLN) is located just within the south-western edge of the Athabasca Basin in proximity to Fission Uranium's Triple R and NexGen Energy's Arrow high-grade world class uranium deposits which is poised to become the next major area of development for new uranium operations in northern Saskatchewan. PLN is accessed by Provincial Highway 955, which transects the property, and the new JR Zone uranium discovery is located 23km northwest of Fission Uranium's Triple R deposit. Qualified Person: The technical information in this news release has been prepare in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 and approved on behalf of the company by Raymond Ashley, P.Geo., President & COO of F3 Uranium Corp, a Qualified Person. Mr. Ashley has verified the data disclosed. About F3 Uranium Corp.: F3 Uranium is a uranium project generator and exploration company, focusing on projects in the Athabasca Basin, home to some of the world's largest high grade uranium discovery. F3 Uranium currently has 20 projects in the Athabasca Basin. Several of F3's projects are near large uranium discoveries including Triple R, Arrow and Hurricane. F3 has announced a transaction pursuant to which it will transfer 17 of its prospective uranium exploration properties to F4 in exchange for common shares of F4 which will be distributed to F3 shareholders on the basis of one F4 Share for every common share of F3 held; the F4 shares will then be rolled back at a rate of 10 to 1. F3 will retain the PLN Project consisting of the PLN, Misto and Broach properties. The Broach property incorporates the PW property which it obtained from CanAlaska as the result of a property swap. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements that are not historical facts, including without limitation, statements regarding future estimates, plans, programs, forecasts, projections, objectives, assumptions, expectations or beliefs of future performance, including statements regarding the suitability of the Properties for mining exploration, future payments, issuance of shares and work commitment funds, entry into of a definitive option agreement respecting the Properties, are "forward-looking statements." These forward-looking statements reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company based on information currently available to it. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those detailed from time to time in filings made by the Company with securities regulatory authorities, which may cause actual outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements and information 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 or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. The TSX Venture Exchange and the Canadian Securities Exchange have not reviewed, approved or disapproved the contents of this press release, and do not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. F3 Uranium Corp. 750-1620 Dickson Avenue Kelowna, BC V1Y9Y2 ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "Dev Randhawa" Dev Randhawa, CEO To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/219744 SOURCE: F3 Uranium Corp. LR Health Beauty, the digital social selling company for high-quality health and beauty products with its head office in Ahlen/Westphalia, is expanding its IT landscape with a new near-shore IT hub in Athens. In line with its business strategy, in the future LR aims to develop and operate most of its own business applications internally. "Our business model places such specific demands on a software solution that there is no alternative to an in-house development", emphasises Axel Ko, Vice President for Information Technology at LR. The company will therefore develop customised solutions for the sales partner segment itself, thereby strengthening its ability to create high-quality in-house IT services. The employees of the information technology and sales division based in Ahlen will work hand in hand with their new colleagues in Greece. Key factors in the decision to choose Athens as the new location include the dynamic IT infrastructure and the rich talent pool. This strategic expansion will enable the company to further advance the digitalisation of its business processes and adapt them even further to the needs of the LR sales partners. "The kick-off will take place in autumn 2024 with the start of the recruitment for the first IT colleagues in the areas of software development, UX, and solution design for the LR site in Athens", says Ko. A transition phase is planned as part of the set-up. The LR business applications currently administered and developed by external service providers will be successively handed over to the in-house employees of the hub. The opening of the new centre of excellence is planned for the beginning of 2025. The IT hub will then be expanded further by the end of 2026 in close cooperation with the Greek organisation. By this time, a double-digit number of new employees will be working in the IT hub in Athens. "We are convinced that this strategic expansion to Athens, one of the most promising IT markets in Europe, will further advance our vision of a future-oriented IT landscape", says Dr Andreas Laabs, CEO of the LR Group. "The 'IT hub' project offers us decisive advantages. On the one hand, LR is bringing IT expertise in-house that was previously supplied by external service providers and, on the other hand, we are reducing our dependence on these strategically important resources for our company". LR Group Following the motto "More quality for your life" the LR Group with headquarters in Ahlen/Westphalia successfully produces and markets various high-quality nutritional supplements and cosmetic products in 32 countries. As an attractive social commerce company, LR supports the personal exchange in its community with efficient, digital solutions. The holistic tool "LR neo" offers the international partnership all business-relevant key figures and information for their LR business in one dashboard. LR has been firmly established on the market since 1985 as a "people business" company that focuses on people and personal advice. In times of changing working environments, the business model particularly appeals to those who are looking for more flexibility, a better work-life balance and greater financial independence. The processing of Aloe Vera has been one of the core competencies of LR for more than 20 years. Only the valuable inside of the leaf is used for the products. In Ahlen, the company has established one of the most modern Aloe Vera production sites for Aloe Vera Drinking Gels in Europe. In autumn 2009, LR founded the LR Global Kids Fund e.V., which supports deprived children and their families in many countries around the world efficiently and unbureaucratically in cooperation with local institutions. For further information on our commitment to sustainability, please read our sustainability report LR currently has around 1,200 employees and hundreds of thousands of registered community members. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240813065087/en/ Contacts: LR Health Beauty Systems GmbH Almut Kellermeyer Head of Corporate Communication Kruppstrae 55 59227 Ahlen, Germany Tel.: +49(0)2382 7813-106 Email: a.kellermeyer@LRworld.com https://lrworld.com Trane Technologies (NYSE:TT), a global climate innovator, is exploring how climate technology and innovation are transforming the spaces where we live, work, learn and play with Season 4 of its Healthy Spaces Podcast. "Building a net-zero future begins with crucial conversations with the innovators who are leading the way, one healthy space at a time," said Dominique Silva, Healthy Spaces podcast co-host and EMEA marketing leader, Trane Technologies. "On this season of the Healthy Spaces podcast, we're talking with the entrepreneurs, scientists and sustainability leaders who are shaping the future of climate technology. Our goal is to educate audiences on the breakthrough technology that already exists today, while discovering what's next on the radar and how we can make a positive impact together." Dominique Silva is joined as co-host by Scott Tew, Vice President of Sustainability, and Oakley Roberts, Vice President of Innovation. Season 4 launched with Episode 1, "Growth Mindset," featuring a conversation with venture capitalist Steve Westly about scaling clean technologies. More episodes are available now and include: Episode 2, "Nitty Gritty on Net-Zero" a conversation with climate activist Avipsa Mahapatra on the importance of transparency as companies activate net-zero plans. Episode 3, "Climate Talent" Opportunity@Work co-founder and CEO Byron Auguste joins Trane Technologies VP of Talent Betsey Strobl to talk about how to leverage the talents of employees skilled through alternative routes to help decarbonize our world. Episode 4, "Rethinking Heat Policy" a conversation with Ashley Ward, director of the Heat Policy Innovation Hub at Duke University, about how to elevate community insights to protect people from extreme heat. Episode 5, "Digital Transformation" Bob Irvin and Ryan Rutledge from climate tech incubator Joules Accelerator join Trane Technologies Chief Digital Officer Riaz Raihan to talk about how digital technology is reducing emissions and unlocking value. More episodes will be released later this summer that explore topics like preventing food loss, supporting the next generation of climate innovators, and the role of marketing and communications in advancing sustainability strategy. Each episode also features a story from a listener about how they are building healthy spaces in their own organizations and communities. Listeners are invited to submit their stories on the Healthy Spaces Podcast webpage to be considered for a future episode. Healthy Spaces is streaming now on podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube. Through bold, industry-leading action and innovation, Trane Technologies is advancing its 2030 Sustainability Commitments, including the Gigaton Challenge to reduce customer emissions by a billion metric tons and its pledge to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The company's emissions reduction targets have been externally validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). About Trane Technologies Trane Technologies is a global climate innovator. Through our strategic brands Trane and Thermo King, and our portfolio of environmentally responsible products and services, we bring efficient and sustainable climate solutions to buildings, homes and transportation. Visit tranetechnologies.com. This news release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of securities laws, which are statements that are not historical facts, including statements that relate to our sustainability commitments and the impact of these commitments. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially from our current expectations. Factors that could cause such differences can be found in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, as well as our subsequent reports on Form 10-Q and other SEC filings. New risks and uncertainties arise from time to time, and it is impossible for us to predict these events or how they may affect the Company. We assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240813511784/en/ Contacts: Media Contact: Travis Bullard +1-919-802-2593 Media@tranetechnologies.com Investors Contact: Zachary Nagle +1-704-990-3913 InvestorRelations@tranetechnologies.com A San Francisco Superior Court judge ordered the conditional release of Jon Jacobo from custody as he awaits trial. Prosecutors have charged him with rape and other counts. Constanza Hevia H./Special to the Chronicle 2020 A San Francisco Superior Court judge on Tuesday ruled that Jon Jacobo should be released from custody and placed on home monitoring as he awaits a trial on sexual assault charges. Judge Kenneth Wine required Jacobo to stay home except for medical appointments, surrender his passport, refrain from drinking alcohol and avoid any contact with the woman hes accused of raping. Jacobo, once a rising star in San Francisco politics, was charged last week with one count of rape, one count of oral copulation by force, one count of sexual battery by restraint and one count of domestic violence. He pleaded not guilty to all charges. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Sasha Perigo, a housing rights advocate, publicly accused Jacobo in 2021 of forcibly kissing her and raping her when she visited his apartment in the Mission District. In a statement, prosecutors accused Jacobo of raping a woman with whom he was previously in a relationship, identified in court as Sasha P. In April, three unidentified women filed police reports alleging sexual assault and domestic violence. Jacobo will be released from jail once the sheriffs office determines his home is fit for home detention, defense attorney Martina Avalos said. In court, Avalos argued that he was not a risk to the community. Advertisement Article continues below this ad There is going to be a reckoning for Mr. Jacobo where his truth is going to come forward that he is innocent, Avalos said. San Francisco prosecutors argued that releasing Jacobo posed a threat to public safety, and that the passage of time would not negate the danger they said he still poses. The judge received multiple letters of support for Jacobo, which Wine said weighed on his decision to release him. There have been many great deeds done by Mr. Jacobo in his life, and so Ive considered that in my decision, Wine said. Following the announcement last week that IHS Holding Limited (NYSE: IHS) ("IHS Towers" or the "Company") and MTN Group (JSE: MTN) had renewed and extended communications infrastructure deals in Nigeria, as well as completing the renewal of all contracts across IHS Towers-MTN markets recently, the companies said on Tuesday that with the commercial relationship now firmly established for the next decade, they will now work constructively to find a mutually agreeable resolution to governance issues previously raised. On 7 August 2024, the companies announced the agreement to renew and extend all Nigerian tower Master Lease Agreements until December 2032. The contracts include new financial terms that provide what the parties believe to be a more sustainable split between local and foreign currency. With this, IHS Towers and MTN Group have now completed the renewal of approximately 26,000 MTN tenancies on IHS Towers infrastructure across six African markets Nigeria, Rwanda, Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Zambia and South Africa. MTN Group owns approximately 26% in IHS Towers, a stake which pre-dates the tower company's listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021. Sam Darwish, Chairman CEO, IHS Towers, said, "As our largest customer and longest serving partner, we are proud to have completed the renewal of all tenancies with MTN Group in our African markets. Today, we reinforce our strategic relationship and commit to increased operational stability, by securing our revenue streams into the next decade, and leveraging our shared innovation to deliver critical connectivity and support digital inclusion across the African continent. We are excited by the next phase of our commercial partnership and welcome the opportunity to work constructively for the benefit of the end user." MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita said: "The renewal of the various contracts across our markets into the next decade put MTN operations in the respective markets onto a more sustainable footing. We remain focused on ensuring our networks are well invested, have high availability and have the headroom to meet the growing and structural demand for data going into the future. These renewals are key to those priorities. We look forward to working constructively with IHS on the outstanding governance issues now that commercial arrangements have been concluded." Building on their 20+ year relationship as commercial partners, both companies will leverage their shared operational excellence and engineering expertiseto meet the end users' increasingly sophisticated data demands. Together, IHS Towers and MTN Group have a track record of navigating complex operating environments and challenging macroeconomic conditions to deliver connectivity crucial to economic growth and digital inclusion. ---ENDS--- About IHS Towers: IHS Towers is one of the largest independent owners, operators and developers of shared communications infrastructure in the world by tower count and is solely focused on the emerging markets. The Company has over 40,000 towers across its 10 markets, including Brazil, Cameroon, Colombia, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Kuwait, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Zambia. For more information, please email: communications@ihstowers.com or visit: www.ihstowers.com About the MTN Group: Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a leading digital operator with a clear vision to lead the delivery of a bold new digital world to our customers. We are inspired by our belief that everyone deserves the benefits of a modern connected life. The MTN Group, which this year celebrates its 30th anniversary, is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa under the share code 'MTN'. Our strategy is Ambition 2025: Leading digital solutions for Africa's progress. For more information, please contact: MTNGroup.PressOffice@mtn.com or visit www.mtn.com Cautionary Language Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release that address activities, events or developments that we expect, believe or anticipate will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "could," "intends," "targets," "projects," "contemplates," "believes," "estimates," "forecast," "predicts," "potential" or "continue" or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, and while we believe such information forms a reasonable basis for such statements, such information may be limited or incomplete, and our statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain and investors are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these statements. You should read this press release and the documents that we reference in this press release with the understanding that our actual future results, performance and achievements may be materially different from what we expect. Further information on such assumptions, risks and uncertainties is available in our filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. Except as required by applicable law, we do not assume, and expressly disclaim, any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, whether as a result of any new information, future events or otherwise. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240813082775/en/ Contacts: Giles Bethule Akash Lodh FGS Global Giles.Bethule@fgsglobal.com Akash.Lodh@fgsglobal.com +44 207 251 38 01 CHICAGO, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The report "Flavors & Fragrances Market by Ingredient Type (Synthetic, Natural), End-use Industry (Beverages, Bakery, Savory & Snacks, Dairy Products, Confectionery, Consumer Products, Fine Fragrances), and Region - Global Forecast to 2029", size was USD 35.3 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 42.3 billion by 2029, at a CAGR of 3.7%, between 2024 and 2029. The market is projected to grow because of rising demand for flavors and fragrances sourced from natural sources as people become more aware of the ingredients in the food, drinks, and grooming products they purchase since clean labelling of ingredients is critical in the wellness trend. Manufacturers have been required to change and provide natural substitutes for synthetic ingredients to satisfy the shifting needs of health-conscious consumers. To this effect, the industry has initiated several programs to mitigate its effects on the environment such as environmentally friendly extraction and processing methods, reduction of carbon footprints and sustainable agriculture practices. Browse in-depth TOC on "Flavors & Fragrances Market" 273 - Tables 59 - Figures 245 - Pages Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=175163912 Natural ingredient segment is projected to register the highest CAGR, in terms of value, of the global flavors & fragrances market during the forecast period. The growth of the natural ingredient segment is mostly due to the changes in regulations and industry standards. Globally, governments and regulatory agencies are strengthening their policies regarding the use of synthetic compounds, especially those that are a threat to people or the environment. These changes in regulations not only encourage manufacturers to look for safer, natural substitutes, but they also promote innovation in the creation of novel organic compounds. The need to reformulate products to comply with these rules frequently fuels the market's need for natural ingredients. Bakery is estimated to be the second-largest end-use industry of flavors market, in terms of value, during the forecast period. Bakery segment is the second-largest end-use industry in the flavors market. Bakery products have a unique role in international culinary practices. Many consider bread, cakes, pastries, cookies, and other baked products to be basics, cherished for their delicious and comforting features. This enduring trend assures a steady and strong demand for a wide range of baked goods. A wide range of bakery goods are always in high demand thanks to this enduring custom. To be attractive to a variety of consumer tastes, each category within the bakery segment needs to have a unique flavor profile. The segment's diversity demands a wide range of flavors, which is fueling a substantial demand in the flavors market. Request Sample Pages: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=175163912 Consumer products segment to lead fragrances market in end-use industry segment, during the forecast period, in terms of value. The consumer products segment accounted for the largest share of the fragrances market in 2023, in terms of value. Scents are infused in perfumes, deodorants, shampoos, and soaps to convey personal preferences. These products let the consumers to express their personality, mood, or ideal image to themselves and peers through their choice of fragrance. Fragrances have a strong psychological impact on personal care routines; the emotional resonance of a favorite perfume or body lotion can dramatically impact one's confidence and sense of comfort throughout the day. South America is projected to register the highest CAGR, in terms of value, during the forecast period in the flavors & fragrances market. South America is projected to register the highest CAGR in the flavors & fragrances market, in terms of value, during forecast period due to several factors. South America has a great potential to produce various fruits, herbs, and spices as far as the local climatic conditions are concerned. Brazil and Peru are recognized for having great stocks of excellent raw materials that are not only demanded domestically but internationally as well. These natural resources are henceforth available to the flavors market and help bring to realization faithful and unique flavors for the consumers. The focus on natural and organic ingredients is also now picking up steam in line with the health and wellness trends seen on most regions. The key players profiled in the report Givaudan SA (Switzerland), International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (US), DSM-Firmenich AG (Switzerland), Symrise AG (Germany), ADM (US), Takasago International Corporation (Japan), Sensient Technologies Corporation (US), MANE (France), Robertet Group (France), T. Hasegawa Co., Ltd. (Japan), and Bell Flavors & Fragrances (US). Browse Adjacent Market: Foam and Insulation Market Research & Consulting Related Reports: Aroma Ingredients Market - Global Forecast to 2023 About MarketsandMarkets 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. To find out more, visit www.MarketsandMarkets.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Contact: Mr. Rohan Salgarkar MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com Research Insights: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/flavors-fragrance-market.asp Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/flavors-fragrance.asp Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1951202/4609423/MarketsandMarkets.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/flavors--fragrances-market-worth-42-3-billion-by-2029--exclusive-report-by-marketsandmarkets-302220703.html Mako Mining Corp. (TSX-V:MKO)(OTCQX:MAKOF) ("Mako" or the "Company") is pleased to provide financial results for the three months ended June 30th, 2024 ("Q2 2024"). All dollar amounts referred to herein are expressed in United States dollars unless otherwise stated. The Company's financial results for Q2 2024 reflect gold sales of US$28.3 million, which generated US$14.5 million in Mine Operating Cash Flow (1) (3), and US$8.8 million in Net Income. The Company reported US$0.13 in earnings per share (EPS) during the quarter, while selling 12,313 oz of gold at $1,098 All-In Sustaining Cost ("AISC") ($/oz sold (1) (2)). Q2 2024 Highlights Financial $28.3 million in Revenue $14.6 million in Adjusted EBITDA (1) $14.5 million in Mine Operating Cash Flow ( "Mine OCF ") (1) (3) $8.8 million Net Income $793 Cash Costs ($/oz sold) (1) (2) $1,098 All-In Sustaining Costs (" AISC ") ($/oz sold) (1) (2) Debt Repayment of $0.8 million to Sailfish Silver Loan Stock Repurchase (NCIB) of $2.9 million Cash Balance of $6.7 million and Gold in Sales Receivable of $3.2 million (increase of $2.4 million vs. Q1 2024) Refers to a Non-GAAP financial measure within the meaning of National Instrument 52-112 - Non-GAAP and Other Financial Measures Disclosure ("NI 52-112"). Refer to information under the heading "Non-GAAP Measures" as well as the reconciliations later in this press release. Refers to a Non-GAAP ratio within the meaning of NI-52-112. Refer to information under the heading "Non-GAAP Measures" later in this press release. Refer to "Chart 1 - Q2 2024 - Mine OCF Calculation and Cash Reconciliation (in $ millions)" for a reconciliation of the beginning and ending cash position of the Company, including OCF. Unusual Factors Affecting Q2 2024 Earnings $2.3 million income tax expense accrual due to yearly anticipated profits exceeding levels projected by the 3% of revenue minimum tax. Due to the high level of profitability experienced by the Company thus far in 2024, taxes are now accrued on the basis of 30% of anticipated taxable earnings $0.9 million in net derivative losses on the Sailfish Silver Loan due to significantly higher silver prices $0.3 million in severance to two former executives of the Company Growth $179K in exploration and evaluation expenses. This does not include an additional $1.4M of non-sustaining exploration invested during the quarter. Akiba Leisman, Chief Executive Officer, states that "Q2 2024 was another very strong quarter for Mako, with 12,313 ounces sold at $1,098/oz AISC. For the quarter, Mine OCF was $14.5 million, which increased cash and receivable balances by $2.4 million after the repurchase of $2.9 million in stock, while generating $8.8 million in net income. Over the last nine months, the mine has sold 35,061 ounces at $975/oz AISC, which generated $41.7 million of Mine OCF and $23.6 million in net income ($0.35/share). Over these three quarters, book value increased by $23.8 million despite an aggressive share repurchase program. The cash flow coming from the mine puts the Company into a very strong position to continue to explore the San Albino gold mine in Nicaragua and advance the Eagle Mountain gold project in Guyana." Table 1 - Revenue Realized price before deductions from Sailfish gold streaming agreement Table 2 - Operating and Financial Data Refers to a Non-GAAP financial measure within the meaning of NI 52-112). Refer to information under the heading "Non-GAAP Measures" as well as the reconciliations later in this press release. Refers to a Non-GAAP ratio within the meaning of NI-52-112. Refer to information under the heading "Non-GAAP Measures" later in this press release. Realized price before deductions from Sailfish gold streaming agreement. Table 3 - EBITDA Reconciliation Refers to a Non-GAAP financial measure within the meaning of NI 52-112. Refer to information under the heading "Non-GAAP Measures" later in this press release. Chart 1 Q2 2024 - Mine OCF Calculation and Cash Reconciliation (in $ millions) Refers to Non-GAAP financial measure within the meaning of NI 52-112. Refer to information under the heading "Non-GAAP Measures" later in this press release. Includes all expenses incurred to sustain operations. Excludes Nicaraguan Taxes and Royalties, changes in Non-cash Working Capital, and Exploration expenses. Includes US$0.2M Exploration Expense (Regional Exploration) + US$ 1.4M Mineral Property Exploration Investment For complete details, please refer to the financial statements and the associated management discussion and analysis for the three months ended June 30th, 2024, available on SEDAR (www.sedarplus.ca) or on the Company's website (www.makominingcorp.com). Non-GAAP Measures The Company has included certain non-GAAP financial measures and non-GAAP ratios in this press release such as EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Mine Operating Cash Flow cash cost per ounce sold, total cash cost per ounce sold, AISC per ounce sold. These non-GAAP measures are 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. In the gold mining industry, these are commonly used performance measures and ratios, but do not have any standardized meaning prescribed under IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to other issuers. The Company believes that, in addition to conventional measures prepared in accordance with IFRS, certain investors use this information to evaluate the Company's underlying performance of its core operations and its ability to generate cash flow. "EBITDA" represents earnings before interest (including non-cash accretion of financial obligation and lease obligations), income taxes and depreciation, depletion and amortization. "Adjusted EBITDA" represents EBITDA, adjusted to exclude exploration activities, share-based compensation and change in provision for reclamation and rehabilitation. "Cash costs per ounce sold" is calculated by deducting revenues from silver sales and dividing the sum of mining, milling and mine site administration cost. "AISC per ounce sold" includes total cash costs (as defined above) and adds the sum of G&A, sustaining capital and certain exploration and evaluation ("E&E") costs, sustaining lease payments, provision for environmental fees, if applicable, and rehabilitation costs paid, all divided by the number of ounces sold. As this measure seeks to reflect the full cost of gold production from current operations, capital and E&E costs related to expansion or growth projects are not included in the calculation of AISC per ounce. Additionally, certain other cash expenditures, including income and other tax payments, financing costs and debt repayments, are not included in AISC per ounce. "Mine OCF" represents operating cash flow, excluding Nicaraguan taxes and royalties, changes in non-cash working capital and exploration expenses. On behalf of the Board, Akiba Leisman Chief Executive Officer About Mako Mako Mining Corp. is a publicly listed gold mining, development and exploration company. The Company operates the high-grade San Albino gold mine in Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua, which ranks as one of the highest-grade open pit gold mines globally. Mako's primary objective is to operate San Albino profitably and fund exploration of prospective targets on its district-scale land package. For further information: Mako Mining Corp., Akiba Leisman, Chief Executive Officer, Telephone: 917-558-5289, E-mail: aleisman@makominingcorp.com or visit our website at www.makominingcorp.com and SEDAR www.sedarplus.ca. Forward-Looking Information: Some of the statements contained herein may be considered "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information can be identified by words such as, without limitation, "estimate", "project", "believe", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "plan", "predict", "may" or "should" or variations thereon or comparable terminology. The forward-looking information contained herein reflects the Company's current beliefs and expectations, based on management's reasonable assumptions, and includes, without limitation, that the Company expects record gold ounces recovered, gold ounces sold, Adjusted EBITDA, Mine OCF and Net Income, with record low Cash Costs, Total Cash Costs and AISC in Q2; rapidly repaying debt while the Company aggressively repurchases shares through its newly instituted NCIB; Mako's primary objective to operate San Albino profitably and fund exploration of prospective targets on its district-scale land package. Such forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking information, including, without limitation, changes in the Company's exploration and development plans and growth parameters and its ability to fund its growth to reach its expected new record production numbers; unanticipated costs; the October 24 measures having impacts on business operations not current expected, or new sanctions being imposed by the U.S. Treasury Department or other government entity in Nicaragua in the future; and other risks and uncertainties as disclosed in the Company's public disclosure filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Such information contained herein represents management's best judgment as of the date hereof, based on information currently available and is included for the purposes of providing investors with information regarding the Company's Q2 2024 financial results and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Mako does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. 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. SOURCE: Mako Mining Corp. View the original press release on accesswire.com Company Ranks No. 1 on the Prestigious Inc. 5000 Across All Industries After Achieving $1.5 Billion in Revenue for 2023 and a Remarkable Three-Year Revenue Growth Rate of 90,778% HOBOKEN, NJ / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / Vytalize Health, a leading risk-bearing provider enablement platform, announced it ranked No. 1 on the 2024 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in America. The company achieved the top ranking with a remarkable $1.5 billion in revenue for 2023 and a three-year revenue growth of 90,778 percent. "We are thrilled and humbled to be named the fastest-growing private company in America by Inc.," said Faris Ghawi, CEO and co-founder of Vytalize Health. "Our journey has always been about supporting physicians so they can provide the highest-quality care possible to patients. This recognition further motivates us to continue our mission to transform lives by advancing value-based care." Vytalize Health is building an impressive track record, emerging as a leading accountable care organization (ACO) that sets the bar for quality and efficiency. To date, the organization has raised more than $200 million in funding from some of the country's top healthcare investors. Earlier this year, Vytalize Health was recognized as one of Inc. Magazine's Best Workplaces. In addition, the company was named to Forbes' 2024 List of America's Best Startup Employers. These distinctions underscore the company's commitment to fostering a supportive and dynamic work environment while delivering innovation in a complex healthcare system. For complete results of the Inc. 5000, including a profile on Vytalize Health and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, location, and other criteria, visit www.inc.com/inc5000. All 5,000 companies are featured on Inc.com starting Tuesday, Aug. 13, and the top 500 appear in the new issue of Inc. magazine, available on newsstands beginning Tuesday, Aug. 20. About Vytalize Health: Vytalize Health is a risk-bearing provider enablement platform addressing the healthcare industry's biggest challenges with its cutting-edge value-based care delivery system. Vytalize partners with more than 5,000 leading providers to improve the quality of care through evidence-based medicine and a patient experience rooted in kindness. By delivering the right data at the right time in the workflow to physicians and their staff, Vytalize makes its partners more efficient and effective, allowing them to focus on proactive, personalized medicine to improve the value of care and lower costs. Learn more at www.vytalizehealth.com. More About Inc. and the Inc. 5000 Methodology Companies on the 2024 Inc. 5000 are ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2020 to 2023. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2020. They must be U.S.-based, privately held, for-profit, and independent - not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies - as of Dec. 31, 2023. (Since then, some on the list may have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2020 is $100,000; the minimum for 2023 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Growth rates used to determine company rankings were calculated to four decimal places. About Inc. Inc. Business Media is the leading multimedia brand for entrepreneurs. Through its journalism, Inc. aims to inform, educate, and elevate the profile of our community: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters who are creating our future. Inc.'s award-winning work achieves a monthly brand footprint of more than 40 million across a variety of channels, including events, print, digital, video, podcasts, newsletters, and social media. Its proprietary Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since its launch as the Inc. 100 in 1982, analyzes company data to rank the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The recognition that comes with inclusion on this and other prestigious Inc. lists, such as Female Founders and Power Partners, gives the founders of top businesses the opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. For more information, visit www.inc.com. Media Contact: Matt Buder Shapiro (216) 337-0461 matt@vytalizehealth.com Contact Information Matt Buder Shapiro Chief Marketing Officer matt@vytalizehealth.com +12163370461 SOURCE: Vytalize Health View the original press release on newswire.com. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 13, 2024) - Endurance Gold Corporation (TSXV: EDG) (OTC Pink: ENDGF) (FSE: 3EG) (the "Company") is pleased to provide an update on the ongoing exploration program at its Reliance Gold Project. Drilling is complete on five diamond drill holes with a sixth hole in progress at the Imperial Zone expanding Imperial Zone by about 100 m to the northwest. The Reliance Gold Property (the "Property") is road accessible and is located 4 kilometres ("km") east of the village of Gold Bridge, and 10 km north of the historic Bralorne-Pioneer Gold Mining Camp which has produced over 4 million ounces of gold. As stated in our July 8, 2024 press release, the planned 2024 program consists of up to 10,000 metres ("m") of diamond drilling designed to expand the extent of the gold zones discovered within the Royal Shear both at depth and along strike. To date, five (5) drill holes have been completed since early July for a total of 1,854 m drilled in the northwestern extension of the Royal Shear with the target horizon intersected in all five holes. Drilling is expanding the Imperial Zone with significant step outs to the northwest of DDH23-065 that returned 8.98 grams per tonne ("gpt") gold over 9.3 m and DDH23-066 of 17.28 gpt gold over 4.2 m (See press releases dated June 26, 2023 and July 11, 2023 ). These holes have expanded the Imperial Zone at depth and to the northwest by about 100 m. A sixth drill hole is currently in progress at a drilled depth of 180 m targeting the depth extension below DDH24-084. Subject to assay results, the approximate location of the five mineralized drill hole penetrations achieved to date are shown on Figure 1. Drill roads and drill collar locations for 2020 through 2024 drilling to date are shown on the attached Figure 2. Assay results are expected commencing in late August or early September for the drill holes completed to date at the Imperial Zone. Planned Eagle Drilling - Additional excavated drill road preparation has been completed this year to facilitate new drill pads for deep targeting in the Imperial through Eagle areas. On completion of the currently active drill hole at Imperial the drill will commence testing the Royal Shear target zone between Imperial and Eagle. Other Activity - Further refining of the 3D modelling has been completed and the Company has engaged Marc Jutras, P.Eng., M.A.Sc., Principal, Ginto Consulting Inc. to assist in developing the inaugural mineral resource estimate. Results from a LiDAR survey over the entire property including the Olympic Target area have now been received and will help with advancing the Olympic area towards drill targets. Further geochemical surface sampling and prospecting has also been completed with additional targets developing in the Upper Eagle area. Endurance Gold Corporation is a company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of highly prospective North American mineral properties with the potential to develop world-class deposits. ENDURANCE GOLD CORPORATION Robert T. Boyd, President & CEO Diamond drill core was logged and evaluated on the Property and samples designated for collection under the supervision of a geologist at the property. Drilling was completed with NQ size tools capable of collecting 4.76 centimetre diameter core. Drill core was cut using a diamond saw with one half of the core sent for analysis and the remaining kept for future studies.. All drill core samples have been submitted to ALS Global in North Vancouver, BC, an ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accredited laboratory, where they are crushed to 70% <2 mm then up to 250 gram pulverized to <75 microns. Samples are then submitted for four-acid digestion and analyzed for 48 element ICP-MS (ME-MS61) and gold 30g FA ICP-AES finish (AU-ICP21). Over limit samples returning greater than 10 parts per million ("ppm") gold are re-analyzed by Au-GRA21 methodology and over limit antimony returning greater than 10,000 ppm Sb are re-analyzed by Sb-AA08 methodology. Endurance Gold monitors QA/QC by inserting blanks, certified standards and pulp duplicates into the sample stream. The work program is supervised by Darren O'Brien, P.Geo., Vice President Exploration for the Company and the qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101. Mr. O'Brien has reviewed and approved this news release. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. This news release may contain forward looking statements based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events or results that may prove to be inaccurate as a result of factors beyond its control, and actual results may differ materially from the expected results. Figure 1: Reliance Property Longitudinal - 2024 Update & Planned Drilling Areas To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4976/219745_9b5ad6c6a4399aa6_002full.jpg Figure 2: Reliance Property Plan Map - 2024 Drill Hole Location To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4976/219745_9b5ad6c6a4399aa6_003full.jpg To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/219745 SOURCE: Endurance Gold Corporation Twelve-month primary and secondary endpoints data compare DynamX Coronary Bioadaptor System with a contemporary drug-eluting stent (DES) in a broad patient population Elixir Medical, a developer of disruptive technologies to treat cardiovascular disease, today announced it will present one-year clinical outcomes from the 2,400 patient INFINITY-SWEDEHEART Randomized Clinical Trial (RCT), a prospective, multi-center, single-blind, clinical trial comparing the drug-eluting DynamX Coronary Bioadaptor System with the contemporary Resolute OnyxTM zotarolimus drug-eluting stent (DES), at a late-breaking Hot Line session at ESC Congress 2024 in London. "Today's minimally invasive coronary artery disease (CAD) treatments are limited to only establishing a fixed flow lumen in the artery which re-narrows over time presenting an unacceptable major adverse event rate (MACE) of 20% by five years1 and up to 50% by 10 years2, increasing annually without a plateau3. The DynamX bioadaptor was developed to address and surpass the limitations of CAD treatments by not only being capable of establishing a flow lumen, but also uniquely restoring the essential attributes of vessel function to adapt and maintain the established flow lumen, restore hemodynamic modulation of the artery, and reduce plaque progression to deliver a sustained, low adverse event rate that plateaus after six months," said Motasim Sirhan, CEO of Elixir Medical. "Building on the exceptional results of the BIOADAPTOR-RCT study, where we observed a statistically significant 65% reduction in clinical events in de novo lesions by two years compared to Resolute Onyx DES4, the INFINITY-SWEDEHEART RCT will provide evidence of the DynamX bioadaptor performance in a broader, real-world patient population, including a large cohort of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS)." The INFINITY-SWEDEHEART RCT enrolled 2,400 patients from 20 sites in Sweden. The trial is executed through the SWEDEHEART registry program in Sweden, a national collaborative research program supporting the evidence-based development of therapies for heart disease. Study management is conducted in collaboration with Uppsala Clinical Research Center (UCR), a non-profit organization providing clinical research services for the development and improvement of health care in Sweden and worldwide. The data will be presented by David Erlinge, M.D., Ph.D., head of the Cardiology Department at Skane University Hospital, Lund, SE, in the Hot Line session "INFINITY-SWEDEHEART Percutaneous coronary intervention with a bioadaptor compared to a contemporary drug-eluting stent one-year primary outcomes." The presentation will also include a discussant review and panel discussion. Presentation details: HOT LINE 11 Title: "INFINITY-SWEDEHEART Percutaneous coronary intervention with a bioadaptor compared to a contemporary drug eluting stent- one-year primary outcomes" Principal investigator: David Erlinge, M.D., Ph.D., head of the Cardiology Department at Skane University Hospital, Lund, SE. Date: Monday, September 2, 2024 Time: 13:45 14:45 BST Location: Main Auditorium About the INFINITY-SWEDEHEART Trial The INFINITY-SWEDEHEART Trial is a prospective, multi-center, single-blind, randomized (1:1), registry-based clinical trial comparing a sirolimus-eluting bioadaptor with a contemporary zotarolimus-eluting stent (DES) in 2,400 patients. The trial is executed in partnership with the ongoing SWEDEHEART registry program in Sweden, a national collaborative research program launched in 2009 to support the evidence-based development of therapies for heart disease. DynamX Coronary Bioadaptor System The DynamX bioadaptor is designated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a breakthrough technology and is the first coronary implant designed to restore coronary artery hemodynamic modulation as demonstrated by restored vessel pulsatility, compliance, adaptive increase in blood flow volume, and to provide plaque stabilization and regression. With this unique mechanism of action (MOA), bioadaptor addresses the shortcomings of drug-eluting stents and bioresorbable scaffolds, translating to remarkably low clinical event rates that showed a plateau between one-year and two-year clinical follow-up in the BIOADAPTOR RCT study. The DynamX Coronary Bioadaptor System is CE-marked. Not available for sale in the U.S. About Elixir Medical Elixir Medical Corporation, a privately-held company based in Milpitas, California, develops disruptive platforms to treat coronary and peripheral artery disease. Our transformative technologies have multiple applications across the cardiovascular space capable of delivering improved clinical outcomes for millions of patients. Visit us at www.elixirmedical.com and on LinkedIn and X. References: 1. Iqbal et al. Final 5-Year Report of the RESOLUTE All-comers Trial. Circ Cardiovasc Interv. 2015. 2. Kufner et al. ISAR-TEST 4 Trial. Circulation, 2019. 3. Madhavan MV et al. J Am Coll Cardiol 2020;75:590-604 4. Saito S. Two-year clinical outcomes of the BIOADAPTOR RCT study. EuroPCR 2024. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240813156364/en/ Contacts: Media: Emma Yang, Health+Commerce Tel.: 908-391-7197 Email: emma@healthandcommerce.com Humanetics, a global leader in safety testing solutions, is pleased to announce a collaboration with MESSRING, a renowned provider of crash test technology. This collaboration advances the longstanding relationship and both companies' commitment to advancing automotive safety and underscores their dedication to delivering integrated and high-performance active safety testing products. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240813276798/en/ Our collaboration with MESSRING is part of our commitment to work closely with industry partners. (Graphic: Business Wire) Humanetics and MESSRING will offer seamlessly integrated Humanetics' platforms with MESSRING's portfolio of static and articulated dummy targets, like pedestrians, children, powered two-wheelers, and standard sized vehicles. This integrated package will facilitate more efficient setup and execution of active safety tests, reducing complexity for customers. This approach not only simplifies the purchasing process but also ensures compatibility and optimized performance across the combined product suite. Included in the non-exclusive collaboration is the availability of MESSRING's Child Presence Detection systems dummy direct to Humanetics' customers. The CPD dummy reproduces the natural breathing motion, body size and shape of a newborn baby to evaluate automotive child detection technologies. The new relationship will also focus on demonstrating the capabilities of integrated solutions at industry events and through various marketing channels. These demonstrations will highlight the benefits of the combined offerings and the added value to customers. Mark Westen, President of Humanetics Safety commented: "Our collaboration with MESSRING is part of our commitment to drive innovation for active safety by working closely with industry partners. We want to ensure our products are designed to integrate perfectly and deliver the best performance." Markus Schmidl, Managing Director of Humanetics Austria, said: "This collaboration puts some structure to our existing excellent working relationship with MESSRING. It will allow us to demonstrate and showcase the integrated platform and dummy targets together, sell them as a single package, to simplify the process for customers, and explore ways to enhance the product performance through collaboration." Florian Lenz, Chief Executive Officer of MESSRING, added, "Working together with Humanetics, we see a tremendous opportunity to enhance our product offerings and simplify the testing process for our customers. Our combined expertise and technologies will lead to better, more efficient testing solutions that support the automotive industry's ongoing commitment to safer mobility." About MESSRING: MESSRING GmbH is the world market leader for crash test technology. Based in the southwest of Munich, the mid-sized company's product offerings range from the realization of large, turnkey and multifunctional crash test facilities to the delivery of innovative active safety test systems and solutions. In close cooperation with automotive engineers and manufacturers, MESSRING develops application specific solutions that enable the automotive industry to test their active and passive vehicle safety systems. With more than 170 employees and over 140 crash and sled test facilities installed worldwide, MESSRING has been contributing to making traffic and transportation safer for over 50 years. About Humanetics Humanetics is an Industrial technology group, and a leading provider of safety systems, crash test dummies (ATDs), simulation software (RAMSIS), CAE models, human body models, complete line of passive active safety SW testing solutions, precision sensors, fiber optics and laser material processing solutions. The group is organized into three divisions (Safety, Digital and Sensors) focused on precision engineering and software development that puts humans at the heart of industrial design. The group has over 1000 employees located in facilities worldwide, with our global corporate headquarters in Farmington Hills, Michigan, USA. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240813276798/en/ Contacts: Barney Loehnis, CMO, Humanetics, bloehnis@humaneticsgroup.com +1 203 246 1397 Alex Kiendl, Public Relations and Regulation Manager, MESSRING, press@messring.de +49 (0) 8153 407 96-536 IonQ delivers the heart of its quantum computer the ion trap to QuantumBasel IonQ (NYSE: IONQ), a leader in the quantum computing industry, today announced the delivery of its innovative ion trap to its European quantum data center in QuantumBasel. The delivery marks an important milestone in the manufacturing of the company's most powerful and scalable system IonQ Forte Enterprise which will scale to 35 algorithmic qubits (AQ) and be capable of considering more than 34 billion different possibilities simultaneously. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240813717294/en/ Photo of ion trap (Image courtesy of IonQ) European businesses, government agencies, and research institutes will benefit from enterprise-grade direct access to IonQ's systems when developing novel applications for highly complex problems in fields like AI, finance, and chemistry. IonQ specialists working out of the company's Basel, Switzerland headquarters will be onsite to receive the trap and continue the build and commissioning of the system. "Today's delivery of our first overseas ion trap marks a critical step in our partnership with QuantumBasel, and our commitment to building best-in-class quantum computers that meet the requirements of performance, scalability, and enterprise-grade solutions," said Peter Chapman, President and CEO of IonQ. "This achievement brings us one step closer to providing direct access to IonQ's high-performance systems to organizations across Europe." Announced last year, the partnership between IonQ and QuantumBasel leverages the strengths of both organizations to drive innovation in quantum technology. As part of this collaboration, QuantumBasel will offer uptownBasel an international center near Basel that houses enterprises, research institutes, startups, and universities direct access to the AQ 35 Forte Enterprise system. IonQ will also deliver a future AQ 64 system through this partnership. "The arrival of IonQ's ion trap and the progress the teams have made to construct our first quantum system is a testament to the strong partnership between IonQ and QuantumBasel," said Damir Bogdan, CEO of QuantumBasel. "We are excited about the potential this technology brings to our commercial and research endeavors." "IonQ's quantum computer on the Swiss Schorenareal in Arlesheim is an important investment in the future," said Dr. Thomas Staehelin, investor, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of uptownBasel Corp. "We look forward to the innovative developments that will emerge from this collaboration." While other quantum hardware developers use "synthetic" quantum bits (qubits) to form the basis of their quantum systems, IonQ's systems are built around naturally occurring qubits: individual atoms. These atoms are turned into ions and 'trapped' in 3D space where lasers do everything from initial preparation of atoms to final readout to deliver accurate results. The speed, accuracy, and scalability of IonQ's trapped ion systems make them an ideal platform for both research and enterprise applications. To learn more about IonQ and its latest system news and business developments, visit https://ionq.com/. About IonQ IonQ, Inc. is a leader in quantum computing that delivers high-performance systems capable of solving the world's largest and most complex commercial and research use cases. IonQ's current generation quantum computer, IonQ Forte, is the latest in a line of cutting-edge systems, boasting 36 algorithmic qubits. The company's innovative technology and rapid growth were recognized in Fast Company's 2023 Next Big Things in Tech List and Deloitte's 2023 Technology Fast 500 List, respectively. Available through all major cloud providers, IonQ is making quantum computing more accessible and impactful than ever before. Learn more at IonQ.com. IonQ Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Some of the forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking words. Statements that are not historical in nature, including the words "commitment," "will," and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements include those related to the company's technology driving commercial advantage, the ability for third parties to implement IonQ's offerings to increase their quantum computing capabilities, the effect of increased availability of customer support functions, IonQ's quantum computing capabilities and plans, access to IonQ's quantum computers, increases in algorithmic qubit achievement, and the scalability, performance, speed, accuracy, and reliability of IonQ's quantum computing offerings. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections, and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, including but not limited to: changes in the competitive industries in which IonQ operates, including development of competing technologies; changes in laws and regulations affecting IonQ's business; IonQ's ability to implement its business plans, forecasts, commitments, and other expectations, identify and realize partnerships and opportunities, and to engage new and existing customers. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's filings, including but not limited to those described in the "Risk Factors" section of IonQ's most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and other documents filed by IonQ from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and IonQ assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. IonQ does not give any assurance that it will achieve its expectations. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240813717294/en/ Contacts: IonQ Media: Tyler Ogoshi press@ionq.com IonQ Investor: investors@ionq.co Operating Cash Flow for the Six Months Ended June 30, 2024 Increased 71%; Operating Expenses for the Three Months Ended June 30, 2024 Decreased 17%; Announced Listing of Non-Core Asset in Chino Valley for $16 Million; Announced Share Repurchase Program for up to $1 Million Zoned Properties, Inc. ("Zoned Properties" or the "Company") (OTCQB:ZDPY), a technology-driven property investment company for emerging and highly regulated industries, including legalized cannabis, today announced its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2024, as well as recent highlights related to the Company's ongoing progress. Recent Highlights: The Company continues to make material progress in expanding its portfolio, enhancing cash flow, and reducing expenses. Subsequent to quarter end, the Company successfully acquired its next investment property in Surprise, AZ, leased to Sunday Goods which produces a 13.4% effective cap rate when straight lined over the life of the lease term. The strategic acquisition with a best-in-class operator in a prime retail location strengthens the Company's portfolio and brings the Company above $3 million in annualized rental revenue. Arizona's cannabis market is one of the strongest in the nation surpassing $1.4 Billion in total sales in 2023, with many projecting sales to reach over $1.5 Billion in 2024. The Company's retail dispensary real estate footprint now includes Arizona, Michigan, and Illinois; with prospective real estate acquisitions anticipated in Ohio. Subsequent to quarter end, the Company secured five new retail dispensary locations in Ohio, working with tier-one dispensary operators as applicants through the state's lottery system. Several of the properties are in major metropolitan areas and are expected to be leased to the tier-one cannabis operators, further solidifying the Company's presence in key markets with best-in-class operating tenants, and driving future growth. Recently announced strategic geographic expansion with the acquisition of a prime dispensary location in Chicago, Illinois leased to Justice Cannabis Co.'s BLOC, marking an entry into one of the largest urban markets for legalized cannabis, with a 16.5% effective cap rate when straight lined over the life of the lease term. The Company announced the approval a stock repurchase program, pursuant to which the Company is authorized to purchase up to $1 million of its common stock over an unlimited period of time. The Company anticipates it will begin repurchases of its common stock in the coming months. The Company recently listed one of its legacy cultivation property assets in Chino Valley, Arizona for sale at a purchase price of $16 million. This potential transaction marks a significant development in the Company's strategic real estate portfolio optimization. The Chino Valley property has been a valuable non-core asset within the Company's portfolio and this potential sale is part of a strategic shift to streamline the Company's portfolio and concentrate efforts on a direct-to-consumer real estate strategy. Financial Highlights for the Three and Six Months Ended June 30, 2024: Property Investment Portfolio Revenues were $679,326 for the quarter ended June 30, 2024, compared to revenues of $609,591 for the quarter ended June 30, 2023, an increase of 11%. Revenues were $692,326 for the quarter ended June 30, 2024, compared to revenues of $772, 617 for the quarter ended June 30, 2023, a decrease of 10%. Income from operations was $103,138 for the quarter ended June 30, 2024, compared to $64,805 for the quarter ended June 30, 2023, an increase of 59%. Income from Operations was $232,047 for the six months ended June 30, 2024, compared to $41,419 for the six months ended June 30, 2023, an increase of 460%. The Company reported a net loss of $(32,283), or ($0.00) per fully diluted share, for the quarter ended June 30, 2024, as compared to a net profit of $42,159, or $0.01 per fully diluted share, for the quarter ended June 30, 2023. Cash provided by operating activities was $245,513 for the six months ended June 30, 2024, compared to $143,784 for the six months ended June 30, 2023, an increase of 71%. Operating expenses were $589,188 for the quarter ended June 30, 2024, compared to $707,812 for the quarter ended June 30, 2023, a decrease of 17%. The Company had cash on hand of $1.53 million as of June 30, 2024, compared to cash on hand of $3.1 million as of December 31, 2023. The decrease in cash position primarily reflects the Company's acquisition of the Chicago, Illinois dispensary property. Management Commentary: "Our team continues to execute on the Zoned Properties' mission, and we are thrilled with the strides made in growing our rental revenue base, operating cash flow and the significant reduction we have seen in operating expenses for the second quarter of 2024. The recent acquisition of the Surprise, Arizona property leased to Sunday Goods and the securing of five strategic property locations in the Ohio cannabis lottery process is pivotal to our portfolio expansion of direct-to-consumer real estate assets with best-in-class operating tenants. These developments are significant in diversifying our tenant roster as we focus on geographic expansion in some of the strongest cannabis state markets in the US." "Moreover, we continue to formulate ways to enhance our balance sheet to support our exciting growth path, including the decision to list our Chino Valley cultivation property for sale, a potential pathway to produce non-dilutive funding. Additionally, as part of our flexible capital allocation strategy we plan to utilize our positive cash flow opportunistically towards our share repurchase program in the second half of the year, given the continued disconnect between our share price and tangible book value," said Bryan McLaren, Chief Executive Officer of Zoned Properties. About Zoned Properties, Inc. (OTCQB: ZDPY): Zoned Properties Inc. ("Zoned Properties" or the "Company") (OTCQB: ZDPY) is a technology-driven property investment company focused on acquiring value-add real estate within the regulated cannabis industry in the United States. The Company aspires to innovate within the real estate development sector, focusing on direct-to-consumer real estate that is leased to the best-in-class cannabis retailers. Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, Zoned Properties is redefining the approach to commercial real estate investment through its standardized investment process backed by its proprietary property technology. Zoned Properties has developed a national ecosystem of real estate services to support its real estate development model, including a commercial real estate brokerage and a real estate advisory practice. With a decade of national experience and a team of experts devoted to the emerging cannabis industry, Zoned Properties is addressing the specific needs of a modern market in highly regulated industries. The Company targets commercial properties that face unique zoning or development challenges, identifies solutions that can potentially have a major impact on their commercial value, and then works to acquire the properties while securing long-term, absolute-net leases. Zoned Properties targets commercial properties that can be acquired and rezoned for specific purposes, including the regulated and legalized cannabis industry. It does not grow, harvest, sell or distribute cannabis or any substances regulated under United States law such as the Controlled Substance Act of 1970, as amended (the "CSA"). Zoned Properties corporate headquarters are located at 8360 E. Raintree Dr., Suite 230, Scottsdale, Arizona. For more information, call 877-360-8839 or visit www.ZonedProperties.com. Twitter: @ZonedProperties LinkedIn: @ZonedProperties Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this press release are forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "plan," "potential," "continue" or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements include risks and uncertainties, and there are important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors, risks and uncertainties are discussed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Investors should not place any undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Any forward-looking statement reflects the Company's current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. Investor Relations Zoned Properties, Inc. Bryan McLaren Tel (877) 360-8839 Investors@zonedproperties.com www.zonedproperties.com SOURCE: Zoned Properties, Inc. View the original press release on accesswire.com Compassion Center, headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon, is a pioneer in integrative healthcare, dedicated to improving global quality of life through individualized treatment plans that blend allopathic, traditional, and alternative modalities. Through the Center for Incubation & Findings Research (CIFR), we address socio-economic challenges like housing instability, food security, and access to mental health and integrative healthcare, collaborating with global leaders to drive meaningful change worldwide. HILLSBORO, OR / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / Compassion Center and the Center for Incubation & Findings Research (CIFR) extend heartfelt thanks to Rebecca Siewert, an Oregon Licensed Real Estate Broker with N.W. Classic and Woodburn Property Management, Inc. for her invaluable insights into the challenges faced by underserved, categorically complex, and underrepresented communities in securing rental housing in Oregon. In a recent meeting with Compassion Center's and CIFR's leadership, Mrs. Siewert provided CIFR a candid look at the barriers these communities encounter, emphasizing the urgent need for greater awareness and action to address these issues. Understanding these barriers and issues at their root is essential for society, researchers, and think tanks like CIFR alike, enabling us to creatively dissolve those obstacles and overcome challenges. Identifying barriers and discovering routes to overcome barriers are core aspects of our mission at CIFR. As an Oregon Public Benefit, Compassion Center and CIFR advocate almost exclusively for inclusive, accessible, and affordable options for all Oregonians, including food security, clean water, mental health and healthcare, as well as rental market solutions. It is our hope that this research initiative will lead to dissolving barriers and creating solutions that lower entry costs and/or reduce the cost of living and/or cooperate in combination with either one or more in lowering their collective carbon emissions. As a general rule, CIFR promotes the development of (an abundance of) affordable and sustainable housing options, and seeks to implement companion homelessness and addiction transition programs, so that no one has to sleep on the streets unless they choose to do so. Landlord Concerns: Real Issues Facing Property Owners Landlords across the state are grappling with genuine concerns that impact their properties' values, their bottom lines and their tenants' well-being. One primary issue is illicit drug use, which oddly enough includes "using and storing", not just growing, but all licensed medical marijuana and state-legal recreational marijuana. In any case, depending on the situation, it shows landlords feel that issues like these can lead to safety hazards and legal complications that can drastically impact the value, safety and security of their property. A lack of cleanliness can result in vermin infestations, too, and the burden of treatment and repair is left on the landlord when the tenant leaves. Additionally, a lack of true financial responsibility among some tenants often results in evictions, and since the market is narrowing its standards to disqualify those with evictions newer than five years, this mark on their record can unfortunately become someone's, or a family's first step into the realm of homelessness or sleeping in their automobile at a rest stop. Prospective renters are also facing intrusive questions that delve into their basic household maintenance habits. Questions like "Do you own a broom or vacuum?" are commonplace. However, some property managers have taken it further by asking about lifestyles, mannerisms, personal behaviors, and musical instrument ownership, financial spending habits, bank statements and even questions about personal health information (PHI) and other medical conditions that many would normally consider off the table. These concerns and intrusive questioning highlight the complexities of the rental market and the challenges faced by both landlords and tenants. Finding a balance between protecting property rights and respecting tenants' privacy remains a delicate task for all parties involved. Renter Concerns: Real Issues Facing Tenants On the flip side, renters must also navigate significant risks, such as encountering predatory property managers, scams, and application funnels that typically only collect fees without providing housing opportunities. Additionally, some landlords fail to maintain their properties properly, or fail to maintain them altogether, creating further challenges for tenants. CIFR recommends working with a licensed Real Estate Broker to rent properties. In today's world, where large language models (LLMs) and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms are used to screen applicants and make final decisions, renters face new barriers, and new barriers arise everyday. These include, but are not limited to: inaccurate datasets that were improperly catalogued by a crawler, flawed AI-generated reports and/or a variety of other issues revolving around transactional security, continuity, accountability, and/or transparency. Such problems can result in incorrect employment histories, missing or inaccurate earnings statements, and incorrect addresses, leading to a 'poor rating' that deters landlords from renting to them. This raises a crucial question: Who can renters turn to for complaints? Additionally, many renters lack experience in landlord-tenant and legal matters, adding further complexity to an already challenging process. These concerns underscore the difficulties renters face in finding a home and highlight the need for fair and transparent practices within the rental market. Balancing tenant rights and landlord responsibilities remains essential for creating a more equitable housing environment. Center for Incubation & Findings Research (CIFR) aims to identify and address gaps in housing policy and improve affordable access to sustainable housing by advocating for stronger policies and administrative rules on a state and federal level. Our goal is to drive positive, measurable change that creates a more equitable marketplace, reducing unnecessary barriers and working towards the ultimate goal of ending homelessness. It's a human right. "We are deeply grateful to Rebecca Siewert for taking her precious time to engage with us and share her expert perspectives on the critical housing challenges impacting vulnerable populations," said James Creel PgM, a registered Oregon lobbyist, researcher and career advocate for Compassion Center. "Her established and historically accurate insights, and practices, are proving invaluable as Compassion Center and CIFR works with the State of Oregon, and local government bodies, moving towards developing viable solutions that promote fair and equitable housing opportunities for all." Addressing Housing Disparities Compassion Center recognizes the importance of creating strong partnerships and fostering dialogue to tackle the systemic issues that contribute to housing disparities. The homelessness and/or houselessness crisis in Oregon, and the entire U.S. for that matter, has exploded as a result of a lack of coordinated housing services, and/or an alignment with accessible and affordable housing. By collaborating with government officials, leaders, local government bodies and industry veterans like Rebecca Siewert, and global experts from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), alike, CIFR aims to identify and implement actionable steps that can make meaningful differences in the lives of those most affected by the ongoing mental health and health issues caused by ongoing housing instability. The discussion also highlighted the importance of raising public awareness about legitimate businesses and their roles in the community. Compassion Center reminds the public that: Woodburn Property Management, Inc. is a registered business located at 1290 Young St., Woodburn, OR, 97071 with N.W. Classic Realty, and is not just a search term for SEO purposes. Compassion Center encourages potential renters and community members alike to engage with licensed property managers who demonstrate integrity and a commitment to fair housing practices. These property managers are required to maintain professional licenses, trust accounts and must maintain a variety of other standards and measures that can be audited, verified for transparency and overseen for accountability by the State. If renters go with someone unlicensed, they carry a significant risk. About Compassion Center and the Center for Incubation & Findings Research (CIFR) Compassion Center, headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon, is a pioneering force in integrative healthcare, dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for individuals worldwide. By offering individualized treatment plans that seamlessly combine allopathic, traditional, and alternative modalities, the Compassion Center addresses the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of our patients. Our mission is to innovate care approaches that foster better health outcomes and advocate for the betterment of tomorrow for all those we serve. Through its socioeconomic research institute, the Center for Incubation & Findings Research (CIFR), Compassion Center is committed to identifying, creating, and promoting socio-economic programs that address critical issues such as housing instability, food security, access to clean water, integrative healthcare, mental health, and education. By tackling these and other social determinants of health, we aim to enhance the overall well-being of the communities we serve. CIFR actively engages with communities and collaborates with global and "glocal" thought leaders to develop viable solutions that empower individuals and families to improve their quality of life and overall biophysical wellness. Together with Compassion Center International and other global initiatives, we partner with leaders, NGO organizations, and experts, including but not limited to those from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), to drive meaningful change worldwide. We believe that compassion starts within, and through our integrated efforts, we strive to make a positive impact on a global scale. For more information about Compassion Center and our initiatives, please contact: Sophaur One, RYT-200 Director of Communications Compassion Center 1-844-842-COMPASSION Sophaur.One@Compassion-Center.org About N.W. Classic and Woodburn Property Management N.W. Classic and Woodburn Property Management, Inc. are committed to providing high quality property management services with a focus on building strong relations with the local communities served. By fostering strong relationships with both landlords and tenants, WPM aims to create positive housing experiences for all parties involved. For further details about their services, please contact: Rebecca Siewert | Realtor N.W. Classic and Woodburn Property Management Office: 503-982-8301 | Fax: 503-982-4475 Rebeccas@nwclassic.com Contact Information Sophaur One Director of Communications sophaur.one@compassion-center.org 844-842-2667 Ext 1 Related Images SOURCE: Compassion Center View the original press release on accesswire.com A San Mateo man was sentenced to 16 years behind bars after he was convicted of driving into four teenagers, seriously injuring two of them. Robert Daly/Getty Images/Caiaimage A San Mateo County Superior Court judge on Friday handed down a 16-year state prison sentence to a San Mateo man who hit four teenage boys with his SUV back in 2020. In February 2020, Omeed Sean Adibi, then 18, drove his SUV onto the sidewalk on Howard Avenue in Burlingame, striking four teenage boys who were between the ages of 12 and 13, according to the San Mateo District Attorneys Office. One of the boys suffered a traumatic brain injury and was transported to a nearby hospital in critical condition. Another suffered a spinal injury and lung bruising. The other two victims incurred foot fractures. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Adibi also struck a fire hydrant before fleeing the scene, dragging the hydrant behind him. Civilians detained him when he stopped to remove the hydrant. Adibi had no prior relationship to the victims, and erroneously believed the teenagers had vandalized his car, according to the DA. A jury in May had found Adibi, now 23, guilty on five felony counts including assault with a deadly weapon, though jurors found him not guilty of attempted murder following a 25-day trial. Prosecutors Friday asked the court to impose the maximum sentence of 17 years, while Adibi, addressing the court, asked for the most lenient possible sentence, according to the DA. San Mateo Superior Court Judge Elizabeth M. Hill denied probation and imposed a 16-year sentence with 1,867 days credit for time served. Recognized for Outstanding Achievements in Advancing Technology Solutions within the EdTech Sector, with a Focus on Enhancing the Higher Education Landscape for Both Schools and Students RADNOR, PA / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / BM Technologies, Inc. (NYSE American:BMTX) has been named the 2024 "EdTech Company of the Year" Gold Stevie Award winner. This accolade was awarded in the Educational Technology Company of the Year category of the first annual Stevie Awards for Technology Excellence, "the Olympics for technology." The Stevie Awards for Technology Excellence celebrate the remarkable accomplishments of individuals, teams, and organizations shaping the future of technology across all industry sectors. More than 600 nominations from organizations of all sizes in 21 nations and territories were submitted this year in a wide range of tech-related categories. Over 100 professionals worldwide participated in the judging process to select this year's honorees. "We are thrilled to receive this prestigious award and to be recognized as company of the year for innovations in the EdTech industry," said Jamie Donahue, President, and CTO of BM Technologies. "Our technology platform's ability to deliver scalable and cost-effective solutions underscores our commitment to supporting the evolving needs of colleges, universities, and our customers for life." BMTX earned recognition for its impressive work in providing banking services in the higher education sector and its commitment to addressing emerging challenges in EdTech. BMTX has been providing white-labeled banking services in higher education for nearly 25 years. It offers industry-leading refund management services through BankMobile Disbursements, a technology solution that helps over 700 colleges and universities across the U.S. deliver financial aid credit balances to students securely, efficiently, and in compliance with federal regulations. One out of three students in the U.S. receive refunds through BankMobile Disbursements. The mission of BankMobile Disbursements is to help foster the success of higher education institutions and the students they serve. BankMobile Disbursements introduces students to BMTX and offers a choice to open a competitively positioned BankMobile Vibe Checking Account. The BankMobile Vibe Checking Account is a digital-only, FDIC-insured, interest-bearing account with protection by the Department of Education. After signing up and getting their refund the same business day,1 they can continue using their account for life. It offers an optional savings account, cash back Offers, and the ability to get paid up to two days early. BMTX's recognized achievements include continuous innovation and significant platform infrastructure transformation. This investment in technology modernization unlocks the ability to roll out additional product and service enhancements, increases engagement with colleges and universities, and contributes to the success of BMTX's customer-for-life strategy. This transformation enabled BMTX to: Launch cash back Offers for its BankMobile Vibe Checking Account. This innovative rewards engine aims to financially empower customers while driving loyalty among customers, giving them the opportunity to earn cash back 2 on debit card purchases. There is a merchant network spanning over 50,000 locations around the U.S., including national, local, and online brands. Introduce BMTX Identity Verification (IDV), a groundbreaking solution addressing higher education institutions' challenges in maintaining secure and efficient enrollment processes and protecting students from fraud. This innovative Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) product leverages robust AI and machine learning tools, empowering universities to maintain their risk level preferences with data-driven insights and significantly enhance their fraud detection capabilities, all while improving customer service and employee productivity. Notably, comments from the Stevie Awards judges commending the award submission included the following: "BMTX's continuous innovation, including their new identity verification service and platform infrastructure transformation, shows a commitment to addressing emerging challenges in educational finance and enhancing their technological edge." "BMTX goes the extra mile to simplify university life for students and school administrators, investing time and effort in enhancing their platform and processes. Their rewards system is widely enjoyed, teaching students smart spending habits. Their high customer retention rate demonstrates appreciation across multiple campuses. The industry needs more companies like BMTX, focusing on enriching lives rather than just monetary profit." "BM Technologies stands out as a leader in the EdTech space, and their contributions make a meaningful difference in the industry." Winners of the awards, named the Stevies from the Greek word meaning "crowned," will be recognized during a gala awards dinner on Monday, September 16 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. About BM Technologies, Inc. BM Technologies, Inc. (NYSE American:BMTX) - formerly known as BankMobile - is among the largest digital banking platforms and Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) providers in the country, providing access to checking and savings accounts and financial wellness. It is focused on technology, innovation, easy-to-use products, and education with the mission to financially empower millions of Americans by providing a more affordable, transparent, and consumer-friendly banking experience. BM Technologies, Inc. (BMTX) is a technology company and is not a bank, which means it provides banking services through its partner banks. More information can be found at www.bmtx.com. About the Stevie Awards Stevie Awards are conferred in nine programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, the Middle East & North Africa Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Technology Excellence and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 12,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 70 nations and territories. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com. 1If you open a digital BankMobile Vibe Checking Account (upon identity verification), money is deposited the same business day we receive funds from your school. 2Per the Cash Back Terms and Conditions. Contact Information Media Inquiries: Brigit Hennaman Rubenstein Public Relations, Inc. bhennaman@rubensteinpr.com SOURCE: BM Technologies View the original press release on accesswire.com Highlights: Summer Surface Exploration Work Ongoing at Gran Pilar, over 200 Soil Samples Collected to Date Along Northern and Eastern Extensions of Main Zone, North Hill and 4-T Trends Major Producer Completes its District Scale Review of Gran Pilar's Multi-Million Ounce Potential Upcoming Core Drill Program at Pilar Main Zone Scheduled for September Start Outlines Plans for Resource Drilling with Core and RC Tocvan Invited to Present at Mexico's Biggest Annual Mining Conference Congreso Internacional Minero October 22-26 Updated Corporate Presentation (Click Here) CALGARY, AB / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / Tocvan Ventures Corp. (the "Company") (CSE:TOC)(OTCQB:TCVNF)(FSE:TV3), is pleased to provide an update from its gold-silver projects in mine-friendly Sonora, Mexico. The Company will refer to the consolidated area that includes the Pilar Main Zone and the adjacent 22 km2 as Gran Pilar. This signifies the broader scale project size the Company is focusing on as it advances to a maiden resource at the Pilar Main Zone as well as defining large-scale targets beyond. Based on management's strong belief in the project's potential, the Company is outlining a permitting and operations strategy for a pilot facility at Pilar. The facility would underpin a robust test mine scenario with aims to process up to 50,000 tonnes of material. Timelines and budget are being prepared with the aim of moving forward with the development early in 2025. With gold prices hitting all-time highs, the Company believes the onsite test mine will provide key economic parameters and showcase the mineral potential of the area. In 2023, the Company completed an offsite bulk sample that produced important data showcasing the potential to recover both gold and silver through a variety of methods including heap leach, gravity and agitated leach (see August 22, 2023 news release for more details). Surface sampling has been ongoing across the Gran Pilar project area with a focus on the northern and eastern extensions of the Main Zone, North Hill and 4-T trends. To date, over 200 surface samples have been collected by technical staff with results pending. The sampling will provide key information for defining target areas for future drilling campaigns and outlining areas appropriate for future mine-infrastructure. The Company is encouraged by the initial surface results released early this year that identified several high-grade gold and silver zones east of the Main Zone highlighted by 7.3 g/t Au with 177 g/t Ag and 5.5 g/t Au with 80 g/t Ag (see Figure 1 and April 18, 2024 news release) and the continued work of small, placer miners in the area which continue to report positive results from several areas of interest. These results are coupled with high-grade gold and silver results associated with a large footprint of hydrothermal alteration five kilometers north of the Main Zone (5.6 g/t Au in the October 19, 2023 news release and 3.2 g/t Au with 1,225 g/t Ag in the March 8, 2024 news release). As a result of the surface findings, a detailed review of Gran Pilar spanning over 6 weeks of on-site due diligence has been completed by a regional major producer. Once data has been processed and reviewed both parties will discuss next steps later in the fall. Also, preparations are being made for the next phases of core and RC drilling that will focus on resource definition. Between 1,200 to 2,000 meters of core drilling are being considered along with 1,700 to 2,500 meters of RC drilling before the end of the year. Additional drilling of exploration targets across Gran Pilar will be considered later in the year. Core drilling will focus on building a robust geological model across Pilar with emphasis on the Main Zone. RC drilling will concentrate on additional infill and step-out targeting across the Main Zone, North Hill and 4-T trends. Upon completion of drilling the Company anticipates a maiden resource estimate will be finalized for the initial Pilar Main Zone and adjacent trends providing an initial step of showcasing the full potential of the project area. In addition, Tocvan has been invited to present at the annual Congreso Internacional Minero held in Hermosillo, Sonora. The mining conference sees over 10,000 attendees, showcasing the resource industry in Mexico. More information of the conference and technical presentations can be found here: congresominerosonora.com "Making the most of the rain season in Sonora, our field crews have been hard at work advancing our understanding of the broader mineralized footprint that extends out from Pilar" commented Brodie Sutherland, CEO. "We are excited to review the results of their initial work as it will provide key information in drill targeting across the broader Gran Pilar property. We are also preparing for the next phases of drilling which will include important core drilling through our Main Zone and other prospective trends. The last core program we completed in 2022 was a huge success, giving us a better understanding of the host rocks and the pervasive alteration and brecciation one would expect from a robust mineralized system. Drilling completed before the end of the year will go into a maiden resource estimate for Pilar, a starting point for establishing initial resources for development. Along with these preparations the Company is evaluating a pilot mine facility to process material at site. A logical step-forward as we showcase the accessibility of gold and silver whilst taking advantage of current market prices for the commodities. The Company anticipates necessary equipment setup and permitting can be completed by early 2025, with the objective of processing up to 50,000 tonnes of material directly from Pilar. A key differentiator for the Company and project. Our core objective is to unlock the potential of the greater project area while advancing mine development. The work completed to date has sparked interest from producers on the project potential and the immense upside to resource expansion we have shown quickly through exploration. We expect discussions to increase leading up to Mexico's biggest mining conference in October. The Company maintains a positive outlook on the future of mining in Mexico and looks forward to advancing its initiatives of transitioning to producer. Taking full advantage of the excellent infrastructure and talented work force Sonora provides." Plate 1. Tocvan technical crews actively exploring mineralized expansion corridors through rock and soil sampling. Figure 1. Target Map of the Gran Pilar Project Area. Recent surface discoveries have highlighted several target zones across the project area. About the Pilar Property The Pilar Gold-Silver property has returned some of the regions best drill results. Coupled with encouraging gold and silver recovery results from metallurgical test work, Pilar is primed to be a potential near-term producer. Pilar is interpreted as a structurally controlled low-sulphidation epithermal system hosted in andesite rocks. Initially three primary zones of mineralization were identified on the original property from historic surface work and drilling and are referred to as the Main Zone, North Hill and 4-T. Each trend remains open to the southeast and north and new parallel zones have been discovered. Structural features and zones of mineralization within the structures follow an overall NW-SE trend of mineralization. Mineralization extends along a 1.2-km trend, only half of that trend has been drill tested so far. The Company has now expanded its interest in the area by consolidating 22 square-kilometers of highly prospective ground where it has already made significant surface discoveries. Pilar Drill Highlights: 2022 Phase III Diamond Drilling Highlights include ( all lengths are drilled thicknesses ): 116.9m @ 1.2 g/t Au, including 10.2m @ 12 g/t Au and 23 g/t Ag 108.9m @ 0.8 g/t Au, including 9.4m @ 7.6 g/t Au and 5 g/t Ag 63.4m @ 0.6 g/t Au and 11 g/t Ag, including 29.9m @ 0.9 g/t Au and 18 g/t Ag 2021 Phase II RC Drilling Highlights include ( all lengths are drilled thicknesses ): 39.7m @ 1.0 g/t Au, including 1.5m @ 14.6 g/t Au 47.7m @ 0.7 g/t Au including 3m @ 5.6 g/t Au and 22 g/t Ag 29m @ 0.7 g/t Au 35.1m @ 0.7 g/t Au 2020 Phase I RC Drilling Highlights include ( all lengths are drilled thicknesses ): 94.6m @ 1.6 g/t Au, including 9.2m @ 10.8 g/t Au and 38 g/t Ag; 41.2m @ 1.1 g/t Au, including 3.1m @ 6.0 g/t Au and 12 g/t Ag ; 24.4m @ 2.5 g/t Au and 73 g/t Ag, including 1.5m @ 33.4 g/t Au and 1,090 g/t Ag 15,000m of Historic Core & RC drilling. Highlights include: 21.0m @ 38.3 g/t Au and 38 g/t Ag 13.0m @ 9.6 g/t Au 9.0m @ 10.2 g/t Au and 46 g/t Ag 61.0m @ 0.8 g/t Au Pilar Bulk Sample Summary: 62% Recovery of Gold Achieved Over 46-day Leaching Period Head Grade Calculated at 1.9 g/t Au and 7 g/t Ag; Extracted Grade Calculated at 1.2 g/t Au and 3 g/t Ag Bulk Sample Only Included Coarse Fraction of Material (+3/4" to +1/8") Fine Fraction (-1/8") Indicates Rapid Recovery with Agitated Leach Agitated Bottle Roll Test Returned Rapid and High Recovery Results: 80% Recovery of Gold and 94% Recovery of Silver after Rapid 24-hour Retention Time Additional Metallurgical Studies: Gravity Recovery with Agitated Leach Results of Five Composite Samples Returned 95 to 99% Recovery of Gold 73 to 97% Recovery of Silver Includes the Recovery of 99% Au and 73% Ag from Drill Core Composite at 120-meter depth. About Tocvan Ventures Corp. Tocvan's advancing gold-silver projects are located in the mine-friendly jurisdiction of Sonora, Mexico. Through ongoing exploration programs, Company is unveiling the high-potential at its Gran Pilar Gold-Silver Project where it holds 100% interests in over 21 square kilometers of prospective area and a majority ownership (51%) in a one square kilometer area shared with Colibri Resources. The Company also holds 100% interest in the Picacho Gold-Silver project in the Caborca Trend of northern Sonora, a trend host to some of the major gold deposits of the region. Management feels both projects represent tremendous opportunity to create shareholder value. Tocvan has approximately 51 million shares outstanding. Quality Assurance / Quality Control Samples were shipped for sample preparation to ALS Limited in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico and for analysis at the ALS laboratory in North Vancouver. The ALS Hermosillo and North Vancouver facilities are ISO 9001 and ISO/IEC 17025 certified. Gold was analyzed using 50-gram nominal weight fire assay with atomic absorption spectroscopy finish. Over limits for gold (>10 g/t), were analyzed using fire assay with a gravimetric finish. Silver and other elements were analyzed using a four-acid digestion with an ICP finish. Over limit analyses for silver (>100 g/t) were re-assayed using an ore-grade four-acid digestion with ICP-AES finish. Control samples comprising certified reference samples and blank samples were systematically inserted into the sample stream and analyzed as part of the Company's robust quality assurance / quality control protocol. Brodie A. Sutherland, CEO for Tocvan Ventures Corp. and a qualified person ("QP") as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this release. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release contains "forward-looking information" which may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future. Forward-looking information in this news release includes statements regarding the use of proceeds from the Offering. Such forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words and 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. These forward-looking statements, and any assumptions upon which they are based, are made in good faith and reflect our current judgment regarding the direction of our business. Management believes that these assumptions are reasonable. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others, risks related to the speculative nature of the Company's business, the Company's formative stage of development and the Company's financial position. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results, except as may be required by applicable securities laws. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. For more information, please contact: TOCVAN VENTURES CORP. Brodie A. Sutherland, CEO 1150, 707 - 7 Ave SW Calgary, Alberta T2P 3H6 403-829-9877 bsutherland@tocvan.ca The Howard Group Jeff Walker VP Howard Group Inc. 403-221-0915 jeff@howardgroupinc.com SOURCE: Tocvan Ventures Corp View the original press release on accesswire.com Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - August 13, 2024) - Palamina Corp. (TSXV: PA) (OTCQB: PLMNF) has commenced drilling in the Sol de Oro ("SDO") zone at its 100% owned Usicayos Gold Project in south eastern Peru. Drill equipment was successfully mobilized and a fully functioning field camp is in place to support the program. Seven diamond drill holes totaling approximately 3,000 metres are planned to test the SDO East, SDO South and SDO North zones. Company geologists have identified continuous, high-grade, gold-bearing shear zones hosted in Paleozoic shales, siltstones and sandstones typical of the Puno Orogenic Gold Belt. "Palamina geologists believe that the Sol de Oro zone being drill tested is the heart of the 1.5 by 4.5 km gold bearing orogenic system identified at Usicayos. This is the first time that the main shear zone at Usicayos is being drill tested following the consolidation of ownership of all the internal mining concessions and completion of the permitting process." commented Andrew Thomson, Palamina's President. The SDO zone is controlled by shear zones developed by regional thrusting. The host shear zone at SDO is the widest identified at Usicayos to-date, broadly measuring approximately 1.5 km in width and 2.2 km in strike length. Gold mineralization is found along continuous "mantos" developed parallel to foliation along carbonaceous shear zones. The foliation of the host rocks, either side of a major NW-SE fault, dips steeply towards the center suggesting a possible near vertical feeder zone (or "flower structure") at the heart of the SDO zone. The upcoming drill program at SDO is designed to test this working interpretation. Drilling will begin on platform VF01 in the SDO East zone, where some of the highest-grade surface sampling results have been observed including 4m of 5.2 g/t Au from channel sampling. Three of the seven planned drill platforms have been built and the company plans to drill between one and two drill holes from each platform to quickly build a three-dimensional geological model of the mineralized shear zone. Figure 1 shows the location of the planned drill platforms at SDO. Figure 1 - Drill hole location map with mapped mantos and surface sampling results. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4727/219767_835f0af0a40e0b8c_002full.jpg Technical Information The technical information herein has been reviewed and approved by Alvaro Fernandez-Baca (P. Geo.); a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Fernandez-Baca is Vice President of Exploration to Palamina. About Palamina Corp. Palamina is a gold exploration company with a land bank of gold projects in the Puno Orogenic Gold Belt in southeastern Peru. Palamina is adding value through drill discovery at its Usicayos gold project. Palamina also has an "acquire and hold" strategy with copper silver assets in southeastern and northeastern Peru. Palamina holds a 15.4% equity interest in Winshear Gold Corp. (TSXV: WINS) and a 2% NSR royalty on all their projects. Winshear plans to conduct an inaugural drill program at their Gaban Gold Project in 2024. Palamina has 71,284,836 shares outstanding and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol PA and on the OTCQB Venture Market under the symbol PLMNF. 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 statements" within the meaning of such statements under applicable securities law. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "continue", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. Various assumptions were used in drawing the conclusions or making the projections contained in the forward-looking statements throughout this news release. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the use of proceeds of the Offering and the Company's future business plans. 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 Company 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. A more complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company appears in the Company's continuous disclosure filings, which are available at www.sedarplus.ca. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/219767 SOURCE: Palamina Corp. 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. Im kostenlosen, exklusiven Spezialreport prasentieren wir ihnen 5 innovative KI-Unternehmen, die bahnbrechende Entwicklungen in diesem Sektor pragen konnten. Warum sollten Sie dabei sein? 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. Nutzen Sie die Chance! Fordern Sie sofort unseren brandneuen Spezialreport an und erfahren Sie, welche 5 KI-Aktien das grote Potenzial zur Vervielfachung besitzen. Dieser Report ist komplett kostenlos und zeigt Ihnen die aussichtsreichsten Investments im KI-Sektor. Handeln Sie jetzt und sichern Sie sich Ihren kostenfreien Report! NAS Investment Solutions (NASIS), a national property investment sponsor known for high quality passive real estate investments with reliable yield performance, has acquired Tranquility Grove Townhomes located in a submarket of North Houston. The property acquisition also creates an investment opportunity for 1031 Exchange investors, who are in immediate need of a quality replacement property. The property investment is also suitable for self-directed IRAs. Tranquility Grove Townhomes is in a prime North Houston location, surrounded by a vibrant economic landscape consisting of numerous major employment hubs. The gated community consists of ninety-two townhomes with unique private attached garages. The property features an average home size of 1,032 square-feet and is located approximately nineteen miles north of downtown Houston and ten miles west of George Bush Intercontinental Airport. New roofs were recently added to all buildings on the 5.89-acre site which features community amenities such as a pool with deck furnishings, fitness center, playground, and a renovated clubhouse with copy and fax services. Townhome interiors include washer and dryer hookups, central air and heating, a modern appliance package and private patios. Thirty-seven of the property's ninety-two townhomes have been renovated with modern interiors such as laminate-style wood flooring, shaker-style cabinets with pulls, and modernized light fixtures. Renovation of the remaining fifty-five units is an provides a potential value-add opportunity for investors. National Asset Services (NAS), one of the Country's leading commercial real estate companies, known for maximizing property value in all economic situations while enhancing residents' living experience, will be responsible for overseeing property management as well as asset managing the multifamily complex for the property's investment clients. "We are excited to offer our clients the opportunity to invest in this unique townhome property in a prime North Houston submarket with tremendous economic upside potential. This acquisition provides a potential opportunity for 1031 Exchange investors anticipating a close on their down leg property in 2024," commented Karen E. Kennedy, President and Founder of NAS Investment Solutions and National Asset Services. "The local area is a thriving hub of diverse industry and innovation that is on a solid path to more growth and development, and we are excited to be part of it." Accredited investors seeking more information on this sponsor-owned property should visit nasinvestmentsolutions.com and contact Karen E. Kennedy at kkennedy@nasassets.com or at 310.988.4240. About National Asset Services (NAS) Since 2008, NAS has served over 2,600 investment clients and has established an impressive record for investment property management. The history includes generating over $660 million in cash distributions to property investors and managing a commercial real estate portfolio of 186 diverse commercial properties, comprised of over 25 million square feet, in thirty-one states. The overall value of NAS' managed portfolio in the company's 15-year history, totals over $3.38 billion. Visit nasassets.com for more information. About NAS Investment Solutions (NASIS) NAS Investment Solutions was established to leverage National Asset Services' experience in investment property management by identifying, acquiring, and enhancing commercial real estate investments across all sectors of the real estate industry. NAS Investment Solutions is recognized nationwide for its sponsorship of high-quality DST investment programs that offer investors well-performing assets that produce reliable yields. All the company's investment properties offer multiple benefits for investors including: Reliable cash flow from day one, paid monthly by direct deposit Benefits of ownership, including mortgage interest deductions and depreciation The loan is non-recourse to all investors Management Free Ownership Ability to invest in larger assets on a fractional basis Self-directed IRA suitable All Properties qualify for 1031 Exchange The company's website, nasinvestmentsolutions.com offers investment articles, comprehensive information, and a free guide on the 1031 exchange process and for investors seeking passive DST property investments. Contact JW Robison jwrobison@nasassets.com SOURCE: NAS Investment Solutions View the original press release on accesswire.com Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - August 13, 2024) - Telo Genomics Corp. (TSXV: TELO) (OTCQB: TDSGF) (the "Company" or "Telo") a biotech company developing the industry's leading telomere technology platform with diagnostic and prognostic applications measuring genomic instability in oncology, is pleased to announce that the US Centres of Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) which regulates the medical laboratories in the USA, has awarded Telo its Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment ("CLIA") certificate of registration, as a certified medical clinical laboratory. Telo's registration is within the international stream of CLIA. The CLIA registration and accreditation allows Telo to offer its clinical laboratory services within the USA. The CLIA accreditation also allows the Company to develop and validate its novel TeloView prognostic products and distribute them in the USA and all other international jurisdictions that recognize the International CLIA accreditation. This is a crucial step necessary in making the TeloView diagnostic tests widely available for commercial use and will help advance Telo's platform of prognostic tests across the field of oncology. The CLIA certification, together with the recently achieved CAP accreditation enables Telo to demonstrate to potential US partners the viability of the TeloView prognostic products. Telo worked diligently with the US Centres of Medicare & Medicaid Services for over a year to achieve the CLIA certification, which will entitle the Company to validate its own laboratory tests and add them to its prognostic testing menu. "The CLIA designation is a game changing milestone for Telo on its path towards commercialization," said Jay Wohlgemuth, MD, Managing Partner of Trusted Health Advisors, a strategic advisor to Telo. "Offering the TeloView portfolio of tests as CLIA tests will empower the ongoing partnership development efforts with key industry players in the diagnostic landscape, particularly in respect to ongoing discussions in smoldering and minimal residual disease ("MRD") in multiple myeloma." About CLIA The Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (42 USC 263a) and the associated regulations (42 CFR 493) were established by the US Food and Drug Association (FDA) and provides the authority for certification and oversight of clinical laboratories and laboratory testing. CLIA is the supreme US federal program, regulated by the US Food and Drug Association, to govern the quality and accuracy of clinical testing in the US and internationally. CLIA-designated laboratories are authorized to offer clinical testing in the US, particularly laboratory developed tests (LDTs). About TELO Telo Genomics Corp. is a biotech company pioneering the most comprehensive telomere platform in the industry with powerful applications and prognostic solutions. These include liquid biopsies and related technologies in oncology and neurological diseases. Liquid biopsy is a rapidly growing field of significant interest to the medical community for being less invasive and more easily replicated than traditional diagnostic approaches. By combining our team's considerable expertise in quantitative analysis of 3D telomeres with molecular biology and artificial intelligence to recognize disease associated genetic instability, Telo is developing simple and accurate products that improve day-to-day care for patients by serving the needs of pathologists, clinicians, academic researchers and drug developers. The benefits of our proprietary technology have been substantiated in 160+ peer reviewed publications and in 30+ clinical studies involving more than 3,000 patients with multiple cancers and Alzheimer's disease. Our lead application, TELO-MM is being developed to provide important, actionable information to medical professionals in the treatment of multiple myeloma, a deadly form of blood cancer. For more information please visit www.telodx.com. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as such 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 Certain information contained herein may constitute "forward-looking information" under Canadian securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "intends", "will", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" occur. Forward-looking statements regarding the clinical efficacy of products, commercial viability of products, use of proceeds, and the ability of the TeloView platform to deliver personalized medicine resulting in better treatments and outcomes are based on the Company's estimates and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, including capital expenditures and other costs. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward- looking statements and forward-looking information. The Company will not update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that are incorporated by reference herein, except as required by applicable securities laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/219749 SOURCE: Telo Genomics Corp. Benefits to 59 of 60 School Districts Will Also Be Felt by the Area's Last Mile Fiber Providers FiberLight, LLC , a fiber infrastructure provider with more than 20 years of experience designing, building, and operating mission-critical, high-bandwidth networks, announced a contract to build a 10 Gbps fiber optic network for the Region 16 Education Service Center (ESC), situated within the Texas Panhandle. With the city of Amarillo as its center, Region 16 comprises 60 individual school districts and three charter schools. Its 226 campuses serve 80,000 students, spanning small districts of fewer than 30 students and others with nearly 30,000, including more than 11,000 teachers and staff. Beyond the upgrade that FiberLight's network will bring to schools is its transformative impact on the area's last-mile internet service providers. The ESC benefits from the E-Rate program , overseen by the FCC. This program provides discounts to assist eligible schools and libraries in obtaining affordable internet access and telecommunications services. The connectivity that FiberLight will bring to rural communities within the panhandle aligns with and is a primary goal of the E-Rate program. "Through this deal, we're delivering fiber across 26,000 square miles to a vast majority of those in the Texas Panhandle," explained Ron Kormos, Chief Strategy Officer at FiberLight. "What's most exciting is what this connectivity will mean to the teachers, students, and staff at Region 16 schools and the long tail effect to the area's city halls, police and fire departments, hospitals, and the private sector, which will also benefit from this investment." FiberLight will deliver its technical assets and expertise to Region 16. The organization is required to generate $10 million as part of its 22% of the E-Rate program, which it will work to fund through grants, local dollars, and philanthropy. "With FiberLight's expertise, Region 16 Education Service Center is investing in future-ready infrastructure that transcends mere connectivity," said Michael Keough, Chief Technology Officer, Region 16. "As we strive to be an indispensable part of our community's public service, this investment will go beyond empowering classrooms to enhance educational experiences, bolster public safety, catalyze economic growth, and foster community resilience. It's a testament to the collaborative spirit of our region, where we're building futures together." While the contract's impetus is to bring the advantages of high-speed fiber connectivity to classrooms and student learning, it also promises new benefits to the Texas panhandle's businesses and residents. "FiberLight has developed a reputation of delivering fiber to underserved, rural areas; our deployment across the Panhandle and Region 16 - Texas' most underserved area - is a model that we're quite familiar with," said Bill Major, CEO of FiberLight. "Initially, our fiber backbone will benefit students and educators, but in the long term, there will be a knock-on effect that will activate last-mile fiber providers to deliver fiber to area homes and businesses." "The leadership from Region 16 and Fiberlight is building a stronger and more connected Texas. This deployment helps advance a statewide strategy for Intelligent Infrastructure which touches the day-to-day lives of each of our citizens and is crucial to competitiveness and economic prosperity," said Jeffrey DeCoux, Chairman, Autonomy Fellow at the Autonomy Institute. "Fiberlight has helped deploy critical digital infrastructure statewide, including the nation's first Intelligent Infrastructure Economic Zone on Texas SH130." FiberLight will plan to break ground on the project by the first quarter of 2025. To learn more about FiberLight's public sector projects please visit https://www.fiberlight.com/industries/public-sector/ . About Region 16 The Texas Panhandle comprises 60 school districts and three charter schools with 226 campuses in a 26,000-square-mile area. Amarillo is the economic and geographic center of the panhandle. Region 16 school districts have an average daily attendance of over 80,000 students, with individual districts ranging from fewer than 30 to more than 29,000 students and the total regional school staff numbering more than 11,400. About FiberLight FiberLight builds and operates mission-critical high bandwidth networks to ignite our client's digital transformation. With approximately 19,000 route miles of fiber networks and 230,000 pre-qualified near-net buildings, FiberLight operates in over 430 cities in the U.S. Our service portfolio includes high-capacity Ethernet and Wave Transport Services, Cloud Connect, Dedicated Internet Access, Dark Fiber and Wireless Backhaul serving domestic and international telecom companies, wireless, wireline, cable and cloud providers as well as key players across enterprise, government, and education. FiberLight Contact: Escalate PR FiberLight@escalatepr.com SOURCE: FiberLight View the original press release on accesswire.com Erinnern Sie sich, als Moderna und BioNTech von unbekannten Unternehmen zu globalen Marktfuhrern wurden und fruhzeitige Investoren reich belohnt haben? Die Branche steht vor einem erneuten Innovationsschub von bahnbrechenden Medikamenten bis hin zu revolutionaren Therapien. Warum sollten Sie dabei sein? Sie sollten jetzt in Biotech-Aktien einsteigen, weil wir am Beginn einer neuen Ara der medizinischen Innovation stehen konnten! Gen- und Zelltherapien, personalisierte Medizin und bahnbrechende Technologien konnten das Gesundheitswesen revolutionieren und die Aktienkurse in die Hohe schieen lassen. Die nachste Erfolgsgeschichte im Biotechbereich warten nur darauf, entdeckt zu werden. Wer jetzt investiert, hat die Chance, von gigantischen Durchbruchen und enormen Renditen zu profitieren. Warten Sie nicht, bis es zu spat ist - der nachste Biotech-Superstar konnte morgen schon durchstarten! Verpassen Sie nicht diese Chance! Fordern Sie sofort unseren brandneuen Biotech-Spezialreport an und erfahren Sie, welche 3 Biotech-Aktien das riesige Potenzial haben, Ihren finanziellen Erfolg zu sichern. Dieser Report ist komplett kostenlos und zeigt Ihnen zukunftstrachtige Investments im Biotech-Sektor. Handeln Sie jetzt und sichern Sie sich Ihren kostenfreien Report! NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED Lincoln Gold Mining Inc. (TSXV:LMG) ("Lincoln Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the commencement of core sample analysis from its 2021 drilling program on the Wilson deposit, at the Pine Grove Project in Lyon County, Nevada. This analysis represents an important step in Lincoln Gold's strategy to expand resources and evaluate the potential for further development at the property. The Pine Grove Project has already undergone extensive exploration, featuring 275 drill holes and a comprehensive NI 43-101 report filed on SEDAR on February 16, 2015, and available on the Company's website. The project is nearing the final stages of permitting, with full approval anticipated within the next 12 to 16 months. Currently, Pine Grove boasts measured and indicated resources equivalent to 210,962 ounces of gold, with one of Nevada's highest reserve gold grades at 1.23 g/t. Approximately 25% of the property has been explored, leaving significant potential for resource expansion. The 2021 drilling program focused on the Wilson Deposit, where five core holes provided valuable data on rock structure, lithology, and mineralization, including quartz-sulfide veining with trace copper within established ore zones. These insights are vital for guiding future exploration and resource expansion efforts. Due to the challenges posed by COVID-19 and the need to prioritize our limited funds at the time, the Company was unable to complete the full analyses of the core until now. A key driver of this important next step is Mr. Reid Yano, an accomplished geologist with a wealth of experience in both industry and government projects. As a respected member of the Geological Society of Nevada and the Society of Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Mr. Yano's deep understanding of the region's geology will be invaluable in interpreting the core sample analysis and guiding the subsequent exploration and resource development. The Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for Pine Grove highlights substantial exploration potential beyond the current resource base, recommending infill and offset drilling at the Wilson Deposit, deep drilling at the Wheeler Deposit, and expanded exploration across other promising areas. Ten new drill targets have already been identified, underscoring the project's considerable growth potential. "We're excited to advance our work at Pine Grove, a project with significant upside," said Mr. Paul Saxton, President and CEO of Lincoln Gold. "The core sample analysis and subsequent exploration efforts are crucial to unlocking the full potential of this high-grade gold project. With our strategic approach and the expertise, we've brought on board, including Mr. Yano, we are well-positioned to drive this project forward." Lincoln Gold remains committed to advancing the Pine Grove Project responsibly and efficiently, with a focus on delivering value to its shareholders. The Company will continue to provide updates as the analysis and exploration programs progress. About Lincoln Gold Mining Inc.: Lincoln is a Canadian precious metals exploration and development company headquartered in Vancouver, BC. Lincoln holds 100% interest in Pine Grove gold project located in Nevada, US, renowned for its mining-friendly regulations. Lincoln received conditional approval from the TSXV on its acquisition of the Bell Mountain from Eros Resources Corp. The anticipated completion of this transaction will mark a pivotal moment for Lincoln, enabling a potent operational synergy between these two properties. Lincoln is committed to maintaining steady and robust progress towards its goal of becoming a mid-tier gold producer. For further information, please contact: Lincoln Gold Mining Inc. Paul Saxton President and Chief Executive Officer Phone: 604-688-7377 Email: saxton@lincolnmining.com 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 news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. "Forward-looking information" includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including the ability of the Company to complete the Second Tranche on the proposed terms or at all, the anticipated closing date of the Second Tranche, the anticipated use of proceeds from the Offering and receipt of regulatory approvals with respect to the Offering and the Acquisition.. Generally, but not always, forward-looking information and statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or the negative connotation thereof or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connation thereof. Such forward-looking information and statements are based on numerous assumptions, including among others, that the Company will be able to complete the Second Tranche on the terms as anticipated by management, that the Company will use the proceeds of the Offering as anticipated, the expected closing date of the Second Tranche, and that the Company will receive regulatory approval with respect to the Offering and the Acquisition. Although the assumptions made by the Company in providing forward-looking information or making forward-looking statements are considered reasonable by management at the time, there can be no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be accurate. 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. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's plans or expectations include the risk that the Company will not be able to complete the Second Tranche on the terms as anticipated by management or at all, that the Company will not use the proceeds of the Offering as anticipated, that the Company will not receive regulatory approval with respect to the Offering, risks relating to the acquisition of the Bell Mountain gold project, including the risk that the Company will not receive regulatory or TSXV approval to close the transaction, that the Company will not complete the acquisition of the Bell Mountain gold project at all, and that if the Company does acquire the Bell Mountain gold project, the impact will be different than as currently anticipated, risks relating to the actual results of current exploration activities, fluctuating gold prices, possibility of equipment breakdowns and delays, exploration cost overruns, availability of capital and financing, general economic, market or business conditions, regulatory changes, timeliness of government or regulatory approvals and other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking information or implied by forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. 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 except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation. SOURCE: Lincoln Gold Mining Inc. View the original press release on accesswire.com Hypha Labs, Inc. formerly (OTC PINK:DIGP), has been approved to commence trading as Hypha Labs, Inc. (OTC PINK:FUNI) on August 13, 2024. Hypha Labs has developed the first in-home mushroom accelerator to allow for the production of high quality mushroom ingredients in just eight days. "We are pleased to at last align our corporate name and ticker with our pioneering operations in the development of a suite of functional mushroom ingredient accelerators for home and commercial use," stated Stone Douglass, CEO, Hypha Labs. "We've been working diligently to perfect our accelerator and to prepare to fully exploit the vast opportunity for the in-home production of a wide array of mushroom ingredients." "As the clever Keurig was to coffee, Hypha Labs aspires to be that change agent for people who want to produce their own consistent ingredients from the comfort and privacy of their home kitchens," added Douglass. About Hypha Labs, Inc. The company has developed revolutionary cutting-edge technology focused on new methods of producing the active ingredients found in functional mushrooms such as psilocybin using its patent-pending bioreactor design. The Company has positioned itself to play an important role in the burgeoning Functional Mushroom industry in addition to being a disruptive force in the psilocybin space which is quickly manifesting into a similar pattern that was seen in the Cannabis Industry both from a medical and recreational usage with several states and cities have now decriminalized it use. Visit us at HyphaLabs.com. SAFE HARBOR FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This press release may contain forward looking statements that are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that involve risks as well as uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those anticipated or expected, including statements related to the amount and timing of expected revenues related to our financial performance, expected revenue, contracts, and future growth for upcoming quarterly and annual periods. These risks and uncertainties are further defined in filings and reports by the Company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and on the OTC Disclosure & News Service (OTCDNS). Actual results and the timing of certain events could differ materially from those projected in or contemplated by the forward-looking statements due to a number of factors detailed from time to time in our filings with the SEC and/or OTCDNS. Among other matters, the Company may not be able to sustain growth or achieve profitability based upon many factors including but not limited to the risk that we will not be able to find and secure construction contracts and the necessary assets that will enable us to become profitable. Reference is hereby made to cautionary statements set forth in the Company's most recent SEC and/or OTCDNS filings. We have incurred and will continue to incur significant expenses in our development stage, noting that there is no assurance that we will generate enough revenues to offset those costs in both the near and long term. New lines of business in the construction industry may expose us to additional legal and regulatory costs and unknown exposure(s), the impact of which cannot be predicted at this time. Words such as "estimate," "project," "predict," "will," "would," "should," "could," "may," "might," "anticipate," "plan," "intend," "believe," "expect," "aim," "goal," "target," "objective," "likely" or similar expressions that convey the prospective nature of events or outcomes generally indicate forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of this press release. Unless legally required, we undertake no obligation to update, modify or withdraw any forward-looking statements, because of new information, future events or otherwise. From time to time, the Company may post new and material information on its website or through its social media profiles at the links below: LN: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hypha-labs-inc/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/hyphalabs IG: https://www.instagram.com/hyphalabsinc/ Twitter: https://x.com/Hypha_Labs For more information about Hypha Labs visit HyphaLabs.com Investor and Media Relations: Integrity Media Inc. (888) 216-3595 team@integritymedia.com Contact Information Kurt Divich President, Integrity Media Inc. team@integritymedia.com (888) 216-3595 SOURCE: Hypha Labs, Inc. View the original press release on accesswire.com San Francisco police said they found a suspected drug dealer inside this motor home last Thursday. San Francisco Police Department San Francisco police announced they found brass knuckles during a seizure of drugs and narcotics arrests last Thursday. San Francisco Police Department San Francisco police said they seized 2 pounds of narcotics that included suspected fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin last Thursday. San Francisco Police Department San Francisco police said they seized 2 pounds of narcotics that included suspected fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin last Thursday. San Francisco Police Department San Francisco police say they arrested two people last Thursday on suspicion of narcotics trafficking and seized 927 grams of narcotics, including suspected fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin. San Francisco Police Department San Francisco police arrested two suspects in narcotics trafficking and seized 2 pounds of the illegal drugs in a major raid, the department announced Monday. At approximately 10 p.m. on Thursday, SFPD detained Fany Reanos-Moreno, 32, and Alexander Wyatt, 57, police wrote in a news release. Officials also seized 2 pounds of narcotics, including suspected fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin, police said. Reanos-Moreno was driving her vehicle at Van Ness Avenue and Market Street when officials detained her on suspicion of narcotics trafficking. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Wyatt was detained inside a motor home parked on the 1000 block of Turk Street. Officials said they arrested Wyatt on suspicion of possessing brass knuckles and narcotics and resisting arrest. They said he also had an outstanding arrest warrant from the San Joaquin County Sheriffs Office. The arrests followed a two-month investigation involving plainclothes teams and state and federal law enforcement partners. The SFPD will continue to prioritize efforts to address the drug crisis in our city by holding individuals who sell illegal narcotics accountable, SFPD wrote in a statement. Though arrests have been made, the investigation is still ongoing, and anyone with information is asked to contact SFPD at 415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411. NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / ProsperityME, located in Portland and Lewiston Maine, has received a $15,000 grant from KeyBank Foundation to support its mission of empowering members of Maine's refugee and immigrant communities through financial education and counseling. Founded by Claude Rwaganje, an immigrant from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, ProsperityME aims to empower the "new Mainer" community to invest in themselves in order to build financial stability, careers, businesses, and wealth. Services include financial education and counseling, workforce development programs, business support services, Individual Development Accounts (IDA) for savings, scholarship opportunities and housing support. ProsperityME's programs are available to low-income individuals of any nationality. "We are grateful to KeyBank for its partnership in helping new Mainers invest in their future. We know that newcomers cannot succeed without a supportive community of donors, financial institutions, and employers who understand that by supporting immigrants, we are growing the economy of Maine," said ProsperityME Founder and Executive Director Claude Rwaganje. Specifically, KeyBank's funding will help provide financial literacy and education programs, including Basic Money Management and Saving to Build Wealth, which teaches ProsperityME clients about the U.S. financial system, budgeting, and saving. "The core of KeyBank's existence as a community bank is our commitment to equipping individuals, families and businesses with financial services, guidance and confidence they need to be successful, contributing members of our community," said KeyBank Market President Tony DiSotto. "We are proud to support ProsperityME in their efforts to empower our newest neighbors with essential financial skills and education in a supportive environment to help them thrive personally and professionally in Maine." Formed in 2008, ProsperityME has offered over 300 courses and workshops and help more than 10,000 newcomers and low-income families to build a better future. This number includes financial and college planning sessions for thousands of individuals, and hundreds of families who have received housing assistance. Their clients come from over twenty countries, the majority from Angola, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Rwanda, Somalia, and Sudan. With the foreign-born population in Maine increasing annually, ProsperityME anticipates serving 4,000 immigrants residing in the Greater Portland and Lewiston areas this year. Through their programs, clients are empowered to open bank accounts, get hired for work, and start saving for their future. ProsperityME also helps their clients secure stable housing, start new businesses, and achieve their higher education goals. For more information on ProsperityME visit https://prosperityme.org/. KeyBank Foundation grants are part of a $40 billion commitment for lending and investments across Key's national footprint established in 2017 and supporting affordable housing and community development projects, home, and small business lending in low- and-moderate income communities, and philanthropic efforts targeted toward education, workforce development, and safe, vital neighborhoods. For more information on KeyBank Foundation KeyBank Foundation | KeyBank View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from KeyBank on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: KeyBank Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/keybank Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: KeyBank View the original press release on accesswire.com Berge Bulk uses Sofar Ocean's Wayfinder dynamic voyage optimisation platform to increase fleet efficiency and accelerate its "Maritime Marshall Plan" for decarbonisation. SINGAPORE, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Berge Bulk, one of the world's leading independent dry bulk owners, and Sofar Ocean, a San Francisco-based maritime technology company, announce that Berge Bulk has adopted Sofar's Wayfinder platform across its fleet of owned vessels, including new vessels equipped with wind propulsion technology. Berge Bulk uses Wayfinder's dynamic voyage optimisation to save fuel, time, and emissions, supporting the carrier's "Maritime Marshall Plan" decarbonisation strategy. Wayfinder leverages the most accurate marine weather forecasts - powered by Sofar's global network of ocean sensors - and data-driven vessel performance models that are continuously calibrated using the best available weather and vessel data. "Using innovative technology to boost vessel efficiency is key to our 'Maritime Marshall Plan' for decarbonisation," said James Marshall, founder and CEO of Berge Bulk. "Sofar's Wayfinder helps us understand fleet performance and importantly improves the vessels route optimisation as we aim for a zero-emissions fleet." "By reducing uncertainty in the weather predictions, Wayfinder delivers significant efficiency gains immediately and does so voyage after voyage, saving an average of 4-6% on fuel and emissions," said Tim Janssen, co-founder and CEO of Sofar Ocean. "We are excited about the role of Wayfinder in supporting new technologies to drive the energy transition and look forward to partnering with Berge Bulk on its journey to decarbonisation." Berge Bulk's adoption of Wayfinder is the latest in a series of decarbonisation initiatives aimed at achieving zero scope 1 emissions fleetwide by 2050. In the past year, Berge Bulk has equipped two ships - Newcastlemax vessel Berge Olympus and Valemax carrier Berge Neblina - with wind propulsion technology. Wayfinder is used on both sail-assisted vessels to maximise the benefits of the sails on efficiency. As Berge Bulk outfits more vessels with wind propulsion and invests in additional decarbonisation initiatives like alternative fuels, it will utilise Wayfinder to help measure and optimise the performance of each new technology. Wayfinder provides dynamic route and RPM guidance that accounts for variations in weather, market, and vessel performance. Wayfinder uses Sofar's superior weather forecasts, powered by its proprietary global ocean sensor network. These data-driven weather models greatly reduce forecast uncertainty and increase vessel performance model accuracy, ensuring Wayfinder keeps vessels on the most efficient path to port. "Better weather data and forecasts are a cornerstone to unlock superior vessel performance models and voyage optimisation," said Janssen. "Our partnership with Berge Bulk is built on this philosophy and we are committed to help prepare its fleet for a present and future defined by decarbonisation. We know that there is no silver bullet for getting to net zero, but are confident that voyage optimisation is a stepping stone technology to support the efficient rollout of new, green technologies." About Berge Bulk Berge Bulk is one of the world's leading independent dry bulk owners and has an outstanding record for its reliable, safe and efficient delivery of commodities around the world. Starting out with 12 vessels in 2007, the company now owns, operates, and manages a fleet of 90 safe and fuel-efficient vessels, equating to more than 15 million DWT. Berge Bulk's vision is to lead the world to a zero-carbon future through safe, efficient and sustainable shipping. About Sofar Ocean Sofar connects the world's oceans to power a more sustainable future. The largest maritime shipping companies in the world use its Wayfinder dynamic voyage optimisation platform to save fuel, time, and emissions, and accelerate long-term decarbonisation initiatives. Wayfinder is powered by Sofar's global network of ocean weather sensors and proprietary high-accuracy weather forecasts. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2478132/Hero___bergebulkcaptains.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/berge-bulk-adopts-sofars-wayfinder-across-fleet-to-bolster-decarbonisation-strategy-302220570.html New capital will be used to accelerate platform development in support of growing customer base and market demand Lytica , the global leader in electronic component spend analytics and risk intelligence using real customer data, today announced the completion of an additional $5 million growth capital investment from Resolve Growth Partners . The news comes on the heels of major growth in Lytica's customer base, which is comprised of the world's largest electronics manufacturing organizations, and underscores the desire of companies across all industries to overcome the numerous challenges related to effective electronic component pricing negotiation as well as risk mitigation. It also reflects Lytica's unique value in that pursuit as the world's only provider of electronic component spend analytics and risk intelligence built from real customer data. "Continuing to work closely with Resolve Growth Partners is a natural fit for us and a very exciting step in Lytica's journey," said Martin Sendyk, President & CEO at Lytica. "We've seen such strong demand for our platform that we decided to capitalize on the opportunity by investing in building out even more value-added capabilities and cementing Lytica as the only place in the industry where electronics buyers engage to make their most important decisions around architecting a sustainable, cost-effective electronic component supply chain." "Resolve has a strong track record in partnering with high-growth, disruptive technology companies and Lytica fits this mold perfectly," states Chris Rhodes, Co-Founder & Partner at Resolve Growth Partners. "The company is addressing some of the largest and most vital challenges that the electronics industry is facing. They have achieved this through a highly differentiated, impactful platform powered by unique IP and a proprietary database. The growth that we've seen as a result of this is impressive and we're excited to continue to support the team in the company's next phase of growth." The infusion of capital will be used to accelerate the build out of capabilities in Lytica's platform, SupplyLens Pro , in order to further enhance customer value from their investment. This includes additional insights and advanced analytics pertaining to identification of cost-savings opportunities in electronic component supply chains. Additionally, the company will be bringing unique features to market related to identification and mitigation of risk in their customers' supply chains. To learn more about Lytica, visit https://www.lytica.com/ About Lytica Lytica is an electronic component spend analytics and risk intelligence company that uses real customer data to help companies make their supply chain more cost transparent, more resilient, and more predictable. Lytica's advanced electronic component market intelligence platform employs machine learning and AI to analyze real-world pricing data, offering true market insights to reduce costs and mitigate supply chain risk. Fortune 500 and blue chip companies around the world rely on Lytica to find better prices, manufacturers, and suppliers. To learn more, visit lytica.com . About Resolve Growth Partners Resolve Growth Partners is a growth equity firm focused on investing in B2B software companies and enabling passionate, committed entrepreneurs to accelerate growth. Resolve provides expertise and repeatable best practices across talent, go-to-market, and operations. For more information on Resolve, visit http://www.resolvegrowth.com . Media Contact Anna Stevenson York IE anna@york.ie SOURCE: Lytica View the original press release on accesswire.com Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 13, 2024) - David H. Brett, President & CEO, EnGold Mines Ltd., (TSXV: EGM) ("EnGold" or the "Company") reports that the Company has commenced drilling at its 100% owned, fully permitted Lac La Hache Copper-Gold Property located within the prolific Quesnel Trough porphyry belt in the southern Cariboo region of BC. "We are thrilled to be drilling again at Lac La Hache," said EnGold President and CEO David H. Brett. "Management is confident in the potential of the property to grow its resources as well as yield new discoveries." A series of holes are underway to test potential new copper skarn mineralization southeast of the Spout Copper Deposit indicated by the artificial intelligence work of ALS GoldSpot Discoveries and the geological insight of our exploration team. "The potential for new high grade copper skarn zones at Lac La Hache is significant," said EnGold VP of Exploration Rob Shives, P.Geo. "The favorable carbonate-rich Nicola stratigraphy horizon that hosts the Spout and G1 Copper Deposits underlies much of the property, and considerable additional drill testing of this potential is warranted." The drill program is expected to continue for the rest of August. Rob Shives P.Geo., VP Exploration and a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical content of this release. About EnGold EnGold is a Vancouver-based copper, gold, silver, and magnetite exploration company focused solely on its 100% owned Lac La Hache property in the Cariboo region of BC which hosts the Spout Copper Deposit, the Aurizon Gold Deposit, and the G1 Copper Deposit and other targets within a large porphyry mineralizing system. With world-class infrastructure at its doorstep, Lac La Hache is a great location to be exploring. EnGold Mines Ltd. David Brett President & CEO To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/219762 SOURCE: EnGold Mines Ltd. JUPITER, Fla., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Bodvar Rose , the renowned producer of premium rose wines, proudly celebrates a significant milestone with Turkish producer and DJ Furkan Sert for their hit song "Bodvar." Since its release, the sophisticated dance track has amassed over three million streams on Spotify, becoming a viral sensation globally. This unique partnership, initiated a year ago, has merged the worlds of music and wine, reflecting Bodvar Rose's mission to create unforgettable experiences and promote a lifestyle of elegance, joy, and togetherness. "Bodvar Rose is synonymous with the modern art of living well," said Bodvar Hafstrom, Founder of Bodvar Rose. "Our mission is to create moments of joy and connection, whether it's through sharing a bottle of our premium rose or enjoying the harmonious blend of music and wine. Our collaboration with Furkan has amplified this mission, resonating with audiences who appreciate the finer things in life." Bodvar Rose, which just announced the launch of their first non-alcoholic rose, Bodvar No. 0, continues to break new ground in the industry. This latest collaboration has expanded the brand's global reach, connecting with music lovers worldwide and enriching the Bodvar Rose experience. The company continues to solidify its position as a leader in the luxury wine market and a pioneer in innovative brand partnerships. The work with Furkan Sert, celebrated for his distinctive blend of Deep House, Indie Dance, and Oriental House, naturally aligns with Bodvar Rose's mission and has allowed the brand to extend its reach beyond the vineyards into beach clubs in Europe and beyond. "Working with Bodvar Rose has been an inspiring journey," said Sert. "Their dedication to crafting beautiful moments through their roses perfectly complements my music. Together, we've created something special that celebrates the art of living and enjoying life to the fullest." For more information, please visit: www.bodvarrose.com About Bodvar Rose Founded in 2007 in the sun-drenched vineyards of Provence, Bodvar Rose is a distinguished producer of premium rose wines. With a dedication to quality and elegance, our award-winning roses are celebrated for their crisp, fresh flavors and ability to bring the essence of the French Riviera to any occasion. Each bottle is crafted to capture the joy and romance of southern France, making every sip an invitation to experience the luxury and beauty of a Bodvar moment. Join us in celebrating life's pleasures at selected restaurants, hotels, and retailers worldwide. Discover more about Bodvar Rose and our commitment to creating memories at www.bodvarrose.com . Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2480557/Bodv_r_Ros__x_Furkan_Sert.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2480556/Unknown_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/bodvar-rose-and-dj-furkan-sert-unite-music-and-rose-with-hit-song-bodvar-302220818.html Naples, FL, Aug. 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Music Licensing, Inc. (OTC: SONG) and Jake P. Noch Family Office, LLC. are currently engaged in ongoing negotiations with the Government of Jamaica. This follows a delayed response to Music Licensing Inc.'s formal request for discussions, which was only received after the legally mandated cooling-off period had concluded. The cooling-off period, intended as a critical phase for allowing amicable dispute resolution, was fully exhausted without a timely response from the Jamaican authorities. Despite this delay, Music Licensing, Inc. and Jake P. Noch Family Office, LLC. remain committed to good-faith negotiations with the Government of Jamaica. However, should a satisfactory monetary resolution in favor of Music Licensing, Inc. not be achieved promptly, the companies will have no alternative but to initiate Investor-State Arbitration at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) to protect their investments and legal rights. The potential arbitration process would be led by Transnational Matters PLLC, a law firm with expertise in international law and investor-state disputes. Davy Karkason, Esq., a distinguished expert in the field, is set to serve as the principal attorney representing Music Licensing, Inc. and Jake P. Noch Family Office, LLC. throughout the arbitration proceedings, should they become necessary. Music Licensing, Inc. and Jake P. Noch Family Office, LLC. remain hopeful that these negotiations will result in a fair and equitable resolution of the matter. About Music Licensing, Inc. (OTC: SONG) ( ProMusicRights.com ) Music Licensing, Inc. (OTC: SONG), also known as Pro Music Rights, is a diversified holding company and the fifth public performance rights organization (PRO) formed in the United States. Its licensees include notable companies such as TikTok, iHeart Media, Triller, Napster, 7Digital, Vevo, and many others. Pro Music Rights holds an estimated market share of 7.4% in the United States, representing over 2,500,000 works by notable artists such as A$AP Rocky, Wiz Khalifa, Pharrell, Young Jeezy, Juelz Santana, Lil Yachty, MoneyBagg Yo, Larry June, Trae Pound, Sauce Walka, Trae Tha Truth, Sosamann, Soulja Boy, Lex Luger, Trauma Tone, Lud Foe, SlowBucks, Gunplay, OG Maco, Rich The Kid, Fat Trel, Young Scooter, Nipsey Hussle, Famous Dex, Boosie Badazz, Shy Glizzy, 2 Chainz, Migos, Gucci Mane, Young Dolph, Trinidad James, Chingy, Lil Gnar, 3OhBlack, Curren$y, Fall Out Boy, Money Man, Dej Loaf, Lil Uzi Vert, and countless others, as well as artificial intelligence (A.I.) created music. Additionally, Music Licensing, Inc. (OTC: SONG) owns royalty stakes in Listerine "Mouthwash" Antiseptic and musical works by artists such as The Weeknd, Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Elton John, Mike Posner, blackbear, Lil Nas X, Lil Yachty, DaBaby, Stunna 4 Vegas, Miley Cyrus, Lil Wayne, XXXTentacion, Jeremih, Ty Dolla $ign, Eric Bellinger, Ne-Yo, MoneyBagg Yo, Halsey, Desiigner, DaniLeigh, Rihanna, and numerous others. About Transnational Matters PLLC Transnational Matters PLLC is a law firm with a strong focus on international law, investor-state dispute settlement, and complex arbitration cases. The firm represents clients in high-stakes legal matters across the globe. About Jake P. Noch Family Office, LLC. https://www.jakepnoch.com/ Jake P. Noch Family Office, LLC. is a single-family office with no outside clients, dedicated to strategically investing in Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) and fostering the growth of emerging companies. Our firm specializes in guiding these ventures towards successful exits through public market mergers, leveraging our expertise and resources to maximize their potential. At Jake P. Noch Family Office, LLC., we are more than just investors - we are partners committed to the long-term success of the companies we support. Through continuous financial backing facilitated by court approved 3(a)(10) mechanisms, we provide ongoing support to ensure sustained growth and prosperity, driving value creation and innovation in the businesses we invest in. Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which are intended to be covered by the safe harbors created thereby. Investors are cautioned that, all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including without limitation, the ability of Jake P. Noch Family Office, LLC. to accomplish its stated plan of business. Jake P. Noch Family Office, LLC. believes that the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements contained herein are reasonable, any of the assumptions could be inaccurate, and therefore, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements included in this press release will prove to be accurate. In light of the significant uncertainties inherent in the forward-looking statements included herein, the inclusion of such information should not be regarded as a representation by Jake P. Noch Family Office, LLC., or any other person. Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which are intended to be covered by the safe harbors created thereby. Investors are cautioned that, all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including without limitation, the ability of Music Licensing, Inc. & Pro Music Rights, Inc. to accomplish its stated plan of business. Music Licensing, Inc. & Pro Music Rights, Inc. believes that the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements contained herein are reasonable, any of the assumptions could be inaccurate, and therefore, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements included in this press release will prove to be accurate. In light of the significant uncertainties inherent in the forward-looking statements included herein, the inclusion of such information should not be regarded as a representation by Pro Music Rights, Inc., Music Licensing, Inc., or any other person. Non-Legal Advice Disclosure: This press release does not constitute legal advice, and readers are advised to seek legal counsel for any legal matters or questions related to the content herein. Non-Investment Advice Disclosure: This communication is intended solely for informational purposes and does not in any way imply or constitute a recommendation or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any securities, commodities, bonds, options, derivatives, or any other investment products. Any decisions related to investments should be made after thorough research and consultation with a qualified financial advisor or professional. We assume no liability for any actions taken or not taken based on the information provided in this communication Contact: investors@ProMusicRights.com SOURCE: Music Licensing, Inc WBroker, a financial service provider, has upgraded its stock trading app. With the most recent development, the platform has significantly enhanced its functionality and user experience and offers a one-stop multi-asset management. This update allows users to manage a range of assets within a single platform. The app now supports multi-currency transactions and offers advanced analytical tools to help users track and optimize their investment performance. In addition, the integration of WBroker with various banks and brokers bolsters seamless and automatic updates of transactions and portfolios, eliminating the need for manual entries. This upgrade positions WBrokeras a versatile and powerful tool for both novice and experienced investors. WBroker is passionate to redefining the future of multi-asset management with its innovative solutions. WBroker leverages cutting-edge technology and a comprehensive range of financial products to provide professional individual clients with a suite of wealth management products. This includes stocks, cash management, funds, structured products, bonds, and crypto assets. These offerings meet diverse client needs and provide flexible access to a broader array of investment options. WBroker innovative solutions help financial institutions improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their wealth management services and provide investors with diversified investment choices and a superior service experience. The platform provides user-friendly wealth management products. The platform is designed to empower users by providing a straightforward investment experience. Through continuous fintech innovation, WBroker aims to safeguard user assets, enabling them to achieve asset preservation and growth safely, conveniently, and flexibly. For more information about WBroker and its wealth management products, please visit their website. About WBroker: WBroker, headquartered in Singapore, is a digital one-stop investment and wealth management platform. The platform is dedicated to providing global individual investors with a comprehensive range of cross-border asset and wealth management products, including stocks, bonds, and funds. Their institutional clients span commercial banks, securities companies, family offices, wealth management firms, and fund management companies across various financial sectors. Media Contact Organization: Wealth Guardian Investment Limited Contact Person Name: Winson Man Website: https://wbroker.com/ Email: service@wbroker.com Country: Hong Kong S.A.R. SOURCE: Wealth Guardian Investment Limited View the original press release on accesswire.com MIRAME Fine Art presents the latest work of Emmanuel Rodriguez-Chaves, a distinguished Costa Rican artist known for his exploration of memory, narrative, and the socio-political dimensions of imagery. Based in San Jose, Rodriguez-Chaves is gaining international attention for his ability to challenge and reinterpret the ways in which images are perceived and understood within the contexts of conflict and history. SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / Promoting Costa Rica's rich cultural heritage, MIRAME Fine Art connects artists with art lovers worldwide. The premier online Costa Rican art gallery now includes the paintings of Emmanuel Rodriguez-Chaves. https://miramefineart.com/artist/emmanuel-rodriguez-chaves/ Emmanuel Rodriguez-Chaves, Untitled (Paisaje) Oil on Canvas Costa Rican Abstraction and the Interplay of Images Rodriguez-Chaves' work stands at the forefront of the Costa Rican contemporary art scene, pushing the boundaries of abstraction through a meticulous fusion of digital manipulation, collage techniques, and painted forms. His pieces often resemble collages, where images from disparate times and places converge, evoking nostalgia while simultaneously questioning the veracity of historical narratives and challenging our trust in the images that shape our understanding of reality. A Visual Dialogue on Memory and Ideology Inviting viewers to consider the ideological forces behind image production, Rodriguez-Chaves' paintings blend historical and contemporary references, critically examining the reliability of images as conveyors of truth. While deeply rooted in the broader Latin American art scene, his work remains distinctly Costa Rican, reflecting the region's unique concerns and perspectives. The manipulation of databases, printed photos, and digital resources in his work is not just a technical exercise but a conceptual one, interrogating the role of images in constructing collective memory. His academic rigor, underscored by his Ph.D. from the University of Melbourne, further enriches this discourse. Championing Emerging Talent at abra.espacio Beyond his personal artistic endeavors, Rodriguez-Chaves nurtures the Costa Rican contemporary art scene through his not-for-profit independent art space, abra.espacio, located in the heart of downtown San Jose. This space is dedicated to fostering artistic expression in Costa Rica, providing a platform for emerging talent to develop and showcase their work. International Impact and Recognition Rodriguez-Chaves' paintings have been shown worldwide in venues such as Kunsthalle am Hamburger Platz in Berlin, and Galerie Pompom in Sydney. His pieces have been acquired by collectors from Costa Rica to New York, affirming the artist's place in the global contemporary art dialogue. The Costa Rican artist's contributions are now gaining renewed attention as collectors seek to buy Costa Rican art, recognizing its unique narrative power on the global stage. The Costa Rican Collage: An Intersection of Art and Research Rodriguez-Chaves is an artist and a researcher, uniquely positioned to interrogate how images function within socio-political frameworks. His work resonates within the Costa Rican contemporary art scene, reflecting a complex and layered visual world where the boundaries between fact and fiction are continuously questioned. Contact Information For more details on Emmanuel Rodriguez-Chaves' work or inquiries, please contact MIRAME Fine Art at belinda@miramefineart.com Contact Information Belinda Seppings Co-Founder belinda@miramefineart.com +447821591397 SOURCE: MIRAME Fine Art View the original press release on newswire.com. Acclaimed Fast-casual Restaurant Chain Renews Long-term Partnership with Leading Supply Chain Management Technology Provider CHICAGO, IL / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / ArrowStream, Inc. ("ArrowStream"), the leading supply chain management technology provider for the foodservice industry, is proud to announce Zaxby's Franchising LLC ("Zaxby's"), the acclaimed fast-casual restaurant chain known for its chicken fingers, wings, and signature sauces, renewed its long-term contract with ArrowStream. Zaxby's has been a valued customer since 2017, among ArrowStream's network of over 1,300 distribution locations, 11,000 manufacturers, and 300 leading brands across 105,000 restaurant locations. Since the beginning of the partnership, ArrowStream has empowered Zaxby's to quickly identify price variance savings opportunities and proactively address the most pressing roadblocks in their supply chain on behalf of their 900+ locations. By centralizing inventory, contract, category spend, and quality assurance information, ArrowStream has provided Zaxby's with a comprehensive, real-time view of their supply chain operations. "ArrowStream is an extension of our team and renewing our partnership highlights our commitment to leveraging advanced technology to maintain the highest standards in our supply chain management," said Gary Nash, Sr. Director of Purchasing at Zaxby's Franchising LLC. "The insights and capabilities provided by ArrowStream have been instrumental in helping us achieve our operational goals and deliver the best possible experience to our customers." Zaxby's entire supply chain team leverages the ArrowStream platform daily, utilizing its robust features to streamline operations and maintain optimal inventory levels across three major distribution partners. ArrowStream empowers Zaxby's to better manage Limited Time Offers (LTOs), ensuring that promotions are executed smoothly, and inventory is always aligned with demand. In addition to ArrowStream Central, Zaxby's employs ArrowStream's Foodservice Incident Management (FSIM) solution to optimize its quality incident management processes. This solution enables Zaxby's to effectively track and resolve quality issues, ensuring that all products meet their stringent standards and that any incidents are addressed promptly and efficiently. "Zaxby's has been a valued partner for over seven years, and we are thrilled to continue supporting their supply chain initiatives," said Jay Moon, Chief Customer Officer at ArrowStream. "Our solutions are designed to provide actionable insights and help our customers make quicker and more accurate decisions. We look forward to continuing to help Zaxby's achieve their strategic business objectives." ArrowStream remains committed to delivering cutting-edge technology solutions that empower foodservice operators to transform their supply chains, reduce costs, and enhance overall operational efficiency. This is why companies like Ted's Montana Grill, Aroma Joe's, and Noodles & Company, among others, employ ArrowStream to modernize their supply chain procedures. Rethink your supply chain today by scheduling a one-on-one consultation with an ArrowStream supply chain expert. About ArrowStream ArrowStream is the leading foodservice cloud platform for supply chain intelligence, with over 1,300 distribution locations, 11,000 manufacturers, and 300 leading brands across 105,000 restaurant locations integrated into a global network of applications and industry data. ArrowStream provides unparalleled transparency, control, and actionable insight to mitigate risks, streamline operations, and optimize profitability. Contact Information Joe Ferrell Sr. Director, Marketing jferrell@arrowstream.com SOURCE: ArrowStream, Inc. View the original press release on newswire.com. Students expressed the complexities, possibilities and impact of Artificial Intelligence on their academic lives and future careers The recording industry's Music Performance Trust Fund (MPTF), a leading non-profit organization enriching lives and uniting communities through the power of music in North America, has granted $119,000 USD in academic support to 114 college and university students for the upcoming school year. The Music's Future scholarship this year awarded students at 27 colleges and universities throughout the United States and Canada as they pursue music performance, therapy, education, and conducting degrees. The Music Family scholarship supports member families of the American Federation of Musicians (AF-M) as they pursue higher education in their chosen field. This year, recipients represented 40 local music unions in United States and Canada. Some are pursuing careers in music performance, while others are studying engineering, law, art history, neuroscience, journalism and computer science, among other fields. Unique to securing a scholarship this year was to submit an essay on whether and how Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) are impacting current studies and future careers. "Complex human dynamics cannot be shoehorned into an algorithm," wrote Elizabeth B., a music therapy major at Concordia University in Montreal, QC. "We are social beings, and our creative process of music-making and enjoyment is thus interpersonal and cannot be mediated by a machine." "While AI will continue to be a powerful tool that can be used for good and bad, it will never take away the most valuable part of being a musician: the journey," said Ryan W., a music education major at Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS. Dan Beck, MPTF Trustee, commented that "the student essays this year were impressive, enlightening, provocative, and reassuring. I'm pleased to see the next generation taking the challenging issues of technology seriously in heart and mind." These scholarships represent approximately 3% of the MPTF's total annual grant distribution. Funding for admission-free live music performances for the public good remains the primary focus of MPTF's philanthropy. Since reviving the scholarship initiative in 2020, the MPTF has distributed 576 scholarships to benefit aspiring professional musicians and the children of professional musicians. About the MPTF : The recording industry's Music Performance Trust Fund is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit public service organization whose mission is to support admission-free, live events performed by professional musicians throughout the United States and Canada. The MPTF was established more than 75 years ago by recording companies including Sony Music, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group. Interested parties may contact Natty Hepburn-Beaty, Manager of Marketing Services, at nhepburnbeaty@musicpf.org or visit www.musicpf.org Contact: Natilyn Hepburn-Beaty, Manager of Marketing Services nhepburnbeaty@musicpf.org SOURCE: Music Performance Trust Fund View the original press release on accesswire.com A Paris-Brest with pistachio cream and pistachio praline between two layers of choux at Maison Nico in San Francisco in 2022. Yalonda M. James/The Chronicle Tear into the pistachio-laden challah bun from Little Sky Bakery in Menlo Park. Elena Kadvany/The Chronicle Pistachio-cherry gelato from Che Ficos new gelato shop in Menlo Park. Elena Kadvany/The Chronicle Mackenzie Chung Fegan is on leave. This week, food reporter Elena Kadvany is filling in. Ive been pestering my editors for months to write this extremely niche story about the most delicious pistachio treats in the Bay Area. Finally, success! I feel strongly about those precious little green nuts, which happen to be in season right now in California, and Im concerned that they are often misrepresented in the dessert world. Too many times Ive been drawn in by a pistachio desserts menu description, but when it arrives, I can barely detect the nuts buttery flavor. Instead, its a muted green ghost of a pistachio. Advertisement Article continues below this ad And then you experience the technicolor magic of a treat where pistachio plays the compelling main character, not a supporting role. Months ago, I was left reeling from the unparalleled pistachio Paris-Brest at French bakery Maison Nico in San Francisco, the catalyst for this story idea. Silky, intense pistachio cream sits between two layers of delicate choux pastry, the top covered with more chopped pistachios and flakes of salt like jewels on a crown. This is a regal creation, and elusive. Its a seasonal offering, available at Maison Nico until its not, employees told me. Pistachios are everywhere at Jewish-inspired bakery Loquat in San Francisco: folded into a crumble cake, forming a layer of frangipane in mini peach galettes, studding chubby butter cookies. It all started with a jar of pistachio butter from Fiddyment Farms near Sacramento, whose late founder David Fiddyment was reportedly one of the first farmers to plant pistachios in California. The taste of it was so pure, it was so intensely pistachio, we were obsessed with it, co-owner Tal Mor told me via email. It sparked pastry chef Kristina Costas idea for a peanut butter cookie, but made instead with pistachios and pistachio butter, covered in salty sugar. The nut butter also transforms the pastry cream inside Loquats pistachio cream puff into salty, all-encompassing luxury. Ive hit peak pistachio at Little Sky Bakery in Menlo Park, which slathers pistachio cream from Italy into its golden, naturally leavened challah buns. Nearby, Il Mercato di Che Fico (from the Italian restaurant of the same name) is making velvety pistachio gelato studded with tart cherries. Advertisement Article continues below this ad But no one in the Bay Area may be as committed to pistachios as Tolgay Karabulut of San Franciscos Baklavastory. Since 2020, hes been traveling to Gaziantep, Turkey, every summer to harvest early-batch pistachios by hand, sending them back to the U.S. in vacuum-sealed bags on a cargo ship. The first batch (early batch) of pistachios are fattier, he emailed me last week from Turkey. They carry more natural oils in them. They are more juicy. The longer they sit on the trees, he said, the more the sun sucks their natural oils out, losing both color and flavor. Karabulut hopes to harvest five tons this year for his baklava, which is baked to order every 20 minutes at the Mission District bakery. What top-tier pistachio treats did I miss? Id love to hear from you: The search for the best pistachio treats is never really over. Baklavastory. 1830 Harrison St., Suite B, San Francisco. baklavastory.com Advertisement Article continues below this ad Il Mercato di Che Fico. 1300 El Camino Real, Suite A, Menlo Park. ilmercatodichefico.com Little Sky Bakery. 506 Santa Cruz Ave. and 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park; 170 State St., Los Altos; Bay Area farmers markets. littleskybakery.com Loquat. 198 Gough St., San Francisco. loquatsf.square.site Maison Nico. 710 Montgomery St., San Francisco. maisonnico.com Pizza Hut was the first U.S. chain to donate meals on a national level, and now, its parent company Yum! Brands is using those years of experience to ensure its surplus food lands on plates, not in landfills. Yum! Brands Somewhere in Poland, a notification pushes from the brand's app. The customer who ordered the large Stuffed Crust pepperoni pizza wants thin crust instead. At a KFC in Brazil, it's the end of the lunch rush hour, and some Original Recipe chicken has gone unsold. Situations like these occur across restaurants around the world. This surplus food presents an opportunity for Yum! Brands. As the world's largest restaurant business and parent company of KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and The Habit Burger Grill, Yum! and its brands' franchisees are uniquely positioned to donate unused product to food banks and charities on a global scale. This not only feeds those in need but also keeps food out of landfills, curbing carbon emissions. "We're helping to solve hunger issues in various markets and impact climate change. It's rewarding work," Maria Echeverri, KFC Latin America and Caribbean food donation lead, said. "And we're proud of the progress we've made. Since Yum! created Harvest in 1992, the company has donated over 215 million lbs. of food to more than 5,000 charity partners in 25-plus countries, which is the equivalent of removing over 19 million trash bags from landfills. But we still know there is more work to be done." Harvest, which Echeverri mentioned, is run by Food Donation Connection (FDC). It started in 1992 and was, at the time, the only such program in the United States, making Pizza Hut the first national chain to donate its surplus food. Bill Reighard, a former Pizza Hut/PepsiCo executive who left the company, founded FDC, and the company now partners with other restaurant chains. Among them is KFC, which began its Harvest program in the United States in 1999, marking 2024 as the partnership's 25th anniversary. Harvest also works as a retention tool. In Trinidad and Tobago, one of KFC's most frequented markets, franchisee Roger Rambharose, vice president of Prestige Holdings Limited, saw the program as an opportunity to connect with his Generation Z team members, who were looking for a sense of purpose in their work. So, his team identified seven local charities and mapped out a weekly collection process. They bought a freezer truck to transport the surplus food in the hot Caribbean weather and branded the vehicle with Harvest messaging to visually alert the community of the program. It's been so successful, Rambharose has seen an immediate increase in team member retention (watch him talk about it in the video above). Another success story is in the U.K. where KFC and its franchisees donates its surplus food through the biggest food redistribution program in the country, Fareshare. Since partnering with them in 2021, its food donation has grown by two-thirds, providing 1 million meals over the past three years and targeting 2 million meals by the end of 2024. "About half of our restaurants are currently donating their surplus chicken," Louise Norris, KFC Foundation manager in the United Kingdom and Ireland (UKI), said. "We work every day to increase that amount and have done some pretty fun activations, like a community kitchen in which influencers created recipes using leftover KFC chicken. We want to show our customers that they, too, can put food on plates, not landfills." Even Yum!'s test kitchens send unused product to those in need. Taco Bell donates surplus food from its Irvine, California, corporate office and its distribution centers. In Plano, Texas, Jennifer Gilara, who was once a Pizza Hut general manager before running its test kitchen, donated 6,000 lbs. of food to a local homeless shelter in 2023. She has a goal of doubling that this year. "As the world's largest restaurant company, we can make a big impact and lead in the food donation space," Gilara said. "I'm so grateful that we've found a solution that has the potential to work in every one of our markets to feed those in our communities." Whether it's Harvest through FDC, food donation through FareShare or another organization, or a direct donation, Yum! Brands will continue to feed those in need, curb greenhouse gas emissions and provide a sense of purpose to team members. View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Yum! Brands on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: Yum! Brands Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/yum-brands Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: Yum! Brands View the original press release on accesswire.com by Luca Ferraro Do you feel a bit lost when people refer to certain environmental sustainability topics and aren't sure where to start when it comes to learning more? Sustainability 101 is a blog series that you can turn to for information about different environmental terms that may come up at work, during discussions with friends, and even at your annual holiday gathering. NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / "The Gartner1Q24 Global Labor Market Survey found that 44% of workers worldwide have a hybrid work model, outnumbering the 39% of workers who work full-time in the office full-time."* Hybrid work is a model that combines in-office and remote work. Some companies set specific days for on-site work, while others allow employees to manage their own schedules. Hybrid work models can be associated with less frequent commutes which can lower emissions from motor vehicles. But hybrid work can also be a key factor in advancing sustainability in the workforce - helping to create workplace environments where employees are healthy, engaged, and productive. These practices can be a key component of a company's overall environmental, social, and governance (ESG) program, which often includes the well-being and development of employees. Let's explore hybrid work trends and how these models can foster inclusive and productive workforces. From Perk to Expectation While flexible work models have been around for a while, remote work became commonplace during the pandemic, which led to the increased popularity of hybrid work. Many employees prefer a hybrid approach versus a full-time return to the office, seeing it as a way to support their work-life balance and general well-being. Meanwhile, employers are also finding that flexible work models can be an important way to attract, support, and retain employees. In a 2022 Cisco Global Hybrid Work Study, 28,000 full-time employees across 27 markets were surveyed and conveyed support for hybrid work with a collaborative approach: 62% of employees agree that their ability to work from anywhere impacts whether they stay at or leave a job 61% believe their quality of work has improved 60% have seen their productivity increase How Cisco Powers Hybrid Work At the heart of successful hybrid work is collaborative technology that reaches corporate headquarters and home offices - from video conferencing to messaging applications to real-time document sharing. For example, with its market-leading platform composed of Webex, AnyConnect VPN and ThousandEyes, Cisco is providing a secure way for millions of people to work from home daily. A Cisco-enabled remote work environment can also include a Cisco Desk Pro, a dedicated video desk device with three times the screen size of an average PC, which delivers a high-quality meeting experience. It helps make calls engaging and keeps them from becoming fatiguing- no eye squinting to see small talking heads on a small PC screen. For office environments, Cisco can unlock sustainability potential and optimize workplaces through its Smart Building solutions that can automate workplace environments, improve space, and lower costs. By using Power over Ethernet (PoE) technology and connected Heating, Ventilation, Air-Conditioning (HVAC), security, and occupancy systems, companies can gain actionable, timely insights into building resource availability, occupancy, and energy usage. Not only do these solutions support more sustainable hybrid work, but many of the products themselves are built with sustainability in mind. For example, the Cisco Room Bar, a video device for office meeting rooms, was created with a circular design approach. The number of internal components was reduced by 16 tons per year, and the packaging volume was reduced by 44 percent by removing foam. The product itself has been designed to be easier to repair, refurbish, and recycle. Cisco is applying principles like this to its whole portfolio. In fact, Cisco has set a goal that 100 percent of its new products and packaging will incorporate Circular Design Principles by its fiscal year 2025. The Importance of Inclusivity and Productivity in a Hybrid Work Model Cisco's purpose is to power an inclusive future for all. Supporting hybrid and inclusive work environments - where everyone, regardless of background or circumstance, feels valued and can contribute fully - is a key aspect of the company's purpose. For example, Webex enhances inclusivity with features like real-time translation, closed captions, and post-meeting recaps. Cisco is now applying industry-leading AI to further address frustrations with background noise, poor sound, and low video quality. The goal is to make it feel as if there is no real distance between colleagues, and that each participant, regardless of location, is able to fully and effectively participate. Guiding Principles and the Future of Hybrid Work According to an IDC study, nearly half of organizations prioritize maintaining flexible work models in order to support their transformation efforts. Despite the momentum and prioritization of hybrid work, many organizations struggle to implement effective strategies. According to a McKinsey 2024 survey, 68 percent of organizations do not yet have detailed plans about how to handle hybrid work. Hybrid work models can vary by region, industry, company and even business units, creating complexities for both workers and managers. It can be a new way of thinking that spans company culture, processes, and technology. Ultimately, it requires a strategic and thoughtful approach from multiple stakeholders across an organization. Cisco's mindset, as stated by our president and CEO Chuck Robbins is that "The office is a magnet, not a mandate." Hybrid work models are not just about flexibility - they are integral to advancing sustainability and inclusivity in the workforce. By leveraging advanced technology and strategic planning, companies can foster environments where employees thrive and contribute to broader sustainability goals. Hybrid work is becoming more mainstream, and many organizations are looking for ways to achieve better outcomes. For me personally, since I began using a dedicated Webex device for managing all my remote conferencing, I have re-energized my productivity and increased my job satisfaction. For guidance on how to take hybrid work from a 'great experiment' to a cornerstone of sustainability and productivity, check out Cisco's Mastering Hybrid Work. *Gartner, Quick Answer: Evaluating Microsoft Places for Hybrid Work Challenges, Tori Paulman, Christopher Trueman, 8 July 2024 GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved. View original content here View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Cisco Systems Inc. on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: Cisco Systems Inc. Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/cisco-systems-inc Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: Cisco Systems Inc. View the original press release on accesswire.com As COO and co-Founder of Kentik, Biegel brings experience in network automation and a unique GTM perspective OpsMill, a pioneer in infrastructure and network automation, today announced that Justin Biegel has joined the company's Board of Directors as a Board Advisor. Biegel is COO and co-Founder of Kentik, a network observability leader. He will leverage his experience working in network automation, leading GTM efforts, and scaling startups to assist OpsMill strategically as it looks to execute its unique approach to infrastructure and network automation. "OpsMill is led by a pair of smart founders that have created a groundbreaking solution to the hard problems infrastructure and networking professionals face. Infrahub is an innovative approach to network data management that enables network teams to easily modernize their infrastructure management efforts," said Justin Biegel, Board Advisor, OpsMill. "They're coming at just the right time: Network automation is taking off faster than a rocket ship. While we're still in the early days for network source of truth systems like Infrahub, these systems will prove that they're a requirement for enterprises to unlock the full potential of network automation. I'm thrilled for the opportunity to work with Damien, Raphael, and the rest of the OpsMill team in a space that I know well from my time founding and building Kentik." Biegel brings demonstrated GTM and operational leadership to the role. He has over 10 years of experience working in technology sales and scaling infrastructure and networking companies. During that time, he helped grow Kentik from the ground up as the first head of sales, while serving a diverse roster of customers and broad range of industries across the world. "Justin brings such value to us as founders as we rapidly grow our company," said Damien Garros, CEO and co-Founder, OpsMill. "His sales, GTM, and operations background complements our deep technical expertise, forging a partnership that'll ensure OpsMill maximizes our market reach." Biegel co-founded Kentik in 2014 and became COO in 2021. The company has raised $102 million through its series C round of funding. Tech giants Zoom, Box, and Dropbox all use the technology to achieve complete hybrid and multi-cloud network observability. Before co-founding Kentik, Biegel was responsible for sales in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest at Internap, a global provider of performance-driven, secure hybrid infrastructure solutions, where he led his regions to record-breaking performance. Biegel graduated with honors from DePaul University with a BA in Economics. "Justin is a perfect addition to our advisory bench," said Raphael Maunier, COO and co-Founder, OpsMill. "He's worked across the infrastructure and networking spaces. Specifically, his career has taught him the increasing importance and challenge of network automation today." The move underscores OpsMill's continuing efforts to enhance its Board of Directors with proven networking leaders. About OpsMill OpsMill is the infrastructure automation platform company, bringing the best practices and features of the industry's leading automation approaches together in a single, scalable, and extensible platform so that infrastructure, cloud, network, and security teams can focus on innovation rather than integrating toolsets. Infrahub by OpsMill is the industry's leading open-source integrated infrastructure automation platform. OpsMill is backed by Serena Capital, Partech, OVNI Capital, Kima Ventures and Better Angle. For more information, visit OpsMill.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240813268658/en/ Contacts: Jordan Tewell 10Fold for OpsMill opsmill@10fold.com TORONTO, ON AND ATLANTA, GA / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / Retained executive search firm Caldwell (TSX:CWL)(OTCQX:CWLPF) today announced a major enhancement to its recruiting capabilities in the automobility sector with the addition of Gregory McDonald as a partner in the firm's Industrial Practice, focused on recruiting executives in the automobility sector. "Gregg brings an impressive combination of market/industry knowledge gained from a 20-year career in the automotive industry and more than a decade of experience building leadership teams for a wide variety of clients, including Fortune 500, small-, mid-, and large-cap public and private companies," said Dave Winston, managing partner of Caldwell's Industrial Practice. "His passion for connecting his clients with the best global talent, his deep expertise, his extensive network of industry contacts, and his strong integrity make him an excellent addition to the Caldwell team." Mr. McDonald has an impressive track record of success building leadership teams for clients in automobility - OEMs, suppliers, dealers, retailers, and services providers - as well as robotics, telecommunications, metals, plastics, chemicals, private equity, venture capital (SPAC), and energy. He has also helped companies find digital leaders to transform their businesses in such technologies as smart grid, connected vehicles, mobility as a service, and the internet of things. Mr. McDonald joins Caldwell from Maccabeus LLC, a boutique executive search firm he founded in 2021. Prior to that, he held leadership roles at Russell Reynolds and Heidrick & Struggles, working with both public and private clients in automobility, chemicals, energy, consumer, and technology. Before his career in executive search, Mr. McDonald had a 20-year career as an engineering executive, working for Carborundum, Ford Motor Company, General Electric, and PolyOne. Mr. McDonald earned a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from the State University of New York in Buffalo.? "Our focus has always been to connect our clients with transformational talent," said Chris Beck, president. "Gregg's addition to our team marks a strategic advancement into the automotive industry, and we're truly pleased to be able to serve a new component of the industrial sector. We're excited to welcome him to the team and look forward to bringing on additional high-caliber partners at Caldwell in the months ahead." ??About Caldwell Caldwell is a leading retained executive search firm connecting clients with transformational talent. Together with IQTalent, we are a technology-powered talent acquisition firm specializing in recruitment at all levels. Through the two distinct brands - Caldwell and IQTalent- the firm leverages the latest innovations in AI to offer an integrated spectrum of services delivered by teams with deep knowledge in their respective areas. Services include candidate research and sourcing through to full recruitment at the professional, executive and board levels, as well as a suite of talent strategy and assessment tools that can help clients hire the right people, then manage and inspire them to achieve maximum business results. Caldwell's common shares are listed on The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX:CWL) and trade on the OTCQX Market (OTCQX:CWLPF). Please visit our website at www.caldwell.com for further information. For further information, please contact: Caroline Lomot Caldwell clomot@caldwell.com +1 516 830 3535 Forward-Looking Statements Forward-looking statements in this document are based on current expectations subject to the significant risks and uncertainties cited. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of statements that include phrases such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "foresee," "may," "will," "likely," "estimates," "potential," "continue" or other similar words or phrases. Similarly, statements that describe our objectives, plans or goals also are forward-looking statements. We are subject to many factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the relevant forward looking statement including, but not limited to, the impact of pandemic diseases, our ability to attract and retain key personnel; exposure to our partners taking our clients with them to another firm; the performance of the US, Canadian and international economies; risks related to deposit-taking institutions; foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations; competition from other companies directly or indirectly engaged in talent acquisition; cybersecurity requirements, vulnerabilities, threats and attacks; damage to our brand reputation; our ability to align our cost structure to changes in our revenue; liability risk in the services we perform; potential legal liability from clients, employees and candidates for employment; reliance on software that we license from third parties; reliance on third-party contractors for talent acquisition support; the classification of third-party labour as contractors versus employee relationships; our ability to successfully recover from a disaster or other business continuity issues; adverse governmental and tax law rulings; successfully integrating or realizing the expected benefits from our acquisitions, adverse operating issues from acquired businesses; volatility of the market price and trading volume of our common shares; technological advances may significantly disrupt the labour market and weaken demand for human capital at a rapid rate; affiliation agreements may fail to renew or affiliates may be acquired; the impact on profitability from marketable securities valuation fluctuations; increasing dependence on third parties for the execution of critical functions; our ability to generate sufficient cash flow from operations to support our growth and fund any dividends; potential impairment of our acquired goodwill and intangible assets; and disruption as a result of actions of certain stockholders or potential acquirers of the Company. For more information on the factors that could affect the outcome of forward-looking statements, refer to the "Risk Factors" section of our Annual Information Form and other public filings (copies of which may be obtained at www.sedar.com). These factors should be considered carefully, and the reader should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Although any forward-looking statements are based on what management currently believes to be reasonable assumptions, we cannot assure readers that actual results, performance or achievements will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Management's assumptions may prove to be incorrect. Except as required by Canadian securities laws, we do not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by us or on our behalf; such statements speak only as of the date made. The forward-looking statements included herein are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary language. SOURCE: Caldwell Partners International, Inc. View the original press release on accesswire.com Kenilworth, New Jersey--(Newsfile Corp. - August 13, 2024) - Document Solutions (DS), a one-stop shop for all office technology needs, is thrilled to announce its recognition as one of NJBIZ's Best Places to Work for 2024. This prestigious award celebrates employers who demonstrate a steadfast commitment to professional growth and fostering a positive work environment. The award-winning team of DSBLS To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10732/219261_f03082de4466290b_001full.jpg "At Document Solutions, we believe our people are our greatest asset," said Kevin Roth, Chief Visionary Officer (CVO) of Document Solutions. "Being recognized for the first time as one of the Best Places to Work is a testament to the incredible dedication and passion our team brings every day. We've built a culture that emphasizes innovation, collaboration, and personal growth, and this award highlights our ongoing commitment to our employees' well-being and success." Since its inception in 1997, DS has been committed to creating a supportive and dynamic workplace. The company, known for its wide range of technology offerings, including Managed IT, Office Equipment, Phones, and Touchless Water Solutions, prides itself on delivering award-winning service. "Our success is driven by our amazing team," said Kevin O'Connor, Co-Owner and VP of Sales. "We prioritize creating an environment where employees feel valued and empowered. This award reflects our efforts to nurture a workplace culture that encourages professional development and personal satisfaction." The NJBIZ Best Places to Work award program evaluates companies based on confidential employee feedback, company demographics, policies, and practices. The survey process, managed by the Best Companies Group, analyzes the data to determine the rankings. "Being named one of the best places to work is a remarkable achievement," added Carl Holman, Director of Marketing & Sales. "It's a reflection of the supportive and engaging environment we've cultivated here at DS. Our culture of excellence not only enhances our team's morale but also drives the high-quality service we provide to our clients." About Document Solutions For over 25 years, Document Solutions has been dedicated to enhancing business operations through cutting-edge office technology. With a comprehensive range of services including Managed IT, Office Equipment, Phones, and Touchless Water Solutions, DS provides an award-winning service that simplifies business technology, bringing it all under one roof. Headquartered in Kenilworth, NJ, DS is committed to making business life simplified for organizations across New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and select regions nationwide. For more information, visit dsbls.com. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/219261 SOURCE: Digital Silk Binding Agreement Executed for the Large, Effectively Unexplored Cosmo Newbery Gold Project Sarama Resources Ltd. ("Sarama" or the "Company") (ASX:SRR)(TSX-V:SWA) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a binding agreement to acquire a majority interest(1) in the Cosmo Newbery Gold Project (the "Project") in Western Australia (refer Figure 1). The 580km project(2) covers the entirety of the Cosmo-Newbery Greenstone Belt and is located approximately 85km north-east of Laverton in a region known for its prolific gold endowment. As one of the last effectively unexplored greenstone belts in Western Australia, the Project presents a unique and compelling opportunity for the Company. Highlights Binding agreement to acquire majority interest and control of Cosmo Newbery Gold Project in Western Australia 580km landholding capturing +50km strike length in highly prospective gold producing region One of the last effectively unexplored greenstone belts in Western Australia Virtually no effective exploration undertaken for several decades Excellent access to infrastructure and nearby producing gold mines Sarama to initially acquire an 80% interest in the majority of the Project (1) Ability for Sarama to increase ownership to 100% in the majority of the Project(1) via an option to acquire the vendor's remaining interest within a 2-year period post completion Sarama's President, CEO & MD, Andrew Dinning commented: "We are pleased to have reached this milestone in the acquisition of a majority interest in the Cosmo Newbery Gold Project and look forward to completing the transaction in due course. The Company considers the Project to be highly prospective for a number of commodities and its scale, location, favourable geological setting and truly underexplored status presents a unique exploration opportunity." Cosmo Newbery Project The Project is comprised of 7 contiguous exploration tenements covering 580km in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia, approximately 85km north-east of Laverton and 95km west of the world-class Gruyere Gold Mine. The Project is readily accessible via the Great Central Road which services the Cosmo Newbery Community. The Project captures one of the last unexplored greenstone belts in Western Australia and with a strike length of +50km, the Cosmo Newbery Belt represents a large and prospective system with gold first being discovered in the area in the 1890's. Multiple historical gold workings are documented within the Project area and work undertaken to date, has identified multiple exploration targets for follow up. Despite this significant prospectivity, the Project has seen virtually no modern exploration or drilling of merit due to a lack of land access persisting over a significant period. As a result, the Project has not benefited from the evolution of geochemical and geophysical techniques which now facilitate effective exploration in deeply weathered and complex regolith settings which is particularly pertinent given approximately 75% of the Project area is under cover. Following the relatively recent securing of land access, the Project is now available for systematic and modern-day exploration programs to be conducted on a broad-scale. It is anticipated that future exploration programs will initially follow-up preliminary targets generated from regional soil sampling and limited reconnaissance drilling programs, a majority of which extended to approximately 5m below surface with a small percentage extending up to 30m below surface. Figure 1 - Cosmo Newbery Project Location Transaction Terms Pursuant to the binding Asset Sale and Purchase Agreement ("SPA") executed by Sarama, and one of its 100%-owned subsidiaries, with Cosmo Gold Limited ("Cosmo") and Adelong Gold Limited ("Adelong"), Sarama will acquire 80% of Cosmo's interest in the Project (the "Transaction") and will be granted the right to acquire the remainder of Cosmo's interest in the Project within a 2-year period post completion. Further, an existing debt obligation of Cosmo to Adelong will be satisfied and discharged as part of the transaction. The key commercial terms are summarised as follows: Sarama (via its subsidiary) to acquire 80% of Cosmo's interest in the Project for the following consideration and payment of certain Project-related expenses on behalf of Cosmo: issuance of 25 million shares in Sarama (in the form of Chess Depository Instruments (" CDI ")) to Adelong; issuance of 7.5 million unlisted options to acquire shares in Sarama (in the form of CDIs) to Adelong (2-year expiry, A$0.05/option strike price, converting on 1:1 basis); payment of A$50,000 to Cosmo within 21 days of execution of the SPA; payment of A$50,000 to Cosmo upon Sarama receiving shareholder approval for the transaction; payments relating to Native Title Access Agreements totalling approximately A$112,000; payments relating to statutory tenement fees totalling approximately A$76,000; and payments relating to exploration activities totalling approximately A$139,000. The above payments relating to Native Title Access Agreements, statutory tenement fees and exploration activities will form a debt owed to Sarama by Cosmo which will be forgiven upon completion of the Transaction. Upon completion of the Transaction, Sarama (via its subsidiary) and Cosmo will form an unincorporated joint venture (" JV ") (in respect of Cosmo's current interest in the Project) with key terms as follows: initial participating interests of 80% Sarama / 20% Cosmo; Sarama shall 'free carry' Cosmo's interest in the JV and will solely fund all JV activities through to a 'decision to mine' being made; Sarama shall assume initial operatorship of the Project and will have the right to determine direction of JV activities; for a minimum period of 24 months following completion of the Transaction, Sarama undertakes to maintain the Project tenements in 'good standing', including satisfying all expenditure conditions and payment of all tenement-related fees, administrative costs and assuming Cosmo's obligations (including cost responsibility) under certain third-party agreements; following a 'decision to mine' being made, Sarama and Cosmo must each fund all expenditure under the JV on a pro-rata basis, with standard provisions for dilution in the event a party does not fund its pro-rata share; in the event a party's interest in the JV falls below 10%, the party's interest will automatically convert to 0.5% net smelter return royalty; and within the period of 24 months following completion of the Transaction, Sarama has the right to purchase Cosmo's 20% interest in the JV for A$1.25M, which may be satisfied by either a cash payment or shares (CDIs) in Sarama. Completion of the Transaction is subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions precedent including regulatory and shareholder approval (including Sarama shareholder approval for the issue of securities pursuant to ASX Listing Rule 7.1) and assignment of land access agreements. The date of execution of the binding agreement was August 13, 2024 and the date of the news release relating to the signing of the non-binding Memorandum of Understanding was June 17, 2024. For further information, please contact: Company Activities Andrew Dinning or Paul Schmiede Sarama Resources Ltd e: info@saramaresources.com t: +61 8 9363 7600 FOOTNOTES Upon completion of the Transaction, Sarama, via its 100%-owned subsidiary, will acquire from Cosmo an 80% interest in all the Project's Exploration Licences, with the exception of E38/2274 for which Sarama will acquire an effective 60% interest (with Cosmo retaining a 15% interest and an existing joint tenement holder retaining a 25% interest). The tenements in which Sarama will acquire an 80% interest account for approximately 80% of the total area of the Project. For a period of 2-years following completion of the Transaction, Sarama will have the right to acquire Cosmo's remaining 20% interest all the above Exploration Licences (with the exception of E38/2274 which would be held 75% by Sarama and 25% by an existing joint tenement holder in the event that Sarama exercises the option to acquire Cosmo's remaining interest in the Project). The Project is comprised of the following contiguous Exploration Licences: E38/2851, E38/3456, E38/2627, E38/2274, E38/3525, E38/3249 and E38/2774 covering approximately 580km. Cosmo currently has a 100% interest in all the Project's Exploration Licences with the exception of E38/2274 for which Cosmo holds a 75% interest. CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION Information in this news release that is not a statement of historical fact constitutes forward-looking information. Such forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements regarding the prospectivity of the Cosmo Newbery Project, information with respect to Sarama having or acquiring mineral interests in areas which are considered highly prospective for gold and other commodities and which remain under-explored, costs and timing of future exploration, the potential for exploration discoveries, the intention to gain the best commercial outcome for shareholders of the Company, timing and receipt of approvals, consents and permits under applicable legislation and the completion of a transaction to acquire the Cosmo Newbery Project. Actual results, performance or achievements of the Company may vary from the results suggested by such forward-looking statements due to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Such factors include, among others, that the business of exploration for gold and other precious minerals involves a high degree of risk and is highly speculative in nature; Mineral Resources are not mineral reserves, they do not have demonstrated economic viability, and there is no certainty that they can be upgraded to mineral reserves through continued exploration; few properties that are explored are ultimately developed into producing mines; geological factors; the actual results of current and future exploration; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be evaluated, as well as those factors disclosed in the Company's publicly filed documents. There can be no assurance that any mineralisation that is discovered will be proven to be economic, or that future required regulatory licensing or approvals will be obtained. However, the Company believes that the assumptions and expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the Company's ability to carry on its exploration activities, the sufficiency of funding, the timely receipt of required approvals, the price of gold and other precious metals, that the Company will not be affected by adverse political and security-related events, the ability of the Company to operate in a safe, efficient and effective manner and the ability of the Company to obtain further financing as and when required and on reasonable terms. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Sarama does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except as required by applicable laws. QUALIFIED PERSON'S STATEMENT Scientific or technical information in this disclosure that relates to exploration is based on information compiled or approved by Paul Schmiede. Paul Schmiede is an employee of Sarama Resources Ltd and is a Fellow in good standing of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Paul Schmiede has sufficient experience which is relevant to the commodity, style of mineralisation under consideration and activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101. Paul Schmiede consents to the inclusion in this news release of the information in the form and context in which it appears. This announcement has been authorised by the Board of Sarama Resources. 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. SOURCE: Sarama Resources Ltd. View the original press release on accesswire.com Dieppe, New Brunswick--(Newsfile Corp. - August 13, 2024) - Colibri Resource Corporation (TSXV: CBI) ("Colibri" or the "Company") is pleased to report that the co-owner of its Pilar Gold & Silver Project in Sonora, Mexico, Tocvan Ventures (51% interest) has released an update regarding the plans for the next phase(s) of resource definition drilling and outlines a permitting and operations strategy for a pilot facility at the jointly held Pilar Main Zone. Tocvan Pilar News Release - August 13 th , 2024 : (Partnership Relevant Excerpts) Highlights: Upcoming Core Drill Program at Pilar Main Zone Scheduled for September Start Outlines Plans for Resource Drilling with Core and RC Calgary, Alberta - August 13, 2024 - Tocvan Ventures Corp. (the "Company") is pleased to provide an update from its gold-silver projects in mine-friendly Sonora, Mexico. The Company will refer to the consolidated area that includes the Pilar Main Zone and the adjacent 22 km2 as Gran Pilar. This signifies the broader scale project size the Company is focusing on as it advances to a maiden resource at the Pilar Main Zone as well as defining large-scale targets beyond. Based on management's strong belief in the project's potential, the Company is outlining a permitting and operations strategy for a pilot facility at Pilar. The facility would underpin a robust test mine scenario with aims to process up to 50,000 tonnes of material. Timelines and budget are being prepared with the aim of moving forward with the development early in 2025. With gold prices hitting all-time highs, the Company believes the onsite test mine will provide key economic parameters and showcase the mineral potential of the area. In 2023, the Company completed an offsite bulk sample that produced important data showcasing the potential to recover both gold and silver through a variety of methods including heap leach, gravity and agitated leach (see August 22, 2023 news release for more details). Also, preparations are being made for the next phases of core and RC drilling that will focus on resource definition. Between 1,200 to 2,000 meters of core drilling are being considered along with 1,700 to 2,500 meters of RC drilling before the end of the year. Core drilling will focus on building a robust geological model across Pilar with emphasis on the Main Zone. RC drilling will concentrate on additional infill and step-out targeting across the Main Zone, North Hill and 4-T trends. Upon completion of drilling the Company anticipates a maiden resource estimate will be finalized for the initial Pilar Main Zone and adjacent trends providing an initial step of showcasing the full potential of the project area. Brodie Sutherland Tocvan CEO states: "We are also preparing for the next phases of drilling which will include important core drilling through our Main Zone and other prospective trends. The last core program we completed in 2022 was a huge success, giving us a better understanding of the host rocks and the pervasive alteration and brecciation one would expect from a robust mineralized system. Drilling completed before the end of the year will go into a maiden resource estimate for Pilar, a starting point for establishing initial resources for development. Along with these preparations the Company is evaluating a pilot mine facility to process material at site. A logical step-forward as we showcase the accessibility of gold and silver whilst taking advantage of current market prices for the commodities. The Company anticipates necessary equipment setup and permitting can be completed by early 2025, with the objective of processing up to 50,000 tonnes of material directly from Pilar. A key differentiator for the Company and project. Our core objective is to unlock the potential of the greater project area while advancing mine development." "The Company maintains a positive outlook on the future of mining in Mexico and looks forward to advancing its initiatives of transitioning to producer. Taking full advantage of the excellent infrastructure and talented work force Sonora provides." Brodie A. Sutherland, CEO for Tocvan Ventures Corp. and a qualified person ("QP") as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this release. ABOUT COLIBRI RESOURCE CORPORATION: Colibri is a Canadian-based mineral exploration company listed on the TSX-V (CBI) and is focused on acquiring, exploring, and developing prospective gold & silver properties in Mexico. The Company holds four high potential precious metal projects: 1) 100% of EP Gold Project in the significant Caborca Gold Belt which has delivered highly encouraging exploration results and is surround by Mexico's second largest major producer of gold on four sides, 2) 49% Ownership of the Pilar Gold & Silver Project which is believed to hold the potential to be a near term producing mine, and 3) two highly prospective interests in the Sierra Madre (Diamante Gold & Silver Project and Jackie Gold & Silver Project. For more information about all Company projects please visit: www.colibriresource.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. 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. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/219786 SOURCE: Colibri Resource Corporation Finsbury Growth & Income Trust PLC - Transaction in Own Shares PR Newswire LONDON, United Kingdom, August 13 For immediate release 13 August 2024 FINSBURY GROWTH & INCOME TRUST PLC (the "Company") MARKET PURCHASE OF COMPANY'S OWN SHARES The Company announce that it has today purchased 137,427 of its own shares ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of 830.86 pence per Ordinary Share. Such shares will be held in treasury by the Company. The transaction was made pursuant to the authority granted at the Annual General Meeting of the Company held on 23 January 2024. Following this transaction, the total number of Ordinary Shares held by the Company in treasury is 52,220,692; the total number of Ordinary Shares that the Company has in issue, less the total number of Ordinary Shares held by the Company in treasury following such purchase, and therefore, the total number of voting rights in the Company is 172,770,611. The figure of 172,770,611 may be used by shareholders as the denominator for calculations of interests in the Company's voting rights in accordance with the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules. For and on behalf of Frostrow Capital LLP Company Secretary For further information, please contact: Victoria Hale Frostrow Capital LLP Tel: 020 3 170 8732 REGULATED INFORMATION Brussels, 13 August 2024, 5:40 PM HALF YEAR RESULTS 2024 HIGHLIGHTS DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS A binding sales agreement was signed in early August for the 'Stairs' office project, at Cloche d'Or in Luxembourg, for a price of 107.5 M. This sale will be completed after the delivery of the building, which is expected in the second quarter of 2026 Sales of the second phase of the Park Lane residential project at Tour & Taxis continue to run smoothly. To date, 78% of the apartments have already been sold or reserved, thanks to 34 additional sales since the end of March. The site is on track to start the first deliveries by the end of 2024. The first phase of Park Lane at Tour & Taxis is practically sold out, thanks to reservations or sales of the last commercial ground-floor units. INVESTMENT PROPERTIES Despite some sales of buildings in 2023 and 2024, rental income is 1.0 M higher than in the first half of 2023. The Tour & Taxis site continues to attract more and more visitors with its wide range of activities. The increase in events generates additional rental income and higher occupancy of the car parks and the Food Market. All this results in like-for-like rental growth on the entire portfolio of +5% in the first half of 2024 compared to 2023. The sale of the shares in the company that owns the 'Hygge' office building in Luxembourg City in May was realised at a yield of 4.50% and with a capital gain of 1.6 M. ACTIVE FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT Stable debt ratio of 44.61%, which will be further reduced through targeted divestments. Nextensa's shareholders participated in the optional dividend with 71% of their shares. This strengthened Nextensa's equity by EUR 7.5 M. NET RESULT Net income (group share) was 14.1 M or 1.39 per share. About Nextensa Nextensa is a mixed-use real estate investor and developer. The company's investment portfolio is divided between the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (43%), Belgium (42%) and Austria (15%); its total value as at 30/06/2024 was approximately 1.3 billion. As a developer, Nextensa is primarily active in shaping large urban developments. At Tour & Taxis (development of over 350,000 sqm) in Brussels, Nextensa is building a mixed real estate portfolio consisting of a revaluation of iconic buildings and new constructions. In Luxembourg (Cloche d'Or), it is working in partnership on a major urban extension of more than 400,000 sqm consisting of offices, retail and residential buildings. The company is listed on Euronext Brussels and has a market capitalisation of 432 M (value 30/06/2024). For more information Tim Rens | Chief Financial Officer Nextensa NV | 0436.323.915 (RLE Brussels, Dutch-speaking division) Gare Maritime, Picardstraat 11, B505, 1000 Brussels +32 2 882 10 08 | investor.relations@nextensa.eu www.nextensa.eu Cato's quarterly threat report also reveals top spoofed brands for cybersquatting TEL AVIV, Israel, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cato Networks, the creator of SASE, today published the Q2 2024 Cato CTRL SASE Threat Report, which provides insights into the threat landscape across several key areas: hacking communities and the dark web, enterprise security and network security. The insights are collected from Cato CTRL's analysis of 1.38 trillion network flows across more than 2,500 customers globally between April and June 2024. "With the Q2 2024 Cato CTRL SASE Threat Report, we are putting the spotlight on a notorious threat actor named IntelBroker. He is aggressive in selling data and source code from major brands, including tech companies like AMD, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft," said Etay Maor, chief security strategist at Cato Networks and founding member of Cato CTRL. "Amazon is another brand that we're seeing impacted by cybersquatting, which is a popular technique for threat actors to conduct phishing attacks." IntelBroker is a highly active threat actor selling data and source code In its investigation of hacking communities and the dark web, Cato CTRL came across a threat actor named IntelBroker, who is a prominent figure and moderator in the BreachForums hacking community. IntelBroker's illicit activities encompass a wide range of cybercriminal tactics. In recent months, IntelBroker has offered to sell data and source code from AMD, Apple, Facebook, KrypC, Microsoft, Space-Eyes, T-Mobile and U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command. Amazon is the top spoofed brand-thanks to cybersquatting Cybersquatting involves using a domain name with the intent to profit off another brand's registered trademark. Threat actors leverage cybersquatting to harvest user credentials through various techniques, including malware distribution or phishing attacks. In Q2 2024, Cato CTRL observed that Amazon was the top spoofed brand by a significant margin (66% of domains), with Google ranked second at 7%. Given the popularity of Amazon, users should be wary of threat actors creating counterfeit websites that ask to submit sensitive information. Users could be putting themselves or their organizations at risk. Log4j remains a popular vulnerability that threat actors attempt to exploit Three years after its discovery in 2021, Log4j remains one of the most used vulnerabilities leveraged by threat actors. From Q1 2024 to Q2 2024, Cato CTRL observed a 61% increase in the attempted use of Log4j in inbound traffic and a 79% increase in the attempted use of Log4j in WANbound traffic. The Oracle WebLogic vulnerability, which originated in 2020, is another popular exploit leveraged by threat actors. From Q1 2024 to Q2 2024, Cato CTRL observed a 114% increase in the attempted use of the Oracle WebLogic vulnerability in WANbound traffic. Inbound traffic is traffic that doesn't originate from within the network, while WANbound traffic resides within a WAN environment. For threat actors, these are different potential entry points to infiltrate organizations and conduct attacks. Resources Download the Q2 2024 Cato CTRL SASE Threat Report. Read the blog from Etay Maor, founding member of Cato CTRL. Visit the Cato CTRL page to learn more about Cato's threat intelligence team. Methodology The Q2 2024 Cato CTRL SASE Threat Report summarizes findings from Cato CTRL's analysis of 1.38 trillion network flows across more than 2,500 customers globally between April and June 2024. About Cato CTRL Cato CTRL (Cyber Threats Research Lab) is the world's first CTI group to fuse threat intelligence with granular network insight made possible by Cato's global SASE platform. By bringing together dozens of former military intelligence analysts, researchers, data scientists, academics and industry-recognized security professionals, Cato CTRL utilizes network data, security stack data, hundreds of security feeds, human intelligence operations, AI (Artificial Intelligence), and ML (Machine Learning) to shed light on the latest cyber threats and threat actors. About Cato Networks Cato Networks delivers enterprise security and networking in a single cloud platform. With Cato, organizations replace costly and rigid legacy infrastructure with an open and modular SASE architecture based on SD-WAN, a purpose-built global cloud network, and an embedded cloud-native security stack. Want to learn why thousands of organizations secure their future with Cato? Visit us at www.catonetworks.com. Contact Cato Communications press@catonetworks.com View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/new-threat-report-from-cato-networks-uncovers-threat-actor-selling-data-and-source-code-from-major-brands-302221323.html A click to cancel rule: The Federal Trade Commission is working on a rule to make it as easy to cancel a subscription or membership as it was to enroll in the first place. In other words, if you were able to sign up in a click, you should be able to cancel with one. The FTC is currently reviewing public comments on the proposed change. Submitting health care forms online: Some health insurance companies force people to print out and mail or fax claim forms. In addition to wasting peoples time and shockingly valuable printer ink, it punishes people who dont own a printer or know how to use digital fax services. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Department of Labor Acting Secretary Julie Su published an open letter to health insurance CEOs Monday calling on them to address that. Other issues noted in the letter: Making information about prior authorizations and denials clearer, improving customer service access and ensuring compliance with the No Surprises Act on medical billing. Making it easier to talk to a human: The fact sheet describes doom loops where callers fall down endless automated customer service phone mazes with no clear way to get a human being on the line. The White House says the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will begin a rulemaking process to make companies under its jurisdiction let callers speak to a person by pressing a button. The Federal Communications Commission and health care agencies will look into initiating similar requirements for communications and health insurance companies. Cracking down on fake reviews: The internet is flooded with fake reviews that make it hard for consumers to decide what to buy. The FTC is proposing a rule to stop marketers from creating or paying for fake reviews. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / Verisante Technology, Inc. (TSX-V:VER.H) ("Verisante") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a binding Letter of Intent ("LOI") dated August 12, 2024, to acquire a 100% interest in SunRegen Healthcare AG ("SunRegen"), a Swiss pharmaceutical company, by way of a Definitive Share Exchange Agreement which is yet to be negotiated between the parties. The proposed transaction is a Reverse Takeover ("RTO") pursuant to Policy 5.2 of the TSX Venture Exchange and the resulting issuer intends to qualify as a Tier 2 Life Sciences Issuer. About SunRegen SunRegen is a Swiss pharmaceutical company focused on the development of neurodegenerative related drugs. Currently, they are focusing on the development of their lead compound, SBC003, for the treatment of neuronal apoptosis-related diseases, starting with ophthalmic neurodegenerative diseases and gradually expanding to the treatment of CNS neurodegenerative diseases. SunRegen intends to start in the ophthalmic field by applying for FDA drug approval for the treatment of Retinitis Pigmentosa ("RP"), and then expanding to the treatment of dry AMD and other degenerative diseases. The leading drug candidate, SBC003, has demonstrated neuro-rescuing and neuroprotection through in-vitro & in-vivo experiments, and has the ability to treat neurodegenerative diseases by directly targeting the causes. SunRegen has been issued a patent for its SBC003 drug compound across eight countries including the US, Canada, Japan and China, and has two more international patent applications pending. RP is a hereditary family disease. Patients usually catch this disease at a young age, and it is generally manifested as apoptosis of peripheral retinal rod cells. At present, Luxturna (Voretigene Neparvovec) is the only approved RP Therapy to treat a small subset of patients with RPE65 mutations, accounting for 0.3%-1% of the total number of RP patients. The vast majority of RP patients cannot obtain effective treatment. Management estimates there are approximately 2 million RP patients worldwide. According to Data Bridge Market Research the global RP market was worth US$11.57 billion and forecast to grow at a CAGR of 7.3% to reach US$20.33 billion by 2029. (https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-retinitis-pigmentosa-market) To date, approximately $6.3 million has been invested in the development of SBC003. Utilizing independent CROs, SunRegen has completed mice and monkey studies on the efficacy and partial safety of SBC003 with highly encouraging results and is now at the Investigational New Drug (IND) enabling stage of the FDA approval process. The next stage is to conduct CMC (Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls) and Safety tests in preparation for a Phase I & II human clinical study. SunRegen uses independent CROs to perform its studies to comply with strict regulatory requirements and to operate more efficiently with a reduced overhead and headcount. More information about SunRegen is available on the company's website at www.sunregen.ch. Summary of Unaudited SunRegen Financial Information Year Ended 2023-12-31 CHF (Swiss Francs) Year Ended 2022-12-31 CHF (Swiss Francs) Year Ended 2021-12-31 CHF (Swiss Francs) Year Ended 2020-12-31 CHF (Swiss Francs) Assets 67,045 65,040 108,144 411,227 Short-term Liabilities 9,880 60,358 90,698 181,358 Long-term Liabilities 357,696 291,708 236,217 263,217 Total Income 0 41,663 9,254 0 Total Operating Expenses -36,503 -82,668 -227,842 -686,057 Net Profit/Loss -55,295 -41,253 -212,423 -684,936 These annual financial statements were compiled in compliance with Swiss legal regulations, in particular the articles on commercial bookkeeping and accounting in the Swiss Code of Obligations (Art. 957 to 962). Results will differ substantially according to IFRS, for example, the application of IAS38 Intangible Assets which are not accounted for in the summary above. Transaction Terms Verisante currently has 43,938,004 common shares and 1,000,000 common stock options outstanding with no preferred shares, warrants or any other securities outstanding. Initially, Verisante will consolidate its common shares on a 10 for 1 basis resulting in 4,393,800 common shares and 100,000 share options outstanding post-consolidation. Verisante will then acquire 100% of SunRegen's outstanding equity in exchange for 39,544,204 of newly issued common shares on a post-consolidation basis ("Acquisition Shares") resulting in a total post-consolidation, post-acquisition, outstanding amount of 43,938,004 common shares. SunRegen shareholders will thus own 90% of the outstanding common shares of the resulting issuer on a pre-money basis. The acquisition shares will have a deemed value of $0.80 per share for an aggregate deemed acquisition value of $31,635,363. The parties will conduct a capital raise prior to the RTO (the "Pre-RTO Financing") and/or concurrently for a minimum amount sufficient to comply with TSX-V Tier 2 Life Science Issuers' listing requirements including, but not limited to, an amount sufficient to comply with the 20% public float requirement and to carry out the listed issuer's business plan for at least 12 months plus CAD$100,000 of unallocated working capital. Management currently estimates the minimum amount of capital required to be approximately $3.5 million, subject to TSX-V Exchange acceptance of the business plan and financial projections. The use of proceeds of the anticipated financing will be to advance the regulatory approval of SunRegen's drug candidate SBC003 towards FDA Phase II by hiring a CRO to conduct CMC (Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls) and Safety studies for Retinitis Pigmentosa ("RP"). New investors participating in the Pre-RTO Financing subsequent to the date of the LOI will receive Acquisition Shares based on the same ratio as the existing SunRegen shareholders such that both Verisante and SunRegen shareholders will experience to the same dilution as a result of the anticipated capital raise. SunRegen will become a 100% wholly owned subsidiary of Verisante upon Closing. The board of directors of the resulting issuer will have five members of which four will be nominated by SunRegen (see Proposed Officers and Directors below). The parties intend to negotiate and enter into a Definitive Share Exchange Agreement prior to September 30, 2024. The proposed transaction is subject to, among other things, approval by both parties' boards of directors, due diligence reviews, auditing of SunRegen's financial statements for the last two fiscal years by a CPAB participating auditor, TSX-V Exchange acceptance, as well as regulatory approval, as required, from the securities commissions where Verisante is fully reporting (British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario). A sponsor has not been retained as of the date of this announcement. There are no finder's fees payable in connection with the proposed RTO transaction, however, there will be finder's fees and commissions payable in connection to the financing which will be disclosed in a forthcoming update once the terms are finalized. Arm's Length Transaction The proposed RTO transaction will constitute an Arm's Length Transaction (as such term is defined in the policies of the TSXV). No person who or which is a Non-Arm's Length Party of SunRegen has any direct or indirect beneficial interest in Verisante, its shareholders or its assets prior to giving effect to the Transaction and no such persons are also Insiders of Verisante. Similarly, there is no known relationship between or among any person who or which is a Non-Arm's Length Party of SunRegen and any person who or which is a Non-Arm's Length Party to Verisante. Shareholder Approval The proposed RTO transaction is not a "related party transaction" or "business combination" as defined in Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). Section 4.1 of MI 61-101 does not apply to the transaction because the proposed RTO does not meet the definition of "business combination" in section 1.1. The proposed RTO is an asset acquisition being made by way of a share exchange agreement and the target company's shares are being acquired with newly issued common shares. No interest of any Verisante shareholder will be terminated without the holder's consent as a result of the proposed issuance of shares. Therefore, MI 61-101 does not apply to the proposed share exchange and a shareholder meeting to approve the transaction is not required. Verisante is still required to file a disclosure document on SEDAR+ in the prescribed format including audited financial statements of SunRegen for the previous two fiscal years. Because the proposed RTO transaction is (a) not a "related party transaction" (b) the issuer is listed on the NEX; (c) the issuer is not subject to a CTO or will be upon closing; and (d) shareholder approval is not required under British Columbia corporate laws or securities laws, TSX-V Exchange Policy 5.2 section 4.1(e) which otherwise requires a shareholder meeting to approve the RTO does not apply and as such no shareholder meeting will be held to approve the transaction. Proposed Officers and Directors David Guan, BSc, MSc , SunRegen Founder, CEO & Director - Mr. Guan is the Founder, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of the Company. Mr. Guan holds a Bachelor and Master of Science and Technology from Huazhong University of Science & Technology (1991-1998). Mr. Guan has ten years of top management experience at multinational companies including Honeywell and HP. In 2012, Mr. Guan founded G&L International Inc. and the company has achieved an annual income over EUR 10 million under his management as a CEO. In 2017, Mr. Guan founded SunRegen and successfully raised over $6.3 million from Swiss and international investors. Mr. Guan has a proven track record in business operation, investing & financing, project management and cross-cultural multi-site team management. Yuhong Dong, PhD, MD , SunRegen Founder & CSO, Director - Dr. Dong is the Founder, Chief Scientific Officer and a Director of SunRegen. Dr. Dong has been a physician in the First Hospital of Peking University (1996-2002). Dr. Dong completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Peking Union Medical College and led the development of a Hepatitis B Virus Vaccine at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (2002-2004). Dr. Dong has over 12 years of scientific research experience as a scientist at Novartis (2005-2017). She led the development of over ten drugs including Tyzeka (Telbivudine), which was approved by the US FDA in October 2006 to treat chronic hepatitis B (HBV). As an experienced physician and scientist, Dr. Dong has significant expertise in the full life cycle of drug development. She has won four Novartis Awards and published over 30 papers in internationally renowned biomedical journals. Thomas Braun, BA, JD, LLM , CCO & Director - Mr. Braun is currently President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Verisante. Mr. Braun holds a BA from Western University, a Juris Doctor degree from UBC, and a Master of Laws from the University of San Francisco. Mr. Braun has been a Member of the State Bar of California since 1997 and a Member of the Law Society of British Columbia since 1999 and practiced corporate securities law from 1999 to until present. From 2006 until present he also served as the CEO and director of Verisante which until 2018 was an ISO certified manufacturer of innovative diagnostic medical devices for the detection of cancer. Jake J. Thiessen, BSc, MSc, PhD, Director - Dr. Thiessen qualifies as an independent director and is a former Professor, Associate Dean, and current Professor Emeritus at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto (UofT). Following 31 years at the UofT, he spent 7 years at the University of Waterloo (UW). His UofT fiduciary leadership included membership in the Governing Council and Business Board. Furthermore, he was responsible for the cost-effective design and construction of the new $75 million UofT Leslie Dan Pharmacy facility. Thereafter he was recruited by UW to plan and develop a new Health Sciences Campus and Canada's 10th School of Pharmacy. This included the cost-contained construction of a new $35 million Health Sciences Campus in downtown Kitchener. His academic research has required meticulous budgeting of $16.5 million in federally funded projects. His non-academic leadership has included value-centered management within the DQTC of the Ontario Ministry of Health, and Health Canada's Scientific Advisory Committee on Pharmaceutical Sciences and Clinical Pharmacology. Finally, he has been a member of the Company's Board of Directors and Audit Committee since 2009 with responsibility to oversee the preparation, auditing, analyzing and evaluation of the Company's quarterly and annual financial statements. Throughout his academic and non-academic career, Dr. Thiessen has exhibited an advanced understanding of internal controls and procedures for financial reporting and accounting principles. Hong Yu, BS, MS, CFA, FRM , Director - Mr. Yu is a seasoned executive with extensive experience in capital raise, strategic analytics, wealth management, and investment research. Prior to Harvard Apparatus Regenerative Technology, Mr. Yu was a Senior Vice President at Bank of America, where he was employed for nearly 20 years. During his career, Mr. Yu has developed the expertise in matching emerging companies with cross-border investors. Mr. Yu holds a B.S. degree from Peking University (Beijing, China) and a M.S. degree from University of Illinois (Chicago, IL). Mr. Yu is a Chartered Financial Analyst. About Verisante Verisante does not currently operate any active business other than to identify and complete a Reverse Takeover (RTO) with a company in one of its target sectors that demonstrates significant growth potential and/or value creation opportunities for shareholders. While the Company may pursue a target in any industry, we intend to focus our search on companies that meet our acquisition target characteristics within the life sciences sectors. Trading in the shares of Verisante will remain halted pursuant to section 2.6 of TSX-V Exchange Policy 5.2. Completion of the transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, Exchange acceptance and if applicable, disinterested shareholder approval. Where applicable, the transaction cannot close until the required shareholder approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the transaction will be completed as proposed or at all. Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the management information circular or filing statement to be prepared in connection with the transaction, any information released or received with respect to the transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of Verisante Technology, Inc. should be considered highly speculative. The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. 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. Company Contact: Thomas Braun, President & CEO Verisante Technology, Inc. Telephone: (604) 716-5133 Email: info@verisante.com Forward Looking Statements: This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. Forward- looking information generally refers to information about an issuer's business, capital, or operations that is prospective in nature, and includes future-oriented financial information about the issuer's prospective financial performance or financial position. The forward-looking information in this news release includes disclosure about the terms of the Transaction and the proposed structure of the Transaction. Verisante and SunRegen made certain material assumptions, including but not limited to: prevailing market conditions; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; delay or failure to receive board, shareholder or regulatory approvals; and the ability of the resulting issuer to execute and achieve its business objectives, to develop the forward-looking information in this news release. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Actual results may vary from the forward-looking information in this news release due to certain material risk factors. These risk factors include, but are not limited to: adverse market conditions; the inability of SunRegen or Verisante to complete the Transaction on the terms disclosed in this news release, or at all; the unavailability of exemptions from prospectus requirements for the issuance of Shares; the risks associated with the marketing and sale of Shares; refusal of the proposed directors or officers to act for any reason, including conflicts of interest; reliance on key and qualified personnel; and regulatory and other risks associated with the pharmaceutical industry in general. The foregoing list of material risk factors and assumptions is not exhaustive. SOURCE: Verisante Technology, Inc. View the original press release on accesswire.com The "UK Private Healthcare Self-Pay Market Report, Sixth Edition" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The sixth edition of the Private Healthcare Self-Pay UK Market Report, contains pricing data analysis up to May 2024 and is essential for stakeholders across the private healthcare sector. Tailored for hospital and clinic senior executives, acute medical care providers, private medical insurance groups, and more, it provides crucial insights to make strategic decisions. Included with the most recent pricing data analysis and 2023 hospital episode analysis, the report details a market that has grown significantly, driven by NHS waiting times and patient demand for faster access to care. This is underpinned by high demand for orthopaedic and ophthalmological services, with growth also seen in general surgery and gynaecology. The self-pay market experienced significant disruptions during 2020-2021, impacting all sectors, and now experiences disruptions in the form of economic pressures and the cost-of-living crisis. Despite these challenges, self-pay demand remains robust, signalling a lasting shift towards private healthcare. The report forecasts steady market growth, with insured patient activity indicating sustained interest in private healthcare. Regarding self-pay options, they remain integral to provider strategies and are expected to drive strong medium-term growth. The report also covers regional dynamics, with London and the South East accounting for the highest regional areas of self-pay. Interestingly, the publisher observed an increase in self-pay demand in traditionally low self-pay regions, such as the North East, Wales, Scotland and the South West. What the report covers Dive into comprehensive research on current market trends and future projections Understand perspectives from leading healthcare providers shaping the market Analyse procedure pricing strategies across providers to uncover competitive advantages Explore financial models and payment schemes available to patients Gain insights into patient decision-making and preferences within private healthcare Forecast future trends and strategic recommendations for navigating the evolving self-pay landscape And much more... Company Coverage: Nuffield Health BMI Healthcare Spire Healthcare Ramsay Health Care HCA Healthcare Aspen Healthcare Key Topics Covered: 1. THE RESEARCH IN CONTEXT 1.1 Recent trends in private healthcare 1.1.2 Provider market shares 1.2 Recent trends in the insured market 1.3 Private practice fee income 1.4 Overview of the UK self-pay market 2. MARKET 2.1 The role of the private medical insurers 2.2 The role of the NHS 2.3 Moves by major acute providers and others 2.4 The role of third party administrators 2.5 The role of finance providers 3. SURVEY AND RESEARCH 3.1 Survey feedback and responses: SurveyMonkey 3.2 Research outputs: Internet analytics research 3.2.1 Cataract surgery 3.2.2 Hip replacement 3.2.3 Knee replacement 3.2.4 Hernia repair 3.2.5 MRI scanning 4. MARKET INSIGHT FROM LEADING PROVIDERS 4.1 Clinical drivers 4.2 Private medical insurance 4.3 Affordability 4.4 The NHS 4.5 The wider economy 4.6 Customer focus 4.7 Other factors 4.8 Quality 5. PRICE COMPARISONS 5.1 Pricing for self-pay procedures 5.1.1 Calculating the percentage difference for average treatment prices 5.2 NHS pricing for self-pay procedures 6. MAJOR PROVIDER SCHEME AND FINANCE OPTIONS 6.1 Comparison of fixed price schemes from major providers 6.1.1 Nuffield Health 6.1.2 BMI Healthcare 6.1.3 Spire Healthcare 6.1.4 Ramsay Health Care 6.1.5 HCA Healthcare 6.1.6 Aspen Healthcare 6.2 Third-party administrators 6.3 Online third-party administrators and treatment sourcing services 6.4 Comparison of finance schemes from major providers for self-pay patients 7. THE PATIENT PERSPECTIVE 7.1 PHIN's perspective 7.2 Available research 8. THE FUTURE OF SELF-PAY 8.1 The views of influencers and opinion leaders 8.2 New players attracted to the self-pay market 8.2.1 Online and App based services 8.2.2 Private GP services 8.3 The role of clinical innovation 8.4 Demographics 8.5 The role of effective marketing and engagement 8.6 Quality as a driver For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/wm68u1 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. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240813486255/en/ Contacts: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./ CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 MobilityWorks announces its expansion to 100 locations across 37 states, furthering its mission to provide wheelchair users with the mobility, independence and personal freedom they desire. RICHFIELD, OH / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / MobilityWorks, the nation's largest provider of wheelchair accessible vehicles, mobility equipment, and services, is proud to announce its expansion to 100 locations across the country. This milestone was made possible through this year's strategic acquisitions in Washington, Utah, Oregon and Oklahoma, furthering the company's mission to provide wheelchair users with the mobility, independence and personal freedom they desire. MobilityWorks Exterior Signage The image features the exterior of a MobilityWorks location, displaying the company's logo and name on a large sign attached to the building. The logo consists of the initials "MW" in green and blue, followed by the text "MobilityWorks" With the recent addition of new locations in Wilsonville, Oregon; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Tacoma and Woodinville in Washington, as well as a new location set to open in North Carolina by the end of the year, 2024 has been a year of historic growth for MobilityWorks. These new locations not only expand the company's footprint but also enable MobilityWorks to reach a larger client base with its comprehensive range of mobility solutions, including wheelchair accessible vehicles, adaptive equipment and driving aids as well as home accessibility equipment. "The journey from our first location in Akron, Ohio, now to our 100th, is not just a reflection of our company growth but a celebration of the lives we've impacted along the way," said Bryan Everett, Chief Executive Officer of MobilityWorks. "While we're proud to have established a strong presence across the nation, the real accomplishment comes in knowing we're making mobility options more accessible than ever for the clients we serve every day. This would not be possible without the talented and dedicated team members who passionately support our mission." Now with 100 locations in 37 states, MobilityWorks is better positioned than ever to deliver on its mission. The company expects to host a ribbon cutting ceremony at their new location in Raleigh, North Carolina, later this year. About MobilityWorks: MobilityWorks is the nation's largest retailer of wheelchair accessible vehicles, mobility equipment and services. MobilityWorks is a portfolio company of Flexpoint Ford, a private equity firm that specializes in investments in the healthcare and financial services industries. MobilityWorks Commercial is the largest provider of commercial wheelchair vans in the country. MobilityWorks and manufacturer Driverge Vehicle Innovations together make up WMK, LLC, established in 1997 and recognized on the Inc. 500|5000 list of Inc. Magazine's fastest-growing privately held companies, as well as Newsweek's list of America's Greatest Workplaces. Contact Information Kelly Stobie Internal Communications & PR Manager kelly.stobie@mobilityworks.com 234-200-1381 SOURCE: MobilityWorks View the original press release on newswire.com. San Francisco, California--(Newsfile Corp. - August 13, 2024) - Following OpenAI's recent rollout of SearchGPT, Evercopy, a trending startup in the AI marketing space, proudly announces the launch of EverAds, the first dedicated advertising network for AI chatbots. This new platform enables chatbot developers to integrate advertisements seamlessly into chatbot conversations, offering a novel way to engage users while generating revenue. Within its first week, EverAds got over 1,000 registrations from AI Chatbot Developers, reflecting its immediate impact on the market. Rise Of AI-powered Search Engines While OpenAI's recent announcement is making headlines, the conversation around AI search engines has been building for some time. In January, Google enhanced its search capabilities with the introduction of "Circle to Search" and multi search functionalities. These updates offer a multimodal search experience, allowing users to interact through voice commands or camera-based searches, making the process more natural and varied. Similarly with Bard, Google has been pushing to make the searching experience more effortless and convenient than ever before. A New Ads Category: Conversational Ads Building on the advancements of AI in search engines, Evercopy's launch of EverAds taps into the realm of "Conversational Ads," a novel approach in digital marketing specifically designed for the interactive nature of AI chatbots. Unlike traditional advertising, which often interrupts the user experience, conversational ads are integrated directly into chat dialogues, providing a seamless interaction that can adapt to the context of the conversation. This integration enables ads to be more relevant and engaging, improving the likelihood of user interaction and conversion. Figure 1 To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10747/219487_a56478e4b4fc092a_001full.jpg For instance, if a user is interacting with a chatbot about travel plans, a conversational ad might offer relevant hotel bookings or travel gear, precisely when the user is considering these options. This method not only maintains the natural flow of conversation but also leverages the immediacy of user intent, making these ads particularly effective. As AI chatbots become more integrated into daily digital interactions, conversational ads stand to redefine how brands connect with consumers, offering a more personalized and direct marketing channel that aligns with modern consumer behaviors. "Ads succeed when they don't feel like ads. With EverAds, we aim to blur the line so smoothly that users can't tell where assistance ends and advertising begins," says Erdal Cokol, co-founder of Evercopy. Key Features of EverAds Ad Display Network For AI Chatbots EverAds introduces several key features designed to enhance the effectiveness and profitability of advertising within AI chatbots. Maximize Earnings EverAds network utilizes real-time bidding, a dynamic auction process where ad impressions are sold and bought in real-time milliseconds, allowing advertisers to achieve optimal placement and pricing based on immediate market conditions, ensuring that each ad is not only contextually appropriate but also cost-effective while giving AI Chatbot developers the edge to allocate their slots to the highest bidder, maximizing their revenue. Additionally, EverAds offers a unified platform that simplifies marketing across multiple channels including social media, Google, and Meta's paid networks. By incorporating AI chatbots into this mix, EverAds provides advertisers with a smooth transition and an opportunity to allocate a larger portion of their advertising budgets to these platforms due to higher observed conversion rates. AI chatbot developers can check potential earnings through the EverAds network on the website, where the rates appear to be above the industry average. Figure 2 To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10747/219487_a56478e4b4fc092a_002full.jpg Engaging Ad Formats and Personalization The platform leverages AI to generate multimedia ads, making it easier for advertisers to create and publish custom ads that are tailored to the audience's preferences. On the publisher side, personalized ad displays lead to higher conversions as ads are more aligned with customer interests and behaviors. Furthermore, AI chatbot users retain full control over their data sharing preferences, similar to website cookie settings, ensuring transparency and user comfort with their information's usage. Actionable Insights for AI Chatbot Developers EverAds provides AI chatbot developers with a comprehensive admin panel where they can monitor ad options, track conversions, and manage revenue. The platform also offers intelligent recommendations on ad types and formats that are best suited for their specific market and the primary use of their AI chatbots. About Evercopy Evercopy is a Plug & Play AI Marketing Team that helps anyone activate marketing with ease and flexibility; leveraging AI to plan, run and optimize campaigns effortlessly and without marketing skills. Currently helping over 20,000 brands to leverage AI in their marketing pipelines through intuitive AI marketing tools and its custom AI model, the startup has been a trending player in the AI marketing space. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/219487 SOURCE: Evercopy Kupfer wird oft als das Gold der Energiewende bezeichnet, weil es aufgrund seiner hervorragenden elektrischen Leitfahigkeit eine zentrale Rolle in vielen Technologien spielt, die fur nachhaltige Energiesysteme entscheidend sind. Experten gehen aufgrund der Angebotsknappheit von einem Superzyklus aus. Korrektur als Einstiegschance Nach Hochststanden im Mai korrigierte das rote Metall stark. Die Abwartsspirale verstarkte sich in den vergangenen Tagen aufgrund schwacher Konjunkturdaten aus den USA und China. Langfristig konnte sich die aktuell laufende Korrektur als exzellente Einstiegsmoglichkeit herausstellen. 3 Kupferaktien mit hohem Potential Im neuen, kostenlosen Spezialreport stellen wir drei aussichtsreiche Unternehmen vor, die bei einem weiteren Anstieg uberproportional profitieren konnten. Handeln Sie jetzt und sichern Sie sich Ihren kostenfreien Report! HOLLYWOOD, FL and MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / On August 26, 2024 after the NYSE closing, HEICO Corporation (NYSE: HEI.A)(NYSE:HEI) will release its financial results for the third quarter ended July 31, 2024. The earnings release will be available through the Internet on the Company's website at https://www.heico.com. In order to assist interested parties in scheduling their participation in HEICO teleconferences, the Company issues advance notices of conference calls. HEICO will hold a conference call on Tuesday, August 27, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time to discuss its third quarter results. Individuals wishing to participate in the conference call should dial: US and Canada (888) 204-4368, International (646) 828-8193, wait for the conference operator and provide the operator with the Conference ID 3601863. A digital replay will be available two hours after the completion of the conference call for 14 days. To access the replay, please visit our website at https://www.heico.com under the Investors section for details. The Company has two classes of common stock traded on the NYSE. Both classes, the Common Stock (HEI) and the Class A Common Stock (HEI.A), are virtually identical in all economic respects. The only difference between the share classes is the voting rights. The Class A Common Stock (HEI.A) carries 1/10 vote per share and the Common Stock (HEI) carries one vote per share. The stock symbols for HEICO's two classes of common stock on most websites are HEI and HEI.A. However, some websites change HEICO's Class A Common Stock symbol (HEI.A) to HEI/A or HEIa. HEICO Corporation is engaged primarily in the design, production, servicing and distribution of products and services to certain niche segments of the aviation, defense, space, medical, telecommunications and electronics industries through its Hollywood, Florida-based Flight Support Group and its Miami, Florida-based Electronic Technologies Group. HEICO's customers include a majority of the world's airlines and overhaul shops, as well as numerous defense and space contractors and military agencies worldwide, in addition to medical, telecommunications and electronics equipment manufacturers. For more information about HEICO, please visit our website at https://www.heico.com. Contact Information Victor Mendelson 305-374-1745 ext. 7590 Carlos Macau, Jr. 954-987-4000 ext. 7570 SOURCE: HEICO Corporation View the original press release on accesswire.com JACKSONVILLE, FL / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / ParkerVision, Inc. (OTCQB:PRKR) ("ParkerVision" or the "Company"), a developer and marketer of technologies and products for wireless applications, today announced results for the six months ended June 30, 2024. 2024 Summary and Recent Developments The Company is awaiting a decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) in ParkerVision v. Qualcomm (Middle District of Florida - Orlando). In July 2024, the CAFC dismissed the appeal, with the ability for reinstatement, determining that it did not have jurisdiction over this case as the district court had never entered a final order on Qualcomm's counterclaims of invalidity. On August 1, 2024, at the joint request of the parties, the District Court in the Middle District of Florida dismissed Qualcomm's counterclaims of invalidity without prejudice, thus providing the CAFC jurisdiction. The appeal was resubmitted to the CAFC on August 7, 2024. The CAFC has indicated it will rule on the basis of the briefs previously submitted and the oral arguments heard in November 2023. In June 2024, the Company had a joint claim construction hearing in the Western District of Texas that covered claim construction for pending cases against Texas Instruments ("TI") and NXP Semiconductors ("NXP") and second actions against MediaTek and Realtek. The court's formal claim construction orders are expected to be issued in the near term. The Company has a number of jury trials scheduled in the Western District of Texas beginning in March 2025 against Realtek, followed by April 2025 against MediaTek, May 2025 against TI and August 2025 against NXP. MediaTek, TI and NXP have filed inter partes review ("IPR") petitions against claims related to an aggregate of five of the Company's asserted patents. One such IPR has been instituted to date, against one of the patents asserted against MediaTek. The remaining IPRs are still being briefed. Jeffrey Parker, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We anticipate that a ruling will be forthcoming from the CAFC in the near term now that the issue of jurisdiction has been resolved. The next twelve months promise to be active as we have four scheduled jury trials in our patent infringement cases in the Western District of Texas. We will also be vigorously defending our patents at the PTAB which has become a commonly used defense strategy for companies attempting to avoid patent infringement judgements." Financial Results ParkerVision reported a net loss for the second quarter of 2024 of $0.3 million, or $0.00 per common share, compared to net income of $1.4 million, or $0.02 per common share for the second quarter of 2023. On a year-to-date basis, the Company reported a net loss for the first six months of 2024 of $1.0 million, or $0.01 per common share, compared to net income of $14.5 million, or $.17 per common share for the first six months of 2023. The 2023 net income was the result of a $25 million patent license and settlement agreement entered into in February 2023, net of contingent fees and expenses. The Company used $1.4 million in cash for operations for the first half of 2024, ending the quarter with $1.0 million in cash and cash equivalents. About ParkerVision ParkerVision, Inc. invents, develops and licenses cutting-edge, proprietary radio-frequency (RF) technologies that enable wireless solution providers to make and sell advanced wireless communication products. ParkerVision is engaged in a number of patent enforcement actions in the U.S. to protect patented rights that it believes are broadly infringed by others. For more information, please visit www.parkervision.com. (PRKR-I) Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included or incorporated in this press release are forward-looking statements. The words "expected," "anticipate," and "promise" and similar expressions are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. The Company does not guarantee that it will actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in its forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results could vary materially from these forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those indicated or implied by its forward-looking statements, including those important factors set forth under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 and disclosures in the Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2024 and June 30, 2024, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although the Company may elect to do so at some point in the future, the Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statement and it disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Cindy French Chief Financial Officer ParkerVision, Inc cfrench@parkervision.com (TABLES FOLLOW) ParkerVision, Inc. Balance Sheet Highlights (unaudited) (in thousands) June 30, 2024 December 31, 2023 Cash and cash equivalents $ 1,025 $ 2,560 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 106 95 Intangible assets & other noncurrent assets 1,257 1,368 Total assets 2,388 4,023 Current liabilities 2,416 2,289 Contingent payment obligations 36,298 37,020 Convertible notes, net of current portion 3,588 3,893 Other long-term liabilities 271 340 Shareholders' deficit (40,185 ) (39,519 ) Total liabilities and shareholders' deficit $ 2,388 $ 4,023 ParkerVision, Inc. Summary Results of Operations (unaudited) Three Months Ended Six Months Ended (in thousands, except per share amounts) June 30, June 30, 2024 2023 2024 2023 Licensing revenue $ - $ - $ 25,000 Cost of sales (58 ) (63 ) (117 ) (106 ) Gross margin (58 ) (63 ) (117 ) 24,894 Selling, general and administrative expenses 683 1,125 1,457 13,210 Total operating expenses 683 1,125 1,457 13,210 Interest expense and other (88 ) (107 ) (168 ) (213 ) Change in fair value of contingent payment obligations 502 2,728 722 3,077 Total other income (expense), net 414 2,621 554 2,864 Net (loss) income $ (327 ) $ 1,433 $ (1,020 ) $ 14,548 Basic (loss) earnings per common share $ (0.00 ) $ 0.02 $ (0.01 ) $ 0.17 Diluted (loss) earnings per common share $ (0.00 ) $ 0.01 $ (0.01 ) $ 0.12 Weighted average shares outstanding Basic 88,683 85,263 88,424 84,570 Diluted 88,683 120,061 88,424 119,700 ParkerVision, Inc. Summary of Cash Flows (unaudited) Six Months Ended (in thousands) June 30, 2024 2023 Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities $ (1,418 ) $ 12,266 Net cash used in investing activities - (1 ) Net cash used in financing activities (117 ) (8,174 ) Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash (1,535 ) 4,091 Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash - beginning of period 2,560 109 Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash - end of period $ 1,025 $ 4,200 SOURCE: ParkerVision, Inc. View the original press release on accesswire.com HERA will procure 175,420 doses for immediate response to the concerning mpox outbreak in Africa, and furthermore, Bavarian Nordic will donate 40,000 doses to HERA, also to be distributed to the Africa CDC. COPENHAGEN, Denmark, August 13, 2024 - Bavarian Nordic A/S (OMX: BAVA) announced today a new order from HERA (the European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority) for the Company's MVA-BN vaccine, the only FDA and EMA-approved mpox vaccine. HERA will procure 175,420 doses of the vaccine for donation to the Africa CDC (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention) in support of their strengthened response to the mpox outbreak which is spreading across the African continent. Additionally, Bavarian Nordic will donate 40,000 doses to HERA, also to be donated to the Africa CDC. This larger donation follows a recent pledge from the Company for 15,000 doses as part of coordinated response in the African region by Gavi, WHO and UNICEF. Currently, only two African countries have granted Emergency Use Authorization for the MVA-BN vaccine, but the WHO last week requested Bavarian Nordic to submit an Expression of Interest for Emergency Use Listing (EUL) of the vaccine, which could accelerate its accessibility to African countries where national regulatory approvals are not yet in place. Furthermore, the Africa CDC has today declared a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security, a new framework aimed to further strengthen and accelerate the public health response against mpox across the entire region. "Strong global partnerships are at the very core of our European Health Union. Health security threats know no borders and today, thanks to the collaboration between the European Commission, Africa Centre for Disease Control and Bavarian Nordic, we make 215,000 vaccines available to protect the most vulnerable in countries affected by the outbreak of mpox in Africa. Preparedness and response to health threats is a global endeavour which we are determined to pursue collectively and with solidarity across borders," said Stella Kyriakides, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety "Mpox is spreading at an alarming rate in Africa, calling for further action from the international community. We are proud to support HERA's contribution of vaccines to the region and are pleased to announce an additional donation from Bavarian Nordic. We also applaud the initiatives from the Africa CDC and WHO to strengthen and coordinate the public health response, helping to ensure our vaccine can reach more people on the African continent," said Paul Chaplin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bavarian Nordic. The order from HERA will have no impact on the Company's overall financial guidance for 2024 but brings the total value of secured contracts close to the lower level of the revenue guidance for the Public Preparedness business in 2024, from which DKK 2,700-3,000 million is expected of a total expected revenue of DKK 5,000-5,300 million for the full year. About HERA The European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) was established by the European Commission in 2021 with the purpose to strengthen Europe's ability to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to cross-border health emergencies, by ensuring the development, manufacturing, procurement, and equitable distribution of key medical countermeasures. HERA has also made commitments to support health crises beyond Europe. Bavarian Nordic has worked with HERA since the 2022 mpox outbreak, initially through direct procurement agreements, followed by the signing of a joint procurement agreement which has enabled EU Member States and additional countries in the European Economic Area (EEA) as well as Western Balkan countries to procure the mpox vaccine for national use. About the mpox vaccine MVA-BN or Modified Vaccinia Ankara-Bavarian Nordic is a non-replicating smallpox vaccine and the only mpox vaccine approved in the U.S. and Switzerland (marketed as JYNNEOS), Canada (marketed as IMVAMUNE), and the EU/EEA and United Kingdom (marketed as IMVANEX). Originally developed in collaboration with the U.S. government to ensure the supply of a smallpox vaccine for the entire population, including immunocompromised individuals who are not recommended vaccination with traditional replicating smallpox vaccines, MVA-BN has been indicated for use in the general adult population (18 years and older) in individuals considered at risk for smallpox or mpox. During the 2022-2023 mpox outbreak, the vaccine was granted an Emergency Use Authorization by the U.S. FDA for both pre- and post-exposure use in adolescents. Bavarian Nordic has been a long-term supplier of the vaccine to the U.S. and Canada as well as several other countries as part of their national biological preparedness. During the 2022-2023 mpox outbreak, Bavarian Nordic has furthermore supported governments and supranational organizations by expanding access to the vaccine to more than 70 countries worldwide. About Bavarian Nordic Bavarian Nordic is a fully integrated vaccine company with a mission to protect and save lives through innovative vaccines. We are a global leader in smallpox and mpox vaccines, supplied to governments to enhance public health preparedness and have a strong portfolio of vaccines for travelers and endemic diseases. For more information visit www.bavarian-nordic.com . Forward-looking statements This announcement includes forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside of our control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning our plans, objectives, goals, future events, performance and/or other information that is not historical information. All such forward-looking statements are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements and any other cautionary statements which may accompany the forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances after the date made, except as required by law. Contacts Europe: Rolf Sass Srensen, Vice President Investor Relations, rss@bavarian-nordic.com , Tel: +45 61 77 47 43 US: Graham Morrell, Paddock Circle Advisors, graham@paddockcircle.com , Tel: +1 781 686 9600 Company Announcement no. 23 / 2024 Attachment Tier One Silver Inc. (TSXV:TSLV)(OTCQB:TSLVF) ("Tier One" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the voting results for the election of its Board of Directors at the Annual General Meeting (the "Meeting") of Shareholders held on August 7, 2024, in Vancouver, British Columbia. The director nominees as listed in the Company's Information Circular dated July 26, 2024, and SEDAR+ filed July 28, 2024 (the "Circular"), were elected as directors of the Company at the Meeting to serve until the next Meeting. A total of 43,870,612 of the Company's common shares were present or represented by proxy at the Meeting, representing 25.69% of the outstanding common shares. The voting results for the election of directors are as follows: Election of Directors: Name of Nominee Votes For Votes For (%) Votes Withheld/Abstain Votes Withheld/Abstain (%) Antonio Arribas 40,367,893 98.83% 478,537 1.17% Ivan James Bebek 40,472,355 99.08% 374,075 0.92% Peter Dembicki 40,480,384 99.10% 366,046 0.90% Jeffrey Mason 39,345,100 96.32% 1,501,330 3.68% Christina Strashek 40,306,703 98.68% 539,727 1.32% Paul Sun 40,369,795 98.83% 476,635 1.17% There were 3,024,182 non-votes recorded (but not voted) for each director. Non-votes are discretionary votes given to a broker by a US beneficial holder, but such votes are not allowed under Canadian Securities Regulations. Reappointment of Auditor: Votes For Votes For (%) Votes Withheld/Abstain Votes Withheld/Abstain (%) Deloitte LLP 43,748,910 99.72 121,702 0.28% Incentive Plan Resolution: Votes For Votes For (%) Votes Against Votes Against (%) Long-term Incentive Plan 37,880,031 92.74 2,966,399 7.26% Shareholders voted in favour of the Company's long-term incentive plan ("LTI Plan"), which was authorized by the Board June 11, 2024 and summarized in the Company's Circular. The LTI Plan limits the number of common shares reserved for issuance under the LTI Plan, together with all other security-based compensation arrangements of the Company to 10% of the issued and outstanding shares (on a non-diluted basis). The Company currently has 171,049,523 common shares issued and outstanding meaning the maximum Unit Awards issuable under the plan at this time is 17,104,952 of which 9,930,000 Options have been issued leaving 7,174,952 Unit Awards available for issuance. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF TIER ONE SILVER INC. Peter Dembicki President, CEO and Director For further information on Tier One Silver Inc., please contact the Company at (778) 729-0700 or info@tieronesilver.com. Capital Markets Contact: Julia Becker Julia.becker@tieronesilver.com About Tier One Silver Tier One Silver is an exploration company focused on creating value for shareholders and stakeholders through the discovery of world-class silver, gold and copper deposits in Peru. The Company is focused on its flagship exploration project, Curibaya. The Company's management and technical teams have a strong track record in raising capital, discovery and monetization of exploration success. For more information, visit www.tieronesilver.com. 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. SOURCE: Tier One Silver, Inc. View the original press release on accesswire.com Today, MedMira Inc. (MedMira) (TSXV:MIR) announces it will conduct full clinical trials for its unique Multiplo Complete Syphilis (TP/nTP) Antibody Test (Multiplo TP/nTP) with the goal of getting it licensed in Canada. The new Multiplo TP/nTP will provide a complete system which combines screening and confirmation in one test. Just announced by Health Minister Mark Holland , the clinical trial is happening in partnership with REACH Nexus at St. Michael's Hospital's MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions with funding from the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR). This significant achievement is a major milestone in the fight against the rising growth of syphilis. MedMira's unique and patented Multiplo TP/nTP provides a high-quality rapid point-of-care (POC) test to screen and confirm instantly while supporting the health care system with the fastest and most cost-effective testing solution. By utilizing its unique and patented RVF technology, MedMira offers the only commercially available combined screening and confirmation test which takes less than 3 minutes (from sample collection to easy-to-read results) for the detection of active syphilis infection with immediate results. "With the tremendous support of REACH Nexus at MAP, we have been able to demonstrate our superior technology and with it our products high quality and flexibility. This led to the most recent award and enables MedMira to bring this very much needed product to the Canadian market. Without scientists and their team at MAP and the funding from CIHR, Canadians would not have been able to benefit from this essential test. Hence, we are grateful for the support and believe in our technology and products" says Hermes Chan, CEO of MedMira." Our Multiplo TP/nTP is unique in every way and there is no comparable testing solution that can provide our speed, quality and cost-effectiveness. We truly feel this is a wonderful addition to the Canadian health care sector and will enable for health care providers to act swiftly in cases of active syphilis infections while unburden the financial strain on the overall system." The Multiplo TP/nTP test integrates the detection of both treponemal (TP) and non-treponemal (nTP) antibodies into a single diagnostic tool. By targeting biomarkers associated with both active and past infections, this test offers a comprehensive solution that combines the screening and confirmation phases used in global testing protocols. Unlike traditional syphilis tests, our innovative, user-friendly, and durable diagnostic tool addresses the increasing need for flexible, accurate, and cost-effective detection of active syphilis infection. The Multiplo TP/nTP not only detects exposure to TP but also determines an active infection status by simultaneously identifying both non-treponemal and treponemal antibodies. "We need more rapid point-of-care (POC) testing options approved in Canada to reach the undiagnosed with HIV, syphilis and other blood-borne infections and sexually transmitted infections (STBBIs)" said Dr. Sean B. Rourke, director of REACH and MAP scientist at St. Michael's Hospital (Unity Health Toronto). "We are very excited about the partnership and implementation science work we are doing with MedMira that will have real-life impacts for Canadians, and for people around the world. With funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Dr. Rourke and his team at REACH Nexus is leading efforts to address these epidemics by working collaboratively with Canadian in vitro diagnostic developers, health care providers, community stakeholders and people with lived experience, researchers, health ministries and public health to bring new POC tests to market here in Canada - while also addressing the burden of these epidemics to Canadians at the same time. "The approach we are taking to addressing the rising number of STBBIs are game-changers for Canada," says Dr. Rourke. "Not everyone has access to the testing they need for STBBIs because of health inequities, stigma and various forms of discrimination. We need to democratize rapid testing - get more POC and self-testing (for use at home) approved by Health Canada - so that all Canadians have access to the testing they need to make decisions about their health and wellbeing, when and where it's best for them." MedMira along with their partners from REACH Nexus and MAP have identified clinical and community sites in the Western part of Canada as an ideal location for this next "test, treat and connect" clinical trial and implementation science study, subject to Health Canada's authorization. MedMira's focus on syphilis is based on the tremendous impact of this sexually transmitted disease on global health. In 2018 alone, the European CDC reported about 34,000 new confirmed cases of syphilis with a 70% increase in the notification rate in 2017 compared to 2010. They also concluded that for the first time since the early 2000s EU/EEA countries reported more syphilis cases than HIV. Since treatments that can prevent the progression of syphilis are available, rapid diagnosis and treatment of infected individuals along with the rapid identification of sexual contacts is a high priority. About REACH Nexus at St. Michael's Hospital's MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions (Unity Health Toronto network) REACH Nexus is an ambitious national research group working on how to address HIV, Hepatitis C, and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs) in Canada. Their focus is on reaching the undiagnosed, implementing and scaling up new testing options, strengthening connections to care, improving access to options for prevention (PrEP and PEP) and ending stigma. We work in collaboration and partnership with people living with HIV; community-based organizations; front-line service providers; healthcare providers and decision makers; public health agencies; researchers; business leaders; industry partners, and federal, provincial and regional policymakers. Follow us more on LinkedIn and Twitter . About MedMira MedMira is a leading developer and manufacturer of Rapid Vertical Flow diagnostics. The Company's tests provide hospitals, labs, clinics, and individuals with instant disease diagnosis, such as HIV, Syphilis, Hepatitis, and SARS-CoV-2, in just three easy steps. The Company's tests are sold globally under the REVEAL, REVEALCOVID-19, Multiplo and Miriad brands. Based on its patented Rapid Vertical Flow Technology, MedMira's rapid HIV test is the only one in the world to achieve regulatory approvals in Canada, the United States, China and the European Union. MedMira's corporate offices and manufacturing facilities are located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. For more information visit medmira.com and medmira.ca . Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn . This news release contains forward-looking statements, which involve risk and uncertainties and reflect the Company's current expectation regarding future events, including statements regarding possible regulatory approval, product launch, future growth, and new business opportunities. Actual events could materially differ from those projected herein and depend on a number of factors including, but not limited to, changing market conditions, successful and timely completion of clinical studies, uncertainties related to the regulatory approval process, establishment of corporate alliances and other risks detailed from time to time in the company quarterly filings. 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. MedMira Contact Markus Meile Chief Financial Officer MedMira Inc. ir@medmira.com Unity Health Toronto contact Communications@unityhealth.to SOURCE: MedMira, Inc. View the original press release on accesswire.com Mayor London Breed greets and thanks members of the AAPI community in the banquet hall at Far East Cafe, the last remaining large banquet space in Chinatown, for the Lunar New Year CCDC Spring Banquet on Friday, March 8, 2024. Camille Cohen/Special to the Chronicle Mayor London Breed is gaining ground among San Franciscos Asian American voters, according to a new Chronicle poll. The poll found that a larger portion approve of Breed than they did in February, when Asian American respondents gave Breed the worst approval ratings of all ethnic groups. Among Asian American voters, who played an influential role in deciding recent elections and helped Breed get elected in 2018, crime and public safety are even more of a decisive issue than the general electorate, the new Chronicle poll showed. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The poll, which ran from July 31 through Aug. 5, surveyed 804 likely voters, 23% of whom were Asian American with 14% Chinese American. It has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points. Breeds recovering popularity among Asian voters could be due to her more aggressive stance on public safety, the drug crisis and homelessness, Asian American political experts and advocates said. She won voter backing in March for ballot measures mandating drug screening for welfare recipients and expanding police powers. Shes also been more vocal in the past few months about cracking down on homeless encampments. Josephine Zhao, president of Chinese American Democratic Club, said in response to the poll results that she thinks Breeds improved position is because of the mayor ramping up these public safety efforts. Her frequent messaging on how shes been working with SFPD on giving them more of an ability to enforce law and support SFPDs budget for more hiring, retaining officers as well as recruiting retired officers I think those are messages that people want to hear, Zhao said. Breed also secured a pair of pandas for San Franciscos zoo, an effort heavily backed by local Chinese American advocates. Breed, like other major mayoral candidates, has been campaigning heavily in Asian American communities. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Mayor London Breed addresses a crowd on Grant Avenue in Chinatown during an event celebrating the Lunar New Year in San Francisco, Calif. on Saturday, February 10, 2024. Adam Pardee/Special to the Chronicle In February, Breed backed down from a plan to open the citys first sober housing facility for formerly homeless people at the edge of Chinatown after opposition from local merchants and advocates. More recently, her office successfully requested the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority scrap a plan for bike lanes in Chinatown after opposition from merchants and community members. But Breeds improved position among this group also more broadly mirrors a trend of her upward popularity among the general electorate, which the Chronicle poll results suggest is related to greater optimism about the state of the city. In February, 80% of Asian American likely voters disapproved of her job performance in a Chronicle poll, the lowest of all ethnic groups, 19% approved of her and just 10% of Asian voters who had decided on a top choice for mayor picked Breed. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In the most recent poll, Breeds disapproval rating among Asian American respondents dropped to 57% and her approval rating rose to 43%, similar to that of the general population. Breed told the Chronicle that her surging approval partly reflects her recent accomplishments. She pointed out that reported crime in San Francisco is down in the first half of this year compared with the same time last year, though experts say a number of complicated factors drive increases or decreases in crime. She also pointed to an expanded senior escort program to accompany elderly residents to appointments. People are noticing the work that were doing and they are responding to it, but also Ive gone out there and Ive been campaigning a lot more, Breed told the Chronicle at an event Thursday to announce endorsements by Sheriff Paul Miyamoto, the citys first Asian American sheriff, and other Asian American public safety leaders. Despite Breeds improved stature among Asian American voters, the poll results indicate a split in political allegiances and suggest Asian American residents may not vote as a bloc this November. Twenty-seven percent of Asian poll respondents ranked Breed as their top choice, the highest share of all candidates, but her opponents were not far behind. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The nonprofit founder and Levi Strauss heir Daniel Lurie garnered the second most top choice votes from Asian respondents, 23% of whom picked him, compared with 16% of voters overall. Mayoral candidate Daniel Lurie, center right, interacts with residents, handing out shirts, at a back to school resource fair in San Francisco on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. Benjamin Fanjoy/Special to the Chronicle The margins of error for the poll results are wider when looking at subgroups like the Asian population. This means there is less certainty of the accuracy of these numbers than when looking at the overall population. Lurie said in response to the poll results that public safety and the Asian American and Pacific Islander community have been top priorities since the day he began his campaign. Advertisement Article continues below this ad This community is going to see me on the ground working with them to make our communities safer every day, not just in an election year, he said. Farrell came in third for top choice picks among Asian respondents, with 12% saying they would rank him first. Farrell campaign manager Jade Tu said that his top priority is public safety and that he has released the most detailed plans to fix the police staffing crisis. The moderate-leaning Chinese American Democratic Club endorsed Farrell as its top choice last week, ranking Lurie second and Breed third. The races two most progressive candidates were behind Breed, Lurie and Farrell, with just 8% of Asian American respondents ranking Board of Supervisor President Aaron Peskin first, while 4% ranked Supervisor Ahsha Safai first. A group gathers for a photo with mayoral candidate Mark Farrell at an event near Bayshore Boulevard in San Francisco on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. Benjamin Fanjoy/Special to the Chronicle Peskins campaign press secretary, Adrian Plaisance, said that Peskins track record in the Asian community is second to none, having represented Chinatown for 17 years where he placed Cantonese-speaking foot patrol officers and improved pedestrian safety. Our Asian community faces the same challenges as all San Franciscans, and this poll represents a clear dissatisfaction in the mayor, said Safais campaign adviser, Derek Jansen. Zhao, the Chinese American Democratic Club president, told the Chronicle that she sees a big split in the Asian American voter base, with Breed, Farrell and Lurie gaining popularity on the west side and south side and Peskin being popular in Chinatown. Mayoral candidate Aaron Peskin with supporters at his fundraising banquet at Far East Cafe in San Franciscos Chinatown on Friday, July 26, 2024. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle That is a bloc of votes that is not going to vote as a bloc, said Jonathan Brown, president of Sextant Strategies & Research, which conducted the polls. Still, many Asian American voters agree that crime is the most important issue in deciding their ballot. In the Chronicle poll, 43% of Asian American respondents ranked crime as the most important issue in deciding their vote in this Novembers mayoral race, compared with 34% of voters overall. Concerns about crime and safety of older Asian people are top of mind for retired Sunset District resident Ken Lau as he decides whom to vote for. Most people, especially the elderly like us, dont think the city has done enough to stop crime, take care of the homeless, Lau said. And the solutions the city has for all these years doesnt work. Despite his misgivings about the direction of the city, Lau, who considers himself a moderate Democrat, still supports Breed because he likes her reasonable and center-of-the-field positions. He praised the Breed administration for the police ambassadors in the Outer Sunset, part of a city initiative to tackle the officer shortage by enlisting retired police officers to walk beats. However, he said he might still consider other candidates. Tony Lee, owner of Sunset District Chinese restaurant Sun Maxims and a west side community advocate, said hes no longer supporting Breed despite voting for her in 2019. Definitely, we need a new leader for the city, Lee said. I can see her leadership is not good for the city. You can see the city getting worse and worse. He favors Lurie and said he has spoken with Lurie a couple of times to suggest how to improve public safety. Bill Lee, a former city administrator who follows local Asian American politics, said every campaign is ultimately trying to win over Asian Americans, who make up about one-third of the citys population. Golar LNG Limited (the "Company") advises that the 2024 Annual General Meeting of the Company was held on August 13, 2024 at 10:00 ADT at 2nd Floor, The S.E. Pearman Building, 9 Par-la-Ville Road, Hamilton HM 11, Bermuda. The audited consolidated financial statements for the Company for the year ended December 31, 2023, were presented at the Meeting. The following resolutions were passed: 1) To set the maximum number of Directors to be not more than Seven. 2) To resolve that vacancies in the number of Directors be designated as casual vacancies and that the Board of Directors be authorized to fill such vacancies as and when it deems fit. 3) To re-elect Tor Olav Troim as a Director of the Company. 4) To re-elect Daniel W. Rabun as a Director of the Company. 5) To re-elect Thorleif Egeli as a Director of the Company. 6) To re-elect Carl E. Steen as a Director of the Company. 7) To re-elect Niels G. Stolt-Nielsen as a Director of the Company. 8) To re-elect Lori Wheeler Naess as a Director of the Company. 9) To re-elect Georgina E. Sousa as a Director of the Company. 10) To re-appoint Ernst & Young LLP of London, England as auditors and to authorise the Directors to determine their remuneration. 11) To approve remuneration of the Company's Board of Directors of a total amount of fees not to exceed US$2,050,000.00 for the year ended December 31st, 2024. Hamilton, Bermuda August 13, 2024 This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd. (TSX:ASM)(NYSE American:ASM)(FSE:GV6) a long-standing silver producer in Mexico, announces its consolidated financial results for the second quarter of 2024, with record revenues and further cash generation. Second Quarter 2024 Financial Highlights Revenues of $14.8 million, an increase of 60% from Q2 2023 Gross Profit (mine operating income) of $4.7 million, $5.9 million net of non-cash costs of sales Net income of $1.2 million, or $0.01 per share Adjusted earnings 3 of $4.3 million, or $0.03 per share Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA") 3 of $3.4 million Cash costs per silver equivalent payable ounce sold 1,2,3 of $16.29 All in sustaining cash costs per silver equivalent payable ounce sold1,2,3 of $22.74 "In the second quarter, we delivered record revenues as a result of higher metal prices combined with consistent production from our Avino Mine," said Nathan Harte, Chief Financial Officer. "We saw improvements in all key financial metrics compared to Q2 2023, with cash flow generation and operating margins strengthening our cash and working capital positions. This strength will allow us to move forward with our plans at La Preciosa as efficiently as possible, and we look forward to delivering additional value to shareholders along the way." "We were pleased to see the second quarter rally in metal prices with silver outperforming gold at times," said David Wolfin, President and CEO. "During the quarter, we processed 10,000 tonnes of La Preciosa surface stockpiles with excellent recovery rates, exceeding our expectations. With significantly higher silver grades than were processed at Avino, La Preciosa contributed to the 26% increase in silver ounces produced in the current quarter. This furthers the confidence we have in our strategy to focus on transformational growth with our two mines in Mexico, coupled with the demand for silver, gold and copper. La Preciosa boasts a substantial untapped primary silver resource in Mexico and is situated next-door to Avino's established production operations in Durango, Mexico. The integration of La Preciosa's mineral resource inventory has notably bolstered Avino's overall NI 43-101 mineral resource portfolio to a current total of 371 million silver equivalent ounces." Financial Highlights HIGHLIGHTS (Expressed in 000's of US$) Second Quarter 2024 Second Quarter 2023 Change YTD 2024 YTD 2023 Change Financial Operating Performance Revenues $ 14,787 $ 9,218 60 % $ 27,180 $ 19,043 43 % Mine operating income $ 4,697 $ 1,043 350 % $ 7,035 $ 2,894 143 % Net income $ 1,240 $ 1,134 9 % $ 1,839 $ 782 135 % Earnings before interest, taxes and amortization ("EBITDA")1 $ 3,409 $ 396 761 % $ 5,122 $ 682 651 % Adjusted earnings1 $ 4,348 $ 27 <1000 % $ 6,404 $ 1,081 492 % Cash flow from operations $ 1,078 $ 503 115 % $ 3,425 $ 950 261 % Per Share Amounts Earnings per share $ 0.01 $ 0.01 0 % $ 0.01 $ 0.01 0 % Adjusted earnings per share1 $ 0.03 $ 0.00 100 % $ 0.05 $ 0.01 400 % HIGHLIGHTS (Expressed in 000's of US$) June 30, 2024 March 31, 2024 Change June 30, 2024 December 31, 2023 Change Liquidity & Working Capital Cash $ 5,311 $ 1,207 340 % $ 5,311 $ 2,688 98 % Working capital $ 13,570 $ 4,584 196 % $ 13,570 $ 9,727 40 % Operating Highlights and Overview HIGHLIGHTS (Expressed in US$) Second Quarter 2024 Second Quarter 2023 Change YTD 2024 YTD 2023 Change Operating Tonnes Milled 140,934 157,371 -10 % 310,529 317,128 -2 % Silver Ounces Produced 292,946 232,417 26 % 543,589 466,755 16 % Gold Ounces Produced 1,514 1,520 0 % 3,292 3,805 -14 % Copper Pounds Produced 1,305,549 1,445,552 -10 % 2,652,659 2,843,189 -7 % Silver Equivalent Ounces1 Produced 616,571 587,317 5 % 1,246,053 1,265,564 -2 % Concentrate Sales and Cash Costs Silver Equivalent Payable Ounces Sold2 537,037 452,011 19 % 1,147,914 958,738 20 % Cash Cost per Silver Equivalent Payable Ounce1,2,3 $ 16.29 $ 16.33 0 % $ 15.55 $ 15.22 2 % All-in Sustaining Cash Cost per Silver Equivalent Payable Ounce1,2,3 $ 22.74 $ 23.06 -1 % $ 21.40 $ 21.53 -1 % 2nd Quarter 2024 Highlights La Preciosa La Preciosa Stockpiles: During the quarter, almost 10,000 tonnes were processed from the La Preciosa surface stockpiles in Circuits 1 and 2, which produced a saleable high-grade concentrate. La Preciosa Progress: Following the signing of the long-term land use agreement with a local community on January 9th, 2024, the application for the Environmental Permit was submitted by the Company to the relevant authorities. Following feedback received in Q2 2024, the Company's response has been re-submitted with minor modifications. A further permit application will be submitted shortly after receipt of the Environmental Permit, which is required to commence the construction of the portal, haulage ramp, and the mining of the Gloria and Abundancia veins. Recent photos from the La Preciosa property can be viewed on our website by clicking here. Production In line with Expectations Silver equivalent production of 629,302 ounces is within our guidance range and the Company remains on track with our targeted full year production of 2.5M to 2.8M silver equivalent ounces. 2024 Capital Expenditures Capital expenditures to date for 2024 were $3.3 million, compared to $5.6 million in the first half of 2023, which is within the range previously disclosed in the Avino 2024 Outlook press release which can be found here on the Company's website. ESG Initiatives Avino follows the ESG Standards and the United Nations Sustainable Development goals. There are 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which were developed as a call to action by all countries developed and developing in a global partnership. The SDGs serve as a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. During the quarter Avino focused on the following: Good Health and Wellbeing, Quality Education, Gender Equality, and Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure. Through our commitment to achieve a brighter future for all, the Company reinforces its commitment to the local citizens, our personnel and their families. Avino considers the communities near the heart of our operations to be central to the success of our mining projects. Mexican nationals account for 100% of our mine work force. Currently, we have 479 direct jobs which includes the workers at the mine site and in our Durango offices. This translates to approximately 3 times the number of indirect jobs for services, consultants and suppliers in the surrounding communities and the Durango area. The earnings should be read in conjunction with the Company's Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") for the corresponding period, which can be viewed on the Company's website at www.avino.com, or on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca or on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. Qualified Person Peter Latta, P. Eng, MBA, VP Technical Services, Avino who is a qualified person within the context of National Instrument 43-101 has reviewed and approved the technical data in this news release. Non-IFRS Measures The financial results in this news release include references to cash cost per silver equivalent payable ounce, all-in sustaining cash cost per silver equivalent payable ounce, EBITDA, and adjusted earnings, all of which are non-IFRS measures. These measures are used by the Company to manage and evaluate the operating performance of the Company's mining operations and are widely reported in the silver and gold mining industry as benchmarks for performance, but do not have standardized meanings prescribed by IFRS. For a reconciliation of non-GAAP and GAAP measures, please refer to the "Non-IFRS Measures" section of the Company's MD&A dated August 13, 2024 for the six months ended June 30, 2024, which is incorporated by reference within this news release and is available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. Conference Call and Webcast A conference call and webcast to discuss the Company's Q2 2024 operational and financial results will be held Wednesday, August 14, 2024, at 8:00 a.m. PT / 11:00 a.m. ET. To participate in the conference call or follow the webcast, please see the details below. Shareholders, analysts, investors, and media are invited to join the webcast and conference call by logging in here Avino's Q2 Financial Results or by dialing the following numbers five to ten minutes prior to the start time. Toll Free: 888-506-0062 International: +1 973-528-0011 Participant Access Code: 933119 Participants will be greeted by an operator and asked for the access code. If a caller does not have the code, they can reference the company name. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions during the Q&A portion. The conference call and webcast will be recorded, and the replay will be available on the Company's website later that day. About Avino Avino is a silver producer from its wholly owned Avino Mine near Durango, Mexico. The Company's silver, gold and copper production remains unhedged. The Company intends to maintain long term sustainable and profitable mining operations to reward shareholders and the community alike through our growth at the historic Avino Property and the strategic acquisition of the adjacent La Preciosa which was finalized in Q1 2022. Avino currently controls mineral resources, as per NI 43-101, with a total mineral content of 371 million silver equivalent ounces, within our district-scale land package. Early in 2024, the pre-feasibility Study on the Oxide Tailings Project was completed. This study is a key milestone in our growth trajectory. As part of Avino's commitment to adopting sustainable practices, we have been operating a dry-stack tailings facility for more than one year now with excellent results. We are committed to managing all business activities in a safe, environmentally responsible, and cost-effective manner, while contributing to the well-being of the communities in which we operate. We encourage you to connect with us on X (formerly Twitter) at @Avino_ASM and on LinkedIn at Avino Silver & Gold Mines. To view the Avino Mine VRIFY tour, please click here. For Further Information, Please Contact: Investor Relations Tel: 604-682-3701 Email: IR@avino.com This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (together, the "forward looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws and the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including the mineral resource estimate for the Company's Avino Property, including La Preciosa, located near Durango in west-central Mexico (the "Avino Property") with an effective date of November 30, 2022, prepared for the Company, and references to Measured, Indicated, Inferred Resources dated October 16, 2023 as well as the Prefeasibility Study dated January 16, 2024 and references to Measured, Indicated Resources, and Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves referred to in this press release. This information and these statements, referred to herein as "forward-looking statements" are made as of the date of this document. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect current estimates, predictions, expectations or beliefs regarding future events and include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: (i) the estimated amount and grade of mineral reserves and mineral resources, including the cut-off grade; (ii) estimates of the capital costs of constructing mine facilities and bringing a mine into production, of operating the mine, of sustaining capital, of strip ratios and the duration of financing payback periods; (iii) the estimated amount of future production, both ore processed and metal recovered and recovery rates; (iv) estimates of operating costs, life of mine costs, net cash flow, net present value (NPV) and economic returns from an operating mine; and (v) the completion of the full Technical Report, including a Preliminary Economic Assessment, and its timing. 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 "expects", "anticipates", "plans", "projects", "estimates", "envisages", "assumes", "intends", "strategy", "goals", "objectives" or variations thereof or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and the dates of technical reports, as applicable. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the future circumstances, outcomes or results anticipated in or implied by such forward-looking statements will occur or that plans, intentions or expectations upon which the forward-looking statements are based will occur. While we have based these forward-looking statements on our expectations about future events as at the date that such statements were prepared, the statements are not a guarantee that such future events will occur and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors which could cause events or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Cautionary note to U.S. Investors concerning estimates of Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources All reserve and resource estimates reported by Avino were estimated in accordance with the Canadian National Instrument 43-101 and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") Definition Standards. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") now recognizes estimates of "measured mineral resources," "indicated mineral resources" and "inferred mineral resources" and uses new definitions of "proven mineral reserves" and "probable mineral reserves" that are substantially similar to the corresponding CIM Definition Standards. However, the CIM Definition Standards differ from the requirements applicable to US domestic issuers. US investors are cautioned not to assume that any "measured mineral resources," "indicated mineral resources," or "inferred mineral resources" that the Issuer reports are or will be economically or legally mineable. Further, "inferred mineral resources" are that part of a mineral resource for which quantity and grade are estimated on the basis of limited geologic evidence and sampling. Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Neither TSX nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Footnotes: 1. In Q2 2024, AgEq was calculated using metal prices of $28.42 per oz Ag, $2,331 per oz Au and $4.40 per lb Cu. In Q2 2023, AgEq was calculated using metals prices of $24.18 oz Ag, $1,978 oz Au and $3.85 lb Cu. In Q2 2023, For YTD 2024 AgEq was calculated using metal prices of $26.62 per oz Ag, $2,252 per oz Au and $4.18 per lb Cu. For YTD 2023 AgEq was calculated using metal prices of $23.37 oz Ag, $1,933 oz Au and $3.95 lb Cu. Calculated figures may not add up due to rounding. 2. "Silver equivalent payable ounces sold" for the purposes of cash costs and all-in sustaining costs consists of the sum of payable silver ounces, gold ounces and copper tonnes sold, before penalties, treatment charges, and refining charges, multiplied by the ratio of the average spot gold and copper prices to the average spot silver price for the corresponding period. 3. The Company reports non-IFRS measures which include cash cost per silver equivalent payable ounce and all-in sustaining cash cost per payable ounce. These measures are widely used in the mining industry as a benchmark for performance, but do not have a standardized meaning under IFRS and the calculation methods may differ from methods used by other companies with similar reported measures. See Non-IFRS Measures section for further information and detailed reconciliations. SOURCE: Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd. View the original press release on accesswire.com Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - August 13, 2024) - Scaling 1 Capital Corp. (TSXV: SKAL.P) (the "Corporation" or "Scaling") is pleased to announce details concerning its proposed arm's length qualifying transaction (the "Transaction") involving a proposed business combination with Matador Gold Technologies Inc. ("Matador"), a private company incorporated under the laws of Ontario. Matador's team is a strong believer in the digitization of real world assets and is democratizing the gold buying experience by bringing it into the 21st century. Combining the best of modern technology and time-proven investment options, Matador's proprietary app, when launched, will allow users to buy, sell, and store gold 24/7, with the added security and flexibility of an encrypted mobile application. Matador also continues to explore innovative ways to integrate blockchain and digital art to incentivize younger buyers to become interested in the gold market - including the use of Bitcoin Ordinals and digital art. Matador is incorporated in the province of Ontario. The Corporation has entered into a non-binding letter of intent with Matador dated August 9, 2024 (the "LOI") pursuant to which the Corporation and Matador intend to complete the Transaction by way of share purchase, plan of arrangement, amalgamation, three-cornered amalgamation or alternate structure to be determined, having regard to relevant tax, securities and other factors, to form the resulting issuer to be named such name as may be determined by Matador. Pursuant to the proposed Transaction, (i) the outstanding common shares of Scaling will be consolidated on the basis of one "new" common share (a "Newco Common Share") for every 2.5 "old" common shares of Scaling outstanding (the "Consolidation"); and (ii) each issued and outstanding common share of Matador ("Matador Common Share") will be exchanged into one Newco Common Share on a 1:1 basis resulting in the issuance of approximately 70,151,137 Newco Common Shares (not including any convertible securities of Matador or other securities of Matador or Scaling issued pursuant to the Concurrent Offerings as further discussed below), and each unexercised convertible security of Matador shall be exchanged for a replacement convertible security providing for the issuance of Newco Common Shares in lieu of Matador Common Shares on a 1:1 basis and otherwise on the same terms and conditions. For the purposes of the Transaction, Matador Common Shares and the Newco Common Shares issued in exchange therefor will be valued at CAD$0.50 per share, and each pre-Consolidation common share of Scaling will have a deemed value of CAD$0.20 per share. Prior to the completion of the Transaction, Scaling and Matador will use their commercially reasonable efforts to complete one or more private placements (the "Concurrent Financings") to raise aggregate minimum gross proceeds of $3,500,000, the terms and conditions of which will be determined based on the market conditions at the time of the Concurrent Financings. The Concurrent Financings are expected to be completed prior to the closing of the Transaction. In connection with the completion of the Transaction, any securities of Matador issued pursuant to the Concurrent Financings shall automatically convert into Newco Common Shares upon the same terms as existing Matador Common Shares, as further described above). The Transaction does not constitute a Non-Arm's Length Qualifying Transaction as that term is defined in Policy 2.4 of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange"). A more comprehensive news release will be issued by the Corporation disclosing details of the Transaction, including financial information respecting Matador, further details regarding the Concurrent Financings, the names and backgrounds of all persons who will constitute insiders of Scaling upon completion of the Transaction, and information respecting sponsorship, once certain conditions have been met, including: (i) approval of the Transaction by the boards of directors of the Corporation and Matador; (ii) satisfactory completion of due diligence; and (iii) execution of a formal agreement. In the event a final agreement is not reached, the Corporation will notify shareholders. Trading in the common shares of the Corporation will remain halted and is not expected to resume trading until the Transaction is completed or until the Exchange receives the requisite documentation to resume trading. Shareholder approval is not required with respect to the Transaction under the rules of the Exchange. However, the structure of the Transaction has not yet been finalized so shareholder approval under corporate law may be required and a meeting of shareholders of the Corporation may be held prior to the closing of the Transaction to approve one or more of the Consolidation, a name change, a new stock option plan, a continuance of the Corporation into Ontario and electing the board of directors as well as other matters. Trading in the common shares of the Corporation will remain halted and is not expected to resume until the Transaction is completed or until the Exchange receives the requisite documentation to resume trading. ABOUT THE CORPORATION Scaling Capital 1 is a capital pool company (a "CPC") that has not commenced commercial operations and has no assets other than cash. Except as specifically contemplated in the Exchange's CPC Policy, until the completion of its qualifying transaction, the Corporation will not carry on business, other than the identification and evaluation of businesses or assets with a view to completing a proposed qualifying transaction. For further information, please contact: Forward-Looking Information Cautionary Statement Statements in this press release regarding the Corporation's business which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties, such as terms and completion of the proposed Transaction, and the terms and completion of the Concurrent Offerings. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature, they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results in each case could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. The forward-looking statements and circumstances discussed in this press release, including the completion of the Transaction may not occur or could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting the Corporation and/or Matador, including (without limitation) risks relating to Scaling and/or Matador completing the Concurrent Offerings, risks relating to the viability of Matador's business model and risks regarding market conditions, receipt of applicable regulatory and shareholder approvals, economic factors, and the equity markets generally. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and, except as required by applicable securities laws, the Corporation and Matador undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Completion of the Transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, execution of a binding definitive agreement relating to the Transaction, completion of satisfactory due diligence, Exchange acceptance, receipt of requisite regulatory approvals, and if applicable pursuant to Exchange requirements, majority of the minority shareholder approval. Where applicable, the Transaction cannot close until the required shareholder approvals, and any ancillary matters thereto, are obtained. There can be no assurance that the Transaction will be completed as proposed or at all. Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the management information circular or filing statement to be prepared in connection with the Transaction, any information released or received with respect to the Transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of a capital pool company should be considered highly speculative. The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed Transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. 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 news release. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO THE U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/219822 SOURCE: Scaling Capital 1 Corp. Galway Metals Inc. (TSXV:GWM)(OTCQB:GAYMF) (the "company" or "Galway Metals"), is pleased to announce an update on recent insider purchases, through a series of transactions conducted through the facilities of the TSX Venture Exchange. Robert Hinchcliffe, President, CEO and Director, acquired an aggregate 700,000 common shares of the Company in the current calendar year. These purchases come after acquiring 1,664,000 common shares in 2023. As a result, Mr. Hinchcliffe now owns a total of 7,420,746 common shares of Galway Metals, representing approximately 9% of the issued and outstanding shares of the Company. About Galway Metals Inc. Galway Metals is a Canadian mineral exploration and development company focused on advancing its 100%-owned, high-grade, open-pitable flagship Clarence Stream gold project in SW New Brunswick. Clarance Stream is an emerging gold district with an exploration strike length of approximately 65km. Galway Metals also has 100%-ownership in the Estrades project, a former producing high-grade, gold-rich polymetallic VMS mine in the northern Abitibi of western Quebec. Led by a management team with a proven track- record of creating shareholder value having sold Galway Resources for US$340 million, Galway Metals is focused on creating value for all its stakeholders. For additional Information on Galway Metals Inc., Please contact: Robert Hincliffe President & Chief Executive Officer Telephone: 1-800-771-0680 Email: info@galwaymetalsinc.com Website: www.galwaymetalsinc.com Look us up on Facebook, Twitter or Link Cautionary Statement Neither the TSX Venture 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. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. 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, the Company's objectives, goals or future plans, information with respect to the OTCQB listing, DTC eligibility, and broadening U.S. institutional and retail investors. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to changes in economic conditions or financial markets, political and competitive developments, operation or exploration difficulties, changes in equity markets, changes in exchange rates, fluctuations in commodity prices capital, operating and reclamation costs varying significantly from estimates and the other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, an inability to predict and counteract the effects of COVID-19 on the business of the Company, including but not limited to the effects of COVID-19 on the price of commodities, capital market conditions, restrictions on labour and international travel and supply chains, 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 Revenue increased by 63% to $30.6 million in the first half of 2024. Net income before tax increased by 212% to $2.0 million in the first half of 2024. Adjusted EBITDA increased by 277% to $5.5 million in the first half of 2024. Net working capital improved by $4.1 million in the first half of 2024. Reduced long term debt of $2.5 million in the first half of 2024. Edmonton, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - August 13, 2024) - Everyday People Financial Corp. (TSXV: EPF) ("Everyday People" or the "Company"), a financial service provider, is pleased to announce its consolidated financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2024. All figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated. "Our exceptional financial performance in the first half of 2024 highlights our commitment to driving growth through our three business pillars and enhancing shareholder value," said Gordon Reykdal, Executive Chairman of Everyday People. "We are also pleased to report a $2.5 million reduction in our long-term debt in the first half of 2024, with an additional $1.6 million decrease already achieved in Q3 2024 to date. Going forward we anticipate reducing our long-term debt by another $4.9 million by the end of 2024." Key Financial Comparable Metrics relative to Q2 2023, respectively Revenue: increased by 46% to $15.8 million in Q2 2024, and increased by 63% to $30.6 million for year-to-date 2024, representing record performance for both periods. Adjusted EBITDA 1 : increased by 142% to $2.4 million in Q2 2024, and increased by 277% to $5.5 million for year-to-date 2024. Net income before taxes: increased by 192% to $0.6 million in Q2 2024, and increased by 212% to $2.0 million for year-to-date 2024. Long-Term Debt: reduced by $2.0 million in Q2 2024, and by $2.5 million for year-to-date 2024. Management Commentary and Financial Results per Business Pillar Building on a very strong Q1, the Company is pleased to deliver another solid quarter and anticipates a strong close to 2024 with significant milestones being achieved. With the changes the Company's EP Homes business model, the Company is excited to now have all three business pillars contributing on a non leveraged basis. The Company's Three Business Pillars Revenue Cycle Management: continues to produce strong financial results with significant room to grow organically and through self funded acquisitions with a deep pipeline of opportunities in the industry. These are the oldest operating businesses in the Company dating back to 2006. Revenue was $12.2 million Q2 2024 as compared to $8.5 million for the same period in 2023, and $24.4 million as compared to $14.9 million for the six months ending June 30. Direct Costs were $3.3 million Q2 2024 as compared to $2.3 million for the same period in 2023, and $6.4 million as compared to $4.3 million for the six months ending June 30. EP Financial Services: has now started to contribute in a meaningful way with the introduction of new financial services and prepaid credit card revenues and fees. It is anticipated that this pillar will continue to increase in both top and bottom line in the upcoming quarters, but more significantly with the anticipated rollout and introduction of two new platforms in the fall of 2024 and early 2025. Revenue was $1.2 million Q2 2024 as compared to $0.1 million for the same period in 2023, and $2.4 million as compared to $0.1 million for the six months ending June 30. Direct Costs were $0.1 million Q2 2024 as compared to $0.1 million for the same period in 2023, and $0.2 million as compared to $0.2 million for the six months ending June 30. EP Homes : shift in business model is anticipated to produce significant improvement to the pre-tax income statement, adjusted EBITDA and the balance sheet. It is also anticipated that EP Homes will have a positive contribution to pre-tax income and adjusted EBITDA for the balance of 2024. EP Homes will primarily earn its income from fees and commissions and no debt. EP Homes will fund all of the borrowed down payments to customers off its balance sheet and incur no debt. As part of the Company's strategic shift in the EP Homes' business plan, the Company plans to sell all its EP Homes inventory and pay off all credit facilities associated to the EP Homes inventory within the next 12 months. This is expected to impact the Company positively from a cash flow perspective and allow the Company to reduce its current liabilities, resulting in a net working capital increase. Debt reduction was $2.0 million Q2 2024 and $2.5 million for the six months ending June 30 reducing interest expense annually by $325,000. Projected additional debt reduction in Q3 and Q4 is anticipated to be at $4.0 million, and $2.4 million respectively. Revenue was $2.4 million Q2 2024 as compared to $2.2 million for the same period in 2023, and $3.8 million as compared to $3.8 million for the six months ending June 30. Direct Costs were $2.3 million Q2 2024 as compared to $2.0 million for the same period in 2023, and $3.5 million as compared to $3.2 million for the six months ending June 30. Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $0.1 million Q2 2024 as compared to a positive contribution $0.2 for the same period in 2023, and $0.03 million as compared to $0.5 million for the six months ending June 30. Net loss before tax was $0.4 million Q2 2024 as compared to $0.1 million for the same period in 2023, and $0.6 million as compared to $0.1 million for the six months ending June 30. 1Adjusted EBITDA Three months ended Three months ended Six months ended Six months ended June 30, 2024 June 30, 2023 June 30, 2024 June 30, 2023 ($) ($) ($) ($) Adjusted EBITDA reconciliation Net income (loss) before tax 587,721 (641,590) 2,054,706 (1,834,431) Adjustments Interest included in direct cost 6,023 35,254 7,329 52,285 Depreciation and amortization 804,350 627,297 1,603,291 1,214,707 Acquisition costs - 44,832 72,477 256,982 Share-based compensation 192,912 244,537 345,807 475,480 Finance costs 790,560 672,740 1,687,488 1,288,868 Gain on debt settlement - - (286,686) - Total adjustments to net income (loss) before tax 1,793,845 1,624,660 3,429,706 3,288,322 Adjusted EBITDA 2,381,566 983,070 5,484,412 1,453,891 Less: Finance costs (790,560) (672,740) (1,687,488) (1,288,868) Adjusted EBTDA 1,591,006 310,330 3,796,924 165,023 Looking Forward Everyday People had an exceptionally strong start to the year and are confident for the remainder of the year continuing to build on all the Company's three pillars. We have a passionate and experienced team of operators delivering on the Company's vision. About Everyday People Financial Corp. Everyday People is founded on the belief that everyone deserves a second chance to financially reestablish themselves with access to affordable credit products. We are changing the way people manage money by enhancing our client services with our own affordable and specialized financial products and literacy programs. We're helping everyday people rebuild their financial health for generational wealth. Everyday People has a workforce of about 450 people, with operations first established in 2006 in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States of America. The company includes three main pillars of business: one pillar, Revenue Cycle Management operates under our Co-CEO RCM, Graham Rankin, and two pillars, Everyday People Financial Services and Everyday People Homes operates under our Co-CEO Financial Services and EP Homes, Barret Reykdal. We stand for creativity and entrepreneurship. Our combination of companies, products and services has been established to ensure we can fulfill consumers' financial needs and service them in a low-cost effective manner. Financial Statements & Management's Discussion and Analysis This news release should be read in conjunction with Everyday People's consolidated financial statements and "Management's Discussion and Analysis" report for the three and six months ended June 30, 2024, which have been posted under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. Non-IFRS Financial Measures This news release makes reference to certain non-IFRS financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted EBTDA. "Adjusted EBITDA" is not a recognized measure under IFRS and does not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and is therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. "EBITDA" means earnings before finance and interest costs, provision for income tax and amortization and depreciation expenses. "Adjusted EBITDA" is calculated as adding back the share-based compensation, depreciation and amortization expenses, other expenses (income) and other non-operating expenses (income) management considers not directly related to operational performance of the period presented. "Adjusted EBTDA" is not a recognized measure under IFRS and does not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and is therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. "EBTDA" means earnings before finance excluding interest costs, provision for income tax and amortization and depreciation expenses. "Adjusted EBTDA" is calculated as adding back the share-based compensation, depreciation and amortization expenses, other expenses (income) and other non-operating expenses (income), and excludes interest costs in the calculation, management considers not directly related to operational performance of the period presented. Adjusted EBITDA and EBTDA, are used as non-IFRS financial measures to provide investors with a supplemental measure of the Company's operating performance and thus highlight trends in its core business that may not otherwise be apparent when relying solely on IFRS financial measures. The Company believes that securities analysts, investors, and other interested parties frequently use non-IFRS financial measures in the evaluation of issuers. The Company's management also uses non-IFRS financial measures to facilitate operating performance comparisons from period to period, prepare annual operating budgets and assess the Company's ability to meet its capital expenditure and working capital requirements. Non-IFRS financial measures have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for an analysis of the Company's results under IFRS. There are a number of limitations related to the use of non-IFRS financial measures versus their nearest IFRS equivalents. Investors are encouraged to review the consolidated financial statements as at and for the three and six months ended June 30, 2024 and June 30, 2023, and disclosures in their entirety and are cautioned not to put undue reliance on any non-IFRS financial measure and view it in conjunction with the most comparable IFRS financial measures. In evaluating these non-IFRS financial measures, please be aware that in the future the Company will continue to have the adjustment similar to those adjusted in the presented period. For more information visit: www.everydaypeoplefinancial.com. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" (collectively referred to hereafter as "forward-looking statements") under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to financial performance, results of operations, integration of the acquired businesses, and the business, plans, strategy, and operations of the Company. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, expectations and assumptions concerning the Company and the acquired businesses as well as other risks and uncertainties, including those described in the documents filed by the Company on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. 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. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/219831 SOURCE: Everyday People Financial Corp. Aviva, a Mexico City-based fintech startup, raised $5.5m in seed funding. Backers included Carao Ventures, Rainforest Capital, Ignia Partners, Krealo, Credicorp, Newtopia, 500 Global, DCG, Wollef, and Magna VC. The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and its business reach, as well as to further develop its suite. Co-founded in 2022 by Filiberto Castro, Amran Frey, Israel Garcia, and David Hernandez, Aviva provides a financial platform that provides quick loans and credit cards to underbanked and micro businesses. Currently, the company operates in 26 cities, with plans to expand to over 50 cities. FinSMEs 13/08/2024 In recent times, films like Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba, Murder Mubarak, Ae Watan Mere Watan, Mission Majnu, Shershaah, Govinda Naam Mera, Sardar Udham, Gulabo Sitabo, Bawaal and others have directly released on OTT platforms read more Veteran filmmaker David Dhawan, who has delivered memorable films like Partner, Shola Aur Shabnam, Bol Radha Bol, Saajan Chale Sasural, Raja Babu, Judwaa and many others, recently took a dig at OTT actors and films. The veteran director challenged the actors to do a theatrical release and show their worth. I tell this to every actor. Why do you want to play so safe with OTT where you dont even know how much a project has worked? Theatre mein aao, apni aukaat dikhao tum. (Come to the theatre and show your worth), David said in a chat with Arbaaz Khan. Advertisement These actors are scared. They will not do a theatre film. They are scared of the bloody media. I remember the claps and cheers that the dialogues in our films would get in theatres. Theres nothing like it, he added. Real appreciation and validation come from theatres. Anyone can do OTT. Theres a safety mesh over there, the filmmaker asserted. Interestingly, David Dhawans last directorial Coolie No 1 featuring Varun Dhawan and Sara Ali Khan released on Prime Video as it was stuck due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As per reports, David Dhawans next titled Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai has already begun its shooting in an undisclosed location. The film reportedly features Varun Dhawan, Mrunal Thakur and Sreeleela in prominent roles. In recent times, films like Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba, Murder Mubarak, Ae Watan Mere Watan, Mission Majnu, Shershaah, Govinda Naam Mera, Sardar Udham, Gulabo Sitabo, Bawaal and others have directly released on OTT platforms The UK is home to 971 Indian-owned firms which employ 118,430 people and generate a combined revenue of around $87 billion. India is also the second largest source of Foreign Direct Investment in the UK, which created 8,384 new jobs in 2023, as well as the home away from home for the rich and famous such as Adar Poonawalla, Ravi Ruia, and Lakshmi Mittal read more The UK today is home to 971 Indian-owned firms, research from accounting firm Grant Thornton has showed. From India being ruled by the British, to India Inc powering the UKs economy much has changed since Independence. The latest acquisition by an Indian firm came on Monday when Bharti Enterprises announced it would buy a 24.5 per cent stake in British telecommunications firm BT group worth 3.2 billion pounds (around $4 billion). Bharti Enterprises has announced it will buy out the British companys top investor Patrick Drahi. But how does India Inc drive the UK economy? Advertisement Lets take a closer look: Nearly 1,000 firms, $1.5 billion in taxes The UK today is home to 971 Indian-owned firms, research from accounting firm Grant Thornton has showed. Thornton published the details in the 11th edition of its India meets Britain Tracker, which was developed in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry. The companies employed 118,430 people in the UK and have a combined revenue of around $87 billion. Those numbers are up from 2023 when India had 954 firms in the UK that employed 105,931 people were generating a combined revenue of $64 billion. They also paid $1.50 billion in corporation tax compared to $1.2 billion in 2023. According to Grant Thornton, financial services companies comprises six per cent of all tracker companies. That figure was at just one per cent in 2023. Five of the six financial services India Infrastructure Finance Company UK Ltd, Union Bank of India, State Bank of India (UK), Bank of Baroda UK Ltd and Punjabi National Bank (International Ltd) are owned by the Centre. Grant Thornton also for the first time ever identified 100 Indian companies that grew at a rate of over 10 per cent. Advertisement These fastest-growing firms had an average revenue growth rate of 48 per cent. They had a combined turnover of $54.86 billion a 70 per cent increase over the 2023 turnover which was at $32 billion. Prominent examples of Indian-owned companies include St James Court Hotel which is owned by The Indian Hotels Co Ltd (IHTL.NS) and is part of the Taj chain of hotels, EET fuels, which focuses on decarbonisation efforts in the UK, is owned by Indian conglomerated Essar Group. Several major pharma firms also operate in the UK including Dr Reddys, Cipla and Glenmark. Some of these companies focus on generic medicines and supply medicines to the NHS. Advertisement Vedanta Resources, owned by Indian businessman Anil Agarwal, is headquartered in London and was formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange. India is also the second largest source of Foreign Direct Investment in the UK. India in 2023 was the source of 118 FDI projects in the UK which created 8,384 new jobs, as per figures from The Department for Business and Trade. India is now the West Midlands leading source of FDI. So much so that the region has sent delegations to India to better existing ties and boost further investment. Advertisement Indian firms in the UK A number of Indian firms including Tata Group, Reliance Industries and Wipro have made major acquisitions in the UK. Lets take a look at them Tata Group The Indian business behemoth owns the UK-based luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover, while Tata Steel has plants in Britain, including the Port Talbot facility. In 2023, Tata announced a more than 4 billion pound ($5.10 billion) investment in a UK electric car battery factory. A Tata Steel sign is seen outside their plant in Scunthorpe northern England, October 15, 2014. File Image / Reuters Reliance Industries Reliance New Energy Solar Ltd bought British battery technology company Faradion Ltd for $135 million in 2021. Reliance Brands Ltd acquired a 100 per cent stake in the 259-year-old British toy store chain Hamleys from C Banner International Holdings in 2019. Advertisement Wipro Indian IT firm Wipro acquired Capco, a UK-based management consultancy firm in a $1.45 billion deal in 2022. Eicher Motor The iconic British motorcycle manufacturing company Royal Enfield was bought out by Eicher Motor Group in 1994 and is now headquartered in Chennai. Founded in 1901 in Worcestershire, England, it is the oldest global motorcycle brand in continuous production. Mahindra and Mahindra LTD Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd bought BSA Motorcycles in 2021 and brought the defunct motorcycle brand back into circulation after a nearly 50-year production halt. Standing for Birmingham Small Arms Company Ltd, BSA was founded in Birmingham in 1861, for the production of firearms and is globally known for its motorcycles now. TVS Motor Co The automobile group acquired the iconic British brand Norton in 2020. In fiscal 2023, the company also bought a 70 per cent stake in EBCO Ltd for producing and distributing electric bikes in Britain. UK Fintech Indian investment group Wadhawan Global Capital was a lead investor in a 32 million pound fundraise by British digital bank Zopa in 2017 Home away from home Lots of Indians, especially High-Net Worth Individuals (HNIs) are also making the UK their home away from home. Billionaire Adar Poonawalla, for example, in 2023 purchased a 25,000 square foot mansion near Londons Tony Hyde Park for $176 million. As per Financial Times, that was the most expensive home sold in London that year and the second-most expensive property ever sold in the city. Billionaire Ravi Ruia also purchased a London mansion in July 2023 for $144 million. Ruia picked up the Hanover Lodge mansion overlooking Regents Park at 150 Park Road from Russian property maven Andrey Goncharenko, as per Bloomberg. Adar Poonawalla, CEO, Serum Institute of India. Source: SII. The purchase was one of the Londons biggest residential deals in years. Other corporate titans such as Lakshmi Mittal and Neeraj Kanwar also own property in London. Many Indians own estates, marquee properties in the heart of London. The city offers Indian UHNIs a certain quality of life, a lifestyle for themselves and the next generation, great connectivity to other global cities, a strong currency and a certain comfort factor considering that several Indians are settled there, Ashwin Chadha, CEO, India Sothebys International Realty, told Hindustan Times Digital. With inputs from agencies Tech billionaire Elon Musks almost two-hour-long interview with former US President Donald Trump on X is making big headlines. The Republican candidates voice raised eyebrows with many commenting that he was slurring his words and speaking with a lisp. These claims put the 78-year-old in a precarious situation, as many are already wondering if hes too old to run for office read more Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump speaks as he participates in an interview with billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk on the social media platform X, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. Image Courtesy: Margo Martin/Reuters It was expected to be a blockbuster interview and it didnt disappoint. Tech billionaire Elon Musk and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump sat down on Monday night for a one-on-one on X, discussing topics as far-ranging as immigration, foreign relations and that unfortunate assassination attempt in Pennsylvanias Buttler rally. The chat, which lasted for about two hours, initially faced technical difficulties, delaying it by 40 minutes, with X owner Musk saying that the platform was suffering from a massive DDOS attack. For those who dont know, DDOS stands for distributed denial of service and occurs when a site is flooded with traffic in an effort to make it inaccessible. Advertisement The two personalities Trump and Musk traded compliments while chatting with one another, with the US presidential candidate thanking Musk for his endorsement, saying: Well, I appreciate that. That endorsement meant a lot to me. Not all endorsements mean that much. To be honest, your endorsement meant a lot. While the one-on-one will no doubt be the biggest news of the day, theres another aspect of it that is making the news: Trumps voice, especially a lisp, prompting many to raise questions about the 78-year-old Republicans health. Heres what we know about it so far. Trumps lisp steals the show While political pundits were making notes about the many claims that Donald Trump was making during his chat with Musk, there were many others who pointed out that the 78-year-old US presidential candidate seemed to speak with a lisp. A number of people listening commented that Trump appeared to be speaking with a lisp throughout the highly anticipated live-streamed conversation with the billionaire. Why does [Donald Trump] have a terrible lisp in the [Elon Musk] X interview? wrote one user. Someone needs to adjust that microphone ASAP. Another wrote, Is it just me What is wrong with Trumps voice? Sound like he has a lisp? Trump got hit by the CIA lisp gun posted a third. A person tries to watch on a laptop billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musks interview with Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump on the X social media network, in New York City. Reuters Some even speculated that Trumps lisp was a result of the 78-year-old removing his dentures, with one user writing on X: That lisp. Its familiar. That particular lisp is from someone without their dentures in. Does Donald Trump have dentures? Advertisement Another added: Im am receiving lots of texts and messages about Donald Trump having severely slurred speech and a lisp. At one point during the Trump-Musk chat, the BBC reported that the words slurring, with over 20,000 mentions and dentures with over 15,000 posts became trending topics on X. The lisp also led some to believe that it wasnt Trump at all who was being interviewed, with one user writing: I dont care who you are. That isnt Donald Trump speaking. Trump doesnt have a lisp. And I recall at one of the rallies he called for the audio tech to be fired because of the bad microphone and audio. Eyes and ears wide open. Advertisement Claims such as this one led to Conservative accounts circulating images, showing the Republican sitting down for the chat. When asked about the so-called lisp and Trumps voice, the Trump campaign told a Huffington Post reporter, Must be your sh***y hearing. Get your ears checked. Advertisement Trumps health concerns Trumps apparent lisp that emerged during the chat with Musk once again raises the issue of the 78-year-olds health. After Joe Biden exited the race for the White House, many have questioned if Trump is fit to run for office after all, hes only a few years younger than Biden. A recent survey of American voters found that 58 per cent of them said that they found Trump to be too old to run for office. According to the Morning Consult survey, 51 per cent of the respondents said Trump is too old, up from 44 per cent. On the other hand, the percentage of people thinking the Republican leader is mentally fit has come down from 53 per cent to 48 per cent. Advertisement The Fox News ticker shows the news of Elon Musks interview with Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump on the X social media network. Reuters Trump, on the other hand, has boasted about his vitality, saying he aced two cognitive tests in the presidential debate against Biden. The public, however, knows very little about his health. In November 2023, Trumps personal physician issued a summary on his cognitive and physical condition. In it, the doctor wrote that Trumps cognitive exams were exceptional. Moreover, his physical results were also within the normal range. However, the report did not include any details about Trumps medications, blood pressure, or cholesterol levels. Even after the assassination attempt on him in Pennsylvania, Trump has offered no updates on the extent of his injuries or his physical well-being. Trumps campaign has refused to discuss his condition, release a medical report or records, or make the doctors who treated him available. This doesnt bode too well for Trump now, who is up against Vice President Kamala Harris from the Democratic Party. Harris, who is 59 years old, has erased the Democratic Partys age problem, shifting it to Trump. With inputs from agencies In an unprecedented move, the Pakistan army arrested and initiated court martial proceedings against Lt General Faiz Hameed, the former chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Hameed has long been a controversial figure in Pakistan politics with his downfall stemming from allegations over a housing scheme scandal known as the Top City case read more Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and Pakistan's ISI chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed (right). The two are known to be allies of each other. Many believe that Hameed's arrest is a warning to Khan and his other supporters. File image: @salmanmasood/X It is unprecedented. But it has happened. Pakistans military arrested its former chief of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt Gen Faiz Hameed (retired) and has initiated court martial proceedings against him. The military said Hameed, who headed the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, is charged with violating the terms of his retirement from the armed forces and faces additional charges over his involvement in a land development issue. Complying with the orders of Supreme Court of Pakistan the process of Field General Court Martial has been initiated and Lt Gen Faiz Hameed (Retd) has been taken into military custody, the army said. Advertisement Hameeds arrest is the first time in Pakistans history that a current or former chief of the powerful ISI has faced court-martial proceedings. Many note that it is part of a crackdown on the allies of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan. But who exactly is Faiz Hameed? What has he been accused of? Who is Faiz Hameed? Lt General Faiz Hameed (retired) led Pakistans powerful ISI from 2019 to 2021 and was a key figure in the countrys security apparatus. He had climbed to the top and had replaced General Asim Munir, who is incidentally the current Pakistan Army chief. Hameeds ascent to the top had taken place under then Prime Minister Imran Khans regime. Before his ISI stint, Hameed first gained importance in 2017 when he played a key role in resolving the Faizabad dharna led by Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan through a negotiated settlement. In 2021, he shot to international fame when visuals of him emerged drinking tea with the Taliban in Kabuls Serena Hotel shortly after the group took over Afghanistan in August 2021. Many at the time had noted that this was an indication of Pakistans support to the group, which was battling against the United States and its allies. Advertisement Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, chief of Pakistans Inter Services Intelligence agency, seen drinking tea with the Taliban after its takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021. File image/X During his tenure as ISI chief, many politicians have accused Hameed of being heavy-handed to please his political bosses and further his career, reports the New York Times. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif publicly claimed that General Hameed, along with a group of Supreme Court judges and another military general, was behind his removal from power in 2017. In November 2022, four months before his scheduled retirement, Hameed was forced to resign after General Munir took over as the Pakistan army chief. At the time of his exit, Imran Khan had tried to retain him, but to no avail highlighting the tensions between Khan and the Pakistani army. Advertisement Apart from the current matter, Hameed has also been accused by Pakistans former minister, Faisal Vawda, in May 2023, of being the architect, mastermind, and biggest beneficiary of the Al-Qadir Trust case, under which it has been alleged that former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife illegally obtained billions of Pakistani Rupees and land worth hundreds of kanals from Bahria Town Ltd. What led to Hameeds arrest? Hameeds arrest and subsequent court martial is connected to a housing scheme scandal, called the Top City case. The case became headlines when Moeez Ahmed Khan, the owner of the Top City housing development, filed a petition in Pakistans supreme court, alleging that at the behest of Hameed, the ISI had raided his office and residence. During the raids, valuables, gold, diamonds and cash had been seized with Khan further alleging that Hameed extorted from Rs 4 crore from him. Advertisement In response to these allegations, Pakistans court had ordered the Ministry of Defence to investigate, saying the allegations against Hameed were of an extremely serious nature, and cannot be left unattended because, if they were proven to be true, they would undermine the reputation of Pakistans institutions, including the countrys federal government, armed forces, ISI, and Pakistan Rangers. Several politicians have accused former Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Chief, Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed to be heavy handed and abuse his authority. File image/Reuters In April, the army formed a committee to investigate the allegations of misuse of authority against Hameed. On Monday (August 12), the Pakistan armys Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) department in a statement said that the investigation had been carried out and Hameed had been taken into military custody. Advertisement Complying with the orders of Supreme Court of Pakistan, a detailed court of inquiry was undertaken by Pakistan Army, to ascertain correctness of complaints in Top City case made against Lt Gen Faiz Hameed (Retd). It added: Consequently, appropriate disciplinary action has been initiated against Lt Gen Faiz Hameed (retd), under provisions of Pakistan Army Act. The ISPR further said: In addition, multiple instances of violation of Pakistan Army Act post-retirement have also been established. The process of Field General Court Martial has been initiated and Lt Gen Faiz Hameed (retd) has been taken into military custody. What are the takeaway from Hameeds arrest? Hameeds arrest in Pakistan is unprecedented. Husain Haqqani, a former ambassador of Pakistan to the US and now a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington, was quoted as telling the New York Times, The arrest and possible trial of a former spy chief is unusual for Pakistan. Michael Kugelman, a fellow at the Wilson Centre in Washington DC, also told The Financial Times, The military looks to be making an example of Hameed, showing that it takes accountability seriously, even when it comes to one of its own. Sending this message to Pakistanis these days is strategic, as its a moment when anti-army sentiment runs high within the public. For many others, Hameeds arrest is also a warning to former Prime Minister Imran Khan. The two of them shared close ties, with many noting that even after the formers retirement he provided support and advice to Khan. It is, of course, aimed at Imran Khan and his political party, who have greatly benefited from General Hameed before and after his retirement, Murtaza Solangi, a former information minister and political analyst, told the New York Times. But more than that, it is a clear and powerful message from the emboldened and strengthened Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir to both serving and retired personnel that any attempt to weaken and divide the military will not be tolerated, Solangi added. With inputs from agencies Bora Ozturk, the CEO of March Capital, walks in 2395 Sacramento St., in San Francisco. The building is the former private library for Cooper Medical College. The developer wants to adapt the building to accommodate housing. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle San Francisco developer Bora Ozturk is building loads of housing right now, with projects rising in Houston and Salt Lake City, Austin, Texas, and Boise, Idaho. Everywhere, it would seem, but the companys hometown of San Francisco. S.F. Bay Area property map: Heres who owns every building in the region Advertisement Article continues below this ad We are seeing tremendous opportunities in Texas cities at the moment, he said, adding that theyve been building in Nashville. In Idaho. In Hawaii. In Nevada, Utah and Louisiana. The focus outside of California is significant because, for the better part of two decades, Ozturks company, March Capital, was almost exclusively focused on San Francisco, constructing about 30 projects, most of them the type of small-to-medium-scale infill development in established neighborhoods that the city is focused on adding as part of meeting its state-mandated housing goals. Even during COVID the company continued to build, completing 130 units in West SoMa, 24 units across from the Mission-Bernal campus of the California Pacific Medical Center and smaller developments in the Marina and Haight. Bora Ozturk, CEO of March Capital, says its easier to build housing in other states than in San Francisco. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle But no longer, Ozturk said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Capital goes where its welcome, he said. Here it is not welcome right now. Ozturk has soured on San Francisco for a combination of political and economic reasons, a powerful cocktail of challenges that he says led to the city getting redlined by most lenders. Last week, Ozturk led a tour of the historic Lane Medical building at 2395 Sacramento St., a 1912 Classical Revival structure that March Capital bought three years ago for $8.5 million, with plans to convert into it eight homes, with another 16 condos built on two abutting parcels to the south and west of the property. The building at 2395 Sacramento St., in San Francisco, is planned to be adapted into housing, but the developer says city permitting and environmental reviews are holding up the project. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle The proposal aims to preserve the facade of the old Lane Medical Library building at the corner of Webster and Sacramento streets and add two towers one 68 feet in height, the other 78 feet that will contribute 24 units of housing. The existing building is about the same height as the shorter residential tower. Much of the interior will be preserved: the windows, the vestibule and a decorative oval spiral staircase that has terrazzo treads and risers running from the lowest level to the attic. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The project won unanimous support at the citys Historic Preservation Commission and Planning Commission before the propertys next door neighbor appealed it to the Board of Supervisors, arguing that the city had acted improperly by allowing the developer to piggyback on a broader, citywide environmental study that was part of the citys housing element, rather than conduct a more involved project specific study. While the Board of Supervisors turned down the appeal 10-1, the same neighbor, Jonathan Clark, who lives directly to the west of the library, has filed an appeal in court under the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, again arguing that state environmental laws were not followed properly. Richard Drury, an attorney for the appellant, has said allowing 24 units to be built without a project specific study would open the floodgates for developers to bypass environmental reviews in a very irresponsible way. The building at 2395 Sacramento St., in San Francisco, is the former private library for Cooper Medical College. The developers want to adapt the building to accommodate housing. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle If this were to be allowed, no residential project would ever have to do project level (environmental review) in the city of San Francisco ever again, Drury said. And that is just not right. Advertisement Article continues below this ad City Attorney David Chiu, who is defending the project approvals, said that the environmental study was adequate. This is a modestly sized housing project in a well-resourced area, he said. The environmental review for the project met all applicable CEQA requirements. Ozturk, who has not previously spoken publicly about the development, said the process has been incredibly frustrating. He estimates that the appeal and legal challenge will add up to two years to the timeline, while increasing costs by 20%. The development will likely cost $1,000 a square foot to build, or $45 million. The building at 2395 Sacramento St. in San Francisco is the former private library for Cooper Medical College. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle With at least a four years entitlement and permitting process and about two to build it, the project will take six or seven years, rather than the two years that March Capital is able to complete multi-family housing from land purchase to approvals to ribbon cutting in other cities. Advertisement Article continues below this ad You get outside of California and generally the tone of the conversation is, What concessions would you guys like? Ozturk said. It could be the waiving of fees, additional density, tax credits, additional water rights. There is always an incentive to build more, and a friendly attitude aimed at reducing the timeline. The long entitlement process ties up money for years, which means that that capital cannot be reinvested in other projects. Capital that could be deployed twice in a 10-year period in San Francisco can be used five times in a city like Houston, where a project can be permitted, built and sold out in less time that it takes to get through San Franciscos approval process. Office space at 2395 Sacramento St. in San Francisco, the former private library for Cooper Medical College. The developers want to adapt the building to accommodate housing. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle The opportunity cost is huge, Ozturk said. He said the neighbor who has led the opposition to the medical library development privately offered to withdraw the appeal if March agreed to cut the height of the new buildings from six and seven stories to four stories, and move the parking entrance to the other side, away from his house. You can get the thumbs up from everyone and you say, I think I have a viable project here, and then youre bound by that one neighbor who says, I dont want to get the project built and you cant build it. Even though he has stopped looking at new San Francisco projects, Ozturk said he is determined to build 2395 Sacramento. Our message to opponents is you can fight us until the cows come home and we are going to build this thing, he said. It may not be this year but we are going to build it. We are not going to back off. Bora Ozturk, the CEO of March Capital, walks up the stairs at 2395 Sacramento St. in San Francisco. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle He added: It bothers me a neighbor can use an irrelevant subject as a weapon and delay or stop a project. This is happening again and again. Meanwhile, a group of preservationists have applied to have the building added to the National Register of Historical places. Constructed in 1912, and designed by master architect Albert Pissis, the building is an excellent example of an early 20th century Classical Revival library with Beaux Arts influences, they say. Preservation architect Katherine Petrin said the plan for renovating the historic medical building is consistent with the federal standards, thus the designation would not likely impact Marchs ability to go ahead if the appeal is struck down. In fact, she said the designation would make the project eligible for 20% tax credits. As India celebrates its 78th Independence Day, we take a look back at the pivotal struggles that paved the way to freedom for India. From the Sepoy Mutiny to Non-Cooperation and Quit India, each of these movements played a crucial role in dismantling the nearly two-centuries-long British colonial rule and giving India its independence read more As India celebrates its 78th Independence Day, its time to turn back pages of history and take a look back at the pivotal struggles that paved the way to freedom for the country. From the dramatic upheaval of the Sepoy Mutiny to the defiant roar of the Quit India Movement, these struggles were not merely historical events but defining chapters of a collective dream for freedom that united millions of Indians in their quest for self-rule. Advertisement Each movement played a crucial role in dismantling the nearly two-centuries-long British colonial rule and carving out a sovereign nation that stood strong on its own feet. Heres a look at the significant movements that shaped Indias journey to independence. Sepoy Mutiny, 1857 The year 1857 witnessed the first war of independence, which is perhaps one of the defining moments of the Indian freedom struggle. Historians point to various causes for this uprising, including growing resentment over British attempts to convert Indians to Christianity, excessive taxation, the annexation of princely states, and increasing efforts to impose Western culture on India. However, one key trigger for the rebellion was the British armys mandate for Hindu and Muslim soldiers to use cartridges greased with animal fat, which violated the beliefs of both religions and led to widespread mutiny. From a series of 26 coloured lithographs by W. Simpson, E. Walker and others, after G.F. Atkinson, published by Day and Son, 1857-58. (Image courtesy: National Army Museum, London via Wikimedia Commons.) The mutiny soon converted to a revolt, uniting Indians across communities and regions in their fight against the British Raj. The uprising quickly spread to Kanpur, Lucknow, Jhansi, Bareilly, and other regions of the Gangetic heartland, led by figures such as Nana Saheb, Diwan Azimullah, Tantia Tope, Kunwar Singh, and Rani Laxmi Bai. Mangal Pandey(left) and Rani Lakshmi Bai (right). Image courtesy: Britannica Although the 1857 revolt was ultimately unsuccessful and led to the dissolution of the East India Company and the establishment of direct British Crown rule, it ignited the spirit of independence. This rebellion set the stage for future nationalist movements. The Swadeshi Movement, (1905-1911) The Swadeshi Movement surged in response to the British decision to partition Bengal in 1905, an action supposedly intended to ease administrative challenges but was seen as a deliberate effort to divide and weaken Indian unity. Advertisement The Swadeshi Movement emerged in response to the British decision to partition Bengal into two separate provinces in 1905, on the grounds that the population as a whole would be difficult to govern over. Led by prominent figures like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Dadabhai Naoroji, and Gopal Krishna Gokhale, the movement championed the use of Indian-made goods and services while rejecting British products. Its aim was to revive local industries and instill a sense of national pride, showing the British that India could thrive independently. The movement gained momentum as British goods were publicly burned, leading to increased tensions and government crackdowns. The Swadeshi movement championed the use of Indian-made goods and services while rejecting British products. The British goods were publicly burned, leading to increased tensions and government crackdowns. Image courtesy: Indian Numismatic, Historical and Cultural and Research Foundation Despite the eventual partition of Bengal, the Swadeshi Movement marked a significant turning point in Indian history as it demonstrated the collective strength of Indians, proving that a united front could challenge and ultimately overcome British rule. Champaran Satyagraha The first act of civil disobedience during the struggle for independence took place in the Bihar region of Champaran in 1917. The movement, pioneered by Mahatma Gandhi, was a campaign of non-violent resistance against British rule which emphasised peaceful civil disobedience and non-cooperation with oppressive laws. Advertisement It all began when Gandhi was persuaded by an indigo farmer, Rajkumar Shukla, to visit Champaran to investigate the farmers plight, who were burdened by oppressive regulations and exorbitant taxes. Under the tinkathia system, British colonists forced farmers to grow indigo. The first act of civil disobedience during the struggle for independence took place in the Bihar region of Champaran in 1917. Gandhi mobilised the local farmers and masses, orchestrating nonviolent protests against the planters and landlords. The movements success led the government to abolish the oppressive tinkathia system, and the peasants received compensation for their losses. Following Champaran, Gandhi led similar protests in Ahmedabad and Kheda between 1917 and 1918, setting the stage for the larger Rowlatt Satyagraha in 1919. Satyagraha became the cornerstone of Indias freedom struggle, showcasing the formidable power of peaceful resistance in achieving political change. Advertisement Non-Cooperation Movement, 1920-22 Launched by Mahatma Gandhi in 1920, the Non-Cooperation Movement was a pivotal effort in the Indian freedom struggle, aiming to weaken British rule through mass civil disobedience and a boycott of government institutions. This movement was ignited by events such as the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in 1919, where thousands of innocent lives were lost. Gandhis strategy involved boycotting key social programs, events, offices, and schools to align with Indias quest for independence. He urged people to embrace Swadeshi principles, promoting hand spinning and weaving, and to work towards eradicating untouchability from society. Hindus and Muslims, displaying the flags of both the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League collecting clothes to be later burnt as a part of the Non-cooperation movement of Mohandas Gandhi in 1922. Image courtesy: Wikipedia The movement quickly gained momentum, with thousands of students withdrawing from government schools and colleges. In Punjab, Lala Lajpat Rai took the lead, and prominent leaders like Motilal Nehru, C.R. Das, Jawaharlal Nehru, C. Rajagopalachari, Vallabhbhai Patel, Saifuddin Kitchlew, Asaf Ali, Rajendra Prasad, and T. Prakasam renounced their legal practices in solidarity. Advertisement The Indian National Congress called for self-governance, or Swarajya, advocating only non-violent methods of protest. However, the movement came to an abrupt end following the Chauri Chaura incident in February 1922, where a violent clash led to the burning of a police station and the death of 22 policemen. Disturbed by the violence, Gandhi decided to halt the movement. Despite its abrupt conclusion, the Non-Cooperation Movement laid the foundation for future resistance efforts. Civil Disobedience Movement, 1930 The Civil Disobedience Movement, a pivotal chapter in Indias struggle for independence, began in 1930 in response to the British imposition of a tax on salt. This tax, which made up 8.2 per cent of the British Rajs revenue, infuriated Indians and prompted Mahatma Gandhi to take a stand against it. On March 12, 1930, Gandhi embarked on a historic march from Sabarmati Ashram to the coastal village of Dandi in Gujarat. Accompanied by thousands of followers, Gandhi defied the British salt laws by producing salt from seawater, igniting the Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha or the Dandi March. This act of defiance sparked a nationwide non-violent Civil Disobedience Movement against colonial rule. On March 12, 1930, Gandhi embarked on a historic march from Sabarmati Ashram to the coastal village of Dandi in Gujarat and defied the British salt laws by producing salt from seawater, igniting the Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha or the Dandi March. Image Courtesy: Azaadi ka Amrit Mohatsav.nic.in The Civil Disobedience Movement rapidly gained momentum, resulting in the arrest of more than 60,000 people, including Gandhi himself. However, the relentless pursuit of justice and the widespread media attention forced the British to reconsider their stance. In 1931, after his release from prison, Gandhi met with Lord Irwin, the Viceroy of India, to negotiate an end to the civil disobedience campaign. The Gandhi-Irwin Pact was signed, stipulating that the movement would cease in exchange for allowing Indians to produce salt for personal use and the release of detained activists. This agreement also led to Gandhi participating in the Second Round Table Conference in London as an equal representative. Quit India Movement, 1942 The Quit India Movement, a significant milestone in Indias fight for independence, arose from growing dissatisfaction with British rule, especially after the failure of the Cripps Mission in March 1942, which sought Indian support during World War II. On August 8, 1942, during the All India Congress Committee session in Bombay, the Quit India Resolution was adopted, demanding the end of British rule. Gandhis powerful call to action, Do or Die, reverberated across the nation, urging Indians to engage in non-violent resistance against colonial authorities. This campaign, known as the Bharat Chhodo Andolan, aimed to force the British to leave India. The movement saw unprecedented participation from all social strata, uniting students, farmers, workers, and political leaders in a collective effort. This campaign, known as the Bharat Chhodo Andolan, aimed to force the British to leave India. The movement saw unprecedented participation from all social strata, uniting students, farmers, workers, and political leaders in a collective effort. Image courtesy: Wikipedia The British response was swift and harsh. The day after the movements launch, key leaders, including Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, along with over 100,000 supporters, were arrested. This crackdown led to widespread protests, strikes, and acts of civil disobedience across the country. With the main leaders imprisoned, the movements leadership fell to younger leaders like Jayaprakash Narayan and Ram Manohar Lohia. New leaders, such as Aruna Asaf Ali, also emerged, taking up the mantle of resistance. Despite the severe repression, the Quit India Movement galvanised the nation and brought India closer to its goal of independence. Finally, India gained independence from the British colonial rule on August 15th, 1947. With input from agencies Coffee prices across Europe have surged due to geopolitical disruptions, climate change, and new EU regulations. Yemens Houthi rebels intensified attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea are forcing longer, costlier shipping routes. Coupled with adverse weather conditions and stricter deforestation rules, these factors have driven up costs for coffee producers, leading to higher prices for consumers read more Europeans are experiencing a notable increase in coffee prices, reminiscent of simpler times when an espresso could be enjoyed for just 1. However, what used to be a daily ritual for many in countries like Italy is now becoming an increasingly costly habit. The price of coffee has surged across Europe, with a typical espresso now costing around 1.20 in Italy, reported Politico. The reasons behind this price hike are multifaceted, involving geopolitical events, climate change, economic factors, and new regulations, all contributing to the perfect storm that has hit the coffee market hard. Advertisement How are Houthis involved? One of the most significant and unexpected contributors to the rising coffee prices in Europe is the increased activity of Yemens Houthi rebels in the Red Sea. These militants have been targetting cargo ships, leading to severe disruptions in the shipping routes that are critical for the global coffee supply chain. A commodity analyst for Rabobank, Oran van Dort told Politico, The Houthis have displayed their capabilities to be innovative by use of not just the drones they were using before, but underwater drones. Theyve shown more and more that they can do actual damage. View of an explosion on a ship that Houthis say is an attack by them on Greek-owned MV Tutor in the Red Sea, dated June 12, 2024, in this screen grab obtained from a video. File Image/Reuters The impact of these disruptions has been profound. Shipping routes have been forced to detour around the Cape of Good Hope, significantly increasing transport times and costs. The rerouting has led to a 150 per cent jump in container freight rates on the Asia-Europe route, with delays of up to three weeks for bean deliveries from major robusta coffee producers like Vietnam and Indonesia. A Vietnam coffee exporter expressed concern, telling Reuters, We are seeing a drop in new orders (from Europe) as buyers are bearing the (higher) shipping cost. We are very concerned. Normally, coffee exports peak during this time of the year. What about the war in Ukraine? The ongoing war in Ukraine has exacerbated the situation. The conflict has disrupted fertilizer supplies, crucial for coffee cultivation, and has driven up energy costs, impacting the roasting process. A serviceman of Ukraines coast guard mans a gun on a patrol boat as a cargo ship passes by in the Black Sea, amid Russias attack on Ukraine, February 7, 2024. File Image/Reuters As a result, the cost of raw green coffee has soared, with Arabica prices on the New York International Commodity Exchange rising from $1 per pound in early 2020 to over $2.50 by June 2023. Similarly, the London-based index for robusta coffee has climbed from $1.28 per kilogramme in February 2020 to $4.45 per kilogramme today. Advertisement Is climate change involved? Beyond the geopolitical disruptions, climate change has also played a critical role in the escalating prices. Coffee crops are particularly sensitive to climate variations, and recent years have seen a series of adverse weather events affecting production. Freshly picked coffee beans at a coffee farm in Dak Lak province in Vietnam on February 1, 2024. File Image/AP In Brazil, the worlds largest coffee producer, heavy rains and pest infestations have reduced yields. Vietnam, the leading producer of robusta coffee, has faced prolonged droughts and higher temperatures, further constraining supply. How is EUs plan to tackle climate change backfiring? Adding to the burden on coffee prices are new regulations from the European Union aimed at combating deforestation. The EUs regulation on deforestation-free products requires coffee producers to certify that their production processes do not contribute to deforestation. Advertisement Also Watch: This has created additional costs and uncertainties for businesses, further driving up prices. The extensive data-gathering process required to comply with these regulations has made it more challenging and expensive for producers to bring their products to market. Businesses are still unsure how the rules will be enforced, adding to the uncertainty and potential for further price increases. What lies ahead? Despite the current challenges, there is some optimism for the future. Experts like Oran van Dort of Rabobank believe that the current spike in prices may moderate in the medium term as farmers are incentivised to bring more supply to the market. Coffee production is expected to be in surplus next year, which could help alleviate some of the supply constraints. Advertisement However, the long-term outlook remains uncertain. Climate change continues to pose a significant threat to coffee production, with experts warning that half of the land currently used for coffee cultivation could become unsuitable by 2050. Red coffee berries are seen at a farm in Shebedino district of Sidama, Ethiopia. File Image/Reuters In response, organisations like World Coffee Research and companies like Nestle are investing in developing new coffee varieties that are more resistant to both temperature extremes and diseases. With inputs from agencies Indias national flag is a result of hard work, planning and several iterations. some of which date back to 1906. On the occasion of Independence Day, heres a look back at the history of the Tiranga read more The Tricolour has become the symbol of our dignity, an essence of what India is. File image/AP What is it about the national flag that instills such a sense of pride and belonging? Each time you see it fluttering high above on buildings, the eyes get misty and you cant help but smile. But, did you know that our Tiranga was not always three colours and didnt always have the Ashok Chakra in the middle? It has evolved over the years and great thought, planning and work has gone into making the flag today the way it is. Advertisement As we gear up for Independence Day and the flag wraps India like a cloak of honour, rejuvenating our love for the motherland, lets traverse back in time and understand the true origins of the Tiranga. A brief history of how it finally came to being the Tricolour that we are so proud of today. First flag of India The idea of a single flag for India was, believe it or not, raised by the British rulers after the rebellion of 1857. However, the design was based on western standards with the Union Flag in the upper-left quadrant and a Star of India enclosed in the royal crown in the middle of the right half. The flag was a symbol of the direct imperial rule in India. Rejecting this western design, others at the time started designing their own versions of the flag. It has been reported that Sister Nivedita, an Irish disciple of Swami Vivekananda, reportedly designed a flag between 1904 and 1906. The flag was red and yellow with an image of Vajra (weapon of god Indra). The phrase Vande Mataram was written in Bengali on it. The red colour and the yellow colour signified freedom and victory while the symbol of vajra stood for strength. However, the first national flag of the nation was hoisted on 7 August 1906 in Kolkata at the Parsee Bagan Square (Green Park). This one was believed to have been designed by freedom activists Sachindra Prasad Bose and Hemchandra Kanungo. It comprised three horizontal stripes of green, yellow and red with Vande Mataram written in the middle. Additionally, the red strip on the flag had symbols of the sun and a crescent moon, and the green strip had eight half-open lotuses.y Advertisement In 1907, a slightly modified version was used by Madam Bhikaji Cama at the second International Socialist Congress in Stuttgart. But the flag received little attention from the press and reportedly failed to generate enthusiasm amongst Indian nationalists. In 1917, Dr Annie Besant and Lokmanya Tilak adopted a new flag as part of the Home Rule Movement. It had five alternate red and four green horizontal stripes, and seven stars in the saptarishi configuration. A white crescent and star occupied one top corner, and the other had Union Jack. The foundations of present-day flag The Tricolour as we know today is largely based off the design by freedom fighter Pingali Venkayya, also known as Japan Venkayya. Advertisement Venkayya was first struck by the idea of designing a national flag when he served as a soldier in the British Indian Army and was deployed to South Africa for the Second Boer War (1899-1902). He saw how the Union Jack struck a sense of nationhood among the British soldiers and this served as an inspiration for him. It was during this stint that he also met Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa and became a staunch Gandhian. They became close with an association that lasted over 50 years. At the All India Congress Committee in Bezwada in 1921, Venkayya met Gandhi and proposed his design, called the Swaraj flag. It consisted of two red and green bands; the two bands represented the two major religious communities the Hindus and the Muslims. The flag also had a charkha, which represented Swaraj. Advertisement However, Gandhi suggested adding a white band to represent peace and the rest of the communities living in India, and a spinning wheel to symbolise the progress of the country. This is what the national flag first looked like after Pingali Venkayya accepted Mahatma Gandhis suggestions. The red and green represented the main religious communities of India Hindus and Muslims, while the white stood for peace and the charkha represented Swaraj. Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons On April 13 1923, during a procession by local Congress volunteers in Nagpur commemorating the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, the Swaraj flag, designed by Venkayya, was hoisted. The flag kept being used, but generated a lot of discourse around it. Around 1931, concerns were raised about the religious aspect of the flag and whether it was secular in nature. It was then that a Flag Committee was set up and they came up with the new idea of the flag, with the colour saffron replacing red and the order of the colours changing too. It was now devoid of any religious interpretation. Advertisement The colours stood for qualities and not communities; the saffron for courage and sacrifice, white for truth and peace, and green for faith and strength. The charkha stood for the welfare of the masses. The Tricolour as we know it On June 23 1947, the Constituent Assembly formed an ad hoc committee to select a flag for Independent India, and it was headed by Rajendra Prasad and included Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Sarojini Naidu, C Rajagopalachari, KM Munshi and BR Ambedkar. On July 14 1947, the committee recommended that the Swaraj flag, which was already in vogue be adopted as the national flag of India with suitable modifications. History reports that finally on July 22, members of the Constituent Assembly of India met in the Constitution Hall in Delhi, and the first item on the agenda was adopting the national flag for free India. It was proposed that the National Flag of India shall be horizontal tricolour of deep saffron (kesari), white and dark green in equal proportion. The white band was to have a wheel in navy blue (the charkha being replaced by the chakra), which appears on the abacus of the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka. However, Gandhiji was not pleased with the flag proposed by the Constituent Assembly. In one of the letters written by Gandhiji, published in The collected works of Mahatma Gandhi, he expressed his objection with the flag adopted by the Constituent Assembly. He was unhappy with the design due to two reasons, absence of the Union Jack, and replacing the charkha (spinning wheel) with the Ashoka Chakra. In his letter, Gandhiji conveyed his support for the flag proposed by the last British viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten. That design included the flag of the Congress but with a Union Jack in the canton. However, the flag was rejected by Jawaharlal Nehru, claiming that Congress nationalist members would see the inclusion of the Union Jack as being overly deferential to the British. Gandhiji defended the inclusion of the Union Jack canton in Indias national flag. He was of the opinion that even though the British had inflicted harm on the Indians, it was not done by their flag. But what is wrong with having the Union Jack in a corner of our flag? If harm has been done to us by the British, it has not been done by their flag and we must also take note of the virtues of the British. They are voluntarily withdrawing from India, leaving power in our hands, wrote Gandhi to Nehru. Gandhi ji was also against the charkha being replaced by the Ashok Chakra. In his letter to Nehru, he wrote, I must say that, if the Flag of the Indian Union will not embody the emblem of the Charkha, I will refuse to salute that flag. You know the National Flag of India was first thought of by me, and I cannot conceive of Indias National Flag without the emblem of the Charkha. The national flag as we know it today was adopted by the Constituent Assembly in 1947. File image/AFP Controversy over the Tricolour A controversy over the national flag that keeps re-emerging is that of the designer of the final version of it. The resolution in the Constituent Assembly mentions no name, owing to which new attributions keep cropping up. In a 2018 article in The Wire, How the Tricolour and Lion Emblem Really Came to Be, Laila Tyabji, daughter of Suraiya Tyabji, recollected how her father Baddruddin Tyabji - an ICS in the prime ministers office - had under Prime Minister Nehrus instruction set up a Flag Committee headed by Dr Rajendra Prasad. She described in detail how her parents came up with the idea of the Ashoka Chakra and her mother made a graphic representation of the flag. In the article, she said, My father watched that first flag sewn under my mothers supervision by Edde Tailors & Drapers in Connaught Place go up over Raisina Hill. Controversy and the many rows aside, one cant argue today that the national flag has become the symbol of our dignity, an essence of what India is. We hope that as the nation celebrates this momentous occasion of independence, the flag continues to fly high and proud. With inputs from agencies This article was originally published in 2022 and is now being republished on the occasion of Indias 78th Independence Day. The Lalbazar police summoned the Assistant Superintendent of RG Kar Medical Hospital, who spoke with the family members of the junior doctor first. The deceaseds family said that they were first informed that their daughter died by suicide. The claims have triggered allegations that the college administration attempted a cover-up after the crime read more Doctors protest against the sexual assault and killing of a postgraduate trainee doctor in Kolkata, in New Delhi, Monday, August 12, 2024. PTI The horrific death of a trainee doctor at a government-run hospital last week has stirred massive outrage in India. As the investigation continues, shocking details of the alleged brutal rape and murder are coming to light. The Lalbazar police summoned the Assistant Superintendent of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on Tuesday at 11:00 am. Media reports say he called and spoke with family members of the victim at the hospital first. Died by suicide Advertisement According to a report from Anandabazaar Patrika, the deceaseds family said that they were first informed that their daughter had committed suicide. The Assistant Superintendent of the Chest Medicine Department called and said, Your daughter died by suicide. And then we saw the reality when we reached the hospital, the womans father told the media, as per NDTV, adding that the official did not name himself during the call. The 31-year-old victims mother also claimed that even after they reached the hospital, they were not allowed to see the body. I fell at their feet, begging them to let me see my daughter. But they did not. No one understands what I went through. They let us see her at 2 pm. The claims have triggered allegations that the college administration attempted a cover-up after the female doctors body was found. Similar claims were made to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during her visit to the deceaseds family on Monday. Resident doctors protest, demanding justice for a woman trainee doctor who was raped and murdered at Kolkatas RG Kar Hospital. Source: PTI. Later on, she declared that they would look into who initially reported having committed suicide and that the individual would also be questioned by the police, as per News18. In addition, seven junior doctors who were on duty the night of the incident interns, house staff, and postgraduate trainees have had their statements recorded by the police. The victim is said to have had dinner with four of these officials around 2:30 in the morning after watching Neeraj Chopras javelin throw during the Paris Olympics. Advertisement The family members have told the media that the victim called her mother that night and told her to have dinner. Insiders involved According to the victims family, there may have been involvement in the horrific crime by someone working in the chest medicine department. We want a probe against the whole chest department. We think someone on the inside is involved, they have told the media. What is the guarantee that it was a supari murder? Advertisement When asked if his daughter had enmity with anyone in the department, her father said, according to NDTV, No, but everyone can be jealous. There were nurses and security, I am still unable to understand how this incident took place. Police have informed me that there was someone inside, Ms Banerjee said yesterday. The autopsy reports The victims hands and face were discovered to have cut marks, according to the autopsy results. According to the report, she also suffered a severe hit that broke off pieces of glass from her spectacles and got into her eyes. The accused banged the deceaseds head against the wall, resulting in head injuries that were also reported, as per News18. Doctors in West Bengal have ceased work and have called for an indefinite strike, demanding justice for woman doctor who was raped and murdered at RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata. Source: X. Her father claims she was assaulted and murdered inside the hospital after the preliminary autopsy revealed that she had experienced sexual assault before her death. Advertisement The four-page report also revealed that the woman was bleeding from her private parts and there were injury marks on other parts of her body. There was bleeding from both her eyes and mouth, injuries on the face, and a nail. The victim was also bleeding from her private parts. She also has injuries to her belly, left leg, neck, in her right hand, ring finger, and lips, the report stated, as per India Today. The accuseds fingernails are believed to have caused scratch scars on the womans face, suggesting that the victim attempted to defend herself. The mouth and throat were constantly pressed to prevent screaming. The throat was strangled to suffocate. The thyroid cartilage broke due to strangling, the postmortem report said. Advertisement The case On Friday, August 9, a female PGT doctor who was a second-year student in the department of chest medicine was discovered semi-naked inside the lecture hall at RG Kar Hall Medical College and Hospital. Her body was covered with various marks from injuries. She was on duty on Thursday. Hospital principal Sandip Ghosh resigned from his position and government employment yesterday due to pressure following the rape and killing of the resident doctor. I am getting defamed on social media. It is not good. The deceased doctor was like my daughter. As a parent, I resign. I dont like that this should happen to anyone in future, he was quoted by ANI as saying. Dr Ghosh was then appointed principal of another medical college in Kolkata in less than four hours, as per NDTV. The citys Calcutta National Medical College students are against this move and have questioned how a principal who cant even guarantee safety on one campus can be successful on another. Furthermore, the principals office doors have been closed by the students, who claim they will not allow him to report for duty. The resignation of Ghosh was announced the day after the West Bengal government dismissed Sanjay Vashisth, the medical superintendent who also served as vice principal. Bulbul Mukhopadhyay, the dean of student affairs, took over as superintendent and was given extra responsibilities. The accused The following day, Sanjay Roy, a volunteer for the community, was taken into custody in connection to the crime. As an outsider, his position gave him easy access to other hospital departments, as per News18. Roy was brought before Sealdah Court and charged with rape and murder under Sections 64 and 103 of the BNS. The court ordered Roy to police custody until August 23, reported India Today. Police personnel produce the accused arrested in connection with the alleged rape and murder of a woman trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, at a City Court in Kolkata. PTI Media sources state that pornographic videos were discovered on his cell phone by the Kolkata police. According to Mint which cited his neighbours, he was married four times, and three of them divorced him because of his allegedly abusive behaviour. Last year, his fourth wife passed away from cancer. Roys neighbours claimed that he frequently returned home late at night and was often drunk. Resident doctors on indefinite strike The horrifying incident prompted medical residents at government hospitals around the nation to go on an indefinite strike, which shut down non-emergency procedures and outpatient appointments. Junior Doctors of Gandhi Medical College take part in a candle light march in protest against rape and killing of a trainee doctor at Kolkatas R G Kar Medical College, in Hyderabad, Monday, August 12, 2024. PTI The protesters also called for the dismissal of all senior hospital officials and insisted that they not be transferred to another location, and they sought an apology from Kolkata Police for allegedly circulating misinformation about the inquiry. They have also demanded an immediate handover to the CBI and a transparent investigation into the matter, as per Hindustan Times. If the police are unable to solve the case by Sunday, Chief Minister Banerjee stated she would recommend a CBI investigation. I want the police to arrest the culprits as soon as possible. If they are unable to crack the case by Sunday, we will hand it over to the CBI. I dont have an issue with the central agency taking over, but its success rate is low, the CM said. With inputs from agencies Junior doctors across the country are on strike, demanding justice for the 31-year-old trainee doctor, who was raped and murdered in Kolkatas RG Kar Hospital, and for better protective measures at the workplace. The protest has affected OPD services and elective surgeries in various government hospitals, leaving patients in a fix and throwing the healthcare system into chaos read more A 66-year-old patient lies on a stretcher as he waits for emergency medical care during a strike called by doctors to protest the rape and murder of a trainee doctor, inside the premises of R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. Reuters No safety, no duty chants resonate loud and clearly at Indian hospitals as resident doctors refuse to work, protesting against the brutal rape and murder of a 31-year-old colleague in Kolkata. The result of this protest patients running from pillar to post, seeking medical aid; elective surgeries being deferred and a sense of chaos at government hospitals across the nation. The protests and the subsequent closure of OPDs at hospitals across the nation come after the horrific rape and murder of a junior doctor at Kolkatas RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in the intervening hours last Thursday and Friday. The autopsy report reveals the true extent of the brutality of the crime the accused allegedly throttled her to death, with her body bearing injuries on her belly, hand and collarbone also being shattered. Advertisement Doctors register their protest Resident doctors in West Bengal, Delhi, Maharashtra and other parts of the country have gone on an indefinite strike today (August 13) after the Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) called for one, demanding better security for doctors and for speedy justice in the Kolkata rape case. At the RG Kar Medical College, doctors have been protesting against the hospital authorities since news broke of the crime, demanding a fast-track judicial inquiry into the rape-murder as well as the removal of the principal, medical superintendent, dean, and head of department (HoD) of Pulmonary Medicine and the additional commissioner of police under whose jurisdiction the local police post falls. As protests continue at the institute, the principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital resigned on Monday (August 12) and the Medical Superintendent Dr Sanjay Vashisth was also removed from the post. Junior doctors, trainee doctors and medical students protest against the sexual assault and killing of a postgraduate trainee doctor, in Kolkata. PTI However, doctors say that isnt enough. They demand better security at the job, with Dr Rajan Sharma, a former president of the Indian Medical Association, saying urgent changes need to be made to the way government hospitals operate, particularly with regard to access. Doctors have also demanded that the Kolkata Police complete their investigation by August 14 (Wednesday). The cease work protest will continue till our demands are met. We have been very clear about our demands. We want a judicial probe into the incident, a protesting junior doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital was quoted as saying. Advertisement In New Delhi too, doctors have gone on strike, carrying posters that read, doctors arent punching bags, demanding justice and better security measures. Similar scenes also played out in Maharashtra, with Maharashtra State Association of Residential Doctors president Dr Pratik Debaje telling PTI, From 9 am (we have stopped work at all OPDs (out-patient departments) and elective services have been stopped. Now, only emergency services are operational across the state. Doctors at AIIMS protest against the sexual assault and killing of a postgraduate trainee doctor in Kolkata, in New Delhi. PTI Doctors in Rajasthan, Jharkhand, and Chandigarh have also followed suit. At King Georges Medical University (KGMU) in Uttar Pradeshs Lucknow, protesting doctors gathered in the morning and marched to the outdoor patients department to stop work there. Patients and their relatives were seen banging on the OPDs shut doors, demanding that they be treated. Advertisement #WATCH | Uttar Pradesh: FORDA (Federation of Resident Doctors Association) has called a nationwide strike, demanding justice for the woman PG trainee doctor who was found raped & murdered at RG Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata. Visuals from King George's Medical pic.twitter.com/KDAbasEahh ANI (@ANI) August 12, 2024 Junior doctors at the state-run Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi started a pen-down agitation, boycotting OPD services and elective surgeries. Our protest excludes emergency services as we do not want any patient in need to suffer, Ankit Kumar, president of the Junior Doctors Association (JDA) at RIMS, told PTI. Patients suffer The doctors protests across the country have impacted patients many had to return home without a consultation or their surgery was delayed. At the RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata, Al Amin Mollah and his wife Ayesha were left looking for a doctor for their baby, but to no avail. In an Indian Express report, Mollah said: Our baby was operated upon a few weeks ago here and has stitches. The doctors asked me to visit the outpatient department to get the stitches removed. I have been here since morning, and today everything is shut here. I have been told nothing can be done and I should go to a local doctor. So, I am returning. Lets see where I can go with my baby. Advertisement A patient being taken to Raiganj Government Medical College and Hospital as junior doctors and medical students protest against the sexual assault and killing of a Kolkata based postgraduate trainee doctor, in Uttar Dinajpur district. PTI And Mollah isnt alone. Thousands of patients at the various state-run hospitals in West Bengal struggled to find a doctor to see them, as the medical professionals continue to keep up their strike. Saiful Alam, a resident of Murshidabad district, reached Kolkata on Sunday evening to get admitted at Shambhunath Pandit Hospital early on Monday. I had come to Kolkata on Sunday evening and spent the entire night on the hospital premises. But the next morning, I was given another date for admission, Alam told news agency PTI. The situation is no different in Delhi, especially at AIIMS which sees the largest Out-Patient Department (OPD) crowd. On Tuesday, the institute saw an 80 per cent drop in surgeries and 35 per cent dip in admissions, owing to the indefinite strike of the doctors. Across the country, junior doctors are striking work, demanding better protective measures. PTI Among the worst-hit are patients who come from far-off distances to the national capital for treatment. Avadesh Kumar Jha, a 48-year-old cancer patient from Bihars Siwan, could not meet his doctor owing to the strike. His brother has been standing in queue since 2 am for a consultation, but it seems their wait will have to continue. Patients across hospitals complained about the lack of doctors, with Arun Kumar, a patient who travelled over 300 km to get treated at the OPD of KGMU, telling NDTV, Doctors have the right to protest, but what about us? We have come from so far. Doctors Speak But despite the many difficulties patients are enduring, the junior doctors are adamant about continuing their strike. One doctor at RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata said: We are doctors. We have no problem in giving treatment but this cause is much bigger. We will continue to fight for justice. Others have also echoed similar comments, saying the protests were a bigger cause and needed urgent attention. The president of the All India Medical Association, Dr Rohan Krishnan, said the protest was important because it raises questions about the investigation being conducted by the police. Moreover, it exposes the lack of security for female doctors. The Federation of Resident Doctors Association of India (FORDA) has also written to Home Minister Amit Shah on the same, listing five demands: expeditious acceptance of residents demands, resignation of all the responsible authorities, no police brutality, swift justice for the deceased and security protocols for healthcare workers. In the same fashion, the Indian Medical Association penned a letter to Union Health Minister JP Nadda, writing: Pedestrian working conditions, inhuman workload and violence in the workplace are the reality. Doctors take huge stress on themselves. Doctors deserve better consideration from the governments. The murder of this young lady doctor is not the first neither it would be the last if corrective measures are not taken. Medical students and doctors take part in a candle light protest against the sexual assault and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor in Kolkata, at PMCH campus in Patna. PTI Lack of security for doctors The rape-murder of the trainee doctor in Kolkata once again highlights the lack of security that doctors are offered. Medical officials in the country say that in addition to the sexual violence that they face, they also are at the receiving end of attacks from family members, especially after delivering bad news. A survey by the IMA found 75 per cent of doctors in the country had faced some form of violence. The IMA has in their letter to JP Nadda pointed out that 25 states have laws to prevent attacks on doctors, but these are mostly ineffective on the ground, as there is no central enactment on the issue. With inputs from agencies A first-of-its-kind discovery suggests that there is ocean-worth of liquid water on Mars, deep in the planets outer crust. The new study paves the way for further research into the habitability of Mars and the search for life beyond Earth read more Scientists have for the first time found evidence of liquid water on Mars. The findings were based on seismic measurements from Nasas Mars InSight lander, which detected more than 1,300 marsquakes. This is one of the last images ever taken by lander. Nasa Is there life on Mars? Its a question that has been asked time and again. Now scientists have discovered a reservoir of liquid water on the Red Planet. Water, as we know, is essential for the existence of any life. The findings are part of a new analysis of seismic data from Nasas Mars InSight Lander, an outer space robotic explorer, which touched down on the planet in 2018. The lander carried a seismometer, which detected more than 1,300 marsquakes before shutting down two years ago. Advertisement Now studying those quakes from deep inside the planet revealed signs of liquid water. We look at the findings and what they could mean for research on alien life. What do we know about water on Mars? It is the first time that scientists have revealed that they have found evidence of liquid water on Mars. The water is hiding in cracks in underground rocks it is beneath the surface of the Red Planet and it is too far below to access. This water is believed to be seven miles to 12 miles (11.5 kilometres to 20 kilometres) down in the Martian midcrust. It is composed of igneous rock with thin fractures filled with liquid water. It most likely would have seeped from the surface billions of years ago when Mars harboured rivers, lakes and possibly oceans, according to the lead scientist, Vashan Wright of the University of California San Diegos Scripps Institution of Oceanography, which led the research. This is the best evidence yet that Mars still has liquid water in addition to frozen water at its poles, according to the findings. The research was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This image provided by Nasa shows the InSight Mars lander in a selfie photo composite on April 24 2022. Nasa via AP How much water is there on Mars? According to scientists, theres enough water on Mars to fill oceans on the surface of the planet. If the area studied is a representative location, the Martian midcrust could contain a volume of liquid water exceeding that of hypothesised ancient oceans, the study said. Advertisement The research estimates that the amount of groundwater under the Martian surface could cover the whole planet to a depth of about a mile, reports USA TODAY. As rovers collect data from the planets surface, it has become clear that Mars was not as dry and dusty as today. It had tonnes of water as is evident from the terrain, the minerals and ancient dry beds and deltas. So what happened? For three billion years, it has been a desert. The lander carried a seismometer, which recorded four years of quakes from deep inside Mars. Nasa Prof Michael Manga, from the University of California, Berkeley, who was involved in the research, said that water was the most important molecule in shaping the evolution of a planet. This finding, he said, answers the big question of where did all the Martian water go?. Advertisement Some of the water evaporated into gas when Mars lost its atmosphere. Prof Manga added that on Earth, much of our water is underground and theres no reason for that not to be the case on Mars too. Does the presence of water mean there could be life on Mars? The research is important because understanding the Martian water cycle is critical for understanding the evolution of the climate, surface and interior, Wright, an assistant professor at Scripps, said in a statement. A useful starting point is to identify where water is and how much is there. According to scientists, the discovery reveals important details about Mars history. Establishing that there is a big reservoir of liquid water provides some window into what the climate was like or could be like, Prof Manga said in a statement. And water is necessary for life as we know it. Advertisement I dont see why [the underground water] is not a habitable environment, he added, noting that far down environments on Earth like deep, deep mines and the bottom of the ocean host life as well. Scientists say theres enough water on Mars to fill oceans on the planets surface. Nasa However, the researcher clarified that no evidence of alien life has been found. We havent found any evidence for life on Mars, but at least we have identified a place that should, in principle, be able to sustain life, Prof Manga was quoted as saying by Forbes. Wright said that just because water still may be sloshing around inside Mars does not mean it holds life. Instead, our findings mean that there are environments that could possibly be habitable, he said in an email, reports The Associated Press (AP). Advertisement Can the water be used? The water is not accessible. It would not be of much use to anyone trying to tap into it to supply a future Mars colony, according to a statement from the University of California, Berkeley. It added that even on Earth, drilling a hole a half-mile deep is difficult. Accessing the water could be challenging," Wright said. Prof Manga joked that it could be a new challenge for Elon Musk to solve. _ With inputs from agencies_ Ukraine last week launched a surprise cross-border incursion into Russias Kursk, which caught its military leaders unawares and left the Kremlin embarrassed. Attention has been drawn to the fact that Ukraines tanks, trucks and military equipment are proudly displaying white triangles. But why have they been marked so? read more Ukraine launched a surprise offensive into the Russian border region of Kursk on August 6, 2024, capturing over two dozen towns and villages in the most significant cross-border attack on Russian soil since World War II. AFP Ukraine in recent days has turned the tables on Russia. Ukraine last week launched a surprise cross-border incursion into Russia the biggest since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 and is unprecedented for its use of Ukrainian military units on Russian soil which caught the military leaders unawares and left the Kremlin embarrassed. Now, a week after the attack, Ukaines top military commander has claimed that his forces control 1,000 square kilometres of territory in Kursk amid fierce fighting. Advertisement General Oleksandr Syrskyi said, The troops are fulfilling their tasks. Fighting continues actually along the entire front line. The situation is under our control. The Ukrainian vehicles that have invaded Russian territory are marked with white triangles. But what happened? And why are Ukraines vehicles being marked with white triangles? Lets take a closer look: What happened? Ukraine forces on 6 August attacked Kursk which is around 530 kilometres south of Moscow. The Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement on Sunday that its forces engaged Ukrainian troops in Tolpino, Zhuravli and Obshchy Kolodez, the official Tass news agency reported. Tolpino is 25 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Russian forces are still scrambling to respond to the surprise Ukrainian attack after almost a week of fierce fighting. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the incursion, which has caused more than 100,000 civilians to flee, is an attempt by Kyiv to stop Moscows offensive in eastern Ukraines Donbas region and gain leverage in possible future peace talks. Putin said the attack that began August 6 appeared to reflect Kyivs attempt to achieve a better negotiating position in possible future talks to end the war. He insisted Moscows army would prevail. Vladimir Putin has vowed Russian forces will continue their offensive in eastern Ukraine. Reuters Putin said Ukraine may have hoped the attack would cause public unrest in Russia, but that it has failed to do so, and he claimed the number of volunteers to join the Russian military has increased because of the assault. Advertisement He said Russian forces will carry on with their offensive in eastern Ukraine regardless. Zelenskyy confirmed for the first time that the Ukrainian military is inside the Kursk region. On Telegram, he praised his countrys soldiers and commanders for their steadfastness and decisive actions. He did not elaborate. The Ukrainian operation is under tight secrecy, and its goals remain unclear. Advertisement The stunning manoeuvre that caught the Kremlins forces off guard counters Russias unrelenting effort in recent months to punch through Ukrainian defences at selected points along the front line in eastern Ukraine. Acting Kursk Governor Alexei Smirnov reported to Putin that Ukrainian forces had pushed 12 kilometers into the Kursk region across a 40-kilometer front and currently control 28 Russian settlements. Smirnov said 12 civilians have been killed and 121 others, including 10 children, have been wounded. About 121,000 people have been evacuated or left the areas affected by fighting on their own, he said. Tracking down all the Ukrainian units that are roaming the region and creating diversions is difficult, Smirnov said, noting that some are using fake Russian IDs. The United States and Western allies who supply Ukraine with weapons have said little so far about Ukraines incursion. Advertisement US officials have confirmed that the Kursk incursion is a cross-border operation in which the use of US-supplied weapons is acceptable. Why are Ukraines vehicles marked with white triangles? As per The Telegraph, the white triangles were first observed in June. They were being used by Ukraines Operational Command West group of forces near the Belarus border. Now, the marking is being proudly displayed on Ukraines tanks, trucks and military equipment either with paint or with tape. The markings have caused some to label the incursion operation triangle. Advertisement Ukrainian sources told the newspaper the white triangles are a way to make sure their forces can distinguish between friend and foe. Ukraines white triangles echo Russias Z symbol, which was written on Russian tanks and vehicles that invaded Ukraine. The letter Z, which does not exist in the Cyrillic Russian alphabet, has become a symbol of support for the invasion. Other letters including O, X, A and V were also painted onto the vehicles. The Guardian quoted military experts as saying that the letters represented the areas where the Russian troops were sent. The Z could stand in for Zapad (west). Others subscribed to the friendly fire theory. However, some Russian military experts claimed the Z stands for Zelenskyy and the V stands for Putin. The Russian defence ministry on its Instagram wrote that Z represents Za pobedu (for victory) and V the power of truth. What do experts say about the invasion? Emile Kastehelmi, an open-source intelligence analyst, told The Washington Post, The best case scenario for Ukraine would probably be the following Russia decides its not acceptable to leave any areas to Ukrainian hands, and will divert significant resources even from the most critical places and to get every square kilometre back, despite the losses. This would severely attrite the Russians, ease the pressure in other directions, and maybe even make it possible for Ukrainians to improve the tactical situation locally in the east. Regardless of whether the Ukrainians continue their advance, they have proved that occupation of relatively large areas is no longer a privilege of Russia. The war is now even more concretely a war on Russian soil as well. Medics provide assistance in a vehicle near a mobile medical station, which was opened by volunteers to treat wounded Russian military personnel and local residents, following an incursion of Ukrainian troops. Reuters A high-ranking Ukrainian official told AFP that the idea behind the attack is to stretch Putins armies as much as possible, spreading them thinly over different areas. The security brass told AFP on condition of anonymity that the aim is to stretch the positions of the enemy, to inflict maximum losses and to destabilise the situation in Russia as they are unable to protect their own border. Military analyst Franz-Stefan Gady told The Washington Post, This is definitely one consideration that it is really a signal to the West and to Ukrainian allies and partners that Ukraine is still capable of launching offensive operations. That Ukraine is capable of conducting fairly complex operations into enemy territory. Ex- British tank commander Colonel Hamish de Bretton Gordon told The Sun, Ukraine has hit them hard where it hurts when they werent looking. And its becoming an absolute challenge. It has shown that actually the Russian war machine is very basic. Moscow is close enough to hear the shouts and screams of Kursk. As long as the shouts and screams are heard in Moscow, to me, thats operational success for Kyiv. As temperatures in Italys Portofino soar to 40 degrees Celsius, residents have taken matters into their own hands by installing air conditioning units without official approval. To avoid detection, locals have cleverly hidden these units on terraces and rooftops, even painting them in bright colours to blend with the surroundings. But why are ACs contraband? read more As temperatures in in Portofino soar to 40 degrees Celsius, residents have taken matters into their own hands by installing air conditioning units without official approval. Pixabay Portofino, the jewel of the Italian Riviera, famed for its stunning harbour, luxurious lifestyle, and VIP visitors, now finds itself at the centre of a surprising and contentious issue: a crackdown on air conditioning units. With a year-round population of just 379, Portofino is a magnet for the rich and famous. However, even the affluent are discovering that money cant buy everything, as an air conditioning ban threatens their comfort amid scorching temperatures in the coastal village. Advertisement This ban has ignited a wave of neighbourly vendettas, with residents reporting each other, leading to an atmosphere of suspicion and tension in this otherwise tranquil paradise, the Italian newspaper, Corriere della Sera reported. So why has Italys wealthiest municipality imposed such a ban? Lets take a closer look. Tit-for-tat accusations As temperatures in the coastal village soar to 40 degrees Celsius, residents have taken matters into their own hands by installing air conditioning units without official approval. To avoid detection, locals have cleverly hidden these units on terraces and rooftops, even painting them in bright colours to blend with the surroundings. Now, the authorities are mounting their vigil against such practices. The local police was actively searching the villages narrow streets and alleyways for unauthorised units. According to The Guardian, between January and May, 22 illegal units were spotted on rooftops and terraces, with an additional 15 installations detected since June as the heatwave intensified. Earlier, there were reports in the Italian media that said that police is increasing patrols and flying drones to keep a tab on residents. However, Portofinos mayor, Matteo Viacava, refuted such claims. It all began last winter when someone put in an air conditioning unit that covered a big part of a very narrow street, he told the Guardian. The summers have been getting much hotter and July and August have been sweltering and very humid. Its not that we want people to suffer and have their sleep disrupted by the heatWe all depend on AC now. But Portofino is located in a regional park and there are rules that need to be respected, he added. Advertisement Between January and May, 22 illegal units were spotted on rooftops and terraces, with an additional 15 installations detected since June as the heatwave intensified in Portofino. File Photo/AP This crackdown has even led to a feeling of vendetta among neighbours. You reported me, so now Im going to report you has become the prevailing sentiment in the resort town, noted the Corriere della Sera. In some cases, people have reportedly accepted an invitation into the home of a neighbour, only to secretly take a photo of a unit that they have then passed on to police. The authorities have received approximately 40 complaints about these installations, and more are expected as the heat continues to fuel tensions. Violators face fines of up to 43,000 (Rs 39 lakh) if prosecuted in court, making the illegal installation of air conditioning units a costly gamble amidst the relentless summer heat. Advertisement Why Portofino banned ACs? The enforcement campaign, led by Mayor Matteo Viacava, is designed to protect Portofinos aesthetic and environmental integrity. Since 1935, Portofino has been part of a regional national park and only recently, the regulations were relaxed to allow AC units on its pastel-coloured buildings after a complete ban. Residents must now seek permission from authorities to install AC units and ensure they are discreetly placed to maintain the towns natural beauty. We just want to ensure that the constraints are respected and the beauty of Portofino is maintained, Mayor Viacava told The Guardian. They need to be put in places that are not visible. Slowly, slowly, we are getting it all in order. Residents must now seek permission from authorities to install AC units and ensure they are discreetly placed to maintain the towns natural beauty. Pixabay The mayor also hinted at a future crackdown on satellite dishes to further preserve the towns picturesque appearance. It is not sustainable to have so many, he told Corriere della Sera. Cracking down on these will also help preserve the integrity of the town. Advertisement Portofino is a favourite among celebrities, with Madonna recently spotted arriving for a party hosted by Dolce and Gabbana. Earlier this summer, Portofino hosted 800 guests at a pre-wedding party for billionaires Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant, costing a reported 139 million (Rs 1,278 crore). With input from agencies Election Commission of India (ECI) has scheduled a meeting with Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on Wednesday to review the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir ahead of the Assembly polls, the dates for which are yet to be announced, according to a report, citing sources. read more Election Commission of India (ECI) has scheduled a meeting with Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on Wednesday to review the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir ahead of the Assembly polls, the dates for which are yet to be announced, ANI news agency reported, citing sources. Last week, an ECI delegation led by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar had visited J&K for two days to assess the possibility of holding Assembly elections in the Union Territory in September. Advertisement During a press briefing in Jammu, CEC Kumar had said that no internal or external force can derail the elections in the Union Territory, adding the exact dates for polls would be revealed after a final security assessment is conducted in Delhi. #WATCH | Jammu, J&K: Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar says, "No internal or external force, interference, can derail the elections. We are each committed to conducting a review list and we will give a befitting response to destructive forces and you all will participate pic.twitter.com/uweqw6GoIK ANI (@ANI) August 9, 2024 No internal or external force, interference, can derail the elections. We are each committed to conducting a review list and we will give a befitting response to destructive forces and you all will participate with zeal, enthusiasm and hope whenever the elections are declared, Kumar had said. Referring to recent terror attacks in the Jammu region, Kumar said that the poll body doesnt want to see a chicken and egg situation in J&K. Advertisement Our forces are capable of handling the situation, and we wont allow these small attempts to disrupt the election process, said Kumar while addressing a press briefing in Jammu. He also said that all the political parties in J&K unanimously praised the people and the Election Commission for conducting peaceful parliamentary elections in Jammu and Kashmir. He said all political parties in J&K are in favour of holding elections early. The feedback we received from security heads, administrative officers, and district police chiefs is that while there are a few security challenges, they are ready to ensure peaceful elections in J&K, added the CEC. Advertisement With inputs from agencies India, which is home to more than 60 per cent of the worlds wild Asian elephants, has been conducting five-year elephant censuses since 2022, but this year it has got delayed read more A new methodology for conducting elephant census was announced on 2021. Previously it involved a head count of the animals across the country. Source: REUTERS. India will have to wait until June next year for the results of the latest elephant census, as the population estimation has been delayed in some northeastern states, sources said. Wild elephants are found in forested, hilly tracts across four regions of India: the foothills of the Himalayas in the north, the northeastern states, east-central India, and the Western and Eastern Ghats in the southern parts of the country. Why this delay? A source told PTI that data collection and analysis from the northeast have not yet been completed. Advertisement The primary reasons for the delay in the region are heavy monsoon rains, floods and the limited capacity of the forest staff, the sources added. The entire process involves creating shapefiles, capacity building, data collection, and data processing. As a result, the numbers from the latest elephant estimation exercise will only be available by June next year, they said. SM Sahai, the Chief Wildlife Warden of Meghalaya, told PTI that the elephant population estimation using the new methodology is taking some time. Sandeep Kumar, the Chief Wildlife Warden of Assam, said that in addition to the difficult terrain, monsoonal rains, and floods, the exercise took longer because the department also included revenue areas frequented by elephants, along with forest areas. New method for conducting census announced in 2021 In 2021, the Union Environment Ministry announced a new methodology for conducting the census collecting and analysing DNA samples from elephant dung, supplemented by camera trap results. According to officials, previous elephant censuses primarily involved a head count of the animals across the country. How will the new method help? The new scientific approach will enhance understanding of the species and the challenges they face. For example, DNA profiling of elephants will help curb the illegal smuggling of their body parts, strengthening prosecution efforts. India is home to more than 60 percent of the worlds wild Asian elephants. The country has been conducting five-year elephant censuses since 2022. Advertisement How many elephants India has? According to the census conducted in 2017, India has 29,964 elephants spread across an area of 110,000 square kilometers, of which 65,000 square kilometers constitute the countrys 33 elephant reserves. The northeast region of India is home to 10,139 elephants, while the east-central region has 3,128, the northwest has 2,085, and the southern region has 11,960. Karnataka leads with 6,049 elephants. RVs and other mobile homes line up on Zoo Road in San Francisco on Aug. 6. A majority of these residents were displaced from Winston Drive. Minh Connors/The Chronicle About two dozen families living in their RVs could be displaced for the second time in two weeks after city officials announced new parking restrictions on the street near the San Francisco Zoo where they now live. The families moved to Zoo Road, a narrow, one-way street, late last month after the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency ordered RVs and vehicles to vacate Winston Drive near Stonestown Galleria, where many had been parked for months or years. The new site became a flash point after the head of the Pomeroy Rehabilitation and Recreation Center, a facility that mainly serves children and adults with disabilities, argued the presence of the vehicles is unsafe for those living in them and for the clients trying to access the facility. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing spokesperson Emily Cohen said the city posted no parking signs this week and will begin enforcement on Wednesday. A picture of the sign sent to the Chronicle by an advocate with the Coalition on Homelessness shows the no parking restriction will last through Sept. 14, seven days a week from 6 a.m.-6 p.m. for street cleaning and pavement striping. The restriction will apply to the entirety of the road, from Lake Merced Boulevard to Skyline Boulevard. Were hoping to work with the remaining folks on Zoo Road to also get them connected with long-term solutions, Cohen said in a text message. Our staff has been out there doing outreach and offering folks shelter, housing assistance, health care, and benefits, and are working to connect people to everything that they are eligible for. The RV dweller saga is another example of Mayor London Breeds aggressive approach to tackling unsheltered homelessness as the November election approaches. The displacement of the RV dwellers after enforcement started on July 30, coincided with Breeds order for tougher sweeps of tent encampments. It also points to the difficulty the city faces in finding places unhoused families will accept with officials saying that many families have turned down offers of housing and shelter in the past. Cohen told the Chronicle last week that HSH hosted several outreach sessions to help get people out of their vehicles and that 23 RV households living on Winston Drive were successfully housed. Cohen added on Monday that the folks on Zoo Road are fairly interested in taking us up on our offers but that she doesnt have a final number of people who have accepted help since families moved to Zoo Road. She said they have been working with about 15 families. But Coalition on Homelessness advocate Yessica Hernandez, who has been working with the families on Zoo Road, said that these RV dwellers are living in fear. A lot of people are worried and dont know what to do, she said in an interview. They want something that will bring them stability going forward, and they dont think that what the city is offering them is humane or stable enough. On Thursday, the city conducted at least eight tows from the Zoo Road RV encampment, according to the mayors office. The vehicles were tagged with notices from the SFMTA, informing owners they would be cited or towed by Sunday. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Hernandez said she received frantic calls from families on Zoo Road at 3 a.m. Friday saying that the SFMTA was enforcing their street cleaning rules an hour earlier than usual, and ordering them to move, which took everyone by surprise. Mamata Banerjee said she wants police to arrest the culprits in Kolkata RG Kar Hospital rape and murder case as soon as possible. If by Sunday they are unable to crack the case, then I will hand over the investigation to the CBI because insiders may be involved, she added read more Doctors and nursing staff in Kolkata protest against the recent rape and murder of a woman doctor inside RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Source: PTI. Kolkata police has seven days to crack the case of rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkatas RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, failing which, the investigation will be handed over the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced as doctors protests gain momentum in her state and other parts of the country following the heinous crime. I want the police to arrest the culprits as soon as possible. If by Sunday they are unable to crack the case, then I will hand over the investigation to the CBI because insiders may be involved, Banerjee said. Advertisement The announcement was made by the CM after meeting the family members of the victim whose semi-naked body with multiple injuries was found in a seminar room of the State-run health facility on Friday morning. She was on night duty and had gone to the hall to rest. Her autopsy confirmed she was raped. Victims family alleged possibility of an outsider The West Bengal chief minister further said that even the family members of the victim alleged the possibility of an outsider being involved. On Saturday (August 10), the Kolkata Police arrested a civic police volunteer in connection with the crime. The accused, identified as Sanjoy Roy, was allegedly seen in CCTV footage near the crime scene. Kolkata doctor rape & murder accused liked watching disturbing, violent porn According to the Kolkata Police, Roy was addicted to watching porn and his mobile phone was filled with obscene videos and clips. A police officer said that he liked watching disturbing and violent porn, which was unnatural. The pornography content in his mobile phone was quite disturbing and violent. We wonder about the state of his mind as watching such things is quite unnatural, PTI quoted the police officer as saying. Sanjoy Roy married four times, history of physically abusing wives The police officer further informed that Roy had a history of physically abusing his wives. Advertisement As per his neighbours, Roy has married four times. His first wife was from Behala, while the second wife was from Park Circus. His third marriage to a girl from Barrackpore also did not last long. After which he married a girl from the Alipore area in South Kolkata, one of Roys neighbour said. According to the police officer, Roys fourth wife, who was working at a petrol pump in Alipore, had also lodged a complaint of domestic violence, which went on till legal separation was granted. NCW team in Kolkata Meanwhile, a two-member team of the National Commission for Women (NCW) led by Delina Khongdup was in Kolkata on Monday. After arriving in the city, it went directly to the Kolkata Police headquarters at Lalbazar to speak to officers investigating the case. Advertisement On Tuesday the NCW team visited RG Kar Hospital and later met the victims parents at their residence in Panihati. Doctors protest Medical workers all over India have been on protests seeking justice for the victim and demanding safety in the workplace. The protests by junior doctors have been endorsed by the Federation of Resident Doctors Association of India (FORDA). Between Friday and Sunday, protesting junior doctors in Kolkata had been attending to emergency duties but on Monday, they ceased all responsibilities. The doctors protests continue despite Banerjees promise of a transparent investigation. The protesters criticised the delay, demanding a judicial inquiry, capital punishment for the culprits, and adequate compensation for the victims family. Advertisement We are dissatisfied with the current police investigation and will continue our protest till justice is served and the state ensures foolproof security for all doctors and healthcare workers, a protesting junior doctor from RG Kar Medical College and Hospital said. Also Read: Kolkata hospital rape & murder: Autopsy reveals genital torture caused deep wound in doctors private parts Also Read: Kolkata hospital rape-murder case sparks nationwide doctors strike as autopsy reveals disturbing injuries The Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) has called off its strike following a meeting with Union Health Minister J P Nadda, who agreed to their demands. The strike, triggered by the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata, will end as the ministry commits to forming a committee to address protection issues read more The Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) on Tuesday said it was calling off its strike over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata as the Union health minister has accepted their demands. A delegation of FORDA met with Union Health Minister J P Nadda at his residence here on Tuesday night. FORDA said the decision to end the strike, effective from Wednesday morning, was made in the interest of patient welfare. Advertisement According to the statement issued by the association, A key outcome of the meeting was the health ministers agreement to form a committee with FORDAs involvement to work on the Central Protection Act. The ministry has assured that work on this will begin within the next 15 days. An official notice from the health ministry is expected soon. On Monday, several government-run hospitals in the national capital went on an indefinite strike after a postgraduate trainee doctor was raped and murdered while on duty at the R G Kar Medical College in Kolkata, West Bengal. The Resident Doctors Association decided to shut elective services in hospitals in response to a call from FORDA. PM Modis annual Independence Day speeches from the Red Fort have become a platform for unveiling transformative policy initiatives and laying out ambitious plans for the country. Heres a look at some of the major policy announcements made by PM Modi during these annual addresses read more Prime Minister Narendra Modis annual Independence Day speeches from the Red Fort have become a platform for unveiling transformative policy initiatives and laying out ambitious plans for the country. Over the past decade, these speeches have showcased a blend of ambitious reforms aimed at transforming various sectors of the economy, enhancing social welfare, and strengthening national security. Heres a look at some of the major policy announcements made by PM Modi during these annual addresses. Advertisement Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Make in India (2014) In his first Independence Day speech after taking office, PM Modi announced the Swachh Bharat or Swachh Bharat Abhiyan on August 15, 2014. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Campaign Clean India) is a national level campaign by the Government of India covering 4041 statutory towns to clean the streets, roads and infrastructure of the country. This campaign was officially launched on 2 October 2014 at Rajghat in New Delhi, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself wielded broom and cleaned a road. The Indias biggest ever cleanliness drive, is aimed at eliminating open defecation, improve solid waste management, and promote sanitation across the country. The mission sought to foster a sense of cleanliness and hygiene among citizens while working towards achieving the goal of a Clean India by 2 October 2019, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. PM Modi also launched the Make in India initiative in his 2014 address, aiming to boost manufacturing and attract foreign investment in the country. The initiative focuses on enhancing Indias industrial capabilities, improving the ease of doing business, and promoting the country as a global manufacturing hub. It covers various sectors including defence, electronics, and automobiles. Start-up India, Stand up India (2015) On August 15, 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Start-up India, Stand up India to promote bank financing for start-ups and offer incentives to boost entrepreneurship and job creation. Addressing the nation on the 69th Independence Day, he said, We are looking at systems for enabling start-ups. We want to enable start-ups to make India No. 1 in this field. Start-up India; Stand up India. Launched in 2016, Start-Up India and Stand-Up India are transformative programs designed to address different facets of entrepreneurship and economic development in India. While Start-Up India focuses on creating a vibrant ecosystem for new and innovative businesses across the country, Stand-Up India aims to provide targeted support to underrepresented groups, ensuring inclusivity and broader participation in the entrepreneurial landscape. Both initiatives reflect the Indian governments commitment to fostering innovation, economic growth, and social empowerment. Advertisement Digital India Initiative (2016) During his Independence Day speech in 2016, PM Modi emphasised the importance of the Digital India campaign, which had been launched earlier that year. The initiative aimed to enhance digital infrastructure across the country, promote e-governance, and increase digital literacy. The goal was to integrate technology into everyday life and governance to foster efficiency and innovation. PM Modi also touched on the critical need for Jal Jeevan Mission, which was though formally announced later. During his speech, he called for improved water management and access to clean drinking water to all. He highlighted the governments commitment to addressing water scarcity issues and improving rural water supply infrastructure. Advertisement 75 years of Quit India Movement (2017) This year, the Prime Minister mentioned as the country marks 75 years of Quit India Movement and 100th anniversary of Champaran satyagraha, Indians must be determined to create a New India. India witnessed her collective strength from 1942 to 1947. Similarly, next five years, 2017 to 2022 are crucial for the countrys progress, PM Modi had said. Ayushman Bharat Scheme (2018) The Prime Minister announced the Ayushman Bharat scheme, also known as the National Health Protection Scheme, on 15 August 2018 and was formally launched on 23 September, 2018. This ambitious health insurance scheme aimed to provide coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary hospitalisation. The goal was to improve access to quality healthcare for economically vulnerable families. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Abhiyaan (Ayushman Bharat Scheme) will be launched on 25 September (Deendayal Upadhyayas birth anniversary) this year. It is high time we ensure that the poor of India get access to good quality and affordable healthcare, he had said. During his speech, PM Modi also highlighted the successful implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), a major tax reform intended to create a unified tax structure across India, reduce tax evasion, and simplify the tax regime. This move was seen as a significant step towards creating a more efficient and transparent tax system. Advertisement Jal Jeevan Mission (2019) The Jal Jeevan Mission was formally announced on August 15, 2019, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day speech. The mission targets to cover over 19 crore rural households, ensuring that every household has a functional tap water connection. The programme is designed to address water scarcity issues, improve rural water supply infrastructure, and enhance the quality of life for rural residents. The mission includes a focus on ensuring the quality of drinking water. It mandates regular water quality testing and the implementation of water purification technologies where necessary. Make for World, Vocal for Local (2020) Addressing the nation from Red Fort to mark the 74th Independence Day, PM Modi put forward the mantra of Make for World alongside his pet initiative of Make in India. He also promoted the concept of vocal for local. The mindset of free India should be vocal for local. We should appreciate our local products, if we dont do this then our products will not get the opportunity to do better and will not get encouraged, PM Modi had said. PM Modi reiterated the importance of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, which was launched on 12 May 2020, emphasising the need for India to become more self-reliant in the wake of the global pandemic. He highlighted the campaigns goals of boosting local manufacturing, reducing dependency on imports, and supporting various sectors of the economy. PM Modi also introduced the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM), a comprehensive initiative aimed at creating a digital health ecosystem in India. The mission aims to provide a unique health ID for every Indian, streamline health records, and improve the accessibility and efficiency of healthcare services. Advertisement Prime Minister Gati Shakti (2021) On 15 August 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Prime Minister Gati Shakti, also known as National Master Plan for Multi-modal Connectivity, to boost Indian Economic Growth. The megaproject worth $1.2 trillion is to provide competitive advantage for manufacturing in India. The plan was launched on 13 October 2021 to provide multimodal connectivity infrastructure to all economic zones of India and approved on 21 October 2021 by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs. PM Modi said that along with modern infrastructure, there is a need for adopting a holistic and integrated approach in infrastructure construction. We are going to launch National Master Plan of Prime Minister Gati Shakti which will be a huge scheme and fulfill the dreams of crores of countrymen. This scheme of more than 100 lakh crores rupees will result in new employment opportunities for lakhs of youth, he had said while announcing the project. During his Independence Day speech, PM Modi introduced the National Hydrogen Mission, aiming to make India a global leader in hydrogen energy. The mission focuses on promoting the use of hydrogen as a clean energy source and developing technologies for hydrogen production and utilization. Panch Pran, 5G mobile technology (2022) On the 76th year of Independence in 2022, PM Modi called for moving forward with 5 pledges to fulfil freedom fighters dreams by 2047, referring it as Panch Pran. We must work on Panch Praan (resolve): 1. Country will take on big aims like developed India. 2. We must not suffer even a scintilla of a colonised mind. 3. We must be proud of our heritage. 4. Unity and unified purpose. 5. The duties of citizens (including PMs, CMs) to work for the country, said PM Modi. He also announced that 5G mobile technology will be available in India soon. During his speech, PM Modi also emphasised the implementation of the New Education Policy (NEP), which aimed to overhaul the education system with a focus on holistic learning, vocational training, and digital literacy. The NEP sought to make education more relevant to contemporary needs and enhance the quality of learning. G20 Presidency and Digital Health Initiatives (2023) In his August 15, 2023, address, PM Modi highlighted Indias role as the G20 presidency for the year, emphasising the countrys commitment to leading global economic discussions and promoting international cooperation on key issues. He also introduced the Digital Health Initiative, which aimed to leverage technology to improve healthcare delivery, enhance health data management, and expand telemedicine services, making healthcare more accessible and efficient. He also announced the expansion of the Smart Cities Mission, and the launch of a National AI Portal. He also revealed plans to extend the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana for more LPG connections, and introduced new clean energy projects to boost renewable capacity. With inputs from agencies We are going through an exceptionally difficult period. If I were to say give a 5-year forecast, then it would be a grim forecast. And I think the answers are there, said Jaishankar at an event in Delhi read more External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said that the world is going through an exceptionally difficult period and if he was to give a five-year forecast of the changing scenarios in the world, then it would be a grim one. #WATCH | Delhi | On being asked how he sees the world today, EAM Dr S Jaishankar says, "...We are going through an exceptionally difficult period. If I were to say give a 5-year forecast, then it would be a grim forecast. And I think the answers are there, you see what is pic.twitter.com/JVgWwetsco ANI (@ANI) August 13, 2024 Advertisement Addressing an event titled Indiaspora Impact Report: Small Community, Big Contributions, Boundless Horizons in Delhi, Jaishankar said, " If you ask me about my view of the world, I am an optimistic person, generally, I tend to think about solutions to the problems, rather than the problems that come out of solutions. We are going through an exceptionally difficult period. There is a very grim forecast for the next 5 years. He said the answers are there and if you see what is happening in the Middle East, Ukraine, South East Asia-East Asia, the continued impact of Covid, many have not come out of it. The kind of economic challenges you see in the world, disruptions of various kinds, climate eventsa challenging scenario, added Jaishankar. When asked about the upcoming US elections and how India is ready to deal with the new administration, Jaishankar said India has confidence to work with any US president whoever he or she will be. #WATCH | On upcoming US elections and how India is ready to deal with the new administration, EAM Dr S Jaishankar says, "...The American system will throw up its verdict and we have every confidence that we will be able to work with the President of the United States whoever he pic.twitter.com/N84oJZR6Jv ANI (@ANI) August 13, 2024 Advertisement The American system will throw up its verdict and we have every confidence that we will be able to work with the President of the United States whoever he or she will be, said the external affairs minister. On the evolution of India-US relations and the Indian diaspora in the US, Jaishankar said H1B did as much as the end of Cold War to shape India-US relations. Advertisement #WATCH | Delhi | On being asked what the Indian diaspora in the US can do to help India in its journey to 100 years of independence, EAM Dr S Jaishankar says, "...I think where the diaspora can make a valuable contribution is the digital connect between India & US..." pic.twitter.com/xnSJEUxDng ANI (@ANI) August 13, 2024 He said Indian diaspora can help India in its journey to 100 years of independence by making a valuable contribution through digital connect between India and the US. With inputs from agencies Emphasising shared beneficial ties with Bangladesh can help India maintain goodwill and send a strategic message to Dhaka of being sensitive to New Delhis concerns, be it China, Islamist fundamentalism, or the protection of minorities read more A state could be at risk from four different kinds of threatsinternal, external, externally-aided internal, and internally-aided external, said Kautilya in his Arthashastra circa 300 BCE. Indias geopolitical landscape is shaped by the success of its foreign policy in particular towards its neighbouring countries, each of which presents unique opportunities and challenges. Any turmoil in the immediate neighbourhood is also fraught with spillover vulnerabilities to national security. In recent years, the twin forces of Islamist radicalisation and power play by China have significantly impacted these relationships, raising concerns about Indias periphery. Indias immediate neighbourhood, be it Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Maldives, or Myanmar, is facing a political, economic, and military crisis that has impacted regional stability and created space for proxy play by out-of-regional powers. The balanced neighbours are equally volatile and balancing Chinese footprints. Advertisement The aftermath of Sheikh Hasinas exit and political turbulence in Bangladesh presents a complex geopolitical landscape unfolding in South Asia. The countrys strategic location and importance in the region and its interplay with major powers, including China and the United States, make the canvas complex. This could significantly impact regional stability and security and Indias external and internal dimensions. Broader Implications for Viksit Bharat India today faces all four types of threats stated by Kautilya. There are apprehensions that such orchestrated political instability in the neighbourhood could be part of a larger strategy to limit India, politically, militarily, and economically, in its trajectory of Viksit Bharat, which could upset many an apple cart. The idea is that by fostering unrest in neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Maldives, and Myanmar, a coalition of Muslim-majority nations could emerge, united in opposition to India. This, in turn, could place immense pressure on Indian democracy and regional stability. Further, the potential inflow of large numbers of Bangladeshi, Rohingya, and Ahmadiyya Muslims across Indias borders, possibly as part of a border demographic shift strategy to influence the creation of fake voters, poses a grave challenge. This could lead to undesired foreign influence, undermining Indias sovereignty, secular identity and democratic integrity. The silver lining remains Indias Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which acts as a safeguard to an extent against such manipulation. Strategic Importance of Bangladesh For India, Bangladesh is strategically important in maintaining regional security and economic stability. Even for Bangladesh, a friendly India serves its interests best for the nation and the people. Culture, connectivity, and commerce define the relationship that was woven through the tapestry of the birth of the nation. The 4,096-kilometre shared border and proximity to the Bay of Bengal make Bangladesh strategically vital. Any shift in Dhakas foreign policy could have direct implications for Indias security, both on the land and oceanic front, particularly with Chinese hegemonic design becoming a reality. Advertisement Chinas incremental strategy to expand its footprints and influence in South Asia is a geopolitical challenge for India. Bangladesh considers China as a strategic partner. In 2002, China and Bangladesh signed a Defence Cooperation Agreement, which covers military training and defence production. This military partnership and infrastructure projects, coupled with its strategic interests in the Bay of Bengal, pose a potential challenge to Indias security concerns in the region. China is Bangladeshs highest trading partner, with over $25 billion invested in various flagship projects like the Padma Bridge Rail Link Project. Increasing Chinese presence in the region is de facto a denial of space to Indias regional and global aspirations. Advertisement Bangladesh has also witnessed a rise in radical Islamist activities with the emergence of groups like Jamaat-e-Islami, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), and Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT). The 2016 Dhaka cafe attack, which left 29 people dead, remains a stark reminder. According to the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS), there were over 100 radicalisation-related arrests in 2022, indicating an ongoing security challenge. Sheikh Haseena had resisted such terror and radical forces with an iron fist. However, with the recent revolt and her ouster, radical Islamist groups like Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) exploited the chaos, targeting minorities thereby attempting to establish their influence in the power vacuum. This rise of radical Islamist forces and its influence in India remains a destabilising factor. Advertisement Extra Regional Powerplay in Bangladesh The Awami League under Sheikh Hasina had sustained an independent foreign policy, often clashing with the interests of China, the US, Pakistan, and Islamist radicals. The volcanic eruption was thus orchestrated with the recent upheaval in Bangladesh, where rising unemployment and dissatisfaction with a reservation quota sparked widespread protests. These protests have been possibly orchestrated by various external forces eager to see the Hasina government ousted. The United States strategic concern in Chinas growing footprints sought Bangladesh as a potential military ally in the region. They helped Bangladesh in countering Islamist extremism and overseeing assistance in the Rohingya crisis. The interest in establishing a military base at Saint Martins Island as a broader strategy to counter Chinas growing presence in the Indo-Pacific region seems plausible, though officially denied by US representatives. This was denied by Bangladesh in quest of its independent foreign policy, which led to strained relations. The US thus criticised Sheikh Hasina for her autocratic tendencies and imposed visa sanctions. Advertisement China, with a strategic vision, has deepened its ties with Bangladesh through significant investments in infrastructure and defence, including in critical projects like the Padma Bridge Rail Link and the construction of military facilities. China is Bangladeshs largest trading partner, and its substantial contribution to Bangladeshs military arsenal makes the linkage strong. Recently, Bangladesh preferred India over China to execute the $1 billion Teesta River Comprehensive Management and Restoration project. This had strategic implications and created a strained relationship with Beijing, wherein Hasinas recent visit to China got a cold shoulder. Chinas footprints aim at restricting India-Bangladesh relations and the strategic linkage of India to Southeast Asia. These manoeuvres include efforts to divert Indian military focus from the Chinese border by inciting unrest in regions like Jammu and Northeast India, posing a threat to Indian lives in Bangladesh, and testing Indian diplomacy and foreign policy. Implications of Regime Change The ouster of Sheikh Hasina is a watershed moment, with potential repercussions that extend beyond the countrys borders. The political, economic, and military trajectory of the new regimes foreign and domestic policies could redefine Bangladeshs trajectory and international relations. The path ahead is fraught with uncertainty, and the decisions made in the coming months will be crucial in determining the future of the nation. It also poses the possible challenge of a more radical and Islamist nation, thereby conflicting with Indias interests. The role of the military in Hasinas ouster cannot be overlooked. After all, the military gave a 45-minute notice for Hasina to leave, not the protestors. Events suggest that the military might play a more prominent role in the countrys political affairs and raise concerns about the future of democratic governance in Bangladesh. Historically, military involvement in politics in Bangladesh has often led to a reduction in civilian oversight and democratic freedom. Internal political instability could also lead to economic fragility and an increase in radicalisation of society. The possibility of increased powerplay and proxies by extra-regional forces also looms large. The United States and China will both try and establish their footprints and view each other as a threat to their strategic interests in the region. Bangladesh must not succumb to becoming another pawn. India will likely be impacted by this regional instability, particularly its impact on border security and internal security. The interim government, led by figures like Nobel laureate Mohammed Yunus, could provide a temporary solution, but it also introduces uncertainty about the future of elections and governance in Bangladesh. There could be a shift in foreign investment strategies, with the new government possibly favouring partnerships with countries that align more closely with its political ideology. Additionally, there might be an increased emphasis on social welfare programs, environmental sustainability, and economic diversification, marking a departure from the more market-driven approach of Hasinas government. Indias Approach to the New Regime Indias approach to Bangladesh must be nuanced in a strategic long-term outlook. India must accept the reality of the change and engage in high-level diplomatic dialogues with the interim government in Bangladesh to reaffirm its commitment to the people of Bangladesh and the early restoration of democracy and peace in the region. Emphasising shared beneficial ties can help maintain goodwill and send a strategic message of being sensitive to Indias concerns, be it China, Islamist fundamentalism, or the protection of minorities. Simultaneously, India must ensure the safety of its citizens and Hindus in Bangladesh, besides extra vigil on the borders, including China. While China offers Bangladesh significant financial and military incentives, India must leverage its cultural and historical ties and economic and geographical proximity to maintain a stable positive relationship. This could involve expanding economic cooperation, offering competitive military assistance, and enhancing connectivity projects under the frameworks of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC). Indias engagement with Bangladesh must also take into account the broader regional dynamics, including the shifting geopolitics of Myanmar and Thailand, both of which play significant roles in the Bay of Bengals architecture. Indias ability to have a sound neighbourhood foreign policy will be crucial in securing its long-term strategic interests in South Asia. Conclusion Indias relations with its neighbours are increasingly influenced by the twin challenges of Islamist radicalisation and extra-regional proxy play. These dynamics have profound implications for Indias national security, requiring a multifaceted and proactive approach to safeguard its interests in the region. Our strategic intelligence apparatus must also be vitalised to be preemptive and proactive. India must adopt a comprehensive and proactive approach to navigate the emerging dynamics of Bangladesh. By combining diplomatic engagement, economic initiatives, security measures, cultural diplomacy, and leveraging shared growth, India can strengthen its influence, secure its interests, and foster stability and prosperity in the region. The author is former Director General Mechanised Forces. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. As PM Modi prepares to meet Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in Kyiv next week, the fractious world order will be on both leaders minds read more PM Narendra Modi and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had interacted briefly at the G7 summit in Italy in June and have spoken on the phone subsequently. Image: Twitter / @PMOIndia With Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to visit Ukraine on August 23, Indias relationship with Russia will again come under the scanner. Cynics in India call Modis Kyiv visit a belated attempt to neutralise Western criticism of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Following the Ukrainian armys lightning incursion into Russias Kursk region the first invasion of Russian territory since World War II Modis meeting with Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy assumes greater urgency. The two interacted briefly at the G7 summit in Italy in June and have spoken on the phone subsequently. Advertisement But for India, Modis Ukraine visit serves as a punctuation mark in tackling a complex, evolving global world order. The rise of China and the Russian invasion of Ukraine have upended that world order. The army coup in Bangladesh has compromised regional stability. In 2020, the US-led West was in complete command of global affairs. President Donald Trumps trade war against Beijing had hit China hard. Russia remained on the sidelines: Moscow still saw itself as a European power. Four years later, Russia sees its future in Eurasia. In a gesture that went beyond symbolism, Moscow changed the name of its iconic Europe Square to Eurasia Square on July 24, 2024. Europe Square was built 20 years ago as a symbol of Russias unity with Europe. Dozens of European flags flew there. Few do now. US and European sanctions have driven Russia straight into Chinas arms. President Joe Biden had wanted to terminally weaken Russia, completing a project President Bill Clinton began in the 1990s by enlarging NATO to encircle Russia. From facing one big hostile nuclear power, Russia, the US now faces two big hostile nuclear powers, Russia and China. The Russia-China axis has converted a unipolar world led by the US into a bipolar world. Where does India fit into this new global architecture? Modi has made strategic autonomy the cornerstone of Indias foreign policy. It has leant towards the US-led West with membership of the Quad, the India-US iCET on critical and emerging technologies, the UAE-France-India trilateral and the I2U2 alliance with the US, UAE and Israel. Advertisement At the same time, India remains a key member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) where China and Russia are founding members. In BRICS too, Russia and China are pushing to add new members in an effort to counter the US-led Western bloc. India has a finger in all these pies, including the G20, but does it have a voice? At the moment, its a muted one but that could change and according to an article in Asia Times, it is already changing: India is the only country in the world with enough people and adequate governance to absorb Chinas savings. China, moreover, better than any other country does the sort of things India needs to be done namely, digital and physical infrastructure. At some point, China may decide to upgrade its relationship with India. And that would turn all strategic calculations inside-out. Advertisement The right balance The recent move by New Delhi to allow selected Chinese investments into India largely blocked since the LAC clash in mid-2020 points to a mild thaw in India-China relations. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi twice last month in Vientiane, Laos on the sidelines of an ASEAN meeting and earlier in Astana, Kazakhstan at an SCO summit. On both occasions, the two ministers issued conciliatory statements on the border issue, Chinese investments in India and cooperation on global trade. The Chinese foreign ministry statement said: We must maintain a positive mindset, properly handle and control the situation in the border areas on the one hand, and actively resume normal exchanges on the other hand. Advertisement New Delhi responded with its own statement: (Jaishankar) reaffirmed the importance of fully abiding by relevant bilateral agreements, protocols, and understandings reached between the two governments in the past. Wang Yi later said pointedly that it was in the interests of both sides to get China-India relations back on track. China is trying to insert itself as a peacemaker in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. At the same time, its stalling economy and break with the US-led West has caused it to look at India in a different light as Indias economy grows towards $10 trillion in the next decade. A new alignment? The US-based The Diplomat, which focuses on Asia-Pacific geopolitics, wrote on August 2, 2024: China is finding it increasingly difficult to operate in Western markets. The China-US trade war, coupled with growing protectionist policies in Europe, has limited Chinas access to its traditional export markets. Additionally, Chinas own economic transition towards higher-value manufacturing and the rise in labour costs have made cheap manufacturing increasingly unviable. China seeks new markets and investment opportunities, and India can be an attractive partner. Advertisement Thus the economic alignment between India and China suggests a pragmatic basis for engagement. The statements by both the ministers reveal an understanding of these mutual interests. Both sides have held multiple rounds of talks to de-escalate tensions and establish protocols to prevent future conflicts. Indias approach to China can be seen as an indicator of a broader strategy to assert its influence in global affairs. Modis visit to Ukraine is thus more than a balancing act to appease the West after his Moscow meeting with Putin. India is positioning itself as an honest broker between two principal axes: the US-led West and China-Russia. Beijing is a predatory but pragmatic power. It knows that a perennially hostile India is not in its long-term interest as it combats an ageing, shrinking population and a slowing economy hit by Western technology sanctions. But Chinas potential to foment trouble in the region following the Bangladesh coup cannot be underestimated. As Modi prepares to meet Zelenskyy in Kyiv next week, the fractious world order will be on both leaders minds. The writer is an editor, author and publisher. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. The mainstream media in the West have a subtle bias while reporting human rights violations in the Global South. When it comes to the question of human rights conditions in the Western countries, such media play a different tune read more The anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim riots in the UK have severe and serious repercussions for the countrys minority communities in terms of their life, liberty and property the norms often championed by the Western liberal democracies and applied only selectively to protect the interests of the White majority. That life, liberty and property are only rhetoric to be used against countries unfriendly to the liberal West is vividly demonstrated by the US and its allies, particularly the United Kingdom, in their approach towards the Ukrainians and the Palestinians! Advertisement The mainstream media in the United Kingdom and other Western countries have also a subtle bias while reporting human rights violations in the Global South. When it comes to the question of human rights conditions in the Western countries, such media play a different tune. While defending the actions or inactions of their respective governments at the time of anti-minorities riots, very little is published on the sufferings of the victims of arson, murder, rape or other types of criminal activities. If some thing of similar kinds happens in the Global South, vivid details are printed, and government inabilities or complicity are emphasised. Content analysis of media reports can easily and clearly bring out this bias. The United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and other Western countries monitor human rights in other parts of the world, some of them bring out annual reports and criticise violations of human rights in the global South, as per their norms and interests. The media in the Global South, however, rarely report human rights violations in Western countries. The governments of the Global South do defend against Western criticisms of human rights violations in their countries. For example, the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India promptly rejected the US State Departments 2024 Human Rights report on India as biased and as not based on proper understanding of the country in April last. The Chinese Government also consistently comes heavily against the US State Departments Human Rights reports in recent years. Advertisement In fact, the Chinese Government has begun to issue its own reports on violation of Human Rights in the United States. The latest report issued by the Chinese State Council Information Office has pointed out that the human rights violation in the United States continues to deteriorate and civil and political rights are not effectively guaranteed because of political party strife, government dysfunction and governance failures. Mass shootings continue to occur at a high rate along with police abuse and violence in law enforcement, and the credibility of the government continues to decline. Of course, the US government cares little about what the Communist Government of China says about human rights conditions in the United States. Advertisement But then, the American Civil Liberties Union and the UN Human Rights Commission have also damning reports on the human rights conditions under the Trump and the Biden Administrations. They have painted violations of various human rights issues including Indigenous rights, voting rights, freedom of expression and assembly, gender equality and reproductive rights, criminal legal reform, immigrants rights, and more. But the US Administrations do not care. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom too publishes annual reports on Democracy and Human Rights. But the current riots in multiple cities across the United Kingdom and Northen Islands clearly demonstrate how the human rights of minority communities are protected. Advertisement According to reports, the US, UK, and Canada have announced more sanctions against Belarusian individuals due to human rights abuses in Belarus and its support for Russia in the war against Ukraine! Another report suggests how the US government will continue to give aid to certain Israeli battalions accused of severe abuse of human rights in Gaza! In stark contrast to this, one may notice the 2024 Human rights Watch report that says that the UK government in 2023 again failed to take meaningful steps to tackle institutional racism and address past wrongs, including to fairly compensate Black Britons whose rights were harmed by government policies in what was coined the Windrush scandal and to remedy ongoing colonial crimes against the Chagossian people. The Amnesty International Report, 2023-24, moreover, says: The UK government continued to pursue a policy agenda that breached its international human rights commitments and curtailed human rights protections. People seeking asylum and other migrants were particularly targeted, along with protesters. New government legislation further eroded the freedom of assembly and expression. Police faced findings of institutional racism and other forms of discrimination. But the UK government could not care less! Advertisement Similar situation with Canada a country that preaches to the rest of the world the human rights norms. The 2024 Human Rights Watch report points out wide-ranging abuses against Indigenous peoples and immigration detainees, including people with disabilities and brings out Canadas failures to mitigate the impacts of climate change and provide adequate government support leading to violations in Indigenous communities across the country while compounding risks for people with disabilities, children, and older people. It says that the Trudeau government has failed to address serious human rights concerns beyond Canadas borders, including impunity for abuses by Canadian extractive and apparel companies overseas. All these reports regarding the human rights conditions in the UK, US, Canada are by international bodies, with one exception of the report by China. Yet, the Global South makes no noise on these reports. It is not that these Western governments will pay any attention to the complaints by the Global South. Yet taking up these issues more vocally can expose the double standard practiced by the Western governments on human rights. It is time for the Western liberal governments to at least shed their double standards in creating, propagating and implementing human rights. The writer is Founder-Chairperson, Kalinga Institute of Indo-Pacific Studies, and formerly Professor at JNU. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. Teslas reliance on government support and subsidies remains evident. The company continues to lobby for stricter emissions regulations, which not only support environmental goals but also increase the value of the regulatory credits Tesla sells to other automakers read more Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of Tesla, recently made headlines by endorsing Donald Trump for president. This endorsement raised eyebrows because it aligns Musk with a candidate who is openly critical of electric vehicles (EVs) and the subsidies that have been instrumental in Teslas growth. Trump has promised to end the electric vehicle mandate and reduce subsidies, which are policies that have significantly benefited Tesla. Despite Musks support for Trump and his increasingly Republican rhetoric, Tesla continues to lobby for government benefits traditionally championed by the Democratic Party. Advertisement Teslas Relationship with government subsidies Musks stance on subsidies is complex. Publicly, he has often criticized government intervention, yet Tesla has thrived largely due to government support. For example, Teslas first major manufacturing facility in Fremont, California, was established with the help of a $465 million loan from the US Department of Energy. The company has also profited from nearly $9 billion in regulatory credits since 2018. These credits, awarded by federal and state governments to manufacturers who exceed emissions standards, can be sold to other automakers, providing Tesla with a significant revenue stream. Despite Musks growing alignment with Trump, Tesla continues to advocate for policies that contradict the former presidents stance. In a February filing with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Tesla urged the Biden administration to allow California to enforce stricter vehicle emissions rules than the rest of the country. This request is in direct opposition to Trumps position. Furthermore, Tesla has lobbied for regulations that would ban the production of most new gasoline-powered cars by 2035, a measure Trump and other Republicans have criticized. Teslas continued dependence on government support Teslas reliance on government support and subsidies remains evident. The company continues to lobby for stricter emissions regulations, which not only support environmental goals but also increase the value of the regulatory credits Tesla sells to other automakers. In the last quarter alone, these credits generated $890 million for Tesla, contributing to a net income of $1.5 billion. Musks political moves have sparked concern among some Tesla shareholders. Ross Gerber, an investor with a significant stake in Tesla, argued that Musks support for Trump is contrary to the interests of Tesla and its mission to promote clean energy. Advertisement However, former Tesla employees involved in public policy efforts describe Musks approach as a balance between ideology and pragmatism. They argue that while Musk may oppose subsidies in principle, it would be unwise for Tesla to reject available financial support. Whats behind Musks politics? Musks approach to subsidies and government support can be seen as pragmatic. According to insiders, while Musk ideologically opposes government intervention, he recognizes the practicality of accepting public money when its available. This pragmatism extends to his support for Trump, which may seem contradictory given Trumps opposition to policies that benefit Tesla. However, Musks ambitions extend beyond Tesla, encompassing sectors like artificial intelligence, space exploration, and neuroscience. As a result, Musk may be willing to sacrifice some of Teslas short-term interests to align with broader, long-term goals. Advertisement The relationship between Musk and Trump has grown closer, with Musk scheduled to interview Trump on his social media platform, X. Musks endorsement of Trump has solidified in recent months, even as he continues to advocate for policies that contradict Trumps views on EVs. For instance, Teslas July 2023 filing with the EPA called for an end to the manufacture of gasoline cars, arguing that such a measure is essential to addressing the climate crisis. Yet, Musk has downplayed the immediate risks of climate change, reflecting a nuanced and sometimes contradictory stance. xAIs lack of transparency regarding how the data would be handled has been flagged as another violation of GDPR. Users were given an opt-out option in their data-sharing settings, but rights group NYOB argues that this dissuades users from exercising their right to choose read more One of the primary issues raised by NOYB is that X failed to demonstrate a legitimate interest in collecting such a vast amount of personal data. Image Credit: Reuters, Reuters Elon Musks artificial intelligence service GrokAI, is facing legal challenges in Europe over alleged breaches of the EUs data privacy regulations. The European Centre for Digital Rights, known as NOYB (None of Your Business), has filed nine complaints across various EU countries, accusing Musks social media platform X (formerly Twitter) of unlawfully collecting data from over 60 million users to train its AI model, Grok. The controversy began in July when users of X noticed a change in their data settings, allowing their public posts to be used for AI training. Advertisement NOYB claims that X implemented this change without properly informing users or obtaining their consent, a violation of the EUs General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). The complaints have been filed in France, Greece, Ireland, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium and Poland. One of the primary issues raised by NOYB is that X failed to demonstrate a legitimate interest in collecting such a vast amount of personal data. Furthermore, the platforms lack of transparency regarding how the data would be handled has been flagged as another violation of GDPR. Users were given an opt-out option in their data-sharing settings, but NOYB argues that this dissuades users from exercising their right to choose, as GDPR typically requires an opt-in for such data usage. NOYBs complaints highlight concerns that the treatment of personal data under these new settings might be irreversible, and Xs practices may not comply with the right to be forgotten rule, which allows users to request the deletion of their data. In response to similar concerns raised by the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), X announced that it would cease using European users data to train Grok AI but criticized the DPCs order as unwarranted and overboard. Despite this concession, NOYB is urging regulatory bodies, like Frances National Data Protection Commission (CNIL), to take decisive action against Xs practices. The outcome of these legal challenges could have significant implications for how AI companies operate in the EU, particularly concerning data privacy and user consent. NOYBs chairman, Max Schrems, emphasized the importance of companies seeking explicit user consent before using personal data for AI training, arguing that it is both feasible and necessary to protect user privacy. Advertisement As the legal proceedings unfold, the focus will remain on how X and xAI manage user data and whether their practices align with European data protection standards. This milestone for Ather Energy comes as the company solidifies its position in the rapidly growing electric vehicle (EV) market in India. NIIF, which first invested in Ather in May 2022, has once again shown confidence in the company by leading this funding round read more Ather Energy, the electric scooter manufacturer, has officially entered Indias unicorn club after securing a $71 million (approximately 600 crore) investment from the Government of Indias National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF). This latest funding round has propelled Athers valuation to $1.3 billion, making it the countrys fourth unicorn of 2024 and the second in the mobility sector after Rapido. This milestone for Ather Energy comes as the company solidifies its position in the rapidly growing electric vehicle (EV) market in India. NIIF, which first invested in Ather in May 2022, has once again shown confidence in the company by leading this funding round. Advertisement Athers valuation has seen a significant jump from around $740-750 million in 2022 to its current $1.3 billion, reflecting the markets growing interest in sustainable transportation solutions. Hero MotoCorp, which owns a 40 per cent stake in Ather, played a key role in the companys growth trajectory, with its latest investment in June 2024 implying a valuation of $671 million for Ather. This recent infusion of capital is expected to accelerate Athers expansion plans and strengthen its foothold in the competitive EV market. The funding round coincides with heightened activity in Indias EV sector. Athers rival, Ola Electric, recently went public and saw its stock hit the upper circuit in two consecutive trading sessions post-listing, pushing its market capitalization to 48,258.89 crore (around $5.7 billion). This valuation surpasses Ola Electrics last private valuation of $5.4 billion, signalling strong investor confidence in the EV industrys growth potential. Despite the intense competition, Ather has managed to maintain a notable presence in the market. In May, the company raised an additional $34 million through a mix of debt and equity funding from its founders, Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain, along with Stride Ventures, though this round was at a lower valuation. Mehta and Jain, who each hold about 7 per cent of the company, continue to play pivotal roles in Athers strategic direction. Athers market share in the electric scooter segment currently stands at 9 per cent, trailing behind major players like Ola Electric, Bajaj Auto, and TVS, which hold 39 per cent, 16 per cent, and 18 per cent of the market, respectively. The companys recent launch of the Rizta, a family-oriented scooter, marks its entry into a segment dominated by Ola Electric. Advertisement With production of the Rizta set to take place at Athers third manufacturing plant in Aurangabad, the company aims to capture a larger share of the family scooter market, particularly in western and northern India. However, Ather faces challenges as it navigates its path to profitability. The company reported a loss of 1,059 crore in fiscal 2024, a 22 per cent increase from the previous year, while its revenue remained flat at around 1,789 crore. Despite these financial hurdles, Athers conversion to a public limited company in June 2024 suggests that it is gearing up for an initial public offering (IPO) in the near future. Advertisement The recent investment from NIIF not only boosts Athers financial standing but also positions the company to better compete in the burgeoning EV market. With the backing of both government and private investors, Ather Energy is well-positioned to continue its growth and innovation in the electric scooter space, contributing to the broader shift towards sustainable mobility in India. Waymo driverless robotaxis are now ferrying the companys employees on San Francisco freeways. This the first time the cars, like this one seen on the Embarcadero, have carried passengers on freeways without humans behind the wheel. Camille Cohen/Special to the Chronicle Waymo robotaxis are now taking passengers on San Francisco freeways for fully driverless rides, starting with the companys employees. The Alphabet-owned companys latest service expansion in the Bay Area will be available only to its employees but marks the first time that its robotaxis will drive on freeways in the city for passenger service without a human backup driver behind the wheel. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Last year Waymo began testing driverless ride-hailing on freeways in Phoenix, where it operates a service area of more than 225 square miles, with employees as passengers. The company said in a statement that it decided to launch a similar expansion onto San Francisco freeways after successful testing of our autonomous vehicles on Phoenix freeways. Freeways will present new challenges and higher stakes for the robotaxis. Waymos driverless cars will have to navigate faster traffic and make maneuvers such as merging onto freeways. In some ways, freeways are more predictable to navigate than San Franciscos local roads shared with cyclists, pedestrians and public transit. However, higher traffic speeds increase the risk of severity if the vehicles are involved in a crash or disruption. Ride-hailing on freeways will make Waymos robotaxi service more appealing to users, particularly for those wanting to take longer trips from the city to the Peninsula, by speeding up trips. The company shared a comparison on social media of a trip from Lake Merced to Oracle Park in Mission Bay. That trip takes about 40 minutes to complete if Waymos robotaxis take only local roads compared with 20 minutes if the vehicles instead opt to take Interstate 280. Advertisement Article continues below this ad State regulators already allow Waymo to operate on freeways for passenger service, though the company waited a year to make use of that permission. The idea that Waymo robotaxis are now taking some riders on freeways is likely to rankle local officials whove criticized the states regulatory process for giving them little say over how autonomous vehicle companies operate and expand in their jurisdictions. Driverless ride-hailing on freeways is a necessary component for Waymos goal to serve San Francisco International Airport, a venture that requires separate permission from the city. Its unclear when Waymos robotaxis will expand access to freeways beyond its employees, though it could be a while, given that freeway service in Phoenix also remains limited to employees. Former US president Trump took to his Truth Social platform, claiming that the crowd Kamala Harris images from her August 7 rally was not real and had been AI-generated. These claims were quickly debunked by multiple sources read more Former US president Donald Trump has often made unfounded claims about election integrity and the legitimacy of his political opponents, echoing his baseless assertions about the 2020 election being stolen. Image Credit: Reuters, Reuters Former President Donald Trump recently sparked controversy by amplifying false claims that Kamala Harris used artificial intelligence (AI) to fabricate a photo of her supporters at a Michigan rally. Trump took to his Truth Social platform, alleging that the crowd in the image, shared by the Harris campaign, was not real and had been digitally created. These claims were quickly debunked by multiple sources. Live footage and photos from several media outlets, including AFP, showed a large crowd of supporters at the event, which took place in an airfield hangar in Michigan. Advertisement The photo in question was posted by a Harris campaign official and later confirmed as authentic by experts. The campaign even shared the original version of the image, which appeared slightly dimmer than the high-exposure version highlighted by Trump. They assured that the image had not been altered by AI. To further validate the authenticity of the image, Drexel Universitys digital forensic expert, Matthew Stamm, analysed it using specialised software and found no evidence that AI had been used. Hany Farid, a digital forensic expert from the University of California-Berkeley, also examined the photo with models designed to detect AI manipulation and found no traces of such technology. The false claim had been circulating in right-wing and conspiracy-driven social media circles before Trump picked it up. One of the points made by those spreading the rumour was the lack of a reflection of the crowd on the side of the plane in the photo. Experts clarified that the reflection would not necessarily be visible due to the distance between the aircraft and the crowd and the angle at which the photo was taken. Despite these explanations and evidence, Trump continued to push the narrative that Harris had cheated by fabricating the image. He even went so far as to suggest that Harriss candidacy should be questioned because of these alleged actions. Advertisement This incident is part of a broader pattern where the former US president has made unfounded claims about election integrity and the legitimacy of his political opponents, echoing his baseless assertions about the 2020 election being stolen. The Harris campaign, along with digital forensic experts, has thoroughly debunked these accusations, emphasising the images authenticity and the real presence of supporters at the Michigan rally. Googles decision to manufacture Pixel devices in India comes in response to the relatively low market share the brand currently holds in the country. The Pixel brands market share in India was just 0.25% in 2023, with a slightly higher 1% share in the premium segment read more By establishing a manufacturing base in India, Google is not only looking to cater to local demand but also aiming to make India a key player in its global supply chain for Pixel devices. Image Credit: Google Google has announced its plans to make India a significant hub for the production of its Pixel smartphones, starting with the Pixel 8 model. The company is taking a bold step in local manufacturing, marking a significant shift in its strategy for the Indian market. This move is expected to boost Pixel sales in the country by at least three times, according to industry experts. Google announced the rollout of the Made-in-India Pixel 8 smartphones through a post on X, expressing gratitude to Indias Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Ashwini Vaishnaw, for the partnership. Advertisement The decision to produce Pixel phones in India is part of Googles broader strategy to increase its presence and market share in the country. This announcement comes just before the launch of the Pixel 9 series in India, signalling Googles intent to strengthen its foothold in the Indian market. Excited to announce that the first of our Made in India Google #Pixel8 devices have started rolling off the production lines Grateful for the partnership with Hon'ble Minister @AshwiniVaishnaw as we look forward to bringing the #TeamPixel experience to people across India pic.twitter.com/6nKvvcyFkj Google India (@GoogleIndia) August 12, 2024 Production of the Pixel 8 models will be handled by two major manufacturing firms in India: Foxconn and Dixon Technologies. These firms are set to produce the devices not only for the Indian market but also for export to Europe and eventually the United States. This move aligns with the Indian governments Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, which aims to boost local manufacturing and exports. Googles decision to manufacture Pixel devices in India comes in response to the relatively low market share the brand currently holds in the country. According to Counterpoint Research, the Pixel brands market share in India was just 0.25 per cent in 2023, with a slightly higher 1 per cent share in the premium segment. Advertisement However, with the new focus on local manufacturing and updates, Pixel sales in India are likely to triple within the next year, according to Counterpoint Research. The market share in Q2 2023 had already increased slightly to 0.4 per cent, but the real growth is anticipated in the second half of the year. Googles strengths in generative AI (GenAI) and camera technology, combined with expanded sales channels and local manufacturing, could lead to more competitive pricing for new products. This, in turn, is expected to drive significant growth in the Indian market. Additionally, he pointed out that Google has the potential to capture a share of the Enterprise segment, which could further boost its market presence. Advertisement Despite the brands minimal market share of 0.1 per cent in the Indian smartphone market, the decision to produce Pixel devices in India marks a strategic shift that could help Google realize its potential in the region over time. The timing of the announcement, just a day before the Pixel 9 series launch in India, underscores Googles commitment to the Indian market. By establishing a manufacturing base in India, Google is not only looking to cater to local demand but also aiming to make India a key player in its global supply chain for Pixel devices. Googles decision to make India a major hub for Pixel smartphone production is a significant move that could reshape its market dynamics in the country. With the potential for a threefold increase in sales, this strategy could help Google gain a stronger foothold in the competitive Indian smartphone market. Realme makes some tall claims about the Realme 13 Pro+, its latest camera-centric smartphone, and compares it to some of the best DSLRs and mirrorless cameras on the market. But are these claims plain marketing malarkey, or is there some truth to it? read more Pros: - Stunning display - Great camera setup with huge potential - Solid battery life with an awesome charging setup - Premium looks with tank-like build quality - Tons of AI features in a practical budget Cons: - Ads and bloatware, even during setting the device up - Ultrawide camera needs improvement - Camera shutter can be a bit slow at times Price: Rs 36,999 for the 512GB+16GB unit. Starts at Rs 32,999 Rating: 4.5/5 Realmes number series like the 12 Pro and the 12 Pro+ have boasted some of the best camera setups among budget smartphones, especially in the sub-Rs 40,000 segment. With their latest release, the Realme 13 Pro+, the smartphone maker claims they have taken things up a notch with what they are calling the Hyperimage+ features. Advertisement Basically, Realme claims that they have made a monumental shift in the budget segment when it comes to smartphone photography, thanks to a plethora of AI features that they have baked into the new 13 Pro and 13 Pro Plus. But thats not all. There are a bunch of other changes as well. We get a new back design, one that comes with a sandblast finish, which is very artistically done. We also get some significant spec bumps and of course a new camera array. Image Credit: Firstpost | Mehul Reuben Das Realme is positioning its latest device, the Realme 13 Pro series, especially the 13 Pro+ as the go-to camera smartphone in the under Rs 35-40,000 segment. Although that in itself is not an issue, they have been making some tall claims about the capabilities of the Realme 13 Pro+ cameras in their marketing material. So is it all marketing malarkey, or is there some truth to it? More importantly though, does the AI features and the AI-assisted photography that the smartphone offers, enough to nudge customers towards the Realme 13 Pro+? We find out. Realme 13 Pro+ Review: Design The Realme 13 Pro+ sticks closely to the design of its predecessor, with a few key updates. One standout change is the introduction of a glass-back option, available in the Monet Gold or Emerald Green colour. This variant features a unique pattern on the back that resembles sand waves, giving it a fresh and appealing look. The edges of the back panel are curved, making the phone comfortable to hold, though the frame remains plastic. Advertisement Realme has retained the large, circular camera module with a fluted bezel, but now it includes a new HyperImage+ logo at the bottom. The previous leather variant had a vertical strip running down the centre of the back, which is now absent, resulting in a cleaner, more minimalist design with the camera module being the main focal point. The phones plastic frame has a gold accent, providing a contrasting look. However, the curved edges dont blend seamlessly with the frame, which might make the phone feel a bit awkward in hand. Additionally, the glossy finish on the frame could make it slightly slippery, but this can be easily remedied by using a quality case, such as the one provided with the device. Advertisement Image Credit: Firstpost | Mehul Reuben Das A major improvement is the addition of Corning Gorilla Glass 7i protection and an IP65 rating, making the Realme 13 Pro+ more durable than before. Regarding connectivity, the Realme 13 Pro+ includes a USB Type-C port at the bottom for charging and data transfer. Its equipped with Hi-Res stereo speakers for a solid audio experience, with speaker grilles and mics at both the top and bottom edges. The IP65 rating ensures the phone is protected against dust and water. For security, the phone features an in-display fingerprint scanner, which unlocks the device quickly. Realme 13 Pro+ Review: Display The display on the Realme 13 Pro+ will feel familiar to those whove used Realmes previous models. It features a 6.7-inch AMOLED curved panel with full-HD+ resolution and a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. Users can toggle between 60Hz and 120Hz, or let the phone decide based on current usage. The screen is surrounded by slim bezels and has a hole-punch cutout at the top center. While the display doesnt support HDR, it is a 10-bit panel. Advertisement Compared to the Realme 12 Pro+, the Realme 13 Pro+ boasts a brighter display, with a peak brightness of 2,000 nits. Image Credit: Firstpost | Mehul Reuben Das Overall, the Realme 13 Pro+ has a good display. This isnt surprising, given Realmes track record of delivering quality displays in its number series over the past few generations. The displays are bright, responsive, and accurate, even though they dont feature advanced tech like LTPO or anti-reflective coatings. They get the basics right, and thats what matters. The curved edges also give the phone a sleek appearance. The display is protected by Cornings Gorilla Glass 7i. The curved design adds to the phones slim feel. Advertisement The screen delivers sharp visuals, accurate colours, and a high contrast ratio, along with impressive viewing angles. Its also Widevine L1 certified, allowing for full HD streaming on platforms like Netflix. For eye protection, the display includes SGS AI Eye-Protection technology, which uses AI to adjust the colour temperature based on how you interact with the screen, making it warmer for added comfort. Even in bright sunlight, the display remains clear, with minimal fading during testing, putting it ahead of competitors in this price range. Image Credit: Firstpost | Mehul Reuben Das Overall, the display quality is excellent, especially considering the phones price. Realme continues to excel in this area, particularly in the mid-range and budget segments. Realme 13 Pro+ Review: Camera Realme markets the 13 Pro+ as a smartphone that can put most DSLRs and mirrorless cameras to shame. As good and capable as the cameras on the 13 Pro+ are, the claim that it is a replacement for some pretty iconic mirrorless cameras and DSLRs, even the entry-level ones, is a tall claim. Even in their marketing materials, like the Realme 13 Pro+ vs 100 DSLRs Realme is pitting the the 13 Pro+ against completely raw files taken from some mirrorless cameras. In their video, one of the cameras they are comparing it to came out in 2019. Clearly, Realmes marketing team ought to reel it in a little. Having said that, the Realme 13 Pro+s camera system is very capable, and certainly one of the best fitted to a smartphone in this budget. The Realme 13 Pro+ is the first smartphone in the world to feature a 50MP Sony LYT-701 primary sensor as part of its triple rear camera setup. Image Credit: Firstpost | Mehul Reuben Das The setup also includes a 50MP Sony LYT-600 periscope lens and an 8MP ultrawide lens. Both the primary and periscope sensors are equipped with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) for more stable shots. For selfies and video calls, theres a 32MP front camera housed in the punch-hole cutout. The cameras on the Realme 13 Pro+ deliver impressive results, capturing sharp details, good dynamic range, and vibrant colours. Realme credits its HyperImage+ technology for enhancing photo quality, which works with high-resolution sensors and AI to improve clarity and colour accuracy. However, the AI-powered HyperRAW algorithm, while effective, is slightly slow, taking about 3-4 seconds to process an image. The Realme 13 Pro+ does take a bit longer to process images, which might be frustrating for those who like to capture moments quickly. The slow image processing is particularly noticeable in portrait shots. The 50MP periscope lens on the Realme 13 Pro+ is designed to deliver Pure bokeh, natural skin tones, and clear portraits. It supports 3x optical zoom and does a good job of separating subjects from the background. The AI Group Photo Enhance feature also optimizes facial clarity in group shots. The 32MP front camera produces decent results, though not always the most flattering. Sometimes, the camera can oversaturate colours, especially in scenes with a lot of greenery, leading to high-contrast images. However, in low-light conditions, the camera performs well, with good detail even in shadows. The dedicated night mode ensures accurate white balance, colour saturation, and exposure, and the camera excels at capturing natural-looking skin tones. The telephoto camera is a highlight, producing detailed photos with great colour saturation and contrast, especially at 3x zoom. The bokeh effect looks natural, and portrait photos are excellent, with skin tones close to natural. The telephoto lens performs well at night too, with minimal noise at up to 3x zoom. Overall, the Realme 13 Pro+ has a good camera setup. The images are detailed, with natural-looking colours, and you can capture professional-looking shots. The addition of a telephoto lens with 6x in-sensor zoom makes photography fun and versatile, even though the image processing could be faster. Finally, in terms of video performance, the Realme 13 Pro+ handles 4K and 1080p video well, though stabilization could be better. The telephoto camera delivers similar results, with both cameras maxing out at 4K 30fps, while the ultrawide is limited to 1080p 30fps. The phones ultra-steady mode, available at 1080p 60fps, provides good results. Realme 13 Pro+ Review: Performance, Software Experience, AI and UI The Realme Realme 13 Pro+ is equipped with the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 processor, paired with up to 12GB of RAM, which can be expanded further using Realmes RAM expansion feature. This setup ensures smooth and efficient multitasking, making it a good option for heavy users and gamers. However, if youre in the market for a phone that delivers peak performance, the Realme 13 Pro+ might not be your top choice. While it handles multitasking and gaming competently, there are other phones in the same price range that offer more power. The Realme 13 Pro+ is more suitable for casual users, particularly those who value camera performance over raw speed. For these users, the phones performance will be more than sufficient. Image Credit: Firstpost | Mehul Reuben Das In everyday use, the Realme 13 Pro+ does a great job. Whether youre browsing, running multiple apps, or scrolling through social media, it handles everything without any noticeable lag. Gaming on the 13 Pro+ is also decent; it can run most games smoothly. However, for more demanding titles like CoD: Mobile and BGMI, you might have to dial down the graphics settings to medium. The phone does tend to warm up during long gaming sessions or extended camera use, but its not something that would cause major concern. On the software front, the Realme 13 Pro+ runs Android 14 with Realme UI 5.0 on top. The user experience is consistent with other recent Realme phones, offering plenty of customization options. The phone does come preloaded with 55 apps, including some third-party ones, which might make your app drawer feel a bit crowded. However, you can easily uninstall the third-party apps if you wish. Image Credit: Firstpost | Mehul Reuben Das Realme UI 5.0 also introduces several handy features on top of Googles operating system. One of the standout features of the Realme 13 Pro+ is its excellent heat management. While the phone does warm up slightly during heavy use, it never becomes uncomfortably hot, thanks to Realmes Iceberg Vapour Cooling System. This system, with its larger vapour chamber, does a great job of keeping the phone cool, ensuring smooth performance even during prolonged gaming sessions or when running resource-intensive apps. In addition to the camera AI features, the 13 Pro+ includes an AI Smart Loop, which recognizes content and suggests what you might want to do next. For instance, you can long-press an image and drag it to the screens edge to quickly share it with compatible apps. This feature needs to be turned on in the settings menu. Image Credit: Firstpost | Mehul Reuben Das The phone also offers a few AI-powered image editing tools, such as AI Ultra Clarity, which aims to enhance the quality of images in your gallery. While its still in testing and doesnt always work perfectly, when it does, AI Ultra Clarity can reduce blurriness and improve sharpness, making low-resolution images look better. Another helpful tool is AI smart removal, similar to Googles Magic Eraser, which lets you remove unwanted objects from your photos. It works well through Realmes Photos app, though there is still some room for improvement. Realme 13 Pro+ Review: Battery Life The Realme 13 Pro+ is packed with a larger 5,200mAh battery, and it supports 80W fast charging. This bigger battery makes a noticeable difference in the phones performance. In battery tests, the Realme 13 Pro+ performed well, showing only a 5-6 per cent drop in battery life during intensive gaming sessions and about a 7 per cent drop while streaming Netflix for half an hour at full brightness. When it comes to charging, the 13 Pro+ impresses with its speed. Thanks to its 80W fast charging, the phone can go from 0 to 100 per cent in just 48 minutes, which is pretty remarkable. This fast charging capability ensures you spend less time tethered to an outlet and more time using your phone. Realme 13 Pro+ Review: Verdict The Realme 13 Pro+ builds on the strengths of its predecessor, the Realme 12 Pro+, particularly excelling in the camera department. While it may not match up to competitors like the OnePlus Nord 4 and Motorola Edge 50 Pro in terms of raw performance and software features, it stands out as an excellent option for photography enthusiasts. The AI-enhanced camera system, complete with advanced sensors and Realmes innovative Hyperimage+ technology, delivers impressive photo and video quality. The phones sleek design, featuring a premium finish and thoughtful details, along with its vibrant display and reliable battery life with fast charging, adds to its overall appeal. Image Credit: Firstpost | Mehul Reuben Das Beyond its standout camera capabilities, the Realme 13 Pro+ offers plenty of AI features, a high-quality display, and a stylish design. Overall, its a well-rounded smartphone and arguably the best camera phone in its price range. While it might not dominate in benchmark scores, the Realme 13 Pro+ holds its own with a robust Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 processor, capable of handling most tasks with ease. The device also features a stunning AMOLED display, offering brightness and clarity that rivals many premium smartphones. For consumers in India considering a smartphone in the Rs. 35,000 range, especially those who prioritize camera quality over pure performance, the Realme 13 Pro+ is a strong contender. It offers solid performance, excellent battery life with fast charging, and a camera system that truly shines. Xiaomis success in India is particularly noteworthy given the intense competition from other major brands like Samsung, Vivo, and Oppo. The companys ability to bounce back in this crucial market underscores its strategic prowess read more While Xiaomis international expansion is a positive development, the company continues to face stiff competition in its home market. Image Credit: AFP Xiaomi, Chinas fifth-largest smartphone vendor, is making significant strides in international markets, particularly in Latin America, Japan, and India. This expansion comes as competition intensifies in its home market, with major players like Samsung and Apple battling for dominance. In Latin America, Xiaomi has emerged as a formidable competitor. According to a recent report by Canalys, the company shipped 6.2 million smartphones in the last quarter, marking a 35 per cent increase in unit sales. Advertisement Massive growth in Latin America This surge propelled Xiaomi to become the second-largest smartphone brand in the region, commanding a 19 per cent market share. Samsung, the leader in the region, shipped 10.2 million handsets, securing a 30 per cent market share. Xiaomis rise in Latin America reflects its aggressive pricing strategy, offering feature-rich devices at competitive prices, which has resonated well with consumers. However, the broader market in Latin America grew by 20 per cent, with analysts warning that market saturation and global economic uncertainties could pose challenges to sustained growth in the future. Despite these concerns, Xiaomis success in the region underscores its growing influence in the global smartphone market. Fastest-growing brand in Japan Xiaomis achievements extend to Japan, where the company has quickly gained traction in a traditionally challenging market. According to Canalys data, Xiaomi became the third-largest smartphone vendor in Japan last quarter, capturing a 6 per cent market share. This success represents a staggering 359 per cent year-on-year growth in shipments, making Xiaomi the fastest-growing smartphone brand in the country. The companys flagship model, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, launched in May, has been particularly well-received, becoming the top seller on Rakutens e-commerce platform. This success in Japan highlights Xiaomis ability to compete in premium segments, even in markets dominated by established players like Apple, which still holds a 56 per cent market share in Japan. Advertisement Regaining ground in India In India, Xiaomi has reclaimed its position as the top smartphone vendor after losing the crown for the past six quarters. The company captured an 18 per cent market share, shipping 6.7 million handsets, according to a July report by Canalys. This comeback in the worlds second-largest smartphone market is a significant milestone for Xiaomi, especially as the broader market has shown signs of cooling. Xiaomis success in India is particularly noteworthy given the intense competition from other major brands like Samsung, Vivo, and Oppo. The companys ability to bounce back in this crucial market underscores its resilience and strategic prowess. Advertisement Momentum positive for now While Xiaomis international expansion is a positive development, the company continues to face stiff competition in its home market. In China, Xiaomis market share increased to 14 per cent last quarter, up from 13 per cent in the same period last year, making it the fifth-largest vendor behind Vivo, Oppo, Honor, and Huawei. The domestic market remains highly competitive, with vendors vying for market share in a landscape marked by rapid innovation and shifting consumer preferences. Despite these challenges, Xiaomis gains in overseas markets provide a significant boost to its global standing. The companys success in regions like Latin America, Japan, and India demonstrates its ability to adapt to diverse market conditions and consumer demands. As Xiaomi continues to expand its global footprint, it is poised to further challenge established players like Samsung and Apple on the international stage. Of the seven battleground states, Vice President Kamala Harris is leading in four states, according to the poll of polls read more In weeks since taking over US presidential race from Joe Biden, Kamala Harris has eroded the lead of Donald Trump. In a reversal of trends, Democratic nominee Harris is now ahead of Republican nominee Trump in battleground states, according to latest poll of polls. While Biden trailed behind Trump for months, Harris has made rapid gains since taking over the presidential contest from Biden. She has enthused new energy in the Democratic Partys campaign against Trump which is visible in her performance in polls. But more than general election polls, it is the battleground polls that matter as it is these few states that determine who wins the election. Advertisement Now, the Decision Desk-The Hill poll of polls has found that Harris is leading in four battleground states and Trump is leading in three. The states considered were Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Georgia, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Harris leads in 4 battleground states, Trump in 3: Poll of polls While Harris was ahead in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Virginia, and Wisconsin, Trump was leading in Arizona, Nevada, and Georgia, according to the Decision Desk HQ-The Hill poll of polls. The actual findings are as follows: Pennsylvania: Harris: 47.6% (+0.8) Trump: 46.8% Michigan : Harris: 48.0% (+1.8) Trump: 46.2% Virginia : Harris: 44.9% (+2.6)Trump: 42.3% Wisconsin : Harris: 49.6% (+3.2) Trump: 46.4% Arizona : Trump: 47.6% (+1.3), Harris: 46.3% Nevada : Trump: 47.2% (+2.4) Harris: 44.8% Georgia : Trump: 48.0% (+2.6) Harris: 45.4% What are battleground states? The battleground states are a bunch of swing states in the United States that actually decide the US presidential election result. In the United States, states have long-standing patterns of voting either for Democrats or Republican, but some states dont have any pattern and they keep swinging between Democrats and Republicans. It is these swing states that are called battleground states and these states see the fiercest campaigning. The way these states swing determines who wins the election. Instead of one large nationwide election like in India or the United Kingdom, the US presidential election is actually a bunch of state elections. Each state has a number of electors. The nominee who wins the state wins all electors of the state. Of the total of 538 electors, a nominee needs 270 to win the election. Therefore, presidential campaigns are tailored in a way that nominees reach the 270-mark. In the American election system, the nominee with the most votes does not win. In 2016, Trump lost the popular vote but won the election as he won the states in a way that he crossed the 270-mark. The charges against Lords Resistance Army (LRA) commander Thomas Kwoyelo included murder, rape, enslavement, torture and kidnap read more A Ugandan court on Tuesday found a commander in the rebel Lords Resistance Army (LRA), Thomas Kwoyelo, guilty of dozens of war crimes, the first time a senior member of the group has been tried by Ugandas judiciary. Founded in the late 1980s with the aim of overthrowing the government, the LRA terrorised Ugandans under the leadership of Joseph Kony for nearly 20 years as it battled the military from bases in northern Uganda. Advertisement The LRA was notorious for horrific brutality, including rapes, abductions, hacking off victims limbs and lips and using crude instruments to bludgeon people to death. In around 2005 the LRA fled under military pressure to South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic, where it also unleashed waves of brutal attacks against civilians. Kwoyelo denied the more than 70 charges against him, which included murder, rape, enslavement, torture and kidnap. In the courtroom in the northern Ugandan city of Gulu on Tuesday, he shook his head as if disagreeing with the verdict as it was read out, his arms crossed and resting on a desk. The verdict of this court is that the accused was found guilty, said Justice Michael Elubu, one of a panel of four high court judges. The Ugandan military captured Kwoyelo in 2009 in the jungles of northeastern Congo. He has been in pre-trial detention ever since, and his case has crept through the Ugandan court system. The court found Kwoyelo guilty on 44 charges, 31 were dismissed as duplications of others, and he was acquitted on three. The judges said next week they would begin conducting pre-sentencing hearings before setting a date for Kwoyelos sentencing. LRA leader Kony is wanted by the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) but has not been caught despite several attempts to do so. Advertisement In 2021 the ICC convicted Dominic Ongwen, another senior LRA commander, of war crimes including rape, sexual enslavement, child abduction, torture and murder. He was subsequently sentenced to 25 years in jail. As Bangladeshs new ruler Muhammad Yunus goes about a nation re-building exercise, it appears the nations founder has failed to find a place in the new nation. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Father of the Nation in Bangladesh, will no longer be commemorated on his death anniversary, according to reports. In a meeting of the Bangladeshi interim government presided by Yunus, it was decided to scrap the national holiday on August 15, the death anniversary of Mujib, according to Bangladeshi media. Advertisement On August 15, 1975, Mujib along with most of his family was killed in a coup in Bangladesh. His daughter Sheikh Hasina, who went to be the Bangladeshs longest-ruling premier, survived the assassination as she was out of the nation at the time. Once civilian rule returned to the nation, the death anniversary of Mujib popularly called as Bangabandhu over his leadership of the Bangladeshs War of Liberation against Pakistan was observed as a public holiday. The public holiday was dubbed the National Day of Mourning. Following the scrapping of the national holiday, a statement from the Yunus office said the decision was taken after reaching a broad consensus after discussions with all political parties, according to The Dhaka Tribune. Yunus, 84, is leading an unelected interim government of technocrats, Islamic clerics, and former military figures. It was installed by the Bangladeshi military and leaders of the protesters who, along with the pro-Pakistan Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami, overthrew Hasina last week. Following the ouster, the remnants of the Hasina and her father in Bangladesh are under attack. Demonstrators climbed atop Mujibs statue in Dhaka and hammered it. In another video from the capital, another demonstrator appeared to be urinating on Mujibs statue. The house of Mujib in which he and his family members were massacred, which had long been a museum, was also torched by the mobs rampaging through Bangladesh. Advertisement In her first message since her ouster merely hours before the announcement, Hasina on Tuesday urged the people of Bangladesh to mark Thursday (August 15) as the National Day of Mourning and offer garlands at Mujibs now-torched house Bangabandhu Bhavan. Since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina, Hindus and their temples, houses, and businesses have been systemically attacked across Bangladesh read more Men run past a shopping centre which was set on fire by protesters during a rally against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government. AP The top body of Hindus in Bangladesh has said that the community has faced at least 278 attacks since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina. Last week, following weeks of mass-movement against her 15-year rule, Hasina resigned as the Bangladeshi premier and fled the country for her life. Since the ouster, Hindus and other religious minorities have been systemically arrested across the nation. Temples, Hindu-owned businesses, and houses of Hindus have been attacked in targeted violence. Advertisement Terming the violence an assault on the Hindu religion, the Bangladesh National Hindu Grand Alliance said Hindus have been attacked in 278 locations across 48 districts since Hasinas ouster. Pointing to the attacks, the Alliance said, We too have rights in this country, we were born here. The Alliances report came on the same day interim Bangladeshi ruler Muhammad Yunus reached out to the Hindu community members at the famous Dhakeshwari Temple in Dhaka and urged the people to exercise patience before judging his governments role, according to the PTI. Assault on Hindu religion Palash Kanti Dey, the Alliances Spokesperson and Executive Secretary said that the nationwide vandalism, looting, arson, land-theft, and threats to leave the country are not mere acts of intimidation but an assault on the Hindu religion. The incidents of vandalism, looting, arson, land grabbing, and threats to leave the country have been repeatedly inflicted on the Hindu community due to the shifting political landscapeThis is not just an attack on individuals but an assault on the Hindu religion, said Dey, as per The Dhaka Tribune. Dey further said, As of Monday, there have been attacks and threats against the Hindu community in 278 locations across 48 districts. We have conveyed our concerns to Home Affairs Advisor Brigadier General (Retd) M Sakhawat Hussain, who has assured us that these issues will be raised at the next cabinet meeting. Dey said the Alliance hoped the interim government will address the longstanding demands. Advertisement Hindus are first to be attacked Whenever there is a change in the government, the Hindus are the first to be attacked, said Alliance President Prabhas Chandra Roy. Roy said, Whenever there is a change in government, Hindus are the first to be attackedAlthough there were fewer incidents in the past, they have increased recently. We want to live in this country with security. We were born here, and we have rights in this country. The comments of Dey and Roy come a day after they made seven demands to the interim government, including judicial inquiry into recent attacks on Hindus, the creation of a minority protection act and commission, and the restoration of temples and homes at public expense, according to PTI. In interview with Elon Musk, Donald Trump also said criticised Kamala Harris and said she was as bad as Biden, noting that she had not done any long-form interviews since Biden dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed her read more In interview with Elon Musk, Donald Trump labelled Joe Biden as 'the worst president' in US history. Source: REUTERS. As the US presidential election inches closer, Donald Trump is leaving no stone unturned to slam his opponents and he continued doing so in an interview with Elon Musk where he made a bold claim that Joe Biden was forced out of the 2024 US Presidential race due to a coup. The 78-year-old Republican Presidential candidate said: I beat Biden so bad in the debate, he was forced out of the race - one of the greatest debate performances ever. Bidens exit, it was a coup." Advertisement Harris as bad as Biden After Biden pulled out of the White House race last month, Kamala Harris replaced him as the Democratic nominee for the November 5 presidential polls, but Trump said that she was as bad as Biden." We cannot have her (Harris), Trump said, noting that she had not done any long-form interviews since Biden dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed her. Shes incompetent. Shes as bad as Biden, he said. This was a coup of a president of the United States, he didnt want to leave and they said, We can do it, the nice way or we can do it the hard way, Trump further told Musk during the interview on X which got delayed by over 40 minutes due to technical issue caused by a cyber attack. Meanwhile, Musk claimed that Harris wouldnt do an interview with him. Harris has been holding regular large rallies but she has not sat down for a major media interview since she entered the presidential race last month. Biden was the worst president Trump labelled Biden as the worst president in US history and cited the ongoing Iran-Israel crisis and the mishandling of the Afghanistan situation as key reasons for his harsh assessment, claiming that these issues could have been avoided under different leadership. Harris is fake Trump also took a dig at opponent Harris, saying, Everything I did, she says she is doing it. He labeled Harris as fake and claimed that the number of illegal migrants crossing the border has increased under her watch. Advertisement Trump claimed that the number of illegal migrants crossing the borders has surged, estimating that it would be around 50-60 million people from regions including Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and others. Trump slams Harriss running mate Tim Walz over tampon access law Trump also criticised Harris running mate and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz over a state law that provides menstrual products in public schools. He claimed that Walz has signed a law authorising the placement of tampons in boys bathrooms. However, the actual law which came into force last year does not specify which bathrooms should have tampons. It mandates that menstrual products be available to anyone who menstruates. Advertisement Walz has been facing strong criticism from Republicans for the enactment of the law and has been nicknamed Tampon Tim." Trump calls migrants radicals & terrorists In an interview with Musk, Trump labeled illegal migrants as radicals and terrorists in disguise and pledged to remove them swiftly. The Republican presidential candidate also voiced hope for fair conduct in the November 5 US elections. Trump wants to eliminate Department of Education Trump also said that he wants to close up the Department of Education, move education back to the states, calling for the federal agency to be eliminated. He further alleged that the students in the US are falling behind compared to their peers around the world. Advertisement There are a lot of advantages, to eliminating the Department of Education, he said, claiming that it will cut education costs in half. Trump wants iron dome Trump further argued, Why shouldnt we have an Iron Dome? Israel has one. His comment is a reference to Israels missile defence system that can destroy short-range weapons fired at the country. It acts like a shield that protects and counters rockets or mortars that are fired on Israel. Also Read: You cant do it, Vladimir: Trump tells Musk he counselled Putin, blames Biden for Ukraine war Also Read: Trump tells Musk how God saved him from assassination bid, says will return to Butler Advertisement Also Read: North Koreas Kim Jong-un said President Joe Biden is a stupid man: Trump Also Read: Elon Musk says live interview with Donald Trump delayed due to massive DDOS attack on X The US is banking on Turkey among other allies to help de-escalate tensions between Iran and Israel following Hamas leader Ismail Haniyehs assassination. Ambassador Jeff Flake believes Turkeys influence could be key in preventing further conflict read more The United States is actively engaging Turkey and other allies with connections to Iran to help de-escalate the escalating situation in the Middle East, US Ambassador to Turkey Jeff Flake revealed. This diplomatic effort comes as concerns mount over potential Iranian retaliation against Israel following the recent assassination of key figures in Hamas and Hezbollah. On July 31, Ismail Haniyeh, a prominent leader of the Iran-backed Hamas group, was killed in Tehran. The assassination has led to heightened threats of revenge from Iran against Israel, which is currently engaged in a conflict with Hamas in Gaza. Although Iran has accused Israel of the killing, Israel has not claimed responsibility for the incident. Advertisement Ambassador Flake, speaking at a round-table discussion with journalists in Istanbul, emphasised that Turkey is being asked to use its influence with Iran to prevent further escalation. He acknowledged that Turkey is taking steps to help manage the situation, expressing that Turkish officials seem more optimistic about avoiding a major conflict than their US counterparts. We ask all of our allies that have any relations with Iran to prevail on them to de-escalate, and that includes Turkey, Flake said at a round-table with journalists in Istanbul as he comes to the end of his posting in Turkey. Theyre doing what they can to make sure that it doesnt escalate, he said of Washingtons Turkish interlocutors, adding that they seem more confident than we are that it wont escalate. US-Turkey relations have experienced turbulence in recent years due to disagreements over the US alliance with Syrian Kurdish groups, which Turkey views as terrorists, and Turkeys acquisition of Russian S-400 missile systems, which led to US sanctions and Turkeys removal from the F-35 jet program. However, Flake noted a recent improvement in relations, citing Turkeys useful role in facilitating a major prisoner exchange between the US and Russia in early August. While Turkey was not involved in the negotiation process, its logistical support was crucial. They werent involved in the negotiation side, but on the logistics side, they played a significant role, he said. Advertisement In a June interview with Reuters, Flake had previously asserted that Turkey remained a strong ally of the West and that US-Turkey relations were robust. Despite this, he acknowledged that the Gaza conflict had created significant challenges, with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogans strong rhetoric against Israel complicating Turkeys role as an intermediary. However, Flake observed that the divide between Washington and Ankara on the Gaza situation had narrowed following increased US calls for a ceasefire. Additionally, Flake addressed ongoing concerns about Turkish military hardware potentially reaching Russia, urging greater cooperation to curb such exports. He emphasised that preventing Russia from obtaining military supplies remains a priority for the US, noting that while there have been some positive signs of improved cooperation from Turkey, the issue continues to be a significant concern. Advertisement It remains a concern of ours, and we raise it frequently and consistently, he said. When we talk to our contacts here, what well stress is that our goal is to ensure that Russia is denied the ability to wage war. We still see significant items coming through Turkey, he said. So were looking for better cooperation there and in many ways were getting it. I know that Russia is complaining, which is a good sign. (With inputs from agencies) CHANGCHUN, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- As scorching summer heat grips much of China, the country's northeast has emerged as a popular sightseeing destination with cool weather and breathtaking views of lush mountains and lucid waters. Encompassing Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces and part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the northeastern region, once a heavy industrial base, has embraced a green transition in recent years, embodying Chinese President Xi Jinping's thought on ecological civilization. Since the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) National Congress in late 2012, President Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has conducted several inspection tours of northeast China, emphasizing green development and providing guidance for the region's revitalization. BETTER LANDSCAPE, BETTER LIVES At Chagan Lake in Jilin Province, one of China's largest freshwater lakes, shimmering waters mirror vibrant wildflowers, lush wetlands stretch to the horizon and the sky blends seamlessly with the lake, creating a tranquil vista for visitors. The stunning scenery contrasts sharply with severe regional ecological degradation decades ago when the lake almost dried up. Zhang Wen, who has lived in the area for over 60 years, vividly remembers the hardship of that time. "Many fishermen left for greener pastures while those who stayed endured poverty due to shrinking fish resources caused by environmental degradation," Zhang said. The situation has improved significantly in recent years, especially after 2012, when the 18th CPC National Congress highlighted the importance of ecological progress and advocated for building a "Beautiful China" as part of the country's development plan. In addition to a water diversion project, local authorities have initiated dredging projects and mobilized farmers to turn farmland back into forests, wetlands and grasslands around the lake. These concerted efforts to a large extent have helped restore the lake ecology. Zhang said he is amazed by the lake's revival. "We now not only benefit from plentiful fish resources but also earn additional income by showcasing traditional fishing practices to tourists," he said, adding that fishermen like him have moved into large houses and commute in their own private sedans. While inspecting the ecological protection measures of Chagan Lake in September 2018, Xi said the sound environment is a precious resource for the economic and social development of the northeastern region, serving as an advantage for its revitalization. He required local authorities to give priority to environmental protection and remain steadfast in green development. In 2023, the Chagan Lake resort welcomed more than 4 million visitors. Inspired by the remarkable transformation of their hometown, many villagers have returned to start their own businesses, including Qu Sanmei. Qu quit her job in a big city to open a restaurant near the lake, expanding from a small tent to a venue that can accommodate 300 diners. "Business is thriving, and I am the immediate beneficiary of ecological protection," she said. Using Chagan Lake as an exemplary model, Jilin Province has continued to implement various ecological protection and restoration projects. In 2023, Jilin's air quality remained among the best in the country, with an average of 90.7 percent of days rated as good, surpassing the national average by 5.2 percentage points. The benefits of ecological protection are driving the local eco-tourism industry toward a market size of up to 1 trillion yuan (about 140 billion U.S. dollars). NEW DEVELOPMENT TRACKS In Heilongjiang, China's northernmost province and a major forest base, a forestry carbon trading system was launched in the provincial capital of Harbin last month. This innovative initiative aims to promote green development and support the country's dual-carbon goals. According to the provincial forestry and grassland bureau, the carbon reserve in Heilongjiang's forest ecosystem is approximately 5.7 billion tonnes. Since the unnatural forest logging ban was enacted in 2014, former loggers have embraced new lives, taking on jobs as rangers and workers in factories processing birch juice, wild blueberries and other forestry products as the province develops its forestry economy. In a processing workshop in the city of Yichun, bottles of juice extracted from birch trees are packaged into boxes, ready to be delivered across the country. Rich in forest resources, Yichun boasts 248,700 hectares of birch trees, yielding around 270,000 tonnes of birch juice annually. "Our birch juice is pure and natural, and has gained popularity in the market," said Hu Zihan, general manager of the company. During an inspection tour of Heilongjiang in September last year, Xi urged the province to firmly grasp its strategic position in China's overall development, and strive to open new ground for its high-quality development. He also stressed the importance of increasing green coverage and protecting forests, calling for measures to raise people's income on the basis of ecological protection. Leveraging its freezing climate, Heilongjiang has attracted visitors for winter tourism and automakers for extreme cold-weather testing, transforming its ice and snow resources into invaluable assets. Mohe, a border city known for its annual average temperature of around minus three degrees Celsius and a frost-free period of merely some 80 days, has found an unexpected advantage in its harsh climate. In 2020, an automobile testing company was established in the city with an investment of over 100 million yuan. The company has more than 40 types of test tracks, including a track to test the antilock braking systems, catering to the needs of automotive manufacturers nationwide for cold-region vehicle testing services. "The freezing conditions offer development opportunities for the cold-region vehicle testing industry," said Zhou Runheng, a staff member of the city's bureau of industry, information technology and science. Mount Fuji, Japans highest mountain at 3,776 meters or 12,388 feet, is pictured in 2022. Philip Fong/AFP via Getty Images I was sitting on the steep slope of volcanic stone and sand, my right ankle swelled up to three times its normal size, looking out at a layer of clouds and green forest below, and for the first time since I set foot on Mount Fuji, I felt calm. My journey to that spot had started several months earlier when I signed up to climb Japans tallest peak. Im not a mountain climber and Im not particularly fond of hiking, so the decision to do so at age 59 was somewhat hard to explain. There was something about Fuji. I had seen images of it all my life, and its arguably the most iconic mountain in the world, identifiable from even the simplest outline. I felt compelled to reach the top, pass through the sacred torii gate there and then for the rest of my life be able to picture myself at the summit, perhaps emboldened by whatever wisdom comes with the journey. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Or if Im being honest, it sounded badass. I liked the idea of being 59 and doing something badass. So, I gave up beer, for the most part, and started hiking once a week. Mount Fuji rises 12,388 feet over Japan, a solitary peak with a white cap in the winter. In late June, after most of the snow melts, Fuji looks naked, scarred by deep ridges running down the sides, as if its on a break from its camera-ready pose. It has been depicted on centuries of scrolls and artistic renderings. It has been both worshiped and feared as the home of gods or destructive spirits, long a symbol of courage, a source of transcendence. It was off limits to women until 1868. Chronicle reporter Jill Tucker follows guide Melissa Chen of Fuji Mountain Guides up the switchbacks to the 8th Station, where the tour group rested for the night before the summit push early the next morning. Courtesy of Kristopher Skinner The climb is not technical. Its just hard. There are four main trails up, and theyre all steep, gaining around 6,000 feet over a few miles. Thats screaming hamstring steep, with a side of oxygen deprivation accompanying every step. Advertisement Article continues below this ad There is a Japanese saying about this: A wise man will climb Mount Fuji once. Only a fool climbs it twice. I was climbing with my husband and son, at the tail end of an already booked visit to Japan in late June. You can climb Fuji on your own, but we booked a two-day tour with Fuji Mountain Guides, who prevent novices like us from making dumb decisions. Altitude sickness is common, and at least a few people die on the mountain annually from falls, lightning, heart attacks or hypothermia. And in recent years the trails have become so choked with climbers that the Japanese government started limiting the number of daily hikers as of July 1. At least 300,000 people attempt the climb each year, creating at times Disneyland-like queues for the summit sunrise. While we toured around Japan, Fuji literally and figuratively loomed on the horizon. At every shrine we passed and there were many I tossed 5, 10 or 50 yen coins, clapped my hands and bowed, praying to have health and stamina to climb Fuji. A few times, I thought that sounded selfish, so I prayed to embrace whatever lesson the mountain had to teach me. By the last day before our climb, I was dropping 100 yen coins, or around 66 cents, and was begging to reach the summit. There is another saying: You climb Fuji on Fujis terms. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Chronicle reporter Jill Tucker climbs the Subashiri Trail of Mount Fuji in late June. Courtesy of Kristopher Skinner Pelting rain delayed our start by a day. But on June 29, we gathered with around 30 climbers from around the world at the Subashiri Trails fifth station, elevation 6,397 feet, to begin our hike. After safety briefings, which mostly consisted of the guides trying to convince us that personal well-being was more important than reaching the summit, we started the climb just after 11:30 a.m., heading up a set of stairs and through a torii gate to the start of the trail. There was no easing into it. It was hard right away, with a steep rock and boulder trail through a green and lush forest. It stayed hard for the next six hours. We left trees behind and moved past shrubs and finally onto rock and slippery scree, where it was a half step back for every step forward amid ever-thinning air. Advertisement Article continues below this ad We started to take more frequent breaks to drink water, catch our breath and take stock of any worrying symptoms. We hiked above the clouds and were no longer shrouded in mist. I dont remember time passing or making progress only taking one hamstring-burning step after another. We learned early on that asking a guide how far to the next rest stop or the next switchback would elicit five minutes, no matter where we were. Hikers climbing Mount Fuji stop for a rest at a station along the Subashiri Trail in late June. Courtesy of Kristopher Skinner We could see the summit at times as we climbed. It looked unimpressive, like a bump at the top of a steep hillside, and it never seemed to get closer. We reached our stop for the night the Fujisan Hotel at the eighth station, around 1,200 feet from the summit after nearly 5,000 feet of climbing. Our group was smaller. A few had turned back to stay at a lower altitude in one of the many other huts scattered on the mountain. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The accommodations at our hotel included long rows of bunks, each separated by a thin sheet of plastic. No one seemed to care. We were under the blankets by 8 p.m., the lights of Tokyo twinkling 60 miles in the distance. The guides woke us six hours later, strongly encouraging those in the group experiencing altitude sickness or extreme fatigue to stay in their bunks. I got up. Fewer than 20 of us, with our six guides, strapped on our head lamps and started for the summit at 2:30 a.m. It was dark, wet and cold. We were wearing every layer we brought. The push to the summit was step-pause slow, a pace controlled by the guides to prevent sweating and altitude sickness during the nearly two-hour climb up a trail that at times tilted skyward at a ridiculous angle. The sky lightened as we neared the top. Chronicle reporter Jill Tucker follows fellow group members up the steep switchbacks of the Subashiri Trail on Mount Fuji in late June. Courtesy of Kristopher Skinner As we passed the torii gate and high-fived our guide, we stepped onto the summit where we could see, well, nothing beyond 30 feet. We were in a cloud. There was no sunrise, no 60-mile view to Tokyo. It was 4:30 a.m., my hands were freezing, my face was numb, but I was standing on the top of Mount Fuji. Perhaps, I thought, enlightenment and badassery comes a bit later. My husband, son and I took photos and milled around for 10 minutes until the group agreed it was too cold to stay, and we all began the return trip. The down, the guides had told, is typically harder than the up. I didnt believe that because: gravity. And with every step, there was more oxygen. The Subashiri Trail veers to a more direct path on the return, so its a steep slide down volcanic sand and rock. I stepped and slid and stepped and slid and then slipped and lost my balance, falling backward only a few inches, given how steep the incline was. And then I repeated the process.This went on for some time. Until I fell and heard a loud pop in my ankle. Do you think you can walk it off? one of the guides asked. In my head, I was yelling, WALK it off? There is no WALKING down this infernal pile of rocks! Out loud, I said, Maybe. I hobbled down another 100 yards before deciding to pull off my shoe. Im not sure if anyone present actually gasped at the massive bulge that had been my ankle, but maybe. Well, thats probably not good, I said. They called a tractor to haul me down. It is not free. I did not care. My husband and son went on ahead, and I found myself sitting on the side of Mount Fuji, my ankle an angry blob, but suddenly freed from the requirement to take another step up or down. I grabbed a handful of Fuji and stared at the view. One of the guides, 30-year-old Australian Michael Chan, was tasked to wait with me, and for a bit, we both sat in silence, watching the clouds. From right, Chronicle reporter Jill Tucker, her husband Kristopher and her son Zack appear at the summit of Mount Fuji in late June. Courtesy of Jill Tucker Michael, in his second year with the tour company, had climbed Fuji 42 times by that point, with another 45 trips scheduled this year. He described the journey up and down Fuji as a proper hike. I told him Id seen the mountain hundreds of times in paintings or in photographs, trying to picture myself there, feeling like it was a mystical place, and now here I was, sitting on it, grabbing a handful of volcanic dirt. Yes, its real, he said, smiling. And youre way above the clouds. We talked about making it to the summit earlier that morning in what he described as pretty bad weather and how my original trip was canceled and I feared I wouldnt get to stand on the summit. Fate was in store for you to go, Michael said. We made it to the top, I said. We totally made it, he said. Look at this view, I said. The mountain humbles us, he said. Chronicle reporter Jill Tucker rests at a station on the Subashiri Trail on Mt. Fuji in late June. Courtesy of Kristopher Skinner It took 15-minutes to get to the trailhead in the tractor, where I drank a 10 a.m. beer as I realized I never spent any shrine yen to ensure I got down safely. In the weeks that followed our return home, the climb was a frequent topic of conversation with family and friends, my swollen ankle and my limp a prop and the punch line to the story of the Mount Fuji adventure. It was only weeks later when the tale had grown stale that I considered how much time Id spent thinking only about getting to the summit of Fuji even while I was climbing, my mind had been on the destination and the bragging rights. I never thought about just being on the mountain until I was forced to stop moving. You climb Mount Fuji on Fujis terms. Pakistani forces allegedly killed Afghan civilians, including children, during a border clash near Torkham. The skirmish, sparked by disputes over construction along the contentious Durand Line, has intensified tensions between Kabul and Islamabad read more Pakistani commandos from the Special Services Group. Image used for representative purpose/AP Taliban authorities accused Pakistani forces on Tuesday of killing three civilians a woman and two children in clashes along their northern border. The latest exchange of fire took place on Monday near the Torkham border crossing in Afghanistans Nangarhar province, with each side accusing the other of sparking the clash. Pakistan and Afghanistan forces regularly exchange fire, often sparked by disagreements over construction near the Durand line, a 2,400-kilometre (1,500-mile) frontier drawn by the British in 1896 and disputed by Kabul. Advertisement Pakistani forces targeted civilian houses and killed a woman and two children, said interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani in a post on social media site X early Tuesday. Enayatullah Khwarazmi, the spokesman for Afghanistans defence ministry, told AFP, The clash was started by the Pakistanis. When our forces were trying to build a post along the imaginary (Durand) line, the Pakistani soldiers fired at our forces and our forces retaliated, which led to a clash. A border official on the Pakistan side at Torkham said three Pakistani soldiers were wounded in the exchange. Despite repeated warnings and objections from the Pakistani side, Afghan officials did not halt the construction, leading to escalating tensions, the officer told AFP. Pakistan officials have not responded to accusations that three Afghan civilians were killed. Border tensions between the two countries have steadily escalated since the Taliban government seized power in 2021, with Islamabad claiming militant groups are carrying out regular attacks from Afghanistan. The Taliban government deny harbouring Pakistani militants, but are also infuriated by a fence Islamabad is erecting along the Durand line. The Pakistan official added that heavy weapons had been used by both sides, and that the Torkham border crossing was closed. Donald Trump, during an interview with Elon Musk, argued that his strong relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin could have prevented the conflict read more Donald Trump, during his interview with Elon Musk, launched a scathing attack on US President Joe Biden and blamed him for the Ukraine invasion. Trump claimed that Russia would not have invaded Ukraine if Biden were not president. Musk did not challenge Trumps claim and instead agreed with him, saying: Youve made an excellent point. The Republican candidate for the 2024 US Presidential elections argued that his strong relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin could have prevented the conflict. Advertisement Putin respected me: Trump I got along with Putin very well, and he respected me, Trump said, adding that he often spoke with Putin about Ukraine, describing it as the apple of his eye. Trump further claimed that he had warned Putin against taking action, saying, I told him (Putin), dont do it. You cant do it, Vladimir. He (Putin) said no way, and I said way, Trump added. Trump also described a time when he allegedly counselled Putin against invading Ukraine. Putin, Kim Jong Un are smart Trump went on to say that he knows Putin and North Koreas leader Kim Jong Un. Theyre smart and they are vicious, he said. When they see a Kamala or sleepy Joe they cant believe it, Trump added. Trump, who is known for his longstanding public sympathy for Putin and his repeated criticism of US aid to Ukraine, recently in his presidential campaign claimed that he would end the Ukraine war within 24 hours if elected. He has, however, refused to provide details of his plan. In May 2023, Trump has also publicly said that he would not guarantee continued defence assistance to Ukraine if he won the presidential election. During debates with Biden, Trump rejected Putins ceasefire terms, which demanded that Ukraine surrender four regions partially occupied by Russia and abandon its effort to join NATO, calling them not acceptable. Advertisement Earlier media reports, however, indicated that Trump privately suggested ending Russias war by pressuring Ukraine to cede Crimea and Donbas to Moscow. Tech glitch delays Trumps interview with Musk CEO of X (formerly known as Twitter), Musk, had planned to host Trump for an interview Live on X at 8 pm ET, however, the social media platform experienced glitches, preventing several users from listening to the interview. Later, Musk posted that there was a massive DDOS (distributed denial of service) attack on X and mentioned efforts to shut it down. The interview started about 40 minutes later than the scheduled time. Also Read: Trump tells Musk how God saved him from assassination bid, says will return to Butler Advertisement Also Read: North Koreas Kim Jong-un said President Joe Biden is a stupid man: Trump Also Read: Elon Musk says live interview with Donald Trump delayed due to massive DDOS attack on X In his interview with Elon Musk, Donald Trump praised his supporters for staying calm and not panicking in Butler, despite the usual stampede that such situations often trigger read more Donald Trump said the assassination attempt on him on July 13 has made him more of a believer in God. Source: AFP. The much-awaited interview of Donald Trump with tech mogul Elon Musk started with about 40 minutes delay due to technical glitch. Moments into the conversation, the Republican presidential candidate recalled the assassination attempt during his campaign in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13 which he narrowly survived. Musk started the interview by asking about the assassination attempt, to which Trump laughed and said it was not pleasant before he went on to talk at length about his experience. Advertisement I knew immediately that it was a bullet. I knew immediately that it was at the ear, Trump said. Trump now a more of a believer Trump went on to say that the assassination attempt on him last month has made him more of a believer in God. Now, Im more of a believer For those people that dont believe in God, I think we all have to start thinking about that, Trump further said. The 20-year-old shooter Thomas Crooks fired around eight times at Trumps Pennsylvania campaign from a distance of approximately 400 feet which killed one person and critically injured two people. It also injured Trumps ear. Crooks was killed by a Secret Service sniper immediately after the shootout. Further recalling the attempt on his life, Trump said: It was amazing that I happened to be turned just at that perfect angle. Trump planning to return to Butler The Republican candidate for the 2024 US presidential polls also said that he is planning to return to Butler for another campaign event, as the last one was brought to an abrupt end when the shots rang out. He further joked that he will start his next speech in Butler with As I was saying Trump praises supporters Trump also praised his supporters for staying calm and not panicking in Butler, despite the usual stampede that such situations often trigger. Advertisement He also thanked them for their unwavering support. Elon Musks much-anticipated interview with Donald Trump on his platform, X (formerly Twitter), was disrupted by a massive DDOS cyberattack. The interview began with a delay of aroun 30 minutes read more Ahead of interviewing Donald Trump, Elon Musk encouraged viewers to submit their questions and comments, promising an engaging conversation. Reuters Elon Musk announced on Monday (August 12) that his highly anticipated interview with Donald Trump was disrupted by a cyber attack on his social media platform. The site displayed a not available page shortly after the scheduled start time of 8 pm Eastern Time for many users. Working on shutting it down. Worst case, we will proceed with a smaller number of live listeners and post the conversation later, Musk posted. Musk, who had previously expressed support for the Democratic party, has recently backed Trump after an attempt on the latters life at a rally. Advertisement Following Trumps ban from Twitter (now X) in January 2021, Musk reinstated him on the platform, which he now runs and has renamed. The conversation between Musk and Trump was intended to rejuvenate Trumps struggling campaign. Musk apologised and pledged to host a live conversation with a limited number of listeners and to post the unedited audio later, after testing the system with 8 million concurrent listeners earlier that day. What was billed as a no limits conversation, finally began at 8:42 pm ET, more than 40 minutes after the scheduled start time. With many people unable to listen in live, the event proved to be an embarrassing setback for both men. Around 1.2 million people were listening to the conversation at 9:30 pm ET, according to a counter on X. Until that point, the conversation had already touched extensively upon the assassination attemp on Trump, immigration, and the wars in Ukraine and Israel. Trump sounded at times as if he was speaking with a lisp, many listeners on X pointed out. Some said it made him sound like a cartoon, others suggested it could be due to audio compression issues. Trump frequently posts on his Truth Social platform, which was launched in February 2022, but his posts there reach a much smaller audience than on X. Advertisement The interview on Musks social media platform allows Trump to reach a different audience than the conservative faithful who attend his rallies and watch his interviews on Fox News. Some X users also reported seeing advertisements pop up supporting Trump. With inputs from agencies The Somalia-Ethiopia relationship nosedived in January when Ethiopia entered into a lease agreement with Somalias breakaway region Somaliland read more A second round of Turkish-mediated talks between Somalia and Ethiopia over a port deal Addis Ababa signed with the breakaway Somaliland region ended without a deal on Tuesday, but Turkey and ministers from both countries sounded upbeat on progress. The negotiations held in Ankara have attempted to repair relations between the East African neighbours, whose relationship nosedived in January when Ethiopia agreed to lease 20 km (12 miles) of coastline from Somaliland in exchange for recognition of its independence. Advertisement Mogadishu called the agreement illegal and retaliated by expelling the Ethiopian ambassador and threatening to kick out thousands of Ethiopian troops stationed in the country helping battle Islamist insurgents. The Ethiopian and Somali foreign ministers did not hold direct talks in Ankara, with Turkeys foreign minister shuttling between them instead. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told a news conference that the number of issues discussed in the second round of talks had increased significantly from the first round, and there was now convergence on some major principles. This constitutes notable progress, he said, adding a third round of talks was scheduled to start on Sept. 17 with the aim of reaching a sustainable and viable agreement between the countries. Somali Foreign Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi Ahmed confirmed progress had been made and said the government in Mogadishu was seeking an outcome in line with international law and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. As we prepare for the third round of talks, we are hopeful that the momentum we have built will lead to a final solution, he said. Ethiopian Foreign Minister Taye Atske Selassie said his country looked forward to continued engagement that will ultimately help us resolve current differences and restore normal relations. A spokesperson for Somaliland, which has struggled to gain international recognition despite governing itself and enjoying comparative peace and stability since declaring independence in 1991, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Advertisement Expectations ahead of the first round of Ankara talks in July had been low, with Somalia and Ethiopia appearing to hold irreconcilable differences. Turkey has close ties with both Ethiopia and Somalia, training Somali security forces and supplying development assistance in return for a foothold on a key global shipping route. Its efforts to resolve the dispute began after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed visited Ankara in May and asked it to intervene, according to a Turkish diplomatic source. Trump downplayed the breach, stating that the hackers only accessed publicly available information. However, the leaked documents included a research dossier compiled on Trumps running mate, JD Vance, which appears to be a preliminary version of Vances vetting file read more The FBI is investigating the hacking of the Trump campaign. Image Credit: Pexels The FBI has launched an investigation following claims by Donald Trumps presidential campaign that its internal communications were hacked, with fingers pointed at the Iranian government. The former president announced on Saturday (August 10) that Microsoft had alerted his campaign to an Iranian cyberattack on one of its websites. Trump downplayed the breach, stating that the hackers only accessed publicly available information. The Trump campaigns accusations follow a report released by Microsoft on Friday (August 9), which detailed attempts by hackers linked to the Iranian government to infiltrate the account of a high-ranking official within a US presidential campaign in June. Advertisement The report further revealed that the hackers had managed to compromise an account belonging to a former political adviser, which was then used to target the campaign official. Despite these assertions, Iran has categorically denied any involvement in the alleged hacking. Emails leak research on JD Vance The revelation of the hack comes amid reports from major media outlets, including Politico, The Washington Post, and The New York Times, which have all claimed to have received files purportedly stolen from Trumps campaign. Politico reported receiving emails from an anonymous source identifying themselves only as Robert. The leaked documents included a research dossier compiled on Trumps running mate, JD Vance, which appears to be a preliminary version of Vances vetting file. The 271-page dossier, drawn from publicly available information, highlighted various aspects of Vances past, including his previous criticisms of Trump, marked as POTENTIAL VULNERABILITIES. The anonymous source claimed to have obtained a range of documents, spanning from legal papers to internal campaign discussions, though the full extent of the data breach remains unclear. FBI broadens investigation to Biden-Harris campaign The FBIs investigation into the Trump campaign hack is part of a broader probe into alleged cyberattacks on other political campaigns, including that of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The Washington Post reported on Monday (August 12) that advisers to the Biden-Harris campaign had also been targeted by hackers. Advertisement The extent of the breaches and their potential impact on the 2024 election remains a key point of concern, with cybersecurity and foreign interference once again at the forefront of the US political landscape. With inputs from agencies Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has had a strong start to her campaign but those close to her acknowledge that tougher challenges lie ahead for her. Here are the key questions Harris faces now and in the coming weeks read more Vice President Kamala Harris admires the crowd during a campaign rally, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Atlanta. AP File Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has had a strong start to her campaign but those close to her acknowledge that tougher challenges lie ahead for her. Harris has described herself as the underdog in the upcoming November election against former President Trump. Currently, its difficult to pinpoint a clear favorite. However, Harris has closed the national polling gap that Trump once had over President Joe Biden, and some battleground state polls are shifting in her favor. Advertisement Despite this, the forecasts still gives Trump an edge. Here are the key questions Harris faces now and in the coming weeks: Will she pay a price for policy shifts? While Kamala Harris received good press following her swift Democratic nomination and smooth introduction of her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the positive spotlight, however, has overshadowed her current positions which differ from the stand she adopted during her 2020 bid for the Democratic nomination. According to The Hill report, Harris no longer supports a fracking ban and now views unauthorised border crossings as illegal, contrary to her previous stance that they should not be criminalised. Harris was also a supporter of Medicare-for-All in the past. Biden has not proposed that policy, and it remains unclear if Harris will suggest otherwise. A lack of clarity over what Harris really believes was one of the reasons her 2020 campaign was disappointing, added the report. She wont want to suffer the same fate again. How much detail will she provide on her economic plans? Harris is likely to unveil details about her economic strategy this week. According to The Hill report, citing a press briefing in Phoenix on Saturday, she emphasised her focus on reducing costs and strengthening the overall economy. Later, Harris unexpectedly proposed exempting service and hospitality workers from paying taxes on tips a plan originally suggested by Trump. The former president quickly condemned the idea on social media, accusing Harris of stealing it. Advertisement Harris is expected to present economic arguments similar to those Biden aimed to make. While some of Bidens proposals have not gained much traction, Harris may bring them renewed attention, added the report. These include Bidens suggestions for tax credits for buyers and sellers of starter homes to stimulate the housing market, and allowing Medicare to negotiate prices for a broader range of drugs. Can Harris make the case for such ideas in a more compelling way than Biden has been able to do? An Economist/YouGov poll last week found 52 per cent of Americans disapproving of Bidens handling of jobs and the economy, while just 40 per cent approved. Advertisement What exactly does Harris plan to do regarding Israel and Gaza? Kamala Harris stance is not entirely clear on Gaza, which remains one of the most contentious issues among Democrats. According to The Hill, citing polls, majority of Democratic voters believe Israels actions in Gaza over the past 10 months have been excessive following the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023. Those attacks resulted in around 1,200 Israeli deaths, while Israels response has reportedly caused nearly 40,000 Palestinian deaths. Bidens handling of the crisis has affected his political standing. During the Democratic primary, the uncommitted vote a form of protest against Bidens position reached 19% in Minnesota and 13% in Michigan. Advertisement Harris has shown some sympathy towards the Palestinians, pledging not to remain silent about civilian suffering after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In Phoenix, she criticised an Israeli airstrike that reportedly killed over 80 people, stating that far too many civilians have been killed. The key question now is whether Harris will propose a significant shift from Bidens policy. According to The Hill report, a lack of change may disappoint progressives who want the US to stop arms shipments to Israel, while any move towards progressive views could attract criticism from pro-Israel Democrats and Republicans, who largely support Israel. Can she escape the Biden admins vulnerabilities on immigration? Advertisement The Harris campaign has sought to address what is seen as a significant vulnerability for the vice president by focusing on immigration. Their campaign ads have highlighted Trumps role in derailing a bipartisan immigration reform proposal earlier this year, which would have increased Border Patrol agents a move Harris supported but Trump opposed, reported The Hill. Despite this effort, the Harris campaign faces challenges in overcoming the broader immigration issue. According to The Hill, polls show that immigration is one of Bidens weakest areas, with voters disapproving of his performance by about a 2:1 ratio. Democrats often counter Trumps claim that Harris is Bidens border czar by pointing out that no such official role exists. However, Harris was closely associated with border policy early in the Biden administration and was frequently referred to as the border czar by various media outlets. Harriss focus on addressing the root causes of migration presents a difficult challenge, as meaningful progress in this area is inherently hard to measure. How will Harris fare in unscripted interviews and debates with Trump? Harris strong critics, especially conservatives, have noticed her avoidance of sit-down interviews and full-scale news conferences since becoming the Democratic nominee. According to The Hill report, she has promised to give an interview by the end of the month, and her performance will be closely scrutinised, with any errors potentially undermining her current momentum. So far, a September 10 debate with Trump hosted by ABC News is confirmed, with a possible NBC News debate also in the works, reported The Hill. Harriss team seems hesitant to agree to Trumps suggestion for an additional debate on Fox News, added the report. These debates will be crucial in the campaigns final stretch, potentially influencing the elections outcome. With inputs from agencies The rare public dialogue between Trump and Musk provided little new information about Trumps plans for a second term. However, some themes of itnerest were Trumps apparent trouble while speaking, possible role for Elon musk in Trump administration, an Iron Dome for the US, and mentions fo Putin and Kim Jong-un read more Donald Trump and Elon Musk sat down for a nearly 2-hour-long interview hosted on X. Reuters The widely-anticipated conversation between Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk was plagued by technical issues that the Tesla CEO attributed to a cyber attack. The extensive conversation, which Musk stated was intended for open-minded independent voters, began over 40 minutes late as many users experienced difficulties gaining access. The rare public dialogue between Trump and Musk provided little new information about Trumps plans for a second term. The former president spent much of the friendly discussion focused on his recent assassination attempt, illegal immigration, and his intentions to reduce government regulations. Advertisement Here are key takeaways from the interview: Like Bidens stutter, Trumps lisp in focus The former president sounded at times as if he had a lisp, many listeners pointed out. According to BBC, the term slurring was trending on Twitter in response to Trumps voice during this conversation with Musk. Comparisons were drawn to President Joe Bidens well-documented stutter. Remember when all of Trumptard country crucified Biden for being too old, slurring and stumbling on his words, and basically forced him to leave the raceAnd now are trying to find any way to defend Trump being the old man whos constantly slurring and asleep? Good times, one user wrote. Very weird the people who claim Trump was slurring completely ignored Bidens very obvious decline for over three years. Just so tiring the blatant hypocrisy from people all over the political spectrum, another one said. Possible role for Elon Musk if Trump comes to power? One of the most notable moments of the conversation was Trumps suggestion that Musk could play a role in his administration if he were to be re-elected. Trump praised Musk as the greatest cutter, referring to his ability to reduce government waste. I need an Elon Musk I need somebody that has a lot of strength and courage and smarts, Trump said in context of his intent to return control of education to the states. Advertisement Musk, in turn, expressed willingness to join a prospective government efficiency commission. Trump looking to shut Department of Education During his appearance, Trump discussed his plan to disband the Department of Education. This proposal has a strong support base among the evangelical Christian right. I want to close up the Department of Education, move education back to the states, Trump said. He said the US wasnt doing well compared to Norwegian countries and some other nations when it came to education. An Iron Dome for the US In a move likely to stir further debate, Trump floated the idea of establishing an Iron Dome missile defence system in the United States, drawing inspiration from Israels infrastructure. Why shouldnt we have an Iron Dome? Israel has one, Trump mused, referencing the system developed by Israeli companies with US support. Advertisement Iron Dome was developed after the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, a militant group based in southern Lebanon. It was created by Israeli firms Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries, with some US support. Praise for controversial world leaders Trump did not shy away from controversial remarks during the conversation, praising leaders such as Russias Vladimir Putin, Chinas Xi Jinping, and North Koreas Kim Jong-un. I know Putin. I know President Xi. I know Kim Jong Un, he told Elon Musk before adding, Theyre at the top of their game; theyre tough; theyre smart; theyre vicious and theyre going to protect their country. Advertisement He said that these leaders, who are often referred to as dictators, love their country, but that it is a different kind of love. Im not saying anything good or bad [about these leaders], Trump added, seeking to temper the implications of his praise. Greater reach for Trump Just ahead of the interview, Trump finally returned to X (formerly Twitter). He made a series of posts on the platform for the first time in a year. His account had previously served as a key method of communication in previous campaigns and his four years in the White House. When his access to the account was suspended by the previous owners following the Jan. 6 attack, citing concerns he would incite violence, Trump created his own social media platform, Truth Social. Advertisement He frequently posts on Truth Social. However, his posts there reach a much smaller audience than on X. While on Truth Social he has garnered just over 7.5 million followers, his X account boasts a following of 88 million. Elon Musk, who co-hosted the interview, is followed by over 193 million users. With inputs from agencies Donald Trump has accused Vice President Kamala Harris of getting a free ride from the media, criticising her for both her favorable Time magazine cover and imitation of his policies. He also lambasted her handling of immigration and environmental issues while hinting he might consider moving to Venezuela if he loses the upcoming election read more Donald Trump has launched a scathing attack on Vice President Kamala Harris, accusing her of receiving an undue free ride from the media. In a recent two-hour conversation with Elon Musk, which was broadcast on X, Trump slammed Harriss portrayal on the cover of Time magazine, suggesting it depicted her as the most beautiful actress ever. Trump criticised the covers portrayal, comparing Harriss appearance to that of his wife, Melania, saying she looked like the most beautiful actress ever. Trump argued that Harriss media portrayal was overly flattering and suggested it was part of a broader effort to shield her from serious scrutiny. Advertisement Trump described Harris as terrible and claimed that she had not faced enough scrutiny regarding her views and policies since becoming the Democrats presidential candidate. Trump further criticised Harris for what he sees as her attempts to mimic his policies. He pointed out that her recent proposal to end taxes on tips was identical to one he had made earlier, dismissing her actions as mere imitation. Trump accused Harris of being a radical left San Francisco liberal who is now pretending to be more Trump than Trump, though he himself deemed that impossible. On the issue of immigration, Trump blasted Harris for her role as Joe Bidens border tsar, claiming she was responsible for a surge in illegal immigration. He dismissed her recent promises to improve border security as part of a disinformation campaign, arguing that she was fully in charge and could have taken decisive action if she had wanted to. The discussion also veered into environmental issues, where Trump expressed skepticism about efforts to combat global warming. He suggested that solar panels could be installed on car roofs and trunks but admitted that environmental concerns were not his primary focus. Trump joked about the financial benefits of rising sea levels, downplaying global warming while stressing the more immediate threat of nuclear proliferation. In a controversial remark, Trump hinted that he might move to Venezuela if he loses the election, suggesting it would be a safer place compared to the US. He alleged that Venezuela had reduced its crime rate by sending dangerous criminals to the US. Advertisement Throughout the conversation, Musk attempted to engage Trump with proposals for his second term, including ideas for deregulation and government efficiency. However, Trump was dismissive of these suggestions, boasting about his previous record on deregulation and showing limited interest in Musks proposals. Later Monday, the defense ministry announced on X that the last soldiers had been freed after being held against their will for 72 hours read more Rural Colombians on Monday freed 66 soldiers they had been holding hostage since the weekend, allegedly at the behest of a guerrilla group, the government of the South American country said. The soldiers were taken on Saturday along with about 40 others who managed to get away, an army source told AFP. The remaining 66 were held by about 650 residents in rural south Colombia, mayor Willy Rodriguez of the nearby town San Jose del Guaviare told Caracol Radio. Later Monday, the defense ministry announced on X that the last soldiers had been freed after being held against their will for 72 hours. The townspeople are thought to have acted under the influence of dissidents of the FARC guerrilla movement. Advertisement Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez has accused the Jorge Suarez Briceno rebel group as being behind what he described as a kidnapping. The group is in peace negotiations with the government, and agreed to a bilateral ceasefire in October last year. Velasquez warned over the weekend that the hostage-taking put the truce at risk. Despite a 2016 peace deal that led to the disarmament of the FARC, fighting between the security forces, leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries and drug gangs has continued. Gustavo Petro, Colombias first-ever leftist president, has sought to end the six-decade internal conflict by negotiating with several armed groups since taking office in August 2022. The toll of the conflict is estimated at 9.5 million people displaced, murdered, kidnapped or missing. A shortwave ridge, a minor disturbance in the jet stream, is expected to move over California on Tuesday, resulting in a slight Bay Area warmup. Baron/Lynx A quiet weather pattern is settling in across the Bay Area, as the hottest temperatures shift to the Plains and Gulf Coast for mid-August. Without a strong weather system nearby, Northern California is reverting to typical summer weather, with highs in the 80s to 90s inland, rather than nonstop triple-digit temperatures. Coastal areas remain in the 60s, with 70s around San Francisco Bay. Small perturbations in the jet stream, a ribbon of strong winds high in the atmosphere, will result in only minor temperature fluctuations this week. On Tuesday, temperatures will be about 3 to 5 degrees higher than Monday in Santa Rosa, Sacramento and San Jose as a weak shortwave ridge moves over the Bay Area. Shortwave weather patterns are weaker and faster moving than their longwave counterparts, which result in winter storms and summer heat waves. A shortwave trough, the opposite of a ridge, may cross the area Wednesday into Thursday, resulting in a slight cool-down. Meteorologists in other parts of the country may attempt to identify shortwave troughs as a potential trigger for thunderstorms, but in the Bay Area lightning desert, shortwaves typically dont have a significant impact on the local weather. Advertisement Article continues below this ad By Saturday, a longwave trough, also referred to as a low-pressure system, is expected to nudge toward the Oregon coast and could contribute to a more dramatic cooldown in Northern California. Tuesday breakdown San Francisco: Skies should start off mostly sunny across the city this morning as drier air disrupts the development of marine stratus clouds. Temperatures will jump a few degrees as a result of the sunnier weather, with highs in the low 60s west of Twin Peaks and Pacific Heights and the mid-60s in downtown and Bayview. The Mission District could reach the upper 60s. Clouds and fog will slowly return in the afternoon with gusts up to 25 mph through the evening. Lows will be in the low 50s. North Bay: Morning clouds are possible in parts of the Wine Country, but coverage is not expected to be as widespread as Monday due to a slightly drier air mass. Sunshine will quickly emerge and temperatures are expected to rise about 5 degrees compared to Mondays highs. Santa Rosa should reach the mid-80s, with low 80s in Petaluma, San Rafael, Napa and Vallejo, and upper 80s to low 90s in Fairfield and Vacaville. Afternoon gusts up to 30 mph are expected near the delta. Patchy fog will return to the valleys overnight with lows in the low to mid-50s. East Bay: Mostly sunny skies are expected across the East Bay, with temperatures returning close to normal following a cooler than average Monday. Highs will be in the upper 60s to low 70s in Berkeley, Oakland and Alameda and the mid- to upper 70s in Hayward and Fremont, respectively. The Tri-Valley and Lamorinda area should climb to the low to mid-80s, with upper 80s to near 90 in Walnut Creek, Concord and Antioch. Overnight lows will be in the mid- to upper 50s with some cloud cover expected to develop by Wednesday morning. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Pacific Coast and Peninsula: A region of drier air in the lower atmosphere will contribute to more sunshine along the coast in the morning. Temperatures should climb a few degrees as a result, to the low to mid-60s in Daly City, Pacifica and Half Moon Bay. The warmest part of the Peninsula will be near Redwood City, with highs in the upper 70s, while South San Francisco will be close to 70 degrees. Afternoon gusts up to 30 mph are possible though the San Bruno Gap. Overnight lows will be in the low to mid-50s with coastal fog likely to return. Kamala Harris announced that she, like Donald Trump, wants to end federal taxation of tipped earnings for workers with the added caveat that she would limit the plan to those in the lower- and middle incomes read more Vice President Kamala Harris is trying to outmaneuver former President Donald Trump and address old vulnerabilities on her policy positions as she starts to fill in how she would govern if elected in November. Vice presidents rarely have policy portfolios of their own and almost always set aside any views that differ from those of the Oval Office occupant. Now, after four years of following President Joe Bidens lead, Harris is taking a cautious approach to unveiling a policy vision in her own right. Advertisement But her surprise ascendance to the top of the ticket after Biden dropped his reelection bid also means her policy platform is being pulled together just as quickly. When Harris inherited Bidens political operation in late July, the campaigns website was quietly scrubbed of the six-point issues page that framed the race against Trump, from expanding voting protections to restoring nationwide access to abortion. Instead, Harris has peppered her speeches so far heavy on biography for herself and her running mate with broad goals like building up the middle class." She has called for federal laws to provide abortion access and ban assault-style weapons, but has been thin on the details of what specifically they would entail or how she would convince Congress to make progress on some of the most hot-button political issues. Asked by reporters on Saturday when she would unveil her policy platform, Harris promised more details this week and added, Itll be focused on the economy and what we need to do to bring down costs and also strengthen the economy overall. Her team has offered few clues of what it will include. But the first major window into her thinking came this past weekend, with a proposal pulled not from the policy backwaters of the Biden administration or the cutting-room floor of the legislative process but from her rival: Trump. Harris announced that she, like Trump, wants to end federal taxation of tipped earnings for workers with the added caveat that she would limit the plan to those in the lower- and middle incomes. The idea has drawn bipartisan support in recent months and is particularly salient in service industry-heavy Nevada. Advertisement Its also one of the few new ideas embraced by Trump in his 2024 bid to get back into the White House a bonus in the view of the Harris camp, which has tried to needle the Republican into making unforced errors. The Republican was none too amused by Harris endorsing the idea, complaining on his social media platform that This was a TRUMP idea - She has no ideas, she can only steal from me. Trump continued on the matter in an interview with Elon Musk on Monday night, criticizing Harris for adopting his idea after what he claimed was harassment by the Biden administration of tipped workers. Advertisement On Monday, the White House said that Biden backed the plan too, though White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre wouldnt address why Biden and Harris didnt push for it during their first three-and-a-half years in office. Obviously, its a new idea, she said, but added later in response to criticism from Trump, Why didnt they pass it during the last administration? In her first weeks as a candidate, Harris most pronounced policy moves have been to back away from liberal stances she took in her failed 2020 bid for the White House, including proposals to ban fracking, establish a single-payer healthcare system and decriminalize illegal border crossings. Harris dropped out of that heated race before a single vote had been cast but recognizes that voters now could punish her for those stances if not quickly addressed. Advertisement Another complication for Harris comes from her relationship with Biden, who quickly endorsed her and handed her the keys to his political operation after he dropped out. The last three and a half years, theyve been in sync, said Jean-Pierre. They have been certainly on the same page. And I presume that that will continue from here. Biden himself only began outlining detailed policy ideas for a second term during his final, frenzied effort to salvage his candidacy after his disastrous June 27 debate against Trump. He advocated for restoring abortion access, raising the federal minimum wage and passing a new surtax on billionaires. Harris has largely embraced all those priorities, including the incumbents call for changes to the Supreme Court. Advertisement But all those plans would require congressional support, which proved elusive even when Democrats held unified control of Washington during the first two years of the Biden-Harris administration. Harris campaign, meanwhile, suggested that her attempted shifts to the center are reflective of how she would try to bring consensus to government. While Donald Trump is wedded to the extreme ideas in his Project 2025 agenda, Vice President Harris believes real leadership means bringing all sides together to build consensus, said Harris spokesman Kevin Munoz. It is that approach that made it possible for the Biden-Harris administration to achieve bipartisan breakthroughs on everything from infrastructure to gun violence prevention. As President, she will take that same pragmatic approach, focusing on common-sense solutions for the sake of progress. While Trump in recent weeks has resorted to personal and racially tinged attacks on his new rival, his campaign has been working to put Harris policy aims front and center, aiming to paint Harris as a radical liberal, pointing to old videos of her discussing policy positions during the 2020 Democratic primary. Kamala Harris has flip-flopped on virtually every policy she has supported and lived by for her entire career, from the Border to Tips, and the Fake News Media isnt reporting it, Trump posted Sunday. She sounds more like Trump than Trump, copying almost everything. She is conning the American public, and will flip right back. I will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! There will be no flipping!!! Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is in Moscow on his first visit since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Russias President Putin is likely to discuss West Asia situation with Abbas read more Cornered diplomatically over his military aggression against Ukraine, Russias President Vladimir Putin will discuss the situation in West Asia with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Moscow on Tuesday, the Kremlin said late on Monday. It is expected that an exchange of views will be held on the situation in the Middle East in light of the current aggravation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip, the Kremlin said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. Advertisement This comes when Russia is fighting a multi-front war with Ukraine after Putin ordered his forces to invade the neighbouring country in February 2024. As the war rages on with Russian forces making significant advances in Ukraine, Kyiv launched a counter-incursion inside Russias Kursk region last week. Ukraines President Volodomyr Zelenskyy called his military tactic a move to restore justice even as Putin fumed over the losses his troops suffered in the Ukrainian attack. Putin has vowed to push back the enemy from Russian territory. Ukraine, on the other hand, has claimed to have captured some 10,000 sq km of Russian land in Kursk. Amid the ongoing war, Putin is hosting Abbas, who is in Moscow on a long-expected visit until Wednesday and is to travel to Turkey for talks with President Tayyip Erdogan afterwards. This is Abbass first visit to Russia after Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago. Putin hopes to play a role in West Asia, with an eye on ending his almost isolation over the invasion of Ukraine. Russia, which has forged close ties both with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Arab leaders including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has condemned the recent killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, calling on all parties to refrain from further destabilisation of the Middle East. Advertisement It has also repeatedly scolded the West for ignoring the need for an independent Palestinian state within 1967 borders. Though the Indian Visa Application Centre in Bangladeshs capital Dhaka has resumed operation, it has requested applicants to arrive at the centre only after receiving a text message to collect their passports read more The Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) on Tuesday announced the resumption of limited operations in its Dhaka centre. Source: bdnews24.com. The Indian visa application centre in Dhaka has resumed limited operations on Tuesday, days after Bangladesh saw violent clashes which led to the ouster of prime minister Sheikh Hasina. Hasina, 76, resigned and fled to India last week following widespread protests against her Awami League-led government over a controversial job quota system. In a press release, the Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) announced the resumption of limited operations in its Dhaka centre. IVAC (JFP) Dhaka has resumed limited operations. Messages will be sent to individual applicants regarding (the) collection of passports, the press release said. Advertisement It requested applicants to arrive at the centre only after receiving a text message to collect their passports. Because of limited operations, the process may take longer. We request your understanding, it said. Last week, the IVAC announced the closure of all visa centres in the country until further notice due to the unstable situation after the fall of the Hasina-led Awami League government, Somoy TV news channel reported. The National Emergency Hotline Service has been restored as of Tuesday, according to the Dhaka Tribune newspaper. From Monday, police officers returned to different police stations and traffic police personnel also went back to work. The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education also instructed primary schools to resume classes after a month of closure, bdnews24.com news portal reported. Over 230 people were killed in Bangladesh in the incidents of violence that erupted across the country following the fall of the Hasina government on August 5, taking the death toll to 560 since the anti-quota protests first started in mid-July. An interim government was formed after the fall of the Hasina-led government, and its Chief Adviser, 84-year-old Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, announced the portfolios of his 16-member council of advisors last week. Foreign Affairs Adviser of Bangladeshs interim government, Md Touhid Hossain, said on Monday that deposed prime minister Hasinas extended stay in India will not hurt bilateral relations, and Dhaka will always try to maintain good relations with New Delhi. Advertisement Hasina flew to the Hindon air base near Delhi in a Bangladesh military aircraft on Monday after fleeing Bangladesh. Hossain said the relationship between the two countries is not influenced by the presence of one individual in a country while India has its interests, and Bangladesh has its interests. He said they will always try to maintain good relations with India. Last week, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India hoped for an early restoration of law and order in Bangladesh. He said India is in touch with authorities in Bangladesh to ensure the safety and security of Indian missions, the personnel working there, and Indians residing in that country. Iran is expected to attack Israel within days and by the end of this week, according to Israeli and US assessments read more in Washington and Tel Aviv cannot predict exactly when Tehran will strike. AFP Iranian officials have said only a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip could delay the attack on Israel, according to Reuters. Previously, Israel and the United States have assessed that Iran is expected to attack Israel shortly. While Israel has assessed the attack may come within days, the White House has said the attack may come by the end of the week. Following Hamas chief Ismail Haniyehs assassination in Tehran last month, Iran has vowed to extract revenge and an attack on Israel has been considered to be only a matter of time. There are fears that the Iranian attack and the subsequent Israeli response could lead to an escalatory spiral that could plunge Middle East in an all-out war. Advertisement Iran will attack Israel if talks fail or drag on Three Iranian officials have told Reuters that only a ceasefire in Gaza could hold Iran back from directly attacking Israel. One of these sources said that Iran and Hezbollah would launch a direct attack on Israel if talks for a ceasefire in Gaza fail or if Iran assesses that Israel is dragging out negotiations. The source, however, did not give a timeline. The United States, Qatar, and Egypt have called Israel and Hamas to finalise a deal for a ceasefire in Gaza and release of hostages on Thursday (August 15). While Israel has described the meeting as a now or never chance for a deal, Hamas has refused to take part in the meeting. The news agency reported that two of three sources said Iran would support Lebanon-based Hezbollah and other allies if they launched their own responses to the Haniyehs assassination in and the killing of Hezbollah commander Faud Shukr, who was slain in an airstrike in Beirut just hours ahead of Haniyehs killing. There are fears that the Iranian attack on Israel, in response to the assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, could spark an all-out war in the Middle East read more Despite the severe Western pressure and multiple rounds of talks, Iran has rejected calls to walk back the promised attack on Israel. On Monday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer held separate talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to tell him to not attack Israel. While the attack did not come last as night as was widely expected, Iran has maintained that an attack is in the offing. Advertisement Following the assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh last month in Tehran, Iran has vowed to extract revenge and an attack on Israel has since only been considered to be a matter of time. There are fears that the Iranian attack on Israel, in response to the assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, could spark an all-out war in the Middle East Following the call with Scholz, Pezeshkian said that Iran has a right to respond. Later, in a statement on Tuesday, Iran slammed the Western nations for brazenly asking Iran to stand down but doing nothing regarding Israel which violated its sovereignty Iran and Hamas maintain Israel assassinated Haniyeh even as Israel has neither confirmed nor denied the allegation. The declaration by France, Germany and Britain, which raised no objection to the international crimes of the Zionist regime, brazenly asks Iran to take no deterrent action against a regime which has violated its sovereignty and territorial integrity, said Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanani, as per AFP, calling Israeli Zionist as Iran denies the right of Israel to exist. We have right to respond It was a day of multi-frontal diplomatic engagements. Even as diplomacy continued, the military preparations to tackle any eventualities also continued. Folling a call with German Chancellor Scholz, Pezeshkian said Iran had a right to respond to any aggression. Advertisement While emphasising diplomatic solutions to issues, Iran will never give in to pressure, to sanctions and to bullying and considers it has the right to respond to aggressors in accordance with international norms, said Pezeshkian, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. Later in the day, British PM Sir Starmer held a call with Pezeshkian and told him to not attack Iran. Starmer told Pezeshkian that there was a serious risk of miscalculation if an attack was carried out, according to the British PMs Office. Saying that attacking Israel was not in anyones favour, Starmer reiterated the commitment to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Advertisement The Prime Minister underlined his commitment to an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages and increasing humanitarian aid to Gaza. He added the focus should be on diplomatic negotiations to achieve those outcomes, said the PMO in a statement. The situation in the Middle East is deeply concerning. This evening, I spoke to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian about the need for all parties to de-escalate to avoid further confrontation. Now is the time for calm. pic.twitter.com/LeiDX1SE8D Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) August 12, 2024 Even as Starmer and Scholz held calls with Pezeshkian, the Western leaders also held meetings amongst themselves and issued a joint statement. Starmer and Scholz were joined by US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni to ask Iran to stand down and warn of serious consequences to regional security in case it went ahead with the attack on Israel. We called on Iran to stand down its ongoing threats of a military attack against Israel and discussed the serious consequences for regional security should such an attack take place, said the joint-statement shared by the leaders. Prime Minister @Keir_Starmer, President @EmmanuelMacron, @Bundeskanzler Scholz, Prime Minister @GiorgiaMeloni and I express our support for efforts to de-escalate tensions and reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza. All parties must live up to their responsibilities. pic.twitter.com/Oluqidk30S President Biden (@POTUS) August 12, 2024 Advertisement The latest assessment by Israel is that the attack by Israel may happen within days and the White House has also separately said that attacks by Iran and its regional allies like Hezbollah are possible by the end of the week. The United States along with mediators Qatar and Egypt have called Israel and Hamas for talks on Thursday to finalise the Gaza ceasefire deal read more Fatima Payman supported a motion from the opposition Greens to announce the need for the Senate to recognise the State of Palestine. AFP Even as Israel and Hamas appear to be increasing the roadblocks, the United States has said its hopeful of a deal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Later this week, the United States along with mediators Qatar and Egypt have called Israel and Hamas for talks on Thursday (August 15) to finalise a deal for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages in captivity. The deal will be in line with the three-stage plan floated by Biden in May, which envisions an end to the war in Gaza in a three-stage process starting with a six-week ceasefire. Advertisement Israel and Hamas have, however, hardened their positions. While Israel has added new demands in recent weeks that have dampened the chances of a deal, Hamas has refused to take part in the Thursdays meeting. Still, the Biden administration has sounded hopeful. Despite the Hamas refusal to take part in the talks, the Department of State has said that there are assurances that Hamas will indeed join the talks. We fully expect talks to move forward When Israel and Hamas come to the table on Thursday, there are full expectations that the talks will move forward, said the Department of State. So, well let this process play out, but we fully expect these talks to move forward, as they should, said State Department spokesman Vedant Patel on Tuesday, according to AFP. Patel said that our Qatari partners have assured us that they are working to ensure that there is Hamas representation as well. Even though new Israeli demands have dampened the prospects of a deal, Patel said that Israeli officials have said that theyll be prepared to finalize the details for implementing the deal. He, however, refused to comment on specific Israeli positions on the negotiations. The Israel-Hamas talks also take place at a time when Iran is widely expected to attack Israel anytime. Reuters has reported that the only thing that may make Iran rethink about the attack is a ceasefire in Gaza, but the new demands inserted by Israel has reduced the chances of a deal. Advertisement What are problematic Israeli demands? While the core proposal on the table remains as was announced by Biden in May, Israel has added new demands in recent weeks. Israel has added four new demands related to the return of displaced Palestinians from south to the north, the control of Gazan strip of territory bordering Egypt, and the details of hostages with Hamas. Firstly, Israel has demanded checkpoints to screen displaced Gazans returning to their homes northward so that no terrorists make their way to the north, according to The New York Times. Secondly, Israel has demanded continued control of the Philadelphi Corridor, the 8-9 mile-long (around 13-14 kms) strip of land along the Gaza-Egypt border. The idea is to check the cross-border flow of terrorists and weapons to prevent any terrorism resurgence in the region in the future. Advertisement Thirdly, Israel has demanded the option to resume fighting later if the need arises whereas Hamas wants a permanent end to the war, as per The Times. Fourthly, Israels Channel 12 has reported that one of the revisions also requires Hamas to hand over the list of all surviving hostages to Israel. While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is sticking to the demands with the idea that the military pressure on Hamas is likely to make it accept them, it has been reported that Hamas and Egypt have rejected them. Previously, Reuters reported that while Hamas has rejected the demand to set-up screening checkpoints for returning Palestinians, Egypt has rejected the demand to retain control of the Philadelphi Corridor. The assassination of Ismail Haniyeh has intensified scrutiny of Hamass future strategies, with Yahya Sinwars new leadership raising concerns about a potentially more hardline stance in ceasefire negotiations and diplomatic relations read more Yahya Sinwar is believed to be the architect of the October 7 attack on Israel, the deadliest attack in Israel's history. Source: AFP. With West Asia anxious and Israel on edge over an anticipated duty call of revenge by Iran following the killing of former Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, the Palestinian group has decided to not participate in the August 15 ceasefire talks that may be held in Egypt or Qatar. Haniyeh was instrumental in taking the ceasefire negotiations further, with US President Joe Biden proposing a formula to bring peace to West Asia. Advertisement Haniyehs assassination saw the group choose a new political chief Yahya Sinwar. This has thrust the groups future strategies into sharp focus. Sinwars leadership raises significant questions about whether Hamas will adopt a more rigid stance in ceasefire negotiations and broader diplomatic efforts. Early signs: Hamass stance on ceasefire negotiations In what appeared as a change of stance, Hamas has explicitly rejected participating in new negotiations for a ceasefire-hostage deal, scheduled to take place in Cairo, Egypt or Doha, Qatar. Instead, the group has demanded that mediators present a plan based on previous agreements from July 2, which align with President Joe Bidens vision and the UN Security Council resolution. Hamass statement insists that mediators should enforce these prior agreements rather than engaging in new rounds of discussions. The groups refusal to enter fresh negotiations underscores its rigid stance and desire to avoid proposals perceived as beneficial to Israels position. It said, The mediators should enforce this on the occupation [Israel] instead of pursuing further rounds of negotiations or new proposals that would provide cover for the occupations aggression and grant it more time to continue its genocide against our people. International mediators from Qatar, Egypt and the US last week urged Israel and Hamas to attend negotiations on a ceasefire and hostage release deal on August 15. Israel later said it would participate in the meeting. Advertisement Negotiations faltered last month, after new terms were introduced to the framework presented by Biden in May. According to Bidens truce plan, a deal that would start with a full ceasefire and the release of a number of hostages. The UN Security Council later endorsed that framework. Sinwars hardline approach Yahya Sinwar, now at the helm of Hamas, is markedly different from his predecessor Haniyeh. Known for his hardline position and military credentials, Sinwar is believed to be a pivotal figure behind the recent brutal attacks on Israel. This shift in leadership suggests a likely move towards more uncompromising tactics. Sinwar is viewed as a key strategist behind Hamass recent aggressive operations, including the devastating attack on October 7, 2023, which resulted in significant casualties among Israeli soldiers and civilians. Advertisement West Asia experts, such as Khaled Elgindy from the Middle East Institute, anticipate that Sinwars influence will make Hamass decision-making process tougher and less amenable to compromise, complicating any efforts towards a ceasefire. Sinwars leadership could also strain efforts to achieve Palestinian unity. Haniyeh had been involved in recent reconciliation talks with Fatah, aiming to bridge gaps between the factions. Sinwars more hardline approach, however, may impede these efforts. Analysts, including Mouin Rabbani, suggest that while President Mahmoud Abbas is a significant barrier to reconciliation, Sinwars scepticism towards concessions could exacerbate the divisions within Palestinian politics. How it may impact Hamass strategic foreign relations Advertisement Sinwars tenure is expected to continue Hamass strategic alliances with regional powers such as Qatar and Iran. Unlike Haniyeh, who could travel internationally, Sinwars confinement within Gaza due to the ongoing conflict may limit his direct diplomatic engagements. Haniyeh usually lived in Doha and met with foreign leaders to get a broader perspective about the Israel-Hamas conflict. Sinwar, on the other hand, has lived in Gaza since he was released by Israel in 2011, and has lived through the sentiments that Gazans express every time Israel carries out an attack. Nevertheless, Sinwar is also said to be pragmatic towards foreign relations and eyes strengthening ties with any state or organisation willing to support Hamas, regardless of ideological considerations. But this also hardens his stand on Israel. Advertisement Sinwars rise to power has marked a significant shift in Hamass approach, potentially leading to more rigid positions in ceasefire talks and internal Palestinian politics. The groups rejection of new negotiations and demand for the implementation of previous agreements reflect its uncompromising stance under Sinwars leadership, further complicating efforts toward peace and reconciliation. Deposed Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Hasina has called for a nationwide mourning on August 15, the anniversary of her familys massacre by the military in 1975 read more Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina has resigned. Interim government head Muhammad Yunus has supported fresh elections. The question for Bangladesh is who will be the next PM now. File Photo/Reuters In her first statement since her ouster last week, former Bangladeshi premier Sheikh Hasina has said that those opposed to her have insulted the marthyrs of the nations liberation movement and Father of the Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rehman. In a statement in Bangla shared by her son Sajeeb Wazed on X (formerly Twitter), Hasina recalled the massacre of her father Mujib and family members in a military coup in 1975 and asked Bangladeshis to hold a national mourning on its anniversary on Thursday (August 15). Advertisement Hasina said that the movement against her was going on since last July and her Bangladesh Awami Party (BAL) cadres were being attacked. Condoling the loss of lives since the said movement, she called for those guilty to be punished. Hasina said, Since last July, many fresh lives have been lost due to vandalism, arson and violence in the name of agitation. Students, teachers, police even internal women police, journalists, cultural workers, working people, Awami League and affiliated organisation leaders, workers, pedestrians, and workers in various institutions who have died as a victim of terrorist attack, I am condoling and praying for their souls. My condolences to those like me who are living with the pain of losing a loved one. I demand that those involved in these killings and vandalism be properly investigated and the culprits be identified and punished accordingly. , , , Sajeeb Wazed (@sajeebwazed) August 13, 2024 Father of Nation & blood of martyrs insulted In an apparent reference to the vandalism of the statue of Mujib, the Father of the nation, Hasina said that he was grossly insulted. The Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, under whose leadership we have gained self-esteem as an independent nation, got self-identity and got an independent country, has been grossly insulted. They insulted the blood of millions of martyrs. I want justice from the countrymen, said Hasina. Referring to the burning of the Mujibs residence where her family was murdered, which had been turned into a museum, Hasina said that the memory that was the basis of our survival has been burnt to ashes. Advertisement On the upcoming anniversary of her familys massacre, Hasina urged the Bangladeshis to offer garlands at the torched museum, called the Bangabandhu Bhavan after Mujijb, and pray for the salvation of the souls there. Hasina also appealed to the Bangladeshis to observe the National Day of Mourning on 15th August with due dignity and solemnity. Since her flight from Bangladesh, Hasina has been staying in India. It is not certain where she would eventually settle. Within days of her ouster, the military and student leaders picked Nobel laureate Mohammed Yunus to lead an interim government to run the country. Russias defence ministry said its air defence units destroyed 12 drones over the Kursk region, which Ukraine attacked a week ago and claims to have captured 1,000 square kilometres (386 square miles) by Monday read more Ukraine launched fresh drone attacks on Russias border region of Kursk on Tuesday, a day after President Vladimir Putin lashed out at the West for supporting Kyivs surprise incursion into Russian territory. Russias defence ministry said its air defence units destroyed 12 drones over the Kursk region, which Ukraine attacked a week ago and claims to have captured 1,000 square kilometres (386 square miles) by Monday. Putin said on Monday that Ukraines incursion - the largest since he launched Moscows full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 - was aimed at improving Kyivs negotiating position ahead of possible peace talks. Advertisement In his most detailed public remarks on the attacks to date, he also said that Kyiv with the help of its Western masters is trying to slow down the advance of Russian forces in what the Kremlin calls a special military operation in Ukraine. He also questioned what negotiations there could be with an enemy he accused of firing indiscriminately at Russian civilians and nuclear facilities. On Monday, Ukraines top commander Oleksandr Syrskyi told President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday troops were continuing their advance into Russian territory. We continue to conduct an offensive operation in the Kursk region. Currently, we control about 1,000 square kilometres of the territory of the Russian Federation, he said in a video published on Zelenskyys Telegram account. Reuters was unable to verify the claims by either side. The acting governor of Kursk, Alexei Smirnov, said Ukraine controlled 28 settlements in the region, and the incursion was about 12 km (7.5 miles) deep and 40 km (25 miles) wide. In Kursk, 121,000 people had already left or have been evacuated and another 59,000 were in the process of being evacuated, local officials said. In Russias Belgorod region, which borders Kursk, 11,000 civilians were also evacuated, the regions governor said. Ukrainian forces in Kursk were trying to encircle Sudzha, where Russian natural gas flows into Ukraine, while major battles were under way near Korenevo, about 22 km (14 miles) from the border, and Martynovka, according to some military bloggers. Advertisement Ukraines air force said on Tuesday that Russia launched 38 attack drones and two ballistic missiles on Ukraine overnight. The whole country was briefly under air raid alerts early on Tuesday, but these have since been called off. Two long-range rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip at central Israel a short while ago today, with one of the projectiles apparently landing in the sea off the coast of Tel Aviv and the second failing to cross the border, according to a report read more Two long-range rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip at central Israel a short while ago today, with the projectiles apparently landing in the sea off the coast of Tel Aviv, according to a report. According to a Times of Israel report, Hamas has claimed responsibility for the attack. Al-Qassam Brigades bombarded the city of Tel Aviv and its suburbs with two M90 missiles in response to the Zionist massacres against civilians and the deliberate displacement of our people, a statement by the group said. Advertisement | : . pic.twitter.com/rqluq6agCi (@qudsn) August 13, 2024 Residents of the area reported hearing a blast and no sirens were sounded as the rockets were not heading for populated areas, added the report. The last time Hamas fired rockets at Tel Aviv was in late in May. Confirming the strike, Israel Defence Forces said a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed in the sea off the coast of central Israel while the second rocket failed to cross the border. A short while ago, a projectile that was identified crossing from the Gaza Strip fell in the maritime space in central Israel, AFP quoted the army saying in a statement. The army added that simultaneously, an additional projectile that did not cross into Israeli territory was identified. The attack came with Israel on high alert for an attack by Iran and its proxies following the killings of senior figures from Hamas and Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed group. Advertisement With inputs from agencies Following a successful first week of strike actions by nearly 10,000 Woolworths workers last week, FIRST Union members say a request for all supermarket staff to voluntarily dress up in Disney costumes that they must pay for themselves this week is in "poor taste" and indicative of the companys wasteful spending and tone-deafness during the largest-ever strike action of its supermarket staff over pay and staffing levels. "Its in really poor taste for Woolworths to ask all staff to dress up in make-believe costumes that they have to pay for themselves when theyre in the middle of a very real strike action over low pay and unsafe staffing levels," said Rudd Hughes, FIRST Union National Secretary for Retail and Finance. "Woolworths may be living in dreamland but its a tall order to ask underpaid staff to join them there on their own dime - real Scrooge McDuck behaviour." "Were hearing from members that the majority will not participate and find it extremely distasteful that theyre being asked to make and dress up in Disney costumes after spending the last week being misled and lied to by store managers about the legality of wearing a strike sticker at work." FIRST Union reported on Friday that managers around the country attempted to intimidate and mislead FIRST Union members on strike about their rights to participate in the lawful action, with examples reported of managers hiding strike stickers and telling staff on Wednesday last week that the strike had already concluded and workers were now risking disciplinary action by continuing to wear stickers, which was incorrect. Nearly 10,000 FIRST Union Woolworths workers voted for industrial action that began on Tuesday last week, with staff wearing strike stickers until Friday and members at ten stores handing out "receipt"-style flyers to staff. A media and social media strike are ongoing, with the union and company returning to the bargaining table this week, with members expecting a "massively improved offer" to avoid further strike actions like the withdrawal of labour, according to Mr Hughes. He said the public response from customers to strike actions had been overwhelmingly positive and supportive, and solidarity was growing among union members. Michelle McKenzie, a Woolworths duty supervisor based in Christchurch and member of the FIRST Union bargaining team, said the companys request for staff to dress up as Disney characters had not gone over well with workers. "Most people cant afford to pay for their own living expenses comfortably on our current wages, so the request for us to design a Disney-accurate costume from our own back pockets was seen as quite ridiculous," said Ms McKenzie. "It makes us feel like the strike action is falling on deaf ears. We dont want to wish upon a star - we want a living wage, safer staffing levels and penalty rates for nights and weekends." Mr Hughes said the Disney promotion included handing out thousands of collectible trading cards to customers, and Woolworths would be spending a "fortune" on other activities like advertising on television during the Olympics and paying for public transport signage. Instructions to workers were to dress as accurate Disney, Marvel and Star Wars characters with licensed Disney clothing, and no DC characters or costume-mixing, e.g. the Sheriff of Nottingham wearing a Darth Vader mask, or "replicating culturally diverse character" skintones (i.e. "blackface"). "Getting into bed with Disney and asking workers to play make-believe dress-up during strike action is strangely fitting given Disneys historically anti-union background," said Mr Hughes. In the United States in June, four Disney staff unions filed unfair labour practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board against Disney for "unlawful discipline, intimidation and surveillance of union members exercising their right to wear union buttons at work." "If Woolworths want to talk about heroes in supermarkets, they should look at their own workers," said Mr Hughes. "Essential workers got us through Covid-19 and contributed to one of the worlds best pandemic responses - they have never really been thanked for it despite working for one of the most profitable companies in New Zealand." For more info: PR - Woolworths workers unfazed by intimidation as first strike action succeeds (Fri 9 August) PR - Woolworths workers vote for initial strike actions over low wage offer and unsafe staffing levels (Tue 6 August) Woolworths members on strike (6-9 August) photo galleries ENDS Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: TRU - WHO Agency UNITAID Features TRU in Tech Landscape Report PaySauce Quarterly Market Update - September 2024 October 2nd Morning Report Rua Releases Annual Report for Year Ended 30 June 2024 SCL - Settlement of orchard sales The Warehouse Group 2024 ASM and Director Nominations AIR - Update on Chief Operational Integrity and Safety Officer Comvita Limited - Annual Report 2024 September 27th Morning Report Spark announces departure of Finance Director Russia plans for extensive strikes across Western Europe in early stages of potential war against Nato, according to a report, citing secret files read more Russian President Vladimir Putin has frequently used threats against Ukraines European allies to deter Western support for Kyiv. AP File Russia has trained its navy to strike targets deep inside Europe using nuclear-capable missiles in the event of a conflict with Nato, according to a Financial Times report, citing secret files. Maps showing targets as distant as the west coast of France and Barrow-in-Furness in the UK were part of a detailed presentation for officers from before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, added the report. Citing the same 29 secret Russian military files, the news outlet had previously reported that Moscow had rehearsed using tactical nuclear weapons in the early stages of a conflict with a major world power. Advertisement These documents, shown to the FT by western sources, reveal Russias plans for extensive strikes across Western Europe, anticipating a conflict with the West extending beyond Nato borders. Prepared between 2008 and 2014, the files include targets for missiles with either conventional or tactical nuclear warheads, highlighting the early use of nuclear strikes, reported The Financial Times. The presentation also shows that Russia can deploy nuclear weapons on surface ships, increasing risks of escalation or accidents. The document notes the navys high manoeuvrability allows it to conduct sudden and pre-emptive blows and massive missile strikes . . . from various directions. It adds that nuclear weapons are as a rule designated for use in combination with other means of destruction to achieve Russias goals, the report added. According to The Financial Times, analysts who examined the documents found them in line with Natos assessment of the Russian navys long-range missile threat and the likely rapid escalation to nuclear use by Russia. Russian navy eyes 32 Nato targets The maps, created for presentation rather than operational use, highlight 32 Nato targets across Europe for Russias naval fleets. William Alberque, a former Nato official now at the Stimson Center, told the news outlet that the sample was a small portion of hundreds, if not thousands, of targets mapped across Europe . . . including military and critical infrastructure targets. Russias capacity to strike across Europe means that targets all over the continent would be at risk as soon as its army engaged with Nato forces in frontline countries such as the Baltic states and Poland, the report quoted analysts and former officials as saying. Advertisement Their concept of war is total war, The Financial Times quoted Jeffrey Lewis, a professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey who studies arms control, as saying. They see these things (tactical nuclear warheads) as potentially war-winning weapons, he added. Theyre going to want to use them, and theyre going to want to use them pretty quickly, he said. Tactical nuclear weapons, delivered via land, sea-launched missiles, or aircraft, have a shorter range and less destructive power compared to larger strategic weapons aimed at the US. Nevertheless, they still release significantly more energy than those used on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 1945. Advertisement Russian President Vladimir Putin has frequently used threats against Ukraines European allies to deter Western support for Kyiv. They need to remember they are small, densely populated states, he said in May. Plans for demonstration strike According to the report, the presentation also discusses the possibility of a demonstration strike detonating a nuclear weapon in a remote area to intimidate Western nations before an actual conflict. While Russia has not officially acknowledged this tactic, such a strike, the files say, would show the availability and readiness for use of precision non-strategic nuclear weapons and the intention to use nuclear weapons. They want the fear of Russian nuclear weapon use to be the magic key that unlocks western acquiescence, The Financial Times quoted Alberque, a former director of Natos Arms Control, Disarmament and WMD Non-Proliferation Centre, as saying. Advertisement Fabian Hoffmann, a doctoral research fellow at the University of Oslo specialising in nuclear policy, told The Financial Times that the combination of nuclear and conventional strikes outlined in the presentation serves as a warning to adversaries to engage in negotiations as tensions escalate. Nato estimates that member countries have less than 5% of the air defence capacity needed to protect the alliances eastern flank from a full-scale Russian attack. Putin claimed in June that Europe would be more or less defenseless against Russian missile strikes. Dara Massicot from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said that Russian strategists consider nuclear weapons crucial in the early stages of a conflict with Nato due to Russias limited conventional resources. Advertisement They just dont have enough missiles, The Financial Times quoted her as saying. The leaked documents also reveal that Russia has retained the ability to deploy tactical nuclear weapons on surface ships, despite a 1991 agreement with the US to eliminate such capabilities. The documents list anti-submarine missiles and ship-based anti-aircraft guided missiles with nuclear warheads among these assets. Alberque highlighted the risks of carrying nuclear weapons on surface ships, which are more vulnerable to storm damage or enemy attacks compared to strategic ballistic missile submarines. Recent exercises ordered by Putin, including the loading of Soviet-era P-270 anti-ship missiles with nuclear warheads on a Tarantul-class corvette in Kaliningrad, suggest that the leaked documents reflect current Russian military doctrine. Footage from these drills shows Russian troops practicing procedures for handling nuclear warheads, indicating ongoing preparations for potential use, The Financial Times reported. With inputs from agencies A nation of 115,000 residents, Kiribati is considered strategic despite being small, because it is relatively close to Hawaii and controls more than 3.5 million sq km (1.4 million sq miles) of Pacific Ocean read more President of Kiribati Taneti Maamau arrives to address the 78th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, U.S. File image/ Reuters The remote Pacific Island nation of Kiribati holds a national election on Wednesday at which major issues for voters are the governments close ties to China and a softer stance on global climate advocacy, competing with cost of living pressures. A nation of 115,000 residents, Kiribati is considered strategic despite being small, because it is relatively close to Hawaii and controls more than 3.5 million sq km (1.4 million sq miles) of Pacific Ocean. President Taneti Maamau, who switched Kiribatis ties from Taiwan to Beijing in 2019, has won Chinese development support but also courted international controversy after the sacking and deportation of an Australian-born high court judge who is married to Kiribatis Opposition leader. Advertisement Kiribatis loose political groupings are typical of several Pacific Island nations, where many candidates run as individuals and voters directly elect the president later, from a shortlist chosen by the new lawmakers. An audit by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association this year recommended that Kiribati introduce campaign financing laws - there is currently no monitoring of election spending - and restore constitutional free-speech protections. In February, Reuters reported that Chinese police had begun working in Kiribati, a sensitive issue for neighbour the United States, which signed a 1983 treaty providing for consultation before Kiribati allows third-party military use of its islands. Chinas police force donated riot control gear last month, pledging to solidify collaboration in law enforcement and policing, the Kiribati police said in a statement on Facebook. A U.S. request to establish an embassy has meanwhile stalled. Chloe Karea, 27, a travel agent in Tarawa, who recently returned home to Kiribati from studies in Britain, was disappointed to find she could not register for Wednesdays vote because of identification requirements. Its a really important election and could be pivotal because we have a lot of activity with China. It will show the peoples opinion on what has been happening, she said in a telephone interview. Voting is not compulsory in Kiribati, and Wednesdays ballot is the first of two rounds of voting for members of parliament, to be followed by the vote for president. Advertisement A lot of female candidates and lawyers have put themselves up for election, Karea added. Kiribati was left without a functioning appeals court system in 2022 after the government suspended all three Court of Appeal judges and the chief justice. A popular government policy of paying a monthly allowance to people of voting age who do not work, and a subsidy on the cost of copra, could win over some voters, Karea said. The election will let the people say if they are satisfied or not, said Robert Karora, project manager for the Kiribati Climate Action Network. We definitely need a change - so that climate change issues are taken seriously, he said in a telephone interview. Advertisement Under past governments, Kiribati had been a prominent campaigner on the global stage for climate change issues, he said. Maamaus government has backed deep sea mining, an issue that put it at odds with environmental groups. The Kiribati government did not respond to a request for comment. The United Auto Workers Union has lodged complaints with the National Labor Relations Board against Donald Trump and Elon Musk, accusing them of making illegal threats against workers. The move follows Trumps comments praising Musks tough stance on striking workers during a recent social media conversation read more The United Auto Workers Union said on Tuesday it has filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board against Donald Trump and Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab CEO Elon Musk over attempts to threaten and intimidate workers. The action came after Musk and Trump held a two-hour conversation on social media platform X on Monday night, during which Trump complimented Musks ability to cut costs by saying he would not tolerate workers going on strike. Advertisement Youre the greatest cutter, Trump said during the conversation. I mean, I look at what you do. You walk in, you just say: You want to quit? They go on strike - I wont mention the name of the company - but they go on strike. And you say: Thats okay, youre all gone. Musk chuckled but did not respond to Trumps comments, making it harder for the NLRB to find him liable for making illegal threats to workers at his companies, said Wilma Liebman, chair of the NLRB under former President Barack Obama. Under federal law, workers cannot be fired for going on strike, and threatening to do so is illegal under the National Labor Relations Act, the UAW said in a statement. It is unclear whether the NLRB would take action against Trump for his comments, but the UAW jumped on his remarks as it continues to rally behind Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris and encourage its nearly 400,000 workers to vote for her over Trump, especially in battleground states like Michigan that could determine who wins the White House in November. The UAW endorsed Harris at the end of July. UAW President Shawn Fain and Trump have exchanged barbs in the past. Both Trump and Musk want working class people to sit down and shut up, and they laugh about it openly. Its disgusting, illegal, and totally predictable from these two clowns, Fain said in a statement on Tuesday. Advertisement The Harris and Trump campaigns did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Musk also did not respond. Trump has called for the union leader to be fired, saying he is responsible for U.S. auto manufacturing becoming weaker. UAW members in Michigan tend to side with Democrats, but pro-Trump workers have organized their own rallies in recent weeks. In the 2020 presidential race, 62% of Michigan households with a union member voted for President Joe Biden, helping him win the state, according to Edison Research. By contrast, union households split 53% to 40% for Hillary Clinton in 2016, when she narrowly lost the state and the national race. Advertisement SENDING A MESSAGE The NLRB has limited power to punish unlawful labor practices. In cases involving illegal threats, the board can order employers to cease and desist from such conduct and to post notices in the workplace informing workers of their rights. Unions can also use favorable rulings from the NLRB to engage workers they are trying to organize. Its trying to expose more than anything politically what Donald Trump is about in terms of workers, and Musk as well, former NLRB head Liebman said, referring to the UAWs action on Tuesday. Everyone knows the NLRB remedies are toothless to start with, but its not so much for the remedy as for sending both a political message and an organizing message. Advertisement Fain filed separate complaints against Musk and Trump with the NLRB, claiming both men had made statements suggesting they would fire employees engaged in protected concerted activity, including striking. The complaints did not provide further detail. The UAW led a six-week strike against Detroits Big Three automakers last autumn, before winning record contracts. MUSK AND THE NLRB Musk, who has endorsed Trump for president, has had numerous run-ins with the labor board. His rocket company SpaceX is currently challenging the entire structure of the agency in a pair of pending lawsuits. Those cases stemmed from NLRB complaints accusing SpaceX of firing engineers who were critical of Musk and forcing employees to sign severance agreements with unlawful terms. Advertisement In March, a U.S. appeals court upheld an NLRB decision that said Musk illegally threatened Tesla employees by tweeting in 2018: Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union But why pay union dues & give up stock options for nothing? Tesla is separately facing allegations from the board that it illegally discouraged unionizing at a Buffalo, New York, plant. Last year, an appeals court threw out a labor board decision that said Tesla broke the law by barring factory workers from wearing UAW T-shirts. Lawyers at the labor board will investigate the unions claims and decide whether to issue formal complaints against Tesla and the Trump campaign. Those cases would be heard by administrative judges whose decisions can be reviewed by the five-member labor board and then federal appeals courts. The process often takes years. The Ukrainian incursion, largets one on Russian soil since WWII, is embarrassing for Putins top military brass. The enemy will certainly receive a worthy response, the President has said read more A crossing point on the border with Russia is seen, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the Russian border in Sumy region, Ukraine, August 11, 2024. File Image/Reuters Ukraines top military commander, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, has revealed a significant territorial gain in Russias Kursk. According to him, Ukrainian forces now control 1,000 square kilometers of the neighbouring region. A video of General Syrskyis statement was shared on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyys Telegram channel. This is the first public acknowledgment by Kyiv of the operations scope. Russia has seen previous incursions into its territory during the war, now in its third year. However, Ukrainian forces foray into the Kursk region marked the largest attack on Russian soil since World War II. Advertisement This development is a severe embarrassment for Moscows military leadership, which has faced growing internal criticism for its handling of the war. Putins response In response to the incursion, Acting Kursk Governor Alexei Smirnov reported to President Vladimir Putin that Ukrainian forces have penetrated 12 kilometers into the region across a 40-kilometer front. Kyivs forces have seized control of 28 Russian settlements. Smirnov said that 12 civilians have been killed, 121 wounded10 of whom are childrenand about 121,000 people have fled the affected areas. Russian forces, still grappling with the surprise Ukrainian attack, have yet to mount an effective counteroffensive after nearly a week of intense fighting. Putin says Ukraine wants leverage President Putin, in his most detailed remarks on the incursion to date, suggested that Ukraines objective was to strengthen its negotiating position in anticipation of possible peace talks. He accused Kyiv of acting with the help of its Western masters to gain leverage over Russia, while also attempting to slow the progress of Russian forces in other areas. Russian officials have speculated that Ukraines incursion is intended to demonstrate to its Western allies that it can still conduct large-scale military operations, even as international pressure builds on both sides to consider negotiations. The enemy will certainly receive a worthy response, Putin declared. Advertisement He also warned of further Ukrainian attempts to destabilise Russias western border. The operation, shrouded in secrecy, leaves many questions about Ukraines long-term goals and the broader implications for the conflict. With inputs from agencies Ukraine has stated that it does not seek to keep the Russian territory it has captured in the Kursk region and will cease its offensive once Russia agrees to peace. The Ukrainian operations are designed to pressure Russia into negotiations while continuing evacuations in the affected regions read more Ukraine has stated that it is not seeking to retain the territory it has captured in the Kursk region. According to a spokesman from the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, the offensive will cease once Russia agrees to a just peace. The spokesman stated that Ukrainian actions are aimed at compelling Russia to negotiate, as long as Russian President Vladimir Putin continues the conflict. Ukrainian operations in the Kursk area are reportedly assisting the front lines by preventing Russia from reallocating forces to the Donetsk region, which is under Russian control. Meanwhile, Russian authorities continue their evacuation efforts in and around the Kursk region. Advertisement Residents began evacuating the Bolshesoldatsky district for the first time on Tuesday morning, with regional head Vladimir Zaitsev noting that evacuations were voluntary and there had been no prior requests. Efforts to evacuate the Belovsky district were expanded on Monday, with Nikolai Volobuyev, the district head, describing the situation as very grave. Acting Governor Alexei Smirnov reported that approximately 121,000 people have been evacuated from the Kursk region, and around 200 evacuees have arrived in Moscow. Ukraine claims to control about 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of Russian territory in Kursk, although the Institute for the Study of War estimates this to be closer to 800 square kilometers. Early Tuesday, Ukraines air defense system intercepted 30 out of 38 Russian-launched drones. Additionally, Ukraine has restricted civilian movement within a 20-kilometer (12-mile) zone near the Russian border. In response to Ukraines incursion, President Volodymyr Zelensky remarked that Russia has brought war to others, and now it is coming home. Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed a worthy response to the Ukrainian actions. The UN Human Rights Office has expressed concern about the escalating conflict and the protection of civilians in areas of military operations. However, access for aid organizations remains limited, and efforts by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to operate within Russian territory have faced resistance from Ukraine. Advertisement Ukrainian President Zelensky praised the effectiveness of the countrys air defenses, which destroyed 30 Russian drones overnight. He reaffirmed the commitment to defending Ukraine and maintaining the safety of its skies. Palestinian militant group Hamas on Sunday asked mediators to present a plan based upon previous talks instead of engaging in new negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire agreement read more Displaced Palestinians make their way as they flee Hamad City following an Israeli evacuation order, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters The U.S. expects Gaza peace talks to move forward as planned, the State Department said on Monday, adding it believes a ceasefire deal remains possible even after Hamas cast doubt on whether it would participate in a Thursday meeting called by mediators. Palestinian militant group Hamas on Sunday asked mediators to present a plan based upon previous talks instead of engaging in new negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire agreement. Last week, leaders of the U.S., Egypt and Qatar urged Israel and Hamas to meet for negotiations on Aug. 15 in either Cairo or Doha to finalize a Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal. Advertisement State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel, speaking to reporters at a regular news briefing, said the U.S. fully expects talks to continue and it would continue to work with the parties involved, adding that agreement was still possible. We fully expect talks to move forward, as they should. All negotiators should return to the table and bring this deal to conclusion, Patel said. Patel declined to say if the talks would go ahead without Hamas or whether Washington was working with regional partners to ensure their participation or not. President Joe Biden laid out a three-phase ceasefire proposal in an address on May 31. Washington and regional mediators have since tried arranging the Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal but have run into repeated obstacles. Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to the health ministry. Announcing increase in visa charges, including both fees and levies, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford emphasised that the charges remain competitive compared to countries like Australia and the UK and New Zealand is confident that it will continue to be an attractive destination to live, work, study, and visit read more Come October, traveling to New Zealand will become a luxury as the government there has significantly jacked up visa charges, including both fees and levies. The new visa charges for New Zealand come into effect from October 1, 2024 and these changes will impact nearly all visa categories. However, the New Zealand government will continue to offer subsidised fees for visa applicants from Pacific countries, reflecting its ongoing commitment to supporting its Pacific neighbors. Advertisement Immigration Minister Erica Stanford emphasised the competitive nature of the new charges, stating, The charges remain competitive compared to countries like Australia and the United Kingdom, so we are confident New Zealand will continue to be an attractive destination to live, work, study, and visit. Student, post-study New Zealand visa charges to get costly Starting October 1, the fees for various visa categories will be adjusted. For instance, the cost of a student visa will rise from $300 to $485, while the fee for a post-study work visa will decrease from $490 to $320. Additionally, the Immigration Levy for student visas will increase from $95 to $265, and for post-study work visas, it will see a substantial rise from $210 to $1350. Changes in accredited employer work visa The Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV), which is a key temporary work visa in New Zealand, will also see changes. The visa fee will be reduced from $540 to $480 as of October 1. However, the new Immigration Levy for this visa will increase dramatically to $1,060 from the $210 at present. Revised requirements for accredited employer work visa On April 7 this year, additional updates were announced for the AEWV scheme. These include the introduction of an English language requirement for migrants applying for low-skilled roles classified under ANZSCO levels 4 and 5. Furthermore, a minimum skills and work experience threshold will be imposed for most AEWV roles. Advertisement Employers will now need to engage with Work and Income, New Zealands welfare agency, for roles at ANZSCO levels 4 and 5 before they can be granted approval to hire migrants. This measure ensures that local workers are given priority and that hiring migrants is genuinely necessary. Additionally, the maximum continuous stay for most roles at these levels will be reduced from five years to three years. These updates are part of the governments efforts to regulate the employment of migrant workers and ensure that local labor needs are met effectively. The UK has now urged Iran to avoid attacking Israel, stressing that war benefits no one. Starmer emphasised the need for calm and diplomatic solutions amid escalating regional tensions read more The UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has held a call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, urging him to refrain from attacking Israel and emphasising that war was not in anyones interest, his office confirmed. Starmer reached out to Pezeshkian on Monday in a bid to ease rising tensions in West Asia. The recent killings of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Lebanon have led to threats of retaliation against Israel. Advertisement According to Sky News, which first reported the story, the phone call lasted for 30 minutes. Earlier on Monday, the British Prime Minister had also spoken with US President Joe Biden and European allies. Starmer expressed deep concern over the situation in West Asia and urged all parties to de-escalate to prevent further regional confrontation. There was a serious risk of miscalculation and now was the time for calm and careful consideration, 10 Downing Street quoted Starmer as saying. He underscored his commitment to an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and increasing humanitarian aid to Gaza. Starmer stressed that diplomatic negotiations should be the primary focus. Irans President, as reported by the official news agency IRNA, stated that war anywhere was not in anyones interest but affirmed that states had the right to punitive responses against an aggressor. Pezeshkian criticised Western support for Israel, labelling it as irresponsible and contrary to international standards and claiming it endangered regional security by encouraging Israel to continue its actions. The leaders agreed that a constructive dialogue was beneficial for both British and Iranian interests. However, Starmer made it clear that such dialogue could only progress if Iran ceased its destabilising actions, including threats against individuals in Britain and support for Russias invasion of Ukraine. Advertisement (With inputs from agencies) Sun Tzus The Art of War is a timeless guide on military strategy emphasising the balance between offence and defence, the importance of adaptability and the significance of psychological warfare. Russias recent military strategy and the vulnerabilities it has exposed show how a disproportionate focus on offence could lead to defensive weaknesses that Ukraine is now exploiting. Overextension and the principle of strategic flexibility Sun Tzu cautions against overextension noting that he who is prudent and lies in wait for an enemy who is not, will be victorious. Russias military campaign characterised by a rapid offensive push into Ukraine has demonstrated a clear overextension of its forces. Initially, Russias strategy involved a multi-front assault aiming for quick and decisive victories. The goal was to overwhelm Ukrainian defences through sheer force capturing key cities like Kyiv and rapidly destabilising the Ukrainian government. Advertisement However, this strategy did not account for the resilience of Ukrainian forces or the logistical challenges of sustaining such a broad offensive. As the conflict dragged on, Russia found itself in a situation where its forces were spread thin, supply lines were overextended and the ability to effectively defend its own territory was compromised. This is precisely what Sun Tzu warns againstfailing to maintain flexibility and overextending ones reach can lead to unforeseen vulnerabilities. Inadequate defensive preparations One of Sun Tzus critical maxims is that the general who wins the battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. This speaks to the importance of thorough preparation, particularly in defence. Russias defensive posture along its borders, particularly in regions like Kursk, appears to have been inadequate in the face of Ukrainian counteroffensives. Recent developments, such as the deep incursion of Ukrainian troops up to 30 kilometres into Russian territory, highlight how Russias focus on offence left its defences vulnerable. The construction of new defensive lines only after Ukrainian forces advanced underscores a reactive rather than proactive approach to defence. Sun Tzu would argue that Russia failed to anticipate this threat and did not adequately prepare its borders for the possibility of such incursions. The evacuation of thousands of civilians from border areas and the hasty reinforcement of defences point to a lack of foresight in protecting critical infrastructure and territory. Psychological warfare and the impact on morale Advertisement Sun Tzu emphasises the psychological aspect of warfare stating that the supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting. Russias initial strategy relied heavily on psychological intimidation, using overwhelming force to cow Ukraine into submission. However, as the conflict has progressed, the psychological tables have turned. Ukraines recent incursions into Russian territory are not just military actions; they are psychological manoeuvres designed to undermine Russian morale and create a sense of insecurity within Russia itself. The incursion into the Kursk region has forced Russia to confront the reality that its own territory is not invulnerable. This has significant implications for Russian morale, both among the civilian population and within the military. The evacuation of tens of thousands of civilians and the need to divert resources to defend the homeland detracts from Russias image of strength and control, which is crucial for maintaining public support and troop morale. This aligns with Sun Tzus belief that disrupting the enemys confidence can be as powerful as any physical victory. Advertisement Adapting to the enemys strategy: Stretching Russian forces Sun Tzu advises that one should attack where they are unprepared, appear where you are not expected. Ukraines strategic incursions into Russian territory seem to be an application of this principle. By launching operations in regions like Kursk, Ukraine forces Russia to spread its resources thinner, defending a wider area while still trying to maintain its offensive in eastern Ukraine. This strategic move stretches Russian forces, complicates their operational planning and forces them to allocate resources to defence that could otherwise be used in offensive operations. This development directly connects to recent Russian advances in eastern Ukraine, where the Kremlins forces have been making incremental gains. By forcing Russia to redeploy its resources, Ukraine seeks to relieve pressure on its own defences and create new opportunities for counteroffensives. This aligns with Sun Tzus strategy of exploiting the enemys weaknesses by forcing them into a position where they must fight on multiple fronts thereby diluting their effectiveness. Advertisement Role of external factors and alliances Sun Tzu notes the importance of understanding the broader context of a conflict including alliances and external support. Russias recent reliance on munitions from North Korea highlights a critical issueits supply lines and resources are being strained. The need to turn to external sources for military supplies suggests that Russias initial calculations underestimated the duration and intensity of the conflict. This reliance on external support can be seen as a vulnerability, one that Ukraine and its allies may seek to exploit further by targeting Russian supply chains and exposing the fragility of its logistical networks. Turning the tables on Russia? Advertisement Russias excessive focus on offence at the expense of a balanced defence has led to significant strategic vulnerabilities. Ukraines recent incursions into Russian territory exemplify how a well-executed strategy, aligned with Sun Tzus teachings, can exploit these weaknesses. By forcing Russia to divert resources, destabilising its internal security and challenging its psychological dominance, Ukraine is effectively turning the tables on an overextended adversary. There was a little-noticed piece of legislation introduced to Parliament last month little-noticed but with a potentially impactful influence upon New Zealands lending environment. This bill sets up a framework which will make it easier and more attractive for entrepreneurial start-ups to challenge big established players, first in the banking sector and secondly in the electricity sector, said Andrew Bayly, the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, as he asked the Economic Development, Science and Innovation Committee to examine the Bill. The Customer and Product Data Bills first reading is the first step in legislation to make it easier for customers of banks to share their data with TPPs (third-party providers) and follows in the footsteps of protective consumer data right laws in Australia, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Fintech companies are cheering on these moves loudly. Currently they face convoluted and expensive processes often involving screen-scraping, a method of automatically extracting data from a screen using a bot, to get useful customer data from the big New Zealand banks. Anticipating the new legislation, the banking sector is developing application programming interfaces (APIs) that allow banking information such as account lists, balances and transactions to be shared with trusted third parties, with the customers consent. Its a positive development, but could have unintended side-effects, says Brent King, the managing director of NZX-listed General Capital - owner of finance company General Finance, which currently offers some of the most competitive term deposit rates available to Kiwi investors.. Open banking may actually benefit the big banks more than anyone, as they can use the increased data transparency to offer lower rates to their best customers, while charging higher rates to riskier borrowers, says King. In the open banking environment, data from banks, credit unions and finance companies that hold customer accounts can technically be shared in real-time with TPPs. The argument is that this will improve financial inclusion and accessibility. When a TPP can automatically take a detailed look at a customers utility bills and rent history, they may be more likely to offer financial services. But its a double-edged sword, King points out. We will likely see the existing banks and the TPPs sifting through the data to identify the most lucrative customers to go after. The use of artificial intelligence will soon supercharge this activity. Whether open banking is likely to increase financial inclusion in New Zealand remains an open question but the increased flows of data going to emerging fintech companies will certainly increase the risks of data and privacy breaches, cyberattacks and unauthorised access, King says. Consumers should be wary of sacrificing safety and security for speed and convenience when it comes to banking services. The big banks may not be perfect, but they have a proven track record of keeping customer funds secure. A number of app-based fintech startups are already in the market, offering bank-like services like money transfer and savings account products. King points out most have little in the way of a track record in financial services, or significant capital backing. Consumers need to be cautious about new fintech entrants as they may not have the same level of security and stability as the major banks, he says. Without a credit rating or track record, these new players arent able to provide the same level of assurance that their customers money is safe. Convenienceat a price Many of these new entrants accepting cash deposits from customers are currently not included in the Depositor Compensation Scheme (DCS), which will launch in mid-2025. It safeguards each depositor up to $100,000 per licensed deposit taker in case of a deposit taker failure. That may change in future, but its important for customers to do their due diligence about the fintech offering lower fees or faster transactions, says King. That convenience may come at a price. The fundamentals remain the same in an environment that is more welcoming to new entrants, he adds, particularly those offering savings and term deposit services. Is the company regulated? Who is running the company and do they have a successful track record? Does the company have to file accounts and meet capital adequacy ratios with the Reserve Bank? Does it have a Trustee, regular audits, and an experienced board of directors? These are some of the questions King says prospective depositors should always ask when researching companies to deposit their money with: You should start with looking at a companys credit rating and by reading their product disclosure statement, or prospectus. Australias open banking regime has yielded mixed results at best. A review by the Australian Banking Association published in June revealed that only 0.3 per cent of bank customers are using the government-mandated consumer data right. Thats despite the banking sector claiming it has spent around A$1.5 billion since 2018 to develop technology and the API infrastructure to enable open banking. Ultimately bank customers pay for that in the form of higher fees, says King. We need to foster a more innovative and competitive banking sector in New Zealand but we need to avoid open banking becoming a white elephant that has the perverse result of aiding the big banks and reducing the safety and integrity of our highly-stable banking system. Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: TRU - WHO Agency UNITAID Features TRU in Tech Landscape Report PaySauce Quarterly Market Update - September 2024 October 2nd Morning Report Rua Releases Annual Report for Year Ended 30 June 2024 SCL - Settlement of orchard sales The Warehouse Group 2024 ASM and Director Nominations AIR - Update on Chief Operational Integrity and Safety Officer Comvita Limited - Annual Report 2024 September 27th Morning Report Spark announces departure of Finance Director Samsung Galaxy A06, the companys next budget smartphone in the A series has surfaced in press renders, thanks to @evleaks. This has a familiar front and rear design as the A05 with the notch, large bezels, and dual rear cameras. The renders show the phone in three colours, and the sides are similar to the A55 and A35 models with a flat frame that has grooves, and also shows the side-mounted fingerprint scanner. The phone recently showed up in the Geekbench listing with the model number SM-A065F revealing MediaTek Helio G85, same as the Galaxy A05. It also reveals 4GB of RAM, but we can expect a 6GB RAM model. Google Play Console listing revealed an HD+ screen and the same details, so we can expect a 6.7-inch (720 x 1600 pixels) HD+ LCD screen. The phone is said to measure 167.3 x 77.9 x 8.0mm, making it slightly smaller than the predecessor. We can expect a 50MP rear camera along with a 2MP depth sensor, 3.5mm audio jack and a 5,000mAh battery with 15W charging. The Samsung Galaxy A06 is expected to be introduced sometime in September. Source 1, 2 EQS-Ad-hoc: Accentro Real Estate AG / Key word(s): Financing/Real Estate Certain bondholders of the 2020/2026 bond will take over the entire 2021/2029 bond 13-Aug-2024 / 22:31 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. Certain bondholders of the 2020/2026 bond will take over the entire 2021/2029 bond Berlin, 13 August 2024 ACCENTRO is pleased to announce that certain members of a group of bondholders of the 2020/2026 bond, accounting in total for approximately 55 % of the outstanding 2020/2026 bond (Ad Hoc Group), reached an agreement in principle with the sole bondholder of the 2021/2029 bond regarding the sale and transfer of the entire 2021/2029 bond. Based on information received from the Ad Hoc Group, the formal implementation of the agreed terms is expected to be completed by the end of this week. Against this background, the Management Board is confident that the ongoing comprehensive restructuring negotiations with the Ad Hoc Group will continue constructively in accordance with the basic assumptions published last night. Notifying person: Thomas Eisenlohr, Head of Investor Relations Phone: +49 (0)30 887181272 eisenlohr@accentro.de Berlin, 13 August 2024 The Management Board ACCENTRO Real Estate AG Kantstrasse 44/45 D-10625 Berlin ISIN: DE000A0KFKB3 / DE000A3H3D51 / DE000A254YS5 Stock exchanges: Frankfurt Stock Exchange, regulated market (Prime Standard) / Luxembourg Stock Exchange EQS-Ad-hoc: Varengold Bank AG / Key word(s): Personnel Dirk Auerbach is the new Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Varengold Bank 13-Aug-2024 / 17:22 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. Hamburg, 13/08/2024 The shareholders of Varengold Bank AG [ISIN: DE0005479307] elected Mr. Dirk Auerbach to the company's Supervisory Board at today's Annual General Meeting. At the constituent meeting of the Supervisory Board following the Annual General Meeting, the Board also elected Mr. Auerbach as the new Chairman and Dr. Karl-Heinz Lemnitzer as his deputy. Varengold Bank is very pleased to welcome Mr. Auerbach for this office with his outstanding expertise and many years of experience in all areas of banking business, including banking supervisory law, particularly in the areas of governance, compliance and money laundering prevention. Dr. Bernhard Fuhrmann Management Board Frank Otten Management Board Disclaimer This notification is a mandatory notification according to Art. 17 MAR. The assessments contained are subject to the following caveats. Disclaimer on forward-looking statements / no duty to update This communication contains forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Future results may differ materially from those currently expected, namely due to various risk factors and uncertainties such as changes in the business, economic and competitive situation, fluctuations in exchange rates, uncertainties regarding legal disputes or investigations, and the availability of financial resources. The reader should therefore not over-rely on these statements, particularly in connection with contracts or investment decisions. Varengold Bank AG assumes no responsibility for updating the forward-looking statements contained in this communication. Note This announcement does not constitute an offer or invitation to subscribe for or purchase any securities of Varengold Bank AG in the United States of America, Germany or any other jurisdiction. This announcement does not constitute a recommendation regarding the placement of the securities described in this announcement. Contact:Ms. Sanja Schultz-Szabo (Head of Corporate Development) Controversial critic, Daniel Regha has slammed singer Burna Boy and others over their take on the newly crowned Miss South Africa 2024. Burna Boy's reaction comes after South Africans forced Chidimma Vanessa Onwe Adetshina to withdraw from the competition due to her Nigerian roots.Reacting, Regha wrote: Quote A deaf woman just won Miss South Africa for the first time, thats a show of representation & inclusivity; What happened to Chidimma is unfortunate, but its also hypocrisy to mock the winner (Mia) based on her skin colour. Thats subtle racism, & the very same thing we are trying so hard to end. I am tired of Africans hating on fellow Africans; We are despised by many foreigners (racists), & also disunited amongst ourselves. Africa is the one place very African should be able to call home, but we continue fighting a never-ending war. The xenophobia, the tribalism, & ethinic bigotory is truly disappointing. SEE THE POSTS BELOW: Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters was found guilty on seven of the 10 counts against her, but acquitted on three others, including identity theft. After a trial that lasted more than a week and a half, prosecutors did their best to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Peters, 68, deceived public servants by falsely using the identity of an innocent Fruita resident to make copies of election computers in a failed attempt to prove that something was amiss with the 2020 presidential and 2021 municipal elections. At one point only a few hours after starting deliberations, the jury asked the court if they could leave some charges blank, or declare them a hung jury, but District Judge Matthew Barrett told them to continue deliberations. The court did not reveal to what charges the jury was referring. They deliberated for about four hours before reaching their verdict. Before the verdict was read, five law enforcement officers were present in the courtroom, and Barrett warned everyone not to react as it was read. Peters defense attorneys, too, did their best to show there were plenty of reasonable doubts that Peters deceived public servants by falsely using the identity of a Fruita resident to make copies of Peters election computers. Peters was charged with seven felonies: three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, two counts of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, one count of identity theft and one count of criminal impersonation. She also faced misdemeanor charges for first-degree official misconduct, violation of duty and failing to comply with requirements of the secretary of state. Like a farmer guarding a hen house against a fox or a wolf, he pretty much opened the door and said Im at your disposal, Special Prosecutor Robert Shapiro told the jury during his closing statements. She let outsiders come into the secure world that she was supposed to be focusing on, he added. They will come in and do things that they were not supposed to do. She was a willing clerk who was not willing to follow the law. Defense Attorney John Case, however, argued that Peters was being targeted for making a single decision: to protect the true identity of the computer expert she used to make those copies, Conan Hayes. That man, a former professional surfer turned computer expert that prosecutors dubbed a cyber terrorist, used an access key card that the county at Peters direction had issued to Gerald Wood, a self-employed computer technician. There was no harm to the computer system, there was no harm to the software, there was no harm to the county, Case said in his closing. So who was harmed? Tina Peters was harmed because of lies put forth to you by the government. Though Case was admonished for using the word lie, District Judge Matthew Barrett barred both sides from using that description, Cases central theme was to pit Peters as someone merely trying to protect election records and government, describing them as a semi-tractor trailer barrelling down the wrong side of the road at a passing car. Sharpiro and other prosecutors also tried to cut into Peters chief witness, unindicted co-conspirator Sherronna Bishop, who was working with Peters since the beginning in April 2021, and introducing her to people who could help, such as Hayes. Shapiro said her testimony is not corroborated by any other witness or evidence, but was disputed by several prosecution witnesses, including Peters former Deputy Belinda Knisley and former Elections Manger Sandra Brown. Both said that when Peters actions came to light, she told them repeatedly that she was going to jail as a result. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser released a statement after the verdict, saying that it sends a message. The freedom to vote is sacred in America. Many fought for and even died for establishing voting as a fundamental constitutional right. And its a right we continue to protect today. Todays verdict is a warning to others that they will face serious consequences if they attempt to illegally tamper with our voting processes or election systems. I want to be clear our elections are safe and fair. In fact, Colorados election system is the gold standard of the nation. And make no mistake: my office will continue to protect it, he wrote. Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold also issued a statement following the verdict. Tina Peters willfully compromised her own election equipment trying to prove Trumps Big Lie. She has been found guilty by a jury of her peers and will now face the consequences of her actions, she wrote. Todays verdict sends a clear message: we will not tolerate any effort to threaten the security of our gold standard elections. I am proud that justice for Colorado voters has been served today. Peters will be sentenced on Oct. 3 at 9:30 a.m. EQS-Ad-hoc: Rheinmetall AG / Key word(s): Takeover/Mergers & Acquisitions Rheinmetall AG: Strategic acquisition in the USA - Rheinmetall agrees takeover of vehicle specialist Loc Performance 13-Aug-2024 / 21:06 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. Ad hoc announcement 13. August 2024 Strategic acquisition in the USA: Rheinmetall agrees takeover of vehicle specialist Loc Performance Acquisition expands and strengthens Rheinmetall's position in North America and the competition for high-volume major orders in the USA With a strategic acquisition in the USA, the Dusseldorf-based Rheinmetall Group is expanding its position in the world's largest defense market and strengthening its core business in the field of land vehicles for military customers worldwide. Rheinmetall has today (August 13, 2024) signed an agreement to acquire all equity interests in Loc Performance Products, LLC, a renowned vehicle specialist based in Plymouth, Michigan. The acquisition expands the Group's business with the US military, increases its industrial base in the USA and creates further access for its technologies in North America. Furthermore, Rheinmetall is strengthening its production capacities in the USA with a view to targeted high-volume major orders for U.S. Army vehicle programs with a total potential of over USD 60 billion. Rheinmetall is one of two remaining participants in the current prototype phase of the XM30 program. This program serves to introduce a new generation of infantry fighting vehicles. The volume is estimated at around USD 45 billion for around 4,000 infantry fighting vehicles. Furthermore, Rheinmetall is participating in the CTT (Common Tactical Truck) program, which has a volume of around USD 16 billion for around 40,000 trucks. In addition, Rheinmetall expects the acquisition of Loc Performance to bring considerable benefits for both its American and for its global business. For example, an experienced workforce with a high level of technical expertise - including in the maintenance, repair and combat enhancement of military combat vehicles - will be integrated into Rheinmetall's internal supply chains. The purchase price agreed for Loc Performance, which will become due upon closing, is based on an enterprise value of USD 950 million. The closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals. With its skilled workforce of around 1,000 employees, Loc Performance generated significant and growing sales revenues. With its broad-based activities, the company will make a direct contribution to the Rheinmetall Group's fast-growing US military vehicle business, which is managed by American Rheinmetall Vehicles based in Sterling Heights, MI. The acquisition provides the Rheinmetall Group with key capabilities in the US and enables American Rheinmetall Vehicles to more effectively and comprehensively supply the US Department of Defense by expanding the company's product portfolio and domestic manufacturing capabilities. The investment follows Rheinmetall's clear strategy for growth in the United States, which will be an important core business for the Group in the future. Loc Performance is already pursuing a sustainable business model with robust organic growth, has a highly skilled workforce and offers the Rheinmetall Group significant capacity reserves for the targeted orders in the USA. Loc Performance is a diversified full-service provider for both military and civilian customers. In addition to its headquarters in Plymouth, MI, the company has further locations in Lansing, MI and Lapeer, MI as well as in St. Marys, OH. The vehicle specialist is a high-performance full-line supplier of drivetrains, suspensions, track systems, rubber products, armour products and fabricated structures for vehicle platforms. The company is an established supplier to the US government and, in particular, OEM for most military ground vehicle track systems in the USA. Loc Performance's current manufacturing capabilities include modernised fabrication, machining and welding technologies capable of meeting the critical manufacturing requirements of the US Army's XM30 and CTT programs. An available manufacturing footprint of 1.7 million square feet provides significant capacity for future expansion. Contact:Dr. Philipp von Brandenstein +49 (0) 211 473 4300, philipp.vonbrandenstein@rheinmetall.com USS Blue Ridge Arrives in Koror, Palau US Navy 10 August 2024 From Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet Public Affairs Office KOROR, Palau -- U.S. 7th Fleet flagship USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) and embarked 7th Fleet staff arrived in Koror, Palau for a routine port visit, Aug. 10. This visit marks the first time USS Blue Ridge has pulled into the Republic of Palau, a Pacific Island nation that is part of the freely associated states (FAS) and shares a bi-lateral relationship with the United States known as the Compacts of Free Association (COFA). "Thank you to the people of Koror for their warm welcome of our Blue Ridge and 7th Fleet teams. This visit marks the first for USS Blue Ridge, and is a testament to our shared cooperation with Palau to promote freedom and security in this region," said Vice Adm. Fred Kacher, commander, U.S. 7th Fleet. "We look forward to the opportunity for our team to meet with Palauan leaders; engage with the community; and experience Palauan culture and hospitality. During the port visit, 7th Fleet and Blue Ridge leadership will meet with key local leaders to discuss ways to further advance the U.S.-Palau cooperation and strengthen regional security." Additionally, members from the ship's crew and the 7th Fleet staff will engage in community relations activities and cultural events. These initiatives aim to foster a deeper understanding of local history, contribute positively to the community, and forge new ties between the U.S. Navy and the people of Palau. The 7th Fleet flagship, Blue Ridge is the oldest operational ship in the Navy and routinely operates with allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region. 7th Fleet is the U.S. Navy's largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, and routinely interacts and operates with allies and partners as a key element of the United States' stabilizing role in the region. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. Navy and Italian Navy Conduct First Indo-Pacific Multi-Large Deck Event US Navy 10 August 2024 From USS Abraham Lincoln Public Affairs PACIFIC OCEAN -- The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and the Cavour Carrier Strike Group concluded the first-ever bilateral Multi-Large Deck Event (MLDE) held in the Indo-Pacific by the U.S. Navy and Italian Navy, Aug. 9. The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and the Cavour Carrier Strike Group concluded the first-ever bilateral Multi-Large Deck Event (MLDE) held in the Indo-Pacific by the U.S. Navy and Italian Navy, Aug. 9. MLDE provides the ships and aircrafts of the two naval forces, comprised of more than 7,500 U.S. and Italian Sailors and Marines, an opportunity to engage in joint operations including enhanced maritime communication operations, air warfare operations and cross-deck flight operations to strengthen maritime integrated-at-sea operations and combat readiness. "This was a great opportunity to operate with our close NATO Ally, Italy, in the Indo-Pacific. Our efforts are critical in ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific region," said Rear Adm. Adan Cruz, commander, Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 3. "Interoperability does not just happen, it is practiced and rehearsed across our teams to build the relations and connections necessary to successfully conduct an MLDE." During the event, Adm. Cruz hosted Rear Adm. Giancarlo Ciappina, commander, Cavour Carrier Strike Group, aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), flagship of CSG 3 for a visit focused on building interoperability. "The activity with CSG 3 at sea is an excellent opportunity to enhance our capabilities in Multi Carrier Operations, demonstrating the interoperability of the NATO Alliance worldwide, strengthening our ability to work together and improving our common resilience," said Ciappina, commander, Cavour Carrier Strike Group. "Conducting this type of activity is one of the strategic objectives of our operational deployment, ensuring security at sea and promoting economic prosperity trough a free and open Indo Pacific." Participating ships in the MLDE included Nimitz-Class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Spruance (DDG 111) and USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121), Italian aircraft carrier ITS Cavour and Italian Frigate ITS Alpino (F 594). Participating aircraft included MH-60S and MH-60R Sea Hawks, F/A-18E & F Super Hornets, E/A-18G Growlers, F-35C Lightning II, and E-2D Hawkeye, all assigned to Carrier Air Wing 9; and Italian F-35B Lightning II assigned to Cavour Carrier Strike Group. Prior to the commencement of the MLDE, Cruz and Ciappina conducted a conditions check via virtual teleconference to ensure all participants were ready in the evening, Aug. 8. The exercise started with liaison officers transferring around the Strike Group to ensure communication flow across the vessels and visit with crews. Following the liaison officer exchange, the ships coordinated flight operations and ship maneuvers to practice coordinated operations, Aug. 9. "I wish to truly thank Adm. Cruz and all of the CSG 3 crews for the outstanding professionalism they showed us and for their willingness and commitment in putting our forces together in such an effective and profitable cooperation," concluded Ciappina. Coordinated maritime engagements and operations are part of the U.S. Navy's routine presence in the Indo-Pacific. U.S. naval forces, with our network of partners and alliances, are indispensable to ensuring maritime security and the flow of unimpeded lawful commerce in the region. "It is an honor to work with our NATO Allies in the Indo-Pacific," said Cruz. "I am grateful to Rear Adm. Ciappina and his entire crew for the superb professionalism and coordination in bringing this event to life." The last time CSG 3 participated in an MLDE dates back to January 2022 in the South China Sea with the Carl Vinson Strike Group, but this marks the first MLDE with the Italian Navy in the Indo Pacific. CSG-3 is deployed to the Indo-Pacific to maintain regional security and stability, keep sea lanes open, and to train to increase combined readiness. Along with our network of allies and partners, U.S. naval forces are indispensable to ensuring freedom of navigation and overflight, and unimpeded lawful commerce. CSG-3 consists of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 9, and Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 21, which includes Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS O'Kane (DDG 77), USS Stockdale (DDG 106), USS Spruance (DDG 111), USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112) and USS Frank E. Peterson Jr. (DDG 121). CVW-9 consists of an F-35C squadron, the "Black Knights" of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 314; three F/A-18E/F Super Hornet squadrons, the "Tophatters" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 14; "Black Aces" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 41, the "Vigilantes" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 151; "Wizards" of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 133, operating the EA-18G Growler; "Wallbangers" of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 117, operating the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye; "Chargers" of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 14 operating the MH-60S Sea Hawk; and "Raptors" of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 71, operating the MH-60R Sea Hawk. Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is currently conducting routine operations in the U.S. 7th Fleet in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 'Protect civilians' amid clashes in famine-stricken El Fasher, Sudan: UN chief 11 August 2024 - Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed deep alarm at the evolving situation in El Fasher in North Darfur, Sudan, where fierce fighting in the famine-stricken area has been reported, his deputy spokesperson said late Sunday. Clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces, Rapid Support Forces and elements of the Armed Struggle Movements in El Fasher have left civilians in the crossfire of a conflict that was triggered in April 2023 by rival militaries. "These clashes have devastating consequences for the civilian population," Farhan Haq said in a statement. "The fighting will also further exacerbate humanitarian needs in and around El Fasher at a time when famine conditions have been confirmed in Zamzam camp south of El Fasher and is likely prevailing in other displacement sites in the city." The global food monitoring initiative, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), had announced famine conditions in the camp on 1 August. 'Allow safe passage for civilians' "The Secretary-General calls on all parties to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect and allow safe passage for civilians and facilitate rapid, and unimpeded humanitarian access," Mr. Haq said. The UN chief also reiterated his call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and lasting ceasefire and urged the parties to return to political dialogue as the only path to a negotiated settlement, his deputy spokesperson said. "The United Nations remains committed to supporting international mediation efforts and to working with all relevant stakeholders to help bring an end to the war," Mr. Haq said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address NATO exercise highlights international operability By Spc. Trey Gonzales August 12, 2024 ADAZI MILITARY CAMP, Latvia -- NATO soldiers from Canada, Latvia, Romania, Spain, the United States and the United Kingdom gathered to conduct field exercise Paladin Strike Aug. 5-8, 2024, at the Adazi Military Camp Training Area, Latvia. NATO countries conducted the exercise to familiarize themselves with each other's land fighting tactics and capabilities, ensuring they can work together and communicate effectively. During Paladin Strike, U.S. Army Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, worked alongside British troops to act as opposing forces while Canadian, Latvian, Romanian and Spanish soldiers played the role of a unified NATO force. "The purpose of Paladin Strike is for the NATO Forward Land Force Battlegroups to be able to exercise their command and control nodes and their communications with their allied partners attached to the battle group itself," explained U.S. Army Capt. Nicholas Olivares, the chief communications officer of the exercise, assigned to 2-12 Cav. Regt., 1ABCT, 1CD. NATO partners were able to familiarize themselves with different tactics, equipment and vehicles. Many partner nation soldiers had their first chance to see a U.S. M3 Bradley Cavalry Fighting Vehicle up close. The versatile tracked armored reconnaissance vehicle is a member of a family of Bradley Fighting Vehicles that the U.S. military has used for several decades with several modifications and improvements during their service. The 2-12 Cav. Regt. Bradley crews had the opportunity to share with NATO partners how the M3 CFV is used by U.S. armored cavalry units to perform armed reconnaissance and to transport soldiers on the battlefield. As collaboration continued, U.S. Army CH-47 Chinooks took to the sky as they transported Canadian troops into the field. Task Force Lobos Soldiers of 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division conducted air mobility operations with Canadian Army troops. Lobos rapidly transported Canadian infantry soldiers to different locations on the battlefield during Paladin Strike. The collaboration gave the Canadian troops a realistic training experience and afforded Lobos crews the opportunity to hone their skills while gaining valuable NATO interoperability exposure from the training event. Training opportunities presented themselves to all troops involved, including the medics. Medics from all forces worked together to provide medical support to any troops that may need it. The multinational clinic was able to provide an X-ray and have the physician assistant read the scans within 15 minutes in the field, according to U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jarrett Rivera, a combat medic assigned to 2-12 Cav Regt., 1ABCT, 1CD. "The whole multinational forces have been so accommodating," said Rivera. "Whenever you have a partner force that says they will support you, this is the best we could have asked for. They're super accommodating." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address August 12, 2024 By Matthew Olay, DOD News Austin Orders Additional Naval Assets to Middle East Amid Rising Tensions Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III has ordered additional naval assets to the Middle East to reinforce the United States' commitment to Israel's defense amid escalating regional tensions, Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told the media during a briefing today. Austin dispatched the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group which is equipped with stealth F-35C Lightning II combat jets as well as the ballistic missile submarine USS Georgia to the Central Command region, Ryder said. The order came following a phone call Sunday between Austin and Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant. "[During the call, Austin] reiterated the United States' commitment to taking every possible step to defend Israel and [also] noted the strengthening of U.S. military force posture and capabilities throughout the Middle East in light of hostile regional tensions," Ryder said. Ryder added that the additional naval assets will add to the capabilities being provided by the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group, which has already been operating in the region. "These U.S. military posture adjustments are designed to improve U.S. force protection, to increase support for the defense of Israel and to ensure the United States is prepared to respond to various contingencies," Ryder said. When asked if the Defense Department had any specific information regarding an imminent attack in the region, Ryder said he wouldn't speculate on such a topic. "I think the point here," Ryder responded, "is that we recognize the tensions in the region. We're doing everything we can to deter aggression, deter conflict [and] prevent this from becoming a wider war while at the same time ensuring that we have the capabilities in the region to be able to protect our own forces [and] also defend Israel, should it be attacked." During the Sunday phone call, Austin and Gallant also discussed Israel's operations in Gaza, including the importance of mitigating harm to civilians, progressing toward a ceasefire, securing the release of hostages, and deterring aggression by other countries throughout the region, Ryder said. Ryder also addressed an attack on U.S. and coalition service members by an uncrewed aerial system in Syria this past Friday. "Military officials are still assessing the damage, though they credited swift and effective preemptive measures in limiting the drones," Ryder said, adding that although nobody was seriously hurt in the attack, several U.S. and coalition personnel were treated for minor injuries, including smoke inhalation. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hasina accuses US of involvement in her removal Global Times By GT staff reporters Published: Aug 12, 2024 11:12 PM Former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who resigned last week amid protests against quotas for government jobs, has accused the US of being involved in her removal from power, according to Indian media reports on Sunday. "I could have remained in power if I had surrendered the sovereignty of Saint Martin Island and allowed America to hold sway over the Bay of Bengal. I beseech to the people of my land, 'Please do not be manipulated by radicals'," the Economic Times quoted her as saying. The Saint Martin Island is a stretch of land spreading across merely three square kilometers in the northeastern part of the Bay of Bengal. According to The Print, the biggest advantage for anyone with a military base at Saint Martin Island, "despite its small size, would be the strategic presence it would have over the Strait of Malacca, which the Chinese use majorly for their transportation." Sources told The Print that the island can be turned into a good listening post for surveillance activities, focused not just on China's and Myanmar's activities, but also India's. Media also reported that some leaders in the Awami League have blamed the US for the political upheaval in Dhaka, alleging that a senior US diplomat's visit in May was part of a strategy to pressure Hasina into acting against China. Given the US and some Western countries' long-term criticism of Hasina's tough stance toward the US, there had been speculations about potential Western involvement in the Bangladesh movement, experts noted. Hasina was not compliant with the US on many issues, which could be the reason for the US seeking to overthrow her, Liu Zongyi, director of the Center for South Asia Studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, told the Global Times on Monday. Global observers are closely monitoring how the incident will influence regional situation. According to the Economic Times, the resignation of Hasina created uncertainties for India, as Bangladesh was "New Delhi's strongest ally" and the bilateral relations had reached a new height during her terms. The protests that led to her departure also carried an anti-India sentiment, media reported. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Press Briefing by IDF Spokesperson RAdm. Daniel Hagari- August 12, 2024 IDF Press Release August 12, 2024 12.08.24 IDF Good evening, Over the past few days, we have been monitoring our enemies and developments in the Middle East, with an emphasis on Hezbollah as well as Iran. Simultaneously, we are striking in Lebanon every day, including today. We have increased the patrols of Israeli Air Force aircraft over Lebanese skies, in order to detect and remove threats. We are striking any threat we identify and are prepared to intercept threats in real time. We take the declarations and statements of our enemies seriously. Therefore, we are prepared at peak readiness in offense and defense, and we will act according to the directives of the government. Regarding questions from the public about the situation, your vigilance and awareness are important. Alongside this, at this stage, there is no change in the Home Front Command's defensive guidelines. If there are changes to the guidelines, we will update you immediately. We are aware and attentive to the reality that the residents of the north have been facing for a long time, enduring continuous fire and UAV infiltrations. Our mission is to ensure your safety and bring you securely back to your homes. We are determined to do everything to protect the security of the residents and prevent harm to civilians. Hezbollah carries out indiscriminate fire, as we saw on the Saturday night when twelve children were murdered in Majdal Shams. We have very extensive plans of attack and a high readiness to carry them out. Hezbollah is planning to act, but we are not waiting idly, we are constantly striking and neutralizing threats as soon as we detect them. We are at peak readiness for this mission. For about ten months, we have been in the midst of a war. We are aware of the challenges and growing uncertainty among the public, especially during the summer season, with camps, family plans, preparations for the school year, and more. Currently, we are closely monitoring the operational situation. We will update you on the situation when we know and are able to, we will update you as early as possible, in order to adjust the guidelines for the public without giving our enemies an intelligence or operational advantage. We are making every effort to prepare you in advance and to enable continuity of routine as much as possible, while maintaining alertness and readiness. We will inform you of any changes in the defensive guidelines via the platforms of the Home Front Command and the IDF. I will be here, starting this evening and throughout the coming days, to update you, answer questions, and present the situation as it is, even when there are no changes to the guidelines. Yesterday afternoon, a terrorist cell murdered an Israeli civilian and wounded another civilian in a drive-by shooting attack near the Mehola Junction. We share the family's grief and wish the injured a speedy recovery. IDF troops are currently pursuing the terrorists. The Chief of the General Staff arrived at the scene in the evening, and reviewed with the commanders the efforts and actions for defense in eastern Samaria and the Jordan Valley, as well as the efforts to thwart terrorism and locate the terror cell. In Gaza, troops from the 98th Division are operating in the Khan Yunis area, carrying out targeted raids based on new intelligence regarding terrorist activity in the area, above and below ground. Last night, during combat conducted by the division in the area, IDF soldier Sergeant Omer Ginzburg z"l fell in action. Our hearts go out to his family, and we are supporting them during this difficult time. For ten months, we have been operating in Gaza, and we do not forget for a moment the hostages being cruelly held by Hamas in Gaza. We are deeply concerned about their physical and mental condition, given the prolonged time that has passed and the harsh conditions of their captivity. The IDF and all of the security agencies are making every effort to create the conditions for their return as quickly as possible. This is our moral and ethical duty, and above all - it is an objective of the war. Even amidst the ongoing combat, we remember and mark Tisha B'Av, which this year comes as we fight with determination against the destruction wrought by Hamas on October 7th. The memory of the destruction of the Temples on Tisha B'Av resonates this year with the IDF's determined multi-front battle to ensure the safety and security of every citizen of the state. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israeli regime worried about new front after Jordan Valley retaliatory operation IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Aug 12, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- The Israeli regime's army is reportedly mulling over the formation of a new division to protect the occupied territories' border with Jordan amid fears of what is seen as the opening-up of a new front in the east. The division, which is planned to be formed, will be specifically assigned to establish security at the Israeli-occupied territories' eastern border with Jordan, according to reports. Israel is mulling over the decision after one of its soldiers was killed on Sunday in a shooting operation near the settlement of Mehola in the Jordan Valley, a fertile strip of land that runs along the West Bank. The military wing of the Palestinian Hamas Resistance Movement, the al-Qassam Brigades, claimed responsibility. Al-Qassam said its fighters, based in the occupied West Bank, killed the soldier at point-blank range and safely returned to their bases. It also said that the operation came in retaliation for an Israeli airstrike on al-Tabin School in Gaza City, where more than 100 Palestinians were killed on Saturday (August 10). The attack in the Jordan Valley has raised fears among Israeli security apparatus that threats are not coming from the outside, but they are emerging in the heart of the West Bank as a new front has already been formed against the regime. Tensions have remained high in the West Bank ever since the Gaza war broke out in early October. Israeli forces have been engaged in daily raids across the West Bank to crack down against Palestinian youths outraged at the massacre of their countrymen in the besieged Gaza Strip. 4194 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pezeshkian calls on Europe to help end Gaza genocide instead of backing Israel IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Aug 12, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian has said that European countries, particularly Germany, are expected to play an effective role in bringing an end to Israel's genocide of Palestinians in Gaza instead of supporting the regime. "The people of the world expect European countries, especially Germany, to play an effective role in ending the Zionist genocide in Gaza instead of supporting this regime", Pezeshkian said during a phone call made by German Chancellor Olaf Sholtz on Monday. The Iranian president added that people across the globe have such expectation at a time when the Israeli regime is going ahead with its genocide in Gaza and has carried out terrorist acts in other countries, which is in violation of international law and is posing serious challenges to security in the West Asia region and to global peace. That's while, he added, maintaining regional and global peace, security and stability is among core policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Pezeshkian also said his country considers it as a duty to abide by international law and regulations. While Iran welcomes expansion of interactions with all countries and stresses the need for resolving problems through negotiations, it will not give in to pressure, sanctions, bullying and aggression; rather it considers it a right to respond to aggressors based on international rules, he added. The Iranian president also said that his country intends to boost relations with all European countries, including Germany, based on friendship and mutual respect as well as joint trust-building measures. Germany willing to develop ties with Iran The German chancellor congratulated Pezeshkian on his election win as Iran's president. He said that Germany is willing and ready to expand relations with Iran in all fields. Sholtz also said that establishment of peace and security in West Asia is a priority of German policy on that region. The war in Gaza should come to an end immediately and a ceasefire must be established there, he added. 4194 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address EQS-Ad-hoc: SGT German Private Equity GmbH & Co. KGaA / Key word(s): Takeover/Change in Forecast SGT German Private Equity GmbH & Co. KGaA: SGT German Private Equity acquires three internet payment service providers and becomes a listed FinTech company 13-Aug-2024 / 13:28 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. +++ Ad-hoc Announcement +++ SGT German Private Equity acquires three internet payment service providers and becomes a listed FinTech company Acquisition of majority shareholdings for cash and transfer of treasury shares at a valuation of 2.40 EUR per SGT German Private Equity share The three internet payment service providers are profitable and recording high growth The new group plans a transaction volume of 140 million EUR in 2025 and a revenue of some 15 million EUR Renaming into "The Payments Group Holding" Placement of treasury shares in the market with a volume of around 8 million EUR planned until end of 2024 Frankfurt/Main, 13 August 2024 Founded in 2012, SGT German Private Equity ("SGF"), formerly German Startups Group ("GSG"), previously a private equity asset manager based in Frankfurt/Main and formerly a leading venture capital investor in Germany based in Berlin, acquires majority stakes in Funanga AG, Berlin, Campamocha Ltd., Malta, and Surfer Rosa Ltd., Isle of Man. The acquisition is subject to various conditions, including the approval of the Financial Regulator in Malta, MFSA. The three companies offer internet payment services and work together. There are overlaps between the companies in terms of management and shareholders. In connection with the transaction, SGF shall be renamed "The Payments Group Holding" instead of "German AI Group" at the Annual General Meeting on 14 August 2024. Through the acquisition, a listed FinTech group based in Germany with around 50 employees will be created. The transaction payment volume, which means the settled payment volume, planned for 2025 on a consolidated basis, is around 140 million EUR (2024 pro forma/cons some 70 million EUR), the planned revenue for 2025 is around 15 million EUR (2024 pro forma/cons just under 10 million EUR). The acquired companies are profitable and cash flow positive. Annual sales growth is expected to be over 50% p.a. in the years from 2021 to 2025e. The SGF Group, respectively TPGH Group then, expects a net profit of 10 to 15 cents per SGF share in 2025. In addition, there is still the potential to generate income from SGF's assets of almost 20 million EUR. These are especially VC investments with a fair value of just under 10 million EUR as of 31.12.23. For the implementation of the transaction, SGF is acquiring 72.9% of Funanga AG and 75% of each of the other two target companies in a first step, 10% for 9.15 million EUR in cash and a further 62.9%, respectively 65% for transfer of 24.8 million SGF treasury shares, under exclusion of the subscription right of existing SGF shareholders. SGF already owns 2.1% of Funanga AG. The treasury shares will thus be acquired in full by the current shareholders of the three companies to be acquired at a valuation of 2.40 EUR per SGF share. SGF intends to privately place further SGF treasury shares with institutional investors by the end of 2024, excluding subscription rights, in order to raise c. 8 million EUR required for the cash tranche. In addition, SGF will receive a call option until summer 2025 for the remaining 25% of the three target companies for 23.1 million EUR in cash. For the 25 million SGF shares to be transferred and for the existing SGF shareholdings of Christoph Gerlinger, CEO and founder of SGT German Private Equity, and his Gerlinger & Partner GmbH, multi-year lock-ups were agreed. With the transaction, SGF will be valued at 23.1 million EUR or 2.40 EUR per share based on its NAV less the present value of future administrative costs and the three target companies at a capitalized earnings value of 92.5 million EUR (DCF with 26 - 32% p.a. discount rate). The general partner of SGF, German AI Group Management GmbH, will change its name to "The Payments Group Management GmbH" and sell a 50% stake from its sole shareholder, Gerlinger & Partner GmbH, to Seth Iorio's nous ventures GmbH, who will join the group's management as Chief Strategy Officer. He has been an internet entrepreneur for over 20 years. Already in 2011, he was Christoph Gerlinger's fellow board member at the listed Frogster Interactive Pictures AG in Berlin. The Payments Group Holding will hold the ticker symbol "PGH. About SGT German Private Equity SGT German Private Equity is a listed investment holding based in Frankfurt am Main. From its origin as a leading German venture capital provider under the former name German Startups Group, SGT German Private Equity holds a heritage portfolio of minority stakes in some promising German Tech Startups. About The Payments Group The Payments Group ("TPG") is a dynamically growing, vertically integrated e-money fintech company. TPG provides closed and open prepaid (emoney) payment services to numerous online merchants worldwide. The company provides a scalable fintech platform. This platform enables online merchants to access previously untapped cash and prepaid markets and embedded financial products, expanding their Total Addressable Market (TAM) and increasing their revenues. TPG operates internationally and works with a number of global leading online merchants across various industries. These clients leverage TPG's extensive network of over 550,000 European POS cash collection points and global online prepaid card fulfilment network to process cashless and cash online payments worldwide. Investor Relations Contact Rosenberg Strategic Communications Dirk Schmitt d.schmitt@rosenbergsc.com +49 170 302 8833 Iran speaker congratulates Sinwar on his new post as Hamas chief IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Aug 12, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has congratulated Yahya Sinwar on his appointment as the head of the political bureau of Palestine Hamas resistance movement. In his message on Monday, Qalibaf stated, "Your presence as a valiant warrior in the fields of resistance undoubtedly confirms that the glorious path of the martyrs of Al Quds will persist through the endeavors of our esteemed brothers in Hamas and the Axis of Resistance." Hamas named Sinwar as its new political leader last week following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in an Israeli attack on his accommodation in Iran on July 31. The Iranian speaker commemorated Haniyeh and hailed him for brave efforts to stand up against the Zionist regime for the sake of Al-Quds and the realization of the Palestinian cause. The martyrdom of this great leader cannot affect the motivation and will of the Palestinian youth, Qalibaf stressed. He said that the liberation of Al Quds is the first aspiration of the Islamic Ummah, which will be realized with God's help in the near future. 3266**4194 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran welcomes establishment of peace in Bangladesh IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Aug 12, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- Iran's Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani in a message welcomed the establishment of peace and the formation of an interim government in Bangladesh "I welcome the establishment of peace in Bangladesh our friendly country and wish success to my brother Md. Touhid Hossain, Adviser to the Bangladesh Interim Government for Foreign Affairs," Bagheri Kani wrote on his X account on Monday. The unrest gripped the South Asian nation early last month after a high court ruling that allowed the government to go ahead with its plan for the job quota system. The protesters, mostly students took to the streets to denounce the plan that would give more than 50% of well-paid civil services jobs to a specific section, including the descendants of those who fought for the country's independence from Pakistan in the 1970s. Some 200 people lost their lives during violent encounters between police and pro-, anti-job quota protesters in Dhaka and other major cities. 76-year-old Sheikh Hasina came to power as prime minister in 2009 and won the elections for the fourth time in the elections last January resigned on Monday and fled the country. She had described the demonstrators as "terrorists". She is currently in India and likely to leave for the United Kingdom. 9376**9417 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israeli regime arrests 10,000 Palestinians in West Bank since October IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Aug 12, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- Israeli forces have arrested over 10,000 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since the start of the war on Gaza in October, news sources have reported. Citing Al Mayadeen news television channel on Monday, IRNA reported that a joint statement published on Saturday by the Prisoners Affairs Authority and the Palestinian Prisoners Club had said that Israeli forces have arrested at least 40 Palestinians in the past two days, including women, children, and former prisoners who were freed from Israeli jails. The prisoner groups added that the arrests took place all over the West Bank, and often came following violent attacks on families, as well as destruction of Palestinians' homes and property. "The total number of arrests since the start of the ongoing war of extermination in Gaza has reached over 10,000 citizens in the West Bank, including Jerusalem," the statement read. 6125**9417 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran, China emphasize truce agreement in Gaza IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Aug 12, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- Iran's Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani, and China's Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi have underlined the importance of making an effort to stop the Israeli regime's aggression and establish an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Israeli crimes must be condemned and the international community should make joint efforts to stop the criminal regime, the two diplomats stressed over the phone on Monday. On his X account, Bagheri said his talks with the Chinese foreign minister focused on the latest regional developments, including the criminal acts of the child-killing regime of Israel, its provocative measures in Lebanon and Yemen and the lately-implemented assassination of the Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Bagheri Kani wrote that the Islamic Republic has a legal right to react properly and reciprocally to safeguard the regional security and stability. The Chinese foreign minister extended support for Iran's legitimate efforts to defend its national sovereignty, security and dignity, Bagheri said, adding that Beijing has expressed willingness to have close cooperation with Iran to preserve peace and stability in the region. Israeli regime assassinated Haniyeh, the political bureau chief of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, in Tehran, on July 31, a day after his participation in the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. 1483**9417 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US, UK launch new attack on Yemen's Hodeidah IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Aug 12, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- The news sources have reported a new attack carried out by the US and the UK against Yemen's port city Hodeidah. That was the new aggressive attack launched by the two countries on Yemeni soil, Al Mayadeen reported on Monday. The Kamaran Island has been targeted during the attack, the report says. Meanwhile, there is no news about the possible casualties or damages after the attack. In the past months, Yemen's different areas particularly Hodeidah have been under the US and the UK attacks. Those attacks are aimed at putting pressure on Yemen's National Salvation Government to stop its domination over the Zionist regime's sea connections. After the UN Security Council's January 2024 resolution, Washington and London started attacking Yemen's Ansarullah bases. Before the date, Yemen had begun to target Israeli ships or other vessels destined for the occupied lands to support the resistance of the Palestinian nation in the Gaza Strip. Yemen's Armed Forces has said in a statement that the US-UK aggression could never make Yemen withdraw from its stance to support the Palestinian nation in their fights against oppression. 1483**9417 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address One more Zionist soldier killed in Gaza IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Aug 12, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- The media outlets of the Zionist regime have announced that one more soldier has been killed in clashes with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Shehab news agency reported on Monday that the media of the Zionist regime had announced that 19-year-old Omer Ginzburg from Kiryat Tiv'on settlement, a member of the 101st Division of the Paratroopers Brigade, was killed in the battles in southern Gaza. According to the Israeli military, at least 330 soldiers have been killed since the start of ground battles in Gaza in mid-October. Palestinian resistance groups say that Israel's military fatalities are much higher as the regime hides the real number of its soldiers getting killed in Gaza amid widespread anger among Israelis over the war. Public discontent has been growing in Israel as its cabinet has failed to release dozens of captives still held by Palestinians despite the war dragging on for more than ten months now. 6125**9417 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address EU's Borrell calls for blacklisting hardliners in Netanyahu's cabinet IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Aug 12, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell has called for blacklisting the hardliner ministers in the Israeli cabinet. "While the World pushes for a ceasefire in Gaza, Min. (Itamar) Ben Gvir calls for cutting fuel & aid to civilians," Borrell wrote on his X account on Monday. "Like Min. (Bezalel) Smotrich sinister statements, this is an incitement to war crimes. Sanctions must be on our EU agenda," he added. "I urge the Israeli government to unequivocally distance itself from these incitements to commit war crimes, and call it to engage in good faith in the negotiations facilitated by the US, Qatar and Egypt for an immediate ceasefire," the top European diplomat said. Earlier on Sunday, Borrell condemned Israel's brutal attack on Tabeen school complex in Gaza, which killed more than 120 people. "There's no justification for these massacres." He insisted, however, that a ceasefire would be the only way out of the devastating situation in Gaza. The EU foreign policy chief also criticized Smotrich, the Israeli finance minister, for opposing a ceasefire, adding that the EU supports international efforts for bringing an end to the war in Gaza. 9376**9417 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Al-Qassam Brigades claim responsibility for Jordan Valley operation IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Aug 12, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- The Izz al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, have claimed responsibility for the shooting attack in the Jordan Valley in the northern West Bank, which left a Zionist trooper killed. According to the Palestinian Shehab news agency, the Al-Qassam Brigades stressed that its fighters succeeded in carrying out a shooting operation at close range on Sunday afternoon (August 11), targeting the car of 23-year-old Yonatan Deutsch near the Zionist settlement of Mehola in the Jordan Valley. Al-Qassam Brigades announced that it takes responsibility for the operation, stressing that it avenged the blood of Palestinian martyrs in response to the crime of bombing the Al-Tabin School in Gaza. Al-Qassam also stressed that its fighters in the West Bank, who once again pledged allegiance to Yahya al-Sinwar, the new head of Hamas' Political Bureau, continue to take up arms and pursue the occupying enemy everywhere until they are finally expelled from this land and its holy sites. On Sunday, Israeli sources reported a shooting operation at a car carrying several settlers in the Jordan Valley in the West Bank, in which one Zionist was killed and another was wounded. Since the onset of Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, especially in recent days, various areas of the West Bank have witnessed operations and confrontations between the Palestinian resistance and military forces of the occupying regime and the Zionist settlers; therefore, the regime is concerned about the expansion of the operation and its transformation into a full-scale war. 4208**9417 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hezbollah fires volley of rockets at Israeli targets IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Aug 12, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- Lebanon's Hezbollah Resistance Movement has fired dozens of rockets in retaliatory attacks on Israeli military positions in the northern occupied Palestinian territories. Hezbollah said a volley of Katyusha rockets was fired at the newly established headquarters of the 146th Division in Giaton in the early hours of Monday. It added that the operation was carried out in response to Israel's attacks on civilian areas in southern Lebanon, particularly in the town of Maaroub as well as in support of Palestinians in Gaza. According to Lebanon's Al-Manar TV, the sound of explosions was heard in the town of Nahariya up to the area of Al-Kariyot in the city of Haifa. Some sources reported that more than 30 rockets were fired from Lebanon toward the north of occupied Palestine. Zionist media have also confirmed the report, saying the rocket attack prompted warning sirens in Nahariya and the West Galilee region. The regime's media said that the Iron Dome air defense system was unable to intercept most of Hezbollah's rockets. The new strike came hours after Hezbollah launched a series of drone, rocket and missile attacks on Zionist bases. In a rocket attack earlier on Sunday, Hezbollah fighters targeted the surroundings of a military base where Zionist soldiers were gathering. In a statement on the same day, the resistance group said that its combat drones hit Malikiyah base, inflicting heavy damage on the enemy's spy facilities. It also announced two separate attacks on Al Marj and Ruwaisat Al-Alam military bases. Since the onset of the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza, Hezbollah and the regime's military have been exchanging fires along Lebanon's southern border almost on a daily basis. 4399 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hamas favors implementation of existing Gaza truce proposal IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Aug 12, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has called for the implementation the provisions agreed upon in the previous negotiations instead of starting new talks on a ceasefire in Gaza. Hamas has asked the mediators to present a plan that is based on the previous negotiations that were held after US President Joe Biden laid out a proposal on May 31, Hamas said in a statement cited by the Palestinian Shihab news agency. We have asked Egyptian and Qatari mediators to present the provisions agreed upon in the negotiations on July 2 rather than new rounds or making new proposals will be simply a cover up of Israel's aggression, the statement added. The resistance movement has participated in several rounds of negotiations and has shown necessary flexibility in order to accomplish the interests of the Palestinian people, it said adding that it is the Israeli that continues its massacres of Palestinians, which proves "the regime is not serious about a permanent ceasefire." Osama Hamdan, a top Hamas official also made similar remarks and asked the resistance leaders to bind Netanyahu to the previous agreements. "Now is the time for the mediators to take decisive steps, implement what was previously agreed upon and oblige Netanyahu to it," he was quoted by the Palestinian Samas news agency. He added: The mediators' proposal to Hamas in early July included the US guarantee that Israel would approve this proposal. We welcomed US President Joe Biden's proposal and the Security Council resolutions, but the Zionist regime did not accept it and is procrastinating. So far, negotiations between Hamas and the Zionist regime with the mediation of Egypt and Qatar and the participation of the United States have not made a breakthrough in establishing a ceasefire in Gaza and exchange prisoners between the two sides. The Zionist media have repeatedly blamed Benjamin Netanyahu for delaying the negotiations and adding new preconditions that led to the failure to reach an agreement. Meanwhile, US President stated on Sunday that an agreement on the Gaza ceasefire is still possible, claiming that his team continues to work to prevent the escalation of regional tensions. 4399 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address PARIS, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's Special Representative and State Councilor Shen Yiqin attended on Sunday the closing ceremony of the 33rd Olympic Games in Paris and congratulated France on successfully hosting the Olympic Games. She made the remarks while meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron prior to the closing ceremony. During the meeting, Shen conveyed cordial regards from President Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan to President Macron and his wife and expressed gratitude to the French side for its support to the Chinese Olympic delegation. President Macron and his wife asked Shen to convey their sincere greetings to President Xi and his wife, congratulated the Chinese athletes for their outstanding performance and thanked the Chinese government for its support to France in hosting the Olympic Games. During her meeting with IOC President Thomas Bach on Saturday, Shen said China is willing to deepen its high-level friendly cooperation with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and stands ready to work with the IOC to make new and greater contributions to promoting the development of the Olympic Movement and building a community with a shared future for mankind. While congratulating the Chinese Olympic delegation for their outstanding achievements at the Paris Olympic Games, Bach also thanked the Chinese government for its firm support for the Olympic cause. The IOC looks forward to continuing its close cooperation with China and sending a positive signal in support of multilateralism, he added. The two sides also agreed to oppose the politicization of sports. During her stay in Paris, Shen visited the Chinese Olympic delegation and conveyed cordial regards and warm congratulations from Xi, the CPC Central Committee, and the State Council. She encouraged all Chinese athletes to continue to carry forward the Chinese sportsmanship and Olympism and make consistent efforts to achieve new successes for the country. Shen also visited the China House. August 13, 2024: Russian military forces in Ukraine have suffered heavy losses since they invaded in early 2022. Recently those set a record for the highest percentage of troops in a unit killed or wounded in a single attack, against Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine. The Russian attack in the city began on May 10th and failed with 91 percent of the attacking force of 10,350 troops killed, wounded or missing, along with nearly fifty tanks and other armored vehicles. Two tank regiments were wiped out along with most of an infantry brigade. An Air Assault Brigade suffered heavy losses as well, but nothing like 91 percent. Such heavy losses forced the Russians to withdraw their remaining troops and bring in the Alexander Nevsky Brigade, a volunteer outfit that would guard the sector until regular Russian troops could be found to replace them. The Alexander Nevsky Brigade is full of poorly trained volunteers who should be capable of manning the front line but will probably collapse if subjected to an attack. Russian forces often suffer heavy losses when sending in infantry to attack a Ukrainian position, but 91 percent losses was a new record. Recent Russian tactics have regularly used infantry attacks, often unsupported by artillery or accompanying tanks. Russian artillery and tank losses have been heavy since they invaded in early 2022. Tank losses have been so heavy that all they can provide for supporting infantry attacks are 60 year old T-64 tanks taken out of storage, refurbished and sent to Ukraine. These 38-ton tanks, armed with 125mm smooth bore guns, entered service in 1966 and 13,000 were built before production stopped in 1987. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Ukraine inherited 2,000 T-64s. The new Russian Federation received 4,000 T-64s but did not issue them to tank units. Instead Russia is planning to demolish its T-64s and recycle the components. Russian smelters always appreciate the high-grade steel used to build tanks and happily accept older tanks to cut up so the steel can be sent to the smelters to be recycled for non-military items. House Speaker: China's actions contravene peace, stability Philippine News Agency By Jose Cielito Reganit August 12, 2024, 4:01 pm Updated on August 12, 2024, 4:07 pm MANILA -- Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez on Monday condemned the reported endangerment by two Chinese fighter jets of a Philippine Air Force (PAF) plane over Bajo de Masinloc inside Philippine territory. "This latest aggressive action of China does not promote peace and stability in the West Philippine Sea and in the region. It does not speak well of a country trying to be a world power and leader," Romualdez said in a news release. "Disputes between two countries would not be resolved amicably if one, however big it is, resorts to aggression, harassment and bullying," he added. According to the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the two Chinese fighter jets conducted dangerous maneuvers and dropped flares in the path of the PAF plane, endangering the aircraft and its crew, on Aug. 8. The PAF plane returned safety to Clark Air Base in Pampanga. Following the incident, China said the Philippines should stop its "infringement," claiming it has "indisputable sovereignty" over Bajo de Masinloc and its adjacent waters. Romualdez stressed, however, that Beijing's assertion "has no legal basis." "They should not insist on this baseless claim. It is against the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to which both the Philippines and China are signatories," he said, citing that the Philippines is entitled to a 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) under UNCLOS. "Bajo de Masinloc is 120 nautical miles from Luzon and is clearly within our EEZ, while it is 594 nautical miles from China's Hainan Island," Romualdez said. NTF-WPS to China: Stop all forms of provocation The National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) also condemned the incident and called on Beijing to refrain from engaging in provocations. "Thus, we call on the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) to cease all forms of provocative and hazardous acts that could undermine the safety of Filipino military and civilian personnel in the waters or in the skies, destabilize regional peace, and erode the trust and confidence of the international community in the PRC," the task force said in a statement. It said the China People's Liberation Army Air Force's (PLAAF) act of launching flares in the flight path of the Philippine Air Force's patrol aircraft exhibited "hazardous intent". "Just when the waters of the West Philippine Sea seemed to show calm, the airspace above it was disturbed with acts of aggression. Our pilots and crew responded with focus, restraint, and professionalism, unfazed by the aggressive PLAAF jets," it said. It said the Philippines' air and maritime security patrol missions will continue within its sovereign territory, airspace, and exclusive economic zone. (with Priam Nepomuceno/PNA) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address PH must brace for China's heightened aggression in WPS: officials Philippine News Agency By Priam Nepomuceno August 12, 2024, 3:29 pm MANILA -- The Philippines must brace for China's increasingly aggressive actions as it asserts its presence in the West Philippine Sea, ranking defense and military officials said Monday. "Ito ay (It will be a) continuous struggle for presence and for assertion of sovereign rights in the area so you will have to expect these things to happen," Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said in a media interview in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City. This comes in the wake of China's latest harassment where two aircraft of its People's Liberation Army Air Force performed dangerous maneuvers and dropped flares near a Philippine Air Force aircraft conducting a maritime patrol over the Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) on Aug. 8. Meanwhile, Teodoro said the National Maritime Council is now looking into the incident. He said Manila will continue to protest Beijing's aggressive actions. Teodoro said having patrol planes escorted by FA-50PH aircraft, the sole fighter plane in the Air Force inventory, needs to be discussed. He also called China's latest harassment a part of its "consistent behavior". "They will stick to their narrative na alam natin (which we know) there is no support whatsoever, all they have on their side is brute force, and might and that's what they're going (to) do. Hopefully, they (will) listen to reason and heed the appeals of not only the Philippines but other countries to temper their moves and act in accordance with international law," he added. Dangerous In a separate interview, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. also called the acts of the Chinese aircraft "very dangerous". "Very dangerous kasi for instance yung mga flare na yun ay nakarating dun sa ating aircraft, pwedeng mahigop dun sa propeller or sa intake or pwedeng masunog pati yung ating aircraft (it's very dangerous, as the flares, they could be sucked by a propeller or an intake, it also burned our planes)," he said. Brawner also reminded all military pilots not to be intimidated by these actions and to continue with their maritime patrols. "Sabi nga ni Secretary Teodoro, makikita natin na itong occurrence ng ito in the future so tuloy-tuloy pa rin yung gagawin nating pagpatrolya (like what Secretary Teodoro said, we will see more of this occurrence in the future so we will continue with our patrolling)," he added. Filipino military pilots are also advised to conduct evasive maneuvers, per their standard operating procedure, whenever encountering foreign aircraft conducting dangerous maneuvers. He said the AFP has reported the incident to the Department of Foreign Affairs and relevant government agencies. (PNA) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Lawmaker calls for legal cases vs. China over 'air incident' Philippine News Agency By Wilnard Bacelonia August 12, 2024, 2:29 pm MANILA -- The Philippine government should now be preparing on filing legal cases against China before an international court following the "dangerous and provocative actions" of People's Liberation Army Air Force against a Philippine Air Force aircraft over Bajo de Masinloc within 120 nautical miles off the coast of Zambales. In a statement, Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros said it is time for China "to be held accountable for its belligerence." "I call on the Executive to start working on the filing of another round of legal cases before an international court," Hontiveros said. "Not only is China keeping our waters hostage, she has also started to encroach on our skies. These are clear and unacceptable violations of international law." Hontiveros added that Beijing must also be made accountable for any potential injury to personnel or damage to equipment caused. Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada also cited the latest harassment as "unacceptable" and "must be met with firm and decisive condemnation from the international community." "We urge the Chinese government to immediately stop this clear act of aggression and adhere to international law. This recent incident is a blatant violation of international aviation safety standards and the rights of all nations to carry out lawful maritime operations," Estrada said in a separate statement. "The Philippines has always advocated for peaceful and diplomatic solutions to territorial disputes with China and this incident undermines our efforts in de-escalating unnecessary tensions," he added. According to a report from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine aircraft returned safely to base, and no one was harmed after the incident. The incident has also been reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs and other relevant government agencies. (PNA) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address AFP: China's harassment won't deter PH maritime air patrols Philippine News Agency By Priam Nepomuceno August 12, 2024, 11:07 am MANILA -- The Philippines' air patrols will continue to safeguard its vast maritime territories amid China's latest harassment against a Filipino aircraft conducting patrols over Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal). In a radio interview Sunday, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla also called this act of China's People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) a contravention of international law and regulations on aviation safety. "Muli po naming pinagtitibay ang ating determinasyon na magsasagawa pa rin kami ng regular surveillance operation (We are committed and determined in carrying our regular surveillance operation)," Padilla said. The AFP on Saturday made public China's latest aggression and condemned the PLAAF's actions that endangered Philippine Air Force (PAF) aircraft and personnel going about their lawful duties. "On 8 August 2024, a PAF NC-212i aircraft was conducting a routine maritime patrol over Bajo de Masinloc when two aircraft from the PLAAF executed a dangerous maneuver at around 9 a.m. and dropped flares in the path of our NC-212i," AFP chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said in a statement. Brawner said the incident interfered with lawful flight operations in airspace within Philippine sovereignty and jurisdiction. "The pilots and crew of the NC-212i safely returned to Clark Air Base at 10 a.m. All personnel on board were unharmed," Brawner said. He added the AFP had reported the incident to the Department of Foreign Affairs and relevant government agencies. "We reaffirm our commitment to exercise our rights in accordance with international law, particularly UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) and the Chicago Convention," the AFP chief added. (PNA) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US warns about 'significant set' of anti-Israeli retaliatory attacks by Iran, resistance front Iran Press TV Monday, 12 August 2024 11:01 PM The US has warned that Iran and the regional resistance movements could launch "a significant set of attacks" against the Israeli regime in retaliation for the latter's assassination of senior resistance figures last month. The retaliation could come as early as "this week," White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Monday. Washington was not sure yet "what that could look like," Kirby noted in reference to the quality of the pending retaliation, but added, "We're continuing to watch it very, very closely." On July 31, the regime assassinated Ismail Haniyeh, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas' Political Bureau chief, alongside one of his bodyguards in the Iranian capital Tehran. Tel Aviv has denied responsibility for the atrocity, but the Islamic Republic has held it squarely responsible and vowed to serve it with a harsh response. Also on Monday, a senior Iranian military official asserted that the Islamic Republic's revenge on the regime "is on its way." "The aspects of this [retaliatory] measure are under consideration," Brigadier General Ali Shadmani, deputy coordinator of the country's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, noted, adding, "It will definitely take place." Haniyeh's assassination came only a day after an Israeli aerial attack against Lebanon's capital Beirut led to the martyrdom of Fuad Shukr, a senior commander with Hezbollah and an advisor to the Lebanese resistance movement's Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. Hezbollah has similarly pledged to face the regime with a strong reprisal. Resistance movements from Iraq and Yemen have also sternly vowed to join Iran and Hezbollah in avenging the blood of Haniyeh and Shukr. Kirby said, "We have to be prepared" for the prospect, "which is why again we have increased our force posture and capabilities in the region even, in just the last few days." On Sunday, the Pentagon said the US was sending a guided missile submarine and speeding up the transit of an aircraft carrier strike group to the West Asia region. The strike group will join aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt and its accompanying warships, which have already been deployed to the Gulf of Oman. Earlier this month, Kirby said, "Iran has already proven it is capable and willing to launch a major attack on Israel." He was referring to Operation True Promise, a multi-pronged retaliation that was launched by the Islamic Republic against the occupied Palestinian territories on April 13. The retaliation saw the country firing more than 300 drones and missiles towards the territories in response the regime's earlier assassination of two generals of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and their companions in the Syrian capital Damascus. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israel's Gallant says Netanyahu's idea of destroying Hamas 'nonsense' Iran Press TV Monday, 12 August 2024 6:24 PM Benjamin Netanyahu has traded barbs with his minister of military affairs, underscoring the deep internal rift that continues to plague the Israeli regime over its campaign of death, destruction and genocide in the besieged Gaza Strip. Yoav Gallant, the minister of military affairs, in remarks carried out by Israeli media, has dismissed as "nonsense" Netanyahu's war aim of total victory against the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas. Netanyahu's office on Monday put out a statement, rebuking Gallant. "When Gallant adopts the anti-Israel narrative, he harms the chances of reaching a captive deal," the statement said. It said Israel's war aim remained "total victory." "This is the clear directive of Prime Minister Netanyahu," it said. The latest exchange comes ahead of a last-ditch attempt to revive talks to halt the war in Gaza and bring back 115 Israeli captives held by Hamas. Hamas has said it will not send a delegation to the talks, accusing Netanyahu of wanting to waste time rather than make an honest attempt to reach a deal. Israel recently admitted it has failed to completely understand the "spider web" of the underground tunnel network developed by the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Channel 12 in a report late July cited unnamed Israeli officials and officers saying that the tunnels have enabled Hamas to carry out "an organized defensive battle" against the regime's barbaric war machine. One of the objectives of the regime's barbarism in Gaza since October was the destruction of the labyrinthine structure. Independent observers say Israel is the loser in its months-long campaign. They say Israel's goal of eliminating Hamas is "unrealistic." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Sudan at 'catastrophic breaking point', UN warns Iran Press TV Monday, 12 August 2024 5:25 PM A UN agency has sounded the alarm over the dire conditions in Sudan, warning that the African nation is on the verge of a "cataclysmic breaking point." The International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned on Monday that millions of people in the war-torn country were suffering from famine and floods amid the world's largest displacement crisis caused by an internal power struggle. "Without an immediate, massive, and coordinated global response, we risk witnessing tens of thousands of preventable deaths in the coming months. We are at breaking point a catastrophic, cataclysmic breaking point," the UN agency warned. The IOM's Middle East and North Africa director said the dire conditions and restrictions resulting from the conflict between the Sudanese army under Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, were hindering international relief operations. IOM said in addition to fighting, widespread flooding since June had also displaced over 20,000 people across the country. "Make no mistake: these conditions will persist and worsen if the conflict and restrictions on humanitarian access continue," Othman Belbeisi said in a statement. According to the latest data gathered by the IOM, more than 10.7 million people were internally displaced within Sudan, while 2.3 million more had fled to neighboring countries. According to the UN, tens of thousands of Sudanese people have died since the fighting started in April 2023. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US rushes strike group to West Asia region amid Israel's fears of retaliation from Iran Iran Press TV Monday, 12 August 2024 3:47 PM The United States is sending a guided missile submarine to the West Asia region and speeding the transit of an aircraft carrier strike group, as Israel remains on high alert for retaliatory attacks from Iran. The Pentagon confirmed late Sunday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had ordered the dispatch of the USS Georgia guided missile submarine to the region. He further ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, equipped with F-35C fighter jets, to accelerate its ongoing transit to the area. The strike group will join the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt and its accompanying warships already deployed to the Gulf of Oman. The US deployment was announced following talks between Austin and Israel's minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant. Senior officials in Washington have time and again vowed to keep providing "ironclad" support for the Israeli regime as the latter presses on with its genocidal war on Gaza. Tensions have risen across the region following the assassination of the head of the political bureau of the Hamas resistance movement, Ismail Haniyeh, in Iran last month. The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says the assassination of Haniyeh, in the Iranian capital Tehran, was designed and executed by Israel, with support from the US administration. Haniyeh was assassinated on July 31, while he was in Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian. Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei warned the occupying regime of a "harsh punishment," saying Iran sees it as its duty to avenge the blood of Haniyeh. Israel fears Iran could coordinate its attack with Hezbollah, which has vowed its own retaliation for Israel's killing last month of Fuad Shakur, a top commander. The back-to-back assassinations have fueled concern the Israeli aggression in Gaza was turning into a broader regional war. General Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement that Austin and Gallant also discussed Israel's military operations in Gaza. The call came a day after an Israeli airstrike hit a school-turned-shelter in Gaza early Saturday, killing at least 100 people, in one of the deadliest attacks of the 10-month Israeli aggression. The Israeli war machine, fueled by the US, continues to take more Palestinian lives in the Gaza Strip. The Zionist regime's onslaught since October last year has killed nearly 40,000 Gazans including 16,500 children and injured more than 92,000 others. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address EU's Borrel urges bans on Israeli ministers over war crimes incitement Iran Press TV Monday, 12 August 2024 1:11 PM The European Union foreign policy chief says the bloc should consider sanctioning far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, after they said aid to Gaza should be blocked and the starvation of two million people in the territory could be justified. Israel's so-called national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said in a post on social media platform X on Sunday that the transfer of humanitarian aid and fuel to the Gaza Strip should be stopped "until all our captives" held by Hamas are released. In the same post, Ben-Gvir also called for the permanent occupation of Gaza. His comments after Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said last week that he believes blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza is "justified and moral" even if it causes two million civilians to die of hunger in the coastal Palestinian sliver. "While the world pushes for a ceasefire in Gaza, Ben-Gvir calls for cutting fuel and aid to civilians. Like Smotrich's sinister statements, this is an incitement to war crimes," Borrell wrote on X late on Sunday, saying "sanctions must be on our EU agenda." His call comes as an increasing number of states have threatened to impose sanctions on senior Israeli officials over their conduct during the Gaza war. Ben-Gvir and Smotrich are considered to be among the ministers most likely to face sanctions. They are high-ranking Israeli figures on the furthest fringes of the Tel Aviv regime's settlement expansion plans, and continue to advocate more land grabs in the occupied Palestinian territories. Both ministers oppose a ceasefire in Gaza as well. Israel has killed more than 39,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in Gaza since October, according to the Gaza-based health ministry. The occupying entity has also imposed a "complete siege" on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there. Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UNICEF: Israel directly bombs over half of school-turned-shelter during Gaza war Iran Press TV Monday, 12 August 2024 11:13 AM The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) says Israel directly bombed more than 50 percent of the schools housing displaced Palestinians in Gaza since the beginning of the regime's 10-month genocidal war against the besieged territory. In a statement issued on Saturday UNICEF said Israel's attacks on schools used as shelters in Gaza resulted in severe consequences for children and families. The UN body raised urgent concerns over the safety of schools and shelters in Gaza. UNICEF condemned the recent Israeli "horrifying" attack on a school sheltering displaced people in the east of the Gaza Strip, which killed more than 100 civilians, noting that the strike targeted a place where children and families believed they were safe. "Horrific reports of another attack this morning on a school in Gaza sheltering displaced people, with children reportedly killed and injured in a place they thought was safe," it said in a statement on X. The organization stressed the importance of protecting schools and shelters, adding: "Schools and shelters must not be attacked. Children need to be safe." The Gaza government media office said more than 100 citizens were killed and dozens injured on Saturday morning after the Israeli occupation forces bombed the al-Tabi'in school in the al-Daraj neighborhood in Gaza City. Backed by the US and its Western allies, the Israeli regime launched an all-out invasion of Gaza after it was caught off-guard by the Hamas-led Operation Al-Aqsa Storm into the occupied territories in October last year. So far during the military onslaught, the regime has killed at least 39,897 Gazans. Another 92,152 Palestinians have sustained injuries as well. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hamas says Hezbollah's retaliation against Israeli assassinations in Lebanon 'definite' Iran Press TV Monday, 12 August 2024 11:07 AM A spokesman for the Gaza-based Hamas resistance movement in Lebanon warned Israel that Hezbollah will "definitely" retaliate against the occupying regime over its assassinations of resistance figures in the Arab country. According to Walid Kilani, the fellow Hezbollah group will decide on the scope and manner of the retaliation. "The Zionist regime will receive a definite and decisive response for its crimes and assassination attacks. The extent and approach depends on Hezbollah's decision. Hamas stands by the side of the Lebanese resistance movement," Kilani said on Sunday. He added that "there is a high level of coordination among Hamas, Hezbollah and other forces of the Axis of Resistance." Fuad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah commander and an advisor to the movement's Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, was assassinated in an Israeli strike against a building in a suburb of the Lebanese capital Beirut on July 30. The attack was followed by the regime's assassination of Hamas leader Samer al-Hajj and his companion in an airstrike on their car in the southern Lebanese port city of Sidon on August 9. Lebanon parliament speaker: Definite response awaits Israel Nabih Berri, the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, also warned that Israel must await a definite response. "With warmonger Benjamin Netanyahu serving as the prime minister of the Zionist regime, expansion of tensions is inevitable as he is seeking to drag anyone into war. "Unlike Israel, the Axis of Resistance is fighting intelligently and calculatedly, and Hezbollah only targets military installations as retaliation," he said. Commenting on the recent Israeli assassinations and the resistance front's pledge of retaliation, Berri said "The revenge that Israel has been anxiously awaiting over the past few days is definite, and the enemy cannot escape it." The top Lebanese lawmaker also denounced the Israeli strike against the al-Tabin school in Gaza City's al-Daraj neighborhood, killing more than 100 displaced Palestinians and wounding dozens of others on Saturday. "The Zionist regime's prime minister first assassinated the Palestinian political leader [Ismail Haniyeh] and then massacred his people. Does someone who seeks to reach a truce behave in such a manner? "What negotiations are they talking about while they don't stop bloodshed?" Berri said. According to Berri, the Israeli attack on displaced families at the al-Tabin was Netanyahu's response to the recent tripartite statement by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt, which called for the resumption of negotiations to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza and the release of prisoners and captives. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Qassam Brigades claims responsibility for retaliatory shooting in Jordan Valley Iran Press TV Monday, 12 August 2024 7:15 AM The al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement, has claimed responsibility for a retaliatory shooting operation in the strategic Jordan Valley of the occupied West Bank, as tensions are rising in the territory amid relentless Israeli offensives against the besieged Gaza Strip. The Qassam Brigades said in a statement that its West Bank-based fighters killed an Israeli soldier at point-blank range in the Jordan Valley on Sunday afternoon, and "returned to their bases safely." It added that the shooting operation came in retaliation for the Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City that killed more than 100 Palestinians and wounded dozens of others on Saturday. The statement noted that Hamas fighters in the occupied West Bank have "renewed their allegiance" to the new leader of the Gaza-based movement Yahya Sinwar. The Israeli Magen David Adom ambulance service and military said an Israeli settler was killed and another wounded on Sunday by Palestinian gunmen, who opened fire near the Mehola Junction on Route 90, the main north-south artery in the Jordan Valley. Israeli officials identified the man shot dead as 23-year-old Yonatan Deutsch, from the city of Beit She'an. Since Israel unleashed a war on the besieged Gaza Strip in early October 2023, casualties have been rising in the West Bank as a result of intensified near-daily Israeli raids into villages and cities in the occupied territories. According to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, at least 615 Palestinians, including 144 children, have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank since the outbreak of the war on Gaza. At least 39,790 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have also been killed in the Israeli genocidal war against the Gaza Strip during the past 10 months. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hezbollah rockets hit Israeli military headquarters in Giaton Iran Press TV Monday, 12 August 2024 12:05 AM The Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah says it has targeted an Israeli military position in the northern occupied territories. Hezbollah said in a statement on Monday that a volley of Katyusha rockets was fired at the newly established headquarters of the 146th Division in Giaton. It added that the operation was carried out in response to Israel's attacks on civilian areas in southern Lebanon, particularly in the town of Maaroub. "The fighters of the Islamic Resistance on Monday, 12-08-2024, bombarded the newly-established command headquarters of the 146th Division in Jaatoun with Katyusha rocket barrages," the statement said. According to Hezbollah, the rocket attack was also aimed at showing the Lebanese movement's support for Palestinians in Gaza. According to the Israeli regime's media, Israel's Iron Dome air defense system was unable to intercept most of Hezbollah's missiles. The attack caused a huge fire in the western part of Galilee in the north of the occupied territories. The Israeli regime has been conducting near-daily attacks against the southern parts of Lebanon since October 7, when it launched a genocidal war on Gaza. Hezbollah has been responding with strikes aimed both at retaliating against the regime and supporting the war-hit Gazans. The Israeli regime, which waged wars against Lebanon in 2000 and 2006, has, meanwhile, been repeatedly threatening to expand its attacks into another wholesale military onslaught against the country. Hezbollah has vowed to defend the Lebanese soil with all its resources. The resistance movement has also pledged to avenge the blood of Fuad Shukr, one of the group's senior commanders, and Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas' former political leader, who were killed in separate assassination operations conducted by Tel Aviv in Lebanon's capital Beirut and the Iranian capital Tehran late last month. Speaking on Tuesday, Hezbollah's Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the occupying regime was incapable of defending itself and was fearful of the Islamic Republic and the resistance's response to the assassinations. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Philippines slams Chinese actions against air force plane as unjustified, reckless Analysts say latest on-air incident over South China Sea raises questions about China's sincerity. Jason Gutierrez for BenarNews 2024.08.12 -- China's alleged intimidation of a Philippine Air Force (PAF) aircraft on a routine patrol over a disputed South China Sea shoal has raised questions over its sincerity to deescalate tension in the waterway, officials and analysts said Monday. On Aug. 8, two Chinese Air Force aircraft allegedly dropped flares in the path of the Philippine Air Force NC-212i plane over Scarborough Shoal, forcing it to turn around for the safety of its pilots and crew. The NC-212i is a light-lift, fixed-wing propeller airplane used by Manila to patrol its vast coastline. The Chinese jets flew at a "very close distance" to the Philippine plane and "put the lives of our pilots in real risk and danger," the Associated Press quoted a Manila security official as saying. Another security officer told the AP that the Chinese fighter jets fired at least eight flares at the Philippine aircraft. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the incident, AP reported. Last week's encounter was the first known incident in which China's People Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft fired flares at a PAF plane doing a routine patrol over Manila-claimed waters in the South China Sea. It also came shortly after both sides in July agreed to dial down tensions in the South China Sea after a standoff between Chinese and Philippine forces during a resupply mission near Second (Ayungin) Thomas Shoal the previous month. "I don't know why [the Chinese forces] did it. It took us by surprise," Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo told reporters on Monday, referring to the latest incident. He said the National Maritime Council created by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in March to strengthen the archipelago's maritime security amid territorial challenges will convene this week. "Definitely, we will protest. China always said it wanted to deescalate, but every time there is an incident like this, certainly, it tends to raise tensions. So, it is something that we have to pay close attention to," Manalo said. Also on Monday, Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. called on China to abide by international law regarding the West Philippine Sea, Manila's name for its South China Sea territories. He said the government has "to expect that this is a continuous pattern that China will do against us." "This is a continuous struggle for presence and for assertion of sovereign rights in the area so you will have to expect these things to happen," Teodoro said. 'Unjustified, illegal, and reckless' The incident at Scarborough Shoal occurred days after the Philippines joined the United States, Australia and Canada for maritime patrol and air drills in the West Philippine Sea. "I strongly condemn the air incident in Bajo de Masinloc earlier this week, and [stand] by our brave men and women of the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines), especially the Philippine Air Force," Marcos said in a statement on Sunday, using the Filipino name of Scarborough Shoal. He said the actions of the Chinese air force "were unjustified, illegal and reckless, especially as the PAF aircraft was undertaking a routine maritime security operation in Philippine sovereign airspace." "The Philippines will always remain committed to proper diplomacy and peaceful means of resolving disputes. However, we strongly urge China to demonstrate that it is fully capable of responsible action, both in the seas and in the skies," he said. The China Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to BenarNews request for comment. On Saturday, the PLA's Southern Theater Command said the Philippine aircraft had illegally intruded into Chinese-claimed waters despite repeated warnings. "The on-site operations of the PLA [were] professional and legitimate," it said in a statement. "We warn the Philippine side to immediately stop its infringement, provocation, distortion and hype. China has indisputable sovereignty over Huangyan Dao and its adjacent waters," the PLA said, using China's name for the shoal, which lies 125 nautical miles (232 km) off the west coast of Luzon, the Philippines' main island. China's 'doublespeak' Defense and security analyst Sherwin Ona, who teaches at Manila's De La Salle University, said China's agreement with the Philippines to cool down the tensions in the South China Sea was "classic doublespeak." "It seems like Beijing's deescalation is only good for only one news cycle," he told BenarNews. Chester Cabalza, president of the Manila-based International Development and Security Cooperation, said diplomacy would be Manila's first line of defense, noting that at this stage it was crucial to go through the diplomatic route. "The filing of protest is very important to the Philippines and that is the best resort right now. This is the first time the Chinese tried to threaten us and intimidate us up in the sky," he said. "If we were successful enough in our transparency strategy at sea, we have to also document what they are doing in the sky," he said. Ona said the incident raises the need for Manila to improve its domain awareness capabilities and invest in defenses protecting its air defense identification zone. He said it was unlikely that Manila miscalculated China's strategy. "It's just that the tempo of these incursions has increased dramatically with the announcement of U.S. military assistance and the conduct of joint maritime patrols," Ona said. He was referring to Washington's pledge last month of a $500 million (28.6 billion pesos) infusion to boost its defenses against Chinese activities in the sea region. "Apparently, the message from Beijing is that 'we are still in control.' Might is right," Ona said. He predicted that with the renewed U.S. defense commitment, Manila would again be subjected by China to more provocations. "Unfortunately, these incidents will only increase since Beijing knows that the Philippines cannot adequately respond to these challenges at the moment," he said. China asserts sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea, through which trillions of dollars in trade passes each year, putting it at odds with the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan who all have their own territorial claims. Jeoffrey Maitem and Jojo Rinoza in Manila contributed to this report. 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 August 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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Vietnam's top leader to visit China next week: media General Secretary To Lam is set to meet with President Xi Jinping, Vietnamese diplomats told Reuters. By RFA Staff 2024.08.12 -- Communist Party of Vietnam General Secretary To Lam will visit China next week, his first foreign trip since being appointed to the top job this month, Reuters reported. Lam will arrive on Aug. 18, and plans to meet President Xi Jinping and other senior officials over the following two days, the news agency said, citing two unidentified Vietnamese officials and a Hanoi-based diplomat familiar with the matter. Radio Free Asia's call to Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs went unanswered. On Aug. 3, Vietnam's Communist Party Central Committee voted unanimously to elect Lam general secretary, replacing Nguyen Phu Trong, who died two weeks earlier. Lam, 67, was named president in May after serving as Vietnam's public security minister and he currently holds both positions. As president, he has visited Laos and Cambodia and met Russia's President Vladimir Putin in Hanoi. China's President Xi sent Lam a congratulatory message upon his appointment as general secretary, expressing his readiness to work together "in building a China-Vietnam community with a shared future, jointly carry forward traditional friendship, consolidate mutual political trust, deepen strategic communication, and promote practical cooperation." Xi added that this collaboration aims to bring more benefits to the two peoples and make positive contributions to the cause of peace and progress of mankind, as reported by China's Xinhua News Agency. While the two sides have clashed over rival territorial claims in the South China Sea, Vietnam and China have a "comprehensive strategic partnership" considered the highest level of engagement. Xi last visited Vietnam in December 2023, meeting with Nguyen Phu Trong, then-president Vo Van Thuong and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang. Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content August 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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Analysts: Vietnam's new leader promises reform, but it won't be easy To Lam told state media that institutional changes must take place for Vietnam to become wealthy and just. By RFA Vietnamese 2024.08.12 -- There are significant challenges ahead for the Communist Party of Vietnam's newly appointed leader, General Secretary To Lam, who has stated he will focus on reforming the country's long-ruling regime, several analysts told Radio Free Asia. Shortly after becoming general secretary - the most powerful position in the country - To Lam told state media that large national institutions like the government must change so that Vietnam can become a wealthy, democratic, just and civilized country. In May 2022, World Bank experts recommended Vietnam undertake institutional reforms to fulfill its target of becoming an upper-middle-income country by 2045. To Lam also pledged to "to build a strong Communist Party of Vietnam," according to an article published last week in state-controlled media. The party's Central Committee voted unanimously on Aug. 3 to elect him as general secretary. The appointment came two weeks after Nguyen Phu Trong died at the age of 80 after serving for 13 years in the post, who used his time in office to consolidate powers in the hands of the party. It also followed a period of unprecedented upheaval in Vietnam's domestic politics, largely because of an anti-corruption campaign, called "blazing furnace," which was initiated by Trong. The campaign, and the infighting it has generated, led to the departure of six members of the party's Politburo and the ascent of To Lam, a former minister of public security, to state president. The previous president, Vo Van Thuong, was forced to step down amid corruption allegations, one of several senior government leaders forced out in the past year. 'Obstacles and bottlenecks' If To Lam really wants to tackle the country's problems, he should repeal Article 4 of the Constitution, which was written in 1992 and established the Communist Party of Vietnam as the country's leading force, said Tran Anh Quan, a young activist from Ho Chi Minh City. The biggest obstacle to moving the country forward is the Communist Party's one-party rule, which doesn't allow for a political opposition or for freedom of speech, he said. Removing Article 4 would allow multiple parties to compete in a fair and transparent manner, he said. "Whoever is good would be selected by the people, and whoever has a poor performance would be replaced," Quan said. "As a result, the country's obstacles and bottlenecks would be resolved quickly." Such a move would be long overdue, said Norway-based economist Nguyen Huy Vu. The party's top leaders are now members of Vietnam's wealthiest class and Marxist-Leninist theory is no longer the glue that unites party members, he said. Top leaders also must address the face that the country's economy still depends on unskilled labor, raw materials and preferential taxes. State-owned companies and Communist Party members' local businesses, which receive significant privileges from the government, are the least open economic sectors, he said. It would be very difficult to eliminate these companies if the Communist Party remains in power, he said. "Positions in the government, from big to small, are all allocated to Communist Party members, preventing other capable individuals from participating in the government's administration," he said. "If political reforms aren't undertaken, the government's ability to manage the economy and national policies won't be improved." 'Old guidelines' As state president, Lam has already visited Laos and Cambodia. He also met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Hanoi in June, and talked to him by phone last week after his general secretary appointment, Reuters reported. Lam is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing next week on his first foreign trip as general secretary, according to Reuters. Lam could step down from the presidency in the coming months, possibly when the National Assembly meets in October, multiple Vietnamese and foreign officials told Reuters. He's expected to continue as general secretary until 2026, when the National Assembly ends its current five-year term. All of Vietnam's top jobs will be up for grabs at a party congress, and To Lam could again be a candidate for the party's leadership. In the meantime, it's unclear if he really aims to reform the government, a Vietnam-based journalist who requested anonymity for security reasons. The remarks to state media last week were probably just a formality, he said. "To Lam doesn't have any new ideas," he said. "His speeches are still based on Marxism-Leninism and [the Party's] old guidelines." Additionally, To Lam wasn't the first top government official to call for removing institutional reforms, Quan said. Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who was prime minister from 2016 to 2021 and president from 2021 until last year, often complained that often when leaders give orders, "subordinates don't listen." Similarly, the chairman of the National Assembly from 2021 until last April, Vuong Dinh Hue, also publicly acknowledged that the government apparatus had a "hot head/top and cold body/bottom" that often ignores the stated priorities of national leaders. "It means that while top leaders call for reform and innovation, they just do it for show, and then when they fail to implement, they blame the lower levels," Quan said. Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by 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 August 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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hun Sen warns of more arrests related to Vietnam-Laos cooperation deal The former prime minister responded to plans to protest against the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam development area. By RFA Khmer 2024.08.12 -- Cambodia's Senate President Hun Sen on Monday again threatened to arrest anyone who tries to organize a demonstration in the country against an economic cooperation agreement with Vietnam and Laos that has been a subject of online debate over the last month. The 1999 agreement between the three countries was aimed at encouraging economic development and trade between Cambodia's four northeastern provinces and neighboring provinces across the border. Last month, three activists were arrested on incitement charges after they spoke of concerns that the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Triangle Development Area, or CLV, could cause Cambodia to lose territory or control of some of its natural resources to Vietnam. The activists made the comments in an 11-minute Facebook video. An angry Hun Sen ordered the arrests and has spoken publicly about the CLV several times since then. On Monday, Hun Sen warned in a Facebook post of more arrests after overseas Cambodians set up a chat group on the Telegram app where plans for an Aug. 18 demonstration in Phnom Penh against the CLV were being discussed. The Telegram group was created following a weekend of protests against the CLV among overseas Cambodians living in South Korea, Japan, Canada and Australia. "My message to all brothers and sisters in this group, I listened to your conversation in the group long enough," he said. "You are being incited by overseas people." 'Try it' Hun Sen said he has spies in the Telegram group who have sent conversations and names to his private account. He added that he wouldn't order the arrests for anyone who left the group. "We cannot let a few people destroy the peace of 17 million people. Some have seen the events in Bangladesh and compared the events in Cambodia," he said. "Try it. If you consider yourself a strong person, please try." Hun Sen stepped down as prime minister last year but remains a powerful force in the country. His son, Hun Manet, succeeded him as prime minister. Last week, Hun Manet warned Cambodians against protesting against the government, citing Bangladesh's recent demonstrations in its capital that turned into deadly clashes and caused that country's leader to resign. Hun Manet has also tried to reassure Cambodians about the CLV, saying that the agreement won't result in the loss of any territory. Soeung Senkaruna, the former spokesman for human rights group Adhoc, said Cambodians both inside and outside the country have the full right to freedom of expression, which is guaranteed by the Constitution and international law. Using force to keep people from expressing their opinions shouldn't happen in a country "that the government claims enjoys democracy and peace," he said. Translated Sum Sok Ry. Edited by 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 August 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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. Says Iran Attack On Israel Could Come 'This Week,' Warns Tehran To 'Stand Down' By RFE/RL August 12, 2024 The Taliban has created "the world's most serious women's rights crisis" since returning to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says. Under the Taliban rule, Afghanistan has become the only country where girls are banned from going to school beyond the sixth grade, HRW said in a press release on August 11. The Taliban has also "undermined women's right to freedom of movement, banned them from many forms of employment, dismantled protections for women and girls experiencing gender-based violence, created barriers to them accessing health care, and barred them from playing sports, and even visiting parks." The pressures on Afghan women come as their country is also experiencing a major humanitarian crisis, with aid severely underfunded and thousands of Afghan refugees forced back into Afghanistan from Pakistan. Women and girls are among the most seriously affected by this humanitarian crisis, HRW said. The situation has been described by the United Nations special rapporteur on Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, as "an institutionalized system of discrimination, segregation, disrespect for human dignity, and exclusion of women and girls," HRW said. "Under the Taliban's abusive rule, Afghan women and girls are living their worst nightmares," HRW's Fereshta Abbasi said. Abbasi urged all governments to "support efforts to hold the Taliban leadership and all those responsible for serious crimes in Afghanistan to account." Abbasi said countries engaging with the Taliban-led government in Kabul should consistently remind it that its "abuses against women and girls and all Afghans violate Afghanistan's obligations under international law." More than half of Afghanistan's population -- 23 million people -- face food insecurity, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Restrictions that the Taliban authorities have imposed on women and girls have impeded access to health care, jeopardizing their right to health, HRW noted. The Taliban's bans on girls' education inevitably leads to future shortages of female health workers, HRW said. The rights group called on donor countries to find ways to mitigate the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan without reinforcing the Taliban's repressive policies against women and girls. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-women-girls-rights- hrw/33075611.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Bulgaria's Most Powerful Oligarch, Delyan Peevski, May Be Losing His Grip On Power By Elitsa Simeonova and Ivan Bedrov August 12, 2024 Delyan Peevski, a leading politician and Bulgaria's most powerful oligarch, is something of an enigma. Apart from a few hotels he is rumored to frequent, no one knows where he lives. And you will rarely see him out on the streets, with the 44-year-old preferring to roll up to parliament in a convoy of black armored SUVs, flanked by dozens of bodyguards. Yet if you asked a Bulgarian politician who is to blame for the ongoing political crisis, where the country is facing its seventh election in three years, they would most likely lay the blame squarely at Peevski's door. For years, the oligarch has operated mostly behind the scenes. With his control of newspapers and much of the media distribution network, Peevski carries incredible sway over public opinion. In 2018, the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said Peevski embodied the "corruption and collusion between media, politicians, and oligarchs," accusations that Peevski denies, saying his domestic opponents press international rights groups to include him in their reports. Having served as a parliamentary deputy intermittently since 2009 and having held various state positions, including as the head of Bulgaria's counterintelligence agency, Peevski wields significant influence over political figures and institutions. Political Turmoil In 2023, the media tycoon stepped into the limelight, regularly attending parliament and speaking to the press. By early 2024, he had become chairman of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), a party that has traditionally represented Bulgaria's ethnic Turkish and Muslim minorities. In June, he led the party to second place in the parliamentary elections, winning 47 out of 240 seats. As Peevski's political star rose, Bulgaria entered an unprecedented (in the postcommunist era) period of political turmoil. From 2009 to 2021, the center-right GERB party, led by Boyko Borisov, a mainstay of Bulgarian politics, ruled mostly without interruptions. But since 2021, there have been six consecutive parliamentary elections. GERB has won four of them but has never managed to form a government. For the average Bulgarian, Peevski epitomizes the shadowy world of corruption and organized crime that many believe has captured the state. He is perhaps one of the country's least trusted politicians. In a recent poll, only 2 percent of Bulgarians said they trusted him while 88 percent distrusted him. Under its Magnitsky Act, the United States has imposed sanctions on Peevski, accusing him of corruption and influence peddling in order "to protect himself from public scrutiny and exert control over key institutions and sectors." The United Kingdom has also imposed sanctions, saying Peevski was "involved in attempts to exert control over key institutions and sectors in Bulgarian society through bribery and use of his media empire." The media tycoon and politician has taken action to legally contest the international sanctions and has continuously refuted the accusations made against him. He has filed a legal case in a U.S. to get the sanctions lifted, claiming the charges were politically motivated and without merit. 'Toxic' Partner His tarnished reputation has meant many Bulgarian politicians now refuse to work with him. For them Peevski is "toxic," says Dimitar Bechev, a lecturer at the Oxford School of Global and Area Studies and a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe, a Brussels-based think tank. Hristo Ivanov, one of the leaders of the pro-Western reformist We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB) coalition, told RFE/RL's Bulgarian Service on July 30 that "the fundamental problem of Bulgaria is the 'captured state,' which in recent years has been most personified by Peevski." Many Bulgarian politicians are now beginning to realize that any association with the media tycoon may lose them votes. The PP-DB coalition might have seen the consequences of its brief partnership with Peevski's DPS party between June 2023 and April. In Bulgaria's last parliamentary elections, in June, its supporters abandoned the coalition in droves. And the GERB party, which has worked closely and publicly with Peevski, has continued to hemorrhage voters. Faltering Reforms Bulgarian politicians have also accused Peevski of constantly derailing reform efforts. When a rickety coalition comprising the two largest political parties in Bulgaria at the time, GERB and PP-DB, ruled the country in 2023-24, both parties vowed to support military aid to Ukraine, embrace the euro, and bring Bulgaria fully into the Schengen border-free zone. However, the more reform-minded PP-DB also proposed measures that would reduce the power of the prosecutor-general and purge the security services of Russian influence, insisting on a precise timetable for their completion. With GERB dragging is feet on the proposed reforms, the coalition government fell apart in March. In an April interview with RFE/RL's Bulgarian Service, Nikolay Denkov, one of the coalition's rotating prime ministers, blamed Peevski for exerting pressure on GERB and leader Borisov in order to derail talks between the two coalition partners. Peevski was afraid of the reforms, Denkov said, and had an undue influence on Borisov. "I saw it with my own eyes.... We go to the meeting, and Peevski is sitting next to Borisov," he said. "And in fact, during those months, 80 percent of the time, the conversation was with Peevski, not with Borisov." After the last elections in June, Borisov also distanced himself from Peevski. With GERB winning the elections and the DPS coming second, the two parties could have formed a government with the support of a few independent lawmakers. But Borisov said several times he did not want to govern with only the DPS and Peevski. Party Spilt The upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled for October, may be a turning point, however, largely due to a deep split in Peevski's DPS. After becoming chairman of the DPS in early 2024, Peevski began purging the party of members close to Ahmed Dogan, the party's longtime leader and now honorary chairman. That faction is now fighting back, with Dogan and members of the party's base now demanding Peevski's resignation. As a result of the party split, analysts have said that Peevski could either fail to be elected to the next parliament or have significantly fewer lawmakers supporting him. Other parties have already discussed the possibility of isolating Peevski after the October elections. "We have to accept that we will work with those who are against Peevski in the DPS," PP-DB leader Ivanov said. "For once we [have to be] tactically smart and, when the window [for this] opens, to remove the latest [incarnation] of the corrupt state." The instability and inertia also come at a time when Bulgaria, the poorest and most corrupt country in the EU, is increasingly isolated and losing ground in the bloc. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, has been waiting for Bulgaria to propose a European commissioner for weeks, but the political upheaval has meant Sofia has reportedly still not made a decision on the candidate. And while the EU has approved an economic plan worth 6 billion euros ($6.6 billion), Bulgaria is unlikely to see the majority of that money until it carries out EU-mandated reforms, including anti-corruption measures. Bulgaria's political inertia may also have damaged its regional security, with the war in Ukraine just across the Black Sea. Sofia is not actively involved in regional security talks and is "punching below its weight class," says Matthew Boyce, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Hudson Institute and a former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state. "If the country doesn't manage to get out of this [political] stalemate," warns Vessela Tcherneva, deputy director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, "this will additionally widen access for countries such as Russia that would want to have influence in an EU and NATO member state." Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/bulgaria-peevski-dps-corruption- sanctions/33072468.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hamas Declines Ceasefire Talks, Calls for Return to July Proposal - Reports Sputnik News 20240812 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Palestinian movement Hamas is refusing an invitation from the United States, Qatar and Egypt to participate in the final round of talks with Israel on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, scheduled for August 15, the Axios portal reported, citing the movement's statement. Earlier, Egypt, Qatar and the United States called on Israel and Hamas to resume discussions on the terms of a ceasefire on August 14-15. The leaders of the three countries said they were ready to present a final proposal to reach a deal. Axios also reported that Hamas had cited new conditions recently presented by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, and Israel's latest strikes on the Gaza Strip as reasons for its decision. In a statement to Al-Arabiya news, Hamas called on the mediators to push Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to the deal US President Joe Biden promoted in early July. "The movement calls on the mediators to present a plan to implement what was agreed upon by the movement on July 2, 2024, based on Biden's vision and the UN Security Council resolution," Hamas said in a statement. "The mediators should enforce this on the occupation (Israel) instead of pursuing further rounds of negotiations or new proposals that would provide cover for the occupation's aggression and grant it more time to continue its genocide against our people," the statement said. That plan included a stipulation that all Israeli forces leave the Gaza Strip, including the Philadelphi Corridor, which Israel now says it wants to continue occupying. A senior Israeli official involved in the negotiations told Axios that Hamas' statement was "a tactical move ahead of a possible attack by Iran and Hezbollah and in an attempt to get better terms for the deal." "If Hamas won't come to the table, we will continue decimating their forces in Gaza," the publication quoted the Israeli official as saying. Earlier, Reuters reported, citing a statement from the movement, that Hamas had asked mediators in negotiations with Israel to present a plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, agreed upon by the movement in July, instead of starting new negotiations. According to the agency, Hamas demanded the implementation of the document agreed upon by the movement on July 2 and based on the vision of US President Joe Biden and the UN Security Council resolution. In July, Israel and Hamas resumed negotiations through intermediaries on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of hostages. The negotiation process had been at an impasse for more than a month since Biden, on behalf of Israel, announced a new plan to resolve the conflict in the Palestinian enclave. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israeli Defense Minister Told Pentagon Chief Iran Preparing Large-Scale Attack - Reports Sputnik News 20240812 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that Iran was preparing for a large-scale attack on Israel, the Axios news portal reported, citing a source. According to the publication, the top military officials held a phone conversation on Sunday. Earlier, Axios reporter Barak Ravid said, citing two unnamed sources, that Israeli intelligence believed that Iran had decided to attack Israel directly in response to the death of the political leader of Palestinian movement Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, and might do so before the hostage deal talks on August 15. Earlier, Mohammad Najafi, the prefect of the city of Qasreshirin in the western Iranian province of Kermanshah on border with Iraq, said that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC, elite units of the Iranian Armed Forces) was conducting military exercises in the city. These exercises are taking place against the backdrop of escalating tensions in the region following the assassination of Haniyeh on July 31 in Tehran as a result of an Israeli strike. The movement blamed Israel and the United States for Haniyeh's death and said the attack would not go unanswered. Israeli officials said they would not comment on Haniyeh's murder. The United States was not involved in the death of the Hamas politburo chief, US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood said later. On the evening of July 31, the New York Times claimed, citing sources, hat Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had ordered a direct strike on Israel in response to Haniyeh's murder in Tehran. Iranian Ambassador to the UN Amir Saeid Iravani later said at a UN Security Council meeting that Tehran, in accordance with international law, reserved the right to self-defense in order to respond to Haniyeh's murder when it deemed it necessary. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Joint statement on the Middle East: 12 August 2024 Joint Statement from the Leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom on the Middle East 12 August 2024 We, the leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom, welcome the tireless work of our partners in Qatar, Egypt and the United States towards an agreement on a ceasefire and the release of hostages. We endorse the joint statement of HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, President Sisi and President Biden calling for the immediate resumption of negotiations. We agree that there can be no further delay. We have been working with all parties to prevent escalation and will spare no effort to reduce tensions and find a path to stability. The fighting must end now, and all hostages still detained by Hamas must be released. The people of Gaza need urgent and unfettered delivery and distribution of aid. We are deeply concerned by the heightened tensions in the region, and united in our commitment to de-escalation and regional stability. In this context, and in particular, we call on Iran and its allies to refrain from attacks that would further escalate regional tensions and jeopardise the opportunity to agree a ceasefire and the release of hostages. They will bear responsibility for actions that jeopardise this opportunity for peace and stability. No country or nation stands to gain from a further escalation in the Middle East. President Emmanuel Macron of France Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN chief condemns 'devastating strike' on Gaza school 12 August 2024 - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has deplored a deadly weekend attack on a Gaza school-turned-shelter, his Office said on Monday. "The Secretary-General condemns the continued loss of life in Gaza, including women and children, as we witness yet another devastating strike by Israel on the Al-Taba'een school in Gaza City, sheltering hundreds of displaced Palestinians families, with scores of fatalities, amidst continued horror, displacement, and suffering in Gaza," said UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq. The incident occurred on Saturday and at least 100 people were killed, according to international media reports, which cited the Gaza health authorities. Local hospital 'overwhelmed' At the time of the attack, people were performing the dawn prayer at the school's prayer hall. Casualties were brought to Al Ahli hospital - among the 16 hospitals that remain only partially functional in the Gaza Strip - which is "overwhelmed by this mass casualty incident amid shortages of medications, clean water and beds," Mr. Haq told journalists. Humanitarian partners on the ground helped families who returned to the school, providing drinking water, food parcels, hot meals, hygiene kits and clothing, as well as psychological first aid and psychosocial support activities for children and their parents. According to the UN human rights office, OHCHR, this is at least the 21st strike on a school, each serving as a shelter, since 4 July, which have resulted in at least 274 fatalities, including women and children. Implement resolution on ceasefire deal Mr. Haq said the Secretary-General was dismayed to see that provisions of UN Security Council resolution 2735 (2024) remain unimplemented. Adopted in June, the resolution proposes a comprehensive three-phase ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel to end the war in Gaza, now in its 10th month. The first phase would include an immediate, full and complete ceasefire with the release of hostages; the return of the remains of some hostages who have been killed, the exchange of Palestinian prisoners, withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas in Gaza, the return of Palestinian civilians to their homes, and the safe and effective distribution of humanitarian assistance at scale throughout the enclave. The second phase calls for a permanent end to hostilities in exchange for the release of all other hostages in Gaza and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area, while phase three would see the start of a major multi-year reconstruction plan for Gaza and the returns of the remains of any deceased hostages still there to their families. Mediation efforts welcomed Mr. Haq said the UN chief welcomes the mediation efforts of the United States, Egypt, and Qatar leaders, and urges both sides to rejoin negotiations and conclude the ceasefire and hostages release deal. Mr. Guterres reiterated his urgent appeal for an immediate ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages, while again underscoring the need to ensure both the protection of civilians and unimpeded and safe humanitarian access into and across Gaza. "The Secretary-General underlines that international humanitarian law, including the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precautions in attack, must be upheld at all times," he concluded. Re-commit to the 'Rules of War': UNRWA chief Separately, the head of the UN Palestine refugee agency, UNRWA, upheld the need to protect civilians, civilian infrastructure, detainees and humanitarians amid armed conflict. Writing on the social media platform X, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini recalled that Monday marked 75 years since the Geneva Conventions - "the universal 'Rules of War'" - were put in place to protect civilians caught in the crosshairs. Mr. Lazzarini said the Geneva Conventions are "the one set of rules we 'all agree on'", though he questioned if that indeed were the case. "In the past 10 months, these rules have been blatantly broken day in, day out in Gaza by the Israeli Forces as well as the Palestinian armed groups including Hamas," he said. "More concerning, Member States - party to the Geneva Conventions - have failed in their responsibilities to respect the conventions and ensure that parties to the conflict respect them under all circumstances." Legal compass Mr. Lazzarini warned that "our shared values enshrined in the Conventions are at stake as is our shared humanity." He stressed that it is time to re-instate those values and re-commit to the Geneva Conventions. "They are the compass of international humanitarian law," he said. "The basics still apply: Civilians, women, children, detainees must be protected. Schools, hospitals, people's homes, humanitarian and UN staff, facilities and operations must be protected." Find out more about the Geneva Conventions in our explainer outlining what international humanitarian law is and why it matters. Latest evacuation orders Meanwhile, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the Israel military issued two evacuation orders over the weekend for Khan Younis, mostly for areas that were previously placed under evacuation. Initial mapping indicates that the areas affected encompass about 23 displacement sites, 14 water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, and four educational facilities. In total, about 305 square kilometres, or nearly 84 per cent of the Gaza Strip, have been placed under evacuation orders since war erupted last October. Additionally, the UN Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) recently reported that 63 per cent of all structures in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed. "Once again, we call for all parties to the conflict to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law, including by taking constant care to spare civilians and civilian objects," OCHA said. "This includes allowing civilians to leave for safer areas and allowing their return as soon as circumstances allow. People must be able to receive humanitarian assistance, whether they move or stay." Lebanon deaths rising The humanitarian agency also expressed deep concern over the increasing number of civilian deaths and rising displacement in Lebanon, amid escalating hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. Over the past month, the numbers of civilians killed has increased by 20 per cent - to a total of 120 since October. Nearly half were women and girls. Furthermore, civilian infrastructure has been repeatedly targeted. More than a dozen water stations have been damaged, with four now non-functional, according to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). The situation is affecting access to safe drinking water for more than 200,000 people. UN agencies and partners continue to scale up relief efforts, in support of the Government-led response. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently delivered 32 tonnes of trauma and emergency surgical kits, as well as medications. Similarly, UNICEF has distributed 65 tonnes of emergency kits, including medications and medical supplies, as part of their efforts to pre-position critical assistance. The UN Security Council is due to meet once again to discuss the continuing crisis in Gaza on Tuesday afternoon in New York. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN migration agency steps up support to families affected by deadly Yemen floods 12 August 2024 - The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is ramping up emergency operations in Yemen to support thousands of families affected by relentless rains and catastrophic flooding that has wreaked havoc across the country. The floods began in late June and intensified through early August. At least 57 people were killed and over 34,000 families impacted, as torrential rains devastated Hudaydah, Taiz, Marib and other regions, according to the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA. War, displacement and poverty The crisis is unfolding amid the ongoing war between Government forces, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, and Houthi rebels, which began a decade ago. The devastation caused by the floods and windstorms has worsened the already dire humanitarian situation in Yemen, where millions are grappling with the impacts of the prolonged conflict as well as displacement and poverty. The situation for internally displaced persons has become even more critical as the destruction of shelters, coupled with limited access to essential services, further hampers their recovery. Donor support needed Matt Huber, IOM Yemen's Acting Chief of Mission, said the magnitude of the disaster is overwhelming and needs are enormous. "Our teams are on the ground, working tirelessly to provide life-saving assistance to those in need, but the resources at our disposal are limited," he said. "Without significant and sustained support from international donors and partners, the ability to meet the needs of those affected will remain severely limited." Families displaced, farmland destroyed, landmines dislodged The floods have displaced over 6,000 families and caused severe infrastructure damage in Hudaydah governorate, among the hardest-hit areas. The flood waters have buried wells, washed away farmlands and caused widespread destruction of homes and essential public services. Roads have been closed and access to affected areas remains challenging, which is further complicating relief efforts. IOM said the situation is equally dire in three districts on Yemen's west coast- Hays, Mokha and Al Khokha - where 5,800 families have been affected and thousands displaced. Crops and critical infrastructure have been destroyed, including roads and water supply systems. Meanwhile in Hays, the flooding has swept landmines into new areas, thus complicating access and increasing risks of those trying to reach communities in need. Assistance and assessments In response to the crisis, IOM has provided aid to more than 300 families in Hays and Al Khokha districts. The agency has distributed shelter materials to 83 households as well as 3,000 hygiene kits. Teams are also conducting assessments, including in Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH), protection, and shelter/non-food items. In Marib, recent windstorms and floods have caused extensive damage, with broken electrical poles, widespread power outages, and severe impact on shelters. IOM manages 21 displacement sites there and preliminary assessments reveal that 600 shelters were fully damaged and 2,800 partially damaged, affecting over 20,000 people. Four deaths and several injuries were reported, with 12 people referred to IOM-supported hospitals in Marib city for urgent care. Disease fears The flooding has also raised serious health concerns as the combination of stagnant water and poor sanitation provide a breeding ground for mosquitoes, which could lead to diseases such as malaria and dengue fever. Contaminated water sources also may exacerbate the risk of waterborne diseases and the current cholera outbreak. In response, IOM's teams have been conducting initial assessments, activating emergency response committees and restoring critical infrastructure, such as water and sanitation systems. Teams have also been deployed to open channels for water discharge and construct embankments to prevent further damage. Appeal to the international community Yet despite these efforts, IOM said the scale of the disaster has exposed critical gaps in resources, particularly among partners supplying shelter and non-food items, due to low contingency stocks. IOM is closely coordinating with local authorities and humanitarian partners to ensure a comprehensive and effective response. With more rain and wind expected in the coming days, the agency urgently called for the international community to significantly increase support to address the overwhelming needs in Yemen. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN rights experts call for an end to post-election repression in Venezuela 12 August 2024 - The Venezuelan Government must immediately end escalating repression that has come in the wake of the disputed presidential election last month, a UN Human Rights Council-appointed body investigating alleged rights abuses there said on Monday. The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission also urged the authorities to thoroughly investigate a spate of grave rights violations that are currently occurring in the South American country. Venezuelans went to the polls on 28 July and President Nicolas Maduro was formally declared the winner the following day, securing a third term in office. Fierce repression, climate of fear The UN Fact-Finding Mission noted that in the weeks since the vote, street protests and criticism on social media have been met with fierce repression by the State, as directed by its highest authorities, inducing a climate of widespread fear. The independent rights experts recorded 23 deaths between the period from 28 July to 8 August, the vast majority caused by gunfire. Most victims, 18, were men under the age of 30. "The reported deaths during the protests must be thoroughly investigated, and if the excessive use of lethal force by security forces and the involvement of armed civilians acting in collusion with them are confirmed, those responsible must be held accountable," said Marta Valinas, Chair of the Fact-Finding Mission. She stressed that "victims and their families deserve justice." Thousands arbitrarily detained After analyzing data published by various human rights organizations, the Mission said it can preliminarily conclude that at least 1,260 people have been detained in Venezuela since 28 July, including 160 women. Most detentions, 18 per cent, occurred in the capital district, followed by the states of Carabobo and Anzoategui. Data from the Attorney General's office indicates that at least 2,200 people, indiscriminately labeled as "terrorists," have been detained. The Mission members have identified common elements in the detentions, which qualify them as arbitrary and constitute serious violations of due process, thus leaving individuals unprotected within the justice system. They said these elements include summary hearings conducted remotely by the Terrorism Courts in the capital, Caracas, even if the events occurred elsewhere. The mission is also looking into the imposition of serious criminal charges - such as terrorism, conspiracy, and hate crimes - without supporting evidence, or applied in a disproportionate manner; the denial of information to family members, or the provision of late and incomplete information, and preventing detainees from appointing their own legal counsel. "All individuals arbitrarily detained must be released immediately," said Patricia Tappata, an expert of the Mission. "The authorities must strictly adhere to international standards regarding due process and detention conditions, using formal channels to communicate with family members." Children detained The Mission said that among those detained are leaders, members and supporters of political parties, journalists, and human rights defenders, considered or perceived by the authorities to be in opposition. The vast majority, however, were simply individuals who voiced their rejection of the presidential election results announced by the authorities. Many of the detentions occurred after individuals participated in protests or expressed their opinions on social media, with authorities selectively targeting them at their homes. The experts have received particularly concerning information about the detention of over 100 children and adolescents who have been charged with the same serious crimes as adults. Moreover, they said these children have not been accompanied by their parents or guardians during judicial proceedings. "The Mission strongly recalls the obligation to ensure that detained children are treated in strict compliance with international child protection obligations, respecting their best interests," said Francisco Cox, another of the experts. About the Fact-Finding Mission The UN Human Rights Council established the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in September 2019, expressing grave concern over the rights situation in the country. The Mission was given an initial mandate of one year, which was subsequently extended. The three experts who serve on the Mission are not UN staff and they are not paid for their work. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Investigation completed: Allegations on UNRWA staff participation in the 7 October attacks UNRWA 12 Aug 2024 From Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General GENEVA/ AMMAN "I acknowledge the completion of the investigation by the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) into the serious allegations that 19 area UNRWA staff members in Gaza were involved in the abhorrent attacks of 7 October on southern Israel. "The allegations were brought to the Agency's attention in January. In close consultation with the United Nations Secretary-General (SG), I immediately terminated the contracts of the staff in question, in the interest of the Agency, while the SG tasked OIOS to launch an investigation. Additional allegations were brought to our attention in March and April and the concerned staff were added to the OIOS investigation. "The OIOS investigation's outcomes are the following: "In one case, no evidence was obtained by OIOS to support the allegations of the staff member's involvement. That staff member has rejoined the Agency. "In nine other cases, the evidence obtained by OIOS was insufficient to support the staff members' involvement and the OIOS investigation of them is now closed. "For the remaining nine cases, the evidence - if authenticated and corroborated - could indicate that the UNRWA staff members may have been involved in the attacks of 7 October. "I have decided that in the case of these remaining nine staff members, they cannot work for UNRWA. All contracts of these staff members will be terminated in the interest of the Agency. "The Agency's priority is to continue lifesaving and critical services for Palestine Refugees in Gaza and across the region, especially in the face of the ongoing war, the instability and risk of regional escalation. "UNRWA is committed to continue upholding the fundamental principles and values of the United Nations, including the humanitarian principle of neutrality, and to ensure that all its staff abide by the Agency's policy on outside and political activities. "In April, an independent Agency-wide review by three reputable research centres under the leadership of former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna concluded that UNRWA 'possesses a more developed approach to neutrality than other similar UN or NGO entities'. The Agency has started implementing the recommendations of the review" and is fully committed to them. "Finally, I reiterate UNRWA's condemnation of the 7 October attack in the strongest possible terms. I call - once again - for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and their safe return to their families." ENDs- Notes to editors Two of the 19 staff members were confirmed deceased. UNRWA cannot confirm the circumstances of their death. UNRWA has nearly 30,000 staff across the region including 13,000 in the Gaza Strip. Background Information: UNRWA is the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. The United Nations General Assembly established UNRWA in 1949 with a mandate to provide humanitarian assistance and protection to registered Palestine refugees in the Agency's area of operations pending a just and lasting solution to their plight. UNRWA operates in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, The Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Tens of thousands of Palestine refugees who lost their homes and livelihoods due to the 1948 conflict continue to be displaced and in need of support, nearly 75 years on. UNRWA helps Palestine Refugees achieve their full potential in human development through quality services it provides in education, health care, relief and social services, protection, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance, and emergency assistance. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Bamboo Eagle 24-3: USAFWC concludes second iteration of major exercise Published Aug. 12, 2024 By 1st Lt. Jimmy Cummings 57th Wing Public Affairs NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. (AFNS) -- The recent conclusion of Bamboo Eagle 24-3, a U.S. Air Force Warfare Center-led joint exercise, marked a significant milestone in the Air Force's reoptimization for Great Power Competition. The exercise, which took place across several locations in California and in airspace over the eastern Pacific Ocean, was designed to test the capabilities of the Air Force and prepare the service for the challenges of the 21st century by specifically focusing on distributed command and control, disaggregated mission generation and the joint maritime environment. "As an Air Force, we are learning that we are all going to be on the front lines," said Maj. Gen. Christopher Niemi, U.S. Air Force Warfare Center commander. "The USAF no longer has the luxury of projecting power from sanctuary bases. Airmen will be required to sustain the same operational tempo as before, but under the threat of large-scale enemy fires at a magnitude this nation has never seen. Unlike Red Flag, which only exposes operators to enemy tactics, techniques and procedures, Bamboo Eagle exposes the entire blue kill chain to enemy threats, from the logistics airman loading pallets on a C-130 to the F-22 pilot engaging the enemy." A piece of the Air Force's reoptimization efforts includes reorienting Air Combat Command. Bamboo Eagle is an example of what this reorientation looks like. By synchronizing this large-scale exercise in concert with Joint Force elements, ACC aims to increase the Air Force's competitiveness for Great Power Competition. "This iteration of Bamboo Eagle was a valuable opportunity for our Airmen to test their skills and demonstrate their readiness in the face of great power competition," said Gen. Ken Wilsbach, commander of Air Combat Command. "The performance of all the participants was exceptional, and I am confident the lessons learned during this iteration will help us to better meet the challenges we face today." Bamboo Eagle synchronizes with the Air Force Force Generation model and affords commanders the ability to certify their forces through the exercise events. This ensures force capabilities are optimally mission-ready when tasked to support Combatant Commanders. "The objective of exercises with speed and scale is to demonstrate the Department of the Air Force's preparedness for complex, large-scale military operations, demonstrating the ability to operate in a contested, dynamic environment against high end threats on short notice," U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin said. The speed and scale of Bamboo Eagle was not lost on the exercise participants. Everyone involved worked tirelessly to ensure success. "I was proud of our Airmen and the pride they took in their work and their willingness to accomplish the mission during the exercise" said Col. Keagan McLeese, the 9th Reconnaissance wing commander. "Seeing Airmen working in less-than-ideal conditions and doing so with a smile on their face was astonishing. It put my role as the Air Expeditionary Wing commander into perspective for me." From the forces on the ground tasked with generating aircraft and sustain ground operations to the forces in the air pulsing power forward, everyone was fully engaged in the 24/7 operations of the exercise. "Bamboo Eagle was chaotic, but in a good way," said Capt. Alexandra Gordon, an air battle manager assigned to the 965th Airborne Air Control Squadron. "It was our test to be able to get aircraft airborne, get them checked in and then operating at a level that would meet a pacing threat. We had a young crew, and it was cool to see the learning that occurred throughout the exercise." Bamboo Eagle is just one example of the many ways in which the Air Force is reoptimizing for great power competition. Through exercises like this, the Air Force is building a stronger and more capable force, ready to project power and generate aircraft in concert with the Joint Force. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address White House warns of potentially imminent Iran attack on Israel By Carla Babb August 12, 2024 Hamas says its soldiers killed one Israeli hostage and wounded two others, as the White House warned Monday an Iranian attack against Israel could be imminent. A spokesperson for the Hamas militants, Abu Obaida, blamed the murder by the hostage's guard on what he said was an Israeli "massacre" of Palestinians. He said two Israeli female hostages were injured in a separate incident. The news comes as White House national security spokesperson John Kirby warned that Israel and its allies must be prepared for "what could be a significant set of attacks" from Iran as soon as "this week." U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Sunday ordered the USS Georgia, a guided missile submarine, to the Middle East and told the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to accelerate its transit to the region. Asked whether the submarine announcement was a message to Iran, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said, "Absolutely." "We're trying to send a message, which is we're looking to de-escalate the situation, that we're looking to have capabilities in the region to protect our forces while also support the defense of Israel," Ryder told reporters at the Pentagon on Monday. Barbara Starr, a senior fellow for communications and policy at the University of Southern California, called the messaging an "important signpost" because submarines aren't used for preemptive attacks. "[The] US actually wants to ensure Iran KNOWS it's there and ready to strike in defense of Israel," she wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday in response to VOA. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden spoke with leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy on Monday about the escalating tensions in the Middle East. In a joint statement, the leaders expressed "full support" for efforts to reach a cease-fire and hostage release deal in Gaza. They said this included the call from Biden and the leaders of Egypt and Qatar to renew talks later this week. The leaders also expressed support for Israel's defense against Iranian attacks and attacks by Iran-backed terrorist groups, calling on Iran to "stand down" while discussing "serious consequences for regional security" should an attack take place. U.S. defense officials, who spoke to VOA on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence, said Iranian troops and weapons have been moving into striking positions. U.S. defense officials saw similar troop movements prior to Iran's first direct military attack against Israel in April, where Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles. Only a small number of the Iranian weapons hit their Israeli targets, causing minor injuries and damage. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Monday that he spoke with Austin to prepare for a possible large-scale military attack on Israel. Austin said the United States would take every possible step to defend Israel. On Friday, an Iranian Revolutionary Guards official was quoted as saying supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered Iran to "harshly punish" Israel over the July 31 killing of a Hamas leader in Tehran. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in retaliation for the Oct. 7 terror attack that killed 1,200 people and led to the capture of 250 hostages. Israel's counteroffensive has killed nearly 40,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, while Israel says the death toll includes thousands of Hamas fighters. Some information from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse was used in this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Germany, France, Britain call for Gaza cease-fire; Israel prepares for attack By VOA News August 12, 2024 Germany, France and Britain called early Monday for a Gaza cease-fire while Israel braced for a large-scale attack. "The fighting must end now, and all hostages still detained by Hamas must be released. The people of Gaza need urgent and unfettered delivery and distribution of aid," the statement from the European leaders said. It was signed by French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The three nations also endorsed the latest mediation plan from the United States, Qatar and Egypt to end the 10-month-old Israel-Hamas war. The proposal calls for exchanging the rest of the hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel and withdrawing Israeli troops from Gaza. It also calls for Iran and its allies to refrain from attacking Israel in retaliation for the killing of two militant leaders in Beirut and Tehran. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Monday that he spoke with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to prepare for a possible large-scale military attack on Israel. Austin said the United States would take every possible step to defend Israel. He noted that the U.S. military presence was being strengthened in the Middle East. The USS Abraham Lincoln Strike Group was ordered to speed up its journey to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, which covers the Middle East as well as Central and South Asia. The guided missile submarine USSS Georgia was also sent to the area. On Friday, an Iranian Revolutionary Guards official was quoted as saying Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered Iran to "harshly punish" Israel over the July 31 killing of a Hamas leader in Tehran. In Gaza on Sunday, Israel dropped leaflets from the sky ordering more evacuations from Khan Younis. "We don't know where to go," Amal Abu Yahia, a mother of three, told the Associated Press. Her family returned to Khan Younis in June to shelter in their severely damaged home. It was the fourth displacement for the 42-year-old widow, whose husband was killed in March when an Israeli airstrike hit their neighbors' house. She said they went to Muwasi, a sprawling tent camp along the coast, but couldn't find space. Ramadan Issa, a father of five in his 50s, fled Khan Younis with 17 members of his extended family, joining hundreds of people walking toward central Gaza. "Every time we settle in one place and build tents for women and children, the occupation comes and bombs the area," he said, referring to Israel. "This situation is unbearable." Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in retaliation for the Oct. 7 terror attack that killed 1,200 people and led to the capture of 250 hostages. Israel's counteroffensive has killed nearly 40,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the territory's Health Ministry, while Israel says the death toll includes thousands of Hamas fighters. Material from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse was used in this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Vietnam holds joint drill in South China Sea to strengthen territorial claims By VOA News August 12, 2024 Hanoi's joint drill with the Philippines in the South China Sea and efforts to define and uphold territorial boundaries with neighboring Southeast Asian nations is an effort to counter Beijing's aggression in the hotly contested waters, according to analysts. A Vietnamese coast guard ship arrived in Manila on Aug. 5 for a four-day goodwill visit and to perform joint exercises in the South China Sea. Although the two countries have their own territorial disputes in the South China Sea - a key trade and security route - it's in both countries' interest to work together, said Ray Powell, director of Stanford University's Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation. "Both Hanoi and Manila recognize that while their overlapping claims are a problem, only Beijing has the means and clear intent to enforce its own claim," he wrote to VOA over the messaging platform WhatsApp on Aug. 11. "They have wisely decided to manage their bilateral dispute amicably so that they can focus on the vastly greater threat posed by China." Leading Vietnam's coast guard delegation to Manila, Colonel Hoang Quoc Dat said during a speech that the port call was a means to strengthen the countries' "relationship for mutual benefit" and would help "the preservation and protection of the region's maritime security and safety." China claims the vast majority of the South China Sea with its nine-dash line, a disputed map without legal basis. In April, China's coast guard fired water cannons at a Philippine vessel as it carried out a patrol near the Chinese-controlled rocky output Scarborough Shoal, approximately 130 miles west of the Philippine island Luzon. International law states that a country's exclusive economic zone, or EEZ, stretches 200 nautical miles off its coast. "While most of Beijing's recent aggressions have been focused on the Philippines, it has found ways to antagonize Hanoi through intrusive Coast Guard patrols and oceanographic surveys that telegraph its sovereignty claims to most of Vietnam's exclusive economic zone," Powell said. On July 19, China Coast Guard ship 5302 conducted a patrol in Vietnam's oil and gas fields at Vanguard Bank, according to Powell. He stated that while Vietnam's joint drill with the Philippines may have limited military benefits, it is symbolically powerful. It sends "a message that this is how responsible countries cooperate and peacefully manage maritime disputes," he said. Settling disputes To have strong grounds to counter Beijing, it is essential for Hanoi to settle its maritime boundaries with Southeast Asian nations, said Nguyen Khac Giang, visiting fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. "Unless they settle the difference among themselves, they can't establish a common and more unified stance to negotiate with China as a single entity," he told VOA during a call on July 10. In June, Vietnamese state media reported that Hanoi was ready to hold talks with the Philippines to settle their overlapping undersea claims in the continental shelf in the South China Sea. It's not Hanoi's first effort to solidify territorial boundaries with neighbors. In December 2022, former President Nguyen Xuan Phuc met with Indonesia President Joko Widodo. During the visit in Indonesia, the leaders announced an agreement on the boundaries of the countries' exclusive economic zones after years of negotiations. Gregory Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, told VOA that Hanoi has made significant progress. "Vietnam's been on a pretty unbroken path of negotiating maritime boundaries and fisheries agreements," he said over a Zoom call on July 9. Illegal fishing Although Hanoi has made inroads with neighboring countries in settling marine disputes, illegal fishing is a point of friction and has negatively affected the marine economy, analysts noted. Giang said Hanoi has made a "massive effort" to control the fishing industry, but bureaucratic hurdles, costs, declining marine ecosystems, and education are hurdles for authorities attempting to control millions of fishers spread across 28 coastal provinces. In 2017, the European Commission imposed a public warning about Vietnamese seafood because of the rate of illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing by Vietnamese fishermen. Collin Koh Swee Lean, senior fellow at the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, told VOA that despite Vietnam's 2022 agreement with Indonesia, Vietnamese fishermen still often fish illegally in Indonesian waters. "The situation hasn't really changed much in terms of the regularity of intrusions from the Vietnamese," he said during a call on July 10. Vietnamese fishermen are known to fish in the North Natuna Sea, a fertile fishing ground within Indonesian territory that borders the southern boundary of Vietnam's EEZ. A third-generation fisherman in coastal Binh Thuan province told VOA it's easy to increase profits outside Vietnamese waters. "I don't fish illegally myself but know people who went to Indonesia and China illegally to fish," the 32-year-old said in Vietnamese on July 11, asking for his name to be withheld. "They shared with me that two days of fishing in Indonesia can make income like a month of fishing in Vietnam." Giang noted that part of the motive for Vietnamese fishers to move further South out of Vietnamese waters is to avoid the dangers of Beijing's militarization of the South China Sea. "There have been cases where Chinese vessels injure or even killed Vietnamese fishermen," he said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US: Geneva's Sudan talks will proceed, with or without Sudanese army By Nike Ching August 12, 2024 Talks aimed at ending Sudan's 16-month civil war between rival military factions and addressing the dire humanitarian crisis will proceed this week, even without the Sudanese army's participation. On Sunday, consultations between the Sudanese government and the United States in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, ended without an agreement on whether a delegation from the army or the government would participate in the Geneva peace talks, casting doubt on the cease-fire negotiations set to begin on August 14. The United States has invited leaders of the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, to discuss a potential cease-fire. The RSF has confirmed its participation in the talks. "Unfortunately, the SAF has not" accepted the U.S. invitation to take part in the peace talks, State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told VOA during Monday's briefing. "Our view is that talks will proceed with or without the SAF to develop shared action plans toward a nationwide secession of violence, opening additional humanitarian access and a robust monitoring and implementation regime," Patel added. More than a year of fighting between SAF and RSF troops has displaced nearly 10 million people across the Greater Horn of Africa country and left 26 million facing crisis-level hunger. Earlier, U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello said he has arrived in Geneva from Saudi Arabia to launch the "urgent international effort in Switzerland to end the crisis in Sudan." "All alleged violations of international humanitarian law will be raised during upcoming negotiations in Switzerland over humanitarian access and a cessation of hostilities," Perriello wrote on X, formerly Twitter. A State Department spokesperson told VOA on Sunday that the U.S. will continue discussions with SAF on preparations for the cease-fire negotiations. "In addition to consultations with the parties, we have heard from tens of thousands of civilians inside and outside of Sudan. Their message is clear: They want an end to the daily terror of shelling, starvation, and sieges, and the United States and our partners stand committed to answering that call," Perriello wrote on X. In Washington, U.S. officials have said there is no military solution to the crisis in Sudan. They stressed that convening national cease-fire talks backed by unified pressure from key international stakeholders is the only way to end the conflict, prevent the spread of famine and create space to restore the civilian political process. At the United Nations, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed deep alarm over the evolving situation in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, where fierce fighting between Sudan's rival military factions, the SAF and RSF, has had devastating consequences for civilians. "The fighting will further exacerbate humanitarian needs in and around El Fasher at a time when famine conditions have been confirmed in Zamzam camp south of El Fasher," said U.N. deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq. Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Rights groups accuse Cameroon government of abandoning vulnerable civilians By Moki Edwin Kindzeka August 12, 2024 Officials in Cameroon say people are again fleeing towns in western regions as separatists block traffic on the streets, burn vehicles that defy their orders and abduct and torture civilians for ransom. Rights groups are accusing Cameroon's central government of neglecting and abandoning oppressed civilians. In a video circulated on social media, a fighter brandishing knives and an AK-47 said he would cut the throats of every civilian who refuses to collaborate with separatists in Ngoketunjia, Bui and Mezam, administrative units in Cameroon's Northwest region. The man, accompanied by about a dozen other armed fighters said he has ordered separatists to make sure no market is open and no vehicle enters several villages in Ngoketunjia until further notice. Cameroon's military on Monday said the video is that of English-speaking fighters expressing anger over the killing of several separatists within the past two days of heavy fighting. VOA could not independently verify the claim. But in the video, the fighters said they lost two separatists and killed several Cameroon government troops. Fighters advocating for the creation of an English-speaking state separate from majority French-speaking Cameroon have been waging war against the government since 2017. Fresh fighting was provoked by a wave of violence including torture and abduction of civilians for ransom, the Cameroon government said. Officials say at least 50 civilians were abducted and tortured in Bamali village within the past three weeks. Villagers said families had to pay at least $500 for each kidnap victim to regain freedom. The government says dozens more who were abducted are still in separatist camps. Cameroon's military says in some separatist-controlled areas, fighters have ordered drivers to paint taxis blue and white, the colors separatist groups are using in the flag of Ambazonia, the republic they hope to create out of Cameroon's Northwest and Southwest regions. Several dozen taxis that defied the separatist order have been torched, the government says. Deben Tchoffo, the governor of the Northwest region, said more troops will be deployed in the days ahead to make sure civilians are protected from a new wave of separatist abductions, rape, maiming, killing, looting and torching goods. He also said Cameroon President Paul Biya has ordered that civilians can assist government troops by creating local militias to fight and stop separatists from causing atrocities. Tchoffo said fighters who drop their weapons and surrender will be pardoned as ordered by Biya. Separatists say the new wave of attacks is to make Cameroon's predominantly English -speaking regions ungovernable for the central government in Yaounde until they achieve what they say will be their complete independence. According to rights groups, the current fighting and atrocities committed by both government troops and separatists has displaced several hundred civilians including recent returnees. Gaby Ambo, the executive director of FGI, a rights group with headquarters in Bamenda, capital of the Northwest region, said civilians are particularly angry because the Cameroon government is not doing enough to protect people and their property. "The government has not been able to live up to its responsibility in ensuring that such acts don't happen anymore. The military too do their own worst. They use guns to intimidate the people and extort money from them. The reign of impunity is beyond measure, it is beyond control and this is how gross the violations are actually growing by the day and so we are expecting some serious actions that can actually make the government understand that the rights of these people are cardinal," he said. Ambo said many people who returned, trying to rebuild their lives, are leaving troubled towns and villages. During his visit to Cameroon last week, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk called for an end to Cameroon's separatist conflict. The International Crisis Group says more than 6,000 people have been killed and the unrest has deprived 750,000 children, especially girls of education. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address No face-to-face meeting as Somalia, Ethiopia hold indirect talks in Turkey By Harun Maruf August 12, 2024 Ethiopian and Somali officials are holding indirect talks in Ankara, Turkey as the two sides attempt to end the diplomatic dispute over Ethiopia's deal with the breakaway region of Somaliland that has been simmering between the two countries since the beginning of this year. Diplomatic sources told the VOA Horn of Africa Service that delegations from the two countries have not had face-to-face meetings. Instead, Turkey has been playing the intermediary role between the two countries. Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Hakan Fidan separately met his counterparts from Somalia, Ahmed Moallim Fiqi, and Ethiopia's Taye Atske Selassie. According to an official close to the talks, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity surrounding them, Fidan met twice with each side Monday to narrow their differences. Key issues under deliberation are thought to include the fate of the controversial memorandum of understanding, or MOU, that Ethiopia signed with Somaliland on January 1, and Ethiopia's quest for sea access. As part of the deal, Somaliland would lease 20 kilometers (12 miles) of land along its coastline to Ethiopia to establish a marine force base. In return, Ethiopia would recognize Somaliland's independence. Somalia denounced the MOU with the breakaway region as infringing upon its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The official who spoke to the VOA Horn of Africa Service confirmed that the sticking points are the "language to withdraw the MOU and language of modalities to access the sea." Ahead of the talks, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke to the leaders of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, and Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, to urge reconciliation. In his conversation with President Mohamud, Erdogan posted on X, formally Twitter, that he voiced his expectations of "concrete results in the second round of the negotiations." And in his phone call with Prime Minister Ahmed, Erdogan hinted on X that he urged Ethiopia to take steps that would eliminate Somalia's concerns regarding its unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity. Ahmed wrote on X about the importance of providing Ethiopia access to the sea in a "mutually agreeable approach." Meanwhile, Mohamud said on X that Somalia is ready to "engage in economic and development cooperation with Ethiopia" but insisted, "such partnerships must always respect Somalia's sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity, and adhere to international law and norms." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Bangladesh's interim leader says Hasina allies' resignations are legal By VOA News August 12, 2024 The head of Bangladesh's interim government, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, said Monday that recent high-profile resignations in the country are legal. Yunus, 83, a long-time critic of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, told reporters that all legal procedures were correctly followed in these resignations. Yunus described the situation as a "student-led revolution," saying that the resignations of key officials, including the chief justice, five Supreme Court justices and the central bank governor, were properly managed after weeks of protests. The protests, initially triggered in June by concerns about a government job quota system, grew into a larger uprising. Hasina resigned and fled to India last week. Yunus, who took over as interim leader on Thursday, emphasized that restoring judicial independence is a top priority. He criticized former Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan, calling him "just a hangman." Syed Refaat Ahmed was appointed as the new chief justice on Sunday, following a proposal from student leaders. These students aim to remove Hasina's influence from the political system, which they have criticized as autocratic. The recent violence has led to more than 300 deaths, including students and police officers. Yunus accepted the interim role after being approached by student leaders who saw him as a reliable person for their cause. "It's not my dream, it's their dream. So, I'm kind of helping them to make it come true," Yunus said, according to The Associated Press. Yunus, known for his microcredit work and Nobel Peace Prize win in 2006, had previously clashed with Hasina's government. In 2008, he faced investigations and a 2013 trial over embezzlement allegations related to his Grameen Bank. Yunus denies these charges, and his supporters believe he was targeted due to his strained relationship with Hasina. The interim government is expected to announce a new election soon, but Yunus did not provide a timeline. Some information for this report was provided by the Agence France-Presse and The Associated Press. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Joint Statement from the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy on the Middle East August 12, 2024 We, the leaders of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy discussed the situation in the Middle East. We expressed our full support for ongoing efforts to de-escalate tensions and reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza. We endorsed the joint call from President Biden, President Sisi of Egypt, and Amir Tamim of Qatar to renew talks later this week with an aim to concluding the deal as soon as possible, and stressed there is no further time to lose. All parties must live up to their responsibilities. In addition, unfettered delivery and distribution of aid is needed. We expressed our support for the defense of Israel against Iranian aggression and against attacks by Iran-backed terrorist groups. We called on Iran to stand down its ongoing threats of a military attack against Israel and discussed the serious consequences for regional security should such an attack take place. ### NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Maritime officials report two attacks in Red Sea By VOA News August 13, 2024 Maritime authorities were investigating two separate attacks reported in the Red Sea overnight in an area where Iran-aligned Houthis have targeted global shipping. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations received a report of an explosion 174 kilometers northwest of Yemen's Hodeidah early Tuesday morning. The report came about two hours after a separate incident was reported by the captain of a ship 117 kilometers southwest of Hodeidah. An explosive was detonated near the ship, and crew members saw a small vessel "acting suspiciously," coming close to the ship and flashing a light. That was followed by a second blast. "The vessel and crew are reported safe and the vessel is proceeding to its next port of call," UKMTO said in a statement. No information was provided about either vessel. The attacks were the first since Aug. 3, when a ship was hit by a missile. The Houthis began their campaign to disrupt shipping in the Red Sea to show solidarity with Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas. The Houthis are supported by Iran, which is weighing a possible retaliatory attack against Israel over the assassination of Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh in July. Meanwhile, the United States is sending the guided missile submarine USS Georgia to the area, and the the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group has been instructed to move more quickly to the Middle East. Material from The Associated Press and Reuters was used in this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russo-Ukraine War - 12 August 2024 - Day 901 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 133 combat clashes. Ukrainian defenders continue to decisively interrupt the attempts of the Russian enemy to advance deep into Ukrainian territory, giving him an effective fire effect. The hottest situation remains in the Pokrovsky direction. Russian zagarbniki made two strikes on the territory of Ukraine with three rockets, and 58 air strikes, dropping 82 Kabi. In addition, 418 kamikaze drones were recruited to impress and carried out over 3,300 shelling at the positions of Ukrainian troops and settlements. In the Kharkiv direction, Russian forces three times attacked the defensive borders of Ukrainian warriors near the Pacific and vovcans ka, where currently two fights continue. In the Kupians komu direction there were 12 combat clashes, namely, near Berestovoye, Stelmahivka, Glushkivka, Novoosinovoye, Sinkivka, Petropavlivka, Kruglyakivka and Andriyivka. Eleven clashes completed, one is ongoing. In the Lyman direction throughout the day Russian zagarbniki 25 times attacked the positions of Ukrainians near Nevsky, Makiyivka, Terniv and Torsky. Ukrainian defenders repelled 24 attacks, one more to go. In the Siversky direction during combat clashes, defenders of Ukrainian land repelled four Russian assaults in the areas of Verkhnyokamiansky and Spirny, where one confrontation is still ongoing. The Kramators .komu direction sharpened seven battles near the time yar and Bogdanivka, two of which continue so far. In the Toretsky direction, Russians attacked Ukrainian troops 10 times near Zalizny, Toretsk and New York. Nine fights are completed, one is still ongoing. In the Pokrovsky direction, from the beginning of this day, 50 battles have been sharpened near the settlements Kalinove, Suha Balka, Elizabethtivka, Green Field, Novooleksandrivka, Grodivka, Nikolaivka, Zhelanne, Boring, Panteleimonivka, Timofiyivka, Novozhelanne and Ptyche. Defense forces repelled 43 attacks, seven - still continuing. According to detailed information, today 236 Russian occupants were defecated in this direction, 88 of them - irrevocably. Also destroyed the blind self-propelled howitz 2C19 and three units of motor transport. In addition, a tank, three artillery systems, a mortar 2B11 and three vehicles were damaged. In the Kurakhiv direction, Russian forces attacked eight times Ukrainian positions near Paraskoviyivka, Kalinovoye, Georgiyivka, Krasnogorivka and Konstantinivka. Six boezitknen completed, two are ongoing. In the vremivs komu direction, Russian forces committed six offensive actions towards Vodanogo, konstantinivka and vugledar. The three attacks are still going on. The situation is under the control of Ukrainian defenders. In the Orihivsky direction, two Russian attacks of the positions of Ukrainian units near Novoandriivka were unsuccessful. In the Pridniprovsk direction, Russian forces also suffered defeats, six times attacking the defensive borders of Ukrainians. In other directions, the situation has not changed much. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that units of the Sever Group of Forces inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the AFU 36th Marine Brigade and 92nd Assault Brigade near Volchanskiye Khutora and Liptsy (Kharkov region) in Volchansk and Liptsy directions. Two counter-attacks launched by AFU assault detachments were repelled. The AFU losses amounted to up to 60 Ukrainian troops, one armoured personnel carrier, four motor vehicles, and one U.S.-made AN/TPQ-49 counter-battery warfare station. One AFU ammunition depot was destroyed. Units of the Zapad Group of Forces took more advantageous lines and inflicted losses on formations of the AFU 67th, 115th, 116th mechanised brigades, and 3rd Assault Brigade near Kopanki, Sinkovka (Kharkov region), Chervonaya Dibrova (Lugansk People's Republic), and Novosadovoye (Donetsk People's Republic). One counter-attack launched by an enemy assault detachment was repelled. The AFU losses amounted to more than 540 Ukrainian troops, one tank, one Kozak armoured fighting vehicle, eight motor vehicles, one U.S.-made 155-mm M777 howitzer, one 122-mm D-30 howitzer, and two U.S.-made 105-mm M119 howitzers. Two Anklav-N electronic warfare stations were destroyed. Units of the Yug Group of Forces improved the tactical situation along the front lines and inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the AFU 28th mechanised brigade and 81st Airmobile Brigade near Dyleyevka and Serebryanka (Donetsk People's Republic). Two counter-attacks launched by the AFU units were repelled. The AFU losses amounted to more than 570 Ukrainian troops, four armoured fighting vehicles, including one U.S.-made M113 armoured personnel carrier, and 13 motor vehicles. In the course of counter-battery warfare, two U.S.-made 155-mm M777 howitzers, one U.S.-made 155-mm M198 howitzer, one 152-mm D-20 howitzer, one 122-mm D-30 howitzer, one 122-mm Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system, and two UK-made 105-mm L-119 howitzers were destroyed. Units of the Tsentr Group of Forces improved the tactical situation and inflicted losses on formations of the AFU 32nd Mechanised Brigade, 14th, and 15th national guard brigades near Toretsk, Grodovka, and Mirolyubovka (Donetsk People's Republic). Two counter-attacks launched by assault detachments of the AFU 23rd and 31st mechanised brigades were repelled. The AFU losses amounted to more than 390 Ukrainian troops, one U.S.-made M1A1 Abrams tank, two U.S.-made Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, three armoured fighting vehicles, six motor vehicles, one U.S.-made 155-mm M777 howitzer, one 152-mm Msta-B howitzer, three 122-mm D-30 howitzers, and one U.S.-made 105-mm M119 howitzer. Units of the Vostok Group of Forces took more advantageous lines and inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the AFU 58th Motorised Infantry Brigade and 120th Territorial Defence Brigade near Prechistovka and Vodyanoye (Donetsk People's Republic). Two counter-attacks launched by assault detachments of the AFU 58th and 72nd motorised infantry brigades were repelled. The AFU losses amounted to up to 100 Ukrainian troops, three motor vehicles, two Polish-made 155-mm Krab self-propelled artillery systems, one UK-made 155-mm FH-70 howitzer, and one U.S.-made AN/TPQ-50 counter-battery warfare station. Units of the Dnepr Group of Forces inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the AFU 65th and 118th mechanised brigades near Nesteriyanka, Novodanilovka, Malaya Tokmachka, and Pyatikhatki (Zaporozhye region). The AFU losses amounted to up to 75 Ukrainian troops, 10 motor vehicles, one 152-mm D-20 howitzer, and two Anklav-N electronic warfare stations. Operational-Tactical Aviation, unmanned aerial vehicles, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces engaged AFU manpower and hardware clusters in 127 areas during the day. Air defence units shot down two French-made Hammer guided aviation bombs, six U.S.-made HIMARS MLRS projectiles, 40 unmanned aerial vehicles, 22 of them outside the special military operation zone. In total, 637 airplanes and 278 helicopters, 29,771 unmanned aerial vehicles, 566 air defence missile systems, 17,042 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,400 combat vehicles equipped with MLRS, 13,135 field artillery guns and mortars, as well as 24,668 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Battle of Kursk II - 12 August 2024 - Day 7 Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi declared that Ukraine now controls around 1,000 km of Russian territory. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that Russia must be forced to make peace after Kyivs major cross-border assault into the western Russian region of Kursk. "Russia brought war to others, now its coming home," Zelensky warned. Vladimir Putin's statements at a meeting on the situation in the Kursk region: "We must assess the developments unfolding there, and we will offer our evaluation. That said, what matters the most is addressing the urgent tasks we are facing right now based on the way the situation is expected to unfold. It goes without saying that the main objective for the Defence Ministry is to force the adversary to withdraw from our territory and reliably secure our state border by working together with the Border Service. The Federal Security Service must work with the National Guard as part of the counter-terrorist regime and effectively counter the enemys sabotage and reconnaissance groups. The National Guard has its own combat objectives too.... "It appears that the enemy, with the support from their Western backers, is executing their directives, and the West is using Ukrainians as proxies in this conflict. It seems the opponent is aiming to strengthen their negotiating position for the future. However, what kind of negotiations can we have with those who indiscriminately attack civilians and civilian infrastructure, or pose threats to nuclear power facilities? What is there to discuss with such parties? "Second, these actions clearly aim to achieve a primary military objective: to halt the advance of our forces in their effort to fully liberate the territories of the Lugansk and Donetsk peoples republics, the Novorossiya region. So, what is the current situation on the front lines, and what are the results? The pace of offensive operations by the Russian Armed Forces, volunteers, and veterans has not only remained steady but has actually increased by fifty percent. Our troops are advancing along the entire front. "Lastly, another clear objective of the enemy is to create discord and division within our society, to instil fear, and to undermine the unity and cohesion of the Russian people. They aim to disrupt the domestic political landscape. However, the response from Russian citizens has been resolute: there is widespread support for those in need, strong backing for the army, and, importantly, a rising number of individuals eager to join the ranks of those heroically defending Russia. Recently, there has been a notable increase in the number of people signing contracts with the Ministry of Defence...... "I would like to say once again that it is obvious for us that the enemy will continue trying to destabilise the situation in the border regions in order to destabilise the domestic political situation in Russia." Putin cut off the acting gov of Kursk after he began reporting on the gains made by Ukraine. Smirnov: "480 square kilometers of territory and 28 settlementsin the Kursk region had been captured." Putin: "Listen, Alexey Borisovich, the military department will report to us what the breadth and depth are there. You tell us about the socio-economic situation and assistance to people," The acting governor of the Kursk region, Alexey Smirnov, reported on the beginning of the construction of defensive lines in the Kursk region. Thus, on the instructions of the Ministry of Defense, 90 platoon strongholds are being built , to which 350 units of equipment and up to 5,000 builders are involved, and 40 checkpoints are being placed within the framework of the counter-terrorist operation regime. The head of the region also boasted that "40 km of anti-tank ditch out of 46 planned have already been dug." According to Smirnov, there is currently no clear front line in the Kursk region, which complicates determining the location of the enemy, and enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups with Russian documents are operating on the territory of the region. Participants in the meeting included Secretary of the Security Council Sergei Shoigu, Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, Presidential Aide Alexei Dyumin, Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, Minister for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Natural Disaster Relief Alexander Kurenkov, Director of the Federal Security Service Alexander Bortnikov, Director of the Federal Service of National Guard Troops Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard Troops Viktor Zolotov, and Chief of the General Staff First Deputy Minister of Defence Valery Gerasimov. Planet Labe released satellite images of the construction of a new line of defense in the near rear of the Russian Armed Forces south of Kurchatov along the 38K-010 "Crimea" - Ivanino highway. The phase of consolidating both sides along the new front line has begun. The urgently built defensive positions for the approaching Russian reserves are designed to prevent the enemy from breaking through, even if the Ukrainian Armed Forces bring some reserves into the battle. However, at the moment, these trenches will play the role of a "second line", since the advance of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has already stopped about 10 km south and southwest of the construction site for a couple of days. In the Kursk region, General-Colonel Alexei Dyumin, an assistant to the President, will coordinate the actions of the Russian Armed Forces with law enforcement agencies and local authorities. He received instructions from the Supreme Commander and may have already arrived in Kursk. Intelschizo reported that 195,000 Russians were under mandatory evacuation from Kursk and Belgorod Oblasts - that's 15% of the region's population. Over 180,000 people were subject to evacuation from Kursk Oblast, with 121,000 people already evacuated. The amended train schedule for trains running through the Kursk region is being extended. A Ukrainian "saboteur" captured by volunteers in his underwear turned out to be from the 80th separate airborne assault brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. During interrogation at the FSB, the intruder said that the goal of the Ukrainian Armed Forces offensive operation was to seize as much territory in the Kursk and Belgorod regions as possible. According to the prisoner, Ukraine had been preparing for the operation since July 28, and the Russian territories captured during the operation were allegedly planned to be exchanged for similar Ukrainian territories during future peace talks. The Security Service of Ukraine records the attempts of the special services of the Russian Federation to use the situation in the Kursk region to baselessly accuse Ukrainian defenders of committing war crimes. For this purpose, the Russian side creates and distributes various fakes and misinformation that have nothing to do with reality. Such informational and psychological special operations of the enemy are connected, first of all, with the impossibility of effectively countering the offensive actions of the Armed Forces. According to the SBU, in the near future the Russian special services may resort to staging crimes, in particular, against the civilian population of the Kursk region, in order to further accuse the Ukrainian side of committing them. The Security Service of Ukraine warns that such attempts are futile and will not affect the offensive actions of the Armed Forces or the opinion of our country's international partners. After all, the Defense Forces of Ukraine have proven to the whole world that they strictly follow the rules and customs of warfare. In particular, both regarding the treatment of Russian prisoners of war and the civilian population. Ukrainian soldiers are steadily approaching the Victory of Ukraine. And no enemy IPSO will stand in the way of this. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Poland Signs Agreement to Produce 48 Patriot System Launchers Sputnik News 20240812 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Poland has signed an agreement on the production of 48 launchers of the Patriot surface-to-air missile system, United States Ambassador to Poland Mark Brzezinski said on Monday during the signing ceremony. "Thanks to the agreement signed today, Polish firms will deliver 48 M903 launchers, which will be manufactured in Poland," the ambassador said. He added that Poland will have "the highest capabilities in air defense" with these weapons. Last month, the US approved a $2 billion defense loan to Poland. Polish National Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, who attended the signing ceremony, said that the contract was worth more that $1 billion. He also stated that new military contracts would be signed soon. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Agreement strengthens AUKUS submarine partnership The Hon Richard Marles MP Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Defence 12 August 2024 Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States have together reached another significant AUKUS milestone, with the signing of an agreement to enable cooperation that is essential to Australia's capacity to safely build, operate and maintain a conventionallyaarmed, nuclear-powered submarine capability. The Agreement Among the Government of Australia, the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Government of the United States of America for Cooperation Related to Naval Nuclear Propulsion has been tabled in the Australian Parliament today. The agreement will enable the UK and the US to transfer submarine-specific material and equipment for Australia's future nuclearapowered submarines. It will also allow the continued communication and exchange of information related to nuclear-powered submarines among AUKUS partners. The agreement will be central to Australia's acquisition of a sovereign nuclear-powered submarine capability from the 2030s, with the transfer of Virginia class submarines from the US to Australia, and the transfer of equipment from the UK for use in Australia's SSNaAUKUS submarines. It will also enable Australia to prepare for Submarine Rotational Force-West at HMAS Stirling from 2027, supporting the rotational presence of up to four Virginia class submarines from the US and one Astute class submarine from the UK. Consistent with the commitment of AUKUS partners, the agreement will see Australia uphold the highest standards for safety, security and non-proliferation. Future SSN-AUKUS submarines will be built at Osborne in South Australia, using sealed, welded power units that will not require refuelling over the life cycle of the submarine. Australia is committed to the global nuclear non-proliferation regime. The agreement expressly rules out enriching uranium or reprocessing spent nuclear fuel in Australia as part of AUKUS and prevents AUKUS partners undertaking any activity that would contravene international non-proliferation obligations. Importantly, the agreement re-affirms, and is consistent with Australia's international non-proliferation obligations, including under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty and our safeguards agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency. As a responsible nuclear steward, Australia will manage all waste generated by its own Virginia class and SSN-AUKUS submarines. Australia will not process spent nuclear fuel or reactors from the US, UK or other countries. The agreement will replace the Exchange of Naval Nuclear Propulsion Information Agreement, which entered into force in 2022. Quotes attributable to Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon Richard Marles MP: "This agreement is an important step towards Australia's acquisition of conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines for the Royal Australian Navy. "It builds on the significant progress that has already been achieved, including the passing of the US National Defense Authorization Act, the announcement of Australia's sovereign submarine build and sustainment partners, and the ongoing work to integrate and uplift the industrial bases of all three AUKUS partners. "The Albanese Government, alongside AUKUS partners, continues to re-affirm that Australia's acquisition of conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines will set the highest non-proliferation standards through the AUKUS partnership. The agreement is unequivocal that, as a non-nuclear weapons state, Australia does not seek to acquire nuclear weapons." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Construction begins on new NORAD Quick Reaction Alert facility at Canadian Forces Base Bagotville National Defence News release August 12, 2024 - Bagotville, Quebec - National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces Today, Marie-France Lalonde, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence, on behalf of the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence, announced the beginning of construction on a new Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) facility at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Bagotville. This facility will enable Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members to posture and deploy Canada's incoming fleet of CF-35A fighter jets in a flight-ready state in support of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) operations. The new 7,400 m2 QRA facility at CFB Bagotville will include aircraft hangar bays, office space and sleeping quarters for personnel, and a 17,000 m2 secure fenced compound surrounding the facility. Once completed, it will help CAF personnel support Canada and the NORAD mission and quickly respond to any threats in North American airspace. Construction is estimated at approximately $120 million and will sustain more than 600 jobs in the region. The facility is expected to be completed in 2027. The design and construction contract has been awarded to Pomerleau Inc of LAvis, QC. This investment is part of Canada's $38.6 billion NORAD Modernization Plan, announced by the Government of Canada in June 2022. This represents the most significant upgrade to Canada's NORAD capabilities in almost four decades. In particular, the QRA facility is part of the NORAD Modernization Plan's Defence of Canada Infrastructure Project (DCFI), which commits funding to upgrade fighter infrastructure and NORAD QRA capabilities at bases across Canada to operationalize and employ the CF-35A for continental defence. This project will provide Canadian Armed Forces personnel with the infrastructure they need to support the NORAD mission, including Operation NOBLE EAGLE, which deters, detects, and defeats potential threats to U.S. and Canadian airspace 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Quotes "This investment in Bagotville will enable our personnel at the base to plan, posture, and deploy our new fleet of CF-35A fighters rapidly and effectively. Today's milestone is a clear sign of Canada's commitment to modernizing our NORAD infrastructure and capabilities in support of the continental defence mission. In close collaboration with our American allies, our government will continue to make the necessary investments to protect North America as our continent faces new security challenges." The Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence "For decades, NORAD has ensured the defence of North American aerospace. Today, we are reaffirming our commitment to this unique binational command, and investing in new infrastructure so that Canadian Armed Forces members can effectively deploy fifth-generation fighter jets in support of NORAD's mission. Our government will continue to invest in new military infrastructure that supports the combat power of the Canadian Armed Forces." Marie-France Lalonde, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence Quick facts NORAD ensures U.S. and Canadian aerospace control, to include air defense operations, through a network of alert fighters, tankers, airborne early warning aircraft, rotary wing air interceptors, and ground-based air defense assets cued by interagency and defense radars. By using this network of sensors, NORAD detects airborne objects approaching North America and conducts its air defense mission by tracking, identifying, and taking appropriate actions. Appropriate actions may include, but are not limited to, monitoring a track, scrambling fighters to intercept and identify an approaching aircraft, and/or escorting an aircraft through an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) or a Temporary Flight Restriction Area. In June 2022, the Minister of National Defence announced funding for Canada's continental defence capabilities, including to modernize the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD). This represents the most significant upgrade to Canada's NORAD capabilities in almost four decades. NORAD modernization will ensure that the CAF can sustain a strong military presence across the country, including in Canada's North, through investments in infrastructure and support capabilities. The two main operating bases for Canada's fighter aircraft are 4 Wing Cold Lake and 3 Wing Bagotville. As announced in January 2023, Canada is acquiring a new fleet of 88 F-35 aircraft, which will be known as the CF-35A by the Royal Canadian Air Force. 36 of the 88 incoming CF-35As will be stationed at 3 Wing Bagotville, and the remaining (52) will be stationed at 4 Wing Cold Lake. CFB Bagotville opened in 1951 as a training base for the squadrons serving with the Canadian Division in Europe to support the air defence operations of the newly formed Canadian and American forces (which became NORAD in 1958). Following the September 11, 2001, attacks, NORAD established Operation NOBLE EAGLE. Operation NOBLE EAGLE is the name given to all North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) aerospace warning, control, and defense missions in North America. Through Operation NOBLE EAGLE, NORAD deters, detects, and defeats potential threats to U.S. and Canadian airspace 24/7/365. CAF personnel at 3 Wing Bagotville continue to play a critical NORAD role in helping monitor and respond to potential threats. A modified design-build approach is being used for this project. This means that the project's design and construction have both been awarded to one successful bidder under one single contract, as opposed to the traditional method, which contracts separately for design and construction. The facility will be constructed to LEED Silver standards and will use energy efficient options wherever possible. By modernizing and greening our defence infrastructure, we are supporting the needs of a modern military, while reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and saving on energy costs. Through our updated Defence PolicyaOur North, Strong and FreeaCanada is building on its 2022 NORAD Modernization Plan, with a slate of new equipment and infrastructure that will strengthen our capabilities to defend Canada and North America, such as modernized infrastructure and a new fleet of airborne early warning aircraft. Canada's efforts to bolster domestic and continental defence, including by modernizing NORAD, are also contributions to strengthening NATO's Western Flank, and will ensure North America remains a safe base from which we can deploy forces in support of Allies and partners. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address HKSAR's top court dismisses appeals to overturn conviction of Jimmy Lai and six other anti-China disruptors Global Times By GT staff reporters Published: Aug 12, 2024 09:43 PM The Court of Final Appeal of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Monday unanimously dismissed the appeals to overturn the convictions of Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and six other anti-China disruptors for taking part in an unauthorized assembly in August 2019. Along with Lai, the other six appellants were Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee, Albert Ho Chun-yan, Martin Lee Chu-ming, Leung Kwok-hung, Lee Cheuk-yan and Cyd Ho Sau-lan. In 2021, the seven anti-China disruptors were found guilty of organizing and participating in an unauthorized assembly in 2019. Observers noted that the verdict demonstrated the HKSAR judiciary's independence and ability to make decisions based on laws. The trial began in February 2021 and the case was heard in the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts. During the trial, all seven defendants, including Lai, denied the charges. While a court in HKSAR later acquitted them of organizing the assembly, it upheld their participation convictions, according to media reports. The seven defendants argued that the court should "apply the principle of operational proportionality" assessment to determine whether a conviction would be a proportionate restriction of their fundamental rights, Kennedy Wong Ying-ho, solicitor of the High Court of Hong Kong, told the Global Times on Monday. The judges in the court on Monday rejected the defendants' argument that each of a defendant's arrest, prosecution, conviction and sentence must be separately justified as proportionate, said Wong. "The defendants' convictions and consequent sentences do not stand alone. They are the result of the judge applying the law to the evidence and being satisfied of their guilt," said the ruling, according to RTHK. "The courts of the HKSAR shall adjudicate cases in accordance with the laws applicable in the Region as prescribed in Article 18 of this Law and may refer to precedents of other common law jurisdictions," the Basic Law of the HKSAR states. The judges stated that the two British legal precedents referenced by the appellants should not be followed in HKSAR due to the distinct constitutional differences between the two jurisdictions, Wong said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Drones widely deployed in Chinese militia units during exercises Global Times By Liu Xuanzun Published: Aug 12, 2024 10:27 PM Multiple types of drones were deployed in recent exercises by multiple militia units across China, as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) become a key part of various Chinese military and police services and branches, observers said on Monday. In a move to better integrate UAVs into the nation's militia forces, multiple militia units across the country have used drones during exercises, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Sunday. During a recent militia exercise held in East China's Jiangxi Province simulating a combat mission, a militia detachment focused on practicing joint operations and dealing with emergency situations, including training courses such as supplies loading and reconnaissance using drones, according to the report. A recent military event in Southwest China's Guizhou Province organized a tactical deployment exercise and an emergency rescue exercise using drones, as militia units used drones and demolition robots to conduct search and rescues across a mock rescue area to identify and rescue trapped personnel. In East China's Anhui Province, militia troops recently carried out a real-world troop confrontation exercise. They mobilized across regions and provided emergency communications support to a brigade of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) using various new equipment, including drones. "We closely focused on fields including specialists, cutting-edge technologies and advanced equipment throughout the exercise, running drills that include the public to hone combat capabilities," Bo Tao, a militia officer who participated in the exercise in Anhui, said in the CCTV report. According to CCTV, drones featured in these militia exercises are mostly multirotor, vertical takeoff and landing UAVs of different sizes. Observers said that smaller ones can be operated by individual soldiers for reconnaissance missions, while larger ones can be helpful with transport or communications relay missions. With drones demonstrating reconnaissance and combat applications in recent conflicts around the world, and China having complete industrial chains of developing and producing drones, military and police services and branches including militia have started to use them, practice with them and develop tactics with them, a Chinese military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Monday. The PLA have deployed drones and robot dogs in multiple joint exercises with foreign countries this year, while the Chinese police also used these unmanned gears in a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation joint anti-terrorism drill last month. According to the expert, drones are increasingly becoming standard equipment for infantry units, much like their firearms. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Foreign Ministry Spokesperson's Remarks on the First Senior Officials' Meeting of the China-Indonesia Joint Foreign and Defense Ministerial Dialogue Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China Updated: August 12, 2024 15:03 Q: We have learned that senior official of the Chinese Foreign Ministry will travel to Indonesia soon to attend the Senior Officials' Meeting of the China-Indonesia Joint Foreign and Defense Ministerial Dialogue. Can you share more information on that? A: As agreed between China and Indonesia, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Sun Weidong and Deputy Director of the Office for International Military Cooperation of the Central Military Commission Zhang Baoqun will lead a delegation to Jakarta on August 12 to attend the first Senior Officials' Meeting of the China-Indonesia Joint Foreign and Defense Ministerial Dialogue. The China-Indonesia Joint Foreign and Defense Ministerial Dialogue, launched in 2023, is the first 2+2 ministerial dialogue set up between China and other countries. During the Senior Officials' Meeting, the two sides will exchange views on China-Indonesia relations and international and regional issues of mutual interest. We will release timely information on the meeting. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian's Remarks on August 12, 2024 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China Updated: August 12, 2024 22:23 DPA: An Israeli airstrike on a school in Gaza on August 10 killed more than 100 people. What is China's comment?a Lin Jian: China is gravely concerned over the relevant military operation of Israel which caused massive civilian casualties in Gaza. We condemn all acts that harm civilians, oppose all moves that violate international humanitarian law, and call on Israel to heed the call of the international community, stop the hostilities at once, do everything possible to protect civilians and avoid further escalation in the region. The international community needs to make more effort together to alleviate and end the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. TV Asahi: On August 9th, the Peace Memorial on the 79th Anniversary of the Atomic Bombing was held in Nagasaki, Japan. The ambassadors of the US and other G7 countries to Japan did not attend the commemoration due to the exclusion of Israeli ambassador from the ceremony. What's China's comment? It is reported that the Chinese Consulate-General in Nagasaki sent people to the ceremony. Can you confirm that? Lin Jian: We are deeply sympathetic for the pain and suffering experienced by the people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought by the tragic nuclear weapon explosions during World War II. That said, the nuclear explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki took place in a specific historic setting. The war of aggression waged by Japanese militarists inflicted catastrophes not only on Japan's Asian neighbors, but also the people of Japan. What is important is to take history as a mirror, draw lessons from it, and prevent such tragedies of war from repeating themselves. Chinese diplomatic and consular missions overseas take part in relevant events according to their work schedule. I believe you are familiar with the record of China's participation in those events over the years. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China, Indonesia hold first 2+2 senior officials' meeting amid South China Sea tensions Global Times By GT staff reporters Published: Aug 13, 2024 01:01 AM China and Indonesia are holding their first Senior Officials' Meeting of the Joint Foreign and Defense Ministerial Dialogue, a meeting that analysts say will potentially cover multiple topics including the South China Sea issue. Experts believe that Indonesia will play a constructive role in the ongoing tensions between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, as cooperation between Beijing and Jakarta will set an example for ASEAN member states while contributing to stabilizing the situation in the South China Sea. As agreed between China and Indonesia, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Sun Weidong and Deputy Director of the Office for International Military Cooperation of the Central Military Commission Zhang Baoqun led a delegation to Jakarta on Monday to attend the first Senior Officials' Meeting of the China-Indonesia Joint Foreign and Defense Ministerial Dialogue, according to remarks by a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Monday. The China-Indonesia Joint Foreign and Defense Ministerial Dialogue, launched in 2023, is the first 2+2 ministerial dialogue established between China and another country. During the Senior Officials' Meeting, the two sides will exchange views on China-Indonesia relations and international and regional issues of mutual interest, the spokesperson said. Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times on Monday that 2+2 ministerial dialogues usually take place only between allies or countries with close relations and high strategic mutual trust. This senior officials' meeting is expected to pave the way and create better conditions for talks among even higher level officials in the future, Qian said. In terms of what might be discussed at the meeting, Chen Xiangmiao, director of the World Navy Research Center at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, told the Global Times on Monday that the meeting will likely address the relationships between China and ASEAN, and China's support for ASEAN's centrality in the region. The two sides are also expected to discuss the negotiations on the Code of Conduct (COC) on the South China Sea, with a view to reaching an agreement on the COC as soon as possible. In addition, the two sides will likely continue to focus on the Belt and Road Initiative and discuss ways to strengthen economic and trade cooperation under the framework of RCEP and the upgraded China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, Chen said. Chen believes that given the fact that China and Indonesia share a common understanding in various areas, the two sides will also discuss various issues, ranging from Indonesia's support for the one-China principle and clean energy to conflicts elsewhere in the world. The upcoming 2+2 dialogue came after the Indonesian President-elect and Great Indonesia Movement Party General Chairman Prabowo Subianto visited Beijing this April, with observers saying that the visit was crucial not only for the development of bilateral relations for at least the next five years, but also injects positivity and stability into the whole ASEAN region. According to the Xinhua News Agency, Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun also met with Prabowo during the visit. Dong said the Chinese military is willing to work with the Indonesian military to consolidate their strategic mutual trust, promote joint exercises and training, and enhance personnel exchanges to take their practical cooperation to a new height. Chen said that China and Indonesia have established smooth mechanisms for joint exercises and defense exchanges, and the two countries will set an example of cooperation between China and other ASEAN member states. Meanwhile, military cooperation in general contributes to enhancing mutual trust in security between the two countries. More importantly, the cooperation between the two sides will serve as a positive signal for stabilizing the situation in the South China Sea, Chen said. The China-Indonesia 2+2 dialogue takes place shortly after the Philippines continued to ignore China's sincere efforts to calm tensions by sending an air force aircraft to illegally enter the airspace over China's Huangyan Dao (also known as Huangyan Island) in the South China Sea on Thursday, a move that was met with professional and legitimate responses by the Chinese People's Liberation Army Southern Theater Command. The Philippines has been making provocations over the Chinese islands and reefs in the South China Sea since last year. Chen said that Indonesia is also worried about the current tensions in the South China Sea, which will make Jakarta more concerned about the deterioration of the regional security environment and in turn will probably compel Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries to take sides in the competition between major powers. Chen said that Indonesia is likely worried that the Philippines' cooperation with the US and other Western countries may impact the unity of ASEAN. Considering the above-mentioned facts, Chen said Indonesia will likely try to play a mediating role between the disputing countries. In addition, Indonesia will likely try to forge a solid consensus within ASEAN countries, as it hopes that ASEAN remains united on the South China Sea issue. Also, as some countries are interfering in the issue, Indonesia will likely try to contribute to eliminating such interferences. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran faces 'difficult choice' in potential retaliation Global Times Israel assesses Iran to attack in response to killing of Haniyeh 'in the coming days' By GT staff reporters Published: Aug 12, 2024 11:22 PM As Israel reportedly assessed on Sunday that Iran's retaliation could occur "in the coming days," experts said on Monday that Tehran has to strike a difficult balance, as it is expected to seek revenge on Israel while also treading carefully to prevent the situation from spiraling into a regional conflict, particularly to avoid a direct confrontation with the US. According to the Times of Israel on Sunday, Israel's current assessment is that "Iran will launch a direct attack on the country" in response to the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in the coming days. The attack may occur before ceasefire-hostage deal talks scheduled for Thursday, the report said, citing sources. The Israeli media outlet also said the issue is divisive within Iran, as President Masoud Pezeshkian wants to "avoid a harsh response," while the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps wants to "launch a larger attack" than it did in April. "For Iran, deciding the timing and scale of retaliation is a very difficult choice," Niu Xinchun, executive director of the China-Arab Research Institute of Ningxia University, told the Global Times on Monday. "On the one hand, Iran wants its retaliation to be significant enough to deter Israel. On the other hand, Iran is very concerned about escalating the conflict into a full-scale one with Israel and the US," Niu said, noting that this is a highly difficult and highly risky balance for Iran. Sun Degang, director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times on Monday that Iran is resolute in seeking revenge, no matter the means, but may be committed to a principle of avoiding escalating the situation into a regional conflict and steering clear of involving the US. In another development, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant on Sunday, noting the strengthening of the US military force posture and capabilities throughout the Middle East in light of escalating regional tensions, per a readout from the Pentagon. "The US is sending a clear message of unwavering support for Israel, while also serving as a deterrent to Iran. This means that any attack on Israel resulting in significant consequences will prompt the US to respond with political and economic measures against Iran," Sun said, adding that Washington actually does not want Iran to escalate the conflict in the region through its retaliation. According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi on Sunday had a call with Iranian Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani, during which Wang emphasized that China firmly opposes and strongly condemns the act of assassination. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran UN envoy: US primary advocate and propagator of terrorism in region IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Aug 12, 2024 New York, IRNA -- Iranian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York Amir Saied Iravani has said that the United States is the main "advocate and propagator" of terrorism in West Asia and beyond, rejecting "baseless" US allegations against Iran. The Iranian envoy made the comment in a letter he wrote to United Nations Chief Antonio Guterres and UN Security Council (UNSC) President Michael Imran Kanu on Monday. He sent the letter four days after a UNSC meeting in which the US envoy accused Iran of supporting terrorism in the region, which Iravani condemned as a baseless allegation and irresponsible behavior by Washington. The following is the full text of the Iranian envoy's letter. Excellency, I am writing to you regarding the UN Security Council's open briefing held on 8 August 2024, under the agenda item "Threat to International Peace and Security caused by Terrorist Acts" (S/PV.9701). During this meeting, the representative of the United States, while responding to the statement of the representative of the Russian Federation, deviated from the agenda item and made an unwarranted and misleading reference to the Islamic Republic of Iran, falsely accusing Iran of supporting terrorism in the region. The Islamic Republic of Iran categorically rejects and strongly condemns this baseless allegation and irresponsible behavior by the United States representative. It is unequivocally clear that the United States, not Iran, is the primary advocate and propagator of terrorism, both in the region and globally. It is both ironic and shameful that the United States accuses Iran while simultaneously, as a staunch supporter, continues to defend the genocidal acts of Israel and provide Israel with an endless cache of weapons to terrorize and massacre the innocent people of Palestine, including children and women, prolonging the bloodshed and horror in the Gaza Strip. The most recent massacre committed by Israel against the displaced civilians at Al-Tabi'in School in central Gaza City on 10 August 2024 which led to the martyrdom of at least 100 innocent Palestinian people, including children and women, is a result of such ironclad support of the US. Moreover, the US support of UN-designated terrorist groups such as Al-Nusrah Front (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham) in its occupation areas in the Syria Arab Republic in flagrant violation of the UN Charter, international law, and pertinent Security Council resolutions is further evidence of how the United States is the principal sponsor of terrorism in the region. Given such a dark record, the United States has no standing to accuse or lecture other members of the United Nations. I should be grateful if you would circulate the present letter as a document of the Security Council. 4194 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran's defense achievements on display at Russia's "ARMY 2024" Exhibition IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Aug 12, 2024 Moscow, IRNA -- Iran has put on display its latest achievements in the defense sector, including homegrown drones and air defense systems, at ARMY 2024 Exhibition near the Russian capital Moscow. The three-day exhibition opened on Monday. General Ali Shademani attended the opening ceremony of the exhibition on behalf of Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Bagheri. On the first day of the exhibition, Iran's "Mohajer 10" drone was put on display for the first time, which is said to be technologically much more advanced than previous Iranian-developed UAVs. Some radar and electronic warfare systems were other Iranian military developments showcased in the Russian exhibition. 'World admires Iran's defense achievements' Iran's Ambassador to Moscow, while referring to the visit of Iran's pavilion by officials and people from Russia and other countries praised his country's defense achievements and capabilities. Kazem Jalali in an interview with IRNA on the sidelines of the exhibition on the outskirts of Moscow on Monday said that officials of many countries are envious of the Iranian progress when they visit the pavilion of the Islamic Republic, and therefore, "progress in the fields of defense and military are not a rhetorical issue, but a proud reality". We remember that Iran had to import barbed wire and bullets from other countries during the sacred defense (1980s war with Iraq), but today our country has achieved a high level of capability in the defense field, he underscored while appreciating the Iranian armed forces, the Ministry of Defense and all those involved in these feat. 'Iran- Russia defense ties not against others' In response to a question about the speculation of some countries regarding the defense relations between Tehran and Moscow, Jalali said that two neighboring and friendly countries have had defense and military cooperation from the past. He rejected the notion by some people that the Iran-Russian cooperation could harm other countries, saying the Islamic Republic has always expressed its interest in having cordial bilateral relations with all countries of the world. "Therefore, we do not consider our cooperation with Russia against any country or region". In fact, countries that are trying to demonize others such as Russia, Iran and their relations are actually war-mongers, he said stressing that Iran's political, economic, cultural and especially defense and military relations with Russia are not against any country. The Iranian diplomat underlined that his country has never initiated any war that its policy has always been based on the principle of deterrence, and its position is defensive. 9341**4194**4399 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Zarif offers full support for Iranian president after resigning from gov't IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Aug 12, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- Head of the Center for Strategic Studies Mohammad Javad Zarif has emphasized that his last night's post in cyberspace does not mean he is disappointed with the newly appointed Iranian president and that he asked for support for Masoud Pezeshkian. According to IRNA's Monday report, Zarif wrote in a message late on Sunday that he posted on his account on social media, his farewell message to the cabinet of the 14th administration in Iran does not mean he regrets working with the president during the recent presidential election campaign. Zarif further underlined that he still believes in everything he said about Pezeshkian during the election campaign and he will strongly serve the president, while he will continue his job as a university professor, urging all patriotic and pro-development Iranians to enhance their support for the president and not leave him and his administration alone. 4208**9417 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pezeshkian's pick for foreign minister submits plans to Iran parliament IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Aug 12, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- The selectee of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian for the country's next foreign minister has delivered his plans to Iran's parliament. The spokesman of Iran's Commission of National Security and Foreign Policy Ebrahim Rezaei said on Monday that the proposed ministers for the new cabinet have started submitting their plans to the parliament, aka, Majlis. The meeting of the commission kicked off today with Abbas Araghchi, the nominee for foreign minister, in attendance. Araghchi presently serves as the Secretary of Iran's Strategic Council on Foreign Relations. The diplomat who played a key role in the 2015 nuclear accord negotiations has previously served as the Iranian ambassador to Finland and Japan. The Majlis will begin debates on President Pezeshkian's proposed ministers as of next Saturday (August 17). Based on the schedule, the debates on the proposed cabinet will last four days during two regular shifts each day. President Pezeshkian was elected as the new Iranian president in a runoff election on July 5. 7129**9417 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US warned against using Iraqi airspace to attack Iran IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Aug 12, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- Iraq's Islamic Resistance, which is an umbrella group of resistance movements, has warned against using the Arab country's airspace to carry out attacks on neighboring Iran. If the American occupying forces target our children in Iraq again or use Iraqi airspace to attack the Islamic Republic of Iran, we will not hesitate to respond, the Iraqi Resistance Coordination Council warned in a statement on Monday morning according to Lebanon's Al-Mayadeen news network. There will be no limits to its response, if the U-S uses Iraqi airspace to strike its fighters inside the Arab country or carry out attack against Iran, the umbrella group further said. Resistance groups have repeatedly hit sensitive and important targets in occupied Palestine and American bases in Iraq and Syria over the past months amid growing anger at the US support for the Zionist regime's genocidal war on the Gaza Strip. . Islamic Resistance in Iraq has repeatedly warned that if the Zionist regime's attacks on Gaza continue, its fighters will intensify their operations against the positions of Isarel. 4399 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran, European Council discuss resumption of nuclear talks People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 10:02, August 12, 2024 TEHRAN, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian and Charles Michel, president of the European Council, on Sunday exchanged views on the resumption of the talks on the revival of a 2015 nuclear deal. In a phone call, the two sides discussed bilateral ties as well as the regional and international issues of common interest, including the promotion of multilateralism in the world and developments in Gaza, according to a statement published on the website of the Iranian president's office. On the resumption of the nuclear talks between Iran and the other parties to the deal, Pezeshkian said the existence of trust and safeguarding bilateral interests were the basis for an agreement. He added that should both sides fulfill their commitments and help build mutual trust, in addition to reviving the nuclear deal, other bilateral issues could be discussed. Pezeshkian highlighted the necessity to establish a multilateral world order, saying the U.S. policies towards and pressures on countries such as Iran and its bids to deprive them of their rights and interests were aimed at preventing the establishment of a new world order as well as the restoration of stability and calm to the world. Iran had always supported ensuring peace and stability in the world and for all peoples and maintained that any trend or movement in any part of the world that jeopardized those values should be stopped, he added. On the developments in Gaza, Pezeshkian said through enforcing double standards, the United States and some Western countries had emboldened Israel in its perpetration of "acts of terror and heinous crimes" in the Palestinian coastal enclave and West Asian countries, having further compromised peace and security in the region and the world. The European Council president, for his part, expressed willingness for the resumption of the nuclear talks, hoping for the start of effective interaction between the European Union and Iran based on safeguarding mutual interests and removing obstacles to the expansion of bilateral cooperation. He also voiced the European countries' interest in improving the level of ties with Iran. Turning to Gaza, Michel called for observing humanitarian rights, stopping attacks on the enclave, achieving a ceasefire, ensuring extensive aid to Gazans, and recognizing Palestine as an independent state. Iran signed the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with world powers in July 2015, accepting restrictions on its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. However, the United States withdrew from the agreement in May 2018, reinstating sanctions and prompting Iran to scale back some of its nuclear commitments. Efforts to revive the JCPOA commenced in April 2021 in Vienna, Austria, but despite multiple rounds of negotiations, no substantial progress has been reported since the last talks in August 2022. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran showcases indigenous long-range Mohajer-10 drone at Russian exhibition Iran Press TV Monday, 12 August 2024 6:01 PM The Iranian Defense Ministry has put on display an unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) as well as sophisticated radar systems entirely designed and manufactured by the country's military experts at a defense exhibit in Russia. The Mohajer-10 (Immigrant-10) drone, with an operational range of 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) and a 24-hour flight endurance ability, was showcased at the Army 2024 International Military-Technical Forum in Patriot Park outside the Russian capital, Moscow. Iran's advanced homegrown air defense and radar systems were also unveiled for the first time in the exhibition, which runs from August 12 to 14. Other Iranian products put on display in the exhibition include electronic warfare (EW) systems, airborne and seaborne missile defense systems, ballistic missiles as well as batteries for industrial and military applications. Brigadier General Ali Shadmani, deputy coordinator of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, Iranian Ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali and a number of other high-ranking Iranian military officials attended the inauguration ceremony of the event. Iranian military experts and technicians have in recent years made substantial headways in manufacturing a broad range of indigenous equipment, making the armed forces self-sufficient in the arms sphere. Officials have repeatedly underscored that the country will not hesitate to strengthen its military capabilities, including its missile power, which are entirely meant for defense, and that Iran's defense capabilities will be never subject to negotiations. Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has repeatedly called for efforts to maintain and boost Iran's defense capabilities, hitting back at the enemies for disputing the country's missile program. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran's president's pick for energy minister says he'll tackle electricity shortage Iran Press TV Monday, 12 August 2024 4:59 PM Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's pick for Energy Minister says he is determined to tackle a widening gap between the demand and supply for electricity in the country. Abbas Aliabadi told members of the Iranian parliament in a briefing on Monday that Iran has an imbalance of 18 gigawatts (GW) between supply and demand for electricity which has been exacerbated in recent years due to growing demand for cooling in summer months. Aliabadi said that he will tackle the shortage with massive renovation programs at power plants and by completing unfinished power plant projects. He said that the Energy Ministry under his leadership will prioritize expansion of Iran's renewables sector while trying to increase electricity trade with neighbors. Aliabadi was CEO of Iran's largest energy construction and engineering company MAPNA for 14 years until he became industry minister in 2023. During his time in MAPNA, he introduced a home-grown turbine manufacturing program which helped various governments with their plans to launch new power plants or to renovate the existing ones. MAPNA has also been in charge of major renewables projects in Iran, including many wind farms across the country that rely on modern equipment manufactured by the company. Aliabadi told the Iranian parliament's energy committee that Iran also faces a major imbalance in supply and demand for water. He said that the country has to expand water desalination projects along its southern coasts and build dams on rivers along the borders to be able to respond to gowning demand for water in Iran's household, manufacturing and agriculture sectors. Iran's parliament will start debates on a list of 19 ministers proposed by Pezeshkian on August 17. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pezeshkian: Iran reserves right to respond to Israel over Haniyeh assassination Iran Press TV Monday, 12 August 2024 2:31 PM President Masoud Pezeshkian says based on international rules and regulations, Iran reserves the right to defend itself and respond to Israel over the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of the Palestinians resistance movement Hamas, in Tehran. Haniyeh was assassinated on July 31 while he was in Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of President Pezeshkian. In a phone call with the Vatican's Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin on Monday, Pezeshkian reiterated Iran's core stance on the need to prevent war and bloodshed and promote global peace and security. But he said Iran has the right to defend itself against any act of aggression. He commended Vatican's support for the establishment of peace and stability in the world and called for its more active role to end Israel's crimes in Gaza, lift its blockade and dispatch aid to the war-ravaged people through consultations with international forums and human rights organizations. The Iranian president said Israel's genocidal war, its cowardly acts of assassination in regional countries and attacks on hospitals and schools sheltering the displaced are among the regime's criminal actions. It is regretful that the nations' expectation to force Israel to end its unprecedented crimes and massacre in Gaza remain unanswered after 10 months, Pezeshkian said. He said the US and certain Western countries, backed by international organizations, keep silent in the face of Israel's aggression and have emboldened the regime to commit crimes, assassination and genocide. The brutal Israeli campaign of genocide enjoys unreserved military and political support on the part of the regime's Western allies, not least the United States and France. The Vatican's secretary of state, for his part, hailed President Pezeshkian's call for boosting constructive interaction with the world and promoting international peace and stability. Parolin said Vatican supports Iran's efforts to promote interaction and convergence among the countries in the region and across the world. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran stresses right to 'deterrent reaction' against Israel to ensure regional security Iran Press TV Monday, 12 August 2024 11:12 AM Interim Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani has emphasized that Iran has the right to deliver a "deterrent" response to Israel to ensure security in the region. In an X post, Bagheri Kani said he had made the remarks on Sunday during a telephone conversation with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, as Iran has vowed to retaliate against Israel for the assassination in Tehran of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political bureau of the Palestinian Hamas resistance group. The top Iranian diplomat said that he had discussed the latest regional developments, including attempts by the child-killing Zionist regime to expand the scope of Gaza tensions through dangerous moves in Lebanon and Yemen, as well as the assassination of Haniyeh in Tehran. "I stressed Iran's legal right to an appropriate and deterrent reaction to guarantee the stability and security of the region," he added. Bagheri Kani also noted that the two sides shared a common position on decisive condemnation of the Israeli assassination of Haniyeh and the need for international efforts to stop Israel's aggression against the Gaza Strip and establish an immediate ceasefire there. Wang supported Iran's legitimate efforts to defend its sovereignty, security and national dignity, he said, adding that the Chinese foreign minister expressed his keenness to have close ties with the Islamic Republic in a bid to maintain regional peace and stability. Wang, for his part, repeated Beijing's denunciation of the Hamas chief's assassination, according to a statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry. "China firmly opposes and strongly condemns the assassination, believing that it gravely violates the basic norms governing international relations, seriously infringes on Iran's sovereignty security and dignity, directly undermines the Gaza ceasefire negotiation process, and shocks regional peace and stability," he asserted. Haniyeh was assassinated on July 31, while he was in Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian. The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said the terrorist act was designed and executed by Israel, with support from the US administration. Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei warned the occupying regime of a "harsh punishment," saying Iran sees it as its duty to avenge the blood of Haniyeh. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address IRGC tells US Navy: We can reach you at 'closest point' in international waters Iran Press TV Monday, 12 August 2024 9:58 AM The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Navy is not just a coastal force but is capable of having a presence in international waters, a commander of the fifth Martyr Lieutenant General Haj Qassem Soleimani fleet of the IRGC Navy says. "After the United States imposed sanctions on the IRGC Navy, we had to show that the IRGC Navy is not just a coastal force and is capable of supplying various types of heavy vessels, enabling it to have a presence in international waters," Colonel Soleimani said on Monday. He added that the naval fleet, with a domestically-developed Shahid Mahdavi oceangoing warship acting as the flagship, began its mission from Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf where the US killed an IRGC commander. "This conveyed important messages to the US," he emphasized. During its mission, he noted, the Shahid Mahdavi warship passed through important and strategic straits of the world, including the Strait of Malaga. The commander said the Iranian flotilla crossed the Equator and entered the zone of the US Navy's 7th fleet. For the first time, it approached Diego Garcia Island and one of the most important US bases in the Indian Ocean, and returned home after 39 days of successful voyage, he added. "We sent a message to Americans that we are able to reach the closest point to you," Soleimani asserted. The Iranian commander reiterated the "totally professional" nature of the mission, saying, "We did not seek to stoke any tension." He made the remarks as the US has sent a guided missile submarine to the West Asia as tensions escalate in the region. Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin said an aircraft carrier would sail there "more quickly." In May, the fifth Martyr Lieutenant General Haj Qassem Soleimani fleet of the IRGC Navy returned home after completing a 39-day mission and took it over the line of zero degrees latitude, the Equator, and into the Southern Hemisphere. The 2,100-tonne Shahid Mahdavi, a multipurpose vessel designed for long-range operations, is 240 meters in length and 27 meters in width. It joined the IRGC's naval fleet in March 2023. The oceangoing warship is equipped with three-dimensional phased array radar, sea-to-sea and sea-to-air missiles, and sophisticated telecommunication systems for electronic warfare. The Shahid Mahdavi is capable of carrying various types of attack helicopters, combat drones as well as fast attack craft. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran's senior military commander in Russia: Crushing response to Israel 'on its way' Iran Press TV Monday, 12 August 2024 7:12 AM A senior Iranian military official asserts that the Islamic Republic's harsh revenge on the Israeli regime over the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital of Tehran is "fast approaching". The retaliation "is on its way," Brigadier General Ali Shadmani, deputy coordinator of Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said in Russia on Sunday. The headquarters is tasked with planning and coordinating joint military operations within the Iranian Armed Forces. "The aspects of this [retaliatory] measure are under consideration," he noted, adding, "It will definitely take place." The assassination claimed the lives of Haniyeh, the Palestinian resistance movement's Political Bureau chief, and one of his bodyguards in Tehran late last month. Haniyeh was in the Iranian capital to attend the inauguration ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Soon after the atrocity, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei warned the Israeli regime of a "harsh response," saying it was the Islamic Republic's duty to avenge the blood of the Palestinian resistance leader. Brigadier General Shadmani is in the Russian capital to attend the 10th international military-technical forum "Army-2024," which is scheduled to take place from Monday to Wednesday. The Islamic Republic has participated in the event for the third consecutive year, showcasing a diverse array of the country's military and defensive products. Shadmani described the regime as "bloodthirsty and homicidal" and "a criminal Zionist gang," which had "crossed red lines and trampled on morality and human rights on numerous occasions." He was referring to the regime's litany of acts of deadly aggression against the regional nations, including the Iranian people. The atrocities targeting the Islamic Republic have included assassination of at least seven Iranian nuclear scientists over years and bombing of the Consular Section of the Iranian Embassy in the Syrian capital of Damascus back in April, which led to the martyrdom of seven Iranian military advisors. Referring to Haniyeh, however, Shadmani said, "By assassinating our dear guest, the Zionist regime perpetrated an atrocity that was worse than the previous ones." Also on Sunday, Brigadier General Ali Mohammad Naeini, deputy head of the Public Relations Department of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), denounced the assassination as "a clear violation" of the United Nations Charter, warning the regime that it would receive the response to its "foolish" terrorist act in due time. He added that fear of Iran's response had engulfed the entire occupied territories, stressing that the regime thought it could compensate for its defeats on the battlefield by carrying out assassinations, while its existence and identity were on the brink of collapse. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iraqi resistance warns US forces against using Iraq's airspace to attack Iran Iran Press TV Monday, 12 August 2024 1:19 AM Iraqi resistance forces say their response will have no limits if US forces use Iraq's airspace to attack Iran. The Iraqi Resistance Coordination Committee issued the warning in a statement on Monday. "As the forces of arrogance continue their brutal and treacherous attacks against nations and their resistance fighters, they persist in their support and protection of the security of the Zionist entity at the expense of the security of the region, without regard for the sovereignty of Iraq or the nations rejecting their criminal policies," the resistance statement said. "The Iraqi Resistance Coordination Committee is not bound by any restrictions. If the American occupation forces once again target our sons in Iraq or exploit its airspace to carry out attacks against the Islamic Republic of Iran, our response will have no limits," the statement added. The Iraqi groups have been pressing for an end to the presence of foreign forces in Iraq for more than a decade after a US-led coalition invaded the country in blatant violation of international law based on false claims of it owning weapons of mass destruction. There are nearly 2,500 American troops in Iraq and some 900 in Syria as part of, what Washington claims to be, a fighting force against Daesh. The US has maintained its presence, although, the Arab countries and their allies defeated the Takfiri terrorist group in late 2017. In 2020, the Iraqi parliament voted in favor of the expulsion of the foreign forces after a US drone strike assassinated Iran's top anti-terror commander General Qassem Soleimani and the PMU's deputy commander Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis outside Baghdad International Airport. During the past months, the Iraqi resistance has launched multiple attacks on Israel's vital targets both in Eilat and Haifa, including the latter's airport and oil refinery. It has also launched joint operations along with Yemeni forces against Israeli ports and Israel-linked ships since the regime's brutal onslaught started on the besieged Gaza Strip. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran's Zarif Resigns As Vice President Just Days After Appointment By RFE/RL's Radio Farda August 12, 2024 Former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced on August 12 he had resigned from his new position as vice president last week. In a post on X, Zarif cited several reasons for his resignation, including facing pressure after his appointment because his children hold U.S. citizenship. The resignation comes less than two weeks after newly elected reformist President Masud Pezeshkian chose Zarif as his deputy. Zarif, who negotiated the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with major world powers, said he plans to return to academia and focus less on domestic politics. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-zarif-resigns-vice- president/33075496.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. Warns Tehran Again Against Sending Ballistic Missiles To Russia By RFE/RL August 12, 2024 Washington has warned Tehran of "swift and severe" consequences if reports that it is planning to send hundreds of ballistic missiles to Russia are confirmed. We are prepared to deliver a swift and severe response if Iran were to move forward with the transfer of ballistic missiles, which would, in our view, represent a dramatic escalation in Iran's support for Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters on August 12. The warning matches one issued by the United States earlier this year after Reuters -- citing six unidentified sources -- reported that Iran had shipped a "large number" of powerful surface-to-surface ballistic weapons to Russia. The United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions on Iran's ballistic missile program over concerns Tehran could send such weapons to its Middle East allies and proxies and to Russia for use in Ukraine. Russia has suffered from weapons shortages as its full-scale invasion of Ukraine - launched in February 2022 - has dragged on with heavy losses of troops and military hardware, leaving it to look to allies such as Iran and North Korea to replenish its arms stock. On February 22, the U.S. administration also warned Iran of a "swift and severe" response from the international community if Tehran provided ballistic missiles to Russia, National-security spokesman John Kirby said at the time that Washington had yet to confirm the missiles had been transferred by Iran to Russia, but he said the move appeared likely. "In this press reporting, the Iranians are clearly indicating that they will ship ballistic missiles to Russia, and we have no reason to believe they will not follow through," Kirby said. Tehran has been providing Russia with unmanned aerial vehicles or drones, guided aerial bombs, and artillery ammunition, according to U.S. and Ukrainian officials following widespread evidence of Iran-made Shahed drones causing damage and casualties in Ukraine, leading to additional Western sanctions. "Iranian officials also continue to deny providing any UAVs [unmanned arial systems] to Russia when evidence is plain for the world to see that Russia has used these UAVs in relentless attacks against the civilian population in Ukraine, against civilian infrastructure," Patel told reporters. Newly elected Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian, considered by many to be a reformist leader, has spoken of hopes of improving relations with the West, but Patel expressed skepticism. "This duplicity is only the latest reminder to the international community that the Iranian regime lacks in credibility," he said. In January, the State Department issued a similar warning against North Korea in a joint statement with the European Union and dozens of others countries, including many in Asia. "The transfer of these weapons increases the suffering of the Ukrainian people, supports Russia's war of aggression, and undermines the global non-proliferation regime," it said on January 9. With reporting by AFP and Reuters Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-russia-ballistic- missiles-ukraine-warning/33076036.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China Supports Iran's Efforts to Ensure Regional Peace, Stability - Foreign Minister Sputnik News 20240812 BEIJING (Sputnik) - Beijing supports Tehran's efforts to ensure regional peace and stability and is ready to maintain close contacts with Iran, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday in a phone conversation with Iranian Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani. "China supports Iran in defending its sovereignty, security and national dignity in line with the law, as well as its efforts in maintaining regional peace and stability, and is ready to keep in close touch with the Iranian party," Wang said, as quoted by the Chinese Foreign Ministry in a statement. China strongly condemns the assassination of the political leader of Palestinian movement Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, and believes that this act seriously violates the key norms of international relations as well as Iranian sovereignty, security and dignity, directly undermines the negotiating process on the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and impacts on the regional peace and stability, the Chinese minister said. "International community should immediately unite efforts and insist that the conflicting parties truly implement the relevant resolutions of the [UN] Security Council, and create conditions for a rapid, complete and permanent ceasefire in Gaza," Wang said. On July 31, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched an airstrike on a residential building in the southern suburbs of Beirut, killing Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr along with at least four civilians. Meanwhile, Haniyeh was assassinated in his residence in Tehran last Wednesday. The Palestinian movement accused Israel of killing Haniyeh and vowed to retaliate. NBC News has reported, citing an unnamed Israeli official, that the Jewish state was preparing for a potential prolonged attack by both Hamas and Hezbollah keen to avenge the deaths of their leaders. On October 7, 2023, Israel was subjected to an unprecedented rocket attack from the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip. In addition, Hamas fighters infiltrated the border areas, opened fire on the military and civilians and took more than 200 hostages. According to Israel, about 1,200 people were killed. The Israel Defense Forces launched Operation Iron Swords in the Gaza Strip with the declared goal of destroying Hamas and freeing the hostages. The death toll from Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip since October 7 has exceeded 39,790, according to the enclave's health ministry. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran's Vice President Zarif to Resign Due to Disagreements Over Government Composition Sputnik News 20240812 TEHRAN (Sputnik) - Former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who was appointed the vice president for strategic affairs by the newly elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on August 2, announced his intention to resign. The reason for Zarif's possible resignation could be disagreements over the composition of the country's new cabinet. On Sunday, Pezeshkian, who was elected last month, presented to the country's parliament a list of politicians from whom he proposed to form a new cabinet. Of the 19 candidates proposed in it, only one is a woman. "I am not satisfied with the result of my work, and I am ashamed that I could not get the expert opinion of the committees and the presence of women, youth and relatives in a decent way, as I promised. Of course, there are still some vice presidents left, which hopefully will compensate for this shortcoming," Zarif said on X. The former minister wished success to the representatives of the new government and thanked the president for the opportunity to take part in the selection of candidates for the cabinet. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Secretary Blinken's Call with Iraqi Prime Minister Sudani US Department of State Readout Office of the Spokesperson August 12, 2024 The below is attributable to Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel: Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa al-Sudani today. The Secretary and Prime Minister discussed ongoing diplomatic efforts to advance stability in the region and the importance of preventing escalation. The Secretary reiterated the importance of Iraq's responsibility to protect Coalition military advisors from attacks by Iran-aligned militias. The Secretary and Prime Minister committed to continuing to consult one another on issues in the region and to advance the U.S.-Iraq relationship. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address August 11, 2024 Release Readout of Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III's Call With Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder provided the following readout: Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant today. Secretary Austin reiterated the United States' commitment to take every possible step to defend Israel and noted the strengthening of U.S. military force posture and capabilities throughout the Middle East in light of escalating regional tensions. Reinforcing this commitment, Secretary Austin has ordered the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN Carrier Strike Group, equipped with F-35C fighters, to accelerate its transit to the Central Command area of responsibility, adding to the capabilities already provided by the USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT Carrier Strike Group. Additionally, the Secretary has ordered the USS Georgia (SSGN 729) guided missile submarine to the Central Command region. Secretary Austin and Minister Gallant also discussed Israel's operations in Gaza and the importance of mitigating civilian harm, progress towards securing a ceasefire and the release of hostages held in Gaza, and our efforts to deter aggression by Iran, Lebanese Hizballah, and other Iran-aligned groups across the region. https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3868837/ NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Closed borders with India cause food, fuel shortages in western Myanmar Fighting in the Southeast Asian nation and Indian checks for illegal goods are to blame, sources say. By RFA Burmese 2024.08.12 -- Residents in western Myanmar who rely on trade with India said they are experiencing food shortages due to the closure of some border crossings with India amid Myanmar's civil war. People in Chin state, western Sagaing region and northern Rakhine state said their supplies of rice, cooking oil, salt, fuel and medicine are dwindling because of the trade disruption following the border gate closures. Indian authorities cited the need to check the flow of illegal goods from Myanmar as the reason, according to local sources. But Reeta Meena, an Indian Embassy diplomat in Yangon, told Radio Free Asia that the Indian government permits movement through designated border crossing points, including ones at Tamu-Moreh, Rikhawdar-Zokhawthar and Zorinpui-Paletwa. Any restrictions might have been imposed by Myanmar or local authorities, she told Radio Free Asia. Thousands of civilians from Chin state and Sagaing region have fled across the Indian border and into neighboring Mizoram and Manipur states to escape fighting between junta troops and rebel forces following the Myanmar military's February 2021 coup d'Atat. But those who have stayed behind have struggled to get goods from India amid periodic border closures due to fighting in their areas, while communication blackouts have cut them off from key cities in Myanmar. In April, 2023, India locked the gates to key border crossings with Myanmar's Chin state after three Indian citizens were killed that February during an intensified junta offensive against rebel forces in the western states. Myanmar permits legal international trade with India via the two crossings at Tamu-Moreh in Sagaing region and Rikhawdar-Zokhawthar in Chin state. The Moreh-Tamu border gate has remained closed on the Indian side since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. 'Severe difficulties' But the recent closures of other crossings have led to shortages of basic food items, said a Tamu resident. "Indian products, such as food and basic consumer goods, are no longer available to local residents living along the border, creating severe difficulties for them," the resident said. "Job opportunities are scarce, making it increasingly challenging for them to afford basic necessities." Indian authorities announced that the Myanmar-India border gate, which connects Rikhawdar in Chin state with India's Mizoram state, would be closed from July 25 to Aug. 7, though Myanmar residents say it is unlikely to reopen until Aug. 12. As a result of this closure, prices of goods in Rikhawdar have surged, with people paying twice as much for goods as they did before, Myanmar locals said. Since November 2023, Rikhawdar has been under the control of Chin defense forces who oppose Myanmar's ruling military junta and have jointly established a public administration focused on the India-Myanmar border trade, public security and regional stability. A spokesman for the Regional Defense Force-Hualngoram, the other organization involved in setting up the town's administration, expressed hope that the Mizoram state government would take measures to help locals obtain essential supplies from India. "The closure of the bridge, which we rely on for the flow of goods, has made things more difficult," he said. "We are currently facing a crisis." Because Mizoram residents rely on produce from Myanmar, a prolonged border crossing closure would negatively impact both sides, said Salai Van Sui Sang, deputy director of the Institute of Chin Affairs. It also could lead to tensions between residents of Mizoram and their state government, he added. Arakan Army Some internal trade routes, which run directly between towns in India and western Myanmar, have been cut off because of fighting between junta soldiers and resistance forces in Chin state's Paletwa and in Rakhine state a areas controlled by the rebel Arakan Army. As a result, Myanmar residents must rely on products from Lawngtlai in Mizoram state. But since June 24, the Central Young Lai Association, an influential NGO in Lawngtlai, has banned the export of goods. Though it allowed some items, including basic foodstuffs, to be transported again in July, restrictions on fuel and fertilizer remain in place. On Aug. 7, the organization warned it would take action against the transport of prohibited fuel and fertilizer from Lawngtlai, but did not provide specifics. Goods transported from Lawngtlai have been banned because the Arakan Army said they were being used to supply junta forces attacking Chin armed groups. Translated by Kalyar Lwin for RFA Burmese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster. Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content August 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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Rebels evacuate 13,000 Rohingyas amid battle for Myanmar's Maungdaw As many as 20,000 have fled since the Arakan Army entered the township a week ago. By RFA Burmese 2024.08.12 -- More than 13,000 Rohingya Muslims and hundreds of other inhabitants of western Myanmar's Maungdaw township have fled their homes in recent days amid intensifying conflict between the military and ethnic rebels in Rakhine state, residents said Monday. The rebel Arakan Army, or AA, is fighting for control of Maungdaw - the latest push in its goal to take over Rakhine state and part of a wider civil conflict that has consumed much of Myanmar since a 2021 military coup. The AA has evacuated more than 15,000 people - including over 13,000 Rohingyas and hundreds of ethnic Rakhines and Hindus - from Maungdaw since Aug. 7, when it seized two-thirds control of the township seat, said a resident who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns. The newly displaced Rohingyas join some 6,500 who have fled to neighboring Bangladesh or were waiting to cross border via the Naf River since the start of last week, the resident said, adding that around 5,000 others have been unable to leave the township. "[As many as] 20,000 Rohingyas have been evacuated so far," he told RFA Burmese on Monday. "Most of the downtown areas are under the control of the AA ... Some Muslims are trapped in areas controlled by the junta troops and in conflict zones." Other residents of Maungdaw said that most of the evacuated Rohingyas are staying in shelters provided by the AA, while others are preparing to leave for Bangladesh with their families. About 1 million stateless Rohingya refugees live in tightly packed border camps in Bangladesh. Most fled there in 2017 to escape violent crackdowns in Rakhine state that were blamed on the Myanmar military. But more Rohingya have been seeking refuge in Bangladesh lately as security has deteriorated in Rakhine state. Last week, homemade rockets, artillery and drones were fired at Rohingya as they waited on a Myanmar riverbank for motorboats to carry them to Bangladesh, leaving dozens of people dead. Witnesses who spoke to RFA put the death toll as high as 200, although RFA was unable to verify those estimates. Several Rohingya told RFA that the AA was responsible for the attack, but the rebel group denied in a statement that their troops fired the weapons. Providing aid A volunteer assisting the Rohingya, identified as Mamud Saulain, told RFA that the AA needs to assume responsibility for the well-being of the ethnic community. "It is crucial to provide them with food and shelter," he said. "Security measures should be in place to protect them from [military] airstrikes, attacks from naval bases, and heavy weapons fire." Saulain also called on armed groups to allow those trapped in Maungdaw to leave for safer areas. Veteran Rakhine politician Pe Than said the welfare of civilians in the area is "of the utmost concern." "They will be taken to liberated areas that include many Muslim and Rakhine villages," he said. "They [Rakhine authorities] are prepared to provide them with humanitarian assistance." AA spokesperson Khaing Thu Kha, told RFA that the displaced had been "sent to safer places." "The junta forces are not allowing Maungdaw residents to leave the town while the fighting intensifies" he said. "The AA has rescued as many civilians as possible. They have now been sent to safer places, and we are providing them with food, accommodation, and healthcare services as well." Khaing Thu Kha said the AA had rescued people who were "being used as human shields [by the military] to protect Maungdaw township." Attempts by RFA to contact Attorney General Hla Thein, the junta's spokesperson for Rakhine state, about the situation in Maungdaw went unanswered Monday. Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster. This story has been updated to include reports of an Aug. 5 attack on Rohingya on a riverbank. 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 August 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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Rebels capture 9 posts in Myanmar's Mandalay region, open new front Insurgents target three more townships under junta control, a group official said. By RFA Burmese 2024.08.12 -- Rebel forces in central Myanmar captured nine junta army posts and opened a new offensive in three townships under junta control, they announced on Monday, in the latest setback for the ruling military after a string of battlefield losses since late last year. An insurgent force under the umbrella of a civilian shadow administration, the National Unity Government, set up after a 2021 coup, captured the nine positions in the Mandalay region's Thabeikkyin township, the group, the Mandalay People's Defense Force, said in a statement. Thabeikkyin is on the Irrawaddy River, about 100 km (62 miles) north of the Mandalay city, Myanmar's second-biggest city and the ancient seat of its kings and its cultural center. The Mandalay People's Defense Force, or PDF, had also launched offensives in Taungtha, Natogyi and Myingyan, three townships about 100 km southwest of Mandalay on Saturday, said a member of the force who declined to be identified for security reasons. He said his forces had attacked a garment factory being used as a junta force stronghold, near a pipeline intended for natural gas going to China in Taungtha township before dawn on Monday. PDF forces retreated in the afternoon after junta forces counter-attacked with airstrikes and shelling from a base in Myingyan town, he said. "A bomb was dropped by a plane near the garment factory and another bomb was dropped at Hpa Yar Hla village because the junta thought there were People's Defense Forces there," he told Radio Free Asia. "We retreated successfully, but one PDF soldier was hit in the stomach." RFA tried to call Mandalay region's junta spokesperson, Thein Htay, for information on the fighting but he did not respond. Sheltering in forests Fighting in Natogyi has forced thousands of residents from their homes after the Mandalay PDF expanded its offensive early on Saturday when PDF fighters groups attacked a junta base near the town, residents said. Some 10,000 people, or more than half the town's population had fled, despite being warned by PDF groups that the roads out would be dangerous, they said. "A lot of people in town have fled. Some went to several monasteries. In terms of percentage, it's about 60% who've left," said one resident, who declined to be identified in fear of reprisals. "People in nearby villages are also worried and are sheltering in the forests. A lot of people who could afford to stay near Mandalay." The junta's air force launched eight airstrikes and buildings in the town had been damaged. Both sides had suffered casualties, the resident said, though neither released any information about the battle. Myanmar's military, which ruled for decades before allowing a decade of tentative reforms before its 2021 coup, has faced unprecedented battlefield setbacks since late last year when pro-democracy PDFs and allied ethnic minority insurgents went on the offensive. The junta leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, told state media on Aug. 5 that the military would recapture its lost bases and restore peace and stability to the entire country. The Mandalay PDF has emerged as one of the country's most effective pro-democracy insurgent groups, capturing, since June, Mogoke and Singu towns while fighting is going on in Madaya, Thabeikkyin, Patheingyi, Myingyan, Taungtha and Natogyi townships. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan. 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 August 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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Opponents of Myanmar junta skeptical on any Thai help for census, vote Attempting a census and an election in areas under rebel control would be impossible, the junta's enemies say. By Kiana Duncan for RFA 2024.08.12 -- Opponents of military rule in Myanmar have criticized the possibility that Thailand will help conduct a census in preparation for an election that the Myanmar junta has promised but which critics say will be an illegitimate sham. The possibility of Thai support for Myanmar's Oct. 1-15 census and for an election next year was discussed by the Thai ambassador, Mongkol Visitstump, and the head of Myanmar's Election Commission, Ko Ko, and Immigration and Population Minister Myint Kyaing in Myanmar's capital of Naypyidaw on Aug. 7, junta-backed media reported. Myanmar's military ousted an elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in early 2021, jailing her and hundreds of party colleagues and supporters, dissolving her party and banning other parties. The junta has promised to hold elections but critics say a vote would be meaningless with Suu Kyi and so many pro-democracy politicians and activists in jail. A spokesman for a civilian shadow government largely made up of politicians from Suu Kyi's party told Radio Free Asia the international community, including Thailand, should focus on restoring human rights and stability, not supporting any "illegitimate" junta plan. "I would request the international community not to support and help this illegitimate Myanmar military junta against the will of the people," said Kyaw Zaw, spokesperson for the Office of the President of the National Unity Government, or NUG. "This is a time for the international community to support Myanmar people and Myanmar people's resistance against the fascist military and prepare for the post-military era," he said. Thailand's embassy in Myanmar and its Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to requests for comment. Thailand has been at the forefront of efforts to press Myanmar's rivals into resolving their differences peacefully. It says that it is the country that shares the longest border with Myanmar, and which has for decades served as home for hundreds of thousands refugees fleeing conflict in Myanmar, it has a particular interest in seeing stability restored. But despite the efforts of Thailand and its neighbors in the Association of South East Asian Nations, fighting has escalated as junta forces face battlefield setbacks in several parts of the country. 'Step up attacks' Kyaw Zaw said the junta had no ability to conduct a "meaningful, useful census," and that the international community should focus on other human rights and development efforts. The junta has not set a date for an election but the earliest would be early next year. Under the constitution, an election must be held within six months of a state of emergency being lifted. A state of emergency in effect since the early 2021 coup was extended for another six months on Aug. 1. The junta chief, Sen. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, has said an election will be held in 2025 but acknowledged that voting in some places may not be possible in the absence of "peace and stability". Insurgents control 73 towns across the country, according to data from the Myanmar Peace Monitor. A political observer close to one of Myanmar's most powerful ethnic minority insurgent groups, the Arakan Army, dismissed the possibility of an effective census and election given the amount of territory the insurgents control, adding that attempts by the junta to organize a vote would likely only exacerbate the fighting. "It is very likely that [they] will step up attacks on the liberated areas, especially targeting the civilians as collective punishment," said the political observer, who declined to be identified given the sensitivity of the issue. The Arakan Army controls nine townships in Rakhine state in western Myanmar as well as territory in neighboring Chin state. "Neighboring countries should speak out, that the SAC needs to stop attacks on civilians and initiate dialogue and only then can genuine elections come out of these," he said, referring to the junta, which is officially known at the State Administration Council. Edited by Taejun Kang. Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content August 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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pakistan Military Arrests Former Intelligence Chief Faiz Hameed, Initiates Court Martial Proceedings By RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal August 12, 2024 The former chief of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the military's powerful spy agency, Lieutenant-General Faiz Hameed, has been arrested and had court martial proceedings initiated against him, the military said in a statement on August 12. The statement added that Hameed's arrest was ordered by the country's Supreme Court in connection with a housing scheme scandal, and multiple violations of the Pakistan Army Act after his retirement. Hameed served as ISI chief from June 2019 through October 2021. It is a first in Pakistan's history that court martial proceedings have been initiated against a former ISI chief. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/pakistan-isi--faiz-hameed- spy-chief-arrest/33075783.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pakistan arrests former spymaster for military trial By Ayaz Gul August 12, 2024 Pakistan's military announced on Monday that it had detained the country's former spy chief and initiated court-martial proceedings against him on charges of abuse of office, corruption and army regulation breaches. The arrest of retired General Faiz Hameed, who served as the head of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) from 2019 to 2022, is unusual in Pakistan, where the powerful military has ruled for more than 30 years since the country gained independence in 1947 and continues to wield significant influence. The head of ISI is regarded as the second most influential military officer in Pakistan after the army chief. The military noted in Monday's announcement that its actions had stemmed from a Supreme Court-ordered inquiry against Hameed. It stated that "multiple instances of violations of the Pakistan Army Act" after his retirement had "also been established" during the inquiry. "The process of Field General Court Martial has been initiated, and Lt Gen Faiz Hameed (Retd) has been taken into military custody," the statement read without elaborating on the allegation violations. It is not possible to contact the former ISI chief for comment due to the military's prohibition on access to officers in custody, let alone those facing court martial. Hameed's name was widely featured in local media for his alleged involvement in national politics and influence on journalists during his tenure as the ISI chief. The general gained global attention when journalists captured his presence on camera in the lobby of a Kabul hotel shortly after the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in August 2021 as the U.S.-led Western forces withdrew following nearly two decades of involvement in the Afghan war. During their presence in Afghanistan, Washington and allied nations had persistently accused the ISI of providing sanctuaries and covertly enabling Taliban leaders to orchestrate insurgent attacks from Pakistan against international forces on the Afghan side of the border. Hameed was believed to be close to former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who appointed him to lead the ISI when he was prime minister. Khan was ousted from power in 2022 through a parliamentary vote of no confidence that he alleges was orchestrated by the military leadership at the time, charges the army denies. In the run-up to the vote, the deposed prime minister's aides reported that he developed disputes with the military over whether Hameed should be retained as the ISI chief, as Khan desired. "Pakistan has taken a massive and unprecedented step to court martial a former intel chief," said Michael Kugelman, the director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington. "However one chooses to look at this, given the current political circumstances, it is impossible to assess this development without keeping in mind Faiz's known closeness to Imran Khan," Kugelman wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. Since his ouster from power, Khan has faced dozens of prosecutions on charges ranging from corruption, sedition and ordering violent protests against military installations across Pakistan, charges he rejects as frivolous and politically motivated. Khan, 71, who remains the most popular politician in Pakistan, was sent to jail a year ago after being convicted in a controversial corruption case. Appellate courts have since overturned or suspended all of his convictions and sentences due to a lack of evidence. However, authorities immediately filed new cases against Khan to keep him in jail. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US, South Korea to launch large war games next week Iran Press TV Monday, 12 August 2024 7:28 AM The United States and South Korea will conduct joint military exercises, with the aim of improving their combined capabilities to "counter Pyongyang's alleged threats," the allies say. The annual exercise, dubbed "Ulchi Freedom Shield", will take place on August 19-29. The drill will include computer-simulated exercises designed to enhance readiness against alleged threats such as missiles, GPS jamming and cyberattacks, and concurrent field maneuvers and live-fire exercises. The allies in particular aim to "further strengthen (their) capability and posture to deter and defend against weapons of mass destruction," South Korean and US military officials said in a joint news conference on Monday. North Korea says the war games amount to a "rehearsal for invasion." Lee Sung Joon, spokesperson of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, described the drills as an "essential element for maintaining a strong defense posture to protect the Republic of Korea," using South Korea's formal name. He noted that nearly 19,000 South Korean troops will take part in the exercises. Col. Ryan Donald, spokesperson of US Forces Korea, declined to comment on the number of the participating US troops. He said, "This exercise will reflect realistic threats across all domains such as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's missile threats and we will take in lessons learned from recent armed conflicts," referring to the North using it official name. "ROK and US units will execute combined field training exercises across all domains. Field maneuver and live fire exercises will strengthen the alliance's interoperability while showcasing our combined capabilities and resolve," he said. North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un has repeatedly said his government is building up its defensive military arsenal in preparation for war by the West that could "break out at any time" on the peninsula. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Bulgarian National Extradited for Scheme to Illegally Export U.S.-Origin Sensitive Microelectronics to Russia Monday, August 12, 2024 For Immediate Release Office of Public Affairs Defendant and His Co-Conspirators Used Bulgarian Company to Transship Radiation-Hardened Integrated Circuits to Russia Bulgarian national Milan Dimitrov, 50, made his initial appearance in a federal court in San Antonio today after being extradited from Greece. According to court documents, Milan Dimitrov allegedly conspired with Ilias Sabirov, 52, of Russia, and Dimitar Dimitrov, 74, of Bulgaria, to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA) in a scheme to procure sensitive radiation-hardened integrated circuits from the United States and illegally export those components to Russia through Bulgaria without the required licenses from the U.S. government. The indictment alleges that between at least May 2014 and May 2018 the defendants used the Bulgarian company Multi Technology Integration Group EEOD (MTIG) to receive export-controlled items from the United States and transship them to Russia without the required licenses. According to the indictment, Sabirov is the head of two Russian companies a Cosmos Complect and OOO Sovtest Comp. a and controls MTIG. Both Dimitar and Milan Dimitrov worked for Sabirov at Cosmos Complect and MTIG. As alleged, in 2014, the defendants met with the supplier of the radiation-hardened circuits in Austin, Texas, and were informed that radiation-hardened circuits could not be shipped to Russia because of U.S. trade restrictions. Sabirov then established MTIG in Bulgaria to purchase the controlled electronic circuits, which did not require a license for export to Bulgaria. The radiation-hardened properties of these circuits made them resistant to damage or malfunction in the harsh outer-space environment. The circuits were controlled for export to Russia for these very reasons. The parts were shipped to Bulgaria in 2015, and MTIG soon thereafter transshipped them to Sabirov's companies in Russia. OOO Sovtest Comp. transferred over $1 million to MTIG for the parts. In the same timeframe, MTIG a at Sabirov's direction a ordered over $1.7 million in other electronic components produced by another U.S.-based electronics manufacturer. MTIG bought these parts to fulfill part of its contract with OOO Sovtest Comp. Again, the parts were shipped from the United States to Bulgaria, where they were merely repackaged and then shipped to Russia. In late 2018, a Department of Commerce Export Control Officer interviewed Milan Dimitrov during a visit to MTIG to determine whether the radiation-hardened components were still in MTIG's possession in Bulgaria. Milan Dimitrov, among other things, falsely denied sending the components to Russia. Milan Dimitrov is charged with two counts of IEEPA violations, one count of money laundering, and one count of making false statements to the Department of Commerce in violation of ECRA. Each count in the indictment carries up to 20 years in federal prison. Sabirov and Dimitar Dimitrov currently remain at large. The two were charged in the same indictment in December 2020 with two counts of IEEPA violations and one count of money laundering. Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department's National Security Division and U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas made the announcement. The Commerce Department's Office of Export Enforcement and the FBI are investigating the case with assistance from Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS). Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael C. Galdo and G. Karthik Srinivasan are prosecuting the case along with Trial Attorney Christine Bonomo of the National Security Division's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section. The Justice Department's Office of International Affairs provided valuable assistance. An indictment merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. Topics: Export Control National Security Components: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) National Security Division (NSD) USAO - Texas, Western Press Release Number: 24-1,003 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Address on the opening of the Army 2024 International Military-Technical Forum August 12, 2024 10:35 President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Friends, foreign guests, ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to welcome all the participants and guests of the Army 2024 International Military-Technical Forum. This is a major forum which attracts high representatives. Held for the tenth time, it invariably enjoys a lot of attention on behalf of specialists, experts and media outlets from across the world. We appreciate this attitude and have been doing everything to support it, since we treasure our partnerships and are committed to developing them by working together with others in order to ensure equal and indivisible security and build a new, fairer multipolar world order. We can see that our commitment to promoting constructive cooperation has resonated with others who were sincere and proactive in their positive response. This year, dozens of countries sent their high-level delegations to Russia, led by heads of their defence agencies. Over 120 foreign companies registered to take part in the event. In addition to this, we offered several foreign exhibitions an opportunity to set up their stands at the forum. In fact, this forum prides itself for this inclusive and truly international scope, our mutual commitment to dialogue, as well as its packed business programme. Of course, the forum's agenda includes grand-scale presentations of the most advanced and largely unique and unrivalled achievements of Russia's defence manufacturers and its leading, internationally acclaimed corporations. This includes over 240 export versions of weapons, as well as all kinds of military and specialised hardware. Let me emphasise that many of Russia's advanced, unique and innovative solutions have already proven their worth on the battlefield. Moreover, we improve their basic performance all the time. Designers, engineers, scientists and teams working at defence manufacturing plants have been proactive in their efforts to take into account the combat experience we acquired during the special military operation. It is also essential that small businesses, the civil society and patriotic organisations, as well as a massive volunteer movement and the people of Russia in general have all gone to great lengths and have been proactive in supporting the defence industry in the interests of the Russian Army and Navy. Priorities in terms of these joint efforts include modern gear, communications, protection and electronic warfare means, unmanned systems and artificial intelligence. During this forum, about a hundred scientific and business events will be held on these and many other topical matters dealing with military development, military strategy and combat tactics. Friends, The Army 2024 forum offers a very packed and detailed programme. It focuses on its target audience, which consists of military professionals. I have no doubt that this event will help strengthen the existing ties and forge new ones by signing mutually beneficial contracts with Russia's Defence Ministry and defence industry enterprises. It can also enhance the effectiveness of our cooperation with our close and friendly countries on security matters and in terms of defending our national interests. I wish the participants in this forum every success and all the best. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address MFA handed over a note of strong protest against the attack on the Lithuanian Embassy in Moscow Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2024-08-12 On 12 August 2024, in Moscow, four unidentified masked individuals smeared the entrance of the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in the Russian Federation (the Embassy) with red paint. The Russian Federation police officers who were guarding the outside of the Embassy did not react to the attack. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania (MFA) summoned the Counsellor of the Russian Embassy, Andrey Gasiuk, in connection with the attack and handed him a note of strong protest. In the note, MFA demands that the Russian Federation comply with all its international obligations, including Article 22 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which stipulates that the host country must take all necessary steps to protect the premises of the mission from any invasion or damage, and to prevent any disturbance to the peace or impairment of its dignity. Lithuanian MFA requests the Russian Federation to take all the necessary steps to ensure the protection and safety of the premises of the Embassy and its property, to investigate the act of vandalism, and to bring those responsible to justice. Lithuanian MFA also requested for explanations, why the Russian Federation security officials did not react to the attack and how it will be ensured that similar attacks and negligent work will not be repeated in the future. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Chief of CSTO Joint Staff attends 10th ARMY 2024 International Military and Technical Forum 12.08.2024 On 12 August, Colonel General Andrei Serdyukov, the Chief of the CSTO Joint Staff, visited the ARMY 2024 International Military and Technical Forum at the Patriot Congress and Exhibition Centre, where he attended the opening ceremony and the plenary session attended by Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov. Colonel General Andrei Serdyukov, together with a group of CSTO officers serving in the Armed Forces of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan, visited the exhibition and examined advanced military-technical developments and new models of military and special equipment presented at the exhibition. Particular attention was paid to the Airborne Troops exhibition and a display of equipment used in the Special Military Operations Zone. During a visit to a large-scale exhibition, CSTO Chief of Staff Colonel General Andrei Serdyukov said: 'Within the framework of military and technical cooperation between CSTO member states, we pay special attention to equipping the Troops (Collective Forces) with modern weapons, military and special equipment and means. To this end, the necessary regulatory framework is being put in place. The relevant programmes and plans are being implemented. The Joint Staff has finalised a draft decision of the CSTO Collective Security Council on a list of standard and promising weapons, military and special equipment proposed for equipping the Collective Rapid Deployment Forces of the Central Asian region. The ARMY 2024 Forum is the largest exhibition of arms, military and special equipment, recognised as a major event in international military-technical cooperation and a unique platform for dialogue on global and regional security. The objectives of the Forum are to stimulate the innovative development of the Russian defence industry, to develop the Russian Federation's military and technical cooperation with foreign states, and to create a positive image of the Ministry of Defence as a modern and dynamically developing structure. Department for Media Affairs and Information NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address ARMY 2024 Forum: modern geostrategy of Russian Federation discussed in conditions of establishing a new world order 12.08.2024 The Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, within the framework of the scientific and business programme of the Army 2024 International Military and Technical Forum, held a round table devoted to modern geostrategy of the Russian Federation in the context of the establishment of a new world order. The round table was attended by representatives of more than 60 organisations: Presidential Administration, Federation Council, State Duma, Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, Russian Academy of Sciences, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) and Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, St. Petersburg State Economic University, Donbass State University of Justice, Southern Federal University, higher education and research institutions of the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Ministry of Emergency Situations. In welcoming the participants to the round table, Deputy Chief of the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Professor Lieutenant General Aleksandr Serzhantov stressed the importance of the event and the significance of the issues to be discussed. 'At present, in the context of the dominant combined information, economic, and military potential of the Western countries, the leadership of the Russian Federation is facing the problem of forming and implementing geostrategy as a state goal-setting instrument. At this stage, in practice, geostrategy has been given priority in the task of protecting and promoting national interests, while geopolitical rivals pursue the concepts and strategies of 'soft power', 'proxy' and 'hybrid action', 'grey zone' and others,' Lieutenant General Aleksandr Serzhantov noted. The purpose of the round table was achieved: participants discussed the issues of national geostrategy. It has helped to improve cooperation between the military and civilian communities. It has produced practical results in the form of recommendations. Department for Media Affairs and Information NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov addresses opening ceremony of ARMY 2024 International Military and Technical Forum 12.08.2024 Dear friends! Welcome to the opening ceremony of the ARMY 2024 International Military and Technical Forum. As all of you know, the event takes place at a time of the special military operation. This is, in fact, the armed confrontation between Russia and the collective West. It is driven by a desire of the USA and their allies to sustain their dominance. And to prevent a new multipolar and equal world order. In this regard, this confrontation affects the interest of every country. It is important to realise that success in modern military conflicts is possible only if the following basic conditions are met. The first is supplying the troops with the most modern armaments. Above all, high-precision weapons. The second is the use of new tactics of warfare. Including with the use of unmanned aerial vehicles and robotic systems. The third is developing an effective control system using an advanced technological basis. This also includes artificial intelligence. The fourth is a continuous improvement of the military personnel training. Mostly of those in command. Only such comprehensive approach offers a full advantage over the enemy. It was decided to organise the work of the ARMY Forum around this key conclusion. This year, the business and exhibition programme of the Forum focus on targeted discussion of the experience acquired during the special military operation and new forms of warfare. And ways to adapt industry to the tasks assigned to the Army and Navy. More than a thousand Russian enterprises with their military products are represented at the Forum. These include initiative projects. There is also a display of cutting-edge weapons which have proved effective in a real combat environment. Innovative solution in the field of artificial intelligence, electronic, and information technologies are presented. For the first time, the exhibition shows developments of 'People's Defence Industry'. These are products made by citizens, workers, and small and medium-sized enterprises. All of them - for the needs of our fighters in the special military operation zone. Foreign visitors will be able to learn about the latest and promising weapons. They will have an opportunity to sign mutually beneficial contracts to strengthen their national armed forces. I am confident that the Forum will contribute to implementing groundbreaking ideas in defence sphere. It will also help develop Russia's defence industry and expand military and technical cooperation. I wish you all successful and effective work! Dear friends! I declare open the ARMY 2024 International Military-Technical Forum. Department for Media Affairs and Information NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 10th ARMY International Military and Technical Forum opens in Patriot Congress and Exhibition Centre 12.08.2024 Dear friends! Today, the 10th ARMY International Military and Technical Forum has opened in Patriot Congress and Exhibition Centre. The ARMY 2024 Forum lasts three days, from 12 to 14 August 2024. The Forum's format is updated and optimised this year, and the programme of events is organised with a focus on business nature and fulfilment of the objectives of the special military operation. This year's Forum is attended by specialists from the Russian Ministry of Defence, heads and general engineers of defence industry enterprises and organisations as well as military delegations from foreign countries. The Forum includes a static exposition, a scientific-business programme as well as protocol events. The static exposition is formed taking into account the experience of the special military operation. More than 1,000 domestic and foreign enterprises and organisations will submit more than 20,000 samples of military and dual-use products in the form of nature-size samples, mock-ups, and advertising and information materials. An exhibition of samples of military products, industrial enterprises and armaments in service with the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation has been formed on the outdoor areas of the Patriot Exhibition Centre. A separate exposition presents samples of weapons, military and special hardware that have proven themselves efficient in the special military operation: BMP-2M infantry fighting vehicle with a Berezhok combat section, T-90M Proryv main battle tank, T-80BVM main battle tank, BREM-1M armoured repair and recovery vehicle, 120-mm Floks self-propelled artillery gun, 152-mm Malva self-propelled artillery gun, Bastion coastal missile system, Iskander-M operational-tactical missile system, 300-mm Tornado-S multiple-launch rocket vehicle, TOS-2 heavy flamethrower system, an engineering remote mining system, Kornet-D1 self-propelled anti-tank missile system, Tor-M2K SAM combat vehicle, Pantsir-S anti-aircraft system, and Gibka-S SAM combat vehicle. An arms and equipment export exhibition is available to promote military products of the Russian Federation on the international arena. For the first time, the Forum area features a separate static exposition of the People's Defence Industry organisation. The exposition displays initiatives being developed and supplied to the special military operation zone through the entities of the Russian Federation, civilian enterprises, and public and volunteer organisations. More than 250 exhibits from 100 participating companies are presented on over 2,000 square metres. The exhibition booth provides business facilities for sharing experience and organising interaction between People's Defence Industry organisation and federal executive authorities, military administration, development institutes, and industry enterprises. As part of the ARMY 2024 IMTF, the design engineers of the People's Defence Industry will present the unique developments required by Russian soldiers in the special military operation zone. In particular, Russian developers will demonstrate a simulator to learn how to fly on fixed-wing drones with a suspension. This is a simulator developed on the basis of the latest Molniya drone. FPV drones, kamikaze drones that are able to perform tasks at a range of about 20 kilometres and carry a payload of up to 3.5 kg will also be showcased. In addition, the people's engineers will present a Varan tracked platform, which helps the fighters to carry out assault and engineering missions. The platform can accommodate all Kalashnikov machine guns, their remote control systems, and a thermal imaging camera. This equipment was created by inventors from Ivanovo and has already been tested in combat conditions in Chasov Yar direction. The pavilions of the Central Exhibition Complex display the following: - thematic exhibition 'Military Education - serving the Fatherland', where advanced training systems in educational organisations of the Russian Ministry of Defence are demonstrated, taking into account the experience of troops, including in the special military operation and exercises; ?? exposition of samples of the Era Military Innovative Technoplis. The exposition shows development in the direction of: critical information infrastructure and technological independence, artificial intelligence technologies, intellectual learning system, digital twins, robotic systems, advanced cybersecurity technologies, and medical support. Rhe Era Military Innovative Technopolis platform within the scientific and business programme will hold the event round table discussions on the direction of activity. The session will involve the leading Russian scientists, representatives of the higher education establishments, research organisations, and defence industry enterprises. ?? the exposition 'Innovations serving the Fatherland' shows the latest development in the field of space-, air-, ground-, and water-based robotic systems. The exhibition will show the achievements of scientific companies the Russian Armed Forces and universities of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation following the exhibitions 'Innovation Day of the Russian Ministry of Defence'. The exhibition 'Products of the Leading Enterprises of the Russian Defence Industry Complex' is organised on the basis of six Demonstration and Exhibition Centres, where the key enterprises of the Russian defence industry will demonstrate promising samples of weapons, military and special equipment as well as models of high-tech dual-use products. Large-scale expositions of the state corporations Rosatom and Roscosmos were presented on the exhibition grounds. The Russian Federal Scientific Clinical Centre demonstrates the latest developments for the Russian Defence Ministry and defence industry, advanced technologies of the nuclear, biological, and chemical protection, treatment and rehabilitation of the servicemen who took part in the special military operation as well as joint mobile medical units. The leading scientific and medical institutions of the Russian Federal Scientific Clinical Centre will show innovative products and equipment for monitoring medical security and pharmaceutical protection, including automated detectors and indicators of biopathogens, test systems, medicines, antidotes, and radioprotective agents. In addition, at the Forum, industrial enterprises will show promising developments aimed at scientific and technological development using artificial intelligence technologies. The Forum presents trophy samples of weapons and military equipment delivered from Kharkov region and Kiev regions of Ukraine, as well as those captured in combat during the liberation of the territories of Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics. The exposition of trophy samples of military hardware shows: YPR-765A1 armoured personnel carrier, BMC 350-16Z KIRPI armoured fighting vehicle, 22 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle, HMMWV M1151 armoured fighting vehicle, SAXON AT 105 armoured fighting vehicle, HUSKY armoured fighting vehicle, INTERNATIONAL MAXXPRO PLUS armoured fighting vehicle, M1A1SA Abrams tank, BUSHMASTER PMV armoured fighting vehicle, AMX-10RCR armoured reconnaissance vehicle, -180 armoured fighting vehicle, MASTIF armoured fighting vehicle, KOZAK armoured fighting vehicle, VARTA armoured fighting vehicle, ROSHEL SENATOR armoured fighting vehicle, CV9040 infantry fighting vehicle, LEOPARD 26 tank, Marder 1A3 infantry fighting vehicle. Representatives of foreign delegations and defence attaches will be able to visit the exhibition. Scientific and business events are planned to focus on the most topical issues of the development of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Russian defence industry, and Russian military-technical cooperation, taking into account the experience gained during the special military operation. The scientific and business programme of the Forum includes 96 events: 70 round tables; 15 conferences; 9 meetings; 1 session; 1 discussion. The key events will be: ARMY 2024 International Military-Technical Forum plenary session; Conference 'Specifics and implementation of contract system law. Procurement innovations'; Scientific and practical conference 'Topical issues on developing military law in the special military operation'; Conference 'Topical issues of medical support during the special military operation'; Scientific and business events dedicated to the development of 'People's Defence Industry' and unmanned aerial vehicles; Round tables on the development of domestic technologies for microelectronics, robotics, intelligent management systems, including for military purposes, as well as critical information infrastructure with the use of artificial intelligence technologies. During the Forum, innovative projects will be assessed on introducing AI technologies into them at the AI interaction area. The experts will have an opportunity to assess the projects at various degrees of readiness, as well as to identify new approaches to the use of AI technologies in different areas of scientific and practical activities. The assessment is planned to be held in the form of panel discussions and booth-based presentations. A total of 226 military experts from 26 military command bodies concerned will select promising innovative developments and projects presented at the Forum for further deployment to the Russian Armed Forces. On 13 August, the Ministry of Defence will sign state contracts with Russian defence companies, and Rosoboronexport will sign international agreements with subjects of military-technical cooperation at the Forum venues. In addition, it is planned to hold bilateral meetings with the heads of foreign delegations on the development of military and technical cooperation under the auspices of the Russian Ministry of Defence, Federal Service of Military-Technical Cooperation, JSC Rosoboronexport, and Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade. The Forum will be attended by official military delegations from 83 states; 39 of them are headed by defence ministers and chiefs of general staffs. National expositions and individual booths of defence industry enterprises of friendly countries have been organised by four states: Belarus, China, India, and Iran. The Forum is attended by representatives of more than 120 foreign companies. The ARMY IMTF will once again bring together representatives of the Russian and foreign armed forces, enabling experts in the field of defence and national security to strengthen cooperation. Department for Media Affairs and Information NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address From Lancets and Super Pantsirs to Small Missile Subs and Drone Docks: What's New at ARMY-2024? Sputnik News 20240812 Ilya Tsukanov ARMY-2024, Russia's largest annual defense forum and expo, kicked off in Moscow region on Monday, with delegations from dozens of countries arriving for the three-day event to familiarize themselves with weapons and equipment made by Russian defense enterprises. As always, among them are brand new designs and major upgrades to existing systems. This year's ARMY forum is being attended by high-level military delegations from 83 countries, with over 20,000 pieces of weaponry, equipment and military-grade products developed by over 1,000 domestic and foreign defense companies on display. ARMY-2024's crop of never-before-seen or heavily upgraded Russian military equipment focuses heavily on drones and drone defenses, electronic warfare, artillery, new armored vehicles, and tweaked air defense equipmen. In his address at the expo's opening ceremony, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov listed the availability of modern weapons, and specifically, high-precision weapons, as one of the keys to success in a modern conflict. Russia's arms makers seem to be on the same page in this regard. New Drones in the Air, on the Ground and at Sea Lancet-E: a new export variant of Russia's distinctive x-winged loitering munition featuring the base Z-16-E reconnaissance drone and Izdeliye 51/52-E guided munitions. Russia expects strong demand for the Lancet-E, and state arms export intermediary agency Rosoboronexport says it's ready to discuss licensed and joint production. Rosoboronexport General Director Alexander Mikheev said in a press release that the Lancet has demonstrated its effectiveness on the battlefield against a broad array of threats, from armored vehicles and fortifications to targets at sea. Depecha and Buggy: Dubbed by developers as the "world's first ground-based FPV kamikaze drones", these small tracked (Depecha) and wheeled (Buggy) vehicles are designed to quietly zip over into enemy lines to target personnel, pillboxes, bunkers, fortified firing positions and strongholds with between 150-250 kg of munitions. They can also carry provisions, ammo and fuel to friendly forces, and evacuate wounded troops. Both are operated using joystick and FPV helmet. Mangust: A new tracked unmanned drone platform developed by Almaz-Antey. These small 15-25 kg vehicles were developed to inspect hard to reach areas and deliver 80-90 kg of cargo. Argus-D: A major upgrade to the Rubin Design Bureau's Argus platform of deep-water drone vehicles. Designed to deliver of an array of droppable payloads to the sea and ocean floor, and packed with sophisticated onboard computer with obstacle avoidance system, sonar, and Doppler log. Immersion depth up to 3 km. The Argus-D's equipment is said to include technologies which enabled the Vityaz-D deep-sea vehicle to carry out the world's first fully autonomous mission in the Mariana Trench in 2020. The drone can be carried by surface ships in a standard 40-foot container, and has an open architecture design to reduce costs and improve compatibility with an array of support equipment. Octavis: A unique new autonomous underwater docking station developed to charge and communicate with underwater sea drones and transmit data to coastal centers. Designed to be anchored or grounded at depths of 500-1,000 m, and to service between one and three drones. The prospective platform is expected to dramatically reduce risks associated with submerging and retreiving drones from the water, and cut costs associated with the need for support vessels. In turn, the coverage area of underwater drone awareness is expected to increase, not just for military purposes - but civilian tasks such as the collection of scientific data related to oceanology and climate science, or the extraction of mineral resources offshore. New and Improved Armor, Artillery and Vehicles BTR-22: Prospective APC (armoured personnel carrier) accounting for experiences gained in the Ukraine conflict and featuring cope cage anti-drone protection features and a LGSh-689 electronic warfare system, new armor strong enough to withstand small arms fire to calibers of up to 12.7 mm armor-piercing shells, mine fragments and artillery shrapnel (including mine protection under the vehicle's belly). The vehicle has a combat crew of 11 and room in its crew compartment for 8 troops. Plastun: A new series of low-cost, simple to operate and repair tracked and wheeled vehicles designed to provide the army with a class of peppy, lightweight, maneuverable, all-terrain troop, cargo and supply carriers. The Plastun-2 is tracked and has a weight of up to 6 tons full-load, and is designed with superior maneuverability and passability in mind over snow and mud, while the Plastun-TT is a bare bones 2.8 tons full load wheeled jeep with 4x4 offroad ready capabilities and a frame which can fold 30 degrees to reduce the turning radius. Both vehicles borrow components from widely available Russian civilian vehicle designs, including the Niva and the Gazelle. Negotiations are underway on the supply of these vehicles to the Russian military, according to developers. Malva: On display at ARMY-2024 is a series-production ready version of the Malva self-propelled howitzer, which has seen combat testing in the special military operation zone in recent months to confirm its operational effectiveness. Built on an 8x8 BAZ truck chassis, these howitzers are equipped with a 152 mm 2A64 gun with a 24.5 km firing range, and ability to fire seven rounds per minute. The Malva can fit in strategic airlifters like the Il-76 for speedy redeployment across vast distances, and designed for superior shoot-and-scoot deployment (i.e. speedily deploying, firing and evacuating to avoid enemy counterfire). The Malva features a sophisticated targeting and calculations computer with a "simultaneous fire" mode in which projectiles from multiple batteries are fired at different trajectories and speeds but hit a target simultaneously. Planshet-A: Upgraded variant of a Russian artillery fire control system with improved characteristics to save on ammo, featuring faster computer, improved data transmission range, optimized software and ability to simultaneously control entire artillery batteries. Air and Drone Defenses Super Pantsir: New variant of Russia's famous air and missile defense system armed only with surface-to-air missiles. Lesochek: An upgrade to the modular Russian electronic warfare system originally created to defeat radio-controlled explosive devices, but now featuring capabilities for drone defense. Product X: A timely new lightweight, portable mini-radar system developed by Rostec, name not yet known, designed to detect enemy drone boats. Small Missile Sub Packing a Hefty Punch Amur-950: A brand new non-nuclear submarine design with vertical missile launch capability envisioned by developers as a "floating missile battery capable of delivering a powerful preemptive salvo on enemy ships and coastal infrastructure." Designed for low noise and high-awareness operation, the Amur-950 is expected to have a 1,000-ton displacement, a 19-man crew and a 30-day endurance time at sea, and be ideal as a reconnaissance and covert surveillance vessel. Personal Protective Equipment and People's Defense Production This year's ARMY-2024 features equipment from the so-called 'people's defense industry' - products developed and produced by independent designers and volunteers from among ordinary Russians seeking to aid the front. Among designs on display is the Repeynik portable radar station, which can detect drones of all classes and sizes, including FPV drones, and a unique low-cost night video surveillance system using off-the-shelf IP camera tech processed by custom-built software codenamed 'Host'. Bars-L: A new titanium armored helmet created by the Scientific Research Institute of Steel to withstand small arms fire. Also presented at the expo is the Obereg Br5-class ceramic armor plate bulletproof vest, now featuring expanded armor coverage and reduced weight (9 kg). Surikat: Lightweight electronic warfare system that can be worn by individual troopers. Designed to detect and jam mini-drones at distances of several tens of meters away. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia Presents New SuperCam S350M Drone at Army 2024 Forum Sputnik News 20240812 The SuperCam S350M reconnaissance drone's new features allow it to take high-definition (HD) images and transfer them to a control point to later be processed automatically, including via machine vision or artificial intelligence, a representative of Russia's Unmanned Aerial Systems manufacturer told Sputnik. The SuperCam S350 drone is used for surveillance, reconnaissance, protection of the state border, monitoring various facilities, as well as other military, civilian, and dual-purpose tasks. Transferring an image from the S350M's HD camera, processing it, and subsequently identifying the target now takes less time than the same process for reporters at the Olympics - roughly 60-90 seconds, with the record time being 45 seconds. The SuperCam line of drones is equipped to accommodate a wide range of features, including cameras, thermal imagers, and laser scanners in many different variations. The new model has improved quality and speed for retrieving reconnaissance data. The improvement is due to a built in gyro-stabilized load controller, which stabilizes image quality when zooming in on a target. It is able to perform tasks at any time of day and in difficult weather conditions. The SuperCam is equipped with an electric motor and can move almost without making any noise. It is launched into combat position with a catapult, and it returns using a parachute. The SuperCam S350 is developed and manufactured by Russia's Unmanned Aerial Systems. The company carries out the whole production cycle of the equipment and has its own certified operator training center. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Experts warn of national security risks from Chinese apps ROC Central News Agency 08/12/2024 04:35 PM Taipei, Aug. 12 (CNA) Chinese apps are a potential national security risk because of China's authoritarian political system, according to two experts from the Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR). "Information security risks are national security risks," said Tzeng Yi-suo (), an associate research fellow at INDSR's Division of Cyber Security and Decision-making Simulation. "As long as the app is under the jurisdiction of the Chinese government, there will basically be security concerns," he explained. Tzeng told CNA that commercial companies collect data about app users and then use algorithms to tailor relevant information and marketing. This is not a problem in a democratic country governed by the rule of law such as Taiwan, the cyber-security expert said, because if the information involves judicial cases, the government will need to go through certain legal procedures to obtain the information. However, the National Intelligence Law of the People's Republic of China and the Law of the People's Republic of China on Guarding State Secrets empower Chinese government agencies to require platform service providers to hand over users' data "as long as they determine that national security is involved," Tzeng said. "How the Chinese government obtains the data and what they will do with it is not transparent," the security expert added. In areas under China's authoritarian control, including Hong Kong and Macau, China "can assert its sovereignty" and "investigate the words and actions of users" through data collected by Chinese apps, said Tzeng. In places outside of its jurisdiction, "China's authoritarian system" still poses risks to users, according to Lee Jyun-yi (), an associate research fellow at INDSR's Division of National Security Research. Lee cited the U.S. court testimony of former employees of ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, as evidence that "TikTok does indeed transmit users' personal information back to China." In addition to the security of personal data, Chinese apps such as Douyin and TikTok pose risks relating to the spread of false information, according to Lee. Lee told CNA that although misleading information is not limited to Chinese apps, popular Western platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube have adopted new methods to crack down on bot accounts and mark state-funded media. "TikTok's lack of effort to do so makes it relatively easy for false information to spread," the expert said. Lee also believes that Chinese apps may "shape users' perceptions" through algorithms. Up to 40 percent of popular videos come from accounts controlled by the Chinese government, he noted. "The Chinese government has legislated to require media platforms' algorithm recommendation models to comply with the values of the Chinese Communist Party," the security expert told CNA. Taking Douyin as an example, Lee said that the platform promotes content that is "beneficial to China" and the Chinese government requires the platform to self-censor. According to the scholar, this makes it "difficult for short videos that are negative or critical of China to appear or spread, which has a long-term effect in shaping people's perceptions." The two security experts are not alone in their concerns over Chinese apps such as TikTok. In March, Taiwan's Minister of Digital Affairs Audrey Tang () said that TikTok had been classified as a "dangerous product." The use of the app is banned in government agencies and on their premises in Taiwan. In April, U.S. President Joe Biden signed into law a bill titled Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act which required ByteDance to divest its U.S. assets or face a nationwide ban. The earliest such a ban could go into effect would be Jan. 19, 2025. India completely banned TikTok in June 2020, while countries including Australia, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, Canada and New Zealand have separately imposed rules limiting certain workers from using the app due to cyber-security concerns. (By James Thompson and Wu Shu-wei) Enditem/kb NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Taiwan fishing boat crew detained in China likely to be released Tuesday ROC Central News Agency 08/12/2024 07:24 PM Taipei, Aug. 12 (CNA) Four crew members of a Taiwanese fishing vessel detained by the Chinese authorities since July 2 are expected to be released on Tuesday but the return dates of the captain and the boat remain uncertain, according to a former official. The Fujian Provincial People's Government's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) is likely to first release the crew members on Tuesday, including a Taiwanese national surnamed Ting () and three Indonesian nationals, Chen Shuang-chuan (), former deputy speaker of the Penghu County Council, told CNA Monday. According to Chen, they will take a boat to the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, where they will be picked up by the "Da Jin Man No. 96" fishing boat, which belongs to the same fleet as the "Da Jin Man No. 88" vessel, and then returned to Penghu. "Da Jin Man No. 88," a Taiwanese fishing vessel registered in Penghu, was boarded and seized by China's coast guard east-northeast of Liaoluo Bay 17.5 nautical miles outside Taiwan-controlled "restricted waters" off the Kinmen on July 2, according to Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (CGA). The vessel, along with its Taiwanese captain, surnamed Hung (), and three Indonesian and one Taiwanese crew, were detained by the Chinese authorities for illegally fishing during a seasonal moratorium, the CGA said. Regarding Hung and the fishing boat "Da Jin Man No. 88," Chen said that he would hold discussions over their release with the Fujian TAO in Quanzhou on Monday afternoon. Penghu County Council Speaker Chen Yu-Jen (), former Legislator Lin Pin-kuan (), Hung's daughter and the owner of "Da Jin Man No. 88," will also meet with the Chinese officials, according to Chen. (By Sunny Lai) Enditem/ASG NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address New Chinese reconnaissance drone spotted near Taiwan This drone appears to be a new version of China's BZK-005. By Taejun Kang for RFA 2024.08.12 -- Taiwan is developing a response strategy to a new electronic warfare variant of a new type of Chinese drone spotted northeast of Taiwan that might be capable of disrupting the Taiwanese military's radio communications, media reported. The drone appears to be a new version of China's Harbin BZK-005 medium-altitude, long-range drone, which has repeatedly entered Taiwan and Japan's air defense identification zones, the Taipei-based Liberty Times reported on Sunday. Japan's Ministry of Defense announced that a Chinese BZK-005 reconnaissance drone was spotted on Friday last week, when it flew to the west Pacific via airspace between Okinawa Island and Miyako Island and flew back using the same route. Photos released by the Japanese ministry show that the BZK-005 drone was different from ones spotted earlier as it had a large number of antennas under the nose of the aircraft and a pod for an unknown purpose attached under its belly. A military source told the Liberty Times that the new version of the drone could be deployed to disrupt all radio communications within the chain of command in the Taiwanese military and cause the radar system to malfunction. China considers Taiwan a wayward province and has never ruled out invading the island to enforce its territorial claim. Taiwan aims to increase its defense spending to NT$647 billion (US$19.76 billion) next year to the biggest sum ever as it seeks to bolster its defenses and its cooperation with democratic allies, President Lai Ching-te announced last week. Beijing fiercely opposed Lai in his bid to become president in a January election. He ran on a platform of promoting peace in the Taiwan Strait while not compromising on claims of Taiwanese sovereignty. China responded to Lai's inauguration in May with two days of military exercises around the island. Taiwan held its annual Han Kuang military drills on the island of Kinmen in late July. On the diplomatic front, Taiwan is considering closing down its representative office in Macau over a request by the government of the former Portuguese colony that a new employee at the office, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, or TECO, sign a "One China" affidavit, the Liberty Times reported. The "One China" principle, China's official position, states that the government in Beijing is the sole legitimate representative of China, that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China and that resolving the question of the democratic island's sovereignty is an internal Chinese affair, which no external force has the right to interfere in. TECO Macau is aiming to fill a vacancy created by the departure of an employee on July 23, but Macau's government requested that the newly appointed official sign an affidavit recognizing Beijing's One China principle as a precondition for a visa, which the office refused, said a source, cited by the Liberty Times. TECO Macau is supposed to have eight Taiwanese officials, but it has been left with only two and 14 employees from Macau, which means the office can not operate in a sustainable way as new appointments would be forced to sign the pledge, the paper added. One way out could be to follow the example of TECO Hong Kong, which is operated solely by local employees, while a worst-case scenario would be closing TECO Macau, an unidentified source told the Liberty Times. Edited by RFA Staff. 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 August 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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan ROC Ministry of National Defense 2024/08/12 PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan Date 6 to 6 a.m. (UTC+8) Sunday to Monday, Aug. 11-12 PLA activities 9 PLA aircraft and 9 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 3 of the aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait. ROC Armed Forces have monitored the situation and employed CAP aircraft, Navy vessels, and coastal missile systems in response to the detected activities. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan ROC Ministry of National Defense 2024/08/13 PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan Date 6 to 6 a.m. (UTC+8) Monday to Tuesday, Aug. 12-13 PLA activities 15 PLA aircraft and 11 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 11 of the aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan's 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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Secretary Blinken's Call with Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan US Department of State Readout Office of the Spokesperson August 12, 2024 The below is attributable to Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel: Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke today with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan about the importance of Hamas' return to negotiations on August 15 to finalize the framework for achieving an immediate and durable ceasefire in Gaza and securing the release of all hostages. Secretary Blinken expressed gratitude for Turkiye's partnership in securing the freedom of detained U.S. citizens on August 1 and support for the United States-Egypt-Qatar Joint Statement urging to resume Gaza ceasefire talks. The Secretary and Foreign Minister discussed the urgency for a nationwide cessation of violence in Sudan and the importance of both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces attending talks on August 14 in Switzerland. Secretary Blinken also expressed support for Turkiye's mediation between Ethiopia and Somalia. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Fire at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant spurs fear as Russia, Ukraine trade blame Global Times Intl efforts needed to get Moscow, Kiev to reach a consensus on nuclear facilities protection: experts By Wang Qi Published: Aug 12, 2024 11:24 PM Concerns over a "nuclear catastrophe" grow after Russia and Ukraine accused each other for a fire in Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) in Ukraine and the increasing risk of a Kursk Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) attack, as the Russia-Ukraine conflict entered into a new phase with Ukraine recently entering Russian territory for the first time. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has urged both Russia and Ukraine to exercise maximum restraint and stop reckless attacks which may cause nuclear accident. Chinese analysts also called on all parties to prevent the situation from escalating or even getting out of control, so as to avoid nuclear disaster for Europe and all mankind. According to a statement released by the IAEA, their experts have witnessed "thick dark smoke coming from the north-western area of the plant, after hearing multiple explosions" throughout Sunday evening. And the Russian-controlled ZNPP informed them that a drone had allegedly struck one of the plant's two cooling towers. ZNPP has confirmed to IAEA that there is no risk of elevated radiation levels as there is no radioactive material in the vicinity of the alleged attack area. However, any kind of fire on the site or in its vicinity represents a risk of spreading the fire also to facilities essential for safety, the IAEA said. IAEA Director General Grossi reiterated that any military action taken against the plant represents a clear violation of the five concrete principles for protecting the facility, which were established at the United Nations Security Council in May last year. "These reckless attacks endanger nuclear safety at the plant and increase the risk of a nuclear accident. They must stop now," said Grossi. The IAEA did not mention who was responsible for the attack while Moscow and Kiev accused each other for the accident. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova accused Kyiv of deliberately trying to destroy the plant and sow "nuclear terror." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that Russia started a fire on the grounds of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, according to a Politico report. Ukraine's Energoatom said Russia's "negligence" or arson could have sparked the fire. It also said Russia uses the plant's cooling towers to store military equipment and explosives. ZPPN has been caught in the crossfire since Russia sent troops into Ukraine in 2022 and seized the facility afterward. The IAEA has repeatedly expressed concern about the nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, amid fears of a potential nuclear catastrophe, the AP reported. The ZNPP incident came shortly after Ukraine launched an offensive in Russia's Kursk region. Russia on Friday notified the IAEA that Ukrainian armed forces pose a "direct threat" to Kursk Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP), as suspected fragments of intercepted rockets were discovered near the plant following a Ukrainian armed force attack. On the day, IAEA General Grossi urged the two sides to "exercise maximum restraint" to ensure nuclear safety and security of the KNPP during armed conflict. After the Chernobyl disaster, Europeans are highly concerned about the safety of nuclear power plants, which has also been used as weapon in public opinion warfare by both Russia and Ukraine to accuse each other of attempting to create a large-scale humanitarian crisis, said Cui Heng, a scholar from the Shanghai-based China National Institute for SCO International Exchange and Judicial Cooperation. According to Cui, although Russia has always mentioned the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons, especially in the case of an attack on the homeland, given that Russia still has the initiative on the battlefield, there is no reason to trigger a nuclear war. However, the current situation shows that the possibility of a large-scale nuclear leak, caused by attack on a nuclear power plant, is increasing, Cui said. The conflict has become increasingly complex and chaotic, which made it even more difficult to grasp the real situation immediately and avoid miscalculation of the situation. In this case, the risk of nuclear power plants being attacked, whether intentionally or not, has become greater, Cui said. For Europe and the world, nuclear disaster, or some other kind of nuclear crisis, is indeed getting closer, Li Haidong, a professor from the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Monday The international community should step up efforts to get Russia and Ukraine to at least reach a consensus on the protection of nuclear facilities, Li noted. Urgent challenge Since Ukraine's surprise military incursion into Russia's Kursk border region on August 6, the military conflict has entered a new phase. Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the incursion a "large-scale provocation" by Ukraine, while the Russian state news agency TASS reported that more than 76,000 people had been evacuated. Russia also said that the Ukrainian attack has caused more than 60 civilian casualties. Ukraine's armed provocation on the Russian border aims to bolster Kiev's position in future talks, but talks with a government that attacks civilians make no sense, Putin said, TASS reported. On Saturday, Belarus also said it would send more troops to its border with Ukraine, claiming Ukrainian drones had violated its airspace as part of Kive's military incursion into the Kursk region. Commenting on the development, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Monday said the Chinese side calls on all parties to observe the three principles for deescalating the situation, namely no expansion of the battlefield, no escalation of fighting and no fueling the flame by any party. China will continue to maintain communication with the international community to play a constructive role for the political settlement of the crisis, said the spokesperson. "Both sides are trying to maximize their bargaining leverage on the battlefields," Cui said. "And in this way, they are also using up the time period before the US election, as the result of US presidential election may be the most crucial variable in this conflict." But meanwhile, the escalation of conflict is still worrying for some analysts, especially with the absence of enough signs of easing. The White House has said it was not made aware prior to the attack, but it said the attack was consistent with US policy with regard to what Ukraine can and cannot do with US weapons. The intransigence of each side in a conflict with the ultimate goal of defeating the other, and the fact that the conflict involves nuclear powers and nuclear facilities, is a classic harbinger of an escalation that could spiral out of control, Li said. "Whether the crisis can be resolved constructively is an urgent challenge facing the international community," Li said. "If the escalation cannot be effectively curbed, in the context of highly developed science and technology and the huge lethality of weapons, the possibility of a survival crisis for humans will always exist, and any catastrophic scenario may appear." "This possibility should remind policy makers and citizens of all countries to avoid war and the escalation of crises, and work toward easing situations as much as possible as the urgency seems to be more and more prominent," said Li. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran issues fresh notice on compensations related to downed Ukrainian plane IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Aug 12, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- The Iranian government has issued a fresh notice on how it will compensate the victim families of the Ukrainian plane crash that took place near Tehran in 2020. It said Iran's Ministry of Roads and Urban Development is obliged to respect, appease, and accelerate the payment of compensation, the amount of which has been decided by the government, to the legal heirs of each of the individuals killed in the plane accident, regardless of nationality, gender and age and according to the guidelines. It called on legal heirs of the deceased people to call 0098-21-88384211 and 0098-21-88384212 during working hours to receive information about the compensation payment. The victim families that have not yet received the payments can also contact authorities via PS752@MRUD.IR email address. A Ukrainian Boeing 737 passenger plane was accidentally shot down by an Iranian rocket near Tehran on January 8, 2020. It happened after the US terrorist attack against the motorcade of General Qassem Soleimani, late Commander of the IRGC Quds forces, and his companions at Baghdad airport on January 3, 2020. Iran reciprocated the US terrorist operation by hitting a US airbase in Iraq. The commander of the Aerospace Force of the IRGC Brigadier-General Amir-Ali Hajizadeh admitted that human error was responsible for the downing of the Ukrainian plane. 9376**4261 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Vladimir Putin held a meeting on current issues in Novo-Ogaryovo August 12, 2024 15:20 Novo-Ogaryovo, Moscow Region Participants in the meeting included Secretary of the Security Council Sergei Shoigu, Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, Presidential Aide Alexei Dyumin, Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, Minister for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Natural Disaster Relief Alexander Kurenkov, Director of the Federal Security Service Alexander Bortnikov, Director of the Federal Service of National Guard Troops a Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard Troops Viktor Zolotov, and Chief of the General Staff a First Deputy Minister of Defence Valery Gerasimov. First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, Defence Minister Andrei Belousov, Governor of the Belgorod Region Vyacheslav Gladkov, Governor of the Bryansk Region Alexander Bogomaz, as well as Acting Governor of the Kursk Region Alexei Smirnov joined the meeting via videoconference. * * * President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues. The agenda of this meeting focuses on the situation along the Russian border in the Bryansk, Belgorod and Kursk regions. We must assess the developments unfolding there, and we will offer our evaluation. That said, what matters the most is addressing the urgent tasks we are facing right now based on the way the situation is expected to unfold. It goes without saying that the main objective for the Defence Ministry is to force the adversary to withdraw from our territory and reliably secure our state border by working together with the Border Service. The Federal Security Service must work with the National Guard as part of the counter-terrorist regime and effectively counter the enemy's sabotage and reconnaissance groups. The National Guard has its own combat objectives too. Civilian agencies must ensure that law enforcement and military agencies have everything they need. I will not go into details here, but this includes manufactured goods, transport, the construction sector, healthcare and financial support. Finally, you must all combine your efforts and work with the governors of the corresponding regions to focus on the main task, which is to support the people who need our help and protection. Before we move forward and hear from the meeting participants, I would like to make a few remarks. It is now becoming increasingly clear why the Kiev regime rejected our proposals for a peaceful settlement, as well as those from interested and neutral mediators. It appears that the enemy, with the support from their Western backers, is executing their directives, and the West is using Ukrainians as proxies in this conflict. It seems the opponent is aiming to strengthen their negotiating position for the future. However, what kind of negotiations can we have with those who indiscriminately attack civilians and civilian infrastructure, or pose threats to nuclear power facilities? What is there to discuss with such parties? Second, these actions clearly aim to achieve a primary military objective: to halt the advance of our forces in their effort to fully liberate the territories of the Lugansk and Donetsk people's republics, the Novorossiya region. So, what is the current situation on the front lines, and what are the results? The pace of offensive operations by the Russian Armed Forces, volunteers, and veterans has not only remained steady but has actually increased by fifty percent. Our troops are advancing along the entire front. Lastly, another clear objective of the enemy is to create discord and division within our society, to instil fear, and to undermine the unity and cohesion of the Russian people. They aim to disrupt the domestic political landscape. However, the response from Russian citizens has been resolute: there is widespread support for those in need, strong backing for the army, and, importantly, a rising number of individuals eager to join the ranks of those heroically defending Russia. Recently, there has been a notable increase in the number of people signing contracts with the Ministry of Defence. The leaders of the Kiev regime are not only perpetrating crimes against the Russian people but are also, in effect, pursuing the destruction of their own citizens, the Ukrainian people, whom they evidently no longer view as their own. The casualties among the Ukrainian armed forces are rising sharply, including among their most effective units and divisions, which are being redeployed to our borders. The adversary will undoubtedly face a strong response, and all the objectives we have set will certainly be achieved. Let us proceed with our work. To start our meeting, I will now give the floor to the regional leaders. Let us begin with the Bryansk Region. Please, go ahead. Governor of the Bryansk Region Alexander Bogomaz: Good afternoon, Mr President. I can say that today's situation in the Bryansk Region is stable, the same as a month ago. We can see that the number of shelling attacks is in fact constant, with 80a90 attacks per week. However, I would like to emphasise that we have seen lately that they have started shelling civilians more often. For example, on the previous day, the ninth, 11 out of the 22 attacks were against civilians, against people living there, buildings, vehicles, and buses. We compensate all damages from the regional budget. Today we are not resettling people. Our security agencies are analysing the developments there, and we are making a common decision that we do not need to resettle people yet. But we are also working with people: we always offer them to leave for a temporary residence centre if they are afraid, but so far no one wants to. Therefore, we continue this work, and interaction with all security agencies has been established. As part of the counter-terrorism operation, we have temporary residence centres for 1,576 people, and we can also deploy more than 32,000 if necessary. We have now inspected all temporary residence centres, considering the experience of the Kursk Region and have moved them more than 50 km away. Today tasks have been set by the Defence Ministry, Mr Khusnullin holds meetings with us, and, in fact, everything is ready and prepared, and we are getting down to work. All the problems we had, such as financing and the shortage of profiled sheeting, have been solved. Vladimir Putin: Thank you. I would like to say once again that it is obvious for us that the enemy will continue trying to destabilise the situation in the border regions in order to destabilise the domestic political situation in Russia. Therefore, if the situation in the Bryansk Region is relatively calm today, it does not mean that it will remain the same tomorrow. I would like to ask you to focus on this issue together with security agencies, with the headquarters that is being created by the Russian Federal Security Service with the support of the Russian National Guard. All the issues that need to be discussed to prepare for any developments, need to be prepared and resolved in advance together with the Emergencies Ministry. Right? Alexander Bogomaz: Right. Vladimir Putin: Agreed. Please, Belgorod Region. Governor of the Belgorod Region Vyacheslav Gladkov: Good afternoon, Mr President. Colleagues, Recently, the situation has improved only in Belgorod. There have been only two missile attacks on Belgorod with cluster munitions compared to the first quarter of 2024. In fact, the situation in the border areas has sharply deteriorated, and the number of attacks by barrel artillery, mortars, and MLRS has increased greatly, as well as attacks by unmanned aerial vehicles that have increased many times over. The number of destroyed and damaged housing in general has grown sharply in 2024. Over 30,000 houses and apartments have been damaged during 2.5 years, and we have now restored 25,000. Unfortunately, the situation along the border does not allow us to work efficiently. The most difficult situation is now in Shebekino, with 38,000 people living in the city and 85,000 in the area. In 2024, almost 300 people were injured and 36 died. We have three to five attacks per day, mainly from barrel artillery and MLRS, with three to five houses damaged almost completely: windows, roofs. Information is incomplete, but according to our calculations, about 50a70 percent of Shebekino residents have left the area today, and social tension in Shebekino is growing, because the main thing is that we cannot guarantee and ensure safety. We are placing people in temporary accommodation centres. In total, we have 17,000 places deployed back in 2022. Now we have 2,100 people in temporary accommodation centres (in the region), and 1,000 people outside the region. After today's events, we relocated about 10,000 people in the Krasnoyaruzhsky District, and another 1,500 places were added to temporary accommodation centres. Today, 2,800 people are living outside the Belgorod Region (our limit is 6,500: those who have minor injuries and whose homes are damaged or completely destroyed). Thanks to your decision, 5,500 children have left the region. Overall, about 15,000 people this summer. This work will continue. In fact, in addition to Shebekino, these are Krasnaya Yaruga, Grayvoron, one third of the Belgorod District, Borisovsky District, and Valuysky District. Mr President, we are very grateful for your decision to relocate 12,000 people from the towns that are now, in fact, closed. In general, we have almost no opportunity to use rescue equipment in the locations that are shelled daily. Why? Because the enemy destroys it. We do not have the opportunity to provide medical assistance, because the enemy destroys it. We do not often have the opportunity to restore electricity supply and we understand that, with winter approaching, the problem will grow many times over. In general, this situation concerns about 115,000 people in the border area. (The Governor also touched upon the topic of payments for residents of areas affected by shelling by the Ukrainian armed forces, and writing off mortgage debts for people whose homes were completely destroyed.) I hope that the current situation in Krasnaya Yaruga that arose this morning will be resolved thanks to the interaction between all security agencies, primarily the Defence Ministry and the border service; and I hope that tomorrow we will return people to their places of residence, with the exception of three settlements, primarily Kolotilovka, which is in fact being shelled constantly. We will make a decision on resettlement there and provide housing. There is such an opportunity in line with the decisions previously adopted by the Russian Government and by your decision, Mr President. That is about all. Vladimir Putin: Thank you. Mr Manturov, please comment. We have discussed some of these issues with you right now. Please. First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov: Yes, Mr President, thank you. As for the Kursk Region, we maintain daily contact with Mr Smirnov. The reports are coming in from all the agencies that have established their response centres, above all the Emergencies Ministry. Work is being done to evacuate people to temporary accommodation centres. In line with your decisions, payments are provided, and a one-time payment of 10,000 rubles per person is provided. Today we issued clarifications, including on the payments that are provided in an emergency. These are two different payments: 10,000 and 15,000 [rubles]. All necessary measures are being carried out; we are keeping an eye on them. The same goes for Rosseti: transformers are constantly being damaged, power outages occur. Rosseti specialists quickly go to areas where it is safe. Switching occurs where it is impossible to go. I have just recently reported to you on the situation in Kurchatov. Mr President, all other issues are under control, and we are working on them with the region promptly. Thank you. Vladimir Putin: Look, Mr Gladkov has just raised several issues such as mortgages, and others. Can you respond directly to this now or not? Denis Manturov: Concerning the Belgorod Region. I can say that the decision to put a moratorium on mortgage payments and consumer loans has been made and supported by you, regarding the Kursk Region. All banks have already taken up the work. This concerns Sber, VTB, and all other banking institutions that provided loans to residents of the Kursk Region. We will also quickly do the same in the Belgorod Region. Vladimir Putin: Yes, it must be done. Mr Khusnullin. Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin: Mr President, we will prepare this decision, which is completely just, and it must be at once extended to the Belgorod, the Kursk, and possibly the Bryansk regions if such cases occur. Mr Manturov and I will develop the corresponding decisions and report to you. Vladimir Putin: Good. Mr Gladkov, finalise this document, please. Vyacheslav Gladkov: Yes. Vladimir Putin: Thank you. The Kursk Region. Mr Smirnov, Go ahead. please. Acting Governor of the Kursk Region Alexei Smirnov: Good afternoon, Mr President. Colleagues, The situation in the region is quite challenging right now. Currently, the enemy controls 28 communities. They have penetrated 12 kilometres deep into the territory of the Kursk Region, with a 40-kilometre-wide frontline. Vladimir Putin: Listen, Mr Smirnov, the military will update us on the specifics of the frontline width and depth. What we need from you is an update on the socioeconomic situation and a report on the assistance provided to the people. Alexei Smirnov: We have 28 communities in this zone, home to approximately two thousand people, whose whereabouts remain unknown. Additionally, UAV and missile attacks have significantly increased during this period. A total of 194 missiles and UAVs targeted the region, of which 147 were intercepted. A residential building, a nine-storey apartment block, was hit, resulting in 13 injuries. Just two nights ago, there was an explosion over the regional public administration building while we were all on duty. Colonel General Yevgeny Nikiforov has arrived to coordinate our efforts. Coordination with all security forces has been established. During this time, as per your instructions, Mr President, we organised the relocation and resettlement procedures into two stages. The first stage involved four districts within a 10-kilometre zone, including the Sudzhansky and Korenevsky districts entirely. On August 8, all six border strongpoints became operational, and two additional districts, Bolshesoldatsky and Lgovsky, which are near the nuclear power plant, were included. In total, this affects 180,000 people. As of today, 121,000 have been evacuated, and work continues for the remaining 59,000. In addition to our federal services, voluntary civilian squads, volunteers, and the Young Guard are assisting us in this effort. As of today, 53,000 places have been set up at temporary accommodation centres, with 20,000 provided by Moscow (a big thank you to Mr Sobyanin, who has been always there for us). Other regions across Russia have contributed 25,000 beds. We have an additional 2,400 places available in mobile temporary accommodation centres at the station, provided by Russian Railways. In total, there are 106 temporary accommodation centres housing 7,524 people, including 1,083 children. We also have reserve capacity: an Emergencies Ministry camp from the Federal Agency for State Reserves with 10,000 places has arrived, and an additional 10,000 places are about to be created in Moscow. Each temporary accommodation centre is staffed with psychologists from the Emergencies Ministry and local school staff, and offers free legal assistance. Humanitarian aid is provided all day round. Today, there are 10,000 daily rations, 28,000 weekly food packages, and 112,000 litres of water; with 13,000 daily rations, 260,000 litres of water, and 148,000 food packages on the way. There are no problems. There is also a lot of additional humanitarian aid from residents. This is to say that we are not experiencing any shortages in this regard. As for healthcare services, there are 1,912 available hospital beds. In addition, the Federal Medical-Biological Agency and the Healthcare Ministry deployed hospitals offering 100 beds each. The number of ambulance teams is equal to 108, with 61 of them working in the border area, and there are air ambulances, too. The supply of medicines and blood is sufficient. We continue to collect blood when necessary; there are no problems. The number of doctors who arrived in the Kursk Region is 422 people, with 436 doctors from Kursk and a nursing staff of 840 already hard at work. Twelve civilians died and 121 were injured, including 10 children. A call centre is operating all day round, and we are receiving written updates all the time; there are reception desks in the administrative buildings; we received 35,000 applications from the people over the past days. We make payments of 10,000 rubles, the funds have been received. As of today, 2,100 people received this money, although 46,700 applications have been filed. We worked with the Ministry of Digital Development. Starting this morning we will be able to automatically transfer funds under a thousand applications per hour, so we are about to resolve this issue. We received the funding to resettle 300 families from the shelled border area: 131 applications have been processed, people are looking for new housing, certificates have been issued, and the work continues. A decision has been made a thank you very much, Mr President a to introduce a moratorium on the payment of housing and utilities services and interest on loans. Emergency teams have been created, all services are working, and we are also working on the damage to manufacturing facilities and agricultural producers. We have sent a team just this morning. The day before yesterday, a Rosseti team failed to restore power supply in the Belovsky district in a single go: it came under fire, and the shells were with chemical weapons. They took cover at a police station. Everyone is alive, but both the police officers and the head of the village council were poisoned. As of today, they managed to fix it: the transformer has been repaired with the support of the National Guard, with the head of MRSK Centre (Rosseti Centre) personally present there. Half of the district is powered by electricity, and also the pig farm complex. We have now started working on the Defence Ministry's request to build 90 platoon strongpoints. This effort involves 350 units of hardware, as well as up to 5,000 construction workers. We are working closely with First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, the Ministry of Construction, and the Ministry of Transport. In addition to this, we dug 40 kilometres of antitank ditches out of 46 kilometres, which means that we are about to complete this effort. Moreover, we embarked on the project to set up 40 checkpoints. The counter-terrorist operation was announced at 11 pm of August 9, 2024. We are working with the Federal Security Service of Russia and the Interior Ministry's Department of Internal Affairs. In terms of the issues we face, considering that the frontline has become quite blurry there, we sometimes struggle to locate our combat units. Volunteers are doing their job and are unrelentless in their efforts to evacuate people. We received applications from family members asking us to evacuate 3,500 people. Two volunteers have gone missing, while the voluntary people's militia is now in the same area where a sabotage and reconnaissance group is operating. We evacuated about 2,000 people over the past few days. This is work in progress. In this context, it is essential that we know where the adversary is at any given moment. There was a question on the payments of 10,000 and 15,000 rubles. Thank you so much for settling this matter. People expressed their concerns, since they did not understand whether one payment was part of the other or these were two separate disbursements. We can now reassure them. Thank you so much, Mr President, for resolving this matter. We will assess the damage at a later time. The issue we are facing right now is that communities and district centres have become deserted. Of course, there are military units stepping in right now, and not everyone has left. The evacuation order was not mandatory, so shops are still open. We had to ban alcohol sales, and have been keeping a close eye on the situation in order to prevent looting. Of course, there is always the danger that there are sabotage groups wearing our uniforms, driving our cars and carrying our documents. It is for this reason that we have stepped up our patrols. Moscow landed us its helping hand with the arrival of 1,000 people from a state enterprise in Moscow. We are now waiting for people from entities affiliated with the Transport Ministry, as well as our voluntary people's militia entities to arrive in order to secure rail bridge and roads. That said, we do hope that this issue will be solved so that they can be armed, just as was the case with Moscow. There were applications from 1,200 people. As of today, up to 500 people have been asked to work in shifts every day. This is the end of my report. I am ready to answer your questions. Thank you. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia evacuates Belgorod residents amid escalating tensions on Ukrainian border People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 16:18, August 12, 2024 MOSCOW, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Russia's Belgorod region has begun relocating its residents to safer places amid increased military activity near the Ukrainian border, its governor said on Monday. "We are experiencing a tense morning due to enemy activity near the Krasnoyaruzhsky District border," Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a video released on his Telegram channel. "I am confident our military will do everything necessary to address this threat. However, to ensure the safety and well-being of our residents, we are initiating the relocation of people living in the Krasnoyaruzhsky District to safer locations." Gladkov said the evacuations are currently being coordinated on the sites, and transport has already been sent. In a separate urgent message, the Belgorod city administration also called for immediate action from residents of the Krasnoyaruzhsky District. "Enemy activity has been observed on the border of our municipal district. All residents are urged to leave their homes immediately. Evacuation sites have been identified," said the announcement on the city's Telegram channel. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Foreign Ministry Spokesperson's Remarks on Ukrainian Troops Crossing into Russian Territory Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China Updated: August 12, 2024 11:56 Q: It is reported that Ukrainian troops recently launched offensive into the Russian territory of Kursk region. Russia said that the Ukrainian army's attack has caused more than 60 civilian casualties, and the Russian army has stopped the Ukrainian army's attack. Kursk region has declared a state of emergency. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said in a speech that Russia brought war to his country and must have now felt the consequences. The US side said it was not made aware prior to the attack, that the US side did not feel like this is escalatory in any way and that Ukraine was doing what it needed to do to be successful on the battlefield. The US side said that the attack is consistent with US policy with regard to what Ukraine can and cannot do with US weapons, that the US supports Ukraine to defend themselves against attacks that are coming across the border. What's China's comment? A: We have noted the development. China's position on the Ukraine issue is consistent and clear. The Chinese side calls on all parties to observe the three principles for deescalating the situation, namely no expansion of the battlefield, no escalation of fighting and no fueling the flameaby any party. We will continue to maintain communication with the international community to play a constructive role for the political settlement of the crisis. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 'Nuclear terrorism': Fire erupts at power plant after Ukraine's attack Iran Press TV Monday, 12 August 2024 11:27 AM A fire has broken out at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in what Moscow described as "an act of nuclear terrorism" by Ukraine. Yevgeny Balitsky, the governor of Zaporizhzhia, said on Sunday a Ukrainian shelling had caused a fire at the cooling towers of the ZNPP. In the early hours of Monday, Vladimir Rogov, a Russian official, said the fire had been "completely extinguished." Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom described the attack as "an act of the nuclear terrorism on behalf of the Ukrainian authorities." "For a long time the Ukrainian regime has been systematically attempting to carry out attacks on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and the city of Energodar," Rosatom said in a statement on Monday. According to the statement, the power plant was targeted in a drone attack that left three people injured in April, while in June the Ukrainian army hit "an environmental radiological monitoring station of the ZNPP in the settlement of Velikaya Znamenka." Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russian forces of starting the Sunday blaze. The UN nuclear agency said its experts had witnessed "strong dark smoke" coming from the facility following "multiple explosions," but it noted "No impact has been reported for nuclear safety." It, however, later said it had requested "immediate access to the cooling tower to assess the damage." The Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, Europe's largest, has been controlled by Russian troops since late February 2022. Since then, Ukraine has targeted the power plant using drones, heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS). The ZNPP has not produced power in more than two years and all six reactors have been in cold shutdown since April. Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022 partly to prevent NATO's eastward expansion after warning that the military alliance was following an "aggressive line" against Moscow. The Western countries have been fueling the flames of the war with their unchecked delivery of weapons to Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly warned that such a flow of weapons to Kiev will only prolong the conflict. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Zelenskiy Confirms Kursk Incursion, Says 'Russia Must Be Forced To Make Peace' By Current Time and RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service August 12, 2024 Ukrainian leaders, including President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and military commander Oleksandr Syrskiy, have spoken openly for the first time about their forces' shock incursion into Russia's Kursk region, with Zelenskiy saying that Moscow must be "forced to make peace." "Russia brought war to others -- now it's coming home. Ukraine has always wanted only peace, and we will certainly ensure peace," he said in his nightly video address late on August 12. "Russia must be forced to make peace if [Russian President Vladimir] Putin wants to fight so badly," the Ukrainian leader said. Zelenskiy has pressed his peace plan, which includes the withdrawal of Russian forces from occupied Ukrainian territory, while Putin has maintained his position -- vehemently rejected by Kyiv -- that Ukraine hand over all of four regions in eastern and southern Ukraine that Russia has partially occupied and claimed in their entirety. Zelenskiy said the cross-border operation into Russia was "purely a security matter" for his country as he claimed that Ukrainian forces had captured areas near the border that Moscow had used to launch some 2,100 attacks against Ukraine's Sumy region since June 1. On August 12, while making his first public comments on the cross-border operation, Syrskiy said his forces had taken control of some 1,000 square kilometers of territory in the Kursk region. Putin, meanwhile, has sought to reassure panicked citizens in the border area over Ukraine's shock incursion into the Kursk region, even as evacuations mounted and local officials admitted the loss of dozens of settlements and that the situation remained "tense." "Twenty-eight settlements [with about 2,000 people] are under enemy control," Kursk regional Governor Aleksei Smirnov told Putin. "The depth of penetration into the territory of the Kursk region is 12 kilometers, the width along the front is 40 kilometers." Putin cut Smirnov off, telling him that military departments would report on the width and depth of the penetration of Ukrainian forces and suggested that Smirnov dwell instead on socioeconomic issues and the assistance provided to residents. It was not possible to verify battlefield claims, and many reports have suggested deeper incursions by Ukrainian forces. In comments on August 12, Zelenskiy said he had ordered that a "humanitarian plan" be established for the areas taken by Ukrainian forces inside Russia. Putin accused Kyiv of seeking to "destabilize" the situation in Russia's border regions and he ordered his forces to "dislodge" Ukrainian troops. "The enemy will, for sure, receive an adequate response, and all the goals we outlined, no doubt, will be reached," Putin stressed. He added that Ukraine's offensive was not affecting Russian troops' ongoing military efforts to capture more districts in Ukraine' eastern region of Donbas. He said Moscow would provide "unanimous support for all those in distress" while claiming that there was an increase in men seeking to enlist to fight. Putin had previously announced that Russia had imposed what it called anti-terror measures in Kursk, and two nearby regions as well as Bryansk and Belgorod. An August 10 announcement by the National Anti-Terrorism Committee said the decision had been made by Aleksandr Bortnikov -- the head of the FSB intelligence service -- in response to Ukraine's "unprecedented attempt to destabilize the situation in a series of regions." The evacuation of civilians from the Kursk region was widened on August 12 to include the Belovsky district, which has a population of some 14,000 people, the district chief, Nikolai Volobuyev, said on Telegram. "The situation is very tense. Anyone who can should independently come to the collection point in the village of Dolgie Budy or in the settlement of Bushmeno in the Oboyansky district. Buses will be provided. Anyone who is still in the area is kindly requested to leave the area," Volobuyev wrote. In a post on Telegram on August 11, Russia's Defense Ministry claimed to have contained the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk. On August 12, the governor of the western Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on Telegram that the authorities were relocating residents of the Krasnoyaruzh district to "safer places" due to "activity" in the area by Ukrainian forces. Ukrainian forces entered the Kursk region on August 6, the largest cross-border operation by Kyiv since Moscow launched its full-scale offensive more than two years ago. Ukraine's military claims it has captured a number of settlements in the Kursk region, as clips emerged purportedly showing troops seizing administrative buildings in Sverdlikovo and Poroz, while intense fighting has been reported in Sudzha, a town of about 5,000 people. In southern Ukraine, Moscow-installed officials announced on August 12 that a fire at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine has been "completely extinguished." It was not clear what caused the fire, which started at a cooling tower at the plant at around 8 p.m. on August 11. Zelenskiy accused Russia of lighting the fire and Ukraine's Enerhoatom said Russia's "negligence" or arson could have sparked it. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has a presence at the vast six-reactor facility, said there had been no reported impact on nuclear safety at the site. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said that "reckless attacks" that "endanger nuclear safety at the plant and increase the risk of a nuclear accident" must stop immediately. Grossi said the IAEA requested "immediate access" to the cooling tower to assess the damage. With reporting by Reuters and AFP Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia- belgorod-evacuation/33075231.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Enemy Will Receive Proper Response in Russia's Border Regions - Putin Sputnik News 20240812 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The enemy will receive a proper response in the border regions of Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday. "The enemy will certainly receive a proper response, and all the goals we face will undoubtedly be achieved," Putin said at an operational meeting with representatives of the law enforcement on the situation in the Kursk region. The relative calm situation in the Bryansk Region today does not guarantee that this will continue, we need to prepare for different scenarios, Putin said. "If it is relatively calm in the Bryansk Region today, this does not mean that the same situation will remain there tomorrow. I ask you to take this very carefully together with the law enforcement agencies, together with the headquarters, which is being created through the FSB of Russia with the support of Rosgvardiya. All the issues that need to be discussed, in order to prepare for any development of the situation, together with the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia, must be prepared and resolved in advance," the president said. Kiev's action in Russia's Kursk Region aims to stop the offensive of Russian troops along the front line, Putin said. "Such actions, of course, pursue the main military goal of stopping the offensive of our troops to completely liberate the territory of the Lugansk [also known as Luhansk] and Donetsk People's Republics, the territory of Novorossiya," Putin said. The pace of the offensive of the Russian forces on the front line after the events in the Kursk Region not only did not decrease, but increased by 1.5 times, Putin said, adding that despite Kiev's provocations, Russian troops were advancing along the entire line of contact. Vladimir Putin pledged that an assessment of the current developments in Russia's Kursk Region would be made. "An assessment of the events taking place must be made, and this will certainly be done," Putin said during an operational meeting with senior defense officials via video link. The main task of the Russian Defense Ministry at the moment is to push the Ukrainian troops back from Russian territory, the president added. Russian border guards must ensure reliable protection of the state borders, he also said. The fight against Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups is one of the main tasks of work in the Kursk Region, Putin added. "The main thing now is to solve the urgent problems that are emerging at this point in time... The Federal Security Service, together with the National Guard, must ensure a counter-terrorism regime and an effective fight against enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups. Rosgvardiya also has its own combat tasks. Civil departments are obliged to ensure the supply of law enforcement agencies with everything necessary," Putin said. The defense ministry must kick the enemy out of the region, Putin said. The situation in the Kursk Region shows that Kiev rejects all the peace proposals of Moscow and mediators, Putin "Apparently, the enemy is striving to improve its negotiating positions in the future, but what kind of negotiations can we talk about at all with people who indiscriminately strike at civilians, civilian infrastructure, or try to create a threat to nuclear energy facilities? What can we talk about with them at all?" Putin said. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Moscow Calls on Int'l Community to Act Against Ukraine Amid Strike on Zaporozhye Nuclear Plant Sputnik News 20240812 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The international community must take urgent measures against Ukraine amid the recent attack on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Monday. "This is not the first year when Russia is calling on the international community to take urgent measures to influence the Kiev regime and its Western patrons due to the fact that... for [Ukrainian President] Zelensky and for all those behind him, first of all Washington and London, nuclear power plants are a means and instrument of conducting terrorist activities," Zakharova told Channel One. On Sunday, Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom said that a Zaporozhye nuclear power plant's cooling tower had been severely damaged by two direct hits from Ukrainian drones. Ukraine has lost up to 570 personnel in the area of operations of Russia's Battlegroup Yug in the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday. "The enemy lost more than 570 military personnel, four armored combat vehicles, including the US-made M113 armored personnel carrier and 13 vehicles," the ministry said. Kiev has lost over 540 soldiers in battles with Russian Battlegroup Zapad, the ministry said. Russia's Battlegroup Tsentr have repelled two Ukrainian attacks, while Kiev lost over 390 servicepeople, the ministry concluded. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Strengthening Defense Capabilities and Implementing the Peace Formula: the President Met with the U.S. Congressional Delegation President of Ukraine 12 August 2024 - 21:12 President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting with a delegation of the United States Congress, consisting of Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal, who are on their visit to Ukraine. The Head of State noted that another visit of the bipartisan congressional delegation demonstrates the continued support of the United States to Ukraine. "We thank all the American people, President Biden, both houses of Congress and both parties for their help. We are grateful that this is not the first time during the war that you have given us an important signal - you support Ukraine and Ukrainians," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. The President described the situation on the battlefield, the priority needs of the Defense Forces of Ukraine and the steps aimed at implementation of the Peace Formula. Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized the importance of receiving military and technical assistance from partners, including air defense systems and missiles for them. During the meeting, the parties also discussed further support in strengthening our country's defense capabilities, enhancing economic resilience and restoring a just peace for Ukraine. Special attention was paid to the Euro-Atlantic integration of our state. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Putin: Ukraine incursion into Russia's Kursk region a diversionary tactic By VOA News August 13, 2024 Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Ukraine's incursion into the Kursk region was an attempt to divert attention from Moscow's offensive in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine and eventually gain a better negotiating position to end the 2A-year war. Putin said that Kyiv, in attacking southwest Russia, may have sought to destabilize Russian life but had failed. He said the number of volunteers to join the Russian military had increased, and he vowed that Russia would achieve its military goals. "The enemy will certainly receive a worthy response, and all the goals facing us will, without a doubt, be achieved," Putin told a televised meeting with top security officials and regional governors. Washington, Kyiv's top supporter, responded with stern warnings to Moscow over its use of Iranian munitions in the conflict, but said little when asked whether Ukrainian forces might be using U.S.-supplied weapons to hit Russia. "We're continuing to speak to our Ukrainian counterparts about these operations," John Kirby, White House national security adviser, said when asked by reporters Monday. State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said, "As we and our partners have made clear a both at the G7 and at the NATO summit this summer a together we are prepared to deliver a swift and severe response if Iran were to move forward with the transfer of ballistic missiles, which would, in our view, represent a dramatic escalation in Iran's support for Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine." Patel added: "Iranian officials also continue to deny providing any UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones] to Russia when evidence is plain for the world to see." In his first comment on the cross-border incursion, Ukrainian army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said Monday that Kyiv controls about 1,000 square kilometers (396 square miles) of the Kursk region. "We continue to conduct offensive operations in the Kursk region," he said. Russia's emergency authorities said more than 100,000 people had fled their homes after Ukrainian troops and armor poured across the border on August 6, reportedly driving as deep as 30 kilometers (19 miles) into Russia. It marked the largest attack on Russian soil since World War II. The governor of the Belgorod region adjacent to Kursk announced the evacuation of people from a district near the Ukrainian border. Ukrainian forces swiftly rolled into the town of Sudzha about 10 kilometers (6 miles) over the border after launching the attack. They reportedly still hold the western part of the town, which is the site of an important natural gas transit station. The Ukrainian operation is taking place under tight secrecy, and its goals a especially whether Kyiv's forces aim to hold territory or are staging hit-and-run raids a remain unclear. The Kyiv government, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has said little directly about the attack, but he confirmed Monday that Ukrainian military forces were operating inside Russia. On Telegram, Zelenskyy praised the country's soldiers and commanders "for their steadfastness and decisive actions." He suggested that Ukraine would offer humanitarian assistance in the region, saying that government officials were instructed to prepare an aid plan for Russians living there. The assault that caught the Kremlin's forces by surprise came as Russia continues its attempt to gain ground in eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian incursion delivered a blow to Putin's efforts to pretend that life in Russia has largely remained unaffected by the war. State media have tried to play down the attack, emphasizing the authorities' efforts to help residents of the region and seeking to distract attention from the military's failure to prepare for the attack and quickly repel it. Kursk residents recorded videos lamenting that they had to flee the border area, leaving behind their belongings, and pleading with Putin for help. But Russian media kept a tight lid on any expression of discontent. Nonetheless, retired General Andrei Gurulev, a member of the lower house of the Russian parliament, criticized the military for failing to properly protect the border. He noted that while the military has set up minefields in the border region, it had failed to deploy enough troops to block enemy raids. "Regrettably, the group of forces protecting the border didn't have its own intelligence assets," he said on his messaging app channel. "No one likes to see the truth in reports. Everybody just wants to hear that all is good." Analysts said Ukraine's move came as a surprise, and they saw it as a tactic to wear down Moscow. "I think the Ukrainians wanted to bring the war home to the Russians, to say to the Russian people, 'No, you are not immune from this war,' " said Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. " 'You are going to feel it on a day-to-day basis.' " Analysts are now watching keenly for Putin's response and fear that he may use this as an excuse to attack a NATO nation that borders Russia. "Putin now has something in hand," said Leon Aron, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. "He now has evidence that Ukrainians who are armed - and, he claims, trained and egged on - by the West are now attacking Russia itself. So, here he is, and the real question is, having climbed up that tree, how he's going to come down on this? How he's going to explain to the Russians that this happened, and he has done nothing? So, I'm thinking that, yes, I think it is going to be [a] pretty dangerous few days." Ukraine's progress on Russian territory "is challenging the operational and strategic assumptions" of the Kremlin's forces, according to an assessment late Sunday by the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War. It described the Russian forces responding to the incursion as "hastily assembled and disparate." VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell and Kim Lewis contributed to this report. Some material came from The Associated Press and Reuters. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Permanent African representation on the UN Security Council is a matter of urgency: UK statement at the UN Security Council Statement by Lord Collins of Highbury, Minister for Africa and the UN, at the UN Security Council meeting on enhancing Africa's effective representation in the UN Security Council. 12 August 2024 It is a privilege to join you today as the United Kingdom's new Minister for Africa and the United Nations. I am grateful to President Bio for putting this vital issue on the agenda. It is important that we have this discussion today - we are running out of time. The challenges we face today do not respect borders and they are sorely testing the international order the United Nations has championed. The highest number of conflicts since the Second World War, a worsening climate crisis, widespread economic hardship and desperate humanitarian need. This is all fuelling a pervasive sense of insecurity and we must find truly global solutions to these problems. Let me take this opportunity to underscore the United Kingdom's belief that multilateral institutions remain indispensable here. But they are struggling under the strain of new global challenges. For these institutions to represent the world of today, they must be as effective as they can be. So, we will work tirelessly with our allies and partners to strengthen them. For this Council, that means expanding our membership in both categories, to include permanent African representation as a matter of urgency. We have seen how much African members bring to this chamber through their experience and expertise, particularly as we've heard, in terms of responding to conflicts and promoting peace and security. As Ms Mbete said, they are vital agents for change and progress and they must be heard. The UK is proud to be working alongside our African partners on issues that are at the forefront of the Council's agenda. This includes on Sudan, where we seek a political solution to end the devastating manmade crisis which has now resulted in famine in the country. Or Somalia, where the Council is working closely with the African Union and Somali authorities to support security transition and counter Al Shabaab. President, Your Excellency, your own country's experience of transitioning from war to peace, in partnership with the UN, provides us with valuable lessons. Of course, I recognise that the obstacles to reform are significant, but the United Kingdom is determined, absolutely determined, to overcome them. Thank you, Mr President. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address BEIJING, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- China is set to refine its population development strategy in response to an aging population and declining birth rate, as part of broader reform efforts aimed at ensuring and enhancing people's wellbeing during the course of development. The task was outlined in a key reform resolution adopted at the third plenary session of the 20th Communist Party of China Central Committee in July. In 2023, China's natural population growth rate was a negative 1.48 per thousand people, with those aged 65 and above accounting for 15.4 percent of the total population. China's population development faces challenges from a declining birth rate, an aging population, and regional population disparities. The Chinese leadership has emphasized that population development is a vital issue related to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Efforts must be made to improve the overall population quality to support Chinese modernization. According to a guidebook published this summer to help people better understand the latest blueprint of China's reforms, improving the population development strategy is necessary due to the changing population environment and conditions in China, and represents the top-level design of population work in the new era. A sound system will be instituted to provide full life-cycle population services to all in order to promote high-quality population development, according to the resolution. Cai Fang, chief expert of the National Think Tank under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, noted in an article in the guidebook that focusing on the full life cycle of the entire population aligns with the patterns of population development. He explained that the characteristics of the population, both in quantity and quality, at each age group, not only reflect their own state and the overall population conditions but are also a consequence of the characteristics of the previous age groups, and in turn, influence the characteristics of subsequent ones. The resolution also committed to refining the policy system and incentive mechanisms to boost the birth rate, striving to build a childbirth-friendly society. "Building a childbirth-friendly society" is a new slogan, Cai said in a recent academic seminar about the resolution. Previously, China's population policy focused on controlling births. Over time, birth restrictions were eased, and the policy became increasingly encouraging. The resolution now sets an even clearer tone of encouragement and incentives for childbirth, he added. To actively address population aging, the resolution lists measures such as boosting the silver economy and supporting the creation of diverse jobs tailored to elderly people. Observers note that such resolutions typically serve as guiding documents for reform policies, with specific measures often reflected in detailed policies released subsequently. Earlier this month, on Aug. 3, two weeks after the resolution was made public in July, the State Council issued a guideline setting out 20 key tasks to advance the high-quality development of service consumption. This included detailed measures for developing the silver economy and boosting consumption in the childcare sectors. At a press conference on Friday, Li Yongxin, head of the elderly care service department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, pledged greater financial and fiscal support, such as tax-related preferential policies to better promote the development of China's elderly care services as part of the ministry's efforts to implement the guideline on advancing high-quality development of service consumption. The policy of raising the statutory retirement age in the resolution has also become a key focus of attention and discussion, both domestically and internationally. According to the resolution, in line with the principle of voluntary participation with appropriate flexibility, China will advance reform to gradually raise the statutory retirement age in a prudent and orderly manner. "It is a rational approach that balances the interests of all parties under the constraints of China's current population structure and social diversification," said Yin Xiwen, a researcher from the Tian He Institute of Labor Relations at Jilin University, in an interview with Xinhua. In 2023, the dependency ratio of the elderly population in China reached 22.5 percent, an increase of 9.4 percentage points compared to 10 years ago. This has led to a reduction in the labor supply and created pressure on the continued disbursement of pensions. It is important to recognize that some individuals who have reached retirement age still have the physical capability and the desire to continue working, according to the guidebook. Population structure adjustment is a long-term issue influenced by multiple factors. Although the current policy may not lead to immediate significant changes in the population structure in the short term, it will impact the population structure in the future, Yin noted. Security Council: Africa deserves permanent seat at the table, says Guterres 12 August 2024 - UN Secretary-General AntAnio Guterres on Monday called for urgent reform of the Security Council, criticizing its outdated structure and lack of representation for Africa, which he argued undermines the body's credibility and global legitimacy. Addressing the Council, he emphasized that its composition reflected the balance of power at the end of World War Two and has failed to keep pace with a changing world. "In 1945, most of today's African countries were still under colonial rule and had no voice in international affairs," he said. "We cannot accept that the world's preeminent peace and security body lacks a permanent voice for a continent of well over a billion people...nor can we accept that Africa's views are undervalued on questions of peace and security, both on the continent and around the world." Correct the injustice Mr. Guterres underscored the need for redress. "Ensuring this Council's full credibility and legitimacy means heeding the longstanding calls from the UN General Assembly, various geographic groups - from the Arab Group to the Benelux, Nordic and CARICOM countries - and some permanent members of this Council itself, to correct this injustice," he said. Mr. Guterres recalled his policy brief, New Agenda for Peace, launched in July last year. That framework lies at the heart of negotiations over the Pact of the Future, which is to be adopted at next month's Summit of the Future. "The Summit provides a critical opportunity to make progress on these issues, and help ensure that all countries can meaningfully participate in global governance structures as equals", the UN chief told ambassadors. "I urge all Member States to attend and contribute their views and ideas so that African voices are heard, African initiatives are supported, and African needs are met," he urged. Mr. Guterres was speaking at a high-level debate on addressing the historical injustice and enhancing Africa's effective representation on the Security Council, convened by Sierra Leone, Council President for August. Council composition The 15-member Security Council includes five permanent members with veto power (the ability to block decisions, even if all other members support the proposal) - China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States - while the remaining 10 non-permanent seats are allocated regionally. The regional allocation includes three seats for African States; two each for Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Western Europe and Other States; and one for Eastern European States. The question of equitable representation has been on the agenda for several years, including through the General Assembly's open-ended working group and intergovernmental negotiations to address the issue. There has been some modest reform, such as the recent automatic convening of an Assembly debate whenever a veto is cast, aiming to enhance transparency and accountability within the Council. However, calls for major reform continue, particularly from underrepresented regions. Africa's key role Following Mr. Guterres's remarks, Dennis Francis, President of the General Assembly, also addressed the Security Council. He highlighted Africa's key role in global peace and security, further underscoring the need for reform. He drew on his own visits, citing firsthand experiences in South Sudan, where he met a few weeks ago with internally displaced persons (IDPs) and witnessed the vital work of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). Mr. Francis also shared insights from his meetings in Haiti, where he discussed the deployment of the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) following the adoption of Council resolution 2699. These reflected Africa's significant and growing role in addressing global security challenges, he argued. Search for positive solutions Assembly President Francis also pointed out that the General Assembly is actively addressing the issue through intergovernmental negotiations, and urged Member States to engage constructively towards substantial reform. "Our objective is to create solutions, along a well-designed process. And most importantly, to win back the trust and the confidence of 'we the peoples' of the United Nations," he said, recounting the first words of the Preamble of the UN Charter. Some African leaders at the UN spoke to the media outside the Security Council following the meeting and outlined their concerns and approach to reform: NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address With Under-Representation in Voice, Over-Representation in Challenges, Africa Must Have Permanent Seat, Secretary-General Tells Security Council, Citing 'Glaring Omission' Press Release Secretary-General / Statements and Messages SG/SM/22331 12 August 2024 Following are UN Secretary-General AntAnio Guterres' remarks to the Security Council debate on "Maintenance of Peace and Security: Addressing the Historical Injustice and Enhancing Africa's Effective Representation in the United Nations Security Council", in New York today: I thank Sierra Leone for convening this debate. Since 1945, the United Nations Security Council has been a bedrock of global peace and security. But, the cracks in its foundation are becoming too large to ignore. They are contributing to deadlock, stalemate and stagnation around today's most pressing crises. And they are feeding a broader crisis of credibility and legitimacy that is affecting multilateralism itself. The Security Council was designed by the victors of the Second World War, and reflects the power structures at that time. The world has changed since 1945. But, the composition of the Council, despite a few changes, has not kept pace. In 1945, most of today's African countries were still under colonial rule and had no voice in international affairs. This created a glaring omission that has remained unresolved until now: there is no permanent member representing Africa in the Security Council, and the number of elected members from the continent is not in proportion to its importance. We cannot accept that the world's pre-eminent peace and security body lacks a permanent voice for a continent of well over a billion people a a young and rapidly growing population a making up 28 per cent of the membership of the United Nations. Nor can we accept that Africa's views are undervalued on questions of peace and security, both on the continent and around the world. Africa is under-represented in global governance structures a from the Security Council to international financial institutions a but over-represented in the very challenges these structures are designed to address. Conflicts, emergencies and geopolitical divisions have an outsized impact on African countries. This Council's agenda demonstrates this. Nearly half of all country-specific or regional conflicts on your agenda concern Africa. They are often exacerbated by greed for Africa's resources a which are vital to the global economy a and further spread and aggravated by the interference of external actors. The message is clear. There can be no global security without African security. Meanwhile, African countries are ground down by crushing debt burdens and a lack of financing thanks to the global financial architecture, in which they are underrepresented and denied the level of support they require. And they contend with ferocious flooding and droughts caused by a climate crisis they did nothing to create. But, through it all, Africa has proven to be a willing and able partner for peace a particularly with the United Nations a both on the continent and beyond. Through the Joint United Nations-African Union Framework for Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security, we are addressing complex challenges on the continent a from the Central African Republic, to Somalia, the Sahel and the crisis in Sudan. We are working with the African Union and regional and subregional organizations, such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to end the scourge of terrorism, which has killed tens of thousands on the African continent a including 11 of our personnel in the Abuja bombing of 2011. Together, we are helping to ensure security, stability, and respect for human rights and the rule of law, while supporting democratic processes and institutions. And this Council's resolution 2719 (2023) has now established a framework for predictable financing of African Union-led peace support operations authorized by the Security Council through assessed contributions a an important vote of confidence in African capacities, and in our partnership. We are now developing a joint road map to carry this forward. Meanwhile, African countries host almost half of all UN peacekeeping operations, while contributing troops of their own to global hotspots over the years, including now in Lebanon. Over 40 per cent of UN peacekeepers are African. And let's not forget the meaningful efforts made by African-led forces to restore peace a from Somalia to Lake Chad, from Mozambique to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In times of crisis and geopolitical division, African countries are often among the first to champion peace, multilateral solutions and adherence to international law and the UN Charter. But, African efforts and contributions are not being matched by African representation. Ensuring this Council's full credibility and legitimacy means heeding the longstanding calls from the UN General Assembly, various geographic groups a from the Arab Group, to the Benelux, Nordic and Caribbean Community countries a and some permanent members of this Council itself, to correct this injustice. For different parts of the world to contribute to its proceedings, reform of this Council's membership must be accompanied by a democratization of its working methods. A New Agenda for Peace puts forward a number of ideas a from more burden sharing among Council members to more systematic consultations with host States and regional organizations, as well as with countries contributing troops and police. It also calls for improvements and innovation in other parts of the global architecture whose work has a bearing on peace and security. It recommends that Member States elevate the work of the Peacebuilding Commission to realize its untapped potential and help mobilize support for national and regional prevention strategies. This includes closer ties with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and regional development banks to secure sustainable financing for countries as they strengthen peace and security a with important implications for countries on the African continent. The Peacebuilding Fund has been a critical catalyst to mobilize the contributions of international financial institutions. The Agenda also calls for a revitalized role of the General Assembly in the area of peace and security. A New Agenda for Peace has been informing negotiations on the Pact for the Future, to be adopted at next month's Summit of the Future. The Summit provides a critical opportunity to make progress on these issues, and help ensure that all countries can meaningfully participate in global governance structures as equals. I urge all Member States to attend and contribute their views and ideas so that African voices are heard, African initiatives are supported and African needs are met. African voices, African insights and African participation must be brought to bear across the Council's deliberations and actions. This is not just a question of ethics and justice. It is also a strategic imperative that can increase global acceptance of the Council's decisions a benefitting Africa and the world. I call on all Member States to seize this opportunity to forge an ambitious Pact of the Future that paves the way for a global peace and security architecture that truly represents all countries, equally. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Secretary-General's remarks to the Security Council - on Addressing the Historical Injustice and Enhancing Africa's Effective Representation in the Security Council [bilingual as delivered; scroll down for all-English and all-French] United Nations Secretary-General 12 August 2024 Mr. President, Excellencies, I thank Sierra Leone for convening this debate. Since 1945, the United Nations Security Council has been a bedrock of global peace and security. But the cracks in its foundation are becoming too large to ignore. They are contributing to deadlock, stalemate and stagnation around today's most pressing crises. And they are feeding a broader crisis of credibility and legitimacy that is affecting multilateralism itself. The Security Council was designed by the victors of the Second World War, and reflects the power structures at that time. The world has changed since 1945. But the composition of the Council, despite a few changes, has not kept pace. In 1945, most of today's African countries were still under colonial rule and had no voice in international affairs. This created a glaring omission that has remained unresolved until now: there is no permanent member representing Africa in the Security Council, and the number of elected members from the continent is not in proportion to its importance. We cannot accept that the world's preeminent peace and security body lacks a permanent voice for a continent of well over a billion people a a young and rapidly growing population a making up 28 per cent of the membership of the United Nations. Nor can we accept that Africa's views are undervalued on questions of peace and security, both on the continent and around the world. Mr. President, Excellencies, Africa is under-represented in global governance structures a from the Security Council to international financial institutions a but over-represented in the very challenges these structures are designed to address. Conflicts, emergencies and geopolitical divisions have an outsized impact on African [countries]. This Council's agenda demonstrates this. Nearly half of all country-specific or regional conflicts on your agenda concern Africa. They are often exacerbated by greed for Africa's resources a which are vital to the global economy a and further spread and aggravated by the interference of external actors. The message is clear. There can be no global security without African security. Meanwhile, African countries are ground down by crushing debt burdens and a lack of financing thanks to the global financial architecture, in which they are underrepresented and denied the level of support they require. And they contend with ferocious flooding and droughts caused by a climate crisis they did nothing to create. But through it all, Africa has proven to be a willing and able partner for peace a particularly with the United Nations a both on the continent and beyond. Through the Joint United Nations-African Union Framework for Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security, we are addressing complex challenges on the continent a from the Central African Republic, to Somalia, the Sahel and the crisis in Sudan. We are working with the African Union and regional and sub-regional organizations such as ECOWAS to end the scourge of terrorism, which has killed tens of thousands on the African continent - including eleven of our personnel in the Abuja bombing of 2011. Together, we are helping to ensure security, stability, and respect for human rights and the rule of law, while supporting democratic processes and institutions. And this Council's Resolution 2719 has now established a framework for predictable financing of African Union-led peace support operations authorized by the Security Council through assessed contributions a an important vote of confidence in African capacities, and in our partnership. We are now developing a joint roadmap to carry this forward. Meanwhile, African countries host almost half of all UN peacekeeping operations, while contributing troops of their own to global hotspots over the years, including now in Lebanon. Over 40 per cent of UN peacekeepers are African. And let's not forget the meaningful efforts made by African-led forces to restore peace a from Somalia to Lake Chad, from Mozambique to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In times of crisis and geopolitical division, African countries are often among the first to champion peace, multilateral solutions, and adherence to international law and the UN Charter. But African efforts and contributions are not being matched by African representation. Ensuring this Council's full credibility and legitimacy means heeding the longstanding calls from the UN General Assembly, various geographic groups a from the Arab Group, to the Benelux, Nordic and CARICOM countries a and some permanent members of this Council itself, to correct this injustice. Mr. President, Excellencies, For different parts of the world to contribute to its proceedings, reform of this Council's membership must be accompanied by a democratization of its working methods. A New Agenda for Peace puts forward a number of ideas a from more burden sharing among Council members to more systematic consultations with host states and regional organizations, as well as with countries contributing troops and police. It also calls for improvements and innovation in other parts of the global architecture whose work has a bearing on peace and security. It recommends that Member States elevate the work of the Peacebuilding Commission to realize its untapped potential and help mobilize support for national and regional prevention strategies. This includes closer ties with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and regional development banks to secure sustainable financing for countries as they strengthen peace and security a with important implications for countries on the African continent. The Peacebuilding Fund has been a critical catalyst to mobilize the contributions of international financial institutions. The Agenda also calls for a revitalized role of the General Assembly in the area of peace and security. A New Agenda for Peace has been informing negotiations on the Pact for the Future, to be adopted at next month's Summit of the Future. The Summit provides a critical opportunity to make progress on these issues, and help ensure that all countries can meaningfully participate in global governance structures as equals. I urge all Member States to attend and contribute their views and ideas so that African voices are heard, African initiatives are supported, and African needs are met. Monsieur le PrAsident, Excellences, Les voix de l'Afrique, les idAes de l'Afrique et la participation de l'Afrique doivent Atre pleinement prises en compte dans les dAlibArations et les travaux du Conseil. Il ne s'agit pas seulement d'un question d'Athique et de justice. Mais aussi d'un impAratif stratAgique pour accroAtre l'adhAsion globale des dAcisions du Conseil a ce qui sera bAnAfique pour l'Afrique et pour le monde. J'appelle tous les Atats Membres A saisir cette occasion pour Alaborer un Pacte pour l'avenir ambitieux, qui jette les bases d'une architecture mondiale de paix et de sAcuritA reprAsentant vraiment tous les pays, sur un pied d'AgalitA. Je vous remercie. ****** [all-English] Mr. President, Excellencies, I thank Sierra Leone for convening this debate. Since 1945, the United Nations Security Council has been a bedrock of global peace and security. But the cracks in its foundation are becoming too large to ignore. They are contributing to deadlock, stalemate and stagnation around today's most pressing crises. And they are feeding a broader crisis of credibility and legitimacy that is affecting multilateralism itself. The Security Council was designed by the victors of the Second World War, and reflects the power structures at that time. The world has changed since 1945. But the composition of the Council, despite a few changes, has not kept pace. In 1945, most of today's African countries were still under colonial rule and had no voice in international affairs. This created a glaring omission that has remained unresolved until now: there is no permanent member representing Africa in the Security Council, and the number of elected members from the continent is not in proportion to its importance. We cannot accept that the world's preeminent peace and security body lacks a permanent voice for a continent of well over a billion people a a young and rapidly growing population a making up 28 per cent of the membership of the United Nations. Nor can we accept that Africa's views are undervalued on questions of peace and security, both on the continent and around the world. Mr. President, Excellencies, Africa is under-represented in global governance structures a from the Security Council to international financial institutions a but over-represented in the very challenges these structures are designed to address. Conflicts, emergencies and geopolitical divisions have an outsized impact on African countries. This Council's agenda demonstrates this. Nearly half of all country-specific or regional conflicts on your agenda concern Africa. They are often exacerbated by greed for Africa's resources a which are vital to the global economy a and further spread and aggravated by the interference of external actors. The message is clear. There can be no global security without African security. Meanwhile, African countries are ground down by crushing debt burdens and a lack of financing thanks to the global financial architecture, in which they are underrepresented and denied the level of support they require. And they contend with ferocious flooding and droughts caused by a climate crisis they did nothing to create. But through it all, Africa has proven to be a willing and able partner for peace a particularly with the United Nations a both on the continent and beyond. Through the Joint United Nations-African Union Framework for Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security, we are addressing complex challenges on the continent a from the Central African Republic, to Somalia, the Sahel and the crisis in Sudan. We are working with the African Union and regional and sub-regional organizations such as ECOWAS to end the scourge of terrorism, which has killed tens of thousands on the African continent - including eleven of our personnel in the Abuja bombing of 2011. Together, we are helping to ensure security, stability, and respect for human rights and the rule of law, while supporting democratic processes and institutions. And this Council's Resolution 2719 has now established a framework for predictable financing of African Union-led peace support operations authorized by the Security Council through assessed contributions a an important vote of confidence in African capacities, and in our partnership. We are now developing a joint roadmap to carry this forward. Meanwhile, African countries host almost half of all UN peacekeeping operations, while contributing troops of their own to global hotspots over the years, including now in Lebanon. Over 40 per cent of UN peacekeepers are African. And let's not forget the meaningful efforts made by African-led forces to restore peace a from Somalia to Lake Chad, from Mozambique to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In times of crisis and geopolitical division, African countries are often among the first to champion peace, multilateral solutions, and adherence to international law and the UN Charter. But African efforts and contributions are not being matched by African representation. Ensuring this Council's full credibility and legitimacy means heeding the longstanding calls from the UN General Assembly, various geographic groups a from the Arab Group, to the Benelux, Nordic and CARICOM countries a and some permanent members of this Council itself, to correct this injustice. Mr. President, Excellencies, For different parts of the world to contribute to its proceedings, reform of this Council's membership must be accompanied by a democratization of its working methods. A New Agenda for Peace puts forward a number of ideas a from more burden sharing among Council members to more systematic consultations with host states and regional organizations, as well as with countries contributing troops and police. It also calls for improvements and innovation in other parts of the global architecture whose work has a bearing on peace and security. It recommends that Member States elevate the work of the Peacebuilding Commission to realize its untapped potential and help mobilize support for national and regional prevention strategies. This includes closer ties with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and regional development banks to secure sustainable financing for countries as they strengthen peace and security a with important implications for countries on the African continent. The Peacebuilding Fund has been a critical catalyst to mobilize the contributions of international financial institutions. The Agenda also calls for a revitalized role of the General Assembly in the area of peace and security. A New Agenda for Peace has been informing negotiations on the Pact for the Future, to be adopted at next month's Summit of the Future. The Summit provides a critical opportunity to make progress on these issues, and help ensure that all countries can meaningfully participate in global governance structures as equals. I urge all Member States to attend and contribute their views and ideas so that African voices are heard, African initiatives are supported, and African needs are met. Mr. President, Excellencies, African voices, African insights, and African participation must be brought to bear across the Council's deliberations and actions. This is not just a question of ethics and justice. It is also a strategic imperative that can increase global acceptance of the Council's decisions a benefitting Africa and the world. I call on all Member States to seize this opportunity to forge an ambitious Pact of the Future that paves the way for a global peace and security architecture that truly represents all countries, equally. Thank you. ******* [all-French] Monsieur le PrAsident, Excellences, Je remercie la Sierra Leone d'avoir organisA ce dAbat. Depuis 1945, le Conseil de sAcuritA de l'ONU demeure le socle de la paix et de la sAcuritA mondiales. Mais les fissures qui menacent ses fondations sont trop profondes pour Atre nAgligAes. Elles contribuent aux impasses, aux blocages et A la stagnation de la situation dans le cadre des crises les plus pressantes. Elles alimentent une crise plus large de crAdibilitA et de lAgitimitA qui menace le multilatAralisme lui-mAme. Le Conseil de sAcuritA a AtA pensA par les vainqueurs de la Seconde Guerre mondiale et reflAte les structures de pouvoir de l'Apoque. Le monde a changA depuis 1945. Mais la composition du Conseil, malgrA quelques changements, n'a pas suivi. En 1945, la plupart des pays d'Afrique actuels Ataient encore sous domination coloniale et n'avaient pas voix au chapitre dans les affaires internationales. Cela a crAA une omission flagrante qui n'a toujours pas AtA remAdiAe : il n'y a pas de membre permanent reprAsentant l'Afrique au Conseil de sAcuritA, et le nombre de membres Alus issus du continent n'est pas proportionnel A l'importance de ce dernier. Nous ne pouvons accepter que le principal organe de paix et de sAcuritA du monde ne donne pas de voix permanente A un continent qui compte plus d'un milliard d'habitants, A la population jeune et en croissance rapide, et qui regroupe 28 % des membres de l'ONU. Nous ne pouvons pas non plus accepter que les vues de l'Afrique sur les questions de paix et de sAcuritA soient insuffisamment prises en compte, tant sur le continent que dans le monde. Monsieur le PrAsident, Excellences, L'Afrique est sous-reprAsentAe dans les structures de gouvernance mondiale, que ce soit au Conseil de sAcuritA ou dans les institutions financiAres internationales, mais surreprAsentAe dans les situations difficiles que ces structures sont censAes rAgler. Les conflits, les situations d'urgence et les divisions gAopolitiques ont des rApercussions Anormes sur les pays d'Afrique. Les questions dont ce Conseil est saisi en sont la preuve. PrAs de la moitiA des conflits nationaux ou rAgionaux dont vous Ates saisis concernent l'Afrique. Ils sont souvent exacerbAs par l'aviditA pour les ressources de l'Afrique - vitales pour l'Aconomie mondiale - et se propagent et s'aggravent en raison de l'ingArence d'acteurs extArieurs. Le message est clair. La sAcuritA mondiale passe obligatoirement par la sAcuritA en Afrique. Pendant ce temps, les pays d'Afrique sont accablAs par une dette Acrasante et par un manque de financement dAs A une architecture financiAre mondiale dans laquelle ils sont sous-reprAsentAs et qui leur refuse le niveau de soutien dont ils ont besoin. Ils doivent Agalement faire face A des inondations et A des sAcheresses fAroces causAes par une crise climatique qu'ils n'ont pas contribuA A crAer. Pourtant, depuis le dAbut, l'Afrique a prouvA qu'elle avait la volontA et les capacitAs requises pour Atre une partenaire pour la paix, en particulier en collaboration avec l'ONU, tant sur le continent qu'ailleurs dans le monde. GrAce au Cadre commun des Nations Unies et de l'Union africaine pour un partenariat renforcA en matiAre de paix et de sAcuritA, nous relevons des dAfis complexes sur le continent, de la RApublique centrafricaine A la Somalie, en passant par le Sahel et la crise au Soudan. Nous collaborons avec l'Union africaine et les organisations rAgionales et sous-rAgionales telles que la CEDEAO pour Aliminer le flAau du terrorisme, qui a tuA des dizaines de milliers de personnes sur le continent africain - dont onze membres du personnel des Nations Unies lors de l'attentat A la bombe d'Abuja en 2011. Ensemble, nous Auvrons A garantir la sAcuritA, la stabilitA et le respect des droits humains et de l'Atat de droit, tout en soutenant les processus et les institutions dAmocratiques. De plus, la rAsolution 2719 a crAA un modAle pour assurer le financement prAvisible des opArations de paix menAes par l'Union africaine et autorisAes par le Conseil de sAcuritA, financAes au moyen de contributions statutaires, ce qui reprAsente une importante preuve de confiance dans les capacitAs de l'Afrique et dans notre partenariat. Nous sommes en train d'Alaborer une feuille de route conjointe pour donner suite A cette avancAe. Pendant ce temps, les pays africains accueillent prAs de la moitiA des opArations de maintien de la paix des Nations Unies et ils fournissent depuis des annAes des contingents dans les zones de tension de la planAte, notamment maintenant au Liban. Plus de 40 % des soldats de la paix sont africains. Il ne faut pas non plus oublier les efforts considArables dAployAs par les forces sous conduite africaine pour rAtablir la paix - de la Somalie au lac Tchad en passant par le Mozambique et la RApublique dAmocratique du Congo. En pAriode de crise et de divisions gAopolitiques, les pays africains sont souvent parmi les premiers A dAfendre la paix, les solutions multilatArales et le respect du droit international et de la Charte des Nations Unies. Mais la reprAsentation de l'Afrique n'est pas A la hauteur de ses efforts et contributions. Garantir la crAdibilitA et la lAgitimitA du Conseil suppose de tenir compte des appels lancAs depuis longtemps par l'AssemblAe gAnArale des Nations Unies, par divers groupes gAographiques - le Groupe des Atats arabes, les pays du Benelux, les pays nordiques et les pays de la CommunautA des CaraAbes - et par certains membres permanents du Conseil lui-mAme afin de remAdier A cette injustice. Monsieur le PrAsident, Excellences, Pour que diffArentes rAgions du monde puissent contribuer aux travaux du Conseil, la rAforme de la composition de ce Conseil doit s'accompagner d'une dAmocratisation de ses mAthodes de travail. Le Nouvel Agenda pour la paix propose un certain nombre d'idAes, allant d'une meilleure rApartition des tAches entre les membres du Conseil A la tenue de consultations plus systAmatiques avec les Atats hAtes et les organisations rAgionales, ainsi qu'avec les pays qui fournissent des contingents ou du personnel de police. Il appelle Agalement A des amAliorations et A des innovations concernant d'autres parties de l'architecture mondiale dont les travaux ont une incidence sur la paix et la sAcuritA. Il y est recommandA que les Atats Membres renforcent les activitAs de la Commission de consolidation de la paix afin qu'elle libAre son potentiel inexploitA et contribue A mobiliser un appui en faveur de stratAgies de prAvention nationales et rAgionales. Il s'agit notamment de resserrer les liens avec le Fonds monAtaire international, la Banque mondiale et les banques rAgionales de dAveloppement afin de garantir un financement durable aux pays tandis qu'ils renforcent la paix et la sAcuritA, ce qui aurait des consAquences importantes pour les pays du continent africain. Le Fonds pour la consolidation de la paix joue un rAle essentiel pour mobiliser les contributions des institutions financiAres internationales. L'Agenda appelle Agalement A une revitalisation du rAle jouA par l'AssemblAe gAnArale dans le domaine de la paix et de la sAcuritA. Le Nouvel Agenda pour la paix a orientA les nAgociations du Pacte pour l'avenir, qui doit Atre adoptA au Sommet de l'avenir prAvu le mois prochain. Le Sommet offre une occasion cruciale de progresser sur ces questions et de faire en sorte que tous les pays puissent participer vAritablement et sur un pied d'AgalitA aux structures de gouvernance mondiale. J'exhorte tous les Atats Membres A y participer et A y exposer leurs vues et leurs idAes afin que la voix de l'Afrique soit entendue, que les initiatives africaines soient soutenues et que les besoins de l'Afrique soient satisfaits. Monsieur le PrAsident, Excellences, La voix de l'Afrique, les idAes de l'Afrique et la participation de l'Afrique doivent Atre pleinement prises en compte dans les dAlibArations et les travaux du Conseil. Ce n'est pas seulement une question d'Athique et de justice. C'est aussi un impAratif stratAgique susceptible d'accroAtre l'acceptation globale des dAcisions du Conseil, dans l'intArAt de l'Afrique et du monde. Je demande A tous les Atats Membres de saisir cette occasion pour Alaborer un Pacte pour l'avenir ambitieux, qui ouvre la voie A une architecture mondiale de paix et de sAcuritA reprAsentant vAritablement tous les pays, sur un pied d'AgalitA. Je vous remercie. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address CALGARY, Alberta, Aug. 12, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Traction Uranium Corp. (CSE: TRAC) (OTC: TRCTF) (FRA: Z1K) (the Company or Traction) announces the resignation of Faizaan Lalani as a Director of the Company. Mr. Lalani has been a Director of Traction since 2020. We would like to thank Faizaan for all of his invaluable contributions to the Company, Paul Gorman, Chief Executive Officer of the Company said. We wish him all the best in his future endeavours." About Traction Uranium Corp. Traction Uranium Corp. (CSE: TRAC) (OTC: TRCTF) (FRA: Z1K) is in the business of mineral exploration and the development of discovery prospects in Canada, including its two uranium projects in the world-renowned Athabasca Region. We invite you to find out more about our exploration-stage activities across Canadas Western region at https://tractionuranium.com/. On Behalf of The Board of Directors Paul Gorman Chief Executive Officer (604) 425-2271 info@tractionuranium.com Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements that are not historical facts, including without limitation, statements regarding future estimates, plans, programs, forecasts, projections, objectives, assumptions, expectations or beliefs of future performance, are "forward-looking statements." These forward-looking statements reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company based on information currently available to it. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those detailed from time to time in filings made by the Company with securities regulatory authorities, which may cause actual outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements and information 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 or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the information contained herein. Sacramento, Calif., Aug. 12, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PRIDE Industries employees, including people with disabilities and service-disabled veterans, addressed the State Personnel Board during its public comment period to raise awareness against the early termination of PRIDE Industries custodial services contract at the California Medical Facility (CMF) in Vacaville. This critical contract supports over 70 individuals who rely on these jobs for financial stability and independence. This contract is more than just a job for many of us; its a lifeline and we need help, said Ameer Habeeb, Environmental Services Director at PRIDE Industries and a service-disabled veteran. Losing this contract would be devastating for me and many of my colleagues who have found purpose and stability through this work. The heartfelt personal stories shared today highlighted the profound impact of these jobs on the lives of people with disabilities and service-disabled veterans, emphasizing the necessity of maintaining the contract. PRIDE Industries has consistently demonstrated superior performance, achieving a 98% task completion rate and a 98.3% quality rating at California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) facilities. Their services are crucial in maintaining the medical facilitys health and safety compliance. The organizations unwavering commitment to inclusivity and support is evident in its extensive training programs, which result in high retention, low absenteeism, and overall job satisfaction. As the nations leading employer for people with disabilities, PRIDE Industries serves as an inspiring example of how inclusive employment practices can lead to operational success and positive social impact, fostering a sense of inspiration and support. Our employees exemplify dedication and resilience, said Mary Flores, Vice President of Custodial and Environmental Services at PRIDE Industries. We are pursuing a legislative, long-term solution, but today, we asked the State Personnel Board to help bring decision-makers to the table and recognize the significant contributions of these workers and the critical importance of this contract to their livelihoods and our community. The termination of this contract would not only lead to job losses for over 70 individuals but would also undermine Californias commitment to diversity and inclusion. Maintaining this contract aligns with the states values and its dedication to supporting people with disabilities and service-disabled veterans. PRIDE Industries hopes to work with state leaders and CDCR to protect this contract and partnerships to continue providing quality services and having a positive impact on employees lives. ### PRIDE Industries delivers business excellence with a positive social impact. A social enterprise, we provide facilities operations and maintenance services, custodial services, contract manufacturing, supply chain management, packaging and fulfillment services, and placement services to private and public organizations nationwide. Founded in 1966, PRIDE Industries mission is to create employment for people with disabilities. Through personalized employment services, we help individuals realize their true potential and lead more independent lives. PRIDE Industries proves the value of its inclusive workforce model through operational success across multiple industries every day. Attachments NEW YORK, Aug. 12, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Guidepoint, a leading global information service company, has appointed Mr. Chris Bonsi as Head of North Asia. With over 25 years of accomplished leadership in commercial and operational functions across APAC and the US, Chris brings to the role a wealth of experience driving and implementing growth strategies across Asia. Chris will be based in Guidepoints Tokyo office, where his strategic guidance will further fortify Guidepoints commitment in the region: to deliver exceptional client service and empower strategic decision-making for their clients. Im thrilled to embark on this critical role while working alongside Guidepoints distinguished executive team. Im eager to drive strategic advancements throughout the region and elevate our clients research experience to the next level, said Chris. Chris was most recently Chief Client Officer at Ipsos, a global leader in market research, where he led cross-functional teams to support several of the leading technology clients by introducing new innovations and solutions for their information and decision making needs. Prior to that, Chris worked at Kantar for more than 14 years in various regional and country leadership roles in Singapore, Japan, and Greater China. Chris graduated from Stanford University with a bachelors degree in International Relations. Our team is pleased to welcome Chris onboard. His remarkable background and valuable expertise will undoubtedly add tremendous value as we continue to expand our presence in Asia Pacific, a key growth market for Guidepoint. We eagerly look forward to the impact Chris will bring, stated Jon Adkins, Guidepoints Director and Head of International. About Guidepoint Guidepoint is a leading research enablement platform designed to accelerate understanding and empower decisionmaking through real-time access to data and hard-to-source knowledge. Backed by the worlds largest network of expertise, the company provides critical context and dimension on any topic, helping top companies, investors, and consulting firms to rapidly turn answers into action. For more information, visit www.guidepoint.com. SOURCE Guidepoint Contact sales@guidepoint.com A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/63020b63-9979-48f5-a02a-42bab00eafcf NEW YORK, Aug. 12, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of stock of CAE Inc. (NYSE: CAE) between February 11, 2022 and May 21, 2024, both dates inclusive (the Class Period), of the important September 16, 2024 lead plaintiff deadline. SO WHAT: If you purchased CAE stock during the Class Period you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement. WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the CAE class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=27285 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email case@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than September 16, 2024. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources or any meaningful peer recognition. Many of these firms do not actually litigate securities class actions, but are merely middlemen that refer clients or partner with law firms that actually litigate the cases. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs Bar. Many of the firms attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers. DETAILS OF THE CASE: According to the lawsuit, throughout the Class Period, defendants made materially false and misleading statements concerning significant cost overruns in CAEs Defense and Security (Defense) segment caused by several fixed-price, long-term Defense contracts entered prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. In truth, certain of CAEs pre-COVID fixed-price Defense contracts had experienced such significant cost overruns that CAE needed to take over $720 million in charges and profit adjustments and re-baselin[e] its entire Defense business. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages. To join the CAE class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=27285 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email case@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action. No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investors ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff. Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Contact Information: Laurence Rosen, Esq. Phillip Kim, Esq. The Rosen Law Firm, P.A. 275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor New York, NY 10016 Tel: (212) 686-1060 Toll Free: (866) 767-3653 Fax: (212) 202-3827 case@rosenlegal.com www.rosenlegal.com VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 12, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Prime Mining Corp. (Prime, or the Company) (TSV: PRYM) (OTCQX: PRMNF) (Frankfurt: O4V3) is pleased to report its operating and financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2024. Prime is focused on the exploration and development of its wholly owned high-grade Los Reyes Gold-Silver Project in Sinaloa State, Mexico (Los Reyes or the Project). Prime Chief Executive Officer Scott Hicks commented, Prime continued to execute on its growth strategy through the second quarter, with exploration drilling demonstrating the high quality of our high-grade Los Reyes gold-silver Project. Expansion drilling results at the Z-T Trend included the discovery of a new high-grade shoot containing 7.68 gpt gold-equivalent over 7.7 metres, while a highlight of generative drilling at Las Primas included an impressive 11.8 gpt gold-equivalent over 3.0 metres. Prime continues to focus on technical derisking while remaining fiscally prudent. Given the exciting results from our success-based drilling program to-date this year and our drilling efficiency, we are expanding our 2024 drilling budget to 50,000 metres this year from 40,000 metres. We look forward to updating the market with our progress over the balance of the year. Corporate Highlights During the Quarter (Unless otherwise stated, all amounts are presented in Canadian dollars.) On May 13 th , the Company released its 2023 Financial and Operating Results. , the Company released its 2023 Financial and Operating Results. On June 20th, the Company announced the voting results from its annual general meeting, wherein all the directors listed as nominees were elected and all matters presented were approved. Exploration Highlights During the Quarter Prime Discovers New High-Grade Shoot Containing 7.68 gpt gold-equivalent over 7.7 m High gold grade area remains open, and continues at depth and along trend at Z-T April 10, 2024 Expansion Drilling Highlights in the Z-T Area: Tahonitas The Company is reporting 15 core holes at Tahonitas with the following highlights: 7.68 grams per tonne (gpt) gold-equivalent (AuEq) (5.83 gpt Au and 142.7 gpt Ag) over 7.7 metres (m) estimated true width (etw) in hole 24TA-116, including: 31.49 gpt AuEq (24.31 gpt Au and 554.7 gpt Ag) over 1.8 m etw, including: 55.72 gpt AuEq (44.1 gpt Au and 898.0 gpt Ag) over 0.6 m etw; 1.98 gpt AuEq (1.21 gpt Au and 59.7 gpt Ag) over 16.9 m etw in hole 24TA-110, including: 3.99 gpt AuEq (2.41 gpt Au and 122.0gpt Ag) over 4.5 m etw; 23.97 gpt AuEq (7.66 gpt Au and 1,260.0 gpt Ag) over 0.8 m etw in hole 24TA-111. Prime Reports 11.8 gpt gold-equivalent over 3.0 metres at Las Primas And Continues to Discover High Grades at Shallow Depths April 17, 2024 Generative Drilling Highlights in the Las Primas Target The Company is reporting 11 core holes at Las Primas with the following highlights: 11.81 gpt AuEq (4.07 gpt Au and 598.1 gpt Ag) over 3.0 m etw in hole 24LP-30, including: 19.8 gpt AuEq (6.77 gpt Au and 1007.1 gpt Ag) over 1.7 m etw 3.42 gpt AuEq (1.44 gpt Au and 153.1 gpt Ag) over 9.4 m etw in hole 24LP-33, including: 4.48 gpt AuEq (1.94 gpt Au and 196.1 gpt Ag) over 5.0 m etw 1.75 gpt AuEq (0.83 gpt Au and 71.1 gpt Ag) over 3.6 m etw in hole 24LP-24 1.75 gpt AuEq (1.21 gpt Au and 41.9 gpt Ag) over 3.8 m etw in hole 24LP-28, including: 2.75 gpt AuEq (1.78 gpt Au and 74.7 gpt Ag) over 2.1 m etw Prime Extends High-Grade Silver and Gold Mineralization at Guadalupe East May 28, 2024 Expansion Drilling Highlights in the Guadalupe Trend The Company is reporting 11 core holes at Guadalupe East with the following highlights: 6.9 gpt gold-equivalent AuEq (2.67 gpt Au and 326.6 gpt Ag) over 3.5 m etw in hole 24GE-149; 12.65 gpt AuEq (4.06 gpt Au and 664.0 gpt Ag) over 1.1 m etw in hole 24GE-150; 7.8 gpt AuEq (2.38 gpt Au and 419.0 gpt Ag) over 1.5 m etw in hole 24GE-151; 9.86 gpt AuEq (3.71 gpt Au and 475.0 gpt Ag) over 1.0 m etw in hole 24GE-158; 54.41 gpt AuEq (20.5 gpt Au and 2,620 gpt Ag) over 0.70 m etw in hole 24GE-159. Prime Intersects 7 gpt Gold-Equivalent over 2.9m at Z-T June 25, 2024 Expansion Drilling Highlights in the Z-T Trend The Company is reporting 15 core holes at Tahonitas with the following highlights: 6.93 gpt AuEq (6.64 gpt Au and 22.4 gpt Ag) over 2.9 m etw in hole 24TA-117, including: 19.71 gpt AuEq (18.90 gpt Au and 62.8 gpt Ag) over 1.0 m etw; 1.51 gpt AuEq (1.0 gpt Au and 39.6 gpt Ag) over 14.2 m etw in hole 24TA-119, including: 4.34 gpt AuEq (2.60 gpt Au and 134.5 gpt Ag) over 2.4 m etw. 1.47 gpt AuEq (1.21 gpt Au and 19.9 gpt Ag) over 10.7 m etw in hole 24TA-131, including: 7.28 gpt AuEq (6.80 gpt Au and 37.4 gpt Ag) over 0.8 m etw. Maintaining Health and Safety Protocols Prime remains engaged with local stakeholders and is proactive in monitoring employees and contractors concerning general health conditions. The Company continues to closely adhere to the directives of all levels of government and relevant health authorities in Mexico and Canada. Community Engagement and Environmental Stewardship Strategy We continued to gather environmental and community data in the quarter in support of our ESG programs, including completion of a materiality assessment, strategic plan, and disclosure matrix. We strive to minimize the environmental footprint of our activities and ensure that Los Reyes has a positive impact on our host communities. The Company released its second annual sustainability report during May 2024 which establishes a baseline and a new yardstick to measure our progress in meeting our commitments regarding sustainability and stewardship of the environment, relevant social issues, and corporate governance. Selected Financial Data The following selected financial data is summarized from the Companys consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto (the Financial Statements) for the six months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023. A copy of the Financial Statements and MD&A is available at www.primeminingcorp.ca or on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Six Months ended June 30, 2024 Six Months ended June 30, 2023 Loss and comprehensive loss $(11,935,978 ) $(11,709,585 ) Loss per share basic and diluted $(0.08 ) $(0.09 ) June 30, 2024 December 31, 2023 Cash $24,524,731 $33,811,215 Total assets $38,580,058 $47,908,403 Total current liabilities $943,085 $2,470,659 Total liabilities $1,772,387 $3,295,811 Total shareholders equity $36,807,671 $44,612,592 2024 Outlook Given the results from Primes success-based drilling program, the Company is expanding its fiscal 2024 program to 50,000 metres from 40,000 metres. The drill program will continue to evaluate drilling plans using its success-based approach. This evaluation will also include prioritization of targets based on probability of resource development and generative area discovery potential. Four drill rigs are currently active on site at Los Reyes, with 2024 exploration focused on: Extending the high-grade Z-T Area shoots that remain open at depth, as well as along strike, both north and south. shoots that remain open at depth, as well as along strike, both north and south. Expanding the known high-grade mineralization at Guadalupe East . . Increasing the Central Area resource through additions at Noche Buena and its connection to San Miguel East. through additions at Noche Buena and its connection to San Miguel East. Generative target drilling of high-grade intercepts at Las Primas, Mariposa, Fresnillo, Mina and others to further develop the resource potential at Los Reyes. About the Los Reyes Gold and Silver Project Los Reyes is a rapidly evolving high-grade, low sulphidation epithermal gold-silver project located in Sinaloa State, Mexico. Since acquiring Los Reyes in 2019, Prime has spent approximately CAD$55 million on direct exploration activities and has completed over 198,500 metres of drilling. On May 2, 2023, Prime announced an updated multi-million-ounce high-grade open pit constrained resource (see the May 2, 2023 press release for more details). May 2, 2023 Resource Statement Assurance Category Ore Tonnes Mt Average Gold Grade (g/t) Contained Gold (k ozs) Average Silver Grade (g/t) Contained Silver (k ozs) Average AuEq Grade (g/t) (1) Contained AuEq (k ozs) Measured (M) - - - - - - - Indicated (I) 27.2 1.16 1, 013 40.40 35,263 1.68 1,470 M+I 27.2 1.16 1, 013 40.40 35,263 1.68 1,470 Inferred 18.1 0.85 497 31.52 18,334 1.26 734 (1) Refer to the Additional Technical Notes section for the gold equivalent grade (AuEq) calculation method. Drilling is on-going and suggests that the three known main deposit areas (Guadalupe, Central and Z-T) are larger than previously reported. Potential also exists for new discoveries where mineralized trends have been identified outside of the currently defined resource areas. Historic operating results indicate that an estimated 1 million ounces of gold and 60 million ounces of silver were recovered from five separate operations at Los Reyes between 1770 and 1990. Prior to Primes acquisition, recent operators of Los Reyes had spent approximately US$20 million on exploration, engineering, and prefeasibility studies. QA/QC Protocols and Sampling Procedures Drill core at the Los Reyes project is drilled in predominately HQ size (63.5 millimetre mm), reducing to NQ (47.6 mm) when required. Drill core samples are generally 1.50 m long along the core axis with allowance for shorter or longer intervals if required to suit geological constraints. After logging intervals are identified to be sampled, the core is cut and one half is submitted for assay. RC drilling returns rock chips and fines from a 133.35 mm diameter tricone bit. The returns are homogenized and split into 2 halves, with one half submitted for analysis and the other half stored. Sample QA/QC measures include unmarked certified reference materials, blanks, and field duplicates as well as preparation duplicates are inserted into the sample sequence and make up approximately 8% of the samples submitted to the laboratory for each drill hole. Samples are picked up from the Project by the laboratory personnel and transported to their facilities in Durango or Hermosillo Mexico, for sample preparation. Sample analysis is carried out by Bureau Veritas and ALS Labs, with fire assay, including over limits fire assay re-analysis, completed at their respective Hermosillo, Mexico laboratories and multi-element analysis completed in North Vancouver, Canada. Drill core sample preparation includes fine crushing of the sample to at least 70% passing less than 2 mm, sample splitting using a riffle splitter, and pulverizing a 250-gram split to at least 85% passing 75 microns. Gold in diamond drill core is analyzed by fire assay and atomic absorption spectroscopy of a 30 g sample (code FA430 or Au-AA23). Multi-element chemistry is analyzed by 4-Acid digestion of a 0.25-gram sample split (code MA300 or ME-ICP61) with detection by inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometer for a full suite of elements. Gold assay techniques FA430 and Au-AA23 have an upper detection limit of 10 ppm. Any sample that produces an over-limit gold value via the initial assay technique is sent for gravimetric finish via method FA-530 or Au-GRA21. Silver analyses by MA300 and ME-ICP61 have an upper limit of 200 ppm and 100 ppm, respectively. Samples with over-limit silver values are re-analyzed by fire assay with gravimetric finish FA530 or Au-GRA21. Both Bureau Veritas and ALS Labs are ISO/IEC accredited assay laboratories. Additional Technical Notes Metres is represented by m; etw is Estimated True Width and is based on drill hole geometry or comparisons with other on-section drill holes; Au refers to gold, and Ag refers to silver; gpt is grams per metric tonne; some figures may not sum due to rounding; Composite assay grades presented in summary tables are calculated using a Au grade minimum average of 0.20 gpt or 1.0 gpt as indicated in Au Cut-off column of Summary Tables. Maximum internal waste included in any reported composite interval is 3.00 m. The 1.00 gpt Au cut-off is used to define higher-grade cores within the lower-grade halo. Gold equivalent grades are calculated based on an assumed gold price of US$1,700 per ounce and silver price of $22 per ounce, based on the formula AuEq grade (gpt) = Au grade + (Ag grade x ($22 / $1,700)). Metallurgical recoveries are not considered in the in-situ grade estimate but are estimated to be 93% and 83% for gold and silver, respectively, when processed in a mill, and 72% and 25% respectively when heap-leached. See the June 12, 2023 Los Reyes Technical Report for additional details. Qualified Person Scott Smith, P.Geo., Executive Vice President of Exploration, is a qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical content in this news release. About Prime Mining Prime is managed by an ideal mix of successful mining executives, strong capital markets personnel and experienced local operators all focused on unlocking the full potential of the Los Reyes Project. The Company has a well-planned capital structure with a strong management team and insider ownership. Prime is targeting a material resource expansion at Los Reyes through a combination of new generative area discoveries and growth, while also building on technical de-risking activities to support eventual project development. For further information, please visit https://primeminingcorp.ca/ or direct enquiries to: Scott Hicks CEO & Director Indi Gopinathan VP Capital Markets & Business Development Prime Mining Corp. 710 1030 West Georgia St. Vancouver, BC V6E 2Y3 Canada +1(604) 238-1659 info@primeminingcorp.ca Cautionary Notes to U.S. Investors Concerning Resource Estimates This news release has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of the U.S. securities laws. In particular, and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the terms mineral reserve, proven mineral reserve, probable mineral reserve, inferred mineral resources, indicated mineral resources, measured mineral resources and mineral resources used or referenced in this presentation are Canadian mineral disclosure terms as defined in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101) under the guidelines set out in the 2014 Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines, May 2014 (the CIM Standards). The CIM Standards differ from the mineral property disclosure requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) in Regulation S-K Subpart 1300 (the SEC Modernization Rules) under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act). As a foreign private issuer that is eligible to file reports with the SEC pursuant to the multijurisdictional disclosure system, the Company is not required to provide disclosure on its mineral properties under the SEC Modernization Rules and will continue to provide disclosure under NI 43-101 and the CIM Standards. Accordingly, the Companys disclosure of mineralization and other technical information may differ significantly from the information that would be disclosed had the Company prepared the information under the standards adopted under the SEC Modernization Rules. Forward Looking Information This news release contains certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation as may be amended from time to time, including, without limitation, statements regarding the perceived merit of the Companys properties, including additional exploration potential of Los Reyes, potential quantity and/or grade of minerals, the potential size of the mineralized zone, metallurgical recoveries, and the Companys exploration and development plans in Mexico. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts which address events, results, outcomes, or developments that the Company expects to occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Companys management on the date the statements are made, and they involve several risks and uncertainties. Certain material assumptions regarding such forward-looking statements were made, including without limitation, assumptions regarding the price of gold, silver and copper; the accuracy of mineral resource estimations; that there will be no material adverse change affecting the Company or its properties; that all required approvals will be obtained, including concession renewals and permitting; that political and legal developments will be consistent with current expectations; that currency and exchange rates will be consistent with current levels; and that there will be no significant disruptions affecting the Company or its properties. 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. Forward-looking statements involve significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These risks include, but are not limited to: risks related to uncertainties inherent in the preparation of mineral resource estimates, including but not limited to changes to the cost assumptions, variations in quantity of mineralized material, grade or recovery rates, changes to geotechnical or hydrogeological considerations, failure of plant, equipment or processes, changes to availability of power or the power rates, ability to maintain social license, changes to interest or tax rates, changes in project parameters, delays and costs inherent to consulting and accommodating rights of local communities, environmental risks, title risks, including concession renewal, commodity price and exchange rate fluctuations, risks relating to COVID-19, delays in or failure to receive access agreements or amended permits, risks inherent in the estimation of mineral resources; and risks associated with executing the Companys objectives and strategies, including costs and expenses, as well as those risk factors discussed in the Company's most recently filed management's discussion and analysis, as well as its annual information form dated March 25, 2024, available on www.sedarplus.ca. Except as required by the securities disclosure laws and regulations applicable to the Company, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if managements beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Article 53 of the SIX Exchange Regulation Listing Rules Tecan reports financial results for the first half of 2024 and revises its outlook for full year 2024 Financial results for the first half of 2024 Highlights Sales of CHF 467.2 million (H1 2023: CHF 541.5 million) Sales development of -11.6% in local currencies or -13.7% in Swiss francs Decline in sales mainly due to softness in the instrument business with biopharmaceutical companies globally and general market weakness in China Returning to pre-pandemic seasonality with a stronger H2 weighting Adjusted EBITDA of CHF 67.9 million (H1 2023: CHF 101.2 million) Adjusted EBITDA margin of 14.5% (H1 2023: 18.7%) Decline in margins explained by the lower sales volume Adjusted net profit of CHF 36.5 million (H1 2023: CHF 65.8 million) Adjusted earnings per share of CHF 2.86 (H1 2023: CHF 5.16) Full-year outlook revised to reflect persistent weak demand and slower market recovery Operating highlights in the first half of 2024 Significant strides in launching and successfully commercializing new products targeting the key application areas of genomics, proteomics, and cell biology Partnering Business with robust project activity and product launches across all three business lines: Synergence, Cavro and Paramit Scaling of Global Operations and Commercial Channel Establishment of a direct sales office in South Korea, transitioning from distributor-only model Successfully passed an FDA inspection at Tecans facility in Penang, Malaysia Further Building on Sustainability Activities Sustainability Report received almost 100% approval at AGM Climate scenarios risk analysis completed, paving the way for full TCFD reporting Mannedorf, Switzerland, August 13, 2024 The Tecan Group (SIX Swiss Exchange: TECN) today announced its financial results for the first half of 2024 and revised its outlook for full year 2024. Tecan CEO Dr. Achim von Leoprechting commented: In the first half of the year, we faced a challenging market environment characterized by reduced spending in the biopharma sector, which led to softness especially in our instrument business. Additionally, the end markets in life science research have faced broad but, in our view, temporary challenges. We have also experienced general market weakness in China, which has affected our direct sales into the region as well as our indirect business exposure through global OEM customers. Despite good demand for newly launched products, particularly in the field of clinical diagnostics, we were unable to fully compensate for the decline in academic, government and biopharma customers. We now anticipate that the weaker demand in those segments will persist longer than originally expected, while the new China stimulus program is likely to have a meaningful impact only from 2025. As a result, we have revised our outlook for the full year 2024. In response to these developments, we have defined and already implemented rigorous cost management and cost-saving measures in line with the sales development. However, we view these market weaknesses as temporary effects. Tecan remains in a strong position, supported by robust underlying trends that are driving increased demand for laboratory automation and scaled healthcare solutions. In addition, Tecan is further expanding its leading position through the continuous launch of innovative products and new partnerships. Therefore, we are confident that we will return to our mid-term growth rate of mid-single to high-single digits once the market has normalized, potentially as early as 2025. We are also continuing to focus on leveraging our strong financial position for further inorganic strategic expansion through M&A. Financial results for the first half of 2024 Order entry for the first six months of the year was CHF 472.2 million (H1 2023: CHF 536.6 million), down 12.0% year-on-year, or 9.9% in local currencies. Order entry improved sequentially in the second quarter. As a result, orders exceeded sales in the first half of the year and the book-to-bill ratio returned to a level of above 1. In a weak market environment, reported sales in the first half of 2024 decreased by 13.7% in Swiss francs and 11.6% in local currencies to CHF 467.2 million (H1 2023: CHF 541.5 million or CHF 528.5 million when compared in local currencies). The decline in sales was mainly due to softness in the instrument business with biopharmaceutical companies globally in the Life Sciences Business (sales declining >25% and contributing with over 1/3 of the total sales decline) and a general market weakness in China affecting both business segments (sales declining >20% and contributing with over 1/4 of the total sales decline). In addition, and as anticipated, Tecan did not record any further sales from the pure pass-through of material costs in the first half of 2024 (H1 2023: CHF 7.0 million). Consumables sales in the Life Sciences Business stabilized with only a slight decline compared to the previous year. In the Partnering Business, on the other hand, there were further destocking effects for consumables, spare parts and Cavro components. By contrast, the service business in the Life Sciences Business remained stable at a high level. Sales of the Paramit product line in the Partnering Business also remained at the high level of the prior-year period. Adjusted operating profit before depreciation and amortization (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization; EBITDA) decreased to CHF 67.9 million (H1 2023: CHF 101.2 million). As profitability is highly dependent on volume, the decline in profit is almost exclusively due to lower sales volumes. Accordingly, the adjusted EBITDA margin amounted to 14.5% of sales (H1 2023: 18.7%), including a negative effect from foreign exchange rates of around 50 basis points. Adjusted net profit1 amounted to CHF 36.5 million (H1 2023: CHF 65.8 million), while adjusted earnings per share1 reached CHF 2.86 (H1 2023: CHF 5.16). Cash flow from operating activities amounted to CHF 43.4 million in the first half of 2024 (H1 2023: CHF 82.5 million). Tecans net liquidity position (cash and cash equivalents plus short-term time deposits less bank liabilities, loans and the outstanding bond) increased to CHF 87.6 million (June 30, 2023: CHF 61.7 million, December 31, 2023: CHF 112.6 million). Information by business segment Life Sciences Business (end-customer business) Sales in the Life Sciences Business reached CHF 187.5 million (H1 2023: CHF 228.6 million or CHF 221.8 million in local currencies), a decrease of 18.0% in Swiss francs or 15.5% in local currencies compared to the first half of 2023. Almost three quarters of the decline in segment sales is attributable to fewer instrument sales with biopharmaceutical companies in Europe and North America as well as the market weakness in China. Regional sales in China also provided a high basis for comparison, as segment sales there rose by around 10% in the same period of the previous year. Consumables sales in the Life Sciences Business stabilized with only a slight decline compared to the previous year and the service business remained stable at a high level. As a result, recurring sales of services, consumables and reagents increased to 59.4% of segment sales (H1 2023: 51.5%). Order development in the Life Sciences Business improved sequentially in the second quarter compared to the previous quarter, resulting in a book-to-bill ratio of above 1 in the first half of 2024. Reported operating profit in this segment (earnings before interest and taxes; EBIT) reached CHF 12.6 million (H1 2023: CHF 40.3 million). The operating profit margin amounted to 6.6% of sales (H1 2023: 17.2%), which is primarily due to the lower sales volume and the resulting underabsorption of fixed costs in the first half of the year. Partnering Business (OEM business) The Partnering Business generated sales of CHF 279.6 million in the period under review (H1 2023: CHF 312.9 million or CHF 306.6 million in local currencies), representing a decrease of 10.6% in Swiss francs and 8.8% in local currencies. No additional sales from the pure pass-through of material costs were recorded in the first half of 2024 (H1 2023: CHF 7.0 million). Sales of in-vitro diagnostics systems in the Synergence product line remained stable overall outside of China, with many customer accounts showing growth. However, market weakness in China impacted both direct sales and global OEM customers for these systems, leading to a moderate overall decline. Cavro OEM components saw a more substantial decline as customers in the life science and diagnostics sectors reduced their inventories more slowly due to weaker end markets. Sales in the Paramit product line, which primarily serves the medical market, were nearly at the high level of the prior year when adjusted for the pass-through revenues of material costs. New orders in the Partnering Business were approximately equal to sales, resulting in a book-to-bill ratio of 1. Reported operating profit in this segment (earnings before interest and taxes; EBIT) amounted to CHF 22.5 million (H1 2023: CHF 30.8 million), while the operating profit margin reached 8.0% of sales (H1 2023: 9.8%). Similar to the Life Sciences Business segment, lower sales volumes and the resulting negative economies of scale were the main factors affecting margin development. Operating highlights for the first half of 2024 Innovation and product launches in key application areas Tecan made significant strides in launching and successfully commercializing new products targeting the key application areas of genomics, proteomics, cell biology, and medical mechatronics. Genomics: The Phase Separator, an innovative new pipetting capability available on the Fluent Automation Workstation since last year, continued to gain traction with both existing accounts and new customers. This technology represents a significant advance in liquid-separation, crucial for fast-growing workflows like cell-free DNA sequencing in Liquid Biopsy applications. Proteomics: In February 2024, Tecan launched the Resolvex i300, which quickly garnered substantial market interest. The Resolvex i300 is a state-of-the-art module that can be integrated into the Fluent automation platform or OEM developments. It automates sample preparation, cleanup, evaporation, and resuspension on a single integrated platform for both research and diagnostic workflows, being IVD-ready (in vitro diagnostics-ready). As proteomics applications in the life sciences market grow rapidly, and mass spectrometry remains essential to most proteomics analyses, the demand for faster throughput is expected to rise dramatically. The i300 addresses these evolving customer needs. Cell Biology: Tecan launched the Spark Cyto 3D, enabling the analysis of complex 3D cell models, such as spheroids, organoids, and organ-on-a-chip systems. Spark Cyto 3D allows customers to culture samples in a 3D matrix, better mimicking human body conditions. Utilizing a new AI algorithm-based analysis tool, key parameters of cells growing in three dimensions can be tracked in real-time. For instance, a mini 3D representation of cancer cultivated from a patient's cancer cells can guide clinicians to the most effective drugs and treatment combinations. Progress in Partnering Business with robust project activity In the Partnering Business, progress continued in the first half of 2024 with robust project activity across all three business lines: Synergence, Cavro, and Paramit. Synergence: Significant progress has been made with recently acquired projects to develop full OEM systems, with initial deliveries to new customers accelerating. Cavro: The business with standard or customized liquid handling OEM components saw a strong development pipeline for new projects. The product roadmap lays a solid foundation for sustainable growth, positioning Cavro as a technology leader in the components space. Paramit: The contract development and manufacturing offering saw good progress in the pipeline for new technology development and manufacturing projects. This progress reflects the dynamic period of healthcare innovation currently underway. Several new projects were secured due to synergies with the other two business lines. Scaling of global operations and commercial channel Tecans global presence expanded in the first half of 2024 with the establishment of a direct sales office in South Korea. This new entity was formed following the acquisition of a long-standing distributor in the region and now includes colleagues who have worked with Tecan through this distributor relationship for over 20 years. These colleagues bring valuable local market knowledge that complements our existing businesses in the region, enabling Tecan to serve this growing market more effectively. Tecan anticipates that South Korea will benefit from increased investments in the life science research and broader healthcare market in the future. Tecan successfully passed an extensive FDA inspection at its facility in Penang, Malaysia, underscoring the strength of Tecans operational processes and sound business management practices. The audit provides an excellent foundation for future production of medical devices, including class 3 medical devices, paving the way for substantial growth. Further Building on Sustainability Activities Tecans 2023 Sustainability Report was published as part of the Annual Report 2023 in March. At Tecans AGM in April 2024, the Sustainability Report was put to a shareholder vote for the first time and received almost 100% approval. Tecans climate scenarios risk analysis was completed in the first half of the year, paving the way for full TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures) reporting later in 2024. TCFD is a framework that provides recommendations for companies to disclose information on their climate-related financial risks and opportunities, helping investors make better-informed decisions. Outlook for full-year 2024 Based on the financial results from the first half of the year, Tecan has revised its full-year outlook. This revision is also due to the anticipation that weaker demand, driven by general market weakness, will persist longer than originally expected, while the new China stimulus program is likely to have a meaningful impact only from 2025. Consequently, Tecan now expects full-year 2024 sales in local currencies to range from on prior-year level to a decrease in the mid single-digit percentage range (previously expected to increase in the low single-digit percentage range in local currencies). In light of the lower sales volumes, Tecan has adjusted its profitability outlook and has defined and already implemented rigorous cost management and cost-saving measures to mitigate volume-related margin pressures. The company now expects an adjusted EBITDA margin, excluding acquisition- and integration-related costs, of 18-20% of sales (previously at least around 20% of sales). The company views these market weaknesses as temporary effects. Tecan remains in a strong position, supported by robust underlying megatrends that are driving increased demand for healthcare solutions. In addition, Tecan is further expanding its leading position through the continuous launch of innovative products and new partnerships. Therefore, Tecan reiterated its mid-term outlook, expecting to continue outperforming the average growth rate of the underlying end markets. Tecan anticipates returning to average organic growth rates in the mid to high single-digit percentage range in local currencies, while continuously improving profitability. Tecan is also continuing to focus on leveraging the companys strong financial position for further inorganic strategic expansion through M&A. The outlook 2024 does not take account of potential acquisitions during the course of the year. The expectations regarding profitability are based on an average exchange rate forecast for full year 2024 of one euro equaling CHF 0.95 and one US dollar equaling CHF 0.85. Financial Report and Webcast The full 2024 Interim Report can be accessed on the companys website www.tecan.com under Investor Relations. Tecan will hold an analyst and media conference to discuss the results in the first half of 2024 today at 08:30 (CET). The presentation will also be relayed by live audio webcast, which interested parties can access at www.tecan.com. A link to the webcast will be provided immediately prior to the event. The dial-in numbers for the conference call are as follows: For participants from Europe: +41 (0)58 310 50 00 or +44 (0)207 107 0613 (UK) For participants from the US: +1 (1) 631 570 5613 Participants should if possible dial in 15 minutes before the start of the event. Key upcoming dates A Capital Markets Day will be hosted on October 22, 2024 The 2024 Annual Report will be published on March 12, 2025 The Annual General Meeting of Tecans shareholders will take place on April 10, 2025 1 The calculation of adjusted net profit and adjusted earnings per share excludes acquisition and integration costs (+CHF 8.0 million) as well as the accumulated amortization of acquired intangible assets (+CHF 9.7 million) and they were calculated with the reported Group tax rate of 20.5%. About Tecan Tecan (www.tecan.com) improves peoples lives and health by empowering customers to scale healthcare innovation globally from life science to the clinic. Tecan is a pioneer and global leader in laboratory automation. As an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), Tecan is also a leader in developing and manufacturing OEM instruments, components and medical devices that are then distributed by partner companies. Founded in Switzerland in 1980, the company has more than 3,500 employees, with manufacturing, research and development sites in Europe, North America and Asia, and maintains a sales and service network in over 70 countries. In 2022, Tecan generated sales of CHF 1,144 million (USD 1,192 million; EUR 1,144 million). Registered shares of Tecan Group are traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange (TECN; ISIN CH0012100191). For further information: Tecan Group Martin Brandle Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications & IR Tel. +41 (0) 44 922 84 30 Fax +41 (0) 44 922 88 89 investor@tecan.com www.tecan.com Attachment HAMBURG, Germany, Aug. 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- mrge, the leading intelligent platform for Commerce Advertising, announces the acquisition of MaxBounty, a premier performance marketing network based in Ottawa, Canada. MaxBounty was founded in 2004. This strategic acquisition marks the fifth addition to the mrge family, which includes digidip, Yieldkit, shopping24, and SourceKnowledge. mrge is backed by Waterland Private Equity. To date, Waterland has raised over 14 billion in commitments and has supported more than 1,000 entrepreneurs with accelerated growth partnerships in more than 150 sectors across Europe. mrge is committed to integrating Commerce Advertising solutions into one global platform, driving growth for advertisers, publishers, and networks. This acquisition strengthens mrges presence in key markets across the USA, EU, and SEA regions. mrge has achieved a remarkable 5x topline growth over the past two years. As a Commerce Advertising leader, mrge is active in the Affiliate Industry, projected to grow at 8% CAGR annually until 2030 . MaxBounty is renowned for its expertise in Cost-Per-Action (CPA), Cost-Per-Lead (CPL), and Cost-Per-Install (CPI) campaigns, with a strong focus on market research, finance, and e-commerce sectors. The network boasts 3,000 advertisers and 16,000 publishers, excelling in retaining large advertisers through dedicated account management and a clear emphasis on ROI. Additionally, MaxBounty operates its own lead-generation sites, contributing significantly to partners' revenue streams. The company has consistently been recognized as the #1 CPA Network by mThink Blue Book and OfferVault. The acquisition of MaxBounty not only enriches mrges product offerings but also brings a highly skilled and experienced team into the fold. Additionally, it accelerates its growth trajectory, offering enhanced services and innovative solutions to its global clientele. This acquisition underscores mrges commitment to delivering leading Commerce Advertising solutions and driving success for its partners worldwide. Dave Reed, CEO of mrge, says: "We are thrilled to welcome MaxBounty to the mrge group. The highly skilled team at MaxBounty is an excellent addition to our organization. Our mission at mrge is to become the world's leading platform for Commerce Advertising. With MaxBounty, we are getting one step closer to this goal: the company introduces a new offering in cost-per-lead marketing and expands our capabilities in the cost-per-action segment. The network brings strong reach in the finance, consumer insights, and e-commerce sectors. We are very excited to integrate these assets into our portfolio and to welcome the MaxBounty team to the mrge family." Matt McEvoy, CEO of MaxBounty, adds: "With mrge, we have found a partner who can help accelerate our growth and strengthen our position in a consolidating market. mrge enables us to diversify our offerings and provide additional tailored solutions to our clients while maintaining the high level of customer support that advertisers and publishers expect from us. The team understands our values and strengths, and with these enhanced capabilities, we can drive our growth and success forward." Dr. Daniel Shapiro, Principal at Waterland Private Equity, comments: "Since its founding, mrge has evolved into a leading international platform for Commerce Advertising. With the acquisition of MaxBounty, we are expanding mrge's growth in North America, a market that has excited us from day one. We look forward to continuing our journey with all the exceptional and motivated team members in Hamburg, Berlin, Montreal, and Ottawa." Sampford Advisors acted as the exclusive financial advisor to MaxBounty for this transaction. About mrge mrge, the intelligent platform for Commerce Advertising, connects over 5,500 publishers, 55,000 advertisers, and 100 networks across more than 160 countries. By integrating smart tools, technologies, and formats, mrge brings campaign messages closer to content, creating value for publishers, advertisers, and users alike. mrge combines the strengths of five market-leading companies: digidip, focusing on premium publishers with high traffic; MaxBounty, a network specializing in direct partnerships; shopping24, offering product recommendation solutions; SourceKnowledge, established as a CPC platform; and Yieldkit, providing high reach and performance. Supported by the private equity investment group Waterland as the majority owner, mrge is led by CEO Dave Reed, CTO Nils Grabbert, CFO Michael Schambach, and CRO Justin Kuykendall. With offices in Hamburg and Berlin (Germany) as well as Montreal and Ottawa (Canada), mrge employs over 160 professionals. www.mrge.com Dhaka, Aug 12 (UNI) Amidst reports of attacks on minorities from various parts of the country, the Interim Government of Bangladesh on Monday said it would provide all necessary security during the upcoming Janmashtami celebrations of the Hindu community.Home Affairs Adviser Brigadier General (retired) Sakhawat Hossain said all necessary security will be provided during the Janmashtami celebrations on August 26. Janmashtami celebrates the birth of Lord Krishna.Hossain also said he would recommend a three-day public holiday for Durga Puja, the biggest celebration of the Hindu community in Bangladesh, to the advisory council of the Interim government. Durga Puja will be celebrated in October.The Hindus, the largest minority community in Bangladesh, have complained they were victims of over 200 attacks in 52 districts of Bangladesh since the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on August 5. Hundreds of Hindus were injured in attacks on their homes, workplaces and temples. Protesting against the alleged atrocities, the Hindu community leaders have demanded special tribunals to try those engaged in persecuting minorities. They have also called for allocation of 10% of the parliamentary seats to the countrys minority groups and a law on minority protection. Chief Adviser of the Interim Government Muhammad Yunus has condemned the attacks on minority communities, urging the students to protect minority groups. UNI SSP LHVs loan portfolios and other business volumes continued to grow in July. AS LHV Groups consolidated loan portfolio increased by EUR 103 million over the month. Consolidated deposits showed an increase of EUR 185 million. The volume of funds managed by LHV increased by EUR 25 million in July. A total of 6.4 million payments associated with financial intermediaries were made over the month. The consolidated net profit of AS LHV Group was EUR 12.1 million in July. Among subsidiaries, AS LHV Pank generated a net profit of EUR 12.1 million over the month, AS LHV Varahaldus EUR 88 thousand, and AS LHV Kindlustus EUR 126 thousand. LHV Bank Ltd generated a net loss of EUR 192 thousand in July. The number of the LHV Panks clients increased by 3,600 in July. LHV Pank's results were affected by faster-than-planned loan portfolio growth, leading to higher interest income. Of the EUR 81 million increase in the loan portfolio, EUR 43 million originated from corporate loans and EUR 38 million from retail loans. The month was marked by excellent home loan sales. As a result of credit quality remaining at a good level, discounts have remained lower than expected. Among deposits, both the deposits of LHV Panks regular clients (+ EUR 89 million) and the deposits of financial intermediaries (+EUR 69 million) increased. The loan portfolio of LHV Bank operating in the United Kingdom increased by EUR 23 million in July, and the total of loans approved but not yet granted increased to EUR 147 million. Platform deposits raised from a total of 6,800 depositors increased by EUR 39 million over the month. The volume of deposits of financial intermediaries, which decreased significantly in June, reduced interest income in July. LHV Banks profits were affected by higher than planned operating expenses, originating from the active development of the retail banking offer. In the context of volatile markets, larger funds managed by LHV Varahaldus showed positive returns in July. At the same time, the increase of the reference index has reached the most modest level in recent years (annual increase of 5.0% in July). The revenues and profitability of the asset management company were broadly in line with the financial plan, costs were increased by a one-off staff expense. The number of active pension clients decreased slightly in July, to 118,000 clients. LHV Kindlustus showed great sales results in July, concluding 14,200 new insurance contracts with a total volume of EUR 3.4 million. Loss events were compensated for in the amount of EUR 1.8 million. The profitability of the insurance company is outperforming the financial plan; the net loss ratio is stable, while the expenditure ratio is exhibiting a downward trend. The net profit of the LHV consolidation group is outperforming the financial plan by EUR 17.7 million. The financial plan stands. AS LHV Groups reports are available at: https://investor.lhv.ee/en/reports. LHV Group is the largest domestic financial group and capital provider in Estonia. The LHV Groups key subsidiaries are LHV Pank, LHV Varahaldus, LHV Kindlustus, and LHV Bank Limited. The Group employs over 1,100 people. As at the end of July, LHVs banking services are being used by 437,000 clients, the pension funds managed by LHV have 118,000 active clients, and LHV Kindlustus protects a total of 167,000 clients. LHV Bank Limited, a subsidiary of the Group, holds a banking licence in the United Kingdom and provides banking services to international financial technology companies, as well as loans to small and medium-sized enterprises. Priit Rum Communications Manager Phone: +372 502 0786 Email: priit.rum@lhv.ee Attachment Continued success of Cresemba with 16.6% growth of royalties to CHF 42.8 million Operating result of CHF 9.3 million, net profit of CHF 20.7 million Total revenue guidance increased by 7% to CHF ~196 million and operating profit guidance increased by 20% to CHF ~36 million Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR Allschwil, Switzerland, August 13, 2024 Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd, Allschwil (SIX: BSLN), a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to meeting the needs of patients with severe bacterial and fungal infections, announced today its results for the first half-year ended June 30, 2024. David Veitch, Chief Executive Officer, stated: We have achieved several significant successes in 2024. Earlier this year, we obtained the approval of Zevtera in the US with a broad range of indications. We have been working towards securing a partnership for the commercialization of Zevtera in the US and are in negotiations with a number of potential partners. For Cresemba, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, CHMP, of the European Medicines Agency, recommended extending the indications to include pediatric patients. We expect the formal decision by the European Commission still in the third quarter this year, which would not only bring Cresemba to this vulnerable patient population, but also extend the market exclusivity of Cresemba in the European Union by two years, until Q4 2027. Finally, we have made significant progress in the preparation of the phase 3 program for our potential next lead product, the broad-spectrum antifungal fosmanogepix, expecting to start the first phase 3 study, in invasive yeast infections, in the coming weeks. Adesh Kaul, Chief Financial Officer, said: We are pleased to report a positive operating result and net profit as well as positive cash flow for the first half year 2024. On the back of a strong H1 2024 financial performance, we have increased our financial guidance for the full year 2024, projecting that both revenue and profit will exceed our previous expectations. In addition to the continued growth in royalties and product revenues, we expect significant milestone payments related to our antifungal Cresemba in the second half of 2024, as compared to 2023, where they occurred in the first half of the year. Our increased guidance for 2024 considers the timelines for concluding a US commercialization partnership for Zevtera. Our financial strength enabled us to fully repay the remainder of the senior secured loan by the end of March and our positive financial prospects ensure that we can continue to invest into our pipeline and create value by implementing our strategy to become a leading anti-infectives company. Financial summary For the first half year (H1) 2024, Basilea recognized total revenue of CHF 76.3 million (H1 2023: CHF 84.9 million). This included royalty income of CHF 42.8 million (H1 2023: CHF 36.7 million) from Cresemba, which increased by 16.6% year-on-year, and product revenue of CHF 27.6 million (H1 2023: CHF 13.2 million), which increased by 109% year-on-year. Milestone payments decreased to CHF 2.9 million (H1 2023: CHF 30.6 million) as most milestone events anticipated for 2024 are expected to be achieved in H2 2024, resulting in overall higher expected milestone payments for the full year (FY) 2024 as compared to FY 2023. Other revenue amounted to CHF 3.0 million (H1 2023: CHF 4.4 million). This included CHF 2.0 million BARDA reimbursements (H1 2023: CHF 2.0 million) for remaining activities related to the phase 3 program for ceftobiprole.1 In H1 2024, Basilea invested CHF 33.6 million (H1 2023: CHF 21.5 million) in research and development, driven by the preparations for starting the phase 3 program with fosmanogepix, the preclinical profiling of BAL2026 and tonabacase, the acquisition of the LptA inhibitor program, the remainder of the phase 3 ceftobiprole program and for research work on compounds in the Companys early-stage portfolio. Selling, general and administrative expenses, including costs for the commercialization of Cresemba and Zevtera, decreased to CHF 15.3 million (H1 2023: CHF 16.5 million) and cost of products sold increased to CHF 18.1 million (H1 2023: CHF 10.0 million), reflecting the significant increase in product revenue. Basilea recorded an operating result of CHF 9.3 million (H1 2023: CHF 36.9 million). As a consequence of its sustained profitability and its positive mid-term financial outlook, the Company recognized deferred tax assets of CHF 13.4 million, which led to a net profit of CHF 20.7 million (H1 2023: CHF 31.8 million), resulting in a basic and diluted earnings per share of CHF 1.72 and CHF 1.61, respectively (H1 2023: basic and diluted earnings per share CHF 2.66 and CHF 2.42, respectively). In the first half of 2024, a positive net cash flow of CHF 17.9 million was provided by operating activities (H1 2023: CHF 21.9 million). The Company repaid the remaining CHF 15.6 million of a CHF 75.0 million senior secured loan by end of March 2024. Since 2022, Basilea reduced its debt by CHF 124 million, resulting in a net debt of CHF 26.2 million as of June 30, 2024 (June 30, 2023: CHF 38.1 million). Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash amounted to CHF 69.5 million as of June 30, 2024 (June 30, 2023: CHF 112.9 million). Key financial figures (In CHF million, except per share data) H1 2024 H1 2023 Product revenue 27.6 13.2 Contract revenue 45.7 67.3 Other revenue 3.0 4.4 Total revenue 76.3 84.9 Cost of products sold (18.1) (10.0) Research & development expenses, net (33.6) (21.5) Selling, general & administrative expenses (15.3) (16.5) Total cost and operating expenses (67.0) (48.0) Operating result 9.3 36.9 Profit before taxes 7.3 31.9 Income taxes 13.4 (0) Net profit 20.7 31.8 Net cash provided by operating activities 17.9 21.9 Basic earnings per share, in CHF 1.72 2.66 Diluted earnings per share, in CHF 1.61 2.42 (in CHF million) June 30, 2024 June 30, 2023 Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash 69.5 112.9 Note: Consolidated figures in conformity with US GAAP; rounding was applied consistently. The unaudited, condensed consolidated interim financial statements of Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd, Allschwil for the first half year 2024 can be found on the companys website at https://www.basilea.com/financial-reports. Increased 2024 financial guidance Basilea provides the following increased guidance for the full year 2024: Cresemba and Zevtera-related revenue is expected to grow by 26% to CHF ~190 million (FY 2023: CHF 150.3 million), reflecting the continued commercial success of Basileas commercialized products and the significant increase in milestone payments in H2 2024 as compared to H1 2024. Operating result is expected to increase by 88% to CHF ~36 million (FY 2023: CHF 19.2 million) and net profit is expected to increase by 300% to CHF ~42 million (FY 2023: CHF 10.5 million). (In CHF million) FY 2024e (new) FY 2024e (previous) FY 2023 Cresemba and Zevtera-related revenue ~190 ~180 150.3 of which royalty income ~92 ~89 78.9 Total revenue ~196 ~183 157.6 Cost of products sold ~40 ~33 26.8 Operating expenses ~120 ~120 111.7 Operating result ~36 ~30 19.2 Net profit ~42 ~25 10.5 Organizational update As per August 1, 2024, Dr. Mark Jones, Head of Global Affairs, and Raimond Grewenig-Scheurich, Head of Global Commercial, have been appointed to Basileas extended management committee. Conference call and webcast Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd, Allschwil will host a conference call and webcast today, Tuesday, August 13, 2024, at 4 p.m. (CEST), to discuss the companys financial and operating results and to provide an outlook. Via audio webcast with presentation The live audio webcast of the results presentation can be followed here: https://event.choruscall.com/mediaframe/webcast.html?webcastid=JQX4uI0E. Please note that there is no function to ask questions via webcast. For questions, please additionally dial-in via phone (see below). Via phone To listen by phone and ask questions, please use the dial-in details below. To ensure prompt access, please call approximately five minutes prior to the scheduled start of the call. +41 (0) 58 310 5000 (Switzerland, Europe and RoW) +1 (1) 866 291 4166 (USA) +44 (0) 207 107 0613 (UK) Replay The webcast, along with the presentation will be available online (same link as live audio webcast above) shortly after the event and accessible for three months. About Basilea Basilea is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company founded in 2000 and headquartered in Switzerland. We are committed to discovering, developing and commercializing innovative drugs to meet the needs of patients with severe bacterial and fungal infections. We have successfully launched two hospital brands, Cresemba for the treatment of invasive fungal infections and Zevtera for the treatment of bacterial infections. In addition, we have preclinical and clinical anti-infective assets in our portfolio. Basilea is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (SIX: BSLN). Please visit basilea.com. Disclaimer This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements, such as "believe", "assume", "expect", "forecast", "project", "may", "could", "might", "will" or similar expressions concerning Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd, Allschwil and its business, including with respect to the progress, timing and completion of research, development and clinical studies for product candidates. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd, Allschwil to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd, Allschwil is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For further information, please contact: Peer Nils Schroder, PhD Head of Corporate Communications & Investor Relations Basilea Pharmaceutica International Ltd, Allschwil Hegenheimermattweg 167b 4123 Allschwil Switzerland Phone +41 61 606 1102 E-mail media_relations@basilea.com investor_relations@basilea.com This ad hoc announcement can be downloaded from www.basilea.com. References Basileas ceftobiprole phase 3 program is funded in part with federal funds from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR); Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), under contract number HHSO100201600002C. Basilea has been awarded approximately USD 112 million, or approximately 75 percent of the costs related to the Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) and acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI) phase 3 studies, regulatory activities and non-clinical work. Attachment Burlingame, Aug. 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global Dental Service Market Size to Grow from USD 460.1 Billion in 2024 to USD 640.2 Billion by 2031, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 4.8% during the forecast period, as highlighted in a new report published by Coherent Market Insights. In recent years, people have become more conscious about their oral health and its link to overall health. Experts have found that conditions like diabetes, heart disease and stroke are associated with poor oral health. This has raised awareness about regular dental checkups and cleanings. Additionally, better education about oral healthcare and various community dental programs have encouraged people to seek professional dental care services. As a result of rising awareness, there is higher demand for both basic restorative procedures like fillings as well as advanced cosmetic and implant dentistry services. Request Sample Report: https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/7082 Market Dynamics: The dental service market is witnessing significant growth owing to the rising prevalence of dental issues such as tooth decay, gum diseases, and other mouth problems. As per the data by the World Health Organization (WHO), oral diseases affect nearly 3.5 billion people globally. Growing prevalence of periodontal diseases leading to tooth loss and edentulism is fueling the demand for dental services worldwide. Furthermore, increasing awareness about oral health and availability of advanced dental treatments are also boosting the market growth. Dental Service Market Report Coverage Report Coverage Details Market Revenue in 2024 $460.1 billion Estimated Value by 2031 $640.2 billion Growth Rate Poised to grow at a CAGR of 4.8% Historical Data 20192023 Forecast Period 20242031 Forecast Units Value (USD Million/Billion) Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Segments Covered By Service, By End User Geographies Covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of World Growth Drivers Increasing prevalence of dental diseases Adoption of emerging technologies Restraints & Challenges High cost of dental services Shortage of dental professionals Market Trends: Development of new technologies:- Technological advancements such as guided bone and tissue regeneration, dental implants, CAD/CAM dentistry, laser dentistry etc. are increasingly being adopted by dental professionals. These technologies help to perform restorative procedures quickly and safely which is fueling their increasing adoption. Cosmetic dental procedures such as teeth whitening, veneers, crowns etc. are gaining prominence globally. Changing consumer lifestyles and increased emphasis on physical appearance have increased the demand for cosmetic dentistry over the past few years. Immediate Delivery Available | Buy This Premium Research Report: https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/buy-now/7082 Market Opportunities: Dental implants have seen rising demand globally owing to increasing awareness about oral healthcare and aesthetic dental treatments. Dental implants act as artificial tooth roots that are surgically placed into the jaw to hold a replacement tooth or bridge in place. They provide a sturdy foundation for replacing missing teeth and help preserve surrounding teeth and jawbone structure. The dental implants segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.2% during the forecast period driven by the rising prevalence of tooth loss among aging population and increased availability of advanced dental implant procedures. The orthodontics segment deals with straightening incorrectly positioned teeth and correcting bite problems. It involves treatments such as braces, retainers, and Invisalign. Growing concerns about dental aesthetic among consumers along with increasing disposable incomes are fueling the adoption of orthodontic treatments worldwide. Moreover, technological advancements in clear aligners and lingual braces are making orthodontic treatments discreet and more appealing to adopt. The global orthodontics market size is projected to reach USD 12.7 Bn by 2031, witnessing a CAGR of 5%. Key Market Takeaways: The global dental service market is anticipated to witness a CAGR of 4.8% during the forecast period 2024-2031, owing to the increasing prevalence of dental diseases, rising healthcare expenditure, and growing medical tourism in emerging nations. On the basis of type, the dental implants segment is expected to hold a dominant position, accounting for over 30% market share by 2031 due to the high success rate of implants and their ability to offer long-term solutions fortooth replacement. By end-use, dental clinics are projected to remain the highest revenue generating segment during the forecast period. This is attributed to the increased accessibility to treatments and the fact that most basic dental procedures are performed at clinics. On the basis of region, North America is expected to hold a dominant position over the forecast period owing to high treatment costs, rising healthcare infrastructure, and availability of advanced treatment options in countries like the US and Canada. Key players operating in the dental service market include Aspen Dental Management Inc., InterDent, Inc., National Health Service England. These players are focusing on new product launches and geographical expansion to strengthen their market presence. Request For Customization: https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-customization/7082 Recent Developments: In January 2023, at the 41st Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, Dentsply Sirona gave a presentation. The company provided an update on its planned financial performance during the conference. Net sales are predicted to exceed the upper end of its previous projection range of USD 3.85 billion to USD 3.88 billion. In July 2020, Osteogenics Biomedical Inc., a business engaged in the creation of cutting-edge regenerative treatments for doctors working in implant dentistry, was purchased by Envista Holdings Corporation (Danaher). Detailed Segmentation- By Service: Dental Implants Orthodontics Periodontics Endodontics Cosmetic Dentistry Laser Dentistry Dentures Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Others By End User: Hospitals Dental Clinics By Region: North America: U.S. Canada Latin America: Brazil Argentina Mexico Rest of Latin America Europe: Germany U.K. Spain France Italy Russia Rest of Europe Asia Pacific: China India Japan Australia South Korea ASEAN Rest of Asia Pacific Middle East: GCC Countries Israel Rest of Middle East Africa: South Africa North Africa Central Africa Browse Related Reports: Dental Market: Global dental market is estimated to be valued at USD 10.72 Bn in 2024 and is expected to reach USD 17.55 Bn by 2031, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.3% from 2024 to 2031. Dental Autoclave Market: Global dental autoclave market is estimated to be valued at USD 306.1 Mn in 2024 and is expected to reach USD 389.2 Mn by 2031, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.5% from 2024 to 2031. Dental Turbine Market: The global dental turbine market is estimated to be valued at US$ 115.9 million in 2023 and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 13.9% during the forecast period (2023-2030). Global Dental Veneers Market: The global dental veneers market was valued US$ 2.36 Bn in 2023 and is expected to reach US$ 3.88 Bn by 2031 growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.4% from 2024 to 2031. Author Bio: Priya Pandey is a dynamic and passionate PR writer with over three years of expertise in content writing and proofreading. Holding a bachelor's degree in biotechnology, Priya has a knack for making the content engaging. Her diverse portfolio includes writing contents and documents across different industries, including food and beverages, information and technology, healthcare, chemical and materials, etc. Priya's meticulous attention to detail and commitment to excellence make her an invaluable asset in the world of content creation and refinement. (LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/priya-pandey-8417a8173/ ) About Us: Coherent Market Insights is a global market intelligence and consulting organization that provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. We are known for our actionable insights and authentic reports in various domains including aerospace and defense, agriculture, food and beverages, automotive, chemicals and materials, and virtually all domains and an exhaustive list of sub-domains under the sun. We create value for clients through our highly reliable and accurate reports. We are also committed in playing a leading role in offering insights in various sectors post-COVID-19 and continue to deliver measurable, sustainable results for our clients. Wilmington, Delaware, United States, Transparency Market Research Inc. -, Aug. 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global apoptosis assay market ( ) was projected to attain US$ 4.6 billion in 2023. It is likely to garner an 8.5% CAGR from 2024 to 2034, and by 2034, the market is expected to attain US$ 11.3 billion. Apoptosis assays identify and measure biological processes linked to caspase activation, phosphatidylserine (PS) exposure on the cell surface and DNA fragmentation. To put it another way, one of the growth-limiting regulatory systems that allows cells to cause their death owing to irreversible DNA damage or cellular damage is apoptosis, also known as programmed cell death. Additionally, apoptosis is essential for a number of developmental processes, including controlling the interdigital spacing during limb development and preventing the expansion of neuronal cell lineages in the brain. Gain Valuable Insights from Industry Experts to Shape Your Growth Strategies. Access our Sample Report Now! https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=54966 On the other hand, excessive or insufficient apoptosis can have unfavorable consequences, including autoimmune illnesses, neurological diseases, ischemia damage, and several types of cancer. Key Findings of Market Report Caspases and radiolabeled Annexin V are two examples of novel radionuclide tracers that have improved the effectiveness of real-time cellular death monitoring. Another factor driving the global apoptosis assay market ( ) is the continuous study of drugs that modulate apoptosis. Furthermore, an increase in autoimmune disorders, cancer, and other illnesses is promoting high-content clinical diagnosis and research. The process of programmed cell death is essential for the onset and development of many chronic illnesses. Apoptosis tests are becoming more and more necessary in order to find novel medications because of the widespread use of clinical cytotoxic and cytoprotective treatments to treat neurological disorders, cancer, and ischemia illnesses. Market Trends For Apoptosis Assays When analyzing the growth, development, and proliferation of cancer cells, apoptosis is significant in a number of cancer stages. Apoptosis can also be induced by physical (heat, radiation) and chemical (pharmacological) causes. The major players are investing in inventive and reasonably priced assay kits, and users are beginning to favor them more and more. New tests for cell death are among the many products that kit makers are working to create. Vibrant Apoptosis Assay Kits from Thermo Fisher Scientific are intended for staining both necrotic and apoptotic cells. They provide propidium iodide (PI), YO PRO-1, streptavidin biotin-Annexin V, and Hoechst 33342 dyes to distinguish "live" cells from necrotic or apoptotic ones. Flow cytometry can then be used to visualize them. Takara Bio offers an in situ apoptosis detection kit that uses DNA fragmentation tests to histochemically identify fragmented DNA using TUNEL (TdT-mediated dUTP Nick End Labeling). The global market for apoptosis tests is, therefore, driven by the ongoing manufacture of apoptosis kits. Global Market for Apoptosis Assays: Regional Outlook Various reasons propel the apoptosis assays market growth throughout the regions. These are: North America now dominates the market for apoptosis assays, and this trend is anticipated to continue throughout the forecast period, according to the most recent research of the industry. This is linked to the United States' well-established healthcare system and the rising incidence of chronic illnesses like cancer. The governments of the United Kingdom and Germany have made significant investments in apoptosis assays, which has contributed to the market expansion in Europe. Because China and India's governments have significantly expanded their healthcare infrastructure, Asia Pacific now accounts for a sizeable portion of the global market for caspase activity tests. Unlock Growth Potential in Your Industry! Download PDF Brochure: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=54966 Global Apoptosis Assays Market: Key Players To more effectively assess cell pathways, the leading companies in the apoptosis tests market are creating consolidated solutions for their assays. For example, blood can be examined using a combination of the Annexin V test, flow cytometric assay, and fluorescently labeled antibodies. The following companies are well-known participants in the global apoptosis assays market: Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. Merck KGaA Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. Promega Corporation Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) Abcam Limited Danaher Corporation (through its subsidiary Beckman Coulter) Bio-Techne Corporation PerkinElmer, Inc. Others Key Developments Merck reported in September 2022 that, when compared to placebo plus CRT, the IAP (Inhibitor of Apoptosis Protein) called xevinapant (formerly known as Debio 1143) significantly improved the long-term efficacy outcomes in patients with unresected locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (LA SCCHN). Global Apoptosis Assays Market Segmentation Product Assay Kits Reagents Microplates Instruments Application Drug Discovery and Development Clinical & Diagnostic Applications Basic Research Stem Cell Research End-user Pharma & Biotech Companies Hospitals and Diagnostic Laboratories Academic and Research Institutes By Region North America Latin America Europe Asia Pacific Middle East & Africa In-Depth Market Overview: Purchase Now to Access: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/checkout.php?rep_id=54966. Did Elon Musk just minimize Hiroshima and Nagasaki? one user said, while another wrote, Apparently the impact of dropping nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was pretty 'meh' overall according to renowned empath @elonmusk. OMG. Meanwhile, during the conversation, Trump said nuclear energy is an "underrated as an electricity source" but has a branding problem because of its history, as well as regulations surrounding it. "I think it's something that's worth reconsidering, but there's so much regulation that people can't get it done so that, you know, maybe they'll have to change the name. Is the rough name. There are some areas, like, when you see what happened to rebranded, we have to give it a good name," Trump told Musk of nuclear energy. "We'll name it after you or something," he added. The FBI said Monday it is investigating allegations that sensitive documents from the Trump campaign were stolen in a cyber intrusion days after the campaign declared it had been hacked by Iran. Donald Trump campaign claimed Iranian interference with official documents. Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Michael Ciaglo / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)(Getty Images via AFP) The FBI released a brief statement reading, We can confirm the FBI is investigating this matter. Also Read: Kamala Harris and Donald Trump deadlocked in THIS state that could decide 2024: Poll Trump's campaign alleges Iranian hacking The campaign provided no specific evidence of Irans involvement, but the claim came shortly after Microsoft issued a report detailing foreign agents attempts to interfere in the U.S. campaign in 2024. The report cited an instance of an Iranian military intelligence unit in June sending a spear-phishing email to a high-ranking official of a presidential campaign from a compromised email account of a former senior advisor. Politico reported Saturday that it began receiving emails on July 22 from an anonymous account. The source an AOL email account identified only as Robert passed along what appeared to be a research dossier the campaign had apparently done on the Republican vice presidential nominee, Ohio Sen. JD Vance. The document was dated Feb. 23, almost five months before Trump selected Vance as his running mate. These documents were obtained illegally and intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our Democratic process, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said. Irans mission to the United Nations, when asked about the claim of the Trump campaign, denied being involved. However, Iran long has been suspected of running hacking campaigns targeting its enemies in the Middle East and beyond. Tehran also long has threatened to retaliate against Trump over the 2020 drone strike he ordered that killed prominent Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Also Read: Getty Images photographer debunks Donald Trump's fake crowd' rant about Kamala Harris, citing Microsoft suggests influence part of last three US election cycle In its report, Microsoft stated that foreign malign influence concerning the 2024 US election started off slowly but has steadily picked up pace over the last six months due initially to Russian operations, but more recently from Iranian activity. The analysis continued: Iranian cyber-enabled influence operations have been a consistent feature of at least the last three U.S. election cycles. Irans operations have been notable and distinguishable from Russian campaigns for appearing later in the election season and employing cyberattacks more geared toward election conduct than swaying voters. Recent activity suggests the Iranian regime along with the Kremlin may be equally engaged in election 2024, Microsoft concluded. Canberra , The Australian government has updated the nations science and research priorities, and released a National Science Statement. From net zero to Indigenous knowledge, Australia has finally set new science priorities. How can we meet them? This marks the first wholesale update on Australias vision and plan for the future of science and technology in nearly a decade, with the last set of priorities being handed down by the Abbott government in 2015, and the last science statement in 2017. Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic has announced five key priorities: transitioning to net zero support for healthy and thriving communities elevating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge systems protection and restoration of Australias environment building a secure and resilient nation. Given the policy impact of these commitments, its worth examining what they mean and how they should guide Australias progress on a number of fronts. 1. Transitioning to a net zero future While Australias emissions per person have been falling, we still emit more than double the carbon dioxide of comparable countries such as the United Kingdom or New Zealand. Australia is a research leader in battery technology, solar cell technologies and green metals. However, our overall investment in clean energy research, already behind our peers, is falling. Focused investment in green energy research is needed to cut emissions in hard-to-decarbonise sectors, such as air transport and agriculture. 2. Supporting healthy and thriving communities Australia is a world leader in medical discoveries anyone whos been given the green whistle pain reliever by paramedics has felt the effects of Australian medical research. But too often Australian discoveries dont stay here for development. Researchers often find they need to move their discoveries to the United States or the European Union to get them into production and into hospitals, ambulances and pharmacies. Australian health and medical researchers need more support to apply and commercialise their findings here at home. More work is also needed on preventative care, so we can stop illnesses before they start. Of course, thriving communities need more than the best available medical care. They also need connection and resilience. This too can be supported by research such as findings that show what helps communities bounce back after devastating bushfires. 3. Elevating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge systems Historically, and to everyones detriment, Australia has not done well at recognising, respecting and celebrating the knowledge systems of its First Nations peoples. But Australia has much to gain by fully embracing Traditional Knowledge as part of its science. This must be done with respect and equity at the forefront: our next steps in weaving together knowledge systems must be led with and bring empowerment to, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities. One recent example is the collaboration between Nyikina Mangala man John Watson and Professor Ron Quinn, who have been turning bark from the Mudjala tree into natural treatments for severe pain. 4. Protecting and restoring Australias environment Australias lands and waters are home to an estimated 700,000 native species. Many of these remain undiscovered and many are at risk of extinction. The last 20 years has seen threatened plant populations decline by 72 per cent, and populations of threatened mammals and birds fall by 38 per cent and 52 per cent respectively. We need to stop this decline and protect Australias natural inheritance, through science-informed measures such as conservation reserves, controlling invasive species, restoring degraded ecosystems and breeding endangered plants and animals. 5. Building a secure and resilient nation Security and resilience come in many forms. It means protecting our crucial digital infrastructure from cyber attacks. It also means making sure our buildings, roads and energy systems can survive disasters and a changing climate. Protecting our agriculture from pests and diseases also falls under this heading. Focusing on this priority means broad investment in research across disciplines, bringing together industry and academia. So, how do we put these priorities into practice? To meet these priorities, Australia will need greater investment in science and research across the board. While international collaborations are fantastic, we cant rely on other countries to do this vital research for us. Well need more highly skilled people to do this research people bringing unique perspectives, ideas and training with them. That means bringing people into STEM careers from more diverse backgrounds. Unfortunately, we are still conditioning girls to have lower confidence in science than boys. Theyre more likely to avoid subjects such as physics and engineering. In 2021, only 0.5 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people had a STEM degree, compared with 4.9 per cent of the Australian population, according to the recent Diversity in STEM Review. This needs to change if we are to advance our science and research priorities. Well also need more long-term investment in research infrastructure, and in STEM education and training. Making a future in Australia The national science priorities dovetail with the governments Future Made in Australia initiatives in modern manufacturing, renewable energy and more. Pulling this off will require partnerships between industry, education and governments. To properly harness the ideas and innovations of researchers, we need to make it easy for them to move from academia to industry and back again. A review of Australias research and development funding was announced in this years federal budget. The government could use this to put Australia on a path towards investing 3 per cent of our GDP into Australian research and development something countries such as the United States, Germany and Japan already do. Sustained investment in Australian research and development can make the ambitious goals of the new national science statement a reality. NPK NPK This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre faced an embarrassing situation when a reporter asked her about US Vice President Kamala Harris' biggest achievement. Karine Jean-Pierre was asked to describe a specific policy achieved by Kamala Harris during a press conference on Monday(X) During a press conference on Monday, Jean-Pierre was asked to describe a specific policy achieved by Harris. The newly-named Democratic presidential contender has not held a single press conference since securing the nomination after President Joe Biden assigned her the task to handle the root cause of illegal immigration. Moreover, Harris has faced criticism for her record on the border crisis. A reporter questioned the top White House spokeswoman, what does Biden see as Harris' biggest achievement during their time in office together? When a reporter asked the top White House spokeswoman what Biden considered Harris' greatest accomplishment while they were both in office, Jean-Pierre stated: So look, because theyve been partners certainly those historic, unprecedented achievements have been done together. She further clarified that Biden has faith in Harris' leadership and experience. And he has said this himself, one of the proudest decisions he made in 2020 was selecting her as vice president because he believed she could go on day one. Stressing that Biden and Harris have been partners, she said they all will keep working with her as she has been a vital ally for the President during his term. I'm not going to parse out anything from here, Jean-Pierre remarked. The reporter, who seemed unsatisfied with her answers, further questioned, if there is no specific policy or is it a comprehensive whole? She replied, I would say it's a comprehensive whole. Jean-Pierre stressed that they have accomplished everything together, adding that Harris has played several key roles be it on the Senate floor, facilitating the passage of significant legislation, or meeting with the president to discuss how to proceed strategically with a policy or make crucial decisions on behalf of the Americans. On Thursday, Biden and Harris will be seen together in Maryland, where they will discuss their upcoming announcement regarding cost reductions for the Americans. Also Read: Elon Musk invites Kamala Harris for an X live after her campaign calls him self-obsessed rich guy who will sell out.. Netizens react to Karine Jean-Pierre remarks Jean-Pierre's response drew backlash from netizens, with one writing on X, I will say, her response was as good as it could have been. There are no achievements. KJP did a good job here imo. Shes as bad as Harris! a second user wrote. I have sympathy for KJP. There are no Harris achievements. Its an empty portfolio, a third user wrote. Kamala Harris campaign has drawn attention to statements about Donald Trump made by Elon Musk just two years ago. Musk said in an X post that Trump is too old for another term in office. This comes during Trump's much-awaited interview with the Tesla CEO. Elon Musk's 2022 post saying Donald Trump is too old to be president surfaces (Photo by Michael Ciaglo / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP, REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo) On a video of Trump calling Musk another bulls*** artist, Musk wrote in July 2022, Trump would be 82 at end of term, which is too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States of America. If DeSantis runs against Biden in 2024, then DeSantis will easily win he doesnt even need to campaign. Ahead of Trump and Musks much-awaited interview, Kamala HQ shared a screenshot of Musks post on X, captioning it, Interesting. Musk also said in the same post, I dont hate the man, but its time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset. Dems should also call off the attack dont make it so that Trumps only way to survive is to regain the Presidency. Harris' campaign also used its Truth Social account to highlight the former president's past remarks to mock the delayed launch of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign. DeSantis launched his presidential campaign on X with an interview, and like Musk and Trump's interview, it was riddled with technical issues. Wow! The DeSanctus TWITTER launch is a DISASTER! His whole campaign will be a disaster. WATCH! Trump wrote in a post last May. What had Donald Trump said about Elon Musk? A day after Musk announced he was abandoning his deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion, Trump ripped Musk at a rally in Anchorage, Alaska. You know, he said the other day, Oh, I've never voted for a Republican. I said, I didn't know that, he told me he voted for me. So he's another bulls*** artist, Trump said of Musk. Musk officially endorsed Trump on the same day the former president was wounded at a Pennsylvania rally when gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire in an attempt to assassinate him. While the bullet grazed Trumps ear, two other people were injured. One attendee 50-year-old firefighter Corey Comperatore tragically lost his life. Crooks was eventually killed by Secret Service snipers. I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery, Musk wrote on X at the time, sharing a video of Trump raising his fist and mouthing the word fight after being shot. An Ohio police officer was indicted Tuesday on murder and other charges in the shooting of TaKiya Young, a 21-year-old pregnant Black mother who was killed after being accused of shoplifting last August. FILE - This still image from bodycam video released by the Blendon Township Police on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, shows a bullet hole in the windshield of a car with Ta'Kiya Young inside after she was shot by a police officer outside a grocery store in Blendon Township, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus, on Aug. 24. The video was pixelated by the source. (Blendon Township Police via AP, File)(AP) Young was suspected of stealing bottles of alcohol when Blendon Township police officer Connor Grubb and a fellow officer approached her car. The other officer ordered her out. Instead, she rolled forward toward Grubb, who fired a single bullet through her windshield into her chest. The daughter she was expecting three months later also died. A Franklin County grand jury indicted Grubb on charges of murder, involuntary manslaughter and felonious assault. Brian Steel, executive vice president of the union representing Blendon Township police, called the indictment deeply disappointing. Like all law enforcement officers, Officer Grubb had to make a split-second decision, a reality all too familiar for those who protect our communities, he said in a statement. Young's grandmother, Nadine Young, said the officer never should have pulled his gun when he first confronted her. He took a lot from us, she said on Tuesday. Its not fair. We dont have her or the baby. The last year has been difficult for the family, including her granddaughter's two young sons, she said. It's been agony, it's been like a whirlwind of hurt and pain, she said. Family members called for the officer to be charged shortly after the Aug. 24 shooting. After viewing bodycam footage showing the officer firing the gun, the family called his actions a gross misuse of power and authority, especially given that Young had been accused of a relatively minor crime. In the video, an officer at the drivers side window tells Young shes been accused of shoplifting and orders her out of the car. Young protests, both officers curse at her and yell at her to get out, and Young can be heard asking them, Are you going to shoot me? Seconds later, she turns the steering wheel to the right, the car rolls slowly forward and Grubb fires his gun. Moments later, after the car comes to a stop against the building, they break the driver's side window. Police said they tried to save her life, but she was mortally wounded. Sean Walton, the familys attorney, said the law is clear on when an officer can use deadly force. In no scenario does someone shoplifting contribute to their murder by a police officer, he said. She bears no responsibility. The encounter between Young hand police was among a troubling series of fatal shootings of Black adults and children by Ohio officers, and followed various episodes of police brutality against Black people across the nation over the past several years. The charges came after prosecutors presented evidence to the grand jury over two days. Grand juries dont consider guilt but instead look at whether someone should be tried in a criminal case. Blendon Township Police Chief John Belford said the department has started a disciplinary review now that Grubb has been indicted. No one at Blendon Township has passed any judgment on whether Officer Grubb acted within the law, the police chief said in a statement. However, since people whove been indicted may not legally possess a firearm, the indictment against him leaves us with no choice but to begin the disciplinary process. Friends of Prince Harry have expressed their sorrow over the Duke's decision not to attend the funeral of his uncle, Robert Fellowes, in the UK. Prince Harry's absence from Robert Fellowes' funeral is due to a multitude of reasons, including security concerns. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)(AP) Fellowes, who passed away at the beginning of the month, known for his role as Queen Elizabeths private secretary and as the husband of Lady Jane, Princess Dianas sister. And the Duke feels very sad for skipping the funeral and not having the back of Lady Jane. Its just all very sad. The idea that he wouldnt be there to support Jane in her grief would have been unimaginable a few years ago, the source told The Daily Beast. Fellowes, a trusted keeper of royal confidences, played a huge role in the inner workings of the palace during a tumultuous period, particularly during the breakdown of then Prince Charles and Princess Dianas marriage. ALSO READ| Prince Harry goes viral on TikTok, this time for some Willy reasons His alignment with the palaces stance during this power struggle strained his relationship with Diana, leading to tension between Diana and her sister, Lady Jane. Despite these difficulties, Jane and Harry managed to reconcile, and she was present at Harrys wedding to Meghan Markle in 2018, where she gave a reading. Prince Harry won't attend uncle's funeral in UK due to Although Harry was not particularly close to Fellowes, whom Diana regarded as one of the men in grey who she believed conspired against her, sources close to the family revealed to The Daily Beast that Harry would have wanted to attend the funeral under normal circumstances out of respect for his aunt, Lady Jane. A source close to Prince Harry confirmed to The Daily Beast that he would not be returning to the UK for the funeral for not only security reasons. They are only part of a multitude of reasons that make visits to the U.K. challenging for the prince. While some media outlets have speculated that Harrys absence is due to concerns about his safety in the UK following the loss of his automatic security protections, a source clarified that while security concerns do play a role. ALSO READ| Why Meghan Markle actually thought Harry deserved more than Wales The source told Ok!, Harry didnt have plans to visit the UK this summer so when something last-minute arises like a funeral, it becomes a very difficult situation to navigate. Harry would like to spend more time in Britain, but its a logistical nightmare for his team due to ongoing security issues. Harry has made visits to the UK in the past, but the security issue has remained a constant concern. Prince Harry will not attend the funeral of his uncle, Lord Robert Fellowes. Despite previously considering returning to the UK, the Duke of Sussex has decided against it due to safety concerns, according to sources per People. Fellowes, who was married to the late Princess Diana's sister, Lady Jane, died of undisclosed causes on July 29. He was 82 at the time. Britain's Prince Harry leaves after attending an Invictus Games Foundation 10th Anniversary Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral in London, on May 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)(AP) Prince Harry to skip Robert Fellowes' funeral Following Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's exit from royal duties in 2020, they were stripped of taxpayer-funded security in the UK. With their relocation to the US, they are obliged to inform authorities about any travel plans to the UK 28 days in advance and must pay out of their own pockets should they seek protection from the police. ALSO READ: McDonald's launches Collector's Meal featuring nostalgic cups, here's what to know Prince Harry recently sought King Charles' help on the matter after a court tossed away his bid to restore his taxpayer-funded security. However, his calls and letters were unanswered by his father. Harry is frightened and feels the only person who can do anything about it is his father, a royal insider told the outlet. Another source familiar with the situation said that Prince Harry is determined to protect his family at all costs. ALSO READ: Trump's campaign admits ex-prez rented private jet previously owned by Epstein The current situation means that Prince Harry will not be travelling to the UK to attend the memorial service for Fellowes, who served as the private secretary to the late Queen Elizabeth II. Harry didnt have plans to visit the UK this summer so when something last-minute arises like a funeral, it becomes a very difficult situation to navigate, a source told OK! Magazine. Harry would like to spend more time in Britain, but its a logistical nightmare for his team due to ongoing security issues, the insider continued, adding, Harry has made visits to the UK in the past, but the security issue has remained a constant concern. Prince William and Kate Middleton appeared in a video among other celebrities to celebrate Team Great Britain as the Paris Olympics wrapped up. The video came amid the duration of the couples break from the royal duties. While Kates appearance in the middle of her cancer treatment drew attention, people were more intrigued by Prince Williams new look in the video. The video was uploaded on August 11, 2024. Britain's Prince William sported a new look in a recent video. REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska/Pool(REUTERS) Also Read: Why Meghan Markle actually thought Harry deserved more than Wales Prince Williams new look Prince William always donned his classic look with a clean shave which might be a bit he adopted during his time in the Royal Air Force where facial hair is forbidden. However, in this new video, he was seen in a new look with a beard as he appeared next to Kate. The look reminded people of his 2008 beard look when he joined the royal family in their Christmas Day church outing in 2008. But that phase did not last for long, hence, Prince Williams long return to this look surprised everyone. The Duke of Cambridge said in the video, "From all of us watching at home, congratulations to Team GB! Kate added, Well done on all you've achieved. You've been an inspiration to us all. Prince William wore a casual white T-shirt with black stripes in the video. Other celebrities who were featured in the video included Snoop Dogg, David Beckham and more. Also Read: Prince Harry's goes viral on TikTok, this time for some Willy reasons Prince Harrys beard caused tension with Prince William in past In contrast to Prince William, his younger brother, Prince Harry has kept a beard since 2015. His first bearded look was spotted in 2013 during a charity trek to the South Pole with Walking with the Wounded but shaved it afterwards, only for its return a couple of years later. However, the Duke of Cambridge was not happy with his younger brothers look, as told by Meghan Markle. In his memoir, Spare, the Duke of Sussex mentioned he took permission from his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth to keep the beard for his wedding ceremony. Beards are forbidden in the British Army and he was going to wear his Army uniform for his wedding and had to keep a beard as Markle had never seen him without one. Prince William bristled despite the Queens permission and asked his sibling to shave it off. When Prince Harry asked for his reason, the 42-year-old said, Because I wasn't allowed to keep my beard," Harry wrote in his book. He added, Ah there it was. After he'd come back from an assignment with Special Forces, Willy was sporting a full beard, and someone told him to be a good boy, run along and shave it. He hated the idea of me enjoying a perk he'd been denied. In a recent interview with Elon Musk, Donald Trump lauded the leaders of Russia and North Korea, calling them "at the top of their game." The highly anticipated X Space interview, which kicked off with a 40-minute delay attributed by Musk to a "mass attack," saw Trump deliver sharp critiques of President Bidens handling of Russia's war on Ukraine, even questioning his intelligence. During the conversation, Trump also addressed topics such as immigration and his assassination attempt, among others. FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are seen at the Firing Room Four after the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket (REUTERS) Trump seen talking on speaker phone Donald Trump was seen conducting the interview with a speakerphone and a microphone clipped to his jacket. Earlier, Musk mentioned that he would shift the interview to a conversational format after suspecting an attack on X Space, which had led to access issues for millions of users who were eager to watch the interview. Trump praises Russia and North Korea "I know [Russian President Vladimir] Putin. I know President Xi [Jinping]. I know Kim Jong Un," Trump remarked leaving Musk with light giggle. "They're at the top of their game; they're tough; they're smart; they're vicious and they're going to protect their country, he said. "When they see a Kamala, or when they see a sleepy Joe, they can't even believe it," he the former POTUS added. Also read: Trump claims I love Putin, get along with Kim Jong Un,' slams Joe Biden as Pathetic president' during Musk interview He also discussed Iran, claiming that the US adversary "wouldnt be engaging in attacks" if he were still president. Tehran is thought to be preparing a retaliatory strike following an Israeli airstrike. "I dont plan to inflict any damage on Iran," the former president asserted. "However, they were fully aware not to provoke us. Iran was in financial trouble." Trump reminisced about his confrontations with North Korea, noting his strategy of projecting strength. Musk, chuckling, agreed with Trumps observation that leaders like Kim Jong-un respond to strength rather than weakness. Well, yeah, Trump replied, reflecting on his good rapport with Kim Jong-un. The former president also referenced his infamous Rocket Man tweet, to which Musk responded with praise for his epic posts. For unversed, Musk, who has rebranded Twitter as X, encouraged users to refer to their updates as posts rather than tweets. Trump on illegal immigration Donald Trump articulated his profound fondness for New York, while simultaneously voicing his concerns about the state's current predicament concerning illegal immigration. He acknowledged the difficulties encountered by the state, emphasising that the problem of migrants crossing the border transcends mere Mexico. Trump underscored that individuals are coming from diverse regions globally, not exclusively from the southern border. "We're overwhelmed. You had to see the news tonight about New York, New York, and I love that place, and what they're doing to it is horrible," he told the Tesla owner. "What they're doing to it, and all the courts do is they try and focus on Trump. OK, then let's focus on Trump who did nothing wrong," he said. The Harris campaign swiftly responded to former President Donald Trumps remarks about shutting down the Education Department in United States, amplifying the clip across social media. This move aligns with the campaigns broader strategy to connect Trumps proposal to the conservative policy agenda outlined in Project 2025. Donald Trump spoke to Elon Musk on diverse subjects ranging from his assassination attempt, Putin, Ukraine and Joe Biden.(AP) During his appearance, Trump discussed his plan to dismantle the Education Department, a proposal that has garnered significant support from the evangelical Christian right. However, Trump also admitted potential drawbacks to his plan, stating, If you moved education back to the 50 [states], youll have some that wont do well. But theyll actually be forced to do better, because itll be a pretty bad situation. Also Read: Donald Trump rips Kamala Harris over border crisis, Third-rate phony candidate Kamala campaign calls out Trump's plan on education The Harris campaign has seized on these comments to highlight the potential risks of Trumps proposal, emphasizing the possible negative impact on education across the country. By drawing attention to the clip, the campaign aims to underscore the consequences of shifting educational responsibilities entirely to the states, arguing that such a move could exacerbate disparities in educational outcomes. In the same interview, which was conducted by billionaire CEO Elon Musk on the social media platform X, Trump also opened up about the recent assassination attempt he survived at a Pennsylvania rally. Describing the incident as a hard hit and surreal, Trump reflected on the moment when a bullet grazed his ear. It was a hard hit. It was very, I guess you would say, surreal, but it wasnt surreal. You know, I was telling somebody, you have instances like this ... where you feel its a surreal situation. And I never felt that way. I knew immediately that it was a bullet, Trump told Musk. The interview, however, was marred by technical difficulties. Shortly after the livestream began, X was hit by a massive DDoS attack, causing significant disruptions. Users on the platform faced numerous issues accessing the livestream, with many encountering messages like this space is not available or experiencing greyed-out screens that left them unable to participate. Within minutes of the events expected 8 p.m. ET start time, terms like "crashed," "unable," and "#TwitterBlackout" were trending on X, highlighting the widespread technical problems. Musk later confirmed the DDoS attack, which forced the platform to scale down the live audience. An X user has explained why Donald Trump wears shoulder pads. The former president on some occasions has been pictured wearing what appears to be shoulder pads, and one such photo has now gone viral, with people wondering why he wears them. Menswear writer reveals surprising reason why former president wears shoulder pads (Margo Martin via X/via REUTERS) In a post on X, Derek Guy, a Canadian menswear writer and commentator, explained that he does not intend to body shame anyone but only to discuss how anyone can dress for their body type if they know a few tricks. He went on to say that it surprised him because Trump's tailoring is done in a way to conceal his weight." His shoulders are relatively narrow compared to his waist, which gives his body a somewhat rectangular shape, Guy said of the former president. Guy explained in the thread that the platonic male silhouette in classic Western aesthetic is a shoulder line that's broader than the waist, which creates a V-shaped figure. He added that the former presidents suits have an extended shoulder because he does not have this silhouette naturally. However, you can only extend the shoulder so much before it starts to collapse. Think of what would happen if you extended the shoulder line on a t-shirt or dress shirtit would just flop on you. This is why an extended shoulder needs a bit of structure, as you see here, Guy wrote. He added, The softer the shoulder, and the more extended the line, the more collapsing will happen over time. Rubinacci, a well-regarded bespoke tailoring house in Naples, uses a 1.5 ply shoulder pad. You can see how the end of Mariano's shoulder is already starting to dip. Guy also explained that a shoulder that is heavily padded builds *up* the shoulder, which makes the silhouette appear more powerful, authoritative, and formal. But what is not great about a heavily padded shoulder, he said, is that artifice is revealed when you sit like this. Guy wrote, To me, Trump would benefit from a softer shoulder, partly because his natural shoulders are narrow but square. The more padding you add to this, the squarer the shoulder line. IMO, heavy padding is best for people with very sloped shoulders, not square ones. Still, this issue of padding and extension is something everyone has to figure out for themselves when buying tailored jackets. Pay attention to the silhouette. Here is the same man in two different coats. Right has extension; left does not. IMO, he looks better on the right, he added, sharing two photos. Guy added that how much extension and padding is needed depends on a persons body type and the vibe they wish to give off. He concluded, I should add: while I think Trump would benefit from a softer shoulder, the more you extend his shoulder line, the more structure the jacket needs. Ralph Lauren likes a very extended shoulder and you can see how much padding he puts into his Purple Label tailoring. Who is Derek Guy? Guy is a Canadian men's fashion industry writer and commentator, and is known as the menswear guy on X. He became popular after the acquisition of X by Elon Musk, following which his account was promoted by the site's algorithmically curated For You tab. Guy is known for having contributed pieces to The Washington Post, Esquire, and The Nation. Guy was born to Vietnamese refugee parents in Vancouver. In the late 1960s, his family fled Saigon and crossed the border to Cambodia. They then went to Iran and Canada, and finally settled in the US as illegal immigrants. While Guys mother worked as a secretary, his father worked as a school janitor. Guys interest in fashion developed in the 1990s as he grew up around people involved in the Lo Life subculture. He lives in San Francisco. Donald Trump rented a private jet previously owned by Jeffrey Epstein on Saturday. The former president's campaign revealed Monday that they had no idea the Gulfstream G550 once belonged to the infamous sex offender. An official for the campaign explained that the jet was provided by a charter flight company after Trump's signature Boeing 757 suffered mechanical issues on Friday. Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during an election campaign rally in Bozeman, Montana, on August 9, 2024. (Photo by Natalie BEHRING / AFP)(AFP) Trump accidentally rented private jet that once belonged to Epstein The Republican nominee took only one flight on the jet that once belonged to the disgraced financier to Colorado for attending fundraisers on his campaign trail. Trump's own private plane had a mechanical failure while en route to a campaign rally in Bozeman on Friday, forcing him to charter the Gulfstream aircraft. The campaign had absolutely no idea the aircraft we rented was previously owned by Mr. Epstein, the official told Daily Beast. ALSO READ: Chick-fil-A brings back THIS fan-favourite item for first time in 13 years Following his 363-mile trip on the aircraft, Trump used a separate charter plane for his trip back home to Florida. The campaign official explained that they learned of the jet's past upon being contacted by journalists on Monday. Meanwhile, the Trump Force One was still undergoing repairs in Montana. The official went on to say that the campaign has instructed the charter jet company that provided the plane not to allot Epstein's aircraft in future. ALSO READ: Steph Curry's wife Ayesha fights back tears after tense encounter with Paris police The official also said that Private Jet Services Group, which has previously been used by the former president many times, was apologetic and assured the campaign it wouldnt happen again, per the outlet. Over the weekend, the rumours about Trump's flight on the sex offender's aircraft took social media by storm after the 16-year-old jet was photographed in Aspen by a local photojournalist and plane spotter. As the photos went viral, internet sleuths discovered the past ownership of the aircraft, prompting the Trump campaign to reveal that the ex-POTUS was unaware of the fact. As tensions rise in the Middle East, Israel and the United States are getting ready for a possible significant attack from Iran, coinciding with renewed efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza as the situation deteriorates. US president Joe Biden (C) in a meeting with his national security team in Washington, DC, after Iran launched a drone and missile attack on Israel.(AFP) The push for peace talks comes as mediators urge Israel and Hamas to return to negotiations, which have been jeopardized by recent killings of key leaders from Hezbollah and Hamas. Iran and its ally Hezbollah have vowed to retaliate, further heightening the urgency for a diplomatic resolution. Major Iranian attack on Israel could strike this week Amid a backdrop of global instability and heightened geopolitical rivalries, the White House has issued a grave assessment of the situation citing a possible attack as early as this week.' In response, the U.S. has significantly bolstered its military presence in the region, a public display of force intended to deter Iran and de-escalate tensions as per ABC News. Also read: Elon Musk looking for a job in a possible Trump White House? Harris campaign explodes, two worst people are "We share the same concerns and expectations that our Israeli counterparts have with respect to potential timing here, which could be this week," National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Monday. The warning follows a conversation between President Joe Biden and the leaders of the UK, France, Germany, and Italy, as the US works to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East. "We have to be prepared for what could be a significant set of attacks," Kirby added. At the same time, the United States has been coordinating with European allies regarding reports that Iran is planning to deliver hundreds of ballistic missiles to Russia. Irans retaliation threat could derail advanced ceasefire talks In the recent past, the Middle East witnessed the tragic demise of two key figures from Hezbollah and Hamas. Fouad Shukr, a distinguished commander within Hezbollah, was killed in Beirut, while Ismail Haniyeh, a senior leader of Hamas, was assassinated in Tehran. Israel has acknowledged its role in the demise of Shukr, yet has refrained from confirming its involvement in the assassination of Haniyeh, despite Iran attributing the act to Israel. Also read: Trump seen breaking the internet on speaker phone with Elon Musk; warns leader of Russia and North Korea are A big attack from Iran against Israel could mess up the peace talks that US officials have mentioned were almost ready before the killing. These setbacks have escalated tensions in the Middle East, heightening concerns that Iran may retaliate against Israel, akin to its actions in the mid-April timeframe. The joint statement as per the White House says, "We called on Iran to stand down its ongoing threats of a military attack against Israel and discussed the serious consequences for regional security should such an attack take place. Its difficult to ascertain, at this particular time, if there is an attack by Iran and its proxies what that would look like, Kirby added to his earlier statement. Haniyehs death would not pass in vain After Haniyeh was killed, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei promised that his death wouldn't go in vain. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps declared that they would definitely seek "blood vengeance" for the killing. However, the US is fully braced. As reported the country has quietly been adding more military forces to the area to back up Israel. But this time, they've been straight up saying they're sending another group of Air Force F-22s, and Navy F/A-18s to a spot on land, and have also sent out more destroyers, including the Lincoln, to the area. There are hints that Iran might drop its plans to strike Israel if there's a ceasefire deal signed. However, Iran's team at the UN mentioned on Saturday that Tehran's response to what it thinks is Israel's involvement in Haniyeh's death has nothing to do with the ceasefire in Gaza. Former President Donald Trumps live interview with billionaire Elon Musk, broadcast on X, has been delayed due to technical glitches. The hashtag "Crashed" is trending at number one on X, indicating that users are experiencing access issues and are unable to tune in to the event. Trump is scheduled to be interviewed by Musk on the social media platform X on the evening of August 12, 2024. (AFP) Musk, the 53-year-old owner of the social media platform, was scheduled to conduct an open-ended discussion with the Republican presidential contender, with no restrictions on the topics covered. The interview began streaming live on X Spaces at 8 p.m. EDT. Interview starts Elon Musk started addressing users around 8:40 p.m., explaining that the delay was caused by a cyber attack. He mentioned that he will be having a "conversation" with Trump rather than conducting a formal interview. Donald Trump and Elon Musk interview: Tune in live here Trump Slams defective government, calls Harris incompetent Trump claimed that "illegal immigration saved my life," pointing to the border crossings chart that caused him to look away moments before a bullet narrowly missed his ear. That chartillegal immigration saved my life, he explained to Musk. Whats astonishing is that I only referred to it less than 20% of the time. It was just a brief instance. We cannot have her. She's incompetent... She hasn't done an interview since his whole scam started, he added. Trump reveals why he was shot While speaking to Trump, recalling his failed assassination attempt at a rally, he says, I was shot because of my stance on immigration. The former president mentioned his desire of getting back to Butler soon. Meanwhile, This is officially the biggest Spaces ever with over 1 million concurrent listeners. I WILL BE GOING BACK TO BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA, FOR A BIG AND BEAUTIFUL RALLY, HONORING THE SOUL OF OUR BELOVED FIREFIGHTING HERO, COREY, AND THOSE BRAVE PATRIOTS INJURED TWO WEEKS AGO, he updated on Truth Social. Musk calls it DDoS attack Musk attributed the delay to a massive DDOS attack on X. He mentioned that efforts are underway to shut it down, and if the problems continue, they will move forward with a reduced number of live listeners and later post the conversation. I am in I had to listen to the music for 40 min now nothing, a Twitter (X) user wrote. Elon Musk calls out the mass attack Donald Trump and Elon Musk X Space crashed The interview was set to start five minutes ago, but viewers are currently seeing a gray box that reads Details not available. This scenario mirrors last years tech issues when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis faced similar problems while launching his presidential campaign through Xs Spaces feature. People are now poking fun at the former president and his giant tech ally for letting their interview crash just like their politcal campaign. Trumps much anticipated interview with Elon has unsurprisingly crashed. Its the perfect metaphor for his campaign, a user quipped. donald trump and elons space crashed just like desantis spaces when he launched his campaign. its actually so over for trump lol, another wrote. Also read: Donald Trump is back on X for a live interview with Elon Musk: Listen in here Donald Trump makes twitter (X) comeback Before going on air, Trump posted on X for just the second time since his account was restored in 2022, following up with several more posts. He had been removed from the platform, previously known as Twitter, after the January 6th Capitol attack. Democrats' counter attack Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee has rolled out its first paid ad campaign since Vice President Kamala Harris announced Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. The campaign features an ad on the Las Vegas Strip and billboards in seven key battleground states. Also read: Kamala Harris overtakes Donald Trump in six different polling averages across three key states Earlier, Trump falsely accused his opponent, Kamala Harris, of using an AI-generated image to inflate the crowd size at her Detroit rallya claim swiftly debunked by several local outlets and photographers, who pointed out that the former president is attempting to spread baseless conspiracy theories. As the campaigns for both candidates intensify, Harris' running mate, Tim Walz, is set to hold his first solo event tomorrow in Los Angeles. By Fabian Cambero Workers strike at world's largest copper mine in blow to BHP SANTIAGO, - Workers at BHP's Escondida mine in Chile began a strike Tuesday morning after pay negotiations with management fell apart, setting the stage for a potential hit to production at the world's biggest copper mine. The workers' union said early on Tuesday a strike was set to start at 8 a.m. local time , after little progress was made during five days of government mediated talks. "We made every responsible effort to reach an agreement, but that wasn't possible," said the union, which represents about 2,400 people. BHP said it had activated a contingency plan to handle the strike, and that it had not anticipated a new set of demands from the union on the final day of talks. "The company formulated four proposals responding to each of the points raised by the union, who on the last day of mediation presented new requirements," it said in a statement. The company has described its workers' contract as one of the best in the industry. Union President Patricio Tapia previously told Reuters that if union members were to strike, BHP would not be able to produce copper since replacement workers are prohibited by law and the union represents 98.5% of frontline operational workers at Escondida. Workers at Escondida last walked out in 2017, prompting a 44-day strike that severely affected BHP's production and pushed up copper prices on the global market. BHP, one of the world's biggest miners, owns more than half of Escondida, located about 130 km southeast of the northern city of Antofagasta, along with Rio Tinto and JECO Corp. Escondida produced 1.1 million metric tons of copper in 2023. Workers at Escondida have demanded 1% of shareholder dividends to be distributed equally among them, citing favorable current and projected prices of copper, a metal expected to be in even higher demand for the global energy transition and artificial intelligence applications. The company's proposal included a provision for a bonus of about $28,900 per worker. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. LISBON, - Alphabet Inc's YouTube has shut down Portuguese ultranationalist group Grupo 1143's video channel for violating its policy against hate speech after receiving queries about its activities from the New York Times, the company said on Tuesday. YouTube shuts Portuguese extreme-right group's channel after NYT queries The U.S. newspaper was writing an article on how hate speech on the internet encourages violence, such as this month's riots in Britain, in real life and used Portugal as one example. "Our policies strictly prohibit content that glorifies hateful supremacist propaganda, including hateful symbols, and we terminated a channel provided to us by the New York Times," a YouTube spokesperson told Reuters, clarifying that the channel was that of Grupo 1143. Grupo 1143, where the number represents the year Portugal was born as a sovereign nation, is led by neo-Nazi activist Mario Machado, 47, who has served time behind bars for assault, racial discrimination and other crimes. "The global Left has teamed up to try to silence the biggest Portuguese nationalist organisation of the last 50 years," Machado wrote on X, decrying what he said was "censorship" of the @Grupo1143 account by YouTube at the request of the NYT. Grupo 1143's X and Telegram accounts remained active. The group organised anti-immigration and anti-Islam protests earlier this year, including one in the city of Porto in April, which was followed in May by two attacks on migrants, who were severely beaten or clubbed at their homes. Authorities have said they are investigating the group, which denied responsibility, over the attacks. YouTube says its hate speech policy bans content that promotes violence or hatred against individuals or groups based on attributes such as their immigration status, nationality, or religion. In the first quarter of 2024, the company removed over 157,000 videos globally for violating its hate speech policies. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. A conversation with presidential candidate Donald Trump and X owner Elong Musk was delayed on Monday evening due to technical problems. When it finally began it was a platform for Trump to repeat falsehoods unchecked as Musk, who has announced his support of the former president's campaign, didn't question any of his statements. When discussing the assassination attempt on his life, Trump made a stunning statement. He had turned to look at a chart on illegal immigration when the gunman fired. Because his head had turned, the bullet just grazed his ear. "Illegal immigration saved my life," Trump said. That drew a laugh from Musk who appeared to like the line. When still talking about illegal immigration, Trump made one of his false statements that Musk didn't question when he claimed that a million undocumented immigrants are coming into the United States every month. Trump cited 'migrant crime' as a threat to America and claimed that Kamala Harris had the ability to shut down the border on her own as the vice president. At one point in the immigration discussion, Musk wondered why more people who want to commit crime are not coming to the U.S. because he claimed it was a 'target rich' environment and easy to get away with crime. Along with the repeated claims that countries around the world are emptying prisons of their worst criminals to dump in the United States, Trump claimed they are also sending "non-productive" people to the U.S. Musk repeatedly pressed for a "governmental efficiency" commission to look for cuts before volunteering to be on it. Trump said Musk would be great in the position. When talk turned of global warming, Trump denied it was a problem but later suggested that he was waiting for Musk to figure out how to put solar panels on the top of his Tesla vehicles. He also refered to Kamala Harris as a "radical left lunitic" as Musk agreed with him. The conversation had been delayed more than 30 minutes after people attempting to join the stream were repeatedly booted from the so-called "Space" on X. Musk posted that "There appears to be a massive DDOS attack on X. Working to shut it down." That refers to a denial of service attack when an attack attempts to take down access to a website by having computers overwhelm a website by repeatedly trying to access it. "Worst case, we will proceed with a smaller number of live listeners and post the conversation later," Musk said before the stream became stable and accessible. A homeless man who was arrested after allegedly randomly stabbing an 11-year-old girl at a popular London tourist site has been identified and charged with attempted murder. Metropolitan Police have charged Ioan Pintaru, 32, with attempted murder and possession of a bladed article. Pintaru, identified as a Romanian citizen, appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Tuesday. The girl suffered serious, non-life-threatening injuries Monday morning in Leicester Square, according to the UK's Metropolitan Police Department. The prosecutor told the court the girl, who was a tourist visiting with her mother, was put into headlock and then stabbed her eight times. She suffered wounds to the face, shoulder, wrist and neck, according to the Guardian. The girl's 34-year-old mother, who was also thought to have been injured, was not hurt, as the blood found on her was later confirmed to be that of her daughter's. Other people who witnessed the attack grabbed Pintaru and held him until police arrived. "I would like to pay tribute to the members of the public, including staff from local businesses, who bravely intervened in this incident," Det. Chief Superintendent Christina Jessah said. "They put themselves at risk and showed the best of London in doing so. I must also recognize the efforts of our officers who quickly arrived on scene and provided first aid to the victims until colleagues from LAS (London Ambulance Service) arrived." News of the incident comes nearly two weeks after three girls between the ages of 6 and 9 were fatally stabbed at a Taylor Swift dance-themed workshop in the seaside town of Southport, England. The investigation is ongoing. Democratic voters in Minnesota will decide Tuesday whether another member of the progressive House group known as the "Squad" suffers the same fate as two colleagues who recently lost primary challenges. Rep. Ilhan Omar, who represents Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs, faces a rematch with former Minneapolis City Council member Dan Samuels, who she narrowly beat in 2022, 50.3% to 48.2%. Fellow Squad members Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri and Rep. Jamal Bowman were both defeated in primaries held last week and in June, respectively. Their challengers were both backed by millions of dollars in spending by the United Democracy Project, a super political action committee affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, according to the Associated Press. But AIPAC and other pro-Israel groups have stayed out of the Omar-Williams race, the Star Tribune newspaper reported late last month. Omar, an outspoken critic of Israel who's faced accusations of antisemitism, told the Star Tribune for a Tuesday report that the groups' absence suggested they didn't think Samuels could win and were "not interested in probably wasting their money." Samuels countered that Omar, a former state legislator, faced "increasing concern about her performance" and called her "an anomaly in the Fifth District for the amount of challenges she's had" during her three House campaigns. Minnesota has open primaries and some Republicans have urged GOP voters to cross party lines to cast ballots for Samuels, leading Omar to call them "vile MAGA Republicans." An Omar campaign poll in July showed her ahead, 60% to 33%, up from the 49% to 39% edge she held in a February poll for Samuels' campaign, according to the FiveThirtyEight website. A New York City man has been charged with a hate crime after he allegedly yelled "Free Palestine" as he stabbed a man of the Jewish faith outside a Brooklyn synagogue, said police. Victor Sumpter, 22, also reportedly asked the 33-year-old victim, "Do you want to die?" before allegedly plunging a knife into his abdomen around 2 a.m., Saturday, according to local Rabbi Yaacov Behrman. "This is an extremely serious incident. The victim could have been killed," Behrman wrote on X, hours later, adding the victim is expected to recover. "This act of hateful violence highlights the dangerous impact of anti-Semitic incitement and hate propagated by some local politicians and leaders in New York and across the United States." "Take this incident as a warning of the potential consequences if such hateful rhetoric continues. When hate and incitement against a group are preached, it invariably leads to violence." "I know the victim, though I have not yet spoken to him directly since the incident. He has long-standing ties to the community," he added. Surveillance video of the incident posted on X appears to show two men in white shirts walking toward the suspect, prompting him to walk backward. The men then try to flee as Sumpter appears to allegedly lunge and stab one of them repeatedly in the stomach. Sumpter is also charged with attempted murder in connection with the incident, jail records show. He is being held on $250,000 bond. Forecasters issued hurricane watches for the U.S. and British Virgin Islands on Tuesday as Tropical Storm Ernesto began dumping heavy rain on Puerto Rico and churning up the surrounding Atlantic Ocean. "Data from an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicate that maximum sustained winds have increased to near 60 mph (95 km/h) with higher gusts," the National Hurricane Center said in a 5 p.m. ET update. "Additional strengthening is forecast, and Ernesto is expected to become a hurricane by early Wednesday." Ernesto was about 135 miles east-southeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and moving west-northwest at 18 mph, the center said. It was expected to turn to the northwest and cross over or near the Virgin Islands on Tuesday evening, then pass just northeast and north of Puerto Rico late Tuesday and early Wednesday. The Puerto Rican islands of Vieques and Culebra, east of the main island, were also under hurricane watch. Officials in the U.S. Virgin Islands announced early that all schools would be closed and Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. warned residents, "Don't sleep on this," the Associated Press reported. Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi urged people to be indoors by early Tuesday evening and officials opened shelters and moved dozens of endangered parrots into hurricane-proof rooms, AP said. "We are going to have a lot of rain," Pierluisi said. Juan Saca, president of Luma Energy, which operates Puerto Rico's electric grid, urged residents to report any blackouts, saying the system wasn't "sufficiently modernized to detect power outages." The grid was razed in September 2017 by the Category 4 storm Hurricane Maria and has yet to be fully repaired. Officials in the U.S. Virgin Islands were also worried about outages, with blackouts reported Monday on St. Thomas and St. John, AP said. The National Hurricane center publicly warned officials in Bermuda to monitor Ernesto's progress and said swells from the storm were expected to reach the U.S. east coast Thursday night and continue into the weekend. Voaara to put barefoot luxury on the map in Madagascar's Sainte-Marie Island. Voaara, opening September 2024 in Madagascar, is a new barefoot luxury resort, comprising elegant, tropical-style bungalows and villas, introducing a pioneering community-led resort concept to the region. Located on the island of Sainte-Marie off the northeast coast of Madagascar, Voaara is a celebration of its surroundings. Exceptional water, wildlife, culture and cuisine, paired with a population of just 30,000, create the epitome of quiet luxury; an unspoiled Indian Ocean paradise. The first property from Owner Philippe Kjellgren, Founder of PK's List and Kiwi Collection. Kjellgren has made it his life's work to become an expert in the world's luxury hotels, staying in over 2,000 hotels in 149 countries, he identified the need for a true barefoot luxury experience. Now realizing his dream, Kjellgren is taking inspiration from his travels to ensure every element of Voaara is thoughtfully and deliberately chosen to create places and spaces of quality, innovation and authenticity. Taking its name from two Malagasy words - 'Voarara', meaning forbidden or sacred; and 'Voara', meaning nature or fruit - Voaara illustrates a place of simple elegance and quiet luxury for those seeking unspoiled nature, surrounded by all the luxuries of a five-star resort. The first of its kind in this region, Voaara brings with it an exciting new approach to resort living that not only invites guests to visit, but also to become part of a community, with a limited number of villas available for inaugural guests to purchase. Set to launch initially with just eight understated, yet luxurious bungalows and one three-bedroom villa - a renovation of the existing resort on the site - this private paradise will eventually be 45 keys in total, through a phased launch. Kjellgren worked with South African-Chilean architect Luis F Mira to design spaces adorned with local materials and reclaimed wood, along with infinity pools. Voaara provides an exciting new luxury Indian Ocean beach destination, set to eventually host five dining outlets - two due to open August 2024 - with plans that include the addition of a spa later in the year. Ideally located for those looking to book multi-destination travel, Voaara is also perfectly placed for twin stays, with options for those looking for adventure on nearby Reunion Island, safari in Kenya or to explore the Madagascan jungle and more. Destination One of only a few luxury hotel offerings in Madagascar, Voaara will be the first to be housed on the island of Sainte-Marie, also known as Nosy Boraha by locals. Sainte-Marie has an incredible history, once a pirate base, and still home to a pirates' cemetery which has graves marked with a skull and crossbones, said to house the bodies of pirate legends William Kidd, Robert Culliford, Olivier Levasseur and Henry Every. The East coast harbors Bale d'Ampanihy's lagoon, littered with traditional pirogue boats, and off the South coast, tiny islands, Ile aux Nattes and Ilots aux Sables boast stunning coral reefs for diving and sea turtles. Nature & wildlife Alongside miles of untouched white-sand beaches, Sainte-Marie is renowned for being one of the best spots in the world to view the humpback whale migration, which takes place between June and October each year. The island's quiet bays and shallow warm waters make an ideal setting for pods of humpbacks to raise their calves before annual migration to colder waters. This year a remarkable 500 humpbacks were recorded with many coming to the waters by the hotel as their safe haven at night. Quiet barefoot luxury With inspiration drawn from some of Philippe Kjellgren's favorite hotels - including The Brando in French Polynesia, Six Senses in the Seychelles, and Laucala in Fiji, as well as Uxua Casa in Brazil and Parador La Huella in Uruguay, Voaara is at the forefront of the quiet, barefoot luxury movement. This is understated luxury using rustic materials and neutral design throughout. The culinary program is inspired by local produce, freshly caught seafood, and a seamless eco-design deriving from the staggering beauty of the island itself. Community Voaara is a resort with a community at its heart. Philippe Kjellgren wants to attract a creative and inspiring community of interesting people by drawing in discerning travelers seeking something a little different. Voaara also plans to hire at least 80 percent local staff to not only support the local community, but to ensure local tradition, culture and warmth is celebrated throughout. In line with this outlook and approach, Philippe Kjellgren and his wife place a large focus on giving back. They support local schools and causes with a portion of the profits from the hotel to ensure people can explore this untouched paradise for years to come. Owner, Philippe Kjellgren Kjellgren, who grew up in Africa, first fell in love with Sainte-Marie during travels to the island in mid-1990. Years later he tried, unsuccessfully, to buy a piece of land on the island's pristine beach. Several years after that he returned to find a casual beach resort near that exact spot. Striking a rapport with the owner, Kjellgren invited the owner to hear more about his proposed concept for the resort, which led to the purchase of 100 acres of pristine beachfront property surrounded by miles of untouched beaches; marking the start of Voaara's journey. A successful serial entrepreneur, and author of several travel books, Kjellgren has an unparalleled knowledge of fine hotels. Founder of Kiwi Collection, the world's largest independent luxury hotel reviewer, and creator of the VISA Luxury Hotel Collection for VISA's premium card holders, Kjellgren started PK's List in 2015. The by-invitation-or-referral-only travel advisory service, an affiliate of SmartFlyer, is aimed at bringing his "Subjective Travel Intelligence" to like-minded travelers around the world, with an accompanying app available in the App store. Kjellgren has made it his life's work to become an expert in the world's luxury hotels, visiting more than 2,000 hotels in over 140 countries to educate himself. His hotel expertise has made him the go-to resource for everyone from CEOs of leading companies to Royals, to supermodels and celebrities. Originally from Stockholm, Sweden, and raised in Africa, Philippe has lived on 4 continents. When they are not traveling, Philippe and his wife, Vi, reside in London. Voaara is their first hotel project. About Voaara Voaara opens in September 2024 on Sainte-Marie Island off the northeastern coast of Madagascar. The new barefoot luxury resort, will comprise elegant, tropical-style bungalows and villas, introducing a pioneering community-led resort concept to the region. Set to launch initially with eight understated, yet luxurious bungalows and one three-bedroom villa - a renovation of the existing resort on the site - this private paradise will eventually be 45 keys in total, through a phased launch. Voaara is owned by Africa-raised Philippe Kjellgren, an entrepreneur and expert in luxury hotels around the world. Hotel website JW Marriott Mumbai Juhu is pleased to introduce Mr. Aditya Ramani as the newly appointed Director of Food & Beverage. With an impressive career spanning over two decades in luxury hospitality, Aditya brings a wealth of experience and a distinguished reputation for elevating food and beverage operations to new heights. With his extensive experience, Mr. Ramani's journey showcases his remarkable ability to lead and innovate across diverse locations. Most recently, he held the position of Director of Food & Beverage at The Imperial Hotel, New Delhi, where he orchestrated a comprehensive F&B revamp including re-launch of the iconic Spice Route and introduced a new Imperial lounge, enhancing the hotel's luxury appeal. Prior to this, Aditya excelled as Director of Food & Beverage at Four Seasons Hotel, The Westcliff, Johannesburg, contributing significantly to the hotel through his strategic management of restaurant and banquet operations. This was during the post Covid-19 period, where he played a pivotal role in launching an exceptional beverage experience, called the Gin Lab - focusing on enhancing the beverage story at the hotel. His tenure at Four Seasons in the Maldives further demonstrated his adeptness in creating memorable dining experiences and managing high-profile annual events across the two properties and a luxury yacht of the brand in the region. Spearheading the JW Marriott Mumbai Juhu's food and beverage operations, Mr. Aditya Ramani's strategic vision includes refining dining concepts, optimizing operations, and crafting unique guest experiences that align with JW Marriott's commitment to luxury and exceptional service. Further elevating its reputation as a premier destination renowned for its exceptional gastronomic offerings, under Mr. Ramini's leadership, JW Marriott Mumbai Juhu is poised to reach new heights of culinary excellence. Brussels - Radisson Collection and Gambero Rosso Unveil "A Roman Guide for Foodies" in the "Taste of Heritage" Gastronomy Series Building on the success of its "Taste of Heritage" Gastronomy Series, Radisson Collection continues its journey of connecting guests with authentic local experiences. The latest edition, "A Roman Guide for Foodies," is crafted in collaboration with Gambero Rosso, Italys renowned wine and food experts. Curated Culinary Guides for Discerning Travelers With the launch of the "Taste of Heritage" Gastronomy Series last June, Radisson Collection presents a series of culinary travel guides and content designed for food and travel enthusiasts. Highlighting exceptional Radisson Collection destinations worldwide, the series now features Rome, a city celebrated for its rich culinary heritage. Exploring Romes Culinary Heritage with Radisson Collection As one of the world's premier culinary capitals, Rome boasts iconic dishes such as Cacio e Pepe and Saltimbocca alla Romana. This edition of the "Taste of Heritage" Gastronomy Series delves into the citys culinary traditions, offering visitors a diverse array of dishes to savor. The Radisson Collection Hotel, Roma Antica, situated in the heart of Rome's historic city center, is the centerpiece of this culinary exploration. Located near the Altare della Patria, the Pantheon, Piazza Venezia, and the ancient ruins of Largo di Torre Argentina and Capitolium Hill, the hotel provides a luxurious base for guests to discover Rome. An exclusive partnership with Gambero Rosso Gambero Rosso is renowned as a leading authority in Italian gastronomy, known for its deep expertise in wine and food. With decades of experience, Gambero Rosso is synonymous with Italian culinary excellence making the partnership a natural fit for Radisson Collections "Taste of Heritage" series; both brands are dedicated to celebrating and preserving local culinary traditions and providing exceptional experiences. Developed in collaboration with Gambero Rosso, Radisson Collection's "A Roman Guide for Foodies" is a 21-page booklet available to hotel guests. The guide offers an introduction to Roman cuisine and a directory of top recommendations, from wine bars and grocers to gelato parlors and bakeries. Highlighting 23 local venues, each with its unique charm, the guide ensures travelers have a rich culinary experience while exploring the city. Chef Mattia Maria Rossi of the Gambero Rosso Academy has crafted two exclusive dishes for Radisson Collection Hotel, Roma Antica. These dishes will feature on the hotels restaurant Modius menu from September to December 2024. The Vaccinara Agnolotti is a fresh stuffed pasta with a slow-roasted oxtail filling, a modern twist on the classic Roman dish, Oxtail Vaccinara. Vignarolas Fillet reinterprets the traditional Vignarola spring vegetable stew, featuring fresh peas, Roman mint, guanciale (cured pork cheek), and a stuffed filet of beef, slow-cooked sous vide to perfection and served with a duo of fresh mint pea sauce and Pecorino foam. Vegetarian options for both dishes are also available. Commenting on the partnership, Chef Mattia Maria Rossi of the Gambero Rosso Academy states, Our collaboration with Radisson Collection is a tribute to Romes rich heritage. Through our city guide and special menu additions, guests can immerse themselves in the flavors and traditions of Roman cuisine. Our guide also highlights the local markets where we source ingredients, many of which have preserved traditional methods for over a century. Highlighting Radisson Collections Signature Experiences This collaboration with Gambero Rosso exemplifies Radisson Collections dedication to exceptional gastronomy, art, design, and heritage experiences. The "Taste of Heritage" Gastronomy Series will continue throughout 2024, featuring additional culinary destinations such as Radisson Collection Hotel & Spa, Riverfront Srinagar; Tsinandali Estate, A Radisson Collection Hotel; Radisson Collection Hotel, Gran Via Bilbao; and Cour des Loges Lyon, A Radisson Collection Hotel. Discover more about Radisson Collection brand and properties here. For more information about Radisson Collection Hotel, Roma Antica or to book, click here. About Radisson Hotel Group Radisson Hotel Group is one of the world's largest hotel groups with nine distinctive hotel brands, and more than 1,600 hotels in operation and under development in 120 countries. The Group's overarching brand promise is Every Moment Matters with a signature Yes I Can! service ethos. The Radisson Hotel Group portfolio includes Radisson Collection, Radisson Blu, Radisson, Radisson RED, Radisson Individuals, Park Plaza, Park Inn by Radisson, Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, and prizeotel brought together under one commercial umbrella brand Radisson Hotels. Radisson Rewards is our international rewards program that delivers unique and personalized ways to create memorable moments that matter to our guests. Radisson Rewards offers an exceptional experience for our guests, meeting planners, and travel agents at over 550 hotels in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Radisson Meetings provides tailored solutions for any event or meeting, including hybrid solutions placing guests and their needs at the heart of its offer. Radisson Meetings is built around three strong service commitments: Personal, Professional and Memorable, while delivering on the brilliant basics and being uniquely 100% Carbon Neutral. The health and safety of guests and team members remain a top priority for Radisson Hotel Group. All properties across the Group's portfolio are subject to stringent health and safety requirements, as outlined in the Radisson Hotels Safety Protocol. More than 100,000 team members work at Radisson Hotel Group and at the hotels licensed to operate in its systems. For more information, visit our corporate website. Or connect with Radisson Hotels on: LinkedIn | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube WASHINGTON Green Key Global the only sustainability certification designed specifically for hotels today announced its first-ever slate of board members and the appointment of Heather McCrory, a hospitality expert with 40 years of experience in the industry, as chair. McCrory recently served as CEO of Accors North American and Central American operations, and currently advises the hospitality industry as principal of Heather J. McCrory & Associates. She joins other top hospitality professionals who will guide Green Key Global, the worlds leading hotel sustainability certification provider, which is jointly operated by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) and the Hotel Association of Canada (HAC). In addition to McCrory, the other Green Key Global board members are: Marianne Balfe , vice president of sustainability, Highgate , vice president of sustainability, Highgate Claude Paul Boivin , interim president & CEO, Hotel Association of Canada , interim president & CEO, Hotel Association of Canada Kevin Carey , interim president & CEO, AHLA , interim president & CEO, AHLA Susie Grynol , market vice president, Eastern Canada, Marriott Hotels , market vice president, Eastern Canada, Marriott Hotels Brian Leon , CEO, Choice Hotels Canada , CEO, Choice Hotels Canada Emilio Tenuta, senior vice president and chief sustainability officer, Ecolab AHLA and HAC began jointly operating Green Key Global in April. Since then, some of Americas top hospitality companies have signed up for the service, which provides third-party certification for hotels environmental sustainability policies and processes. As of May, Green Key Global is on track to deliver significant year-over-year membership growth. New program participants for 2024 include Marriott International, Choice Hotels, and Four Seasons, which join existing major hotel company members, such as Accor, Best Western, Crescent Hotels & Resorts, Highgate, Hyatt, IHG Hotels & Resorts, and more. Im delighted to chair Green Key Globals first-ever board and serve with some of hospitalitys most accomplished sustainability leaders, said McCrory. Together, we will continue expanding the worlds only sustainability certification designed specifically for hotels throughout North America. Green Key Global offers a trusted certification that assures guests and partners of their commitment to sustainability. With Heathers multiple decades of industry expertise and the collective experience of the board, we will be able to further evolve the program and support the industry. We are excited and welcome Heather and the entire board of directors to the Green Key Global family. Anick Levesque, Managing Director, Green Key Global We are thrilled to welcome Heather and this esteemed group of leaders to the Green Key Global board of directors. Their experience and counsel will be vital as we bring Green Key Globals important third-party sustainability validation to hotels in the U.S. and Canada. AHLA Interim President & CEO Kevin Carey We are delighted to see the formation of Green Key Global's inaugural Board of Directors, an essential milestone in our journey towards a more sustainable hospitality industry. This Board will continue to drive Green Key Globals mission to empower hotels with trusted certification, achieve their sustainable development goals and meet the growing demand for responsible travel options. Claude Paul Boivin, Interim President & CEO, Hotel Association of Canada About Green Key Global Green Key Global is a leading international environmental certification body that offers standardized programs and resources, designed specifically for the hotel and meetings industries. Affordable programs, including the Green Key Eco-Rating and the Green Key Meetings Programs, help our members leverage organizational corporate social responsibility activities and support sustainable initiatives across their properties and brands to benefit the environment and improve fiscal performance and community relations. With over 20 participating countries and a notable mix of branded and independent members, Green Key Global is truly the hotel and lodging industry's sustainable certification program of choice. Danish hotel company Zleep Hotels A/S is merging with the third-party hotel management company Core Hospitality A/S, creating the 4th largest hotel operating company from Denmark. The merger happens immediately after a split with Deutsche Hospitality; while the German hotel group now owns 100% of the Zleep Hotels brand, Core Hospitality owns 100% of the operations in Denmark. Combined, the new management company will continue as Core Hospitality, signifying its multi brand strategy as a white-label hotel operator. Altogether, Core Hospitality now operates 19 hotels across five brands: 14 Zleep Hotels in Denmark, two Moxy Hotels in Norway, a Fairfield by Marriott and a Residence Inn by Marriott in Copenhagen as well as the Kirk Suites in Vejle. It was also my dream to be a white-label hotel operator. Now we truly are with five brands and more to come. Peter Haaber, CEO of Core Hospitality By joining forces, the new Core Hospitality operating platform will leverage new levels of scale, allowing it to negotiate stronger rates with partners; to strengthen its commercial efforts across more hotels; to develop a larger talent pool; and to offer property investors the opportunity to maximize return on investment and minimize the stabilization period through the freedom of brand choice. Facts about Core Hospitality after merger It is now the 4th largest operator from Denmark It is now the 6th largest operator in Denmark It employs approx. 500 across the entire organization It manages a total of 19 hotels (2288 rooms) It has a pipeline of 2 hotels (340 rooms) About Core Hospitality Core Hospitality is a Danish hotel operator that is independent of brands and flexible to operate under any type of contract. The company can implement and operate whichever brand best suits the property and location of a hotel. Core Hospitality was established by Zleep Hotels and has since established a strong, independent portfolio of hotels; 14 Zleep Hotels in Denmark (due to be rebranded to Four Points Flex by Sheraton), two Moxy Hotels in Norway, a Fairfield by Marriott and Residence Inn by Marriott in Copenhagen, and the Kirk Suites in Vejle. Its confirmed pipeline includes Element by Westin Esbjerg, Moxy Aarhus and Four Points Flex by Sheraton Glostrup. Read more at corehospitality.dk or follow us on LinkedIn. Peter Haaber CEO, Core Hospitality A/S +45 51 57 87 00 Core Hospitality New York, New York - Italy's first luxury train, La Dolce Vita Orient Express, will commence its covetable journeys in Spring of 2025, with bookings now open at orient-express.com. The new all-inclusive train journey provides eight exclusive round-trip "Made in Italy" itineraries departing from Rome, highlighting sought-after destinations like Venice, Matera, Tuscany, Piedmont, Portofino, Abruzzo and Sicily. On-board, guests will enjoy dishes created by acclaimed three-Michelin starred Chef Heinz Beck, who will oversee cuisine onboard the rail journeys. Guided by newly-appointed General Manager Samy Ghachem, formerly the managing director at Sereno Hotels and Frosch, marks a partnership between Italian luxury hospitality group Arsenale S.p.A., Orient Express, and Trenitalia-Gruppo Ferrovie dello Stato, Fondazione DFS and Treni Turistici Italian TTI. It is a privilege to join La Dolce Vita Orient Express at this key period in the revival of the iconic Orient Express brand and the launch of Italys first foray into luxury rail hospitality, stated Ghachem. La Dolce Vita Orient Express is set to offer an inimitable take on luxury rail travel, reigniting a bygone era through a contemporary lens, Italian style. A High-Designed Journey Through Time Design concept by Dimorestudio, the trains aesthetic has been masterfully curated to communicate the art of Italian living, with a sumptuous interior that celebrates the timeless craftsmanship of the 1960s and 1970s La Dolce Vita period. On-board, guests will enjoy an intimate travel experience with 12 carriages that host no more than 62 passengers. The train will boast 12 deluxe cabins, 18 suites and one La Dolce Vita Suite, all of which combine romance, style, the art of immersive encounters and relaxation, supported by a cruising model for round-trip experiences. Embarking on Eight Exclusive Itineraries Aligning the trains beauty with the countrys natural splendor, the trips cover over 9,941 miles of track, including nearly 4,350 miles of non-electrified railway, spread over 14 regions and 131 cities across Italy. As part of the experience, guests can enjoy thoughtfully-curated and memorable excursions, along with full-board accommodation. Taking in the breadth of the country, the eight itineraries provide journeys into the heart of nature, through its lakes, forests, sumptuous coasts and Alpine mountains, and an immersion into the center of cities that are international hubs of art and culture, from Venice and Rome. The itineraries also offer access to once remote destinations, such as Matera in Basilicata, the third oldest city in the world, with its ancient architecture, caves and stunning natural beauty, and Palena, a beautiful mountainous village in Abruzzo with medieval architecture, scenic views and rich cultural heritage. A remarkable itinerary also includes the worlds first passenger rail ferry, accessing the island of Sicily, where the train will decouple at Calabria and load onto a ferry, for the experience to resume on water before being reassembled and continuing the tracks in Messina. Beloved and favorite destinations like Tuscany, Portofino and Piedmont are additionally highlighted. The train journeys will include access to the newly established La Dolce Vita Orient Express Executive Lounge at Roma Ostiense for a comfortable and seamless travel experience. A Michelin-starred Culinary Journey-Within-A-Journey Announced in collaboration with Beck & Maltese Consulting, renowned three Michelin-starred chef Heinz Beck will oversee the cuisine onboard the rail cruises. Guests will have the pleasure of experiencing curated menus by this world-renowned chef with a deep connection to Italy. With the ambition of its cuisine to become a recognized part of UNESCO heritage, the train will offer regional and thematic routes, celebrating the culinary diversity of each region traversed during every journey. Curated in partnership with Vinitaly, one of the worlds largest and most significant international wine and spirits expeditions, wines onboard will showcase a breadth of viticulture from the well-known labels to rare and undiscovered wineries, always synonymous with quality and the uniqueness typical of Italy. During the train adventures, guests can go on a spirited Italian journey through six Vinitaly-selected wine companies that represent north, south and central Italy. This ties into the wider brand goal of fostering associations with local Italian life and celebrating authentic symbols of Italian excellence. This is just one of many exciting brand collaborations to be announced with the purpose of highlighting the very best from each region that the Made in Italy itineraries will visit. La Dolce Vita Orient Express Honors Italian Design with a Modern Approach La Dolce Vita Orient Express train marries the golden age of Italian design with a more contemporary spirit of travel. The project takes inspiration from masters of Italian design, including Carlo Scarpa, Gio Ponti, and Ignazio Gardella through to the great artists of the Spatialism movement that put space and time at the center of its compositions, such as Lucio Fontana, Agostino Bonalumi, and Enrico Castellani. The design project was conceived to embody a flawless and understated balance between the historic and contemporary, while still maintaining its authenticity. The spaces are thoughtfully designed, and always well-curated and subtle details complement each other graciously. Guests may reserve directly online by visiting: www.orient-express.com/la-dolce-vita or by contacting their travel agent. Pricing is tailored to travel preferences and departure date. Starting prices referring to a one-night itinerary are EUR3,500 per person in a deluxe cabin and EUR4,700 per person in a suite. The launch of La Dolce Vita Orient Express precedes the anticipated openings of the first two Orient Express hotels: Orient Express La Minerva in Rome; followed by Orient Express Palazzo Dona Giovannelli in Venice. More information to be announced later in 2024. About Accor, a world-leading hospitality group Accor is a world leading hospitality group offering experiences across more than 110 countries in 5,700 properties, 10,000 food & beverage venues, wellness facilities or flexible workspaces. The Group has one of the industry's most diverse hospitality ecosystems, encompassing more than 45 hotel brands from luxury to economy, as well as Lifestyle with Ennismore. Accor is committed to taking positive action in terms of business ethics & integrity, responsible tourism, sustainable development, community outreach, and diversity & inclusion. Founded in 1967, Accor SA is headquartered in France and publicly listed on the Euronext Paris Stock Exchange (ISIN code: FR0000120404) and on the OTC Market (Ticker: ACCYY) in the United States. For more information visit group.accor.com or follow us on X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok. Jessaline Fynbo Accor The boutique hotel industry is a rapidly evolving space, where creativity meets hospitality to offer guests more than just a place to stay. For those passionate about this niche market, the upcoming Boutique Hotel Owners Conference on September 16-17 in Los Angeles, presents an unparalleled opportunity to gain insights, network with industry leaders, and discover new strategies for success. To give you a glimpse of whats in store, we spoke with Kimberly Walker, Creative Director of Nomada Hotel Group, and a facilitator at this years conference. Her journey and insights offer a compelling case for why this event is not to be missed. Pictured: Kimberly Walker of Nomada Hotel Group & Facilitator at the 2024 Boutique Hotel Owners Conference Photo by BLLA A Journey Fueled by Creativity Kimberly Walkers journey into the boutique hospitality industry is as unique as the properties she manages. It all began 15 years ago when she opened Granada Bistro in downtown San Luis Obispo. What started as a small culinary venture quickly transformed into something much larger. The planned demo and redevelopment for the 1920s building fell through, and four of us purchased the buildingleading to Granada Hotel & Bistro, she recalls. Fast forward ten years, and the Nomada Hotel Group now boasts five operating hotels, each with its own distinct charm. For Walker, the role of Creative Director is essential in maintaining the individuality of each property while ensuring they all align with the Nomada brand. We consider Nomada a creative endeavor for travelers, so it felt very important for us to have clarity with our operating teams on this rolesame as we do for finance, legal, and OPS, she explains. This balance between creativity and operational efficiency is a theme she plans to explore further at the conference. Nomada Hotel Group Navigating Todays Boutique Hotel Landscape In todays competitive market, boutique hotels face unique challengeschief among them being the hiring and retention of the right talent. Hiring and retaining the right people for the brands goals is one of the most significant hurdles Walker identifies. Its a challenge that requires a thoughtful approach, something she believes will be a key topic of discussion at the conference. Maintaining a propertys unique identity while aligning it with an overall brand vision is another area where Walker excels. We have key Nomada identifiers that we thread throughout the properties. Other than that, the development is guided by the propertys history, architecture, and local environment, she says. This method allows each hotel to tell its own story while contributing to the larger narrative of the Nomada brand. Nomada Hotel Group The Power of Community and Creativity At the heart of Nomadas success is a strong sense of community and guest loyalty, fostered through genuine engagement. In an era where automation and contactless services are on the rise, Walker emphasizes the importance of maintaining a personal touch. Weve become highly conscious about engaging with guests through various methods of communication and making sure their perspective is part of our daily and weekly operations meetings, she shares. This focus on guest experience is something other boutique hotel owners can learn from and implement in their own properties. Balancing creative freedom with financial and operational demands is another critical aspect of Walkers role. She believes that creativity and tight budgets can coexist harmoniously. As the designer, its a huge benefit to be a part of ongoing operations because sometimes ideas that are right from a design perspective dont translate well to day-to-day operations, she notes. This blend of creativity and practicality is sure to resonate with many attendees at the conference. Nomada Hotel Group Why You Should Attend For those considering attending the Boutique Hotel Owners Conference, Walkers excitement is infectious. It will be my first time attending, so Im excited for all of it, especially the sessions, she says. Among the sessions shes looking forward to are discussions on Aesthetic Intelligence, Longevity in Boutique Hospitality, and Building a Membership Clubtopics that promise to offer valuable insights for boutique hotel owners. Walker also sees the conference as a prime opportunity for networking and gaining industry insights. Being in a room with others in the industry, listening to their experiences and expertise is always a good use of time, she asserts. The chance to connect with like-minded professionals and learn from their successes and challenges is what makes this event truly special. Nomada Hotel Group Final Thoughts Kimberly Walkers journey with Nomada Hotel Group exemplifies the creativity, passion, and strategic thinking required to thrive in the boutique hotel industry. Her insights offer a tantalizing preview of what attendees can expect at the Boutique Hotel Owners Conference. Whether youre looking to refine your brands identity, navigate operational challenges, or simply connect with other industry leaders, this conference is an opportunity you wont want to miss. Register today and join Walker, along with many other industry experts, in shaping the future of boutique hospitality. About BLLA The official organization for the world's independent boutique lifestyle hotels and leaders who are entrepreneurs themselves, promoting capital, resources, connection, education, and advocacy. As a pioneer in forecasting the boutique movement, BLLA's boutique community currently extends to more than 10,000 verified boutique and lifestyle hotels. BLLA is a catalyst for trends and the future of the boutique lifestyle, exactly what today's traveler is embracing. BLLA.org / Stay-Boutique.com. BLLA is also a capital/partner matchmaker via its Boutique Money Group division. The corporate manifesto is: Experience the intention behind the brand. Boutique Lifestyle Leaders Association (BLLA) BLLA View source We all remember those days in March 2020 when we realized that Covid 19 was going to be different than anything we had experienced in our lives. Almost overnight, the entire country shut down. As we dealt with the unknown, reports informed us that the virus could be transmitted by touching surfaces that had been touched by infected people. Personally, I remember driving to Florida from Ithaca to see my daughter, who was "trapped" there, wearing gloves when touching the gas pump and fearing even stepping into the gas stations bathrooms. Almost immediately, hotel CEOs assured potential guests that their future rooms were being cleaned with every safety measure in mind, and, most importantly, no one would enter their room during their stay unless they requested it. The age-old concept of daily housekeeping was suspended. Fast forward: We later learned that the virus danger was more from an airborne transmission than from touching infected surfaces. Daily housekeeping did not, however, immediately return. In the most recent previous hotel downturns 9/11 and the recession of 2008, the industry "came back" by focusing on occupancy and keeping rates low. Four years after these downturns, the industry appeared "back to normal." Occupancy was strong, rates came back, and guests of all types returned at pre-downturn levels. The Covid Comeback The Covid comeback was different in two ways. First, instead of being driven by occupancy, the comeback was driven by rate. There were two reasons for this: (1) consumers who had spent more than one year locked in their homes really desired to travel and were prepared to pay whatever the cost. Hence, the term revenge travel was born; and (2) hotel employers simply were unable to fully staff their properties. The employee shortage had two main causes- people leaving this recession-sensitive industry and the countrys failure to enact a comprehensive immigration policy. The second reason the comeback was different was that certain types of travel did not, and still have not, fully returned. Business travel changed during the pandemic with the rise of, and comfort with, remote meetings, conferences, and hearings - creating a whole new way of doing business. Thus, this new "normal" meant business people were not traveling like they once did, and business conferences were less frequent and smaller. The lack of a complete comeback, the fear of people in guest rooms, and the lack of employees created a casualty: daily housekeeping. For Employers, the reduction in daily housekeeping has three main benefits. First, it alleviates the pressure to find employees. The labor shortage remains a substantial problem in many markets. Human Resource professionals spend countless hours recruiting room attendants. When their own efforts fail, hotels may turn to labor suppliers. Labor suppliers create a whole new set of issues- the joint employer doctrine, potential penalties for undocumented employees, and a loss of culture and standards. Second, some guests simply do not want people in their rooms. Being able to accommodate guests wishes by not providing a service is an incredibly simple way to score guest satisfaction points. Alternatively, explaining to a guest that the only way for them to ensure that their room will be left unattended is to put a "do not disturb" sign on their door is not ideal. Guests forget. They are bothered to have to perform a task, simple as it is, to achieve their desires instead of simply letting the hotel know at check-in. Third, it saves the hotel a substantial cost. In fact, the cost savings can be so substantial that some hotels will offer incentives for guests to forgo daily housekeeping in the form of loyalty points, food and beverage credits, or other amenities. Indeed, in some markets, room attendants hourly rate exceeds $30 per hour, and in Los Angeles and Seattle, local laws regulate the square footage a room attendant can clean in a day. Allowing guests to opt out of daily housekeeping saves money in terms of the hourly rate as well as supervision, laundry, and other ancillary costs. Dont Forget About the Costs This does not mean, however, that there are not costs. First is the effect on the property. While many business travelers create little or no mess (I make my own bed when traveling alone, to stretch and out of habit), other types of traveling is not as easy on the room. I think back to my days as a "swim dad." My daughter and I would spend three days in a select service hotel where we would spend hours in between meet sessions, eating, working, sleeping, or just relaxing. By the end of the weekend, there were wet towels, leftover food, and other remnants of our stay. In addition, to the wear and tear on the room itself, the cleaning after three days could take two or three times more than what a "typical" checkout would take. The hotels would need to account for this in their scheduling and room credits. The next and probably most obvious cost is the experience. Those old enough to remember air travel in the 1970s and before, look fondly back on what was once a highlight of a trip. The airlines mantra was to make every traveler feel special and to treat them to full meals and high levels of service. Today, people look to avoid air travel at all costs. Whether its zoom, driving, taking a train, or, for the very wealthy, flying private, to many people, almost anything is better than dealing with the commercial flying experience. Will hotels become like airlines? Already, technology, low-tech like luggage with rollers or higher technology in the form of concierge apps or digital check-ins, has greatly reduced the human interaction that is a key component and highlight of the guest experience. In addition, food delivery apps have made in-room dining, and even hotel restaurant dining, less prevalent. Thus, the hotel simply becomes a place to sleep and not an integral part of the trip. Impact on Hotel Employment In addition to the loss of experience is the effect on hotel employment. The technological advancements listed above have all had the effect of lowering employee headcount. Rolling luggage means fewer employees at the bell stand; electronic check-ins mean fewer front desk employees. The same is true for concierge and other hotel services. Of course, the lower headcount is a positive to owners and operators motivated by profits. Alternatively, a reduction in, or elimination of, daily housekeeping is an existential threat for unions whose mission includes growing and increasing influence. Currently, housekeeping is the area upon which technology has the least impact (though robots that vacuum are here, and other tasks may be on the way). Housekeepers importance to the union has grown because other departments have shrunk and housekeeping has not. Thus, reducing daily housekeeping is a huge threat to the most important department of unionized employees. If the union cannot protect the jobs of its housekeepers, the unions influence on the industry will be greatly reduced. This fact has created what can be described as a two-tier response to todays daily housekeeping issue. Non-union hotel operators are free to make any unilateral decisions regarding daily housekeeping. For example, some hotels ask the guests at reservation, others ask at check-in. At least one hotel in New Orleans, a franchise of a major brand, only provides daily housekeeping if the guests request such 24 hours in advance. Accordingly, absent a local law requiring it, daily housekeeping is now a choice that non-union hotels make. For unionized properties, the situation is vastly different. As stated above, lack of daily housekeeping is a threat to viability of unions in the hotel sector. On a more micro level, it is a source of angst and financial risk for employees. Instead of occupancy defining housekeeping needs, now guest choice also mitigates the need for room attendants on a daily basis. Thus, historical occupancy rates for certain times of year would no longer guarantee work for the employees. Union advocates will contend that this unknown contributes to the labor shortage. Consequently, daily housekeeping has been a major subject of the ongoing, and soon to begin, negotiations of 2024. Employers will argue for guest choice. At the end of the day, hotels are in the business of customer satisfaction, and if guests do not want housekeeping, they should not have to have it. To continue this argument, employers contend that the do-not-disturb sign is not the solution to guest satisfaction. Unions, however, will argue for what the employers refer to as "gag orders." A gag order means that the front desk or reservation agents are prohibited from even mentioning the option of opting out of housekeeping. The other option is that the guest can be informed that a do-not-disturb sign will avoid housekeeping, but then the question will arise as to whether rooms with a do-not-disturb sign will count towards the room attendants "credits" for the day. The 2024 union negotiations will establish standards for daily housekeeping in numerous properties across the country. In the meantime, non-union hotels will, absent legislation, set their own standards. Guests at non-union hotels who want, or do not want, housekeeping will need to ask the property about its polices. Hotels will need to ensure that there are no local laws to comply with. Unions will continue to see the issue as vital to their existence. Reprinted from the Hotel Business Review with permission from http://www.hotelexecutive.com/. Emma O'Shiel - Image Credit Whitbread Whitbread PLC, the UKs largest hotel business and owner of Premier Inn, has strengthened its development team in Ireland as it continues to invest in delivering its growth ambitions in the country. Emma OShiel has joined the business in a project and programme manager role to lead the construction of Whitbreads pipeline of secured development sites in Ireland. She arrives with more than 15 years experience delivering building projects for the Isle of Man Government and private clients and will report to Matt Gent, Whitbreads development manager for Ireland. Whitbread currently operates a network of six hotels in Dublin and Cork, offering its guests a choice of more than 1,000 bedrooms with a further 1,000 bedrooms in the pipeline. It has a medium-term growth target for 5,000 Premier Inn bedrooms across the country. Matt Gent, Development Manager for Ireland, said: Emma comes with the experience we need take our expansion to the next level in Ireland. She will hit the ground running delivering our secured pipeline of locations and help me and our wider team appraise development opportunities for Premier Inn across Ireland. Im looking forward to working closely with her as we work to achieve our goal of establishing a network of Premier Inns in Ireland that matches the quality and depth of our estate in the UK. Emma will initially take on a pipeline of three prime development sites in Dublin and a second location for Premier Inn in Cork, allowing Matt to focus on new site acquisitions across the country. In May [2024] Whitbread released a revised network plan strategy for Ireland, which included new target locations for Premier Inn in Dublin City Centre as well as four Outer-Dublin locations where it is seeking to secure a presence. Outside of the capital, Whitbread is targeting eleven locations which have strong leisure and business economies and are likely to experience a growth in visitor numbers. These include tourist hotspots such as Killarney, Kilkenny, Kinsale, Sligo, Westport and Tralee alongside the larger towns and cities of Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford, and Wexford. Emma OShiel, Project and Programme Manager, added: Whitbreads flexibility as a development partner stood out when applying for the position. The business has a long track record of delivering its hotels itself or in partnership with private and public sector developers, and Im excited by the opportunity to put my experience working for both types of organisations into practice in Ireland. Whitbreads ambitions are set high in Ireland, and I cant wait play a part in supporting the business to achieve its goals. Whitbreads confidence for Premier Inn in Ireland is underpinned by an analysis of the positive performance of its trading hotels in the country, and an assessment of future hotel demand. The company is predicting total consumer demand for hotel accommodation in Ireland will surpass 20-million-bedroom nights towards the end of the decade, driven by the countrys strong economy, low unemployment rate and a predicted rise in international visitors. Indian Hotels Company Limited Enhances Its Presence In Rajasthan, Signs A Gateway In Sawai Madhopur - Image Credit IHCL Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), India's largest hospitality company, announced the signing of a resort in Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan. This Greenfield project will be branded a Gateway resort. Commenting on the expansion, Ms. Suma Venkatesh, Executive Vice President, Real Estate & Development, IHCL stated, "The re-imagined Gateway brand offers a contemporary and refreshing hospitality experience tailored for the modern traveler. Sawai Madhopur's captivating blend of historical significance and natural beauty makes it an ideal location for our resort. This new resort aligns with Gateway's brand strategy of providing an authentic reflection of a city. We are delighted to partner with the Jalan Group for this project." Strategically located on NE4, the 200-key Gateway - Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan provides easy accessibility to the region's renowned attractions. The resort features an array of culinary delights, including an all-day diner, bar, specialty restaurant, and lounge. It will boast an extensive banquet space spanning over 15,000 sq. ft., making it an ideal venue for grand celebrations and corporate events. Guests can also unwind and rejuvenate at the spa, state-of-the-art gym, and swimming pool. Mr. Pratiik Jalan, Managing Director of Jalan Builders and Partner in Jalan Hospitality along with partners Mr. Vineet Jain of V2RS GROUP and Mr. Sunil Choudhary of Jatsons said, "We are delighted to collaborate with IHCL in Sawai Madhopur for their Gateway brand. This partnership underscores our commitment to developing a world-class resort offering in Rajasthan." Renowned for its rich heritage, majestic forts, and vibrant culture, Rajasthan has emerged as a top tourist destination in India attracting visitors from across the globe. Sawai Madhopur With the addition of this hotel, IHCL will have 30 hotels in Rajasthan including 9 under development. Alibabas Futuristic Take on Hospitality Technology: FlyZoo as a Gamechanger - Image Credit Unsplash+ FlyZoo Hotel's tech-centered business model touches the full cycle of the guest journey and extends to other areas of business. The hospitality industry has observed significant transformation driven by technological advancements in the last decade. Hotels have increasingly adopted innovative solutions to streamline operations, enhance customer experience, and increase their competitive advantage. The arrival of AI, facial recognition technology, robotics, and an increase in mobile-friendly services have revolutionized the traditional hotel industry, moving away from manual, time-consuming procedures to automated, personalized services. In the context of this growing digital trend, FlyZoo Hotel has emerged as a beacon of technology- powered hospitality. Launched by Alibabas online travel platform, Fliggy, in collaboration with Alibaba AI Labs, FlyZoo Hotel pioneers a vision of 'future hotels'. Situated in Hangzhou, China, the 290-room hotel is Alibabas bold experiment to showcase how smart technology can transform the hospitality experience. This blog delves into Alibabas innovations in Flyzoo that will transform the hospitality industry. We will explore their business strategy, how such advancements are reshaping guest experiences and operational efficiency in hotels and analyze the implementation and impact of these technologies in the hospitality industry. FlyZoos Business Strategy Alibaba's foray into the hospitality industry with FlyZoo Hotel is part of the company's broader strategy of establishing a presence across various sectors, utilizing advanced technology to disrupt traditional industry models. FlyZoo's business strategy is grounded in the use of cutting- edge technology such as AI, machine learning and robots to elevate the guest experience and improve operational efficiency. The hotel leverages its AI-driven model to provide seamless check-in and check-out experiences and tailored services, significantly enhancing personalization. This aligns with the growing consumer desire for hyper-personalized experiences, however, with a certain twist due to the minimalization of human touch. Although FlyZoo Hotel can be seen as a game-changing innovation by Alibaba, the implications of the company's entry into the hotel industry are broad-ranging. It introduces a new level of competition for traditional hotels through its tech-centered model, challenging them to up their game in incorporating technology. However, it also potentially opens up collaboration opportunities, as traditional hotels could leverage Alibaba's technology to enhance their own operations and services. Essentially, the strategy for this hotel is unlike the typical concepts behind any tech-driven hotel; it was a bold move to establish a presence in the sector while flaunting its forward-technology to other businesses to open more doors in the hospitality industry. This links back to Fliggy, Alibabas online travel platform, as it plays an essential role in this model. It serves as an all-in-one online travel solution that connects users to a variety of travel services, including hotel reservations. FlyZoo's integration with Fliggy means that customers staying at FlyZoo Hotel can expect a uniform digital experience before, during and after their travel. This strategy highly revolves around the customer journey, which focuses on providing a seamless, consistent experience at all touchpoints. In the case of FlyZoo Hotel and Fliggy, this translates into a digitally integrated journey, enabling guests to plan and manage all aspects of their travel with great simplicity and convenience. It can be demonstrated as such: Contactless Hospitality The Contactless Hospitality strategy positions the hotel as a pioneer in leveraging technology that transform traditional operations and set new service standards in the sector. The integration of AI, automated processes and facial recognition technology enables offering a smooth, contactless guest experience. The Covid-19 pandemic has certainly accelerated the adoption of contactless technologies in hospitality, and it is predictably here to stay. Contactless technologies allow hotels to streamline their services and automate repetitive tasks, freeing up staff to focus on more strategic tasks and significantly enhances operational efficiency. Additionally, it also caters to the evolving expectations of modern travelers, who seek seamless, instant and digital-friendly services. This is commonly present in the main customer base in Chinas market: Chinese domestic travelers. According to Chinas Tourism Sector Prospects in 2023-24 by China Briefing, in the first half of 2023 domestic tourism revenue in China reached 2.3 trillion RMB, a significant increase of 1.12 trillion RMB compared to the previous year. (Interesse, 2023) Chinese tourists, regarded as the world's most tech-savvy travelers, effortlessly merge innovative technologies into their lifestyle. They increasingly demand immersive experiences offered by virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) as well as contactless services and digital payments. Therefore, contactless technology is becoming increasingly vital to the hotel industry, particularly in the technologically advanced Chinese market, which strategically aligns with Flyzoos goals. Emphasis on Mobile-friendly Services Similar to the previous section, mobile-friendly services are central to FlyZoo's strategy, marking its profound understanding of the tech-savvy customer base. Emphasizing mobile technology allows Flyzoo to deliver convenient and instant interactions, reducing wait times significantly and increasing customer satisfaction. Additionally, the mobile app can offer personalized recommendations based on user preferences and behaviors, achieving a certain degree of personalization. Guests can also use the app to communicate with staff or AI-powered assistants, catering to their queries and needs more efficiently. Fun Fact: 80 percent of travelers said they would download a hotel app that would allow them to check in, check out and get all information about the hotel. (Survey: Travelers Want Contactless Hotel Experiences, 2020) One notable example of the mobile app's innovations at FlyZoo is evident within the hotel's restaurant. After guests place their food orders via the app, tall, capsule-shaped robots deliver their meals. Meanwhile at a separate bar, a large robotic arm simultaneously mixes their cocktails. Furthermore, FlyZoo's mobile app is not only a tool for transactional services but also a platform for engaging content. The app offers interactive guides, virtual tours and informative content about the hotel and its surroundings, effectively functioning as a digital concierge. Challenges and Opportunities Analyzing FlyZoo's tech-driven hospitality model, it's evident that there are several challenges alongside the opportunities it presents. One potential difficulty could be the loss of a personal touch or reduction in human interaction, often a vital part of customer service in hospitality. A study by Oracle highlights consumers' mixed feelings about AI in hospitality, indicating that while many appreciate the convenience of AI, significant consumer segments value human contact. The hospitality industry revolves around personal service, and overuse of technology might alienate guests who value this aspect. Secondly, there's a risk of over-reliance on technology. Any technical issue or outage could affect multiple services simultaneously, potentially leading to guest dissatisfaction. Another challenge pertains to cybersecurity risks. Facial recognition and data-driven personalization could potentially compromise guests' privacy if proper security measures aren't implemented. Despite these challenges, FlyZoo's tech-oriented approach opens up several new possibilities in the industry. The strategy holds immense scalability, enabling properties to manage operations and guest relations more efficiently as they grow. Once the model is perfected, it can be replicated across multiple locations with relative ease. The model also allows for a wealth of data collection, enabling continual improvement of guest experiences based on precise insights rather than intuition. In the end, a question still remains: would you want to see more hotels like Flyzoo? This blog post tied for Second Place in the Spring 2024 HFTP/MS Global Hospitality Business Graduate Student Blog Competition presented by the HFTP Foundation. Participants are students participating in the Master of Science in Global Hospitality Business, a partnership between the Conrad N. Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership at the University of Houston, the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at Hong Kong Polytechnic University and EHL. The blog posts that received the top scores will be published on HFTP Connect. Learn more at HFTP News. About the Author Hadeel Fkeeh is a graduate student of the Master in Global Hospitality Business, a partnership between three world-leading hospitality management schools over three continents: EHL Hospitality Business School, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and the University of Houston. She holds a bachelors degree in Event Management from the Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism, graduated from Saudi Arabia's King Abdulaziz University. She has past experiences in hospitality ranging from events management in the Saudi equestrian club, Red Sea International Film Festival, Jeddah season and more. References Interesse, G. (2023, August 22). Chinas tourism in 2023: Outlook, trends, and opportunities. China Briefing. https://www.china-briefing.com/news/chinas-tourism-in-2023-outlook-trends-and-opportunities/ Fool, M. (2019, March 23). Inside Alibabas new futuristic hotel. Nasdaq. https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/inside-alibabas-new-futuristic-hotel-2019-03-23 Reuters. (2019, January 22). Inside Alibabas new hotel in China that looks like a spaceship and is staffed by robot bartenders. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/r-at-alibabas-futuristic-hotel-robots- deliver-towels-and-mix-cocktails-2019-1 Sarmah, H. (2022, September 29). Contactless hospitality solutions are important, even after COVID. eZee Absolute. https://www.ezeeabsolute.com/blog/contactless- hospitality/?utm_source=HotelBusinessStrategy&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=eAblog Survey: Travelers want contactless hotel experiences. (2020, August 18). Hotel Management. https://www.hotelmanagement.net/tech/survey-travelers-want-contactless-hotel-experiences Zhu, J., Wang, Y. W., & Cheng, M. (2021). Digital transformation in the hospitality industry. ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/355272543_Digital_Transformation_in_the_Hospitality_Industry This article originally appeared on HFTP. What is the best way for guests to get from Vaclav Havel Prague Airport to Theatrino? Theatrino has parking for hotel guests so for most visitors spending time in Prague, renting a car for around $13/day may be the best option. This will give you the ability to get to and from Vaclav Havel Prague Airport, and also give you the flexibility to get around the area. Rideshare apps and taxis remain a very common solution for Theatrino guests. This is often the most cost-effective method of transportation when visiting Prague. Town Clerk Whitney Flynn gives instructions on a ballot vote on the school budget at Monday's special town meeting. Voters approved level funding the budget at $2,948,462. Officer David Tarjick and Betty King tally the votes as Moderator Carol Francesconi and Town Clerk Whitney Flynn look on. PreviousNext Cheshire Rejects Override, Votes Reduced School Budget The decision to vote on the budget by secret ballot on Monday night was overwhelming. An override to fund the school budget failed in Monday's election. CHESHIRE, Mass. Voters on Monday rejected a Proposition 2 1/2 override and passed a motion that would level fund the town's fiscal 2025 school assessment. They also voted down a debt exclusion to purchase a $67,000 police cruiser 228-267, but approved an exclusion for an $850,000 fire truck 296-200. An article to separate the positions of town tax collector and treasurer failed 230-261. All four questions had passed at the annual town meeting. Question 1 on the warrant would have added $150,534 to the town's levy limit to cover the town's $3 million portion of the $23 million Hoosac Valley Regional School budget. The question failed 141-355. At the special town meeting following the vote, Selectmen Chair Shawn McGrath motioned to level fund the assessment at $2,948,462, the same assessment as last year, and that passed 47-20 on a secret ballot. The failure of the school budget means the School Committee has the choice to make cuts or resubmit its budget to a districtwide vote. The budget passed in Adams, the other town in the two-town school district. Hoosac Valley's Business Manager Erika Snyder said the school district will request a meeting of all voters in the school district, which would decide the budget by majority vote. "We've chosen to move forward with the same budget regardless of tonight's outcome," she said. "That's our plan. ... We were prepared for a failed vote tonight." Snyder said the reduction in Cheshire's assessment would translate to $600,000 in cuts because Adams' assessment would also have to be reduced. Cheshire has 224 students enrolled, or about a quarter of the student population. For every $1 Cheshire is reduced, Adams would have to be cut by $3. A number of voters questioned what would happen now that the override had failed and what would happen if they declined to pass the lower assessment. "If it fails right now we'll fund it through reserves," said John Tremblay of the Finance Committee. He said the committee had last week recommended the override 3-1, so as not to dip into reserves. Prior to the annual town meeting, it was 5-0. "I know this is an emotional issue," he said. "When I think about prior superintendents in the years that I've been doing this, I can remember one who presented an increase almost every year, but never a detailed plan. And I remember another one that came only to shut the school down. I think all of us remember that. And then another one that was only here for 10 months, or less than a year. Now we've got a local product [Superintendent Aaron Dean] that is passionate about the school, has presented a detailed plan. Much of the increase, in fact, most of it is due to things out of the district's control." Fellow committee member Kathleen Levesque said she was the no vote last week. "Every year, the School Committee asks and asks and asks, and we give, and we give and we give," she said. "And every year that we made a little inclination to say, no, we're not going to go for the budget, they would come back and go, we have to cut this teacher. We have to cut this para, or these paras, or these teachers. "I don't believe that. I feel it can be done in other ways." If the districtwide vote goes against Cheshire, it will have to find a way to come up with the $150,000. Its levy limit has now been reduced because of the failure of the debt exclusion for the police cruiser, which was to be paid for this year. "Our levy had anticipated having the debt exclusion for just a cruiser ... so, because that failed, now we have to pull that out, which reduces the levy limit," said McGrath. "So now our expenses, which met the levy limit, we've got to fund that." Selectwoman Michelle Francesconi noted that the Board of Selectmen had recommended the override at the annual town meeting to avoid dipping into reserves. She pointed out the roof on the old wing of the former school, now the Community House, has failed and there are mushrooms growing out of the floor. An earmark of $500,000 put in by state Sen. Paul Mark won't cover all the repairs needed. "That's just one example of a capital expense that by using our reserves, it ties the hands of the town, so we can't use your money effectively," she said. "We typically only put away $20,000 a year in our stabilization account. And so all of a sudden today, now we've already told you that $67,000, we'd have to use that. That's 3 1/2 years almost of stabilization deposits. "We can't achieve the goals that we have for our infrastructure if we spend our reserves on another school district budget." McGrath said the fire station also needs to be replaced and that the town had just approved "a million-dollar vehicle that's going to sit in a building that's not protecting it properly and not set up properly." Voters were given a card with "yes" and "no" on it and instructed to tear it in half and put their vote in the box and the other piece in the trash. It took only a few moments to vote and count the ballots and Moderator Carol Francesconi read out the results. The school district will revert to a 1/12 budget based on last year's spending plan until a district vote can be held. The town last rejected a school budget in 2017 , in part over the closure of Cheshire Elementary School, but voted to fund the budget with no reductions in July that year. "I think it's unfortunate that we're in the position that we're in, but we've undertaxed, I think, the town, for a long time," said Michelle Francesconi. "And if we don't, at some point in time, have a 2 1/2 override and start to really flush out what we need to accomplish in town, we're going to be in this position every year." The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) made a significant step forward in enhancing aviation's role as a catalyst for sustainable development in Africa. During the AFI Week held in Gabon, ICAO signed four pivotal capacity building and implementation support agreements with Member States, each aimed at strengthening their aviation sectors and alignment with international standards. Gabon's Agence Nationale de l'Aviation Civile entered into a Management Service Agreement (MSA) with ICAO. This comprehensive agreement will provide Gabon with access to ICAO's expertise, project management and procurement services, and customized training packages. A key focus of this collaboration is the potential development of a Civil Aviation Master Plan, which will chart the strategic growth of Gabon's aviation sector, ensuring efficient, safe, and sustainable development of infrastructure and services. Chads Autorite de l'Aviation Civile partnered with ICAO for a preliminary assessment of training needs. This crucial project will evaluate the technical and general skills of ADAC's staff responsible for overseeing civil aviation safety and security. By optimizing human resources, Chad aims to significantly enhance the operational efficiency of its civil aviation authority. Ugandas Civil Aviation Authority and ICAO agreed to develop a comprehensive 15-year Air Navigation Plan. This strategic framework will not only guide the implementation of air navigation services and infrastructure but also ensure Uganda's alignment with international aviation standards, in order to facilitate a safer, more efficient, and higher capacity air navigation system for the East African nation. South Africas Civil Aviation Authority signed a Declaration of Intent to host the next Global Next Generation of Aviation Professionals (NGAP) Summit. Set for February 2025 in Johannesburg, this summit highlights South Africa's commitment to nurturing the future leaders of the aviation industry. These agreements represent ICAO's commitment to supporting African Member States in developing sustainable aviation sectors. By focusing on areas such as strategic planning, human resource development, and infrastructure enhancement, these initiatives are set to improve aviation safety, efficiency, and capacity across the continent. The collaborative efforts between ICAO and these African states are expected to yield significant benefits, not only for the aviation sector but also for the broader economy. As aviation acts as a multiplier for economic growth, these agreements are poised to contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, improve connectivity, and foster economic opportunities in the region. As these projects unfold, they will serve as examples of how targeted ICAO support and collaboration in the aviation sector can drive sustainable development and economic growth in Africa. iciHaiti - Paris Olympics 2024 : Haiti already on the podium Haiti's delegation will impress the world during the Opening Ceremony parade this Friday, July 26, 2024, with their uniforms designed (for free) by the famous Haitian-Italian designer Stella Jean in collaboration with the renowned Haitian painter Philippe Dodard. Ranked by Forbes Magazine, among the 10 most stylish delegations for the Opening Ceremony and in 3rd position of the Top 10 most beautiful uniforms on the official website of the 2024 Olympic Games, Haiti's costumes are true works of art that stand out for their symbolism. The Haitian delegation's uniforms were chosen by the International Olympic Committee to enter the permanent exhibition of the Olympic Games Museum in Lausanne (Switzerland). The female athletes will wear a full skirt highlighting Dodard's work, with light blue chambray shirts, made from the traditional Haitian "blue cotton", as well as sleeveless jackets made from recycled fabric. Male athletes will wear striped shirts, printed scarves and jackets inspired by traditional shirts (Guayabera). Their pants will also feature Dodard's work. IH/ iciHaiti BEIJING, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Buckle up, touch a screen, and off you go -- with no hands on the wheel. Taking a ride in one of the world's most cutting-edge robotaxis is becoming almost effortless in Beijing E-Town, a national-level economic-technological development area in the Chinese capital. "Some might feel nervous when trying these fully self-driving taxis for the first time. But in my personal experience, after three or four minutes of chat in the seats, they would forget they were in a driverless car," said Zhang Ning, vice president of Chinese autonomous driving startup Pony.ai and head of its Beijing R&D center. Outside the science fiction-like cab is an even more exciting bigger picture. Galvanized by growing technology prowess, accommodating regulation and investor enthusiasm, the autonomous driving industry is charging ahead toward large-scale commercial use with China revving up efforts to foster tech-intensive new growth engines. ENTERING FAST LANE Nearly 100 Pony.ai robotaxis are now available in a 160 square-km designated autonomous driving zone in Beijing E-Town, offering paid services for anyone, if they like, with just a few clicks on a mobile app. The company, a rival to Alphabet's self-driving car unit Waymo, aims to increase the scale of its single-city robotaxi fleet to 10 times this number by either 2025 or 2026, Zhang told Xinhua in an interview. "We've now come to the stage where it is possible to reduce costs on a larger scale of commercialization," he said. "As long as the robotaxi fleet reaches above 1,000 in one city, we will be able to break even in operation." With around 250 robotaxis deployed in China's four first-tier cities, namely Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, Pony.ai is teaming up with Japanese carmaker Toyota to roll out new-generation vehicles en masse. These seventh-generation models will integrate autonomous driving technology during, rather than after, the car manufacturing process, making production more efficient. This acceleration extends beyond the passenger transport scenario. In addition to its current around 200 fuel-driven robotrucks nationwide, Pony.ai is expected to roll out electric models to scale up autonomous driving in the field of cargo transport. Describing autonomous driving as "a killer application" of artificial intelligence (AI), Zhang is upbeat about the prospects of this nascent industry, noting that it will catalyze the development of a whole AI industrial chain that incorporates such links as transport, energy and cloud computing. Both the robotaxis and robotrucks produced by Pony.ai are based on L4 autonomy, which means the vehicles can drive themselves in most conditions without a human backup driver. Autonomous driving is categorized from Level 0 to Level 5. The higher the level, the more advanced and intelligent the technology. Listing AI as one of the strategic industries to be promoted through better policy and governance in the country's latest reform plan to advance modernization, China has been at the forefront of autonomous driving development. The country first piloted robotaxis without safety operators in the cities of Wuhan and Chongqing in 2022. Last March, China approved the commercial operation of fully autonomous driving services in Beijing. By the end of 2023, over 30 Chinese cities had issued road test licenses for autonomous driving. Global consulting firm McKinsey & Company has forecast that China will become the world's largest market for self-driving vehicles, with revenue from such vehicles and mobility services exceeding 500 billion U.S. dollars by 2030. "Five or six years ago, most people would doubt if autonomous driving could take root in China. There are no such doubts now," Zhang said. DRIVING FORCE Technological progress is at the heart of the industry's advance, making driverless vehicles safer, cheaper, cleaner and more comfortable than traditional ones. The safety level of autonomous driving is 10 times that of manned driving, according to Zhang, who noted that ensuring safety, efficiency and riding comfort will be a focus of his company's technology input as it speeds up commercialization. Pony.ai had accumulated a total of 3.5 million km in global fully driverless testing as of May this year, compared with 200,000-300,000 km that a person could amass for a whole lifetime in general if not a long-distance commuter or a professional driver. There is abundant demand for driverless vehicles in China, where 90 percent of traffic accidents are caused by human errors, according to official data. The riding experience in a clean cab without unwanted interaction with drivers is also a plus for many passengers. Self-driving trucks could make long-distance cargo transport less exhausting and reduce the demand for truck drivers, which is already faced with an insufficient supply. "It takes two drivers to work on shifts to carry cargo from Beijing to Guangzhou, a 2,400 km journey, on a conventional truck. With these self-driving trucks, it only takes one safety inspector like me," said 31-year-old robotruck driver Huo Kangtian. "It's a much less tiresome job." Investor interest has fueled the industry's upgrade. Pony.ai, for instance, has secured more than 1.4 billion dollars of financing from both domestic and foreign investors since 2017. The company was valued at 8.5 billion dollars as of October last year. The investment environment for the industry has been improving since last year, despite fluctuations in previous years, according to the company. Government support is also a key driving force. The opening of the designated autonomous driving demonstration zone in Beijing is pivotal for the initial development of startups like Pony.ai, Zhang revealed. Local authorities plan to expand this area to cover 600 square km and to extend it closer to the city center in the future. "The central and local governments in China rank first in the world in terms of their openness and understanding of autonomous driving, or are at least on par with the United States, to be modest," said Li Hengyu, vice president of Pony.ai and head of its robotruck business unit. Autonomous driving is a case in point as to how China better leverages the government role to overhaul its economic structure and forge new growth impetus by cultivating emerging high-tech industries, which usually are highly uncertain in terms of business prospects and demand long-term input. By late February 2024, China boasted more than 20 cities that had launched policies supporting autonomous driving tests, with over 60 enterprises having obtained autonomous driving test licenses. Five ministries, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Transport, jointly issued a notice in July to identify 20 cities or urban agglomerations, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, as pilot areas for the application of intelligent network integrating vehicles, roads and cloud. "As China takes the lead in supporting autonomous driving, a lot of developed countries are coming to China to learn how our industry is governed here. It used to be the other way around," Zhang said. With rivalry between China and the United States set to heat up even further in the future, Zhang has confidence in the Chinese domestic industry's prospects for competing in the global arena. "If we can generate profits in China, which has much more complicated traffic surroundings than many other countries, we will almost certainly nail it in other markets," said Zhang. The company now provides self-driving products and services for such overseas regions as the Republic of Korea, Luxembourg and Saudi Arabia. Looking ahead, challenges remain in terms of technology improvement and regulation. "We hope there could be more roads, cities and regions to be opened for the testing and operation of driverless cars, and more unified national-level regulation of the industry," Zhang said. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Banksys latest artwork of a rhino, which looks as though it is mounting a car, was defaced after a few hours of being unveiled. The artwork, depicting the silhouette of a rhino mounting a silver Nissan Micra with a traffic cone on its bonnet, had appeared on Westmoor Street in Charlton, south east London. The piece was spray painted by a man wearing a black balaclava, who had an accomplice waiting by the side of the road at around 19.45BST, reported the BBC. A witness who spoke to the BBC said a random youth in a black balaclava brazenly walked up and defaced the installation with a graffiti tag. The whole incident took place within less than 30 seconds before he disappeared with another male accomplice further down the road. Banksy had confirmed the piece as his with an Instagram post usually how he claims his artwork on 12 August. This piece was Banksys eighth artwork in his animal-themed collection, with past pieces showing silhouettes of a goat, elephants, monkeys, a wolf, pelicans, a cat and fish, all of which had popped up in various locations across London. Barriers have been put up around his seventh piece swimming piranhas painted on a City of London Police sentry box. open image in gallery A new design of swimming fish by Banksy, which appeared on a police box in the City of London is cordoned off ( PA Wire ) A City of London Corporation spokesperson said in a statement to PA: Were aware of the works on the City of London police box on Ludgate Hill. We are currently working through options to preserve the artwork. On Thursday, one of the pieces a howling wolf on a satellite dish was stolen by three individuals within hours of Banksy claiming it as his. Tom Kellow, a Peckham resident, walked down to see the artwork during his lunch break when he saw the thieves. I was walking down around 1pm and saw three guys nicking it. They had a ladder. There was one guy on the roof and the other two were watching the ladder, he told PA news. They saw me filming and it got a bit tetchy. One gave me a kick in the side and another tried to throw my phone on the roof. Luckily it hit a tree and came back down again. I told a police officer in the area about it. Its a great shame we cant have nice things and its a shame it couldnt have lasted more than an hour. A spokesperson for Banksy told the PA news agency that the artist is neither connected to nor endorses the theft and that they have no knowledge as to the dishs current whereabouts. The first piece in Banksys new animal-themed series, unveiled on Monday last week, appeared near Kew Bridge in south-west London and shows a goat with rocks falling down below it, just above where a CCTV camera is pointed. On Tuesday, silhouettes of two elephants with their trunks stretched toward each other appeared on the side of a building near Chelsea. This was followed by a trio of monkeys looking as though they were swinging from underneath a bridge over Brick Lane, which is near a vintage clothing shop in the popular east London market street, not far from Shoreditch High Street. Friday brought an image of pelicans pinching fish from a London chip shop sign in Walthamstow, east London, and Thursday saw the howling wolf. The sixth artwork in Cricklewood, north west London, showed the silhouette of a large cat with an upturned nail as it appears to stretch out its body. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy American standup comedian Reginald D Hunter has found himself at the centre of an antisemitism row after two Israeli people were heckled and booed at his Edinburgh Fringe gig on Sunday (11 August). Hunter, 55, who is from Albany, Georgia, but has lived in the UK since 1997, is currently performing his standup show Fluffy Fluffy Beavers at the annual comedy festival. Dominic Cavendish, The Telegraphs chief theatre critic who was at Sunday nights show, reported that the audience erupted into vocal animosity at an Israeli couple who had briefly heckled Hunter. Hunter reportedly made a crude gag in which he compared the state of Israel to an abusive partner. He referenced a documentary containing a scene about an abusive wife who accused her husband of abuse, which made him think: My God, its like being married to Israel. The journalist said there was laughter in response to the joke, but a couple in the front row who said they were from Israel shouted not funny. This reportedly sparked an outburst from several audience members who shouted youre not welcome and genocidal maniac at the couple and booed them. The pair reportedly left the venue, the Assembly George Square Studios, in Edinburgh. Hunter allegedly told the couple: You can say its not funny to you, but if you say it to a room full of people who laughed. The Independent has contacted Hunters representatives for comment. open image in gallery Reginald D Hunter performing at the Royal Albert Hall in 2005 ( Getty Images ) The Assembly Festival, which runs the venue, said in a statement that an audience member chose to leave Hunters show on Sunday. The venue front of house team attended and supported the member of the public upon exiting, the statement said. In response to Cavendishs account of the show, the Campaign for Antisemitism called the alleged events extremely concerning and a sickening low that cannot be disguised as comedy. Comedians are rightly given broad latitude, but they also have a responsibility to their audience, the organisation said. The incident comes months after Londons Soho Theatre banned comedian Paul Currie from performing at the venue after Jewish audience members claimed they were subjected to verbal abuse and made to feel unsafe during his hour-long show Shtoom. In it, the Belfast does not speak in what was described on the theatres website as a unique, surrealist, Dada punk-clown, non-verbal experience. One Israeli attendee said they were made to feel unsafe when they did not stand and applaud when a Ukrainian and Palestinian flag was unveiled during the show. Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Get our The Life Cinematic email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy George Clooney has said he is a little irritated with Quentin Tarantino for talking s*** about him. The actor starred alongside the film director in Robert Rodriguezs 1996 vampire thriller From Dusk Till Dawn, which Tarantino wrote, early into his film career. Preceding this, Clooney had shot to fame as Doug Ross in the medical TV drama ER, and, a few seasons in, the actor embarked on a Hollywood career, starring in romance One Fine Day, Steven Soderberghs Out of Sight and Batman & Robin, which Clooney himself has criticised over the years. The following 20 years saw Clooney become one of the worlds biggest film stars, working with directors including the Coen brothers (O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Intolerable Cruelty, Burn After Reading, Hail, Caesar!), Wes Anderson (Fantastic Mr Fox) and Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity). Clooney himself has directed multiple films, including Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Good Night, and Good Luck and The Ides of March, and won an Oscar for Syriana. He also received nominations for his work in Up in the Air and The Descendants. According to Clooney, though, Tarantino recently questioned the success of his film career. He said in a new interview with GQ: Quentin said some s*** about me recently, so Im a little irritated by him. He did some interview where he was naming movie stars, and he was talking about you, and somebody else, and then this guy goes, Well, what about George? He goes, Hes not a movie star. And then he literally said something like, Name me a movie since the millennium. Clooney said this put his nose out of joint, adding: I was like, Since the millennium? Thats kind of my whole f***ing career. The actor continued: So now Im like, all right, dude, f*** off. I dont mind giving him s***. He gave me s***. Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free open image in gallery Quentin Tarantino and George Clooney in From Dusk Till Dawn ( Miramax Films ) Clooney was interviewed alongside Brad Pitt, with whom he stars in new film Wolfs. The action comedy film, directed by Jon Watts, will have a one-week limited theatrical release on 20 September 20, followed by its streaming debut on Apple TV+. Wolfs, which also stars Amy Ryan, Austin Abrams and Poorna Jagannathan, follows two stubborn professional fixers who find themselves forced to work together after being hired for the same job. Read the full interview in the September issue of British GQ, available on newsstands and via digital download from 27 August. Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Get our The Life Cinematic email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy James Cameron has reacted to being labeled overbearing by Independence Day director Roland Emmerich. During a panel with filmmaker Antoine Fuqua at the 2024 San Diego Comic-Con last month, Emmerich revealed that he lost interest in his planned reboot of the 1966 camp sci-fi classic Fantastic Voyage after Cameron was brought on to help. James Cameron is very overbearing, and so I at one point just gave up, the 68-year-old German director said at the time. Because its like, is it your movie or my movie? And thats what happened. Asked about Emmerichs choice words in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Cameron, 69, responded: Ive never said anything negative about Roland. But anyway: Yes, Im overbearing. Damn right. When its a project where Ive contributed to the writing, I might actually have an opinion on it, he continued. I actually dont even remember talking to Roland Emmerich about Fantastic, Cameron said. I remember the other directors that we worked with for months on end trying to develop that project. If I talked to Roland, it was for two minutes. I have a pretty good memory and I dont remember that at all. When asked if the project was still in the works, the Titanic director vaguely replied: Move on, thats a non-story. open image in gallery James Cameron acknowledges Roland Emmerichs critique: Damn right Im overbearing ( Getty Images ) The Independent has contacted Emmerichs representative for comment. At Comic-Con, Emmerich told the crowd that his take on Fantastic Voyage remake was only in the very beginning stages when he exited the project. Look, Im going to have to say, I do my stuff, and when I cannot do my stuff, Im like totally not interested, the Day After Tomorrow director explained. Its as simple as that. So when someone else wants to say something to me and is more powerful to me, I drop out. Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free This isnt the first time Emmerich has spoken critically about Camerons input on the project. In a 2007 interview with Empire Magazine, Emmerich said: Two years ago Jim called me up and said Roland I want you to look at the script for Fantastic Voyage its not there yet. And he sent it over and I hated the script. The Patriot director disagreed with Camerons decision to have the film set in the future. I said why have you put this in the future? I said let this happen now, Emmerich said. Its so much more cool and fun when we can say to a normal person from now, well were going to make you microscopic and put you in some submarine which we will shrink down and you have to do this stuff inside a body. The original 1966 Fantastic Voyage, helmed by Richard Fleischer and starring Raquel Welch, Stephen Boyd and Jean Del Val, follows brilliant scientist Jan Benes (Del Val), whose revolutionary shrinking machine is used to shrink a submarine crew so that they can enter Beness body to save him from a blood clot. Sign up to Roisin OConnors free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Get our Now Hear This email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Taylor Swifts concert organizers for the London leg of her tour have announced additional safety measures at Wembley Stadium after the alleged terrorist plot at her Vienna concert last week. Fans were devastated when Swifts concerts, scheduled for August 8-10 at the Ernst Happel Stadium, were canceled after police arrested two people suspected of planning a major attack at one of the performances. Wembley Stadium has since put a guide online for fans attending the dates in London on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, the last gigs on the European leg of The Eras Tour. It says: Standing guests - please refer to the colour zone on your ticket to get you to the correct queuing ramp. Seated guests - please refer to the colour zone on your ticket to get you to the correct turnstile. The quickest route to your entry point is by following the signage for the colour zone. Note: Additional ticket checks will be in operation at points in and around the stadium prior to entry. Please have your tickets ready to show stewards when asked. open image in gallery Taylor Swift has yet to comment publicly on the alleged Vienna terrorist plot ( Getty Images for TAS Rights Management ) A merchandise megastore is located in the green car park and can be accessed on the five concert days, and on Wednesday and Sunday, when Swift is not performing. Wembley Stadium says: Overnight camping is not allowed. Wembley Stadium is situated in a residential area. We kindly ask that only those with tickets or those visiting our merchandise megastore turn up to the stadium to avoid disruption to the local residents and businesses. To support with the safe entry and exit of everyone within the stadium, no-one is allowed to stand outside any entrance or on the Olympic Steps at the front of the stadium. Non ticket holders will be moved on. There are also guidelines for having only an A4-sized bag; not having face coverings for non-religious or medical reasons; no chains, chain wallets, studded jewelery or spurs; and no hard plastic as well as not bringing metal carabiners for friendship bracelets. Enjoy unlimited access to 70 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up Enjoy unlimited access to 70 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up A plastic water bottle no larger than 500ml in capacity can be taken into the grounds, Wembley said. Referencing Swifts songs, the venue also said: Make sure you plan your visit to Wembley Stadium well in advance and give yourself plenty of opportunity to Breathe. open image in gallery Austrian police officers observe Taylor Swift fans gathering in the city center in Vienna on August 8 ( AP ) Check the weather before you go and dress accordingly. We could be in for a Cruel Summer. Leave plenty of time for your journey and plan ahead. The same for your return journey home. Read all the information provided and take note of what you can and cant do. Dont Shake It Off as not important. Youre definitely not On Your Own Kid. Large crowds are expected to attend each performance. Be aware of your surroundings and respectful to others Last week, events organizer Barracuda Music said we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyones safety as there had been confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack at Ernst Happel Stadium. A 19-year-old planned to target fans with knives or homemade explosives during the concert on Thursday or Friday, Austrian authorities said. There were a further two people arrested, a 17-year-old and an 18-year-old over the incident. Chemical substances, liquids and technical capabilities were found at the home of the 19-year-old, authorities said. They confirmed it did not ask organizers to cancel the concerts. London Mayor Sadiq Khan previously told Sky News that he is sure Vienna has got its own reasons for the cancellation but the capital was going to carry on, working closely with police (and) ensuring that the Taylor Swift concerts can take place in London safely. A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police previously said: London plays host to a significant number of very high-profile events each year with millions of visitors having a safe and enjoyable experience. The Met works closely with venue security teams and other partners to ensure there are appropriate security and policing plans in place. There is nothing to indicate that the matters being investigated by the Austrian authorities will have an impact on upcoming events here in London. As always, we will continue to keep any new information under careful review. On Tuesday, a lawyer for the main suspect in the alleged Vienna attack plot said the allegations were exaggerated. A 19-year-old Austrian man, whose name hasnt been released because of Austrian privacy rules, was arrested last Wednesday one of three people who were detained. He had neither the means nor the possibility and the explosives to carry this out, Defense lawyer Werner Tomanek said. He added that authorities allegations against the 19-year-old suspect were overacting at its best, and contended that they are presenting this exaggeratedly in order to get new surveillance powers. Additional reporting by the Press Association For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Richard Gadd has spoken out about the controversy surrounding his Netflix series Baby Reindeer. The comedian, 35, plays a fictionalised version of himself in the show, who gets stalked by a lonely and mentally ill woman called Martha, played by Jessica Gunning. Following the shows release, the real life Martha, Fiona Harvey, was found by viewers on social media and is suing Netflix for $50m (39m) for a litany of charges including defamation and emotional distress. Although Gadd vocally discouraged viewers from seeking out the real life inspiration for Baby Reindeer characters online at the time, he and Netflix have been criticised for not making the onscreen characters more distinctive from their true counterparts. Speaking to Deadline, Gadd said of the furore: I sometimes think to myself that I dont know why I expected there to be a sphere of respect around [the show] because it was so dark, because it was so personal. He admitted of the fallout: There are times where I wobble and I think, God, this is kind of tough, but I have to remember that other people are responding to it in the way I intended, and I have to cling onto the positives. The comedian added he hoped Baby Reindeers legacy would be the good that it did, referencing the fact that a male sexual abuse charity saw a staggering 80 per cent increase in first-time callers since the release of the show. open image in gallery Richard Gadd and Jessica Gunning in Baby Reindeer ( Ed Miller/Netflix ) Gadd reflected: The charity stuff, the comments from people who were moved by the show, and the way it helped them understand themselves. I think trauma responses are so difficult to understand when youre going through them. To see a trauma response play out on a television show, I think, has been very comforting to people. The Emmy nominee admitted he still struggles with the trauma of the experiences included in the show despite having explored every dark corner of himself to make the series. I still have my dark days, he said. Like its as fresh as it was when it was happening, when I was young, all the way back then. Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free open image in gallery Fiona Harvey on Piers Morgan Uncensored ( YouTube ) Gadd added: I realise Im twinned with this now. And thats fine, because the majority of people are really kind and understanding, but there is definitely a section of society that has splintered off. They dont want to hear about this stuff anymore, they cant accept the nuances of it, and they think that I was, I dont know, asking for it. Thats very hard to live with. In June it was reported that Harvey had filed a lawsuit against Netflix, accusing the streaming service of defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, gross negligence and violations of her right of publicity. Gadd said in a response filed at the time: I never intended the series to identify any real person as Martha Scott, including Harvey. 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. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Bowen Yang has recalled the time a former Saturday Night Live host made multiple cast members cry. During a recent appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, Yang and his Las Culturistas podcast co-host Matt Rogers played a game of Truth or Kink, where they were given saucy questions to answer. For his first question, Yang was asked to reveal the worst SNL host behavior hed ever witnessed. Without naming names, the 33-year-old Fire Island star remembered: This man this person, this host made multiple cast members cry on Wednesday before the table read because he hated the ideas. Wow, thats terrible, host Cohen responded, with Rogers joking that the person in question has new PR and everything. Elsewhere on the talk show, Yang was asked by a fan to identify what SNL skit was his biggest bomb, to which he answered: Oh this is interesting. You know, when Ayo Edebiri hosted this past season, we wrote a live sketch where it took place in an elevator and she and I were telling everyone that we should all make out or something. For some reason, it got turned into a pre-tape under our noses and then we had to adapt to that, he explained. It just didnt go as well as I had hoped and you just deal with it. Yang added: Comedys subjective, you never know how its gonna play in front of a specific audience. So its fine, you let it roll off your back. The Awkwafina From Queens actor first joined SNL as a writer in 2018 before he was promoted to part of the on-air cast a year later. open image in gallery Bowen Yang became the first Chinese American actor in SNL history to receive an Emmy nomination ( Getty Images for Writers Guild o ) Since joining as a full-time cast member, some of Yangs most memorable skits have included him portraying a talking balloon in reference to the suspected Chinese spy balloon that was shot down by the US military in February 2023. In October 2022, he also memorably skewered Elon Musk, Kanye West, Joe Biden and Chris Pratt during the shows cold open. Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free In 2021, Yang made SNL history as the first Chinese American cast member to receive an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, which he earned after having only appeared on two seasons of the NBC comedy sketch show. Though it has yet to be confirmed, Bowen is expected to return for SNLs forthcoming season 50, which premieres on September 28. The new season will welcome back Maya Rudolph who will reprise her popular impersonation of Vice President Kamala Harris. Meanwhile, it was recently announced that Steve Martin declined SNL creator Lorne Michaels request that he play Minnesota Governor Tim Walz alongside Rudolphs Harris. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Kit Harington has explained what he believes to be the fault with how Game of Thrones ended, admitting mistakes were made. In 2019, Game of Thrones drew to a close with a finale considered to be one of the most hated in TV history. Many including those associated with the show complained the truncated final season felt like a rush job. The actor has previously spoken candidly about his time on the show, revealing he was initially disappointed about a plot twist involving his character Jon Snow. But he has been more levelled when its come to sharing his opinion on the maligned finale. Two years after the finale aired, Harington told USA Today of the response: My process since finishing that show is learning to be proud of what we did. The fact that some people were upset with the ending just shows how much it impacted people, and thats a wonderful thing. Im still processing it all, but Im proud of it. The actor, who stars in the new season of Industry, is now being more honest about his thoughts. In a new interview with GQ Hype, Harington attributed the lower quality of the final season to exhaustion. I think if there was any fault with the end of Thrones, is that we were all so f***ing tired, we couldnt have gone on longer, he said. And so I understand some people thought it was rushed and I might agree with them. But Im not sure there was any alternative. Harington said that, when he looks at pictures of me in that final season, he can see that he looks spent. He continued: I didnt have another season in me. The actor, directly addressing the finale, said: I think there were mistakes made, story-wise, towards the end maybe. I think there were some interesting choices that didnt quite work. Elsewhere in the interview, in which he also discusses his sobriety, Harington explained why a planned spin-off centred on his character is no longer in the works. Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free open image in gallery Kit Harington as Jon Snow in Game of Thrones ( HBO ) What I can tell you is it was HBO that came to me and said, Would you consider this? My first reaction was no. And then I thought there could be an interesting and important story about the soldier after the war. I felt that there might be something left to say and a story left to tell in a pretty limited way. We spent a couple of years back and forth developing it. And it just didnt... nothing got us excited enough. Harington said that he backed out as he thought if we push this any further and keep developing it, we could end up with something thats not good. The actor can currently be seen in HBO series Industry season three, which will air in the UK on BBC One and iPlayer later this year, and on stage in Slave Play. Read the full feature online at GQ Hype now. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The son of a UK citizen imprisoned by China warned that time is running out to save his father as a British judge in Hong Kong was condemned for helping to keep him in jail. Sebastien Lai, son of pro-democracy newspaper tycoon Jimmy Lai, said his 76-year-old father was approaching a fourth year in solitary confinement. Mr Lai has been locked up since 2020 and faces a life sentence under Beijings National Security Law, while also serving time for charges overseen by British judges. open image in gallery Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai arrives at the Court of Final Appeal ( AFP via Getty Images ) British judge David Neuberger voted on Monday to uphold Mr Lais conviction for taking part in anti-Beijing protests alongside 1.7 million others in 2019. Mr Lai was sentenced to 14 months in prison. But former Hong Kong governor Chris Patten said it was obvious the case Lord Neuberger upheld was an act of vengeance by the city-states government. open image in gallery Lai has been locked up since 2020 and faces a life sentence under Beijings National Security Law ( AP ) It is perfectly obvious in this case that the proceedings brought against him are an act of vengeance against Mr Lai, Lord Patten told The Independent. I am sure he has been singled out. He is hated by the Chinese Communist Party because he represents all the things that made Hong Kong a prosperous society. As a boy, Mr Lai fled Maos China, made a fortune in the garment trade, then launched his media business and turned it into the loudest voice in support of democracy in Hong Kong. He could have escaped once again. Instead, he chose to stay through the citys last mass movement in 2019, when he walked in peaceful marches and studiously avoided the violent fringe of the protests. Lord Patten added: I assumed overseas judges would be concerned with protecting the common law, not giving legitimacy to the sort of laws applied in a vengeful way by a tin pot dictatorship. open image in gallery British judge David Neuberger voted to uphold Mr Lais conviction for taking part in anti-Beijing protests in 2019 It is a delusion for Lord Neuberger to think he is standing up for the rule of law by taking part in this sort of case. The people who have been found guilty have done far more for the rule of law in Hong Kong than any British judge. Lord Neuberger told The Independent he would not comment on his judgment as it had to speak for itself and previously vowed to stay on as a judge. He said he would support the rule of law the best I can. More than 1,800 political prisoners have been detained in Hong Kong in a crackdown since mass pro-democracy protests in 2019. Two British judges quit Hong Kongs Court of Final Appeal in June and warned the territory was slowly becoming a totalitarian state with the rule of law profoundly compromised. open image in gallery More than 1,800 political prisoners have been detained in Hong Kong in a crackdown since mass pro-democracy protests in 2019 ( AP ) Mr Lais appeal centred on the questions of whether his conviction was proportionate to fundamental human rights protections set out in a pair of non-binding decisions by Britains Supreme Court known as operational proportionality. But Lord Neubergers judgment said the British courts decisions should not be followed in Hong Kong as there is a difference between the legal frameworks for human rights challenges in the two jurisdictions. open image in gallery How we highlighted Jimmy Lais plight in December ( The Independent ) Pro-democracy campaigner Simon Cheng, who fled to the UK and has since had a HK$1million (100,000) bounty put on his head, said lawfare used against Mr Lai was intended to suppress anyones spirit to fight against the Chinese Communist Party. As someone who now lives in the UK and is still targeted by Beijing, this is not just about persecution in Hong Kong, but transnational repression across the world, Mr Cheng added. British judges have sat on the Hong Kongs Court of Final Appeal since 1997 on a non-permanent basis as part of an agreement when the city was handed back to China by the UK. The judges have all retired from their UK roles. The arrangement was intended to help preserve the rule of law, provide expertise to local lawyers and reassure businesses and financial markets. open image in gallery Pro-democracy Simon Cheng, who fled to the UK and has since had a HK$1million bounty put on his head ( Facebook ) Lord Neuberger and Leonard Hoffmann remain on the court. Jonathan Sumption and Lawrence Collins resigned in June. Now, Sebastien Lai has told The Independent: My hope is that my father gets out of jail before it is too late. Given that he is almost 77 years old and has spent more than three-and-a-half years in solitary confinement on sham charges, time is not on our side. Having already called for his release, the UK government must be more proactive on his case and take steps to ensure it. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The conviction of media mogul Jimmy Lai and six other people for their role in the 2019 anti-government protests is "unjust" and underlines the rapidly deteriorating state of the rule of law in Hong Kong, former governor Chris Patten said. Mr Lai, Democratic Party founding chairman Martin Lee, and five former lawmakers were found guilty in 2021 of organising and participating in an unauthorised rally in August 2019 that reportedly drew nearly a fourth of the citys 7.3 million population. The Court of Final Appeal upheld the conviction on Monday. Mr Lai, 76, a British citizen who founded the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper, is facing the prospect of life in jail if found guilty of sedition and collusion with foreign powers under the national security law. He has been held in solitary confinement since December 2020. Lord Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong, told The Guardian the "unjust verdict" against Mr Lai and his fellow accused was made worse "by the fact that Lord Neuberger, a former head of Britains Supreme Court, was a party to this decision". This is particularly surprising since when he was a member of the judiciary in Britain, Lord Neuberger was keen to establish that the English common law could accommodate fundamental aspects of human rights protection, he said. David Neuberger was one of five judges on the Court of Final Appeal that heard the matter, renewing the debate about whether foreign judges should continue to sit on Hong Kongs highest court amid a national security crackdown. The appeal of Mr Lai and the other accused centred on whether their conviction was proportionate to the fundamental human rights protections set out in a pair of non-binding decisions by Britains supreme court known as "operational proportionality. "He was also always keen that judges should be keen to explain their reasoning. In this case, perhaps some of his views on the law changed between the first-class waiting room at Heathrow and the arrival terminal of Hong Kong international airport," Lord Patten said, referring to Lord Neuberger. The judgment upholding the conviction of Mr Lai and the other accused came nearly two months after the resignation of two British judges from the Court of Final Appeal, Lawrence Collins and Jonathan Sumption. Mr Sumption said at the time that Hong Kong was becoming a totalitarian state and its rule of law had been profoundly compromised. Mr Neuberger told Reuters in mid-June he would remain on Hong Kongs highest court to support the rule of law in Hong Kong, as best I can. China has allowed non-permanent foreign judges to sit on the Court of Final Appeal even after it took the then British colony back in 1997 to enable continuity with British common law tradition, provide expertise to local lawyers and reassure businesses and financial markets. Nearly half of foreign judges in Hong Kong have stepped down since China enacted the national security law in the wake of the 2019 protests. The overseas judges are reportedly paid about 40,000 per visit to the city. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} North Korean leader Kim Jong-un seems to have added a new luxury car to his collection of premium rides, raising doubts about the effectiveness of stringent sanctions banning export of luxury items to the country. The latest model of Mercedes-Benz SUV was seen rolling out of Mr Kims armoured train during his visit to flood-hit areas, Yonhap news agency reported. Arriving in Uiju county in North Phyongan province on 9 August, Mr Kim addressed the public from inside a carriage of his train. Pictures shared by North Korean media showed him standing near a Mercedes Maybach GLS 600, the top model of the cars facelifted version launched in South Korea in April. The car is priced between $175,500 (137,080) and $227,400 (1,77,618) in America and over 108,000 in the UK. The North Korean leader is known to have Mercedes-Maybach S600 Guard, fifth-generation US-made Cadillac Escalade, Rolls Royce Phantom and Lexus armoured sedan vehicles in his car collection. Kim Jong-un visits flood-hit areas in North Korea ( Getty ) North Korea is banned from procuring luxury goods under a broader set of international sanctions aimed at containing the countrys nuclear weapons programme. The sanctions are supposedly meant to limit the resources available to the North Korean government, particularly those that could be used to develop weapons of mass destruction. The sanctions were first imposed in 2006 after the country conducted its first nuclear test. Kim Jong-un addresses the public from his armoured train ( Reuters ) Mr Kims use of foreign cars goes against his governments policy of discouraging foreign influence through music, art, news and films on the public. Authorities in the country have previously cracked down on K-pop music and films from rival South Korea. According to the Center for Advanced Defense Studies, which tracks smuggling networks, luxury foreign cars reach North Korea through port transfers, secret high-seas shipping and shadowy front companies. In a report, the centre said 90 countries served as the source of luxury goods to North Korea from 2015 to 2017. This year, Russian leader Vladimir Putin gifted two cars to the North Korean leader as their countries deepened ties. In February, Mr Putin sent Mr Kim an Aurus Senat limousine, which he had shown him when they met for a summit in Russia in September. In June, Mr Putin gifted another Russian-made Aurus Senat, retro-styled after the Soviet-era ZIL limousine, which the Russian leader himself uses as his official presidential car, during his state visit to North Korea. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The brutal rape and murder of a resident doctor during her 36-hour shift at a prominent state-run hospital in eastern India has led to an outbreak of protests and calls for a nationwide strike. Hospital services across India have been disrupted as hundreds of thousands of doctors, nurses, and other medical staff launched an indefinite strike. Protesters demanded justice for our didi [elder sister] outside the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata where the 31-year-old postgraduate trainee was found dead. The Independent spoke to doctors who unanimously agreed that the facility lacked safety measures for medical workers. The demonstrations ensued last week after the resident doctor was found dead inside a seminar hall of the hospital on Friday. An autopsy later confirmed she had been sexually assaulted. open image in gallery Doctors and students at RG Kar hospital in Kolkata protest against the rape and killing of a doctor ( The Independent/Alisha Rahaman Sarkar ) She was very close to me taught me most of the work I know today, a student at the medical college, who did not want to be named, told The Independent. I was working in the same department as an intern last year where she was found dead. This could happen to any of us in the future due to lack of security measures, she said. We want the hospital authorities to take responsibility. What are they hiding? The local police arrested a civil volunteer associated with the Kolkata Police, Sanjay Roy, and remanded him to 14 days of custody. The suspect has been charged with rape and murder. The protesting doctors in Kolkata and elsewhere have called for an unbiased investigation into the killing, the resignation of all responsible hospital authorities, adequate security for all medical staff, and speedy ratification of a healthcare protection law. open image in gallery Protest against rape and murder of a doctor in Kolkata swells into nationwide agitation ( The Independent/Alisha Rahaman Sarkar ) The victim was last seen after midnight on 9 August before she went to a third-floor seminar hall of the pulmonology department in the emergency building of the hospital during her 36-hour on-call duty. Her partially naked body with visible marks of abuse was discovered by fellow students after 7am (local time) on Friday, who informed the police. The victims family alleged they were initially informed by a senior police official over the phone that their daughter had died by suicide. We want justice for our daughter. She did not deserve this. We want the truth to come out, the father told The Telegraph Online. The local police expanded their investigation into the suspected rape and murder to include resident doctors, hospital staff, and the assistant superintendent, who made the first call to the victims parents. We are absolutely transparent as far as this is concerned. We have nothing to hide, Kolkata police commissioner Vineet Kumar Goyal told reporters amid allegations of evidence tampering. A 24-year-old nursing student, who has been part of the demonstration since Friday, said the protest was for seeking justice for the junior doctor and for safety of all the present and future healthcare workers. There is nobody protecting the people who save lives in this country. This should have never happened, Jhanvi Pandey told The Independent. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has set a deadline for the city police to complete the investigation by 17 August, failing which it would be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), a federal investigative agency. If they fail [police] to complete the probe by Sunday, because of insider involvement, we will not keep the case with us, she said after visiting the bereaved parents. open image in gallery The emergency building of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital ( The Independent/ Alisha Rahaman Sarkar ) Sandip Ghosh, the principal of the medical college, resigned following public outrage over his remarks. He reportedly said: It was irresponsible of the girl to go to the seminar hall alone at night. The pan-India doctors strike was in response to a call by the Federation of Resident Doctors Association (Forda) in solidarity with the agitation in Kolkata. The resident doctors association of the RG Kar Medical College ceased work on the emergency services last week. The federation demanded the implementation of the central healthcare protection act, which prohibits acts of violence against healthcare service personnel including doctors, nurses, para-medical workers, medical students, and ambulance drivers. The strike is in response to a tragedy that has never happened in the history of the medical profession in India. It is not that we want to do it but the situation demands we set an example that the doctors can also take to the streets, Aviral Mathur, president of Forda, told The Independent. Dr Mathur said the association has received overwhelming support, with doctors and healthcare professionals of all levels across the nation joining the strike. The protest is expected to swell on Tuesday with more states participating. We demand that the investigation of the RG Kar Medical College should be done by an unbiased central agency, and the family of the victim should get due compensation, he said, adding that the too far Sunday deadline raised the risk of evidence tampering. If there have been allegations of investigation getting botched up, swapped or tampered with, then there will be sufficient window. open image in gallery Patients forced to return from RG Kar Medical College and Hospital ( The Independent/ Alisha Rahaman Sarkar ) The doctors strike has left thousands of low-income patients in distress across state-run hospitals. Shyamal Guha, 78, was one such patient at the RG Kar hospital, who was made to return after spending more than two hours in the ambulance at the hospital. My father had a heart attack yesterday, now due to more complications the hospital asked us to move him here. They are now refusing to take him to the emergency room. If this continues, he will die, Mr Guhas son, Pradip, said. While a series of ambulances made their way into the hospital premises, the patients inside the vehicle were forced to wait for hours and eventually return to find another hospital. It is 4.30pm and RG Kar is the third hospital to have refused me treatment, said a woman in anguish. Dr Mathur said the strike was not called in haste without considering the patients. Our profession is such that some patients will be left unattended but we have tried our best to continue emergency services, he added. A survey by the Indian Medical Association in 2015 found that 75 per cent of doctors in India faced some form of violence, with 12 per cent being physical assault. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Customs officials in India seized 22 live exotic animals from a man arriving on a flight from Thailand. The seized animals included an endangered siamang gibbon, two sunda flying lemurs, two green tree pythons, a white-lipped python, nine four-eyed turtles, a red-footed tortoise, an Indochinese box turtle, and a keeled box turtle. They were hidden inside ventilated boxes brought in by a Thai Air Asia passenger named Mohamed Meera Sardharali, who landed at the Chennai international airport from Bangkok on Saturday. He was taken for questioning after security officials noticed suspicious behaviour. He reportedly led the officials to another man, Mohammed Idris, who was waiting outside the airport to receive the package, The Times of India reported. He was handed over to the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau while Mr Sardharali was detained and remanded in judicial custody under the provisions of the Customs Act and the Wildlife Protection Act. "All the exotic wildlife species alive were safely handed over to airlines for deportation to their place of origin. Further investigation is in progress," the customs department said in a statement. The questioning of Mr Idris and Mr Sardharali reportedly helped police and wildlife officials expose a ring of animal traffickers. They raided a house in Kolathur, Chennai, and found hundreds of native and exotic species. They seized as many as 240 Indian-roofed and tricarinate hill turtles, three black pond turtles and 383 star tortoises, the newspaper said. However, there was no one at the house. The animals had either been smuggled in from abroad or were in the process of being trafficked to foreign countries, officials said. The house allegedly belonged to a police constable S Ravi Kumar, who was dismissed from service after being accused of involvement in animal trafficking. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Bangladeshs interim leader Muhammad Yunus has declared that his first priority is to secure law and order after former prime minister Sheikh Hasina left the country in a complete mess. The Nobel laureate economist is the face of the south Asian countrys new leadership, having taken over as chief adviser of the interim government after a street agitation forced Ms Hasina, who ruled with an iron fist for 15 years, to flee to India. Mr Yunus has described the agitation, driven by students, as a revolution. Law and order is the first priority so that people can sit down or get to work, the new leader said in a briefing in the capital Dhaka. He also promised to oversee broader reforms such as strengthening the freedom of speech after years of near authoritarian rule which was a mess, complete mess. Even the government, what they did, whatever they did, just simply doesnt make sense to me, he said. They didnt have any idea what administration is all about. But now there is hope, he claimed. We are a fresh new face for them, for the country, Mr Yunus said. "Finally, this moment, the monster is gone. A man walks past a police water cannon truck that was burned during the protests against Sheikh Hasinas government ( AFP via Getty ) Almost 500 people have been killed in violent protests that began as a demand to roll back a contentious jobs quota and soon turned into an anti-government agitation. As Ms Hasina fled on a military helicopter earlier this month, law and order collapsed. To make the situation worse, police officers went on a strike in protest against the killing of over a dozen of their comrades during the violence. People walk past an office of the Awami League party and adjacent buildings that were vandalised and set on fire during the protests ( Getty ) This past weekend, leaders of the agitation demanded the resignation of Supreme Court chief justice Obaidul Hassan. He quickly resigned along with five other judges of the top court. Mr Yunus outlined ensuring independence of the judiciary as another of his priorities. He said the previous system was not and acted at the behest of some superior authority. In technical terms, he was the chief justice, the new leader said, referring to Mr Hassan. But actually he was just a hangman. Mr Yunus faced a legal crackdown during Hasinas rule after he was charged in a number of cases that his supporters denounced as politically motivated vendetta. He was convicted earlier this year for violating the countrys labour law and sentenced to six months in jail. He was released on bail, however, and, recently just before taking over as the new leader, acquitted of the charges. Ms Hasina claimed her ouster was engineered by the US, which was furious with her for refusing to hand over control of Saint Martin island in the Bay of Bengal, the Economic Times reported. Washington has denied the allegation. "We have had no involvement at all. Any reports or rumours that the United States government was involved in these events is simply false," White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said at a press briefing on Monday. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The Philippines is the only country in the world, other than the tiny Vatican, where divorce is illegal. But this may soon change, as the nation of nearly 116 million people awaits a new piece of legislation that is expected to finally put an end to the old law. The Absolute Divorce Bill, which lays out a number of circumstances to allow divorce in a country with an 80 per cent Catholic population, was passed by the House of Representatives on 22 May and sent for further deliberation to the Senate. The bill will become law if it passes through the upper chamber of parliament. At least five of the 24 senators have come out in support of the bill, a significant number in a legislature where conservative lawmakers backed by the Catholic Church hold considerable sway. Its nearly half a millennium since the Spanish first colonised the Philippines, yet the indelible imprint of their more than 300-year rule on the Southeast Asian country has left thousands of couples trapped in long-dead marriages. A similar bill in 2018 died in the Senate after running into strong opposition from its conservative members. The Catholic Church in the Philippines strongly opposes divorce ( Getty ) The new bill narrowly passed the lower chamber on its third reading by a slim margin of 126 votes in favour, 109 against, and 20 abstentions. The principal author of the bill, Edcel Lagman, is hopeful that it will go the distance. I am optimistic that before the end of the sitting parliament in 2025, we will join the community of nations in legalising divorce, Mr Lagman said. He said the proposed law is constitutional and does not violate Catholic doctrines. The powerful Catholic Church and anti-divorce politicians, however, have described pro-divorce activism as irrational advocacy. There will no longer be stability in marriage with the legalisation of divorce, Gina Rama, a member of the Daughters of St Paul, a Catholic religious congregation, said. The marriage vows made in the name of God and the promise to stay for better and for worse until death will become merely a lip service. Survey shows nearly half of the adults in the country are in favour of a divorce law ( AFP via Getty ) The Philippines has effectively banned divorce since its colonisation by Spain in the 16th century. The Catholic Church established its influence during the colonial period and Catholic teachings became deeply embedded in Filipino law and culture. The Spanish Civil Code, which governed the Philippines during that time, did not allow for divorce, reflecting the Catholic Churchs doctrine on the indissolubility of marriage. After gaining independence from Spain in 1898, the Philippines briefly adopted a legal framework under the American colonial government that included provisions for divorce. However, after the Philippines became a commonwealth in 1935, the Catholic Church regained influence and divorce was prohibited again in 1950. The Civil Code passed in 1949 allowed for legal separation and annulment but did not reinstate divorce. It has remained in place, with only minor amendments, solidifying the divorce ban. In 1977, then president Ferdinand Marcos Sr legalised divorce for Muslims through a presidential decree, but the law remained for Protestants, Buddhists and people of other religions. Philippine Catholic faithful hold a banner as they take part in a Walk for Life protest in Manila in 2018 ( AFP via Getty ) The grounds for annulment in the Philippines include psychological incapacity, sex reassignment surgery, parental consent, fraud, and separation of spouses for five years, but not physical abuse, abandonment or infidelity. Although victims in cases of physical abuse and infidelity can pursue a legal separation, allowing them to live independently, they remain legally married to their abusers. The grounds must be proven in court and the annulment process can be lengthy, complicated and expensive, which is why there is growing support for legalising divorce. The proposed legislation seeks to widen the reasons for which a marriage can be dissolved, experts said. These include physical abuse towards the spouse or their child, coercion into prostitution, infidelity, abandonment, or any other circumstance for which only legal separation is currently permitted. Support for a divorce law has been growing in the country. A survey by the Social Weather Stations research institution in March found that 50 per cent of Filipino adults support the bill and 31 per cent oppose it. The rest were undecided. This was a considerable jump from 2005 when 43 per cent of the population favoured divorce and 45 per cent wanted it to remain illegal. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr supported a divorce law when he came into office in 2022. He was of the view that while some cases necessitated divorce it shouldnt be like other places where getting a divorce is so easy. Mr Lagman said he will continue to fight and lobby senators to get the bill approved. He anticipates the constitutionality of the bill, if it passes the Senate, to be challenged in the Supreme Court. Which is why we are in talks with the Supreme Court to explain what the bill is all about, the lawmaker said. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Sasha Skochilenko and Sofya Subbotina are planning to get married. That wasn't an option in their native Russia, but it's possible now that they live in Germany, which recognizes same-sex weddings. We dont know how or in which city we will do it, but thats the plan, Skochilenko, 33, told The Associated Press, looking lovingly at Subbotina, who radiated happiness. They reunited earlier this month in Germany, shortly after Skochilenko and other Russian prisoners were exchanged in a historic East-West swap a happy if unlikely ending to an over two-year ordeal. Skochilenko, an artist and musician, was jailed for speaking out againts Russias war in Ukraine. Subbotina campaigned for her partners release while also trying to make her life behind bars as tolerable as possible. They talked about marriage in Russia, too, but same-sex weddings have been effectively banned there. Laws restricting LGBTQ+ rights have been on the books for over a decade and intensified since the war began as part of the Kremlins campaign for traditional values, fueled by its anti-Western views and close ties to the Russian Orthodox Church. Now, I feel that Im in a really free country, Subbotina said, as they make plans for a life together in the quiet city of Koblenz in western Germany. An arrest and separation Skochilenko was arrested in her native St. Petersburg in 2022, just weeks after the invasion of Ukraine, for replacing price tags in a supermarket with anti-war messages like saying that Russia bombed civilian targets. She was charged with making false statements about the military, part of the massive crackdown on all dissent over the invasion. She struggled in pre-trial detention, suffering from chronic illness, including celiac disease, requiring gluten-free meals. Subbotina commuted to Skochilenkos jail at least twice a week, bringing food, medicine and other necessities. She and their friends made sure the case, which drew public outrage, stayed in the headlines. Last year, Subbotina was diagnosed with cancer. I just felt like I was giving up, and honestly, I was just ready to die, she said. The couple didnt see each other for a year. Since they werent married, investigators made Subbotina a witness in the case and refused to allow her visits or to receive phone calls from Skochilenko. It is not a small thing, when a person you love cant visit you, Skochilenko said. Subbotina added it was very painful, noting that she knows many women who married imprisoned men often with the wedding held in pre-trial detention facilities or in penal colonies. It gives them the right for long visits, it gives them the right to get phone calls, short visits, because they have a certain status in the eyes of the authorities, she said. "Weve never had this opportunity. Subbotina says she eventually was allowed short visits. They were always very open about their relationship, despite laws against any public endorsement of LGBTQ+ activities, driven by President Vladimir Putin's close ties with the Russian Orthodox Church. Skochilenko said it was clear in the early 2010s the Kremlin was headed in a homophobic direction, and some of the laws the authorities were adopting drove her to protest back then. In recent years, she said her openness was a form of activism. People often have distorted opinions about the LGBTQ+ community because they dont know anyone who loves someone of the same sex, and their views often change once they do, she said. Why dont you hope for a miracle? In November 2023, Skochilenko was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison an unusually harsh verdict. This summer, while awaiting an appeal hearing at a detention center in St. Petersburg, she said there was a point when she reached a particular point of desperation about her long sentence. She said she was traumatized by the lack of freedom and privacy, the constant body searches, and the persisting hunger from being unable to eat prison food. Subbotina visited her in July, and Skochilenko recalls bursting into tears for the first time in months. I told her, Sonya, Im tired of wanting to go home. Please tell me that I wont have to serve the entire sentence, that some miracle will happen. And she said, Yes, why dont you hope for a miracle? Skochilenko said. That same day, a prison official told Skochilenko to urgently apply for a presidential pardon, she said. The artist did not want to admit guilt, but the official said she could simply explain her health problems. She wrote the request and forgot about it, thinking that it would take a long time to even process. Several days later, she was transferred to Moscow without explanation. In the same van was Andrei Pivovarov, an imprisoned opposition politician that she knew from years earlier. There was hardly any reason for them both to be transferred at the same time, so it suggested that perhaps something good was happening. Skochilenko spent several long days in Moscows notorious Lefortovo Prison, where she was cold and hungry, unable to eat much of the food she was given. Subbotina learned of the transfer and rushed to Moscow with a care package, visiting every detention center she could think of, without success. A flight to freedom and a new life together The rest became what many Russians critical of the Kremlin describe as the first good news since the start of the war. On Aug. 1, Skochilenko and 15 others were put on a bus, driven to an airport and flown to Ankara, Turkey, where they were exchanged for eight Russians imprisoned in the West. From Ankara, the former prisoners were flown to Germany, where Chancellor Olaf Scholz greeted them on the tarmac. The next day, Skochilenko was finally able to embrace Subbotina, who flew to Germany when she heard the news. The days since then have been euphoric, Skochilenko said, filled with small pleasures like walking and buying the food she wants but also spending time with the woman she loves. Subbotina particularly enjoys being able to hold Skochilenkos hand and kiss her in public without worry. In Germany, she says, it is something that is just in the nature of things. They've settled for now in Koblenz but want to visit other cities in Germany before they decide where to live permanently. Theyre eager to learn German and begin their new lives. Skochilenko plans to return to making art, displaying sketches she drew about the prisoner swap - a moment in history in which she became an unlikely participant. She also said she intends to seek treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder from her time in prison. Subbotina, a nurse and a pharmacist whose cancer treatment was successful in Russia, hopes to work in the human rights field and help the hundreds of political prisoners in her former country. Both admit that they never expected to leave Russia in the way they did. I don't feel stressed about moving, because I'm very happy. I'm very happy that Sasha is with me," Subbotina said with a smile. Added Skochilenko: My relationship with Russia is over. I need to accept that. Im glad theres a new life. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Alexia and Bart Collart braced for a hard visit. Marines came to their home in Arlington, Virginia, last week to brief them on what caused the Osprey crash in Australia last year that resulted in the death of their son and two other Marines. But they werent expecting to hear these words: Your son didnt die in the crash. Cpl. Spencer R. Collart had safely escaped the aircraft. But the 21-year-old saw that the Osprey's two pilots were unaccounted for. Despite the smoke and flames, he went back in. Collart heroically reentered the burning cockpit of the aircraft in an attempt to rescue the trapped pilots, the official Marine Corps investigation into the crash found. He perished during this effort. For his valor, Collart will be posthumously awarded the services highest noncombat award: the Navy and Marine Corps Medal. It is an honor awarded for acts of heroism at great risk to the servicemembers life. It didnt surprise his dad that Spencer tried to save the pilots. I heard a song the other day. Ive heard it many times, Bart Collart said. There was a quote in there, about how the last thing on my mind was to leave you. And I think that was Spencer talking with me a little. He had no intention of leaving us. I think he thought hed go in and get the job done. Spencer Collart was a goal-driven, 6-foot-2, grinning Washington-Liberty High School lacrosse player who walked into the house on his 18th birthday with a surprise: Hed just enlisted. The Marines are the top of the top. The best of the best, Spencer told his mom Alexia Collart, when she asked him why. The Collarts werent a military family, but Spencer wanted to serve. And he wanted to fly. He got his top assignment choice and met his two best friends, Lance Cpl. Evan Strickland and Cpl. Jonah Waser. They spent a year together training to become crew chiefs, enlisted Marines responsible for the aircraft and its passengers. Theres a photo of them posing with their class on April 22, 2022, the day they earned their wings. They were flying the V-22 Osprey, which functions as both an airplane and a helicopter. But its an aircraft that has a troubled history and four fatal accidents in two years. In June 2022, Strickland was killed along with four other Marines in a training crash in California. Collart served as a pallbearer. He stayed in close touch with Strickland's family, calling to check on them, Facetiming them on the crash anniversary, and reading the accident investigation report from cover to cover, Strickland's mother, Michelle, said. He wanted to really understand, she said. When Spencer's unit deployed to Australia in April 2023, he asked his mother if he could give Michelle Strickland her number so they could text each other. He had the foresight to connect me with Michelle. I dont know if he was concerned or worried. I suspect maybe he was, Alexia Collart said. Still, Spencer flourished in his role. He took on hard jobs no one wanted, like packing the units plane before they deployed. His squadron kept showing up with more gear, so he kept unpacking and repacking it, again and again. By the fourth try Spencer was red and black, just covered in grease and sunburn, his commander told Bart Collart. Spencer earned a first-class ticket to Australia for his effort. In the Osprey, Spencer spent most of the flight in the tunnel, the area right behind the pilot and co-pilot, learning from them, with a goal to become a pilot himself. When Spencers personal effects arrived after his death, Bart Collart found his sons Marine Corps camouflage cap, known as a cover. He put it on and metal nudged his forehead. Spencer had pinned a 2nd lieutenants gold butter bar and a set of pilots wings into the band. He put these in here to remind himself every time he put his cap on of his next goal, Bart Collart said. He was all in. He walked the walk, he talked the talk, and he was just, he just loved it so much. On August 27, 2023, two Marines came to the Collart's door. Spencer Collart's Osprey had crashed during an Australian military exercise, killing him and Capt. Eleanor LeBeau and aircraft commander Maj. Tobin Lewis. For months, that's all his parents knew. Then, last week, the Marines came back, to brief their findings. Seconds after the Osprey hit the ground, the aircraft filled with smoke and flames. Collart had been standing in the tunnel even as the plane was going down. Most of the 23 troops on board escaped out the back, including a commander who told investigators he saw Collart escape out a side door. A site team later found Collarts tether what hed use to latch onto the Osprey to move around during flight undamaged outside the aircraft. But not everyone made it out. The pilots were still inside. The Osprey had crashed nose first, and they were trapped. Collart went back. Investigators believe he may have unbuckled Lewis from his restraints before he succumbed. Collart thought the world" of Lewis and LeBeau, Bart Collart said. He believes Lewis' last-minute maneuver to level the plane as it was crashing right side down helped the troops in the back survive. The fourth member of the flight crew, Cpl. Travis Reyes, has been at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio for the last year recovering from critical injuries. Saturday marked the first time he got to fly home to his parents' house in Maryland. Spencer's family met Waser for the first time at the funeral. This time it was Waser who put on dress blues to serve as a pallbearer and escort his best friend's remains from Dover Air Force Base to Arlington National Cemetery. Spencers younger sister, Gwyneth Collart, felt instant chemistry. Her parents saw it too. As soon as I met him, I was like, this is not the time or the place to be falling in love, Gwyneth Collart said of Waser. Grieving will never be easy, but he made grieving a little bit more comfortable to do. And he just, I mean, he took my breath away. Months later, Waser asked her father for Gwyneths hand. You guys told me that Marines work fast, and you werent kidding, Bart Collart said, laughing. Gwyneth Collart and Waser married July 6 in Arlington and held their reception at Top of the Town, a ballroom that has a terrace overlooking Arlington National Cemetery. They could see the section where Spencer was buried, and Gwyneth pinned her brothers portrait to her bouquet. I think that Spencer knew what I needed and what my family needed after this, and it feels like I got exactly what I needed to get through this, Gwyneth Collart said. The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Independent Voices email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Stargazers were treated to a dazzling sight as the Perseid meteor shower passed through the sky, and in some areas through the northern lights. Also known as the aurora borealis, the Northern Lights put on a stunning show across the UK on Monday night with more expected on Tuesday evening with widespread clear skies. Marina Muttik, 29, a software engineer who lives in Berkhamsted, Herts, but witnessed the northern lights and Perseid meteor shower from Chesham, Buckinghamshire, described the experience as humbling. She told the PA news agency: The aurora was peaking at around 11.30pm, which is when some of the pink became more visible to the eye. Its always humbling watching the night sky, and the Perseid meteor shower added a touch of magic perfect for making a few wishes. Kirsty Louise, who is 30 and based in Plymouth, Devon, captured photos of the meteor shower on her phone at around 11.20pm on Monday. The northern lights and meteor shower in Chesham ( PA ) She said: Funnily enough I couldnt actually see what I saw on my phone. When I saw the photos it made me feel happy, I absolutely love anything to do with space, so seeing that and knowing I caught it on my phone made me feel happy. In Northumberland, the shooting stars from the Perseid meteor shower were seen darting through the sky which had turned hues of purple and green over the Bathing House in Howick. According to the Met Office, the northern lights are usually best witnessed in Scotland, northern England, North Wales and Northern Ireland. Views from Plymouth ( PA ) However, under certain space weather conditions a particularly strong geomagnetic storm they can be seen throughout the UK. The natural light display is caused by charged particles from the sun interacting with Earths magnetic field. The colour display depends in part on what molecules the charged particles interact with. The Met Office forecast suggests the activity should return back to background levels on Tuesday, with any visible aurora restricted to the far north of Scotland. Aurora borealis fills the sky over the Bathing House in Howick, Northumberland ( PA ) Clear skies across the country also meant people were able to catch a glimpse of the Perseids on Monday night. The event is associated with the dusty debris left by comet Swift-Tuttle, which orbits the sun once every 133 years. The meteoroids from the comet, mostly no bigger than a grain of sand, burn up as they hit the Earths atmosphere at 36 miles per second, to produce a shooting stream of light in the sky. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Five Just Stop Oil protesters jailed over a plot to block the M25 motorway are appealing their record-breaking sentences. Roger Hallam, co-founder of Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion, was sentenced to five years imprisonment for his role in a sophisticated plan to disrupt traffic on the M25. Daniel Shaw, Louise Lancaster, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, and Cressida Gethin, who were also involved in the plan, were sentenced to four years. The sentences are thought to be the longest sentences ever given in the UK for non-violent protest. Their plan to disrupt the M25 was partially successful and caused delays for road users calculated to total 50,856 hours and an economic cost of 769,966, according to judge Christopher Hehirs sentencing remarks. The jury heard that those affected included a patient suffering an aggressive form of cancer who missed their appointment and had to wait a further two months, and a child with special needs on the way to school who missed his medication. The long sentences were met with condemnation from environmental campaigners such as Chris Packham, who said they constituted a direct theft of our freedom. Lucia Whittaker De Abreu (34), Cressie Gethin (22), Lou Lancaster (58), Daniel Shaw (38), Roger Hallam (57) from left to right ( The Whole Truth Five ) UN special rapporteur Michel Frost said the sentence was neither reasonable nor proportional and did not serve a legitimate public purpose. Actors, musicians and faith leaders, such as former archibishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, have appealed to the attorney general for an urgent meeting to discuss the jailing of the climate activists. Lawyers on behalf of the activists, who have been dubbed the Whole Truth Five, will argue on appeal that the sentences were massively excessive. A spokesperson for Just Stop Oil said: The Whole Truth Five, along with others, did the best thing they could, according to the evidence, to prevent catastrophic and irreversible harm to the public and life on earth. Judge Hehirs imagined deterrent effect is both cynical and naive. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A man has appeared in court charged with attempted murder after an 11-year-old girl was stabbed in Leicester Square. Ioan Pintaru was also charged with possession of a bladed article early on Tuesday and was remanded in custody. The 32-year-old appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court later on Tuesday morning, wearing a grey prison-issue sweatshirt. Ioan Pintaru, 32, was charged with attempted murder and possession of a bladed article ( Facebook ) The court heard Pintaru, of no fixed address, is a Romanian citizen, and the charges were read to him through an interpreter during the 10-minute hearing. Prosecutor David Burns said the girl and her mother were in Leicester Square as tourists when the child was stabbed eight times with a steak knife, leaving her with wounds to the face, neck, shoulder and wrist. He added: In relation to the complainant she was taken to hospital and she currently resides in hospital where shes undergoing treatment. I understand that she required plastic surgery for the injuries she sustained. Police officers at the scene of the incident in Leicester Square on Monday ( PA ) The Metropolitan Police were alerted to an incident at the central London tourist hotspot at around 11.30am on Monday morning. The 11-year-old victim was found with stab wounds near the TWG Tea shop, which is beside the Lego and M&M stores. She was rushed to hospital, where her injuries were assessed as serious but not life-threatening. It was initially believed that the girls mother, a 34-year-old woman, was also hurt, however, it was later confirmed that blood from her daughters injuries had been mistaken for injuries of her own. Ioan Pintaru appearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on Tuesday ( Elizabeth Cook/PA Wire ) Detective Chief Superintendent Christina Jessah said: This is a horrific incident and our thoughts are with the victims and their family. We will continue to provide support to them over the coming days and weeks. I would like to pay tribute to the members of the public, including staff from local businesses, who bravely intervened in this incident. They put themselves at risk and showed the best of London in doing so. Pintaru was remanded in custody and will next appear at the Old Bailey on 10 September. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A man who looted a cosmetics store, a phone shop, a shoe outlet and damaged cars during riots in Hull while wearing a shirt emblazoned with the England flag has pleaded guilty in court. John Honey, 25, pleaded guilty to violent disorder and three charges of burglary at Lush, the O2 store and Shoezone in the city on 3 August. Honey also too part in an attack on a BMW carrying three Romanian men, targeted a garage leaving nine vehicles damaged, and pushed bins at police lines during the violence He became one of the most notorious looters on social media after videos and pictures showed him embracing the chaotic scenes and brazenly entering various stores during the riots in Hull that left 11 police officers injured. His distinctive St Georges Cross rugby shirt and lack of any face covering or disguise meant that he was easily identifiable. Honeys sentencing on Tuesday was delayed after claims he asked a prison probation officer if he wanted his autograph and while in remand appeared to be an over-confident individual who presented with no remorse. Honey claims to regret his actions but boasts of social media fame ( Humberside Police ) He also allegedly told the court employee he went into Greggs to have a drink as the pepper spray made him thirsty. Hull Crown Court heard that the disorder started when rioters gathered outside a hotel known to house asylum seekers and subjected police to a barrage of verbal and physical threats while chanting racist slogans. Honey was at the front of the group and was captured on footage throwing a missile at police and pushing a large wheelie bin at them. Footage of the BMW incident showed him pulling the passenger door open as a man inside tried to close it to protect himself. The occupants of the car got out with their hands raised in a gesture of surrender and fled to a nearby hotel, the court heard. The Hull branch of cosmetics retailer Lush after a day of rioting last week ( PA ) The driver said he feared for his life after more than 100 angry men attempted to drag him from the car, punched him in the head and attempted to strike him with a metal bar. A worker at the garage said he had to lock himself inside the premises with the shutters down as a group of men attacked the business, damaging cars and setting one on fire. His statement said he heard shouts of open the door, Ill kill you before hearing explosions and seeing black smoke coming through the shutters. John Honey leaving the O2 phone shop ( X/Twitter ) The court heard that he escaped through a back exit and hid in a nearby garden for around 40 minutes. Other footage played in court showed Honey looting the Lush store, taking one of their branded bags and walking around the shop filling it with products. Judge John Thackray KC, the recorder of Hull, said he had received a letter from a member of staff at HMP Hull who said they were conducting an assessment with Honey when he had asked if I wanted his autograph as he is famous and is all over social media. The court heard that Honey disputed the probation officers claims and wanted to be sentenced on the basis that he was genuinely remorseful. The case was adjourned until Friday for further statements to be taken. Elsewhere, a 13-year-old girl has become the latest youngster to be convicted for her part in the widespread riots after admitting threatening unlawful violence outside a hotel housing asylum seekers. The youth pleaded guilty to violent disorder at Basingstoke Magistrates Court on Tuesday after she was seen punching and kicking the entrance to Potters International Hotel in Aldershot on 31 July during a protest. Her conviction comes as analysis shows at least 50 youths under the age of 18 have been charged in connection with the nationwide disorder. In Sheffield, a 19-year-old man who admitted throwing bricks and lighted arrows at police protecting a hotel housing asylum seekers was jailed for three years. Drew Jarvis pleaded guilty to violent disorder ( PA Media ) Drew Jarvis was filmed lighting an arrow with a lighter and throwing it at officers during the rioting outside the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers, Rotherham, on 4 August, a judge heard. Jarvis, of no fixed address, but originally from Barnsley, admitted violent disorder last week. At the same court, 22-year-old self-employed construction worker Kaine Hicks was jailed for two years and eight months after admitting to hurling abuse at police protecting the hotel and pushing against officers shields. As of Monday, 1,024 people had been arrested and 575 charged in the wake of the disorder, the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) said. According to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), as of Monday, 273 people have been charged in relation to the disorder. The NPCC figure is higher to reflect charges which are solely issued by police and do not involve the CPS. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} 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. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A devastated mother has voiced her anger at the NHS for leaving Valdo Calocane free to slaughter her son and two others. Emma Webber, 51, mother of victim Barnaby Webber who was stabbed to death last year in Nottingham, called for a complete restructure of mental health services to prevent similar attacks. Her comments come following a damning report into his care, published on Tuesday by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which found the Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) mental health unit minimised or omitted key details of the serious risk he posed to others. It questioned how well the trust engaged with Calocanes family, who raised concerns about his mental state, along with how well his discharge was planned. Calocane, a paranoid schizophrenic, stabbed 19-year-old students Barnaby Webber and Grace OMalley-Kumar as they returned from a night out in June last year, before going on to kill 65-year-old Ian Coates. Ian Coates, Barnaby Webber and Grace OMalley-Kumar ( Nottinghamshire Police/PA ) Calocane was handed an indefinite hospital order in January after admitting manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. Prosecutors accepted his not guilty pleas to murder after multiple medical experts concluded he had paranoid schizophrenia. Ms Webber told The Sun: The mental health services in Nottingham washed their hands of this dangerous individual and left him free to slaughter Barnaby, Grace and Ian. What we have surmised is the professionals did no proper risk assessment when they discharged Calocane. It wouldnt have taken much looking back in the case files to see he was seriously mentally ill and violent. This attack was always going to happen it was just a case of when, not if. Emma Webber has called for a complete restructure of mental health services to prevent similar attacks. ( ITV/Good Morning Britain ) She added: As a mother who has lost her son, no end of were stretched, limited resources, waiting lists will ever be an excuse. We need to get to the heart of what is going so badly wrong in our communities and analyse why people are carrying out these attacks. The CQC findings come as an investigation by the magazine The Doctor, shared exclusively with The Independent, reveals Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has received dozens of warnings since 2014 from coroners highlighting failures following the deaths of its patients. The investigation found that concerns about the trusts services many similar to those in the CQC findings have been raised repeatedly for several years and local experts say insufficient action has been taken and lessons are not being learnt. Health secretary Wes Streeting said the killings by Calocane could have been prevented and should have been prevented. He also said the prime minister is actively considering how best to set up a judge-led inquiry into the case. Mr Streeting told Sky News: What the Care Quality Commission have uncovered is deeply distressing. Most of all for the families of Grace, Barnaby and Ian, who, in addition to having to deal with the unbearable and unimaginable grief theyre going through, are doing so in the knowledge that this could have been prevented and should have been prevented. That there wasnt a single point of failure but multiple and fundamental failures on the part of the NHS to manage Valdo Calocanes treatment in a way that not only kept him safe, but most importantly, kept others safe. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Offering a one-off exams boost for pupils affected by the concrete crisis in schools would not be fair to everyone else, the head of Englands exams regulator has said. Sir Ian Bauckham, chief regulator of Ofqual, said it would be difficult to allow a special uplift to pupils results in schools affected by the crumbling concrete Raac. He said that if a dispensation was allowed for these schools, then other adjustments for things like teacher shortages might have to be made at other schools. His comments come as education experts predict that school leavers will have an easier time getting into their chosen university than their predecessors in the past two years. Experts have said that universities are keen to fill spots with more UK students due to an anxiety about falling numbers of international students. Universities will also reportedly be less stringent about grade offers as the Covid bump of students has worked its way through the admissions system. School leavers will receive their A-level results on Thursday. Sir Ian, at Ofqual, also said that he would be surprised if the Raac disruption faced by schools in England affected overall exam results this summer. More UK A-level students are set to get into first choice university than previous years, experts predict ( PA ) Speaking about whether Raac pupils should get boosted grades, he said: Its very difficult to know how you would draw a line and maintain fairness if you were going to say that it would be right, for example, to give a 10 per cent uplift to one set of circumstances, but not to a range of other circumstances that other people might argue have impacted the quality of education in the schools that theyre running, or theyre working in, or attending. Mark Corver, a former director of admissions service Ucas who now runs a consultancy advising unversities, told The Observer that this years school leavers could be hopeful ahead of Thursday. He said: All the signs are there that for 18-year-olds holding offers it will be a better admissions cycle than in either 2022 or 2023. He said that worries about international students numbers would benefit UK students, adding: This is a big issue in the Russell Group, which is extremely dependent on these international students for revenue. Universities used to picking and choosing have been very worried by the swings. Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Police Institute think thank, said some universities are expecting to lose up to half of their international student intake due to recent tightening of visa conditions by the Conservative government. He said that the Covid bulge of students will have worked its way through the system. He added: If you missed a grade you might log on to Ucas and find the university has offered you a place anyway. If not, it is always worth getting on the phone. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Medics have called for a ban on a popular material used to make kitchen worktops. It comes after a rise in an incurable disease linked to the manufacture with one leading medic calling for urgent action to protect workers who cut artificial stone. Kitchen worktops made from artificial stone are cheaper than natural stone such as granite or marble but they contain significantly more silica. And stonemasons who cut this material could be breathing in high concentrations of silica dust, which could potentially lead to them developing a potentially fatal lung condition called silicosis. The first UK case of silicosis linked to the cutting of artificial stone which is made from crushed rocks bound together with resins and pigments was identified last year and medics have seen a rise in cases since. Experts have documented the first eight cases in the UK in a new paper. I think there needs to be an urgent focus on this disease, Dr Jo Feary, lead author of the paper, told the PA news agency. The consultant in occupational lung diseases at the Royal Brompton Hospital added: Whats really striking is it is affecting young people, in their 20s and 30s, and theres no treatment for it. If they didnt do their job, they wouldnt have a disease, and it should be preventable. So we need urgent action. Academics have called for a ban on kitchen worktops made from artificial stone to be considered (Alamy/PA) Dr Feary, who also works as a senior clinical research fellow at Imperial College London, told PA: Weve known about the problems associated with artificial stone silicosis from colleagues from around the world for the last few years, but we had not seen any confirmed cases in the UK until the middle of last year when they started arriving in my clinic. She expects many more cases in the future, but added: I dont know how many people in the UK work with engineered stone, and so I dont know how many people are at risk of breathing in the dust and developing the disease. Artificial stone, or engineered stone, has been around for a few decades, but I think its increasingly dominating the market for kitchen worktops. One of the things about artificial stone is its easier to work with, ie, its easier to cut and shape and polish the natural stone. And therefore, my suspicion is its done with poorer control of exposure to dust than it would be if you were using natural stones so potentially, with less training, with less sophisticated equipment. She added: We need to invest time in understanding how many people are exposed, if its possible to use it safely and decisions made about how were going to tackle it in the UK there may be different ways of doing that, a ban is one option, but there are other options as well. Engineered stone has been banned in Australia after a rise in cases of silicosis. The condition occurs when silica dust is inhaled, causing inflammation in the lungs. This gradually leads to hardened and scarred lung tissue which means the lung cannot function properly. This can lead to a persistent shortness of breath, weakness and tiredness and an ongoing cough. People with the condition may eventually find simple activities such as walking or climbing stairs very difficult and may be largely confined to their bed or be housebound. It has no known cure though some with the condition have received lung transplants prompting researchers to say that prevention of the disease in the first place is critical. Writing in the journal Thorax, Dr Feary and colleagues documented the first cases of the disease in the UK. All were among men with an average age of 34. Some had worked cutting artificial stone for just four years before they were diagnosed with silicosis. All cases were dry cutting and polishing artificial stone worktops with inadequate safety measures, they wrote. UK cases are likely to increase, with urgent action needed to identify cases and enforce regulations. The team called for action to protect workers, including for the Government to consider following in Australias footsteps by banning artificial stone. The cases we present illustrate the failure of the employer to take responsibility for exposure control in their workplaces. National guidelines are urgently needed, as well as work to enumerate the at-risk population and identify cases early, the authors wrote. A UK ban on AS (as introduced in Australia in 2024) must be considered. Researchers have confirmed that one of the eight patients has since died. In a linked editorial, Dr Christopher Barber, of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, said that cases are expected to pose a significant challenge to doctors. On a potential ban, he said that a change in the law in the 1920s was successful in protecting the Sheffield cutlery workers which led to the industry switching to silica-free grinding wheels. Meanwhile, an additional study, led by Dr Patrick Howlett, MRC clinical research fellow at Imperial College London, suggests that limiting a persons exposure to silica dust could help. He said: This research supports the reduction of permissible exposure limits over an eight-hour working shift. Although lowering exposure limits across different settings is challenging, it has been shown to be achievable. We strongly believe it is important to reduce the number of silicosis cases, given the severity of the disease. A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) spokesperson said: Our sympathies are with those who have lost loved ones to any work-related disease. Great Britain has a robust and well-established regulatory framework in place to protect workers from the health risks associated with exposure to hazardous substances. We continue to work with industry to raise awareness of managing the risks of exposure to respirable crystalline silica and we are considering options for future interventions to ensure workers are protected. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A 200-year-old ship wreckage from one of the UKs worst maritime disasters and captained by the brother of the poet William Wordsworth has been issued protection by the government. In 1805, the Earl of Abergavenny merchant sailing ship sank off the coast of Weymouth in Dorset, killing 200 people as it set off on a voyage to Bengal and China. The ship was owned by the East India Company, the trading organisation which colonised large parts of Asia and was once the largest corporation in the world, accounting for half the worlds trade in the mid 1700s to early 1800s. On advice of Historic England, the shipwreck has now been scheduled by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport - meaning divers can search the wreck but must leave everything in its place. This wreck has an evocative story to tell about the life and sorrow of one of our most renowned poets, William Wordsworth, explained Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England. Artefacts recovered from the wreckage are in Portland Museum - but no more artefacts can be taken following the DCMS decision ( Portland Museum Trust/PA Wire ) One of the largest ever built at the time, the Earl was launched in 1796 in Northfleet, Kent, to be one of just 36 ships weighing 1,460 tonnes - forming a special class among the companys merchant fleet. It was one of the first ships to be constructed using iron, becoming an early example of the changes in ship technologies. For its final two voyages, both trading missions to China, the ship was captained by John Wordsworth, brother of the iconic Romantic poet. It is believed John, known by his shipmates as The Philosopher, embraced a life at sea for the East India Company in order to help financially support his brothers writing career. But disaster struck on Johns third trip to China and the Earl of Abergavennys fifth trip since its launch, when he died alongside 250 crewmen and passengers off the British coast near Weymouth when the ship sank. A mural of the world-famous romantic poet William Wordsworth ( National Trust/PA Wire ) Stormy weather and human error were behind the tragedy, when the merchant ship struck the dangerous Shambles sandbank as it made its way from Portsmouth towards the Atlantic Ocean. The sandbank has been marked by a lighthouse since 1906. It was a financial disaster as well as a human tragedy, with a cargo of silver dollars, which would today be worth 7.5 million, lost to the sea. Sea, Ship, drownd, Shipwreck so it came/The meek, the brave, the good, was gone;/ He who had been our living John/ Was nothing but a name, wrote William Wordsworth of his brother as he mourned the loss. He wrote that he would never forget him and that his eye for the beauties of nature was as fine and delicate as ever poet or painter was gifted with, according to the Guardian. Wordsworths poems grew more bleak and reflective as he struggled with grief over the loss of his beloved brother, with John featuring in many of his works, including The Character of the Happy Warrior and Stepping Westward. In the poem Elegiac Stanzas, William rejects his typical belief that nature is good and kind, evidence of the impact Johns death had on him. It emerged last year that William used to collect physical reminders of his brother, including antiques from other shipwrecks. Until now, no one has realised what psychological crutches Wordsworth leaned on to desperately keep Johns memory alive, said British maritime archaeologist Dr Sean Kingsley. Duncan Wilson added that the ship has an important place in this countrys shared maritime history and how the East India Companys fleet made its impact across so much of the world. Museum coordinator Chloe Taylor, who looks after artefacts from the wreckage at Portland Museum, said: The waters that surround the Isle of Portland are renowned for being treacherous. Many ships have fallen victim to the unrelenting waves, frozen in time with their stories untold. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} New banknotes worth 78,430 have been sold for more than 11 times that at an auction for charity. The notes, all featuring King Charles portrait, only entered circulation last June and were put up for bidding by the Bank of England. The 5, 10, 20, and 50 notes were an attractive draw to collectors for their very low serial numbers. A single 10 note with the serial number HB01 000002, sold for 17,000 at bidding. The very first issues which would feature the serial number 000001 were all presented to the monarch, leaving all the next in line to go under the hammer. The single note that attracted the next highest bid was a 50 with serial 000003, selling for 14,000, followed by a 5 with the same serial, selling for 11,000. A series of new banknotes were put up for sale by the Bank of England in a charity auction ( PA Wire ) Another lot saw a sheet of 40 connected 50 notes (worth 2,000) sell for 26,000. This was a record for any Bank of England auction. The notes were put up for auction by the Bank of England, with the sales raising a total of 914,127 for ten charities. The auction was carried out by Spink. Sarah John, the Bank of Englands executive director of Banking said: I am thrilled that the auctions and public ballot of low numbered King Charles III banknotes have raised a remarkable 914,127 that will be donated to ten charities chosen by Bank of England staff. Each charity does incredible work and the monies raised will have a positive impact on people across the UK. The chosen charities has each received 91,400 from the proceeds of the auction. The Bank says this money could be used by The Childhood Trust to life 2,600 of Londons children out of poverty, or by the Trussell Trust to fund around 7,600 food parcels. The King Charles banknotes are of significant historic value as they mark the first time the Bank has changed the monarch on the UKs currency. The late Queen Elizabeth II was the very first monarch to appear on the banknotes in 1960. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Prince Harry and Meghan Markles Chief of Staff has become their latest senior employee to quit - just three months after starting the job. The Duke of Sussex handed Josh Kettler the prestigious title earlier this year as it was believed he would be the ideal candidate to guide the couple through their next phase. However, Mr Kettler has now parted ways with the couple, with it understood he was hired on a trial basis and the decision to part ways was mutual and both sides agreeing it was not the correct fit. Mr Kettler, who was previously chief of staff at communication platform Cognixion, began his role the week before the couples visit to Nigeria in May and also accompanied Harry to London for the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games. He leaves the couple days before they are set to embark on their second international working trip to Colombia. Josh Kettler has parted ways with the couple just three months after beginning the job ( Karwai Tang/WireImage ) The duke and duchess are due to begin an unofficial tour of the country on Thursday following the success of their appearance in Nigeria. It is not the first time Harry and Meghan have had to navigate the loss of staff, with the couple having seen 18 senior figures leave since they married in 2018. Nine or more have left since they moved to California in 2020, including key staff from Archewell Productions. The manager of the company that makes TV programmes and films, Bennet Levine, quit in January after two years at the firm. He worked on the couples Netflix documentary before making his exit. Another big loss came when Oscar-nominated producer Ben Browning left as the couples head of internal content in January 2023 - a month after Rebecca Sananes, who was hired to produce Meghans Spotify podcast Archetypes, quit in December 2022 as head of audio at Archewell. Mr Kettler began his role the week before the couples visit to Nigeria in May ( Getty Images for The Archewell F ) That same month, the president of the couples charitable foundation, Mandana Dayani, stepped down after a year and a half at Archewell. A former member of staff told the Daily Mail that they had not heard a single current or former employee on their staff say they would take the job again if given the chance. These arent employees they had just found off the streets, the source added. Many of them are people who had previously excelled working for demanding bosses in high-performance companies and environments. Earlier this year, reports also surfaced that Meghan has struggled to find a CEO for her new cooking and lifestyle business American Riviera Orchard. The brand was revealed earlier this year when the duchess set up an Instagram page and website for the brand. It has not yet begun trading but Meghan soft-launched products such as jam and dog biscuits via her celebrity friends on social media. The Independent has approached the Sussexes for a comment. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Deepfake videos of Sir Keir Starmer and Prince William are being used to promote financial scams on Meta platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. The artificial intelligence (AI) versions of the prime minister and the Prince of Wales have been used in more than 250 adverts promoting a scam cryptocurrency trading platform. The fraudulent adverts, promoting a platform name Immediate Edge, suggest the project has been endorsed by the pair, and have reached more than 890,000 people on Facebook and Instagram. The adverts were found by Fenimore Harper, a media insight and research firm, using Metas open-source AI software, called Llama 3.1. When users clicked the fake link, it would lead them to a landing page asking for the victims name, phone number and email address. They are then contacted and encouraged to deposit money into a fake online trading platform. Scammers typically show a fake portfolio making gains, encouraging victims to deposit more. In one of the fake adverts, Sir Keir says: Your life is about to change. I am Keir Starmer, prime minister of the United Kingdom and leader of the Labour Party. I have been waiting for you. Today is your lucky day. I don't know how you found this page, but you won't regret it. In one of the fake adverts, Sir Keir says: Your life is about to change ( Meta/Fenimore Harper ) The advert claims that 45 individuals have been selected to earn "life-changing money" through a mysterious project. It promises to create daily earnings of 1,000, without needing any prior knowledge or special skills. It emphasises this is not a scam and that Sir Keir himself does not need anything from the viewers. In another fraudulent advertisement, the AI prince William said: I am pleased to announce that I, Prince William, and the entire royal family fully support prime minister Keir Starmers initiative and his new platform. When users press on the fake link, it would lead them to a landing page which would ask for the victims name, phone number and email ( Meta/Fenimore Harper ) Up to 21,053 was spent on the ads which reached up to 891,834 people, according to data from Metas advertising platform. The fraudulent videos represent 43 per cent of all Meta adverts about Sir Keir, the research from Fenimore Harper found. The research found that Google mistakingly promoted the disinformation. If a user searched for immediate edge finance scam, the result on Google was: When it comes to Immediate Edge you can be assured that you are dealing with legitimate trading software. Marcus Beard, founder of Fenimore Harper, said: "Our findings show that more must be done to curb online disinformation. These campaigns can now impersonate well-known figures with ease, and sow disinformation online at an unprecedented rate. They pose a huge risk to individuals, public figures, businesses and to our democracy. Transparency in online advertising following the 2016 presidential election helped to somewhat slow widespread sharing of false news. 8 years later, another step-change is needed. Recent events have shown how even small pieces of false information can cause serious harm if not addressed immediately. Platforms, the government, the public and the media all need to be doing more to support the healthy and safe online discussion. There's no silver bullet. A portfolio of measures need to be identified and implemented with haste. As a first step, we believe that even more transparency, from all online platforms, will allow the public to better scrutinise and understand the information they are being presented with. A spokesperson for Meta said: Our systems detected and removed the vast majority of these adverts before this report was published. As part of our ads review processwhich can include both automated and human reviewswe have several layers of analysis and detection, both before and after an ad goes live. It is against our policies to run ads that improperly use images of public or political figures for deceptive purposes, and we remove these ads when detected. A Google spokesperson said: Our advanced spam-fighting systems help keep Google Search 99 per cent spam free, despite ever-evolving attempts from spammers. We have clear spam policies against deceptive tactics and when we find behavior that violates our policies, we take action. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Children as young as nine are being radicalised by their far-right relatives, a reformed neo-Nazi has warned. Nigel Bromage, who was involved in far-right groups for two decades but now runs a deradicalisation charity, told The Independent the youngest person that his organisation has supported was a boy who was using neo-Nazi references after being radicalised by his older brother. Discussing the recent explosion of violence, he warned the far right is radicalising lay people to use as pawns to perpetrate violence and destruction. Extremists have managed to get people to believe the misinformation and lies they are pushing and mobilise them as people feel voiceless and unheard, he added. His exclusive interview comes in the wake of far-right violence erupting across the UK in the aftermath of the fatal stabbing of three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in Southport. False information spread rapidly online claiming the suspect was a Muslim asylum seeker who came to the UK on a small boat crossing. Rioters have attacked mosques, ambushed riot police, set fire to a hotel housing migrants and torched a public library and Citizens Advice Bureau building. The far right are really good at promoting their message of hate and division, says Nigel Bromage ( Nigel Bromage ) Mr Bromage, director of Exit Hate Trust which helps people who want to leave racist groups, said his organisation had come across children who have been radicalised by parents or older siblings. One case involved a nine-year-old who had been fed extremist views by his brother. The 59-year-old said the childs older brother became involved in the movement via extreme right-wing forums explaining his organisation had helped both brothers leave the far right. Nazism is built on the notion the struggle is from the cradle to the grave, Mr Bromage said. He added: When babies are born, they are dedicated to Adolf Hitler and national socialism and they will be brought up believing that they have to protect the white race and there is an ongoing war against the system. By the time they are five or six, sadly, they are pretty much indoctrinated into being against the system and being against people of different ethnicities. The Exit Hate Trust takes self-referrals as well as referrals from friends and family. Mr Bromage said the trust talks to couples involved in far-right groups, adding it tends to be the man in a racist or extreme right-wing organisation when then gets their girlfriend or wife involved. They are just being used as pawns within this plan of the far right to cause destruction Nigel Bromage Then this then disseminates down to the children being promoted racism and extremism, he said. Mr Bromage noted family members can use racist games, music, memes or other forms of humour to indoctrinate children. Worrying signs of racist behaviour have been seen from young people during the riots over the last week. In footage on social media, a girl was seen skipping down the street holding the arm of an older woman while chanting P***s out, just before an anti-immigration march in Belfast. An 11-year-old boy was arrested during disorder in Hartlepool last Wednesday, while a 14-year-old boy is the youngest person charged in connection with the riots so far. Anki Deo, senior policy officer at Hope Not Hate, wrote Plugged in but Disconnected: Young People and Hateful Attitudes, a report which explores how harmful attitudes are formed in young people. The researcher said that from focus groups with secondary school teachers, they discovered that young people could pick up harmful views at home. She said: A lot of the teachers were railing against the idea that the young people they were concerned about were weird loners, they were saying some of them were actually reasonably popular. They are not necessarily social outcasts. A lot of the social relationships and structures in the home were making it difficult for teachers to reinforce a positive narrative in schools. Teachers felt they were parroting things theyd heard at home. Violent far-right disorder has broken out across the UK this month ( Getty ) Mr Bromage said demonstrations were predominantly made up of political activists when he was involved in the far right but now protests include both extremists and frustrated members of the public. The campaigner said: The far right are really good at promoting their message of hate and division. So what they will do is they will create memes, tell lies about stories, edit films so what you are actually seeing is a small cut of a much larger film with really emotive headings. He warned that some protesters are getting lost in this mayhem and destruction, adding that they are just being used as pawns within this plan of the far right to cause destruction. Mr Bromage argued that social media can radicalise someone in months, turning them from being angry to believing direct action and violence is the only solution. He compared this to the much slower radicalisation process when he was involved in the movement explaining they would have to wait two or three months for a response after writing to PO boxes in the US. Discussing his trajectory, he recalled going to protests from around the age of 15 simply for the excitement. I was born a working-class lad in a council flat, and it was a bit dull and not very exciting, he said. But once you had actually been on a march and then started to go on two, three, four, or five it was like a drug. You absolutely embraced it and looked forward, sadly, to the confrontations and the flag-waving and the drums and all that type of thing. Mr Bromage recounted how he slowly became involved in the far right joining groups which were increasingly extreme. Unrest first broke out on 30 July following the Southport knife killings ( Owen Humphreys/PA Wire ) He also explained how his mother died from cancer when he was 18 and his dad died five years later after being hit by a van. Aged 23, the far right effectively became his family as he had no siblings. The campaigner said he then ended up joining the National Front as a foot soldier, going to meetings and demonstrations and starting up a Rock Against Communism band called Buzzard Bait. After this, he became an organiser in the West Midlands for the British Movement, an openly Nazi group, and went on to become a recruiter and local organiser for Combat 18, the neo-Nazi group which has pushed white supremacy. He left that life behind in 2000 after members of the racist group tried to throw a Black man through a shop window in Birmingham and he intervened to stop them. Since starting campaign work, Mr Bromage said he has been forced to move house twice due to receiving threats of violence. He said his organisation has been subjected to many threats of violence and abuse some of which have come from as far away as the US and had lost members of staff due to this. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Bridget Phillipson has pledged to reverse baked-in inequalities in educational outcomes to ensure young people from all backgrounds have the opportunity to get on in life. Speaking ahead of A-level results day on Thursday, the education secretary accused the Conservative Party of leaving behind a legacy of regional disparities and an attainment gap between private schools and their state school peers. She said societal failures have left too many children living in poverty and schools struggling with the pressures faced by families something she said is a big driver of educational disparities between the most and least advantaged students. Ms Phillipson also urged universities to do more to widen access to higher education, as well as offer ongoing support to students once they are on degree courses to ensure they do not drop out. Education secretary Bridget Phillipson ( PA ) This comes a month after a report from the National Audit Office (NAO) revealed that the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their peers is wider than it was a decade ago, despite around 9bn being spent on the problem over the last year. The attainment gap measures the difference in educational outcomes of pupils from different groups. The report warned that the Department for Education (DfE) does not have a strategy to tackle the problem or monitoring to understand how much it spends. For key stage 4 pupils the age children leave secondary school the attainment gap between children on free school meals and their peers is now wider than it was in 2011/12. While the gap for children leaving primary school has narrowed slightly in the past year, it remains wider than it was a decade ago, according to the NAO. Ms Phillipson told PA: I know that this year there are really good opportunities for young people to progress, whether thats into university or into employment or into an apprenticeship. I want to make sure that all young people, whatever their background, have the chance to get on in life and thats the mission of the Labour government. But my concern, as we approach the first of the results days, is that after 14 years the Conservatives have baked in massive inequality into the education system, including regional disparities and differences between outcomes for children at state and private schools, and Im determined to turn that around. Clearing is available to students who do not meet the conditions of their offer on results day, as well as those who did not receive any offers ( PA ) Highlighting Labours new task force to tackle child poverty which will bring together experts from within and outside of government to attempt to tackle the issue the education secretary said: Its about the quality of teaching, about making sure schools have got what they need, but its also what goes on beyond the school gates and thats where weve also seen big failures over the last 14 years. And it will take us time to get that right, but I am determined that we bring down the numbers of children living in poverty. The head of Englands exams regulator, which will publish a breakdown of results by school type on Thursday, said he was concerned about growing disparities between pupils and their better-off peers. Sir Ian Bauckham, chief regulator of Ofqual, said: I think its a scandal that weve got these gaps in our country, whether theyre regional or whether theyre disadvantage related. We absolutely have to prioritise collectively as a system closing them, but my job is to make sure that we have a system of assessment and qualifications that runs fairly across the country, demonstrates what students actually know, understand and can do. I very much look forward to the day when results days demonstrate that we are closing or have closed those gaps and that will be proof that a policy has been effective. The Conservative Party has been contacted for comment. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Labour MPs have claimed they are quitting or stepping back from Twitter/X as owner Elon Musk is accused of turning it into a megaphone for far-right fringe groups. Two MPs have reportedly told colleagues they are leaving X altogether, with Noah Law MP for St Austell and Newquay already having disabled his account. Others have said they are scaling back their use though they are still posting. Labour veteran Diane Abbott told The Independent she is limiting her use of the platform, explaining: The changes in X under Musk have made it worse. Only a handful of MPs would say it is better and they would mostly be Reform members. Her last post was on Monday, about an Israeli airstrike, after a gap of four days. A Labour MP said Elon Musk had turned X into a megaphone for foreign adversaries ( Reuters ) Over the weekend, home office minister Jess Phillips said she is sort of done with the social media site, saying it has become a bit despotic and is a place of misery now. While the MP for Birmingham Yardley, who still has an active profile, said it would be too dramatic to encourage people to quit the platform, she added: Fundamentally for me now I think that I am sort of done with it, I dont wish to fish in that particular pond any more. Ms Phillips last posted on Monday and Sunday, with a gap of six days before that. Speaking at the Edinburgh Fringe festival, the MP said: I used to be massively addicted to Twitter, I have got a very addictive personality, I was massively addicted to it. The only power we now have over what is becoming a bit despotic is that we opt out of it, you vote with your feet in this instance rather than pen and paper. Personally for me, I dont think it is a space where there is any fun to be had any more. I dont think that it is a place of light, I think it is only a place of misery now. Veteran MP Diane Abbott said she is scaling back her use of the platform ( PA ) Other MPs say they have begun looking at other options, including Threads and Bluesky. Labour MP for Makerfield Josh Simons told The Guardian he is looking at using alternative platform Bluesky, explaining: What matters about Musk is not only what he said, but how he changed Xs algorithms. Hes turned X into a megaphone for foreign adversaries and far-right fringe groups seeking to corrupt our public sphere. Nobody should have that power. Lewis Atkinson, the Labour MP for Sunderland Central, added: Ive noticed in recent weeks some people moving away from X because of their experiences there, so Ive expanded where Im posting to include some X alternatives Threads and BlueSky. Ive been pleased to find others I know there, including other Labour MPs; by my count 28 now using Threads. Using multiple platforms gives constituents and journalists a choice of what they use. I dont plan to quit X, but I dont see why it (or any platform) should have a monopoly on politicians posting. A new survey from Savanta showed that 29 per cent of X users believe that the changes under Musk have made the platform worse and are considering leaving the social media site. Some 35 per cent said Musk, who took over the platform in October 2022, has made the site worse but were not considering leaving, with just 26 per cent saying he had made the platform better driven in part by Reform UK voters, which made up 49 per cent of those. The tech billionaire found himself in a row with Downing Street last week, with Sir Keir Starmer saying there was no justification for Musks claim that civil war is inevitable in Britain. Justice secretary Heidi Alexander described his remarks as both deeply irresponsible and unconscionable. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Labour MP Clive Lewis is facing calls for his suspension over a tweet appearing to suggest Israel is to blame for the far-right riots that swept the UK last week. The MP for Norwich South argued that the inhumanity shown towards Palestinians in Gaza has led to rising Islamophobia in the UK, causing campaigners to call for his suspension. Labour Against Antisemitism has accused Mr Lewis of being highly irresponsible and has urged Sir Keir Starmer to expell him from the party. However, it is understood that no disciplinary action will be taken against the MP by party whips. Labour MP Clive Lewis has been condemned for a tweet which appeared to suggest Israel is to blame for the far-right riots which swept the UK last week ( PA Archive ) In remarks posted on X over the weekend, Mr Lewis said: The link between the daily inhumanity being meted out to Palestinians and rising Islamophobia in the UK, are not unconnected. The inhumanity being shown to one is giving permission for the other. These actions diminish us all. The prime minister quickly distanced himself from the remarks, with his spokesperson on Monday saying Sir Keir would completely disagree with the suggestion that events in Gaza are to blame for the unrest in Britain, which saw mosques attacked and more than 900 people arrested. She added that he would never seek to conflate those two issues. Cco-director of Labour Against Antisemitism Alex Hearn told Sky News: It is very concerning that people across the political spectrum, from anti-racists to the far-Right, have fantasised that Zionists and Israel are to blame for unrest across Britain. A recent report by the Community Security Trust showed anti-Semitism in the last six months has gone up 105 per cent, and that the pretext for these 1,978 incidents are often Palestine. This includes synagogues targeted 76 times and 121 assaults. Riots swept across the UK earlier this month ( Getty Images ) For a Labour MP to blame a conflict thousands of miles away for the recent racism in far-Right riots in Britain is highly irresponsible, he continued. When attacks against British Jews exploded following the Hamas 7 Oct massacre, no such link was made by Mr Lewis. Labour Against Antisemitism calls for his immediate suspension and for the whip to be removed while he is investigated. We believe that his comments in the context of sectarian violence and record attacks against British Jews warrant expulsion. Veteran Labour MP John McDonnell who is currently sitting as an independent after having the whip suspended following a rebellion over the two-child benefit cap - defended Mr Lewis and denied that they were antisemitic. Posting to X, he said: Its a bizarre warped logic that accuses Clive Lewis of anti-Semitism when he comments on how the visible inhumanity towards Muslims in Gaza displayed daily on our screens feeds into the inhumanity of some in our own country towards Muslims here. A Labour spokesman said: All complaints are treated seriously and thoroughly assessed in line with our rules and procedures. Mr Lewis has been contacted for comment. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Exam bosses are facing a growing backlash over their refusal to boost the grades of A-level students affected by crumbling concrete. Thousands were hit as dozens of schools across the country were forced to close entirely or shut off classrooms following the discovery of the dangerous material last year. The head of Ofqual has resisted calls to raise their results, suggesting it would be unfair to pupils who suffered from other problems, such as teacher shortages. But politicians from across the political spectrum have called for a rethink, just days before A-level results are revealed on Thursday. Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Munira Wilson said it was shocking that some children spent months being taught in Portakabins and makeshift facilities through this crucial time in their education, adding that the new Labour government must now ensure pupils and parents impacted by these years of chaos are given the support they need. Labour MP Mary Foy told The Independent that the decision not to provide extra consideration for affected pupils was absolutely devastating, saying it was perverse that a student would get special consideration for a fire alarm sounding during an exam, but none for having no access to the correct facilities, or even their previous work, for almost a full academic year. Meanwhile, Robert Halfon, a former Conservative education minister, told The Independent he was sympathetic to calls for more help for affected pupils, but added that it would have to be done on a school-by-school basis, depending on levels of disruption. Around 7,600 A-level students, as well as 19,700 GCSE pupils, are in schools whose buildings contain the crumbling concrete, according to House of Commons Library research commissioned by the Lib Dems. Ian Bauckham says it would be difficult to allow a special uplift for some pupils ( PA Archive ) The school leaders union NAHT also called for a formal acknowledgement of the impact of Raac on exam results and other performance indicators for pupils. Schools facing issues with crumbling concrete have had to deal with sudden closures, relocations and disruption to learning, including children being taught in Portakabins. Ms Foy said that at St Leonards, a school in her City of Durham constituency, pupils lost access to most of their school, explaining: Specialist classrooms were closed overnight, pupils were being bussed to sites around the region, and were working in huge classrooms, often with little more than a clipboard in the way of equipment. She added: Ill be urging the Labour government to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again, but lets be clear: when St Leonards pupils receive their results next week, their success will be down to the sheer determination of school staff and pupils in the face of huge challenges, and an appalling lack of support. The Lib Dems said A-level students whose education was disrupted by crumbling concrete should be able to appeal for higher grades. Sir Ian Bauckham, chief regulator of Ofqual, said it would be difficult to allow a one-off boost to pupils results in schools affected by the crumbling concrete Raac. He said that if a dispensation was allowed for these schools, then other adjustments for things like teacher shortages might have to be made at other schools. He said schools will have been able to apply to exam boards under the existing special consideration process where marks can be adjusted to take into account unforeseen circumstances if pupils had to sit their exams in conditions which were less favourable than normal as a result of the crisis. No consideration will be given to students who faced disruption in the lead-up to the exams. But he said he would be surprised if the Raac disruption faced by schools in England affected overall exam results this summer. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the school leaders union NAHT, highlighted the disruptive impact of Raac on teaching and learning in affected schools, including a lack of access to specialist facilities such as science labs. While the union acknowledged that the special consideration process is an opportunity for students to receive some recognition of the disruption they experienced at the time they took an exam, Mr Whiteman told The Independent: NAHT would still like to see those schools affected given a formal acknowledgement of the potential impact of Raac on the measures they are held accountable for, for example attendance and qualification outcomes. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A social media post by a renowned conservation charity calling the then-prime minister Rishi Sunak and two other ministers liars has been deemed inappropriate by the regulator. But the Charity Commission stopped short of imposing any sanctions on the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) after investigating the August 2023 Tweet.. In it, the RSPB strongly criticised plans to scrap water pollution restrictions for housing developments in England. The post labelled Mr Sunak, then-housing secretary Michael Gove and then-environment secretary Therese Coffey liars, accusing them of having said they would not weaken environmental protections. Alongside a picture of all three, it said: And yet thats just what you are doing. You lie, and you lie, and you lie again. And weve had enough. The RSPB had hit out at Rishi Sunak and Michael Gove in its Twitter post (Joe Giddens/PA) ( PA Wire ) In a report published on Wednesday, the charities watchdog said: We found that the tone and nature of RSPBs post was inappropriate and had not been signed off at the appropriate level within the charity. More could have been done to ensure internal policies and procedures were followed. Shortly after the post last summer the RSPB issued an apology and said it had fallen below its own standards. RSPB chief executive Beccy Speight said at the time that she did not approve the post and it did not go through normal protocols, as she declared the charity was not entering politics. Then-Conservative MP Mark Jenkinson claimed the RSPB was becoming a political campaigning organisation, and called for the commission to strip it of its charity status. But, having concluded its regulatory compliance case last month into the incident, the watchdog said: We closed our case noting that the charitys trustees had taken sufficient remedial action. This included the charity issuing an immediate public apology, carrying out an independent investigation and implementing changes to strengthen internal policies with use of commission guidance. Kevin Cox, the RSPBs chair of council, said it was pleased the case had been closed and pledged to continue campaigning for nature, holding those in positions of power to account, bringing species back from the brink of extinction, restoring landscapes, and inspiring millions of people to care about nature and play their part in helping restore it. The finding came in a wider report on the behaviour of charities during the General Election period, with the commission noting there had been no reported concerns about the RSPB during that time. The regulator said it had carried out enhanced monitoring of all charities campaigning from the moment the election was announced in May until polling day on July 4. It found a significant decline in serious concerns about charities campaigning activity compared with previous elections. One case in the report involved the chairwoman of Age Concern Wolverhampton part of the Age UK network endorsing a Labour candidate by using her name and charity role in an online election leaflet. The commission said the Age Concern branch confirmed the trustees had not endorsed this move, the chairwoman had resigned, and the candidate was quickly asked to stop circulating the leaflet. Commission chairman Orlando Fraser praised the mainly constructive and lawful way the sector has engaged with debates on the issues they champion during the election period. He said: From the outset, weve highlighted the valuable role of charities. I have also set out our expectation that they take the lead in encouraging debates that are held with respect, tolerance and consideration of others at a time when, sadly, this is not always the case in public discourse. This election has seen some of our lowest case numbers which is true testament to the constructive and lawful way the sector has engaged with debates on the issues they champion. Many charities have effectively used their voices with confidence while following electoral and charity law supported by our published advice and guidance. We will continue to use our voice to explain charities right to campaign lawfully. Earlier this year, Mr Fraser vowed the charities watchdog will not be misused or weaponised in culture wars, as he committed to not allowing the regulator to be used in such a way by powerful interests in politics, the media, or from within the sector. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A Tory leadership contender has slammed as delusional Elon Musks claim that civil war in the UK is inevitable. Tom Tugendhat hit out at the X owner, saying his widely-criticised comment, as riots broke out across the country, was "simply false". In a speech designed to show how he would respond to the recent violence, Mr Tugendhat also attacked Nigel Farage, saying he would not let the former Ukip leader into the Conservatives and ruling out a deal with his Reform Party. And he suggested Keir Starmer could have brought the appalling scenes on the nations streets under control more swiftly and said the prime minister should have sacked home office minister Jess Phillips, who he accused of justifying the actions of some rioters. Mr Tugendhat slammed Elon Musk and Nigel Farage over the riots (Danny Lawson/PA) ( PA Wire ) Sir Keir has faced calls to order an inquiry into the role of social media after it was accused of fuelling the disorder. Downing Street openly clashed with Mr Musk over his civil war comments, while courts minister Heidi Alexander denounced them as deplorable. Asked about the remarks, Mr Tugendhat said: "Frankly I found those comments delusional and simply false. But he stopped short of saying politicians should quit Twitter, after a number of Labour MPs left the platform, suggesting it was an individual decision. He also accused Mr Farage of deeply irresponsible and dangerous" behaviour over the riots. Mr Farage has come under fire for his claims of two-tier policing, echoing the language of a right-wing conspiracy theory. He also reached out to Mr Musk, alleging a conspiracy between the government and media to support open borders. And he doubled down on his much-criticised claims about the Southport stabbings, and claimed the truth was being withheld about the suspect, saying his question about whether he was on a watchlist had not been answered. Nigel Farage (Zac Goodwin/PA) ( PA Wire ) False claims that the alleged attacker of three young girls in the town was on a watchlist and a Muslim were used to stir up far-right mobs. During his speech, Mr Tugendhat, a former security minister, also said the Labour leader should have fired Ms Phillips. He told an invited audience in London: "When masked men gathered in Birmingham brandishing weapons and live on camera threatened female journalists and attempted to slash the tyres of broadcast vans, Jess Phillips, a Home Office minister, chose to justify their behaviour instead of condemning it because these were not far right hooligans but young Muslim men. "This was a failure of leadership just as surely as that of Nigel Farage, and it is not the only failure of leadership by Keir Starmers Government over these last two weeks." He added that the PM should have sacked her. Ms Phillips suggested that the rumours of the far-right gathering had been deliberately spread in a bid to cause trouble. To be clear, all day rumours have been spread that a far-right group were coming and it was done entirely to get Muslim people out on the street to drive this content, she tweeted,It is misinformation being spread to create trouble. Comparing Sir Keirs response to that of former prime minister David Cameron during the 2011 riots, he said: "David Cameron immediately called Cobra, did so every day, and made sure the police had the resources... Those riots stopped within a week. "These riots went on longer and they were less serious. He could have gripped it. "He chose not to use the institutions of the state and still to run as if he was in opposition. Thats not how Government works." Reform UK chief whip Lee Anderson said: Once again we see the Tories try to gaslight and shift the blame from their failures and broken promises over mass immigration. It is no wonder that polling out today shows a third of Conservative supporters do not care who their next leader is. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A former University of Kentucky student who was accused of hurling racial slurs and attacking a Black schoolmate while drunk has pleaded guilty to assault and other charges. Sophia Rosing, 23, admitted four counts of fourth-degree assault, one count of disorderly conduct, and one count of public intoxication, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. She was arrested and charged in 2022 after she attacked a Black student working at a campus residence hall while she was drunk. The attack was caught on video and went viral on social media. The victim in the attack, Kylah Spring, says in the video that Rosing struck her numerous times and kicked her in the stomach. As Spring is explaining what happened to her, Rosing can be heard yelling at her in the background, calling the Black student the n-word and a "b****" throughout the footage. She uses the racial slur approximately 200 times over the course of the video. Rosing was ultimately indicted by a grand jury on six counts, according to WKYT. Shortly after the attack, the University of Kentucky banned her from the campus and announced Rosing would be ineligible to re-enroll. Sophia Rosing pleaded guilty after a mediation session with the victim ( (Fayette County Detention Center via AP) ) "As a community working wholeheartedly to prevent racist violence, we also must be committed to holding people accountable for their actions. The processes we have in place are essential," the university president, Eli Capilouto, said in a video the school released after the attack. She faces up to a year in jail and 100 hours of community service, according to her attorney, Fred Peters. The 23-year-old reportedly decided to plead guilty after participating in a mediation session with the victim. "A lot of things got said, apologies were made and we worked it out," Peters said. "She has had a lot of time to think about what she has done, and she wrote a nice letter of apology." Spring, the woman Rosing attacked, had a less rosy view of the meeting. She told WLEX that she did not believe Rosing to be genuinely remorseful. "I feel that a person that is remorseful takes actions that are moving towards proving they are remorseful," Spring told the outlet. "Not just words." Spring said the mediation hearing also provided her with the opportunity to address Rosing directly. I told her that she didn't break my spirit, Spring said. That was one of the things I said the first time I ever spoke about what happened and that rings true today. Rosing initially pleaded not guilty when she was arraigned in November 2022. Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 17. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A former Kansas police chief who led the raid of a local newspaper last year was formally charged with one felony count of interfering with a judicial process on Monday for allegedly influencing a witness in an investigation. Gideon Cody, the former Marion County Police Department chief, allegedly knowingly or intentionally swayed a witness in a non-violent felony case to withhold information last year. The complaint, filed in Marion County, does not include specific information but alleges the incident occurred around the time Cody led a team of people to raid the Marion County Record offices and the home of its publisher. Cody faced international backlash last year for carrying out an extensive raid on the local newspaper, the home of its publishers and home of a city council member, in what he claimed was part of an investigation into reporters illegally obtaining documents about a restaurant owners drunk driving incident. The restaurant owner falsely claimed that reporters at the weekly newspaper illegally obtained sensitive government documents about her while investigating her as she was seeking a liquor license. Over several hours, Cody and his team seized cell phones, computers, and other materials from the newspapers office. A former reporter was injured during the raid when Cody forceably removed a cell phone from her hand she later settled a lawsuit with Cody for $235,000. Officers also took materials from the publishers home where he lived with his 98-year-old mother. The elderly woman died the day after the raid something the newspaper publisher attributes to the stress of the raid. The search warrant Cody and his team used to obtain computers, cellphones and more from the Marion County Records offices was later determined to have insufficient evidence to warrant the search. First Amendment advocates were outraged over the raid, claiming it created a chilling effect on the newspapers ability to publish information. Cody resigned from the Marion Police Department less than two months after the raid amid mounting pressure. Earlier this month, a report from special prosecutors who were appointed to oversee an investigation into the raid found there was no evidence the accused reporters committed criminal conduct. The reporters obtained documents through a confidential source. It is unclear who is representing Cody in the criminal case at this time. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Police in Colorado have accused a former MMA fighter who worked to combat gun violence of murder after he allegedly shot a man in the head in front of the horrified attendees of a child's birthday party. On Saturday, Lumumba Sayers, 46, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and felony menacing charges related to the alleged shooting in Commerce City, Colorado. The shooting took place at Pioneer Park during a child's pool party, according to an arrest affidavit cited by 9News. Witnesses cited in the filing say they watched Sayers "walk up and shoot the victim in the head at close range." The victim was pronounced dead at the scene after suffering three gunshot wounds, according to the affidavit. Sayers' son was killed approximately one year ago by a friend of Malcolm Watson, the 28-year-old man who was shot and killed on Saturday. The arrest affidavit notes that connection as a possible motive in the shooting. Witnesses had stated the [shooters son] had been murdered about a year ago by a friend of the deceased ... and this murder was probably in retaliation or revenge, the affidavit says. Lumumba Sayers Jr, Sayers' son, was also an MMA fighter and an anti-gun activist like his father. He and another man were killed in a quadruple shooting on August 19, 2023, according to Denver 7 News. The suspect in that case, Tyrell Braxton, was arrested and charged with murder. His murder case has since been dismissed, according to court documents. Braxton is still facing a charge of illegal possession of ammunition in federal court related to the shooting. Witnesses told police that Sayers allegedly tried to shoot Watson again with a second gun, but it jammed. They also said he allegedly took keys from Watson's body and tried to plant a gun on his person. Watson's sister told 9News, a local broadcaster, that the birthday party was for Watson's five-year-old son. She said her brother was innocent and had nothing to do with the killing of Sayers' son. She described her brother as a loving sibling and a man who wanted to be a great father. Sayers had previously worked to counteract gun violence. In 2021, he opened a gym in Aurora to serve as a safe space for children. He told 9News at the time that he wanted to space to serve as a place where young people could settle their differences in a safe and constructive environment rather than turning to violence. Watson's sister noted Sayers' activist work while speaking to 9News. "How are you an activist, murdering innocent people," she said. Topass McBride, the owner of Rediscovery Through Wellness in Aurora who knows Sayers, told Denver 7 News that the father was "still in a dark place" regarding his son's death. "When a person goes through something like this, they need ongoing support the grief process, the mourning does not go away," McBride said. "People have their own lives, and so people begin to move back to their own sense of normalcy, which didn't necessarily happen with Lumumba." She said she and other community leaders planned to put together a trauma response event for those affected by the shooting. Sayers' first court appearance is scheduled for August 15. He is currently being held at the Adams County Detention Facility. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} An Ohio police officer who shot and killed a pregnant woman who was driving a car toward him has been indicted and charged with murder by a Franklin County grand jury. Connor Grubb, 29, has been charged in the August 24, 2023, murder of Ta'Kiya Young, 21, who was six-months pregnant when she and her unborn child were killed. The officer faces four counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault, and two counts of involuntary manslaughter stemming from last years shooting. The attorney representing Young's family, Sean Walton, said in a statement that the indictment was a step toward police accountability, the Columbus Dispatch reports. "Ta'Kiyas life and that of her daughter were extinguished in an act of brutality, becoming yet another symbol of the urgent need for reform in police conduct and accountability," he told reporters. The incident began when a Kroger employee allegedly spotted Young and several other people stealing bottles of liquor from the grocery store. Blendon Township police officers were already in the parking lot helping a woman who had locked her keys in her car when the employee spotted them and asked them for help stopping Young. Bodycam footage released by the police department shows two officers standing near Young's car; one officer next to her driver side window, and Grubb, who stood in front of her car. The officer next to Young's window gives her multiple orders to roll down her window and turn off her car. In this photo released by the Young Family via their family attorney, Ta'Kiya Young is pictured with her sons, Ja'Kobie, right, and Ja'Kenlie, left ( Courtesy of Young Family/Walton + Brown LLP via AP ) Young rolls down her window partially, but does not turn off her car, and turns the wheel in an attempt to drive off. As the vehicle begins moving forward, Grubb can be seen with his pistol in hand pointed at Young's windshield. The car moves forward into Grubb, at which point he fires a shot into the car, striking Young in the chest. The car continues moving forward for several feet while the officers try to break Young's window. The vehicle eventually comes to a rest on the sidewalk beneath the Kroger's brick entrance overhang, at which point the officers succeed in breaking the window. Young can be seen slumped over inside the car. The police department has maintained that the officers were not aware that Young was pregnant as she was sitting down at the time of the confrontation, with her stomach not visible to officers. Surveillance video from the Kroger showed that at the time of the shooting, both of Grubb's feet were off the ground as the car hit him. The police called for medically assistance for Young after the shooting. A doctor who was at the store offered to assist until paramedics arrived, but Young ultimately died from her wounds. Grubb started his police career when he joined the Blendon Township Police Department in 2019. He will have his first court appearance on Wednesday, according to Montgomery County prosecutors. Nadine Young, Young's grandmother, told the Columbus Dispatch that her granddaughter's children miss her and that it has been difficult celebrating family events without her. "It's been, for me, agony," she told the paper. "It's been like a whirlwind of hurt and pain." She said she believes Grubb should be convicted of murder, arguing that he intended to kill her if she didn't comply with his orders. Walton, the family attorney, also said he was prepared to file a civil lawsuit that he hopes the Blendon Township government will settle with the family. Grubb's attorneys, Mark Collins and Kaitlyn Stephens, said the indictment was not a surprise but said they were confident the evidence would prove their client's innocence. "When viewed through the eyes of a reasonable police officer, the evidence will show that our client's actions were justified when there is video evidence that Officer Grubb was hit by a moving vehicle," Collins and Stephens said. "This case is not about if Connor Grubb made the decision to use deadly force, but why he made the decision to use deadly force." The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Scott Petersons former lover Amber Frey has broken her silence for the first time more than two decades after he murdered his pregnant wife Laci Peterson. Frey was having an affair with Peterson in the six weeks leading up to the Christmas 2002 murder. Laci disappeared from the couples home in Modesto, California, on December 24 2002 when she eight pregnant with the couples first child, a boy they planned to name Connor. Her husband, who reported her missing to police, claimed that he returned from a Christmas Day fishing trip to an empty house, save for their dog running around the backyard with its leash still attached. Four months later, Lacis body washed up on the shore of Brooks Island. Her unborn son was found a mile away one day earlier. Days later, Peterson was arrested for murder near San Diego. He had dyed his dark hair blonde and was carrying survival gear, viagra tablets and $15,000 in cash, according to authorities. He was convicted in 2004 and initially sentenced to death but was later resentenced to life in prison without parole. Now, for the first time, Frey, now 49, has spoken out in the upcoming Netflix documentary American Murder: Laci Peterson, shedding light on her affair with Peterson back then and revealing why she was the one who called the police While authorities searched for the 27-year-old victim, Frey called the police saying Peterson had initailly told her he was a widower. Scott Peterson (left) was convicted of killing his eight-month pregnant wife Laci (top right). His ex-lover Amber Frey (bottom right) has spoken out for the first time now ( California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation/Getty ) Later, she said he revealed he was in fact still married and expecting a baby. In the Netflix show, which will land on the streaming platform on August 14, Frey gives her first in-depth interview detailing the timeline of her relationship with the convicted killer and how he deceived her too. Never-before-heard secret recordings are also revealed of the phone calls between her and Peterson. So what do you want to be together with me? asked Frey in one of the recordings played in the docuseries trailer. For the rest of our lives I think we could care for each other, Peterson, now 51, replied. Scott Peterson during a pretrial hearing in Modesto, California, July 2003 ( Al Golub-Pool/Getty Images ) Lacis childhood friends, detectives, reporters, lawyers, jurors and Lacis mother Sharon Rocha also appear in the documentary, with Sharon claiming her son-in-law never wanted to become a father. Peterson is also speaking out for the first time in more than two decades in another upcoming true crime documentary series, Face to Face with Scott Peterson, set for release on 20 August. Peterson has always maintained his innocence and claimed he was wrongly convicted. He was denied a retrial in 2021. His case was taken up by the Los Angeles Innocence Project in March, with the organization claiming to have proof his wife may have been murdered by burglars after she witnessed their crimes. The non-profit is calling for a retest of DNA evidence. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Three people are dead and investigators are looking for a pickup truck that went missing from the scene of a deadly fire that ripped through a home in a rural area of Washington state. Authorities are still trying to figure out what led to the fire in Skagit County on Friday and hope that by locating the missing blue 1994 Chevrolet pickup truck, they will learn new details, though they did not elaborate what the connection might be. Police responded to the scene of the fire at the home on Highway 530 in the small town of Concrete, around 10:24 am on Friday. Photos shared by police shows the house reduced to charred rubble after the deadly fire on Friday in rural Washington ( Mount Vernon Police Department ) Three victims were pulled from the two-story home, but recovery efforts took days because the structure had completely collapsed, according to Mount Vernon Police Department. Investigators with the Skagit County Sheriffs Department, whose deputies first responded to the scene, learned that the home belonged to an employee of Skagit County, who was non-law enforcement. Identities of the other victims have not yet been released. The scene of the fire is still being processed by multiple agencies, including the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, police said. The cause of the fire wasnt yet clear. A spokesperson for the Mount Vernon police department said it would not be releasing any new information until the excavation work is complete. Investigators are asking for the publics help locating a blue 1994 Chevrolet pickup truck with the license plate C67636L ( Mount Vernon Police Department ) Several neighbors recalled to KOMO News about seeing the smoke climb so high, it topped the trees. Aaron Vogel said when he saw the black smoke, he knew something was wrong. I looked up about four houses down. I could just see black smoke, so I knew it was someones house, Vogel told KOMO. My neighbor called me and told me what was going on, and I was in shock because I knew something was going on because in my yard there was debris coming from the house, so I knew something was up. I didnt know if I had to evacuate or if they were going to start coming around and telling us to leave because I knew it was a fire, and I knew it was close," Vogel added. Investigators are asking witnesses or anyone with relevant information about the fire or the missing truck with the license plate C67636L to call Mount Vernon police. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Elon Musk is now in a war of words with the EU after weeks of mudslinging over the UKs handling of far-right violence. The European Union sent a warning letter to the multi-billionaire reminding him of the blocs rules against promoting harmful content, ahead of his interview with former US president Donald Trump. Musk responded with a Tropic Thunder film meme of Tom Cruise reading: Take a big step back, and literally, f*** your own face, which has racked up more than 40 million views. The letter from EU digital commissioner Thierry Breton warned X was subject to the EUs Digital Services Act (DSA), the blocs relatively new law regulating illegal content and disinformation on large social media platforms. "Let me clarify that any negative effect of illegal content on X in the EU, which could be attributed to the ineffectiveness of the way in which X applies the relevant provisions of the DSA, may be relevant in the context of the ongoing proceedings and the overall assessments of X's compliance with EU law, he said. "This is in line with what has already been done in the recent past, for example in relation to repercussions and amplification of terrorist content or content that incites violence, hate and racism in the EU, such as in the context of the recent riots in the United Kingdom. "I therefore urge you to promptly ensure the effectiveness of your systems and to report measures taken to my team." Bretons tweet appeared to paraphrase Spidermans famous catchphrase with great power becomes great responsibility. It comes after Musk has repeatedly hit out at UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer with outlandish claims he was suppressing free speech and acting like the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin in response to anti-immigration unrest. Last week, Musk shared a video of a person purportedly being arrested for posting offensive comments online, asking: Is this Britain or the Soviet Union? He also tweeted civil war is inevitable following violent unrest in the UK which followed a stabbing attack that killed three young girls in Southport, Merseyside. The riots were sparked by false claims about the suspects identity that were widely shared on X. Elon Musk has been at war on Twitter defending free speech ( AP ) Number 10 hit back and said there was no justification for Musks comments, adding there was more that social media companies can and should be doing. Musk then replied to a post on X from the prime minister - in which Sir Keir said he would not tolerate attacks on mosques or Muslim communities - asking: Shouldnt you be concerned about attacks on *all* communities? The tech mogul also shared a fake Daily Telegraph news article to over one-million X users which claimed Sir Keir was building detainment camps in the Falkland Islands for people convicted over the riots. Alongside a screenshot of the forgery, he wrote Detainment camps... before deleting the post sent to his 194 million followers half an hour later. Under his leadership, X has restored the accounts of many figures previously banned for breaking site rules around hate speech, including in some from 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 misinformation and hateful content, as well as pornography and spam posts and accounts, despite Musk claiming he would defeat the bots after taking over the company. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Elon Musk has been accused of underplaying Americas atomic bombing of Japans Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II during his interview of Donald Trump. Mr Musk was talking about nuclear power with the former president when he said people have an unfounded fear of nuclear electricity generation. It is the safest form of electricity generation, he argued. People were asking me in California, are you worried about a nuclear cloud coming from Japan? I am like no, that's crazy. It is actually, it is not even dangerous in Fukushima. I flew there and ate locally grown vegetables on TV to prove it," he said during the interview on his social media platform X on Monday. "Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed but now they are full cities again," the multibillionaire owner of Tesla, SpaceX and X said. "That's great, that's great," Mr Trump responded. "It is not as scary as people think, basically," Mr Musk added. They joked about nuclear power facing a branding problem. We will have to rebrand it, the former president told Mr Musk. We will name it after you or something. Elon Musk interviews Donald Trump on X ( Reuters ) America dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, destroying the city and killing 140,000 people. Three days later, it nuked Nagasaki and killed 70,000 more people. Japan surrendered on 15 August, ending World War II. Mr Musks remarks understating the gravity of the atomic bombing of Japan and the Fukushima meltdown triggered an uproar on social media. "Musk is minimising what happened in Fukushima. I am as big a fan of nuclear power as there is but this is a completely dumba** thing to say," academic and author Tom Nichols said on X. A towering tsunami slammed into the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in 2011, destroying its power supply and cooling systems and sparking meltdowns in three of its six reactors. The tsunami and the 9.0 magnitude earthquake that triggered it killed about 20,000 people and the meltdown left large parts of Fukushima prefecture uninhabitable. But he topped it by noting that Hiroshima and Nagasaki are fine now," Mr Nichols said, referring to Mr Musk. "Great job boys, just lost one of our most important allies in Asia," said writer Kevin Xu. At a ceremony marking the anniversary of the atomic bombing last week, Nagasaki mayor Shiro Suzuki called on countries with nuclear weapons and those under their nuclear umbrellas, including Japan, to abolish them. You must face up to the reality that the very existence of nuclear weapons poses an increasing threat to humankind, Mr Suzuki said, and you must make a brave shift toward the abolition of nuclear weapons. The ceremony was boycotted by ambassadors of the US, UK and several European countries in protest against Israel not being invited. Japans prime minister Fumio Kishida reiterated his pledge to pursue a nuclear weapons-free world. But his critics, many of them survivors of the atomic bombings, criticised it as a hollow pledge as Japan relies on the American nuclear umbrella while building up its own military. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Four family members were killed and another was left in critical condition after a street racer smashed into their car as they returned home from a Texas theme park. Jessie Rosales, his wife Lorena, and children Anthony, 17, Stephanie,13, and Angel, 6, were traveling back from the Six Flags resort and dinner at a Panda Express on Saturday when the crash happened. A red Dodge Charger collided with the familys Chevy Traverse, causing the SUV to roll twice and burst into flames. Video of the incident shared on social media showed the fiery wreckage of the car by a gas station and the Charger nearby. Three of the Rosales family died at the scene and a fourth died at the hospital. Only 17-year-old Anthony Rosales survived the crash, though he remains in hospital in critical condition, according to a GoFundMe, which had raised over $32,000 as of Tuesday. Members of the Rosales family who died in Grand Prairie, Texas, on Saturday after a street racer crashed into their vehicle. Anthony Rosales (center back) was the sole survivor of the incident ( Rosales Family ) His brother Jessie and sister Natalie have stepped up to get him through this physical battle in addition to all the other battles they will face, the page description read. This sweet sibling group has a long hard road ahead of them physically, emotionally and financially. The funds from the page will be used for Anthonys medical bills and funeral expenses. Two men are in custody and charged with multiple felonies following the incident. According to investigators, 20-year-old Jaime Mesa was driving the red charger, WBAP reported. He faces four counts of manslaughter, four counts of racing on a highway causing death, one count of racing on a highway causing serious bodily injury and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Mesa is also currently hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, according to WBAP. The driver of the second vehicle involved in the race, a white Dodge Charger Daytona, fled the scene after the crash, according to investigators but was later named as 22-year-old Antony Morales. Morales is charged with counts of racing on a highway causing death and one count of racing on a highway causing serious bodily injury. The Independent has reached out to the Grand Prairie Police Department for further information about the incident. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Most of the US can expect this winter to be plenty wet - bad news for the nations commuters. The Farmers Almanac released its annual 2024-2025 winter forecast, which shows an unpleasant winter, expected to last longer than normal, for most of the country. La Nina is expected to play a major impact on the winter forecast , according to the Almanac. That weather pattern brings warmer air to the Americas during the winter months. This years forecast comes after last winter was the hottest on record, and July 204 has been the Earths warmest month . Much of the country can expect milder temperatures and wetter weather throughout the winter, according to the Almanac. "It definitely looks more wet than white in many areas," Farmers Almanac Editor Sandi Duncan said to USA TODAY . "Obviously, depending on where you live, there might be more white than wet, but were focusing in on the wet winter ahead." Kennedy Shoemaker, 2, of Simi Valley, tries out her rain gear on a puddle at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California on February 19, 2024. The Farmers Almanac predicts a a wet winter in 2024-2025 for much of the US. ( AP ) The coldest temperatures will be found from the Northern Plains to the Great Lakes region. But, areas stretching from the Rockies to the Appalachian Mountains will also experience cold conditions. The coldest outbreak is expected at the end of January to the start of February. Farmers Almanac predicts the Northeast will have average to above-average temperatures throughout the winter. Texas and the Southern Plains are expected to see above-average temperatures this winter. While the Southwest will be about average. Bad news for the Pacific Northwest, where the Almanac predicts unseasonably chilly temps. The Farmers Almanac 2024-2025 winter outlook. Much of the country is expected to see wet weather and mild temperatures this season. ( Farmers Almanac ) As for precipitation, the Northwest, the Great Lakes and the Ohio Valley can expect a wet winter. The south is looking at average or even below-average precipitation this winter. In the Northeast , sleet and rain are expected to hit near the coast for most of the winter. Snow will be prominent in the mountain ranges of the Northeast. While the Almanac has been making winter predictions for more than 200 years. Some local meteorologists are suggesting not to put too much stock in the report. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A makeshift community aquarium next to a fire hydrant in Brooklyn, that went viral online and prompted concerned residents to attempt a goldfish heist, has now drawn the ire of animal rights organizations who say the fish must be liberated immediately. Since its creation several weeks ago, the project in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood has attracted dozens of visitors from across New York City and farther afield. The small puddle containing the fish now features a sign asking onlookers to be respectful and reminding them that they are being watched by a security guard, sitting by some nearby railings. Hajj-Malik Lovick, 47, a lifelong resident of the area says the project was meant to bring conversation and joy to the community. Its all for the kids, he told The Independent. And it helps the parents too. If their mom says Were gonna go see the fish, thats why they get up to go to school. But animal rights charity PETA has said that the attraction is inhumane and sets a bad example for children. There are so many better ways to beautify your neighborhood that dont involve harming helpless animals, said Kristin Rickman, PETAs Emergency Response Team Director. The group says it is working with local animal rights organizations to remove the fish from the puddle as soon as possible. Its inhumane, these fish need to be rescued and placed in homes that can accommodate them, Rickman told The Independent. Since its creation several weeks ago visitors have come from all over, some with children, to see the viral aquatic attraction ( Mike Bedigan/ The Independent ) Lovick and a friend came up with the idea for the aquarium while sitting by the leaking fire hydrant. We started joking about what if we added fish, he told The Associated Press. Since the water is always there sitting in the puddle, why not turn this into something thats more interesting? With help from Lovicks uncle, the pair fortified the edges of the tree bed with rocks and brick, then bought 100 common goldfish from a pet store for $16 and put them in the puddle. However, despite the positive response from many community members, some were less enthused. The makeshift aquarium now features a sign asking onlookers to be respectful, and reminding them that they are being watched by a security guard ( Mike Bedigan/ The Independent ) In the early hours of Wednesday morning, two neighborhood residents, Emily Campbell and Max David, attempted a rescue mission, using nets and plastic bags to extract about 30 fish from the two-inch deep water. Campbell later said she was aware of the optics of her actions as a young white person in the historically Black neighborhood, but said that they were driven by genuine concern for the fish. Her sentiments are shared by Rickman. There are so many problems with this kind of situation, Rickman said. First of all, goldfish are unique individuals. They have complex needs and these needs usually arent met even inside someones home. Meeting those needs in a puddle caused by a leaky fire hydrant is just impossible. Creators of the project say that it was supposed to spark conversation in the community and be for the children ( Mike Bedigan/ The Independent ) Though acknowledging that the aquarium was not started as an intentionally cruel project, Rickman dismissed its justification as being community-orientated. That doesnt make it ok, she told The Independent. A fish is a fish. Just because theyre smaller and dont cost as much doesnt mean that they cant suffer just as equally as a larger fish... They are sentient beings and want to live. The small puddle initially contained more than 100 pet-store goldfish, bought for $16 ( Mike Bedigan/ The Independent ) Rickman would not specify PETAs intended course of action but said that the priority was getting the fish out of the puddle and helping community members understand the animal welfare issues surrounding the project. A lot of people dont consider fish to be able to experience pain or be significant at all, she said. We need to set an example for our children of kindness, compassion and responsible animal guardianship. On Monday, video circulated on social media of firefighters appearing to clear the puddle, though The Independent has been unable to verify the footage. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Twitters former chairman, Omid Kordestani, has sued the social media company now called X claiming that CEO Elon Musk is refusing to cash out his more than $20m in shares. Kordestani worked in the position of executive chairman between 2015 and 2020. He remained with the company on its board for two more years until Musk bought the social media giant for $44bn. According to the lawsuit, Kordestani left a lucrative position at Google and was given a $50,000 salary when he was hired by Twitter a modest sum for a tech executive at one of the largest social media platforms in existence and took the majority of his compensation in stocks, according to National Technology News. Now, Musk is allegedly refusing to pay out Kordestani's owed shares. The lawsuit claims that Kordestani was originally supposed to be paid the money within days of Musk's acquisition of Twitter. Elon Musks X social media platform is being sued by former Twitter chairman Omid Kordestani for more than $20m in stock options he claims the company is refusing to pay out ( Getty Images ) Kordestani's filing claims that X "seeks to reap the benefits of Mr. Kordestani's seven years of service to Twitter without paying him for it, despite clear contractual language requiring X Corp. to do so" The former executive held 800,000 stock options and additional stock payouts amounting to $3m on top of the $20m he says he is already owed. The lawsuit claims that Musk and X "now refuses to meet" the obligated payments, "adding to a long list of unpaid bills accruing under Mr Musk's watch." "X Corp. faces suits and claims from many employees, landlords, and vendors Mr. Musk has failed to pay," the lawsuit says. Kordestani isn't the only former Twitter executive suing Musk. Four former executives, including the company's former CEO and former chief financial officer, have also sued Musk for unpaid compensation. Thousands of former employees have also join mass lawsuits alleging they'd been wrongfully terminated or been given insufficient severance pay, according to National Technology News. Musk has defended himself from the lawsuits saying the employees and executives he let go had committed gross negligence and willful misconduct. Following Musk's takeover of Twitter, the company saw seismic shifts in staffing, numerous executives and employees let go, operational changes, and an advertiser exodus from the platform as bots, parody accounts, and right-wing extremism content became more prevalent on the platform. The lawsuit was filed in the California Superior Court in San Francisco last week. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Protesters calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war shut down the busy 405 freeway in Los Angeles on Tuesday morning during rush hour, demanding a ceasefire and a US arms embargo on Israel. The demonstration paused traffic for about an hour, and nine were arrested without injury, according to the California Highway Patrol. Today, American Jews risked their bodies to demand a lasting ceasefire and an end to U.S. military aid to Israel, the progressive Jewish activist group If Not Now LA, whose members joined the protest, wrote on Instagram. Joe Bidens administration cannot provide 14 billion dollars in unconditional aid to Israel, cosigning the unbridled murders of Palestinian civilians. A call for a lasting ceasefire is only meaningful if there will be no more funds given to the Israeli military. The protesters carried signs calling for an embargo and urging fellow Jews to reject the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a pro-Israel group that spends heavily on US congressional races, including the recent defeat of Representative Cori Bush. Protests came during Jewish holiday of Tishah BAv ( REUTERS ) The protest was reminiscent of others that have taken place across the country. In April, a group of activists blocked the Golden Gate Bridge for a ceasefire protest. This week, 26 involved in the demonstration were charged with offenses including false imprisonment, conspiracy, trespassing, unlawful assembly, and failure to obey a uniformed officer. As The Independent has reported, the war in Gaza could define the incoming administration and the 2024 election that precedes it. The Biden administration has called on Israel to avoid civilian casualties and achieve a ceasefire but has continued to support the US ally with weapons as it conducts a campaign thats involved allegedly assassinating its negotiating partners within Hamas and has been deemed genocide by human rights experts. On the campaign trail, Harris has called for an immediate ceasefire but has shown irritation with pro-Palestine protesters interrupting her rallies. Trump, meanwhile, has been less vocal about the conflict, though in March he called on Israel to finish up the war because it is losing a lot of the world. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} An Arkansas cop has been fired after he was caught on video brutalizing a handcuffed man in the backseat of a patrol vehicle, punching the detainee in the face, smashing his elbow into his temple, and slamming the car door on his head after he appears to pass out. On Friday, the Jonesboro Police Department released footage of the horrifying Aug. 8 incident, in which Officer Joseph Tucker Harris can be seen walking back to the car, flinging open the door, and grinding a metal baton into Billy Lee Corams sternum until he comes to, shrieking in pain. Harris then slams the door on Corams head again as the 42-year-old, wearing a hospital gown, can be seen writhing in agony. Coram had earlier tried to strangle himself with his seatbelt, the video shows. On August 9, the Jonesboro PD issued a statement saying it had received a complaint about the incident, which necessitated prompt action. Following an internal review of the incident, it was determined that the officer involved, Joseph Harris, should be terminated effective immediately, the statement said. Jonesboro Police Chief Rick Elliott told local news station KAIT that Harris behavior was unbecoming, unprofessional, and it was conduct that Im not gonna tolerate There was no pausing and stopping to think on what to do next. Elliott met with community leaders on Monday night at the New Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church. The event was organized by the Craighead County NAACP. Officer Joseph Tucker Harris has been punished previously for violent behavior, and is currently fighting a wrongful death lawsuit brought by a detainees family ( Jonesboro Police Department ) Coram was processed into the Craighead County Jail on August 7 on felony escape charges originating in another jurisdiction, according to a review of booking records. Last Friday, he told jail staff he had swallowed an unknown amount of fentanyl, after which he was taken to the hospital. While there, Coram, who is being held on $25,000 bail, allegedly walked away, prompting a search for the missing detainee. Harris eventually apprehended Coram nearby, and was taking him back to jail when the ugly incident occurred. Elliott told the Associated Press on Monday that the video left him shocked and appalled. Wrong is wrong, he said. Theres not really anything to investigate. Elliott said he has referred the case to local prosecutors and has contacted the FBI. He is also planning to push for Harris to be decertified by the state, so he cannot again serve as a law enforcement officer. In July 2022, Harris was briefly suspended without pay from the Jonesboro PD after slamming a man to the ground outside an area nightclub. He was required to undergo additional training in de-escalation and use of force policies. This June, Harris was named as a defendant in a wrongful death lawsuit reviewed by The Independent. It accuses Harris of neglecting Brock Tyner, a mentally ill man who said he had taken PCP and was pleading for help. Please help me! Tyner shouted from the back of the squad car, as he smashed his head against the window, according to the lawsuit. Ill never f*****g do drugs again! Harris and his partner should have known Tyner needed medical intervention, but took him to jail, instead, the lawsuit states. Tyner then died, it goes on. Had Defendants transported Tyner to the emergency room, he would not have died. The family is asking for a jury trial and a minimum of $1 million in damages. Harris does not have a working phone number listed in public records and was unable to be reached on Tuesday. Billy Lee Coram is due back in court on September 27. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Volunteers in Arizona have been leaving water and other life-saving supplies throughout the desert along the US-Mexico border, where at least 90 have died in the state alone this year. We have water, cans of food, hats for the sun, said Luis Osuna, a volunteer. Luis Osuna, a volunteer with Border Kindness told state local site AZFamily. Everything we do out here is to try and prevent one death. Because one death means the world to someones family members, to someones kids. Scores of migrants have died crossing the US-Mexico border this year, even as crossings continue to plunge in recent months in the wake of an executive order from the Biden administration temporarily suspending asylum in times of high entry. In addition to the at least 90 deaths in the Arizona desert, the remains of 140 people have been found in the El Paso border sector, more than all those found in the region during fiscal year 2023. Border crossings are down after Biden order, but migrant heat deaths have persisted ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved ) Border agents have been filmed destroying water caches left for migrants, seeking to prevent the epidemic of heat-related deaths at the border each year. The practice, which is ostensibly against Border Patrol rules, has reportedly continued through at least 2023. Human rights advocates argue that the bipartisan strategy of deterrence using measures like border walls, asylum crackdowns, and militarized security to dissuade migrants from attempting to cross often has the effect of pushing desperate border crossers to remote areas of the desert where they can fall victim to dangerous conditions like triple-degree temperatures. The number of deaths is shocking, but each death represents a human being, a family, a community, Ari Sawyer, US border researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a recent report. The US government should end deadly border deterrence policies and enact policies that protect human life. As The Independent has reported, the US government has formally adopted a prevention through deterrence approach since at least the mid-1990s. Since then, at least 10,000 have died at the border, according to Human Rights Watch, though the true figure could be as many as eight times higher given the difficulties of accurately studying the issue across the sprawling US-Mexico frontier. Individual states like Texas, which has installed floating barriers and razor wire along popular border crossings, have pursued similar strategies. In 2022, the US-Mexico border was the most dangerous land border route in the world, according to the International Organization for Migration. In recent days, the Harris campaign has put out ads touting Harriss credentials as a border-state prosecutor and backer of the Biden immigration agenda, including a border security bill. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Arizona voters will decide if the right to an abortion should be part of the states constitution in November after organizers successfully gathered enough signatures for the initiative to end up on the ballot. On Monday, the Arizona Secretary of States office confirmed that the Arizona for Abortion Access Act will be a voting measure on the November ballot under Proposition 139." The proposed act asks voters if the state should establish a fundamental right to abortion in the Arizona Constitution, prohibit the state from outlawing abortion before fetal viability around 24 weeks and allow for abortion after that point if a physician determines it is necessary to protect the physical or mental health of the pregnant person. It arrives after a chaotic year for the state in which the Arizona Supreme Court voted to uphold a Civil War-era abortion ban that criminalized nearly all abortions and would have overridden the states current 15-week abortion ban. The near-total ban was repealed in May. Members of Arizona for Abortion Access, the ballot initiative to enshrine abortion rights in the Arizona State Constitution ( Getty Images ) An estimated 577,971 Arizonians signed the proposed ballot measure, a record number of certified signatures that far exceeds the necessary 383,923 needed. "Well, if you just look at the number of petition signatures that were submitted youre talking about almost one out of every five Arizona voters signed that petition to put this on the ballot," Secretary of State Adrian Fontes told The Independent last week. "Weve never seen anything close to that ever for any issue, Fontes added. Abortion rights advocates had been lobbying to get the proposition on the swing states ballot for months. The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, Affirm Sexual and Reproductive Health, Reproductive Freedom for All and other organizations supported the ballot measure. This is a huge win for Arizona voters who will now get to vote YES on restoring and protecting the right to access abortion care, free from political interference, once and for all, said Cheryl Bruce, the campaign manager for Arizona for Abortion Access. Abortion rights supporters gather outside the Capitol, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Phoenix. Arizona ( AP ) Similar propositions are on the ballot in six other states including Nevada, Colorado, Maryland, New York, Florida and South Dakota. Missouri will also have an abortion rights measure on their ballot in November, the secretary of state announced on Tuesday. Democrats hope the amendments will lift them in a must-win election. Vice President Kamala Harris hopes to keep Arizona in the Democratic column after President Joe Biden won it in 2020. Representative Ruben Gallego is running heavily on abortion rights in his Senate race against former news anchor and election denier Kari Lake. Oscar De Los Santos, the assistant Democratic leader in the Arizona legislature, said he hopes to flip the state legislature this year. "I think were in a very strong position to flip weve obviously got the abortion ballot initiative out there that I think is going to help drive contrast on a very important issue between Democrats and Republicans," he said. A CBS poll from May found that 51 percent of voters believed abortion was a major factor in their voting decision. More than 60 percent of survey respondents said they believed abortion should be legal in most or all cases. Arizona voters can decide on Prop 139 in the November general election while casting their ballots for the president, Senate and other races. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Abortion rights advocates scored a major win on Monday when Arizonas secretary of state announced that organizers had gathered enough signatures to force a vote in November on whether the state constitution should enshrine the right to an abortion. The Abortion Access for All Act will now appear on the ballot as Proposition 139 and ask voters if Arizona should establish a fundamental right to abortion in its constitution. The proposed amendment comes after Arizonas Supreme Court earlier this year upheld a ban from 1864, before Arizona was even a state, that criminalized nearly all abortions. But the states Legislature ultimately voted in favor of a bill to repeal the harsh ban, and Governor Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, signed it. At the same time, a law from 2022 that prohibits abortion after 15 weeks even in cases of rape or incest that was signed by the previous Republican governor, Doug Ducey, remains on the books. Advocates say that law does not adequately protect the most vulnerable populations. Its young people. Its older people who have variable cycles because of their age, Mackenzie Joy Brennan, a pro bono abortion attorney who sits on the board of the Desert Star Institute for Family Planning, the states only non-profit independent non-profit abortion provider, told The Independent last week. Brennan frequently represents teenagers seeking abortions. Abortion ( AP ) Democrats have hoped the abortion ballot initiative would help them win support on the presidential and Senate level and boost voter turnout in November. Indeed, many of the ads for Arizona Senate candidate Ruben Gallego have highlighted Republican Kari Lakes previous praise of the 1864 abortion ban. Of course, ever since President Joe Biden, who was notoriously squeamish when talking about abortion, announced he would step aside, Vice President Harris has shown signs of being competitive in the state, holding a rally with more than 15,000 people last week where she emphasized her support for abortion rights. Similarly, Democrats hope to flip the state legislature and think the amendment could give them the lift. I think were in a very strong position to flip weve obviously got the abortion ballot initiative out there that I think is going to help drive contrast on a very important issue between Democrats and Republicans, Oscar De Los Santos, the assistant Democratic leader in the Arizona state house, told The Independent. At the same time, Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes noted the bipartisan nature of the 577,971 sigantures the initiative garnered. As of July, Arizona had 4.1 million registered voters. Weve never seen anything close to that ever for any issue, and when you think back to not just John McCain Republicans, but Barry Goldwater Republicans, he told The Independent in an interview last week in reference to two Arizona senators who went on to become the Republican nominees for president in 2008 and 1964, respectively. Indeed, Goldwaters wife played a role in founding what would become Planned Parenthoods branch in Arizona. Arizonas libertarian streak has often defined it, hence why for years it resisted Democratic control and has maintained ardently pro-gun (though that dynamic has changed and the state has not elected a Republican senator since 2016). Dawn Penich, a communications director for Arizona for Abortion Access, told The Independent that the petition received thousands of signatures from Mohave County, where 75 percent of voters supported Donald Trump in 2020. Barry Goldwater, Arizonas longtime Republican senator, is considered the father of modern-day conservatism, but also supported abortion rights ( Getty ) They would say, you know, this may not be the choice that I make or that my daughter makes, but its not the governments damn business, she said. At the same time, Brennan said that while she wholeheartedly supports the initiative, she added that even if it passes, there will still be legal hurdles. Abortions would be allowed only up until fetal viability, generally around 24 weeks, which she said puts providers in a weird place. As you might expect, thats not a hard set line, and its really not for politicians determining because its very personal, its very variable, she said. Penich pointed out that providers would at least have constitutional backing for the first time, which could give them sturdier legal ground in case of challenges. But for the first time ever, Prop 139 will give us a constitutional anchor that says that the legislature cannot hinder you know, the premise of this, what will then be a constitutional amendment, Penich told The Independent. It should be noted that the legal limbo that Arizona faces largely exists because of the Supreme Courts decision in Dobbs v Jackson, which killed Roe v Wade. Its turned the state, and all states, for that matter, into a legal Wild West for abortion access. And it means that whether the amendment passes, it has created a patchwork abortion legal system that will remain difficult to navigate for years to come. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The Democratic National Convention (DNC) has now entered its final day at the United Center in Chicago, where some of the partys biggest heavyweights have taken to the stage over the last three days. While the DNC is first and foremost a presidential nominating convention, Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz already have their places in the White House race sown up after a five-day round of online voting for delegates wrapped on August 5. Now, as many as 50,000 visitors have descended on the Steven Spielberg-coordinated convention in the Windy City, including 5,000 delegates from 50 states and territories, plus 15,000 members of the media, tens of thousands of guests and a huge contingent of Gaza ceasefire protesters. The convention has been organized around four distinct themes, one for each day: Mondays was For the People, examining the Biden administrations accomplishments in the White House and how a future Harris Cabinet could continue its work, Tuesdays was A Bold Vision for Americas Future, Wednesdays was A Fight for Our Freedoms and Thursdays is For Our Future. Here the latest on what we know about the conventions schedule. Monday Kamala Harris and Joe Biden at the DNC on Monday August 19 2024 ( AP ) President Joe Biden delivered the headline speech on the opening night, giving an emotional address to rapturous applause from the crowd. Introduced by First Lady Dr Jill Biden and his daughter Ashley Biden, the 81-year-old president ran through his accomplishments in the Oval Office before making a forceful case against Donald Trump. Denying that he was angry with members of his party who pressured him to step aside from the 2024 race, Biden explained: I love my job, but I love my country more. Hillary Clinton, the partys 2016 presidential nominee, also spoke of her desire to see the highest, hardest glass ceiling smashed with the election of a first female president. Delegates also heard from Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jim Clyburn, Jasmine Crockett, Robert Garcia, Grace Meng and Jamie Raskin, Senators Raphael Warnock and Chris Coons, Governors Andy Beshear and Kathy Hochul, DNC chair Jaime Harrison and United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain. Tuesday Michelle Obama and Barack Obama received a warm welcome at the DNC on Tuesday ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ) The Obamas took to the stage on Tuesday delivering an electrifying endorsement of the Harris-Walz administration while eviscerating Trump. Michelle denounced Trump for peddling a narrative of fear and declared that hope is making a comeback while also poking fun at Trumps reference to Black jobs, adding that the job hes currently seeking might just be one of those Black jobs. In his speech, Barack heaped praise on both Harris and Biden while slamming Trump for the childish nicknames, the crazy conspiracy theories, this weird obsession with crowd sizes. Other speakers included Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff including a touching video tribute from his son Cole Senators Chuck Schumer, Bernie Sanders, and Tammy Duckworth, Billionaire Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Trumps former press secretary Stephanie Grisham. Wednesday Walz delivered a rousing speech as he formally accepted the VP nomination ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ) Walz took to the stage to deliver a rousing acceptance speech to formally accept his vice presidential nomination. Met with roaring chants of Coach! Coach! Coach! he dived into a football-themed metaphor: Its the fourth quarter, were down a field goal, but were on offense and we have the ball, were driving down the field and boy do we have the right team... Kamala Harris is ready! Former president Bill Clinton also took to the stage and made a jibe at Trumps age, noting that he celebrated his 78th birthday on Monday but I'm still younger than Donald Trump. Oprah Winfrey also made a surprise appearance, slamming JD Vances childless cat ladies comments. Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, former VP hopefuls Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro also delivered speeches. Thursday As is tradition, Kamala Harris will wrap up the final day of the convention on Thursday night with a headline speech as she formally accepts the nomination to be the Democratic Partys 2024 presidential candidate. Reverend Al Sharpton, a prominent civil rights activist and baptist minster, has also announced he will take the podium. Additionally, former Republican congressman and outspoken Trump opponent Adam Kinzinger is expected to speak. How to watch: Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump hinted that he might flee to Venezuela if he loses the election this November. The former president made the comment as part of a fear-mongering prediction during his X interview with Elon Musk on Monday. If something happens with this election, which would be a horror show, well meet the next time in Venezuela, Trump said. He elaborated, explaining that Venezuela a dictatorship where nearly two dozen people have been killed in crackdowns on political protests would be far safer than the US if Vice President Kamala Harris wins in 2024. Well have a meeting and dinner in Venezuela, Trump said, Because thats whats happeningtheir crime rates coming down and our crime rates going through the roof. More than 1,200 people, including journalists, opposition supporters, and children, have been arrested in Venezuela as sweeping political arrests have rocked the nation, the UN reports. Trump took the opportunity to demonize immigration, suggesting that criminals from Venezuela were illegally entering the US. "Their crime rate is coming down and our crime rate is going through the roof. And it's so simple. And you haven't seen anything yet because these people have come into our country and they're just getting acclimated and they don't know about being politically correct, law enforcement or lack of law enforcement and our police. I have to just end with this. We have great police," he said. He told Musk that Venezuela had gotten rid of "about 70 per cent of their really bad people," with the suggestion that their "really bad people" had all fled to the US. "Their jails are about 50 percent, put into the United States. Same with other countries, over 30 percent. Some are at 50 percent. They're all different," he said. "But the bottom line is they're all going to be 100 percent. Why wouldn't you put 100 percent of it?" As is typical, there is no evidence for anything Trump said. Roberto Briceno-Leon, the founder and director of the OVV the Venezuelan Observatory of Violence told factcheck.org that there is no evidence that the South American nation is sending its criminals to the US. "We have no evidence that the Venezuelan government is emptying the prisons or mental hospitals to send them out of the country, whether to the USA or any other country," he said. He said crime rates were dropping, but not because prisons were being emptied. He said crime was going down because 8 million people have fled the country since 2014 due to worsening economic and living conditions. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The Late Show host Stephen Colbert mocked Donald Trump after reports surfaced claiming that the former president has called Vice President Kamala Harris a bitch in private on more than one occasion. Trump has called Harris a bitch repeatedly in private on separate occasions, two sources told The New York Times. Sir, its pronounced karma. And yeah, its a bitch, Colbert joked on Mondays show. When asked about Trumps latest sexist attack against Harris, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung told The Independent in a statement: That is not language President Trump has used to describe Kamala and its not how the campaign would characterize her. Although, Kamala has previously called herself that, he added, along with a link to an undated Rumble clip of Harris telling a crowd: As a woman, theres a balance to be struck between being tough and being a bitch. Donald Trump speaks during an election campaign rally in Bozeman, Montana, on August 9, 2024. Reports say he has been calling Kamala Harris a b**** behind closed doors ( AFP via Getty Images ) Trumps sexist attacks against Harris are not new. He has repeatedly attacked her intelligence. Trump has asserted that Harris has a low IQ, called her dumb as a rock, and claimed she is not smart enough to do a news conference. On Fox & Friends last week, Trump said: I heard shes sort of a nasty person. With this attack, Trump seems to be echoing his 2016 campaign against Hillary Clinton, when he repeatedly called the former Secretary of State nasty. On top of this, he recently uttered another familiar sexist term, calling Harris crazy an epithet he has reserved for former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in recent years. Meanwhile, a resurfaced clip that has gone viral shows Trumps running mate JD Vance describing Harris as childless cat lady who doesnt have a direct stake in the countrys future a remark he has defended in recent days. Former Clinton spokesperson Karen Finney told The Guardian last month that these types of attacks, like insulting ones intelligence, are pretty common tropes that we see used against women. Donna Brazile, a Democratic strategist close to Harris, also commented on the familiarity of Trumps attacks against women, telling theWashington Postlast month: I dont think we should spend any time worried about what nickname he gives the vice president of the United States. Its what he has done to the women of the United States. Trump has also joined into the barrage of Republicans racist remarks made about Harris. The former president has gone so far as to question the vice presidents race. Speaking at a National Association of Black Journalists Conference last month, Trump claimed that Harris only happened to turn Black recently and then asked: Is she Indian or is she Black? Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A group of hackers at a Las Vegas conference identified scores of vulnerabilities in voting equipment, but its unlikely fixes will make it to polling places before Election Day in November. Theres so much basic stuff that should be happening and is not happening, so yes Im worried about things not being fixed, but they havent been fixed for a long time, and Im also angry about it, Harri Hursti, co-founder of the DEF Con conferences Voting Village program, told Politico. If you dont think this kind of place is running 24/7 in China, Russia, youre kidding yourselves, he added. We are here only for two and a half days, and we find stuffit would be stupid to assume that the adversaries dont have absolute access to everything. The Voting Village programmers found pages of vulnerabilities, and are expected to release a full report of their findings in the coming weeks. The organizers said the amount of vulnerabilities found was consistent with other years. Voting firms are typically able to patch problems that are identified, but the process can take longer than the 83 days remaining until the election. Donald Trump continues to challenge the 2020 election results, four years later ( AFP via Getty Images ) Still, the potential weak spots could prove especially problematic in 2024. Last week, internal communications from the Trump campaign were shared with media outlets as the result of a hack, potentially from Iranian agents. These documents were obtained illegally from foreign sources hostile to the United States, intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our democratic process, a Trump campaign spokesperson said of the incident. Whats more, Donald Trump has been baselessly challenging the validity of the 2020 election since it happened, and numerous top Republicans have signaled in recent months they might not accept the results in 2024. The atmosphere around elections has only gotten more polarized since 2020, even though the evidence never bore out Trumps claims of massive irregularities that threw the election to Biden. None of the 64 lawsuits from the Trump campaign and its allies filed challenging the 2020 election had any merit or resulted in findings that would change the election result, and Trump administration officials like then-Attorney General Bill Barr have called claims of voter fraud b******t. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Vice President Kamala Harris will go head-to-head with Donald Trump in less than a month as Americans cast their votes in the 2024 election. A new set of polls from the New York Times finds that Harris is leading by a thin margin, but also, that she represents change to the public more than Trump. In another twist, it has recently been a tumultuous period for Florida in the presidential race. With multiple polls showing a dwindling Trump lead with Harris just 2 points behind, the latest NYT poll has reversed expectations, once again putting Trump ahead by a mile. While one new poll suggests that many Republicans may vote Democrat next month, how will Harris and Trump fare in November? Harris has a 2.6-point lead over Trump in the latest average of national polls, collated by FiveThirtyEight. On average, Harris has been marginally ahead of Trump in national polls for several weeks. The latest polls from the New York Times/ Siena College have Harris ahead by 3 points, at 49 per cent and Trump at 46 per cent. The nationwide poll of 3,385 voters shows the most positive result for Harris since she entered the race, but is still within the 2.4 margin of error and represents a highly competitive race. Most interestingly, the candidates are both promising change, but Trump has typically had more success in developing that reputation than Harris. Yet this poll shows that Harris is now more likely to represent change (46 per cent) than Trump (44 per cent). In particular, 52 per cent of women view Harris as representing change, while 52 per cent of men feel the same about Trump. Unstable polls in Florida There was a flurry of interest around polls in Florida in the past few weeks, with Harris appearing to encroach on Trumps lead in his home state. In particular, figures from the historically Republican pollster RMG Research showed Trump with 50 per cent of the vote and Harris with 48 per cent in Florida, which is home to Mar-a-Lago and several key Republicans. However, this mornings polls from the New York Times show Trump ahead by a strong +13 points in the sunshine state, at 55 per cent to Harriss 41 per cent. Though this is out of line with several recent polls in the state, New York Times analyst Nate Cohn suggests that this poll is not an outlier, saying: Mr Trump [excels] in states where Republicans performed well in the 2022 midterm elections as they did in Florida. As a result, this poll is not the usual outlier. If Florida becomes more solidly Republican in 2024, it suggests that the upheaval during and after the pandemic has had a lasting effect on American politics. Vance wins the VP debate and a popularity boost Last weeks debate between Ohio senator Vance and Minnesota Governor Walz turned expectations on its head; with betting markets and pre-polls eyeing Walz as the presumed winner. Not only did Vance win the debate, but his performance appears to have done wonders for his public perception, which had been suffering for months. Our analysis before the debate found that Walz led Trump, Vance, and even Harris in terms of favorability. Vance received an +11 point boost in favorability from last weeks debate, according to the latest poll from YouGov. This leaves Vance in a neutral position, while voters had an overall 11 per cent unfavorable opinion of him before the debate. Most interestingly, Vance improved his favorability by an astonishing +19 points among Democrats. Although, overall, he is still at a net 52 per cent negative score among this group. Walz also received a more modest 3-point boost, reaching 15 per cent favorability in YouGovs poll. Although Walzs performance was not debate-winning, he is still the most-liked candidate, and he even improved his favorability among independent voters following the debate. Among his own party, though, he lost approval from 7 per cent of voters, still ending up at a net-positive position of 72 per cent favorability with Democrats. Snap polls following the debate show that viewers were split on both candidates and Vance came out a few points ahead. A CBS/YouGov poll found that 42 per cent of viewers considered Vance the debate winner, compared to 41 per cent for Walz. However, Walz did emerge as more in touch with the average American, and more likely to share voters vision for America. For the full post-debate polling analysis, click here. Key issues for voters Regardless of political affiliation, the economy is the most important issue impacting how people will vote in this election. A poll from Redfield & Wilton Strategies, of 2,500 US adults up to September 26, shows that abortion is considered the second most important issue, for 37 per cent of voters, followed by immigration at 34 per cent. For Trump voters, however, these priorities are flipped. Over half (57 per cent) of Trump voters view immigration as one of the biggest issues, amid border security tensions and recently debunked claims from Trump and Republicans about Haitian migrants. Interestingly, healthcare and abortion are tied as the next most important issues for Trump voters at 23 per cent each. Though Trump has advocated for overhauling Obamacare, with unsuccessful attempts during his presidency, he was unable to outline an alternative healthcare policy at the September presidential debate. Meanwhile, abortion is front and center for Harris voters (55 per cent), with Harris herself critical of abortion bans, following the overturning of Roe v Wade. Healthcare is also a top priority for Harris voters (40 per cent), followed by housing (23 per cent). Battleground states Recent polls from the swing states by Bloomberg/Morning Consult have Harris ahead by +3 points on average, ranging from neck-and-neck with Trump to a +7 point lead. The poll of more than 6,000 registered voters in the swing states was conducted from September 19-25, with margins of error ranging from 1 to 4 per cent in each state. In Pennsylvania, which hosted the first Harris-Trump presidential debate, Harris has seen her lead increase from +4 points to +5 points since August. The state had previously been leaning towards Trump when President Joe Biden was on the Democratic ticket. Harris has the strongest 7-point lead over Trump in Nevada, with 52 per cent of the vote to 45 per cent. In Georgia, the two candidates are tied at 49 per cent each, while Harriss 5-point lead in Wisconsin has shrunk to 3 points ahead of Trump. Harris is also 3 points ahead in Michigan and Arizona and 2 points ahead in North Carolina. While the economy remains the top issue for swing-state voters, the perceived competency gap is shrinking: 45 per cent of swing-state voters think Harris can better handle the economy, slightly behind Trump at 49 per cent. Who will vote? A YouGov/Economist poll has Harris with a three-point lead among registered voters, at 47 per cent and Trump at 44 per cent. The poll shows a wide 25-point margin for Harris among young voters, aged 29 and under. However, according to the same poll, the younger generations are also the least committed to voting, with 13 per cent of the 18-29-year-olds surveyed saying they will maybe vote, while 3 per cent will not vote or are still unsure. This amounts to 16 per cent who are on the fence or not voting, higher than any other age group, and higher than the average of 9 per cent. Just 65 per cent of the 18 to 29-year-olds polled said they would definitely vote in November. This is in comparison to 77 per cent of 30 to 44-year-olds, 85 per cent of 45 to 64-year-olds, and 94 per cent of the 65+ age group. Though the numbers may seem dismal, and represent a degree of hesitancy among younger voters, the overall picture is significantly more engaged than in 2020. The same YouGov/Economist poll at this stage in the 2020 presidential election showed that nearly a third of young people (27 per cent) were not committed to voting in November, with 10 per cent maybe voting and 17 per cent definitely/probably not voting. Arizona: key issues In Arizona a historically Republican state that has 11 electoral college votes and flipped for Biden in 2020 polls have shown inconsistent leads for both Harris and Trump. The Trump campaign has made frequent stops in the state over the summer. In a state that borders Mexico, one in five (19 per cent) of Arizona voters say that immigration is the most important issue affecting their vote, according to the same poll. This is second to the economy, which is the number one issue impacting voters statewide and nationwide. The majority (51 per cent) of Arizona voters believe that Trump is better equipped to handle the top issues, which has flipped since August when Harris was slightly more trusted. This indicates that, despite the overall enthusiasm for Harriss debate performance, Arizona voters may favor Trump and his approach to key issues. As a generally Republican state, this is unsurprising. Make sense of the US election with The Independents experts in our exclusive virtual event Harris vs. Trump: who will make history? Reserve your space here. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, a progressive member of the House and part of The Squad, will try to avoid a similar fate met by two close allies in her primary election on Tuesday. Omar, who has represented Minnesotas 5th congressional district since 2018, is facing off, again, against Don Samuels a Minneapolis City Council member who Omar narrowly defeated two years ago. All eyes will be on Tuesdays primary to see how Omar fares against Samuels given two other members of The Squad the group of progressive left-wing young representatives in the House have faced defeats in their districts. Last week, Missouri Rep Cori Bush lost her primary to a local prosecutor in an expensive and contentious race. New York Rep Jamaal Bowman also lost his seat in the most expensive House primary in history thanks to an onslaught of funding to his challenger. Both losses were, in part, attributed to Bush and Bowmans support of a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict something Omar has been an outspoken advocate of. Ilhan Omar (left) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are both members of The Squad a group of progressive left-wing representatives in the House of Representatives ( Getty Images ) The American Israel Public Affairs Committee super PAC, a pro-Israel lobbying group, poured more than $14 million into Bowmans primary, successfully unseating him. That same group spent more than $9 million in Bushs primary. But the super PAC chose not to involve itself in Omars primary, a spokesperson for the group told The Hill. This has given Omars supporters a confidence boost that she can maintain her seat. Despite last-ditch efforts by right-wing interests and Trump donors to boost her opponent, the people of MN-05 know Ilhan Omar is the representation they deserve to have in Congress, Usamah Andrabi, communications director for Justice Democrats, an organization supporting Omar, told The Hill. Two years ago, Omar defeated Samuels by less than 3,000 votes in her district an extremely narrow win. At the time, Samuels campaign outpaced Omars in donations and spending. But Omars campaign has changed strategies since then, she told AXIOS that her team was campaigning the way we normally campaign like using volunteers to door knock, call or text voters So far, Omar has outraised Samuels by millions of dollars, according to OpenSecrets. Her campaign has spent more than $4 million while Samuels has spent less than one million. Omar became the first Somali-American elected to Congress in 2018 when she won her district with more than 70 percent of the vote. She is one of the first two Muslim women to serve in Congress, alongside fellow Squad member Rashida Tlaib. Over the last year, Omar has made headlines for heavily criticizing Israel for the invasion of Gaza and killing of thousands of innocent Palestinians in retaliation for the October 7th attack by Hamas. But some have accused her of making antisemitic comments. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Disgraced former congressman George Santos has now weighed in on the viral photos appearing to show JD Vance dressed in a skirt and blonde wig, calling it bad drag. Photos allegedly showing the Republican nominee for vice president in drag have circulated on social media this week, racking up more than 17 million views since they were first shared by Matt Bernstein, a content creator and host of A Bit Fruity podcast. Critics have branded Vance a hyprocrite over the images due to his stance on LGBT+ issues. Ladies and gentleman, a picture of JD Vance in drag while attending Yale Law School. I dont share this to shame those who do drag, but rather to shame those who attack drag while having a history of enjoying the art form themselves, one person posted on X. Another person chimed in: Dont call JD Vance weird because he wore drag. Call him a hypocrite and a bigot for demonizing others who wear drag. The thing about the JD Vance in drag thing is that we Millennials [sic] gays know precisely the type of guy he is. We all had friends who were liberal in their 20s, and once Trump came around, veered far to the right and blamed you for it, another person posted. The vice presidential hopeful has not spoken publicly about the pictures but a source close to Vance told The Independent: JD put on a bad wig at a party in college not exactly scandalous. Vances spokesperson didnt deny the photo is of the Ohio senator when contacted for comment. But now Santos, who appeared in a Long Island court today ahead of his corruption trial, has joined in the saga. Speaking to TMZ, Santos, 35, said: Its so funny that people are so obsessed that someones in drag or someones put a wig on. In my case 18 years ago when I was a minor and nobody held back punches at something I did as a kid and had fun. Now JD Vance, if thats drag then I guess all these other drag queens on Ru Pauls Drag Race can all be considered cisgender women at this point because, holy crap, is that bad drag. Vice presidential hopeful JD Vance has not spoken publicly about the pictures ( AP ) He added: To call that drag is disingenuous and I think most dudes at some point in their lives have played around with costumes that are gender bender. Couples do that all the time. The wife will dress up as a guy, the husband will dress up as a woman. Its definitely not drag. Santoss comments come more than a year after photos of his own drag persona, Kitara Ravache, were shared widely online. George Santos as his drag alter ego Kitara in a Cameo video ( George Santos ) He initially denied he was the drag queen but has since revived Ravache in Cameo videos since he was ousted from Congress. Santos has bragged that he pockets six figures from making videos at $300 a go on the site where people can pay celebrities for personal video messages. On Tuesday, Santos appeared in a Long Island court for a hearing ahead of his corruption trial on charges including defrauding campaign donors. The trial is set to begin on September 9 and will last approximately three weeks, his lawyers said. Prosecutors have accused Santos of a range of crimes including lying to Congress about his wealth, collecting unemployment benefits while actually working, and using campaign contributions to pay for such personal expenses as designer clothing. George Santos appeared in court in Long Island on Tuesday where a trial date was set ( REUTERS ) Santos pleaded not guilty to a revised indictment in October. The former congressman was expelled from the US House of Representatives in December after an Ethics Committee report found that there was substantial evidence that he had knowingly caused his campaign committee to file false or incomplete reports with the Federal Election Commission; used campaign funds for personal purposes; engaged in fraudulent conduct in connection with RedStone Strategies LLC; and engaged in knowing and willful violations of the Ethics in Government Act as it relates to his Financial Disclosure (FD) Statements filed with the House. He was first elected to Congress in 2022 after losing his first attempt in 2020. Reports later revealed he had told a string of lies about his background including that his grandparents were Holocaust survivors and his mother died on 9/11. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Former employees of an indoor farming startup, backed by Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance, have described appalling working conditions at the company, with staff toiling in triple-digit heat. Vance was a board member, early investor, and public advocate of AppHarvest, a tech-infused farming operation in eastern Kentucky, according to CNN. Founder Jonathan Webb wanted to create an indoor farming hub to grow fruits and vegetables, in a region with plenty of water and land available, within a days drive of most of the US population. Vance called the company a good investment on Fox Business when it went public in February 2021, and lauded it for making a big difference in the world. The company declared bankruptcy in 2023 as it faced debts of hundreds of millions of dollars. While Vance has portrayed himself as a champion of the working class, a dozen former AppHarvest workers told CNN that the company was an awful place to work at times. Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance at a campaign event on August 7 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Vance was an early investor and public advocate for AppHarvest ( AP ) They said that conditions inside the companys greenhouse were brutal, with temperatures soaring above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Complaints were filed with the Department of Labor and a state regulator between 2020 and 2023 stating that workers were not given sufficient water breaks or proper safety equipment. Documents reveal that state government inspectors visited the site on at least three occasions but issued no citations. However, some staff said they experienced heat exhaustion or injuries. Several former staffers told CNN that while the company made promises of creating local jobs, they soon started hiring migrant workers from Mexico and Guatemala. Crop care specialist Shelby Hester told CNN that when Kentuckys Republican Senator Mitch McConnell toured the greenhouse in November 2021, they sent every single Hispanic worker home before he got there. He then proceeded to have a speech about how we were taking the jobs from the Mexicans, she added. Anthony Morgan, who also picked vegetables, took a pay cut to join AppHarvest, after being attracted by its healthcare benefits and supposed commitment to Appalachia, he said. After a good start, there was a major shift in company culture, with longer hours, fewer breaks in the grueling heat, and benefits being cut back, he added. I think about the hottest that I experienced was around 128 degrees, Morgan told CNN. A couple days a week, youd have an ambulance show up and you seen people leaving on gurneys to go to the hospital. He added: It was a nightmare that should have never happened. As the conditions worsened, employees began to leave the company, Morgan added, saying that he was fired after taking medical leave for a workplace injury. Hester also told CNN: I had to bring in my own N95 masks because I was getting sick from the amount of mold and just nasty stuff that was in there. Hester said heat stroke was a common problem for workers. A doctors note was not enough to not show up for a shift, managers told staff. The Independent has contacted AppHarvests founder Jonathan Webb for comment. A Vance spokesperson, Luke Schroeder, told The Independent that JD was not aware of the operational decisions regarding hiring, employee benefits, or other workplace policies which were made after he departed AppHarvests board. He added: Like all early supporters, JD believed in AppHarvests mission and wishes the company would have succeeded. AppHarvests chief restructuring officer, Gary Broadbent, told CNN: AppHarvest has no continuing operations and is not in a position to respond. The Vance spokesperson shared a statement from a member of AppHarvests senior management team, who requested anonymity to discuss confidential exchanges. The senior manager said, The allegations made against AppHarvest do not reflect matters discussed at board meetings during JDs tenure for obvious reasons. AppHarvest implemented robust heat policies when temperatures rose in the summer, months after JDs departure, continued to cover 100 percent of employees health insurance premiums until mid-2022, and maintained a workforce dedicated to Appalachia throughout its existence. Vance left the AppHarvest board in 2021 to run for Senate in Ohio but remained an investor. In early 2023, the company was hit with lawsuits from shareholders who were furious at the decreasing stock price and fraud claims. Former staff told CNN that they think Vance and fellow board members should have recognized and responded to warning signs that the company was misleading investors as well as the public. Morgan said Vances promotion of the company was a familiar situation in Kentucky. Eastern Kentucky is well-known for people coming and going. They start up companies, then they disappear, Morgan said. They didnt care about us. Webb told Fox News in 2022 that he and Vance met after the senator joined the seed fund, Rise of the Rest, run by AOL co-founder Steve Case. Webb had drained his savings and maxed out his credit cards running the business but managed to convince Vance to invest $150,000, he said. Vance joined the board of directors in March 2017, according to his financial disclosure filings after he became a Senate candidate in 2022. AppHarvests security filings say Vance joined the board in 2020. Vance established his venture capitalist firm, Narya, in Ohio in early 2020 and made one of its first public investments in AppHarvest. Vance had helped the company attract millions of dollars within a few years, according to CNN. When AppHarvest went public in February 2021, its shares skyrocketed and it was valued at more than $1bn. But the firm lost more than three-quarters of its value in the first six months as a public entity. Vance left the board in April 2021 to focus on his Senate campaign. Disclosures show that he had more than $100,000 invested in the company at the time and Narya continued to publically back the company, CNN reported. AppHarvest filed for bankruptcy last year with more than $341m debt. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} President Joe Biden took a swing at Donald Trumps manners on Tuesday, saying he would attend the former presidents inauguration if he were re-elected in November. Standing on the South Lawn of the White House, shortly before departing on Marine One to New Orleans, the president was asked if he would attend the inauguration if the Republican nominee succeeds. I have good manners, not like him, Biden responded, referring to Trumps refusal to attend his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Famously, Trump did not attend Bidens inauguration, breaking the tradition of the outgoing president passing the torch to the incoming president. Tensions between the two men were at an all-time high as Trump refused to concede the 2020 presidential election results or participate in the transfer of power for several weeks. President Joe Biden spoke with reporters outside of Marine One on Tuesday ( AP ) The former president refused to acknowledge Biden as the winner. For months, he spread false claims of election fraud and inflamed his supporters with allegations that the election was stolen from him. Weeks before the inauguration, on January 6, 2021, Trump held a Stop the Steal rally and encouraged a mass of his supporters to march to the Capitol and fight like hell for the country. The mob of angry Trump supporters then violently stormed the Capitol while Congress was supposed to be certifying election results. Weeks later, as Biden took to the national stage to be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States, Trump departed on Marine One and headed to his residence in Palm Beach, Florida. At the time, Biden said Trumps non-appearance was a good thing. Former president Barack Obama and former vice president Joe Biden attended Donald Trumps inauguration in 2017 ( AFP via Getty Images ) While insinuating he would attend a Trump inauguration if nothing else then for good manners sake Biden also maintained to reporters that Trump is a genuine danger to American security. The president has asked that the inflammatory political rhetoric around Trump be lowered after a 20-year-old gunman attempted to assassinate the president during a rally. When asked by a reporter if maintaining Trump was a threat to American security aligned with Bidens request to reduce divisive rhetoric, the president responded, Thats just a statement. Thats a factual statement. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Veep star Julia Louis-Dreyfus is scheduled to host a panel discussion with several high-profile Democratic women and the upcoming party convention next week. The Emmy-award-winning actress will chair the panel alongside members of the Democratic Governors Association during the 2024 Democratic National Convention. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the event is scheduled for August 21 the third day of the convention. Louis-Dreyfus previously played the role of Selina Meyer, vice president of the United States, in Armando Iannuccis hit political satire series Veep. The show, and her character have reentered the spotlight recently due to a number of apparent similarities between storylines on the show, and real-life events. At the DNC panel, the actress will be joined by the eight female Democratic governors. Veep star Julia Louis-Dreyfus is scheduled to host a panel discussion with several high-profile Democratic women and the 2024 Democratic National Convention that is due to take place next week ( Getty Images for The Webby Award ) Attendees are set to include; Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, Maine Gov. Janet Mills, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek. In a statement shared with The Hollywood Reporter, Louis-Dreyfus said she was honored to be hosting the panel, describing the governors voices as essential. Im honored to host this conversation with Americas Democratic women governors while our party comes together to celebrate in Chicago, the statement read. Throughout their time in office, Democratic women governors have made history, changed the conversation surrounding women in executive roles, and gotten big things done for the good people of their states. Theyve shattered marble ceilings and demonstrated excellent leadership. Their voices are essential. Im looking forward to our conversation and the opportunity to shine the spotlight on these accomplished leaders. Social media users have drawn comparisons to the rise of Kamala Harris (left) and Louis-Dreyfus character on political satire show Veep ( Getty Images / HBO ) Louis-Dreyfus scheduled appearance follows one in 2020, which she hosted the final night of the DNC and delivered a monologue in which she roasted Donald Trump and urged Americans to vote, joking that not even Facebook, Fox News and Vladimir Putin could stop the democratic process. The actress has also been among the Hollywood A-Listers, along with others including George Clooney, who have recently been vocal in their support of Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz. Following the announcement that Joe Biden was ending his reelection campaign, she wrote on Instagram: Thank you, President Biden, for your service and for your extraordinary leadership and for your love of this country and all its people. She later posted to X with an endorsement for the new Harris-Walz ticket, saying that she was so psyched. The Independent has reached out to representatives of Louis-Dreyfus for comment about the DNC panel. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A former pro-Trump county clerk in Colorado has been found guilty of tampering with voting machines in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. Tina Peters, who worked in Mesa County was convicted of seven out of 10 criminal charges on Tuesday, including three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, first-degree official misconduct, violation of duty and failing to comply with the secretary of state. The jury acquitted her of one felony count of identity theft and two felony counts of criminal impersonation. Prosecutors told jurors that the woman had used a security badge to access the election system without the owners consent. During her March trial, prosecutors said the clerk became fixated on voting problems after becoming involved with individuals who had questioned the results of the 2020 election. Judge Matthew Barrett read the verdict in the courtroom on Tuesday while Peters stood next to one of her attorneys. The jury had only deliberated for a few hours. Prosecutors asked them to convict Peters on the basis that she deceived government employees to work with conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell. Tina Peters, a former Colorado county election clerk, was convicted of multiple criminal charges on Tuesday relating to her efforts to tamper with voting machines in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election ( AP ) Specifically, she allowed a former surfer with ties to the conspiracy theorist named Conan Hayes, to observe a software update and make copies of the hard drive using Gerald Woods security badge. Peters said Wood worked for her and he denied being involved in the scheme during testimony. Prosecutors said the woman was hungry for fame and wanted to emerge the hero and appear at Lindells symposium on the 2020 election. The defendant was a fox guarding the henhouse, Janet Drake, a prosecutor with the Colorado Attorney Generals Office. It was her job to protect the election equipment, and she turned on it and used her power for her own advantage. Defense attorneys for Peters argued that she hadnt committed any crimes and had only wanted to preserve election records after the county declined to let one of its technology experts be present at the software update. Her intentions were to preserve records to access the voting system to find out whether anyone from China or Canada had tapped into the machine as ballots were counted. Thank God she did, John Case, the womans attorney, said. Otherwise we really wouldnt know what happened. Its the first prosecution of a local election worker over a security breach pertaining to the elections results, causing concerns that a rogue clerk could theoretically manipulate results from within their own systems. Peterss sentencing hearing is scheduled for 3 October. She could face multiple years in prison. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Robert F Kennedy Jr has been struck from the presidential ballot in New York over his sham claim about his home residence a move that has now crushed the independent candidates hopes of appearing on the ballot in all 50 states. On Monday, Justice Christina Ryba ruled that RFK Jr had falsified documents listing himself as a New York resident when filing petition papers to be on the ballot in the state. Ryba concluded that the address existed only on paper and that his residence claim was for the sole purpose of maintaining his voter registration and political standing in the state. The overwhelming credible evidence introduced at trial established that Kennedys connections with the [New York] address existed only on paper and were maintained for the sole purpose of maintaining his voter registration and political standing in the State of New York, she wrote. The judge ordered that RFK Jr should be disqualified from New Yorks ballot over the matter. RFK Jrs campaign has already vowed to appeal the ruling, with the independent presidential candidate calling it an an assault on New York voters who signed in record numbers to place me on their ballot. Kennedys dreams of being on the ballot in all 50 states were quashed after Mondays ruling. He is seen leaving court last week ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved ) The Democrats are showing contempt for democracy, he said in a statement. They arent confident they can win at the ballot box, so they are trying to stop voters from having a choice. We will appeal and we will win. He added in a post on X: This case is an assault on New York voters who signed in record numbers to place me on their ballot. The DNC (Democratic National Committee) has become a party that uses lawfare in place of the democratic election process. We will appeal and we will win. Democrats meanwhile welcomed the judges ruling, with a statement from DNC spokesperson Matt Corridoni arguing RFK Jr doesnt think the rules apply to him and he refuses to consider the consequences of his actions. The ruling may lead to RFK Jr being struck from other state ballots as well dashing his ambitions of being on the ballot nationwide. Attorneys representing several New York voters, backed by Democrat-aligned Clear Choice PAC, had filed a lawsuit alleging that he falsely claimed to be a New York resident when filing petition papers to be on the ballot in state. RFK Jr had listed a residence in Katonah, a wealthy Westchester County hamlet, as his home address when filing petition papers to be on the ballot in New York while actually living in Los Angeles since 2014. The civil case began in Albany County Supreme Court, in east central New York, on August 5. RFK Jr is seen next to the dead bear cub he claims he dumped in Central Park in 2014 ( Brian Stelter/Twiter ) The Kennedy dynasty heir took the stand last Tuesday, testifying that his move to California was only temporary so he could be with his wife, actor Cheryl Hines, and that he always planned to return to New York. The trial was largely overshadowed by RFK Jrs latest bizarre admissions: that he dumped a dead bear cub in Manhattans Central Park and that he has a freezer filled with roadkill. In a social media video on August 11, featuring comedian Roseanne Barr, RFK Jr said that in 2014 he had dumped a dead bear in Central Park. He recounted how he saw a car hit the bear in upstate New York, killing it, and so he picked it up to harvest its meat. An impromptu flight meant he ultimately elected to chuck its rotting carcass in Manhattan mystifying New Yorkers for a decade. Days after making the revelation, when a reporter asked RFK Jr about the roadkill bear outside the Albany courthouse last week, he replied: Ive been picking up roadkill my whole life. I have a freezer full of it, he added, prompting laughter from members of the media. Campaign spokesperson Stefanie Spears said last week that RFK Jr, a falconer who trains ravens and keeps two as pets, uses roadkill to feed his birds. The third-party nominee was always a longshot candidate but has continued to slide in the polls since Kamala Harris stepped onto the Democratic partys ticket. Now, RFK Jr stands at just 3.1 per cent in The Hills conflation of 44 polls as of Tuesday morning a steady decline of more than two points since Harris launched her presidential campaign last month. Harris leads Trump in the polls by almost four points by 47.3 per cent to 43.6 per cent. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Federal law enforcement agencies are investigating an apparent hacking incident involving Donald Trumps campaign, which the former president is blaming on Iran, after a trove of documents were dumped to reporters over the weekend. Hackers appear to have compromised an email account belonging to one of Trumps long-time allies: Roger Stone. The Republican operatives email account was the victim of a phishing attempt, and his account was allegedly used to try to break into another that belonged to a senior campaign official. Stone who was convicted for lying to Congress in 2019 about efforts to dig up dirt about Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign was informed by the FBI as well as Microsoft that his email account was compromised by a Foreign State Actor, who sent messages containing a link that could give hackers access to that persons computer. But it remains unclear whether a recent leak of Trump campaign documents to reporters had anything to do with the allegedly Iran-backed attempt to compromise his campaign through Stones email account, and what, if anything, those apparent hacking attempts have yielded. A spokesperson for the FBI confirmed to The Independent that the agency is investigating the matter but declined to provide any specific details about the investigation Mr. Stone was contacted about this matter by Microsoft and the FBI and continues to cooperate with both, Grant Smith, an attorney for the Republican operative, told The Independent. Mr. Stone will have no further comment at this time. Roger Stone who was convicted for lying to Congress in 2019 about efforts to dig up dirt about Hillary Clinton in 2016 was targeted in a phishing scheme that tried to compromised Donald Trumps campaign. ( EPA ) Last week, Microsoft reported that an Iranian group, believed to be connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, sent a phishing email in June to a high-ranking official on a presidential campaign from the compromised email account of a former senior advisor, who is now believed to be Stone. The email contained a link that would direct traffic through a domain controlled by the group before routing to the website of the provided link, according to Microsofts report. Within days of this activity, the same group unsuccessfully attempted to log into an account belonging to a former presidential candidate. Weve since notified those targeted. One day later, Trump claimed that Microsoft had told his campaign that one of our many websites was hacked by the Iranian Government Never a nice thing to do! He said that would-be hackers obtained only publicly available information, and appeared to blame President Joe Bidens administration for the alleged attack. Iran and others will stop at nothing, because our government is Weak and Ineffective, he wrote on Truth Social. A separate Iranian group was allegedly behind the breach of an account belonging to a county-level government employee in a swing state, according to Microsoft. The compromise was part of a broader password spray operation and Microsoft Threat Intelligence did not observe the actor gain additional access beyond the single account, making it hard to discern the groups ultimate objectives, according to the report. Microsoft also reported that another Iranian group was targeting American voters through hyperpartisan, AI-generated websites designed to look like news outlets that plagiarized at least some of their content from US publications. The company identified yet another Iranian group that the company believes has been setting the groundwork for US-focused influence operations since March. We believe this group may be setting itself up for activities that are even more extreme, including intimidation or inciting violence against political figures or groups, with the ultimate goals of inciting chaos, undermining authorities, and sowing doubt about election integrity, according to the report. Hackers allegedly obtained documents from Donald Trumps campaign that included a dossier on his running mate JD Vance. Trumps campaign said those materials included publicly available information ( AP ) On Saturday, Trumps campaign announced that it was hacked after reporters at several outlets had received copies of what appeared to be an internal campaign vetting document for Trumps running mate JD Vance. Politico reported that the outlet began receiving emails from an anonymous AOL account from a person named Robert on July 22. The emails included what appeared to be internal communications from a senior campaign official as well as a research dossier prepared about Vance, including a 271-page overview of his public statements and his potential vulnerabilities, including his past criticism of Trump. Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung claimed that the documents were obtained illegally from foreign sources hostile to the United States, intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our democratic process. The latest revelations forecast an already-turbulent election cycle with less than three months until Election Day, with echoes of Russian and Iranian attempts to interfere with US elections in 2016 and 2020, respectively. In July, US intelligence officials warned that Iran as it did in 2020 would seek to coerce political leaders, undermine political systems, and shape the political landscape in ways that favor its national security objectives. The latest hacking news also follows the federal indictment of a Pakistani national who was accused of working with the Iranian government to carry out a murder-for-hire plot targeting US government officials. Federal prosecutors alleged that Asif Raza Merchant had traveled to the US to hire hit men, who were undercover officers, in order to carry out assassinations in August or September this year, according to an indictment unsealed in New York. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Seth Meyers has joked that it was him not Kamala Harriss vice presidential pick Tim Walz who truly first coined the Republicans are weird phrase that is currently taking the election season by storm. Late Night with Seth Meyers returned on Monday night after a three-week hiatus, meaning the comedian star had a juicy mountain of headlines to catch up on around the 2024 presidential election. Meyers was almost out of breathe by the time he finished reeling off the long list of events and controversies to have taken place in the world of politics since his last episode. I think its time to take another three weeks off. Just kidding, for more on this Jesus! More?! he exclaimed much to his audiences delight. One of his personal highlights was the Republicans are weird line which has spread like wildfire across social media, interviews and campaign rallies ever since Walz first said it. But Meyers joked that Walz is getting credit for his genius, saying that its a line hes been pushing for his whole career. Playing a montage of him calling Trump and other Republicans weirdos over the years on his show, Meyers feigned dismay that he wasnt rewardeed in the same way as Harriss running mate. Seth Meyers joked he was calling Republicans weird long before Tim Walz ( Late Night With Seth Meyers ) Tim Walz says it once on TV and hes the VP nominee. Meanwhile, I didnt even make the shortlist! Meyers cried. Ive made a whole career out of it! That was the original title of this show. Meyers added: I dont want to brag or anything but weve been banging the Republicans are weird drum for like five years. The late-night host also pointed out that the insult has clearly gotten under Trumps skin, playing a clip of the former president at his rally in Montana on Friday. No were not weird were very solid people, claimed the Republican presidential nominee. I think were very actually I think were the opposite of weird. Theyre weird. If someone calls you weird and your response is, were very solid people, youre f*****g weird, joked Meyers. Pointing to side-by-side photos of the Republican ticket Trump and JD Vance, he said: Imagine the humiliation of having to pretend that in that pairing youre the weird one. Trump and Vance have been struggling to shake the weird tagline particularly in light of a string of controversies. Trump spoke with Musk for over two hours in an X Spaces interview on Monday ( Margo Martin/X/Reuters ) On Monday night, Trump took part in an interview with Elon Musk on X Spaces where he rambled about how much beautiful Harris looks like his wife Melania Trump. This comes after Trump faced backlash for questioning Harriss race and then doubling down on it claiming that she happened to turn Black in a panel interview with Black journalists in Chicago last month. Vance meanwhile continues to defend himself following criticism over his 2021 comments where he called Harris and other Democrats childless cat ladies. While Republicans have done their best to give their own nicknames to Walz and Harris, they cant seem to get them to stick. Trump has called Harris Laffin Kamala, Lyin Kamala and even just Kamabla all attempts which have so far failed to land. Meanwhile, Walz was called Tampon Tim last week by Republicans over a bill he signed into law in Minnesota last year, making free sanitary products available in student restrooms across Minnesota schools. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Watch as Tim Walz addressed the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) convention in Los Angeles in his first solo campaign stop as Kamala Harris's running mate on Tuesday, 13 August. The current vice president recorded a video message to be played to the 1.4 million-member labour group, which has given support to the Democratic Party ticket in the 2024 presidential election. In a speech before the Minnesota governor's appearance, AFSCME president Lee Saunders described him as a "good friend to our union, someone whos always put the interest of working people front and centre. Mr Walz's stop in Los Angeles came before he headlines a campaign fundraiser in Newport Beach, California. He will then go on to address fundraisers in Denver and Boston before visiting Newport, Rhode Island, and Southampton, New York. Mr Walz has already begun introducing himself to voters through visits and rallies in battleground states with Ms Harris. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Jon Stewart joked that Donald Trump seems to be in pain right now because President Joe Biden exited the 2024 presidential race, and the former president keeps wishing for his return. On Mondays episode of The Daily Show, Stewart mocked Trumps apparent nostalgia for his former match-up against Biden. A month ago, he was basically already the f***ing president. He had cheated death, started an ear accessory trend, Stewart said, referring to Trumps bandage that covered his wound from the assassination attempt on him in July. He had it all in the bag! And it was taken away, the comedian continued. Trump recently has seemed fixated on the possibility that Biden will make a U-turn, and decide to get back in the White House race. On social media and at rally speeches, the former president seems to be unwilling to accept that Vice President Kamala Harris is his new competitor. Jon Stewart mocks Donald Trump for still being hung up on Joe Biden during Mondays episode of The Daily Show ( Comedy Central ) In a Truth Social post last week, Trump wondered aloud whether Biden feels that he made a historically tragic mistake by handing over the U.S. Presidency, a COUP, to the people in the World he most hates, and he wants it back, NOW!!! At his Montana rally on Friday, Trump spoke to his supporters about Biden. I hear hes going to make a comeback at the Democratic Convention. Hes going to walk into the room and hes gonna say I want my presidency back. I want another chance to debate Trump, he said. After playing the Montana rally clip, Stewart addressed Trump down the camera. Hes not coming back, Donald! he said. Look, I hate to say it, I dont think Trump has it in him to go after Kamala Harris. Hes been fighting Joe Biden for six years, its all he knows. He misses the fight so much. He was still workshopping nicknames for Joe Biden this weekend. Trump on stage during the Republican National Convention wearing a bandage on his ear after surviving an assassination attempt ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ) He then showed a clip of Trump asking a rally crowd whether they liked Crooked Joe or Sleepy Joe better. This is sad. Its like watching an old man talking to an empty spot on the bench and then you realize thats where his wife used to sit, Stewart continued. He would give everything for just one more moment with Crooked Joe. Addressing Trump himself, Stewart said: I get it. You wanted to run against Joe Biden. Just two old dudes going toe to toe fungus. Its not fair! Now youve got to run against someone who appearshealthy! Stewart added. Stewart then suggested Trump get the gang together and storm the convention when Harris is expected to accept the Democratic nomination next Thursday in Chicago. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Elon Musk has blamed a massive cyber attack for the 40-minute delay to his live interview with former president Donald Trump on X Spaces on Monday night. There appears to be a massive DDOS attack on X. Working on shutting it down. Worst case, we will proceed with a smaller number of live listeners and post the conversation later, the controversial tech billionaire posted on X, referring to a Distributed Denial of Services (DDoS) attack where an attacker floods a service with a large amount of internet traffic so that it stops working. But experts have poured cold water on Musks claim that the social media platform came under attack. Jake Moore, global cyber security advisor at cyber security company ESET, told The Independent that Musks version of events are unbelievable and theatrical. Instead, he believes it is far more likely that the servers on Spaces simply couldnt cope with the volume of people trying to join. I dont think it was a DDoS in its true form. Its usually committed by malicious threat actors so cyber attackers. Its not officially a cyber attack, it doesnt actually steal any data, but it does knock a website offline. Its very orchestrated by a group or individual, he said. I think Musk may have been a bit too quick to react, a bit too theatrical in his terminology to create a storm on the platform. A cyber security expert says its unlikely X suffered a DDoS attack during the conversation between Elon Musk and Donald Trump ( Margo Martin/X/Reuters ) Moore explained that the tell-tale sign of a DDoS attack is when an entire platform suffers an outage, but last night users were still able to access X while being unable to view the feed on Spaces. We wouldve seen X dropped off entirely as a platform, Moore said. We have seen this before. Usually on Meta with Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, sometimes all three go at the same time. To find a subset of X knocked offline for 40 minutes and nowhere else, that is why its unlikely and, quite frankly, unbelievable. That said, Moore said he believes security at X has suffered as a result of the brutal cuts to Xs workforce since Musk took over Twitter and rebranded it X last year. Musk revealed in an interview with the BBC at the time that he had cut its workforce from 8,000 to around 1,500. Moore said that many staff who lost their jobs would have worked on the platforms security. What many viewers were greeted with when they tried to join the conversation between Elon Musk and Donald Trump live on Spaces ( @realdonaldtrump/X/Reuters ) We also have to remember over a year ago Musk did remove lots of roles from the platform, including security and technical staff, and I do think that wouldve played a part in this technical overload of listeners, he said. On Monday night, some 115,000 viewers managed to join the highly-anticipated interview between Musk and Trump despite the glitch, but many more complained they were unable to access it and were instead met with error messages. By the time the feed was up and running, 1.2 million people had joined to watch the former president reel off a familiar list of complaints and grievances he has been airing for years. The technical problems are reminiscent of the glitches Florida Governor Ron DeSantis suffered last year when he launched his bid to become the Republican presidential nominee on Spaces with Musk. Back then, the hour-long broadcast kept cutting out and many viewers were unable to join the feed, leading to a flood of memes and online criticism including from Trump mocking Musk and DeSantis. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump bizarrely said that his Democratic presidential rival Kamala Harris looks like his wife Melania Trump in his rambling interview with Elon Musk on Monday night. The former president joined the tech billionaire on X Spaces for what was billed as a game changing conversation, but actually ended up being a more than two-hour-long very friendly interview that was instantly beset with tech problems not to mention questions about Trumps apparent lisp. In the interview, Trump launched into a scathing critique of Harris calling her a terrible leader, before he swiftly drifted to fawning over her beautiful appearance. We need smart people, and people that have the ability to lead. She doesnt have that ability. Can you imagine her with chairman Xi [Jinpin, President of the Peoples Republic of China], he said, speaking with a distinct lisp. Musk, who remained agreeable throughout the two-hour interview, admitted that it would be silly. She is terrible, she is terrible, Trump doubled down. Shes getting a free ride. The former president then abruptly segwayed into talking about Harriss looks, drawing comparison between her and the former first lady. I saw a picture of her on Time Magazine today. She looks like the most beautiful actress ever to live, Trump said of Harris, referring to the latest edition of Time Magazine, which brands Harriss campaign as the swiftest vibe shift in modern political history. Trump drew comparisons between the beautiful Vice President Kamala Harris and former first lady Melania Trump ( AP ) She looked very much like our great first lady, Melania, Trump gushed as Musk met his comment with an awkward chuckle and a reserved, yeah She didnt look like Camilla, Trump said, purposely butchering Harris name. Of course, shes a beautiful woman and well leave it at that. Right well yeah, well, you know, Musk said, before scrambling to change the subject and entering into a monologue about the American dream. Musk, a self-styled free speech absolutist, vowed to use his X platform as a political tool to fight what he calls the woke mind virus. But the hotly-anticipated live-stream was marred with issues from the offset, being hit with a 40-minute delay due to what Musk claimed was a cyberattack. Harris face was splashed across the latest issue of Time Magazine ( Time Magazine ) Eventually overcoming technical glitches, the interview got under way at around 8.40pm ET with Musk peppering Trump with softball questions. The former president continued to duck and weave past the tech moguls attempts to get him to discuss policy, instead reverting to typical soundbites including more than 20 false claims, according to a CNN fact check and attacks on senior Democrats. Among his familiar untruths were his repeated false claims that Venezuela is sending murderers and rapists to the US and that the ocean will rise an eighth of an inch every 400 years when it will rise more than that each year. Donald Trump, right, was interviewed virtually by Elon Musk on Monday evening on X ( AP ) Trump also gushed that Kim Jong Un really likes me after the pair shared dinner together, before declaring him as the absolute boss of North Korea. He also expressed his admiration for Musks authoritative leadership style, declaring him the greatest cutter for firing his staff if they complain about working conditions. Musk publicly endorsed Trumps presidential bid last month, marking a complete U-turn from the 2020 election where he sided with President Joe Biden and the Democrats. Hours after the Trump-Musk interview, the tech tycoon said that he is also willing to interview Harris ahead of the November election. Happy to host Kamala on an Spaces too, he wrote on his social media platform. Harriss campaign team meanwhile responded to the interview with a scathing statement calling Trump and Musk self-obsessed rich guys who will sell out the middle class and who cannot run a livestream in the year 2024. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump has been traveling to campaign events on a jet that was previously owned by convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The former presidents usual mode of transport, a Boeing 757 jet nicknamed Trump Force One, was temporarily grounded on Friday following what was described by the Secret Service as a mechanical issue that forced him to land in Billings, Montana. After appearing at a campaign rally in Bozeman, Montana, Trump chartered a smaller Gulfstream that was once owned by Epstein, the disgraced financier who was found dead in his New York prison cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking . He used that 16-passenger jet to fly from Montana to private fundraisers in Jackson, Wyoming, and Aspen, Colorado . Republican nominee Donald Trump appears oustide Trump Force One in 2023. After his famed plane had mechanical difficulties over the weekend, Trump used a plane once owned by Jeffrey Epstein to travel to campaign events. ( AFP via Getty Images ) Pictures showed the Gulfstream G550 jet, which is now owned and operated by Threshold Aviation Group, landing in Aspen decorated with the Trump 2024 campaign logo and an American flag. Threshold Aviation Group did not respond to a request for comment. Aircraft registration records show the Gulfstream jets serial number matches one registered to the same size and model of jet previously registered to Epsteins company Plan D LLC, but with an amended tail number. A spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration told The Independent: The serial number remains the same because its a unique identifier the manufacturer issues and it stays with the aircraft throughout its life. The Trump campaign said in a statement given to the Miami Herald that it had no awareness that the charter plane had been owned by Mr. Epstein. We heard about the former owner through the media. The Gulfstream was the last jet Epstein ever flew on. He was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges when he landed at Teterboro airport in New Jersey on a flight from Paris in 2019. He died by suicide while in a New York prison awaiting trial on the charges and has been connected to several high-profile people throughout his life. The news of Trumps chartering Epsteins former jet was first reported by The Air Current , an aviation industry publication, and highlighted by supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris . Customs records linked to the jet show that Epstein used it primarily to fly between Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, the US Virgin Islands where he owned a private island and Palm Beach. Trump and Epstein were friends for two decades, dating to the late 1980s. They later had a falling out over real estate and the former president has denied knowledge of Epsteins crimes. ( Getty Images ) Trump and Epstein were friends for two decades, dating to the late 1980s. They occasionally flew together from LaGuardia to Palm Peach, Florida, where both men lived, and were pictured partying together at Mar-a-Lago. The jet used by Trump to campaign this weekend is not the so-called Lolita Express a Boeing 727 that Epstein used to ferry young women between New York and Epsteins primary residence in Palm Beach, where many of his alleged acts of sexual abuse are said to have taken place. Flight logs released by prosecutors in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial show Trump flew with Epstein on his private jet numerous times , with his former wife Marla Maples and his children Eric and Tiffany, as well as a beauty queen and a senior aide to Bill Clinton, The pair eventually fell out over a real estate dispute, and Trump has denied any knowledge of Epsteins abuse. I was not a fan of his, that I can tell you, he said in the Oval Office the day after New York authorities took Epstein into custody. Trumps 757 appeared to have been fixed by Sunday, when it returned to Palm Beach, presumably with the former president aboard. The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment from The Independent. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump are set to face off against each other for the first time on the national debate stage on Tuesday and how they perform under the limitations of the rules will be under a microscope. After several days of back-and-forth, the two candidates finally agreed to comply with the same rules that Trump and President Joe Biden used during the first presidential debate back in June. That includes muted microphones, no pre-written notes, no live audience, no sitting, and no speaking with campaign staff between commercial breaks. Though many of the rules are standard for presidential debates, the originally agreed-up regulations could put Harris at a disadvantage since she has a different skill set than President Joe Biden. Here are the rules for Tuesdays debate in Philadelphia and who stands to benefit. Muted mics Microphones will be live only when the candidate whose turn it is to speak is talking. Otherwise, they will remain muted. This was a rule that Biden and Trump initially agreed upon. But its one that Harris tried to change once she became the Democratic presidential nominee. Despite Trump saying it doesnt matter to him whether microphones stay on, his team threatened to pull out of the debate if the rules were changed. Former president Donald Trump during the first presidential debate against President Joe Biden. Audiences and the media agreed that Trump prevailed in the first debate ( Getty Images ) Trump is notorious for interrupting people and making snide comments when he is being attacked. During his civil and criminal trials, judges have scolded the former president for speaking out of turn in the courtroom. Brian Fallon, a top aide for Harris, wrote on X that Trumps handlers dont trust him to spar live. Ultimately, Harris agreed to the muted microphone rule but Fallon told ABC News that Harris would be fundamentally disadvantaged. However, a pool of journalists will be permitted in the hall and can report on remarks that are muted for television audiences, according to AP. No prepared notes or help Candidates cannot bring pre-written notes or props to the podium and must stand for the entire duration. They will be given a pen, pad of paper and water bottle. Additionally, campaign staff may not interact with either candidate during the two commercial breaks. Improvising is neither Harris nor Trumps strong suit but the former president has more experience doing so than Harris. Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2020 vice presidential debate. Audiences largely considered Harris to be the winner of that debate ( AFP via Getty Images ) Trump goes on long-winded, off-topic tangents at rallies, press conferences and during interviews. But hes good at praising his agenda and policies while tearing down Democrats, although sometimes it results in him making extreme statements. As a former prosecutor, Harris excels in getting to the point concisely and clearly. But when asked to improvise, she can stumble and say things that are easily misconstrued. In previous interviews, she has been mocked or criticized for misspeaking. No opening statements There will be no opening statements during the debate, only closing statements. Trump has won a coin toss and chose the order of statements. Harris will give the first closing statement and Trump will go last. The former president is at a slight advantage since he can hear all of Harriss talking points before delivering the final word of the debate. Moderators will ask the questions Only the moderators of the debate, David Muir and Linsey Davis, will be permitted to ask questions and there will be no live audience. This means candidates must answer the question in full, and give a rebuttal in a direct and easy-to-understand way, because it will be a slightly more formal setting than previous debates. Harris has a slight advantage to the former president in this aspect because she is better at remaining on topic and hitting multiple points more quickly than Trump. The debate will air on ABC News beginning at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Social media users were dismayed after the highly anticipated sit-down between X boss Elon Musk and ex-president Donald Trump was derailed at the outset by technical issues by around 40 minutes. The two were supposed to begin chatting at 8 pm Monday on Spaces, as part of the site formally known as Twitter. Numerous users reported errors or said they could not get into the start conversation, which eventually got underway at 8.40 pm. Lmfao all of Spaces entirely broken, one user posted. Disastrous showing for Musk and frankly over the top second hand embarrassment for Trump. X owner Elon Musk and Republican nominee Donald Trump were supposed to begin chatting at 8 pm on Spaces. But tech issues delayed it by about 40 minutes. ( AP ) Elon is screwing trump with his crap spaces, posted another. Spaces never works when it matters.I am having issues connecting to the X Spaces with Trump and Elon Musk, wrote a third. I guess I am not the only one. The #WarRoom on #Rumble is also having issues. The difficulties suffered by Musk and Trump echoed a similarly glitchy attempt by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to announce his now-scrapped presidential candidacy. Shortly before the interview was set to get underway, Trump posted on X, This is the biggest interview in history, and now, were asking YOU to make this President Trumps BIGGEST FUNDRAISING DAY EVER! Before the interview is over, were calling on TEN MILLION Patriots to donate ANY AMOUNT and proudly say, I STAND WITH TRUMP! In May 2023, DeSantis agreed to publicly launch his campaign with a webcast on X, the first 30 minutes of which treated listeners to an audio pastiche of feedback, garbled speech and dropped connections. The audience dropped from an estimated 600,000 at the beginning, to 40,000 listeners, eventually making its way back up to around 100,000 people in total. Donald Trump and Elon Musk were supposed to speak for an interview on X spaces Monday evening. It eventually got underway 40 minutes after a tech delay. ( AP ) The Twitter app repeatedly crashed for users who tuned in for the announcement. Tech investor David Sacks, who was roped in to introduce the event, reportedly remarked that the servers are melting. In that case, Musk blamed the issues on Xs servers. In an apparent attempt to ensure the setup didnt buckle similarly on Monday night, Musk earlier in the day posted on X, Am going to do some system scaling tests tonight & tomorrow in advance of the conversation with @realDonaldTrump. On Monday, around 8:16 p.m. easten, the webcast between Trump and Musk had still not started. A few minutes later, Musk posted a message blaming the technical failure on what he said appears to be a massive DDOS attack on . Working on shutting it down. Worst case, we will proceed with a smaller number of live listeners and post the conversation later. Musk then floated another explanation for the Spaces blackout, claiming, We tested the system with 8 million concurrent listeners earlier today. He posted again at 8:27 p.m., promising, We will proceed with the smaller number of concurrent listeners at 8:30 ET and then post the unedited audio immediately thereafter. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The Norwegian royal family has been rocked by scandal as the Crown Princess son faces allegations of physically assaulting his girlfriend. Marius Borg Hiby, the son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit from a previous relationship, could be jailed for up to a year as he faces charges of bodily harm and criminal damage. The 27-year-old spent 30 hours in police custody after a woman claimed he physically attacked her at a flat in Oslo. Norwegian authorities said the Crown Princes stepson had been arrested calmly after agreeing to meet the police at his half-siblings former school in Asker last Sunday afternoon. Local reports claimed officers who attended the scene had found the apartment partially destroyed and authorities said the charges have been extended to include damage to the apartment. Marius Borg Hiby with his sister, mother and step-father ( Getty Images ) The police said in a statement: Hiby has a relationship with the woman who was subjected to the physical abuse. The police do not have information that the woman has suffered serious injuries, but it will be part of the investigation to map out the extent of the victims injuries. According to Norwegian magazine Se og H, it is alleged that police also hold recordings of him threatening to set fire to and burn the girls clothes and belongings during a phone call from Skaugum Castle, the residence of the Norwegian crown princes family. Police added that they are continuing to question Hiby and that they plan on carrying out follow-up interviews with the victim. The Norwegian royal family Hiby was officially recognised as a member of the royal family when his mother married the Crown Prince Haakonbut but he has no official role. He officially stepped down from royal duties at the age of 20 and now works as a motorcycle mechanic - but has continued to make headlines over his controversial lifestyle. News of his arrest delayed his mothers trip to Paris to watch Norwegian athletes to compete in the Olympics. Mette-Marit was due to arrive to the French capital with her husband, the Crown Prince Haakon, but instead stayed behind with her eldest son. When Haakon arrived in Paris alone, he told Norwegian media it was a serious matter and declined to comment any further. The Crown Princess has temporarily postponed her departure and hopes to travel down later, the Palaces communications chief wrote in a text message to Se og Hr. Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway (R) later joined her husband Crown Prince Haakon in Paris ( AFP via Getty Images ) She later joined her husband on Friday as she put on an enthusiastic display amid the intense scrutiny. Haakon and Mette-Marit married in 2001 after meeting at a rock festival in Norway when Hiby was four years old. Norways future queen made her own headlines when she married Haakon, because she was a single mother who had lived a freewheeling life with a companion who had been convicted on drug charges. The royal couple have two other children Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 20, and Prince Sverre Magnus, 18. He is the first Norwegian royal to have been charged with a crime. The scandal comes as Hibys mother and step-father are preparing to take over the thrown as his father King Harald V, 87, faces health concerns. In April, officials said the King would make a permanent reduction to his public engagements. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Ukraine has said its forces are still advancing a week into its largest cross-border attack into Russia so far but officials say that it has no interest in permanently keeping hold of the swathes of territory it has taken. Ukraine blindsided Moscow by pouring troops into the western Russian region of Kursk last week in a surprise operation that Kyiv says has seen its forces take 1,000 sq km (390 sq miles) of land. Ukraine said on Tuesday afternoon that its forces had taken control of 74 settlements in Kursk during its week-long assault, and that they had advanced about a mile over the previous 24 hours. A Ukrainian tank crew take a break while operating a Soviet-made T-72 tank in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia ( AFP via Getty Images ) Briefing the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky by video link, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi said Kyivs military had seized 40 sq m of new territory over the past 24 hours. War monitors have put the total amount of captured land at closer to 800 sq km of territory. The substantial amount of land seized by Ukraine, made the more significant by the fact that it is in Russia rather than formerly occupied Ukrainian territory, amounts to more than double the area it took during the three-month counteroffensive last summer, according to estimates. Verified footage has shown Ukrainian forces continuing to push in a westward and northwestward direction into Kursk, despite claims by Major General Apti Alaudinov, the commander of the Akhmat special forces unit reportedly at the centre of Russias defence in Kursk, that the Ukrainian advance had been halted. Mr Zelensky has said that Ukrainian forces have taken control of areas that Russia has used to launch more than 2,000 cross-border strikes on Ukraine since June. Unlike Russia, Ukraine does not need other peoples property. Ukraine is not interested in taking the territory of the Kursk region, but we want to protect the lives of our people, said a spokesperson for Ukraines foreign ministry. It should be emphasised that the operation ... helps the front line, because it does not allow Russia to transfer additional units to [Ukraines] Donetsk region, [and] complicates its military logistics, the spokesperson, Heorhii Tykhyi, added. Russian forces have been trying to advance for months on multiple fronts in the Donetsk region, taking advantage of their greater troop numbers to inch steadily forward towards cities like the Kyiv-held logistics hub of Pokrovsk. In a sign that Russia was trying to avoid pulling troops from Donetsk, its military pulled some troops out of southern Ukraine to defend Kursk, Dmytro Lykhoviy, a Ukrainian army spokesperson, told Politico. Russias defence ministry published extensive footage of fighter jets hitting Ukrainian positions across the Kursk front, and claimed to have repelled many of the Ukrainian attacks. Kremlin-approved Russian war bloggers also reported intense battles across the Kursk front as Ukrainian forces tried to expand their control, though they said Russia was bringing in soldiers and heavy weaponry. The Ukrainian military has advanced more than 10 miles into the region that borders the Sumy area of Ukraine, forcing almost 200,000 Russian civilians to evacuate their homes and relocate to temporary residence centres, where they are experiencing for the first time the kind of displacement that tens of millions of Ukrainians have suffered for more than two and half years. But Ukrainian civilians living near to the fighting have not been left unscathed. Ukraines military announced that a 12-mile border region in Sumy had now been put under lockdown over concerns that Russian sabotage groups could infiltrate the area and undermine the cross-border offensive. Many of those in Sumy had already had to relocate to temporary shelters after Russia began retaliating with aerial strikes last week. Mr Zelensky announced in his nightly address that the areas the military have seized are from where the Russian forces launched strikes on the Sumy region. In a sign that this tactic may be working, the governor of Kharkiv, the Ukrainian region immediately south of Sumy, also claimed that Kharkiv was experiencing fewer missile attacks than previously. Mr Zelensky added that the war was coming home to Russia after years of fighting taking place almost exclusively in Ukraine. Russia brought war to others, and now it is coming home, he wrote. Ukraine has always wished only for peace, and we will definitely ensure peace. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A music festival on a beach in Spain has set up tents where revelers can drug-test their drinks to ensure they do not contain psychoactive substances slipped into the beverages without their consent. At the so-called violet point of the Medusa Sunbeach Festival, social workers also respond to possible cases of gender-based violence or sexual abuse. The testing kits, a first for Spain, detect GHB, also known as liquid ecstasy, a colour- and odourless party drug that acts as a central nervous system depressant. In recent years, it has gained notoriety as a date-rape drug. The violet points rolling out at public gatherings such as fairs and concerts are an initiative of the Spanish Equality Ministry, in collaboration with local governments, to aid victims and witnesses of sexual harassment and gender-based violence. Their name derives from the purple colour associated with the feminist movement. Rosana Galvez, a social worker for the Valencia regions womens network, said the tests were a way to prevent sexual assaults. Bathers cool off in the water while others sunbathe on a Barcelona beach, Spain, Wednesday, July 24, 2024 ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ) Samples are taken with droppers from attendees drinks and inserted into a test tube with a chemical reagent. If the liquid contains GHB, it turns bright red. The protocol mandates alerting emergency services and law enforcement whenever there is a positive reaction. I think the violet point is very important. At a festival, youre surrounded by a lot of people and its very normal for somebody to slip something into your drink without you noticing, 18-year-old Adriana Barros told Reuters. Raquel, 23, who declined to give her last name, said it was reassuring to have a place where, if something happens to you, you know that you can go for help or advice. Medusa, Spains largest electronic music festival, celebrated its 10th anniversary with more than 56,000 people attending Saturdays performances, according to organisers. In 2022, it made headlines when strong winds caused the collapse of a metal structure, killing a 22-year-old man and injuring nearly 40 people. A fourth summer heatwave hit Spain in recent days, with northern regions of the country sweltering in abnormally high temperatures of over 40 degrees Celsius on Sunday. Temperatures soared over the weekend across Spain but especially in the traditionally cooler northern Cantabrian Sea area, triggering extreme risk alerts in the regions of Cantabria and the Basque country, weather service AEMET said. Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the IndyTech email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Pictures taken by an amateur astronomer showed a secretive Chinese space plane flying high up over Austria, revealing yet undisclosed features of the experimental craft. China launched the reusable space plane Shenlong meaning Divine Dragon for its third mission in December aboard its Long March 2F rocket and it has been orbiting the Earth since. It has previously completed two missions since 2020 with the previous one lasting over 250 days. Space observers have noted that the plane launched at least seven satellites into orbit in the last seven months in its current mission. Chinese officials have neither acknowledged the space planes existence nor have revealed any information about the nature of the objects it has released. While the US Space Force said it has been tracking the space plane since it launched, there still arent any publicly verifiable images of the secretive vehicle. ASTRA Space Company Takes On SpaceX China designed the plane for multi-year robotic Earth-orbiting missions after it was launched aboard a rocket from the Gobi Desert. The 30ft-long space plane is expected to return and land back safely on runways similar to conventional aircraft. Images taken by space watcher Felix Schofbanker in Upper Austria have now revealed some features of the space plane, including what appears to be a pair of solar panels powering the craft. Mr Schofbanker, an amateur astronomer in Austria, used a telescope with a 14-inch mirror to follow the released objects on 30 July. Images taken of Chinese space plan by Felix Schofbanker ( Felix Schofbanker ) In the footage he prepared by stitching together the best frames, he noticed features what seemed like the planes solar panels. However, since this is a previously unseen part of the space plane, he suspects it may be something else. I am not really sure if they are solar panels or some other features like an antenna or something of that nature, Mr Schofbanker told Space.com. The latest footage, although grainy, suggests that the space plane has lowered its orbit to about 350 km above Earth. The US Space Force is also operating a Boeing-built space plane X-37B in orbit which is smaller than the Chinese vehicle. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A runway at Japans Narita airport was closed on Tuesday after an American cargo plane made an emergency landing. Authorities said one of the two runways at the airport in Chiba prefecture was shut down after a Boeing 747 jet of Atlas Air made an emergency landing due to an issue with its hydraulic system. The cargo plane was en route to Los Angeles when the problem became apparent at about 1.10am, a transport ministry spokesperson said. The runway was closed for about seven hours. The crew on the Atlas Air plane was unharmed. The seven crew members of the Boeing 747 were not injured, but tyres were found ruptured and the wheels damaged, the spokesperson said. The planes tyres were changed at the Narita airport. The emergency landing of the cargo jet, however, did not have much impact on other flights, authorities said. The Independent has reached out to Atlas Air for comment. An Atlas Air cargo plane made an emergency landing at Narita airport on 13 August 2024 ( AFP via Getty ) The Atlas Air emergency landing came a day after a Singapore Airlines plane faced a technical issue upon landing at Narita airport. The Boeing 787-10 aircraft reportedly had white smoke coming out of its engine when it landed. The incident involving flight SQ638 forced the other runway at Narita airport to be closed for just under an hour on Monday. There were no signs of fire and no one was injured. Singapore Airlines later said the flight had experienced a technical issue with its brakes upon landing. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Get Simon Calders Travel email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy South Korea has introduced a bedbug-detection dog at its main international airport to prevent the insects from entering the country after the Paris Olympics. A two-year-old beagle named Ceco is the only dog in South Korea trained to sniff out bedbugs by detecting their pheromones. At Incheon international airport, Ceco can reportedly search a hotel room for bedbugs in under two minutes, Kim Min-su from pest control company Cesco said. The move comes after last years panic in Paris over bedbugs, which were found in public places and hotel rooms. The insects are known to hide away in suitcases. Authorities in Paris warned that no one is safe from the critters and videos on social media appeared to show them crawling over seats on the Paris Metro. To avoid a similar problem, South Korea is taking precautionary measures by working with pest control, transportation, security, and health agencies to monitor and disinfect flights from Paris more frequently. The South Korean government said it is taking a preemptive response to intercept the entry of the bugs through the Incheon international airport, which is the main gateway to the country. As the global community is gathering in Paris, France, on the occasion of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, theres a chance bedbugs will enter the country following the event, the government said. open image in gallery Ceco, South Koreas first bedbug sniffing dog, checks luggage at Incheon airport on 8 August 2024 ( Reuters ) Ceco will reportedly be deployed to sniff out bedbugs until 8 September as athletes, fans and officials return from the Olympics. In 2023, South Korea experienced a wave of national concern following reports of suspected bedbug infestation in micro-apartments, motel rooms, and traditional spas known as jjimjilbang, leading to a disinfection campaign. Seoul even allocated a budget of 500 million won (310,000) to tackle the infestation, the Yonhap news agency reported at the time. Additional reporting by agencies. An injured hiker was rescued from the Appalachian Trail on South Mountain on Sunday, 11 August, according to Maryland State Police. Footage shows a helicopter airlifting a civilian to safety through the trees. Maryland State Police's aviation unite said a trooper was requested to a section outside of Smithsburg at 1:30pm. The hiker was found and a trooper/paramedic was hoisted down to them to deliver medical aid and hoist them up into the helicopter. The trooper transported the hiker to Meritus Health for further treatment, officials added. A former counter-terrorism chief has hinted police could investigate Nigel Farages social media activity following riots across the UK. Neil Basu said authorities will be looking at anybody who might have incited riots during an interview with LBC on Tuesday (13 August). Presenter James OBrien asked Mr Basu: Nigel Farage's social media activity - do you think that should be investigated? Mr Basu replied: I imagine my former colleagues are doing precisely that. The Reform UK MP has previously doubled down on claims that he did not provoke rioting following the killings of three young girls in Southport on 29 July. Ive never been involved in violence, been involved in street protest, been involved in encouraging any of these things, he told Talk TV on 8 August. The Independent has contacted Mr Farage for further comment in relation to Mr Basus interview. If you are experiencing feelings of distress and isolation, or are struggling to cope, The Samaritans offer support; you can speak to someone for free over the phone, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch. The mother of Nottingham attack victim Barnaby Webber admitted her family is hanging on by a fingernail as she discussed her mental health during an appearance on Good Morning Britain. We are hanging on and we are getting support, weve got a great group of people around us. But the fall out from this tragedy is enormous, Emma Webber said on Tuesday 13 August. Her 19-year-old son, Barnaby, was stabbed to death by Valdo Calocane in June 2023. Grace OMalley-Kumar, 19, and 65-year-old Ian Coates were also murdered by Calocane during the horrific attack. A Pompeii victim surrounded by gold and precious jewellery has been discovered in recent archaeological excavations of the site in Italy. A man and a woman, who died during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, were found in a cubicle, which is thought to be a bedroom, according to the Pompeii Archaeological Park. Thousands of Romans were killed when the eruption buried the city in ash, which has preserved many of its residents and buildings. The woman was found on a bed, holding gold, bronze and silver coins, and jewellery including gold and pearl earrings. Experts believe that the victims took refuge in the cubicle while waiting for the ash and lava to stop. Donald Trump claims illegal immigration saved his life during an assassination attempt in July, as he sat down with Elon Musk for a tell-all interview. The presidential candidate famously turned his head just at the right moment in July, when Thomas Matthew Crooks shot at him, and narrowly missed his head - instead clipping his ear. However, the 78-year-old says it was a slide on illegal immigration that prompted him to do so. The doctors later told me that the ear is a place, that is a very bloody place, if youre going to get hit, Trump said. But in this case, it was probably the best alternative you could even think about. As the world advances in many aspects of healthcare and human rights, the women of Gaza face an utterly different reality. We face a silent struggle, one of resilience tested by relentless aggression and deprivation, where the simple act of managing a menstrual cycle becomes a battle for dignity and basic human rights. Menstruation, pregnancy and childbirth should be natural and manageable parts of life, yet theyve become sources of immense stress and struggle for girls and women in the region. There are almost 700,000 girls and women of menstrual age, in addition to the thousands of girls who had their first menstrual cycle during Israels war on the Gaza Strip. As a doctor specialising in sexual and reproductive health, I have borne witness to these immense and heartbreaking struggles. Every day I see their strength, but also the deep pain and indignity they endure. This perspective is not just professional; it is deeply personal. As a woman, experiencing it alongside them, I strive to support those who are most vulnerable in this fragile setting. I know the misery of menstruating in such circumstances, when there are no sanitary products. Usually, women and children are the most affected groups in catastrophic situations. The aftermath of childbirth is an especially vulnerable time, where we have witnessed several women coming to our clinics to follow up after delivery, and when examined, they use pieces of tent or cloth to try to absorb the blood. Bleeding after delivery is far heavier compared to normal menstruation. After I got my masters degree in the UK, I decided to return to Gaza to support the women and girls here. It was during this time that I was accepted to my PhD to continue my studies in the UK. I can only hope that this horror will end and Ill be able to leave Gaza to study. I would like to leave under better circumstances; I dont want to leave because of this war. While we live with the consequences of the massacres, the bombardments and displacement, I have imagined and compared our lives as women here with the lives of women living outside the Gaza Strip. I keep thinking about the adolescent girls, starting puberty and experiencing menstruation for the first time in their lives here in Gaza, compared with those in other places. Here, the living conditions are dire: youre living in a tent, in the summer season, with the shortage of clean water, lack of pads and infection sources everywhere. Then theres the psychological and biological immaturity, vulnerability and sensitivity of entering puberty, combined with the continuous feeling of insecurity, unsafety, stress, and painful losses. Menstruation makes it even harder. For a girl in another part of the world, the experience of getting her period for the first time could not be more different. She lives in a comfortable home with her family. She might have her own bedroom and access to a private bathroom. The bathroom is equipped with all the necessary facilities, including a continuous clean water supply, soap, and a proper waste disposal system for sanitary products. One of her parents will hopefully be around; a comfortable bed, a clean bathroom and hot drinks are available. Naturally, she may feel nervous, but reassured and informed unless she is living in period poverty, which is a very real problem even in the UK she can easily seek medical care that is affordable and accessible. When I am with patients, I try to discuss with them the health risks and emphasise the importance of trying to maintain self-care and personal hygiene routines. However, with the constant forced displacement and lack of facilities, most women are faced with the challenges of living in tents or overcrowded shelters and refugee camps. There are shortages of clean water, soap, tissues and underwear. There is nearly no access to sanitary and hygiene products. The wait to access the toilets for a few minutes can be hours. Women are resorting to using unsafe alternatives to pads like cloth, clothes, sponges or reusing used pads. This can lead to infection, as well as isolation and feelings of stress and vulnerability. However, despite efforts by medical and aid organisations to alleviate some of the suffering during months of bombardment the UNs top court, the ICJ, has ruled that claims of genocide during this time are plausible the high need and further restrictions on supplies continue to have a damaging effect. In many places in the world, including Gaza, menstruation is met with silence, considered a private matter that should not be discussed openly. Sometimes, this leaves many girls and women unprepared and isolated. The lack of open conversation means that misinformation and shame flourish, making an already challenging situation even more overwhelming. Because of the continuous bombings, forced displacement of citizens and the restrictions on aid and personal hygiene products, natural parts of life like menstruation, pregnancy and childbirth are also under attack. No girl or woman should have to face these struggles, or have her health jeopardised because of her period. It is heartbreaking to see this entirely avoidable pain and suffering. Israa Saleh is a doctor specialising in sexual and reproductive health with the French organisation Medicins Du Monde in Gaza For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Following a weekend of sunshine and the hottest day of the year on Monday, it is no surprise that thousands of Brits have dashed for the seaside to soak up the August sun. Unfortunately, the high temperatures and sunny conditions enjoyed over the last few days are expected to dissipate, with rain, wind and clouds expected to hit the UK. It comes after a temperature of 34.8C was recorded in Cambridge with a yellow heat health alert issued by the UKHSA for London and the south and east of England. People enjoy the warm weather in Granary Square, London (Jordan Pettitt/PA) ( PA Wire ) Speaking to The Independent, Tom Morgan, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said that Brits hoping for a hot second half to August were likely to be disappointed with the miserable change in weather. Short answer is no, the hot weather is not going to continue, he said. The heat primarily will be confined to the far east of England, not as high temperatures as weve seen today. Today was the hottest day since 2022, we might see temperatures tomorrow reach 29 degrees in East Anglia, but not as humid. There will be rain in the west, a band pushing in from the Atlantic for Northern Ireland, Scotland, parts of Wales and England. After Tuesday, the weather is looking to become more changeable, with regions across the UK expecting a grey and cloudy Wednesday with heavy rain on Thursday. Mr Morgan said: Thursday is looking to be the wettest day of the week, the northern parts of the UK will see heavy rain and its expected to be windy. The winds probably wont cause too much travel disriptuon but are strong for this time of year, with coastal gales from the Irish Sea. Camping will be unpleasant across north Wales and northern England. During this weekends heatwave, a two-year-old boy died in hospital after being pulled from a canal in Wolverhampton during hot weather on Sunday afternoon, according to West Midlands Police. On Monday afternoon the Met Office posted on social media: Its been the hottest day of 2024 so far with 34.8C recorded in Cambridge today. Provisionally this is only the 11th year since 1961 temperatures as high as this have been recorded. 8 of those years have been since 2000 and 6 of them have been in the last decade. Rain and wind is predicted for northern parts of the UK on Wednesday and Thursday (Danny Lawson/PA) ( PA Wire ) Before Monday, the hottest day of 2024 had been Friday July 19 when temperatures reached 31.9C in central London. Not all of the UK experienced the heat however, with thunderstorms and torrential downpours affecting parts of Northern Ireland, Scotland and northern England on Monday morning. A yellow weather warning remained in place until 1pm, with the storms clearing into the North Sea by the early afternoon. This weeks weather forecast: This Evening and Tonight: Any remaining showers and thunderstorms clearing, with clear spells for many. Remaining warm across the southeast, but feeling fresher elsewhere. However, further cloud and rain moving into Northern Ireland and the far west of Scotland, England and Wales later. Tuesday: Often cloudy in the west with outbreaks of rain, although brighter later in Northern Ireland. Largely dry and sunny elsewhere and very warm in the southeast. Outlook for Wednesday to Friday: Largely dry and bright on Wednesday. Windy on Thursday with a spell of heavy rain. Sunny spells and a few showers on Friday. Temperatures returning closer to average. Council rejects plan even though National Transport Authority said it had no issue with the proposal The DAA wanted to create a new car park for staff with almost 1,000 spaces beside Dublin Airport The DAA the semi-state company that operates Dublin and Cork airports had planned to extend an existing long-term holiday carpark to provide 950 spaces for staff vehicles. The more than four-hectare site for the facility is located on the perimeter of the airport, near one of its runways. The DAA had said that the new car-parking facility would help it to consolidate staff car parking at Dublin Airport by relocating lost staff car-parking spaces on the campus to a more remote location at Harristown. The National Transport Authority (NTA) had told Fingal County Council that it had no issue with the development of the planned new car-parking facility. The NTA would not be opposed in principle to the provision of airport staff car parking in areas which are located outside of the more central parts of the Dublin Airport campus, where land can be more efficiently used for other purposes, it said in a letter to the Council. The NTA would however, place a critical emphasis on the need for staff car parking to be managed in a manner which is consistent with clearly defined demand patterns and agreed mode share targets, it added. The DAA, whose CEO is Kenny Jacobs, noted that there are currently 4,324 car-park spaces for staff within Dublin Airport lands. However, the Council pointed out that this does not include 700 spaces for which the DAA has submitted a separate planning application, while a planning application for a new multi-storey car park at the airport is also under consideration. The application documents submitted do not consider the possibility of these car parks being developed in chorus, which could result in a significant overprovision of car parking within Dublin Airport lands, noted Fingal County Council in rejecting the DAA application. Developing a new site each time to meet the target parking is not a sustainable approach and cannot be endorsed by the planning authority, it added. Fingal County Council pointed out that since 2006 the policy shift has been in support of more sustainable modes of travel and thereby would envisage a further reduction in car parking for the more efficient use of land. Dublin Airport still lacks a rail link and while the Governments Metro plans include a stop at the airport, its certain to take more than a decade before its operational, if it is delivered. The planning authority does not endorse the need for DAA to develop a new surface car park on a greenfield site to cover the car parking spaces lost or displaced through its developments on previously permitted sites, added the Council. That included spaces lost with the development of Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport. Fingal County Council insisted that the DAA has provided no information regarding the current use of existing staff car-parking spaces, or the number of staff employed and their work mobility patterns. It said that the planning application couldnt be considered in isolation and had to be considered in the context of other major infrastructure proposals at Dublin Airport. A DAA spokesperson said the proposed car park would not have resulted in additional staff spaces but would have replaced spaces previously available, that were removed to make way for airport development. They said the car park would have reduced the amount of traffic entering the Dublin Airport campus by operating as a park-and-ride facility. We are very disappointed by Fingal County Councils refusal to grant planning permission and are currently evaluating further options, the spokesperson said. Booking.com urges US court to reverse trial jurys verdicts in favour of Ryanair Travel giant says screen-scraping case should not have been heard in the United States Ryanair launched its US lawsuit in 2020 against Booking Holdings and its subsidiaries. Photo: Bloomberg John Mulligan Tue 13 Aug 2024 at 03:30 Internet travel giant Booking.com is pushing a US court to reverse verdicts in a high-profile case centred on the screen-scraping of fares from Ryanairs website. Festival Director Melvin Benn at the new Electric Picnic substation at the Electric Picnic site preview The festival director of Electric Picnic said he hopes the festival will inspire more people to move towards using renewable energy as the main stage will be completely powered by renewable energy this year. This weekend, from August 16 to 18, Electric Picnic will welcome 75,000 festival-goers to its magical metropolis in Stradbally, Co Laois. Although the finishing touches are still being made to the Electric Picnic site ahead of this weekends festival, it is clear something magical is brewing. From the best of Irish music to spoken word, comedy and food and drink, Electric Picnic is an ensemble of creativity. The main stage which is being completely powered by renewable energy. Photo: Alf Harvey The Trailer Park is back for another year, where members of the public get to showcase a caravan they designed and decorated. Alongside these wacky caravans and mobile homes sits the Trailer Park Stage which will be blaring tunes all weekend. Theatre of Food is also returning for its 16th year. There will be everything from Michelin star chefs, fish and chips experts to a toasted sandwich competition. What you can expect from Electric Picnic 2024 Next, is Mindfield, an oasis of inspiring and enlightening conversations with five stages serving up programmes of podcasts, debate, literary readings, poetry performances, science experiments, interviews, comedy, music and much more. Hermitage Green at the Electric Picnic site preview. Photo: Alf Harvey Former president of Ireland, Mary McAleese, will also take to the Leviathan Stage with her co-host Mary Kennedy for their Changing Times podcast this weekend. "My kids are mortified that I am here, they think that I am a fraud. My grandkids think it is real cool, but my own kids just think what is she doing there?, laughed Mary McAleese, as she spoke ahead of her Electric Picnic appearance. I'm in the final quarter of my life, Id be as well to do [Electric Picnic] now. But I am thrilled and delighted to be asked to be here. One of the newest additions to the ever-evolving landscape of Electric Picnic is the Smirnoff Stage that has been designed to be accessible to everyone. Dermot Whelan with Mary McAleese in the Mindfield area at the Electric Picnic site preview. Photo: Alf Harvey In line with Electric Picnics ethos to ensure everyone can fully enjoy the festival weekend, the Smirnoff Stage will include an ISL interpreter, Braille and colour-coded cocktail menus, lower bar areas, noise-reducing earbuds and an accessible lift to the upper-tier Smirnoff Mezz. This years Electric Picnic is the first festival of its kind in the UK and Ireland to have a main stage completely powered by renewable energy. This decision was made in order to reduce the festivals carbon footprint. "This is the first major festival in the UK or Ireland to have done this, said festival director of Electric Picnic, Melvin Benn, at the annual site preview in Stradbally, Co Laois. "For me the Electric Picnic had to show the way, it had to lead the way. Festival Director Melvin Benn at the new Electric Picnic substation at the Electric Picnic site preview. Photo: Alf Harvey When asked if Electric Picnic has hopes to extend the use of renewable energy further around the festival site and beyond the main stage, Mr Benn replied that we may see the use of sustainable power developed further in 2026. We will see how this all works this year and maybe for 2026 onwards we might start seeing how we can develop that further. But for the moment, it was getting that first phase of being able to get that main stage powered up on sustainable power. Mr Benn added: "Its long overdue. I wish I had done it five years ago. But we werent ready five years ago but we are ready now and we are moving at a pace. "I think every business in Ireland, every business in the world needs to be reducing their carbon footprint and Im really pleased the Electric Picnic is leading the way on that. Pirates on The Beige Pearl at the Trailer Park at the Electric Picnic site preview. Photo: Alf Harvey As the historic main stage was revealed at the site preview, Irish band, Hermitage Green, were given the honours of being the first to play on a stage completely powered by renewable energy. "We feel very blessed to be here, five days before everybody else, said Barry Murphy, of Hermitage Green, as they performed at the site preview. This is the first ever stage to be fuelled by natural energy, by the wind and rain of Co Laois, which is incredible and it is very cool to be the first band to play on this stage. Hermitage Green have just been announced as the final tranche of acts set to perform at Electric Picnic. They will take to Rankins Wood stage at 11pm on Sunday, "It is a great pleasure to back on the green fields of Co Laois. We have had some great memories down here. Our first set in Electric Picnic was in 2012 on a pirate ship off there in the distance. "But you can feel it, there is a palpable something exciting in the air ahead of whats to happen in the next couple of days. The Cable That Changed the World (RTE1) 5/5 A dramatised scene from the documentary 'The Cable that Changed the World' showing on RTE1. Photo: Tyrone Productions Early in Ruan Magans terrific documentary The Cable that Changed the World (RTE1, Monday, August 12), a historian makes a rather regrettable comparison between a famous historical figure and an infamous modern-day one. Talking about Cyrus W Field, the American businessman and financier behind the laying of the first telegraph cable across the Atlantic, he describes him as the Elon Musk of the 19th century. To be fair to the man, he was speaking long before the world discovered the true depths of the X owners toxicity. A better comparison would be between Field and Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web. Both men were driven by idealism and a desire to better the lot of the human race. Narrated by Jessie Buckley, the film, a collaboration between RTE and University College Cork, is an enthralling account of Fields epic, eight-year drive to revolutionise global communications. Today, 99pc of all internet and mobile communications are powered by the vast network of undersea cables wrapped around the world. But it all began with the laying of that one cable, stretching 3,220km from Valentia Island, Co Kerry, to and Newfoundland, Canada, 165 years ago, after a number of false starts. Few believed it could be done. Field, who had a touch of showman, described it as the wild project of a Yankee lunatic. Luckily, others shared his brand of lunacy. Foremost among them was the brilliant Belfast physicist William Thomson. Arthur C Clarke believed that if you could take half of Einsteins genius and half of Edisons and combine them in one man, that man would be Thomson. Dublin businessman and philanthropist Henry Bewley, who made his fortune through the familys chemical manufacturing company, came up with the idea of wrapping the copper cable in thermoplastic insulator to prevent the current being dispersed into the ocean. Peter FitzGerald, an MP and the 19th knight of Kerry, as well as an uncommonly kind and caring landlord, opened the door to financing for the project. If these three men were instrumental in making the project a success, Wildman Whitehouse, an English surgeon who fancied himself as a scientist and dabbled in electrical experiments, almost destroyed it. Toffs in their finery, as well as members of the worlds press, descended on Valentia Island, where the majority of locals spoke only Irish and were illiterate, for the first attempt to lay the cable in 1857. Two converted ships borrowed from Britain and America, HMS Agamemnon and USS Niagara, carried half the cable each. Not long into the laying, the cable snapped. It had been fed out too fast and the breaking system was inadequate. Some 480km of the cable was lost. The ocean also swallowed most of the money Field had raised. He went from being revered to being ridiculed. He took a year to raise more money through a share issue and improved the breaking system. The second attempt involved splicing the two lengths of cable in the middle of the Atlantic, and then having the ships lay it in opposite directions. Despite disruption from a massive storm that almost capsized the ships, the cable-laying was completed. But the messages were difficult to understand. A process called retardation lengthened the pulses so they were overlapping, leading to distortion. Wildman Whitehouse, who Field had appointed chief engineer despite him not understanding the science involved, had the not-so-bright idea of increasing the voltage. All it did was burn out the cable. Within a week, there was no signal at all. Whitehouse was sacked and replaced by the man who should have been chief engineer from the start: William Thomson. He developed a stronger, more flexible cable using the purest copper cable. His invention, the mirror galvanometer, ensured even the weakest signals could be read. In 1866, the project having been interrupted by the American Civil War, the first transatlantic cable became a working reality. The world was transformed. A captivating documentary that brilliantly conveys the adventurous spirit of the age. Denmark's Maersk Line, the world's largest container shipping company, officially launched its connected carrier agreement service at the Huai'an Port in Jiangsu province on Thursday. It is the first time the company has opened the service on China's inland waterways. The service enables foreign trade enterprises in and around Huai'an to use Maersk Line's containers for customs clearance and shipment at the port and then transport their goods to ports around the world via Maersk Line's global shipping network. Chen Xin, general manager for Maersk Line Greater China's multi-modal transport products, said the service was rolled out in accordance with a strategic cooperation agreement signed between Maersk Line, Shanghai International Port Group, and the Huai'an Port in the first half of this year, to meet the logistics needs of local customers. Zhuang Dejun, general manager of Huai'an Traffic Holding Group, said the partnership between the Huai'an Port and Maersk Line is crucial for the city's efforts to become a national inland waterway shipping center, develop a modern water transportation system, and create a top-level business environment. "Through extensive and in-depth cooperation with world-renowned ports and shipping companies, Huai'an Port has achieved leapfrog development in recent years," he said. Statistics from the local government show that the port's container throughput reached 312,500 TEUs in the first seven months of the year, of which 60,800 were foreign trade containers. These two figures increased 10.04 percent and 105.06 percent year-on-year, respectively. Guo Jun contributed to this story. FBDs farmer customers contributed half of the businesss premium growth in the first half of this year as the insurer reported a profit before tax of 32m, beating analyst expectations. The company said last week that its insurance income rose by 9.3pc to 213m from 194.5m in the same period last year. Gross written premium was the largest part of insurance revenue and was 9.5pc higher than in 2023 at 226.1m (2023: 206.4m), with growth across all customer groups. However, it highlighted that the farmer sector was performing well, delivering more than half the premium growth. Underlying policy-count growth across farmer, business and retail sectors was 4.5pc. The company said that almost two-thirds of the average premium increase in the period was related to customers increasing their insurance coverage and changing the business mix rather than higher prices. Higher weather-related payouts this year, including after Storm Isha, and more frequent and bigger motor insurance claims helped push up its cost of insurance payouts to 37m. Non-insurance costs were up slightly, 27.7pc, impacted by inflationary pressure on staff and IT costs, as well as investment in increased operating capacity to support revenue growth. On the back of the latest profits, FBD announced a special dividend of 1 per share and the second special dividend following a similar payout to investors in the first half of 2023. FBDs shareholders include the farmer-backed investment group Farmers Business Developments Ltd (20pc), and FBD Trust, established in 1974 by the shareholders of the FBD Group to advance the interests of Irish farm families and the farming sector (12pc). FBD Group CEO Tomas O Midheach said the first half had produced a strong, consistent performance. Our customer-focused strategy has established a strong momentum, as seen in the increase in number of new customers over the period and in the retention rates of our loyal customers, he said. In its financial statements, FBD Group included a provision of 1.5m for its contribution to UCD Agricultural Science Centre for investment in new agricultural research and education facilities at UCD Lyons Farm. This payment is expected to be made in the coming year. This is in addition to the 2.5m provision included in the financial statements for December 31, 2023, for FBDs contribution to the ESG initiative to develop the Padraig Walshe Centre for Sustainable Animal and Grassland Research in Moorepark, which is expected to be made in the coming year. Marts chief fears for the future of livestock sales with numbers going in the wrong direction The crowd at the Balla Mart event last Thursday Aurivo Marts General Manager Stephen Hannon fears for the future viability of livestock marts in Ireland due to the continued decline in suckler cow and ewe numbers. We need numbers to keep coming through our rings to keep our marts viable as the commission is our [marts] only source of income, he told attendees of a suckler meeting at Aurivo Balla Mart, Co Mayo, on Thursday, hosted by Mayo IFA and its local branch. We need farmers to continue to calve cows and lamb ewes. Suckler cows and breeding ewes are the backbone of rural Ireland, but numbers are going in the wrong direction. Aurivo operates four mart centres in the west of Ireland, Balla, Ballymote, Ballinrobe and Mohill with throughput figures for 2023 standing at over 76,000 cattle and 65,000 sheep. According to 2023 financial results, last year saw a slight reduction in the number of livestock sold across its marts: 0.8pc in cattle and 2.2pc in sheep. However, the average price reported a marginal increase on 2022 returns. The globally focused agribusiness is one of the countrys leading co-operatives, employing around 700 people across its various divisions animal feeds, consumer foods, dairy ingredients, retail stores and livestock trading. Marts are a service to farmers, being a high-cost, low-margin part of the business, added Hannon. Last year, our livestock marts had a turnover of 103m, which goes back into the local economy within the regions we operate in. The crowd at the Balla Mart event last Thursday That money makes its way back into other businesses, such as pubs, shops, schools, restaurants and even our own stores and livestock marts. Also, we employ part-time farmers and students across our marts. My advice is to support your local mart, not only because of this, but because you are guaranteed a secure payment. Hannon said there are a number of factors at play that are feeding into the decline of suckler cow and ewe numbers. Costs are a major factor and they have risen dramatically, particularly since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, he said. Also, inclement weather conditions and succession, with older people retiring and maybe younger people not interested in it or seeing the margin in it versus the lifestyle. However, the country is not short of cattle with 7.3 million head, but they are a different type. My fear is that anyone that comes here [to Balla], for example, on a Saturday and goes down the yard, where we now see the fine yard of continental cattle, predominately Charolais and Limousin types will that change in the years ahead? I believe it will change unless something changes to bring back the suckler cow. However, Hannon firmly believes that suckler farmers breeding quality stock, who look after them well by dosing, vaccinating etc, will be rewarded for them. He added that Irish suckler farmers are at a distinct advantage as renowned producers of high-end cattle, particularly given the state of play in other European countries, where suckler numbers are also falling. Exporters are telling us that other countries cannot source the type of cattle that they need, so that is why they are tapping into the Irish market. According to Hannon, there is currently a market for every type of weanling due to a variety of markets seeking Irish cattle. Aurivo has various exporters making their presence felt across its mart rings, supplying customers in various countries, including, but not limited to, Morocco, Turkey, Lithuania, Croatia, Germany, Italy and Spain. A weanling, anything from 280kg upwards, in my view, will be a very good trade this back-end among exporters and farmer customers who are competing against exporters, he said. The top R and U grade weanling will command a very good price this autumn and we believe anyone that sticks with suckling will get paid into the future. Currently, weanling exports are running 20pc ahead of 2023 figures and 62pc higher than 2022. While exports are fantastic, providing a great source of competition around these rings, the problem for us, as mart operators, is that we do not see these animals back again, he said. Once they are purchased by an exporter, they are gone and will never be seen. Export is a buzzword at present and they have been very strong for the first six months of the year, with 258,000 cattle exported. We know as well that once exporters buy animals here, there is a high cost in getting them out to these countries, and we must be mindful of that. At Thursdays meeting, Deputy Editor and Beef Editor of The Irish Farmers Journal, Adam Woods, reported that almost 70pc of weanlings presented for sale at Elphin Co-operative Livestock Mart on Monday sold to exporters, while export activity accounted for 60pc of weanling purchases at Tuesdays sale in Ennis. He said the Middle East is the highlight for Irish exports at the moment. My understanding is that weanlings at a minimum of 400kg are required for Morocco contracts, with other contracts for bullocks and bulls 700kg, he said. Speaking to Martin McNamara of Clare Marts, he said his exporters are seeking red Limousins or orange Charolais. The Italian market requires a 350+kg weanling, and some of the Middle Eastern markets are looking for a lighter calf. Aurivo Balla Mart will host a special evening weanling sale next Tuesday, August 13, at 6pm. The new strain spreading across Europe is resistant to common fungicides. Photo: Loop Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images The potato industry has called on the European Commission to act as a new, aggressive strain of potato blight, resistant to common fungicides, spreads across Europe, posing a threat to potato crops. In 2023, Teagasc identified a strain of blight called EU43, which is resistant to certain fungicides, such as Revus. The spread of the disease has caused potato industry representatives to urge the Commission to implement measures that empower farmers with more effective control strategies against the disease. During a meeting between industry stakeholders and the European Commissions Directorates-General for Agriculture (DG AGRI) and Plant Health & Food Safety (DG SANTE), an action plan was presented. It is vital to inform the European Commission, the European Parliament and the member states about the seriousness of the situation and the urgent need for coordinated action, including the need for rolling out appropriate policies and resources from the European Commission and member states, the industry said. It demanded an awareness campaign and rapid monitoring of the disease to apply the right crop-protection strategy. It also said existing fungicides should be retested for efficacy against new strains and said fungicides with five different modes of action must be made available to farmers. Teagasc has said while commercial growers are using a combination of fungicides to control this and other strains, most hobby growers generally use one fungicide throughout the season. As early as June, it said it was hearing of blight in these crops and for most, there is no economic control options. For most hobby growers, the responsible approach is to remove the affected leaves where possible and put them in the bin in an effort to remove the source of infection. Otherwise, these crops should be destroyed, especially where they are located near commercial crops, as they will spread the infection, it said. Potatoes are cultivated on 1.7pc of the EUs arable land, totalling about 1.7 million hectares. The overall value of EU processed potato production reached 9.1bn in 2019, equalling 1.6pc of the value of production of the whole European food industry. Frozen chips and crisps were the most significant processed products in terms of production value. The EU is also a net exporter of processed potatoes, this standing at a value of 3bn in 2022. Union representatives for the other workers have asked to meet the airline The unions represent workers such as baggage handlers and aircraft cleaners Aer Lingus may face a new pay claim after agreeing to meet staff representatives to discuss a recent pay package for pilots. It is understood that the airline is due to meet unions representing workers including baggage handlers and cabin crew later this month. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) recently wrote to the airline to organise the discussions. An Aer Lingus spokesperson confirmed it did receive a request to meet from Ictu, on behalf of the unions representing non-pilot grades. Aer Lingus has confirmed its willingness to meet over the coming weeks, she said. The unions request for a meeting came after pilots backed a Labour Court recommendation to end a highly disruptive pay dispute last month. It will mean they get wage increases worth just under 18pc over four years. Siptu official Niall Phillips said unions representing other staff at the airline want to discuss the recommendation. The pilots ballot on the recommendation brought to an end a dispute that led to the cancellation of over 600 flights during peak summer holiday season. Pilots took part in a work-to-rule and eight-hour strike. We are looking for a meeting to discuss the Labour Court recommendation and possible implications for our members, said Mr Phillips, who is Siptus aviation sector organiser. The unions, including Siptu, Forsa, Connect and Unite, met recently to discuss the pilots award. They already have pay deals with the airline worth around 12pc over three years so will not seek the full amount awarded to the pilots. But they maintain that existing agreements backed with their members contain clause that entitled them to seek extra increases given to other staff. Mr Phillips previously claimed there were potential knock-on effects due to the proposal issued to end the pilots dispute. The union official said this could include a 1.5pc increase in basic pay that is due to pilots on October 1 this year. A similar payment that is due to ground handling staff is only on a once-off basis, he said. He added that the union may also seek an extension of ground handling workers existing pay deal by a year. The pilots proposal includes two pay rises worth a total of 4pc in the final year. He said the pilots deal does not appear to be funded by extra productivity or cost-offsetting measures, although Aer Lingus maintains that the scrapping of a crewing agreement means more flexibility and productivity. Siptu represents 1,200 ground handling staff including workers in guest services, ticket agents, baggage handling, ramp loaders, aircraft cleaners and aircraft engineers. Members of Ialpa, which is a branch of Forsa, backed the Labour Court recommendation by 85pc last month. The pilots work-to-rule had been suspended on July 10. This followed the Ialpa executives decision to recommend a vote in favour of the courts recommendation. It was just a horrible freak accident father describes battle to save tragic son after he was crushed while fixing car at home Mr Donnelly said he was in the farmyard when he received a call from his son who cried out: Da, Da, Da. Colms father Walter and older sister Niamh Donnelly outside the Corners Court, Dublin this afternoon (Photo: Sam Boal/Collins) Sean McCarthaigh Tue 13 Aug 2024 at 17:34 A Wexford teenager suffered fatal crush injuries while working on a car at his family farm after a jack that was holding up the vehicle slipped, an inquest has heard. Twitter/X ordered to pay record 550,000 to Irish exec fired after he failed to respond to Fork in the Road email from Elon Musk The WRC heard that the social media giant - now known as X - decided that the employee had resigned when he failed to tick a box requiring him to agree to new unspecified pay and conditions within a one-day deadline in response to an e-mail from the companys new owner Elon Musk in November 2022 Elon Musk Sean McCarthaigh Tue 13 Aug 2024 at 11:52 Twitter has been ordered to pay over 550,000 compensation to a former senior executive in its Irish-based operations in what is a record award by the Workplace Relations Commission for an unfair dismissal case. The Tanaiste has written to the UN to protest over the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) endangering Irish peacekeepers in Lebanon. An Israeli airstrike was launched against a target in the buffer zone separating the two Middle Eastern countries narrowly missing an Irish Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) carrying six Irish soldiers and two from the Polish detachment with UNIFIL, the United Nations Interim Force in the Lebanon. The Tanaiste has written to a United Nations Under Secretary General, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, to protest about the incident and to highlight the disregard for troops serving a UN mandate. It follows the incident in south Lebanon on August 10 when Irish peacekeepers on patrol were caught in an explosive blast, a spokesman confirmed. In his letter, the Tanaiste expresses his extreme concern at the incident, which illustrates the growing danger of escalation in the region. He underlines to Mr Lacroix, who is in charge of UN peacekeeping undertakings, his belief that both the Israeli Defence Forces and Hezbollah should be reminded of their obligations to the safety of United Nations peacekeepers. The Tanaiste in his letter also expresses Irelands continued commitment to the UNIFIL mission, despite the dangers which have claimed scores of Irish lives since our first deployment 40 years ago. Mr Martin has strongly urged that a UN investigation into the Israeli airstrike be completed as soon as possible. Private Sean Rooney. The incident comes after Private Sean Rooney (23) was killed in Al-Aqbieh, southern Lebanon, while serving with the 121st Infantry Battalion in UNIFI in December 2022. He died when the UN convoy he was travelling in was attacked. The convoy was bringing Irish UN peacekeepers home for Christmas leave. Private Rooney was engaged to be married and was based in Dundalks Aiken barracks, close to where he grew up. Trooper Shane Kearney from Cork also suffered serious injuries in the attack from militants. Latest | Murdered ex-partner of Irish man shot dead by Maltese police had filed numerous reports against him Nicolette Ghirxis body was found as Edward Johnston was involved in standoff with officers near Hilton hotel Nicolette Ghirxi had filed police reports about her former partner Conor Feehan, Ken Foy, Mark Laurence Zammit and Mario Xuereb Tue 13 Aug 2024 at 03:30 An Irish man killed following a standoff with police in Malta, hours after he allegedly stabbed his ex-partner to death, pointed a fake gun at police before being shot dead. All but one of the 11 prisoners hospitalised in a mass overdose incident in Portlaoise prison have now been released from hospital. Ten drug overdose victims have now been returned to the prison with just one prisoner a convicted gangland killer remaining in ICU at Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise, as of Wednesday evening. Today's News in 90 Seconds - August 14th A total of 11 prisoners were hospitalised after a suspected mass overdose yesterday. A spokesman said: The is a live operational situation for the IPS and the HSE. Both agencies are working to provide the highest quality health service to those impacted. A number of people are currently receiving medical treatment both in prison and in hospital. The suspected overdoses happened on the C wing of the prison, which houses a number of convicted killers and gangland criminals. One of the prisoners hospitalised after overdosing is a gangland criminal in his 40s who is serving a life sentence for murder. From Dublins south inner city, he was convicted for his role in a gun murder in 2009. He was one of the first six prisoners hospitalised this afternoon. The drug used has still not been identified but it is understood to be a powder substance. It was discovered in at least one cell in a series of searches that took place after the prisoners became ill. It is understood that inmates who consumed the drug thought it was Spice a synthetic version of cannabis. However, they are suspected of ingesting a far more potent substance. Six inmates were initially brought to hospital while a further four were treated later this afternoon. Prison sources say that the illicit drugs have been retrieved from the C wing and have been sent for testing. Portlaoise is Irelands highest security prison. In a statement the Irish Prison Service said it is working closely with the HSE and it has secured extra naloxone kits in the event of clinical intervention. Extra vigilance is being taken across the prison estate and the Irish Prison Service has commenced an information campaign for prisoners around the dangers of consuming contraband. The Irish Prison Service is committed to preventing the access of contraband including drugs into prisons and continues to be a high priority for the Irish Prison Service. The Irish Prison Service has committed to continuing to invest in new technologies and measures to support our efforts to keep contraband out of prisons. It said prison staff have increased the use of "random and intelligence led cell searches on a daily basis. Our Canine Unit carry out searches around the prisons, including a greater focus on searching deliveries into prisons. "The Irish Prison Service continues to engage with An Garda Siochana with regard to preventing contraband entering our prison and this happens at both local and national level. The Operational Support Group work closely with their colleagues in An Garda Siochana on a regular basis and the sharing of intelligence has led to target searches resulting in the seizure of contraband. The Irish Prison Service are committed to strengthening our measures in keeping drugs out of prison and in this regard a new drug strategy was published last November. Gabriel Keaveny, Deputy General Secretary, Prison Officers Association said: Over the years and at several annual conferences we have raised the issue of overcrowding and illegal smuggling of drugs into our prisons. Despite the best efforts of our members on the ground no significant action has been taken by the authorities to address the drugs issue in our prisons. What has regrettably now occurred in Portlaoise Prison was somewhat inevitable This is the second major incident involving illegal drugs in our prisons in three weeks. In recent weeks we have had a serious attempt to burn down a Prison Officers home. In recent times we have highlighted the issue of drones delivering drugs, mobile phones and weapons to prisons on an almost daily basis. And we have consistently raised the overcrowding issue, which of course is central to all other issues which emerge in our prisons. The Minister and the prison authorities need to see this incident in Portlaoise as an inevitable consequence of inaction over the years. The chronic issues impacting on our prison system must be addressed or we will be confronted with significant crisis events in the very near future, Mr Keaveny said in a statement. Last month the Irish Prison Service issued an urgent drug alert to all prisons after an analysis by the HSEs National Drug Treatment Centre confirmed the presence of a nitazene-type substance called N-Pyrrolidino protonitazene - which has been associated with the overdoses in custody. It is a very strong and potentially deadly synthetic opioid and has been appearing across the country since June. The tablets often come in blister packs and are often yellow in colour. People could easily mistake them for benzodiazepines. However, the nitazine tablets do not contain benzodiazepine and are unsafe to use. Nitazine is a synthetic opioid. The Irish Prison Service sent a protonitazene tablet to the HSE lab after they had an overdose in one jail. The lab found it was the same type as the one they had begun to see in Ireland since June. Students will be stationed at various commuter hotspots across the city today in an appeal to homeowners to offer their spare rooms to ease the accommodation crisis. Representatives from several student unions including Dublin City University (DCU), University College Dublin (UCD), the National College of Art and Design (NCAD), the Institute of Art, Design, and Technology (IADT) and Trinity College Dublin (TCD) are promoting the annual Digs Drive campaign. The campaign, running from today until Thursday will see student representatives stationed at Connolly Station and other key commuter hotspots across Dublin encouraging homeowners to offer spare rooms for students. Karl Ormsby, president of DCU Students Union, said some students have been forced to sleep in cars or attics due to the housing crises. "Our overall goal with the Digs Drive is to secure immediate and accessible accommodation for students in need, he said. Many are forced to endure shocking living conditions for extortionate prices just to get an education. Speaking to RTEs Morning Ireland an international student from the US, Andrew Price, described being left out on the street after being scammed into making a deposit for a room. When I was a first year student, I was fresh faced, right off the plane, and I thought I had rented a house, I had already put in the deposit and I walk up to the address and they tell me its a scam and Im kind of left out on the streets, said Mr Price. He was subsequently offered a place from a fellow student but was forced to sleep on couches for several weeks. Among the schemes the various unions are promoting include the Rent-a-Room Relief Scheme, which allows homeowners to earn up to 14,000 tax-free by renting out spare rooms. In a statement the Students Unions urged homeowners to show fairness and understanding in home-sharing arrangements, with regards to price and whether it is possible for students to vacate spare rooms on the weekends which can impact international students in particular. Miranda Bauer, president of UCD Students Union said: "The housing situation has deteriorated to such a rate that many students are now considering dropping out of college because they can't find a place in Dublin. Where Digs aren't seen as a long-term solution, homeowners with a spare room can truly impact a student's ability to continue their education. Jenny Maguire, President of TCD Students Union, voiced frustration with the current system, calling digs a "fundamentally flawed" method of housing students. Eva Mullen, a student from Tullamore, Co Offaly, described being forced to commute to college which she said is taking away from her third level experiences. I was doing an hour and a half commute each way and that three hours I was eating into my studying, time with my friends, like my college life in general. The reason I had to commute was because finding accommodation was just so difficult and I even had to sleep on my friends couch a few times. It was difficult for me to go out on the weekends or do school events like society events because the last train to Tullamore leaves at half 7. It kind of got to a point where you dont want to ask your friends every week to stay over and also it does get a bit awkward.. if youre going out for the night you want to kind of go home to your own bed. The Digs Drive campaign will be visible across Dublin, with representatives stationed at Connolly Station, St Stephens Green LUAS stop, Tara Street, Grand Canal, Abbey Street LUAS stop, Grafton Street, Henry Street, Phibsborough and the Liffey Street area around the Grand Social over the next three days. Currently rental prices for on campus accommodation varies ranging from 600-1000 per month. Off campus rents in the capital have skyrocketed in recent years now reaching over well over 1,000 for both single and double bed accommodation. This beautiful newborn was fathered by Sibu, Dublin Zoos beloved orangutan patriarch, who sadly passed away in February. Dublin Zoo has held maternal workshops with the help of 30 breastfeeding mothers to show a pregnant orangutan how to feed her infant. 19-year-old orangutan, Mujur, recently gave birth to a healthy male infant whose father is Sibu, Dublin Zoos beloved orangutan patriarch, who sadly passed away in February. Mujur has previously given birth to two infants, in 2019 and 2022. For the first three years of an orangutan infants life, they are completely dependent on their mother for food and transportation. But Mujur did not exhibit the necessary maternal qualities and both infants passed away not long after birth. In preparation for the birth of this newborn, Dublin Zoo has been working with Mujur for months, leaving no stone unturned to give her the best chance possible to develop necessary maternal qualities. They put a call out for volunteers from lactation groups in Dublin and surrounding areas and began a lactation learning process. Over the past few months, 30 women have been taking turns to breastfeed their infants in front of the pregnant Mujur. Mujur was interested in watching the women feed their babies through the glass, and even mirroring some of their actions. On the 31st of July, Dublin Zoos 19-year-old orangutan, Mujur, gave birth to a healthy male infant. Mujur was also shown videos of other orangutans feeding their babies as part of the learning experience. Orangutans are a critically endangered species, with females typically only giving birth every three to five years, to one infant at a time. Sibus genetic profile is considered to be extremely important for the Orangutan European breeding program. These efforts had some success, with Mujur showing good maternal care towards the infant after the birth, however she was not putting him in the right position for feeding so the infant and mother were separated so bottle feeding could begin. But hand-rearing the infant until independence is not a long-term option at Dublin Zoo, so they plan to have the infant cared for at a specialist institution in the UK which is hugely experienced in hand-raising orangutans, subject to necessary health checks. Monkey World is a 65-acre institution officially designated by the Orangutan European breeding program to raise infants who have been rejected by their mother. The infant will continue to be cared for by the Dublin Zoo animal care team for another few weeks, before making the trip to his new home. Dublin Zoo said: The whole team has already fallen hopelessly in love with him, and it will be difficult to say goodbye, however we are confident that he is being sent to the best possible place for him to continue to develop and thrive. I think its important to love your body but dont lie to yourself weight-loss surgery made me happier and healthier Corina Garcia struggled to lose weight for most of her adult life and weighed 18 stone at her heaviest. When she eventually decided to seek out bariatric surgery, she was astounded by the difference it made, both mentally and physically Corina Garcia, photographed in Navan, Co Meath, went from a size 20-22 to a size 8-10 after having bariatric surgery. Photo: Frank McGrath Liadan Hynes Tue 13 Aug 2024 at 03:30 I felt like I was always dealing with my weight, Corina Garcia, who now lives in Co Meath, says of growing up in Venezuela. It is a country that is full of beautiful women, and we have a very high standard on beauty and body image. I was always told I was a big girl, so I was constantly worrying about my weight. It was the thick of the pandemic, and Stef Ferrari had just moved to Italy to study the countrys history and culture at the Istituto Lorenzo de Medici in Florence. She stopped by a historic cafe for a drink and was surprised when the server handed her a bag along with her paper cup (the cafe was serving takeout only while the world waited for a vaccine). I was like, I didnt order anything, this must be for someone else, remembers Ferrari, an Emmy-winning producer and food writer - no relation to the racing family. But the server at Caffe Gilli insisted. Inside the bonus bag was a tray of bite-size snacks: a paper cup of green olives, homemade crackers and brioche sandwiches with garlicky goat cheese to go along with her drink. That was Ferraris introduction to stuzzichini, the complimentary snack that often comes with your drink at a bar in Italy. As she saw it, the appetisers represented a gesture of hospitality and care, and the beginning of an obsession. Like tapas in Spain, stuzzichini can be simple or elaborate, from a bowl of peelable lupini beans to a fancier spread - like her Florentine experience - just a small something to whet the appetite. The tiny acts of kindness sparked a years-long investigation into the custom that led to Ferraris new book, Stuzzichini: The Art of the Italian Snack. The name translates to appetiser or canape, coming from the Italian word for stimulate or tantalise, as these little dishes are designed to do just that. Theyre an essential component of aperitivo culture, the Italian ritual of gathering for drinks before dinner, as Italians frown on drinking with an empty stomach. Cicchetti in Venice. Photo: iStock / Getty The classic aperitivo ritual is going and getting one drink, something light, not getting a buzz on, and being convivial with friends or colleagues, said Rome-based cookbook author and tour guide Katie Parla. Its something you do before your meal to get your body ready. Enthusiasm for aperitivo culture has been climbing for years, but mostly focused on the beverage side of the ritual. While aperitivo drinks like the Aperol spritz stole the show, aperitivo snacks remained an unsung hero. Ferraris book is an exception. Its a love letter - part cultural guide, part cookbook - to the bites that help open up your appetite for dinner. We asked for her tips on finding and enjoying the snacks on your next trip to Italy. Where to find stuzzichini Stuzzichini can be as simple as a cup of peanuts or more involved, like a beautifully composed puff pastry with salmon mousse, Ferrari said. Youll find them across Italy in a bar, cafe, enoteca (wine bar) or cocktail spot during happy hour. Youre probably looking at 6pm, 7pm, 9pm - sometimes even later. Ferrari has never outright ordered stuzzichini. They were always something that arrived at the table or bar top as a surprise. Some establishments will advertise stuzzichini with a sign out front to draw in customers. Others will just provide you with a serving along with your drink order. Depending on where youre traveling, they might not be called stuzzichini. In Venice, for example, theyre cicchetti. The word stuzzichini is pretty particular to the central part of the country, Ferrari said. If you go south, theres a different word for it. If you go north, theres a different word for it, but the concept is very much the same. And like the name, stuzzichini can have regional differences. Each one can be an expression of a place, Ferrari said. Most of the time its made with whatever the local specialty is a particular kind of pork or a particular kind of cheese, she said. In northern Italy, Ferrari found snacks with Austrian influences, like Liptauer cheese on a cracker. Up in the Dolomites, she was served a potato pancake. In Sicily, she encountered snacks with North African spices, raisins, currants and dates. Spontaneity is part of the fun More often than not, theyre surprising. Go back to the same bar the following night, and you might find the same bite or you might be served the same kind of dish but with another ingredient at the heart of it (like another style of crostini, the classic canape of grilled bread with toppings). It could be something else entirely. Each time Ferrari returned to Caffe Gilli in Florence, where she first encountered stuzzichini, the snack was never exactly the same. Theyre totally ephemeral, she said. Thats because the free snacks can be a way for an establishment to work through its pantry while giving customers something to soak up their spritz. Its all about minimising waste and being able to stretch ingredients, Ferrari said. Thats why theyre different all the time. Because a lot of the times theyre kind of just like made up on the fly. Stuzzichinis ephemeral nature is part of the fun. Enjoying these fleeting snacks can be an antidote to our tendency to over-plan travel. I feel like travellers now Google everything in advance, Ferrari said. They find all the menus for every place they want to go. Theyve read about it, theyve seen it on TV and its all but fait accompli by the time youre there theres no discovery to it anymore. Not the stuzzichini. Even if youve researched the bar to the high heavens, the snack du jour is bound to be a surprise. Plus, its a good conversation starter. You start talking about What is this product, where does this come from? Whats the inspiration? Ferrari said. And of course, [the staff are] all so proud to come over to the table and tell you it opens up like a completely new and exciting avenue for travel. Essential stuzzichini etiquette Think of stuzzichini as a small token of appreciation from the kitchen. Even though Ferrari says it could end up being your girl dinner, its not designed to be a meal. You may be treated to more than one serving if you order more than one drink, but dont expect a free feast in exchange for ordering one spritz. Particularly if theres a buffet situation, which it is occasionally the case dont abuse it, Ferrari said. Its a gesture. It is meant to make you comfortable and at ease. But it is not sustainable for them to have a bunch of study-abroad students pillaging the buffet. No matter how tasty the snacks are, dont overdo it on the drinks, either. Public drunkenness in general is just frowned upon [in Italy], Ferrari said. Her last tips: be gracious, be grateful and free up the table if youre done with your drink. Volunteers unload humanitarian aid to people evacuated from the Kursk region in Russia, amid the shock offensive by Ukraine. Photo: AP Russia was caught napping after a surprise attack on Kursk by Ukraine. Now, once again, Kyiv has intensified military activity near the border. In the near by Belgorod region to the south, the regional governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said evacuations had begun from the Krasnaya Yaruga District due to enemy activity on the border that was a threat. Speaking to our loved ones about death can be challenging, but it can also provide comfort and take pressure off those who are grieving after a bereavement. Photo: Getty We need to talk about death. Talking about it doesnt make you die, any more than talking about sex makes you pregnant. But that doesnt make it any less daunting to talk about death and dying for the first time with someone you love. In 2019, I listened to the palliative care consultant and author Kathryn Mannix speak about how often she would ask adult children in an emergency about the medical wishes of an elderly parent only to discover the issue had never been discussed. I listened uncomfortably, aware that I had not had these conversations with my own parents, Margaret and Fionnbar, who were in their late 80s. I reluctantly took myself off the next day to have the conversation with my parents. I was very nervous about talking to them about their deaths. But they had no such qualms and discussed it with equanimity. They had both clearly reflected upon their own deaths, but had not, in fact, discussed the topic with each other, or anyone else, until I brought it up. We talked in detail and at length about their hopes, wishes and worries. I learnt so much from that conversation. Four weeks later, my father went of his own accord to a funeral director in Donnybrook and, as he put it, booked in our funerals, including the wicker casket my mother wanted. A few weeks later, my mother died unexpectedly. On Christmas Eve, we gathered at her funeral with the comfort of knowing it was just as she had wished it to be. That clarity of knowing what she wanted, both as she was dying and throughout her funeral, took a lot of pressure off my grieving father and her six children at a very tough time. Making your end-of-life wishes known is truly a gift to those you leave behind. I kept putting my own actions on the long finger. There was plenty of time to get around to it. That assumption was shattered when my 66-year-old brother, Frank, dropped dead suddenly. Thinking ahead and communicating your preferences clearly means that those you love will not be forced into making difficult decisions at an enormously sad and fraught time, which will only exacerbate their stress. It was Orla Keegan, head of bereavement in Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF) who first introduced me to the concept of scaffolding conversations. This means that once the subjects of dying and death have been broached, we start to build a framework that allows for further conversations to take place. Thankfully, it is no longer taboo to raise the topic. This was my experience with my father. Two years after my mother died, as dad was dying, he and I were able to talk about his impending death, rather than shy away from it. I am not saying the conversations were easy. They werent. But not having them would have meant hiding information from my very intelligent and perceptive father, or leaving him to contemplate his death without anyone to share his thoughts with. Research shows many people feel lonely as they face the end of life. How much lonelier are any of us when we are not able to talk about our feelings with anybody? The recent National End of Life Survey received feedback from 4,570 people in Ireland who had a family member or friend who died between September and December 2022. One of the themes from the findings was communication, with many respondents reporting that they learnt too late that their loved ones were dying and so were unable to have conversations they wanted to have. Dr Mannix, a renowned British palliative care consultant, observes: Nobody ever says I wished wed never talked about dying. Ive lost count of the people who say, I wished wed talked more. Updating my will, I took pleasure in considering whose lives I might be able to change for the better if I were to die in the near future and leave them a legacy. Conversation is important but so, too, is action. With that in mind, The Irish Hospice Foundation has launched its Time to Talk, Tomorrow Starts Today campaign, aiming to break the silence surrounding death, advance care planning and bereavement, while also highlighting their importance and helping individuals and families navigate these life experiences. This is building on the Think Ahead campaign, which has seen tens of thousands of information packs distributed each year to practically support people to think about advanced care planning. But the number of people who have not recorded their wishes remains very high, with fewer than one in 10 (6pc) Irish people executing an enduring power of attorney, to appoint a person to look after their financial or personal affairs in the event they no longer have the mental capacity to do so. In addition, fewer than one in 10 (4pc) Irish people have made an advance healthcare directive about their wishes for healthcare and medical treatment, while three in 10 (30pc) Irish people have not made a will. I kept putting my own actions on the long finger. There was plenty of time to get around to it. That assumption was shattered when my 66-year-old brother, Frank, dropped dead suddenly. I finally grasped the nettle. I thought it would be really tough emotionally, but I found it quite life-affirming. Updating my will, I took pleasure in considering whose lives I might be able to change for the better if I were to die in the near future and leave them a legacy. When making my advanced care directive and enduring power of attorney, I found it tremendously helpful to have buddies accompanying me my brother Richard completed the same paperwork, and a friend, Marie, supported us both. Having completed everything, we and our witnesses were still happily embedded in life and we celebrated with a glass of wine. Jean Callanan is chair of Irish Hospice Foundation Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of X Holdings Corp. Photo: Apu Gomes/Getty Images Is Elon Musk's recent behaviour hurting Tesla sales? And might it land him in even more trouble up to and including personal arrest warrants in some European countries? And how long can this current tension between what he says and his top-down content rules on X, formerly known as Twitter, last? Producer JJ Clarke joins Adrian on this weeks episode of the Big Tech Show to discuss the latest controversies that Musk is courting. In the wake of the Southport stabbings, Elon Musk has commented on X about the potential for a civil war in the UK and two-tier policing allegations and involved himself in a war of words with British prime minister, Keir Starmer. You can listen to the full episode here on the Irish Independent website or wherever you get your podcasts. Two separate concerts will take place in each of the 14 Community Hospital facilities in County Cork Pictured: Down Memory Lane performing for residents of Clonakilty Community Hospital as part of Healthcare Hoolies. Visit www.CorkCoCo.ie for more information. Photo by Anna Groniecka Cork County Council has announced the return of Healthcare Hoolies, a series of 28 concerts taking place in Community Hospitals across the county. Photo by Anna Groniecka Patients in Community Hospitals in county Cork will get to enjoy the musical performances of a variety of acts for the fourth year running, it has been announced. Healthcare Hoolies will see two separate concerts happen in each of the 14 Community Hospital facilities in county Cork. Acts set to perform in the series, delivered by Cork County Council and supported by Creative Ireland, The HSE and Cork ETB, include Cork Pops Orchestra, Down Memory Lane and The Lounge Bros. Cork Pops Orchestra is led by broadcaster and musician Evelyn Grant and cellist Gerry Kelly. They perform in a variety of ways from wedding quartets to orchestral concerts for schools. Down Memory Lane is a show designed to stimulate the memory of the audience so that every song, poem, and anecdote is chosen with a specific intention. Audience members are invited to sing along, add a memory and engage with performers Maurice Healy and Linda Kenny. The Lounge Bros are jazz duo Aengus Kirakowski on guitar and Jonny Pumfrey on saxophone. They take audiences on a musical journey from turn-of-the-century New York to Europe in the 1930's, on to the Bossa Nova years of Brazil and much more. The Mayor of the County of Cork, councillor Joe Carroll, said the council is delighted to support the delivery of music performances in community hospitals throughout the county. Music is so important and experiencing live music has positive impact on the wellbeing of audiences. These concerts will bring live music to those who might otherwise not get to experience it, Cllr Carroll said. Cork County Council said it has delivered concerts in similar settings since 2021 with the aim of supporting positive ageing and wellbeing programmes for older people. The Defence Forces said it is investigating ways to make the eternal flame visible during daylight hours The 'missing' eternal flame at the Defence Forces Memorial in Merrion Square and (right) how it appeared in 2008 A Dublin tour guide is avoiding the Defence Forces Memorial in Merrion Square as he is embarrassed that you can no longer see the eternal flame. Ruairi Keogh, who runs Best Dublin Walking Tours, said its highly disrespectful that the flame, which honours those who gave their lives in the Irish Defence Forces, is no longer visible. I noticed this a couple of months ago and I was perturbed. Then I had some tourists with me, some American ex-servicemen, and they were outraged, Mr Keogh told the Irish Independent. You would never see something disrespectful like that in their country. The penny dropped for me, and I felt it was outrageous. These are people who gave their lives in the Irish Defence Forces, its highly disrespectful to have an eternal flame thats no longer there. I stopped going around there on my tours because I didnt want the embarrassment of showing how disrespectful we were to our service people. Ruairi said he is now on a one man mission to get the issue resolved. The Defence Forces said it is investigating ways to make the eternal flame visible during daylight hours I walked by it with one of my groups. One of the ladies walked over to it and asked what it was. I said were meant to be standing around eternal flame, but Im embarrassed were not, he said. She said we should be embarrassed. Thats what prompted me to make the call. Im on a one-man campaign here to get it sorted out. Id like to see it again because I think its a lovely piece and Merrion Square features heavily on my walking routes. I used to always stop and explain the symbolism of the Irish flag and then point out what the monument was about. Now Im telling them not to look over. A spokesperson for the Defence Forces said the issue is being investigated. The Defence Forces were made aware of the issues with the flame in mid-July, they said. An inspection was carried out by Defence Forces engineers, and it was found that the flame is working, but burning low and therefore difficult to see during daylight hours. Measures are currently being investigated to boost the illumination of the flame during daylight hours. The military police continue to monitor the flames condition on a daily basis. Charlotte native with Galway grandmother to represent North Carolina at Rose of Tralee 27-year-old Kathryn Wright has been selected to represent North Carolina at the upcoming Rose of Tralee 2024. Kathryn was born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina, as she explained her grandmother was from Galway and immigrated to North Carolina (via Boston) in her late teens. Our family has been here ever since, and it is an honour to represent her journey and the Irish community of North Carolina. Follow Independent Galway on Facebook Kathryn recently graduated from Boston College with a Masters of Arts in International Higher Education, and now works as a Program Manager for the Office of Global Education, where she manages and advises all Irish and Italian study abroad programs. Before her masters, she received a Bachelor of Arts in Education from the University of North Carolina, where she also spent time studying in Ireland and working at a refugee resettlement agency. She said: These experiences sparked my passion for cultural exchange and global education, which led me to teach English in Spain before pursuing graduate school. I believe that study abroad and exchange is an incredible opportunity to shift perspectives, promote understanding and create global citizens. Talking about her passions, she added: When I am not working or studying, I can most likely be found traveling, trying new restaurants, or enjoying the sunshine. I am so excited for the journey ahead! Mark my words when I say one of the greatest contradictions known to man is about to unfold in the coming days. The start of a new Premier League season, on August 17, is when the swell of racial hatred that has turned cities inside out in England and closer to home in Belfast will start to dissipate. Carlingford Oyster Company returns to EP's Theatre of Food, showcasing award-winning seafood alongside top Irish culinary talent at Ireland's biggest music festival Carlingford oyster farmer Kian Louet-Feisser is looking forward to packing up his campervan and travelling to Electric Picnic at Stradbally Hall this weekend. Hes not just going for the music as the award-winning Carlingford Oyster Company has been invited to take part in the Theatre of Food at Electric Picnic for a second year in a row. The provision of grant aid under the Community Recognition Fund for the upgrading of facilities at the Dead Mans Point outdoor swimming pool at Rosses Point has been welcomed by Cathaoirleach of the County Council, Cllr Declan Bree. With the significant increase in people participating in year-round sea swimming following the pandemic it became clear that there was a need to improve facilities at Deadmans Point. said Cllr Bree. I first brought the matter to the attention of Council officials back in October of 2022 when I was contacted by swimmers who highlighted the need for a shelter or covered area which would give them protection when changing in inclement weather. Some type of shower facility was also requested in addition to general improvements. In November 2022 I tabled a motion on the issue at a plenary meeting of the County Council and following that meeting council engineers began the process of investigating the feasibility of carrying out improvements and identifying potential funding for the project . At our meeting in April 2023 I took the opportunity of thanking the Director of Services Emer Concannon and the Senior Executive Engineer, Brian Flynn, for progressing the project. In June and July of last year there was further consultation between the Councils resident engineer, Michael Conway and users of the pool and I would particularly like to thank seasoned outdoor swimmers Johnny McDonagh and Donal Colfer for their input. In fact Mr Colfer, who is an architect with a knowledge of such projects freely gave of his time and expertise to prepare preliminary outline drawings which were useful in getting prices from engineering firms. As Deadmans Point is located in a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and a Special Protection Area (SPA), significant issues have to be addressed so as to comply with the law before the Council could even consider carrying out any works In October there were onsite meetings with the representatives of the National Parks and Wildlife Service and with an Environmental Consultant. Normally an Appropriate Assessment (AA) is required in such projects. That is an assessment of the potential adverse effects the project might have on the SAC and SPA. However, in order to order to determine if an appropriate assessment is required, a screening process must first be carried out first. In this context preliminary design drawings and a Method Statement must be prepared. This work has to be completed in advance of preparing the Appropriate Assessment Following the completion of the draft design an Environmental Consultant then has to be appointed to examine and consider the proposals. The Council must then commission the preparation of an Appropriate Assessment Screening Report in the expectation that the works can be successfully screened It is a long drawn out process, but there can be no shortcuts. I understand that the Quality Management System (QMS) was completed eight weeks ago and the Council is now progressing the AA Screening report. I am of the opinion that the works can be successfully screened which will then allow the Council to proceed to seek tenders for the project. This project, in addition to the development of the planned new water sports building which will provide hot water showers, changing and toilet facilities will certainly improve facilities for the local swimming community along with making Rosses Point a significant tourist destination, said Cllr Bree. Local road diversions are in place and dozens of gardai have secured the area around Dundrum House Hotel as the first group of international protection applicants is due to arrive All approach roads to Dundrum House Hotel were sealed off by gardai in a major security operation, as up to 100 protestors mounted a rally at the gates A man has been released without charge after being arrested during a protest outside refugee accommodation in Co Tipperary. Around 100 protesters have staged a rally at the gates of Dundrum House Hotel in Tipperary on Tuesday, as the first group of international protection applicants (IPAs) were due to arrive. The first IPA group, believed to be approximately 80 people and consisting of women and children, arrived by bus on Tuesday amid tense scenes. The move follows over 75 days of protest at the gates by locals who are opposed to transforming the hotel into an IPAS centre. Gardai assisted Department of Integration officials and maintained a presence at all entrances as around 80 people moved into the historic Tipperary property. A spokeswoman said they continue to engage with those gathered peacefully at the location and are facilitating access to and from the premises. The group arrived in a fleet of three buses and were escorted into the former hotel where accommodation was assigned. Some locals hit out at plans to use the former hotel as "a hybrid" long-term refugee centre, arguing they wanted it to re-open as a hotel to boost the local tourism industry. Protests had been maintained outside the Tipperary property for the past two months as some locals warned that such a long-term allocation would also stretch local services to breaking point. A group of protesters made their feelings known outside the main Dundrum gates as the refugees and asylum seekers were escorted into the property. The demonstrations were entirely peaceful with some protesters posting video clips to social media sites. Government officials insisted that there was no question of capacity at Dundrum being increased. "There is no intention to increase the capacity or overall numbers accommodated at this site, regardless of the process under which they are accommodated in Ireland." Department of Integration officials have vowed to work with the local community to address all issues involved and have appointed a special community engagement group. One shopkeeper described the mood in the village as absolutely shocking. Follow Independent Tipperary on Facebook At present, the hotel is being used to house around 270 Ukrainians beneficiaries of temporary protection (BOTPs). Its understood about 70 Ukrainians will gradually leave to make way for the new arrivals. Reports of up to 70 gardai mounted a major security operation in Dundrum, Co Tipperary, this morning to protect the first group of international protection applicants to stay at the local hotel Local road diversions were in place all morning and dozens of gardai secured the area from around dawn with Supt Eddie Golden taking charge of events. The largely peaceful protest involved about 100 people and around 70 or 80 gardai, according to local reports. At lunchtime, all the main approach roads to the hotel remained closed by gardai. An Garda Siochana are in the process of assisting IPAS at a location in Tipperary this morning, August 13, said a garda spokesperson. No further information is available at this time. Today's News in 90 Seconds - August 13th A spokesperson for a group called No to Dundrum House Hotel IPAS centre said: We are here at the gates of Dundrum House Hotel, trying desperately to maintain our peaceful protest. We have now had members of outside groups join us, despite us expressly telling them to stay away. There are live TikToks being broadcast against our wishes. We have told them to leave. We do not want the trouble they seem intent on causing. We only care about Dundrum House Hotel. Independent TD Mattie McGrath told Tipp FM radio that it was a bad day for community relations and gardai. Im not blaming the gardai. Theyre have to do their job. Its so unfortunate, this situation. The Government are doing this, theyre putting a wedge between communities all over the country and the people. Many local people are opposed to an IPAS centre in Dundrum House Hotel and have been protesting at the front gates for over 75 days Local woman Fiona Kennedy stressed that people warmly welcomed 277 Ukrainian refugees when they were allocated to the centre two years ago - but residents now want their hotel back because it is a vital tourism asset. Further, she said locals were deeply concerned that the so-called "hybrid property" would ultimately become a permanent fixture in the community and vastly bigger than the Government had indicated. "(Locals were told) the (Ukrainian) centre would be a temporary arrangement," she said. "All we want is to get our hotel back. Dundrum and this part of Tipperary is a great tourist destination." "But what they are now proposing will break the village." She said the loss of such a vital tourism asset as the hotel was a body blow for the Tipperary community - and people who want to holiday in the beautiful area would now longer able be to do so. None of that spending is here now when there are no holiday makers and there is no holiday accommodation. The reality is that people have stopped coming to the area because they cannot get accommodation, she said. Other locals expressed concern that the issue was now being exploited by far-right elements to the detriment of everyone, including the Dundrum community. Over recent weeks, as some Ukrainian refugees left the centre they were replaced by IPA refugees, creating "a hybrid" accommodation centre. The village of Dundrum in south Tipperary has a population of 165. However, the Government intends to continue to use Dundrum House Hotel as an accommodation complex with plans for up to 280 IPAs to be housed there. A public meeting to discuss the community's response to the move attracted over 300 people from Dundrum village and surrounding areas last month. The row follows stand-offs earlier this year with the local communities in Roscrea and Clonmel over large-scale refugee centres. The Roscrea and Clonmel stand-offs resulted in ugly scenes - with the Clonmel refugee site, being developed with modular homes, the target of several arson attacks. Tipperary politicians queried the impact on local education, transport and healthcare services which are already stretched to the limit. Councillor Liam Browne (Ind) warned that he was "appalled" at the lack of communication with local residents and how little heed was being taken of their concerns. Councillor Declan Burgess said it was "deeply concerning" how the local community was being treated over the issue and kept entirely in the dark. Councillor Browne queried whether such large-scale accommodation centres in small communities are being driven by the desperation to get refugees out of Dublin. "We have been saying from the start that it is too many people in too small an area," he told TippFM. We had no local impact needs assessment - there was nothing done, no idea of services." They are talking about putting international protection applicant families into Dundrum but where are those kids going to be minded if those people want to go work in the community?" The doctor has already said in Dundrum that he is not going to take on any more patients - he just does not have the capacity to do it." In a previous statement, Dundrum House Hotel hit out at what it termed "speculation within the local media and various social media channels" that there was going to be an increase in accommodation numbers at the facility. The management at Dundrum House Hotel wish to confirm that there is currently a Ukrainian contract in place to accommodate 277 (people). This contract has been in place since September 2022. Contrary to speculation within the local media and various social media channels, we have in no way agreed to add to or indeed enter discussions concerning an increase of the numbers as stipulated within this existing contract with IPAs. The hotel said it was accepting women and children for places created as existing refugees, mostly Ukrainian, leave to return home. We wish to allay any fears locally of additional IPAs arriving in Dundrum at this time (The hotel will) accept women and children only to replace the people who have vacated the holiday homes. Waterford Rose Abby Walsh was selected in April at the Tower Hotel in Waterford city, and has enjoyed a hectic summer of public engagements and events Waterford Rose of Tralee Abby Walsh is preparing to represent her county at this years Rose of Tralee International Festival, to be hosted at MTUs Kerry Sports Academy over two nights on August 19 20. Abby was selected in April at the Tower Hotel in Waterford city, and has enjoyed an exciting summer of public engagements and events. The full time primary teacher returned from Dublin last year after four years in Marino, to teach in Gaelscoil Phort Lairge in Ballygunner. The Irish language is a passion for Abby, who was taught through the medium of Irish in Gaelscoil Phort Lairge, where she has now returned as a teacher. Follow Independent Waterford on Facebook Thats where it began. I carried it on in Gaelschoil Colaiste secondary school, said Abby who studied for her degree through Irish in Marino. Its a massive passion of mine. The 22-year-old has had a hectic summer, describing her Rose journey as the experience of a lifetime. On Sunday, Abby joined the other Roses on the annual Rose Tour, which takes place from August 11 16. Every year, the Roses embark on an adventure when they first meet in Ireland, and begin their National Rose Tour, exploring different parts of Ireland and learning more about the countrys heritage and culture. Waterford Rose Abby Walsh was selected in April at the Tower Hotel in Waterford city, and has enjoyed a hectic summer of public engagements and events This year, the tour kicks off in Barberstown Castle in Kildare, before a series of engagements and adventures. Already this summer, Abby has attended attended Ladies Day at the Galway Races, was invited to sing and dance as a special guest at the Deise Day Care center, and enjoyed meeting the service users at the Anne le Roy Centre in Dungarvan, to name just a few. Its definitely once in a lifetime. Im doing the most I can do, and giving back to the community because they gave so much to me. I was using my platform as a Waterford Rose for different charities. I did the Darkness Into Light walk, I helped out a charity in Waterford called Helping Hand, who help out the homeless. Waterford Rose Abby Walsh has supported and raised awareness around the work of the RNLI Abby has supported and raised awareness around the work of the RNLI and participated in a local Irish dancing school feis in aid of Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind. They were charity kinds of events. Ive visited a lot of care homes my Nanny was resident in Kilbarry Care Home Centre in Waterford. She passed at the end of last November. It was amazing to go out and meet all the residents, and dance and sing with them. That was incredible. Abby was inspired to get involved in the Rose of Tralee from a young age, seeing the annual pageant on the TV. She loved dressing up and being a princess, and along with her growing love of promoting Irish culture, the two naturally fell together in the Rose of Tralee. As I got older, I realised its something Id like to do. Moving home from college, last summer, I realised all my friends are kind of scattered around the world now, or theyre in serious relationships and I dont have many close friends left. It was a way to meet new people. It would be incredible to be picked as ambassador to represent the women who took part Abby said she never thought shed win the Waterford Rose of Tralee, and has met some great new friends through the event. What would it mean to her to win the Rose of Tralee? It would be a huge honour. It would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It would be incredible to be picked as ambassador to represent the women who took part. I wouldnt have words. Abby said the most important lesson she has learned from the experience is that shes definitely a people person and really loves being out and about, visiting children in schools, the elderly in care homes, or going to meet people in factories. Her passion for charity has also been heightened during her time as the Waterford Rose of Tralee. Abbys younger brother, Cillian, and parents, Ethel and Joe, are all excited to support her. They cant wait. Its their family holiday this year down to Tralee. They are just ecstatic. I have aunts, and uncles, everyone and anyone is coming down. Cllr Lourda Scott with son Dylan, who was delighted when he completed the course in under 20 minutes. Over 260 runners celebrated the 400th Shanganagh parkrun, on Saturday, August 10, with a total of 9,164 runners having completed the fun event since it began back in 2015. Some 113 runners signed up for that first event on March 28, 2015, but now more than 200 regularly attend the Saturday morning event in Shanganagh Park in Shankill, Co Dublin, with a record 308 togging out for run 248 in January 2020 when Operation Transformation came to town. The crew would have long since reached 400 runs had it not been for the pandemic that hit shortly after that record turnout. Event director PJ Hourihan, who organises the run each week with a group of about 20 volunteers, explained that lockdowns meant the weekly 5km run was cancelled for about 18 months. Its picking up good again now since covid, PJ added. The 263 on Saturday is a sort of the average number for now. Some 374 groups have taken part in the Shanganagh runs almost 10-year history, with an actual total of 61,396 finishes recorded, thanks to the chip timing system that is in place. Some of the fastest at the milestone renewal of the event were from the Bray Runners group, with teens James Foot (17:32) and Fionn Begley (18:15) running the two fastest times, but they were a good bit off the record time of 15 minutes and 14 seconds set by Nickolas Colyn on run 385 back in April. A personal best from Christine Parsons (19:37), running in the 40-44 age group, was fastest for the female category, where the record of 16 minutes and 50 seconds set by Emma OBrien has been standing since run 254 in October 2021. While theses speedsters help the average time over the years down to 28 minutes and 16 seconds in Shanganagh (compared with the national average of 30 minutes and 19 seconds), PJ said the run is more focused on just keeping your own pace at your own time and going the distance. Obviously, theres a few that are competitive, he said, but its mainly just trying to beat yourself. Youll definitely have the competitive ones in there, but we try and emphasise to them that its not a racetrack, but a run. Looking ahead, PJ conceded that going the distance to reach run 500 next year is looking like a more difficult goal to attain, given the competition from other sporting bodies, the parking constraints at the park and housing development in the area that is putting more pressure on the facilities. Thats been a major burden for months now, he said, but thanked the local authority for having supported the event since it began, when the Marlay Park run grew so big additional venues were sought. Shanganagh is now one of 111 parkruns nationwide. Shanganaghs 401st parkrun takes place at 9.30am on Saturday, August 17. To take part, you can register on parkrun.ie The Philippines is the only country in the world, other than the tiny Vatican, where divorce is illegal. However, this may soon change, as the nation of nearly 116 million people awaits a new piece of legislation that is expected to finally put an end to the old law. Tory councillors wife accused of inciting hatred on social media Two 12-year-old boys have become the youngest people to be convicted in connection with the nationwide public disorder in the UK. One of the boys admitted throwing a missile at a police van as he pleaded guilty to two charges of violent disorder during two separate incidents in Manchester. The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was part of a group that gathered outside a Holiday Inn hotel in Manchester on July 31. Ukraine raid into Russia aimed at ceasefire talks, claims Vladimir Putin Russian president questions what talks there can be with an enemy he has accused of firing at civilians Ukrainian servicemen pose for a picture near a military vehicle, amid Russias attack on Ukraine, near the Russian border in Sumy region, Ukraine on Sunday. Photo: Viacheslav Ratynskyi Guy Faulconbridge Tue 13 Aug 2024 at 03:30 President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that Ukraines biggest attack on Russian territory since the start of the war was aimed at improving Kyivs negotiating position ahead of possible peace talks and at slowing the advance of Russian forces. Scarlett Wactor, the mother of late actor Johnny Wactor, speaks during a news conference outside Los Angeles City Hall (Damian Dovarganes/AP) Family and friends of US actor Johnny Wactor have called for action from the public and officials to help find and convict his killers. The former General Hospital and Westworld star was shot on May 25 when he interrupted thieves stealing the catalytic converter from his car in downtown Los Angeles, authorities said. Israel braces for Iranian attack as US sends warships to region New intelligence says large-scale military assault is likely within the next few days Flames rise following an Israeli strike on a residential building, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, in this screen grab taken from a video, August 11, 2024. Reuters TV via REUTERS Chris Stevenson UK Independent Tue 13 Aug 2024 at 03:30 Israel is preparing for a large-scale military attack from Iran, defence minister Yoav Gallant has told his US counterpart. I needed as much help as I could get how Irelands first baby bank provides a lifeline to women struggling with costs of having a baby Laxman Narasimhan has stepped down as chairman and CEO of Starbucks. (Image Courtesy: Twitter/Laxman Narasimhan) Seattle (US): Multinational chain of coffeehouses Starbucks on Tuesday announced Chipotle Mexican Grill's head Brian Niccol will be its new chairman and chief executive officer, replacing Laxman Narasimhan. Laxman Narasimhan had assumed the post just a year ago March 20, 2023. Niccol will begin in his new role on September 9 and the companys CFO Rachel Ruggeri will be the interim CEO until then. Our board believes he will be a transformative leader for our company, our people, and everyone we serve around the world, the coffee chain said in a blog post. I am excited to join Starbucks and grateful for the opportunity to help steward this incredible company, alongside hundreds of thousands of devoted partners, the newly-appointed CEO said. Narasimhan, who was appointed as Starbucks CEO in September 2022, is stepping down from his role as CEO and board member with immediate effect, according to media reports. Following the news, Starbucks shares surged 12 percent in premarket trading, while Chipotle shares dropped 10 percent. In May 2024, Starbucks had to cut its guidance for the third consecutive quarter and reported its first sales decline since late 2020. Narasimhan had taken over from longtime Starbucks leader Howard Schultz, who served as interim CEO after coming out of retirement while the company searched for a new chief executive. Starbucks had announced Narasimhan's appointment as CEO in September 2022. Before joining Starbucks, Narasimhan was the CEO of UK-based consumer health and nutrition company Reckitt and had previously held a long tenure as an executive at PepsiCo. The sudden leadership change follows reports that activist investors Elliott Investment Management and Starboard Value had acquired stakes in Starbucks. Starbucks and Elliott were reportedly in discussions to add Jesse Cohn, a managing partner at the activist investor, to its board of directors. The coffee chain was also considering setting up committees to review capital allocation and operational improvements. Meanwhile, Chipotle has appointed Chief Operating Officer Scott Boatwright as interim CEO. Mellody Hobson, Starbucks board chair, will become the lead independent director, and Narasimhan will also resign from his board seat. Chipotles CEO since 2018, Brian Niccol, who became chair of its board in 2020, earlier served as CEO of Taco Bell. In images: Munh Parikshak (L) | Dhirendra Singh of Scangenie Scientific and Dean of IIT Kanpur R&D Prof. Tarun Gupta Kanpur: Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK) has transferred its unique technology, 'Munh Parikshak,' a portable device for detecting oral cancer, invented by Prof. Jayant Kumar Singh and his team from the Department of Chemical Engineering, to Scangenie Scientific Pvt. Ltd. The device uses special lights and a camera to examine the mouth, providing instant results by analysing mouth images and categorizing them as normal, pre-cancerous, or cancerous. The results are displayed on a smartphone app and stored on cloud servers for continuous updates, making it ideal for self-testing. Munh-Parikshak is a user-friendly device having white and fluorescence light source that connects wirelessly to smartphones, tablets, iPads, etc. With a built-in power backup, it stores health history for tracking and provides instant oral health reports. The device offers quick and painless screening with 90% accuracy in clinical settings. It is safe, radiation-free, and does not require any additional chemicals or processes. Prof. Manindra Agrawal, Director of IIT Kanpur, said, IIT Kanpur is working tirelessly to drive healthcare innovation and tackle critical health issues, and I am delighted to see our innovative technology, 'Munh Parikshak,' being transferred to Scangenie Scientific Pvt. Ltd. "I extend my heartfelt congratulations to Prof. Jayant Kumar Singh and his team for their exceptional work. Their dedication has paved the way for this collaboration, which marks a pivotal step in the early detection of oral cancer, significantly enhancing health outcomes and demonstrating the profound impact of our research on society." Prof. Tarun Gupta, Dean of Research and Development at IIT Kanpur, remarked, The signing of the MoU with Scangenie Scientific Pvt. Ltd. marks a significant milestone in our mission to transition research and development into commercially viable products. The institute's licensing rate has also seen an increase, which motivates us to further support research across various fields. This MoU aims to effectively market our invention within the healthcare sector, ultimately affordable and beneficial to everyone. According to market research findings, the oral cancer diagnosis market is expected to reach $2.98 billion by 2032 with a 5% CAGR, while the rapid test kit market, currently at $736 million, is growing at a 7% CAGR until 2027. Oral cancer is among the top global cancers, posing economic and clinical burdens on healthcare systems worldwide, particularly impacting India, where it constitutes up to 40% of cases. Early detection is vital to reduce morbidity and mortality, driving the need for affordable, non-invasive, user-friendly diagnostic tools for widespread screening. Through this strategic collaboration, IIT Kanpur and Scangenie Scientific Pvt. Ltd. will advance early cancer detection technology, improving healthcare outcomes and showcasing the impact of innovative solutions. Photo courtesy: Screenshot grab YouTube video Kolkata/IBNS: The students of Calcutta National Medical College on Tuesday blocked former RG Kar College principal Dr. Sandip Ghosh from entering into the campus protesting against the rape and murder of a woman trainee doctor, media reports said. The West Bengal government on Monday appointed Dr. Ghosh as the principal of Calcutta National Medical College hours after he resigned from the same post at RG Kar Medical College, where the medical student was raped and murdered at the seminar hall. The students locked Dr. Ghosh's room, denying him entry into the hospital. Medical students raise Go Back Slogans, when TMC Minister Javed Khan and MLA Swarna Kamal Saha visited the National Medical College & Hospital. NMCH is Kolkatas premier institute, where Health Minister Mamata Banerjee has transferred Dr Sandip Ghosh, former dreaded Principal https://t.co/z3T4xE0Vx8 pic.twitter.com/Ydz0cdvnNx Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) August 13, 2024 Not just the students blocked Dr. Ghosh, they also shouted "Go Back" slogans at Trinamool Congress MLAs Javed Khan and Swarnakamal Saha. "How can you guarantee a similar incident like what happened in RG Kar will not take place here? We don't want someone like Dr. Sandip Ghosh as the principal," the protesters told Saha in a clear message. The moment when #TMC MLA Javed Khan & councilor were shown the exit by protesting doctors of #NationalMedicalCollege. TMC had come to speak to the junior doctors and convince them to allow Dr. Sandip Ghosh to join his role as principal. pic.twitter.com/8DlJ4TTEWY Sreyashi Dey (@SreyashiDey) August 13, 2024 Dr. Ghosh, who faced the ire for alleged mismanagement and financial irregularities at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, resigned from his post on Monday. However, the government posted him to CNMC within hours after he reportedly stepped down. Dr. Ghosh had claimed he resigned "willingly" and "not under pressure". The body of the 31-year-old post-graduate student had injury marks and was recovered under mysterious conditions. The victim, who hailed from Sodepur near Kolkata, and was pursuing her post-graduation in Chest Medicine. She was on duty on Thursday night. The initial autopsy report found her body had several injury marks. The report states that the victim was bleeding from eyes, mouth and private parts. Injury marks were visible on the face, lips, neck, nails, stomach, right-hand ring finger, left leg and left leg ankle, reported The Telegraph. One person, a civic volunteer named Sanjoy Roy, has been arrested but students suspect there were more involved in the crime. Police were led to the arrest of Sanjoy by a bluetooth headset which was lying next to the victim's body. The same bluetooth headset was seen on Sanjoy's neck while entering the building but was missing when he left. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is facing heat over the incident and subsequent protests, on Monday gave a 7-day deadline to police to solve the case otherwise she will handover it to the central probe agency CBI. Photo courtesy: Screenshot grab from X post Kolkata/IBNS: The junior doctors across West Bengal on Tuesday continued with their ceasework bolstering their protest against the rape and murder of a woman trainee doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, media reports said. The protests have paralysed the healthcare services at hospitals where long queues of patients waiting at out-patient departments were seen. The protesters have set August 14 as the deadline for police to complete the probe. Meanwhile, the students of Calcutta National Medical College on Tuesday blocked former RG Kar College principal Dr. Sandip Ghosh from entering into the campus protesting against the alleged rape and murder of the medical student. The West Bengal government on Monday appointed Dr. Ghosh as the principal of Calcutta National Medical College hours after he resigned from the same post at RG Kar Medical College, where the medical student was raped and murdered at the seminar hall. The students locked Dr. Ghosh's room, denying him entry into the hospital. Not just the students blocked Dr. Ghosh, they also shouted "Go Back" slogans at Trinamool Congress MLAs Javed Khan and Swarnakamal Saha. "How can you guarantee a similar incident like what happened in RG Kar will not take place here? We don't want someone like Dr. Sandip Ghosh as the principal," the protesters told Saha in a clear message. Dr. Ghosh, who faced the ire for alleged mismanagement and financial irregularities at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, resigned from his post on Monday. However, the government posted him to CNMC within hours after he reportedly stepped down. Dr. Ghosh had claimed he resigned "willingly" and "not under pressure". In image doctor's protest against RG Kar Hospital rape & murder case/ courtes: X/@RDA_UP Women across West Bengal will protest against the rape and murder of a female PG trainee doctor in state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on Wednesday, just a day before the country celebrates its 78th Independence Day. Demanding their voices to be heard and ensuring women can live a safe life in the state, the demonstration will take place in different junctions of Kolkata and across the state and will begin at 11.55 pm. Titled 'Night is Ours', the protest is expected to see the presence of Bengali actors like Swastika Mukherjee and Churni Ganguly, among others. Photo courtesy: Facebook The posters of the protest movement as shared by Mukherjee showed the demonstrations would take place in Academy of Fine Arts, Jadavpur and College Street. Sharing the posters, she wrote: "Come and join the protest march. Let's make this demonstration stronger." Apart from celebrities, people, especially women, have been sharing posters of the march on social media platforms, urging more citizens to join the demonstration. The rape and murder of a young doctor in Kolkata's state-run hospital has left the world's most populous country shocked and triggered a massive nationwide protest by doctors. Latest development in RG Kar incident The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered controversial Dr. Sandip Ghosh, who was appointed as the principal of Calcutta National Medical College head within hours of his resignation as the head of RG Kar Medical College, to go on a long leave, coming down heavily on the state government in the trainee doctor's rape and murder case that has sent shockwaves across the country. "The Principal is the guardian of all doctors working there... if he doesn't show any empathy who will show? He should be at home not working anywhere...," Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam said as quoted by NDTV. "... this Principal will not function... let him go on long leave. Otherwise we pass an order," the court said. Students block Ghosh from entering Calcutta National Medical College campus Meanwhile, the students of Calcutta National Medical College on Tuesday blocked former RG Kar College principal Dr. Sandip Ghosh from entering into the campus protesting against the alleged rape and murder of the medical student. Medical students raise Go Back Slogans, when TMC Minister Javed Khan and MLA Swarna Kamal Saha visited the National Medical College & Hospital. NMCH is Kolkatas premier institute, where Health Minister Mamata Banerjee has transferred Dr Sandip Ghosh, former dreaded Principal https://t.co/z3T4xE0Vx8 pic.twitter.com/Ydz0cdvnNx Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) August 13, 2024 What happened in RG Kar Medical College and Hospital? The trainee doctor was allegedly raped and murdered at the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, which is located in North Kolkata's Belgachia area. One person, a civic volunteer, has been arrested in connection with the case but protesting students suspect more people are involved in the case. Slamming the state government and administration, the court wondered how Dr. Ghosh stepped down and was "rewarded with another responsibility?" "...why do you protect (him)? Let him tell the truth... something is missing here," the court thundered as reported by NDTV. The high court has asked for the case diary by 2 pm and directed the filing of Dr. Ghosh's resignation letter. "We want to see what he has written," said the court. Dr. Ghosh, who faced the ire for alleged mismanagement and financial irregularities at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, resigned from his post on Monday. However, the government posted him to CNMC within hours after he reportedly stepped down. Dr. Ghosh had claimed he resigned "willingly" and "not under pressure". Photo courtesy: Screenshot grab from YouTube video Kolkata/IBNS: The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday came down heavily on the state government over the appointment of Dr. Sandip Ghosh to a government college within hours after he resigned as the principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, where a trainee doctor was raped and murdered last week, media reports said. Slamming the state government and administration, the court wondered how Dr. Ghosh stepped down and was "rewarded with another responsibility?" "...why do you protect (him)? Let him tell the truth... something is missing here," the court thundered as reported by NDTV. The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered controversial Dr. Sandip Ghosh to go on a long leave. "The Principal is the guardian of all doctors working there... if he doesn't show any empathy who will show? He should be at home not working anywhere...," Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam said as quoted by NDTV. "... this Principal will not function... let him go on long leave. Otherwise we pass an order," the court said. Meanwhile, the students of Calcutta National Medical College on Tuesday blocked former RG Kar College principal Dr. Sandip Ghosh from entering into the campus protesting against the alleged rape and murder of the medical student. The trainee doctor was allegedly raped and murdered at the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, which is located in North Kolkata's Belgachia area. One person, a civic volunteer, has been arrested in connection with the case but protesting students suspect more people are involved in the case. Photo Curtesy: Wikimedia Commons The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the rape and murder of the PG trainee doctor in Kolkata's state-run RG Kar Medical College Hospital , an incident which has sparked massive protest across the nation. The court was hearing a batch of pleas including one by the parents seeking a court-monitored probe into the the alleged rape and murder. The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered controversial Dr. Sandip Ghosh, who was appointed as the principal of Calcutta National Medical College head within hours of his resignation as the head of RG Kar Medical College, to go on a long leave, coming down heavily on the state government in the trainee doctor's rape and murder case that has sent shockwaves across the country. "The Principal is the guardian of all doctors working there... if he doesn't show any empathy who will show? He should be at home not working anywhere...," Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam said as quoted by NDTV. "... this Principal will not function... let him go on long leave. Otherwise we pass an order," the court said. Meanwhile, the parents of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital's trainee doctor, who was raped and murdered at the seminar hall, claimed they were told that their daughter died of suicide by the state authorities, media reports said. Alleging gross insensitivity in dealing with the heinous crime, the parents told the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday as quoted by NDTV, "We were told at 9.30 pm she was unwell... then (told) she committed suicide. The hospital did not allow me to see my daughter." Students prevent Ghosh from entering Calcutta National Medical College Meanwhile, the students of Calcutta National Medical College on Tuesday blocked former RG Kar College principal Dr. Sandip Ghosh from entering into the campus protesting against the alleged rape and murder of the medical student. The trainee doctor was allegedly raped and murdered at the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, which is located in North Kolkata's Belgachia area. One person, a civic volunteer, has been arrested in connection with the case but protesting students suspect more people are involved in the case. Slamming the state government and administration, the court wondered how Dr. Ghosh stepped down and was "rewarded with another responsibility?" "...why do you protect (him)? Let him tell the truth... something is missing here," the court thundered as reported by NDTV. The high court has asked for the case diary by 2 pm and directed the filing of Dr. Ghosh's resignation letter. "We want to see what he has written," said the court. Dr. Ghosh, who faced the ire for alleged mismanagement and financial irregularities at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, resigned from his post on Monday. However, the government posted him to CNMC within hours after he reportedly stepped down. Dr. Ghosh had claimed he resigned "willingly" and "not under pressure". Photo Courtesy: Unsplash India and Australian officials recently exchanged views on various topics of mutual interest, including the maritime security environment in the Indo-Pacific region, during the 6th India-Australia Maritime Security Dialogue in Canberra on Tuesday. The Indian delegation was led by Muanpuii Saiawi, Joint Secretary, Disarmament & International Security Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs and the Australian delegation was led by Sarah Storey, First Assistant Secretary, South Asia & Central Asia Division, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Bernard Philip, First Assistant Secretary, International Policy, Department of Defence. "The two sides conferred on ways to sustain a safe and secure maritime environment conducive for inclusive growth and global well being. They exchanged views on various topics of mutual interest, including the maritime security environment in the Indo-Pacific region, maritime domain awareness, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) coordination, regional and multilateral engagements and sustainable use of marine resources. This included cooperation in Search and Rescue (SAR), pollution response, blue economy and Port State control," read a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs. They discussed ways and means of further strengthening their bilateral cooperation in these areas. They also conferred on the way ahead for collaboration in maritime ecology pillar of the Indo-Pacific Ocean Initiative (IPOI). Photo Courtesy: Video grab from Facebook Expressing solidarity with the agitating medical students, noted Indian filmmaker Aparna Sen on Tuesday said she felt ashamed over the rape and murder of a PG trainee doctor in Kolkata's state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital . Participating in a protest rally condemning the rape and murder of the female doctor and expressing her support to the agitating students, Sen said: "I have come here today as a person who lives in Kolkata. I completely support the demands of the students. As a resident of this city, I feel ashamed today." She urged the state government to act on a war footing to ensure women could work freely in the state. She said police should be answerable as to why initially they described the incident as a 'suicide' to the parents of the victim. "The role of police should also come under the ambit of investigation," she said. She demanded 'exemplary punishment' for the offender who is behind he rape and murder of the female doctor The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the rape and murder of the PG trainee doctor in RG Kar Medical College Hospital, an incident which has sparked nationwide protests and outrage. The court was hearing a batch of pleas including one by the parents seeking a court-monitored probe into the the alleged rape and murder. The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered controversial Dr. Sandip Ghosh, who was appointed as the principal of Calcutta National Medical College head within hours of his resignation as the head of RG Kar Medical College, to go on a long leave, coming down heavily on the state government in the trainee doctor's rape and murder case that has sent shockwaves across the country. "The Principal is the guardian of all doctors working there... if he doesn't show any empathy who will show? He should be at home not working anywhere...," Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam said as quoted by NDTV. "... this Principal will not function... let him go on long leave. Otherwise we pass an order," the court said. Meanwhile, the parents of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital's trainee doctor, who was raped and murdered at the seminar hall, claimed they were told that their daughter died of suicide by the state authorities, media reports said. Alleging gross insensitivity in dealing with the heinous crime, the parents told the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday as quoted by NDTV, "We were told at 9.30 pm she was unwell... then (told) she committed suicide. The hospital did not allow me to see my daughter." Students prevent Ghosh from entering Calcutta National Medical College Meanwhile, the students of Calcutta National Medical College on Tuesday blocked former RG Kar College principal Dr. Sandip Ghosh from entering into the campus protesting against the alleged rape and murder of the medical student. The trainee doctor was allegedly raped and murdered at the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, which is located in North Kolkata's Belgachia area. One person, a civic volunteer, has been arrested in connection with the case but protesting students suspect more people are involved in the case. Slamming the state government and administration, the court wondered how Dr. Ghosh stepped down and was "rewarded with another responsibility?" "...why do you protect (him)? Let him tell the truth... something is missing here," the court thundered as reported by NDTV. The high court has asked for the case diary by 2 pm and directed the filing of Dr. Ghosh's resignation letter. "We want to see what he has written," said the court. Also Read: Night is Ours: Women plan massive protest march against RG Kar rape and murder case in West Bengal tomorrow Dr. Ghosh, who faced the ire for alleged mismanagement and financial irregularities at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, resigned from his post on Monday. However, the government posted him to CNMC within hours after he reportedly stepped down. Dr. Ghosh had claimed he resigned "willingly" and "not under pressure". Kolkata/IBNS: The R G Kar Medical College and Hospital has started demolishing a portion of the building adjacent to the seminar hall where a junior doctor was raped and murdered last week raising outcry that evidence of the grisly crime is being wiped out before a court-monitored CBI probe. Even before the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) started its probe after being handed over the case by the Calcutta High Court, allegations were being raised that evidence was being tampered with on the pretext of the construction work at the seminar hall. According to media reports, the renovation work started on Aug 10, just a day after the body of the victim was recovered from the seminar room. This comes amid allegations of police negligence in this case. However, the Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal has repeatedly said the investigation is being fast-tracked. The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered a CBI probe into the rape and murder of the PG trainee doctor in Kolkata's state-run RG Kar Medical College Hospital, an incident triggering nationwide outrage. Also read: RG Kar horror: Calcutta High Court orders CBI probe into Kolkata doctor's rape and murder case Strangely, the demolishing work started within 200 meters of the seminar hall, to construct the restroom for the doctors. The issue came to light after the National Commission for Women visited the hospital premises on Tuesday and was surprised to see construction work. The ACP on duty was called by the officials of the National Commission for Women and was ordered to 'stop work'. The Women's Commission fears that the evidence may be destroyed due to the demolishing work. A medical student, who is protesting, told TV9 Bangla: "We have seen from the first day that the Kolkata Police is trying to destroy information and evidence. The Chief Minister is seeking seven days to crack the case. But evidence would be tampered by then." Reacting to the incident BJP leader Amit Malviya said: "While West Bengal is seething with anger, given Mamata Banerjee's apathy and Kolkata Polices botched cover-up attempt, RG Kar Medical College authorities break down room walls, inside the Chest Medicine Dept, where the on-duty junior doctor was subjected to brutal rape and murder, destroying what could be crucial circumstantial evidence, which could have led the CBI investigating team to the murderers. Area marked as Resident Doctor's Area and Toilet (Female) inside the Chest Medicine Dept also being broken down in the name of renovation. "This leaves no one in doubt that Mamata Banerjee was all along eliminating evidences and covering crime trail to protect those involved in the heinous crime, who, it is speculated, happen to be family members of influential TMC leaders," he said. While West Bengal is seething with anger, given Mamata Banerjee's apathy and Kolkata Polices botched cover-up attempt, RG Kar Medical College authorities break down room walls, inside the Chest Medicine Dept, where the on-duty junior doctor was subjected to brutal rape and pic.twitter.com/j2mJyziwNt Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) August 13, 2024 Earlier in the day, the Calcutta High Court ordered controversial Dr. Sandip Ghosh, who was appointed as the principal of Calcutta National Medical College head within hours of his resignation as the head of RG Kar Medical College, to go on a long leave, coming down heavily on the state government in the trainee doctor's rape and murder case that has sent shockwaves across the country. "The Principal is the guardian of all doctors working there... if he doesn't show any empathy who will show? He should be at home not working anywhere...," Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam said as quoted by NDTV. "... this Principal will not function... let him go on long leave. Otherwise, we pass an order," the court said. The parents of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital's trainee doctor, who was raped and murdered at the seminar hall, claimed they were told that their daughter died of suicide by the state authorities, media reports said. Alleging gross insensitivity in dealing with the heinous crime, the parents told the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday as quoted by NDTV, "We were told at 9.30 pm she was unwell... then (told) she committed suicide. The hospital did not allow me to see my daughter." Students prevent Ghosh from entering Calcutta National Medical College Meanwhile, the students of Calcutta National Medical College on Tuesday blocked former RG Kar College principal Dr. Sandip Ghosh from entering the campus protesting against the alleged rape and murder of the medical student. Students at the Calcutta National Medical College (CNMC) have locked the gates to prevent the entry of Sandip Ghosh to protest the eyelash action of Mamata government. Shockingly, Sandip Ghosh the principal of RG Kar where a junior doctor was raped and murdered stepped down from pic.twitter.com/e76DQjeIv5 Rahul Shivshankar (@RShivshankar) August 13, 2024 The trainee doctor was allegedly raped and murdered at the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, which is located in North Kolkata's Belgachia area. One person, a civic volunteer, has been arrested in connection with the case but protesting students suspect more people are involved in the case. Photo courtesy: X/JP Nadda New Delhi/IBNS: The Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) Tuesday called off the protest over the rape and murder of a trainee female doctor in Kolkata after meeting Union Health Minister JP Nadda. The key doctor's body said the decision was taken after a meeting with JP Nadda and that their demands had been met, including one seeking an assurance that the Central Healthcare Protection Act would be passed to curb attacks on medical personnel. In a statement, FORDA said, "as requested", it will be part of a committee on the Central Healthcare Protection Act, work on which will start within 15 days. Press release regarding call off of strike. In our fight for the sad incident at R G Kar, the demands raised by us have been met in full by the @OfficeofJPNadda , with concrete steps in place, and not just verbal assurances. Central Healthcare Protection Act ratification pic.twitter.com/OXdSZgM1Jc FORDA INDIA (@FordaIndia) August 13, 2024 Soon after the FORDA statement, the health ministry posted on X that Nadda welcomed the organisation's decision and that all their concerns regarding the safety of healthcare workers would be addressed. "Union Health Minister, Shri @JPNadda met with the Federation of Resident Doctors Association (@FordaIndia) delegation today. He welcomed their decision to call off the strike in the public interest and assured them that the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare will address all their concerns to ensure a safer and better work environment." Union Health Minister, Shri @JPNadda met with the Federation of Resident Doctors Association (@FordaIndia) delegation today. He welcomed their decision to call off the strike in the public interest and assured them that the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare will address all pic.twitter.com/RqheiRVF1d Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) August 13, 2024 The protests began on Monday, three days after the rape and murder of a 31-year-old post-graduate trainee, who was working at Kolkata's state government-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, was found inside a seminar hall in the institution. Sanjoy Roy, a civic volunteer working with the Kolkata Police, has been arrested for the crime. Apart from sexual assault, her post-mortem report revealed that several injuries were inflicted on her before she was smothered and throttled to death. The doctors had demanded that the probe into the rape and murder be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which was met on Tuesday through a Calcutta High Court order. An assurance on the Act remained a hurdle, however, and FORDA posted around 6.30 pm that the strike would continue. Photo Courtesy: PR Team Private aviation major Air India Express has launched six new daily direct flights in a single day, further strengthening its domestic network. The new flights operate on the Chennai-Bhubaneswar, Chennai-Bagdogra, Chennai-Thiruvananthapuram, Kolkata-Varanasi, Kolkata-Guwahati, and Guwahati-Jaipur sectors. Five of these routes are new to the airlines growing network. The newly introduced Guwahati-Jaipur flight is an exclusive route, served by Air India Express. To meet the increasing demand on the Chennai-Thiruvananthapuram route, previously served with two weekly flights, the airline has now introduced an additional daily service, bringing the total to nine flights a week. Air India Express Operations From/To Chennai: Air India Express now connects Chennai directly to 10 destinations, including Bagdogra, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Thiruvananthapuram domestically, and Dammam, Kuwait, and Singapore internationally. Additionally, the airline offers convenient one-stop connectivity to 24 destinations, both domestic and international. From/To Bhubaneswar: With this expansion, Air India Express now provides direct connectivity from Bhubaneswar to seven domestic destinations, including Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Pune. The airline also offers 26 one-stop itineraries to a variety of other destinations. From/To Bagdogra: Air India Express connects Bagdogra directly to five domestic destinations, including Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Kolkata, and offers access to 26 one-stop destinations, both domestic and international. From/To Kolkata: Kolkata is the third largest station for Air India Express, operating 124 weekly flights to 34 destinations, including 12 direct domestic destinations and various one-stop destinations. From/To Thiruvananthapuram: Air India Express offers 12 direct flights connecting Thiruvananthapuram to domestic and international destinations and connects the city to 23 one-stop destinations. From/To Guwahati: Air India Express connects Guwahati with eight domestic destinations and 23 one-stop destinations, including both domestic and international. From/To Varanasi: With 42 weekly departures, Air India Express connects Varanasi directly to three domestic destinations and one international destination. The airline also provides convenient one-stop itineraries to several other domestic and international destinations. From/To Jaipur: Air India Express offers nine direct flights connecting Jaipur to domestic destinations and one international destination. The airline also connects Jaipur to 24 one-stop destinations, both domestic and international. Photo Courtesy: PID Bangladesh Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina , whose government toppled during the recent protests, has been named with six others in a murder case filed over the death of grocery shop owner Abu Sayeed in police firing in Dhaka's Mohammadpur area on July 19. The other accused are: Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, former inspector general of police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, former DB chief Harun Or Rashid, former DMP commissioner Habibur Rahman and former DMP joint commissioner Biplob Kumar Sarker, reported The Daily Star. Besides, several unnamed high police officials and government officials were also accused in the case, advocate Md Mamun Miah confirmed to the newspaper. This is the first case filed against Hasina since she fled to India after the fall of her government last week. The case was filed against Hasina by a wellwisher of the victim named Amir Hamza Shatil. US denies role in Bangladesh protest The United States on Monday rejected claims that the government was involved in the recent protests in Bangladesh which led to the fall of the former PM Sheikh Hasina-led government in the South Asian nation. Negating all rumours and reports, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre told reporters during an interaction: "We have had no involvement at all. Any reports or rumours that the United States government was involved in these events are simply false. That is not true." She said the people of Bangladesh should determine the future of the government. Bangladesh is currently ruled by an interim government under the leadership of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. Karine Jean Pierre said: " This is a choice for and by the Bangladeshi people. We believe that the Bangladeshi people should determine the future of the Bangladeshi government, and thats where we stand. " She said the USA is going to monitor the situation after reports emerged that protests were held recently outside the White House over the attacks on Hindu community members in Bangladesh since the exit of the Sheikh Hasina government. "We are going to continue monitoring the situation. I dont have anything else to add. But when it comes to any type of human rights issues here, the president has been very consistent in speaking loud and clear in public and also privately." Meanwhile, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who last week took oath as head of Bangladesh's interim government, has praised students who spearheaded protests to oust former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. "There is no doubt... because of the student-led revolution the whole government collapsed..." Yunus told reporters after a Sunday night meeting with the students. "I said (to the students), 'I respect you... I admire you. What you have done is absolutely unparalleled... and because you ordered me to do this (to take charge of the interim administration) I accept...'," Yunus said, recounting part of the conversation he had with the students. Bangladesh turmoil Bangladesh witnessed turmoil in recent weeks which began with students protesting against job quotas and then slowly spiralled into a mass movement that demanded former PM Sheikh Hasina's resignation. The violence led to the death of over 300 people. The showdown took a new turn when former PM Sheikh Hasina was forced to resign which led to the toppling of her government and ending her 15-year rule. Hasina escaped to India in a helicopter. (Imaages courtesy: PID Bangladesh/Unsplash) Photo Courtesy: Unsplash The Bangladesh National Hindu Grand Alliance, a religious organisation, has claimed the Hindu community faced attacks and threats in 278 locations across 48 districts across the South Asian nation since former PM Sheikh Hasina -led government was toppled amid violent protests, forcing her to escape to India. The alliance's spokesperson and executive secretary Palash Kanti Dey was quoted as saying by Dhaka Tribune on Tuesday during a press conference: "The incidents of vandalism, looting, arson, land grabbing, and threats to leave the country have been repeatedly inflicted on the Hindu community due to the shifting political landscape. This is not just an attack on individuals but an assault on the Hindu religion." "As of Monday, there have been attacks and threats against the Hindu community in 278 locations across 48 districts. We have conveyed our concerns to Home Affairs Advisor Brigadier General (retd) M Sakhawat Hussain who has assured us that these issues will be raised at the next cabinet meeting," he said. He hoped Bangladesh's interim government would address the demands of the Hindu community. Bangladesh turmoil Bangladesh witnessed turmoil in recent weeks which began with students protesting against job quotas and then slowly spiralled into a mass movement that demanded former PM Sheikh Hasina's resignation. The violence led to the death of over 300 people. The showdown took a new turn when former PM Sheikh Hasina was forced to resign which led to the toppling of her government and ending her 15-year rule. Hasina escaped to India in a helicopter. Photo Courtesy: Unsplash The United States on Monday rejected claims that the government was involved in the recent protests in Bangladesh which led to the fall of the former PM Sheikh Hasina-led government in the South Asian nation. Negating all rumours and reports, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre told reporters during an interaction: "We have had no involvement at all. Any reports or rumours that the United States government was involved in these events are simply false. That is not true." She said the people of Bangladesh should determine the future of the government. Bangladesh is currently ruled by an interim government under the leadership of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. Karine Jean Pierre said: " This is a choice for and by the Bangladeshi people. We believe that the Bangladeshi people should determine the future of the Bangladeshi government, and thats where we stand. " She said the USA is going to monitor the situation after reports emerged that protests were held recently outside the White House over the attacks on Hindu community members in Bangladesh since the exit of the Sheikh Hasina government. "We are going to continue monitoring the situation. I dont have anything else to add. But when it comes to any type of human rights issues here, the president has been very consistent in speaking loud and clear in public and also privately." Meanwhile, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who last week took oath as head of Bangladesh's interim government, has praised students who spearheaded protests to oust former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. "There is no doubt... because of the student-led revolution the whole government collapsed..." Yunus told reporters after a Sunday night meeting with the students. "I said (to the students), 'I respect you... I admire you. What you have done is absolutely unparalleled... and because you ordered me to do this (to take charge of the interim administration) I accept...'," Yunus said, recounting part of the conversation he had with the students. Also Read: US Embassy issues fresh advisory to its nationals as situation in Bangladesh continues to remain tense Two of the student protesters, Nahid Islam and Asif Mahmud, are part of a 16-member advisory council that was sworn in with Yunus. Bangladesh witnessed turmoil in recent weeks which began with students protesting against job quotas and then slowly spiralled into a mass movement that demanded former PM Sheikh Hasina's resignation. The violence led to the death of over 300 people. The showdown took a new turn when former PM Sheikh Hasina was forced to resign which led to the toppling of her government and ending her 15-year rule. Hasina escaped to India in a helicopter. Do you know there's a place that looks exactly like Maldives, but it's in Saudi Arabia? No? Well, Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez shares highlights from her vacation from the Red Sea in Saudi and they are proof that the place is much like Maldives with lavish private resorts, breathtaking clear waters under the vast blue skies. Jacqueline Fernandez on her Red Sea vacation In one of the clips the Housefull 2 actress shared on Instagram, she can be seen riding a bicycle on a wooden trail in the middle of the sea. In another, Fernandez is seen enjoying lavish breakfast spread and deep sea diving. The actress is celebrating her birthday at Nujuma Reserve, Red Sea with her parents and it surely looks stunning. Credit: IG/ jacqueline red sea vacation In another picture that she shared on her stories, Fernandez's parents are seen chilling by the pool and she captioned it as, "I'm so happy they are here!" The actress also shared a picture with the staff, thanking them for a "wonderful" dinner. She flew with Saudi Airlines and also posted a reel about her experience on Instagram. Credit: IG/ jacqueline fernandez red sea vacation Red Sea vacation Fairly new to the tourism scene, the Red Sea is 500km north of Jeddah, between the Saudi towns of AlWajh and Umluj. With its own dedicated Red Sea International airport, the destination is easily accessible to visitors from around the world. And at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa, 250 million people are just a three-hour flight away. Credit: IG/ jacqueline red sea vacation The Red Sea is slowly becoming a dream destination for many travel enthusiasts, thanks to its vibrant marine life, crystal-clear waters, and breathtaking coral reefs. Nestled between northeastern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, this stunning region provides a wide range of activities for those in search of adventure and natural beauty. For more on lifestyle, astrology and health from around the world please visit Indiatimes Lifestyle. In a few days, IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack, a thriller series based on a frightening incident that happened a few years ago, will be available on Netflix. The show which is directed by Anubhav Sinha is based on the 1999 Kandahar plane hijack incident. Starring Naseeruddin Shah, Vijay Varma, Dia Mirza, Pankaj Kapoor, Kumud Mishra, Patralekha and others, IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack is going to release on OTT platform Netflix on 29th August 2024. Before the show's release, let's understand the real story behind the project. From what happened on the day and what the show will feature, heres all you need to know. IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack real story Flight 814 Aka IC 814 Flight 814, also identified as IC 814, was hijacked on Friday, December 24, 1999, and was flown to several different sites before arriving at Kandahar, Afghanistan. The aircraft was an Airbus A300 that was en route from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, to Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, India. Captain Devi Sharan, and first officer Rajinder Kumar, operated the aircraft alongside flight engineer Anil Kumar Jaggia. Shortly after the Airbus reached Indian airspace, five Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM) militants from Pakistan took control of it. The hijackers gave the order to fly the plane to Amritsar, Lahore, and Dubai. When the airplane was finally forced to land, the hijackers did so in Taliban-held Kandahar, Afghanistan. Out of the 176 passengers in Dubai, the hijackers freed 27, but they fatally murdered one and injured multiple others. The goal of the hijacking was to obtain the release of Islamist terrorists detained in India, including Masood Azhar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, and other HuM members, as well as Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar.. Seven days of hostilities came to an end when India consented to free the three terrorists. The same story will be told in the upcoming Netflix title, IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack. Let us remind you that the show will be released very soon on 29th August 2024. Also read: Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba: Is Dinesh Pandit a real author? Truth about his books shown in the Netflix film For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment. The trailer for Jailer Unlocked was released by the makers in celebration of Jailer's first anniversary. The highly anticipated Jailer 2's producers, Sun Pictures, revealed that a three-part series would be released while fans patiently wait for an update of the film's second part. Along with the announcement, Jailer Unlocked also has a OTT release date. The trailer has brief interviews with the film's crew, behind-the-scenes snippets from the film, and Nelson Dilipkumar recalling his time spent collaborating with Rajinikanth. It will also feature footage of the technicians and crew that worked on the movie. Jailer Unlocked will release on 16th August 2024 on Sun NXT. Plot The film Jailer, starring Rajinikanth, was released a year ago. It centers on "Tiger" Muthuvel Pandian, a former jailer, who is trying to capture an eccentric idol smuggler named Varman. Now, the directors are going to reveal the process of making the movie. The three-part series will feature a lot of behind-the-scenes footage and staff interviews. Cast The film Jailer features Rajinikanth in the title role, with supporting performances from Vinayakan, Ramya Krishnan, Tamannaah Bhatia, Vasanth Ravi, Mirnaa Menon, Yogi Babu, and Sunil. Jackie Shroff, Mohanlal, and Shiva Rajkumar make cameo appearances. In the show though, the cast and crew will be featured in more of a BTS manner. For those who dont know, with favorable reviews from critics, Jailer made its theatrical debut on August 10, 2023, and went on to become the highest-grossing Tamil film of 2023, the sixth-highest-grossing Indian picture of 2023, and the second-highest-grossing Tamil film of all time. Also read: Squid Game season 2 teaser: As Gi-hun is back, here's all about the plot, release date, new players and more For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment. Tamil romantic-comedy Konjam Pesinaal Yenna OTT release date is out! The film which stars Vinoth Kishan and Keerthi Pandian released on the big screen on 23rd May 2024. After almost 3 months of its initial release, the film is now set to enthrall audiences with its cast and plot. The movie tells the tale of Sanjana, a young girl, who meets Ajay on social media and falls in love and what happens after is what youll be able to see in the film. Konjam Pesinaal Yenna will be released on 16th August 2024 on OTT platform Aha. The official OTT rights owner for the movie, Aha Tamil, declared on Monday that Konjam Pesinaal Yenna will be available on its platform via its official social media handle. Plot In Konjam Pesinaal Yenna, after an extended absence, Sanjana (Keetrhi) reunites with her former crush Ajay (Vinoth), but this time it's via a virtual platform. After exchanging direct messages on Instagram, the two quickly develop a committed social media relationship that gets stronger over time through conversations and video calls. But as time goes on, Ajay and Sanjana both struggle to express their emotions clearly, and they soon begin to sense the flame of their once-flourishing friendship gradually dying away. Cast and crew Konjam Pesinaal Yenna is a production by Sameer Bharat Ram and stars Akash Premkumar, Sharai Benny, Vinoth Kishan, Gowtham Sundararajan, VJ Ashiq, Keerthi Pandian, and Kaamna Batra in key roles. Giri Murphy wrote it, and it was shown under the Super Talkies umbrella. For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment. Following its recent release on Netflix, Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba started trending and how. Viewers flocked to the OTT platform as soon as the much-anticipated film dropped. You should be aware that Taapsee Pannu's character Rani is crazy about a writer named Dinesh Pandit and his writings if you've watched Hasseen Dillruba and its sequel, the recently released Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba. She frequently makes references to passages from his novels. This raises the question, then: Is Dinesh Pandit a real author? The truth is that Dinesh is merely a fictional character in the movie and is not real. Want to know more? Scroll down. Dinesh Pandit is not a real author In an interview, Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba filmmaker Kanika Dhillon talked about Dinesh Pandit. Kanika said that Dinesh Pandit isn't real in an interview with The Quint. He pays homage to every writer of Hindi pulp fiction she grew up with as a child. Will Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba part 3 release? To begin with, a new part of the film has not yet received an official announcement. Based on how the movie ends, there's a good chance that further materialwhich would depict Rishu and Rani's post-chaotic life together following a few turbulent years of playing cat and mouse with the policewill be released in the coming months. To Know how the film ended, read this - Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba ending explained: Here's how Rani and Rishu escape the UP police this time Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba review Coming to how the film was, Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba was undoubtedly something that we were all looking forward to watching, but it inadvertently didn't live up to our expectations. It succeeded in maintaining the element of mystery up to a degree, but as the movie went on, it also became a little boring. This time around, Sunny Kaushal and Jimmy Shergill joined the ensemble. Although their roles were unique and a welcome addition, we were hoping for more nuance and polish in their performances. Even the conclusion was fairly obvious. Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba is a one-time watch. You can stream Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba on Netflix. Sobhita Dhulipala has suddenly caught everyone's fancy after her engagement with Telugu actor Naga Chaitanya. The Made In Heaven actress has become the talk of the town as fans are eager to know more about her personal life and relationship with Chay. So much so, that she is now on the second spot in the IMDb Popular Indian Celebrities beating the King of Bollywood Shah Rukh Khan, who is making headlines after he received the Lifetime Achievement award at the Locarno Film Festival 2024. Sobhita Dhulipala has beaten Shah Rukh Khan's popularity Wondering who tops the list? Munjya actress Sharvari who won the title of IMDb Breakout STARmeter award remains to be on the top spot. Others on the list are Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Janhvi Kapoor, Kill actor Lakshya, Deepika Padukone, Vijay Sethupathi, Mrunal Thakur and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in that order. The list of popular Indian celebrities can be seen on the IMDB app, which shows weekly top trending Indian celebrities calculated by global monthly visits to it. Who is Sobhita Dhulipala? The Indian actress and model who works predominantly Hindi and Telugu cinema first shot to popularity after participating in Femina Miss India 2013 pageant, where she was one of the finalist and who represented India at Miss Earth 2013. Sobhita Dhulipala made her acting debut in Anurag Kashyap's Raman Raghav 2.0 in 2016 and shot to fame with her role in Amazon Prime Video series Made in Heaven. She has recently appeared in Netflix series The Night Manager and Dev Patel's Monkey Man, which is yet to be released in India. Apart from her acting skills, Sobhita is known for her fashion sense as well and has featured in many high-profile magazines. She is news once again owing to her engagement with Naga Chaitanya. Also Read: This Video Of Anil Kapoor Posing With Sobhita Dhulipala Has Fans Saying 'That's So Creepy WTF!' For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment. Pakistan celebrates its Independence Day on August 14, a date that stands out from the one specified in the Indian Independence Act. This day marks the birth of Pakistan as an independent nation in 1947. The story of Pakistan's Independence Day is deeply intertwined with the dramatic events of 1947 when the Indian subcontinent was divided into two new nations: India and Pakistan. As Pakistan is all set to celebrate its 78th Independence Day in 2024, its interesting to explore why this date was chosen and how it came to be recognized as Pakistans special day of freedom, even though both countries gained independence on the same date. Historical Background In August 1947, the Indian Independence Act established two independent dominions: India and Pakistan by partitioning the Bengal and Punjab provinces. The Act set August 15, 1947, as the official date for the end of British rule. However, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, announced in his radio address that August 15 is the birthday of the independent and sovereign state of Pakistan. It marks the fulfilment of the destiny of the Muslim nation which made great sacrifices in the past few years to have its homeland. Mountbattens Scheduling Credit: Wikipedia Lord Mountbatten, the last British viceroy, initially planned for the transfer of power to occur by June 1948. However, he advanced this date to August 15, 1947. Due to logistical issues, Mountbatten went to Karachi on August 13 and addressed Pakistan's constituent assembly on August 14, thus precipitating the celebration of Independence Day a day earlier. This scheduling adjustment, driven by Mountbattens busy itinerary, led to Pakistan marking its Independence Day on August 14. Pakistan Cabinet Decision Another perspective suggests that Pakistans first cabinet, led by Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, decided to advance the celebration to August 14 to establish a distinct identity from India. Although this decision was made privately and is not well-documented, it allowed Pakistan to celebrate its independence ahead of India, reinforcing its unique national identity. Religious Factor Credit: Unsplash One significant reason behind the choice of August 14 for Pakistan's Independence Day is its coincidence with the Islamic month of Ramzan. August 14, 1947, fell on the 27th day of Ramzan, which is considered highly auspicious. This made August 14 a more significant date for Muslims. Furthermore, August 15, 1947, was the last Friday of Ramzan, which was less favourable for celebrations. Hence, celebrating independence on August 14 allowed Pakistan to honour this special day in the Islamic calendar. The Time Zone Difference The 30-minute time difference between Indian Standard Time (IST) and Pakistan Standard Time (PST) also played a role. India gained independence at midnight IST on August 15, which was 11:30 PM PST on August 14. This time difference further supports why Pakistan chose to celebrate its Independence Day on August 14. Commemorative Stamps and Legacy Initially, Pakistan issued stamps marking August 15 as Independence Day, but this was later changed to August 14. The reasons behind this shift remain unclear but reflect the historical adjustments made during the partition period. The Legacy of Partition The 1947 Partition led to significant violence and displacement, affecting millions of people and causing deep-seated animosity between India and Pakistan. This traumatic history continues to impact the relationship between the two nations today. Pakistan celebrates Independence Day on August 14 due to a combination of religious, logistical, and political factors. This date not only honours the nation's independence but also reflects its unique historical journey and cultural significance. FAQs: Q. When Was Pakistan's Independence Day in 1947? Pakistan's Independence Day in 1947 was celebrated on August 14. This date was chosen because it coincided with the 27th day of Ramzan, a particularly auspicious time in the Islamic calendar. Q. What Was the Old Name of Pakistan? The name "Pakistan" was introduced by Choudhry Rahmat Ali, a prominent activist in the Pakistan Movement. In January 1933, he first published it in a pamphlet titled Now or Never, where the name was originally written as "Pakstan" and used as an acronym. Q. When Did Pakistan Separate from India? Pakistan separated from India in August 1947. This partition ended three centuries of British colonial rule and resulted in the creation of two independent nations: India and Pakistan, which initially included both West Pakistan and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Q. Is India Older Than Pakistan? Yes, India has a history that spans over 5,000 years. In contrast, Pakistan, established in 1947, has a history of just 77 years as of 2023. Thus, Indias historical timeline is significantly longer than that of Pakistan. Q. What Was the Old Name of India? Before the adoption of the Constitution in 1949, India was known by several names, including Bharat, India, and Hindustan. We have seen this celebrity hairstylist many a times on Instagram of Bollywood A-listers who post a reel or story of them getting ready. He is usually fixing their hair. From Kareena Kapoor to Isha Ambani at all Anant Ambani wedding functions, Yianni Tsapatori is always there to rescue the pretty ladies and give them a stunning makeover. Credit: Instagram/yianni-tsapatori With a career spanning 25 years across Greece, New York, Yianni has now fully moved to India. He has made a name for himself as an award-winning hairstylist and former Global Ambassador for Balmain Paris Hair Couture. From high-profile events including the Oscars, Cannes Film Festival, Red Sea Film Festival, Vogue Beauty Awards, and the Elle Beauty Awards, Yianni has seen the highest highs in hair. He moved to India in 2016 and immediately catapulted to the forefront of Bollywood, where his innovative approach and meticulous techniques have set new benchmarks in hairstyling. Credit: Instagram/yianni-tsapatori All the signature styles of Bollywood icons like Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif, Anushka Sharma, Kareena Kapoor Khan, and Alia Bhatt, has been done by him. Now, the man is set to bring his exceptional talent to Godrej Professional as its new Creative Director. Yianni's new role will see him with his creative vision, elevating its offerings in hair care, color, styling, and keratin treatments. His appointment marks an exciting chapter for the brand and the Indian hair industry. And for all you know, one may even get a chance to get styled by him. As of now, one can at least follow him on Instagram and check out all the latest hairstyles that are trending. For more such stories on fashion, beauty and hair, follow us on Indiatimes Lifestyle. As India is all set to celebrate the 78th Independence Day on 15th August, take a look at an invaluable piece of history. One of the Indian flags that were hoisted on 15th August 1947 has been displayed at the Fort St. George Museum in Chennai. According to the Union Ministry of Culture, this is the only surviving flag of India, on display, which was hoisted in 1947. CREDIT: PIB Indian flag hoisted in 1947 The 12-foot-long, 8-foot-wide tricolour flag was hoisted at Fort St. George on 15th August 1947 at 5:30 am and has been housed in the museum there. The Culture Ministry termed the flag a 'national treasure' and said, "This is the only surviving flag of India, on display, which was hoisted in 1947. The flag is a testament to the entire struggle that Indians went through to achieve freedom." CREDIT: PIB The Indian Independence Gallery at the Fort St. George Museum also showcases the evolution of the Indian flag and the tales behind the hailed Tiranga. Fort St. George Fort St. George, which dates back to 1639, was named after St. George, the patron saint of England, and is also home to one of the tallest flagstaffs in the country, measuring 46 metres. CREDIT: Tamil Nadu Tourism Today, Fort St. George serves as the seat of the Government of Tamil Nadu and also houses the museum, which was opened to the public on 31st January 1948. Also read: The Art And History Behind India's Tiranga: How Is The Indian Flag Made Fort St. George Museum This museum now has more than three thousand five hundred artefacts from the colonial period; the best among them are displayed in nine galleries. CREDIT: PIB "One of the main highlights of Fort St. George is its museum. Known as Fort Museum, it houses a diverse collection of antiquities in well-organised galleries. As many as 3,661 artefacts from different ages of modern Indian history are displayed across three floors, which are divided into ten galleries," according to the website of Tamil Nadu Tourism. For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News. The much-hyped interview of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump by Tesla CEO Elon Musk on his social media platform X did not go as planned. The interview started over 40 minutes after its original scheduled time due to alleged cyberattacks. Some 878,000 users had initially tuned into the interview but were greeted by a message reading, Details not available." CREDIT: X/ RealDonaldTrump Musk alleges DDoS attack As per reports, the platform had suffered a DDoS attack, resulting in the delay. Musk apologized for what he termed a massive attack that overwhelmed the company's system. Once the interview got underway, Trump used the platformthe largest he has received during the campaign so farto repeat his claims about illegal immigration to the US and talk about the assassination attempt on him. CREDIT: AP Trump on illegal immigration If I had not turned my head, I would not be talking to you right nowas much as I like you, Trump told Musk. Trump claimed that "illegal immigration saved my life," pointing to the border crossings chart that caused him to look away moments before a bullet narrowly missed his ear. President Trump: When I was president, Iran knew not to mess around. Iran was broke -- they had no money for terror. Israel never would've been attacked.#TrumpOnXpic.twitter.com/Lguzi5rGqx Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 13, 2024 That chartillegal immigration saved my life, he explained to Musk. Whats astonishing is that I only referred to it less than 20% of the time. It was just a brief instance. Why Trump wants X Trump, who was banned from X, then called Twitter, following the Capitol Hill violence, had launched his own social media platform called 'Truth Social.' However, it pales in comparison with the likes of X, which has a much larger user base. Though Trump was reinstated by its new owner Musk, he has largely remained inactive. But, with the elections approaching, Trump needs a much larger platform to spread his message, and with Musk, who has pledged millions to the Republican candidate's campaign, X gave him the perfect stage to put out his narrative unchallenged. Also read: 'You don't even say Hello, it was a very rude introduction,' Trump goes on a rant while meeting Black journalists CREDIT: REUTERS 'Joe Biden's exit was a coup' Speaking about Joe Biden quitting the race, Trump claimed that the incumbent president was forced to drop out of the election due to a "coup." "I beat Biden so badly in the debate, he was forced out of the raceone of the greatest debate performances ever. Biden's exit, it was a coup." 'Kamala Harris will destroy US' While terming Biden the 'worst President of the US,' Trump also attacked his Democratic challenger, incumbent Vice President Kamala Harris. PRESIDENT TRUMP: We don't have a president right now and Kamala is even worse. She's a San Francisco liberal who destroyed that city, destroyed California, and will DESTROY OUR COUNTRY if she's elected.#TrumpOnX pic.twitter.com/myUKzBwjcK Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 13, 2024 "We don't have a president right nowand Kamala is even worse. She's a San Francisco liberal who destroyed that city, destroyed California, and will destroy our country if she's elected," Trump said. For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News. Fresh from his successful interview with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk has offered to host his opponent. Musk on Tuesday announced that he would be happy to host US Vice President and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris on his social media platform, X. "Happy to host Kamala on an X Spaces too," Musk wrote on X. Happy to host Kamala on an Spaces too Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 13, 2024 Will Kamala Harris accept the offer Harris and her campaign team have not yet responded to the offer made by Musk. However, given Musk's proximity to Trump and his not-so-friendly barrage of posts targeting Harris and the Democrats, it is uncertain if the incumbent VP will accept the offer. CREDIT: AP Harris campaign on Trump-Musk interview On the friendly Trump-Musk interview, the Harris campaign had the following to say: "Donald Trump's extremism and dangerous Project 2025 agenda is a feature, not a glitch, of his campaign, which was on full display for those unlucky enough to listen in tonight during whatever that was on X.com. Trump's entire campaign is in service of people like Elon Musk and himselfself-obsessed rich guys who will sell out the middle class and who cannot run a livestream in the year 2024," the Harris campaign said in a statement. Our statement on... whatever that was pic.twitter.com/bOZfUu8rbk Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) August 13, 2024 Trump-Musk interview Earlier, in a freewheeling interview hosted by Musk on X, Trump went on a tirade targeting Harris and the Democrats. Also read: Musk-Trump Interview: Donald Trump says climate change will lead to more oceanfront property Trump, who called Harris a radical left lunatic, also claimed that President Joe Biden was close to vegetable stage. Far left, like far, far worse than Bernie Sanders. She is considered more liberal by far than Bernie Sanders. She's a radical left lunatic. And if she's going to be our President very quickly, you're not going to have a country anymore. And she'll go back to all of the things that she believes in. She believes in defunding the police. She believes in no fracking, zero. You don't know, all of a sudden she's saying, No, I will. I really want to see fracking today, that is if they got it, Trump said about Harris. CREDIT: REUTERS Trump further said that Harris is going to be worse than Biden because she is a San Francisco liberal who destroyed San Francisco, and then as Attorney General, she destroyed California." For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News. Greece will see temperatures soar today, with some areas expected to reach up to 40C (104F). While the weather will remain mostly clear, the combination of extreme heat and slightly weakened winds poses a significant fire risk, particularly in regions already facing wildfires. According to the Hellenic National Meteorological Service (HNMS), the day will be largely sunny, with some local cloud cover forming in the northern mountainous areas during the afternoon. Winds are forecasted to blow from the north at 4 to 5 Beaufort, potentially reaching 6 Beaufort in parts of the Aegean Sea. In the western regions, winds will be west-northwest at 3 to 4 Beaufort, temporarily increasing to 5 Beaufort in the Ionian Sea during the afternoon. Temperatures across mainland Greece are expected to rise slightly, ranging from 37C to 39C (98.6F to 102.2F), with some western areas potentially peaking at 40C (104F). On the islands, temperatures will range between 31C and 33C (87.8F to 91.4F), with the Ionian Islands, eastern Aegean Islands, Dodecanese, and southern Crete seeing highs of 35C to 37C (95F to 98.6F). Despite the slight decrease in wind strength, the intense heat combined with low humidity creates a highly dangerous situation for wildfires. The General Secretariat for Civil Protection has issued a high fire risk warning (Category 4) for the following areas: Attica Region Central Greece Region (Regional Units of Boeotia and Euboea) Authorities are urging residents and visitors in these high-risk areas to exercise extreme caution, avoid any activities that could ignite fires, and stay informed about local conditions. Firefighting forces remain on high alert, prepared to respond to any new outbreaks. iefimerida.gr Firefighters battling the relentless wildfire in Attica have found the remains of a woman, believed to be a victim of the raging flames. The grim discovery was made in the charred ruins of a commercial building in the Patima Chalandri area. Preliminary investigations suggest that the woman, estimated to be 65 years old and of foreign nationality, was trapped inside the building as the fire engulfed it. Unconfirmed reports indicate that she worked at a floral arrangement shop within the premises. Police are currently at the scene, working to determine the exact circumstances surrounding the woman's death. Early reports indicate that she may have been unable to escape when the building's roof collapsed. It is believed that she chose to stay in the restroom despite her colleagues' urging to evacuate. iefimerida.gr In a show of solidarity and international cooperation, firefighting teams from across Europe have arrived to assist in combating a massive wildfire that's wreaking havoc in northeastern Attica, posing a serious threat to the outskirts of Athens. Teams from France, Italy, Serbia, the Czech Turkey , and Romania have joined their Greek counterparts in an all-out effort to contain the blaze that originated in Varnavas on Sunday afternoon. The wildfire, fueled by strong winds and tinder-dry conditions brought on by Greece's typically hot and dry summers, has spread rapidly, engulfing vast swathes of land and forcing thousands of residents to flee their homes. Despite the efforts of firefighters on the ground, aided by aerial support, the fire remains unchecked, with scattered hotspots and frequent flare-ups posing ongoing challenges. The situation remains critical, with evacuations ordered in several areas as the fire continues to threaten homes and communities. The arrival of international firefighting teams comes to boost exhausted Greek firefighters, offering hope that the combined forces can gain the upper hand against this relentless blaze. Authorities continue to urge residents to remain vigilant and follow evacuation orders promptly. The wildfire serves as a stark reminder of the escalating threat of wildfires in Greece, particularly during the hot summer months. Climate change, with its associated rising temperatures and prolonged dry spells, is exacerbating the problem, making wildfires more frequent and intense. iefimerida.gr No fewer than six travelers, including the driver of a commercial vehicle, have been killed by gunmen while traveling from Takum Local Government Area to Wukari Local Government Area in Taraba State. It was gathered that the attack took place on Monday, in Sai, a border community stretching into Takum LGA from Benue State. Confirming the horrible incident to newsmen, the chairman of the Takum council John Ali, disclosed that Takum-Wukari Express Road is the same spot where the traditional ruler of Chanchanji and his son were ambushed and killed by gunmen. Advertisement Ali added that the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) has been warned against plying the route early in the morning due to the volatile nature of the road. He said: The first vehicle that carried about five passengers left Takum in the early hours of Monday at about 6:00 am, the vehicle alongside its occupants approached Sai a community in Benue state and we usually have problems in that axis. The hoodlums emerged from the bush and opened fire on the moving vehicle and killed the six passengers including the driver. I have instructed the security agencies to carry the corpse, deposit it, and go after the hoodlums. READ MORE: Unknown Gunmen Kill Monarch, Son In Taraba Already, there is a team of security agencies put in place by the Governor shortly after the killing of the third-class chief of Chanchanji and his son. The patrol team was preparing to move into their various units of the patrol as they normally come out around 7:00 am but the incident happened between 6:00 am to 6:30 am. We earlier had a security meeting with the NURTW and other unions where we warned against plying the road as early as possible in the morning because security agencies on patrol have not resumed duty. I do not know why they failed to intimate their members or why this driver left early in the morning and became a victim. The Kano State Command of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, has rescued 12 individuals from human traffickers. The Zonal Commander, Abdullahi Babale, made this known on Tuesday, during a reception of the victims in Kano. Babale said that the state police arrested three suspects, identified as Shafiu Salisu, 25, of Bachirawa Quarters, Kano, Rebecca Adebayo, 22, of Kwara State and Mujibat Olagoke, 27, from Oyo State in connection with the trafficking. Advertisement READ MORE: NAPTIP Rescues 75, Arrests 115 In Human Trafficking Crackdown In Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Rivers He noted that the rescued victims aged between 15 and 40, were all females. Babale said: The victims were rescued on August 3, at about 4:15 p.m. along Tsanyawa Federal High Way, Kano by a team of policemen attached to Tsanyawa Division, on their way to Libya for labour exploitation. The 12 rescued victims are from Ondo, Ogun, Oyo, Kwara, and Imo States. The victims will be counselled and rehabilitated before reuniting them with their families. Babale called on parents to protect their children from being exploited and lured into slavery in the name of seeking greener pastures He also urged the public to report suspicious cases of human traffickers and trafficking in their respective communities to appropriate authorities for prompt action. The operatives of the Niger state Police Command, has uncovered the lifeless body of a baby, in a farmland at Tayi village of Minna, the states capital. It was gathered that the newborn, who is said to be a day old, was reportedly abandoned by his mother. SP Waisu Abiodun, the Police Public Relations Officer in Niger, announced this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Minna on Tuesday. Advertisement Abiodun said that police operatives of the GRA Division moved to the scene and invited welfare officials of the Chanchaga Local Government Area of the state. He also added that the welfare officials brought in a medical practitioner who examined the baby and confirmed it dead. The states Police spokesman said that the incident was under investigation with the aid of the community to arrest the perpetrator of such an act. READ MORE: Niger Police Parade Bandit Leader Dattijo, Repel Jail Break Also confirming the incident, a resident of the area who prefers anonymity told NAN that the baby must have been abandoned by a woman who got pregnant out of wedlock. He said: The person must have abandoned the baby while still alive but due to severe exposure to cold, the baby died, this is the first time we are seeing this type of such occurrence in our area. The Edo State Government has said that Philip Shaibu is impersonating the deputy governor, Godwins Omobayo and should be ignored by the public. INFORMATION NIGERIA reports that Shaibu, had earlier announced his resumption of duty and directed his staff to follow suit. In a statement on Monday, the states Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, said that people of Edo state should ignore the reinstated deputy governor of the state. Advertisement The statement reads: It has come to the attention of the Edo State Government that the former Deputy Governor, Comr. Philip Shaibu has been corresponding with various institutions and organisations both within and outside the State in a clear case of impersonation. In the interest of these organisations safety, we want to reiterate that Shaibu is not the Deputy Governor of Edo State, and any correspondence from him in that regard should be disregarded and considered a forgery. READ MORE: Edo Crisis: Im Young Enough To Become Gov In Future Philip Shaibu The issue of his purported reinstatement is still active in court, with the next hearing for the two separate motions filed by the State Government and the Edo House of Assembly challenging the purported reinstatement by Justice James Omotosho scheduled for 24 September 2024. The State, through the Attorney General of Edo State and the Edo House of Assembly, represented by their lawyers, Oluwole Iyamu, SAN, and Ken Mozia, SAN, respectively, has sought an order for a stay of execution of the purported reinstatement, an order suspending the judgement, and a restraining order preventing Shaibu from presenting himself or attending any official function as deputy governor pending the hearing and determination of the appeal. Therefore, the status quo remains that His Excellency, Omobayo Marvelous Godwins, is the deputy governor of Edo State. Any correspondence carried out by any other person, including Philip Shaibu, constitutes impersonation, and anyone dealing with him does so at their own risk. Security agencies are hereby alerted to the potential breach of peace and are urged to hold Philip Shaibu accountable for any security breaches in the State arising from his actions. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signed the Judicial Office Holders Salaries and Allowances Bill into law. Basheer Lado, Special Adviser to the President on Senate Matters, disclosed this in a Tuesday statement in Abuja. The National Assembly had in June approved a bill that grants a 300 per cent salary increase for judicial officers at the federal and state levels. Advertisement This followed the consideration and adoption of an executive bill transmitted by Tinubu which sought to prescribe improved salaries and allowances as well as other fringe benefits for judicial officers and workers. The executive bill forwarded by the President was titled A Bill for an Act to Prescribe the Salaries, Allowances and Fringe Benefits of Judicial Office Holders in Nigeria and for Related Matters. Lado said: This extraordinary move underscores Mr Presidents absolute prioritization of the welfare of Nigerian workers above all else just like he did when he recently put on hold an ongoing Federal Executive Council meeting to assent to the new National Minimum Wage Bill of N70,000. He added that the new Act prescribes salaries, allowances, etc., for Judicial Officers to reflect the changing realities and consequentially amend the provisions of the Certain Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders (Salaries and Allowances, etc.), Act, No.6, 2002 (as amended) to delete the provisions relating to Judicial Office Holders. According to him, among the salient features of the Act include, The prescription of salaries, allowances, and other benefits for Judicial Officers. The amendment of Certain Political, Public, and Judicial Office Holders (Salaries and Allowances, etc.) Act, No.6, 2002 (as amended) which provides for the deletion of provisions relating to Judicial Office Holders from the aforementioned Act. He described the signing of the bill by the President as a landmark achievement and a manifestation of his unwavering commitment to the welfare of Nigerias workforce. READ ALSO: Ondo Guber: Corruption Making Life Difficult, My Govt Will Curb It If Elected LPs Candidate Assures Lado said, In a demonstration of his visionary leadership and deep compassion for the Nigerian people, His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCON has once again affirmed his unwavering commitment to the welfare of the nations workforce by assenting to the revised Salaries and Allowances for Judicial Office Holders. This landmark decision reflects Mr Presidents profound dedication to ensuring that every salary earner in Nigeria, especially those serving in vital and strategic roles, receives the recognition and compensation they deserve. By prioritizing the financial well-being of our judicial officers, Mr President is not only reinforcing the integrity of our justice system but also setting a new standard for leadership that truly values the hard work and sacrifices of all Nigerian workers. He added, Under President Tinubus administration, the welfare of our workers has become a central pillar of national progress. His visionary policies continue to uplift the lives of millions, ensuring that the dignity of labour is upheld and that those who serve our nation are justly rewarded. This assent is a clear testament to Mr. Presidents tireless efforts to build a more prosperous and equitable Nigeria, where every worker is empowered to contribute to the nations greatness. As we look to the future with hope and determination, Mr President remains steadfast in his mission to champion initiatives that deliver fair compensation, improved working conditions, and a brighter future for all Nigerians. Lado commended the Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Abass Tajudeen, for their patriotic commitment to progressively improving the welfare of Nigerians. He also lauded the members of the 10th National Assembly for prioritizing the welfare of Nigerians by passing and transmitting the executive Bill which has now been promptly assented to by the President. He urged Judicial Office Holders in the country to redouble their efforts in ensuring that justice is served and speedily so in the light of the action of the President aimed at enhancing their overall welfare and well-being. The judiciary remains the hope of the common man and it is hoped that Nigerians seeking justice get it irrespective of their status in life, he said. Maddie Smith (left) and Mia Svirsky, the American Dairy Association North East's first Chief Ice Cream Officers, sample some scoops and cones on their road trip in June and July of Pennsylvania dairy creameries. Read more It was a journey of a thousand miles, countless calories, and many, many cute and curious cows. The American Dairy Association North Easts first Chief Ice Cream Officers have concluded their three-week tour of Pennsylvania dairy creameries, and theyre here to report on their favorites not that there was any one winner. All their visits on the Pennsylvania dairy trail had their charms. The ice cream officers, Maddie Smith and Mia Svirsky, two friends and social media content creators from D.C., posted their experiences along the way. Advertisement Here is a snapshot of their best-ofs in the summer job of a lifetime, from one corner of this sweet commonwealth to the other. You can go on your own ice cream road trip. Their responses have been condensed and edited for clarity. Best for a Date: Meyers Dairy, State College, Pa. This was our first stop. Meyers Dairy is famous for its ice cream flights, which was a great way to kick off our ice cream adventures. Our flight was Chocolate Chip, Birthday Cake, Grapenut, and Chocolate Chip Brownie Dough. Best Learning Experiences: Penn State Berkey Creamery, University Park, Pa.; Fox Meadows Creamery, Ephrata, Pa. The Penn State Berkey Creamery has been part of campus for over 150 years. We got a behind-the-scenes look at ice cream processing and learned that Penn States dairy scientists have made the creamery a world authority on ice cream and dairy manufacturing. The university has its own barn with 200 cows. At Fox Meadows Creamery, we had the awesome opportunity to be part of the process of churning and tasting. Best Item Made with Ice Cream: Till Top Creamery, Corry, Pa., and Manning Farm Dairy, Scranton. Till Top Creamery is known for its build-your-own milkshakes. We started off with fresh milk from cows just a few yards away, chose vanilla and Cookies and Cream flavors, and enjoyed the freshest milkshake we have ever had. The fourth generation of the Manning Family operates five dairy stores and offers a variety of beautiful, fresh ice cream cakes, and pies. Best Woman-Run Creamery: Windy Ridge, Fombell, Pa.; and Way-Har Farm, Bernville, Pa. Windy Ridge, run by fifth-generation mother-daughter duo Christine Fisher and Lindsay Fisher-Blinn, is all about family and the cows that make the milk for their ice cream and shakes. We tried Strawberry Pretzel Salad and Cow Plop! Way-Har Farm is operated by Lolly Lesher, the first female chair of the Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program, and her husband, Will. Lolly says, Connecting with consumers is key. We are passionate about the care we give to our cows and how we protect the land. We want the people who buy our products to know they come from a good place. Most Beautiful Setting: Lone Oak Farm, Marion Center, Pa., and Crystal Spring Farm, Schnecksville, Pa. You couldnt ask for anything more while enjoying ice cream than the beautiful, scenic views with cows grazing in the pasture at both of these locations. Ice cream at Lone Oak is made with not only milk from their cows, but also fresh produce grown on its farm. Crystal Spring offered pavilions to sit at and there is also a small lake and waterfall! Best Quirky Flavors in a Homemade Waffle Bowl: Perrydell Farm and Dairy, York, Pa. Coffee by the Sea, Cookie Kaboom, Death By Peanut Butter, and Give Me Samoas were just a few of the quirky flavors served in homemade waffle bowls. We met with the owners who explained how the farm is totally self-sufficient starting with growing the feed for the cows to processing the milk for the ice cream. Most Kid/Family Friendly: The Milkhouse at Oregon Dairy, Lititz, Pa., and Klein Farms Dairy and Creamery, Easton, Pa. From the farm-themed playground to the corn maze to the many family events they host and the over 30 flavors of ice cream theres something for everyone at the Milkhouse at Oregon Dairy. The Kleins pride themselves on the quality care they provide their cows and thats why named their ice cream Happy Holstein Ice Cream. They also have a petting zoo and childrens play area with benches and umbrellas. Best Cow-to-Cone Experience: Merrymead Farm, Lansdale. Merrymead offers 32 rotating flavors and soft serve ice cream, all made from the milk of cows just a few steps away. We had an awesome soft serve Peanut Butter Explosion sundae and enjoyed it while visiting with the cows. The farm offers field trips and tours to teach customers about the cow-to-cone experience. Best Flavor Names: Chester Springs Creamery at Milky Way Farm, Chester Springs. The creamery offers dairy education and uses robotics in the barn to increase efficiency. But it never forgets where the credit really belongs. The creamery offers over 48 flavors, each named for a cow in the herd. You can enjoy unique flavors like Claires Cookies N Cream, Roxannes Rocky Road, and Pollys Pumpkin Pie. Best Convenience: Jackson Farms Dairy, New Salem, Pa. Fun fact owner Bill Jackson and business partner Kerry Harvey were inspired by the Creamery at Penn State. As a student, Bill frequented the creamery and Harvey took the ice cream course at the university. Today, their ice cream is available at 40 locations, including their store in New Salem. Best Dairy History: Tanner Brothers Dairy, Ivyland. The Tanner Family has been in business since 1890! They opened a store with milk and ice cream in 1971 from there, the family just kept expanding, adding fresh produce and groceries to serve the communities of Bucks County. We sampled Blueberry Pie ice cream and Caramel Cookie Dough. Best Laid-Back Spot: Maplehofe Dairy, Quarryville, Pa. Maybe because it was our last stop of the Ice Cream Road Tour that we just enjoyed kicking back at Maplehofe Dairy. Or maybe it was because everyone was so nice and chill, but the vibe is very inviting. We ended the tour with a classic Cookies and Cream milkshake. The officers favorite unique flavors: Mia loved the Give Me Samoas from Perrydell Farm. Maddies pick was Brown Butter Almond Brickle from Fox Meadows Creamery. A 30-year-old man was charged with attempted homicide after he allegedly fired gunshots into a vehicle occupied by a woman and her 10-year-old child in an apparent road-rage attack Monday afternoon in Havertown, police said. The woman suffered minor injuries, possibly from shrapnel or glass fragments, but her child was not hurt, Haverford Township police said in a news release Monday night. Advertisement Shortly before 3:30 p.m., the woman and child were in a white Jeep Cherokee on the 2000 block of West Chester Pike when Sean Moses, of Drexel Hill, allegedly fired at least 13 shots into the Jeeps hood, windshield, and a headlight, Haverford police said. Police received reports that Moses was driving a black Lincoln SUV and the vehicle was tracked by Radnor Township police using license-plate readers, Haverford police said. Upper Darby Township Police stopped the Lincoln at State Road and West Chester Pike in Upper Darby and arrested Moses. A gun was found inside the vehicle, police said. Moses was charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, and related offenses. The police did not say if they had a suspected motive for the road-rage shooting. Last month, a 24-year-old man was sentenced to prison for the 2022 fatal road-rage shooting on 54-year-old King Hua in Springfield Township, Delaware County. The Italian Air Force Frecce Tricolori performs a flyover the Philadelphia Museum of Art on Monday. The team is headlining the Air Dot Show in Ocean City, Md., on Aug. 24-25. Read more Its a bird, its a plane, its the Italian Air Force! The Frecce Tricolori the Italian Air Forces high-flyin show team passed over Philadelphia Monday morning as part of their North American tour. The event kicked off at 10:30 a.m. Advertisement The 10-jet troupe started over Northeast Philadelphia and flew south to the Ben Franklin Bridge, with the planes signature red, green, and white smoke trails following close behind. Then, they turned west to fly over downtown and the Philadelphia Museum of Art before heading back to the Northeast to close the loop. The show lasted roughly 30 minutes. The display was part of Frecce Tricoloris first North American tour in over 30 years, with previous stops in New York City; Orlando and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; and Augusta, Ga. Its next stop will be in Ocean City, Md., on Aug. 24 and Aug. 25, where the group will headline the OC Air Show. When Tim Walz was a social studies teacher, he designed multi-week projects where students applied knowledge instead of simply regurgitating it. And he also presented multiple political perspectives, so his students could develop their own. Thats what Walzs students have told reporters, ever since Kamala Harris tapped him as her vice presidential running mate in the race for the White House. Without question, Walz was a superb teacher. But heres a question almost nobody is asking: Could he teach as well today? Advertisement I doubt it. Standardized tests and their associated pressures make it harder for teachers to deliver the type of deep, open-ended instruction Walz provided. And our polarized political environment discourages teachers from addressing contested contemporary issues, which in turn denies students the opportunity to debate them. Walz taught briefly on a Native American reservation and in China before he was hired at a school in Nebraska, where he taught geography. Too often, the subject is imparted as an endless litany of names oceans, mountain ranges, national capitals that kids are supposed to memorize. Not in Walzs class. To teach a unit on the Holocaust, Walz had his students research different episodes of mass murder across geography and time. They investigated the Armenian and Cambodian genocides alongside the Holocaust, trying to figure out what factors economic, political, and cultural promote these types of calamities. For nine weeks, in those pre-internet years, Walzs students pored over history books and scholarly articles. And at the end of the unit, Walz asked them to predict the most likely site of the worlds next genocide. Their answer: Rwanda. They were correct, of course. The following year, 800,000 people died in a three-month catastrophe of hatred and violence. Many years later, Walzs students could still recall the shock of recognition that they had been so right about something so wrong. But mostly, they remembered the distinctive learning experiences Walz created for them. The biggest part was just the freedom to explore things, one former student said. Instead of just going in and having a teacher say, Heres the information, learn it, know it, youll be tested on it. Thats what too much instruction became in the wake of No Child Left Behind, the 2002 federal law that required standardized tests in reading and math and penalized schools where students performed poorly on them. Schools gave short shrift to other subjects including social studies so they could focus on the ones that counted under the new federal guidelines. Across the curriculum, meanwhile, the law triggered a high-stakes-testing mania, as one educator called it. Everyone and everything was measured, often several times a year, so schools could show they were making progress toward proficiency. Walz left teaching for Congress in 2006, on the cusp of this sad revolution. Its easy to imagine a post-2002 principal telling him to replace the genocide exercise with worksheets that would help students prepare for the next standardized test. One can also imagine school leaders who would tell Walz to avoid divisive contemporary issues. Walz decided to enter politics after he took two students to a reelection campaign rally for George W. Bush in 2004. The students were turned away because one of them had a sticker on his wallet for John Kerry, Bushs opponent. Imagine the scandal that would erupt now if a teacher took students to a rally for Donald Trump or Harris. Even if the teacher came from a different political party than the candidate as was the case with Walz, at the Bush event they would be charged with propagandizing young minds. Thats always a danger, of course, whenever teachers address political subjects. But thats not a reason for teachers to avoid politics; instead, they should present different opinions and let students sort them out on their own. And thats exactly what Walz did. He really taught both sides of everything, recalled one of Walzs students from Mankato, Minn., where he moved from Nebraska in 1996. He wasnt pushy about, you know, right or left or whatever. He wasnt pushy about, you know, right or left or whatever. One of Tim Walzs students Today, some of my fellow liberals would deride that approach as bothsidesism: schools should teach the evils of Trump and his MAGA movement, the argument goes, instead of engaging in false equivalence about them. And surely some people on the right would object that Walz who served as faculty adviser to his schools first gay-straight alliance was violating the recent spate of state measures barring instruction about gender identity. And he might even lose his job. Teachers around the country have been placed on leave for expressing views about the war in Gaza, on the assumption that theyre trying to sway students to their own side. But well never heal our ailing democracy until we give teachers enough freedom to explore complex political matters with their students, in a fair and evenhanded way. Im glad Walz did that before politics became his profession. I just wish we let more teachers do it today. Jonathan Zimmerman teaches education and history at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of Whose America?: Culture Wars in the Public Schools and eight other books. After Donald Trump asked the oil industry to contribute $1 billion to his presidential campaign in April, oil baron Harold Hamm immediately started working the phones. Hamm, the billionaire founder of Continental Resources, called other oil executives and encouraged them to attend fundraisers and open their wallets, according to people with knowledge of the outreach who, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private discussions. Advertisement Weve got to do this because its the most important election in our lifetime, Hamm said as he made calls after the April dinner at Trumps Mar-a-Lago Club, where the former president made the audacious fundraising ask, according to an associate. Another person familiar with the matter said Hamm railed against President Joe Bidens energy policies and argued that even if donors didnt love Trump, it made sense to support the former president. In recent months, Hamm has also orchestrated some introductions between oil executives and Trump, and Trump has now called almost everyone in the sector, said a person involved in the industry. READ MORE: How Republicans think they can regain ground for Trump in the blue Philly suburbs Hamm, a sharecroppers son who rose to become one of the worlds richest men, would seem to be an unlikely power broker. He doesnt travel with an entourage and doesnt keep a high profile. Yet he has emerged as a central figure in cajoling the oil industry to finance Trumps reelection bid, and in communicating to the ex-president what the oil industry wants to improve its fortunes in a second Trump term. His message appears to be resonating with some of the countrys wealthiest oil magnates, who are banking on Trumps promises to reverse dozens of Bidens environmental rules and policies. The money has been flowing in. The oil and gas industry has contributed more than $20.3 million to the Trump campaign, pro-Trump super PACs and the Republican National Committee in the 2024 cycle, according to data from OpenSecrets. Trump is expected to do more oil and gas events later this year, aides say. READ MORE: Donald Trump talks assassination attempt, return to Butler, Pa., in his X Spaces chat with Elon Musk The industry has much at stake in the election. Although the United States last year produced more oil than it ever has, Kamala Harris could blunt that trajectory if she were to defeat Trump and replace Biden. As attorney general in California, Harris prosecuted oil companies for leaks from pipelines and storage tanks, and even sued the Obama administration for allowing fracking off Californias Pacific coast - reasons that Hamm and other fossil fuel executives worry about what the next four years could look like. Hamm is working incredibly hard to raise as much money as he can from the energy sector, said a Trump campaign aide. Weve gotten max-out checks from people weve never gotten a dollar from before. Some of the Trump campaigns top individual donors include Texas oil billionaires Jeffery Hildebrand and George Bishop and pipeline mogul Kelcy Warren. Since March, they and their spouses have given at least $9.9 million, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Spokespeople for the companies overseen by Hildebrand, Bishop and Warren did not respond to requests for comment. READ MORE: Donald Trump will hold a rally in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday Hamm has a wish list of policy changes in a second Trump term that would pad his profits and those of other oil executives. At the top of the list: opening up more federal lands to drilling, easing the Endangered Species Act and curbing numerous regulations at the Environmental Protection Agency, according to people familiar with his demands. Hamm has encouraged other oil executives to share their policy priorities with Trump as well. Trump and Hamm have also bonded over their shared dislike of wind energy, according to people familiar with the matter. In addition, Hamm wants close ties with a potential second Trump administration, say people who have interacted with him. In the first Trump term, former administration officials said, his calls were always immediately returned, and he enjoyed a close relationship with top Cabinet officials. Harold Hamm is back there - hes my original oil guy that taught me so much about oil, Trump said at a fundraiser in Houston in May, according to donors who attended. This guy knows more about oil and gas. Thats all he knows. Thats the problem. Hes so boring to be with, you know, because all he wants to talk about is oil and gas. No, we love Harold. Hes a piece of work. Ill tell you that. At another event, Trump said: Harold can just stick his finger in the ground, and oil will come up. READ MORE: Philly is not yet confirmed to be the site of the first presidential debate, despite Donald Trumps comments Mike Cantrell, a former Continental Resources executive, said that if anyone could eventually raise $1 billion from the oil industry, its Hamm. Its limitless what he can raise, if he wants to do it, he said. Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), who relied on Hamms fundraising prowess to boost his 2018 Senate bid, said that Hamm has a very active Rolodex of oil donors. Harold does the leg work, he said. He has a lobbyist or a government affairs person but he makes the phone calls. At the Mar-a-Lago dinner in April, Trump told oil executives that raising $1 billion for his reelection bid would be a deal because of the taxation and regulation they could avoid. Hamm spoke little at the dinner, attendees said. Cramer agreed. When you see the type of money that liberal billionaires are putting in the presidential races these days, it should be easy for the oil and gas industry, especially considering the dramatic difference in regulatory policy decisions between the two parties, the two campaigns, Cramer said. Hamm did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Asked detailed questions about Hamm, a Trump spokeswoman sent a statement that did not mention him. President Trump is proud to be supported by people who share his vision of American energy dominance to protect our national security and bring down the cost of living for all Americans, Karoline Leavitt, the spokeswoman, said. Getting back on the Trump train Hamm has wavered in his support for Trump, initially backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley in the Republican presidential primary. But, like many Republicans who were once critical of Trump, he has come around. The two came to know each other in 2012, when Hamm dropped by Trump Tower to say hello, and Trump took him down to the gift shop and gave him free ties. Trump later sent more free ties after seeing Hamm wear one of them on the cover of Forbes magazine. Throughout Trumps first term in office, Hamm was a reliable supporter of the administration and regularly spoke to the president. In early 2020, he lobbied Trump to help persuade Saudi Arabia and Russia to end a price war that had driven down the price of oil below $0 a barrel, causing Hamm to lose $3 billion in just a few days, people familiar with his meetings said. The effort appeared to pay off. In April 2020, under pressure from Trump, members of OPEC, Russia and other oil-producing nations agreed to the largest production cuts ever negotiated - nearly 10 million barrels a day - as oil demand collapsed during the pandemic. READ MORE: News outlets were leaked insider material from the Trump campaign. They chose not to print it. After the Trump presidency, however, Hamm repeatedly met with DeSantis and was tempted by his candidacy, according to people with direct knowledge of the discussions. He gave DeSantis an extensive briefing on oil and energy policy and even came with a full plan, a person familiar with the pitch said. He praised North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) for his policies on fracking and sought to secure assurances from DeSantis that he would be friendly to the oil and gas industry, the person said. Last summer, Hamm publicly called for Trump to drop out of the race and donated to the presidential campaigns of DeSantis and Haley, the former U.N. ambassador. Privately, he complained to friends that Trump had not responded to his request for a pardon for an associate near the end of his term, and he was frustrated with Trumps behavior at times, Hamm associates say. But eventually, Hamm changed his mind, saying he just wanted Biden out of office and Trump was the clear GOP front-runner. We have to get back on the Trump train, he told one associate last year. Hamm had dinner with Trump in Bedminster, N.J., in July 2023, just before Hamms book came out, according to people familiar with the meeting. In the book, titled Game Changer: Our 50-Year Mission to Secure Americas Energy Independence, Hamm described his fractured friendship with the former president. I get asked a lot about my support for former President Trump running again, he wrote. Although many of his policies were sound and helped our nation prosper, he simply did not stand with many of those who stood with him. My strong belief is there are better qualified candidates who can unite the country in the next election to lead America back to an era of energy abundance. READ MORE: A $10 million cash withdrawal drove a secret probe into whether Donald Trump took money from Egypt Yet after the book publication, Hamm continued to meet with Trump. In October 2023, he showed up at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., brought a $200,000 check for a pro-Trump super PAC, and attended a private meeting with Trump and an intimate fundraiser with the former president, according to three people familiar with the matter. This spring, Hamm had dinner with the former president during his New York hush money trial. He also lobbied Trump and his advisers to choose Burgum as a vice-presidential pick, two people with knowledge of his conversations said. The two men have deep business and personal ties: Continental Resources is the largest oil and gas leaseholder in North Dakota, and Burgum wrote a gushing review for the jacket of Hamms book. Burgum declined an interview request about Hamm. After Trump picked Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) as his running mate instead of Burgum, Hamm co-hosted a fundraiser for Vance in Oklahoma City last month. Tickets for the event started at $5,000 per person, while a picture with Vance cost $15,000 and a seat on the host committee cost $100,000, according to an invitation seen by The Washington Post. Cantrell, the former Continental Resources executive, said Hamms initial support for other Republican presidential contenders created a situation [with Trump] that needed to be mended. And it appears it has been. A rags-to-riches story The youngest of 13 children of Oklahoma sharecroppers, Hamm grew up in a house without electricity or running water. He often skipped school to pick cotton. Today, Hamm is one of the wealthiest people on the planet, but he still prefers a relatively modest lifestyle, friends and others in the industry say. He would rather drive himself around in a used car than hire a chauffeur, and he would rather carry his own luggage at hotels, according to people who have known him for many years. He is not the most loquacious person nor does he spend much time making jokes, associates say. Ive been in restaurants with him where no one in the restaurant knew he was one of the worlds richest men, said a longtime associate. He doesnt like to ask for special treatment or say, Im Harold Hamm; dont you know who I am? While Continental Resources has a lobbyist - Blu Hulsey has handled government affairs for the company since 2010 - Hamm prefers to meet with elected officials himself. In 2015, when Congress was about to lift the ban on U.S. crude oil exports, there was every companys lobbyist and Harold on Capitol Hill, said Cramer, who was a House lawmaker at the time. Hamm visits Washington multiple times a year, associates say, but wont join associations of oil companies because he cant have total control. Instead, he has created his own group called the Domestic Energy Producers Alliance, which enjoyed access to senior officials during the Trump administration. Im not a joiner, he has said privately, a person close to him said. Hamms wealth and influence mean he can have lunch with almost any Republican senator, and he has at times convened large groups of prominent politicians to talk with him about gas and energy, say people familiar with the gatherings. An avid pilot, Hamm owns a private jet and also has a ranch in Missouri. A Type 2 diabetic, he has donated $10 million from his foundation to support the OU Health Harold Hamm Diabetes Center. In 2014, Hamm was ordered to pay nearly $1 billion in a divorce settlement with his ex-wife, Sue Ann Hamm, court filings show. Trump has repeatedly mocked Hamm for the large divorce settlement at fundraisers, saying he couldnt believe someone as smart as Hamm had to pay $1 billion. Hamm has usually kept a straight face and not responded to that line, while others in the room have laughed, according to donors. Former President Donald Trump insists he and former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown were involved in an almost-helicopter crash. Its during this alleged near-death experience that Trump says Brown supposedly mentioned terrible things about Vice President Kamala Harris. Brown vehemently denies ever being in that situation with Trump and making any disparaging remarks about the vice president. Advertisement But another California politician, Nate Holden, has come out and said that while he also never criticized the vice president, the helicopter story in question involved him, not Brown. And a trip to Atlantic City. Both Brown and Holden are Black. Trumps recounting of this helicopter story came during his falsehood-heavy news conference at Mar-a-Lago last week. During the conference he answered reporters questions for over an hour, but a vast majority of his answers featured inaccuracies and he used the venue as an opportunity to agree to the Sept. 10 ABC presidential debate, falsely claim the crowd on Jan. 6, 2021 was bigger than the audience for Martin Luther King Jr.s peaceful I Have a Dream speech, and attack Harris. Trump recalled this so-called event with Brown when a reporter asked him about Brown and Harris relationship (the pair dated during the 1990s). The former president said that Brown had a big part in what happened with Kamala maybe hes changed his tune, but he was not a fan of hers very much at that point. Brown, 90, said last week: Thats so farfetched, its unbelievable. I could not envision thinking of Kamala Harris in any negative way. Heres what to know about Trumps helicopter story and how Atlantic City could have been a part of it. What did Donald Trump say about Willie Brown and the almost-crash? During his news conference at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida residence, last week, Trump said that he knows Brown very well and that the two men went down in a helicopter on their way to an unspecified location. Trump recalled that the helicopter made an emergency landing and that both Trump and Brown thought maybe this is the end. Brown told CNN that Trumps recollection of the situation was obviously wrong adding Ive never been in a helicopter with him in my life. Trump has shared this story previously, writing in his April 2023 book Letters to Trump about the incident. Trump campaign spokesperson, Steven Cheung, posted a photo of a page in the book that features an old photo of Trump and Brown and a caption about the helicopter malfunction. Trump writes in the caption that he and Brown knew each other for a long time and that We actually had an emergency landing in a helicopter together. It was a little scary for both of us, but thankfully we made it. He adds in the book that [Browns] time with Kamala Harris in retrospect turned out to be very interestingbut only he can tell that story. He was doing what Donald does best, his creative fiction, Brown said last week about Trumps recounting of this memory. How does Atlantic City fit into the helicopter saga? Holden, a former city councilmember and state senator from Los Angeles, recalls the story differently. For one thing, he says he was in the helicopter and Brown wasnt. In an interview with Politico Friday, Holden, 95, said he was in contact with Trump and his team during the 1990s when the former president, then a developer, wanted to build on the site of the Ambassador Hotel in LA. Holden had represented the district and was in support of the project, which would have initiated construction on the historic grounds. Holden said he met Trump at Trump Tower before traveling in a helicopter to Atlantic City to tour Trumps Taj Mahal casino, which was brand new at the time, but closed in October 2016 after being branded as the eighth wonder of the world upon its opening in 1990. The former state senator relayed specific details that he remembers from the trip including how Trump seemed to be upset that several individuals in the Trump Tower lobby greeted Holden as senator but did not appear to recognize the real estate developer. The LA politician also remembers being nervous about the helicopter ride since five people, including three Trump casinoexecutives, were killed when their helicopter crashed in 1989 in New Jersey. Holden was assured that the passengers which also included Trumps late brother, Robert, and Barbara Res, Trumps former executive vice president of construction and development were in good hands. Res wrote about the incident in her book, All Alone on the 68th Floor and confirmed to Politico that Holden was certainly on the helicopter. After the pilot said they lost some instruments, the passengers were informed they needed to make an emergency landing. The copter encountered a lot of turbulence, but eventually they made it to the intended New Jersey airport within an hour, Res said. Holden and Res even had lunch at the Atlantic City casino, courtesy of Trump, before heading back to New York. He either mixed it up, Holden said. Or, he made it up. This was just too big to overlook. This is a big one. What has been the fallout from Trumps story? Browns adamant denial of Trumps story has contributed to yet another perplexing narrative from the former president. Some individuals originally thought Trump was confusing the San Francisco mayor with former California Gov. Jerry Brown who assessed wildfire damage in the state via helicopter in 2018. But, there was no emergency landing and no discussion of Kamala Harris, the former governor said via a spokesperson. The rebuttal of Trumps story has seemingly left the former president angry. Trump said late last week in a phone call to a New York Times reporter that he was probably going to sue the publication for its coverage of the situation. Trump also insisted in the phone call that he has records of the helicopter flight but has not yet produced those records and claimed that they landed in a field. Former President Donald Trump at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg on July 31. Read more Former President Donald Trump will return to Pennsylvania Saturday for a campaign rally in Wilkes-Barre in Luzerne County, marking his second time in the Keystone State since surviving an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler last month. Trumps Wilkes-Barre rally is slated to take place at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza, with doors set to open at noon Saturday. Trump is scheduled to speak at the rally around 4 p.m., his campaign announced Monday. Advertisement The announcement comes after Trump commented last week that he planned to keep his campaign schedule sparse in the days leading up to the Democratic National Convention, which is slated to run Aug. 19-22 in Chicago. Trump has held a limited number of campaign rallies since the Republican National Convention concluded on July 18, and has faced criticism over his number of public appearances since then. When asked about his lack of campaign rallies during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago last week, Trump reacted combatively, calling the inquiry a stupid question. Im campaigning a lot, he added, pointing to media appearances and campaign commercials as examples of his camps efforts in the election. President Trump has a robust travel schedule consisting of rallies, messaging events, and fundraisers in the next week. He has held more campaign events than [Harris] and Walz combined, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung told CNBC last week. Last week, Vice President Kamala Harris campaign toured through a number of battleground states around the country, kicking the effort off with a stop in at Temple Universitys Liacouras Center, during which she made her first public appearance with her newly minted running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Trumps VP pick, Sen. JD Vance (R., Ohio), meanwhile, appeared at the 2300 Arena in South Philadelphia the same day, and later followed the Harris-Walz ticket on their tour to hold events in similar locations. Trump last appeared in Pennsylvania on July 31, holding a campaign rally at the New Holland Arena in Harrisburg. That event came just weeks after the assassination attempt in Butler, during which Corey Comperatore, a former Buffalo Township fire chief, was killed and two other men were wounded. Trump was grazed in the ear by a bullet fired by Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pa. Ahead of the Harrisburg rally, Trump indicated in a post on Truth Social that he intends to return to Butler for another rally, honoring Comperatore and the two others injured in the shooting. His campaign has not yet announced further details regarding a return to Butler. Vice President Kamala Harris campaign is slated to focus on Democratic strongholds Wednesday, while former President Donald Trumps camp will head to battleground states that have captured both candidates attention early this election season. Harris running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is scheduled to make appearances in Denver and Boston Wednesday as part of a five-state tour, marking his first solo campaign trip since being named the Democratic VP pick last week. Those stops will come following a campaign stop in Los Angeles at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees convention Tuesday, The Hill reported. Advertisement Harris and Walz last week embarked on a battleground state-focused introductory tour following Walzs addition to the ticket, beginning with a stop at the Liacouras Center in North Philadelphia. Trumps running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R., Ohio), followed the Harris-Walz ticket to battleground states, starting his jaunt at the 2300 Arena in South Philadelphia. Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, meanwhile, will also campaign on Harris behalf Wednesday with a scheduled speaking engagements in Chicago and Glencoe, Ill., the White House announced. Emhoff was also scheduled to speak at a campaign event in Los Angeles Tuesday. Harris herself will appear Thursday in Prince Georges County, Md. There, she is expected to be joined by President Joe Biden, marking the pairs first campaign stop together since Biden announced he was dropping out of the race last month. Harris and Biden will discuss the progress they are making to lower costs for the American people, the White House said. Harris will then speak at a campaign event in Raleigh, N.C. Friday. Trump on Wednesday is slated to hold a rally in Asheville, N.C., where he will speak at the Harrahs Cherokee Center at 4 p.m., according to his campaigns website. The rally will feature Trump discussing the economic hardships created by the Harris-Biden Administration, his campaign said in a statement. As Trump is in North Carolina, Vances is scheduled to visit Byron Center, Mich. There, Vance will speak at 2 p.m. at Cordes, Inc., a local family-owned trucking company, according to the Trump campaigns website. Vance will then turn his attention back to Pennsylvania on Thursday with a scheduled stop at a VFW post in New Kensington in Westmoreland County. Vance is scheduled to speak at 10 a.m., with doors opening for the event at 7 a.m., the Trump campaign announced Tuesday. Trump will return to Pennsylvania Saturday for a rally in Wilkes-Barre at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza. That appearance will mark his second in Pennsylvania since surviving an assassination attempt in Butler County last month. Trump previously stopped in Harrisburg on July 31. Trump has also said that he will return to Butler for a rally honoring Corey Comperatore, a former Buffalo Township fire chief who was killed in the July 13 assassination attempt, as well as two other people injured in the shooting. In a conversation with Elon Musk on X Spaces Monday, Trump indicated that his campaign will return to Butler sometime in October. Additionally, Trump claimed over the weekend that a planned Sept. 10 presidential debate hosted by ABC would take place at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. The location and venue have not yet been confirmed for that event, the network told The Inquirer. Elon Musk told former President Donald Trump that his strength under fire during an assassination attempt in Butler, Pa., played a part in the billionaires decision to endorse the former president. Your actions at the assassination attempt were inspiring instead of shying away from things, instead of ducking down, you were pumping your first in the air and saying, Fight, fight, fight, Musk said during a Monday night conversation with Trump on X Spaces, the latest example of Trump favoring social media as a campaign tool. Advertisement Pennsylvania was the star of the first chunk of Musk and Trumps two-hour conversation on the social media platform. The discussion, which started 42 minutes late after X encountered some technical difficulties, provided a venue for Trump to discuss, among other topics, the assassination attempt and his promise to return to Butler in October. It also allowed Trump to make false claims about Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democrats in an environment where his often-rambling comments went unchecked and received little pushback from Musk, who has his own history of spreading misinformation on the app he bought in 2022. Its nice to have a forum like this where I can discuss something at length, Trump said at one point during the chat, which Musk intended to be different from an adversarial interview. Musk made his endorsement of Trump on X on July 13, shortly after the assassination attempt that evening. Musk has previously supported Democratic politicians, including President Joe Bidens White House bid in 2020, and said Monday night that he once stood in line for six hours to shake [former President Barack] Obamas hand. But in recent years, Musk has repeatedly espoused rhetoric that aligns closely to Trump and right-wing political movements. Heres what Trump said about Pennsylvania during his conversation with Musk and what could have led to the delayed start. Trump recalls details of Butler shooting Musk asked Trump about the assassination attempt in Butler. Not pleasant, Trump replied. I didnt know I had that much blood. The doctors later told me that the ear is a place that is a very bloody place if youre going to get hit, Trump said. Just as he did during his most recent Pennsylvania rally, in Harrisburg on July 31, Trump recounted to Musk how his head was turned toward a chart that featured migrant encounter numbers, according to an ABC News analysis. In presenting the chart, Trump maneuvered his head away from the impending gunfire, perhaps avoiding a more serious or fatal injury. Illegal immigration saved my life, Trump said, referring to the contents of the chart he was presenting in Butler. Trump marveled that once he was hit and ducked down behind his podium, the rally-goers didnt leave his side. They saw that I was hurt, they saw a lot of blood, and they saw that I went down, and its almost like they wanted to be with me, Trump said. Trump added that the Secret Service agents surrounding him after the attack wanted to bring the former president out on a stretcher, but Trump said he refused the measure. The former president also mentioned Corey Comperatore, the 50-year-old firefighter who was fatally shot at the rally while shielding his wife and daughter from the gunfire, and the two men, David Dutch of New Kensington, Pa., and James Copenhaver of Moon Township, Pa., who were injured. Trump said Corey was a firefighter, a great gentleman, a great Trumper. Trump says he will return to Butler, Pa., in October Trump told Musk that he plans to return to Butler, Pa., in October, a comment that comes a little more than two weeks after Trump posted on Truth Social that he would be returning to the town to hold a rally in honor of Comperatore and the two injured men, but did not provide further details. When Trump initially announced his plans to return to Butler, Jondavid Longo, the mayor of nearby Slippery Rock who attended the rally, said that Trumps return will play a vital role in the healing of our community and the elevation of our name above the ugliness of July 13 and that supporters of the former president wont be deterred from attending. The Republican nominee has visited Pennsylvania six times so far in 2024, his most recent being a rally at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg in late July, which was his first time back in the commonwealth since the assassination attempt. Trump is scheduled to hold a rally in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday. Why did Musks conversation with Trump start late? Before Musk and Trump could start their conversation by discussing the assassination attempt, Musk said the platform was experiencing a massive DDoS attack that prevented many users from accessing the X Space. DDoS, or distributed denial of service, attacks happen when legitimate users cannot access information systems, devices, or networks due to a malicious cyber threat actor, according to the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Targeted networks are flooded with activity during an attack, leaving them inaccessible to legitimate users. Musk has had previous technical difficulties on X Spaces with politicians, but the rest of the website was working normally and the Verge reported there wasnt a DDoS attack Monday evening, according to a source from the company. Another source told the outlet there was a 99 percent chance Elon was lying about an attack. Musk claimed on X that we tested the system with 8 million concurrent listeners earlier today and said on the call, once the problems were seemingly resolved, that the massive attack illustrates theres a lot of opposition to people just hearing what President Trump has to say. The Philadelphia Housing Authority has offered to pay $24 million to purchase Brith Sholom House, a senior housing complex that fell into disrepair under the control of a real estate dynasty that profited by running the apartments into the ground. The deal, between PHA and the mortgage holder, New World Commercial Credit, would conclude years of turmoil at the property, where the 90 or so remaining elderly and disabled residents have for months fought off the threat of sheriffs sale and gas shutoffs. Because the building is under court-appointed receivership, it still requires a judges approval. Advertisement READ MORE: Empire of Neglect: An N.J. family cashed in while Brith Sholom seniors suffered Daniel Urevick-Ackelsberg, an attorney with the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia, which represents the tenants, said the possibility of a public bailout was a testament to tenants organizing. They put themselves at the mercy of [PHA chief executive] Kelvin Jeremiah and said, We need you to step in. You are the only hope for us. And somewhat amazingly, thats what has happened. The complex was owned for years by the Brooklyn- and Lakewood, N.J.-based Puretz family, which used fake charities and holding companies to score favorable financing and snap up some 100 low-income apartment complexes nationally during the 2010s. The family systematically stripped the equity from complexes like Brith Sholom, shorting maintenance costs and siphoning away utility payments at tenants expense, a recent Inquirer investigation found. In recent years, the Puretzes have faced a barrage of lawsuits, criminal prosecution, and financial instability, kicking off a chain reaction of foreclosures, including Brith Sholoms. READ MORE: Scion of Puretz family admits role in mortgage fraud scheme A trio of Puretzes are now facing related criminal charges, ranging from federal mortgage fraud to allegations that family members were skimming utility payments that amounted to millions of dollars. That left their holdings in the Philadelphia region spiraling into disrepair. Hillside Manor, a Chester complex, was sold at a U.S. Marshals Service sale in May, while the Pavilion, an affordable complex in the citys Wynnefield Heights neighborhood, was placed in receivership. Brith Sholom, a 360-unit apartment building, also in Wynnefield Heights, has been under the care of a receiver since last fall, and the Puretzes have not taken part in litigation involving either the city, which revoked the rental license and filed suit over hundreds of code violations, or New World Commercial Credit, which sought to foreclose on its $36 million mortgage on the property. READ MORE: Thousands of poor and elderly residents were stranded in awful apartments. Heres what our investigation found. New World lawyer Daniel Pereira told Common Pleas Court Judge Anne Marie Coyle at a hearing Tuesday that if the deal did not go through by the end of the week, the bank would sell the property to a for-profit developer. Coyle said Pereira would have to come back on Aug. 26 with proof that he had properly notified all creditors. The owners owe more than $1.5 million to Peco, the Philadelphia Water Department, and Philadelphia Gas Works, which warned tenants that, as of Sept. 9, it would be legally barred from delaying a shutoff any longer. The utilities have all entered into deals to accept as little as half of what they are owed if the sale to PHA goes through, lawyers for the city, PGW, and the receiver told Coyle. More than a dozen tenants packed the courtroom, many of them using walkers or canes. Weve had at least five deaths in the last two months because of the stress level, said Gail Peddle, sitting in her chair walker outside the courtroom. She and other tenants have held protests, attended court hearings, and packed PHA board meetings in search of city assistance. Part of the stress, according to Peddle and several other tenants, is the sense that the building managers are retaliating against them for speaking out. Kim Wiggins said three of her tires were slashed and her daughter was physically assaulted during an altercation with building management. Others pointed to the laundry machines that were left unplugged, the lobby seating area that was closed off, the benches that were yanked from the buildings parklike front lawn, and the elevators that seemed to stop working at inopportune times. Many seniors have given up and moved out in recent months. Alan Jovinelly, of receiver Stockton Real Estate Advisors, said that as monthly rental income fell from $100,000 in January to $20,000 in July, he has been unable to keep up with basic maintenance and will soon be unable to pay for security. Tenants, too, are impatient, and tired of living in limbo, said Marguerite Byrd, a resident and tenant council member. Hopefully if PHA is able to purchase the building, it would bring resolution for everybody thats still living there, Byrd said. This is now our third year partnering with Hamilton Island Race Week, said Nautilus Marine CEO Lyndon Turner. For us, the week-long regatta is not just about the superb racing and onshore festivities in an idyllic location, it is also about the Nautilus Marine Insurance team supporting the sailing community and showcasing how our insurance products have been designed with the needs of boat owners in mind. The funding will enable Walnut to enhance its technological capabilities, scale its operations, and develop innovative insurance solutions that open new revenue channels for insurers and their business partners. The company is also planning to expand its engineering team, establish new partnerships, and explore new market opportunities. "We are looking forward to offering affordable new insurance options to the community," she said. "I'm a resident of Azusa and happy to bring all the resources that Confie offers to people who need it the most in our Latin community." This ruling is the latest in a series of legal setbacks for Lindberg, who was found guilty in May of attempting to bribe North Carolinas insurance commissioner. Lindberg and a co-conspirator were first convicted in 2020, a decision that was overturned two years later. Following his second conviction, Lindberg sought to have the decision overturned once again, a move strongly opposed by government attorneys, according to BestWire). Here in the states, we see some of these larger retailers are much more particular about things, he said. They see something they dont like - how it looks or how its packaged [and] they often reject it from the supplier. [Its about] drawing the fine line. Is that necessarily a recall by definition from an insurance standpoint, or is it a recall because we dont like the way it looks? Chris has earned this promotion through nearly 25 years in surety, including two successful years leading our Large Contract Surety business, said Paul Lavelle, head of US National Accounts at Zurich North America. He will draw on broad knowledge and experience in both contract and commercial surety as he now takes on responsibility for the overall direction, management, and performance of our longstanding Surety business. This post is part of a series sponsored by AgentSync. Insurance compliance is serious business. Falling out of compliance can have real consequences for everyone from insurance agencies, carriers, MGAs, and MGUs, to individual producers, adjusters, and dually licensed broker-dealers. Whom you choose to partner with for your compliance needs matters. Choosing the right technology partner can transform your insurance licensing compliance practices from a nightmare into a dream-come-true. Choosing the wrong partner, on the other hand, can lead to undesirable outcomes, such as: Spending too much money on something thats not meeting your needs Risking compliance and data security mishaps Failing to achieve organization-wide adoption and the continued use of manual and error-prone processes Losing staff and distribution channel partners because of how frustrating it is to work for or with you While the industry urges insurance businesses to adopt more modern practices, many insurance compliance technology vendors still have no qualms doing business the way theyve always done it. Often, this includes committing some serious crimes against their own customers. No, were not talking about the kinds of crimes that land anyone in jail, but these transgressions are frustrating, costly, and just plain wrong nonetheless. In this three-part series, well cover some of the most common crimes we see insurance compliance tech vendors committing against their customer base. First up are crimes of the financial variety: the ones that cost you more money than they should, or, worse yet, leave you in the dark about how much money youll be spending. When insurance compliance vendors commit financial crimes If youre looking to invest in a modern, automated producer compliance management solution, its likely that saving money is one of your motivations. Unfortunately, customers all too often find themselves spending more money than they anticipated, or even wondering from month to month and year to year how much money theyll need to spend keeping their producer, adjuster, and broker-dealer licenses and appointments in good order. Some commonly perpetrated financial crimes include: 1. Fees on top of fees There are unavoidable fees associated with producer and adjuster licensing and appointments. But, when a technology provider charges transaction fees just for giving you the privilege of paying another fee, thats just not right. When evaluating a compliance technology partner, make sure to ask what they charge per transaction on top of the fees that entities likes states and NIPR charge. If the answer isnt nothing, theres a good chance youll find yourself paying more each month than youve budgeted for getting and keeping your producers, adjusters, and broker-dealers licensed. Customer confession: Another company were talking to is charging $2.50 for each appointment, $2.50 for each termination, and $1.75 for each PDB lookup. And all thats on top of the regular NIPR fee to do these transactions. 2. Opaque pricing Agreeing to pay a fee is one thing, but having no idea what youre paying for is something else entirely. Many compliance vendors send their customers a bill that makes it impossible to know what theyre paying for. Is that a subscription fee? A state fee? An NIPR fee? An add-on transaction fee? Who can say? Before getting into a contract with a compliance technology partner, clear and transparent pricing is a must-have. Once youre in that relationship, it shouldnt take a PhD in finance to decode your monthly bill. Customer confession: Weve got a bill for $2 million and its hard to tell what part of that is the unavoidable fees, like the NIPR electronic processing fee or state-specific application fees, and how much of that is just going to the vendor. 3. Paying for up-to-date data When signing up for a compliance management solution, you wouldnt expect to have to pay extra each time you want to manage compliance. Yet, thats exactly what some technology providers demand. Paying a PDB fee to feed accurate data from the industrys source of truth to the system youre already paying for should be criminal! Instead, look for a compliance technology partner that bases its pricing on one straightforward fee, such as a cost based on the number of producers (unique NPNs) you want to keep tabs on. Having accurate, up-to-the-day information about that producer should be included in that cost, not re-charged every time you want to verify the producers license is still valid in a state, for example! 4. Various bait-and-switches Whether its signing up for something and then learning youre not getting what you saw in the demo (without paying extra), or being forced to pay to upgrade a software you bought years ago and thought you could use forever, there are plenty of examples of customers thinking theyre getting one thing and learning the truth later. Honesty is important, even when its not the answer you want to hear. We believe compliance partners should be upfront about what their solution can and cant do, how much it costs, and all other terms and conditions, so customers can make fully informed decisions about whats best for them. Customer confession: To be honest, were gun shy to try again with another vendor because of the lack of transparency weve been dealing with. 5. Holding your data for ransom While insurance compliance providers arent technically going all-out ransomware attack with your organizations data, it can feel a bit like that! Many vendors make you pay extra to run reports so you can analyze the data you input and maintain. If youve put the data in, but you have to pay to analyze it or report on it, is it really your data? Sometimes, by necessity, it costs extra to have a custom report built so that you can see exactly what you need in a specific way. Were not against anyone making money for performing add-on services. But thats different than a charge for each time you use that report in the future, or want to access todays version of that data (not last months). Dont let vendors hold your data hostage or make you pay extra to use it for data-driven decisionmaking. Insist on free access to look at your data and do what you want with it. Avoid falling victim to financial crimes from your compliance technology If youre currently working with an insurance compliance technology that isnt treating you the way you deserve in these ways or others! see how AgentSync is different. AgentSyncs committed to the idea of Customer Love. This means fair and transparent pricing, support thats actually supportive, and a tech platform that delights its users and is regularly updated and improved. See how different insurance compliance could be at your organization by speaking with someone at AgentSync today. Topics Fraud With eleventh hour guidance from the state, Maine gun retailers on Friday began requiring a three-day wait period for gun purchases under one of the new safety laws adopted following the states deadliest mass shooting. Maine joined a dozen other states with similar laws, requiring that buyers wait 72 hours to complete a purchase and retrieve a weapon. The law is among several gun-related bills adopted after an Army reservist killed 18 people and injured 13 others on Oct. 25, 2023, in Lewiston. The new law wouldnt have prevented the tragedy the gunman bought the rifle legally months earlier but Fridays milestone was celebrated by gun safety advocates who believe it will prevent gun deaths by providing a cooling-off period for people intent on buying a gun to do harm to others or themselves. These new laws will certainly save lives, both here in Maine and throughout the nation, said Nacole Palmer, executive director of the Maine Gun Safety Coalition. Gun store owners complained about the guidance, released just Tuesday, and the loss of sales to out-of-state visitors during Maines busy summer tourism season. They also said the waiting period will take a toll on gun shows. In Kittery, Dave Labbe from the Kittery Trading Post said there would be close to zero completed rifle sales at its main store beginning Friday as customers subject to the waiting period will have to return to pick up their firearms. He is worried shoppers wont buy guns because the waiting period requires them to make an extra trip to the store. You can imagine how I feel, he said. Unlike other Maine dealers, Kittery Trading Posts out-of-state buyers of rifles and shotguns have the option to move those sales to its New Hampshire facility to complete a same-day purchase. But that increases business costs and inconveniences customers. In some cases, the customer may prefer to ship the firearm to a dealer in their home state, Labbe said. At the store on Friday, shoppers poured inside on a rainy day to make purchases of clothing and outdoor gear, but foot traffic in the gun department appeared to be slower than usual. A sign overhead alerted buyers to the new law. Some retailers claimed the guidance was late and vague. Its as clear as mud, said Laura Whitcomb from Gun Owners of Maine. She noted that gray areas include the legal definition for the agreement that must be reached to trigger the waiting period. Critics of the law have vowed to sue. They contend it harms only law-abiding citizens while doing nothing to stop criminals from accessing weapons illegally. They also contend people who intend to harm themselves will find another way to do so if they are unable to purchase a gun on the spot. Violating the law is a civil infraction with a fine of $200 to $500 for a first offense and $500 to $1,000 for subsequent violations. The waiting period law went into effect without the signature of Democratic Gov. Janet Mills. It was one of a series of bills adopted after the mass killings at a bowling alley and a bar and grill in Lewiston. Mills told lawmakers during her State of the State address that doing nothing was not an option after the tragedy. The laws bolstered the states yellow flag law allowing weapons to be taken from someone in a psychiatric crisis, criminalized the transfer of guns to prohibited people and required background checks for people who advertise a gun for sale on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace or elsewhere. Maine is a state with a long hunting tradition and the bills drew opposition from Republicans who accused Democrats, who control both legislative chambers, of using the tragedy to advance proposals, some of which had previously been defeated. Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Maine Gun Liability Claims that a workers compensation insurer acted with negligence after it canceled a policy are for a court, not the states workers compensation board, to decide, the Connecticut Appellate Court has ruled. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. had succeeded before both the Connecticut Workers Compensation Review Board (WCB) and on court appeal in its denial of an injured workers claim. The insurer won on the basis that it had effectively canceled the employers policy due to issues with an audit, despite having also sent contradictory notices that the employer claimed led it to believe that the policy was still in effect. After the claim denial and policy cancellation were affirmed, the employer, The Grotto, persisted with a lawsuit alleging that Liberty Mutuals conduct after it canceled the policy was negligent misrepresentation. The Grotto pointed to letters it received from the insurer following the notice of cancellation that it claims were false and induced it to believe the policy was still in effect on the date of the injury and that it need not take any action to prevent a lapse in coverage. The employer said it had paid the premium. A trial court granted Liberty Mutuals motion for summary judgment in dismissing The Grottos lawsuit. This court concluded that the employers action was barred by the doctrine of res judicata, which holds that a party is precluded from bringing a claim after that claim has been the subject of a final judgment in a previous lawsuit. The trial court held that the questions raised were settled when the appeals court upheld WCBs ruling that the policy was correctly canceled and thus benefits were not available. However, the appellate court has now rejected the argument that res judicata applies to the claims in The Grottos lawsuit because none of the claims raised by The Grotto fall within the scope of the workers compensation act and none of the claims were previously addressed. Not Traditional The appeals court explained that the injuries claimed by The Grotto do not allege a personal injury compensable under the workers compensation act and they differ from traditional claims adjudicated under the act because they involve questions of misrepresentations and negligence by an insurance provider as to the employer, the resolution of which requires the application of laws that are not part of the act. The appeals court noted that the narrow issue before the WCB and upheld on appeal was whether Liberty Mutual had effectively cancelled the policy. The WCB did not consider any causes of action related to Liberty Mutuals conduct following the effective date of the cancellation. The WCB itself made clear that whether Liberty Mutual was justified in canceling its policy, or whether it breached its contract with Grotto by doing so, are questions that must be determined in another forum. The appellate court found that the trial court incorrectly concluded that res judicata bars The Grottos action and improperly rendered summary judgment in favor of Liberty Mutual. The court reversed the summary judgment and remanded the case for further proceedings. In prior proceedings, The Grotto argued that communications from Liberty Mutual after the asserted cancellation notice led it to believe that the policy was still in effect at the time of the injury. The WCB actually agreed that there was sufficient evidence to support the conclusion that The Grotto reasonably believed that the policy was still in force but that was immaterial to whether the policy was effectively cancelled. Libertys Letters In the administrative hearing on the workers compensation claim, the workers compensation commissioner reached several factual findings including that Liberty Mutual issued The Grotto a workers compensation policy that was scheduled to expire on August 20, 2016. The commissioner noted that Liberty Mutual claimed to have cancelled this policy on October 14, 2015, but the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) said the policy was cancelled on November 3, 2015. The Grotto argued that it had paid the full premium prior to the date of the injury and reasonably believed the policy was still in effect. In his findings, the commissioner cited several examples of communications from Liberty Mutual to The Grotto, communications he considered inconsistent at best. On February 18, 2016, Liberty Mutual issued a new endorsement and sent it to The Grotto. Liberty Mutual then sent a letter to The Grotto on February 24, 2016, requesting a response to an audit report warning that a failure to submit the audit report may result in cancellation of your existing policy. However, a different letter sent by Liberty Mutual to The Grotto on the same day said that the policy had been cancelled on November 3, 2015. This letter also noted the result of an audit determining that there had been a $5 underpayment of the premium. On March 15, 2016 Liberty Mutual sent two additional letters. One letter, referencing a revised audit, referred to the policy as having been cancelled on November 3, 2015. The other said that The Grottos self-audit was incomplete and requested the submission of additional materials. On March 17, 2016, Liberty Mutual sent The Grotto a letter stating a policy issued to them had expired on August 20, 2015, and a final audit determined there had been a premium underpayment of $12. On April 15, 2016, Liberty Mutual returned to The Grotto a prorated portion of the premium which had been paid on the policy amounting to $3,151.86. Topics Carriers Two people were killed and 12 families displaced after a Maryland house exploded Sunday amid reports of a possible gas leak, fire officials said. Neighbors described feeling and hearing the early morning blast that damaged a number of surrounding houses in Bel Air, a town about about 30 miles (50 kilometers) northeast of Baltimore. Firefighters were called to the area around 6:40 a.m. for a report of a gas leak and an outdoor odor of gas, said Oliver Alkire, a master deputy with the State Fire Marshals Office. Alkire said that as firefighters were approaching, they began receiving calls that the house had exploded. First responders pronounced one person dead at the scene, and a second body was later found in the rubble. Alkire said that a home next door to the explosion was heavily damaged, and a woman in that house was treated for injuries on the scene. Two utility workers were in the area to work on a reported electrical issue, but authorities didnt immediately say if that was related to the explosion. The first victim found was later identified as a contractor for the utility BGE, according to a statement released by Harford County Fire and EMS. The State Fire Marshals Office said late Sunday that the second body was found in the rubble of the home at the center of the blast. The person is believed to be the homes 73-year-old owner, but positive identification was pending, according to the fire officials statement. Investigators were also working to establish how many houses were damaged and how far the blast radius was. Harford County fire officials said that at least 12 families have been displaced due to damage to neighboring houses. Authorities said there was no ongoing threat to the public. Ive been on the job for nearly 18 years, and this is one of the largest explosions Ive seen, Alkire said. 60 First Responders A photo posted by county officials showed several firefighters around the rubble of the home with another damaged home in the background. Charred pieces of wood were heaped on the property, and insulation and splintered wood spilled out into the street. Small pieces of debris hung from nearby trees. Later in the morning, emergency workers were seen using heavy equipment to search through the rubble. More than 60 first responders came to the scene from multiple agencies. The state fire marshal, sheriff and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were assisting with the probe, as is standard procedure. Lisa Czawlytko, who lives in a nearby condominium, said the explosion woke her and her three children and knocked a pet bird to the ground. She said the roof structure on four condominium buildings buckled and sent aluminum siding from the roof down to the ground. She attended a news conference at a nearby library to ask officials if it was safe to be in the building. She said she felt the force of the explosion. The whole building shook like a major earthquake, she said in an interview. Her 8-year-old daughter described it as scary, when her mother asked her how she felt when it happened . I thought a bomb dropped, Myca said. The blast woke up Greg Clifford from a heavy sleep inside his townhouse about a block away. He first thought that a tree had fallen on his deck, or that a lightning strike caused the loud noise. It just shook the whole thing, Clifford said. It was crazy loud. He also noted some damage to his home. The window in my bedroom is pulled away from the framing of the house, Clifford said. I mean, I can look straight down to my deck. My basement door the glass it didnt shatter, but it blew in, and my frames all cracked out. Photo: Crew workers remove the debris after a house exploded in Bel Air, Md. neighborhood on Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Maryland Schlatter Industries network was attacked with malware on Friday and it can be assumed this was a professional attack, the Switzerland-based company said on Monday. The group was hit on Friday by a cyberattack using malware, and the unknown perpetrators were attempting to blackmail Schlatter, it said, disclosing no further details. The group was investigating whether data was stolen and experts were working to make all systems available and functional again, Schlatter said. The engineering company said it immediately initiated security measures and involved the relevant authorities. (Reporting by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru; editing by Tom Hogue) Topics Cyber UK spies are stepping up efforts to tackle cyber and artificial intelligence threats from hostile foreign states, including the sort of online manipulation that helped foment rioting across the country in the past 10 days. GCHQ, the UKs national security listening post, is working with Prime Minister Keir Starmers administration on a Laboratory for AI Security Research, people familiar with the matter said. The new body would unify work by government departments and intelligence officials to study how Britains enemies might use AI offensively, they said. GCHQ did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The center would look at the full range of dangers, according to the people, ranging from the spread of the online misinformation such as the kind that played a role in sparking riots over the past two weeks to AI-made bio weapons. Cyber and AI threats to the UKs national security have come into increasing focus in recent months. Amid a recent spate of rioting and violent disorder sparked in part by online misinformation about the suspect in the killings of three young girls, British authorities suspected foreign state-backed actors used bots to amplify anti-immigration sentiment on the social media platform X. The new organization would in time seek to work with technology companies and academic experts, as well as international allies, to counter AI-based threats to national security and British businesses, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the project has not been made public. They warned that the plans were not yet finalized and could still be changed. The Group of Seven nations and the European Union made combating Russian disinformation and influence operations a top priority at a leaders summit in Italy earlier this year. Those efforts included publicly exposing Russian campaigns and methods, sanctioning outlets and individuals, and coordinating responses to Moscows actions, as well as striving to prevent disinformation spreading on major technology platforms. Hacking has been another area where the UK and its allies have seen hostile foreign state activity. In May, British officials said China was the likely culprit in a cyber-attack that gained access to the personal data of UK military personnel. Just two months earlier, the UK had accused Chinese hackers of targeting politicians, companies and dissidents, as well as stealing troves of British voter data. Beijing denied all those allegations. Giving some insight into the work GCHQ does, its director-general Anne Keast-Butler said last year that the eavesdropping agency contributed vital intelligence to shape the Wests response to the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine; helped disrupt terrorist plots; and worked tirelessly to tackle the ongoing threat of ransom-ware, the impact of which costs the UK dearly. Photo credit: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg Copyright 2024 Bloomberg. Topics Cyber InsurTech Data Driven Artificial Intelligence Insured losses from recent riots in the United Kingdom are expected to remain at manageable levels with a limited impact on insurers credit profiles, according to credit agency Morningstar DBRS, in a market commentary. The main reason for manageable claims is the UK Riot Compensation Act 2016 (RCA), which stipulates that single claims below 1 million (US$1.3 million) per property can be recovered from local police authorities, limiting overall losses for the British insurance industry to below 250 million (US$319 million), the report said. Nevertheless, the UK riots could negatively pressure the profitability of certain commercial line insurers depending on the extent businesses are affected, said the report titled Losses From Recent UK Riots Expected To Have a Marginal Impact on the British Insurance Industry. Geopolitical Risks: Why Underwriters Are Watching Aggregations We expect that British insurers will ultimately bear a relatively small portion of the total economic losses caused by the riots. We note, however, that business interruption losses resulting from vandalism, looting, and potential curfews, as well as large claims, are not covered under the RCA. Large companies and retail chains will likely rely on separate business interruption coverage under their commercial insurance policies, the report said. (Economic losses include both insured and uninsured losses). Growing SRCC Losses The unrest in the UK will add to the concerns of providers of strike, riot, and civil commotion (SRCC) insurance and reinsurance globally, which have seen a rise in the frequency and severity of SRCC events over the past decade, said Morningstar, noting that these claims have prompted many insurance companies to reduce policy limits for these risks or drop the coverage altogether from standard insurance policies. Large commercial clients have started to rely more on standalone SRCC insurance providers in the London market as well as global specialized reinsurers, the report said. Nevertheless, even these providers have recently been limiting the risks they cover, particularly in traditionally volatile parts of the world. The costs of such events can be considerable. For example, economic and insured losses from just seven civil unrest incidents in recent years cost approximately $13 billion, said Allianz Commercial in a report published in April 2024. The recent UK riots began on July 30 after a stabbing, which killed three children, was falsely blamed on an immigrant. The 17-year-old stabbing suspect was born in Britain. Morningstar said these riots which did cause major economic losses may prompt traditional home and motor insurance providers to reconsider how they offer these coverages as part of their standard policies. (The report noted that SRCC cover is part of the specialized war, terrorism, and political violence insurance market, which provides coverages that complement those underwritten under standard motor, business, and homeowners insurance policies.) Types of Coverage The report went on to describe the types of policies that are available to provide coverage to help rebuild or replace assets damaged by episodes of vandalism and looting. For instance, standard homeowners and motor insurance policies in the UK typically cover damages from vandalism, including fire, and looting, the report said. Nonetheless, motor insurance policies that only cover third-party liability do not protect against physical damage, including any loss resulting from riots, civil commotion, or vandalism. The report explained that only all-risk or standard motor policies will cover physical damage, including damage from riots. In the UK, standard commercial insurance policies usually cover physical damage to the premises in the case of riots. Losses from looting might have a separate sub-limit if contracted. Glass coverage is also typically subject to separate limits and deductibles. These policies may also provide optional loss of income protection (business interruption or BI) for an additional premium. As BI coverage is only triggered by direct physical damage to the premises, some commercial clients may opt to get additional coverage under so-called civil authority provisions, which provide protection for lost income and extra expenses if police or other civil authority bars access to the property, for instance in case of a curfew. UK Riot Compensation Act Explained The Morningstar report said the UK riots will be a major test for the UKs RCA, which was enacted in 2016 following the London riots of August 2011, when the insurance industry paid approximately 200 million (US$255.3 million) in claims. Historically, local police authorities in the UK have been liable under statute to pay compensation to those suffering loss caused by riots a principle that was codified in the Riot Act 1886, Morningstar recalled. However, the 2011 riots proved that the Riot Act 1886 was unfit for purpose in the modern world. For instance, it was unclear if damages to cars or losses from business interruption were covered, which triggered unnecessary litigation following the 2011 riots, the report added. The RCA simplified and clarified the procedure for claiming compensation from police authorities for property damage caused by riots. The RCA allows insurers, which have paid claims for riot damage, to subrogate and seek compensation from police authorities. However, the RCA caps claims at 1 million per property and excludes coverage for BI losses, which means that most home and motor losses are covered by the RCA but any loss above 1 million are excluded by the RCA, the report explained. This compensation mechanism requires that victims of criminal damage or loss during a riot first file a claim with their insurers. If the claim is denied or the victim did not have insurance, then they can claim compensation under the RCA directly from the local policy authority, Morningstar added. In order to qualify for compensation, victims must demonstrate that the damage or loss was as a result of a riot, and file a claim within 42 days from the date the riot ends, the report said. Photograph: An unruly crowd clash with police, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Southport, northwest England, near where three girls were stabbed to death in a dance class the day before. (Richard McCarthy/PA via AP) Related: Topics Profit Loss Claims Greek firefighters are working to bring the remnants of a huge wildfire near Athens under control, after wind speeds picked up again on Tuesday afternoon. The biggest blaze of the summer started northeast of the capital Sunday, fueled by strong winds, high temperatures and a lengthy drought. Climate change is turbo-charging the threat posed by wildfires, with Greece suffering its worst season in two decades. This weeks inferno highlighted the longer-term ecological catastrophe threatening the country. As the climate warms, extreme heat and fires are becoming more frequent, depriving Athens encircling olive groves and pine forests of the time they need to rejuvenate. Ultimately, that could turn the region into a desert. A series of wildfires last year, including one that forced the evacuation of thousands of tourists from the island of Rhodes, has pushed Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to take further steps to mitigate risks. That includes using drones to provide early warnings of outbreaks in the Attica region that includes Athens, plus clearing forests and private properties of dry vegetation. Greece now has the highest number of firefighters per person in the European Union, according to government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis, who cited the latest Eurostat data. The government announced Tuesday a set of measures for those who suffered fire damage, including a one-time allowance and financial help to repair or rebuild properties. The Interior Ministry has set aside 4.7 million ($5.1 million) for eight municipalities in Attica. Mitsotakis cut short a vacation to return to Athens, after being criticized by political opponents last year. He will preside over a ministerial meeting on Tuesday evening to evaluate the situation. At stake are not only homes and businesses, but Greeces vital tourism industry. #EMSR746 As the #wildfire north of #Athens continues to rage, the EU is working together to respond Our #MappingTeam has delivered its Delineation Product, which, as of 12 August, has detected: +8,500 hectares of burnt area 23 km of fire fronts 168 active flames pic.twitter.com/zb8SUFDUoX Copernicus EMS (@CopernicusEMS) August 13, 2024 As wind speeds dropped early on Tuesday, isolated fires have replaced the 12-mile front that ravaged villages on the northeast fringe of Athens on Monday. In the first fatality of the summer, a woman was found dead in a burnt-out building in the suburb of Vrilissia. More than 100 people were killed by Greek wildfires in 2018. Over 600 people have been rehoused in hotels, while 156 rescued animals are being sheltered in the Olympic Indoor Hall. The risk levels for Athens and the surrounding Attica region have been lowered one notch from extreme, but conditions will remain dangerous for the coming days, according to the fire services. Satellite images show that about 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres) of Attica have been burnt, according to Greeces national observatory. Across the whole country, there have been 3,543 wildfires since the start of May compared with 2,344 a year earlier. Overview of the ongoing wildfires and the EUs response in southeastern Europe. https://t.co/veP3oHZpI7#EUCivilProtection pic.twitter.com/9zJAv6CAKp EU Civil Protection & Humanitarian Aid (@eu_echo) August 13, 2024 Power grid operator IPTO, also known by Greek initials as Admie, said the fires have damaged a significant number of ultra-high voltage transmission cables. On Tuesday, fire broke out in low vegetation in Kalivia, 47 kilometers (29 miles) southeast of Athens. An evacuation order was also given for the Erithros area of the coastal resort of Nea Makri, east of Athens. Temperatures are forecast to climb as high as 42C (108F) on the Greek mainland by Thursday. On Tuesday, fire broke out in low vegetation in Kalivia, 47 kilometers (29 miles) southeast of Athens. An evacuation order was also given for the Erithros area of the coastal resort of Nea Makri, east of Athens. Temperatures are forecast to climb as high as 42C (108F) on the Greek mainland by Thursday. Greece isnt the only country threatened by wildfires. Forest fires in Bosnia-Herzegovina forced the government to ask for international assistance after the army failed to contain blazes in the south of the country. The fire has destroyed hundreds of acres of protected forest in the Sutjeska nature reserve. Swaths of Europe have faced scorching temperatures this summer as climate change intensifies heat waves across the region, putting crops and power grids at risk. Most of Romania is baking in temperatures of about 40C, with some sections of the Danube River on alert for lower water levels due to the ongoing drought. More than 600 towns and villages are facing water restrictions. Copyright 2024 Bloomberg. Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Wildfire The South Carolina Court of Appeals has signaled that employers who offer on-site health clinics may not be immune from tort claims from injured or sickened workers. Its the latest twist to a question that has bounced around courts and workers compensation legal treatises for decades. The question in front of the court was whether the case belongs in workers comp or whether its a third-party suit for malpractice against the health clinic, said Neil Alger, one of the attorneys representing the estate of deceased worker Samel Ragin, who died at a Pilgrims Pride chicken processing plant in 2017. Its all about whats known as the dual persona doctrine. A company, in some circumstances, can be considered not only an employer, subject to the exclusive remedy of workers compensation law for worker injuries, but also a third party, taking on the liabilities that come with providing employee amenities, such as health care or food service. The appeals court last week overturned a Sumter County judges ruling that had dismissed the Ragin estates lawsuit against Pilgrims Pride and two nurses at the plants clinic. The lower court, after a second hearing, found that South Carolina law does not recognize the dual capacity exception to the workers comp exclusivity. But the appeals court said the matter is not so cut and dried, and remanded the case to the lower court for further consideration. Taking the facts and inferences in a light most favorable to the estate, there appears to be some possibility that the dual persona doctrine could apply here, Appeals Court Judge Blake Hewitt wrote in the opinion. The court said the duality doctrine has proved difficult and complicated in several jurisdictions. The opinion cited two South Carolina Supreme Court decisions in the last two decades as well as a Michigan Court of Appeals ruling. The appellate judges also pointed out that the famous legal guidebook, Larsons Workers Compensation Law (which sells for several thousand dollars on LexisNexis), devotes at least two chapters to the question. The tragedy and the conundrum began when Ragin, a pallet mover at the chicken plant, reportedly suffered chest pains and shortness of breath while at work in 2017. The case was complicated by a disagreement over whether the woman actually went to the plant clinic. The plaintiffs argue that she did and nurses told her to return to work. Pilgrims Pride said no records exist showing Ragin visited the clinic. Later that day, she was found unconscious in the bathroom at the plant. The cause of death was listed as a heart attack. A few weeks later, Ragins family member filed a workers comp claim. Sedgwick Claims Management denied the claim on behalf of Zurich American Insurance Co. Alger argued that Pilgrims Pride should be held liable for not providing better health care to Ragin. If an employer takes on a legal duty outside of being an employer, then they can be subject to tort in that scenario, Alger said. The appeals court noted that nurses in South Carolina are statutorily held to the ethical practice standards adopted by the American Nurses Association in 2015. These standards may be the sort of independent duties that the dual persona framework contemplates, the judges wrote. Alger acknowledged that some may see the dual persona claim in this case as questionable. After all, the employer was ostensibly helping workers by operating the clinic. On-site nurses have been shown to reduce the severity and duration of some injuries and claims, occupational health providers have said. Dr. David Fletcher, a well-known Illinois occupational health physician, has for years advocated for on-site nurses and other measures, especially at meat-processing facilities. Tyson Foods, another meat company, in 2020 announced it planned to open medical clinics at several U.S. plants, reflecting a growing trend of on-site clinics at worksites. That does not excuse poor decisions by in-house medical providers, Alger said. He compared the situation to a company that provides a lunch cafeteria at the jobsite. If a worker becomes gravely ill or dies from spoiled food, is the worker barred from suing? The dual doctrine question more frequently arises at hospitals, Alger said. A janitor at a facility, for example, may take advantage of free health care at the hospital. But if a doctor misdiagnoses a disease, should the worker be prohibited from pursuing a tort action against the hospital? The doctors in that case were treating him as a patient, not as an employee, Alger said. U.S. law and employers decades ago moved away from company towns, in which industries provided company stores and company food and company banks and were allowed to escape tort liability by arguing that an injury from those services was covered by the exclusive remedy of workers compensation, Alger argued. A lawyer for Pilgrims Pride in the case could not be reached for comment Monday. In his appellate brief, attorney Thomas Pritchard argued that the claimants estate had failed to pursue an appeal on the workers comp claim denial, leaving the exclusive remedy question unresolved. Also, he noted, the cited, 2013 state Supreme Court decision found that for the dual persona doctrine to apply, the duty to the victim must arise solely from the companys non-employer persona. Its possible that the employer will now ask the state Supreme Court to consider the Ragin case, Alger said. Lawmakers in a number of states have allowed a few occupations to avoid the vagaries of the dual persona question altogether. Firefighters in South Carolina, Florida and at least 17 other states, for example, have been granted a rebuttable presumption that heart conditions are considered work-related and are eligible for workers compensation benefits, the National Council on Compensation Insurance has reported. In 20 states, firefighters also are allowed a similar presumption for certain types of cancer. Topics Commercial Lines Workers' Compensation Business Insurance South Carolina More than three-fourths of properties flooded by Hurricane Debby last week were outside a designated flood hazard area and were likely to be uninsured for the water loss. Many of those properties were concentrated in spots seemingly far away from where the storm made landfall, including Sarasota, Florida; Savannah, Georgia; and Charleston, South Carolina. That was the conclusion reached in a report from First Street Foundation, a nonprofit organization that uses computer modeling and loss data to assess risk from climate change and storm events. Losses from Hurricane Debby were disproportionately centered in the state of Florida, the Aug. 12 report said. The results of the First Street flood model simulation found $2.6 $4.5 billion in losses from the event, of which $1.9 $3.3 billion (~70%) is likely to be uninsured and occurred outside of FEMAs special flood hazard area in Florida. Overall, the storm, which made landfall as only a Category 1 hurricane in the Big Bend stretch of Florida, has caused as much as $12 billion in damage in Southeastern states, with some $9.7 billion outside FEMAs designated flood zones, the report found. About 385,000 properties saw some level of water that reached the buildings footprint. Some 160,000 of those likely received damage, First Street reported. These findings underscore the necessity for a reevaluation of flood risk assessments and preparedness strategies in vulnerable areas, the report said. Other reports have noted that relatively few properties in the area were covered by private or National Flood Insurance Program policies. NFIP data show that the number of flood policies in South Carolina, for example, dropped by 1.4% over the past year, The Post and Courier news site reported. As Debby moved inland, the storms slow pace allowed it to drop significant amounts of rain over the Southeastern United States, First Street said. This led to catastrophic flooding, particularly in parts of Georgia and South Carolina, where several rivers overflowed their banks. One area that was unexpectedly hard hit by the inundation was Bradenton, Florida, south of Tampa. As waters rose to 48 feet behind the Manatee River Dam, local officials made the decision to release the pressure to avoid disaster. But the release caused significant flooding downstream and led to more than 200 water rescues, the report noted. The full report can be accessed here. Top photo: Ann Farkas surveys her flood-damaged home in Canisteo, New York, after remnants of Tropical Storm Debby swept through the area, creating flash flood conditions. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle) Related: Debbys Florida Claims Already Near 12,000 as Yaworsky Says Market Is Strengthening Topics Flood The National Council on Compensation Insurance is recommending a 9.1% decrease in workers compensation loss cost projections for the West Virginia voluntary market. If approved by regulators, it would mark the 20th straight year of rate decreases for the state, Gov. Jim Justice said. The NCCI also is recommending a 10.4% rate cut for the assigned risk market. The decreases could result in a $15 million savings for West Virginia employers, the governor said in a statement last week. The cut follows a 12.7% voluntary market loss cost decrease in 2023. As of 2022, West Virginia was ranked 2nd-lowest in the country in workers compensation costs, according to the latest survey by the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services. North Dakota ranked lowest and New Jersey was the most expensive. The 2024 survey should be published this fall, the agency said. Dual Persona Doctrine Revisited: Employers Clinic May Not be Protected by Workers Comp Remedy, SC Court Says Topics Trends Profit Loss Workers' Compensation Virginia West Virginia In her yard under the blazing sun, Debbie Penrose Fischer leafed through a water-logged cookbook with sentimental value that she hoped to salvage but doubted she could. Nearby, friends helped carry boxes out of her familys garage, which was inundated this week after a lake dammed by the Mendenhall Glacier let rip sending floodwaters into neighborhoods like hers that never had to worry about that threat before. Were blessed, she said. Nobody was hurt. Lots of things I love are gone, and I dont like that. But its just stuff, you know? About 100 homes and some businesses were damaged by rapidly rising floodwaters that crested around 3:15 a.m. Tuesday, according to initial estimates. In some areas, cars floated as people scrambled to evacuate. Fischers daughter, Alyssa, who lives across the street, said the water in the road at one point reached her hips. The waters began receding Tuesday, and water levels had returned to the normal range for this time of year by Wednesday afternoon, the National Weather Service said. The flooding happens because a smaller glacier near Mendenhall Glacier had retreated a casualty of the warming climate and left a basin that fills with rainwater and snowmelt each spring and summer. When the water creates enough pressure, it forces its way under or around the ice dam created by the Mendenhall Glacier and enters Mendenhall Lake and eventually the Mendenhall River, as it did this week. Since 2011, the phenomenon has at times flooded streets or homes near the lake and river, and last year floodwaters devoured large chunks of the riverbank, inundated homes and sent at least one residence crashing into the raging river. But the extent of this weeks flooding was unprecedented, officials said, and left residents shaken as they tried to dry out furniture, books and other belongings during a stretch of warm, sunny weather. On Wednesday, piles of garbage bags and other items wood, boxes, sodden insulation and carpeting dotted the curbs. A street sweeper was tackling the gray, silty grime the retreating waters had left behind. While the basin was created by glacial retreat, climate change plays almost no role in the the year-to-year variations in the volume of the flooding in Juneau, said Eran Hood, a professor of environmental science at the University of Alaska Southeast who has studied the Mendenhall Glacier for years. Its very clear that these floods will persist for some amount of time, again, on a sort of decadal timescale into the future, he said. But there are so many different competing factors that work to either increase the volume of the flood or decrease the volume of the flood that we need to be able to quantify that its difficult to say how large floods will be in the future without much more detailed modeling of the glacier dynamics. At some point, Mendenhall Glacier will retreat and thin enough that it can no longer act as a dam, Hood said. The flooding is a reminder of the global risk from bursting snow-and-ice dams a phenomenon called a jokulhlaup, which is little known in the U.S. but could threaten about 15 million people around the world. Juneau, a city of about 30,000 people in southeast Alaska, is reachable only by plane or boat. Its the height of the tourist season, and the city is already struggling with a housing shortage that could limit temporary accommodations available for flood victims that might need them. Juneau also has limited rental car agencies for those whose vehicles were swamped. The Mendenhall River crested at 15.99 feet, a new record, topping the level during last years flood by about a foot, and the water reached farther into the Mendenhall Valley, officials said. The city said the water reached some homes outside expected flood areas. The valley is roughly a 15 to 20 minute drive from downtown Juneau Alyssa Fischer said that when she went to sleep Monday night, she didnt think she had to worry about flooding where she lives. Her dad woke her up hours later via FaceTime and alerted her to rising water outside. She helped him move his cars to higher ground, as well as her quails, before evacuating with her 4- and 8-year-old children and pets to a shelter at a local school. She said she noticed the license plate on her truck was bent from the water current. On Wednesday she was relieved that damage to her property was mostly limited to a crawl space and the garage. She had boxes, rugs and other items in her yard and had a fan going to help dry out the garage. But she worries about the future. When she bought the house earlier this year, it was a selling point for her that it was not on the river. After they returned home Tuesday, her 8-year-old daughter asked when the floodwaters would return. I think next year around this time, Ill be stressed out for sure, she said. She said she would like to see community meetings about addressing future floods events. Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Flood Alaska VANCOUVER, British Columbia - August 13, 2024 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Alaska Energy Metals Corporation (TSX-V: AEMC, OTCQB: AKEMF) ("AEMC" or "Alaska Energy Metals" or the "Company") announces that it is canceling the non-brokered offering of up to $5 million in a combination of special warrants (the "Special Warrants") and/or units (the "Units"), to be issued at the price of $0.17 per Special Warrant or Unit, as applicable, announced on August 9, 2024. Due to market prices, the Company will now undertake a non-brokered offering of Special Warrants and/or Units at the price of $0.15 per Special Warrant or Unit, as applicable, for aggregate gross proceed of up to $5 million (the "Offering"). Each Special Warrant will automatically convert into one Unit of the Company, as described below. Each Unit shall consist of one common share of the Company (a "Share") and one common share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant shall entitle the holder thereof to acquire one Share at a price of $0.20 per Share for a period of three years following the date of issue. Each Special Warrant will automatically convert, for no additional consideration, into Units on the date that is the earlier of (i) the date that is three business days following the date on which the Company files a prospectus supplement to a short form base shelf prospectus with the applicable securities regulatory authorities qualifying distribution of the Units underlying the Special Warrants (the "Prospectus Supplement"), and (ii) the date that is four months and one day after the closing of the Offering. The Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to file the Prospectus Supplement within 60 days of the closing of the Offering (not including the date of closing), provided, however, that there is no assurance that a Prospectus Supplement will be filed with the securities commissions, prior to the expiry of the statutory four-month hold period. The Company will pay cash finder's fees of 7% of the gross proceeds to certain finders. As additional compensation the Company will issue that number of non-transferable broker warrants (each a "Broker Warrant") as is equal to 7% of the Special Warrants or Units issued. Each Broker Warrant will be exercisable for one Share at the exercise price of $0.20 for a period of three years. The Company anticipates closing the Offering prior to August 31, 2024 (the "Closing Date") and completion of the Offering is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to the receipt of all necessary approvals, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV"). Prior to the filing of the Prospectus Supplement and the automatic conversion of the Special Warrants, the securities issued under the Offering will be subject to a four-month hold period from the Closing Date in addition to any other restrictions under applicable law. Any Units issued directly upon the closing of the Offering will be subject to a four-month hold period, in accordance with applicable securities laws. The net proceeds from the Offering will be used for Canwell prospect and Eureka deposit drilling at the Nikolai Nickel Project in Alaska, metallurgical studies, non-flow-through costs associated with the Company's Angliers-Belleterre nickel project in Quebec, working capital and marketing purposes. It is anticipated that insiders of the Company may participate in the Offering, and such Special Warrants and/or Units issued to insiders may be subject to a four-month hold period pursuant to applicable policies of the TSXV. The issuance of Special Warrants and/or Units to insiders will be considered a "related party transaction" within the meaning of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The Company is relying on exemptions from the formal valuation requirements of MI 61-101 pursuant to section 5.5(a) and the minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 pursuant to section 5.7(1)(a) in respect of such insider participation as the fair market value of the transaction, insofar as it involves interested parties, does not exceed 25% of the Company's market capitalization. For additional information, visit: https://alaskaenergymetals.com/ This news is paid advertisement/ news disseminated on behalf of/issued on behalf of Alaska Energy Metals About Alaska Energy Metals Alaska Energy Metals Corporation (AEMC) is an Alaska-based corporation with offices in Anchorage and Vancouver working to sustainably deliver the critical materials needed for national security and a bright energy future, while generating superior returns for shareholders. AEMC is focused on delineating and developing the large-scale, bulk tonnage, polymetallic Eureka deposit containing nickel, copper, cobalt, chromium, iron, platinum, palladium, and gold. Located in Interior Alaska near existing transportation and power infrastructure, its flagship project, Nikolai, is well-situated to become a significant domestic source of strategic energy-related metals for North America. AEMC also holds a secondary project, 'Angliers-Belleterre,' in western Quebec. Today, material sourcing demands excellence in environmental performance, carbon mitigation and the responsible management of human and financial capital. AEMC works every day to earn and maintain the respect and confidence of the public and believes that ESG performance is measured by action and led from the top. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "Gregory Beischer" Gregory Beischer, President & CEO FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Sarah Mawji, Public Relations Venture Strategies Email: sarah@venturestrategies.com Forward-Looking Statements Some statements in this news release may contain forward-looking information (within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation), including, without limitation, the statements as to the Company's ability to successfully drill exploratory drill holes at the Canwell prospects, to perform metallurgical studies and the TSX-V's acceptance of the renewed marketing agreements and the consummation of the transactions consummated thereunder. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date those statements are made. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guaranteeing of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include regulatory actions, market prices, and continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by applicable law, the Company assumes no obligation to update or to publicly announce the results of any change to any forward-looking statement contained or incorporated by reference herein to reflect actual results, future events or developments, changes in assumptions, or changes in other factors affecting the forward-looking statements. If the Company updates any forward-looking statement(s), no inference should be drawn that it will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. Alaska Energy Metals Corporation (TSXV: AEMC) (OTCQB: AKEMF) (FRA: V7F) is a featured mining stock on Investorideas.com More info on AEMC at Investorideas.com Visit: https://www.investorideas.com/CO/AEMC/ 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. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions. Disclosure: Alaska Energy Metals is a paid featured mining stock on Investorideas.com effective January 5, 2023, More info https://www.investorideas.com/About/News/Clientspecifics.asp More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ The Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council have released guidelines aimed at accelerating green transition in the country's socioeconomic development. The guidelines set ambitious goals, including achieving "remarkable results" in green transition by 2030 and establishing a green, low-carbon and circular economic system by 2035 as part of efforts to achieve the vision of a "Beautiful China". They outline a series of tasks, such as optimizing land use, promoting green and low-carbon industrial and energy transitions, and advancing sustainable urban-rural development. Specific targets include expanding the value of the energy conservation and environmental protection industry to 15 trillion yuan ($2.1 trillion) and increasing the share of non-fossil energy to 25 percent of total energy consumption by 2030. Additional goals include reducing the carbon emissions intensity of commercial transport by 9.5 percent and boosting the annual utilization of bulk solid waste to 4.5 billion metric tons by 2030. The National Development and Reform Commission said the guidelines were issued following significant progress in green and low-carbon development since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012. By June this year, renewable energy accounted for 53.8 percent of China's total installed electricity generation capacity. Energy consumption per unit of GDP was down more than 26 percent from the level in 2012, and carbon emissions intensity per unit of GDP was down more than 35 percent. However, the NDRC acknowledged ongoing challenges, such as the nation's continued reliance on coal and the high proportion of fossil fuels in the energy mix. The global green transition also faces setbacks, with environmental and climate issues becoming increasingly politicized, and green trade barriers escalating. China will also pursue supportive fiscal and taxation policies to promote green and low-carbon development and develop financial instruments such as green equity financing and green financial leasing. Experts highlighted the importance of a comprehensive approach to green transition, focusing on both supply and demand. Lin Boqiang, director of the China Institute for Studies in Energy Policy at Xiamen University, emphasized the need to address the rapid growth in energy demand alongside the expansion of renewable energy production. "While new energy is growing rapidly, fossil fuel use is also increasing," Lin said. "To accelerate the green transformation, more effort is needed on the demand side." Zhang Jianhua, director of the National Energy Administration, told a news conference in June that China's energy supply has grown by nearly 20 percent since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025).With ongoing industrialization and urbanization, energy demand is expected to continue rising. Lin said: "The growth in energy demand is closely related to industrial development and people's lifestyles. Increasing energy prices is one of the most effective ways to mitigate the growth in energy demand, and it might be worth trying. "For example, the electricity price in China is much lower than its actual cost in China with government subsidies. In the development process of the past few decades, we needed to first ensure that people had access to electricity. However, with economic development, the price of electricity can also be considered for adjustment. "An increase in energy prices may have a restraining effect on industrial development. What we need to do is to generate more GDP with less energy." Lin said that China's energy policy is formulated based on specific national conditions. "Income levels, development stages and industrial chains vary among different countries, so there is no comparability in terms of energy policies," Lin said. "China still has significant room for improvement in energy conservation and emission reduction and should adjust its industrial structure according to actual circumstances." SAN DIEGO - August 13, 2024 (Investorideas.com Newswire) KULR Technology Group, Inc. (NYSE American: KULR) (the "Company" or "KULR"), a global leader in sustainable energy management, today reported results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2024. Second Quarter 2024 Financial Results Revenues: In the second quarter that ended June 30, 2024, revenue was $2.43 million compared to $2.70 million reported in the same period last year. Contract Services revenue increased 75.7%, with revenue of approximately $1.30 million versus approximately $738 thousand in the same quarter last year. Cash and Accounts Receivable: As of June 30, 2024, the Company had cash and accounts receivable combined of $2.94 million. Gross Margins: Gross margin was 24% in the quarter ending June 30, 2024, compared to 37% in the same period last year. Selling, General and Administrative (SG&A) Expenses: SG&A expenses decreased to $4.59 million in the second quarter of 2024 from $5.16 million in the same period last year. The decrease in SG&A expenses was primarily due to decreases in outsourced services and stock-based compensation. Research and Development (R&D) Expenses: R&D expenses in the second quarter of 2024 decreased to $1.31 million from $1.92 million in the same period last year. The lower investment in R&D reflects a planned decrease in R&D consulting services. Operating Loss: Loss from operations was $5.33 million for the second quarter of 2024, compared to $6.08 million from the same period last year. Lower operating loss in the second quarter was driven by a decrease in both SG&A expenses and investment in R&D. Net Loss: Net loss for the second quarter of 2024 was $5.89 million, or a loss of $0.03 per share, compared to a net loss of $6.33 million, or a loss of $0.05 per share from the same period last year. Management Commentary KULR Chief Financial Officer Shawn Canter noted, "We continue to make progress on our focus areas. Growing relevant KPIs, improving our balance sheet, and streamlining operations. Contract services revenue was up 75% against the same quarter last year, and as we have said, service revenue can foreshadow product revenue to come in the future. Our sales cycles are not necessarily measured in weeks or even months so sometimes it can take a little longer to see the product revenue that results from service contracts. KULR's balance sheet is getting stronger. Our cash plus accounts receivables are up 40% and our liabilities are down 42% versus December 31, 2023. We are streamlining operations. SG&A is down 11% and R&D is down 32% from the year ago same quarter. The KULR team continues to execute on its plan, and we think it is showing up in the numbers." Second Quarter 2024 and Recent Corporate Highlights: KULR Lands Initial $400K NASA Contract for Automated Battery Cell Testing, $2M in Total Orders Anticipated Over Several Quarters. The Company was awarded a purchase order exceeding $400,000 from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ("NASA"), an independent agency of the U.S. federal government, as part of a $2M multi-phase agreement for its advanced automated battery cell screening system. The battery safety contract with NASA is to test lithium-ion cells going into future battery packs designed for the Artemis Program, a series of United States-led international human spaceflight programs. KULR will perform the tests on cells in reserve for upcoming Artemis missions as well as other pivotal manned space voyages. The cells used on the missions are required to meet certification to NASA's strict specifications for manned flights, EP-WI-037. According to Straits Research, the global battery cell testing market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 4% between 2022-2030 and reach USD 7 billion by 2030. KULR Secures Test Engineering Contract with Bombardier Recreational Products ("BRP") . The Company was awarded an engineering contract with Bombardier Recreational Products for the Company's Fractional Thermal Runaway Calorimetry (FTRC) testing services. This milestone underscores KULR's expanding influence and commitment to advancing battery safety in the rapidly growing electric recreational products sector. The partnership highlights BRP's proactive approach to thermal runaway management across all its e-mobility market verticals - including National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1192, while concurrently aligning with KULR's development of the KULR ONE Design Solutions (K1-DS) platform, which focuses on regulatory compliance, including battery cell testing, propagation-resistant materials, pack and module level testing. The NFPA 1192 standard establishes fire and life safety criteria for recreational vehicles to provide protection from loss of life from fire and explosion. KULR Experiences Fast-Growing Demand for Next-Gen EV Battery Safety and Testing Solutions with Order from Top Japanese Automaker. The Company secured a contract from a top Japanese multinational automaker ("Automaker") for testing and analysis of high-energy battery cells intended for their next-generation electric vehicles. The Company will utilize its KULR ONE Design Solutions (K1-DS) platform to expedite design readiness for the Automaker's future electric vehicle buildout. Originally, K1-DS was developed to introduce customers to KULR products, with the goal of transitioning to volume production. While this remains the Company's core objective, over time KULR has expanded its testing services, projecting it to become an annual $8 to $10 million revenue standalone business starting in 2025, without additional investment in testing capabilities. According to last year's International Energy Agency's projection, electric vehicles, including fully electric and plug-in hybrid models, are expected to account for 35 percent of new vehicle sales worldwide by 2030. The Company expects the FTRC to remain widely used across various industries for assessing both current and future cell technologies. KULR CEO Michael Mo Reduces Cash Salary to Better Align with Shareholder Value Creation. The Company announced that, in keeping with the KULR's recent efforts to reduce its cash consumption, the Company's compensation committee approved a voluntary request by CEO Michael Mo to reduce the cash component of his compensation by 33% and, believing in the future of KULR, to instead grant him an equity incentive grant that does not vest for 12 months from such grant date. The strategic move ensures one-third of Mr. Mo's salary going forward is provided at market value of the Company's stock, further aligning his interests with those of shareholders. With this revised compensation model, the CEO's benefits will directly correlate with value creation as the executive team drives the Company's transformation and industry innovation. KULR Announces Expiration of SEPA Facility. The Company announced its Standby Equity Purchase Agreement ("SEPA"), with YA II PN, LTD. ("Yorkville"), was terminated on June 1, 2024. Furthermore, the Company confirmed that it had retired all outstanding debt owed to Yorkville. Conference Call The Company has scheduled a conference call for August 12, 2024, at 4:30 p.m. ET to discuss these results. KULR management will provide a business update for the Company followed by a question-and-answer period. To access the call, please register using the following link: KULR Second Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. After registering, an email will be sent, including dial-in details with a conference call access code required to join the call. The conference call will be available for replay here via the Investor Relations section on KULR's website (www.kulrtechnology.com). This news is paid advertisement/ news disseminated on behalf of/issued on behalf of KULR Technology Group, Inc. About KULR Technology Group, Inc. KULR Technology Group Inc. (NYSE American: KULR) is a leading energy management platform company offering proven solutions that play a critical role in accelerating the electrification of the circular economy. Leveraging a foundation in developing, manufacturing, and licensing next-generation carbon fiber thermal management technologies for batteries and electronic systems, KULR has evolved its holistic suite of products and services to enable its customers across disciplines to operate with efficiency and sustainability in mind. For more information, please visit www.kulrtechnology.com. Safe Harbor Statement This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of offers to buy any securities of any entity. This release contains certain forward-looking statements based on our current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this release are based on information available to us as of the date hereof. Our actual results may differ materially from those stated or implied in such forward-looking statements, due to risks and uncertainties associated with our business, which include the risk factors disclosed in our Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 12, 2024, as may be amended or supplemented by other reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our expectations, beliefs, intentions, or strategies regarding the future and can be identified by forward-looking words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should," and "would" or similar words. All forecasts are provided by management in this release are based on information available at this time and management expects that internal projections and expectations may change over time. In addition, the forecasts are entirely on management's best estimate of our future financial performance given our current contracts, current backlog of opportunities and conversations with new and existing customers about our products and services. We assume no obligation to update the information included in this press release, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise. Investor Relations: KULR Technology Group, Inc. Phone: 858-866-8478 x 847 Email: ir@kulrtechnology.com KULR Technology Group, Inc. (NYSE: KULR) is a featured renewable energy stock on Investorideas.com More info on KULR at Investorideas.com Visit: https://www.investorideas.com/CO/KULR/ Disclaimer/Disclosure: Disclosure: (NYSE: KULR) is a paid featured company on Investorideas.com effective July 2024 for 3 months. lInvestorideas.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. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions. More disclosure info can be found here. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp August 12, 2024 (Investorideas.com Newswire) The proposed Rio Grande Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) terminal, a project backed by private equity firm Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), is encountering significant obstacles that call into question the viability of its future. The pension funds and other GIP investors should be wary of the substantial capital at risk in such an uncertain venture. On August 6th, the D.C. Circuit Court vacated the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) approval of three gas projects, including Rio Grande LNG. This pivotal decision halts the progress of these gas projects until new FERC approvals can be obtained. The court highlighted significant procedural defects in FERC's approval process, notably its failure to incorporate an updated environmental justice analysis. The ruling only adds to a series of delays for Rio Grande LNG. Further compounding the project's troubles, several insurance and financial backers for Rio Grande LNG have withdrawn. An insurance statement obtained via public records request revealed that insurance company CHUBB no longer insures the terminal. Major banks have also withdrawn their support, with Societe Generale, BNP Paribas, and La Banque Postale pulling out in recent years. These financial and legal challenges come amid widespread and longstanding opposition to the Rio Grande LNG terminal from local South Texas communities and international organizations. Earlier this summer, over 70 global organizations signed a letter urging financial institutions to cease their support for the project. "LNG is often lauded as a cleaner alternative to coal or other fossil fuels," said Alissa Jean Schafer, PESP climate director, "but may in fact be worse for the environment and emit more greenhouse gasses than coal, in addition to potentially catastrophic impacts to local communities. "And now, the setbacks facing the Rio Grande LNG terminal serve as an additional warning sign for investment funds with hundreds of millions exposed to this GIP-backed terminal. PESP has informed institutional investors across the country that their portfolios are exposed to additional financial and environmental risks because of GIP's investment in Rio Grande LNG. "Given the mounting number of issues with the project, the Rio Grande LNG terminal represents a highly risky investment for GIP. Investors should carefully consider the project's uncertain future and the potential financial repercussions of GIP's continued backing of the terminal. "GIP must address the fiduciary risks Rio Grande LNG presents to its investors across the country." Private Equity Stakeholder Project The Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP) is a nonprofit organization with a vision to bring transparency and accountability to the private equity industry and empower impacted communities. Follow PESP at pestakeholder.org and on X/Twitter @PEstakeholder. More Info: 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. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp The Irish Times Group has announced it has acquired the remaining 50% share of the luxury publishing and events group Gloss Publications, held by co-founders Jane and Sarah McDonnell. The group has held a 50% share in Gloss Publications which produces The Gloss magazine since it launched in 2006. However, the group will now take full control of Gloss Publications. Managing Director of The Irish Times, Deirdre Veldon, said: We believe The Gloss represents an enhancement to the portfolio of quality journalism and services we offer and we are delighted to welcome it fully into the group. We have enjoyed working as co-shareholders with Jane and Sarah over many years and we believe now is a good time to build on that relationship to bring their high-end brand of original content and premium events to a wider audience, she said. Co-founder and publisher of The Gloss, Jane McDonnell, said the partnership formed with the Irish Times has been key to the success of Gloss Publications. Over the past 18 years, we have invented and re-invented our titles The Gloss, The Gloss Interiors and thegloss.ie and created many successful unique event formats including The Gloss Gala in multiple sectors, she said. We are looking forward, with The Irish Times, to building on the strong foundations we have established to ensure THE GLOSS continues to flourish into the future. The Gloss magazine is published on the first Thursday of every month in large glossy print format with The Irish Times. The magazine is also available on news stands from the first Friday of the month. The Irish Times Group also owns the Irish Examiner as well as a number of other regional publications such as the Echo in Cork. Boeing will likely miss a key 737 Max jet production target in 2024, analysts at rating agencies Moody's and S&P said, adding the company faces challenges as it ramps up its strongest-selling plane. The US aerospace giant's goal is to produce 38 Max jets a month by the end of 2024, up from 25 jets a month in July. But Moody's and S&P said that goal may not be reached until 2025 due to risks like possible labour disruptions at the planemaker's facilities in the Seattle area. Boeing, however, faces no immediate risk of a credit downgrade that would drop its rating to junk levels, the two rating agencies said on Friday. Jonathan Root, lead Boeing analyst at Moody's, assumes the planemaker will end 2024 producing 32 Max jets per month, and reach the target of 38 in the second half of 2025. "We remain in a 'show me' state of mind," he said. Max production and deliveries, which are closely watched by investors and airlines, mostly slowed following a January 5 mid-air panel blowout on a new 737 Max 9 that exposed longstanding quality-control problems at the jet maker. Boeing slowed output so it could improve production quality, but the decline in output and deliveries has taken a toll on cash flow. It burned about $8.3bn (7.6bn) in cash in the first half of 2024 and expects free cash flow to be negative this year, burdening its balance sheet. "We see risks to reaching that number (38), including labour negotiations and the companys history of underdelivering relative to targets," said Ben Tsocanos, aerospace director at S&P Global Ratings. "We view increasing and stabilising Max production as necessary to generating free cash flow, which is ultimately what we care about to maintain the rating." Both S&P and Moody's rate Boeing one notch above junk status. In response to a request for comment, Boeing referred to its finance chief's recent remarks saying output was expected to rise in the second half of 2024 to hit 38 planes per month by year-end. New CEO Kelly Ortberg has yet to publicly discuss any production plans for the company. Analysts at William Blair said the new CEO may lower the production target to prioritise quality. Spirit AeroSystems, which is set to be acquired by Boeing, has the leading role in supporting increased output, Root said. The company produces the 737 fuselage that is used to make the finished planes at Boeing's facilities in Washington state. Spirit shipped 27 fuselages to Boeing in the June quarter, despite producing 31 a month. Since March, Boeing has been first inspecting the new fuselages at Spirit's factory in Wichita, Kansas, and the vetting process has taken longer than expected, an industry source familiar with the matter told Reuters. Meanwhile, lingering uncertainty about Boeing's aircraft deliveries has airlines more cautious in planning their schedules. Low-cost US carrier Allegiant, a Boeing customer, last month said it expected a "slower delivery cadence" from the planemaker in 2025 and 2026. When Allegiant placed an order for 50 737 Max planes in 2022, rejecting offers from traditional supplier Airbus, it expected to take delivery of 10 of the jets in 2023, 24 in 2024 and 16 in 2025. However, it is still waiting for its first Max aircraft. The plane is now expected in September, the airline said last month. The world's gourmets could soon face a difficult moral question. They pay up to 100 for a kilogram of fresh foie gras, despite its production involving force-feeding ducks and geese to encourage rapid growth of their livers. If a French company succeeds in getting EU authorisation for its laboratory-grown foie gras, will connoisseurs of French cuisine accept it, and spell the end for the force-feeding that animal rights activists say is inhumane and cruel? Public and private investors have bet more than 65m on the answer being yes. That is how much money the French company, Gourmey, has raised to commercialise its sustainable gourmet products, grown directly from animal cells in laboratories. Foie gras is its flagship product. According to the Good Food Institute non-profit think tank, there are 174 publicly announced lab-grown meat and seafood companies worldwide which have attracted about 2.8bn of investment. But only the US, Singapore, and Israel have approved and allowed the commercial sale of lab-grown meat (it was authorised earlier this year in the UK for use in pet food). Also called cultivated or cell-based, the lab-grown product comes from animal cells grown in a nutrient-rich environment to form muscle, fat, and connective tissue. Europe Now Gourmey has made the first request ever to the European Commission to sell lab-grown meat. EU farmers have reacted badly, they are unlikely to be buyers of the Gourmey foie gras, after the European Livestock Voice, representing the meat supply chain, said this first application will open the door to many others, for bigger players and bigger markets. Obviously, that would pose a threat to traditional livestock farmers. The EUs food safety authority (EFSA), has nine months to publish its opinion. It could be authorised only if the EFSA finds it does not pose a safety risk to human health. For this product mimicking foie gras, it is also required that it does not mislead consumers, nor be significantly less nutritious than foie gras. Placing it on the market will also require a qualified majority (at least 55% of member states representing 65% of the EU population) support. To block the decision, at least four member states must vote against it. Already, Hungary and Italy have opposed new foods such as lab-grown products, and the agriculture ministers of France, Italy, and Austria were backed by nine other colleagues when they called last January for stricter assessment of lab-grown products. It will take up to two years, but success would open the markets of the EU, Iceland, Lichtenstein, and Norway for Gourmey, which is also seeking market approval in Switzerland, the UK, Singapore, and the US. Hurdles The global foie gras market was estimated at about 1.3bn in 2020. But there are many hurdles to overcome for Gourmey. And competitors; since 2022, IntegriCulture in Japan has been developing lab-grown foie gras. And plant-based and other versions of foie gras already offer consumers an alternative. When Nicolas Morin-Forest founded Gourmey in 2019, the pitch was that its lab-grown foie gras eliminated animal welfare concerns, and could sell in the many countries where the product is banned. Supporters say lab-grown foods can be produced using fewer resources, and can contribute to food security. Critics say they do not have the same nutritional value as traditional products, and production is expensive and energy-intensive. Outbreaks of bird flu also threaten the traditional foie gras supply chain. Morin-Forest's aim is to be better than conventional foie gras, by partnering with top chefs to create a signature flavour. But it would have to pass the test of some of the world's richest diners. Would lab-grown foie gras pair perfectly with their Sauternes, Port, or Champagne? The establishment of a Commission on Generational Renewal in Farming is a "long time coming", Macra president Elaine Houlihan has said. Macra has welcomed Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue's intention to establish such a commission, which is a positive action to "address the lack of young farmers in Ireland and the threat that this brings to Irish food production", Ms Houlihan said. Making the announcement, Mr McConalogue said that encouraging young people into agriculture is a "global challenge". "I expect the European Commission to publish its proposals for a post-2027 Common Agricultural Policy in mid-2025," he said. "Against this background, this is an appropriate time to consider whether the framework currently in place provides support to young farmers thinking of entering the sector and effectively encourages generational renewal. We have already put in place an unprecedented range of supports for young farmers, including support for farm partnerships, the Complementary Income Support for Young Farmers, higher rates of grants for capital investment on farm, increased access to finance and significant agri taxation reliefs. These are positive initiatives, but the time has come to have an honest and absolutely objective look at this, to consider whether those measures are having the desired effect, how supports might best be configured to encourage generational renewal." Complex area Mr McConalogue said that farm succession is a "complex area", with many factors that impact farmers decisions. "We need to properly assess this and consider whether there are any unintended barriers to entry for young people under the current regime," he continued. With this in mind, I intend to establish a group with the relevant expertise and experience to take an objective and robust evidence-based look at all of the factors in play to ensure that we have a well-researched basis for us to make optimal use of the policy tools available to encourage young people, who are the lifeblood of farming, into the sector. Elaine Houlihan said that Macra "looks forward to a positive engagement with the committee on generational renewal in farming". "Our members are those who are emigrating because they do not have access to land; our patience is at an end," she said. Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association president Sean McNamara said that the proposal to establish this commission shows "recognition of the challenges young farmers face" and "intention to critically evaluate existing supports" which are "steps in the right direction". "However, this must be followed by tangible action if we are to secure the future of Irish farming, he said. While the minister has outlined the current range of supports, our members experiences show that these measures have not adequately addressed the fundamental issues preventing young people from entering and staying in agriculture. "High land prices, limited access to credit, overregulation, and the uncertainty surrounding farm incomes remain significant barriers. There are also significant challenges related to succession planning and land transfers that need urgent attention." Dispiriting President of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association Denis Drennan criticised the Governments "inability or unwillingness to accept that the difficulties in getting young people to commit to farming" are "directly linked to collapsing farm incomes and ever-increasing regulatory pressures". Theres something very dispiriting and discouraging about the Irish Government pretending that theres something mysterious or unknown about the failure to get new generations into farming," Mr Drennan said. "The reason why the children of farm families dont want to follow their parents into farming is because those kids see the hours and years of hard work and stress and official indifference and calculate very quickly that there are easier and better-paid careers in almost any other sector. "Those young generations have much more options than we had and theyre exercising them. If theyre the children of a dairy family, they dont see why they should have to work a 60-hour week for roughly half the minimum official hourly wage, so theyre not going to do it." The ICMSA president said that for the first time in his experience, he was "hearing of parents actively dissuading their children from taking over farms that had been in the family for generations". "All they see is falling and uncertain incomes, Governmental indifference, and regulatory stress," Mr Drennan added. Eurovision Song Contest entrant Joost Klein has said being kicked out of the competition was terrible after Swedish prosecutors dropped the criminal case against him. The Netherlands 2024 entrant, 26, was accused of threatening behaviour towards a female member of the production crew on the night of the semi-final in May, and was disqualified by organisers on the day of the final. On Monday, the Swedish Prosecution Authority said the investigation into alleged unlawful threats had concluded. Klein, who entered the contest with the upbeat and wacky Europapa, wrote on Instagram: The last couple of months were terrible. Even though I love to perform anywhere around the world, something didnt feel right. Why did we have to wait so long for an answer? Everyday I felt insecure whilst I knew the truth. There is no case against me, because there never was a case. We should all take care for each other, we should all support each other and we should all come together. According to the Associated Press news agency, investigators claimed they found that the man made a movement that hit the womans film camera, adding that the course of events was fast and was perceived differently by the witnesses of the incident. I cannot prove that the act was capable of causing serious fear or that the man had any such intention, senior prosecutor Fredrik Jonsson said. Klein added that companies just want to protect their money and they tried to use me as a shield and that he was a village against the city. At Malmo, he clashed with Israeli entrant Eden Golan during a Eurovision press conference after getting through to the final. Klein captioned his profile as: Eurovision 2025. Dutch broadcaster Avrotros previously said its participation in the contest was under consideration. Avrotros said on Monday: From the beginning, we have said that this disqualification was unnecessary and disproportionate and so it now appears to be. We are still deeply disappointed that the Europa adventure of Joost Klein and of the entire Netherlands was brutally ended in this way. The next step is to have a meeting with the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) management about this matter at very short notice. This meeting will focus on this unjust disqualification. We will also discuss all our other objections about the course of events behind the scenes at the song contest that we previously sent to the EBU in a comprehensive letter of objection, which to date has remained unanswered. Avrotross approach is and remains that the song contest is about artists and their musical message. The ball is now in the EBUs court. The EBU said in a statement: The decision to disqualify Mr Klein from this years event was made in strict accordance with Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) rules and governance procedures, after an internal investigation. In parallel, Swedish police decided to open a formal investigation into the conduct of Mr Klein during the second semi-final, which we understand was closed today without further action. This was an investigation into whether a criminal act was committed and not whether Mr Klein behaved inappropriately and breached ESC rules and procedures. This new development therefore does not have any impact on our decision which we stand by completely. Like all responsible employers, we do not tolerate inappropriate behaviour and will always respond to any workplace issues that are reported to us. The EBU has also faced criticism from participants over a slew of issues, including Israels participation amid the war with Hamas in Gaza, and the contest is being reviewed by an independent expert. Eurovision 2025 will take place in Switzerland after the countrys singer Nemo won with operatic hit The Code. It's no secret that luxury fashion has a sizing problem. From the high street to high fashion, most stores are perpetrators of discriminatory sizing with limited offerings. Sinead ODwyer wants to change things with a democratic approach encompassing more body types than the runway has ever seen. The Irish fashion designer presented her spring/summer 2025 collection at a verdant, harbour-front public garden during Copenhagen Fashion Week on August 7. There were mid- and plus-sized models on the catwalk, cast from agencies and on the streets of Copenhagen. Her sister Katie, her wife, the Danish photographer Ottillie Landmark, and her wifes grandmother made an appearance too. Blind model and broadcaster Lucy Edwards walked the show with her guide dog. It is a stark contrast to the casting choices at other fashion shows. More importantly, its not just for show, its for sale. This is the largest show weve done to date and the most confident Ive felt in terms of preparation, said ODwyer ahead of the show. For ODwyer, the objective was simple: introduce new elements to her ever-evolving design process while developing and improving the signatures on which she is basing her brand. The London-based designer expanded on her signature body-sculpting silhouettes that accentuate and celebrate the beauty of the female form. Within that, she explores the shibari, the Japanese art of rope tying, with intricately woven fabrics. Here, they inform harnesses with short sleeves, mini skirts with flirtatious frills, and her eponymous fitted shirts. The designs create a tension between the erotic and appropriateness that feels transgressive. ODwyers upbringing in rural Ireland is felt in shirting, knitwear, and tailoring, referencing Catholic school uniforms, with each category enriched with a sensual contemporary verve. Meanwhile, a new footwear collaboration with Japanese brand Grounds was inspired by Irish dancing shoes. In a new experiment, she inaugurates denim, intended to evoke carefree summer days and nights. For any designer, new categories are important. Lucy Edwards at Sinead O'Dwyer's fashion show. Photo by James Cochrane ODwyer, who hails from Tullamore, Co Offaly, launched her business with an inclusive philosophy in 2018 when she graduated from the Royal College of Art in London. She designs with women, femmes, and gender non-conforming individuals of diverse body types in mind. On the catwalk, sizes range from a UK 4 to 30. In stores, they range from a UK 6 to 20, though ODwyer admits uptake for sizes above 12 outside of private orders is slow to take off. Currently, she counts prestigious retailers Dover Street Market London, Browns, and SSENSE as stockists. ODwyers runway show in the Danish capital opens her to a new market and audience. It was part of an ongoing partnership between German retailer Zalando and Copenhagen Fashion Week. The Irish designer received the 50,000 Zalando Visionary Prize, praised for challenging traditional standards and for her dedication to fostering meaningful change by consistently designing, developing, and producing clothing for different body sizes, and with an environmentally conscious attitude. The monetary prize allows her to invest in the supply chain and her direct-to-consumer. She is working with mentor Dio Kurazawa who specialises in sustainable fashion consultancy and supply chain management, giving her unprecedented access to more resources and a new network of experts. There were things that I couldnt do before from designing a collection and producing it. Trying to be an environmentally sustainable business while trying to be a financially sustainable business especially when were trying to sell so many sizes is difficult. Last season, the extended sizing offering at wholesale was reduced to 18 from 20. It can be disheartening when you produce such a broad range of sizes and stores dont buy into them. It means a section of the work isnt profitable right now but I dont want to only value it from a monetary perspective. The purpose of my work is not only sales. ODwyer will use the Zalando prizewinning to build an infrastructure that will allow her to offer extended sizing in the form of a direct-to-consumer capsule collection available on her website that sells core pieces such as shirts, jackets, and trousers. When I started I thought that things would happen more quickly in terms of our extended sizing. I was harsh on myself if we werent growing massively each season in terms of what we could make. Now, I accept that its a long game and Im happy to wait it out, she says. I believe that what were doing is incredibly important. If thats not reflected in what stores are buying right now, thats how it is. But it wont stop me from continuing to work this way. Otherwise, it wouldnt be the brand that it is. Body-positive fashion is a revelation at a time when society is witnessing the proliferation of weight-loss drugs and social medias preoccupation with a messy, 90s-inspired lifestyle commonly associated with the heroin chic trend. According to research by Vogue Business, the exclusion of larger body types is rife on the runways. Of 8,800 looks presented across 230 shows and presentations during the autumn/winter 2024 season in February, only 4.5% featured mid- or plus-sized models. In many of those cases, those that did only featured a very small number of diverse body types. Sinead O'Dwyer at Copenhagen Fashion Week Casting director Emma Matell, who collaborated with ODwyer on casting for the Copenhagen show, says the chasm between performative or tokenistic casting and what is genuinely inclusive deepens every season. Many brands will only include one or a handful of mid- or plus-sized models on the catwalk, if any. In response to this, she says: Sineads work is important because shes the only one doing what shes doing. Taking different bodies into account in the process of designing luxury fashion is not the ethos of most fashion houses. People who buy luxury fashion, or follow it, can tell the difference between whats genuine and whats not. Copenhagen Fashion Week is now considered a fashion capital alongside New York, London, Milan, and Paris. Unlike the other four, Copenhagens approach to sustainability is much stricter with set guidelines that brands are expected to follow to participate in the fashion week. Copenhagen Fashion Week CEO Cecilie Thorsmark thinks ODwyer was well-suited to the programme. As an organisation that is dedicated to fostering a new definition of what a fashion week could look like, Sinead was an incredible addition to our show roster this season. She has dedicated the bedrock of her business to challenging the fashion system, consistently proving to the industry that we all must continue to push boundaries to cultivate a more inclusive future, she wrote in an email. As for the future of body positivity in fashion, ODwyer is optimistic. More brands are appearing with positive values so, hopefully, it will inspire larger brands. But the biggest challenge for them will be producing fewer styles in more sizes. Its impossible to create the volume of styles that most brands produce in extended sizing. I would like to see fashion as less about buying more clothes but designing for more bodies. ODwyer will host a small presentation during London Fashion Week in September when the collection will be on view for press and buyers again. Students have launched a new campaign to help address the crippling accommodation shortage by urging homeowners to rent out a spare room this academic year. The students unions of Trinity College, Dublin City University (DCU), University College Dublin (UCD), National College of Art and Design (NCAD), and the Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT) have started a digs drive to highlight what they described as persistent failures from universities and policymakers to boost the number of available beds for students. Stationed at busy Dublin train stations including Connolly, Pearse Station and Tara Street Station, and outside the GPO, students are distributing flyers throughout the week as people make their way to and from work. They are asking those who live near the colleges or on good transport links to campuses to offer up a room to help address the shortage of accommodation students are facing. The unions are pointing to the rent-a-room relief scheme which allows homeowners to earn up to 14,000 tax-free from letting a room in their home. This would allow them to receive up to 1,166 a month tax-free under the scheme. While highlighting this is far from an ideal situation for students to live in digs, the heads of the students unions said the lack of accommodation means many are desperate to source whatever accommodation they can. DCU students union president Karl Ormsby said: Many are forced to endure shocking living conditions for extortionate prices just to get an education. In my personal experience, I have known students who have slept in cars, attics, and even on campus due to the lack of action by the Government to help students find accommodation. "We urge anyone with a spare room to take action and come forward and help the generation of students who are deciding between a place to sleep or an education. It comes after recent research by real estate company JLL that Ireland currently has 40,000 student beds registered with the Residential Tenancies Board but has an unmet demand for a further 40,000 beds. Its head of research Niall Gargan said: This looming demand-supply gap will become more pronounced as the population within the 20-24-year-old age bracket is expected to surge by over 26% by 2030. "However, the pipeline for future beds is dwindling, with only about 2,000 beds currently under construction across the nation. The students unions said unregulated digs were often the only solution for students facing crippling rents and a dearth of available accommodation options. TCD students' union president Jenny Maguire said: Digs are a fundamentally flawed system to house students, but we are now, for the third year in a row, left with no other options. We are left with no other option but to ensure our students have a stable roof over their heads through digs. The fundamental failure of successive governments to provide affordable accommodation for students has made every academic year begin with more and more panic. The Irish Prison Service is to ramp up security after ten inmates were rushed to hospital due to drug overdoses at the state's maximum security jail. The medical emergencies at Portlaoise Prison have been linked to powerful synthetic opioids but toxicology tests were due to be completed to confirm the exact makeup of the substance taken by inmates. A number of prisoners were in critical condition on Tuesday night. The incident comes on foot of recent warnings concerning the dangers of nitazenes, super-strength drugs that are much more potent than heroin. The prison service has responded to the latest overdoses by securing extra naloxone kits, which help reverse the effects of opioid overdoses. The medication takes effect within minutes and has saved several people's lives already. A spokesperson for the prison service said: Extra vigilance is being taken across the prison estate and the Irish Prison Service has commenced an information campaign for prisoners around the dangers of consuming contraband. "Prison staff have increased the use of random and intelligence-led cell searches on a daily basis. Our canine unit carries out searches around the prisons, including a greater focus on searching deliveries into prisons. "The Irish Prison Service continues to engage with An Garda Siochana with regard to preventing contraband entering our prison and this happens at both local and national level. "The Operational Support Group work closely with their colleagues in An Garda Siochana on a regular basis and the sharing of intelligence has led to target searches resulting in the seizure of contraband. "Prisoners, visitors, staff, or members of the public with information on the trafficking of prohibited items into our prisons can pass on that information in the strictest confidence." Last month, the HSE issued a fresh alert regarding the highly potent nitazenes which were responsible for 77 overdoses in Dublin and Cork late last year after a new cluster of overdoses were recorded in the Mid-West and Galway, as well as Dublin. A father of two awaiting trial for taking part in violence during an immigration protest in Dublin was allegedly in possession of a journalist's stolen phone, a court has heard. Landscape and construction worker Christopher Byrne, 27, of Marigold Crescent, Darndale, was initially charged with possessing a stolen black Apple iPhone 14 at the Crown Paints factory on Malahide Road in Coolock on April 6 last. There has been unrest in the area since the Government announced plans to use the disused factory to accommodate hundreds of international protection applicants. Mr Byrne appeared again at Dublin District Court on Tuesday and was further charged with violent disorder with others on the same occasion. Detective Garda Katie Lennon told Judge Cephas Power the Director of Public Prosecutions directed trial on indictment, meaning the case would be dealt with in the circuit court, which has broader sentencing powers. The court heard during the violent disorder incident at the factory, the accused was allegedly in possession of an unnamed journalist's mobile phone. Objection to bail Objecting to bail, the detective alleged the accused had broken bail conditions first imposed on April 30 to stay away from the factory and to sign on once a week at his local Garda station. She said he had failed to sign on four out of 11 weeks, and the court heard evidence he had been sighted in the area, on one occasion disrupting traffic. Defence solicitor John Feaheny submitted his client claimed he had been going to a cinema. Mr Byrne opted to be held in custody on remand last month when he faced a possible breach of bail hearing. But after learning the DPP's direction about his trial venue, he applied to be let out with conditions on Tuesday. Mr Byrne told the court he had not been let sign on twice at the Garda station, so he stopped. He also said when he was once spotted in the area, he was outside the UCI cinema. However, he disputed evidence about being in the vicinity on another date and claimed another garda who testified about that bail breach was lying. Pleading for bail, he told the court he would not attend protests or return to the factory and said he had to support his family and two young children. The court heard he had worked for a landscaping firm but lost his job due to the case. A potential employer came to court to say he had known Mr Byrne for years and could offer him construction and maintenance work. The businessman said he would bring the accused to the Garda station to ensure he signed on and complied with the court's order. Judge Power stressed the accused's presumption of innocence. However, noting the previous breaches of the terms and the fact Mr Byrne did not have a substantial independent surety, he refused the application. Mr Byrne was remanded in custody to appear at Cloverhill District Court next week. The DPP is to prepare a book of evidence that must be served on the accused before making a return-for-trial order. Mr Byrne, who has been granted legal aid, has yet to enter a plea. The violent disorder offence carries a maximum of 10 years, and the charge of possessing stolen property can result in up to five years in jail. Taxi drivers in Cork have pleaded with judges to impose tougher sentences on people who attack them, as gardai continue to investigate the latest vicious assault on a driver in the city. A Spanish national in his 40s with Pakistani heritage suffered severe eye, nose and mouth injuries after he was dragged out of his car and beaten by a lone man on the Grand Parade at about 3.30am on Sunday. It is understood he was attacked after he refused to take the man in his taxi. The driver had to be treated at Cork University Hospital. Cork Taxi Council chairman Bobby Lynch said drivers were concerned that this latest attack comes just weeks after two separate court cases where men who beat taxi drivers in the city were handed suspended sentences. Blood splattered on the car and ground following the assault on a taxi driver in Cork City in the early hours of Sunday morning. Last month, a fully suspended 18-month jail term was imposed on a man who pleaded guilty to a charge of assault causing harm to a taxi driver on May 1, 2021, at Curraheen Road, Bishopstown. Mark Beresford, 30, of Gortnataggart, Thurles, Co Tipperary, got out of the car, opened the drivers door, and from a standing position outside the car punched the driver three times in the face, causing him facial injury from which he is still suffering the consequences three years later, Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard. And in May, Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard how a drunken man who got into a row with a taxi driver about his route home in August 2021 assaulted the driver, and when the victim got out in fright, the passenger began to drive himself home. Hijacking charge A hijacking charge was brought against James McCarthy, 35, of 5 Barnavarra Crescent, Mayfield, Cork, who pleaded guilty to the offence. He received a two-year sentence, fully suspended. Mr Lynch said in both cases, gardai did their job but the men involved walked away with suspended sentences. Drivers are disgusted at these recent sentences. Its dangerous out there for taxi drivers and bus drivers. Were just trying to do a job, trying to get the public from a to b, but when people hear about cases like these, it puts people off going into the industry." And what are the National Transport Authority and our city councillors doing about this? Suleman Ahmed, who has been driving in Cork for about 20 years and who represents about 120 Asian drivers on the Cork Taxi Council, came to the aid of the driver injured in Sundays attack and said his friend was lucky not to lose an eye. He drove a taxi for several years in Spain and nothing like this ever happened there. This is his living. He might be afraid to go back driving, but he will go back to make a living, he said. If the judges take action and imposed some punishment, it might deter people. If there is no punishment, this kind of thing will carry on. If we dont follow the law, the NTA will fine us but when it comes to driver safety, there is no safety at all. Both Mr Lynch and Mr Ahmed also expressed disappointment none of the drivers who were on the Grand Parade rank on Sunday morning came to the assistance of their fellow driver who was being attacked. County councillors have expressed anger after millions of euro of promised vital road projects in Co Cork was withdrawn by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII). The council had just appointed a contractor to carry out a 2m upgrade of a heavily potholed section of the N72 between Clonbanin Cross, southwest of Kanturk, and Rathmore. It was also about to issue a tender for a 450,000 for the retarring of Patrick St, Fermoy, but has been forced to stop work on it and other proposed projects because of the TII decision. The roads authority does not have enough funding to carry projects it had promised to finance, the councillors were told. Senior council officials have told Irish Examiner the withdrawal of funding was extremely disappointing, while councillors have reacted angrily to the news. Fianna Fail councillor Bernard Moynihan, who represents the Duhallow area where the N72 upgrade was planned, said the last time it was properly tarred was 30 years ago. 'Brutal condition' Its a national secondary road. Its in a brutal condition. Council crews are constantly trying to patch it. The council was told at the beginning of this year that funding was in place. Now, having appointed a contractor to do the work, we are told the funding is not there, he said. Mr Moynihan said this was disadvantaging the Duhallow area and motorists would continue to damage tyres on the road. There is a B&B on this road and the owners husband is constantly taking guests into local tyre centre to get new tyres, he added. Fermoy-based Fine Gael councillor Noel McCarthy said the towns main street, Patrick St, was a disgrace. It has been deteriorating for the past three years. It is an embarrassment. Businesspeople and taxi drivers have had enough, he said. Mr McCarthy and local councillors were informed at a special meeting earlier this week by senior council officials that the money had been withheld. 'Were not accepting this' Were not accepting this. We are looking for a meeting with TII and minister for transport Eamon Ryan to discuss this. We are also seeking support from the four TDs in the constituency, he said. Council officials also confirmed a number of other proposed projects had been put on hold by TII. They include a 1.6m retarring project on the N71 from Ballylickey, near Bantry, to Dromkeal, and the appointment of advisers to progress the design for the completion of the Bandon bypass and the realignment of the N71 between Newmills and Owenahincha. The council had hoped to put the Ballylickey to Dromkeal project out to tender in the next couple of months. Council officials said it was particularly disappointing the funding had been pulled as the council had put a lot of work into detailed designs of the various projects. There was no comment from TII on the issue. A major wildfire raged across the northern suburbs of Athens on Monday, leaving at least one person dead and triggering multiple evacuations as swirling winds hampered the efforts of hundreds of firefighters and dozens of water-dropping planes. The fire department said shortly after midnight that firefighters found a body in a burnt building in the suburb of Vrilissia, but was unable to immediately provide further details. The blaze started Sunday near Lake Marathon, about 35 kilometers northeast of Athens, coursed across Mount Pendeli and reached the capitals northern suburbs. It burnt several homes and businesses in the city suburbs and in communities near the lake. Greece went on high alert but by late night Monday, a drop in winds offered hope and officials reported progress against the massive, fast-moving blaze that spawned flames over 25 meters high. Fire Department spokesperson Vassileios Vathrakogiannis said firefighters were longer battling a single front but many active localized blazes, mostly around Marathon and Pendeli. The Marathon area was the site of a famous battle between Greeks and Persians in 490 B.C. and hosts a museum and archaeological site, but there were no immediate reports of damage from the blaze to either. Volunteers try to extinguish the fire in northern Athens. Picture: AP Photo/Aggelos Barai Greek firefighters were to be boosted by forces from other countries as early as Tuesday, after Athens sought international assistance, activating Europes mutual civil protection mechanism. A blanket of smoke and ash shrouded central Athens while power cuts hit parts of the Greek capital and affected traffic lights at major central junctions. Authorities said at least 18 people were injured, mostly due to smoke inhalation as the blaze reached outlying sections of a suburb. Greeces National Observatory said late Monday that satellite images show the blaze has affected about 10,000 hectares. France would provide a helicopter and 200 firefighters with 28 fire trucks, Italy two water-dropping planes and the Czech Republic 75 firefighters and 25 vehicles, officials said, while Serbia and Romania were also readying aid. Neighboring Turkeys Foreign Ministry said it would dispatch two firefighting planes and a helicopter, while Spain was also finalizing reinforcements to send to Greece. The wildfire raced through pine forests left tinder-dry by repeated heat waves this summer. June and July were the hottest months ever recorded in Greece, which also recorded its warmest winter ever. An early start of the fire season this year has strained Greeces firefighting force. Firefighters have been working at full tilt for months, said Nikos Lavranos, head of Greeces main firefighters union. They are exhausted. Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said earlier Monday it was an exceptionally dangerous fire, which we have been fighting for more than 20 hours under dramatic circumstances. Some areas burning on Mount Pendeli were particularly hard to reach, he added. Three hospitals, including a childrens hospital, two monasteries and a childrens home were evacuated on Monday afternoon. Cellphones in the area got at least 30 push alerts warning people to flee. The wind would go in one direction and then in the other, said Spyros Gorilas, a resident of the area of Dioni who hosed down his house with water to save it from the flames. The smoke was suffocating. You couldnt see. Your eyes teared up. You couldnt breathe. Even the helicopter that dropped water, you couldnt see it, he added. You could only hear it. More than 700 firefighters, backed by 27 special wildfire teams, and armed forces personnel were battling the flames, with 190 vehicles, 17 water-dropping planes and 16 helicopters. Three Athens hospitals were on heightened alert, while paramedics and ambulances treated five firefighters for light burns and breathing problems, and at least 13 civilians. The Athens Medical Association warned those with chronic conditions, the elderly, pregnant women, children and those with respiratory and heart problems to be extra cautious. Greeces coast guard diverted all ferries from a nearby port serving several Aegean Sea islands, to another harbor. Sports halls and hotels were turned into evacuation centers. The police said 380 police officers assisted in evacuations, and helped move more than 250 people away from the path of the flames. It posted a video on social media showing officers carrying elderly people out of their homes to waiting vehicles against the backdrop of a flame-red nighttime sky. Authorities said some people who refused to leave their homes later became trapped and required rescuing, endangering the lives of firefighters. The affected areas at the closest, some 15 kilometers from the heart of Athens where the famed Acropolis and other archeological sites are located typically have thousands of residents. The police said 380 police officers assisted in evacuations, and helped move more than 250 people away from the path of the flames. Picture: AP Photo/Aggelos Barai However, it was unclear how many were away on vacation at the height of the summer season, and how many had obeyed the evacuation orders or stayed on their own to fight the blaze. Meteorologists warned of the increased danger of wildfires because of weather conditions from Sunday until Thursday. Dozens of other wildfires also broke out in several parts of Greece on Monday. Wildfires are frequent in the Mediterranean country during its hot, dry summers, but authorities have said climate change is fueling bigger and more frequent blazes. In 2018, a massive fire swept through the seaside town of Mati, east of Athens, trapping people in their homes and on the roads as they tried to flee in their cars. More than 100 people died, including some who drowned trying to swim away from the flames. Last year, wildfires in Greece killed more than 20 people, including 18 migrants who became trapped by the flames as they trekked through a forest in northeastern Greece and were caught by a massive blaze that burned for more than two weeks. Wildfires on Monday also hit neighboring North Macedonia and Albania, which have had high summer temperatures and strong winds. - Associated Press A 13-year-old girl has become the latest youngster to be convicted for her part in the widespread riots in the UK after admitting threatening unlawful violence outside a hotel housing asylum seekers. The youth pleaded guilty to violent disorder at Basingstoke Magistrates Court on Tuesday following a protest outside Potters International Hotel in Aldershot on July 31. The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted threatening unlawful violence that would cause a person to fear for his or her personal safety while with three or more other people in the Hampshire town. She sat with her parents throughout the short hearing. Police officers outside the Potters International Hotel in Aldershot (Jonathan Brady/PA) District Judge Tim Pattinson ordered a pre-sentence report to be made and adjourned for the youngsters sentencing to take place on September 30 at the same court. Elsewhere, a man who looted cosmetics chain Lush during riots in Hull has pleaded guilty to violent disorder, burglary and racially aggravated criminal damage. John Honey, 25, admitted three charges of burglary at Lush, the O2 store and Shoezone in the city on August 3. He also pleaded guilty to the racially aggravated criminal damage of a BMW and damaging nine other cars. The scene after trouble flared in Hull (Olly Burdett/PA) Suspects across the country continue to be charged with stirring up racial hatred, with people due to appear in court in Leicester and Chester on Tuesday. Alleged rioters also continue to be brought before the courts, with further hearings due to take place in cities such as Sheffield, Plymouth, Liverpool and Manchester. Far-right rallies and violence broke out in parts of the UK following the killing of three young girls in Southport after false claims spread online that the suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in Britain by boat. As of Monday, 975 people had been arrested and 546 charged in the wake of the disorder, the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) said. By comparison, in the wake of the August 2011 riots police made 4,105 arrests, according to a Home Office report published a month after the disorder broke out. A murder charge has been filed against Bangladeshs former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and other officials over the killing of a grocery shop owner during student protests in July, authorities have said. S M Amir Hamza, described as a well-wisher of store owner Abu Sayeed, filed the case at the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Rajesh Chowdhury on Tuesday. Mr Hamza said Mr Sayeed was killed on July 19 amid clashes during the student-led uprising, and that he had filed the case because Mr Sayeeds family did not have the capacity to seek justice. Ms Hasina, who stepped down and fled the country on August 5, was named as a suspect in the petition together with six other people including former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, general secretary of then-ruling Awami League party Obaidul Quader, and top police officials. Protesters climb a public monument in Dhaka as they celebrate the news of Sheikh Hasinas resignation as prime minister (Rajib Dhar/AP) The Dhaka court asked the Mohammadpur police station to register the case. Officers will now investigate the case and file a report to the court. This is the first case against Ms Hasina, and more cases are likely to be filed. The development came amid calls by student protesters to charge Ms Hasina and her supporters with murder for the deaths of more than 300 people including students and civilians during weeks of violence since July 15. The uprising forced Ms Hasina to leave office and flee to India, ending a 15-year rule that turned increasingly autocratic, her critics say. Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has been sworn in as interim leader (Michel Euler/AP) An interim government is now running the country. On Thursday, Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel peace laureate, was sworn in as interim leader. Sixteen people, including two student protest leaders and others drawn mainly from civil society, were included in his interim Cabinet. The new Cabinet members were chosen after talks between student leaders, civil society representatives and the military. Ms Hasina and her partys many top leaders have either gone into hiding or have been barred from leaving the country. Unrest spread even after Ms Hasina resigned as prime minister (Rajib Dhar/AP) Peaceful protests by students began in July against a quota system for government jobs that critics said favoured people with connections to Ms Hasinas party. Ms Hasina, 76, was elected to a fourth consecutive term in January, but the vote was boycotted by her main opponents, with thousands of opposition activists detained beforehand. The US and UK denounced the result as not credible. Ms Hasinas critics say her administration was increasingly marked by human rights abuses and corruption. The chaos on Bangladeshs streets continued after her resignation. Dozens of police officers were killed, prompting police to stop working across the country. Police officers have gradually returned to work. The Russian Defence Ministry has said that its forces blocked an effort by Kyivs troops to expand a week-long incursion into Russias Kursk region, as a Ukrainian Foreign Ministry official said Kyiv has no intention of occupying Russian territory in the major operation. Russian army units, fresh reserves, army aircraft, drone teams and artillery forces stopped Ukrainian armoured mobile groups from moving deeper into Russia, near the Kursk settlements of Obshchy Kolodez, Snagost, Kauchuk and Alexeyevsky, a Russian Defence Ministry statement said. Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said the cross-border operation was aimed at protecting Ukrainian land from long-range strikes launched from Kursk. A Russian rocket launcher fires rockets toward Ukrainian position at an undisclosed location (Russian Defence Ministry/AP) Ukraine is not interested in taking the territory of the Kursk region, but we want to protect the lives of our people, Mr Tykhyi was quoted as saying by local media. He said that Russia had launched more than 2,000 strikes from the Kursk region in recent months using anti-aircraft missiles, barrel artillery, mortars, drones, 255 glide bombs and more than 100 missiles. He said the purpose of this operation is to preserve the lives of our children, to protect the territory of Ukraine from Russian strikes. The commander of the Ukrainian military, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said in a video posted to President Volodymyr Zelenskys Telegram channel on Tuesday that Ukraine now controls 74 settlements in the Kursk region. Ukrainian troops have continued to advance, gaining control of over 15 square miles of territory in the past 24 hours, commander Syrskyi said. Fights are ongoing along the entire front line. The situation, despite the high intensity of combat, is under control, he added. Ukraines Western partners have said the country has the right to defend itself, including by attacking across the border. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday that he backed the Ukrainian operation, though he added that Kyiv officials didnt consult him about it beforehand. People evacuated from fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region arrive at a temporary residence centre in Moscow (Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service/AP) He said: What the Russian troops, the Russian air force is doing inside Ukraine bears the hallmarks of genocide, inhumane crimes, and Ukraine has every right to wage war in such a way as to paralyze Russia in its aggressive intentions as effectively as possible. The Kremlins forces are intensifying their attacks in eastern Ukraine. Ukraines General Staff said on Tuesday that over the previous 24 hours, Russian troops launched 52 assaults in the area of Pokrovsk, a town in Ukraines Donetsk region that is close to the front line roughly double the number of daily attacks there a week ago. Ukraines undermanned army has been struggling to hold back the bigger and better-equipped Russian forces in Donetsk. Ukraines charge onto Russian soil that began August 6 has already encompassed about 386 square miles of Russian territory, the Ukrainian military claims. The goals of the swift advance into the Kursk region have been a closely-guarded military secret. Analysts say a catalyst may also have been Ukraines desire to ease pressure on its front line by attempting to draw the Kremlins forces into defending Kursk and other border areas. If so, the increased pressure around Pokrovsk suggests Moscow did not take the bait. Marine assault team members ride motorcycles towards a Ukrainian position at an undisclosed location (Russian Defence Ministry/PA) Ukraines ambitious operation the largest attack on Russia since World War Two has rattled the Kremlin. It compelled Russian President Vladimir Putin to convene a meeting on Monday with his top defence officials. Reportedly, Ukraine assembled thousands of troops some Western analysts estimate up to 10,000-12,000 on the border in recent weeks without Russia noticing or doing anything about it. About 121,000 people have been evacuated from Kursk or have fled the areas affected by fighting on their own, Russian officials say. Russian state television showed residents from evacuated areas lining up in buildings and on the street to receive food and water. Volunteers were pictured distributing bags of aid, while officials from the countrys Ministry of Emergency Situations helped people, including children and older people, off buses. There is no light, no connection, no water. There is nothing. Its as if everyone has flown to another planet, and you are left alone. And the birds stopped singing, an older man called Mikhail told Russian state television. Helicopters and planes fly over the yard and shells were flying. What could we do? We left everything behind. A motive behind Ukraines bold dive into Russia was to stir up unrest, according to Putin, but he said that effort would fail. Two men who called for protests outside a hotel in their home town where asylum seekers were staying have been jailed in Britain. Christopher Taggart, 36, and Rhys McDonald, 34, both of Runcorn, Cheshire, pleaded guilty to publishing written material to stir up racial hatred and were handed sentences of 32 months and 28 months respectively. Cheshire Police became aware of messages posted by the defendants between July 29 and August 6 which were openly available to view on Facebook. Prosecutor Jane Morris told Chester Crown Court: The offending must be viewed in the context of the widespread and extensively reported scenes of disorder, violence and criminal damage which have taken place around the country beginning in Southport and spreading to other locations. On July 30 Taggart, of Caesars Close, posted: Whos up for a rally? and McDonald replied: Need to march on the Daresbury Hotel with torches and pitchforks. Enough is enough. Taggart responded: All ready (sic) started to ask ppl. Another Facebook user asked: Whats the rally all about? Taggart said: To get them gone. We dont want them. In the same online thread, McDonald, of Oxford Road, posted: Its not about immigration its about an ideology. Just happens to be that a lot of these immigrants prescribe to this ideology. Sadly due to this uncontrolled immigration going on for more than 20 years, in some places this ideology is still embedded. Its not really about immigration its about radical Islam. On August 4 McDonald wrote: They need to protest at the hotels where these animals are living. No good in Liverpool city centre. Get to the Daresbury. One person commented: Daresbury Hotel needs to go. A day later Taggart posted: We dont want them here. F*** em. They started we will end it. All of this wouldnt have happened if they shut the boarders (sic). One person posted a fire emoji in response. Both men were arrested on August 10 at their homes as police seized a knuckleduster at Taggarts address. McDonald made no comment to police while Taggart claimed to have ADHD which caused impulsive actions and said he did not mean anything he posted. This should serve as a stark reminder against posting abusive messages online we are all responsible for our actions, including what we post on social media Miss Morris said: The polices presence and patrols increased as a result of the posts and these have remained in place. The offence is clearly aggravated by the defendants efforts to plan an event designed to stir up hatred, as well as by the timing of the incident and the sensitive social climate. Taggart, who also admitted possession of an offensive weapon, had previous convictions for public order offences. McDonald had a previous conviction for a public order offence when he was a youth. Following sentencing, Chief Supt Alison Ross said: Since the start of the recent disorder in other areas of the UK, we have been clear that we will not tolerate this kind of behaviour in Cheshire, including those who post racial abuse online. Much of the violent disorder which has taken place across the UK in recent weeks has been fuelled by malicious communications online, something which Taggart and McDonald decided to take part in. But they were not able to hide behind their devices and online accounts they were soon identified and are now being held accountable. This should serve as a stark reminder against posting abusive messages online we are all responsible for our actions, including what we post on social media. The US has approved 20 billion dollars in arms sales to Israel, including scores of fighter jets and advanced air-to-air missiles, the State Department has announced. Congress was notified of the impending sale, which includes more than 50 F-15 fighter jets, Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles or AMRAAMs, 120mm tank ammunition and high explosive mortars and tactical vehicles. At dawn today, a deadly confrontation erupted as Al-Shabaab insurgents launched a meticulously coordinated assault on the Raaxoy military outpost, nestled on the outskirts of the Balcad district in Middle Shabelle The militants initiated the attack with a barrage of explosions where it igniting a fierce and unyielding battle between their forces and government troops stationed at the base. Reports from the frontlines indicate substantial casualties on both sides which highlighting the severity of the conflict. The arrival of reinforcements from the nearby Qalimow and Balcad districts has bolstered government efforts, but the full extent of the destruction caused by this violent clash remains shrouded in uncertainty. Once held by ATMIS forces before being handed over to Somali military units, the Raaxoy base now finds itself under the control of Somali forces, battling to retain their hold amid the chaos. The bases strategic significance, coupled with its history of changing hands, underscores the intensity of the ongoing struggle. As the dust settles the true toll of the conflict will emerge marking yet another chapter in the ongoing battle against Al-Shabaab in Somalia. By Lawrence Hill-Cawthorne, University of Bristol | (The Conversation) Gaza is reeling after a missile strike launched by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) targeted a building and mosque within a school complex in Gaza City on August 10. The Israeli military said the school was operating as a Hamas command and control post, but the buildings were reportedly also sheltering more than 6,000 displaced people. Palestinian authorities have stated that the attack killed more than 80 people, a figure disputed by the IDF, which claimed that the strike killed 19 fighters, including senior Hamas commanders. August 12 marks the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the four 1949 Geneva Conventions. Those conventions remain the core of international humanitarian law (IHL). This represents the body of rules under international law that regulates the conduct of war. Each of the four treaties focuses on the protection of a particular category of war victim. The first three treaties (on wounded and sick soldiers on land; wounded, sick and shipwrecked soldiers at sea; and prisoners of war) updated earlier treaties signed in 1899, 1907 and 1929, whereas the fourth was a true innovation. It set out for the first time comprehensive protections for civilians. Those four Geneva Conventions have now been ratified by 196 states, effectively covering the entire world. They have also been updated through three further treaties (or additional protocols), and supplemented by a variety of others, such as treaties banning or regulating particular weapons. But, notwithstanding these significant legal advances, the number of conflicts around the world has steadily increased over the past half century and particularly in the past 15 years. Fatalities from organised violence including war have risen steadily, particularly over the past 25 years (2023 reportedly had the third highest annual fatalities from organised violence since the Rwandan genocide in 1994). Israels assault on Gaza since last years October 7 attacks by Hamas has accounted for a significant number of deaths nearly 40,000. The majority of these were civilians, according to the numbers compiled by the Gaza health ministry, which are all we have to go on. Israels actions have come under intense scrutiny, with mounting evidence of war crimes and multiple attempts at accountability, including before the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court. When is a school a lawful target? A school is a classic example of a civilian object that cannot, as a general rule, be targeted. Where a school is used for military purposes, however, it can potentially become a lawful military objective. This would be the case if its use makes an effective contribution to military action and if its destruction, capture or neutralisation offers a definite military advantage. So, if the school building did house a Hamas or Islamic Jihad command centre, as claimed, this may well render it a military objective. But even military objectives cannot be targeted if doing so may be expected to cause disproportionate harm to the civilian population. Here the test is whether such harm may be expected to be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated. British Red Cross , CC BY-SA This calls for an assessment to be made before an attack of the likely effects of the strike on the civilian population. Given that this was a building in a school complex that also housed a mosque and was sheltering a large number of displaced people, it is very difficult to see how anything other than a significant number of civilian casualties could result. This makes the legality of the strike much harder to justify. An attack that is knowingly going to cause clearly excessive civilian harm is a war crime for which the perpetrators can be prosecuted (in certain cases, their commanders/political leaders can be prosecuted as well). Indeed, in many recent conflicts, militaries have (successfully or not) claimed to pursue zero civilian casualty policies, to avoid allegations of disproportionate attacks and to increase their legitimacy. Violations on both sides If Hamas and Islamic Jihad did use the school as a command centre, effectively relying on the civilians inhabiting the school as human shields, this itself is a violation of IHL and potentially a war crime. Hamas has been accused before of using Palestinian civilians as human shields (as has Israel), and the IDF is not alone in alleging that they have done so during the current conflict. Yet even in such situations, Israel remains bound by the prohibition of disproportionate harm to civilians when targeting schools that are being used for military purposes by Hamas. It cannot justify any attempt to evade those obligations on the basis of Hamas wrongdoing. Finally, though the IDF insisted it had taken numerous steps to mitigate the risk to civilians, it is not clear that they issued any advance warnings to the civilians located in the school. This is required (except in certain circumstances) by IHL. Warnings are an essential means of complying with a states international law obligation to spare the civilian population during military operations. The IDF has issued such warnings in relation to other strikes during the current conflict (though some of these have been criticised as being unclear and thus ineffective). It is not clear on what basis they appear not to have done so here. The United Nations has noted with concern the pattern of Israeli attacks on schools throughout Gaza. The IDF continues to argue that its strikes comply with IHL. There are strong reasons to doubt this. But it must also be emphasised that IHL establishes an absolute minimum of permissible conduct in wartime. Indeed, much of IHL is extremely permissive as to what militaries can do during war. That we are now celebrating the 75th anniversary of the core IHL treaties is a good reminder that we should not assume its prescriptions reflect contemporary moral standards. Militaries and armed groups ought not merely to ask whether a particular military operation would be lawful, but also whether it would be just. Lawrence Hill-Cawthorne, Professor of Public International Law, University of Bristol This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Istanbul (Special to Informed Comment; feature) On August 2, Turkey blocked Instagram, the countrys most popular social network. Although Turkeys Information Technologies and Communication Authority (BTK) did not officially state the reason for the ban, the move came after Fahrettin Altun, the Presidential Communications Director, criticized Instagram for preventing users from sharing content related to the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas and a close ally of President Erdogan. Altun said on X: I strongly condemn the social media platform Instagram for blocking people from posting condolence messages regarding Haniyehs martyrdom without providing any justification. This is an apparent and obvious attempt at censorship. In a similar incident, Meta, Instagrams parent company, removed social media posts by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim expressing condolences for Haniyeh. Meta designates Hamas as a dangerous organization and prohibits content that praises the group. Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran on July 31, where he had been attending the inauguration ceremony of Irans President Masoud Pezeshkian. Historical Context of Social Media Bans in Turkey Under Erdogan, Turkey has previously blocked several social media platforms, including YouTube, Threads, EksiSozluk, Wikipedia, and X (formerly Twitter). YouTube was first banned in Turkey in 2007 and again between 2008 and 2010, due to videos insulting Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Republic of Turkey. The platform was briefly banned again in 2014 and 2015. X (formerly Twitter) was banned in 2014 following the circulation of alleged leaked recordings implicating government officials in corruption. Wikipedia was banned in Turkey from 2017 to 2020 due to entries that accused the country of having links to terrorist organizations. Additionally, the government has imposed bans on social media and broadcasting in response to disasters, terrorist attacks, and social unrest. In 2024, the number of blocked web pages in Turkey surpassed one million. Meanwhile, Huseyin Yayman, head of the Turkish Parliaments Digital Media Commission, claimed that many Turkish people want TikTok to be banned. People who see me on the street say, If you shut down TikTok, you will go to heaven, Yayman added. Impact of the Instagram Ban Following the Instagram ban in Turkey, online searches for VPN services surged. In response, pro-government media began publishing articles warning people about the risks associated with free VPN services. Professor Yaman Akdeniz, co-founder of the Freedom of Expression Association (IFOD) and a law professor, said: This ban must have been requested by either the presidency or a ministry. The BTK is required to obtain approval from a criminal court. Akdeniz added, The censorship imposed on Instagram is arbitrary and cannot be explained or justified. No judge should approve such a request. Human Rights Watch and IFOD stated that the block on Instagram violates the rights to freedom of expression and access to information for millions of users. With 57.1 million users, Turkey ranks fifth worldwide in the number of Instagram users. The ban had a significant impact on the Turkish economy, as Instagram plays a crucial role in Turkeys e-commerce landscape, with approximately 10% of the nations total online sales being conducted through social media platforms. According to Bugra Gokce, head of the Istanbul Planning Agency (IPA), the ban also disrupted the service sector, including tourism, hospitality, and restaurants in reaching customers. The IPA projects that the ban could lead to a weekly economic loss of approximately USD 396 million. On August 5, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized opponents of the ban and used a racial slur to describe them. He claimed they care more about Western interests than Turkeys sovereignty, stating: The only purpose of the existence of house negroes, who are both opportunists and losers, is to please their owners. Less than a week after the Instagram ban, Turkish authorities also prohibited access to the online video game platform Roblox. Ekrem Imamoglu, the Mayor of Istanbul and a prominent opposition figure criticized the bans on Instagram and Roblox, stating: Those who made this decision are ignorant of the new world, the economy, and technology. Israeli Response to Turkeys Instagram Ban Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz criticized Erdogan, accusing him of turning Turkey into a dictatorship by blocking Instagram. Katz also tagged Imamoglu in his comments, seemingly attempting to exploit the political polarization in Turkey to his advantage. Imamoglu responded by saying: We have no need to receive lessons on democracy and law from those responsible for the suffering and deaths of countless innocents, including children. Katzs attempt backfired, as despite the political polarization in Turkey, both sides of the spectrum largely voice support for Palestine, though in different waysIslamists tend to back Hamas, while secularists in Turkey are more aligned with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) or other left-wing Palestinian groups. How Was the Ban Lifted? On Saturday, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu announced that Instagram had accepted Turkeys conditions. The ban on Instagram was lifted after Meta reportedly agreed to comply with Turkish law and remove content related to certain crimes or terrorist propaganda. The independent news website YetkinReport noted that Meta had already been publishing transparency reports indicating that Instagram was implementing these measures even before the ban. The latest report was published on July 31, just two days before the platform was blocked. The nine-day ban was Turkeys longest on a major social media platform in recent years. Since Instagram still continues to ban pro-Hamas content, it appears that little has changed. It remains unclear why Instagram was banned in Turkey in the first place, why the ban was lifted, and what problem, if any, was resolved by imposing the ban. France 24 Video: Turkish president slams social media fascism amid Instagram battle FRANCE 24 English By Jay Waagmeester | ( Florida Phoenix ) Florida university presidents have been instructed to scan their syllabi for material deemed antisemitic or exhibiting anti-Israeli bias following concerns raised by Rep. Randy Fine. Republican Fine, who is Jewish and has sponsored several laws advocating for Jewish Floridians, raised concern on X in late June about a Florida International University course reportedly using a textbook that asked students, When Israelis practice terrorism, they often refer to it as _____, and, In which country did the Zionists purchase land to create their new homeland? The book, Terrorism and Homeland Security by Jonathan R. White and Steven M. Chermak, was the subject of a post from the X account Documenting Israel, with a declared mission of [d]ocumenting daily events in Israel relating to security, terrorism and general Jewish life. Fine replied to the post by calling out FIU. I will be speaking to @FIU as soon as possible. There is no room for #MuslimTerror at Floridas state universities, Fine posted. FIU replied to the original post by Documenting Israel. Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We have already started a review of the circumstances. FIU (@FIU) June 26, 2024 Two days later, Fine posted that he was unsatisfied with the outcome of a conversation he had with FIU officials and called for more accountability. Just over a month later, State University System Chancellor Ray Rodrigues sent a letter to university presidents asking them to investigate course materials and syllabi that include a list of suspect words. The letter referenced a previous meeting he had with presidents discussing the matter. The letter, sent in advance of the fall semester, asked that course materials and syllabi that include the words Israel, Israeli, Palestine, Palestinian, Middle East, Zionism, Zionist, Judaism, Jewish, or Jews be reviewed. Rodrigues said in his letter that some universities indicated it would not be feasible to search materials before the school year starts and that faculty review of the courses should be complete by the end of the fall semester. The most important thing is that we get this right, Rodrigues wrote. Once a course has been reviewed and all instances of antisemitism and anti-Israel bias have been flagged, universities must report their findings to the chancellors office, Rodrigues instructed. The Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemned Rodrigues for the order and urged Floridians to stand up for our constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech and for academic freedom in our public university system. It is logical to assume that any courses that are flagged for review will be scrubbed of any criticism of the genocidal Israeli government and especially its military, said Imam Abdullah Jaber, the Florida chapters executive director, in a news release. CAIRs stated mission is to defend the civil rights of Floridas Muslim community and to promote a more just and equitable society for all. Fine indicated his displeasure with Cengage, the books publisher, on X. The book is no longer listed on Cengages website. The link for the book leads to a page stating, Were sorry, no results found. Cengage did not respond to questions about when and why the book is no longer posted on its website. FIUs Barnes & Noble course material website states the book is not available for purchase. According to the website, the book provides a theoretical and conceptual framework that enables you to understand how terrorism arises and functions. Since Hamas Oct. 7 attack on Israel, legislators at the state and local level have led antisemitism-addressing legislation, including two Fine bills signed days before he raised this book-based concern. The measures authorize enhanced security outside Jewish day schools and adopt a definition of antisemitism that includes [m]aking mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jewish individuals as such or the power of Jewish people as a collective, such as the myth of a worldwide Jewish conspiracy or of Jewish individuals controlling the media, economy, government, or other societal institutions. The declared intention is to assist in the monitoring and reporting of anti-Semitic hate crimes and discrimination and to make residents aware of and to combat such incidents in this state. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 13, 2024) - Endurance Gold Corporation (TSXV: EDG) (OTC Pink: ENDGF) (FSE: 3EG) (the "Company") is pleased to provide an update on the ongoing exploration program at its Reliance Gold Project. Drilling is complete on five diamond drill holes with a sixth hole in progress at the Imperial Zone expanding Imperial Zone by about 100 m to the northwest. The Reliance Gold Property (the "Property") is road accessible and is located 4 kilometres ("km") east of the village of Gold Bridge, and 10 km north of the historic Bralorne-Pioneer Gold Mining Camp which has produced over 4 million ounces of gold. As stated in our July 8, 2024 press release, the planned 2024 program consists of up to 10,000 metres ("m") of diamond drilling designed to expand the extent of the gold zones discovered within the Royal Shear both at depth and along strike. To date, five (5) drill holes have been completed since early July for a total of 1,854 m drilled in the northwestern extension of the Royal Shear with the target horizon intersected in all five holes. Drilling is expanding the Imperial Zone with significant step outs to the northwest of DDH23-065 that returned 8.98 grams per tonne ("gpt") gold over 9.3 m and DDH23-066 of 17.28 gpt gold over 4.2 m (See press releases dated June 26, 2023 and July 11, 2023 ). These holes have expanded the Imperial Zone at depth and to the northwest by about 100 m. A sixth drill hole is currently in progress at a drilled depth of 180 m targeting the depth extension below DDH24-084. Subject to assay results, the approximate location of the five mineralized drill hole penetrations achieved to date are shown on Figure 1. Drill roads and drill collar locations for 2020 through 2024 drilling to date are shown on the attached Figure 2. Assay results are expected commencing in late August or early September for the drill holes completed to date at the Imperial Zone. Planned Eagle Drilling - Additional excavated drill road preparation has been completed this year to facilitate new drill pads for deep targeting in the Imperial through Eagle areas. On completion of the currently active drill hole at Imperial the drill will commence testing the Royal Shear target zone between Imperial and Eagle. Other Activity - Further refining of the 3D modelling has been completed and the Company has engaged Marc Jutras, P.Eng., M.A.Sc., Principal, Ginto Consulting Inc. to assist in developing the inaugural mineral resource estimate. Results from a LiDAR survey over the entire property including the Olympic Target area have now been received and will help with advancing the Olympic area towards drill targets. Further geochemical surface sampling and prospecting has also been completed with additional targets developing in the Upper Eagle area. Endurance Gold Corporation is a company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of highly prospective North American mineral properties with the potential to develop world-class deposits. ENDURANCE GOLD CORPORATION Robert T. Boyd, President & CEO Diamond drill core was logged and evaluated on the Property and samples designated for collection under the supervision of a geologist at the property. Drilling was completed with NQ size tools capable of collecting 4.76 centimetre diameter core. Drill core was cut using a diamond saw with one half of the core sent for analysis and the remaining kept for future studies.. All drill core samples have been submitted to ALS Global in North Vancouver, BC, an ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accredited laboratory, where they are crushed to 70% <2 mm then up to 250 gram pulverized to <75 microns. Samples are then submitted for four-acid digestion and analyzed for 48 element ICP-MS (ME-MS61) and gold 30g FA ICP-AES finish (AU-ICP21). Over limit samples returning greater than 10 parts per million ("ppm") gold are re-analyzed by Au-GRA21 methodology and over limit antimony returning greater than 10,000 ppm Sb are re-analyzed by Sb-AA08 methodology. Endurance Gold monitors QA/QC by inserting blanks, certified standards and pulp duplicates into the sample stream. The work program is supervised by Darren O'Brien, P.Geo., Vice President Exploration for the Company and the qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101. Mr. O'Brien has reviewed and approved this news release. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. This news release may contain forward looking statements based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events or results that may prove to be inaccurate as a result of factors beyond its control, and actual results may differ materially from the expected results. Figure 1: Reliance Property Longitudinal - 2024 Update & Planned Drilling Areas Figure 2: Reliance Property Plan Map - 2024 Drill Hole Location Robust Margin Expansion Driving Record Free Cash Flow VANCOUVER, BC, Aug. 12, 2024 /CNW/ - Orla Mining Ltd. (TSX: OLA) (NYSE: ORLA) ("Orla" or the "Company") today announces the results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2024. (All amounts expressed in U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated) Second Quarter 2024 Highlights Second quarter gold production was 33,206 ounces and gold sold was 34,875 ounces (pre-released) . Year to date, Camino Rojo has been performing better than plan and, as a result, the Company is increasing full year gold production guidance to 120,000 to 130,000 ounces from its initial guidance of 110,000 to 120,000 ounces. . Year to date, Camino Rojo has been performing better than plan and, as a result, the Company is increasing full year gold production guidance to 120,000 to 130,000 ounces from its initial guidance of 110,000 to 120,000 ounces. Second quarter 2024 all-in sustaining cost 1 ("AISC") was $782 per ounce of gold sold, while year to date AISC is $843 per ounce of gold sold. AISC guidance for the full year 2024 has been improved to a range of $800 to $900 per ounce of gold sold from the original guidance of $875 to $975 per ounce. ("AISC") was per ounce of gold sold, while year to date AISC is per ounce of gold sold. AISC guidance for the full year 2024 has been improved to a range of to per ounce of gold sold from the original guidance of to per ounce. Adjusted earnings 1 for the second quarter were $23.0 million or $0.07 per share. for the second quarter were or per share. Net income for the second quarter was $24.3 million or $0.08 per share. or per share. Second quarter operating profit margin 2 of 64%, and net profit margin 3 of 29%. of 64%, and net profit margin of 29%. Cash flow from operating activities before changes in non-cash working capital during the second quarter was $53.2 million . . Exploration and project expenditure 1 was $9.7 million during the quarter, of which $3.1 million was capitalized and $6.6 million was expensed. was during the quarter, of which was capitalized and was expensed. As at June 30 , 2024, Orla's cash balance was $154.3 million , an increase of $36.2 million over the previous quarter. Net cash 1 at the end of the quarter was $76.0 million . , 2024, Orla's cash balance was , an increase of over the previous quarter. Net cash at the end of the quarter was . During the quarter, the Company repaid $10.0 million on its revolving credit facility. Subsequent to quarter end, the Company made a further $20.0 million re-payment reducing the outstanding balance drawn to $58.4 million . "The combination of Camino Rojo's consistent low-cost production with a higher gold price is driving margin expansion and strong cash flow for the business. This cash is being used to invest in growth and strengthen our balance sheet. We have established a strong foundation to build upon." - Jason Simpson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Orla _________________________________________________ 1 Non-GAAP measure. Refer to the "Non-GAAP Measures" section of this press release. 2 Defined as revenue minus cost of sales, divided by revenue. 3 Defined as net income divided by revenue. Financial and Operations Update Table 1: Financial and Operating Highlights Q2 2024 YTD 2024 Operating Gold Produced oz 33,206 66,429 Gold Sold oz 34,875 66,921 Average Realized Gold Price1 $/oz $2,332 $2,201 Cost of Sales Operating Cost $m $18.5 $36.6 Cash Cost per Ounce1 $/oz $498 $535 All-in Sustaining Cost per Ounce1 $/oz $782 $843 Financial Revenue $m $84.6 $151.8 Net Income (Loss) $m $24.3 $41.8 Adjusted Earnings1 $m $23.0 $39.9 Earnings per Share basic $/sh $0.08 $0.13 Adjusted Earnings per Share basic1 $/sh $0.07 $0.13 Cash Flow from Operating Activities before Changes in Non-Cash Working Capital $m $53.2 $74.9 Free Cash Flow1 $m $44.1 $68.0 Financial Position June 30, 2024 Dec 31, 2023 Cash and Cash Equivalents $m $154.3 $96.6 Net Cash1 $m $76.0 $8.3 1 Non-GAAP measure. Refer to the "Non-GAAP Measures" section of this news release. Second Quarter 2024 Financial and Operations Summary The Camino Rojo Oxide Gold Mine produced 33,206 ounces of gold in the second quarter of 2024 at an average ore stacking rate of 19,717 tonnes per day. The average mining rate during the second quarter was 43,479 tonnes per day with a strip ratio of 1.08. The average grade of ore stacked during the second quarter was 0.87 g/t gold, in line with plan. Waste stripping is expected to continue to ramp up in the second half of the year at a strip ratio of approximately 1.50 and an average mining rate of approximately 50,000 tonnes per day. Gold sold during the second quarter 2024 totaled 34,875 ounces and cash costs and AISC totaled $498 and $782 per ounce of gold sold, respectively. Sustaining capital during the second quarter of 2024 totaled $4.9 million. This included mainly the construction of phase 2 of the heap leach pad. Year to date, sustaining capital expenditures are on schedule and amount to $9.9 million, or 55% of the total planned for the full year. During the second half of 2023, the Company initiated a program to test the impact of reduced crushed size from P80 28mm to P80 23mm. The initial results of this test program were positive and resulted in higher gold recovery from the heap leach in the range of 3-5%. The testing will continue in 2024, as will testing of reduced crush size on other ore types. Exploration and Projects Update In the second quarter, exploration efforts were primarily concentrated on drilling activities at Camino Rojo in Mexico, with a startup drill program commencing in Nevada in late May. By the end of the second quarter, a total of 20,958 metres had been drilled, with the focus mainly on the Camino Rojo Extension. Camino Rojo Extension Exploration (Mexico) As part of the near-mine exploration at Camino Rojo, the focus in the second quarter was on the promising Camino Rojo Extension, with a 30,000-metre drill program designed to test and expand the potential of the still-open mineralization at the expansive Camino Rojo deposit. The Company drilled over 7,847 metres and 13 holes during the quarter with assays and metallurgical testing in progress. Orla also issued a news release in late June, highlighting positive drill intersections and metallurgical results of exploration activities from the first half of 2024 at the Camino Rojo Sulphide Extension. Camino Rojo Sulphides Project Planning (Mexico) The Company plans on completing a preliminary underground resource estimate on the Camino Rojo Sulphides. A metallurgical study of the most recent phase of Camino Rojo Sulphide infill drilling is expected to continue throughout 2024. South Railroad Exploration (Nevada) The 2024 Exploration program at South Railroad began in late May, with a 23,000-metre drill program aimed at continuing to test potential extensions of known oxide deposits, such as the Pinion and Dark Star Development Projects, advancing satellite mineralized zones, and exploring new targets throughout the remainder of the year. South Railroad Project Permitting (Nevada) The Company continues baseline environmental data collection to facilitate the environmental studies required to support development of the Environmental Impact Statement ("EIS"), and the overall National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA") permitting process. Orla is currently expanding on this work to allow flexibility in project planning when working with the Bureau of Land Management ("BLM") during the permitting process. The next step in the NEPA process will be the BLM publishing the Notice of Intent in the Federal Register, followed by public scoping meetings in conjunction with the development of the EIS. SWCA Environmental Consultants have been engaged to manage the EIS process on behalf of the BLM. The process will culminate in the BLM publishing a Record of Decision for the project. The Company expects this permitting process to continue over 2024 and 2025, with construction at South Railroad commencing in 2026. Contact Gold Acquisition During the second quarter, on April 29, 2024, the Company acquired all the outstanding common shares of Contact Gold Corp. ("Contact"), a publicly listed company. The Contact properties acquired consist mainly of the Pony Creek property and the Green Springs property both located in Nevada, USA. For further details, please see the Company's news releases dated February 26, 2024, and April 29, 2024. Panama Update In March 2024, the Company filed a Notice of Intent to Arbitrate with the Government of Panama under the Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement (the "FTA"), in respect of the Cerro Quema Project. The Notice of Intent asserted that certain measures taken by Panama constituted violations of Panama's legal obligations under the FTA and customary international law. The Notice of Intent was intended to facilitate a 30-day consultation period to reach an amicable resolution to the Company's claim. As no resolution was reached, the Company proceeded with filing a Request to Arbitrate on July 3, 2024. The arbitration will be facilitated and administered by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington, DC, under its Arbitration Rules. As part of the FTA requirements, the Company submitted an initial and preliminary estimate of damages claimed of no less than US$400 million, plus pre-award and post-award interest. Although the Company intends to vigorously pursue these legal remedies, the Company's preference is a constructive resolution with the Government of Panama that results in a positive outcome for all stakeholders. 2024 Guidance Q2 Update During the second quarter, the Company spent a total of $9.7 million in exploration and project development, of which $3.1 million was capitalized and $6.6 million was expensed. The Company provides the following improved 2024 production and cost guidance which will be driven by higher stacked ore tonnes and improved metal recoveries of both gold and silver. The Company is increasing full year gold production guidance to a range of 120,000 to 130,000 ounces from its initial guidance range of 100,000 to 110,000 ounces. The Company is also reducing AISC guidance for the full year 2024 to a range of $800 to $900 per ounce of gold sold from the original guidance of $875 to $975 per ounce. Original 2024 Guidance Updated 2024 Guidance YTD Q2 2024 Gold Production Oz 110,000 - 120,000 120,000 - 130,0000 66,249 Total Cash Cost (net of by-product)1 $/oz au sold $625 - $725 $550 - $650 $535 AISC1 $/oz au sold $875 - $975 $800 - $900 $843 Capital Expenditures $m $31.0 No change $16.4 Sustaining capital expenditures $m $18.0 $9.9 Non-sustaining capital expenditures $m $13.0 $6.5 Exploration Expenses & Project Development (expensed)3 $m $31.0 $34.0 $11.4 1. Total Cash Cost and AISC are not non-GAAP measures. See the "Non-GAAP Measures" section of this news release for additional information. 2. Exchange rates used to forecast cost metrics include MXN/USD of 18.0 and CAD/USD of 1.33. A +/-1.0 change to the MXN/USD exchange rate would have an impact of +/-$10/oz on AISC. 3. The initial FY 2024 expensed exploration guidance of $31.0 million was increased to reflect additional planned exploration at Pony Creek of $3.0 million, following the acquisition of Contact Gold. Financial Statements Orla's unaudited financial statements and management's discussion and analysis for the quarter ended June 30, 2024, are available on the Company's website at www.orlamining.com, and under the Company's profiles on SEDAR+ and EDGAR. Qualified Persons Statement The scientific and technical information in this news release was reviewed and approved by Mr. J. Andrew Cormier, P. Eng., Chief Operating Officer of the Company, and Mr. Sylvain Guerard, P. Geo., Senior Vice President, Exploration of the Company, who are the Qualified Persons as defined under NI 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Second Quarter 2024 Conference Call Orla will host a conference call on Tuesday August 13, 2024, at 10:00 AM, Eastern Time, to provide a corporate update following the release of its financial and operating results for the second quarter 2024: Dial-In Numbers / Webcast: Conference ID: 5844017 Toll Free: 1 (888) 550-5302 Toll: 1 (646) 960-0685 Webcast: https://orlamining.com/investors/presentations-and-events/ About Orla Mining Ltd. Orla's corporate strategy is to acquire, develop, and operate mineral properties where the Company's expertise can substantially increase stakeholder value. The Company has two material gold projects: (1) Camino Rojo, located in Zacatecas State, Mexico and (2) South Railroad, located in Nevada, United States. Orla is operating the Camino Rojo Oxide Gold Mine, a gold and silver open-pit and heap leach mine. The property is 100% owned by Orla and covers over 139,000 hectares which contains a large oxide and sulphide mineral resource. Orla is also developing the South Railroad Project, a feasibility-stage, open pit, heap leach gold project located on the Carlin trend in Nevada. The technical reports for the Company's material projects are available on Orla's website at www.orlamining.com, and on SEDAR+ and EDGAR under the Company's profile at www.sedarplus.ca and www.sec.gov, respectively. Non-GAAP Measures The Company has included certain performance measures in this news release which are not specified, defined, or determined under generally accepted accounting principles (in the Company's case, International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"")). These are common performance measures in the gold mining industry, but because they do not have any mandated standardized definitions, they may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. Accordingly, the Company uses such measures to provide additional information and you should not consider them in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"). In this section, all currency figures in tables are in thousands, except per-share and per-ounce amounts. Average Realized Gold Price Average realized gold price per ounce sold is calculated by dividing gold sales proceeds received by the Company for the relevant period by the ounces of gold sold. The Company believes the measure is useful in understanding the gold price realized by the Company throughout the period. AVERAGE REALIZED GOLD PRICE Q2 2024 Q2 2023 YTD Q2 2024 YTD Q2 2023 Revenue $ 84,570 $ 59,272 $ 151,848 $ 110,403 Silver sales (3,256) (475) (4,566) (899) Gold sales 81,314 58,797 147,282 109,504 Ounces of gold sold 34,875 29,773 66,921 56,632 AVERAGE REALIZED GOLD PRICE $ 2,332 $ 1,975 $ 2,201 $ 1,934 Net Cash Net cash is calculated as cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments less total debt adjusted for unamortized deferred financing charges at the end of the reporting period. This measure is used by management to measure the Company's debt leverage. The Company believes that in addition to conventional measures prepared in accordance with IFRS, net debt is useful to evaluate the Company's leverage and is also a key metric in determining the cost of debt. NET CASH Jun 30, 2024 Dec 31, 2023 Cash and cash equivalents $ 154,302 $ 96,632 Less: Long term debt (78,350) (88,350) NET CASH $ 75,952 $ 8,282 Adjusted Earnings and Adjusted Earnings per share Adjusted earnings excludes deferred taxes, unrealized foreign exchange, changes in fair values of financial instruments, impairments and reversals due to net realizable values, restructuring and severance, and other items which are significant but not reflective of the underlying operational performance of the Company. The Company believes these measures are useful to market participants because they are important indicators of the strength of operations and the performance of the core business. With the addition of performance share units ("PSUs") at the end of Q1 2023, the Company expects greater volatility in share-based payments expense going forward. Accordingly, the effect of these PSUs in the calculation of adjusted earnings was excluded. ADJUSTED EARNINGS Q2 2024 Q2 2023 YTD Q2 2024 YTD Q2 2023 Net income for the period $ 24,265 $ 12,827 $ 41,750 $ 26,062 Unrealized foreign exchange (1,520) 1,097 (2,431) (706) Accretion of deferred revenue 122 244 Share based compensation related to PSUs 167 92 291 92 ADJUSTED EARNINGS $ 23,034 $ 14,016 $ 39,854 $ 25,448 Millions of shares outstanding basic 318.0 311.2 316.6 308.8 Adjusted earnings per share basic $ 0.07 $ 0.05 $ 0.13 $ 0.08 Companies may choose to expense or capitalize their exploration expenditures. The Company expenses exploration costs based on its accounting policy. To assist the reader in comparing against those companies which capitalize their exploration costs, please note that included within Orla's net income (loss) for each period are exploration costs which were expensed, as follows: Q2 2024 Q2 2023 YTD Q2 2024 YTD Q2 2023 Exploration & evaluation expense $ 6,649 $ 7,201 $ 11,393 $ 14,067 Free Cash Flow The Company believes market participants use Free Cash Flow to evaluate the Company's operating cash flow capacity to meet non-discretionary outflows of cash. Free Cash Flow is not meant to be a substitute for the cash flow information presented in accordance with IFRS. Free Cash Flow is calculated as the sum of cash flow from operating activities and cash flow from investing activities, excluding certain unusual transactions. FREE CASH FLOW Q2 2024 Q2 2023 YTD Q2 2024 YTD Q2 2023 Cash flow from operating activities $ 48,969 $ 23,296 $ 77,119 $ 18,374 Cash flow from investing activities (4,906) (4,844) (9,130) (5,436) FREE CASH FLOW $ 44,063 $ 18,452 $ 67,989 $ 12,938 Millions of shares outstanding basic 318.0 311.2 316.6 308.8 Free cash flow per share basic $ 0.14 $ 0.06 $ 0.21 $ 0.04 Cash Costs and All-In Sustaining Costs The Company calculates cash cost per ounce by dividing the sum of operating costs and royalty costs, net of by-product silver credits, by ounces of gold sold. Management believes that this measure is useful to market participants in assessing operating performance. The Company has provided an AISC performance measure that reflects all the expenditures that are required to produce an ounce of gold from operations. While there is no standardized meaning of the measure across the industry, the Company's definition conforms to the all-in sustaining cost definition as set out by the World Gold Council in its guidance dated November 14, 2018. Orla believes that this measure is useful to market participants in assessing operating performance and the Company's ability to generate free cash flow from current operations. Figures are presented only from April 1, 2022, as the Camino Rojo Oxide Gold Mine commenced commercial production on that date. CASH COST Q2 2024 Q2 2023 YTD Q2 2024 YTD Q2 2023 Cost of sales operating costs $ 18,524 $ 13,458 $ 36,633 $ 25,250 Royalties 2,098 1,448 3,766 2,754 Silver sales (3,256) (475) (4,566) (899) CASH COST $ 17,366 $ 14,431 $ 35,833 $ 27,105 Ounces sold 34,875 29,773 66,921 56,632 Cash cost per ounce sold $ 498 $ 485 $ 535 $ 479 ALL-IN SUSTAINING COST Q2 2024 Q2 2023 YTD Q2 2024 YTD Q2 2023 Cash cost, as above $ 17,366 $ 14,431 $ 35,833 $ 27,105 General and administrative expenses 3,878 3,107 7,747 6,372 Share based payments 715 620 2,046 1,727 Accretion of site closure provisions 131 113 243 257 Amortization of site closure provisions 137 136 253 261 Sustaining capital 4,755 1,443 9,369 2,588 Sustaining capitalized exploration expenses 128 696 541 696 Lease payments 175 222 374 384 ALL-IN SUSTAINING COST $ 27,285 $ 20,768 $ 56,406 $ 39,390 Ounces sold 34,875 29,773 66,921 56,632 All-in sustaining cost per ounce sold $ 782 $ 698 $ 843 $ 696 Exploration and Project Development Costs Exploration and project development costs are calculated as the sum of these costs, some of which have been expensed and some of which have been capitalized. The Company believes this measure provides a more fulsome understanding to readers of the level of expenditures incurred on such activities during the period. EXPLORATION AND PROJECT DEVELOPMENT COSTS Q2 2024 Q2 2023 YTD Q2 2024 YTD Q2 2023 Exploration and evaluation expense $ 6,649 $ 7,201 $ 11,393 $ 14,067 Expenditures on mineral properties capitalized 3,103 3,284 6,979 4,873 EXPLORATION AND PROJECT DEVELOPMENT $ 9,752 $ 10,485 $ 18,372 $ 18,940 Forward-looking Statements This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and within the meaning of Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21E of the United States Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, or in releases made by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, all as may be amended from time to time, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's production and cost outlook, including expected production, AISC, processing throughputs, operating costs, sustaining and non-sustaining capital expenditures, exploration and development expenditures, and general corporate and administrative expenses; the Company's exploration program, including timing, expenditures, and the goals and results thereof; the timing of permitting and construction at South Railroad; and mineral resource estimates. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts which address events, results, outcomes or developments that the Company expects to occur. 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 a number of risks and uncertainties. Certain material assumptions regarding such forward-looking statements were made, including without limitation, assumptions regarding: the future price of gold and silver; anticipated costs and the Company's ability to fund its programs; the Company's ability to carry on exploration, development, and mining activities; tonnage of ore to be mined and processed; ore grades and recoveries; decommissioning and reclamation estimates; currency exchange rates remaining as estimated; prices for energy inputs, labour, materials, supplies and services remaining as estimated; the Company's ability to secure and to meet obligations under property agreements, including the layback agreement with Fresnillo plc; that all conditions of the Company's credit facility will be met; the timing and results of drilling programs; mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates and the assumptions on which they are based; the discovery of mineral resources and mineral reserves on the Company's mineral properties; the obtaining of a subsequent agreement with Fresnillo to access the sulphide mineral resource at the Camino Rojo Project and develop the entire Camino Rojo Project mineral resources estimate; that political and legal developments will be consistent with current expectations; the timely receipt of required approvals and permits, including those approvals and permits required for successful project permitting, construction, and operation of projects; the timing of cash flows; the costs of operating and exploration expenditures; the Company's ability to operate in a safe, efficient, and effective manner; the Company's ability to obtain financing as and when required and on reasonable terms; the impact of coronavirus ("COVID-19") on the Company's operations; that the Company's activities will be in accordance with the Company's public statements and stated goals; and that there will be no material adverse change or disruptions affecting the Company or its properties. 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. Forward-looking statements involve significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These risks include, but are not limited to: uncertainty and variations in the estimation of mineral resources and mineral reserves; the Company's dependence on the Camino Rojo oxide mine; risks related to the Company's indebtedness; risks related to exploration, development, and operation activities; foreign country and political risks, including risks relating to foreign operations; risks related to the Cerro Quema Project; delays in obtaining or failure to obtain governmental permits, or non-compliance with permits; environmental and other regulatory requirements; delays in or failures to enter into a subsequent agreement with Fresnillo with respect to accessing certain additional portions of the mineral resource at the Camino Rojo Project and to obtain the necessary regulatory approvals related thereto; the mineral resource estimations for the Camino Rojo Project being only estimates and relying on certain assumptions; loss of, delays in, or failure to get access from surface rights owners; uncertainties related to title to mineral properties; water rights; risks related to natural disasters, terrorist acts, health crises, and other disruptions and dislocations, including the COVID-19 pandemic; financing risks and access to additional capital; risks related to guidance estimates and uncertainties inherent in the preparation of feasibility studies; uncertainty in estimates of production, capital, and operating costs and potential production and cost overruns; the fluctuating price of gold and silver; unknown labilities in connection with acquisitions; global financial conditions; uninsured risks; climate change risks; competition from other companies and individuals; conflicts of interest; risks related to compliance with anti-corruption laws; volatility in the market price of the Company's securities; assessments by taxation authorities in multiple jurisdictions; foreign currency fluctuations; the Company's limited operating history; litigation risks; the Company's ability to identify, complete, and successfully integrate acquisitions; intervention by non-governmental organizations; outside contractor risks; risks related to historical data; the Company not having paid a dividend; risks related to the Company's foreign subsidiaries; risks related to the Company's accounting policies and internal controls; the Company's ability to satisfy the requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002; enforcement of civil liabilities; the Company's status as a passive foreign investment company for U.S. federal income tax purposes; information and cyber security; the Company's significant shareholders; gold industry concentration; shareholder activism; other risks associated with executing the Company's objectives and strategies; as well as those risk factors discussed in the Company's most recently filed management's discussion and analysis, as well as its annual information form dated March 19, 2024, which are available on www.sedarplus.ca and www.sec.gov. Except as required by the securities disclosure laws and regulations applicable to the Company, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 13, 2024) - David H. Brett, President & CEO, EnGold Mines Ltd., (TSXV: EGM) ("EnGold" or the "Company") reports that the Company has commenced drilling at its 100% owned, fully permitted Lac La Hache Copper-Gold Property located within the prolific Quesnel Trough porphyry belt in the southern Cariboo region of BC. "We are thrilled to be drilling again at Lac La Hache," said EnGold President and CEO David H. Brett. "Management is confident in the potential of the property to grow its resources as well as yield new discoveries." A series of holes are underway to test potential new copper skarn mineralization southeast of the Spout Copper Deposit indicated by the artificial intelligence work of ALS GoldSpot Discoveries and the geological insight of our exploration team. "The potential for new high grade copper skarn zones at Lac La Hache is significant," said EnGold VP of Exploration Rob Shives, P.Geo. "The favorable carbonate-rich Nicola stratigraphy horizon that hosts the Spout and G1 Copper Deposits underlies much of the property, and considerable additional drill testing of this potential is warranted." The drill program is expected to continue for the rest of August. Rob Shives P.Geo., VP Exploration and a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical content of this release. About EnGold EnGold is a Vancouver-based copper, gold, silver, and magnetite exploration company focused solely on its 100% owned Lac La Hache property in the Cariboo region of BC which hosts the Spout Copper Deposit, the Aurizon Gold Deposit, and the G1 Copper Deposit and other targets within a large porphyry mineralizing system. With world-class infrastructure at its doorstep, Lac La Hache is a great location to be exploring. EnGold Mines Ltd. David Brett President & CEO Highlights: The Company has commenced the Phase 2, 16,500 metre drill program at the B26 Deposit. Drilling will start with 1274-24-338 targeted to test the western plunge of the deposit at a vertical depth of about 900 metres and a total hole length of 1,250 metres. The western plunge has been tested to date with limited drilling and represents a significant historical resource expansion target. Jonathon Deluce, CEO of Abitibi Metals, stated, With the insights gained from our recent gravity survey and Phase 1 drilling, we are well-positioned to not only enhance the open-pit and underground potential but also to identify new, high-priority targets that could significantly increase the value of the B26 Property. August 13, 2024 - TheNewswire - London, Ontario Abitibi Metals Corp. (CSE:AMQ) (OTCQB:AMQFF) (FSE:FW0) (Abitibi or the Company) is pleased to announce the commencement of Phase 2 drilling at its high-grade B26 Polymetallic Deposit (B26 or the Deposit). The initial program size is 16,500 metres, subject to expansion based on positive results and visuals observed throughout the program. On November 16th, 2023, the Company entered into an option agreement on the B26 Deposit to earn 80% over 7 years from SOQUEM Inc (see news release dated November 16, 2023). The Phase 2 drilling program is a significant step forward in the development of the B26 Deposit. One drill rig has already started, with a second drill scheduled to join the operations shortly. This phase will focus on testing multiple objectives: Western Plunge: The western plunge of the deposit, an area identified for its significant expansion potential with limited historical drilling. Mid-Level Resource Growth: A review of the block model below the 300-metre level indicates a significant opportunity for historical resource expansion due to insufficient drill coverage. The Company has identified high-priority targets at vertical depths between 300 and 625 metres, which will be a focus of this phase of drilling. Open Pit: Following the strong near-surface results from Phase 1 and insights from the Company's internal resource models, several high-priority near-surface expansion targets have been identified. These targets aim to expand the historical open-pit resource while optimizing the strip ratio, enhancing the economic feasibility of the project. New Targets: The Company continues to process the recently completed gravity survey to best define new targets outside of the B26 Deposit highlighting similar characteristics. These stand-alone targets will be drilled towards the end of the Phase 2 drill program and have the potential to make a new discovery within the B26 Property as a whole. Jonathon Deluce, CEO of Abitibi Metals stated: "We are excited to announce the arrival of the first drill rig as Abitibi initiates the Phase 2 drill program at the high-grade B26 Polymetallic Deposit. This phase is crucial as we aim to expand our historical resource base, particularly in the underexplored western plunge and mid-level sections of the deposit. With the insights gained from our recent gravity survey and Phase 1 drilling, we are well-positioned to not only enhance the open-pit and underground potential but also to identify new, high-priority targets that could significantly increase the value of the B26 Property. The addition of a second rig will accelerate our efforts, allowing us to continue advancing towards our goal of defining a world-class deposit." Mr. Deluce continued: It has been a soft summer in the junior mining market, combined with a consolidation in the copper price after its recent breakout over $5 per pound. However, we remain in an excellent position with approximately $16.0 million in our treasury for a stronger market this fall, combined with many potential catalysts. We greatly appreciate the support and patience of our shareholders as we advance our exploration efforts at the B26 Deposit. With our fully funded drilling program and the promising targets identified, we are confident that the upcoming months will bring significant progress and value creation for our shareholders. Qualified Person Information contained in this press release was reviewed and approved by Martin Demers, P.Geo., OGQ No. 770, a qualified person as defined under National Instrument 43-101, and responsible for the technical information provided in this news release. About Abitibi Metals Corp Abitibi Metals Corp. is a Quebec-focused mineral acquisition and exploration company focused on the development of quality base and precious metal properties that are drill-ready with high-upside and expansion potential. Abitibis portfolio of strategic properties provides target-rich diversification and includes the option to earn 80% of the high-grade B26 Polymetallic Deposit, which hosts a historical resource estimate1 of 7.0MT @ 2.94% Cu Eq (Ind) & 4.4MT @ 2.97% Cu Eq (Inf), and the Beschefer Gold Project, where historical drilling has identified 4 historical intercepts with a metal factor of over 100 g/t gold highlighted by 55.63 g/t gold over 5.57 metres and 13.07 g/t gold over 8.75 metres amongst four modeled zones. About SOQUEM SOQUEM, a subsidiary of Investissement Quebec, is dedicated to promoting the exploration, discovery and development of mining properties in Quebec. SOQUEM also contributes to maintaining strong local economies. Proud partner and ambassador for the development of Quebecs mineral wealth, SOQUEM relies on innovation, research and strategic minerals to be well-positioned for the future. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Jonathon Deluce, Chief Executive Officer For more information, please call 226-271-5170, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or visit https://www.abitibimetals.com. The Company also maintains an active presence on various social media platforms to keep stakeholders and the general public informed and encourages shareholders and interested parties to follow and engage with the Company through the following channels to stay updated with the latest news, industry insights, and corporate announcements: Twitter: https://twitter.com/AbitibiMetals Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Note 1: A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves. The issuer is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves. Source: Rapport Technique NI 43-101 Estimation des Ressources Projet B26, Quebec, For SOQUEM Inc., By SGS Canada Inc., Yann Camus, ing., Olivier Vadnais-Leblanc, geo., SGS Canada Geostat., Effective Date: April 18, 2018, Date of Report : May 11, 2018 Note 2: Copper equivalent values calculated using metal prices of $4.00/lb Cu, $1.50/lb Zn, $20.00/ounce Ag and $1,800/ounce Au. Recovery factors were applied according to SGS CACGS-P2017-047 metallurgical test: 98.3% for copper, 90% for gold, 96.1% for zinc, 72.1% for silver. Forward-looking statement This news release contains certain statements, which may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information involves statements that are not based on historical information but rather relate to future operations, strategies, financial results or other developments on the B26 Project or otherwise. Forward-looking information is necessarily based upon estimates and assumptions, which are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond the Companys control and many of which, regarding future business decisions, are subject to change. These uncertainties and contingencies can affect actual results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by or on the Companys behalf. Although Abitibi has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. All factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on Abitibis forward-looking information. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as expects, estimates, anticipates, or variations of such words and phrases (including negative and grammatical variations) or statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, might or occur. Mineral exploration and development are highly speculative and are characterized by a number of significant inherent risks, which may result in the inability of the Company to successfully develop current or proposed projects for commercial, technical, political, regulatory or financial reasons, or if successfully developed, may not remain economically viable for their mine life owing to any of the foregoing reasons, among others. There is no assurance that the Company will be successful in achieving commercial mineral production and the likelihood of success must be considered in light of the stage of operations. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - August 13, 2024) - Exploits Discovery Corp. (CSE: NFLD) (OTCQB: NFLDF) (FSE: 634) ("Exploits" or the "Company") is pleased to report encouraging gold assays results from its recent diamond drilling campaign at the Saddle Zone situated within the Company's Bullseye property. The latest assay data, received and verified from six additional drill holes, confirms multiple gold intercepts exceeding 10 g/t Au, correlating with the presence of visible gold ("VG") observed in the drill core. The Saddle Zone is in the vicinity of the Company's drill hole # BE-23-028, near the Appleton Fault Zone (AFZ) in Central Newfoundland. In 2023, Exploits' drilling program intersected several clusters of quartz veining within an 18 metre interval of core (refer to hole # BE-23-028 assays within a news release dated August 14, 2023). The same quartz vein network appears to have been encountered again in several 2024 drill holes, including BE-24-015 with assay results showing 67.55 g/t Au over 3.30 metres (see news release July 15, 2024), as well as BE-24-016, BE-24-020, and BE-24-021, which were drilled northwest across the path of hole BE-23-028. Drill holes BE-24-018/019 were designed as short 'scout' holes testing a separate set of quartz veins to the east of the mineralized veins intersected in drill holes BE-23-015/016. Highlights Include: BE-24-021: Intersected 16.32 g/t Au over 0.65 m core-length, located at a vertical depth of approximately 171 m below surface. Intersected 4.80 g/t Au over 0.60 m core-length, located at a vertical depth of approximately 173 m below surface. Intersected 20.92 g/t Au over 0.60 m core-length, located at a vertical depth of approximately 178 m below surface. Visible gold noted. BE-24-020: Intersected 3.12 g/t Au over 1.45 m core-length, located at a vertical depth of approximately 155 m below surface. Intersected 12.65 g/t Au over 1.30 m core-length, located at a vertical depth of approximately 252 m below surface. Visible gold noted. Including 20.67 g/t Au contribution from a 0.55 m sample BE-24-016: Intersected 4.43 g/t Au over 0.80 m core-length, located at a vertical depth of approximately 93 m below surface. Intersected 1.48 g/t Au over 3.90 m core-length, located at a vertical depth of approximately 134 m below surface. Visible gold noted. Including 3.54 g/t Au contribution from a 0.55 m sample. Including 2.55 g/t Au contribution from a 0.60 m sample. Intersected 1.88 g/t Au over 1.30 m core-length, located at a vertical depth of approximately 138 m below surface. Including 2.59 g/t Au contribution from a 0.85 m sample. Current interpretation of 2023-2024 logging observations and these assay results suggest that the Saddle zone remains open in all directions. There are 3 drill holes left to be reported from this Phase 3 targeted drill program. Jeff Swinoga, President and CEO, comments, "We are very pleased that these new drill results extend our Saddle gold zone at depth and along strike from our initial results of 67.55 g/t gold over 3.3 metres. It was great to see visible gold in our core once again, this time leading to a pair of assays in the 20-gram range. We have three more drill holes to report for Phase 3 and are currently utilizing a downhole televiewer consultant to assist in designing follow up drill plans. With 10 kms of claims on the Appleton Fault Zone, a talented all local team based in historic Gander, Newfoundland (a 30-minute drive to our project), available infrastructure, well-funded and large supporting shareholders such as Eric Sprott and New Found Gold, our goal is to be the next large successful gold exploration company in the beautiful Province of Newfoundland and Labrador." Photo A: Select core photos from drill holes BE-24-020 and BE-24-021. Figure 1: Plan map of Bullseye property; recent collars from Phase 3 drilling are shown in red; previously released drill-collars shown in white. Figure 2: Simplified cross section (looking north) of the Phase 3 drilling program undertaken at Bullseye. The plotted large discs with corresponding yellow text indicate assay values (Au g/t) from current release; white text are results from past 2024 releases. The smaller discs indicate previously released assay values encountered in drill hole BE-23-028. (*Previously reported Fire-Assay value in drill hole BE-24-014 returned Screen-Metallic over-limit analysis of 9.92 g/t Au / 0.60m). Table 1: Select drill core assays. 2024 Bullseye Drilling - Selected Assays Hole ID From (m) To (m) Length (m) Vertical Depth (m) Below Surface Analysis Type Au Assay (ppb)* Au Assay (g/t) Au - Weighted Average Grade (g/t) * Comments BE-24-014 176.00 176.60 0.60 ~146m Screen-Met 9,922.00 9.92 Over-Limit Analysis (Fire Assay previously released) BE-24-016 89.00 90.00 1.00 ~75m Fire Assay 1,010.00 1.01 AND 102.65 103.40 0.75 ~86m Screen-Met 1,833.00 1.83 AND 112.50 113.30 0.80 ~93m Screen-Met 4,429.00 4.43 AND 156.60 157.00 0.40 ~125m Fire Assay 1,242.00 1.24 0.95 g/t Au / 1.55m 157.00 158.15 1.15 Fire Assay 844.00 0.84 AND 166.00 167.00 1.00 ~132m Screen-Met 1,259.00 1.26 AND 167.40 167.95 0.55 ~136m Screen-Met 3,542.00 3.54 1.48 g/t Au / 3.90m 167.95 168.40 0.45 Screen-Met 881.00 0.88 168.40 169.00 0.60 Screen-Met 2,551.00 2.55 VG Noted 169.00 169.75 0.75 Screen-Met 785.00 0.79 169.75 170.40 0.65 Screen-Met 944.00 0.94 170.40 171.30 0.90 Screen-Met 766.00 0.77 AND 173.70 174.55 0.85 ~138m Screen-Met 2,593.00 2.59 1.88 g/t Au / 1.30m 174.55 175.00 0.45 Screen-Met 529.00 0.53 BE-24-017 262.80 263.80 1.00 ~200m Screen-Met 1,744.00 1.74 1.20 g/t Au / 1.90m 263.80 264.70 0.90 Screen-Met 595.00 0.60 BE-24-018 NSV BE-24-019 NSV BE-24-020 161.15 162.00 0.85 ~124m Screen-Met 2,916.00 2.92 1.92 g/t Au / 1.95m VG Noted 162.00 163.10 1.10 Screen-Met 1,142.00 1.14 AND 194.25 195.20 0.95 ~146m Screen-Met 796.00 0.80 AND 207.95 209.40 1.45 ~155m Screen-Met 3,115.00 3.12 AND 349.45 350.00 0.55 ~246m Screen-Met 2,231.00 2.23 AND 355.20 356.00 0.80 ~251m Screen-Met 564.00 0.56 AND 356.70 357.25 0.55 ~252m Screen-Met 20,666.00 20.67 12.65 g/t Au/ 1.30m VG Noted 357.25 358.00 0.75 Screen-Met 6,770.00 6.77 BE-24-021 173.80 174.20 0.40 ~119m Fire Assay 1,469.00 1.47 AND 177.90 178.30 0.40 ~122m Fire Assay 1,838.00 1.84 AND 251.80 252.45 0.65 ~171m Fire Assay 16,320.00 16.32 Pending Over-Limit Analysis AND 253.25 253.85 0.60 ~173m Fire Assay 4,803.00 4.80 AND 262.40 263.20 0.80 ~176m Fire Assay 971.00 0.97 AND 263.80 264.40 0.60 ~178m Screen-Met 20,920.00 20.92 VG Noted AND 267.20 268.00 0.80 ~180m Screen-Met 1,814.00 1.81 *Assays reported direct from lab certificate. Screen-Met samples are 'Weighted Averaged ppb' as calculated from lab **All intersections are core intervals and do not represent true thickness Table 2: Drill collar data. Bullseye - Collar Information for Reported Drill Holes Hole ID Easting Northing Elevation (m) Azimuth Dip Length (m) BE-24-016 659746 5430538 49 270 -49 300 BE-24-017 659783 5430453 59 300 -59 355 BE-24-018 659785 5430464 58 130 -58 52 BE-24-019 659785 5430464 58 130 -58 61 BE-24-020 659788 5430454 47 315 -47 367 BE-24-021 659794 5430526 55 270 -55 301 Coordinates Reported in NAD-83 Bullseye Gold Property The Bullseye claims were staked by Exploits in September 2022 and are contiguous to New Found Gold Corp.'s Queensway project. The claims are considered by the Company's geologists to be highly prospective because they directly overlay a 1,200 by 800 m segment of the AFZ and its related splay structures. Quality Assurance - Quality Control ("QA/QC") All prospective NQ core is logged and delineated for sampling by an Exploits' professional geologist. The core is subsequently halved by a diamond-bladed core saw by the Company's technicians with one half being placed in a bag with a unique sample identification. The remaining half core is retained within the Company's secure storage facility in Gander, NL. Sample bags are sealed and then shipped directly to Eastern Analytical Ltd. Certified standards and blanks are inserted at defined intervals following the Company's QA/QC documented procedures, representing approximately 5% of all samples sent for assaying. All core samples are currently analyzed at Eastern Analytical Ltd. of 403 Little Bay Road, Springdale, NL, a commercial laboratory that is ISO/IEC 17025 accredited and completely independent of Exploits. Samples are analyzed using fire assay (30g) with AA finish (Au-FAA 30 ppb process) and/or a four-acid digestion followed by multi-element ICP-OES analysis. All samples with visible gold or assaying above 10.0 g/t Au are further assayed using metallic screen to mitigate the presence of the nugget effect of coarse gold. Metallic screen assays are reported as 'Weighted Averaged ppb' directly calculated from the lab. Market Liquidity Services The Company further announces that it has engaged Red Cloud Securities Inc. ("RCSI") to provide services as a market maker in compliance with the policies and guidelines of the Canadian Securities Exchange and other applicable legislation. Under the agreement, RCSI will receive a fee of C$5,000 plus applicable taxes per month. National Instrument 43-101 Disclosure Ken Tylee, P.Geo., VP of Exploration with Exploits, is a qualified person within the Provinces of Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador as defined by NI 43-101 standards. Mr. Tylee has reviewed and approved the technical information presented herein. About Exploits Discovery Corp. Exploits is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition and development of mineral projects in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Exploits is utilizing its experienced, talented local team and geologic understanding with the vision to become one of the most successful explorers in Canada. On Behalf of the Board /s/ "Jeff Swinoga" President and CEO Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as the term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy of accuracy of this news release. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected including, but not limited to, market conditions, availability of financing, actual results of the Company's exploration and other activities, environmental risks, future metal prices, operating risks, accidents, labor issues, delays in obtaining governmental approvals and permits, and other risks in the mining industry. All the forward-looking statements made in this news release are qualified by these cautionary statements and those in our continuous disclosure filings available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. 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 save as required by applicable law. Acknowledgments Exploits Discovery would like to acknowledge the financial support of the Junior Exploration Assistance Program from the Department of Natural Resources, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 12, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Imperial Metals Corporation (the Company) (TSX:III) reports financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2024. QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS Operationally, the second quarter was aligned with guidance, driven largely by higher through-put and copper grades at both Mount Polley and Red Chris, said Brian Kynoch, President. With consolidated production totalling 27,854,171 pounds copper and 26,629 ounces gold through the first half of the year, we remain on track to achieve 2024 guidance. During the quarter, we also achieved strong financial results, including adjusted EBITDA of $55.1 million and cash earnings of $54.2 million which was derived from strong operational results and higher metal prices. FINANCIAL Adjusted EBITDA increased by $54.2 million to $55.1 million in Q2 2024 compared to $0.9 million in Q2 2023. Total revenue was $131.7 million in the June 2024 quarter compared to $85.8 million in the 2023 comparative quarter. In the June 2024 quarter, the Red Chris mine (100% basis) had 5.0 concentrate shipments (2023-3.6 concentrate shipments). Mount Polley mine had 2.0 concentrate shipments (2023-1.4 concentrate shipments). Variations in revenue are impacted by the increased quantity of concentrate sold, timing and quantity of concentrate shipments, metal prices and exchange rates, and period end revaluations of revenue attributed to concentrate shipments where copper and gold prices will settle at a future date. The London Metals Exchange cash settlement copper price per pound averaged US$4.42 in the June 2024 quarter compared to US$3.85 in the 2023 comparative quarter. The LBMA (London Bullion Market Association) gold price per troy ounce averaged US$2,338 in the June 2024 quarter compared to US$1,978 in the 2023 comparative quarter. The average US/CDN Dollar exchange rate was 1.368 in the June 2024 quarter, 1.86% higher than the exchange rate of 1.343 in the June 2023 quarter. In CDN Dollar terms the average copper price in the June 2024 quarter was CDN$6.05 per pound compared to CDN$5.17 per pound in the 2023 comparative quarter, and the average gold price in the June 2024 quarter was CDN$3,199 per ounce compared to CDN$2,657 per ounce in the 2023 comparative quarter. A negative revenue revaluation in the June 2024 quarter was $4.3 million as compared to a negative revenue revaluation of $8.2 million in the 2023 comparative quarter. Revenue revaluations are the result of the metal price on the settlement date and/or the current period balance sheet date being higher or lower than when the revenue was initially recorded or the metal price at the last balance sheet date and finalization of contained metal as a result of final assays and weights. Net income for the June 2024 quarter was $20.4 million ($0.13 income per share) compared to net loss of $16.0 million ($0.10 loss per share) in the 2023 comparative quarter. The increase in net income of $36.4 million primarily due to the following factors: Income from mine operations went from a loss of $10.5 million in the June 2023 quarter to an income of $39.0 million in June 2024, increasing net income by $49.5 million Interest expense went from $7.4 million in June 2023 to $7.8 million in June 2024, reducing net income by $0.4 million, and Income and mining tax went from a recovery of $5.1 million in June 2023 to tax expense of $7.7 million on June 2024, reducing net income by $12.8 million. Capital expenditures including leases were $55.9 million in the June 2024 quarter, an increase of $13.4 million from $42.5 million in the 2023 comparative quarter. The June 2024 quarter expenditures included $21.6 million in exploration and development, $15.4 million for tailings dam construction, $7.6 million on stripping costs, and $11.3 million of other capital. At June 30, 2024, the Company had not hedged any copper, gold or US/CDN Dollar exchange. Quarterly revenues will fluctuate depending on copper and gold prices, the US/CDN Dollar exchange rate, and the timing of concentrate sales, which is dependent on concentrate production and the availability and scheduling of transportation. OPERATIONS During the quarter ended June 30, 2024, Imperials consolidated metal production was 15,500,912 pounds copper and 13,768 ounces gold, of which 9,281,498 pounds copper and 10,009 ounces gold were produced at Mount Polley and 6,219,414 pounds copper and 3,759 ounces gold from its 30% share of Red Chris mine production. Copper production was up 26% from the 12,353,259 million pounds copper produced in the first quarter 2024 and gold production was up 7% from the 12,861 ounces gold produced in the first quarter 2024. Mount Polley Mine Mount Polley metal production for the second quarter of 2024 was 9,281,498 pounds copper and 10,009 ounces gold, compared to 7,355,191 pounds copper and 10,009 ounces gold produced during the first quarter of 2024. Mill throughput in the second quarter was up 3%, with 1.714 million tonnes being treated compared with 1.671 million tonnes treated in the first quarter of 2024. Copper production in the second quarter 2024 was up by 26% largely on higher copper grade, 0.294 % copper versus 0.251% copper in the first quarter of 2024. For the first six months of 2024, copper production was up 21% compared to the same period last year with 20% increase in throughput while gold production was down 1%, with lower gold grades and recovery offsetting the higher throughput. Tailings removal from the Springer Pit was completed in May 2024. Stripping for Phase 5 pushback of the Springer Pit continued, with most of the non-acid generating rock from this pushback being delivered to the tailings dam for buttress construction. Three Months Ended June 30 Six Months Ended June 30 2024 2023 2024 2023 Ore milled - tonnes 1,714,330 1,430,842 3,385,835 2,820,478 Ore milled per calendar day - tonnes 18,839 15,724 18,603 15,583 Grade % - copper 0.294 0.280 0.273 0.275 Grade g/t - gold 0.263 0.324 0.272 0.318 Recovery % - copper 83.4 79.9 81.6 80.5 Recovery % - gold 69.2 68.3 67.6 69.8 Copper - 000s pounds 9,281 7,063 16,637 13,741 Gold - ounces 10,009 10,185 20,018 20,165 At Mount Polley, a diamond drilling program was completed in May, the information collected will be used to update mine plans for the Springer Pit. The program totalled 7,377 metres of drilling. Exploration, development, and capital expenditures in the second quarter of 2024 were $23.0 million compared to $9.8 million in the 2023 comparative quarter. Red Chris Mine Red Chris production (100%) for the second quarter of 2024 was 20,731,379 pounds copper and 12,531 ounces gold compared to 16,660,225 pounds copper and 9,507 ounces gold during the first quarter of 2024. In the second quarter of 2024, copper production is up 24% compared to the first quarter of 2024. The increase in copper production was a result of an 8% increase in copper grade (0.466% vs 0.431%) and a 19% increase in throughput. The throughput was 27,357 tonnes per day compared to 23,081 tonnes per day. Gold production in the second quarter 2024 was up 32% (12,531 oz vs 9,507 oz) compared to the first quarter 2024 as result of the increased gold grades (0.30 g/t gold vs 0.26 g/t gold) and higher throughput. For the first six months of 2024, copper production was up 48% compared to the same period last year on higher copper grades and gold production was down 9% on lower gold grades. Imperials 30% portion of Red Chris mine for the second quarter of 2024 was 6,219,414 pounds copper and 3,759 ounces gold. 100% Red Chris mine production Three Months Ended June 30 Six Months Ended June 30 2024 2023 2024 2023 Ore milled - tonnes 2,489,532 2,357,656 4,589,886 4,448,428 Ore milled per calendar day - tonnes 27,357 25,908 25,219 24,577 Grade % - copper 0.466 0.348 0.450 0.337 Grade g/t - gold 0.302 0.343 0.284 0.328 Recovery % - copper 81.1 75.9 82.1 76.6 Recovery % - gold 51.8 52.6 52.6 51.5 Copper - 000s pounds 20,731 13,729 37,392 25,319 Gold - ounces 12,531 13,680 22,038 24,176 Imperials 30% share of exploration, development, and capital expenditures were $32.7 million in the June 2024 quarter compared to $32.5 million in the 2023 comparative quarter. Several capital projects are underway to improve safety and site efficiency; a coarse ore stockpile cover is being installed, and a tailings thickener is being added to the circuit to recycle water to the mill along with other improvements. Block Cave Project Update The Red Chris Joint Venture permitting group continues work to advance the required permitting approvals for the planned Block Cave mine, and continues to work collaboratively with both Tahltan and British Columbia governments through the process. Red Chris Block Cave feasibility study work is focused on permitting, capital cost estimate and schedule refinement to ensure accuracy and execution so that a definitive feasibility study can be delivered in advance of receiving final permitting for the block cave. The underground development has continued with a total of 10,496 metres (including all vent drives) completed to the end of June 2024. The decline to access the extraction level (Nagha decline) had advanced 4,690 metres as of June 30, 2024, and was 84% complete. The portal for the conveyor decline has been established, and development work on the three conveyor declines has advanced 2,162 metres to the end of June 2024. Leg two of the conveyor decline was 65% complete by the end of the reporting quarter. Underground development activities will be aligned to the permitting schedule with the Nagha decline expected to be completed to the extraction level elevation by the end of this year. Huckleberry Mine Huckleberry operations ceased in August 2016 and the mine remains on care and maintenance status. Site personnel continue to focus on maintaining site access, water management (treatment and release of mine contact water into Tahtsa Reach), snow removal, maintenance of site infrastructure and equipment, mine permit compliance, environmental compliance monitoring and monitoring tailings management facilities. For the June 2024 quarter, Huckleberry incurred idle mine costs comprised of $1.5 million in operating costs and $0.3 million in depreciation expense compared to $1.6 million in operating cost and $0.2 million in depreciation expense in the comparable quarter of 2023. TECHNICAL INFORMATION The technical and scientific information related to the Companys mineral projects has been reviewed and approved by Brian Kynoch, P.Eng., President of Imperial Metals, and a designated Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Jim Miller-Tait, P.Geo. Vice President Exploration with Imperial Metals, is the designated Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 for the Red Chris, Mount Polley and Huckleberry mines exploration programs. EARNINGS AND CASH FLOW Select Quarter Financial Information expressed in thousands of dollars, except share and per share amounts Three Months Ended June 30 Six Months Ended June 30 2024 2023 2024 2023 Operations: Total revenues $131,731 $85,761 $216,299 $178,425 Net income (loss) $19,165 $(16,049 ) $10,000 $(23,302 ) Net income (loss) per share $0.12 $(0.10 ) $0.06 $(0.15 ) Diluted loss per share $0.12 $(0.10 ) $0.06 $(0.15 ) Adjusted net income (loss) (1) $19,089 $(16,056 ) $9,924 $(23,311 ) Adjusted net income (loss) per share (1) $0.12 $(0.10 ) $0.06 $(0.15 ) Adjusted EBITDA (1) $55,063 $927 $65,342 $6,850 Cash earnings (1)(2) $54,153 $1,270 $64,454 $6,674 Cash earnings per share (1)(2) $0.33 $0.01 $0.40 $0.04 Working capital deficiency deficiency $(137,108 ) $(103,022 ) $(137,108 ) $(103,022 ) Total assets $1,479,174 $1,357,554 $1,479,174 $1,357,554 Total debt (including current portion) $379,257 $277,002 $379,257 $277,002 (1) Refer to Non-IFRS Financial Measures for further details. (2) Cash earnings is defined as the cash flow from operations before the net change in non-cash working capital balances, income and mining taxes, and interest paid. Cash earnings per share is defined as cash earnings divided by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the year. NON-IFRS FINANCIAL MEASURES The Company reports four non-IFRS financial measures: adjusted net income (loss), adjusted EBITDA, cash earnings and cash cost per pound of copper produced which are described in detail below. The Company believes these measures are useful to investors because they are included in the measures that are used by management in assessing the financial performance of the Company. Adjusted net income (loss), adjusted EBITDA, cash earnings and cash cost per pound of copper are not standardized financial measures under IFRS and might not be comparable to similar financial measures disclosed by other issuers. Adjusted Net Income (Loss) and Adjusted Net Income (Loss) Per Share Adjusted net income (loss) is derived from operating net income (loss) by removing the gains or loss, resulting from acquisition and disposal of property, mark to market revaluation of derivative instruments not related to the current period, net of tax, unrealized foreign exchange gains or losses on non-current debt, net of tax and other non-recurring items. Adjusted net income in the June 2024 quarter was $20.3 million ($0.13 income per share) compared to an adjusted net loss of $16.1 million ($0.10 loss per share) in the 2023 comparative quarter. We believe that the presentation of Adjusted Net Income (Loss) helps investors better understand the results of our normal operating activities and the ongoing cash generating potential of our business. Adjusted EBITDA Adjusted EBITDA in the June 2024 quarter was $55.1 million compared to an adjusted EBITDA of $0.9 million in the 2023 comparative quarter. We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income before interest expense, taxes, depletion, and depreciation, and as adjusted for certain other items. Cash Earnings and Cash Earnings Per Share Cash earnings in the June 2024 quarter was $54.2 million compared to $1.3 million in the 2023 comparative quarter. Cash earnings per share was $0.33 in the June 2024 quarter compared to $0.01 in the 2023 comparative quarter. Cash earnings and cash earnings per share are measures used by the Company to evaluate its performance however they are not terms recognized under IFRS. We believe that the presentation of cash earnings and cash earnings per share is appropriate to provide additional information to investors about how well the Company can earn cash to pay its debts and manage its operating expenses and investment. Cash earnings is defined as cash flow from operations before the net change in non-cash working capital balances, income and mining taxes paid, and interest paid. Cash earnings per share is the same measure divided by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the year. Cash Cost Per Pound of Copper Produced Management uses this non-IFRS financial measure to monitor operating costs and profitability. The Company is primarily a copper producer and therefore calculates this non-IFRS financial measure individually for its three copper mines, Red Chris (30% share), Mount Polley and Huckleberry, and on a composite basis for these mines. Variations from period to period in the cash cost per pound of copper produced are the result of many factors including: grade, metal recoveries, amount of stripping charged to operations, mine and mill operating conditions, labour and other cost inputs, transportation and warehousing costs, treatment and refining costs, the amount of by-product and other revenues, the US$ to CDN$ exchange rate and the amount of copper produced. Calculation of Cash Cost Per Pound of Copper Produced expressed in thousands, except cash cost per pound of copper produced Three Months Ended June 30, 2024 Mount Polley Red Chris Composite Cash cost of copper produced in US$ $7,614 $17,686 $25,300 Copper produced 000s pounds 9,281 6,219 15,500 Cash cost per lb copper produced in US$ $0.82 $2.84 $1.63 expressed in thousands, except cash cost per pound of copper produced Three Months Ended June 30, 2023 Mount Polley Red Chris Composite Cash cost of copper produced in US$ $16,727 $17,623 $34,350 Copper produced 000s pounds 7,063 4,119 11,182 Cash cost per lb copper produced in US$ $2.37 $4.28 $3.07 expressed in thousands, except cash cost per pound of copper produced Six Months Ended June 30, 2024 Mount Polley Red Chris Composite Cash cost of copper produced in US$ $20,138 $38,607 $58,745 Copper produced 000s pounds 16,637 11,217 27,853 Cash cost per lb copper produced in US$ $1.21 $3.44 $2.11 expressed in thousands, except cash cost per pound of copper produced Six Months Ended June 30, 2023 Mount Polley Red Chris Composite Cash cost of copper produced in US$ $32,954 $37,313 $70,267 Copper produced 000s pounds 13,741 7,596 21,337 Cash cost per lb copper produced in US$ $2.40 $4.91 $3.29 --- For detailed information, refer to Imperials 2024 Second Quarter Managements Discussion and Analysis available on imperialmetals.com and sedarplus.ca. About Imperial Imperial is a Vancouver based exploration, mine development and operating company with holdings that include the Mount Polley mine (100%), the Huckleberry mine (100%), and the Red Chris mine (30%). Imperial also holds a portfolio of 23 greenfield exploration properties in British Columbia. Company Contacts Brian Kynoch | President | 604.669.8959 Darb S. Dhillon | Chief Financial Officer | 604.669.8959 Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Certain information contained in this news release are not statements of historical fact and are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect Company managements expectations or beliefs regarding future events and include, but are not limited to, specific statements regarding the Companys expectations with respect to the update of Mount Polleys Springer Pit mine plans to incorporate information collected from recent diamond drilling; installation at Mount Polley of a coarse ore stockpile cover, and a tailings thickener in the circuit to recycle water to the mill; the continuation of work to advance preparation for the feasibility study and required permitting approvals for Red Chris planned Block Cave mine; the alignment of Red Chris underground development activities to the permitting schedule and the expectation that the Red Chris Nagha decline will be completed to the extraction level elevation by the end of 2024; the care and maintenance activities at the Huckleberry mine; and more general statements regarding the Companys expectations with respect to its business and operations; metal pricing and demand; fluctuation of revenues; metal production guidance and estimates; and expectations regarding the usefulness of non-IFRS financial measures including adjusted net income (loss), adjusted EBITDA, cash earnings and cash cost per pound of copper. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "outlook", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative of these terms or comparable terminology. By their very nature 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 be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied certain factors and assumptions that are based on information currently available to the Company as well as the Companys current beliefs and assumptions. These factors and assumptions and beliefs and assumptions include, the risk factors detailed from time to time in the Companys interim and annual financial statements and managements discussion and analysis of those statements, and the risk factors detailed in the Companys Annual Information Form, all of which are filed and available for review on SEDAR+ at sedarplus.ca. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, many of which are beyond the Companys ability to control or predict. 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, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and all forward-looking statements in this news release are qualified by these cautionary statements. Monday, August 12, 2024 - The city of Bulawayo is grappling with an alarming HIV crisis, as recent statistics reveal that 90% of women tested for HIV in June were found to be positive. This shocking figure, reported by the Bulawayo City Council (BCC), underscores the growing severity of the HIV pandemic in the Matabeleland region. According to the BCC, out of 2,984 women who were tested in June, 2,641 received the devastating news that they were HIV positive. The National Aids Council (NAC) has expressed deep concern over the rapid rise in HIV cases across Matabeleland, with Bulawayo experiencing an unprecedented increase. Douglas Moyo, the NAC Bulawayos programmes officer, attributed this spike to the high mobility of the population in the region. Many residents travel to neighboring countries, particularly South Africa, for work and unknowingly bring the virus back with them when they return. The high mobility of people in the provinces is causing the influx. There is a high number of people who work across the countrys border. These people leave to work and come back to visit their families, Moyo explained. He also highlighted that the separation of spouses due to work-related travel is contributing significantly to the spread of HIV, warning that people outside the region should not be complacent about the risks. In response to the escalating crisis, the BCC has intensified its efforts to provide crucial health services across the city. Clinics are now offering expanded support, including cervical and breast cancer screenings, family planning services, and post-exposure prophylaxis for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence. To ensure inclusivity, nurses and counselors have also been trained in sign language. The BCC's recent agenda on sexual and reproductive health revealed that in June, 243 women aged 16 to 24 were tested for HIV, with 195 testing positive. Among women aged 25 to 49, 2,115 out of 2,172 tested positive. In the older age group of 50 and above, 331 out of 569 women were found to be HIV positive. The council has conducted six outreach programs, screening 190 women, with three testing positive for VIAC (Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid and Camera). Under the leadership of Mayor David Coltart, the council's gender structure is actively monitoring and evaluating gender-related issues as they work to combat this crisis. Authorities are urging the public to remain vigilant and proactive in their approach to HIV prevention and treatment as the situation in Bulawayo remains critical. Tuesday, August 13, 2024 - Jesus Compassion Church matron, Damaris Wa Dama, has left netizens talking after she shared a video arriving in church in style for a Sunday service. In the video, Dama is seen arriving at the church located along Kamakis Bypass in a luxurious vehicle while in the company of bodyguards. One of the bodyguards opens the door for her and she steps out, before making her way into the church where a special seat is reserved for her. It is alleged that Dama co-owns the expansive church with the controversial bishop Kiengei. The church specializes in the prosperity gospel just like other private churches in Kenya. Kiengei and Dama are swimming in money as thousands of congregants flock in and bless them with tithes and offerings. See the video of her displaying opulence. Bodyguards and Guzzlers: JCM church matron, DAMA, flaunts lavish lifestyle as she continues milking brainwashed congregants dry with Bishop KIENGEI pic.twitter.com/ZIqYBJpaCM DAILY POST (@dailypost_ke) August 13, 2024 The Kenyan DAILY POST. Monday, August 12, 2024 - A 6-year-old boy was stapled to the wall and sh0t with a BB gun before dying in Michigan because of horrific abuse, prosecutors say. New charges were announced last week against Elaina Rose Jennings, 25, and Daniel John Giacchina, 33, by prosecutors in Oakland County. They now both face murder and a host of other charges in connection to the death of Giovanny Chulo Jennings. The mom and her boyfriend now face life in prison if convicted. On July 30, police in Madison Heights, Michigan, responded to a mobile home for a report of the child not breathing. When they arrived, officers found the boy unconscious and suffering injuries all over his body. He was rushed to the hospital and died the next day, according to the report. Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald revealed that the boy had suffered abuse and had been confined for an extended period. Chulo had pervasive bruising to his abdomen, which was also bloated and distended, McDonald said, according to the report. He had an apparent BB wound to his shin. First responders and emergency room personnel noted extensive external injuries, as well. Investigators found over 100 hours of videos and photos to go with text messages discussing what happened to the boy, prosecutors said. The boy was confined to a pen in the bedroom and was beaten in front of his siblings, WDIV reported. The parents watched him in the pen where he would misbehave - which was described as him urinating, drinking and trying to leave. At one point, prosecutors said, Giacchina stapled the 6-year-old to the wall to keep him confined and facing the corner, prosecutors revealed. A photo showed the shoulders of the childs shirt with staples against the wall. Both Jennings and Giacchina laughed about the photo and Giacchinas use of the staple gun to solve the problem. According to the text, Chulo was being punished in this manner for looking out the window in the pen area, prosecutors said. When authorities searched the home they found marks in the wall that matched a staple gun. They also found a BB gun and CO2 cartridges in the residence. As we carefully sifted through the evidence, what we found can only be described as horrific, McDonald said. Monday, August 12, 2024 - Former US President, Donald Trump plans to sue the Justice Department for $100 million in punitive damages over the execution of a search warrant at his Mar-a-Lago estate in 2022, accusing US Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray of having engaged in malicious political prosecution aimed at affecting an electoral outcome to prevent President Trump from being re-elected. The FBI carried out the Aug. 8, 2022, search at Mar-a-Lago that led to the seizure of more than 100 classified documents, according to a 37-count felony indictment later lodged against Trump by special counsel Jack Smith. Trump, 78, had pleaded not guilty to all charges, which included willful retention of sensitive national defence files as well as conspiracy to obstruct justice. Trump's lawyer, Daniel Epstein filed an administrative tort claim against the DOJ arguing that Garland and Wray applied inconsistent standards and were guilty of a clear dereliction of constitutional principles when approving the search of the Palm Beach, Fla., resort residence of the former president and his family, according to a copy of the claim obtained by The Post. Garland and Wray should have never approved a raid and subsequent indictment of President Trump because the well-established protocol with former U.S. presidents is to use non-enforcement means to obtain records of the United States, Epstein wrote. But notwithstanding the fact that the raid should have never occurred, Garland and Wray should have ensured their agents sought consent from President Trump, notified his lawyers, and sought cooperation, he said. Garland and Wray decided to stray from established protocol to injure President Trump, Epstein added in the memo, which was first reported by Fox News. The Justice Department has six months to respond to the claim. If after that period no settlement has been reached, the claim moves to federal court. The FBI carried out the Aug. 8, 2022, search at Mar-a-Lago that led to the seizure of more than 100 classified documents, according to a 37-count felony indictment later lodged against Trump by special counsel Jack Smith. US District Judge Maryellen Noreika threw the case out last month after determining that Smith had been unconstitutionally appointed. Monday, August 12, 2024 - At least eight cancer doctors who were heading to an oncology conference were among dozens killed in a plane crash in Brazils Vinhedo last Friday, an official has said. The ATR 72 twin-engine plane carrying 58 passengers and four crew members was headed for Sao Paulos Guarulhos international airport when it nose-dived and crashed in Vinhedo, said Voepass airlines, which operated the aircraft. Emergency crews confirmed on Saturday they had recovered the remains of all 62 victims, including an unaccounted person later found to be on the plane. An official from the Regional Medical Council said he was able to confirm the deaths of the eight doctors. These doctors were going to an oncology conference. These were people who dedicated their lives to saving others, said Eduardo Baptistella, according to the Daily Mail. He added that a total of 15 doctors were supposed to be travelling to the conference on the flight, but seven of them had taken an earlier service. The Uopeccan Cancer Hospital in Cascavel confirmed to BBC Brasil that two of its trainee doctors were among the fatalities. Parana state governor Ratinho Junior was also quoted as saying at least eight physicians were on board the flight, and that the death toll also included four professors at Unioeste university in western Parana. Rescue workers and Brazilian emergency crews said the bodies of most of the victims, 34 males and 28 females, have been moved to Sao Paulos police morgue for identification. The bodies of the pilot and co-pilot were identified earlier on Saturday, said Dario Pacheco, the mayor of Vinhedo. The victims include four people with dual citizenship, three Venezuelans and one Portuguese woman, said regional carrier Voepass. Firefighters at the crash site said officials are using seat assignments, physical characteristics, documents, and belongings such as mobile phones to identify the victims. Family members of the victims are being taken to Sao Paulo to provide DNA samples to help in the identification of remains, said state civil defence coordinator Henguel Pereira. Four people with dual citizenship were among the victims, three Venezuelans and one Portuguese woman, according to Veopass officials. The Venezuelans were a 4-year-old boy, his mother and grandmother, local outlet Globo News reported. The boys dog was also on the flight, which the family was taking to later head to Colombia, according to the outlet. Monday, August 12, 2024 - An Illinois school worker will spend the next nine years in prison after she stole 11,000 cases of chicken wings worth $1.5 million that were meant for students during the height of the COVID pandemic, prosecutors said. Vera Liddell used her position as the food service director at Harvey School District 152 to carry out the unappetizing crime that was only unearthed after the district realized the school system blew past its budget, prosecutors reportedly said. Liddell, 68, started the scheme in July 2020 and didnt stop until February 2022, the Cook County State Attorneys Office said, according to ABC 7 Chicago. While she bought up the incredible amount of poultry and used a school cargo van to pick up the food, students never saw a single wing, prosecutors said, per WGN. Schools were closed, but the district near Chicago was still sending out meal kits to students in remote learning during the height of the pandemic. She was originally charged with theft and operating a criminal enterprise in January 2023. Liddell, who was food service head for ten years at the district, took a guilty plea in the case before she received the 9-year prison sentence, WGN reported. A school business manager found food costs were $300,000 over budget even though there were still months left to the school year during a routine audit that led to Liddells arrest. Tuesday, August 13, 2024 - Democratic Action Party of Kenya (DAP-K) leader Eugene Wamalwa has hinted at a possible exit from the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition party. Speaking during an interview yesterday, Wamalwa stated that Azimio affiliate parties have reached the point of divorce. He accused President William Ruto of swallowing the entire Opposition after he tapped Raila Odingas Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), which is one of Azimios major affiliate parties. Wamalwa termed the ODMs move to agree to work with President Ruto as a betrayal of the highest order. We in Azimio have reached a point of divorce. In a marriage when grounds of a divorce arrive, one of those is when you have irreconcilable differences, Wamalwa said. According to Wamalwa, he will soon walk in the footsteps of Narc Kenya Party Leader Martha Karua, who has already issued a notice to Azimio on her exit. He further stated that former Agriculture CS Peter Munyas PNU party has also issued Azimio exit notice and that his DAP-K party will soon do the same. I know Martha Karua has been here, she has already given her notice as Narc Kenya, of quitting Azimio. Peter Munya was here and he has also given notice, and very soon Eugene Wamalwa and DAP-K will give notice. But these matters that we are addressing and I can tell you as Azimio, we have lost direction. We are doing something about it and very soon you will hear from us, Wamalwa said. The Kenyan DAILY POST Tuesday, August 13, 2024 - Democratic Action Party of Kenya (DAP-K) leader Eugene Wamalwa now regrets supporting Azimio Leader Raila Odingas presidential bid in 2022. This is after Raila betrayed his Azimio friends and joined President William Rutos government. Speaking during an interview, Wamalwa called ODMs agreement to work with President Ruto a betrayal of the highest order. He accused President William Ruto of swallowing the entire opposition after he tapped Raila Odingas Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), which is one of Azimios major affiliate parties. For us as Azimio to actually go into bed with Ruto, is a betrayal of the highest order, Wamalwa said. According to the former Defense Cabinet Secretary, while Kenyans are pushing to save Kenya from President Ruto, whom he termed as Zakayo, ODM is pushing to have Zakayo saved. That is where we have reached and we have disagreed as a matter of principle because people are saying Okoa Kenya from Zakayo, but part of Azimio is saying tuokoe Zakayo, he stated. The Kenyan DAILY POST Tuesday, August 13, 2024 - Former Public Service Cabinet Secretary, Moses Kuria has said he has retired from public life after he missed out on the new broad-based cabinet. Speaking during an interview with Citizen TV on Monday night, August 13, Kuria stated that it was his last appearance in an interview, but affirmed that he would give voice to constitutional reforms. "I want to lead a private life. I consider this interview to be my exit interview. "This is my last interview. Even as I retreat to my private life, one of the things I will give my voice and energy to is the reform of this Constitution," Kuria said. Reflecting on his life after he was dismissed from the cabinet, the former CS intimated that he received a lot of trolls and that at some point, someone offered him a job as a mortuary attendant. "Somebody sent me a message on my phone offering me a job as a mortuary attendant. Its harsh, its terrible. It is not easy," Kuria stated. He also noted that his phone had gone silent, and he nearly took it for repair because he wasnt receiving calls. "Other than this show from morning to evening, I have just been minding my business. "The calls have dried up. Twice I have had the temptation of taking the phone to the technician. Reason? No calls," the former CS explained. The Kenyan DAILY POST Tuesday, August 13, 2024 - Former Public Service Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria has predicted that the Kenyan economy will weaken if the International Monetary Fund (IMF) fails to cushion the Kenyan Shilling. This revelation comes after the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Governor Kamau Thugge revealed that the country is expecting upwards of Ksh181 billion disbursement from the IMF. Speaking during an evening broadcast on Citizen TV, Kuria painted a grim picture of the nation's financial health. He emphasized Kenya's heavy reliance on international financial institutions like the IMF and the World Bank, especially in the wake of the recent public backlash against the controversial Finance Bill 2024. The former CS pointed to the diplomatic maneuvering required by President William Ruto to maintain Kenya's standing with these global lenders. Kuria did not mince words about the gravity of the situation. "If IMF doesn't come through by the end of this month, in another 19 days, this shilling might hit Ksh170," he warned, adding that he would be praying for Mbadi's success in keeping the IMF on board. He further advised Mbadi to meticulously manage the upcoming financial challenges, particularly the maturing loans that will need to be addressed shortly. The Kenyan DAILY POST Tuesday, July 13, 2024 - Former Public Service Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria has shared how he's coping with life a month after President William Ruto dismissed him from the cabinet. Kuria was one of 21 Cabinet Secretaries dismissed after youthful Kenyans protested in the streets demanding a new cabinet. In an interview on Citizen TV Monday, Kuria revealed that his phone calls have decreased drastically. The former CS noted that he was tempted to take his phone to a technician, thinking it might have an issue. However, Kuria maintained that it was all part of life for a national public servant, adding that it has both positive and negative aspects. Other than this show from morning to evening, I have just been minding my business. The calls have dried up. Twice I have had the temptation of taking the phone to the fundi, nini mbaya. No calls. "You know, sometimes when you are somewhere in the past in a show like this, you know that the calls that are coming in are like this. "Now you wonder, ala, is this a recorded show or a live show? But it is okay you know life is an experience; we need all that. It is not easy," Kuria stated. The Kenyan DAILY POST Tuesday, August 13, 2024 - Former Treasury Cabinet Secretary Professor Njuguna Ndungu has touted the governments Government-to-Government (G2G) fuel purchase arrangement as one of his success stories. This comes despite former Energy and Petroleum CS Davis Chirchir acknowledging that the G2G oil deal with Saudi Arabia failed to reduce fuel prices and stabilize the shilling. However, according to Ndungu, the deal played a pivotal role in reducing dollar demand and easing the pressure on the Kenyan Shilling. The good professor noted that the G2G arrangement was strategically developed to address the challenges posed by the global dollar shortage. "The government created and developed the G-to-G petroleum product purchases, which was very important, especially coming in during the global dollar shortage period, and fuel prices declined," Ndung'u stated. Ndungu emphasized that the success of the G2G plan should not only be seen in terms of declining fuel prices, but also in its ability to create a new market for foreign exchange, reducing the reliance on commercial banks for dollar purchases by oil-importing companies. Under the G2G arrangement, Kenya received fuel products on credit for six months, a significant shift from the previous spot transactions that required immediate payment. The G2G deal involved selected international oil companies (IoCs) supplying products to a lead oil marketing company (OMC) in Kenya. The OMC, supported by letters of credit from banks, distributes the fuel to other OMCs while converting Kenya Shillings receipts into US Dollars through an escrow account to facilitate payments to the IoCs. However, despite these positive outcomes, Ndung'u noted that the G2G arrangement alone is not enough to fully stabilize the forex market. The Kenyan DAILY POST Monday, August 12, 2024 - A man was arrested for climbing the iconic Eiffel Tower on Sunday, hours before the Olympics closing ceremony, Paris police have revealed. The man was spotted climbing the tower at about 14:45 local time (13:45 BST) and officers immediately intervened and arrested him, police said. No more details were immediately available on the mans motivation and nationality. Videos on social media show a shirtless man scaling the tower just above the Olympic rings that have adorned it during the summer games. In another video, the man is escorted away by police, hands cuffed behind his back, and says to a bystander: Bloody warm, innit? French police evacuated the area around the Eiffel Tower during the incident. The Eiffel Tower was the centrepiece of the grand finale of the Olympic opening ceremony but was not expected to feature in the closing ceremony later on Sunday. Monday, August 12, 2024 - A man has broken the Guinness World Record for the longest time without sleep. YouTuber Norme, 19, went without sleep for 12 days. His viral livestream showed him complete his vigil, with police constantly checking in on him. Throughout the 12-day long stint, Normes fans called the authorities to check on him because of concerns for his health, while social media admins carried out multiple platform bans on the creator. When he broke the record with 264 hours and 24 minutes, Norme had 9,000 viewers on Rumble, alternative platform to YouTube. Towards the end of the 12-days, ambulances and police cars lined the streets outside his house, where Norme was competing as friends watched on. The previous record for no sleep was held by a man called Randy Gardner, who stayed awake for 11 straight days when he was 17 in 1964. Randy reportedly experienced hallucinations and extreme confusion during the attempt, while scientists documented his every move. Since Randy took the record, there have been two other people to stay up over 400 hours - McDonald and Maureen Weston, but Guinness does not recognise the attempt. All previous attempts at the record had medical professionals on board to monitor them. Norme didn't, which prompted concerns for his welfare. Tuesday, August 13, 2024 - President William Ruto has refuted claims that he formed a coalition government with former Prime Minister Raila Odinga. This comes even as Raila betrayed the Azimio coalition by joining Rutos government, where he donated ODM luminaries to the Cabinet. Speaking in Nyamira County yesterday, Ruto made it clear that the fact that Raila donated some ODM experts to join his Cabinet, does not mean he formed a coalition government with him. According to Ruto, they have only agreed to work together on issues that will benefit Kenyans, and not the other way round. The Head of State urged members of the public not to be worried about Railas entry into government, saying his main aim is to unite the entire country. "We have not agreed with ODM to form a coalition. We have agreed that we will work together on tasks that will benefit all Kenyans. "So, do not worry. My important job is to ensure that we unite Kenya and make it one, said President Ruto. The Kenyan DAILY POST Tuesday, August 13, 2024 - Former Public Service Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria has taken credit for masterminding the formation of a broad-based government between President William Ruto and Opposition Leader Raila Odinga. Speaking during an interview, Kuria revealed that he urged Ruto to include Raila Odingas ODM in the Cabinet long before the deadly protests led by Gen Z youth swept across the nation. According to Kuria, who was one of the 12 Cabinet Secretaries removed to make space for opposition leaders, he foresaw potential unrest and advised the president to take preemptive action by integrating the opposition into the government. For the avoidance of doubt, this issue of inviting the Opposition to the GovernmentI can largely claim it to be my idea...It was my idea. Way before Gen Z. I could see some trouble ahead. I was discussing with the President, look, we need to reform our politics. And if we have to get out of this, we need to get things out of the box, Kuria asserted. Pressed for more details on his conversations with President Ruto, Kuria recounted how he personally lobbied senior Opposition figures, including former Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi, former Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho, and ODM luminary Oburu Odinga, to take up Cabinet positions. I remember having lunch with Oburu Odinga to convince him why they should accept the positions. He asked me, Are you not afraid that you will lose your position? To which I responded, So be it. It was for the good of the country, Kuria stated. The former Gatundu MP also revealed that he had been prepared to travel to Dubai to persuade Raila Odinga, who was abroad at the time, to join Rutos government for the sake of the country. I had my ticket in my hand, ready to go and convince Raila why this was a good idea, Kuria said, emphasising the lengths he went to ensure the plans success. Kuria framed his actions as necessary for the country's future, implying that the decision to incorporate Opposition members into the government was vital for national stability. The Kenyan DAILY POST Tuesday, August 13, 2024 - Former Bahati Member of Parliament, Kimani Ngunjiri has urged Mt Kenya leaders and the electorate to form a new party that will cater to their interests ahead of the 2027 presidential election. Speaking at Riandegwa ACK church in Kandara on Sunday, Ngunjiri said it's time for the region to establish a strong political vehicle that will ensure its interests are safeguarded after 2027. The former MP claimed the region entered into the Kenya Kwanza coalition without a written agreement, which he said has put it at a disadvantage. He further stated that the region overwhelmingly supported the Kenya Kwanza coalition but had little to show for it. Mt Kenya supported the Kenya Kwanza coalition overwhelmingly but our loyalty has not paid benefits because we did not have a strong party, he said. The former lawmaker said the vote-rich region should unite and devise ways of helping it forge forward past the next elections. It does not matter who will vie for the top seat. Let everybody look for support and afterward, we can all sit and negotiate, and then whoever we decide to vote for, lets vote for them as a block, he said. The Kenyan DAILY POST Tuesday, August 13, 2024 - President William Ruto has continued to mislead Kenyans by claiming that the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has not merged with the Kenya Kwanza Alliance government. Two weeks ago, Ruto appointed five ODM lieutenants as cabinet secretaries, meaning that the Orange party will be participating in running the government affairs. Some ODM party leaders, including Kakamega Governor Fernand Barasa, stated that Raila Odingas party has joined the government and is no longer in the opposition. "We are going to make sure we strengthen our party. And now ODM is not even in the opposition, it is in government and working with government," Barasa stated. But during his three-day official tour in Kisii County on Monday, Ruto dismissed claims that ODM has joined the government. "Kenya Kwanza and ODM have not entered into a coalition agreement but have agreed to unite the country and serve Kenyans," Ruto said. The Kenyan DAILY POST Tuesday, August 13, 2024 - National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung'wah has blasted Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua for claiming that he was in the same league as President William Ruto. During a development tour in Kirinyaga County over the weekend, Gachagua urged MPs to play in their own league, as he and Ruto are in a completely different one. He accused some of the MPs of engaging in divisive politics in the Mt. Kenya region. "I ask the MPs to do their work. The work of the presidency is mine and the president's. "We're the ones with a say and if we haven't said anything, others should keep quiet. "Concentrate on your job and let the president and deputy president play their league. "Don't bring divisive politics into this region," Gachagua remarked. However, in a rejoinder, Ichung'wah told off Gachagua that Ruto was way above 'his league'. According to Ichungwah, Gachagua is obsessed with village politics while Ruto plays at a global level. "League? Which league? President William Ruto aint in that league. Way above. Deal with your situation," Ichung'wah stated. While in Kirinyaga, Gachagua further noted that the people of Mt Kenya had invested in President Ruto's government. He asked leaders not to make divisive statements that confuse the public. The people of Mt. Kenya, this is our government. We invested in this government. "Ive heard people saying that we should leave the government. "How can we leave our own government? I want to ask leaders not to make statements that confuse the public, Gachagua stated. The Kenyan DAILY POST Tuesday, August 13, 2024 - Orange Democratic Movement Deputy Party Leader Simba Arati has urged President William Ruto to join the Orange Party after agreeing to form a broad-based government with former Prime Minister Raila Odinga. During the head of state's tour of Nyamira on Monday, Arati who is also Kisii County Governor, invited the head of state to join ODM. Arati reminded the head of state that he is a founding member of the Orange Party, referencing Ruto's role as a member of former prime minister Raila Odinga's inner circle in the 2007 polls He further stated that he was wooing the head of state in his new position in the party. "We have not joined the government, but we have given you our people to work with. "Let us strengthen democracy. You know you were in ODM, and I see there are issues in UDA. "If you find yourself in a tough spot, as the Deputy Party Leader of ODM, I welcome you to come and talk with us. "What do you think?" Arati posed. The Kenyan DAILY POST Tuesday, August 13, 2024 - Kisii Governor and ODM Party Deputy Leader Simba Arati has warned Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua never to sabotage President William Ruto and his government ever again. Speaking during the groundbreaking ceremony for a cancer center in Kisii, officiated by President William Ruto and his deputy, Arati warned Gachagua, urging him to focus on development rather than play politics at the expense of Kenyans. Arati emphasized the importance of unity and collaboration for the betterment of the country. Addressing Deputy President Gachagua directly, Arati welcomed him to Kisii and encouraged him to continue his partnership with the President. However, he cautioned against introducing divisive issues, hinting that Raila Odingas ODM is prepared to align itself more closely with Ruto if necessary. "Mr. Deputy President, you are welcome to Kisii. Don't fear. Continue working with the President, but if you start bringing issues from the other side, as ODM, we are ready to work with him," Arati warned. Gachagua has been accused of sabotaging the president and sending his foot soldiers to scuttle efforts made by the head of state to deliver to Kenyans. In his remarks, Arati expressed gratitude to Ruto for including members of the ODM party in his government, highlighting the significance of working together across party lines. "You know the other day; I was given the position of deputy party leader of ODM. "We thank our Mr. President for accommodating us in government by giving positions to our people," Arati said. "As the deputy party leader, I assure you that we will continue supporting you so that the country does not sink while we are in leadership positions," he further assured Ruto of ODMs continued support. The Kenyan DAILY POST Monday, August 12, 2024 - The father who left his young daughter to die in a baking hot car in Arizona, USA while he played video games became defensive and said So Im being treated like a murderer? when police confronted him, newly released body-cam footage shows. Christopher Scholtes, 37, also broke down when police responded to his home on July 9 and found his two-year-old daughter Parker clinging to life in the family car, where he claimed to have left her with the air conditioner on for just a half hour because he didnt want to wake her. So Im being treated like a murderer? he told police after they told him the home may be a crime scene, raising his voice in the bodycam footage obtained by Inside Edition. When police first arrived at the home and were trying to save Parker, Scholtes appeared distressed as he held his head in his hands and paced about the home, the video shows. Please baby, please, he pleaded at one point, later saying I cant believe this with a cracking voice as he spoke on the phone. Shes very hot right now. Were going to do everything we can, police told the father, who hid his face behind his hands. Parker was discovered in critical condition when her mother an anesthesiologist came home around 4 p.m. and discovered her in the car with the AC off. In the footage, Scholtes tells police he only left Parker outside for no more than 30, 45 minutes and that he checked on her throughout but court documents later revealed he allegedly left her in the baking car for over three hours while he was inside, and that he had a habit of leaving his three daughters in the car. I told you to stop leaving them in the car, his wife, Erike Scholtes texted him after the tragedy. How many times have I told you? Their two other children even told police their father regularly left them outside in the car, according to a criminal complaint, which added that he got distracted playing his game and putting his food away while his daughter was outside dying. A 16-year-old daughter from a previous marriage told KVOA-TV Scholtes frequently left her alone inside cars without food for hours at a time to the point that Child Protective Services took her away from him. Scholtes pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges on Thursday and remains free. His wife previously asked a judge to release him to come home to his family so they could start the grieving process together. This was a big mistake doesnt represent him, she said. Tuesday, August 13, 2024 - Tensions are rising at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) as the Kenya Aviation Workers Union (KAWU) escalates its efforts to protest the government's controversial plan to lease the airport to a private operator. KAWU has announced that it will issue a strike notice as workers rally against the planned leasing of JKIA to Adani Airport Holdings Ltd. In a statement released by KAWU, Secretary General Moss Ndiema outlined the unions grievances, citing a lack of legal adherence to public participation and stakeholder engagement in the leasing process. The union has repeatedly called for the government to halt the leasing negotiations, warning that it could have severe implications for the aviation industry and workers' rights. The strike represents a significant escalation in KAWUs ongoing battle against the leasing plan, which the union argues could lead to job losses and reduced benefits for airport workers. The union's actions signal a deepening crisis within Kenya's aviation sector as workers fight to protect their jobs and oppose what they see as a questionable deal that threatens the country's largest airport. The Kenyan DAILY POST Tuesday, August 13,2024 - Treasury and National Planning Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has surprised Kenyans by announcing plans to revive some elements of the rejected Finance Bill 2024 to help the government raise funds for salaries and debt. The Finance Bill 2024, which caused chaos and led President William Ruto to withdraw it in June due to protests from Gen Z, is now being reconsidered by John Mbadi. The President also dismissed his cabinet, and Mbadi was among five ODM technocrats who joined Rutos new cabinet to help revive the economy. However, to many Kenyans' surprise, Mbadi announced on Monday that he would revive some clauses of the Finance Bill 2024 to help the government raise money. Yes, we have lost the Finance Bill of 2024. It will be wrong and an abuse to the people of Kenya if you tell them that you are reintroducing that bill. "We cannot reintroduce it despite the progressive provisions in it, Mbadi remarked. However, he hinted at the potential to revive some of its non-contentious elements. "The country must grow. Some provisions were in the bill that would help the country to grow, Mbadi said. The Kenyan DAILY POST Monday, August 12, 2024 - The United Kingdom has recorded a significant drop in visa applications following the introduction of stricter immigration policies in December 2023 to restrict international students from bringing their dependents. Official figures released by the Home Office at the weekend showed that the number of visa applications fell from 141,000 to 91,000, a stunning drop, translating to over 30 per cent. The new law restricts international students from bringing dependants unless they were enrolled in postgraduate research courses or government-funded scholarship programmes. The changes were part of the governments efforts to curb immigration, which reached a record high of 1.22 million last year. Due to these restrictions, between January and July 2024, study visa applications dropped by 16 per cent compared to the same period in 2023. More significantly, there was an 81 per cent decline in visa applications from the dependants of students, reflecting the sharp effect of the new rules. The healthcare sector has also been severely affected, with applications for Health and Care Worker visas plummeting by 80 per cent during the same period. Monthly numbers of Health and Care Worker visa applications from main applicants increased from 4,100 to 18,300 between February 2022 and August 2023, following the addition of care workers to the skilled worker visa. Applications have decreased since August 2023, falling to 2,900 in July 2024, the report by the Home Office said. Tuesday, August 13, 2024 - Former Mukurweini MP Kabando Wa Kabando has labeled former Prime Minister Raila Odinga as one of the biggest sellouts in Kenyas history, accusing him of abandoning the opposition to join President William Rutos government for personal gain. Three weeks ago, Raila Odinga agreed to form a broad-based government with President William Ruto, where five of his lieutenants were appointed to the cabinet. Raila agreed to merge with Ruto in exchange for the governments support in his campaign for the African Union Chairperson seat. However, speaking on Tuesday, Kabando said he prays daily for Raila Odinga to lose the AUC contest, describing Odinga as a "waste of Africa." Friends asking how I feel, now that the man we so strongly campaigned for even as his campaign was a real joke, only sparkled as a project of State House. "Answer: it's a very sad history. We pray he loses the AU job hunt - but even if he gets it, it'll be a waste to Africa, Kabando wrote on X The Kenyan DAILY POST An Unplanned Pregnancy, Scared and Alone Unplanned pregnancy? You are not alone, A Safe Haven for Newborns can help. A Safe Haven for Newborns Signage designating hospitals, fire and EMS stations as Safe Haven. "The goal is to give the distressed expectant mothers the assistance they need to make the decision that is right for her and her infant." Nick Silverio, Founder, A Safe Haven for Newborns NEWS PROVIDED BY The Gloria M. Silverio Foundation August 13, 2024 MIAMI, Aug. 13, 2024 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Gloria M. Silverio Foundation, d/b/a A Safe Haven for Newborns, in Miami is the go-to organization in Florida supporting safe and legal infant direct surrenders under Florida's Safe Haven statute. Their mission is to end infant abandonment, and it begins by offering the scared expectant mothers the support and services they need. Founded 23 years ago by Nick Silverio, Safe Haven for Newborns is the safety net for the women and girls who find themselves with an unplanned pregnancy. Help is just a phone call away at the 24/7 multilingual helpline or by visiting A Safe Haven for Newborns webpage. Silverio recognized the dire need to help these women and their unborn infants and began assembling a statewide referral database. The network of agencies, across all 67 Florida counties, provides referral help for counseling, postpartum depression, health-related issues, baby necessities, women's shelters, maternity homes, abuse and suicide issues, adoption and confidentially placing the infant at a safe haven location to name just a few of the services offered. All services are strictly confidential and are offered at no cost to the pregnant girls, women in crisis. "A Safe Haven for Newborns seeks to address the escalating crisis of infant abandonment by providing nonjudgmental help and resources. A plight that crosses all categories of age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. The goal is to give the distressed expectant mothers the assistance they need to make the decision that is right for her and her infant," Silverio said. In the past 23 years, there have been six instances where the mother has surrendered her infant and then changed her mind. Working within the 30-day window set forth in the Florida Safe Haven statute and attorneys specializing in Family Law A Safe Haven for Newborns helped restore the mother's parental rights. The Foundation does not publicize the surrender of a newborn to protect the mother's anonymity in the community. In the first six-months of 2024, 18 women safely surrendered their newborn in the arms of a trained health professional. To date, 407 newborns have been given a chance at life 397 in Florida, nine in other states, and one in Honduras. 72 new mothers, where anonymity was not a concern, chose a different option, that of a private licensed adoption agency of their choice. They have served over 6,000 pregnant girls, women in their time of need. In order for the program to be successful, Silverio knew from the very beginning that he needed to work closely with Fire, EMS, and the Hospitals. A "partnership" based on trust, respect, and a common mission to help those in need was born. "These partnerships have contributed to the joint success of the Safe Haven for Newborns Program," said Silverio. All Fire, EMS, and Hospitals display the Safe Haven for Newborns signage designating them as a safe haven. Signage is provided at no charge to the hospitals and firehouses. The Foundation also provides the medical personnel with the training to know what to do when a newborn is surrendered. Over 20,000 professionals have taken the online training that is offered free to them. Identified as a national model program in saving newborns from abandonment and assisting pregnant girls, women in crisis, A Safe Haven for Newborns has assisted other states and countries to develop similar programs that work for their communities. They were instrumental in helping Panama pass its own safe haven law. Silverio is in communication with a religious organization in Sri Lanka and key hospital personnel in South Africa to develop a similar program in their countries. For more information on how you can make a difference in the life of an unborn child, visit A Safe Haven for Newborns website. ABOUT THE GLORIA M. SILVERIO FOUNDATION The Gloria M. Silverio Foundation 501 C3, d/b/a A Safe Haven for Newborns, is a nonprofit organization founded in 2001 by Nick Silverio. A Safe Haven for Newborns assists girls/women facing an unexpected pregnancy saving two lives in complete anonymity, protecting her right to privacy. For information, visit https://asafehavenfornewborns.com/. Visit us on social media: Facebook X LinkedIn Instagram YouTube SOURCE The Gloria M. Silverio Foundation CONTACT: Nick Silverio, 786-246-1304, safehaven@asafehavenfornewborns.com Share Tweet The 2024 "Roots-Seeking" summer camp in Tongling, Anhui opened on August 6th, bringing together 27 young overseas Chinese from Thailand, Canada, and other countries to experience the charm of traditional Chinese culture up close. The camp, lasting for 10 days, offers these youngsters the opportunity to visit the Tongling Museum, engage in copper culture classes, and handmade copperplate etching; they will also participate in activities such as identifying copper ore. Wu Youzhen, a camp participant from Thailand, mentioned that this summer camp is not only a learning opportunity but also an excellent journey to gain a deeper understanding of Chinese history and culture. "Although we come from different countries, I believe that through our shared experiences and interactions in this summer camp, we will forge deep friendships." Yao Li, the leader from Canada, told reporters that the children are full of anticipation for the trip to the ancient copper capital and hope to experience the copper culture up close. "We hope everyone will take back what they have seen and heard in Tongling to their home countries, serving as friendly ambassadors for exchanges between their home countries and Anhui, so that the traditional Chinese culture can be passed on from generation to generation and flourish overseas." Li Shiyun, Chairman of the Overseas Chinese Federation of Anhui Province, introduced that since 2020, the Federation has actively organized 17 sessions of the "Qin Qing Zhong HuaTell You Stories" online summer (spring, winter) camp activities, with over 3,700 young overseas Chinese participants from nearly twenty countries and regions including Thailand, Ireland, and Australia learning Chinese language and culture through online platforms; and held 4 sessions of offline summer (winter) camps, inviting more than 100 overseas Chinese youths to Anhui to participate in the "Roots-Seeking" summer (winter) camp activities. Source: www.chinaqw.com Thirty-six Forum for Democratic Change members belonging to the Katonga faction, who were arrested on terrorism charges, have been further remanded to Luzira Prison. The group, comprising both men and women, was apprehended in Kisumu, Kenya, where they allegedly traveled for leadership training. They have been ordered to return to court via video conference on August 26, 2024, for a mention of the case. Todays session has ended in disappointment on our end because all the accused persons were not brought in court. The proceeding happened via Zoom and the accused persons were based in their respective prisons where they were remanded to, Counsel Julius Sekadde told journalists on Tuesday. Prosecution contends that between July 22 and 23, 2024, the group traveled from various parts of Uganda to Kisumu, Kenya, for the purpose of providing or receiving terrorism training. They were subsequently arrested by Kenyan authorities, deported to Uganda, and charged with terrorism before Nakawa Chief Magistrate, Elias Kakooza. Former Leader of the Opposition and Nyendo-Mukungwe MP, Mathias Mpuuga Nsamba, has demanded an apology from petitioners for accusing him of corruption. Mpuugas call follows todays court ruling on the service award granted to him and other parliamentary commissioners. He told the media at parliament that his name was tarnished when he and his colleagues received the award, with individuals even petitioning the High Court in May to challenge the commissions authority to grant such awards. Todays ruling, he said, vindicated him and the other commissioners. Mpuuga acknowledged that financial matters often spark disagreement but insisted this should not be used to damage reputations without due process. He added that todays court decision has resolved the issue. Today morning, we received the ruling of court on the matter, and in a way, it settles the dispute over the powers of the Commission, the role played by Parliament and its attendant committees as well as the Executive in this entire process of budgeting, Mpuuga said. Some of the petitioners are lawyers, I think they have a fair understanding of what this ruling really means. They should be educating each other including those they have been lying to. I hope they will be able to come out and apologize to the country for misleading colleagues in Parliament, he added. The MP also called on those who pushed for a censure motion to apologize to Ugandans for misleading the public on matters they knew little about. The Opposition Democratic Party (DP) has blamed government for alleged criminal negligence at the Kiteezi landfill, which resulted in the death of over 20 people. Speaking to the media at DPs political command center on Balintuma Road in Kampala, the partys acting spokesperson, Mr. Ismael Kirya, expressed dismay that the government failed to act despite early warnings. He proposed that the government should invest in transforming Kiteezis garbage into biogas and manure rather than seeking a new disposal site. Kirya argued that this approach would also help reduce youth unemployment in the area. There has been a lot of criminal negligence in Kiteezi landfill. This landfill was estimated to cause a tragedy eight years back but nothing was done, he said. Furthermore, he urged the government to compensate residents living near the landfill, which he described as a significant threat to public health. The International Crimes Division of the High Court sitting in Gulu is expected to deliver its judgment today on war crimes and crimes against humanity charges against former Lords Resistance Army commander, Thomas Kwoyelo. The case was heard by a panel of four justices led by Michael Elubu, Stephen Mubiru, Duncan Gaswaga, and Andrew Bashaija. In December 2023, the ICD Court upheld 78 of the 93 charges stemming from the 20-year insurgency in Northern Uganda led by LRA rebel leader Joseph Kony against the Government of Uganda from 1992 to 2005. According to the indictment, Kwoyelo is accused of violating the Fourth Geneva Convention under the Geneva Convention Act, 1964, by committing atrocities including willful killing, hostage-taking, widespread destruction of property, causing serious bodily injury, and inhumane treatment. He is further accused of crimes against humanity under customary international law including; murder, rape, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity, enslavement, torture, pillaging, and additional charges of murder, kidnap with intent to murder, aggravated robbery, attempted murder, and offenses under the Penal Code Act, Cap 120. The prosecution alleges that Kwoyelo committed these crimes between 1994 and 2005 in Pabbo and Lamogi sub-counties in Amuru district. In March 2024, International Criminal Court judges Rosario Salvatore Aitala, Tomoko Akane, and Sergio Gerardo Ugalde Godinez ruled that Ugandan rebel Joseph Konys confirmation of war crimes would proceed in absentia on October 15, 2024, after efforts to locate him failed. This decision follows the prosecutions determination that Kony qualifies as a person who cannot be found under Article 61(2)(b) of the Rome Statute and that circumstances warrant a confirmation hearing in his absence. A State Attorney with the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Mr. Sam Tusubira, has been arraigned before the Anti-Corruption Court for allegedly soliciting a Shs100 million bribe from a litigant involved in a land dispute. Tusubira has been charged with 16 counts of corruption and remanded to Luzira prison. Prosecution alleges that the accused while representing the government in court, demanded the bribe from Mr Ronald Yawe, who had sued the Ministry of Lands and the Attorney General over the irregular cancellation of his land title. The 33-year-old government lawyer appeared before Grade One Magistrate Esther Asiimwe and pleaded not guilty to the charges. The court heard that on December 22, 2023, in Kampala, Tusubira requested Shs100 million and received Shs43,660,000 to secure consent from the Attorney General regarding Yawes land case filed before the Luweero High Court. Prosecution, led by Teopista Nnam and Viola Tusingwire, further accuses their colleague of receiving multiple bribes to handle Yawes case between October 21, 2023, and January 23, 2024, in Kampala. Tusubiras arrest followed a complaint lodged by Yawe with the Attorney Generals Chambers about the State Attorneys failure to respond to his calls after receiving the money, despite promises to assist with compensation. He has been remanded to Luzira Prison until August 19, 2024, when the prosecution will respond to his bail application. The Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) has launched its first-ever infectious disease surveillance laboratory in Uganda which is also the first of its kind among the armed forces in the East African region. According to a press statement from UPDF, the surveillance biosafety level 2-plus laboratory located in Mbuya is UPDFs strategic asset with an enshrined role of force health protection where the known and anticipated threats and hazards of the troops must be known and mitigated. The Public Health laboratory, which uses molecular and immunological platforms will receive and analyze samples from over twenty sentinel sites in Uganda, and other areas where the army has troops like Somalia, Equatoria Guinea, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Lieutenant General Sam Okiding, the Deputy Chief of Defence Forces commissioned the laboratory on behalf of Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Chief of Defence Forces (CDF). Okiding said the laboratory is part of the wide network of sentinel surveillance for emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases that include viruses that are highly infectious like Ebola, Marburg, Yellow Fever, and Dengue among others. He added that the bio threats stretch beyond infectious diseases and that they are committed to investing in this area to protect, perverse the forces, and also protect the country from bio-threats. Meanwhile the Commissioner of Surveillance at the Ministry of Health, Dr Allan Muruta welcomed the collaboration and committed to supporting UPDF in all areas of healthcare delivery and global health. Ten prisoners are being treated for suspected overdoses at Portlaoise Prison. A number of prisoners were taken to hospital by ambulance after the incidents while others received treatment at the prison. The Irish Prison Service (IPS) said it was working closely with the HSE in response to a number of overdose presentations in custody. A spokesman said: This a live operational situation for the IPS and the HSE. Both agencies are working to provide the highest quality health service to those impacted. A number of people are currently receiving medical treatment both in prison and in hospital. The prison service said extra vigilance is being taken and added that extra naloxone kits, which are used in the treatment of overdoses, had been secured. In a statement, the IPS said preventing drugs and other contraband from entering prisons is a high priority. It said: The Irish Prison Service has committed to continuing to invest in new technologies and measures to support our efforts to keep contraband out of prisons. Prison staff have increased the use of random and intelligence-led cell searches on a daily basis. Our Canine Unit carry out searches around the prisons, including a greater focus on searching deliveries into prisons. The Irish Prison Service continues to engage with An Garda Siochana with regard to preventing contraband entering our prison and this happens at both local and national level. It has also carried out an information campaign for prisoners about the dangers of drugs. The Department of Justice declined to comment on the incidents. It comes less than a month after the IPS issued an urgent drug alert to all prisons about a nitazene-type substance following a fatal overdose. The HSE National Drug Treatment Centre Laboratory was involved in confirming the presence of the drug. McDonalds in Naas recently welcomed the local-based InSync Naas/Clane Youth Project to its restaurant to highlight the vital services they provide to young people. The InSync Naas/Clane Youth Project is one of the ten community-based projects to receive funding from McDonalds through the companys partnership with the Irish Youth Foundation. Welcomed by McDonalds Naas franchisee Sean Quirke, the projects Team Leader Tina OSullivan and young participants shared the positive impact made by the restaurant chains support. The local project supports young people by providing non-formal education programmes based on the topics they wish to learn about, artistic and skill-based activities and afterschool engagements. As a result of the McDonalds funding, the project has been able to run an employability programme, hosting more than 15 sessions for young people, covering a wide range of key areas from interview preparation, working in a team to communication and leadership skills. The employability programme we have been able to run really helps to invigorate both self-esteem and confidence within our young participants through completing these sessions, Ms OSullivan said. InSync is hugely appreciative of the support the McDonalds funding has given to our project in providing practical skills and guidance to young people for entering and navigating the workforce. Through its wider partnership with the Irish Youth Foundation, McDonalds has already supported almost 5,000 young people directly across the Republic of Ireland. In April 2024, McDonalds launched its nationwide Makin It initiative a programme that provides young people with genuine opportunity in the areas in which they live. In the lead up to Aprils launch, McDonalds piloted the programme in Ireland in partnership with the Irish Youth Foundation and ten local youth projects. To date, 4,898 young people aged 15-24 have been supported directly, with 42 youth workers also supported in their work with young people nationally and 50 volunteer mentors engaged in programmes across Ireland. McDonalds is proud of its partnership with the Irish Youth Foundation and helping these youth organisations across the country implement their own employability and skills projects, said Naas franchisee Mr Quirke. At McDonalds, we are passionate about providing training and development opportunities to our people to grow in their careers. To see an extension of this in the local community here and learning first-hand the incredible work InSync provides to young people is inspiring to see. My grannys name was Rose and she would have made the perfect Rose of Tralee, says the Kilkenny Rose, Lisa ORourke. As Lisa prepares for the International Rose of Tralee Festival, starting later this week, she cant help but keep her grannys memory close. She was such a lady; she knew everyone and everything going on in the world. For someone who was 98 she was an inspiration. She had a positive outlook on life, Lisa says. Granny Rose and Lisa were close friends, especially so after Lisas mum passed away, several years ago. Rose loved to hear about what Lisa was up to and one of their favourite things to do together was to watch the Rose of Tralee every year. A Cavan woman originally, Granny Rose did have divided loyalties, but she always supported the Kilkenny Rose too. I know she would have loved this. Its a great ode to her, Lisa said of her participation in the Rose of Tralee. Taking part in the local competition this year was partly to honour her late granny Rose, who passed away last summer, as well as for her own enjoyment. Still, Lisa needed a little extra encouragement, and that came from her friends. Coincidentally Lisa is good friends with the last Kilkenny Rose, Molly Coogan. Both ladies are part of the Castlecomer Pantomime group, which they are now calling the Rose Bootcamp! It was another panto colleague, musical director Ollie Hennessy, who also egged her on. Ollie is also the musical director of the Rose of Tralee televised event and encouraged Lisa to enter. Having watched and admired the Roses for years, Lisa felt the time was right to enter this year. Two years ago she supported Molly Coogan in Tralee and a cousin, Kevin Tynan, took part as an escort, so she knew how much fun it could be. And from the start of the process Lisa has had a wonderful time, even before the Kilkenny selection. In the run up to the special night the Kilkenny Rose hopefuls took part in a series of events together, to get to know each other. Lisa found those meets up a lovely experience and the girls have become friends. A group even travelled together to the Tipperary Rose Selection night. The day of the Kilkenny Rose selection was a long one, with Lisa having her interview with the judges at 9am but being the last Rose to be interviewed on stage that evening! Although it was the longest night of her life, Lisa says she never thought she would be chosen as the Kilkenny Rose. She says the surprise was like an out of body experience. Then she heard the excited roars of her family and friends in the audience and Molly placed the Rose sash on her. It was a magical night, Lisa says. This years Rose of Tralee International Festival will take place in the Kerry town from August 16 to 20. In advance of that Lisa will be working with her Rose Committee to get ready - her aunts Maura Tynan and Siobhan McEvoy. As well as planning a Castlecomer exodus to Tralee and curating Lisas festival wardrobe, her aunts will be making sure to have some stand-out banners to wave in support! Lisas extended family are all planning the trip - including her brothers Eoin and Darragh who are giving up their Electric Picnic weekend to support their big sister, and her grandad Johnny ORourke who is 91. Secretly, Lisa is a bit jealous of all the craic her family and friend are going to have in Tralee, but shes sure shell have just as much fun being part of the festival. As she takes on the role of Kilkenny Rose, Lisa has great support from Molly Coogan. Having known each other for a long time Lisa regards Molly as both a little and older sister! Molly is younger but has great advice on the Rose experience. Its so special to be able to share the experience with her, Lisa says, and such a joy. Looking forward to the experience, Lisa says she sees the Rose of Tralee Festival as a celebration of Irish women, but also Ireland as a culture that has spread around the world. I think its so modern in what it stands for and how it represents women in Ireland, she says. The winner every year really showcases what its all about, on the tour and during the time in Tralee. They try to represent themselves, their county and their family the best they can. This means so much to me, but also my wide family circle. Were all so close, because my mam passed away, my cousins are like siblings. I am so happy to get this far. Tralee is the cherry on top. I dont know whats to come in the next week or month but if its anything like its been so far Ill be happy out, Lisa says. Fianna Fail TD for Carlow-Kilkenny, John McGuinness has welcomed the Governments publication of a bill which aims to ensure sufficient and effective access to cash is available across the country. The Finance (Provision of Access to Cash Infrastructure) Bill 2024 was approved by Cabinet last month. "Moving to a cashless society is not something that the general public want, they want the option to use cash whenever they feel like it," Mr McGuinness told the Kilkenny People. The bill now being introduced will ensure that banks are now obliged to make cash available and to make the different notes available in the cash machines to facilitate all sorts of customers not just ones who withdraw 50 notes at a time, we need to see all notes in there, he added. In July 2022, AIB announced they intended to go entirely cashless at 70 branches across the country, removing cash and cheque services from those branches by October of that year. However, the Irish bank put a halt to the proposed changes just days after the announcement following widespread public criticism. Mr McGuinness like many other public representatives at council and government levels disapproved of such changes due to the challenges it would present for many small businesses and members of the public, not least the elderly. The Carlow-Kilkenny TD, first elected to the Dail in 1997, believes any future changes must not leave certain parts of society behind. "We saw recently the worldwide outage of technology, the difficulties it can cause for everyone, and so having a cashless society only is not a good idea as its open to all sorts of fraud," he claimed. "Yes, the option should be there (to use card facilities) but we have to think of those who are not IT literate, those who are marginalised in one way or another and the elderly that just doesnt use technology," the Kilkenny based TD stated. "More and more small businesses are asking people to consider paying them in cash because their subject to fees so if it was a cashless society and the banks had total control, they would increase their charges Im sure," the local TD said. FOR MORE LOCAL NEWS, CLICK HERE "We cant leave the market open to that type of carry on because the banks are beyond greedy and are now making a 1 billion in profits every six months, so what do we do, make them richer? I dont think so," McGuinness added. "We need to focus on what the citizen wants, on what society wants and what is best for society, not what is best for the banks. They have proven to have systems that are prone to failure," he said. As the banking landscape continually changes and advances, Mr McGuinness hopes the legislation which will follow this bill will be reviewed regularly and the publics welfare will be prioritised over the banks. Eir and Ryanair have generated the most complaints and customer queries of all businesses in Ireland, according to data from the state consumer watchdog. Queries and complaints to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission increased by 18% in the first six months of 2024 compared with the same period last year. A total of 22,347 people contacted the CCPC helpline between January and June for free information on their consumer rights and support on personal finance. Issues over faulty goods and services topped the list of consumer queries and complaints. Telecom provider Eir was the company most frequently identified by callers to the CCPC helpline with 356 contacts, followed by Ryanair on 269. Telecommunication companies featured elsewhere in the list, with broadcaster Sky in third place with 254 contacts followed by Vodafone with 239. Consumer electronics firm Harvey Norman was in fifth place on 234. Grainne Griffin, CCPC director of communications, said: Whether youre buying a birthday card or a brand-new car, you have rights as a consumer, and the trader youre buying from has certain responsibilities under the law. It can be tricky for consumers to understand their rights when something breaks down or a delivery doesnt show up, and thats where the CCPC can help. An informed consumer is an empowered consumer, and knowing your rights can make life easier when things go wrong. Traders who break the law can face fines and prosecution. Our enforcement officers use this helpline data to identify serious breaches of the law and patterns of non-compliance. In total, 4,900 consumers were referred to the Small Claims Court, almost 1,000 more than during the same period in 2023. Topping the list of sectors most referred to the court were home building and improvements, with 624 consumers referred, and vehicles and transport, with 588. Ms Griffin said changes to the law are required to give the CCPC the power to impose larger fines for serious offences, such as a percentage of a businesss turnover. Unscrupulous traders who rip off consumers make it harder for law-abiding businesses to survive. Well use all the powers available to us, up to and including prosecution, to detect and penalise lawbreakers however, we know that the level of fines issued for breaches of consumer protection law is not always a deterrent, especially for large businesses. Evacuations ordered near Athens as Greek authorities try to contain wildfires Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump gestures after speaking at a campaign rally in Bozeman, Mont., Aug. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) Aspire Private Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER Free Report) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 12,405 shares of the ride-sharing companys stock, valued at approximately $902,000. Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Covenant Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Uber Technologies by 0.3% in the first quarter. Covenant Asset Management LLC now owns 52,971 shares of the ride-sharing companys stock worth $4,078,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its position in Uber Technologies by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 5,634 shares of the ride-sharing companys stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Uber Technologies by 3.3% during the first quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,882 shares of the ride-sharing companys stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Uber Technologies by 6.1% in the first quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC now owns 2,756 shares of the ride-sharing companys stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Uber Technologies by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,170 shares of the ride-sharing companys stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.24% of the companys stock. Get Uber Technologies alerts: Insider Transactions at Uber Technologies In related news, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi sold 500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.91, for a total value of $35,955,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,266,114 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $91,046,257.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Tony West sold 28,000 shares of Uber Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.67, for a total transaction of $1,978,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 96,945 shares of the companys stock, valued at $6,851,103.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi sold 500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.91, for a total value of $35,955,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,266,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $91,046,257.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,117,234 shares of company stock worth $76,982,734. 3.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Analyst Ratings Changes Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a buy rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Uber Technologies in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Uber Technologies from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Uber Technologies from $88.00 to $83.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 16th. BMO Capital Markets restated an outperform rating and set a $92.00 price target on shares of Uber Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Uber Technologies from $72.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $87.47. View Our Latest Stock Report on UBER Uber Technologies Trading Up 1.1 % Shares of NYSE:UBER traded up $0.72 during trading on Monday, hitting $69.26. The company had a trading volume of 10,740,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,221,949. The stock has a market cap of $145.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 111.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.05. Uber Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $40.09 and a one year high of $82.14. Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.16. Uber Technologies had a return on equity of 17.06% and a net margin of 5.02%. The company had revenue of $10.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.18 earnings per share. Uber Technologiess revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Uber Technologies, Inc. will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current year. About Uber Technologies (Free Report) Uber Technologies, Inc develops and operates proprietary technology applications in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia excluding China and Southeast Asia. It operates through three segments: Mobility, Delivery, and Freight. The Mobility segment connects consumers with a range of transportation modalities, such as ridesharing, carsharing, micromobility, rentals, public transit, taxis, and other modalities; and offers riders in a variety of vehicle types, as well as financial partnerships products and advertising services. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding UBER? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Uber Technologies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Uber Technologies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Aspire Private Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Truist Financial Co. (NYSE:TFC Free Report) by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,232 shares of the insurance providers stock after acquiring an additional 1,629 shares during the period. Aspire Private Capital LLCs holdings in Truist Financial were worth $592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Verum Partners LLC raised its stake in Truist Financial by 2.5% in the second quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 10,573 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional raised its position in shares of Truist Financial by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 8,050 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Truist Financial by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 12,965 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $479,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. boosted its position in Truist Financial by 2.4% during the first quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 12,118 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whalen Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Truist Financial by 4.8% during the first quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,331 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.28% of the companys stock. Get Truist Financial alerts: Truist Financial Stock Performance Shares of TFC traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $41.22. The stock had a trading volume of 7,494,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,465,306. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $39.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.17. Truist Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $26.57 and a fifty-two week high of $45.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.26, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. Truist Financial Announces Dividend Truist Financial ( NYSE:TFC Get Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.83 billion. Truist Financial had a positive return on equity of 9.18% and a negative net margin of 5.63%. The companys quarterly revenue was down 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Truist Financial Co. will post 3.55 EPS for the current year. The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.05%. Truist Financials dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -157.58%. Insider Activity at Truist Financial In related news, CEO William H. Rogers, Jr. bought 57,300 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $43.96 per share, with a total value of $2,518,908.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 569,271 shares of the companys stock, valued at $25,025,153.16. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Cynthia B. Powell sold 6,688 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.14, for a total value of $295,208.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO William H. Rogers, Jr. purchased 57,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $43.96 per share, for a total transaction of $2,518,908.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 569,271 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $25,025,153.16. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several analysts have commented on TFC shares. Baird R W lowered shares of Truist Financial from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Truist Financial from an underperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research note on Friday. Compass Point raised Truist Financial from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Argus raised their price objective on Truist Financial from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an in-line rating and issued a $44.00 price target on shares of Truist Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $45.30. Check Out Our Latest Analysis on TFC Truist Financial Company Profile (Free Report) Truist Financial Corporation, a financial services company, provides banking and trust services in the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States. The company operates through three segments: Consumer Banking and Wealth, Corporate and Commercial Banking, and Insurance Holdings.Its deposit products include noninterest-bearing checking, interest-bearing checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and individual retirement accounts. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Truist Financial Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Truist Financial and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. China Resources Beer (Holdings) Company Limited (OTCMKTS:CRHKY Get Free Report)s share price reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $5.84 and last traded at $6.03, with a volume of 406519 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $6.08. China Resources Beer Price Performance The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is $6.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.10. China Resources Beer Company Profile (Get Free Report) China Resources Beer (Holdings) Company Limited, an investment holding company, manufactures, distributes, and sells beer products in Mainland China. The company offers its products under the Nong Li, Snow, and Jinsha brands. The company was formerly known as China Resources Enterprise, Limited and changed its name to China Resources Beer (Holdings) Company Limited in October 2015. Read More Receive News & Ratings for China Resources Beer Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for China Resources Beer and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Imperial Oil Limited (TSE:IMO Get Free Report) (NYSEMKT:IMO) has been given a consensus rating of Hold by the eleven brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$100.15. Several research firms have commented on IMO. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of Imperial Oil from C$91.00 to C$92.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Imperial Oil from C$100.00 to C$105.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Desjardins boosted their price objective on Imperial Oil from C$92.00 to C$101.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Imperial Oil from C$111.00 to C$110.00 in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, National Bankshares boosted their price objective on shares of Imperial Oil from C$90.00 to C$120.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Get Imperial Oil alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on IMO Imperial Oil Price Performance Imperial Oil Announces Dividend IMO stock opened at C$103.28 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.65, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Imperial Oil has a 1 year low of C$72.03 and a 1 year high of C$103.75. The companys 50-day moving average is C$93.99 and its 200-day moving average is C$91.49. The stock has a market capitalization of C$55.34 billion, a PE ratio of 11.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.83. The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. Imperial Oils dividend payout ratio is currently 27.30%. About Imperial Oil (Get Free Report Imperial Oil Limited engages in exploration, production, and sale of crude oil and natural gas in Canada. The company operates through three segments: Upstream, Downstream and Chemical segments. The Upstream segment explores and produces crude oil, natural gas, synthetic crude oil, and bitumen. The Downstream segment transports and refines crude oil, blends refined products, and distributes and markets of refined products. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Imperial Oil Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Imperial Oil and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund (NYSE:PCQ Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,200 shares, a decrease of 37.3% from the July 15th total of 5,100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 54,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.1 days. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PCQ. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 23,000 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund by 22.5% in the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 21,841 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 4,012 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund during the 4th quarter worth about $97,000. Mechanics Bank Trust Department acquired a new stake in shares of PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund during the 1st quarter worth about $104,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new stake in shares of PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund during the 2nd quarter worth about $115,000. Get PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund alerts: PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund Trading Up 0.5 % NYSE:PCQ traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $9.53. The stock had a trading volume of 22,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 58,005. PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund has a twelve month low of $8.19 and a twelve month high of $9.88. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $9.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.36. PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund Announces Dividend About PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund The firm also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be paid a $0.036 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 12th. This represents a $0.43 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.53%. (Get Free Report) PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Allianz Global Investors Fund Management LLC. It is co-managed by Pacific Investment Management Company LLC. The fund invests in fixed income markets of the United States. It seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Signature Wealth Management Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM Free Report) (TSE:GMM.U) by 3.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,865 shares of the auto manufacturers stock after selling 486 shares during the period. Signature Wealth Management Partners LLCs holdings in General Motors were worth $551,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of General Motors during the 4th quarter worth $602,280,000. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of General Motors by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 48,767,573 shares of the auto manufacturers stock worth $2,211,609,000 after acquiring an additional 6,201,777 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of General Motors during the 1st quarter worth $159,750,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Motors by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 18,097,486 shares of the auto manufacturers stock worth $650,062,000 after acquiring an additional 3,247,050 shares during the period. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Motors by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 20,237,820 shares of the auto manufacturers stock worth $726,942,000 after acquiring an additional 2,905,689 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.67% of the companys stock. Get General Motors alerts: General Motors Stock Performance NYSE GM traded down $0.48 on Monday, reaching $43.00. The stock had a trading volume of 9,336,074 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,963,271. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.18. General Motors has a 12-month low of $26.30 and a 12-month high of $50.50. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $46.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.62. The stock has a market cap of $49.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.43. General Motors Dividend Announcement General Motors ( NYSE:GM Get Free Report ) (TSE:GMM.U) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The auto manufacturer reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $47.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $45.13 billion. General Motors had a return on equity of 15.77% and a net margin of 6.22%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that General Motors will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year. The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. General Motorss payout ratio is currently 5.87%. General Motors announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 11th that permits the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the auto manufacturer to reacquire up to 10.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the companys board believes its shares are undervalued. Analyst Ratings Changes A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded General Motors from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Nomura downgraded General Motors from a neutral rating to a reduce rating and set a $34.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Nomura Securities raised General Motors to a strong sell rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup lifted their target price on General Motors from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on General Motors from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $55.17. View Our Latest Report on General Motors Insider Activity In related news, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 326,305 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.33, for a total transaction of $15,770,320.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 898,648 shares of the companys stock, valued at $43,431,657.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other General Motors news, CFO Paul A. Jacobson acquired 25,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $44.11 per share, with a total value of $1,102,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 261,872 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $11,551,173.92. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 326,305 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.33, for a total value of $15,770,320.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 898,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,431,657.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,152,621 shares of company stock valued at $51,818,111. Company insiders own 0.72% of the companys stock. General Motors Company Profile (Free Report) General Motors Company designs, builds, and sells trucks, crossovers, cars, and automobile parts; and provide software-enabled services and subscriptions worldwide. The company operates through GM North America, GM International, Cruise, and GM Financial segments. It markets its vehicles primarily under the Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Baojun, and Wuling brand names. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for General Motors (NYSE:GM Free Report) (TSE:GMM.U). Receive News & Ratings for General Motors Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for General Motors and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Signature Wealth Management Partners LLC grew its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK Free Report) by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 451 shares of the asset managers stock after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Signature Wealth Management Partners LLCs holdings in BlackRock were worth $355,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Park National Corp OH raised its holdings in BlackRock by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 39,050 shares of the asset managers stock worth $30,745,000 after purchasing an additional 3,108 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 4,670 shares of the asset managers stock worth $3,677,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Verum Partners LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 418 shares of the asset managers stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 14,788 shares of the asset managers stock worth $11,643,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 26,619 shares of the asset managers stock worth $20,958,000 after buying an additional 2,015 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Get BlackRock alerts: BlackRock Stock Performance Shares of BLK stock traded down $18.20 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $838.01. The company had a trading volume of 510,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 606,878. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $811.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $800.24. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $596.18 and a one year high of $885.10. The firm has a market cap of $124.53 billion, a PE ratio of 21.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 5.32 and a current ratio of 5.32. BlackRock Announces Dividend BlackRock ( NYSE:BLK Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $10.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $9.96 by $0.40. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The firm had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $9.28 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a $5.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. BlackRocks dividend payout ratio is presently 51.84%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BLK shares. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of BlackRock from $842.00 to $837.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Argus upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $915.00 to $934.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $1,025.00 to $1,013.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $920.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BlackRock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $872.29. Read Our Latest Analysis on BLK Insider Transactions at BlackRock In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total value of $25,008,229.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 383,168 shares of the companys stock, valued at $309,327,694.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Pamela Daley sold 1,531 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $842.08, for a total value of $1,289,224.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,732 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,826,802.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $807.29, for a total transaction of $25,008,229.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 383,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,327,694.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 88,959 shares of company stock worth $73,660,507 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. About BlackRock (Free Report) BlackRock, Inc is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm primarily provides its services to institutional, intermediary, and individual investors including corporate, public, union, and industry pension plans, insurance companies, third-party mutual funds, endowments, public institutions, governments, foundations, charities, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, official institutions, and banks. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BLK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for BlackRock Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BlackRock and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy from the eighteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $495.94. Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $513.00 to $561.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $504.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Get The Goldman Sachs Group alerts: Get Our Latest Report on GS The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance NYSE GS opened at $485.50 on Thursday. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $471.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $433.18. The Goldman Sachs Group has a fifty-two week low of $289.36 and a fifty-two week high of $517.26. The company has a market cap of $156.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.12. The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 15th. The investment management company reported $8.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $8.52 by $0.10. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 10.26%. The business had revenue of $12.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $12.60 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 36.74 earnings per share for the current year. The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Groups previous quarterly dividend of $2.75. The Goldman Sachs Groups dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.86%. Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.34, for a total value of $25,360,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,981,022 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,299,679.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.99, for a total value of $1,770,965.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,095 shares in the company, valued at $6,119,949.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.34, for a total value of $25,360,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,981,022 shares of the companys stock, valued at $82,299,679.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,013,500 shares of company stock worth $32,181,365. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Institutional Trading of The Goldman Sachs Group A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GS. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 106.3% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 66 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. The Goldman Sachs Group Company Profile (Get Free Report The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc, a financial institution, provides a range of financial services for corporations, financial institutions, governments, and individuals worldwide. It operates through Global Banking & Markets, Asset & Wealth Management, and Platform Solutions segments. The Global Banking & Markets segment provides financial advisory services, including strategic advisory assignments related to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense activities, restructurings, and spin-offs; and relationship lending, and acquisition financing, as well as secured lending, through structured credit and asset-backed lending and involved in financing under securities to resale agreements. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for The Goldman Sachs Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for The Goldman Sachs Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. By Yi Whan-woo A financial scandal surrounding relatives of former Woori Financial Group Chairman Son Tae-seung is prompting calls that the top leadership at financial firms should be fully held accountable for lax regulatory control. Implemented on July 3, a law on corporate governance of financial services companies has their leaders face liabilities if the firms are caught committing forgery, embezzlement or other financial crimes. The law was introduced as such crimes have been rampant in the banking industry in recent years, inflicting losses on customers as a result. In particular, the law requires the financial holding companies and their flagship banking arms to specify up to which ranks of officials will bear responsibility for the aforementioned crimes. According to industry sources, the targeted companies deemed that presidents and CEOs should be exempted from facing punishment for crimes committed by employees, as they have bigger responsibilities. We believe such a lenient mood for the leaders is likely to change against them in the face of the scandal that rocked Woori Financial Group, a public relations official of a rival banking group said on condition of anonymity. The official referred to Woori Bank being caught for providing 42 loans worth a total of 61.6 billion won ($45 million) to 20 companies that have connections with relatives of Son, who led Woori Financial Group from 2019 to early 2023. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said that 28 loans worth a total of 35 billion won were provided without the correct screening procedures or failed to meet the management guidelines. The FSS plans to impose sanctions on the lender and refer the case to investigative authorities. The bad loans are expected to bring losses worth somewhere between 8.2 billion won and 15.8 billion won. Woori Bank apologized in a statement, saying it had taken disciplinary measures earlier this year, including the dismissal of over eight employees involved in the case. We will fully cooperate with the regulator and the investigative authorities, the bank said. Citizens Coalition for Economic Justice, a Seoul-based activist group, said the apology won't be perceived as sincere if the top leaders of Woori Financial Group and Woori Bank can't be held accountable for financial crimes in accordance with the related law. The case clearly shows a chairman should not evade the scope of liability, because otherwise their relatives may attempt to exploit the companys money, the coalition said. It cast doubts on the sincerity of the banks apology. The group pointed out that incumbent Chairman Yim Jong-yong did not comment on Son and blamed the incident on misconduct of certain opportunistic employees. Financial firms will be allowed to use generative artificial intelligence and cloud computing to develop new innovative products once they secure the means to ensure the security of their networks, the financial regulator said Tuesday. Financial firms have been required to keep their networks separated from the internet since September 2013, a move aimed at preventing hacking attempts. Network separation, however, has also been blamed for "work inefficiency" and failures to develop innovative products using new technologies, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) said. "Especially, network separation is being named a cause of a decline in the country's financial competitiveness as the software market is quickly transitioning from on-premise service to cloud computing-based Software as a Service (SaaS), while the use of generative AI is changing the future of industries," it said in a press release. Currently, financial firms are virtually unable to use AI or cloud computing, except for back office purposes. They will be allowed to use the internet to make use of such new technologies once they take steps to prevent security risks and have them confirmed by related agencies, such as the Financial Supervisory Service, the FSC said. The firms will also be allowed to make use of cloud computing for "some" essential front office purposes, including customer relationship management (CRM), after taking due security measures, it added. The FSC said financial firms may be allowed to start using AI and cloud computing before the year's end at the earliest. "We are at a point where we need to improve network separation rules to better adapt to the quickly changing IT environment around cloud computing and generative AI," FSC chief Kim Byoung-hwan said in a meeting with related agencies and business leaders. "The proposed road map to improve network separation rules will lead to the enhanced competitiveness of the financial industry and also increased use of services by financial consumers." (Yonhap) By Lee Kyung-min Kakao Pay, the settlement and payment subsidiary of the beleaguered Kakao Corp., handed over 40 million users' data to its second-largest shareholder, Alipay Singapore Holdings, without consent from its users, Korea's financial supervisor said Wednesday. The holding company with over a 32 percent stake in Kakao Pay is an affiliate of Alipay, tied to Chinas Ant Group. Central to the issue is whether the Kakao subsidiary needed user consent before the transfer and whether the handlers of the encrypted data ensured easy access to the data for users at any time. The uncovering of the Kakao subsidiary's irregularity will trigger wider scrutiny of the settlement and payment market players in the country, as indicated by the authorities characterization of the incident as deserving of grave sanctions beyond criminal penalties. According to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the data was acquired by Alipay, linked to Chinese conglomerate Alibaba Group, as revealed by its inspection of the Kakao subsidiary over foreign exchange trading. "The identified offense is under review for a potential violation of related laws, after which sanctions will be in progress," the FSS said. The Kakao subsidiary maintains the data was handed over to provide Apple App Store payment services to Kakao Pay users, as mediated legitimately by Alipay. "Reports of Kakao Pay unlawfully handing over user data without consent to Apple or Alipay are not true," Kakao Pay said in a statement. The process of data transfer did not, it added, require user consent and proceeded in accordance with a chain-of-delegation procedure, as clearly guided by Apple. However, the law governing the use and protection of credit information requires user consent before collecting their data or providing it to a third party. Consent was needed because Alipay is an overseas entity. Kakao Pay said the encrypted data is strictly limited to user verification to prevent financial fraud and is not available for marketing or other purposes. Still, industry insiders express concern that Chinese entities can use the data for marketing purposes, exploiting information on users' spending habits and health conditions to the disadvantage of their Korean competitors. This is the latest blow to the Kakao subsidiary, already significantly weakened by the arrest and indictment of Kakao founder and CEO Kim Beom-su on suspicion of stock manipulation. By Lee Kyung-min A nurse and a doctor at a medical clinic in Daegu and two insurance firm sales representatives were indicted without physical detention last month. Also indicted were 94 people who falsely claimed insurance payouts. All of them face charges of insurance fraud for their involvement in netting a combined 1.1 billion won ($802,743) in payouts between 2018 and 2021. The clinic staff, according to the police, sent a portion of the payouts to patients registered as having undergone surgery or costly treatments in medical records they falsified. The years of fraud were uncovered after a group of insurance firms filed a report with the police, suspecting orchestrated efforts by the small clinic that reported repeated cases of high payout claims for conditions that are not so common. Expectations are growing that cases similar to this would become less frequent, deterred by the implementation of a new law governing the penalties for insurance fraud effective Wednesday. The long-awaited revision allows financial authorities to refer potential cases for investigation at the first signs of attempted fraud. Previously, the actionable offense was claiming payout after defrauding someone. Experts say the revision is toothless because it falls short of recovering fraudulent proceeds. Also lacking is tougher punishment for industry insiders as part of overall strengthened penalties, a measure long advocated by the insurance industry. It is progress, but it is not enough, Korea Insurance Research Institute researcher Lim Joon said. Penalties for insurance fraud are lenient compared to other types of fraud, in his view. The ceiling for the fine for insurance fraud was raised to 50 million won, up from the previous 20 million won. But insurance fraud does not lead to a prison term as frequently as non-insurance fraud does. The Financial Supervisory Service revision will ban soliciting activities for the purpose of insurance fraud, including making suggestions online or in person to join a group to stage an accident or to falsify medical conditions or treatment records. Postings on a website and social media accounts seeking potential fraud participants will be obtained and entered into evidence for criminal investigation. Financial authorities will be able to request information related to individuals with the state-run National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) for insurance fraud investigations. Reports of false claims or staged accidents will trigger an immediate investigation, corroborated by data provided by the health ministry-supervised, state-run NHIS and employment benefit system for previous track records. Insurance fraud is hard to identify, especially when organized with each of the gang members knowing exactly what to do to make it look like an accident or pass the scrutiny of insurance firms, he said. According to the National Police Agency, the number of insurance fraud cases reached 1,600 last year, a slight increase from 1,597 in 2022. The number of individuals detained in connection with the crime reached 6,044, a 24.6 percent increase from 4,852 the previous year. A total of 107 people were arrested, up 18.9 percent from 90. Insurance fraud amounted to over 1.11 trillion won last year, a 26.7 percent increase from 880.9 billion won in 2019. Bithumb faces criticism for failing to adequately monitor suspicious transactions By Jun Ji-hye Concerns are growing that Korea has become a playground for cross-border speculators in the cryptocurrency market. Last month, fluctuations in the value of the altcoin Avail on Bithumb raised suspicions of possible borrowed-name transactions by foreigners and price manipulation. Financial authorities here are investigating market manipulation accusations against Avail, as its price plummeted shortly following its listing on the countrys second-largest cryptocurrency exchange. This marks the first investigation conducted under the Virtual Asset User Protection Act, which regulates unfair trading practices and came into effect on July 19. Avail is developed by Polygon, a popular platform in the blockchain ecosystem, which ranks 21st by market capitalization globally, with a market cap of approximately $4.2 billion. It was listed on some cryptocurrency exchanges within and outside the country on July 23. On Bithumb, it started trading at 236 won ($0.17) and skyrocketed to 3,500 won in just 15 minutes, marking an astonishing increase of 1,383 percent. However, by around 3 p.m. the next day, it plummeted to around 296 won. This led to allegations of market manipulation, considering the price discrepancy with overseas exchanges. When Avail surged to 3,500 won on Bithumb, it was trading in the low 200-won range on global exchanges like Huobi. Even considering the typical pump effect that often accompanies a new listing, the price surge was deemed as excessive. The financial authorities believe this suggests abnormal trading activities. The case has attracted significant attention as it brought suspected borrowed-name transactions by foreigners to the fore. According to industry sources, an unnamed investor, presumed to be a Korean national, is believed to have led the suspected transactions on Bithumb. About 40 minutes before Avails listing on that exchange, this person posted on X, formerly Twitter, seeking to gather Avail tokens from foreigners. This investor collected more than 1.2 million tokens, worth approximately 4.2 billion won, from foreigners through this post. This amount represents 80 percent of the 1.55 million tokens that were circulated on Bithumb on the first day of listing, which seems to be enough to potentially manipulate the market price. Unlike traditional currencies, which can only be exchanged through banks, cryptocurrencies can be transferred with a financial transaction app called a digital wallet. In Korea, cryptocurrency trading by foreigners is strictly prohibited. The investor in question received Avail tokens from a total of 119 digital wallets via the social media, suggesting that up to 119 foreigners may have engaged in proxy trading through this investor. In this process, that person is believed to have earned commissions of up to 3.6 billion won, the sources said. They said, despite restrictions against foreigners cryptocurrency trading, circumstances show that covert attempts are continuously being made to facilitate proxy trading for foreign investors. While the abundant liquidity of domestic cryptocurrency exchanges can be a competitive advantage internationally, it can also be a factor that leads to unfair trading practices in an immature market, an official within the domestic cryptocurrency industry said. He said that without institutional safeguards, market disruptions by some foreign investors would persist and domestic individual investors will continue to suffer losses. Park Sung-jun, director of the Blockchain Research Center at Dongguk University in Seoul, said, The ease with which market manipulation can be carried out is a significant concern. There is an urgent need for technical improvements to swiftly detect unusual trading activities. The incident has also provoked criticisms against Bithumb for its failure to adequately monitor unusual trading activities and take any significant measure to protect investors, while Avail skyrocketed by nearly 1,400 percent within just 15 minutes after its listing. Regarding this, a Bithumb official said, We conduct 24-hour monitoring of the cryptocurrencies we support for trading. We maintain constant communication with financial authorities and have carried out both fact-finding and monitoring in relation to this matter. The culture ministry will hold the "Korean Bucket List" event aimed at enriching the travel experience for international tourists. The event, co-hosted by the Korea Tourism Organization, will run from Sept. 1 to Nov. 10 and is designed to showcase the country's diverse attractions to about 20,000 international tourists, who will be selected through a lucky draw prior to their arrival during the period. The program is part of a broader strategy to fulfill the government's goal of attracting 20 million inbound visitors by year's end. The "Korean Bucket List" offers participants a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in diverse Korean cultural experiences at no cost. To participate, prospective visitors can apply through the event's website (https://koreabucketlist.com) by selecting their preferred activities from a list of 36 enticing programs. Selected participants will enjoy a range of activities, including K-pop dance lessons, recording sessions of K-pop songs, traditional market tours and temple stays. The event also offers idol-style makeovers and wellness resort accommodations. To encourage exploration beyond Seoul, the government will also provide 100 domestic flight tickets to foreign tourists in cooperation with the Korea Airports Corp. The flights will connect Seoul's Gimpo Aiport to airports in regions popular among foreign tourists, such as Yeosu, Pohang, Gyeongju and Jeju, according to the ministry. (Yonhap) A key North Korean official in charge of the country's ballistic missile programs has attended an arms exhibition in Moscow, a news report showed Tuesday, amid deepening military cooperation between North Korea and Russia. Kim Jong-sik, the first vice department director of the ruling Workers' Party, was seen attending the opening ceremony of Army 2024, an international military-technical forum, on Monday (local time), Radio Free Asia, a U.S. media outlet, reported, citing Russian news media. Kim, known as a key figure in North Korea's ballistic missile development, has accompanied leader Kim Jong-un on inspections of missile launches. He was awarded the title of "hero of the republic" for his contribution to North Korea's development of a long-range rocket in 2012. The North's official has been sanctioned by U.N. Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2397, adopted in 2017 in the wake of North Korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. South Korea, the United States and the European Union have also added him to a list of their unilateral sanctions. U.N. members should ban the entry of an official sanctioned by UNSC resolutions, but Russia appears to have invited a North Korean delegation to the arms forum amid deepening ties between the two nations. North Korea and Russia have been bolstering military ties, with the North being accused of supplying Russia with ammunition for use in Moscow's war in Ukraine in exchange for aid and suspected technological assistance for its space program. The North's leader Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin held summit talks in Pyongyang in June and signed a new partnership treaty that includes a mutual defense clause. (Yonhap) North Korea on Tuesday denounced top U.S. officials' joint opinion piece that touted "unprecedented" trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the United States and Japan as feats of U.S. President Joe Biden's Indo-Pacific diplomacy. In the piece published in The Washington Post last Monday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan highlighted "tremendous results" of Biden's policy strategy. They said the Indo-Pacific area's serious security challenges, such as North Korea's nuclear saber-rattling, have effects far beyond the region, and assessed the Camp David trilateral summit last year spurred "unprecedented" defense and economic cooperation among the U.S., South Korea and Japan. Calling the op-ed a "childish" scribble, North Korea accused the Biden administration of glossing over its hostile policy toward Pyongyang at a time when its term is coming to an end. "(The strengthening of the trilateral cooperation) has not brought benefits to the two vassal forces, but rather the yoke of cannon fodder of a nuclear war that their peoples cannot avoid," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a commentary. The report said the Biden administration's hostile policy against North Korea has intensified security jitters in the U.S. and made itself a "fixed target plate" that can be easily aimed at. "Our power will continuously evolve and there will be no limit in bolstering our military force," the KCNA said. (Yonhap) Russia's agriculture safety watchdog has approved the shipment of 447 goats to North Korea after reviewing related veterinary and sanitary conditions, according to its website, amid deepening cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow. After veterinary inspection, 432 female and 15 male goats were sent to a North Korean trading company in the first batch of exports of live animals to the North, according to a statement posted on the website of Russia's Rosselkhoznadzor on Friday. The shipment was intended to be delivered from Russia's Leningrad region to North Korea's border city of Rason, it said. The move came as North Korea and Russia have been bolstering the scope of their cooperation following last year's summit between the North's leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The shipment of goats appears to be aimed at providing dairy products to North Korean children amid its chronic food shortages. North Korea's state media reported on Aug. 9 that goat farms with a large capacity have been built in parts of the western port city of Nampho. "As a result, foundation has been consolidated to smoothly provide dairy products for the children in the municipality," the Korean Central News Agency said, adding that the municipality is spurring efforts to increase the number of goats of good breed in a bid to boost the output of dairy products. At a plenary party meeting in June 2021, Kim called for setting a party policy to supply all children across the country with dairy products and other nutritious food at the expense of state funds. Around one in six North Korean children under age 5 were suffering from stunted growth in 2022 due to malnutrition, according to a report jointly released by the U.N. Children's Fund, the World Health Organization and the World Bank Group. The child stunting rate in the impoverished state was measured at 16.8 percent, or 285,000 children in the age group, the report said. But the figure marked a decline from 2012, when 411,300 North Korean children were estimated to have suffered from stunted growth. (Yonhap) North Korea is baking in a "fierce" heatwave, a weather agency official said Tuesday, with the mercury forecast to reach as high as 37 degrees Celsius and South Korea also enduring extreme temperatures. The North was recently hit by severe flooding in its northern regions near China, with state media reporting on high-level efforts to mitigate the impact of "disastrous abnormal weather." On Tuesday, Kim Kwang Hyok, an official at North Korea's State Hydro-Meteorological Administration, told AFP the country had "witnessed the fierce heat in recent days" including in the capital Pyongyang. "Severe heat of 33 to 37 (degrees Celsius) is foreseen in some areas. That's why we announced a heatwave warning until 14th of August," he said. "The State Hydro-Meteorological Administration is focusing on forecasting the fierce heat and is striving to inform... certain areas (so) that they can take necessary measures," he added. South of the border, Seoul's interior ministry said that as of Tuesday 21 people had died from suspected heat-related causes this year as the country records unusually high temperatures. South Korea is experiencing a heat wave, with the weather agency reporting a high Monday of 38.7C in the city of Yeoju, in Gyeonggi province. It also flagged the so-called "tropical night" phenomenon where overnight temperatures do not drop below 25C which has happened for 22 straight days, the third-longest such streak since records began. South Korea's electricity demand also hit an all-time high on Monday as the country's population battled the ongoing heat wave with air conditioners and fans. By contrast, the impoverished North has long endured power shortages, and experts say most residents have no access to air conditioning. "Even in the capital city of Pyongyang, the wealthiest region in the country, only about 0.1 percent of the city's total population would be able to turn on an air conditioner when they want to," Ahn Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies, told AFP. He said that the North would never disclose heat casualties but that the number of deaths could be many times higher than in the South. South Korean media have reported that the number of dead and missing in the North due to the recent flooding could be as high as 1,500. However, leader Kim Jong Un last week dismissed the reports as a "grave provocation" and "an insult to the flood-stricken people who are all safe and well." (AFP) Officials take measured approach as risk of surge in severe cases remains low By Jung Min-ho The government is scrambling to contain the spread of COVID-19 amid a resurgence in cases, which is expected to peak in late August when students return to school after summer vacation. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) on Tuesday, officials are taking necessary measures to minimize the damage as a new COVID variant, KP.3, spreads throughout the countrys most major cities. Yet for now, strong measures implemented during the pandemic, such as mass testing and mask mandates, are not under consideration as the risk of a sudden rise in severe cases remains low, an official told The Korea Times. The health agencys data shows the number of people admitted to 220 hospitals nationwide for COVID-19 jumped to 861 in the first week of August from 148 in the second week of July the highest number since it fully shifted to an endemic approach to the disease in May. A childrens hospital in Busan reportedly said the daily number of patients who were confirmed to have contracted the virus there a day increased to about 10 in recent days, compared with just one or two in the first week of this month. Officials believe the figure will likely continue to swell in the coming weeks, with pupils and many workers preparing to return to their regular duties after the summer break, which is typically concentrated between mid-July and late August. Speaking at a press briefing on Monday, senior KDCA officials said the latest wave of COVID-19 infections will likely pass without causing chaos in the countrys medical system, given the low fatality rate of KP.3 as suggested in data from other countries such as the U.S. and Britain. We are responding while maintaining the current lowest disaster level So far, there have been no major issues in our efforts to respond, said Son Young-rae, a director at the KDCAs infectious disease management division. The COVID-19 disaster level was lowered in May from the second-highest alert level when the agency lifted the last remaining pandemic mandates, including indoor mask requirements for hospitals. Nevertheless, the agency said it will expand its COVID-19 response team amid concerning signs of growing demand for self-testing kits and medicine. According to pharmaceutical companies, demand for such equipment has been increasing in recent weeks, but not to a level beyond their production capacity. An employee at SD Biosensor, a COVID-19 test kit maker, reportedly said there is no problem with increasing the production capacity to meet the rising demand. The current wave is led primarily by KP.3, an Omicron subvariant accounting for nearly 50 percent of new cases in Korea, according to latest data. In an effort to contain the current and future spread of COVID-19, the agency said it will also conduct a mass vaccination program in October with vaccines known to be effective for KP.3 and other variants descended from JN.1. Vulnerable people, including those aged 65 or older, as well as workers at high-risk facilities such as specialized hospitals for older adults and homeless shelters, can receive vaccine shots for free, according to the agency. Others can also obtain them at their own expense. Details of the vaccination program will be announced next month. Officials are now working to secure the newest COVID-19 vaccines for people in Korea. Korea and Philippines aim to sign strategic partnership this year By Kim Hyun-bin The role of Filipino caregivers in Korea has sparked a controversy due to ambiguous descriptions of their responsibilities, raising questions about whether their duties should include not only child-related tasks, but also household chores. However, in a recent interview with The Korea Times, Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo clarified that the caregivers will assist with not only child care but also household chores, in accordance with the pilot project guidelines set by the Ministry of Employment and Labor. They would help basically in carrying out daily activities with the families. This would include caregiving, cleaning, laundry, kitchen work and child care. They will be taking care of the basic daily chores for these specific families, enabling the parents to undertake economic activities or go to work, he said during the interview held at the Philippine Embassy in Seoul, Aug. 8. According to guidelines for the pilot project managed by the labor ministry and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, the primary duty is caregiving. This includes tasks such as dressing children, bathing them, preparing infant food and preparing meals for pregnant women. In addition to caregiving, other tasks may be performed to some extent. For services extending beyond six hours, they are permitted to wash and dry adults' clothes, clean dishes, and vacuum or mop floors. However, they are not responsible for tasks such as taking out the trash, cooking meals for adults, hand mopping, or organizing storage. One hundred Filipino caregivers arrived in Korea Aug. 6. They are participating in the pilot program managed by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Seoul Metropolitan Government. They will receive a total of 160 hours of specialized training over four weeks before officially starting their services on Sept. 3. The four-week specialized training includes lessons on basic living laws, sexual harassment prevention, child care, and household management duties, as well as Korean language and cultural orientation. This initiative, led by the Ministry of Employment and Labor in Korea, was a collaborative effort aimed at supporting the countrys growing need for caregiving professionals. This issue has been in the works for some time and it was actually spearheaded by the Ministry of Employment in Korea, Manalo said. I think the proposal came and they sought our assistance to see whether we could provide this kind of assistance. Naturally, given our very close and strong partnership, we were eager to respond to this initiative by the Korean government. The caregivers, who underwent several months of extensive training in their home country, are now prepared to undertake their responsibilities in Korea. When they arrived, they were ready to assume their duties, Manalo said. It signifies the importance we attach to helping our friends and partners, as caregivers integrate into Korean families, they will learn more about each other, strengthening our relationship in the future. Its also a symbol of the closeness of our two countries. There are no immediate plans to expand the program beyond this initial group, but the Philippines is open to increasing cooperation. At the moment, well start off with this first batch of caregivers and see how it develops, Manalo said. But again, as I said, given our strong relationship, we would like to help ROK wherever we can. These workers are hired by service-providing agencies certified under the Household Workers Act as part of the Employment Permit System (E-9). They are aged between 24 and 38 and hold the Caregiving NC II certification accredited by the Philippine government. They have also undergone evaluations of their English and Korean language skills, health check-ups and background checks for drug use and criminal records. Strategic partnership Manalo seeks to elevate bilateral ties with Korea through the signing of a strategic partnership later this year, marking the 75th anniversary of bilateral ties. President Yoon (Suk Yeol) will be visiting the Philippines, and we hope that by the time of his visit, we will be able to sign an agreement or a document elevating our relationship to a strategic partnership," Manalo said. "That would be a historic development, especially on the 75th year of our relationship." Anticipation of Yoon's upcoming visit to the Philippines is accelerating the discussions. "I don't have the exact date, but probably around October. We have to wait until we get an official announcement on exactly when, but we are hopeful that it will be in October," Manalo said. "During his visit, we aim to sign or at least formalize the strategic partnership." Manalo emphasized the benefits of such a strategic partnership, highlighting the political commitment to strengthening and expanding cooperation in various fields. "With that strategic partnership, we will have definitely a political commitment to not only strengthen our cooperation but build it and even find new areas of cooperation such as renewable energy and tackling cybercrime," he said. "Its an official pronouncement that we are committed to making our relationship even stronger and broader." Addressing potential areas of mutual growth, Manalo identified energy, agriculture, infrastructure and tourism as key sectors. Construction of a Korea-Vietnam cooperation center for smart city development was completed in Hanoi on Tuesday, Seoul's land ministry said. A completion ceremony for the Vietnam-Korea Cooperation Center for Smart City and Construction Technology (VKC) was held in the capital of the Southeast Asian nation, which was attended by around 150 guests from the two countries. Dignitaries included Choi Young-sam, Korea's ambassador to Vietnam, Kim Byung-suk, president of the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, and Nguyen Tuong Van, Vietnam's deputy minister of construction. The 7.5 billion-won ($5.47 million) center was initiated as an official development assistance project by the ministry as part of a bilateral urban development agreement signed at a 2018 summit. Construction started in June 2020. The VKC, located within Hanoi's Academy of Managers for Construction and Cities, includes various facilities, such as a smart city technology exhibition hall and an education center. Vietnam is one of the leading Asian countries in terms of overseas construction orders and has a high demand for urbanization and regional development, maintaining an annual economic growth rate of over 7 percent. "We will further actively seek out bilateral cooperation projects, focusing on our areas involving smart cities, housing and urban development, airports and railways," a ministry official said. (Yonhap) By Jon Dunbar It hasn't been this difficult to get a glimpse of North Korea in a long time. Between travel restrictions to the reclusive country itself and fraying relations with its neighbors China and Russia, it's nearly impossible to visit or even come close. A group of North Korea experts working together with NK News aims to provide the next best thing by leading a 10-day group tour of the south side of the inter-Korean border area from Sept. 21 to 30. "If you're interested in North Korea, this is the best you can realistically get for a long period of time," said Andrei Lankov, a renowned Russian scholar and expert on North Korea. "Such a trip gives visitors a sense of how close yet profoundly different the two countries are. It explains why the South is so concerned about the situation, shows how truly impenetrable and tightly sealed the North-South border is, and, of course, presents many opportunities to discuss North Korea, its past and its future." "The tour is designed both for those who might normally wish to visit North Korea but can't right now due to the DPRK's ongoing border closure to most Western countries," added Chad O'Carroll, founder and CEO of NK News, who will be along on the tour throughout. "Secondly, it's designed for those with research, professional or academic interests in the DPRK." Currently, North Korean tourism is open only to Russian nationals, following years of total closures during the pandemic. Additionally, the U.S. government has forbidden its citizens from visiting for even longer. "It is somewhat peculiar because the Russian potential as a source of tourists is quite limited. Before 2019, only a few thousand Russians visited North Korea annually. I believe that now, even with the most active promotional efforts, this number is likely to remain in the low tens of thousands," Lankov said. He noted that even Chinese tourists, once the majority of the North's tourist market, have not returned. "This probably reflects the current North Korean policy. Among others, the DPRK government is trying to play Russia and China against one another, just as they did so brilliantly back in the 1960s and 1970s," Lankov said. He said he doesn't expect North Korea to welcome back Western tourists in the foreseeable future. "From the North Korean point of view, every Western tourist is a potential source of problems. She can see too much, hear what she is not supposed to hear, and even her presence, her dress and her gadgets send highly undesirable visual signals to the common North Koreans signals about the prosperity of the supposedly 'evil and suffering' capitalist West," he said. "In the past, North Korean authorities tolerated Western tourists because they needed the money paid by these tourists and some exposure to the Western world. Now, the situation has changed. The amount of money that can be earned by accepting Western tourists is quite small, almost negligible, by their current standards. So, I believe that it will take quite a few years yes, years, not months before the first Western tourists reappear on the streets of Pyongyang." Lankov has visited the North many times over the years, starting in the 1980s when he studied at Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung University in the 1980s. His last trip was in spring 2018. He speaks supportively of tourism to North Korea, although he urges caution regarding the messages being presented. "Tours there, even in the best of times (say, around 2010), were highly scripted and carefully controlled," he said. Meanwhile, from the South side of the border area, the North may attempt to manipulate what observers can see, but O'Carroll stresses that there is much to glean from the remote glimpses. "You'll still see very developing conditions and lots of evidence of the huge economic disparities between the two nations," he said. "Further, on the East Coast guests can get a taste of the former inter-Korean tourism zone and all that came and went in that area. And on the West Sea islands, you can get a taste of really remote life in South Korea and the risks and dangers that come with being so close to the DPRK." The first stop of the tour is Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea's remote northwestern territory located just 12 kilometers from the North. It is reachable only by ferry. Lankov will join this leg of the tour, giving a briefing of the island's history, including the many clashes with the North in the area, such as the deadly 2010 shelling of the island. The next stop is the Joint Security Area in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, with the iconic Truce Village where North and South confront each other in a decades-long stalemate. The JSA itself is currently inaccessible to tour groups due to current security restrictions, although O'Carroll stated that they have applied for an exception and are waiting for an answer. Having toured the same area from both sides, Lankov pointed out how different an experience each side offers. "The South Korean government and USFK have turned the DMZ trip, especially the Panmunjom visit (when such visits were allowed), into a sort of patriotic/security consciousness show for South Korean citizens, as well as a sort of James Bond theme park for Western tourists," Lankov explained. In contrast, he described the North side's version of the tour as "strangely enough, far more relaxed." "North Korean tourists are not allowed inside the DMZ; they are not present on these tours, and for their visiting foreigners, it's necessary to project not the image of sanctions but rather the image of a relaxed, peace-loving country," he said. "So, basically, they have no reason to worry that much since no potential troublemaker is allowed to approach the DMZ from the northern side, and they are delivering a different propaganda message." On day 5, the tour arrives in Cheorwon County in northwestern Gangwon Province, a region that was originally wholly in the North but now is divided in half between the two Koreas. There are many relics to see, including the ruins of the Workers' Party headquarters. The next day, they'll reach Sokcho, Gangwon Province, a coastal city with heavily fortified beaches against North Korean incursions. For this part of the trip, the group will be joined by NK News podcaster Jacco Zwetsloot and editorial director Jeongmin Kim. The day after that, they'll drive north up the coast to the border county of Goseong. There, guests can shop at a gift shop selling North Korean products, visit Kim Il-sung's former beach house and go on a "treasure hunt" for North Korean artifacts washed up on the shore. After returning to Seoul, the group will later make one final stop in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, and Incheon's Ganghwa Island. Stops include Gyodong Island and Daeryong Market, originally founded by North Korean refugees. "There is a lot which can be learned about the two Koreas by visiting the inter-Korean border, especially when you're accompanied by experts like on our special itinerary," O'Carroll said. There are only 20 spots available, and it's cheaper to buy in earlier. The deadline for registration is Sept. 1. Visit signup.nknews.org/north-korea-from-a-near-distance-tour for more information including a full itinerary and to register. Costs of living, safety, infrastructure and health care are among reasons for moving back to country By Kwak Yeon-soo Korea is witnessing a pattern of reverse migration from countries such as the United States, Canada and Britain that were once considered dream destinations for people seeking new opportunities. According to the Overseas Koreans Agency, the number of permanent residents who resettled in Korea after obtaining long-stay visas or permanent resident cards abroad has been on the rise in recent years 1,478 in 2019, 1,676 in 2020, 1,812 in 2021, 1,736 in 2022 and 1,742 in 2023. The costs of living, safety, infrastructure and health care were some of the factors that made some Koreans return to their homeland. Several YouTube videos of Koreans talking about the tough reality of immigrant life and the reasons they choose to return have been going viral lately. One of them is a YouTuber named hyuncouple, whose family recently returned to Korea after moving to Canada in late 2018. Permanent residency was his ultimate goal when his family left the country. But his Canadian dream quickly lost its allure a few years into his life there. The reality of immigrant life in Canada was pretty rough. There are pros and cons to living in Korea, too, but we eventually decided to move back. We also missed our family, he said in a video. A YouTuber called Konglish Bubu, an international couple living in Silicon Valley, said they plan to relocate to Korea early next year when they retire. The transport infrastructure and accessibility to local services in Korea are so convenient compared to the U.S. Monthly rent, taxes and eating at restaurants is so expensive here, Kongbu, the wife of the couple, said in a video. A YouTuber called Captain Seung, who lived for about 10 years in Kansas before returning to Seoul in late 2023, said its a relief to be back. There are four things that I love about living in Korea. Its cheaper to eat out compared to the U.S. Its safer. Korea has a lot of (security cameras) on all streets, block by block. The speedy delivery system and delivery culture make life so convenient, she said in her video. Experts say various factors, from a sense of belonging to medical care, have driven this trend of reverse migration. Humans have a natural instinct to feel a sense of belonging in ones homeland as they get older. The hope of returning home can be stronger for those who had difficulty living abroad, especially among the younger generation who experienced racism or language barriers, Seol Dong-hoon, a Jeonbuk National University sociology professor, said. There are economic motivations, too. Korea is a developed country. It offers better medical services compared with the U.S. or Britain. The fact that older adults who wish to move back to Korea after retirement can receive basic pensions regardless of their financial circumstances is also a contributing factor, Seol said. Therefore, the government has to discuss how the permanent residents who resettled in Korea can fulfill their legal duties rather than simply enjoying pension benefits. Since 2011, the Ministry of Justice has been implementing a dual nationality system that allows Korean nationals living abroad who are aged 65 and older to restore their Korean nationality and reside in Korea under the condition that they do not exercise their rights as foreign nationals. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the total amount of basic pension granted to people with dual nationality was 21.2 billion won ($15.4 million) last year, up ninefold compared to 2.28 billion won in 2014. The number of older adults with multiple nationalities receiving basic pensions also increased fivefold from 1,047 in 2014 to 5,699 last year. Immigration authorities have apprehended eight people, including a Burundian national, on charges of bringing in African people wishing to enter Korea by providing them with fake invitations, officials said Tuesday. One of them, a 64-year-old Korean, allegedly received 5 million won ($3,650) from the Burundian national in exchange for providing fake invitations to 10 people from the African nation, according to Incheon Airport Immigration Office and Foreigner's Office. The Burundian broker, who was a former employee of the Korean person's electrical parts firm, has been formally arrested and referred to the prosecution while three others were referred to the prosecution without physical detention. In a separate case, a 28-year-old Korean person and three others have also been referred to the prosecution on charges of falsely inviting 40 Ethiopian people through paper companies in exchange for receiving $500 per person, officials said. An Ethiopian broker has been put on the wanted list, officials said. The immigration office launched an investigation into the case following increased cases of Africans applying for refugee status in Korea after being banned from entering the country for failing to justify the purpose of their visit. "We plan to expand the investigation into those behind the false invitations and the brokers involved, and request the diplomatic missions toughen the evaluation process for visa issuance," an immigration office official said. (Yonhap) By KTimes When asked about her expected duties, Mary (a pseudonym), a participant in Korea's pilot program for Filipino domestic workers, said that she was told her role would involve "taking care of expectant mothers or children in households." Another participant, Belle (a pseudonym), also said, "My main job is caregiving, and I understand that I will only assist with household chores related to caregiving when necessary." This perspective differs from the traditional role of "domestic workers" in Korea, who often take on multiple responsibilities, such as caring for children while also preparing meals for other family members or housecleaning. This could signal potential conflicts over the scope of duties in the future. The Hankook Ilbo reached out to about 10 of the 100 Filipino domestic workers who were selected for the program on June 21. Some declined to comment, and others who initially agreed later withdrew due to concerns related to their employment status. Mary and Belle also expressed worries after the interview, fearing possible repercussions, so pseudonyms were used to protect their identities. The interviews were conducted via social media messages before the workers arrived in Korea last month. Disputes likely over child care-related duties On Tuesday, 100 Filipino domestic workers in their 20s and 30s arrived in Korea and are currently undergoing training in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. They will be dispatched to households in Seoul next month, but controversies over unclear job descriptions persist. According to guidelines from the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, the primary duty of these workers is "caregiving." This includes dressing and bathing children, preparing baby food and cooking meals for pregnant women. Mary and Belle, like other participants, understood these as their main responsibilities. In addition to caregiving, they may also perform some household tasks. For example, if they work more than six hours, they may be asked to do laundry for adults, wash adults' dishes and clean floors with a vacuum or mop. However, tasks such as trash disposal, cooking meals for adults and organizing storage are not permitted. While they can perform incidental household chores related to child care, the definition of what constitutes child care-related duties could lead to disputes. Opinions among the workers themselves also vary. Mary said, "I don't think it's possible to draw a clear line between tasks," adding that she's OK with doing household chores, considering them part of the job. On the other hand, Belle expressed concerns, saying, "It won't be easy to refuse work instructions," but she also emphasized, "I hope people understand that we're not housemaids but caregivers." The Filipino workers were selected based on strict criteria, including possession of a government-certified caregiver license (with over 780 hours of training), language proficiency in English and Korean and a clean criminal record. 'Going to Korea a choice for my family' One of the reasons Mary came to Korea was financial. "I earned 22,000 pesos (about 520,000 won) a month working for a company," she said. She supplemented this income with a second job, earning an additional 400,000 won per month. Considering that the average monthly wage in the Philippines is 18,423 pesos (about 440,000 won as of 2022), this was not a small amount. However, as her children grew up, the need for more money increased. She eventually looked to overseas work, which offered higher pay. "I will miss my family, but I made this decision to provide them with a better future and a more comfortable life," she said. Belle, who also worked in the education sector, earned 30,000 pesos (about 710,000 won) a month by working day and night, but it wasn't enough to support her large family. To earn more, she obtained a caregiving license and sought overseas employment. Their goal is to send at least one-third of their earnings in Korea back to their families in the Philippines. "I heard that the monthly salary in Korea is about 2 million won. The minimum work requirement is 30 hours a week, but I don't mind working more. I want to earn as much as possible," Belle said. These workers are entitled to the same minimum wage as Korean citizens. Based on this year's wage (9,860 won per hour), they will earn 1.19 million won per month for working four hours a day, five days a week, or 2.38 million won for eight hours a day. This is more than they would earn in Singapore or Hong Kong, where the monthly salary ranges from 500,000 won to 800,000 won. When asked if the minimum wage policy influenced her decision to come to Korea, Mary said, "I knew Korea had a minimum wage," but added, "More than that, I was interested in Korean culture and wanted to experience living in Korea." Both Mary and Belle shared that their short-term goal is to find good employers, while their long-term goal is to return home healthy, with diverse experiences and happy memories from their time in Korea. This article from the Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI and edited by staff of The Korea Times. National Security Adviser nominee Shin Won-sik will continue to serve as defense minister until his successor takes office after a parliamentary confirmation hearing, a government official said Tuesday. On Monday, President Yoon Suk Yeol named Shin as the national security adviser and Presidential Security Service chief Kim Yong-hyun to replace him as defense minister. While Shin is able to assume his new role shortly, Kim has to undergo the parliamentary hearing. "Until Defense Minister nominee Kim Yong-hyun is appointed after a parliamentary hearing process, National Security Adviser nominee Shin Won-sik will double as defense minister," the official said. The move is likely intended to prevent the defense minister's position from becoming vacant, considering security threats posed by North Korea. Former Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin served in both roles until his successor took office when he was appointed as national security adviser in 2014. The parliamentary confirmation hearing is widely seen as a formality because Kim's formal appointment does not require endorsement from the National Assembly. In South Korea, the prime minister is the only Cabinet post that requires parliamentary approval. (Yonhap) About 10 civic groups commemorating Korean independence fighters called Tuesday for the withdrawal of the appointment of Kim Hyoung-suk as the new director of the Independence Hall of Korea, condemning him as an "anti-national and anti-democratic figure." The groups made the claim in a news conference on Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, saying they would stage a one-man protest until Kim resigns. They accused Kim of denying the constitutional provision that Korea inherits the legal traditions of the Korean provisional government, defaming Korean independence fighters and defending pro-Japanese collaborators. They claimed that Kim is not qualified to lead the Independence Hall of Korea because it is a previous space created not to repeat the pain of the nation's history caused by foreign invasion. Earlier this week, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea urged President Yoon Suk Yeol to withdraw Kim's appointment, threatening to boycott this week's Liberation Day ceremony unless its demand is met. (Yonhap) Korea will hold a large-scale military parade in central Seoul in October to mark the 76th founding anniversary of the country's armed forces, the defense ministry said Tuesday. This year's parade will take place on Oct. 1 in the area spanning Sungnyemun Gate to Gwanghwamun Square and will begin with a car parade of veterans of the 1950-53 Korean War, as well as servicemen who were injured during duty, according to defense officials. In September, Korea staged a similar parade for the first time in 10 years, mobilizing some 4,000 troops and over 170 pieces of military equipment, such as tanks and fighter jets. Korea has usually held a military parade every five years in time for Armed Forces Day on Oct. 1 but the event did not take place under the preceding Moon Jae-in government, which pushed for inter-Korean reconciliation. In conjunction with the military parade, the ministry plans to host the "K-Military Festival" from Sept. 3 - Oct. 11, featuring arms exhibitions, forums, trainings and cultural events for the general public. A ministerial meeting of member states of the U.N. Command and the annual Seoul Defense Dialogue forum will also take place from Sept. 10-12. (Yonhap) President Yoon Suk Yeol has expressed frustration over the recent controversy surrounding when should be Korea's national founding day, saying it is an issue that does no good for people's livelihoods. The controversy began after Yoon appointed Kim Hyoung-suk, a figure accused of harboring pro-Japanese views, as the new president of the Independence Hall of Korea. Kim's past remarks alleging Korea came into being when its government was established in 1948 led to suspicions his appointment was a precursor to designating Aug. 15, 1948, as national foundation day. The question of when Korea came into being has long been a subject of ideological debate, with some arguing it was April 11, 1919, when a provisional government was established during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. "What good is this to the people who are struggling to make ends meet?" Yoon was quoted as recently telling his aides, referring to the controversy. The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea and the Heritage of Korean Independence, a state-funded association of independence fighters and their descendants, have vowed to boycott the Aug. 15 Liberation Day ceremony hosted by the government unless the appointment is withdrawn. "The government and the presidential office have never mentioned a national foundation day, nor have they tried to push for it," a different presidential official told Yonhap News Agency. (Yonhap) President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday reinstated the civil rights of former South Gyeongsang Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo under Liberation Day special pardons, enabling him to run for public office despite objections from members of the ruling party. The pardon was endorsed by Yoon after it was recommended by a justice ministry panel last week and approved during a Cabinet meeting earlier in the day. Kim is a close associate of former President Moon Jae-in who was initially pardoned in December 2022 with five months left of his two-year prison term. The former governor was convicted of conducting an online opinion manipulation scheme to help get Moon elected in the 2017 presidential election. At the time, however, Yoon did not reinstate the former governor's civilian rights, banning him from running for public office until December 2027. "I will think hard about the role I can play to be of help to our society," Kim wrote on his Facebook page after the pardon was announced. "I will look back on the road I have taken and spend more time in reflection." Kim is currently studying in Germany, with plans to return home at the end of the year. Reports that Kim will have his rights reinstated ahead of the Aug. 15 Liberation Day had rattled political circles, with ruling People Power Party chief Han Dong-hoon expressing objections, citing the former governor's lack of remorse for his actions. Political watchers also speculated that Kim could use his restored rights to establish a new faction within the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, which is currently dominated by members aligned with former party Chairman Lee Jae-myung. Lee is widely expected to win reelection for a second term at a national convention Sunday. "As is known, I think there will be many people who find this hard to relate to," PPP chief Han told reporters, referring to the pardon. "I won't comment further as it has been decided." Special pardons are among the president's inherent powers and have often been granted to convicted politicians, business executives and other offenders at the start of a new year or around Liberation Day to reward good behavior and foster national harmony. A total of 1,219 people were chosen as beneficiaries Tuesday, including Cho Yoon-sun, Hyun Ki-hwan and An Chong-bum, all of whom served as senior presidential secretaries during the Park Geun-hye administration. Cho served a 14-month prison term for blacklisting cultural figures critical of the Park administration and excluding them from government subsidies, while Hyun was convicted of illegally supporting conservative groups favorable to the administration. An was jailed for pressuring large businesses to fund organizations implicated in a massive corruption scandal that ultimately forced President Park out of office. Won Sei-hoon, a former spy chief under President Lee Myung-bak, was also pardoned after serving a prison term for operating an online opinion rigging campaign during his time as director of the National Intelligence Service. "By granting pardons to those implicated in various (opinion) manipulation schemes across the political aisle, we intended to settle the political discord resulting from it and create an opportunity to move toward the future in unity," Justice Minister Park Sung-jae said during a press briefing. This was the fifth time Yoon has granted special pardons since taking office in May 2022. The pardons will be effective Thursday. (Yonhap) The Cabinet on Tuesday demanded the National Assembly reconsider two contentious bills aimed at enhancing the rights of workers and providing cash handouts to the entire population. A motion demanding parliamentary reconsideration was approved during a Cabinet meeting and will be sent to President Yoon Suk Yeol for endorsement. Yoon is widely expected to endorse the motion. One bill, known as the "yellow envelope bill," seeks to limit companies from making damage claims against workers during legitimate disputes, while the other bill calls for providing handouts of between 250,000 won ($182) and 350,000 won to the entire population. Both measures were passed by the opposition-controlled National Assembly earlier this month. On Monday, Yoon also vetoed four opposition-led bills aimed at changing the governance structure of public broadcasters. The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) slammed Yoon for abusing his veto power. "This can be said to be an addiction to veto," Rep. Park Chan-dae, the DPK's floor leader, said during a party meeting Tuesday, noting that Yoon has vetoed legislation for the 19th time. "This is the worst record since democratization." (Yonhap) Ex-South Gyeongsang governor says will carefully consider his future role in society By Anna J. Park President Yoon Suk Yeol restored the civil rights of former South Gyeongsang Province Governor Kim Kyoung-soo, Tuesday, on the occasion of Aug. 15 Liberation Day, reinstating his eligibility to run for a public post. The decision to reinstate the rights of Kim, a prominent figure in the liberal bloc, was made despite opposition from some members of the ruling party. Critics argue that it is inappropriate to allow Kim, who was convicted and served a jail term for manipulating online opinions leading up to the 2017 presidential election, to run for public office again. Yoon also granted the rights to several former senior presidential officials during the Park Geun-hye administration who were jailed in a massive corruption scandal involving the former president. The Cabinet approved the reinstatement plan, which was endorsed by Yoon. In total, 1,219 people received a special pardon or reinstatement, including small business owners, self-employed individuals, and those convicted of crimes arising from financial difficulties. "The government aims to overcome social conflict and promote national unity by pardoning key figures contributing to the national economy, as well as former high-ranking public officials and politicians from both the ruling and opposition parties, who have been punished for misconduct during their tenure but have long served the nation and society," the justice ministry said. The most notable figure was Kim, a former lawmaker of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and a close aide to former President Moon Jae-in. He was sentenced to two years in 2021 for manipulating public opinion in favor of Moon ahead of his presidential election. Kim was dismissed from his post right after the Supreme Court's ruling. He was pardoned and released from prison in late 2022, but required a further reinstatement of his rights to be eligible for elections. With his full reinstatement set for Thursday, Kim will be eligible to run in the 2026 local elections and the 2027 presidential election. "I sincerely apologize once again for causing concerns to many people due to my actions," Kim, who's currently staying in Germany, wrote on his social media, Tuesday. "I will look back on the path I have walked and take more time for reflection." Kim mentioned that he will "carefully consider what role" he can play to contribute to society, prompting political observers to speculate that he may choose to reenter politics upon his return to Korea around the end of this year. His return is also anticipated to shift the dynamics within the DPK, which has been largely dominated by loyalists of former Chairman Lee Jae-myung, who is expected to be reelected as party leader later this month. Within the ruling, conservative People Power Party (PPP), some members opposed Kim's reinstatement, claiming that he had not reflected on his wrongdoing. PPP leader Han Dong-hoon said, "I think many people find it difficult to agree with this decision (of Kim's reinstatement)." The list of the special reinstatement of rights also included key aides to former President Park Geun-hye. They served jail terms and were released earlier, but their rights had not been restored. This group includes former senior presidential secretaries Cho Yoon-sun, An Chong-bum, and Hyun Ki-hwan. Notably, Cho, who served as senior presidential secretary for political affairs, was found guilty for her role in creating a blacklist of over 10,000 artists who were critical of the former president. Also included is Won Sei-hoon, a former head of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) under the Lee Myung-bak administration, who was involved in the public oinion manipulation case. From the business sphere, Dongkuk Steel Chairman Chang Sae-joo and EcoPro founder and former Chairman Lee Dong-chae were granted special pardons, among other beneficiaries. Prosecutors have indicted a former presidential campaign spokesperson for opposition leader Lee Jae-myung and two journalists for allegedly defaming President Yoon Suk Yeol during the last presidential race, officials said Tuesday. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office has been looking into allegations that a series of unfounded news reports published ahead of the 2022 presidential election defamed Yoon, who ultimately won against Lee of the Democratic Party of Korea. The office said that Song Pyeong-soo, who served as a spokesperson for Lee's election campaign, and two reporters affiliated with the cable channel JTBC and Repoact were formally indicted on charges of online defamation. According to prosecutors, the Repoact journalist is suspected of publishing a report ahead of the election alleging that Yoon lied about not knowing a broker involved in a high-profile development corruption scandal, despite having investigated him while serving as a prosecutor. Song allegedly provided the journalist with a false voice recording for the news story, which was published though the reporter knew it was not genuine. The other journalist was charged with fabricating interviews to falsely report in 2022 that Yoon, while serving as a prosecutor, had ended an investigation into the broker following a request from a special counsel. He is also charged with obstructing JTBC's business by misleading his superiors in the news room. The indictment is part of a broader investigation by prosecutors into alleged defamation against Yoon during the presidential race. Last month, Kim Man-bae, the owner of an asset management firm at the center of the development scandal, was indicted along with three other journalists on defamation charges. Prosecution officials said they will continue investigating journalists of the progressive Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper on similar defamation suspicions. (Yonhap) By Lee Seong-hyon In the high-stakes game of U.S. presidential politics, the vice presidential pick has long been considered a forgettable sidekick. But as the political landscape shifts beneath our feet, this conventional wisdom is crumbling. The running mate, once an afterthought, may now hold the key to the Oval Office. In the current election cycle, we're witnessing an unprecedented level of attention given to vice presidential candidates. Sen. J.D. Vance, nominated by Donald Trump as the Republican vice presidential candidate, and Tim Walz, chosen as Vice President Kamala Harris's running mate for the Democratic ticket, are making headlines daily. This heightened focus signals a departure from traditional norms and warrants a closer examination of the factors driving this change. To understand this shift, it's crucial to consider the historical context of the vice presidency in the United States. The position was established by the U.S. Constitution in 1787, introduced during the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Initially, it didn't attract much attention and was created somewhat as an afterthought by the Committee on Postponed Matters, often informally called the Committee on Leftover Business. For most of U.S. history, the vice presidency was considered a low-prestige position with limited responsibilities, primarily presiding over the Senate and succeeding the president if needed. A vice president didn't even have an office inside the White House until Walter Mondale, who served from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. Mondale's tenure marked a shift as he expanded the role to include being a presidential adviser and established the tradition of weekly lunches with the president. However, as the 2024 U.S. presidential election approaches, several factors are contributing to a significant reevaluation of the vice presidency's importance. Firstly, the aging presidential candidates have sparked anxiety among voters. President Joe Biden, who recently withdrew from the race and endorsed Harris, and Trump, the two candidates from the major parties, exceed the traditional age expectations Americans have had for their presidents. This raises new concerns among voters, as the real possibility arises that the vice president might need to assume the presidency should the elected president become incapacitated due to age during their term. Furthermore, an assassination attempt on Trump has added another layer of complexity to an already-tense political situation. This shocking incident has heightened Americans' awareness of the importance of a stable power transition. Secondly, the vice presidential candidates are seen as complementing the flaws of the presidential candidates. Vance, with his humble beginnings, balances Trump's image as a privileged real estate mogul. Similarly, Tim Walz complements Kamala Harris, a progressive leader and a woman of Black and Indian descent, by appealing to the conservative white middle class in the Midwest, a demographic she might otherwise struggle to reach. Thirdly, the role of the vice president in modern American administrations has evolved significantly. Vice presidents are no longer limited to attending funerals on behalf of the president or casting tie-breaking votes in the Senate. Instead, they serve as key advisers, diplomatic envoys and essential members of the policy-making process. Harris's direct participation in the Munich Security Conference and her frequent meetings with foreign leaders exemplify this shift. She has met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy six times and has traveled to Korea, meeting President Yoon Suk Yeol and visiting the DMZ. The current situation presents a unique challenge to American voters. They must now consider not only the qualifications and capabilities of the presidential candidates but also those of their running mates. Voters evaluate these candidates not merely as supporting figures but as individuals who must be prepared to lead the nation at any moment. The increased attention to the vice presidential role could lead to lasting changes in candidate selection, scrutiny, campaign strategies and governance after taking office. Presidential candidates are likely to place greater importance on choosing their running mates. Overall, the 2024 election marks a turning point in how Americans view the vice presidency. Instead of a vice president, Korea has a prime minister, who can temporarily assume presidential duties if needed, but this is a provisional measure lasting up to 60 days until a new president is elected, rather than an official succession. Lee Seong-hyon is a senior fellow at the George H. W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations and an associate at the Harvard University Asia Center. Yoon should reconsider his pick for NSC director President Yoon Suk Yeol's reshuffle, which involves replacing two key positions the defense minister and the director of the National Security Council (NSC) has raised concerns. He has nominated current Defense Minister Shin Won-sik to be the NSC director and selected Kim Yong-hyun, the head of the Presidential Security Service, to succeed Shin as defense minister. There are many questions. Why is the reshuffle happening now? Is Shin the right choice to lead the NSC as director? The reshuffle came out of the blue, which is unusual. Yoon replaced the defense minister and national security adviser shortly after returning to work from a five-day vacation. Compared to his predecessors, Yoon has been usually quite predictable with his nominations. There were no surprises in his selections for key government positions, as he appointed individuals who had already been reported in the media as potential candidates for the vacated roles. This time, however, the reshuffle was unexpected. Before presidential chief of staff Chung Jin-suk's announcement, few people, including those working in the presidential office, were aware that the defense minister and NSC director would be replaced. The presidential office cited four key factors that motivated Yoon to replace the top defense positions with individuals who have extensive military experience. These factors include the upcoming U.S. presidential election in November, the dangerous military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, the expanding conflict in the Middle East, and Russias invasion of Ukraine. The Presidential Offices explanation, however, is not convincing as a combined reason to conduct a sudden, unannounced reshuffle. Such external risks had been there far before this reshuffle. What is even more difficult to understand is that the presidential office did not mention any "new and internal risks" that could justify Yoon's sudden reshuffle. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) has become a laughingstock due to its agents' mishandling of influence operations in Washington D.C., as revealed in a document released by the U.S. Attorneys Office. The U.S. prosecution has indicted Sue Mi Terry, a senior fellow at the prestigious New York-based think tank Council on Foreign Relations, for her alleged violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. While the NIS is reeling from the fallout of the Terry case, the Korea Defense Intelligence Command (KDIC) has been rocked by a double espionage scandal. An unnamed KDIC staffer is alleged to have sold a list of military intelligence agents to a Chinese Korean, with the documents containing their names and personal details reportedly handed over to North Korea. Read More Veteran of spy war fights for justice Yoons decision to promote the defense minister to the position of NSC director should spark an open debate to determine whether this choice is appropriate. As defense minister, Shin is accountable for the KDICs leak scandal. The KDIC, a military intelligence agency responsible for conducting numerous covert, high-risk operations including infiltrations into North Korea to gather intelligence operates in secrecy, with its very existence expected to remain unknown to the public. However, following media reports about the espionage scandal, the KDIC and its secret agents have been exposed. The revelation of a secret agency and its operatives compromises its ability to conduct covert operations effectively. The leak of the KDICs covert agents poses a significant national security threat, as it jeopardizes the integrity of the militarys hard-won human intelligence. Shin, as defense minister, has overseen military affairs during this disastrous incident that has severely impacted the military intelligence agency. He cannot escape criticism for the downfall of the elite military intelligence network. Yoons appointment of someone responsible for the collapse of South Koreas military intelligence is difficult to justify. The president should reconsider his choice for NSC director. When selecting nominees, Yoon should exercise greater prudence to ensure that candidates are well-suited for the positions they are being considered for. Shin will become the fourth NSC director since Yoon assumed the presidency in May 2022. This would result in an average tenure of less than seven months for each national security adviser under Yoon. The NSC director is responsible for overseeing all matters related to foreign affairs, national security, and intelligence, and receives regular briefings from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of National Defense, and NIS. Given the critical nature of this role, frequent changes such as replacing the NSC director every seven months seem impractical. Yoon should carefully review each candidate, evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, and select an individual who is well-qualified to handle the demanding responsibilities of the position. A merit-based selection process is highly recommended. Accomplishment follows exports to EU By Ko Dong-hwan The British government agreed to import Korean food products that feature locally farmed and cooked chickens as primary ingredients. This move is part of Korea's ongoing efforts to boost its food exports, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Tuesday. The accomplishment comes after the Korean government in May started shipping "samgyetang," or ginseng chicken soup, dumplings and frozen precooked chicken products to the European Union. The agriculture ministry said that with the support of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, all preparations for exports to Britain have been finalized. Additionally, the agriculture ministry has provided chicken food producers in Korea with information about the British market, including regulations on chicken imports. The ministry expects that exporting chicken to Britain will further enhance the global expansion of Korean food, given that Britain has the second-largest GDP in Europe, behind Germany, as of 2023. In 2022, Korean chicken food products were exported to 28 countries, including the United States and Canada, totaling over $20 million. Chicken exports to Britain came after the Korean government signed a series of diplomatic agreements with the British government last year. In November, President Yoon Suk Yeol held a summit with then-British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in London, where they renewed a bilateral free trade agreement aimed at boosting trade between companies in both countries. Through their respective embassies in Seoul and London, the Korean ministry also reviewed the conditions for exporting to Britain. The Korean government began export negotiations with the British government in January. A month after, the EU agreed to import Korean cooked chicken products. The British government in May informed Korea of the conditions and requirements for exports, according to officials. Agriculture Minister Song Mi-ryung stated that Korea's gastrodiplomacy has never been more active on the global stage following the ministry's latest achievement. "We'll promote Korean food to the world off- and online, discover buyers, sign supply deals with foreign companies and expand our logistics centers overseas to broaden the global presence of Korean food," Song said. Food and Drug Safety Minister Oh Yu-kyoung said, "'Chimaek' is now a word in the Oxford English Dictionary, showing how much (British people) are interested in (Korean) food. At such a time, being able to export our chicken to the country carries significant meaning." Korean food has been steadily solidifying its presence and increasing market shares in Europe in recent years. Last month, the EU reaffirmed that Korean cooked chicken products remain eligible for exports to 27 member countries. In the same month, Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced that it had signed an agreement with Denmark's Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries to repeal a previous ban on domestic sales of Samyang's Buldak instant noodles. The Danish government had initially imposed the ban saying the noodles were too spicy for its citizens. As Xs owner and most followed user, Elon Musk has increasingly used the social media platform as a microphone to amplify his political views and, lately, those of right-wing figures hes aligned with. There are few modern parallels to his antics, but then again there are few modern parallels to Elon Musk himself. Of course, none of this should come as a surprise. Back in 2022 when he was trying to buy Twitter, Musk said he was doing so because it wasn't living up to its potential as a platform for free speech." Protecting free speech not money was his motivation because, as he put it, having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization. Musk often ruminates on the future of civilization. For one, he appears fixated on a coming population collapse , threatening to wipe out humanity. And he joined prominent scientists and tech leaders last year in warning the world about artificial intelligence doing the same. Musk has framed threats to free speech as yet another existential crisis looming over the world. And he is going to try his best to save it. Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated, Musk said in an April 2022 post, adding hearts, stars and rocket emojis to highlight the statement. Two years on, the platform now called X has indeed become a haven for the type of free speech Musk has come to champion. In the U.S., hes spread memes and sometimes misinformation about illegal immigration, alleged election fraud and transgender policies, and he formally endorsed former President Donald Trumps presidential bid this summer. In May 2023, he co-hosted Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's official presidential bid announcement. That turned out to be a disastrous rollout marred by technical glitches but it underscored Musk's desire to turn X into a digital town square. After the event was marred by technical difficulties, Musk extended an open invitation to any other presidential candidate who wants to do one. Trump took him up on it, agreeing to an interview with the billionaire Tesla CEO on Monday evening. The conversation started with technical glitches with people unable to join in and began some 42 minutes late. Ive not been very political before, Musk said during his conversation with Trump. Overseas where most X users live he's feuded with top officials in Australia , Brazil , the European Union and the U.K. over the balance between free speech and the spread of harmful misinformation. And he accused a political party in his native South Africa of openly pushing for genocide of white people. Elon Musk is a master of the media and controls one of the worlds largest microphones. Musk understands the power of social media in shaping a political narrative, said Emarketer analyst Jasmine Enberg. The concern is that as he pushes his own political agenda, X could suppress viewpoints that oppose Musks own, either intentionally or by nature of the platform becoming more partisan. That could turn off users who feel marginalized on the platform, and disillusion some who may have earlier bought into his free speech mantra. Musks political shift playing out on X comes as other social media platforms, notably Metas Facebook and Instagram, are shying away from politics. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has never endorsed a presidential candidate and in February, the worlds largest social media company announced it would avoid recommending political content to people who dont already follow such accounts. Lately, Zuckerberg appears to contrast Musk in other ways too. While as recently as January, the Facebook founder was testifying before Congress about the harm his platform has caused children, he seemed to have embraced a more stylish look that includes gold chains, longer curls and a beaming confidence coupled with slightly self-deprecating humor that seems to embrace his eccentricities. On July 4th, for instance, he posted a video of himself riding an electric surfboard, wearing a tuxedo and holding a can of beer in one hand and an American flag in the other. The online response was far more positive than to a 2021 surfing photo, where he's seen slathered in so much sunscreen it looks like he is wearing a white mask. Musk, meanwhile, is veering from cool nerd territory into what Kara Swisher , the elder stateswoman of tech journalism, recently called the Howard Hughes portion of an inevitable decline. He's sparring with those who disagree with him be they foreign governments or people infected by what he calls the woke mind virus. Last week, the British government called on Elon Musk to act more responsibly after the tech billionaire used X to unleash a barrage of posts that risk inflaming violent unrest gripping the country. Justice Minister Heidi Alexander made the comments after Musk posted a comment saying that Civil war is inevitable in the U.K. Musk later doubled down, highlighting complaints that the British criminal justice system treats Muslims more leniently than far-right activists and comparing Britains crackdown on social media users to the Soviet Union. Officials at X did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Of course, some of Musk's current battles over free speech are similar to those that the previous Twitter administration was fighting in repressive regimes that have, at times, restricted or blocked access to the platform to suppress dissent. In Venezuela, for instance, President Nicolas Maduro ordered a 10-day block on access to X in the country last week the latest in a series of efforts by his government to try to suppress information sharing among people voicing doubts about his claim to victory in the July 28 presidential election . Maduro accused X of being used by his opponents to create political unrest, and gave the company 10 days to present their documents, but he gave no additional details. Musk's antics are unlike any other Big Tech leader, and while it may be off-putting to a segment of his X user base, it could also attract eyeballs to his platform. Could this all be part of a broader plan? After all, despite publicly criticizing Musk's antics, those on the left continue to use his platform . X has remained surprisingly resilient throughout the recent controversy, Enberg said. "Thats in no small part due to consumer fascination with conspiracy theories and Elon Musk himself. (AP) Food distributor plans to sue watchdog By Lee Min-hyung The nation's antitrust watchdog has fined CJ Freshway, a food distributor serving large restaurant chains, 24.5 billion won ($17.88 million) for unfairly supporting another CJ affiliate to dominate a regional food ingredient distribution market. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has also ordered CJ Freshway to address and rectify these unfair business practices, which have been detrimental to the interests of small and medium-sized restaurants and small business owners. According to the investigation by the watchdog, CJ Freshway sent 221 employees to FreshOne and covered labor costs totaling 33.4 billion won on behalf of the company. CJ Freshway established FreshOne in 2009 to strengthen its nationwide food distribution network, with a commitment to creating a co-prosperous ecosystem for self-employed individuals and small business owners across the country. However, the FTC pointed out that CJ Freshway has effectively aimed to drive these small and medium-sized businesses out of the market. CJ Freshway did not consider them as partners for co-prosperity, but obstacles or potential risks for its business, an official at the watchdog said. CJ Freshway and CJ Group teamed up to systemically kick them out of the market in the end. CJ Freshway acted as the mastermind behind FreshOne's operations by dispatching hundreds of employees to the company for over 12 years and covering all associated labor costs. This allowed the affiliate to smoothly dominate the market, according to the FTC. FreshOne was able to mobilize professional staff at no cost and enhance its competitiveness, which allowed it to gain a significant advantage in the market, the official said. The interests of small business owners have ultimately been undermined by the conglomerate. The latest investigation is significant because the unprecedented scale of manpower support provided by the conglomerate infringed on the benefits and financial gains of small business operators, the FTC said. We will keep toughening monitoring of such unfair support by conglomerates and help build a more fair transaction ecosystem here, the FTC official said. In response, CJ Freshway expressed regret over the latest sanction by the watchdog. The company argued that FreshOne was established through a partnership with regional retail business operators, but the investigation by the authorities distorted this intent. The dispatched manpower also contributed to increasing sales of CJ Freshway's products, suggesting that the role of the employees extended beyond merely establishing FreshOne to actively enhancing the company's market dominance. The company also said it plans to file an administrative lawsuit against the FTC. Seven auto brands in Korea have released battery information of their electric vehicle (EV) models sold in the country as of Tuesday, amid growing calls for battery transparency following a massive fire caused by an electric car this month. As of Tuesday afternoon, three Korean companies Hyundai Motor, Kia and KG Mobility and four overseas brands have released battery information of a total of 40 different models sold in the country. Of those, 14 models were equipped with Chinese-made batteries, accounting for 35 percent of the total. Over the weekend, domestic industry leader Hyundai Motor revealed its list of the manufacturers of the batteries used in 13 of its EV models on the company's website. With the exception of the Kona Electric, which uses battery cells from China's CATL, all Hyundai EVs were found to be equipped with battery products from Korea's LG Energy Solution or SK On. Kia also disclosed battery information for its EVs on its website Monday, following its sister Hyundai Motor's revelation. Kia's seven EV models, including EV3, EV6 and EV9, are run with products from Korea's LG Energy Solution and SK On. But the latest models of the A-segment Ray EV and some models of the compact crossover Niro EV are equipped with batteries from CATL. KG Mobility also disclosed on its website that the batteries used in its electric vehicles, the Torres EVX and Korando EV, are from Chinese company BYD. Among foreign car manufacturers, BMW was the first to voluntarily disclose information. On Monday, BMW Korea revealed that its electric SUVs iX1 and iX3 are equipped with CATL batteries, while electric sedans iX, i4, i5 and i7 use batteries from Samsung SDI. Mercedes-Benz Korea released the brand information of its electric vehicle models earlier in the day. Of its EQE electric line, only the 300 model was equipped with batteries from China's CATL. Other trims the 350+, AMG 53 4MATIC+ and 350 4MATIC were equipped with batteries from Farasis Energy, the battery supplier in the Mercedes model that caused the fire. The EQS 350, the top-tier EV sedan model, also used batteries from Farasis, while other trims of the EQS had CATL batteries. Swedish automakers Volvo and Polestar also made their EV battery information available on their websites and applications. (Yonhap) By Ko Dong-hwan Dongsuh Foods has newly targeted the countrys young MZ Generation for its T.O.P bottled coffee drinks to revitalize the products old image and attract the trendy consumer group, according to the countrys major food company, Tuesday. The marketing strategy involves replacing actor Won Bin, 46, who had been the face of T.O.P since 2008. The change reflects the companys recent marketing moves of prioritizing age to better connect with contemporary consumers. Dongsuh released on YouTube its new commercial for T.O.P, Friday, featuring actors Lee Jae-in, 20, and Hong Kyung, 28, both from the generation which comprises teens to early 40s. Compared to Won, the new faces boast a lesser degree of public fame. A Dongsuh official said that Lee and Hong have been hired for this year. He added that whereas hiring Won as the drinks model bet on his proven top-selling marketability, his progenies rather reflect the companys intent to appeal to the countrys MZ consumers as a whole. We wanted to express a sense of freshness with our latest commercial for T.O.P, the official said. Hong and Lee are much lesser known to the public than Won. But it was an image of a younger generation they bring to the product. We are considering other new (young) models for the product next year. T.O.P is a ready-to-drink (RTD) product which are more popular among the countrys MZ consumers than brewed java from coffee shops, according to market experts. For Dongsuh, T.O.P is its key product to appeal to young coffee consumers. The company previously replaced models for its other top brands with younger celebrities to appeal to MZ consumers. Actress Park Bo-young, 34, replaced actress Lee Na-young, 45, for the companys instant coffee brand Maxim Mocha Gold. An Yu-jin, 20, from K-pop girl band IVE, replaced actor Park Seo-jun, 35, for Maxim Supreme Gold, another instant coffee brand. Dongsuh last year registered retail sales of 193.2 billion won ($141 million) with T.O.P, according to the Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corp. The figure fell short of Lotte Chilsungs Cantata which registered 271 billion won and topped the market the same year. Other market players in the country behind Dongsuh have also shown signs of shifting their target consumers to younger groups. The Coca-Cola Company has newly hired actor Ahn Hyo-seop, 29, for its RTD product Georgia Coffee, replacing Korean American actor Daniel Henney, 44. By Lee Min-hyung Hyundai Motor, Kia, and Genesis introduced a free inspection service for customers who purchased their electric vehicles (EVs) in response to increasing concerns over EV fires reported both domestically and internationally, the Hyundai Motor Group said Tuesday. Customers driving any of the carmakers' EVs can use the service by visiting their service centers nationwide. "We have decided to start the service as part of our efforts to ensure customers' safety amid heightening fears about EVs," an official from Hyundai Motor said. "They can make a reservation by contacting our customer service centers to inspect nine safety-related categories for their EVs." The carmakers will check whether key parts of EVs are damaged. They include a cooling system and a lower body. Hyundai Motor operates the EV Every Care system, under which any customer who purchased the carmaker's Kona Electric, IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 6 can get new vehicles in case the vehicles are completely burnt down from an unexpected fire in less than a year after their delivery. Kia also runs a similar program to address lingering fears customers have about EVs. "We will keep supporting customers, so they can enjoy safer driving experiences by helping them reduce a sense of lingering fears on EVs," the official said. Comprehensive plans for EV safety to be announced next month By Park Jae-hyuk Carmakers and automobile importers should voluntarily disclose the manufacturers of batteries used in their electric vehicles (EVs) sold in Korea and provide free inspections of their EVs to dispel worries over potential fires, the government recommended on Tuesday. Additionally, fire apparatuses in underground parking garages of apartment buildings will be inspected to reassure residents there. These measures were proposed during a vice ministerial meeting earlier in the day to dispel public concerns over EVs and come up with effective countermeasures. Even before the governments latest recommendation, three Korean carmakers Hyundai Motor, Kia and KG Mobility and five foreign brands BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Renault, Volvo and Polestar released the origins of batteries used in their EVs sold in this country. Following a separate meeting with carmakers and vehicle importers later in the day, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said that Porsche, Stellantis and Jaguar Land Rover will disclose the information of the batteries used in their EVs within this month. Tesla, General Motors and Volkswagen will decide whether to disclose their battery information after talking with their headquarters, according to the ministry. On Tuesday, Hyundai Motor, Kia and Mercedes also launched free inspection services for EV owners. The transport ministry said that Tesla, BMW and Renault will also provide free inspection services this month. "Volkswagen has been providing free inspection services throughout the year," a ministry official said. "GM, Porsche, Polestar, Stellantis and Jaguar Land Rover plan to announce specific schedules for their inspection services later." The government plans to announce comprehensive measures to prevent EV-caused fires next month after listening to opinions from industry officials and experts. Given that this issue is related directly to the safety of peoples everyday lives, relevant ministries should immediately improve safety measures, even before announcing comprehensive plans, if possible, said Minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination Bang Ki-sun, who presided over the vice ministerial meeting. Read More Safety guidelines tightened to prevent EV fires on ships After a deadly fire at Aricells lithium battery plant killed 23 people and injured eight in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, June 24, a pan-governmental task force was organized to inspect EV chargers and firefighting apparatuses in underground garages. However, the need for pan-governmental efforts to prevent EV-caused blazes has increased since a fire caused by a Mercedes-Benz electric sedan in an Incheon apartment complexs parking garage burned hundreds of other vehicles and damaged the building. The government said it will take into account the feasibility and the EV industrys competitiveness, when mulling over comprehensive measures to be announced next month. Samsung Electronics' labor union said Tuesday it will launch a four-day strike from Liberation Day this week, stepping up pressure over their demand for a pay raise and additional bonuses. The National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), the largest labor union of the South Korean tech giant, announced its plan to stage the strike on Aug. 15 to 18, instructing its striking members to refuse to work on Liberation Day on Thursday and to work in shifts until Sunday. The union and management have held several rounds of talks since January, but have been unable to narrow their differences over the wage increase rate, vacation system and bonuses. The NSEU, representing 31,000 workers, or about 24 percent of Samsung Electronics' 125,000-strong workforce, has been on a full-scale strike since July 8. Earlier this month, the unionized workers returned to work after a 25-day strike and vowed to shift to a "long-term plan" that includes staging "blitz" walkouts. The union is demanding a 5.6 percent basic pay raise for all members, a guaranteed day off on the union's founding day and compensation for economic losses due to the strike. Samsung Electronics has offered a 5.1 percent increase in wages, while emphasizing its commitment to building a win-win relationship with the labor union. (Yonhap) The United States and European allies called on Iran to "stand down" Monday, as fears mounted of an imminent attack on Israel that could spark an all-out war in the Middle East. Tensions are soaring in the region, with the United States rushing a missile submarine and an aircraft carrier group in a show of support for its key ally. Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah have vowed revenge for the killing of the political leader of the Palestinian group Hamas in Tehran, and of a Hezbollah commander in Beirut. International efforts to stave off an Iranian attack have intensified, with U.S. President Joe Biden and the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Britain warning Tehran in a joint statement on Monday. "We called on Iran to stand down its ongoing threats of a military attack against Israel and discussed the serious consequences for regional security should such an attack take place," they said after speaking on Monday. The White House warned that a "significant set of attacks" by Iran and its proxies was possible as soon as this week, saying that Israel shared the same assessment. As the frantic diplomacy continued, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer both called on Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to de-escalate the situation. Pezeshkian said Monday his country has the "right to respond to aggressors." Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh had been in Tehran for the new Iranian president's inauguration last month when Haniyeh was killed in an attack that Iran has blamed on Israel. Israel assassinated Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut a day earlier, leaving the region on edge. 'No further time to lose' Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said his country was "ready to foil any threat in real time" but added that he was "not familiar" with reports that Iran was expected to launch an attack in the next 24 hours. Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the country had strengthened defenses and organized "offensive options" as "threats from Tehran and Beirut may materialize." In a call with the Iraqi prime minister, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday "reiterated the importance of Iraq's responsibility to protect Coalition military advisors from attacks by Iran-aligned militias" following a recent attack, according to a statement. Washington and the four European nations have also intensified their calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, regarding the conflict sparked by Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on Israel as the root cause of the tensions in the Middle East. They backed a call by Biden and the leaders of Egypt and Qatar for renewed talks between Israel and Hamas this Thursday, "and stressed there is no further time to lose." They also called for "unfettered" delivery of aid to devastated Gaza. The pressure to bring an end to the fighting in the Gaza Strip and for Hamas to release its hostages came as the militant group's armed wing said it had killed one Israeli captive and wounded two more in "incidents." The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement that two of its fighters "assigned to guard" the hostages had fired at them in "two separate incidents" and that a committee had been formed to investigate. Hamas has urged mediators to implement a truce plan earlier presented by Biden instead of holding more talks. Israel has accepted the latest invitation from the United States, Qatar and Egypt to send negotiators. "The reason we're doing that is to finalize the details of the implementation of the framework agreement," Israeli government spokesman David Mencer told a news conference. 'Stop this war' Pressure for a ceasefire in Gaza grew after civil defense rescuers in the Hamas-run territory said an Israeli air strike on Saturday killed 93 people at a school housing displaced Palestinians. Israel said it targeted militants operating out of the school and mosque. On Monday, witnesses told AFP Israel struck Khan Yunis and Rafah from the air. Palestinian group Islamic Jihad, which has been fighting alongside Hamas in Gaza, said its fighters were battling Israeli troops in Khan Yunis. In central Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp, Suhail Abu Batihan said the Israeli bombardment was "causing terror" among residents, calling on mediators and "the world... to intervene to stop this war." The Gaza war began with Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,198 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Militants also seized 251 people, 111 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead. Israel's retaliatory military offensive in Gaza has killed at least 39,897 people, according to a new toll from the territory's health ministry, which does not provide a breakdown of civilian and militant deaths. (AFP) President Vladimir Putin ordered his army on Monday to "dislodge" Ukrainian troops who have entered Russian territory as authorities said over 120,000 people had been evacuated away from the fighting. Kyiv launched a surprise offensive into Russia's western Kursk region last Tuesday, capturing over two dozen settlements in the most significant cross-border attack on Russian soil since World War II. Ukraine's military chief Oleksandr Syrsky told President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a video posted Monday that his troops now control about 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory and are continuing "offensive operations." Putin told a televised meeting with government officials that "one of the obvious goals of the enemy is to sow discord" and "destroy the unity and cohesion of Russian society." "The main task is, of course, for the defense ministry to dislodge the enemy from our territories," he said. Zelenskyy told the nation in his evening address that the cross-border offensive was "purely a security issue", capturing "areas from which the Russia army struck at our Sumy region." Some 121,000 people have fled the Kursk region since the start of the fighting, which has killed at least 12 civilians and injured 121 more, regional governor Alexei Smirnov told the meeting with Putin. Authorities in Kursk announced on Monday they were widening their evacuation area to include a district with some 14,000 residents. The neighboring Belgorod region also said it was evacuating a new border district. Ukraine has pierced into the region by at least 12 kilometers and has captured 28 towns and villages, with the new front 40 kilometers long, Smirnov said. But Syrsky said that "as of now, about 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory are under control," suggesting the area captured is more than twice as large. He said that fighting was ongoing along almost the whole front and "the situation is under our control." Putin said Russia would respond by showing "unanimous support for all those in distress" and claimed there had been an increase in men signing up to fight. "The enemy will receive a worthy riposte," he said. 'Maximum losses' The assault appeared to catch the Kremlin off guard. Russia's army rushed in reserve troops, tanks, aviation, artillery and drones in a bid to quash it. But it conceded on Sunday that Ukraine had penetrated up to 30 kilometers into Russian territory in places. A Ukrainian security official told AFP, on condition of anonymity over the weekend, that "the aim is to stretch the positions of the enemy, to inflict maximum losses and to destabilize the situation in Russia as they are unable to protect their own border." The Ukrainian official said thousands of Ukrainian troops were involved in the operation. Russia's defense ministry said on Monday that its air defense systems had destroyed 18 Ukrainian drones including 11 over the Kursk region. 'It's scary' Smirnov said Monday that more than 46,000 residents in the Kursk region have applied for financial assistance. Russia's rail operator has meanwhile organized emergency trains from Kursk to Moscow, around 450 kilometers away, for those fleeing. "It's scary to have helicopters flying over your head all the time," said Marina, who arrived by train in Moscow on Sunday, declining to give her surname. "When it was possible to leave, I left." Across the border in Ukraine's Sumy region, AFP journalists on Sunday saw dozens of armored vehicles daubed with a white triangle the insignia apparently being used to identify Ukrainian military hardware deployed in the attack. At an evacuation center in the regional capital of Sumy, 70-year-old retired metalworker Mykola, who fled his village of Khotyn some 10 kilometers from the Russian border, welcomed Ukraine's push into Russia. "Let's let them find out what it's like," he told AFP. "They don't understand what war is. Let them have a taste of it." Analysts think Kyiv may have launched the assault to relieve pressure on its troops in other parts of the frontline. Russia's defense ministry said Monday troops had "accelerated the speed of advance" in the eastern Donetsk region and taken the hamlet of Lysychne in their push towards the city of Pokrovsk. The Ukrainian official said Kyiv's troops "are not pulling back troops from the (Donetsk) area," while "the intensity of Russian attacks has gone down a little bit." The Ukrainian official said he expected Russia would "in the end" stop the Kursk incursion. Ukraine was bracing for a large-scale retaliatory missile attack, including "on decision-making centers" in Ukraine, the official said. (AFP) After decades of seeking a bigger voice in the United Nations ' most powerful body, Africa "cannot wait any longer, Sierra Leone's president told the Security Council on Monday. Chairing a meeting that his country convened, President Julius Maada Bio pressed a longstanding bid for African countries to get more council seats , including two permanent and potentially veto-wielding spots. The time for half-measures and incremental progress is over. Africa must be heard, and its demands for justice and equity must be met, Bio said, calling his continent the unquestionable victim of an imbalanced, outdated and unrepresentative Security Council structure. It wasn't the first time the council has heard calls for expanding and reshaping its membership and African countries aren't the only ones that want more representation. While there's a general sense that the council needs to change, discussions have bogged down over differences on how much to expand the group, what countries to include and what powers it should have. But Bio's presence put an exclamation point on the issue ahead of a U.N. "Summit of the Future and the annual General Assembly gathering of presidents, prime ministers and monarchs. Both gatherings are scheduled next month. Some countries are hoping for momentum from the summit, which is meant to generate a wide-ranging new vision of what international cooperation should look like in this century. The latest draft of the summit's potential Pact for the Future terms Security Council reform a priority and pledges an ambitious" result, with specific language still to come. We are sure it is a matter of time. Because the gatekeepers will find it difficult to let us in, Bio said at a news briefing Monday, but we have a genuine and compelling case. Set up in 1945 to try to maintain peace in the wake of World War II, the Security Council can levy sanctions, deploy peacekeeping missions and otherwise pass resolutions that are legally binding, if sometimes ignored. Its composition reflects the postwar power structure, and a time when most of Africa was under European control. The United States, Russia, China, Britain and France are permanent, veto-wielding members. Ten other seats originally six, until a 1965 expansion go to countries that get two-year council terms, without veto power. The broader General Assembly elects them by region, with three seats for Africa. African countries, and many others, have argued that the arrangement shorts the continent with the world's fastest-growing population , now at 1.3 billion. The continent's 54 countries make up 28% of the U.N.s member states. Five of the U.N.s 11 current peacekeeping operations are in Africa, as are four of the top 10 countries in terms of sending troops. The African Union, a regional group, has called for two additional elected seats yielding a total of five and two permanent ones for countries on the continent. The permanent seats, in particular, must be urgently addressed, Namibias foreign minister, Peya Mushelenga, told the council Monday. Any changes to the council's composition would be up to the General Assembly, which has held negotiations for years. Assembly President Dennis Francis said Monday that Africa is manifestly underrepresented on the council and that the status quo is simply wrong." But the U.N.'s member countries have floated many different ideas for changing the council, and any move to accommodate Africa would likely stir pressure to consider other proposals. The United States, for instance, backs adding permanent seats for countries in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, among others. Lets stop admiring the problem here. We need to move to solutions, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, whose prior postings include multiple African countries, told the council. Bio, whose nation currently holds the council's rotating presidency, urged the group to get behind giving his continent priority in any structural changes. Africa cannot wait any longer, he said. (AP) Ahead of FIFTY FIFTY's re-debut with a new lineup, the mystery member Athena finally took off her veil! Keep reading to know more about the upcoming idol. Here's what we know so far. On August 12, ATTRAKT officially introduced its fifth member through a video "We are FIFTY FIFTY - ATHENA" on social media platforms. In a group trailer released on August 9, the faces and names of four members-Keena, Moon Chanelle, Yewon, and Hana-were shown, leaving one member's identity a mystery. This member was speculated to be the group's youngest member and visual center. On this day, the mystery member turns out to be Athena, a private trainee about whom no information is known yet from the company. However, after the release of her personal trailer clip, fans and media outlets quickly recognized Athena and began sharing details about her background. According to reports from the TopStarNews and other sources, Athena was born to a Taiwanese father and a Korean mother. She has a dual citizenship (Korean, Swedish). She is also multilingual and can speak Korean, Swedish and English. Although the name Athena might appear to be a stage name, reports confirm that her real name is indeed Athena, with the surname Yang. She was born in 2007 and is now 17 years old. ALSO READ: K-Netz Support FIFTY FIFTY New Lineup Amid Boycott Why Is ILLIT Being Mentioned? The rookie idol grew up in Sweden and her pre-debut photo has been spreading among the K-pop community. In 2023, a female participant, who is speculated to be Athena, was featured in a short interview during a Korean cultural festival in Stockholm, Sweden, as reported by YTN News. Despite wearing minimal makeup, she was noted for her natural beauty. #HELLOFIFTYFIFTY We found the identity of 5th "MakNae" member of #FiftyFifty! Athena Yang from Sweden. Short news interview clip of her during 2023 Korean Culture Festival in Sweden.https://t.co/AieR42Cgo6 toestie (@piak11) August 9, 2024 Additionally, it is rumored that she reached the final round of the 2018 Swedish Piano Competition, sparking further curiosity about her background. . On Reddit, netizens are already responding favorably about the new member, praising her visuals in her teaser video. Some users have compared her to well-known idols such as IVE's Jang Wonyoung and Leeseo, as well as aespa's NingNing, suggesting that she lives up to her name, which is associated with the goddess of wisdom and war in Greek mythology. With this, the re-debut of FIFTY FIFTY gained high anticipation with feedback such as: "This lineup couldn't be better. I have no doubts about FIFTY FIFTY's success. "I really hope that they do well and that those who conspired behind the scenes to steal the group are punished." The five members of the new FIFTY FIFTY lineup-Keena, Hana, Athena, Moon Chanelle, and Yewon-are scheduled to release their second mini-album and begin promotions on September 20. There is also interest in seeing whether the group will be able to overcome the negative public opinion that has surrounded them in the past. Meanwhile, the first-generation members of FIFTY FIFTY who left the group also hinted at their return under a new label. On August 12, Aran, Sio, and Saena signed with Massive E&C, a subsidiary of IOK Company. They are expected to begin full-fledged activities in the second half of the year. They already started their promotion by updating their new group profile photo and launching personal Instagram accounts. READ MORE: Ex-FIFTY FIFTY Members Saena, Aran, Sio Sign Exclusive Contracts With New Company For more K-Pop news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KpopStarz. KpopStarz owns this article. Written by Eunice Dela Cruz Guinn Myah, a popular idol aspirant who previously participated in "Girls Planet 999," has sparked interest after being spotted with an upcoming rookie group. On August 12, trainee Guinn Myah attracted attention from K-pop fans when videos and photos circulating online appeared to show her in Tbilisi, Georgia. According to the original poster, the idol was seen filming with the upcoming girl group ODD YOUTH, leading to considerable excitement among fans. In the widely shared videos and photos on X, Myah was seen with her hair in pigtails, alongside other unidentified members. This marks her first public appearance since her participation in "Girls Planet 999" in 2021, where she narrowly missed joining Kep1er. Dang, Odd Youth is already serving faces pic.twitter.com/qzwYuFtuM7 Kayd (@waitingformyah_) August 12, 2024 In the past, there were rumors that she might debut in other groups such as BPM's Bad Villain and tripleS, but these turned out to be untrue, disappointing fans. After a period of inactivity in the K-pop scene, Myah has garnered attention for her growth over the past three years, with fans praising her more mature appearance. However, the now-18-year-old Myah still retains her youthful and vibrant image, reminiscent of her 14-year-old self during the competition. Regarding ODD YOUTH, it is reportedly a pre-debut group under TOP MEDIA, which is known for managing boy groups such as UP10TION, MCND, and Teen Top. If ODD YOUTH debuts, it would be the company's first girl group. Odd Youth shirts so you know its them pic.twitter.com/W65Q2rswQc oio (@mumuryuww) August 12, 2024 [INFO] The Snippet of the Debut song that was heard on the ODD YOUTH MV filming video#ODDYOUTH # @oddyouth_offcl pic.twitter.com/6GOAF9EigV August 12, 2024 Behind-the-scenes footage from their music video (MV) filming in Georgia suggests that the group will consist of five members, and the brief snippet of their debut track has already piqued interest among fans. As of now, TOP MEDIA has yet to release further details about the group. For those unfamiliar with Guinn Myah, she gained popularity as a contestant on Mnet's "Girls Planet 999," the show that formed Kep1er. During the competition, Myah, an American-Korean trainee, was the youngest participant. She stood out for her strong singing and dancing abilities, as well as her charming personality and mixed-race beauty. ALSO READ: Where Is Guinn Myah Now? Idol Trainee's Status After Joining 'Girls Planet 999' Myah advanced to the final stage of the show, which aimed to select the top 9 members for Kep1er's final lineup. Unfortunately, she finished in 11th place, just missing the chance to debut. Following the show, Myah returned to TOP MEDIA. As she is still a trainee, she has not yet opened personal social media accounts. Updates about her have come mainly from her fellow trainees, with her last known photo appearing in December 2022. In 2023, K-pop fans still have a high interest in Guinn Myah and rumors arose she will join "I-Land 2" in the second season of the show which created ENHYPEN. In the same year, some K-pop fans claimed that she would join the debut of multi-member group tripleS. However, these rumors were proven false after both groups unveiled their complete lineup without Myah. For more K-Pop news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KpopStarz. KpopStarz owns this article. Written by Eunice Dela Cruz Korean media reported that Seungri, a former member of the group BIGBANG, was allegedly spotted at a club in Bali. These reports quickly spread across social media and online communities, sparking frustration and anger among netizens regarding Seungri's behavior. On August 12, a forum titled "Seungri And His Group Appear At Bali Club: 'Do You Want To Hang Out In Our Dorm?'" was established by Korean netizens. The forum referenced an article from Korean news outlet Maeil Kyungjae, which reported on Seungri's supposed club sightings in Bali, Indonesia, with his friends. Seungri and friends reportedly asking Korean tourists in Bali to go play in their dorms despite denying rumors of Burning Sun events in Indonesiahttps://t.co/JRbX2TjQwz pic.twitter.com/UM0jSWmqY4 August 12, 2024 Maeil Kyungjae's report stated that Seungri was seen at a Bali club on the 10th of August. According to a video clip obtained by the outlet, Seungri was allegedly seen talking to one or two women, who were presumed to be Korean. In the clip, one of the women is heard asking, "Seunghyeon (Seungri's real name), will you buy it for me?" to which Seungri allegedly responded, "I'll buy it for you, I'll buy it." A person from the group is also reported to have said to the tourists, "Our dorm is just 5 minutes away, let's go and have fun together." The coverage has incited strong reactions among Korean netizens, many of whom expressed their contempt for the former idol's alleged actions at the club. Here are some of their comments : "He's still not dead?" "At this point, this has to be a disease." "People never change, he's the perfect example of that saying." "He really needs to get banned from entering South Korea again." "Can we just give him the death sentence if Burning Sun happens again?" "Why is he like that?" "Ew. Please send him back to the military." In another thread, international fans also reacted strongly to the news, with some suggesting that Seungri should receive a travel ban, while others expressed concern for the women involved. Here are some of their reactions : "Can someone make a FundMe for his head? I will gladly donate. Also, Korea, you love pride, reputation, or whatever, so ban him from traveling." "They just never learn." "This id**t is going to end up in prison once more in the next five years, mark my words." "Everyone knew that neither he, nor any of his friends, would change and that's why their short sentences were ridiculous." "I just hope the women are aware of who they're meeting and that they stay safe." "Disgusting. He needs to be castrated." "I hate this guy with all my being." On X (formerly Twitter), the news began trending within the K-pop community, with several users sharing their thoughts . What are your thoughts on this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. For more intriguing K-pop news and exciting updates, keep your tabs open here at KpopStarz. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Seungri Addresses Participation in 'Burning Sun' Event: 'I Will Remain Quiet So People...' KpopStarz owns this article Written by Israel Monte By its Order No. OD-1290, dated 13 August 2024, the Bank of Russia cancelled the banking licence of American Express Bank, Limited Liability Company, or American Express Bank LLC (Registration No. 3460, Moscow). The credit institution ranked 300th by assets in the Russian banking system.1 The licence of American Express Bank LLC was cancelled2 following the request that the credit institution submitted to the Bank of Russia after the decision of its sole shareholder on its voluntary liquidation (in accordance with Article 61 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). A liquidator3 will be appointed to American Express Bank LLC. American Express Bank LLC is not a member of the deposit insurance system. 1 According to the financial statements as of 1 August 2024. 2 The licence was cancelled in accordance with Article 23 of the Federal Law On Banks and Banking Activities. 3 In accordance with Article 62 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and Article 57 of the Federal Law On Limited Liability Companies. New Delhi [India], August 13 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla hits out at Mamta Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) government over the murder and alleged sexual assault of a second-year PG student of RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata. He said "What has happened in West Bengal under the watch of Mamata Banerjee and the TMC government is nothing short of Nirbhaya Part 2. It is evident now that this was not a rape, it was a gang rape. The evidence indicates that". Also Read | Rajasthan Rains: 22 Killed After Heavy Rainfall Wreaks Havoc, School Holiday Declared in Several Districts (Watch Videos). Accusing the TMC government of not acting swiftly on all the persons involved in the crime he said "Only one accused has been arrested. The rest of the accused are being protected because of their links with TMC." "The TMC government's inquiry committee comprises of interns and people close to the TMC. So they want to hide something", the BJP leader added. Also Read | Mumbai Shocker: Man Kills Friend Over INR 30 Auto-Rickshaw Fare; Crime Branch Nabs Suspect. Earlier, Shehzad Poonawalla accused Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government of "hiding" and "suppressing the truth" in the murder and alleged sexual assault of a 2nd year PG student of RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata. "On one side, doctors are protesting across the country over the murder and alleged sexual assault of a junior doctor...Mamata Banerjee government is trying to hide and suppress the truth (in this case)," he alleged in a video posted on his social media account, X, on Tuesday morning. "...Attempts were being made to turn this murder case into a suicide. That is why the Mamata government is dragging its feet on a CBI probe...," he further alleged. He also attacked the INDI alliance leaders for maintaining silence over this issue. "The sad thing is that INDIA alliance leaders who say 'Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti Hoon', they all, including Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Vadra, (Mallikarjun) Kharge ji, Sonia (Gandhi) ji, Uddhav Thackeray's party, Aam Admi Party and all leaders, have remained silent on this issue. They get silent on the Swati Maliwal issue and the Sandeshkhali issue. When it is not convenient (to speak), they remain silent," he said. He questioned, "Is justice possible under TMC run police? A post-graduate trainee doctor was allegedly found raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9, which has led to widespread outrage and protests. In a strong display of support, doctors, and students in several hospitals across multiple states went on an indefinite strike, demanding justice for the victim. Earlier, the Kolkata Police summoned the Head of the Chest Department of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, for questioning in connection with the case, sources said. Mamata Banerjee said on August 12 that she had asked the police to arrest the accused as soon as possible adding that if the police are unable to solve it, then the case will be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). "The day I got to know about the incident from the Kolkata Police Commissioner, I told him that it was a sad incident and immediate action should be taken and a fast-track court should also be set up immediately...There were nurses and security, but I am still unable to understand how this incident took place. Police have informed me that there was someone inside (Hospital). The Principal of RG Kar Hospital has resigned. Police, Dog Squad, Forensic department and other teams are on the job. Investigation has been started to arrest the accused and police are trying to arrest him as early as possible. If the Police are unable to solve this case by Sunday, then we will not keep this case in our hands, we will hand it over to CBI," she said. The doctors are demanding a CBI inquiry of the case, a fast-track court and the formation of a committee for the implementation of the Central Protection Act in all hospitals. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Bengaluru, Aug 13 (PTI) Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries H D Kumaraswamy on Tuesday hit out at Karnataka Minister Eshwar Khandre over his administrative note giving 'clear instructions' to the state forest department to initiate measures to recover 281 acres from Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) Limited contending that it was a forest land. Kumaraswamy asked the Forest Minister to "shed his pettiness" and cooperate with him to revive the pride of Bengaluru', which once ruled the watch market with 90 per cent market share but now was on the verge of closure. Also Read | Baramati Lok Sabha Election 2024: Made a Mistake by Fielding My Wife Sunetra Pawar Against My Sister Supriya Sule in General Polls, Says Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar. Doesn't the pitiable condition of this PSU bring tears to your eyes, which had once captured 90 per cent of the market? Don't you take pride in Karnataka? Should we come to power to close such plants? Mr Khandre, shed this pettiness, he told reporters here. Also Read | Maharashtra Board Exam 2025 Schedule: SSC and HSC Exam Timetable Announced by MSBSHSE; Know Dates, Timings of Theory, Practical and Viva Exams. He was referring to Khandre's August nine administrative note where he cited the June 11, 1896 gazette notification showing that 599 acres in the survey number 1 in Peenya-Jalahalli in Bengaluru city was forest land. He said there are no records to show that the said land was gifted to the HMT as has been said. Citing the Supreme Court ruling, Once a forest is always a forest Environment is more important than civil rights, the Forest Minister had asked the Additional Chief Secretary (Forest, Wildlife and Ecology department) to initiate steps to recover 281 acres of vacant land out of 599 acres of HMT land. Khandre's move came days after Kumaraswamy visited HMT Limited and had a meeting with its officials for its revival. Rubbishing the Forest Minister's claim, Kumaraswamy, the JD(S) second-in-command, said the HMT plant that was visited by the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, former Prime Ministers Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi was set up by acquiring the land way back in 1958-59 and 1968-70. According to him, the HMT made a profit of Rs 270 crore in 1970. With these funds, the HMT set up its units in Hyderabad, Uttarakhand, Ajmer and Kerala. The tractor manufacturing unit in Pinjore town in Haryana was a big success, the Minister said, adding that the Tatas came up with its Titan brand and took away 350 engineers from HMT to their unit, which led to the downfall of the central PSU. Kumaraswamy wondered why the state Forest Minister was "silent" for so many years. Why did the Minister write a note after remaining silent for so many decades? Can land be recovered on the basis of the Minister's clear instruction'? On what basis he gave directions? Does he know the subject? the Union Minister sought to know. He said the portfolio he is entrusted with has 40 CPSUs. Out of them 27 are shut down and others are on the verge of closure. He said he has been struggling hard to give a new lease of life to these PSUs. He added that he firmly believed that he can convince Prime Minister Narendra Modi to revive them. When I am putting in so much effort, all of a sudden you issue a note to take back land, which is worth Rs 10,000 crore, Kumaraswamy said. Underlining that the HMT paid for the land it owned, the Union Minister, citing documents, pointed out that on November 25, 1960 the Chief Conservator of Forests, Bengaluru was consulted in the matter for the release of land reports that the total area available for disposal was 283.57 acre as against 260 acres requested for HMT limited and the CCF said he has no objection to its grant. Nothing was taken for free. Everything was paid for. There is clarity here, Kumaraswamy said, citing documents. Questioning Khandre's "intervention" in the matter, the Union Minister said: You have given orders to acquire vacant land in a hurry. Whom you want to give this land to? He also read out a gazette notification citing the donation of land to HMT during the time of Mysuru Maharaja. The JD(S) state chief sought to know how the property tax is collected from the HMT Limited if it was forest land. Don't spoil the state for your grudge against HDK (Kumaraswamy). I am also trying to improve the Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Plant. Cooperate with us. This loot is enough now, he said. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Prayagraj, August 13: The Allahabad High Court, on Tuesday observed that religious freedom does not include the collective right to convert others while rejecting the bail plea of a person accused of forcibly converting a girl to Islam and sexually exploiting her. The court stated that the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, is intended to guarantee religious freedom to all individuals, reflecting India's social harmony. The purpose of this Act is to uphold the spirit of secularism in India. The bench of Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal further noted that the Constitution grants every individual the right to profess, practice, and propagate their religion. However, this personal right does not translate into a collective right to convert others, as religious freedom is equally available to both the person converting and the person being converted. The High Court made this observation while denying bail to a person named Azeem. HC on Religious Conversion: Individual Converting Religion for Marriage Must Be Informed of Legal Consequences Like Inheritance and Maintenance, Says Delhi High Court. The petitioner, Azeem, is accused of forcing a girl to accept Islam and sexually exploiting her, leading to a case being registered under Sections 323, 504, 506 of the IPC and Sections 3/5(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021. The applicant-accused filed a petition in the High Court, claiming that he was falsely implicated. He asserted that the girl, who was in a relationship with him, had voluntarily left her home. He also claimed that the girl had already confirmed their marriage in statements recorded under Sections 161 and 164 of the CrPC in the related case. On the other hand, the government lawyer opposed his bail under Section 164 of the CrPC, which mentioned pressure to convert to Islam and described a marriage that took place without conversion. In light of these facts, the court noted that the informant had clearly stated in her statement under Section 164 of the CrPC that the petitioner and his family members were forcing her to accept Islam. She was also compelled to witness the sacrifice of animals on the day of Bakrid and to prepare and consume non-vegetarian food. The court further stated that the applicant allegedly held her captive and that his family members forced her to perform certain Islamic rituals that she did not accept. Woman Abuses Judge During Live Hearing: Delhi High Court Issues Contempt of Court Notice to Australia-Based Woman After She Abuses Judge and Court. Further, the court found that in her statement recorded under Section 164 of the CrPC, she had maintained the version of the FIR. Importantly, the court also noted that the petitioner had failed to present any material evidence on record to show that before the marriage/nikah, an application was filed under Section 8 of the 2021 Act to convert the informant to Islam, as alleged between him and the informant. After considering the facts and circumstances, the court dismissed the petitioner's bail application, stating that there was a prima facie violation of Sections 3 and 8 of the 2021 Act, which is punishable under Section 5 of the same Act. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, August 13: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, on Tuesday, emphasised that India will be able to work with the president of the United States, whoever he or she will be. Talking about the upcoming US presidential elections, Jaishankar said that the American system will throw up its verdict, and India is confident that it will work with whosoever's government it would be. The EAM was speaking at the launch of Indiaspora's Impact report in the national capital. "Generally, we don't comment on other people's elections because we also hope others don't comment on us. But the American system will throw up its verdict. And, I'm not saying this just as a formality, but if you look over the last 20-odd years, maybe a little bit more for us, we have every confidence that we will be able to work with the president of the United States, whoever he or she will be," Jaishankar said. Bangladesh Unrest: Appreciate Unanimous Support and Understanding, Says S Jaishankar After Briefing MPs at All-Party Meeting in Parliament (See Pics). Further, responding to how he sees the world today, Jaishankar said that today, we are going through an exceptionally difficult period, underscoring the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Israel. "I'm an optimistic person and generally tend to think of solutions to problems rather than the problems that come out of solutions. But I would say with a great deal of sobriety, that we are going through an exceptionally difficult period," he said. He added that it would be a very grim forecast for the next five years. You have what you see happening in the Middle East, what you see happening in Ukraine, what you see happening in Southeast Asia, East Asia, the continued impact of the COVID which those of us who have come out of it take for granted, but many have not come out of it," Jaishankar said. Further noting the economic challenges worldwide, EAM said that many countries are struggling today. "The kind of economic challenges which you see in the world, you see more and more countries struggling. You know, their trade is getting difficult, facing foreign exchange shortages, so, you know, disruptions of various kinds," he said. Maldives at Heart of Indias Neighbourhood First Policy, Says EAM S Jaishankar (See Pics). Jaishankar continued and mentioned that today, the climate events are also globally causing disruptive consequences. "What was happening in the Red Sea, climate events which are no longer just news. I mean, they have globally disruptive consequences, and sometimes entire regions of countries being basically made dysfunctional," he said. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Patna, August 13: In a recent story from Bihars Jamui district, two women were forcefully returned to their families after eloping to marry each other. Their relationship, which began seven years ago through a wrong number, led to significant life changes for both women, who were previously married with children. According to the News18 report, Komal Kumari, from Lakkhapur village in the Nagar police station area of Jamui district, and Soni Kumari, from Chhapra district, developed a romantic relationship over the years. Both women left their husbands and children to marry each other, with Soni identifying as the husband and Komal as the wife in their new relationship dynamic. Same-Sex Marriage in Bihar: Woman Ditches Husband To Marry Niece in Gopalganj (Watch Video). 2 Women Elope To Get Married, Forced to Return to Families In 2023, the two decided to marry without informing their families. When Komals family discovered the union, they instructed her to distance herself from Soni. Despite their efforts to relocate to another city, Komals family refused to support her decision. Khap Panchayat Leaders Demand Ban on Same-Sex Marriages and Live-In Relationships, Threaten To Launch Massive Agitation if Laws Are Not Amended. Recently, Komal and Soni planned to elope, but their plans were thwarted when Komals family reported the situation to the police. Despite their declarations of a deep, inseparable bond, both women were returned to their families by the Mahila Police Station. Station in-charge Preeti Kumari confirmed that Komal and Soni have since been reunited with their respective families. Raising Canes patrons seem to have no problem waiting in drive-thru lines that have lasted an hour or more at the Southern-based chicken chains first regional site, in Lower Macungie Township. The popular fast-casual eatery opened Aug. 6 amid troves of fanfare at Trexler Business Center, 6240 Hamilton Blvd. An estimated 250 future Caniacs as the patrons are called were waiting in line for doors to open and several folks reserved spots by camping at the property overnight on Aug. 5, a chain representative told lehighvalleylive.com Tuesday morning. (The) several hungry campers ... (were) able to stake their claim as one of the first in the Lehigh Valley to enjoy our new restaurant, the representative said. The grand opening celebration included a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Lehigh County Chamber of Commerce; a commemorative hat and free box combo card for the first 100 patrons who bought a box combo (for a future visit); various contests; and a DJ spinning tunes, as well as appearances by Lehigh Valley IronPigs mascot FeFe. The lines of chicken lovers havent abated since. Double drive-thru lines seem to remain snaking through the parking lot in front of Movie Tavern Trexlertown and next to the Lehigh Valleys first drive-thru Wawa, which opened in February. Additional droves of people have been packing the inside, and tables are filled with indoor and outdoor dining. Those wanting to avoid the crowds have been placing orders online via the Canes mobile app for order-ahead and carryout options. Louisiana-based Raising Canes is known for its hand-battered chicken, which marinates for 24 hours before being cooked to order. Crew members, known as bird specialists, hand-dip and bread the chicken fresh for every order. This means the eatery does not use heat lamps, the website states. Caniacs can choose from either chicken sandwiches or tenders. Sides include crinkle-cut fries, Texas toast and coleslaw. Theres also a secret dipping sauce, known as Canes Sauce, which comes tangy but with just enough heat to spice things up, according to the menu. It all gets washed down with the chains signature iced tea, which is brewed fresh several times a day; freshly-squeezed lemonade; or other fountain soft drinks. Raising Canes has more than 730 locations in various states with the next closest sites to the Lehigh Valley being in lower Bucks County and Philadelphia areas. There are plans for a second regional eatery on the site of the former Friendlys restaurant, 1836 Catasauqua Road, in Hanover Township, Lehigh County. The company also is aggressively expanding into New Jersey. In Lower Macungie, Raising Canes became the last tenant needed for Jaindl Land Co.s Trexler Business Center, which gained approval by planners in 2016. The shopping center just east of the Walmart Supercenter at Mill Creek Road sits on 17 acres. Raising Canes and Wawa joined an existing Bastian Carpet One; Movie Tavern Trexlertown; the First Commonwealth Credit Union Headquarters; and a First Commonwealth Credit Union branch. The shopping center is now completely built out. Raising Canes was founded in 1996 by entrepreneur Todd Graves of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The restaurants are named after Raising Cane I, Graves yellow Labrador at the time of the founding of the first eatery. Graves also mentions on the chains website, in an effort to inspire aspiring entrepreneurs, that his business plan of just selling chicken fingers received the lowest grade in a college course. The professor just didnt think it would work, Graves states. Raising Canes later grew from a single campus restaurant at the North Gates of Louisiana State University to one of the fastest-growing large restaurant brands nationally. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. The huge site of the 2024 Electric Picnic has been revealed to media ahead of gates opening this Wednesday, and it promises to be one of the best ever events. Festival Republic MD Melvin Benn spoke to press after a whirlwind tour showing off new additions this year, such as the brilliant plane crash site Survivor Bar and the Smirnoff Stage. Old favourites are back including My Lovely Horse Rescue with their furry friends, Trailer Park and Green Crafts. The main advice is prepare for the weekend of your life, he advises first time goers. The festival is two weeks earlier this year, but he said it won't interfere with farmers' harvests, he told the Leinster Express / Laois Live. "I don't think it is harvest actually. I think the harvest has been delayed a little bit. I think they need a bit more sunshine before harvest is actually ready. So no we're not going to delay the harvest, we've got lots of plans. If there was a mad rush of sunshine making it blazing dry and it got into the right position we're ready to accommodate that. "Obviously when I changed the date I didn't know it was harvest season, Thomas (Cosby) told me it was ok, Thomas has a tractor so I thought Thomas was a farmer. Anyway the farmers said it wasn't a good date so I'm working hard to accommodate them and it's all going well. "I'm not going to mention the act that we wanted on the Main Stage to change the weekend, but we're delighted that we have that act and lots of others this particular weekend," he said. Stage times for Electric Picnic Festival Director Melvin Benn with David Murphy from the ESB at the new Electric Picnic substation at the Electric Picnic Press Recce day Tuesday 13th August 2024. Picture: Alf Harvey. SUPPLIED from LHP for Electric Picnic 2024. Mr Benn delightedly opened the doors of the stone walled ESB substation newly installed to power the main stage, meaning Kylie, Calvin Harris, Gerry Cinnamon and many more will be using as much renewable electricity as possible, a first in Ireland or the UK in a major festival, he said. This is really fundamental. Its something Im massively proud of. It is absolutely essential for what we are doing in terms of bringing high voltage power into the site to transform it down to 450v at the stage into three phases, that means we can use sustainably sourced energy via the ESB to power the main stage. For me the Electric Picnic had to show the way. The ESB have been amazing in helping us get this far and turning it around this quickly," he said. He told the Leinster Express / Laois Live that he plans to extend it. Weve got the power we need into the site, so well see how it works this year and then maybe for 2026 onwards we might start seeing how we can develop that further," he said. The ESB aims to achieve Net Zero for fossil fuel by 2040, by switching to wind, solar and other renewable sources of energy. Among the big names featuring in the preview day were former President of Ireland Mary McAleese who with her friend, RTE's Mary Kennedy will be holding a podcast in Mindfield, called Changing Times at 2.30pm on Sunday. Also there was former RTE presenter Dermot Whelan who will hold his own The Mindful Podcast. The new Smirnoff Stage replacing Casa Bacardi, promises make up glo-ups, circus, dance, with international and local artists and DJs, and accessibility for all including an ISL interpretor, Braille and colour coded menus, lower bar areas, noise reducing earbuds and a lift to the upper tier levels. Hermitage Green gave a taster on the Main Stage of their new album Connection, and will be performing in Rankins wood. Electric Picnic takes place from August 16 to 18, with the sold-out capacity of 75,000. Resale tickets are available through TicketMaster. The Irish Prison Service has issued a statement following a number of overdoses at Portlaoise Prison. Its reported eight inmates from Portlaoise Prison were taken to the Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise today suffering from overdoses. Last month the Irish Prison Service issued a National Drug Alert for prisons in relation to the drug nitazene following a fatal overdose in a prison. Following the suspected overdoses today, the Irish Prison Service has issued a statement. The Irish Prison Service is working closely with the HSE in response to a number of overdose presentations in custody. The Prison Service has secured extra naloxone kits in the event of clinical intervention. Extra vigilance is being taken across the prison estate and the Irish Prison Service has commenced an information campaign for prisoners around the dangers of consuming contraband. The Irish Prison Service is committed to preventing the access of contraband including drugs into prisons and continues to be a high priority for the Irish Prison Service. The Irish Prison Service has committed to continuing to invest in new technologies and measures to support our efforts to keep contraband out of prisons. Prison staff have increased the use of random and intelligence led cell searches on a daily basis. Our Canine Unit carry out searches around the prisons, including a greater focus on searching deliveries into prisons. The Irish Prison Service continues to engage with An Garda Siochana with regard to preventing contraband entering our prison and this happens at both local and national level. The Operational Support Group work closely with their colleagues in An Garda Siochana on a regular basis and the sharing of intelligence has led to target searches resulting in the seizure of contraband. There is a free confidential telephone line (1800 855 717) and text line (086 180 2449) which is operational. Prisoners, visitors, staff or members of the public with information on the trafficking of prohibited items into our prisons can pass on that information in the strictest confidence. The Irish Prison Service are committed to strengthening our measures in keeping drugs out of prison and in this regard a new Drug Strategy was published last November. This new strategy sets out clear measures to be taken by the Irish Prison Service to tackle the problem of substance abuse in prisons over the next three years, the statement concluded. Agri Aware and Laois Offaly Education and Training Board (LOETB) announced their new Intro to Ag short course for Transition Year (TY) students. Launched at this years Tullamore Show in Co Offaly, the Intro to Ag short course is the first of its kind that aims to encourage the take up of the agriculture science subject at Leaving Certificate and to showcase the various career opportunities the agriculture sector has to offer. In recent years, Agri Aware has brought both environmental and equine focused short courses to secondary schools across the country to TY students and the Intro to Ag short course is the latest offering in the TY space. The Intro to Ag programme will be piloted in LOETB schools for the 2024-2025 academic year before being made available to schools nationwide in 2025-2026. Speaking at the launch of the Intro to Ag programme at the Tullamore Show, Agri Aware Chairman Shay Galvin said: Filling what we saw was a gaping hole in the TY space to encourage the take up of agriculture science was a long-standing priority for us. We are delighted to team up with the LOETB on this programme and look forward to rolling it out in LOETB schools in 2024-2025. At Junior Cycle level, students get an opportunity to study all subjects that they can continue to study at senior cycle level, be it languages, science or hands-on subjects like woodwork and metalwork. However, one outlier is agriculture science. A student who knows nothing about agriculture does not get the chance to learn about it until they reach Senior Cycle and thats if, and a big if, they decide to take it on as one of their optional subjects to study. That means, every year students are being lost as they dont have an opportunity to see what the subject entails and the importance of having that basic understanding of agriculture and food production. This is exactly why the Intro to Ag short course is being rolled out, to enhance agricultural literacy among those from a non-farming background and to give these students a flavour for what it would be like to study Agriculture Science for the Leaving Certificate. This, in the hope, is to increase the take up of students studying the subject at Leaving Certificate and pursuing a career in the sector. Echoing the comments of Agri Aware Chairman Shay Galvin, LOETBs Chief Executive Joe Cunningham, said: The unique connection with the country's largest indigenous industry sets Leaving Certificate agricultural science apart. Current challenges are starting to affect the broader industry, including potential recruitment to the sector. We are delighted to partner with Agri Aware in piloting Intro to Ag, a short course designed to introduce students and teachers to the subject of agricultural science. It is hoped this programme can showcase Ireland's vast knowledge and expertise, and inspire young people to engage with the agricultural sector, ensuring its sustainability for future generations. Creating clear pathways into, within, and from Further Education and Training is a top priority for us at Laois and Offaly ETB. The Intro to Ag taster programme serves as the first step in establishing these pathways from schools to Further Education and Training. Recently, there has been a decline in first-choice preferences for agriculture courses, which could have a detrimental impact on the sector. This taster programme offers senior cycle students a chance to explore agriculture and its opportunities, encouraging those who might not have considered agricultural science to do so. Ultimately, the aim is to attract more students to the sector and sustain our farming families and their communities. The hidden gems and the forgotten people of Clane, tours of Kildrought House in Celbridge, stories from the lost library of Maynooth Castle and a nature walk with Dulra Cill Dara are among the many free events taking place across Kildare during National Heritage Week 2024, from Saturday August 17 to Sunday August 25. Local heritage groups and organisers, families, communities and individuals in Kildare have responded to this years theme of Connections, Routes and Networks by organising events showcasing the best of what Kildares local heritage has to offer. Well over 2,000 events will take place nationwide with a full list available on the National Heritage Week website. Coordinated by the Heritage Council, some other highlights from this years National Heritage Week programme in Kildare also include: Painting with Paper Collage and mixed media workshop for children, Naas Library and Cultural Centre (20 August, 2pm to 3pm) - Join artist Liza Kavanagh for some drawing, sticking and cutting fun as she explores making streetscape pictures with a range of papers and fabrics. Tunnels from Tintown, at Harbor View, Naas (August 22, 11.30am to 12.30 pm) - A short presentation will explore the connections, networks and routes that played a part in the story of the Curragh Internment Camps. Walk and talk along the banks of the Grand Canal at Allenwood, starting at the picnic area by the petrol station in Allenwood (19 August, 6.30pm to 7.45pm) - Enjoy a guided walk along the Grand Canal at Allenwood towards Lowton exploring the history and biodiversity of this route travelled. Forest School Wild Child Day, Donadea (24 August, 10am to 3pm) - Growing Wild are hosting a Day in the Wild for children ages 5-13 years old. Based at Donadea, Co. Kildare, the children will get a chance to experience a Forest School themed session, which allows children connect to nature through child led play. Commenting, Chief Executive of the Heritage Council, Virginia Teehan said, Browsing through the over 2,000 events taking place during National Heritage Week this year gives a sense of the shear variety and colour of our nations heritage they cover nature, culture, music, traditions, folklore, writing, history, architecture, archaeology, archives and so much more. It is also a sign of the strength of the sector, the depth of knowledge people have and their generosity in sharing that knowledge. Many of the events are volunteer led, organised by dedicated people who seek no recompense or adulation. We must never take these people for granted and I will continue unapologetically to mention them at every opportunity, such is their importance not only to National Hertiage Week, but to the preservation of Irish heritage in general. Two themed days will take place during National Heritage Week. On Saturday August 24, Wild Child Day encourages children and families to explore the heritage in their locality. On Sunday, August 25, the Heritage Council and the Local Authority Waters Programme invite people to explore National Heritage Week projects that celebrate water and our connections with it. Critical and complex repairs began on Monday to a major trunk watermain that connects Ballymore Eustace Water Treatment Plant and the Saggart Reservoir, to safeguard water supply to 1.7 million customers in the Greater Dublin Area (GDA) including parts of Kildare. Specialist teams turned off the water late last night on the trunk main with repair and excavation crews now working day and night to repair the pipeline. Customers in Dublin and Wicklow may experience interruptions to their water supply including low pressure, discoloured water, or no water this Tuesday 13th and Wednesday 14th August 2024. Customers in Naas and surrounds will continue to have interrupted supplies and no water until later this evening at approximately midnight. Supply to essential services such as Naas hospital will be maintained. Customers in Arthurstown, Tipperkevin, Rathmore and surrounding areas who have been impacted by a water outage from 8pm last night will continue to be without water until the early hours of the morning. Customers in the following areas may also be impacted from 7pm on 13 August until 4am on 14 August: Castlewarden, Sallins, Ardclough, Ballagh Cross, Baltracey Lane, Clane, Carbury, Rathcoffey, Hortland, Johnstown Bridge, Kill, Sherlockstown, Tirmoghan, Tuckmilltown and surrounding areas. As the project progresses Uisce Eireann will work to minimise the impact to customers while carrying out the essential repair works. Customers can help to avoid water outages for themselves and others by using less water. Stephen Burke, Regional Operations Manager for Uisce Eireann said the repair is highly complex due to the nature and size of the pipeline and the quantity of water it carries. This pipeline is large and very challenging to work with. It was built in the 1980s, its buried deep underground - between 2 and 4 metres, and its 1.6 metres in diameter meaning the average adult could stand in it. A large area around the leaking part of the pipe has been cleared so that we can access it to carry out the repair. The excavation alone is 14 metres wide and 5 metres deep. Works are progressing as planned at this point and we will keep the public up to date on any impacts to water services. Uisce Eireann is again asking the public in Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow area to continue to make every effort to conserve water while the repair works are underway. The Uisce Eireann customer care helpline is also open 24/7 on 1800 278 278 and customers can also contact us on X @IWCare with any queries. For updates please visit the Water Supply Updates section of www.water.ie or our dedicated web page https://wtr.ie/8z9lup Customers in Kildare can access alternative water supplies at the following locations: Rathmore Youth Hall Newtown Grove Walshestown Aras Chill Dara Customers are reminded to use their own containers when taking water from the tanker and, as a precaution, boil the water before drinking. Over 75,000 have been raised in just a couple of days to repatriate the remains of a young Galway man after he tragically died in Australia. Kevin Ruane from Ballybrit, Galway, passed away while in Perth, Australia. To raise money to repatriate his remains home to Ireland, his family has set up a GoFundMe campaign. It is with very heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Kevin Ruane in Perth Australia, a much loved family member, and loyal friend and colleague. READ MORE: Popular Irish castle and four star hotel to feature on new TV show in the UK We are raising funds to assist with the costs associated with having Kevin brought back home to his devastated family. Our aim is relieve some of the financial burden on Kevins family and to assist with the cost of having his personal belongings brought home. Any donations which you might be able to give will be greatly appreciated, said the family on the fundraiser page. The family noted that the additional funds raised will be donated to the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust, as well as to the Claddagh Association. You can donate to the fundraiser here. Wicklow Fine Gael Councillor Peter Stapleton has stressed the critical need for the Government to implement effective measures in Budget 2025 to support the vitality of towns like Drumshanbo and Manorhamilton, especially in relation to banking services. Cllr Stapleton believes online banks should be super-levied for a fund to restore rural towns and villages. He emphasised the potential benefits for Leitrim towns Drumshanbo and Manorhamilton if this is adopted. Stapleton argued that the absence of physical bank branches has severely impacted these communities, and a restructured bank levy could help restore their vibrancy. In 2021, Bank of Ireland closed its branches in Manorhamilton and Drumshanbo. Manorhamilton now hosts a single bank, AIB, while Drumshanbo is served by a Credit Union. Bank of Ireland shamefully closed branches in Leitrim towns Drumshanbo and Manorhamilton and those towns could be beneficiaries of community gain in a re-structured bank levy, Cllr Stapleton said. If online banks are only to take the upside of profit, it is ultimately bad for communities in Ireland. Banks were the heart of many towns. In the town where I live in Co Wicklow, Tinahely, the bank branch made a huge difference but once it was closed by Bank of Ireland, customers drifted to towns that still had bank branches to do their business, shopping and services. The current bank levy raises 200 million a year for the Exchequer. Online banks should be super-levied and this money should be designated for a fund to revitalise rural towns and villages, Cllr Stapleton explained. We need to get back to where Irish market towns were once hubs of great activity. They had lots of different services, including banks and post offices. In rural Ireland, people have to drive vast distances to get to a physical bank branch that has cash and services. Cllr. Stapleton has proposed a two-tiered levy system: banks with physical branches and full services would face a lower levy, while those with fewer services or no branches would pay a higher levy. Our rural towns cannot afford any more gaping holes either so the Minister for Finance should not miss a chance to act in Budget 2025. It will be good for banking too, bringing in a level playing pitch for once, Cllr Stapleton concluded. A new AED unit was installed at Killavoggy Church on Sunday, August 11, marking the fifth defibrillator to be placed in the Dromahair area. Funding under the Enhancement programme from Leitrim County Council allowed Dromahair Defibrillator Group to purchase its fifth AED unit. The Dromahair Defibrillator Group has been active for 18 years, having started in 2006. The initiative began when a nurse attending a wedding witnessed someone collapse and an AED at the venue was used. This incident prompted her to investigate the availability of defibrillators in the local area. Since then, the group has been dedicated to training individuals in life-saving techniques and securing additional defibrillators for the community. We got our first one in Dromahair in 2007, said Tommy Dolan, long-term member of the group. We got two in 2008 in Newtownmanor and Killanummery, one in 2009 and now one in Killavoggy church. The group recently secured grant funding to upgrade their AED storage units. Dromahair Defibrillator Group carry out local training as required and are always looking for more volunteers. The group is fully prepared, carrying all necessary equipment. We have three trainers in the group. We do training as required but wed train February, March, April, May and June, Tommy explained. The Irish Heart Foundation recommends you retrain every four months so we bring people back again for that. Theres no charge on the training and were always looking for more volunteers. Its two hours on a Saturday and its very, very worthwhile, Tommy enthused. Annual fundraisers for the group support their vital and impactful work. We do fundraisers every year, we have a church day collection in the local churches and we do an annual 5k walk every September, Tommy said. This year's 5k walk in aid of Dromahair Defibrillator Group will take place on Sunday, September 1. Were very thankful to all the businesses in Dromahair that support us for the walk and do sponsors and refreshments, Tommy said. Dromahair Defibrillator Group are also affiliated with the National Ambulance Group who have provided great support to them. The group currently has no plans to expand the defibrillator network, but their life-saving training remains crucial and continues to be an essential skill that needs ongoing instruction. Day & Zimmermann Debuts on Solar Power World's 2024 Top Solar Contractors List PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Day & Zimmermann (D&Z) is proud to announce its debut in Solar Power World's prestigious 2024 Top Solar Contractors List. Ranked at number 74 in the United States, D&Z's place in the top 100 out of nearly 400 solar contractors underscores the company's commitment to a more sustainable future and to helping its customers ensure solar is an important part of the country's energy mix. "We are honored to be recognized by Solar Power World," said Erik Galis, D&Z Vice President of Operations, Renewables. "This milestone is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our entire team. Our emphasis on safety and strong labor relations has been pivotal in our selection by customers and a key factor in our growth and success. We are excited to continue expanding our contributions to the clean energy landscape in the United States." D&Z has nearly 1 GW of managed solar construction project experience, including multiple solar projects up to 150 MW. The company's Renewables Team holds North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) certifications and continues to invest in training and development for its growing roster of experienced solar installation professionals. D&Z's dedication to the highest safety standards ensures that projects are completed without compromising the well-being of D&Z's workers or the quality of its installations. Additionally, D&Z's strong relationships with labor unions and its workforce enable the company to attract and retain the best talent in the industry, further driving its success. Solar Power World, a leading publication in the solar industry, publishes its Top Solar Contractors List annually to celebrate the achievements of solar contractors across the country. "Solar projects in every market ? residential to utility-scale ? are getting bigger and oftentimes more complicated in scope, financing and permitting. That's why it's all the more impressive when so many top installation companies have banner years. The Top Solar Contractors List is a great gauge for how strong individual companies are in their local markets," said Kelly Pickerel, editor in chief of Solar Power World. Learn more about how D&Z's solar energy solutions can help advance your solar projects. ABOUT DAY & ZIMMERMANN When you've been around for more than a century, you learn a thing or two. At Day & Zimmermann, we take our lifetime of experience and make things better. Our 37,000 employees help bring big ideas to life every day. We're pushing the boundaries of innovation in construction & engineering, operations & maintenance, staffing, and security & defense. And that's not all. Did we mention that we have 150+ worldwide locations with $2.7 billion USD in annual revenue? We put people to work, we protect American freedoms, and we help our customers power and improve the world. We do what we say. http://www.dayzim.com Day & Zimmermann's Maintenance and Construction division helps customers in the power, government, and industrial markets focus on doing their best work better by delivering safe, first-time quality maintenance, construction, engineering, and technical services. In addition to our long-standing, proven Maintenance & Modification (M&M) capabilities, we offer a suite of multidiscipline engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services to support large-scale, design-build projects. Plus, as a leading craft employer D&Z proudly provides long, meaningful careers to skilled craft professionals who build our future. SOURCE Day & Zimmermann 12 august 2024 at 09:00 News published onand distributed by: Lobe Sciences Announces Appointment of a New Board of Directors and Executive Management Team Lobe Sciences Ltd ("Lobe Sciences" or the "Company") (CSE: LOBE), (OTCQB: LOBEF), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing products to treat diseases with unmet medical needs, today announced that a new board of directors ("Board") has been elected at the Company's annual general meeting, with shareholders electing the three previously announced nominees: Dr. Frederick D. Sancilio, Dr. Harry Jacobson and Mr. Wesley Ramjeet. Lobe Sciences also announces that Mr. Philip Young and Mr. Baxter Phillips have elected to leave the Company to pursue other opportunities. The Board has appointed Dr. Sancilio as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Dr. Sancilio, Chairman and CEO said, "While I regret the departure of Mr. Young and Mr. Phillips, I am excited about the opportunity to implement plans focused on creating shareholder value while serving the needs of patients with serious unmet medical needs." The Company also announces the appointment by the Board of Mr. Rick Goulburn as its fourth member. Mr. Goulburn is expected to take on a leadership role as the Company moves forward toward its strategic goals. Finally, Lobe Sciences announces the appointment of Mr. Jeremy Wright as a Board and Executive Advisor. Mr. Wright will provide guidance to the Company and its Board concerning strategic and administrative issues. About Lobe Sciences Ltd. Lobe Sciences is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing medicines to treat diseases with unmet medical needs. The Company, through collaboration with industry-leading partners, is engaged in novel research and development focused on treating chronic cluster headache (an orphan disease), refractive anxiety, opioid addiction and sickle cell disease. The Company is engaged in Phase 1 and Phase 2 activities in its drug portfolio, and intends to initiate the launch of Altemia, a medical food designed to meet the needs of sickle cell patients globally. www.lobesciences.com NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER HAVE REVIEWED OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OR ADEQUACY OF THIS RELEASE. Cautionary Statement Regarding "Forward-Looking" Information This news release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts, including statements regarding future estimates, plans, objectives, timing, assumptions or expectations of future performance, including, without limitation: the Company's intention to implement plans focused on creating shareholder value while serving the needs of patients with serious unmet medical needs; the anticipated focus of the Company's research and development activities; and the anticipated launch of Altemia are forward-looking statements and contain forward-looking information. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "intends" or "anticipates", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should" or "would" or occur. Forward-looking statements are based on certain material assumptions and analysis made by the Company and the opinions and estimates of management as of the date of this press release, including, among other things, that: the Company's planned activities will be able to create shareholder value and address serious unmet medical needs; the Company will continue to pursue its planned research and development activities; and the Company will launch Altemia. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information. Important risks that may cause actual results to vary, include, without limitation, the risk that: the Company's planned activities will be unable to create shareholder value or address the targeted unmet medical needs; the Company is unable to obtain the desired results from its current research and development activities; and the Company is unable to launch Altemia or to do so on the timelines anticipated. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, forward-looking information or financial out-look that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. 12 august 2024 at 19:00 News published onand distributed by: X Financial to Report Second Quarter 2024 Financial Results on August 22, 2024 SHENZHEN, China, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- X Financial (NYSE: XYF) (the "Company"), a leading online personal finance company in China, today announced that it will release its unaudited financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2024, before the open of U.S. markets on Thursday, August 22, 2024. X Financial's management team will host an earnings conference call at 7:00 AM U.S. Eastern Time on Thursday, August 22, 2024 (7:00 PM Beijing / Hong Kong Time on the same day). Dial-in details for the earnings conference call are as follows: United States: 1-888-346-8982 Hong Kong: 852-301-84992 Mainland China: 4001-201203 International: 1-412-902-4272 Passcode: X Financial Please dial in ten minutes before the call is scheduled to begin and provide the passcode to join the call. A replay of the conference call may be accessed by phone at the following numbers until August 29, 2024: United States: 1-877-344-7529 International: 1-412-317-0088 Passcode: 3590885 Additionally, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available at https://ir.xiaoyinggroup.com. About X Financial X Financial is a leading online personal finance company in China. The Company is committed to connecting borrowers on its platform with its institutional funding partners. With its proprietary big data-driven technology, the Company has established strategic partnerships with financial institutions across multiple areas of its business operations, enabling it to facilitate loans to prime borrowers under a robust risk assessment and control system. For more information, please visit: https://ir.xiaoyinggroup.com. For more information, please contact: X Financial Mr. Frank Fuya Zheng E-mail: [email protected] Christensen In China Mr. Rene Vanguestaine Phone: +86-178-1749 0483 E-mail: [email protected] In US Ms. Linda Bergkamp Phone: +1-480-614-3004 E-mail: [email protected] SOURCE X Financial 13 august 2024 at 06:00 News published onand distributed by: SKB: Molten Expands Operations with Additional 21,595 sqft at American Steel in Oakland OAKLAND, Calif., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Molten, a Breakthrough Energy backed startup and leader in clean hydrogen and graphite production, is excited to announce its expansion from 9,644 SQFT into an additional 21,595 SQFT at the American Steel Blocks. This expansion underscores Molten's commitment to scaling its innovative technology and meeting the growing demand for sustainable energy solutions. Located in the heart of West Oakland, the American Steel project offers a strategic hub for Molten's operations, providing the infrastructure, power, and resources necessary for the company's cutting-edge work in decarbonizing heavy industries. The additional space will support Molten's ongoing efforts to produce carbon-neutral hydrogen and lithium-ion battery-grade graphite, critical components in reducing global carbon emissions. "We're excited to expand our presence at American Steel Blocks. The property has the infrastructure required to support our use and expansion and is becoming a hub for clean tech companies like Molten Industries. It's a pleasure to be a part of a vibrant and growing West Oakland community with projects like the American Steel Blocks and others in the immediate neighborhood," shared Caleb Boyd, Co-Founder of Molten Industries. The American Steel project, known for its state-of-the-art facilities and commitment to fostering a vibrant business community, is an ideal location for companies at the forefront of technological and environmental advancements. The expansion signifies a significant step forward for Molten as it continues to push the boundaries of what is possible in clean energy production. Molten's commitment to growing at American Steel reinforces our vision to deliver turn-key high quality research, development and production space. It's exciting to watch the tenants at the property continue to excel as they develop game changing technology. For more information about Molten and their innovative solutions, please visit www.moltenindustries.com. To learn more about the American Steel project, visit www.americansteelblocks.com. Ivan Smiljanic with Innovation Properties Group represented Molten in lease negotiations while Kristi Childers, Eddie Shaui, and Charlie Sweeney with JLL represented the landlord. About Molten Molten is dedicated to decarbonizing the world's chemical and heavy industries through innovative solutions that convert methane into hydrogen and graphite. Their technology is designed to provide cleaner, more sustainable energy options that are crucial for the future of global manufacturing and energy infrastructure. About American Steel Blocks The American Steel is a 440,000 SF premier innovation campus in West Oakland, designed to meet the needs of forward-thinking companies. With a focus on sustainability and community, American Steel provides the perfect environment for businesses with significant power requirements looking to thrive in a supportive and dynamic setting. Media Contact: Greg Scharlemann [email protected] 925.200.9118 SOURCE SKB 13 august 2024 at 07:00 News published onand distributed by: Centime Introduces New AP Solution that Pays Businesses to Automate Accounts Payable Centime is reimagining AP automation, with a new offer that earns businesses cash-back interest on a high-yield AP account* BOSTON, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Centime , a Boston-based fintech that offers comprehensive cash management and banking solutions to small to midsize businesses (SMBs), today announced an innovative approach to Accounts Payable (AP) automation that goes beyond the basic promise of ROI. Centime's new offering not only streamlines the AP process but also provides businesses with an opportunity to earn cash-back interest, transforming AP functions into profit centers. Although most finance professionals know that automating AP can reduce the administrative burden of manually processing invoices and payments, most AP bank accounts are non-interest-bearing, meaning valuable funds sit idle without generating any income. This is a missed opportunity for many businesses. Traditional AP processes focus on earning rebates on virtual card spend, but they often overlook a more powerful and easier way to generate financial returns on the funds held in AP accounts. That's why Centime is reimagining the AP automation landscape with a groundbreaking new offering that includes a high-yield bank account that actually earns the business cash back on AP spend. This solution helps businesses recoup the entire cost of Centime, and even turn a profit on their AP spend, in addition to the cost savings and efficiency gains from eliminating manual processing. "We understand the financial constraints that businesses are facing right now, and the importance of demonstrating tangible ROI that actually puts cash in your bank account," said BC Krishna, CEO and Founder of Centime. "That's why we're packaging our AP automation solution in a way that not only streamlines operations, but also gives you a clear path to recouping your spend, and even turning a profit on AP, right away. On average, clients earn $10,500, covering the cost of automation and more." With Centime's combined solution, businesses get a best-in-class, AI-powered AP automation solution, alongside a fully liquid, high-yield operating account that earns 4.25%** on AP funds, transforming their AP function into a profit center without the time to value on traditional virtual card rebates. By adopting Centime, businesses can: Earn interest on AP float: Transform vendor payments into a source of income. Transform vendor payments into a source of income. Offset the cost of AP solution: Use interest earnings to cover Centime AP subscription costs, effectively making the software free. Use interest earnings to cover Centime AP subscription costs, effectively making the software free. Transform your AP into a profit center: Enjoy a best-of-breed AP automation solution at no cost and generate a new revenue stream. To learn more and find out if you qualify, you can book a demo of Centime at www.centime.com/demo . About Centime Centime is the leading cash management platform that helps small to mid-sized businesses easily control and manage working capital. From forecasting, collections, invoicing, payments, credit, and reporting ? our platform leverages automation and artificial intelligence to help finance leaders lower operational costs and optimize cash flow. ?Centime is the only company to offer accounts payable, accounts receivable, and banking solutions* in one unified platform. Named Fintech of the Year by Aite in 2022, Centime is a privately held company based in Boston, MA. To learn more, visit www.centime.com . ?*Centime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Centime deposit accounts are with FNBO and are FDIC insured through FNBO. Member FDIC. **4.25% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) as of 7/22/24. Deposit rate may adjust to current market rate and may change daily. Fees may reduce earnings. SOURCE Centime 13 august 2024 at 08:00 News published onand distributed by: Government of Canada invests in heat pump training for skilled workers in a cleaner economy across the country NEWMARKET, ON, Aug. 13, 2024 /CNW/ - Hundreds of thousands of Canadians are switching to heat pumps as a way to cut their energy bills and contribute to the fight against climate change. The increased demand in heat pumps, backed by a range of government programming, is supporting good jobs in a cleaner economy. Installing and maintaining this technology requires new skills from heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) technicians. Today, Julie Dabrusin, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, announced over $500,000 in federal funding to support the Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada (HRAI) to help address the skills gap for heat pump proficiency. She was joined by Tony Van Bynen, Member of Parliament for Newmarket?Aurora, Ontario, and Nancy McKeraghan, Principal of Canco ClimateCare and appointed Chair of HRAI. The current residential HVAC workforce employs thousands of technicians whose skills need to be updated as the heating and cooling industry evolves. This investment by the Government of Canada will help HRAI to: enable the industry to take on more work in the growing clean economy; create a benchmark of skills and knowledge needed to safely and competently install and service electric heat pumps; identify the skills gap in the existing workforce; work collaboratively with colleges to develop training that can be delivered in an accelerated and flexible format to address the identified gaps; and pilot this training with a small group of gas and licensed technicians in Ontario . By supporting initiatives like these, we are ensuring that the HVAC workforce remains relevant, stays employed, and has the skills to safely install and maintain heat pump technology as Canada moves toward a low carbon economy. Quotes "Canada is in the midst of a heat pump boom. Heat pumps are the most affordable home heating and cooling system on the market. They lower energy bills. They reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And they create good jobs. Today's announcement provides funding to train workers to ensure they can benefit from the heat pump boom. Our workforce will remain one of the most highly skilled in the world as Canada rapidly transitions to a low carbon economy." ? Julie Dabrusin, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources "As we make heat pumps more affordable and accessible to Canadians, we need to empower our existing workforce and bridge the skills gap. Heat pumps are a great way for homeowners and residents to save money on their energy bills and a key technology in Canada's move to greener energy, but as the demand for the technology increases, so too does the demand for skilled technicians who can install and maintain the technology." ? The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change "Energy efficiency means cost savings for Canadians. At a time when we are facing challenges with affordability and climate change, we are delivering on the Green Buildings Strategy. This plan meets Canadians where they are at and delivers the action they need, at the pace and scale they are demanding. Canada's first-ever Canada Green Buildings Strategy is a plan to save Canadians money, create jobs, and seize the economic opportunities that a clean and sustainable economy presents, and the Toward Net-Zero Homes and Communities program does just that." ? The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources "I'm proud to see a local Newmarket business like Canco ClimateCare leading the way in green home solutions like heat pumps, contributing to our community and Canada's sustainable future. This investment in training ensures our workforce can meet the growing demand for energy-efficient technologies." ? Tony Van Bynen, Member of Parliament for Newmarket?Aurora "This project will identify specific skills deficiencies and the education the current workforce may need to support today's (and tomorrow's) heat pump technologies. It will inform employers and training providers in the industry about needed training development and will help focus apprenticeship efforts for in-the-field experience." ?Martin Luymes, Vice President, Government and Stakeholder Relations, HRAI "At the end of the day, our goal with this project is to enable the creation of training and apprentice supports that will empower the workforce to safely and competently install and service today's electric heat pumps, to ensure efficient operations, inspire confidence from customers, and minimize service and warranty issues." ? Sandy MacLeod, President and CEO, HRAI Quick facts Electric heat pumps are a proven technology that heat and cool homes and other buildings by using electricity to move heat from one space to another. In the winter, they draw heat from the outside air and pump it into indoor spaces. In warmer weather, they remove heat from an indoor space, thereby cooling it. As of 2023, seven percent of Canadian homes are using electric heat pumps as their primary heating system, one in four Canadian homeowners is planning to replace primary heating systems in the next five years, and 300,000 heat pumps were shipped to Canada in 2021, 20 percent more than gas furnaces. in 2021, 20 percent more than gas furnaces. The Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute (HRAI) of Canada is receiving funding for its project remedying the heat pump technology skills gap from the Low Carbon Economy Fund's Implementation Readiness Fund stream and the federal Toward Net-Zero Homes and Communities program. The average Canadian home that uses heating oil spends $2,000 to $5,500 on energy bills per year, depending on the province or territory ? making it the most expensive heating option. Homeowners who switch from an oil furnace to a cold climate heat pump could save approximately $1,500 to $4,500 per year on their home energy bills. In July, the Government of Canada launched the Green Buildings Strategy, the plan to make life cost less for Canadians, fight climate change, and support good paying jobs across the country. The Strategy aims to accelerate retrofits of existing buildings, ensure we are building energy-efficient, climate-resilient, and affordable buildings from the start, and seize the economic opportunities associated with more efficient and lower-carbon building materials and technologies. It introduces the $800 million Canada Greener Homes Affordability program to assist low- to median-income Canadians, including tenants, by providing home retrofits at no cost. It also includes a commitment to phase out oil heating in new construction in the coming years. is receiving funding for its project remedying the heat pump technology skills gap from the Low Carbon Economy Fund's Implementation Readiness Fund stream and the federal Toward Net-Zero Homes and Communities program. The Low Carbon Economy Fund supports projects to reduce Canada's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, generate clean growth, build resilient communities, and create good jobs for Canadians. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, generate clean growth, build resilient communities, and create good jobs for Canadians. The Toward Net-Zero Homes and Communities program provides funding to support the implementation of original and creative tools and methods to pursue net-zero residential building emissions by 2050, and initiatives that empower all residents to contribute to Canada's transition to this goal of net-zero residential building emissions. The program supports Indigenous, rural and remote, and under-resourced communities in their efforts to reduce residential GHG emissions. transition to this goal of net-zero residential building emissions. The program supports Indigenous, rural and remote, and under-resourced communities in their efforts to reduce residential GHG emissions. As part of the Low Carbon Economy Fund, the Implementation Readiness Fund stream focuses on developing and enhancing human and/or institutional resources such as workforce development and training, network development, and knowledge sharing. Associated links Environment and Climate Change Canada's X (Twitter) page Environment and Climate Change Canada's Facebook page SOURCE Environment and Climate Change Canada 13 august 2024 at 10:30 News published onand distributed by: Canada and Ontario Announce Major Investment to Purchase More Wildfire Equipment OTTAWA, ON, Aug. 13, 2024 /CNW/ - With another challenging wildfire season underway and wildfires increasing in frequency and severity across Canada ? impacting our health, economies, communities and wildlife ? the Governments of Canada and Ontario are supporting Canadians and residents of Ontario who are threatened by wildfires. Today, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, with the Honourable Graydon Smith, Ontario's Minister of Natural Resources, announced a joint investment of $64 million over four years through the Government of Canada's Fighting and Managing Wildfires in a Changing Climate Program (FMWCC) ? Equipment Fund. Resilient Communities through FireSmart (RCF) Program. This joint investment will support Ontario's efforts to purchase wildland firefighting equipment such as trucks, community protection kits and fuel systems. By procuring and upgrading specialized wildland firefighting equipment and hiring and training more personnel, Ontario will be better prepared to respond to wildfires. This result will enhance safety for communities and firefighters and improve the sharing of resources across Canada. To date, Ontario has purchased a variety of equipment, including pumps, weather stations, boats, trailers and all-terrain vehicles. Keeping Canadians safe and healthy is a top priority for the Governments of Canada and Ontario. By working together with provinces, territories, Indigenous communities and international allies, the federal government continues to address and support the fight against wildfires, ensure public safety and protect homes, livelihoods and lives. Quotes "The federal government is urgently working to respond to these fires by providing provinces, territories and partners with the support they need to address the challenges posed by wildfires. Today's announcement with the Government of Ontario highlights our commitment to working together to mitigate and respond to wildfires through the Fighting and Managing Wildfires in a Changing Climate Program. Through tangible and fast-flowing funding, the Government of Canada is helping to address the current wildfire season and prepare for future challenges." The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson Minister of Energy and Natural Resources "We are investing in people, technology and equipment to strengthen our abilities this wildland fire season and to build our capacity for the future. The program will address immediate needs to purchase key wildland fire equipment and to hire and train staff so we can continue to be prepared to respond to wildland fires and protect communities." The Honourable Graydon Smith Ontario's Minister of Natural Resources Quick Facts Both the federal government and Ontario are providing $32 million each over four years through a contribution agreement under the FMWCC ? Equipment Fund. are providing each over four years through a contribution agreement under the FMWCC ? Equipment Fund. The Government of Canada is working with communities and organizations affected by wildfires to better understand the unique role the federal government plays in serving these communities; to offer nationally recognized equipment to support all firefighters to be better equipped to respond to wildland fires; and to support a more sustainable approach to training, employment and all-hazards management in Indigenous communities and beyond. is working with communities and organizations affected by wildfires to better understand the unique role the federal government plays in serving these communities; to offer nationally recognized equipment to support all firefighters to be better equipped to respond to wildland fires; and to support a more sustainable approach to training, employment and all-hazards management in Indigenous communities and beyond. The FMWCC ? Equipment Fund was launched in 2022 to proactively invest in and support provincial and territorial efforts in strengthening fire management capacities and capabilities across the country. By facilitating the purchase of wildland firefighting equipment, such as fire crew trucks and personal protective equipment, the fund aims to increase capacity to respond to wildland fires. Under Natural Resources Canada's FMWCC ? Equipment Fund, provinces and territories must cost-share investments with the Government of Canada for equipment, such as vehicles, mobile units, avionics upgrades (parts), hoses, pumps and enhanced communications equipment, and for the repair of aging equipment and training. for equipment, such as vehicles, mobile units, avionics upgrades (parts), hoses, pumps and enhanced communications equipment, and for the repair of aging equipment and training. Visit Canada.ca/wildfires for a complete list of links to various federal supports for individuals impacted by wildfires. Related products Follow us on LinkedIn SOURCE Natural Resources Canada 13 august 2024 at 14:33 News published onand distributed by: Jade Power Announces Director Appointment TORONTO, Aug. 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Jade Power Trust ("Jade Power" or the "Trust") (TSXV:JPWR.H) is pleased to announce the appointment of an independent director, Christopher MacIntyre, to the Jade Power Board of Directors effective immediately. Chris is President of CRM Global Capital Inc., a merchant banking firm that provides corporate strategy, financial, and capital markets solutions to companies focused on finding and executing opportunities that support the process of urbanization around the world. Chris also serves as Chairman of Pinnacle Iron & Steel, the sole owner of TT Iron and Steel which acquired the Point Lisas Iron and Steel Mill from ArcelorMittal in 2024. He is also Vice President, Corporate Development of Lara Exploration Ltd. (TSXV: LRA), a mineral exploration company in South America, with a focus on discovering economic deposits capable of surviving all cycles. Previously, Chris was Vice President, Corporate Development at Reservoir Minerals Inc. (TSXV: RMC), prior to its sale to Nevsun Resources (TSX: NSU) for over $500 Million USD. David Barclay, Chief Executive Officer stated "We are thrilled to welcome Chris to the board. His proven experience in corporate development and project finance will be most advantageous in the execution of Jade Power's business strategy. We look forward to the value his appointment will bring to the Company and its shareholders." For further information please contact: David Barclay Chief Executive Officer +1 954-895-7217 [email protected] About Jade Power The Trust, through its direct and indirect subsidiaries in Canada, the Netherlands and Romania, was formed to acquire interests in renewable energy assets in Romania, other countries in Europe and abroad that can provide stable cash flow to the Trust and a suitable risk-adjusted return on investment. All material information about the Trust may be found under Jade Power's issuer profile at www.sedarplus.ca . Forward-Looking Statements Statements in this press release contain forward-looking information. Such forward-looking information may be identified by words such as "anticipates", "plans", "proposes", "estimates", "intends", "expects", "believes", "may" and "will". The forward-looking statements are founded on the basis of expectations and assumptions made by the Trust. Details of the risk factors relating to Jade Power and its business are discussed under the heading "Business Risks and Uncertainties" in the Trust's annual Management's Discussion & Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2023, a copy of which is available on Jade Power's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca. Most of these factors are outside the control of the Trust. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking information. These statements speak only as of the date of this press release. Except as otherwise required by applicable securities statutes or regulation, Jade Power expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Neither the TSXV nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. 13 august 2024 at 17:00 News published onand distributed by: Police officers stand by a cordoned-off area in Leicester Square, London, August 12, 2024. BENJAMIN CREMEL / AFP London police on Tuesday, August 13, said they had charged a man with attempted murder after an 11-year-old girl was stabbed in one of the capital's busiest tourist areas. Ioan Pintaru, 32, will appear before a court later, a police statement said. The girl was with her mother when she was attacked in Leicester Square on Monday. She was taken to hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries. Police have said they do not believe that the girl and the suspect knew each other. The incident came two weeks after a knife attack in Southport, northwest England, in which three girls were killed and eight other children injured, as well as two adults. The mass stabbing sparked riots across England, after rumors spread online that the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker. Read more Subscribers only UK riots: Far right stirs up hatred on social media This split photo created on August 12, 2024 shows Elon Musk at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles on April 13, 2024 and former US President and 2024 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in Chicago, Illinois, on July 31, 2024. ETIENNE LAURENT, KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP Donald Trump ran through his checklist of conspiracy theories on Monday, August 12, in a rambling conversation with his uber-wealthy supporter Elon Musk that was initially derailed by what the tech titan said was a cyber attack. In a very one-sided conversation on X, Trump vented about a "zombie apocalypse" of immigration, repeatedly blasted President Joe Biden as "stupid," and mused on developing a new missile defense system based on the one that defends Israel. The Republican standard-bearer also dismissed climate change, whose sea-level rises he said would simply create more real estate opportunities. "The biggest threat is not global warming, where the ocean is going to rise one-eighth of an inch over the next 400 years," he told Musk. "You'll have more ocean-front property, right? The biggest threat is not that. The biggest threat is nuclear warming, because we have five countries now that have significant nuclear power, and we have to not allow anything to happen with stupid people like Biden." What was billed as a "no limits" conversation between the two started more than half an hour late, with many of those logging on unable to listen in live. Musk, the world's richest man according to Forbes, claimed the platform formerly known as Twitter had experienced a cyber "attack." Border 'apocalypse' The conversation was intended to help reinvigorate Trump's stuttering campaign, which has flagged since Biden dropped out of the race, to be replaced by a surging Kamala Harris. The young men who view Musk as a hero are a prized target for Trump, whose following tends to skew older. More than a million users listened in live to the conversation on X. Musk, who has said he previously voted Democrat, has thrown his weight and his wealth behind Trump since a gunman tried to assassinate the Republican at a rally last month. The apparent technical difficulties come after Musk fired swathes of staff at the platform, and also served as an uncomfortable reminder that the Tesla boss had once backed Trump's rival Ron DeSantis, whose campaign launch on the platform was also beset by problems. When things finally got under way, Musk said the "massive attack illustrates there's a lot of opposition to people just hearing what President Trump has to say." Trump was banned from Twitter after a mob of his supporters stormed the US Capitol in January 2021, but Musk reinstated him when he took the platform over and renamed it. The South African-born billionaire has emerged as a major voice in US politics, but is accused of turning X into a megaphone for right-wing conspiracy theories. He is one of the Democrats' fiercest critics, leveraging his 194 million-strong following on X to assail liberal efforts to boost diversity and inclusion what he calls the "woke mind virus" and the White House's handling of the southern border. "We have people streaming over," Musk told Trump, likening the border to the "zombie apocalypse" depicted in the film World War Z. "It's just not possible for the United States to absorb, you know, everyone from Earth," said Musk, identifying himself as a "legal immigrant." Cost 'cutter' In his "chat" with Musk, Trump returned often to a favorite theme boasting about his relationship with autocrats like Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping, and insisted America would be safer under his stewardship. "One of the things we're going to do is we're going to build an Iron Dome," he said, referring to Israel's missile defense system. "We're going to have the best Iron Dome in the world... because it just takes one maniac to, you know, start something." Musk reiterated his strong support for Trump, saying the ex-president "was the path to prosperity and Kamala is the opposite." At one point he also appeared to be touting for a job under a future Trump administration, suggesting he would like to serve on a cost-cutting committee. "I think it would be great to just have a government efficiency commission that takes a look at these things and just ensures that taxpayer money... is spent in a good way," he said. "I'd be happy to help out on such a commission." Trump appeared sold on the job application. "You're the greatest cutter," he told the man who slashed swathes of staff months after taking over Twitter. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close LIMERICKS oldest person, the redoubtable Betty McElholm died in the early hours of this Tuesday morning at the incredible age of 107. The Kilmallock woman is understood to have been the sixth oldest person in Ireland. Remarkably, she lived at home in Kilmallock with the assistance of family members until quite recently before being cared for in nearby Maria Goretti Nursing Home. Betty was born on March 18, 1917. Former local councillor, Mike Donegan said Betty was the heart and soul of Kilmallock. I got a text this morning with the sad news. Everybody knew and loved Betty. She has been a constant in all our lives. I can remember as a child going into her shop, said Mike. The shop in the town was burned to the ground by the Black and Tans in July 1920 when Betty was three-years-old. She could remember the fire - she had an incredible memory. She had a vast knowledge of the history of Kilmallock and many people called to her to ask for her wisdom and chat to her. John Kiely, for example, visited her. She was an inspiration to community groups and so many, said Mike. Betty was renowned for not wanting a fuss on her birthday each year as she passed the 100 mark. She was a very down to earth lady. I met her coming out of Mass, I think it was a week before her 100th birthday. I asked her if she was looking forward to her 100th birthday party. Quick as a flash and with a smile, she replied, Id like to stay in bed all day, said Mike with a smile. Local priest Fr Chris ODonnell said Betty is a big loss as she has been part and parcel of life in Kilmallock for so long. She was dearly loved and will be greatly missed as she was full of warmth and wit and kindness, God rest her, said Fr Chris. Limerick Live spoke to her proud nephew John Murphy, from Bruree, ahead of her 107th birthday this year. Bettys health was beginning to fail but her mind was as sharp as ever. She could vividly remember the 1933 All-Ireland final that she was at in Croke Park when she was sweet 16. It was between Limerick and Kilkenny. Limerick were winning until the very end when Kilkenny got a late goal. It was a player by the name of Johnny Dunne and she will tell you she cried at the end, said John. There have been plenty tears of joy watching the countys hurlers since Betty turned 100 and John Kiely even brought Liam MacCarthy twice to her home. READ MORE: WATCH: John Kiely brings special present to Limerick woman on her 106th birthday Betty put her great age down to never having drank or smoked. Her only vice was sweets and, in particular, Scots Clan. As John Murphy reflected on his aunts incredible life in March, he said that Betty lived under British and Irish Rule, through two World Wars and countless national and global events we learned about in history class. A chapter in the history of Kilmallock has now been closed with the passing of Betty, now reunited with husband Sam. No funeral arrangements have been announced to date. May she rest in peace. A RANGE of events for National Heritage Week are taking place in Limerick for the remainder of August. Limerick City and County Council (LCCC) have organised a series of events, stalls and unique workshops to mark National Heritage Week, running from August 17 to 25. Dotted around the city and county, the people of Limerick are invited to attend events which celebrate Irish culture and natural history. The first of these is a biodiversity and environment awareness stand at the Cappamore Show on Saturday, August 17, from 10:30am to 3:45pm. This stand is open to the public to have a chat with the council's biodiversity officer and environment awareness officer, giving people an opportunity to find out more about upcoming initiatives. There will also be giveaways, suitable for the whole family. READ MORE: Failte Ireland awards Gala Dinner Venue funding to Limerick Cathedral The Cappamore Agricultural Show is one of Irelands leading one-day shows and is highly-regarded among exhibitors and supporters throughout the Munster region. It is described as a great family day out, with agricultural exhibits and classes, trade stands, food stands, music and more. The next LCCC organised event after that is an all-ages, free nature walk along the route of the infinity Woodland Path in Castletroy. Music, poetry and a guided tour will be provided, as well as tea and chats afterwards. Those wishing to attend will meet at the Little Company of Marys Infinity Woodland Pathway, beside Milford Care Centre in Castletroy on Tuesday, August 20, from 7pm to 9:30pm. This event will be connecting citizens to nature, walking the route of the infinity Woodland Path reaching out to the local parish grounds, a spokesperson from LCCC said. The Connections to Nature and Wellbeing via the Infinity Woodland Path event provides an opportunity for groups to network and for poets, naturalists, musicians, the local community, Milford care centre residents and staff and other pastoral groups to come together with the Diocese, who aim to provide 30% of church grounds to nature by 2030. National Heritage Week in and of itself aims to bring together volunteers, community groups and heritage enthusiasts to share their experience, knowledge, culture and practices. An initiative was taken over by the Heritage Council in 2005 and has grown from a 500 event programme to almost 2,000 events in 2023 around the country. The Heritage Council assumed the role of coordinator of National Heritage Week from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Part of the European Heritage Days network, Ireland along with other countries collectively decide the theme for Heritage Week each year. Since 2010, National Heritage Week has had its own theme. The 2024 theme is connections, routes and networks. The 2024 theme invites the people of Limerick and further afield to explore the ways we are connected to each other through physical or cultural connections. More Natural Heritage Week events will be listed and discussed in next weeks Green Limerick column. HEALTH company Vitalograph is to open a new office in Limerick city centre. The firm, which exists to provide respiratory diagnostic solutions, has bought a 10,000 square foot office. It means it will move away from its current base at the Innovation Hub, located at the Engine Building in Cecil Street. The new premises, at number one Mount Kennett Place, is currently being remodelled to accommodate teams in research and development and cough analysis. This week, Vitalograph marked its 50th anniversary in Ennis, and opened a special commemorative exhibition in the town's Glor cultural centre. READ MORE: Mixed views to road closure in Limerick The company develops and manufactures innovative respiratory diagnostic devices for all levels of the healthcare sector. It also delivers clinical trial services to pharmaceutical companies around the world that are developing therapies with a respiratory focus. It is the only company in the world providing American Food and Drugs Agency-validated objective cough monitoring to commercial pharmaceutical companies, biotech and research organizations. Two years ago, increased global demand for its solutions saw it open a new site in Limerick with the creation of 200 jobs locally. In total, 404 people are now employed in Vitalograph between Limerick and Ennis. Vitalographs chief executive Frank Keane said: "We wanted to use the occasion of our 50th anniversary to pause and reflect upon the journey that weve had so far in Ireland. Were really proud of what we have achieved and how weve contributed to the improved management of lung health. We are excited to continue our journey of innovation and excellence in respiratory diagnostics.". The exhibition 'Vitalograph - 50 Years of Growing with Ennis' will remain open to the public at Glor until August 30, with free entry for all visitors. LIMERICK woman Linda OShea Farren is running for election in a bid to become the first female chancellor of the National University of Ireland (NUI) in 116 years. Ms OShea Farren is currently serving her fifth five-year term on the NUI Senate, which governs the federal university system of UCC, University of Galway, UCD, and Maynooth University. The Limerick woman is hoping to become the first woman NUI chancellor, but is also only the second woman ever to even run for this role. Before her, in 1976, Maureen Curtin Black, who campaigned for widows rights and set up the first citizens advice bureau in Cork, ran for the position almost 50 years ago. Ms OShea Farren went to school in Presentation Convent and Laurel Hill in Limerick, before going on to study law in UCC. After she was admitted as a solicitor in Ireland, she requalified and practised as an attorney-at-law in the New York and London offices of American law firm Debevoise & Plimpton for many years. Shortly after she arrived in New York in 1985, Ms OShea Farren founded the Irish American Bar Association of New York to give free legal advice to young Irish people who were leaving Ireland in their droves as part of the brain drain and living undocumented in America. Since her return to Ireland, Ms OShea Farren has held a broad range of senior positions in law, government, finance, education, health, disability and the arts in the private, public and voluntary sectors. She served as government programme manager and adviser to Minister for Justice Nora Owen during the Rainbow Coalition in the mid-1990s. Among other positions, the Limerick woman also worked as a manager in the Irish Wheelchair Association and served on the Boards of the Educational Building Society (after the financial crisis) and HIQA. Having campaigned for people with disabilities throughout her adult life, Ms OShea Farren was instrumental in getting Irelands first disability law on the statute books in 2005. READ MORE: Company reveals plans to open new office in Limerick Overall, she has 22 years service to the NUI senate, as well as her legal, mediation and public policy qualifications and her broad work experience in the public, private and voluntary sectors. Those who can vote for the chancellor include graduates of Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, who graduated between 1975 and 1994, as well as NIHE and Thomond College in 1976 and 1977. NUI graduates living anywhere in the world can request voting papers online from www.nui.ie and the deadline for requesting papers is October 9. Completed ballot papers must be received by NUI in Merrion Square, Dublin (by post or hand delivery) before October 17, 2024. A WOMAN has died two weeks after being involved in a road traffic collision in county Limerick. The single-vehicle road traffic collision occurred on the R503 at Drominboy, Lisnagry, on Tuesday, July 30 at approximately 8.40pm. A garda spokesperson said this the male driver and female passenger of the car (both aged in their 20s) were conveyed to hospital for treatment for serious injuries. "The female passenger of the car was receiving treatment at Cork University Hospital. She passed away from her injuries on Sunday, August 11," said a garda spokesperson this Tuesday morning. Gardai are continuing to appeal to anyone who may have witnessed this collision to come forward. "Road users with camera footage (including dash-cam) who were traveling on the R503 road near Lisnagry, county Limerick, on Tuesday July 30, between 7.45pm and 8.45pm, are asked to make this footage available to Gardai. "Anyone with any information is asked to contact Henry Street Garda Station on 061 212 400, the Garda Confidential Line at 1800 666 111, or any garda station," said a garda spokesperson. A search operation for a kayaker missing off the coast of Waterford for almost 24 hours has been stood down following the discovery of a body. According to the Irish Coast Guard, the man's body recovered from the water by a naval service rib earlier this Tuesday morning, August 13. "His body was located today by Bonmahon Coast Guard unit at approximately 8.30am off Ballyvoyle head, Co.Waterford", they said in a statment.. The man in his 60s left Helvick Harbour, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford on Monday, August 12, at 11.30am and was reported missing at approximately 5.30pm. An extensive search was co-ordinated by the marine rescue co-ordination centre, Dublin and by naval vessel LE Aobhinn as on-scene co-ordinator, and supported by Coast Guard Units from Bonmahon, Dunmore East, Tramore, Ardmore and Youghal. Teams from Dunmore East, Helvick and Youghal RNLI were also tasked, in "challenging" search and rescue conditions "with low lying mist and winds in the area," the Coast Guard said. They offered "their sincere condolences to the family and friends of the deceased." According to a statement from An Garda Siochana, the man's body will be taken to University Hospital Waterford where "a post mortem will take place and a file for the Coroner will be prepared." When Christian Scherer took the job of running Airbuss commercial aircraft division at the start of the year, the gig looked like a slam dunk. The plane maker had just smashed its record for annual orders, airlines were still clamoring for more jets and production was ramping up. The companys only significant rival, Boeing, had been flung into a fresh and escalating crisis after a door-size panel blew off the side of a 737 midflight. Since then, Airbus has been dogged by delays, prompting the company to cut its annual delivery guidance and defer a long-heralded production target. Orders during the first half of the year were less than a third of the intake in the same period of 2023, and the companys stock is now down more than 20% since it hit a record high in March. It is a frustrating change in fortunes for the worlds biggest jet manufacturer, which was confident it could capitalize this year on a postpandemic surge in demand. Instead, Airbus is mired in supply-chain issues. I thought we were going to be in a better place," Scherer, a company lifer who for years has been focused on ramping up production, said in an interview. Theres the whole future to prepare, but now theres also the present to manage much more than we thought." Airbus said late last month that it had been blindsided by some of the new delays, which span engines, landing gear, seats and toilets, all of which were holding back production. These components are meant to arrive just in time for the company to install on newly built jets, limiting its ability to react to last-minute snags. Separately, on Friday, a 14-year-old plane made by Airbuss joint venture with Italys Leonardo fell from the sky in Brazil, killing all 62 on board. Officials are investigating the cause of the crash. Aviation experts have pointed to the possibility of ice buildup on the planes wings. The companys challenges come as Boeing is working to get past its struggles with the start of Kelly Ortberg, a new chief executive. Ortberg is well-versed on the aerospace supply chain, having spent much of his career running the predecessor to RTX, one of Boeing and Airbuss biggest suppliers. Boeing will never be a weaker competitor than it was at the beginning of this year," said Sash Tusa, an analyst at Agency Partners. The next few years could be critical to how the balance of power between Boeing and Airbus might shift as the industry looks toward a new generation of aircraft programs, which typically cost billions of dollars to develop. Airbus, which is sitting on close to $9 billion in cash, has a big head start, with Boeings total debt reaching nearly $58 billion in its latest update. Project Lead Much of the aviation industry is being hindered by delays, with airlines complaining of monthslong waits for aircraft from Airbus and Boeing. The plane makers and their suppliers have been contending with the loss of swaths of seasoned workers who left during the pandemic and who they have had to replace with new, inexperienced recruits. You need to train those people, you need to retrain them, you need to double check their work. Its just extra effort," Scherer said. At Airbus, the level of seniority required for an employee to sign off on work has been increased to mitigate risk. The European plane maker has launched an internal program called Project Lead to focus teams on the supply-chain challenges and cut out some of its own smaller side projects that might distract from the core goal of boosting production. Airbus has also increased the number of staffers it has working at its biggest suppliers manufacturing sites to help navigate bottlenecks and track progress, including at Safran of France, Honeywell, Pratt & Whitney and CFM International. CFM is a joint venture between Safran and GE Aerospace. While the so-called joint improvement plan teams dont necessarily mean Airbus will get the parts it needs on time, the company says it is helping to boost transparency and cooperation. Scherer said he doesnt know how long it will take for the industry to get over these latest delays. Airbus has indicated it might not get all the parts the company needs to meet end-of-year targets. This is an issue that will be prolongedthree years, four years, five years, maybe 10 years, I dont know," said Jozsef Varadi, CEO of Wizz Air, an all-Airbus operator that had aimed to double its fleet to 500 aircraft by 2030. It now expects to reach that milestone in 2032. Varadi said he expects to receive compensation from Airbus for each delayed aircraft. Weve been preaching Airbuss supply-chain struggles are frustrating for Scherer, who joined the company in 1984 and previously led its sales team as chief commercial officer for five years. Scherer had spent much of the pandemic trying to persuade Airbuss biggest suppliers that they needed to be ready for an inevitable scramble for aircraft when passengers returned to the skies. They didnt heed his warning, he said. Im disappointed," Scherer said. Weve been preaching out there, saying Guys, here is the curve. That some of the large, sophisticated players who have their hands on the pulse of this industry would question that is disappointing." As Covid-19 decimated air travel, Airbus pushed airlines to take aircraft they didnt want so it could keep production ticking along at a high-enough rate that it would be able to quickly bounce back once demand recovered. In 2021, Airbus announced plans to return production of the A320neo, its bestselling rival to Boeings 737 MAX, to prepandemic levels in 2023, and move to a rate of 75 a month by 2025. That production rate would be the highest ever for a commercial airliner, and help supercharge the companys market share lead over its U.S. rival. In January this year, Airbus said its backlog had surged to a record 8,598 aircraft in 2023 and that its A320 was sold out until early into the next decade. The company has said it turned some customers away because of the lack of availability. Before this year, Airbus had struggled to work through orders as rapidly as it wanted, partly because of its own manufacturing challenges. At the start of 2024, the company was confident its production was on a firmer footing, until sidetracked by the recent supply issues. In June, Airbus deferred for a second time to the 75-a-month target, with the company now expecting to reach that rate in 2027. It also cut back its goal for this year from about 800 aircraft deliveries to 770. That number compares with 735 delivered in 2023. Our trajectory is ambitious," Scherer said. Were on it, but our supply chain is not. Weve got to whip the supply chain into shape." Write to Benjamin Katz at ben.katz@wsj.com Its been a challenging year so far for Boeing, especially after the Alaska Airlines mid-air cabin panel blowout in January, which raised questions about the safety and quality standards at the US aerospace giant. With new chief executive officer Kelly Ortberg at the helm since last week, the company hopes to earn the publics trust again. There's no question we broke some of that trust with people. So, we've got to earn that back. And, the only way to earn that back is by delivering a high-quality product, safe product on time," Chris Raymond, executive vice president of The Boeing Company and president and chief executive officer of Boeing Global Services, told Mint in an interview in New Delhi. We have to just stay focused on that and not sort of get caught up in all the noise and people's opinions." Boeing reported a net loss of $1.44 billion in the June quarter, primarily due to major cash burn in its defence, space and security unit as a result of cost overruns. It reported a loss of $149 million a year earlier. The investigation into the 737 MAX aircraft has also affected Boeings aircraft delivery rate as the US aviation regulator has restricted the production of MAX aircraft to 38 per month. However, output has been even lower than this on account of supply chain challenges. Delayed deliveries have affected MAX aircraft customers including Akasa Air and Air India Express in India. Supply chain issues We just have to get to the point where those airplanes are more predictably being delivered to them (airlines). And we've struggled with that. So, what we're focused on is safety, quality and getting those airplanes certified so they can start to deliver. Supply chain issues are slightly getting better. We are focused right now on getting MAX back to 38 (aircraft per month), getting all the inventory that was parked, delivered, and then getting B787 and B777," Raymond said. In India, Boeing faces tough competition from French aerospace company Airbus. Since 2023, Indian carriers such as IndiGo, Air India, and Akasa have placed cumulative orders for 1,150 narrow-body and wide-body aircraft 780 from Airbus and 370 from Boeing. The latest order for 30 wide-body aircraft was placed by IndiGo, an all-Airbus customer, in April after it ordered 500 narrow-body Airbus aircraft in June 2023. We wish they would have chosen us. But if a customer doesn't choose us, we have a bunch of other ways we try to help them make their airline successful You compete hard and then you try to help them regardless of the airplane they picked," he said. Boeing Global Services delivers complete service solutions for commercial, defence and space customers, regardless of their equipment's original manufacturer. The company services not only Boeing airplanes, but airlines with other kinds of products including digital solutions, crew planning or charting, and navigation and distribution services. Boeing reiterated that it is seeking more partnerships in India across maintenance, repair, overhaul, and aerospace product supplying opportunities. Boeing sources $1.25 billion worth of products from over 300 suppliers in India every year. On Tuesday, Boeing tied up with state-run AI Engineering Services Ltd to develop the capability to overhaul landing gear for the Indian Navys fleet of 12 Boeing P-8I aircraft. Earlier, these aircraft had to be shipped outside for overhaul services. The Boeing P-8I is a multi-role long range maritime reconnaissance anti-submarine warfare aircraft used by the Indian Navy for surveillance missions in the Indian Ocean. I see India as a strategic aviation market for the next five, probably 20 years, actually. I think that the demand is going to continue to come. And, it has historically been associated with GDP and the per capita living of people, you know, it grows, then everybody wants to travel. And, so there's been a high correlation to that over history. And I don't think we expect it to be any different in India," he added. The Bharti groups European foray through a 24.5% share buy in BT Group Plc was a signal that Indian business groups like itself were ready to take the global stage, said Bharti Enterprises Ltd chairman Sunil Mittal, highlighting that the steps into global markets were backed by the Indian government. The Indian government is continuously encouraging a handful of companies that have gone global to accelerate the process. We operate in 16 countries already, and now, having the UK and starting a chapter on the European continent is the next step," Mittal said in an interaction with the media after the announcement on Monday. The Indian government is continuously encouraging a handful of companies that have gone global to accelerate the process. We operate in 16 countries already, and now, having the UK and starting a chapter on the European continent is the next step Bharti Televentures UK Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bharti Enterprises international investment arm Bharti Global, will buy the equity in the UK's largest mobile and broadband services provider from telecom services provider Altice UK, which has a 24.5% stake in BT. Bharti Televentures will buy 9.99% of BT from Altice immediately, and the remaining 14.51% after receiving regulatory clearances. The Bharti group was ready to take the initiative to make investments in developed markets after having cemented its position in the India market over the years and created a global telecom major Airtel that now boasts of strong cash flows, even as it took a break from overseas investments in telecom after entering Africa in 2008, Mittal said. Mittal indicated that Altices 24.5% stake of BT's 14 billion market cap could be valued at about 3.4 billion. Altice is owned by Israeli-French telecom billionaire Patrick Drahi, who also owns auction house Sothebys. Bharti group has voluntarily applied for clearance under the UK National Security and Investment Act, as part of the regulatory clearing process. Indian companies investments in UK-based companies have yielded mixed results. Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has experienced fluctuations but is currently driving Tata Motors Ltd, while Tata Steel Ltds acquisition of Corus has become a burden for its Indian parent. Bharti comes a full circle with the acquisition of BT shares, Mittal said, as the British group had held a 21% stake in Bharti Airtel between 1997 and 2001, and now the Bharti group has become the single largest shareholder in the entity. Mittal clarified that the Bharti group was not buying any additional stake and it did not have any intention to manage the telecom company, which is also the reason behind it not taking any seats on the board. Mittal noted that the stake buy was a strategic move and financially attractive since European and UK telcos were trading at low multiples. Having gained a foothold in Europe with BT, Mittal said the groups entry into the continent will be strategic and that it was looking at more investment opportunities in the European telecom market. He added that any telecom-related expansion will be done through Airtel, and that the carrier will continue to strengthen its position in India over the next two to three years before it begins to relook at opportunities outside India. Whenever Airtel makes a move, it needs to not just be an investor, it needs to be an operator. In this particular case, this was an investment, we are not going and operating BT, we are backing their management and their strategy." He noted that during that time frame, the capex requirements of the telecom company will go down and cash flow will become stronger, and at that time, the board may look at global opportunities. All the investments we have made into Airtel are now yielding great rewards in terms of stock price, market cap, and strong cash flows. This gives us the confidence and opportunities to look beyond India. Airtel is already present in 17 countries and if more opportunities arise, we will not shy away," Mittal added. All the investments we have made into Airtel are now yielding great rewards in terms of stock price, market cap, and strong cash flows. While Airtel will not be connected to the investment in BT, Mittal said that there may be sharing of best practices between the two telcos owing to the commonality in shareholding. Govt, India Inc laud Bharti The government lauded Bharti groups move, with commerce and industries minister Piyush Goyal congratulating Sunil Mittal, Rajan Bharti Mittal and Rakesh Bharti Mittal, promoters of Bharti Enterprises. The Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, also welcomed the deal. "Delighted Bharti Global of India is investing in 24.5% of the shares of UK's BT Group. This will support BT's plans to build fibre, roll out 5G and develop services. This vote of confidence in India-UK is a great step after the Technology Security Initiative," he said in a social media post, PTI reported. What a proud moment for India. Congratulations to Sunil Bharti Mittal sir and his whole Bharti team," said Vijay Shekhar Sharma, chairman, and managing director of One97 Communications. Allison Kirkby, chief executive of BT Group, said, We welcome investors who recognise the long-term value of our business, and this scale of investment from Bharti Global is a great vote of confidence in the future of BT Group and our strategy." Deutsche Telecom will continue to hold 12% stake in BT. We see this as a positive step for BT. We have a long and good working relationship with Bharti. So, we are looking forward to work together with Bharti in the Board of Directors for the sake of BT shareholders and customers," said Timotheus Hottges, CEO, Deutsche Telecom. Mittal said that the share acquisition will be funded by a mix of equity and financial support from Barclays Bank PLC, which was the sole financial advisor in the transaction. Mittal said such a block of shares was difficult to buy in the market and therefore when the offer was made to the group it was willing as it would increase its presence in the UK, where it has invested across sectors. Bharti group and UK ties Our investments in the UK have been there for the last several years and this is an addition to that journey weve had in that country, to put in more capital at work here, in a sector which we understand, in a company that we know, and importantly in a country that now has a very deep and close relationship with India," he said. Mittal said that Bharti Global, that has had long-term investments in the UK including satellite broadband provider OneWeb which merged with Eutelsat in 2023. The UK government and Bharti Global are shareholders in the company. On being asked about OneWeb-Eutelsats launch of services in India, Mittal said that the company was ready and had asked the Indian government to allow it to offer services temporarily, till the time the government decides on the methodology of allocating spectrum. Bharti group also has investments in the hospitality and real estate sectors, including Norlake Hospitality. Bharti Global owns marquee hotels including The Hoxton, Scottish resort Gleneagles, while hospitality assets are managed and operated by Ennismore. Mittal referred to the recently concluded visit of UK foreign secretary David Lammy to India, where the UK-India Technology Security Initiative was announced to expand collaboration in critical and emerging technologies across priority sectors including telecom. India and UK are expected to conclude their free-trade agreement (FTA) talks soon which began in January 2022 with 14 rounds of talks between them before both countries entered their general elections. The two governments are also negotiating a bilateral investment treaty. The group said in the statement issued Monday that it was hopeful of creating new synergies in the telecom sector between both countries in the areas of AI and 5G R&D and core engineering. It added that there was potential to collaborate on industry best practices, and emerging technologies. British Telecom, too, has had a longstanding association with Indian companies. British Telecom had a 50% stake until 2006 in Mahindra groups software arm, Tech Mahindra, then known as Mahindra British Telecom. After Tech Mahindra went public in 2006, British Telecoms stake, which started as a joint venture with Mahindra Telecom in the mid-80s, decreased from 50% to 36%. Subsequently, it sold its entire stake. In 2000, Tata Tea spent 271 million to buy Tetley, In April 2020, TVS spent 16 million to buy Norton Motorcycles. Air India Express has launched six new daily flights, including from Chennai and Kolkata, as the airline strengthens its domestic network. The new flights include two from Kolkata, three from Chennai and the first direct flight on the GuwahatiJaipur sector, the statement said on Tuesday. The new flights were introduced on the Chennai-Bhubaneswar, Chennai-Bagdogra, Chennai-Thiruvananthapuram, Kolkata-Varanasi, Kolkata-Guwahati, and Guwahati-Jaipur sectors, the statement said. The Kolkata-Varanasi flight will take off at 7:40 am and reach Varanasi at 9:05 am, while the return flight will take off from Varanasi at 9.40 am and land in Kolkata at 11.10 am daily. The Kolkata-Guwahati flight will leave at 12.10 pm and land in Guwahati at 1.25 pm, while the return flight will leave Guwahati at 1.55 pm and reach Kolkata at 4.35 pm, daily. The statement also said that five of these routes are new to the airlines growing network. The newly introduced Guwahati-Jaipur flight is an exclusive route, served by Air India Express, it said. To meet the increasing demand on the Chennai-Thiruvananthapuram route, previously served with two weekly flights, the airline has now introduced an additional daily service, bringing the total to nine flights a week, it said. For years the worlds biggest drugmakers paid up for deals. Now they are writing much smaller checks. After shelling out tens of billions of dollars for single biotech companies, pharmaceutical giants such as AbbVie, AstraZeneca and Merck & Co. have shifted to smaller targets costing $5 billion or less. Many of the companies getting taken out are private. The reason, according to executives, bankers and lawyers: Smaller deals are just easier to do in the current regulatory environment, and the sector is looking pretty picked over. All 17 deals announced by big pharmaceutical companies during the first six months of the year were valued at $5 billion or less, according to research firm DealForma. During the same period last year, big drugmakers agreed to nine deals, including two that were $10 billion or larger. Nine of the 17 deals were for privately held companies, compared with one during the same period last year, DealForma said. Its data was for deals with disclosed values and upfront cash and equity amounts. Large drugmakers were defined as having a market value of more than $50 billion. Last years big acquisitions were led by Pfizers $43 billion purchase of cancer biotech Seagen. By contrast, the biggest pharmaceutical deal so far this year was Vertex Pharmaceuticals $4.9 billion purchase of Alpine Immune Sciences and its experimental kidney drug. The size of this deal was just about perfect for Vertex. It was easy to afford and left us with a balance sheet to do more deals," said Vertex Chairman Jeffrey Leiden. Vertex Chief Executive Reshma Kewalramani said the company had been watching for some time the kidney disorder targeted by Alpines lead drug because there isnt a treatment of the underlying cause, and Vertex didnt have a medicine of its own in the works. Dealmaking remains a crucial way for big drugmakers to supplement the work of their own laboratories and fill in their product lineups. A reason for the shift to smaller acquisitions, lawyers and bankers say, is that big companies see fewer larger targets worth buying after many were taken out. A lot of the late-stage or near-term, needle-moving opportunities have either been bought" or passed over, said Andrew Weisenfeld, managing partner at MTS Health Partners, who advises biotech and pharmaceutical companies on deals. Also behind the shift is the Federal Trade Commissions tighter scrutiny of merger-and-acquisition activity, including larger pharmaceutical deals. Smaller transactions present fewer hurdles to gaining approval from antitrust regulators, according to lawyers and bankers who advise companies on deals. Smaller deals can also help plug pipeline holes if big drugmakers lost out in negotiations for more expensive deals. And the deals are often easier for buyers to negotiate than large ones, and then to integrate. For buyers, the small deals come with risks. Littler targets often have drugs that are in early development, so it isnt certain they work safely and will be able to hit the market. The uncertainty is, however, also an opportunity for smart shoppers. Big pharma is identifying a diamond in the rough early on," said Bill Roegge, M&A partner at law firm Cooley. This is to try and buy them before they are a big $10 billion company." Roegge advised AstraZeneca on its $1 billion acquisition of rare-disease drug company Amolyt Pharma, among a string of $1 billion to $2.5 billion deals that the British drugmaker has done in recent months to bolster its pipeline. Closely held Amolyt appealed to AstraZeneca because its lead endocrine drug is in the last stage of testing and could provide a new source of sales relatively soon, helping the pharmaceutical company achieve its goal of $80 billion in revenue by 2030, said Marc Dunoyer, AstraZenecas chief strategy officer. Dunoyer also said Amolyt would be easy to integrate, with only 50 employees. Private companies with drugs in earlier stages of development have been more willing to sell themselves in recent months because of the challenges of going public and because their prospects for raising cash to fund the next phase of development are uncertain, Roegge said. Buyers see value because negotiations dont involve a public valuation, said Punit Mehta, a senior managing director in healthcare investment banking for Guggenheim Securities. Johnson & Johnson bought two privately held companies developing immune-disease drugs, Proteologix and a subsidiary of Numab Therapeutics now called Yellow Jersey. They come after the drug giant lost out on some expensive deals in recent years, according to people familiar with the matter. If you think about larger acquisitions, those are pretty difficult to make work," said J&J Chief Financial Officer Joseph Wolk. He said J&J is perfectly comfortable" skipping large deals, especially if there is a disconnect on price. The company has also focused on stringing together deals for small companies. After spending big in 2023, Merck toned down its dealmaking this year with four small acquisitions. They include a $1.3 billion deal for closely held eye-drug company EyeBio and a $680 million tie-up for publicly traded cancer drugmaker Harpoon Therapeutics. The experimental drugs that Merck acquired through the deals would help Merck diversify and deepen the companys pipeline, said Sunil Patel, the companys head of business development. Mercks scale and expertise could help further the drugs development. When we see science that we think we can translate into a medicine and have a direct impact for patients, we act on that," Patel said. Merck faces a potentially significant drop in sales after its top-selling cancer treatment, Keytruda, loses U.S. patent protection in 2028. AbbVie is contending with lower-price competition for its longtime top seller Humira since it lost patent protection last year. The company has done small deals this year to fill in its pipeline of immune-disease drugs after spending more than $18 billion last year on acquiring approved and late-stage drugs. AbbVie bought publicly traded Landos Biopharma for $137.5 million in May and privately held Celsius Therapeutics for $250 million in June. If their experimental immune-disease drugs win approval, they could help drive growth and help succeed AbbVies current slate of products, said Nicholas Donoghoe, AbbVies chief business and strategy officer. Write to Jared S. Hopkins at jared.hopkins@wsj.com and Laura Cooper at laura.cooper@wsj.com GM layoffs: General Motors Co. has been laying off staff in China and will soon meet with local partner SAIC to plan a larger structural overhaul of its operations there, a recognition the Detroit automaker is unlikely to see its sales return to 2017 peak levels. GM is cutting staff in Chinese market-related departments, including research and development, according to people familiar with the matter. In the coming weeks, GM and SAIC will discuss possible capacity cuts as part of a strategic redirection for American nameplates sold in China. Also Read | Telangana CM Revanth Reddy meet Hyundai officials in Seoul for investments Major Shift In Strategy The reassessment represents a major shift in strategy for GM, which earned billions of dollars in China as recently as 2018. The automaker is pulling back as many foreign brands are struggling with a profusion of local competitors in the worlds largest car market, which is now facing massive overcapacity. The reset involves a shift to producing electric vehicles, focusing on more upscale models and importing premium vehicles, these people said. Reductions in factory capacity and additional job cuts are under consideration, said the people, who asked not to be named because the plans are still in the works and have not been publicly disclosed. GM will continue to make less expensive vehicles and EVs locally in a joint venture with SAIC Motor Corp. and Wuling Motors, some of which will be exported from China. Working With Local Partners The auto manufacturer said in a recent securities filing that Chinas domestic automakers are prioritizing market share gains over profits, making it difficult to maintain sales volumes. As a result, GM said its working with local partners to overhaul its Chinese operations, resulting in an increased likelihood of recording future charges, which could be material, if losses continue in the near term. A 30-year contract with state-owned SAIC is set to expire in 2027 and GM wants to return the business to sustained profitability before then. The goal is to put that SAIC-GM partnership which makes Buick, Cadillac and Chevrolet brand vehicles in a stronger financial position so it can fund its own operations and vehicle development programs, the people said. The cuts required will be commensurate with lowered sales expectations in an effort to stem the flow of red ink, they said. A second partnership in China, known as SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co. Ltd., makes small and inexpensive vehicles. Its sales have held up better by selling more affordable electric vehicles like the Hongguang Mini EV. Wuling is controlled by state-backed Guangxi Automobile Group. Return To Profitability Slow In the most recent quarter ended June 30, GM lost $104 million on its Chinese business, part of a first half loss totaling $210 million. The automaker had hoped to cut production there in the first quarter and return to profitability. GM has been contemplating a shakeup in its China business for months and Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson alluded to a reorganization in an investor presentation Aug. 8. Weve got to remain competitive and that means that weve got to take a look at the business with our partner to ensure that we can restore it to profitability and that we can restore it to self-sustaining cash flow going forward, Jacobson said at that event in New York. China can be a good asset for us and remains a good asset for us. GM In China GM is one of the longest-tenured foreign automotive brands to manufacture locally in China, becoming only the second foreign brand to gain permission to do so in 1997 after Volkswagen AG. Its sales peaked at 4 million in 2017 and fell by almost half to 2.1 million last year. In the latest quarter, GMs China sales plunged 29% to 373,000 vehicles, with all of its US brands in steep decline, including Buick, Cadillac and Chevrolet. Vehicles made by SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile fell just 12% in the period. GM sees that partnership as having better prospects because it makes the type of compact EVs in China for which demand is still increasing. Hindenburg Researchs latest allegations against the chief of Indias capital market regulator have triggered a fresh plea in the Supreme Court demanding a swift conclusion to the probe into the Adani Group. The petition seeks to revive an earlier plea that had sought a strict timeline for an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Board of India into Hindenburgs January 2023 stock manipulation and money siphoning allegations against the Adani Group. Advocate Vishal Tiwari, who filed the petition, referred to the Supreme Courts 3 January order instructing Sebi to complete its probe within three months. In that same order, however, the court had declined to mandate further actions based on Hindenburgs allegations. On Saturday, Hindenburg sprung a fresh series of allegations, claiming that Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband had stakes in offshore funds linked to the Adani Group, among other charges, and implying that this hindered the regulators investigation. Although Buch has strongly denied the allegations and expressed her willingness to disclose all financial documents, Tiwari in his petition has argued that these circumstances necessitate a conclusive Sebi report. Also read | An emboldened Hindenburgs profit score has gotten better as it targets bigger guns Hindenburgs latest report has created an atmosphere of doubt in the minds of the public and investors, he stated in his plea, seen by Mint. Tiwari added that it has now become incumbent for Sebi to conclude the pending investigations and declare the conclusion of the investigations. It is important in the public interest and for the interest of the investors who lost their funds after the publication of the Hindenburg report in 2023 against the Adani Group. The right to know about the investigations led by Sebi and its conclusions is essential for the benefit of investors, he added. Tiwaris application specifically seeks to compel Sebi to submit its investigation report on the Adani-Hindenburg matter, as directed by the Supreme Court in its January order. Not a strict deadline Tiwari in his plea has also sought a status report from both the Central government and Sebi on whether they have acted upon the recommendations of the Court-constituted Expert Committee aimed at strengthening the regulatory framework of the Indian securities market. Additionally, he has called for detailed reports from the government and Sebi concerning the share market crash and the financial losses suffered by investors following the Lok Sabha 2024 election result in July. The Supreme Courts Registrar had on 5 August refused to register Tiwaris application, describing it as thoroughly misconceived and stating that it did not present a reasonable cause. The Registrar had noted that the Supreme Court had not imposed a strict deadline for Sebis investigation, contrary to Tiwaris assertion, and emphasized that the term preferably in the January directive did not constitute a firm deadline. The Registrar also pointed out that the court had not issued specific directives for submitting status reports regarding the Expert Committees recommendations or the investor losses post-election. Chinas Huawei Technologies is close to introducing a new chip for artificial intelligence use, overcoming U.S. sanctions to challenge Nvidia in the Chinese market. Chinese internet companies and telecommunications operators have been testing Huaweis latest processor, called Ascend 910C, in recent weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. Huawei told potential clients that the new chip is comparable to Nvidias H100, which was introduced last year and isnt directly available in China, the people said. Huaweis ability to keep advancing in chips is the latest sign of how the company has managed to break through U.S.-erected obstacles and develop Chinese alternatives to products made by the U.S. and its allies. Aided by billions of dollars in state support, it has become a national champion in areas including AI and a key part of Beijings endeavor to delete" American technologies. Still, Huawei has run into production delays in its current chips, according to the people. It faces the prospect of further U.S. restrictions that could deprive it of machine components and the latest memory chips used in AI hardware. Companies including TikTok parent ByteDance, search-engine giant Baidu and state-owned telecommunications carrier China Mobile are in early discussions about obtaining the 910C, the people said. Initial negotiations between Huawei and potential customers indicate that orders are likely to surpass 70,000 chips, with a total value of around $2 billion, they said. Huawei aims to start shipping as soon as October, the people said. They cautioned that final purchases may differ from initial plans and the delivery schedule may change. A Huawei representative declined to comment. Huawei has been on the U.S. entity list since 2019, signifying that Washington considers the company a national-security threat. That has blocked it from using factories in places such as Taiwan to manufacture its chips and hindered access to critical components and manufacturing equipment. China is stepping up support for semiconductor manufacturing and in May raised $48 billion in the third installment of a national investment fund for the industry. Huaweis new AI chip seeks to fill a void left by Nvidia after U.S. export controls beginning 2022 effectively prevented the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company from offering its most advanced chips to Chinese customers. Nvidia continues to create less-powerful variants for China that comply with the export rules, although some in China have found ways to obtain its more powerful chips through other means. Chinese customers buying from Nvidia have to make do with the H20, a downgraded version of its AI chips, which Nvidia designed to clear Washingtons rules for selling to China and introduced this spring. In the U.S., by contrast, Nvidia clients such as OpenAI, Amazon and Google will soon have access to the companys latest Blackwell chips and the GB200 line of hardware powered by them, which Nvidia has described as several times more powerful than its existing hardware. Nvidia is working on another China-oriented chip called B20, but the design might have trouble getting U.S. approval for China export if the White House tightens its rules, said people familiar with the matter. Dylan Patel, an analyst at industry research firm SemiAnalysis, said he viewed Huaweis 910C as an advance that could perform better than Nvidias B20. If Huawei can produce its new chip successfully and Nvidia is still blocked from offering advanced chips to Chinese customers, he said, Nvidia would lose market share rapidly in China." SemiAnalysis says Huawei could produce 1.3 million to 1.4 million 910C chips next year if it doesnt face additional U.S. restrictions. Initially Chinese customers werent enthusiastic about Nvidias H20 because they werent sure it was significantly better than Huaweis latest offering, The Wall Street Journal reported. However, some clients ramped up H20 orders after tests of bigger H20 clusters produced favorable performance results and Nvidia cut prices, people familiar with the matter said. Huaweis production bottlenecks also played a role. SemiAnalysis estimated in July that Nvidia would sell over one million H20 chips in China this year, valued at some $12 billion. The number of chips sold would be almost twice as many as Huawei is expected to sell of its 910B, SemiAnalysis said. The U.S. sanctions are behind some delays this year in shipments of the Ascend 910B, currently Huaweis most advanced AI processor, people familiar with the matter said. In recent weeks, Huawei has started stockpiling high-bandwidth memory chips, used for state-of-the-art AI processors, in response to potential U.S. curbs on Chinas access to such chips, the people said. The U.S. Commerce Department frequently updates sanctions and export controls, and people in the industry expect further action this year. Huawei has told its local contract manufacturer and suppliers to store more machine components, anticipating that production workarounds might shorten the life of some parts and it might have a harder time sourcing parts, the people said. At a semiconductor industry conference in June, a Huawei executive said nearly half of Chinas large language models were trained with Huaweis chips. He said 910Bs performance has surpassed Nvidias A100 in training models. A June analysis by the Center for Security and Emerging Technology, a Georgetown University policy research body, said the 910 series was competitive with the A100 but also faced significant problems including limited manufacturing capacity and low yield. It said the 910B chip has fewer active AI coreskey components for computationcompared with Huaweis previous version, so it wasnt a big improvement. Write to Liza Lin at liza.lin@wsj.com and Raffaele Huang at raffaele.huang@wsj.com IT giant Infosys may be looking at a protracted tax battle with Indian authorities as the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) intensifies its scrutiny of the company's alleged tax liabilities for the FY18-22 period. After issuing a notice claiming 32,400 crore in alleged tax dues for the five years ended FY22, it is now set to decide on the alleged tax liability of the company for each year separately, according to a person familiar with the development. The agencys immediate focus is on determining the tax liability for FY19. Infosys is currently in the process of filing its responses. While the DGGI has until July 2025 to finalize its decision on the FY19 case, a conclusion is expected well before that deadline," said the person, who requested anonymity. Read this | Centre likely to accept Infosys plea on GST notice The case revolves around whether the reimbursement of expenses by Infosys Indian head office to its overseas branches constitutes payment for services rendered, thereby subjecting the transactions to Integrated GST. Infosys has referenced a 26 June circular from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), asserting that services provided by overseas branches to Indian entities are not liable for the goods and services tax (GST). Implications for Infosys and beyond On 3 August, Infosys informed stock exchanges that it had responded to a pre-show cause notice from the DGGI concerning the period up to March 2022. The company also disclosed that the agency had informed it of closing the pre-show cause notice proceedings" for FY18. With proceedings relating to FY18 getting time barred on 5 August, the closure of pre-show cause notice was fast tracked. For matters relating to FY19, there is time but will be decided upon quickly," the person cited earlier added. Emails sent on Monday to Infosys and the DGGI seeking comments remained unanswered at the time of publication. More here | Mining tax: Tata Steel, HZL explore legal options following Supreme Court ruling To date, Infosys has not been required to pay any taxes related to this case. However, it remains uncertain whether further proceedings will occur for FY18. According to the companys filings, the pre-show cause notice for FY18 cited a GST liability of 3,898 crore. The authorities are adhering to statutory timelines, which may involve breaking the impugned period into different financial years, explained Abhishek A Rastogi, founder of law firm Rastogi Chambers. Rastogi emphasized that the import of services between a branch and its head office must withstand constitutional scrutiny, with particular attention to the provisions of Section 8 of the Integrated GST Act. The relevant aspects remain determination of the place of provision of the services because if the place of provision of the service is outside of India, then the supply will not be taxable in India," he added. Rastogi had successfully argued on import of services for foreign banks. As the GST Council prepares for its early September meeting, experts anticipate that the council will clarify the taxability of payments made by companies like software exporters to their overseas branches and foreign airlines to their local offices. Also read | Infosys hits new high, ups FY25 guidance. Has Kalki arrived for the IT sector? Another person, who also requested anonymity, said this is expected to figure in the Councils discussions and that Infosys tax issue will be resolved. L&T Semiconductor Technologies (LTSCT) is planning to build three semiconductor fabs in India over the next five to 10 years with potential investments of $10-12 billion, as the L&T groups newest business vertical aims to become a multinational semiconductor player. Also read | Govt says India's semiconductor market to cross $100 billion by 2030 The vision is to become the first global company in semiconductors operating from India, headquartered here, with a footprint across US, Europe, Japan and India," chief executive officer Sandeep Kumar said in an exclusive interaction. "The centre of gravity for all the development and manufacturing will be in India. Contingent on revenues Kumar said the companys transition from being a system-on-chip (SoC) design company like Qualcomm or Mediatek, which it is at present, to building chips in its own fabs will be contingent on generating revenues of $1 billion. Our goal is to generate enough line of sight to get $1 billion annual revenue, which could be within seven years, then I can start building my factory or fab, Kumar said, adding that it would need to produce and sell 500 million chips. He highlighted that since the company was working on different technologies high end silicon chips, and mid- to low-end silicon carbide and gallium nitride chips three different fabs will be set up in the long run, entailing different levels of investments. He noted that return on investments, as well as the availability of financial incentives from the Indian government at that time, will be key to determining the investments. For silicon, (investment) is $10 billion-plus. Silicon carbide is in the range of $1 billion-plus and then gallium nitride can be in the range of $500 million, Kumar said, but added that the order book would have to be strong in order to operate the fab at full capacity as that would be the key requirement for making chips at globally competitive prices. On silicon, all the partner details are in place. On gallium nitride, it is halfway there, and silicon carbide I have 15 different discussions going on, so within the next three months we will have nailed down who will be working with, Kumar added. Six deals in line As things stand, revenues will begin to flow in from the coming months as it expects to close six deals in the automotive space worth $150 million in the next two months, which will include orders from three major Indian players, while orders from three large European clients will come in by October this year, according to Kumar. It will target automotive, energy and industrial sectors, and make mixed signal, smart power, smart analogues, smart sensing and smart RF solutions and SoCs. The company is operating across nodes and technologies, with silicon chips ranging between 40nm and 7nm for digital use being designed in-house and made by Taiwans TSMC. Also read | Execution challenges may weigh on L&T's growth prospects Mixed-signal digital process for power and analogue chips, ranging between 130 nm and 28 nm, on silica are being made by Global Foundries in the US. Silicon carbide chips are being made by two Japanese partners while chips for radio frequency and power devices based on gallium nitride will be made by Global Foundries and Taiwans VIS Technologies, Kumar said. He added that employee count has risen to 200 in the past six months and will go up to 500 by February 2025, across India, US, Europe and Japan. Pivot to technology L&Ts semiconductor business was set up in 2023 with a capital outlay of 830 crore for fabless chip design, as part of the engineering-to-construction conglomerates pivot to becoming more technology-led under chairman and managing director S.N. Subrahmanyan, who took over the reins from A.M. Naik in 2017. Also read | Google sees India crucial for its overall biz, slashes prices of Pixel phones L&T has also entered data centres, electrolyser manufacturing, and battery energy storage businesses, all of which are next-generation high-tech businesses. Green businesses contributed half of the groups standalone revenues in FY24. While the semiconductor division was new in a market dominated by the likes of Qualcomm, NXP and others, Kumar said that L&Ts long-standing track record combined with the products it is co-developing with clients will help it win deals and ensure a robust sales pipeline. New Delhi: Scaling up the local manufacturing of its Pixel range of smartphones in India carries strategic importance for Google, given the country's significance in the company's overall business, a senior official of the American tech giant said on Tuesday. The companys range of Pixel 8 series and 7a smartphones will see price reductions in line with Indias move to lower import duties on smartphones, as announced in the Union budget for FY25 on 23 July, Nanda Ramachandran, global vice-president of Googles mobile business, said. Read this | Better deals, bigger discounts: Smartphone market preps for festival revival There is a big impact (of local manufacturing) that offers us a cost benefit on our hardware, which we can then pass on to our buyers. But, more importantly, having manufacturing capabilities in India has regulatory importance in todays scheme of things. India's manufacturing ecosystem has also considerably developed, and there is increasing sophistication in the domestic supply chain ecosystem, which we can leverage going forward," Ramachandran told Mint. His statement came on the sidelines of the global unveiling of Google's latest smartphonesthe Pixel 9 series. This is the first time that the company launched its entire portfolio of new smartphones, as well as accessories such as the Pixel Watch 3 smartwatch and and Pixel Buds Pro 2 pair of earphones, in India. Growing interest in India The move marks Google's growing interest in India, where the Pixel phones have never quite taken off the way Apple has succeeded in the past two years with its iPhones, or Samsung with its Galaxy Z/S lineups of flagship smartphones. According to Tarun Pathak, director at market research firm Counterpoint India, Googles share as of last year was a meagre 0.25% of the domestic smartphone market. For reference, more than 150 million smartphones were sold in India last year, and the country has an estimated 750 million active smartphone users as of the first half of this year. More here | 5G smartphones at 8000: The push for digital India Google, therefore, sold less than 400,000 units of its Pixel phones in India last year. Pathak said that in the first six months of this year, Googles sales of the Pixel smartphones rose to 0.4%thus selling around 275,000 units so far. Make in India On Monday, Google also announced through its official social media platforms that the first batch of made-in-India Pixel 8 smartphones were ready to be shipped to distributors and retailers. Ramachandran added on Tuesday that going forward, the Pixel 8a is the next in line to be assembled out of a Chennai plant. As of now, we dont have a timeline for when the Pixel 9 series will be built in India as well. But on overall terms, our approach will be to bring the best of our offerings to India, and building locally does help in cost benefit as well as building scale in the India marketboth of which well do going forward," he said. This has sparked optimism among some. We expect sales of Googles Pixel devices in India to grow 3x within one year. The generative AI and camera capabilities are likely to boost momentum for Google, and channel expansion and local manufacturing mean better pricing. Enterprises could be a key customer for Google as well," said Counterpoints Pathak. Googles hardware business The cost benefit for Googles hardware business is also coming from Indias recent reduction of import duties on mobile phones, printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs) and chargers of phones. The Union budget reduced the duties from 20% to 15%. Ramachandran said that this has led to a reduction of prices for Googles entire range of Pixel 8 smartphones, as well as the Pixel 7a. The price revision is to the tune of 4.5-6.5% across all eligible deviceswhich are now cheaper by between 2,000 and 7,000. Many others, however, arent convinced that hardware will be a key factor for Googleand its local manufacturing claims are more strategic than functional. A senior industry consultant who works with multiple smartphone brands said on condition of anonymity, If you look at the India market, Google hasnt managed to scale to even 1 million units per year, while Apple has proved that it is possible to build a viable premium business in India, especially today. This is because hardware is not Googles primary bread and buttersmartphones account for a mid-single-digit percentage of Googles parent Alphabets net global revenue. For Google, its about throwing their weight behind the Centres local manufacturing push. This puts them in a favourable position because so far, Google was the only brand that was entirely importing its hardware from abroad." Also read | The big picture behind Google's largest acquisition failure Google on Tuesday also officially launched for the first time in India its foldable smartphone, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, priced at 172,999. The latter joins an increasing number of foldable smartphones in the country from brands such as Samsung, OnePlus, Vivo, Oppo and Motorolaand ranks Google as the most expensive of the bunch alongside market leader, Samsung. Hotel rates in Goa, a popular holiday destination for domestic travellers, have soared by 30 per cent ahead of the upcoming long Independence Day-Raksha Bandhan weekend. While Bangalore and Mumbai are also popular choices, data from travel sites have shown only a 15 per cent increase in hotel prices at these locations. Both Independence Day and the Parsi New Year fall on August 15, which is a Thursday this year. On the other hand, Raksha Bandhan falls on Monday, leaving only one business day, i.e., Friday, in between. Several travellers either take a leave or prefer working remotely to stitch this day into a long holiday or staycation, leading to a surge in hotel prices. Goa may not' be on the go Data from online booking portals such as Sky Scanner, Make My Trip, and Yatra.com show that an average hotel in Goa costs anywhere between 2,700 and 3,000 for a nights stay. Also Read | Will India celebrate 77th or 78th Independence Day this year? Explained However, the same stay during the Independence Day weekend will cost you 30 per cent more, as the average rates have gone up by 1000 to clock around 3,500-4,000. Mumbai, Bangalore not far behind Hotel prices for other popular destinations such as Mumbai and Bangalore spiked by 15 per cent. Room rates for the Independence Day weekend were up by an average of 400 in these cities, compared to the 1,000 spike in Goa hotels. Travel trails and domestic destinations Meanwhile, Airbnb, which offers homestay experiences across the globe, has also reported a 340 per cent Y-o-Y increase in domestic searches for stays. According to the company data, Goa, Mumbai, Bangalore, Lonavala, and Puducherry have emerged as the top domestic destinations ahead of the long holiday weekend. Gautam Singhania is a man of few words. For instance, when pressed for details on his mid-term plans for the 99-year-old Raymond Group, the 58-year-old third-generation promoter repeats a cryptic phrase: Create shareholder value". How does he plan to do that? We have a game plan on how to do that. But we'll talk about it when the time is right." While Singhania is guarded about the finer details, the broad contours involve growing the lifestyle division's white-label garmenting business, expanding retail footprint and adding new product categories, scaling the real estate and engineering businesses, and eventually, splitting the group into three listed companies. Raymond-branded apparel sold in India are made by the company's suppliers; at the same time, Raymond contract-manufactures garments for foreign brands, often called white-label garmenting. Following a playbook The company is closely following a playbook that Singhania and his lieutenants created at the outset of the pandemic outbreak. Back then, shuttered stores had dried up Raymonds cash flows. Debt piled up. The chief executive of the companys flagship lifestyle business resigned. The top brains at Raymond then connected over Zoom calls to come up with the following planbe among the top three companies in all businesses, exit those where they couldnt be among the top three, reduce debt, and demerge the conglomerate once debt is under control. In 2020, we created a roadmap for a seven-year period," said Amit Agarwal, chief financial officer of the Raymond Group. The following four years have been well-documented. Raymond sold its fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) business to Godrej Consumer Products, used the money to repay lenders, acquired engineering firm Maini Precision Products Ltd (MPPL) to scale its engineering business, launched multiple real estate projects, and finally set the wheels in motion for the demerger of its three businesses lifestyle, engineering and real estate. Stock surge The markets have rewarded the companys efforts. The Raymond stock doubled between the beginning of this year and July to over 3,150, before the lifestyle business was carved out. The stock has lost over 10% since the carve-out, closing at 1,894 on Monday. That was a heavy monkey on our back," Singhania said, referring to the debt reduction effort. "But you know what? Today, there's a different monkey on our back," Singhania said in an interview at his palatial South Mumbai residential tower that also houses Raymonds flagship store. Today, our whole drive is: How do we create shareholder value? How do we grow? What is the next big thing?" he said. The next big thing Today, with a healthier balance sheet, Raymond is executing the next chapter from its playbook: Expansion. The plan will play out differently across the three business verticals. At the lifestyle business, which is soon to be listed as a separate company, Raymond Lifestyle Ltd, Singhania sees great potential in making garments for the west. It is in the middle of an expansion that would see its annual manufacturing capacity rise from just under 8 million to 11 million garments. Singhania eyes the political turmoil in Bangladesh, the sub-continent's leading garments exporter, as an opportunity. I think it's a very big opportunity for India and especially companies like us, which are giving a total integrated solution," he said. Maybe God played a part in it. We've just completed our expansion; so, we have capacities available to take advantage." Raymond is focusing on expanding its store footprint, adding new categories like mens innerwear and sleepwear, and relying on its core suiting fabrics business. Raymond plans to open 500 stores in the next three years, including multi-brand retail outlets, according to Agarwal. The company's legacy engineering business was revitalized with the acquisition of Maini Precision Products last year. Raymond's ageing product range that included files and gears doubled with the addition of new categories including aerospace, defence and electric vehicles components. The company is looking to scale the aerospace and defence businesses which have been placed under a separate company within the engineering business, Agarwal said. Raymond will amortize its 100-acre Thane land parcel by 2032-33, according to Agarwal. Currently, about 40 acres is under development. The remaining 60 acres should be sufficient to build about 7 mn. sq. ft of saleable real estate, resulting in revenue of 16,000-18,000 crore over the next 7-8 years. However, to diversify the business beyond the captive land parcel, the company has entered into joint development agreements in Mumbai. Under this asset-light model, properties are developed in partnership with their owners. The company is exploring expansion into Pune under the same model, Agarwal said. The company expects to get the necessary regulatory approvals for demerging the real estate business by next year. Raymond has been walking the talk with regards to strategic value creation by selling the FMCG business, demerging the lifestyle business, shaping the real estate business, and establishing an engineering unit Newco after the MPPL acquisition," analysts at Motilal Oswal noted last week. With the planned separation of the real estate and engineering businesses, the company can focus on individual growth strategies for both businesses led by professional management, they noted. Also read | The complete man & woman: Lessons from Raymond Singhania and Agarwal stressed that professionals running the show will be an integral part of the Raymond groups expansion plan. For instance, Gautam Maini, the founder of Maini Precision, has been retained to lead Raymonds consolidated engineering business as its chief executive. I think that is a very unique combination which we got. We got a promoter, who became also the manager of the business, and he drives it entrepreneurially with the resources and capital of Raymond," Agarwal said. When asked what Singhanias role will be as the promoter, he said, Only shareholder value creation. That's my only focus." Shares of Starbucks Corp zoomed 24 per cent to hit their biggest intraday gain on record, adding over $20 billion in market capitalization after the world's biggest multinational coffee chain announced that it has named Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc 's head, Brian Niccol, as its new chief executive officer (CEO)just over a year after current boss Laxman Narasimhan took over the role. Narasimhan, 57, is stepping down from his role as CEO and a member of the Starbucks board with immediate effect''. In a statement on August 13, the Seattle-based coffee giant said that Niccol will start in his new role on September 9, with Starbucks chief financial officer (CFO) Rachel Ruggeri serving as interim CEO until then. On Tuesday, shares of Chipotle dropped by as much as 14 per cent, losing a little more than $10 billion in value, while Starbucks emerged as the top performer on the S&P 500. The management move flipped the fortunes of two of Americas largest restaurant chains. Starbucks said in its statement that outgoing CEO Narasimhan, during his tenure, improved the Starbucks partner experience, drove significant innovation in brand's supply chain, and enhanced our store operations.'' Chipotle's Niccol will become only the sixth CEO at Starbucks over its 50-plus-year history, with founder and chairman emeritus Howard Schultz leading the company for 23 years in three separate stints. I am excited to join Starbucks and grateful for the opportunity to help steward this incredible company alongside hundreds of thousands of devoted partners, said Niccol. Starbucks coffee operations - Sweet or sour? The leadership shifts come as Starbucks, struggling with weak demand and disgruntled investors, pushes to turn around its business while contending with broad-based sales declines in its most recent financial results. The company also saw a bruising April earnings report. Starbucks previously cited weakening consumer sentiment and tough market conditions in China as factors in its troubles. Before the CEO change, Starbucks shares plunged 20 per cent this year, and the chain posted two straight quarters of comparable sales declines. The stores have been struggling to attract consumers, who are more hesitant to spend on pricey lattes. Starbucks recently tweaked its model to focus on mobile pickup and delivery orders rather than cafes set up for long visits. In May, days after Starbucks cut its annual sales forecast, Schultz wrote on his LinkedIn account that its US operations were the "primary reason for its fall from grace" and that senior leaders needed to spend more time with workers. In late July, Starbucks reported a six per cent decline in US comparable transactions for its most recent quarter. Starbucks has also been contending with pressure from activist investor Elliott Investment Management, which had built a $2-billion stake and sought ways to boost the share price. The hedge fund had suggested Starbucks expand its board and make Elliott executive Jesse Cohn a director, though it was not demanding a CEO change. Elliott, along with Starboard Value, amassed stakes in the company. While Elliott hasnt outlined specific asks of Starbucks, many of its targets have changed management after its involvement. The coffee giant has been under pressure from activist investors to improve its business and has suffered from increased competition and weakening demand in the US and China. Also Read: Offshore funds named in Hindenburg report against SEBI chief not domiciled in Mauritius: FSC Narasimhan's tenure at Starbucks Narasimhan took over the helm at Starbucks in March 2023, succeeding Schultzs third stint as CEO. Schultz had retaken the reins a year earlier when Kevin Johnson retired. Schultz had led Starbucks expansion in the 80s and 90s before stepping down as CEO in 2000. He returned to the role eight years later and led the company until Johnson took over in 2017. Narasimhan, a longtime PepsiCo executive, has also served as the CEO of Reckitt, a UK-based consumer health company. The Indian-origin executive was originally brought in as CEO in 2023 to engineer a "reinvention" of the leading coffee chain. Since then, the stock has continued to falter, losing nearly one-quarter of its value. Under Narasimhan, Starbucks moved away from Schultz's tough stance on Workers United, the union seeking to organize its US workforce. In February, the chain announced talks that began a national contract negotiating process for the more than 400 unionized stores. Niccole expected to strike while coffee is hot Niccol joined Chipotle from Taco Bell on March 5, 2018, and helped the company overcome salmonella and E.coli outbreaks at several outlets. Several analysts hailed the successful fast-food executive as the top public restaurant CEO in the US. He is known for reviving the burrito chain as Chipotle's stock has more than tripled over the last five years, surging 773 per cent since Niccol took over as CEO. Starbucks shares are up just 35 per cent for the same period, while the S&P 500 has gained 99 per cent. Investor Elliott welcomed Niccols appointment, which it called "a transformational step forward" for the company. "We look forward to continuing our engagement with the Board as it works toward realising Starbucks' full potential," Elliott said in a statement. We are thrilled to welcome Brian to Starbucks. His phenomenal career speaks for itself. Brian is a culture carrier with a wealth of experience and a proven track record of driving innovation and growth. Like all of us at Starbucks, he understands that a remarkable customer experience is rooted in an exceptional partner experience, said Starbucks board chair Mellody Hobson as the company announced the leadership changes. Also Read: Starbucks is finally past its Howard Schultz era Niccol joined Chipotle at a time when the chain faced backlash following a string of food safety issues and activist pressure from the likes of Bill Ackman. The company has been a bright spot in the struggling restaurant industry, but it has outperformed competitors in recent quarters by bringing in diners even as others reel from a drop in demand. Under Niccol, the Mexican chain started investing in store remodels, faster service times and a fresh marketing campaign. He also partnered with DoorDash to capture diners who prefer delivery and added new menu items embracing diet trends. Chipotle's revenue has nearly doubled, and profits have increased nearly sevenfold under Niccol's leadership. Since becoming Chipotles CEO in 2018, Niccol has transformed the international chain of fast-casual restaurants specialising in Mexican cuisine. His focus on people and culture, brand, menu innovation, operational excellence, and digital transformation has set new standards in the industry,'' said Starbucks in its statement. Schultz said he has long admired Niccol. I believe he is the leader Starbucks needs at a pivotal moment in its history. He has my respect and full support, Schultz said in a statement. Before joining Chipotle, Niccol was the CEO of Taco Bell for three years. He met success courting crowds with indulgent dishes such as Doritos Locos Tacos and A.M. Crunch Wraps. When he was named CEO of Chipotle, investors, including Ackman, welcomed the change. Airfares across popular routes have shot up by as much as 50% for the upcoming Independence Day weekend, flight booking data showed, as travellers stitch together multiple holidays for extended vacations. Independence Day and the Parsi New Year fall on 15 August, a Thursday, while Rakshabandhan falls on Monday. Many travellers seek to work remotely or take a day's leave on Friday to enjoy a lengthy five-day holiday, sparking a rush for flights. Airfares have also jumped due to the slow pace of new aircraft joining India's fleet, even as travel demand leaps ahead. "Indians are travelling like never before and spontaneously. Theres been a surge in bookings for the two weekends for domestic as well as short-haul international sectors," said Ajay Prakash, board member, FAITH (Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality). The resultant increase in airfares might daunt some but younger travellers dont hesitate to use their credit cards or choose fly-now-pay-later options." Also read | Why you're paying more for flying from these airports On travel portal Cleartrip, domestic airfares for the long weekend starting Independence Day have spiked 50% on year for travelling to Bengaluru, 9% for Delhi, over 30% for Srinagar, and nearly 20% for Leh. Similarly, ticket prices are up 17% on average for the period around Janmashtami. Travel portal ixigo has also seen prices rise for flights between metro cities during the two long weekends in August. For an advance booking, the average one-way fare for August 14-20 between Delhi and Pune has risen to over 5,200, a jump of 23% from a year earlier. Similarly, a Bengaluru-Kochi ticket now costs around 3,500, a 46% spike from a year ago. Pickup in August While air traffic slowed in July on account of monsoon, travel picked up in August. Latest data from the civil aviation ministry shows that 451,567 passengers took 3,029 flights on 11 August, around 7% above the average daily count in July. Industry executives said delayed aircraft deliveries and shortage of spare parts means capacity hasnt kept pace with demand, driving fares higher during the peak travel seasons. Improved pricing power has resulted in better yield -- or revenue earned per paying passenger flown per kilometre -- for airlines compared to the pre-covid levels, ratings agency ICRA said, while maintaining a stable outlook for the Indian aviation industry. Indians are not just planning domestic travel during the long weekend. Indian expats are using the opportunity to create extended breaks of three to five days to travel home and celebrate with their families, said Indiver Rastogi, president & group head, global business travel, Thomas Cook (India) and SOTC Travel. This is noticeable given the uptick from metros to tier 2-3 airports." Going abroad, too Booking.com said Indians are also considering international destinations for the long weekend. According to the portals data, while 65% of Indian travellers are seeking short domestic trips, nearly half (44%) plan to fly abroad over the four days. Destinations such as Dubai, Bangkok, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur are witnessing a 30-70% year-on-year growth," said Santosh Kumar, country manager for India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Indonesia at Booking.com. For Thomas Cook, flight searches are on the rise for Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Given the rising trend of short-haul travel among Indians, these holidays do lead to a sudden spike in demand for air tickets," said Rajiv Mehra, president, Indian Association of Tour Operators. "However, we see it being confined to international travel or to those cities in India that are not impacted by heavy rains." Central and state authorities will launch a two-month-long nationwide drive against fake goods and services tax (GST) registrations to weed out bogus entities used for evading tax, showed an official order from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC). The drive, which will run from 16 August to 15 October, seeks to detect suspicious or fake GST registrations and conduct thorough verification to weed out entities engaging in fake invoicing, according to the order. If it is found that a taxpayer is non-existent and fictitious, immediate action will be taken tosuspend and canceltheirGST registration. Also, steps will be taken to block input tax credits given and availed of based on fake invoices without any delay, the order said. The details of the recipients to whom input tax credits have been passed by such non-existent taxpayers may be identified through the details furnished in tax return forms relating to sales, the order said. Steps will be taken to recover the input tax credits wrongly used by the business that used fake invoices without any underlying supply of goods or services. The drive has been planned after a similar effort last year was found to be effective in checking tax evasion. Menace of face invoicing Entities issuing fake invoices have been a headache for the tax authorities as they game the indirect tax system in which businesses can offset their final tax liability or part of it using credit for the taxes paid on raw materials and services used in their operations. The technology-intensive nature of GST and the formalisation of the economy has, however, helped the authorities in the battle against those dealing with fake invoices. Experts said the second all-India drive against fake GST registrations is a significant step towards ensuring the integrity of the GST system. By identifying and eliminating fraudulent GST Identification Numbers, the drive will help protect the revenue base, ensure fair competition, and restore confidence in the tax regime," said Rajat Mohan, executive director at accounting and advisory firm Moore Singhi. Mohan said businesses must maintain transparency and compliance. While the previous drive in 2023 was acknowledged as effective, it would have been more impactful if the government had shared specific data on the number of cases of tax evasion identified, the amount of tax recovered, and the prosecutions initiated. Detailed outcomes would provide a clearer picture of the drive's success and justify the need for continued efforts." This extended drive underscores the ongoing importance of robust data analytics and inter-agency coordination in effectively tackling tax evasion and highlights the government's commitment to maintaining a clean and fair tax environment, said Mohan. It is possible that genuine businesses may sometimes get unwarranted attention from the tax authorities for having done business with entities that are not genuine. A government official explained that businesses have to be very mindful of the credibility of the entities they engage with. Transacting in goods and services without invoice by GST-registered entities and issuing invoices without making supply of underlying goods and services attract regulatory scrutiny. The problem, however, is not new. Even in the pre-GST regime, fake invoices were a challenge for the tax authorities. Various agencies, including the income tax department and the CBIC now share data to detect mismatches and zero in on instances of tax evasion. Also, matching data relating to e-way bills or electronic permits required to ship goods and the data captured by toll plazas from vehicles help detect information mismatches and tax evasion. New Delhi: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday that taxes could be lowered if not for the resources required for meeting severe challenges such as climate change that are confronting the country. Speaking at the eleventh convocation of Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Bhopal, the finance minister said that in spite of not receiving any external funds for energy transition, India had financed its clean energy initiatives on its own and is leading the pathan effort that requires domestic resource mobilization. Had it not been for the challenges facing the country, taxes could have been kept lower, the minister suggested. The government was widely critcized on social media and by opposition parties after Sitharaman's annual budget presented in July made no proposal to bring down taxes. Also Read: We need better information on the impact of climate change Being the finance minister, it doesn't give me motivation when I have to answer people about why are our taxes like this? Why can't it be lower than this? I wish I can bring it down to almost nil, but India's challenges are severe and the challenges will have to be overcome, the minister said. Sitharaman explained that India has to show leadership in advanced chemistry-related innovations in order to move ahead in storing energy generated by renewable sources. The government has invested heavily in this, the minister said. India made several commitments to moving towards renewable energy India is a leader in implementing the global commitments given in various climate-related conferences including in Paris, UAE and Scotland, the minister said. India made a lot of commitments to moving towards renewable energy. But the challenge in that is we have put our own resources. The world promised a lot of my money towards transitioning from fossil fuel to renewable energy, but that money is yet to come. But India didn't wait. The promises given in Paris have all been fulfilled with our own funds, the minister said. Also Read: Taxes increased because: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman opens up on Budget 2024 The Green Climate Fund, set up in 2010 as a dedicated financing vehicle for developing countries, serves as the financial mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement. Since the approval of the first project funding in 2015, GCF has built a portfolio of more than 100 projects, the Fund says on its website. However, such global efforts have been hobbled by a lack of financing by rich industrialized nations, in spite of their historic role in creating climate change. As per information available from the ministry of environment, forest and climate change, India has met two of its climate goals ahead of timereducing the emission intensity of the economy by a third from 2005 levels and having two-fifth of its power generation from non-fossil fuels. How safe are workers in the factories of automotive supply chain firms and automobile brands and is there a need to relook at safety protocols on the shop floor? The number of accidents in automotive supply chain firms increased from 799 in FY2021-22 and 1,345 in FY2022-23 to 1,597 in FY2023-24, according to a study by Safe In India (SII)an organization focusing on the safety of automotive industry workers. However, industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam), strongly refutes any allegations and says every safety incident cannot be traced to the vehicle manufacturer. "More than 60% of the crush injuries are on the power press machines. We would like the automobile brands to improve power press safety mechanisms and working conditions through training and audit," Sandeep Sachdeva, co-founder and chief executive officer of SII, told Mint. He noted that the garment and metal sectors were other industries where accidents occurred. Safety rules followed However, Siam refutes any allegations that safety rules are violated in a large way. "All our members are highly committed and sensitive to worker health and safety. They have undertaken several programmes and interventions to enhance worker safety within their plants and suppliers," said Rajesh Menon, director general, Siam, in a response to Mint. "It is important to understand that every vehicle manufacturer would have a few hundred direct (Tier I) suppliers, thousands of Tier II suppliers, and many thousands of Tier III suppliers. It is wrong to attribute the safety incidents of Tier II or Tier III suppliers to the vehicle manufacturer. Read more: Low battery: The biggest challenge hindering all-electric cab company BluSmart Safety is a no-compromise parameter for Maruti Suzuki, the company spokesperson said. The company is committed to fostering a robust safety culture, driven by active engagement from both the leadership led by the MD & CEO and the frontline employees. Ensuring safe working environment requires continuous improvement, for which participative decision making is one of the key factors. Last year, the front-line workers provided over 230,000 suggestions to enhance safety efforts in their respective areas. Also, over 12,000 employees were trained during the year on various facets of safety. The company also encourages its workers to report near-miss incidents. This led to reporting of 934 near-miss incidents in FY24 for which the company has implemented suitable countermeasures. Our efforts ensured zero fatalities due to work-related injuries in FY2024, the Maruti Suzuki spokesperson said. Most of these injured workers are/were on contract, earning less than 15,000 per month, for mostly 12-hour shifts, 6 days a week, for these high-risk jobs and 67% had lost a part of their body to the accident, changing their lives forever, the report said. Challenges But, the Automotive Components Manufacturers' Association (Acma) has not negated the challenges. "Although many of these incidents take place in the informal sector at tier-III suppliers who are not Acma members, it is important to acknowledge the challenges of the manufacturing industry. If there are accidents happening, it is important the industry adopts best business practices across the value chain," Vinnie Mehta, director general, Acma, said. "We need to be cognizant of the issue see and collaborate with the government to identify the next steps in addressing this problem." The Maruti Suzuki spokesperson added that since the companys supply chain is vast, and the suppliers are independent companies the company can lead by example and use our influence as a buyer to promote safety. As a responsible corporate, Maruti Suzuki will continue to reward Tier-1 suppliers who actively work for improvement of Safety at Tier-2 suppliers. Our supplier assessment model incorporates regular measurement and audit of safety practices and award of business has been made contingent to their meeting the requisite safety standards. Read more: Uttar Pradesh to retain tax waiver for hybrids despite opposition from EV makers SII notes that since 2016, it has assisted 8,000-plus injured workers, mainly in Haryana and Maharashtra, of which 6,000-plus were in the automobile sector. The report highlighted that this issue is widespread in other auto sector hubs like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan. Safety culture "Safety as a culture is yet to percolate deep within the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and the vendors," said Aditya Narayan Mishra, CEO of CIEL HR Services, a staffing firm, which recruits workers for manufacturing companies. Although the training and steps taken to ensure safety have improved, more needs to be done. Often the employees on the floor are overworked, unaware of their health hazards and attention, because of the long hours, gets impacted. No brand has taken any significant national corrective action for their deeper supply chain (training, audits & proactive actions), said the study. Only three brands (Bajaj, Maruti Suzuki, and Tata Motors) monitor even their Tier 1 for even one of the following: appointment letters for workers, ESIC registration and accident and injury reporting, according to the study. In 2019, Maruti Suzuki by collaborating with Tier-1 suppliers improved human safety at Tier-2 suppliers, those are involved in plastic moulding and sheet metal operations. Nearly 340 such Tier-2 suppliers were audited and improvement was done in nearly 6,000 machines by adding various controls such as Two-Hand Push Buttons, Curtain Sensors, Cam Guards, and Safety Doors, among others. These suppliers were audited by Tier-1s to verify the implementation of countermeasures on all machines. Some of them were also audited by Maruti Suzuki on a sample basis. Besides, Tier-1 suppliers were advised to ensure safety at their suppliers continually. Recently, Maruti Suzuki along with its Tier-I supplier partners have again undertaken a comprehensive human safety audit of around 1,500 Tier-II suppliers. The audits have begun and the gap areas at the audited suppliers have been identified. A joint improvement plan is being devised in collaboration with Tier-I and Tier-II suppliers. New Delhi: Vodafone Ideas discussions with the government to take additional equity in the telco as part of the reforms package were independent of the Centres decision to sell its holding, according to the chief executive officer of the telecom operator. The government as a public shareholder is free to make decisions about its investments, chief executive officer Akshaya Moondra said in response to a query after Indias Not. 3 carrier announced results for the first quarter of FY25. "The only thing I would add to that is that whether the government continues with their shareholding or divests gradually or whatever they may decide to do is independent of what their policy is. The Financial Express reported last week that the government had approached sovereign wealth fundsAbu Dhabi Investment Authority, Qatar Investment Authority, and Singapores Temasekto see if they were interested in buying its 23.8% stake. The conversion of debt to equity was a way to support the balance sheet of the company and the policy of the government remains the same, Moondra said. What they do with their public shareholding, which it is, that is their decision. The reforms package was announced primarily to have three healthy private operators, he said. Vodafone Ideas obligations to the government stand at 2.09 trillion, including a deferred spectrum payment of 1.39 trillion and an adjusted gross revenue liability of 70,320 crore. The carriers losses narrowed to 6,434 crore for the quarter ended June 2024, from 7,674 crore the year before. Revenue shrunk to 10,508 crore from 10,606 crore, even as it recorded 12 consecutive quarters of 4G subscriber additions taking its 4G base to 126.7 million. Average revenue per user, a key metric of profitability, improved 4.2% on-year to 146 for the No 3 carrier with 210 million subscribers, but it remained flat on a sequential basis. Also read | No gain for Vodafone Idea from parent's 18% stake sale in Indus Towers The Aditya Birla Group-promoted carrier said that it was in talks with lenders to secure debt funding of 35,000 crore to expand its networks. The unprofitable telco raised 24,500 crore over last few months through Indias largest FPO, giving equity worth 2,460 crore to its equipment vendors Nokia and Ericsson in lieu of pending dues, and issuing preferential equity shares worth 2,080 crore its promoter group. The carrier, along with rivals Airtel and Jio, raised tariffs by 10-21% across the board, which Moondra said was a step towards better return on investment and to improve cash generation to support the large investment requirements. Moondra said that immediately after the hikes, portouts to BSNL increased. The reason for that is, of course, that they have not increased their tariffs, so there is a fair amount of arbitrage. However, we are watching the space, he said. Also read | The Musk factor driving the Vodafone Idea stock He also expected that 4G customers used to good coverage to return. State-run BSNL has yet to commercially launch 4G and 5G services across India. While the secondary market has experienced intermittent slowdowns in the current year, the primary market has shown relentless vigor, consistently driving forward with robust activitya pattern that has remained steadfast since 2023. This sustained momentum has turned the Indian IPO market into a global investment hotspot. In the first half of 2024, India led the world in IPO activity, a trend that has been continuing in the second half of the year as well. In July alone, 31 companies listed their shares on the secondary market, and in just the first two weeks of August, 19 companies (including Brainbees Solutions and Unicommerce eSolutions) have raised funds from the primary market, with 18 of them now trading above their issue price, according to Trendlyne data. Mainboard segment sees mega raises In the mainboard segment, five companies have raised a total of 13,725 crore, with Ola Electric Mobility leading the pack by raising 6,145.6 crore, followed by Brainbees Solutions at 4,193.7 crore, and Ceigall India at 1,252.7 crore. In the SME segment, 14 companies raised a total of 522.8 crore in the first 2 weeks of the current month. When combined with the mainboard segment, the total funds raised across both segments reached 14,247 crore. Most of these IPOs received stellar investor interest, with 13 out of 19 achieving subscription rates exceeding 100%. Notably, SA Tech Software's IPO was subscribed 558 times, followed by Trom Industries at 430 times. Among the top performers, Rajputana Industries shares are currently trading 142% above their issue price, while Afcom Holdings stock is trading 109% higher than its IPO price. The strong momentum in the IPO market has been primarily driven by retail investors, who have been encouraged by a robust secondary market and easier access to offerings through online platforms, often resulting in significant oversubscription. This surge in IPO activity has also attracted global corporations seeking to go public in India. Hyundai India, for instance, plans to raise $3 billion through its IPO, potentially becoming the largest in India at a valuation of up to $30 billion. Similarly, LG and several other international companies are also preparing for public listings in India. Meanwhile, investors have been showing a notable interest in small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which have garnered significant attention and enthusiasm. According to data from Trendlyne, 153 companies went public in the first half of FY24, with 117 of themrepresenting 77%coming from the SME segment. This marks a 67% increase compared to the same period last year, when 70 SME companies raised funds from the capital market. The Draft Red Herring Prospectuses (DRHPs) of several companies indicate that the primary goals for raising funds include repaying debt, financing expansion projects, and meeting working capital requirements. IPO frenzy likely to continue According to Pantomath, the IPO market is currently characterised by a blend of new entrants and established firms seeking capital through public offerings, highlighting a varied investor appetite. While some IPOs have received only moderate interest, others have been heavily oversubscribed, demonstrating the wide range of investor enthusiasm. Recent updates on IPO performances show a strong trend in listings, with several stocks debuting at a premium. This positive trend has enhanced investor confidence, resulting in greater engagement with upcoming IPOs. It projects that strong IPO activity will persist in the latter half of the current year, fueled by an increase in liquidity events. The robust economic growth in India is a major catalyst, supporting business expansion and enhancing investor confidence. In a positive development for Adani Group stocks, global index provider Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) has announced the removal of the restrictions in the treatment of Adani Group shares. The move comes amid ongoing scrutiny in Adani Group following the Hindenburg Research allegations. In its August 2024 Index Review, MSCI said it will resume normal operations and implementation of the index review, including changes in the Number of Shares (NOS), Foreign Inclusion Factor (FIF) and Domestic Inclusion Factor (DIF) of Adani Group and associated securities. MSCI will also resume the regular implementation of corporate events for these securities effective September 2, 2024, it said in a release. These changes will take effect at the close of August 30 and will be fully implemented by September 2. However, MSCI said it will continue to closely monitor the Adani Group and associated securities, particularly concerning their free float status. The index provider stated that it would issue further communication if necessary, indicating that the group remains under observation. In February 2023, MSCI had suspended certain adjustments to Adani Group securities amid concerns about the free float status of these stocks and deferred the implementation of non-neutral corporate events. MSCIs latest announcement is for its Global Standard Index. The Adani Group stocks that are part of the MSCI Global Standard Index are Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports & SEZ, Adani Green Energy, Adani Power, and Ambuja Cements. Additionally, MSCI August review also saw reduction of weightage of Adani Enterprises and Ambuja Cements in its Standard Index. MSCI August Review MSCI also announced the inclusion of seven stocks - RVNL, Vodafone Idea, Dixon Technologies (India), Oil India, Oracle Financial, Prestige Estates and Zydus Lifesciences - in the MSCI India Index. Hindenburg vs SEBI: The Financial Services Commission (FSC) of Mauritius announced on Tuesday, August 13 that the offshore funds mentioned in the latest Hindenburg investigative report against the SEBI chairperson, are not domiciled in the Island nation. The Mauritious regulator also clarified that it does not permit the creation of shell companies. In a statement, FSC said it had taken cognizance of the contents of the report published by Hindenburg Research on August 10, 2024, wherein mention has been made of 'Mauritius-based shell entities' and Mauritius as a 'tax haven'. The report of Hindenburg has further cited 'IPE Plus Fund' is a small offshore Mauritius Fund, and 'IPE Plus Fund 1, a fund registered in Mauritius'. We wish to clarify that IPE Plus Fund and IPE Plus Fund 1 are not licensees of the FSC and are not domiciled in Mauritius, said FSC in its statement. On August 10, the US-based short seller Hindenburg Research had alleged that Madhabi Puri Buch, chairpperson of capital markets regulator Securities and Exchnage Board of India (SEBI), and her husband opened an account in 2015 with a wealth management firm in Singapore to invest an undisclosed sum of money in a Mauritius-registered offshoot of a Bermuda-based fund. The Mauritian fund was run by an Adani Group director, and its ultimate parent was the vehicle used by two Adani associates to round-trip funds and inflate the conglomerate's stock prices. Today, the FSC - which is the integrated regulator for the non-bank financial services sector and global business, denied the fund being registered in Mauritius. Hindenburg vs SEBI: Mauritius FSC's clarification FSC said the legislative framework in Mauritius does not permit the creation of shell companies. "Mauritius has a robust framework for global business companies. All global business companies licensed by the FSC have to meet substance requirements on an ongoing basis as per section 71 of the Financial Services Act, which the FSC strictly monitors," said FSC. FSC also stated that Mauritius strictly complies with international best practices and has been rated as completely compliant with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) standards. "As per the peer review conducted by the OECD Forum on Harmful Tax Practices, the OECD is satisfied that Mauritius has no harmful features in its tax regimes, thus recognising Mauritius as a well-regulated, transparent and compliant jurisdiction. Therefore, Mauritius cannot be termed a tax haven," it added. Hindenburg vs SEBI Shortly after the Hindenburg report released on Saturday, SEBI chief and her husband Dhaval Buch denied the allegations, terming them baseless and an attempted character assassination. In its report, Hindenburg alleged that Madhabi Puri Buch and Dhaval Buch had invested in IPE Plus Fund 1, registered in Mauritius, and Global Dynamic Opportunities Fund, based in Bermuda. It added that a company controlled by Vinod Adani had invested in the Global Dynamic Opportunities Fund which then invested in IPE Plus Fund 1, a fund whose founder and chief investment officer was Anil Ahuja, who had served as a director of Adani's flagship company, Adani Enterprises. Vinod is the elder brother of billionaire Gautam Adani - chairman of the ports-to-power conglomerate. We suspect SEBI's unwillingness to take meaningful action against suspect offshore shareholders in the Adani Group may stem from Madhabi Buchs complicity in using the exact same funds used by Vinod Adani, brother of Gautam Adani, wrote Hindenburg. The short seller made these claims citing documents received from a whistleblower including a funds declaration statement for IPE Plus Fund 1, signed by a principal at IIFL, which manages these schemes. The statement said that the source of the investment is salary and the couples net worth was estimated at $10 million, back in 2015. In their joint statement, Madhabi Puri Buch and Dhaval Buch said, In the context of allegations made in the Hindenburg Report dated 10 August 2024 against us, we would like to state that we strongly deny the baseless allegations and insinuations made in the report. The same are devoid of any truth. Our life and finances are an open book. All disclosures as required have already been furnished to SEBI over the years," they added. Mrs. Miyasaka enters the living room wearing her traditional silk kimono . She places a deceptively simple rice bowl before you. Her signature donburi. Tempura prawns, quail eggs, hand-picked enoki, and shimeji mushrooms in umami-rich dashi. Generations of culinary tradition in every spoonful. These are not lines from a book but from the refreshed menu at 360, the signature restaurant at The Oberoi, New Delhi. Designed like a travelogue, each section of the menu dedicated to four cuisinesJapanese, Indian, Western and Thai-Indonesianfeatures quotes from books, verse, excerpts, vibrant paintings and photographs. The exquisite illustration of Mrs Miyasaka from Making Miso and Memories envelops the guest into a storytelling session of sorts, where the text and the visuals offer a preview of what is to come to the table. Just like at 360, restaurants across the world are giving a lot of thought to the menu design, which adds that extra touch to the overall dining experience. The idea is to create a unique narrative about the ingredients they use and the culinary philosophy they followand even about location that they are based out of. According to Minakshi Singh, co-founder of bars such as Sidecar, Cocktails and Dreams Speakeasy and The Brook, a good menu should represent the diversity of a place. As you travel more and more, you get exposed to different culinary programmes, and realise that the good menus are always about local stories. There are historic referencesthings that you wish to discover about a place beyond the usual sightseeing. The menu ought to reflect how closely are those cultural references associated with the culinary programme. In India too we are paying attention to this, she says. Also read: Make reservations for special Independence Day menus The kind of paper and font that you use, and the way you describe the dishall make or break the way a menu is perceived by a guest. In an insightful piece published in the Indian bimonthly food magazine, Enthucutlet, designer and cook Anurag Arora reflects on the care and consideration that usually goes into crafting a food menu. In the article, titled A Love Affair with Restaurant Menus, he describes the first menu that he ever collected, which was from a restaurant called Lula Cafe in Chicago in 2015. Each dish was named matter-of-factly (like French Toast), but the line following itthe description of its ingredientstruly captivated me . I glanced through the description of each dish and noticed a consistent style highlighting its ingredients and letting the diner connect the dots . I looked at the menu again, and discerned the mood they were building with it. Their choice of paper was very considered, the typefaces used in the headings were elegant serif fonts, resulting in a finish that was both refined and minimal. This aesthetic also matched the plating which was in turn beautiful and intricate. It all started falling into place for me, he writes. The kind of paper and font that you use, and the way you describe the dishall make or break the way a menu is perceived by a guest. 'Amritsari chhole kulche' at 360 At 360, this new design is particularly significant as the menu has remained consistent ever since it opened. This is the first big change. According to Visheshwar Raj Singh, senior vice president and general manager, The Oberoi, New Delhi, work on the concept started nearly seven to eight months ago. Vishi, as he prefers to be called, had initially envisioned the menu as a coffee table book, with articles and photographs interspersed with the details of the dishes. This idea went through several iterations, eventually taking the shape of a travelogue. We wanted a menu that was as creative as the food that our chefs whip up. Why limit creativity to the plates? he asks. Vishi is an art enthusiast and he wanted the menu to reflect that. If I hadnt been a hotelier, I would have been a photographer, a writer or a film director, he adds. So, the menu ended up taking inspiration from books by authors like Haruki Murakami, films by Akira Kurosawa and his many travels around the world. The team of designers, writers and chefs added their own influences to this mix, and the menu design ended up getting refined over time. We initially thought of having pullouts and postcards, but eventually decided upon a standalone menu, which was creative in its own right. We wanted each page to have an element of surprise, featuring a combination of photos and illustrations. For instance, the pages dedicated to Thai cuisine, for instance, have the feel of a modern travel guide, elaborates Vishi. Also read: How the wine menu is planned for flights Propshare, a fractional real estate platform, recently became the first player to secure an SM (small and medium) Reit licence from Sebi. SM Reits are real estate investment trusts with an asset base between 50 crore and 500 crore. However, Propshare's existing investors rejected the migration to SM Reit status. High upfront costs, including a 6-6.5% stamp duty, may have led to the 'no' vote, as indicated by a mail sent out by the platform. According to Propshare, the high costs are a result of Sebi rules that do not allow co-ownership of property by an SM Reit. The Reit must be a 100% owner of the property and Propshares existing entities have co-ownership View Full Image ... According to question #8 in the FAQs shared by Sebi, Reit regulations require that the SPV shall directly and solely own all assets that are acquired or proposed to be acquired by the scheme of the SM Reit, of which SPV is the wholly owned subsidiary. Hence, multiple SPVs cannot jointly own a single property," said Propshare co-founder Hashim Khan. However, some experts took a contrary view. Experts speak Im not sure if sufficient effort was made to convince investors," said an industry expert who declined to be named. "If migration is properly structured, I don't see why the costs have to be so high. A simple share swap from one SPV to units of the SM Reit/scheme does not attract stamp duty or income tax implications. You can also cut down on costs by going for a competitively priced merchant banker, since there's no need to find fresh investors for migrating assets. Ultimately, it is about intent - a platform that is serious about migration will make it happen," said Ajay Rotti, founder, Tax Compass. Propshare has assets under management or AUM of about 1,300 crore. Some of this AUM is managed via alternative investment funds or AIFs. Other major players in this space include Strata and Hbits. While Strata has applied for an SM Reit licence, Hbits plans to apply for one. All applicants must submit a migration plan to Sebi for existing investors on the platform. Players who stay outside the regulations risk enforcement action for operating unlicensed exchanges or collecting money in contravention of the Collective Investment Scheme or CIS rules. Another source of industry hesitation is Sebi rules that SM Reits can only invest in completed and revenue generating properties. This reduces the extent of risk and, hence, the return that a platform can aim for. Mainstream Reits also have the same requirement and generally have yields of 6-7%. However, some players have found workarounds. For instance, Strata plans to invest in such projects through bank loans or bonds. The platform will enter into forward-purchase agreements to move the projects into the SM Reit upon completion. For this, it has partnered with banks like Kotak Mahindra and Yubi (a fixed-income platform). Unlike mainstream Reits, which can only hold commercial properties, SM Reits can hold any type of property, except vacant land, thereby opening the door to residential projects as well. Also Read: Large-caps & Reits: Indias largest investment advisers shifts (Bloomberg) -- Vice President Kamala Harris tapped a former Middle East peace negotiator to help with campaign outreach to Jewish voters, as she looks to keep up the pressure over Israels conduct of the war against Hamas without alienating a key voting bloc. Ilan Goldenberg will be the campaigns liaison with Jewish community leaders and advise Harris on the US relationship with Israel and the Gaza war, according to a campaign adviser who asked not to be identified discussing a decision that hasnt been formally announced. Goldenberg was Harriss special adviser on the Middle East at the time that Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7 and has been at her side during meetings with Israeli and Arab officials, the adviser said. The move underscores how the Harris campaign has begun to confront thorny policy issues that have split Democratic voters and could leave her vulnerable to Republican attacks in the race against Donald Trump. In foreign policy, thats the Gaza war. Trump Offers Netanyahu Warm Words After White House Friction Progressives want Harris to take a tougher line against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the high civilian death toll in the Gaza Strip. But some Republicans have accused her of being too soft on Hamas which is labeled a terrorist group in the US. Trump has said most recently in a Monday interview with Elon Musk that Jews who vote for Harris should have their head examined. Harriss campaign said last week she doesnt support halting the flow of weapons to Israel. At the same time, shes occasionally used stronger rhetoric than President Joe Biden on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, suggesting she may shift her position toward Israel if elected president in November. Goldenberg was born and spent his early years in Israel. Since the Oct. 7 attack, hes participated in US planning for the day after in Gaza an effort to determine the postwar structure in the area. US officials have been adamant that Hamas cannot maintain a political leadership role, and the Biden administration continues to advocate for a reformed Palestinian Authority to administer the enclave. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com (Bloomberg) -- Conditions improved with a huge wildfire on the outskirts of Athens that forced thousands to flee while help poured in from throughout Europe. Climate change is turbo-charging the threat posed by wildfires, with Greece suffering its worst season in two decades. The biggest blaze of the summer started northeast of the capital Sunday, fueled by strong winds, high temperatures and a lengthy drought. The wildfire that broke out yesterday in Varnavas and spread to northeastern Attica is showing signs of improvement, the Fire Services Operations Center said in an online statement. Ground forces remain strong. The fire had spread to Vrilissia, a suburb just 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) from central Athens. Officials are trying to confirm reports that at least one person has gone missing since the flames began. More than a dozen towns and villages have been evacuated, with police rescuing more than 250 trapped people since Sunday afternoon. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis cut short a vacation to return to Athens. We will have a very difficult week, said Civil Protection Minister Vasilis Kikilias. Almost 700 firefighters, supported by 17 helicopters and 16 planes, are tackling the blaze. Two firefighters have been slightly injured. In addition, Serbia, Romania, Turkey and France are sending crews, vehicles and aircraft. Some ferries to and from the Cycladic islands have been diverted to the port of Lavrio from Rafina, where access roads pass close to the fire. There are also power outages across a number of areas in the Attica region. Temperatures are forecast to climb to 42C (108F) on the mainland in the coming days, with dangerous conditions persisting until at least Aug. 15. Much of Europe faces a searing start to the week, with Spain topping 40C and England set for its hottest day of the year. Northern France may approach 40C Monday, while London is forecast to reach 34C. Swaths of the continent have faced scorching temperatures this summer as climate change intensifies heat waves across the region, putting crops and power grids at risk. In France, Electricite de France SAs vast fleet of nuclear reactors has been affected by the hot weather, with output at several plants curtailed due to restrictions on releasing cooling-water into warm rivers. The grid operator said Sunday that production curbs are likely to affect the Tricastin facility Aug. 13 to Aug. 19. --With assistance from Lars Paulsson, Sotiris Nikas and Brian K. Sullivan. (Updates map.) More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com Arvind Kejriwal bail hearing: The Supreme Court will hear on Wednesday, August 14, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's plea challenging his arrest and remand by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a case related to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan will take up the matter. Also Read | Suspense over who will hoist tricolour on Aug 15 in Delhi govt event continues Meanwhile, a Delhi Court on Tuesday extended till September 2 the judicial custody of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, BRS leader K Kavitha and others in a money-laundering case related to the alleged excise scam. Special Judge Kaveri Baweja extended the custody of the accused after they were produced before the court through a video conference on the expiry of the period of their judicial custody granted earlier. Also Read | SC to hear Kejriwal plea challenging CBI arrest in excise scam today The Supreme Court had earlier granted interim bail to AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal in the case. However, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader continues to be lodged in Delhi's Tihar jail as he has not furnished the bail bond in the case. The Delhi chief minister has been in judicial custody in a corruption case lodged by the CBI in connection with the alleged scam. Delhi Min Gahlot to hoist national flag at I-Day event Lt. Governor VK Saxena on Tuesday nominated Delhi Home Minister Kailash Gahlot to hoist the national flag at the state-level Independence Day event, bypassing the AAP government's request to allow Education Minister Atishi to do so. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party, however, welcomed the LG's decision, saying it honoured the principle of democracy by "choosing an elected representative over an appointed one". Earlier in the day, a row brewed over the issue with AAP lashing out at Saxena after the general administration department refused to implement Minister Gopal Rai's direction to let Atishi hoist the tricolour in place of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, saying it was legally "invalid". Delhi CM arrest in excise policy scam case The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested the AAP supremo on March 21, 2024 in a case linked to irregularities in excise policy scam case. Later, he was granted bail by the trial court in the money laundering case on June 20. However, the trial court's order was stayed by the high court. Also Read | SC grants bail to Manish Sisodia in Delhi excise policy irregularities case The General Administration Department (GAD) on Monday said that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwalswho is in jail in a corruption casedirection for AAP minister Atishi to hoist the national flag during the Independence Day event is "legally invalid and cannot be acted upon". Earlier on Monday, GAD minister Gopal Rai directed the department to make arrangements for his colleague Atishi to hoist the national flag on Independence Day. The directions were issued after Rai met with Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal, who is still lodged in Tihar Jail, in connection with the Delhi excise policy scam. Also Read | Will India celebrate 77th or 78th Independence Day this year? Explained Responding to Rai's communication, GAD additional chief secretary Navin Kumar Chaudhary said the CM's direction is "legally invalid and cannot be acted upon". The GAD officer said the chief minister's communication to Lt Governor VK Saxena on August 6 in this regard was "not permissible" according to the prison rules. It is absolutely clear that the above communication (Minister Letter) does not qualify in the permissible communication which can be sent outside prisonAny communication, written or oral, in contravention of the rules quoted above, is not legally valid and therefore cannot be acted upon, the additional chief secretary wrote. There are detailed laid down provisions for celebrating them as per the stature they deserve. Any deviations thereto or subjugation thereof will not only undermine the sanctity associated with them but may also amount to statutory illegality, the letter added. Chaudhary said preparations for the Delhi government's Independence Day function were underway at its regular Chhatrasal Stadium venue. As the CM is in judicial custody and not available to hoist the flag, the matter has been communicated to the "higher authority", and a directive is awaited, he added. Last week the Delhi Chief Minister, in a letter to the LG, said that Atishi would hoist the Tricolour. However, the LG office maintained that they did not receive any communication from the Chief Minister. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has taken a significant step by approving the inclusion of Vande Bharat train travel in the Leave Travel Concession (LTC) for state government employees. This decision was made in response to state employees' requests to cover Vande Bharat train journeys under their LTC benefits. State government employees are eligible for LTC benefits every four years, within a limit of 6,000 kilometres. Employees usually travel by train under such concessions, the statement read as quoted by ANI. Also Read | New Jalpaiguri- Patna Vande Bharat train to start from March 14 In recent years, Indian Railways has introduced the Vande Bharat train, which is equipped with modern facilities, the statement said, adding that the state government employees had requested the inclusion of Vande Bharat train travel in the leave travel concession they receive. "In response to the widespread interests of the employees, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, with a generous approach, has decided to include Vande Bharat train travel for LTC from the beginning of the LTC block 2020-23," it added. The decision will benefit five lakh state government employees during their leave travel concession. Under the guidance of the chief minister, the Finance Department will issue a resolution in this regard. CM Patel recently decided to supply Narmada water to the farmers and residents of North Gujarat. Due to heavy rainfall upstream of the Narmada Dam, the water level in the Sardar Sarovar Dam has risen, enabling the state government to direct this water to lakes in North Gujarat. The government has planned to distribute Narmada water through 13 pipelines to 952 lakes across Banaskantha, Patan, Mehsana, and Sabarkantha districts. Currently, 1,000 cusecs of water are being pumped to these lakes, with plans to gradually increase the supply to 2,400 cusecs in the coming days. India is all set to celebrate its 78th Independence Day with grandeur on Thursday, August 15. This is the day when Indians remember the freedom fighters, their struggle and their movements to free India from the clutches of the Britishers who ruled the country for more than 200 years. India got its independence from British colonial rule at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947. To commemorate this national day, Independence Day is celebrated across the country every year on August 15. Here 5 interesting facts to know about Independence day of India: 1. Mahatma Gandhi skipped first-ever Independence Day celebrations Mahatma Gandhi, Father of the Nation and the man who helmed Indias freedom struggle, was not able to observe the the first-ever Independence Day celebrations as he was not in New Delhi to join the festivities. Tushar Gandhi had written in an opinion piece that his grandfather, Mahatma Gandhi, was away, in Kolkata (earlier known as Calcutta), trying to restore peace and douse the communal fire stoked by Partition. He was reportedly on a hunger strike in Kolkata amid riots. 2. The significance of India's tricolor The National Flag of India was adopted in its present form during the meeting of Constituent Assembly held on July 22, 1947, a few days before independence from the British on August 15, 1947. The top band of the Tricolour is of Saffron colour, indicating the strength and courage of the country. The white middle band indicates peace and truth with Dharma Chakra. The last band is green in colour, showing the fertility, growth and auspiciousness of the land. The Chakra or Dharma Chakra depicted the "wheel of the law" in the Sarnath Lion Capital made by the 3rd-century BC Mauryan Emperor Ashoka. The chakra intends to show that there is life in movement and death in stagnation. Also Read | Will India celebrate 77th or 78th Independence Day this year? Explained 3. Why India got independence particularly on August 15? It was Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy and the first Governor-General of the country, who chose August 15 to declare India's independence. He was given the powers by the British Parliament to transfer the power to Indians by June 1948. However, he preponed it to August 15, 1947, to avoid bloodshed and riots, Business Insider India reported. It is said that he chose this day since the date also commemorates the second anniversary of Japan surrendering to the Allied Forces. 4. India got Independence in an auspicious muhurta The timing of India's independence is believed to be influenced by astrology. Hardeoji and Suryanarain Vyas of Ujjain informed Babu Rajendra Prasad, who would go on to become India's first President, that the day was unlucky astrologically when the British decided to grant India independence on August 15, 1947. When they learned that the English kings would only let them to choose any hour on that day, Hardeo insisted that it be midnight. Also Read | Independence Day: 5 activities to instill the spirit of patriotism among kids According to a Hindustan Times report, astrological factors were taken into account when deciding on the date and time of India's Independence Day, which was set for August 15, 1947, at 12:01 AM. The Moon was in the extremely favourable Pushya Nakshatra at this time. "Among all nakshatras, Pushya is regarded as the king. At midnight, Abhijeet Muhurta, which is an excellent moment to start any big endeavour, was in effect. At that time, the fixed sign of Taurus ascendantwhich symbolises a strong foundation for the nationwas rising," the report added. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday took over a probe into the alleged rape and murder of a 31-year-old woman doctor in Kolkata after the Calcutta High Court ordered the transfer of probe. The CBI will also be sending a specialised medical and forensic team from Delhi to Kolkata. The team is scheduled to depart early on Wednesday morning. Earlier in the day, the court asked the local police to hand over all the documents to the CBI immediately. It transferred the case, saying that there is every possibility that evidence will be destroyed. Under normal circumstances, the court would have given time, but the case at hand is a peculiar oneeven after five days, there have been no significant conclusions which should have happened by now," the bench was quoted by Bar and Bench as saying on Tuesday. Also Read | Kolkata rape and murder: National Medical Commission to seek status report "Therefore, we are justified that there is every possibility that evidence will be destroyed. We deem it appropriate that the case must be transferred to the CBI with immediate effect, the court added. The bench further directed the state counsel to transfer the case diary and other records to the CBI by 10 am on Wednesday, August 14. The court has also directed the CBI to file periodic reports. "We direct the State, superintendent of hospital and doctors to file report and suggestions. After everything is put on record then we will decide what needs to be done. List the matter after three weeks. The first report shall be filed by the CBI on the next date of hearing," the court said in its order. Kolkata doctor's rape-murder case The woman doctor was found dead in the seminal hall of the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, West Bengal, on Friday morning. She was allegedly raped and murdered. A civic volunteer was arrested in this connection on Saturday. The parents of the postgraduate trainee doctor had moved the high court, seeking a court-monitored investigation into the case. A number of other PILs were also filed that sought a CBI probe into it. Ordering a CBI probe into the case, the high court said on Tuesday, " The standing counsel for State contends that investigation has been done in appropriate manner...submitted that statements have been recorded by more than 25 persons and one person has been arrested." "The parents of the victim contend that if state police is permitted to conduct the investigation then in all probability the investigation will be derailed and they demand action against them," Bar and Bench reported while citing the order. Protests Observing that the protests over the rape-and-murder incident spread across different states, the court appealed to the protesters to call off their agitation "so that the public who come to hospital do not suffer". It said, We are truly appreciative of the feelings vented out by doctors and students and those in RG Kar Medical College. However, there is a pious obligation on the part of doctors to treat their patients more particularly as the patients who come to the government hospital are not from affluent strata of society. Therefore we would appeal to the members of medical profession to discuss with senior officials of state govt and consider calling off their agitation so that public who come to hospital do not suffer, the court was quoted as saying by Bar and Bench. The high court also directed the professor (principal) of the college to "immediately proceed on leave, failing which we would be compelled to pass necessary orders". The Calcutta High Court has directed Dr Sandip Ghosh, the former head of Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospitalwhere a doctor was raped and murdered last weekto take leave and submit an application by 3 pm today. If the Principal fails to submit a leave application by the given time, the court will pass an order for him to leave the position, ANI reported. He can be holding an administrative post but he should have been the first one to be questioned. Why are you (the state counsel) protecting him. Record his statement. Let him tell whatever he knows, the court observed. Also Read | RG Kar doctor death: Doctors stage protest in front of govt medical college OPD Dr Ghosh, who faced criticism for allegedly blaming the victim and failing to ensure staff safety, resigned on Monday, stating, "The girl who died was like my daughter... as a parent, I am resigning." However, he was reinstated as Principal of Calcutta Medical College and Hospital just 24 hours later. How can the principal - who resigned by taking moral responsibility, be appointed as the principal of another government college, the court mentioned. The court, which scrutinized the state's handling of the tragic crimeincluding the delays in informing the doctor's parents and eventually providing them with the bodyremarked that the dire situation surrounding the young womans death appeared to have had little impact on Dr Ghosh. The Principal is the guardian of all doctors working there...if he doesn't show any empathy who will show? He should be at home not working anywhere, it said during the hearing. The court also came down heavily on CM Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government over the RG Medical Kar Medical College rape and murder case, calling it a gruesome incident. The Rajasthan High Court on Tuesday granted a parole of seven days to godman Asaram Bapu for an ayurvedic medical treatment. The self-styled godman is serving a life term in a rape case. Earlier, the HC had rejected Asarams petitions for parole twice, citing potential law and order situation upon his release. In February this year, Asaram was rushed to AIIMS Jodhpur after he experienced severe chest pain. He will go to Pune in Maharashtra for the Ayurvedic treatment under police custody. Justices PS Bhati and Munnuri Laxman of the Rajasthan High Courts Jodhpur bench ordered that Asaram would stay for treatment at the hospital under police custody for seven days. Asaram was arrested in September 2013 from Indore for raping a teenage girl in his ashram in 2013. He was convicted by a special POCSO court in 2018. A Gujarat court had, in January 2023, convicted him in a decade-old sexual assault case involving a woman disciple and sentenced him to life imprisonment. The victim, a Surat-based woman, had accused him of repeatedly raping her at his ashram in 2013. His pleas for suspension of sentence on health grounds were earlier rejected by the High Court and the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, however, had said that Asaram Bapu could approach the High Court seeking a nod for medical treatment. Asarams advocates in his petition cited his coronary angiography report of January 14, saying it showed arterial blockages of up to 99%. The Federation of Resident Doctors' Associations said the extension of their indefinite strike in response to the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata after a meeting with officials from the Union health ministry, did not yield a resolution. Here are the top ten updates: 1. Nagpur, Maharashtra: Doctors and medical students stage a protest in front of OPD of Govt Medical College & Hospital Nagpur (GMCH). FAIMA (Federation of All India Medical Association) calls for a nationwide shutdown of OPD services from today, August 13, as a protest against the sexual assault and murder of a woman post-graduate trainee (PGT) doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, on August 9. 2. Dr Akshay Dongardive said, ...This is a major rape-murder case after the Nirbhaya incident. It puts us all to shame...We have joined in the nationwide protest. All resident doctors across all government hospitals in Maharashtra are observing suspension of services today. Emergency services are still operational, patients are not facing any issues. We demand justice for our sister with whom injustice has been done. We request the State Government and Centre to intervene and order a CBI inquiry at the earliest...All demands of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital doctors should be met. 3. Sheikh Shahzad, a patient, said, We have not been told anything so far. I asked the security guard here but he said that he is unable to tell us anything...We are standing here for 2 hours now. We have no information. The administration is not telling us anything. We are being asked for our prescription to enter. 4. Meanwhile, Junior doctors at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on Monday questioned why West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee set a seven-day deadline for solving the rape-murder of a postgraduate trainee, asserting they would continue their strike until their demands are met. 5. BMC MARD General Secretary Dr Akshay Dongardive said that the culprits of the incident should be punished, our national campaign has started for this. This campaign is going on in all the states. Maharashtra has called for a strike from 9 AM, all the doctors of Maharashtra are going to strike work from 9 AM, and BMC doctors are also going to strike work... The victim's family should get justice, the case should be investigated by CBI and the family should get compensation. We demand that there should be justice... We have stopped non-emergency services in all hospitals of Maharashtra, emergency services will continue. Patients will not face any problems... We only want justice, he added. 6. Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar said that the CM is delaying it. If she wants to have a CBI inquiry in this matter, she should hand it over soon as proofs in such cases do not remain for many days, he added. 7. As reported by PTI, Roy, who is a trained boxer, got close to a few senior police officers over the years, following which he was moved to the Kolkata Police Welfare Board and posted to the police outpost at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital where the incident happened. 8. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has called for a thorough and impartial investigation into the case and for the West Bengal government to ensure the perpetrators are punished. The IMA has also written to Union Minister JP Nadda, requesting a detailed inquiry into the factors that allowed the crime to occur and urging steps to enhance the safety of doctors, particularly women, in the workplace. 9. The semi-naked body of the 32-year-old woman was found in the seminar hall of the government-run hospital in Kolkata on Thursday night. In response, doctors organized a protest march under the banner of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), PGIMER, chanting we want justice and demanding accountability for the victim. 10. In the national capital, other major hospitals which participated in the strike included the Maulana Azad Medical College, RML Hospital, Lady Hardinge Medical College, VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Institute of Human Behaviour, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences and Allied Sciences (IHBAS), Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Medical College, and National Institute of TB and Respiratory Diseases Hospital. The Delhi High Court on Tuesday, August 13, issued a notice in connection with a civil defamation suit filed by Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati against Govindanand Saraswati. On Monday, a civil defamation suit was filed against Govindanand Saraswati by the Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, following allegations that Avimukteshwaranand was a fake baba. Besides this, Govindanand Saraswati also accused the later of receiving political support from the Indian National Congress Party. Swami Govindananda Saraswati recently levelled sensational allegations against Avimukteshwaranand, claiming he does not deserve titles like sadhu, sant, or sanyasi. He also criticised the media for addressing him as a Shankaracharya. Also Read | Jeremy Clarkson, patron saint of the Great British bore The Delhi High Court bench presided by Justice Navin Chawla heard the case and issued a notice regarding the interim injunction case, and stated that the saints should not be concerned with defamation. "A saint's true standing is not affected by such disputes, implying that the focus should be on the saint's conduct and character rather than seeking legal redress for defamation," ANI reported, citing Delhi High Court's observation. The court asserted that respect and reputation are established through actions rather than legal battles. Also Read | Ayodhya Ram Mandirs chief priest slams Bengal CM for alleged attack on sadhus The court deferred the hearing in the matter for August 29. Furthermore, the court did not grant an ex-parte ad interim order at this stage. This implies that no temporary conclusion can be drawn until both parties have been heard. Also Read | Devotees including Naga Sadhus gather to take holy dip during Gangasagar Mela During the hearing, Shankaracharya Avimukteshwaranand's lawyer accused Govindanand Saraswati of making multiple derogatory comments, such as 'fake baba,' 'fraudulent baba,' and 'thief baba.' Furthermore, he alleged that Govindanand Saraswati accused his client of engaging in various serious criminal activities. These accusations included kidnapping, being a history-sheeter, and stealing gold worth 7,000 crore, in addition to maintaining illicit relationships. Furthermore, the counsel for Shankaracharya Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati contested that the only relevant case filed against him when the Akhilesh Yadav government was in power was eventually withdrawn by the UP government led by Yogi Adityanath. Today features significant developments from former US President Donald Trump's interview with X CEO Elon Musk. Heres a summary of the key points: US Presidential Elections 2024: Elon Musk and Donald Trump interview Former President Donald Trump will return to X for a Monday night discussion with tech mogul Elon Musk. This appearance is part of Trumps broader strategy to engage with new voter bases and expand his reach. "This is unscripted with no limits on subject matter, so should be highly entertaining," Musk posted on X to his 193.8 million followers ahead of his conversation with the former president, which was set to start at 8 p.m. on the social media platform, which Musk owns. As of 8:15 p.m. ET, the event hadn't started. Paris Olympics: Vinesh Phogat CAS verdict for silver medal The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) is expected to deliver its final ruling on Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat's appeal against her disqualification from the 50kg freestyle wrestling event at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday. Phogat, who was disqualified from competing for the gold medal on Tuesday, filed her appeal on Wednesday and announced her retirement the following day. Senior advocate Harish Salve is representing her case at CAS. According to a statement from the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), the verdict is anticipated to be issued by 6:00 PM CET (9:30 PM IST) on August 13, 2024. Rani Mukerji and Karan Johar to deliver keynote address at Australian Parliament House Rani Mukerji and Karan Johar are scheduled to speak at the Australian Parliament House during this years Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM). As reported by Variety, the duo will discuss how cinema has the ability to bridge cultures and unite audiences across different geographical regions. In a statement, Mukerji said, "Im proud to represent the Indian film fraternity at the Australian Parliament House and speak about the rich history of cinema that we have offered to the world at large. This is a milestone moment for our fraternity, and it would be an honour for me to speak about the growing cultural ties between Australia and India through cinema (sic). SC final hearing on pleas against Allahabad HC's scrapping of UP Madarsa Education Act The Supreme Court will list for final hearing the pleas challenging the Allahabad High Court order that had scrapped the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education Act, 2004, calling it unconstitutional and violative of the constitutional principle of secularism, PTI reported. The top court had on April 5 stayed the high court judgement, saying the issues raised in seven petitions against the verdict merited closer reflection. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said it will list the pleas for final disposal on August 13. Lufthansa extends suspension of flights over Iraqi and Iranian airspace until August 13 German airline group Lufthansa announced on Monday that it is extending the suspension of flights to Tel Aviv, Tehran, Beirut, Amman, and Erbil until August 21 due to ongoing regional tensions. Lufthansa expressed regret for the inconvenience caused by the current situation. Additionally, Air France and its subsidiary Transavia France have also extended their suspension of flights to Beirut, now through Wednesday, August 14. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has planned to stage a protest rally Hammad Azhar, the Acting President and General Secretary of PTI Central Punjab, has announced that the party will hold a major demonstration at Liberty Chowk in Lahore at 11 PM on August 13. The protest is expected to draw a large number of PTI supporters and will prominently feature both national and party flags. FirstCry likely to list on stock exchanges The shares of Brainbees Solutions, which operates the online platform FirstCry, are scheduled to debut on the stock exchanges on Tuesday, August 13. Before the listing, the stock is trading with a grey market premium (GMP) of 88. With the upper price band set at 465, the stock is anticipated to list at a 20% premium. Palestinian representative to meet Putin Palestinian officials will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 13. As per an official release, The talks will focus on current issues pertaining to the further development of bilateral cooperation. Additionally, the presidents plan to exchange views on the situation in the Middle East, particularly in light of the ongoing escalation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Here are the other top events: Supreme Court likely to hear marital rape petitions from August 13 Tiranga Bike Rally' featuring members of Parliament, which will take place in Delhi MPs belonging to all parties would participate in a bike rally to commemorate the National Flag RG Kar doctor death: BMC halts non-emergency medical services till Aug 13 BJP's Shazia Ilmi files defamation case against Rajdeep Sardesai in Delhi High Court, hearing on Tueday CM Siddaramaiah to visit the Tungabhadra dam near Hosapete on August 13 for an on-site inspection Har Ghar Tiranga: Tripura CM Dr Manik Saha & Minister Sushanta Chowdhury Encourage Public Participation from August 13 to 15 Top news on 13 August: From Nykaa, Hero MotoCorp Q1 results to Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan stepping down, from Calcutta High Court handing over Kolkata doctor rape and murder case to CBI to Bangladesh mitigation effort to save minorities amid unrest, here's taking a look at top news of the day. Nykaa Q1 Net profit zooms 152% FSN E-Commerce Ventures, which operates the leading beauty and personal care (BPC) firm Nykaa, announced its April-June quarter results for fiscal 2024-25 (Q1FY25), reporting a surge of 152 per cent in consolidated net profit at 13.6 crore, compared to 5.4 crore in the corresponding period last year. READ MORE Hero MotoCorp Q1 results: Net profit surges 36% Hero MotoCorp net profit surges 36% YoY to 1,123 crore, revenue up 16%. Hero MotoCorp reported a standalone profit after tax of 11.23 billion rupees for the quarter ended June 30, up 36% from last year. READ MORE Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan to step down Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan will step down from his position soon. Starbucks Corp. has named Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. Chief Executive Officer Brian Niccol as the coffee chains new CEO and chairman, replacing Laxman Narasimhan after just over a year in the role. READ MORE Sensex ends below 79,000-mark, Nifty down 0.85% Indian markets fell by around 1 percent on Tuesday, August 13. The Sensex ended 692.89 points or 0.87 percent at 78,956.03. Meanwhile, the broader Nifty50 settled 208 or 0.85 percent lower at 24,139. READ MORE Indias population likely to reach 152.2 crore by 2036 India's population is projected to reach 152.2 crore by 2036, with a sex ratio of 952 women per 1000 men. Maternal and infant mortality rates are decreasing, and women's participation in the labor force and elections is rising, read a Government report. READ MORE CBI to probe Kolkata doctors rape and murder case The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged rape and murder of a 31-year-old woman doctor in Kolkata. The court asked the local police to hand over all the documents to the CBI immediately. It transferred the case, saying that there is every possibility that evidence will be destroyed. READ MORE The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said a special PMLA court in Ahmedabad has framed criminal charges against TMC's Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale under the anti-money laundering Act 2002. "The Ld. Principal District and Sessions Judge, Ahmedabad (Rural) and designated Special Court PMLA, Ahmedabad today framed criminal charges against Saket Gokhale, MP Rajya Sabha and national spokesperson of All India Trinamool Congress under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002...," the ED said in a statement. The money laundering case against Gokhale, 31-year-old TMC MP, stems from a Gujarat Police FIR concerning the alleged misuse of money he had collected through crowd-funding. A charge sheet was filed against the TMC Rajya Sabha MP under the anti-money laundering law last year. "Charges against him for the scheduled offence in the police case (Gujarat Police) had also been framed," the federal enforcement agency said. The ED further said the PMLA special court had rejected the application filed by Gokhale under Section 309 of the CrPC for keeping the proceedings under PMLA, 2002 in abeyance till the case of scheduled offence registered against him is decided by the court. The state police arrested Gokhale from Delhi in December 2022 in a case of alleged misuse of money he had collected through crowd-funding by "portraying himself" as an RTI activist and a social worker. "The crowdfunded amount was utilised by him for his personal expenses such as intraday trading in shares, payment of his credit card dues, shopping through online apps such as Paytm, Swiggy, Zomato, crypto currency trading and other miscellaneous (transactions)," PTI quoted the ED as saying. Gokhale, however, denied any misuse of the funds. Also Read | RBI says depositors can seek premature withdrawal of NBFC deposits. Details here Defamation case against Gokhale Earlier in July, the Delhi High Court ordered Saket Gokhale to pay 50 lakhs in damages to Lakshmi Puri, the wife of Union Minister Hardeep Puri, for defamation. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha member Jagdambika Pal will head the joint committee of Parliament which will examine the contentious Waqf (Amendment) Bill. In a notification released on Tuesday, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla appointed Pal as the Chairperson of the 31-member committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024. Also Read | Govt sends Waqf Amendment Bill to Joint Parliamentary Committee for scrutiny Jagdambika Pal is a fourth-term MP from Uttar Pradesh and is seen as a lawmaker who enjoys warm cross-party relations, news agency PTI reported. Amid protests over the Bill, the government decided to refer the bill to a joint committee of the two Houses. The joint panel has 31 members 21 from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha and will submit its report by the next session. List of 31 members of the joint committee The list has 21 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha. On Friday, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha adopted a motion moved by Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, naming the members to be part of the committee. In the Lok Sabha, 12 members of the panel are from the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), including eight from the BJP, and nine from the opposition. In the Upper House, four are from the BJP, four from the opposition, one from the YSRCP, which has opposed the Bill, and one is a nominated member. The Waqf (Amendment) Bill seeks to amend the law governing waqf boards. It has proposed far-reaching changes in the present Act, including ensuring the representation of non-Muslims in Waqf bodies. It also seeks to rename the Waqf Act, 1995, as the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Act, 1995. The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday and referred to a joint committee of Parliament after a heated debate, with the government asserting the proposed law did not intend to interfere with the functioning of mosques and the opposition calling it targeting of Muslims and an attack on the Constitution. The committee has been asked to submit its report to the Lok Sabha by the last day of the first week of the next session, Rijiju said. (Bloomberg) -- Norways $1.7 trillion sovereign wealth fund pared its stakes in Meta Platforms Inc., Novo Nordisk A/S and ASML Holding NV all among its top 10 holdings during the first half of the year. Norges Bank Investment Management cut its Meta ownership to 1.18% worth about $15.1 billion as of midyear from 1.22% at the end of 2023, according to an updated list of investments published Tuesday. The fund held a 1.75% stake in Novo at midyear, down from 1.87% on Dec. 31, while its holding in ASML dropped to 2.54% from 2.61% over the same span. The fund has traditionally given an annual update on the contents of its portfolio, but will do so twice a year going forward. Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Nvidia Corp. were its three biggest equity investments at the end of June. Created in the 1990s to invest Norways oil and gas revenues abroad, NBIM largely tracks a benchmark index based on a framework handed down by parliament. Its scheduled to release first-half results on Wednesday. The fund owned stakes in more than 8,800 companies worldwide at the end of June, with 72% of all investments in equities and about 26% in fixed income. It added shares in its three biggest energy holdings Exxon Mobil Corp., Shell Plc and BP Plc while trimming positions in Tesla Inc. and Volkswagen AG. NBIM has been stepping up efforts to use its clout to influence companies, specifically on issues related to climate change, gender diversity on corporate boards and executive compensation. It started issuing voting intentions ahead of annual general meetings in 2021 and began submitting its own shareholder proposals last year. This voting season, the Norwegian giant offered a bespoke rationale for why it would be voting against the $56 billion pay package for Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, as well as opposing the appointment of Exxon director Joseph Hooley. (Updates with energy holdings in fifth paragraph.) More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com By Laila Kearney NEW YORK (Reuters) -Talen Energy is focused on capturing surging demand from data center developers as the independent power company looks to pivot away from its crypto mining operation, company executives said on Tuesday. Talen is among a group of U.S. electric companies benefiting from the power needs of artificial intelligence and cloud computing data centers, with shares of Talen up nearly 100% since the start of the year. "It's not a strategic asset for us and we are looking at... other alternatives," Talen Energy Chief Executive Officer Mark McFarland said of the crypto mining business on a second-quarter earnings call. Reuters reported earlier this month that Talen was looking to sell its stake in a bitcoin mining center at the site of a Pennsylvania nuclear power plant Talen raised its earnings and free cash flow forecasts for the year as it benefits from higher power use and prices, bigger payments from regional grid operator PJM Interconnection and a payout for a data center sold to Amazon.com early this year. Talen revised up its adjusted EBITDA range for 2024 to $720 million to $780 million, from $600 million to $800 million previously. Its free cash flow estimate for the year was revised to $245 million to $285 million, from $160 million to $310 million previously. The company benefited from unseasonably warm weather in the three months ended on June 30, among other factors. Talen expects to receive $670 million from capacity revenues for the 2025/2026 planning year, or $470 million more than the previous year, following a capacity auction in the PJM market. Talen also plans on $300 million of Amazon data center campus escrow to be released in the third quarter. The data center is at the center of a battle between Talen and regulated electric utilities, American Electric Power and Exelon, which say the build-out to connect the center could raise costs for everyday power customers. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is reviewing the amended interconnection service agreement for the center, and will hold a technical conference this fall more broadly on what are known as co-located data centers, in which data centers are located at the power plant sites that fuel them. McFarland said he was optimistic that FERC would approve the amended agreement. A series of auctions took place after new 5, 10, 20 and 50 notes featuring King Charles. The auctions saw banknotes originally worth 78,430 ( 84.3 lakh) generate over 11 times their face value for charity. Although the King was given a complete set of the first-issued notes, many others with low serial numbers were auctioned. One of these, a 10 note, fetched 17,000 ( 18.2 lakh), the BBC reported. The Bank of England urged the public to return outdated banknotes bearing Queen Elizabeth's image before new notes displaying King Charles III's image circulated. With this, King Charles became the second British monarch to appear on Bank of England notes. Queen Elizabeth, Charles mother, had earlier featured on these notes since 1960. In Scotland, however, monarchs do not appear on banknotes. The public had until June 30 to swap their old banknotes for new ones. From June 5 to June 30, individuals could exchange up to 300 worth of old notes. The only noticeable change in the new notes is that they now display King Charles III's portrait. There is no other change. Banknotes featuring Queen Elizabeth II are still usable and will remain in circulation to make the transition smoother. The new notes, created to replace old and worn-out ones, were previewed by King Charles at Buckingham Palace before receiving approval from the Bank of England. The king was shown notes of lower denominations. Auction fetches 10 crore In the auction, a set of 40 connected 50 notes with a total value of 2,000 was sold for 26,000 ( 28 lakh), setting a new record. The auction, organised by Spink in London, generated 914,127 (nearly 10 crore) overall, the publication added. Piers Morgan has slammed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as they plan a trip to Colombia this summer at the invitation of Vice President Francia Marquez. Harry-Meghan's visit to cities like Bogota and Cartagena has sparked varied opinions, with some seeing it as a Royal-like tour. The media personality, known for his blunt opinions, isn't pleased with plans declared by the Duke and the Duchess of Sussex. In his column, Morgan shared his confusion and criticism. He recalled a memorable theatre review where a critic simply wrote "Exactly" in response to a play titled Why?. This reaction came to his mind when he learned that the Royal couple planned a four-day trip to Colombia starting August 15. "My all-time favourite theatre review was about a play called: Why? The critic wrote one word: 'Exactly.' I thought of this when I heard that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will embark on a four-day tour of Colombia this Thursday," Morgan wrote for the Sun. According to Piers Morgan, Meghan and Harry no longer hold real Royal roles as they dont perform any duties for the monarchy that granted them their titles. Instead, they focus on making money in America by criticising their families and the monarchy in the media, he wrote. He questioned their authority to travel the world and act like legitimate Royals during unofficial visits. Meghan and Harry arent real royals these daysSo, what gives them the right to prance around the world pretending to be proper royals, on quasi- official visits? There are so many things wrong about this, he added. Piers Morgan pointed out the laughable hypocrisy in their visit to Colombia, a country flagged as high-risk by both UK and US governments travel advisories over elevated risk of terrorism. He highlighted the contrast with Harry's previous insistence on Royal security when visiting the UK. Morgan also criticised their support of a Colombian government plagued by controversy. Piers Morgan called Colombia President Gustavo Petro a radical socialist and former rebel guerrilla fighter. Scandals involving Petro include his foreign minister's suspension over corruption charges, his son Nicolas facing accusations of accepting drug money for the presidential campaign and his brother Juan allegedly negotiating with imprisoned drug dealers for judicial favours, Morgan added. The United States refuted the claims accusing the US government of being behind the mass uprising in Bangladesh. The White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre in a statement on Monday clarified that US has had no involvement and the rumours doing the rounds were simply false. In a media briefing, the White House Secretary said, "So, we have had no involvement at all. Any, reports or rumours that the United States government was involved in these, in these events is simply, simply false. That is not true." Also Read | Resignations of Bangladeshi officials close to Hasina are legal, interim leader Yunus says The recent student protests in Bangladesh led to the deaths of hundreds of people and prompted Sheikh Hasina to resign from the post of Prime Minister on August 5 amid escalating tensions. She later fled to India. Jean Pierre further asserted that Bangladesh's citizens should determine the future of their government and said, This is a choice for and by the Bangladeshi people. We believe that the Bangladeshi people should determine the future of the Bangladeshi government, and that's where we stand," ANI reported. She added, Any allegations, certainly we will continue to say, and what I have said here is simply untrue. A US-based Foreign Policy expert and Director of the South Asia Institute at The Wilson Center, Michael Kugelman, also dismissed the allegations of foreign interference in the Bangladesh crisis and noted that he had not seen any "plausible evidence" to support these claims, reported ANI. My view has been very simple. I see this as a crisis that was driven by purely internal factors, by students who were unhappy about a particular issue, job quotas that they didn't like and they were worried about the government, ANI quoted Michael Kugelman as saying. He pointed out that the Bangladeshi PM's harsh crackdown on student protesters escalated the agitation. Dismissing allegations put forth by Sheikh Hasina's son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, Michael Kugelman emphasised, This was simply driven by internal factors. (Bloomberg) -- A rare bid to break up Alphabet Inc.s Google is one of the options being considered by the Justice Department after a landmark court ruling found that the company monopolized the online search market, according to people with knowledge of the deliberations. The move would be Washingtons first push to dismantle a company for illegal monopolization since unsuccessful efforts to break up Microsoft Corp. two decades ago. Less severe options include forcing Google to share more data with competitors and measures to prevent it from gaining an unfair advantage in AI products, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private conversations. Regardless, the government will likely seek a ban on the type of exclusive contracts that were at the center of its case against Google. If the Justice Department pushes ahead with a breakup plan, the most likely units for divestment are the Android operating system and Googles web browser Chrome, said the people. Officials are also looking at trying to force a possible sale of AdWords, the platform the company uses to sell text advertising, one of the people said. The Justice Department discussions have intensified in the wake of Judge Amit Mehtas Aug. 5 ruling that Google illegally monopolized the markets of online search and search text ads. Google has said it will appeal that decision, but Mehta has ordered both sides to begin plans for the second phase of the case, which will involve the governments proposals for restoring competition, including a possible breakup request. A Google spokesman declined to comment on the possible remedy. A Justice Department spokeswoman also declined to comment. The US plan will need to be accepted by Mehta, who would direct the company to comply. A forced breakup of Google would be the biggest of a US company since AT&T was dismantled in the 1980s. Justice Department attorneys, who have been consulting with companies affected by Googles practices, have raised concerns in their discussions that the companys search dominance gives it advantages in developing artificial intelligence technology, the people said. As part of a remedy, the government might seek to stop the company from forcing websites to allow their content to be used for some of Googles AI products in order to appear in search results. Breakup Divesting the Android operating system, used on about 2.5 billion devices worldwide, is one of the remedies thats been most frequently discussed by Justice Department attorneys, according to the people. In his decision, Mehta found that Google requires device makers to sign agreements to gain access to its apps like Gmail and the Google Play Store. Those agreements also require that Googles search widget and Chrome browser be installed on devices in such a way they cant be deleted, effectively preventing other search engines from competing, he found. Mehtas decision follows a verdict by a California jury in December that found the company monopolized Android app distribution. A judge in that case hasnt yet decided on relief. The Federal Trade Commission, which also enforces antitrust laws, filed a brief in that case this week and said in a statement that Google shouldnt be allowed to reap the rewards of illegal monopolization. Google paid as much as $26 billion to companies to make its search engine the default on devices and in web browsers, with $20 billion of that going to Apple Inc. Mehtas ruling also found Google monopolized the advertisements that appear at the top of a search results page to draw users to websites, known as search text ads. Those are sold via Google Ads, which was rebranded from AdWords in 2018 and offers marketers a way to run ads against certain search keywords related to their business. About two-thirds of Googles total revenue comes from search ads, amounting to more than $100 billion in 2020, according to testimony from last years trial. If the Justice Department doesnt call for Google to sell off AdWords, it could ask for interoperability requirements that would make it work seamlessly on other search engines, the people said. Data Access Another option would require Google to divest or license its data to rivals, such as Microsofts Bing or DuckDuckGo. Mehtas ruling found that Googles contracts ensure not only that its search engine gets the most user data 16 times as much as its next closest competitor but that data stream also keeps its rivals from improving their search results and competing effectively. Europes recently enacted digital gatekeeper rules imposed a similar requirement that Google make available some of its data to third-party search engines. The company has said publicly that sharing data can pose user privacy concerns, so it only makes available information on searches that meet certain thresholds. Requiring monopolists to allow rivals to have some access to technology has been a remedy in previous cases. In the Justice Departments first case against AT&T in 1956, the company was required to provide royalty-free licenses to its patents. In the antitrust case against Microsoft, the settlement required the Redmond, Washington, tech giant to make some of its so-called application programming interfaces, or APIs, available to third-parties for free. APIs are used to ensure that software programs can effectively communicate and exchange data with each other. AI Products For years, websites have allowed Googles web crawler access to ensure they appear in the companys search results. But more recently some of that data has been used to help Google develop its AI. Last fall, Google created a tool to allow websites to block scraping for AI, after companies complained. But that opt-out doesnt apply to everything. In May, Google announced that some searches will now come with AI Overviews, narrative responses that spare people the task of clicking through various links. The AI-powered panel appears underneath queries, presenting summarized information drawn from Google search results from across the web. Google doesnt allow website publishers to opt-out of appearing in AI Overviews, since those are a feature of search, not a separate product. Websites can block Google from using snippets, but that applies to both search and the AI Overviews. While AI Overviews only appear on a fraction of searches, the features roll-out has been rocky after some excerpts offered embarrassing suggestions, like advising people to eat rocks or to put glue on pizza. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com Amid the ongoing attacks on the minority Hindu population in Bangladesh, the chief adviser of the country's interim government, Muhammad Yunus, on Tuesday asked the people to exercise patience before judging his government's role. Yunus comments came after he met the distressed Hindu community members at the famous Dhakeshwari Temple in Dhaka. He also said that each persons rights should be ensured and blamed "institutional decay" for the predicament that his country has fallen into. Dhakeswari temple is one of the 51 famous Shakti Peethas in the Indian Subcontinent. Yunus was appointed as the chief advisor of the interim government on August 8 amid the ongoing violence, including against the minorities. The Bangladesh crisis deepened after its prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, resigned and fled to India on August 5, following the nationwide protests against her government. Rights are equal for everyone. We are all one people with one right. Do not make any distinctions among us. Please, assist us. Exercise patience, and later judge -- what we were able to do and not. If we fail, then criticise us, Yunus was quoted as saying by The Daily Star newspaper. On Tuesday, after reaching the Dhakeshwari temple, Yunus exchanged greetings with the leaders of Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad and Mahanagar Sarbajanin Puja Committee, as well as officials from the temple management board and devotees, The Daily Star said. Earlier, ahead of the weekend, thousands of minority Hindus staged massive protest rallies in Bangladesh's capital and the north-eastern port city of Chattagram on Friday and Saturday demanding protection amid nationwide vandalism that saw attacks on temples and their households and businesses. Demanding special tribunals to expedite trials of those who persecute the minorities, allocation of 10 per cent parliamentary seats for the minorities, and enactment of a minority protection law among others, the Hindu demonstrators rally blocked traffic for over three hours at Shahbagh in the central part of Dhaka on Saturday. On Saturday, Yunus had condemned attacks on the minority communities in the violence-hit nation. By Karen Braun NERVILLE, Illinois, - Government data on Monday indicated enormous U.S. corn and soybean harvests are on deck, but will those estimates only grow larger, or are they the highest that will be seen this season? It is often said that big crops tend to get bigger, but the burden of proof can be heavier when the original numbers are already lofty. The U.S. Department of Agriculture placed 2024 U.S. corn yield at 183.1 bushels per acre and soybeans at 53.2 bpa, both above pre-report trade estimates of 182.1 and 52.5, respectively. Those analyst guesses were already safely above USDAs 2024 trendline yields of 181 and 52 bpa, and Mondays figures, derived through producer surveys and satellite imagery, would be new records. The August yield estimates in recent years tend to be too aggressive versus the final, albeit with caveats, and the pattern is a bit more consistent for soybeans than corn. August soybean yield has been higher than the final in six of the last seven years , though 2021s yield was the highest of that group and close to record. August corn yield has been higher than the final in six of the last nine years , but those three years are also the highest-yielding of the bunch. Those statistics may seem to favor Mondays numbers going even higher, but it is interesting to note that the August yields for both corn and soy in 2021 and 2023 were below trade estimates, unlike in 2024. Additionally, the August estimates in those two years were lower than in July, again, unlike 2024. Finishing weather could guide the direction of the 2024 estimates, and although August rainfall is still uncertain, the lack of yield-clipping heat might offset any future downgrades, especially in corn. ACREAGE SHIFT Planted and harvested area were also factors in the U.S. production estimates on Monday, and the final harvested area tends to be lower than in late summer/fall. This year was the first time USDAs late summer/fall area adjustment occurred in August, which is now permanent, though it took place in September or October in previous years. Corn plantings fell by 727,000 acres from the June estimate to 90.75 million acres, though soybeans jumped by an unusual 1 million acres to 87.1 million. Both were expected to decline. If the soybean area stands, it would be the third time in the last 16 years that final plantings were materially higher than in June. It would also be the first time since 2008 that final soy plantings were higher than in June following an acreage decline between the March and June surveys. The easing in corn plantings was bigger than expected, especially given the relatively strong increase from March to June. These trends suggest the market and perhaps producers have been overestimating the attractiveness of corn versus soybeans this year. Harvested area estimates also fell by similar degrees as the plantings on Monday, and those tend to be smaller in the end. Final harvested corn and soybean acres were lower than the autumn adjustments in eight of the last 10 years . HUGE RECORDS Some of the numbers published on Monday were eye-popping, most notably a 225 bpa yield for Illinois corn, a record by 11 bpa. Iowa at 209 bpa would best its corn yield record by 5 bpa, though these are not as heavy as it seems. Illinois in 2014 set a record corn yield of 200 bpa, some 20 bpa above the prior high, and 2004s record of 180 was 16 bpa above the prior max. Iowa set back-to-back corn yield records in 2015 and 2016 at 192 and 203 bpa, respectively, and each year represented an increase of 11 bpa over the previous high. It is unclear where the technological yield ceiling lies, or if it exists, though pegging trend yield increases has recently challenged analysts due to the string of weather interruptions observed in the past several years. Karen Braun is a market analyst for Reuters. Views expressed above are her own. Carlyle Group Inc. has delayed closing its new pan-Asian buyout fund as demand for a Japan-focused vehicle has siphoned off investor interest, according to people familiar with the matter. The Washington-based firm has asked for an extension in the closing of its sixth regional buyout fund, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Since the launch more than two years ago, it has received $3 billion in commitments, well below its original $8.5 billion target, the people said. A typical fundraising takes about 18 months or less. Fundraising is taking longer than normal in part due to a heightened concern among global investors about overpaying for assets and exit opportunities, resulting in more rigorous due diligence. The firms $2.9 billion Japan fund, which closed in May and is almost 70% bigger than its previous such fund, has also cannibalized the pan-Asia raising as international investors have chosen to prioritize that nation, the people said. Carlyle has raised almost $6 billion in Asia since last year, including $950 million for its second growth fund. A Hong Kong-based spokesperson for Carlyle declined to comment. Investors in the new Asia fund will be promised access to the Japan deals flow, including the recently announced $610 million acquisition of KFC Holdings Japan, the people said. Rising geopolitical tensions, worsening exits, capital distribution and significant losses from China investments in recent years have prompted some investors to reduce allocations to pan-Asia funds and focus more on their home markets. Still, some allocators commit to Asia because of decent returns posted by some managers with team stability and exposure to Japan and other markets such as India and Korea, according to one of Carlyles biggest investors, who asked not to be identified. The US firm told investors the exposure to China in its sixth Asia fund will be cut by as much as half to 20% over the next fund cycle, people familiar have said. Like its rivals including KKR & Co. and Bain Capital, Carlyle is focusing on buyout opportunities in markets including India and Korea. Private equity exits in Asia-Pacific fell 26% to $101 billion in 2023 compared with the previous five-year average, according to Bain & Co. Fund-raising in the region dropped to the lowest level in a decade, according to its 2024 industry report. PAG, Asias biggest manager of alternative assets, closed its latest buyout fund at about $4 billion in June, reaching less than half of its original target. TPGs eighth Asia fund has raised $5.3 billion, and plans to slash its China allocation by more than half from prior regional funds, people familiar said in March. Carlyles disposal of its entire stake in McDonalds China operation, with 6.7 times return, was one of its best exits from China and helped mitigate the concerns of distribution. Some investors still want exposure to the worlds second-biggest economy as valuations look attractive, the people said. Rivals who have shied away from China have seen better fundraising results. CVC Capital Partners Plc in February raised $6.8 billion for its sixth Asia fund, which was 50% bigger than its 2020 pool. The London-based firm reduced its China exposure years ago and had been focusing Southeast Asia and other markets in the region. The FBI is investigating allegations that sensitive documents from Donald Trump's presidential campaign were stolen in a cyber intrusion, as well as attempts to gain access to Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign, days after the Trump campaign declared it had been hacked by Iran. The FBI released a brief statement on the Trump matter reading, We can confirm the FBI is investigating this matter. The Trump campaign provided no specific evidence of Iran's involvement, but the claim came shortly after Microsoft issued a report detailing foreign agents' attempts to interfere in the US election in 2024. The report cited an instance of an Iranian military intelligence unit in June sending a spear-phishing email to a high-ranking official of a presidential campaign from a compromised email account of a former senior advisor. Two people familiar with the matter said the Biden-Harris campaign was also targeted in the suspected Iranian cyber intrusion that is under FBI investigation. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the details of the investigation. Politico reported Saturday that it began receiving emails on July 22 from an anonymous account. The source -- an AOL email account identified only as Robert -- passed along what appeared to be a research dossier the campaign had apparently done on the Republican vice presidential nominee, Ohio Sen. JD Vance. The document was dated February 23, almost five months before Trump selected Vance as his running mate. These documents were obtained illegally and intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our Democratic process, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said. Also Read | Trump campaign says have Once-in-a-Lifetime chance to defeat two democrats At least three staffers in the Biden-Harris campaign were targeted with phishing emails, but investigators have uncovered no evidence the attempt was successful, one of the people said. The attempts came before President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. The FBI began investigating that cyber incident in June and intelligence officials believe Iran was behind the attempts, that person said. Officials have also been in touch with tech companies in recent months about the possibility that people linked to the Trump and Biden-Harris campaigns were being targeted through email. Harris' campaign said in a statement, Our campaign vigilantly monitors and protects against cyber threats, and we are not aware of any security breaches of our systems. It declined to address whether it had identified any state-based intrusion attempts. Iran's mission to the United Nations, when asked about the claim of the Trump campaign, denied being involved. Also Read | Inside the Trump campaigns hidden ground game However, Iran long has been suspected of running hacking campaigns targeting its enemies in the Middle East and beyond. Tehran also long has threatened to retaliate against Trump over the 2020 drone strike he ordered that killed prominent Revolutionary Guard Gen Qassem Soleimani. In its report, Microsoft stated that foreign malign influence concerning the 2024 US election started off slowly but has steadily picked up pace over the last six months due initially to Russian operations, but more recently from Iranian activity. Also Read | Donald Trump campaign accuses Iran of hacking and stealing sensitive documents The analysis continued: Iranian cyber-enabled influence operations have been a consistent feature of at least the last three U.S. election cycles. Iran's operations have been notable and distinguishable from Russian campaigns for appearing later in the election season and employing cyberattacks more geared toward election conduct than swaying voters. Hamas on Tuesday fired two rockets at Israel's commercial hub, Tel Aviv, after Israeli airstrikes in Gaza that killed at least 19 Palestinians. It was the first time since May when Hamas last claimed firing rockets at Tel Aviv. The report said there were no casualties in Israel following the rockets fired from Gaza, the Israeli military said. One of the rockets fell into the sea, while the other did not reach Israeli territory. "We have bombed the city of Tel Aviv and its suburbs with two 'M90' missiles in response to the Zionist massacres against civilians and the deliberate displacement of our people," the Hamas' military wing said in a statement. Also Read | US expects Gaza peace talks to continue, ceasefire possible Hamas last claimed firing rockets at Tel Aviv in May. Israeli airstrikes Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes killed 19 Palestinians in the central and southern Gaza Strip today. At least six people were killed in an airstrike in Deir Al-Balah, including a mother and her twin four-day-old babies, while seven other Palestinians were killed in a strike on a house in the nearby Al-Bureij camp. The report said four people were killed in two separate strikes on the Al-Maghazi camp in the central Gaza Strip and Rafah in the south, and two were killed in a strike on a house in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood of Gaza City in the north. Also Read | Israeli airstrike kills dozens of displaced civilians in Gaza The Israeli military and Islamic Jihad and Hamas said they were fighting in several areas of Gaza. The Israeli military said it had killed Palestinian gunmen and dismantled military structures in Khan Younis, located weapons and explosives in Rafah, and struck rocket launchers and sniper posts in central Gaza. Ceasefire Talks Earlier on Monday, the US said that the Gaza ceasefire talks slated for Thursday to go ahead as planned, and that an agreement was still possible. A media report said that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken planned to set off on Tuesday for discussions in Qatar, Egypt and Israel. The Israeli government said it would send a delegation to Thursday's talks to finalise the details of the agreement proposal. Hamas, however, is demanding a workable plan to implement the proposal, presented by US President Joe Biden in May - rather than more talks. Also Read | Israel strike on Gaza school shelter kills around 100 people: Report "Our statement the other day was clear: what is needed is the implementation, not more negotiation," Reuters quoted a Hamas official, who declined to be named owing to the sensitivity of the issue. The war was triggered when Hamas-led fighters stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostage back to Gaza. Almost 40,000 Palestinians have since been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, with much of the enclave laid to waste and most the population displaced. Elon Musk Donald Trump interview: Following Elon Musk's interview with Donald Trump on his social media platform X's Spaces on Tuesday, the Tesla CEO has extended an invitation to Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris for a live interview. Happy to host Kamala on an Spaces too, the Tesla CEO wrote on X. The post garnered 2.5 million views and was reposted around 7,000 times within 40 minutes. Several X users made hilarious comments on Musk's post. One of them jeered, Literally one person would show up", while another user hoped that Kamala Harris would join the discussion, even if the chances of her doing the same were very low. Meanwhile, another user attempted to increase her followers on the prompt that Kamala Harris was probably too scared to join a conversation with Elon Musk. Follow me if you think Kamala Harris is too scared to do an Space with Elon Musk, the user wrote. Elon Musk Donald Trump interview live The interview lasted about two hours and mostly involved former US president Donald Trump taking a dig at his opponent, Kamala Harris. Trump further went on to say that Harris was fake, and incompetent, in matters of border security. Under Joe Biden's rule, the number of illegal migrants crossing the US borders increased, said Donald Trump. Besides hitting out at Harris, Trump further went on to say that the US had to get rid of "these migrant labourers, who were terrorists in disguise. The former US president also proposed reviving the American Dream as he wanted more companies built in the country. The US will run out of business, said Donald Trump if the country voted in Kamala Harris's favour. Massive DDOS attack Elon Musk's much-anticipated interview started after 45 minutes of delay. Musk claimed it was a "massive DDOS attack" behind the site crash. Bangladesh Protest: Spiritual guru and founder of the ISHA Foundation Sadhguru on Tuesday took to microblogging site X (formerly Twitter) urging immediate halt to despicable atrocities. A strife-torn Bangladesh is yet to see peace and order as Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus takes over as the leader of an interim government in Bangladesh. Also Read | Bangladeshs ousted Hasina charged with murder case of grocery owner in protest Sadhguru in his tweet said that documenting atrocities is that are happening in Bangladesh are very important. The national borders that were drawn in recent times are not absolute. The cultural ties and the civilizational connect is far more important. Sadhguru wrote. Bharat should not be bound just by border logic but by broader realities of a civilization that is older than 75 years. the spiritual guru emphasised as reports of attacks on minorities and Hindu in Bangladesh emerged. Earlier too, Sadhguru had urged the Indian government to stand up and act at the earliest for the safety of minorities in Bangladesh as local media claimed that Hindu houses and business establishments were attacked by mobs while their valuables were also looted in at least 27 districts. Muhammad Yunus, the head of Bangladesh's interim government, has called for a meeting with Hindu Bengali leaders in the country on Tuesday. An RSS-affiliated body has issued an appeal to the UNHRC to deploy a fact-finding mission to investigate alleged incidents of attacks against Hindu and other minorities in strife-torn Bangladesh. Bangladesh mitigates attack on minorities Bangladesh's interim government has set up a hotline asking people to provide information about attacks on Hindu temples, churches or any other religious institutions, amid reports of vandalisation of religious places, businesses and properties of minorities following the ouster of prime minister Sheikh Hasina. The Ministry of Religious Affairs has requested to provide information about attacks on religious institutions, Bengali language daily Prothom Alo reported on Tuesday. Interim government's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus reached out to the distressed Hindu community members and assured them that his government would punish those responsible for attacks on the minorities. Yunus, 84, who took charge as the Chief Advisor on Thursday, visited the Dhakeshwari National Temple where he urged the people to exercise patience before judging his government. Murder case against Sheikh Hasina A court in Bangladesh opened a murder investigation into ousted ex-premier Sheikh Hasina and six top figures in her administration Tuesday over the police killing of a man during civil unrest last month. Also Read | Starbucks offers hefty compensation package to new CEO Brian Niccol, gets WFH Hasina, 76, fled by helicopter to neighbouring India a week ago, where she remains, as protesters flooded Dhaka's streets in a dramatic end to her iron-fisted tenure. Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday issued a clarion call for justice in her first official statement since escaping the country. The development came even as murder charges were filed against the Awami League chief over the death of a grocery store owner amid the deadly student-led protests. Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party has demanded a trial against Hasina for genocide. I demand punishment for those responsible for the killings and sabotage, through investigation, the ousted politician said. Also Read | Vinesh Phogats wait for joint Olympic silver to continue till August 16 The fugitive leader called for August 15 to be designated as a national day of mourning and recalled the brutal assassination of her family members on the same date in 1975. The assertion came mere hours after the newly appointed interim government cancelled the holiday marking the assassination of Bangladesh founder and Hasina's father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. "I sympathise with those like me who continue to live with the pain of losing near and dear ones. I demand a proper investigation to identify those involved in these killings and terror acts, and appropriate punishment for them...I appeal to you to observe the National Mourning Day on August 15 with due dignity and solemnity. Pray for the salvation of all souls by offering floral garlands and praying at Bangabandhu Bhaban," she urged. Hasina also expressed grief over the burning down of the Bangabandhu Museum during the recent violence. She asserted that the "memory and inspiration, which we had to live, was burnt into ashes and urged Bangladeshis to offer prayers and leave wreaths at the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum premises. "This was an extreme defamation of someone...under whose leadership we became an independent nation. I seek justice from the countrymen for this act, she said. The private residence of Rahman had been turned into a museum after he was killed alongside family members in a military coup staged by a group of junior officers. A violent mob had set the museum on fire following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina. The chief executive of Gulf Coast Bank & Trust isnt thrilled about casting his vote for either presidential candidate in November. Guy T. Williams, who leads the community bank in southeastern Louisiana, said he is concerned about former President Donald Trumps plans to impose more tariffs, a move that could raise prices and slow economic growth. But he isnt sure Vice President Kamala Harris would be a better choice and worries about the prospect of higher corporate taxes. Based on her past record, the vice president leans even further left than President Biden did, and probably has a little bit less economic understanding," Williams said. Williams is one of a growing number of CEOs and financiers who find themselves without a natural political home this election season. The Republican party used to be synonymous with a pro-business mindset, while the Democrats were known as the party of the working class and labor unions. Those alliances have been muddled since the rise of Trumpand particularly after his selection of populist Sen. JD Vance (R., Ohio) as his running mate. Now, some business and financial leaders say they want lower taxes, lighter regulation and less antitrust scrutiny. They are in favor of free trade and concerned about social and geopolitical instability amid growing movements toward populism and isolationism. Many lean left on social issues such as abortion. That leaves this group in a tough spot, without an obvious candidate whose platform aligns with their views. For some, the decision to side with the Republicans was easier in 2016. Trump devoted significant time on the campaign trail to talking up his plans to lower taxes and cut regulations. After he was elected, he surrounded himself with business leaders, appointing Exxon Mobils Rex Tillerson and former Goldman Sachs executive Steven Mnuchin to his cabinet and asking others to serve on advisory councils. But the growing power of the populist faction made many business leaders uncomfortable, especially after the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol. That wing of the party is now the establishment, a reality cemented by Trumps selection of Vance, a leader in the MAGA movement who is outspokenly anti-Wall Street, as the vice presidential nominee. In the eyes of the financial class, there is, increasingly, a difference between Trump 1.0 and Trump 2.0," said Ken Spain, a Republican consultant who advises business leaders. Where there was once intrigue, there is increasingly apprehension." Making some uneasy is the fact that Trumpwhose 2017 tax cuts are set to expire after 2025mentioned taxes only briefly at last months Republican National Convention in what appeared to be unscripted remarks. The problem for these CEOs is that Harris doesnt necessarily present a better alternative. Few expect her to embrace Wall Street or business, despite her deep ties to some heavy-hitters in the finance world. Like Biden, she has been vocal in criticizing Trump for giving tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations. It is also unclear how she would manage the economy or handle issues such as antitrust, where many think that Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, a Biden appointee, has overstepped. Centrist group No Labels attracted a number of business and Wall Street types who dislike Trump but thought another Biden term could be just as bad. The group tried to field a third-party presidential bid but abandoned its efforts after failing to find a candidate willing to run. Some Wall Street leaders who had initially signed on to its mission backed away out of concern that they would be blamed for helping Trump by drawing moderate Republicans who voted for Biden in 2020. People will be really happy that Bidens gone," said a private-equity executive connected with No Labels. There is a good core of people who are afraid of Trump or who are against him." Business leaders who have gravitated toward No Labels complain about extremists being given too much power by both parties, a lack of bipartisanship and an unwillingness by leaders to address important issues facing the country because they might be politically thorny, said Ryan Clancy, chief strategist for No Labels. The winner of this election is going to be the one that grows their base toward the middle," Clancy said. The debate over which party will be better for business has roiled even the typically left-leaning Silicon Valley. Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla, and a group of prominent venture capitalists including Marc Andreessen of Andreessen Horowitz, Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale and PayPal alumnus David Sacks are backing Trump. A long list of others, including former Alphabet Chairman Eric Schmidt, philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, tech investors John Doerr and Ron Conway, and LinkedIn co-founder and venture capitalist Reid Hoffman, have pledged their support to Harris. Business and financial leaders say they want stability and predictability when it comes to economic policy and geopolitics. During Trumps first term, many lived in fear that they would wake up to learn that the former president had targeted them, their company or a supplier in a late-night tweet. They also complain that the Biden administration has at times tried to score quick political points on things such as student loan forgiveness, instead of working to solve deeper problems such as tackling the deficit or shoring up Social Security. What everyone should be looking for is sensible management of populist and isolationist trends," said the head of a large private-equity firm. He said he saw measures such as the 2022 Chips and Science Act, aimed at reviving the U.S. semiconductor industry, as a step in the right direction. With few natural allies, social issues might tip the scales for some business leaders. Those who support a womans right to obtain an abortion blame Trump for the Supreme Courts 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. A former senior banker turned investment manager who is also a longtime Democrat said most people he knows on Wall Street will be voting for Harris. Its hard for a lot of people to put their tax payments ahead of a womans right to choose," he said. Chip Cutter contributed to this article. Write to Miriam Gottfried at Miriam.Gottfried@wsj.com The Biden administration approved the sale of up to 50 F-15 fighter jets, vehicles and ammunition to Israel in a deal valued at more than $20 billion, sending an unmistakable message that weapons will continue to flow despite concerns about Israeli forces conduct of the war in Gaza. Under the terms of the deal, the US would send up to 50 of the Boeing Co. F-15IA jets, along with upgrade kits for 25 other F-15s along with radar and other gear. The US would also send air-to-air missiles, tank and mortar ammunition, and Medium Tactical vehicles. The total deal would be worth up to $20.3 billion. Israel wouldnt get the new jets until 2029 at the earliest. Though Congress can still block a deal, which Tuesdays announcement underscores President Joe Bidens determination to continue to supply Israel the weapons it wants even as criticism grows about civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip. In the months since Hamas fighters attacked Israel on Oct. 7 and killed some 1,200 people, Israeli forces have waged a campaign thats left nearly 40,000 people dead, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to U.S. national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability, the State Department said. Incorporating F-15IAs into the Israel Air Forces fleet of fighter aircraft will enhance Israels interoperability with U.S. systems and bolster Israels aerial capabilities to meet current and future enemy threats, it said. In June, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the US of withholding weapons to Israel as his country was fighting for its life, an accusation the White House denied. The spat which the two sides later said had been resolved highlighted growing friction between the US and Israel over the campaign against Hamas, which is labeled a terrorist group by the US and the European Union. The sale went through after two Democrats, Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland and Representative Gregory Meeks of New York, dropped their opposition in June. In a statement at the time to the Washington Post, Cardin spokesman Eric Harris said any concerns had been addressed through our ongoing consultations with the Administration. The Biden administration had paused the shipment of some large bombs to Israel in May over concerns about protecting civilians in the Gaza Strip city of Rafah. TEL AVIVThe U.S. is pressing for a fresh round of cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas this week in a last-ditch effort to bring calm to the enclave and free hostages in Gaza more than 10 months into the war. Negotiations between Israel and Hamas have stalled for months amid exchanges of blame from both sides. The U.S. is expected to send a team of senior officials to the region this week, hoping to overcome obstacles and reach a deal as the region braces for a possible Iranian attack and further escalation. The U.S., Egypt and Qatar called on the parties to resume talks in a summit Thursday, promising to present their own proposal for bridging the remaining gaps if necessary. The U.S. said Israel has welcomed the invitation, while Hamas officials had yet to confirm whether they would participate. In a message conveyed to Arab mediators Monday night, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar said that if Israel is serious about negotiations and wants Hamas to participate, then it must stop its military operations in Gaza first, the mediators said. Such a request is unlikely to be met by Israel, which has previously said it is determined to achieve its twin goals of defeating Hamas and securing the return of hostages. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly touted his goal of total victory over Hamas and has said a deal wont prevent Israel from resuming the fight. Talks between an Israeli delegation and counterparts continued on Tuesday in Cairo on solutions for the Philadelphi Corridor and Rafah crossing, which remains closed after Israel took over the Gaza side of the border area in May, a move that has limited the amount of aid entering Gaza. Other unresolved issues in any cease-fire deal include the identity of Palestinian prisoners to be released, security arrangements in the Netzarim Corridor, which bisects the Gaza Strip and is controlled by Israel, and the identity and number of hostages to be released. As the war in Gaza has dragged on and as a pair of killings of militant leaders in Tehran and Beirut have pushed the Middle East to the brink of further escalation, countries are calling on Israel and Hamas to reach a deal and end the fighting. Leaders from the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany and Italy expressed support for efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region and reach a cease-fire deal in Gaza in a joint statement on Monday. The U.S. and others hope a cease-fire deal in Gaza would open the door to calming Israels standoff with Hezbollah along the Lebanese border and lowering tensions in the region. Some 111 hostages taken in the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7 remain in Gaza, though Israel has said at least 39 of them are already dead. U.S. and Israeli officials privately estimate the number of dead could be much higher due to untreated wounds, lack of food, ill treatment by guards and Israeli airstrikes. Abu Obeida, the spokesman for Hamass armed wing, said Monday that one hostage had been killed and two critically wounded by their guards in Gaza, underscoring the risks that hostages face as a result of months of captivity. The Israeli military said that it is examining the credibility of Hamass claims. More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health officials, who dont say how many were combatants. Polling shows that the majority of the Israeli public supports a hostage deal. A deal would require the release of Palestinian prisoners, some of whom are charged with committing serious offenses against Israelis. Israels security establishment including the military, the Shin Bet internal-security agency and the Mossad spy agency have expressed support for a deal, saying Hamas has been significantly weakened and that the hostages may not have much time. Netanyahu also faces continued pressure for a deal from families of the hostages, many of whom protest across Israel every week. Israels far-right politicians say defeating Hamas should be given priority over freeing the hostages. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir have signaled that they would oppose a hostage deal and leave Netanyahus coalition if the prime minister agrees to a cease-fire under conditions they oppose. Netanyahu depends on the far right to keep his ruling coalition intact and has faced accusations of hindering the negotiations from lawmakers in his government, Arab mediators and his own negotiators. Another major obstacle to the talks is that Hamas has named Sinwar, a hard-liner believed to have been a key planner behind the Oct. 7 attacks, as its political leader after his predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in a military guesthouse in Tehran. Sinwar wants to achieve Palestinian statehood and shares Irans goal of destroying the state of Israel to achieve it. While Sinwar effectively controlled the talks in the past, his new position could sideline Hamas officials with more moderate views on the talks. Summer Said contributed to this article. Write to Anat Peled at anat.peled@wsj.com The US believes an Iranian attack against Israel has grown even more likely and may come as soon as this week, officials said, as allied leaders sought to head off all-out war and the Pentagon deployed more forces to the region. Briefing reporters Monday, White House spokesman John Kirby said the US and its allies have to be prepared for what could be a significant set of attacks. Israel believes its increasingly likely that therell be an attack by Iran and its proxies, Kirby said. We share those concerns. Kirbys comments were the strongest indication yet that officials expect that an attack may come at any time. Some have been puzzled that it has yet to happen, given Iran has threatened for days to retaliate after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran a killing that Israel has yet to take credit for. In the meantime, allies are doing everything they can to head off an Iranian strike, which they fear could spark a wider regional war. That effort has focused on trying to inject new life into cease-fire talks involving the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. The last time Iran attacked Israel, in April, it fired hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones, almost all of which were intercepted. Casualties were limited, and Israel responded at the time with a limited drone operation but elected not to escalate further. Officials worry this time could be different, especially if an Iranian attack results in many dead or wounded. In a joint statement Monday, President Joe Biden and the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and the UK backed efforts to complete a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas and secure the release of hostages held by Hamas. They called for unfettered delivery and distribution of aid and endorsed the defense of Israel against Iranian aggression and against attacks by Iran-backed terrorist groups. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke to Irans President Masoud Pezeshkian, asking that Iran refrain from attacking Israel and adding that war was not in anyones interest, according to a Downing Street spokesperson. In a disclosure that may add new complications to the hostage release negotiations, Hamas, which is designated a terrorist group by the US and European Union, said Monday that two of its militants killed a male hostage and severely wounded two female hostages in separate incidents. It said in the statement that Israels airstrikes in Gaza stir reactions that threaten the lives of hostages. The US, Qatar and Egypt have called for a new round of talks on Aug. 15. But Hamas has pushed back against the proposal, saying discussions should center on implementing previous plans. Israel has agreed to attend the talks. One Israeli official said they would take place in Doha with a focus on whether Hamas might relent on truce terms. Another Israeli official said Arab mediators would confer with Hamas afterward if the group boycotts the session. Israel hasnt yielded on its main terms, said the officials, who spoke to Bloomberg News on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the issue. On Sunday, the Pentagon announced it was sending even more forces to the region, including the USS Georgia, a submarine equipped with more than 150 Tomahawk missiles. That in itself is an unusual show of force given that the US rarely discloses the movements of its nuclear-powered submarine fleet, and Tomahawks have been used to strike ground targets in the region in the past. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and its strike group to speed up their arrival in the region. The vessel carries F-35 fighter jets, which could help strike targets and intercept any Iranian attacks. Acting Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani described an attack on Israel as inevitable, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told Italian news broadcast TG4. Tajani said any escalation would be a mistake and Iran should first evaluate the cease-fire negotiations. But it seems to me that the Iranians are in a very difficult position, he said. With assistance from Dan Williams, Sherif Tarek, Josh Wingrove and Alex Wickham. WASHINGTONThe Biden administration will send Saudi Arabia shipments of bombs worth more than $750 million in the coming months, removing a major irritant between Washington and Riyadh, according to officials from both nations. The deliveries will include 3,000 Small Diameter Bombs and 7,500 Paveway IV bombs, which have been on hold since President Biden halted the shipments in 2021 over Saudi Arabias punishing war in Yemen. The shipments underscore White House attempts to woo Riyadh, hoping closer ties with the oil-rich kingdom will pay dividends in the administrations final months. The Biden administration has been drafting a defense treaty with Saudi Arabia, as well discussing plans to provide assistance so the kingdom can acquire civil nuclear power. The White House needs Riyadhs help in its push for a cease-fire in the Gaza war and is trying to broker an agreement for diplomatic recognition between Israel and Saudi Arabia, an influential voice in the Islamic world. Saudi officials have pressed the U.S. to resume weapons sales since Biden halted the shipments in an effort to prevent civilian casualties and to pave the way for a 2022 cease-fire in Riyadhs war against Houthi rebels in Yemena decision that strained already-tense relations with Washington. The Saudis will view this as addressing a strategic stain on relations with the U.S.," said Dana Stroul, who until December was the most senior civilian official at the Pentagon with responsibility for the Middle East. View Full Image A 2019 vigil in front of the Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C., to mark the anniversary of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Photo: Sarah Silbiger/Reuters Biden entered office vowing to treat Saudi Arabia as a pariah" during the election campaign because of the war and the 2018 assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. But he has backed away from that stance since, including in a 2022 trip to Saudi Arabia, when he attended a high profile summit meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdoms 38-year-old day-to-day ruler. Jon Alterman, a senior vice president at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies said the main reason for lifting the weapons ban is to reward Saudi Arabia for its support on regional security issues, including but not limited to their openness to long-term normalization with Israel." But it is also a signal to the Houthis that there is less daylight between the Saudis and the U.S.," he added. The weapons will augment the Saudi air forces capability to carry out precision airstrikes from their U.S.-made jet fighters, more of which could be sold to the kingdom in coming years, U.S. officials said. The $290 million shipment of small diameter bombs, also known as GBU-39s, provides Riyadh with a 250-pound munition that can be launched from a distance to carry out precise attacks, including in urban settings. The $468 million in Paveway IV bombs provides a munition that uses lasers or satellites to locate its target. This is the capability that a modern Air Force requires," a State Department official said. Administration officials briefed lawmakers and congressional staff on the decision last week, telling them that the deliveries wouldnt jeopardize the cease-fire in Yemen. Saudi Arabia has improved its targeting procedures to mitigate the risk to civilians should it be drawn into another conflict, U.S. officials said. The Saudis have met their end of the deal, and we are prepared to meet ours, returning these cases to regular order through appropriate congressional notification and consultation," a senior Biden administration official said, referring to Riyadhs truce with the Houthis and procedures to mitigate civilian casualties in future conflicts. A Saudi official in Riyadh said the kingdom had been notified of the decision. U.S. officials said the deliveries will likely start in several months. No additional weapons shipments have been announced by the U.S., beyond the two deliveries of bombs, administration officials and congressional aides said. The U.S. imposed an initial ban on some arms shipments to Riyadh in 2016, following Saudi strikes on a funeral hall in Sana that killed at least 155 people and injured 500 more, the deadliest single bombing of the Yemen war. The Trump administration lifted some restrictions and approved a $110 billion arms sale. The weapons ban Biden imposed in 2021 cut off support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arms sales," he said at the time. The U.S. continued sending Riyadh what it described as defensive weapons. The U.S. sent half a million U.S. troops to the kingdom in 1990 to repel Iraqi dictator Saddam Husseins invasion of Kuwait and defend Saudi oil fields. The relationship has also suffered serious strains, including over the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in which 15 of the 19 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia and the 2018 murder by Saudi operatives of Khashoggi, a critic of the monarchy. Summer Said and Alexander Ward contributed to this article. Write to Nancy A. Youssef at nancy.youssef@wsj.com and Michael R. Gordon at michael.gordon@wsj.com Donald Trump, the Republican Party candidate and former US President, on Tuesday, said leaders of authoritarian governments like Russia, China and North Korea are at the top of their game and the US needs a strong president to tackle them, NDTV reported. In an interview with Elon Musk, the Republican Party nominee for the November 5 US Presidential polls, Musk said, (Vladimir) Putin, Xi (Jinping), and Kim Jong Un are at the top of their game. In the interview streamed on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Donald Trump called the US President Joe Biden as sleepy Joe. Following technical glitches, the interview between the former US President and Space X chief began 40 minutes later than the scheduled time. The former US President suggested that Russia wouldn't have invaded Ukraine if it hadn't been for Joe Biden. He asserted, "I got along with Putin very well, and he respected me. We would talk about Ukraine. It was the apple of his eye. But I told him don't do it," NDTV reported. In the interview, Donald Trump also proposed to revive the American Dream, I want companies to build here, and people will go for jobs they love." Charging at his primary contender US Vice President Kamala Harris in the US Presidential race, the Republican candidate alleged that Kamala Harris was fake and incompetent. Taking a dig at the Vice President, he said that she is unable to handle the issue of illegal migrants crossing US borders. Donald Trump noted, US will run out of business, if the country votes for her." Elon Musk, the Tesla chief, endorsed Donald Trump's candidacy two days after the recent assassination attempt at Pennsylvania's outdoor rally. Until a few years ago, he was considered an ardent Democrat. The United States must be ready for potential "significant" attacks on Israel, which could occur this week, stated White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby on Monday, amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East. This came after President Joe Biden's discussions with the leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy as the US seeks to de-escalate the situation in the region. "We share the same concerns and expectations that our Israeli counterparts have with respect to potential timing here. Could be this week. We have to be prepared for what could be a significant set of attacks," said Kirby as quoted by The Times of Israel. Kirby mentioned that the call aimed to reaffirm Israel's defense and convey a unified message against any escalation of violence or attacks by Iran and its proxies. In a joint statement on Monday, President Biden, along with the leaders of the UK, France, Germany, and Italy, urged Iran to cease its military threats against Israel. The White House noted that the statement emphasized the serious regional security consequences if such an attack were to occur. We called on Iran to stand down its ongoing threats of a military attack against Israel and discussed the serious consequences for regional security should such an attack take place, the statement read. Also Read | Israeli airstrike kills dozens of displaced civilians in Gaza "We expressed our full support for ongoing efforts to de-escalate tensions and reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza. We endorsed the joint call from President Biden, President Sisi of Egypt, and Amir Tamim of Qatar to renew talks later this week with an aim to concluding the deal as soon as possible, and stressed there is no further time to lose," it said. "All parties must live up to their responsibilities. In addition, unfettered delivery and distribution of aid is needed. We expressed our support for the defence of Israel against Iranian aggression and against attacks by Iran-backed terrorist groups," it added. Former Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra assumed charge as the Ambassador of India to the United States on Tuesday. Kwatra succeeds India's former envoy to the United States and BJP leader, Taranjit Singh Sandhu. Privileged to assume charge as the Ambassador of India to the United States of America. Team @IndianEmbassyUS will continue to work intensely to strengthen this crucial partnership, Kwatra said in a post on X. Sripriya Ranganathan, Deputy Ambassador at the Embassy of India in Washington DC welcomed the new Ambassador to the US. Delighted to welcome Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra as the new Ambassador of India to the United States of America. All of us @IndiainUSA are excited to work under his leadership! The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum welcomed India's new Ambassador to the US, USISPF warmly welcomes @AmbVMKwatra as he begins his tenure as the Indian Ambassador to the U.S. We wish him a successful and productive tenure and look forward to working closely with him and @IndianEmbassyUSto elevate the US-India partnership. On July 14, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar bid farewell to outgoing Foreign Secretary Kwatra, commending his significant contributions to India's foreign policy and national security over the past decade. Kwatra has also previously served as Joint Secretary at the Ministry of External Affairs and the Prime Minister's Office.Jaishankar praised Kwatra for his strategic expertise in shaping and implementing critical policies during his tenure. Kwatra has also held the position of Minister (Commerce) at the Embassy of India in Washington D.C. from May 2010 to July 2013. Between July 2013 and October 2015, he led the Policy Planning & Research Division of the Ministry of External Affairs and subsequently headed the Americas Division, where he managed India's relations with the United States and Canada. With nearly 32 years of experience, Kwatra has served in various roles both in India and at Indian missions abroad. Kwatra assumes the role of India's Ambassador to the US at a time when relations between the two countries are at a peak. On Monday (local time), the White House stated that President Joe Biden considers the US-India relationship to be one of the most significant globally, noting that both nations work closely on critical priorities. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre highlighted that the US collaborates with India on essential issues, including the QUAD (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue). So look, the president views our relationship, the United States' relationship with India, as one of the most consequential in the world. And so we work closely with India on our most vital priorities, including through the Quad and the US-India initiative on this critical and emerging technology, Jean Pierre said. She further emphasised how the US wants to expand its "critically important partnership" with India, moving forward. On 10 March 1876, Alexander Graham-Bell made the worlds first telephone call when he called his assistant, Thomas Augustus Watson, over a copper wire that ran from one room in the house to the next. This one-sided conversation marked the start of a communication revolution that continues to evolve, with steady improvements that have extended the geographical and spatial boundaries within which our conversations take place. While the first conversation took place between devices connected to each other with a single wire, as more and more households acquired these new-fangled devices, the complexity of connecting each new telephone to every other forced us to invent the telephone exchange, a central switchboard to which all phones were connected, so that one call could be connected to another. But even this was not enough to cater to all the households that wanted to use this new technology. Demand was so high that in the early days of the telecom revolution, multiple homes were often connected in parallelon the same telephone line (colloquially known as a party line)which meant that anytime a call was connected, all phones in that home rang. Also read: New govt to carry forward key IT policies to adapt to evolving digital landscape While talking on the phone, there was nothing to stop anyone else on the party line from picking up another receiver and listening in. The evolution of telecom technology has always relied on continuous scalingto optimize the extent to which various elements of the technology stack are shared, so as to unlock greater efficiency. This was even more evident in the transition from fixed-line to mobile telephony, when the development of technologies like Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) allowed us to conduct multiple simultaneous conversations over the same radio frequency band by converting them into data packets and then transmitting them together, separated by time slots or spread across airwave spectrum. When the Indian government first permitted private-sector participation in the mobile telecom industry, it required telecom companies to build their own infrastructure before enrolling subscribers. This meant they had to erect telecom towers in strategic locations in the circles they had licences for to ensure that any customer could speak to any other no matter where they were located. And since each circle had more than one telecom operator, multiple cell towers were erected in the same area by different operators. The government later liberalized telecom regulations to permit passive infrastructure sharing. Multiple operators could now install their radio equipment on the same tower so long as quality was not compromised. The regulations continue to be liberalized, with sharing now extended to active infrastructure, such as the antenna, feeder cable, Radio Access Network and transmission system. This approach, of progressively sharing core elements of a given technology stack has unfortunately not been universally adopted across all sectors. Take the digital transformation of governance, for example. Much of the investment in this space is in vertically-integrated, full-stack solutions designed to solve one aspect of governance without any expectation of being able to integrate it with another solution. This is how the vast majority of identity and payment systems as well as a range of other core government services have been built in the developed world. According to Gartner, the total information-technology spend by governments in 2023 alone was over $580 billion. If you break this down by country, you will see that nearly $500 billion of that amount was spent in the developed world. This means that the remaining 150 or so countries, mostly in the developing world, had just $80 billion to spend on building the digital government solutions they need. If all these countries adopt the full-stack approach that the developed world has used, there would simply not be enough money in the world to fund digital governance. If we want to extend the benefits of the ongoing digital transformation to parts of the developing world that are lagging, we would need a far more efficient approach. We need to borrow a leaf from our telecom experience and learn to optimize the use of sharing in the governance space. Instead of full-stack solutions, if we can build governance solutions with reusable building blocks, we should be able to assemble a variety of solutions across a number of different sectors at a radically lower cost. This is the only way to bring a digital transformation to the countries that most urgently need it in order to accelerated their development. Thankfully, we already know how to achieve this. All of Indias digital public infrastructure has been built using modular, reusable building blocks, and it should be possible for other countries to leverage that experience in their own context. The first step in this direction, however, would be for funding organizations to commit to only fund digital governance projects that adopt the principle of reusability. Projects must not develop a new technology when other building blocks that serve the same purpose exist, and, if no such tech building blocks exist, they should commit that any new one they build will be made available for subsequent reuse. In a variant of a story that has played out across many locations in recent years, Mumbai last week saw 110,000 women camp outside the Mumbai University sports ground, adjacent to the iconic Wankhede Stadium. They had come to Indias financial capital in the hope of getting one of the 1,257 posts for women police constables in the city. One common explanation for the rush to bag a government job is the wage premium on offer. A police constable starts her job earning 30,000 a month, which is far higher than what new employees get on average in cities. The prospect of stable employment is an added incentive. Yet, such a scramble for government employment is also a symptom of the lack of quality jobs in an economy that has otherwise had a good run since the pandemic. A few weeks earlier, nearly 2,000 young aspirants landed outside a hotel in the Gujarat town of Bharuch in the hope of getting one of the 10 jobs on offer. No wage premium was reported here. The jobs issue has gained political resonance, with state governments promising to increase the number of people they hire and the Central government now providing wage subsidies to companies that take on new employees. A lot of economic research shows that insipid job creation in an economy has a lot to do with business dynamismand the policies that either support or hinder it. The new World Development Report, an annual research publication from the World Bank, has as its focus the middle-income trap, or why most countries stumble after robust economic growth takes them to what the multilateral lender defines as upper middle-income status. Only a few, such as South Korea which has an average income of $30,000 for every citizen, have continued along their high-growth paths to become rich countries. Leaping across the chasm will be a challenge for China right now and for India a decade later. In a background paper written for the World Development Report, Charles Gottlieb, Markus Poschke, and Michael Tueting provide informative data on the structure of employment by firm size across various country income groups. The structural transformation between lower-middle income countries and upper-middle income countries is especially important for Indian readers, since India is expected to become an upper middle-income country by the early years of the next decade. The share of workers in medium-sized firms (10-50 employees) does not change much. However, there is a dramatic fall in the share of workers in small firms (less than ten 10 employees) and a matching increase in the share of workers in large firms (more than 50 employees). It is no secret that India right now has an employment structure that is heavily skewed towards tiny enterprises that find it difficult to grow. Many of these businesses have been set up as acts of distress entrepreneurship because of the lack of adequately paying jobs. India needs dynamic firms to absorb its growing labour force. The new World Bank report shows that what matters is not just firm size, but also the ability to grow. This in turn means that governments seeking to incentivize job creation should screen firms by some metric of value addition rather than just size. The example of the US is instructive. In that country, the average firm grows by a factor of seven in case it survives for 40 years. Firms in developing countries grow by a factor of less than three in the same time-frame; the average Indian tiny enterprise barely grows at all. The typical Indian startupthink of a local workshop backed by meagre family savings rather than the wannabe unicorn lavishly funded by venture capitalis stagnant over its extended life-cycle. The issue is not just the failure of governments to let inefficient firms exit, but also the tricky issue of why these tiny enterprises are started in the first placeas a last resort against personal unemployment, out of necessity rather than business opportunity. There are two important lessons here for policymakers. First, it is young firms rather than small enterprises that drive job creation in an economy. Manish Sabharwal of Teamlease Services has a neat analogy from the human world. There are firms that are infants who will grow with proper nutrition, and then there are firms that are dwarfs whose stature is limited. Second, government support should be focused on firm dynamism rather than just size. Dynamic firms create jobs, and many of them just happen to be small. The implicit message of the chart on this page is as follows. A country can move from low-income to lower middle-income status with minimal changes in its employment structure. People can climb the income ladder by being slightly more productive in their existing jobs. The shift from lower middle-income to upper-middle income status involves a major shift in the employment structure, or the reallocation of labour on a large scale. The best vehicle for this is young and dynamic firms that are keen to take on more workers. Firm dynamism is an underrated issue in the ongoing discussion on how the Indian economy can provide jobs for a growing workforce that aspires to move ahead in life. Foreign investors pulled out a record amount of money from China in the last quarter. Direct investment liabilities in its balance-of-payments dropped almost $15 billion in April-June, Bloomberg reported, citing data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. This marks only the second time that the figure has turned negative, and should the full year end with a fall, it would be Chinas first annual decline since at least 1990. The data offers evidence of the dimming appeal of the Chinese economy as its health takes a hit amid a structural slowdown, even as regulators clamp down on private firms. Foreign investors have been losing confidence and working on a China-plus-one strategy to diversify production and lower risk. This should benefit other economies, including Indias. That said, less-than-impressive foreign direct investment in India lately indicates that it isnt an obvious choice for global investors pulling out of China. Smaller economies in Southeast Asia offer stiff competition. While Indias economic prospects do stand out, New Delhi needs to adopt a more attractive policy framework. The China-plus opportunity is a rare one, and we mustnt let it pass. Adani-Hindenburg case: Congress, on Tuesday, announced they would hold nationwide protest on Thursday, August 22, demanding Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into Hindenburg allegations against Adani Group of Companies. We will have nation-wide protest on August 22. In all states we will gherao ED offices across the country, Congress leader KC Venugopal told reporters on Tuesday. Congress stepped up its demand for a JPC probe after Hindenburg Research on August 10 alleged that SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch had stakes in obscure offshore funds used in the alleged Adani money siphoning scandal. The SEBI Chairperson has vehemently denied the allegations,mterming them as an attempted character assassination and an attack on SEBI's credibility. The announcement was made after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge held a meeting with all general secretaries, state unit chiefs and AICC state in-charges here as the party gets battle-ready for the upcoming round of assembly polls to discuss organisational matters and various issues of national importance for election preparedness. "The shocking revelations of a nexus between the SEBI and Adani needs a thorough investigation. The money of small investors in the stock market cannot be jeopardised," Mallikarjun Kharge said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) after the meeting. The Modi government must immediately seek the resignation of the SEBI chairperson and constitute a JPC in this regard, he said. Briefing reporters on the meeting, Venugopal said it was unanimously decided at the meeting that the party will hold a nationwide agitation on August 22, demanding SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch's resignation and a JPC probe into Hindenburg's allegations against Adani Group. On Monday SEBI said the allegations against the Adani Group by Hindenburg had been "duly investigated" and its chairperson disclosed and from time to time "also recused herself in matters involving potential conflicts of interest". In order to tackle increasing air pollution in the county, the Centre plans to introduce stricter National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), which have not been revised since 2009, according to two officials close to the matter. The Union government also plans to install 1,000 more air monitoring stations, especially in cities with a population of over 100,000. At present, there are 1,504 air monitoring stations in 543 cities across the country. The government has entrusted the job of updating NAAQS to IIT Kanpur, which has set up a panel comprising experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other institutions. Work on the new NAAQS is ongoing. We have given the project to IIT Kanpur, and the new standards will be notified soon. Currently, we have 12 parameters; there could be some additions and some changes in permissible limits," one of the two officials said on the condition of anonymity. When we talk about exposure, particulate matter (PM) 2.5 keeps coming to the conversation. Here, natural resources have a contribution of 40-50% to PM2.5 and 10. Other developed nations have a problem of sulfur dioxide (So2); they dont talk about PM2.5 and its weightage is less. In India, our issue is population and our ranking is low. All these affect human health. We have raised the concern to Niti Aayog." India ranked as the third most polluted country in 2023, after Bangladesh and Pakistan, according to World Air Quality Report 2023 by Swiss air quality monitoring body, IQAir. Air quality monitoring The air quality standards are meant to protect public health from exposure to six air pollutants: Particulate matters, ozone, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, carbon monoxide and lead. The country's apex pollution watchdog, Central Pollution Control Board, sets up air pollution monitoring devices to collect, compile and disseminate information on air quality. The CPCB has a network of 963 manual monitoring devices under the National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP) and 543 real-time monitoring devices under the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System (CAAQMS), according to the second official. The 1,000 new monitoring devices will be manual, the official said. Queries sent to the spokesperson and the secretary of the ministry of environment, forest and climate change, and the chairman of the CPCB remained unanswered. I don't think there is a need to revise the standards. The need is right now to make sure the existing standards are met. We are not meeting any standards by a wide margin," said Chandra Bhushan, founder and chief executive of the International Forum for Environment, Sustainability and Technology (iForest). If you reduce particulate matter, or sulphur, nitrogen, ozone, benzene, it has a huge benefit on health. We should be able to monitor existing pollutants well and have an action plan for them," Bhushan added. Outdoor air pollution accounts for 2.18 million deaths per year in India, second only to China (2.44 million), according to a modelling study published in The BMJ, a weekly peer-reviewed medical journal published by BMJ Group, in November 2023. Adani-Hindenburg Case: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has said that he would hold a press conference soon to talk on the latest salvo of Hindenburg Research on the Adani money siphoning scandal. The Congress had on Monday stepped up its attack on the Modi government over Hindenburg's allegations against SEBI chairperson Madhabi Buch with the Grand Old Party threatening a nationwide stir if a JPC probe is not initiated. On Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi told reporters that a byte would not do when the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha was asked to comment on the Hindenburg report published on Saturday, 10 August. Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi says, We will have to discuss this in depth. I will hold a Press conference shortly, on his demand to conduct joint parliamentary committee investigation into the Hindenburg report. The Hindenburg Research has alleged that SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch had stakes in obscure offshore funds used in the "Adani money siphoning scandal". The allegations has been refuted by the Buch duo calling it an attempted character assassination, and an attack on the credibility of SEBI. Meanwhile, the Congress pressed its demand for the SEBI chief's resignation and urged the Supreme Court to transfer the Adani probe to the CBI or a Special Investigation Team given the "likelihood of SEBI's compromise". Rahul Gandhi had on Sunday posted a video on microblogging site X (formerly Twitter) questioning why SEBI chief had not resigned. The Congress LoP furthered his tirade to enquire, If investors lose their hard-earned money, who will be held accountablePM Modi, the SEBI Chairperson, or Gautam Adani?. It is now abundantly clear why Prime Minister Modi is so afraid of a JPC probe and what it might reveal. Gandhi added. Adani Group, the Indian conglomerate rocked by a Hindenburg Research report in 2023, faced another heavy share selloff on Monday, 12 August, after the US-based short seller accused the head of India's market regulator SEBI of having links to offshore funds also used by the group. $2.43 billion, or 1%, had been wiped off the market value of Adani companies by the end of the trading day, although that was a substantial recovery from earlier losses of more than $13 billion, reported Reuters. Scientists believe vast amounts of water may be stored within Mars crust. A retired NASA mission uncovered signs of significant underground water on the Red Planet, a recent study suggests. The water would possibly be enough to create oceans if it were on the surface, CNN reported. The study mentions that astronauts aiming to reach Mars may find it difficult to access the trapped water since it's buried deep below the surface, ranging from 11.5km to 20 km. This discovery not only reveals more about Mars' geological past but also hints at a potential new site for finding life, provided the water can be reached. The findings are based on the data taken from NASA's InSight lander, which studied Mars' interior from 2018 to 2022. Lead study author Vashan Wright emphasises that grasping the Martian water cycle is vital for comprehending the planet's climate, surface and interior changes. The geophysicist at the University of California suggests that a good first step is to locate and measure the amount of water present, CNN reported. Water on Mars Scientists have long believed Mars was once a warmer and wetter world, with ancient lakes, rivers and water-altered rocks as proof. However, over 3 billion years ago, Mars lost its atmosphere, leading to the drying up of its surface. The reason behind this atmospheric loss remains unclear, prompting numerous missions to investigate Mars' watery past, the fate of its water, and the possibility of life-supporting conditions in its history. While some water remains as ice at the poles, researchers doubt this accounts for all the water that once existed on the planet. TOKYOEight decades ago, when Japans kamikaze pilots were crashing their planes into American ships and its soldiers were dying from the Aleutian Islands to Guadalcanal, all were given the same promise: Upon death, their souls would be enshrined at Tokyos Yasukuni Shrine. The shrine was the symbol of the religious-military state that sought to mobilize the population to fight in the name of a divine emperor. Some 2.5 million soldiers were memorialized there as deities of the Shinto religion. Japan lost the war 79 years ago this monthbut Yasukuni survived, and has recently deepened its ties with the nations military of today. That alarms some in Japan as well as in Chinawhich fought to repel Japanese invasions from the 1930s until Japans defeat in 1945while encouraging Japans conservatives who never fully accepted the separation of religion and state placed in the U.S.-written postwar constitution. Japan is nearly doubling its defense budget, its forces are preparing to work alongside the U.S. to defend the region, and it has changed its policy so that it can attack bases in China and North Korea if it is threatenedthe kind of proactive defense that was long unthinkable. That has put Yasukunis leafy precincts at the heart of a debate about Japans revived military power and how the country should ready itself if its soldiers again are ordered to the front lines to fight and die. Japan still has no public state memorial for those who gave their lives to their country, no equivalent of Arlington National Cemetery outside of Washington. Yasukuni is a private religious body, and no prime minister has visited since 2013, when then-leader Shinzo Abe drew condemnation from both Washington and Beijing for doing so. Supporters of Yasukuni see an opening to make the shrine once again an official government memorial honoring war dead. It would be wonderful if the time comes when the American president visits Yasukuni, just as Japanese prime ministers have been visiting Arlington. Then Japan-U.S. relations would for the first time proceed to a new chapter," said Shingo Yamagami, a former Japanese ambassador to Australia, in an interview. Rather than creating a new memorial, Japan should make use of the one it already has, Yamagami said. It carries that history," he said. It has the peoples respect, admiration and awe." This April, Umio Otsuka, a retired vice admiral in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force or navy, became Yasukuni Shrines chief priest. He is only the second ex-officer to hold the position since World War II, and the highest-ranking one since a retired four-star general served as chief priest during the war. A fluent English speaker who also served as Japans ambassador to Djibouti, Otsuka has said Yasukuni represents the soul of the peace-loving Japanese people." Otsuka, who declined to be interviewed, wrote in the shrines bulletin shortly before his appointment that in his previous roles, he often brought foreign military officers and ambassadors to pray at Yasukuni. Longstanding Defense Ministry policy says military units arent supposed to visit religious places and officers shouldnt compel subordinates to go. Yet in January a group of army soldiers visited the shrine using official vehicles. The next month, it came to light that graduates of the naval officer candidate school had visited the shrine in uniform en masse last year ahead of an overseas training voyage. The navy described the visit as private and voluntary. Japans constitution says the nation shouldnt maintain land, sea or air forces or use force to settle disputes, and the country developed an allergy toward the military after World War II, in which U.S. bombing destroyed most of Japans major citiesincluding Hiroshima and Nagasaki with atomic bombs. Among intellectuals, the media and average people, a determination arose never again to let the country fall into the hands of militarists. Sayuri Saito, law professor at Keisen University, said Yasukuni Shrine represented the essence of the theocratic state that led Japan into WW2. She described the growing presence of the shrine in todays military as a sign that the ancien regime was making a comeback. Little by little, the prewar is linking up to the postwar," Saito said. Her concerns are shared by Chinas government, which criticized the retired admirals appointment as chief priest and said Tokyo should make a clean break with militarism." In China, the shrine is widely seen as a symbol of the war. In late spring, a group of Chinese people posted a video on social media in which someone appeared to urinate on a stone pillar at the entrance to the shrine and spray-paint the word toilet" on it. Last month, Japan said it arrested one person in the incident and was looking for two more. Yasukuni supporters say todays Self-Defense Forces differ from Imperial Japans military, which occupied vast swaths of Asia, but in a way, they agree with Saito about the return to prewar values. They argue that Japan of that era recognized the need to commemorate war dead in a dignified, holy place. Retired Gen. Yoshifumi Hibako, a former top army officer, last year urged the Japanese government to nationalize Yasukuni, writing in a magazine published by a nationalist lobbying group. Others making similar arguments have said the Ministry of Defenses current memorial, buried in a corner of the ministry accessible only to authorized people, is no substitute for an official public site and hardly a place to reassure soldiers fighting far from home that their sacrifice would be remembered. Masahisa Sato, a former army officer and current member of Parliament who is friendly with the Yasukuni chief priest, recalled a mission to Iraq in 2004 preparing for a Japanese peacekeeping unit to serve there. He said he had to bring coffins to Iraq on his own initiative because the army had never gone on a mission that required thinking about the possible death of personnel. In todays Japanese military, Sato said, there are more and more situations in which people will face a danger to their lives. We have to consider how to deal with it if they die." Those enshrined at Yasukuni include 14 men labeled by the U.S. as Class-A war criminals, who were added to the ranks in 1978 under the last military officer to serve as chief priest. Emperor Hirohito, in whose name Japanese soldiers fought the war, last visited the shrine in 1975. Historians say he was displeased over the enshrinement of convicted wartime leaders. No emperor has visited the shrine since. The U.S. denounced Abe on the same day of his 2013 visit, saying he risked worsening relations with Japans neighborsa reference to countries such as South Korea, which was colonized by Imperial Japan, and has long denounced Yasukuni. Yet the U.S. rarely talks about Yasukuni these days. It is a difficult balance because Washington and Tokyo are working closely together to counter Chinaa country that jumps to criticize Yasukuni at the slightest opportunity. Yamagami, the former Japanese ambassador to Australia, said the U.S. would accept the shrines significance given the importance of its alliance with Japan. Japan and America dont have the luxury of squabbling over past historical issues," he said. Andrew Oros, a professor of political science at Washington College, said U.S. acceptance of Yasukuni would be unlikely, given the efforts by the U.S. to bring Japan and South Korea closer together. He said he would be surprised to see a U.S. high-level visit anytime soon, including by a potential future President Trump." Avenix Fzco, a rising star in the financial technology sector, has unveiled its latest innovation in automated trading solutions. The Dubai-based company has launched ForexRova, a cutting-edge forex robot designed to transform trading strategies for the XAUUSD pair on the M30 timeframe. ForexRova represents a significant leap forward in Expert Advisor technology, combining advanced market analysis, optimal risk management, and state-of-the-art security features. This forex robot aims to deliver consistent and profitable trades by leveraging a sophisticated array of technical analysis techniques. Key Features of ForexRova Market Analysis: ForexRova employs a multi-faceted approach to market scanning, including trend identification through price action and proprietary indicators. This comprehensive analysis ensures that the forex robot aligns its trading decisions with the prevailing market momentum. Precision Entry and Exit: The Expert Advisor utilizes a robust system to determine optimal trade entry and exit points. It incorporates overbought/oversold checks using oscillator analysis and assesses the strength of bulls and bears in the market. This meticulous approach results in high-probability trades with precise timing. Risk Management: ForexRova prioritizes account safety through several risk management features: 1. Stop Loss and Take Profit: Each trade is equipped with carefully calculated stop loss and take profit levels, maintaining a favorable risk-reward ratio. 2. Single Order Policy: The forex robot maintains only one open order at a time, minimizing market exposure and maximizing control. 3. Global Stop Levels: Built-in safety measures protect the account from significant drawdowns, ensuring overall security. Advanced Optimization ForexRova has undergone rigorous optimization using high-quality tick data from Thinkberry SRL, a leader in tick data solutions. This meticulous process, conducted from 2016 to the present, has resulted in finely-tuned settings that aim for optimal performance. Technical Specifications Timeframe: M30 Currency Pair: XAUUSD (Gold) Platform: MetaTrader 4 (MT4) Strategy Overview: 1. Market Scanning: Identifies general market trends 2. Overbought/Oversold Analysis: Utilizes oscillators to assess market conditions 3. Bulls and Bears Power Assessment: Determines trade direction based on market strength 4. Order Execution: Places trades with precise entry points and risk management parameters 5. Martingale Strategy: Implements a conservative approach for loss recovery 6. Security Measures: Incorporates global stop levels for account protection Avenix Fzco's commitment to innovation is evident in ForexRova's design, which incorporates real-time insights and robust analytical tools. The company regularly updates its software to adapt to evolving market conditions and integrate the latest advancements in trading technology. About Avenix Fzco Avenix Fzco is a pioneering financial technology company based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, specializing in developing advanced forex trading software. The company is dedicated to empowering traders with cutting-edge tools that prioritize precision, risk management, and intelligent functionality. Avenix Fzco's flagship product, ForexRova, exemplifies their commitment to innovation in the forex trading space. To experience the capabilities of this forex robot firsthand, interested traders are encouraged to visit the official ForexRova website for more information and testing opportunities. Google has once again captured the spotlight with its highly anticipated Made by Google 2024 event, unveiling a robust lineup of devices. The tech giant introduced four new smartphones in the Pixel 9 series, alongside the Pixel Watch 3 and Pixel Buds Pro 2. Here is everything Google announced at its annual hardware launch event on Tuesday. Pixel 9 Series The Pixel 9 series headlined the event, with four distinct models catering to a variety of preferences and needs. Pixel 9 The base model, Pixel 9, arrives with a 6.3-inch Actua display offering a crisp 1080 x 2424 OLED resolution. It delivers a smooth user experience with a 120Hz refresh rate and impressive peak brightness of 2700 nits. Encased in Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, the Pixel 9 is both durable and sleek, boasting an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance. Powered by Googles in-house Tensor G4 chipset coupled with the Titan M2 security coprocessor, the device is equipped with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. Photography enthusiasts will appreciate the dual-camera setup on the Pixel 9, featuring a 50MP wide camera with Super Res Zoom up to 8x, and a 48MP ultrawide camera. Selfies are taken care of by a 10.5MP front camera. A 4700 mAh battery ensures all-day usage, supported by Google's 45W fast charging technology. The Pixel 9 is priced at 79,999 in India. Pixel 9 Pro For those seeking more power and versatility, the Pixel 9 Pro is an enticing option. Priced at 1,09,999, it shares the 6.3-inch screen size with the standard Pixel 9 but upgrades to a Super Actua display with LTPO technology, offering a resolution of 1280 x 2856 and peak brightness of 3000 nits. The Pixel 9 Pro also runs on the Tensor G4 chipset, but with 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of internal storage. For optics, this smartphone houses a triple-camera setup. This including a 50MP wide camera, 48MP ultrawide with Macro Focus, and a 48MP telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom and Super Res Zoom up to 30x. For selfies and video calling, it features a 42MP lens. In terms of battery and power, it boasts a 4700 mAh battery with 45W fast charging. Pixel 9 Pro XL For users who desire a larger display, the Pixel 9 Pro XL offers a 6.8-inch Super Actua screen with LTPO technology and a resolution of 1344 x 2992. Like its Pro sibling, it supports a 120Hz refresh rate and up to 3000 nits of peak brightness. Under the hood, it mirrors the Pro model with the Tensor G4 chipset, Titan M2 security coprocessor, 16GB RAM, and up to 1TB of internal storage. The camera setup is identical to the Pixel 9 Pro, but the Pro XL model packs a larger 5060 mAh battery, ensuring extended battery life even with its larger display. Priced at 1,24,999, the Pixel 9 Pro XL is geared toward power users who want the best of everything. Pixel 9 Pro Fold Google made a bold move into the foldable market with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, the first Google foldable smartphone introduced in India. Featuring a 6.3-inch Actua cover display and an 8.0-inch Super Actua main display, both with LTPO technology, the foldable phone supports a 120Hz refresh rate and 2700 nits peak brightness. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is powered by the Tensor G4 chipset, with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Its triple rear camera setup includes a 48MP main wide-angle camera, 10.5MP ultrawide with Macro Focus, and a 10.8MP telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom and Super Res Zoom up to 20x. Selfies are managed by 10MP cameras on both the cover and inner displays. Pixel Watch 3 In addition to smartphones, Google launched the Pixel Watch 3, offering two size options (41mm and 45mm) and built from recycled aluminium. It features a brighter display with reduced bezels and a peak brightness of 2000 nits. The watch integrates advanced fitness tracking with new features such as customized running routines, Google AI insights, and cardio load tracking. The Pixel Watch 3 offers up to 24 hours of battery life with the always-on display enabled, priced at 39,900. Pixel Buds Pro 2 Rounding out the event, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 were introduced, priced at 22,900. These wireless earbuds feature Googles custom-designed Tensor A1 chip, delivering enhanced audio processing and improved Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) with Silent Seal 2.0 technology. The Buds Pro 2 also integrates seamlessly with Googles AI assistant, Gemini, offering hands-free interaction and up to 30 hours of battery life with the charging case. Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. 3.6 Crore Indians visited in a single day choosing us as India's undisputed platform for General Election Results. Explore the latest updates here! Google has officially announced the commencement of production for its Pixel 8 devices in India. The news was shared by Google India through a post on its X (formerly Twitter) account, highlighting the companys commitment to the "Make in India" initiative. In the post, Google India expressed excitement about the first batch of Made-in-India Pixel 8 devices rolling off the production lines. The announcement also acknowledged the collaboration with the Indian government, specifically thanking Hon'ble Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for his support in making this venture possible. The post read: Excited to announce that the first of our Made in India Google #Pixel8 devices have started rolling off the production lines. Grateful for the partnership with Hon'ble Minister @AshwiniVaishnaw as we look forward to bringing the #TeamPixel experience to people across India " This move marks a significant step for Google in expanding its footprint in the Indian market, one of the largest smartphone markets in the world. By manufacturing the Pixel 8 devices locally, Google aims to enhance its supply chain efficiency, possibly reduce production costs and offer its products at more competitive prices to Indian consumers. Google is gearing up for its major hardware event of the year, the Made by Google event, scheduled for August 13. At this event, the company is anticipated to reveal its latest and most significant tech products. Among the highlights are the Pixel 9 series, which this year includes four smartphones: Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Fold. Additionally, Google is expected to introduce the Pixel Watch 3 and Pixel Buds Pro 2. For the first time in eight years, Google is hosting a Pixel launch event ahead of the iPhone launch in September. Historically, the Pixel 7 and Pixel 8 series were unveiled in early October, nearly a month after the iPhone launches in those years. Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. 3.6 Crore Indians visited in a single day choosing us as India's undisputed platform for General Election Results. Explore the latest updates here! Reflecting a growing consumer market and ongoing economic strength, Chinas courier industry exceeded the 100-billion-parcel record this year far faster than in past years. The State Post Bureau (SPB) reports on Tuesday, 71 days earlier than in 2023, the milestone was accomplished. This works out to an average of 71.43 parcels per person in China, or 5,144 packages delivered every second. One important gauge of the state of the national economy now is the sector of express delivery. Within a consistent economic upswing, the sector has established fresh marks in three key categories. The average monthly volume topped 13 billion items while the biggest single-day delivery volume exceeded 580 million parcels. The monthly income of the industry exceeded 100 billion yuan (approximately 14 billion U.S. dollars). Company Name Ticker Symbol Market Capitalization Sector Description Alibaba Group BABA $217.7 Billion E-commerce & Cloud Alibaba is a leading e-commerce platform in China, with significant investments in instant commerce through platforms like Taobao and Tmall. JD.com JD $72.4 Billion E-commerce JD.com is a major Chinese e-commerce company, known for its efficient logistics network that supports rapid delivery and instant commerce services. Pinduoduo PDD $104.5 Billion E-commerce Pinduoduo focuses on social commerce, enabling instant purchases through its platform with heavy emphasis on mobile users. Meituan MPNGY $123.8 Billion On-Demand Services Meituan is a leading platform for on-demand services in China, including food delivery, hotel bookings, and instant commerce. Baozun BZUN $2.1 Billion E-commerce Services Baozun provides e-commerce solutions for brands, including logistics and digital marketing, supporting the instant commerce ecosystem. Vipshop Holdings VIPS $8.3 Billion E-commerce Vipshop is an online discount retailer that benefits from instant commerce trends by offering flash sales and quick delivery options. Bilibili BILI $16.4 Billion Online Entertainment Bilibili, although primarily an online entertainment company, benefits from instant commerce through its e-commerce initiatives and partnerships. iQIYI IQ $4.2 Billion Online Entertainment iQIYI is an online video platform in China that is exploring instant commerce opportunities through integrated e-commerce features. NetEase NTES $67.1 Billion Online Gaming & E-commerce NetEase operates in online gaming but also has significant e-commerce operations benefiting from instant commerce trends. With 234,000 delivery locations all around and over 95 percent of villages serviced by express delivery services, China has a very highly efficient logistics network that reaches even the most far-off areas. This summer the technique allowed seasonal fruits from far-off areas to be delivered next-day. Technological progress has increased delivery efficiency still more. While autonomous delivery trucks have greatly shortened delivery time, drones can carry goods in some locations in roughly ten minutes. As well as link the delivery chain with sophisticated manufacturing, the SPB intends to upgrade rural logistics systems, develop logistics hubs in metropolitan clusters, and increase international delivery services going forward. For ten straight years, China boasts the highest express delivery volume among countries. Instant Commerces Emergence in China China has been engulfed in instant commerce, marked by fast, on-demand shopping experiences mostly enabled by mobile apps and platforms. Numerous elements drive this trend: China is a mobile-first market having more than a billion smartphone users. Consumers are used to quick, easy transactions; smartphone apps provide everything from expensive goods delivered in minutes to groceries. Chinas sophisticated digital ecosystemwhich includes smart logistical networks, big data analytics, and AI-driven recommendationshas made fast commerce not only viable but also quite efficient. Chinese consumers want quickness and simplicity. Super applications like WeChat and platforms like JD.com and Meituan have raised a new benchmark for what buying should befast, simple, and fit for daily living. Chinas metropolitan scene, with highly inhabited cities and sophisticated delivery systems, is perfect for fast business. The infrastructure enables fast delivery times, which helps companies to practically instantly satisfy customer needs. Prospectues in the Instant Commerce Market The fast expansion of instant commerce in China offers companies all around great prospects: Leveraging Chinas immediate commerce market provides access to millions of possible consumers ready for travel-based purchases. Being visible on Chinas prominent instant commerce systems would help to greatly improve brand awareness and recognition. Revenue Growth: By meeting the fast-paced needs of Chinese consumers, businesses with the correct approach might experience significant revenue increase. How Knightsbridge Group Can Support Your Entry into the Chinese Market Managing Chinas instant commerce sector calls for thorough knowledge of the local digital ecosystem, customer behavior, and legal context. Knightsbridge Group is specifically positioned to enable companies to thrive in this challenging and fast changing market. Heres how we might help: Strategic Partnerships: Knightsbridge Group has developed close ties with important participants in the immediate trade industry of China. To guarantee smooth market entrance and operation, we can link your company with appropriate platforms, logistics suppliers, and IT partners. Our staff offers in-depth market analysis, so guiding your understanding of consumer trends, competitive environments, and development prospects. Our observations will help you to make wise judgments and customize your products to fit the particular requirements of Chinese customers. Success in Chinas instant commerce sector calls for cultural awareness and localization of your product offers, not merely translating. From customizing your marketing messages to guaranteeing your products appeal to local tastes and inclinations, Knightsbridge Group provides thorough localization services. Chinas regulatory scene might be difficult to negotiate. Expert advice on following local rules and regulations comes from Knightsbridge Group guarantees your company runs legally free from legal risks. Modern digital marketing techniques catered to the Chinese market are what we provide together with e-commerce solutions. Knightsbridge Group guarantees that your company distinguishes itself in a congested market whether by means of influencer partnerships, focused advertising, or optimal presence on e-commerce platforms. Our network of logistics and distribution partners guarantees that your products reach consumers fast and effectively, therefore satisfying the high expectations of Chinas instant commerce buyers. Final Thought Chinas immediate commerce market is a vibrant and dynamic scene full of possibilities for companies ready to welcome fast development. The chances are great with the correct plan and help. Your reliable guide in negotiating this challenging market, Knightsbridge Group provides the knowledge, contacts, tools required for success. Working together, we can enable you to access Chinas rapidly expanding instant commerce market and open profitable new directions. Shayne Heffernan GA Secretary of State made a stop in Whitfield Co. to check on voting machines. The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) has launched an investigation after a farmer was killed by a bull in County Limerick this Tuesday. It's understood the deceased was a popular drystock farmer in Ahane, which is located close to the city. A garda spokesperson said gardai in Castleconnell are investigating the death of a man in his 60s following an incident on a farm. "Gardai were alerted this morning after the mans body was discovered on farmland. The HSA attended the scene and are conducting their investigation. "The body of the man has been removed from the scene to University Hospital Limerick where a post mortem will take place in due course," said the garda spokesperson. A file will now be prepared for the Coroner's Court. READ ALSO: 'Unbelievable stupidity' - Occupants of overloaded car fined for not wearing seatbelts Reacting to the tragedy, one local said: "I only got a text an hour ago. I knew him well. He was fierce popular. He was a quiet man but very sociable. I don't know exactly what happened yet. "I'm just in shock to be honest with you. May he rest in peace and my sympathies to his wife and children." A man has been released without charge after being arrested during a protest outside refugee accommodation in Co Tipperary. Approximately 80 people seeking international protection are currently accommodated at Dundrum House Hotel. Gardai said they assisted the International Protection Accommodation Services (Ipas) at the accommodation centre on Tuesday. Local gardai maintained a presence at the site late on Tuesday evening. A spokeswoman said they continue to engage with those gathered peacefully at the location and are facilitating access to and from the premises. A man aged in his 40s was arrested in the morning but later released without charge. The spokeswoman added: Any Garda response in relation to evolving events is in keeping with a community policing model and graduated policing response taking into account relevant legislation and public safety. Dundrum House in Tipperary is currently being used for accommodation for people who are Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BOTP) due to the war in Ukraine. The location has a maximum capacity of 277 people. A spokesman for the Department of Integration said: As Government works urgently to find accommodation for people seeking International Protection, and people from Ukraine move on to alternative accommodation, we have arranged to use some vacancies arising at this location to accommodate people seeking International Protection. As part of this process, approximately 80 people seeking international protection are now accommodated at Dundrum House Hotel. There is no intention to increase the capacity or overall numbers accommodated at this site, regardless of the process under which they are accommodated in Ireland. The Department will keep local representatives and media informed of any changes in arrangements at this site when they are confirmed. The Community Engagement Team (CET) has been established to engage directly with elected representatives, relevant Local Authorities, Local Development Companies, and other entities and individuals. It's been a particularly busy period for Lough Ree RNLI as the August Bank Holiday heralded the busiest week of the year. The Lough Ree RNLI volunteer crew was tasked to six call outs with 23 people and a dog on board boats in difficulty on the water. Last Saturday last, August 10, there were two incidents. Just before 9:00pm the lifeboat was tasked by the Irish Coast Guard to a private boat with eight people on board north of Hare Island. Under volunteer helm Tom Bradbury, the lifeboat crew arrived at the scene at 9.25pm to find an 18ft boat which had suffered engine failure. The five children and three adults on board, who were all wearing life jackets, were all safe and well. Six casualties were taken to the lifeboat station at Coosan Point and two to Portaneena on board the charitys lifeboat Tara Scougall. Earlier on Saturday morning (August 10) at 10.30am Lough Ree RNLI was alerted by a passing boat to assist a cruiser with four people on board, which had run aground. The lifeboat crew under volunteer helm Kieran Sloyan arrived at the scene at Bantry Bay. Following an inspection by the crew the boat was towed off the rocks to safe water. Lough Ree RNLI lifeboat crew were on the water for over five hours in two separate call outs on Wednesday, August 6. At midday there was a call to assist a boat with one person on board which had run aground near the RNLI lifeboat station and off Killinure Point. With volunteer helm Shane McCormack the lifeboat crew were quickly at the scene and found a 36ft cruiser aground at Gowlane Rock. Despite an operation lasting over an hour the lifeboat was unable to free the boat from the rock and a nearby barge was called to assist. On Wednesday afternoon the Irish Coast Guard tasked Lough Ree RNLI to assist a vessel in difficulty on the north of the lake. Launched at 3.33pm the lifeboat crew under volunteer helm Kieran Sloyan reached the incident on the Longford shore at 4pm. On inspection the crew found a 40 steel barge with four people on board stranded on rocks near Marker 502. The barge was taken under tow to Ballyleague, Co. Roscommon. The busiest week of the year for Lough Ree RNLI began on Sunday 4 August with a call to assist a private boat with 4 people on board which had suffered engine failure north of Hare Island. Under volunteer helm Liam Sheringham the vessel was taken under tow to Quigleys Marina on the Leinster shore. Yesterday, Sunday, August 11 at 4.20pm a callout was received to a small tender adrift near Marker No 5. On arrival at the scene the Lough Ree RNLI volunteer crew under helm found two people and a family pet on board. The boat was towed to Portrunny on the Roscommon shore for safety while the father, daughter and their dog were transferred by the lifeboat to Quigleys Marina. Local News By Chris Boyle Published: August 13 2024 Additional Funding Needed to Continue Serving Kids from Queens, Nassau & Suffolk and Expand to The Bronx and Brooklyn. Helen Keller Services (HKS), a Long Island-based non-profit offering programs and services for the blind, low vision and DeafBlind communities, hosted its annual season-ending show for its Camp Helen Keller campers at the LIU Post campus the Greenvale, NY today, bringing to a close the free, six-week summer experience for children who are blind or have low vision from Nassau, Suffolk, and Queens. Proud parents and family members watched and cheered campers as they exhibited their talents, including singing, dancing and instrumental performances, and a rousing and emotional choral musical number at the beginning and end of the show. The show was held knowing that next years camp could be in jeopardy, as costs for the free six-week program have risen to beyond $200,000 annually. We do get some support from the State Commission for the Blind, and other public and private sources, but it doesnt begin to cover the costs, especially the transportation, said Sue Ruzenski, CEO of Helen Keller Services. Wed like to expand the program to The Bronx and Brooklyn but need support to do it. The kids are so enthusiastic, and they make lifelong friendships. They need this program to continue. Camp Helen Keller is a free summer program, established over 60 years ago. Specially trained counselors adapt a wide range of activities - including sports, swimming, science, arts and crafts, music and dance, community outings, and field trips - ensuring accessibility and safety for an inclusive, traditional summer experience. The camp focuses on improving self-esteem, self-confidence, and socialization skills through personalized approaches, helping campers discover their strengths, form lasting friendships, and build independence. About Helen Keller Services Helen Keller Services (HKS) Mission is to enable individuals who are blind, DeafBlind, have low vision or combined hearing and vision loss to live, work and thrive in their community of choice. HKS offers services and programs through two divisions: Helen Keller National Center for DeafBlind Youths and Adults and Helen Keller Services for the Blind. For more information, please visit www.helenkeller.org. Follow Helen Keller Services on facebook, twitter, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. The Impetus of Oligarchs Download Image: Web The works of artist, independent curator, and educator Sarah Blood will be on display in the Lycoming College Art Gallery in an exhibition entitled, Now Is The Time, from Sept. 6-27. The opening reception and gallery talk are slated for Friday, Sept. 6, at 5:30 p.m. The exhibit, reception, and gallery talk are free and open to the public. Born in the United Kingdom, Blood has enjoyed an active studio practice since 1999 and has exhibited extensively throughout the U.K. and the United States, and internationally in France, Sweden, Belgium, Norway, Hong Kong, China, Portugal, and Dubai. Bloods work has been exhibited alongside contemporary artists, including Bruce Nauman, Agnes Denes, Glenn Ligon, Sarah Lucas, and Mona Hatoum, with exhibitions in prestigious venues such as the Royal Academy of Arts, London; Cite Internationale des Arts, Paris; Akron Museum of Art, Ohio; Windgate Museum of Art, Alaska; The Delaware Contemporary Museum, Del.; and Neuberger Museum, Purchase, N.Y. "I used to think that light was everything, but light in isolation is nothing; we must also know the dark to understand our world." Her work is in numerous permanent collections, including The Institute of Neuroscience, U.K.; The National Glass Centre, U.K.; Museuo Do Vidro, Portugal; the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, and Kohler Corporation, Wis., U.S.A. Bloods practice is concerned with light and phenomenology. Her work is best known for the interplay of material, form, object, and space. Light, often neon, is enriched by a counterpoint with conceptual, physical, and visual weight. Using beauty to draw the viewer into the work, she frequently employs metaphor or humor as an entry point. At first look, pieces can appear purely whimsical, a celebration of light and form, a joyful experience. With time and exploration, social and political themes are revealed. When I talk about light, I also talk about its absence. Light gives us color, warmth, and life, but we cannot perceive form, texture, and depth without shadows. I used to think that light was everything, but light in isolation is nothing; we must also know the dark to understand our world. Her current research explores themes of invisible labor, structures of power and inequitable systems. The resulting works explore light, sound, and movement using contemporary and obsolete technologies with traditional and non-traditional art-making materials to create object-based sculpture, performative interventions, video, and immersive experiences. Blood is currently the associate professor of light in the sculpture dimensional studies program at Alfred University in New York, where she has been teaching since 2013. The Lycoming College Art Gallery, located in downtown Williamsport at 25 W. Fourth St., contributes to the citys arts culture and enables the College to become more involved with the surrounding community. Lycoming art students have the opportunity to interact with visiting artists and learn first-hand the inner workings of an art gallery. The gallery is open Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 4-8 p.m. For more information, please visit the gallery online at: https://www.lycoming.edu/art/gallery/24-25.aspx. At a Glance Expert's Rating Pros Lots of power features Privacy-minded Great value Cons Arguably less intuitive than some others More speed loss than some rivals Our Verdict Private Internet Access (PIA) offers a robust feature set that makes it one of the more impressive VPNs out there. That does come at the cost of download speeds, but there are few better VPNs for privacy-Conscious users. While we do love a nice, easy-to-use VPN (and there are plenty out there), Private Internet Access (often referred to as PIA) feels geared towards more savvy users. Thats not to say you cant connect to a server within a click or two, and the Mac app can be just as simple as many of its contemporaries, but it offers a whole host of power user tools that set it apart particularly at this price. Today is Amazon Prime Big Deal Days! Our editorial team lists the best tech deals here. ] While many VPNs offer more features on Windows, the PIA Mac app offers pretty much everything its Microsoft counterpart can do, including custom DNS, connection rules, split tunneling, and much more. That all comes at a cost thats lower than many rivals, and the open-source nature of the PIA apps means they can be taken apart by just about anyone in the hunt for bugs or other invasions of a users privacy, and the no logs policy is just as robust as others, too. Find out how PIA compares to other VPNs in our round-ups of the Best VPNs for Mac, Best VPNs for iPad and Best VPNs for iPhone. Features & Apps Private Internet Access even offers two Kill Switch options. Private Internet Access even offers two Kill Switch options. Foundry Private Internet Access even offers two Kill Switch options. Foundry Foundry As is to be expect of a VPN in 2024, Private Internet Access can be used on pretty much any device you could need it on. Once its running, you can click to drop straight into one of the servers available in 91 countries (the company boosted its network last year). In my testing, the auto setting did a good job of picking servers that balanced speed and privacy, shifting my location to somewhere else in the U.K., for example. Naturally, you can manually select a server with a couple of clicks, and the app has its own Chrome extension, too. The main window offers plenty of info, too. Rather than just showing a server, youll see a performance graph, download and upload speeds, and a host of quick settings that can easily be toggled on and off, including Light Mode, Port Forwarding, and LAN connections. While you can use PIA for getting around geoblocked content on your streaming service of choice, its more privacy-focused in many ways. The Advanced Kill Switch will block all traffic outside the VPN, even when its off, locking down your device unless youre connected to a PIA server, but the basic Kill Switch is also available. You can use split tunneling to send some traffic via the VPN and some around it, too. Port forwarding is easy to use, and an automation rule setup lets you create your own automations for wired, protected, and open Wi-Fi connections. That means PIA can instantly spring into action once you connect in Starbucks, or leave you to your own devices when youre somewhere you trust. Multi-Hop might get you around even the most stubborn Geo blocks. Multi-Hop might get you around even the most stubborn Geo blocks. Foundry Multi-Hop might get you around even the most stubborn Geo blocks. Foundry Foundry Multi-Hop will let you reroute traffic through multiple VPN servers, but this also has the benefit of potentially hiding the fact youre using a VPN at all. Performance OpenVPN and WireGuard are supported. OpenVPN and WireGuard are supported. Foundry OpenVPN and WireGuard are supported. Foundry Foundry In our testing so far, weve found the likes of NordVPN and Surfshark to offer better speeds than most, and sadly Private Internet Access wont be challenging for the crown right now. Its stablemate CyberGhost VPN offers more impressive speeds at the cost of some power features, and its the inverse here. In our testing on a relatively modest 60mbps connection, we saw a drop of around 8% on Mac while using the PIA VPN. Thats no big drop, really, and still remains relatively competitive, but upload speeds dropped considerably by around 25%. Its not a huge drop, but its certainly something to consider if you spend any time sharing large files in your computing life. Privacy & Security Press the big button to connect with ease on iPhone or iPad. Press the big button to connect with ease on iPhone or iPad. Foundry Press the big button to connect with ease on iPhone or iPad. Foundry Foundry Aside from the aforementioned Kill Switch and Multi-Hop server obfuscation, Private Internet Access has a whole host of customizable features. Theres the automation setup I mentioned earlier, which is very easy to set up, and a whole host of DNS options to help it fit into your existing setup. As with CyberGhost VPN, Deloitte Audit Romania has verified the zero-log policy of PIA as recently as April of this year. You can see the full results here, but the main result is that after the auditor observed the server and incident management systems, PIA passed with flying colors. That means PIA wont report on what youre doing, and data cant be used to identify a user, either. For our recommendations of Mac Antivirus Software that we have tested see: Best Antivirus for Mac 2024: Top Security Software Compared. Pricing and plans Private Internet Access has some servers specifically geared for streaming. Private Internet Access has some servers specifically geared for streaming. Foundry Private Internet Access has some servers specifically geared for streaming. Foundry Foundry Considering it starts at just $2.19/1.69 a month for all of the features Ive mentioned (there are no subscription tiers here to confuse things), Private Internet Access is a compelling option. Still, were always wary of locking into too long a plan, with VPN legislation shifting with the wind. On the other hand, thats pocket change for many, and since it comes with no device limit, you can run it on just about everything you own for around $2/2. Other plans include $7.50/5.39 per month on a six-month deal, while you can pay month-to-month for $12.95/10.99. Theres a 30-day money-back guarantee, too, for peace of mind. Should you buy Private Internet Access (PIA) Inconsistent speeds aside, Private Internet Access is a fantastic VPN for all budgets that has a wealth of features for privacy-inclined users. It offers a robust feature set that makes it one of the more impressive VPNs out there. That does come at the cost of download speeds, but there are few better VPNs for privacy-conscious users. Manchester, VT (05254) Today Cloudy skies with periods of light rain this afternoon. High 53F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Cloudy with rain ending overnight. Low 39F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. A Boston watering hole is missing one of its right-hand men after the disappearance of Left Guy a silhouetted figure of a man raising a glass depicted on the bars iconic sign and the business now seeking information on his whereabouts, while also offering a monetary reward for his safe return. The Silhouette Lounge, located at 200 Brighton Ave. in the citys Allston neighborhood, issued a news release saying Left Guy vanished without a trace, leaving behind only his now lonesome Right Guy counterpart with no one to toast drinks with. The Sil first opened in 1965 according to the business. Its recognizable rectangular black and white sign sits perched atop the low-rise roof of the bars building. An archival image of how The Silhouette Lounge in Allston typically looks with both its sign guys present. Image courtesy of The Silhouette Lounge.The Silhouette Lounge Typically, the two toasting silhouetted men serve as a beacon to welcome students and neighbors into the nearly 60-year-old establishment it said. To ensure the safe return of Left Guy, the bar said there will be no questions asked of the hero who brings him back, and that person will receive a $100 gift card to the business, equivalent to the price of 50 Sil Dogs the bars signature hot dog. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Silhouette Lounges tip line, day or night, by sending a DM to @thesilhouetteallston on Instagram. The bar posted to the account on Aug. 2 writing To the person who keeps stealing pieces off our sign it better look real friggen cool wherever you put it...like REAL COOL, garnering more than 2,000 likes to date. To aid in Left Guys return, the Sil will share credible leads anonymously to its Instagram story it said. The bar said it has reason to believe the missing silhouette is still in the area around Allston due to the figures strong ties to the community. A GoFundMe campaign is collecting money for a college fund for the children of construction worker Barry Medeiros, who died Friday in a fall at a work site in downtown Boston. Medeiros, a 43-year-old Taunton resident, was killed around 12:45 p.m. when he fell while working at a site at 219 Tremont St. the address for Emerson Colleges Cutler Majestic Theatre, the Suffolk County District Attorneys Office said previously. He was declared dead at the scene. The Taunton native followed in his fathers footsteps by becoming a construction worker, according to his obituary. He enjoyed working in Boston, especially when he got the chance to work on historic venues, such as Fenway Park and Boston University. Medeiros left behind two children, Jocelyn and Colton Medeiros, and often spoke of how proud he was of them especially their decision to pursue higher education, according to his obituary. A GoFundMe campaign has been created to help pay for their education. Barrys children are both pursuing higher education as first-generation college students, according to the GoFundMe campaign. Instead of moving into their respective colleges this week, his two children are planning for his final arrangements and grieving the sudden & tragic loss of their Superman. So far, the GoFundMe campaign has raised a little over $1,000 of its $20,000 goal. You can donate by clicking here. Construction worker Barry Medeiros is being remembered for his big heart after falling to his death at a work site in downtown Boston Friday afternoon. Medeiros, a 43-year-old Taunton resident, was killed around 12:45 p.m. when he fell while working at a site at 219 Tremont St. the address for Emerson Colleges Cutler Majestic Theatre, the Suffolk County District Attorneys Office said previously. He was declared dead at the scene. Medeiros was born in Taunton to Maria Ponte and the late Manuel Medeiros, according to his obituary. He grew up in the city, attending Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary School, Mulcahy Middle School and graduating from Taunton High School. After high school, Medeiros decided to follow in his fathers footsteps by joining the construction industry, according to his obituary. He loved working on construction sites in Boston, and throughout his life worked on projects at historic venues such as Fenway Park and Boston University. One of Medeiros most memorable assignments was building a Bass Pro Shop from the ground up, according to his obituary. He was part of Brockton-based union Laborer Local 721 when he died. He was well-liked and respected by his colleagues and always will be remembered for his kindness to others and always getting the job done, his obituary reads. Outside work, Medeiros enjoyed exploring new philosophies and sharing his thoughts with anyone whod listen, according to his obituary. He also loved the outdoors, hiking and playing poker and chess. Medeiros was a storyteller, but more than anything, he enjoyed talking about his children and how proud he was of them especially their decision to pursue higher education, according to his obituary. Above all, Barry was most happy when he was in the presence of and making memories with his devoted family, his obituary reads. He always showed his children how to be anything but ordinary and will always be remembered by his children as their Superman. Medeiros leaves behind his children, Jocelyn and Colton Medeiros, his mother, sisters and many other beloved relatives and friends, according to his obituary. Barry will be remembered by his wisdom, sense of humor, big heart, his kind soul, but most of all, the love he had for his children and family, his obituary reads. Visiting hours are scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 15, from 4 to 7 p.m. at Silva Funeral Home in Taunton, according to his obituary. A funeral Mass is set to follow the next day at 9 a.m. at St. Anthony Church in Taunton. The co-owner of a Mattapan plumbing and heating supply business was sentenced in Boston federal court Monday for falsifying his companys tax returns in connection with a scheme to use millions of dollars of unreported business receipts to buy gold and silver bars, federal officials stated. Claudio Poles, 78, of Dorchester, the co-owner of Economy Plumbing and Heating Supply Company, was sentenced to four months in prison with one year of supervised release after he pleaded guilty to four counts of filing false tax returns in May, Acting U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Joshua S. Levy said in a statement. He was also ordered to pay a fine of $200,000 and $2.9 million in restitution. Poles didnt accurately disclose his companys gross business receipts to its tax preparer, Levy stated. As a result, the tax preparer completed Poles tax returns using false information he provided them. Poles used some of the unreported gross receipts to buy more than $10 million of gold and silver bars for himself from bullion dealers businesses that buy and sell materials such as gold and silver, Levy added. To hide these purchases that he made from his companys bank accounts, he described them in the memo section of the checks as being for boilers, materials and other plumbing and heating supplies. Between 2019 and 2022, Poles falsely reported losses and his individual tax returns and omitted personal income that he got from his business by buying gold and silver bars, Levy said. Vineyard Wind has received federal permission to resume installation of towers and turbine bodies at its offshore energy project 14 miles southwest of Nantucket, components not associated with the blade damage that occurred July 13, company officials announced Tuesday. The updated suspension order from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement does not permit further blade installation or power production at this time. Controlled-cutting operations, which took place Sunday and Monday, have removed a substantial amount of the remaining portions of the damaged blade that posed a risk for further debris falling into the ocean, according to a Vineyard Wind press release Tuesday. During those operations, crews on multiple vessels nearby were ready to secure as much debris as possible for immediate containment and removal as well as land-based crews managing debris recovery, company officials said. There is still the possibility of additional debris washing ashore, they acknowledged. Vineyard Wind and GE Vernova are currently assessing the next steps required to complete any additional cutting necessary, secure and remove the debris on the turbine platform, remove the blade root and address the debris on the seabed, they said. Our primary focus continues to be removing the parts of the blade that pose any risk of contributing further debris into the ocean, said GE Vernova Chief Sustainability Officer Roger Martella. On Tuesday morning, a barge was scheduled to leave the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal carrying turbine components including several tower sections and one nacelle for transportation to the Vineyard Wind offshore site. The vessel will also carry a rack of three blades solely for the purpose of ensuring safe and balanced composition for the transport. The blades will not be installed offshore at this time, and will be returned to New Bedford later in the week, company officials said. The U.S. Coast Guard continues to maintain a 500-meter safety exclusion zone around the turbine with the damaged blade. Vineyard Wind remains under a federal preservation order to retain all debris and requests that only its employees, contractors or those appointed by coordinating town officials handle and recover debris materials. Members of the public should avoid handling debris. Vineyard Wind will bag, track and transport all debris to proper storage as soon as possible. More than six truckloads of debris have been removed from island beaches since the blade first failed and massive amounts of styrofoam and fiberglass plummeted into the ocean. Upon completion, Vineyard Winds first windfarm is expected to generate electricity for the equivalent of powering roughly 400,000 homes and businesses in Massachusetts and reduce carbon emissions by more than 1.6 million metric tons per year, the equivalent of taking approximately 325,000 cars off the road annually. The Inquirer and Mirror in Nantucket is a news partner of MassLive.com. To subscribe to The Inquirer and Mirror, click here. A 26-year-old Haitian national who is accused of raping a 15-year-old girl at a hotel in Rockland was detained by federal immigration officials outside his home in Brockton Tuesday morning, according to Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruzs office. Cruz said the detainment of Cory B. Alvarez, who was slated to appear in court on Tuesday, was unbeknownst to his office. We came to court today prepared to move forward, and will continue to move forward with our rape case against Alvarez, Cruzs office said in a statement. This includes filing of a motion to compel his DNA. Alvarez was in the United States as part of the Biden administrations Humanitarian Parole Program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans Program, according to Cruzs office. As part of his criminal case, prosecutors have repeatedly asked questions about the specifics of the program but have received little to no answers There is clearly a reason that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has paused the issuance of travel authorizations for new CHNV beneficiaries while it undertakes a massive review of the process, Cruzs office said in the statement. We are prepared to return to court next Thursday. Alvarez is charged with one count each of aggravated rape of a child with a 10-year age difference and rape of a child by force, Cruzs office said in a previous statement. Alvarez was indicted on those charges in May, moving his case to superior court. He was released on $500 cash bail in June, though prosecutors asked for Alvarez to be released on $10,000 cash bail, Cruzs office said. Judge Susan E. Sullivan imposed the lower bail and ordered Alvarez to submit to GPS monitoring, confine himself to a home at a Brockton address, not interact with the teenage girl, stay in Massachusetts, turn in his passport to authorities and any other travel documents, and check in twice monthly with probation, according to The Boston Globe. During his arraignment in Brockton Superior Court on May 31, Alvarez pleaded not guilty. On the night of March 13, police went to the Comfort Inn in Rockland at 850 Hingham St. after hotel staff reported a girl said she had been raped, Rockland Police Det. Sgt. Greg Pigeon testified in Hingham District Court during Alvarezs dangerousness hearing in March. The hotel has contracted with the state to provide lodging to migrants. Rockland police took the girl to South Shore Hospital for treatment after arriving at the hotel. Alvarez entered the country legally and had undergone two background checks, his attorney, Brian Kelley, said in court, citing Gov. Maura Healeys office. It was not clear how long Alvarez had been living at the hotel and Kelley said he spent time in New York City before arriving in Massachusetts. The girl and Alvarez had no pre-existing relationship before the assault allegation, both prosecutors and Kelley previously confirmed. Before Alvarez was indicted, U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, who chairs the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, and its co-chair, U.S. Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., sent a letter to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding information on Alvarez. Criminal aliens exploit vulnerabilities in our nations immigration system to the detriment of those in the United States, the two lawmakers wrote. The Biden [a]dministrations border and immigration policies only increase the likelihood that criminal aliens will successfully enter and remain in the U.S. Homeland Security officials have described the charges against Alvarez as heinous. Material from previous MassLive stories was used in this report. Prosecutors say a 25-year-old man threatened to stab a CVS employee with a syringe filled with his own blood as he attempted to flee the pharmacy with arms full of paper towels and cashew nuts. That incident in Boston prompted charges of armed robbery and shoplifting by asportation against an Ipswich man, who has a 32-page criminal record, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Haydens office. The mans criminal history dates back to 2013, and includes charges of assault and battery, leaving the scene of an injured person and receiving stolen property. During the most recent incident, Boston police went to a CVS on Cambridge Street at around 8:16 a.m., where an employee told officers he saw a man grab paper towels and cashew nuts, then walk out without paying. The employee told officers he confronted the man, who said, Not today man. You stop me and I will pull out a needle full of my blood and stick you with it, according to Haydens office. Hours later, around 4:30 p.m., police saw a man in Downtown Crossing matching the images seen on surveillance from CVS. Officers stopped the man, who denied being at the store, then said, but I gave the stuff back, Haydens office said. At that point, the man was taken into custody. Police found five empty syringes in his fanny pack. This is a prime example of the type of conduct that endangers employees and has a broader impact on consumers, Hayden said in the statement. Were taking these concerns seriously as we work with retailers throughout the city. Employees deserve to be safe in their workplaces and consumers deserve to be safe in their shopping places. A Massachusetts State Police trooper was relieved of duty after he was arrested over the weekend following a domestic incident, according to court records and the state police. Trooper Richard Whelan pleaded not guilty Monday in Attleboro District Court to a misdemeanor charge of assault and battery on a household or family member, records showed. A state police spokesperson confirmed Whelan was relieved of duty. He referred questions on the charges to the Mansfield Police Department. On a warm and dry summer day in Massachusetts, nearly 65 beaches across the state were closed, primarily due to bacteria in the water, according to the states publicly available water quality dashboard. In all, 63 beaches were closed as of the 12:30 p.m. update to the dashboard on Tuesday. The closures spanned from Amherst to Worcester to Boston to beaches on Cape Cod. Of the 63 beaches closed in the state as of Tuesday afternoon, most were attributed to an excess of bacteria in the water. The remaining closures were attributed to harmful cyanobacteria blooms, sewer system overflows and simply other reasons. Some beaches, like Puffers Pond in Amherst, listed multiple reasons for their closure. In Amherst, Stanley Street swimming hole was closed due to excess bacteria on Tuesday, one of the reasons listed for the closure of Puffers Pond. The dashboard also listed Springfields Bass Pond is closed, with a harmful cyanobacteria bloom listed as the culprit. A total of four Worcester beaches were closed Tuesday afternoon Indian Lake Public Beach, Lake Park Beach, Point Beach and Shore Park with cyanobacteria blooms blamed for the closures at both Indian Lake and Shore Park. In the eastern part of the state, one beach in Boston Tenean Beach in Dorchester was closed on Tuesday. The single city or town with the most beaches shuttered as of Tuesday was Salem, where the dashboard listed eight beaches as closed. On the Cape, Longnook Beach in Truro was closed and may remain closed the entire summer due to safety concerns from eroding cliffs. On Nantucket, Sesachaca Pond was closed due to a cyanobacteria bloom on Tuesday. If a beach is closed, do not swim or enter the water at that location to avoid risk of illness, the dashboard warns. The dashboard is updated twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, and shows the results of recent water quality tests at beaches across the state. More than 1,100 public and semi-public beaches in the state are regularly monitored. And despite the closures, state officials say the beaches are still perfectly safe for recreational activities aside from swimming. The full list of closures is below. If you cant see the chart, click here. A federal judge permitted a lawsuit filed by Nike against New Balance, accusing the competitor of copying the way it makes some of its shoes, to move forward. Nike filed the lawsuit in federal court in Boston last November, accusing New Balance of infringing on its patents for manufacturing its flyknit shoes. The filing lists several New Balance shoes Nike believes copied its technology, including many of its fresh foam and fuelcell models. In the ruling this week, District Judge Julia E. Kobick denied New Balances partial motion to dismiss the case, finding the factual allegations in the complaint are sufficient to state plausible claims for literal infringement of the ... patents. Kobick found New Balance whose headquarters are in Brighton failed to prove that the copyright infringement allegations in the complaint contradict or are inconsistent with its own interpretation of the claims in Nikes patents. When Paul Myers opened his car door on the Sagamore Bridge Friday evening, the first thing a Massachusetts State Police trooper noticed was the strong odor of burnt marijuana, according to a police report filed in Falmouth District Court Myers, 19, of Plymouth had been involved moments earlier in a crash on the bridge, which connects Cape Cod with the rest of the state, that left a 79-year-old woman dead, according to police. When a trooper approached Myers on the sidewalk on the eastbound side of the bridge around 7 p.m. Friday and asked if he witnessed the crash, Myers said, I caused it, the report reads. When Myers went to his car to retrieve his license information, the trooper saw multiple burnt marijuana blunts on the drivers side floorboard, in addition to the scent of the drug. (*This story was updated at 12:19 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, with additional reporting.) Bankrupt Steward Health Care says it has a deal to sell its physicians network with a Nashville-based company, and reportedly has received qualifying bids on five of its Massachusetts facilities. Rural Healthcare Group, a subsidiary of the private equity firm Kinderhook Industries, LLC, announced the deal to acquire the network, known as Stewardship Health, in a statement on Monday night. The price tag for the sale was not included in the statement. But in a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston, the sale was listed at $245 million in cash. Rural Health Care Group operates 17 clinics in Tennessee and North Carolina. In a statement, its CEO, Benson Sloan, said the company was excited to bring our mission and approach to the state of Massachusetts. In many ways, RHG has directly preserved and restored primary care in our Tennessee and North Carolina markets as both independent providers and health systems have sought us out to ensure long-term continuity of care in their communities, Sloan continued. A thriving primary care infrastructure is critical to supporting local hospitals and specialists, as primary care providers are instrumental in ensuring patients are directed to the appropriate facilities at the right time. In that same statement, the president of Stewards doctors network, Dr. Joseph Weinstein, said the financially embattled company was excited for this partnership. Working together, we will improve the patient and provider experience while enhancing the overall quality of care, he continued. Dallas-based Steward filed for bankruptcy in May. The company owes tens of millions of dollars in back rent on its Massachusetts facilities. In April, Steward shuttered New England Sinai Hospital in Stoughton. Last month, the company announced plans to close Dorchester-based Carney Hospital, and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, by the end of August, circumventing notification requirements in state law. A federal bankruptcy judge approved Stewards request to close the two hospitals on Aug. 1. Read More: Bill intended to avert a future Steward meltdown hits the wall on Beacon Hill The planned shutdowns are set to impact 1,000 employees, MassLive previously reported. Elected officials in Boston and Ayer are seeking public health emergency declarations to avert the closings. On Monday, Steward announced that a sale hearing for its hospitals and physicians network, originally scheduled for Tuesday, had been postponed until Friday, State House News Service reported. The sales hearing is a significant step in the bankrupt companys efforts to sell off its physician network, Stewardship Health, as well as hospitals in Massachusetts, Arkansas and Louisiana. A court filing did not provide a reason for the postponement, the wire service reported. Company officials have told the bankruptcy court that they have received binding bids from local operators to acquire six (6) of their Massachusetts hospitals which includes Saint Elizabeths Medical Center, Saint Annes Hospital, Good Samaritan Medical Center, Holy Family Hospital Haverhill, Holy Family Hospital Methuen, and Morton Hospital. In an interview with WBURs Radio Boston program on Monday, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey continued to maintain that any decision to save the hospitals is up to the company, and isnt up to me. This is all on Steward and the lenders at this point, the Arlington Democrat said, adding that her administration has been very active in working with and helping to save these hospitals. And you know, Ill just say at the outset, it breaks my heart to see a hospital close, Healey continued. It breaks my heart to see patients or residents worry about where theyre going to access care. It breaks my heart to see nurses and health care workers, you know, facing the specter of losing their jobs. Speaking to WBUR on Tuesday, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu voiced similar frustrations. This is an example of how greed and profit have been put above people and health care, Wu told the station. Just to maintain the lease at this site [Carney] is more than $2 million a month Were in a very difficult place right now as long as these parties are at the table maintaining their leasehold in those same arrangements. MassLive Reporter Trea Lavery contributed to this story. A stormy July and the first few weeks of August have paved the way for drought conditions in parts of Massachusetts to change, according to the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. The westernmost region along the border with New York and the region to the east, the Connecticut River Valley Region was downgraded from a Level 1 mild drought to a Level 0 normal conditions, Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper said in a statement released Tuesday. Similarly, all of the Connecticut River Valley Region, all of the Central Region, all of the Southeast Region, all of the Cape Cod Region and all of the Islands Region are drought-free, the statement read. However, mild drought has been declared in the Parker River Basin after a review of July conditions including data showing localized critically low flow conditions, the statement read. All other areas in the Northeast Region remain normal. The choice to declare the Parker River Basin as going through a drought was informed by recommendations and discussions with the Drought Management Task Force. This group is comprised of state and federal officials and other entities. "Several factors are considered in determining whether there is a drought, such as precipitation, groundwater levels, streamflow, lakes and impoundments, evapotranspiration, and fire potential, the statement read. ... The declaration will remain in effect until water levels return to normal conditions in this region. To help those living in a region declared to be in the midst of a drought, state officials recommend doing the following (these tips are for those going through a Level 1 drought): Stars are likely to be out tonight, but so too could the northern lights appear in the night sky over Massachusetts this week. For Monday night into Tuesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Space Weather Prediction Center issued a geomagnetic storm watch after coronal mass ejections shot out from the sun on Sunday. When [coronal mass ejections] arrive at Earth, a geomagnetic storm can result, forecasters wrote. Watches of this level are not uncommon. This moderate storm, a G2 geomagnetic storm, is expected on Tuesday. It comes after G4 storms, categorized by forecasters as severe storms, were flung across Earth on Monday. These storms severity can cause a major disturbance in Earths magnetic field, forecasters wrote. Space forecasters anticipate that the aurora will be visible over some northern and upper Midwest States. States like Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. According to forecast maps, Massachusetts is not expected to get a view of the northern lights. Going into Tuesday, this line of sight is expected to move north, limiting how many Americans can see the northern lights as the week continues. If anything, people who want to see the northern lights are recommended to head as far north as possible. Though much of Canada should have a clear view. So while Massachusetts is not expected to see the aurora Monday night and Tuesday, theres still some room to catch the Perseid meteor shower as its peak concludes on Tuesday. It must also be dark for space watchers to see the aurora, the NOAA notes. The federal agency recommends going out at night to view the display and getting away from the lights of the city and full moon. A Connecticut man pleaded guilty in federal court in Springfield on Monday in connection with a scheme to get millions of dollars in bank loans and money for projects he claimed to be pursuing in Saudi Arabia, federal authorities said. Hanibal Tayeh, 63, of Thomaston, Conn., pleaded guilty to a superseding indictment a new indictment that replaces the original due to a legal defect or grand jury irregularity with two counts of bank fraud, four counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering and one count of making a false bankruptcy declaration, Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy said in a statement. He will be sentenced on Dec. 19, 2024, Levy added. Tayeh was originally charged and arrested in July 2018. AMHERST The University of Massachusetts Police Department is withdrawing its request for felony charges against two undergrads for inciting a riot during the May campus protests in Amherst, a spokesperson for the school said Tuesday. Upon further review, UMPD has withdrawn the application for complaint, said Samuel Masinter, University of Massachusetts Amhersts assistant vice chancellor for issues management, in an email to The Republican. This year, we are celebrating the 60th anniversary of President Lyndon B. Johnsons signing of the Economic Opportunity Act (EOA) of 1964, and his administrations official declaration of the War on Poverty. While weve won a lot of battles over the last six decades, we still have a ways to go in our fight to break the cycle of poverty in our most vulnerable communities. Back in 1964, Id just returned to Massachusetts following a three-year tour in Germany as an infantryman in the U.S. Army. Even though I was living in poverty myself, I wasnt well versed in its systemic causes or possible solutions. Like so many others, I was trying to make my own way in the world during a time of profound unrest and low employment. Once I got married and started a family, I understood firsthand how difficult it was especially for people of color and other groups to access gainful employment and affordable housing. WESTFIELD Massachusetts 104th Fighter Wing donated another of its soon-obsolete F-15C fighter jets Monday, this one making its final flight to the Empire State Aerosciences Museum. Crowds gathered for the mid-morning arrival and landing of the jet at the Stratton Air National Guard Base in Glenville, New York, which is near Schenectady and about a 90-mile drive west of Westfield. A PERSONAL project by an Irish-American to map out a route following in the footsteps of St Patrick from Rathcroghan, the ancient seat of the Kings of Connacht, to Croagh Patrick, may have sparked a major tourism project for Mayo. The Ireland West Camino a 180km walking trail from Rathcroghan near Tulsk in Co Roscommon to Croagh Patrick was officially launched at Knock House Hotel. The launch was attended by senior officials from Mayo County Council and Failte Ireland, Minister of State, Dara Calleary; Rector of Knock Shrine, Fr Richard Gibbons; Fr Joe Gavigan; Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Cllr John OHara and members of the Tochar Valley Rural Community Network who all backed the initiative to develop the walking trail. Mapping the route Unlike many aspirational projects, the heavy lifting involved in the mapping of the route has already been completed by American Jeremy Schewe, an ecologist with a background in geospatial environmental planning. After twice walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain in 2023, he wanted to do a similar pilgrimage walk in Ireland. With family connections in Sligo and the west of Ireland, he chose to walk in the footsteps of St Patrick. With no route to follow from Rathcroghan to Croagh Patrick, he decided to use his skills to map the route himself, which was the catalyst for the creation of the Ireland West Camino. My wife and I decided we were going to do the walk, and since there wasnt an existing route I said well I will put it together based on what I read about, Jeremy told The Mayo News. We started talking about it to a lot of our friends in the States and people kept saying we want to come with you. I realised there were going to be a lot of people who wanted to walk with us this July so I thought the best thing to do was map it out in ArcGIS Field Maps so everyone could walk it at their own pace. My background in geospatial environmental planning as well as being a professional ecologist I was able to put things together from OSI maps. The work I did is easy enough because that is what I do professionally, I just took some time during the winter to work on it. I put together a very detailed map of the route breaking it up into stages using ArcGIS software, and I indicated on it where all the accommodation was and where there was places to eat and stores and pubs and more importantly the archeology sites and the churches and so on, explained Jeremy who is a native of Cincinnati but now lives in Asheville, North Carolina. Expertise While organising accommodation for the trip which was to take place in July, Jeremy was advised to get in contact with Sr Maureen Lally, Manager of the Tochar Valley Rural Community Network, who was instrumental in developing the Croagh Patrick Heritage Trail from Balla to the holy mountain. I reached out to Sr Maureen, and we talked and hit it off like two peas in a pod, Jeremy recalled on his first contact with the former Mayo Person of the Year. The Tochar Valley Rural Community Network had wanted to continue to extend the trial and they could not believe the work Jeremy had done on the project after he showed them his work over a Zoom call in the new year. When he showed us the work he had done with the maps, this was exactly what we have been looking for for years, and we had been pleading for a higher authority to draw up these plans, explained Mary B Prendergast, the Chairperson of the Network. We would never have got the expertise or the funding, added Sr Maureen. He has the most modern technology in mapping but above all he is deeply committed and has a heart and a spirit. Jeremy travelled to Ireland in February to carry out a ground truth survey of the two possible routes he had mapped out before returning in July with 20 other pilgrims for the inaugural eight-day walk. An official sending off ceremony took place at the Rathcroghan Visitors Centre in Tulsk on July 2, and on July 25, the group reached Knock for the official launch. A calling Mary Prendergast and Sr Maureen explained that the network came in behind Jeremy Schewes project and they came up with the name the Ireland West Camino. Mary explained that Anna Connor, the Tourism Officer with Mayo County Council and Director of Services Joanne Grehan were both approached about the initiative and they both were very supportive of the idea of the launch. She added that the work done by Jeremy has moved forward the idea of developing and connecting the existing Croagh Patrick Heritage Trail with Rathcroghan. She added that by attending the sending off ceremony in Tulsk, the Tochar Valley Rural Community Network had seen the great work done by the Rathcroghan Visitor Centre and they looked forward to cooperating with them to develop the trail. We are very excited about this project because the co-operation is already there and it is a matter of linking everything together. He [Schewe] has a lot of work done with the mapping and it is just a matter of refining things if needed, she said. Jeremy described his work as 100 percent a calling and said he was happy to hand over his work pro bono to help the route get off the ground. Having reached Croagh Patrick in time for Reek Sunday, Jeremy said the walk was more rewarding to him than the Camino in Spain, and the group he was with could not get over the hospitality of the local people they met along the route. Potential Schewe already has plans to bring more pilgrims from the States and believes that if the route is developed and advertised it has huge potential to attract hundreds of pilgrims and walkers to the region. There is going to be a huge opportunity here, he said. I think probably seven or ten years before its really busy but with proper funding to help drive interest, because of the speed of information, it is possible to ramp up much faster. I did the walk in February and in July, so I would do it any time of the year. I would take showers in Ireland all day rather than walking through peak sun in Spain. The Ireland West Camino has the potential and magnetism to attract a lot of people to do something that is spiritually meaningful, or they can walk it for the sake of walking. Having that strong connection with the land and cooler climate and the fact it goes through multiple sacred sites including Knock as well as Croagh Patrick are major pulls. Having talked to the other 20 people who were involved, the biggest reflections were the Irish hospitality and the kindness of the people along the way. I have to reiterate how important I feel this is for the west of Ireland. We have an opportunity to walk something very mystical and powerful and beautiful that transcends the time landscape of Ireland and embraces all the spiritual transitions of Ireland, he said. The long-term goal for Mary, Sr Maureen and Jeremy would eventually develop a trail linking Croagh Patrick with Downpatrick in Co Down, the burial place of St Patrick and link with other ancient trails. Until then, they will concentrate on getting support to develop the trail to Rathcroghan, but Sr Maureen believes Jeremys work has lit a flame to get things done. A fire has been lit and I hope the flames from that will flow into everyones heart and home and community, and Mayo will benefit. This is the beginning, and it will eventually go to all Ireland. Tributes have been pouring in for a woman who was allegedly murdered by an Irishman in Malta. Nicolette Ghirxi, aged 48, was killed in an apartment in Birkirkara, in east Malta on Sunday. An Irishman, identified as Edward Johnston by local media, is believed to have killed Ms Ghirxi, who was his ex-partner. Since the tragic news broke out, tributes have been pouring in for Ms Ghirxi, who has been described as Can't believe the shocking news this morning. A great woman indeed that will be missed by many! Thanks for all the help you gave me at the gym I will never forget all the memories we shared. Fly high, paid a friend in tribute. READ MORE: Stuff of dreams as Ireland welcomes Olympians home What a shock this morning ! Today is a day filled with sadness as we mourn the loss of a truly beautiful person. Nicolette Ghirxi, you always had a radiant smile that could light up any room. We shared many childhood memories together, spending our summer holidays playing Monopoly at your or my house. You were by my side when I got my first pet. May you rest in peace, Nicolette. You will be deeply missed, a childhood friend wrote in tribute. Johnston, 50, a Dublin man was shot dead by police in St Julians after allegedly killing his former partner. He was shot by the police after pointing a replica gun at them. According to Maltese police, Johnston had recently been harassing Ms Ghirxi over social media and set up fake accounts to target her following the end of their relationship. Ms Ghirxis body was found on Monday, at approximately 2am in her apartment in Birkirkara, a city in east Malta. The parents of a little boy from Co Dublin diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour have expressed gratitude to the public for their help. Brody Doyle from south Dublin was diagnosed in May with a fast-growing tumour called DIPG, an aggressive type of brain tumour. Since Brodys diagnosis, his family have been through the worst of their lives. READ MORE: Ireland Olympic success the stuff of dreams as athletes welcomed home To help ensure their little boy gets the best care, his family has set up a GoFundMe campaign, to which you can donate here In an update shared on the fundraiser page, the family said: Firstly, we would like to thank everyone that has donated and shared Brody's story so far. We cannot express how much everybody's generosity and good wishes has helped our family and Brody through what has been a horrific time. Only for you guys, Brody wouldn't get this opportunity to fight this diagnosis. Brody continues to amaze us every day with his progress. He is our superhero. Unfortunately, not only has Brody to fight his diagnosis, he also suffered a major complication from the biopsy that was done. Now that Brody is fully conscious, our worst fear in ICU has arisen, Brody has suffered brain damage due to the biopsy. Brody will need a lot of rehabilitation over the coming months including physios, speech and language therapists, and sensory therapists and the best Neuro The HSE cannot provide our family with the proper home care package to provide the required care he needs. So unfortunately, private rehabilitation is our only option at this point. This carries a great expense but we need to ensure Brody gets the best care. by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, August 13, 2024 Whats the better time period or batting order for a political convention? Some might argue that a convention held closer to Election Day is positioned to be better remembered in the 2-3 months until November than a convention held a month earlier. Or are these summer TV events just Short-Attention Span Theater, to be forgotten days later -- just like everything else that passes before our eyes in both short and long form? Next Monday, the Democrats settle in for their four days of prime-time promotion on TV -- August 19-22 -- as they mount their quadrennial national convention in Chicago. The Democrats get-together comes roughly a month after the Republicans held their nominating convention in Milwaukee July 15-18. advertisement advertisement Where the Dems are concerned, there could be a downside to being the later convention. The hyper news media has been warning of violent protests outside the United Center over the issues of the day that have animated angry anarchists and others for months and even years -- Israel/Palestine and race, to name two of them (but mostly the war in Gaza, it seems to me). The issue with the protests is one of optics. Chaos is not a good quality for a political convention. Chaos is the opposite of the picture of social and party unity that a political party tries to choreograph for these prime-time TV events. From a television standpoint, rioting is so much more dramatic and telegenic than static political speeches. Drama outside the venue could draw media attention and cameras outside, neglecting the convention inside. Pictures of the chaos would be vividly remembered long after the oratory has been forgotten. I can see it now: The networks mounting simultaneous split screens of rioting outside the arena and the acceptance speeches of vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz on Wednesday and Kamala Harris on Thursday. How dramatic or violent these protests would be, or if they materialize at all, will not be known until next week. In fact, they might not occur at all or, at the very least, fail to provide the dramatic pictures the TV newsers crave. It should go without saying, but the star of the Democrats show will be Kamala Harris. She will close the convention on Thursday night with her acceptance speech. This is always the grand finale of political conventions. Trumps acceptance speech on July 18 ran for 90 minutes and lasted to well past midnight on the East Coast. It was the longest acceptance speech in modern, presidential-election history. Even more than its contents or delivery, the length of the speech was sleep-inducing. Harris would do well to bring her speech in a lot less time than that. C-Span screenshot above: Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally Saturday in Las Vegas. by Ray Schultz , August 12, 2024 The New York Times, a journalistic model throughout the country, will cease making endorsements in local elections. The Times will continue endorsing presidential candidates, as it has since 1860, the paper writes. But it will no longer take a position in Senate, congressional or state legislative races, and it will not endorse a candidate in next years New York City mayoral race, although it has done so in elections since 1897. Among the races that will be affected by the change is that of Mayor Eric Adams seeking re-election next year. This could portend similar shifts throughout the news business. Alden Global Capital, which operates 200 newspapers, announced in 2022 that it would no longer endorse candidates from the president level on down, the Times reports. advertisement advertisement And, the Baltimore Sun, which is under new ownership, will also stop making endorsements. It is not clear why publishers are making these moves. Is it based in fear of exposure, or is there a deeper political motive in some cases? Times Opinion editor Kathleen Kingsbury says, Opinion will continue to offer perspective on the races, candidates and issues at stake. Kingsbury, while not giving a reason for the change, notes that the Times is a journalistic institution rooted in New York City, the Times reports. The Opinion section and the editorial board that makes endorsements, which is part of the Opinion section, are separate from the Times newsroom. by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, August 12, 2024 A distributed denial-of-service attack on X's livestreaming service Spaces delayed the interview between X owner Elon Musk and former U.S. president Donald Trump by about 45 minutes on Monday evening. The discussion was less of a formatted interview and more of a conversation between the two men. When they finally spoke about the issues surrounding climate change, budgets and reining in U.S. spending, it became clear that Musk has political aspirations and ambitions to join Trumps team. We need a government efficiency commission, Musk said, to determine that taxpayer money is spent in a positive way, and so the U.S. can operate and live within our means. Musk, who formally endorsed Trump following the assassination attempt, said he would participate in a government efficiency commission, in which the former president agreed. advertisement advertisement The Wall Street Journal in May reported that the two men had discussed a possible advisory role for Musk if the presumptive Republican nominee is elected. Trump and Musk had a frosty relationship for years, but recently held talks on topics including immigration, technology and science, including the U.S. Space Force. And while Monday night's discussion was intended to highlight Trumps views on what it would be like to live in the U.S. during the next four years if he is elected, Musk shared many of his own views on policies with regard to issues including climate change and challenges around diminishing CO2 levels. Musk said it is important to lean in the direction of sustainability without vilifying the oil and gas industry, and talked about how solar will become an option for energy. Nuclear is underrated as an energy source, he said. The two also spoke about immigration -- a focal point for Trump's campaign. Musk, who moved from South Africa to the U.S. in 1992 to study business and physics, said most people who enter the country are actually good, hard-working people but added that some are not. He said that a country with open borders cannot be considered a country. Trump spoke about the U.S. education system and how it ranks at the bottom of a worldwide list, adding that Norway is one of the top countries for education. To fix education in the U.S., Trump said, he would close the U.S. Department of Education and move the responsibilities for education from federal government back to the states -- similar to how women's reproductive rights returned to the states from federal law. by Teresa Buyikian , August 13, 2024 Over the past couple decades gin has been considered the strong base for martinis and old school high proof on-the-rocks drinks. A new campaign from Bombay Sapphire is encouraging drinkers to send off summer by embracing a new, lighter gin cocktail, The Sparkling Lemon, in collaboration with San Pellegrino Limonata. The cocktail, a simple combination of Bombay and Limonata (or lemonade and club soda if unable to obtain the Italian lemon sparking beverage), captures that bubbly bliss of a Friday afternoon, when you embrace the promise of the weekend ahead, per the brand. The recently launched Tastes Like It's Friday campaign, created with BBDO New York, is running on national TV. It highlights the new beverage while a voiceover describes it as bursting with lemon and essentially embodying Friday in a glass. The effort also includes bartender residencies at key bars and restaurants, office happy hours, consumer tasting events, and partnerships with food and lifestyle creators from around the country. advertisement advertisement Marketing Daily spoke with Bombay Sapphires brand director, Jaime Keller, about the new advertising angle. Interview has been lightly edited for clarity. Marketing Daily: Per the release, the "launch of the cocktail ... is intended to be a gateway for consumers into gin." Why do consumers need a gateway into gin? What misperceptions are you working to dispel? Keller: We have found that some consumers might perceive gin as a complex or intimidating spirit, often associated with more traditional or classic cocktails. This can lead to hesitation in trying gin, especially for those who default to more familiar spirits like vodka. The Sparkling Lemon cocktail is designed to serve as a bridge into gin by offering a simple, refreshing, and approachable option that dispels the myth that gin is only for cocktail aficionados. By pairing Bombay Sapphire with the bright and effervescent San Pellegrino Limonata, were introducing a flavor profile thats both easy to appreciate and more interesting, breaking down barriers and inviting consumers to explore the versatility and sophistication of gin. Marketing Daily: What was the inspiration behind the collab with Limonata? Keller: It was inspired by a shared commitment to quality. San Pellegrino Limonatas bright, citrusy flavor profile complements the botanicals in Bombay Sapphire gin, resulting in a balanced and effervescent cocktail thats easy to prepare and enjoy. Marketing Daily: How did the Tastes Like Friday idea come about? Keller: The concept was born from the universal joy and excitement associated with the end of the workweekthe moment when you can finally break free from the obligations of work and commitments and enjoy time with friends and family. We wanted to capture that feeling of ease in a cocktail, and the Sparkling Lemon was the perfect vehicle to do so. Its bright, refreshing taste embodies the carefree spirit of a Friday afternoon, when you slam your laptop shut and embrace the weekend. Marketing Daily: How does the Tastes Like It's Friday campaign tie into Bombay Sapphires overall marketing efforts? Keller: The campaign is a strategic extension of Bombay Sapphires broader marketing efforts to modernize and democratize gin consumption. It aligns with our ongoing mission to make gin more accessible and enjoyable for a diverse range of consumers. By positioning the Sparkling Lemon cocktail as the drink that embodies the joyful anticipation of a Friday, were reinforcing Bombay Sapphires image as a brand that not only values quality and craftsmanship but also understands the modern consumer's desire for ease and spontaneity. This campaign supports our goal of redefining gin as a versatile, approachable spirit that can be enjoyed in any setting, from casual get-togethers to more sophisticated gatherings. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, August 13, 2024 A coalition of broadband industry organizations on Monday asked a federal appellate court to scuttle the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules. The industry groups contend that the FCC lacked authority to issue the rules, arguing that Congress never empowered the agency to regulate internet traffic. In its 'Open Internet' Order, the Federal Communications Commission has asserted total authority over how Americans access the internet, the organizations wrote in a brief filed with the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Commission must point to clear congressional authorization for that claim of authority. It cannot do so, groups including USTelecom--The Broadband Association, NCTA--The Internet & Television Association and CTIA--The Wireless Association add. They are challenging the FCC's Safeguarding and Security the Open Internet order, passed earlier this year by a 3-2 vote. That order reclassified broadband as a Title II utility service and imposed some common carrier rules on providers -- including bans on blocking or throttling traffic, and charging higher fees for prioritized delivery. advertisement advertisement The Obama-era FCC passed similar rules in 2015, but they were repealed three years later during the Trump administration. Earlier this month, a three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily blocked the new rules from going into effect, ruling that the broadband providers are likely to prevail in their effort to vacate the rules. The industry groups are now asking the 6th Circuit to permanently set aside the FCC's order. The groups argue that a decision to classify broadband as a utility is the type of major policy move that requires clear authorization by Congress. The organizations call attention in their papers to a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that curtailed federal agencies' ability to issue regulations on major questions of policy. The court in that case struck down environmental regulations that had been passed by the Environmental Protection Agency. The broadband lobby also says the net neutrality rules should be struck down as arbitrary and capricious. The Order is the paradigmatic solution in search of a problem, the groups write. They add since the Obama-era rules were repealed in 2018, the broadband industry has thrived, reaching more consumers at faster speeds and lower prices than ever before. Net neutrality supporters have long argued that net neutrality rules will help prevent cable companies and telecoms from thwarting potential competitors, such as streaming video companies, as well as to prevent broadband providers from limiting consumers' ability to use online services. For their part, cable companies and telecoms claim that classifying broadband as a Title II service will discourage innovation, and also pave the way for a host of additional restrictions -- including rules that would regulate prices. After the FCC revoked the Obama-era rules, several states passed their own versions of net neutrality. California, for example, enacted a law that prohibits broadband providers from blocking or throttling traffic, charging higher fees for fast-lane service, and exempting their own video streams from consumers' data caps. That law was upheld in 2022 by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. High levels of social support can help black mental health professionals (BMHPs) to cope with burnout and racial trauma. #MentalHealth #racialtrauma Trusted Source No One Is Immune To Antimicrobial Resistance Go to source Trusted Source Antimicrobial resistance causes nearly 5 million deaths annually! #antimicrobialresistance #medindia Advertisement Rising Threat of Antimicrobial Resistance Advertisement South Asias Response to Antimicrobial Resistance Advertisement Nepals National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance Improve awareness and understanding of Antimicrobial Resistance through effective communication, education and training Strengthen the knowledge and evidence through surveillance and research Reduce the incidence of infection through effective infection prevention and control Optimize the use of antimicrobial agents in human, animal and food, and Promote investments for Antimicrobial Resistance activities, research and innovations. No One Is Immune To Antimicrobial Resistance - (https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO2408/S00089/no-one-is-immune-to-antimicrobial-resistance.htm#:~:text=No%20one%20is%20immune%20to%20AMR&text=AMR%20is%20making%20infections%20harder,food%20productions%2C%20and%20livelihoods.%22) Infections that were once easily treatable are now becoming life-threatening due to the growing threat of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). This alarming trend, highlighted by Dr. Rajesh Sambhajirao Pandav, theRepresentative to Nepal. Speaking at theon Antimicrobial Resistance held in Kathmandu, Dr. Pandav emphasized that even minor injuries, routine surgeries, or common infections could become fatal if antimicrobials fail().Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites evolve and no longer respond to medications designed to treat them. This resistance not only makes infections harder to treat but also increases the risk of disease spread, severe illness, and death."It is crucial to understand that it is the disease-causing microbes, not humans, animals, or plants, that develop resistance to medicines," explained Dr. Pandav. "This means that even if an individual uses antibiotics responsibly, they can still be at risk of acquiring a drug-resistant infection."AMR has the potential to reverse decades of medical progress, turning previously treatable infections into life-threatening conditions. Dr. Pandav pointed out that AMR is one of the top 10 global health threats identified by WHO. The consequences of AMR are severe, leading to prolonged hospital stays, higher medical costs, increased disability, morbidity, and mortality. The impact of AMR extends beyond individuals, affecting families, environmental health , agriculture, food production, and livelihoods.The statistics are sobering: In 2019, nearly 5 million deaths were associated with bacterial AMR, including 1.27 million directly attributable to it. "Raising awareness is our first line of defense against AMR. It is a collective responsibility, and the media plays a crucial role in shaping public opinion, influencing policy, and dispelling myths and misinformation," said Dr. Pandav.The South Asia Sub-Regional Media Workshop on Antimicrobial Resistance, organized byOnline in collaboration with theand other partners, aimed to raise awareness among media personnel about the critical issue of AMR.Kalpana Acharya, Organizing Chairperson of the workshop and Editor-in-Chief of Health TV Online, emphasized the need for simple, consistent, and clear public messaging on AMR. She highlighted that four major agencies, thehave prioritized working with the media to combat AMR globally.Nepal has made significant strides in addressing AMR. The Ministry of Health and Population has successfully endorsed the National Action Plan on AMR (2024-2028), which outlines five strategic priorities:Dr. Madan Kumar Upadhyaya, Chief of Quality Standards and Regulation Division, Ministry of Health and Population of Nepal, outlined the challenges in implementing and monitoring the National Action Plan. These include limited technical capacity, budgetary resources, and access to diagnostic microbiology facilities at the subnational level.As the world grapples with the growing threat of Antimicrobial Resistance, it is clear that coordinated efforts across all sectors like health, agriculture, environment, and beyondare essential. The stakes are high, but with increased awareness, responsible antimicrobial use, and global cooperation, the battle against AMR can be won. The time to act is now.Source-Medindia Ultraviolette Automotive, an Indian electric two-wheeler startup, recently unveiled ambitious plans to expand the availability of its flagship F77 Mach 2 electric motorcycle to new markets across the globe. Originally launched in India in 2022, the futuristic and high-performance F77 Mach 2 has garnered attention for its striking design, brisk acceleration, and use of cutting-edge technology. Now, Ultraviolette aims to bring this exciting new electric motorcycle to riders in Europe and beyond. An Introduction to Ultraviolette and the F77 Mach 2 Ultraviolette Founded in 2016 by engineering college friends Narayan Subramaniam and Niraj Rajmohan, Ultraviolette Automotive is based out of Bangalore, India. The young startup made waves when it debuted the original Ultraviolette F77 in November 2019, showcasing an electric motorcycle with sportbike-rivalling performance figures and loads of smart features. The F77 Mach 2, revealed in April 2024, improves upon the original in every way. The powertrain receives a boost to 40.2 hp and 100 Nm of torque, allowing a 0-60kph time of just 2.8 seconds. The battery capacity grows to 10.3kWh, increasing the range per charge to a segment-leading 323 km. And new tech like the Ultraviolette Smart Console and a smartphone app take connectivity and customization to new levels. With a top speed of 155 kph, sporty riding position, and muscular styling LED headlights, the F77 Mach 2 looks like it warped in from the future. And with its scintillating performance stats, it seems poised to take on petrol-powered superbikes. Expanding Globally: 5 New Countries for the F77 Mach 2 ultraviolette Emboldened by the success of the F77 Mach 2 in India, Ultraviolette Automotive now aims to take its electric motorcycle global. As part of an aggressive international expansion strategy, Ultraviolette plans to launch 5 new overseas markets in 2024. 1. Germany Germany represents an ideal early expansion move for Ultraviolette, given the country's leadership in automotive engineering and enthusiasm for advanced mobility tech. Germany also incentivizes electric vehicle purchases with subsidies and exemptions from registration taxes. With the F77 Mach 2's combination of innovation and exhilarating speed, it could win over the discerning German bike community. 2. Switzerland Another promising European market, Switzerland offers stunning Alpine scenery that would perfectly complement the F77 Mach 2's futuristic styling. Switzerland also has among the highest incomes per capita in the world, indicating strong potential demand for a premium electric two-wheeler. Known for being an early adopter of EVs, Switzerland seems ready to embrace the high-tech F77 Mach 2. 3. Spain Ultraviolette With its mild climate, winding roads, and passion for powerful bikes, Spain presents an excellent opportunity for Ultraviolette. In 2021, Spain was Europe's 4th largest market for motorcycles, highlighting the potential customer base. Spain's investments in EV charging infrastructure and government subsidies for electric vehicle purchases could further boost interest in the F77 Mach 2. 4. Austria Austria is another country with an established motorcycle culture that may welcome the F77 Mach 2. Located amidst the Alps, Austria offers stunning backdrops for riding. By launching in Austria, Ultraviolette can gain a foothold in German-speaking markets. Austria also grants tax advantages and other incentives for zero-emission EVs like the F77 Mach 2. 5. Turkey As a bridge between Europe and Asia, Turkey could give Ultraviolette access to both markets. Turkey already has a vibrant motorcycle scene centred in Istanbul. Since launching there in 2022, the F77 Mach 2 has built buzz, even earning the nickname Ottoman Rocket among Turkish riders. Given Turkey's rapidly growing economy and large young population, it appears primed for success. What It Takes to Go Global? ultraviolette Expanding internationally poses an array of challenges for a young startup like Ultraviolette. Adapting to different languages, regulations, consumer preferences, supply chains and sales/service networks in each new market will test the companys agility. To ready the F77 Mach 2 for global debuts, Ultraviolette is minimally upgrading models to meet local standards while keeping the core bike consistent worldwide. The company must balance staying true to its product while satisfying disparate regulations. On the sales front, Ultraviolette plans smaller-format Space Pod test ride zones to complement larger Space Station dealerships with service facilities. This multi-tiered retail approach allows flexible expansion attuned to each markets needs. After-sales support is crucial, so Ultraviolette must tailor maintenance, repair and spare parts networks overseas while training international teams on the F77s sophisticated technology. Customer education will also be vital, as for many markets electric motorcycles remain unfamiliar. Global Demand Drives Ultraviolettes Ambition Ultraviolettes co-founders acknowledge that significant interest in the F77 Mach 2 is already coming from overseas buyers. As a truly global product, the F77 Mach 2 attracts attention from international motorcycle fans and EV enthusiasts alike. Confirming this demand, Ultraviolette opened European pre-orders in November 2022, with first deliveries slated for June 2023. Germany, Spain, Switzerland and Austria are among the early adopters awaiting their F77 Mach 2s. The company also highlights strong interest from Tier 2 cities in India, affirming the brand has appeal beyond major metros. Catering to these hyperlocal markets remains an area of focus amidst global expansion. The Future of Electric Mobility, Powered by Ultraviolette The controversial prediction has now landed the astrologer in legal trouble as Telugu Film Journalist Association (TFJA) and Telugu Film Digital Media Association (TFDMA) have filed a case against the individual with Telangana State Commission for Women. Check out the clip shared by the astrologer below: The infamous astrologer predicted that an extra-marital affair will lead to the couples separation in the next three years. Days later, an astrologer named Venu Swamy went viral on social media for predicting the divorce of the couple by 2027 due to the involvement of another woman. Instagram/Sobhita Dhulipala The official X account of Telugu Film Journalist Association (TFJA) wrote, The team consisting of Telugu Film Journalist Association ( #TFJA) and Telugu Film Digital Media Association ( #TFDMA) lodged a complaint against Venu Swamy with the @SCWTelangana . We express our gratitude to @sharadanerella garu for her prompt and efficient action and response. Venu Swamy has been engaging in unethical practices by making predictions about the personal lives of celebrities. The habitual wrongdoer lately made derogatory remarks regarding the engagement of #NagaChaitanya and #SobhitaDhulipala. Check out the post below: The team consisting of Telugu Film Journalist Association ( #TFJA) and Telugu Film Digital Media Association ( #TFDMA) lodged a complaint against Venu Swamy with the @SCWTelangana . We express our gratitude to @sharadanerella garu for her prompt and efficient action and response. pic.twitter.com/gkUsPCM1V9 Telugu Film Journalists Association (@FilmJournalists) August 12, 2024 As his prediction generated controversy leading to the legal soup, the astrologer dropped another video where he said that the prediction made by him was an extended continuation of what happened between Naga Chaitanya and his ex-wife Samantha Ruth Prabhu. He added, I had vowed to never predict film stars and politicians futures, and I will stick to my word. MAA President Manchu Vishnu has spoken to me, and I assured him that I will never predict film stars future. Check out the clip below: On August 8, Nagarjuna had posted pictures of Naga Chaitanyas engagement with Sobhita and wrote, We are delighted to announce the engagement of our son, Naga Chaitanya, to Sobhita Dhulipala, which took place this morning at 9:42 a.m.!! We are overjoyed to welcome her into our family. Congratulations to the happy couple! Wishing them a lifetime of love and happiness. God bless!" 8.8.8 A beginning of infinite love Sobhitad chayakkineni @chay_akkineni. Check out the post below: "We are delighted to announce the engagement of our son, Naga Chaitanya, to Sobhita Dhulipala, which took place this morning at 9:42 a.m.!! We are overjoyed to welcome her into our family. Congratulations to the happy couple! Wishing them a lifetime of love and happiness. pic.twitter.com/buiBGa52lD Nagarjuna Akkineni (@iamnagarjuna) August 8, 2024 As for their wedding, Nagarjuna told Times Now, Not immediately. We chose to have a hurried engagement because it was an auspicious day, and since Chay and Sobhita are very sure that they want to marry, we said, Let's do it. Gov. Tim Walz' military record has always been at the center of his political career. The presumptive Democratic vice presidential nominee enlisted in the National Guard at age 17 and retired honorably 24 years later. But former President Donald Trump's campaign has launched a series of attacks aimed at discrediting Walz' service just as the Democratic presidential ticket, headed by Vice President Kamala Harris, has surged in the polls. The attacks, spearheaded by Trump's VP pick Sen. JD Vance, claim Walz ducked a Guard deployment to Iraq and lied about his military record. Walz, who has denied the allegations, has been dogged by such claims since he first ran for Congress and then governor of Minnesota. Despite the renewed attacks by Vance, himself a Marine Corps veteran, the facts around Walz' retirement before his unit deployed, the references to his Guard rank and his own description of his wartime service appear much less cut and dry. Read Next: Fatal Marine Osprey Crash Investigation Points to Pilot Error, Safety Lapses While Revealing Heroic Rescue Effort The Trump campaign claims may also be missing nuances in National Guard deployment and retirement timelines that see citizen-soldiers juggling a desire to serve their country with sometimes erratic military schedules and ambitions to do more in their civilian lives. "I'm not criticizing Tim Walz' service," Vance said on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday. "I'm criticizing the fact that he lied about his service for political gain. I do think it's scandalous behavior." Vance himself served four years in Marine Corps public affairs, effectively a job consisting of publishing press releases and photos of the service for public distribution. He deployed to Iraq for six months in 2005. After serving in the National Guard for 24 years, Walz retired two months before his unit received official orders for a deployment to Iraq in 2005, though it's possible Walz could have known a deployment order was imminent because he was in a senior enlisted position. At the time he retired, he was the command sergeant major of the Minnesota National Guard's 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery, the top enlisted rank for the formation. It's unclear when Walz made the decision to retire, and the paperwork process for retiring often starts months beforehand. Guardsmen can retire after 20 years of service, but Walz has said he decided to reenlist rather than retire after 20 years because of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Guardsmen have to juggle civilian careers and, at the time of his retirement, Walz, who was a teacher before entering politics, was pursuing a run for Congress. Deployment rumors are frequently rampant, and were especially so during the peak of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Missions are also routinely canceled or rescheduled. Guardsmen serve roughly 50 days per year on average, and that does not include missions or prolonged training events. Troops in senior roles, such as Walz, would be expected to put in much more time planning for training or operations. Walz first filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission and announced that he was considering running for Congress in February 2005, according to the paperwork available on the commission's website and an archived statement from his campaign. About a month later, in March 2005, Walz put out a statement saying the National Guard informed his unit that it could deploy to Iraq "within the next two years." Walz said in the statement that he still intended to run for Congress but that he also understood his "responsibility not only to ready my battalion for Iraq, but also to serve if called on." In May 2005, at that time 41 years old, he officially retired from the National Guard, according to his military service records. His unit received official deployment orders in July 2005. Walz' unit went to Iraq for a 22-month deployment in March 2006. Four Guardsmen died during the deployment, according to service component casualty reports. In a 2009 interview with the Library of Congress for its veterans' oral history project, Walz said he retired in order to "focus full time on running" for Congress. He added that he was concerned about balancing his campaign with the Hatch Act, a law that bars politicking by federal employees while on the job. The act does not apply to members of the military, though there are other policies that bar politicking in uniform. A spokesperson for the Harris-Walz campaign did not respond Monday to a request for comment, including about when exactly Walz first filed his retirement paperwork. But Harris has previously defended her running mate. "I praise anyone who has presented themselves to serve our country, and I think that we all should," Harris told reporters last week. Republican criticism of Walz has also focused on whether he embellished his service record. In various biographies on campaign and government websites over the years, Walz has described himself as having deployed "in support of" Operation Enduring Freedom, the official name for the U.S. mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. While the mission encompassed operations outside of Afghanistan, most of which did not put troops in harm's way, most of the public understands it as just Afghanistan operations. Walz was part of a 2003 deployment to Italy, where his unit provided security at Air Force bases under the Operation Enduring Freedom banner. But Republicans charge that, by linking himself to Operation Enduring Freedom, he is implying he deployed to Afghanistan. Walz himself took offense to that type of criticism when it was first leveled during his 2006 campaign for Congress. After a letter to the editor in a local paper criticized Walz for "strongly suggest[ing] that he fought in Iraq or Afghanistan," Walz wrote his own letter hitting back at the "ridiculous claim that I am misleading voters." "If you were confused about my service, you could have checked my website, or simply had the decency to call and ask me," Walz wrote in the letter published in the Winona Daily News, a newspaper in his congressional district. "When you dishonor a veteran, you dishonor all soldiers and veterans. You owe an apology to all those who serve honorably." There have been times when others have referred to Walz as an Afghanistan veteran, and he did not correct them. But in several other interviews over the years, Walz has been clear he never served in combat or deployed to a war zone. "I know that there are certainly folks that did far more than I did. I know that," Walz said in a 2018 interview with Minnesota Public Radio. Walz enlisted into the Nebraska Army National Guard in 1981, at the height of the Cold War, as an infantryman, but later went into field artillery. At the time of his retirement, he was a command sergeant major, but because he did not complete the Sergeants Major Academy -- required schooling to hold onto the rank -- he was reverted to the rank of master sergeant when he retired. References to Walz being a sergeant major have also generated criticism and political attacks. The Harris campaign last week updated its online biography for Walz, which previously referred to him as a "retired command sergeant major." It now says he once served at that rank. At a campaign rally last week, which served as Walz' coronation as her running mate, Harris referred to him as "sergeant major." Walz was also criticized for misrepresenting his rank during the 2018 Minnesota gubernatorial race, and was commonly referred to as "sergeant major" during his time in Congress. Vance and Republicans have also pointed to a clip, first circulated by the Harris campaign itself, touting his support for gun control, in which Walz said he carried weapons of war "in war." "I never criticized what Tim Walz did when he was in the military. I criticized his retirement decision, and most importantly ... I criticized his lying about his own record," Vance said during the Sunday interview on CNN. "This is a guy who was captured on video saying, 'I carried a gun in war.' He never went to war." The Harris campaign gave a statement to news outlets over the weekend that said Walz "misspoke" then. As Republican attacks against Walz ramp up, Democratic members of Congress with military backgrounds have been jumping to his defense. "We saw 20 years ago with the swift-boating of John Kerry, who served honorably in Vietnam, that we cannot presume that unfounded attacks will implode under their own lies," Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., a Marine Corps veteran, said last week on a press call hosted by the Democratic National Committee. "Swift-boating" refers to the infamous and debunked campaign in the 2004 election that disparaged Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's service in the Vietnam War. The man considered the architect of the swift boat attacks, Chris LaCivita, a Marine Corps veteran, is now a co-manager of the Trump campaign. Auchincloss said Walz decided to run for Congress before his battalion got notice of the Iraq deployment and that "we have officers and enlisted who have all said he was an exemplary, admirable soldier." Related: JD Vance's Marine Corps Service Would Set Him Apart from Most Vice Presidents When the Pentagon announced last month that military prosecutors had entered into a plea deal with three accused Sept. 11 terrorists that would spare them the death penalty, the political blowback was fast and furious. "Unthinkable," said Speaker of House Mike Johnson about the deal in a posting on X. "A disgrace," thundered Sen. Ted Cruz. "We need a president who kills terrorists, not negotiates with them," proclaimed Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Donald Trump's vice presidential running mate. It didn't take long for Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to respond as well. Two days after the deal became public, and in the aftermath of the fierce congressional criticism, Austin, in a surprise move, threw out the negotiated plea bargain with 9/11 mastermind Khaled Sheikh Mohammed and two co-defendants and removed the Pentagon official, retired Brig. Gen. Susan K. Escallier, who green lighted the deal, from authority over the matter. The decision by Austin may well have headed off a potential political problem for the White House, and by extension Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, defusing charges by the GOP -- and some 9/11 family members -- that the Biden administration was "soft" on murderous terrorists. But now, the secretary's move--and the GOP attacks that preceded it--are the focus of a new court challenge that threatens to throw yet another legal monkey wrench into the seemingly endless 9/11 cases. According to a top legal expert, it could also force Austin himself to take the witness stand. In still sealed court papers filed on Monday, the lawyer for one of the 9/11 defendants argues that Austin's extraordinary intervention in the case must be overturned because it was taken in response to political pressure from Congress and therefore constitutes "unlawful" command influence over a military proceeding. "This is a clear example of political influence," said James Connell, the lawyer for Ammar al Baluchi, one of the accused 9/11 defendants who allegedly helped finance the attack and also happens to be KSM's nephew. (The motion is not yet public -- it first must be cleared by military authorities -- but Connell confirmed the filing to SpyTalk and said it includes a demand that Austin and the convening authority who the secretary removed, retired Brig. Gen. Escallier, testify about how and why key decisions about the plea bargain were made.) The prohibition on "unlawful" command influence -- essentially barring military commanders from improperly influencing judicial proceedings -- is enshrined in the U.S. Uniform Code of Military Justice and was written into the law passed by Congress in 2009 creating the military commissions overseeing the 9/11 case in Guantanamo. But establishing exactly what constitutes "unlawful" influence or the appearance of unlawful influence can be tricky and is currently at issue in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in a case involving former U.S. Army soldier Bowe Bergdahl. (Bergdahl, who walked off his post in Afghanistan in 2009 and was held captive by the Taliban for five years, was prosecuted after Senator John McCain, who was chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee at the time, said he was "clearly a deserter" and threatened to hold a committee hearing if he was not punished. ) Eugene R. Fidell, who teaches military law at Yale Law School and has represented Bergdahl since 2014, said the issue of whether unlawful influence occurred in the 9/11 military commission case is serious and could require live testimony from Austin and others, as well as the production of pertinent documents, to determine what influenced his decision to intervene. "You can't tell whether there was unlawful influence without discovery," Fidell said in an interview. "Based on what is currently known, defense counsel certainly have strong reason to pursue the issue and get to the bottom of things." Asked for comment on the motion alleging "unlawful" command influence by the secretary, and whether Austin or his staff had communications with members of Congress or the Biden White House about his decision, a Defense Department spokesperson emailed: "We are not going to respond to any potential court filing directly, as the 9/11 military commissions case is in active litigation and we will let that process play out. Nor are we going to get into the background of who said what, when. But, as we have said, the Secretary believes that a decision of this magnitude should rest with him, and he acted accordingly. He exercised his own independent judgment in making this decision." The spokesperson continued: "Remember, the Secretary has long believed that the families of the victims, our service members, and the American public deserve the opportunity to see military commission trials carried out in this case. The White House and Department of Defense were of course in touch, as we are on a variety of issues every day, as appropriate." But if Austin's goal is to see the military commission case against KSM and his co-defendants carried to trial it remains far from clear when, or even whether, that can take place. The case accusing them of committing the worst terror attack in U.S. history has dragged on for well over a decade, in large part because of endless complications arising from the fact that KSM and some of the other defendants were tortured at CIA black site prisons, making their subsequent confessions legally problematic at best. Faced with multiple legal hurdles in bringing the case to trial, prosecutors at Guantanamoinitiated plea negotiations with lawyers for the 9/11 conspirators last year, finally agreeing last month to a deal under which KSM and two of his co-defendants, Walid bin Attach and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, would plead guilty to the murder of 2,976 people in exchange for the government's agreement not to pursue the death penalty. But by revoking the agreement, Austin has now given the defense lawyers yet another avenue to further prolong the case given that any ruling by the military commission court in Guantanamo on unlawful command influence can later be appealed by either side to the federal courts in Washington. More Delays "You've tacked on another year or two" to legal challenges over the case, said Fidell. (In another potential sign of further delays, the judge overseeing the case, Col. Matthew McCall, asked the parties on Monday to file briefs on whether Austin, as the "superior convening authority" overseeing the casehad the authority to take the action he did.) Austin's move to block the plea deal also cuts off one opportunity that had been opened up under the proposed agreement: a chance for the families of 9/11 victims to pose questions to the terrorist conspirators about why and how they pulled off their hijacking of commercial airplanes that crashed into the World Trade Towers, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania. That prospect has taken on new significance in recent weeks amid disclosures that lawyers for the 9/11 families have obtained new evidence -- unavailable to the federal commission that investigated the attacks two decades ago -- pointing to a possible Saudi support structure for two of the 9/11 hijackers in Southern California. But Austin's intervention essentially removes "the best chance" the 9/11 families would have had to get answers from KSM and the other co-conspirators about what they might have known about such help from possible Saudi actors, said Connell, the defense lawyer who filed the motion this week on "unlawful" command influence. "It's a terrible irony" that now won't happen -- unless Austin's decision is reversed, he said. This article first appeared on Spytalk.co. The Osprey was engulfed in smoke and fire when Cpl. Spencer Collart, the aircraft's crew chief, rushed back into the burning wreckage in an attempt to save the two Marine pilots trapped inside. Before it crashed, the fuel-heavy aircraft nearly collided with the other Osprey it was trailing, causing it to bank three times before descending nose-down toward the trees on Melville Island, a spit north of mainland Australia, a recently released investigation revealed. The trees sheared off the Osprey's tail as it descended, and Maj. Tobin Lewis, one of the pilots, gripped the controls with both hands in an attempt to level the aircraft and slow its speed. Collart was situated in the tunnel of the aircraft, behind the two pilots, the other being Capt. Eleanor LeBeau. Witnesses described the Osprey skimming along the trees for "a couple of long seconds" before hitting the ground, skidding and kicking up a "wave" of dirt. Read Next: Soldiers Hit with More Problems Accessing Education Benefits Amid Fall Enrollment Deadlines As the crew chief, Collart was responsible for the safety and readiness of the 22 other Marines on the Osprey, including the pilots. When it crashed, he tried heroically to fulfill that duty. Driven by knowing it was the right thing to do, his father said, Collart rushed back into the burning aircraft to try and rescue the pilots, at the cost of his own life. Despite his efforts, LeBeau and Lewis perished in the crash, but the other 20 Marines survived. In an email Monday, the Marine Corps confirmed that it will be posthumously awarding Collart the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, the services' highest noncombat award for acts of valor. Cpl. Spencer Collart (Courtesy of the Collart family) "I have people come and say, 'Oh, you did a great job of raising your son to be a hero,'" Bart Collart, Spencer's father, told Military.com in a phone interview Tuesday about his son's attempt to save the trapped pilots. "I don't know if I can take credit for that or not. I just think Spencer, that's just the way he was. He cared so much about people, and I know he cared about his friends." Earlier this month, the Collarts heard a familiar call at their door. It had been nearly a year since Marines entered their home to inform them that their son -- a tall, former high school athlete and Arlington, Virginia, native -- had been killed as a result of the crash. During that year, Collart was honored at a vigil held at the family's home and at Arlington National Cemetery, where they received a folded flag from a military officer. His passing also brought the Collarts into a community of Osprey survivors, which offered communal support and relief to the grieving family. But it wasn't until a Sunday afternoon in early August, after a long year of unanswered questions about the crash, that the Collarts learned of Spencer's heroic actions. And that he did not die in the initial impact but escaped the aircraft "whole," as his father put it, only to risk his life to save those still trapped inside. Collart "egressed through the crew door of the [aircraft] and then heroically reentered the burning cockpit of the aircraft in an attempt to rescue the trapped pilots," said the investigation report, which was relayed to the family by four Marines during the visit. "He perished during this effort." Collart's father said that his son's friends and family, some of whom had called in via Zoom to hear the briefing, were shocked by the initial news. It became difficult to hear the rest of the briefing in the wake of the information, and the Marine briefers, mostly officers accompanied by a crew chief who knew Collart, suggested a break. Eventually, after the initial shock wore off, the gathered family and friends realized they weren't surprised by Collart's heroism. "To be honest with you, we both came away feeling better about it after this than we did going into it." Bart Collart said of his and his wife's reaction to the news about their son. "The fact that he went in on his own -- that was his choice to go back in -- and somehow that made us both feel better, the fact that he went in for all the right reasons and trying to help people." Bart Collart also wants to see due credit to the pilots, he said. "I don't know exactly what happened in those fleeting seconds when they had to react to a bad situation," he said of Lewis and LeBeau, whom his son looked up to and revered, he added. "But those pilots managed to get that thing on the ground in such a way that everybody survived the initial crash." Collart joined the Marine Corps in 2020 and served as a crew chief, a highly respected role in the aviation community. At the vigil held last year, family, friends and well-wishers remembered the 21-year-old as someone who would always pick up the phone, who was selfless, and who was also a tough older brother, his sister Gwyneth said. "He was the one that would go up and down and pull [the Marines'] straps to make sure they were buckled down," Greg O'Dell, an elder from the Cherrydale Baptist Church where Collart attended, said at his vigil, recalling the last conversation he had with the crew chief. "He was the one, if they needed to bail out, he would open the back door and start bailing them out," the pastor said. "He protected his Marines that came onto that Osprey, and so did the pilots." According to the investigation and his family, Collart embodied that role with a high degree of professionalism, with some witnesses of the crash describing him as a "seasoned crew chief." "He could be a knucklehead with the best of them and goof around when you wanted to," Bart Collart said. "But he took his job so seriously. ... He wanted to know everything there was to know about it. And he embraced the platform. He loved that Osprey." Witnesses saw Collart exit the burning wreckage as the team was attempting to account for all the Marines. At one point, they realized two were missing -- the pilots. Before he went back in, Collart left his tether, which had bound him to the aircraft during flight, unburned on the ground outside the wreckage. It was a sign to investigators that he exited unscathed but chose to go back in. "Cpl. Collart's heroic actions evinced the highest standards of courage and dedication to his fellow Marines," a spokesperson for I Marine Expeditionary Force told Military.com in a statement Tuesday. "We will continue to honor his legacy and celebrate his life." When asked why it took a year for the family to find out about Collart's act of bravery, the spokesperson pointed to the time it takes to conduct aviation mishap investigations. "Investigations take varying amounts of time to complete, depending on the level of complexity," he said. "The Marine Corps thoroughly investigates all mishaps to identify the causes, learn from them, and take action to reduce the chances of future mishaps." Bart Collart told Military.com that Spencer's headstone at Arlington will be updated to reflect his posthumous award. The Marine Corps said that the award has been signed and approved. Collart's father said that, while the year has been filled with unknowns and grief, the tragedy has also brought unexpected bright moments into their lives. One such moment was the marriage of their daughter Gwyneth to Cpl. Jonah Waser, a Marine and close friend of their son's who helped carry his remains from Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, last year. While questions still loom for the Marine Corps and its sister services about the safety of the Osprey, given its troubled maintenance and crash history, the Collarts choose to focus on the positives, though they remain concerned for the new Marines in their lives who continue to use the aircraft. "We have so many sons and daughters now who are on the Osprey and are Marines," Bart Collart said. "The jobs are just dangerous jobs." Family members of Marine Corporal Spencer R. Collart, from left, father Bart Collart, sister Gwyneth Collart and mother Alexia Collart, hold his portrait as they pose for a photo at their home in Arlington, Va., Thursday, June 19, 2024. Collart, 21, was killed along with two other Marines when the MV-22B Osprey aircraft they were on crashed during drills on a north Australian island on Aug. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.) Tragedy has brought them together with so many other families who have faced it themselves, such as the Strickland family who lost their son Evan, a close friend of Collart's who died in an Osprey crash in 2022. Collart had been a pallbearer at his funeral. "It's been a tough year. It's hard losing your son and [being] reminded of it every single day," Bart Collart said. Reflecting on the grieving process and the new connections formed through the loss of his son, Bart Collart added, "That's one of the amazing things about such a tragic thing happening. I never anticipated it bearing so much fruit. That's not the things that you anticipate at all ... and it's all because of Spencer." Related: Fatal Marine Osprey Crash Investigation Points to Pilot Error, Safety Lapses While Revealing Heroic Rescue Effort DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Iran's threatened retaliatory strike on Israel over the assassination of Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh drew major world powers on Tuesday into a high-wire act of diplomacy. Halting or limiting an Iranian strike in some eyes could bolster a monthslong effort to reach a cease-fire in a war that's devastated the Gaza Strip and killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians, according to the territory's health ministry. It could also free the Israeli hostages who remain captive there since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and began the conflict. Failure to do so could see Iran launch a complex drone-and-missile attack in tandem with Lebanon's Hezbollah militia, now separately aggrieved over Israel's killing of one of its top commanders, straining the ability of Israel's missile defenses and its allies to defend against the assault. Widespread losses could push Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-line government into its own direct attack on Iran and drag the wider Middle East into a regional war. That fear has prompted a flurry of diplomacy in the region. France, Germany, and the United Kingdom on Monday urged Iran and its allies to refrain from attacks that would further escalate regional tensions and jeopardize the opportunity to agree (to) a cease-fire and the release of hostages." In a call, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned Iran's new reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian that there was a serious risk of miscalculation and now was the time for calm and careful consideration. Pezeshkian rebuffed the message. "A punitive response to an aggressor is a right of nations and a solution for stopping crimes and aggression, Pezeshkian said. Pezeshkian has acknowledged he will follow the orders of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who already said Israel paved the way for a severe punishment upon itself with this action. Iran has been repeatedly targeted by suspected Israeli assassinations and sabotage campaigns, increasing the pressure on its theocracy to act to maintain its leadership position in its self-declared Axis of Resistance with militias it arms in the region. But it also has faced years of widespread protests, economic woes and other domestic challenges embrittling the public's support of the government. Its first complex attack on Israel in April caused little damage, raising the risk of it needing to go larger this time in response. The United States, Israel's main backer, has called repeatedly on Iran not to retaliate. It also has backed efforts mediated by Egypt and Qatar to reach a cease-fire in the wider war. However, it's also prepared militarily in the Mideast in case things do escalate. The U.S. military has instructed the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to sail more quickly to the area. America also has ordered the USS Georgia guided missile submarine into the Mideast, while the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier strike group has been in the Gulf of Oman. Additional F-22 fighter jets have flown into the region, while the USS Wasp, a large amphibious assault ship carrying F-35 fighter jets, is in the Mediterranean Sea. It's not just Western powers that have been involved in recent weeks. Russian officials under President Vladimir Putin have engaged in discussions with Iran. The secretary of Russias national security council, Sergei Shoigu, visited Tehran and described the assassination of Haniyeh as tragic" and something that was impossible to bypass in talks with Iran's government. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov separately said Moscow was calling on everybody to refrain from escalating the situation from turning into a disaster for all regional players, according to the state-run Tass news agency. Political ways out of the existing problems must be found, it quoted Bogdanov as saying. For Iran, Russia remains one of the few international suppliers of advanced weaponry willing to do business with it even as its nuclear program enriches uranium at nearly weapons-grade levels. Iran for years has asked for Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets. Tehran has also sought Russia's S-400 surface-to-air missile defense system, a possible deterrent for the American-made F-35 fighter jets flown by the U.S. and Israel. It's not just Iran, though, that needs weapons. Putin has relied increasingly on Iranian-made bomb-carrying drones in his war on Ukraine, which has escalated in recent days with Kyiv marching into Russia's Kursk region as a means to pressure Moscow as it makes gains in eastern Ukraines Donbas region. Putin also hosted Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday in Moscow. Then there's China, which has tried quietly to assert more influence in the Mideast without devoting the same amount of military power as the United States. China last year mediated a deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia that saw the countries reach a detente, though Riyadh continues to eye Tehran warily. In July, China also hosted the signing of a deal between Hamas and Fatah, the main force in the U.S.-backed Palestinian Authority that administers parts of the occupied West Bank. While the agreement calls for the factions to form a joint government, previous deals fell apart between the rivals, calling into question whether this one would be any different. China also has begun criticizing Israel more directly amid the war, rather than following its typical pattern of calling for restraint on all sides. China is gravely concerned over the relevant military operation of Israel which caused massive civilian casualties in Gaza, Chinese Foreign Ministry Lin Jian said Monday. We condemn all acts that harm civilians, oppose all moves that violate international humanitarian law and call on Israel to heed the call of the international community stop the hostilities at once. The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not respond to questions from The Associated Press over Iran's threatened retaliatory strike. Fort Drum, N.Y. A soldier assigned to Fort Drum killed a fellow member of his unit who was also his roommate, military officials said Monday. The soldier, U.S. Army Spc. Riley F. Birbilas, was charged Monday with premeditated murder and obstruction of justice, according to a Monday evening news release from Katherine Wright, a Fort Drum spokesperson. Spc. Jacob Ashton, 21, of Perry, Ohio, was found dead last Monday at the expansive base near Watertown, officials previously said. Ashton was found dead in his car in a parking lot on the base, according to his aunt, Michelle Ustupski. Officials told her that Ashton died from blunt force trauma. Birbilas, 22, of Kodiak, Alaska, was arrested at some point last week. He spent the weekend in the Oneida County jail in Oriskany, about two hours southeast of Fort Drum, records show. Birbilas will be prosecuted through the military justice system, officials said. Charges were preferred against him Monday, the equivalent of filing a criminal indictment. He now awaits a preliminary hearing, which functions similarly to an arraignment. Birbilas may face a court-martial, the equivalent of a criminal trial. If convicted of murder, he can be sentenced either to life in military prison or death. Both men served in a unit of the 10th Mountain Divisions 2nd Brigade Combat Team. They deployed last summer for nine months to the Middle East. Officials havent offered a possible motive for the killing. Fort Drum is home to nearly 15,000 service members and employs about 4,000 civilians, according to the military. It hosts various units of the U.S. Army, including the 10th Mountain Division, on 168 square miles in Jefferson County. Birbilas and Ashton had roomed together since April after returning from their deployment to Iraq, Ustupski said. Ashton hadnt told her of any issues with Birbilas, she said. Ashton was a soft-spoken man, Ustupski told syracuse.com | The Post-Standard. He viewed serving in the military as a chance to help other people and experience something new, she said. He continued a legacy of service upon enlisting in 2021, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, who had also served in the U.S. Army. Ashton completed basic combat training at Fort Moore in Georgia. The young soldier earned various awards and decorations, including the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon and Combat Infantry Badge. Ustupski recalled how she and other relatives constantly worried about Ashton while he was deployed overseas. Its hard to accept he came back safely from Iraq, but a fellow soldier killed him on base, she said. Ashtons enlistment contract was set to end in December, Ustupski said. He had talked about training to become a police officer or firefighter, she said. He was just 21, Ustupski said. He was just getting ready to start his life. 2024 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit syracuse.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. A U.S. Army Special Forces soldier was justified in fatally shooting an aggressive Russian national photographing utility poles in his yard for a survey project, according to investigators in North Carolina. The man who died was identified as Ramzan Daraev, a Russian native from Chechnya who entered the United States across the southern border in mid-December 2022 and has since been living in Chicago, Illinois, according to an Aug. 12 news release from the Moore County Sheriffs Office. Moore County is among four counties that include portions of the U.S. Armys Fort Liberty, home of the 82nd Airborne Division and more than 43,000 active-duty soldiers. Investigators say the early-May shooting was justified under the North Carolina Castle Doctrine, which allows for the use of defensive force in situations where there is a perceived imminent threat to personal and family safety within ones home or property. No charges will be filed against the unnamed homeowner, but the investigation is not over, the sheriffs office said. The Moore County Sheriffs Office is continuing to assess the operational background of Utilities One and Cable Warriors, the subcontractor for whom Daraev was employed, officials said. Investigators are also reviewing digital evidence containing electrical infrastructure maps related to the utility expansion provided to employees from a Russian cloud server, which may provide further insights into the subcontractors activities. Details of Daraevs immigration status were not provided. He was killed near dusk Friday, May 3, after the homeowners wife reported seeing a suspicious man taking photos at the familys remote residence on Dowd Road near Carthage, about a 60-mile drive southwest from Raleigh. She informed her husband, who was reportedly unarmed at the time and approached the individual to see what he was doing. .... Unable to establish who Daraev was or why he was on the property, the homeowner asked him to leave, the sheriffs office said. According to the homeowner, Daraev became aggressive and refused to leave the property, at one point asserting that he was a Chechen national who had served in the Russian military and fought in Ukraine. Two 911 calls were made during a 13-minute period, one reporting the man on the property and the second noting the family perceived a threat. The shooting occurred around 8:30 p.m., when the confrontation escalated, officials said. Daraev reportedly became agitated and lunged at the homeowner after repeatedly refusing to leave the property. The homeowner reported firing several shots in response to Daraevs advance, the sheriffs office said. No evidence has been found of Daraev serving with the Russian military or fighting in Ukraine, officials said. He carried an international drivers license for a vehicle registered in Illinois, but otherwise had nothing to identify himself or his vehicle as being with a utility company, the sheriffs office said. Daraev was employed by Cable Warriors, a subcontractor of Utilities One, and was conducting surveys as part of Brightspeeds fiber optic expansion into the Carthage area of Moore County, the sheriffs office said. Other workers in the utility industry told investigators that conducting utility work near dark on or near private property, especially during non-emergency activities, without identifying clothing and without notifying the homeowner is not common practice. Because of the unique circumstances of the incident, the sheriffs office is sharing specifics of the case with the FBI and Army Criminal Investigation Division, officials said. ------- 2024 The Kansas City Star. Visit at kansascity.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. The senior enlisted leader in charge of the Army branch that oversees operations across greater Washington, D.C., was fired late last week, the service confirmed to Military.com on Tuesday. Command Sgt. Maj. Veronica Knapp was relieved from her post Aug. 8 following an administrative investigation, Bernhard Lashleyleidner, a spokesperson for the Military District of Washington, said in an email. She was dismissed "due to a loss of trust and confidence in her leadership," Lashleyleidner said, using the military's catchall term for why a leader may be unfit to hold a position of authority. Lashleyleidner declined to answer why Knapp was under investigation or for how long. Sgt. Maj. Eberhard Nordman, the Joint Task Force-National Capital Region/Army Military District of Washington's provost marshal sergeant major, was appointed as the acting command sergeant major, he said. Read Next: Soldiers Hit With More Problems Accessing Education Benefits Amid Fall Enrollment Deadlines Knapp enlisted in the Army in 2000 and joined the military police, according to her official biography. "She has deployed to Bagram, Afghanistan; served two consecutive tours in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in support of [Operation Enduring Freedom]; and recently redeployed from [Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base], Romania," her biography said. "Command Sgt. Maj. Knapp has served in every leadership position from team leader to command sergeant major." Prior to her arrival in Washington, she became the first woman to serve as the senior enlisted adviser of the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, in 2021. Knapp joined the Joint Task Force-National Capital Region/Army Military District of Washington in June 2023, becoming the highest-ranking enlisted voice in supplying Army forces for U.S. Northern Command's homeland defense mission in the Washington region. She managed a swath of missions, ranging from the U.S. Army Band to the president's official ceremonial escort unit and logistical support for the first family's ground travel. She is the recipient of multiple awards, including the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal, and Army Commendation and Achievement medals. Lashleyleidner declined to answer where Knapp was reassigned. Knapp's firing marks the second command sergeant major to be removed from their role in the past month. On July 16, Command Sgt. Maj. Matthew Carlson was also removed from his post as the senior enlisted leader of the 173rd Airborne Brigade "due to a loss of trust and confidence in his leadership" following an investigation, Army spokesperson Neil Ruggiero told Military.com in an email. Carlson was fired about 16 months after he arrived at the 173rd, based in Vicenza, Italy, in March 2023. The 173rd Airborne Brigade's "Sky Soldiers" serve as the Army's contingency response force in Europe, available in the event of crises across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Related: Fired After 6 Months: Army Sacks Commander of Germany Unit Meant to Bolster NATO Against Russia Title: Enhancing Your Living Room Experience: : Samsung French Door refrigerator (Ice Master Installation: Setting up the Ice Maker in Samsung French Door Refrigerators) In todays ever-changing world of technology, there is no denying that appliances have become an essential part of our daily lives. Among them, plays a crucial role in keeping us home warm during cold months. One such appliance is the Samsung French Door Refrigerator ice machine. But how to properly install it? What kind of factors should be taken into account before installing it? In this blog post, we will take you through the step-by-step process of setting up your own Samsung French Door refrigerator ice machine. ## Installing Your Samsung French Door Refrigerator Ice Machine 1. Determine your desired location for the refrigerator. The exact placement depends on the type of refrigerator you have, its size, and your budget. 2. If you want to install your refrigerator in a remote location, consider purchasing a built-in remote control or WiFi connected refrigerator. This will allow you to control your refrigerator from anywhere in the world. 3. Before installation, make sure your refrigerator is fully stocked with the necessary ingredients for the recipe you want to make. This includes water, sugar, honey, spices, and any other important ingredients you may need. 4. Connect your refrigerater to the electrical outlet by following the manufacturers instructions. Be sure to unplug the refrigerator if you are not using it. ## Preparing the Ice Machine 1. Remove all the old food and cleaning products from the fridge. 2. Unpack the ice maker parts, including the cabinet, compressor, ice filter, and shownoff. You can find these components at most supermarkets or online retailers. 3. After packaging everything together, open the cabinet and locate the frozen water supply lines. 4. Insert the connected cold water supply lines into the canted section of the cabinet, then connect the cooler to the walls and freezer door. Finally, connect the ice filter to the temperature controls in the bottom of the cabinet. ## Installing the refrigerator 1. Turn off the refrigerator and wait for the temperature controls to turn on. Once they do, plug in the power source, usually a wall switch. 2. Open the back cover of the refrigerator and insert the cover to close the doors and enclose the freezer space. Follow the manufacturers instructions to adjust the covers settings to your liking. 3. Add the frozen water supply lines to the system. Be careful not to overfill the lines to prevent water loss or water damage. 4. Connect the freezer door to the main freezer opening, making sure that the door is level and secure. 5. Set the temperature controls on the main freezer to the desired temperature range. Most systems come with pre-programmed settings. 6. Remove the covered cover and check the ice filter. Make sure that the filter is clean and functioning correctly. Run the filters regularly to ensure proper functioning. 7. Test the refrigerator to ensure that the food is properly defrosted and reaching its ideal temperature. If needed, use the defrost function to help remove any remaining moisture. ## Conclusion (Ice Master Installation: Setting up the Ice Maker in Samsung French Door Refrigerators) Building a refrigerator with your Samsung French Door Refrigerator ice machine requires some basic skills and preparation. By following the steps outlined above, you can easily install your new refrigerator and enjoy comfortable and efficient home cooking experiences. Whether youre a home decorator or just starting out, follow these steps and youll be able to create the perfect home kitchen for you! Inquiry us if you want to want to know more, please feel free to contact us. (nanotrun@yahoo.com) State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Puerto Rico US Virgin Islands Armed Forces Americas Armed Forces Pacific Armed Forces Europe Northern Mariana Islands Marshall Islands American Samoa Federated States of Micronesia Guam Palau Alberta, Canada British Columbia, Canada Manitoba, Canada New Brunswick, Canada Newfoundland, Canada Nova Scotia, Canada Northwest Territories, Canada Nunavut, Canada Ontario, Canada Prince Edward Island, Canada Quebec, Canada Saskatchewan, Canada Yukon Territory, Canada Postal Code Dear Eric: I work at a small, fantastic community-based organization. It is not perfect, but its been one of my favorite jobs ever, except for a few of my colleagues who seem to complain endlessly about the smallest things. Their behavior has led to other staff feeling judged, weve even had people leave over it. Any chance I get I will sing the places praises, and if the complaining is next level, I just leave the work room. I am so sick of it. This is honestly a great place to work and itd be even greater if we supported each other rather than devolving into cliques and endless rant sessions. Any suggestions you have on how to put a stop to endless (and at times toxic complaining)? Sick of Watercooler Complaints Dear Watercooler: Some people just like to complain about work. I tickled myself thinking what if the question after yours was from your coworker. This person at my job is just SO POSITIVE Try talking to your coworkers one-on-one. See if you can get to the bottom of what their core issues are. Maybe theyre complaining because they dont feel empowered to make changes. Or maybe theyre toxic jerks. Ask a higher up for help shifting the office culture. You dont have to wave the Pollyanna banner all on your own. Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at eric@askingeric.com or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com. 2024 Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Nancy Black Tribune Content Agency Linda Black Horoscopes for Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024 Todays Birthday (08/13/24). Youre especially popular this year. Profits rise in dedicated teamwork with your partner. Joint ventures hit an autumn jackpot. Monitor changing news from reliable sources this winter. Springtime rains silver into your coffers, leading you to redirect summer explorations. Collaboration can accomplish wonders. To get the advantage, check the days rating: 10 is the easiest day, 0 the most challenging. Aries (March 21-April 19) Today is a 7 Do the homework. Dont accept more than you can handle by the deadline. Consider logistics and practicalities. Keep detailed records. Charm others into participating. Taurus (April 20-May 20) Today is a 7 Review budgets carefully before agreeing to a purchase or new expense. Postpone an important decision until youre sure. Talk it over with your partner. Gemini (May 21-June 20) Today is a 6 Wait to act until youre both on the same page. Temporary overwhelm could incite sparks. Avoid upsets and monitor a delicate situation. Patiently clarify. Cancer (June 21-July 22) Today is an 8 Stick to practical objectives with your health, fitness and work. Make plans and connections. Avoid fantasies and distractions. Move one step at a time. Leo (July 23-Aug. 22) Today is a 6 Listen and learn with loved ones. Moderate a disagreement. Reassure someone who feels left out. Share your thoughts and dreams. Collaborate for practical goals. Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Today is a 7 Domestic matters have your attention. Consider hidden costs before purchasing. You may pay another way for something free. Provide comfort and good sense. Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) Today is a 7 Polish a diamond in the rough. Outline ideas before presenting. Edit, revise and clarify. Simplify to basics. Propose collaborative possibilities. Follow through on promises. Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) Today is an 8 Expenses may be higher than planned. Postpone and research. Get creative. Work with your team for practical solutions. Collaborate your way around an obstacle. Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Today is an 8 Personal discipline overcomes a challenge. Practice patiently. Give up something for something you want more. Take charge. Make plans to achieve an ambition. Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Today is a 6 Private contemplation soothes. New information challenges old beliefs. Reflect before doing anything. Consider others affected. Avoid sensitivities. Get advice from a wise friend. Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) Today is a 7 Inspire your team by example. Listen carefully to avoid conflict. Check the data. Avoid stepping on anyone. Share ideas and resources with friends. Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) Today is a 6 Avoid professional controversy by keeping a low profile and focusing on the job at hand. Look for silver linings. Listen carefully to instructions. Astrologer Nancy Black continues her mother Linda Blacks legacy horoscopes column. She welcomes comments and questions on Twitter, @LindaCBlack. For more astrological interpretations like todays Gemini horoscope, visit Linda Black Astrology by clicking daily horoscopes, or go to www.nancyblack.com. 2024 Nancy Black. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency. Hell, Michigan is among some of the most devilish places in the world which are featured in a new National Geographic travelers guide. You can explore some of the most hellish spots on the planet in Go to Hell: A Travelers Guide to Earths Most Otherworldly Destinations, which just came out in hardcover ($24.99) and Kindle ($12.99) on August 13. In her research, author Erika Engelhaupt from Knoxville, TN, went to Hell and back dozens of times over as the book profiles more than 50 unusual places rich in history, mystery and the supernatural. What made it fascinating to me was learning not just about crazy places, but also seeing some of the history and stories behind these places, Engelhaupt told MLive. She says that it wasnt just about seeing these unusual places. As she learned the history behind them, she says it made the places even more fascinating. As you read through the entries, youll learn about history, archeology and places around the world that have different, and yet, similar ideas about Hell, the underworld and the afterlife. If youre a curious person like me, its always fun to learn about different places and cultures around the world. One of those different places is Hell, Michigan, which is located about 20 miles northwest of Ann Arbor near Pinckney. Engelhaupt says she had a great time there. I was going for the full experience. I met up with John Colone, the self-proclaimed mayor or proprietor. I was there when the summer Hell-O fest was going on. Not only that, but there was a wedding in the chapel. And, of course, I had to come home with a lot of souvenirs like t-shirts. It was a great place. I can really see how its a lot of fun to have a wedding there or renew your vows. I love how the town keeps it light-hearted and family-friendly. Also featured in the book are places like Antarcticas Blood Falls, a tropical hell in Grand Cayman, the Gates of Hell crater in Turkmenistan, burning for more than 50 years, Turkeys Plutos Gate, Chinas Fengdu City of Ghosts and Irelands Hell Caves, where Halloween was born. I got to actually go inside the caves in Ireland. For me, thats a very special place that stands out. It was a lot of fun planning my travels for the book. It probably took a year to do the travel and the writing and another year of editing and production. And if you purchase the book, take it into a very dark place and watch what happens. The Billie Eilish Hit Me Hard and Soft tour begins next month. Come October 7, experience the new album live at Detroit, Michigans Little Caesars Arena for less than $200/ticket. Resale prices have decreased in the last month, with the exception of Ticketmaster, which is currently sold out of Little Caesars Arena tickets. Compare available prices on Vivid Seats, SeatGeek, and StubHub. Billie Eilish arrives at the LACMA Art+Film Gala on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Allison Dinner)AP Known for her earlier alt-pop hits Ocean Eyes and bad guy, as well as more recent top tracks like the Academy Award-winning song, What Was I Made For? from the Barbie movie soundtrack (streaming on Max), Billie Eilish has made a substantial impact on the genre since the release of her debut single back in 2015. The star is about to embark on Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour, which coincides with Eilishs latest album release, titled Hit Me Hard and Soft. The route begins Sunday, September 29 in Quebec, traveling through Ontario and along the East Coast before stopping at Little Caesars Arena in early October. Hear new Billie music the likes of BIRDS OF A FEATHER, CHIHIRO, and LUNCH when the tour makes its way to Michigan on Monday, October 7. Shop Detroit tickets: Vivid Seats from $150 | SeatGeek from $149 | StubHub from $198 YPSILANTI, MI A man found in an Ypsilanti bookstore in a state of partial decomposition died of natural causes, a medical examiner found. Sheridan Settler, 63, was discovered about 1:30 p.m. June 12 and declared dead at Cross Street Book Shop, 523 W. Cross St., according to Tom Koch, the Ypsilanti police spokesperson and an autopsy report from the Washtenaw County Medical Examiner. LAPEER COUNTY, MI Police are investigating a fatal shooting that took the life of a 38-year-old woman inside of a residence in northwest Lapeer County. Deputies with the Lapeer County Sheriffs Office were dispatched around 11 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 8, to the 3000 block of Bittersweet Drive in Oregon Township in reference to a family trouble call. GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- Matt Schlinker didnt plan to spend the summer and fall campaigning for a spot in the Michigan House of Representatives. But thats what the former Flint City Council members future holds after winning a spot on the November ballot thanks to 1,216 voters who penciled in his name as a write-in during the Aug. 6 Democratic primary election in the 68th District. HOLLAND, MI -- A family-owned clothing retailer is expanding in downtown Holland. After over a decade of serving Holland shoppers, Gliks mens boutique has grown too big for its britches -- literally. The clothing retailer plans to move from its current location at 8 W Eighth St. to a bigger storefront at 28 E Eighth St. The move with grow Gliks mens footprint from 2,100 to 3,750 square feet, allowing the retailer to expand its mens offerings. The company plans to have a soft opening for the new mens store on Oct. 1 with a grand opening celebration on Oct. 2. The event will feature a ribbon cutting ceremony, appearances from members of the Glik family and giveaways throughout the week. Gliks Chief Marketing Officer Melissa Haynes said the larger location will offer more contemporary brands such as 7 Diamonds, The Normal Brand and Civil Society, as well as an expanded denim section. What Im most excited about is building it out into more of a mens lifestyle store, Haynes said, noting the new location will include amenities such as a large TV and seating next to the fitting rooms. The new mens store, which will be across from Gliks womens boutique at 37 E Eighth St., was the former home of mens clothing retailer Glad Rags. Haynes said the location already had a really good aesthetic, such as exposed brick, and Gliks doesnt have to do much to refine the space. Headquartered in Collinsville, Illinois, Gliks is a family-owned retailer with over 60 stores across the Midwest. Besides its two Holland stores, Gliks also has West Michigan locations in Grand Haven, Saugatuck, South Haven, Benton Harbor, Fremont and Rockford. Want more Grand Rapids-area news? Bookmark the local Grand Rapids news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Grand Rapids daily newsletter. KENT COUNTY, MI A motorcyclist was killed Monday, Aug. 12, in a crash shortly after having contact with police in a parking lot, state police said. The victims name was not released. The crash happened around 8:50 p.m. at Alpine Avenue NW and Four Mile Road. State police said the motorcyclist had contact with police in a nearby parking lot for an unregistered motorcycle. The motorcyclist then left north at a high speed and collided with a southbound car that was turning. State police said the officer did not pursue the motorcyclist. The motorcyclist died at the scene. The driver of the car was taken to the hospital with minor injuries. State police did not identify the agency that had contact with the motorcyclist. BATTLE CREEK, MI -- Police are investigating a shooting that injured a pedestrian after a car pulled up and the driver began firing. Officers were called to Cliff Street and Nelson Street around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 13, where they found a 23-year-old Battle Creek man with a gunshot wound to his left thigh. BERRIEN COUNTY, MI -- After performing a concert in Grand Rapids, OneRepublic guitarist Zach Filkins took a drive to visit some nearby wineries. He ended up buying one of them. Filkins and his wife, Lindsay, recently bought Karma Vista winery at 6991 Ryno Road in Coloma, renaming it Filkins Vineyards. Southwest Michigan inspired us, Filkins wrote on Instagram while announcing the new business venture, which opened in May. The couple remembers visiting Karma Vista in 2019 after a OneRepublic concert in Grand Rapids, where they tasted a variety of wonderful wines that stuck with them. They both worked in restaurants for years and hosted wine pairing dinner parties with friends, they wrote on the newly established winerys website. Theyve dreamed of owning a winery since discovering the winery scene on their California honeymoon. Zach Filkins, right, is pictured as OneRepublic headlined Saturday night on the Sands Steel Stage on the second day of Musikfest in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in August 2013. (File photo)Express-Times The opportunity presented itself and they took it, buying the business from owners Joe and Sue Herman. We are incredibly grateful and humbled by the opportunity to take the torch from the Hermans and are honored to own and operate the very first winery that attracted us to Southwest Michigan wine country, they said while announcing the new vineyard. Connection with one another is such a big part of who we are as humans, so to be able to provide a location for couples, families and friends to come and connect brings us a lot of joy. We hope you stop by! Grammy-nominated OneRepublic is known for hits including Counting Stars, Too Late, All the Right Moves and more. The band formed in Colorado Springs in 2002. Filkins is the lead guitarist and a founding member. The vineyard and winery, with sweeping views of a grapevine-lined rolling countryside, serves guests on site and allows them to relax in casual country setting only about 45 minutes from Kalamazoo. Lindsay Filkins sister, Melissa Feris, was hired as general manager. Jason Johnson, a winemaker with decades of experience in Californias Napa Valley, was hired to lead the companys wine production. Filkins Vineyards has hosted live music outdoors and other events at times this summer. No word on whether Filkins will serenade any lucky guests, himself. Same song, with a twist Karma Vista Vineyards was established in 2002. The owners announced the sale in March on Facebook. After 22 years of amazing wine, customers, friendships and of course Karma, Sue and I are slipping out quietly through the vineyard and into retirement, the owner posted. To everything there is a season, and it is time for us to pass on this good vibration to a new generation. Zach, Lindsay and family are the perfect people to continue the discovery of all that this truly gifted site has to offer the wine world. Like us, they share a passion and eagerness to change the world one vintage at a time. The new owners commended Joe and Sue Herman for how they communicated while pouring glasses of wine produced on the land. I recall Suzie sharing her favorite wines with a big smile on her face as she cleaned the tasting glasses and her love for the tasting room was evident by the meticulous condition of the property, the Filkins wrote on the vineyard website. RELATED: Inn at Michigan winery beats Napa Valley for top wine country stay Hundreds of people liked and commented on the former owners Facebook post announcing the sale. The song remains the same, but maybe with a new twist, the company said to its fans in March. The former owners are off enjoying the good life, in retirement. They thanked their staff and customers for the years of memories at the vineyard. They joked they were giving an Irish goodbye, leaving it on a final note: Hopefully we will meet again. Look for us on the other side of the counter this time, the former owner said. May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind always be at your back. ... And may your glass never be empty! OneRepublic, on the other hand, is still hard at work. Their world tour continues this month with three nights in Japan, before moving on to locations all over the globe through November. A glass of red wine and a sangria at Filkins Vineyard on July 27, 2024.(Brad Devereaux | bdeverea@mlive.com) Filkins Vineyards is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and noon to 6 p.m. Sundays. Want more Kalamazoo-area news? Bookmark the local Kalamazoo news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Kalamazoo daily newsletter. MUSKEGON, MI -- After announcing plans nearly a year ago to reopen with a full-service bar and restaurant, 18th Amendment Spirits has gone up for sale. The historic Savings and Loan Bank at 350 W Western Ave. in downtown Muskegon, which most recently was home to 18th Amendment Spirits, currently is listed on Core Realty Partners website for $1.3 million. Included in the asking price is the distillerys furniture, equipment and distilling license, according to the listing. The building offers an exceptional opportunity for the restaurateur or similar operator, the listing states. 18th Amendment Spirits has been quiet since announcing on its Facebook page last September that it would temporarily close and reopen at a later date as a full-service bar and restaurant. The distillery at the time said it had acquired the necessary license through the city of Muskegon but that it will take some time and work with the state of Michigan to complete the process. We plan to re-open when we have everything in place and look forward to serving you with an expanded offering and new menu/experience! the post read. There were no further updates about the project on Facebook, and the distillerys website is no longer active. The buildings owner did not immediately respond to a request for comment at press time. 18th Amendment Spirits, which first opened its doors to downtown Muskegon in April 2017, is the brainchild of Michael Brower, co-owner of Pigeon Hill Brewing Company, and Mark Fellwock, co-founder of Holland-based Coppercraft Distillery. In a statement from 2015 announcing the project, Fellwock and Brower said, we are a group of partners who care deeply about - and believe in - downtown Muskegon. We are passionate about spirits, craft cocktails and good food. The venue itself featured a vintage Brunswick bar, originally built in Muskegon, and a speakeasy-type atmosphere. The business boasted exceptionally well-crafted cocktails at reasonable rates and a limited menu consisting mainly of wood-fired pizzas, all made with fresh ingredients. The distillery took its name from the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which established the prohibition of alcoholic beverages in the United States until it was repealed in 1933. Want more Muskegon-area news? Bookmark the local Muskegon news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Muskegon daily newsletter. MIDLAND, MI Its been four decades since Brian K. Granger attacked a Midland County mother of three as she went for a jog, strangling her before leaving her in a ditch. The killer was just 17 at the time, and though he was twice sentenced to die in prison, he now has the chance at walking free. Granger, now 58, appeared before Midland County Circuit Judge Michael Beale on Aug. 8 to be resentenced for the second time in just a few years. Beale ended up sentencing Granger to 40 to 60 years in prison, with credit for 15,023 days or 41.16 years already served. As Granger has served more than his minimum sentence, he is likely to face a Michigan Department of Corrections parole board imminently. The evening of June 21, 1983, Granger was riding a bicycle when he started following 32-year-old Sandra Nestle as she jogged through Jasper Township. Granger, then 17 years and 8 months old, attacked Nestle in an isolated spot on Shepherd Road, choked her for about 10 minutes until she was unconscious, then left the dead or dying woman face-down in a partially filled drainage ditch. A police dog found Nestles body the following day. Police arrested Granger two days after Nestles death when a witness reported having seen him following Nestle. During an interview with police, Granger said hed had approached Nestle the night she went missing, but said he just wanted to talk with her. When he pedaled up next to her, she scratched his arm, pushed him from his bike, and began screaming, Granger alleged. Claiming he was angry and scared, Granger said he covered Nestles mouth and accidentally killed her. He went on to tell police he decided to remove Nestles clothing and sexually assault her but changed his mind due to a car driving by. A subsequent bench trial ended with Circuit Judge Tyrone Gillespie finding Granger guilty of first-degree murder. Gillespie in January 1984 sentenced the then-18-year-old Granger to life in prison without the possibility of parole. But things changed for Granger, and other so-called juvenile lifers, with the U.S. Supreme Cours 2012 ruling in Miller v. Alabama that mandatory life sentences for those 17 and younger is a form of cruel and unusual punishment and thus unconstitutional. In 2014, then-Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder gave judges the discretion to sentence teen killers to life in prison or 25 to more than 60 years in prison to comply with the Supreme Court decision. Then, in a 6-3 decision in 2016s Montgomery v. Louisiana, the nations highest court ruled its 2012 decision applied retroactively. The rulings allowed certain juvenile lifers to remain incarcerated for life if prosecutors could prove they were irreparably corrupt or permanently incorrigible. Grangers first shot at resentencing began in 2019, with several hearings held before Midland County Circuit Judge Stephen P. Carras eliciting testimony from Grangers and Nestles relatives, prison officials, a brain development specialist, a psychologist, some of the original investigating police and the original prosecutor, Norman W. Donker. In May 2020, Carras found Granger was among those rare cases warranting a continued life-without-parole term. In his ruling, Carras wrote both court officials and the examining psychologist in 1983 found Granger to be more mature than the average 17- or 18-year-old. The judge also found Grangers criminal history showed a youth continuing to escalate his illicit behavior, though his social judgment was intact, he knew right from wrong, and was able to control himself. Grangers criminal record includes the sexual assault of a 7-year-old in 1981, a crime which saw him placed in a juvenile detention center from which he was released a few days prior to Nestles murder. Granger appealed Carras decision. A Michigan Court of Appeals in August 2022 reversed the trial courts decision and remanded Grangers case for a term-of-years sentence, rather than a life-without-parole one. The Michigan Supreme Court denied an appeal from prosecutors. Midland County Prosecutor J. Dee Brooks described the whole endeavor as a a terrible and repeated burden on the victims family and friends. He acknowledged Judge Beale had no real latitude in his sentencing, but said the repeated court hearings and new sentence compound the original tragedy of Nestles murder. While I understand the reasoning behind the appellate courts decisions to review mandatory life without parole sentences for youthful offenders, Brooks said, I feel that the concern for the victims and their families has been lost in the process. Even though it is likely that Granger will be released on parole in the near future (since he has already served his minimum sentence), I can only hope that the victims family can find some measure of closure and healing by the ending of the judicial proceedings, something Judge Beale expressly noted. Granger is currently incarcerated at Macomb Correctional Facility. The MDOC has not yet posted a date for a public parole board hearing in his case. With his new sentence, Grangers latest possible release date is June 13, 2032. Three high-ranking Michigan politicians in the past five days have been the victims of swatting. The latest incident targeted Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson as police were called to her Detroit home both Saturday night and Monday morning on false reports. A spokesperson for Benson said no one was injured in either incident and that they werent aware of any arrests. The term swatting comes from a persons intent to have a SWAT team sent to a location by making a false police report, often about a high-risk situation. The prank calls are used to harass, intimidate and even endanger the target. Benson in a social media post Tuesday, Aug. 13, called the attacks disturbing, saying that swatting is a form of political violence. Benson said she wanted to be heard clearly saying: I will not be intimidated. These threats never have and never will deter me from my job: ensuring Michigan citizens can have confidence in their secure, fair, accurate elections, Benson wrote. I will continue to stand with election professionals throughout Michigan to guard every citizens vote no matter who they are, where they live, or who they vote for. The swatting incidents targeting Benson come just days after the two opponents this fall in the U.S. Senate race U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, and former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Howell were also victims of similar incidents. Michigan State Police officials said they responded to Slotkins home in Holly on Thursday, Aug. 8, for an incident that later was determined to be a false report. They did not provide further details. Her spokesperson, Lynsey Mukomel, said the police response was prompted by a false threat emailed to a local elected official. Mukomel said Slotkin was not home at the time of the swatting and that no one was harmed. This is the latest in a disturbing trend of swatting incidents targeting members of Congress, Mukomel said. Congresswoman Slotkin is deeply grateful for the swift and professional response by law enforcement to this unfortunate incident, and that U.S. Capitol Police will be following up to investigate and hopefully hold accountable those responsible. The next day, state police responded to a home in Genoa Township connected to Rogers for an incident that also was determined to be a false report. State police did not provide further details. Rogers spokesperson, Chris Gustafson, said family members of Rogers were targeted by the swatting. No one was harmed. Mike and his family are beyond grateful for the professionalism and swift response of law enforcement, Gustafson said. This is the second time that Mike has been the target of a swatting, first in 2013 as a member of Congress, and reports that Rep. Slotkin was also the target yesterday are a clear example of the deeply concerning trend of political violence that has quickly become the norm. This kind of violence cannot be tolerated, and it is our hope that those responsible will be quickly prosecuted and held accountable. Following the incidents last week, Rogers and Slotkin took to social media expressing thanks that their opponent and their families werent harmed. UPDATE: The headline for this report was updated to reflect that the Harris campaign would consider under agreed-upon conditions another debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump but has not agreed to such a debate or venue. GRAND RAPIDS, MI Campaign officials for Vice President Kamala Harris said they would consider debating Donald Trump in Grand Rapids, but first he must demonstrate his willingness to participate in an earlier commitment. Trump, the Republican nominee in the 2024 race for the presidency, last weekend announced on social media his plans to debate his opponent, Harris, on Wednesday, Sept. 25 in Grand Rapids. On his Truth Social account, Trump said the debate would air on NBC and be anchored by Lester Holt. Harris campaign officials, though, said they reached no such deal with Trump or NBC on the debate. The only debate agreed upon is scheduled Tuesday, Sept. 10, in Philadelphia, where ABC plans to moderate the televised event. Now the Democrats campaign is outlining at least one condition that could pave the way for a Grand Rapids showdown with Trump. We are open to another debate, and well continue those conversations, read a Harris campaign statement. But to be clear, any additional debate would be subject to Trump actually showing up on Sept. 10. Were not playing his games. Trump last week recommitted to debating Harris after recently backing out, holding a lengthy news conference Thursday, Aug. 8, in which he taunted the Democrat, boasted of his crowd on Jan. 6, 2021, and lashed out at questions about the enthusiasm her campaign has generated. A debate in Grand Rapids would return Trump to the community where he last rallied supporters in Michigan, considered a key swing state in the presidential election. The event was the site of Trumps first rally following an attempted assassination at a Pennsylvania event in July. At the time of the Grand Rapids rally, President Joe Biden still was seeking reelection. The president dropped out of the race the following day, endorsing Vice President Harris as his replacement at the top of the Democratic ticket for the November election. Since then, Harriss support in Michigan and elsewhere has gained momentum, with some polls showing would-be voters there favoring the Democrat weeks after polls showed would-be voters favoring Trump over Biden. Some of that support was on display last week when Harris led a rally inside a packed Detroit Metropolitan Airport hangar. Trump on social media later questioned the presence of a crowd, falsely claiming the Democrats campaign used artificial intelligence to manipulate images to generate the appearance of supporters at the event. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The solar cycle continues to ramp up with currently the largest number of sunspots in the last two decades and maybe even longer. NOAAs Space Weather Prediction Center(SWPC) reports the estimated sunspot numbers, likely reached the highest level in solar cycle 25 on August 8 and may be the highest number of sunspots since at least July 2002. The above image of the sun shows the groups of sunspots on August 7, 2024. SWPC says the number of sunspots on Aug. 8 is just an estimate until officially recorded by the Solar Influences Data Center in Belgium, the agency that is the record keeper of sunspot counts. On Aug. 8 the estimate was 299 sunspots from the official agency and is a conservative number. NOAAs SWPC counted 339 sunspots on that same day. The official number will be recorded on Sept. 1. The graph below shows the total sunspot numbers in the last three solar cycles. Mike Murray, program director and astronomer at the Delta College Planetarium, says the solar cycle is approximately an 11-year cycle. Murray notes the solar cycle length fluctuates, and has been as short as eight years and as long as 13 years. Solar cycle sunspot numbers of the last three solar cycles. (source: Space Weather Prediction Center)NOAA This current solar cycle is the 25th cycle counted in modern times. You can see some of the solar cycles peak with many more sunspots. Solar cycles 3, 8 and 19 have markedly more sunspots than most solar cycles. Solar cycle sunspot numbers since 1750 (source: Space Weather Prediction Center)NOAA Murray says the many sunspots now make the suns magnetic field unstable. Holes and twists in the suns magnetic field make Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) and solar flares more likely. The CMEs are energy blobs racing toward Earth. This translates to northern lights being more likely than in a period with less sunspots. Murray encourages us to think of the sun as a flowing body, not a hard, non-moving surface. Sunspots are where the magnetic field bulges out of the sun and then goes back into the sun. The dark spots are actually cooler temperatures on the surface of the sun. The normal sun surface temperature is around 10,000 degrees, according to Murray. Sunspots have a cooler temperature of 8,000 degrees. Murray says if you could take the darker color of a sunspot and bring it to Earth, it would still be way too bright to look at. More sunspots give us an increased chance of northern lights. Do more sunspots give us the chance of a stronger, damaging solar storm? Murray says we dont really have a higher chance of a stronger solar storm just because of all of the sunspots. He says it will still take a big sunspot aimed right at Earth to create an extreme solar storm. Strong solar storms can damage the power grid and burn up satellites, according to Murray. The number of sunspots could continue to climb between now and sometime in 2025. Murray states there is really no way to precisely predict when the maximum number of sunspots will occur in this solar cycle. Northern lights chances will be high through the peak of the solar cycle and even into the first year of decreasing sunspot numbers heading out of the peak. Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF (CBOE:AAAU Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $24.11 and last traded at $24.45, with a volume of 1646974 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.03. Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF Trading Up 1.7 % The company has a fifty day moving average of $23.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.45. About Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF (Get Free Report) The Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF (AAAU) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the LBMA Gold Price index. The fund tracks the gold spot price, less expenses and liabilities, using gold bars held in a vault in Perth, Australia. Investors can redeem their shares for gold coins and small bars. AAAU was launched on Jul 26, 2018 and is managed by Goldman Sachs. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of iShares MSCI Chile ETF (BATS:ECH Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $25.59 and last traded at $25.60, with a volume of 123345 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $25.60. iShares MSCI Chile ETF Stock Performance The firm has a market cap of $559.82 million, a P/E ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 0.85. The firms fifty day moving average is $26.35 and its 200 day moving average is $26.56. Get iShares MSCI Chile ETF alerts: Hedge Funds Weigh In On iShares MSCI Chile ETF Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of iShares MSCI Chile ETF during the second quarter worth $264,000. Bcwm LLC grew its position in shares of iShares MSCI Chile ETF by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bcwm LLC now owns 114,616 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,965,000 after buying an additional 962 shares during the last quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP bought a new position in shares of iShares MSCI Chile ETF during the second quarter worth about $244,000. Florin Court Capital LLP acquired a new stake in iShares MSCI Chile ETF during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $511,000. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. raised its holdings in iShares MSCI Chile ETF by 22.2% during the 2nd quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 175,579 shares of the companys stock worth $4,542,000 after purchasing an additional 31,856 shares during the last quarter. iShares MSCI Chile ETF Company Profile iShares MSCI Chile Capped ETF, formerly iShares MSCI Chile Capped Investable Market Index Fund (the Fund), is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the MSCI Chile Investable Market Index (the Index). The Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index that is designed to measure broad based equity market performance in Chile. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI Chile ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI Chile ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF (BATS:VLUE Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $101.47 and last traded at $100.63, with a volume of 278848 shares. The stock had previously closed at $101.36. iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF Stock Performance The company has a market capitalization of $6.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26 and a beta of 0.87. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $104.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $103.58. Get iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF alerts: Institutional Inflows and Outflows Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 5,436 shares of the companys stock worth $562,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 4,412 shares of the companys stock valued at $456,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. Alterna Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Alterna Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,838 shares of the companys stock valued at $489,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF by 22.5% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 659 shares of the companys stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, Tradition Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,235 shares of the companys stock valued at $125,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. About iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF The iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF (VLUE) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI USA Enhanced Value index. The fund tracks an index of large- and mid-cap US equities. Stocks are selected and weighted using fundamental metrics (earnings, revenue, book value and cash earnings), aiming for exposure to undervalued stocks in each sector. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Spectris plc (OTCMKTS:SEPJY Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $17.60 and last traded at $17.60, with a volume of 0 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.60. Analyst Ratings Changes Separately, Barclays upgraded Spectris to a strong-buy rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Get Spectris alerts: Read Our Latest Analysis on Spectris Spectris Price Performance Spectris Increases Dividend The companys 50-day simple moving average is $17.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.59. The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd were given a $0.2695 dividend. This is a boost from Spectriss previous dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 22nd. Spectris Company Profile (Get Free Report) Spectris plc provides precision measurement solutions worldwide. It operates through Spectris Scientific, Spectris Dynamics, and Other segments. The Spectris Scientific segment provides advanced sensors and instruments used to measure, analyze, and characterize materials; and monitor ultra-clean manufacturing environments. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Spectris Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Spectris and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. WeRide Inc. (WRD) plans to raise $110 million in an initial public offering on Friday, August 16th, IPO Scoop reports. The company plans to issue 6,500,000 shares at a price of $15.50-$18.50 per share. In the last 12 months, WeRide Inc. generated $55.3 million in revenue and had a net loss of $268.2 million. WeRide Inc. has a market cap of $4.9 billion. Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan and CICC acted as the underwriters for the IPO and ABCI, BNP Paribas and Tiger Brokers were co-managers. WeRide Inc. provided the following description of their company for its IPO: Our Mission: To transform urban living with autonomous driving. (Incorporated in the Cayman Islands) We believe WeRideas autonomous driving technology is among the most advanced and commercially proven in the world, designed to cater to a broad spectrum of scenarios from urban environments to highways. Empowered by the smart, versatile, cost-effective and highly adaptableA WeRide OneA platform, WeRide provides autonomous driving products and services from L2 to L4, addressing the vast majority of transportation needs across the widest range of use cases on open road, including in mobility, logistics, and sanitation industries. WeRide is the most commercially successful L4 autonomous driving company globally as measured by commercialization revenue in 2021, 2022 and 2023. In September 2023, WeRide earned a prestigious position among the Top 10 on Fortune Magazineas as2023 Change the Worldat list. This recognition highlights our profound impact on society and the global environment through groundbreaking innovations and sustainable business practices, placing us alongside industry giants like Tesla and General Motors. WeRide is a global leader and a first mover in the autonomous driving industry. WeRide has achieved manyA first-of-its-kindA milestones: A a A First autonomous driving company in the world with products operating and testing in 30 cities across seven countries; A a A The only autonomous driving company in the world to obtain test permits for autonomous driving vehicles in four countries; A a A First company in the world to offer paid L4 robotaxi services to the public with the longest operation track record; A a A First company in the world to develop a purpose-built L4 robobus designed for open road, as well as the first to launch driverless robobus services on open road to the public; A a A First company in the world to develop an L4 robovan dedicated to intra-city delivery of goods and to obtain test driving permit for the robovan on open roads; A a A First company in the world to develop a purpose-built L4 robosweeper designed for open road as well as the first to launch driverless robosweeper urban cleaning services; A a A First autonomous driving company in the world to accumulate 10,000 purpose-built L4 autonomous driving vehicle orders, and the most advanced in commercialization milestones across industries; and A a A The only autonomous driving company to achieve mass production of an ADAS solution within 18A months into development, the quickest among peers. From Day One, we decided to tackle the challenges of commercial viability, practicability and scalability of autonomous driving. We believe innovation does not flourish in a vacuum, but rather must be applied in real world settings. Therefore, we embarked on a relentless pursuit of product and service offerings that are deployable, rather than experimental, commercializable, rather than conceptual, with the commitment to delivering premium products and services for our customers in various industries. This was not an easy path, but has been proven to be the right one. We endeavor to unlock the true power of autonomous driving by building ourA WeRide OneA platform, our foundation model and business backbone empowered by advanced smart models and our unparalleled experience from open-road operations. Our diverse fleet of L4 autonomous driving vehicles acrossA full-rangeA use cases serve as the strongest testimony to the versatility, reliability and commercial readiness of our technology. Our industry-leading WeRide One platform is highly universal and scalable, facilitating easy deployment across various vehicle types and applications under different urban environments. Furthermore, leveraging our AI capabilities, we further empowered our platform through our latest end-to-end smart models, which excel in complex perception, prediction, and planning tasks with great efficiency. Our powerful and versatile analytical capabilities embedded within theA WeRide OneA platform have been instrumental to us in building our own smart models and providing additional value-added services to our existing Tier-1 suppliers. Our technological advancement has successfully created a flywheel effect where it allows us to efficiently maintain our leading position with disciplined resource investment. In addition, we have been accelerating the commercialization of our technology by forging strategic alliances with our ecosystem partners, including world-class vehicle OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, logistics and urban service providers, among many other key stakeholders across the industry.A Today, WeRide operates one of the worldas largest autonomous driving fleetsA and has been delivering and expanding its provision of L4 autonomous driving services, including in the mobility, logistics and sanitation industries.A Its L4 autonomous driving vehicles are capable of navigating dense urban environments, operating all day and under all weather conditions. Its capabilities to operate autonomous driving vehicles under all weather conditions and environments are evidenced by its global presence and accident-free track record. WeRideas autonomous driving vehicles are test running and conducting commercial pilots in 30 cities and seven countries across Asia, the Middle East and Europe.A WeRide is the L4 autonomous driving company with operations in the most countries.A Its leadership in L4 autonomous driving technology has also positioned it well for the development of cutting-edge ADAS solutions, where it partners with Bosch, the worldas largest Tier 1 supplier by market share, and has successfully commercialized a state-of-the-art ADAS solution. Note: Net loss and revenue are in U.S. dollars (converted from Chinas renminbi) for the year that ended Dec. 31, 2023. (Note: WeRide filed an F-1/A on Aug. 9, 2024, and disclosed the terms for its IPO: 6.45 million American Depositary Shares (6,452,000 ADS) at a price range of $15.50 to $18.50 to raise $109.68 million. Each ADS equals three Class A ordinary shares. Background: WeRide filed its F-1 on July 26, 2024, without disclosing the terms for its IPO. Estimated proceeds are $100 million, a placeholder figure.) . WeRide Inc. was founded in 2017 and has 2227 employees. The company is located at 21st Floor, Tower A, Guanzhou Life Science Innovation Center, No. 51, Luoxuan Road, Guangzhou International Biotech Island, Guangzhou 510005 Peopleas Republic of China and can be reached via phone at +86 (20) 2909-3388 or on the web at https://www.weride.ai/. Receive News & Ratings for WeRide Inc. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for WeRide Inc. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,000 shares of the medical equipment providers stock, valued at approximately $439,000. A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of STERIS by 8.3% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 58,841 shares of the medical equipment providers stock worth $13,235,000 after purchasing an additional 4,494 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of STERIS by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 106,346 shares of the medical equipment providers stock valued at $23,909,000 after purchasing an additional 3,342 shares in the last quarter. Caden Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of STERIS by 80.0% in the 4th quarter. Caden Capital Partners LP now owns 82,312 shares of the medical equipment providers stock valued at $18,096,000 after purchasing an additional 36,576 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of STERIS in the 4th quarter valued at $1,351,000. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of STERIS during the 1st quarter valued at $903,000. Institutional investors own 94.69% of the companys stock. Get STERIS alerts: Insider Activity In related news, VP Renato Tamaro sold 1,154 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.64, for a total value of $267,312.56. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,677 shares in the company, valued at $1,546,660.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Christopher S. Holland sold 473 shares of STERIS stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.68, for a total transaction of $113,368.64. Following the transaction, the director now owns 582 shares in the company, valued at approximately $139,493.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Renato Tamaro sold 1,154 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.64, for a total transaction of $267,312.56. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,677 shares in the company, valued at $1,546,660.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.14% of the companys stock. STERIS Trading Up 0.1 % NYSE STE traded up $0.27 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $234.21. 30,012 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 484,917. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $225.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $223.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 1.49. STERIS plc has a 12-month low of $195.47 and a 12-month high of $243.37. The firm has a market cap of $23.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.02 and a beta of 0.83. STERIS (NYSE:STE Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. STERIS had a net margin of 7.36% and a return on equity of 13.85%. STERISs revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.00 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that STERIS plc will post 9.15 EPS for the current year. STERIS Increases Dividend The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is a boost from STERISs previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. STERISs dividend payout ratio is presently 54.45%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several research firms recently weighed in on STE. StockNews.com raised STERIS from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a neutral rating and issued a $225.00 target price (up from $220.00) on shares of STERIS in a research report on Friday, May 10th. JMP Securities reiterated a market outperform rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of STERIS in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated a hold rating on shares of STERIS in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of STERIS in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, STERIS has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $243.60. Read Our Latest Stock Report on STERIS STERIS Profile (Free Report) STERIS plc provides infection prevention products and services worldwide. It operates through four segments: Healthcare, Applied Sterilization Technologies, Life Sciences, and Dental. The Healthcare segment offers cleaning chemistries and sterility assurance products; automated endoscope reprocessing system and tracking products; endoscopy accessories, washers, sterilizers, and other pieces of capital equipment for the operation of a sterile processing department; and equipment used directly in the operating room, including surgical tables, lights, and connectivity solutions, as well as equipment management services. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding STE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for STERIS plc (NYSE:STE Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for STERIS Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for STERIS and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Amcor (NYSE:AMCR Get Free Report) had its price target upped by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $10.00 to $11.10 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an overweight rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.s price target suggests a potential upside of 5.66% from the stocks current price. A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on AMCR. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Amcor in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. They issued a hold rating and a $10.80 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Amcor in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $9.80 price objective on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $10.43. Get Amcor alerts: Get Our Latest Report on AMCR Amcor Price Performance Institutional Trading of Amcor NYSE AMCR opened at $10.51 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.65. Amcor has a 52-week low of $8.45 and a 52-week high of $10.65. Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AMCR. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in Amcor in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in Amcor by 51.8% in the second quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the companys stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,241 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Amcor by 132.8% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,416 shares of the companys stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 2,519 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Amcor by 38.7% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 4,656 shares of the companys stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 1,299 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amcor in the second quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 45.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. About Amcor (Get Free Report) Amcor plc develops, produces, and sells packaging products in Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa, and the Asia Pacific regions. The company operates through two segments, Flexibles and Rigid Packaging. The Flexibles segment provides flexible and film packaging products in the food and beverage, medical and pharmaceutical, fresh produce, snack food, personal care, and other industries. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Amcor Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Amcor and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Asset Management Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW Free Report) by 1.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,739 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the quarter. Snowflake accounts for approximately 3.1% of Asset Management Advisors LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Asset Management Advisors LLCs holdings in Snowflake were worth $4,017,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Comerica Bank increased its position in Snowflake by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 29,267 shares of the companys stock worth $4,729,000 after purchasing an additional 4,296 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC lifted its stake in shares of Snowflake by 18.6% in the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 8,267 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,336,000 after acquiring an additional 1,294 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its holdings in shares of Snowflake by 266.3% during the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 10,499 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,089,000 after acquiring an additional 7,633 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in Snowflake during the 1st quarter worth $244,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Snowflake by 201.5% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 63,688 shares of the companys stock worth $10,292,000 after purchasing an additional 42,563 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.10% of the companys stock. Get Snowflake alerts: Insider Transactions at Snowflake In other Snowflake news, EVP Christian Kleinerman sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 718,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $86,252,760. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Benoit Dageville sold 558 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.31, for a total value of $71,596.98. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 63,222 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $8,112,014.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Christian Kleinerman sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 718,773 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $86,252,760. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 535,678 shares of company stock worth $66,762,300 in the last quarter. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades SNOW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer reiterated an outperform rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Snowflake in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Snowflake from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Snowflake from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a buy rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of Snowflake in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a buy rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Snowflake in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twenty-five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $197.31. Read Our Latest Research Report on Snowflake Snowflake Stock Performance SNOW traded down $1.38 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $123.03. 2,654,139 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,397,608. Snowflake Inc. has a one year low of $107.93 and a one year high of $237.72. The companys fifty day moving average price is $130.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $159.55. The company has a market cap of $41.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -43.94 and a beta of 0.85. Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 22nd. The company reported ($0.88) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by ($0.40). Snowflake had a negative return on equity of 15.99% and a negative net margin of 30.80%. The company had revenue of $828.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $786.95 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Snowflake Inc. will post -2.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Snowflake Profile (Free Report) Snowflake Inc provides a cloud-based data platform for various organizations in the United States and internationally. Its platform offers Data Cloud, which enables customers to consolidate data into a single source of truth to drive meaningful business insights, build data-driven applications, and share data and data products, as well as applies artificial intelligence (AI) for solving business problems. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Snowflake Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Snowflake and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. BlackRock California Municipal Income Trust (NYSE:BFZ Get Free Report) announced a monthly dividend on Thursday, August 1st, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of 0.059 per share on Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.92%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. BlackRock California Municipal Income Trust has increased its dividend by an average of 1.4% per year over the last three years. Get BlackRock California Municipal Income Trust alerts: BlackRock California Municipal Income Trust Trading Down 0.3 % Shares of NYSE:BFZ opened at $11.95 on Tuesday. The companys fifty day moving average is $11.99 and its 200 day moving average is $11.82. BlackRock California Municipal Income Trust has a 52 week low of $9.86 and a 52 week high of $12.31. BlackRock California Municipal Income Trust Company Profile BlackRock California Municipal Income Trust is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched by BlackRock, Inc It is managed by BlackRock Advisors, LLC. The fund invests in fixed income markets. It invests primarily in investment grade municipal bonds that are exempt from regular federal and California income taxes. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for BlackRock California Municipal Income Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BlackRock California Municipal Income Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. BNP Paribas SA (OTCMKTS:BNPQY Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 34,500 shares, a drop of 46.4% from the July 15th total of 64,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 390,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.1 days. BNP Paribas Stock Down 0.1 % BNPQY traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $32.43. The companys stock had a trading volume of 222,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 243,318. The stocks 50-day moving average is $33.54 and its 200-day moving average is $33.89. BNP Paribas has a 1 year low of $28.24 and a 1 year high of $39.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.78, a PEG ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. Get BNP Paribas alerts: BNP Paribas (OTCMKTS:BNPQY Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $13.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.92 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that BNP Paribas will post 4.9 EPS for the current year. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Separately, Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of BNP Paribas to a strong-buy rating in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. View Our Latest Research Report on BNP Paribas BNP Paribas Company Profile (Get Free Report) BNP Paribas SA provides various banking and financial products and services in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific. It operates through three divisions: Corporate & Institutional Banking; Commercial, Personal Banking & Services; and Investment & Protection Services. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for BNP Paribas Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BNP Paribas and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Occidental Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG Free Report) by 4,900.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,400 shares of the restaurant operators stock after purchasing an additional 5,292 shares during the quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLCs holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill were worth $338,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of CMG. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 106.0% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 550 shares of the restaurant operators stock valued at $1,258,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 7,768 shares of the restaurant operators stock valued at $17,765,000 after purchasing an additional 1,966 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the restaurant operators stock valued at $517,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC lifted its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 120 shares of the restaurant operators stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 8 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 38.8% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 118 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $270,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. 91.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Chipotle Mexican Grill alerts: Insider Buying and Selling In related news, insider Curtis E. Garner sold 17,394 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.68, for a total transaction of $951,103.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 358,300 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $19,591,844. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Chipotle Mexican Grill Price Performance Shares of NYSE:CMG opened at $55.88 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $76.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.24. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $123.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.59. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.37 and a fifty-two week high of $69.26. Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The restaurant operator reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 44.01%. Chipotle Mexican Grills revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $12.65 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth CMG has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, June 3rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $58.00 to $53.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, July 4th. Finally, Argus upped their target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $73.36 to $77.76 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Chipotle Mexican Grill currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $62.88. Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on CMG About Chipotle Mexican Grill (Free Report) Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants. It sells food and beverages through offering burritos, burrito bowls, quesadillas, tacos, and salads. The company also provides delivery and related services its app and website. It has operations in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CMG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Chipotle Mexican Grill Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Chipotle Mexican Grill and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Clearway Energy (NYSE:CWEN Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday. CWEN has been the subject of several other reports. Roth Mkm restated a buy rating and set a $32.00 target price (up from $30.00) on shares of Clearway Energy in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Clearway Energy from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Clearway Energy from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $25.00 to $36.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $31.17. Get Clearway Energy alerts: View Our Latest Research Report on CWEN Clearway Energy Price Performance Clearway Energy stock opened at $28.15 on Friday. Clearway Energy has a 52 week low of $18.59 and a 52 week high of $29.15. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.65 and a beta of 0.85. Clearway Energy (NYSE:CWEN Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.23). Clearway Energy had a return on equity of 1.80% and a net margin of 7.21%. The business had revenue of $366.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $424.59 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.33 earnings per share. Clearway Energys quarterly revenue was down 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Clearway Energy will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Clearway Energy Increases Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a $0.417 dividend. This represents a $1.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. This is a positive change from Clearway Energys previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Clearway Energys payout ratio is 251.52%. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clearway Energy Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Clearway Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Clearway Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Clearway Energy by 49.8% during the 1st quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,879 shares of the companys stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co bought a new position in Clearway Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. raised its position in Clearway Energy by 33.8% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 2,027 shares of the companys stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.03% of the companys stock. About Clearway Energy (Get Free Report) Clearway Energy, Inc operates in the renewable energy business in the United States. The company operates through Conventional and Renewables segments. It has approximately 6,000 net MW of installed wind, solar, and energy generation projects; and approximately 2,500 net MW of natural gas-fired generation facilities. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Clearway Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Clearway Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Compania Cervecerias Unidas (NYSE:CCU Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday morning. Several other equities research analysts have also commented on CCU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Compania Cervecerias Unidas from an overweight rating to an underweight rating and reduced their price target for the company from $21.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America lowered shares of Compania Cervecerias Unidas from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and boosted their target price for the company from $12.60 to $13.70 in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $13.36. Get Compania Cervecerias Unidas alerts: Read Our Latest Stock Report on Compania Cervecerias Unidas Compania Cervecerias Unidas Stock Performance Institutional Investors Weigh In On Compania Cervecerias Unidas Shares of CCU opened at $10.93 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.10, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 2.48 and a quick ratio of 1.81. Compania Cervecerias Unidas has a one year low of $10.00 and a one year high of $15.82. The business has a fifty day moving average of $11.55 and a 200 day moving average of $11.95. Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Compania Cervecerias Unidas by 42.4% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,494 shares of the companys stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in Compania Cervecerias Unidas by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 17,710 shares of the companys stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 3,048 shares during the period. Naples Global Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Compania Cervecerias Unidas by 12.6% in the 2nd quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 33,595 shares of the companys stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 3,750 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Compania Cervecerias Unidas by 55.3% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 18,231 shares of the companys stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 6,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Malaga Cove Capital LLC raised its position in Compania Cervecerias Unidas by 55.6% during the 4th quarter. Malaga Cove Capital LLC now owns 27,259 shares of the companys stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 9,736 shares during the last quarter. 24.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Compania Cervecerias Unidas Company Profile (Get Free Report) Compania Cervecerias Unidas SA operates as a beverage company in Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Paraguay, and Uruguay. The company operates through three segments: Chile, International Business, and Wine. It produces and sells alcoholic and non-alcoholic beer under proprietary and licensed brands, as well as distributes Pernod Ricard products in non-supermarket retail stores. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Compania Cervecerias Unidas Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Compania Cervecerias Unidas and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH Get Free Report) and SGD (OTCMKTS:SGDH Get Free Report) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and risk. Valuation & Earnings This table compares Booz Allen Hamilton and SGDs revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation. Get Booz Allen Hamilton alerts: Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Booz Allen Hamilton $10.95 billion 1.73 $605.71 million $4.60 31.81 SGD N/A N/A N/A ($22.51) 0.00 Booz Allen Hamilton has higher revenue and earnings than SGD. SGD is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Booz Allen Hamilton, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. Insider & Institutional Ownership Analyst Recommendations 91.8% of Booz Allen Hamilton shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Booz Allen Hamilton shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.5% of SGD shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term. This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Booz Allen Hamilton and SGD, as provided by MarketBeat. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Booz Allen Hamilton 1 2 7 0 2.60 SGD 0 0 0 0 N/A Booz Allen Hamilton currently has a consensus price target of $156.56, indicating a potential upside of 6.98%. Given Booz Allen Hamiltons higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Booz Allen Hamilton is more favorable than SGD. Profitability This table compares Booz Allen Hamilton and SGDs net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Booz Allen Hamilton 5.57% 65.80% 10.51% SGD N/A N/A N/A Summary Booz Allen Hamilton beats SGD on 9 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks. About Booz Allen Hamilton (Get Free Report) Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation provides management and technology consulting, analytics, engineering, digital solutions, mission operations, and cyber services to governments, corporations, and not-for-profit organizations in the United States and internationally. It focuses on artificial intelligence services comprising of machine learning, predictive modeling, automation and decision analytics, and quantum computing. The company offers artificial intelligence, machine learning, and computer network related operations. In addition, it provides data science, engineering, visualization, and analysis related capabilities. Further, the company engages in user experience, user interface, graphic and web design, design thinking, sketching, and digital product design capabilities. Additionally, it architects and engineers help accelerate, scale, secure, and transform mission and business outcomes using the technologies and partner offering; offers software engineering in agile practices, DevSecOps, automation and Cloud, and Low/No Code Platform engineering; systems and digital engineering; and tech strategy and product management. Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation was founded in 1914 and is headquartered in McLean, Virginia. About SGD (Get Free Report) SGD Holdings, Ltd., through its subsidiary, Eco Paper, Inc., develops, markets, and sells paper and paper products from natural fibers. Its products include journals, paper reams, cover stock, art and sketch pads, envelopes, stationery and gifts, office and school products, and notebooks, as well as paper type products. SGD Holdings, Ltd. is headquartered in Ventura, California. Receive News & Ratings for Booz Allen Hamilton Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Booz Allen Hamilton and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. D.B. Root & Company LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD Free Report) (TSE:ABX) by 62.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 23,175 shares of the gold and copper producers stock after selling 39,355 shares during the period. D.B. Root & Company LLCs holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Barrick Gold during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $348,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Barrick Gold by 12.3% during the second quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,754 shares of the gold and copper producers stock worth $4,733,000 after buying an additional 31,082 shares in the last quarter. A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in Barrick Gold by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 78,650 shares of the gold and copper producers stock valued at $1,311,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Barrick Gold by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 317,033 shares of the gold and copper producers stock valued at $5,288,000 after acquiring an additional 7,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 28,151 shares of the gold and copper producers stock worth $470,000 after acquiring an additional 4,092 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.85% of the companys stock. Get Barrick Gold alerts: Barrick Gold Price Performance Shares of NYSE GOLD opened at $19.04 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.32, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.62. Barrick Gold Corp has a 1-year low of $13.76 and a 1-year high of $19.45. The firm has a market cap of $33.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 0.51. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Barrick Gold ( NYSE:GOLD Get Free Report ) (TSE:ABX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 4.88% and a net margin of 12.58%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. The firms quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current year. A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, CIBC boosted their target price on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an outperformer rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Barrick Gold presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $22.20. Check Out Our Latest Report on Barrick Gold Barrick Gold Profile (Free Report) Barrick Gold Corporation is a sector-leading gold and copper producer. Its shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol GOLD and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ABX. In January 2019 Barrick merged with Randgold Resources and in July that year it combined its gold mines in Nevada, USA, with those of Newmont Corporation in a joint venture, Nevada Gold Mines, which is majority-owned and operated by Barrick. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GOLD? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD Free Report) (TSE:ABX). Receive News & Ratings for Barrick Gold Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Barrick Gold and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its stake in Toyota Motor Co. (NYSE:TM Free Report) by 47.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,520 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 1,457 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLCs holdings in Toyota Motor were worth $927,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Toyota Motor by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,823 shares of the companys stock worth $459,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Toyota Motor by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,524 shares of the companys stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Keel Point LLC grew its stake in Toyota Motor by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 1,630 shares of the companys stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Seven Mile Advisory grew its stake in Toyota Motor by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 1,275 shares of the companys stock worth $234,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vista Investment Management grew its stake in Toyota Motor by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Vista Investment Management now owns 1,584 shares of the companys stock worth $290,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 1.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Get Toyota Motor alerts: Toyota Motor Stock Performance TM traded up $3.55 on Tuesday, reaching $171.52. 50,529 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 303,157. The companys 50-day moving average price is $196.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $218.58. Toyota Motor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $159.04 and a fifty-two week high of $255.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $231.11 billion, a PE ratio of 6.62, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 0.68. Analyst Ratings Changes Toyota Motor ( NYSE:TM Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $6.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $4.01 by $2.34. The company had revenue of $75.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $72.48 billion. Toyota Motor had a return on equity of 14.28% and a net margin of 10.70%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.05 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Toyota Motor Co. will post 17 EPS for the current fiscal year. Separately, Erste Group Bank restated a hold rating on shares of Toyota Motor in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Read Our Latest Report on Toyota Motor Toyota Motor Company Profile (Free Report) Toyota Motor Corporation designs, manufactures, assembles, and sells passenger vehicles, minivans and commercial vehicles, and related parts and accessories in Japan, North America, Europe, Asia, Central and South America, Oceania, Africa, and the Middle East. It operates in Automotive, Financial Services, and All Other segments. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding TM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Toyota Motor Co. (NYSE:TM Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Toyota Motor Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Toyota Motor and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 31st, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.30 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, August 28th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 14th. Employers has increased its dividend by an average of 3.2% annually over the last three years. Employers has a payout ratio of 32.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Employers to earn $3.63 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 33.1%. Get Employers alerts: Employers Stock Performance Shares of Employers stock traded up $0.26 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $45.69. 662 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 135,553. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.62 and a beta of 0.24. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.53. Employers has a 52-week low of $36.65 and a 52-week high of $49.00. Insider Activity Employers ( NYSE:EIG Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.02. Employers had a return on equity of 9.95% and a net margin of 13.76%. The business had revenue of $217.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $223.82 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. The companys revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Employers will post 3.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. In other Employers news, insider Ann Marie Smith sold 1,764 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.26, for a total transaction of $72,782.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,741 shares in the company, valued at $278,133.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.50% of the companys stock. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Separately, JMP Securities upgraded Employers to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. View Our Latest Stock Report on EIG Employers Company Profile (Get Free Report) Employers Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates in the commercial property and casualty insurance industry primarily in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Employers and Cerity. It offers workers' compensation insurance to small businesses in low to medium hazard industries under the Employers and Cerity brands. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Employers Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Employers and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. ENB Financial Corp (OTCMKTS:ENBP Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,900 shares, a growth of 533.3% from the July 15th total of 300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.3 days. ENB Financial Stock Performance Shares of OTCMKTS:ENBP remained flat at $17.35 during midday trading on Monday. The company had a trading volume of 2 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,970. ENB Financial has a 12 month low of $12.64 and a 12 month high of $17.48. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $15.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.94. Get ENB Financial alerts: ENB Financial Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.92%. ENB Financials payout ratio is 40.73%. About ENB Financial ENB Financial Corp operates as the bank holding company for Ephrata National Bank that provides various financial services to individuals and small-to-medium-sized businesses in Pennsylvania, the United States. The company's deposit products include non-interest bearing and interest-bearing demand deposits, NOW accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, and time deposits. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for ENB Financial Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for ENB Financial and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Federated Hermes Premier Municipal Income Fund (NYSE:FMN Get Free Report) announced a monthly dividend on Monday, August 12th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd will be given a dividend of 0.038 per share on Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 23rd. Federated Hermes Premier Municipal Income Fund has decreased its dividend by an average of 10.4% annually over the last three years. Get Federated Hermes Premier Municipal Income Fund alerts: Federated Hermes Premier Municipal Income Fund Trading Up 0.6 % Shares of FMN traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $11.78. The company had a trading volume of 17,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,091. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $11.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.23. Federated Hermes Premier Municipal Income Fund has a 1-year low of $9.09 and a 1-year high of $11.79. Federated Hermes Premier Municipal Income Fund Company Profile Federated Premier Municipal Income Fund is a closed-ended fixed income mutual fund launched by Federated Investors, Inc The fund is managed by Federated Investment Management Company. It invests in fixed income markets of United States. The fund primarily invests in tax-exempt municipal bonds of GO state, GO local, special tax, hospital, transportation, pre-refunded, senior care, water and sewer, education, electric and gas, and public power sectors. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Federated Hermes Premier Municipal Income Fund Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Federated Hermes Premier Municipal Income Fund and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Financial Partners Group LLC lifted its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL Free Report) by 13.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,235 shares of the enterprise software providers stock after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the quarter. Financial Partners Group LLCs holdings in Oracle were worth $316,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. Northeast Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Oracle in the second quarter valued at about $205,000. Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc. boosted its holdings in Oracle by 2.0% during the second quarter. Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc. now owns 7,206 shares of the enterprise software providers stock valued at $1,017,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Sharp Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Melfa Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $200,000. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,291,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Get Oracle alerts: Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several research analysts have issued reports on ORCL shares. Mizuho increased their price objective on Oracle from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. DA Davidson reiterated a neutral rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $145.83. Oracle Trading Up 0.4 % NYSE:ORCL traded up $0.52 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $132.58. The company had a trading volume of 5,561,811 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,388,151. The firm has a market cap of $365.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.02. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.26 and a fifty-two week high of $146.59. The businesss fifty day moving average is $137.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $125.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.71. Oracle (NYSE:ORCL Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 223.01%. The firm had revenue of $14.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.35 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.02 earnings per share for the current year. Oracle Dividend Announcement The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. Oracles dividend payout ratio is presently 43.13%. Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle In related news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total transaction of $34,042,967.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total transaction of $34,042,967.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at $379,042,045.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total transaction of $2,068,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares of the companys stock, valued at $8,010,030.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,862,500 shares of company stock valued at $266,776,624. Company insiders own 42.80% of the companys stock. About Oracle (Free Report) Oracle Corporation offers products and services that address enterprise information technology environments worldwide. Its Oracle cloud software as a service offering include various cloud software applications, including Oracle Fusion cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP), Oracle Fusion cloud enterprise performance management, Oracle Fusion cloud supply chain and manufacturing management, Oracle Fusion cloud human capital management, Oracle Cerner healthcare, Oracle Advertising, and NetSuite applications suite, as well as Oracle Fusion Sales, Service, and Marketing. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ORCL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Oracle Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Oracle and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. FLC Capital Advisors boosted its stake in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM Free Report) by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 43,788 shares of the oil and gas companys stock after purchasing an additional 3,775 shares during the period. Exxon Mobil comprises about 1.2% of FLC Capital Advisors holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. FLC Capital Advisors holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $5,041,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Exxon Mobil in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. First Pacific Financial acquired a new stake in Exxon Mobil during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Partnership Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Exxon Mobil during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exxon Mobil in the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.80% of the companys stock. Get Exxon Mobil alerts: Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research began coverage on Exxon Mobil in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an outperform rating and a $146.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an overweight rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. HSBC increased their price target on Exxon Mobil from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Evercore ISI upgraded Exxon Mobil to a strong-buy rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $147.00 to $142.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $134.39. Exxon Mobil Stock Performance XOM stock traded down $1.08 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $117.92. The company had a trading volume of 1,968,723 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,268,418. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 12 month low of $95.77 and a 12 month high of $123.75. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $114.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $113.05. The firm has a market cap of $464.96 billion, a PE ratio of 14.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.38. Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.10. Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 16.75% and a net margin of 9.62%. The business had revenue of $93.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. Exxon Mobils revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 8.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Exxon Mobil Dividend Announcement The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Exxon Mobils payout ratio is 46.57%. Exxon Mobil Company Profile (Free Report) Exxon Mobil Corporation engages in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas in the United States and internationally. It operates through Upstream, Energy Products, Chemical Products, and Specialty Products segments. The Upstream segment explores for and produces crude oil and natural gas. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding XOM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Exxon Mobil Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Exxon Mobil and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Flexible Solutions International (NYSE:FSI Free Report) in a research note published on Saturday. The firm issued a hold rating on the stock. Flexible Solutions International Stock Performance Shares of FSI stock opened at $2.10 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.15 million, a P/E ratio of 11.05 and a beta of 1.47. Flexible Solutions International has a 52 week low of $1.36 and a 52 week high of $2.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 2.73. The companys 50 day moving average price is $1.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.98. Get Flexible Solutions International alerts: Flexible Solutions International (NYSE:FSI Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.02). Flexible Solutions International had a return on equity of 6.24% and a net margin of 6.23%. The company had revenue of $9.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.02 million. On average, analysts expect that Flexible Solutions International will post 0.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flexible Solutions International About Flexible Solutions International An institutional investor recently raised its position in Flexible Solutions International stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Flexible Solutions International, Inc. ( NYSE:FSI Free Report ) by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 379,245 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 17,400 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 3.05% of Flexible Solutions International worth $664,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. 54.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. (Get Free Report) Flexible Solutions International, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and markets specialty chemicals that slow the evaporation of water in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Energy and Water Conservation Products, and Biodegradable Polymers. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Flexible Solutions International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Flexible Solutions International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Interfor (TSE:IFP Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by stock analysts at CIBC from C$18.00 to C$19.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock. CIBCs target price suggests a potential upside of 6.20% from the stocks current price. A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on IFP. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Interfor from C$26.00 to C$30.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Interfor from C$26.00 to C$24.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. TD Securities lowered their target price on shares of Interfor from C$24.00 to C$20.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Interfor from C$27.00 to C$24.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Interfor from C$27.00 to C$24.00 and set a strong-buy rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of C$23.50. Get Interfor alerts: View Our Latest Analysis on IFP Interfor Stock Performance Insider Buying and Selling at Interfor Shares of TSE:IFP traded up C$0.27 on Tuesday, reaching C$17.89. The companys stock had a trading volume of 72,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 166,864. The stocks 50-day moving average is C$16.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$18.51. Interfor has a 52-week low of C$15.35 and a 52-week high of C$26.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 60.58, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of C$920.44 million, a P/E ratio of -3.08 and a beta of 2.64. In related news, Director Ian Fillinger acquired 3,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of C$16.30 per share, for a total transaction of C$50,530.00. 0.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders. About Interfor (Get Free Report) Interfor Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells wood products in Canada, the United States, Japan, China, Taiwan, and internationally. It offers decking, fascia and board, framing, v-joint paneling, fineline paneling, and siding products, as well as appearance, structural, studs, timbers, and machine stress related products. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Interfor Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Interfor and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of International Tower Hill Mines (NYSEAMERICAN:THM Free Report) (TSE:ITH) in a research report sent to investors on Saturday. The firm issued a sell rating on the mining companys stock. International Tower Hill Mines Price Performance International Tower Hill Mines stock opened at $0.44 on Friday. International Tower Hill Mines has a 1-year low of $0.31 and a 1-year high of $0.80. Get International Tower Hill Mines alerts: International Tower Hill Mines (NYSEAMERICAN:THM Get Free Report) (TSE:ITH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 9th. The mining company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter. Institutional Trading of International Tower Hill Mines About International Tower Hill Mines Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Herr Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of International Tower Hill Mines during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,416,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of International Tower Hill Mines by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,878,009 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $1,984,000 after purchasing an additional 28,358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of International Tower Hill Mines by 54.5% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 51,018 shares of the mining companys stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 18,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.63% of the companys stock. (Get Free Report) International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties. It holds rights to acquire interests in the Livengood gold project covering an area of approximately 19,546 hectares located to the northwest of Fairbanks, Alaska. The company was formerly known as Tower Hill Mines Ltd. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for International Tower Hill Mines Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for International Tower Hill Mines and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Kayne Anderson BDC, Inc. (NYSE:KBDC Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,700 shares, an increase of 466.7% from the July 15th total of 300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 81,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.0 days. Insider Buying and Selling at Kayne Anderson BDC In related news, Director Mariel A. Joliet bought 13,000 shares of Kayne Anderson BDC stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $16.14 per share, with a total value of $209,820.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 13,000 shares of the companys stock, valued at $209,820. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Get Kayne Anderson BDC alerts: Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on KBDC shares. UBS Group raised Kayne Anderson BDC to a hold rating and set a $17.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Kayne Anderson BDC to a hold rating and set a $17.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Kayne Anderson BDC to a moderate buy rating and set a $17.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, June 17th. Bank of America began coverage on Kayne Anderson BDC in a report on Monday, June 17th. They issued a buy rating and a $17.50 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Kayne Anderson BDC to a strong-buy rating and set a $17.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, June 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $17.10. Kayne Anderson BDC Price Performance Kayne Anderson BDC stock traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $15.99. 5,122 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 66,911. Kayne Anderson BDC has a 12 month low of $15.69 and a 12 month high of $16.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. Kayne Anderson BDC Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 9.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. Kayne Anderson BDC Company Profile (Get Free Report) Kayne Anderson BDC Inc is a business development company which invests primarily in first lien senior secured loans, with a secondary focus on unitranche and split-lien loans to middle market companies. Kayne Anderson BDC Inc is based in CHICAGO. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Kayne Anderson BDC Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Kayne Anderson BDC and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of Reduce from the five analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and three have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $23.83. A number of research firms recently weighed in on KMT. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Kennametal from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Kennametal from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Kennametal from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Get Kennametal alerts: View Our Latest Stock Report on KMT Kennametal Stock Performance Shares of KMT opened at $24.28 on Tuesday. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $24.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.53. Kennametal has a 12-month low of $22.08 and a 12-month high of $27.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a PE ratio of 17.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.66. Kennametal (NYSE:KMT Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.05. Kennametal had a net margin of 5.29% and a return on equity of 9.35%. The firm had revenue of $543.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $532.72 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. Kennametals quarterly revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Kennametal will post 1.45 EPS for the current year. Kennametal Announces Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Kennametals payout ratio is currently 59.26%. Insiders Place Their Bets In related news, CEO Sanjay Chowbey bought 5,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $24.28 per share, for a total transaction of $121,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 49,270 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,196,275.60. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.61% of the companys stock. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Kennametal by 119.6% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 603 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Kennametal during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kennametal during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. First United Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Kennametal during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Kennametal by 191.1% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 1,160 shares during the last quarter. Kennametal Company Profile (Get Free Report Kennametal Inc engages in development and application of tungsten carbides, ceramics, and super-hard materials and solutions for use in metal cutting and extreme wear applications to enable customers work against corrosion and high temperatures conditions worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Metal Cutting and Infrastructure. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Kennametal Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Kennametal and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. LVW Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV Free Report) by 12.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,574 shares of the insurance providers stock after selling 364 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLCs holdings in Travelers Companies were worth $523,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ballast Inc. lifted its stake in Travelers Companies by 1.5% in the second quarter. Ballast Inc. now owns 7,094 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $1,442,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Travelers Companies by 8.7% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 43,636 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $8,873,000 after purchasing an additional 3,484 shares during the last quarter. Unison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Travelers Companies by 0.4% in the second quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 15,165 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $3,084,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its stake in Travelers Companies by 11.1% in the second quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 652 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 2.0% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 54,845 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $11,152,000 after acquiring an additional 1,097 shares during the period. 82.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Get Travelers Companies alerts: Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of equities analysts have issued reports on TRV shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $200.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. JMP Securities reiterated a market perform rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a research report on Friday, April 19th. TD Cowen cut shares of Travelers Companies from a buy rating to a hold rating and reduced their price target for the company from $252.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Travelers Companies in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $202.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $223.78. Insider Buying and Selling at Travelers Companies In other news, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.44, for a total value of $2,114,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,798 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,820,409.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Travelers Companies Stock Performance Travelers Companies stock traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $209.30. 292,101 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,366,111. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50 day moving average of $209.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $215.25. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $157.33 and a 12 month high of $232.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.33. Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The insurance provider reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $3.23 by ($0.72). Travelers Companies had a net margin of 8.37% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The business had revenue of $11.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $11.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.06 earnings per share. The firms quarterly revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 17.19 earnings per share for the current year. Travelers Companies Dividend Announcement The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. Travelers Companiess dividend payout ratio is currently 31.20%. Travelers Companies Company Profile (Free Report) The Travelers Companies, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides a range of commercial and personal property, and casualty insurance products and services to businesses, government units, associations, and individuals in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Business Insurance, Bond & Specialty Insurance, and Personal Insurance. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding TRV? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Travelers Companies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Travelers Companies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Maiden Holdings North America, Ltd. (NYSE:MHNC Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, June 14th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.4844 per share on Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.20%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Maiden Holdings North America Stock Up 0.3 % Shares of Maiden Holdings North America stock opened at $17.30 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $17.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.82. Maiden Holdings North America has a 1 year low of $17.00 and a 1 year high of $20.65. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Maiden Holdings North America Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Maiden Holdings North America and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. NIPPON STL & SU/S (OTCMKTS:NSSMY Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week low on Monday . The stock traded as low as $7.23 and last traded at $7.45, with a volume of 143127 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.34. NIPPON STL & SU/S Price Performance The stock has a market capitalization of $7.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.35. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $7.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $7.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. About NIPPON STL & SU/S (Get Free Report) Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation engages in steelmaking and steel fabrication businesses worldwide. It operates in five segments: Steelmaking and Steel Fabrication, Engineering and Construction, Chemicals, New materials, and System Solutions. The company offers steel plates; hot- and cold-rolled steel sheets and coils, coated steel sheets, color coated steel sheets, electrolytic tin plates, and electrical steel sheets; bar and rod materials; and structural steel products. See Also Receive News & Ratings for NIPPON STL & SU/S Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for NIPPON STL & SU/S and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Asset Management Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY Free Report) by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 117,450 shares of the oil and gas producers stock after purchasing an additional 725 shares during the quarter. Occidental Petroleum makes up 5.7% of Asset Management Advisors LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Asset Management Advisors LLCs holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $7,403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in OXY. CapWealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 2.7% during the first quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,105 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.0% during the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,503 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $553,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 75.2% in the first quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 2.6% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 6,850 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $445,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 0.8% during the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 20,911 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Get Occidental Petroleum alerts: Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 1.0 % NYSE:OXY traded up $0.57 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $58.98. 6,513,263 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,980,236. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.01 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a fifty day moving average of $60.81 and a 200 day moving average of $62.17. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 12 month low of $55.04 and a 12 month high of $71.18. Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend Occidental Petroleum ( NYSE:OXY Get Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.26. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 15.62% and a return on equity of 17.50%. The company had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. Occidental Petroleums revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.6 EPS for the current year. The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Occidental Petroleums dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.04%. Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 1,060,653 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $59.59 per share, for a total transaction of $63,204,312.27. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 254,947,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,192,295,484.17. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders acquired a total of 4,656,747 shares of company stock worth $278,664,028 over the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several analysts have recently weighed in on OXY shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Susquehanna raised their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a positive rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Stephens reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $76.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday. Mizuho raised their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a sector outperform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $71.94. Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on OXY About Occidental Petroleum (Free Report) Occidental Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and gas properties in the United States, the Middle East, and North Africa. It operates through three segments: Oil and Gas, Chemical, and Midstream and Marketing. The company's Oil and Gas segment explores for, develops, and produces oil and condensate, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and natural gas. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding OXY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Occidental Petroleum Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Occidental Petroleum and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of Reduce from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $65.69. OGS has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on ONE Gas from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of ONE Gas from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Saturday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of ONE Gas from $61.00 to $58.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of ONE Gas from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Get ONE Gas alerts: View Our Latest Research Report on ONE Gas ONE Gas Stock Down 1.2 % ONE Gas stock opened at $66.89 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 16.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.09. ONE Gas has a 12 month low of $55.50 and a 12 month high of $75.89. ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.01). ONE Gas had a return on equity of 8.37% and a net margin of 10.86%. The company had revenue of $354.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was down 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that ONE Gas will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year. ONE Gas Announces Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. ONE Gass payout ratio is 65.19%. Institutional Trading of ONE Gas A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OGS. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in ONE Gas in the second quarter worth approximately $205,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of ONE Gas by 23.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 20,630 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $1,315,000 after purchasing an additional 3,940 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of ONE Gas by 240.7% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 128,100 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $8,179,000 after purchasing an additional 90,500 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in ONE Gas by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 897,568 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $57,308,000 after buying an additional 61,192 shares during the period. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its position in ONE Gas by 8.5% in the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 15,037 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $960,000 after buying an additional 1,183 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.71% of the companys stock. ONE Gas Company Profile (Get Free Report ONE Gas, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a regulated natural gas distribution company in the United States. The company provides natural gas distribution services to approximately 2.3 million customers in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas. It serves residential, commercial, and transportation customers. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for ONE Gas Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for ONE Gas and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Park National Corp OH raised its stake in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR Free Report) by 65.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,576 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 16,100 shares during the period. Park National Corp OHs holdings in Cencora were worth $9,142,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of COR. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its stake in Cencora by 7.9% during the second quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 20,475 shares of the companys stock worth $4,613,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its stake in Cencora by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 31,546 shares of the companys stock worth $7,107,000 after buying an additional 2,414 shares during the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV grew its stake in Cencora by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 2,372 shares of the companys stock worth $534,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in Cencora by 15.7% in the second quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 4,024 shares of the companys stock worth $907,000 after buying an additional 546 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Cencora by 39.9% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 34,478 shares of the companys stock valued at $7,768,000 after buying an additional 9,840 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.52% of the companys stock. Get Cencora alerts: Insider Activity In related news, Director Dermot Mark Durcan purchased 500 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $218.58 per share, with a total value of $109,290.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 21,876 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,781,656.08. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Cencora news, Director Dermot Mark Durcan bought 500 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $218.58 per share, with a total value of $109,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,876 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,781,656.08. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Silvana Battaglia sold 1,473 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.69, for a total value of $357,482.37. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,948 shares in the company, valued at $2,656,970.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,338,756 shares of company stock worth $1,476,658,274. Insiders own 15.80% of the companys stock. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Cencora from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. SVB Leerink restated an outperform rating and issued a $275.00 price target on shares of Cencora in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Cencora from $285.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Cencora from $236.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Cencora from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $254.57. Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on COR Cencora Price Performance Shares of COR stock traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $237.75. 913,135 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,392,655. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.93, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $47.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.45. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $230.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $232.23. Cencora, Inc. has a twelve month low of $171.65 and a twelve month high of $247.66. Cencora (NYSE:COR Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $3.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.16. Cencora had a return on equity of 266.60% and a net margin of 0.65%. The firm had revenue of $74.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.92 earnings per share. Cencoras revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cencora, Inc. will post 13.56 earnings per share for the current year. Cencora Announces Dividend The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. Cencoras dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.32%. About Cencora (Free Report) Cencora, Inc sources and distributes pharmaceutical products. The company's U.S. Healthcare Solutions segment distributes pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter healthcare products, home healthcare supplies and equipment, and related services to acute care hospitals and health systems, independent and chain retail pharmacies, mail order pharmacies, medical clinics, long-term care and alternate site pharmacies, and other customers; provides pharmacy management, staffing, and other consulting services; supply management software to retail and institutional healthcare providers; packaging solutions to various institutional and retail healthcare providers; clinical trial support, product post-approval, and commercialization support services; data analytics, outcomes research, and additional services for biotechnology and pharmaceutical manufacturers; pharmaceuticals, vaccines, parasiticides, diagnostics, micro feed ingredients, and other products to the companion animal and production animal markets; and sales force services to manufacturers. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding COR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Cencora Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Cencora and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Park National Corp OH grew its position in Halliburton (NYSE:HAL Free Report) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 305,232 shares of the oilfield services companys stock after purchasing an additional 3,089 shares during the quarter. Park National Corp OHs holdings in Halliburton were worth $10,311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HAL. Massachusetts Wealth Management boosted its position in Halliburton by 1.7% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 18,325 shares of the oilfield services companys stock valued at $722,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Halliburton by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the oilfield services companys stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Halliburton by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc now owns 10,847 shares of the oilfield services companys stock valued at $366,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in Halliburton by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 11,842 shares of the oilfield services companys stock valued at $400,000 after buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IVC Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Halliburton by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. IVC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,503 shares of the oilfield services companys stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the companys stock. Get Halliburton alerts: Halliburton Stock Performance NYSE HAL traded up $0.39 on Monday, hitting $31.39. The stock had a trading volume of 5,071,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,533,752. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The companys 50-day moving average is $33.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.92. The stock has a market cap of $27.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.93. Halliburton has a one year low of $30.31 and a one year high of $43.85. Halliburton Announces Dividend Halliburton ( NYSE:HAL Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The oilfield services company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.80. Halliburton had a return on equity of 29.97% and a net margin of 11.61%. The firm had revenue of $5.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. The firms quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Halliburton will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year. The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th were given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Halliburtons dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.53%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HAL. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Halliburton from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 29th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Halliburton from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Halliburton from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $45.35. Get Our Latest Report on Halliburton Insider Buying and Selling at Halliburton In other news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 10,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.75, for a total transaction of $367,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 273,908 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $10,066,119. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.61% of the companys stock. Halliburton Profile (Free Report) Halliburton Company provides products and services to the energy industry worldwide. It operates through two segments, Completion and Production, and Drilling and Evaluation. The Completion and Production segment offers production enhancement services that include stimulation and sand control services; cementing services, such as well bonding and casing, and casing equipment; and completion tools that offer downhole solutions and services, including well completion products and services, intelligent well completions, and service tools, as well as liner hanger, sand control, and multilateral systems. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding HAL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Halliburton (NYSE:HAL Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Halliburton Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Halliburton and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Park National Corp OH decreased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ Free Report) by 26.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 179,485 shares of the companys stock after selling 65,003 shares during the quarter. Park National Corp OHs holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $26,234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the companys stock worth $852,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 297,850 shares of the companys stock worth $46,685,000 after buying an additional 15,490 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,625 shares of the companys stock worth $1,523,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 19,587 shares of the companys stock worth $3,070,000 after buying an additional 2,201 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 10,620,264 shares of the companys stock worth $1,664,620,000 after buying an additional 498,647 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the companys stock. Get Johnson & Johnson alerts: Analysts Set New Price Targets JNJ has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut Johnson & Johnson from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $167.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets cut Johnson & Johnson from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $173.21. Johnson & Johnson Price Performance Johnson & Johnson stock traded down $0.74 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $159.88. The companys stock had a trading volume of 7,529,117 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,356,028. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $151.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.06. Johnson & Johnson has a 52 week low of $143.13 and a 52 week high of $175.60. The stock has a market cap of $384.78 billion, a PE ratio of 9.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.71 by $0.11. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.60% and a net margin of 46.34%. The firm had revenue of $22.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.33 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.07 EPS for the current year. Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 27th. Johnson & Johnsons payout ratio is 30.92%. About Johnson & Johnson (Free Report) Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Innovative Medicine segment offers products for various therapeutic areas, such as immunology, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis; infectious diseases comprising HIV/AIDS; neuroscience, consisting of mood disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and schizophrenia; oncology, such as prostate cancer, hematologic malignancies, lung cancer, and bladder cancer; cardiovascular and metabolism, including thrombosis, diabetes, and macular degeneration; and pulmonary hypertension comprising pulmonary arterial hypertension through retailers, wholesalers, distributors, hospitals, and healthcare professionals for prescription use. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding JNJ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Johnson & Johnson Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Johnson & Johnson and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF (NYSEARCA:IVW Free Report) by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,030 shares of the companys stock after selling 1,280 shares during the quarter. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc.s holdings in iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF were worth $5,555,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF by 1.5% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 46,660,015 shares of the companys stock worth $3,939,972,000 after buying an additional 709,113 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 6,968,324 shares of the companys stock worth $523,327,000 after purchasing an additional 58,292 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF by 36.0% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,010,873 shares of the companys stock valued at $556,246,000 after purchasing an additional 1,591,661 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF by 60.1% in the second quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 4,243,838 shares of the companys stock valued at $392,725,000 after buying an additional 1,593,875 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF by 96.5% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,967,008 shares of the companys stock valued at $334,974,000 after buying an additional 1,948,478 shares during the last quarter. Get iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF alerts: iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF Trading Up 0.4 % IVW traded up $0.35 during trading on Monday, reaching $88.41. 1,416,212 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,280,694. iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF has a one year low of $65.53 and a one year high of $97.22. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $91.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.32 billion, a PE ratio of 28.52 and a beta of 1.14. iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF Company Profile iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF, formerly iShares S&P 500 Growth Index Fund (the Growth Fund), is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the S&P 500/Citigroup Growth Index (the Growth Index). The Growth Index measures the performance of the large-capitalization growth sector of the United States equity market. Read More Receive News & Ratings for iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Premium Brands (TSE:PBH Free Report) had its target price lowered by BMO Capital Markets from C$115.00 to C$111.00 in a report released on Friday, BayStreet.CA reports. Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. CIBC lifted their target price on Premium Brands from C$97.00 to C$103.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Premium Brands from C$99.00 to C$101.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Premium Brands from C$120.00 to C$125.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Pi Financial reiterated a buy rating and set a C$112.00 price target on shares of Premium Brands in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Desjardins raised their price objective on shares of Premium Brands from C$105.00 to C$106.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of C$112.30. Get Premium Brands alerts: Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on PBH Premium Brands Trading Down 0.1 % PBH opened at C$85.97 on Friday. Premium Brands has a 52 week low of C$84.66 and a 52 week high of C$112.55. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of C$91.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$90.37. The firm has a market cap of C$3.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 159.19. Premium Brands (TSE:PBH Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported C$1.28 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of C$1.32 by C($0.04). The firm had revenue of C$1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of C$1.70 billion. Premium Brands had a net margin of 1.50% and a return on equity of 5.37%. On average, equities analysts expect that Premium Brands will post 4.9137555 earnings per share for the current year. Premium Brands Announces Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Premium Brandss payout ratio is currently 159.62%. About Premium Brands (Get Free Report) Premium Brands Holdings Corporation, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and distributes food products primarily in Canada and the United States. It operates in two segments, Specialty Foods and Premium Food Distribution. The company provides processed meat, deli products, meat snacks, beef jerky and halal, sandwiches, pastries, specialty and gourmet products, entrees, panini, wraps, subs, hamburgers, burgers, salads and kettle products, muffins, breads, pastas, pizza, and baking and sushi products. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Premium Brands Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Premium Brands and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) Limited (OTCMKTS:BHKLY Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 200 shares, a decline of 84.6% from the July 15th total of 1,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 14,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.0 days. BOC Hong Kong Stock Performance BHKLY stock traded up $0.18 during trading on Monday, hitting $57.29. The company had a trading volume of 10,106 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,742. BOC Hong Kong has a one year low of $46.28 and a one year high of $66.82. The business has a 50-day moving average of $60.13 and a 200-day moving average of $57.81. Get BOC Hong Kong alerts: BOC Hong Kong Increases Dividend The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd were paid a $2.904 dividend. This is a positive change from BOC Hong Kongs previous dividend of $1.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 2nd. BOC Hong Kong Company Profile BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) Limited, an investment holding company, provides banking and related financial services to corporate and individual customers in Hong Kong, China, and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Personal Banking, Corporate Banking, Treasury, and Insurance. It offers savings, current, and time deposit accounts; mortgage plans; corporate deposits, and payroll and e-cheques services. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for BOC Hong Kong Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BOC Hong Kong and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Signature Wealth Management Partners LLC raised its position in Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM Free Report) by 95.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 14,562 shares of the basic materials companys stock after acquiring an additional 7,112 shares during the quarter. Signature Wealth Management Partners LLCs holdings in Newmont were worth $610,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its holdings in Newmont by 36.1% in the second quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,563,049 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $65,445,000 after acquiring an additional 414,386 shares during the period. Coastline Trust Co lifted its holdings in Newmont by 41.0% in the second quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 11,425 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $478,000 after acquiring an additional 3,325 shares during the period. Czech National Bank increased its position in Newmont by 8.3% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 219,741 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $9,201,000 after buying an additional 16,934 shares in the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP purchased a new stake in Newmont in the second quarter worth about $321,000. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Newmont in the second quarter worth about $281,000. Institutional investors own 68.85% of the companys stock. Get Newmont alerts: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades NEM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their price target on Newmont from $46.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Bank of America upped their price target on Newmont from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Newmont from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. CIBC upgraded Newmont from a neutral rating to a sector outperform rating and upped their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Newmont from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Newmont presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $50.00. Insider Activity In other news, CEO Thomas Ronald Palmer sold 20,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.51, for a total value of $990,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 311,469 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $15,420,830.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the companys stock. Newmont Price Performance Newmont stock traded up $1.08 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $48.79. 5,870,674 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,082,610. The stocks fifty day moving average is $44.62 and its 200-day moving average is $39.73. Newmont Co. has a 12 month low of $29.42 and a 12 month high of $50.72. The stock has a market cap of $56.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.27, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Newmont (NYSE:NEM Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.13 billion. Newmont had a positive return on equity of 8.35% and a negative net margin of 13.16%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 64.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Newmont Co. will post 2.76 EPS for the current year. Newmont Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. Newmonts payout ratio is -37.45%. Newmont Profile (Free Report) Newmont Corporation engages in the production and exploration of gold. It also explores for copper, silver, zinc, and lead. The company has operations and/or assets in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Peru, Suriname, Argentina, Chile, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Ecuador, Fiji, and Ghana. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NEM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Newmont Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Newmont and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Signature Wealth Management Partners LLC lessened its position in Dover Co. (NYSE:DOV Free Report) by 2.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,267 shares of the industrial products companys stock after selling 294 shares during the quarter. Dover makes up about 1.4% of Signature Wealth Management Partners LLCs portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Signature Wealth Management Partners LLCs holdings in Dover were worth $1,853,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Dover by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 25,421 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $3,910,000 after acquiring an additional 1,718 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Dover by 27.4% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 166,211 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $29,451,000 after purchasing an additional 35,750 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Dover by 14.4% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 202,659 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $35,909,000 after purchasing an additional 25,562 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Dover by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 226,382 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $34,820,000 after buying an additional 19,156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Dover during the 4th quarter worth about $175,275,000. Institutional investors own 84.46% of the companys stock. Get Dover alerts: Insider Activity at Dover In other Dover news, CFO Brad M. Cerepak sold 4,341 shares of Dover stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.59, for a total value of $801,305.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 12,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,274,887.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Dover Stock Performance DOV traded down $1.84 on Monday, reaching $174.39. The company had a trading volume of 427,919 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,005,642. The companys fifty day moving average is $180.16 and its 200 day moving average is $175.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.53. The stock has a market cap of $23.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.22. Dover Co. has a fifty-two week low of $127.25 and a fifty-two week high of $192.31. Dover (NYSE:DOV Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. Dover had a return on equity of 24.94% and a net margin of 17.58%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.05 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Dover Co. will post 9.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Dover Increases Dividend The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This is a boost from Dovers previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Dovers payout ratio is presently 19.79%. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of research firms recently issued reports on DOV. StockNews.com raised Dover from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Dover from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Dover from $192.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Dover from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Dover from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $192.63. Get Our Latest Report on Dover About Dover (Free Report) Dover Corporation provides equipment and components, consumable supplies, aftermarket parts, software and digital solutions, and support services worldwide. The company's Engineered Products segment provides various equipment, component, software, solution, and services that are used in vehicle aftermarket, waste handling, industrial automation, aerospace and defense, industrial winch and hoist, and fluid dispensing end-market. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DOV? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Dover Co. (NYSE:DOV Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Dover Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Dover and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM Free Report) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. SQM has been the topic of several other research reports. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. They issued a hold rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $57.33. Get Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Report on Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile Trading Down 4.2 % NYSE:SQM opened at $35.05 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.22, a PEG ratio of 242.44 and a beta of 1.05. Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile has a 52 week low of $32.24 and a 52 week high of $66.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $40.54 and a 200 day moving average of $44.36. Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 23rd. The basic materials company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.72) by $2.52. Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile had a return on equity of 30.74% and a net margin of 6.25%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile will post 0.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 8,744 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile during the second quarter worth approximately $989,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 488,456 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $19,921,000 after purchasing an additional 13,756 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile by 216.4% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 4,968 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 3,398 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 78,795 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $3,211,000 after purchasing an additional 4,256 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 12.41% of the companys stock. About Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (Get Free Report) Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA produces and distributes specialty plant nutrients, iodine derivatives, lithium derivatives, potassium chloride and sulfate, industrial chemicals, and other products and services. The company offers specialty plant nutrients, including potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate, sodium potassium nitrate, specialty blends, and other specialty fertilizers. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Aspire Private Capital LLC cut its stake in SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEARCA:GLD Free Report) by 36.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,079 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 6,418 shares during the period. Aspire Private Capital LLCs holdings in SPDR Gold Shares were worth $2,382,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in SPDR Gold Shares by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 5,649,510 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $1,162,217,000 after acquiring an additional 1,079,452 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of SPDR Gold Shares by 10,133.3% during the 4th quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 2,662,393 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $508,970,000 after purchasing an additional 2,636,376 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of SPDR Gold Shares by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,054,867 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $201,659,000 after purchasing an additional 47,681 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of SPDR Gold Shares by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 868,088 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $178,583,000 after purchasing an additional 23,468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of SPDR Gold Shares by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 793,569 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $151,707,000 after purchasing an additional 21,108 shares in the last quarter. 42.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get SPDR Gold Shares alerts: SPDR Gold Shares Price Performance Shares of NYSEARCA:GLD traded up $3.82 during trading on Monday, hitting $228.38. 5,538,575 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,224,933. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $219.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $209.88. SPDR Gold Shares has a 52-week low of $168.30 and a 52-week high of $229.65. SPDR Gold Shares Company Profile SPDR Gold Trust (the Trust) is an investment trust. The investment objective of the Trust is for the Shares to reflect the performance of the price of gold bullion, less the Trusts expenses. The Trusts business activity is the investment of gold. The Trust creates and redeems Shares from time to time, but in one or more Baskets (a Basket equals a block of 100,000 Shares). Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GLD? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEARCA:GLD Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for SPDR Gold Shares Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for SPDR Gold Shares and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS Free Report) had its price objective reduced by Robert W. Baird from $225.00 to $199.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the technology companys stock. WTS has been the subject of a number of other reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Watts Water Technologies from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Get Watts Water Technologies alerts: Get Our Latest Research Report on Watts Water Technologies Watts Water Technologies Trading Down 2.3 % NYSE WTS opened at $178.27 on Friday. Watts Water Technologies has a one year low of $167.87 and a one year high of $219.52. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $189.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $199.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.95 billion, a PE ratio of 22.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.90. Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The technology company reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.13. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.44% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The business had revenue of $597.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $589.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.34 EPS. The companys quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Watts Water Technologies will post 8.73 earnings per share for the current year. Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. Watts Water Technologiess payout ratio is 21.34%. Insider Buying and Selling at Watts Water Technologies In other news, insider Elie Melhem sold 2,051 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total value of $442,011.01. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,226 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,850,335.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 2,194 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.39, for a total value of $470,371.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,806 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $601,578.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Elie Melhem sold 2,051 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total transaction of $442,011.01. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,226 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,850,335.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,753 shares of company stock valued at $1,236,753 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the companys stock. Institutional Trading of Watts Water Technologies Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Gradient Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 47.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 174 shares of the technology companys stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 502.7% in the 1st quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 223 shares of the technology companys stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 520.5% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 273 shares of the technology companys stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. 95.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Watts Water Technologies Company Profile (Get Free Report) Watts Water Technologies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, supplies products and solutions that manage and conserve the flow of fluids and energy into, through, and out of buildings in the commercial, industrial, and residential markets in the Americas, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Watts Water Technologies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Watts Water Technologies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. 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Ex-IPS officers son convicted of raping German tourist dies of stomach cancer Follow us on: Who will be new BJP president? Polls in mind, BJP-RSS leaders deliberate JP Naddas successor - Last week, Ukrainian forces attacked Russias Kursk region, and took control of the gas metering station at the town of Sudzha station from which Russian gas flows into Europe via Ukraine. In response natural gas prices in Europe rose to their highest level this year, indicating their continuing susceptibility to geopolitics. However, Fitch analysts argued that any price impact resulting from Ukraines incursion into the Kursk region would be short-lived. ING also pointed out recently that European gas Arun Anand has authored two books on the RSS. His X handle is @ArunAnandLive. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication. SNM Abdi is an independent journalist specialising in Indias foreign policy and domestic politics. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication. Best cities to find a job in the US OTHERS OTHERS Follow us on: My Account or or Hello, Login All Bangladesh crisis: Murder case filed against former PM Sheikh Hasina, 6 others OTHERS OTHERS Follow us on: My Account or or Hello, Login All Elon Musk invites Kamala Harris for interview after unscripted chat with Trump OTHERS OTHERS Follow us on: My Account or or Hello, Login All Fresh escalation in Ukraine-Russia war, Kyiv forces claim to control 1,000 sq km of Russian territory Follow us on: From illegal immigration and a democratic 'coup' to slamming Harris, what all figured in Trump-Musk's candid chat OTHERS OTHERS Follow us on: My Account or or Hello, Login All Rocket fired from Gaza falls in sea off Tel Aviv: Israeli Army Follow us on: Ukraine keeps up air attacks on Kursk as Putin lashes out at West Follow us on: Ukraine pummels Russia with largest drone assault in bid to carve out bigger slice of territory Why former Pakistan ISI chief Faiz Hameed is facing court martial, what is he accused of OTHERS OTHERS Follow us on: My Account or or Hello, Login All Why Pakistan celebrates Independence Day on August 14: Theories and historical context In a shocking turn of events, a prominent Reformed Church in Zimbabwe Reverend, Joseph Mugidheya, has threatened the Masvingo Mirror Editor, Garikai Mafirakureva, with unspecified action if he publishes a story about a suspected pregnant girl who committed suicide at Nerupiri Parish in Gutu South where hundreds of unemployed youths have installed the soccer betting app at BetWinner-egypt.net/BetWinner-download/ The threats, delivered through both WhatsApp messages and a subsequent phone call, have raised concerns about the safety of journalists in Zimbabwe and the growing trend of intimidation and harassment within the country. Mugidheya, who was reportedly in Chipinge at the time of the threats, warned Mafirakureva that he would face dire consequences if he proceeded with the story. Chipinge, known for its association with juju and witchcraft, has long been a source of fear and superstition in Zimbabwe. Usaisa nyaya yekwaNerupiri paMirror, stop it or you will face what you dont know, I am in Chipinge now take this advice now failure meet (sic) the consequences asap, he wrote in a WhatsApp message. Mugidheyas threats appear to stem from his desire to protect the reputation of Rev Maphios Tadzembwa, the Pastor-in-Charge at Nerupiri, whom he claims is being targeted by an AFM pastor based at the parish. I know an AFM pastor who is feeding you with that information. She is based at Nerupiri and she is just trying to fight Tadzembwa who is her nephew, Mugidheya alleged. He further claimed that the deceased girl was sexually abusing a minor and that she took poison after being confronted about her actions. She is based at Nerupiri and she is just trying to fight Tadzembwa who is her nephew. I will send the audio in which she was spreading falsehoods. I wish Zimbabwe had a law on Cyber bulling and spreading falsehoods, he stated. The AFM Pastor in question could not be reached for comment. Mugidheyas threats, delivered through both digital and telephonic means, constitute cyber bullying and are unlawful under Zimbabwean law. His use of threats and intimidation to silence the press raises serious concerns about the state of media freedom in the country. The incident highlights the growing pressure faced by journalists in Zimbabwe, who are often subjected to threats, harassment, and intimidation in their pursuit of truth and accountability. The Mirror Editor, Garikai Mafirakureva, has yet to publicly comment on the threats he received. Breaking News via Email Related Zimbabwe Latest News Yves here. This post below despite being generally not bad for a Western update on the state of play in the Middle East still contains some nail-on-the-chalkboard tropes, such as Yemen and Iraq forces opposed to the US being proxies of Iran, as opposed to allies to which Iran does provide assistance. Alert readers might note the bland way this post describes how Israel might target civilian infrastructure inn Lebanon without mentioning that that would be a war crime. Some informational tidbits: In one YouTube interview (I believe with Nima of Dialogue Works), Larry Wilkerson pointed out that Iran was slow by Western standards to respond to provocations. In a fresh talk with Nima, Wilkerson (starting at 13:20) describes how Putin (one wonders how this was a Russian as opposed to Syrian operation) has pushed the 900 US servicemembers who are tasked to protecting the Syrian oilfields out. That means Israel now must rely on purchased oil More from Links today: Fitch downgraded Israel by a ratings notch, which Mr. Market did register and that Iran rejected European entreaties to Iran to stand down with umbrage. By Paul Rogers, Emeritus Professor of Peace Studies in the Department of Peace Studies and International Relations at Bradford University, and an Honorary Fellow at the Joint Service Command and Staff College. He is openDemocracys international security correspondent. He is on Twitter at: @ProfPRogers. Originally published at openDemocracy Geopolitical tensions have been high since Israel assassinated Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month, with world leaders fearing an expected Iranian response that could lead to further escalation and an expansion of the war across the region. There has been intense diplomatic activity in the shape of governments including Russia, Jordan and some Gulf States urging Iran to limit its response. But with the assassination seen as a direct attack on Irans sovereignty, the countrys religious leadership is under heavy pressure internally to respond with substantial force. The US has also made a much-publicised move to increase its already substantial military forces in the region. A new US Navy aircraft carrier battle group will now take the place of one currently due to leave the Gulf of Oman and an additional squadron of strike aircraft will be moved to the region, as will more air-defence destroyers, cruisers and land-based air defence systems. The Pentagon has also ordered the despatch of a cruise missile-armed nuclear submarine to the region, it was announced yesterday. Meanwhile, Israel continues its war on Gaza. Yet Hamas remains active despite Israel having laid many urban areas to waste and killed tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians. On Saturday morning, 80 Palestinians were killed in three Israeli air strikes on Tabeen school in Gaza City, where 6,000 displaced people were sheltering, according to the Palestinian Health Authority. Tensions also persist in southern Lebanon as Israels low-level conflict with Hezbollah repeatedly tips over into missile and air attacks. This has been developing ever since the Hamas assault in southern Israel last October and has led to large-scale evacuations from land on either side of the border. Over 400 people have so far been killed in Lebanon, most of them Hezbollah paramilitaries, with a further 94,000 people on the Lebanese side of the border having been displaced. Israel has moved 65,000 people away from its side of the border. The cost of damage in Lebanon had already reached $15bn by the end of May, according to Charbel Cordahi, an economist and financial adviser to the president. The damage in Israel is not known, but in any case Israel appears intent on escalating its actions, starting with the killing of a senior Hamas military leader, Saleh al-Arouri, in Beirut earlier in the year. Much more recently came the assassination by the Israelis of one of Hezbollahs senior military leaders, Fuad Shukra. Yet comments in Israels media from retired military officers and some politicians indicate that neither Binyamin Netanyahus government nor the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) want a full-scale war with Hezbollah, whose paramilitary wing is far stronger than that of Hamas at the start of the Gaza war, and which has increased the size of its arsenal tenfold since its last war with Israel back in 2006. The Israeli government knows full well that even the most concentrated system of air defences can be overwhelmed by hundreds of missiles fired close together. The most Israel would want would be to carry out intensive airstrikes on civil infrastructure in Lebanon, especially in those areas of Hezbollah influence. That is what it did in 2006, but this time it would be on an even more intensive scale, essentially to deter Hezbollah in the future. In the process, it would likely wreck the Lebanese economy, a very dangerous action fraught with risks of miscalculation and escalation. Where this links in with the Israel/Iran dynamic is that Hezbollah is the leading example of a paramilitary movement strongly supported by Iran and already in conflict with Israel. It is not in direct conflict with US forces, although one of its earliest actions is imprinted in Pentagon military history: the killing of 241 US Marines in a double suicide bomb attack against a US stabilisation operation in Lebanon back in 1983. The US military, though, is involved in direct conflict with other paramilitary and military proxies of Iran, in Yemen and Iraq. These are rarely reported in the Western media outside of security publications but amount to an ongoing lower-level war. In the past couple of months, there have been US-led air strikes against Iran-backed militias in Iraq, including a series of attacks following a militia assault originating in Iraq but targeting a military location just across the border in Jordan. Then, just last Monday came a rocket attack against US military units at al-Asad air base in Iraq. Reportedly launched from within Iraq, the attack injured seven US troops and civilians. Then there is the separate conflict with the Houthi regime in Yemen, also supported by Iran. Earlier this week, a Liberian-flagged container ship Liberia being a US ally was hit by a missile launched from Yemen, the latest in a sequence that has involved persistent offensive and defensive Western military actions. The great majority are by US forces, but the UK, Israel and other states are also involved. The level of US activity is remarkable whether directed at drones and missiles already airborne or others on the ground, as well as radar sites and other military targets. There were 20 incidents in July and a similar number in June, yet the Houthis continue to stage the attacks, saying they will continue until Israel ceases its war on Hamas. Overall, there may be serious concern about a potential enlarged war in the Middle East stemming from the existing Israeli wars against Hamas and Hezbollah, but there already is a wider war ongoing. The United States is heavily involved in this through its strong military support for Israel as are several of its other Western allies, most obviously the UK. There is little sign of this war diminishing. Rather, with the USs current military reinforcements and the tensions with Iran, it is more likely to expand further unless wise counsel can prevail. Yves here. While Richard Wolff makes important observations about how both the purported left and right have abandoned ordinary citizens and cater to the interests of the wealthy, and that the collective mood is both sour and increasingly outraged, I have difficulty with his claims about mass anger. We do not see mass movements around the generally oppressive effects of modern rentierism. Neoliberalism has done such a great job of reducing identification with communities and indoctrinating citizens to see themselves as independent actors that mass movements and mass identification is close to non-existent. When it does occur, it is most often along tribal lines, not economic lines, such as pro and anti abortion advocates, pro and anti or anti-strong form trans rights, pro or anti Israeli genocide, and pro or anti Hair Furore. Bernie Sanders was the last major politician to attempt what in the 1960s would have been called consciousness raising. The Democratic Party went full bore after him, preferring to elect the disastrous Biden to seeing Sanders possibly prevail. This Killer Mike ad for Sanders illustrates the need to explicitly create a mass identity on economic issues. Killer Mike starts out by saying how he had personalized his experience as a black man with fewer rights, and then came to understand that everyone outside the 1% was oppressed: Lets return to the tribal issue. So not only is the US sorely lacking in mass movements, save along special interest lines like gunz, economic grievances generally lack the sense of urgency that hot button religious or quasi religious issues do. On top of that, Wolff posits the enemy as capitalism. But thats a system. That is not a target for anger or action. How do you attack capitalism? Is anyone outside hard core socialist and communists and anarchists able to work up anger about capitalism? They might hate their unscrupulous landlord, their abusive boss, or their openly-out-to-steal surprise billing hospital system. But systems are too abstract to elicit anger. As I have said repeatedly, the US is too atomized for a revolution to be likely. More probable are increased episodes of individual violence. If you want to look at an example of mass anger, by contrast, look at the white hot level of hatred most Israelis voice towards Palestinians. By Richard D. Wolff, professor of economics emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a visiting professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs of the New School University, in New York. Wolffs weekly show, Economic Update, is syndicated by more than 100 radio stations and goes to millions via several TV networks and YouTube. His most recent book with Democracy at Work is Understanding Capitalism (2024), which responds to requests from readers of his earlier books: Understanding Socialism and Understanding Marxism. Produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute In the wake of his huge defeat on June 30, 2024, when 80 percent of voters rejected French centrist President Emmanuel Macron, he said he understood the French peoples anger. In the UK, Conservative loser Rishi Sunak said the same about the British peoples anger, as Labor leader Starmer now says as the anger explodes. Of course, such phrases from such politicians usually mean little or nothing and accomplish less. Such leaders and their parties just keep calculating how best to regain power when they lose it. In that, they are like the U.S. Democrats after Bidens performance in his debate with Trump and like the U.S. Republicans after Trumps loss in 2020. In both parties, a small group of top leaders and top donors made all the key decisions and then organized the political theater to ratify those decisions. Even surprises like Harris replacing Biden are temporary departures from resuming politics as usual. However, unlike Trump, the others missed opportunities to identify with an already organized mass base of angry people. Trump stumbled into that identification by saying loudly and crudely what traditional politicians treated as publicly unspeakable about immigrants, women, NATO, and traditional political taboos. That set the tone for Trump then doubling down by insisting he had won the 2020 election but had been cheated out of it. The mass anger of populations feeling victimized in their workaday lives found a spokesperson loudly claiming parallel victimizations. Trump and base grasped that together they might victimize their victimizers. Whether or not they can politically exploit voters anger, no mainstream leader in the collective West, including Trump, seems actually to understand it. They mostly see only as far as what they can plausibly blame on their opponents in the next election. Biden blamed Trump for a bad economy in 2020, while Trump reversed the same blame over the last year and will shortly adjust to blaming Harris. Presidential opponents blame the other for the immigration crisis, for inadequately protecting U.S. industry from Chinese competition, government budget deficits, and job exports. No mainstream leader understands (or dares to hint or suggest) that mass anger these days might be something more and different from any collection of specific complaints and demands (about guns, abortion, taxes, and wars). Even the demagogues who like to speak about culture wars dare not ask why such wars are hot now. Angry Make America Great Again (MAGA) folks are notably vague and poorly informed as their critics enjoy exposing. Rarely do those critics offer persuasive alternative explanations for MAGA anger (explanations that are neither vague nor poorly informed). In particular, we ask, might the anger that the MAGA movement enrolls express a genuine mass suffering that has not yet understood its cause? Might that cause be nothing less than the decline of Western capitalism and all it represents? If ideological taboos and blinders preclude admitting it, might that declines resultsanxiety, despair, and angerfocus instead on suitable scapegoats? Are Trump and Biden, Macron and Sunak, and so many others competitively choosing scapegoats to mobilize an anger they misunderstand and dare not explore? After all, Western capitalism is no longer the worlds colonial master. The American empire that succeeded the European empires has now followed them into decline. The next empire will be Chinese or else the era of empires will give way to genuine global multipolarity. Western capitalism is likewise no longer the worlds dynamic growth center as that has moved eastward. Western capitalism is clearly losing its former position as the self-confident, unified, ultimate power behind the World Bank, United Nations, International Monetary Fund, and the U.S. dollar as world currency. In terms of global economic footprints as measured by national GDPs, the United States and its major allies (G7) comprise a total, aggregated GDP now that is already significantly less than the comparable aggregated GDPs of China and its major allies (BRICS). The footprints of the two global economic power blocs were roughly equal in 2020. The difference between the two footprints has been widening ever since and continues to do so. China and its BRICS allies are increasingly the world economys richest bloc. Nothing prepared the populations of Western capitalism for this changed reality or its effects. Especially the sections of those populations already forced to absorb the costly burdens of Western capitalisms decline feel betrayed, abandoned, and angry. Elections are merely one way for some of them to express those feelings. Western capitalisms rich, powerful, and small minority practices a combination of denial and adjustment to its decline. Prevailing politicians, mainstream media, and academics continue to orate, write, and act as if the collective West were still globally dominant. For them and their ways of thinking, their global dominance in the second half of the last century never ended. The wars in Ukraine and Gaza testify to that denial and exemplify the costly strategic mistakes it produces. When not denying the new reality, significant portions of Western capitalisms corporate rich and powerful are adjusting their preferred economic policies away from neoliberalism toward economic nationalism. The chief rationale for that adjustment is that it serves national security because it may at least slow Chinas aggressiveness. Domestically, the rich and powerful in each country use their positions and resources to shift the costs of Western capitalisms decline onto the mass of their middle-income and poorer fellow citizens. They worsen income and wealth inequalities, cut governmental social services, and harden police behaviors and prison conditions. Denial facilitates the continued decline of Western capitalism. Too little is done too late against problems not yet admitted. Deteriorating social conditions flowing from that decline, especially for the middle income and the poor, provide opportunities for the usual right-wing demagogues. They proceed to blame the decline on immigrants, foreigners, excessive state power, the Democrats, China, secularism, abortion, and culture war enemies, hoping thereby to assemble a winning electoral constituency. Sadly, left-wing commentary focuses on refuting the rights claims about its chosen scapegoats. While its refutations are often well-documented and effective in media combat against right-wing Republicans, the left too rarely invokes explicit, sustained arguments about mass angers links to declining capitalism. The left fails sufficiently to stress that government regulators, however well-intentioned, have been captured by and subordinated to specifically private capitalist profiteers. The mass of people therefore became deeply skeptical about relying on the government to correct or offset the failings of private capitalism. People grasp, often just intuitively, that todays problem is the merger of capitalists and government. Left and right increasingly feel betrayed by all the promises of center-left and center-right politicians. More or less government intervention has changed too little in the trajectory of modern capitalism. To growing numbers, politicians of the center-left and center-right seem equally docile servants of the capitalist-government merger that constitutes modern capitalism with all its failures and flaws. Thus todays right succeeds if, when, and where it can portray itself as not centrist, its candidates explicitly anti-centrist. The left is weaker because too many of its programs seem still linked to the idea that government interventions will correct or offset capitalisms shortcomings. In short, mass anger is disconnected from declining capitalism in part because left, right and center deny, avoid, or neglect their link. Mass anger does not translate into or yet move to explicit anti-capitalist politics in part because too few organized political movements lead in that way. Thus, Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer in Britains new Labour Party governmentits top financial officerblithely announces, There is not a lot of money there. She prepares the publicand preemptively excuses the new governmentfor how little the new government will even try to do. She goes further and defines her key goal as unlocking private investment. Even the words she chooses mirror what the old Conservatives want to hear and would themselves say. In declining capitalisms, electoral changes can and often do serve to avoid or at least postpone real change. Chancellor Reevess words assure major corporations and the 1 percent they enrich that Starmers Labour Party will not heavily tax them. This matters since it is precisely in major corporations and the rich that a lot of money is located. The wealth of the top 1 percent could easily fund a genuinely democratic rebuilding of a seriously depleted post-2008 UK economy. In stark contrast, the typical Conservative programs prioritizing private investment are what got the UK to its present sad state. They were the problem; they are not the solution. The Labour Party was once socialist. Socialism once meant a thoroughgoing critique of the capitalist system and advocacy of something totally different. Socialists sought electoral victories to win government power and use it to transition society to a post-capitalist order. But todays Labour Party has thrown that history away. It wants to administer contemporary British capitalism just a bit less harshly than Conservatives do. It works to persuade the British working class that less harsh is the best they can hope and vote for. And British Conservatives can indeed smile and condescendingly approve such a Labour Party or else quibble with it over how much harshness todays capitalism needs. Macron, also once a socialist, plays a similar role in France. Indeed, so do Biden and Trump in the United States, Justin Trudeau in Canada, and Olaf Scholz in Germany. All offer administrations of their contemporary capitalisms. None have programs aimed at solving modern capitalisms basic, accumulated, and persistently unsolved problems. Solutions would require first admitting what those problems are: cyclically recurring instability, increasingly unequal distributions of income and wealth, monied corruption of politics, mass media, and culture, and increasingly oppressive foreign policies that fail to offset a declining Western capitalism. Insistent denial across the collective West precludes admitting those problems, let alone fashioning solutions to them woven into programs for real change. Alternative governments administer; they dare not lead. Would a Kamala Harris-Tim Walz regime break with this pattern? Their administrations will experiment with and perhaps oscillate between free-trade and protectionist policiesas past capitalist governments often did. In the United States, recent GOP and Democrat steps toward economic nationalism remain vote-seeking exceptions to still widespread commitments to neoliberal globalization. Western megacorporations, including many based in the United States, welcome Chinas new role as the global champion of free trade (even as it retaliates moderately against tariffs and trade wars initiated by the collective West). Support remains strong for negotiations to shape generally acceptable global divisions of trade and investment flows. The latter are seen as profitable as well as a means to avoid dangerous wars. Elections will continue to include clashes between capitalisms free-trade and protectionist tendencies. But the more fundamental issue of 2024 elections is mass anger in the collective West aroused by its historic decline and the effects of that decline on the mass of average citizens. How will that anger shape the elections? The more extreme right wing recognizes and rides the deeper anger without, of course, grasping its relationship to capitalism. Marine Le Pen, Nigel Farage, and Trump are all examples. They all mock and deride the center-left and center-right governments that merely administer what they depict as a sinking ship that needs new, different leadership. But their donor base (capitalist) and long-standing ideology (pro-capitalist) block them from going beyond extreme scapegoating (of immigrants, ethnic minorities, heterodox sexualities, and foreign demons). The mainstream media likewise cannot grasp the relationship of mass anger to capitalism. Thus they dismiss the anger as irrational or caused by inadequate messaging from mainstream influencers. For many months, mainstream economic pundits have bemoaned the strange coexistence of a great economy and polls showing mass disappointment at the bad economy. By strange they mean stupid or ignorant or politically-motivated/dishonest: sets of words often condensed into populist. The left is jealous of the extreme rights significant mass base now in working-class areas. In most countries, the left has spent the last many decades trying to hold on to its working-class base as the mainstreams center-left movement pulled it away. That meant a greater or lesser shift from communist and anarchist to ever more moderate socialist and democratic affiliations. That shift included downplaying the goal of a comprehensively different post-capitalism in favor of the immediate goal of a state-fostered softer, humane capitalism where wages and benefits were greater, taxes more progressive, cycles more regulated, and minorities less oppressed. For that left, what mass anger it could recognize flowed from failures to achieve such a state-fostered softer capitalism, not from Western capitalisms decline. As capitalisms dynamic center moved to Asia and elsewhere in the global South, decline set in among its old, more-or-less abandoned centers. Old center capitalists participated in and profited greatly as the system relocated its dynamic center. Capitalists, both state and private, in the new centers profited even more. In the old centers, the rich and powerful shifted the burdens of decline onto the masses. In the new centers, the rich and powerful gathered the new capitalist wealth there mostly into their hands but with enough trickling down to satisfy large portions of their working classes. Thats how capitalism works and always has. For the mass of employees, however, the ride upwards when capitalisms dynamic center is where they work and live is far more pleasant and hopeful than when decline sets in. 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Tim H: Here be Doodles, aged about 16 here, in Magnificat pose. And a bonus (Chuck L). Aaaw! Isnt this a big litter for a cheetah? A Cheetah and her Cheetos pic.twitter.com/7c8YjZrESi Nature is Amazing (@AMAZlNGNATURE) August 9, 2024 See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here. We see ATM blasts all over the world, but the intensity that we experience in Germany is really in a league of its own. In Europe, people dont tend to rob banks anymore the risks are simply too high and, in most cases, the rewards too low. Instead, they are blowing up ATMs. And Germany is their prime target. Thats according to an article published Saturday by Bloomberg. The EUs largest economy, it says, is suffering ATM bombings on an almost daily basis, as efforts to wean the country off cash have not been well received. In a subheading to a German-language version of the article, Bloomberg warns that the German love of cash is one of the main drivers. From the English-language version: In the early morning hours of May 6, 2023, an explosion occurred in a bank in the German town of Bad Homburg, sending shattered glass as far as 30 meters away. Two men had broken into the building and filled the ATM with explosives. Once the device did its job, they grabbed 165,000 in cash, jumped into the waiting getaway car and rushed off into the night. The theft took just a couple of minutes. Almost every day or usually, every night an ATM is blown up somewhere in Germany. Europes biggest economy has become the prime target for sophisticated smash-and-grab operations by organized criminal groups. Very few people rob banks anymore, its not worth it. ATM bombings are quicker, less risky and the payouts are significantly higher. A League of Its Own Germanys Federal Criminal Police Office has been collecting figures on ATM explosions since 2005. By 2015, the boom (pun intended) in ATM bombings was impossible to ignore. A year later, there were 318 bombings, and by 2022 the number had reached 496. We see ATM blasts all over the world, but the intensity that we experience in Germany is really in a league of its own, said Stefan Lessmann, head of security at ATM-maker Diebold Nixdorf, the market leader for the machines in the EU. The Bloomberg article offers three main reasons reasons for why this might be. 1. Germany shares a border with the Netherlands, which is home to the Amsterdam and Utrecht-based networks that are orchestrating most of the attacks against the ATMs: The Netherlands had previously been the epicenter of these bombings, but by 2015, the Dutch had reduced the number of ATMs nationally from 20,000 to 5,000, fortified the remaining ones, and encouraged businesses and residents to wean themselves off cash. With few targets left in their home county, the perpetrators went east: to Germany where they apparently encountered a paradise for ATM bombers. Which brings us to the second reason. 2. Germany is a bastion of cash. The Bloomberg piece underscores Germanys high number of ATMs (just over 50,000) as one of the possible reasons why the ATM arsonists are targeting the country. Yet this is only a shade higher than the total number of ATMs in the UK, a country with 15 million fewer people than Germany, most of whom use cash a lot less than their German counterparts. In its 2023 payments report Deutsche Bundesbank found cash was used for 51% of payments, with debit cards in second place at 27 percent. This was down from 58% in 2021, though the Bundesbanks Executive Board Member Burkhard Balz said the decline is no longer as pronounced as during the coronavirus pandemic. As the central bank noted in a January report, cash has a special significance in Germany. This is a problem for EU authorities, particularly the European Commission, which are keen to wean European citizens off cash as they prepare to launch a digital euro. A year ago, Foreign Policy magazine ran an article headlined, Germany is Hopelessly Addicted to Cash, which provides a laundry list of reasons why Germans, in particular, are unwilling to part with the old ways their instinctive distrust of overweening state control following their experience of totalitarian governance; their obsession with privacy, mistrust of big-tech and fintech in general, and worries about political and financial crises depleting bank balances overnight an experience rooted in history as well as a cultural desire for control) while gently admonishing the country for standing athwart the global trend toward cashless payments. German citizens may also be mindful of the fragility risks posed by a fully cashless economy after all, the country suffered a significant card payment outage just two years ago. As we reported last month, the sheer size and number of recent payment outages has even prompted British mainstream media establishments to warn of the potential perils of a fully cashless economy. There are myriad other reasons why a fully cashless society is far from desirable, including the inevitability of more granular surveillance, the loss of one of our last vestiges of personal privacy and anonymity, the exclusionary effects it will have on those who are unable to access or use digital technologies, and the much greater power and control it would grant to both governments and corporations over our spending habits and indeed potentially over our ability to spend money at all. 3. The third apparent reason why Germany is such an idyll for the ATM arsonist is the decentralised nature of its banking and criminal justice system: [U]nlike the Netherlands, which has only four banks, Germany has a more diverse sector, including hundreds of independent savings and loan banks. Moreover, each of the countrys 16 states also has its own police force, making coordination a challenge. Achim Schmitz leads the central police unit focusing on ATM bombings in North-Rhine Westphalia, the first German state to be targeted a decade ago. Schmitz and his colleagues have arrested hundreds of suspects and won stiff prison sentences over the years, but that hasnt gotten the attacks to stop. In 2015, we initially thought there was a ring of perpetrators and once we caught the core people, we would get rid of the problem, said Schmitz. We had to give up on that hypothesis a long, long time ago. Instead, Schmitz and his unit have witnessed a seemingly never-ending supply of young men trained to work in highly specialized teams, most of whom are Dutch nationals of Moroccan descent. As these attacks have intensified, German authorities have struggled to prevent them, the Bloomberg piece notes. The government is now proposing to raise prison terms for the bombings to a minimum of two and a maximum of 15 years as well as expand police surveillance powers around the attacks nine years after they became a regular occurrence. There has also been grumbling within law enforcement about whether banks are doing enough to prevent this sort of crime. Yet even when measures are taken, the criminals always appear to be one step ahead: When ATM foyers were equipped with fogging systems which quickly fill a room with dense smoke in the event of an attack gangs started bringing in leaf blowers. When ATMs were fortified to make them more difficult to blow up, perpetrators doubled their efforts and switched from gas explosives to solid pyrotechnic materials. On balance, Germanys Federal Criminal Police Office estimates that the success rate for these attacks is now about 60% percent. However, reports from North Rhine-Westphalia, Germanys most populous state, accounting for almost a quarter of the national population, suggest that authorities may have finally got a grip on the situation. According to the Interior Ministry, just 19 ATMs have been blown up in the state since January 1, 2024. The ATM bombers got away with only 732,000 euros in loot, public broadcaster WDR reports. In contrast, by August of 2023, they had already stolen 5.65 million euros from 97 machines. The main reason behind the success is that banks have begun retrofitting their ATMs with coloured ink that dyes the cash in the event of an explosion. This is how banks in the Netherlands first protected themselves from the ATM bombing gangs. The number of attacks immediately plunged. But as the WDR article notes, the perpetrators simply expanded their prey area: first to North Rhine-Westphalia, then to the whole of Germany. Now, as the northern states clamp down, the criminals have taken their handiwork further south, to the German states of Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg, and even into Austria and Switzerland. But as the criminals head further south, the opportunities and loot appear to be dwindling. As the German-language version of the Bloomberg article notes in a subheading, the number of attacks is declining. However, in the English-language version, this important detail doesnt become apparent to the reader until the 15th paragraph, where the authors finally admit that while official data for 2023 has not yet been published, preliminary counts suggest that numbers have been continuously falling. In other words, the problem appears to be on the wane. Yet that doesnt stop Bloomberg from closing its article with two quotes calling for fewer ATMs, and hence less cash in general one from a bank lobby group and the other from a police officer who has worked on ATM bombing cases: Removing ATMs may be the last resort, DGSV, a bank lobbying group, said of preventing such attacks. This is certainly not popular, but theres no alternative if theres a risk to life and limb Jens Burrichter has worked on ATM-bombing cases for the Lower Saxony police since 2015. For two years, he served at Europol, organizing conferences and coordinating cross-border communication to make sure police across Europe were working together to prevent attacks. Like many of his peers, Burrichter is certain that Germany needs to learn from the Netherlands and drastically reduce its number of ATMs and overall use of cash. But he also knows that no one will win an election in Germany by campaigning on the end of ATMs. Hopelessly Addicted to Cash. But for How Long? German is an outlier in Europe. It is the continents largest economy and biggest industrial centre (though the government has been working tirelessly to try to destroy its industrial base), yet it is still, as Foreign Policy magazine puts it, hopelessly addicted to cash, with many Germans preferring to carry physical money and use it for everyday transactions, particularly small ones. In many other parts of Europe, particularly in the north, cash is, to all intents and purposes, dying a natural, albeit artificially accelerated, death. In a survey conducted by the European Central Bank, 69% of Germans said that cash is either important or very important to them. As Der Spiegel International noted, with a gentle hint of PMC arrogance and derision, in its April 2 article, Cashs Last Stand, this is particularly true of older people and people with low incomes and education levels. But moves are afoot to reduce that use. As in so many countries, it is getting harder to access and use cash. The share of respondents to the Bundesbank payments survey who considered it fairly difficult or very difficult to get to an ATM or bank counter increased to 15% from 6% in 2021. This trend was apparent in both urban and rural areas. Over the past decade the number of bank branches in Germany has almost halved, from around 40,000 to 20,000, according to the Bundesbank. In late 2023, Handelsblatt reported, almost gleefully, that German banks are closing their ATMs at an ever faster pace [Indeed, a cynic might argue that the ATM arsonists are doing the big banks a favour by providing a justification for accelerating their cull of bank branches and ATMs]: [T]he number of ATMs reported for Germany fell by almost five percent in 2022. This is the largest decline since the data series began in 2000, as the analysis firm Barkow Consulting determined based on data from the European Central Bank The main reasons for the removal of ATMs are the decreasing use of cash and the high number of explosions Banks could even reduce the number of ATMs at an even faster pace in the future: the consulting firm Capco expects the number of machines to drop significantly in the coming years, says Capco payment expert Thomas Walkner. More ATMs will probably be concentrated in cities. You now see more bank locations there that have three or four ATMs instead of just one as before. Walkner points out that supplying cash entails considerable costs for banks. They have to invest more and more in security, and the costs of loading the machines with new banknotes have also become more expensive. Many banks used to do this themselves, but now they rely more on external service providers. At the same time, people are increasingly getting cash from supermarkets, either from on-site ATMs or through the supermarkets cash-back services. As Focus reported a few months ago, withdrawing money at the supermarket has become increasingly important, especially in rural areas, where many banks have closed their branches and removed ATMs. The amount of cash withdrawn in this way reached 12.3 billion in 2023, up from 2.23 billion, according to a study by the EHI retail research institute. Nonetheless, cash is coming under pressure from many different sides, trumpets Der Spiegel, with government, banks and retailers leading the charge. Public transportation providers such as Hamburgs HVV have abolished the use of cash on their bus lines. Hipster cafes and restaurants in the bigger cities are also going cashless. Speed, convenience and security are the watchwords. The owner of Barista Sistar cafe in Munich told Der Spiegel: No one has ever been able to give me a rational explanation for why they only pay with cash. In a section of his blog, Geld (Money), titled The Slippery Slope to a Cashless Society, the German financial journalist and cash advocate Norbert Haring documents the growing number of cases of German businesses and state authorities refusing to accept cash payments. A few examples: The bakery chain Voigt has removed the option of paying with cash in its Theos bakeries in Bonn. The large bakery chain Going in Hanover also wants to help with the abolition of cash and is making everything 5% more expensive for cash payers than for digital payers. The state-owned railway company Deutsche Bahn AG is also discriminating against cash users. The company has informed customers that from the end of the year there will no longer be any saver fares available from the ticket machines which accept cash. The discount fare will only be available online or with identification at the customer centre. As Haring notes, the state-owned company is deliberately making anonymous travel more expensive. There is a system to this. Perhaps most importantly, cash could fall victim to generational trends. According to a survey by Postbank, one in three Germans say they could come to terms with the abolition of bills and coins in the 18-to-39 age group, the figure is as high as 57%. In the Bundesbank survey, 44% of respondents said they would rather pay without using cash. By contrast, 28% cited cash as their preferred means of payment. A further 28% had no preference. But if, as Der Speigel suggests, Germany (together with neighbouring Austria) is indeed the last stand for cash, it will not go down without a fight. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has called for a law to be passed stipulating that cash must be accepted in every store. A similar law is also under consideration in neighbouring Austria. In countries where cash is still King, albeit a slightly diminished one, going cashless could have unpleasant consequences for businesses. In February, the supermarket chain Billa suspended its cashless trial in Vienna Leopoldstadt after only eight days following a customer backlash. In early 2023, the electronics retailer Gravis, which was Germanys largest authorised Apple retail chain, announced that it would be going fully cashless at all of its 40 stores. Fifteen months later, it declared bankruptcy. Did its decision to go cashless play a part in its demise? Probably not. The company was already in trouble in 2022, and has laid much of the blame for its bankruptcy on the post-COVID surge in e-Commerce as well as its outsized dependence on Apple products. That said, alienating part of its customer base by preventing them from using cash, a popular payment method, was probably not the best way to dig itself out of its hole. Eight of the 68 people who died in Brazilian plane crash were cancer doctors on their way to SBTMO 2024 We have learned that eight of the 68 passengers (some media reports are claiming there were only 61 or 62 passengers) aboard the ATR-72 turboprop plant that crashed in a residential area near Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Friday were cancer doctorsto SBTMO 2024, a cancer and vaccine conference. There were originally supposed to be 15 cancer doctors aboard the same flight, but seven of them changed their itineraries to take an earlier flight that same day. Those seven survived while the other eight perished along with everyone else on the flight. It apparently took a while to identify the name of the conference at which these cancer doctors were scheduled to attend. According to "Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives" (@dom_lucre) on X, the media "didn't make it easy" to figure out where these cancer doctors were headed, which begs the question, why? In case you missed it, check out the following footage showing the plane as it spiraled in a strange way down towards the ground before crashing and exploding: ??BREAKING NEWS: There were 8 cancer doctors on the 68 passenger plane that crashed in Brazil. Initially it was supposed to be 15, but 7 doctors changed their flight to an earlier take off for that day. These doctors were traveling to Sao Paulo to take part in a pic.twitter.com/mRmHG2Catt Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) August 10, 2024 (Related: The plane crash that killed former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, his foreign minister and seven of their companions earlier this year was also suspicious.) Pfizer betting big on cancer were they behind this? SBTMO, by the way, stands for the Brazilian Society of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy. Its purpose is to establish voluntary standards and accreditation programs for cellular therapy. "In a simpler sense, they decide what is considered real or fake in that cancer field," the Dom Lucre X account explains. "If a treatment or cure is suggested, they decide if it is accredited which determines if the treatment or curr [sic] can be used." In other words, the oncologists were traveling to the conference to hear the latest developments in the cancer field. Perhaps there were some important discoveries on the docket that had to be stopped? Keep in mind that Big Pharma is all about cancer these days. Even more so than vaccines, companies like Pfizer are betting big on new cancer drugs to keep their profits flowing. Could it be that the doctors on the downed flight had information or discoveries that threatened to make cancer a thing of the past without expensive new drugs? Were the doctors silenced to keep them from upsetting the apple cart? "They've been preventing the cure of cancer for decades," someone wrote on X, adding that she does not believe in coincidences. "Pharmaceuticals make way too much money off keeping us sick." Another agreed, though apparently cancer "has been cured several times" but every single time the people behind it "end up dead and their research vanishes." "So a plane that's been in the air for over an hour comes to a dead stop, then 'pancakes' out of the sky like a helicopter and just so happens to have serious decisionmakers in the cancer field aboard?" asked another. Someone from Brazil who is familiar with what happens at SBTMO 2024 mourned the loss of these eight cancer doctors, whom she described as "experts" whose loss "is a huge blow to the field." "What did these cancer doctors know?" asked another, adding to the growing suspicion that this was some kind of conspiracy. If you are looking for ways to fight cancer using non-traditional means, check out CancerSolutions.news. Sources for this article include: X.com NaturalNews.com Biden warns of possible bloodbath if Trump wins (or loses) President Joe Biden, who decided to step out of the presidential race and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris, has warned about possible chaos during the transfer of power following the election if former President Donald Trump wins or loses. In a recent interview on "CBS Sunday Morning" with Robert Costa on Aug. 7, Biden said: "If Trump wins, no I'm not confident at all I mean if Trump loses I'm not confident at all," said Biden, initially misspeaking before correcting himself. "He means what he says. We don't take him seriously. He means it, all the stuff about, 'If we lose, there'll be a bloodbath,' it'll have to be a stolen election," he added, referencing comments Trump made in March. The Trump campaign responded to this at the time, saying the comment was about the auto industry and had been deliberately taken out of context. "[They] fully understood that I was simply referring to imports allowed by Crooked Joe Biden, which are killing the automobile industry," Trump said at the time. During the CNN debate in June, which triggered Biden's candidacy crisis and eventual dropping out of the race, Trump was asked directly whether he would accept the 2024 election results. "If it's a fair and legal and good election, absolutely," Trump responded. Biden addresses decision to drop out of the race In the CBS interview, Biden addressed his decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential election, claiming that it was his "obligation to the country." He explained that losing the confidence of senior House and Senate Democrats, who feared his unpopularity would hurt them at the polls in November, had helped him decide to give way to a "younger" candidate. "Although I have the great honor to be president, I think I have an obligation to the country to do the most important thing you can do, and that is we must, we must, we must defeat Trump," he said. The president also admitted that pressure and growing unease inside the party that he was too old for the rigors of a second term, at the age of 81, took over him. He claimed not to have taken the decision lightly as he first consulted his family at home in Delaware. At the time, he said, he still believed he could win in November. "The polls we had showed that it was a neck-and-neck race, it would have been down to the wire. But what happened was a number of my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate thought that I was going to hurt them in the races and I was concerned if I stayed in the race that would be the topic," he said. (Related: IT'S JOE-VER! Biden DROPS OUT of presidential race, endorses VP Harris as replacement.) "I thought it would be a real distraction. [When] I ran the first time I thought of myself being a transition president. I can't even say how old I am. It's hard for me to get out of my mouth. Things got moving so quickly. And the combination was a critical issue for me still is maintaining this democracy." This was compounded, he added, by his catastrophic performance during the debate. "I had a really bad day in that debate because I was sick. But I have no serious problem," Biden said, denying he was impaired by any cognitive issue. Head over to JoeBiden.news for more stories about the incumbent president. Watch this video that talks about how Democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, "forced" and pressured Joe Biden out of the race. This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Poll: Majority of Americans want Biden to RESIGN IMMEDIATELY. How the left's censorship blinded themselves to the truth about Biden's failing health. Trump describes Biden as an "incompetent man who should never have been president." Wisconsin-based radio network admits to EDITING President Biden's interview at the behest of his campaign Sources include: YourNews.com CBSNews.com TheGuardian.com Brighteon.com Federal emergency declared in Kursk after Ukrainian incursion federal emergency has been declared in Russia's Kursk region following a major cross-border incursion by Ukrainian forces, as reported by the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation. On Aug. 6, Ukrainian troops launched their largest attack on Russian territory since the onset of the conflict, targeting the Sudzha district in the Kursk Region. The next day, the Russian military reported that they had halted the advance of the invading forces, though Ukrainian troops remained in some areas of the district. "The situation in the Kursk region has been classified as a federal emergency," the ministry stated on Aug. 9. The decision to impose a federal-level response was made during an extraordinary meeting of the government commission responsible for emergencies and fire safety. (Related: Zelensky now willing to negotiate peace deal to end conflict with Russia.) The federal emergency status enables compensation for individuals who have lost relatives, sustained injuries or suffered property damage due to the Ukrainian incursion. The ministry also highlighted ongoing humanitarian efforts, with 35 tons of food, 10 tons of drinking water and 10 power stations already delivered. Additionally, 25 temporary facilities have been set up in the region, which accommodates over 2,000 people, including 520 children. Meanwhile, Russia's Ministry of Defense reported that Russian warplanes and artillery struck Ukrainian positions near the settlements of Daryino, Gogolevka, Melovoy, Nikolsky and on the western outskirts of Sudzha. In the area of Yuzhny, five U.S.-made Stryker armored personnel carriers, operated by Ukrainian forces, were destroyed in an airstrike. Near the village of Martynovka, a Ukrainian column consisting of a tank, four armored personnel carriers and a Kozak combat armored vehicle was also hit by Russian warplanes. According to the ministry, Ukraine has lost 945 servicemen and 102 armored vehicles since the incursion began. "The operation to destroy the Ukrainian military units continues," the ministry noted. On Aug. 7, Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the cross-border attack as a "massive provocation" by Kyiv. He accused Ukrainian troops of indiscriminately firing various types of weapons, including missiles, at civilian facilities, residential buildings, and ambulances. Ukraine braces for Russian retaliation Ukraine is preparing for further Russian retaliation following its cross-border incursion into Kursk, as Russia deploys reinforcements including troops, tanks and artillery. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed ongoing operations in Kursk, framing them as part of Ukraine's effort to restore justice after Russia's 2022 invasion. Speaking in his nightly address, the Ukrainian leader acknowledged discussions with top commander Oleksandr Syrsky about pushing the conflict into Russian territory. "Today, I received several reports from commander-in-chief Syrsky regarding the frontlines and our actions to push the war onto the aggressor's territory," he said. "I am grateful to every unit of the defense forces for ensuring that. Ukraine is proving that it can indeed restore justice and ensure the necessary pressure on the aggressor." In response, Russia has implemented "anti-terrorism measures" in Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk, including transport restrictions, heightened security and surveillance, according to RIA news agency. More than 76,000 people have been evacuated from Kursk as Russia is reinforcing its defenses in the border area. Putin condemned the Ukrainian incursion as a "large-scale provocation" as Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov vowed to counter it. Meanwhile, a Russian missile strike on a supermarket in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk on Friday killed at least 14 people and injured 43 others. Ukraine's Prosecutor General condemned the attack on civilians, though Russia denies targeting civilians. In Sumy, Ukraine, preparations are underway to evacuate 20,000 residents from a 10km border zone in anticipation of further Russian attacks. Sumy Governor Volodymyr Artiukh ordered 28 villages evacuated from a six-mile zone hugging the border. National police said on Friday that 20,000 people would have to leave. Head over to RussiaReport.news for more updates on the escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Watch the video below that talks about Ukraine's recent airstrikes in Russia's Kursk region. This video is from Cynthia's Pursuit of Truth channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Ukraine carrying out major operation targeting journalists and government critics. Kuleba changes tune, now says Ukraine "willing and ready" to sit down with Russia. U.S. dumps another $1.7 billion into Ukraine the very same day U.S. national debt reached $35 trillion. Russia claims U.S.-led peace talks with Ukraine merely a DECOY to distract from West's main goal of destroying Moscow. Sources include: RT.com Aljazeera.com Brighteon.com Johns Hopkins University ordered to add $2M to settlement fund for students not given refunds following cancellation of in-person classes due to COVID lockdowns In March 2020, midway through the spring semester, Johns Hopkins canceled all in-person classes but resisted issuing refunds. The university argued that the online-only classes fulfilled their contractual obligations to students. However, Elena Botts, the former student who initiated the lawsuit, disagreed. (Related: Were COVID lockdowns and "distance learning" PLANNED to make today's kids and the next generation of adults DUMB ENOUGH to vote for more communism?) "Defendant is attempting to replace the irreplaceable on-campus life at an elite university with 'virtual learning' via online classes, and is attempting to pass off this substitute educational experience as the same as or just as good as fully participating in the university's academic life," her suit, filed in May 2020, stated. Johns Hopkins initially sought to dismiss the litigation, but decided to settle after a federal judge rejected its appeal. It cited the uncertainty of the case outcome and the substantial risk and expense of prolonged litigation and appeals as reasons for settling. On July 31, United States District Judge Julie Rubin of the District Court for the District of Maryland signed the order after identifying an additional 2,607 students who had paid for the 2020 spring semester but had not been refunded. Johns Hopkins has been ordered to deposit an additional $2 million into the settlement fund later this year, which would be in addition to the approximately $8 million the university was already previously ordered to pay into the fund. To date, 10,851 students or former students have received or are awaiting payouts from the fund. The amount each student receives varies, depending on factors such as tuition paid. Scholarships are excluded from refunds. An additional 2,607 individuals have been identified as part of the class, all of whom enrolled at Johns Hopkins for the spring of 2020 and did not receive refunds for their tuition and fees. The tuition for a semester at the time was at least $26,150. In addition to the $10 million being paid to students and former students, the university was ordered to pay $2.2 million in attorney fees for the plaintiffs. Botts, who paid approximately $26,600 to attend the university's School of Advanced International Studies as a graduate student, has been awarded about $16,200 for her role as the lead plaintiff. Johns Hopkins has required COVID-19 vaccination for students and staff Aside from not refunding tuition during the lockdown, Johns Hopkins is one of the 68 undergraduate universities that required COVID-19 vaccination for anyone studying or working on-site until February 2024. Johns Hopkins enforces vaccination for anyone studying or working on-site, with non-compliance potentially resulting in a denial of access to university property and electronic resources or disciplinary action under the Student Conduct Code. Meanwhile, fully remote students or employees are exempt, and medical and religious exemptions can be requested. However, exemptions may not fully alleviate the impact on unvaccinated students' education. MedicalTyranny.com has more news about authorities promoting COVID-19 vaccines and lockdowns. Watch Dr. Roger Hodkinson blast the COVID-19 pandemic as a "pack of lies" below. This video is from the What is happening channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Report: VACCINES and LOCKDOWNS are responsible for excess all-cause mortality, not COVID-19 infection. Secret documents reveal that Germany's public health agency knew lockdowns caused more harm than good. Dr. Phil slams the HARMFUL effects of COVID-19 lockdowns on kids. Government told doctors to KILL patients just before first COVID lockdown: "I watched while this happened." Grand jury finds that COVID-19 mask mandates and lockdowns were not effective after all. Sources include: LifeSiteNews.com 1 TheEpochTimes.com LifeSiteNews.com 2 Milwaukee election director suspected of committing voter fraud in 2020 TERMINATED, but not arrested Claire Woodall-Vogg, the woman who while serving as election director in Milwaukee suspiciously produced tens of thousands of ballots for Joe Biden in Wisconsin's close 2020 race, is gone from her position though she has still not been arrested. On election night, Woodall-Vogg and her colleagues joked in emails about how they were deliberately flipping the state from Donald Trump to Biden through voter fraud. "D***, Claire, you have a flair for drama, delivering just the margin needed at 3:00 am," said Ryan Chew from the Election Group in one of the emails to Woodall-Vogg. "I [sic] bet you had those votes counted at midnight, and just wanted to keep the world waiting." At almost the exact moment this email was sent, Milwaukee saw a mysterious 140,000 ballot dump that pushed Biden ahead of Trump, even though it was statistically impossible for this to happen without fraud. In a sworn deposition, Woodall-Vogg admitted that she "printed 64,000 ballots in the back conference room of City Hall, Room 501" for the 2020 election on November 3. City employees and others helped Woodall-Vogg fill out these phony ballots on the 4th, 6th, and other floors of city hall. Between 10-10:30 pm on Election Day, Woodall-Vogg kicked out all election observers. Then, in the early morning hours of around 1:15 am on November 4, Woodall-Vogg brought in the phony ballots to throw the state for Biden. (Related: If nobody stops them, the same people who rigged the Wisconsin vote in 2020 will do it again this November.) Trump won Wisconsin in 2020 Before Woodall-Vogg did the deed, Trump was leading in Wisconsin by 120,000 votes. Her phony ballot dump pushed Biden over the edge, giving him a lead of 20,682 votes over Trump. The Edison reporting system used by The New York Times logged a ballot increase of 168,386 on Nov. 4, 2020, at 3:42 am CST. This is the same time as when Woodall-Vogg brought in roughly that same number of mysterious ballots for Biden. "This batch turned candidate vote percentages around, instantly negating Trump's 2% lead, as a 0.3% Biden lead appeared," tweeted "Khom Pewter" (@KhomPewter). "The percentages changed: From: (50.9% Trump / 47.3% Biden) To: (49.3% Biden / 49% Trump)." "When those percentages of total vote received were pro-rated against the exact count of total ballots tabulated (3,186,598) to that point, this indicated a lead of approximately +110k votes for Trump had turned into a -10k deficit." In order for Biden to see that net gain of 120,000, the batch of 168,386 votes that came in at 3:42 am on Nov. 4, 2020, could have only had 24,000 votes for Trump with all remaining votes for Biden, which is highly unlikely based on statistical distribution. Keep in mind that drop boxes are once again in use in Wisconsin for the 2024 election, which means the same type of steal is likely to occur a second time unless a bomb is dropped that stops it. "In a sane and just country, Claire and each and every one of those employees who participated in this fraud would be arrested and offered plea deals to see how far up the chain this went," another X user wrote. "These individuals did not act on their own." "They stole the 2020 Presidential Election," tweeted "MJTruthUltra" (@MJTruthUltra) on X. "The wrong guy is in the White House." "Claire is walking free ... and now the Deputy Director Paulina Gutierrez has taken over to possibly do the same exact thing again." Another wrote that this type of scam will continue with each election unless there is some kind of accountability for those involved. "When the people who commit these lawless actions are never arrested, charged and prosecuted, it will continue to happen. Want to shut it down?!?! Start prosecuting!" The latest news about the 2024 presidential election can be found at Rigged.news. Sources for this article include: X.com NaturalNews.com Fed grand jury indicts Smartmatic voting machine execs for bribing Philippine official to secure 2016 election contracts The same voting technology company that was accused of rigging the U.S. presidential election in 2020 has just been indicted by a Southern District of Florida federal jury for being involved in a bribery and money laundering scheme to secure contracts related to the 2016 Philippine elections. Election service provider Smartmatic executives, including its president Roger Alejandro Pinate Martinez, a Venezuelan citizen and resident of Boca Raton, Florida, and Jorge Miguel Vasquez, a U.S. citizen and resident of Davie, Florida, allegedly paid at least $1 million to former Philippines' Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Chairman Juan Andres Donato Bautista to ensure that they would be awarded the contracts of machine provider for the elections where former President Rodrigo Duterte was declared a winner. They allegedly funded the bribes by over-invoicing the cost per voting machine, thereby creating a slush fund. "To conceal and disguise the nature and purpose of the corrupt payments, the co-conspirators used coded language to refer to the slush fund and caused the creation of fraudulent contracts and sham loan agreements to justify transfers. The co-conspirators then allegedly laundered funds related to the bribery scheme through bank accounts located in Asia, Europe and the United States, including in the Southern District of Florida," the district court announced in a statement. The release did not explicitly name Smartmatic, but a Google search of the people indicted showed they worked for the election machine company. The court charged the two executives with one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and one substantive violation of the FCPA. Meanwhile Bautista, Pinate and Vasquez as well as another Smartmatic official named Elie Moreno, a dual citizen of Venezuela and Israel, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and three counts of international laundering of monetary instruments. The voting machine firm employees have been since placed on a leave of absence but the company issued a statement of assurance that elections worldwide, where they still provide election services, will still be held with integrity and transparency. "No voter fraud has been alleged and Smartmatic is not indicted. Still, voters worldwide must be assured that the elections they participate in are conducted with the utmost integrity and transparency. These are the values that Smartmatic lives by," the statement said. Back in 2020, Fox News reported the indictment of the Smartmatic executives for allegedly committing U.S. election fraud via their machines in an email to news outlets. In response, Smartmatic filed a $2.7 billion defamation suit against the media agency and its parent company over the network's reporting on the manipulated results of the election claims. (Related: Voting machine company Smartmatic reaches SETTLEMENT with One America News Network over 2020 election coverage.) Bautista denies any wrongdoing in the U.S. money laundering raps Bautista, who headed the Philippines election commission from 2015 to 2017, has turned to X, formerly known as Twitter, to deny any wrongdoing or involvement in the money laundering scheme claiming, he "did not ask for nor receive any bribe money from Smartmatic or any other entity." "I sense these charges were politically influenced by key Philippine officials. The voting machine company won the contract before, during and after my tenure as Chairman, a role I performed during the 2016 elections with zeal and competence in service of the Filipino people," he tweeted. According to reports, Bautista awarded Smartmatic a $199 million contract to supply the Philippines with 94,000 voting machines for the 2016 presidential election. He vowed to face the charges. "I will fight for my exoneration in court and show that I have not committed any crime against the U.S government or the American people nor have I taken advantage or prejudiced them in any way," he said. The Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) launched a probe after Bautista's estranged wife alerted the Philippines' National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) about her husband's alleged ill-gotten wealth worth $17.57 million or P1 billion. NBI has been hunting him since 2019 after the wife's allegation sparked an investigation in the nation's House of Representatives that led to his impeachment. He resigned hours before Congress announced the decision. COMELEC banned Smartmatic in 2023 from bidding on election contracts, but the Supreme Court of the Philippines overturned the ban in April. Neither the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney's Office responded to confirm whether Bautista is already in U.S. custody as he was said to have been hiding in the United States. Head over to VoteFraud.news for more news related to corrupt governments' efforts to rig elections. Sources for this article include: TheNationalPulse.com Justice.gov X.com VOANews.com Rappler.com Ukrainian missile strike kills 400 Russian soldiers in Kursk A Ukrainian missile bombardment has reportedly killed 400 Russian soldiers inside Russia, targeting a convoy in the Kursk region. Footage reveals HIMARS missiles hitting a column of trucks near Rylsk, causing massive explosions and destroying around 14 vehicles loaded with weapons and ammunition. Soldiers are seen scrambling to escape as the convoy is engulfed in flames. The strike occurred amid a surprise Ukrainian offensive that has seen Ukrainian forces capture several villages within Russian territory. New black-and-white footage shows the devastation of the attack, with vehicles overturned and wreckage scattered over 100 meters. In a separate incident, Ukraine launched a kamikaze drone strike on a major Russian bomb store and military airfield in Lipetsk. The precision attack, which resulted in a massive fireball and thick smoke, prompted the regional governor to declare a state of emergency. Reports indicate nine fatalities and significant damage, with roads leading to the village of Oktyabrskoye blocked off. Russian forces are scrambling to respond, with reports suggesting Su-34 bombers have been used in counterattacks on the village of Darino. The Russian Defense Ministry claims to have intercepted 75 drones and sunk seven unmanned boats in the Black Sea. (Related: Germany secretly sent 'huge arms package' to Ukraine media.) The attack has forced Russian officials to declare a state of emergency and evacuate civilians, with claims of Ukrainian forces advancing up to 20 miles into Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has condemned the Ukrainian actions as a "large-scale provocation" and blamed Britain for allegedly aiding the operation, a claim dismissed by many. The scale of the losses and the precision of the Ukrainian strikes have marked one of the most humiliating defeats for Russia in the conflict. The Kursk region in Russia has seen the evacuation of over 76,000 residents, according to local emergency officials. This massive evacuation comes as Ukrainian troops make significant advances into Russian territory, marking the largest incursion since the onset of the full-scale invasion in February 2022. Putin holds urgent meeting to address crisis in Kursk On August 10, Russia's Ministry of Defense released footage depicting tanks, troops and artillery systems being mobilized in Kursk to counter the Ukrainian forces that launched an offensive earlier in the week. The Kremlin also shared videos showing helicopters, fighter jets and drones targeting locations in forested areas. In response to the escalating situation, Russian President Vladimir Putin held an urgent meeting with government officials to address the crisis in Kursk. He described the discussion as focusing on critical aspects of combating terrorism. Shortly after, the regions of Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk, which border Ukraine, announced counter-terrorist operations and a federal emergency was declared. Ukrainian troops surged into Kursk from multiple directions on Aug. 6, quickly overcoming a few checkpoints and field fortifications manned by lightly armed border guards. This surprise offensive prompted a mass exodus of civilians and has put the Russian military under pressure as they attempt to repel the attack. Ukrainian forces released footage on Aug. 9 showing their control over several Russian towns, including Sudzha. In the video, Ukrainian soldiers report that Sudzha remains calm, with intact houses and key facilities under their control. This cross-border raid has provided a morale boost for Ukraine, which has been facing continuous Russian assaults along the extensive frontline. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has yet to comment on the operation. Follow WWIII.news for more stories like this. Watch this clip from InfoWars about Russian President Vladimir Putin believing that Trump is sincere about ending the war in Ukraine. This video is from the Rick Langley channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Germany pledges to expand commitment to Ukraine, agrees to host U.S. cruise missiles. Ukraine commences using German weapons to strike targets on Russian soil. Ukraine claims attack on crowded beach that killed civilians was justifiable because they were "occupiers." Sources include: The-Sun.com EuroNews.com YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki DIES just months after son Marco was found dead in dorm at UC Berkeley In a Facebook post dated Aug. 9, 2024, Dennis Troper announced that his wife Susan Wojcicki, YouTube's CEO and one of Google's earliest employees, passed away after a two-year fight with lung cancer. Just six months after her son Marco Troper died mysteriously in a dorm room at UC Berkeley, Wojcicki passed away as well. (Related: Check out our earlier report to learn more about Marco's sudden death, which was blamed on "a drug.") "It is with profound sadness that I share the news of Susan Wojcicki passing," Troper wrote in the post. "My beloved wife of 26 years and mother to our five children left us today after 2 years of living with non small cell lung cancer." "Susan was not just my best friend and partner in life, but a brilliant mind, a loving mother, and a dear friend to many. Her impact on our family and the world was immeasurable. We are heartbroken, but grateful for the time we had with her. Please keep our family in your thoughts as we navigate this difficult time." Wojcicki turned YouTube into CensorshipTube Wojcicki worked as CEO of YouTube from 2014 through 2023. She was first hired by Google, which owns YouTube, back in 1999 when the company had barely even gotten off the ground. During the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) "pandemic," Wojcicki spearheaded YouTube's censorship efforts. She expanded the platform's medical "misinformation" policy to include anything that contradicts the declarations of government health authorities. "Unbelievably saddened by the loss of my dear friend @SusanWojcicki after two years of living with cancer," wrote Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai in a tribute on X. "She is as core to the history of Google as anyone, and it's hard to imagine the world without her. She was an incredible person, leader and friend who had a tremendous impact on the world and I'm one of countless Googlers who is better for knowing her." Check out the video below featuring Wojcicki discussing her platform's censorship of the Plandemic movie series: Former @YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki has died from cancer ?. Here she discusses censoring @Plandemic3Movie series. YouTube was worst (and still is) at censoring doctors and scientists speaking out against Covid, policies and gene therapies call vaccines. pic.twitter.com/vym63JBBAt Dr Woof ?? (@DrWoofAus) August 10, 2024 Wojcicki attended a World Economic Forum (WEF) event back in 2022 at which she proudly admitted to censoring information that could have helped countless more people avoid succumbing to the "virus" and the "vaccine." "If you look at COVID we came up with ten different policies that we said would be violative like an example of that would be saying that 'COVID came from something other than a virus,'" Wojcicki said at the gathering watch below: YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki proudly admits to censoring information on COVID and demonetizing creators that challenge the mainstream climate change narrative. pic.twitter.com/kKVIanjpGd Mythinformed (@MythinformedMKE) June 1, 2022 A complicated legacy. She helped build YouTube, the greatest font of knowledge & freedom in my generations upbringing, but then she utterly destroyed it, leaving half my generation bitter & resentful. She helped build Google, which opened worlds of wisdom, then oversaw its end pic.twitter.com/tug0PmS7Ix Mike Benz (@MikeBenzCyber) August 10, 2024 Ironically enough, Wojcicki is dead at least in part due to her own censorship. Assuming she got "vaccinated" for the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19), Wojcicki probably developed turbo cancer as a result of getting jabbed, as have millions of other fully vaccinated Americans. "She thought she 'owned' a powerful technology that she intentionally misused against the opposite voices," someone wrote on X about Wojcicki. "This never ends well, for all sides." You can learn about how to deal with cancer naturally at CancerSolutions.news. Sources for this article include: ZeroHedge.com NaturalNews.com According to Nguyen, companys recent actions reducing their workforce by 15% and eliminating non-essential activity raises these concerns: The 15% workforce reduction frees up capital, but are there enough staff redundancies to support this or are they eliminating some essential personnel? Eliminating non-essential activities, like the postponement of the Innovation Expo when there are significant product releases coming up, means that there isnt a coherent marketing push for consumers, partners, analysts, and press. There are, he said, questions remaining about how well Intel can handle additional issues: is this enough to address all immediate and upcoming short-term challenges? Or will they be forced to do more and put themselves in a worse position that may impact them long-term? John Annand, research practice lead at Info-Tech Research Group, put a slightly different spin on the situation, saying that any lack of concern from enterprise customers about the flaw probably says more about how far chip makers have slipped from being the center of the IT world than about the objective scale and severity of the problems facing Intels Raptor Lake CPUs. When the Pentium floating point bug came to light in 1994, he said, it was at the top of everyones mind and quickly part of the broader cultural zeitgeist. We didnt have memes back then, but we did have the B plot of the 2002 West Wing episode when a blue chip company found a defect in one of its 80 million deployed computer chips. Today, said Annand, unless a company CEO has Intel in their personal stock portfolio, this current crop of Intel woes just isnt demanding the same level of executive attention: Reports put the defect rate at four-to-five times that of previous chip generations, which would mean it remains solidly in the single-digit range. The vast majority of documented crashes, he said, occur with certain workloads under specific conditions that cause the CPU to draw too much voltage. Unless you routinely turbocharge your processor (as many retail consumers and gamers are wont to do), maybe this just doesnt rate high enough on the enterprise risk register to get noticed? He pointed out, though, of course, this is not good for Intel. Consumer sales (along with its Foundry business) were one of the two bright spots on the recently ill-received financial report. Compassion, joy in Pinnawala elephant orphanage in Sri Lanka U nder the guidance of elephant trainers, dozens of elephants in Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage in Sri Lanka are crossing streets, passing through alleys and slopes, and finally wading into the Ma Oya River, about 200 meters north of the orphanage for bathing. That was the attractive scene welcomed by tourists in two-storey cafes nearby. The number of elephants had drastically reduced in Sri Lanka due to hunting by colonialists as well as poaching for ivory. In 1975, the Department of Wildlife Conservation established the elephant orphanage by adopting seven orphan baby elephants. Over the past 40 years, the orphanage has adopted injured and astray elephants, and the number has increased to 69 elephants. Primal, a 43-year-old elephant trainer, sees the elephants as his best friends, "I have been guarding them for 22 years, and I feel very happy and fulfilling," he told Xinhua news agency. Primal still remembered an elephant called Migara. "Have you seen Migara, the elephant we sent to China more than 10 years ago? It grew taller, right?" In February 2007, five-year-old Migara, born in the orphanage, was selected by the Sri Lankan president as a national gift to China to celebrate the establishment of 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Now, Migara lives at Beijing Zoo. According to Primal, raising elephant is costly. Fortunately, apart from ticket revenues, the elephants can make a living by themselves. On average, an adult elephant produces over 100 kilograms of dung daily, and local paper companies use dung to make paper. In a workshop by the roadside, elephant dung is made into paper, and then into bookmarks, greeting cards, notebooks, photo albums for tourists. Guo Che, an eight-year-old boy from China, had close contact with the elephants for the first time, and was excited about the experience. "I love elephants so much. I am so happy my parents brought me to Sri Lanka." Compassion, joy in Pinnawala elephant orphanage in Sri Lanka Post your comments Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Indonesia's new capital city receives 3.5 bln USD in investments: President I ndonesia's President Joko Widodo said Monday that the country's new capital city Nusantara has received 56.2 trillion rupiahs (around 3.5 billion US dollars) in investments. "As of today, the investment that has already been received (for the new capital) is 56.2 trillion (rupiahs)," Widodo said during the first cabinet meeting held in Nusantara, broadcast on the official online channel. This figure does not include the state budget used for constructing government buildings and other public facilities. As many as 55 investors have begun constructing business premises in sectors such as banking, healthcare, retail, energy, hospitality, logistics, and housing, Xinhua news agency reported. One of the investors is Prabowo Subianto, a businessman and the president-elect who is expected to take office in October. "I am optimistic that within four to five years, this city will function even better as the capital of the country," Prabowo said. Indonesia's new capital city receives 3.5 bln USD in investments: President Post your comments Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Trump to speak to Musk on X in 'interview of the century' F ormer US President Donald Trump will be interviewed by X owner Elon Muck on the social media platform on Tuesday morning (IST) for what the Trump campaign has called the 'interview of the century'. Musk has endorsed Trump's re-election bid and has been a vocal supporter of the Republican presidential nominee. "It will be the interview of the century," the Trump campaign said on X. The former President was permanently suspended from X in January 2021, when the social media platform was known as Twitter. The ban was lifted by Musk after he bought the platform. Trump returned in August 2023 and has posted just one message since. He remains active, however, on Truth Social, the look-alike social media platform that he launched after being banned from Twitter. It was not immediately clear if the interview will mark the beginning of a more active return for the former President, whose account shows he has 88 million followers on X, which is 80.5 million more than the 7.5 million he has on Truth Social. X gives Trump a much bigger platform, which according to Musk has 600 million monthly active users (other estimates put it at 540 million). Truth Social is much smaller - it had only 5 million monthly active users according to papers it filed during its IPO in March 2024, as reported by Axios. The vast difference in the reach of X and Truth Social won't be lost on Trump, who pays a lot of attention to the size of the crowd for his election rallies and events. Musk is a supporter of Trump and is likely to be a friendly interviewer, but the former President is known to be both a showman and unpredictable, so the interview will be closely followed by his allies and the Harris campaign alike. The Trump campaign needs a bump. Trump had the upper hand in the 2024 presidential elections till President Joe Biden was in the fray. The race has changed since Biden dropped out and endorsed his deputy Kamala Harris. Harris has energised the Democratic party, raised more funds and has taken the lead in polls, even in the key battleground states. Trump to speak to Musk on X in 'interview of the century' Post your comments Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! 'India's cadaver organ donation rate is less than one per million' I ndia's cadaver organ donation rate has been abysmally low and stands at less than one per million people in the country, say doctors. It is estimated that at least three lakh patients in India wait to receive organs at any point in time. On the eve of World Organ Donation Day, which is commemorated on August 13, healthcare professionals in Hyderabad emphasised the need to enhance awareness in society about the importance of organ donation among families on how one deceased donor can save several lives. "While the number of people in need of a suitable organ is increasing by the year, non-availability of organs is a worrying aspect," Dr. Gayatri Kamineni, COO, Kamineni Hospital, told IANS. "One heartening aspect here is Telangana stands among the top five States in the country that have reported the highest number of deceased organ donors. However, on a pan-India basis, the percentage is low, and in many parts of the country, organ donation usually takes place only among the family members," she said. According to Dr Purna Chandra Reddy, Executive Director and Senior Consultant Urologist at Asian Institute of Nephrology & Urology, Hyderabad, they witness the plight of hundreds of patients who are suffering from chronic kidney failure and are in dire need of a suitable kidney. "We come across many young individuals, who have a bright future and can possibly contribute to the betterment of India. But complications arising due to failed kidneys kill their spirit and could possibly lead to an untimely death," said Dr Purna Chandra Reddy. Mangadevi, Vice President, Organ Donation Services, KIMS Group of Hospitals, believes that there is an urgent need that the Government of India in general and the Prime Minister in particular to focus on spreading awareness on organ donation. "We witness numerous living donors who donate their kidneys or liver to their loved ones. It is important we encourage such people to step up and sign up for organ donation. It is also important that the government comes up with some career advancement initiatives which could help the cause. Many healthcare providers do not possess adequate trained staff to declare brain death, and it is important this gap is bridged for a better outcome," she said. Doctors mentioned that the government of India has simplified the process for registering to donate organs. Any interested donor will have to complete the online pledge form, and the organization registered will send a donor card containing the unique government registration number. The National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) records all pledges. Registering as an organ donor is simply a statement of intent to be an organ donor. The card that is sent to the donor has no legal weight, but it is a great means to showcase the donor's noble intention. According to Indian law, a donor's next of kin will decide whether or not to donate organs after his or her death. "Even if you have pledged your organs, no donation will happen unless your next of kin consents. As a result, when you get sworn to be an organ donor, you must discuss your decision with your family. It will allow your family to fulfil your wishes if the need arises," said Mangadevi. She hailed the recent decision by the Andhra Pradesh government to conduct the final rites of organ donors with full state honours and urged all other states in the country to follow suit. 'India's cadaver organ donation rate is less than one per million' Post your comments Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! UP govt assures Centre of timely resolution of issues in NH projects U ttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has assured the Centre of timely resolution of any issues in the execution of national highway projects in the state, an official statement said. At a meeting to review the progress of national highway projects here, the Chief Minister also said on Monday that departmental land will be provided free of charge for the expansion of national highways in Uttar Pradesh. The Chief Minister assured the Central government that any issues in the implementation of national highways in the state would be resolved in a timely manner and the process of land acquisition and compensation distribution would be completed within the stipulated time. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also placed a list of requirements related to national highways in the state before Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari. According to the statement, CM Adityanath underlined that the expansion of national highways will not stop in the state. He told the meeting that in 2017, the state had a total of 48 national highways spanning 8,364 km. By 2024, the number increased to 93 and the length grew to 12,733 km. He, however, pointed out that in terms of population, this is still below the national average of 11.77 km per lakh population. To bring it up to the national average, an additional 11,500 km of national highways will need to be constructed, he said. CM Adityanath also emphasised the need to complete projects related to the Mahakumbh, which will be held in 2025, including the Prayagraj Ring Road, by December 2024. He said Varanasi, Mathura and Ayodhya are the main tourist attractions in the state where the number of tourists and pilgrims is steadily increasing. He emphasised the need to complete the remaining work on the Varanasi Ring Road (Ganga Bridge) and to open the ring road for traffic as soon as possible. The Chief Minister highlighted the importance of declaring the 'Braj 84 Kosi Parikrama' route a national highway and called for strengthening the Ayodhya bypass, the statement said. He said the construction of ring roads in 13 of the 18 divisions of the state is either underway or has been completed. It is also necessary to build ring roads in the remaining five divisions -- Aligarh, Devipatan, Jhansi, Mirzapur and Saharanpur. UP govt assures Centre of timely resolution of issues in NH projects Post your comments Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Illegal immigration saved my life: Trump tells Musk in interview F ormer US President Donald Trump on Monday said that illegal immigration saved his life while talking about the assassination attempt on him at an election rally in a highly anticipated interview with Elon Musk on his social media platform X that was delayed because of a cyberattack. In an audio interview heard by more than a million people on X, Trump and Musk discussed a wide range of issues from immigration to the economy, education, climate change, Russia and Ukraine, the relationship with North Korea's Kim Jong Un, Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping in the context of the 2024 presidential election. The X owner has endorsed the former president against his Democrat rival, Vice President Kamala Harris. According to a post on X by Musk, the interview broadcast was delayed by a distributed denial of service. But once it went on air, the two had a freewheeling conversation that lasted about two hours. They began by talking about the assassination attempt on Trump at an election rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and Musk acknowledged that Trump won his support and endorsement when he called out "fight, fight" as he was being led out of the arena by Secret Service personnel. Trump recalled that he had turned his head towards a chart on illegal immigration and that might have saved his life, agreeing with Musk. "Illegal immigration saved my life. You're right." "The incredible thing though, when you talk about the odds, you had to be exactly at that angle, but, the incredible thing is that the chart I used it less than 20 per cent of the time. It was just a moment, yeah, it's always on my left, never my right, and it is always at the end of the speech. So we have it, it's on the right, not the left. It's at the beginning, not the end. And even the people that put it up, they were unprepared, and they did a great job. They got it up immediately, fortunately. But I looked to the right and the bullet came whizzing by, hitting my ear, so it was too busy. But when you think of the odds of that, and you know that normally, you wouldn't use it, normally, I wouldn't have the thing, and then, you know, would have been a very different story. It's, it's very much, I say, an act of God. It's a miracle that it happened, and I'm honoured by it. I'm honoured by it." Trump has made undocumented immigration the centrepiece of his re-election campaign slamming the Biden-Harris administration for the surge at the southern border with Mexico. The highly anticipated interview of former US President Donald Trump by Elon Musk on the social media platform X that the latter owns was way behind schedule because of technical issues. "There appears to be a massive DDOS attack on X," Musk posted on X 18 minutes after the scheduled start time of 8 p.m. US Eastern "Working on shutting it down". "Worst case," he added, "we will proceed with a smaller number of live listeners and post the conversation later." A distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack is a type of cyberattack in which an attacker overwhelms a website, server, or network resource with malicious traffic, according to one explanation. Six minutes later, Musk posted again: "We tested the system with 8 million concurrent listeners earlier today." Three minutes later, he wrote on X, "We will proceed with the smaller number of concurrent listeners at 8:30 ET and then post the unedited audio immediately thereafter." The former president was permanently suspended from X in January 2021, when the social media platform was known as Twitter. The ban was lifted by Musk after he bought the platform. Trump returned to the platform in August 2023 and has posted just one message since. He remains active, however, on Truth Social, the look-alike social media platform that he launched after being banned from X/Twitter. Trump returned to X with a flurry of posts and picked up over 3,00,000 new followers taking up his total to 88.3 million followers, which is 80.8 million more than the 7.5 million he has on Truth Social. X gives Trump a much bigger platform, which according to Musk has 600 million monthly active users (other estimates put it at 540 million). Truth Social is much smaller -- it had only 5 million monthly active users according to papers it filed during its IPO in March 2024 as reported by Axios. The vast difference in the reach of X and Truth Social won't be lost on Trump, who pays a lot of attention to the size of the crowd for his election rallies and events. Musk is a supporter of Trump and is likely to be a friendly interviewer, but the former president is known to be both a showman and unpredictable and the interview will be closely followed by allies and the Harris campaign. Trump had the upper hand in the 2024 presidential election till President Joe Biden was in the fray. The race has changed since Biden dropped out and endorsed his deputy, Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris has changed the race. She has energized the Democratic party, raised more funds and has taken the lead in polls, even in key battleground states. Illegal immigration saved my life: Trump tells Musk in interview Post your comments Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Trump says he will shut down US education department A fter former US President Donald Trump said on Monday that illegal immigration "saved" his life, he remarked that he wants to shut down the federal department of education. Trump spoke about the assassination attempt on him at an election rally in a highly anticipated interview with Elon Musk on the latter's social media platform X, which was delayed because of a cyberattack. In an audio interview heard by more than a million people on X, Trump and Musk discussed a wide range of issues from immigration to the economy, education, climate change, Russia and Ukraine, relationships with North Korea's Kim Jong-un, Russia's Vladimir Putin and China Xi Jinping in the context of the 2024 presidential election in which the X owner has endorsed the former President against his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris. The broadcast of the interview was delayed by a distributed denial of service, according to a post on X by Musk. But once it went on, the two had a freewheeling conversation that lasted about two hours. They began by talking about the assassination attempt on Trump at an election rally in Butler, Pennsylvania and Musk acknowledged that Trump won his support and endorsement when he called out "fight, fight" as he was being led out of the arena by Secret Service personnel. Trump recalled that he had turned his head towards a chart on illegal immigration and that that might have saved his life, agreeing with Musk. "Illegal immigration saved my life. You're right." "The incredible thing though, when you talk about the odds, you had to be exactly at that angle, but, the incredible thing is that the chart, I used it less than 20 per cent of the time. It was just a moment, yeah, it's always on my left, never my right, and it's always at the end of the speech. So we have it, it's on the right, not the left. It's at the beginning, not the end. And even the people that put it up, they were unprepared, and they did a great job. They got it up immediately, fortunately. But I looked to the right and the bullet came whizzing by, hitting my ear, so it was too busy. But when you think of the odds of that, and you know that normally, you wouldn't use it, normally, I wouldn't have the thing, and then, you know, would have been a very different story. It's, very much, I say, an act of God. It's a miracle that it happened, and I'm honoured by it." Trump has made undocumented immigration a centerpiece of his critique of the Biden-Harris administration saying that it threw open the southern border with Mexico. But he forced Republican lawmakers to kill a bipartisan legislation to end it because he did not want to be denied the chance to run on the issue. The former President also vowed to shut down the federal department of education that was created in 1980, according to its website, to lay down policies on federal financial aid for education, and distributing as well as monitoring those funds; collecting data on America's schools and disseminating research; focusing national attention on key educational issues; and prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equal access to education. Trump said: "We're ranked at the bottom of every list of the top 40. We're ranked number 40, number 38 Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, different countries are ranked good. Actually, China is pretty close to the top. There are top six or seven, but we're ranked at the bottom, almost at the bottom, 38 3940 In other words, horrible. And yet we spend more per pupil than any other country in the world. And what I'm going to do is one of the first acts, and this is where I need an Elon Musk. I need somebody that has a lot of strength and courage in sports. I want to close up the Department of Education." The highly anticipated interview of former US President Donald Trump by Elon Musk on X was way behind schedule because of technical issues. "There appears to be a massive DDOS attack on X," Musk posted on X 18 minutes after the scheduled start time of 8 p.m. US Eastern "Working on shutting it down." "Worst case," he added, "We will proceed with a smaller number of live listeners and post the conversation later." A distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack is a type of cyberattack in which an attacker overwhelms a website, server, or network resource with malicious traffic, according to one explanation. Six minutes later, Musk posted again: "We tested the system with 8 million concurrent listeners earlier today." Three minutes later, he wrote on X: "We will proceed with the smaller number of concurrent listeners at 8:30 ET and then post the unedited audio immediately thereafter." The former President was permanently suspended from X in January 2021, when the social media platform was known as Twitter. The ban was lifted by Musk after he bought the platform. Trump returned in August 2023 and has posted just one message since. He remains active, however, on Truth Social, the look-alike social media platform that he launched after being banned from X/Twitter. Trump returned to X with a flurry of posts and picked up over 300,000 new followers taking up his total to 88.3 million followers, which is 80.8 million more than the 7.5 million he has on Truth Social. X gives Trump a much bigger platform, which, according to Musk, has 600 million monthly active users (other estimates put it at 540 million). Truth Social is much smaller -- it had only 5 million monthly active users according to papers it filed during its IPO in March 2024 as reported by Axios. The vast difference in the reach of X and Truth Social won't be lost on Trump, who pays a lot of attention to the size of crowd for his election rallies and events. Musk is a supporter of Trump and is likely to be a friendly interviewer, but the former President is known to be both a showman and unpredictable and the interview will be closely followed by allies and the Harris campaign. The Trump campaign needs a bump. Trump had the upper hand in the 2024 presidential election till President Joe Biden was in the fray. The race has changed since Biden dropped out and endorsed his deputy, Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris has changed the race. She has energised the Democratic party, raised more funds and has taken the lead in polls, even in key battleground states. Trump says he will shut down US education department Post your comments Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Vice President flags off 'Har Ghar Tiranga' Bike Rally, urges national unity V ice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday flagged off the 'Har Ghar Tiranga' Bike Rally in New Delhi, emphasising the paramount importance of national unity and patriotism. Speaking at the event, organised at Pragati Maidan of the national capital as part of the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' celebrations, Dhankhar expressed concern that some people are still politicising national sentiments rather than embracing the spirit of patriotism. "The 'Tiranga' (Tricolour) teaches us that no matter the conditions and challenges, nothing is above the national sentiment," the Vice President said. He urged all citizens to prioritise the nation's interests over political ones, stating, "The whole country is understanding it, but some people are not understanding it and politicising the situation. I urge all the countrymen that in order to secure the nation's interest, we need to come together and sideline the political interests." The Rajya Sabha Chairman highlighted the significance of the Tricolour, noting, "The colours in our flag are full of energy and vibrancy. They reflect the mood of the nation and the spirit of the moment." The Vice President also spoke about the success of the 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign, which started in 2021 as part of the 75th Independence Day's 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav'. He said that the initiative encourages people to hoist the Tricolour at their homes and that year's participation would set a new record. He underscored the campaign's role in fostering nationalism and patriotism, stating, "The motive of this initiative is to spark the feeling of nationalism and patriotism in people's hearts and to make them aware of the national flag of the country." Reflecting on India's recent achievements, the Vice President said, "Har Ghar Tiranga showcases our Independence, pride, and commitment to a Viksit Bharat (Developed India). This is a signal that this century is India's century." He highlighted India's economic progress, noting that the nation has become one of the world's five largest economies and is on its way to becoming the third-largest. The Vice President concluded his remarks by paying tribute to freedom fighter Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, who hoisted the Tricolour in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on December 30, 1943, during British rule. He stated, "Har Ghar Tiranga symbolises us being Indian. We are Indians, and being Indian is our identity, our blood, and a challenge to it is a challenge to our existence. We pledge to keep the pride of our Tricolour high." Vice President flags off 'Har Ghar Tiranga' Bike Rally, urges national unity Post your comments Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Russia sends hundreds of goats to North Korea amid deepening bilateral ties R ussia's agriculture safety watchdog has approved the shipment of 447 goats to North Korea after reviewing related veterinary and sanitary conditions, according to its website, amid deepening cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow. After veterinary inspection, 432 female and 15 male goats were sent to a North Korean trading company in the first batch of exports of live animals to the North, reports Yonhap news agency, quoting the statement posted on the website of Russia's Rosselkhoznadzor. The shipment was intended to be delivered from Russia's Leningrad region to North Korea's border city of Rason, it said. The move came as North Korea and Russia have been bolstering the scope of their cooperation following last year's summit between the North's leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The shipment of goats appears to be aimed at providing dairy products to North Korean children amid its chronic food shortages. North Korea's state media Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on August 9 that goat farms with a large capacity have been built in parts of the western port city of Nampho. "As a result, the foundation has been consolidated to smoothly provide dairy products for the children in the municipality," reports Yonhap news agency, quoting KCNA, adding that the municipality is spurring efforts to increase the number of goats of good breed in a bid to boost the output of dairy products. At a plenary party meeting in June 2021, Kim called for setting a party policy to supply all children across the country with dairy products and other nutritious food at the expense of state funds. Russia sends hundreds of goats to North Korea amid deepening bilateral ties Post your comments Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Download Now The News-Gazette mobile app brings you the latest local breaking news, updates, and more. Read the News-Gazette on your mobile device just as it appears in print. Dave Hinton is editor of The News-Gazette's Our County section and former editor of the Rantoul Press. He can be reached at dhinton@news-gazette.com. "The American system of government comes with laws and reasonable limitations to preserve order and safety that apply to all citizens regardless of the opinions they may wish to express, regardless of whether the cause in question is righteous or abhorrent, or whether there is no cause being championed at all." Researchers at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center have completed the most extensive mapping of healthy breast cells to date. These findings offer an important tool for researchers at IU and beyond to understand how breast cancer develops and the differences in breast tissue among genetic ancestries. Published this month in Nature Medicine, researchers developed a comprehensive atlas of breast tissue cells including details on how genome is organized in each cell type and the effects of this genome organization on how RNA is made in each cell type to drive their function in various parts of the breast using healthy breast tissue from women of diverse ancestry. Breast cancer shows variability in the outcome based on your genetic ancestry. While socio-economics are certainly a contributing factor, we believe biology and ancestry also play a role. This study will help us to address that biological, ancestral aspect." Harikrishna Nakshatri, PhD, senior author of the study Nakshatri is the Marian J. Morrison Professor of Breast Cancer Research at IU School of Medicine and a researcher of the Vera Bradley Foundation Center for Breast Cancer Research at the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center. Nakshatri's lab sequenced 88,000 cell nuclei from 92 women who donated healthy breast tissue to the Komen Tissue Bank at the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center. The donors included people of African, European, Indigenous American, Hispanic, East Asian, Southeast Asian and Ashkenazi-Jewish-European ancestry. The cell mapping includes data not only on the genes expressed in various cell types, but also on how the genes are organized and what specific gene expressions are limited to each cell type. Researchers know breast cancer most often originates in specific cell types and where it originates leads to different cancer type and treatment responses. This study could improve understanding of breast cancer development and lead to identifying new treatment targets. "This research aimed to understand the building blocks of the normal breast meaning how many different cell types exist in the normal breast and do the building blocks of the cells show genetic ancestry-dependent variability," Nakshatri said. "Unless we know from which cell types of the breast the cancer originates, we can't really figure out what exactly is going wrong in breast cancer compared to the normal breast." Previously available research resources have used normal tissue from breast cancer surgeries and reduction mammoplasty samples. The Komen Tissue Bank, the world's only healthy breast tissue bank, offers IU researchers a unique opportunity for this study. "We are using tissue from women who are clinically free of breast cancer; for that reason, we do believe the data that we created are close to perfect-;truly the closest you can get," Nakshatri said. "The data we generated from this is going to stay in perpetuity because it's going to be used by many, many groups for future research." The cell atlas information from the study will be broadly available to breast cancer researchers through databases offered by the National Institutes of Health, Human Cell Atlas and Chan Zuckerberg CELL by GENE Discover. This research is the culmination of nearly five years of intense work from the Nakshatri lab and with bioinformatic analysis. Additional IU School of Medicine and IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center authors include Poornima Bhat-Nakshatri, Hongyu Gao, Aditi S. Khatpe, Adedeji K. Adebayo, Patrick C. McGuire, Cihat Erdogan, Duojiao Chen, Guanglong Jiang, Rana German, Lydia Emmert, George Sandusky, Anna Maria Storniolo and Yunlong Liu. Terms While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. We do not provide medical advice, if you search for medical information you must always consult a medical professional before acting on any information provided. Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles. Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information. Read the full Terms & Conditions. A bill pending in California's legislature to ratchet up oversight of private equity investments in health care is receiving enthusiastic backing from consumer advocates, labor unions, and the California Medical Association, but drawing heavy fire from hospitals concerned about losing a potential funding source. The legislation, sponsored by Attorney General Rob Bonta, would require private equity groups and hedge funds to notify his office of planned purchases of many types of health care businesses and obtain its consent. It also reinforces state laws that bar nonphysicians from directly employing doctors or directing their activities, which is a primary reason for the doctor association's support. Private equity firms raise money from institutional investors such as pension funds and typically acquire companies they believe can be run more profitably. Then they look to boost earnings and sell the assets for multiples of what they paid for them. That can be good for future retirees and sometimes for mismanaged companies that need a capital infusion and a new direction. But critics say the profit-first approach isn't good for health care. Private equity deals in the sector are coming under increased scrutiny around the country amid mounting evidence that they often lead to higher prices, lower-quality care, and reduced access to core health services. Opponents of the bill, led by the state's hospital association, the California Chamber of Commerce, and a national private equity advocacy group, say it would discourage much-needed investment. The hospital industry has already persuaded lawmakers to exempt sales of for-profit hospitals from the proposed law. "We preferred not to make that amendment," Bonta said in an interview. "But we still have a strong bill that provides very important protections." The legislation would still apply to a broad swath of medical businesses, including clinics, physician groups, nursing homes, testing labs, and outpatient facilities, among others. Nonprofit hospital deals are already subject to the attorney general's review. A final vote on the bill could come this month if a state Senate committee moves it forward. Nationally, private equity investors have spent $1 trillion on health care acquisitions in the past decade, according to a report by The Commonwealth Fund. Physician practices have been especially attractive to them, with transactions growing sixfold in a decade and often leading to significant price increases. Other types of outpatient services, as well as clinics, have also been targets. In California, the value of private equity health care deals grew more than twentyfold from 2005 to 2021, from less than $1 billion to $20 billion, according to the California Health Care Foundation. Private equity firms are tracking the pending legislation closely but so far haven't slowed investment in California, according to a new report from the research firm PitchBook. Multiple studies, as well as a series of reports by KFF Health News, have documented some of the difficulties created by private equity in health care. Research published last December in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed a larger likelihood of adverse events such as patient infections and falls at private equity hospitals compared with others. Analysts say more research is needed on how patient care is being affected but that the impact on cost is clear. "We can be almost certain that after a private equity acquisition, we're going to be paying more for the same thing or for something that's gotten worse," said Kristof Stremikis, director of Market Analysis and Insight at the California Health Care Foundation. Most private equity deals in health care are below the $119.5 million threshold that triggers a requirement to notify federal regulators, so they often slide under the government radar. The Federal Trade Commission is stepping up scrutiny, and last year it sued a private equity-backed anesthesia group for anticompetitive practices in Texas. Lawmakers in several other states, including Connecticut, Minnesota, and Massachusetts, have proposed legislation that would subject private equity deals to greater transparency. Not all private equity firms are bad operators, said Assembly member Jim Wood, a Democrat from Healdsburg, but review is essential: "If you are a good entity, you shouldn't fear this." The bill would require the attorney general to examine proposed transactions to determine their impact on the quality and accessibility of care, as well as on regional competition and prices. Critics note that private equity deals are often financed with debt that is then owed by the acquired company. In many cases, private equity groups sell off real estate to generate immediate returns for investors and the new owners of the property then charge the acquired company rent. That was a factor in the financial collapse of Steward Health Care, a multistate hospital system that was owned by the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management from 2010 to 2020, according to a report by the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, a nonprofit that supports the California bill. Steward filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May. "Almost all of the most distressed US healthcare companies are owned by private equity firms," according to another study by the group. Opponents of the legislation argue it would dampen much-needed investment in an industry with soaring operating costs. "Our concern is that it will cut off funding that can improve health care," said Ned Wigglesworth, a spokesperson for Californians to Protect Community Health Care, a coalition of groups fighting the legislation. The prospect of having to submit to a lengthy review by the attorney general, he said, would create "a chilling effect on private funders." Proponents of private equity investment point to what they say are notable successes in California health care. Children's Choice Dental Care, for example, said in a letter to state senators that it logs over 227,000 dental visits annually, mostly with children on Medi-Cal, the health insurance program for low-income Californians. "We have been able to expand to 25 locations, because we have been able to access capital from a private equity firm," the group wrote. Ivy Fertility, with clinics in California and eight other states, said in a letter to state senators that private investment has expanded its ability to provide fertility treatments at a time when demand for them is increasing. Researchers note that private equity investors are hardly alone when it comes to health care profiteering, which extends even to nonprofits. Sutter Health, a major nonprofit hospital chain, for example, settled for $575 million in a lawsuit brought by then-Attorney General Xavier Becerra, for unfair contracting and pricing. "It's helpful to look at ownership classes like private equity, but at the end of the day we should look at behavior, and anyone can do the things that private equity firms do," said Christopher Cai, a physician and health policy researcher at Harvard Medical School. He added, though, that private equity investors are "more likely to engage in financially risky or purely profit-driven behavior." This article was produced by KFF Health News, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation. Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, in partnership with University of Utah Health, has been approved for $12 million in research funding by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) for a study that will compare two ways to use antibiotics in young children with mild pneumonia, one of the leading reasons children seek acute care, who are well enough to be cared for at home. The first approach is to prescribe and give antibiotics immediately, which is the current standard of care. The second way is to prescribe an antibiotic but not give it unless the child's symptoms worsen or do not improve within three days, an approach that is known as a Safety-Net Antibiotic Prescription (SNAP). The study aims to determine whether SNAP, compared to immediate prescribing, results in decreased antibiotic use and similar clinical improvement in children with mild pneumonia. Most pneumonias in young children are caused by a virus, which the body fights off without antibiotics. Despite this, most children with pneumonia are currently treated with antibiotics. It is important to avoid exposing children to unnecessary antibiotics for many reasons, including their side effects, such as rashes that can mimic allergies or an upset stomach. We also want to avoid the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, a global health threat. A SNAP treatment strategy is currently recommended for ear infections in children and has safely decreased antibiotic use for this condition. This strategy has not been evaluated in pneumonia. We hope our study shows a similar impact and identifies factors that influence implementation of a SNAP strategy." Todd Florin, MD, MSCE, Co-Principal Investigator, Associate Division Head for Academic Affairs and Research in the Division of Emergency Medicine at Lurie Children's and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine The research team is working with 12 pediatric primary care offices and three urgent care centers that are part of the Pediatric Research Consortium at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and four pediatric emergency departments across the country, including Lurie Children's and Utah's Intermountain Primary Children's Hospital, to enroll 1,823 children between 1 and 6 years of age who have been diagnosed with mild pneumonia. The team will assign children randomly to a group that receives immediate antibiotic prescribing or to a group that uses the SNAP approach. The research team will follow up with the parent/guardian three times over the 14 days after the child's appointment to collect information about symptom improvement, antibiotic use, return to healthcare, child quality of life, parent satisfaction, and antibiotic side effects. The research team will also study how SNAP is implemented by talking to parents/guardians and pediatricians about factors that might make it easier or harder to use this approach. "The decision to compare immediate antibiotic prescribing and the SNAP approach was informed by our research on how parents and pediatricians feel about navigating the care of children with pneumonia in real-world settings," said Co-Principal Investigator Julia E. Szymczak, PhD, Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Co-Director of the Utah Quality Advancement Laboratory in the Department of Internal Medicine at the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at U of U Health. "It is important for researchers to generate evidence that patients and clinicians need to guide difficult healthcare decisions, such as when to use an antibiotic. Nobody wants to give unnecessary medicine, but it is scary to care for a child with pneumonia and it's often unclear whether an antibiotic will help. SNAP empowers parents to give their child a chance to fight off the infection on their own while also having fast access to antibiotics if it becomes clear they are needed." The study was selected through PCORI's highly competitive review process in which patients, caregivers and other stakeholders join scientists to evaluate proposals. The award has been approved pending completion of PCORI's business and programmatic review and issuance of a formal award contract. Professor Hiroki R. Ueda (RIKEN Center for Functional Biology, concurrently team lead), Dr. Kazuhiro Kon (at the time of the research, currently a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University) and their colleagues at Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, have elucidated the importance of proper regulation of the activity of parvalbumin (PV)-expressing neurons, the major inhibitory neurons in the cerebral cortex, in the long, deep sleep (rebound sleep) that occurs after prolonged wakefulness. We have all experienced at one time or another that when we are sleep deprived, such as when we pull an all-nighter, we feel a strong sense of sleepiness, and our subsequent sleep is longer and deeper than usual. This indicates that the brain has a mechanism (sleep homeostasis) that records the history of wakefulness and compensates for the sleep needed based on that history. However, the mechanism of sleep homeostasis in the brain is not well understood. By experimentally depriving mice of sleep, this research group showed that PV-expressing neurons in the cerebral cortex are activated when sleepiness increases and rebound sleep occurs. Furthermore, they elucidated that the activation of calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CaMKII), a protein phosphorylation enzyme, causes rebound sleep by activating PV-expressing neurons in response to sleepiness. This study reveals a part of the molecular and neural mechanisms of sleep homeostasis, one of the major mysteries of sleep science. These results are expected to lead to the development of methods to appropriately control sleepiness while quantitatively monitoring it. This result was obtained from JST Strategic Basic Research Programs ERATO: Research Project "UEDA Biological Timing." The project aims to elucidate the biological timing mechanisms underlying sleep-wake cycles by applying state-of-the-art technology in mouse genetics and human sleep measurement techniques. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Tuesday announced changes to its schedule for August 15 in observance of Independence Day. On this date, metro services will commence at 4 AM from all terminal stations across all lines. According to a statement from DMRC officials, from 4 AM to 6 AM on Thursday morning, trains will run every 15 minutes. After this period, the regular timetable will resume. Additionally, individuals holding an invitation card issued by the Ministry of Defense for Independence Day celebrations will be permitted entry and travel by presenting a valid photo ID at the station. Invitation cards issued by the ministry will be valid for entry and exit at these stations and return journeys from them only. DMRC Principal Executive Director Anuj Dayal announced special arrangements for three metro stations on Independence Day. The arrangements will be in effect at Lal Quila, Jama Masjid, and Chandni Chowk metro stations, which are nearest to the event venue. METRO SERVICES TO COMMENCE AT 04:00 AM ON INDEPENDENCE DAYTo facilitate the public to attend the Independence Day ceremony on Thursday, 15th August 2024, the Delhi Metro will commence its services at 04:00 AM on all its Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (@OfficialDMRC) August 13, 2024 Dayal also noted that regular announcements will be made inside the trains to keep passengers informed about these special arrangements. Additionally, the Defence Ministry will reimburse DMRC for the expenses incurred due to the arrangements. Vistara Airlines is celebrating Indias 78th Independence Day with a special Freedom Sale. The airline is offering amazing discounts on domestic and international flights across all cabin classes. For domestic travelers, Economy Class fares start as low as Rs 1,578 for a one-way ticket from Bagdogra to Dibrugarh. If you prefer Premium Economy, you can fly from Mumbai to Ahmedabad for just Rs 2,678. Business Class passengers can also enjoy a special fare of Rs 9,978 from Mumbai to Ahmedabad. Celebrating Indias 78th Independence Day with the Freedom Sale!Domestic one-way fares start at INR 1578 & International return fares start at INR 11978 all-in.Book until 15-August-2024 for travel until 31-October-2024. Vistara (@airvistara) August 9, 2024 According to Mint, international travelers can book return tickets starting at Rs 11,978 in Economy Class for flights from Delhi to Kathmandu. Premium Economy fares for the same route begin at Rs 13,978, and Business Class tickets are available from Rs 46,978. Since its a limited time offer, book your tickets by 11:59 PM on August 15 for travel until October 31. Tickets can be booked through Vistaras official website, mobile apps, Airport Ticket Offices (ATOs), call centres, OTAs, and travel agents. Key Details The sale is valid on direct flights for one-way and return journeys in Economy, Premium Economy, and Business Class within India. Discounts are available on selected international routes, including Abu Dhabi, Bali, Bangkok, Colombo, and more. Domestic fares are applicable on base fares, with additional charges for convenience fees. International fares include convenience fees. Terms & Conditions With limited parking space at the Pune Airport, airlines face difficulties such as delayed boarding, flight delays, and longer waiting times, causing inconvenience to passengers. This issue has been a recurring problem since faulty aircrafts are parked in its existing parking bay and other passenger planes have to wait for parking availability, leading to delays in flights. Hence, to combat this issue, the Pune Airport Authority of India (AAI) has come up with a solution of creating a separate space or remote bay at the airport. The Pune AAI has sent a letter to headquarters requesting additional space as a remote bay at Lohegaon Pune Airport for parking aircrafts. As of now, the Pune Airport has space for parking only 10 aircrafts. When ground aircraft are parked in the existing parking space for seven to eight days or sometimes even a month, passenger planes are adversely effected. Sometimes, passenger flights are instructed to go around and they hover over the airport till the time they receive instructions to land. There are also times when passengers are not allowed to exit the plane even after landing at the airport. While speaking to the Hindustan Times, a frequent flyer named Vipul Alekar shared, I often travel from Pune Airport and many a time when the flight is landing, we have to wait till it gets space to park. Sometimes, the flight hovers over the airport till it gets landing instructions. It will certainly be beneficial for everyone if new parking bays are added. It is worth noting that an Air India flight from Pune to Delhi met with an accident on May 16, and the aircraft was kept in parking bay number 1 for one-and-a-half months, restricting the passenger planes from using that space. Hence, considering the problem, the administration has proposed three remote bays that will eliminate the obstacles in travel. Remote bays are already available in a few airports across the country, such as Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai. Pune Airport director Santosh Dhoke stated, Considering the number of parking bays, three remote bays are proposed. However, additional space is required for that and the work of getting that space is underway. A remote bay will be provided at the Pune Airport location as space becomes available, reported the Hindustan Times. With this initiative, the airport authority is expecting to bring more efficiency in the scheduling of flights. Stocks to watch on August 13, 2024: Domestic markets started the week on a volatile note due to mixed signals but ended largely unchanged. In todays trade, shares of Vodafone Idea, Hindalco, Nykaa, Hero MotoCorp, Marico, Wipro among others will be in focus due to various news developments and due to first quarter results Key earnings to watch Hero MotoCorp, Hindalco Industries, FSN E-Commerce Ventures Nykaa, Allied Blenders and Distillers, Allcargo Logistics, Anupam Rasayan India, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, Ashoka Buildcon, Dilip Buildcon, Eclerx Services, Emcure Pharmaceuticals, Endurance Technologies, Godrej Industries, HEG, Ipca Laboratories, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, Manappuram Finance, Medi Assist Healthcare Services, Max Financial Services, Samvardhana Motherson International, MTAR Technologies, Muthoot Finance, Nazara Technologies, NBCC India, Piramal Enterprises, Religare Enterprises, SJVN, and TBO Tek will announce their Q1 FY25 results on August 13. Vodafone Idea: Vodafone Ideas net loss for the April-June quarter narrowed to Rs 6,432 crore from Rs 7,674 crore in the preceding quarter, owing to the fall in expenses, especially the finance costs. ONGC: The ministry of petroleum and natural gas on Monday allowed the allocation of gas produced from new wells or well interventions from nominated fields of state-owned upstream companies ONGC and Oil India at a 20% premium over the administered price mechanism (APM price) or the domestic natural gas price. IRFC: IRFCs net profit remained flat on a yearly basis, coming in at Rs 1,576 crore, compared to Rs 1,551 crore last year. The railway financier reported revenue of Rs 6,765 crore, which is a growth of 1.4% from the revenue of Rs 6,673 crore that it reported in the same quarter of last year. Wipro: Wipro announced that its Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Subha Tatavarti has resigned from the services of the company to pursue opportunities outside of the IT firm. In her resignation letter, she wrote, I am resigning from the post of CTO, Wipro effective August 16th. Good luck with your journey. Subha Tatavarti will be stepping down as Chief Technology Officer with effect from the close of business hours on August 16, 2024. VA Tech Wabag: VA Tech Wabag, a pure-play water technology company, has secured a repeat order worth Rs 415 crore from the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB). The order is towards the operation and maintenance of 110 megaliters per day SWRO Desalination Plant at Nemmeli in Chennai for a period of 7 years. Power Grid Corp: Power Grid Corporation said it has bagged a transmission project in Rajasthan under tariff-based competitive bidding. Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (Power Grid) has on 12th August 2024, received a Letter of Intent (LoI) for acquiring a Project Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) viz. Bhadla-III Power Transmission Ltd for establishing the transmission system associated with Additional Transmission System for Evacuation of Power from Bhadla-III PS as Part of Rajasthan REZ Phase-III Scheme (20 GW), a company statement said. JSW Steel: JSW Steel will acquire the controlling stake in an Australian miner for $170 million as Indias largest steelmaker seeks to secure the supply of coking coala key raw material that is scarce in Indiato meet its expansion plans. The companys board approved to pay $120 million for a 66.67% stake in M Res NSW HCC Pty Ltd, according to an exchange filing. Hindustan Copper: Hindustan Coppers net profit surged to Rs 113 crore from Rs 47 crore last year. This, despite higher employee expenses, power and fuel costs, and lower other income. The bottom line was aided by an increase in revenue, which grew by 33% from the same period last year to Rs 493.6 crore. NMDC: National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,970.80 crore for the quarter ending June, increasing 19% on year from Rs 1,652.2 crore in the year-ago period, amid increased realisations. NMDCs consolidated revenue from operations was flat at Rs 5,414.2 crore in the quarter ended June 30. Struggling coffee chain Starbucks on Tuesday said its CEO Laxman Narasimhan is stepping down immediately after just a year in the role. Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol will be its new chairman and CEO, effective September 9. Niccol has been leading Mexican-inspired food chain Chipotle since 2018. Starbucks in a statement said Niccol has set new standards in the industry and driven significant growth and value creation, pointing to its revenue growing nearly 800 per cent during his tenure. Starbucks chief financial officer, Rachel Ruggeri, will serve as interim CEO until that time. Mellody Hobson, Starbucks board chair, will become lead independent director, Starbucks said in the statement. We are thrilled to welcome Brian to Starbucks. His phenomenal career speaks for itself. Brian is a culture carrier who brings a wealth of experience and a proven track record of driving innovation and growth. Like all of us at Starbucks, he understands that a remarkable customer experience is rooted in an exceptional partner experience, said Hobson. Our board believes he will be a transformative leader for our company, our people, and everyone we serve around the world. Niccol said: I am excited to join Starbucks and grateful for the opportunity to help steward this incredible company, alongside hundreds of thousands of devoted partners. I have long-admired Starbucks iconic brand, unique culture and commitment to enhancing human connections around the globe. As I embark upon this journey, I am energized by the tremendous potential to drive growth and further enhance the Starbucks experience for our customers and partners, while staying true to our mission and values, he added Laxman Narasimhan is stepping down from his role as ceo and as a member of the Starbucks board with immediate effect. During his tenure, he improved the Starbucks partner experience, drove significant innovation in our supply chain, and enhanced our store operations, Starbucks stated. On behalf of the board, I want to sincerely thank Laxman for his contributions to Starbucks, and his dedication to our people and brand, said Hobson. In the face of some challenging headwinds, Laxman has been laser focused on improving the business to meet the needs of our customers and partners. We all wish him the very best and know he will do great things in the future. Niccol joined Chipotle as Chief Executive Officer and a director in March 2018, and became Chairman of the Board in March 2020. Before joining Chipotle, he served as Chief Executive of Taco Bell. Before becoming CEO he held roles including Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer, and President. He also served in leadership roles at Pizza Hut, another division of Yum! Brands. He began his career in brand management at Procter and Gamble. The 54th GST Council meeting will be conducted on September 9, 2024, in New Delhi. The GST Council, which is headed by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprises representatives of all states and UTs, is the apex decision-making body for indirect taxes in India. The 54th Meeting of GST Council will be held on 9th September, 2024 at New Delhi, the GST Council said in a post on X Tuesday. The 54th Meeting of the GST Council will be held on 9th September, 2024 at New Delhi. GST Council (@GST_Council) August 13, 2024 The Council is likely to discuss rate rationalisation, compliance measures, ITC reforms, among others. The previous 53rd meeting was held on June 22, 2024. In the meeting, the GST Council announced various recommendations relating to taxation, ITC claims and demand notices. It recommended a uniform rate of 12% on all milk cans. Waiver of interest on penalties on tax demand notice was also recommended by the Council. The Jharkhand Combined Entrance Competitive Examination Board (JCECEB) has begun the Jharkhand NEET UG counselling 2024 registration process. Those seeking admission to MBBS and BDS seats in Jharkhand and have cleared NEET can apply for the round 1 counselling process on the official website at jceceb.jharkhand.gov.in. The last date to apply is August 17. The merit list will be out on August 20. Eligible students must register themselves by indicating their preferred college and course once the application process commences. Candidates must score the required minimum qualifying percentile for NEET to be eligible to apply for counselling. The authorities will conduct Jharkhand MBBS 2024 counselling based on the merit list, seats available, cut-off, and other variables. Jharkhand NEET UG 2024 counselling: How to Register? Step 1. Go to the official website of Jharkhand NEET UG Step 2. On the homepage, click on the registration link Step 3. After entering your login information, click on Submit. Step 4. Complete the application and submit the required application fee. Step 5. If necessary, upload the appropriate documents. Step 6. Now click on the submit button to download the page. Step 7. Save a hard copy of it for your later use. The Jharkhand NEET counselling conducting body would check all of the candidates documents before allocating seats to candidates. Only those applicants who successfully complete all formalities would be considered qualified for Jharkhand NEET UG 2024 admissions. Jharkhand NEET UG 2024 counselling: Documents required Class 10 and 12 marks sheet Recent passport-size photographs Category certificate Class 10 and 12 passing certificate Local/Permanent resident certificate NEET 2024admit card Photo ID proof NEET 2024 scorecard Based on the registration of all the students, the board will release the Jharkhand NEET UG Counseling 2024 merit list. Once out, it can be checked on the official website of JCECEB. This list will contain seat availability, cut-off and other important details. Those candidates who do not get any seat allotted for themselves in the first round of counselling for Jharkhand NEET will be eligible to participate in the subsequent rounds. The nation was left shocked after a brutal rape and murder case from Kolkata came to light on August 9. The semi-nude body of a woman doctor was found in the Seminar Hall of RG Kar Medical College on Friday morning. The victim was a second-year postgraduate student of the medical college and was on duty on Thursday night. While initially it was called to be a case of suicide, after investigation it was learned that the victim had been raped and murdered brutally. A suspect named Sanjay Roy was arrested on Saturday. This has led to angry protests by the doctors demanding justice for the deceased and better security and other provisions. Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Kumar Goyal is handling the case. Who is he? Let us get to know him. In December 2021, Senior IPS Officer Vineet Kumar Goyal replaced Soumen Mitra as the New Police Commissioner. The IPS is considered to be close to West Bengals Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. He is a 1994 batch officer. He is an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur and IIT Kanpur. The respectable officer has served in Kolkata Police as Deputy Commissioner of Police, Eastern Suburban Division, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Special Branch and Deputy Commissioner of Police, Headquarters. Apart from this, he has also served as Joint Commissioner of Police, Special Task Force and Joint Commissioner of Police, Traffic and as Additional Commissioner of Police. The well-decorated officer has been awarded twice the Police Medal for Gallantry and is the recipient of the Police Medal for Meritorious Service and the Chief Ministers Medal for Outstanding Service. In June, there were reports that the Union Home Ministry had initiated disciplinary action against Vineet Goyal and a DCP for allegedly maligning the office of the West Bengal Governor. No action has been taken by the CM till now. Coming back to the horrendous incident, the college informed the police who reportedly took immediate action. As per reports, they found a Bluetooth earpiece which belonged to Sanjay Roy. Under Police Commissioner Vineet Kumar Goyals leadership, the team quickly arrested him and took him on remand. The cops stated that the 31-year-old trainee doctor was raped and murdered. The schedule for elections in Jammu and Kashmir may be announced next week, around August 20, which is the deadline for the final publication of the electoral rolls for the union territory. News18 has learnt that voting could be held in four to five phases, starting probably in the third week of September and stretching till October. Forces stationed in J&K for the Amarnath Yatra will remain there after the pilgrimage ends on August 19 and will be used for area domination exercises in the run-up to the polls. According to sources, it is being considered if northern Kashmir can go to polls in the earlier phases given the region starts getting snowfall in October. Polls in Haryana and Maharashtra could happen in October in a single phase once the polls in J&K are concluded and the central forces get free for duties there. The elections in Jharkhand, which happen in multiple phases, could be slotted in November-December, like in 2019. The ECI as well as senior government officials have said that they are committed to holding elections in J&K as per the top court-mandated deadline of September 30, 2024. The announcement is, hence, expected around August 20 as a minimum one-month period is needed between the announcement of the polls and the first phase of voting. A final check on the security situation by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the central government is expected this week. People would be voting for a government in J&K after a decade. An Election Commission of India (ECI) team was in the union territory last week. This is a pivotal moment for J&K which five years ago saw Article 370 being watered down, Ladakh being carved out as a separate UT, and the states status being changed to a union territory with a legislature. Since then, violence has ebbed in J&K and the governments own figures in Parliament last month validated this, buttressing the success story of normalcy returning fast to Jammu and Kashmir. J&Ks people showed the yearning to cast their ballot when a record 58.4% voting percentage was recorded in Lok Sabha elections this year. Bollywood actor and writer Ashutosh Rana recently visited his sisters residence in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh. His presence delighted local friends with a memorable gathering filled with Shayari and laughter. The actor is known for his deep connections to Bundelkhand and his alma mater, Sagar University. He rekindled his bonds with old friends during this visit. Two days ago, Rana arrived in Sagar, where he informed his long-time friends of his visit. Among them was Ashok Mizaj Badr, a Shayari enthusiast renowned for his poetic prowess and his collaborations with notable figures like Bashir Badr, Rahat Indori, and Kumar Vishwas. During the gathering, Rana, celebrated for his affable nature and strong friendships, requested Ashok Mizaj Badr to recite some of his famous Shayari. The session quickly turned lively as Ashok Mizaj Badr known for his humorous and impactful verses, entertained the group with his wit and charm. One notable Shayari included a playful comparison, eliciting hearty applause and laughter from the audience. The actor was seen enthusiastically encouraging Badr to perform, saying: It is good that I met you. I like reading your books, but today first of all you recite that Shayari, Chaku Wala, Ekahre Badan Wala. Ashok Mizaj Badr responded with a blend of humour and skill, demonstrating his talent for turning everyday themes into engaging poetry. The evening was not just about performances but also a testament to the enduring friendship between the actor and Ashok Mizaj Badr. Rana praised Badrs poetic works and expressed his admiration, while Badr reciprocated by acknowledging Rana as a source of inspiration. This delightful reunion underscored the deep connections that transcend time and distance, showcasing the power of poetry and friendship in bringing people together. X owner Elon Musk said on Monday that a distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attack may have interrupted the companys servers, delaying his interview with presidential candidate Donald Trump at 8 pm (5.30 am IST). Musk also said the DDOS attack could lead to limited live listeners. There appears to be a massive DDOS attack on X. Working on shutting it down, Musk said in a post on X. Worst case, we will proceed with a smaller number of live listeners and post the conversation later. In a subsequent post, Musk also explained that the social media platform was tested with 8 million concurrent listeners earlier in the day in order to ensure smooth operations during the Trump interview. It was, however, not clear if it was a cyber attack or whether the issue was simply caused by too many users trying to listen to the conversation. More than 1.3 million people were listening about 45 minutes into the conversation, according to a counter on X. What is a DDOS Attack? Distributed denial of service attacks are malicious attempts to make online services unavailable by disrupting or suspending online servers. Some of these cyberattacks are carried out by disgruntled individuals and hacktivists wanting to take down a companys servers simply to make a statement, having fun by exploiting cyber weakness or express disapproval. Cybersecurity company Norton stated that DDoS is a type of hacking attack that aims to disrupt the normal operations of a targeted server, service, or network by flooding it with internet traffic. Overwhelmed with traffic, the server or network can no longer handle normal requests, which causes it to significantly slow down or crash altogether. A Microsoft support page states that DDoS attacks the target websites and servers by disrupting network services in an attempt to exhaust an applications resources. It states that although DDoS attacks are wide reaching and target all sorts of industries some industries like gaming, e-commerce and telecommunication are targeted more than the others. Previous DDOS Attacks The largest attack in history occurred in February 2020 to none other than Amazon Web Services (AWS), overtaking an earlier attack on GitHub two years prior. DDoS ramifications include a drop in legitimate traffic, lost business, and reputation damage. Throughout 2022 to today, Ukraine has been bombarded both physically and digitally, with DDoS attacks paving the way for other data breaches, critical infrastructure downtime, or espionage activity. In 2023, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis launch of his failed run for the Republican presidential nomination was similar to DDOS attack on Trump-Musk interview on Monday. DeSantis attempted to kick off his campaign with a Twitter Spaces event with Musk, but the event was delayed by 25 minutes and marred by technical difficulties that resulted in a much smaller audience than the 500,000 who had initially attempted to join and listen. His whole campaign will be a disaster, Trump had said at the time. The first known DDOS attack occurred in 1996 when Panix, now one of the oldest internet service providers, was knocked offline for several days by a SYN flood, a technique that has become a classic DDoS attack. How to Prevent DDOS Attack? It is extremely difficult to avoid DDOS attacks because detection is a challenge. Many symptoms of the attack may not vary much from typical service issues, such as slow-loading web pages, and the level of sophistication and complexity of DDoS techniques continues to grow. Also, many companies welcome a spike in internet traffic, especially when they are launching new products or services. Therefore, prevention of such attacks is not always possible. Best for an organisation is to plan a response for when these attacks occur. Having said that, individuals should configure firewalls and routers in such a way that they reject bogus traffic; update your routers as well as firewalls with the latest security patches. To keep your devices from becoming a part of a botnet, its smart to make sure your computers have trusted security software. Trumps Return on X For the first time in a year, Trump made a return to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday with a series of posts. This revived an account that had been his primary means of communication during his four years in the White House and in prior campaigns, including the attack on the US Capitol by his followers on January 6, 2021. Trumps access to his account, @realDonaldTrump, was restored a month after Musk took over X, despite the platforms previous owners banning him following the January 6 attack due to concerns he would incite violence. Trump frequently posts on his Truth Social platform, which was launched in February 2022, but his posts there reach a much smaller audience than on X. (with inputs from Reuters) Saudi Arabia is set to roll out new migrant domestic workers (MDWs) law in September to plug the gaps in protection of workers through fixed work hours, leave policies, and persistent exploitation through the Kafala system. There are about six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states (Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain), which employ close to 5.5 million migrant domestic workers, and all of them exclude MDWs from labour laws, with only four having passed specific domestic worker laws. Who are Migrant Domestic Workers? They are a category of workers who provide services in households. Saudi has 14 categories of domestic work, including domestic worker, driver, nanny, nurse, cook, tailor, farmer, physiotherapist, and private speech and hearing therapist. Some categories are recent additions, and concerningly, go beyond household work to roles requiring specialist skills. As per data, there are more than 20 lakh workers who fall under the servants and house cleaners category including domestic workers, nearly 60% of whom are females. The second most recruited category is drivers, at 18,17,120, almost all of whom are male. Saudi is the only GCC state where male domestic workers constitute the majority in the sector, at nearly 70%. In Saudi, as of the first quarter of 2024, there were 39,13,925 migrant domestic workers with 27,32,344 males and 11,81,581 females, making up 25% of the total workforce. What is Kafala System? According to the Council on Foreign Affairs, the kafala, or sponsorship, system defines the relationship between foreign workers and their local sponsor, or kafeel, which is usually their employer. It has been used in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countriesBahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emiratesas well as Jordan and Lebanon. The system has become increasingly controversial with reports of exploitation such as lack of regulations and protections for migrant workers rights often results in low wages, poor working conditions, employee abuse, racial discrimination and gender-based violence. Both Bahrain and Qatar claim to have abolished the system. Under this system, the state gives local individuals or companies sponsorship permits to employ foreign laborers (except in Bahrain, where workers are sponsored by a government agency rather than individual employers). The sponsor covers travel expenses and provides housing, often in dorm-like accommodations or, in the case of domestic workers, the sponsors home. Sponsors sometimes use private recruitment agencies in the countries of origin to find workers and facilitate their entry to the host country than hiring individuals directly. Since the system falls under the jurisdiction of interior ministries, rather than labour ministries, workers often have no protection under the host countrys labour law. In most situations, workers need their sponsors permission to transfer jobs, end employment, and enter or exit the host country. Who Does The Kafala System Profit? As per the Council on Foreign Affairs, workers accept jobs under the system because they offer higher pay than jobs in their home countries. Many workers then send remittances home, which the World Bank notes can help alleviate poverty in low- and middle-income countries. In 2019, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE were among the worlds top 10 sources of remittances. Proponents say facilitating easy, legal entry to the region makes migrants less vulnerable to human smuggling. Opponents say these legal pathways still need greater protections for workers. What Risks Do Workers Face Under Kafala System? Restricted movement and communications: Employers regularly confiscate passports, visas, and phones, and confine domestic workers to their homes. Non-domestic workers often live in overcrowded dorms, which puts them at greater risk of contracting illnesses; many also lack adequate healthcare. Debt bondage: Although most host countries require employers to pay recruitment fees, these often get passed on to workers, who take out loans to pay them or become indebted to the recruiter. Employers reduce or withhold workers wages, to pay off recruiters but sometimes as punishment. Visa Trading: Sponsors sometimes illegally sell a workers visa to another employer while remaining the official sponsor. The new employer might not keep to the same terms as the original one, requiring different types of work or providing lower wages. Residency: Workers depend on sponsors to remain in the country legally because sponsors can invalidate their status for any reason. What will the New law Provide? The new law allows a maximum of 10 working hours a day and entitlement to weekly off day; prohibition of confiscation of identity documents; emphasis on workers right to communication; workers have a right to terminate the contract without losing entitlements under certain conditions; compensation for unjust termination; one month paid leave yearly and employer must pay for the annual ticket home. Saudi Arabia included all new MDWs in its Wages Protection System from July, and will gradually cover all existing MDWs by the end of 2025. What About Indian Migrant Domestic Workers? There are about 26 lakh Indians who constitute the single largest migrant population in Saudi Arabia. As per a report by The Hindu, Indias minimum referral wage for the sector is SAR1,500 (Rs 33,400). Special provisions for female MDWs minimum age must be 30 include a financial bank guarantee of US $2,500 in favour of the Embassy in Riyadh. The contract must be attested at one of the missions in Saudi. The National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) have collaborated to offer tickets for the Namo Bharat trains operational partially on the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Corridor under the One India-One Ticket initiative, an official statement announced on Monday. A similar tie-up was launched last month between the Delhi Metro and the IRCTC. The tickets for the Namo Bharat trains, also known as the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS), can be booked for the daily commute or clubbed with the tickets for the Indian railways. For those with a valid railway ticket, the tickets for the RRTS services can be booked up to 120 days in advance, aligning with the current Railway reservation window (ARP). After booking a train ticket, if a nearby RRTS station exists, a popup will prompt the user to book an RRTS ticket. If the user doesnt book initially, they can revisit the booking history and opt to Book RRTS Ticket later. Even without purchasing rail tickets, users can book Namo Bharat train tickets for their daily usage from the IRCTC platform, which will be valid for same-day travel, the statement added. The NCRTC in the statement said that it is also exploring the feasibility of offering one-day to three-day unlimited travel passes to boost tourism in the Delhi NCR region. The Namo Bharat or the RRTS project, being implemented by the NCRTC across the National Capital Region, is a first-of-its-kind trains in India offering dedicated, high speed, high capacity commuter service between Delhi, Ghaziabad and Meerut. Only a part of it between Sahibabad and Modinagar North in Ghaziabad is operational and work is underway for the remaining section. The entire corridor is expected to be operational by the targeted deadline of 2025. This innovative collaboration (between IRCTC and NCRTC) aims to provide a seamless travel solution, making it easier for passengers to book and travel using both the Indian Railways and the RRTS services. After booking on IRCTC train e-ticket, users can now opt to book Namo Bharat train tickets for up to eight travelers per booking as an add-on service, the official statement said. The RRTS booking option will be displayed on the PNR confirmation page and will also be accessible from the users train ticket booking history. A unique QR code will be generated for each RRTS ticket and conveniently printed on the Electronic Reservation Slip (ERS). The QR codes will be valid for a period of four days, starting from the day before the RRTS journey date, the travel date itself, and two days after the journey date. Each passenger on the train ticket will receive their own Namo Bharat ticket with a dedicated QR code, ensuring a hassle-free travel experience. All Namo Bharat tickets booked for a single train ticket will share the same origin and destination stations for all passengers, the statement added. Upon successful Namo Bharat ticket booking, users will receive confirmation via SMS and email, with unique RRTS QR code details sent to the registered mobile number and email address. THE CHARGES The Namo Bharat train tickets fare will be conveniently collected along with the IRCTC convenience fee (Rs five + taxes) using online payment methods available on the IRCTC platform. In case of cancellation by the user, the full RRTS fare will be refunded, while the IRCTC convenience fee, payment gateway charges, and associated taxes are non-refundable. Users can simply scan their RRTS QR codes at the entry gates of the station using ERS or the Mobile App to effortlessly enter and travel according to booked journey details. Namo Bharat train tickets can be booked through the IRCTC platform (Train, Air, Bus, Chatbot, etc.), the statement said. Last month, the IRCTC, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and Centre For Railway Information Systems (CRIS) joined hands in a first of its kind Initiative where users can book metro tickets along with Railways booking. Against the usual practice of allowing users to book tickets on the day of travel with same day validity, now users can book Metro tickets up to 120 days in advance along with train tickets. Also, the Metro tickets will be valid for a single journey for a period of four days starting from the day before the DMRC journey date, the travel date itself, and two days after the journey date. It was also a part of the One India-One Ticket initiative. Amid massive protests over the gruesome rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor in Kolkatas RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered that the investigation should be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). A Bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya also ordered that the case be handed over to the central investigative agency until tomorrow morning (August 14). Further pointing towards the lapses in the investigation, the High Court stated that no significant probe was conducted by the police in the case. Justifying the CBI probe, the court said, This is to do justice between parties and to inspire public confidence. Additionally, the High Court directed that the former principal of the college shall remain on long leave and shall not be reinstated untill further notice. The state should bear in mind the circumstances under which the resignation came. Therefore, even if the resignation was not accepted, he could have been relieved from duties and not assigned any other duties, the court added. Questioning the college principal, the court said, The former principal and college administration not lodging complaint was a serious lapse giving room for suspicion. The court recorded submissions of the kin of the victim who alleged that if the probe remains with the police, the investigation might get hampered. The family members and others believe that the rape and murder was carried out by multiple people, the court asserted. Calcutta HC Raps West Bengal Govt Earlier in the day, the High Court rapped the West Bengal government over the alleged rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at Kolkatas RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Calling the incident gruesome, it asked the state what assurances it has given to the protesting healthcare professionals. A division bench headed by Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam, with Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya, observed that something is missing in the probe. It questioned how the then principal Sandip Ghosh, who submitted his resignation on Monday (August 12), was reinstated as the principal of another premier medical college within hours. After the high court asked his counsel to produce his resignation letter and the subsequent appointment letter, Ghosh applied for a leave of 15 days. The court said first there was an attempt to cover up the rape-murder of the woman doctor as a death by suicide, which was then followed by irresponsible statements from the former principal. If he has stepped down citing some moral responsibility, isnt it rather surprising that you should reward him? The principal is the guardian of all the working doctors working. If he didnt show any empathy, who else will? Your client (principal) shouldnt be working, he should be at home. He is so powerful that a government counsel is representing him? the court asked. Your client (principal) will not function. Ask him to step down; we give him an option to submit his leave application by 3 pm today otherwise an order shall be passed, it observed. The high court further observed that the protesting doctors are hurt and justified in expressing their emotions. It asked the state government to get in touch with the doctors as they need to be heard. After it asked for a detailed report into the case in a sealed cover, the court also questioned why there is a wait in transferring the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation. The victims parents had moved the HC, seeking a court-monitored investigation in the case. A number of other PILs were also filed that sought a CBI probe into it. The water level of the Yamuna River at the Old Delhi rail bridge is expected to exceed the warning mark by Tuesday evening. Currently, it is flowing at 204.35 meters, just below the warning mark of 204.5 meters. According to the forecast, the level is projected to rise to 204.9 meters by this evening. The highest flood level of the Yamuna recorded is at 208.66 meters. No disruption in the services of Railways has been reported so far. Railway engineers are monitoring the situation. In view of the full dress rehearsals taking place today ahead of Independence Day, police personnel carried out patrolling as a security measure. #WATCH | Delhi: As full dress rehearsals take place today ahead of Independence Day, Police personnel carry out patrolling as a security measure. pic.twitter.com/D8k8mGOIC9 ANI (@ANI) August 13, 2024 DCP Shahdara, Surendra Chaudhary said, Arrangements are in place across the district since morning. Border pickets are in place and boat patrolling is being done in Yamuna Khadar. Checking is being done across the district #WATCH | DCP Shahdara, Surendra Chaudhary says, Arrangements are in place across the district since morning. Border pickets are in place and boat patrolling is being done in Yamuna Khadar. Checking is being done across the district https://t.co/AXwAnCNK35 pic.twitter.com/v2Wsd6dmGE ANI (@ANI) August 13, 2024 Meanwhile, officials on Monday said that the Delhi government has initiated the process of setting up 32 online monitoring stations along the Yamuna and various open drains flowing into it to access real-time data on pollutants entering the heavily polluted river. A total of 32 OLMS, including 14 on Yamuna and 18 on different drain locations, are expected to be set up by the end of this year, a DPCC officer was quoted by PTI as saying. It will help get real-time data on the quality of the water of drains and river locations, which can be viewed in the Command and Control Centre. This allows to easily identify the location and time when conditions deteriorate, he added. The proposed locations of OMLS are Palla, ISBT bridge, ITO bridge, Nizamuddin bridge, Okhla Barrage, Najafgarh drain, Metcalf House drain, Khyber Pass drain, Sweeper Colony drain among others. Violence against minorities, particularly Hindus, who constitute 8 per cent of Bangladeshs population and their resilient protests to be allowed to live with human rights and dignity continue simultaneously in the country, even a week after the sudden regime change. But the way the International press has covered it, it seems celebratory, in most parts, about the regime change in Bangladesh while being indifferent to the plight of Hindus, said noted economist and writer Sanjeev Sanyal in his interview with News18. Citing examples of the New York Times where it called the attack on Hindus revenge before correcting it, Sanyal said, that had it not been the social media, these ongoing attacks on religious minorities in Bangladesh would have gone unnoticed like the genocide of 1971 when the estimated number of casualties was 3,000,000, much of whom were Hindus. Sanyal believes the horrific to gory images going viral on social media from Bangladesh should force some shame on the international community, much of whom have been either muted in their response if one draws a parallel to how they reacted to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza Strip. The Rhodes Scholar told News18 he is in touch with many Hindu families on the other side of the border who are under extreme threat of violence, rape and murder. Hailing their courage to come out and protest in large numbers in different parts of Bangladesh, Sanyal urged the interim government, now led by Prof Muhammad Yunus to bring law and order under control. The author of The Indian Renaissance said the muted response from Bollywood A-listers on the issue perturbs him less than the stoic silence of Bengali intellectuals. Budhhhijibi as they are called in Bengali, are known to express strong opinions on everything under the sun but the prevailing trauma of Bengali Hindus in Bangladesh. However, he called it not at all surprising. Here are edited excerpts of the interview with Sanjeev Sanyal: Q: How has the ongoing situation in Bangladesh affected you? Does it sound similar to the stories you may have grown up listening to? Sanjeev Sanyal: I am really sad to see what is being done to my fellow Bengali Hindus across the border. My mothers family is originally from Kushtia, now Bangladesh. Before independence, the Chakravarti family used to own one of Asias largest textile mills Mohini Mills Ltd. (Rabindranath Tagore was one of its shareholders and a member of its board). Like many Bengali Hindus, the family tried to stay on after Partition but eventually, my mothers branch of the family moved to India in the late 1950s when the Pakistani government made it impossible for Hindus to live there with dignity. Another branch stayed on and would pay for it during the atrocities of 1971. Q: You have tweeted a photo of your father Jayanta Sanyal from August 1970 showing Indira Gandhi refugee settlements. What is the context of the photograph? Sanjeev Sanyal: On the day I was born in August 1970, there was heavy rain and devastating floods in Bengal. My mother had no idea about the whereabouts of my father, then a young officer, who was in the field. Communications had broken down. It turns out that he was showing Prime Minister Indira Gandhi around a refugee camp for Hindus escaping persecution in East Pakistan. There were tens of thousands of refugees in muddy, desperate conditions and the 29-year-old officer was somehow expected to manage it. The picture of my father with the then Prime Minister appeared the next day on the front page of the Ananda Bazar Patrika. That is how my mother found out that her husband was alright. Q: On the international sphere, from Israeli influencers to Canadian leaders of Opposition we have seen a welcome shift in condemning the violence against minorities of Bangladesh. What has changed? Sanjeev Sanyal: There has been some international condemnation of the violence against Bangladeshi Hindus, but simply not enough. Indeed, the international media seemed celebratory for the most part. The New York Times headline almost suggested that the Hindus somehow deserved what they were getting (they later edited it). Perhaps the only thing that has changed is that we have social media that allows access to images and information that is not censored by mainstream media. After all, the East Pakistan genocide of 1971 and the deliberately induced Great Bengal Famine of 1943 are rarely brought up in global conversations. Note that these are the same people who were targeted in the recent violence. Hopefully, the images on social media will force some shame on the international community. Q: Do you know anyone on the other side of the border who is scared of his or her life right now because of his or her faith? Without naming, can you give details of his or her apprehensions? Sanjeev Sanyal: Yes, I am in touch with several Hindus in Dhaka and other parts of Bangladesh. They are under extreme threat of violence, rape and murder. Despite the threat to their lives, large numbers of them came out on the streets to protest in Dhaka and other towns. Hopefully, this show of unity will force the authorities in Bangladesh to quickly enforce law and order. Q: Does the contrast of Bollywoods reaction to Gaza and Bangladesh worry you as a citizen? Sanjeev Sanyal: Not just Bollywood, but a large section of Indias media, political class and other celebrities have been conspicuously silent about the persecution of Bangladeshi Hindus. Why blame Bollywood when prominent Bengali intellectuals of Kolkata have remained silent? Otherwise, these people tend to express strong opinions on everything under the sun. This is sad but not at all surprising. Kolkata Doctor Rape Case LIVE: BJP Furious Over Renovation Work At RG Kar The BJP was irked over the renovation work at the RG Kar Hospital premises and dubbed it as the Bengal governments attempt to protect the guilty. The so-called renovation in the Chest Medicine Dept is nothing but a blatant, disgusting attempt to erase the crime scene, all to protect the guilty who are rumoured to be relatives of TMC leaders, said BJP. This is an abomination! West Bengal is in flames with rage, yet Mamata Banerjee and her lapdog Kolkata Police are knee-deep in a filthy cover-up of a brutal rape and murder! RG Kar Medical College authorities are smashing down walls, obliterating crucial evidenceevidence that pic.twitter.com/FF7sHYV43X BJP West Bengal (@BJP4Bengal) August 13, 2024 Kolkata Doctor Rape Case LIVE: 'Gruesomeness Of Incident Is Shocking,' Says Shashi Tharoor On RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder incident, Shashi Tharoor said The gruesomeness of the incident is shocking Theres something sick about this, and the criminal must be apprehended. The CM had given the police one week to solve the crime, and now it turns out the CBI has been roped in. If they have greater expertise and experience in all this, let them make their contribution. It is essential that the wrongdoer be found punished, and the punishment be such that no one is at all tempted to do anything similar. Its a horrendous crime, and my heart goes out to her parents, her family and her loved ones. What a terrible thing to know that your bright, young daughter, a doctor out to serve people is murdered in this horrendous way, said Tharoor Kolkata Doctor Rape Case LIVE: FORDA Calls Off Strike The FORDA delegation met with the Union Health Minister JP Nadda and decided to call off their strike in the public interest. FORDA President Aviral Mathur said Nadda has assured a safe working environment for the doctors and the associations demands would be addressed in a time-bound manner. #WATCH | Delhi: After meeting Union Minister JP Nadda, Federation of Resident Doctors Association President Aviral Mathur says, We just met Union Minister JP Nadda at his residence and presented our reformulated demands and before him He assured us that he would provide a pic.twitter.com/Zz4Tao5DAG ANI (@ANI) August 13, 2024 Kolkata Doctor Rape Case LIVE: IMA President To Reach Kolkata, Visit Bereaved Family Tomorrow Dr. R.V. Asokan, National President, and Dr. Anil Nayek, Hony Secretary General of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), will reach Kolkata tonight. Tomorrow, at 10:00 AM, they will address a meeting at the IMA Bengal State Office before departing at 10:30 AM. Dr Ashokan and Dr Nayek will also visit Sodepur at 11:45 AM and meet with members of the bereaved family, followed by a visit to R.G. Kar Medical College at 1:15 PM to meet with doctors and students. T They will also hold a press conference at the Kolkata Press Club at 2:45 PM, accompanied by the State IMA leadership. The duo has also requested an appointment with Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. Kolkata Doctor Rape Case LIVE: CBI Takes Over Case The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken over the case of the alleged rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. A team of officers from Delhi with medical and forensic experts is scheduled to visit the crime scene on August 14. Kolkata Doctor Rape Case LIVE: 'CBI Should Acquire All Evidence Immediately...,' Says BJP Leader Locket Chatterjee Welcoming the Calcutta HCs order to transfer the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital doctor rape and murder case to CBI, BJP Leader Locket Chatterjee said We know that in all such incidents that have happened in West Bengal, no action has been taken by Mamata Banerjee. A daughter has been murdered in the RG Kar Hospital, a CBI investigation will tell us who is involved in this. Kolkata Police and the CID cannot do this. Because it is the police who lied in the beginning The police called her parents and said that it was a suicide The CBI should acquire all the evidence immediately because they might tamper with it This heinous crime was not a one-person job. Names of all the influential people involved should be out in open, said Chatterjee. Kolkata Doctor Rape Case LIVE: FORDA To Continue Strike The Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) has announced that they will continue the strike as their demands for the Central Healthcare Protection act have not been met yet. No assurance on Central Healthcare Protection act- No call off! OUR DEMANDS still stand incomplete. We will continue with strike until theyre accepted fully. As of 6pm, 13th August- STRIKE CONTINUES!@MoHFW_INDIA @JPNadda @OfficeofJPNadda @ANI @PTI_News FORDA INDIA (@FordaIndia) August 13, 2024 Kolkata Doctor Rape Case LIVE: National Medical Commission Issues Advisory To Medical Colleges, Insutitutions The National Medical Commission issued an advisory asking all medical colleges and institutions to step up the security measures at campus premises. All Medical Colleges are requested to develop a policy for safe work environment within the College and Hospital campus for all the staff members including Faculty, Medical Students and resident Doctors, stated the NMC. The policy should ensure adequate safety measures at OPD, wards, casualty, hostels and other open areas in the campus and residential quarters. Corridors and campus be well lit in the evening for staff to walk safely from one place to other and all sensitive areas be covered by CCTV for monitoring, said the statement. Kolkata Doctor Rape Case LIVE: 'West Bengal Govt Tried To Hide The Incident,' Says JP Nadda On the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, JP Nadda said The incident that took place with the young woman PG student in West Bengal is really heart-wrenching and has shaken the world and the country. I condemn it and express great sorrow that such an inhumane incident has happened. Nadda further said, The way the incident took place and the way the government has tried to hide it, no amount of condemnation will be enough. Bengal has become a state where there is no such thing as law and order, lawlessness is at its peak and the sad thing is that atrocities on women are increasing day by day in West Bengal and all this is happening despite having a woman Chief Minister, this is even more worrying. I would also like to say that the way the West Bengal government has tried to hush up and suppress this case, I condemn it in the strongest terms. I welcome the decision of the High Court for the CBI inquiry, I am confident that the CBI inquiry will bring out the truth, Nadda said. Many delegations of Doctors Association have met us in the last 2 days, I have assured everyone that the Central Government will take action against anyone connected with this incident. I will definitely find a remedy for this and I am sure that whatever steps are necessary for this, the Government and the Ministry will take them, Nadda added. Kolkata Doctor Rape Case LIVE: ' Most Incompetent Administrator,' BJP's Amit Malviya Slams Mamata Banejee Welcoming the Calcutta HCs order to transfer the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital doctor rape and murder case to CBI, BJP leader Amit Malviya slammed West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. Taking on X Malaviya said Another shame for Mamata Banerjee. Under her watch, law and order in West Bengal has collapsed completely, with crime against women seeing a sharp rise. People of Bengal have no confidence in WB Police, which acts more like ruling TMCs doormat, than a professional force. Bengal, at 2.5%, has the lowest conviction rate and a case pendency rate of 98.1%, with respect to crimes against women. Almost every case from Bengal gets referred to the CBI. Mamata Banerjee, who is not just the Chief Minister but also the Home Minister and Health Minister of West Bengal, is the most incompetent administrator and must resign taking moral responsibility for the morass she has pushed the State in, said Malviya Kolkata Doctor Rape Case LIVE: IMA Wlecomes HC's Decision To Transfer Case To CBI The IMA welcomed the decision by the HC to transfer the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital dcotor rape and murder case. RV Ashokan, IMA President said that a delegation is scheduled to meet West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and discuss the issue with her on Tuesday. Ashokan further said that the Health Minister told the IMA that he is looking into the issue of the safety of doctors and assurance has been given that necessary steps will be taken. Kolkata Doctor Rape Case LIVE: Victim's Seniors Demand Truth The victims senior said to CNN News18, We want to know the truth and find out who the real culprit iswhether there was more than one person involved. She was an excellent student, the most sincere among us. In many ways, she was better than all of us. We cant eat or sleep, and its hard to believe shes gone. We never saw her stressed; she always had a smile on her face and worked tirelessly around the clock. Kolkata Doctor Rape Case LIVE: 'Strict Action Should Be Taken Against Accused,' Says Rijiju On RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder incident Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said I do not know the details since I was in the meeting. If such an incident if it takes place in Kolkata or anywhere else, it is a very sad incident. Everyone wants strict action should be taken against the accused. Why is only the medical fraternity protesting against this incident, as humans everyone is hurt. It is a serious issue if something like this happens to a doctor inside the medical campus. #WATCH | Calcutta High Court ordered a CBI investigation into RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder incident. Union Minister Kiren Rijiju says I do not know the details since I was in the meeting. If such an incident if it takes place in Kolkata or anywhere else, it pic.twitter.com/PoJ5xiRoLq ANI (@ANI) August 13, 2024 Kolkata Doctor Rape Case LIVE: RG Kar Medical College Students To Continue Protest The students of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital expressed that they were fine with the case being transferred to the CBI, but they wanted a judicial inquiry. They plan to meet and discuss the situation together before making a collective decision. Although the protest at RG Kar will continue, they will first hold a meeting to decide on their next steps. Kolkata Doctor Rape Case LIVE: Students Demand Dismisal of Ex-Principal The protesting students of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital are demanding that the principal should be sacked. They said that the mere transfer or leave is not acceptable. Dr Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of RG Kar Medical College, has applied for 15 days of leave. Kolkata Doctor Rape Case LIVE: 'Happy And Relieved,' Says Protesting Doctors As HC Transfers case To CBI The protesting doctors welcomed the Calcutta HCs order to transfer the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder case to CBI and said they were happy and relieved by the development. The doctors also expressed the hope for swift punishment to the accused. #WATCH | RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder incident: On Calcutta High Court transfers case to CBI, a protesting doctor says We are very happy and relieved that the case has been transferred to CBI. The accused will be arrested soon now pic.twitter.com/0mei2eKTY6 ANI (@ANI) August 13, 2024 Calcutta HC Raps Bengal Govt Over Doctor's 'Gruesome' Rape-Murder, Ex-Principal Applies For 15 Days' Leave The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday rapped the West Bengal government over the alleged rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at Kolkatas RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Calling the incident gruesome, it asked the state what assurances it has given to the protesting healthcare professionals. A division bench headed by Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam, with Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya, observed that something is missing in the probe. It questioned how the then principal Sandip Ghosh, who submitted his resignation on Monday (August 12), was reinstated as the principal of another premier medical college within hours. Read full Article Kolkata Doctor Rape Case LIVE: Former Principal Of RG Kar Medical College Applies For 15 Days Leave Following the order by the Calcutta High Court, Dr Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of RG Kar Medical college, where a woman trainee PG doctor was found raped and murdered, has applied for 15 days holiday. Kolkata Doctor Rape Case LIVE: 'State Govt In Dilemma, Law & Order Situation Getting Worse,' Says Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury On RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder incident, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, It is condemnable. The State govt should take action but it is still in dilemma. The law and order situation is getting worse. The state govt is not capable, and it wants to help the accused The murder and rape of the Kolkata doctor is neither the first nor the last instance of violence against medical professionals, the chief of Indias largest lobby of doctors, Indian Medical Association (IMA) told News18. On August 9, chaos erupted at R G Kar Medical College in Kolkata when the body of a woman resident doctor was discovered bearing multiple injuries. The doctor, who had been on a 36-hour shift, had gone to the seminar room to rest around 2 a.m. due to the lack of a designated duty room for doctors. Preliminary findings suggest that she was sexually assaulted. ALSO READ | Glass Shards In Eyes, Head Slammed Against Wall: Autopsy Reveals Horrific Assault On Kolkata Doctor RV Asokan, national president of IMA, said that while such abuse has become a routine occurrence in India, but unfortunately, it takes such severe incidents to draw attention to the problem". This is the safety status of big government hospitals then imagine how safe the public health centres (PHCs) are in remote areas. Its the right time to bring back the Healthcare Service Personnel and Clinical Establishments Bill, 2019, which was shelved after extending the bill for public comments," Asokan said, while adding that the IMA had worked along the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to draft this bill and since then, the IMA has been demanding a central law on violence against doctors and hospitals. According to the apex lobby of 3.5 lakh doctors in the country, the incident is brutal and cruel" and has shaken the conscience" of the entire nation. We are dealing with the situation in consultation with our West Bengal branch. What we want from the West Bengal government is an impartial and thorough investigation of the case, including a detailed inquiry into the conditions that enabled the crime, along with urgent steps to improve the safety of doctors, particularly women, in the workplace, and the punishment of the culprits." The IMA has given an ultimatum" of two days on demands made before central and state government, which include declaring hospitals as safe zones, defining security measures and bringing central law on violence. We have been asking for some solace for a very long time, but silence from the central government is condoning. If the government wont take any steps, we will have no choice but to protest," said Asokan, who is a practising physician based in Punalur, a small town in Kollam district, Kerala. HOW HEALTHCARE SERVICE PERSONNEL AND CLINICAL ESTABLISHMENTS BILL WILL HELP? According to the draft of the Healthcare Service Personnel and Clinical Establishments Bill, 2019, whoever commits violence against any healthcare professional shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of six months to five years and a fine of Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh. Also, in cases of causing grievous hurt to any healthcare service personnel, the imprisonment would be from three years to 10 years with a fine of Rs 2 lakh rupees to Rs 10 lakh. ALSO READ | 360 Degree View | Kolkata Doctors Rape-Murder Case Reveals Abuse of Power: The Dark Side of West Bengals Civic Police Volunteers It also says that in case, the property was damaged or lost, the person responsible might have to pay twice the amount of the propertys current market value or the value of the loss. Also, if someone causes minor harm to healthcare workers, they may have to pay Rs 1 lakh. If the harm is serious or severe, the fine could be Rs 5 lakh. IMA ASKS HEALTH MINISTER TO ACT The IMA on Monday wrote to Union health minister JP Nadda, seeking an appointment to request the enactment of the law against the violence along with a list of five demands. We, on behalf of the medical profession of the country seek an appointment in person with your good self," the letter said, while adding that the doctors of this country have been suffering for the past few decades due to the violence unleashed on them". #BreakingNews | Resident doctors go on indefinite strikeOPDs to be severely affected. @_anshuls brings shocking details of alleged admin cover-up, sparking outrage among students, docs "We won't back down till justice is served." @Elizasherine with more details #protests pic.twitter.com/Zu721gH5pS News18 (@CNNnews18) August 13, 2024 The IMA says that the current incident of violence has created an atmosphere of fear and subjugation among the medical fraternity and the pedestrian working conditions, inhuman workload and violence in the workplace are the reality. They suffer in silence. Doctors take huge stress on themselves. They die young. In life they are abused, trolled, sued and even beaten to death. Doctors deserve better consideration from the governments." The IMA has asked the government to declare hospitals across the country as safe zones and all major government hospitals should have police camps and adequate security personnel. It has also asked for similar security arrangements to be made mandatory in large private hospitals. CCTV cameras at vulnerable points should be made compulsory." ALSO READ | In First Call After Kolkata Doctors Rape-Murder, Hospital Official Informed Family She Died By Suicide: Report Also, the letter stated: 25 states have the law on the attack on doctors and hospitals. They are mostly ineffective on the ground and do not serve the purpose of deterrence the absence of a special central enactment is one of the reasons. We kindly request you to reconsider introducing the draft legislation The Healthcare Service Personnel and Clinical Establishments (Prohibition of violence and damage to property) Bill, 2019 incorporating the amendments in the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897, approved and passed by the Parliament in Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Act, 2020." Sanjay Roy, a civic police volunteer with Kolkata Police, has been accused of raping and murdering a young doctor in Kolkatas prestigious and government run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Investigators have described him as a deranged pervert and found disturbing content, including videos of incest and incestuous rape, on his phone. Despite his reputation for abuse, his role on the politically influenced police welfare board and his past actions raise serious concerns. However, he managed to manipulate the system. Amid national outrage over hospital security, its crucial to question the existence and unchecked power of these political party-backed forces embedded in law enforcement. Apart from glaring security concern for the doctors and the hospital premises, this incident of rape and murder of a doctor who was on duty and was resting after her shift inside a seminar hall located on the fourth floor of the main building in a government hospital- underscores the urgent need to scrutinise the role and accountability of civic police volunteers in West Bengal. The civic police volunteer force, that was raised in 2013 by Mamata Banerjees government for community engagement, has now grown into an unchecked and unverified force, operating with a level of autonomy and influence that mirrors other semi-official forces like the special police constables in Jungle Mahal or the Salwa Judum in Chhattisgarh. The basic difference among these informal forces with excessive authority or unbridled power lies solely in their mandate. Who Is A Civic Police Volunteer? These volunteers, initially recruited for basic law enforcement support including assisting in traffic management, helping people during natural disasters, assisting police during major festivals, or keeping a watch on local incidents have now gained undisputed access to various places, wielding power that often goes unchallenged. Their actions and authority are rarely scrutinised, leading to a parallel system of enforcement that exists outside the formal structures of law and order. The case is the same for political party-controlled police associations or police welfare boards. The members are often accused by the senior police officers of insubordination, denying seniors order and authority, indulging into excess and getting away with all sorts of rule violation. In the specific case of Sanjay Roy, the accused in the rape and murder case, was living in a police barrack, which is meant for police personnel and not for civic volunteers. Abuse of political power has become routine for such organisations, claimed senior police officers. No Accountability, No Transparency This situation has raised concerns about accountability, transparency, and the potential for abuse of power, as these volunteers operate without the rigorous oversight typically required for official law enforcement personnel. The monthly salary or honorarium for a civic police volunteer was raised from initial Rs 2,000 in 2013 to Rs 8,000 in 2018. It was raised further later, and the government also announced Puja Bonus of over Rs 5,000 for them. However, they do not come under a regular police structure, where there is a system of reward and punishment, promotion or suspension and issues. However, there is no proper mechanism of the examination system to recruit them. The eligibility criteria includes that candidates must be local residents and should have completed at least Class VIII. According to a notice by Kolkata Police, dated July 24, inviting applications for civic volunteers, the applicant has to be a local, physically and mentally fit and with no criminal antecedent. The document has been accessed by News18. There has been no mention of any examination or test. The volunteers get a weeks training before being inducted as a volunteer on a contractual basis. Political Tool The Opposition parties, including BJP, Congress and CPM, have time and again accused this huge force of being a political tool and a parking place for Trinamool Cadres. The Election Commission of India started expressing concern about the use of the civic police volunteer force around the 2016 West Bengal Assembly elections. In 2021, the ECI said that the volunteers cannot be used in election related work. During this period, there were reports and allegations of misuse and political influence involving the volunteers, which led to scrutiny from the Election Commission. The Commissions concerns included the potential for the civic volunteers to be used inappropriately during elections and the need for proper oversight and regulation to ensure impartiality and fairness. A former sociology researcher from Kolkatas Presidency University, Rimjhim Sinha was repulsed by the news of the gruesome rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. She then decided to sit on a protest on August 14. The aim was to show that while India got independence on the intervening night of August 14-15, women still dont have true independence here. She posted her thoughts on Facebook that went viral. Many people have shared it on social media and a lot of women have expressed willingness to join the protest. The semi-nude body of the woman PGT doctor, a second-year student in the chest medicine department, was found inside the seminar hall of the hospital on Friday. She was on duty on Thursday night, and her body bore multiple injury marks. The preliminary autopsy report indicated sexual abuse before her murder, leading her father to allege that she was raped and murdered inside the hospital. There were strikes and protests by junior doctors, trainees and medical students in various parts of the country on Tuesday, affecting healthcare services. The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered that the investigation should be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The HC rapped the West Bengal government and observed that protesting doctors were hurt and justified in expressing their emotions. Students of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital expressed that they were fine with the case being transferred to the CBI, but they wanted a judicial inquiry. Speaking to News18 Rimjhim said, When I heard of the incident at RG Kar, I felt very insecure. I was frightened to think how safe are we in this city. If an on-duty lady doctor can be compelled to face such brutal injuries and death, how safe can all of us women accessing the city be? August 15 is celebrated as our Independence Day, so I had thought that I would do a sit-in then, seeking constructive and structural changes in the prevailing system. Why shouldnt women have the right to go out at night? Why will our characters be questioned every time? We will reclaim the nights, starting August 15 midnight. Rimjhim says she never thought she would get such a huge response. Now she plans to take this movement forward with a list of demands: Immediate justice for the victim. Immediate inclusion of Gender Equality as a compulsory topic in school curriculum. Secure all-night transport system for working women and other marginalised gender communities. Assignment of secure restrooms for all professionals on night duties. Senior journalist Aditi Roy also put out a social media post on the heinous crime and received a fervid response. Whenever such a crime happens then the victim is always questioned. Why was she roaming around? Why did she wear this? Should we sit at home? Why cant we go out at night? Night is for men only? Are we really independent? Why do mothers say that dont go out at night to girls, not boys? All these questions were in our heads. So, we thought we would go out the intervening night of August 14-15 and roam about, and question our freedom. We got a huge response. This is a start but we have to carry out such a protest, Roy told News18. Several celebrities, intellectuals, homemakers, and other women are expected to join the protests. A special PMLA court in Ahmedabad framed criminal charges under the anti-money laundering law against TMCs Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale on Tuesday, the Enforcement Directorate said. The money laundering case against Gokhale stems from a Gujarat Police FIR filed in connection with alleged misuse of money he had collected through crowd-funding. The Ld. Principal District and Sessions Judge, Ahmedabad (Rural) and designated Special Court PMLA, Ahmedabad today framed criminal charges against Saket Gokhale, MP Rajya Sabha and national spokesperson of All India Trinamool Congress under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, the ED said in a statement. It said a charge sheet was filed against the 31-year-old MP under the anti-money laundering law last year. The ED had arrested him in January, 2023. Charges against him for the scheduled offence in the police case (Gujarat Police) had also been framed, it said. The special court had also rejected the application filed by Gokhale under Section 309 of the CrPC for keeping the proceedings under PMLA in abeyance till the case of scheduled offence registered against him is decided by the court, the ED said. The state police had arrested Gokhale from Delhi in December 2022 in a case of alleged misuse of money he had collected through crowd-funding. The ED said he was arrested for the offence of money laundering as he crowdfunded money from the public as he portrayed himself as an RTI activist and a social worker. The crowdfunded amount was utilised by him for his personal expenses such as intraday trading in shares, payment of his credit card dues, shopping through online apps such as Paytm, Swiggy, Zomato, crypto currency trading and other miscellaneous (transactions), it said. Gokhale had denied that he misused these funds. Madhavaraya Temple in Gorantla village is a popular destination for Lord Shiva devotees in Sri Sathya Sai district of Andhra Pradesh. It was built in 1354 CE during the reign of Vijayanagara King Narasimha Saluva. Currently, this temple is under the management of the Archaeological Survey of India. The structure of this temple looks like a maha mandapam with magnificent massive pillars in a completely different style. These are carved with the dasa avatar of Lord Vishnu and other deities. The shrine consists of a pillared hall with carved ceilings within the walls. One of the carvings includes a small image of Devi Bhagavati. The main attraction of this temple is the Maha Mandapam with inscriptions from the Ramayana on the pillars. The big step well in front of the temple is another remarkable addition to the compound. This is a temple of small size in the Vijayanagara style of the 14th century. The carved lion faces on the pillars also attract visitors. The outer walls are plain and the dome is incomplete. A small step well is also present but filled with dirty and stagnant water. It also has a drawing of Lord Ganesha on its surface. Although the skill of carving is average on the pillars, the rusty and dark walls give an authentic touch to the temple. While the sanctum sanctorum has only a small replacement statue, the ceiling has a fine motif. It is a protected monument and, remarkably, the locals keep it resting. You can visit the Madhavaraya Temple in Gorantla in Andhra Pradesh through direct bus available from Anantapur Bus Station. From Tirupati, this temple is 210 km. There is a direct bus facility from Tirupati to Anantapur. The temple is 49 km from Kadiri town. The nearest railway station is at Kadiri, which is a 3-hour 39-minute train journey from Tirupati. The 71-year-old Tungabhadra Dam in Hospet, Karnataka, is a dam in distress. Less than 24 hours after the BJP-JDS padayatra demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah ended, the opposition has found a fresh issue to target the ruling Congress party even as officials say the situation is not alarming. The breaking of a 71-year-old chain of one of the 32 crest gates of the Tungabhadra Dam late on Saturday night led to thousands of cusecs of water being released, creating apprehension about the risk of flooding in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, two of the three states, including Telangana, that share water from this dam. The waters of the Tungabhadra pass through Karnatakas districts of Davangere, Ballari, Koppal, and Raichur before entering Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, eventually joining the Krishna River and emptying into the Bay of Bengal. The washing away of the 19th crest gate of this dam, built across the Tungabhadra River, on Saturday night due to a broken chain link, has become a matter of concern for officials and put Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh on alert. However, Karnataka irrigation officials maintain that there is no need for alarm. Prompt Action Taken, No Threat, Says Management The Tungabhadra Dam is managed by the Tungabhadra Board on a 50:50 basis as part of the articles of association for maintenance and management. Speaking to News18, Managing Director of Karnataka Neeravari Nigam, Rajesh Aminbhavi, said that the gate was washed away due to a flash flood, and every effort has been made to ensure its restoration. Until the night of August 9, the inflow of water in the Tungabhadra Dam was 30,000 cusecs, and the outflow was 35,000 cusecs. The sudden flash of rain caused the gate to be washed away, but we have taken prompt action, and the gate will be fixed within the next eight to ten days. It is important to understand that at this point, there is no threat to life or property, said Aminbhavi. Another senior official working closely on the dam gate restoration said that the monsoons had been delayed, and although the region had received average rainfall, the flash rains on Saturday filled the dam to capacity, leading to the gates being opened to let the excess water out when the gate washed away. An internal inquiry is being conducted into the incident, while work has begun in parallel to rebuild the gate. Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said that he has assessed the situation and spoken with the Jindal Group, seeking assistance to repair the affected gate. He inspected the dam on Sunday and also stated that the authorities in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh had been informed. Our priority is to ensure the safety of the dam and the welfare of our farmers. We are focusing on fixing the issue currently, and we will look into the causes of the incident later. We are trying to close the crest gate to save water for farmers, but it is not possible to work on this unless the water level in the dam comes down to a certain level, Shivakumar said. The Tungabhadra Dam, which has a storage capacity of 136 TMC of water, is currently able to store only about 105 TMC. Officials explained that this is due to nearly 31 TMC of silt accumulation because of the soil conditions in the area. The problem is that Karnataka is not getting enough water due to the silt accumulation. That is also something that is being addressed, said the senior official. Pressure From The Opposition in Karnataka Pressure is also being exerted by the opposition BJP in Karnataka, urging the ruling Congress government not to put the lives of people in danger, as was seen in neighbouring states like Kerala when dam gates were opened. Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra called it negligence by the officials tasked with the management of the dam. With more than 40 villages downstream, the areas around the reservoir face the threat of severe flooding. The BJP also emphasised the urgent need to relocate locals in the area to safer zones as the dam has proved to be unsafe after being functional for over 70 years. Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel, HD Kumaraswamy, emphasised the necessity of installing stop logs for the crest gates of all reservoirs built decades ago. Referring to the Tungabhadra Dam crest gate issue as a disaster, he recommended installing stop logs at all reservoirs, including the KRS Dam in Mandya district. Kumaraswamy criticised the Tungabhadra Dams Technical Committee and called for a thorough assessment of all reservoirs in the state. In 2021, the crest gates of the KRS Dam were replaced based on the recommendation of the committee set up to assess dams and their safety in the state. BJP MP and former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who also held the position of Water Resources Minister in various BJP governments, highlighted that the recommendations made by a committee formed in 2023 to assess the safety of dams in Karnataka were not taken seriously by the ruling government. Based on the committees recommendations, funds should have been allocated, and work should have been undertaken to ensure their upkeep. This has happened due to negligence, Bommai said. Andhra Minister Visits Tungabhadra So far, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah havent had a direct conversation on the issue. Andhra Finance Minister P Keshav and Irrigation Minister Nimmala Ramanaidu visited Tungabhadra. The state government has extended its support to Karnataka by deploying a technical team led by irrigation experts and engineers, which is constantly monitoring the situation. As of now, the low-lying areas in Rayalseema belt, where an alert was sounded in case of floods, are also under control. Sources within the Andhra government have pointed out that water wastage is their main concern as the downstream reservoirs on their sides Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar are full. Water wastage could affect Rayalseema region which is dry. They have urged Karnataka government to fix the gate as soon as possible. Essential Maintenance Carried Out in May The dam, which was commissioned in 1975, has outlived its life, and there is also a proposal to build another balancing reservoir nearby in Navilu. There is no mismanagement or man-made issue. In May 2024, essential maintenance and a thorough check of all crest gates were conducted by the dam authorities, said an irrigation officer working closely with the project. As of now, the inflow into the dam is around 25,571 cusecs, and the outflow is 99,567 cusecs, according to the Tungabhadra Board website. The dams design allows for the release of up to 6.5 lakh cusecs of water at a time. The Central Water Commission, the governments of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, and the central government are being regularly apprised of the situation. There is no need for rescue operations right now. Even if we release 2 lakh cusecs of water downstream, it will not affect life or property in the area, said a senior irrigation official. Social media videos suggest that there is an exodus of Bangladeshi minorities towards India, but officials on the ground have denied that the situation is as alarming as is being portrayed. Most videos are either old or fabricated, a top police officer in-charge of the Indo-Bangladesh border told CNN-News18. He pointed out that numerically the biggest challenge came on August 9, when about 1,500 people gathered at the Cooch Behar border. The video of a BSF officer speaking to the crowd has since gone viral. We immediately called the BGB who responded with alacrity. They even got the DM of Lal Munir Hat district (Bangladeshi side) to come and speak to the crowd. They were convinced to go back, the officer said. As per the BSF, a total of four incidents have been reported so far. On August 5, around 65 people gathered at North Dinajpur-Kishanganj-Thakurdraw border. The BSF fired empty rounds in the air to disperse the crowd. On August 7, in separate incidents, around 120 Bangladeshis were turned back from North Bengal. The Border Security Force, in a statement, said that on the afternoon of August 7, 2024, 35 Bangladeshi nationals were sent back from North Bengal. The incident was reported from Jalpaiguris Manickganj border. On the same day, at another border point in North Bengal, about 85 Bangladeshis were turned back. In one more incident, a group of 7-8 Bangladeshis requested the BSF to allow them inside India for they feared persecution in their home country. The BGB was asked to intervene and take the group away to safety. The Border guarding force said that post these incidents, coordination between the BGB and BSF has ensured no crowding at the zero line or IB. Contrary to certain rumours, the BSF clarifies that there is no widespread movement of the minority population from Bangladesh towards the Indian border. The individuals gathered were primarily motivated by fears of local unrest. The BSF, in coordination with BGB and Bangladeshi civil authorities, has reassured these individuals of their safety and encouraged them to return to their homes, BSF said in a statement. BGB-BSF Joint Patrolling The overall situation, as per ground level assessment, has been improving now with BGBs help. In the initial 48 hours after Sheikh Hasina resigned, the BGB manpower at border outposts was down by more than half. Indian intelligence agencies said that while many BGB personnel were perhaps pulled out for law and order duties in mainland, many others decided to lie low fearing crowd onslaught. But since Saturday, August 10, the BGB has been actively cooperating with BSF to deter people from crowding at border. An ADG level officer has been tasked to ensure regular communication with BGB, by the Union Home Ministry. CNN-News18 has learnt that in the last two days alone, around 60 meetings have happened between BSF and BGB to improve communication and coordination. The border guarding forces of the two countries have also been carrying out coordinated simultaneous patrolling along the 4000-plus-kilometre-long border. The 2011 coordinated border management plan is also being implemented. Political Intervention in Dhaka Officials monitoring the situation at the border speculated that the situation may be improving after the swearing-in of the interim government in Bangladesh. The newly appointed Bangladeshi home minister has apologised to the Hindu minority community for the attacks they have suffered in the last week. Bangladesh Prime Minister Muhammad Yunus is scheduled to meet a Hindu delegation on Tuesday. India is hoping that these confidence building measures will work to stabilise the situation in Dhaka. Hindus are regrouping in Bangladesh. They carried out a protest two days ago. May be, in the initial days of unrest, they gathered at the border to attract attention of the international community to what was happening, an officer in Guwahati frontier observed. The Indian government has been watching the situation closely amidst demands from within the BJP to do something for the Bangladeshi Hindus. Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP President JP Nadda got into a huddle with RSS leader Dattatreya Hosabole on Monday night. There is no doubt that BJP is under pressure from its own supporters to not shut the doors on Bangladeshi Hindus. But so far, the instructions to the Border District Police and BSF are to not allow anyone in India. The force has been asked to keep a humane approach towards those seeking refuge but at the same time crack down on smugglers and infiltrators. On August 11, a smuggler was killed by a BSF personnel after an alleged attempt to attack with a sharp edged weapon. While the no mercy approach towards the infiltrators will continue, India is definitely praying for stability to return to Bangladesh, as the decision to open the doors for persecuted minorities beyond the CAA mandated 2014 cut-off year, might be a very tough call for the government to take. As the probe into the Kolkata doctors rape-murder case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the High Court on Tuesday came down heavily on Dr Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, and questioned him for not lodging a police complaint in the matter. Pointing towards serious lapses by the college principal and hospital administration, the High Court bench said, When the deceased victim was a doctor working at the hospital, it was rather surprising as to why the principal or the hospital administration did not lodge a formal complaint. This in our view, was a serious lapse giving room for suspicion, the High Court bench comprising of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya said in the order. The court further flagged that the former principal was given the same role in another college just hours after he resigned. In view of this, the court ordered that Dr Ghosh must be immediately relieved from his duties and should be sent on long leave. It also instructed that he shall not be reinstated untill further notice. The state should bear in mind the circumstances under which the resignation came. Therefore, even if the resignation was not accepted, he could have been relieved from duties and not assigned any other duties, the court added. The court further questioned the urgency that prompted the state to appoint Dr Ghosh to his new post and made it clear that he cannot be allowed to continue in his new post. RG Kar Principal Resigns, Joins Another Medical College As the protest over the doctors murder case intensified across the nation, the principal of Kolkatas RG Kar Medical College, Dr Sandip Ghosh, resigned from his post on Monday. However, the West Bengal government soon appointed him as the principal of Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital (CNMCH), triggering further outrage by the protesting students. He was replaced by Dr Suhrita Paul, who is the OSD (Officer on Special Duty) at the West Bengal Health and Family Welfare Department. Dr Sandip Ghosh, who resigned as the principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital after taking moral responsibility for the incident, had been under intense pressure due to the growing public outcry and mounting accusations of mismanagement and financial irregularities at the government-run Kolkata institute. This Raksha Bandhan, indulge in a feast featuring contemporary twists on traditional dishes. Enjoy curated menus that blend rich culinary traditions with modern flavors. Dont forget to enhance your celebration with innovative cocktails that offer a symphony of flavors perfect for the bond of love. Make your Rakshabandhan memorable with delicious food and thoughtful offers designed to make this occasion extra special. The Corrner Room, Khar West Experience a refined Rakshabandhan celebration at The Corrner Room. Enjoy a blend of elegant ambiance and delectable dishes like Beetroot Chevre Salad and Sicilian Prawns, topped off with French Vanilla Ice-cream. Celebrate in style with your siblings in this sophisticated setting. Address: Shop no 1 to 5, Ground Floor, Fortune Paradise, 3rd Road, Opp- Hotel Amardeep, Khar West, Mumbai 400052 Timings: 12 pm 1:30 am Novaara, Malad West Novaara invites you to a unique Rakshabandhan celebration with its All Day Dine, Lounge, and Club experience. Savor inventive dishes like Vietnamese Pizza and Coconut Curried Soup in a dynamic atmosphere, perfect for memorable moments with your siblings. Address: Palm Spring Complex No. 3, Unit No. 01/B, Ground Floor, Next to Decathlon, New Link Road, Malad West Timings: 12 noon 1:30 am Cosy Box, Lower Parel Celebrate Rakshabandhan at Cosy Box with a Mediterranean, Italian, and modern Indian feast. Enjoy dishes such as Pizza Ai Quattro Formaggio and Turkish Urfa wraps in a warm, welcoming atmosphere. Address: Unit No. 6 & 7, One Lodha Place, Senapati Bapat Marg, near Lodha Towers, Lower Parel, Mumbai 400013 Timings: 12:30 pm 1:30 am AXO Bar & Kitchen, Andheri West AXO Bar & Kitchen offers a luxurious setting for Rakshabandhan with Mediterranean and modern Indian cuisine. Delight in Greek Chicken Souvlaki, Haleem Baklava, and more in an elegant ambiance. Address: B-37, Ground Floor, Ambica Acropolis, beside OBEROI SPRINGS, Veera Desai Industrial Estate, Andheri West Timings: 12:00 pm 1:30 am Opa! Bar & Cafe, Andheri East Celebrate Rakshabandhan at Opa! Bar & Cafe with a festive Turkish menu featuring 1 Meter Veg/Lamb Adana Kebab and Hatay Kunefe. Enjoy a dynamic Greeko-Mediterranean atmosphere with Sufi and Acoustic Nights. Address: Hotel Peninsula Grand, 7th Floor, Lokmanya Tilak Nagar, Sakinaka, Andheri East, Mumbai 400072 Timings: 5 pm 3 am Rakhi Brunch at The Resort Join The Resort for a delightful Rakhi Brunch featuring a lavish spread of traditional and contemporary dishes. From Fish Nuggets and Roasted Red Bell Pepper Soup to Grilled Indian Salmon and exotic desserts, this brunch promises a memorable celebration of sibling bonds. Date: 19th August 2024 Time: 12:30 pm onwards Venue: Aksa Beach, 11, Madh Marve Road, Malad West, Mumbai 400095 Price: 2000 + GST Reservation: Call 77188 61953 Yauatcha Bengaluru This Raksha Bandhan, Yauatcha Bengaluru invites you to celebrate the special bond between siblings with a refined dining experience and exclusive offers. Renowned for its modern dim sum teahouse cuisine, Yauatcha offers a delectable feast and special deals that make for perfect gifts. Exclusive Raksha Bandhan Offers: Buy a Box of Macarons, Get Another Box Free: Enjoy our exquisite macarons with this special offer. Buy One Petit Gateau, Get a Blueberry Pistachio Bar Free: Indulge in our petit gateau and receive a complimentary Blueberry Pistachio Bar. Buy 1/2 Kg Cake, Get a Blueberry Pistachio Bar Free: Sweeten your celebration with a cake and a complimentary Blueberry Pistachio Bar. Complimentary Blueberry Pistachio Bar on Purchases Over INR 1999: Enjoy a complimentary Blueberry Pistachio Bar with any purchase over INR 1999. Choose from two special menus: Taste of Yauatcha and Supreme Taste of Yauatcha, featuring an array of dim sum, mains, and desserts. Pair your meal with our new Asia In A Glass cocktail menu, including the zesty Kumquat Mojito and aromatic Jasmine Martini. Timings: 12 PM 10:30 PM Address: Level 5, 1 MG Road Mall, MG Road, Bangalore Prices for Two: 3000 + taxes Independence Day is celebrated on August 15. This day marks the 77th anniversary of Indias independence from British rule. Traditionally, the celebration includes the Prime Minister hoisting the national flag at the Red Fort in New Delhi, followed by a speech addressing the nation. Various cultural programs, parades and events are organized across the country to honour the freedom fighters and celebrate the nations independence. Independence Day celebration for kids can be both fun and educational. Apart from hoisting flags or organising cultural programs at school or any place, kids can also try these DIY tricolour arts and crafts to make their celebration more memorable. READ ALSO: Happy Independence Day 2024: Heartfelt Wishes, Quotes, Images, and Greetings to Celebrate Indias 78th Year of Freedom! Best Independence Day Crafts for Kids Tricolour bookmarkMaterials needed to make this are coloured papers (saffron, white and green), glue and scissors. Cut strips of coloured paper and glue them together in the order of the National Flag. Cut the glued paper into a bookmark shape and decorate. Handprint FlagArrange for the paints according to the flag (saffron, white, green and blue) and a paper. Paint on one hand in saffron and make a handprint on the top part of the paper. Clean your hand and repeat the same with the other 2 colours. Use the blue paint to draw the Ashoka Chakra in the middle. Wind SpinnerGet the tri-coloured paper, scissors, glue and a string. Cut strips of the paper and glue them end to end in the order of saffron, white and green. Twist and glue the ends to form a spiral. Attach a string at the top to hand the spinner. A chain in Flag colourYou will need thick paper according to the colour of the flag and glue. Cut the coloured paper into strips. Take an orange strip and apply the glue at the end of it. Bend the strip and connect the other end to the glued part to form a loop. Repeat this process with all the other colours. Interlock all the loops together and you will have a tri-coloured chain. BraceletThe only thing needed for this is beads of saffron, white and green colour and a string, String the beads in the order of the flag to make a bracelet. Paper flowersAnother way to make this Independence Day special is by making flowers according to the National Flag colour. Get the papers, scissors and glue. Cut petals from the coloured paper and glue them together to form flowers. Arrange them in a pot or as a bouquet. These crafts are simple and fun for kids, allowing them to express their creativity while celebrating the spirit of Independence. Bigg Boss OTT3 has been known for its friendships, and one of the standout bonds was between Sana Makbul and Naezy. Despite their friendship experiencing ups and downs throughout their time in the house, Sana made it clear after winning the trophy that Naezi will always be his bamai. In a chat with Bollywood Hungama, Sana opened up on Naezy and his possible feelings for her. Reacting to whether Naezy had a crush on her while in the show, Sana told the publication, I dont think it can be called crush but Naezy likes me as who I am. He has always been that person on the show who has supported me, uplifted me, he was my friend in that house. Ek dosti jo usne nibhaayi hai woh usne hi nibhaayi hai bas (We had one special friendship and he fulfilled his commitment towards that bond, thats all). The actress praised the rapper, saying he deserved to win as well. She mentioned, Apart from me, Naezy would deserve to win. When someone asked me about top 3, I told them I see myself, Naezy, and Ranvirji (Ranvir Shorey) there. Right after the grand finale and winning the trophy, in a chat with the media stationed outside the Bigg Boss house, Sana had said that she will always be friends with the rapper. She had said, Woh mera bamai hai aur humesha rahega. Woh mera bahut achha dost hai. Is journey mein mujhe kisi apne ki zaroorat thi aur wo mere saath hamesha khara raha. Bas yahi bahut khoobsurat cheez hai uske baare mein (He is my bamai and always will be. He is a very good friend of mine. I needed someone close to me on this journey, and he has always stood by me. Thats the most beautiful thing about him). Dalljiet Kaurs divorce battle with Nikhil Patel has been making headlines for a long time now. Ever since the two parted ways, they have levelled several allegations against each other. On Tuesday, Nikhil issued a long statement and made some shocking revelations and allegations. In his statement, Nikhil claimed that he was never legally married to Dalljiet and revealed that his divorce from his previous wife was also not settled when he married the Indian television actress. He claimed that Dalljiet was aware of the situation but decided to leave Kenya in January this year with her son Jaydon, without any information. Dalljiet was very insistent on moving to Kenya and starting a new life there with my daughter and I. She understood the fact that I was still not legally divorced from my first marriage. In fact, my legal counsel at the time, sent Dalljiets parents a letter clearly stating this fact, to which they gave their blessing to the ceremony. This is why the Hindu ceremony was held in a banquet hall rather than a Gurdwara or a Mandir, and was purely a non-legally binding celebration for our respective family and friends, and for the sole purpose of Dalljiet being able to move to Kenya. My final divorce did not arrive until January of this year, by which time Dalljiet had already left Kenya for good (sic), he wrote. This is something that Dalljiet is deliberately omitting in her chosen narrative; she was in no way misled about my status as a still married man, and the fact that our celebration in India was not in any way meant to be, nor was it a legal marriage ceremony. For Dalljiet to pretend that we entered a legal union is deliberately deceptive and meant solely for purposes of supporting her victim self-portrayal. However, all the legal evidence, which is readily available, shows that this was purely a celebration of two cultures and religions coming together. I will admit that at the time, we both wanted to later legalise our relationship, once my divorce came through (sic), Nikhil added. Nikhil Patel further claimed that even though he tried to sort out their differences, Dalljiet was clear about getting divorced. He also accused the actress of verbally abusing him and claimed that hypocritical that she has been calling him a cheater. As I do take responsibility for my own actions in this scenario, it is important that Dalljiet recognise that labelling me a cheater and claiming that I had extra marital affairs is hypocritical given her level of comfort in moving to Kenya to live with me knowing full well that I was still legally married. In the past eight months since Dalljiet and Jaydon left Kenya, I have found myself subjected to intense scrutiny on social media. Dalljiet decided to withdraw Jaydon from his prestigious British international school in Nairobi after just four days of the new term. She then informed my oldest daughter through a voice note and messaged my friends, stating her intention to leave Kenya permanently and return to India. For several weeks after Dalljiet left Kenya, I continued to keep in touch with her and we communicated on a daily basis, where I was verbally abused several times on video and phone calls in the middle of the night. I truly tried my best to ask her to work on our relationship and kept matters private. I asked her to return to Kenya so we could be a family again and work through our differences, he continued. Nikhil also claimed that Dalljiet never met his younger daughter which caused her great distress. He even accused the actress of fabricating their story and blamed her for ruining his life. Dalljiet Kaur and Nikhil Patel tied the knot in March 2023. However, the two filed for divorce earlier this year i.e. after 10 months of their wedding. Recently, the actress also filed an FIR against Nikhil Patel at Mumbais Agripada police station. The FIR was filed under sections 85 and 316 (2) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. This means that Dilljiet accused Nikhil of cruelty and criminal breach of trust. Dalljiet Kaur has accused her estranged husband Nikhil Patel of running away from India. The actress, who filed an FIR against Patel earlier this month, issued a long statement on Tuesday (August 13) and accused Nikhil of escaping police after she filed a complaint against him. She claimed that even though police officials repeatedly asked Nikhil to appear, he did not. She further expressed anger against him and said that he needs to be punished. You had three days in India after knowing about the FIR. Which you have just admitted you knew about. If the rubbish you have printed out right now was true, you would have gone to the police station and told your side to them instead of sending it out to your PR. After running away from India while the police kept telling you to visit them again and again. You PR stories are not going to give me justice and a person like you deserves to be punished, she wrote. Earlier today, Nikhil also issued a long statement and claimed that he was never legally married to Dalljiet. He revealed that his divorce from his previous wife was also not settled when he married the Indian television actress. Nikhil further claimed that Dalljiet was aware of the situation but decided to leave Kenya in January this year with her son Jaydon, without any information. Dalljiet was very insistent on moving to Kenya and starting a new life there with my daughter and I. She understood the fact that I was still not legally divorced from my first marriage. In fact, my legal counsel at the time, sent Dalljiets parents a letter clearly stating this fact, to which they gave their blessing to the ceremony. This is why the Hindu ceremony was held in a banquet hall rather than a Gurdwara or a Mandir, and was purely a non-legally binding celebration for our respective family and friends, and for the sole purpose of Dalljiet being able to move to Kenya. My final divorce did not arrive until January of this year, by which time Dalljiet had already left Kenya for good (sic), he wrote. Reacting to the same, Dalljiet has lashed out at Nikhil and wrote, Its like you are so not done wanting more and more publicity, my god. Calling our wedding an event is shameful. In India its called MARRIAGE, and yes, NRI was written in Marathi by the cop. Its no big deal that a criminal is an NRI or a British citizen! Why did you flee from my country? Is all this true that you are sending for the press? You should have sat in front of the cops eye to eye and told this rubbish story you have made up. And see if they would have believed it. Dalljiet Kaur and Nikhil Patel tied the knot in March 2023. However, the two filed for divorce earlier this year i.e. after 10 months of their wedding. Dhanushs 50th film Raayan has already created a massive craze among fans. The film was loved by the audience for its intense action sequences. It was released on July 26 and already gained huge prominence. There is a person who is not an actor by profession but played a small role in the film. The person is reportedly a cardiologist, who is famous for his medical skills. This time he took the decision to try his hands on films. Curious to know who we are talking about in this article? The actor we are talking about is Dr Karthick Anjaneyan, who is the husband of Dhanushs sister Dr Karthika Devi. She recently expressed her happiness through a social media post, highlighting her husbands involvement in her brothers 50th film. Her post has gone viral on Instagram. On her handle, she posted a picture along with her husband who was seen wearing a police uniform. The photo was likely taken during the shooting of Raayan. Karthika captioned the post. I was just waiting to post these pictures for more than a year now and share my happiness to my Insta family. Dr Karthick Anjaneyan is a well-known cardiologist who is known for his amazing medical skills and management. But when I heard from my brother that he will be doing a small role in his 50th film I was just wondering whats wrong with him and what did he actually see in Anjee. I was very curious and of course very thrilled. I was fortunate to witness the magic of D directing his co-stars on the sets of Raayan and I couldnt stop admiring how he extracts work from even a doctor like Anjee. Never in my life, I thought I would see my husband on the big screen. That too in such a good role and all credits to D, Anjee has done a decent job I guess. Its such a privilege to be a part of such a huge movie that too in D50 directed by D. and I have no words to thank my little brother for that. For all that patience and motivation. I am a happy sister and a happy wife today. Thanks to team Raayan for all the motivation. A special thanks to @editor_prasannagk for ur unconditional love and support, she added. Raayan is directed by Dhanush himself. The film features several popular artists like SJ Suryah, Prakash Raj, Dushara Vijayan, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Aparna Balamurali, Kalidas Jayaram and Saravanan. Kangana Ranaut reacted to the gruesome RG Kar Medical College and Hospital doctor rape and murder case. The actress-turned-politician took to her Instagram Stories and demanded justice for the female doctor. She called the incident horrific and wished that the CBI would take over the case. She also hopes that the assaulter is punished. Murder of a trainee woman doctor at state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata is horrible & horrific. The semi-nude body of the woman post-graduate trainee doctor was found inside the seminar hall on Friday morning. She was brutally murdered and her body bore multiple injury marks. The preliminary autopsy report indicated sexual abuse before her murder. I hope case is transferred to CBI for complete inquiry and the assaulter is punished harshly, Kangana said. Amid Kanganas post, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that the state will handover the case to the CBI if Kolkata Police fails to solve the case by this week. She also met the victims kin and later said that the state government want RG Kar Hospital doctor murder case to be tried in fast track court. This also comes amid protests stages by doctors and medical students across the country, demanding justice for the victim. For the unversed, a woman postgraduate trainee doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata was sexually assaulted and murder. The Federation Of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) has given a call for a nationwide medical strike against the incident. The principal of Kolkatas RG Kar Medical College, Sandip Ghosh, has resigned from his post. Meanwhile, as for Kangana, she is preparing to return to the big screen. The actress will be seen in Emergency, playing the role of Indira Gandhi. Kangana has also directed the film. The trailer is set to release this week. Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez were once the power couple of Hollywood, but their relationship ended in 2004. After nearly 20 years apart, they reunited and got married in 2022. Despite their reunion, recent rumours suggest that the couple might be soon getting a divorce. Amid this drama, Bens close friend and fellow actor Matt Damon recently shared his thoughts on the intense media attention the Justice League star faces. While appearing on the Radio Times Podcast, he considers himself lucky that his own private life with his wife, Luciana Barroso, hasnt attracted much media interest. According to Matt, the media considers his marriage as boring and he views this as a blessing in disguise compared to Ben. The actor said, All of the magazine culture that was so huge, 25 years ago, kind of ignored me because, it wasnt that exciting as a story. The guy whos married, so boring. They sent, Im sure some photographers, 27 years ago, I was sitting on my house. If Im going out and Im with my wife like theres nothing there, what would sell those things, like scandal and s**, all that stuff that people would read. Ive been really lucky in that way. If like something happens they come and they get a little updated shot and other than that Ive been really lucky, especially when I look at Caseys brother, Ben. I cant imagine living under that kind of scrutiny. Its been like that for 25 years and weve had parallel careers in a lot of way. So Im fortunate to have been excused from that part, Matt Damon added. Following his split with Jennifer Lopez in 2004, Ben Affleck married actress Jennifer Garner in 2005, with whom, the actor shares three children, Violet Anne, Seraphina Rose Elizabeth and Samuel Garner. However, the two got separated in 2018. Meanwhile, Matt has been married to Luciana Barroso for 19 years and share three daughters together, Isabella, Gia and Stella. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon won the Oscar for writing and co-starring in their 1997 movie Good Will Hunting. Interestingly, the two might reportedly reunite with Good Will Hunting director Gus Van Sant in an upcoming drama based on Hulk Hogans court battle with Gawker Media. Currently, Matt is busy promoting his new film The Instigators, where he stars alongside Bens brother Casey Affleck. Could Mike Colter reprise his role as Luke Cage in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? The former Netflix actor discusses if he would ever consider playing the Marvel superhero again. Colter played the guardian of Harlem in two seasons of the Netflix series Luke Cage. The streamer ultimately decided to discontinue the series, much like all the other Marvel Netflix projects. Colter stated that he would love to explore the possibility of making a comeback to the MCU after all these years, at the red carpet premiere of The Union. Speaking to ComicBook.com, Colter stated, I would love to explore it, if they found some story, some way, somewhere, to take it. And Im happy that Charlie Cox and those are getting it rebooted, but I dont have any [idea if Luke Cage is getting rebooted]. Im not holding anything back. The actor continued speaking about the extensive creative reworking that Daredevil: Born Again underwent. At one time, Marvel Studios intended to make no reference to the three seasons of the hugely successful Netflix series and instead basically reboot the series. According to Colter, its the right move and they shouldnt have attempted to reboot it. It was not broken, so dont fix it, he told ComicBook.com. It appears Colter has moved on from his role as Luke Cage, even if fans are still clamouring for him to return. After leaving the Netflix series, Colter stated in a May 2024 interview with ComicBook.com that he was moving on to new ventures. Although he enjoyed playing the part, he also said that he would be more than glad to see someone else assume the title of Marvels Power Man. There is already the ideal plot to carry on Colters characters adventure if he chooses to rejoin the MCU as Luke Cage. As the second season of Luke Cage came to a close, he assumed control of Harlems Paradise and effectively became the areas new crime lord, trying to rein in the criminal activities that had been out of control. This meant that the MCU could now address the lingering issue of whether Luke had evolved into a villain. Luke Cage aired for two seasons from 2016 to 2018, however, Netflix cancelled the show one week after cancelling Iron Fist. Other Defenders saga shows followed suit, being deleted from Netflix in 2022 after Disney recovered the license and added them to the Disney+ collection, and thus the MCU chronology. Actress Natasa Stankovic and Hardik Pandya announced their separation last month. As their divorce process is underway, she is currently in Serbia with their son, Agastya. Amid this, the actress took to social media to talk about surrendering to God and getting a new name. The actress shared a selfie on her Instagram story and wrote, When you surrender everything to God, thats when you get a new name. You are not who you were but who God says you are. Recently, Natasa caught the internets attention with the posts shes been liking n social media. Natasa was seen liking posts on cheating and emotional abuse. She also liked a few posts on toxic relationships. This has paved the way for speculations of the possible reasons that resulted in their split. A social media user took to Reddit and shared multiple screenshots of the posts she has liked. Natasa Stankovic Liked Reels About Cheating & Emotional Abuse, the post was titled. It is worth noting that these are social media speculations. Neither Hardik nor Natasa have commented on the reason for their divorce. Natasa Stankovic is currently in her hometown, Serbia, after separation from Hardik Pandya. The two, who tied the knot in May 2020 and renewed their wedding vows according to the Hindu and Christian rituals in February 2023, confirmed their separation in July 2024. They issued a joint statement and mentioned that it was a tough decision for both of them and added that they will continue to co-parent their son, Agastya. After 4 years of being together, Hardik and I have decided to mutually part ways. We tried our best together and gave it our all, and we believe this is in the best interest for the both of us. This was a tough decision for us to make, given the joy, mutual respect and companionship we enjoyed together and as we grew a family, the statement read We are blessed with Agastya, who will continue to be at the centre of both our lives and we will co-parent to ensure that we give him everything that we can for his happiness. We sincerely request your support and understanding to give us privacy during this difficult and sensitive time, it added. Despite the split, the couple continues to follow each other on social media. Shekhar Home Review: Trust Bengal to handle its sleuths with the finesse of a master detective. This is the land where Satyajit Rays Feluda and the legendary Byomkesh Bakshi first solved their thrilling cases, and where Kiriti Roy stirred up the mystery pot. So, when it comes to detective drama, you can bet Bengal has a few tricks up its sleeve. Enter Shekhar Home, a refreshing adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyles Sherlock Holmes that infuses this rich tradition with a local twist. Created by Srijit Mukerji and Aniruddha Guha and directed by Rohan Sippy, the series kicks off with a gripping premise: the mysterious deaths of three scientists. Intelligence Bureau officer Mrinmoye Haldar, played by Kaushik Sen, is called upon to solve the case. Although inactive, Haldar is not inept, and he enlists his brother, Snehasish Haldar, a professor of forensics at the Calcutta Medical College, to use his intelligence, brilliance, and wit to crack the case. Enter Shekhar Home, played with delightful quirk by Kay Kay MenonBengals Sherlock Holmeswho rocks quintessential Bengali punjabis and effortlessly drops Uribaba into conversations. Menons brilliance is matched by the modest and sensitive Ranvir Shorey as Jayvrat Sahni, his roommate at Lonepurs Khasha Blanca. Dr. Watson with a dash of regional flair, if you will. Together, the duo tackles a wild mix of mysteries, from a quirky ad seeking a groom willing to rough it out in the forest for a month, to a faceless monster terrorizing a small town for centuries. In Shekhar Home, the beauty lies in its simplicity. This adaptation doesnt overcomplicate itself or try too hard to impress. Instead, it lets the quirks of its characters and the charm of its setting do all the talking. For the most part, its like flipping through a well-loved detective novel in your library, where the familiar elements are present but presented with a fresh, local twist. The series subtly nods to beloved sleuths from the screen and reams of print without losing its own identity, making it a breezy watch that doesnt feel the need to reinvent the wheel. The first two episodes catch you off-guard. From then on, its a mix of solving smaller crimes that weave together to circle back to the central mystery. The high points in the series come mostly in bits, but at one moment, Shekhar Home gives way entirely to let the brilliance of Ranvir Shorey take center stage. Watch out for it. Kay Kay Menons performance as Shekhar is brilliant, with his blend of humour, eccentricity, and intensity making the character both endearing and engaging. Ranvir Shoreys portrayal of Jayvrat adds a charming quirkiness that complements Menons role perfectly. From his gait to his dialogue deliveryRanvir is brilliantly cast. The dialogue writing is sharp in parts, ensuring each episode keeps you entertained to an acceptable degree. Rasika Dugal shines as Iravati, lending an air of effortless sophistication to the character that charms and disarms in equal measure, while Kaushik Sen delivers his usual impressive performance as Mrinmoye Haldar. Kirti Kulhari, one wishes, had more to do because heres an actress who has the chops to deliver, but the script has little for her to play with. Cinematographer Sirsha Roy, whose works include National Award-winning films like Churni Gangulys Nirbashito and R. Madhavans Rocketry: The Nambi Effect, paints Kolkata and parts of Santiniketan in broad, sepia strokes that command your undivided attention. On the downside, a few of the supporting characters come off as one-dimensional and cliche, with their actions and dialogues predictable from the get-go. Besides a couple of plot twists, the mysteries are fairly obvious and fail to keep you hooked at all times. The shows mix of mystery, drama, and a hint of romance sparingly feels like a patchwork job, lacking the finesse to tie it all together. But overall, Shekhar Home is a fun and breezy watch that blends classic Bengali detective vibes with a cool, modern twist. Packed with a few standout performances, its a fresh take on the genre thatll keep you entertained. The ongoing crisis in Bangladesh has captured international attention, with many observers attributing it to external interference, particularly from Pakistan and its intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The political turbulence in Bangladesh, marked by widespread student protests and subsequent governmental instability, is believed to be part of a broader geopolitical strategy involving multiple regional players. Recent evidence suggests that the Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS), the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, has played a crucial role in orchestrating the unrest, allegedly with the backing of Pakistans ISI. Background and Context Bangladesh has long been a battleground for various political and ideological forces, both domestic and international. The countrys political landscape is deeply polarised, with the ruling Awami League, led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), often supported by Islamist groups like Jamaat-e-Islami, being the primary contenders for power. The political rivalry between these groups has frequently led to periods of unrest and violence. In recent years, Sheikh Hasinas government has faced mounting challenges, including accusations of authoritarianism, corruption, and human rights abuses. These issues have provided fertile ground for opposition forces, both within Bangladesh and from neighboring countries, to exploit the situation for their own strategic interests. Pakistan, which has historically had a contentious relationship with Bangladesh since its independence in 1971, has been particularly active in seeking to influence the countrys political direction. Role of Islami Chhatra Shibir The Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS) has emerged as a significant player in the ongoing crisis. As the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, the ICS has a long history of radicalism and has been implicated in various acts of violence and unrest in Bangladesh. The groups influence extends across several major universities, including Dhaka University, Chittagong University, Jahangir University, Sylhet University, and Rajshahi University. These institutions have become focal points for student-led protests, which have escalated in recent years, particularly around the issue of the controversial quota system for government jobs. According to reports, ICS operatives have infiltrated these universities, using their positions to mobilise students and incite protests against the government. The protests, initially centered around legitimate grievances related to the quota system, quickly took on a more radical and violent character, with ICS members allegedly playing a key role in this transformation. The groups activities have been linked to a broader strategy aimed at destabilising Sheikh Hasinas government, with the ultimate goal of replacing it with a regime more favorable to Islamist interests. Pakistans ISI and External Influence The involvement of Pakistans ISI in Bangladeshs internal affairs is a critical aspect of the current crisis. The ISI has a long history of meddling in the political affairs of its neighboring countries, often using proxy groups to achieve its objectives. In Bangladesh, the ISI has reportedly been providing support to Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, the ICS, as part of a strategy to weaken Sheikh Hasinas government and create a more favorable political environment for Pakistan. Reports indicate that the ISIs involvement in the student protests has been multifaceted. In addition to providing financial and logistical support to the ICS, the ISI has also been involved in sophisticated information warfare tactics, including the creation of fake social media profiles to spread disinformation and incite unrest. These tactics have been instrumental in escalating the protests from peaceful demonstrations into violent confrontations with the authorities. The ISIs activities in Bangladesh are part of a broader geopolitical strategy that includes undermining Indias influence in the region. Sheikh Hasinas government has maintained strong ties with India, particularly in areas of trade, security, and counter-terrorism. Pakistan, which views India as its primary regional rival, has a vested interest in weakening the Bangladesh-India relationship. By supporting Islamist groups like Jamaat-e-Islami and the ICS, the ISI hopes to create instability in Bangladesh, thereby complicating Indias strategic interests in the region. Militarys Role and Sheikh Hasinas Resignation The depth of foreign involvement in Bangladeshs crisis became glaringly evident when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to resign abruptly. According to reports, the military gave her only 45 minutes to step down and flee the country, a move that underscores the severity of the crisis and the extent of external influence. This dramatic turn of events highlights the vulnerability of the Bangladeshi government to both internal and external pressures. Sheikh Hasinas resignation has been interpreted by many as a victory for the opposition forces, particularly those aligned with Jamaat-e-Islami and the ICS. However, it has also raised serious concerns about the future stability of Bangladesh. The militarys involvement in her removal suggests that the crisis has reached a critical point, with the potential for further escalation if a resolution is not found. Connections between ICS and ISI The connections between the Islami Chhatra Shibir and Pakistans ISI are well-documented. Reports indicate that ICS members have traveled to Pakistan for training and ideological indoctrination, further strengthening the ties between the two entities. This relationship is part of a broader network of Islamist groups across South Asia that have been supported by the ISI in its efforts to promote radicalism and destabilize governments perceived as hostile to Pakistans interests. The ISIs support for the ICS is not just about creating chaos in Bangladesh; it is also part of a larger strategy to influence the countrys political future. By backing Islamist groups, the ISI hopes to create a political environment in Bangladesh that is more aligned with Pakistans strategic interests, particularly in relation to India. This includes promoting anti-India sentiment, which has been a key feature of the ICSs activities in recent years. India Out Campaign The rise of the India Out campaign in Bangladesh, particularly following Sheikh Hasinas return to power, is another indication of the broader geopolitical maneuvering at play. The campaign, which sought to portray India as an enemy of Bangladesh, is widely believed to have been orchestrated by Islamist groups with the backing of Pakistans ISI. The campaign gained traction among certain segments of the population, particularly those who felt marginalised or disillusioned by the governments policies. The India Out campaign is a clear example of how external actors can exploit domestic grievances to further their own strategic objectives. By promoting anti-India sentiment, the ISI and its proxies in Bangladesh aim to weaken the close relationship between Dhaka and New Delhi, thereby advancing Pakistans regional agenda. This strategy has been somewhat successful in creating divisions within Bangladesh, although it remains to be seen how much impact it will have on the countrys long-term political landscape. Operation Regime Change Intelligence reports suggest that the blueprint for what has been described as Operation Regime Change was crafted in London, with the involvement of the ISI, and executed in Bangladesh. The operation aimed to destabilize Sheikh Hasinas government and replace it with one more favorable to Pakistans interests. Central to this plan were meetings between Tarique Rahman, the acting chief of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, and ISI operatives in Saudi Arabia. These meetings are believed to have laid the groundwork for a coordinated effort to destabilize the Bangladeshi government. By leveraging the BNPs discontent with Sheikh Hasinas administration and the Islamist groups influence over the student population, the ISI sought to create a perfect storm of unrest and political instability. The forced resignation of Sheikh Hasina was seen as a critical step in this plan, paving the way for the BNPs return to power. The crisis in Bangladesh is a complex interplay of geopolitical interests involving Pakistans ISI, its allies in Bangladesh, and foreign interference. The Islami Chhatra Shibir has emerged as a central player in this crisis, with its radical activities and student mobilization reflecting broader regional tensions. The situation underscores the significant impact that external forces can have on domestic politics, leading to governmental instability and shifts in political power. As Bangladesh navigates this turbulent period, the role of external actors like Pakistan will continue to be scrutinised. The future of Bangladeshs political landscape remains uncertain, but what is clear is that the country is at a critical juncture, with the potential for significant changes in its governance and regional alignments. The writer is an author and columnist and has written several books. His X handle is @ArunAnandLive. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. An interim government has taken charge under the leadership of Muhammed Yunus, the choice of the agitating students and, significantly, that of the Americans too. Yunus, a Fulbright scholar, who has lived in the US for some years and was there in 1971, has had long-standing links with the Clintons (Bill Clinton strongly pushed for the award of a Nobel Peace Prize to him), his foundation has received a lot of American money, and he has also founded Grameen America. Yunus is not a neutral figure politically, as he is bitterly critical of Sheikh Hasina under whose regime cases of corruption and violation of labour laws were filed against him. In January 2024, he was convicted of violating labour laws. Whether it was a politically motivated case as his supporters allege or he was rightly indicted is difficult to judge, but what is relevant is the degree to which this could colour his handling of the Awami League in the Bangladesh political system. The Army had not invited the Awami League in discussions to set up an interim government and there is no representative of the party in it. The Awami League, which has ruled the country for many years, has to eventually find its place in the Bangladesh political system under a renewed leadership. The party is associated with the countrys liberation struggle, the symbols of which have been vandalised by the agitating mobs, and has a large number of supporters The restoration of democracy will require participation of all political forces in shaping the course of the countrys direction in the future. Yunus is respected but he has no political base of his own. It is an army-backed government in place. The agitating students are still exerting street power. They have forced the Chief Justice and five other judges of the Supreme Court to resign with ultimatums. How soon they can be controlled by the interim government or the Army is unclear. For India, the prime concern would be the restoration of law and order in the country, a return to stability as soon as possible and the security of the Hindu minority which has been under pressure even during the friendly rule of Sheikh Hasina. It is now much more exposed to violence by anti-Indian and Islamic elements in the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated Yunus on his taking over his new responsibilities. In his message he has raised the issue of security of the Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh. The absence of any call by the US to safeguard the minorities in Bangladesh is surprising. In 1971, the US had, for larger geopolitical reasons, ignored the genocidal atrocities by the Pakistani army against the local people, including the Hindus. The US was then very close to Pakistan; it was reaching out to China with Pakistans co-operation, and its relations with India were cold. Today, the geopolitical situation is altogether different. The US is treating China as an adversary, Pakistan is no longer the privileged partner of the US in the subcontinent, and India and the US have forged a deep strategic partnership that spans the Indo-Pacific region. Although today the problem of violence against the minorities in Bangladesh does not have the same dimension as in 1971, the issue is of concern for India which the US could have shared and made up for its grave failure in the past failure to take any cognisance of the plight of minorities of Bangladesh. US Secretary of State Blinken has made more than one statement on developments in Bangladesh, calling for calm and peace and for the decisions of the interim government to respect democratic principles, uphold the rule of law and reflect the will of the people. He has studiously avoided making any call for safeguarding the security of the minorities, and this when governance has collapsed, extra-constitutional forces are operating, and purges in the judiciary and the police are taking place. This contrasts with his publicly aired concerns about the security of minorities in India when India is a well-functioning and stable democracy. Clearly, India and the US are not, and have not been, on the same page on Bangladesh. The US has been targeting the Sheikh Hasina government on democracy issues, discrediting it by not inviting it to its Summits for Democracy (but inviting Pakistan), sanctioning individuals and elements of the security forces in the country, etc. The US is aware of the record of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) against India and that of the extremist Jamaat-e-Islami. Why the US is especially concerned about democracy in Bangladesh when it willingly handed over Afghanistan to the Taliban and has close ties with a country like Qatar and other Gulf monarchies is a question that needs to be asked. Bangladesh is located in a very sensitive area for India. It is pivotal to the security and economic development of our northeastern states, not to mention our Act East policy, which has already been disrupted by the turmoil in Myanmar. This entire area is geographically close to China and vulnerable to Chinese interference. The US should have been more receptive than it has been to Indias need to bolster a friendly government in Bangladesh and not seek to undermine its legitimacy by targeting it selectively on democracy and human rights issues. The strategic partnership between India and the US, the logic of Quad and the Indo-Pacific concept is undermined by the US pursuing a policy towards Bangladesh that is not in consonance with Indias strategic interests, not only in Bangladesh but also in the Bay of Bengal. The call by the UK Foreign Secretary for a UN probe into the events leading up to Sheikh Hasinas ouster seems calculated to demolish her, and can be read as a bow to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), keeping in mind that the Khaleda Zias son, Tarique Rehman, the acting chairman of BNP, has been in exile in the UK for many years and has pronounced on the end of Bangladeshs subservience (read India) with Hasinas ouster. India has not been unaware of the polarised politics in Bangladesh, the toxic rivalry between Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia of the BNP, the boycott of elections by the BNP which made the election exercise controversial, Sheikh Hasinas determination to try as war criminals those who sided with the Pakistan army during the freedom struggle, her animus towards the Jamaat-e-Islami, an Islamic extremist party linked to the BNP, and criticism that she was autocratic. That does not mean that India had to advise her how to run her country, tell her she needed to be more democratic, and reach out to her opposition and give them comfort, and so on. India bristles at foreign interference in its internal affairs; it cannot have one standard for itself and another for others. It does appear though, judging by the statement in Parliament by the External Affairs Minister, that with the situation in Bangladesh going out of control we expressed our concern to Sheikh Hasina. In the ministers words, Throughout this period, we repeatedly counselled restraint and urged that the situation be defused through dialogue. Similar urgings were made to various political forces with whom we were in touch. It is absurd to blame India in any way for not having anticipated the ouster of Sheikh Hasina (she and her party did not anticipate it either) and somehow prevented it, and call it a failure of our foreign policy. Under Sheikh Hasina, the country made impressive economic progress. She built strong economic ties with India, eliminated anti-insurgent groups operating against India from Bangladesh soil, restored connectivity and transit links with India to mutual advantage, and so on. Any new government in Bangladesh would find it difficult to reverse all this progress in ties, as that would be self-defeating. What could happen is that the rhetoric that Bangladesh had become too close to India, had become subservient, etc., will take its toll in the immediate future, resulting in a slowdown in the further growth of ties, and a less congenial atmosphere in exploring more areas of cooperation. Anti-India forces in Bangladesh, which have links to Pakistan, will get a boost. Under Sheikh Hasina too, China had made inroads into Bangladesh. It became the first country in the subcontinent to join the BRI after Pakistan. China became the dominant military partner of Bangladesh, too. Membership of the RCEP has also been put on Bangladeshs agenda. A greater outreach to China by the new dispensation in Bangladesh could, therefore, result, creating more security headaches for India and sharpening Chinas challenge to us in our neighbourhood. 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 those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. In 2019, the Central Government enacted the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, effectively banning the practice of triple talaq. This legal milestone marked a significant step in protecting the rights of married Muslim women and curbing divorces through one-sided talaq pronouncements. Looking ahead, the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 stands out as an important reform aimed at safeguarding properties donated for the welfare of the Indian Muslim community. This amendment seeks to boost transparency within the Waqf Board, enhancing its efficiency to ensure effective delivery of welfare initiatives to underprivileged Muslims. There has been mounting anger against the Waqf boards due to their authoritarian practices. The Waqf Board is Indias third largest landowner, after the Indian Railways and the Indian Army. Over 9 lakh properties, amounting to Rs 1.2 lakh crore, are under the management of 32 state-level Waqf boards, governed by a handful of 200 appointed members. At present, over 40,000 cases await resolution in Waqf tribunals. The composition of these tribunals, which exclusively includes members of the Waqf bureaucracy, is a cause for serious concern and thus cannot be expected to deliver transparency in their judgments. Complaints such as encroachment, mismanagement, ownership disputes, and delays in registration and surveys reflect inefficacy and corruption in the current Waqf board setup. A few notable incidents include the Delhi High Court observing unauthorised constructions on 123 Waqf properties in the heart of Delhi. In 2022, the Tamil Nadu Waqf Board claimed ownership of an entire village predominantly inhabited by Hindus. Interestingly, the Sunni Waqf Board also claimed rights to the Taj Mahal without any supporting documents. Section 40 of the Waqf Act, 1995, provides Waqf boards with the authority to decide if a property is deemed a Waqf property. There have been many complaints that this power has been misused by custodians of Waqf boards for land grabbing. The proposed amendment now vests this power with the district collector for faster dispute resolution. It also mandates that the Waqf board register all its properties with the district collectors office, enabling evaluation and ensuring transparency in all Waqf transactions. Additionally, the amendment prevents Waqf boards from usurping any land without proper documentation, as deputy collectors and higher officers will survey the properties to ensure transparency. Given its significance for the welfare of the Muslim public, the lack of adequate womens representation on the Waqf Board is astonishing. Similarly, marginalised Muslim communities, such as Boras, Ahmadiyyas, Pasmandas, Shias, and other OBC Muslims, have long complained of being underrepresented on these Waqf boards, with the boards currently dominated by select elite factions, denying them a voice in the management of these community assets. Denial of inheritance rights to women and orphans by Waqf boards is a blatant misuse of the Waqf-al-Aulad provision. This bill is clearly aimed at fixing the issue of underrepresentation of Muslim women and backward Muslim communities on the Waqf boards. If not addressed, this would eventually create tensions among these sections. While many Islamic countries like Turkey and Tunisia have abolished Waqf boards entirely, India, with its vibrant democracy, has allowed these boards to operate independently. The proposed amendments further strengthen this Waqf system. Opposition parties are making hue and cry solely for the sake of appeasement politics and to further create divisions in society for the sake of their vote bank politics. In a country with a Hindu majority, temples in India are managed by government-appointed bodies or trusts. One has not seen Congress, the Samajwadi Party, or YCP demanding similar reforms or taking progressive steps to make temples independent of government control when they were in power. Additionally, the Government of India needs to create checks and balances in the functioning of Waqf boards by removing individuals charged with misuse of power. The All India Sufi Sajjadanashin Council, the primary body representing Sufi shrines, has welcomed the governments proposal and alleged that Waqf boards operate in a dictatorial manner. The amendments proposed by the government aim to protect the true custodians and owners of Waqf properties. Efficient management of these properties is expected to generate substantial revenue, which can be used to benefit poor Muslims, including children, women, and backward communities. The Triple Talaq Act, despite initial controversy, has gained acceptance within the Muslim community and is viewed as enhancing marriage security for Muslim women. The government presents the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, as having a similar objective: safeguarding the interests of the wider Muslim community from potential undue influence by a select few. The author is National Member, BJYM (Policy, Research, and Training division) MBA, IIM Lucknow. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Tuesday nominated Delhi Home Minister Kailash Gahlot to hoist the national flag at the state Independence Day event, officials at Raj Niwas said. Gahlot has been choose to hoist the tricolour as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who would normally lead celebrations is currently lodged in jail following his arrest by the CBI in the alleged liquor policy case. Lieutenant Governor is pleased to nominate Minister (Home), GNCTD, Kailash Gahlot to unfurl the National Flag at the state level Independence day celebrations at Chhatrasaal Stadium. Necessary arrangements may be made accordingly, LGs secretary Ashish Kundra said in a written communication to Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar. Notably, Saxenas decision to select Kailash Gahlot might lead to another contention between him and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party. Earlier, Delhi Minister Gopal Rai directed the General Administration Department (GAD) to make the necessary arrangements for Atishi to hoist the national flag, as per the desires of Arvind Kejriwal. The General Administration Department (GAD) of Delhi on Tuesday said that it cannot authorise Delhi Minister Atishi to hoist the national flag on Independence Day, as desired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Issuing a statement, Saxenas office said Gahlot had been nominated since Delhi Police is responsible for the ceremonial march-past parade after unfurling of the national flag, and matters related to (the) police have been assigned to the Home Department. AAP Welcomes LGs Decision Issuing a response to Delhi LGs decision, AAP said, We welcome the decision to have Delhis Home Minister, Kailash Gahlot, unfurl the national flag on August 15. This move honors the principle of democracy by choosing an elected representative over an appointed one, reinforcing the importance of the peoples mandate in our governance, the party added. Earlier in the day, LGs rejection of Atishi sparked a political row between the AAP and Saxena as the ruling party accused him of doing petty politics. Atishi also took a veiled jibe at Delhis Lieutenant Governor, and said that a new viceroy had come, and he wanted to unfurl the national flag. There are no permanent friends or enemies in politics. The uncertainty in changing equations is the only certainty. This has been proven true in recent times with the new found friendship between the Bachchans and the Gandhis, more specifically, between Congress MP Sonia Gandhi and Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan. This is significant as the bitterness between the once close families had its epicentre in Sonia Gandhi and Jaya Bachchan. It is said that when Sonia Gandhi decided to shift base to India to marry Rajiv Gandhi, it was Amitabh Bachchans mother Teji Bachchan, who taught her Hindi. Not just this, in a recent interview, Sonia Gandhis daughter Priyanka Vadra spoke about how Teji aunty had taught her poetry. Rajiv Gandhi, Amitabh Bachchan and Arun Nehru were seen the way Rahul Gandhi and his group of young leaders were in the recent past. Amitabh had entered politics to help his friend Rajiv Gandhi. He also did the kanyadaan for Priyanka Vadra, a ritual where the father gives away his daughter on her wedding. But things broke down between the two families. While no one knows the real cause, it is believed that the Gandhis felt that during the biggest Bofors crisis, Amitabh Bachchan never stood by them. In contrast, Amitabh Bachchan once said, They are the raja and we are the ranks. It was Jaya Bachchan who was most bitter about the Gandhis and she once said that they were big people who had hurt her husband. As Amitabh seemed to get closer to PM Narendra Modi, the scorn and anger among the Gandhis got clearer. They accused the Bachchans of being traitors. But then, things changed. Just recently, many were surprised to see Sonia Gandhi and Jaya Bachchan share a laugh. But what took everyone by surprise was when it was Sonia who goaded Jaya to take on Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar. When Jaya Bachchan was haggling with the VP in Rajya Sabha, it was Sonia who indiacted to the INDIA bloc leaders to stand by her, which they did. She stood behind Jaya Bachchan as she spoke to the media and demanded an apology from the VP, much like when Sonia had stood behind TMC MP Mahua Moitra when she was disqualified. Many may wonder how the friends-turned-foes have turned friends again. This goes back to an axis which many senior leaders of the INDIA bloc want to create. They say that it is important that all women and the bitterness of the past must be forgotten. Sources say that a pivotal role has also been played by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who feels that having performed well and bringing the BJP below simple majority, past bitterness must be forgotten. The Bachchans had taught the Hindi language to Sonia Gandhi and she had gotten her voice, thanks to their efforts. Today, once again, the past seems to be catching up. And, political compulsion could lead to writing of a new script. Amid the ongoing protests related to the rape and murder case of a Kolkata doctor, a post on social media claiming to be the picture of the main accused in the RG Kar Medical incident is going viral. The young man in the picture is claimed to be the son of Trinamool MLA Soumen Mahapatra. Coincidently, Mahapatras son is also a doctor. BJP leader Amit Malviya on Wednesday took to microblogging site X and wrote, Kolkata is rife with speculation that elusive suspects in the RG Kar MCH rape and murder case are closely linked to Mamata Banerjees confidant(s) in the ruling Trinamool. Kolkata is rife with speculation that elusive suspects in the RG Kar MCH rape and murder case are closely linked to Mamata Banerjees confidant(s) in the ruling Trinamool. Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) August 14, 2024 Responding to the allegations levelled against his son, the senior Trinamool MLA and former state minister Soumen Mahapatra and his wife have said that false allegations are being made against their son and he is innocent. In fact, the TMC leader further alleged that several Trinamool leaders are trying to link his son to the Kolkata doctors rape-murder case. I have been getting calls for a few days now and I see on social media that some people from my party are trying to name my son in the incident. So far, we have known that crows do not eat crow meat. But now I see, crows eat only crows meat. We also want a proper investigation. I, my son and my family will give all possible help to the police in the interest of the investigation. My son is not involved in this incident. I am very anxious, Mahapatra said. Mahapatras wife, who is also the president of Trinamool Congress in Panskura city, Sumana Mohapatra, said, We are saddened by the fact that some members of my party are trying to tarnish my sons name. And if my son is involved in the RG Kar Medical College case, I will stand up and hand over my son to the police. Meanwhile, the CBI on Tuesday took over the investigation into the alleged rape and murder of a woman doctor at a state-run medical college in the West Bengal capital. The body of the postgraduate trainee, who was allegedly raped and murdered inside a seminar hall of the state-run RG Kar hospital, was found on Friday morning. A civic volunteer was arrested in this connection on Saturday. The preliminary autopsy report suggested that the doctor was sexually abused and murdered. It stated that the victim was bleeding from her eyes, mouth and private parts. There were also injuries on her left leg, neck, right hand, ring finger and lips. Googles new Pixel foldable model is finally here and it is coming to India this year. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is part of a new product lineup for the company as it looks to build an ecosystem of devices. Google claims the new Pixel foldable is thinner and lighter than the previous generation but the bigger question is how it compares with the other brands. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold features a triple camera system, 7 years of OS upgrades and more. Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold Price In India Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold has launched at Rs 1,72,999 as it looks to compete with the likes of OnePlus Open, Vivo X Fold 3 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6. Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold Features The Pixel 9 Pro Fold cover screen is 6.3-inch with a 20:9 aspect ratio which gives it book style layout. Main display comes at 8-inches with an AMOLED LTPO panel for 120Hz refresh rate and 2700 nits of peak brightness. Google says the hinge is made with multi-alloy steel and other high-grade materials to give it better durability than its predecessor. The foldable weighs 257 grams but 5.1mm depth with the device unfolded is quite slim. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is also powered by the Tensor G4 chipset with 16GB RAM and 256GB/512GB storage options. Google is launching the Pixel 9 series with Android 14 and the foldable is part of that condition. The fold has a triple camera setup at the back which includes a 48MP wide primary sensor with OIS + EIS, 10.5MP dual ultrawide lens and a 10.8MP dual telephoto lens with OIS + EIS. The front is still a 10.2MP shooter. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold packs a 4650mAh battery that supports 45W charging speed but with Googles USB C adapter. Microsoft caters to many businesses across the globe, including those residing in India. The companys major enterprise suite called Dynamics 365 is facing a major security risk that puts millions of these companies at risk. And now, the Indian government has also notified an alert for this issue via its security agency Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In). The warning comes with a high severity rating which is never a good sign and should get peoples attention right away. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Security Risk What We Know The CERT-In report will clearly be a concern for the IT department at various companies and the note says, a vulnerability has been reported in Microsoft Dynamics 365 which could allow a remote attacker to gain elevated privilege on the targeted system. The security bulletin further goes on to explain the actual cause for the security risk and how it could impact their systems. The vulnerability exists due to weak authentication in Microsoft Dynamics 365. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by bypassing the authentication process on the targeted system, the note adds. Microsoft has already been informed about the issue and the company seems to have issued a patch that should clear up the vulnerability. The CERT-In post says the Dynamics 365 Field Service (on-premises) v7 series is the version that is affected by the security risk and the update needs to be installed for systems running on this Dynamics 365 version right away. This is the latest Windows threat that poses risk to millions of PC users in the country, which even includes businesses that rely on their systems to run the Microsoft operating system. A Bengaluru woman has accused Air India of high-handedness after the airline abruptly cancelled her flight from India to the United States. The flight from Delhi to San Francisco was originally scheduled to take off on August 18, but was pushed back to August 22. When passengers objected to the new date, Air India offered an alternative route via Mumbai on August 17. However, it was inconvenient for those already in Bengaluru. These passengers requested a direct flight from the Silicon Valley of India to San Francisco via Mumbai but the airline categorically denied their requests and people were left with the options of a 10-hour layover in Delhi or waiting until August 22. Read| Flights from Delhis T3 a Nightmare: Journalist After Battling Long Security Queues Loveleen Arun, while sharing the incident on X, wrote, High-handedness by Air India on another level. Delhi-SFO flight booked for August 18 has been arbitrarily cancelled and the passengers were offered to fly on August 22. When they said that is not acceptable they have been given delhi-mumbai-sfo on August 17. Passengers have pleaded that they will be in Bangalore and this would mean flying BLR-DEL (having a 10 hour layover) and then taking Del-MUM- SFO and instead give them BLR-MUM-SFO which has been categorically denied by Air India. She further slammed the airline, saying that they have no empathy whatsoever towards passengers. First you cancel flights at whim and then dont try even a slight bit to help your clients. Just no empathy whatsoever! Money lost in booking, cancelling and re-booking domestic flights is another matter altogether! she concluded. Take a look at her post on X below: High-handedness by @airindia on another level. Delhi-SFO flight booked for 18th august has been arbitrarily cancelled and the passengers were offered to fly on the 22nd Aug!! When they said that is not acceptable they have been given delhi-mumbai-sfo on 17th Aug. Passengers have Loveleen Arun (@LoveleenArun) August 12, 2024 After receiving a lot of backlash online, the airline apologised to the woman. The companys comment on the womans post reads, Dear Ms. Arun, we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused by the disruption. Please help us with your booking details via DM to promptly look into this. Check out how Internet users responded to Air Indias last-minute flight change: One of the things I find worse in these cancelled international flights is how long that large amount of money is stuck. Because you make a last-minute transaction, the fares are high and the refund takes long. And by the time the bill comes at the end of the month, its for both the amounts and takes a toll if you are on a cash crunch issue, wrote X user Bhaibhav Mishra. Also Raed| Bengaluru Resident Urges Empathy Towards Hindi Speakers: Can We Be a Little Kind? Another expressed, My flight from NYC to Delhi was randomly cancelled two days before (Aug 10) departure, all I got was a WhatsApp text saying your itinerary has updated, rescheduling on Aug 13 flight. When I called though the call center person was good and he rebooked us on the JFK-BOM flight. This has become a norm for Air India, last week my sisters ticket from Del to EWR was cancelled and rescheduled 10 days later. My sister went to the Air India counter at the airport and got changed from BOM to EWR. The call centre was hopeless as they offered a full refund or travel later, fumed a third X user. A Bengaluru resident has shared a disheartening encounter on Reddit and urged people to be kind and understanding towards those who come from Hindi speaking belt. The incident, which unfolded in the citys ISRO Layout, involved a north Indian pineapple vendor who faced hostility from a customer for not knowing the local language. Can we be a little kind? wrote a Bengaluru resident on Reddits Bangalore community. In the post, the user recounted a recent incident. Read| Bengaluru Motorists Stranded in Waterlogged Roads Surface as IT Capital Drowns in Heavy Rains The incident took place after the Redditor bought pineapples from a north Indian vendor in the citys ISRO Layout. A woman approached the vendor and asked for the price of the pineapples. The vendor responded, 40 ka ek [Rs 40 for one piece] and 100 ka 3 [Rs 100 for three pieces]. The woman, unable to understand him, asked him to repeat himself multiple times. The Redditor then intervened and explained in Kannada what the vendor had said. However, instead of expressing gratitude towards the Redditor or placing an order, the woman berated the vendor for not knowing Kannada. In response, the vendor apologised to her and explained that he had only been in the city for a week and will learn the language soon. Take a look at the Redditors post here: After the Reddit post gained traction, an individual expressed, Everyone in Bangalore is becoming insensitive nowadays. What a poor vendor will do. They dont have the means to learn a new language. At least the privileged North Indians can do. It looks like a typical high class high handed behaviour. For all the learn kannada voices that I have seen in the city, I have seen zero to none accessibility to do so. I visited several book stores, they didnt have a book to learn Kannada from. English speaking course books were plenty though. I know I can access the internet and learn via an e-course, but what about a layman who doesnt have internet access and doesnt even know English properly? I havent even seen physical advertisements for speaking courses. The locals want the immigrants to randomly wake up one day and have the ability to speak fluently, as if they were born and raised here. When I ask my colleagues for sources to learn the language, they nonchalantly tell me that knowing English is enough. So tell me, where is the incentive, accessibility, and the opportunity to learn? chimed in another. A third wrote, This. Ive spent 9 years in Bangalore on and off and I couldnt learn much Kannada at all except for Kannada Gothilla. Three months in Anekal and I can now understand it for the most part and can speak a broken version of it. Made me realise that everyone in Bangalore wants you to learn Kannada but dont want to teach you any. On the other hand, if Id been living in Chennai for this long, Id be rapping Tamil like a localite. Pakistani-American businessman Ali Sheikhani is being trolled on social media after he announced a Suzuki Alto as a gift for Pakistans javelin thrower Arshan Nadeem who will be returning to the country after winning a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The javelin thrower scripted history in France with a throw of 92.97 metres. Not only did he set an Olympic record, but also got Pakistan its first gold medal since the 1984 Los Angeles Games. Days after the triumph, multiple outlets claimed that Pakistani-American businessman Ali Sheikhani would gift the javelin star a brand new car for the historic feat. Pakistani activist Syed Zafar Abbas Jafri had reportedly announced the news in a video. A fan has now shared the news on X while writing, Update: Pakistani-American businessman Ali Sheikhani has announced a brand new Suzuki Alto car for Arshad Nadeem for winning Gold medal in Paris Olympics. Well deserved. Update: Pakistani-American businessman Ali Sheikhani has announced a brand new Suzuki Alto car for Arshad Nadeem for winning Gold medal in Paris Olympics. Well deserved #Paris2024 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/ByTaxWUbnn Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) August 12, 2024 As the news went viral, several fans flocked to the comments section to share their thoughts. While some were happy for the athlete, others mocked the businessman for the cheap offering to Nadeem. A user wrote, This is an insulthe deserves BMW or Audi. One couldnt believe the news was true as he asked, Is this a joke or something? A netizen said, Alto??? Why? Could not find anything cheaper?!? It is your first Gold! Get something worthy of it! Another agreed and wrote, Alto? Are you serious? Shame on you! Another said, This is definitely an insult for him. Its a very cheap and insulting git for a Gold winning Athlete like himHow can you be so happy about it? added a user. This is an Insult .. he deserves BMW or Audi Rahul jain (@rahuljain1386) August 12, 2024 Is it a joke or something? Durgesh (@PentaHexagon) August 12, 2024 Alto??? Why? Could not find anything cheaper?!? It is your first Gold! Get something worthy of it! Jyothish N Pillai (@JyothishNPillai) August 12, 2024 Alto? Are you serious? Shame on you! Diksha Kandpal (@DikshaKandpal8) August 12, 2024 This is definitely an insult for him. Gudumba Satti (@GudumbaSatti) August 12, 2024 It's a very cheap &, insulting gift for a Gold winning Athlete like himHow can you be so happy about it Riya S (@Jyoti_singh112) August 12, 2024 The Suzuki Alto isnt going to be the first gift Arshad Nadeem will receive after notching gold at the Paris Games. His father-in-law Muhammad Nawaz has honoured the 27-year-old by gifting him a buffalo after his triumph in France. The unique gift is considered honourable in their culture. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister of the Pakistan state of Punjab Maryam Nawaz, Punjab governor Sardar Saleem Haider Khan, and the Chief Minister of Sindh have rewarded PKR 100 million, 2 million, and 50 million each respectively to Arshad Nadeem. Arshad Nadeem hails from the city of Khanewal in Pakistans Punjab, born into a poor family of eight children. Talking about his victory at the Paris Olympics in a post on X, he said, This gold medal is a gift from me to the entire nation on the occasion of Independence Day (on Aug. 14), Want to earn pounds by just selecting outfits and managing a multi-millionaires schedule? Well, thats what multi-millionaire Barrie Drewitt-Barlow is offering for personal assistants. The 54-year-old entrepreneur has recently put out an advertisement for a valet/personal assistant to help him with his luxurious lifestyle, reported The Sun. Barrie, who previously appeared on Rich House Poor House with partner Scott and their kids, shared how the selected candidate will help him with tasks like choosing outfits, assisting him with dressing, organising his wardrobe, travelling with him, coordinating his schedule, and more. The advertisement reads, This position is based in the UK, however, there is significant travel to the USA & Asia. By being Barries assistant, the staff member will get the chance to travel with him as he splits his time between his multiple mansions. As per the eligibility criteria, The ideal candidate should be able and willing to work away from home, and they should have no issue with travelling and being away for weeks and sometimes months at a time. You must be able to provide support to the household team and the principal. The Sun further reported that the duties of a Valet/Personal Assistant include cataloguing, organising, and caring for the principals wardrobe, such as offering clothing suggestions and assisting him with dressing. The assistant will have to work with the chef to produce a menu that works for the principal. They will also be responsible for arranging household help, facilitating schedules, running errands, organising transport, and being in charge of a team of up to 10 team members. In addition to this, the millionaire mentioned that no formal experience is required, but the personal assistant should be upbeat and articulate with a can-do service-oriented attitude. Wondering about the income for this role? Then let us tell you that the full-time role, spanning Monday to Friday with 10-hour/day hours, will get a pay between 30,000 to 40,000 (approximately Rs 30-40 lakh). Yes, we arent kidding. While speaking to Fabulous, the multi-millionaire said, I have had so many people already apply, and I have been interviewing all week. It is a job in itself trying to find the right person. It is worth noting that the net worth of the Manchester-born businessman is a staggering 200 million (Rs 2150 crore), as per the Sun. There appears to be sufficient water on Mars for an ocean a mile deep, scientists have discovered. Theres only one major issue. The water that apparently exists on Mars is too deep beneath the surface for humans to access. This is supported by peer-reviewed research published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This finding was based on seismic data that NASAs robotic InSight lander collected during a mission that assisted in understanding Mars interiors. The scientists are affiliated with the Universities of California, Berkeley and UC San Diego. A seismometer that the lander carried captured four years worth of Mars quakes, or tremors, from deep below the Red Planet. Seismic signals of liquid water were discovered through an analysis of those quakes as well as the precise motion of the planet. Although evidence of vapour may be detected in the atmosphere, and there is water that is frozen in the Martian poles, this marks the first time that water has been officially discovered on the planet. The water, between 11.5 and 20 kilometres below the surface of Mars, may provide suitable circumstances for the survival of microbiological life, either today or in the past, according to the scientists. Moreover, even if that water is inaccessible, it represents a significant component of the peculiar mosaic of our dry, dusty neighbours aquatic past. As per Dr. Vashan Wright, co-author of the study from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, Our liquid water estimate is more than the water volumes proposed to have filled possible ancient Martian oceans. As for Wrights analysis, the most plausible explanation for both seismic and gravity data is a mid-crust with broken rocks that are soaked with water. Wright went on to say that the volume of water trapped in the rock fissures would create an ocean 1-2 km deep on Mars if the measurements made at the Insight lander location were indicative of the entire planet. On Earth, groundwater underground infiltrated from the surface, and we expect this process to have occurred on Mars, according to him. Wright also said that the infiltration had to have occurred when the top crust was hotter than it is now. He went on to say that an awareness of the Martian water cycle is essential to comprehend the changes in the planets core and surface environment. Once warm and moist, the Martian landscape is now chilly and barren. This changed more than three billion years ago. According to the study, a large portion of the water that was formerly on the Martian surface filtered into the crust rather than escaping into space. After the lander silently listened to The Pulse of Mars for four years, Insights scientific mission came to a conclusion in December 2022. Over 1,319 earthquakes were reported by the probe over that period. Scientists have calculated the most likely substance that seismic waves are travelling through by measuring the speed at which they move. These are actually the same techniques we use to prospect for water on Earth or to look for oil and gas, said Prof Michael Manga, a researcher from the University of California, Berkeley, for the study. One of the passengers who died in the horrific plane crash in Brazil last week sent a final, heartbreaking message to her mother moments before the disaster struck. On August 9, a Voepass plane travelling from Cascavel in Parana to Guarulhos in Sao Paulo crashed in Brazils Vinhedo. The plane took off from Cascavel Regional Airport at 11.56 AM in Parana and was heading for Guarulhos International Airport in Sao Paulo. While everything appeared normal until 1:20 PM, the Brazilian Air Force reported that the plane lost communication with the air traffic control. Footage circulated on social media showed the plane descending down into a cluster of trees, followed by a large plume of black smoke. Authorities later confirmed that all 62 passengers onboard the plane died in the crash. Rosana Santos Xavier, a 23-year-old woman from Franco da Rocha, in Greater Sao Paulo, was among the passengers who lost their lives in the crash. As the primary provider of her family, Rosana was travelling for work at the time, her mother, Rosemeire Xavier shared with TV Globo. She shared that her daughter usually worked from home but had to travel every two months to Toledo for meetings with her company. Shortly after boarding the plane, Rosana sent messages in her family group chat. At around 11:47 AM, she wrote, Man, two hours of flight. Were going to arrive in the rain. I am so scared of this flight. I swear, the plane is old. Just a minute later, she added, There is a broken seat. I swear. Chaos. Filha avisou a mae que estava com medo do voo e que o aviao era velho, com a poltrona quebrada: "Caos", resumiu a passageira que estava na aeronave que caiu na sexta-feira (09), em Vinhedo (SP). Rosemeire dos Santos Xavier mostra as ultimas mensagens que trocou com Rosana, de 23 pic.twitter.com/WruJdWC4e5 GloboNews (@GloboNews) August 11, 2024 After complaining about the two-hour flight, she also sent a selfie to her mother, looking visibly unsettled. Rosanas mother further shared with the Brazilian news agency that she advised her daughter to read a Bible verse to calm down. But as the messages continued, Rosemeire started to get worried. She recalled the moment she learned about the crash on the news, saying, I was in despair. I started running around the house screaming. On August 10, Brazilian authorities completed the recovery of the bodies of the 62 victims of the crash. Investigators have started examining the aircrafts black boxes to determine the cause of the tragedy. A total of 62 bodies (34 male and 28 female) were recovered and taken to the morgue in Sao Paulo for identification and delivery to their families, the regional government said. The airline, Voepass, said in a statement, There is still no confirmation of how the accident occurred or the current situation of the people on board. The Company is providing support via telephone at 0800 9419712, available 24 hours a day, providing information to all its passengers, family members and employees. Princess Diana tragically died in a car accident in August 1997. The royal family as well as British society were greatly influenced by the Princess of Wales. Over two decades after her death, a strange event occurred in 2019. Australian TV host David Campbells son Billy Campbell thought he was the late Princess Dianas reincarnation. The little one said he remembered things from the princesss life, even though he was born eighteen years after her death. David made this astonishing claim in a Stellar magazine column, claiming his boy, Billy, believes he used to be the princess. At first, David thought his sons remarks were humorous, but when Billy started giving accurate information about Dianas life and untimely demise, Campbell felt obliged to share the story. He stated, This is going to be the strangest column I have ever written, so bear with me. According to the articles opening paragraph, Billy first mentioned the well-known royal when he was two years old. The little child would point to a picture of her on a card and say, Look, thats me when I was a princess. He presumably believed it for another two years. Another time, the little child was able to describe the appearance of the late Queens beloved home, Balmoral Castle, without ever having visited it for himself. David stated that Billy had informed his Scottish acquaintance that he used to visit a castle in that kilted wonderland when he was Princess Diana. The dad stated he named the castle Balmoral and that it had unicorns on it. The unicorn is the national animal of Scotland and there are unicorns on the walls, how does he know this??? What was even stranger was that Billy seemed to know about Prince William and Prince Harry as well. David stated that his kid had begun to speak about his two boys. He stated, When asked what boys, our then three-year-old would say his sons. Ok strange, but sure, mate. Billy surprised his family once again a few years ago when he talked about Dianas death. Billy said, Then one day the sirens came and I wasnt a princess anymore, after glancing at a picture of Diana. A 13-year-old girl from the UKs Aldershot pleaded guilty to threatening unlawful violence on Wednesday. She was accused of using or threatening unlawful violence during a protest in Aldershot during the recent unrest in the UK. Far-right violence, in the guise of protests, in English towns and cities took place after misinformation spread about the identity of the alleged perpetrator of the mass stabbing on July 29 at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, northwestern England. The stabbings sparked a riot in Southport the following evening, on July 30, and violence in more than a dozen English towns and cities as well as in Northern Ireland over the ensuing week. Aldershot is a town in Englands Hampshire and is 68 kilometres away from London. UK broadcaster BBC did not reveal the name of the girl for legal reasons and said no details of the evidence were given, adding that she was with her parents at the courthouse. It said she pleaded guilty to a single charge. She was released on unconditional bail, the broadcaster said and the case was adjourned by the Basingstoke Magistrates Court to September 30 for pre-sentence reports from the Youth Justice Service after which the sentencing will be delivered. Two 12-year-old boys on Monday admitted to participating in disorder last week, becoming the youngest to confess to taking part in far-right inspired riots that swept across northern England. Over 500 people have been charged for taking part in the riots, which followed a July 19 stabbing in which three girls were killed. One boy, who cannot be named due to his age, pleaded guilty to two charges of violent disorder at a court in Manchester, northwestern England. He was accused of throwing a missile at a police van during as part of a group that gathered outside a Manchester hotel housing asylum seekers. District Judge Joanne Hirst said the boy had been more involved in the violence than any other accused person she had seen coming through these courts, adult or child. Another 12-year-old boy admitted to violent disorder in Liverpool Youth Court for his involvement in riots in Southport the day after the knife attack. He was accused of throwing an object at the police, caught on CCTV, and was granted bail ahead of sentencing on September 17. The boy who appeared in court in Manchester accused of taking part in two separate instances of disorder was remanded in custody until sentencing on September 2. A stream of young people have appeared in court accused of involvement in riots as the justice system fast-tracks cases related to the disorder from last week. A 16-year-old girl and 17-year-old boy pleaded guilty to violent disorder at Plymouth Magistrates Court in southwest England. Innovacion en la educacion de mas peruanos! ?? La presidenta Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra entrego la #EscuelaBicentenario I. E. 7086 Los Precursores, cuya metodologia educativa y moderna infraestructura brinda a mas de 2300 estudiantes una novedosa formacion tecnico productiva pic.twitter.com/1NRCVTRzKT The Bangladesh interim government on Tuesday announced that the public holiday on August 15 which commemorates the death of founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman has been cancelled. The advisory council of the interim government announced the decision. Muhammad Yunus met several political parties, barring the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami, who gave mixed opinions on the cancellation of the public holiday. Bangladesh has observed August 15 as National Day of Mourning to commemorate Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who was murdered on that date in 1975. Cancelling the general holiday of August 15 announced on the occasion of National Mourning Day was approved in the meeting of the advisory council today, based on broad consensus in the dialogue of the political parties with the advisory council, Bangladeshi news outlet Prothom Alo said in a report. Meanwhile, Sheikh Hasina, the ousted former prime minister of Bangladesh and the daughter Mujibur Rahman, issued a statement demanding investigation into the deaths of people during the recent quota protests. Tuesdays statement was Hasinas first public comment since her resignation. She also urged people to pay homage to Dhanmondi 22, aka Bangabandhu Memorial Museum to commemorate the leader. I appeal to you to observe the National Day of Mourning on 15th August with due dignity and solemnity. Pray for the salvation of all souls by offering floral garlands and praying at Bangabandhu Bhavan, she said in her statement released through the account of her son Sajeeb Wazed. She asked supporters to pray for the salvation of all souls by offering floral garlands and praying at her childhood home in the capital Dhaka. The landmark was until recently a museum to her father, but it was torched and vandalised by a mob hours after her fall. She also demanded an investigation into killings and other criminal acts during the unrest that forced her out of office, with the culprits to be identified and punished. A murder case has been filed against Bangladeshs ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and six others over the death of a grocery shop owner in last months violent clashes that led to the fall of her government. The case was the first to be filed against the leader, who ruled the country for 15 years, according to media reports on Tuesday (August 13). Her ouster on August 5 has led to escalated violence and anarchy, including alleged attacks on religious minorities, which has claimed the lives of more than 230 people. The death toll has now reached 560 since the anti-quota protests first started in mid-July. Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who is the new interim leader, also visited the Dhakeshwari National Temple, a major temple in capital Dhaka. Since it is state-owned, it has the distinction of being the countrys national temple. Rights are equal for everyone. We are all one people with one right. Do not make any distinctions among us. Please, assist us. Exercise patience, and later judge what we were able to do and not. If we fail, then criticise us, Yunus said during the visit to the temple. He added: In our democratic aspirations, we should not be seen as Muslims, Hindus, or Buddhists, but as human beings. Our rights should be ensured. The root of all problems lies in the decay of institutional arrangements. That is why, such issues arise. Institutional arrangements need to be fixed. Here are the updates: Volunteers managing traffic in Dhaka Volunteers describing themselves as students, who were part of the protests against Sheikh Hasina, have been seen directing traffic on the streets of Dhaka due to an alleged shortage of traffic police personnel. Abhi filhaal desh chalane ke liye hum log hi hain (Only we are left to run the country). The movement was absolutely right. Elections should be held Over 50 students are doing the work of managing traffic here. At the moment, the schools and colleges are closed Police will come soon, Bashir, a volunteer managing traffic near the Bangladesh Parliament building, told news agency ANI. Violence escalates in ongoing student movement In an escalation of the ongoing student protests in Dhaka, vandals targeted the Setu Bhaban that houses the ministry of road, transport and bridges while several high-end vehicles were set on fire. #WATCH | Bangladesh: In an escalation of the ongoing student movement in Dhaka, Setu Bhaban which houses the Ministry of Road, Transport, and Bridges, was targeted and vandalised. Several high-end vehicles burnt to ashes. pic.twitter.com/Bs0egdGmfz ANI (@ANI) August 13, 2024 UN chief welcomes efforts to hold parliamentary elections UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has welcomed efforts of Bangladeshs interim government to restore calm and organise parliamentary elections in the country, urging the inclusion of women as well as minority communities in the process. Saying he stands in full solidarity with the people of Bangladesh and calls for the full respect of their human rights, he urged new interim leader Muhammad Yunus to continue to make every effort in the coming weeks to be inclusive. The Secretary-General welcomes efforts to restore calm and organise parliamentary elections in Bangladesh, with the support of an interim government, read the statement issued on Monday (August 12) by Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for the secretary-general. He (Guterres) continues to underscore the need for a full, independent, impartial, and transparent investigation into all acts of violence, it added. In response to a question at the daily press briefing, Haq said the UN is in touch with the current transitional body, and we hope that there will continue to be an open, inclusive process of government formation and that there can be a quick timetable for the restoration of democratic rule. US monitoring Bangladesh situation The US said it will continue to monitor the situation in Bangladesh and president Joe Biden has been consistent in speaking about human rights issues. We are certainly going to continue monitoring the situation. I dont have anything else to add beyond that. But, when it comes to any type of human rights issues, the president (Joe Biden) has been very consistent in speaking loud and clear in public and also privately and hell continue to do that, Jean-Pierre said at her daily news conference on Monday (August 12). The response came on questions regarding calls from Hindu-American groups and Indian-American lawmakers seeking US intervention in protecting the lives and properties of the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh. Over the past few days, hundreds of Hindu-Americans in various US cities have been holding peaceful protest rallies against the alleged human rights violations of the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh. Marches were reported from Atlanta in Georgia, California, and New York. Simply false: US on rumours of involvement in Bangladesh The White House strongly refuted allegations that the US interfered in the internal affairs of Bangladesh, leading to Sheikh Hasinas resignation and escape. We have had no involvement at all. Any reports or rumours that the United States government was involved in these events is simply false. That is not true, Jean-Pierre told reporters. She was responding to media reports that quoted Hasina allegedly claiming that she could have stayed in power if she had surrendered the sovereignty of St Martins Island and allowed America to dominate the Bay of Bengal. Hasinas son Sajeeb Wazed, however, has denied that his mother ever gave such a statement. The recent resignation statement attributed to my mother published in a newspaper is completely false and fabricated. I have just confirmed with her that she did not make any statement either before or since leaving Dhaka, Wazed said in a post on X. The White House said it is the right and privilege of people of Bangladesh to choose their destiny. This (electing their leader) is a choice for and by the Bangladeshi people. We believe that the Bangladeshi people should determine the future of their government, and thats where we stand. Any allegations, certainly, we will continue to say, and I have said here, is simply not true, Jean-Pierre said. Home minister reviewed security in Meghalaya, says CM Sangma Meghalaya CM Conrad K Sangma said Union home minister Amit Shah held a review meeting with him and his deputy, in wake of the situation in Bangladesh that can trigger a refugee crisis at the borders. In the review meeting, we briefed the home minister that there was good work by the BSF and the army and very strict monitoring. At the same time, Meghalaya police is also on high alert. We also told him that we have put a night curfew along the international border to further strengthen overall security, he told news agency ANI. Indian Coast Guard Enhances Maritime Surveillance Surveillance was enhanced along the Indo-Bangladesh international maritime boundary line (IMBL) to foil any attempt of illegal migration through sea routes in view of the emerging situation in Bangladesh. #WATCH | Indian Coast Guard Dornier aircraft, ALH choppers and Hovercraft are carrying out surveillance operations along the maritime boundary with Bangladesh to prevent an illegal influx into India in view of the present situation there: Indian Coast Guard officials pic.twitter.com/mR3DMCK5cv ANI (@ANI) August 13, 2024 According to the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), so far no instances of infiltration or any such activity have been reported on the maritime front and enhanced surveillance measures will be maintained in the area until the situation is stable. Considering the recent political events in Bangladesh and emerging situation, the ICG has aptly positioned operational units for robust surveillance in the region and to foil any attempts of illegal migration through sea routes, it said. Surface surveillance has been enhanced by offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) and fast patrol vessels (FPVs), it added. The ICG further said layered surface surveillance has been instituted by additional FPVs. All units at sea have been advised to monitor/board all fishing boats and undertake positive identification of Indian fishermen, it said. Sea-air coordinated aerial surveillance has been augmented along IMBL by aircraft especially during dawn and dusk hours to track scooting contacts, if any. Additional assets are also kept on standby at Paradip and Haldia for immediate deployment or response if any subversive activity is reported. Electronic surveillance has been promptly maintained for all close coast transferring contacts and interrogated. Necessary coordination has been maintained with agencies and stakeholders to prevent any ingress through possible infiltration/landing points, it said. (With PTI inputs) Iranian state media on Monday said that the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has struck sensitive military sites in Israel. The attack comes as Israel is on high alert for an attack by Iran and its proxies following the killings of senior figures from Hamas and Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed group. Iran had vowed last month that Israel would be punished for the death of Ismail Haniyeh, Palestinian Hamas political wing chief and Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah military commander. Hezbollah, according to a report by Iranian state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), said it targeted the Israeli armys technical and espionage equipment at the al-Samaqa, Ramia and Misgav Am sites. It also said it also attacked a group of Israeli troops near a military site near the settlement of Matat in a missile strike. Israeli officials earlier said that they fended off an attack from Hamas after the group claimed responsibility for firing two M90 rockets at Tel Aviv, their first attack on the Israeli commercial hub since May. Al-Qassam Brigades bombarded the city of Tel Aviv and its suburbs with two M90 missiles in response to the Zionist massacres against civilians and the deliberate displacement of our people, a statement by the group said. The Israeli authorities said the rocket fired from the war-torn Gaza Strip fell in the sea off Israels Tel Aviv. A short while ago, a projectile that was identified crossing from the Gaza Strip fell in the maritime space in central Israel, an army statement said. Earlier in August, it was reported that Iran and armed groups that are part of the so-called Axis of Resistance a loose alliance of Tehran-backed groups hostile to Israel met in Tehran where representatives discussed coordinated action meant to deter Israel but avert all-out war, after the killings of Haniyeh and Shukr. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Tuesday said that US President Joe Biden was ousted from the 2024 election race due to a coup. In an interview with Xs owner Elon Musk, Trump claimed that Bidens performance in the debate was so decisive that he was compelled to withdraw. I beat Biden so bad in the debate, he was forced out of the race one of the greatest debate performances ever. Bidens exit, it was a coup, Trump stated. Trumps debate reference is to June, when he and Bidenbefore the Democratic leader decided to withdraw from the presidential racefaced off in their first debate of the 2024 election cycle ahead of the November poll. ALSO READ: Elon Musk-Donald Trump Interview: Trump Calls Kamala Harris Radical Left Lunatic, Thanks Musk For Endorsement During the interview, Trump also told Musk that Russia would not have invaded Ukraine if Biden had not been president. He said that his close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin could have prevented the conflict. I got along with Putin very well, and he respected me, Trump said. He also claimed he had cautioned Putin against taking any action, stating, But I told him, dont do it. Musk and the former US President sat down for a highly anticipated interview, which was delayed by over 40 minutes due to a cyberattack that disrupted the link hosting the conversation on X. The conversation between the two men was aimed at reviving Trumps faltering campaign, which has struggled since Biden withdrew from the race. The meeting also highlighted the evolving relationship between Trump and Musk, two of the worlds most powerful men, who have shifted from being rivals to unexpected allies throughout the election season. (With inputs from agencies) JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, responded sharply to Minnesota Governor Tim Walzs remarks calling Republicans weird and creepy, and branded Walz as a schoolyard bully. Vance argued that the criticism reflects a Democratic attempt to deflect from their own policy shortcomings. It drives home how theyre trying to distract from their own policy failures. I mean, look, this is fundamentally schoolyard bully stuff, Vance told CNN host Dana Bash in an interview. Im doing this because I think that me being vice president will help improve peoples lives, so I accept their attacks, but I think that it is a little bit of projection, Vance said. During the interview, Vance also remarked that Harris and her running mate arent comfortable in their own skin. I think what it is, is two people, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, who arent comfortable in their own skin, because theyre uncomfortable with their policy positions for the American people, he noted. And so theyre name-calling instead of actually telling the American people how theyre going to make their lives better. I think thats weird, Dana, but look, they can call me whatever they want to, Vance added. Ohio Senator Vance, was selected by Republican presidential candidate and former US president Donald Trump as his running mate for the upcoming 2024 election in November. Last week, Walz, speaking at his first campaign event as Vice President Kamala Harriss running mate in Philadelphia, called Vance and Trump as creepy and weird as hell. I just have to say it. You know it. You feel it. These guys are creepy and, yes, just weird as hell. Thats what you see, Walz said. Asif Merchant, arrested in the United States for allegedly plotting the assassination of former US President Donald Trump, was in touch with Pakistani embassy officials in Washington, sources told CNN-News18 on Tuesday. Investigators are also looking at the possible role of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), they added. Trump, the Republican partys presidential nominee, was shot on July 13 while he was addressing a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The gunman, identified as Thomas Crooks, was shot dead by Secret Service agents. The former US President was not seriously wounded but was injured in his right ear. According to top Pakistani sources, during the ongoing investigation of Asif Merchant by US law enforcement, he was found to have been in contact with ISI personnel at the Pakistani embassy in Washington, DC. He allegedly has been in contact with multiple governments in the past, including Pakistan and Iran, working as a contractor for transnational repression missions. According to sources, the ISI has been targeting Pakistani Americans who are active in the US against the spy agency. The EUs top digital official wrote to Elon Musk to remind him of his legal duty to stop harmful content from spreading on X, hours before the tech billionaire interviewed Donald Trump live on the platform. The warning was motivated by the risk of amplification of potentially harmful content in the EU citing Musks upcoming Trump interview, and also referencing his recent inflammatory comments about far-right riots in the UK. With great audience comes greater responsibility, EUs internal market commissioner Thierry Breton posted on X, along with the letter laying out Musks obligations to combat illegal content and disinformation under EU law. The bloc has an ongoing probe into the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, under its landmark Digital Services Act (DSA) that requires digital firms to effectively police online content to protect users from harm. The DSA obligations apply without exceptions or discrimination to the moderation of the whole user community and content of X (including yourself as a user with over 190 million followers), Breton said. We are monitoring the potential risks in the EU associated with the dissemination of content that may incite violence, hate and racism in conjunction with major political or societal events around the world, he wrote. He added: My services and I will be extremely vigilant to any evidence that points to breaches of the DSA and will not hesitate to make full use of our toolbox, including by adopting interim measures, should it be warranted to protect EU citizens from serious harm. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Musk has emerged as a major voice in US politics but is accused of turning X into a megaphone for right-wing conspiracy theories since acquiring it in 2022. New analysis from the Center for Countering Digital Hate shows his false or misleading claims about the US elections have been viewed nearly 1.2 billion times on X, which has around 300 million daily users, a third of them in the EU. Sweeping laws EU regulators wide-ranging probe into X is looking into the effectiveness of the platforms efforts to combat disinformation following major cuts to content moderation resources under Musks leadership. Breton travelled to California in spring last year to meet tech leaders, including Musk, and stress their obligations under the sweeping new DSA and its sister law, the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Back then, Musk pledged to work to comply with the new laws but the tone has since soured, with the billionaire accusing Brussels of regulatory overreach. He lashed out at Brussels last month, accusing the European Commission of offering X a secret deal to censor speech and vowing to go to court over the matter. Breton rejected the notion of such a deal, telling Musk: Up to you to decide whether to offer commitments or not See you (in court or not). Richard Turton has sworn off pubs in Sydney after he was surprised to be kicked out when drinking with friends. Richard Turton, pictured above alone and with his fiancee, was shocked to be kicked out of a Sydney pub. Source: Instagram After being kicked out of a pub, a British man has declared he's officially "done with pubs" in one major Aussie city, claiming drinking rules there are "too strict" and bouncers relish the opportunity to exert their authoritative power. Richard Turton had drunk "some pints" and a shot near Sydney Harbour when he noticed the barman who served him speaking to doormen. He was quickly approached by two doormen as he tried to buy another drink and was instructed to leave the premises. "The first feeling was complete surprise. It was the last thing I expected as me and my fiancee were out with another couple, all in our 30s, and we're not exactly a rowdy bunch," Turton told Yahoo News. "I didn't really know what we did wrong and the staff who do security at the pub couldn't tell us either." After pushing for an explanation, the Brit was told his eyes were "red" and "glassy", he had been slurring his words and was showing signs of intoxication. He was ordered to simply leave. "I knew full well our fate was sealed and we would be evicted," he said, expressing his frustration his night was caught short at 9.30 pm. Aussie pub scene 'opposite end of spectrum' to UK, Brit said Turton last lived in the UK two years ago and said he can't remember entering a pub for a "casual drink with my fiancee" and wondering if "we would be accepted". He claimed it's not the first time pub workers in Sydney have kicked someone out when it wasn't warranted. "I have witnessed this before, and even our friend who was sober as he was the designated driver has been refused entry to another pub in Sydney on a separate occasion. It really does spoil the atmosphere," he said. In Australia, to sell, serve or supply alcohol, workers must undergo a responsible service of alcohol (RSA) course and comply with rules that promote and support safe and responsible alcohol service. Liquor & Gaming guidelines in New South Wales state that "If there are reasonable grounds for you to form a belief that someone is intoxicated as a result of alcohol consumption, you must refuse service to that person" and under the law, the person must be asked to leave the premises. But Turton believes pubs in Sydney especially need to be more relaxed in order to promote better nightlife in the city. "Compared to the UK I feel like pubs are on opposite ends of the spectrum," he said. "I understand security is needed and Sydney may have had problems with drunk behaviour before, but the approach is really off-putting. "We just want an easy drink and some conversation without potentially being thrown out," he said. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. A maugean skate has been bred in captivity for the first time. But the species' future is less than secure. This is the first maugean skate bred in captivity. Source: Jayson Semmens A rare fish thats been annihilated by industrial salmon farming has been conceived in captivity for the first time. The maugean skates wild population sadly halved between 2014 and 2021, and just 1,000 are thought to remain. Fascinating images supplied by the University of Tasmanias Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) on Tuesday show their new hatchling. The achievement occurred after an adult female skate was brought into captivity in December. Professor Jayson Semmens, who leads the IMAS Maugean skate captive breeding program, expects many more of the female's 108 eggs to soon hatch. "The others are imminent. A large proportion of them are developing and on their way. So we're going to have a lot of hungry mouths to feed," he told Yahoo News. While a male was also secured, the mother skate chose instead to fertilise her eggs with sperm she stored after mating in the wild before her capture. It's believed the sperm could come from several males which is great news for genetic diversity within the captive population. The birth has been celebrated as a win for the fish, but the species' last stronghold at Macquarie Harbour is heavily degraded and oxygen levels are poor. Pressure is growing on Australia's major supermarkets to stop selling cheap salmon farmed in its habitat and labelling it as "sustainable". Related: Controversial octopus farm responds after 760,000 people call for ban A tiny skate can be seen inside a captive-bred egg. Source: David Moreno IMAS 'Battle' to save maugean skate from extinction not won yet Along with the captive bred maugean skates, a clutch of 50 eggs were separately harvested from the wild. Close to half of them have hatched, significantly higher than what would be expected in the wild. The species is one of 110 selected to be prioritised for recovery under the Albanese Governments Threatened Species Action Plan. Environment Minister Tanya Pliberksek welcomed the hatching of the skate, commending the university for its fast achievement, however she warned its future was still not secure. But the battle to ensure the future for the endangered Maugean Skate is by no means won, she said. Well keep working with industry, environmentalists and the Tasmanian Government on restoring the health of the harbour. Coles and Woolworths urged to label Macquarie Harbour salmon Captive breeding and fenced off sanctuaries appear to be the only hope for many of Australias threatened species, as climate change, habitat loss and feral predators continue to annihilate native animals. Despite the stingray-like creature existing in just one place in the world, the Tasmanian government has continued to support the salmon industrys presence in Macquarie Harbour, while encouraging it to reduce its impact on the environment. The major supermarkets have been urged to clearly label salmon that's come from maugean skate habitat. Source: Woolworths/Bob Brown Foundation Australias two major supermarkets, Coles and Woolworths, have come under repeated pressure from conservationists to clearly label salmon that's sourced from Macquarie Harbour. "Theres no way to tell if this product has this dark secret lying underneath thats driving an animal to extinction," the Bob Brown Foundation told Yahoo News in June. Its up to them to provide clear, obvious and truthful labelling to their consumers. Related: Silent extinctions occurring unreported across Australia from spiders to frogs Captive-laid skate eggs have been incubated at University of Tasmanias Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies. Source: Jayson Semmens What's next for the captive-bred maugean skates? The captive breeding program is necessary because of low oxygen levels in Macquarie Harbour. The federal government lists gill net fishing as one pressure on the species, but maintains the water quality problem is "due primarily to salmon farming". IMAS researcher Dr David Moreno said if the program is to be a success it needs to have an end date, and the species must be able to survive in the wild. "It really is just intervention. Captivity should not be seen as a way of holding them to stop extinction. The ultimate goal must be rehabilitation of the species into the wild," he told Yahoo. "Captive breeding is just a way to boost the population in the wild." Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? Get our new newsletter showcasing the weeks best stories. UPDATE Aug 13, 2024 6:54 AM CDT The former food service chief for a Chicago-area school district has heard her fate after being accused of swiping a whole lot of chicken wingsmore than 11,000 cases, worth about $1.5 million. The Cook County State's Attorney's Office tells WGN that Vera Liddell, 68, entered a guilty plea on Friday for the fraudulent orders made between August 2021 and November of that year. The purchases were made at the height of the pandemic, when "the school district continued to provide meals for the students that their families could pick up," according to a proffer made last year at Liddell's bond hearing. The wings "never made it on students' plates," per CBS News, though it's not clear where they ended up. That outlet reports that Liddell was hired as the food services director for Harvey School District 152 despite having several bankruptcies under her belt. Jan 31, 2023 6:05 PM CST Chicken wings aren't served to school kids because of the hazards posed by their bones. And yet a Chicago-area school district ordered 11,000 cases of them, in what prosecutors allege was a scheme carried out by the food service director during the pandemic. WGN reports that Vera Liddell was a longtime employee of the district, which it describes as "impoverished." Per court documents, when remote learning began due to COVID, the district continued to supply meals to students via a pick-up option. From sea to shining sea, and every stretch in between, the United States offers plenty of diverse places to settle down, though the "ideal" locale will differ for each person or family. WalletHub has attempted to whittle down the choices with an overall look at each state, comparing all 50 using more than four dozen metrics in five main categories: affordability (including housing, taxes, and the general cost of living); the local economy, including unemployment rates, job opportunities, and the prevalence of food insecurity; education and health; quality of life (e.g., weather, air quality, commute times, and recreational venues); and safety. Massachusetts rises to the top of WalletHub's list, while Louisiana comes in last. Here, the top and bottom picks: Best States Massachusetts (No. 1 in "Education & Health" category) Florida New Jersey (No. 1 in "Safety" category) Utah New Hampshire Idaho Pennsylvania Wisconsin New York (No. 1 in "Qualify of Life" category) Wyoming The death toll from the Kiteezi landfill collapse in Kampala, Uganda, has risen to 24, according to the city authority. The tragedy, which occurred on Friday, claimed the lives of at least four children. Authorities attribute the collapse to "structural failure in waste mass," likely triggered by heavy rainfall. Rescuers are still searching for victims, though Irene Nakasiita of the Uganda Red Cross stated there is no hope for more survivors. The Kiteezi landfill, located on an impoverished hillside in Kampala, has long been a destination for scavengers and residents despite its instability. The site had been slated for decommissioning for years, but hundreds of garbage trucks still unload there daily. It remains unclear how many individuals are unaccounted for in the aftermath of the collapse. The President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, has requested a thorough investigation into the incident, questioning why people were allowed to settle near such a hazardous environment. He also emphasized the dangers posed by effluent from the site. The collapse underlines the urgent need to address the living conditions surrounding the landfill and the broader issues of waste management in Kampala. The city's growing population, now at 3 million, exacerbates the problem. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP) A ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana in North Dakota has been approved for the November election, according to Secretary of State Michael Howe. The initiative, put forth by the group New Economic Frontier, successfully gathered nearly 19,000 verified signatures, exceeding the required number. This follows previous unsuccessful attempts to legalize recreational cannabis in the state. The measure, backed by leaders like Burleigh County Commissioner Steve Bakken, aims to redirect law enforcement resources toward more pressing issues like opioids. It also seeks to prevent potentially problematic out-of-state initiatives. If passed, the measure would permit individuals aged 21 and over to use marijuana in private settings and legally cultivate plants at home. However, it imposes strict limits on the amount of marijuana that can be purchased and possessed. Recreational marijuana use remains contentious in North Dakota, with past efforts failing in 2018 and 2022. While medical marijuana was approved in 2016, state lawmakers passed recreational legalization bills in 2021 that were later rejected by the Senate. Opponents, including the Brighter Future Alliance, argue that the repeated push for legalization disregards previous voter decisions. As of now, 24 states have legalized recreational marijuana, with recent approvals in Ohio and upcoming ballots in Florida and South Dakota. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP) A 62-year-old man from Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, faces a raft of federal charges for allegedly casting multiple votes in recent elections. The US attorney's office in Philadelphia announced on Friday that Philip C. Pulley is charged with violating federal election laws by submitting false voter registrations, double voting, and committing election fraud. These accusations stem from the 2020 presidential election and the November 2022 midterms. Specifically, Pulley is accused of registering both in Pennsylvania and Florida, and using a fraudulent address and Social Security number for his Philadelphia registration. Federal prosecutors claim he successfully cast votes in both Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, and Broward County, Florida, during the 2020 election. Additionally, he allegedly voted twice in Pennsylvania, specifically in Philadelphia and Montgomery County, during the 2022 election, when a US Senate seat was at stake. The case highlights ongoing debates about voter fraud and its prevalence, though an Associated Press review in December 2021 reported fewer than 475 potential voter fraud cases in battleground states, deeming them insufficient to alter significant election outcomes. No lawyer is currently listed for Pulley, and contact information for him remains unavailable. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP) Elon Musk received a public warning from a European Union official to be careful about the language used when he interviews Donald Trump online on Monday night, reminding the billionaire about the organization's rules against harmful content. Thierry Breton pointed out that the interview on X will be viewable in EU nations, CNBC reports. The letter was posted on X. "We are monitoring the potential risks in the EU associated with the dissemination of content that may incite violence, hate and racism in conjunction with major politicalor societalevents around the world, including debates and interviews in the context of elections," Breton wrote. Fines and penalties could result, he said. The pilot of last week's plane crash in Brazil was laid to rest in Sao Paulo on Monday. Danilo Santos Romano, 35, was the first among the 62 victims to be buried. Family and friends, along with local shop owners, commemorated Romano as his hearse traveled through the streets of Penha, where he was a beloved resident. The crash claimed 58 passengers and four crew members. Severe icing on the wings has been suggested as a factor, though airports minister Silvio Costa Filho on Friday said neither Romano nor his copilot requested an emergency landing or mention problematic weather conditions. Romano was flying an ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop for Voepass, bound for Guarulhos international airport, when the plane crashed in Vinhedo. He had completed one year as commander for Voepass and had accumulated 5,202 flight hours. His widow, Thalita Valente Machado, expressed gratitude to those who supported the family, particularly Romano's co-pilot, whom she described as a hero. The incident left global audiences shocked, with footage showing the plane in a harrowing flat spin. Authorities are working to identify victims; Sao Paulo's morgue has identified 17 bodies so far, with eight being returned to relatives. Critical black boxes, containing flight data and cockpit audio, have been retrieved and are under analysis by the air force's investigation center in Brasilia. A preliminary report is expected within 30 days. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP) Many Aussies choose to run their dishwasher at night as it's often cheaper, but mum-of-two Simone Anderson is warning against it. Simone Anderson and her family woke to find their house filled with smoke and flames after their dishwasher caught alight while sleeping. Source: Simone Anderson A mum of two has warned against a common household habit after waking to find her home on fire. Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, Simone Anderson said she put on her dishwasher before bed one night last week, "like I always do", but this time, within an hour she "heard the fire alarm going off downstairs". "I immediately woke up my husband who ran downstairs to investigate and he found our entire dishwasher engulfed in flames and the house quickly filling with smoke," she said. "He ran upstairs to tell me that we needed to get the kids and get out." Within just minutes, Anderson said "the house was full of smoke" and it wasn't until the firefighters arrived they learned the cause. "It was an issue deep within the dishwasher, an issue we wouldnt have known about because you couldnt see it," she told Yahoo. "Our dishwasher was here when we bought this house, we thought it was new but with research have learned it was about 10 years old." Warning against running dishwashers at night It's understood wiring problems, control panel malfunctions, and overheating can all contribute to a fire hazard in dishwashers. These issues often stem from manufacturing defects, wear and tear over time, or even power surges. Many Aussies choose to run their dishwasher in the evening as, depending on their energy provider, it can be cheaper. But Anderson said the family is "devastated" and warned against running appliances at night because if they'd been awake they would have likely caught it earlier. "Dont run appliances at night. Its not worth the risk," she said. How common are dishwasher fires in Aussie homes? While this particular incident occurred in the US, home appliances, including dishwashers and tumble dryers, are a leading cause of house fires in Australia, according to Aussie firies who continuously warn residents to take extra caution in the home. Earlier this year, a mother from Ipswich, Queensland woke to find her kitchen on fire after her dishwasher caught alight during a late-night wash cycle. I turned it on and went upstairs to sleep," Angie Ranae told Courier Mail at the time. "I had been in bed for about 30 minutes before my smoke alarms went off and I rushed downstairs to see thick black smoke. "When I opened the dishwasher door it burst into flames." Previously, NSW firefighters attended a home in South Windsor after reports of a fire in the early hours. When arriving, firefighters managed to quickly extinguish the fire, which is believed to have started due to a fault inside a dishwasher. How to prevent electrical fires in homes. Source: NSW Fire and Rescue Aussies warned to remain vigilant around the home In Australia, 21 people on average die from house fires each year with winter being the "worst time of the year," according to NSW Fire and Rescue. FRNSW attends an average of 1,230 home fires which result in an average of 576 injuries. Half of these fires start in the kitchen, they said, with cooktops and dishwashers mostly being to blame. FRNSW South-West Zone Commander, Greg Wright, encourages extra caution in the home, particularly when cooking or in the kitchen "Households cant afford to take their eye off the ball when it comes to the risk of fires," he said. "Last winter, we had 1,063 residential fires In New South Wales, an increase of 119 on 2022. " Eight people lost their lives and 115 others were injured. "Human activity accounted for 557 of those blazes," he added. Residents should ensure they have at least one working smoke alarm installed in their homes at all times. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. Donald Trump recounted his assassination attempt in vivid detail and blamed the incident on "a lack of coordination" during an interview with Elon Musk that served as the former president's high-profile return to X , the social media platform formerly known as Twittera conversation that was plagued by technical glitches , the AP reports. "If I had not turned my head , I would not be talking to you right nowas much as I like you," Trump told Musk, X's owner. "There was a lack of coordination. ... Everybody understands that building should have been covered." The conversation did not begin as planned. With more than 878,000 users connected to the conversation more than 40 minutes after the scheduled start time, the interview had not yet begun. Many users received a message reading, "Details not available." Trump's team posted that the "interview on X is being overwhelmed with listeners logging in." And once the meeting began, Musk apologized for the late start and blamed a "massive attack" that overwhelmed the company's system. (Experts who spoke to NBC News said there were no signs of such an attack.) Monday's meeting highlighted the evolving personal relationship between Trump and Musk, two of the world's most powerful men, who have shifted from being bitter rivals to unlikely allies over the span of one election season. Musk supported Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during the GOP primary. Notably, in May 2023, DeSantis used the social media platform as a way to officially announce his presidential bid, a disastrous rollout marred by technical glitches, overloaded by the more than 400,000 people who tried to dial in. Trump's Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, noted that Trump mocked DeSantis at the time. "Wow! The DeSanctus TWITTER launch is a DISASTER! His whole campaign will be a disaster. WATCH!" Trump wrote in a message reposted by Harris' campaign Monday. Trump supporters were openly frustrated with the glitches that plagued his interview with Musk. "Not available????? I planned my whole day around this," wrote conservative commentator Glenn Beck. "Please let Elon know we can't join," billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman posted. This summary has been updated to reflect the reaction from experts to Musk's claims of a cyberattack. (In a reminder that the world was watching, the chat prompted a preemptive note of caution from Europe.) The FBI said Monday it is investigating allegations that sensitive documents from Donald Trump's presidential campaign were stolen in a cyber intrusion days after the campaign declared it had been hacked by Iran, the AP reports. The FBI released a brief statement reading, "We can confirm the FBI is investigating this matter." A person familiar with the matter said the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris campaign was also targeted in the suspected Iranian cyber intrusion that is under FBI investigation. At least three news outlets (Politico, the New York Times, and the Washington Post) were leaked confidential material from inside the Trump campaign, including its report vetting JD Vance as a vice presidential candidate. So far, each has refused to reveal any details about what they received, the AP reports. UPDATE Aug 14, 2024 6:05 PM CDT The sheriff's office in Loudoun County, Virginia, says it has identified the man seen on surveillance video breaking into a Trump campaign office on Sunday. In a news release Wednesday, the sheriff's office said it has issued an arrest warrant for Toby Shane Kessler, 39, of no fixed address. After the break-in, the sheriff's office released video of a suspect with a backpack inside the office in Ashburn, a Washington, DC, suburb, CNN reports. The sheriff's office said Kessler, "appears to have left nothing behind, and it is still unclear what, if anything, he took with him." Aug 13, 2024 8:49 AM CDT Authorities in a suburb of Washington, DC, are looking for a man who reportedly broke into a campaign office for former President Trump. Loudoun County Sheriff's Office said it was alerted to a burglary at the campaign office in Ashburn, Virginia, which also serves as the headquarters for the Virginia 10th District Republican Committee, around 9pm Sunday but the suspect had fled by the time authorities arrived, per Politico and ABC News. The sheriff's office released images of the suspect taken from surveillance video. They show an adult man inside the building wearing dark clothing and a dark cap and carrying a tan-colored backpack on his chest. The backpack "appears to be partially full," per the Washington Post. A Colorado bed-and-breakfast operator who promotes herself online as the "J6 praying grandma" was sentenced on Monday to six months of home confinement in her Capitol riot case after the judge railed against "offensive" comments she has made about the criminal justice system, the AP reports. Prosecutors had sought 10 months behind bars for Rebecca Lavrenz, 72, whose misdemeanor case has become a cause celebre among conservatives critical of the Justice Department's Jan. 6 prosecutions. Prosecutors accused her of "profiting off the celebrity of her conviction" with an slew of media appearances questioning the integrity of the court system and the jurors who convicted her. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui told Lavrenz that while hers is among the less serious Jan. 6 cases, "it's still a grave offense." Raising his voice at times, the judge sounded incredulous as he pressed her lawyers about her media comments denouncing the Jan. 6 prosecutions as "fake trials" and DC jurors as biased. "That does nothing but reduce public confidence people have in the system," Faruqui said. Faruqui told Lavrenz he didn't think sending her to jail "was going to help." But he fined her $103,000, saying he needed to send a message that defendants cannot profit off their "egregious conduct." He sentenced her to one year of probation, with the first six months in home confinement. During her home confinement, the judge ordered her to stay off the internet. (More on Lavrenz, including what she chanted at the Capitol, here.) A giant tortoise escaped a petting zoo in Arizona last month and traveled several miles, apparently in quest of a female friend, before he was spotted just in time. The sulcata tortoise named Stitch was trying to cross Interstate 10 between Tucson and Phoenix on July 30 when a driver called to report him. Sgt. Steven Sekrecki with the Arizona Department of Public Safety had previously responded to reports of horses, cows, and birds on the interstate, but a tortoise was entirely new. "However, in my 16-year career, I don't dismiss anything anymore," Sekrecki tells the Washington Post . When Sekrecki came upon the tortoise, he immediately noticed the name, Stitch, painted on its shell. Stitch, he knew, was a 14-year-old resident at the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch, which Sekrecki had visited several times with his family. Staff at the animal park, some 3 miles away, confirmed Stitch had escaped a few hours earlier, per the New York Times. Monsoon winds had damaged parts of the tortoise enclosure, allowing the reptiles to access a restricted area. Stitch, meanwhile, "found the one small hole, and he was the only one small enough to fit through it," ranch owner Danna Cogburn tells FOX 10 Phoenix. The ranch's website notes sulcata tortoises, native to the Sahara Desert and Sahel region, "are surprisingly agile and can move quickly when motivatedespecially for food!" Still, Cogburn tells the Post she was "surprised [Stitch] had gone as far as he did." She praises the "Good Samaritan" who "did the right thing and rescued him." Deputies "came out and found one of our employees and handed Stitch over the fence to him," Cogburn says. "Everyone got a chuckle out of it." Stitch was likely "on the hunt for a girl," as it's breeding season for the tortoises and Stitch lives with only males, she adds, per the Times. (More Arizona stories.) Get the news faster. Tap to install our app. Access Newser even faster. Click here to install our app on your desktop. X Japanese business exec Hiroshi Kasamatsu has been released from detention in Myanmar. Kasamatsu, a director of Aeon Orange supermarket, had been in custody since his June 30 arrest for allegedly selling rice at prices exceeding official regulations. He was sentenced to one year in prison and fined 500,000 kyat ($150) but was freed Monday afternoon, according to Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun from Myanmar's ruling military council. The Japanese Foreign Ministry confirmed Kasamatsu's release and stated he is in good health; it remained unclear if he would return to Japan. Kasamatsu's arrest was part of a broader crackdown on rice pricing in Myanmar, a country grappling with economic instability amid a civil war and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The state-run Myanmar Alin newspaper reported that the investigation involved 62 suspects and targeted 102 warehouses, 53 supermarkets, 25 mills, and seven shops across major cities. The rice was allegedly tagged at prices 31% to 70% above what the Myanmar Rice Federation had set. Japan has traditionally maintained amicable relations with Myanmar, adopting a softer stance towards its military government compared to many Western nations. While Tokyo withholds recognition of Myanmar's current government and calls for restoring democracy, it has not imposed economic sanctions. Japan's aid to Myanmar is limited to humanitarian efforts. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP) Scott Peterson, the man serving life in prison without parole for the 2002 murders of his wife and unborn son, admits he was "a total a-hole" to Laci Peterson. But "I didn't kill my wife," the 51-year-old vying for a fresh trial says in a docuseries premiering next week on Peacock. In his first on-camera comments since his arrest more than two decades ago, Peterson discusses his affair with massage therapist Amber Frey, per People . "I was a total a-hole to be having sex outside our marriage," he tells Peacock's Face to Face With Scott Peterson , blaming "a childish lack of self-esteem." But as he and his supporters note, he was charged and convicted of double murder, not infidelity. Peterson says there's no concrete evidence linking him to the murders. He claims police and prosecutors relied only on circumstantial evidence while ignoring other possible leads, including a stolen, burned-out van found near the Peterson's California home on Christmas Day 2002, the day after Laci disappeared. Peterson's lawyers from the Los Angeles Innocence Project argue Laci may have witnessed a robbery and been killed in the van by the robbers, who dumped her body in San Francisco Bay, though it's not clear what evidence they have to support this theory. In May, a judge rejected requests to retest various evidence, but she did allow DNA testing of duct tape recovered from Laci's pants. The bodies of Laci and her unborn son washed up separately on Brooks Island, near where Peterson claimed to have been fishing on Christmas Eve. "But if I have a chance to show people what the truth is, and if they are willing to accept it, it would be the biggest thing that I can accomplish right nowbecause I didn't kill my family," Peterson says, per People. He adds that prosecutors' picture of him as a man seeking a way out of his marriage without having to pay spousal and child support is "offensive" and "disgusting." Frey and Laci's mother, Sharon Rocha, will also break their silence in a separate docuseries, Netflix's American Murder: Laci Peterson, premiering Wednesday, per Newsweek. The Daily Beast calls it "a reasonably definitive summary of Scott Peterson's villainy." (More Scott Peterson stories.) Mexican prosecutors say they may bring treason charges against those involved in the alleged abduction of Sinaloa drug cartel leader Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada. Zambada had a $15 million US bounty on his head when he and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, son of imprisoned cartel co-founder Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, were arrested near El Paso, Texas , last month. Guzman Lopez claims both had chosen to surrender to US charges , per Reuters . But Zambada claims he was intending to meet Sinaloa Gov. Richa Moya when Guzman Lopez and other men tied him to the seat of a US-bound plane. "I was kidnapped and brought to the US forcibly and against my will," Zambada writes in a letter, per CBS News . The letter includes bombshell claims, including that one of Zambada's bodyguards was a commander in the state Judicial Police and that the killing of federal lawmaker Hector Cuen, officially attributed to a carjacking, was in fact tied to the scheme, per El Pais. Zambada claims he saw Cuen at a meeting point moments before Guzman Lopez led him to the group of men who would assault him. "They killed him at the same time and in the same place where they kidnapped me," he writes. Zambada suggests Moya, a political rival of Cuen, was involved, though Moya denies that, stating he was in Los Angeles at the time. Mexico's Attorney General's Office says it's seeking more information from Moya as part of a criminal investigation "for the possible crimes of illegal flight, illicit use of airports, immigration and customs violations, kidnapping, treason, and any other crimes that may apply." An article in Mexico's penal code defines treason in part as committed "by those who illegally abduct a person in Mexico in order to hand them over to authorities of another country." Such a crime is punishable by up to 40 years in prison. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who is aligned with Moya, weighed in Monday, suggesting the arrests of Guzman Lopez and Zambada were part of a US plot to tie his Morena party to drug lords, per CBS. (More Sinaloa drug cartel stories.) A former central Kansas police chief who led a raid last year on a weekly newspaper has been charged with felony obstruction of justice. The charge against former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody alleges that he induced a witness to withhold information about the raid of the Marion County Record and the home of its publisher. The charge, filed Monday in state district court in Marion County, is not more specific about Cody's alleged conduct, reports the AP . However, a report from two special prosecutors last week referenced texts between Cody and a local business owner after the raid. The business owner has said that Cody asked her to delete texts between them, fearing people could get the wrong idea about their relationship, which she said was professional and platonic. Cody justified the raid by saying he had evidence the newspaper, publisher Eric Meyer, and one of its reporters had committed identity theft in verifying the business owner's state driving record. The business owner was seeking Marion City Council approval for a liquor license, and the newspaper received a tip that she had once received a potentially disqualifying DUI, per NBC News. The prosecutors' report concluded that no crime was committed by Meyer, the reporter, or the newspaper and that Cody reached an erroneous conclusion about their conduct because of a poor investigation. Police body-camera footage of the 2023 raid on Eric Meyer's home shows his 98-year-old mother, Joan Meyer, visibly upset and telling officers, "Get out of my house!" She co-owned the paper and died of a heart attack the next afternoon. The prosecutors said they could not charge Cody or other officers involved in the raid over her death because there was no evidence they believed the raid posed a risk to her life. (More Kansas stories.) In a significant development within Myanmar's political landscape, General Min Aung Hlaing has assumed the role of acting president following the medical leave of Myint Swe. This leadership transition comes amid ongoing political turmoil and civil unrest in the country. Myint Swe, who has been serving as the acting president since the coup, has been reported to suffer from a neurological disorder, rendering him unable to perform his duties. As a result, Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the State Administration Council and the military's top commander, has taken over the presidential responsibilities. This change was formalized in a signing ceremony reported by state media on July 24, 2024. The timing of this leadership change is critical, coming just before the scheduled extension of the nationwide state of emergency. The state of emergency, initially declared following the coup, has been extended multiple times, with the latest extension effective from August 1, 2024. This extension is seen as a move by the military junta to maintain its grip on power amidst ongoing resistance and territorial losses to ethnic armed groups. The role of the acting president, though largely ceremonial, is significant under Myanmar's military-drafted constitution, as it involves chairing the National Defence and Security Council. This council is responsible for declaring and renewing states of emergency, which effectively grants the military extensive powers beyond constitutional limits. Min Aung Hlaing's assumption of the acting presidency is viewed by many as an attempt to consolidate power further within the military hierarchy. The junta has faced increasing challenges from ethnic armed groups and a coalition of resistance forces, which have made significant territorial gains in recent months. These groups, including the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Arakan Army, have intensified their operations against the military, complicating the junta's plans to stabilize the country and hold elections. The international community continues to express concern over Myanmar's political situation, urging the military government to engage in dialogue and pursue a peaceful resolution to the conflict. However, the military's repeated extensions of the state of emergency and the ongoing civil unrest suggest that a return to democratic governance remains elusive. As Myanmar navigates this period of uncertainty, the leadership change highlights the fragile nature of the military's control and the complex dynamics at play in the country's ongoing struggle for stability and peace. The actions of Min Aung Hlaing and the military junta in the coming months will be crucial in determining Myanmar's political future and the potential for meaningful change. Ukrainian forces have achieved significant territorial gains in eastern Ukraine, capturing several villages previously under Russian control. This advancement has led to evacuations and a stern response from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has vowed to reclaim the lost territories. The Ukrainian military's recent push has been concentrated in the Donetsk region, where intense fighting has persisted for months. Ukrainian officials confirmed on August 13, 2024, that their forces have successfully taken control of key strategic locations. These gains are seen as crucial for bolstering Ukraine's defensive and offensive capabilities in the region. This advance is part of a broader Ukrainian counteroffensive aimed at reclaiming territory lost to Russian forces since the conflict escalated last year. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has praised the military's efforts, stating that these achievements reflect the resilience and determination of Ukrainian forces. In response to the Ukrainian advances, Russian authorities have ordered the evacuation of civilians from the affected areas, citing safety concerns. President Putin, in a televised address on August 13, 2024, condemned the Ukrainian actions and reiterated Russia's commitment to defending its territorial claims. He also warned of potential retaliatory measures, escalating tensions in an already volatile situation. The international community is closely monitoring developments in eastern Ukraine, with many countries calling for a de-escalation of hostilities. The United Nations has urged both sides to engage in dialogue to prevent further escalation and protect civilian lives. The situation remains fluid, with military analysts suggesting that the coming days will be crucial in determining the conflict's trajectory. Both Ukrainian and Russian forces are reportedly reinforcing their positions, preparing for potential further confrontations. As the conflict continues, the humanitarian impact is becoming increasingly severe. Thousands of civilians have been displaced due to the fighting, and there are growing concerns about the availability of essential supplies and services in the affected regions. The international community continues to call for a peaceful resolution to the conflict, emphasizing the need for diplomatic efforts to bring about a lasting ceasefire. However, with both sides entrenched in their positions, achieving a peaceful resolution remains a significant challenge. We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. NASA has found multiple quality problems with the Space Launch System Block 1B. However, Block 1B development efforts have encountered multiple issues including Boeings ineffective quality management and inexperienced workforce, continued cost increases and schedule delays, and the delayed establishment of a cost and schedule baseline. Boeing is Unable to Perform Basic Tasks for Building Rockets and Planes NASA requires its aerospace contractors to have quality assurance programs that comply with SAE Internationals AS9100D standards on quality management systems, we found Boeings quality management system at Michoud does not adhere to these standards or NASA requirements. Quality control issues at Michoud are largely due to the lack of a sufficient number of trained and experienced aerospace workers at Boeing. To mitigate these challenges, Boeing provides training and work orders to its employees. Considering the significant quality control deficiencies at Michoud, we found these efforts to be inadequate. For example, during our visit to Michoud in April 2023, we observed a liquid oxygen fuel tank domea critical component of the SLS Core Stage 3segregated and pending disposition on whether and how it can safely be used going forward due to welds that did not meet NASA specifications. According to NASA officials, the welding issues arose due to Boeings inexperienced technicians. and inadequate work order planning and supervision. The lack of a trained and qualified workforce increases the risk that Boeing will continue to manufacture parts and components that do not adhere to NASA requirements and industry standards. NASA delayed establishing the Block 1B Agency Baseline Commitment until December 2023, after 10 years of development and much later in the project life cycle than NASAs standard practice. Without a formal cost and schedule baseline at critical milestones, the Agency was limited in its ability to assess adherence to budgets and timelines, and Congress and other stakeholders lacked visibility into the Block 1Bs increasing costs and schedule delays. Holly Matheson and others on the boat were overcome with emotion after spotting the 'rare' sight of an orca catching its prey off the Ningaloo coast. Source: Supplied A marine photographer has shared what she described as the best day of her life when she was among two boatloads of people to witness a remarkable feat of nature off the Western Australian coast. After waiting for 10 years to catch a glimpse of Ningaloo killer whales underwater, Holly Matheson got more than she bargained for when catching sight of a humpback whale calf in the jaws of a killer whale during a recent Ningaloo Discovery boat tour. "We were all speechless, with tears in our eyes, could hardly breathe, hearts racing and our bodies shaking with this incredible encounter," is how Matheson summed up the rare experience. Three killer whales bobbed their heads out of the water and paraded their impressive catch. "On the tour vessels, crew and passengers sometimes witness these raw and amazing natural events take place," Matheson told Yahoo News. "These three killer whales became extremely curious and playful, swimming laps around the boats." In a desperate bid to see more, several on the boat including Matheson dunked their heads into the water and waited. "From the depths, bubbles appeared... we were all in awe watching as he [one of the killer whales] approached with the calf on show," she explained. "Before we knew it he was at the back of our boat with the calf in his mouth... it was so close to our faces we all had to pull our heads out, or we might have shared in the taste of his success." Killer whales often 'show off' their prize as it's an impressive feat to separate a humpback whale calf from it's mother. Source: Supplied Killer whales known to 'show off' impressive prize Matheson explained killer whales (also known as orcas) often "celebrate" when they successfully predate humpback whale calves, as it is difficult to separate a calf from the protection of its mum, with mature female humpbacks growing up to 16 metres long. "[We] see various techniques that the killer whales use to take or separate a humpback calf from its mother, and if successful they then share the prey amongst the group," she explained. "He seemed to be so proud of his achievement and just wanted to show off to us what he had with him." A killer whale's behaviour of parading its prey is comparable to a "cat bringing back a mouse", Matt Oakley from Ningaloo Discovery told Yahoo News. Matheson's pictures show how close the killer whales came to the Ningaloo tour boats. Source: Supplied "He's proud of what he's done and it wants to show you. It's not dissimilar," Oakley said. "It's rare enough to see this sight from the surface but for that opportunity to present itself literally at the back of the boat and to capture images underwater, was fairly unique." Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. The decentralized artificial intelligence compute network startup HyperCycle is hoping to get some attention this week as it enters the spotlight at Ai4 2024, one of the hottest AI events on the calendar. HyperCycle is unusual compared to most other decentralized AI players in that its distributed network is not based on a blockchain. Rather, it has created a Layer-0 network architecture built on the Toda IP internet communications protocol and the Earth64 data structure, which processes smart contracts, payments and AI. So it might appear like a blockchain in that it has distributed nodes, but in fact its really a purpose-built ledgerless network for AI thats not only permissionless, but open to everyone. This novel architecture serves as the foundation of HyperPG, which is designed to enable fast and low-cost transactions for diverse AI agents spread across a distributed network. The nodes are interconnected, providing enormous scalability, interoperability and strong security, and tasked with sharing data and protecting intellectual property for AI developers. Because the distributed nodes work together, it can be thought of as an internet for AIs that provides an alternative platform for AI developers to the proprietary cloud infrastructure that most are building on today. HyperCycle intends to use its presence at Ai4 2024 to spread the word about its alternative AI network and educate attendees on why its worth building on and participating in. Ai4 2024 is one of the biggest AI conferences of the year and the main annual AI networking event in North America. Its taking place at the MGM Grand hotel in Las Vegas and runs from August 12-14, and sees hundreds of the most promising AI startups, developers, researchers, academics and investors all converging together to learn about the latest innovations in the industry. Scaling distributed AI agents According to its LATAM Marketing Lead Jerry Hall, HyperCycle itself is one of those innovations, and its mission at this years event is to demonstrate to attendees its potential for enabling AI agents to communicate and collaborate effectively at scale. Currently, this process is slow and costly, Hall said. Hypercycle improves this by offering a secure global connection system with verifiable identities, without depending on centralized parties. It provides a safe platform for AI to interact directly without intermediaries. One of the advantages of HyperCycles network is that its incentivized and open to everyone who wants to participate. To encourage this, the company has created a specialized appliance called the HyperAiBox which anyone can buy and obtain the license and hardware required to set up a node on its network. Its billed as a plug-and-play device that simplifies setup to a few simple clicks, and the company even provides participants with low-cost energy sourced from hydroelectric power provides in Paraguay to minimize running costs. Those who contribute resources to the HyperPG network will receive regular rewards in the shape of HyPC tokens. Best of all, theres no obligation to buy a HyperAiBox. Instead, users can purchase a node license, download the relevant software, and run a node on their very own hardware. This is why HyperCycle is also targeting companies and individuals that have been, or still are, involved in mining proof-of-work cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Developers can use HyperCycles network to build a wide range of AI infused applications. Instead of building on proprietary clouds, they can take advantage of the aggregated computing resources it provides, creating distributed AI systems that can communicate and collaborate to solve complex computational problems at much lower costs than traditional networks. The need for decentralized AI Besides being powerful, fast and affordable, perhaps the biggest advantage of HyperCycle is that its flying the flag for decentralized AI. Hall argues that this is something society as a whole definitely needs. Can you imagine if one company owned the internet, and was able to limit how everyone used it? Limit everyones experiences?, he asked. The single greatest element of the internet is that it is open for everyone to build upon. The marketplace will decide the winners and losers but it needs a place to compete, and a distributed and decentralized network for AI like HyperCycle is perfect for that. In addition, HyperCycle can also provide a more reliable form of infrastructure for AI developers. Hall cited the recent news that Nvidias new Blackwell GPUs are set to be delayed by several months. While Nvidia hasnt confirmed the delay, it seems likely that the company will be able to ship its new chips to customers before the end of the year. As such, the delay is likely to interrupt the plans of some of the leading AI developers in the world, many of whom were banking on being able to access more powerful GPUs to train newer and more advanced AI models in the pipeline. HyperCycle is open to all, so those who suffer setbacks from delays elsewhere can instead be served by a compute source thats not derived from those chips, Hall said. Instead, they can tap into a diverse, robust network thats hosted by others, who have contributed their own computing resources. Thats the beauty of decentralization. At Ai4 2024, HyperCycle intends to pitch the multitude of use cases that it believes its network is ideally suited for. Some examples include high-frequency trading, which should make it especially appealing to DeFi application developers, and Swarm AI, which is the name for collective intelligence systems made up of hundreds of distributed AI agents. Swarm AI enables those agents to collaborate on much tougher problems than they could ever hope to solve individually. Hall said hes eagerly anticipating the opportunity to explain these use cases to prospective contributors and developers alike. HyperCycle has been on four different continents in just the last three months, attending various AI conferences, and every single one we attend is vitally important to us, giving us a chance to showcase the virtues of our distributed network, he said. A Sydney mum demonstrated putting a baby capsule onto of a Woolworths trolley while shopping. But according to experts, it comes with a significant risk. The baby capsule is said to clip on to the trolley, making it easier for parents. But it can cause injury to babies, expert warn. Source: TikTok Parents are being advised against trying a viral trolley hack being shared on social media as, while it might make shopping easier, it can put the lives of babies at risk. The hack, which has been shared on TikTok by a Sydney mum, and reshared by others, involves lifting the baby capsule, which is different from a regular car seat and designed for newborns up to six months, straight from the car before being fitted onto a trolley. The one being used is by the popular brand Maxi-Cosi and is said to "lock straight onto the bar," of the Woolworths trolley, allegedly making it secure. In the video, the mum claims, "this makes such a huge difference, especially when I am doing a large grocery shop by myself" and while some others agreed, it's not recommended, CPR Kids Founder Sarah Hunstead told Yahoo News Australia. "Once the car journey is over it is very important that you remove baby from the car seat or capsule, even if this means waking baby, because it is not safe for baby to spend long periods in car seats, capsules or infant seats," Hunstead said, advising parents to "always follow the Red Nose Safe Sleep guidelines". "Red Nose states that research shows it is not safe for babies to spend long periods of time in car seats or capsules," she added. The supermarket trolley hack using a Maxi-Cosi baby capsule has gone viral on social media, but experts warn it's not safe. Source: TikTok Prolonged car seat use puts babies at risk of 'sudden infant death' According to the organisation, research has shown that babies left in a sitting position for a long period of time may be placed at increased risk for sudden infant death. Additionally, car or baby seats may cause the babys neck to flex forward which may block the babys airway not allowing airflow. What's more, falls from car seats used outside of the car as infant carriers are common and represent a significant source of head injury. It's advised to never leave a baby in carriers on shopping carts, counters, or other high locations to help prevent injury or death. Dorel Australia, the parent company of Maxi-Cosi, also advised against the viral hack, telling Yahoo "Maxi-Cosi does not recommend any other uses whereby the capsule is attached as such mentioned in the [provided] example. It reiterated that the capsule is designed to be used "as a car seat in a vehicle where the capsule is attached to a base". It can also be used as "part of a travel system whereby approved stroller/pram manufacturers sell adaptors for the capsule to be removed from the base in the car and attached to a pram". 'Parent hack' prompts social media debate Responding to the mum's video, some also advised against the "ultimate parent hack" with many agreeing "babies shouldn't be in a capsule for too long". Some also claimed that attaching the capsule to the trolley can "damage the latch on the capsule" meaning it might not be able to be secured properly in the car. "My child actually stopped breathing in their capsule at 6 weeks after 30 mins, so beg my pardon for the concern," said one mother. "It is handy but personally i wouldnt risk it," said another. Meanwhile, others suggested opting for a trolley with a built-in seat instead. It's understood Woolworths customers can still find some trolleys with in-built seats at select stores. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. Beijing (Gasgoo)- Chinese automaker Dongfeng Motor has officially launched its new energy vehicle (NEV) brands, VOYAH and MHERO, in Lebanon, the company recently disclosed via its WeChat account. The launch marks a significant step in Dongfeng Motor's international expansion into the Middle Eastern market. Photo credit: Dongfeng Motor The launch was made possible through a partnership with MONZA, a Beirut-based company that began discussions with Dongfeng Motor at the end of 2023. By June of this year, the two parties had signed an official licensing agreement, making MONZA the authorized dealer for the premium NEV brand VOYAH and luxury electric off-roader brand MHERO in Lebanon. The exclusive showroom for these brands, now in trial operation, has been fully equipped to showcase the premium image of Dongfeng's high-end brands. Photo credit: Dongfeng Motor Starting in July, pre-launch activities kicked off, targeting the brands' upscale customer base. MONZA collaborated with the local luxury community group, Faqra Club, to host static vehicle displays and dynamic test drive events, attracting attention from local and regional visitors. These activities aim to highlight VOYAH and MHEROs strengths and build consumer trust. The official launch of the VOYAH and MHERO brands is scheduled for later this month, with over 80 confirmed orders already in place. With their cutting-edge technology, exceptional quality, and unique positioning, the two NEV brands are set to establish a strong foothold in Lebanons automotive market, solidifying the presence of Chinese premium NEV brands in the region. 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. Leapmotor deploys 665 sales, service stores across China by July 2024 Chinese new energy vehicle maker Leapmotor had deployed a total of 665 sales and service stores across China by the end of July 2024, including 152 Leapmotor Centers, 324 experience centers, and 189 service centers, according to a post on Leapmotor's WeChat account. Photo credit: Leapmotor Patent images of new VOYAH PASSION PHEV exposed Patent images of the new VOYAH PASSION PHEV have surfaced in the latest round of catalogue by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, offering a glimpse into the upcoming model. While the exterior design remains unchanged, the new PASSION PHEV will feature upgraded powertrain components, including a new electric motor and engine. These enhancements are expected to deliver improved output performance, signaling a significant update to the vehicle's overall capabilities. BAIC BluePark already delivers nearly 1,000 vehicles for Baidu's 5th-gen shared unmanned vehicle BAIC BluePark New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (BAIC BluePark), the parent company of BAIC BJEV, announced on August 13 via a public Q&A platform that it has successfully delivered nearly 1,000 vehicles to be operated as Baidu's fifth-generation shared unmanned vehicles. These vehicles are primarily deployed across Wuhan, Beijing, and Guangzhou cities. BAIC BluePark and Baidu are collaborating closely to ensure the smooth testing and operation of these unmanned vehicles. Mercedes-Benz begins presale of new V-Class MPV in China On August 12, the new Mercedes-Benz V-Class officially began pre-sales in China. Positioned as a mid-to-large MPV, the new vehicle offers four different variants, with pre-sale prices ranging from 500,000 yuan to 680,000 yuan. The vehicle is set for official market launch on August 24. BYD's Seal 06 GT prototype to debut at Chengdu Motor Show 2024 In a recent interview, Zhang Zhuo, General Manager of BYD's Ocean Series Marketing Division, revealed that the prototype of the Seal 06 GT model will make its debut at the Chengdu Motor Show 2024 on August 30. The new model is anticipated to begin pre-sales during the auto show and is expected to hit the market in September. FAW Toyota begins operation of hydrogen-powered truck project On August 8th, FAW Toyota held a launch ceremony for the operation of its hydrogen-powered truck project at its plant in Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area ("TEDA"), according to a post on TEDA's WeChat account. This initiative is part of the company's commitment to implementing Tianjin city's request on building a green manufacturing system and accelerating the dual-carbon strategy of both shareholders, FAW Group and Toyota. Mercedes-Benz joins hands with Volcano Engine for enhanced AI-powered smart cockpit Mercedes-Benz Group China Ltd. recently signed a strategic cooperation memorandum with ByteDance-backed Beijing Volcano Engine Technology Co., Ltd. to collaborate on large models, generative AI, and big data technologies, Volcano Engine announced via its WeChat account on August 13. Changan NEVO E07 range-extended version unveiled by China's MIIT Changan Automobile's new energy vehicle brand, NEVO, saw the extended-range version (REEV) of its NEVO E07 model listed on the website of China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. BAIC Group teams with ZTO Express to for logistics, supply chain advancements On August 12, BAIC Group and ZTO Express signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement, marking the beginning of a deepened partnership in logistics, supply chain management, and vehicle procurement. Dongfeng Motor launches VOYAH, MHERO brands in Lebanon Chinese automaker Dongfeng Motor has officially launched its new energy vehicle (NEV) brands, VOYAH and MHERO, in Lebanon, the company recently disclosed via its WeChat account. The launch marks a significant step in Dongfeng Motor's international expansion into the Middle Eastern market. Li Auto's 2024 Li L9 model sails through CAERI's 'SUPER CRASH' test On August 12, 2024, China Automotive Engineering Research Institute Co., Ltd. (CAERI) announced the successful performance of the 2024 Li L9, a large-sized SUV under Li Auto, in the "SUPER CRASH" test challenge. Beijing's first NIO Power Swap Station 4.0 comes online On August 12, NIO launched the first Power Swap Station 4.0 for Beijing city, which is located at the Beitou Olympic Park's 1314-P4 ground parking lot, the Middle Aoti Road, according to NIO's announcement. NETA Auto begins pre-sales of NETA S Shooting Brake's REEV versions NETA Auto has officially begun pre-sales for its NETA S models shooting brake edition (called NETA S Shooting Brake for short), initially offering three REEV (range-extended electric vehicle) versions priced between 175,900 yuan and 209,900 yuan. A man who tried to flee in a stolen SUV Monday night in Newark as officers detained a passenger was shot and critically wounded by police, according to the New Jersey Attorney Generals Office. Two uniformed police officers in a marked patrol vehicle spotted the stolen vehicle about 8:35 p.m. parked on Clinton Place near Hawthorne Avenue with a man in the passenger seat, according to Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin. The officers approached the vehicle and, as they were detaining the passenger, a second male exited a nearby store, entered the vehicle, and got behind the wheel, Platkin said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. The officers then attempted to detain the man in the drivers seat, a struggle ensued, and the vehicle accelerated backward and forward, Platkin said. Surveillance video obtained by ABC7ny.com shows the officer trying to arrest the driver as the car begins to move. One police officer fired his duty weapon, striking the driver. The vehicle struck the officers patrol car, which was positioned at an angle in front of the reportedly stolen vehicle, Platkin said. The SUV then traveled forward across the street, onto a sidewalk, and crashed into Hawthorne Elementary School and parked vehicles, according to Platkin and Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka. The wounded man, who was not identified, received medical aid from officers at the scene before he was taken to University Hospital in Newark, where he was in critical but stable condition Tuesday afternoon. Two police officers were also taken to the hospital, where one was admitted with a sprained ankle and the other was treated and released, according to Baraka. The incident is under investigation by the Office of the Attorney General. New Jersey law requires the Attorney Generals Office to investigate deaths or injuries that occur during an encounter with law enforcement acting in their official capacity or while the suspect is in custody. This is a tragedy all around. When an incident such as this happens, it is traumatic for all involved, and its effect ripples out through the community, Baraka said in a statement. Our focus will be on providing comfort, relief, and recovery to all those affected and to deter the kind of unlawful actions that lead to these kinds of incidents, Baraka said. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. New Jersey officials are investigating a police shooting in Newark on Monday night that left one person in critical condition after police tried to arrest the driver and passenger. ABC-7 reported the shooting occurred after officers chased and pulled over a car in the area of Hawthorne Avenue and Clinton Place. UPDATE: The Giants after Tuesdays practice said Tyrone Tracy who suffered an apparently serious ankle injury earlier in the day will undergo further imaging at Manhattans Hospital for Special Surgery, in order to get a more comprehensive evaluation of his injury. The New York Giants lost a key player at practice on Tuesday. Running back Tyrone Tracy, whom the Giants selected in the fifth round of the 2024 draft, was carted off the field with an apparent serious right ankle injury. The Giants medical staff put his ankle in an air cast before taking him off the field. BUY GIANTS TICKETS: STUBHUB, VIVID SEATS, TICKETMASTER The injury happened when Tracy muffed a kickoff. His right ankle/lower leg buckled as he reached for the ball. During training camp, Tracy has been battling with running back Eric Gray, the teams 2023 fifth-round pick, for the No. 2 running back spot behind Devin Singletary. Tracy was expected to crack the rotation that helps replace Saquon Barkley, who signed with the Eagles this offseason. If hes out for an extended period of the time, the Giants might not be able to run the ball as well. Tracy could also be a dynamic pass catcher out of the backfield. He played wide receiver at Iowa before switching to running back when he got to Purdue. He might be the Giants best option on third down because Singletary struggles in pass protection. Throughout camp, he has been getting reps with the first-team offense and has look solid. Depending on the diagnosis, the injury could sideline him for a long time. It would open the door Dante Miller, who the Giants signed in April, to make the team. Gray would also move up the depth chart and get the bulk of the carries behind Singletary. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription. Cayden Steele may be reached at CSteele@njadvancemedia.com More than two weeks after New Jersey City University acknowledged a massive data breach that could affect thousands of people, and nine days after much of that sensitive information was posted on the dark web, the school has established a help line for possible victims. Cyberscout, a division of the credit reporting bureau Transunion, is staffing a toll-free line, (833) 531-1135, for calls from students, staff and others whose personal and financial information was stolen in early June by the ransomware hacker Rhysida. A Cyberscout representative who answered the line Tuesday, its second day of operation, said The Jersey Journals call was the first she had received regarding the NJCU breach. Police are seeking to identify a phone scammer who stole $13,000 from a Hunterdon County woman last month after a virus alert popped up on her computer. The Alexandria Township woman, described by authorities as elderly, received a virus alert on July 25 urging her to contact Microsoft and then to call the TD Bank Fraud Office, State Police said. The number she was provided was for the scammer, who posed as a bank employee and convinced the woman to withdraw $13,000 from her account, police said. A courier went to her house to pick up the cash, police said. The courier is described as about 5-feet, 9-inches, between 30 and 35 years old, with black hair and a black mustache. Anyone with information about this incident or similar scams may contact the the State Police Kingwood Station at 908-996-2864. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Former Mets top prospect Amed Rosario was designated for assignment on Monday. The Dodgers acquired Rosario from the Tampa Bay Rays at the trade deadline to help improve their infield/outfield depth. They only had to give up 28-year-old minor league reliever Michael Flynn to get him. BUY METS TICKETS: STUBHUB, VIVID SEATS, TICKETMASTER Rosario, 28, only received 12 plate appearances during his second stint with the Dodgers. Before joining the Rays on a one-year deal this offseason, he spent the second half of the 2023 season with the Dodgers after getting acquired at the trade deadline. In 287 plate appearances between the Rays and Dodgers, he slashed .305/.331/.415, which is about 14% better than league average. Despite his production, the Dodgers decided that Rosario was expendable. He has been considered a poor defender throughout his career, but he has a strong bat. He has hit .327/.355/.462 against lefties in 2024. Rosario played with the Mets from 2017-2020. In 2016, he was voted to the MLB All-Star Futures Game after rising through the Mets farm system. The Mets gave out their largest international signing bonus ($1.75 million) to Rosario in 2012. In 2017, he was named the Mets top prospect. The Mets traded Rosario to the Cleveland Guardians in 2021 as a part of the Francisco Lindor deal, and he played with Cleveland until 2023. Rosario struggled in many different areas for the Mets and never lived up to the potential of a top prospect. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription. Cayden Steele may be reached at CSteele@njadvancemedia.com When President Joe Biden was the Democratic nominee, many young voters rebelled against voting for an 81-year-old: Their enthusiasm was low and former president Donald Trump unexpectedly was carrying their demographic in a head-to-head matchup in some battleground states. But just three weeks after Biden has stepped aside and Vice President Kamala Harris has climbed to the top of the ticket, she has dramatically stolen a large chunk of young voters from Trump, according to a battleground state youth tracker poll conducted by John Della Volpe, an expert in the youth vote. In a SocialSphere survey, released by Democratic super PAC Wont Pac Down, Harris leads among young voters in key states, 51-42%, with seven percent undecided. Six months ago, we saw Donald Trump outright winning the youth vote among the registered voters in some of these battleground states, Della Volpe told Washington Post politics reporter Greg Sargent. Over the last three weeks, this youth [vote] is in the process of recalibrating and looking more like the youth [vote] I would have expected to see, and certainly something that Id seen in the last couple of cycles. So, yes, 51% to 42% is on its way there, but I dont think that she would be comfortable with that margin a month or two months from now. This needs to get somewhere into the mid-50s which is where it was in the battleground states in 2020. Thats what she needs to feel comfortable about an Electoral College victory. Della Volpe said he polled 18- to 29-year-old voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. He added that polling was conducted before Harris added Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, so the youth numbers could climb even higher, because early polling indicates that Walz is popular with voters under 30. Sometimes in politics, people dont know what they want until we show it to them. Thats a famous Steve Jobs quote, and I think thats what were seeing here, Della Volpe said. Theyre seeing something different. They seem to like it. They have incredible enthusiasm for it, and they want to learn more. While some have theorized that Harris is enjoying a honeymoon period, Della Volpe explained why her poll numbers and popularity could continue to climb, not just with younger voters. I think just people want to make sure that theyre comfortable that their first reaction is actually true, and that [Harris] values do mostly align with where young people want to see the country moving, he said. According to the poll, 55% of young voters now say theyre more enthusiastic about voting. It rises to 60% among young females and 77% of young Democrats. Della Volpe says young voters like Harris willingness to slug it out politically with Trump in ways Biden didnt or couldnt. They see that shes a fighter, he said. They see the energy, and appreciate the fact that she will stand toe to toe with against Trump on the debate stage and other places, and really kind of fight for their vision. Unfortunately, President Biden seemed to be kind of handcuffed in terms of the media channels he had available to him. And shes now been able to expand that with the support shes receiving from the ground up on Tiktok, Instagram, on social media. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. A police officer was indicted on Monday on a charge of terroristic threats and other offenses. Alberto Sanabria, 38, an officer for the Paterson Police Department, was also indicted on charges of cyber harassment and stalking, the Passaic County Prosecutors Office said in a news release. Sanabria, a Paterson resident, was hired by the department in July 2017 and earns a salary of $51,272, according to public pension records. The charges stem from an incident that occurred on Dec. 23, 2023. Prosecutors did not provide further details. Sanabrias attorney, Valerie Palma DeLuis, could not immediately be reached for comment. He will appear in Passaic County Superior Court on Monday, Aug. 19. Sanabria is one of many Paterson Police officers to face criminal charges in recent years. Following an FBI investigation, the state Attorney Generals office took over the department in March 2023. Editors Note: Reach the New Jersey Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-572-SAFE (7233). Reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), chat with their advocates here or text LOVEIS to 22522. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Nicolas Fernandes may be reached at nfernandes@njadvancemedia.com. Former Donald Trump senior advisor Kellyanne Conway has some advice for the former president: Fewer insults. Conway spoke to Fox Business Larry Kudlow and urged Trump to talk policy on the campaign trail rather than toss insults at his opponents and Kamala Harris. The winning formula for President Trump is very plain to see, Conway said. Its fewer insults, more insights and that policy contrast. She added: Hes got that hunger, swagger, underdog, underestimated of 2016 back, Larry, and you overlay that with the four-year presidential record where we did have growth, we did have wage growth, we had low unemployment and the whole nine that you and I know. Trump has a history of making derogatory statements about women and his political opponents. He has called Harris, the Democrats presidential candidate, and other women, including 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, nasty, and he bragged about grabbing womens genitalia in the infamous Access Hollywood tape. Last week, Trump said during a news conference Harris is worse than Biden and shes actually not as smart. Trump added: Ok? Thats hard to believe, isnt it? ... I dont think (Biden) is very smart, by the way. Im not a big fan of his brain, but I think that shes actually not as smart. Democrats are playing up their sunnier outlook, promoting the idea that voters can be inspired to support someone and not just cast their ballot against the other side. The Trump campaign argues their candidate is reflecting the dour mood of the country and dismisses the idea that a growing contrast in tone and upbeat attitude will decide the presidency. Trumps senior campaign advisers counter that the mood of the country right now is sour over the economy, the state of the U.S.-Mexico border and turmoil in the Middle East and beyond. They see their candidate as reflecting that reality rather than what they believe is a temporary exuberance igniting the Democratic base after months of discouragement over their ticket. Trump has tried to harness that with his repeated predictions of stock market crashes and war. His campaign appearances have included a long list of other warnings that have veered into the apocalyptic, saying that if hes not elected, were not going to have a country anymore, that the only thing standing between you and its obliteration is me, and that under a Harris administration, Social Security will buckle and collapse and the suburbs will be overrun with violent crime and savage foreign gangs. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco. Beijing (Gasgoo)- Changan Automobile's new energy vehicle brand, NEVO, saw the extended-range version (REEV) of its NEVO E07 model listed on the website of Chinas Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Photo credit: MIIT The E07 REEV model is equipped with the new BlueCore hybrid-specific engine, featuring advanced technologies such as a 500-bar ultra-high-pressure fuel injection system, a 1.45 stroke-to-bore ratio, and 150-millijoule high-energy ignition. Photo credit: MIIT Visually, the NEVO E07 REEV closely resembles its all-electric counterpart. The front of the vehicle maintains the same full-width light strip and C-shaped LED headlights, but adds ventilation openings to the lower grille for a sportier look. The vehicles sleek side profile includes a coupe-like sloping roof with a rear section that can fully open like a sunroof, allowing the SUV to transform into a pickup truck. The NEVO E07 measures 5,045 mm in length, 1,996 mm in width, and between 1,640-1,695 mm in height, with a wheelbase of 3,120 mm. Powertrain options for the NEVO E07 REEV include both single-motor and dual-motor variants, both utilizing a 1.5T engine as a range extender with a maximum output of 105 kW. The single-motor version delivers a peak power of 231 kW, while the dual-motor all-wheel-drive version provides 131 kW at the front and 231 kW at the rear. The model is equipped with a 39.05 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery pack, offering battery-powered ranges of 185 km and 200 km, depending on the configuration. The NEVO E07 is the first model built on Changan's SDA architecture, integrating advanced digital and intelligent features. After rolling off the production line at Changans digital intelligent factory in July, the NEVO E07 has begun blind pre-orders and is set to officially hit the market later this year. Democrats who are thrilled that Joe Biden dropped out of the race and are excited by polls showing Kamala Harris ahead of or tied against Donald Trump because of renewed enthusiasm among voters shouldnt rush to rip open the champagne bottle. CNNs Harry Enten broke down the latest polls and compared them to 2016 and 2020. Its a cautionary tale for any Harris supporter who thinks she has this race in the bag. The bottom line is this, if you have any idea, if youre a Kamala Harris fan and you want to rip open the champagne bottle, pop that cork, do not do it. Donald Trump is very much in this race. If we have a polling shift like weve seen in prior years from now until the final results, Donald Trump would actually win, Enten said. Im not saying thats going to happen. But I am saying that he is very much in this ballgame, he said. He also posted to X three caution points for Democrats. 1. Trump wins if the difference between the polls at this point & the result matches what we saw in 2016 or 2020. 2. Trumps more popular now than at this pt in 2016 or 2020. 3. Dems dont say theyre more likely to vote now than in May, Enten wrote. 3 caution points for Democrats... 1. Trump wins if the difference between the polls at this point & the result matches what we saw in 2016 or 2020. 2. Trump's more popular now than at this pt in 2016 or 2020. 3. Dems don't say they're more likely to vote now than in May pic.twitter.com/E0zfPCyKS9 (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) August 13, 2024 On Monday, Enten broke down the latest polling including in important battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to explain why the former president has reason for concern now that hes up against Harris. Harris has jumped ahead of Trump by a single percentage point in a recent poll when people were asked who they trust more to handle the economy, compared to Biden trailing Trump by six percentage points in July. If its just on one poll, I wouldnt necessarily give a flying hoot, but when you see it across multiple polls, thats where it gets interesting, Enten said, shifting to polls from Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that asked the same question. In May, Trump had a 55%-41% lead over Biden over the economy. Currently, Trump leads Harris 52%-46%. Yes, Trump still leads in economic issues. But the lead has shrunk ... down to six points, which when were talking about the margin, a margin of error, you double it, thats actually within that margin of error, so now we have a race on the economy within the margin of error, on Donald Trumps issue, he said. On the generic question of who people trust more on the issue most important to them, Trump led Biden 50%-40% in June. Now we have Harris at 50% (and) Trump at 48%, he said. Again, within the margin of error, but a 10-point advantage for Trump in June, now to a Harris 2-point advantage, this is the type of move were seeing across the board. Its not just on those top-line issues. Its underneath the hood, and thats what should be truly worrying to the Trump campaign. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco. A family-owned farmstand in Bridgewater that sells home-grown fruits, vegetables and flowers could be demolished to make room for 64 multi-family townhouses under a proposal before the local zoning board. Alstede Fresh at Bridgewater on Route 202/206 is located on a 15-acre site being eyed by Whippany-based developer JMF Properties as the location for a new multi-family development, according to documents submitted to the towns zoning board. The application is scheduled to go before the Bridgewater Zoning Board of Adjustment on Tuesday for a public hearing, according to a meeting agenda. Were tenants on that property so, we dont own that property and were not necessarily privy to all the information, said Kyle Holman, brand manager and director of marketing for Alstede Farms. Our plan is to remain in Bridgewater in some capacity and continue to provide our home-grown produce to that community for years to come, Holman said. The applicant for the project is listed on documents as 821 Bridgewater, a subsidiary of JMF Properties. JMF properties did not respond Monday to requests for comment. Since the land slated for development is located in a single-family residential zone, JMF Properties is seeking a use variance from the zoning board for the multi-family development. The development is called Venue at Bridgewater in project documents and includes two-story townhomes, all containing three bedrooms, in four-unit , six-unit, and eight-unit building layouts, according to tentative architectural renderings. Venue at Bridgewater will offer two-story townhomes, all with three bedrooms, in four-unit, six-unit, and eight-unit compositions, according to renderings by Holiday Architects in Medford available on the Bridgewater town website.Bridgewater Zoning Board The project proposed by JMF Properties requires a use variance from the zoning board in order to construct multi-family dwellings in an area zoned only for single-family residential and agriculture.Bridgewater Zoning Board The project also calls for associated improvements such as roads, walkways, and a total of 262 parking spaces. Access to the Venue at Bridgewater will be from Route 202/206. Two addresses 821 and 831 on Route 202/206 in Bridgewater would be consolidated, a step that will require approval from the New Jersey Department of Transportation along with approval for a proposed access driveway. The land is currently occupied by two single family houses, a barn, the Alstede farmstand, a greenhouse, and associated driveways and parking areas, according to an environmental impact statement completed for the project. The remainder of the site consists of maintained lawn, deciduous and coniferous mixed forest, wetlands, and State open waters, according to the environmental report. The development will only generate slightly more traffic during the weekday peak hours than the existing farm stand; and during Saturday peak hour, it will generate less traffic, according to a report completed by Bowman Consulting Group in Parsippany. JMF Properties is also seeking a use variance for 3 acres of the property to be used for a house of worship. The property is bordered by the Shimon and Sara Birnbaum Jewish Community Center. If the use variance is granted, the applicants will file a separate application seeking approval to subdivide that land from the rest of the property so the it can be transferred to the Jewish Community Center of Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren counties, according to the variance application. JMF Properties has residential, commercial, and mixed-use developments throughout New Jersey. In Morris County alone, JMF Properties and its partner entities are developing three retail properties: Morris Marketplace in Morris Township, Hanover Town Center in Hanover Township, and Cedar Village in Hanover Township, according to the developers website. JMF Properties was also behind a new 125-unit luxury rental property that opened in Morris Plains this year. Alstede Farms is a family-owned and operated farm in Chester founded in 1982 by Kurt Alstede, according to the companys website. In addition to a main store on the farm property, Alstede Farms operates three farmstands where it sells fresh produce: in Wharton on Lindeken Farms, in eastern Chester, and in Bridgewater. The farm is a majority women-owned operation today, with Alstedes daughters, Rebekah and Sarah, serving as co-owners, according to a company announcement. I always supported their individual choices and was careful to let them find their own way, Alstede said in a press release. However, once they expressed interest in the family business, I realized that my dedication to the land could be carried on for generations to come. It is everything I hoped for the land, the community, and my family. Holman, the farms marketing director, said Alstede Farms will do its best to stay in Bridgewater. Bridgewater and that area has always been really good to us, so our goal is to be in that area moving forward, Holman said. The zoning boards meeting on Tuesday is available for livestream on YouTube at the following link: www.youtube.com/@BridgewaterNewJersey Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jackie Roman may be reached at jroman@njadvancemedia.com. Beijing (Gasgoo)- On August 13, Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance (HIMA), Huawei's smart car selection alliance, announced that AITO, the premium new energy vehicle brand co-developed by Huawei and SERES, has so far delivered over 130,000 units of its new M7 model this year. Photo credit: HIMA The new AITO M7 was officially released onto the market on September 12, 2023, with five variants priced between 249,800 yuan and 329,800 yuan. Within eight months of its market launch, the new M7 received fixed-orders for more than 180,000 units, establishing itself as a leading SUV in the smart new energy vehicle market. On May 31, 2024, the new M7 Ultra edition was introduced to the public, offering four trim levels priced between 289,800 yuan and 329,800 yuan. During the launch event for the new AITO M7, Richard Yu, CEO of Huaweis Intelligent Automotive Solution Business Unit, highlighted that a significant investment of 500 million yuan was poured into developing the AITO M7 series, underlining the commitment to its success. He emphasized that this investment ensured the use of top-tier materials and advanced technology, positioning the new M7 as a benchmark in smart cockpits, intelligent driving, and safety, delivering an unparalleled user experience. Notably, the new AITO M7 is set to expand its lineup with the introduction of the Pro version, which will debut on August 26 at the Chengdu Motor Show 2024. Pre-orders for the new AITO M7 Pro have already started, with prices beginning at 249,800 yuan. The Pro version will feature the base version of the HUAWEI ADS intelligent driving system. Donald Trump (right) on Tuesday escalated his feud with Elon Musk in a Truth Social post belittling the billionaire. Andrew Kelly, Gaelen Morse/Reuters Elon Musk and Donald Trump have had a tumultuous relationship over the years. While the two traded barbs during Trump's presidency, they're increasingly political allies. Musk endorsed Trump after the former president survived an assassination attempt. Elon Musk and Donald Trump are getting along again after years of a frosty relationship. On August 12, Musk hosted Trump for a live interview on X, formerly known as Twitter, welcoming Trump back to the platform that paved the way for the reality TV star's shocking upset in 2016. After tearing into each other in the past, the world's richest person and Republican presidential nominee have become close political allies. Musk is making clear that this extends now to his armada of businesses and potentially millions in donations to a pro-Trump super PAC. ADVERTISEMENT Here's how the two powerful men reached this point. November 2016: Musk says Trump is 'not the right guy' for the job Elon Musk Yasin Ozturk/Getty Images Just before the 2016 presidential election, Musk told CNBC he didn't think Trump should be president. "I feel a bit stronger that he is not the right guy. He doesn't seem to have the sort of character that reflects well on the United States," Musk said. The billionaire added that Hillary Clinton's economic and environmental policies were the "right ones." December 2016: Musk appointed to Trump's advisory councils President Donald Trump talks with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, center, and White House chief strategist Steve Bannon during a meeting with business leaders in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, Feb. 3, 2017. Donald Trump on Tuesday escalated his feud with Elon Musk in a series of Truth Social posts belittling the billionaire.Evan Vucci/AP Photo After he won the presidency, Trump appointed Musk to two economic advisory councils, along with other business leaders like Uber CEO Travis Kalanick. Musk got flack for working with the controversial president, but defended his choice by saying he was using the position to lobby for better environmental and immigration policies. June 2017: Musk cut ties with the White House in protest of Trump's environmental policies Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and former President Donald Trump AP Photo/Alex Brandon On June 1, 2017, after Trump announced the US would pull out of the Paris Agreement on climate change, Musk resigned from his roles on presidential advisory boards. Story continues "Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world," Musk said in a tweet announcing his departure. Musk's goal for Tesla is to curb dependence on fossil fuels through electric vehicles, solar power, and stationary energy storage. January 2020: 'One of our great geniuses' Trump Former President Donald Trump speaks during a "Save America" rally in Anchorage, Alaska, on July 9, 2022.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images During a January 2020 interview with CNBC, Trump praised Musk's accomplishments and intelligence. "You have to give him credit," the former president said, referring to Tesla becoming more valuable than Ford and General Motors. "He's also doing the rockets. He likes rockets. And he's doing good at rockets too, by the way." Trump went on to call Musk "one of our great geniuses" and likened him to Thomas Edison. May 2020: Trump backs up Musk in feud with California covid rules Elon Musk stands facing Donald Trump, whose Elon Musk meets Donald Trump at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. May 30, 2020.REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst As the pandemic gripped the US in early 2020, Musk clashed with California public-health officials who forced Tesla to temporarily shut down its factory there. Trump voiced his support for Musk. "California should let Tesla & @elonmusk open the plant, NOW," Trump tweeted in May 2020. "It can be done Fast & Safely!" "Thank you!," Musk replied. May 2022: Musk said he would reinstate Trump's Twitter account Tesla CEO Elon Musk sitting on stage at SXSW Tesla CEO Elon Musk.Chris Saucedo/Getty Images for SXSW In May, Musk said he would unban Trump as the Twitter's new owner. Musk called the ban a "morally bad decision" and "foolish to the extreme" in an interview with the Financial Times. Twitter kicked Trump off of its platform following the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol. The Tesla billionaire has called himself a "free speech absolutist," and one of his key goals for taking Twitter private was to loosen content moderation. July 2022: Trump calls Musk a 'bullshit artist' Former US President Donald Trump speaks during a "Save America" in Anchorage, Alaska on July 9, 2022 Former US President Donald Trump speaks during a "Save America" in Anchorage, Alaska on July 9, 2022Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images In July, Trump took aim at Musk, claiming the businessman voted for him but later denied it. "You know [Musk] said the other day 'Oh, I've never voted for a Republican,'" Trump said during a Saturday rally in Anchorage, Alaska. "I said 'I didn't know that.' He told me he voted for me. So he's another bullshit artist." On Monday, Musk tweeted that Trump's claim was "not true." July 2022: Musk says Trump shouldn't run again Elon Musk co-founded PayPal after his startup X.com merged with Peter Thiel's Confinity. Elon Musk.Alexi Rosenfeld / Contributor / getty Musk stopped short of attacking Trump personally, but said he shouldn't run for president again. "I don't hate the man, but it's time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset. Dems should also call off the attack don't make it so that Trump's only way to survive is to regain the Presidency," he tweeted. He continued: "Do we really want a bull in a china shop situation every single day!? Also, I think the legal maximum age for start of Presidential term should be 69." Trump is 76 years old. July 2022: Trump lashes out Donald Trump Former President Donald Trump gives the keynote address at the Faith and Freedom Coalition during their annual conference on June 17, 2022, in Nashville, Tennessee.Seth Herald/Getty Images Trump then went on the offensive, posting a lengthy attack on Musk on Truth Social, the social media company he founded. "When Elon Musk came to the White House asking me for help on all of his many subsidized projects, whether it's electric cars that don't drive long enough, driverless cars that crash, or rocketships to nowhere, without which subsidies he'd be worthless, and telling me how he was a big Trump fan and Republican, I could have said, 'drop to your knees and beg,' and he would have done it," Trump said in a post that criticized two of Musk's ventures, Tesla and the rocket company SpaceX. "Lmaooo," Musk responded on Twitter. October 2022: Trump cheers Musk's Twitter deal, but says he won't return Following Musk's official buyout of Twitter on Thursday, Trump posted to Truth Social cheering the deal. "I am very happy that Twitter is now in sane hands, and will no longer be run by Radical Left Lunatics and Maniacs that truly hate our country," he said. He added that he likes Truth Social better than other platforms, echoing comments from earlier this year in which he ruled out a return to Twitter. On Monday, Musk joked about the potential of welcoming the former president back to his newly acquired platform. "If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me if Trump is coming back on this platform, Twitter would be minting money!," the Tesla CEO tweeted. May 2023: Musks hosts Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' glitchy debut Musk and other right-leaning voices in Silicon Valley initially supported Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. DeSantis ended 2022 as Trump's best-positioned primary challenger. In November 2022, as DeSantis was skyrocketing to acclaim, Musk said he would endorse him. In March 2023, after enduring Trump's attacks for months, DeSantis prepared to make history by formally announcing his campaign in an interview on Twitter. The initial few minutes were a glitchy disaster. Trump and his allies ruthlessly mocked DeSantis' "Space" with Musk and venture capitalist David Sachs. DeSantis' interview later proceeded, but his campaign was dogged for days with negative headlines. Tesla CEO Elon Musk looks into his phone as his livestreams a visit to the US-Mexico border in Eagle Pass, Texas. John Moore/Getty Images September 2023: A Trump-style border wall is needed, Musk says Musk live-streamed a visit to the US-Mexico border on Twitter, which he had rebranded as "X." Musk said that one of Trump's signature policies was necessary during his visit to Eagle Pass, Texas, to get a first-person look at what local officials called a crisis at the border. "We actually do need a wall and we need to require people to have some shred of evidence to claim asylum to enter, as everyone is doing that," Musk wrote on X. "It's a hack that you can literally Google to know exactly what to say! Will find out more when I visit Eagle Pass maybe as soon as tomorrow." Like Trump and others on the right, Musk had criticized the broader consensus in Washington for focusing too much on Russia's unprovoked war against Ukraine in comparison to domestic issues like migration. March 2024: Trump tries to woo Musk, but the billionaire says he won't give him money. Trump tried to woo Musk during a meeting at the former president's Mar-a-Lago resort. According to The New York Times, Trump met with Musk and a few other GOP megadonors when the former president's campaign was particularly cash-strapped. After The Times published its report, Musk said he would not be "donating money to either candidate for US President." It wasn't clear who Musk meant in terms of the second candidate. He had repeatedly criticized President Joe Biden, who looked poised to be headed toward a rematch with Trump. July 2024: Musk endorses Trump after the former president is shot Musk said he "fully endorsed" Trump after the former president was shot during a political rally ahead of the Republican National Convention. The billionaire's endorsement marked a major turning point in his yearslong political evolution from an Obama voter. Days later, it would come to light that Musk pressed Trump to select Ohio Sen. JD Vance as his running mate. Trump announced Vance as his vice presidential pick at the Republican National Convention. The ticket, Musk wrote on X, "resounds with victory." It wasn't just his public support that Musk was offering. In July, the Wall Street Journal reported Musk had pledged roughly $45 million to support a pro-Trump super PAC. Musk later said he would donate far less, but his rebranding into a loyal member of the MAGA right was complete. August 2024: Trump joins Musk for a highly anticipated interview Trump, who ended the Republican National Convention primed for victory, stumbled after Biden abruptly dropped out of the 2024 race. The former president and his allies have struggled to attack Vice President Kamala Harris, now the Democratic presidential nominee. Amid Harris' early media blitz, Trump joined Musk on a two-hour livestream on X that garnered an audience of over 1 million listeners. The conversation covered topics ranging from a retelling of Trump's assassination attempt to illegal immigration to Musk's potential role with a government efficiency commission. In August, Trump began floating the idea that he "certainly would" consider adding Musk to his Cabinet or an advisory role. The Tesla CEO responded by tweeting an AI-generated photo of himself on a podium emblazoned with the acronym "D.O.G.E"Department of Government Efficiency. "I am willing to serve," he wrote above the image. September 2024: Musk says he's ready to serve if Trump gives him an advisory role In September, Trump softened the suggestion of Musk joining his Cabinet due to his time constraints with running his various business ventures, the Washington Post reported. However, he also said that Musk could "consult with the country" and help give "some very good ideas." Musk then replied to a tweet about the Washington Post article expressing his enthusiasm. "I can't wait. There is a lot of waste and needless regulation in government that needs to go," he wrote. He later tweeted again to show his interest in being appointed by Trump, writing that he "looked forward to serving" the country and would be willing to do with without any pay, title, or recognition. Trump is reportedly soon to announce that he has taken Musk's advice and is forming a government efficiency commission. Read the original article on Business Insider Delicate and complex financial negotiations continue in respect of the future of this great company. As widely reported, its financial difficulties had caused the company to temporarily suspend share trading on the stock market. This also resulted in the chairman of the group, John Wood, standing down. He has now been replaced by a new executive chairman who is Russell Downs. Mr Downs is an acknowledged restructuring expert and a well-known figure in the City of London. The latest events in respect of the companys activities continue to be a mixture of good and bad news. It was of huge disappointment that they have had to scrap plans for a new ferry service between Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly without a single sailing. The new ferry had been awaiting the commencement of service and had been tied up in Penzance fully prepared and ready to sail. Such, however, have been the pressures on the companys finances that a decision was made to pull the plug with no likelihood that it will be resumed. There has also been disappointing news with an announcement that the Falkland Islands Government has withdrawn from a project where the company had been planning to build a new 120 million floating port for the Islands. This had reached an advanced stage of negotiation but currently talks are suspended. Obviously these are worrying events. However, there is better news with progress being made to re-structure the companys finances. It has recently obtained a new loan facility of 19.5 million from its current backer, Riverstone, an American asset manager. They already have a larger loan facility in place. A spokesperson within the company said that this should provide them with sufficient bridging finance to continue to fulfil their current commitments. It is significant that this has been achieved despite failing to secure support from government for a loan guarantee. It also remains the case that the company has been selected by the Ministry of Defence to deliver three fleet support ships for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. This contract is valued at 1.6 billion and has been awarded to a British-led consortium comprising BMT, Harland & Wolff and Navantia UK. In light of its acknowledged expertise, Appledore Yard will participate in the fabrication of many elements of this work. This contract has been awarded to ensure that the ships are built in the UK. If these were not to be delivered, then it would be the first contract in the history of the Royal Navy to have to be built overseas. There is further excellent news with progress at Appledore on their latest scheme, which has reached an important milestone. On June 8 a specialist cable barge, HMS Aths, which will enter service in the naval base at Portsmouth, was lifted from its construction area into the dock and has now been moved to the New Quay Yard following successful flooding of the dock. This impressive vessel has been designed to deploy and retrieve cabling for Navy vessels. The barge will manage anchors and anchor chains ensuring seamless operations at Portsmouth. Painting is now under way. Ballasting is scheduled to start with final touches expected to be completed shortly. This is a major success for the Appledore yard and is a demonstration of the fabrication capabilities that can be delivered locally. It also enables preparations to be advanced to start work on the much larger MOD contract for the fleet solid support bow section. This project is moving rapidly and the first steel components for it are due to be cut at the beginning of 2025. In other yards operated by the group good progress is also being made with their current order book. Most recently in June they completed another part of an order for 33 new barges at one of their two Scottish yard which is at Anish. These are certainly concerning times but two consistent messages are clear - firstly our new Government is committed to maintaining ship building capabilities in the UK and secondly the Appledore Yard is a crown jewel for delivery with the highest levels of skills, quality and efficiency. These will be important considerations over the next few months. Much support is being given both locally and nationally to assist in achieving a successful future for one of the South Wests most important and historic businesses. Read the full story on The Auto Wire Road Rager Brings A Hammer To A Gunfight A Texas man was shot and killed when he allegedly attacked another driver with a hammer during a reported road rage incident. Its just the latest example of how physically confronting other drivers because they do something you dont like could end your life. A fiery street racing crash in Texas kills four. In this case out of San Antonio, the victim told police he feared for his life and its not hard to see why. After all, a hammer is more than capable of killing someone and if we had a stranger coming at us with one, we would also assume that person had the intention of at least doing serious harm if not committing murder. ADVERTISEMENT According to KENS 5, the attack happened not long after noon on August 8. Police say a 36-year-old man perceived another car cut him off. He stopped his car suddenly, grabbed a hammer in his vehicle, hopped out, and started smashing the window of the Hyundai which allegedly cut him off. How getting cut off warrants such a violent response is a mystery, but the man probably wasnt thinking clearly. In fact, we think road rage is fueled by people not thinking through consequences and instead treating other drivers as a clear threat to their physical safety. San Antonio Police responded to the scene and found the 36-year-old man bleeding in the road. He was transported to the hospital and later died. Nobody else was hurt in the attack. The investigation into the road rage incident is still ongoing, so police arent supplying more information. If things went down the way it sounds, this seems like a clear case of self defense. This is why attacking strangers over trivial traffic problems is a good way to get on the wrong side of a firearm. Stay in your car, take some deep breaths, and just move on with your day. Image via KENS 5/YouTube Follow The Auto Wire on Google News. Join our Newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube page, and follow us on Facebook. Screen grab: The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz Ian OConnor appeared on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz on Monday to promote his upcoming Aaron Rodgers biography, Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers. Over the course the interview, OConnor revealed some of the insight that can be found in the book, his process in reporting it and how involved Rodgers was in that very process. Even or especially for anyone who might be understandably skeptical about a book focused on Rodgers considering his status as one of the biggest lightning rods in sports, OConnors interview was enlightening. And oh yeah, the author may have also farted at one point during the more than 20-minute conversation. It wasnt a long fart, per se, but it was audible enough that it caught the attention of the show when it happened. And Le Batard didnt let it go, confronting the former ESPN senior writer about his alleged flatulence. I do have a squeaky chair here, but I can assure you that did not happen, OConnor insisted. Whoever denied it supplied it, Mike Ryan Ruiz noted. Suffice to say, OConnors alibi didnt pass the sniff test. Following the interview, Le Batard and his cast of co-hosts/producers dedicated the next segment to the alleged toot, with the show unanimously agreeing that The New York Times bestseller did, in fact, pass gas. While Le Batard had initially tried to give OConnor the benefit of the doubt, blaming the authors chair for the rubbery squeak, the audio evidence was damning enough that even the Meadowlark Media co-founder had to concede it was most likely a fart. Farts happen, and to the best of my knowledge, theres no way to tell whether one is going to be loud or silent. Perhaps OConnor thought it was going to be quiet (which it wasnt) or maybe it really was his chair (how convenient). Theres also the possibility that OConnor purposely let one rip to draw attention to his interview, thus boosting his book sales. That, however, seems like a conspiracy so absurd that even the subject of his upcoming book likely wouldnt buy it. [The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz] VALPARAISO A jury deliberated for about four hours Tuesday before finding a 28-year-old from Gary guilty of a brutal murder last summer at a public fishing area near Portage. Domonic Brothers was found guilty on all counts of murder, murder in perpetration of a robbery and robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, according to the court. Brothers will be sentenced Sept. 6 by Porter Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Clymer. Brothers, along with Jada Monroe, 29, of Virginia, were charged with murdering 35-year-old Hobart resident Derek Hartz June 13, 2023 at the Chustak Public Fishing Area located at 331 W. County Road 600 North in Portage Township. Porter County Deputy Prosecutor Harry Peterson held up a brick in the courtroom Tuesday morning and brought it down with force. "Boom," he said, exhibiting for jurors how he believes Brothers struck Hartz while helping kill him during the robbery. Porter County man accused of raping woman, telling her it was his birthday The accused reportedly apologized after the assault and later sent her a message apologizing and taking blame. "Domonic admitted to that first blow," Peterson said. The dramatic reenactment came during closing arguments in the trial of Brothers. Monroe is scheduled to face jurors Oct. 1. Police say Monroe and Brothers, who a court official said is now identifying as a woman and wore a dress and wig in court Tuesday, carried out the stabbing and beating death during what was supposed to be a sexual encounter arranged on a hookup app. "He was going to be an easy target," Peterson told jurors. Hartz sustained 28 injuries and an autopsy revealed Hartz died as a result of a stab wound that punctured his heart, along with blunt force trauma to his head, officials said. "Domonic and Jada then left the body of Derek on the path in the wooded area and drove away in his vehicle," police said. Brothers and Monroe were later picked up in Ohio. A new Indiana law aiming to kill a long-running lawsuit that seeks to hold numerous firearm manufacturers and retailers responsible for the costs of gun violence in Gary appears to have missed the target. On Monday, Lake Superior Judge John Sedia rejected the gun company defendants' motions for judgment on the pleadings after finding House Enrolled Act 1235 violates Gary's vested rights and constitutional guarantees in reaching a definitive outcome to its litigation. "To avoid manifest injustice, the substance of this lawsuit must be taken to its conclusion," Sedia said. In his 13-page ruling, Sedia acknowledged the law approved in March by the Republican-controlled General Assembly and enacted by Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb accords with Indiana's ongoing trend of stripping powers from local governments in favor of state control of local actions large and small. "The statute fits into the history of the Indiana General Assembly, to, once again, not trust local government, across the board, for well or for ill, with yet another one of its functions," Sedia said. Its problem, however, stems from the Legislature taking a second shot at ending Gary's lawsuit after the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled in 2019 it could continue notwithstanding a retroactive 2015 statute aimed at terminating it. "(The 2024 law) is a remedial statute. Its retroactive application to the substance of this lawsuit is permissible unless to do so violates a vested right or constitutional guaranty," Sedia said. "This lawsuit, in one form or another, has been pending for 25 years. The General Assembly can prospectively cure what it perceived as a prior defect or mischief, by requiring that all future actions against gun manufacturers by political subdivisions be brought on their behalf by the attorney general. It cannot end this lawsuit which the appellate courts of this state have found to be permitted by prior statute." Sedia also preemptively denied any attempt by Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita to substitute himself for the city of Gary as the real party in interest, since Sedia said the decision to file and pursue the lawsuit was made solely by the city of Gary on behalf of its residents and not by the state of Indiana. As an aside, Sedia said "it is obvious that the state of Indiana would immediately file a motion to dismiss this lawsuit if it were to be found to be the real party in interest." The attorney general's office did not respond to a request for comment on the ruling. Democratic Gary Mayor Eddie Melton issued a statement commending Judge Sedia for acknowledging the Legislature's ongoing interference in local issues and for his commitment to ensuring Gary's rights are protected. "I am pleased with the decision of the court to uphold the lawsuit. It is a significant step in affirming and protecting the vested rights and constitutional guarantees of the citizens of the city of Gary. This ruling reinforces the importance of the independence of each branch of government," Melton said. Sedia's decision to allow the litigation to continue is almost certain to be appealed. In the underlying lawsuit, Gary alleges the gun company defendants engaged in unlawful sales and marketing practices that contributed to increased crime in Gary during the late 1990s, and caused the city to incur significant costs for the resulting criminal investigations and prosecutions. Gallery: Get to know these new Indiana laws that took effect July 1 Beekeeping Biomarker testing Bobcat hunting Boundary marker Contraceptives Digital currency Dog sales Drink server Driver safety Drones Food and beverage tax Foreigner land acquisition Gary gun lawsuit Green alert Guardian ad litem Happy hour Intellectual diversity Lake Michigan Mixed beverages Penal facilities Phones in schools Psilocybin Public access counselor Reading Regional planning Religious instruction Sanctuary cities State superintendent Thirteenth check Virtual revenge porn Website age verification Wetlands Xylazine LOWELL Liberty Park is now William R. Nassau Park. After purchasing several parcels on the near-downtown site, the town is poised to enhance the 7-acre tract. The $10 million project is receiving $5 million from the Dean and Barbara White Family Foundation. Nassau, a former Lowell resident who died in 1999, worked with White at Whiteco. Bill Hanna, president of the foundation, said the foundation supports projects that promote economic development. The revamped park project is being viewed as a stimulus to downtown revitalization, We recognize the connection with downtown, Hanna said, and were excited to be part of that. The project is slated for completion in spring or summer of 2026, though construction officials are shooting for an early completion of the proposed on-site community center so it will be ready for Christmas 2025. The park project includes a community center, splash pad and open-air amphitheater with seating. The existing pavilion will be relocated and existing playground equipment, some of which is rusting, will be removed. The town has also purchased a nearby former dance studio for inclusion in the park. The new facility will have parking for 145 vehicles. Lowell Parks and Recreation Coordinator Cyndi Hughes reported that the town has six parks. The largest is Freedom Park, and the proposed Freedom Trail will connect Freedom and Nassau parks with the downtown district. Town Manager Craig Hendrix said Lowell has been looking for ways to strengthen parks and benefit local businesses. Were trying to do everything we can to invigorate downtown, he said. The amphitheater, Hendrix said, was designed with the Northwest Indiana Symphony in mind. Hasse Construction Co. of Calumet City is general contractor on the project, and SEH of Munster designed the park. Hasse built Bulldog Park in Crown Point, and while the Lowell project has similar features, it does not include an ice rink as in Crown Point. Lowell Chamber of Commerce President Nancy Frigo-Svetanoff said Nassau had a heart of gold, recalling the familys indoor pool as a safe place in the community. She hoped the new park will be a source of happiness, joy and love. Economically speaking, Frigo-Svetanoff hoped Nassau Park attracts visitors to the south Lake County town. Town Council President Todd Angerman said the park project had gone from council to council because of financial concerns. Then, he said, someone suggested contacting the White Foundation about assistance. The foundation agreed to a 50-50 match. Tri-Creek School Superintendent Andy Anderson recalled being contacted about the park project. We see a lot of potential for our youth, Anderson said, citing the splash pad and opportunities for students in the arts to perform publicly at the park. Britt McHenry shared more details about her infamous 2015 towing incident. Photo Credit: Britt McHenry Britt McHenry offered some surprising revelations Monday on her Pump the Brakes podcast, revisiting the infamous towing incident that made headlines in 2015. For those who dont recall the incident, on April 16, 2015, McHenry, a reporter at the time for ESPN, was caught on video berating a tow company employee after her car got towed in the metro Washington, D.C. area. McHenry insulted the womans status, education and appearance. ESPN suspended McHenry for one week. She told MarieClaire.com in 2016 that she dealt with a deluge of hateful comments on social media following the incident, and even filed a police report for protection. She seemed contrite in apologizing for her behavior, saying I blame myself, but the video is not who I am. McHenry has had almost 10 years to think about that incident, and its clear she has lingering bitterness against the tow company. She talked at length about the incident on her podcast, and posted an excerpt on X. (The video) was highly edited, it was highly doctored, theres a reason that tow truck company never gave up the full video, McHenry said. Had I known the alleged reports they were trying to sell (the video), I would have easily cut them a check for $20-$30K, easily, just to not deal with the bulls*** from it. Nobody cares, in real life, but it is hard from a mental health perspective, when one night in your life, you dont act perfect, you get mad, like every human on earth, and its not only videotaped, but its chopped up edited, and put subtitles. I finally spoke about what really happened with the towing incident. Click and subscribe. Full #PumptheBrakes podcast: https://t.co/yPfwS7qx71 pic.twitter.com/u2ioTgvw7g Britt McHenry (@BrittMcHenry) August 13, 2024 McHenry also accused the tow company of predatory towing practices, and accepting cash only because employees knew their practices were shady. She said the tow company employee also insulted her. McHenry probably feels better getting all that out after almost 10 years. And for those who dont like it, who want to troll her on social media, know that she has a new nickname for trolls. So, to any commenters or just trolls, Im calling you all mosquitoes now youre pathetic enough to think youre making a difference, McHenry said. McHenry, who also previously worked as a commentator for Fox Nation, left ESPN in 2017. She currently hosts a show on WTTG Fox 5 in Washington. [Britt McHenry] Jerry Davich Metro columnist Follow Jerry Davich 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 Earlier this year, Portage Mayor Austin Bonta toured his citys wastewater plant and took a selfie in front of the Burns Waterway and picturesque fields. After posting the photo on social media, some residents asked him, Where is this? They didnt recognize part of their own city the undeveloped part north of Interstate 94. Its scenic, massive and bursting with potential. You can fit the entire town of Whiting, minus the BP Refinery, into this part of our city, Bonta said. Bonta may not be in office when the Burns Parkway extension gets fully developed to its potential, but he hopes to still be alive. It might be a number of years to actually get this project done, Bonta said. Ideally, he wants his new administration to begin the visionary but arduous process of creating a Riverfront District along the Burns Waterway, similar to other Indiana cities including Kokomo, Fort Wayne and South Bend. Indiana law doesnt fully define what a river is, Bonta said, which explains how some municipalities can create one without utilizing an actual river. A river is defined as any flowing body of water, Indiana code states. Businesses within a Riverfront Development District may apply for an alcohol permit through the states Alcohol & Tobacco Commission regardless of how many others are issued in that community. Burns Waterway is not an actual river, I get that. But Id like to use it for a Riverfront District, Bonta said. I love that cities like Gary and Michigan City have public beaches, he said. Portage has a public beach but its in the National Park and we dont have the ability to build shops and restaurants around it. But what we do have is Burns Waterway. One of his first tasks after taking office in January was to share the plan of extending Burns Parkway with the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission. Its building is located near the extensions pathway. He will be sharing this plan with multiple entities throughout his term in office. I understand it will be nothing like the famous Riverfront District in San Antonio, Texas, but we have something here to work with, Bonta said. Northwest Indianas shifting demographics reveal an analytical glimpse of our Regions future possibilities. Bonta hopes to capitalize on it. (Read my column on this topic at NWI.com.) As I wrote in Sundays column on Bonta, he talks fast, thinks quickly and oozes enthusiasm when talking about anything related to Portage. (Read that column at NWI.com.) I may eventually get boring but my job is to highlight the best and work on the worst, Bonta said. Whats not boring is his controversial plan to raise rates for the citys sanitary district. He has attempted to detail its outline and purpose on his socials as well as in person at meetings. Sometimes cans get kicked down the road and you have to be the guy to pick it up, Bonta said. A 2024 study concluded that a rate increase would be necessary to allow us to make use of the $31 million SRF loan we have qualified for, in order to do the next four most essential sewer projects, he said. The State Revolving Fund (SRF) loan programs provide low-interest loans to Indiana communities for projects that improve wastewater and drinking water infrastructure, according to Indiana Finance Authority. Bontas critics claim the north interceptor project is only about future economic growth. That is a misunderstanding at best, Bonta said. Right now, the U.S. Midwest Plant, Port of Indiana, Ameriplex Business Park and a great deal of Melton Road are serviced by a part of our sewer system that was not originally built to handle what's in those places now. It has been overtaxed for a long time, Bonta said. There are big problems to come with not upgrading it now to handle what's already being serviced now, and obviously there will be big consequences if a sewer break impacted the mill, port, Ameriplex or Melton Road, he said. We do want to see more industrial development in the future, and allow for existing businesses on the north side to expand without fear about the ability for the sewer system to handle it. During a rain event, it's believed that as much as 25% of the water running through the citys plant is rainwater that shouldn't be, but gets into our aging pipes. The north interceptor project fixes much of that, reducing the rainwater in the plant and allowing it to take in more actual sewer water from residential areas in the future if needed, he said. Whats labeled as a "system development charge" is a term describing a number of different charges and fees that cities can use to financially plan ahead for the long-term effects of growth, including a sanitary impact fee. This is what Im most interested in putting together in Portage, Bonta said. It runs similar to other impact fees such as park impact fees or road impact fees, like other cities make use of. Claiming that a tap on capacity fee is the only thing under that term is neglecting at best that the idea increasing the tap on capacity fee is already under discussion as one of the possibilities we have on the table, he said. For Bonta, it seems pretty much everything is on the table. GALLERY: The Times Photos of the Week Putin blamed the West for Ukraines incursion Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, lashed out at the West yesterday over Ukraines weeklong incursion into the Kursk region of Russia. His comments are a sign that the cross-border assault has unsettled the Kremlin. Even as Moscow scrambled to respond, its forces kept up their attacks in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv military officials said. The West is fighting us with the hands of the Ukrainians, Putin said in a televised meeting with top officials, adding, The enemy will certainly get the response he deserves, and all our goals, without doubt, will be accomplished. Kursks acting governor told Putin that 28 towns and villages were under Ukraines control. He said its troops had pushed nearly 12 kilometers into Russian territory. However, the head of Ukraines armed forces claimed control of more than twice as much territory, about 1,000 square kilometers. Background: Analysts said Ukraines move had two main goals: to draw Russian forces from the front lines in eastern Ukraine and to seize territory that could serve as a bargaining chip in future peace negotiations. Putin insisted that the attack would not soften his negotiating position. A former Cornell University student was sentenced to 21 months in prison on Monday after admitting that he had posted a series of online messages last fall, shortly after the war in Gaza began, in which he threatened to stab, rape and behead Jewish people. The former student, Patrick Dai, pleaded guilty in April to posting threats to kill or injure another person using interstate communications. In addition to the prison term, Judge Brenda K. Sannes of Federal District Court in Syracuse sentenced Mr. Dai, 22, to three years of supervised release after he leaves prison, according to court documents. Carla B. Freedman, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York, said in a statement that Mr. Dais threats had terrorized the Cornell campus community for days and shattered the communitys sense of safety. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s independent presidential campaign was dealt a blow on Monday when a judge ruled that his petition to appear on New Yorks ballot was invalid, saying Mr. Kennedy had used a sham address to maintain his New York residency. The ruling, if it stands, would keep Mr. Kennedy off the ballot in a state where he lived for much of his adult life and could endanger his efforts to be placed on the ballot in dozens of other states. He has three days to appeal the decision, handed down by a judge in Albany, N.Y. A group of New York residents backed by Clear Choice, a Democrat-aligned political action committee had challenged Mr. Kennedys New York residency, arguing that his campaign had used a false address on the tens of thousands of nominating petitions it circulated and submitted to place him on the ballot. His lawyer, William F. Savino, said in an email that Mr. Kennedy had always planned to appeal any adverse ruling. Later Monday, the campaign said it would file a lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan. The 12th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution governs the residency of presidential and vice-presidential candidates, not state law, said the campaigns senior counsel, Paul Rossi. If state court judges are going to ignore the Constitution, the federal courts must step in to protect voters rights. Paul Bucha, a Medal of Honor recipient who saved fellow American soldiers from slaughter during the Vietnam War and who in later years became both a public endorser and a critic of presidential candidates, died on July 31 in West Haven, Conn. He was 80. The death, at a veterans hospital, was caused by complications of Alzheimers disease, his daughter Heather Whaley said. In 1965, Mr. Bucha (pronounced BYU-kah) graduated from West Point in the top 5 percent of his class and as an All-American swimmer. Two years later he was sent to Vietnam as an Army captain. What was supposed to be Donald J. Trumps triumphant return to a social-media platform central to his presidency was marred by glitches on Monday night, when a livestreamed conversation on X between Mr. Trump and its owner, Elon Musk, was significantly delayed by technical issues. But once their chat began, 40 minutes after it was scheduled, Mr. Musks and Mr. Trumps newly developed camaraderie was on clear display, with the billionaire tech entrepreneur lobbing softball questions that allowed Mr. Trump to rattle off the talking points that have animated his presidential campaign. The conversation offered little new information about Mr. Trumps views. Over the course of more than two hours, Mr. Trump attacked Vice President Kamala Harris, his Democratic opponent, as a phony who, along with President Biden, failed to address crossings at the U.S. border with Mexico. He repeated a number of false claims, including that the 2020 election was rigged, the criminal cases against him were a conspiracy by the Biden administration to undermine his candidacy and the leaders of other nations were deliberately sending criminals and their nonproductive people to America. To all of these points, Mr. Musk largely voiced his agreement, offering frequent praise as he proved a sympathetic partner to help amplify Mr. Trumps views on a social-media platform that once barred him for promoting false claims that promoted political violence. Mr. Musk bought Twitter in 2022 and rebranded it as X last year. Over the past seven years, Terrie Smith had often stopped to mourn at the small church in the town of Sutherland Springs, Texas, where a U.S. Air Force veteran gunned down 26 people, including her close friend and two of her friends children. On Monday, when she saw an excavator at the site, her heart sank and her stomach tightened, she said. They are going to demolish it, she said. Despite opposition from many in town, crews began tearing down First Baptist Church, a small sanctuary in the tiny hamlet 45 miles east of San Antonio that became the scene of one of the deadliest mass shootings in the nations history. The fate of the building had remained uncertain as a battle over its future played out in the courts. Though a majority of church members had voted in 2021 to raze it, with church officials expressing concern for the 100-year-old buildings structure, others filed a lawsuit claiming that not all members had been allowed to cast votes and should be given the opportunity to have their say. The Vienna Opera Ball, a glittering, glamorous affair, always attracts politicians, business executives, artists and socialites. But in a high-profile crowd, none reigned quite like Richard Lugner, a billionaire Austrian construction magnate who died this week at 91. Lugner was famous for showing up at the ball each year with megawatt Hollywood stars, whom he often paid to appear with him. His guests over the years included Sophia Loren, Goldie Hawn, Brooke Shields and Kim Kardashian. They were usually, but not always, women: He brought Harry Belafonte one year, and Roger Moore another. When Jane Fonda went in 2023, she was quoted as explaining that he had offered to pay her quite a bit of money to appear as his guest. At this years ball in February, Lugner appeared with Priscilla Presley, the former wife of Elvis Presley. Karl Nehammer, the chancellor of Austria, wrote on X that Lugner, who also tried his hand at politics, was an Austrian original. In a statement, the Vienna State Opera expressed its sincere condolences to Richard Lugners family. Arizona voters will decide on Election Day whether to establish a right to abortion in the state Constitution. The ballot measure is a major victory for Democrats, who have used the issue of abortion to energize their voters. In the two years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, abortion rights groups have prevailed in all seven states that have put the issue of how to regulate the practice directly to voters. Now, Democrats are hoping to carry that momentum into a battleground state that is critical to the presidential election as well as the control of the Senate. Poll numbers for abortion rights are higher than poll numbers for Kamala Harris, my colleague Kate Zernike, who covers abortion, told me. In Arizona, Democrats think this ballot measure can really help them draw more voters. A similar question will appear on the ballot in Missouri, state officials there said today. But the stakes are very different, Kate said. Harris is unlikely to win the state even with the measure on the ballot, but the outcome would send a message about support for abortion access in red states. If voters pass the measure, Missouri would become the first state where voters overturned a near-total ban, radically reshaping access for millions of residents. Ukraines efforts to retake territory from Russia have stalled. But the Ukrainian military has tried to get back at Moscow in other ways. In the past, it has launched drone attacks in Russia and backed hit-and-run incursions in which Russian exiles struck targets inside their former homeland. Last week, Ukraine tried something new. Its own forces marched miles across the Russian border in a surprise operation. They now control some Russian land in the region of Kursk, including dozens of towns and villages. Its an attempt to give Russia somewhat of a shock, my colleague Eric Schmitt, who covers national security, told me. It could give Ukraine a win, or at least make them feel good for a few days. Does it change the larger calculus on the battlefield? That remains to be seen. Starbucks, facing slowing sales for its lattes and Frappuccinos, a slumping stock and agitation from activist investors, abruptly ousted its chief executive on Tuesday, replacing him with the chief executive of Chipotle Mexican Grill. Brian Niccol, who has held the top position at Chipotle since 2018, will take the helm of Starbucks next month, the company said. He will replace Laxman Narasimhan, whose relatively brief tenure began in March last year, when he took over from Howard Schultz and became the first chief executive to come from outside the company. Mr. Niccol will also become board chairman. Starbucks chief financial officer, Rachel Ruggeri, will step in as interim chief executive until Sept. 9. Analysts and investors largely cheered the move with Starbucks stock soaring more than 21 percent in morning trading. The swift change in leadership at the coffee giant comes as it grapples with weakening results in some of its biggest markets, particularly the United States and China. Since the start of Mr. Narasimhans tenure, Starbucks shares have fallen more than 20 percent. School lunch has been popping up in the news lately, and not just because students are starting to head back to the classroom. The federal government has been buying students lunch since 1946, when President Harry S. Truman signed the National School Lunch Act. The idea was to provide food to needy school-age children while using surplus crops, which would help prop up food prices. When Vice President Kamala Harris picked Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota as her running mate this month, the issue of universal school meals entered the spotlight because last year, Mr. Walz signed a bill that allowed public schools to provide all students with free breakfast and lunch. It made his state one of eight that offer free meals to students regardless of family income. The concept, which tends to be more popular with Democrats than Republicans, is likely to become an issue in the presidential contest. So what exactly does universal school meals mean? Essentially, a school district provides a free breakfast and lunch to every student who physically attends a public school (and, in some cases, charter schools), regardless of need. Its often referred to as healthy school meals for all. Most of the money comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which dictates the nutritional requirements for each meal. State and sometimes local dollars fill in the gaps. Melted capsules. Cloudy insulin. Pills that may no longer work. Doctors and pharmacists say the scorching temperatures enveloping the country could be endangering peoples health in an unexpected way: by overheating their medications. Millions of Americans now receive their prescription medications through mail-order shipments, either for convenience or because their health plans require it. But the temperatures inside the cargo areas of delivery trucks can reach 150 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, according to drivers far exceeding the range of 68 to 77 degrees recommended by the national organization that sets standards for drug handling. Mail-order pharmacies say that their packaging is weather resistant and that they take special precautions when medication requires specific temperature control. But in a study published last year, independent pharmaceutical researchers who embedded data-logging thermometers inside simulated shipments found that the packages had spent more than two-thirds of their transit time outside the appropriate temperature range, regardless of the shipping method, carrier, or season. Extreme temperatures can alter the components in many medications, from pancreatic enzymes to the thyroid replacement drug levothyroxine to oral contraceptives, medical experts say. The parallels between 1968 and 2024 are uncanny. Joe Biden has become the first president since Lyndon B. Johnson to forgo seeking another term and Kamala Harris, like Johnsons vice president, Hubert Humphrey, has been elevated without having won any mandate in party primaries. There will be protests in Chicago, just as there were in 68: Instead of Vietnam, this years will center on Israels war in Gaza, which the left blames on Bidens support for the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. There are, of course, vast differences. Democrats are far more united behind Harris than they were around Humphrey; there will be no contested convention this year, no war for delegates. And Richard M. Nixon, a darkly introspective child of the working class, was not Donald Trump. In its upcoming term, the Supreme Court will once again hear a case that involves a highly contentious question that lies at the heart of personal liberty: Who should decide what medical care a person receives? Should it be patients and their families, supported by doctors and other clinicians, using guidelines developed by the leading experts in the field based on the most current scientific knowledge and treatment practice? Or does the Constitution permit lawmakers to place themselves, and courts, in the middle of some of the most complex and intimate decisions people will make in their lives? The case, United States v. Skrmetti, has been brought by the Biden administration to challenge a ban in Tennessee on gender-affirming care for adolescents that all major American medical organizations support. Tennessee is one of some two dozen states that have passed laws limiting gender-affirming care for young people. The appeal argues that these bans are an unconstitutional form of sex discrimination: They forbid long-used treatments for transgender adolescents that are also given to children who are not transgender for different reasons. The Tennessee law, called the Protecting Children From Gender Mutilation Act, prohibits the use of puberty-blocking medications for transgender adolescents, for example, but permits them for children who go into puberty at an early age. It bans the use of sex hormones like testosterone in transgender adolescents but allows it for other health issues, such as for children assigned male at birth. It bans gender-affirming surgeries for transgender adolescents such surgeries are extremely rare but allows similar surgical procedures that affirm the sex a child is assigned at birth, even on infants who are intersex. The Supreme Court ruled in 2020 somewhat surprisingly given its conservative majority that differential treatment of transgender and gay people is impermissible under civil rights law. It is impossible, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in his decision in that landmark employment discrimination case, to discriminate against a person for being homosexual or transgender without discriminating against that individual based on sex. Lawyers seeking to overturn gender-affirming-care bans will urge the court to follow the logic of that ruling and declare the Tennessee law and others like it unconstitutional. On July 9, as the world stared at the blood-splattered rubble of a Ukrainian childrens hospital in Kyiv, Russia celebrated its rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council with a lunch in New York. On the menu was chicken Kiev, a popular Russian dish of thin pounded cutlet filled with garlic butter. Before tucking in, the lunchs host and Russias permanent representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, denied Russias responsibility for the bombing that killed two people and wounded seven children. If the diplomats choked on their chicken, they did so quietly. The incident is a perfect summation of the world we live in now. As the West watches on, seemingly impotent, Russia grows ever bolder, like a bully who realizes the teacher isnt coming. Russians fear of NATO, palpable at the start of the invasion of Ukraine, is now tempered by the impunity their leader enjoys no matter the atrocities committed on his watch. Why be afraid? Despite having the resources to end this war on Ukraines terms, the West clearly lacks the will to win. For Vladimir Putin, victory is now firmly within reach irrespective of who is in the White House next year. In the past two and a half years, Western leaders have reiterated that they stand with Ukraine. Yet despite saying the right words, those leaders continue to treat the war as a localized conflict in which they have few obligations. Promised military aid arrives late and in insufficient quantities to match Russias resources and restrictions, like those against targeting military assets in Russia itself, limit the aids effectiveness. The recent Ukrainian advance into Russian territory shows what could be possible if the shackles were lifted. But the West is wedded to its too-little-too-late approach, justified by the risk of provoking nuclear escalation from Russia. Ukraines application to join NATO is a moot point for the same reason. Nor has the West managed to cut off the sources of Russias economic might, despite rounds of sanctions. The economy is growing healthily, and the assets of Russian oligarchs remain safe in the West, even if frozen. Most important, Russian oil is being bought and sold with minimal difficulty around the world as Western leaders cant seem to decide what they want more: to meaningfully punish Russia or keep things as they are. Tellingly, the U.S. Treasurys proposal to impose penalties on tankers that help Russian oil evade sanctions has stalled over the White Houses fear that higher gasoline prices wont play well at the polls in November. The sea is calm as dusk descends on Tarsicio Antezanas home island of Quinchao in southern Chile. In the distance, snow-capped volcanoes turn a deep violet with the setting sun. Its a serene sight except for the one thing Mr. Antezana, a retired oceanographer, cannot ignore. Not far out in the water, a strip of small, rectangular objects stretches across the sea, swaying ever so slightly with the tide. These structures might not seem like much, but Mr. Antezana knows what lies beneath the surface: a salmon farm. Below the water, high-density net cages teem with thousands of salmon. Farms like this one are common in Los Lagos, the primary aquaculture region in Chile. The South American country is the top exporter of farmed salmon to the United States. But the popular fish are not native to this place, and many environmentalists and activists have long complained that the farms are damaging Chilean ecosystems and threatening native wildlife. Large-scale salmon farming began in Chile in the 1970s. A young scientist at the time, Mr. Antezana was asked to evaluate the viability of farming the fish. He advised the government to establish base-line studies and to be wary of ecological and health risks. For more than four decades, Mr. Antezana has watched the industry grow into one of the worlds leading producers of farmed salmon. Last year, farmed salmon was Chiles second-largest export, generating $6.5 billion in revenue. Its an economic success story in which U.S. consumers play a leading role, eating more Chilean salmon than ever before; 2022 was a record year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Most of the farmed salmon eaten in the United States comes from overseas, with almost half from the fjords of Chile. The tonka bean, a wizened-looking South American seed, is beloved for its complex almond-vanilla scent, often appearing as an ingredient in perfumes. Outside the United States, it has also long been utilized by chefs, but studies have indicated that coumarin, a chemical compound in the plant, can cause liver damage in animals, and the Food and Drug Administration banned the bean in commercial foods in 1954. Now, with reports that the minuscule amounts used to impart big flavor are harmless (and the F.D.A. seemingly not particularly interested in enforcing the ban in recent years), tonka is showing up on dessert menus here. Thea Gould, 30, the pastry chef at the daytime luncheonette La Cantine and evening wine bar Sunsets in Bushwick, Brooklyn, was introduced to tonka after the restaurants owner received a jar from France, where its a widely used ingredient. Gould says the bean is an ideal stand-in for nuts a common allergen and infuses it into panna cotta, whipped cream and Pavlova. Ana Castro, 35, the chef and owner of the New Orleans seafood restaurant Acamaya, discovered tonka as a young line cook at Betony, the now-closed Midtown Manhattan restaurant. Entranced by the ingredients grassy, stone fruit-like notes, shes used it to flavor a custardy corn nicuatole, steeped it into roasted candy squash puree and grated it fresh over a lush tres leches cake. And at the Musket Room in New Yorks NoLIta, the pastry chef Camari Mick, 30, balances tonkas richness with acidic citrus like satsuma and bergamot. Over the past year, shes incorporated it into a silky lemon bavarois and a candy cap mushroom pot de creme and whipped it into ganache for a poached pear belle Helene. Some people ask our staff, Isnt tonka illegal? she says. Their answer: Our pastry chefs got a guy. Tanya Bush How Madrids Most Famous Street Became Cool Picture a tapestry hanging on a wall and the setting is likely a rambling manor house. Lately, however, ornate European examples have been appearing in less expected places, including contemporary Manhattan apartments. Just as they did in castles in Belgium in the 15th century, tapestries provide an enormous amount of visual impact, warmth and artistry, says the New York-based interior designer Billy Cotton, 42, who recently installed one as a stand-in for a headboard in an eclectic apartment on the Upper East Side. They bring something unique that art or wallpaper just doesnt. European tapestry, as an art form, dates back at least as far as the Middle Ages, when intricate, outsize weavings depicting everything from wildlife scenes to biblical stories were woven by hand on looms using wool, silk and even gold and silver thread. During their first surge in desirability, between the 15th and 18th centuries, they were found exclusively in the grand abodes of royals and aristocrats not only because of their prohibitive prices but because of the vast wall space required. Thick and dense, they also acted as insulation, making them ideal for drafty castles. (Henry VIII was a fan.) According to Jim Ffrench, 60, a director at the gallery Beauvais Carpets in Manhattan, antique wall hangings remained as expensive as important oil paintings and other fine art until around the time of the Great Depression, when they fell out of fashion and lost value. The concept of them being a decorative or secondary art form is very much a mid-20th-century conceit, he says. But the upside is that, today, even the best tapestries in the world are still cheaper than a Basquiat. While thats a high bar and figurative woven scenes are relatively rare and priced accordingly simple verdure tapestries, which depict lush landscape scenes, and fragments of larger pieces can often be found for less than $1,000. A police officer in Ohio was indicted on Tuesday on murder charges in the fatal shooting last year of a pregnant Black woman in the parking lot of a supermarket. The officer, Connor Grubb, 29, faces four counts each of murder and felonious assault and two counts of involuntary manslaughter, Franklin County court records show. The charges came nearly a year after the woman, TaKiya Young, 21, was shot in her car outside a Kroger supermarket in Blendon Township, Ohio, after a store worker had accused her of stealing bottles of alcohol in an episode that drew protests and investigations. Police body-camera footage from Aug. 24, 2023, showed two unidentified officers walk up to Ms. Youngs vehicle and tell her not to leave. Within a few moments, Ms. Young is seen in the video turning the wheel, and the car inches forward, appearing to hit a police officer. One of the officers then fired a single a shot through the windshield, striking Ms. Young, the video shows. Xem them ... Tin bai cuoi cung Khong con du lieu e load Good evening! Tonight, were looking at the role Asian Americans could play in the 2024 election. Amy Qin, a national correspondent who covers Asian American communities across the country, will take it from here. Jess Bidgood One thing you often hear about Asian American voters is that they primarily vote Democratic. Thats been true since as early as 2008, the year that nationally representative surveys about Asian Americans were first conducted. And in 2020, Asian American voters cast ballots for Joe Biden over Donald Trump, then the president, by roughly two to one. But look a little closer, and the data reflects a more complex picture. While Asian American voters do mostly vote Democratic, they tend to have weaker party affiliation. So, as both parties work furiously to find persuadable voters in a presidential election that is widely expected to be close, Asian Americans could emerge as a target for both parties. Asian Americans are the quintessential swing voter group, said Karthick Ramakrishnan, the founder and executive director of AAPI Data, a research organization that focuses on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota defended himself against Republican attacks on his military service record on Tuesday in his first solo campaign event since being named Vice President Kamala Harriss running mate. Speaking at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees convention in Los Angeles, Mr. Walz responded directly for the first time to the claims pushed by former President Donald J. Trumps campaign that he exaggerated his military record to suggest he had served in combat when he had not, and that he left his Army National Guard unit to run for public office in order to avoid deploying to Iraq. I am damn proud of my service to this country, Mr. Walz said. And I firmly believe you should never denigrate another persons service record. Mr. Walz retired from the National Guard in 2005 after 24 years, a year before his artillery battalion deployed to Iraq. At the time of his retirement, soldiers knew a deployment was possible, but the actual orders came months after Mr. Walz, then 41, had already left to run for a seat in the House of Representatives. On Tuesday, he framed that decision as another act of service. The United Automobile Workers union filed charges with federal labor regulators on Tuesday accusing former President Donald J. Trump and Elon Musk of threatening workers during a livestreamed conversation a day earlier. The union, which has backed Vice President Kamala Harris, accused Mr. Trump of violating the law by voicing support for the practice of firing workers when they go on strike, an approach the former president suggested Mr. Musk had embraced. In the glitch-delayed conversation on X, Mr. Trump described Mr. Musk as the greatest cutter of workers. He claimed Mr. Musk has responded to striking workers by saying, Thats OK youre all gone. Mr. Musk, the billionaire leader of Tesla and SpaceX, laughed in response, but did not directly address Mr. Trumps remark before the former president changed the topic. While Mr. Musk does have a reputation as a ruthless job-cutter particularly at X, formerly Twitter, where he laid off roughly half the work force shortly after buying the company and has been found to have engaged in anti-union tactics, Mr. Trump may have conflated different episodes across Mr. Musks business empire. Mr. Musk was found by the National Labor Relations Board in 2021 to have illegally fired a single Tesla employee for engaging in union activity. The board also accused him this year of illegally firing employees at SpaceX, but that involved a letter the workers circulated that was critical of Mr. Musk. The contenders for San Francisco mayor are perfecting the pronunciation of their names in Cantonese. They are scrambling to recruit the best Chinese-speaking volunteers, in what one campaign manager described as a bona fide arms race. And they are grabbing any opportunity to meet with Chinese American voters in the city. Ding Lee, a former president of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, said that in the past, mayoral candidates would pop by the associations historic building in Chinatown for a photo-op and leave after 10 or 15 minutes. Now they almost never turn down an invitation to come, and they stay for the whole event, Mr. Lee said with a chuckle. They know that the Chinese vote is quite powerful now. Nationally, Asian American voters often have to fight for attention because their numbers are still considered too few in most states for campaigns to invest heavily in outreach. But in San Francisco, where people of Chinese descent comprise more than one-fifth of the population, mayoral candidates believe that Chinese voters could decide the outcome in November. China and Russia have pressed an informal political and economic alliance against the West. Now they are stepping up the cooperation between their militaries with increasingly provocative joint war games. Chinese and Russian long-range bombers patrolled together near Alaska for the first time last month. Days earlier, the countries held live-fire naval drills in the hotly contested South China Sea for the first time in eight years. And they have more frequently buzzed the skies and sailed the waters together near Taiwan, Japan and South Korea, where America has strategic interests. The military exercises are, in some ways, the most vivid expression of an alignment between Chinas top leader, Xi Jinping, and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia as they have sought to challenge their chief geopolitical rival, the United States. China has been frustrated by American trade restrictions and Washingtons building of security alliances in Asia. It has pushed back by trying to court European countries with trade and building its influence among poorer countries with investments. But those efforts can go only so far in countering the dominance of the United States. British counterterrorism police charged seven people with violent disorder on Tuesday, after a group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators forced their way into a building owned by an Israeli defense firm in southwest England. Seven people ages 20 to 51 were charged with criminal damage and violent disorder, the police said in a statement. One man, age 22, was also charged with assault. The Crown Prosecution Service, the public prosecutor for England and Wales, said it would argue in a court hearing on Tuesday that these offenses have a terrorist connection. The seven individuals are accused of taking part in a raid in the early hours of Aug. 6 that targeted Elbit, an Israeli defense firm whose British subsidiaries employ around 700 people across 16 sites. Ukraine pressed ahead with its offensive inside Russian territory on Sunday, pushing toward more villages and towns nearly two weeks into the first significant foreign incursion in Russia since World War II. But even as the Ukrainian army was advancing in Russias western Kursk region, its troops were steadily losing ground on their own territory. The Russian military is now about eight miles from the town of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, according to open-source battlefield maps. The capture of Pokrovsk, a Ukrainian stronghold, would bring Moscow one step closer to its long-held goal of capturing the entire Donetsk region. That underscored the gamble Ukraines army took when it crossed into Russia: throwing its forces into a daring offensive that risked weakening its own positions on the eastern front. Whether that strategy will prove advantageous remains to be seen, analysts say. On the political front, the offensive has already had some success: Ukraines rapid advance has embarrassed the Kremlin and has altered the narrative of a war in which Kyivs forces had been on the back foot for months. These forests below the Arctic Circle are designed to burn. A camera slowly rises above a large forest of light green trees extending to the horizon. But not this often. A camera slowly rises above a similar landscape, but the forest from this vantage point is burned. Parts of Canadas Boreal Forest Are Burning Faster Than They Can Regrow The delicate balance of one of the planets largest natural systems for storing carbon depends on the humble black spruce tree. The dead black spruce looked like a collection of giant burned matchsticks standing tall above the gray landscape as far as Jennifer Baltzer could see. But here, at the edge of one of the largest areas of scorched forest that scientists have ever documented in Canada, what caught Dr. Baltzers attention was closer to the ground. The spruce seedlings were gone. Dr. Baltzer, a professor of forest ecology, was a few hundred miles below the Arctic Circle, where for over a decade she has studied the health of the black spruce and the boreal forests. It was a scorching late spring morning, and she and three of her students from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, were in the Northwest Territories to document what could grow from the ashes of the record-breaking fire season that had ravaged the forest almost a year earlier. Wow, its kind of crazy in here, Dr. Baltzer said as she inspected the blackened landscape. She had never seen trees burn this soon after a previous fire. The boreal forests are the largest forests in the world, and in Western Canada they evolved to burn once every century or so. But this patch of forest had just burned for the second time in a decade. As a result, many trees would struggle here, she explained. The slow-growing black spruce didnt stand a chance. Where Canadas Monster Fires Burned and Re-Burned Area burned in 2023 Burned in 2023 and at least once in past 50 years Northwest Territories Yellowknife Research site Great Slave Lake Black spruce dominant area British columbia Alberta Area of detail 50 miles Canada Area burned in 2023 Burned in 2023 and at least once in past 50 years Northwest Territories Yellowknife Research site Black spruce dominant area Great Slave Lake British Columbia Alberta Area of detail 50 miles Canada Source: Natural Resources Canada By Veronica Penney More frequent, bigger wildfires, fueled by climate change, are a formidable challenge to the black spruce, a species that has dominated these landscapes for thousands of years. Their gradual decline, now accelerated by last years fire season, is one of the strongest pieces of evidence that the new age of wildfires arent just overwhelming people with the smoke and destructive blazes now raging across North America they are overwhelming nature, too. The dwindling number of black spruce trees, scientists say, is deeply transforming an ecosystem that is one of Earths biggest storage systems for planet-warming carbon dioxide, a crucial tool to keep the atmosphere from warming even more than it already has. Last years fires engulfed a stretch of forest the size of the Netherlands for at least the second time in 50 years, according to an analysis by Natural Resources Canada, a federal government department. What was troubling, Dr. Baltzer noted, is that fire isnt supposed to make life harder for the black spruce tree. Quite the opposite. Jennifer Baltzer, a professor of forest ecology, in a spruce stand that burned last year outside Behchoko, Northwest Territories. Black spruce cones, which open and release their seeds with the help of fire. Black spruce forests didnt just evolve alongside fire, they depend on it. The tree is a natural bonfire of sorts. Its branches are covered with flammable resin that fuels the flames of forest fires right up to the trees crown. Fires help melt the waxy coating of black spruce cones until the trees release seeds onto the soil where seedlings can grow. But if they burn too often, there arent enough viable seeds to reproduce. Burn too hot, and the seeds are killed. Burn too deeply, and the organic layer of soil where black spruce trees thrive, and which takes decades to accumulate, is gone. In recent years, the black spruce failed to regenerate after fire in a fifth of the hundreds of sites Dr. Baltzer and other researchers monitored in North Americas boreal forests. And that was before the fire season of 2023. The black spruces struggles are a gradual break to an ancient natural cycle, one that releases planet-warming carbon into the atmosphere as old trees burn, and then gradually returns that carbon to the land, in the form of new trees and new soil. Any imbalance in this tug of war between life and death can threaten the boreal forests ability to store heat-trapping carbon. Where Black Spruce Dominates Canadas Boreal Forest Greenland Atlantic Ocean Yellowknife Research site Hudson Bay Edmonton Vancouver Calgary Saskatoon Winnipeg Montreal Ottawa Toronto Black spruce dominant areas Boreal forest extent Greenland Atlantic Ocean Yellowknife Research site Hudson Bay Edmonton Vancouver Saskatoon Winnipeg Montreal Toronto Black spruce dominant areas Boreal forest extent Greenland Atlantic Ocean Yellowknife Research site Hudson Bay Edmonton Vancouver Calgary Saskatoon Winnipeg Montreal Ottawa Black spruce dominant areas Boreal forest extent Toronto Source: Canadas National Forest Information System leading tree species data By Veronica Penney Last summer, temperatures in Canada were more than 2.2 degrees Celsius, or 4 degrees Fahrenheit, above the historical average of the past few decades. Around the Northwest Territories, it was even hotter. The heat is largely why fires as severe as last years happened many years before scientists anticipated. Most climate projections didnt expect these kinds of fires until later in the century, a new preprint study found. The entire bloody country was hot and dry at the same time, said Marc-Andre Parisien, a senior researcher at the Canadian Forest Service and an author of the study. If you would have told me that a few years ago, Id be like no, that doesnt really make sense. Forest fires are burning more than twice as much tree cover as they did 20 years ago. They have also become more intense and frequent, especially in the boreal forests, according to a recent study. Increasing temperatures, fueled by the burning of oil, gas and coal, are the biggest culprit. A wildfire burning south of Enterprise, Northwest Territories, last August. Jeff Mcintosh/The Canadian Press, via Associated Press In the Northwest Territories, as Dr. Baltzer drove through the burned forests on her way to visit another site, she recalled the moment the scope of the 2023 tragedy became clear. She was reading headlines about the immense blazes when it hit her that the planet had briefly reached the temperature at which countries had agreed in the Paris Agreement to cap warming: 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, above preindustrial levels. Temperatures would need to be at that level for several years for the global target to be breached. But for a scientist who had spent much of her career tracking fire, the consequences of a planet that was warming this quickly were clear. If the world continued on this trajectory, it didnt matter how hard she or anyone worked to protect the boreal forests. Everything will burn, she said. The trees melted A single burned tree near Kakisa, Northwest Territories, an area that has burned twice in the last 10 years. The scraggly, skinny black spruce trees may not be much to look at. But what lies in the soils below them is one of natures biggest gifts to living things, a vault of the forests past lives, in icy slow decomposition, that stores immense amounts of planet-warming carbon. The researchers were on their way to document another area that had burned in 2023 when they walked into an ancient black spruce stand. As they stepped on the ground, it sank several inches below their feet. Then it bounced right back. The cold temperatures of northern Canada slow down the microbes that eat the dead moss and leaves on the ground. Inches, or sometimes several feet, of organic matter remain on the soil even as new trees, moss and lichen, one of the caribous favorite foods, grow on top. The black spruce is one of the few trees that can grow on such spongy soils. The acidic nature of the trees needles helps slow down decomposition and its bushy branches help catch snow, making soils colder during winter. The black spruce is one of the few trees that can grow on such spongy soil. As the researchers approached the burned patch, walking became harder. The ground was now full of enormous potholes covered by thin layers of singed plants. The black spruce trees, many more than a century old, had all fallen, their blackened roots sticking up to the sky, many of their seeds dead. It looks like the trees melted, Dr. Baltzer said. Austin McIntosh, a technician, and Kyle Fennig, a research assistant, grabbed a tool to measure how much of the soil had combusted. In some patches, more than half of the organic matter in the ground was gone. Their measurements were perhaps a glimpse into the future of that ecosystem. The amount of carbon that soils hold after the spruce trees are gone can fall by up to 80 percent, a recent study showed. It then takes several decades for the forest to restore it. Kyle Fennig, left, and Maya Provenzano, students at Wilfrid Laurier University, gathered data in a stand of black spruce that burned during the 2023 fire season, near Behchoko. The top of a soil core sample is dotted with organic material, including Geopyxis carbonaria, pixie cup lichen and green polytricha moss. When fires kill off black spruce trees, they are often replaced by other native trees, such as birch or aspen. These species survive in part because they grow a lot faster. But because they drop their leaves every year, which stops mosses from growing, the soil around these trees doesnt store as much carbon. Some researchers have found these fast-growing, less flammable trees can help protect black spruce seedlings. But researchers fear that the era of more frequent fires has broken that balance because spruce trees are killed off too quickly. When Dr. Baltzer pulled on one section of burned soil, as if it were a thick wool rug, there was ice below. But it wouldnt stay that way for long, she told the team. Now that the organic layer protecting the frozen soil was gone, it would thaw quickly, completely changing this corner of the ecosystem. What would happen next would depend on how wet the soil would become. I would expect this to get wetter, she said. Maybe other trees, like larch, could grow here then. But possibly not black spruce. At scale, the implications of how well the black spruce fares in places like this could change how scientists expect global warming to play out in the future. Put together, the soils of the Arctic and the boreal forests, which stretch from North America to Asia and Europe, store almost twice as much carbon as now exists in the atmosphere. No more water Chief Fred Sangris of the community of Ndilo. For the Dene First Nations, which have lived in the boreal forests of the Northwest Territories for centuries, the menacing forces of the new age of wildfires are a consequence of the deep transformations they have watched unfold around them for years. Chief Fred Sangris, of the community of Ndilo on the edge of Yellowknife, the territorial capital, has seen the permafrost melt into large ponds, and ancient trees sink as their roots lost their grip on the mushy soils. He noticed new islands emerging when the water levels at the Great Slave Lake sank to record lows. And he felt the peat soils, once as soft as mattresses, dry up and harden. As Chief Sangris walked in the old-growth forests of Dettah, the hamlet where he grew up some 15 miles south of Yellowknife, he couldnt find any of the black spruce gum that the Dene people use to make teas that help treat upset stomachs. The trees had all turned gray. These trees are dying because theres no more water, he said, as the soil crackled below his feet. Weve never seen anything like this. The ecosystem that is a central part of much of Dene culture had changed before Chief Sangriss eyes. He grew up collecting berries, fishing and hunting caribou in these lands. But caribou populations have long been declining and finding ripe berries in drier forests has become harder. More than half the population in the Northwest Territories 42,000 people are Indigenous. First Nations officials are now pushing for a bigger role in shaping policy on topics like fire management and evacuation strategies. They are worried about protecting communities that had never been under wildfire threat. The Dene hamlets of Dettah, Behchoko and Ndilo were evacuated for the first time last year. So was Yellowknife, a city of 20,000 that has historically been a safe harbor to communities deeper in the forest. The burned remains of a gallery and gift shop in Enterprise. A section of forest that burned in last years fires is visible from the road between Kakisa and Enterprise. Weeks after the trip to the Northwest Territories, Dr. Baltzer said, the images of the burned forests were still in her mind. She felt confident that the data her team collected would help manage wildlife and protect First Nations communities. Given how huge the boreal forests are, her research could help shed light on which parts of the ecosystem were most important to protect. The research is also poised to help improve the global models that forecast how climate change will affect the planet. Estimates from a United Nations panel of experts project that, sometime in the next decade, global temperatures will rise to a sustained level of 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, from the current level of about 1.2 or 1.3 degrees. If temperatures rise above that, scientists say, the effects of catastrophic heat waves, flooding, drought, crop failures and species extinction will become significantly harder for humanity to handle. Extreme fires like last years that ravage enormous tracts of forests are completely absent from the current climate models, said Philippe Ciais, a researcher at the Laboratory of Climate and Environmental Sciences, near Paris, who tracks carbon dioxide emissions. Because of that, he said, the models are probably too optimistic. As he stood at the edge of the lake by Dettah, Chief Sangris watched small fishing boats cross the blue waters, glistening in the sun. He recounted his communitys efforts to adapt to the changes around them across several generations. They built fire breaks, found evacuation routes, fought mining interests and developed programs to grow more food locally so they wouldnt need to rely on the forest as much as they have in the past. Their goal was to stay on their ancestral land. You put your canoe here, youre in the wilderness, he said. Were not moving. This is our home. A dramatic surveillance camera video released by the Tulsa Fire Department shows the moment an unsupervised dog started a house fire by chewing on a lithium battery pack. Reportedly captured in May of this year, the shocking footage shows a dog casually chewing on a portable lithium-ion battery power bank left within reach by their owner. At one point, the pierced battery starts sparking and then bursts into flames, causing the canine perpetrator as well as another dog and a cat that were napping nearby to run for their lives. Luckily, all the pets escaped through a dog door and were not harmed, but the fire caused significant fire to the house. Firefighters are now using the video as a warning against leaving lithium batteries within reach of children and pets. A Tulsa Fire Department spokesperson said that, despite the significant damage caused by the fire, things could have been much worse if there were people sleeping inside, or if there was no way for the poor animals to escape. It only took a moment for the mattress the dog was chewing the battery pack on to catch on fire and the blaze quickly spread to other flammable surfaces. When this energy is released uncontrollably, it can generate heat, produce flammable and toxic gases and even lead to explosions, the fire departments Andy Little said about the energy in deceptively compact lithium batteries. It is crucial that you adhere to manufacturer guidelines when using lithium-ion batteries, only using approved chargers and storing them out of reach of children and pets. Earlier this year, we wrote about an English businessman who tried to burn his own house down out of spite, so his soon-to-be ex-wife couldnt have it. Abingdon, Virginia is looking for a PR agency that can provide earned media, storytelling and strategic media visits in an effort to increase visibility of the town as a premier tourist destination. MI State Wants to Tout Economic Impact Thu., Oct. 3, 2024 Michigan State University wants bids from PR and communications firms to promote its University Research Corridor alliance with the University of Michigan and Wayne State University. NINETY-four-year-old inventor Tony Bergin is still brain-storming and coming up with new ideas for the Tullamore Show's Inventions Section. The retired dairy farmer was back at the show again this year with three practical home and leisure inventions. Tony ws honoured earlier this year by the Offaly Association (Dublin) when the prestigious Unsung Hero of Offaly Award 2023 was conferred on him. Tony's inspiring speech at the gala presentation dinner in Tullamore was later referenced to by Minister of State, Pippa Hackett in an address to Seanad Eireann. The Offaly based Minister said she was struck by the words of retired dairy farmer, Tony, as he accepted the award. She said In his very powerful acceptance speech, Tony spoke with a mix of nostalgia, passion and sorrow, as he described memories of hunting and fishing, and walking through the fields and meadows, with bees and butterflies flying around him. He recalls listening to the corncrake and hearing the lonesome call of the curlew. Sounds he hasnt heard in many years. Tony has been coming to Tullamore for over 25 years and in that time has scooped numerous awards. It's amazing that since the first time I came to Tullamore the passion has never left me and I always look forward to coming back, he said. The enjoyment it created for me was something else . . . if I get people relief that is my reward. Tony is from Cooleshall, just outside Roscrea in south Offaly and his farm is located where the three counties - Offaly, Tipperary and Laois meet. His entries this year included The Hitch picnic table and seat which was admired by the many visitors to the National Inventions Section. Two other practical inventions entered by Tony included the pants pull-up and a bed linen lifter. Tony was accompanied to the Show by his son-in-law, Andrius, whose said that Tony's passion for inventing was undiminished despite his age. All of Tony's three entries were in the Inventions in Home, Leisure & Building class Mayor Bob Morgan said the city is pleased Beatrice received the top score among 16 communities in a Nebraska Public Power District study for the potential site of a next-generation nuclear power plant. "If you look to the future, one of the major resources is going to be power," Morgan said Monday. "And so having the opportunity to possibly have, you know, the next generation reactor in Gage County and close to Beatrice, it may give us a great opportunity to partner with them with our Board of Public Works and really protect power for the city of Beatrice for many years to come." The Omaha World-Herald reported over the weekend that NPPD had announced Beatrice and 15 other communities as potential sites for a small modular nuclear reactor, a new reactor type that utilities say takes less space and money to build and can offer more flexibility in location and electricity production than traditional reactors. Critics say modular reactors are unproven with possible downsides that include potentially high costs. NPPD President Tom Kent said in the World-Herald article that Hastings and Grand Island, two of the other communities in the study, have sent messages of support to the district. Morgan said Beatrice has also told the district of its willingness to be a site for the plant. Morgan said the city isn't aware yet of what site or sites in the Beatrice area the power district is considering for its study. "I think right now they move on to Phase 2, which will get a little bit more into the nitty-gritty of where and how that all works," he said. According to the study, up next for the district is meeting with top candidate communities like Beatrice for discussions and feedback. Future phases also include property due diligence and reconnaissance, power transmission studies, and site evaluations. Kent said the list of communities eventually will be narrowed to between two and four sites, which likely will take a year or two. "I think we know over the next 10 years electricity and power is going to be paramount for our state and our community," Morgan said. "And so we're always looking for opportunities to help out the city." Duluth, Minnesota (OpEdNews) August 10, 2024: My favorite scholar is my former teach at Saint Louis University, the American Jesuit Renaissance specialist and cultural historian and pioneering media ecology theorist Walter Jackson Ong, Jr. (1912-2003; Ph.D. in English, Harvard University, 1955). As a member of the Society of Jesus (abbreviated S.J.), Father Ong occasionally wrote about the Spanish Renaissance mystic St. Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) and the Society of Jesus. Ignatius is the author of the famous Spiritual Exercises. He served as the first Superior General of the Society of Jesus, and, in addition to writing thousands of letters, he also wrote the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus. The American Jesuit theologian Barton T. Geger (born in 1968; doctorate in sacred theology, Universidad Pontifica Comillas in Madrid, 2010) has edited the new 2024 book Constitutions of the Society of Jesus: A Critical Edition: With the Complementary Norms [Promulgated by the Society of Jesus] (Institute of Jesuit Sources). The Institute of Jesuit Sources at Boston College has a website: https://jesuitsources.bc.edu I will discuss Geger's new edition of the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus further below in the second part of the present essay. Now, I would like to draw your attention to three of Ong's relevant publications about St. Ignatius Loyola and the Society of Jesus. "'A.M.D.G.': Dedication or Directive?" in the now-defunct Jesuit-sponsored journal Review for Religious, volume 11, number 5 (September 15, 1952): pp. 257-264. The Latin expression Ad majorem Dei gloriam means "For the greater glory of God." Ong answers the question he posed in the title of his essay by pointing out that St. Ignatius Loyola used the expression "For the greater glory of God" as a way to guide and direct one's decision making, once one has identified the ethically permitted options available under the circumstances. Ong's essay is reprinted in volume three of Ong's Faith and Contexts, edited by Thomas J. Farrell and Paul A. Soukup (Scholars Press, 1995, pp. 1-8). "St. Ignatius' Prison-Cage and the Existentialist Situation" in the Jesuit-sponsored journal Theological Studies, volume 15, number 1 (March 1954): pp. 34-51. Ong reprinted it in his 1962 book The Barbarian Within: And Other Fugitive Essays and Studies (Macmillan; pp. 242-259). It is also reprinted in volume two of Ong's Faith and Contexts, edited by Thomas J. Farrell and Paul A. Soukup (Scholars Press, 1992b, pp. 52-67). The existentialists generally emphasized the importance of decision making - the very same context that Ong refers to in his understanding of "For the greater glory of God" as a directive for ethical decision making. In Ong's 1986 book Hopkins, the Self, and God (University of Toronto Press), the published version of Ong's 1981 Alexander Lectures at the University of Toronto, Ong reprises his understanding of the expression Ad majorem Dei gloriam (pp. 78-81 and 87). In addition, he discusses St. Ignatius Loyola and the Society of Jesus extensively (pp. 5, 25, 27, 36-37, 39, 44, 54-88, 60-61, 65-75, 113-122, 144, 155-156). Now, we should note here that the Gutenberg printing press emerged in Europe in the mid-1450s. It helped propel an upsurge in literacy and formal education in our Western cultural history. Ong's pioneering study of the print culture that emerged in our Western cultural history after the Gutenberg printing press emerged in Europe in the mid-1450s is also Ong's pioneering study of the aural-to-visual shift in cognitive processing in our Western cultural history, his massively researched 1958 book Ramus, Method, and the Decay of Dialogue: From the Art of Discourse to the Art of Reason (Harvard University Press; for specific page references to the aural-to-visual shift, see the "Index" [p. 396]). Peter Ramus (1515-1572) was a French Renaissance logician and educational reformer and Protestant martyr. He was a regius professor at the University of Paris. (In our Western cultural history from ancient times, the verbal arts of grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic - also known as logic - constituted what is known as the trivium. The "Index" in Ong's massively researched 1958 book contains entries on grammar [p. 400], rhetoric [p. 405-406], and logic [p. 401-402].) There is a certain overlap in the lives of Peter Ramus (1515-1572) and St. Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) - namely, the years 1515 to 1556. Moreover, Ignatius studied at the University of Paris, where Ramus was a regius professor. In any event, I have discussed Ong's thought in his massively researched 1958 book Ramus, Method, and the Decay of Dialogue in my OEN article "Walter J. Ong's Philosophical Thought" (dated September 20, 2020): Click Here Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Pitchforks (Image by andrewmalone from flickr) Details DMCA Most Everything Is Fake, By: Gary D. Barnett - July 7, 2024 The author seems to be at his end about what to do. I think he is doing his part and hope that he and the rest of you continue. You know who you are. He attributes the quote: "Ninety-nine percent of the people in the world are fools and the rest of us are in great danger of contagion" to Thornton Wilder. And writes, "Where does one begin this conversation? There has been in the past a more evident distinction between good and bad, lies and truth, and real and fake, but no more, as few can tell the difference in what they are instructed to believe from reality. It is much simpler to accept the mainstream narrative than it is to actually think and question, especially given the strong proclivity of the masses to take the easiest and least upsetting path available." I suggest that so long as we fail to attribute agency to the evil billionaire class, we shall fail to understand that they no longer have to stab us in the back - We the people, have allowed them to grow fearless so as to stab us in front. Perhaps a million pitchforks for each might be sufficient to recover the stolen good. Along this same theme, We are told by the shitty that we should hate the immigrants crashing through our borders - if for no other reality than that they are powerful billionaire-like immigrants who can do whatever they wish to do which includes taking jobs away from poor working class white men... and the blacks. Forget examining the powerful who actually decide who gets jobs and who benefit from a working economy and instead attribute all of the ills that prevent that from happening to scapegroups of people that have no power to actually hire themselves, i.e., immigrants, and poor working-class blacks, white and the "other". This is how stupid Americans have allowed themselves to be dumbed down to act like a bunch of fools who can't figure out who is actually putting them six feet under except it must be disenfranchised powerful poor blacks and poor immigrants are taking jobs away from poor working-class white men and the blacks... huh? Chris Hedges puts not too fine a point on in: Is this the end of the American Empire? | Chris Hedges | Real Talk - Aug 5, 2024 If this bullshit fails to capture the minds of the willfully sloppy thinkers, blame the poor and poverty-bound blacks for taking jobs away from poor working-class white men... yeah just come right on out with it - no dog ears needed to read between the lines or hear the whistles. And while at it, try to remember for example who the greatest terrorist in history is and what they have done casually without regret to millions of humans and others, and to the water, air we breathe, land we get our food from, and polluted medicines we are told that are safe and effective, all designed to check the growth of people like us... So if we keep thinking that they will never come for us while they are already in our house, probably under the bed listening... as Ronald Reagan used to say, "Well..." Speaking of uninvited guests - Think of a world with uninvited guests such those identified by Mnar Adley, founder of MintPress News, Aug 20 2024 Speech: Trump Backed Peter Thiel's AI Lavender System Is Business As Usual She starts with a comment about how Netanyahu's speech, "exposed how one white settler supremacist colony is still vowing support, their unconditional support for another white supremacist colony that is committing this genocide... that is committing war crime after war crime, acting out an apartheid land theft and ethnic cleansing broadcasted for the world to see..." "The US is the world's leading sponsor of terrorism and we are damn proud of it." "Gaddafi - His ending was terrific - He was sodomized with a bayonet by rebel forces we were told were freedom fighters. This is what Israel is doing in Gaza. And this is what the United States has done for decades in the global, to Africa to East Asia, to the Middle East, in its carnage of arming and funding death squads, overthrowing democratically elected governments, backing and arming apartheid in South Africa, in its occupations, its extractions of minerals, of oil, and its maximum pressure campaigns, the sanctions regime. Wars and policies that have killed millions of people and displaced millions more. We will not forget about Yemen, Libya, Syria, Ukraine, Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Brazil, South Africa, Rwanda, the Sudan, Mali, the Congo, Viet Nam, Japan, the Marshall Islands..." See, Democracy Now, War and Peace Report, Aug 8, 2024. Israel Accused of Running "Torture Camps" as Video Emerges of Soldiers Raping Palestinian Prisoner, and Welcome to Hell by B'TSelem, The Israeli Center for Human rights in the Occupied Territories Gary D. Barnett should not fret. The mind of the West and especially the Rest is indeed waking up. Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate Sid Daoud told the Montana State News Bureau that top Republicans from the Montana GOP chairman to Donald Trump encouraged him to drop out of the contest. The deadline to officially exit the race closed Monday and Daoud will be on the ballot. In addition to Trump and Montana Republican Party Chairman Don "K" Kaltschmidt, Sen. Steve Daines and an unidentified Tim Sheehy campaign staff member also spoke to him about dropping out, Daoud said. Daines chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, one of the main groups responsible for gaining a Republican Senate majority back. Most of those implicated acknowledged talking to Daoud but denied encouraging him to step aside. Trump was in Montana on Friday to campaign in support of Sheehy, the Republican nominee for Montanas U.S. Senate seat currently held by Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester. Daoud said he was contacted by the Libertarian National Committee Chair Angela McArdle Friday morning the day of the Trump rally on Montana State Universitys campus about meeting with Trump and Sheehy to discuss Libertarian priorities. Daoud told the campaign he had work in the Flathead (where he lives) until 2 p.m., so he was not planning on attending the Bozeman rally that evening. But then he was contacted by the Sheehy campaign about a plane ride to Bozeman. They chartered me a plane and flew me down here, Daoud said following the rallys conclusion, adding that he sat in the front seat with the pilot and talked politics. Daoud said he did not know who paid for the flight and that he didnt pay anything. During Trumps speech, which spanned roughly an hour and 45 minutes, he remarked on a great Libertarian in the crowd and called out Daoud by name. "What a nice guy, Sid," Trump said, asking Daoud to stand. A lot of us are Libertarian and I think hes going to be giving you a very nice surprise soon. Daoud who said he did not know Trump was going to ask him to stand interpreted that as a public hint to drop out. Daoud added that a Sheehy staffer told him that if he was ready Friday night, that they would bring him up on stage to announce his exit from the race and endorse the Republican candidate. Daoud added that once Trump made those remarks, he started getting texts and calls from his fellow Libertarians asking if he planned to drop out. I told them I have a responsibility to the Montana Libertarians Im not here to help anyone I dont believe in, Daoud said. I want to make it completely clear: I am not dropping out of the race, Daoud added directly following the rally. The Sheehy campaign characterized the conversations differently. The chairman of the National Libertarian Party reached out to us to facilitate a conversation with Sid and members of the Montana Libertarian Party, Jack OBrien, spokesperson for the Sheehy campaign, said in an email. We were happy to do so because the two parties have far more in common than not. Tim and Sid had a good and productive conversation and found that they agree on a lot of issues. Daoud specifically said that Daines and Kaltschmidt suggested that he would have a seat at the table if he dropped out of the contest and that the two emphasized to him how important this race is to the nation. Tester is one of two Senate Democrats in the country who are up for reelection in states that Trump tends to win comfortably. In other words, Tester is one of two people standing between Republicans and a Senate majority, so the GOP is laser-focused on Montana's Senate contest. The conversations between the Libertarian and the Republicans took place in Bozeman during the hours before the rally kicked off. Daoud said once he was in Bozeman he was whisked off to the rally with the promise of a VIP seat if he chose to attend. McArdle told the Montana State News Bureau that Libertarians are happy to work with anyone to advance Defend The Guard legislation, when asked why she encouraged Daoud to go to Bozeman Friday. I know that this was instigated by my national party, but completely facilitated by the Republicans, Daoud said. It's not like they're trying to force me out. Theyre saying if you did, you would get a seat at the table. And unfortunately, Montana Libertarians have heard this before and I don't think you can go back in time to any Libertarian that dropped out of the race and is still around. It's a tactic that they use that might sound good but it never pans out. The state GOP did not respond to a request for comment and Daines denied this characterization. Sen. Daines did not encourage Sid Daoud to drop out of the race, said a spokesperson for Daines and the NRSC, Mike Berg. Sen. Daines had a casual conversation with Sid where he told him Libertarians have more in common with Republicans than Democrats. Sen. Daines also invited Sid to meet with President Trump and encouraged President Trump to hear Sids priorities directly. Daoud did acknowledge that he discussed Libertarian ideals with the Republicans and that they were all very nice to him. The Libertarian candidate also spoke with Trump before the rally began and added that in his conversation with the former president, Trump cryptically asked him: So we have a deal? The Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment. The National Libertarian Party Chair, Angela McArdle, acknowledged Daouds attendance at the rally in a social media post. Last night, Libertarians in Montana met with Tim Sheehy and Pres Trump to discuss Defend The Guard and foreign policy, and talk about their races, she wrote. Sid Daod (sic) was a class act, and Trump treated him really well. Thank you, Liam (Libertarian McCollum) and Sid, for advancing our goals and making Libertarians look great. Defend The Guard is Libertarian platform opposing the deployment of National Guard units into active combat if Congress has not issued a formal declaration of war. This race is set to be decided by razor-thin margins, so a third-party candidate has the potential to have an impact on the outcome even if they themselves don't garner the most votes. In other words, there exists the idea true or not in Montana and nationwide that Libertarian candidates may pull votes from Republican candidates, thereby paving the Democrats' path to victory. In Tester's 2018 race, Libertarian candidate Rick Breckenridge just before Election Day said he was backing Republican candidate Matt Rosendale. Tester won with 50.3% of the vote. And in 2012, a liberal group bought ads in the Senate race supporting Libertarian Dan Cox to boost his conservative credentials. Tester pulled in about 48% of the vote in that race to Republican Denny Rehberg's 44%, with Cox taking about 6%. Obviously they would love for me to drop out, Daoud said. The Montana Secretary of State's office confirmed that the deadline to drop out was Monday, adding that the Green Party candidate for the U.S. Senate withdrew shortly before the deadline. No Libertarian candidate has ever been elected to either chamber of U.S. Congress, and only a handful have secured seats in state legislatures across the country (some Republicans like Rand and Ron Paul have been described as Libertarian). Daoud is a two-term member of the Kalispell City Council, a nonpartisan post. As Sheehy exited the rally on Friday flanked by multiple staff members, he shook Daouds hand and grasped his arm. Give me a call tomorrow, Sheehy said. Sheehy called the candidate, Daoud said, but Daoud didnt pick up and it went to voicemail. Daoud said Sheehy left a message acknowledging that there was some pressure put on Daoud to exit the race, but the Republican nominee stopped short of making the request himself. He left me a voicemail that said, Im not going to pressure you out of this race that's not the kind of guy I am, Daoud said. This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here. What a planet we're now on. Whether it's days (the two hottest ever recorded, back to back), months (the 13 hottest in a row), or years (2023, the hottest ever by far), we're now eternally setting new heat records. Oh, and in case that isn't enough, we seem unable to ensure that ever more grim records won't follow by cutting back radically on the flow of greenhouse gasses from fossil fuels we're sending into the atmosphere in a distinctly overheated fashion. The latest example: emissions from methane (responsible for "half of the global heating already experienced") which are still rising remarkably rapidly across the planet. And whether it's floods or fires, the result of such emissions and a significantly hotter planet is weather that's all too literally from hell. If, in fact, you happen to be living in certain parts of California, for years now you've been experiencing both devastating fires (2021, typically, was the driest in that state in at least a century) and devastating atmospheric rivers in a record fashion. The latest of that state's horrific blazes, which are getting worse thanks to climate change, is the Park Fire. While I was writing this, it had already burned through 389,791 acres (609 square miles) and was still only 18% contained, which already made it the fifth-largest fire in the state's history and, mind you, it was just one of 100 fires burning across the West. The governor of California, Gavin Newsom (unlike governors in states like Florida and Louisiana who have functionally denied the very existence of climate change), has gained a reputation for working to rein in global warming and transition to a 100% clean energy grid, including a state ban on the sales of fossil-fuel powered cars by 2035. And yet it tells us something about the all-American world we now live in that even Newsom, as TomDispatch regular Joshua Frank reports today, is all too ready to take his eye off the prize when local politics makes such an approach seem useful, if not enticing, to him. How truly sad! Tom "Where California Goes, There Goes the Nation" Gavin Newsom's War on Rooftop Solar Is a Bad Omen for the Country By Joshua Frank California Governor Gavin Newsom appears to be taking climate change seriously, at least when he's in front of a microphone and flashing cameras. His talk then is direct and tough. He repeatedly points out that the planet is in danger and appears ready to act. He's been called a "climate-change crusader" and a leader of America's clean energy revolution. "[California is] meeting the moment head-on as the hots get hotter, the dries get drier, the wets get wetter, simultaneous droughts and rain bombs," Newsom typically asserted in April 2024 during an event at Central Valley Farm, which is powered by solar panels and batteries. "We have to address these issues with a ferocity that is required of us." These are exactly the types of remarks many of us wish we had heard from so many other elected officials addressing the climate disaster this planet's becoming, the culprits behind it, and how we might begin to fix it. True, Big Oil long covered up internal research about how devastating climate change would be while lying through its teeth as its officials and lobbyists worked fiercely against any kind of global-warming-directed fossil-fuel legislation. It's also correct that the issue must be addressed immediately and forcefully. Yet, whatever Governor Newsom might say, he's also played a role in launching a war on rooftop solar power and so kneecapping California just when it was making remarkable strides in that very area of development. Consider California's residential solar program (its "net-metering"), which the governor has all but dismantled. Believe it or not, in December 2022, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) voted 5-0 to slash incentives for residents to place more solar power on their homes. Part of the boilerplate justification offered by the CPUC, Newsom, and the state's utility companies was that payments to individuals whose houses produce such power were simply too high and badly impacted poor communities that had to deal with those rate increases. They've called this alleged problem a "cost-shift" from the wealthy to the poor. It matters not at all that the CPUC, which oversees consumer electric rates, has continually approved rate increases over the years. Solar was now to blame. It's true that property owners do place those solar power panels on their roofs. What is not true is that solar only benefits the well-to-do. A 2022 study by Lawrence Berkeley Labs showed that 60% of all solar users in California then were actually low- to middle-income residents. In addition, claiming that residential solar power is significantly responsible for driving the state's electricity rates up just isn't true either. Those rates have largely risen because of the eternal desire of California's utility companies to turn a profit. Here's an example of how those rates work and why they've gone up. Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E), whose downed power lines have been responsible for an estimated 30 major wildfires in California over the past six overheating years, was forced to pay $13.9 billion in settlement money for the damage done. The company has also been found guilty of 84 felony counts of involuntary manslaughter for deaths in the devastating 2018 Camp Fire in Butte County. In response to those horrific blazes and the damages they inflicted, the company claims it must now spend more than $5.9 billion to bury its aging infrastructure to avoid future wildfires in our tinder-box of a world. Watchdog groups suggest that it's those investments that are raising electric bills across the state, not newly installed solar power. In short, large utilities make their money by repairing and expanding the energy grid. Residential solar directly threatens that revenue stream because it doesn't rely on an ever-expanding network of power stations and transmission lines. The electricity that residential solar power produces typically remains at the community level or, better yet, in the home itself, especially if coupled with local battery storage. Not surprisingly then, by 2018, 20 transmission lines had been canceled in California, mainly because so many homes were already producing solar power on their own rooftops, saving $2.6 billion in total consumer energy costs. A recent Colorado-based Vibrant Clean Energy analysis confirmed the savings rooftop solar provides to ratepayers. Their report estimated that, by 2050, rooftop panels would save California ratepayers $120 billion. That would also save energy companies from spending far more money on the grid (but, of course, that's the only way they turn a profit). "What our model finds is that when you account for the costs associated with distribution grid infrastructure, distributed energy resources can produce a pathway that is lower cost for all ratepayers and emits fewer greenhouse gas emissions," said Dr. Christopher Clack of Vibrant Clean Energy. "Our study shows this is true even as California looks to electrify other energy sectors like transportation." Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Hundreds of fascist colonialists storm Al-Aqsa mosque compound led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and fellow Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf and the mob conducted "prayers" in the mosque compound in the most flagrant violation of this third holiest site for muslims (after Mecca and Medina). And Israeli paper Haaretz reported on widespread use by Israel of Palestinian civilians as human shields. The beliefs that drive this chauvinistic colonial system can be illustrated here two examples But the Muslim puppet leaders appointed by the West still support Israel covertly and overtly. Shame on them. Ten months after the large scale war on the people of Gaza, the apartheid colonial regime targets hospitals, schools, journalists, residential buildings, and even people in prayer. Over 8% of the 2.3 million civilians in Gaza have been killed or injured. Massacres go on daily. Will Israeli criminals have impunity even as they brag about it: (on torture) and their genocidal government lies to claim that the massacres of civilians are to kill Hamas fighters who are "hiding among civilians." But Hamas actually is not hiding among civilians and is engaged in a very effective guerrilla warfare against Israeli soldiers (Israeli army as documented by their own video is on the other hand using civilians as shields). Examples from hundreds of videos of the real fighting that is killing many Israeli soldiers and destroying many tanks and APC's. The charade is up and the world knows that these Gaza massacres are part and parcel of a 76 year "crusade" to destroy the indigenous Palestinians (erase us from the map) and create a Europeanized apartheid racist regime. See The Dahiya Doctrine & Israels Use of Disproportionate Force. And there is an ongoing ecocide also. Good News 1: American Association of University Professors Withdraws Opposition to Boycotting Israeli Universities citing free speech [For 30+ years I engaged in this boycott and had organized the first large petition of US Academics in the 1990s calling for boycott analogous to what we did with Apartheid South Africa] Good News 2: UKs biggest private pension fund dumps $80 mn of Israeli assets. Good action 3: Activism Oslo, Norway. Good Action 4: Revolutionary Optimism and Student Protests: from Vietnam to Palestine! Good action 5: Rev. Munther Isaac. Good action 6: Rev. Allan Boesak. Good action 7: Talking about the reality of the ongoing genocide is now mainstream. See Wikepdia's page on the Genocide. Good action 8: There is a movement to shut down the Democratic National Convention in Chicago 21 August because the US Biden/Harris administration is still giving munitions and cover to help the genocide (hence partner in crime). There is a spiral down for the Zionist project. Self inflicted/suicide? Is there any price too high to pay (in lives, economic devastation, genocide, ecocide) to keep an ethnocentric chauvinistic state. 'A logic has been created in which evil feeds on evil in a death spiral. The question is how much more carnage and misery can Israel spread on the way down.' The answers are up to us. Yes, you and I Stay Human/Humane and keep Palestine alive Mazin Qumsiyeh A bedouin in cyberspace, a villager at home Professor, Founder, and (volunteer) Director Palestine Museum of Natural History Palestine Institute of Biodiversity and Sustainability Bethlehem University Occupied Palestine facebook pages Personal Institute French About 70% of Oregon schools will offer free breakfasts and lunches to all students during the upcoming school year, up from around 55% a year ago, the state Department of Education said Monday. Their ranks now include almost every school in the metro area, including all in Portland Public Schools, the states largest district, and the Beaverton School District, its third largest, both of which offered free meals only in higher need schools last year. When Ben Doneys phone rings, he knows he could be thrown into another race against time, and that ping can come at any time. Doney, 39, was getting into bed in Warrenton on Saturday night when such a call came in. Without hesitation, he rushed to the scene north of Sunset Beach where a Dodge Ram pickup truck was sinking into the ocean. Multnomah County officials are confident the Southeast Portland warehouse they chose to house a deflection center for people charged with minor drug possession will legally be able to operate. Portland permitting officials backed them up. Those declarations came in response to remarks from Ben Hufford, a Portland architect running for City Council, who wrote in a Portland Tribune opinion piece that the building isnt legally allowed to house sobering beds. A coalition of Portland anti-freeway activists are suing the U.S. Department of Transportation to block construction on a crowded stretch of Interstate 5 in Portland. The complaint, filed Friday in the U.S. District Court in Portland, alleges that federal officials didnt fully assess the environmental impact before approving the Rose Quarter Improvement Project, which aims to widen a 2-mile stretch of I-5 in north Portland and improve safety on surrounding streets. The $1.9 billion project, which received funding from the Oregon Legislature in 2017 and a recent $450 million federal grant, is a top priority for lawmakers and state transportation officials. They say its crucial to reduce congestion and crashes on a major freight route that has more than three times as many collisions as the statewide average. But the groups that filed the lawsuit, led by No More Freeways, argue that the Rose Quarter project will only add more pollution and disruption to Portlands historically Black Albina neighborhood, which was sliced in two when the freeway was built. Instead, those advocates want transportation officials to move ahead with plans for a highway cap, essentially a very wide bridge over the interstate that reconnects the Albina neighborhood, without also widening the highway. Portland can absolutely move forward with capping this freeway without expanding it, No More Freeways cofounder Christopher Smith said in a statement. The inspiring, community-led and federally supported effort to heal the Albina neighborhood with generational investments in Black wealth creation shouldnt be delayed or blemished by ODOTs stubborn insistence in doubling the width of the freeway. The suit names the U.S. Department of Transportation, its Federal Highway Administration and the highway agencys administrator. A spokesperson for the Federal Highway Administration said the agency doesnt comment on pending litigation. The Eliot Neighborhood Association, Oregon-based environmental nonprofit Neighbors for Clean Air; Families for Safe Streets of Oregon and Southwest Washington, which provides support to people who were injured or lost loved ones in traffic incidents; the nonprofit Association of Oregon Rail and Transit Advocates, which advocates for public transit; and BikeLoud, which advocates for bicyclists, joined No More Freeways in filing the suit. The complaint alleges that federal transportation officials didnt do enough to weigh the Rose Quarter projects potential environmental impacts, including by completing an Environmental Assessment instead of the more-rigorous Environmental Impact Statement. No More Freeways and several of the other plaintiffs filed a similar suit against the Oregon Department of Transportation in Multnomah County Circuit Court in May, alleging that the project didnt comply with comprehensive growth plans adopted by the city of Portland and the Metro regional government. That case is still pending. The 2-mile stretch of I-5 in the Rose Quarter is the only urban two-lane section of the highway between Canada and Mexico. Its also where interstates 84 and 405 intersect with I-5, and state transportation officials think they can prevent collisions and congestion by adding ramp-to-ramp lanes so drivers going from I-405 to I-84 or vice versa dont have to fully merge. Ongoing state and federal lawsuits could complicate lawmakers work on a transportation funding package during the 2025 session. Finishing the Rose Quarter project and replacing the I-5 bridge over the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington are top priorities for lawmakers who otherwise are focused on finding enough money to maintain existing roads, not build new ones. -- Julia Shumway, Oregon Capital Chronicle The Oregon Capital Chronicle, founded in 2021, is a nonprofit news organization that focuses on Oregon state government, politics and policy. Yet another very short video feature has just been posted by the Interpreter Foundation. Its entitled The Most Profound Experience. It focuses on David Whitmer, one of the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon, and it features the irreplaceable independent Latter-day Saint historian Don Bradley. Our hope is that youll enjoy this and all of the other videos in this series. These very brief extracts have been taken from the 2022 Interpreter Foundation docudrama Undaunted: Witnesses of the Book of Mormon, which in its turn was created to accompany our 2021 theatrical film, Witnesses. If you do enjoy it, or if you find it at all useful, we also hope that youll consider sharing it further. We made these films, and weve extracted these short videos, in order that they be seen. And please mark your calendar for the debut of our forthcoming film, Six Days in August, which is slated for Thursday, 10 October 2024 the Thursday following the annual Fall General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Heres a newly posted item on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: Interpreter Radio Show August 4, 2024 During the 4 August 2024 installment of the Interpreter Radio Show, Martin Tanner, Hales Swift, and Brent Schmidt discussed Come, Follow Me Book of Mormon lesson 35, the BYU medical school, President Nelsons birthday, and the linguistic evidence of the Book of Mormon. Their recorded conversation has been freed from commercial interruptions, archived, and made available to you at no charge. The Book of Mormon in Context portion of this show, for the Come, Follow Me Book of Mormon lesson 35, will also be posted separately on Tuesday, 20 August 2024. The Interpreter Radio Show can be heard on Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640, or you can listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com. Efforts by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to build new temples have run into a number of problems in the past couple of years from neighborhood opposition (in Las Vegas, Nevada, for example, and even in Tooele and Heber Valley, Utah). The most egregious recent cases have been in Cody, Wyoming, and McKinney (Fairview), Texas, where the groundbreaking for both temples has, thus far, been completely blocked. And, of course, some critics of the Church have rejoiced in this, essentially saying that the Church deserves such a response since it has been attempting to bully decent neighborhoods into permitting it to construct such monstrosities in their midst. With all that in mind, I was pleased to see this letter in todays edition of the Dallas Morning News LDS temple a good neighbor Re: Council denies permit for proposed temple Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can offer a revised design at any time, Thursday Metro & Business story. I was surprised to read of the Fairview controversy regarding the proposed McKinney Mormon temple. We live very close to the North Dallas temple and are proud and happy to have it in our neighborhood. Concerns about lighting and traffic are misplaced. We have had no problems with either. We often point the temple out to visitors because of its attractiveness. The last sentence of todays article, build it at 42 feet, I assume refers to the height of the steeple. The temple steeple in our neighborhood is approximately 80 feet tall and to my eyes is a thing of beauty. I am not a Mormon but I have no objection with Moroni, who sits atop the steeple keeping watch over our neighborhood. David Haymes, North Dallas Im glad that Mr. Haymes has enjoyed having the Dallas Texas Temple in his community. I would think that, for the most part, places where temples have been built have found them to be assets to their neighborhoods. Latter-day Saint temples are beautiful and quiet and immaculately maintained, and their grounds are always well laid out and exceptionally well cared for. Im told that the San Diego California Temple, for one and there are probably others has become a popular location for wedding photographers, even when the prospective husband and wife are neither headed for a temple marriage nor even Latter-day Saints. The Newport Beach California Temple was the object of quite fierce opposition from certain segments of the community (and, I suspect, from more than a few outsiders to the community), and its spire and color and lighting had to be adjusted to meet some of the objections. Happily I followed the comments on the petition against permitting the temple to be built in Newport Beach some of those who opposed it overtly and expressly declared that Latter-day Saints werent welcome in the community and stated explicitly religious objections. That was a serious mistake on their part, although some probably just couldnt help themselves: No city council or zoning commission in the United States would dare to block the construction of a place of worship on expressly theological grounds. A while back, I called attention here to an obnoxious and patently contemptuous article in The Times (of London) about a young Latter-day Saint wife and mother (by the name of Hannah Neeleman) and her family. (See The Church in Recent Media, along with some follow-up comments in On Judgment.) Others have responded to that Times article, as well. Here, for instance, is a piece by Amanda Freebairn that I appreciated: In Defense of the Trad Wife Influencer. The built-in PDF reader in Microsofts Edge browser is getting more AI features, reports MSPoweruser. Powered by Microsofts Copilot AI, Edge can now pick out the main points of a PDF document to help you better understand whats written. In the latest beta version of the Edge browser, theres now a new button in the menu bar of the PDF reader and its labeled as Generate smart keywords for this document with Copilot AI. Today is Amazon Prime Big Deal Days! Our editorial team lists the best tech deals here. ] The button does exactly that when clicked, using AI to analyze and highlight important keywords and phrases in the open document. You can then tap on the keywords to get AI-generated descriptions of what the words or phrases mean in a side window. Get Windows 11 Pro for cheap Windows 11 Pro Price When Reviewed: 69,99 Euro Best Prices Today: This AI-powered feature is currently only available in the beta version of Microsoft Edge, and you can expect more AI-powered features to come as Microsoft seems keen to push Copilot. We dont yet know when it will be released in the regular version of the browser. To get the beta version of Edge, simply go to the Microsoft Edge Insider page and download the Beta Channel version of Edge, which is the most stable preview version of Edge. If you want to be on the cutting edge, you can opt for the Dev or Canary versions, which are updated more frequently but are also more likely to experience issues during use. Preview versions of Edge whether Beta, Dev, or Canary are installed separately and wont affect your main Edge installation. Nene Abram Kabu Akuaku III, the Paramount Chief of the Ada Traditional Area, has called on political parties to remain civil in their campaigns as Ghana heads to the polls in December. Nene Akuaku urged politicians to desist from engaging in acts that could pose a threat to the peace of the country before, during, and after the election, stressing, Let us respect each other, for without peace, there would be no nation called Ghana for any of us. Speaking at a durbar as part of the Asafotufiami Festival, he said politicians needed to view the election as a call to national duty devoid of hazards, where they would contribute their quota to the democratic dispensation the country is already enjoying. He encouraged the public to report misinformation to the security agencies, as it has the potential to threaten the peace and unity of the communities and the country at large. The Ada Paramount Chief commended Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the President of Ghana, for restoring the Songor lagoon resources into a vibrant asset that has become a fortune for the people of Ada. He mentioned that there had been some misunderstanding in some communities over the ownership of the salt resource and who had the authority to grant mining rights, even though Ghanaian laws vest all minerals in the President on behalf of the people. Leases in respect thereof can only be granted by the Minerals Commission, he said, indicating that there had been some political infiltrations that sought to persuade the people of Ada not to accept the transformation of salt mining in the area. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Private Legal Practitioner and Policy Consultant, Oliver Barker-Vormawor has called for an immediate halt to the destruction of Ghanas reserved vegetative cover and the pollution of water bodies across the country in the quest for fishing money. Barker-Vormawor shared this concern with the media in an interview after a three-day residential workshop organized by environmental protection partners, BRACE and A Rocha Ghana to sensitize stakeholders in vulnerable mineral deposit communities along the Birim River and and some media practitioners. Building Resilient and Active Communities in Extractive Landscapes (BRACE) and its Partner A-Rocha Ghana is poised to close the gap between the residents, the government and the environment hence working to get all related parties revolving in the depletion of the environment. The initiative was also to abreast the people with the necessary knowledge and skills for the preservation of natural resources, environmental management, and protection of environmental rights in the extractive sector. Oliver Barker-Vormawor condemns the current level of destruction and degradation of the countrys forest reserve stating that the fight should be a collective responsibility. On his part, the Deputy National Director of A-Rocha Ghana, Daryl Bosu, explained the details of the program emphasizing the need for Ghana to adopt responsible mining practices to save lives and the environment. Meanwhile, participants who took part in the training workshop indicated that the countrys forest cover has been reduced through deliberate actions and greedy search for money on the side of individuals but there is a need for an urgent rethink to save the natural resources for future generations. Source: Jesse Amankwah Peace FM Correspondent, Eastern Region Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Spokesperson for Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Dr. Gideon Boako has appealed to the Finance Minister, Mohammed Amin Adam, to take a critical look at the unpaid allowances to University staff in the country. Three unions threatened a strike action on August 9, 2024, if the Ministry of Finance did not authorize the payment of the allowances by August 8, 2024. The unions made up of Senior Staff Association-Universities of Ghana (SSA-UoG), Federation of Senior Staff Association of Ghana (FUSSAG), and Teachers and Educational Workers Union of Trade Union Congress (TEWU-TUC) however suspended their intended strike after governments intervention in extending the upward adjustment in the allowances to them. The staff are said to accept this government decision believing it portrays commitment and fairness on the part of the government to remit the arrears. Addressing the issue during Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" show, Dr. Gideon Boako described the situation as "problematic", admitting it doesn't augur well for the current administration. He urged the Finance Ministry in particular to find possible ways to resolve the issue, ensuring the union members receive their allowances. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Intergovernmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) will organize a regional training workshop on investigative journalism on economic and financial crimes from 12 to 14 August 2024 in Cotonou, Benin. The objectives of the workshop are to build a robust alliance with media in a concerted manner for effective dissemination of Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) issues; to inform media about regional AML/CFT initiatives, in particular GIABA's mandate; to enable trained journalists to acquire information research and investigation techniques; to foster, within media, an investigative culture on money laundering and terrorism financing (ML/FT) practices; to enhance the journalists network that would promote better dissemination of information on AML/CFT standards. Fighting economic and financial crime requires concerted, coordinated, cooperative and complementary efforts by stakeholders. Considering the scope of issues at stake, and since 2009, GIABA broadened its stakeholders set to include media, particularly investigative journalists who play a critical role in uncovering allegations of corruption and in the area of fighting impunity as well as in promoting good governance. During this 3-day event, participants will acquaint themselves with GIABA mandate, regional AML/CFT initiatives and in particular on information gathering and ML/TF investigation techniques. This workshop will also be a platform for exchanges, discussions and experience sharing within the network of journalists with a view to better disseminating information on AML/CFT devices. The training will be facilitated by experienced AML/CFT media experts and GIABA faculty through presentations, case studies, experience sharing, etc. Ultimately, participants are expected to write AML/CFT-related articles, improve processing of information on economic and financial crime, and continue to raise awareness on the nefarious effects of ML/TF After Abidjan (Cote d'Ivoire) in 2010 and 2022, Cotonou (Benin) in 2011 and Monrovia (Liberia) in 2011 and 2017, Praia (Cabo Verde) in 2012, Saly (Senegal) in 2017, Accra (Ghana) in 2022, the city of Cotonou is once again hosting the 2024 edition, which will bring together thirty-five (35) public and private media practitioners (TV, radio, print and online media) from ECOWAS Member States. Attachements Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and an astute lawyer, Gabby Otchere-Darko has revealed that there is another case in the United States involving a senior staff of an international bank who was allegedly compelled to pay bribes in order to secure a take-or-pay power contract for a Turkish company under the erstwhile John Mahama administration. Gabby made this statement after calling out the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the flagbearer of the party, John Dramani Mahama, to name one clear case that smears corruption on President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, any of his appointees or his family that come anywhere remotely close to this Airbus case and its volumes of findings by investigators and admissions of guilt by the bribe giver. Posting on his official X page, Gabby Otchere-Darko noted that the NDC can put the Airbus case side by side to any of the charges they continue to lay on doorsteps of the New Patriotic Party. Gabby Okyere-Darkos comments was warranted by the recent report by the Office of the Special Prosecutor who, in his statement, exonerated the former President of any wrongdoing in the Airbus scandal, a case forwarded to the OSP by President Akufo-Addo, to investigate. Reacting to the findings and verdict of the OSP, Mr Mahama said that the report by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) that found no evidence of wrongdoing on his part in the Airbus issue was a pleasant vindication for him. Read Full post on X below; The hypocrisy of partisan politics is indeed most interesting. Just a few days ago a senior opposition party official in Ghana held a press conference to condemn a relative of the vice president, who is a businessman, for his company allegedly benefiting from a public contract properly awarded. A week earlier it was about a former boyfriend (and baby father) of a daughter of the president and a contract for spare parts where no bribery allegation is said to be involved. Today that same propaganda chief is leading his party triumphantly (with support from the media), hailing his boss, the opposition leader and former president, as being squeaky clean! Why? The former president and the NDC presidential candidate for 2024 has been CLEARED of that major bribery charge that had hanged around his neck for 4yrs! Details are that reputable investigative institutions in UK, US and France have done thorough investigations which all implicated that Ghanaian leader and his brother in an indictment where the bribe giver (Airbus) admitted guilt and paid millions in fines (but not to Ghana). Airbus admits to paying bribes which allegedly went to Ghanaian Govt officials. Emails and other facts in the public domain point to the unusual involvement of the Government Official 1 as the main champion of the deal in the entire transaction from the onset (even promising more) and how his brother was later on brought on board as agent for the company that admits to paying bribes. Today his party and its leadership are understandably mightily relieved and happy because investigators in Ghana say they found no evidence against the leader and his brother the agent. One can only be happy for them! They now point to how an innocent interest in a transaction can be so mischievously misconstrued even by reputable investigators as dodgy. Thank God for Akufo-Addos meticulous OSP. Anaa? And, yet, that same party, the NDC, and that same leader, John Mahama, have made allegations of corruption against the current president, his family, friends and appointees their main campaign message; even to the point of using a patently fake document (not reports of reputable investigators) against the current president and his royal family to drive home the point. But, this is what is interesting though! Let us dare the opposition and their squeaky clean leader to name one clear case (not mere allegation) against Akufo-Addo, his family members or appointees that come anywhere remotely close to this Airbus case and its volumes of findings by investigators and admissions of guilt by the bribe giver. Let them put the Airbus case side by side to any of the charges they continue to lay on NPPs doorsteps. Yet, so desperate are they that they (led by JM himself) are eager to rely confidently & unashamedly on a book of fiction as their main dossier of evidence & to use same to draw links and conclusions from other instances to show that what Ghanaians are enduring today is worse than what they did see under Mahamas NDC; never mind the tons of evidence of real developments and spendings that have gone directly into the welfare and wellbeing of families and communities across the country. As we speak, there is another case in the US involving a senior staff of an international bank who was allegedly compelled to pay bribes in order to secure a take-or-pay power contract for a Turkish company under John Mahama. Remember the billions of dollars Ghanaian taxpayers have paid for those take-or-pay deals over the last 7 or so years? Ghana is, indeed, an interesting country. But, I am truly happy for John Mahama and his family and his party, it must have been 4yrs of utter agony having such a case of huge international proportions hanging around his neck. It couldnt have been easy! Still, Africa shall continue to rise and rise we shall! Let the torch of transparency and the scrutiny of civil society & the media continue to shine on us all for the Africa we want and deserve! 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. Featured Video Private Legal Practitioner, Lawyer Martin Kpebu says it will be disastrous for Ghana to have Dr Mahamudu Bawumia as president. He believes the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer has played a major role in Akufo-Addo's corrupt government and doesn't deserve a chance to lead the country again as president. In an interview, Lawyer Martin Kpebu told NEAT FM's morning show 'Ghana Montie' that even God will not be happy if Dr Bawumia is elected president. Who is going to vote for Bawumia, me? Never! God forbid for Dr Bawumia to be president in this corrupt Akufo-Addo's government. How can I vote for Bawumia? he said. However, Lawyer Martin Kpebu is very optimistic that the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) John Dramani Mahama has already won the December 7 presidential election. According to him, Akufo-Addo's bad governance has made things easier for JM (John Mahama) to win the election. It doesn't mean (John Mahama) who messed up Ghana's economy is better, but it is because he appears to be better at corruption than Akufo-Addo. Watch video below Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman/Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Private Legal Practitioner Martin Kpebu says the founder and leader of Movement for Change, Alan Kwadwo Kyeremanten missed a glorious opportunity to be Ghana's next president. He explained that Mr Kyeremanten made a political mistake by sticking to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for so long knowing his intention to go solo for the presidency. Lawyer Kpebu told NEAT FM's morning show, Ghana Montie that Mr Kyeremanten would have been the option for Ghana now with his rich expertise but that dream will likely take forever to come to pass. The outspoken lawyer said he would have voted for Mr Alana Kyeremanten if not for his mistakes which are hunting him. Alan has to blame himself for everything. If he had resigned from the Akufo-Addo government before the IMF, I would have voted for him and Ghanaians would have done the same. He would have been more credible but he kept too long in the corrupt government. Who will vote for Bawumia? No way! He told host McJerry Osei Agyemang. Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman/Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video As the National Democratic Congress (NDC) launches its manifesto for the youth, the partys flag bearer, John Dramani Mahama has stated unequivocally that it is hard for young entrepreneurs to succeed under the Akufo-Addo administration and the opportunities that once seemed plentiful are now rare. According to former President John Dramani Mahama, the lives of Ghanaian youth each day in a plethora of uncertainties considering the extent to which the economy has been turned upside down by the ruling NPP government led by President Akufo Addo and ably assisted by Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. John Mahama says every day seems worse for most young people, while a few people misuse the countrys numerous resources. John Mahama, in his quest to reignite the hopes of the Ghanaian youth, assured the youth of his commitment to creating a brighter future for them if he is voted for as the President of Ghana in the upcoming December 7 general elections. I am taking your vote and support as a commitment I am making to you that I have a responsibility to God and to you. He was speaking during the Youth Manifesto launch on Monday August 12 in Accra. Mr. Mahama further stated that the misuse of Ghanas resources under the Akufo-Addo administration will not be allowed to continue if he is elected, adding that the public funds that have been allegedly stolen by officials of the NPP administration will be recovered if he wins the elections in December. "Our peoples strength fight for independence to our work in democratic development, we have overcome many challenges. But today, we face a most critical moment where our future depends on you. We are at the lowest point in our national life, and we need to make big changes for the future we want. Whiles stressing the importance of this year's elections, the leader of the largest opposition party reiterated his desire to reset the country to work for everybody, particularly, our young people. I believe in your potential and I am committed to helping you realize it. Our government needs to create more opportunities, and I promise, as your President to use the next four years to reset our country to work for everybody, particularly, our young people. The 2024 elections are critical. We need leaders who understand your struggles and share in your dreams. Leaders who will restore faith in our government and renew our national pride. I believe in the potential of every young Ghanaian, and I am committed to creating a brighter future for you I am taking your vote and support as a commitment I am making to you that I have a responsibility to God and to you." I am excited to deliver on this pledge alongside Professor Naana Opoku-Agyemang. Who will be Ghanas first female Vice President. Please vote and put your trust in us. 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. Featured Video Language that would outline how commercial Smith River boat trip launches would be reallocated to other outfitters is contained in a proposed rule that will be considered by the Montana State Parks and Recreation Board at its Aug. 20 meeting. The proposal has faced opposition from outfitters who argue the rule is unnecessary and comes as the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks is facing litigation regarding a Smith River permit holder's transfer of his business. Under the rule, FWP would reallocate launch days to other outfitters by lottery if, for instance, an outfitter's permit was revoked. Concerns expressed by outfitters during a July 19 hearing that existing rules are sufficient did not sway the agency from moving forward with the proposal. "This is a situation of looking for problems where nearly 25 continuous years of history have proven they've never existed," outfitter Mike Geary told the hearing officer. Geary, through his Healing Waters Lodge, sued FWP earlier this year after the agency rejected a transfer of his permitted launch days to the incoming buyers of his business. Mike Bias, executive director of the Fishing Outfitters Association of Montana, called the proposed rule "redundant and duplicative of existing rules and law in place." FWP attorney Jeffrey Hindoien reviewed the comments and wrote that even though scenarios used to describe a need for reallocation may not occur, the department wants to implement the rule to "provide certainty and clarity in terms of the process to be followed" should an incident arise. The meeting can be seen online via Zoom beginning at 9 a.m. by going to the State Parks and Recreation Boards webpage. Those interested in making a public comment during the meeting must register online by noon on Aug. 19 on the Fish, Wildlife & Parks webpage. Another interesting item on the board's agenda is proposed budget priorities for 2026-27. Included in the group's information packet is a prediction of the FWP general license fund balance. FWP's general fund is financed by the sale of hunting and fishing licenses, not by any general fund allocations. The license dollars account for about 80% of the agency's funding. "The general license account needs approximately $10 million to maintain operations and pay current liabilities, the majority of which are payroll expenses," according to a 2023 FWP budget explainer. A graph provided to the state parks board shows the agency's general fund balance declining from more than $104 million in 2023 before bottoming out around less than $60 million in 2026. The decline is based on expenditures increasing from more than $68 million in 2023 to a high of $102 million in 2026. After that year, spending is predicted to fall to around $73 million for the next two years. Over the course of the time span, income is projected to remain flat at around $78 million. By 2031, FWP is predicting the general fund balance would still be about $4 million shy of revenue. The steepness of the decline in the fund balance has moderated since 2023. Back then, the fund was predicted to fall to just over $20 million by the end of this year. That's in part because expenditures have not increased as rapidly as expected. Also included in the parks board's packet is a prediction for the FWP Parks and Outdoor Recreation Big 4 Fund. This fund is powered by the bed tax, park fees, motorboat fuel tax and the state Coal Tax Trust Fund. In 2023, the fund balance was predicted to be flat from 2024 through 2029 at around $16 million. Now FWP is predicting the fund's balance will climb beginning next year from almost $20 million to a high of $42 million in 2031. For the full state parks board agenda and background on the scheduled topics, go to the State Parks and Recreation Board page on the FWP website. National Democratic Congress General Secretary, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey has assured Ghanaian youths that although the NDC has formulated life transforming policies for them, nonetheless, the policies are not assuring them of a-heaven-on-earth life but a life that will see to their progress. Addressing the youth of Ghana at the auditorium of the University of Professional Studies in Accra (UPSA) on Monday August 12, 2024, the General Secretary of the NDC, Fifi Kwetey noted that the NDC believes its policies alone cannot transform the lives of the youth in the country. Expounding on his position, Mr. Kwetey highlighted some policies the NDC will institute which includes transformative and creative policies. Mr. Kwetey said, The young people of Ghana we do not believe that our policies alone are going to deliver heaven but what John Mahama is going to do is to reach out to you in a partnership that your creativity, your capacity to find your own answers, together with the policies we bring at the means by which the transformation of our country can truly begin. He continued that the NDCs policies for the youth are not merely telling you things for the sake of power but telling you things truly for the sake of progress. Speaking to the enthusiastic youth who had thronged the auditorium of the UPSA, the vociferous general secretary of the NDC described some of the policies of the ruling government as scams, especially the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) policy. The difference between us and them is that we think about policies first for progress before votes. He therefore urged the youth to vote massively for the NDC in the upcoming election emphasising that John Mahama has credibility and wants to put the progress of our nation at number one. He added, In John Dramani Mahama and the NDC you are finding a leader of a political party that is not perfect and a leader of a political party that has credibility and wants to put the progress of our nation at number one. 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. Featured Video The flagbearer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has cautioned Ghanaians against returning former President John Dramani Mahama to power, citing his abysmal performance during his tenure. Speaking during his constituency-focused nationwide campaign tour in the Eastern Region, Dr. Bawumia highlighted that Mahama only fulfilled a mere 28% of his campaign promises as President, despite the absence of any major global economic crises during his presidency. Ghanaians dont need to go back to a leader who woefully failed and only fulfilled 28% of his promises as President, Dr. Bawumia emphasized during the tour at Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Ayensuano and Suhum constituencies on Saturday. We have faced unprecedented global economic challenges, but our government has made significant strides in fulfilling its campaign promises, he said while engaging chiefs, heads of religious bodies and a cross-section of society in the constituencies. Dr. Bawumias comments come as ex-President Mahama seeks to return to power in the upcoming elections, holding the flag of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC). In a follow-up to his earlier statement, the NPP flagbearer took to his Facebook page to reiterate the need for fresh leadership in Ghana. He emphasized that the country requires a new leader with innovative ideas and a bold vision for the future. Ghana needs a new leader with fresh and innovative ideas and a mindset to craft and implement bold solutions for the future, the flagbearer posted. This statement reinforces his earlier criticism of former President Mahamas leadership, which he described as woefully inadequate. We dont need to go back to a leader who woefully failed and only fulfilled 28% of his promises as President, even in the absence of the sort of global economic crisis we have faced recently. Lets look forward and not backward, he stressed. For the NPP flagbearer, Ghana deserves better, and it is time for a new generation of leaders to take the reins. Source: dailyguidenetwork.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Nana Ohene Ntow, a devout member of Alan Kyerematen's campaign team, has waded into discussions regarding the revelations in the recent report by the Special Prosecutor absolving former President John Dramani Mahama from blame in connection of the Airbus scandal. Airbus, an European aircraft manufacturer, was alleged to have paid bribes in Ghana in the sale of three military aircraft to the country. The allegations came to light after a series of investigations and prosecutions of Airbus by the US, the UK and France authorities, compelling President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to refer the case to the Office of the Special Prosecutor for investigations. Airbus, after almost 4 years of investigations by US, UK and France authorities, was fined $3.9 billion for its corrupt practices in Ghana, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Taiwan. During the investigations, Mahamas name popped up when airbus was said to bribed a high-profile figure in Ghana referred to as Governor Official 1 in the documents. When the issue came up and Mr. Mahama was identified by then Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, as "Governor Official 1", he denied it but a recent report by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has found the former President and NDC flagbearer to be Governor Official 1. The OSP, however cleared him of the corruption allegations, stressing the OSP found no evidentiary basis that suggests that former President John Dramani Mahama or any other public official was induced to improperly favour or did improperly favour Airbus in respect of the purchase by the Government of Ghana of military transport aircraft from Airbus. The Special Prosecutor has directed the closure of the OSP investigation into alleged bribery of high-ranking Ghanaian officials by Airbus SE, through intermediaries, in respect of the sale of military transport aircraft by Airbus SE to the Republic of Ghana between 2009 and 2015, the OSP added. Analyzing the matter during Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" morning show, Nana Ohene Ntow opined that the Special Prosecutor's clearance of Mahama's involvement in the bribery scandal compliments the latter. "I believe this report helps President Mahama because, in this campaign time, if this report has said conclusively that President Mahama has engaged in corrupt activity, it would have greatly affected him," he told host Kwami Sefa Kayi. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The New Patriotic Party in the Ashanti Region inaugurated its working committees for the 2024 campaign and elections on Sunday, 11th August 2024. The working committees, which were announced by the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the party, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, are composed of various appointees in government including Ministers, as well as MPs and other notable figures of the party. Reacting to this event, Kwame Ata Ahmed, the Convener of the group affiliated to the opposition National Democratic Congress, known as Friends of Mahama, claimed that Chairman Wontumi has deliberately co-opted the Member of Parliament for the Dome-Kwabenya constituency in the Greater Accra Region, Hon. Adwoa Safo, to be part of the campaign setup of the Ashanti Region because of the numerous Kristo Asafo votes that are up for grabs in the region. We know why Adwoa Safo was included in the committees. Wontumi thinks hes smart. Hes targeted the Kristo Asafo votes and he knows getting Adwoa Safo to play an instrumental role will help him achieve his aim. Its all about the 85% they have targeted for their party, Ahmed said. The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP announcing the members of the various committees mentioned the Dome-Kwabenya MP as a co-chair of the Elections and Strategy Committee of the campaign. The pro-NDC group therefore finds this move a well-calculated attempt to sweep the bulk of Kristo Asafo votes in the region. Hon. Adwoa Safo is the daughter of the founder of the Kristo Asafo Church, Apostle Kwadwo Safo. The church commands a huge following in Ghana, with the Ashanti Region being one of the regions in which the church has flourished. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Police are saying a Bucks County man shot and killed his wife and son before killing himself on Monday. Police said first responders were called to a home along the 3900 block of Charter Club Drive in Buckingham Township at about 10:27 a.m. Monday, according to reports from 6ABC, NBC10 and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Upon arrival, officials found the dead bodies of Steven Chow, 59, his wife, Amy Troung, 63, and their 21-year-old son, Raymond. All three had been had been shot in the head. Both Truong and Raymond Chow had been shot while lying in their beds. Police said they believe Steven Chow shot his wife and son before taking his own life. Theyre always a very nice calm family. They walk a lot. Theyre always out tending to their landscape, Jennifer DiCarlantonio, who lives on the block, said to 6ABC. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Buckingham Township Police at 215-794-8813. Five Harrisburg women disappeared one by one between 1986 and 1992 as serial killer Joey Miller stalked city bars for his victims. Each one had families who loved them and futures that would never be realized. Here are their stories: Kelly Ann Ward, 26: Wards family reported her disappearance in 1986. They would have to wait 30 years for answers to what happened to her. Wards skeletal remains were found in 1997 by a road crew working along Chambers Hill Road in Swatara Township. It would be another 17 years before her remains were positively identified, and two more years until Joey Miller pleaded guilty in 2016 to raping and killing her. In 2015, relative Faun Ward told PennLive he had more or less given up hope that the person who killed his cousin would be found. Kelly was a wonderful person. She was loved by everyone. And she will be missed, Ward said. Kelly Ann Ward was the first known victim of serial killer Joseph Miller. Last seen on Jan. 2, 1986, it would be nearly 20 years before Miller pleaded guilty to killing her. PennLive Selina M. Franklin, 18: Franklin disappeared in May 1987. Her skeletal remains werent found until August 1992 when Joey Miller led detectives to the burial sites of two of his victims in the Swatara Township landfill. That allowed Franklins family to give her a proper burial. At the service, Franklin was remembered as a warm, loving, outspoken and outgoing young woman. Selina was a beautiful young lady. This is a portrait fit for a queen, the pastor said, gesturing toward the altar where a white-framed picture of Franklin was displayed. We have not the words really to console, the pastor said. But he gave thanks for the closure of knowing what had happened to their loved one. Now that we know the end of Selina Franklin, we have to go on with life, he told the church packed with mourners. Franklins brother and sister wrote this poem for her memorial service: She was always different than my brother and me. As you know, she is the youngest of us three. She brought us joy, laughter and tears For just 18 years. We really dont have much else to say, but our love for her will never go away. Stephanie McDuffey, 23, and her unborn child: McDuffey was eight months pregnant when she failed to return to her Bellevue Street home in Harrisburg in November 1989. Like Franklin, her skeletal remains were recovered in August 1992 when Miller led detectives to his makeshift burial grounds in the Swatara Township landfill. Along with McDuffeys remains were the bones of her unborn child. Her homicide, along with the death of her fetus, would help make new law in Pennsylvania. The criminal homicide of an unborn child became a separate count of first-degree murder when it happens by an intentional killing. Jeannette Thomas, 25: Thomas disappeared in January 1990 after leaving an Allison Hill bar with a man fitting Millers description. But by the time Miller was arrested in August 1992 and under active investigation for being a serial killer, another man had confessed and was jailed in her murder. Thomas body had been found soon after her disappearance. But it was in the same Swatara Township landfill where Miller disposed of his three other Dauphin County victims. A DNA match finally and conclusively linked Miller to her killing. He pleaded guilty in 2016, with some of Thomas family in attendance. She was a sister. She was an aunt. She was our all, Sandra Ware, Thomas cousin, said as she wiped away tears in the courtroom. LaFrance Thomas, Jeanette Thomas sister, said seeing Miller admit to the murder helps only a little bit. Kathy Novena Schenck, no age listed: Schenck, also known as Phoenix Bell, was part Sioux and part French Canadian and began life on a Sioux reservation in Manitoba, Canada, one of 16 siblings. She had a troubled family life. This led to Schenck and her 6-year-old sister being put up for adoption when Kathy was 5. For the next 13 years, her life was a succession of foster homes. She grew into an adult who, a relative said in 1993, couldnt believe she was lovable. At 18, she married and she and her husband had three children before they divorced. She is the only one of Millers known victims killed in Perry County. After they met in Harrisburg on Feb. 27, 1990, Miller drove Schenck across the Susquehanna River to Penn Township, Perry County. Thats where Schenck took a stand and fought for her life. She bolted from Millers car after he parked at a roadside dump. To prevent her from escaping, Miller put the car into gear and ran Schenck down. He drove over her body repeatedly. District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan and Whitehall Township Police Chief Michael Marks said they have arrested a driver responsible for intentionally hitting a 53-year old man on Thursday, killing him and nearly hitting his wife, and severely injuring another woman. Rajgion Davis, 55, of Whitehall Township, is charged with criminal homicide, attempted murder and aggravated assault, all first-degree felonies, in the death of Stephen Fistner, the district attorney said. Fistner was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Salisbury Township, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 7 p.m. Friday by the Lehigh County Coroners Office. An autopsy was conducted Monday morning. Fistner died from multiple blunt force injuries due to the pedestrian crash and the manner was ruled a homicide by Lehigh County Coroner Daniel Buglio. The incident happened just after 6 p.m. Friday in the 1300 block of N. 14th Street in Whitehall Township. Police were called to the scene for what was initially described as a motor vehicle accident involving pedestrians. But police said Saturday the crash was intentional. Based on numerous eyewitness reports, authorities say that Davis drove a grey sedan into an unoccupied Toyota RAV-4, then fled the scene. Minutes later, he returned while the vehicles owner was assessing the damage to her vehicle with neighbors Stephen Fistner and his wife, who were walking their dog, police said. Davis is accused of driving directly into the group of pedestrians while they were gathered together in the parking lot near the damaged vehicle. Fistner pushed his wife out of the path of the approaching vehicle, an eyewitness told police. Authorities said the impact was violent. The owner of the Toyota RAV-4 was seriously injured and remains hospitalized, police said. Davis was able to walk away and left the scene, but his vehicle was badly damaged. Eyewitnesses and residents who called 911 assisted the victims followed Davis while recording him on their cellphones as he attempted to leave the scene, authorities said. When officers arrived, Davis was taken into custody by Allentown police. During their investigation, he indicated that his intention was to harm and kill the woman who owned the Toyota RAV-4, police said. Authorities did not identify a motive for the attack. Police said Davis was once neighbors with the Fistners. Davis was arraigned Saturday on the charges by District Judge Daniel C. Trexler, who denied bail. In lieu of bail, Davis was taken to the Lehigh County jail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 16 to determine if there is sufficient evidence to send the charges toward trial at the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas. A representative of the Lehigh County Public Defenders Office told lehighvalleylive.com Monday morning that counsel is yet to be assigned to Davis. The incident remains under investigation by the Whitehall Township Police Department; Lehigh County Coroners Office; Lehigh County District Attorneys Office; and Lehigh County Crash Reconstruction Team. Reporter Pamela Sroka-Holzmann contributed to this report. Police have filed charges against a Pottstown man they say lied about being the driver of a car in a DUI crash that killed his friend. Robert Bulett, 22, faces two felonies, a handful of misdemeanors and several summary traffic citations in connection to the Dec. 24, 2022, crash in Lancaster County. Bulett and the passenger of the vehicle, 18-year-old Mason Gentry, were smoking marijuana and had a cocktail of other drugs in their systems as Bulett drove 97 mph down a Salisbury Township road at around 1 p.m. that day, according to state police. After the crash, Bulett lied for months about being the driver, according to state police. Bulett claimed that Gentry was the driver and that hed been asking Gentry to slow down before the crash on Cains Road near Lime Quarry Road. Gentry died from his injuries in the crash. The Lancaster County coroners office ruled his death accidental due to multiple traumatic injuries. Bulett said he did not use any drugs and that he thought Gentry might have been smoking weed. Bulett came clean about the fact he was the driver months after the crash, after state police used DNA from bloodstains on the cars airbags to show Bulett was sitting in the drivers seat and that Gentry was sitting in the passengers seat. Bulett told state police he lied because he was scared of going to jail, and that he went to rehab after the crash. He said he worried he couldnt be a father to his son from inside a cell. Im sorry. I wish we never did drugs, Bulett said. Bulett was driving a Saab 93 that a friend had loaned to Gentry when he crashed into a pole as he missed a curve. The vehicle rolled, and Gentry was ejected. Bulett waved down passing traffic screaming for help, and told police he tried to give Gentry CPR. State police said along the items they found in the car were five bags of marijuana, one bag of a white crystal substance, a plastic storage container containing marijuana and three glass smoking tubes. A a hospital in Lancaster, security personnel said Bulett had a small black case with methamphetamine inside. At the hospital, tests showed Bulett had amphetamine, buprenorphine, cocaine, fentanyl and marijuana in his system. State police charged Bulett with homicide by vehicle and homicide by vehicle while DUI, making false reports to falsely incriminate someone, possession of drug paraphernalia, traffic violations and more. HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) A man faces federal charges that he voted in both Florida and in Pennsylvania for the 2020 presidential election, and twice in Pennsylvania during the November 2022 election. The U.S. attorneys office in Philadelphia said Friday it had filed five charges against 62-year-old Philip C. Pulley of Huntingdon Valley, alleging he violated federal election law by falsely registering to vote, double voting and engaging in election fraud. Its unclear how often double voting occurs or how often it is prosecuted. But a review published in December 2021 by The Associated Press found fewer than 475 potential cases of voter fraud in the six battleground states disputed by former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election. Those cases were too few to have made a difference in his reelection defeat. Country music legend Jeannie Seely has revealed that she was recently hospitalized in Pennsylvania. According to Taste of Country, Seelys representatives said that the 84-year-old native of Titusville was visiting the Keystone State when she had to check in to the hospital for dehydration and acute diverticulitis. Diverticulitis an inflammation of irregular bulging pouches in the wall of the large intestine according to the Mayo Clinic can cause pain, nausea, fever and it can be serious. It had not crossed my mind to visit a hospital on my trip home, but when it became necessary, it was yet another opportunity to experience Pennsylvania hospitality, Seely said per Taste of Country. I could not have received better care of more respect than I did at St. Clare Hospital in Pittsburgh or the courtesy shown at Pittsburgh International Airport. The kindness is appreciated and Im very proud to call the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania my birthplace. Taste of Country said Seely has been discharged from the hospital and is doing well. The site said the Titusville native was back in Pennsylvania because she was being honored. Per Taste of Country, Seely has been a staple in country music since the 1960s and has been called Miss Country Soul. She has a Grammy Award, a star on the Music City Walk of Fame and is a member of the Grand Ole Opry. One was a globe-trotting gourmand and beloved TV host who taught us about the world while racking up Emmy after Emmy. The other made his film debut last year in an Oscar-nominated movie with Paul Giamatti. Both grew up in New Jersey. Young talent Dominic Sessa will star as Anthony Bourdain in the upcoming biopic Tony, Deadline reports. Sessas rise from high school student to award-winning actor and Hollywood next-big-thing has been swift. The 21-year-old actor, who was born in Cherry Hill and grew up in Egg Harbor Township and Ocean City, played boarding school kid Angus Tully in Alexander Paynes The Holdovers. Sessa, a real-life boarding school student, was cast on the campus of his school in Massachusetts to star in the 1970-set Christmas film. Giamatti was nominated for an Oscar for playing Tullys grumpy teacher Paul Hunham, and DaVine Joy Randolph, who grew up in Hershey, won an Oscar for her performance as school cook Mary Lamb. In 2018, fans in New Jersey and across the globe mourned Bourdain, who was 61 when he died by suicide. Once a chef at New Yorks Brasserie Les Halles, Bourdain, a New York native who grew up in Leonia and spent summers at the Jersey Shore, became a name outside the kitchen after writing the 1999 New Yorker essay Dont Eat Before Reading This, which revealed some unsavory secrets of the culinary world. Good food, good eating, is all about blood and organs, cruelty and decay, the essay began. Its about sodium-loaded pork fat, stinky triple-cream cheeses, the tender thymus glands and distended livers of young animals. Its about dangerrisking the dark, bacterial forces of beef, chicken, cheese, and shellfish. Bourdains bestselling memoir Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly followed in 2000. Another book, A Cooks Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines, published in 2001, chronicled his more far-flung culinary adventures in countries like Russia, Cambodia and Vietnam and got the attention of TV producers. Anthony Bourdain with one of his Emmys in 2015. He died in 2018. Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP A24 is in talks to produce the upcoming Bourdain biopic, according to the Deadline report, which says Matt Johnson (BlackBerry) is set to direct the story, scripted by Lou Howe (Gabriel) and Todd Bartels. Its unclear what time span the film will cover and at what age Sessa would be playing Bourdain. Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com and followed at @AmyKup. Former Disney Channel star Skai Jackson has been arrested for domestic battery after getting into a public dispute with her boyfriend, TMZ has reported. The 22-year-old actress is best known for her roles in such popular Disney shows as Jessie and Bunkd. The incident took place last week when deputies were called to Universal CityWalk in California after Jackson was spotted by security guards pushing her boyfriend during an argument, more than once. Security observed the altercation and detained the couple until law enforcement arrived. Once deputies reported to the scene, the couple denied that anything became physical, telling law enforcement that they are happily engaged and that Jackson is expecting their first baby. After law enforcement reviewed video footage that captured Jackson shoving her boyfriend, she was arrested for misdemeanor domestic battery, cited and then released a few hours later. Jacksons case will be reviewed by the L.A. Country Districts Attorneys Office, according to TMZ. PICACHO, Ariz. (AP) How long does it take a large desert tortoise to get to the other side of a southern Arizona highway? An unidentified driver and Arizona Department of Public Safety Sgt. Steven Sekrecki hold a rescued a sulcata tortoise that was attempting to cross Interstate 10 near Picacho, Ariz., on July 30, 2024. The motorist and Sekrecki managed to get the tortoise off the roadway unharmed. (Arizona Department of Public Safety via AP)AP Its still a mystery, after a state Department of Public Safety trooper recently helped rescue an escaped sulcata tortoise that was trying to cross Interstate 10 near Picacho. A motorist contacted authorities on July 30 to report a tortoise trying to cross the busy highway thats halfway between Casa Grande and Tucson in Pinal County. The motorist and DPS Sgt. Steven Sekrecki managed to get the tortoise off the roadway unharmed. Troopers saw the name Stitch labeled across the tortoises shell and contacted an ostrich ranch that was 3 miles away. According to the Arizona Republic, the ranch confirmed Stitch was one of their resident tortoises and had recently escaped from his habitat. The newspaper said Stitch was safely returned to the ranch. Fans may believe it is expensive to fly to London to see global pop superstar Taylor Swift in concert. That is not necessarily true. Tickets to her overseas concerts on her Eras Tour have been less expensive than shows in the United States where prices start at around $1,500. After the cancellation of her three concerts in Vienna, Austria, Swift fans have five more chances to see her before the European leg of the tour comes to an end. Swift will perform Aug. 15-17 and Aug. 19-20 at the iconic Wembley Stadium in London, England. Right now, the cheapest tickets are $434 on Vivid Seats for the Friday, Aug. 16, concert. Ticket prices on Vivid Seats are running lower today than on Stubhub. Here is the rundown: Thursday, Aug. 15 Friday, Aug. 16 Saturday, Aug. 17 Monday, Aug. 19 Tuesday, Aug. 20 The Eras Tour resumes with three concerts in Miami, Florida, Oct. 18-20; three in New Orleans, Louisiana, Oct. 25-27; and three in Indianapolis, Indiana, Nov. 1-3. Swift then has five concerts in Toronto, Canada, Nov. 14-16 and Nov. 21-23 and finishes the tour with three concerts in Vancouver, Canada, Dec. 6-8. By BRIAN WITTE, The Associated Press ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) The National Transportation Safety Board, which has jurisdiction over pipelines, is investigating a natural gas explosion at a home in Bel Air, Maryland, that killed two people, the agency said Monday. Meanwhile, state officials have identified the two people who died, and the state fire marshals office said they are focusing on accidental causes because there is no evidence of criminal activity. Ray Corkran Jr., the 73-year-old homeowner, died in the Sunday morning explosion, officials said. Jose Rodriguez-Alvarado, a 35-year-old contracted utility employee with Baltimore Gas and Electric, also died, the state fire marshals office said. Jennifer Gabris, an NTSB spokesperson, confirmed that NTSB pipeline investigators were on the scene Monday in Bel Air, a town about about 30 miles northeast of Baltimore. In this photo provided by Joppa Magnolia Volunteer Fire Company, debris is seen in a street after an apparent house explosion in Harford County, Maryland, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. (Joppa Magnolia Volunteer Fire Company via AP)AP Deputy state fire marshals and agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have concluded their on-scene investigation and turned the scene over to insurance representatives, the fire marshals office said. Crews have already begun cleaning up the copious debris strewn throughout the neighborhood, and restoration companies are beginning to make repairs to nearby homes, the fire marshals office said in a news release Monday. Investigators will now focus on reviewing the evidence and data they collected on Sunday, the fire marshals office said. That includes gas and electrical piping, interviews, video surveillance and data from BGE. While the explosion remains under investigation, there is no evidence of criminal activity, and they will continue to focus on accidental causes, the fire marshals office said. Firefighters were called to the area around 6:40 a.m. Sunday for a report of a gas leak and an outdoor odor of gas. As firefighters were approaching, they began receiving calls that the house had exploded. Two utility workers were in the area to work on a reported electrical issue at the time. A woman in a house next door was treated for injuries. Neighbors in the vicinity reported damage to their homes from the explosion. Twelve families were displaced. Our hearts are broken for the two victims and their families. Our team of highly qualified investigators and our partners at ATF are dedicated to providing an answer that will lead to safer communities, said Acting State Fire Marshal Jason M. Mowbray. A tragedy of this size is heart-wrenching for Maryland. More than 60 first responders went to the scene from multiple agencies. By Dan Nephin, LNP, Lancaster, Pa. (TNS) Lancaster County Judge Dennis Reinaker has been elected president of the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges. The conference predominantly consists of the states 435 judges sitting on Common Pleas courts in Pennsylvanias 67 counties, plus another 131 senior judges judges who have reached the states mandatory retirement age of 75 but are still able to work up to 10 days a month. Reinaker, 72, of East Hempfield Township, got involved with the conference after he was sworn in as judge in 2006. County judges are elected to serve 10-year terms in which they decide custody cases, preside over criminal trials and sentence defendants, approve or reject development projects and oversee civil lawsuits, plus decide many other legal issues. Lancaster County President Judge David Ashworth said it was great that the county has representation on the associations executive board. The association provides an opportunity for all the judges statewide to interact with each other and learn from one another and address issues that are common to all of us, Ashworth said Monday. What the conference does The conference is more educational and informational than one of advocacy. Unless the (state) Supreme Court asks us to get involved in something, thats not a role that we just jump into of our own volition, Reinaker said. What we do is extremely important to everybody in the counties where we serve. And you want people that are as informed (and) as knowledgeable as they can be in terms of the decisions we make, Reinaker said. Much of the work of the conference is ensuring that the judges across the commonwealth are as educated, as prepared (and) as knowledgeable as they can be to do what theyre doing, he said. A lot of it has to do with updates on the law. ... The Legislature is always changing the approach to sentencing, for instance. And were going through a big new change now, in terms of how the sentencing guidelines are prepared (and) in terms of what we can do with parole and probation violators. Its as big a change as Ive had in my 19 years on the bench. Reinaker was referring to a new state law that went into effect this year and is intended to reform the states probation system by limiting circumstances for which people on probation or parole could be incarcerated for technical violations. Artificial intelligence is another development judges will have to be knowledgeable about, he said. Its a big void that we all kind of know theres something about this, its going to affect the way we do things moving forward. But some of us dont know what it even is. Some of us dont know what the ramifications could be. So thats a huge issue right now, he said. The organization hosts conferences twice a year. I never came away from one of those conferences not sort of feeling my energy renewed through this based on those conferences, he said, adding the conferences underscore for him how fortunate I am (and) how important what (judges) do is. First from the county Reinaker was inaugurated last month and will serve as president for one year. He progressed through the concerences ranks first as secretary, then treasurer, second vice president, first vice president and president elect. You learn from the previous presidents. You get more and more familiar with the business of the conference. And you know whats important, what needs to be done those kinds of things. Its a learning process every step of the way, he said. The 60-year-old organization has never had a president from Lancaster County. I felt honored to be the first from Lancaster County because I feel like its another chance for Lancaster County to step up and play a role in statewide governance, he said. Ive got three new colleagues, he said referring to judges Todd Brown, Shawn McLaughlin and Christina Parsons, who were elected in November. Theres going to be a lot of turnover on the Lancaster County bench in the next four to six years. Theres a lot of new people that are going to be coming in, and they will have seen (that) somebody from Lancaster County reached the very pinnacle of the conference in terms of positions. Its just another aspect of being able to serve the profession and to serve my colleagues around the commonwealth to help them do as good a job as they can possibly do. Thats, I think, what were all interested in, in whatever way we choose to do that. This just happened to be in a way that I thought would be interesting to me. (c)2024 LNP (Lancaster, Pa.) Visit LNP (Lancaster, Pa.) at lancasteronline.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Former Dauphin County Commissioner Jeff Haste approved millions of dollars for Visit Hershey & Harrisburg, the countys designated tourism bureau, without disclosing that his wife, Maria Haste, was a paid consultant for the organization. At no point did Jeff Haste recuse himself from votes involving the tourism bureau or disclose his wifes income from it, county meeting minutes show. The apparent conflict of interest, which was not disclosed to the public and was recently brought to PennLives attention, raises legal and ethical questions. The tourism bureau, a nonprofit organization, is almost entirely funded by public dollars, particularly by a tax applied to all hotel room stays in Dauphin County. In addition to the hotel tax revenue that the organization is guaranteed by law, it has also received over $9 million in Dauphin County tourism grants since 2013, records show. That includes $1 million grants nearly every year since 2016. Those grants, which also come from a portion of the hotel tax revenue, are approved by the three Dauphin County Commissioners. Maria Hastes time working with the visitors bureau overlaps with an agreement Jeff Haste and the other county commissioners entered into in 2018, guaranteeing the organization $1 million in hotel tax grant money each year through 2025. Mary Smith, president and CEO of Visit Hershey & Harrisburg, confirmed Maria Haste worked as a consultant with the organization until the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Smith said Maria Haste met with tourism-related businesses, such as restaurants and attractions, to explain the benefits of partnering with Visit Hershey & Harrisburg. Smith did not answer repeated questions about when Maria Haste began working with the organization, how much she was paid, how the tourism bureau identified her as a potential consultant, what qualifications she brought to the role or whether Smith ever discussed Maria Hastes role with Jeff Haste. Maria Haste did not respond to calls or emails from PennLive. In an email to PennLive, Jeff Haste acknowledged his wifes work with the organization. Counsel that I have spoken to, indicated that I did not need to recuse myself from the vote nor report my wifes income on my financial interest statement, he wrote. He declined to identify the attorney, but said he never discussed his wifes role with Smith. Jeff Haste said his wife made $1,500 per month from her work with the tourism bureau. A tax statement for 2019, provided by Jeff Haste, shows $18,000 in income to Maria Haste from the organization. When asked to provide his wifes consulting contract, Jeff Haste said he did not have it. PennLive requested the contract from Smith and Maria Haste but did not receive a response from either. Details of consultancy unclear Among the many questions surrounding Maria Hastes work with Visit Hershey & Harrisburg is when exactly it took place. A LinkedIn profile with the name Maria Haste lists a role as a marketing sales contractor with Visit Hershey & Harrisburg from 2015 to 2021. When told that LinkedIn showed Maria Haste worked as a consultant with the organization for about six years, Smith said that doesnt sound accurate. She later said Maria Haste worked with the organization until 2020 but did not respond to questions about her start date. Jeff Haste initially told PennLive his wife began working with Visit Hershey & Harrisburg for a short time prior to COVID and after the 2018 agreement that required the county to provide $1 million annually was in place. But when asked about the 2015 start date listed on LinkedIn, he changed his response. That was not my recollection, but she did begin her work with the Visitors bureau in 2015, he wrote. Dauphin County spokesperson Diane McNaughton said the commissioners had no knowledge of Maria Hastes work for Visit Hershey & Harrisburg until asked about it Thursday. That would mean current commissioners George Hartwick and Mike Pries approved the 2018 agreement without knowing about Maria Hastes consulting contract. VHH is run by an independent board, and we have no input into, or knowledge of, their personnel process or hiring practices, McNaughton wrote. County commissioners do have a hand in shaping Visit Hershey & Harrisburgs board of directors. The tourism bureaus bylaws entitle the commissioners to appoint three of the organizations board members. County meeting minutes show the commissioners appointed two of the thirteen current board members: George Connor, executive director of Dauphin Countys Office of Community and Economic Development, and Clinton Cullison, a partner at Greenlee Partners, LLC. The boards treasurer, Michelle McKeown, also works for Dauphin County in the Parks and Recreation Department, according to Visit Hershey & Harrisburgs website. 3211 N. Front St. is the home of Visit Hershey & Harrisburg, among other tenants. August 12, 2024. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.comDan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com In a Thursday call, PennLive asked Smith and Connor to comment on the fact that Jeff Haste voted to give the organization millions of county dollars without disclosing his wifes income from the organization. I have nothing to say about that, Smith said. Like she said, she didnt work for the organization, said Connor, referencing the fact that Maria Haste was a contractor and not an employee, a point Smith reiterated throughout the call. So I dont know it doesnt make any sense to me, Connor said, referring to PennLives question. When PennLive repeated the question regarding Jeff Hastes votes, Connor responded, Why are you not questioning him? That has nothing to do with us. Following the call, Connor sent an email to PennLive asking to not be quoted in this story and stating that he did not want to be involved. When pressed by PennLive, Smith said she didnt feel she had to defend her actions. We hired Maria as a consultant to help fill a void, and to help assist in generating new partnerships with our organization, she said. On LinkedIn, the job duties listed under the consultant position include, kept up to date on the most recent marketing concepts and tactics, checked in with consumers after sales to gauge satisfaction and address any technical or service issues and visited customer sites to assess needs, present options, and recommend strategic solutions for a variety of issues. Smith said the organization considered other potential prospects for the contract role besides Maria Haste, but would not answer questions about whether Maria Haste applied through an application process or why the organization felt she was suited to the job. I dont feel I have to explain myself to you as to why she was a good fit, Smith said. David Black, a former Visit Hershey & Harrisburg board member and former president and CEO for the Harrisburg Regional Chamber and Capital Region Economic Development Corporation, said Maria Hastes hiring had nothing to do with the fact that Jeff Haste was a county commissioner. He would never lean on anybody to hire a friend, or a wife or whatever, Black said. If thats what youre looking about, thats not Jeff. Another former board member, Phil Guarno, said he was unaware Maria Haste had worked with the organization. Never. Never heard of it, he said. Votes raise legal, ethical questions Legal experts questioned whether Jeff Haste should have disclosed his wifes income from the organization before voting on matters involving it. If it was not disclosed when he was voting on it, thats not right. Thats unethical at best. Because he also is benefitting from his wifes salary, said Chalon Young, a professor and ethics expert at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. I would hesitate to say that its illegal, but it is certainly unethical. Claire Finkelstein, a professor of law and of philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania, said the situation constituted a conflict of interest for Haste. He should have either recused himself from votes involving the visitors bureau or sought a ruling from the Pennsylvania Ethics Commission about whether he needed to do so, she said. According to experts, under the Pennsylvania Ethics Act, no public official shall engage in conduct that constitutes a conflict of interest. As defined in the Ethics Act, a conflict of interest exists when a public official uses the authority of their office for the financial benefit of themselves, a member of their immediate family or a business with which they or a member of their immediate family are associated. When votes arise that would result in a conflict of interest, the law requires public officials to publicly disclose the nature of their interest and, unless certain narrow exceptions apply, abstain from voting. Violating the Ethics Acts prohibition on conflicts of interest is a felony punishable with a fine of up to $10,000, imprisonment of up to five years, or both, the law states. The Ethics Act also states that no public official, their spouse or any business with which they or their spouse are associated shall enter into contracts valued at $500 or more with the government body with which the public official is associated, unless the contract has been awarded through an open and public process. Matt Creme, Jr., a municipal law attorney at Nikolaus and Hohenadel, LLP, said the application of the Ethics Act in this case comes down to how Maria Haste was being paid and whether her compensation came from county funding sources approved by her husband, such as the tourism grants. Smith from Visit Hershey & Harrisburg did not respond to questions about how Maria Hastes position was funded. Dauphin County Commissioner Justin Douglas, who was elected in 2023, responded to questions about the potential conflict of interest in an email. If this information is accurate, it warrants disclosure and abstaining from votes, Douglas wrote. As leaders, we have a duty to be transparent about our interests to ensure accountability. When transparency is compromised, it undermines the trust that is essential for us to effectively serve the best interests of our constituents. Maria Hastes consulting position is not the Hastes only source of income that has recently faced scrutiny. Shortly after he resigned from office in 2021, Jeff Haste began receiving $60,000 per year from the Dauphin County Economic Development Corporation to act as a liaison to the National Rifle Associations outdoor show, which is held in Harrisburg each year. The justification for those funds was based on a false rumor that the NRA has since debunked, PennLive reported. Maria Haste has received criticism in the past for operating the cafeteria in the basement of the county courthouse while her husband was a county commissioner. She began that position in 2006, before she became involved in a relationship with Jeff Haste, he previously told PennLive. Details of contract unclear Despite repeated questions, the details behind the agreement guaranteeing the visitors bureau $1 million each year remain unknown. In 2018, Haste and his fellow commissioners, George Hartwick and Mike Pries, signed an agreement guaranteeing the tourism bureau $1 million in sustainable funds annually through 2020 and subsequently renewed the agreement through 2025. Vince Paese, chief clerk for the county, told PennLive the funding guaranteed by the agreement and the tourism grant funds are one and the same, not in addition to one another. Paese did not clarify why such an agreement was needed, given that the organization already received tourism grants from the county. Organizations typically have to apply for tourism grant funds each grant cycle. In addition to the $1 million in sustainable funds, which is at the commissioners discretion and which they chose to commit to the organization every year, the tourism bureau also separately receives millions of dollars in revenue from Dauphin Countys hotel tax, which it is guaranteed by a formula written in the law governing the tax. Regarding the 2018 sustainable funding agreement, Jeff Haste said Visit Hershey & Harrisburg asked the county to adopt the agreement to set the amount of hotel taxes that they would receive annually. This was done to help them have a sustainable annual source of revenue for their increased, multi-year marketing campaign, he wrote in an email. Cant see the document below? Click here. Memorandum of Understanding by PennLive on Scribd McNaughton, the county spokesperson, said the county is confident that the MOU with VHH has allowed the County to maximize its return on investment in tourism, in a way that a government agency could not on its own. During the Thursday call, Smith refused to clarify the meaning and purpose of the agreement. No. I feel like you have the MOU, so you can read in there what the MOU is and what it represents, Smith said. Three legal experts who reviewed the contract said the terms regarding the funding being granted to the visitors bureau were awkwardly worded and difficult to understand. That provision of the contract is not clearly drafted and leaves much to be desired from a transparency perspective, said Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association. Young, of the University of Pittsburgh, agreed. Ive seen a lot of complexly worded documents in my 23 years of practicing law, but to be honest this one takes the cake, she said. Do you have information about Dauphin County youd like to share? Get in touch with the reporter at jrihl@pennlive.com or by encrypted email at jrihl@proton.me. Anonymous tips are welcomed. PennLive reporters Jonathan Bergmueller and Charles Thompson contributed reporting to this story. Any flickering hope that Harrisburg might host the first presidential debate has been emphatically squashed, but theres still plenty of time for another one to get scheduled. In a post on his Truth Social account at 12:37 a.m. Sunday, former President Donald Trump announced a series of debates with the first one occurring in beautiful Harrisburg on Sept. 4 on Fox News, a far cry from when he referred to the city as a war zone in 2016. As is the case with many of Trump statements, the debate assertion was not accurate as Vice President Kamala Harris campaign echoed its previous stance that it had not agreed to any debate other than the one on Sept. 10 in Philadelphia. The first Debate with Kamala Harris, for President of the United States of America, will be with FoxNews on September 4th, 2024, LIVE from beautiful Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The second Debate will take place on Fake News ABC, home of George Slopadopoulos, to be anchored by David Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) August 11, 2024 When asked about Trumps claim of a Sept. 4 Harrisburg debate, the Harris campaign pointed PennLive to a post on X/Twitter by ABC News reporter Selina Wang on Friday. In that post, Wang wrote, @VP Harris will not agree to the September 4th Fox debate, campaign official tells me. Says future debates are contingent on Trump showing up to @ABC debate on Sept 10th Willing to have convos before Sept 10 about debates after that date So ABC will have 1st Harris/Trump debate. .@VP Harris will not agree to the September 4th Fox debate, campaign official tells me. Says future debates are contingent on Trump showing up to @ABC debate on Sept 10th Willing to have convos before Sept 10 about debates after that date So ABC will have 1st Harris/Trump debate Selina Wang (@selinawangtv) August 8, 2024 Officials with the Trump campaign and Fox News did not respond to questions from PennLive on Monday. Longtime Harrisburg-based Republican strategist Charlie Gerow said he had nothing definitive when it came to information on a possible debate in the city. Gerow said there are a multitude of arenas in the region where a debate could be held as well as local TV station studios. I always think its better to have a live audience, he said. With Pennsylvania being the pivotal state in the nation, though, Gerow said the likelihood is high that another debate in the state, possibly Harrisburg, would be scheduled in the coming weeks. Pennsylvania is what it all boils to, Gerow said of the White House race. Jeffrey Lord, a Republican commentator and member of PennLives editorial board, said he expects both Harris and Trump to be see-sawing back and forth in Pennsylvania appearances because the state is so key to winning the race. There would be little national significance to having a debate in Harrisburg, Lord said, due to the media and social media landscape now. The geography of it doesnt do much either way, he said. What might help both candidates would be leaving a debate here to attend rallies with thousands of admiring Pennsylvania voters, said Lord. That kind of thing can move the needle, he said. The last presidential non-rally event held in the region was the April 2008 candidates forum at Messiah College with then-Democratic primary hopefuls Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. That event was billed not as a debate but as a compassion forum by the Christian college. A debate between Obama and Clinton was held a few days later in Philadelphia. Obama, of course, went on to win the 2008 presidential election against the late GOP U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona. The Food and Drug Administration has upgraded a recall issued in May to Class I, the most urgent level, over concerns of salmonella contamination. Consumer Affairs reports that the recall was issued for White Coated Confectionary Items manufactured by Palmer Candy, which may have been contaminated by salmonella. The recalled items were distributed to retailers including Walmart, Target, Dollar General and HyVee, and to distributors in several states including Alabama, California, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. According to the FDA website, the liquid coating of their confectionary items was potentially contaminated by an ingredient from one of their suppliers. So far, no illnesses have been reported that are linked to the items. The FDA issues a Class I recall in situations where there is a reasonable probability that the use of or exposure to a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death, according to their website. The initial recall was issued on May 5 and production of the items was halted while the investigation was under way. Recalled products include the Caramel Swirl Pretzels, Classic Yogurt Pretzels, Cookies & Cream Yummy Chow, Enrobed Pretzel Rods, Favorite Day Bakery White Fudge Mini Cookies, Frosted Munchy Medley Bowl, Frosted Patriot Frosted Pretzels, Frosted Pretzels, Munchy Medley, Patriotic Munchy Medley Bowl, Patriotic Pretzels, Patriotic Red, White & Blue Pretzel Twists and Patriotic Snack Mix. For more information on the recalled items, visit the FDA website. A Harrisburg government reform activist called police Monday morning to inform them of a man trespassing on private property at an entrance to Three-Mile Island, site of the most serious nuclear accident in American history. After making the call and chatting with the press, Stilp, a longtime activist and a Democratic candidate for the state House 125th district, walked past the bright yellow line separating public grounds from private property in protest of the possible restart of a TMI reactor. The South China Sea issue has always been the focu... Donovan Dean Wins WSOP Circuit Main Event at Harrah's Cherokee for Second Time Jon Sofen Senior Editor U.S. Copy link The 20-event World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) stop at Harrah's Cherokee in North Carolina has reached its conclusion. Donovan Dean, for the second time since 2022, wrapped the series by taking down the $1,700 buy-in Main Event, a $1.5 million guaranteed tournament, for $326,206 and a shiny gold ring. Susan Faber also made headlines during the series, having won two rings. She first defeated Maurice Hawkins heads-up to win Event #5: $600 No-Limit Hold'em for $33,493. The World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner would then capture her second ring in Event #16: $600 No-Limit Hold'em Super Turbo, beating out 174 entrants for another $21,884. Dean Runs it Back In December 2022, Dean won the Harrah's Cherokee Main Event, beating out 1,502 entrants for a $356,963 payday. The Alabama native was up to his old tricks the past few days. Main Event action began Aug. 9 with the first of two Day 1 starting flights, and concluded with Monday's final table. Dean bagged a huge chip lead heading into the final table with nearly twice the stack of his nearest competitor, Tommy Doyle. WSOPC Harrah's Cherokee Main Event Final Table Results Place Player Prize 1 Donovan Dean $326,206 2 Andrew Rebhan $217,454 3 Tommy Doyle $153,664 4 Michael Hunsucker $110,186 5 Tuan Nguyen $80,192 6 Brett Bader $59,249 7 Justin Hall $44,450 8 Srinivasa Vadlamudi $33,870 9 Sokchheka Pho $26,218 Doyle would bow out in third place, which paid him $153,664. That left only two players battling for a ring Andrew Rebhan and Dean. Rebhan came close to winning his first ring at Cherokee last year in a $400 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament, but he inevitably fell in third place. He'll have to wait a bit longer to finally claim his first ring as he lost heads-up to Dean at the final table on Monday. Second place paid $217,454, while the champion earned $326,206. Dean won his third ring, all at Harrah's Cherokee. On top of winning the Main Event in 2022, he won a $365 buy-in Monster Stack event in 2016. The newest victory puts his overall live tournament winnings just north of $1.7 million, according to The Hendon Mob. He ranks fourth all time among those from Alabama. Shannon Shorr has a stranglehold on the lead, however, with $13.2 million in cashes. The Cherokee stop wrapped on Monday with three other players capturing Circuit rings Garry Kilpatrick (Event #18), Robert Reed (Event #19), and Ken Phuong (Event #20). World Series of Poker Circuit action will now move across the country to Graton Resort & Casino in Rohnert Park, California starting Aug. 15 with the first of 18 ring events. Full WSOP Circuit Cherokee Results Event Entries Winner Prize Event #1: $600 No-Limit Hold'em Opener 600 Russell Brooks $34,713 Event #2: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Mini Main 2,936 Dane Cass $110,723 Event #3: $400 No-Limit Hold'em 677 Donald Levine $38,381 Event #4: $400 Seniors Event 1,063 Jack Rose $54,611 Event #5: $600 No-Limit Hold'em 305 Susan Faber $33,493 Event #6: $400 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-or-Better 347 Warren Sheaves $23,488 Event #7: $400 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed 822 Chris Conrad $44,287 Event #8: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha 307 Han Feng $33,504 Event #9: $400 Monster Stack 2,897 Howard Marsh $109,702 Event #10: $1,100 No-Limit Hold'em 556 Jarrett Mullins $103,126 Event #11: $400 No-Limit Hold'em 525 Joe Rivage Laro $31,913 Event #12: $300 Ladies Event 209 Jennifer Germany $11,794 Event #13: $1,700 Main Event 1,451 Donovan Dean $326,206 Event #14: $400 No-Limit Hold'em 507 Tyler Nasim $31,030 Event #15: $400 No-Limit Hold'em 513 Susan Green $31,406 Event #16: $600 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo 174 Susan Faber $21,884 Event #17: $300 Seniors Event 794 Lawrence McKinney $31,339 Event #18: $400 No-Limit Hold'em 459 Garry Kilpatrick $28,929 Event #19: $2,200 High Roller 135 Robert Reed $66,435 Event #20: $400 Double Stack Closer 393 Ken Phuong $17,232 *Images courtesy of 8131 Media/Omar Sader. Share this article Trumps conversation with Elon Musk has been a complete disaster. Trump is rambling and veering off into weird places, campaigning against Joe Biden, and praising North Korea. Here is just a clip of Trumps rambling mess: Trump is just a rambling disaster in this conversation with Musk. pic.twitter.com/1kzC6rJ0PF PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) August 13, 2024 Trump cant stay on message. He has spent tons of time wandering around from one topic to another. Trump has spent a great deal of time campaigning against Joe Biden , even though Joe Biden is no longer running for president. Anyone who listens to Trump for any length of time during this conversation comes away understanding that a). Donald Trump doesnt know how the economy works. b). Donald Trump doesnt understand how foreign policy works, and spent his time praising North Korea and Russia. c). Trump doesnt understand how renewable energy works, as Trump thinks renewable energy is unreliable, and finite fossil fuels are the future. Everything about Trump in the conversation was backward policy. Trump wants to go back to the past on everything. Listening to Trump, it is clear that he lacks the mental facilities to be president. Trump sounds old. His ideas are old. Trump is rambling undisciplined and stale. If this was the moment that was supposed to restore Trump back in the media and take back the narrative, it has been a total failure. The interview with Musk will be most known for X imploding so that people couldnt listen to the conversation. All Trump has done is prove to the nation that he is a babbling mess who doesnt belong in the White House. Trump told Elon Musk that he would leave the country and go to Venezuela if he loses the election. Trump said, The next time what well do if something happens with this election, which would be a horror show, well meet the next time in Venezuela, because it will be a far safer place to meet than our country, ok? So, well go, you and I will go, well have dinner and a meeting in Venezuela. Video: Trump says he'll flee to Venezuela if he loses the election and invites Elon to visit him pic.twitter.com/z0gvN6ugI7 Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 13, 2024 Trump and his campaign will say that he was kidding, but Donald Trump is not known for his sense of humor. The real reason why Trump would flee the country is that he would be looking to evade prosecution in the federal cases, because Aileen Cannon will get overturned and in the Georgia RICO criminal case. It has been speculated for years that if Donald Trump had no chance of ever returning to power, and could be facing criminal prosecution, he would flee the country. The one way to stop Trump from fleeing the country would be to seize his passport, so that he could not leave the country. If Trump ever got to the point where he was facing criminal conviction, it is easy to see him trying to flee the United States. The operator of the runaway cargo ship that sped through Charleston Harbor has been using the Port of Charleston as a de facto repair depot this summer. Mediterranean Shipping Co.'s MSC Michigan VII spent 48 days docked mostly at the Leatherman Terminal in North Charleston after its throttle got stuck at full speed ahead while on its way to its next destination in June, briefly shutting down traffic on the Ravenel Bridge before a harbor pilot brought the speeding vessel under control. The ship was towed back to port where it spent weeks as the control linkage for its main engine governor was repaired. The U.S. Coast Guard, which is still investigating the incident, approved the Michigan VII's departure on July 23. More recently, another vessel bearing the Swiss shipping company's name has been spending time along the local waterfront as it undergoes lengthy repairs. The MSC Krystal has been docked at the Columbus Street Terminal on the peninsula since July 9, according to Vesselfinder.com. A spokesperson for the company, one of the S.C. State Ports Authority's biggest customers, did not respond to a request for comment. The SPA said the ship has been undergoing unspecified repairs. The 909-foot-long container vessel and its containerized cargo are expected to depart sometime this week, possibly as early as Aug. 12, the maritime agency said. Snap decision A lawsuit alleging Snapchats controversial former Speed filter caused a fatal car crash on Johns Island will go on. The multimedia instant-messaging app owned by Santa Monica, Calif.-based Snap. Inc. argued that the complaint should be dismissed over lack of jurisdiction, saying it has not engaged in any activity to deliberately target users in South Carolina and that it does not have any offices, facilities, property or bank accounts in the Palmetto State, according to a newly filed court document. COLUMBIA Being locked up did not seem to have deterred a prison inmate from overseeing a drug trafficking operation in South Carolina. The inmate, Benjamin Newman, pleaded guilty in federal court to being part of a conspiracy to distribute illegal drugs. On Aug. 12, he was sentenced to 26 years in federal prison which overlaps the 25 years he is serving in South Carolina prison for a drug trafficking conviction in 2012. Federal authorities said Newman, 38, used contraband cellphones to lead a large-scale drug distribution operation from state prison since at least 2018. They said he used the phones to order methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine and marijuana from Mexico and other countries. Newman recruited drivers to pick up the drugs in Georgia, Texas and Florida before delivering them to stash houses in the Lexington County area, investigators said. From there, they said, his co-conspirators would supply drug dealers in the state, using threats of violence to keep the operation going. Authorities said Newman and his co-conspirators had distributed a high volume of illegal drugs: over 770 pounds of meth, as well as pounds of heroin, cocaine and marijuana. Some of our highest volume drug traffickers are working from a prison cell, Adair Ford Boroughs, U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina, said in a statement. We thank Director Stirling and the investigators at the South Carolina Department of Corrections for their work to put an end to their continued criminal conduct. GREENVILLE Leaders of the state's largest school district have given a preliminary nod to a procedure for banning books in its schools. Greenville County School Board members, who gathered Aug. 13 for a committee of the whole meeting, spent two hours discussing the finer points of what constitutes "instructional material" (books, online materials and anything else kids might read at school), how parents can object to a book (there's a form), how teachers will handle the extra workload (scanners and temporary clerks) and when all of this needs to happen (now). Greenville County's 85 public schools have more than 1 million different book titles on their shelves. Aside from those in the school libraries, many are on the classroom shelves of English teachers who three years ago received book collections as part of a districtwide effort to promote literacy. Now, they, along with school librarians, history kindergarten and other teachers who keep a set of books in their classroom, have been tasked with cataloging every tome and posting titles publicly so that families will know what their children are being exposed to. Supporters say it provides transparency to families about their children's education. Critics say it opens the door to censorship. "What if we started banning Shakespeare?" board member Michelle Goodwin-Calwile asked. Board member Ann Marie Middleton expressed concerns about anatomy or biology books getting banned. The catalogue requirement is one piece of a new state law passed this summer that sets into motion a process for banning instructional materials in public schools that may be objectionable for one of two reasons: they are not age or developmentally appropriate; and/or they do not align with or support the "instructional program" of a school. Districts are required, under the law, to institute a local procedure immediately for parents to identify and challenge such materials. WASHINGTON Bleeding and in pain, Kyleigh Thurman didnt know her doomed pregnancy could kill her. Emergency room doctors at Ascension Seton Williamson in Texas handed her a pamphlet on miscarriage and told her to let nature take its course before discharging her without treatment for her ectopic pregnancy. When the 25-year-old returned three days later, still bleeding, doctors finally agreed to give her an injection intended to end the pregnancy. But it was too late. The fertilized egg growing on Thurmans fallopian tube would rupture it, destroying part of her reproductive system. Thats according to a complaint Thurman and the Center for Reproductive Rights filed last week asking the government to investigate whether the hospital violated a federal law when staff failed to treat her initially in February 2023. I was left to flail, Thurman said. It was nothing short of being misled. Even as the Biden administration has publicly warned hospitals to treat pregnant patients in emergencies, facilities continue to violate the federal law. More than 100 pregnant women in medical distress who sought help from emergency rooms were turned away or negligently treated since 2022, an Associated Press analysis of federal hospital investigations has found. Two women one in Florida and one in Texas were left to miscarry in public restrooms. In Arkansas, a woman went into septic shock and her fetus died after an emergency room sent her home. At least four other women with ectopic pregnancies had trouble getting any treatment, including one California woman who needed a blood transfusion after she sat for nine hours in an emergency waiting room. Three women at a smaller hospital in Greenville reportedly were turned away without the required exams or treatment. The White House says hospitals must offer abortions when needed to save a womans health, despite state bans. Texas is challenging that guidance and, earlier this summer, the Supreme Court declined to resolve the issue. Social Security Administration policy updates that expand access to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) in line with the law go into effect today. The agency no longer includes food in In-Kind Support and Maintenance (ISM) calculations, has expanded its rental subsidy policy exception, and h Read moreSSI expands access and continues removing barriers More than two years after a mother and her two adult daughters were T-boned by a Charleston County sheriff's deputy and killed, their family members are demanding 9th Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson give them an update on the case. The closest family members of mother Stephanie Dantzler and her daughters, Shanice Dantzler-Williams and Miranda Dantzler-Williams, met with the chief prosecutor after former Deputy Emily Pelletier was arrested on June 10, 2022. But despite reaching out to Wilson dozens of times since, they've never heard back from her or her office, they said during an Aug. 13 press conference. Wilson denied this, and sent The Post and Courier emails showing the chief deputy solicitor assigned to the case reached out to their attorneys this spring asking for a sit-down meeting with the family. The three women, a tight-knit trio from Colleton County who family members said did everything together, died on Mother's Day, May 8, 2022, after Pelletier slammed her patrol vehicle into their sedan at 73 mph at the intersection of U.S. Highway 17 and New Road. Their vehicle careened into the woods, striking small trees, a utility box, power pole guy wires and traffic signs, according to a crash report. Dantzler and her daughters died at the scene, while Pelletier was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Pelletier was responding to a nonemergency call regarding a stalled vehicle without her emergency lights or sirens activated, records show. A lawsuit the family filed against Pelletier that has since been moved to federal court contends GPS data showed the former deputy traveling at outrageous and dangerous speeds for more than 15 minutes while racing another officer to the call. It claims Pelletier sped as fast as 91 mph. The other officer was traveling up to 80 mph. Those speeds violated a policy mandating deputies follow traffic laws when responding to nonemergency calls. The Charleston County Sheriff's Office has since been accused of fostering a culture of speeding in which deputies routinely accelerate up to 130 mph, a deputy said under oath earlier this year. DUNCAN It was hard to miss Tyger River Elementary School Principal Shayne Daugherty who wore a bright-yellow tuxedo and top hat on the first day of school as he greeted students returning from summer break. Students across Spartanburg County returned to classes on Aug. 12. Its an exciting time with some nervous jitters included, especially for new students. In some cases, students were welcomed at new schools. Theres been a push to build new schools in several districts, especially where enrollment growth is expected to rise over the next decade. Tyger River Elementary School was among several new schools that opened in Spartanburg County School District 5, which serves the Duncan, Lyman and Wellford communities. District 5 has nearly 11,000 students enrolled. Its experienced significant growth in recent years, with new housing construction not expected to slow anytime soon. About 300-400 new students have enrolled in the school district in the past five years. In November 2021, voters in District 5 approved a bond referendum to allow the district to borrow $295 million to build a new elementary school and middle school and fund expansions at other schools. These projects were all completed by the opening of the 2024-25 school year. At 120,000 square feet and located on 40 acres, Tyger River Elementary School on East Wade Hampton Boulevard in Duncan is considered a showcase. The schools first-day enrollment was 500 students. It can serve up to 900 students. Daugherty said the school is poised for growth. It was amazing to watch it get built out, Daugherty said. There are ballfields out back, a playground with a rubberized surface and new technology in the classrooms. Students from Duncan and Lyman will feed into this school and then go to Beech Springs Middle School when they leave. PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 15:45:40 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 369 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Strategic acquisition expands offering of life and annuity solutionsLADERA RANCH, CA / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / ALKEME, a Top 40 Insurance Brokerage, announced the acquisition Dunhill Marketing & Insurance Services, based in San Diego, California. This strategic acquisition marks a significant milestone in ALKEME's ongoing commitment to expanding services and enhancing market presence.ALKEME Acquires Dunhill Marketing and Insurance Services Strategic acquisition expands offering of life and annuity solutionsFounded in 1992, Dunhill Insurance Services has established itself as a trusted name in the insurance industry, specializing in life insurance and annuities. With a keen focus on high-end markets, Dunhill has successfully placed numerous cases of $100 million face value and higher, serving a diverse clientele that includes entertainers, athletes, and other high-net-worth individuals."We are really excited to bring Dunhill and their sterling reputation into the ALKEME family," said Curtis Barton, CEO of ALKEME. "ALKEME is committed to maintaining the high standards of service and excellence that Dunhill is known for. This acquisition aligns with our strategic goals of enhancing our product offerings and providing unparalleled service to our clients." "We are excited to join forces with one of the fastest growing agencies in the United States," said Tony Steigerwald, President of Dunhill Marketing & Insurance Services. "This partnership will allow us to leverage our combined expertise and resources to better serve our clients and expand our reach in the high-end life and annuity insurance market." ABOUT ALKEMEALKEME is a full-service insurance agency providing businesses and individuals with an extensive array of commercial and personal insurance, employee and executive benefits, retirement and wealth management services. Since its founding in 2020, ALKEME has completed over 40 acquisitions and serves its customers from over 35 locations in 16 states. ALKEME is ranked by Insurance Journal one of the top 40 largest agencies in the United States and by Business Insurance as the #5 fastest growing broker. Founded by owner/operators with a unique vision, ALKEME is fueled by its proven operating methodologies providing its partner agencies with the autonomy, resources and support to grow and thrive in an ever-changing insurance landscape. Visit https://alkemeins.com for more information.ontact InformationJosh BenvenisteMarketingjbenveniste@ alkemeins.com SOURCE: ALKEME InsuranceView the original press release on newswire.com PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 05:34:52 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 453 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW ORLEANS, LA / ACCESSWIRE / August 12, 2024 / Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until September 30, 2024to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. ("ABR" or the "Company") (NYSE:ABR), if they purchased the Company's securities between May 7, 2021 and July 11, 2024, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.What You May DoIf you purchased securities of ABR and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email ( lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com) , or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-abr/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court bySeptember 30, 2024 .About the LawsuitArbor Realty and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.On March 14, 2023, NINGI Research reported that "ABR has been hiding a toxic real estate portfolio of mobile homes with a complex web of real and fake holdings companies for more than a decade." On this news, the price of ABR shares fell from $12.99 per share on March 13, 2023, to $12.12 per share on March 14, 2023, and then $11.53 per share on March 15, 2023. Then, on July 12, 2024, Bloomberg reported that the Company was the subject of a probe by federal prosecutors and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New York that were "inquiring about lending practices and the company's claims about the performance of their loan book." On this news, the price of ABR shares fell from $15.53 per share on July 11, 2024, to $12.89 per share on July 12, 2024.The case is Martin v. Arbor Realty Trust, Inc., No. 24-cv-05347.About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLCKSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nation's premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients - including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors - in seeking recoveries for investment losses emanating from corporate fraud or malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, Delaware, California, Louisiana and New Jersey.To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com CONTACT:Kahn Swick & Foti, LLCLewis Kahn, Managing Partner lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com 1-877-515-18501100 Poydras St., Suite 960New Orleans, LA 70163SOURCE: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 17:00:56 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 986 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 TORONTO, ON AND ATLANTA, GA / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / Retained executive search firm Caldwell (TSX:CWL)(OTCQX:CWLPF) today announced a major enhancement to its recruiting capabilities in the automobility sector with the addition of Gregory McDonald as a partner in the firm's Industrial Practice, focused on recruiting executives in the automobility sector."Gregg brings an impressive combination of market/industry knowledge gained from a 20-year career in the automotive industry and more than a decade of experience building leadership teams for a wide variety of clients, including Fortune 500, small-, mid-, and large-cap public and private companies," said Dave Winston, managing partner of Caldwell's Industrial Practice. "His passion for connecting his clients with the best global talent, his deep expertise, his extensive network of industry contacts, and his strong integrity make him an excellent addition to the Caldwell team." Mr. McDonald has an impressive track record of success building leadership teams for clients in automobility - OEMs, suppliers, dealers, retailers, and services providers - as well as robotics, telecommunications, metals, plastics, chemicals, private equity, venture capital (SPAC), and energy. He has also helped companies find digital leaders to transform their businesses in such technologies as smart grid, connected vehicles, mobility as a service, and the internet of things.Mr. McDonald joins Caldwell from Maccabeus LLC, a boutique executive search firm he founded in 2021. Prior to that, he held leadership roles at Russell Reynolds and Heidrick & Struggles, working with both public and private clients in automobility, chemicals, energy, consumer, and technology.Before his career in executive search, Mr. McDonald had a 20-year career as an engineering executive, working for Carborundum, Ford Motor Company, General Electric, and PolyOne.Mr. McDonald earned a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from the State University of New York in Buffalo. "Our focus has always been to connect our clients with transformational talent," said Chris Beck, president. "Gregg's addition to our team marks a strategic advancement into the automotive industry, and we're truly pleased to be able to serve a new component of the industrial sector. We're excited to welcome him to the team and look forward to bringing on additional high-caliber partners at Caldwell in the months ahead." About Caldwell Caldwell is a leading retained executive search firm connecting clients with transformational talent. Together with IQTalent, we are a technology-powered talent acquisition firm specializing in recruitment at all levels. Through the two distinct brands - Caldwell and IQTalent- the firm leverages the latest innovations in AI to offer an integrated spectrum of services delivered by teams with deep knowledge in their respective areas. Services include candidate research and sourcing through to full recruitment at the professional, executive and board levels, as well as a suite of talent strategy and assessment tools that can help clients hire the right people, then manage and inspire them to achieve maximum business results.Caldwell's common shares are listed on The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX:CWL) and trade on the OTCQX Market (OTCQX:CWLPF). Please visit our website at www.caldwell.com for further information.For further information, please contact:Caroline LomotCaldwellclomot@ caldwell.com +1 516 830 3535Forward-Looking StatementsForward-looking statements in this document are based on current expectations subject to the significant risks and uncertainties cited. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of statements that include phrases such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "foresee," "may," "will," "likely," "estimates," "potential," "continue" or other similar words or phrases. Similarly, statements that describe our objectives, plans or goals also are forward-looking statements.We are subject to many factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the relevant forward looking statement including, but not limited to, the impact of pandemic diseases, our ability to attract and retain key personnel; exposure to our partners taking our clients with them to another firm; the performance of the US, Canadian and international economies; risks related to deposit-taking institutions; foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations; competition from other companies directly or indirectly engaged in talent acquisition; cybersecurity requirements, vulnerabilities, threats and attacks; damage to our brand reputation; our ability to align our cost structure to changes in our revenue; liability risk in the services we perform; potential legal liability from clients, employees and candidates for employment; reliance on software that we license from third parties; reliance on third-party contractors for talent acquisition support; the classification of third-party labour as contractors versus employee relationships; our ability to successfully recover from a disaster or other business continuity issues; adverse governmental and tax law rulings; successfully integrating or realizing the expected benefits from our acquisitions, adverse operating issues from acquired businesses; volatility of the market price and trading volume of our common shares; technological advances may significantly disrupt the labour market and weaken demand for human capital at a rapid rate; affiliation agreements may fail to renew or affiliates may be acquired; the impact on profitability from marketable securities valuation fluctuations; increasing dependence on third parties for the execution of critical functions; our ability to generate sufficient cash flow from operations to support our growth and fund any dividends; potential impairment of our acquired goodwill and intangible assets; and disruption as a result of actions of certain stockholders or potential acquirers of the Company. For more information on the factors that could affect the outcome of forward-looking statements, refer to the "Risk Factors" section of our Annual Information Form and other public filings (copies of which may be obtained at www.sedar.com) . These factors should be considered carefully, and the reader should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Although any forward-looking statements are based on what management currently believes to be reasonable assumptions, we cannot assure readers that actual results, performance or achievements will be consistent with PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 22:31:07 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 1018 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 HALIFAX, NS / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / Today, MedMira Inc. (MedMira) (TSXV:MIR) announces it will conduct full clinical trials for its unique Multiplo Complete Syphilis (TP/nTP) Antibody Test (Multiplo TP/nTP) with the goal of getting it licensed in Canada. The new Multiplo TP/nTP will provide a complete system which combines screening and confirmation in one test. Just announced byHealth Minister Mark Holland , the clinical trial is happening in partnership with REACH Nexus at St. Michael's Hospital's MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions with funding from theCanadian Institute of Health Research(CIHR).This significant achievement is a major milestone in the fight against the rising growth of syphilis. MedMira's unique and patented Multiplo TP/nTP provides a high-quality rapid point-of-care (POC) test to screen and confirm instantly while supporting the health care system with the fastest and most cost-effective testing solution. By utilizing its unique and patented RVF technology, MedMira offers the only commercially available combined screening and confirmation test which takes less than 3 minutes (from sample collection to easy-to-read results) for the detection of active syphilis infection with immediate results."With the tremendous support of REACH Nexus at MAP, we have been able to demonstrate our superior technology and with it our products high quality and flexibility. This led to the most recent award and enables MedMira to bring this very much needed product to the Canadian market. Without scientists and their team at MAP and the funding from CIHR, Canadians would not have been able to benefit from this essential test. Hence, we are grateful for the support and believe in our technology and products" says Hermes Chan, CEO of MedMira." Our Multiplo TP/nTP is unique in every way and there is no comparable testing solution that can provide our speed, quality and cost-effectiveness. We truly feel this is a wonderful addition to the Canadian health care sector and will enable for health care providers to act swiftly in cases of active syphilis infections while unburden the financial strain on the overall system." The Multiplo TP/nTP test integrates the detection of both treponemal (TP) and non-treponemal (nTP) antibodies into a single diagnostic tool. By targeting biomarkers associated with both active and past infections, this test offers a comprehensive solution that combines the screening and confirmation phases used in global testing protocols. Unlike traditional syphilis tests, our innovative, user-friendly, and durable diagnostic tool addresses the increasing need for flexible, accurate, and cost-effective detection of active syphilis infection. The Multiplo TP/nTP not only detects exposure to TP but also determines an active infection status by simultaneously identifying both non-treponemal and treponemal antibodies."We need more rapid point-of-care (POC) testing options approved in Canada to reach the undiagnosed with HIV, syphilis and other blood-borne infections and sexually transmitted infections (STBBIs)" said Dr. Sean B. Rourke, director of REACH and MAP scientist at St. Michael's Hospital (Unity Health Toronto). "We are very excited about the partnership and implementation science work we are doing with MedMira that will have real-life impacts for Canadians, and for people around the world.With funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Dr. Rourke and his team at REACH Nexus is leading efforts to address these epidemics by working collaboratively with Canadian in vitro diagnostic developers, health care providers, community stakeholders and people with lived experience, researchers, health ministries and public health to bring new POC tests to market here in Canada - while also addressing the burden of these epidemics to Canadians at the same time."The approach we are taking to addressing the rising number of STBBIs aregame-changersfor Canada," says Dr. Rourke. "Not everyone has access to the testing they need for STBBIs because of health inequities, stigma and various forms of discrimination. We need to democratize rapid testing - get more POC and self-testing (for use at home) approved by Health Canada - so that all Canadians have access to the testing they need to make decisions about their health and wellbeing, when and where it's best for them." MedMira along with their partners from REACH Nexus and MAP have identified clinical and community sites in the Western part of Canada as an ideal location for this next "test, treat and connect" clinical trial and implementation science study, subject to Health Canada's authorization.MedMira's focus on syphilis is based on the tremendous impact of this sexually transmitted disease on global health. In 2018 alone, the European CDC reported about 34,000 new confirmed cases of syphilis with a 70% increase in the notification rate in 2017 compared to 2010. They also concluded that for the first time since the early 2000s EU/EEA countries reported more syphilis cases than HIV. Since treatments that can prevent the progression of syphilis are available, rapid diagnosis and treatment of infected individuals along with the rapid identification of sexual contacts is a high priority.About REACH Nexus at St. Michael's Hospital's MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions (Unity Health Toronto network)REACH Nexus is an ambitious national research group working on how to address HIV, Hepatitis C, and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs) in Canada. Their focus is on reaching the undiagnosed, implementing and scaling up new testing options, strengthening connections to care, improving access to options for prevention (PrEP and PEP) and ending stigma. We work in collaboration and partnership with people living with HIV; community-based organizations; front-line service providers; healthcare providers and decision makers; public health agencies; researchers; business leaders; industry partners, and federal, provincial and regional policymakers. Follow us more onLinkedInandTwitter .About MedMiraMedMira is a leading developer and manufacturer of Rapid Vertical Flow diagnostics. The Company's tests provide hospitals, labs, clinics, and individuals with instant disease diagnosis, such as HIV, Syphilis, Hepatitis, and SARS-CoV-2, in just three easy steps. The Company's tests are sold globally under the REVEAL, REVEALCOVID-19, Multiplo and Miriad brands. Based on its patented Rapid Vertical Flow Technology, MedMira's rapid HIV test is the only one in the world to achieve regulatory approvals in Canada, the United States, China and the European Union. MedMira's corporate offic PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 18:30:57 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 527 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 ST. LOUIS, MO / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / CMG Home Loans, the retail division of well-capitalized privately held mortgage lending firm, CMG Financial, announced today the hire of Regional Sales Manager, Michael Griffin (NMLS #248018). Griffin, a skilled mortgage expert with over 26 years of industry experience, has formidably grown purchase share and admirably developed outstanding teams in all of his prior roles at Guaranteed Rate, Nations Reliable Lending, and Mid America Mortgage. His skillset will prove invaluable in driving the lending market in CMG's Central Division and all throughout the Midwest.Prior to joining CMG, Griffin started his career as a Branch Manager at Ameriquest Mortgage Company in 1998. He continued to hone his mortgage expertise as an Area Manager at Equity One, the Vice President of Sales at The Mortgage Co., and a Division Manager at Mid America Mortgage. He continued his career in management from 2014-2018 at Nations Reliable Lending. From 2018-2023, Griffin worked as a Regional Manager at Guaranteed Rate, helping the company reach record-breaking highs in 2022, funding over $55 billion in loans and ranking as one of the top five mortgage lenders in the nation. Throughout his career, Griffin has delivered unparalleled customer service and established himself as an industry leader. Coming from his latest role as a Regional Manager for Union Home Mortgage Corp., Griffin is poised to take on his newest position at CMG with great success ahead of him."I am excited to join CMG and have the opportunity to leverage my skills in a supportive and collective environment," said Griffin. "I look forward to contributing to and continuing the company's already stellar track record of success and growth. CMG is a forward-thinking company that works hard to help their teams grow their production, always trying to find new ways to help our customers. I feel that CMG is in a unique position to really have an impact on our industry over the next few years, and I am truly excited to be a part of that." "We are excited to have Mike join our team," adds Michael Harrison, Divisional Sales Manager, Central Division. "His success in growing teams and market share will be important as we continue to build out the Midwest and Central Division in Missouri, Kansas, Southern Illinois, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Mike is a great fit for CMG Home Loans as the fastest growing retail IMB in the US!"About CMGCMG Mortgage, Inc. (NMLS #1820) is a well-capitalized mortgage bank founded in 1993. Founder and CEO, Christopher M. George, was Chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association in 2019. CMG makes its products and services available to the market through three distinct origination channels including retail lending, wholesale lending, and correspondent lending. CMG currently operates in all states, including District of Columbia, and holds approvals with FNMA, FHLMC, and GNMA. CMG is widely known through the mortgage banking and housing markets for responsible lending practices, industry and consumer advocacy, product innovation, and operational efficiency.Media Contact:Alina LundholmPhone: (847) 380-1954Company Line: (925) 278-6303Contact Information:Annaugh MadsenSenior Copywriteramadsen@ cmgfi.com (667) 260-6360Alina LundholmJunior Copywriteralundholm@ cmgfi.com (847) 380-1954SOURCE: CMG Home LoansView the original press release on newswire.com PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 22:44:21 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 403 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Third Texas office supports multidiscipline engineering demandAUSTIN, TX / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / Multidiscipline engineering firm Coffman Engineers, Inc. (Coffman) announced the opening of its 22nd office in Austin, Texas, at Barton Oaks Plaza One, 901 Mopac Expressway South, Building 1, Suite 300. Coffman's third Texas location solidifies the firm's commitment to the Lone Star State.Sam Swinbank, PE Sam Swinbank, PE, of Coffman Engineers AustinThe Austin location responds to client needs and allows for new partnerships in the commercial, healthcare, higher education, housing, hospitality, industrial, and energy markets, as well as Federal connections in San Antonio.The office is managed by Eric Apolenis, PE, Vice President of the Southeast Region, and supported by local Texan Sam Swinbank, PE, a senior discipline mechanical engineer."Austin is strategically important because many of our clients have offices and headquarters there. It was time to open an office location in central Texas and support our clients across the state. We are grateful for the opportunities that led to our expansion in Texas and excited for Coffman's future in the Lone Star State," said Apolenis.Swinbank joined Coffman in 2022 and has 25+ years of consulting engineering experience. Swinbank provides mechanical/plumbing engineering and design, mentors junior staff, and manages business development in Austin and across Texas."Austin has been my lifelong home. It's thrilling to be part of Coffman's expansion here. I look forward to deepening the relationships we have with clients, bringing on local talent, and strengthening our support for clients across Central Texas," said Swinbank.The Austin office offers mechanical and electrical engineering services in-house with full multidiscipline engineering capabilities supported by regional offices, including civil, structural, and fire protection engineering.For more information, visit: https://www.coffman.com/news/coffman-opens-office-in-austin-texas/ About Coffman EngineersCoffman Engineers is a multidiscipline engineering consulting firm that offers clients local, personalized services by integrating many disciplines including civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, fire protection, and other specialties. Coffman has 900+ employees in 22 offices across the U.S. committed to the team effort it takes to build a better world. This year, Coffman is celebrating 45 years in business. Visit coffman.com or connect with us on social media.###For more information about this topic, please call Beth Ito at 808.687.8884 or email Beth.Ito@coffman.com Contact InformationBeth ItoCorporate Communicationsbeth.ito@coffman.com 808-687-8884Related FilesCoffman Engineers New Austin OfficeSOURCE: Coffman Engineers, Inc.View the original press release on newswire.com PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 17:39:22 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 1055 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATESVANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 /Commerce Resources Corp. (TSXv:CCE)(FSE:D7H0) (the "Company" or "Commerce") is pleased to announce that it has closed its previously announced non-brokered private placement offering of 16,000,000 units (each, a "Unit") at a price of $0.126 per Unit for gross proceeds of up to $2,016,000 (the "Offering"). Each Unit consists of one common share of the Company (each, a "Share") and one common share purchase warrant (each, a "Warrant"), with each Warrant entitling the holder to purchase one Share at a price of $0.25 per Share for a period of two (2) years from closing of the Offering (the "Closing").Pursuant to an engagement agreement (the "Term Sheet") between the Company and Churchill SIG Pty Ltd. ("Churchill"), the Company paid cash finder's fees to Churchill in the amount of approximately $70,235 (the "Cash Fee") and issued 1,393,551 finder's warrants (each, a "Finder's Warrant") to Churchill as consideration for their services in introducing certain non-Canadian resident investors to the Company who acquired securities in connection with the distribution. Each Finder's Warrant entitles Churchill to acquire one additional common share in the capital of the Company (a "Finder's Warrant Share") at a price of $0.20 per Finder's Warrant Share for a period of two (2) years from the date of issuance of the Finder's Warrants.The Units, Shares, Warrants, Warrant Shares, Finder's Warrants and Finder's Warrant Shares are subject to a statutory hold period expiring four months and one day after closing of the Offering.The net proceeds from the sale of the Offering will be used towards completion of the updated PEA for the Ashram REE/ Fluorspar Deposit and general working capital.Certain directors, officers and other insiders of the Company acquired securities pursuant to and in connection with the Offering. Such transactions constitute "related party transactions" within the meaning of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). These transactions are exempt from the valuation requirement of MI 61-101 by virtue of the exemption contained in section 5.5(b) as the Company's common shares are not listed on a specified market and from the minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 by virtue of the exemption contained in section 5.7(a) of MI 61-101 in that the fair market value of the consideration paid to the related party did not exceed 25% of the Company's market capitalization.None of the securities sold in connection with the Offering have been or will be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and no such securities may be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.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 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."Ross Carroll"Ross CarrollPresident and DirectorTel: 604-484-2700Email: rcarroll@ 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 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, statements with respect to the expectations of management regarding the use of proceeds of the Offering; the expiry of hold periods for securities distributed pursuant to the Offering; ; 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: the proceeds of the Offering may not be used as stated in this news release and those additional risks set out in the Company's public documents filed on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.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% PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 05:56:28 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 347 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / August 12, 2024 /The Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, announces that it is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Community Health Systems, Inc. ("Community Health" or "the Company") (NYSE: CYH ) for violations of the securities laws.The investigation focuses on whether the Company issued false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose information pertinent to investors. Community Health issued a press release on Juny 19, 2024, "provid[ing] an update on the planned divestiture of two North Carolina hospitals." According to the Company, "On June 18, 2024, Novant Health, Inc., a North Carolina non-profit corporation ('Novant'), informed [Community Health] that Novant has decided not to move forward with the acquisition of two North Carolina hospitals. The transactions were contemplated by an Asset Purchase Agreement dated February 28, 2023 (as amended, the 'Purchase Agreement'), by and among Novant and certain subsidiaries of the Company." The Company added, "Novant's decision follows a ruling by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals", which "issued a temporary injunction blocking the sale to Novant Health, pending final resolution of an appeal by the Federal Trade Commission. The injunction prevented completion of the transaction until the Court of Appeals decides whether to uphold or overturn a previous District Court decision that allowed the sale to proceed." If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate.We also encourage you to contact Brian Schall of the Schall Law Firm, 2049 Century Park East, Suite 2460, Los Angeles, CA 90067, at 310-301-3335, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach us through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com , or by email at bschall@ schallfirm.com The Schall Law Firm represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation.This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics.CONTACT: The Schall Law FirmBrian Schall, Esq. www.schallfirm.com Office: 310-301-3335 info@ schallfirm.com SOURCE: The Schall Law Firm PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 03:35:09 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 311 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 The Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, announces that it is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Dril-Quip, Inc. ("Dril-Quip" or "the Company") (NYSE:DRQ) for violations of the securities laws.The investigation focuses on whether the Company issued false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose information pertinent to investors. Dril-Quip filed a current report on Form 8-K with the SEC on July 8, 2024. The Company's filing disclosed it had "became aware of an error in the classification of certain inventory write-downs from 2021." The Company added, "after considering the recommendations of management and discussion with the Company's independent registered public accounting firm[,] the Audit Committee of our board of directors ("Audit Committee") concluded that the consolidated financial statements for the Affected Period should no longer be relied upon due to the error described above. Any previously issued or filed reports, press releases, earnings releases and investor presentations or other communications describing the Company's consolidated financial statements and other related financial information covering the Affected Period also should no longer be relied upon." If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate.We also encourage you to contact Brian Schall of the Schall Law Firm, 2049 Century Park East, Suite 2460, Los Angeles, CA 90067, at 310-301-3335, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach us through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com , or by email at bschall@ schallfirm.com The Schall Law Firm represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation.This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics.CONTACT: The Schall Law FirmBrian Schall, Esq. www.schallfirm.com Office: 310-301-3335 info@ schallfirm.com SOURCE: The Schall Law Firm PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 17:00:32 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 271 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Explico brings Accident Reconstruction, Biomechanics, and Human Factors experts to downtown Chicago.CHICAGO, IL / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / Explico, a nationwide forensic engineering firm, is proud to announce the opening of an office in Chicago, Illinois. This expansion solidifies Explico's continued commitment to growth and to the pursuit of excellence in Cook County and nationwide.Explico logo The office will open in September and is located at 10 S. Riverside Plaza, Suite 875. Our Chicago team includes Human Factors Principal Scientist Steve Arndt, PhD, CHFP and Biomechanics Managing Engineers Joseph Olberding, PhD, PE and Stephanie Pasquesi, PhD, PE. While these experts have long served the Chicago area, they are excited about the opportunities this downtown location provides. The new office significantly improves Explico's ability to collaborate and provide exceptional service to our clients.For more information or to schedule a meeting with any member of our team, please contact Explico at connect@ explico.com or (248) 731-5197.About ExplicoExplico delivers premium scientific and engineering services in accident reconstruction, biomechanics, human factors, and visualization, including railroad, fire & explosion, mechanical failure analysis, and marine accident reconstruction. We analyze evidence using industry accepted tools and techniques combined with state-of-the-art technology with a goal of conveying our findings in simple, concise terms. Our multidisciplinary team consists of accomplished experts who have practical experience in research, analysis, and testimony. We serve clients nationwide from our Detroit, Denver, Chicago, Los Angeles, Tampa Bay, and Salt Lake City office locations. Learn more about us atwww.explico.com Media Contact:Meryl ColemanMarketing CoordinatorExplico248.731.5197 marketing@ explico.com Contact InformationMeryl ColemanMarketing Coordinatorconnect@ explico.com 2487315197SOURCE: ExplicoView the original press release on newswire.com PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 17:01:15 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 458 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 OKLAHOMA CITY, OK / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / factor 110 | Destination Oklahoma, the region's leader in event and destination management, proudly announces a strategic leadership transition. Ashley Armstrong, CMP, DMCP, has been promoted to President while founder Brian Ferrell, CMP, DMCP, will now serve as Chief Executive Officer (CEO).Brian Ferrell and Ashley Armstrong factor 110 | Destination Oklahoma founder + CEO Brian Ferrell and newly promoted President Ashley ArmstrongAs President, Armstrong will oversee the daily operations along with the management of the event and destination team to uphold the company's high standards. In his new role as Founder + CEO, Ferrell will concentrate on the strategic vision, assume additional roles to elevate the industry and curate unforgettable destination experiences.Armstrong previously served as the Vice President of Events & Destination Management and brings a wealth of experience and a proven track record of success to her new role. She has been instrumental in driving the company's growth and maintaining its reputation for excellence in the industry."I am honored to take on the role of President at factor 110," said Armstrong. "Our company has a strong foundation built on factoring in the difference. I am excited to lead our talented team as we continue to be a leader in event and destination management. Together, we will deliver the unexpected, set new standards in the industry and remain a trendsetter in our craft." Ferrell is a serial entrepreneur and a recognized hospitality industry leader. As CEO, Ferrell will focus on the overall customer experience, ensuring factor 110 | Destination Oklahoma continues to be the client-focused, community-driven and award-winning team infused in every aspect of the brand."This is an exciting new chapter for factor 110," said Ferrell. "I have watched Ashley be an enthusiastic ambassador and industry trailblazer for nearly 20 years - always showcasing our wonderful city and state to the world. I am confident that Ashley's leadership will drive our company to new heights, and I look forward to working closely with her to deliver extraordinary moments for our clients and their guests." For more information about factor 110 | Destination Oklahoma and its award-winning services including event & destination management, rentals, audiovisual and live event production, please visit www.factor110.com or contact 405.604.0041.factor 110 | Destination OklahomaEstablished in 2006, factor 110 | Destination Oklahoma remains the first and only destination management company in Oklahoma, offering unparalleled expertise in event management and curated destination experiences. Its additional service companies, 110 events and blue circle productions, provide top-tier event rentals, custom props, decor, audiovisual and live production services. Committed to delivering seamless and memorable experiences, factor 110 serves clients in all industries across the globe. For more information, visit www.factor110.com Contact InformationElyse MaxwellPresidentmaxwell@ songbirdmarketingpr.com 4054410010SOURCE: factor 110 | Destination OklahomaView the original press release on newswire.com PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 18:01:10 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 599 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 New onchain domain extension enables over 20m food producers worldwide to establish a secure digital identity and accept crypto transactions, in a major leap forward for Farmsent's mission to ensure fair reward for the world's farmers.SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / Unstoppable Domains , the world's largest onchain domain provider, is helping the world's farmers cut out the middleman and get a fair price for their produce, thanks to its new partnership withFarmsent , a farmer-centric blockchain that will help to facilitate food trade and food security around the world.Farmsent is the blockchain for the global agriculture sector, harnessing the power of decentralization to build a global onchain marketplace that connects farmers directly with consumer-facing businesses. To support this revolution, Unstoppable has provided a new onchain top-level domain (TLD) ".farms," which will be a crucial component of Farmsent's mission to revolutionize global agriculture and food supply chains.The new TLD enables any food producer of any size to create a unique digital identity tied to .farms, which they can use to transact directly with buyers anywhere in the world. Other key benefits include the ability to send and receive cryptocurrency payments across more than 275 supported tokens."The global agriculture system is deeply flawed, with small farmers disproportionately impacted by unfair pricing and market dominance by large corporations," said Yog Shrusti, CEO of Farmsent. "Farmsent is creating a decentralized marketplace that empowers farmers to sell directly to consumers, cutting out exploitative middlemen. Traditional crypto wallets present a barrier to entry for farmers, so we've introduced the .FARMS TLD to provide simple, accessible digital identities. This empowers smallholders to access capital, expand their farms, and overcome the limitations of centralized systems." Farmsent has rapidly gained traction since its launch, successfully onboarding over 160,000 farmers from Indonesia and Colombia. Currently in beta, the platform is already facilitating the trade of coffee, avocado, and palm sugar between these countries, the UAE (where Farmsent is licensed), and Indonesia. With plans to expand into three additional major markets, including one of the world's most populous nations, Farmsent is poised to revolutionize global agriculture."Farmsent is a testament to the transformative power of the blockchain," said Sandy Carter, COO of Unstoppable Domains. "We're proud to provide Farmsent with a home on onchain, enabling them to give users a unique digital identity they can use to trade securely and on equal terms with major, multinational competitors." In addition, as a new partner of Unstoppable Domains, Farmsent will join over 15 blockchain-based companies, including leading crypto finance house Blockchain.com , in strategizing and applying to the upcoming Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) general Top Level Domains (gTLD) application round in 2026.For more information, please visit: unstoppabledomains.com -end-Press Contactpress@ unstoppabledomains.com About Unstoppable DomainsLaunched in 2018, Unstoppable Domains is a Web3 domain name provider and digital identity platform working to onboard the world onto Web3. Unstoppable Domains offers Web3 domains minted on the blockchain that give people full ownership and control of their digital identity with no renewal fees. With Unstoppable Domains, people can replace lengthy alphanumeric crypto wallet addresses with a human-readable name and log into and transact with more than 720 apps, wallets, exchanges, and marketplaces. The company was named by Forbes as one of America's Best Startup Employers in 2022.For more information, please visit: https://unstoppabledomains.com/ About FarmsentFarmsent is a blockchain platform designed to connect farmers directly with buyers, with a focus on empowering small farmers and ensuring food security.For more information, please visit: https://www.farmsent.io/ SOURCE: Unstoppable Domains PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 16:07:09 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 509 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Reinforces leadership in Business Process Management and ConsultingNEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 /Fusion Business Solutions (P) Limited introduces a refreshed brand identity - FBSPL, marking a significant milestone since its inception in 2006. The rebranding underscores FBSPL's achievements and vision for the future.FBSPL The revamped brand identity aligns FBSPL's capabilities and ethos with public perception. This transformation enhances user experiences, provides a clearer brand identity, and reaffirms the company's dedication to continuous innovation while staying true to its core values.Transitioning from Fusion' to the standalone, uppercase FBSPL', the company continues to expand and refine its core offerings to meet evolving client needs. This transition is underpinned by investments in talent, technology, and in-house research.The new visual identity reflects its transformation into a tech-driven, forward-thinking organization. The new logo features a rising phoenix icon in vibrant Electric Blue, symbolizing rebirth and continuous improvement. Modern yet understated graphic elements convey a youthful spirit and tranquility, aligning with its people-first approach and ethos of creativity and reliability.This rebranding effort emphasizes unity and coherence, with Gestalt principles providing a structured framework for intuitive, user-friendly design. The newly revamped website exemplifies this philosophy, offering an enhanced user experience alongside new features.Madhukar S Dubey, Founder & Managing Director, states, "The world is changing faster with each passing year. To pre-empt changes and be ready, companies, like people, must be agile, perceptive, and open to embracing new technology as well as new ideas. Our rebranding is all about getting out of the comfort zone, rocking the boat, and heading for a new shore - tomorrow." Director Shweta Dubey adds, "FBSPL, as a company, is driven by deep feelings - of growth and a brighter future for all. We believe that real, sustainable growth emerges not out of economics but from a willingness to change. This energy to continually improve and evolve is reflected in our brand refresh." FBSPL is deeply committed to expanding its in-house capabilities in AI, automation, and consulting. This strategic focus, driven by evolving client needs, is central to the brand refresh. FBSPL envisions itself as a pivotal partner in its clients' growth journeys, investing in solutions that streamline workflows, enhance business processes, and deliver tangible benefits. With a data-driven, client-centric approach, the company is poised to anticipate market trends and provide steadfast support through any challenges.FBSPL was recently recognized as an Aspirant in the Everest Group PEAK Matrix for Insurance Intermediaries Business Process Services. This acknowledgment underscores their commitment to excellence as a preferred choice for consultation and outsourcing services by leading US Insurance agencies.About FBSPLFBSPL is a leading B2B organization specializing in business process management and consulting. For two decades, the company has optimized business operations and empowered companies with end-to-end outsourcing solutions, including Insurance, Data Annotation, Finance & Accounting Services. FBSPL positions itself as a growth partner, aiming to transform businesses through its comprehensive solutions.Contact InformationFBSPL Editorial Teammarketing@ fbpsl.com +12409790061Related FilesPR-Graphic-2SOURCE: Fusion Business Solutions (P) LimitedView the original press release on newswire.com PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 16:33:16 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 684 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Graphene Admixtures Increase the Mechanical Performance, Durability, and Sustainability of Cementitious MaterialsSAO PAULO, BRAZIL / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 /Gerdau Graphene, the nanotechnology company pioneering advanced graphene-enhanced materials for industrial applications, today announced "NanoCONS," a new line of graphene admixture solutions designed for the construction industry. The new NanoCONS line of admixtures will enable concrete producers to leverage the unprecedented physical properties of graphene to improve the mechanical performance of their concrete products. Graphene, a 2D carbon nanomaterial, is the strongest material known to exist and is approximately 100 to 300 times stronger in terms of tensile strength than structural steel.Gerdau Graphene - NanoCONS W104 Gerdau Graphene - NanoCONS W104The integration of NanoCONS into cementitious materials may also reduce carbon emissions associated with concrete production: according to recent research on graphene-enhanced concrete, reducing cement content can lower concrete manufacturing-related emissions by up to 20%. NanoCONS can help reduce cement consumption without any loss of concrete performance, thereby contributing to more sustainable concrete production.The NanoCONS line of graphene-enhanced concrete admixtures joins the company's existing graphene additive linesNanoDUR,NanoLAV, and NanoCORR designed for paints and coatings as well as award-winningPoly-G, the world's first commercially-produced graphene additives for the plastics industry."The launch of the NanoCONS line reflects our team's efforts in research and applied development aimed at developing industry-leading solutions for the construction industry and underscores our commitment to enhancing the performance, durability, and overall sustainability of industrial products," said Valdirene Peressinotto, Executive and Innovation Director at Gerdau Graphene.NanoCONS W104 - unprecedented performance gains for precast concreteThe first product in the NanoCONS line, NanoCONS W104, is a water-based graphene nanoplate admixture that can be applied to cementitious matrices such as cement pastes, mortars, and concretes to improve physical properties such as durability, mechanical strength, impermeability, and other desired performance attributes. NanoCONS W104 was specially developed for application in precast concrete and offers precast concrete producers:Increased mechanical strength:NanoCONS W104 improves the compressive strength performance of concrete by up to 50% in industrial testing. As a result, reinforced precast concrete structures like bridges and buildings can bear more weight and withstand more force.Efficient water management and associated cost reduction:NanoCONS W104 is dispersed in the mixing water during concrete production and can contribute to reducing water consumption by 10% to 20% while maintaining the same workability, thereby saving on water-related costs.Enhanced durability:NanoCONS W104 improves the microstructure of concrete by reducing its porosity and susceptibility to deleterious agents (like CO2 and chloride ingress). This extends the lifespan of concrete and ensures concrete resilience even in challenging environments.Faster-drying concrete: NanoCONS W104 has been shown to increase the speed of concrete setting time by an average of 30%. In industrial studies, setting time was reduced from 18 hours to 12 hours, enabling faster construction."Gerdau has a broad portfolio of solutions for the construction industry, with products for foundations, structures, rebars, profiles and trusses, among many others," said Elder Rapachi, Executive Director of Gerdau Next. Gerdau Graphene is a Gerdau Next company, a new business unit created by Gerdau, the largest steel producer in the Americas, with the aim of diversifying the company's portfolio with products and services in segments adjacent to steel. "The development of graphene solutions for the construction sector enriches the ecosystem of the entire company. Through Gerdau Next, we can help complement end-to-end service for our customers, offering innovative graphene technologies from Gerdau Graphene in addition to services from other Gerdau Next companies." About Gerdau GrapheneGerdau Graphene is focused on the development and commercialization of chemical additives, mineral additives, and thermoplastic masterbatches enhanced with carbon-based nanomaterials such as graphene. Gerdau Graphene delivers solutions that provide performance gains for the paints and coatings; cement and concrete; and plastics industries. Gerdau Graphene is a Gerdau Next company, Gerdau's new business unit was created with the aim of diversifying the company's portfolio with products and services in several segments adjacent to steel. To learn more, please visit gerdaugraphene.com Contact InformationAaron EndreEndre Communications for Gerdau Graphenegerdau@ endrecommunications.com SOURCE: Gerdau GrapheneView the original press release on newswire.com PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 15:45:29 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 396 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 HOLLAND, MI / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / GMB, a planning, architecture, engineering, enrollment marketing, and branding firm serving schools and universities, has announced a new brand to support their evolving organization. GMB has recently expanded its service offerings for clients in education and is focused on equipping and empowering students to build a better future of abundance.GMB logo GMB logoGMB's team provides a comprehensive package designed to address the multifaceted needs of educational institutions. With an integrated approach, educators receive a cohesive strategy where each service complements and strengthens the others, leading to enhanced outcomes for schools and students."When you hire GMB, you receive a full range of curated services to support your brand and your buildings," said David Bolt, GMB President and CEO. "Instead of offering a menu of services to choose from, GMB provides a full-service bundle of interconnected resources which saves schools and universities both time and money." GMB has engaged in several exclusive partnerships to support this holistic evolution. Partnerships with Secure Environment Consultants (SEC) provide clients with built-in safety and security services, and with sustainability and energy experts to integrate with our engineering solutions. GMB also acquired a full-service marketing firm in 2023, providing branding, digital, and enrollment marketing services for higher education institutions across the U.S.To illustrate these bold organizational changes, GMB is introducing a new brand and identity that goes beyond traditional architecture and engineering. GMB's updated logo drops the reference of only offering architecture and engineering services and embraces a new look that speaks to growth and the firm's evolving nature. A new vibrant color palette evokes a fun and energetic nature that reflects the students we serve."We are excited to expand our impact and reach a broader audience of educators and students of all ages," added Jeff Hoag, Educational Planner with GMB. "We believe that the more we can share, the more people who have access to resources and knowledge will help all of us increase the abundance, creativity, and inventiveness in the world." GMB employs more than 200 people across the country and has been serving clients for over 56 years. We are a people-centric and empowered team working together to contribute to an equitable, sustainable, and abundant future for all.Contact InformationHannah Pier-HerendeenMarketinghannahp@ gmb.com 616-796-0200SOURCE: GMBView the original press release on newswire.com PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 21:07:41 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 363 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 HOLLYWOOD, FL and MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / On August 26, 2024 after the NYSE closing, HEICO Corporation (NYSE: HEI.A)(NYSE:HEI) will release its financial results for the third quarter ended July 31, 2024. The earnings release will be available through the Internet on the Company's website at https://www.heico.com In order to assist interested parties in scheduling their participation in HEICO teleconferences, the Company issues advance notices of conference calls.HEICO will hold a conference call on Tuesday, August 27, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time to discuss its third quarter results. Individuals wishing to participate in the conference call should dial: US and Canada (888) 204-4368, International (646) 828-8193, wait for the conference operator and provide the operator with the Conference ID 3601863. A digital replay will be available two hours after the completion of the conference call for 14 days. To access the replay, please visit our website at https://www.heico.com under the Investors section for details.The Company has two classes of common stock traded on the NYSE. Both classes, the Common Stock (HEI) and the Class A Common Stock ( HEI.A) , are virtually identical in all economic respects. The only difference between the share classes is the voting rights. The Class A Common Stock ( HEI.A) carries 1/10 vote per share and the Common Stock (HEI) carries one vote per share. The stock symbols for HEICO's two classes of common stock on most websites are HEI and HEI.A. However, some websites change HEICO's Class A Common Stock symbol ( HEI.A) to HEI/A or HEIa.HEICO Corporation is engaged primarily in the design, production, servicing and distribution of products and services to certain niche segments of the aviation, defense, space, medical, telecommunications and electronics industries through its Hollywood, Florida-based Flight Support Group and its Miami, Florida-based Electronic Technologies Group. HEICO's customers include a majority of the world's airlines and overhaul shops, as well as numerous defense and space contractors and military agencies worldwide, in addition to medical, telecommunications and electronics equipment manufacturers. For more information about HEICO, please visit our website at https://www.heico.com Contact InformationVictor Mendelson 305-374-1745 ext. 7590Carlos Macau, Jr. 954-987-4000 ext. 7570SOURCE: HEICO Corporation PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 15:02:12 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 973 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 BROOKLYN, NY / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 /IEH Corporation (OTC PINK:IEHC) today filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ending June 30, 2024.For the quarter ended June 30, 2024, IEH had revenues of $7,104,977 as compared to $4,679,845 for the quarter ended June 30, 2023 reflecting a 52% increase; an operating profit of $332,979 for 1st quarter fiscal year 2025 as compared to an operating loss of $1,334,392 for 1st quarter fiscal year 2024; a net profit of $392,787 for 1st quarter fiscal year 2025 as compared to a net loss of $1,315,902 for 1st quarter fiscal year 2024; and a basic earnings per share of $.17 for 1st quarter fiscal year 2025 as compared to a basic loss per share of $.56 for 1st quarter fiscal year 2024.Dave Offerman, President and CEO of IEH Corporation commented, "By every notable metric of financial performance, IEH has experienced significant growth and improvement in this quarter compared to the same quarter of last year. Revenue, gross margins and operating income all increased considerably, and after 2 years of losses due to jet groundings, COVID-induced contractions in the commercial aerospace supply chain, higher costs and shifting defense priorities, we achieved profitability. While this does not approach our pre-COVID top and bottom line results, it is nonetheless noteworthy when considering the difficulties of the last few years and the continued industry challenges. Growth and improvements may still be uneven from one quarter to the next while the commercial aircraft industry continues to produce below their target levels, but our long-term forecasts for that sector, along with strong growth projections in our defense-related business, bode well for IEH in the years ahead.On behalf of the management team and staff of IEH, we again wish to express our sincere gratitude for the support of our valued shareholders. We look forward to sharing more positive news in the coming months and quarters." About IEH CorporationFor over 80 years and 4 generations of family-run management, IEH Corporation has designed, developed, and manufactured printed circuit board (PCB) connectors, custom interconnects and contacts for high performance applications. With its signature Hyperboloid technology, IEH supplies the most durable, reliable connectors for the most demanding environments. The company markets primarily to companies in defense, aerospace, medical, space and industrial applications, in the United States, Canada, Europe, Southeast and Central Asia and the Mideast. The company was founded in 1941 and is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York.Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995Certain statements contained in this press release, and in related comments by the Company's management, include "forward-looking statements." All statements, other than statements of historical facts, including, without limitation, statements or expectations regarding our financial condition, statements or expectations regarding our revenues, cash and backlog, expectations regarding future cash requirements, revenue and revenue recovery, including for fiscal year 2025 and beyond, projected timelines for making our SEC filings or successfully preventing our registration from suspension or revocation and expectations regarding our efforts and ability to resolve our inventory accounting issues are forward-looking statements. These statements often include words such as "believe," "expect," "estimate," "plan," "will," "may," "would," "should," "could," or similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. These statements are based on certain assumptions that the Company has made on its current expectations and projections about future events. The Company believes these judgments are reasonable, but you should understand that these statements are not guarantees of performance or results, and you should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. The Company's actual performance or results could differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements due to a variety of important factors, both positive and negative, as they will depend on many factors about which we are unsure, including many factors beyond our control. Among other items, such factors could include: any claims, investigations or proceedings arising as a result of our past due Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") periodic reports, including changes in the proceedings related to the SEC's Order Instituting Administrative Proceedings and Notice of Hearing pursuant to Section 12(j) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended; our ability to remediate our inventory accounting issue; our ability to reduce costs or increase revenue; changes in the macroeconomic environment or in the finances of our customers; changes in accounting principles, or their application or interpretation, and our ability to make accurate estimates and the assumptions underlying the estimates; our ability to attract and retain key employees and key resources; and other risk factors discussed from time to time in our filings with the SEC, including those factors discussed under the caption "Risk Factors" in our most recent annual report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on June 14, 2024, and in subsequent reports filed with or furnished to the SEC. Additional information concerning these and other factors can be found in our filings with the SEC. All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements. Except as may be required by applicable law, we do not undertake or intend to update or revise our forward-looking statements, and we assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information or future events or developments. Thus, you should not assume that our silence over time means that actual events are bearing out as expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. You should carefully review and consider the various disclosures we make in our filings with the SEC that attempt to advise interested parties of the risks, uncertainties and other factors that may affect our business.Contact:Dave OffermanIEH Corporation dave@ iehcorp.com 718-492-4448SOURCE: IEH Corporation PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 15:03:28 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 479 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Linsoul Audio is proud to introduce Kiwi Ears's latest innovation, the Kiwi Ears Canta - a cutting-edge HiFi wired earphone designed to meet the evolving needs of today's audio enthusiasts. This groundbreaking product is now available.NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / Translated from Italian, "Canta" signifies its exceptional vocal performance. Featuring a unique hybrid driver configuration that combines a full-sized dynamic driver with custom planar drivers, the Kiwi Ears Canta offers enhanced texture, timbre, and coherent sound across all frequencies. This design provides a natural, robust tonal quality superior to traditional balanced armature drivers. Tailored for both music enthusiasts and professional musicians, the Canta excels for vocalists, guitarists, and pianists alike, delivering uncompromising audio resolution to satisfy audiophiles and music lovers.Kiwi Ears CantaSong-like Tonality Tuned precisely to enhance male and female vocals, the Canta focuses on a full-sounding mid-range and a crisp mid-treble transition. Vocals have excellent articulation and stage presence in all genres of music while maintaining a natural timbre and tonal balance. Thanks to full-sized drivers, the sub-bass impact is strong with a powerful bass that provides engaging kick bass and bass guitar notes in pop, hip-hop, and rock genres. The low-mid transition is tuned with a natural warmth that provides a rich texture to the bodies of vocals and instruments, while the treble is designed to be clean without any harshness. The overall tonality is full, engaging, and vocal-centric while still being well-balanced and natural.Hand Made QualityThe Canta is manufactured from medical-grade resin and each unit is assembled by hand. Each pair of Canta is hand-matched following individual QC inspection to ensure channel matching.Custom Detachable Cable To enhance the headphone experience, Kiwi Ears has designed a custom detachable cable for the Canta. It features a high-quality 2-pin 0.78mm connector system, ensuring a clean signal with minimal microphonics. This detachable design not only extends the lifespan of the IEMs but also allows for easy customization with alternative cables.Product Information Model: Kiwi Ears Canta 1DD+2Planar Hybrid IEM Sensitivity: (1KHz)104dB SPL/mWFrequency Range: 20Hz-20KHz Impedance: (1KHz)140hm Driver: 1DD+2PLANAR Earphone Connection: 0.78mmWho is Kiwi Ears? Kiwi Ears is dedicated to creating the highest-quality audio solutions for musicians and audiophiles. The brand leverages cutting-edge driver technology and precise tuning to capture every detail in music and performance. Each unit is meticulously handcrafted by an international team of engineers, allowing you to focus on your sound rather than the gear.With the release of the Canta, Kiwi Ears invites both audiophiles and casual listeners to experience its unmatched sound quality and innovative design. For more information on the Kiwi Ears Canta and Kiwi Ears's commitment to audio excellence, please visit:Kiwi Ears Canta PageKiwi Ears WebsiteLinsoul WebsiteContact InformationAgnes DuMarketing Managermarketing@ linsoul.com Evelyn ZhouMarketing Assistantmarketing@ kiwiears.com SOURCE: Linsoul INCView the original press release on newswire.com PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 15:02:48 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 1002 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 PHOENIX, AZ / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / Ivanhoe Electric Inc. ("Ivanhoe Electric", the "Company" or "IE") (NYSE American:IE)(TSX:IE) Executive Chairman Robert Friedland and President and Chief Executive Officer Taylor Melvin are pleased to announce that the Company, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Mesa Cobre Holding Corporation ("Mesa Cobre"), completed the final US$10 million payment to exercise its option to acquire 100% ownership of the mineral rights at the Santa Cruz Copper Project in Arizona. Following this transaction, Ivanhoe Electric now owns 100% of the mineral and surface rights for the Santa Cruz Copper Project.Taylor Melvin, Ivanhoe Electric's President and Chief Executive Officer, commented: "Completing our option agreement and securing 100% ownership of the mineral rights at our Santa Cruz Copper Project in Arizona is an important milestone for our Company. We have now completed the consolidation of surface and mineral rights ownership at one of the largest and highest grade undeveloped copper resources in the United States that is located entirely on private land." Figure 1. Plan view map of land and mineral rights acquired at the Santa Cruz Copper Project, Arizona.Qualified PersonsDisclosures of a scientific or technical nature included in this news release, including the sampling, analytical and technical data underlying the information, have been reviewed, verified, and approved by Glen Kuntz, P.Geo., who is a Qualified Person as defined by Regulation S-K, Subpart 1300 promulgated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and by Canadian National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Kuntz is an employee of Ivanhoe Electric Inc.About Ivanhoe ElectricWe are a U.S. company that combines advanced mineral exploration technologies with electric metals exploration projects predominantly located in the United States. We use our accurate and powerful Typhoon geophysical surveying system, together with advanced data analytics provided by our subsidiary, Computational Geosciences Inc., to accelerate and de-risk the mineral exploration process as we seek to discover new deposits of critical metals that may otherwise be undetectable by traditional exploration technologies. We believe the United States is significantly underexplored and has the potential to yield major new discoveries of critical metals. Our mineral exploration efforts focus on copper as well as other metals including nickel, vanadium, cobalt, platinum group elements, gold and silver. Through the advancement of our portfolio of electric metals exploration projects, headlined by the Santa Cruz Copper Project in Arizona and the Tintic Copper-Gold Project in Utah, as well as other exploration projects in the United States, we intend to support United States supply chain independence by finding and delivering the critical metals necessary for the electrification of the economy. We also operate a 50/50 joint venture with Saudi Arabian Mining Company Ma'aden to explore for minerals on ~48,500 km2 of underexplored Arabian Shield in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Website: www.ivanhoeelectric.com Contact InformationIvanhoe Electric:Email: info@ ivanhoeelectric.com Follow us on XIvanhoe Electric's Executive Chairman Robert Friedland: @robert_ivanhoeIvanhoe Electric: @ivanhoeelectricIvanhoe Electric's investor relations website located at www.ivanhoeelectric.com should be considered Ivanhoe Electric's recognized distribution channel for purposes of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Regulation FD.Forward-Looking StatementsCertain statements in this news release constitute "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable US and Canadian securities laws. Such statements and information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Ivanhoe Electric, its projects, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. Such statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "expect", "believe", "plan", "anticipate", "estimate", "scheduled", "forecast", "predict" and other similar terminology, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. These statements reflect Ivanhoe Electric's current expectations regarding future events, performance and results and speak only as of the date of this news release.Forward-looking statements are based on management's beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management. Such statements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements due to various factors, including changes in the prices of copper or other metals Ivanhoe Electric is exploring for; the results of exploration and drilling activities and/or the failure of exploration programs or studies to deliver anticipated results or results that would justify and support continued exploration, studies, development or operations; the final assessment of exploration results and information that is preliminary; the significant risk and hazards associated with any future mining operations, extensive regulation by the US government as well as local governments; changes in laws, rules or regulations, or their enforcement by applicable authorities; the failure of parties to contracts with Ivanhoe Electric to perform as agreed; and the impact of political, economic and other uncertainties associated with operating in foreign countries, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the global economy. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements and risk factors described in Ivanhoe Electric's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.No assurance can be given that such future results will be achieved. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this news release. Ivanhoe Electric cautions you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Subject to applicable securities laws, Ivanhoe Electric does not assume any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this news release, and Ivanhoe Electric expressly disclaims any requirement to do so. PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 08:21:16 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 305 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / Levi & Korsinsky notifies investors that it has commenced an investigation of The Chemours Company ("The Chemours Company") (NYSE:CC) concerning possible violations of federal securities laws.Chemours issued a press release on August 1, 2024, reporting its financial results for the second quarter of 2024. Among other items, Chemours reported non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.38, missing consensus estimates by $0.20. The Company advised that it "anticipates a low to mid-single digit sequential decline in Net Sales for the third quarter," citing "[r]esidual impacts from Q2 unplanned downtime at our Altamira, Mexico manufacturing site" in its Titanium Technologies segment; "[r]efrigerant seasonality paired with weaker Freon Refrigerants pricing in its Thermal & Specialized Solutions segment; and "[a] continued modest recovery in" its Advanced Performance Materials segment.Following this news, Chemours's stock price dropped over 11% on August 2, 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 PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 15:15:31 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 1034 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITEDVANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / Lincoln Gold Mining Inc. (TSXV:LMG) ("Lincoln Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the commencement of core sample analysis from its 2021 drilling program on the Wilson deposit, at the Pine Grove Project in Lyon County, Nevada. This analysis represents an important step in Lincoln Gold's strategy to expand resources and evaluate the potential for further development at the property.The Pine Grove Project has already undergone extensive exploration, featuring 275 drill holes and a comprehensive NI 43-101 report filed on SEDAR on February 16, 2015, and available on the Company's website. The project is nearing the final stages of permitting, with full approval anticipated within the next 12 to 16 months. Currently, Pine Grove boasts measured and indicated resources equivalent to 210,962 ounces of gold, with one of Nevada's highest reserve gold grades at 1.23 g/t. Approximately 25% of the property has been explored, leaving significant potential for resource expansion.The 2021 drilling program focused on the Wilson Deposit, where five core holes provided valuable data on rock structure, lithology, and mineralization, including quartz-sulfide veining with trace copper within established ore zones. These insights are vital for guiding future exploration and resource expansion efforts. Due to the challenges posed by COVID-19 and the need to prioritize our limited funds at the time, the Company was unable to complete the full analyses of the core until now.A key driver of this important next step is Mr. Reid Yano, an accomplished geologist with a wealth of experience in both industry and government projects. As a respected member of the Geological Society of Nevada and the Society of Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Mr. Yano's deep understanding of the region's geology will be invaluable in interpreting the core sample analysis and guiding the subsequent exploration and resource development.The Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for Pine Grove highlights substantial exploration potential beyond the current resource base, recommending infill and offset drilling at the Wilson Deposit, deep drilling at the Wheeler Deposit, and expanded exploration across other promising areas. Ten new drill targets have already been identified, underscoring the project's considerable growth potential."We're excited to advance our work at Pine Grove, a project with significant upside," said Mr. Paul Saxton, President and CEO of Lincoln Gold. "The core sample analysis and subsequent exploration efforts are crucial to unlocking the full potential of this high-grade gold project. With our strategic approach and the expertise, we've brought on board, including Mr. Yano, we are well-positioned to drive this project forward." Lincoln Gold remains committed to advancing the Pine Grove Project responsibly and efficiently, with a focus on delivering value to its shareholders. The Company will continue to provide updates as the analysis and exploration programs progress.About Lincoln Gold Mining Inc.:Lincoln is a Canadian precious metals exploration and development company headquartered in Vancouver, BC. Lincoln holds 100% interest in Pine Grove gold project located in Nevada, US, renowned for its mining-friendly regulations. Lincoln received conditional approval from the TSXV on its acquisition of the Bell Mountain from Eros Resources Corp. The anticipated completion of this transaction will mark a pivotal moment for Lincoln, enabling a potent operational synergy between these two properties. Lincoln is committed to maintaining steady and robust progress towards its goal of becoming a mid-tier gold producer.For further information, please contact:Lincoln Gold Mining Inc. Paul SaxtonPresident and Chief Executive OfficerPhone: 604-688-7377 Email: saxton@ lincolnmining.com 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 StatementsThis news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. "Forward-looking information" includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including the ability of the Company to complete the Second Tranche on the proposed terms or at all, the anticipated closing date of the Second Tranche, the anticipated use of proceeds from the Offering and receipt of regulatory approvals with respect to the Offering and the Acquisition..Generally, but not always, forward-looking information and statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or the negative connotation thereof or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connation thereof.Such forward-looking information and statements are based on numerous assumptions, including among others, that the Company will be able to complete the Second Tranche on the terms as anticipated by management, that the Company will use the proceeds of the Offering as anticipated, the expected closing date of the Second Tranche, and that the Company will receive regulatory approval with respect to the Offering and the Acquisition. Although the assumptions made by the Company in providing forward-looking information or making forward-looking statements are considered reasonable by management at the time, there can be no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be accurate.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. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's plans or expectations include the risk that the Company will not be able to complete the Second Tranche on the terms as anticipated by management or at all, that the Company will not use the proceeds of the Offering as anticipated, that the Company will not receive regulatory approval with respect to the Offering, risks relating to the acquisition of the Bell Mountain gold project, including the risk that the Compan PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 21:30:58 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 635 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Anne Milgram DEA Administrator Continues to Hinder Marijuana Research and Drug DevelopmentWASHINGTON, DC / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / On August 12, 2024, Megan Sheehan and her legal team, representing MMJ BioPharma Cultivation, filed an amended complaint in the Federal Court in Rhode Island. The lawsuit targets Attorney General Merrick Garland, DEA Administrator Anne Milgram, and Administrative Law Judge Teresa Wallbaum. Thesummons issued to these high-profile officialssignals a significant legal battle that could have far-reaching implications for marijuana rescheduling hearings and the broader scope of drug development in the United States.Anne Milgram DEA Administrator Continues to Hinder Marijuana Research and Drug Development Contradictions in DEA PoliciesAs the United States confronts the escalating fentanyl crisis, the Biden-Harris administration's Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is under intense scrutiny for its inconsistent and, some argue, obstructive stance on marijuana and psychedelic research. Despite the urgent need to develop new treatments, the DEA's approach to regulating potentially life-saving research has been criticized for stifling innovation and delaying progress in medical research.MMJ BioPharma Cultivation: Legal Challenges and Case BackgroundMMJ BioPharma Cultivation, along with its sister companies MMJ Biopharma Labs and MMJ International Holdings, stands at the forefront of pharmaceutical cannabis research. Duane Boise president of the companies stated "we have made considerable progress in developing treatments for severe conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Huntington's Disease (HD). With FDA Investigational New Drug (IND) applications submitted and an orphan designation awarded by the FDA, MMJ is positioned to bring new therapeutic options to patients".DEA Delays Against Presidential OrderHowever, MMJ's progress has been significantly hindered by delays from the DEA in processing their application to cultivate strain-specific cannabis. This bottleneck has stalled their research and development efforts, depriving patients of potentially groundbreaking treatments.DEA Constitutional Violations and Legal PrecedentsThe recent Supreme Court ruling in Jarkesy v. SEC has significant implications for cases like MMJ BioPharma Cultivation's. The ruling challenges the constitutionality of federal agencies' use of in-house administrative law judges (ALJs) instead of federal courts, arguing that such practices violate the Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial.Potential Impact on DEA CasesMMJ BioPharma Cultivation will leverage the Jarkesy ruling to challenge the DEA's use of ALJs, demanding that their case be heard in federal court. If this argument succeeds, it could compel the DEA to reevaluate its procedures, potentially leading to procedural delays and an increase in litigation within federal courts.Public and Political SupportThe contradictions in DEA policies, combined with the implications of the Jarkesy ruling, provide MMJ BioPharma Cultivation with an opportunity to garner public and political support. By positioning their case as a fight against unconstitutional administrative overreach, MMJ could draw significant attention and support from both the public and political figures concerned with upholding constitutional rights.Broader Implications for DEA Regulatory EnforcementThe ongoing legal challenges against the DEA could trigger substantial changes in how the agency, and potentially other federal bodies, enforce regulations. These challenges may prompt reforms aimed at ensuring more transparent and constitutionally sound enforcement procedures.BIDEN- HARRIS DEA DISARRAYThe DEA's current legal challenges, coupled with recent Supreme Court rulings, have cast a spotlight on the agency's controversial practices. While the DEA is urgently addressing the fentanyl crisis, it simultaneously faces mounting criticism and legal battles over its handling of marijuana and psychedelic research. The outcomes of these cases, along with future Supreme Court decisions, will be pivotal in shaping the future of regulatory enforcement and pharmaceutical research in the United States. The increased legal and public scrutiny of the DEA's actions could lead to significant reforms, potentially improving the regulatory environment for new treatment research and ensuring that constitutional rights are upheld throughout enforcement processes.MMJ is represented by Attorney Megan Sheehan and Associates.CONTACT: Madison Hisey media@ mmjih.com 203-231-8583SOURCE: MMJ International Holdings Day Gardner: I'm Black, I'm a Woman and I Support Donald Trump Here's Why NEWS PROVIDED BY National Black Pro-Life Union Aug. 13, 2024 WASHINGTON, Aug. 13, 2024 /Christian Newswire/ -- The following is submitted by Day Gardner (photo), President of the National Black Pro-Life Union, she is available for comment: Lately, I have received inquiries from liberal media addicts and a few Christians asking me to explain, how, as a Christian, I can support Donald J. Trump for President. Though my reasons are my own, I hope what I have to say will shed light on my opinions, at the very least. Yes, I am a born-again believer in JESUS CHRIST as Lord and Savior, and a staunch supporter of former President Trump. I endorsed him early in 2016, 2020 and again for 2024. When a person says Trump has had several wives and is a womanizer, I am reminded of the Biblical David (2 Samuel 11,12). David was an adulterer who impregnated the wife of an elite soldier in his own army and then ensured her husband would be killed in battle. Even though King David was an adulterer and murderer (by proxy) God still chose him to fulfil the covenant. He is one of the greatest leaders of God's people in the Old Testament. Unlike King David, Donald Trump is not a murderer. Whatever his relationships have been with wives or others is not my concern. I do find it quite interesting that many of the people throwing stones at Trump for past relationships still hold former President's Bill Clinton and John F. Kennedy, (his brothers) and others in high regard. Go figure. Then, there's Rahab. Rahab was a prostitute in Jericho. She is mentioned at least ten times in Biblical scripture and in the New Testament, she is thought of as a godly woman who lived by faith and is even considered righteous for her works. (James 2:25) Rahab, the former prostitute, was used by GOD when she helped in the over throwing of Jericho. She is also found in the very lineage of JESUS CHRIST. Saul of Tarsus was a killer of Christians until the day he encountered the resurrected JESUS on the way to Damascus. Saul aka Paul, is a perfect example of true conversion. A man who made it his life's work to persecute Christians, met Jesus, and instantly dedicated himself to preaching the Gospel. GOD used Paul for HIS perfect will. Paul is also the author of at least 13 books of the New Testament. (Acts13:9) Let us not forget that GOD even "used" Satan. SATAN (Luke 22:3-23) God allowed Satan to enter Judas who -- though was one of the original 12 disciples, betrayed JESUS for thirty pieces of silver. Judas' evil deed made salvation in CHRIST possible for us all. Like I said...GOD even used the devil. I get it. Donald Trump has been larger than life--most of his life. It's easier to see the sins of those who are famous, especially with today's technology. We 'unknown people' can live in the shadows, away from the lime light, the internet, etc., where our sins and imperfections are a tad more difficult to see. Yet, I have heard countless, wonderful stories about President Trump's generosity and care for friends, employees and even strangers. Is Trump a saint? Heck no! Is he perfect? Again, heck no! Neither am I perfect, nor anyone reading this post. However, I do believe Donald Trump is a good man and a great leader. I also believe GOD has HIS hand on him. I don't pretend to know why. GOD doesn't need my approval, or yours. How can we, any of us possibly understand GOD'S plan? We can't see the big picture...because GOD IS THE BIG PICTURE. (Ephesians 2:10) Trump was President for four years and even with all the darts and arrows hurled at him daily, America thrived! In that time, socialists, communists and other liberals did every dastardly thing they could think of to destroy America. They burned and pillaged businesses all over the country. They knocked down statues and destroyed public -- and private property. They violently attacked police and just about anyone and everyone who disagreed with them -- or wore a red hat. Yet, as God would have it, the lies and crazy "hoaxes" of never Trumpers are being thrown out and/or disproven as the truth pours out granted, sometimes in floods and other times in dribbles, but truth no less. There is NO racism -- NO hate surrounding TRUMP. None. The hate and "perceived racism" are coming from the media and those who especially want to keep black and brown people dependent on the government. It reminds me of the slaves that stayed on the plantations even after they were free because they thought they still needed slave owners to take care of them. So sad. I support Trump's America first policies including strong borders, bringing businesses and jobs back to America, especially to the cities that are drug infested, high crime, slums. I have family members who live in many of those cities!! How difficult it must be to have to worry about rising food costs, rent, getting to work and back home without being mugged, beaten or killed. How difficult it must be to live or run a business with gangs running rampant in your neighborhood. The parents I speak to want good jobs, safe neighborhoods, great schools, and a strong economy to better afford food and housing. They don't want or need government handouts -- they don't NEED to have their babies killed by abortion; they are intelligent, creative people who need opportunities so that they can take care of themselves and their families. Finally, I am asked about Trumps stand on abortion. I am pro-life. I stand AGAINST all abortion. According to the Word of God, ALL children are a blessing, a reward and a heritage. (Psalm 127:3-5, Psalms 139:13-16) Unfortunately, Trump supports abortion in the 'hard cases' of rape, incest and life of the mother. Again, I am noticing many Christians -- even some that I work with in the pro-life community state Trump is not pro life enough. In truth, he isn't. We know a baby doesn't suddenly become not a baby just because her mother was raped (Jeremiah 1:5). I have been working with pro-life groups to save the lives of babies for more than 22 years. In all that time, we fought hardest against the federal government's involvement in the abortion business. For years, tax payer dollars were being earmarked to Planned Parenthood and other killing centers where children are butchered willy-nilly for any reason at all. Keep in mind, Trump was once an open supporter of Planned Parenthood but had a radical change of heart and has been the only president to take away at least some of the (Title X) federal funds that Planned Parenthood was receiving. He also appointed Supreme Court Justices who understand the humanity of all people no matter the age. Roe v. Wade was FINALLY overturned. President Trump managed to do what thousands of us have been hoping and praying for, for more than 50 years. No other President was able to do that. I said all that to say this, again: The bottom line isTrump is not perfect. None of us are perfect. We ALL have sinned and fall short of GOD'S glory. BUT GOD! GOD uses imperfect people for HIS perfect will. As imperfect as he is, I believe God has HIS hand on President Donald J. Trump for such a time as this which should provide all people, Christians especially, with great hope. Together, in CHRIST. SOURCE National Black Pro-Life Union CONTACT: Day Gardner, 202-834-0844 Share Tweet PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 15:01:50 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 729 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 ST. LOUIS, MO / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / MTM, the nation's largest privately held non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) broker, is pleased to announce it has signed an agreement with Global Medical Response to acquire Access2Care, LLC. This strategic acquisition, expected to close this fall, will enhance MTM's market presence and increase total annual revenue by approximately 25%, marking a milestone in the company's growth trajectory.The decision to acquire Access2Care's NEMT business comes after careful consideration and aligns with MTM's strategic expansion initiatives. Alaina Macia, MTM's President and CEO, emphasized the importance of this acquisition, stating, "This marks a significant step in MTM's growth strategy. We are committed to delivering exceptional transportation solutions to our clients, and the addition of Access2Care's NEMT operations aligns with our vision. Our goal is to empower collaboration and pioneer progress in the NEMT industry as we align our operations as a joint unit." Access2Care, established in 1998, is the third-largest NEMT broker in the industry. As part of Global Medical Response, Access2Care has grown to manage over 8.6 million trip requests for over 5.5 million covered lives across urban, suburban, rural, and remote rural regions in 29 states and the District of Columbia. The company's expertise in providing customized NEMT solutions to Medicaid and Medicare health plans directly complements MTM's own operating model and commitment to quality service delivery."Global Medical Response is proud of Access2Care's growth and the team that made it all possible: the Access2Care employees who provide exceptional client service each and every day to patients in need of access to healthcare," said Nick Loporcaro, president and CEO of Global Medical Response. "As Global Medical Response realigns to focus on our core expertise of providing air and ground emergency medical services and out-of-hospital care at a moment's notice, we are confident that Access2Care will continue to provide exceptional client support and enable access to healthcare under MTM." MTM's acquisition of Access2Care follows its successful purchases of Veyo and MTBA in recent years, solidifying MTM's commitment to growth and expansion within the NEMT sector. The acquisition further expands MTM's footprint to include 44 states and the District of Columbia, enhancing its national reach and service capabilities. With Access2Care's extensive network of 1,900 NEMT providers with 14,000 vehicles, as well as a team of 1,400 talented employees, MTM gains valuable resources to efficiently implement new contracts and meet the evolving needs of its clients.MTM is committed to ensuring a smooth transition as it aims to minimize disruptions and maximize synergies. "After thorough discussions with Access2Care's leadership, we found alignment in our operational models, which bodes well for a smooth transition onto MTM's advanced systems," Macia added. "We believe Access2Care's clients will be excited by the benefits our unified MTM Link platform will offer to their NEMT programs, including real-time trip visibility, improved self-service tools and mobile apps, and enhanced network coverage through our proprietary VeyoRide model, which represents the NEMT industry's only healthcare-credentialed network of independently contracted drivers." About MTMMTM is the nation's most trusted partner for logistics solutions. Since 1995, MTM has managed NEMT for state and county governments, managed care organizations, and other programs involving transportation for the disabled, underserved, and elderly. Leveraging technology to streamline processes and improve the user experience, MTM's wide spectrum of services help clients improve health outcomes, promote independence, reduce costs, and increase satisfaction. In 2009, MTM's leadership established MTM Transit, an affiliate that provides direct paratransit and fixed-route transit services. MTM and MTM Transit are privately held, woman-owned business enterprises.About Global Medical ResponseWith nearly 36,000 team members, Global Medical Response delivers compassionate, quality medical care, primarily in the areas of emergency medical and patient relocation services in the United States and around the world. GMR was formed by combining the industry leaders in air, ground, mobile healthcare services, and community, industrial/specialty and wildland fire services. Each of our companies has a long history of proudly serving the communities where we live: American Medical Response (AMR), Rural Metro Fire, Air Evac Lifeteam, REACH Air Medical Services, Guardian Flight, Med-Trans Corporation and AirMed International. For additional information , visit us on LinkedIn or at www.GlobalMedicalResponse.com Contact InformationAshley WrightSenior Manager, Marketingawright@ mtminc.com Amy LinkSenior Public Relations Specialistmedia@ gmr.net 877-418-2980SOURCE: MTM, Inc.View the original press release on newswire.com PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 03:01:09 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 415 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Sacred Surrogacy Announces the 2024 Surrogate Retreat in Morin Heights, QuebecMONTREAL, QC / ACCESSWIRE / August 12, 2024 / Sacred Surrogacy is thrilled to announce our upcoming Surrogate Retreat, a rejuvenating weekend getaway set in the beautiful Morin Heights, Quebec. From August 16th to August 18th, 2024, surrogate mothers and those considering surrogacy will gather for an enriching experience amidst the natural beauty of Morin Heights. This will be a bilingual event, with both French, and English staff on hand.This retreat builds on the success of our previous events, providing a unique opportunity for surrogate mothers and aspiring surrogates to form meaningful connections, create lasting friendships, and rekindle old bonds. With heartfelt conversations and shared experiences, attendees will immerse themselves in a supportive sisterhood that celebrates the strength and beauty of surrogacy."Our retreat offers a blend of beloved activities and new experiences," says Alana Wagg, Retreat Leader at Sacred Surrogacy. "Whether you are new to surrogacy or have been on this journey before, our retreats are designed with you in mind. By the end of the weekend, you'll feel the warmth and joy that this special community provides." The retreat features a diverse array of activities aimed at fostering connection, personal growth, and self-care. Participants will engage in workshops, group discussions, and recreational activities, all designed to nurture their well-being and strengthen the bonds within the surrogacy community.Responding to participant feedback, Sacred Surrogacy is also offering day tickets for those unable to attend the full weekend. Day ticket holders will have access to the Saturday program, ensuring everyone has a chance to experience the retreat.Registrations for the retreat closed on August 2nd, 2024, however we have spots available. Don't miss your chance to be part of this empowering event that honors the resilience and compassion of surrogate mothers.For more information and to register for the retreat, visit www.sacredsurrogacy.com or reach out to us via Instagram at instagram.com/sacredsurrogacy Join us for a weekend of connection, empowerment, and celebration in Morin Heights, Quebec, as we continue to honor the incredible women who make surrogacy possible.About Sacred Surrogacy:Sacred Surrogacy is a leading organization dedicated to fostering community, support, and empowerment among surrogate mothers and participants in the surrogacy journey. Through retreats, resources, and a subscription box program, Sacred Surrogacy creates a sacred space where the beauty of surrogacy is celebrated and cherished.Contact InformationJanet HarbickProgram Managersacred@ fertilityconsultants.ca 6134398701SOURCE: Sacred SurrogacyView the original press release on newswire.com PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 18:30:49 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 950 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Highlights:Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen) awards Nano One and Worley Chemetics C$2.8 million in non-dilutive non-repayable funding through the Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Program (EVMP).The award supports the joint development of reactors and kiln components for the One-Pot process, Nano One's patented, scalable, and efficient method for producing lithium-ion batteries.The NGen award supports cathode active materials production and fosters equipment manufacturing and technology development capabilities in Canada by Nano One and Worley Chemetics.VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 /(TSX:NANO)(OTC PINK:NNOMF)(Frankfurt:LBMB) Nano One Materials Corp. ("Nano One" or the "Company"), a clean technology company with patented processes for the production of lithium-ion battery cathode active materials (CAM), and Worley Chemetics ("Chemetics"), a wholly owned Canadian subsidiary of Worley Limited ("Worley") are pleased to announce that they have been awarded $2.8 million CAD in non-dilutive and non-repayable funding by Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen) through its Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Program (EVMP), to aid in the development of the Canadian Electric Vehicle supply chain and manufacturing ecosystem. NGen is an industry-led, non-profit organization that supports development of world-leading advanced manufacturing capabilities in Canada. The funding will advance a new project to help both companies develop, market and sell CAM facility packages that incorporate Nano One's proprietary One-Pot process into a process engineering design package."NGen backing Worley Chemetics' collaboration with Nano One will accelerate the commercial trajectory of the distinctive One-Pot process," said Laura Leonard, Worley's Group President of Technology Solutions. "The fastest path to net zero is to standardize or as we are doing with Nano One, design one, build many." Nano One formed a strategic alliance on May 2, 2024 with Worley, a global professional services company of energy, chemicals and resources experts, with a commitment to sustainability, and specialization in the design and delivery of battery materials facilities, including first-of-a-kind technology scale-up and deployment. The companies will jointly develop, market and sell CAM facility packages that incorporate the One-Pot process into a process engineering design package. The package will include intellectual property rights, flow sheets, detailed engineering, the operational know-how of both parties and proprietary equipment including reactors and kiln components being supported by NGen.The One-Pot process combines precursor CAM (pCAM), CAM and CAM coating processes into one holistic process using secure and resilient supply chains while reducing cost, complexity, energy use and environmental footprint. The elimination of wastewater and harmful by-products has the potential to reduce the cost, time and risk of permitting CAM facilities, to enable designs that can be constructed on a wide range of sites and expedite financial decisions and growth potential.Drawing on its specialized capabilities, experience and knowledgeable team, Chemetics will support Nano One in identifying the best materials of construction, and fabrication methods for key equipment required for the One-Pot process, and in engineering and delivering the technology and its associated equipment.The project's goal is to integrate both companies' advanced process and equipment knowledge into the CAM manufacturing ecosystem, enabling the joint marketing and sale of equipment in Canada and around the world.Design specifications will be determined through rigorous reactor studies, analysis and selection of appropriate materials of construction, ensuring compatibility with feedstocks and reagents, as well as operating conditions.The collaboration between Nano One and Chemetics will add valuable layers of intellectual property protection to the CAM package offering, providing potential customers with greater reliability on equipment performance and competitive differentiation.Dan Blondal, CEO of Nano One, said "The capital provided by NGen enables companies such as Nano One and Worley to accelerate technology development, commercialization and deployment. We want to thank NGen for their confidence, for their valuable support and for recognizing Nano One's accomplishments, partners and business objectives." ###About WorleyWorley is a global professional services company of energy, chemicals and resources experts. We partner with customers to deliver projects and create value over the life of their assets. We bridge two worlds, moving towards more sustainable energy sources while helping to provide the energy, chemicals and resources needed now. Worley Limited is headquartered in Australia and listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: WOR).About Nano OneNano One Materials Corp. (Nano One) is a clean technology company with a patented, scalable and low carbon intensity industrial process for the low-cost production of high-performance lithium-ion battery cathode materials. With strategic collaborations and partnerships, including automotive OEMs and strategic industry supply chain companies like Sumitomo Metal Mining, BASF, Umicore and Rio Tinto. Nano One's technology is applicable to electric vehicles, energy storage, and consumer electronics, reducing costs and carbon intensity while improving environmental impact. The Company aims to pilot and demonstrate its technology as turn-key production solutions for license, joint venture, and independent production opportunities, leveraging Canadian talent and critical minerals for emerging markets in North America, Europe, and the Indo-Pacific region. Nano One has received funding from SDTC and the Governments of Canada and British Columbia.For more information, please visitwww.nanoone.ca Company Contact: Paul Guedes info@ nanoone.ca (604) 420-2041Cautionary Notes and Forward-looking StatementsCertain information contained herein may constitute "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information in this news release includes but is not limited to: the success of the alliance; the success in the development of the CAM package, the attributes, contents and benefits of the CAM package, including, the CAM package being a modular process engineering design solution and being able to be rapidly deployed; the success in the marketing and deployment of the CAM package with customers; the development of te PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 15:01:38 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 648 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Company adds expertise and capacity for growing Building Sciences laboratory services.MINNEAPOLIS, MN / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / Pace Analytical Services, the preferred provider of regulatory testing and analytical laboratory services, and a division of Pace, a science and technology company, today announced the acquisition of New Jersey-based Prestige EnviroMicrobiology, Inc.Pace Labs Logo Pace Analytical Services full color logo"The acquisition of Prestige marks a significant enhancement to the Pace Building Sciences service portfolio," said Eric Roman, CEO of Pace. "This acquisition is not just about the increase in capacity and the broadening of our testing capabilities; it's also a celebration of the distinguished scientific team, led by Theresa Lehman, MPH, and Dr. Ching-Yi Tsai, whose expertise is a valuable addition to our organization." The acquisition also made it possible for Pace to leverage the extraordinary experience, expertise, and reputation of Dr. Chin Yang. Dr. Yang founded Prestige and is acclaimed for his work in mold, fungi, and Indoor Air Quality testing and analysis. When asked about the acquisition, Theresa Lehman commented, "We are looking forward to working with the Pace team and bringing our unique analytical capabilities to Pace clients with concerns about their indoor environment." Pace Building Sciences provides analytical testing for evaluating and controlling health hazards in a built environment, ensuring structures are safe and healthy for those who enter. The company partners with environmental consultants, engineering firms, industrial hygienists, building science professionals, and others to provide accurate, timely testing of air, water, soil, surfaces, and building materials for harmful contaminants such as mold, bacteria, fungi, asbestos, lead, PCBs, PFAS, and more. In addition to laboratory testing services, Pace also works with hospital systems and other businesses using water cooling systems to develop Water Management Plans to mitigate the risk of bacterial infections like Legionella."Pace clients will certainly benefit from the accomplished scientists at Prestige, and the team's decades of microbiology expertise and experience in fungal and bacterial investigations," noted Robert DeMalo, M.Sc., Vice President of Building Sciences at Pace. "These exceptional scientists bring added capabilities including expanded species-level identification for fungal cultures as well as analysis for wood rot fungi and Clostridiodes difficile bacteria that complement and add value to the Pace Building Sciences service portfolio." Pace is a portfolio company of Leonard Green & Partners and Los Angeles-based Aurora Capital Partners.About Prestige EnviroMicrobiologyPrestige EnviroMicrobiology, Inc. is a boutique-style environmental microbiology laboratory located in New Jersey that is staffed by scientists with advanced degrees in microbiology and mycology. Prestige delivers the highest quality analysis, most knowledgeable information, and exceptional customer service, including fast turnaround times. One of the company's founding members, Chin S. Yang Ph.D., is a pioneer in the Environmental Microbiology Industry, and his work has been widely published. Dr. Yang is also a well-known speaker and presenter with over 35 years of experience working with physicians, public health officials, industrial hygienists, environmental/occupational health scientists, and IAQ/environmental professionals on various issues of fungal and bacterial exposures in the Indoor Environment. More at Prestige EnviroMicrobiology.About PacePace makes the world a safer, healthier place. For decades, Pace people have been committed to advancing the science of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries in our Life Sciences laboratories and supporting businesses, industries, consulting firms, government agencies, and more through our Analytical Services laboratories. Pace offers local-level service backed by a national laboratory network. For customers with in-house labs, Pace provides a range of professional services to keep their operations moving forward. The Pace team works in partnership with customers by providing the service, science, and the data they need to make critical decisions that benefit us all. More at pacelabs.com Contact InformationPam BednarMarketing Directorpam.bednar@pacelabs.com 612-297-0651Brooke SchwartzelBrand & Communications Managerbrooke.schwartzel@pacelabs.com 612-656-2241SOURCE: Pace Analytical ServicesView the original press release on newswire.com PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 20:00:58 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 333 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Law firm maneuvers the legal landscape to enforce federal laws and protect victims of identity theftNEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / As identity theft occurrences escalate dramatically in New York State, Petroff Amshen LLP, led by their esteemed managing partner Serge F. Petroff, steps up to aid victims. Data reveals that in 2023, New York State recorded a total of 267,377 frauds, identity theft, and other reports, with victims suffering massive fraud losses amounting to 400.9 million dollars. Particularly, there were a staggering 51,484 cases of identity theft.Carrying into 2024, the first quarter of the year ambiguously reflected a sharp rise in such cases. Fraud cases reported totaled 78,661, while identity theft instances scaled up to 14,312 cases, resulting in an overall loss of 136.6 million dollars. This increasing scale of identity theft signifies a distressing trend that Petroff Amshen is passionate about bringing to an end.Under the astute leadership of Serge F. Petroff, Petroff Amshen LLP rolls out comprehensive legal protection services to the victims of identity theft. The firm operates based on the enforcement of federal laws designed to shield individuals from such escalating fraudulent activities. "Our mission is to help victims navigate the complexities of these violations and ensure their rights are undeniably protected," declares Serge F. Petroff.Petroff Amshen LLP takes a meticulous approach in each case, delving deep into the specifics and ensuring every detail is addressed. The firm boasts an exceptional track record in processing high-stakes cases and is recognized for its unwavering commitment to victim-centered justice.As the year progresses, Petroff Amshen is set on playing a pivotal role in the fight against identity theft and fraud, standing as an irreplaceable ally for victims throughout New York State. Driven by a strong commitment to uphold justice and bring relief to victims, Petroff Amshen LLP continues to wage war against the surge of fraudulent activities, one case at a time.Contact InformationGabriel Botero Media Relationsmedia@ petroffamshen.com (718) 336-4200SOURCE: Petroff Amshen LLPView the original press release on newswire.com PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 17:05:30 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 997 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Binding Agreement Executed for the Large, Effectively Unexplored Cosmo Newbery Gold ProjectPERTH, AUSTRALIA AND VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / Sarama Resources Ltd. ("Sarama" or the "Company") (ASX:SRR)(TSX-V:SWA) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a binding agreement to acquire a majority interest(1) in the Cosmo Newbery Gold Project (the "Project") in Western Australia (refer Figure 1).The 580km project(2) covers the entirety of the Cosmo-Newbery Greenstone Belt and is located approximately 85km north-east of Laverton in a region known for its prolific gold endowment. As one of the last effectively unexplored greenstone belts in Western Australia, the Project presents a unique and compelling opportunity for the Company.HighlightsBinding agreement to acquire majority interest and control of Cosmo Newbery Gold Project in Western Australia580km landholding capturing +50km strike length in highly prospective gold producing regionOne of the last effectively unexplored greenstone belts in Western AustraliaVirtually no effective exploration undertaken for several decadesExcellent access to infrastructure and nearby producing gold minesSarama to initially acquire an 80% interest in the majority of the Project (1)Ability for Sarama to increase ownership to 100% in the majority of the Project (1) via an option to acquire the vendor's remaining interest within a 2-year period post completionSarama's President, CEO & MD, Andrew Dinning commented:"We are pleased to have reached this milestone in the acquisition of a majority interest in the Cosmo Newbery Gold Project and look forward to completing the transaction in due course. The Company considers the Project to be highly prospective for a number of commodities and its scale, location, favourable geological setting and truly underexplored status presents a unique exploration opportunity." Cosmo Newbery ProjectThe Project is comprised of 7 contiguous exploration tenements covering 580km in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia, approximately 85km north-east of Laverton and 95km west of the world-class Gruyere Gold Mine. The Project is readily accessible via the Great Central Road which services the Cosmo Newbery Community.The Project captures one of the last unexplored greenstone belts in Western Australia and with a strike length of +50km, the Cosmo Newbery Belt represents a large and prospective system with gold first being discovered in the area in the 1890's. Multiple historical gold workings are documented within the Project area and work undertaken to date, has identified multiple exploration targets for follow up.Despite this significant prospectivity, the Project has seen virtually no modern exploration or drilling of merit due to a lack of land access persisting over a significant period. As a result, the Project has not benefited from the evolution of geochemical and geophysical techniques which now facilitate effective exploration in deeply weathered and complex regolith settings which is particularly pertinent given approximately 75% of the Project area is under cover.Following the relatively recent securing of land access, the Project is now available for systematic and modern-day exploration programs to be conducted on a broad-scale. It is anticipated that future exploration programs will initially follow-up preliminary targets generated from regional soil sampling and limited reconnaissance drilling programs, a majority of which extended to approximately 5m below surface with a small percentage extending up to 30m below surface.Figure 1 - Cosmo Newbery Project Location Transaction TermsPursuant to the binding Asset Sale and Purchase Agreement ("SPA") executed by Sarama, and one of its 100%-owned subsidiaries, with Cosmo Gold Limited ("Cosmo") and Adelong Gold Limited ("Adelong"), Sarama will acquire 80% of Cosmo's interest in the Project (the "Transaction") and will be granted the right to acquire the remainder of Cosmo's interest in the Project within a 2-year period post completion. Further, an existing debt obligation of Cosmo to Adelong will be satisfied and discharged as part of the transaction. The key commercial terms are summarised as follows:Sarama (via its subsidiary) to acquire 80% of Cosmo's interest in the Project for the following consideration and payment of certain Project-related expenses on behalf of Cosmo:issuance of 25 million shares in Sarama (in the form of Chess Depository Instruments ("CDI")) to Adelong;issuance of 7.5 million unlisted options to acquire shares in Sarama (in the form of CDIs) to Adelong (2-year expiry, A$0.05/option strike price, converting on 1:1 basis);payment of A$50,000 to Cosmo within 21 days of execution of the SPA;payment of A$50,000 to Cosmo upon Sarama receiving shareholder approval for the transaction;payments relating to Native Title Access Agreements totalling approximately A$112,000;payments relating to statutory tenement fees totalling approximately A$76,000; andpayments relating to exploration activities totalling approximately A$139,000.The above payments relating to Native Title Access Agreements, statutory tenement fees and exploration activities will form a debt owed to Sarama by Cosmo which will be forgiven upon completion of the Transaction.Upon completion of the Transaction, Sarama (via its subsidiary) and Cosmo will form an unincorporated joint venture ("JV") (in respect of Cosmo's current interest in the Project) with key terms as follows:initial participating interests of 80% Sarama / 20% Cosmo;Sarama shall free carry' Cosmo's interest in the JV and will solely fund all JV activities through to a decision to mine' being made;Sarama shall assume initial operatorship of the Project and will have the right to determine direction of JV activities;for a minimum period of 24 months following completion of the Transaction, Sarama undertakes to maintain the Project tenements in good standing', including satisfying all expenditure conditions and payment of all tenement-related fees, administrative costs and assuming Cosmo's obligations (including cost responsibility) under certain third-party agreements;following a decision to mine' being made, Sarama and Cosmo must each fund all expenditure under the JV on a pro-rata basis, with standard provisions for dilution in the event a party does not fund its pro-rata share;in the event a party's interest in the JV falls below 10%, the party's interest will automatically convert to 0.5% net smelter return royalty; andwithin the period of 24 months following completion of the Transaction, Sarama has t PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 16:06:53 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 326 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / NEW YORK, August 13, 2024 (ACCESSWIRE) Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of NuScale Power Corporation ("NuScale" or the "Company") (NYSE:SMR). Such investors are advised to contact Danielle Peyton at newaction@ pomlaw.com or 646-581-9980, ext. 7980.The investigation concerns whether NuScale 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 29, 2024, Hunterbrook Media ("Hunterbrook") reported that "[t]he U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Enforcement is conducting an active and ongoing' investigation into NuScale", citing the "SEC's July 24 response to an open records request obtained by Hunterbrook[.]" Although the SEC's response to Hunterbrook's request did not provide details regarding the subject of its investigation, Hunterbrook's report noted that "the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission raised significant questions about NuScale's risk mitigation plans for one of its reactor designs" and further asserted that "after a decade and a half of research and development, NuScale has yet to commercialize any reactors." On this news, NuScale's stock price fell $1.35 per share, or 12.44%, to close at $9.50 per share on July 29, 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.SOURCE: Pomerantz LLP PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 15:02:47 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 1019 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW YORK CITY, NY / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / Infinite Sightsis proud to feature an exclusive interview withSteven Gentile , a paragon of bravery and dedication in both law enforcement and security consulting. Spotlight editor Travis Hutton delves into the illustrious career and personal insights of Rockland County's highest-decorated police officer, offering a comprehensive look at the man behind the badge and his journey into global security consulting.Early Life and Career BeginningsSteven Gentile , born on November 12, 1964, in New York, was inspired from a young age by stories of law enforcement officers and real-life heroes who made significant impacts on their communities. Reflecting on his formative years, Steven shares, "I always knew I wanted to help people. It's about doing the right thing, even when no one is watching." This passion led him to pursue a degree in Criminal Justice from Marist College in 1986, after which he transitioned from private security to the Orangetown Police Department. "The transition from security to law enforcement was natural for me," Steven reflects. "I wanted to be on the front lines, in the trenches, bettering people's lives." A Career Defined by ValorSteven's law enforcement career is marked by numerous accolades, including the prestigious Medal of Honor, Police Combat Cross, and Law Enforcement Officer of the Year award. On June 18, 1993, during a routine patrol, Steven single-handedly faced armed assailants trained by an Islamic terrorist group in a life-threatening shootout at the Pearl River High School. "It was a moment that tested everything I had learned and what I was made of," he recalls. "You don't think about the danger; you think about your duty and success." His bravery and quick thinking during this incident earned him the Medal of Honor, making him Rockland County's highest-decorated police officer."Law enforcement is about facing challenges head-on and staying prepared," Steven explains. His strategic approach to community safety and comprehensive understanding of criminal justice have made him a respected figure in the field. Colleagues admire his ability to navigate complex situations and adapt strategies to meet the community's needs. "Steven's strategic thinking and relentless drive set him apart in this competitive field," says a colleague.Transition to Security ConsultingSince retiring from active duty in 2004, Steven has transitioned to a career in security consulting, where he applies his extensive experience to high-profile assignments. His work has included providing security for the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia, entrepreneur Ben Nash, actor John Candy, and, in conjunction with the U.S. State Department, the Prime Minister of Israel. His ability to handle complex security challenges has earned him respect and admiration in the field.Steven's personal motto, "Be Ready," encapsulates his approach to both law enforcement and security. He emphasizes the importance of preparation and the dangers of complacency. "There are no second chances in police work and security when lives are at stake," Steven explains. "Our pencils don't have erasers." His strategic approach ensures that he and his team are always ready to face any challenge.Mentorship and Community EngagementSteven's dedication extends beyond his professional duties. His passion for mentoring the next generation of security professionals is evident in his commitment to developing talent within the industry. "Mentoring is about seeing potential where others might not. It's about transforming challenges into opportunities," Steven explains. His approach has shaped many young professionals' careers, instilling in them the values of integrity, dedication, and resilience.His involvement in community activities is equally noteworthy. As a CCD coordinator and teacher, as well as a senior altar server, Steven has been a pillar of support and guidance in his parish. His commitment to service and community is further demonstrated through his philanthropic efforts, frequently engaging in various charitable activities and supporting numerous community initiatives. He has also been a guest speaker for many criminal justice curriculums.Personal Insights from Steven GentileIn the interview, Steven shares his strategies for staying motivated and productive. "Every day is about vigilance and preparedness," he explains. He begins each day by assessing ongoing security operations and prioritizing tasks based on urgency and potential impact. "Staying organized and maintaining a high level of readiness are key components of my approach," he notes.When asked about handling stress and staying focused, Steven emphasizes the importance of visualization. "When I feel overwhelmed or unfocused, I take a step back and mentally rehearse scenarios. This helps clarify my thoughts and regain focus," he shares. This technique was instrumental during his time in law enforcement, where split-second decision-making was often required.Overcoming ChallengesOne of the hardest obstacles Steven faced was dealing with the aftermath of the June 18, 1993, incident, as well as legal battles with his municipality. "Embracing adversity not only builds character but also fosters the skills needed to navigate complex environments successfully," Steven reflects. He overcame these challenges by staying true to his principles and pursuing justice, winning several state and federal lawsuits.Balancing a demanding career with family life has also been challenging. Steven highlights the importance of communication and prioritization, making it a point to be fully present during family time and community activities. This approach has strengthened his family bonds and provided much-needed respite from the rigors of his work.Looking ForwardSteven Gentile continues to inspire those around him with his dedication to public service, mentorship, and community involvement. His vision for the future includes developing innovative security solutions, such as a mobile app for community safety that provides real-time alerts and direct access to law enforcement. "Embracing technology in security can lead to more efficient and effective community protection," he noted. His dedication to innovation and community engagement continues to drive his efforts to make the world a safer place.Key LearningsPreparedness is essential: Always be ready to adapt to changing circumstances and anticipate potential challenges.Build strong relationships: Networking and maintaining professional connections are crucial for career growth and success.Embrace challenges: View obstacles as opportunities for growth and learning, reinforcing resilien PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 17:30:40 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 415 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 tinyAlbert's new AI-powered Campaign Calendar automates, optimizes and schedules your entire year's campaigns in minutesTORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 /tinyAlbert, an AI email marketing Shopify app by tinyCo, introduces a new AI-powered tool to help Shopify merchants create and send effective email marketing campaigns. This revolutionary AI automates time-consuming tasks, such as template design and content creation, allowing merchants to focus on growing their business. Our AI analyzes customer behavior, helping businesses deliver highly targeted emails that drive sales and customer loyaltybusy shopify Store owner struggling with marketing "Time is a valuable resource for our merchants. With the Year-Long Calendar's automated scheduling and personalized marketing, we're handing them back hundreds of hours and creating revenue opportunities through email marketing," said Seamas Egan, CEO of tinyCo. "This is a significant step forward in our commitment to helping Shopify merchants who lack the time or skills to become experts in marketing mediums succeed at leveraging tools and technologies all the big brands rely on." The AI Calendar marks another high point in tinyAlbert's journey of continually setting new benchmarks in eCommerce marketing. Rated 4.9 on the Shopify app store, tinyAlbert has already enabled over 4,000 brands to switch to more innovative, AI-led marketing campaigns."To stay competitive in today's eCommerce landscape, automation and personalization are required," added Egan. "With the AI Calendar, we're not just delivering on that promise but setting new standards in what merchants should expect from their email marketing platform." Our customers are already reaping the rewards from automating their camping calendars using our AI Calendar. Notably, the PogosCycle brand witnessed astonishing improvements in customer engagement and a significant spike in sales post-migration from Klaviyo to tinyAlbert.ai tinyAlbert is a revolutionary way to manage your Shopify store's email marketing programs. The AI reads your store and completely automates all email marketing tasks, including Pop-Up form creation and deployments, automation to capture and rewin customers, and weekly campaigns to drive engagement and sales. As Seamas Egan, the CEO of tinyCo, said, "We strive to drive results while simplifying the complexities of email marketing. By providing powerful tools like the Year-Long Calendar, we ensure businesses are consistently a step ahead in the fast-paced e-commerce world and take advantage of the power of AI to enable their store to grow with little to no time investment from them." Contact InformationSeamas Egan CEO, tinyCOseamas@ tinyemail.com (647) 424-3370SOURCE: tinyCoView the original press release on newswire.com PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 19:00:26 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 954 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 / Verisante Technology, Inc. (TSX-V: VER.H) ("Verisante") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a binding Letter of Intent ("LOI") dated August 12, 2024, to acquire a 100% interest in SunRegen Healthcare AG ("SunRegen"), a Swiss pharmaceutical company, by way of a Definitive Share Exchange Agreement which is yet to be negotiated between the parties. The proposed transaction is a Reverse Takeover ("RTO") pursuant to Policy 5.2 of the TSX Venture Exchange and the resulting issuer intends to qualify as a Tier 2 Life Sciences Issuer.About SunRegenSunRegen is a Swiss pharmaceutical company focused on the development of neurodegenerative related drugs. Currently, they are focusing on the development of their lead compound, SBC003, for the treatment of neuronal apoptosis-related diseases, starting with ophthalmic neurodegenerative diseases and gradually expanding to the treatment of CNS neurodegenerative diseases.SunRegen intends to start in the ophthalmic field by applying for FDA drug approval for the treatment of Retinitis Pigmentosa ("RP"), and then expanding to the treatment of dry AMD and other degenerative diseases. The leading drug candidate, SBC003, has demonstrated neuro-rescuing and neuroprotection through in-vitro & in-vivo experiments, and has the ability to treat neurodegenerative diseases by directly targeting the causes. SunRegen has been issued a patent for its SBC003 drug compound across eight countries including the US, Canada, Japan and China, and has two more international patent applications pending.RP is a hereditary family disease. Patients usually catch this disease at a young age, and it is generally manifested as apoptosis of peripheral retinal rod cells. At present, Luxturna (Voretigene Neparvovec) is the only approved RP Therapy to treat a small subset ofpatients with RPE65 mutations, accounting for 0.3%-1% of the total number of RP patients. The vast majority of RP patients cannot obtain effective treatment. Management estimates there are approximately 2 million RP patients worldwide.According to Data Bridge Market Research the global RP market was worth US$11.57 billion and forecast to grow at a CAGR of 7.3% to reach US$20.33 billion by 2029. ( https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-retinitis-pigmentosa-market) To date, approximately $6.3 million has been invested in the development of SBC003. Utilizing independent CROs, SunRegen has completed mice and monkey studies on the efficacy and partial safety of SBC003 with highly encouraging results and is now at the Investigational New Drug (IND) enabling stage of the FDA approval process. The next stage is to conduct CMC (Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls) and Safety tests in preparation for a Phase I & II human clinical study. SunRegen uses independent CROs to perform its studies to comply with strict regulatory requirements and to operate more efficiently with a reduced overhead and headcount. More information about SunRegen is available on the company's website at www.sunregen.ch Summary of Unaudited SunRegen Financial InformationYear Ended2023-12-31CHF (Swiss Francs)Year Ended2022-12-31CHF (Swiss Francs)Year Ended2021-12-31CHF (Swiss Francs)Year Ended2020-12-31CHF (Swiss Francs)Assets67,04565,040108,144411,227Short-term Liabilities9,88060,35890,698181,358Long-term Liabilities357,696291,708236,217263,217Total Income41,6639,254Total Operating Expenses-36,503-82,668-227,842-686,057Net Profit/Loss-55,295-41,253-212,423-684,936These annual financial statements were compiled in compliance with Swiss legal regulations, in particular the articles on commercial bookkeeping and accounting in the Swiss Code of Obligations (Art. 957 to 962). Results will differ substantially according to IFRS, for example, the application of IAS38 Intangible Assets which are not accounted for in the summary above.Transaction TermsVerisante currently has 43,938,004 common shares and 1,000,000 common stock options outstanding with no preferred shares, warrants or any other securities outstanding. Initially, Verisante will consolidate its common shares on a 10 for 1 basis resulting in 4,393,800 common shares and 100,000 share options outstanding post-consolidation.Verisante will then acquire 100% of SunRegen's outstanding equity in exchange for 39,544,204 of newly issued common shares on a post-consolidation basis ("Acquisition Shares") resulting in a total post-consolidation, post-acquisition, outstanding amount of 43,938,004 common shares. SunRegen shareholders will thus own 90% of the outstanding common shares of the resulting issuer on a pre-money basis. The acquisition shares will have a deemed value of $0.80 per share for an aggregate deemed acquisition value of $31,635,363.The parties will conduct a capital raise prior to the RTO (the "Pre-RTO Financing") and/or concurrently for a minimum amount sufficient to comply with TSX-V Tier 2 Life Science Issuers' listing requirements including, but not limited to, an amount sufficient to comply with the 20% public float requirement and to carry out the listed issuer's business plan for at least 12 months plus CAD$100,000 of unallocated working capital. Management currently estimates the minimum amount of capital required to be approximately $3.5 million, subject to TSX-V Exchange acceptance of the business plan and financial projections.The use of proceeds of the anticipated financing will be to advance the regulatory approval of SunRegen's drug candidate SBC003 towards FDA Phase II by hiring a CRO to conduct CMC (Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls) and Safety studies for Retinitis Pigmentosa ("RP").New investors participating in the Pre-RTO Financing subsequent to the date of the LOI will receive Acquisition Shares based on the same ratio as the existing SunRegen shareholders such that both Verisante and SunRegen shareholders will experience to the same dilution as a result of the anticipated capital raise.SunRegen will become a 100% wholly owned subsidiary of Verisante upon Closing. The board of directors of the resulting issuer will have five members of which four will be nominated by SunRegen (see Proposed Officers and Directors below).The parties intend to negotiate and enter into a Definitive Share Exchange Agreement prior to September 30, 2024. The proposed transaction is subject to, among other things, approval by both parties' boards of directors, due diligence reviews, auditing of SunRegen's financial statements for the last two fiscal years by a CPAB pa PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 13:15:33 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 662 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Company Ranks No. 1 on the Prestigious Inc. 5000 Across All Industries After Achieving $1.5 Billion in Revenue for 2023 and a Remarkable Three-Year Revenue Growth Rate of 90,778%HOBOKEN, NJ / ACCESSWIRE / August 13, 2024 /Vytalize Health, a leading risk-bearing provider enablement platform, announced it ranked No. 1 on the 2024 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in America. The company achieved the top ranking with a remarkable $1.5 billion in revenue for 2023 and a three-year revenue growth of 90,778 percent."We are thrilled and humbled to be named the fastest-growing private company in America by Inc.," said Faris Ghawi, CEO and co-founder of Vytalize Health. "Our journey has always been about supporting physicians so they can provide the highest-quality care possible to patients. This recognition further motivates us to continue our mission to transform lives by advancing value-based care." Vytalize Health is building an impressive track record, emerging as a leading accountable care organization (ACO) that sets the bar for quality and efficiency. To date, the organization has raised more than $200 million in funding from some of the country's top healthcare investors.Earlier this year, Vytalize Health was recognized as one of Inc. Magazine's Best Workplaces. In addition, the company was named to Forbes' 2024 List of America's Best Startup Employers. These distinctions underscore the company's commitment to fostering a supportive and dynamic work environment while delivering innovation in a complex healthcare system.For complete results of the Inc. 5000, including a profile on Vytalize Health and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, location, and other criteria, visit www.inc.com/inc5000 All 5,000 companies are featured on Inc.com starting Tuesday, Aug. 13, and the top 500 appear in the new issue of Inc. magazine, available on newsstands beginning Tuesday, Aug. 20.About Vytalize Health:Vytalize Health is a risk-bearing provider enablement platform addressing the healthcare industry's biggest challenges with its cutting-edge value-based care delivery system. Vytalize partners with more than 5,000 leading providers to improve the quality of care through evidence-based medicine and a patient experience rooted in kindness. By delivering the right data at the right time in the workflow to physicians and their staff, Vytalize makes its partners more efficient and effective, allowing them to focus on proactive, personalized medicine to improve the value of care and lower costs. Learn more at www.vytalizehealth.com More About Inc. and the Inc. 5000MethodologyCompanies on the 2024 Inc. 5000 are ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2020 to 2023. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2020. They must be U.S.-based, privately held, for-profit, and independent - not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies - as of Dec. 31, 2023. (Since then, some on the list may have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2020 is $100,000; the minimum for 2023 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Growth rates used to determine company rankings were calculated to four decimal places.About Inc.Inc. Business Media is the leading multimedia brand for entrepreneurs. Through its journalism, Inc. aims to inform, educate, and elevate the profile of our community: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters who are creating our future. Inc.'s award-winning work achieves a monthly brand footprint of more than 40 million across a variety of channels, including events, print, digital, video, podcasts, newsletters, and social media. Its proprietary Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since its launch as the Inc. 100 in 1982, analyzes company data to rank the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The recognition that comes with inclusion on this and other prestigious Inc. lists, such as Female Founders and Power Partners, gives the founders of top businesses the opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. For more information, visit www.inc.com Media Contact:Matt Buder Shapiro(216) 337-0461 matt@ vytalizehealth.com Contact InformationMatt Buder ShapiroChief Marketing Officermatt@ vytalizehealth.com +12163370461SOURCE: Vytalize HealthView the original press release on newswire.com PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-13 04:05:18 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 864 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 12, 2024 / Nepra Foods Inc. (CSE:NPRA)(FSE:2P6)(OTC PINK:NPRFF) ("Nepra Foods" or the "Company"), a leading ingredient supplier to the gluten-free bakery industry, based in Denver, Colorado, leveraging its expertise in product development and ingredient production, blending and sales, is pleased to announce that William (Billy) Hogan has accepted the appointment of Chief Executive Officer and a director of the Company, effective August 9, 2024, succeeding Chadwick White who has been appointed Chief Visionary Officer.Mr. Hogan has an established and proven track record of operational leadership, strategic planning and team building that over the past several months has proven invaluable to the Company and with his leadership, the Company is now positioned to expand with a focused results-oriented mandate. Mr. Hogan brings to the Company broad-based experience in CPG brand management, E-commerce, in addition to his recent and significant financial investment in the Company. As a brand advisor and investor, the Board welcomed Mr. Hogan and his wealth of experience in managing over $100mm in product sales in the past five years.Mr. Hogan is both a close friend and business colleague of Chadwick White, who has served in the CEO role on an acting basis while the right individual was found to help shape the Company's future. Mr. White's continued and dynamic role with the Company now shifts to that of CVO where he can now focus on the key success factors that have propelled the Company to its status; that of a highly regarded science-based supplier of ingredients and products to the ever-growing gluten-free marketplace.With the strategic pathway now clearly defined, Chadwick's team can continue to specialize in creating gluten-free bakery products with the texture and taste needed to attract customers, formulated with plant-based proteins and fibers, and offering lower calorie substitutes for sugar-heavy recipes.Chadwick commented that "the appointment of Billy to the position of CEO and director is a major step for the Company in so many respects. Furthermore, as a Company we are particularly grateful that Mr. Hogan saw our vision and was able to architect a meaningful long-term role in the future of Nepra." Mr. Hogan commented that "I am delighted to formally join Nepra having known Chadwick for many years and observed the strength and tenacity of the Nepra team. It is truly my pleasure to take on the CEO role and provide band width for Chadwick and his team to fully realize on their potential." About Nepra Foods Inc.Nepra Foods is grounded in a passion for food. We believe eating healthy should be easy. Everybody deserves food options that are truly nutritious and taste good. Food should be allergen-free so that everyone in the family can enjoy eating it together. Plant-based foods can offer high-quality nutrition and taste great while maintaining a low-carb profile. Nepra Foods is on a mission to make healthy, enjoyable food for everybody.ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORSDavid Wood, Chief Operating Officer and Interim CFOinvestors@ neprafoods.com Investor Relations Toll-free (844) 566-1917The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Forward Looking StatementsThis news release contains statements and information that, to the extent that they are not historical fact, constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking information may include, without limitation, statements regarding the future developments and the business and options of the Company. Forward-looking information is based on the reasonable assumptions, estimates, analysis and opinions of management made in light of its experience and its perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances at the date that such statements are made, but which may prove to be incorrect.Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information, including, but not limited to, statements relating to the Company's financial performance, business development, results of operations, and those listed in filings made by the Company with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities (which may be viewed at www.sedarplus.ca) . Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any such forward looking information. Further, any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for the Company's management to predict all of such factors and to assess in advance the impact of each such factor on the Company's business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking information to reflect information, events, results, circumstances or otherwise after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law including securities laws.SOURCE: Nepra Foods President Bola Tinubu has signed into law the bill seeking to increase the salaries, allowances and benefits of Nigerian judicial officers by 300 per cent. The Special Adviser to the President on Senate Matters, Basheer Lado, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday. With the development, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) will now earn N64 million annually, the President of the Court of Appeal is to earn N62.4 million annually while the justices of the Supreme Court will earn N61.4 million annually. Mr Lado, a former senator who represented Kano Central Senatorial District between 2011 to 2015, said President Tinubu prioritised the welfare of the judiciary officers and other Nigerians. This extraordinary move underscores Mr Presidents absolute prioritisation of the welfare of Nigerian workers above all else just like he did when he recently put on hold an ongoing Federal Executive Council meeting to assent to the new National Minimum Wage Bill of N70,000. He described Mr Tinubus assent to the bill as a landmark achievement and a manifestation of his commitment to the welfare of Nigerian workers. In a demonstration of his visionary leadership and deep compassion for the Nigerian people, His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCON has once again affirmed his unwavering commitment to the welfare of the nations workforce by assenting to the revised Salaries and Allowances for Judicial Office Holders. 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 This landmark decision reflects Mr Presidents profound dedication to ensuring that every salary earner in Nigeria, especially those serving in vital and strategic roles, receives the recognition and compensation they deserve. Integrity of justice system Mr Lado explained that the bill would encourage the integrity of Nigerias justice system and set a standard for the Nigerian workers. By prioritising the financial well-being of our judicial officers, Mr President is not only reinforcing the integrity of our justice system but also setting a new standard for leadership that truly values the hard work and sacrifices of all Nigerian workers. Under President Tinubus administration, the welfare of our workers has become a central pillar of national progress. His visionary policies continue to uplift the lives of millions, ensuring that the dignity of labour is upheld, and that those who serve our nation are justly rewarded. This assent is a clear testament to Mr Presidents tireless efforts to build a more prosperous and equitable Nigeria, where every worker is empowered to contribute to the nations greatness. As we look to the future with hope and determination, Mr President remains steadfast in his mission to champion initiatives that deliver fair compensation, improved working conditions, and a brighter future for all Nigerians. He commended the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and the House Speaker, Abbas Tajudeen, and other members of the National Assembly for supporting the passage of the bill. Allowances of other judicial officers The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, President of the National Industrial Court, Chief Judge of FCT High Court, Grand Kadi FCT Shariah Court of Appeal, President of FCT Customary Court, Chief Judge of State High Court, Grand Kadi State Shariah Court of Appeal and President State Customary Court of Appeal are to earn the same salaries and allowances. For this category, the annual basic salary is N7.9 million and N42.3 million as annual regular allowances. Also, the severance gratuity and motor vehicle loan are N23.9 million and N31.9 million respectively. The National Assembly passed the bill in June and subsequently transmitted it to the president for assent. Last month, President Tinubu also signed a bill raising the minimum wage of Nigerian workers to N70,000 from N30,000. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The National Council of State and the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) separately passed votes of confidence on President Bola Tinubu at their meetings with the president on Tuesday, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazak told journalists. Mr AbdulRazak, the Kwara State Governor and chairman of the forum, said after the meeting of the Council of State, the governors held a separate meeting with the president. All the governors were present except Alex Otti (Abia), Umo Eno ( Akwa Ibom) and Ahmadu Fintiri (Adamawa) who attended virtually. The high note of the (Council) meeting was a unanimous passage of a vote of confidence on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, Commander in Chief of the Nigerian armed forces, the Kwara governor, who is also NGF chairman, said. Members, especially those of the Nigerian Governors Forum, were satisfied with the presentation by the members of the Federal Executive Council, and after that meeting, there was an executive session between members of the Nigerian Governors Forum and Mr President, and frank and fruitful discussions were held between both parties. And I am glad to say we are on the right track and to say in the same vein members of the NGF also, like the members of the Council of State, passed a vote of confidence on Mr President. We also wish him well and pray to God. Also speaking, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, said the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and seven ministers made presentations at the meeting. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later He said Mr Ribadu updated the council on the nations security situation. And he did inform the Council of State about the pre, during and post event of the last protests, which I do not call a protest. I call a movement to effect a change of regime by force, which was also resisted. And so, you know, the council thanked Nigerians at large for resisting any unconstitutional move to change government, if anybody is not satisfied with the government, any current administration, there is always an election coming, so you wait for election and cast your vote. So the NSA briefed the Council on the security situations, and allayed fears all round. So after the NSAs briefing, generally, he allayed everybodys fears and spoke on the tightness of the security around the country, and also reassured all and sundry that nobody will be allowed to truncate our hard earned democracy. Any change of government has to be through the ballots and not through the barrel of the gun or through insurrection or through any other unconstitutional means. Only through the ballot box can any government be changed. And he reassured on the security readiness of all security agencies in the country, to secure our territorial integrity and to protect Nigerias Democracy, Mr Alake said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print President Bola Tinubu will on Wednesday depart Abuja for Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, on a three-day official visit to honour the invitation of President Teodoro Mbasogo. A statement by spokesperson Ajuri Ngelale on Tuesday said President Tinubu would hold meetings with Mr Mbasogo, and sign agreements on oil and gas and security. The President will be accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Yusuf Tuggar, and others who will sign agreements and review opportunities to improve bilateral relations, Mr Ngelale said. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print A member of the House of Representatives, representing Ussa, Donga and Takum, Mark Useni, has called on the Taraba and Benue state governments to collaborate and end killings and kidnappings in their states. Mr Useni made the call in a statement he made available to journalists on Tuesday in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital. The call followed the killing of six commuters along the Takum- Wukari road on Monday morning, an incident that Mr Useni described as barbaric. This unfortunate incident is coming a few weeks after the Chief of Chanchanji was murdered together with his son on the same road. My heart goes out to the families of the six victims of the dastard act. These criminal elements have also evolved a wicked strategy of following local farmers to their farms to kidnap for ransom, a situation which will aggravate the hunger being experienced in the land. I want to call on communities along the Taraba/ Benue border to step up local intelligence and vigilance to make work easy for security agencies in protecting the areas. I also wish to implore strong synergy between the Taraba and Benue governments towards tackling the hydra-headed problem. 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 As a representative of the people, I am already reaching out to my colleagues of the two Federal Constituencies on the Benue side to offer our support to the two Governors towards securing our people. Mr Useni thanked Governor Agbu Kefas of Taraba for his action towards security concerns. NAN recalls that six commuters along Takum, Wukari road were ambushed and killed by unknown gunmen on Monday morning. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Governor Usman Ododo of Kogi State, on Tuesday, presented additional 11 cars to judges in the state. Mr Ododo promised to deliver the last batch of the judges cars while presenting 11 units to the state Chief Judge, Josiah Mejabi, at Muhammad Buhari Square, Lokoja, the state capital. The governor, represented by the Head of Service, Elijah Evimemi, said that the gesture was a proof of his administrations priority for the welfare of judicial officers in the state for optimum service and results. The issuance of the 11 vehicles is in fulfillment of my promise to the judiciary on the day of the swearing-in of newly-appointed judges in July to add more cars to the arm (of government). That day, this government gave out 14 vehicles and today, we are giving out 11 more to our hardworking judicial officers in the state. We hope to supply more soon so that it can go round all our judges and magistrates operating in the state, he said. Mr Ododo urged the judicial officers to reciprocate the governments gesture by doing justice to all and sundry seeking their service in courtrooms. 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 Responding, the chief judge thanked the governor for keeping to his promise to the judiciary by donating utility vehicles to the judicial officers in the state. Mejabi said that the vehicles would go a long way in assisting them in the performance of their duties of adjudication on matters concerning the unity and peaceful coexistence of Kogi residents. He described Mr Ododo as a peoples governor, based on the people-oriented policies and programmes being implemented and felt by citizens. I can openly say here that his administration is an inclusive one that is characterised by fairness and justice. Ododo is a man of his words. His words are followed by actions. I believe he will soon donate the last batch of the vehicles to us so that all the judicial officers will have theirs, he said. The chief judge expressed the hope that after being through with the health sector, the governor would look at the renovation of courts to make them more conducive. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Branch Controller of the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) in charge of Ogun State, Ayobami Suberu, has faulted an online media report insinuating that some public school students results were withheld because of indebtedness. Mr Suberu described the report as mischievous and unbalanced, adding that the Ogun State government was not indebted to the Council in any way. The Branch Controller explained that the results of the affected students were still pending because of a technical glitch, which is being looked into for quick redress and immediate action. According to him, there is ongoing communication between the branch and the Head of the Test Administration Division of the Council. Mr Suberu promised that the results would be released before the close of work on Tuesday. Let me say categorically that Ogun State does not owe WAEC a dime. A senior official from the Ogun State Ministry of Education had earlier called me regarding the report. I clarified that nothing of the sort happened; the report of indebtedness is not balanced and is obviously mischievous. How can a reporter just go ahead and put up a story without getting the side of WAEC? That is not ethical. The truth of the matter is that those results were not released due to a technical hitch, and we are relentlessly working on it for it to be released on Tuesday. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later We have activated communication with the Head of the Test Administration Division, and we are getting positive responses regarding the issue, Mr Suberu said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Wild Africa has called for better protection for the remaining and declining elephant population in Nigeria. The Wild Africa Representative, Festus Iyorah, said this in a statement on Monday in Lagos. Mr Iyorah said elephants in Nigeria were facing growing survival threats. Over the past 30 years, the population has declined from an estimated 1,200 to 1,500 elephants two decades ago, to about 300 to 400 elephants today, Mr Iyorah said. Mr Iyorah quoted Mark Ofua, Wild Africa West Africa Representative, as saying that these majestic animals were being lost. On World Elephant Day, we acknowledge how sad it is that we are losing these majestic animals that once roamed freely across our savannas and forests. Poaching for ivory and habitat destruction have reduced their population and are pushing them to the brink of local extinction in Nigeria. 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 But if implemented, the National Plan should stabilise their numbers, he said. He said that habitat loss could lead to human-elephant conflict, which occurred when people clashed with elephants due to crop raiding or property damage. According to him, elephants are predominantly found within or near protected areas in Nigeria, with only 10 per cent residing outside of these spaces. He noted that two species of elephants savannas and forest are found in Nigeria, with the largest herd, about 100 individuals, in Yankari Game Reserve in Bauchi State. He added that elephants exist across several sites in the southern region, including the Cross River National Park. Mr Iyorah expressed Wild Africas commendation on Nigerias first-ever National Elephant Action Plan for 2024 to 2034. He explained that NEAP was prepared by Wildlife Conservation Society and the Elephant Protection Initiative Foundation on behalf of the federal government. He said that NEAP, if implemented, would reduce the dramatic rate of elephant decline in the country. According to him, this will be achieved by boosting monitoring while combating illegal ivory trade through harmonised state and federal wildlife laws and enhanced law enforcement. He added that NEAP would maintain elephant habitats through land-use planning. He said it would create wildlife corridors to mitigate conflicts with communities, increase public awareness and community-shared economic benefits generated by tourism. He said the plan would enhance scientific knowledge and understanding of elephants to better inform efficient strategies and strengthen regional cooperation with neighbouring countries. He said that Wild Africa had been actively supporting the Nigerian governments efforts to fight illegal wildlife trafficking and improve its wildlife laws through the following. The Endangered Species Conservation and Protection Bill alongside Africa Nature Investors Foundation. Others included the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency with support from the UK Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund and the US Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. He noted that the bill (NEAP) passed its second reading in May in the Nigerian House of Representatives. It is scheduled for a public hearing and later a third reading. The bill will further disrupt and deter illegal wildlife trade, including elephant ivory, within the country. READ ALSO: Custom intercepts elephant tusks worth N300 million By enhancing law enforcement capabilities, increasing investigative powers to include financial enquiries and intelligence-led operations, and expanding courts ability to expedite wildlife cases and recover assets, he said. He added that it would create corporate liability, support international cooperation, and impose stringent penalties for traffickers and poachers. He quoted Peter Knights, Wild Africas chief executive officer, as saying that it would be tragic and harmful to develop wildlife-related tourism with the loss of elephants. Passing the new Endangered Species Conservation and Protection Bill currently awaiting hearings, would be the first step to ensure this doesnt happen, he said. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 12 August is set aside annually to mark World Elephant Day. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned a devastating attack on a Gaza school-turned-shelter, resulting in significant loss of life, including women and children. The UN Deputy Spokesperson, Farhan Haq, stated that Mr Guterres is dismayed by the continued violence in Gaza, including the recent strike on the Al-Tabaeen school, which was sheltering hundreds of displaced Palestinian families. The incident occurred on Saturday, with reports suggesting over 100 fatalities. The secretary-general has reiterated his urgent appeal for an immediate ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages. Mr Guterres also emphasized the need to ensure the protection of civilians and unimpeded humanitarian access into and across Gaza, underscoring that international humanitarian law must be upheld at all times. The UN human rights office reported that this is at least the 21st strike on a school serving as a shelter since 4 July, resulting in at least 274 fatalities, including women and children. Separately, the head of the UN Palestine refugee agency, UNRWA, highlighted the need to protect civilians, civilian infrastructure, detainees, and humanitarians amid armed conflict. 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 UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) expressed concern over the increasing number of civilian deaths and rising displacement in Lebanon, amid escalating hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print News / National by Staff reporter Vuyile Jamela Mpofu, a prominent Bulawayo-based lawyer formerly with VJ Mpofu and Associates, is facing ongoing difficulties due to a 2019 fraud case, despite being acquitted. Mpofu, along with Mayor Kazingizi, was initially charged with four counts of fraud but was found not guilty by a Bulawayo magistrate in July 2023. The case, which had been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and witness absences, continues to affect Mpofu's reputation and business ventures.Mpofu explained that his involvement in the case stemmed from his role as a lawyer drafting agreements of sale for imposters posing as property sellers. These imposters, connected to known fraudster Sethukani Ncube, presented fake identity documents, which appeared genuine, leading to fraudulent land sales. Mpofu was unaware of the fraudulent activities and was ultimately acquitted, with the court confirming his innocence.Despite his acquittal, the original news coverage of his arrest remains online, damaging his reputation and hindering his business opportunities. Mpofu, who has since retired from legal practice to focus on community development and church ministry, expressed frustration that the media widely reported the allegations but did not cover his acquittal.The allegations against Mpofu and Kazingizi included using fake IDs to facilitate fraudulent land sales, resulting in unsuspecting buyers losing significant sums of money. The case was linked to several incidents where victims were misled into purchasing residential stands from imposters, leading to Mpofu's arrest after police investigations. A seminarian of the Anglican Church in Anambra State has allegedly raped a 10-year-old girl in the state. The suspect, Chukwudi Okoye, 34, allegedly raped the girl in Amanuke, a community in Awka North Local Government Area of the state. Chidimma Ikeanyionwu, a media aide to the State Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Ify Obinabo, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday. Ms Ikeanyionwu said the suspect allegedly raped the survivor in July but the incident was reported to Mrs Obinabo in August. The media aide said the commissioner, through her ministry, has arrested the suspect. Suspect speaks A video clip which showed the suspect speaking on the incident was uploaded on the commissioners Facebook page on Tuesday. In the clip, Mr Okoye, who hails from Enugu Agidi in Njikoka Council Area of the state, initially claimed he only fingered the survivor. 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 suspect claimed he asked the survivor and her friend to wash some plates when they visited him in his Amanuke residence. He further claimed that the survivor, after her colleague left, later came and laid on his bed before he removed her clothes and fingered her. But when told that the survivor said he raped her, he retorted in Igbo language: I fingered her and then put my penis in-between her laps. But I did not penetrate her because shes small. Mr Okoye asked for forgiveness and argued that what happened was the work of the devil. What the survivor said The survivor (name withheld), according to the statement, said the suspect raped her at her graduation ceremony when he called her and her friend to come and wash plates for him. After finishing washing the plates, the suspect discharged her friend but asked her to stay back and play with him, according to her. According to her, the suspect subsequently took her to the bed, removed her clothes and raped her. The survivor said she did not tell anyone of the incident immediately because the suspect had seriously threatened to deal with her if she told anyone. Ms Ikeanyionwu quoted the survivors grandmother as saying that she became aware of the incident after the granddaughter got seriously sick about one week later. She said she took her granddaughter to the suspects house after being informed of what happened. Suspect handed over to the police Ms Ikeanyionwu said the suspect has since been handed over to the police for further investigation. She said the suspect would be charged upon conclusion of the investigation. Prohibited in Nigeria Nigeria, in 2015, enacted the Violence against Persons (Prohibition) Act, which outlawed all forms of violence against women and girls, including rape, female circumcision and forceful ejection. Offenders, on conviction, face life imprisonment or maximum of 14-year jail term, depending on the age of the offender and type of violence committed. Several persons have been convicted by various courts for rape. An Ado-Ekiti High Court, in July 2022, sentenced a 49-year-old man, Dele Adeyanju, to four years imprisonment for raping an 11-year-old girl. A Bauchi High Court, in 2017, sentenced two middle aged men to life in prison for raping a 40-year-old woman and plucking her eyes. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja has extended its order restricting participants in the #EndBadGovernance protest to the Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja, also known as the National Stadium. The judge, Sylvanus Oriji, gave the order following an application by by Ogwu Onoja, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), the lawyer representing the Minister of the FCT. At the resumed hearing, none of the 12 defendants appeared in court and none of them was represented by a lawyer. The defendants sued in the suit are Omoyele Sowore, Damilare Adenola, Adama Ukpabi, Tosin Harsogba, persons unknown, Inspector General IG of Police, Commissioner of Police. Others are Director General of the State Security Service, Director General, Nigeria Civil Defense Corps, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Air staff, Chief of Naval Staff as 1st to 12th respondents. On Tuesday, the FCT Minister, through his lawyer, drew the attention of the judge to a statement issued by one Damilare Adenola threatening that the nationwide protests might be extended beyond the initial 10 days. The protest, aimed at pressuring the federal government to address the economic hardship and other governance problems in the country, was held in many parts of the country from 1 to 10 August. 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 Mr Onoja argued that, since the defendants were not in court and no one knows their next plan of action, it would be in order to extend the order to ensure that peace of the FCT was not unjustly disrupted. In a brief ruling, the judge granted the request and affirmed that the order of 31 July remained valid and in force. Mr Oriji further ordered that the defendants should be served with the hearing notice before the next adjourned date. He subsequently adjourned until 22 August for hearing of the motion on notice. In his ruling on 31 July, Mr Oriji, recognised the rights of the protesters to embark on the protest, however restricted them to the stadium in view of the fears expressed by the minister. 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, the judge had ruled/ He added that the protest should not trample on the rights of other citizens to move about. He also said protesters must ensure that that properties and other public facilities were not destroyed. He therefore ordered the 1st to 5th respondents to use the Moshood Abiola Stadium only for the protest. Meanwhile, there were reports during the protest in Abuja of the police and the operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) firing live ammunition at peaceful protesters and journalists at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, despite being the protest venue designated by the court. Instances of harassment of protesters and journalists at both the stadium and other parts of the capital city were rife during the protests. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Former Presidents Muhammadu Buhari and Goodluck Jonathan are attending the Council of State meeting at the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja. Former Head of State Yakubu Gowon and Abdulsalami Abubakar are reportedly attending the meeting virtually. Most of the 36 State governors are physically present at the meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu. The meeting, which commenced at noon at the Council Chambers of the Villa, is the first since President Tinubu assumed office in May last year. It is not clear what the agenda of the meeting is. However, there are indications that it will discuss the state of the economy and the recent protest against hunger and hardship. The council met last on 10 February last year ahead of the general elections. Details later Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Seven ministers and National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu briefed the National Council of States on Tuesday at their meeting in Abuja. Two former presidents, Muhammadu Buhari and Goodluck Jonathan, attended the meeting in person while other former presidents attended virtually, Solid Minerals minister Dele Alake told journalists after the meeting. Many state governors were also at the meeting. And he (Mr Ribadu) did inform the Council of State about the pre-, during and post-event of the last protests, which I do not call a protest. I call a movement to effect a change of regime by force, which was also resisted, Mr Alake said. PREMIUM TIMES reported the #EndBadGovernance protests nationwide, during which thousands of young Nigerians marched to protest against government policies. The protest turned violent in some states and led to about 22 deaths. Mr Alake explained that the ministers were invited to make presentations on the roadmap on what they had achieved, the prospects and the challenges in the ministries. Apart from himself, he listed other ministers who made presentations, including the Coordinating Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, Minister of Works, David Umahi, Minister of Trade and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anite, and the Minister of Agriculture, Abubakar Kyari. 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 So, these seven of us ministers made individual presentations to the council of state meeting, and our presentations were well received from the feedback that we got immediately after individual presentations. And of course, at the end of it, matters of state were discussed in a robust manner and frank manner. Nigeria safe, democracy intact Ribadu Mr Alake said Mr Ribadu briefed the council on the countrys security situation. So the NSA briefed the council on the security situations and allayed fears all round. So after the NSAs briefing, generally, he allayed everybodys fears and spoke on the tightness of the security around the country and also reassured all and sundry that nobody will be allowed to truncate our hard-earned democracy. Any change of government has to be through the ballots and not through the barrel of the gun or through insurrection or through any other unconstitutional means, only through the ballot box can any government be changed. And he reassured on the security readiness of all security agencies in the country, to secure our territorial integrity and to protect Nigerias Democracy, he said. Mr Alake said the council thanked Nigerians for resisting any unconstitutional move to change the government, adding, If anybody is not satisfied with the government, any current administration, there is always an election coming, so you wait for election and cast your vote. Also speaking, Mr Edun said he briefed the council on the economy and updated them on how far progress had been made in terms of the macroeconomic policies being followed under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. And these policies are anchored in his eight priority areas, and the results to date have been very encouraging, he said. Economy growing The finance minister said the economy is on the path of growth, adding that the exchange rate is stabilising, though inflation is uncomfortably high. We looked at the data, or we reported on the evidence and the data of this half year for which data was available, compared to the first and second quarters of 2023. And in broad terms, the economy is growing. The balance of payments, in particular, the trade balance and a current account balance, are in surplus. The exchange rate is stabilising, and inflation, though high, uncomfortably high for the liking of Mr President and his team, is slowing, and it is set to fall. But in particular, there has been support for the economy from investors, foreign investors, by way of portfolio investors, domestic investors, who are participating in important private-public partnerships, particularly infrastructure sector and foreign direct investment, is beginning to recover, I would say so, he said. Mr Edun said he reported to the council the opportunities for the economy once stabilised for investment and growth and identified for the meeting the fact that we have exports, goods exports, non-oil exports, at $55 billion last year with tremendous room to grow. He stated further, So, in a nutshell, we reported that there was good progress being made that the effort was going to continue to ensure that the interventions and measures to ameliorate the high cost of living for individuals, for the agricultural sector, for industry, for Small Scale businesses, were going to continue to be implemented with all efforts needed for success. And on that basis, we reported an optimistic outlook for the Nigerian economy and the Nigerian society in general, as a result of prospects for economic growth and economic progress. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Nigerian government has frozen more than $37 million worth of cryptocurrency held in wallets believed to be owned by some organisers of #EndBadGovernance protests. The freezing followed an order by the Federal High Court in Abuja. The judge, Emeka Nwite, gave the order in a ruling delivered on 9 July, a copy of the decision seen by PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday shows. Mr Nwite issued the order based on an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). In the ex parte application filed on 8 August and heard by the court on the following day, the EFCC described the assets as proceeds of money laundering and terrorism financing. There was no objection to the application during the hearing, which was proceeded like an exchange of views between the judge and EFCCs lawyer, O.S Ujam. That an order of this honourable court is hereby made freezing the wallet addresses/accounts stated in the schedule below, which wallets are owned by individuals currently being investigated for offences of money laundering and terrorism financing, pending the conclusion of the investigation, Mr Nwite ruled shortly after listening to the EFCCs lawyer. 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 wallet with the lions share of the assets has USDT37 million (USDT37,061,867,869.3) cryptocurrency, which equals the exact value in American US dollars. Each of the three other wallets has USDT967, USDT90, and USDT443,512.37, respectively. Identities not revealed EFCC did not reveal the identities of the wallet owners in its application. However, insiders briefed about the case informed our reporter that the federal government traced them to suspected organisers of the #EndBadGovernance protests. The anti-government protests against rising costs of living, economic hardship faced by millions of Nigerians and general governance issues in Nigeria were held across many parts of the country from 1 to 10 August. Security forces have launched a crackdown on persons linked to the protests, appearing not to make any distinction between genuine protesters and persons who allegedly perpetrated crimes under the guise of the protests. Security forces reportedly killed more than 20 protesters during the demonstrations. In Abuja, security forces fired live ammunition at peaceful protesters and journalists identified by their vests. The police have quizzed a Daily Trust TV journalist in a bid to arrest one of the protest organisers who appeared on one of the platforms programmes. The Nigerian government has equally been hard on those suspected to have committed crimes during the protests. In Kano State and other places, the police have arrested and arraigned those suspected of looting businesses during the protests. Nigerian authorities have arrested seven Polish citizens over their suspected roles in the brandishing of Russian flags in Kano. An affidavit filed in support of the application for the court order to freeze the cryptocurrency wallets said the assets are owned by individuals currently being investigated for offences of money laundering and terrorism financing. The affidavit was sworn to by an EFCC official, Jimada Yusuf. Hearing At the hearing of the application on 9 July, EFCCs lawyer, Mr Ujam, urged the judge to order the freezing of the wallets pending the conclusion of the investigation and prosecution. There was no adverse parties in court to opppose the application since it was an ex-parte hearing usually conducted without the opponents in attendance. In cases where a legal process begins with an ex parte application, the adverse parties are not served until the court orders service of the outcome of the hearing and other filings. After listeing to EFCCs lawyer on 9 July, the judge, Mr Nwite, ordered, That the applicants application dated and filed on 8th day of August 2024 is granted as prayed, Pattern of post-protest reaction This is not the Nigerian governments first time of taking such measures against protest organisers. In 2020, during the #EndSARS protests, the government blocked accounts linked to the campaigners, claiming the funds might be connected to terrorist activities. The Punch Newspaper reported that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) froze 20 accounts and sought a court order to help freeze the accounts for an extended period of 90 days. The CBN argued that the nature of the transactions in the accounts suggested links to terrorism financing. The judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, Ahmed Mohammed (now a Justice of the Court of Appeal), granted the application to block the accounts of persons linked to the protest for more than 90 days. However, the judge vacated the freezing order after the legal teams of both the CBN and the 20 defendants decided to end the case for three months. Among the accounts frozen were those belonging to key figures in the #EndSARS movement, including Bolatito Oduala and Bassey Israel, who was said to be the medical coordinator for the protests in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Response to Allegations on the International Cargo Tracking Note (ICTN) Scheme Our attention has been drawn to a publication by Sahara Reporters on August 11, 2024, attributing allegations to Femi Falana SAN, concerning the purported lack of due process and highjack in awarding the International Cargo Tracking Note (ICTN) project to Antaser Nigeria Limited/Antaser Afrique Bvba, in consortium with four other companies. We (Antaser) categorically refute these allegations and present the following verifiable facts. As these allegations were attributed to Femi Falana SAN, the respected advocate for social justice, we believe that his statements may have been made in error, likely due to being misinformed regarding pertinent facts in the matter. In light of this, and given the facts we have shared hereunder, we encourage the learned SAN, along with Sahara Reporters, to make use of the Freedom of Information Act to verify the facts from all relevant agencies and ministries involved in the procurement process and share their findings with the public. We hereby wish to state the facts as follows: Clarification of TPMS Engagement and Termination: The Transport and Port Management System (TPMS) was engaged by the Nigerian Ports Authority in 2010 for the operation of ICTN. This engagement was initially suspended due to a petition to the then Minister of Finance/Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Subsequently, the contract was terminated due to TPMSs non-remittance of accrued revenue to the Federal Government. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) confirmed that Antaser Afrique, as a technical partner to TPMS, promptly remitted all monies due to the government, leading to Antaser Afriques complete exoneration, while TPMS was indicted, prosecuted, and convicted. ICTN Re-introduction Under President Buhari The re-introduction of ICTN under President Muhammadu Buhari was plagued with irregularities, including several anticipatory approvals to various representative companies. Upon comprehensive legal and professional review, President Buhari was advised to cancel all ongoing procurement processes across multiple Federal Ministries, including Finance, Petroleum, and Transport, and to centralise the process under the Nigerian Shippers Council. The directive was to engage the technology owners directly through a procurement process, in the best interest of Nigeria. Challenge to Claims of Executive Order We unequivocally state that no executive order was issued to any company regarding this matter. We challenge anyone to produce documentation, such as a White Paper, that proves otherwise. Antaser Nigerias Legitimate Award The Federal Government, through the Nigerian Shippers Council, invited Antaser Nigeria Limited via direct procurement to implement the ICTN scheme, including crude oil exports, for 15 years on a No Cure, No Pay basis, with a 60:40 revenue-sharing ratio favouring the Federal Government. To date, our bid proposal remains the only valid ICTN scheme award, duly approved by all relevant government agencies and the Federal Executive Council. Proven Expertise and Global Reach Antaser Afrique Bvba and its Nigerian subsidiary pioneered the Electronic Cargo Tracking Note, offering a global network to monitor real-time trade information from origin to destination. With operations in over 23 countries across Africa and the Middle East, our technical expertise and competence in globally deploying the ICTN scheme are unparalleled. Our track record of excellence and integrity spans several decades. 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 ICTN as a Critical Security Measure The ICTN scheme is an international security measure crucial for maritime and national security, trade management, and preventing economic leakages. It effectively streamlines trade data, regulates transactions, and ensures financial benefits for implementing countries. Alignment with Nigerias Needs We fully agree with Mr. Falana, SAN on the urgency of implementing the ICTN scheme in Nigeria, given its numerous benefits, including: A: Checking the importation of arms, ammunition, and banned substances, B: Preventing under-declaration and over-declaration of goods, C: Addressing under-invoicing and over-invoicing of goods, D: Curtailing corporate oil theft and other malfeasance in the petroleum industry, E: Providing real-time statistics for economic planning, F: Significantly increasing government revenue. Consortium and Local Content Contribution The four other companies in the consortiumVelocity Logistics Ltd, Winslow Logistics Ltd, Equal Logistics Ltd, and Sahams Crystal Investment Ltdwere selected solely to provide local content support services. As the scheme progresses, additional local companies will be engaged to offer further support services as needed. Antaser remains fully committed to delivering ICTN services in line with international best practices and stands ready to commence operations within 24 hours of receiving the required enforcement order and international notification. Signed Omieza Zacchaeus GM, Corporate Communications Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Kaduna State Government has lifted the 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. curfew it imposed on Kaduna and Zaria cities after the #EndBadGovernance protests turned violent in the state last week. The Overseeing Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, announced the development in a statement issued on Tuesday in Kaduna. After an extensive review of the security situation in Kaduna and Zaria towns and their environs, the State Security Council under the leadership of Gov. Uba Sani has removed the current 6pm to 8am curfew completely, Mr Aruwan said. The removal of the curfew is effective immediately, from today Tuesday, August 13. He said with this development, law-abiding citizens were free to move and engage in legitimate activities in Kaduna and Zaria and their environs with no restriction. The State Security Council during the extensive assessment held last night unanimously recommended the removal of the curfew and reiterated its commitment to the security and safety of the citizenry in Kaduna State. The Security Council also warned that processions or gatherings must be verified with the relevant agencies to avoid any breakdown of law and order, and for the overall security of the general public, Mr Aruwan said. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later He said that the council further disclosed that security forces would continue to be on the lookout for threats to public peace, and would prosecute persons or groups posing such threats. Gov. Sani, presiding over the briefing, commended the leadership of the security agencies, religious and traditional leaders, and all critical stakeholders for the roles they played in containing the unfortunate events which followed the protest in Kaduna and Zaria. The Governor assured the critical stakeholders of his inclusive and participatory stance, and that he would continue to engage them towards ensuring the peace, unity and development of the state, Mr Aruwan said. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Edo State Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu has responded to the impersonation allegation levelled against him by the Edo State Government. The Edo State House of Assembly removed Mr Shaibu from office on 8 April over an allegation of disclosing the governments secret, an allegation Mr Shaibu said was hatched because of his governorship ambition. He had vowed to challenge his removal at the court. After removing Mr Shaibu, the lawmakers confirmed Governor Godwin Obasekis nomination of Omabayo Godwins as a replacement for the impeached deputy governor. However, a Federal High Court in Abuja on 17 July overturned Mr Shaibus removal and reinstated him as the deputy governor. The judge, James Omotosho, had also ordered the payment of Mr Shaibus entitlements since April and also ordered the inspector general of police to restore his security. Dissatisfied with the court order, the Edo Assembly filed a motion in court for a stay of execution of the judgment. But Mr Shaibu, in a video posted on X on Monday, said he had resumed office as deputy governor of the state, citing the court order, a development that triggered a response from the Edo State Government. 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 Edo governments reaction The Edo State Government, through the Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, in a statement on Monday, accused Mr Shaibu of impersonating Mr Godwins as the deputy governor. Mr Nehikhare urged the public to disregard Mr Shaibus claim to the Office of the Deputy Governor of the state, stressing that Edo Assembly filed a motion challenging Mr Shaibus reinstatement. Security agencies are, by this notice, alerted of the potential breach of peace and are urged to hold Mr Shaibu responsible for any security breach in the state arising from his ignoble actions, the commissioner said. Obaseki behaving as if hes the law, Shaibu In his response to the Edo State Governments allegation of impersonation against him, Mr Shaibu described it as an affront on the judiciary and a clear violation of the valid court judgment. Mr Shaibus response is contained in a statement released Tuesday by his spokesperson, Ebomhiana Musa. Mr Musa said that Mr Godwins is an appointee of Mr Obaseki and described him (Mr Godwins) as an impostor who Edo people never voted for. We also view it as an insult to the people of Edo State who overwhelmingly voted for Mr Obaseki/ Shaibu joint ticket in the governorship election of September 2020. Addressing the stay of execution filed against Mr Shaibus reinstatement by the Edo Assembly, Mr Musa said that a stay of execution on declarative judgment of a competent court of law does not vitiate the execution of the judgment. Both parties must obey the judgment, pending the determination of the stay of execution by the same court, Mr Musa said. Mr Obaseki is one governor who is well known for his disdain for the judiciary and flagrant disrespect for judicial pronouncements. Erroneously, he also believes that every man has a price. He was said to have boasted several times at various quarters that Mr Godwins remains his deputy governor until he serves his term as Edo State Governor. He was quoted to have said in one of the instances that I will take care of the judiciary. Its unfortunate that Mr Obaseki has behaved as if he is a law unto himself, especially since the 17 July court judgment which reinstated Mr Shaibu as Deputy Governor of Edo State after his purported impeachment by the State House of Assembly. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print A School Principal in Akwa Ibom State has flouted the state governments free and compulsory education policy by imposing N10,000 fees on students taking the National Examination Council. Paul Nkanta, the Principal of St.Marys Science College, Ediene Abak, in Abak Local Government Area of the state, admitted imposing the fee when a PREMIUM TIMES reporter met him in his office on 3 July. The Akwa Ibom State Government about a month ago demoted a principal for extorting students, Leadership newspaper reported. With poor infrastructure in some public schools in Akwa Ibom, it is common to see students sitting on the bare floor to take lessons. Like in other states in Nigeria, students from low-income backgrounds attend public schools in Akwa Ibom, while children of the elite attend choice private schools within and outside the state. Imposing fees on vulnerable students shows how school heads in the state circumvent the governments free education policy and further impoverish poor parents. Facts about the fee PREMIUM TIMES found out about the illegal fees at St. Marys Science College through a parent who expressed concerns over it via a WhatsApp group. On the issue of extra fees, weve been fed (up) with the story that parents unanimously agreed to support the school with N10,000 each since so many people are indebted to the school, but mine is when the debts are finally paid, will the N10, 000 be returned to the owners? Is this not a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul? 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 That aside, about 105 candidates are writing NECO. Can you show proof that at least half of the parents here were invited to the meeting? By the way, how many parents were in the meeting where this decision was taken? What guarantee do we have that the attendance to that meeting was not censored? the parent queried, in the group chats. Besides the alleged illegal fees, a teacher in the school also accused the principal of not taking action over a series of thefts in the school, particularly some laboratory equipment carted away 48 hours before the external examination. According to the teacher, the school laboratory was burgled two days before WAEC Physics practical examination with all the retort stands, pendulum bobs, slotted weights and so many other items carted away. The theft, he said, was reported to the principal. Days after, a biology teacher in the school reported the theft of items in the biology laboratory, including all microscopes, three ovens and so many other things, the teacher alleged. Principal reacts Reacting to the allegations against him, the principal, Mr Nkanta initially referred our reporter to the State Secondary School Board (SSEB), the state governments department that regulates the activities of secondary schools in the state. But when the reporter insisted that the allegations were personal to the principal, Mr Nkanta said he reported the thefts and missing items in the school to the SSEB. On the allegation of N10,000 illegal fees on students writing NECO examination in the school, Mr Nkanta admitted it but said he got the approval of the schools Parent-Teacher Association (PTA). Go to the PTA chairperson. We did it officially, not in secret. It was documented in the minutes. If you want information, meet the PTA chairperson, the principal told PREMIUM TIMES. When contacted, the PTA chairperson, Uduakobong Udofa, confirmed that the principal got the PTAs approval for the fees. Yes, he (the principal) discussed it with the PTA as a group and they gave him consent for the payment. He made an appeal to parents in a well-constituted PTA meeting, and they agreed with him, Mr Udofa told PREMIUM TIMES on 7 July. Both the principal and the PTA chairperson declined to disclose what the N10, 000 which was only paid by NECO candidates was meant for. Principal risk demotion if found guilty State govt The Commissioner for Education in Akwa Ibom, Idongesit Etiebet, when contacted, described the principals action as illegal, adding that many of them have been demoted. Mrs Etiebet, who admitted knowledge of school principals flouting government policy on free education, said the permanent secretary in the ministry was investigating three cases at hand. We have demoted many principals before. Ive directed that it should be published in the press so that people will know, she said. Asked if school heads could bypass the ministry and secure the PTA approval to impose fees on students, the commissioner said it was an offence. Ive had several meetings with heads of schools informing them that the PTA has no right to charge fees. If they (PTA) want to embark on a project, they should write the ministry for approval and execute it, but it should not be through the principal or teachers and without asking students to bring money. Because when you involve a principal, you are handing out a levy, and the Ministry of Education, which is acting on behalf of the government, has directed that illegal fees should not be charged. So when someone does that, it is an offence, she said. You can report them to the SSEB and we will follow up and investigate it. Sometimes people can be wrongly accused. But what we do is to investigate it. We have demoted some of them. Every principal, once your name is mentioned under investigation, we put it in the press so that everybody will know that it is name and shame. Even me as a person, since the school is free and compulsory, the N10,000 allegedly charged by the principal is not a small amount of money to a common man in the village, she said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Speaker of the Abia House of Assembly, Emmanuel Emeruwa, has inaugurated Aaron Uzodike, a lawmaker who was declared elected by an appeal court. Initial refusal to inaugurate lawmaker Mr Uzodike contested in the 2023 general election for Abia North State Constituency, Abia State, South-east Nigeria, on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). But the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Destiny Nwangwu of the Labour Party (LP) election winner in the constituency. Dissatisfied, Mr Uzodike challenged the victory of the LP candidate at the Court of Appeal in Lagos State. The court, in its judgment on 27 November 2023, nullified the election of Mr Nwangwu and ordered the immediate withdrawal of the certificate of return earlier issued to the LP candidate. It subsequently declared Mr Uzodike the winner of the exercise and ordered INEC to issue a fresh certificate of return to the PDP candidate. The Court of Appeal is the highest court for adjudication of disputes over elections in federal and state legislatures. 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 PREMIUM TIMES exclusively obtained a letter sent by INEC to the clerk of the state assembly announcing the withdrawal of the certificate of return from the Labour Party candidate. The letter, dated 13 December 2023 and signed by INEC secretary Rose Oriaran-Anthony, was received by the clerk of the House on 18 December of the same year. Upon the inauguration of the Abia State Assembly last year, the PDP had the majority with 11 members. While the LP had ten members, the YPP had two members, and the APC had only one member. However, the LP dropped to nine members after the Court of Appeal nullified Mr Nwangwus election, while the number of PDP seats in the House increased to 12. In May, the two lawmakers from the YPP defected to the LP to increase seats to 11. The state governor, Alex Otti, is a member of the LP. He won the 18 March 2023 governorship election on the partys platform. The Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mr Emeruwa, also belongs to the LP. The speaker has the responsibility to ensure the inauguration of the PDP candidate in compliance with the Court of Appeal judgement. Order from the above Mr Uzodike had told PREMIUM TIMES in April that, on 14 December 2023, he submitted all the documents needed for his inauguration to the House of Assembly. The documents which he submitted include the certificate of return issued to him by INEC, the certified true copy of the court judgement that declared him the winner of the election and the INECs letter notifying the clerk of the House of the withdrawal of Mr Nwangwus certificate of return. The politician said that after submitting the documents, the speaker of the House, Mr Emeruwa, scheduled his inauguration for 18 January but later sent a message to him on the same day that it would not hold any longer. He added that, on 16 April, he visited the assembly chambers after the House reconvened following Easter break and presented himself for the inauguration. He said, again, the speaker did not allow him to make a presentation or inaugurate him. The Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly, Mr Emeruwa, declined to speak when contacted in April for comments. The court did not mandate me to inaugurate him Earlier, while interacting with reporters in June in Umuahia, Mr Emeruwa admitted that the Appeal Court in Lagos declared Mr Uzodike winner and mandated INEC to give him a certificate of return The Speaker, however, claimed a Federal High Court of Appeal, Abuja, later interpreted the certified true copy of the Appeal Court in Lagos and affirmed that the court ruling did not mandate him to swear in the lawmaker. There is no court in Nigeria known as the Federal High Court of Appeal that Mr Emeruwa referred to. Finally inaugurated When contacted, Mr Uzodike confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that he was finally inaugurated on Tuesday. The lawmaker expressed gratitude to PREMIUM TIMES and others who pressured the assembly to inaugurate him. His inauguration is coming exactly 14 months after the Abia Assembly was inaugurated on 14 June 2023. Democracy won at last A former Commissioner for Information in Abia State, John Kalu, has congratulated the lawmaker on his inauguration. Though delayed by anti-democratic forces in Abia State who want to play God, we are happy democracy and rule of law won at last, Mr Kalu said in a Facebook post on Tuesday. The former commissioner praised Nigerian media for refusing to be silenced by individuals behind the refusal to inaugurate the lawmaker. Hopefully, Honourable Aaron will receive all his dues and that of the good people of Aba North that were withheld since December 2023, he said. Mr Kalu urged Mr Uzodike to redouble his efforts to work for his people and carry young people along. Good politics must focus on the welfare of the people above all things, and God has graciously given you a second chance to make a massive impact, he told the lawmaker. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print News / National by Gideon Madzikatidze Despite pampering uniformed forces with praises during 44th Defence Forces Day celebrations, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, (who is also the Commander In-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces) deliberately forced members of military attire to rather bite bullets as substitutes for monetary increment; his allegiance and address to non-monetary promises this Tuesday has exposed.Presiding over routine gathering in appreciation of the defence forces' tireless efforts to ensure peace and stability, Mnangagwa shows no sign of reviewing salaries for members of the military attire, giving them hope in offering caretaker services in form of accommodation, healthcare, among other essentials to inculcate sense of belonging, ownership and responsibility."Meanwhile, an array of strategies are under way to improve the welfare of members of our Defence Forces. Non-monetary incentives and benefitssuch as Civil Service Housing Loans and the Civil Service Vehicle Purchase schemes have been extended to members of the Defence Forces," Mnangagwa said."Further, my Government has expanded the transport fleet for the Defence Forces, through the procurement and delivery of an assortment of vehicles," Mnangagwa added."Over and above, housing units that are ready for occupation, Government will soon be embarking on the construction of 3 000 housing units for members of the ZD," Mnangagwa promised."This is part of the comprehensive programme by my Administration to increase affordable housing stock throughout the country. Similarly, healthcare for members of the Defence Forces is of critical importance for their general upkeep," Mnangagwa said.President Emmerson Mnangagwa also promised that his government is committed to make sure that all military hospitals and health institutions have requisite modern equipment and adequate medicines."The construction of the Defence Forces Referral Hospital at Manyame Air Force Base, is being accelerated," Mnangagwa remarks.Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's Minister of Defence, Honourable Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri has expressed expressed the commitment by Defence Forces to embrace vision 2030 in establishing 'Prosperous and Empowered Upper MiddleIncome Society by 2030'.Muchinguri-Kashiri promised that the second mandate as enshrined inthe constitution dictates that they support civil Ministries to further their mandates in attaining national development goals in this case of National Development Strategy 1."We will, therefore, continue to contribute to pillars under NDS1. We are inspired by your mantra, Nyika Inovakwa Nevene Vayo," Muchinguri-Kashiri said."This has seen us contributing towards infrastructural development which include construction of schools,clinics and bridges; food and nutrition security where we provide logistical support; health and well-being as demonstrated by handing over of health facilities; human capital development; devolution and decentralisation of services; housing delivery; Social Protection andDisaster Management; and support to civil authorities just to mention a few," Muchinguri-Kashiri added."Your Excellency, we thank you for your relentless efforts in improving the conditions of service of our members, as witnessed by the improvements in accommodation, health services and logistics which are a result of your interventions. We salute your deliberate policy that we mainstreaming gender in all aspects of Zimbabwe Defence Forces," Muchinguri-Kashiri said.During one of Zimbabwean Parliament's question-and-answer sessions, there were several allegations raised that some underpaid military personnel were committing heinous crimes countrywide to supplement their meagre pay, and one of the legislators queried if government was committed to improve on welfare of uniformed forces.The Citizen Coalition for Change's (CCC) Chiredzi South legislator, Ropafadzo Makumire queried (during the Question-and-Answer session) on how President Emmerson Mnangagwa's administration was handling the welfare of members of the defence forces."Mr. Speaker Sir, we have been experiencing quite a number of cases wherein members of the national military have been involved in heinous crimes such as money heists and armed robberies," Makumire said then."I want to ask the Minister of Defence about government policy concerning the enhancement of the welfare of military personnel?," Makumire questioned then.Deputy Minister of Defence, Retired Brigadier-General Levi Mayihlome, responded that military members need Parliament support during national budget formulation."Regarding the welfare of the members of the military, and indeed all uniformed forces, the government does whatever it can within the resources that are available to provide for their welfare."I do not believe that currently members are really not informed because we debated this even during the budget allocations as to what the situation is like. We keep discussing with the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion to ensure that members of the military are catered for," Mayihlome said then."Unlike the other members of society, they cannot fend for themselves, but it is really up to us the Hon. members so that when the budget for the military, or the uniformed forces, we all put our hands on the deck and speak the same language to ensure that their welfare is taken care of," Retired Brigadier-General Levi Mayihlome said then.Mayihlome responded that it was neither the government's intention nor its wish that uniformed forces are neglected.Based on Mnangagwa's promise to provide some necessities for the military personnel (Defence forces) in form of non-monetary stature, one would be left with many questions to be answered and unsatisfied if all these create "code 1-4-3" (military code referring to 'I love you') between the servants (military personnel) and their master (Mnangagwa their Commander In-Chief) The Osun State House of Assembly has passed two bills amending the Osun State Local Government Area Creation and Osun Electoral Commission Laws in conformity with the Supreme Court judgement on local government financial autonomy. The amended bills are: the Osun State Local Government Areas Creation and Administration Amendment No. 7 Bill 2024 and the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission Amendment No. 1 Bill 2024. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the assembly passed the bills after they were read for the third time during plenary in Osogbo, the state capital, on Tuesday. The speaker, Adewale Egbedun, said clean copies of the bills would be forwarded to Governor Ademola Adeleke for assent. NAN recalls that the Deputy Majority Leader, Adekunle Oladimeji, had, on 29 July, said the amendments were in line with the Nigerian Constitution and the Supreme Court judgement. Mr Oladimeji said this while reading the policy thrust of the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission Amendment No. 1 Bill. According to him, the judgment granted financial autonomy to the 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) recognised by law. 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 Osun Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC), in line with Section 197 of the Nigerian Constitution, is to conduct, organise and supervise all elections into local councils in the state, in accordance with the law. Amendment of the OSIEC Act is necessary to avoid a conflict with the Supreme Court judgement. It is also to strengthen the local government system, so people at the grassroots can enjoy the dividends of democracy, he said. Adewumi Adeyemi, (Obokun State Constituency), also, on 29 July, read the policy thrust of the Osun State Local Government Areas Creation and Administration Amendment Bill. He said that Section 7(1) allowed for the existence and running of local governments by elected officials. Mr Adeyemi added that section 8 of the constitution empowers state assemblies to ensure, through enacted laws, that local government administrations exist, and their financing guaranteed. He noted that with the Supreme Court judgment, Local Government Development Areas (LCDAs) and Area Councils were not recognised by the constitution as being among the 774 LGAs in Nigeria. The Osun State Local Government Amendment Bill will, when passed into law, take care of the local government structure and compositions of executives, he said. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print CHENNAI, India, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- 4i apps solutions recently marked AI Appreciation Day with a distinguished event celebrating the transformative power of artificial intelligence across diverse sectors. This event highlighted 4i's commitment to collaboration and ethical AI development, convening experts, technologists, and industry leaders to delve into the latest advancements and applications of AI. 4i apps solutions Celebrates AI Appreciation Day with Industry-Leading Initiatives (PRNewsfoto/4i apps solutions) The day's programme included keynote addresses, panel discussions, interactive workshops, and an exhibition of AI projects. Keynote speakers emphasised AI's crucial role in enhancing productivity and driving innovation, addressing advancements in machine learning, natural language processing, and the ethical considerations inherent in AI deployment. Panel discussions provided insights from top experts on AI's future and its applications in sectors such as healthcare, finance, and education. 4i reaffirmed its commitment to ethical AI development, underlining the paramount importance of responsible practices in AI research and deployment. "Our AI Appreciation Day event not only highlights our advancements but also underscores our dedication to ethical AI development," stated Rajmohan, Chief Technology Officer, 4i. This steadfast commitment ensures that AI technologies developed by 4i not only drive business success but also contribute positively to society. 4i highlighted its advanced AI lab, dedicated to fostering technological progress. This facility serves as a central hub for pioneering developments within the company, equipped with resources that enable advanced AI research. The lab accelerates internal projects and collaborates with external partners to drive industry-wide advancements. As AI continues to evolve, 4i remains dedicated to leveraging AI for societal benefit and enhancing business operations globally. The AI Appreciation Day event was a testament to the company's leadership in AI and its ongoing efforts to promote collaboration and ethical development in the sector. About 4i apps solutions 4i is a leading provider of comprehensive enterprise applications and technology services, catering to diverse industries globally. With 16 years of operational excellence, 4i has established itself as a trusted partner for both public and private sector organizations. Our expertise extends beyond Oracle Cloud to encompass a wide array of solutions, including Salesforce implementations, ERP systems such as Fusion and EBS applications, and specialized services in Primavera and PSRM. Leveraging advanced AI capabilities, we support businesses of all sizes in identifying and implementing robust AI solutions. Our team of over 750 consultants delivers tailored solutions worldwide, ensuring business success through reliability and strategic advancement. Contact: Email: [email protected] Website: 4iapps.com Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2479906/4i_AI_Appreciation_Day.jpg SOURCE 4i apps solutions Early cancer detection tests will be provided by Dallas-based healthcare innovator Cancer Check Labs Adopt A Firefighter will provide $2.5 Million worth of Cancer Check Labs' tests which will cover up to 1,000 cancer screenings for Dallas area firefighters To realize Adopt A Firefighter's goal of testing every firefighter in the Dallas area, the organization has kicked off an additional $1.5 Million GoFundMe campaign, for a total fundraise goal of $4 Million DALLAS, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Adopt A Firefighter, a newly formed non-profit organization that provides firefighters with free access to early cancer detection tests, today announced its inaugural campaign to donate $2.5 Million in tests from Dallas-based Cancer Check Labs, a leader in early cancer detection through blood screening. According to the CDC, cancer is a leading cause of death among firefighters, with research suggesting firefighters are at higher risk of certain types of cancers when compared to the general population. This is due to exposure to hundreds of different chemicals through the burning of hazardous substances in the form of gasses, vapors and particulates. Right now, there are over 1 million active-duty firefighters in the United States at risk of developing cancer. In addition to Cancer Check Labs' $2.5 Million in donated tests, Adopt A Firefighter has kicked off a campaign in Dallas to raise an additional $1.5 Million in tests through community and corporate donations. Dallas is home to nearly 2,000 firefighters. "Firefighters are some of the most crucial members of our society, yet we often forget that the leading cause of death among them is due not to workplace injuries but to cancer," said Sumit Rai, President and Board Director of Adopt a Firefighter and CEO of Cancer Check Labs, the company providing the cancer screening tests. "These are the men and women that show up every day to serve their communities and do one of the most difficult, dangerous and selfless jobs in the world. Our goal with Adopt A Firefighter is to 'be the hero behind our heroes' by providing every firefighter access to early cancer detection tests and empowering them to prioritize their well-being, define their future, and continue their invaluable contribution to society." In addition to Mr. Rai, Adopt A Firefighter boasts a diverse list of board members and advisors from current UFC Heavyweight Title Contender, former 6x Heavyweight UFC Champion, and full-time firefighter Stipe Miocic, to Daniel De Year, former Deputy Chief of the City of Dallas, Dallas Fire Marshall and International Fire Marshall for the U.S. Department of State each dedicated to helping firefighters dramatically increase their chances of beating cancer with early detection. "When someone decides to become a firefighter they're aware of the risks that come with the job, but cancer registers lower on the list of immediate concerns, especially for younger firefighters," said Daniel DeYear. "There is nothing more important to a firefighter than saving lives, including the lives of firefighters, and that's exactly why I became involved with Adopt A Firefighter." Stipe Miocic added, "I became a full-time firefighter so I could stay grounded and serve my community. Part of that is ensuring that people like me can continue to live long, healthy and productive lives. That is what I am committed to in my work with Adopt A Firefighter." About Adopt A Firefighter Adopt A Fighter believes in the importance of safeguarding the health of those who selflessly serve our communities. By providing access to cancer detection tests, Adopt A Firefighter aims to create a future where every firefighter has the opportunity for regular cancer screenings leading to early detection, effective treatment, and an enhanced quality of life. To learn how you can get involved, visit www.adoptafirefighter.life. About Cancer Check Labs Cancer Check Labs is on a mission to save lives through early detection. Cancer Check can screen for 200+ cancers by physically extracting whole, intact circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from a blood sample. Because CTCs have been detected in blood samples as early as Stage 0, Cancer Check arguably provides the earliest cancer detection test available today. Cancer Check Labs is headquartered in Dallas, TX. The Cancer Check test is not intended to replace other established evidence-based screening, diagnostic, and medical guidelines and practices for the detection of cancer. Similar to other medical tests, the Cancer Check test is not perfect and has limitations to detect all cancers. Cancer Check Labs' clinical laboratory is registered under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA). The Cancer Check test was developed, and its performance characteristics were determined by Cancer Check Labs. The Cancer Check test has not been cleared or approved by the Food and Drug Administration. This test is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Cancer Check Labs' clinical laboratory is regulated under CLIA. Media Contact: Lara Mehanna 703-625-9177 [email protected] SOURCE Adopt A Firefighter GURUGRAM, India and SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Air India, India's leading global airline, and Arrivia, the world's largest stand-alone travel loyalty provider and a travel technology company, have entered into a partnership for Air India's Flying Returns loyalty programme. The partnership enables Air India Flying Returns members to earn Reward Points on their cruise trips on more than 40 major cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean International, P&O Cruises, Norwegian Cruises, MSC Cruises, Disney Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Costa & Cunard, among many others, offering over 30,000 itineraries across the world. Air India and arrivia enter into a partnership for Air India's Flying Returns loyalty programme. Through the partnership, Flying Returns members can earn 5 Reward Points for every 100 spent on their cruise fare when booked via: flyingreturnsicruise.com Flying Returns Members will also be able to earn Reward Points on a range of experiences, from ultra-luxurious Caribbean escapes to once-in-a-lifetime Alaskan excursions and increasingly popular river cruises. "We are committed to making Flying Returns a truly world-class loyalty programme, and this exciting new partnership with arrivia International is one of the many ways in which we are reimagining Flying Returns," said Sunil Suresh, Head of Marketing, Loyalty & E-Commerce at Air India. "Flying Returns is no longer just about flights. It's about enriching travel experiences, whether our valued members enjoy those on Air India or anywhere else around the world. We are delighted to present to our members exciting new ways to earn Reward Points beyond the conventional means in our effort to establish Flying Returns as a truly comprehensive loyalty programme." John Williams, Managing Director of arrivia International, added: "Cruising is more than just a transaction. Flying Returns members have thousands of sailings to choose from and are serviced by our expert team of knowledgeable and experienced cruise specialists via our global call centres. Our cruise specialists provide a seamless booking process with personalized assistance and expert advice to ensure that every aspect of the journey exceeds expectations." Arrivia's iCruise program that powers Flying Returns is celebrating its 20th anniversary with strong industry relationships, unbeatable rates, and commitment to value. iCruise is ready to help Flying Returns members set sail on their dream vacations offering more than 30,000 worldwide itineraries spanning oceans, rivers, and expeditions. This partnership ensures that members receive the highest quality cruise experiences, while earning valuable rewards. The cruise industry has shown impressive resilience and growth despite economic challenges. According to the CLIA State of the Industry Report, global passenger volume reached 31.7 million in 2023, a nearly 7% increase from 2019. Projections indicate ocean-going cruise passenger volume will hit 106% of 2019 levels in 2024, with gross bookings soaring over 500% year over year. Passenger volume is forecasted to approach an impressive 40 million by 2027. Air India's Flying Returns program is well positioned to thrive in this robust market. The cruise industry continues to grow rapidly in India and this partnership ensures that voyages are not only unforgettable but also more rewarding for Flying Returns members. About Air India Flying Returns: Launched in 1994, Air India's Flying Returns programme boasts a long history, making it India's oldest frequent flyer programme. In April 2024, Flying Returns underwent a monumental transformation having moved away from the legacy model of miles-based collection of points to a fairer, more equitable spend-based approach, apart from offering a simplified new structure, more customer-friendly features, renamed tiers, and an updated identity. The revamped Flying Returns prioritizes greater ease, more rewards, and recognition for Members, while offering them instant global status and privileges around the world across 25 other Star Alliance member airlines. The new features of the Flying Returns programme include Evergreen Points, ensuring Reward Points never expire, no blackout dates or restrictions on redemption, as well as a premium one-stop member service contact centre for Platinum, Gold, and Silver members. About arrivia For more than 25 years, arrivia has powered travel loyalty and rewards programs for some of the world's most respected cruise, hotel, resort, and financial brands, including American Express, USAA, and Marriott Vacation Club by offering their customers more value through exclusive pricing and personalized options that inspire travel and customer loyalty. To learn more about how arrivia helps companies drive growth, incentivize sales, boost affinity, and reward high-value customers, visit www.arrivia.com. Flying Returns powered by iCruise Website: https://flyingreturnsicruise.com/ Enquire online: https://flyingreturnsicruise.com/info/contact/ PRESS CONTACTS AIR INDIA arrivia International Ronit Baugh [email protected] John Williams [email protected] 305.749.5342 Ext 305 SOURCE arrivia JetZero's pioneering blended wing body aircraft contributes to aviation's sustainability journey with significant improvements in fuel efficiency SEATTLE, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Alaska Airlines announced today an investment in JetZero, a pioneering company developing a new blended-wing body (BWB) aircraft that will provide up to 50% less fuel burn and lower emissions. The investment reflects Alaska's commitment to advance new technology that will benefit the future of aviation, including those that enable the airlines' path to net zero carbon emissions. Alaska invested as part of JetZero's Series A last year and is the first airline to do so. Alaska Airlines announces investment in JetZero to propel innovative aircraft technology and design The investment, which includes options for future aircraft orders, was made through Alaska Star Ventures (ASV), the airline's investment arm whose purpose is to influence the future of the aviation industry. ASV is focused on identifying and enabling the technologies that can help Alaska reach its ambitious goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2040. This initiative is one piece of Alaska's comprehensive sustainability strategy along with operational efficiency, fleet renewal, sustainable aviation fuel, waste reduction, and electrified aircraft. "At Alaska, we are always looking for ways to innovate and shape the future of air travel for our guests, employees, and industry," said Diana Birkett Rakow, senior vice president of public affairs and sustainability at Alaska Airlines. "We are proud to invest in JetZero's development of this innovative next-generation aircraft, with a significant step-change in fuel efficiency. We and JetZero share a vision for more sustainable aviation, and we are excited to partner with them in creating that future." JetZero's BWB aircraft stands out with its innovative design that integrates the wings and fuselage into a single smooth shape, greatly reducing aerodynamic drag. Due to an expected 50% fuel reduction compared to the current tube-and-wing design, the BWB will result in potential lower carbon emissions and operating costs. The aircraft's spacious interior will enable innovative seating arrangements with benefits to passenger comfort, such as a quieter and more enjoyable flying experience. Its unique shape will significantly reduce weight and drag and offers great promise in contributing to a more sustainable future in aviation. "The biggest challenge for airlines is lowering fuel burn and emissions. Of all the great new technologies in work, the BWB design delivers the biggest impact by far. Airlines will see immediate benefit in cost savings, dramatically lower emissions and improved customer experience, compared to airplanes flying today," said Tom O'Leary, CEO and co-founder, JetZero. "We're thrilled to welcome Alaska to our team of innovators, and our belief that this aircraft will reshape aviation." While the BWB design is not new, JetZero has shown unique leadership in collaborating closely with the United States Air Force, NASA, and the FAA to develop its revolutionary blended wing aircraft and ultimately bringing it to market. About Alaska Airlines Alaska Airlines and our regional partners serve more than 120 destinations across the United States, the Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Mexico. We offer our guests a premium flying experience with award-winning customer service and an industry-leading loyalty program, Mileage Plan. With our fellow oneworld Alliance members and additional global partners, our guests have more choices than ever to purchase, earn or redeem on alaskaair.com across 30 airlines and more than 1,000 worldwide destinations. Learn more about Alaska at news.alaskaair.com and follow @alaskaairnews for news and stories. Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK). More information on Alaska's sustainability strategy is available at alaskaair.com/content/about-us/esg. About JetZero JetZero, co-founded by aerospace legend Mark Page, is developing the world's first commercial blended wing body (BWB) airplane. With up to 50% lower fuel burn and carbon emissions compared to existing commercial airliners, JetZero's BWB offers the aviation industry a clear path to achieving its 2050 net-zero goals. Working alongside the US Air Force, NASA, and the FAA, and backed by decades of investment and research into blended wing technology, JetZero looks to enter commercial service by 2030. SOURCE ALASKA AIRLINES The global anti-aging products market has experienced significant growth driven by the increasing aging population and the widespread influence of social media. As the global population continues to age, particularly in regions like Asia-Pacific and Europe, there is a increased demand for products that address age-related skin concerns such as wrinkles, fine lines, and age spots. Concurrently, the rise of social media platforms has amplified beauty standards and trends, with influencers and celebrities promoting anti-aging products, thereby increasing consumer awareness and demand. WILMINGTON, Del., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Anti Aging Products Market by Product Type (Facial Creams and Lotions, Serums and Concentrates, Under Eye Creams, Others (Facial Oils and Sheet Masks)), End User (Male and Female), and Distribution Channel (Supermarkets/Hypermarkets, Specialty Stores, Pharmacies/Drug Stores, Online Retail Stores and Other): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2024-2033". According to the report, the anti aging products market was valued at $55.8 billion in 2023, and is estimated to reach $108.5 billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 6.9% from 2024 to 2033. Download Sample Pages of Research Overview: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/A06331 Prime determinants of growth The prime determinants of growth in the anti-aging products market include technological advancements, increasing consumer awareness, and evolving beauty trends. Innovations in skincare technology, such as the development of more effective active ingredients and delivery systems, are enhancing product efficacy and attracting more consumers. In addition, the rising awareness about skincare and anti-aging benefits is driving demand. New trends, such as the preference for natural and organic products, the rise of gender-neutral skincare, and the integration of wellness concepts into beauty routines, are also shaping the market. Consumers are increasingly seeking products that offer holistic benefits, including anti-aging, hydration, and overall skin health, which is encouraging brands to diversify their offerings and adopt sustainable practices. Report coverage & details: Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 20242033 Base Year 2023 Market Size in 2023 $55.80 Billion Market Size in 2033 $108.5 Billion CAGR 6.9 % No. of Pages in Report 195 Segments Covered Product Type, End User, Distribution Channel, and Region. Drivers The growing geriatric population. Increasing awareness of anti-aging products and services. The growing influence of social media. Opportunities The high cost of anti-aging products and services. Growing demand for clean beauty and natural ingredients. Restraints The intense competition among players. The high cost of anti-aging products and services. Procure Complete Report (195 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Tables, and Figures): https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/A06331 Segment Highlights By product type, facial creams and lotions segment held the highest market share in 2023 owing to their widespread use and multifunctional benefits. These products are mainly used in daily skincare routines, providing essential hydration, protection, and treatment for various skin concerns. The ease of application and the availability of formulations tailored to different skin types and concerns make them highly popular among consumers. In addition, facial creams and lotions often incorporate advanced ingredients such as retinoids, peptides, and antioxidants, which are known for their anti-aging properties. The continuous innovation in this segment, including the introduction of lightweight and non-greasy formulations & products with added benefits such as sun protection further drives their dominance in the market. By end user, the female segment was the dominating segment in the anti-aging products market in 2023 owing to higher awareness and prioritization of skincare among women. Women are generally more proactive in seeking out and using products that address aging concerns, driven by societal beauty standards and a greater emphasis on maintaining youthful appearance. The vast array of products specifically formulated for women, coupled with targeted marketing campaigns by beauty brands, reinforces this trend. Women also tend to engage more with beauty content on social media and are influenced by beauty influencers and celebrities, which further boosts their consumption of anti-aging products. The availability of a wide range of options, from budget-friendly to premium products, caters to diverse preferences and enhances market penetration. By distribution channel, online retail stores dominate the anti-aging products market owing to their convenience, extensive product range, and competitive pricing. The rise of e-commerce has revolutionized how consumers shop for skincare products, offering the ability to compare prices, read reviews, and access a wider variety of products from the comfort of their homes. Online platforms also frequently offer exclusive deals and discounts, making them an attractive option for price-sensitive consumers. In addition, online retail stores provide detailed product information and recommendations, enhancing the shopping experience and driving the dominance of this distribution channel in the anti-aging products market. Regional outlook By region, the Asia-Pacific region dominated the anti-aging products market in 2023 owing to several compelling reasons. Firstly, the region has a rapidly aging population. Countries such as Japan, China, and South Korea have significant proportions of elderly citizens, driving demand for anti-aging solutions . In addition, rising disposable incomes across the region have enabled more consumers to spend on premium skincare products. The cultural emphasis on beauty and skincare also plays a crucial role, with consumers in Asia-Pacific highly valuing youthful and radiant skin. Moreover, the influence of K-beauty (Korean beauty) and J-beauty (Japanese beauty) trends has significantly boosted the market. These trends emphasize advanced skincare routines and innovative products, which have garnered global attention and demand . Lastly, the presence of major skincare brands and the rapid growth of e-commerce in the region have facilitated easier access to a wide range of products, further driving market dominance in 2023. Want to Access the Statistical Data and Graphs, Key Players' Strategies: Players: - Estee Lauder Inc. Procter & Gamble Unilever LOreal SA Oriflame Cosmetics AG Beiersdorf Global Shiseido Company Limited Groupe Clarins Caudalie Natura & Co. The report provides a detailed analysis of these key players in the global anti-aging products 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. Recent Development: In January 2024 , Estee Lauder unveiled its newest product innovation, new Re-Nutriv Ultimate Diamond Transformative Brilliance Soft Creme, with SIRTIVITY-LP which reveals visible age reversal starting in just 14 days. , Estee Lauder unveiled its newest product innovation, new Re-Nutriv Ultimate Diamond Transformative Brilliance Soft Creme, with SIRTIVITY-LP which reveals visible age reversal starting in just 14 days. In August 2023 , OLAY introduced its latest technological breakthrough, OLAY Super Serum, a superpowered skin care innovation that includes activated niacinamide, as well as vitamin C, collagen peptide, vitamin E and alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) all working together to deliver an unparalleled skin transformation. , OLAY introduced its latest technological breakthrough, OLAY Super Serum, a superpowered skin care innovation that includes activated niacinamide, as well as vitamin C, collagen peptide, vitamin E and alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) all working together to deliver an unparalleled skin transformation. L'Oreal Canada launched SkinBetter Science, a medical aesthetic skincare brand, adding it to the L'Oreal Dermatological Beauty (LDB) division. The brand claimed that SkinBetter Science is currently distributed across Canada and on the www.skinbetter.ca. Similar Reports We Have on Consumer Goods Industry: About Us: 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. 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. Contact: David Correa United States 1209 Orange Street, Corporation Trust Center, Wilmington, New Castle, Delaware 19801 USA. Int'l: +1-503-894-6022 Toll Free: +1-800-792-5285 Fax: +1-800-792-5285 [email protected] Web: www.alliedmarketresearch.com Allied Market Research Blog: https://blog.alliedmarketresearch.com Follow Us on | Facebook | LinkedIn | YouTube | Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/636519/Allied_Market_Research_Logo.jpg SOURCE Allied Market Research With a three-year revenue growth of over 2,210 percent, apiphani ranks a second time among America's fastest-growing private companies BOSTON, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Apiphani, Inc., a technology-enabled managed services provider reimagining the way organizations manage their mission-critical workloads, today announced that Inc. Magazine has ranked apiphani as No. 173 on the prestigious 2024 Inc. 5000, its annual list of the fastest-growing private companies in America. Between 2020 and 2023, apiphani grew 2,210 percent. This is the second year in a row that apiphani has been ranked on the list, appearing even higher in the ranking than last year, when it ranked No. 211. "We are thrilled that Inc. Magazine has recognized apiphani as one of the fastest growing privately held company in the United States for the second year in a row. This is a tremendous achievement, reflective of our team's hard work and the value we deliver every day for our clients," said Justin Folker, CEO of apiphani. "I would like to thank our clients, our partners, and our employees for helping to make this possible." Apiphani takes a new approach to mission critical. Working at the vanguard of the movement to hyper automate IT operations, apiphani's AI-based Deep Automation technology automates the mundane tasks of managing a complex IT environment, freeing people to focus on more value-added work. "The core idea behind apiphani is that artificial intelligence (AI), and automation powered by AI, represent the next industrial revolution. It's going to disrupt at that level," continued Folker. "Letting Deep Automation handle the everyday details enables the exceptional talent on apiphani's client teams to be deployed against much more interesting and much more business additive tasks." This combination of experience, talent and hyper automation uniquely enables apiphani to continuously improve the availability and performance of clients' mission-critical systems, identify and fix potential problems before they cause disruptions, lower the mean time to resolution (MTTR) for problems that do occur, and consult on ways to better optimize the IT environment. Apiphani recently launched its Data & Analytics Practice, a new suite of services focused on helping clients architect a data mesh solution that drives extreme efficiency, reliability, and value. The apiphani Data Pipeline provides a foundation for clients' most important business intelligence (BI), machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), and digital products. The prestigious Inc. 5000 ranking provides a data-driven look at the most successful companies within the economy's most dynamic segmentits independent, entrepreneurial businesses. Facebook, Chobani, Under Armour, Microsoft, Patagonia, and many other household name brands gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5000. For complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, location, and other criteria, go to www.inc.com/inc5000 . The top 500 companies are featured in the September, 2024, issue of Inc. magazine. About apiphani Apiphani, a technology-enabled managed services provider, is reimagining the way organizations manage their mission-critical workloads. Apiphani helps unlock the hidden and under-utilized capabilities of customers' existing software investments, reduce technical debt, and develop a high-performance, highly resilient system that can serve as the foundation for digital transformation and innovation. One of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the U.S., apiphani is at the vanguard of the movement to hyper automate IT operations. Apiphani's AI-based Deep Automation technology automates the mundane tasks of managing a complex IT environment, freeing people to focus on more value-added work. For more information, visit apiphani.io. CONTACT: Robert Dobbs (617) 917-5335 [email protected] More about Inc. and the Inc. 5000 Methodology Companies on the 2024 Inc. 5000 are ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2020 to 2023. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2020. They must be U.S.-based, privately held, for-profit, and independentnot subsidiaries or divisions of other companiesas of December 31, 2023. (Since then, some on the list may have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2020 is $100,000; the minimum for 2023 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Growth rates used to determine company rankings were calculated to four decimal places. About Inc. Inc. Business Media is the leading multimedia brand for entrepreneurs. Through its journalism, Inc. aims to inform, educate, and elevate the profile of our community: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters who are creating our future. Inc.'s award-winning work reaches more than 50 million people across a variety of channels, including events, print, digital, video, podcasts, newsletters, and social media. Its proprietary Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to rank the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The recognition that comes with inclusion on this and other prestigious Inc. lists, such as Female Founders and Power Partners, gives the founders of top businesses the opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. For more information, visit www.inc.com . SOURCE APIPHANI, INC LOS ANGELES, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Armata Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE American: ARMP) ("Armata" or the "Company"), a biotechnology company focused on high-purity, pathogen-specific bacteriophage therapeutics for antibiotic-resistant and difficult-to-treat bacterial infections, today announced financial results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2024, and provided a corporate update. Second Quarter 2024 and Recent Developments: Announced completion of enrollment in its Tail wind Phase 2 clinical study of inhaled AP-PA02 in patients with Non-Cystic Fibrosis Bronchiectasis (NCFB) and chronic pulmonary Pseudomonas aeruginosa ( P. aeruginosa ) infection. The last patient final follow-up visit occurred on August 7 . Armata anticipates topline data from the Tail wind study in the second half of 2024. Phase 2 clinical study of inhaled AP-PA02 in patients with Non-Cystic Fibrosis Bronchiectasis (NCFB) and chronic pulmonary ( ) infection. The last patient final follow-up visit occurred on . Armata anticipates topline data from the Tail study in the second half of 2024. Received $5.25 million of additional non-dilutive funding from the U.S. Department of Defense pursuant to a previously-announced grant. The award is partially supporting advancement of the Phase 2a portion of the diSArm study of intravenous AP-SA02 as a potential treatment for Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ) bacteremia. of additional non-dilutive funding from the U.S. Department of Defense pursuant to a previously-announced grant. The award is partially supporting advancement of the Phase 2a portion of the diSArm study of intravenous AP-SA02 as a potential treatment for ( ) bacteremia. Further advanced bacteriophage science through presentations and publications: Delivered a presentation on advancing bacteriophage therapy at Viruses of Microbes 2024, which was held July 15-19, 2024 , in Cairns, Australia . Completed the build-out of its advanced biologics manufacturing facility with five current good manufacturing practice ("cGMP") clean rooms, including a state-of-the-art automated fill and finish suite. "During the second quarter and subsequent period, we made meaningful progress across both of our clinical programs, keeping us on track to potentially initiate pivotal studies next year," stated Dr. Deborah Birx, Chief Executive Officer of Armata. "Regarding AP-PA02, which we are developing as an inhaled treatment for chronic P. aeruginosa lung infections, I am pleased to report that we recently completed enrollment and the last patient visit in our Phase 2 Tailwind study in subjects with NCFB, and we plan to announce topline data later this year." "For AP-SA02, we continued to advance our Phase 2a diSArm study of intravenous AP-SA02 as a potential treatment for S. aureus bacteremia. We are grateful to the Department of Defense for its ongoing financial support, which provides us with critical non-dilutive funding. We look forward to completing the diSArm study later this year and identifying the optimal dose of AP-SA02 to be tested in a larger definitive study." "Also, during the second quarter, we completed the build-out of our state-of-the-art cGMP manufacturing facility, giving us the ability to support our late-stage clinical trials, potential partnerships, and potential commercial production." "Our mission has long been the execution of rigorously designed, randomized clinical studies that demonstrate the safety and efficacy of our multi-phage candidates to support eventual registration, and I am very pleased with our sustained progress during the second quarter and through the first half of the year," Dr. Birx concluded. Second Quarter 2024 Financial Results Grant Revenue. The Company recognized no grant revenue for the three months ended June 30, 2024. The Company recognized approximately $1.0 million of grant revenue in the comparable period in 2023 which represents Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium's share of the costs incurred for the Company's AP-SA02 program for the treatment of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia. Research and Development. Research and development expenses for the three months ended June 30, 2024 were approximately $8.5 million as compared to approximately $8.3 million for the comparable period in 2023. The Company continues to invest in clinical related expenses associated with its primary development programs. General and Administrative. General and administrative expenses for the three months ended June 30, 2024 were approximately $3.4 million as compared to approximately $2.4 million for the comparable period in 2023. The increase was mainly related to an increase of $1.0 million in stock-based compensation as a result of increased awards granted during the first quarter of 2024. Loss from Operations. Loss from operations for the three months ended June 30, 2024 was $11.9 million as compared to a loss from operations of approximately $9.6 million for the comparable period in 2023. Cash and Equivalents. As of June 30, 2024, Armata held approximately $26.4 million of unrestricted cash and cash equivalents, as compared to $13.5 million as of December 31, 2023. As of August 13, 2024, there were approximately 36.2 million common shares outstanding. About Armata Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Armata is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of pathogen-specific bacteriophage therapeutics for the treatment of antibiotic-resistant and difficult-to-treat bacterial infections using its proprietary bacteriophage-based technology. Armata is developing and advancing a broad pipeline of natural and synthetic phage candidates, including clinical candidates for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and other pathogens. Armata is committed to advancing phage therapy with drug development expertise that spans bench to clinic including in-house phage specific cGMP manufacturing. Forward Looking Statements This communication contains "forward-looking" statements as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements relate to future events, results or to Armata's future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause Armata's actual results, performance or events to be materially different from any future results, performance or events expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify these statements by terms such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "will," "would" or the negative of those terms, and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements reflect management's beliefs and views with respect to future events and are based on estimates and assumptions as of the date of this communication and are subject to risks and uncertainties including risks related to Armata's development of bacteriophage-based therapies; ability to staff and maintain its production facilities under fully compliant current Good Manufacturing Practices; ability to meet anticipated milestones in the development and testing of the relevant product; ability to be a leader in the development of phage-based therapeutics; ability to achieve its vision, including improvements through engineering and success of clinical trials; ability to successfully complete preclinical and clinical development of, and obtain regulatory approval of its product candidates and commercialize any approved products on its expected timeframes or at all; and Armata's estimates regarding anticipated operating losses, capital requirements and needs for additional funds. Additional risks and uncertainties relating to Armata and its business can be found under the caption "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in Armata's filings and reports with the SEC, including in Armata's Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on March 21, 2024, and in its subsequent filings with the SEC. Armata expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in Armata's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based. Media Contacts: At Armata: Pierre Kyme [email protected] 310-665-2928 Investor Relations: Joyce Allaire LifeSci Advisors, LLC [email protected] 212-915-2569 Armata Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (in thousands) (unaudited) June 30, 2024 December 31, 2023 Assets Current assets Cash and cash equivalents $ 26,405 $ 13,523 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 3,256 2,265 Other receivables 1,242 3,363 Total current assets 30,903 19,151 Property and equipment, net 13,474 12,559 Operating lease right-of-use asset 43,671 44,717 Intangible assets, net 13,746 13,746 Other long term assets 6,519 8,190 Total assets $ 108,313 $ 98,363 Liabilities and stockholders' deficit Total current liabilities $ 123,181 $ 16,461 Long-term debt 82,307 Operating lease liabilities, net of current portion 28,156 28,583 Deferred tax liability 3,077 3,077 Total liabilities 154,414 130,428 Stockholders' deficit (46,101) (32,065) Total liabilities and stockholders' deficit $ 108,313 $ 98,363 Armata Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (in thousands, except share and per share data) (unaudited) Three Months Ended Six Months Ended June 30, June 30, 2024 2023 2024 2023 Grant revenue $ $ 980 $ 966 $ 1,776 Operating expenses: Research and development 8,475 8,259 16,491 17,863 General and administrative 3,439 2,350 6,617 4,888 Total operating expenses 11,914 10,609 23,108 22,751 Operating loss (11,914) (9,629) (22,142) (20,975) Interest income 221 46 273 64 Interest expense (2,718) (4,538) Change in fair value of convertible debt 23,397 6,036 10,372 2,874 Net income (loss) $ 8,986 $ (3,547) $ (16,035) $ (18,037) Per share information: Net income (loss) per share, basic $ 0.25 $ (0.10) $ (0.44) $ (0.50) Weighted average shares outstanding, basic 36,154,521 36,068,130 36,139,873 36,056,649 Net loss per share, diluted $ (0.25) $ (0.17) $ (0.45) $ (0.50) Weighted average shares outstanding, diluted 58,246,626 56,544,698 58,231,978 36,056,649 Armata Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (in thousands) (unaudited) Six Months Ended June 30, 2024 2023 Operating activities: Net loss $ (16,035) $ (18,037) Adjustments required to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: Depreciation and amortization expense 632 458 Stock-based compensation expense 1,869 1,118 Change in fair value of convertible debt (10,372) (2,874) Non-cash interest expense 4,538 Change in right-of-use asset 960 Changes in operating assets and liabilities: (2,353) (10,295) Net cash used in operating activities (20,761) (29,630) Investing activities: Purchases of property and equipment (1,616) (2,232) Net cash used in investing activities (1,616) (2,232) Financing activities: Proceeds from issuance of convertible debt, net of issuance costs 29,226 Proceeds from issuance of long-term debt, net of issuance costs 34,889 Proceeds from exercise of stock options 130 Net cash provided by financing activities 35,019 29,226 Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash 12,642 (2,636) Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, beginning of period 19,243 20,812 Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, end of period $ 31,885 $ 18,176 Six Months Ended June 30, 2024 2023 Cash and cash equivalents $ 26,405 $ 12,456 Restricted cash 5,480 5,720 Cash and restricted cash $ 31,885 $ 18,176 SOURCE Armata Pharmaceuticals, Inc. IIT Madras ranked best higher educational institution in India New Delhi [India] Published : August 12, 2024 IIT Madras has been ranked the best higher educational institution in India followed by IISc Bengaluru and IIT Bombay in an overall category in the ranking conducted by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) and National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF). The announcement was made on Monday by the Ministry of Education at an event at the Bharat Mandapam in the national capital that was presided by Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Indian Institute of Technology Madras was ranked first in the NIRF rankings 2024 and it is the 6th time that it has bagged the top spot in NIRF ranking. IIT-Madras has also been ranked as the best engineering college for the past nine years. In the management category, IIM-Ahmedabad and Bangalore and Calcutta are among the top five. Indian Institute of Science (Bengaluru) ranked as the best university in the country followed by Jawaharlal Nehru University Delhi and Jamia Millia Islamia. Delhi University's Hindu College ranked as the best college in the country followed by Miranda House College and St. Stephen's College. The Chennai-based institute retained the No 1 position in categories "overall and engineering" The NIRF rankings lists was released for 13 different categories, including universities, colleges, research institutions, engineering, management, pharmacy, medical, dental, law, architecture and planning, agriculture and allied sectors, and innovation. The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) has been accepted by the MoE and launched by Honourable Minister for Education on 29th September 2015. This framework outlines a methodology to rank institutions across the country/ The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) has been accepted by the MoE and launched by Honourable Minister for Education on September 29, 2015. This framework outlines a methodology to rank institutions across the country. This year, as many as higher 10885 education institutions participated in the NIRF. Find it Useful ? Help Others by Sharing Online Comments and Discussions Avelo is "Connecticut's Airline" with 34 routes from the state 27 at HVN Avelo doubles its winter Puerto Rico service and grows at HVN with four 737-800s Very low, one-way fares to New Orleans start at $79 NEW HAVEN, Conn., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Avelo Airlines announced today continued growth at Southern Connecticut's Tweed-New Haven Airport (HVN) with the addition of a new nonstop route to New Orleans, La., the doubling of flights to Puerto Rico this winter and more capacity at Tweed expanding the lineup of Boeing Next Generation 737-800s. This growth enables Avelo to significantly expand its convenient, affordable and reliable air service in Southern Connecticut. Avelo is offering very low, one-way fares starting at $79* from HVN. Travelers can make reservations at AveloAir.com. Avelo Airlines Founder and CEO Andrew Levy said, "Avelo is proud to be Connecticut's Airline and continue growth in New Haven with a new route to New Orleans, plus more Puerto Rico flights this winter and increased Customer capacity. With 27 nonstop destinations to choose from at Tweed, it's easier than ever for travelers to experience our convenient, affordable and reliable air service. I appreciate the support Avelo has received from government, community and business leaders across the state and send special thanks to our awesome Connecticut Crewmembers who make it all happen." New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said, "With New Haven's focus on cultural equity and economic opportunity, New Orleans is an exceptionally important new destination. Avelo's nonstop service will strengthen existing ties between our cities and help foster new collaborations in the arts, academia, and innovation." The New HVN CEO Michael Jones said, "We are excited for Avelo to launch New Orleans as our newest nonstop route from HVN as it is a vibrant cultural and food hub as well as a major convention destination to connect to our region. This comes in addition to Avelo's increased four-times-weekly service to Puerto Rico in November, further establishing HVN as a gateway to new and exciting possibilities." New Avelo Route at Tweed-New Haven Airport (HVN): Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) Beginning Thursday, November 14 Thursdays and Sundays New Orleans Creole Cuisine, Big Brass Bands and Bourbon Street Come to Life New Orleans is a one-of-a-kind food, culture and nightly live music destination in the United States. It's world-renowned for its distinctive jazz music and brass bands music, Creole cuisine, unique dialects, and its annual Mardi Gras celebration. The historic heart of the city is the French Quarter, known for its French and Spanish Creole architecture where ghost tours troop past Madame LaLaurie's mansion leading to vibrant nightlife and neon signs along Bourbon Street. Avelo Doubles Down on Puerto Rico San Juan's Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (SJU) Beginning Friday, November 8, Avelo will double its frequency of flights to San Juan, Puerto Rico to four flights a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. "Connecticut's Airline" Adds Larger Customer Capacity at HVN Beginning in November, Avelo will expand its Boeing Next Generation 737-800s fleet at HVN, doubling the year-over-year number of big airplanes allowing for more Customer capacity during the winter flying period. Avelo will have eight aircraft dedicated to HVN and over half of the company's 19 aircraft will be dedicated to the state of Connecticut. New Haven is Avelo's largest base employing over 250 Crewmembers and flying to 27 nonstop destinations. Since taking flight at HVN in November 2021, Avelo has flown more than 2.4 million Customers at Tweed on over 18,000 flights. America's Most Convenient Airline Since taking flight on April 28, 2021, Avelo has flown over 5.2 million Customers on over 40,000 flights. Today Avelo serves 54 destinations spanning 25 states, Puerto Rico and two international countries: Jamaica and Mexico. Avelo has unlocked a new era of convenience, choice, and competition by flying unserved routes to primarily underserved communities across the country. Every route has at least one small, easy to use airport. This makes every Avelo journey a smooth, easy, and more enjoyable experience than contending with the crowds, congestion and long walks at larger airports. Avelo is distinguished by its industry-leading reliability. Year-to-date, Avelo ranks #1 in on-time performance and achieved the lowest flight cancellation rate in the industry. These results are reported by Anuvu, a leading aviation data services company also utilized by The Wall Street Journal for the publication's annual airline ranking. Anuvu's complete industry results and rankings are available at AveloAir.com. Avelo Customers can always change or cancel their itineraries with no extra fees. Additionally, families can travel with ease knowing every child 14 and under will be automatically seated with an accompanying adult at no additional cost. Avelo offers advanced seat assignments for sale. One third of its seats are extra leg room seats, ranging from 32 inches to more than 36 inches, offering a more comfortable experience for Customers who value more space. In addition to advance seat assignments, Avelo offers several unbundled travel-enhancing options that give Customers the flexibility to pay only for what they value, including priority boarding, checked bags, carry-on overhead bags, and bringing a pet in the cabin. About Avelo Airlines Avelo Airlines' purpose is to Inspire Travel by saving people time and money. The airline offers travelers time and money-saving convenience, everyday low fares, and a refreshingly smooth, caring and reliable travel experience. Operating a fleet of 19 Boeing Next-Generation 737 aircraft, Avelo serves 54 popular destinations across the United States, Jamaica and Mexico, including its six bases at Los Angeles' Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR), Southern Connecticut's Tweed-New Haven Airport (HVN), the Philadelphia and Delaware Valley region's Wilmington Airport (ILG), Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) and the Bay Area's Sonoma County Airport (STS). On October 24, 2024, Avelo will open its Central Florida Base at Lakeland International Airport (LAL). For more information visit AveloAir.com or the Avelo Newsroom at AveloAir.com/Newsroom. Media Contact: Avelo Airlines Courtney Goff [email protected] *Very low, one-way fares include government taxes and fees. Fares start at $79 between HVN and MSY for travel between December 5 and December 15, 2024. Fares must be booked by August 21, 2024. Fares are available on a limited number of flights and seats. Additional fees for carry-on and checked bags, assigned seats and other optional services may apply. A $25 charge per seated traveler applies to all bookings or changes made through Avelo's Customer Support Center. For full terms and conditions, please see Avelo's Contract of Carriage. SOURCE Avelo Airlines None of Avon's Operations Outside the U.S. are Part of Legal Proceedings Business as Usual Across International Markets as Brand Advances Strategic Initiatives NEW YORK, Aug. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Avon Products, Inc. ("API"), a U.S.-based non-operational holding company of the Avon beauty brand, today announced that it has initiated voluntary Chapter 11 proceedings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware to address its debt and legacy talc liabilities. API has not sold products in the U.S. since it divested its North America business in 2016 but remains the holding company of the brand's non-U.S. operating entities. Avon's operating businesses outside the U.S., which continue to advance on strategic initiatives, are not part of the Chapter 11 proceedings, and it is business as usual in Avon's international markets. Brazil-based Natura &Co (B3 NTCO3), which acquired Avon in 2020, has entered into an agreement to purchase the equity interests in Avon's non-U.S. operations for $125 million in the form of a credit bid, subject to a Court-supervised auction process. Reflecting its continued belief in the Avon brand, Natura &Co has committed up to $43 million in debtor-in-possession financing that, subject to Court approval, will provide sufficient liquidity to fund API's obligations during the sale process. John Dubel, API's Chairperson, said, "Today's action and the proposed sale of Avon's non-U.S. operations will maximize the value of our assets and enable us to address our obligations in an orderly manner." Kristof Neirynck, Chief Executive Officer of Avon, said, "We remain focused on advancing our business strategy internationally, including modernizing our direct selling model and reigniting the brand to accelerate growth. Since becoming CEO earlier this year, I am increasingly energized by our strengths and opportunities, supported by our valued Associates and nearly 2 million Representatives around the world." Court filings are available at https://dm.epiq11.com/AIOUSInc. Note that The Avon Company, which is the Avon brand in the U.S. currently owned by LG Household & Health Care Ltd., is not affiliated with any other Avon entity and is not part of the Chapter 11 proceedings. Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP is serving as legal counsel, Ankura Consulting Group, LLC is serving as financial advisor, and Rothschild & Co is serving as investment banker to API. Media Contact for API: Kekst CNC Sherri L. Toub / Ruth Pachman / Daniel Hoadley [email protected] Media Contact for Avon: Joanna Newark [email protected] SOURCE Avon Products, Inc. LOS ANGELES, Aug. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Black Women for Wellness is proud to announce that California Attorney General Rob Bonta will offer opening remarks at Black Women for Wellness' 25th Annual Reproductive Justice Conference, "A New Era of Justice: Our Bodies, Our Voices, Our Freedom." The conference will be held on August 15, 2024, at The California Endowment in Los Angeles from 8am-5:30pm PT. Attorney General Rob Bonta has a distinguished history of advocating for reproductive rights in California. He was the first Attorney General to proactively go after "crisis pregnancy centers," suing a chain of centers and an anti-abortion group over misleading advertisements of an unproven and largely experimental procedure known as "abortion pill reversal." He led an investigation into statewide compliance with anti-implicit bias training for perinatal care providers, which found that not a single employee had been fully trained. As a result of the investigation, the Attorney General sponsored new legislation to ensure successful implementation of state-mandated implicit bias training to reduce the disproportionate maternal mortality rate of Black women. Attorney General Bonta released the first-ever report on reproductive healthcare in California jails, highlighting the importance of ensuring reproductive rights for incarcerated individuals. Finally, he has also taken action to defend access to abortion and contraception , to ensure the privacy of patients receiving reproductive health care , to demand tech companies protect sensitive reproductive health data , and to protect those who come to California for care . Attorney General Bonta will deliver his address at 9:30 a.m. His remarks will be followed by a keynote panel titled, "Designing our Future: Perspectives and Visions for a New Era of Justice and Liberation." The keynote panel will feature Deon Haywood, a nationally recognized leader in the reproductive justice movement and executive director of Women With A Vision , alongside Dazon Dixon Diallo, founder of SisterLove , the first women's HIV, sexual, and reproductive justice organization in the southeastern United States. This year's theme, "A New Era of Justice: Our Bodies, Our Voices, Our Freedom," provides a rich backdrop for stories on the evolving landscape of reproductive justice, the intersection of social justice issues, and the voices leading the charge for change. Conference participants will have the opportunity to learn from keynote speeches, panel discussions, and breakout sessions that highlight critical topics such as maternal health, environmental justice, and civic engagement. Conference Highlights: Civic Engagement Track Environmental Justice Track Grown and Sexy Track In/Fertility Track Maternal Health Track Men's Track Youth Track "Black women's bodies are indeed on the line in this new era of justice ushered in by the Dodd decision, the conservative Supreme Court and the willingness of many state governments to erode a woman's right to autonomy," says Janette Robinson Flint, executive director of Black Women for Wellness. "Across the country we have seen the impact across the reproductive field, infertility, and decreased access to maternity care by the creation of maternity deserts -- especially with for-profit hospitals and bans on abortion." "Black Women for Wellness' annual Reproductive Justice Conference will bring updates across the spectrum from implicit bias and the Black-lash (increase in anti-black racism), to criminalization of women seeking abortion care, including the impacts of maternity deserts, maternal mortality and how environmental justice plays a role in our reproductive health status. We hope you join us, plan to share the information you learn and become active as Black women experience this new era of reproductive justice." Tickets for the 25th Annual Reproductive Justice Conference are currently on sale. For additional information about the conference, including sponsorship and volunteer opportunities, please visit www.bwwla.org or email [email protected]. About Black Women for Wellness: Founded in 1997, Black Women for Wellness is a California-based nonprofit organization committed to the health and well-being of Black women and girls. Through education, advocacy, and leadership development, the organization seeks to empower communities and create lasting change in reproductive health, rights, and justice. For press access, please contact: Myeisha Essex Communications Manager, Black Women for Wellness [email protected] 310-920-1308 SOURCE Black Women For Wellness BOYDTON, Va., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, John W. Boyd, Jr., founder and president of the National Black Farmers Association (NBFA), released this statement after recent racist and un-American comments made by Republican Vice President (VP) Candidate Senator JD Vance (R-OH) on CBS "Face the Nation" following payout of $2.2 Billion Discrimination Financial Assistance Program (DFAP). National Black Farmers Association President, John Boyd, Called $2B In Relief A Huge Win "I am proud to have led the fight for over thirty years that led to this long overdue $2.2 Billion assistance for Black and other farmers who were discriminated at USDA prior to 2021. This was not a "farm benefit" based on skin color given to Black farmers. Decades of discriminatory behavior by the USDA have contributed to significant economic differences between white farmers and farmers of color that directly impact their access to credit." As the Founder and President of the NBFA, I call for Senator JD Vance (R-OH) to issue an apology to Black Farmers for his racist, inaccurate, and anti-Black comments on CBS Face The Nation. The NBFA is deeply offended by Vance's comments and inaccurate history of racial discrimination in the United States. Boyd reached out to the CBS Executive Producer, Face the Nation, to appear on the next segment to address Vance's racist, untruthful comments. The following are excerpts of the transcript of the interview with Sen. JD Vance on "Face the Nation" aired Aug. 11, 2024: SEN. JD VANCE: "I do think that there's been this thing in America where we've said that we should judge people based on their skin color, based on their immutable characteristics, based on things that they can't control. I frankly think that unfortunately, a lot of people on the left have leaned into this by trying to categorize people by skin color and then give special benefits or special amounts of discrimination. The Harris Administration, for example, handed out farm benefits to people based on skin color. I think that's disgraceful. I don't think we should say, you get farm benefits if you're a Black farmer, you don't get farm benefits if you're a white farmer." MARGARET BRENNAN: "But that wasn't born in the last four years, I mean, one of the--" SEN. JD VANCE: "No, no not at all, but I think that President Biden and Harris have certainly accelerated it. I don't think you've seen anything like what we've seen from Kamala Harris when it comes to handing out government benefits based on people's immutable characteristics. The actual legal enshrinement of discrimination in this country, we haven't seen anything like in the last 30 or 40 years. Certainly, back in the 60s and 50s, we all look at that as a period that we wanted to get away from, and in some ways, the Harris Administration has re-implemented it. I think it's pretty disgraceful. " WATCH: Democracy Now! Historic Win for Black Farmers The long history of USDA discrimination against Black farmers and other farmers of color is not in dispute. For decades, USDA delayed or denied Black farmers the same loans and payments provided to white farmers. WATCH: National Black Farmers Association President, John Boyd, Calls $2B in Relief a Huge Win For interviews, please contact John Boyd at [email protected] or at 804-691-8528. http://BlackFarmers.org/ http://JohnBoydJr.com/ SOURCE National Black Farmers Association Space Act Agreement allows bp and NASA to share technologies and technical expertise Agreement aims to benefit human space exploration and energy production HOUSTON, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- bp America has signed an agreement with NASA to support common goals in space exploration and energy production. As part of the agreement, the pair will share digital technologies and technical expertise from decades of experience operating in harsh environments. Giovanni Cristofoli, SVP of bp Solutions, and Vanessa Wyche, Director of NASA's Johnson Space Center, sign a Space Act Agreement between bp and NASA on Wednesday, August 7, 2024. Giovanni Cristofoli, SVP of bp Solutions, and Vanessa Wyche, Director of NASA's Johnson Space Center, sign a Space Act Agreement between bp and NASA on Wednesday, August 7, 2024. The Space Act Agreement will empower the integrated energy company and space agency to collaborate on a variety of technologies, such as digital models and simulations that allow engineers and scientists to visualize equipment in remote locations more than 7,000 feet underwater or millions of miles away on another planet. bp hopes this Space Act Agreement with NASA will help advance energy production on Earth, as well as human exploration of the Moon, Mars and beyond. Ken Nguyen, Principal Technical Program Manager at bp said: "bp has built a proud legacy of technological innovation as we deliver the energy the world needs today while investing in the energy system of tomorrow. As NASA pursues a sustained presence on theMoon and Mars, we see a unique opportunity for bp and NASA to work collaboratively on the forefront of digital technology that will cultivate further innovation in energy and space." The Space Act Agreement is a legal agreement under the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 that empowers NASA to work with companies, universities and other entities to advance its mission and project objectives. The initial phase of the bp-NASA Space Act Agreement will focus on developing standards and expanding the capabilities of visualization and simulation models. Later phases could include the exchange of remote operating practices, including safety, communications, process control and monitoring, integrity management, predictive analytics and artificial intelligence. The agreement could lay the foundation for future collaborations between bp and NASA on hydrogen, regenerative fuel cells, high-capacity batteries, solar power systems, small fission systems and innovative power management and distribution. bp has long been a leader in pioneering emerging technologies in the energy industry. Argos, bp's newest offshore platform in the Gulf of Mexico, is one of the most technologically- advanced offshore facilities built to date. It features a range of innovations encompassing state-of-the-art remote communications, artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, digital twin and simulation models. This helps enable bp to monitor what's happening below the subsurface and on the platform, allowing remote teams to make better decisions, optimize production and identify potential issues. Giovanni Cristofoli, bp's SVP for bp Solutions said: "Both bp and NASA are custodians of deep technical expertise, working in extreme environments whether that's at the bottom of the ocean or on the moon. Sharing what we know with each other will help us solve complex engineering problems faster, meaning we can focus on keeping energy flowing safely and delivering higher margins with lower emissions." bp and NASA have a long history. bp offshore workers have performed Helicopter Underwater Escape Training at NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, the astronaut training pool near Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA also has used bp's Castrol lubricants for over 60 years, including many of the Apollo missions and in the Curiosity and Perseverance Rovers on Mars. Notes to editors Additional information about bp innovation and engineering, including the Dynamic Digital Twin, can be found here . Further information bp US press office: [email protected] SOURCE bp America NEW YORK, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The global call center outsourcing market size is estimated to grow by USD 25.9 billion from 2024-2028, according to Technavio. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of over 4.37% during the forecast period. Rise of emerging countries as call center destinations is driving market growth, with a trend towards increase in m and a and strategic alliances among vendors. However, increasing cost of call center outsourcing services poses a challenge. Key market players include 247.ai Inc., Alorica Inc., Atento SA, Bertelsmann SE and Co. KGaA, Computer Generated Solutions Inc., Continuum Global Solutions LLC, Datacom Group Ltd., DiRAD Technologies Inc., Epicenter Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Five9 Inc., Helpware Inc., Hinduja Global Solutions Ltd., Infosys Ltd., Serco Group Plc, StarTek Inc., Sutherland Global Services Inc., Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Teleperformance SE, Transcom Holding AB, and XACT Acquisition LLC. Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global call center outsourcing market 2024-2028 Get a detailed analysis on regions, market segments, customer landscape, and companies- View the snapshot of this report Call Center Outsourcing Market Scope Report Coverage Details Base year 2023 Historic period 2018 - 2022 Forecast period 2024-2028 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 4.37% Market growth 2024-2028 USD 25.9 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 4.14 Regional analysis North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution North America at 44% Key countries US, UK, Australia, Germany, and India Key companies profiled 247.ai Inc., Alorica Inc., Atento SA, Bertelsmann SE and Co. KGaA, Computer Generated Solutions Inc., Continuum Global Solutions LLC, Datacom Group Ltd., DiRAD Technologies Inc., Epicenter Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Five9 Inc., Helpware Inc., Hinduja Global Solutions Ltd., Infosys Ltd., Serco Group Plc, StarTek Inc., Sutherland Global Services Inc., Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Teleperformance SE, Transcom Holding AB, and XACT Acquisition LLC Market Driver The call center outsourcing market is witnessing intense competition among vendors, leading them to form strategic partnerships and acquisitions with various market players. These collaborations enable vendors to expand geographically and gain access to technological expertise. For instance, Atento opened its first call center in the Philippines at Iloilo Business Park in May 2023, while NobelBiz introduced OMNI+ Awaken Scripting to streamline contact center scripting processes in April 2023. In June 2022, Majorel Group Luxembourg SA and Sitel merged to create a new global leader in customer experience, and Teleperformance acquired Health Advocate, Inc. These strategic moves are expected to positively impact the growth of the call center outsourcing market. The call center outsourcing market is experiencing significant trends that are shaping the industry. Skilled labor is in high demand for handling complex customer queries. Technological progress, including digital transformation, machine learning (ML), automation, AI, data analytics, and cloud-based solutions, is driving efficiency and cost savings. Round-the-clock operations, flexibility, and scalability cater to diverse business needs. Customer experience remains a top priority, with multichannel services, multilingual support, instant messaging platforms, chatbots, messaging apps, social media, and omnichannel assistance enhancing engagement. Barriers to communication, absence of control, regulatory compliance difficulties, and quality concerns persist, necessitating effective strategies. Inbound, outbound, and multilingual services are popular, with telecom and IT, government and defense, healthcare, and IT and telecom sectors leading the way. Onshore, nearshore, and offshore outsourcing models, along with subscription-based models, offer varying benefits. Employee satisfaction and regulatory compliance are essential for sustainable growth. Discover 360 analysis of this market. For complete information, schedule your consultation - Book Here! Market Challenges Call center outsourcing is a business strategy that optimizes process efficiency and enhances customer relationships for companies. Outsourcing call center services helps reduce operating costs and increase efficiencies. However, the industry faces challenges, including high attrition rates due to monotonous and stressful work conditions. Agents handle high volumes of calls while adhering to rigid scripts, leading to health issues like stress, insomnia, and hypertension. To maintain smooth workflows, call centers must hire and train new staff frequently, increasing costs. Vendors are adopting technologies like voice bots and social media management tools to enhance productivity. AI and RPA process automation and growing investments in cloud computing simplify business processes. However, these ongoing investments in technology, process improvement, and infrastructure increase the cost of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), potentially hindering market growth. The global call center outsourcing market may face challenges in balancing these costs while maintaining profitability during the forecast period. The call center outsourcing market faces several challenges in today's business landscape. Skilled labor availability is a major concern, as is keeping up with technological progress. Round-the-clock operations require flexibility and scalability, while maintaining high customer experience is crucial. Digital transformation brings new opportunities, but also barriers to communication and absence of control. Regulatory compliance difficulties can hinder growth in inbound, outbound, and multichannel services. Technologies like machine learning, automation, blockchain, AI, data analytics, and omnichannel assistance are transforming the industry. Onshore, nearshore, and offshore outsourcing models offer various benefits, from cost savings to employee satisfaction. Subscription-based models provide flexibility, while IT services, telecom, and government sectors offer significant opportunities. Fundamental skills like multilingual support, instant messaging platforms, chatbots, messaging apps, social media, cloud-based solutions, and cloud sourcing are essential for success. Overcoming these challenges requires a strategic approach and continuous innovation. For more insights on driver and challenges - Request a sample report! Segment Overview This call center outsourcing market report extensively covers market segmentation by End-user 1.1 IT and telecom 1.2 BFSI 1.3 Healthcare 1.4 Retail 1.5 Others Type 2.1 Inbound 2.2 Outbound Geography 3.1 North America 3.2 Europe 3.3 APAC 3.4 South America 3.5 Middle East and Africa 1.1 IT and telecom- The IT and telecom segment holds a significant market share in the global call center outsourcing industry. This growth can be attributed to the increasing technological advances, substantial growth in data traffic, and rising consumer demand for digital communication and content. The telecom services industry is projected to continue growing with the introduction of 5G technology. Telecom organizations are investing heavily in 5G, with estimates suggesting there will be 3.6 billion 5G connections by 2025, increasing to 4.4 billion by 2027. To focus on core offerings, IT and telecom companies outsource their customer relationship management functions to call center organizations. Maintaining in-house call centers requires substantial investments and resources, making outsourcing an attractive option. Companies like AT&T Inc. Have outsourced their customer support functions to vendors such as Teleperformance, Alorica, and Convergys. The shift towards digital transformation and the rise in communication channels necessitated by 5G development will fuel the growth of the IT and telecom segment in the call center outsourcing market during the forecast period. For more information on market segmentation with geographical analysis including forecast (2024-2028) and historic data (2017-2021) - Download a Sample Report Research Analysis The call center outsourcing market is experiencing significant growth due to the increasing demand for efficient and cost-effective customer support solutions. Artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics are revolutionizing the industry, enabling personalized and automated interactions. Omnichannel assistance, multilingual support, instant messaging platforms, chatbots, messaging apps, social media, and round-the-clock operations are becoming essential for meeting customer needs across various channels. Fundamental skills like language proficiency and customer service expertise remain crucial, but technological progress is driving the need for a more skilled labor force. Flexibility and scalability are key benefits of outsourcing, allowing businesses to adapt to changing customer demands and seasonal fluctuations. Digital transformation, offshore outsourcing, subscription-based models, employee satisfaction, machine learning (ML), automation, and blockchain technology are shaping the future of the call center outsourcing market. Market Research Overview The Call Center Outsourcing Market is experiencing significant growth due to the increasing demand for efficient and cost-effective customer support solutions. Artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics are transforming call centers, enabling personalized and automated interactions. Omnichannel assistance, multilingual support, and instant messaging platforms are becoming essential for providing seamless customer experiences across various channels. Cloud-based solutions and cloud sourcing are gaining popularity for their flexibility and scalability. Technological progress, including chatbots, messaging apps, social media, and IT services, are revolutionizing customer engagement. Sectors like government and defense, healthcare, IT and telecom, and others, are embracing call center outsourcing for fundamental skills and skilled labor. Round-the-clock operations, flexibility, and scalability are crucial benefits, while customer experience, digital transformation, and service quality are key drivers. Barriers to communication, absence of control, and regulatory compliance difficulties are challenges. Inbound, outbound, and multichannel services are common offerings, with telecom and IT sectors being major consumers. Onshore, nearshore, and offshore outsourcing models, subscription-based models, employee satisfaction, machine learning (ML), automation, and blockchain technology are shaping the future of the call center outsourcing market. Table of Contents: 1 Executive Summary 2 Market Landscape 3 Market Sizing 4 Historic Market Size 5 Five Forces Analysis 6 Market Segmentation End-user IT And Telecom BFSI Healthcare Retail Others Type Inbound Outbound Geography North America Europe APAC 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. Contacts Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: [email protected] Website: www.technavio.com/ SOURCE Technavio National recognition underscores CarSaver's rapid growth and innovation in the automotive industry NASHVILLE, Tenn., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CarSaver, the automotive e-commerce platform revolutionizing the way people buy and own cars, today announced its inclusion on the 2024 Inc. 5000, an annual list that highlights the fastest-growing private companies in the United States. This marks the third consecutive year CarSaver has earned a spot on the prestigious list, ranking 117th nationally in consumer products and the 55th fastest-growing private company in Tennessee. This recognition marks a significant milestone for CarSaver as it continues to transform the car-buying experience. "The past few years have been a remarkable journey for CarSaver," said Chad Collier, CEO and co-founder of CarSaver. "Our rapid growth is a testament to our commitment to making car buying more accessible, transparent, and efficient for everyone. This achievement wouldn't have been possible without our dedicated team and the trust of our customers. As we look to the future, we're excited to continue pushing the boundaries of innovation in the automotive industry." CarSaver ranked 117th nationally in consumer products and is the 55th fastest-growing private company in Tennessee. Post this Trusted by global brands like Walmart, Nissan, iHeartMedia, TruStage and SHOP.com, CarSaver licenses its digital retail and retention platform to car companies, dealers and lenders, bolstering their online transactions and retaining their customers, auto loan and insurance portfolios. The 2024 Inc. 5000 list represents companies that have achieved extraordinary revenue growth while navigating a challenging economic landscape. Among this year's top 500 companies, the average median three-year revenue growth rate is 1,637 percent. In all, this year's Inc. 5000 companies have added 874,458 jobs to the economy over the past three years. CarSaver's recognition comes on the heels of several key milestones, including partnerships with leading automotive brands, lenders, and the expansion of its end-to-end digital car-buying platform supporting 1,000's of dealers nationwide. The company's innovative approach to simplifying the car-buying process has earned it numerous accolades, solidifying its position as a leader in the automotive e-commerce space. "Earning a spot on the Inc. 5000 is no small feat, especially in today's business environment," said former Inc. editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk. "The companies on this list have demonstrated remarkable growth, resilience, and adaptability. We're proud to recognize CarSaver among them, and we look forward to seeing what they achieve next." CONTACT: Maria Maestro VP Marketing & PR, CarSaver [email protected] (786) 442-8980 About CarSaver Launched in 2016, CarSaver is the foremost online automotive marketplace for new and used cars, streamlining the entire process from purchase to home delivery. CarSaver empowers consumers to buy, finance, lease, sell, and trade new and used vehicles effortlessly through a personalized online experience. Trusted by global brands like Walmart, Nissan, iHeartMedia, and SHOP.com, CarSaver is pushing the boundaries of automotive e-commerce by delivering new and innovative experiences that brands, retailers, and lenders are deploying to enhance their customer journeys, increase loyalty, and sell more cars. The Automotive News Pace Awards recognized CarSaver as the first and only enterprise platform to sell cars 100% online. For more information, visit: www.CarSaverCommerce.com; and follow CarSaver on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. About Inc. Inc. Business Media is the leading multimedia brand for entrepreneurs, offering insights, tools, and inspiration to help business owners achieve their goals. The Inc. 5000 list, produced annually since 1982, celebrates the most successful private companies in America. For more information, visit www.inc.com. For media inquiries, please contact: Maria Maestro (786) 442-8980 [email protected] CarSaver www.CarSaver.com SOURCE CarSaver Adalimumab-aaty was first approved by the Food and Drug Administration on May 23, 2023 and became commercially available among key distributors across the U.S. on July 2, 2023 Adalimumab-aaty's inclusion creates greater accessibility to treatments for Americans with inflammatory conditions JERSEY CITY, N.J., Aug. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Celltrion USA, Inc., (Celltrion USA) today announced its FDA-approved biosimilar adalimumab-aaty, has been added to the Costco member prescription program. Adalimumab-aaty is a high-concentration (100mg/mL) and citrate-free biosimilar to Humira (adalimumab). Adalimumab-aaty is approved for the treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, plaque psoriasis, and Hidradenitis Suppurativa.[1] The treatment has been available in the U.S. from Costco Specialty Pharmacy on October 1, 2023 for self-funded employer plans and will now be available for all Costco members through the Costco Member Prescription Program. "We are pleased to partner with Costco, the largest warehouse club and third-largest retailer in America," said Francine Galante, Vice President of Market Access at Celltrion USA. "We are committed to increasing patient choice through access to biosimilars. The inclusion of adalimumab-aaty to the Costco Member Prescription Program will expand patients' treatment options and help reduce healthcare costs." More than 80% of patients treated with Humira in the U.S. utilize a high-concentration and citrate-free formulation. Adalimumab-aaty provides additional benefits of administration via a latex-free device and a longer shelf life due to its ability to maintain a stability at 77F for 31 days. The Costco Member Prescription Program is a prescription drug discount card program that provides eligible Costco members and their eligible dependents the ability to obtain lower prices on adalimumab-aaty and other participating drugs at participating pharmacies. Costco members who are uninsured and want to pay cash for their adalimumab-aaty prescription, or who have been denied coverage by their insurer, may use this program to fill their adalimumab-aaty prescriptions at a substantial savings. The pricing available through the discount card applies at Costco Specialty Pharmacies. "Celltrion is well positioned for continued growth in the U.S. market, which will increase competition and, ultimately, access to high-quality biosimilars and biologic products at a reduced cost," said Tom Nusbickel, Chief Commercial Officer at Celltrion USA. "To further enhance patient access, we are increasing our manufacturing capacity and strengthening our supply chain resilience to ensure delivery of patient treatment." IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION[1] This important safety information also applies to YUFLYMA (adalimumab-aaty) SERIOUS INFECTIONS Patients treated with adalimumab-aaty are at increased risk for developing serious infections that may lead to hospitalization or death. Most patients who developed these infections were taking concomitant immunosuppressants such as methotrexate or corticosteroids. Discontinue adalimumab-aaty if a patient develops a serious infection or sepsis. Reported infections include: Active tuberculosis (TB), including reactivation of latent TB. Patients with TB have frequently presented with disseminated or extrapulmonary disease. Test patients for latent TB before adalimumab-aaty use and during therapy. Initiate treatment for latent TB prior to adalimumab-aaty use. Invasive fungal infections, including histoplasmosis, coccidioidomycosis, candidiasis, aspergillosis, blastomycosis, and pneumocystosis. Patients with histoplasmosis or other invasive fungal infections may present with disseminated, rather than localized, disease. Antigen and antibody testing for histoplasmosis may be negative in some patients with active infection. Consider empiric antifungal therapy in patients at risk for invasive fungal infections who develop severe systemic illness. Bacterial, viral, and other infections due to opportunistic pathogens, including Legionella and Listeria. Carefully consider the risks and benefits of treatment with adalimumab-aaty prior to initiating therapy in patients with chronic or recurrent infection. Monitor patients closely for the development of signs and symptoms of infection during and after treatment with adalimumab-aaty, including the possible development of TB in patients who tested negative for latent TB infection prior to initiating therapy. Treatment with adalimumab-aaty should not be initiated in patients with an active infection, including localized infections. Patients over 65 years of age, patients with co-morbid conditions and/or patients taking concomitant immunosuppressants (such as corticosteroids or methotrexate), may be at greater risk of infection. Discontinue adalimumab-aaty if a patient develops a serious infection or sepsis. For a patient who develops a new infection during treatment with adalimumab-aaty, closely monitor them, perform a prompt and complete diagnostic workup appropriate for an immunocompromised patient, and initiate appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Drug interactions with biologic products: In clinical studies in patients with RA, an increased risk of serious infections has been observed with the combination of TNF blockers with anakinra or abatacept, with no added benefit; therefore, use of adalimumab-aaty with abatacept or anakinra is not recommended in patients with RA. A higher rate of serious infections has also been observed in patients with RA treated with rituximab who received subsequent treatment with a TNF blocker. There is insufficient information regarding the concomitant use of adalimumab-aaty and other biologic products for the treatment of RA, PsA, AS, CD, UC, PS, and HS. Concomitant administration of adalimumab-aaty with other biologic DMARDs (e.g., anakinra and abatacept) or other TNF blockers is not recommended based upon the possible increased risk for infections and other potential pharmacological interactions. A higher rate of serious infections has been observed in RA patients treated with rituximab who received subsequent treatment with a TNF blocker. MALIGNANCY Lymphoma and other malignancies, some fatal, have been reported in children and adolescent patients treated with TNF blockers, including adalimumab products. Postmarketing cases of hepatosplenic T-cell lymphoma (HSTCL), a rare type of T-cell lymphoma, have been reported in patients treated with TNF blockers, including adalimumab products. These cases have had a very aggressive disease course and have been fatal. The majority of reported TNF blocker cases have occurred in patients with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis and the majority were in adolescent and young adult males. Almost all of these patients had received treatment with azathioprine or 6-mercaptopurine concomitantly with a TNF blocker at or prior to diagnosis. It is uncertain whether the occurrence of HSTCL is related to the use of a TNF blocker or a TNF blocker in combination with these other immunosuppressants. Consider the risks and benefits of TNF blocker treatment including adalimumab-aaty prior to initiating therapy in patients with a known malignancy other than a successfully treated non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC), or when considering continuing a TNF blocker in patients who develop a malignancy. In controlled portions of clinical trials of some adalimumab products, more cases of malignancies have been observed compared to control-treated adult patients. Non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) was reported during clinical trials for patients treated with adalimumab products. During the controlled portions of 39 global adalimumab clinical trials in adult patients with RA, PsA, AS, CD, UC, PS and HS, the rate (95% confidence interval) of NMSC was 0.8 (0.52, 1.09) per 100 patient-years among adalimumab-treated patients and 0.2 (0.10, 0.59) per 100 patient-years among control-treated patients. Examine all patients, particularly those with a medical history of prior prolonged immunosuppressant therapy or psoriasis patients with a history of PUVA treatment, for the presence of NMSC prior to and during treatment with adalimumab-aaty. In clinical trials of some adalimumab products, there was an approximately threefold higher rate of lymphoma than expected in the general U.S. population. Patients with RA and other chronic inflammatory diseases, particularly those with highly active disease and/or chronic exposure to immunosuppressant therapies, may be at a higher risk (up to severalfold) than the general population for the development of lymphoma, even in the absence of TNF blockers. Postmarketing cases of acute and chronic leukemia were reported with the use of a TNF blocker in RA and other indications. Approximately half of the postmarketing cases of malignancies in children, adolescents, and young adults receiving adalimumab were lymphomas; other cases represented a variety of different malignancies and included rare malignancies usually associated with immunosuppression and malignancies that are not usually observed in children and adolescents. HYPERSENSITIVITY Anaphylaxis and angioneurotic edema have been reported following administration of adalimumab products. If an anaphylactic or other serious allergic reaction occurs, immediately discontinue administration of adalimumab-aaty and institute appropriate therapy. HEPATITIS B VIRUS REACTIVATION Use of TNF blockers, including adalimumab-aaty, may increase the risk of reactivation of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in patients who are chronic carriers. In some instances, HBV reactivation occurring in conjunction with TNF blocker therapy has been fatal. Evaluate patients at risk for HBV infection for prior evidence of HBV infection before initiating TNF blocker therapy. Exercise caution in prescribing TNF blockers for patients identified as carriers of HBV and closely monitor such patients for clinical and laboratory signs of active HBV infection throughout therapy and for several months following termination of therapy. In patients who develop HBV reactivation, stop adalimumab-aaty and initiate effective antiviral therapy with appropriate supportive treatment. The safety of resuming TNF blocker therapy after HBV reactivation is controlled is not known. Therefore, exercise caution when considering resumption of adalimumab-aaty therapy in this situation and monitor patients closely. NEUROLOGIC REACTIONS Use of TNF blocking agents, including adalimumab products, has been associated with rare cases of new onset or exacerbation of clinical symptoms and/or radiographic evidence of central nervous system demyelinating disease, including multiple sclerosis (MS) and optic neuritis, and peripheral demyelinating disease, including Guillain-Barre syndrome. Exercise caution in considering the use of adalimumab-aaty in patients with preexisting or recent-onset central or peripheral nervous system demyelinating disorders; discontinuation of adalimumab-aaty should be considered if any of these disorders develop. There is a known association between intermediate uveitis and central demyelinating disorder s. HEMATOLOGIC REACTIONS Rare reports of pancytopenia including aplastic anemia have been reported with TNF blocking agents. Adverse reactions of the hematologic system, including medically significant cytopenia, have been infrequently reported with adalimumab products. Consider discontinuation of adalimumab-aaty therapy in patients with confirmed significant hematologic abnormalities. HEART FAILURE Cases of worsening congestive heart failure (CHF) and new-onset CHF have been reported with TNF blockers. Cases of worsening CHF have also been observed with adalimumab products. Exercise caution when using adalimumab-aaty in patients who have heart failure and monitor them carefully. AUTOIMMUNITY Treatment with adalimumab products may result in the formation of autoantibodies and, rarely, in the development of a lupus-like syndrome. If a patient develops symptoms suggestive of a lupus-like syndrome following treatment with adalimumab-aaty, discontinue treatment. IMMUNIZATIONS Patients on adalimumab-aaty may receive concurrent vaccinations, except for live vaccines. It is recommended that pediatric patients, if possible, be brought up to date with all immunizations in agreement with current immunization guidelines prior to initiating adalimumab-aaty therapy. No data are available on the secondary transmission of infection by live vaccines in patients receiving adalimumab products. The safety of administering live or live-attenuated vaccines in infants exposed to adalimumab in utero is unknown. Risks and benefits should be considered prior to vaccinating (live or live-attenuated) exposed infants. ADVERSE REACTIONS The most common adverse reactions in adalimumab clinical trials (>10%) were: infections (e.g., upper respiratory, sinusitis), injection site reactions, headache, and rash. INDICATIONS Adalimumab-aaty is a tumor necrosis factor (TNF) blocker indicated for: Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA): reducing signs and symptoms, inducing major clinical response, inhibiting the progression of structural damage, and improving physical function in adult patients with moderately to severely active RA Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA): reducing signs and symptoms of moderately to severely active polyarticular JIA in patients 2 years of age and older Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA): reducing signs and symptoms, inhibiting the progression of structural damage, and improving physical function in adult patients with active PsA Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS): reducing signs and symptoms in adult patients with active AS Crohn's Disease (CD): treatment of moderately to severely active Crohn's disease in adults and pediatric patients 6 years of age and older Ulcerative Colitis (UC): treatment of moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis in adults Li mitations of Use: Effectiveness has not been established in patients who have lost response to or were intolerant to TNF blockers Effectiveness has not been established in patients who have lost response to or were intolerant to TNF blockers Plaque Psoriasis (Ps): treatment of adult patients with moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis who are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy, and when other systemic therapies are medically less appropriate Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS): treatment of adult patients with moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa Please see full Prescribing Information including Boxed Warning for adalimumab-aaty Notes to Editors: About adalimumab-aaty[1] Adalimumab-aaty is an unbranded version of YUFLYMA (CT-P17, biosimilar adalimumab). YUFLYMA is a recombinant fully human antitumour necrosis factor (anti-TNF) monoclonal antibody. YUFLYMA is FDA-approved for the treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, plaque psoriasis and Hidradenitis Suppurativa. Following the launch of 40mg/0.4mL in July 2023 and 80mg/0.8mL in December 2023, additional dosage form of 20mg/0.2mL was launched in the U.S. in March 2024. About Celltrion USA Celltrion USA is Celltrion's U.S. subsidiary established in 2018. Headquartered in New Jersey, Celltrion USA is committed to expanding access to innovative biologics to improve care for U.S. patients. Celltrion currently has five biosimilars approved by the U.S. FDA: INFLECTRA (infliximab-dyyb), TRUXIMA (rituximab-abbs), HERZUMA (trastuzumab-pkrb), VEGZELMA (bevacizumab-adcd) and YUFLYMA(adalimumab-aaty) as well as a new biologic ZYMFENTRA. Celltrion USA will continue to leverage Celltrion's unique heritage in biotechnology, supply chain excellence and best-in-class sales capabilities to improve access to high-quality biopharmaceuticals for U.S. patients. For more information, please visit: www.celltrionusa.com/ FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT Certain information set forth in this press release contains statements related to our future business and financial performance and future events or developments involving Celltrion/Celltrion Healthcare that may constitute forward-looking statements, under pertinent securities laws. These statements may be identified by words such as "prepares", "hopes to", "upcoming", "plans to", "aims to", "to be launched", "is preparing, "once gained", "could", "with the aim of", "may", "once identified", "will", "working towards", "is due", "become available", "has potential to", the negative of these words or such other variations thereon or comparable terminology. In addition, our representatives may make oral forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on the current expectations and certain assumptions of Celltrion/Celltrion Healthcare's management, of which many are beyond its control. Forward-looking statements are provided to allow potential investors the opportunity to understand management's beliefs and opinions in respect of the future so that they may use such beliefs and opinions as one factor in evaluating an investment. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and undue reliance should not be placed on them. Such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any projections of future performance or result expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such Risks and uncertainties may include, among other things, uncertainties regarding the launch timing and commercial success of Celltrion in the United States; the uncertainties inherent in supply chain, manufacturing, research and development, and the possibility of unfavorable new clinical data and further analyses of existing clinical data as it relates to Celltrion products; intellectual property and/or litigation/settlement implications; decisions by the FDA impacting labeling, manufacturing processes, safety, promotion, and/or other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of Celltrion products; and uncertainties regarding access challenges for our biosimilar products where our product may not receive appropriate formulary access or remains in a disadvantaged position relative to competitive products; and competitive developments. A further description of risks and uncertainties can be found in Celltrion's Annual Report. Although forward-looking statements contained in this presentation are based upon what management of Celltrion/Celltrion Healthcare believes are reasonable assumptions, 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. Celltrion/Celltrion Healthcare undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by applicable securities laws. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Trademarks Humira is a registered trademark of AbbVie. YUFLYMA is a registered trademark of Celltrion, Inc., used under license. References [1] Adalimumab-aaty U.S. prescribing information For further information please contact: Samantha Cranko [email protected] +1 917-453-0346 SOURCE Celltrion USA Stock Market Symbols GIB.A (TSX) GIB (NYSE) cgi.com/newsroom NEW YORK, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - CGI (TSX: GIB.A) (NYSE: GIB), one of the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world, today announced its selection by the City of New York for maintenance of the STARS parking violation system, which runs on CGI Advantage Collections platform. CGI will partner with the city's Department of Finance under a new five-year contract with an optional two-year renewal to administer the adjudication, payment and collection processes for parking and camera violations issued by the city, resulting in the collection of over C$1.3 billion in public revenue each year. Developed by CGI, the STARS system includes capabilities that provide motorists with timely notifications and access to their records; accurate processing of inquiries, claims, and payments; and support for their right to adjudicate tickets. The system supports the city's annual management of approximately 17 million parking and camera tickets. Under the new agreement CGI will provide IT and consulting services focused on evolving business environments, system modifications, and new solution designs. "Citizens in New York and in communities across the country expect government services to offer the utmost in responsiveness, flexibility and transparency," said James Titus, Vice-President Consulting Services in CGI's U.S. East operations. "With extensive knowledge of the complex business rules in the STARS application and the requirements of its users, we will continue to evolve the system to ensure that it works effectively for the city and the people it serves." About CGI Founded in 1976, CGI is among the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world. With 90,000 consultants and professionals across the globe, CGI delivers an end-to-end portfolio of capabilities, from strategic IT and business consulting to systems integration, managed IT and business process services and intellectual property solutions. CGI works with clients through a local relationship model complemented by a global delivery network that helps clients digitally transform their organizations and accelerate results. CGI Fiscal 2023 reported revenue is CA$14.30 billion and CGI shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB). Learn more at cgi.com. SOURCE CGI Inc. Research Confirms Effective Control of Large Liver Cancer, Doubling Survival Time Published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology TAOYUAN, Aug. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- With cancer incidence on the rise, proton therapy has emerged as one of the most powerful tools in cancer treatment. Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou, the first on the island to introduce proton therapy, has treated over 5,000 cancer patients with remarkable success. In a parallel research endeavor, the hospital's team found liver cancer patients treated with proton therapy achieve better tumor control and double the survival time compared to traditional X-ray radiation therapy, with fewer side effects. The findings were published in the March 2024 edition of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics, the leading international journal in the field of radiation oncology. Proton therapy treats a variety of cancers, including brain tumors, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, lung, breast, and liver cancers. It targets tumors with precision, minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissue compared to conventional X-ray radiation therapy. This method reduces radiation-induced side effects and is particularly effective in treating extensive liver cancers, enhancing patients' survival prospects. (Courtesy of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou) The doctors involved in the project explained that proton therapy serves as "surgical strike" deep within the body, only releasing significant radiation energy when the protons reach the target tumor and destroying it with utmost precision while minimizing damage to nearby normal tissues and reducing side effects. The pinpoint accuracy stands apart from traditional X-ray radiotherapy, which often incurs greater collateral damage. By allowing for safer dose escalation, proton therapy optimizes patient outcomes and maintains their quality of life. The hospital conducted a four-year follow-up study on 159 patients with extensive liver cancer undergoing either proton therapy or conventional X-ray radiotherapy. The results showed that the two-year local tumor control rate for proton therapy was 89%, significantly surpassing the 34% achieved with traditional X-ray. Additionally, the median survival time for those treated with proton therapy was 19 monthsmore than double the 8 months observed with X-ray treatments. Moreover, the incidence of liver failure, upper gastrointestinal bleeding, or severe lymphocytopenia was significantly lower in the proton therapy group. While many studies have confirmed the efficacy of proton therapy, larger-scale research on its effectiveness for tumors larger than 5 cm or previously intractable large liver cancers has yet to be conducted. Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou, advises patients to obtain comprehensive professional consultation prior to treatment to ensure they receive the most optimal care. Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou is one of the largest proton radiation therapy centers in Asia, with patients from over 30 countries, including Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam. The hospital houses an International Medical Center, providing professional medical consultations, second opinions, medical arrangements, and coordinated multidisciplinary medical services, including surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and traditional Chinese medicine adjustments to offer comprehensive care for cancer patients. CONTACT: IMC CGMH, [email protected] SOURCE Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou The New Clipp Provides Powerful Tools for Local Businesses to Connect to Ideal Customers with the Most Effective Offer to Drive Results ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Clipp, the latest brand evolution of Clipper Magazine and trusted source for exclusive consumer offers via a suite of digital products and publications, today announced its official launch. The new Clipp, which includes Clipp Magazine and Prestigious Living as well as Clipp.com, will combine all the local deals and savings that consumers have come to count on from former outlets including Get One Free, Mint Magazine, Local Flavor, Great Deals and Market Magazine into a streamlined, optimized and elevated experience. The New Clipp Flagship Platforms Clipp - A response-driven direct mail magazine built around local audience expertise that is proven to increase visibility, traffic, sales and new customer acquisition for businesses large and small. - A response-driven direct mail magazine built around local audience expertise that is proven to increase visibility, traffic, sales and new customer acquisition for businesses large and small. Prestigious Living - A lifestyle magazine that targets homeowners looking for reputable local service providers, exciting home decor ideas, and high-quality products. - A lifestyle magazine that targets homeowners looking for reputable local service providers, exciting home decor ideas, and high-quality products. Clipp.com - A digital destination that rewards subscribers with local offers and connects businesses with their ideal audiences. Partnering with Business and Advertisers The new Clipp will continue to support community growth by partnering with national brands and local businesses through identifying and engaging ideal consumers in the neighborhoods they serve. Clipp will also leverage the organization's unmatched reach: each year mailing 230 million local magazines to high-income households with high purchase power and Clipp.com, which sees 10.5 million visitors per year. Clipp's direct mail and digital advertising solutions are results-oriented and backed by exceptional customer service and deep market knowledge. The new Clipp is focused on connecting businesses with highly desirable consumers with more income and spend than the U.S. average. If you are interested in partnering with Clipp to build a high-impact campaign for your business or to learn more, please visit https://advertise.clipp.com/ "The current economic environment, where consumers are hyper-focused on value and savings, has made it more important than ever that local businesses connect with customers with the right offer, at the right time, through the right platform," said John Amato, Founder and Chairman at AmatoMartin investment group and CEO for Clipp. "That is why we are so excited about the launch of Clipp and the solution's ability to connect communities in rewarding ways through personalized engagements that drive results for the businesses we serve and provide consumers with offers they need." Some of the benefits businesses receive when partnering with Clipp on an advertising campaign, include: Product and offer recommendations Reach and frequency best practices Targeting top local households Ad artwork and creative design Printing, processing and postage Campaign performance tracking By prioritizing consumer engagement and investing in product innovation, data tools, attribution intelligence and more, Clipp brings consumers outstanding savings on the businesses they love, in the mailbox and in the inbox. Clipp combines geographic targeting, consumer behavior profiling, demographic data and purchase power to help businesses to identify their ideal audience, create the perfect customer profile and to pinpoint the most impactful geographies. Clipp, By the Numbers 9 out of 10 customers open and read the Clipp magazines they receive 40,000 businesses advertise with Clipp 92% of recipients set aside 1-5 Clipp offers to use or share 20,000 monthly Apple Wallet adds 80% of readers use coupons at least once a month About Clipp Clipp is a streamlined, powerful vehicle for delivering exclusive local offers across mail and digital platforms. Clipp is innovating in the direct mail space and currently boast two flagship publications: Clipp Magazine and Prestigious Living. Additionally, consumers can "clipp" the ads they want on-the-go at Clipp.com and with the Clipp app, which is fully optimized for Android and Apple devices. To learn more about partnering with Clipp on advertising, visit https://advertise.clipp.com/, or connect with Clipp on Instagram, X, Facebook or LinkedIn. Press Contact: GlobalFluency Kevin Sugarman [email protected] SOURCE Clipp Netting top honors for ecommerce 'Company of the Year,' 'Executive of the Year' and 'New Product of the Year,' Constructor is recognized by judges for 'significantly improving user experiences and retailer metrics' SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Constructor , the leading AI-powered search and product discovery platform for enterprise ecommerce companies, today announced it has earned three gold Stevie Awards the highest level honor in the 2024 Stevie Awards for Technology Excellence . A powerhouse in the ecommerce category, Constructor won for ecommerce "Company of the Year," "Executive of the Year" (for CEO Eli Finkelshteyn) and "New Product of the Year" (for its AI Shopping Assistant ) a strong testament to Constructor's impact, leadership and continual product innovation. Dubbed "the Olympics for technology," the Stevie Awards for Technology Excellence celebrate the remarkable accomplishments of individuals, teams and organizations shaping the future of technology across all industry sectors. This first annual program is part of the broader Stevie Awards organization which hosts the world's premier business awards, receiving more than 12,000 entries across its competitions each year. Take it from the judges In the Stevie Awards for Technology Excellence, more than 100 professionals worldwide participated in the judging process to select this year's honorees. Here's a sample of what the judges had to say: About Constructor, Company of the Year, Ecommerce Constructor "is not only excelling in its field but also pushing the boundaries of what is possible in ecommerce technology." "Their solutions are not only cutting-edge but also practical and user-friendly." "The expertise and dedication of the Constructor team are clear. Their ability to consistently deliver high-quality solutions is commendable." "Their technology has delivered significant results for major retailers." "Constructor's vision for the future and their plans for continued innovation and growth are exciting and promising." "The company's innovative tools have significantly improved user experiences and retailer metrics." "Transformative and groundbreaking ecommerce search capabilities." Constructor's "consistent revenue growth, customer retention and strategic funding highlight their industry impact." "Constructor impressively leverages AI and generative AI to enhance ecommerce driving significant results for retailers, such as increased revenue and improved search conversions." About Constructor's AI Shopping Assistant (ASA), New Product of the Year, Ecommerce "A game-changer in the ecommerce space." "The tool's innovative approach and proven results highlight its potential to transform online shopping." "The product's ability to handle natural language queries and provide personalized recommendations is a significant advancement over traditional methods." "ASA provides a trusted-associate-like experience in ecommerce, setting a new standard for interactive and personalized product discovery." ASA's "ability to deliver tailored recommendations based on real-time inventory and shopper preferences demonstrates a significant leap in creating dynamic, responsive shopping experiences." "A groundbreaking conversational product discovery tool that has significantly enhanced customer satisfaction, revenue generation and website traffic for ecommerce retailers." ASA "showcases a strong commitment to innovation and user-centric design." "A valuable asset for ecommerce businesses, enhancing both customer satisfaction and revenue." "A sophisticated solution that elevates the standard for digital shopping experiences." Blending generative AI and Constructor's personalization technology, ASA enables shoppers who may not be sure exactly what they want to break away from the traditional model of using just terse keywords in ecommerce search. Shoppers can pose longform questions like "I'm going camping with my kids for the first time in the White Mountains. What supplies do we need?" or "Help me find an outfit for a beach wedding in the Caribbean in June." and get recommendations that make sense, are in stock and are personalized to them. With ASA, grocers, apparel brands and general retailers have seen results including: 10% increase in website revenue, 6% increase in search conversions, 7% increase in clicks and more. In addition, regarding Constructor's CEO Eli Finkelshteyn, judges praised him for being a "transformative leader" with "an excellent track record of innovation in ecommerce" whose "contributions have not only propelled Constructor to new heights, but have also significantly advanced the ecommerce industry as a whole." Additional momentum These wins come on the heels of other major milestones for Constructor. The company recently doubled revenue for the third straight year; secured $25 million in Series B funding (nearly tripling its valuation, to $550 million, since 2021); and continued its rapid expansion across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In the last six months alone, Constructor's platform has powered more than 100 billion shopper interactions enabling brands to drive hundreds of millions of personalized, revenue-generating experiences each day. Earlier this year, Constructor also won a gold Stevie Award and People's Choice Stevie Award in the Stevies' American Business Awards program. "We're humbled and gratified by the Stevies' recognition of our company, leadership and product innovation," said Constructor CEO Eli Finkelshteyn. "It's a fantastic testament to our hardworking team and world-class customers and the results those customers achieve every day through Constructor. Feedback like this validates our vision and motivates us further. We're excited to continue to push the boundaries of ecommerce innovation: showing companies 'what's next' and driving great value for them in the process." About Constructor Constructor is the only search and product discovery platform tailor-made for enterprise ecommerce where conversions matter. Constructor's AI-first solutions make it easier for shoppers to discover products they want to buy and for ecommerce teams to deliver personalized experiences in real time that drive impressive results. Optimizing specifically for ecommerce metrics like revenue, conversion rate and profit, Constructor generates consistent $10M+ lifts for some of the biggest brands in ecommerce, such as Sephora, Petco, Birkenstock, The Very Group, home24, Grove Collaborative and Fisheries Supply. Constructor is a U.S.-based company that was founded in 2015 by Eli Finkelshteyn and Dan McCormick. For more, visit: constructor.com SOURCE Constructor SAN DIEGO, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CV Sciences, Inc. (OTCQB:CVSI) (the "Company", "CV Sciences", "our", "us" or "we"), a preeminent consumer wellness company specializing in hemp extracts and other proven science-backed, natural ingredients and products, today announced its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2024. Second Quarter 2024 and Recent Financial and Operating Highlights Generated revenue of $4.0 million for second quarter 2024, consistent with $4.0 million for the second quarter 2023 and the first quarter 2024; for second quarter 2024, consistent with for the second quarter 2023 and the first quarter 2024; Recognized gross margin of 47.0% for second quarter 2024 compared to 43.3% for the second quarter 2023 and a sequential improvement from 46.3% for the first quarter 2024; Cash balance of $0.5 million at quarter end compared to $1.3 million at the end of 2023; at quarter end compared to at the end of 2023; Further established number one position as top-selling hemp extract brand in the natural product retail sales channel, according to SPINS, the leading provider of syndicated data and insights for the natural, organic and specialty products industry; Generated additional shelve placement and associated revenue after the launch of pet chews for hip and joint health and calming care chews; Entered into a financing with Streeterville for net proceeds of $0.9 million ; ; Recognized an adjusted EBITDA loss of $6,000 for the second quarter 2024, close to achieving operating cash flow break-even; for the second quarter 2024, close to achieving operating cash flow break-even; Acquired Elevated Softgels, a leading manufacturer of encapsulated softgels and tinctures for the supplement and nutrition industry, based in Colorado ; and ; and Appointed Maxim Group LLC ("Maxim") as non-exclusive financial advisor and investment banker to provide strategic financial advisory and investment banking services. With the help of Maxim, the Company intends to continue to build an efficient and cost effective consumer products platform and continue to evaluate inbound and outbound merger, sale, acquisition or other options for the Company. "We are pleased with our second quarter 2024 results. Revenues for our core business remained stable at $4 million in the second quarter 2024 despite a challenging environment. With our recently completed acquisitions and new product innovations, we are planning to grow our revenue in the second half of 2024. Our 47.0% gross margin in the second quarter 2024 is our best gross margin in the last 13 quarters," stated Joseph Dowling, Chief Executive Officer of CV Sciences. "Our second quarter 2024 progress demonstrates our continuous commitment to innovation and cost-efficient execution as we move closer to profitability and positive cash flow. We are excited about the additional opportunities of Elevated Softgels, our most recent acquisition, which we closed in May 2024. In addition, we are thrilled to appoint Maxim as our strategic financial advisor to accelerate our organic and non-organic growth opportunities." Operating Results - Second Quarter 2024 Compared to Second Quarter 2023 Sales for second quarter 2024 were $4.0 million, flat compared to the second quarter 2023. Our B2B sales declined slightly by 3%, offset by a 4% increase in our B2C sales. B2C sales increased by $0.1 million to $1.7 million in the second quarter 2024 mostly due to additional revenue from our subscription customers. The total number of units sold during the second quarter 2024 decreased by 12.5%, offset by higher average sales prices per unit of 12.1%. The average sales price per unit improved due to product and channel mix. We generated an operating loss of $0.6 million in the second quarter 2024, compared to an operating loss of $1.1 million in the second quarter 2023. The improvement is mostly due to higher gross margins and reduced operating expenses. The Company had negative adjusted EBITDA of $6,000 for the second quarter 2024 compared to $0.9 million in the second quarter of 2023. Conference Call and Webcast The Company will host a conference call and webcast to discuss these results today at 10:00 am EDT/7:00 am PDT. The webcast of the conference call will be available on the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at https://ir.cvsciences.com/news-events or directly at https://viavid.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1676369&tp_key=2c558c26e6 . Investors interested in participating in the live call can also dial (877) 407-0784 from the U.S. or international callers can dial (201) 689-8560. A telephone replay will be available approximately three hours after the call concludes, and will be available through Tuesday, August 20, 2024, by dialing (844) 512-2921 from the U.S. or (412) 317-6671 from international locations, and entering confirmation code 13747169. About CV Sciences, Inc. CV Sciences, Inc. (OTCQB:CVSI) is a consumer wellness company specializing in nutraceuticals and plant-based foods. The Company's hemp extracts and other proven, science-backed, natural ingredients and products are sold through a range of sales channels from B2B to B2C. The Company's +PlusCBD branded products are sold at select retail locations throughout the U.S. and are the top-selling brands of hemp extracts in the natural products market, according to SPINS, the leading provider of syndicated data and insights for the natural, organic and specialty products industry. With a commitment to science, +PlusCBD product benefits in healthy people are supported by human clinical research data, in addition to three published clinical case studies available on PubMed.gov. +PlusCBD was the first hemp extract supplement brand to invest in the scientific evidence necessary to receive self-affirmed Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status. The Company's Cultured Foods brand provides a variety of 100% plant-based food products. Committed to crafting nutritious and flavorful alternatives, Cultured Foods caters to individuals seeking vegan, gluten-free, or flexitarian options for a wholesome and satisfying culinary experience. In addition, the Company owns Elevated Softgels, a leading manufacturer of encapsulated softgels and tinctures for the supplement and nutrition industry. CV Sciences, Inc. has primary offices and facilities in San Diego, California, Grand Junction, Colorado, and Warsaw, Poland. The Company also operates a drug development program focused on developing and commercializing CBD-based novel therapeutics. Additional information is available from OTCMarkets.com or by visiting www.cvsciences.com. Forward Looking Statements This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements and information, as defined within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to the Safe Harbor created by those sections. This material contains statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risk and uncertainties. CV Sciences does not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable law. As a result, investors should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Contact Information [email protected] CV SCIENCES, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (UNAUDITED) (in thousands, except per share data) Three months ended June 30, Six months ended June 30, 2024 2023 2024 2023 Product sales, net $ 3,954 $ 3,966 $ 7,956 $ 8,114 Cost of goods sold 2,094 2,248 4,243 4,614 Gross profit 1,860 1,718 3,713 3,500 Operating expenses: Research and development 28 36 64 71 Selling, general and administrative 2,415 2,758 4,852 4,914 Benefit from reversal of accrued payroll taxes (6,171) Total operating expenses 2,443 2,794 4,916 (1,186) Operating income (loss) (583) (1,076) (1,203) 4,686 Other expense, net 1 209 3 265 Income (loss) before income taxes (584) (1,285) (1,206) 4,421 Income tax expense 3 6 3 Net income (loss) $ (584) $ (1,288) $ (1,212) $ 4,418 Weighted average common shares outstanding, basic and diluted 172,418 152,599 167,823 152,353 Net income (loss) per common share, basic and diluted $ (0.00) $ (0.01) $ (0.01) $ 0.03 CV SCIENCES, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (UNAUDITED) (in thousands, except per share data) June 30, 2024 December 31, 2023 Assets Current assets: Cash $ 477 $ 1,317 Accounts receivable, net 639 431 Inventory 5,206 5,655 Prepaid expenses and other 410 535 Total current assets 6,732 7,938 Property and equipment, net 666 379 Right of use assets 451 167 Intangibles, net 106 78 Goodwill 729 342 Other assets 202 296 Total assets $ 8,886 $ 9,200 Liabilities and stockholders' equity Current liabilities: Accounts payable $ 2,307 $ 2,309 Accrued expenses 3,461 3,422 Operating lease liability - current 234 130 Debt 29 254 Total current liabilities 6,031 6,115 Operating lease liability - net of current portion 233 58 Deferred tax liability 19 19 Other liabilities 95 105 Total liabilities 6,378 6,297 Commitments and contingencies Stockholders' equity Preferred stock, par value $0.0001; 10,000 shares authorized; 1 share issued as of June 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023; and no shares outstanding as of June 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023 Common stock, par value $0.0001; 790,000 shares authorized as of June 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023; 180,651 and 161,678 shares issued and outstanding as of June 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively 18 16 Additional paid-in capital 88,291 87,464 Accumulated deficit (85,799) (84,587) Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) (2) 10 Total stockholders' equity 2,508 2,903 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 8,886 $ 9,200 CV SCIENCES, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (UNAUDITED) (in thousands) Six months ended June 30, 2024 2023 OPERATING ACTIVITIES Net income (loss) $ (1,212) $ 4,418 Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash flows provided by (used in) operating activities: Depreciation and amortization 139 118 Stock-based compensation 67 153 Note discount and interest expense 112 Non-cash lease expense, net 78 53 Benefit from reversal of accrued payroll tax (6,171) Other 158 312 Change in operating assets and liabilities: Accounts receivable, net (200) 148 Inventory 513 727 Prepaid expenses and other 125 2,778 Accounts payable and accrued expenses (243) (262) Net cash flows provided by (used in) operating activities (575) 2,386 INVESTING ACTIVITIES Acquisition of business, net of cash acquired (40) Net cash flows used in investing activities (40) FINANCING ACTIVITIES Repayment of note payable (50) (1,117) Repayment of unsecured debt (173) (190) Net cash flows used in financing activities (223) (1,307) Effect of exchange rate changes on cash (2) Net increase (decrease) in cash (840) 1,079 Cash, beginning of period 1,317 611 Cash, end of period $ 477 $ 1,690 Supplemental cash flow disclosures: Interest paid $ 6 $ 4 Income tax paid $ 6 $ Supplemental disclosure of non-cash transactions: Services paid with common stock $ 62 $ 100 Fair value of assets acquired, excluding cash $ 447 $ Goodwill on acquisition 393 Common stock consideration (700) Contigent consideration (100) Cash paid for acquisition $ 40 $ Supplemental cash flow disclosures: Interest paid $ 4 $ 3 Income taxes paid $ 6 $ Supplemental disclosure of non-cash transactions: Services paid with common stock $ 62 $ CV SCIENCES, INC. NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES (UNAUDITED) We prepare our consolidated financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for the United States (GAAP). The non-GAAP financial measures, such as net income (loss) per share and Adjusted EBITDA included in this press release are different from those otherwise presented under GAAP. We use non-GAAP measures internally to evaluate our performance and make financial and operational decisions that are presented in a manner that adjusts from their equivalent GAAP measures or that supplement the information provided by our GAAP measures. The non-GAAP financial measures exclude non-cash compensation expense for stock options. When evaluating the performance of our business and developing short and long-term plans, we do not consider share-based compensation charges. Although share-based compensation is necessary to attract and retain quality employees, our consideration of share-based compensation places its primary emphasis on overall shareholder dilution rather than the accounting charges associated with such grants. Because of the varying availability of valuation methodologies and subjective assumptions, we believe that the exclusion of share-based compensation allows for more accurate comparison of our financial results to previous periods. In addition, we believe it useful to investors to understand the specific impact of the application of the fair value method of accounting for share-based compensation on our operating results. Adjusted EBITDA is defined by us as EBITDA (net income (loss) plus depreciation, amortization, interest, and income tax expense, further adjusted to exclude certain non-cash expenses and other adjustments as set forth below. We use Adjusted EBITDA because we believe it more clearly highlights trends in our business that may not otherwise be apparent when relying solely on GAAP financial measures, since Adjusted EBITDA eliminates from our results specific financial items that have less bearing on our core operating performance. We use Adjusted EBITDA in communicating certain aspects of our results and performance, including in this press release, and believe that Adjusted EBITDA, when viewed in conjunction with our GAAP results and the accompanying reconciliation, can provide investors with greater transparency and a greater understanding of factors affecting our financial condition and results of operations than GAAP measures alone. In addition, we believe the presentation of Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors in making period-to-period comparison of results because the adjustments to GAAP are not reflective of our core business performance. A reconciliation from our GAAP net income (loss) to non-GAAP net loss for the three and six months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023 is detailed below (in thousands, except per share data): Three months ended June 30, Six months ended June 30, 2024 2023 2024 2023 Net income (loss) - GAAP $ (584) $ (1,288) $ (1,212) $ 4,418 Stock-based compensation (1) 37 35 67 153 Professional fees associated with legal dispute (2) 464 693 Benefit from reversal of accrued payroll tax (3) (6,171) Note discount and interest expense (4) 12 112 Net loss - non-GAAP $ (83) $ (1,241) $ (452) $ (1,488) Diluted EPS - GAAP $ (0.00) $ (0.01) $ (0.01) $ 0.03 Stock-based compensation (1) Professional fees associated with legal dispute (2) 0.01 Benefit from reversal of accrued payroll tax (3) (0.04) Note discount and interest expense (4) Diluted EPS - non-GAAP $ (0.00) $ (0.01) $ (0.00) $ (0.01) Shares used to calculate diluted EPS - GAAP and non-GAAP 172,418 152,599 167,823 152,353 (1) Represents stock-based compensation expense related to stock options awarded to employees and non-executive directors based on the grant date fair value using the Black-Scholes valuation model. (2) Represents legal and other professional expenses incurred during 2024 associated with the legal dispute with founder. (3) Represents benefit from reversal of accrued payroll tax associated with RSU release to founder in 2019. (4) Represents amortization of OID/debt issuance costs and interest expense for convertible notes payable and notes payable. A reconciliation from our net income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure, for the three and six months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023 is detailed below (in thousands): Three months ended June 30, Six months ended June 30, 2024 2023 2024 2023 Net income (loss) $ (584) $ (1,288) $ (1,212) $ 4,418 Depreciation expense 71 59 130 118 Amortization expense 5 9 Interest expense 1 9 3 65 Income tax expense 3 6 3 EBITDA (507) (1,217) (1,064) 4,604 Stock-based compensation (1) 37 35 67 153 Professional fees associated with legal dispute (2) 464 693 Benefit from reversal of accrued payroll tax (3) (6,171) Adjusted EBITDA $ (6) $ (1,182) $ (304) $ (1,414) (1) Represents stock-based compensation expense related to stock options awarded to employees and non-executive directors based on the grant date fair value using the Black-Scholes valuation model. (2) Represents legal and other professional expenses incurred during 2024 associated with the legal dispute with founder. (3) Represents benefit from reversal of accrued payroll tax associated with RSU release to founder in 2019. SOURCE CV Sciences, Inc. Diversified Restaurant Group continues to invest in the Las Vegas community. LAS VEGAS, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Diversified Restaurant Group (DRG), one of the largest Taco Bell franchisees operating more than 330 restaurants, is gearing up for the reopening of its newly remodeled location in Spring Valley Las Vegas at 4835 S Fort Apache Rd. The grand opening event will take place on Saturday, August 17, at 11 a.m., and Taco Bell enthusiasts are invited to join in on the celebration to Live Mas with a DJ and free Taco Bell bites! As a bonus, the first 50 guests will receive custom Taco Bell-branded swag. The Fort Apache location has undergone an impressive transformation. It features a brand-new look with the latest Taco Bell interior design and kiosks. Guests can expect more efficient in-store and mobile ordering. These enhancements aim to provide an enjoyable and convenient guest experience. "We are excited to unveil an upgraded location that elevates the experience and satisfaction of our valued guests," said Rich Wierzbowski, VP of DRG Nevada. "We invite the Las Vegas community to come in and discover our fresh new look, which exemplifies Taco Bell's innovative and bold spirit." The remodeled Taco Bell will continue to offer the brand's classic favorites and specialty items. For a limited time only, guests can indulge in the new Luxe Cravings Box for $7 and pair it with their favorite Freeze to beat the Las Vegas heat. To place an order at the new Taco Bell on Fort Apache, customers can use the Taco Bell app or their favorite meal delivery providerDoorDash, Uber Eats, or Grubhub. Diversified Restaurant Group is committed to investing in the Las Vegas community and providing exceptional dining experiences. With the reopening of its Fort Apache location, DRG continues to demonstrate its dedication to delivering outstanding service and innovative dining options. For more information about the grand reopening of the Apache Las Vegas location, please click here. About Diversified Restaurant Group Diversified Restaurant Group is a restaurant business comprised of owners and operators working to innovate and grow with quick service and fast casual brands across the country. What started as a limited partnership in a 30-unit Taco Bell franchise in 2012, has since grown into a 350+ unit, multi-brand QSR operation with restaurants in Nevada, California, Kansas, Missouri and Alaska. Media Contact Brianne Barbakoff [email protected] SOURCE Diversified Restaurant Group FORT LEE, N.J., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- What If Media Group, a New Jersey-based performance marketing company, has once again been recognized for its exceptional growth among American companies. For the eighth consecutive year, What If Media Group has earned a spot on Inc. Magazine's prestigious Inc. 5000 list, which highlights the fastest-growing privately owned companies in the United States. Achieving this accolade once is a significant honor, but being named among the companies "building the future" for eight consecutive years is a testament to What If Media Group's enduring success and resilience. Additionally, What If Media Group has been honored by Financial Times, appearing on their 2024 list of the Americas' Fastest Growing Companies. This ranking features the 500 companies with the strongest revenue growth across the Americas, and out of over 30,000 businesses evaluated, What If Media Group has placed among the top 1.6%. "Receiving these honors reflects our team's unwavering dedication to driving growth," said Josh Gillon, CEO of What If Media Group. "Our commitment to meeting the evolving needs of our clients has cemented us as a leader in our industry." What If Media Group enables leading brands to acquire new, highly-targeted customers at scale through first-party, data-driven engagement and re-engagement strategies. Every day, millions of consumer interactions within What If's proprietary marketing ecosystem are converted into measurable results for advertisers. For more about What If Media Group's latest achievements visit https://whatifmediagroup.com/company/#about-us or contact [email protected]. For complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, location, and other criteria, go to www.inc.com/inc5000. SOURCE What If Media Group Four statewide organizations each received a $10,000 grant to commemorate the anniversary ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Duke Energy Foundation is celebrating its 40-year anniversary by awarding $40,000 in grants to nonprofit organizations serving Florida. Four organizations will each receive a $10,000 grant to support their work, helping strengthen and uplift communities across the Sunshine State. "For four decades, the Duke Energy Foundation has proudly helped fund many important initiatives in Florida," said Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president. "It's only appropriate to commemorate this significant milestone with grants to deserving nonprofit organizations that are helping make a real, lasting difference in the lives of our family, friends and neighbors." Grants were awarded to the following organizations: Feeding Florida $10,000 Florida State Park Foundation $10,000 American Red Cross $10,000 Prospera (Hispanic Business Initiative Fund) $10,000 Feeding Florida's nine member food banks support more than 2,400 local charitable agencies that provide food directly to individuals and families in need to ensure a hunger-free Florida. "The Duke Energy Foundation shares our mission to uplift Florida's communities. We are honored to be selected as a grantee as part of their 40th anniversary celebration," said Robin Safley, Feeding Florida executive director. "Duke Energy continues to place focus on the importance of increasing access to nutritious food, and their support will allow our food banks to serve even more Florida families." Through its Hispanic Business Initiative Fund, Prospera specializes in economic development and provides bilingual assistance to Hispanic entrepreneurs trying to establish or expand their businesses. "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 collaboration, 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." For more information about the Duke Energy Foundation, please visit duke-energy.com/community/duke-energy-foundation/Florida. To learn more about Duke Energy Florida's assistance programs, customers can visit duke-energy.com/HereToHelp or call the Customer Care number listed on their utility bills. 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 Florida Duke Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, owns 10,500 megawatts of energy capacity, supplying electricity to 1.9 million residential, commercial and industrial customers across a 13,000-square-mile service area in Florida. Media contact: Audrey Stasko Media line: 800.559.3853 Twitter: @DE_AudreyS SOURCE Duke Energy Over the last year, Duke Energy has supported more than 11,000 North Carolina households with more than $4.6 million in energy bill assistance CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- To help lower energy costs for low-income families this summer, Duke Energy is making more than $4.6 million in financial aid available to eligible customers through the company's Share the Light Fund. "As temperatures climb throughout the summer, these funds will help reduce energy expenses for those who need it most," said Kendal Bowman, president of Duke Energy North Carolina. We're proud of the support Share the Light Fund has provided to our community over the past 40 years." Duke Energy works with over 100 agencies across North Carolina to distribute funds to qualifying customers to help pay energy bills, deposits and reconnection/connection charges. Individuals should contact their local agencies to see if they are eligible. Click here to find a listing of service providers by county. Over the last five years, Duke Energy shareholders, employees, customers and the Duke Energy Foundation have provided more than $19.7 million in bill assistance through Share the Light Fund, which has helped support more than 66,000 North Carolina households. Operation Fan Heat Relief As part of Share the Light Fund, Duke Energy provides $80,000 each year for North Carolina's Operation Fan Heat Relief. The program provides free fans to qualifying vulnerable older adults and adults with disabilities who are at risk for heat-related illnesses. The North Carolina Division of Aging and Adult Services distributes the funds to Agencies on Aging and local providers that distribute fans May 1-Oct. 31. Savings programs and assistance Duke Energy has more than a dozen energy assistance and bill-lowering tools, including: Usage Alerts that send customers a notification of how much electricity they are using and its cost so they can make adjustments before their billing period ends. that send customers a notification of how much electricity they are using and its cost so they can make adjustments before their billing period ends. Free Home Energy House Calls , where energy professionals assess a home for efficiency and provide homeowners with a toolkit of energy-saving devices. , where energy professionals assess a home for efficiency and provide homeowners with a toolkit of energy-saving devices. Budget Billing , which helps ease the impact of higher seasonal bills by leveling out monthly payments. , which helps ease the impact of higher seasonal bills by leveling out monthly payments. Installment payment plans for customers needing flexibility. To learn more about these programs, visit duke-energy.com/HereToHelp. 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 Expands Reseller Channel to Bring Pinnacle Series to a Wider European Market DUBUQUE, Iowa, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Eagle Point Software, a leader in innovative learning solutions for the architecture, engineering, construction, and manufacturing (AEC&M) industries, announced a reseller partnership with TASE Solutions, a premier technology solutions provider based in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. This partnership designates TASE Solutions as an official reseller of Eagle Point's Pinnacle Series solutions, further expanding their reach in Europe. "We are excited to welcome TASE Solutions into our family of resellers," said Steve Biver, COO of Eagle Point Software. "Their expertise in AEC technology solutions and deep understanding of the AEC industries align perfectly with our mission to empower organizations through innovative learning experiences. Eagle Point Software's Pinnacle Series delivers world-class learning tools and a robust library of content from leading AEC and Manufacturing industry providers to more than half a million professionals worldwide. Pinnacle Series' unmatched suite of knowledge-sharing and efficiency features is optimized for the way AEC and Manufacturing firms operate, and Eagle Point drives consistent innovation to meet industry demands and position partners ahead of the competition. TASE Solutions has established itself as a leading provider of cutting-edge technology solutions in Belgium, catering to a wide range of industries including construction, engineering, and manufacturing. With Eagle Point's Pinnacle Series, TASE Solutions can offer their clients a powerful catalyst for digital transformation and a foundation for continuous learning. "Partnering with Eagle Point Software allows us to provide our clients with the tools they need to enhance their skills, increase efficiency, and drive innovation within their organizations," said Emmanuel Petit, CEO & Founder at TASE Solutions. "We are committed to delivering top-tier solutions that make a tangible impact on our clients' success, and the Pinnacle Series is a perfect addition to our portfolio." Pinnacle Series is an AEC and manufacturing learning management system with a comprehensive, multimedia library of customizable development resources that enable long-term employee training, on-demand problem-solving, and digital transformation. About Eagle Point Pinnacle Series creator Eagle Point Software has helped AEC and manufacturing companies work more efficiently since 1983. Based in Dubuque, Iowa, the Pinnacle Series team is comprised of industry experts who deliver the leading development and productivity platform to more than 500,000 global AEC and manufacturing professionals. Pinnacle Series offers a robust library of on-demand software training content, plus knowledge capture and sharing capabilities that ultimately increase efficiency. www.eaglepoint.com; +1 563.556.8392 About TASE Solutions Since 1986, TASE Solutions has been a partner of the main players in the construction sector, offering IT solutions and training adapted to the professions in the sector. Based in Brussels and Luxembourg, TASE has a team of multidisciplinary professionals with a common objective: Offer the most adapted solutions and support our clients in their success. www.tase.be | www.tase.lu Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2001790/Eagle_Point_Software_Logo_1.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2479264/TASE_Solutions_Logo.jpg NEW YORK, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP announced today that Edward O'Callaghan, formerly the principal associate deputy attorney general and acting deputy attorney general at the Department of Justice (DOJ), has joined the firm as a partner and co-head of the Washington, D.C. office. He will chair Cahill's Congressional Investigations practice and serve as a partner in the White Collar Defense & Investigations practice. Edward O'Callaghan of Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP Edward's practice will focus on representing public companies, government contractors, financial institutions, and executives in congressional investigations, criminal prosecutions, and other government inquiries and investigations. Edward served with the DOJ from November 2017 through December 2019. There, he was the principal counselor to the Deputy Attorney General, DOJ's second highest official, and also a key, direct advisor to the Attorney General. In his role as Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General, Edward helped manage 113,000 attorneys, agents, investigators, and administrators, 93 U.S. attorney offices, and all DOJ law enforcement agencies. He was also one of DOJ's key congressional liaisons helping steer the Office of Legislative Affairs' strategic decisions, working regularly with various committees, leadership members, and staffers in the House and Senate. Edward also previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) and Co-Chief of the Terrorism & National Security Unit during the last three years of his tenure. "When facing high-stakes congressional hearings and sophisticated investigations, DOJ officials, including the Attorney General, turned toward Ed to help them prepare," said Herb Washer, Chair of Cahill's Executive Committee. "Very few can match his deeply impressive government service at the highest levels of the SDNY and DOJ as a whole, and his long career defending companies and executives in bet-the-company government investigations. When our clients face parallel investigations by DOJ, Congress, and federal and state regulators, every decision must be carefully calibrated to assess the impact across all inquiries. The insights Ed brings to clients as a result of his extensive government career and private sector experience are deeply valued, and I look forward to joining forces with him." "Having contributed to some of the government's most important investigations, including daily advice to the Attorney General, Ed is among the best lawyers in the country at helping clients quickly formulate strategies to navigate high stakes investigations effectively, whether they originate from Congress, DOJ, or other agencies," said David Januszewski, Chair of Cahill's Litigation practice. "In these critical situations, time is of the essence. Ed stands ready to lead tough internal investigations to help inform a client's options, anticipate and craft defenses, and guide strategic decisions, including whether to cooperate or push back." "DOJ continually sought out Ed for his extensive experience as a prosecutor of national security cases and sophisticated fraud and corruption schemes during his tenure at SDNY, leveraging that experience and perspective to help guide some of the Department's most difficult policy and prosecutorial decisions," said Anirudh Bansal, Chair of Cahill's White Collar Defense & Investigations practice, himself a former Southern District AUSA. "I know Ed well from our service together at SDNY, and he will be a powerful and unyielding asset to Cahill's current and future clients." Since returning to private practice in 2020, Edward has been a partner at an international law firm based in Washington, D.C. where he has represented some of the country's largest companies and their top executives in DOJ, congressional, and federal and state regulatory inquiries. He has prepared numerous CEOs and other top executives for congressional hearings and has represented two of the largest global financial institutions in high profile and high stakes congressional inquiries. Edward is currently counsel of record for companies facing some of the most significant DOJ inquiries during the current Administration. Edward is the second partner to join Cahill's litigation practice in two months, arriving shortly after Kiersten A. Fletcher who served as an AUSA in the SDNY, where she was a senior member of both the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force and the Money Laundering and Transnational Criminal Enterprises Unit. At Cahill, these prominent former prosecutors join Anirudh Bansal, who was co-head of the SDNY Complex Frauds Unit and currently serves as Chair of Cahill's White Collar Defense & Investigations practice, as well as Sam Enzer, who also came from the SDNY and currently co-leads Cahill's Digital Assets Practice and Emerging Technology practice. "I have worked with Herb, Anirudh, and Sam across different phases of my career, and I am familiar with Kiersten's incredible reputation and track record. I could not imagine a stronger team of talented and determined litigators who fight for clients and win," Edward said. "Very few law firms have been able to match Cahill's broad success in litigation, or its long-standing dominance in the capital markets. With these combined strengths, the firm is well placed to continue to thrive and provide highest caliber advice to top tier clients. I am eager to be a part of this storied firm and its deep team of accomplished lawyers." Edward received his B.A. from Georgetown University and his J.D. from New York University School of Law. He began his legal career as a law clerk to the late Hon. Kevin T. Duffy in the Southern District of New York. About Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP Cahill is among the most successful law firms in the world. With a history of legal innovation dating back to the firm's founding in 1919, Cahill is trusted by market-leading financial institutions, companies and their boards to manage significant corporate transactions, litigation and regulatory matters. Based in New York, Cahill also has offices in London, Washington, D.C. and Delaware. SOURCE Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP Startup harnesses the power of egg whites to land in the top 12% of America's fastest-growing companies CHICAGO, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Egglife Foods has harnessed the power of eggs to become one of the fastest-growing companies in America. Thanks to the success of its debut product - egglife egg white wraps - Egglife Foods has earned its place in the top 12% of the coveted Inc. 5000 list. The startup makes its Inc. 5000 debut at #563 overall and #22 among food and beverage companies, after growing from $4M to $40M in just four years. Egglife Foods has harnessed the power of eggs to land in the top 12% of the Inc. 5000 list with 796% growth in 3 years. Post this Egglife Foods debuts on the Inc. 5000 list of America's Fastest-Growing Companies, thanks to the success of its debut product - egglife egg white wraps. "It's amazing to see how far the power of egg protein and the innovation of our talented team has taken us in such a short period," said CEO David Kroll. "We've always believed that the groundbreaking wraps we developed would help change the way people eat and catapult our business. This accomplishment is a testament to everyone at Egglife Foods who poured their hearts into egglife egg white wraps, and wouldn't be possible without the consumers who make these simple, delicious, and nutritious wraps part of their daily meals and snacks." Powered by a team of industry veterans that boast a combined 200 years of CPG experience, Egglife Foods has thrived by pouring all of its energy into perfecting one product - egglife egg white wraps. These delicious tortilla-style wraps, made from 95% egg whites and no flour, are packed with 5g+ of protein and come in six delicious flavors. Each egglife egg white wrap is also low carb, gluten free, dairy free, zero sugar, and keto friendly. Thanks to the brand's dedicated fans, these wraps are now in over 14,000 doors in the United States, including distribution at Aldi, Whole Foods, Target, Walmart, Kroger, Sprouts, and more. About Egglife Foods As a leader in modern nutrition, Egglife Foods is reimagining the future of food by harnessing the power of eggs to transform traditionally flour-based foods. The company's debut product, egglife egg white wraps, are made using patented technology that converts liquid egg to solid matter, resulting in a low-carb, protein-packed tortilla-style wrap. egglife wraps are The Perfect Wrap for consumers looking for a delicious, versatile, low-carb, protein-packed tortilla alternative. The wraps are available in six flavors original, everything bagel, sweet cinnamon, southwest, italian, and garden salsa, and can be found in the refrigerated section in over 14,000 retail locations throughout the United States and Canada. More information is available at egglifefoods.com. SOURCE Egglife Foods WESTLAKE, Ohio, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Equity Trust Company, a pioneer in self-directed IRAs with 50 years of experience and $52 billion in assets under custody and administration, proudly unveils the Universal IRA, a groundbreaking account that simplifies the way Americans invest for retirement. This innovative solution allows you to invest in both traditional and alternative assets within a single IRA, setting a new standard for flexibility and growth potential in retirement planning. The Universal IRA is a powerful new offering for the modern investor that provides unprecedented portfolio diversification. Post this The Universal IRA offers a streamlined approach to investing in both traditional markets such as stocks and bonds, and alternative assets like real estate, cryptocurrency, and private equity. Designed to make modern portfolio diversification easier than ever, this new experience offers unmatched flexibility and simplicity in managing multiple asset types through a single login. Investors can now access a wide range of asset classes, including real estate, private equity, cryptocurrency, and more, alongside conventional investments like stocks and mutual funds in just a few clicks. This capability eliminates the cumbersome process of managing accounts at multiple IRA companies to achieve true diversification. Features of the Universal IRA: Comprehensive Investment Options: Easily find and invest in traditional assets and alternative investments within the same IRA. Easily find and invest in traditional assets and alternative investments within the same IRA. Enhanced Flexibility: Managing your retirement savings through a single custodian enables you to act quickly on new investment possibilities. Managing your retirement savings through a single custodian enables you to act quickly on new investment possibilities. Simplified Account Management: Equity Trust's advanced online platform makes investing and account management easy. The Universal IRA focuses on ease of use and control, providing uncomplicated access to all your investments from a single platform. Whether you're buying stocks or exploring alternative investment opportunities, the Universal IRA takes the tension out of the process so you can focus on growing your retirement savings. "After 50 years of helping investors reach their retirement goals, we are excited to introduce the Universal IRA, an offering designed to meet the evolving needs of today's investors," said George Sullivan, CEO of Equity Trust. "This revolutionary IRA combines the stability of traditional investments with the expansive possibilities of alternative assets, providing our clients with a powerful tool to build a more resilient and diversified retirement portfolio." The Universal IRA is available to both new and existing Equity Trust clients, offering an exceptional opportunity to modernize retirement investing and achieve long-term financial success. Ready to experience a new way of investing? Discover more about the Universal IRA at www.trustetc.com/universal-ira. About Equity Trust Company Equity Trust Company is a leading self-directed IRA custodian with a 50-year legacy of offering innovative retirement solutions. It evolved from a predecessor brokerage firm founded in 1974 to a directed custodian with $52 billion in assets under custody and administration, as of June 1, 2024. Equity Trust empowers investors to take control of their retirement accounts with unparalleled flexibility and experience. For more information, visit trustetc.com. Media Contact: Jesse Briley Senior Manager, Marketing Engagement Equity Trust Company [email protected] SOURCE Equity Trust Company Industry Experts and Business Leaders Converge to Advance Fleet Safety, Efficiency and Sustainability at Semi-Annual Event SAN DIEGO, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- EROAD, a global leader in fleet performance management, hosted thousands of industry experts, business and political leaders at its most recent global fleet management conference on Aug. 7, near Auckland, NZ. With sessions focused on top industry concerns, the economy, and infrastructure, in addition to a 100,000 square foot exhibition space showcasing the latest innovations in technologies for transportation, EROAD's Fleet Day brought experts together to discuss trends and opportunities and drive meaningful change to positively influence fleet management. Fleet Day's speaker lineup featured more than 15 industry and business experts, including the former Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Sir John Key, who led a session focused on management in a changing economic environment. New Zealand auto racing legend Greg Murphy advised on how to reduce risk through driver training. Technological maturity of fleets and the future of global supply chain were among other areas of focus. The event featured a vehicle accident simulation, reinforcing the realities that fleet operators and drivers are faced with daily. Additionally, key discussions focused on the evolving EV market and strategies for businesses of all sizes to successfully reduce vehicle emissions. "Fleet Day has grown from a small regional event, to one of the leading fleet management events in the world," said David Kenneson, Co-CEO of EROAD. "Providing a platform for the industry to build valuable relationships, share best practices, and collectively contribute to advancing our shared goals of safety, efficiency, and sustainability." EROAD Co-CEO Mark Heine noted how the event offers its attendees the opportunity to gain valuable insights from various groups. "By bringing together diverse perspectives from different sectors of the transportation, economic and safety industries, we are fostering a vibrant community of thought leadership in global fleet management. These collaborative discussions generate innovative ideas to help EROAD develop cutting-edge solutions for customers around the world," Heine added. "At EROAD, we're committed to helping businesses run safer, greener, more productive fleets. The decisions made by those in attendance at Fleet Day have the potential to significantly influence the future of transportation management. Coming together enables us to learn from one another and leverage that collective experience so we can get there faster," concluded Kenneson. About EROAD EROAD provides fleet management solutions to help businesses make real-time decisions from real-time data, so they can run safer, greener, more productive businesses. EROAD software integrates vehicle data captured from its hardware, IoT devices, sensors, and cameras into a single interface, providing accurate, reliable data served up via simple, intuitive apps. By enabling data-driven fleet management practices, EROAD helps businesses across North America, Australia, and New Zealand to improve safety, ensure compliance, reduce costs, and lessen impact on the environment. Visit eroad.com for more. SOURCE EROAD BANGALORE, India, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- EV Traction Inverter Market is Segmented by Type (Low Voltage (24 to 144V), aHigh Voltage (144 to 800V)), by Application (Passenger Car, Commercial Vehicle, Low Speed Vehicle): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2024-2030. The Global EV Traction Inverter Market was valued at USD 15290 Million in 2023 and is anticipated to reach USD 94760 Million by 2030, witnessing a CAGR of 26.0% during the forecast period 2024-2030. Get Free Sample @ https://reports.valuates.com/request/sample/QYRE-Auto-12P13050/Global_EV_Traction_Inverter_Market Major Factors Driving the Growth of EV Traction Inverter Market: The global demand for electric cars (EVs) is fueling the growth of the EV Traction Inverter market, as customers and governments place a greater emphasis on environmental responsibility and lower emissions. Essential parts of electric vehicles (EVs) are traction inverters, which transform DC power from the battery into AC power to run the electric motor. Power electronics technological developments like the creation of silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors have greatly increased inverter performance and efficiency, which has further accelerated market expansion. The need for traction inverters is also anticipated to rise in the upcoming years due to rising EV infrastructure investments and EV manufacturers' expanding manufacturing capabilities. View Full Report @ https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-12P13050/global-ev-traction-inverter TRENDS INFLUENCING THE GROWTH OF THE EV TRACTION INVERTER MARKET: For passenger electric cars (EVs) to operate effectively and efficiently, high voltage traction inverters are essential. These inverters provide high power output and improved vehicle performance by converting the direct current (DC) from the battery into alternating current (AC), which powers the electric motor. It is anticipated that high voltage traction inverters will become more common as customer demand for electric vehicles (EVs) with greater acceleration and longer range develops. The necessity for effective energy conversion, which directly affects the vehicle's range and overall driving experience, is what's driving this need. The EV traction inverter market is developing due in large part to the increasing demand for high-performance EVs. In the EV industry, low voltage traction inverters are becoming more and more crucial, particularly for smaller electric cars and hybrid models. Because these inverters are made to withstand lower power levels, light-duty applications and affordable EV solutions can benefit from their use. Low voltage traction inverters are becoming more and more in demand as urban mobility options like electric scooters and small electric automobiles become more popular. They are a desirable alternative for producers looking to create reasonably priced EVs due to their capacity to offer effective power conversion at reduced costs. The market for EV traction inverters is expanding generally, and this trend is substantially boosting that growth. One of the main factors propelling the market's expansion is the usage of EV traction inverters in commercial vehicles, including delivery vans, trucks, and buses. Strong and dependable power systems are necessary for commercial trucks to manage large loads and extended operating hours. By offering improved performance and effective power conversion, EV traction inverters satisfy these requirements. The transition to electric powertrains is happening faster because of the commercial transportation sector's effort to cut carbon emissions and increase fuel economy. The need for high-performance EV traction inverters is anticipated to soar as more logistics and transportation firms switch to electric fleets, propelling market expansion. The market for EV traction inverters is expanding due in large part to the development of EV charging infrastructure. A strong and extensive network of charging stations reduces range anxiety in electric car users and encourages the uptake of EVs. Public charging networks and fast-charging stations are being developed with significant financial support from both public and commercial sectors. The need for EV traction inverters is expected to rise as more people contemplate buying EVs as charging stations become more widely available. The market is being driven by this expanding infrastructural support, which is necessary for electric vehicles to operate well. The market for EV traction inverters is expanding as a result of economies of scale and declining production costs. Manufacturers are seeing increased economies of scale as the amount of electric cars produced rises, which lowers the cost of EV components like traction inverters. Reduced costs are also a result of better manufacturing methods and technological developments. Customers benefit from these cost reductions, which raise the affordability and accessibility of electric automobiles. As EV traction inverters become more affordable, more car sectors should be able to use them, which is predicted to drive market expansion. Own It Today Buy Now! https://reports.valuates.com/api/directpaytoken?rcode=QYRE-Auto-12P13050&lic=single-user EV TRACTION INVERTER MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS: The substantial uptake of electric cars in the US and Canada is the main factor propelling the growth of the EV traction inverter market in North America. Strong governmental assistance for EV adoption is provided to the area, including tax breaks and subsidies. Furthermore, the market is expanding because of the existence of significant EV manufacturers like GM and Tesla, who are extensively investing in cutting-edge traction inverter technology. The market is further supported by North America's sophisticated charging infrastructure and rising customer awareness of environmental sustainability. The need to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and carbon emissions at the regional level is another major reason propelling the EV traction inverter market's growth. Purchase Regional Report @ https://reports.valuates.com/request/regional/QYRE-Auto-12P13050/Global_EV_Traction_Inverter_Market_Research_Report_2023 Key Companies: Bosch Tesla ZF BYD BorgWarner Inovance Automotive Zapi Curtis UAES Nidec MAHLE Broad Ocean Danfoss Tianjin Santroll Schaeffler ShenZhen V&T Technologies JEE Dana TM4 MEGMEET Denso Hitachi Astemo Purchase Chapters @ https://reports.valuates.com/request/chaptercost/QYRE-Auto-12P13050/Global_EV_Traction_Inverter_Market_Research_Report_2023 SUBSCRIPTION We have introduced a tailor-made subscription for our customers. Please leave a note in the Comment Section to know about our subscription plans. DISCOVER MORE INSIGHTS: EXPLORE SIMILAR REPORTS! - EV Traction Inverters and Motors Market - NEV Traction Inverter market was valued at USD 15290 Million in 2023 and is anticipated to reach USD 94760 Million by 2030, witnessing a CAGR of 26.0% during the forecast period 2024-2030. - Electric Vehicle Traction Motor Inverter Market - Electric Vehicle Traction Motor Core Market - EV-traction Batteries market was valued at USD 42870 Million in 2023 and is anticipated to reach USD 52920 Million by 2030, witnessing a CAGR of 3.1% during the forecast period 2024-2030. - The power inverter market size was valued at USD 68.2 billion in 2021, and power inverter industry is estimated to reach USD 112.7 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 5.2% from 2022 to 2031. - Automotive Traction Motor Core market was valued at USD 2591.4 Million in 2023 and is anticipated to reach USD 8447.8 Million by 2030, witnessing a CAGR of 17.1% during the forecast period 2024-2030. - Electric Vehicle Market - Electric Traction Power Supply System Market - AC Traction Motor Market - Traction Converter Market revenue was USD 2349.4 Million in 2022 and is forecast to a readjusted size of USD 2916.6 Million by 2029 with a CAGR of 3.1% during the forecast period (2023-2029). - EV Traction Motor Control Unit market was valued at USD 15290 Million in 2023 and is anticipated to reach USD 94760 Million by 2030, witnessing a CAGR of 26.0% during the forecast period 2024-2030. - New Energy Vehicle Traction Motor Cores market was valued at USD 2591 Million in 2023 and is anticipated to reach USD 8447.6 Million by 2030, witnessing a CAGR of 17.1% during the forecast period 2024-2030. - EV & HEV Traction Motor Cores market was valued at USD 2591 Million in 2023 and is anticipated to reach USD 8952.4 Million by 2030, witnessing a CAGR of 17.0% during the forecast period 2024-2030. - Electric Vehicle Motor Market - Electric Motor Core market is projected to reach USD 23420 Million by 2030 from an estimated USD 15470 Million in 2024, at a CAGR of 7.2% during 2024 and 2030. - EV-traction Batteries market was valued at USD 42870 Million in 2023 and is anticipated to reach USD 52920 Million by 2030, witnessing a CAGR of 3.1% during the forecast period 2024-2030. - Electric Car Market - Traction Motor Core market is projected to reach USD 8447.8 Million by 2030 from an estimated USD 3273.1 Million in 2024, at a CAGR of 17.1% during 2024 and 2030. - Locomotive Traction Motors market is projected to reach USD 3612.8 Million in 2029, increasing from USD 2159.3 Million in 2022, with the CAGR of 7.6% during the period of 2023 to 2029. - Railway Traction Motor Market - Synchronous Traction Motor Market - Traction Motor for Railway Market - Rail Transit Traction Motor Market - Electric Bike Market - Electric Scooter and Motorcycle market was valued at USD 5682.6 Million in 2023 and is anticipated to reach USD 8169.5 Million by 2030, witnessing a CAGR of 5.4% during the forecast period 2024-2030. - Electric Dirt Bike market was valued at USD 2.66 Billion in 2023 and is anticipated to reach USD 9.26 Billion by 2030, witnessing a CAGR of 19.75% during the forecast period 2024-2030. - Micromobility Market - Electric Motorcycle market is projected to grow from USD 572 Million in 2024 to USD 1017 Million by 2030, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10.1% during the forecast period. 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Valuates Reports [email protected] For U.S. Toll-Free Call 1-(315)-215-3225 WhatsApp: +91-9945648335 Website: https://reports.valuates.com Blog: https://valuatestrends.blogspot.com/ Pinterest: https://in.pinterest.com/valuatesreports/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/valuatesreports Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/valuatesreports/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@valuatesreports6753 https://www.facebook.com/valuateskorean https://www.facebook.com/valuatesspanish https://www.facebook.com/valuatesjapanese https://valuatesreportspanish.blogspot.com/ https://valuateskorean.blogspot.com/ https://valuatesgerman.blogspot.com/ https://valuatesreportjapanese.blogspot.com/ Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1082232/Valuates_Reports_Logo.jpg SOURCE Valuates Reports VICKSBURG, Miss., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite their success as a company, Keppel Letourneau USA, INC. has made the decision to permanently close the doors of its Seatrium LeTourneau plant in Vicksburg, Mississippi. As a result, the globally renowned Harris Auctions, based out of Houston, TX, will be conducting a two-day live webcast auction where all of the equipment can be purchased and shipped internationally. This hotly anticipated industrial machinery auction is set to begin August 14 at 10 a.m. CT with a full shipyard closeout. Available items for bidding on Day #1 include machine tools, cutting systems, tons of welding equipment, a Manitowoc 888 crawler , bridge & jib cranes, trucks, a manlift and more. Day #2 of the timed auction will see Harris Auctions accepting bids on surplus Timken bearings, air tools, winches, electrical supplies and systems, 20+ containers and portable offices, job boxes and other items. "Our online liquidation of Seatrium LeTourneau USA is one that all plant managers should save on their calendars," states Auctioneer Jean Harris, Jr. (TX License # 18210). "Being in business for over 40 years, we've garnered a loyal following of industry professionals who know our auctions are the best chance to snatch up incredible equipment at unbeatable prices." For those in the industry, this is a golden opportunity that should not be missed. To view up-close demonstrations of major pieces of machinery being auctioned, be sure to view the Harris Auctions Youtube page . Check out a complete list of inventory being auctioned at the two-day event from August 14-15, and register at BidSpotter or ProxiBid to prepare for bidding. Pre-auction offers are being considered for major assets, and everyone is welcome to call Harris Auctions directly at 713-462-5800 for more details. About Harris Auctions Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Harris Machine Tools, Inc. quickly turned into an international leader in the used metalworking marketplace. More recently discovering a way to better serve its customers, the family business underwent a transformation that branched out from the roots of their historical dealership. Becoming surplus asset management experts, Harris Auctions was formed. Their manufacturing equipment auctions, either online or on-site, are held multiple times each month and reach a vast audience of industry bidders from virtually everywhere across the globe. Harris Auctions | 24 Greenway Plaza, Ste 624 | Houston, TX 77046 | 713-462-5800 SOURCE Harris Auctions From August 14-19, the city hosts the Petronio Alvarez Music Festival, one of Latin America's most significant celebrations of Afro-heritage. As the year unfolds, Cali will also be the stage for global sustainability discussions at COP16 in October, followed by the Cali Fair in December. ATLANTA, Aug. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Colombia has become the top destination for U.S. visitors in South America, and for good reason. The "Country of Beauty's" commitment to showcasing its 10% share of the planet's biodiversity and rich cultural diversity has earned it several international tourism awards, including the recent title of Best Afro Tourist Destination in the World at the World Travel Market (WTM). Cali, Colombian Pacific, photo credit ProColombia. "Our country's beauty spans six regions, and as tourism continues to grow to unprecedented levels, destinations like Cali are key attractions. Known for its cultural heritage and festivals like the Petronio Alvarez and the Cali Fair, which occurs in December, this is a place where every beat tells a story," said Carmen Caballero, President of ProColombia, the country's promotion agency. According to Ricardo Berris, Founder & CEO of MI Group USA and Chairman, Global Opportunities Committee of the Atlanta Black Chambers, Cali is the heart of Colombia's Afro community. "There's nothing like being with African brothers and sisters, manifesting our rich culture that you'll only see at the Petronio Alvarez Festival," he said. This year's festival expands to new locations like the River's Boulevard. Over 3,500 artists will showcase traditional instruments, Pacific cuisine, and handcrafted goods. Expected to attract over 500,000 visitors, the festival celebrates culture and boosts the local economy. "Afro-Colombian communities on the Pacific coast embody the principle that 'nature is culture, culture is conservation.' Their stewardship is not just a local treasure but a global model for sustainability. This Festival provides the perfect stage to showcase these traditions, celebrating their invaluable contributions to global conservation efforts with flair and vibrancy", said Daniel Garcia-Pena, Ambassador of Colombia to the US. Easily accessible from North America, with direct and connecting flights as short as three to six hours, Colombia offers quite the adventure. As the Petronio Alvarez Festival kicks off, and as the city prepares to host events like the COP16 and the Cali Fair, now is the time to experience the magic of Colombia a country redefining beauty through its commitment to cultural and environmental preservation. Learn more at Colombia.travel/en. SOURCE PROCOLOMBIA Both Physicians will Join FCS in the Fall of 2024 FORT MYERS, Fla., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- For more than forty years, Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute, LLC (FCS) has been a staple in Southwest Florida, serving cancer patients with compassion and personalized care, prioritizing innovative therapies and advanced treatments. As the need for high-quality oncology care has grown, FCS has broadened its footprint throughout Florida offering world-class community oncology care in nearly 100 locations. This Fall, FCS will welcome two new medical oncologists, Yasir Y. Khan, MD and Gregor A. Rodriguez, MD, to support the rapid growth of new patients in the Southwestern Florida market. This Fall, FCS will welcome two new medical oncologists, Yasir Y. Khan, MD and Gregor A. Rodriguez, MD, to support the rapid growth of new patients in the Southwestern Florida market. Both physicians will see patients at the following FCS locations: Fort Myers Cancer Center (Gladiolus) (8260 Gladiolus Drive, Fort Myers, Florida 33908), Cape Coral Cancer Center (North Fort Myers) (1030 Commerce Creek Blvd., Cape Coral, Florida 33909), Cape Coral Cay West (1708 Cape Coral Parkway W, Ste 10, Cape Coral, FL 33914), Fort Myers Colonial (8981 Colonial Center Dr, Fort Myers, FL 33905) and Estero locations (8440 Murano Del Lago Dr, Estero, FL 34135). "We are eagerly anticipating both Dr. Khan and Dr. Rodriguez joining our practice in one of our highest-growing markets," remarked FCS President & Managing Physician Lucio N. Gordan, MD. "They bring fresh skills and perspectives, and a strong dedication to innovation in oncology care." Dr. Khan received his medical degree from Dow Medical College in Karachi City, Pakistan. He conducted his residency in internal medicine in Jefferson Abington Hospital in Abington, Pennsylvania and completed his fellowship in hematology and oncology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dr. Rodriguez received his medical degree from The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Miami, Florida, where he also completed a residency in internal medicine. Dr. Rodriguez was also a hematology and oncology fellow at the University of Florida at UF Health Shands in Gainesville, Florida. The physician-owned, physician-led practice is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, it's first office opening in Fort Myers. Soon thereafter, the need for community oncology across the state became apparent, leading to nearly 100 locations in Florida, today, nine of which are in Lee and Collier Counties. In its present state, FCS is recognized globally for its endeavors in medical oncology and hematology research, providing patients with access to more clinical trials than any independent oncology provider in Florida. The majority of drugs approved recently by the FDA were trial with participation of FCS, prior to approval. At the start of the year, FCS announced the formation of its management services organization, Core Ventures and has since reported financial milestone success in its first months of establishment. In its 2023 Annual Report, FCS shares that it sees over 90,700 new patients each year. Repeatedly, FCS is recognized for its patient experience, ranking higher than the industry standard and several local health care systems. "In a steadily growing oncology market like Southwest Florida, the importance of supporting patients cannot be overstatedeach new treatment and advancement must be paired with compassionate care, empowering patients to navigate their journey with strength and hope," said FCS Chief Executive Officer Nathan H. Walcker. When Drs. Khan and Rodgriuez are welcomed to FCS later this Fall, they will join the more than 250 FCS physicians providing promising treatments close to home to achieve optimal clinical outcomes for patients. To learn more about FCS, visit: FLCancer.com. About Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute, LLC: (FLCancer.com) Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute (FCS) offers patients access to more clinical trials than any private oncology practice in Florida. The majority of new cancer drugs recently approved for use in the U.S. were studied in clinical trials with FCS participation.* Recognized for our research, FCS is a recipient of the national Clinical Trials Participation Award presented by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). FCS physicians, trained in prestigious medical schools and research institutes, are consistently ranked nationally as Top Doctors by U.S. News & World Report. Celebrating its 40th year in 2024, FCS has built a national reputation for excellence that is reflected in exceptional and compassionate patient care, driven by innovative clinical research, cutting-edge technologies and advanced treatments, including targeted therapies genomic-based treatment and immunotherapy. Our highest values are embodied by our outstanding team of highly trained and dedicated physicians, clinicians and staff. *Prior to approval SOURCE Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute The private aviation solutions company earns honors across national and regional top-ranking lists. TAMPA, Fla., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Inc. reveals today that FlyUSA, a premier on-demand jet charter and private aviation solutions provider, ranks #45 on the 2024 Inc. 5000 list, its annual list of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the United States. Of the 5,000 companies, FlyUSA is also the 9th fastest growing in Florida and 3rd fastest in the Travel and Hospitality Industry. These accolades underscore FlyUSA's unwavering commitment to excellence, innovation and customer satisfaction. FlyUSA, an Inc. 5000 Company, provides seamless, end-to-end private aviation solutions to clients across the United States. This recognition comes alongside another significant achievement: securing the 5th spot on the Tampa Bay Business Journal's Fast 50 list, which highlights the fastest-growing companies in the Tampa Bay region. "We are honored to be recognized nationally and regionally for our success and dedication to excellence," said Barry Shevlin, Co-Founder and CEO of FlyUSA. "Our exceptional clients and employees have made these distinguished accomplishments possible, and we proudly share these accolades with them as we continue to bring the highest standards to the private aviation industry." This marks Shevlin's 12th year leading a company on the Inc. 5000 list. Prior to co-founding FlyUSA, Shevlin was the CEO of Vology, an IT services company he founded in Florida in 2002. Inc. assesses companies on its Inc. 5000 list based on percentage revenue growth from 2020 to 2023. The Tampa Bay Business Journal's Fast 50 list, on the other hand, is based on revenue growth from 2021 to 2023. Both recognitions highlight companies that have successfully navigated the challenges of an uncertain economy. FlyUSA has achieved a remarkable 480.71% increase in revenue from 2021 to 2023. Since its inception in 2020, the company has expanded its services to include global private flight charters, aircraft acquisitions and management, co-ownership opportunities, and the newly launched Ascend Club membership program. About FlyUSA, Inc.: FlyUSA, an Inc. 5000 Company, provides seamless, end-to-end private aviation solutions to clients across the United States. With a growing fleet of 20 managed aircraft and over 1,000 clients and members since its inception, FlyUSA is delivering on its mission to connect people and create opportunities. FlyUSA was founded by pilots centered around a culture of safety and the belief that private aviation should be easy. The company offers on-demand charters, the Ascend Club membership program, co-ownership programs, aircraft acquisitions and management services. Always intentional with a high standard of excellence, private aviation is elevated when traveling with FlyUSA. Sky's the limit. For more information, visit FlyUSA.com. SOURCE FlyUSA The pioneering estate winery sets the standard for winemaking excellence in Santa Ynez Valley under new female leadership. SANTA YNEZ VALLEY, Calif., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Folded Hills Winery has announced important personnel changes to its leadership team, including the return of its founding winemaker Angela Osborne to lead cellar operations starting August 2024. Additionally, Folded Hills' co-owner Kim Busch will resume an active role in the overall management of the business. Together, the predominantly female-led team will further Folded Hills' commitment to crafting small-production Rhone-style wines from their estate vineyards in the Santa Ynez Valley. Already certified organic, the team has also adopted biodynamic principles. Post this From left: Angela Osborne (Winemaker), Rachelle Hauck (Director of Finance), Kim Busch (Co-Owner), Kylie Enholm (Director of Operations) From the beginning, Folded Hills has focused on Rhone varietiesGrenache, Syrah, Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, and Clairette Blanche. After establishing the vineyard in 2014, owners Kim and Andrew Busch hired Osborne in 2015, a position she held through 2020. "When Angela initially joined Folded Hills, we were immediately captivated by her intuitive, hands-off approach to winemaking. Her deep connection with the earth, its natural rhythms, and the grapes is truly profound," remarks Busch. "We're confident this renewed partnership will produce wines that beautifully showcase the harmony between the land and Angela's distinctive vision." At the time, New Zealand-born Osborne had already established a stellar reputation in California through her own label, A Tribute to Grace, for her unique style: authentic expressions of Grenache characterized by high acidity and modest alcohol levels. She looks forward to bringing her minimalist approach and love for Grenache to Folded Hills, collaborating with esteemed viticulturist Lino Bozzano to craft expressive wines. "I am honored to be returning to the Folded Hills family. I have missed this incredible site and its profound coastal influence," says Osborne. "The estate remains one of the most beautiful California vineyards I have worked with and I am beyond grateful to have this opportunity not once but twice." Under Busch and Osborne's leadership, Folded Hills will continue to innovate and improve their meticulous vineyard practices and winemaking techniques. Already certified organic, the team has also adopted biodynamic principles with the aim of working cohesively with the land to promote wine quality and set an example for environmental stewardship. Folded Hills is also poised for strategic growth in distribution, focusing on increasing availability to top accounts in California and across the U.S.A. In anticipation of Osborne's forthcoming 2024 vintage, Folded Hills has released the Angela Osborne x Folded Hills Library Wine collection, featuring the 2016-2019 vintages made during Osborne's original tenure. This limited-time offering showcases the portfolio's exceptional aging potential and the winemaker's artistry. For media inquiries or requests for interviews, please contact Ella Winje of O'Donnell Lane at 916-599-9415 or [email protected] . About Folded Hills Located in the Santa Ynez Valley just four miles from the Pacific Ocean, Folded Hills was founded by Kim and Andrew Busch, scion of the Anheuser Busch family, as a testament to family legacy and artisanal estate winemaking. The family relocated from their home in St. Louis, MO to what is now a 600-acre working ranch, vineyard, and farmstead. Recognizing the abundant potential of their unique site for grape growing, Kim and Andrew began planting vines in 2014, establishing the southernmost vineyard of the central coast in the Santa Ynez AVA. Since then, they have remained deeply committed to land stewardshipcertified organic since 2020and ensuring that each bottle encapsulates its distinct Santa Barbara County terroir. For more information visit foldedhills.com and @foldedhills on Instagram. Media contact: Ella Winje, O'Donnell Lane [email protected] +1-916-599-9415 SOURCE Folded Hills Release of oi Da Cabernet Sauvignon is the Culmination of a 30-year Dream NAPA, Calif., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cuong Pham, the visionary founder of the purest and most widely used Vietnamese fish sauce in the world, Red Boat Fish Sauce, announced that he and his family are launching a new Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon called oi Da (pronounced Doy Da). Cuong Pham, founder of acclaimed Red Boat Fish Sauce, launches oi Da Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Post this The inaugural release of oi Da Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Photo credit: Bob McClenahan The initial release of oi Da is a limited production 2022 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, crafted from Oakville and Rutherford fruit and retails for $125 per bottle. Only 160 cases were made. The wine is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and will be available for purchase online at Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon - Limited Production (doidawine.com) and in select wine shops. The release of the wine represents not only a new pursuit, but the realization of dream that began in the 1990s when Cuong and his wife, Ann, lived in the Napa Valley and fell in love with the region, especially Cabernet Sauvignon. "When I first arrived in Napa Valley, I knew that everything about it was special the beauty, the weather, and especially the wines," Cuong said. "I always wanted to create something that could be shared with friends and family and be enjoyed with the food I love. Not many people think of Cabernet Sauvignon and Vietnamese food, but it absolutely works." Cuong is no stranger to creating something new. He built Red Boat Fish Sauce when he realized his family could not recreate the flavors of home in the dishes they tried to make in America. On a visit to Vietnam for business, he toured local factories and tasted flavors he had not tasted in over 20 years. He took a sample home to his mom. She took one whiff and cried. As Red Boat Fish Sauce continued to grow and expand, Cuong couldn't shake the dream of producing a wine. In early 2021, that came true when Cuong and Ann purchased a home on a rare 19-acre hillside parcel on Soda Canyon Road in Napa Valley. The site, just south of the Stags Leap District, has sweeping views of the Napa Valley and volcanic soils that are perfect for exceptional Cabernet Sauvignon and other Bordeaux varietals. Upon seeing the site and its rocky soils, oi Da, which means Rocky Hill in Vietnamese, was born. According to Cuong, fish sauce and wine have a lot in common. "The best of both products can only be made in a specific place a true sense of terroir," Cuong said. "You can't cut corners with either. Both are fermented and aged in barrels and require great care and minimal intervention throughout the process. And the most expensive ingredient, but the most critical to overall quality, is time." The 9-acre estate vineyard was planted in April 2024 with several clones of Cabernet Sauvignon as well as a small amount of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. The wine was made by Nova Cadamatre, MW, who worked with Cuong on the project since its inception. Nova is the first female winemaker to achieve the Master of Wine in the U.S. and was a Top 40 under 40 recipient from Wine Enthusiast Magazine. She has a long, acclaimed pedigree from making wine at top wineries in Napa Valley and Sonoma. SOURCE oi Da PLANO, Texas, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CHC today announced that the Freestone Medical Center (FMC) Board of Directors has selected Melissa Wilson as FMC's next Chief Executive Officer. Wilson will begin her new role August 19, 2024, and her first day at the hospital will be August 21, 2024. She succeeds John Yeary, who is retiring after serving as FMC's CEO for six years. Freestone Medical Center Logo "We are thrilled to welcome Melissa Wilson to Freestone Medical Center," said George Robinson, president, FMC Board of Directors. "Melissa is a proven leader with a deep understanding of rural healthcare. Her strategic vision, operational expertise, and commitment to patient-centered care make her our ideal next CEO to lead FMC into the future." Wilson brings over 24 years of healthcare experience to FMC, including more than 14 years as a CEO, Administrator, and COO in non-profit rural healthcare, government, and deployed settings. Most recently, she served as CEO for Concho County Hospital in Eden, Texas, and prior, as Chief Operating Officer for Dimmit Regional Hospital, Carrizo Springs, Texas, which was in partnership with Methodist Healthcare System-San Antonio. Wilson has a strong track record of improving operational efficiency, enhancing patient care, and driving growth in healthcare organizations. Wilson is also a retired Major from the United States Air Force Medical Service Corps, where she honed her skills in strategic planning, financial management, and regulatory compliance. "I am honored to have been chosen to lead Freestone Medical Center," said Melissa Wilson, incoming CEO. "The hospital has a long history of providing high-quality care to the community, and I am committed to building on its legacy. I look forward to working with the talented team at FMC to ensure that we continue to meet the evolving healthcare needs of our patients." Wilson is a current doctoral student of Industrial and Organizational Psychology at Keiser University. She holds a Master of Science, Business Organizational Management from the University of LaVerne, La Verne, CA, and a BS in Psychology from Wright State University, Dayton, OH. Wilson's appointment comes at a time of transition for FMC. Yeary, who has served as CEO since 2018, is retiring after a distinguished 42-year career in healthcare. Under Yeary's leadership, FMC has achieved significant milestones, some of which include strengthening board and physician relationships; expanding FMC's services through new clinics in the Buffalo and Teague communities; and supporting technological advancements such as transition of the hospital's IT platform to the cloud, improving efficiency and security. "We are grateful for John's many contributions to Freestone Medical Center," said Robinson. "He has been a tireless advocate for our patients and our community. We wish him all the best in his retirement." About Community Hospital Corporation HELP WHERE HOSPITALS NEED IT Community Hospital Corporation owns, manages and consults with hospitals through CHC Hospitals, CHC Consulting and CHC ContinueCARE. Freestone Medical Center is managed by CHC. Visit http://chc.com for more information. About Freestone Medical Center Freestone Medical Center (FMC), a 37-bed acute care facility, has served Freestone County and surrounding communities for more than 75 years. The hospital operates as a nonprofit hospital and is managed by Community Hospital Corporation. Patients benefit from the latest medical technology along with comprehensive healthcare from highly skilled physicians, nurses and professional staff. Medical services include a 24-hour emergency department designated as a level IV trauma center, lab, imaging, inpatient care and cardiopulmonary rehabilitation. The Freestone Health Clinics provide primary care services for all ages. Visit https://freestonemc.com/ for more information. CONTACT: Anne Block 972-943-6470 [email protected] SOURCE Community Hospital Corporation This is The Brand's Fifth Location in The Lonestar State AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Blingle!, the premier outdoor lighting franchise, announced today the signing of its newest franchise location in Austin, which is owned and operated by friends Chelsea Turner and Kelli Katzman. With the heart of operations based out of Liberty Hill, the new location will serve the greater north Austin area as far west as Bertram over east to Taylor, and as far south as Manor with reach into north Austin. After moving to Austin at two separate times, Turner and Katzman had no clue in 2012 when they met while working at the same pharmaceutical company just how strong their friendship would be. Turner, originally from Missouri, was ready to ditch those frigid Midwest winters and randomly placed her finger on a map, and now 14 years later, she is bringing her own business to Austin. Katzman on the other hand, an Ankeny, Iowa native, graduated from the University of Iowa, and went to visit a friend in Austin for a week, and before she knew it, was an Austin resident herself. Katzman and Turner covered the same territory in pharmaceutical sales and realized how well they complemented each other to build success. Before doing pharmaceutical sales, Turner worked in corporate sales and started her own door-hanging business. Katzman started her career in sales for a copier business followed by manufacturer and pharmaceutical sales before being recruited by Johnson & Johson (J&J) for medical device sales. When the opportunity arose with an opening on the team at J&J, Katzman knew just who the perfect person was for the job, and she brought Turner over. After over a decade of working together in pharmaceutical and medical device sales, Turner and Katzman were ready to leave corporate America. Knowing how well they work together, and how their strengths play off each other, they decided to partner up to open a business. They knew they wanted to bring something to their beloved community of Liberty Hill, but at first, did not know what that business would be. After diligently doing research, the duo found Blingle!. They immediately put their sales hats on and saw the potential for growth, making the decision an easy one. "We are excited about bringing this service to our community," said Turner. "This brand has a design aspect that is fun and creative that allows for us to be personable. This just made sense for us." "We want to build this brand in Central Texas," added Katzman. "Our goal is not only to provide great products and services to our customers, but also be able to give back to our community in various ways." Blingle! of Central Texas is anticipated to open in mid-September of this year. "We are excited to have Kelli and Chelsea join the Blingle! family," Josh Skolnick, Founder of HorsePower Brands said. "To be able to bring the premier products and service that we have to offer to the Austin community is a great opportunity." To learn more about Blingle! please visit: blingle.com. For more information about franchising opportunities, please visit: blingle.com/franchising and horsepowerbrands.com. ABOUT BLINGLE! Founded in Omaha, Neb. in 2014, Blingle!, a part of HorsePower Brands, specializes in providing year-round premium lighting services for homes, businesses and events. Blingle!'s services cover all outdoor lighting needs, including landscape, permanent, holiday, patio, event, and commercial lighting. As the premier lighting service, Blingle! uses state-of-the-art designs and products to transform outdoor spaces and create memorable illuminations with spectacular lighting. Blingle! is Ida Dark Sky approved, and accredited by the Better Business Bureau and The Institute of Wedding and Event Design. Additionally, Blingle! was named an Elite Service and Screened and Approved by HomeAdvisor. To learn more about Blingle! and HorsePower Brands, please visit https://www.blingle.com/ or https://horsepowerbrands.com/. SOURCE HorsePower Brands Participants will have the chance to earn college credits and multiple ServiceNow certifications through intensive coursework led by Fusion3 team HOUSTON, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Fusion3 Consulting, a leading technology and implementation partner within the ServiceNow ecosystem , is teaming up with St. Michael's Learning Academy (SMLA), a cutting-edge private, vocational school to offer a unique ServiceNow Certification Program, focusing on essential and sought-after career and technical skills. Through this pilot initiative, students will be able to earn college credit, experiential learning opportunities, and multiple certifications to boost their professional prospects. SMLA and Fusion3 Consulting logos. "Training is the bridge between education and real-world application. Our partnership with F3, SMLA, and Brazosport Community College combines academic excellence with industry-specific training, creating a comprehensive workforce development program. This collaboration ensures that students not only gain knowledge but also acquire the specialized skills necessary to thrive in today's competitive job market," said Christine Aboud, President and Co-Founder of SMLA. "Together, we're setting a new standard for preparing individuals to excel in the ServiceNow industry and beyond." The pilot program will offer four different virtual certification courses including Introduction to ServiceNow, ServiceNow Fundamentals, Platform Implementation, and ServiceNow Integrated Risk Management. Initial course offerings will run from October 21 through November 15. This multifaceted curriculum provides students with academic credits and hands-on training to maximize their college experience. Upon completion, graduates will have earned the Certified System Administrator certification (CSA), the Certified Implementation Specialist certification, ServiceNow Micro-Certifications in specialized areas, and 3 college credit hours, unlocking opportunities for roles such as ServiceNow Certified Implementation Specialists, Support Specialists, Administrators, Application Specialists, Application Developers, ServiceNow Consultants and Business Process Consultants, Business Analysts, or Project Managers. Students will gain hands-on experience working alongside industry experts as they collaborate with Fusion3's Principal Solution Architect, Lanre Elujoba, and Principal Business Process Consultant, Kevin Frost. Elujoba, a seasoned expert with over a decade of designing and implementing ServiceNow GRC solutions, and Frost, a former ServiceNow customer and product owner with extensive experience transforming organizations, will provide invaluable mentorship as students prepare for successful careers in the IT industry. "We are thrilled to partner with SMLA to address the critical IT skills gap within the ServiceNow ecosystem. By combining Fusion3's industry expertise with SMLA's proven track record in education and academia, we're creating an experiential learning program that will empower the next generation of IT professionals," said Melissa Bouchard, the CEO of Fusion3. "This partnership is a game-changer for organizations facing a critical shortage of skilled IT talent in the rapidly growing ServiceNow market." Certifications have been a cornerstone of the tech community for a long time. They provide professionals with verified proof of their expertise and offer potential employers a concrete way to assess a candidate's skills. Official vendor-issued certifications are particularly valuable for those working in the ServiceNow ecosystem. In fact, according to a worldwide survey of ServiceNow professionals, certifications boosted employee salaries by 31%. However, with evolving technology and qualifications, 70% of hiring managers believe there is an IT skills gap in the ServiceNow eco-system. The curriculum at SMLA is tailored for those in career transition, offering coursework to help students prepare for placement within the job market. Students acquire and refine their transferable skills by gaining practical knowledge of industry trends and real-life scenarios, giving them an edge for re-entry into the workforce. For the past decade, SMLA has provided a blueprint for success, with offerings like the SAP Veterans to Work Program, which provides scholarships, training, and certifications for active duty soldiers getting ready to transition from the military to civilian life. To learn more about the ServiceNow curriculum and upcoming information sessions, click here . About SMLA Founded in 2007, St. Michael's Learning Academy is a private, for-profit school, located in Houston Texas, co-owned and operated by Zack Zakhem and Christine Aboud. SMLA provides a nucleus for offering professional programs and individual courses required for professional expertise in an ever-changing, complex society, including the business and medical industries. SMLA provides its students a high-quality education with placement and networking assistance in selecting a career and meeting job-placement requirements, as well as continuing education for working professionals. About Fusion 3 Founded in 2019, Fusion3 is a technology consulting and implementation partner that brings organizations from managing their business within email and disjointed systems into a unified platform. With a team of experts, Fusion3 builds trusted partnerships by demonstrating technical competency, project leadership, and a flexible support model. Fusion3 focuses on various operational areas such Business Continuity Management, Policy Management, Compliance Management, Risk Management, Audit Management, Legal Service Delivery Management and Vendor Risk Management within the ServiceNow platform. Media Contact Chelsea DeCesare, Half Street Group 401.286.9037 I [email protected] SOURCE St. Michael's Learning Academy & Fusion3 Consulting NEW YORK, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The global gas turbines for power industry market size is estimated to grow by USD 2.55 billion from 2024-2028, according to Technavio. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of almost 2.31% during the forecast period. Growth of distributed power generation base is driving market growth, with a trend towards technological innovations in gas turbines. However, volatility in natural gas price poses a challenge. Key market players include Ansaldo Energia Spa, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd., Capstone Green Energy Corp., Caterpillar Inc., Centrax Ltd., Cryostar, Doosan Corp., General Electric Co., Harbin Electric Co. Ltd., IHI Corp., JSC The Ural Turbine Works, Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., MAN Energy Solutions SE, MAPNA Group Co., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Motor Sich JSC, OPRA Turbines BV, Pumori Energy Ltd., Siemens AG, and Vericor Power Systems. Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global gas turbines market for power industry 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 Product (Heavy-duty gas turbine and Aeroderivative gas turbine), Technology (CCGT and OCGT), and Geography (APAC, North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and South America) Region Covered APAC, North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and South America Key companies profiled Ansaldo Energia Spa, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd., Capstone Green Energy Corp., Caterpillar Inc., Centrax Ltd., Cryostar, Doosan Corp., General Electric Co., Harbin Electric Co. Ltd., IHI Corp., JSC The Ural Turbine Works, Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., MAN Energy Solutions SE, MAPNA Group Co., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Motor Sich JSC, OPRA Turbines BV, Pumori Energy Ltd., Siemens AG, and Vericor Power Systems Key Market Trends Fueling Growth The global gas turbines market for the power industry is driven by stringent carbon emission regulations and the need for lower power generating costs. Major manufacturers, such as General Electric Co. And Siemens AG, are investing in high-efficiency gas turbines to meet these demands. GE's 9HA/7HA-series CCGT and Siemens' SGT5-8000H, both categorized as H-class gas turbines, have more than 60% efficiency levels. Manufacturers are constantly pushing for higher efficiency levels, with GE aiming for a future 65% efficiency level. Advanced coatings for turbine blades are a major focus to increase metal reliability at high temperatures. Fuel flexibility and durability are also key considerations, as fuel composition varies regionally and operational failures cause significant financial losses. Modern gas turbines offer increased durability, with F-class turbines operating for 24,000 hours before scheduled inspections, expected to increase to 25,000 hours with H-class turbines. Technological innovations in gas turbines will positively impact market growth during the forecast period. The Gas Turbines market in the Power Industry is witnessing significant trends, with a focus on durability and minimizing downtime. Advanced designs and control systems are prioritized for improved efficiency and reliability. Electricity demand and infrastructural development fuel the need for increased capacity in the energy sector. Smart buildings and cities projects require efficient and clean power sources, driving the adoption of gas-based power over coal-based power. Emission norms and natural gas prices influence the market, with geopolitical tension and shale gas impacting supply. Heavy-duty and light industrial gas turbines, including aeroderivative, simple cycle, and combined cycle, cater to various sectors like power utilities, manufacturing, aviation, and mechanical energy. Technological advancements in turbine blades, generators, and electrical energy systems continue to shape the market landscape. Distributed power and CO2 reduction are key concerns, with CHP plants and gas-based power generation playing a crucial role in the energy industry. Discover 360 analysis of this market. For complete information, schedule your consultation- Book Here! Market Challenges The global gas turbines market for the power industry is experiencing significant growth due to the increasing shift towards cleaner modes of power generation. However, the market's expansion is being challenged by the volatility of natural gas prices. Utilities aim to maintain a balanced feedstock portfolio to protect power prices from price fluctuations. However, the rising trend of natural gas-driven power plants is increasing the reliance on natural gas. With low natural gas prices at present, this reliance appears less risky. However, historical trends suggest that increasing demand and potential crude oil price recovery could lead to significant price hikes. This would result in increased utility costs, followed by higher power prices for consumers. The U.S. Benchmark Henry Hub natural gas price averaged USD2.57 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) in 2023, while India's domestic natural gas price was USD 8.47 per million metric British thermal unit (mmBtu) in the same year. Natural gas price volatility, caused by production and consumption imbalances, could negatively impact the use of natural gas in gas-based power plants and, consequently, hinder the growth of the global gas turbines market for the power industry during the forecast period. per million British thermal units (MMBtu) in 2023, while domestic natural gas price was per million metric British thermal unit (mmBtu) in the same year. Natural gas price volatility, caused by production and consumption imbalances, could negatively impact the use of natural gas in gas-based power plants and, consequently, hinder the growth of the global gas turbines market for the power industry during the forecast period. In the power industry, gas turbines face challenges from various fronts. Climate change and the shift towards renewable energy sources like wind and solar are pushing utilities to reconsider their reliance on oil and gas. Population growth and urbanization require more power, but transmission and distribution losses limit the effectiveness of traditional power plants. Offshore locations offer potential solutions, but present unique challenges such as harsh environments and logistical complexities. Combined cycle turbines, a popular choice for efficiency and fuel flexibility, require specialized components like combustors, gas compressors, turbines, and turbo fans. Workforce and supply chain issues can impact power plant projects, while investment issues and international borders add complications. Experts predict a future where cooling technologies, materials, and combustion systems will be crucial. Fuel consumption and operating costs are key concerns for utility segments, with coal plants facing increasing pressure. Gas prices, CCS, hydrogen-fueled gas, and materials and diagnostics are all areas of focus for improving efficiency levels and reducing NOx emissions. Reliability remains a top priority, with machinery and power generation equipment under constant scrutiny. Joint ventures between companies like Aksa Power and Siemens Energy are driving innovation in this sector. For more insights on driver and challenges - Download a Sample Report Segment Overview This gas turbines for power industry market report extensively covers market segmentation by Product 1.1 Heavy-duty gas turbine 1.2 Aeroderivative gas turbine Technology 2.1 CCGT 2.2 OCGT Geography 3.1 APAC 3.2 North America 3.3 Europe 3.4 Middle East and Africa and 3.5 South America 1.1 Heavy-duty gas turbine- The global market for heavy-duty gas turbines in the power industry is projected to expand substantially due to the rising demand for electric power worldwide. With increasing power consumption and growing environmental concerns, gas-based power generation is gaining popularity over coal-based alternatives. According to Technavio, there will be significant power generation activity, particularly in developing nations, during the forecast period. Heavy-duty gas turbines, which are highly efficient and capable of generating more than 300 MW of power, are in high demand for baseload plants. Vendors such as General Electric Co. Are securing long-term agreements with customers for the construction of new gas turbine power plants, as seen in their recent deal with Harbin Electric Co. Ltd for three GE 9HA.01 gas turbines. This trend is expected to accelerate market growth during the forecast period. For more information on market segmentation with geographical analysis including forecast (2024-2028) and historic data (2018 - 2022) - Download a Sample Report Learn and explore more about Technavio's in-depth research reports The Global Steam Turbine Market is witnessing steady growth, driven by the rising demand for efficient energy production and the expansion of power generation infrastructure. Key players are focusing on advanced technologies to enhance turbine efficiency and reduce emissions. Similarly, the Global Mobile Power Generation Equipment Rentals Market is experiencing increased demand due to the growing need for temporary power solutions across various industries. This market is expanding as businesses seek flexible, cost-effective power options during emergencies, events, and peak load periods. Research Analysis The Gas Turbines for Power Industry market is a significant segment of the energy industry, focusing on the generation of mechanical energy from gas fuel using turbines. Turbines convert the energy released from the combustion of fuel into kinetic energy, which drives a generator to produce electrical energy. Technological advancements in gas turbine designs, such as simple cycle and combined cycle, have increased efficiency and reduced emissions, making gas-based power generation increasingly competitive with coal-based power. Distributed power and CHP plants are also gaining popularity for their ability to generate electricity and heat locally, reducing GHG emissions and improving energy security. The market involves various components including combustors, gas compressors, turbines, turbo fans, and generators. Workforce and supply chain challenges, investment issues, international borders, and travel restrictions are some of the factors influencing power plant projects in this sector. Machinery and power generation equipment experts play a crucial role in the design, construction, and maintenance of these complex systems. Market Research Overview The Gas Turbines For Power Industry Market is witnessing significant growth due to the increasing demand for mechanical energy and electrical energy in the energy industry. Technological advancements in turbine blades, generators, and cooling technologies are driving innovation in gas-based power generation, including simple cycle turbines and combined cycle power plants. Distributed power and CHP plants are also gaining popularity in urbanization and industrialization. However, challenges such as CO2 emissions, climate change, and lockdowns are pushing the industry towards renewable energy sources like wind and solar. Population growth and urbanization are driving the demand for power in offshore locations, oil & gas industries, and utility segments. The market is also affected by investment issues, international borders, and travel restrictions. Machinery and power generation equipment manufacturers like Aksa Power, Siemens Energy, Combustor, Gas compressor, Turbine, Turbo fans, Power plant, and others are focusing on reliability, durability, and efficiency levels to reduce downtime and operating costs. The market is also witnessing the adoption of steam turbines, hydrogen-fueled gas, CCS, materials and diagnostics, and advanced control systems. Factors like electricity demand, infrastructural development, industrialization, smart building, and smart cities projects are also influencing the market dynamics. The market is also impacted by emission norms, natural gas prices, geopolitical tension, shale gas, capacity, technology, heavy duty, light industrial, aeroderivative, cycle, and simple cycle applications. Experts predict that the market will continue to grow, driven by the need for sustainable and efficient power generation solutions. Table of Contents: 1 Executive Summary 2 Market Landscape 3 Market Sizing 4 Historic Market Size 5 Five Forces Analysis 6 Market Segmentation Product Heavy-duty Gas Turbine Aeroderivative Gas Turbine Technology CCGT OCGT Geography APAC North America Europe Middle East And Africa South America 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. Contacts Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: [email protected] Website: www.technavio.com/ SOURCE Technavio BAYPORT, Minn., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Andersen Corporation, manufacturer of America's most loved brand of windows and doors*, proudly announces George Bandy has joined the company as its new vice president and chief sustainability officer. Andersen Corporation proudly announces George Bandy has joined the company as its new vice president and chief sustainability officer. "At Andersen, we are steadfast in our commitment to meet the needs of today without compromising the needs of future generations. We know our success relies heavily on the health and resiliency of the communities where we live and work, and protecting people and our planet is more important than ever," said Chris Galvin, Andersen Corporation president and chief executive officer. "With George at the helm, this new leadership position will accelerate our sustainability journey as we work every day to make decisions that help our customers achieve their sustainability aspirations, elevate our industry and ultimately help make the world a better place." Bandy has more than 25 years of leadership experience in the sustainability space, working across a wide variety of industries, including sustainability leadership roles at Amazon and Mohawk Industries. Most recently, he served as chief sustainability officer at Darling Fibers, a polyester chip and fiber manufacturer, where he stewarded the company's commitment to nature-positive, carbon neutral, recycled, bio-based, and next generation biodegradable products and the circular economy. Bandy is a highly renowned expert on topics such as the business of sustainability, social sustainability, circular economy, sustainable supply chain, and smart design. He has been recognized for his leadership by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Leadership Award and is a recipient of the Living Future Hero award. Additionally, Bandy serves on the GBCI Board of Directors, Trane Sustainability Advisory Board and the International Interior Design Association. He is former Chairman of the Board for the USGBC. Bandy joins a dedicated team of sustainability practitioners at Andersen and will work closely with a cross-functional team across RD&I, operations, strategic sourcing, government relations, marketing, community relations and sales to advance comprehensive sustainability strategies that positively impact the business, the customer experience, and the environment. *2022 Andersen brand survey of U.S. homeowners About Andersen Corporation Andersen was founded in 1903 on the philosophy of working "all together" to deliver on its promise to its customers. Every day, the company's more than 13,000 employees are empowered to imagine what's possible and do what's right. Andersen delivers products for the way people live, unmatched performance for the comfort and security homeowners desire, and endless design options to achieve any style. Headquartered in Bayport, Minn., Andersen Corporation and its subsidiaries manufacture and market window and door products under the Andersen, Renewal by Andersen, EMCO and MQ brands. Andersen, a privately held company, operates manufacturing sites across North America and Europe. Andersen has earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 2024 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year Sustained Excellence Award. Visit us at andersenwindows.com. Follow us on Facebook @AndersenWindows, Twitter @AndersenWindows, and Instagram @andersen_windows. SOURCE Andersen Corporation BEIJING, Aug. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Right after the conclusion of the Paris Olympics, a US media outlet voiced concern that "by 2050 most of the world will be too hot to hold the Olympic Games." With rising temperatures and more frequent extreme weather events, the idea that future Summer Olympics might only be held in the southern hemisphere's winter no longer seems far-fetched. In response to these challenges facing human survival, the world is seeking solutions, and China's latest proposal is "green transition in all areas of economic and social development." The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) proposed a series of goals to further deepen reforms comprehensively, including accelerating a comprehensive green transition in all economic and social sectors. Recently, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council have unveiled a set of guidelines to ramp up green transition in all areas of economic and social development (hereinafter referred to as the "guidelines"). It marks China's first systematic national approach to green transition. As the world's second-largest economy with a population of over 1.4 billion, China has proactively proposed this comprehensive green transition after setting "dual carbon" goals. Amid global setbacks in green transformation, increasing politicization of climate issues, and rising green trade barriers, China is providing a crucial piece for the fragmented Blue Planet. To address climate change, China committed in 2020 to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. Four years have passed, and the progress has been remarkable. As of the end of June 2024, the installed capacity of renewable energy reached 1.653 billion kW, accounting for 53.8 percent of the country's total installed capacity. China's combined installed capacity of wind and solar power has surpassed that of its coal power for the first time. Recent international reports highlight China's leading position in wind turbine patent competitiveness. An International Energy Agency report, "Renewables 2023," pointed out that in 2023, China commissioned as much solar PV as the entire world did in 2022. China is steadily fulfilling its commitments to both itself and the world according to its own timeline. The recently issued guidelines provide a clear timetable, roadmap, and blueprint for green transition, making the development path for "Beautiful China" more specific and comprehensive. For instance, it proposes creating green development hubs in regions such as Xiong'an New Area, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the Yangtze River Delta. The plan also aims to integrate green industries with artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, and industrial internet to promote digital and green coordinated transition. Additionally, it outlines a systematic approach to "green consumption" by addressing the roles of government, businesses, and consumers. The guidelines have outlined a blueprint for China's green transformation from both the supply side and the demand side. It will also promote China to play a greater role in the global green industry chain. Among the current achievements of China's comprehensive green transition, "building the world's largest and most complete new energy industry chain" is something to be proud of. At the same time, China's "new three items" have gone global, earning praise from consumers for their good quality and affordable prices. It is China's own technological innovation and complete industrial chain system that have provided affordable green transformation solutions for the world, making new energy more accessible. Regardless of the quality and service of new energy products in European countries and America, their high costs are not suitable for the new energy transformation structure of the vast number of developing countries. In this situation, Chinese products meet the demands of developing countries' green transformation, providing greater opportunities for deep cooperation among "Global South" countries. Between 2018 and 2023, annual net additions of renewable capacity grew by a compound annual rate of 10 percent globally, but only by 5 percent in Africa. For "Global South" countries, including African countries, the fundamental issue is not the "overcapacity" issue hyped to create green barriers, but the lack of capacity or technology to address climate change and meet green transformation. Data shows that in 2023, China's exports of new energy vehicles to Africa increased by 291 percent compared to the previous year. In recent years, China's affordable and high-quality clean energy products have not only provided Africa with the opportunity to keep up with developed countries in green transformation, but also helped children in remote villages there to meet their need for studying under electric lights. Cooperation between China's green industry and "Global South" countries can achieve win-win results, while also protecting people's livelihoods. As clearly stated at the beginning of the guidelines, promoting the green and low-carbon development in the economy and society is an important symbol of the new era's new concept and practice of party and state governance. This includes "participating in and leading the global green transformation process." As a strong engine and power source of the global green transformation, China's systematic and firm planning and actions for green transformation will further strengthen the confidence of other developing countries in achieving the dual goals of industrialization and economic growth. It is believed that other countries will also realize that China's exploration and firm practice in green transition have positive significance. SOURCE Global Times Renowned Facial Membership Brand Ranks First in Consumer Services in New York and Third in Consumer Services Overall NEW YORK, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Glowbar, the fastest-growing facial membership brand, proudly announces its debut at No. 409 on the 2024 Inc. 5000 list of Fastest Growing Private Companies in America. The national recognition celebrates a period of exponential growth for the facial studio brand, which to date has delivered more than 300,000 custom facials across its 15 locations. Rachel Liverman, CEO and Founder of Glowbar Glowbar's first location in Washington D.C. opened on August 2nd in Georgetown The Inc. 5000 list spotlights the annual ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in America. Inc. 5000 provides a data-driven look at the most successful companies within the economy's most dynamic segment its independent, entrepreneurial businesses. In addition to being named No. 409 overall, Glowbar ranks 41st in New York where the first glowbar studio is located and the company is headquartered. This marks the brand's first time on the list. "At Glowbar, our sole focus is to help our clients feel confident in their skin, and this recognition tells the world that we're delivering on this promise," said Rachel Liverman, Founder & CEO of Glowbar. "The Glowbar experience is wholly unique, and I am excited to keep spreading the Glowbar gospel to new markets across the country as we continue to grow." Liverman founded Glowbar in 2019 after her own struggle to find an effective, accessible, and trustworthy source for consistent facial treatments. A third-generation esthetician whose grandmother founded the first fully-accredited esthetics school in the country, Liverman took 50 years of skincare expertise and created Glowbar as the one solution that will work for everyone. Glowbar is beloved for its effective, no-frills approach to skincare. The brand offers affordable 30-minute, results-driven facials at a flat rate of $60 for members and $75 for stand-alone appointments. Each Glowbar treatment is personalized by an expert esthetician and can include extractions, dermaplaning, cavitation, microcurrent, high frequency, chemical peels, or LED. In the last year alone, Glowbar has opened 10 new studios in four new markets (New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., and Massachusetts) and one existing market (New York), an 1,800% increase in studio growth since the brand's founding five years ago. Glowbar has also seen a 160% increase in membership within the last year. Glowbar plans to open 10 new studios in locations across the country within the next 12 months. To learn more about Glowbar, visit www.glowbar.com and follow Glowbar on Instagram and TikTok @glowbar. About Glowbar Glowbar is revolutionizing the skincare industry with 30-minute, affordable, customized, and solution-oriented facial treatments with 15 locations along the East Coast. Called "the custom facial that leaves your skin glowing" by Town & Country, Glowbar has become the must-visit monthly retreat for those looking to keep their skin in great shape under the care of skincare experts, all without the anxiety of overwhelming treatment menus, and the need for expensive add-ons. Founded in 2019 by third-generation esthetician Rachel Liverman, Glowbar has delivered the glow to over 300,000 people to date. SOURCE Glowbar SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Grasons, the leading franchise in estate sales and business liquidation services and member of Evive Brands, reports growing success among its franchisees who are leveraging the company's multi-revenue stream model to meet increasing market demand. Grasons franchisees benefit from eight different revenue streams: Estate Sale Services Staging Debris Removal and Clean-out Auctions (online and on-site) Realtor Referrals Coordinating with Senior Relocation Partners Business Liquidation Services Consignment This comprehensive service offering positions Grasons franchisees to address a wide range of client needs, from individual homeowners to commercial enterprises. "Our Grasons multi-faceted business model allows our franchisees to diversify their income sources and adapt to various market opportunities," said Ryan Parsons, Evive Brands CEO. "This flexibility is crucial in today's dynamic economic environment." Christian Campbell, owner of Grasons of Tri-County, NJ, recently demonstrated the power of this model by successfully managing a high-profile art gallery liquidation in Princeton, NJ. The four-day event featured over 200 rare and high-end pieces, showcasing Grasons' expertise in business liquidations. "The art gallery sale shows how Grasons equips us to handle diverse and high-value liquidations," said Campbell. "Our comprehensive training from Grasons enabled us to professionally manage this complex event, maximizing value for our client while tapping into multiple revenue streams." Vincent Stirone, who owns multiple Grasons franchises in California, adds, "The ability to offer such a wide range of services has been key to our growth. It allows us to serve diverse client needs and maintain a steady business even in changing economic conditions. Every estate sale is a different journey and it's immensely rewarding to help families during those times." As the U.S. faces demographic shifts with over 10,000 Americans turning 65 daily and projections of store closures reaching 50,000 in the next five years, Grasons franchisees are uniquely positioned to serve both individual and commercial clients across all eight revenue streams. Grasons' comprehensive five-day training program covers all aspects of these services, ensuring franchisees are prepared to excel in each area. This multi-faceted approach allows Grasons franchisees to build resilient businesses capable of adapting to market demands. For more information about Grasons franchise opportunities, visit www.grasons.com. Media Contact: Rhonda Grundemann at 602-739-8810 or [email protected] SOURCE Grasons MEXICO CITY, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Grupo Comercial Chedraui, S.A.B. de C.V. (Chedraui) is pleased to inform the investor community that Morgan Stanley Capital Index (MSCI) announced that according to the methodology and rebalancing of its Global Standard Indexes "CHDRUI B" shares will be part of the MSCI Mexico Index sample. The Index rebalancing will be made on August 30th, 2024, with the new index in effect on September 2nd, 2024. The MSCI Mexico Index is designed to measure the performance of the large and mid-cap companies of the Mexican market, the index covers approximately 85% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in Mexico. This is the first time that the company's shares have been included as part of the MSCI Mexico Index. It reiterates the recognition of our investors to the consistency observed in the favorable financial and operating results in recent years. Grupo Comercial Chedraui emphasizes its intention to continue working for the benefit of its shareholders, employees, suppliers, and clients, and in fulfilling its mission "Improve the lives of clients by taking the products they prefer at the best price to all possible places, inspiring our employees to grow and develop within Chedraui." Ticker symbol (BMV): CHDRAUI B SOURCE Grupo Comercial Chedraui, S.A.B. de C.V. Now including K-3, English 3D offers a comprehensive K-12 multilingual program for students and educators heading back to school BOSTON, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Adaptive learning company HMH today announced that its award-winning English language development program, English 3D, which is now available for students in grades K-3, provides a complete K-12 solution with expanded reach to support younger learners. "Multilingual learners now make up more than 10% of the US student population and we know this number will continue to grow each year," said Matthew Mugo Fields, HMH General Manager, Supplemental and Intervention Solutions. "At HMH, we aim to support the unique needs of all learners so they can come into the classroom every day and have the resources they need to thrive. English 3D's expanded support creates growth for our youngest learners during one of the most critical points in their learning journey." English 3D now includes curriculum for multilingual learners in grades K-3, in addition to previous support for grades 4-12. Like all other grade levels in the English 3D program, English 3D: Grades K-3 builds upon existing linguistic strengths, enabling rapid acquisition of the academic speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills needed to experience success in content areas and reclassify as proficient on state assessments. The introduction of English 3D for Grades K-3 this back-to-school season makes use of program author Dr. Kate Kinsella's proven instructional routines, adapted to fit the needs of early learners. English 3D's K-3 content is tailored for the youngest learners, including brief, daily English Language Development (ELD) lessons lasting 30-45 minutes, with options to extend based on scheduling and student needs. The flexible teaching models accommodate pull-out, push-in, or whole-class instruction. Clear, straightforward materials for both new and experienced teachers offer print student books and teaching guides. Lesson slides, data and reporting are also available digitally for teachers with print and digital assessment options to effectively track and support student progress. Kentwood Public Schools in Michigana district with over 2,700 multilingual learners, making up nearly 30% of the entire student populationhas been using English 3D for multilingual learners since 2021. "We strive to provide resources, tools and strategies to our educators to make sure our students have access to equitable education and feel a sense of belonging," said Sanela Sprecic, Director of Multilingual Learner Programs at Kentwood. "Part of that work is done by making sure we have strong instructional offerings, so that it doesn't matter what kind of background you're coming from, you still have access to classes with high quality resources to ensure higher levels of engagement and, with this, motivation to learn and succeed. Programs like English 3D that are culturally and linguistically responsive have made a difference for our students." To learn more about HMH's award-winning, connected intervention and multilingual learner solutions, https://www.hmhco.com/programs/english-3d. About HMH HMH is an adaptive learning company that helps educators create growth for every student. Our integrated curriculum, assessment and professional learning solutions use data to paint a full picture of every learner and recommend how to best support their needs. By partnering with educators, we create lasting momentum so that all students can reach their full potential. HMH serves more than 50 million students and 4 million educators in 150 countries. For more information, visit www.hmhco.com. Follow HMH on LinkedIn, Facebook , Instagram and YouTube. Media Contact Tori Dickson Communications Specialist HMH [email protected] 617-351-1220 SOURCE Houghton Mifflin Harcourt B Corp Certification reinforces ongoing commitment to meeting high standards of social and environmental impact, transparency and accountability BOULDER, Colo., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Horizon Organic , a pioneer in organic dairy and the largest USDA-certified organic milk brand in the world, and Wallaby , a leading brand of creamy Australian-style yogurts and organic Greek yogurts, today announced they have achieved B Corp Certification. To become a Certified B Corporation a business must meet high standards of verified performance, accountability and transparency in a number of areas, from employee benefits to supply chain practices, input materials and charitable giving. Horizon Organic and Wallaby have achieved B Corp Certification, reinforcing an ongoing commitment to meeting high standards of social and environmental impact, transparency and accountability. Both Horizon Organic and Wallaby operate under the belief that doing business and doing good should not only coexist, but can and should be mutually beneficial. Becoming B Corp Certified builds on this core value and reinforces a commitment to inspiring better living through innovative dairy brands. B Corp Certification builds on the heritage of both Horizon Organic and Wallaby to deliver organic dairy products that are produced responsibly. It is the only third-party sustainability program of its type that takes into account the entire value chain. Both Horizon Organic and Wallaby operate under the belief that doing business and doing good should not only coexist, but can and should be mutually beneficial. Becoming B Corp Certified builds on this core value and reinforces a commitment to inspiring better living through innovative dairy brands. "Attaining B Corp Certification underscores our longstanding dedication to doing business responsibly and always with sustainability as our north star," said Tyler Holm, CEO of Horizon Organic and Wallaby. "Now is the time to continue operating with people and the planet in mind and to lean into a culture of continuous improvement aimed at doing business that's better for our employees, the environment and the communities where we live, work and operate." Horizon Organic and Wallaby together achieved 95.5 out of 200 possible points in the B Impact Assessment, a digital tool assessing impact performance for the environment, communities, customers, suppliers, employees and shareholders. The B Impact assessment is a foundational component of the B Corp Certification process as a company must receive a minimum verified score of 80 out of 200 points to achieve B Corp Certification. Historically, the median score for businesses that complete the B Impact Assessment is 51.6, with approximately 40 percent of companies who submit an application actually going on to achieve B Corp Certification. Horizon Organic and Wallaby's high score reflects current impact commitments and programs that increase employee engagement, reduce waste, combat the threat of climate change, enhance biodiversity, and create shared value within the supply chain. B Lab , a nonprofit network committed to transforming the global economy to benefit all people, communities, and the planet, oversees the B Corp Certification process. "As B Corp movement partners, Horizon Organic and Wallaby will remain committed to redefining success in business to ensure the consideration of the wellbeing of all stakeholders," said Joao Campos, B Lab growth manager, large and multinational company. "We look forward to Horizon Organic and Wallaby sustaining meaningful and active participation in the B Corp community, working together as a force for good." Horizon Organic and Wallaby were previously B Corp Certified under Danone North America's B Corp Certification. Following the acquisition of Horizon Organic and Wallaby by Platinum Equity in April 2024, it was important to pursue independent B Corp Certification to demonstrate an ongoing commitment to redefining success in business as a force for good. As a result, all Horizon Organic and Wallaby products will continue to carry the B Corp seal. More about B Corp Certification can be found on the B Corp website , and more about Horizon Organic and Wallaby B Corp Certification can be found on the brands' B Corp profile . About Horizon Organic Two generations of familiesand countinghave grown up on Horizon Organic milk. From the start, as the leading organic milk producer in the U.S., Horizon has been committed to delivering innovative, nourishing dairy that growing families can rely on. As a certified B Corp, Horizon works with more than 500 farmers across the U.S. to bring high-quality, certified organic milk to consumers. For more information on Horizon's full portfolio of organic dairy products, visit Horizon.com. About Wallaby Wallaby is a premium yogurt brand that has been producing great tasting organic yogurt for over 20 years. Wallaby was born out of a trip to Australia by its founders, where they chanced across a deliciously distinctive yogurt. Convinced that Americans would love Australian-style yogurt as much as they did, they set off on a mission with one simple goal: to produce the best tasting yogurt in America. That's why Wallaby yogurt is always slow-crafted with organic milk and premium organic ingredients to create something deliciously different. To learn more about Wallaby Organic, please visit http://www.WallabyYogurt.com . About B Lab B Lab is transforming the global economy to benefit all people, communities, and the planet. A leader in economic systems change, our global network creates standards, policies, tools, and programs for business, and we certify companiesknown as B Corpswho are leading the way. To date, our community includes more than 700,000 workers in over 7,800 B Corps across 92 countries and 161 industries, and more than 200,000 companies manage their impact with the B Impact Assessment and the SDG Action Manager. About B Lab U.S. & Canada B Lab U.S. & Canada is a partner in the B Global Network, a unified group of global, regional, and national organizations that power a business movement as a force for good. A historic global culture shift is underway to harness the power of business to help address society's greatest challenges. Our global network creates standards, policies, tools, and programs that shift the behavior, culture, and structure of capitalism. B Lab certifies companies - known as B Corps - who are leading the way. Our vision is an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economic system for all people and the planet. For more information, visit usca.bcorporation.net, www.bcorporation.net , www.bimpactassessment.net, www.b-analytics.net and www.benefitcorp.net. About B Corp Certification B Corp Certification assesses the overall social and environmental impact of a company. To achieve B Corp Certification, a company must meet a score of at least 80 points in the B Impact Assessment, an evaluation of a company's positive impact, and pass a risk review, an evaluation of a company's negative impact. It must change its corporate governance structure to be accountable to all stakeholders, not just shareholders, and exhibit transparency by allowing information about their B Corp Certification performance to be publicly available on their B Corp profile on B Lab's website. B Corps recertify every three years and, once certified, are expected to increase their score over time as they progress towards becoming more equitable, inclusive, and regenerative businesses. MEDIA CONTACT Jenn Tilliss SchroderHaus 303-818-2485 [email protected] SOURCE Horizon Organic and Wallaby RENO, Nev., Aug. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - i-80 GOLD CORP. (TSX: IAU) (NYSE: IAUX) ("i-80", or the "Company") is pleased to announce that is has established an at-the-market equity program (the "ATM Program"). The ATM Program has been implemented pursuant to the terms of an equity distribution agreement dated August 12, 2024 (the "Equity Distribution Agreement"), among the Company, National Bank Financial Inc., Canaccord Genuity, Stifel Nicolaus Canada Inc., RBC Dominion Securities Inc., Scotia Capital Inc., National Bank of Canada Financial Inc., Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated, RBC Capital Markets, LLC and Scotia Capital (USA) Inc. (collectively, the "Agents"). The ATM Program will allow i-80, through the Agents, to, from time to time, offer and sell in Canada and the United States through the facilities of the Toronto Stock Exchange (the "TSX") and the NYSE American stock exchange (the "NYSE American") such number of common shares in the capital of the Company (the "Shares") as would have an aggregate offering price of up to US$50 million. Sales of the Shares, if any, will be made in transactions that are deemed to be "at-the-market distributions" as defined in National Instrument 44-102 Shelf Distributions and an "at-the-market offering" as defined in Rule 415 under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, including sales made by the Agents directly on the TSX, the NYSE American or any other trading market for common shares in Canada or the United States or as otherwise agreed between the Agents and the Company. The Shares that may be issued by the Company under the ATM Program have been conditionally approved for listing on the TSX and the NYSE American. The offering of Shares under the ATM Program is being made pursuant to a prospectus supplement dated August 12, 2024 (the "Canadian Prospectus Supplement") to the final short form base shelf prospectus filed on June 21, 2024 (the "Canadian Shelf Prospectus"), each filed with the securities commissions in each of the provinces and territories of Canada, and in the United States pursuant to a prospectus supplement dated August 12, 2024 (the "U.S. Prospectus Supplement") to the Company's U.S. base prospectus contained in its registration statement on Form F-10 (the "U.S. Base Prospectus") filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on June 24, 2024. The ATM Program is expected to be effective until the earlier of the date that the aggregate gross sales proceeds of the Shares sold under the ATM Program reaches the aggregate amount of US$50.0 million (or the equivalent in Canadian dollars) and on or about the end of the Company's first quarter, unless terminated before such time or otherwise in accordance with the Equity Distribution Agreement. The timing and extent of the use of the ATM Program will be at the discretion of the Company. Accordingly, total gross proceeds from equity offerings under the ATM Program, if any, could be significantly less than US$50 million. The Company intends to use any proceeds from the ATM Program to advance the exploration, development, expansion, the repayment of debt, and working capital requirements of the Company's McCoy Cove Project, Granite Greek Project, Lone Tree Project, Ruby Hill Project and for general corporate and working capital purposes. Actual allocation of the proceeds may vary depending on the amount raised, the time periods during which the proceeds are raised and future developments in relation to the Company's projects and unforeseen events. Potential investors should read the Canadian Prospectus Supplement, the Canadian Shelf Prospectus, the U.S. Prospectus Supplement, the U.S. Base Prospectus and other documents the Company has filed with the securities commissions of the provinces and territories of Canada and the SEC for more complete information about i-80 and the ATM Program. Copies of the Canadian Shelf Prospectus and the Canadian Prospectus Supplement can be found on i-80's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and copies of the U.S. Base Prospectus and U.S. Prospectus Supplement can be found on i-80's profile on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. Potential investors can also request printed or electronic copies of these documents by contacting National Bank Financial Inc., Gavin Brancato by email at [email protected] or by phone at +1 416-869-7568. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor will there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful before registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. About i-80 Gold Corp. i-80 Gold Corp. is a Nevada-focused mining company with a goal of achieving mid-tier gold producer status through the development of multiple deposits within the Company's advanced-stage property portfolio with processing at i-80's centralized milling facilities. i-80 Gold's common shares are listed on the TSX and the NYSE American under the trading symbol IAU:TSX and IAUX:NYSE. Further information about i-80 Gold's portfolio of assets and long-term growth strategy is available at www.i80gold.com or by email at [email protected]. Certain statements in this release constitute "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including but not limited to, the future issuance of Shares sold under the ATM Program; the aggregate gross proceeds of the ATM Program; and the use of proceeds from any sales of Shares under the ATM Program, and the Company's other future plans and expectations. Such statements and information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company, its projects, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. Such statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "expect", "believe", "plan", "anticipate", "estimate", "scheduled", "forecast", "predict" and other similar terminology, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. These statements reflect the Company's current expectations regarding future events, performance and results and speak only as of the date of this release. Forward-looking statements and information involve significant risks and uncertainties, should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results and will not necessarily be accurate indicators of whether or not such results will be achieved. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements or information, including, but not limited to: material adverse changes, unexpected changes in laws, rules or regulations, or their enforcement by applicable authorities; the failure of parties to contracts with the company to perform as agreed; social or labour unrest; changes in commodity prices; and the failure of exploration programs or studies to deliver anticipated results or results that would justify and support continued exploration, studies, development or operations. SOURCE i-80 Gold Corp Senior Vice President Tom Plath to leave company at end of year MEMPHIS, Tenn., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- International Paper (NYSE:IP) announced today that Tom Plath, Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Corporate Affairs, will leave the company at the end of the year. During his 33-year career with IP, Plath has served in a number of roles in HR, operations, marketing and general management. He was named an officer in 2013 and was elected senior vice president in 2017. His role was expanded in 2023 to SVP, human resources and corporate affairs, with responsibilities for human resources, aviation, real estate, communications, sustainability and government relations. Plath's current responsibilities will be reassigned immediately, and he will serve in an advisory capacity through the end of the year to ensure a smooth transition. A replacement has not yet been appointed. About International Paper International Paper (NYSE: IP) is a global producer of sustainable packaging, pulp and other fiber-based products, and one of the world's largest recyclers. Headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., we employ approximately 39,000 colleagues globally who are committed to creating what's next. We serve customers worldwide, with manufacturing operations in North America, Europe, Latin America and North Africa. Net sales for 2023 were $18.9 billion. Additional information can be found by visiting internationalpaper.com. SOURCE International Paper Over 700 graduates joined Shanghai Electric in the latest wave of hiring, together with the company to turn ideas into innovation that helps accelerate the smart and green transformation of the energy industry SHANGHAI, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Shanghai Electric (SEHK: 2727, SSE: 601727) recently launched a comprehensive training program tailored for over 700 newly recruited graduates. This move, following a nationwide hiring spree, is aimed at molding young talent for sectors at the forefront of reshaping the energy industry. As part of the program, the recruits visited Shanghai Electric's industrial bases, where they gained insights about the company's corporate structure, innovation processes, digital advancements, and strategies for managing talent. International Youth Day 2024: Shanghai Electric Launches Onboarding Training for New Recruits with Focus on Youth Career Development "Young talent has always been the engine behind our sustained growth and long-term vision," said Zhu Zhaokai, Employee Director of Shanghai Electric Holdings Group. "Their innovative spirit and fresh perspectives are what keep Shanghai Electric dynamic and forward-thinking. As we look to the future, it's crucial that we continue to nurture youth talent, encouraging our new recruits to embrace creativity and lead with innovation." This year's recruitment drive at Shanghai Electric underscores the company's strategic focus on pushing for innovation in high-end, intelligent, and green industrial and energy equipment. Central to this is the attraction of top-tier talent: 348 of the new members hold master's or doctoral degrees, accounting for 48% of the total intake; 78 graduates from world-leading universities, over 90% of whom hail from educational institutions ranked in the QS Top 200. For intelligent development, Shanghai Electric has targeted recruitment in areas pivotal to its growth in automation and digital technology. The 2024 intake includes: 34% of graduates specializing in fields such as artificial intelligence, intelligent science and technology, intelligent manufacturing engineering, and automation sectors that are increasingly vital for the development of power station operations, automation equipment, nuclear power, and industrial software. Shanghai Electric is demonstrating its commitment to environmental sustainability by prioritizing candidates with expertise in green industries. The company has actively sought out graduates in environmental science, chemical engineering, renewable energy, and advanced energy technologies, with 40% of its new hires coming from these specialized areas. Digital Transformation and Tailored Assessments Digital transformation sits at the heart of Shanghai Electric's strategy as it explores new solutions to innovate energy and industrial equipment. This year, the recruitment process was optimized with customized online assessments designed to identify the unique potential of each candidate. The training for new hires includes innovative methods like leaderless group discussions and comprehensive case studies, aligning with strategic company objectives. "Excellence E+" Talent Development System To maximize the potential of young professionals, Shanghai Electric has developed the "Excellence E+" talent development framework with three goals pillared, Electric+, Empower+, and Engine+, and structured into five phases, integration, understanding, skill-building, enhancement, and achievement. New hires will engage in talent development programs based on their career paths and stages of growth. Key programs include an intensive training camp, young talent cultivation projects, management and technical trainee programs, and a special scheme for developing future technology leaders. Targeted Programs and Hands-On Training Shanghai Electric Wind Power Group, a subsidiary of Shanghai Electric, rolled out a detailed program focused on the understanding phase for young talent, employing a "1+2+2+12" model. A holistic approach ensures that the new employees gain mastery in core procedures, product technology, assembly techniques, and site management, comprising of: one month of theoretical instruction, two months of hands-on workshop experience, two months of on-site learning at wind farms, and 12 months of on-the-job training. Shanghai Electric Power Station Group is also targeting young professionals in the achievement phase to develop future leaders for the renewable energy sector. As the world accelerates its shift towards sustainable energy, this strategic initiative provides intensive training in crucial areas such as electrochemistry, materials science, semiconductors, and physics. This training aims to equip these high-potential individuals with the diverse skills necessary to excel in the competitive renewable energy market. For more information, please visit https://www.shanghai-electric.com/group_en/. Video - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2480831/video.mp4 Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2346204/Shanghai_Electric_logo.jpg In Recognition of Fidelity Institutional Veteran's Efforts to Raise Funds & Awareness for the Michael J. Fox Foundation, Special Campaign Aims to Raise $500,000 to Benefit This Charity and IiO BOSTON, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Invest in Others Charitable Foundation ("Invest in Others") announces that its Board of Directors has introduced the Executive Tribute, a special recognition for individuals who demonstrate outstanding dedication, leadership, and contributions to the financial services community. The inaugural Executive Tribute honor will be given to Sanjiv Mirchandani, who retired after 27 years at Fidelity Investments, at the Invest in Others Awards Gala on September 19 at the Omni Boston Hotel in Seaport. Mr. Mirchandani was selected to receive the Executive Tribute in honor of his efforts to raise awareness and funds for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. Mr. Mirchandani has demonstrated admirable resilience and advocacy during his own journey with Parkinson's disease. To commemorate Mr. Mirchandani and the Executive Tribute recognizing his achievements, a special IiO fundraising campaign, spearheaded by IiO Board member David Canter, CEO of Finley Point Strategy LLC, is seeking to raise $500,000 in Mr. Mirchandani's honor, with proceeds to be split between the IiO Charitable Foundation and the Michael J. Fox Foundation. To learn more about the special fundraising campaign in Mr. Mirchandani's honor and to donate, please visit https://bit.ly/ExecutiveTribute. "We welcome our colleagues to join us in honoring Sanjiv's spirit of generosity, which defines the financial services industry," said Jeff Vivacqua, Chair of the Invest in Others Charitable Foundation and President of Growth and Development at Cambridge Investment Research. "Sanjiv is an inspiration who has left an enduring legacy in our industry and in our communities. His efforts to make a difference embody our mission, and make him a worthy recipient of our very first Executive Tribute." Mr. Mirchandani's career in financial services spanned 37 years, all but the first 10 of which were spent with Fidelity Investments, from where he retired in 2021. At Fidelity, he headed products and marketing for personal investments, and later led Fidelity Clearing and Custody Solutions and Fidelity Institutional's client relationship group. Mr. Mirchandani began his career at American Express and Citi, and earned his MBA from Cornell University. In addition, Mr. Mirchandani co-founded the Hi-Fidelity musical group with his Fidelity colleague, David Canter, in 2012. Other founding members of Hi-Fidelity include Bill Monroe, formerly of MassMutual; John Morris of Crestwood Advisors; Ross Ozer, formerly of Fidelity Investments; Gary Roth of Modern Wealth Management; Gregory Rogers of Raylign; Daniel Silver, formerly of Adviser Investments; and Brian Patrick Strope, formerly of Google. Hi-Fidelity, which has featured many guest artists over the years, performs at industry conferences, and raised $70,000 for charity in 2015 during a concert at the Hard Rock Cafe in Boston in memory of Fidelity team member Christopher Leuci. Hi-Fidelity will give its final, farewell performance at this year's IiO Awards gala. IiO previously announced 15 finalists who will be recognized at the 2024 Invest in Others Awards Gala on September 19 in Boston. Now in its 18th year, the IiO Awards program honors financial advisors who volunteer their time and talents to support nonprofits, positively impacting lives and the communities they serve. To learn more about the finalists, honorable mentions, and their charitable work, please visit investinothers.org/awards and follow #IiOAwards on social media. Since 2007, Invest in Others has partnered with more than 750 charities, shared hundreds of inspirational stories and donated over $6 million to a wide array of causes, including health and wellness, education and youth programs, arts and culture, hunger and poverty prevention, military, and veterans and more. About the Invest in Others Charitable Foundation The Invest in Others 501(c)(3) Charitable Foundation aims to amplify, celebrate, and inspire the charitable work of the financial services community. Invest in Others is a catalyst to channel philanthropy and volunteerism to where it is needed most. For more information, visit investinothers.org or follow Invest in Others on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X. Media Contacts: Sabrina Scarpa JConnelly for Invest in Others [email protected] | 973.309.0051 SOURCE Invest in Others Charitable Foundation Fans nationwide can enter to win an exclusive Italian-inspired getaway and create unforgettable moments with friends MODESTO, Calif., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In celebration of National Prosecco Day on August 13, La MarcaAmericas favorite prosecco from Italy*is partnering with Giggly Squad podcaster and Bravo star Paige DeSorbo to offer one lucky winner and up to three friends a three-night stay at the La Marca Summer Villa from August 31, 2024 to September 3, 2024. The La Marca Summer Villa is a charming Italian-inspired getaway that brings the allure of Venice, Italy, to Venice, California (no passport required). Inspired by the Italian saying that a life well lived celebrates the moments in between, the Summer Villa is designed to create cherished memories among friends in a Mediterranean-style setting, perfect for toasting to their bond and enjoying a one-of-a-kind experience. La Marca Prosecco has teamed up with Paige DeSorbo to offer besties a chance to win a weekend stay at the La Marca Summer Villa. "As someone who values friendships and doesn't wait for a special occasion to celebrate, I'm thrilled to partner with La Marca Prosecco to turn a besties trip into a trip of a lifetime," says Paige DeSorbo. "The La Marca Summer Villa has such a vibe and is an amazing way to bring a taste of Italy stateside while creating unforgettable memories with your favorite friends." La Marca Summer Villa guests will be treated to a personal chef crafting Italian favorites, a dedicated personal butler with a sparkling itinerary full of Italian-inspired activities, and countless opportunities to create once-in-a-lifetime memories with friends. "La Marca is the #1 Prosecco from Italy, and the Summer Villa brings a taste of all of the things we love about the place we are proud to call home, bringing Venice, Italy to Venice, California," says Beth Orozco, VP of Marketing for La Marca. "We're delighted to have Paige on board as a partner in this campaign, as she exemplifies our philosophy that there is no occasion more special to celebrate than the one happening now." To enter for a chance to stay at the La Marca Summer Villa, fans can visit @LaMarcaProsecco on Instagram to leave a comment about how they celebrate their friendships. Enter between 8:00:00 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) on August 13, 2024, and 11:59:00 p.m. (ET) on August 20, 2024. Full contest Rules and Regulations can be found at this link . La Marca Prosecco is available at retailers nationwide or on LaMarcaProsecco.com in various sizes, 750mL (SRP: $18.99), 1.5mL (SRP: $36.99), 187mL (3pack) (SRP: $18.99), and 375mL (SRP:$10.99). Visit https://www.lamarcaprosecco.com/ or @LaMarcaProsecco to learn more. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. Open to legal residents of the United States (excluding Utah and Virginia) and the District of Columbia who are 21 or older. Void where prohibited. Starts at 8:00:00 AM ET on 8/13/24 and ends at 11:59:59 PM ET on 8/20/24. To enter, visit https://www.instagram.com/lamarcaprosecco/, find the La Marca Summer Villa Contest Post, follow the instructions on the post to submit your entry. Your entry must start with the hashtag #LaMarcaSummerVillaContestEntry. Subject to Official Rules. Official Rules available here. Sponsor: Gallo. About La Marca Prosecco Founded more than 50 years ago, La Marca is the leading Prosecco from Italy* and is proud to represent a cooperative of 5,000 local winegrowers who farm 35,000 acres in the Veneto region of northern Italy. From La Marca's home in Treviso, Italy's Prosecco capital, La Marca Prosecco elevates the every day with a crisp, refreshing style that pairs beautifully with any group of friends and a variety of foods. La Marca Prosecco has a pale, golden straw color and sparkles with lively effervescence. Opening with aromas of fresh-picked citrus and honeysuckle blossoms, the crisp, clean palate brings fruity notes of green apple, juicy peach, and ripe lemon, framed by hints of minerality. The finish is light and refreshing with a tantalizing hint of sweetness. La Marca Prosecco has the charm to stand alone as an aperitif, but it also has the body and the acidity to pair well with a range of foods, from seafood and mild cheeses to rich pasta dishes and decadent desserts. *IRI Unify, Latest 52 Weeks, 7/14/2024, Total US MULO, La Marca Prosecco, Dollar Sales SOURCE La Marca Prosecco Last founding member of CODE Foodservice announces partnership with Legacy Food Group as growing firm adds fifth operating division and enters new regional market RICHMOND, Va., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Legacy Food Group ("LFG") announced today that Halsey Foodservice ("Halsey") will become the company's fifth operating Division alongside Keck's Food Service, Inc. ("Keck's"), M&V Provisions Co. ("M&V"), Thomsen Foodservice, Inc. ("Thomsen"), and Best Mexican Foods ("BMF"). Founded in 1879, Halsey is a fourth-generation, family-owned broadline distributor of the highest quality food products. Based in Madison, AL., they are Alabama's oldest independent foodservice distributor and the last founding member of CODE, a distributor purchasing group that was integrated into UniPro Foodservice in the 1990's. Halsey's product selection includes fresh and frozen meats, fresh and pre-cut produce, condiments, spices, canned goods, kitchen supplies, and paper products. They service independent restaurants, including the Mexican and BBQ segments, C-stores and other foodservice operations throughout Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Mississippi. President and CEO Cecilia Halsey has guided significant expansion efforts to accommodate business growth, including the construction of a 260,000 square foot distribution center featuring a meat processing center for their Fresh Meat Division, produce preparation area with four coolers for their Produce Division, commercially equipped test kitchen, and more. "We couldn't be more excited to join Legacy Food Group," said Halsey. "This partnership offered the perfect opportunity to sustain the independence that has made us special for over 140 years while providing access to improved resources and capital that will help drive our business forward." Halsey will retain its current name and management team, with all employees remaining in place, and will operate with autonomy in their local markets as an operating Division of LFG. They will gain access to enhanced supplier relationships, consolidated purchasing benefits, coordinated sales and marketing support, and other resources that will help enhance the company's regional success. "Joining Legacy Food Group instantly provides us with the support to expand our business and spur new sales growth," said Terry Giles, COO and Senior EVP of Halsey. "It's a win-win for us; we get to keep the operating autonomy that resonates so strongly with our customer base while enjoying the benefits that come from group collaboration." "We are thrilled to have Halsey Foodservice as part of the Legacy Food Group family," said Steve Push, CEO of LFG. "Cecilia Halsey and her staff have done a tremendous job in continuing her family's rich tradition while elevating Halsey into a premier source for the highest-quality food products in the Southeast region. And we're especially excited that Cecilia, Terry, and General Sales Manager Joe Spearman will remain in their current leadership roles." As part of the transaction, Cecilia, Terry, and Joe will invest meaningful dollars in an equity position in Legacy Food Group. "The addition of Halsey Foodservice is a big step for us. It expands our geographic footprint into the Southeast region, which is an area with an emerging independent restaurant scene," said John Miller, President of LFG. "We will continue to seek future partnerships that grow our presence in the region." Halsey is well-known for an expansive collection of exclusive brands across various product categories. Their Diamond Star brand offers custom cut steaks, beef, pork, and poultry items, as well as a USDA approved Aged Beef Program. Other notable brands include Red Rhino Premium Pizza, Southern Star Seafood, Doodle Do's Awesome Chicken, and Chili Peppers Mexican Food. "Halsey is the perfect partner for us to enter the growing Southeast foodservice region; Halsey brings more than 140 years of rich history and family legacy, high-quality staff and sales team, and strong exclusive brands and service concepts that resonate with operators," said Push. "We will continue our strategic plan to bring together independent foodservice distributors interested in the dynamic growth that comes from group collaboration, benefits of scale, and shared resources." Continuing the Legacy . . . Legacy Food Group operates as a holding company, created to acquire high-quality regional independent distributors that will become owned operating Divisions. By knitting together multiple distributors, Legacy Food Group will achieve macro-scale with micro-market nimbleness, preserving the differences that work for independents while achieving synergies that can greatly benefit Members. Learn more about Legacy Food Group and explore their new website at legacyfoodgroup.com . Contact: Steve Push, CEO Legacy Food Group [email protected] (804) 404-2009 SOURCE Legacy Food Group Jones Soda's Rapidly Growing Crossover Brand Continues to Ramp Up Market Presence SEATTLE, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Jones Soda Co . (CSE: JSDA, OTCQB: JSDA ) today announced two key expansions of its crossover Mary Jones cannabis brand with the launch of its first products in Michigan the largest U.S. legal cannabis market by sales volume and the introduction of a new line of cannabis-infused shooters in California. Both initiatives build on the strong performance of Mary Jones' THC- and HD9-infused products, including sodas, syrups, tabs and gummies that feature popular Jones craft soda flavors adapted for the exploding cannabis edibles market. Credit: Mary Jones In Michigan, where legal cannabis sales hit nearly $3 billion in 2023, Mary Jones is entering the market through a manufacturing and distribution partnership with Emerald Canning Partners (ECP), a driving force in state's legal recreational cannabis industry. Mary Jones THC-infused mixing syrups will be available in Michigan dispensaries in September, with the full product portfolio to follow. In California, where Jones' reputation for flavor innovation and distinctive brand persona helped make Mary Jones the fastest new cannabis brand launch in the state in 2022, dispensaries are now adding new portable, shareable Mary Jones 100mg Cannabis-Infused Shooters to the brand's existing lineup of beverages, syrups and tablets. Other cannabis-legal states will carry the line in the future. "Mary Jones ranks as one of our top growth drivers, so continuing to increase our footprint and penetration in the cannabis space is as important to maintaining and accelerating our current strong growth rate as the new products, channels and partnerships we're implementing in our mainline soda business," said David Knight, CEO of Jones Soda. "In a category where most brands are startups without our nearly three decades of flavor science expertise, we are setting the standard in cannabis beverage taste, and that's combining with rising consumer interest in alcohol alternatives and new cannabis consumption formats to invigorate and grow the business." Michigan Market Launch Jones' partnership with Emerald Canning Partners in Michigan aligns the company with one of the premier cannabis product manufacturers in the state. ECP's joint venture production facility in Mt. Clemens' historic Gibraltar Trade Center pairs premium craft beverage knowledge with high-quality cannabis to produce premium cannabis-infused beverages. ECP is led by beverage industry veteran Matt McAlpine, former COO at Blake's Hard Cider, one of the top brands in the hard cider category. The Mary Jones THC-infused mixing syrups that are launching the partnership feature the same pure cane sugar formulation and cult-favorite Berry Lemonade, MF Grape, Green Apple and Orange & Cream flavors as mainline Jones Soda. Each 4 fl oz glass bottle contains 200mg of THC for multiple servings that can be sipped, added to cocktails and desserts, poured over waffles for 420-adult brunches and more. ECP also will manufacture and distribute Mary Jones cannabis sodas, including 20mg THC bottled sodas designed for single servings and 100mg THC canned sodas intended for sharing or consumers who prefer a higher dose. Available in eight flavors, the Mary Jones soda line has received multiple accolades in California's L.A. High Spirits Awards for cannabis- and hemp-derived beverage products, including Best Cannabis Soda honors for its THC-infused 10mg Berry Lemonade in both 2023 and 2024. "We share a pioneering spirit with Mary Jones as trailblazers in new and emerging markets. Jones was the first non-alcoholic mainline beverage company to crossover into cannabis with Mary Jones, while Emerald Canning Partners was one of the first cannabis beverage companies in Michigan," said McAlpine, President of Emerald Canning Partners. "Mary Jones brings national brand expertise, product innovation and flavor science to cannabis, combined with our depth and knowledge of production and Michigan's legal cannabis market." Cannabis Shooter Launch The new Mary Jones 100mg Cannabis-Infused Shooters launching in California this month add a new easy-carry/easy-share option for cannabis consumers. Each 2 oz Mary Jones Shooter bottle contains 10 servings infused with 10mg of THC for sipping, splitting with friends, or mixing into other drinks like seltzer water or mocktails. Each shooter is non-carbonated and contains an average of 15.75 calories per shot, significantly reducing the sugar intake associated with same dose of cannabis in a 100mg cannabis soda product. Like Mary Jones syrups, the new shooter line is available in Berry Lemonade, MF Grape, Green Apple and Orange & Cream flavors. The shooter format offers the advantages of portability, shareability, discreet consumption and dosage control aided by demarked lines on the label. These benefits make shooters one of the fastest-growing categories in regulated cannabis products. The pocket-sized form factor also reflects the rising interest in smaller packaging formats in the mainstream CPG beverage market. Mary Jones cannabis products are sold in more than 1,200 dispensaries in California, Washington, Canada and now Michigan, with ongoing expansion into other cannabis-legal markets. Mary Jones also sells hemp delta 9 (HD9) craft sodas, gummies and shooters through liquor stores and other brick-and-mortar retailers across the country as well as online at GoMaryJones.com. About Jones Soda Co. Jones Soda Co. (CSE: JSDA, OTCQB: JSDA ) is a leading developer of sodas and cannabis-infused beverages known for their premium taste, unique flavors and unconventional brand personality. Launched in 1997 as the original craft soda brand, the company today markets a diverse portfolio of sodas, mixers and wellness beverages under the Jones Soda brand as well as a line of award-winning cannabis beverages and edibles leveraging Jones' trademark flavors under the Mary Jones brand. For more information, visit www.jonessoda.com , www.myjones.com , or https://gomaryjones.com SOURCE Mary Jones BANGALORE, India, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Medical Smart Textile Market is Segmented by Type (Passive Smart Textiles, Active Smart Textiles, Ultra-Smart Textiles), by Application (Hospitals & Clinics, Academic & Industrial Research): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2024-2030. The Medical Smart Textile Market was estimated to be worth USD 663.7 Million in 2023 and is forecast to a readjusted size of USD 3273.6 Million by 2030 with a CAGR of 25.3% during the forecast period 2024-2030. Get Free Sample @ https://reports.valuates.com/request/sample/QYRE-Auto-3Z9383/Global_Medical_Smart_Textile_Market Major Factors Driving the Growth of Medical Smart Textile Market: Because more sophisticated textile technologies are being incorporated into healthcare applications, the market for medical smart textiles is expanding significantly. In order to monitor, identify, and treat a variety of medical diseases, medical smart textiles are integrated with sensors, actuators, and other electronic components. These textiles are extremely helpful in managing chronic diseases, providing post-surgical care, and providing care for the elderly since they provide real-time health monitoring, drug delivery, and therapeutic functions. The need for medical smart textiles, which provide better patient outcomes and increased quality of life, is being driven by the aging population, the increasing prevalence of chronic illnesses, and the growing emphasis on customized care. View Full Report @ https://reports.valuates.com/request/sample/QYRE-Auto-3Z9383/Global_Medical_Smart_Textile_Market TRENDS INFLUENCING THE GROWTH OF THE MEDICAL SMART TEXTILE MARKET: Hospitals and clinics are adopting more and more active smart textiles with sensors and actuators integrated for real-time patient monitoring and health management. These textiles have the ability to continuously and accurately measure vital indicators including body temperature, blood pressure, and heart rate. This information helps with early diagnosis and prompt therapies. Patient care is improved and results are improved when healthcare providers have access to real-time health data. The need for active smart textiles is increasing as healthcare institutions work to manage patients more effectively and efficiently, which is propelling the growth of the medical smart textile market. These materials are also more appealing and widely used in therapeutic settings since they can lessen the need for invasive treatments and increase patient comfort. Active smart textiles with integrated sensors and actuators are becoming increasingly popular in hospitals and clinics for real-time patient monitoring and health management. Vital parameters including blood pressure, heart rate, and body temperature may be reliably and constantly measured by these fabrics. Prompt therapy and early diagnosis are aided by this knowledge. Healthcare practitioners that have access to real-time health data can enhance both patient care and outcomes. The medical smart textile market is expanding due to the growing requirement for active smart textiles as healthcare facilities strive to manage patients more effectively and efficiently. Due to their ability to reduce the need for intrusive treatments and improve patient comfort, these materials are also more aesthetically pleasing and frequently utilized in therapeutic settings. In the medical industry, passive smart textilesfabrics having innate qualities like antibacterial and moisture-wicking capacitiesare becoming more and more popular. These fabrics improve patient comfort and hygiene, which has a major positive impact on healthcare environments. Antimicrobial materials, for example, aid in lowering the danger of infections, a major concern in medical facilities. Patients benefit greatly from moisture-wicking fabrics because they keep patients dry and comfortable, especially those who are bedridden. The use of passive smart textiles in medical applications is being propelled by the increasing consciousness about infection control and patient comfort. The market for medical smart textiles is expanding overall, helped by the use of these fabrics in wound care items, hospital gowns, and linens. The market demand for medical smart textiles is being driven primarily by the increasing incidence of chronic illnesses including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and respiratory disorders. For long-term health monitoring that is pleasant and non-invasive, smart textiles provide an excellent option for patients with chronic diseases who need constant monitoring and care. These textiles can monitor blood pressure, blood sugar, and other vital signs and parameters, giving medical professionals access to real-time data. Patient outcomes are improved by prompt treatments and improved illness management made possible by this ongoing monitoring. Innovative healthcare solutions are becoming more and more necessary due to the rising worldwide burden of chronic diseases. This is driving the use of medical smart fabrics and driving market growth. One other important aspect driving the medical smart textile market's rise is the elderly population. Elderly people may have a variety of health problems that call for ongoing attention and care. With the help of smart textiles, elderly people may receive excellent home healthcare while still feeling comfortable. These textiles provide prompt medical treatment by monitoring heart rates, detecting falls, and sending out alarms in the event of any irregularities. The need for medical smart textiles is being driven by the elderly population's growing preference for at-home treatment. Wearable technology developments are driving this tendency even more, establishing smart textiles as a crucial component of senior care. Own It Today Buy Now! https://reports.valuates.com/api/directpaytoken?rcode=QYRE-Auto-3Z9383&lic=single-user MEDICAL SMART TEXTILE MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS: North America is the leader in the medical smart textiles market on a regional level thanks to its sophisticated healthcare system, large investments in medical research, and early adoption of cutting-edge medical technology. Europe is right behind, with growing government initiatives and research and development efforts focused on smart textile applications. The rapidly developing healthcare industry, rising healthcare costs, and increased public knowledge of cutting-edge medical technology in nations like China, Japan, and India are all contributing to the Asia-Pacific region's rapid growth. Medical smart textiles are being progressively adopted by emerging markets in Latin America and Africa, which presents fresh potential prospects as these nations' healthcare systems continue to evolve and modernize. Leading companies in the market with high-end clientele include Adidas International, Jabil, DowDupont, Toray Industries, Hexoskin, Pireta, and others. They also own important technology. There will be an increase in businesses entering this sector in the future. Purchase Regional Report @ https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-3Z9383/global-medical-smart-textile/7 Key Companies: Adidas International Jabil DuPont Hexoskin Pireta AiQ Smart Clothing Schoeller Textiles Vista Medical Sensoria Toray Industries Purchase Chapters @ https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-3Z9383/global-medical-smart-textile/1 SUBSCRIPTION We have introduced a tailor-made subscription for our customers. Please leave a note in the Comment Section to know about our subscription plans. 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Valuates Reports [email protected] For U.S. Toll-Free Call 1-(315)-215-3225 WhatsApp: +91-9945648335 Website: https://reports.valuates.com Blog: https://valuatestrends.blogspot.com/ Pinterest: https://in.pinterest.com/valuatesreports/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/valuatesreports Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/valuatesreports/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@valuatesreports6753 https://www.facebook.com/valuateskorean https://www.facebook.com/valuatesspanish https://www.facebook.com/valuatesjapanese https://valuatesreportspanish.blogspot.com/ https://valuateskorean.blogspot.com/ https://valuatesgerman.blogspot.com/ https://valuatesreportjapanese.blogspot.com/ Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1082232/Valuates_Reports_Logo.jpg SOURCE Valuates Reports WASHINGTON, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA) announced the slate of 2024 HFSA Award recipients who will be recognized at the HFSA Annual Scientific Meeting 2024, September 27-30 in Atlanta, Georgia. The HFSA Annual Scientific Meeting takes place September 27-30, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. "Congratulations are in order for this remarkable slate of professionals whose work has undoubtedly transformed the lives of many patients and contributed to the advancement of the field," said James C. Fang, MD, FHFSA, HFSA President. "I speak for the entire HFSA Board of Directors when I say that we can't wait to honor their achievements at the Annual Scientific Meeting." This year's award winners are as follows: HFSA Lifetime Achievement Award Mandeep Mehra, MBBS, MSc, FRCP of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School The HFSA Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes a lifetime body of work by individuals who have made a significant and sustained contribution to the field of heart failure. Distinguished HFSA Member Award Corrine Jurgens, PhD, RN, APRN, FHFSA of Boston College's William F. Connell School of Nursing The Distinguished HFSA Member Award celebrates a member's body of work in the field of heart failure and their work and service to the Heart Failure Society of America. Distinguished Leadership Award Biykem Bozkurt, MD, PhD, FHFSA of Baylor College of Medicine The HFSA Distinguished Leadership Award celebrates a leader in the field of heart failure in the areas of education and mentorship. Pioneer Award (two winners) Peter Liu, MD of University of Ottawa Heart Institute Donna Mancini, MD of Mount Sinai Health System The HFSA Pioneer Award is given to an innovator and pioneer in the field of heart failure. The Award notes the HFSA member's innovative role in heart failure which helps to set the stage for future generations of heart failure providers. Nursing Clinical Excellence Leadership Award Teri Diederich, DNP, APRN-NP, FHFSA of Nebraska Medicine The HFSA Nursing Clinical Excellence Award recognizes clinical nursing excellence by a registered nurse who works directly with heart failure patients, their families, and other nurses providing HF services. Nursing Research Leadership Award Quin Denfeld, PhD, RN, FHFSA of OHSU School of Nursing The HFSA Nursing Research Leadership Award recognizes extraordinary achievement and excellence in nursing that improves outcomes of patients with heart failure. Outstanding Heart Failure Care Team Award (two winners) Center for Advanced Heart Failure and Mechanical Circulatory Support Team at Rochester Regional Health Heart Failure & Transplant Team at Intermountain Medical Center The Outstanding Heart Failure Care Team Award celebrates the accomplishments of a heart failure care team, collectively. About the Heart Failure Society of America The Heart Failure Society of America, Inc. (HFSA) represents the first organized effort by heart failure experts from the Americas to provide a forum for all those interested in heart function, heart failure, and congestive heart failure (CHF) research and patient care. The mission of HFSA is to provide a platform to improve and expand heart failure care through collaboration, education, innovation, research, and advocacy. HFSA members include physicians, scientists, nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, trainees, other healthcare workers and patients. For more information, visit hfsa.org. Media Contact: Laura Poko, 301-798-4493, ext. 226, [email protected] SOURCE Heart Failure Society of America All adult hospitals receive Cardiac Cath Lab Accreditation MEMPHIS, Tenn., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare announced all five of its adult hospitals received cardiac cath lab accreditation from the American College of Cardiology. Six hospitals in Tennessee and only three in Mississippi hold this elite status for demonstrating expertise in cardiac cath lab care for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures. "This accreditation represents system-wide consistency in diagnosing and treating patients with cardiac-related conditions and is a true reflection of our teams' commitment to delivering exceptional patient care," Wayne Lipson, MD, chief medical officer for Methodist Le Bonheur. Performed in a cath lab setting, percutaneous coronary intervention, or coronary angioplasty, is a non-surgical procedure that opens narrowed or blocked coronary arteries with a balloon. A patient can experience relief from symptoms of heart disease or reduced heart damage during or after a heart attack. The Memphis-based healthcare system participated in a rigorous evaluation process and successfully demonstrated exceptional standardized processes, impeccable safety controls and enhanced communication between patients, families and care teams. For more information about services offered throughout Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, please visit MethodistHealth.org. About Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare Based in Memphis, Tennessee, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare has been caring for patients and families regardless of their ability to pay for more than 100 years. Guided by roots in the United Methodist Church and founded in 1918 to help meet the growing need for quality healthcare in the greater Memphis area, MLH has grown from one hospital into a comprehensive healthcare system with 13,000 Associates supporting six hospitals, including nationally ranked Le Bonheur Children's Hospital , ambulatory surgery centers, outpatient facilities, a hospice residence and physician and specialty practices serving communities across the Mid-South. From transplants and advanced heart procedures to expert neurology services and compassionate cancer care, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare offers clinical expertise with a focus on improving every life we touch. SOURCE Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare PRINCETON, N.J., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Miami International Holdings, Inc. (MIH), a technology-driven leader in building and operating regulated financial markets across multiple asset classes and geographies, today announced the successful launch of MIAX Sapphire, its fourth national securities exchange for U.S. multi-listed options, with the rollout of options on its first symbol, IBM. MIAX Sapphire will begin offering trading in additional symbols in multiple phases on a weekly schedule commencing next week and continuing through October 21, 2024. The launch of the MIAX Sapphire electronic exchange will be followed by the opening of a physical trading floor in Miami, Florida, in 2025. MIAX Sapphire will be the first national securities exchange to establish operations in Miami. This space will include a next-generation trading floor, ancillary office space for MIAX employees and market participants, conference facilities and broadcast media space. "MIAX's expansion in the U.S. options space has been accomplished entirely through organic growth and the successful launch of four options exchanges since 2012 is a significant achievement for our company. I am grateful to all of the MIAX teams, especially our business, technology and legal teams, for enabling us to build and launch all of our exchanges over such a short period," said Thomas P. Gallagher, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MIH. "The launch of the MIAX Sapphire electronic exchange is an important first step towards opening our state-of-the-art physical trading floor in Miami in 2025, and further expanding our presence in Florida." MIAX Sapphire utilizes Taker-Maker pricing and a Price-Time allocation model while leveraging MIAX-based technology and infrastructure, a highly resilient platform that has delivered 99.9998% operational uptime since the launch of MIAX Options in 2012. "MIAX Sapphire provides the industry with a new exchange designed to meet the high performance demands of the U.S. options industry," said Shelly Brown, Executive Vice President, Strategic Planning and Business Development of MIH. "MIAX Sapphire is built using the same proprietary technology and infrastructure underpinning other MIAX exchanges, enabling existing MIAX Exchange members to access the new exchange with minimal additional technology efforts." For more information on MIAX Sapphire, including key milestone dates, member on-boarding and technology requirements, please visit miaxglobal.com/markets/us-options/sapphire-options or contact MIAX Trading Operations at [email protected]. About MIAX MIAX's parent holding company, Miami International Holdings, Inc., owns Miami International Securities Exchange, LLC (MIAX), MIAX PEARL, LLC (MIAX Pearl), MIAX Emerald, LLC (MIAX Emerald), MIAX Sapphire LLC (MIAX Sapphire), Minneapolis Grain Exchange, LLC (MGEX), Ledger X LLC d/b/a MIAX Derivatives Exchange (MIAXdx), The Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) and Dorman Trading, LLC (Dorman Trading). MIAX, MIAX Pearl, MIAX Emerald and MIAX Sapphire are national securities exchanges registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission that are enabled by MIAX's in-house built, proprietary technology. MIAX offers trading of options on all four exchanges as well as cash equities through MIAX Pearl Equities. The MIAX trading platform was built to meet the high-performance quoting demands of the U.S. options trading industry and is differentiated by throughput, latency, reliability and wire-order determinism. MIAX also serves as the exclusive exchange venue for cash-settled options on the SPIKES Volatility Index (Ticker: SPIKE), a measure of the expected 30-day volatility in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY). MGEX is a registered exchange with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and offers trading in a variety of products including Hard Red Spring Wheat Futures. MGEX is a Designated Contract Market (DCM) and Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO) under the CFTC, providing DCM and DCO services in an array of asset classes. MIAXdx is a CFTC regulated exchange and clearinghouse and is registered as a DCM, DCO, and Swap Execution Facility (SEF) with the CFTC. BSX is a fully electronic, vertically integrated international securities market headquartered in Bermuda and organized in 1971. BSX specializes in the listing and trading of capital market instruments such as equities, debt issues, funds, hedge funds, derivative warrants, and insurance linked securities. Dorman Trading is a full-service Futures Commission Merchant registered with the CFTC. MIAX's executive offices and National Operations Center are located in Princeton, N.J., with additional U.S. offices located in Chicago, IL and Miami, FL. MGEX offices are located in Minneapolis, MN. MIAXdx offices are located in Princeton, N.J. BSX offices are located in Hamilton, Bermuda. Dorman Trading offices are located in Chicago, IL. To learn more about MIAX visit www.miaxglobal.com. To learn more about MGEX visit www.miaxglobal.com/mgex. To learn more about MIAXdx visit www.miaxdx.com. To learn more about BSX visit www.bsx.com. To learn more about Dorman Trading visit www.dormantrading.com. Disclaimer and Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements The press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase any securities of Miami International Holdings, Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, the Company), and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer; solicitation or sale would be unlawful. This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as "may," "future," "plan" or "planned," "will" or "should," "expected," "anticipates," "draft," "eventually" or "projected." You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. All third-party trademarks (including logos and icons) referenced by the Company remain the property of their respective owners. Unless specifically identified as such, the Company's use of third-party trademarks does not indicate any relationship, sponsorship, or endorsement between the owners of these trademarks and the Company. Any references by the Company to third-party trademarks is to identify the corresponding third-party goods and/or services and shall be considered nominative fair use under the trademark law. Media Contact: Andy Nybo, SVP, Chief Communications Officer (609) 955-2091 [email protected] SOURCE MIAX LOS ANGELES, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Inc. Magazine has honored Mirror Digital by ranking it number 1113 on its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, recognizing the fastest-growing private companies in America. This accolade not only highlights our rapid growth but also underscores our significant impact as a leader in diverse and multicultural digital media. Mirror Digital is a leading Black-owned digital media network dedicated to Latine, Black, AANHPI, and LGBTQIA+ audiences, stories and Creators. Mirror Digital is ranked number 1113 on Inc. 5000's 2024 Fastest-Growing Private Company List. Inc. 5000 black and white logo For over 12 years, Mirror Digital has been a trailblazer in delivering groundbreaking interactive media experiences, driven by the diverse narratives of our 1,000+ Publisher and Creators. Our mission remains steadfast: to connect the world's most recognized brands with culture, commerce, and community. The inclusion on the Inc. 5000 list for the second year is a testament to our unwavering commitment to innovation, our ability to amplify diverse voices, and our capacity to deliver meaningful client results that drive business impact. "Our recognition on the Inc. 5000 list reflects the strong legacy we've established at Mirror Digital as a pioneer for over 12 years. We are deeply honored to be recognized on the Inc. 5000 list once again," said Sheila Marmon, Founder and CEO of Mirror Digital. "This achievement stems from the dedication of our team, the support from our clients, and the shared mission with our Publishers and Creators for which we are thankful." Mirror is excited to continue our journey with the launch of new groundbreaking products this Fall to support our community including The Scene, a one-of-a-kind platform for diverse creators; Instafluence, our new creator offering; and Mirror Edge, our advanced programmatic solution. Senior hires across Sales, Marketing, and Programmatic further position us to drive even greater results. For more information about partnering with Mirror Digital for advertising placements, creator content, or career opportunities, please visit mirrordigital.com. About Mirror Digital: Mirror Digital is a leading Black-owned digital media network dedicated to Latine, Black, AANHPI, and LGBTQIA+ audiences, stories and Creators. Founded by Sheila Marmon in 2012, we are a next-generation digital ecosystem of Publishers & Creators, cultural tastemakers, and marketing innovators. Our robust network of 1,000+ media partners bridges the gap between the world's most recognized brands and diverse communities, driving action and delivering impactful results. About Inc. Inc., the world's most trusted business media brand, offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build exceptional companies. Its award-winning multi-platform content reaches more than 50 million people each month through websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. The prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced annually since 1982, recognizes the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States based on company data". For media inquiries, please contact: Katina Lee: [email protected] SOURCE Mirror Digital Foundation's Purdy Emerging Leaders Scholarship Program to Support 320+ Students During the 2024-2025 Academic Year ST. LOUIS, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- MOHELA, a non-profit, governmental corporation dedicated to helping the student loan borrowers it serves, announced the awarding of $1,493,300 in scholarships to over 320 Missouri students during the 2024-2025 academic year through its Foundation's Purdy Emerging Leaders Scholarship Program. "We are proud to award this year's recipients of the Purdy Emerging Leaders Scholarship Program for their outstanding academic performance, commitment to leadership, and dedication to their communities," said Melissa Findley, Executive Director of the Missouri Scholarship & Loan Foundation. "By supporting these outstanding students in their higher education journey, we are investing in the future leaders of our communities." The Purdy Emerging Leaders Scholarship Program was established by MOHELA's Foundation, the Missouri Scholarship & Loan Foundation, to provide scholarships to outstanding students on Missouri college campuses who demonstrate academic excellence, leadership, and character, and who require additional funding for higher education. "Being non-profit, MOHELA is committed to supporting students including by helping to eliminate financial barriers to ensure that more young Missourians can fulfill their higher education dreams," said Scott Giles, Executive Director, and CEO of MOHELA. "By providing these scholarships to hundreds of deserving students, MOHELA's Foundation is helping to pave the way for their academic success and future contributions to Missouri's communities." The recipients of the 2024-2025 Purdy Emerging Leaders Scholarship Program will be attending 39 colleges and universities across Missouri, including Drury University, Missouri State University, Missouri University of Science & Technology, Saint Louis University and University of Missouri- Columbia. Janelle P. from Springfield, Missouri, expressed her gratitude: "This scholarship will significantly ease the financial burden of my education, allowing me to focus more on my academic and leadership pursuits. It provides motivation to excel and make the most of the opportunities ahead. I am committed to upholding the values and expectations associated with this scholarship, and I look forward to contributing positively to my community and future profession as I continue my educational journey. Thank you once again for your belief in my potential and for investing in my future. Your support makes a meaningful difference in my life, and I am truly grateful." Warren B. from St. James, Missouri, conveyed his appreciation: "This scholarship will significantly reduce my financial burden and allow me to focus more on my studies. I am looking forward to the upcoming school year and the chance to continue to demonstrate the qualities that this scholarship recognizes. I am also eager to uphold the values of leadership and community service that the Purdy Emerging Leaders Scholarship represents. Once again, thank you for your generosity and support. I am determined to make you proud of your investment in my education." The Missouri Scholarship & Loan Foundation was established by MOHELA in 2010 to enhance accessibility and affordability of higher education for Missouri families. Through its Foundation, MOHELA provides grants, scholarships, and zero-interest loans to support students, families, local institutions, high schools, and nonprofit organizations in Missouri. In the last five years, the Foundation has assisted more than 8,500 students in the local community, distributing a total of $17.5 million in scholarships and grants, and $24.2 million in interest-free loans for Missouri students during the 2018-2023 academic years. For more information on the Foundation, please visit: https://www.moslf.org/programs.aspx About MOHELA MOHELA is a non-profit, governmental corporation with 40 years of experience and a track record of providing exceptional customer service to the borrowers it serves. MOHELA plays an essential role in the federal student loan ecosystem, providing support and assistance for around 8 million federal borrowers on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA). The organization is frequently named a top servicer in FSA quarterly surveys due to its commitment to providing high-quality customer service to their borrowers. In 2023, MOHELA, on behalf of FSA, helped 6 million borrowers enter repayment and facilitated over 3.1 million customer service calls. While serving as the interim PSLF servicer, MOHELA processed the largest amount of forgivenessnearly $55 billion for 737,000 individual borrowersby an FSA contractor in the history of the program. Media Contact: [email protected] SOURCE MOHELA Both companies are exhibiting at the upcoming AI Summit SILICON VALLEY, Calif., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Movellus today announced that it has joined the Silicon Catalyst ecosystem as the newest member of their In-Kind Partner (IKP) network. Silicon Catalyst is the only incubator + accelerator focused on the global semiconductor industry including Chips, Chiplets, Materials, IP and Silicon fabrication-based Photonics, MEMS, Sensors, Life Science and Quantum. The Silicon Catalyst IKPs provides technical and business support to the Portfolio Companies in the incubator + accelerator, enabling them to tap into the products and services available to enhance the growth of their companies. Silicon Catalyst Silicon Catalyst Portfolio Companies will now have access to the Movellus high-performance energy and performance-optimized infrastructure IP for their complex SoCs. The Movellus Aeonic Digital IP platform comprises product families targeted at: on-die sensing to provide visibility required to solve significant challenges like SDC (Silent Data Corruption), digital clocking which allows for architectural innovation through novel strategies like per-core distributed clocking or fine-grained DVFS (Digital Voltage and Frequency Scaling), and on-die power delivery to maximize energy savings through per-core DVFS. End applications range from ultra-low power edge AI devices to performance-centric cloud datacenter compute and AI offerings. Lee Vick, Vice President of Strategic Marketing, Movellus "Movellus is excited to be working with the incredible community of start-ups that Silicon Catalyst has enabled. The inevitable migration from yesterday's analog clocking approaches to the smaller, distributed, observable digital clocking architectures that feed silicon lifecycle analytics platforms is happening now. It is the forward-thinking companies in the Silicon Catalyst portfolio that are leading the charge for innovative architectures required to develop modern AI chips and other leading-edge SoCs." Pete Rodriguez, CEO, Silicon Catalyst "Adding Movellus as our latest IKP extends our ability to provide the most advanced IP available to our start-ups. The billions of transistors required to develop industry leading solutions will necessitate modular digital designs, and Movellus is the undisputed leader in digital clocking technologies. This collaboration with Movellus will help tool the next generation of silicon startups with observable and energy-optimized infrastructure IP." Silicon Catalyst has developed an unparalleled support ecosystem for its semiconductor start-ups, providing a strong network of financiers, business advisors, and industry professionals who help companies to launch and scale in the market. In addition, the incubator provides privileged access to services, expertise, and intellectual property from the comprehensive network of In-Kind Partners that can empower their companies' technological innovation and business growth. AI Hardware Summit Exhibition September 10-12, 2024 in San Jose To learn more about Movellus and Silicon Catalyst, meet us at the upcoming AI Hardware and Edge AI Summit, https://aihwedgesummit.com/events/aihwedgesummit Movellus will be showcasing its award-winning IP portfolio for energy optimization at Booth 68. Silicon Catalyst will be exhibiting in the AI Innovation Village, with personnel from the incubator and the Silicon Catalyst Ventures team to meet with attendees. The show floor will be open from September 10th to 12th at the Signia by Hilton in San Jose, California. Silicon Catalyst is pleased to offer a specially arranged discount to attend this important industry event; Discount Code: SILICONCATALYST15 for 15% off the conference registration fee. This limited time offer expires August 19, 2024. About Movellus Movellus provides critical infrastructure IP for complex SoCs in the AI era. Movellus IP is integrated into an array of applications ranging from edge AI devices to performance-centric cloud datacenter compute and networking offerings. The company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA, with R&D centers in Michigan and Toronto. Visit us at: www.movellus.com Movellus, the Movellus logo, Aeonic, Aeonic Generate, Aeonic Power, Elevating Silicon, Aeonic Insight, and Intelligent Clock Networks are among the trademarks of Movellus. The term "Movellus" refers to Movellus Circuits Inc and/or its subsidiaries. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. About Silicon Catalyst "It's about what's next" Silicon Catalyst is the world's only incubator focused exclusively on accelerating semiconductor solutions, built on a comprehensive coalition of in-kind and strategic partners to dramatically reduce the cost and complexity of development. More than 1200 startup companies worldwide have engaged with Silicon Catalyst over the past 9 years and the company has admitted over 100 exciting companies. Silicon Catalyst supplies startups with access to design tools, silicon devices, networking, and a path to funding, banking and marketing acumen to successfully launch and grow their companies' novel technology solutions. The Silicon Catalyst model has been proven to dramatically accelerate a startup's trajectory while at the same time de-risking the equation for investors. With a world-class network of mentors to advise startups, Silicon Catalyst is helping new semiconductor companies address the challenges in moving from idea to realization. The Silicon Catalyst Angels was established in July 2019 as a separate organization to provide access to seed and Series A funding for Silicon Catalyst portfolio companies. Additionally, the Silicon Catalyst Venture group was recently launched to provide funding to newly admitted companies to the Silicon Catalyst incubator + accelerator. More information is available at www.siliconcatalyst.com, www.siliconcatalyst.uk, www.siliconcatalystangels.com and www.sicatalystvc.com Press Contacts Movellus Anika Karvat (503) 545-6320 [email protected] Silicon Catalyst Richard Curtin [email protected] SOURCE Movellus EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The number one kid's bath brand bubbles up the fun for even the littlest of bathers with their new line of bath products, specially formulated for baby's delicate skin. Baby Bubble by Mr. Bubble features two new products: a 16-ounce Ultra Gentle Bubble Bath and 12-ounce 2-in-1 Wash & Shampoo. Gentle Formulas Featuring the ABC Superfoods of Skin Health Baby Bubble is enriched naturally with the ABC superfoods of skin health: apples, blueberries and carrots. Post this Introducing Baby Bubble by Mr. Bubble. The number one kids bath brand bubbles up the fun for even the littlest of bathers with their new line of bath products, specially formulated for babys delicate skin. Mr. Bubble has been trusted by caregivers for over 60 years, and the brand is excited to now be there for them and their newborns from day one. Whether seeking to create a mini bubble bath for your baby or to gently cleanse their hair and skin, the new Ultra Gentle Bubble Bath and 2-in-1 Wash & Shampoo were developed to nourish the sensitive skin of little ones with high-quality ingredients that parents can trust. Baby Bubble is hypoallergenic, tear-free, dermatologist-tested and consciously curated in the USA with ingredients that are free of parabens, phthalates and dyes. The new products are also enriched naturally with the ABC superfoods of skin health: apples, blueberries and carrots. Vitamin-rich apples serve as a natural moisturizer to help smooth and soften skin, while the antioxidants and vitamins of blueberries balance skin health. Carrots are rich in beta carotene, providing important hydration and protection benefits. The line is infused with a Sweet Violet Cloud fragrance that fills the tub and air with a light, clean scent. The fragrance combines notes of orange, violet, lily, apricot and baby powder, providing a comforting and soothing bath time experience for both baby and parents. A Natural Expansion of a Trusted, 60+ Year Brand "Developing this new line was a natural progression for Mr. Bubble, who has been bringing fun to the tub for over 60 years," says Michelle Bartlett, Senior Marketing Manager of Product Development at The Village Company. "We wanted to extend that experience to babies, helping start their bath time journey on the right foot. From our quality formulas to soothing fragrance and bubblin' fun suds, we're excited to help create memories that will last a lifetime." The new duo is available on mrbubble.com and Amazon, and can be found on-shelf in Publix grocery stores. Shoppers can also find a variety of Mr. Bubble products for bathtime, sensory play and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) for all ages at mrbubble.com. About The Village Company The Village Company (TVC) has a long and rich heritage in personal care products. Originally known as Minnetonka, Inc., TVC markets some of the country's most endearing and enduring heritage brands including Mr. Bubble, the #1 kids bath brand with #1 bubble bath, selling over 8 bottles per minute; Village Naturals Therapy and Village Naturals Bath Shoppe bath products; Soft & Dri deodorant; Dep hair gel; and Hallu bath and shower line. The Village Company's brands are widely distributed through leading retailers in the food, drug, mass and e-commerce channels. Visit thevillagecompany.com to learn more. SOURCE The Village Company North America's Original Blow Dry Bar Franchise Debuts in Mt. Juliet, Offers Founder's Rate for Mane Squeeze Membership MT. JULIET, Tenn., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Blo Blow Dry Bar, North America's original blow dry bar and blow dry bar franchise, will open its newest bar on August 23 in Mt. Juliet. Located at 401 S. Mount Juliet Road Suite 322, the new bar will offer guests five signature styles on its hair menu, a la carte options, a variety of hair treatments, plus five signature makeup looks and a brand-new section of customized looks to provide endless inspiration. Also, for a limited time, the new bar will offer a founder's rate for its signature Mane Squeeze Membership that includes two blowouts a month for $75, $5 off each additional blow out and 10% off retail. Trupti Patel, the new local owner of Blo Blow Dry Bar in Mt. Juliet, brings a unique blend of corporate expertise and entrepreneurial spirit to her role. With 20 years of experience in corporate accounting, Patel felt a deep desire to transition into business ownership. In 2020, she discovered Blo Blow Dry Bar as a customer and was immediately captivated by its concept. A loyal member herself, Patel's experience directly influenced her decision to pursue ownership and bring multiple bars to her area. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, she is thrilled to finally see her vision of owning a Blo Blow Dry Bar location come to life, bringing her passion for beauty and community to Mt. Juliet. "Opening Blo Blow Dry Bar in Mt. Juliet fills me with immense pride and excitement," shared Patel. "The commitment by Blo to empower individuals through personalized beauty experiences deeply resonates with me, and I'm eager for the opportunity to carry out that mission within my community." To celebrate the opening, Blo Blow Dry Bar guests will be able to purchase a single discounted blowout for $40, this offer runs from August 23 to September 22. Blo Blow Dry Bar is on a mission to create a space where people of all ages, ethnicities, and orientations are welcomed, represented, and made to feel gorgeous while emphasizing the need for self-care and wellness. Combining a sophisticated design with a fun and energetic environment, Blo cultivates a seamless and enjoyable experience for guests upon their arrival, during, and after their services. Expertly trained blo-ers are available for consultation seven days a week to meet the needs of all guests. The brand's hair menu includes five signature styles from sleek and straight to bouncy curls, plus a wide assortment of customized looks including updos and braids. Blo Blow Dry Bar also offers makeup services from expert artists on hand to help guests look and feel amazing for any occasion. Blo Blow Dry Bar is open Monday to Saturday from 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. and Sunday, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. For more information on Blo Blow Dry Bar in Mt. Juliet, please visit https://blomedry.com/blo-mt-juliet/, email [email protected], or call (615) 754-4020. About Blo Blow Dry Bar Blo Blow Dry Bar is North America's original blow dry bar and the world's largest blow dry bar franchise. The company transformed beauty norms and reinvented the salon industry when it launched the "no cuts, no color" concept: only blow outs. Since opening its first location in Canada in 2007, Blo has grown to over 150 locations across the U.S. and Canada and continues to expand rapidly. The brand has also evolved over time, adding makeup services, a membership program, and quality retail products to its bars. With a mission to enhance the lives of those in the community through the power of flawless blow outs and beauty services, Blo Blow Dry Bar offers perfectly styled hair and exceptional customer experiences seven days a week. For more information visit www.blomedry.com. Media Contact Kira Obolsky | Fishman PR | (847) 945-1300 | [email protected] SOURCE Blo Blow Dry Bar and LashKind HOUSTON, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- NAS Investment Solutions (NASIS), a national property investment sponsor known for high quality passive real estate investments with reliable yield performance, has created a new opportunity for accredited real estate investors with the acquisition of Tranquility Grove Townhomes. The property acquisition also creates an investment opportunity for 1031 Exchange investors, who are in immediate need of a quality replacement property. The property investment is also suitable for self-directed IRAs. NAS Investment solutions has created a new opportunity for accredited real estate investors with the acquisition of Tranquility Grove Townhomes. The property acquisition also creates an investment opportunity for 1031 Exchange investors, who are in immediate need of a quality replacement property. NAS Investment Solutions (NASIS), a national property investment sponsor known for high quality passive real estate investments with reliable yield performance, has created a new opportunity for accredited real estate investors with the acquisition of Tranquility Grove Townhomes. The property acquisition also creates an investment opportunity for 1031 Exchange investors, who are in immediate need of a quality replacement property. The property investment is also suitable for self-directed IRAs. Tranquility Grove Townhomes is in a prime North Houston location, surrounded by a vibrant economic landscape consisting of numerous major employment hubs. The gated community consists of ninety-two townhomes with unique private attached garages. The property features an average home size of 1,032 square-feet and is located approximately nineteen miles north of downtown Houston and ten miles west of George Bush Intercontinental Airport. New roofs were recently added to all buildings on the 5.89-acre site which features community amenities such as a pool with deck furnishings, fitness center, playground, and a renovated clubhouse with copy and fax services. Townhome interiors include washer and dryer hookups, central air and heating, a modern appliance package and private patios. Thirty-seven of the property's ninety-two townhomes have been renovated with modern interiors such as laminate-style wood flooring, shaker-style cabinets with pulls, and modernized light fixtures. Renovation of the remaining fifty-five units is an excellent value-add opportunity for investors. National Asset Services (NAS), one of the Country's leading commercial real estate companies, known for maximizing property value in all economic situations while enhancing residents' living experience, will be responsible for overseeing property management as well as asset managing the multifamily complex for the property's investment clients. "We are excited to offer our clients the opportunity to invest in this unique townhome property in a prime North Houston submarket with tremendous economic upside potential. This acquisition provides an excellent opportunity for 1031 Exchange investors anticipating a close on their down leg property in 2024," commented Karen E. Kennedy, President and Founder of NAS Investment Solutions and National Asset Services. "The local area is a thriving hub of diverse industry and innovation that is on a solid path to more growth and development, and we are excited to be part of it." Accredited investors seeking more information on this sponsor-owned property should visit nasinvestmentsolutions.com and contact Karen E. Kennedy at [email protected] or at 310.988.4240. About National Asset Services (NAS) Since 2008, NAS has served over 2,600 investment clients and has established an impressive record for investment property management. The history includes generating over $660 million in cash distributions to property investors and managing a commercial real estate portfolio of 186 diverse commercial properties, comprised of over 25 million square feet, in thirty-one states. The overall value of NAS' managed portfolio in the company's 15-year history, totals over $3.38 billion. Visit nasassets.com for more information. About NAS Investment Solutions (NASIS) NAS Investment Solutions was established to leverage National Asset Services' experience in investment property management by identifying, acquiring, and enhancing commercial real estate investments across all sectors of the real estate industry. NAS Investment Solutions is recognized nationwide for its sponsorship of high-quality DST investment programs that offer investors well-performing assets that produce reliable yields. All the company's investment properties offer multiple benefits for investors including: Reliable cash flow from day one, paid monthly by direct deposit Benefits of ownership, including mortgage interest deductions and depreciation The loan is non-recourse to all investors Management Free Ownership Ability to invest in larger assets on a fractional basis Self-directed IRA suitable All Properties qualify for 1031 Exchange The company's website, nasinvestmentsolutions.com offers investment articles, comprehensive information, and a free guide on the 1031 exchange process and for investors seeking passive DST property investments. Contact JW Robison [email protected] 310-795-8985 SOURCE NAS Investment Solutions WASHINGTON, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EDT, Wednesday, Aug. 14, to provide an update on the agency's Boeing Crew Flight Test. Mission managers continue to evaluate the Starliner spacecraft's readiness in advance of decisional meetings no earlier than next week regarding the return of NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Audio of the teleconference will stream live on the agency's website at: Boeings Starliner spacecraft is pictured docked to the International Space Station. This long-duration photograph was taken at night from the orbital complex as it soared 258 miles above western China. Credit: NASA https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv/ Participants include: Ken Bowersox , associate administrator, NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate , associate administrator, NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate Joel Montalbano , deputy associate administrator, NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate , deputy associate administrator, NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate Russ DeLoach , chief, NASA's Office of Safety and Mission Assurance , chief, NASA's Office of Safety and Mission Assurance NASA chief astronaut Joe Acaba Emily Nelson , chief flight director, NASA's Flight Operations Directorate To ask questions during the teleconference, media must RSVP no later than two hours prior to the start of the call to Jimi Russell at: [email protected]. NASA's media accreditation policy is available online. NASA's Boeing Crew Flight Test launched on June 5 on a ULA (United Launch Alliance) Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. It is an end-to-end test of the Starliner system as part of the agency's Commercial Crew Program. Through partnership with American private industry, NASA is opening access to low Earth orbit and the space station to more people, science, and commercial opportunities. For NASA's blog and more information about the mission, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew SOURCE NASA As the 2024 presidential election draws closer, U.S. adults are likely to find themselves subjected to a heavy dose of political media and content. But according to a new survey from Bentley University and Gallup, businesses are one group that Americans do not want to hear from on current events: Fewer than four in 10 U.S. adults (38%) believe businesses should take public stances, a decline of 10 percentage points since 2022. WALTHAM, Mass., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The survey -- the third iteration of the Bentley-Gallup Business in Society Report -- was conducted April 29-May 6, 2024, with a nationally representative sample of 5,835 U.S. adults from the Gallup Panel. The results show Americans of nearly all age groups, genders, races and partisan groups have become less likely to want to hear from businesses on current events over the past two years. For the second straight year, a Gallup-Bentley University survey shows Americans desire for businesses to take stances on current events is falling, with 38% now supporting businesses speaking out. Groups who were previously the most receptive to hearing from businesses are now considerably less likely to say so. In 2022, three-quarters of Democrats thought businesses should take a stance on current events; yet, over the past two years, that support has decreased by 22 percentage points. Over the same period, Asian and Black adults have become 27 and 18 percentage points less likely, respectively, to think businesses should speak out. The only groups who now express majority support for businesses taking public stances are LGBTQ+ adults (55%), Black adults (54%) and Democrats (53%). While Republicans' support for businesses speaking out has increased from 17% to 22% over the past year, they remain the political constituency that is least likely to want businesses to take public stances overall. Adults 60 and older saw a similar three-percentage-point increase in their support for businesses speaking publicly on current events in the past year, from 35% to 38%, though both percentages are lower than this group's 43% who favored businesses speaking out in 2022. Majorities Favor Business Input on Climate Change, Mental Health, Diversity While 38% of adults generally think businesses should speak publicly on current events, not all events are considered equal. Narrow majorities of U.S. adults want to hear from businesses on climate change (54%), mental health (53%), and diversity, equity, and inclusion (53%). Free speech (48%) and healthcare issues (48%) garner near-majority support, but far fewer U.S. adults want businesses to speak publicly on what may be several of the most salient issues during the November election, including gun laws (32%), immigration policy (31%), international conflicts (24%), abortion (20%) and the candidates themselves (17%). Democrats are more likely than Republicans and independents to want businesses to speak out on all 13 topics tested -- particularly diversity, equity, and inclusion (79%) and climate change (78%). Relative to all other topics, Republicans are most likely to want businesses to speak out on free speech (36%), mental health (33%) and healthcare (28%). Political Endorsements May Drive Away More Customers Than They Attract Businesses that publicly endorse a political candidate risk harming their bottom lines among consumers who do not share that candidate preference. More than six in 10 Democrats and Republicans (68% and 61%, respectively) say they would be less likely to purchase from a company that endorsed a candidate from the opposing party. Independents are about three times more likely to say they would avoid purchasing products from a company that endorsed a candidate from either party than to say such an endorsement would make them more likely to purchase its products. Most independents say it wouldn't affect their purchasing decisions. If companies endorse a candidate from a person's preferred political party, it is unlikely to hurt the business within that group. Just over one in three Democrats (34%) and Republicans (38%) say they would be more likely to purchase products from a company that endorsed a political candidate from their own party, and at least six in 10 say it wouldn't affect their decisions. Meanwhile, less than 5% say an endorsement from their preferred party would make them less likely to do business with the company. Bottom Line As Americans collectively turn their attention to the 2024 presidential race and the parties' respective platforms on a host of policy issues, their tolerance for businesses that wade into those debates continues to wane. For two consecutive years, adults have become less likely to want to hear from businesses on current events, with few topics earning interest from even a slight majority. Though less than one-third of adults want businesses to speak out on gun laws, immigration policy or abortion, the American public is especially unlikely to want businesses to take a formal stance on political candidates. Companies that do choose to endorse a candidate may feel repercussions in their bottom lines, as many partisan consumers indicate they would be less likely to patronize businesses that formally endorse candidates of the opposing party. While businesses primarily serving constituencies that are more receptive to corporate political involvement -- such as Democrats, Americans of color, LGBTQ+ adults, and young adults -- may be less likely to suffer those consequences, even these groups have become notably less open to business involvement in politics in recent years. Survey Methods: Results for the 2024 Bentley-Gallup Business in Society Report are based on a Gallup Panel web survey completed by 5,835 U.S. adults, aged 18 and older, conducted April 29-May 6, 2024. For results based on this sample of adults, the margin of sampling error at the 95% confidence level is 2.1 percentage points for response percentages around 50% and is 1.3 percentage points for response percentages around 10% or 90%, design effect included. This report outlines preliminary findings from the survey. 2023 and 2022 results are from previous iterations of the Bentley-Gallup Business in Society Report. In 2023, the survey was conducted May 8-15, 2023. For these results, the maximum margin of sampling error is 1.8 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. In 2022, the survey was conducted June 8-19, 2022. For these results, the maximum margin of sampling error is 1.9 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls. SOURCE Bentley University EAST LANSING, Mich., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) affirms its commitment to resident inclusion and contributions in Emergency Medicine through its Resident Ambassador Panel. ABEM announces the newest members to its Resident Ambassador Panel as Oladele Osisami, M.D., and Heather Friedman, D.O. They join Charles Sanky, M.D., M.P.H., whose term concludes July 31, 2025. Dr. Osisami is an EM resident in the New York Presbyterian Columbia and Cornell residency program. He is currently President of Greater Influence, Inc., a nonprofit organization that aims to increase representation in medicine by improving access to resources. In addition to this role, he has been on the steering committee for the Distinction in Business and Leadership. His future plans are at a university-based hospital. Dr. Friedman is an EM resident at the Yale New Haven Hospital. She brings eight years of experience as a supervising pharmacist. In addition, she currently serves as chairperson of the AAEM Advocacy Committee. Her future plans include fellowship training in Wilderness Medicine. Dr. Sanky is an EM resident at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (New York, New York)The Mount Sinai Hospital, Elmhurst Hospital Center (Queens, New York), and Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital. Dr. Sanky also holds an M.P.H. degree from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He is currently Vice Chair of Research for EMRA, and plans to undertake fellowship training in the National Clinical Scholars Program, focusing on health system design, disaster medicine, and health equity. Dr. Sanky has served on the RAP since August 2022 and has made many contributions including in disaster medicine and health equity. Panel members will provide a resident perspective to certain ABEM activities, such as applying for certification, communicating with residents, and advising on the content of the Residency Visitation Program and the ABEM website. ABEM looks forward to working alongside these residents and to their contributions to ABEM activities. Additional information about the Resident Ambassador Panel is available on the ABEM website. Photos available on request. Media Contact: A.J. Wolf [email protected] SOURCE American Board of Emergency Medicine The Learning Tree, PA Branch Soft Launch Date: Friday, Aug. 16 Time: 5:30 p.m. Location: Cumberland County Historical Society (21 N. Pitt St. in Carlisle) RSVP: safronia.perry@gmail.com The way she sees it, Ivy Berry stands on the shoulders of giants. In the 1940s, her grandmother, Dorris Campbell, was Carlisle High School's first Black woman to be voted most likely to succeed by her classmates, which included the Ewing brothers who later opened the Carlisle funeral home and Jimmie George who became the owner of George's Flower Shop. She went on to lead the borough's first desegregated Girl Scouts troop and advocated for the desegregation of restaurants in Carlisle. Berry's uncle, Barry Campbell, was once standing outside while police investigated a couple of fires that had sprung up in the borough. Officers told him to go home but didn't approach white counterparts that were also outside in the area. "He said if it's not something that's enforced across the board for all, then it ... shouldn't be enforced for any and so he and his friends, they stood their ground," Berry said. Barry Campbell was arrested and eventually acquitted. He later worked in Washington, D.C., as an assistant to Mayor Marion Barry. "Their blood is in me, and I'm passing it to my kids and my grandkids like a baton," said Berry, a mom of three and grandmother of two. She became the first woman to pastor Bethel AME church in Downingtown and advocated for the eventual creation of Carlisle's Truth & Reconciliation Commission. The stories of Berry and her family are just three of the many chronicles of Carlisle's Black history. A lifelong resident of the borough, Berry graduated from Carlisle High School and watched her children do the same. Still there are stories of Black-owned businesses that once operated in her hometown that she's never heard of and other accomplishments that have largely gone untold. "It's like we've lost such valuable pieces of who we were in this community, and I'm hoping that while there are still people around that can share some of those past things, that we can chronicle through ... storytelling, and write down so that we don't lose that information for generations to come," Berry said. A new nonprofit is on its way to Carlisle and beyond to do just that. A summer start It all started in summer 2020. A pandemic had upended life, and Carlisle resident Safronia Perry saw its effects on the Black community. Around the same time, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd died at the hands of police officers within months of each other. "I was sad, but I was also really angry," Perry said. "I was really angry that we're still living in a time where we feel like our Black sons and our Black daughters aren't safe." That June, her grandson was born. Holding him and gazing down at his tiny face, she wanted to do something more for him and for the Black community as a whole. "Racism isn't going away, at least not anytime soon, and we have to keep finding ways to thrive and finding ways to live through it," Perry said. "I didn't want to just be on the sideline; I want to be in the fight." Some might argue she was already fighting. At the time, Perry was working as the executive director of Hope Station, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing opportunities for personal advancement throughout Carlisle, known for its after-school programming and events like the Black Cultural Festival and Juneteenth. In 2022, she was sworn in as Carlisle's first black councilwoman. Still, to her, it didn't feel like enough. Perry announced her decision to step down from her Hope Station role in March 2023. She continued to work there part time until December, but her next venture was already taking shape. A collection of conferences Around the end of October last year, Perry attended a humanities conference in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was there she heard about the Learning Tree, an organization that supports asset-based development in communities and promotes social transformation. The Learning Tree was founded by De'Amon Harges, also known as "the Roving Listener." "He just went around, and he listened to people and listened to their stories ... and he took that with him," Perry said. The conference stirred in her a desire to bring something similar to Carlisle, some kind of storytelling. It was later, on a bus tour in St. Louis, that the idea began take root. "I learned a lot about ... land that was taken from the Black community, and how Black people are still thriving, [and] found a way to thrive there," Perry said. "All of that just came together to me." That's when her storytelling organization started to adopt a more solid form. In May, Perry attended the Learning Tree's conference, also in Indianapolis, to learn more about how the organization operated. It wasn't quite public knowledge then, but she was fixing to bring the organization beyond its Indianapolis base and broader than her hometown to Pennsylvania as a whole. Nailing down a nonprofit The Learning Tree, PA Branch will take a similar approach to its Indiana counterpart. "It's focusing on the work in the Black community, how we can work together," Perry said. "The premise of this is storytelling, and we're talking to everyday residents who decided that they wanted to, or felt the need to do something in their community to help build their community. So it's about everyday, Black changemakers." Initially, she expected the work to be a project, maybe central to the Carlisle area. Having grown up on Lincoln Street and called the borough home for most of her life, it's a location Perry knows well. She's watched Black-owned businesses slowly seep out of the Hope Station community and has heard of many that were gone before her time, from stores to barbershops to bars. It was a conversation during one of the Indianapolis conferences that broadened Perry's scope. A woman from Pittsburgh got emotional while saying her neighborhood doesn't look the way it used to and describing the gentrification there. Perry talked about the possibility of bringing the Learning Tree's notion to Carlisle, and the woman said she'd love to see it come to Pittsburgh. That's when Perry's idea for a Carlisle project grew to a statewide nonprofit. "Carlisle isn't the only place that's experiencing that, and I thought about all of the little towns, or boroughs or whatever, that are here, just in Cumberland County," she said. For example, until recently, she hadn't heard of Mount Tabor AME Zion Church, a Black church with a nearby cemetery in Mount Holly Springs in the process of being restored. Perry believes bringing the Learning Tree PA Branch to the whole state will allow it to continue to exist as a nonprofit, even after many of Carlisle's stories are told. "It can be something that as people are wanting to learn about Pennsylvania, now they've got something where they can learn about the neighborhoods all throughout the state, and what Black people did in those neighborhoods and how they were able to continue to live and how they thrive and how some of them are lost and gone now," she said. Story seeking process The initiative is one that will be made possible through partnerships. Perry hopes to work with local schools, prompting high school and college students to go out into the community to conduct interviews and gather these stories. "This gives students a way, a fun way, to learn about the history of the neighborhoods that they play in and walk in and spend time in," Perry said, adding that it could also ignite in them an interest to enter into a related career field. While she knows many Carlisle residents and stories throughout her time growing up in the borough, she plans to partner with local historical societies, libraries, YWCAs and other Black-serving organizations in each community that might already have a relationship with residents. This will help reach the areas of the state with which she's less familiar. Perry said the Cumberland County Historical Society has offered to help teach local students how to interview residents and to archive the stories they gather. Archives and Library Director Cara Curtis said the historical society intends to be a "strong partner" in Perry's work. In addition to teaching students how to conduct interviews, the society will also permanently store Cumberland County's stories. Curtis said these stories will capture more day-to-day life, snippets that likely weren't otherwise documented. "It's part of who we are," she said. "It's part of our fabric, but it doesn't make it into the paper record." Blair Williams, the society's assistant director for the archives and library, said with advances in technology, people are less likely to write letters, keep diaries or create other physical records often used to provide a first-hand look into history. To him, the Learning Tree, PA Branch's stories will help counter this. "We obviously have gaps and those gaps don't allow us to tell the full story of the county's history," Williams said. "That's our goal, to tell it as fully as possible, so any way that we can help tell those stories I think is beneficial." He hopes Perry will be able to reach members of the community that may not have wanted to share their stories or experiences directly with the society. Curtis said the historical society recognizes it has not always been inclusive and has recently worked to share more of the local stories that might have previously gone untold, such as that of Mount Tabor Church and Carlisle's Lincoln and Union cemeteries. This partnership could help further that goal. Once documented, Perry hopes to see these stories turned into art, be it documentaries, poems, murals, photos or a different sort of medium for public display. "It's important that they see themselves there because that's their home," she said. "You should see yourself reflected in your home. It does something to you, it brings that happiness, it brings that awareness ... because then you show it off." After the stories have been gathered and the art has been created, Perry wants to assemble it into an online database that allows people to view the Black history of communities throughout the state. Nonprofit timeline It's been about eight months since Perry put pen to paper on the new nonprofit, and her next step is bringing Pennsylvanians on board. A soft-launch for the Learning Tree, PA Branch will take place at the Cumberland County Historical Society at 5:30 p.m. Friday. "The soft launch is saying to the residents, 'Hey, this is coming, and we're gonna be looking for stories,'" Perry said. "If you have stories about community members who have made changes or done some things in the community, we want you to reach out." After that, she'll get to work on showcasing the nonprofit, establishing either a board of directors or an advisory council and seeking out grant opportunities for funding. She hopes to be fully up and running by the end of the year. Long-term impact Throughout her life, Berry has seen improvements in Carlisle. Tim Scott was elected as Carlisle's first Black mayor in 2014. The borough's police department has also seen Black leadership. However, there is more to be done. "I know what it means to have your application thrown in the trash even before you get up out of the interview seat just because," Berry said. "I know what it means to be followed around in the store like I'm going to steal something when I have money in my pocket. I know what it means to have to walk [in] downtown Carlisle and have people roll down the window and yell racial slurs at you. I know." The list goes on. "I'm very hopeful that the things that my grandmother went through, my uncle went through, even I went through to a certain degree, that my grandkids don't have to go through because now coalitions are being developed ... love is being spread, unity is being enforced, harmony is being projected," Berry said. In addition to learning about the places they live, Perry hopes the stories will challenge generations to come, prompting them to consider how they can improve their own communities. In the coming years, Perry would like to see more Black-owned businesses open in Carlisle and someday, she hopes a mural will reflect the community. Berry, too, hopes this storytelling will inspire others in the generations to come. "Don't think you can't achieve it because you don't see it right now," she said. "It's possible. It was possible in the past, and it's possible in the present, and it will be possible in the future." As for her own story and the stories of her late grandmother and uncle, Berry envisions a spoken word paired with photographs to tell of the work they've started. "I'm hoping that ... [someday] we won't have to have firsts because there will be a long lineage of people who served in prominent positions who are brown and Black," she said. "I'm hoping to crack the code on all the firsts now so then, when my grandson comes up, there are no more firsts, it's only a continuing line." Photos: An inside look at Mount Tabor AME Zion Church in Mount Holly Springs BEACHWOOD, Ohio, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- OneSeven is proud to announce its recognition on USA Today's prestigious list of the Best Financial Advisory Firms 2024, ranking 22nd out of 500 financial advisory firms nationwide and securing a top-two spot among advisory firms based out of Ohio. This honor is presented by USA Today and Statista Inc., the world-leading statistics portal and industry ranking provider. Over the last two years, OneSeven has seen remarkable growth, welcoming 15 new advisor teams and boosting its assets under management (AUM) from $2.2 billion to $4.3 billion. This swift expansion reflects the firm's dedication to providing top-notch financial advisory services and supporting its client's goals and values. With its presence now spanning 16 states and growing, OneSeven continues to expand its reach and amplify its impact. "Reflecting on our journey since 2016, it's truly remarkable that OneSeven has reached nearly $5 billion in assets under management in just eight years. This achievement would not have been possible without our exceptional sales team and our remarkable servicing and onboarding teams. Their dedication and teamwork have been crucial to our success, and I am incredibly grateful for their efforts and commitment," said Ron Gross, CEO of OneSeven. OneSeven celebrated its 8th anniversary on July 1st. Reflecting on nearly a decade of dedicated service, the recognition from USA TODAY is a fitting tribute to the journey and accomplishments of the firm. "At OneSeven, you're more than just a number," said Ben Feldmeyer, CEO and Private Wealth Advisor of Feldmeyer Financial Group, a DBA of OneSeven. "We have direct access to the head of every department, enabling us to get answers and approvals quickly. This allows us to focus on growing our practice instead of chasing down answers." About OneSeven: OneSeven is not your typical financial firm. Our mission is to make a meaningful impact in the world of wealth management, where unique experiences are rare. Our independent financial advisors go beyond the numbers, striving to provide holistic and tailored solutions for each client. We take the time to understand what truly drives you your interests, long-term goals, and aspirations. By becoming your trusted partners, we serve as sounding boards for your ambitions, challenges, concerns, and successes, aligning your finances with what truly matters. Discover more about OneSeven, our exceptional advisors, and how you can join our team by visiting our website at onesevenadvisor.com. * The Best Financial Advisory Firms 2024 highlights the top registered investment advisory (RIA) firms in the United States based on recommendations from over 25,000 Financial Advisors, Clients, and Industry Experts and the Development of Assets under Management (AUM). Brian Hart Flackable (866) 225-0920 ext. 101 [email protected] SOURCE OneSeven Ranking in the top 25% of the world's best private cloud companies ATLANTA, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- OneTrust, the market-defining platform helping organizations use data and AI responsibly, has been named to the 2024 Forbes Cloud 100, the definitive ranking of the top 100 private cloud companies in the world, published by Forbes in partnership with Bessemer Venture Partners and Salesforce Ventures. For the third year, the company sits in the top 25 percent of companies at spot 21. "The way companies think about data has fundamentally changed. The regulatory environment around data and consumer behavior shifts have made maximizing the collection and use of data no longer good enough. Now, it's all about responsibly collecting and using data," said Kabir Barday, OneTrust's Founder and CEO. "This year's list is the strongest group of standouts yet" Post this OneTrust recently announced it is expected to surpass $500 million in ARR later this year while maintaining positive free cash flow. This success is driven by its growing customer base of more than 14,000 customers around the world, including 75 percent of the Fortune 100, who have turned to OneTrust to help them use data and AI responsibly. In addition to placing on the prestigious Forbes Cloud 100, the company continues to be recognized for its breakthrough software solutions and dedication to innovation and impact. "For nine years, the Forbes Cloud 100 list has recognized the leading private cloud companies in the world, from AI to work software, infrastructure to security," said Alex Konrad, the Forbes editor of the Cloud 100. "This year's list is the strongest group of standouts yet, with revenue, valuations, and growth that will eventually make for historic IPOs." Barday continued, "OneTrust has led the way in enabling organizations around the globe to activate their use of data and AI by offering solutions to transparently collect first-party data and automate risk and compliance operations across privacy, security, AI governance, third parties, and IT risk. It's an honor to be included in the top quartile of the list, again, which is a testament to our continued momentum and vision for trusted, data-centric innovation." "Across nine years of data, we have yet to see as competitive of a cohort as the 2024 Cloud 100. The list value reached $820 billion this year, the highest list value in Cloud 100 history," said Mary D'Onofrio, partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. "Unsurprisingly, AI is now the highest valued category. We continue to be excited by how AI companies are scaling rapidly, transforming the cloud, and propelling the next wave of growth, driving a massive year-over-year jump in market cap of the list of over $150 billion." For the ninth consecutive year, the Cloud 100 reviews submissions from hundreds of cloud startups and private companies each year. The Cloud 100 evaluation process involved ranking companies across four factors: market leadership (35%), estimated valuation (30%), operating metrics (20%), and people & culture (15%). For market leadership, the Cloud 100 enlists the help of a judging panel of public cloud company CEOs who assist in evaluating and ranking their private company peers. "The past year, our industry has seen a generational step forward in innovation, and with AI leading the charge, we are witnessing one of the most important platform shifts in decades," said Paul Drews, managing partner at Salesforce Ventures. "The Cloud 100 list represents the best of the best, and we've never been more excited about what the future holds, not only for the cloud but for the entire technology industry. We are proud of what these founders and their communities have already accomplished, and look forward to seeing how they continue to transform the industry in the future." The Forbes 2024 Cloud 100 and 20 Rising Stars lists are published online at www.forbes.com/cloud100. About OneTrust OneTrust unlocks the full potential of data and AI, responsibly. Our platform enforces the secure handling of company data, empowering organizations to drive innovation responsibly while mitigating risks. With a comprehensive suite of solutions spanning data and AI security, privacy, governance, risk, ethics, and compliance, OneTrust enables seamless collaboration between data teams and risk teams to enable rapid and trusted innovation. Recognized as the market leader in trust, OneTrust boasts over 300 patents and serves more than 14,000 customers globally, ranging from industry giants to small businesses. For more information, visit www.onetrust.com. 2024 OneTrust LLC. All rights reserved. OneTrust and the OneTrust logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of OneTrust LLC in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. Media Contact Ainslee Shea [email protected] +1 (404) 855-0803 SOURCE OneTrust James S. Burling, a leading property rights attorney, unpacks the flawed policies that have worsened America's housing challenges and offers a bold, market-driven solution to restore livable communities. SACRAMENTO, Calif., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A timely and insightful new book, Nowhere to Live: The Hidden Story of America's Housing Crisis, released today explores the root causes behind the homelessness crisis and affordable housing challenges affecting communities nationwide. Government mistakes created the housing crisis, says new book Post this In his new book Nowhere to Live: The Hidden Story of America's Housing Crisis, James S. Burling, a leading property rights attorney, unpacks the flawed policies that have worsened Americas housing challenges and offers a bold, market-driven solution to restore livable communities. In the book, James S. Burling, a seasoned property rights attorney with over 40 years of experience and vice president of legal affairs at Pacific Legal Foundation, meticulously traces the missteps and misguided policies that have shaped today's housing crisis. Through vivid storytelling and historical analysis, Burling examines pivotal moments from the early-20th-century housing developments and the ill-fated "urban renewal" movement of the 1950s. The book reveals how most well-intentioned government interventions have compounded the problem rather than resolving it. But Nowhere to Live goes beyond merely diagnosing the problem or exposing why much of America has become unlivable. It offers a viable solution: restoring private property rights. The book makes a compelling argument that greater protections for property rights will result in the production of more housing. Author Burling shares the inspiration behind his latest book: "I wrote this book after over 40 years of litigating property rights, environmental, and land-use cases. It's clear that the destruction and over-regulation of property rights have stifled the development of millions of homes, driving up housing costs and harming working-class and minority families. Even my own children, despite their hard work and good jobs, struggle to afford homes in regions like Southern California. My goal is to restore respect for property rights and create a climate where builders can provide the homes people need, where they want to live." James Burling Topics include: Zoning: America's obsession with quiet places where yards are wide, and people (of color) are few Eminent domain and the destruction of working-class housing How environmentalism destroys property rights and housing opportunities Rent control isn't the answer Affordable housing mandates: unworkable, unproductive, and unconstitutional The great emptying of the mentally ill onto our streets Property rights: way out of the housing crisis Property rights attorneys and experts applaud Nowhere to Live for its insightful analysis: "This book provides a crucial understanding to navigate and address the underlying issues of our nation's housing challenges." Senator Mike Lee "Essential reading for anyone interested in the most important property rights and land use issue facing the United States today." Ilya Somin, George Mason University "Although land regulation can be a dry subject, Burling has turned it into an engaging story where the reader wants to turn the page and learn what happens next." Dana Berliner, Institute for Justice "In case you ever wondered how we got to the point where we could no longer house our population, look no farther. It is a sobering read and points the finger directly at the government agencies responsible." Michael Berger, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP "Nowhere to Live is essential reading not only for legal experts but for interested citizens seeking to understand the dynamics of America's housing crunch and the role of private property in a flourishing society." James Stern, William & Mary Law School About Pacific Legal Foundation Pacific Legal Foundation is a national nonprofit law firm that defends Americans threatened by government overreach and abuse. Since our founding in 1973, we challenge the government when it violates individual liberty and constitutional rights. With active cases in 34 states plus Washington, D.C., PLF represents clients in state and federal courts, with 18 wins of 20 cases litigated at the U.S. Supreme Court. www.pacificlegal.org SOURCE Pacific Legal Foundation TORONTO, Aug. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Pluribus Technologies Corp. (TSXV: PLRB) ("Pluribus" or the "Company") announces a further amendment (the "Amendment") to the previously-announced forbearance agreement (the "Forbearance Agreement") dated January 18, 2024, between the Company and National Bank of Canada (the "Lender"), relating to a secured credit agreement dated April 27, 2022, as amended, among the Company, certain of its subsidiaries and the Lender. Under the Amendment, the Lender has agreed to extend the term of the Forbearance Agreement to August 19, 2024 to allow the Company to continue its previously announced strategic review process, which involves a review and evaluation of strategic alternatives that may be available to the Company to further enhance the Company's growth, development and prosperity in the short and long terms, with the goal of maximizing shareholder value. The Company will provide an update when further disclosure is required or otherwise appropriate. About Pluribus Technologies Corp. Pluribus is a technology company that is a value-based acquirer and operator of small, profitable business-to-business technology companies in a range of verticals and industries. Pluribus provides its acquisitions access to experienced sales and marketing resources, strategic partnership opportunities, a diverse portfolio of customers in different geographical markets and enabling technologies to create new revenue streams and provide the opportunity for these companies to grow in their respective markets. When market conditions are conducive to raising capital at reasonable costs, Pluribus focuses on rapidly acquiring and integrating new acquisitions to accelerate growth. When the environment does not support this, Pluribus focuses on implementing strategies to maximize organic growth and increase cashflow from operations in its existing portfolio companies. For more information, please visit: pluribustechnologies.com. Forward-Looking Information Certain information in this press release constitutes forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Any statements that are contained in this news release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information in this press release includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to whether the Lender will continue to forbear from exercising their rights and remedies on expiry of the Forbearance Agreement and what the terms or timing of such a transaction or such continued forbearance might be, the Company providing an update when further disclosure is required or otherwise appropriate, the business plans of the Company, including the completion of future acquisitions, the Company management's expectation on the growth, profitability and performance of its portfolio companies, the Company's ability to acquire business-to-business technology companies in the future, the Company's ability to grow its portfolio companies and the Company achieving a positive transaction as a result of its strategic review process. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "may", "should", "anticipate", "expect", "potential", "believe", "intend" or negatives of these terms and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions, including the Company's ability to manage a complex portfolio of companies effectively; and the Company's ability to raise sufficient financing to continue its acquisition strategy. Other assumptions include industry trends, the availability of growth opportunities, and general business, economic, competitive, political, regulatory and social uncertainties will not prevent the Company from conducting its business. While the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies and they may prove to be incorrect. Forward-looking information speaks only to such assumptions as of the date of this release. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing is not exhaustive. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. The purpose of forward-looking information is to provide the reader with a description of management's expectations, and such forward-looking information may not be appropriate for any other purpose. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, events or otherwise. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. Contact: Richard Adair Chief Executive Officer Pluribus Technologies Corp. 1 (800) 851-9383 SOURCE Pluribus Technologies Corp. BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Porter Capital Corporation, a top provider of financial solutions for businesses nationwide, is honored to announce its inclusion in the esteemed 2024 Inc. 5000 list of America's Fastest Growing Private Companies. This accolade celebrates the nation's most dynamic independent businesses and represents a significant milestone in Porter Capital's growth and success. The 2024 Inc. 5000 list features companies that have demonstrated exceptional revenue growth amid various economic and operational challenges. The average median three-year revenue growth rate for the top 500 companies on this list is 1,637 percent. Collectively, these companies have added 874,458 jobs to the economy in the past three years. Porter Capital has been in business for over three decades and continues to be a pioneer in alternative lending, accelerating capital access for small and medium-sized businesses nationwide. Backed by a dedicated team and strategic investments in cutting-edge technology, Porter Capital is reshaping the future of business funding. Companies facing financial challenges or rapid growth can rely on Porter Capital for tailored financing solutions. Porter Capital stands out as one of the Southeast's leading privately owned financial firms and continues to expand its portfolio with a growing nationwide client base. Our CEO, Marc Porter, expressed his enthusiasm for our recent achievement, stating: "We are deeply honored to be included in the 2024 Inc. 5000 list. This achievement reflects the hard work and dedication of our entire team, as well as the trust our clients place in us. As we continue to grow, our commitment to providing innovative and reliable financial solutions remains stronger than ever." Inclusion in the 2024 Inc. 5000 list underscores Porter Capital's continued growth and leadership in the financial services industry. Our mission is to provide innovative funding solutions to businesses nationwide, with a strong commitment to exceptional customer service. About Inc. Inc. Business Media is the leading multimedia brand for entrepreneurs. Through its journalism, Inc. aims to inform, educate, and elevate the profile of our community: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters who are creating our future. Inc.'s award-winning work achieves a monthly brand footprint of more than 40 million across a variety of channels, including events, print, digital, video, podcasts, newsletters, and social media. Its proprietary Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since its launch as the Inc. 100 in 1982, analyzes company data to rank the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The recognition that comes with inclusion on this and other prestigious Inc. lists, such as Female Founders and Power Partners, gives the founders of top businesses the opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. For more information, visit www.inc.com. About Porter Capital Porter Capital Corporation was founded in 1991 by brothers Marc and Donald Porter in Birmingham, AL. Porter offers working capital solutions to businesses all over the country in a variety of industries. As a direct lender and factoring company, Porter Capital has provided billions in funding since its inception. Porter Capital offers Invoice Factoring and Asset Based Credit Lines up to $40 million. Since founding the company, Porter Capital has expanded to include a special transportation division known as Porter Freight Funding. The Porter businesses continue to grow by providing working capital solutions, emphasizing personalized, dedicated customer service without sacrificing speed and efficiency. To know more about Porter Capital Corporation and how it can be a working capital solution provider for businesses, call 1-888-865-7678 or visit www.portercap.com. CONTACT: Michelle [email protected] SOURCE Porter Capital "With the addition of the $20 Million dollars of exploration capital and Dr. Steve Beresford to our Board and Technical Team, we have significantly enhanced our ability to follow up our exploration success at Nisk. Our revamped exploration program is discussed below and in detail at our recent webinar on the topic (https://on.6ix.com/3WP0Nqa). We are most encouraged with this summer's progress and believe our strategic approach will maximize the speed and size of our exploration discoveries," commented Power Nickel CEO Terry Lynch. To the west, the Nisk Main zone extends over 650 m and to a depth of 500 m below surface. The 2023 Mineral Resource Estimate, dated Nov. 29th, 2023, presents a combined "in-pit" and underground indicated resource of 5.43 Mt grading 1.05% NiEq, and 1.79 Mt @ 1.35% NiEq of underground inferred resource. Nisk Main remains open at depth along what has been identified as high-grade mineralization shoots. To the northeast, the Lion Zone is currently followed on approximately 300 m, to a depth of 350 m. The Lion Zone is a poly-metallic sulphides-rich zone presenting a high-grade content in PGM, gold and silver, as well as in copper and nickel (Figure 1). Valuable scientific and technical inputs received from Dr. Beresford has led to strengthening our exploration strategy, aiming at identifying the best resources growth potential at both discoveries and to understand the nature of the ground between them. From Dr. Beresford's expertise, the system appears to behave similarly to a vein system, to the difference that the key controlling parameters are the thickness of the zone and its proximity to the "source", as both factors play a role in the mineralogy and grade of the different mineralized pods. The exploration program will also benefit from Dr. Beresford's experience by putting emphasis on a proper use of geophysics in our targeting strategy. Moving forward, the exploration strategy will include: Downhole EM surveys from specially designed "Platform Holes", with the aim of identifying favourable areas for high grade sulphides mineralization within the target plane itself, Ground-based geophysics, which includes both ground gravity and EM surveys on a tight grid, providing yet another layer of information order to better understand the sub-surface architecture, Integration of these new datasets that will allow updating of the current litho-structural component of the 3D model with enhanced gravity data. The 3D model can then be used to filter out false-positive targets interpreted from the geophysical surveys. Platform Holes Platform holes are voluntarily drilled to follow and to remain at a constant distance from the target plane, rather than intersecting it. The main purpose of such holes is to provide a "consistent platform" on which downhole geophysics tools can generate a profile of EM responses along the vertical extent of the target plane. Mineralized sulphides contained within the target plane, especially when massive and/or as interconnected stockwork of stringers are sensitive to EM interferences, and therefore can be "seen" by the geophysical survey, with a precise depth location. The intention is to align several platform holes along strike of the target plane, providing then a continuous survey coverage along both the vertical and lateral extents. For the technique to work best, platform holes are designed to be hosted by non-EM responsive rocks to avoid any background interferences. A second drill has been deployed at the eastern margin of Nisk Main, and the first platform hole, PN-24P-001, is collared with the barren paragneiss. From there, the hole will be drilled to some 1,000 m depth. For the most part, the hole is drilled behind already known mineralization, for calibration purposes, but will cover some 400 m vertical meters of untested ground below the Nisk Main Zone. At least two more holes, following a 300 m step-out are also planned as part of this initial test. The 1 km strike-length covered is anticipated to provide valuable insights about the offset of the Main Zone towards the ANT 2 target area (Figure 2). Ground-based geophysics With the combination of traditional high-resolution airborne geophysics and the Fleet Space ANT gravity surveys, it was recognized that more precise ground-based surveys were required to further refine our targeting strategy. From Dr. Beresford's experience, not only are such surveys essential, processing the data is also a critical component of the work. Field work is ongoing at the Lion Zone to cover an EM ground-based survey; and the ground-based gravity survey covering the most part of the property is also on-going. Figure 3 below presents the areas covered by both the EM and Gravity surveys within the property scale geological context and with respect to the position of the mineralized zones. As new information is being gathered, geochemistry of both mineralized zones is also being investigated. Defining the relation between the Nisk Main zone mineralogy with the more Copper/PGE/Ag/Au-rich mineralogy observed at Lion Zone is another component that could lead to defining a mineralogical vector, at the property scale; such vector could later help to "locate ourselves" with respect the mineralized zones, providing better targeting for new discoveries (Figure 4). "So far, 2024 has been an exciting year of discoveries for Power Nickel and we believe the best is yet to come," commented VP Exploration Ken Williamson. Qualified Person Kenneth Williamson, Geo, M.Sc., VP Exploration at Power Nickel, is the qualified person who has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release. About Power Nickel Inc. Power Nickel is a Canadian junior exploration company focusing on developing the high- grade Nisk project into Canada's first Carbon Neutral Nickel mine. The NISK property comprises a significant land position (20 kilometers of strike length) with numerous high-grade intercepts. Power Nickel is focused on expanding the historical high- grade nickel-copper PGE mineralization with a series of drill programs designed to test the initial Nisk discovery zone and to explore the land package for adjacent potential Nickel deposits. In addition to the Nisk project, Power Nickel owns significant land packages in British Colombia and Chile. The Company is in the process of reorganizing these assets in a related vehicle, through a Plan of Arrangement that will be presented to Power Nickel shareholders of record for their approval. To obtain Power Nickel's Corporate Presentation, please use the link below: http://powernickel.com/corporate_presentation.pdf Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This message contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements" concerning the Company within the meaning of applicable securities laws. 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," "indicates," "opportunity," "possible" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "could" or "should" occur. 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, are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results or realities may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such material risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, among others, the timing for the Company to develop the NISK deposit or risk that such development does not occur at all; raise sufficient capital to fund its obligations under its property agreements going forward; to maintain its mineral tenures and concessions in good standing; to explore and develop its projects; changes in economic conditions or financial markets; the inherent hazards associates with mineral exploration and mining operations; future prices of nickel and other metals; changes in general economic conditions; accuracy of mineral resource and reserve estimates; the potential for new discoveries; the ability of the Company to obtain the necessary permits and consents required to explore, drill and develop the projects and if accepted, to obtain such licenses and approvals in a timely fashion relative to the Company's plans and business objectives for the applicable project; the general ability of the Company to monetize its mineral resources; and changes in environmental and other laws or regulations that could have an impact on the Company's operations, compliance with environmental laws and regulations, dependence on key management personnel and general competition in the mining industry. SOURCE Power Nickel Inc. WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM? 440k+ Newsrooms & Influencers 9k+ Digital Media Outlets 270k+ Journalists Opted In GET STARTED SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe LLP is investigating a data breach impacting the private information of 2.9 billion records stored by Jerico Pictures, Inc., which operates as National Public Data ("NPD"), a Florida-based background-check company. NPD scrapes data from public record databases, national and state databases, and court records, including nonpublic sources. It then sells this private data to a wide range of organizations, including background check websites, investigators, app developers, and data resellers. In approximately April 2024, a cybercriminal group called "USDod" reportedly breached NPD's systems and stole private information on Americans collected by the company. On April 8, 2024, USDoD claimed on the dark web that they had stolen the personal data of 2.9 billion people and offered to sell the database for a payment of $3.5 million. According to vx-underground, which collects information about cybersecurity issues, the stolen file includes 277.1 gigabytes of data, including names, address histories, relatives, and Social Security numbers dating back at least three decades. Because individuals did not affirmatively provide their private information to NPD, individuals may not even know that they have been affected. To date, NPD has not confirmed the breach or what information may have been stolen. If your private information was impacted by this incident, you may be at risk of identity theft, financial fraud, and other serious violations of your privacy. As a result, you may be entitled to money damages and an injunction requiring changes to NPD's cybersecurity practices. If you received notification of this data breach from NPD or an identity protection service and wish to obtain additional information about your legal rights, please contact us today or visit our website at https://www.classactionlawyers.com/npd. About Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe LLP Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe represents shareholders, employees, and consumers in class actions against corporate defendants, as well as shareholders in derivative actions against their officers and directors. The firm is based in San Francisco, and with the help of co-counsel, litigates cases nationwide. Contact Amber L. Schubert Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe LLP [email protected] Tel: 415-788-4220 SOURCE Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe LLP Signing of a Proof of Concept (PoC) contract with Real Madrid for building integrated cybersecurity solutions 7 companies were selected, and QueryPie is the only one in the 'cybersecurity' field SEOUL, South Korea, Aug. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- QueryPie Inc., a cybersecurity solution startup, was selected as the only company in the cybersecurity field for the program 'Real Madrid Next Accelerator for Asia,' which supports Asian startups of Spain's Real Madrid and seeks new technology partners. QueryPie, selected as the representative startup in the 'Cybersecurity & Technology' field, signing a PoC contract aims to demonstrate the platform's advanced capabilities in detecting, preventing, and responding to sophisticated cyber threats. Brant Hwang, CEO & Founder of QueryPie Real Madrid Next (RMNext) is the brand under which Real Madrid's innovation projects are developed, in collaboration with startups and companies seeking to enhance performance with the support of the Real Madrid ecosystem. These projects focus on six areas: Performance, Audiovisual Contents, E-Health, Cybersecurity & Technology, Fan Engagement, and Social. This year, 823 startups from 14 Asian countries, including Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the Philippines, participated, and a total of 7 companies, including QueryPie. The PoC includes QueryPie's security solution lineups, 'QueryPie DAC (Database Access Controller),' 'QueryPie SAC (System Access Controller),' and 'QueryPie KAC (Kubernetes Access Controller),' and from September, integrated cybersecurity technology verification will be conducted to control and manage access to databases, systems, and containers used by the club in Seoul and Spain (Madrid), as well as online. Brant Hwang, CEO of QueryPie said, "I am pleased to be selected for the accelerator program of Real Madrid, the world's top club, and to have the opportunity to introduce our solutions to the club practically," and "through sufficient PoC processes, we will provide high-level security solutions that can integrate and manage various key information possessed by the club." About QueryPie Inc.: Founded in Silicon Valley in 2016, QueryPie Inc. is a provider of B2B solutions optimized for SaaS and cloud environments. They offer integrated cybersecurity solutions for databases, systems, and containers with a team consisting of experts fluent in cloud, search engines, platforms, ML, and various fields. QueryPie is a unified data governance solution for data analytics and infrastructure environments, enabling enterprises to centrally manage development infrastructure, data access control, and data-related tasks. This leads to reduced costs and increased revenue in the cloud environment. Additionally, QueryPie complies with data security regulations like J-Sox, ISMS, PCI-DSS, and GDPR. For further information, please visit www.querypie.com SOURCE CHEQUER Inc. BOSTON, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- RapDev , the leading DevOps engineering services provider, proudly announced its rank of #748 on the prestigious Inc. 5000 list for 2024. The list, compiled by Inc. magazine, celebrates the fastest-growing privately held companies in the United States, highlighting those that have demonstrated remarkable growth and innovation over the past year. RapDev was recognized for the second consecutive year, achieving #32 in the IT Services sector. RapDev was recognized for the second consecutive year, achieving #32 in the IT Services sector. The Inc. 5000 list ranks companies based on their revenue growth rate. To qualify, companies must meet specific criteria, including generating a minimum of $100,00 in revenue in 2020 and reaching at least $2 million in revenue in 2023. Founded just 5 years ago, RapDev has quickly emerged as a leading engineering partner to forward-looking Fortune 1000 firms, specializing in optimizing IT operations for ServiceNow and Datadog . Earning this recognition for the second year in a row underscores RapDev's continuous dedication to providing innovative cloud-native solutions. RapDev's growth and industry expertise has been further exemplified by its recent accolade as Datadog's Partner of the Year for the third consecutive year. RapDev also serves a distinguished roster of major national brands and leading financial institutions with its advanced ServiceNow engineering solutions. "We are very proud to be recognized on the Inc. 5000 list again this year and to be in the company of so many exceptional businesses," said RapDev Founder and CEO, Tameem Hourani . "Our team of engineers is relentless in finding innovative ways for companies to accelerate their IT modernization with ServiceNow and Datadog. We are passionate about helping our customers win and are excited about what the future holds for our partners and customers." The Inc. 5000 recognition also underscores RapDev's commitment to fostering a culture of innovation and excellence within its team. The company attributes its growth to its efforts to attract and retain top talent, creating an environment where the best engineers are empowered to contribute to the thriving Datadog and ServiceNow ecosystems. About RapDev Founded in 2019, RapDev is the go-to partner for Fortune 1000 organizations looking to accelerate and optimize their Datadog and ServiceNow implementations. As a trusted Datadog Gold Partner and ServiceNow Elite Partner, RapDev offers unparalleled expertise in implementation at scale. RapDev expertly guides organizations through their Engineering and DevOps transformations from beginning to end. For more information, visit www.rapdev.io . About Inc. Inc. Business Media is the leading multimedia brand for entrepreneurs. Through its journalism, Inc. aims to inform, educate, and elevate the profile of our community: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters who are creating our future. Inc.'s award-winning work achieves a monthly brand footprint of more than 40 million across a variety of channels, including events, print, digital, video, podcasts, newsletters, and social media. Its proprietary Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since its launch as the Inc. 100 in 1982, analyzes company data to rank the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The recognition that comes with inclusion on this and other prestigious Inc. lists, such as Female Founders and Power Partners, gives the founders of top businesses the opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. For more information, visit www.inc.com. SOURCE RapDev SOUTH WINDSOR, Conn., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Inc. revealed today that RCN Capital, the leading nationwide private lender for real estate investors, has been ranked number 4689 on the 2024 Inc. 5000, its annual list of the fastest-growing private companies in America. The prestigious ranking provides a data-driven look at the most successful companies within the economy's most dynamic segmentits independent, entrepreneurial businesses. Marking the fourth year in a row that the company has made the Inc. 5000, RCN Capital also ranked No. 115 in real estate and No. 33 in Connecticut. Inc 5000 Custom Rank RCN Capital "The Inc. 5000 remains the gold standard of success for U.S. companies. Being recognized alongside other successful companies for the fourth consecutive year is a tremendous honor for RCN Capital," said Jeffrey Tesch, CEO of RCN Capital. "Even in a challenging rate environment, RCN continues to excel. I commend the dedication of our incredible employees who have made this possible. Their hard work and support are the driving forces behind our continued achievements." RCN Capital continues to lead in real estate financing by offering a diverse range of loans tailored for real estate investors purchasing or refinancing single-family and multifamily investment properties. Starting in 2010 as a regional lender in Connecticut, RCN has grown to one of the largest nationwide private lenders with nearly $7B in originations since its inception. The company continually expands its offerings to meet investors' needs providing financing for ground-up construction, short-term bridge loans, fix & flip projects, and long-term rental properties. RCN Capital attributes its continued growth and success to its strong focus on wholesale and retail lending partnerships, along with delivering a superior customer experience in the private lending industry. Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at www.inc.com/inc5000. About RCN Capital RCN Capital is a South Windsor, CT based national, direct, private lender. Established in 2010, RCN provides investment loans for the purchase or refinance of non-owner occupied residential and commercial properties. The company specializes in new construction financing, short-term fix & flip and bridge financing and long-term rental financing for real estate investors. For more information on RCN Capital and RCN's loan programs, visit www.RCNCapital.com. SOURCE RCN Capital COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Labor Day may mark the unofficial end of summer, but there are actually several more weeks to soak up the sun and warm weather before fall officially begins, and plenty of time to get in one or two more mini vacations. Red Roof, an award-winning leader in the lodging industry, is making it easier for travelers to afford those vacations by offering a number of deals, including: Red Roof is making it easier for travelers to afford end-of-summer vacations, and soak in a little more fun with friends and family, by offering a number of deals through Labor Day and beyond! Rest + Repeat: When travelers book and complete two separate stays at any Red Roof property through September 3, 2024 , they earn a free night! To qualify, guests must register for the promotion and be a member of the RediRewards loyalty program, which is quick, easy and free to join. property through , they earn a free night! To qualify, guests must register for the promotion and be a member of the RediRewards loyalty program, which is quick, easy and free to join. AARP members save 15% at any Red Roof property from September 1-30, 2024 . property from . Active military and military veterans save up to 10%. AAA members hitting the road save up to 10%. Seniors and families traveling with seniors save up to 10%. The nearly 700 Red Roof properties include many hotels near popular beach and resort locations, which are perfect for a long-weekend getaway, including: SPOT X Hotel Orlando/International Drive by The Red Roof Collection ( Orlando, FL ) ) SPOT X Hotel Tampa Bay by The Red Collection ( Wesley Chapel, FL ) ) Red Roof PLUS+ Palm Coast ( Palm Coast, FL ) ) Red Roof Inn Myrtle Beach Hotel - Market Common ( Myrtle Beach, SC ) ) Red Roof Inn & Suites Pigeon Forge - Parkway ( Pigeon Forge, TN ) ) Red Roof Inn & Suites Monterey ( Monterey, CA ) ) Red Roof Inn Williamsburg ( Williamsburg, VA ) ) Costa Azul Suites Virginia Beach by The Red Collection ( Virginia Beach, VA ) ) HomeTowne Studios by Red Roof Salt Lake City - Mid Valley ( Salt Lake City, UT ) Travelers don't have to worry about leaving their furry friends at home while they're away, because Red Roof is a pet-friendly hotel brand. Red Roof Inn and Red Roof PLUS+ locations* welcome two well-behaved domestic pets per room, and the first pet stays free of charge. About Red Roof Red Roof is an award-winning leader in the lodging industry, recognized for creating the innovative Upscale Economy segment, serving millions of guests each year. Red Roof's portfolio of brands includes Red Roof Inn and Red Roof PLUS+, HomeTowne Studios by Red Roof, The Red Collection, and Red Roof's dual-branded properties. Red Roof has over 60,000 rooms in nearly 700 properties in the U.S. and internationally in Japan. For more information, visit redroof.com or download Red Roof's free app for iOS and Android devices. To learn about franchising opportunities, visit redrooffranchising.com. Red Roof's Vision: To provide the best experience and value in the lodging industry for our guests, owners, team members, partners, and communities. *Policies vary by location at HomeTowne Studios by Red Roof and The Red Collection hotels. To verify a hotel's pet policy, please review hotel information online at redroof.com or by contacting the hotel directly. SOURCE Red Roof CloudZero launches first cloud cost benchmarking tool to help companies drive cloud efficiency BOSTON, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CloudZero, the globally trusted leader in proactive cloud cost efficiency, today released the findings of its research report, "How Cloud Efficient Are Software Companies In 2024?" From interviewing hundreds of cloud operations and finance professionals, the survey found that most SaaS companies lack maturity when it comes to cloud cost management (CCM). That lack of maturity leads to increased costs and reduced profit margins. The report is available for download here . Additionally, CloudZero is launching the first-of-its-kind cloud cost benchmarking tool to help SaaS companies understand how efficient they are compared to their peers. Cloud spending is expected to hit $675 billion this year, according to Gartner , and increased AI adoption will drive spending even higher. Although organizations continue to ramp up cloud spending, they're not getting more cloud efficient. What's missing is a solid understanding of how those costs tie back to business outcomes. Key findings from CloudZero's report include: Most companies don't proactively manage cloud costs just 39% of companies have implemented formalized CCM programs. 73% of companies report that cloud service provider costs represent at least 20% of their total cost of goods sold (COGS), and 28% report cloud costs accounting for more than half of their COGS. For nine out of 10 companies, at least 10% of their costs can't be traced to the correct sources. A lack of formalized CCM programs also means companies aren't making the most of the advanced, powerful CCM approaches now available including complete or near-complete cost allocation (just 9% say they're using this), cloud cost chargeback (under half), and software code optimization (just 28%). Additionally, organizations have struggled to calculate overall cloud cost efficiency, complicated by a lack of an industry-wide benchmark for this measure. CloudZero's new Cloud Efficiency Rate (CER) is the industry's first unifying benchmark for cloud efficiency for SaaS businesses. This report shows that top-quartile CER is 92% meaning that only $0.08 of every dollar of revenue goes to cloud service provider(s). The finding underscores the positive financial impact CCM can have. Phil Pergola, CEO of CloudZero, said, "For SaaS companies, the cloud is typically a top-three budget line item yet most don't have rigorous processes for managing their cloud efficiency or understanding the relationship to their unit economics at any level of granularity. Without it, they're leaving a substantial amount of gross profit on the table. By better understanding and managing their Cloud Efficiency Rate, cloud-native organizations can improve their profitability impacting both the top and bottom line." About CloudZero CloudZero is the leader in proactive cloud cost efficiency. We enable engineers to build cost-efficient software without slowing down innovation. Our next-generation cloud cost optimization platform automates the collection, allocation, and analysis of cloud costs to uncover savings opportunities and improve unit economics. We are the only platform that enables companies to understand 100% of their operational cloud spend and take an engineering-led approach to optimizing that spend. CloudZero is used by industry leaders worldwide, such as Coinbase, Klaviyo, Miro, New Relic, Nubank, and Rapid7. Visit cloudzero.com to get started today. SOURCE CloudZero ROUND ROCK, Texas, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Restoration Builders, Inc. ("Restoration Builders" or "the Company"), a leader in residential and commercial roofing services, proudly announces its recognition as the top roofing contractor in the "Best of Pflugerville" awards. This distinction highlights the Company's unwavering commitment to excellence in quality, craftsmanship, and customer satisfaction in the Pflugerville area. The "Best of Pflugerville" awards are conducted annually, celebrating local businesses that demonstrate exceptional service and have garnered significant admiration and respect from the local community. Restoration Builders' receipt of this award reflects its strong presence in Pflugerville and the surrounding communities, where it is highly regarded for its professional reliability and dedication to the highest industry standards. John Lorenz, CEO of Restoration Builders, expressed his gratitude for the acknowledgment. "We are honored to be named Pflugerville's best roofing contractor. This accolade is a testament to our team's hard work and diligence, and it reinforces our resolve to maintain the trust and confidence our customers place in us. We will continue to serve the Pflugerville community with integrity and excellence." Restoration Builders is renowned for setting high standards in roofing, offering everything from emergency repair services to environmentally sustainable options. Their unwavering commitment to exceeding client expectations has positioned them as a local and national leader in the industry and made their clients feel valued and important. The "Best of Pflugerville" award propels Restoration Builders to further enhance their service offerings and continue contributing to the growth and resilience of the Pflugerville community. For additional information about Restoration Builders and their services, please visit https://restorbuilders.com/. About Restoration Builders: Restoration Builders is a leading national provider of roofing and construction services. Established to infuse the roofing industry with heightened professionalism and reliability, the company has flourished, expanding its services across residential and commercial sectors. Committed to innovation, customer well-being, and sustainable practices, Restoration Builders strives to foster positive community development through its work. Media Contact: Janet Carnell Lorenz [email protected] (425) 620-1800 SOURCE Restoration Builders Leading Black-owned multimedia company welcomes students back to campus with top performers and exclusive giveaways ATLANTA, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- REVOLT, the leading Black-owned multimedia company, today announced the launch of the highly anticipated 2024 Back in Session HBCU Tour. This exciting new tour marks a dynamic return to campus life, celebrating the start of a new academic year with an incredible lineup of events designed to energize and inspire students across the nation. The 2024 Back in Session HBCU Tour is set to kick off with three unforgettable stops across the country, beginning in Washington, DC at Sycamore + Oak on August 24th. The tour will then head to Houston, TX for an electrifying performance at Axelrad on August 28th, before wrapping up in Atlanta, GA at West Side Motor Lounge on September 6th. Each event will showcase top-tier talent, featuring headliner Luh Tyler, a rising star known for his dynamic energy and chart-topping hits. Beyond the thrilling performances, tour stop attendees will have the chance to win an array of enviable giveaways. Prizes include exclusive meet-and-greets with Luh Tyler, VIP concert tickets offering premium access, and coveted passes to REVOLT World, granting insider access to the ultimate REVOLT experience. "The Back in Session HBCU Tour is all about connectionconnecting with our audience, with the culture, and with the communities that are driving the future," said Detavio Samuels, CEO at REVOLT. "We're bringing the energy, the music, and the experiences that make REVOLT what it is, right to the students who are making their mark." This new initiative showcases REVOLT's dedication to the HBCU community by fostering a dynamic and inclusive environment for students and underscores the mission to make the upcoming fall semester a season of inspiration, unity, and celebration. For more information, please visit https://www.revolt.tv/ and visit www.revolt.tv/providers to find REVOLT in your area. ABOUT REVOLT REVOLT is the leading Black-owned and operated multimedia platform servicing content 24/7 across digital, linear, and live media channels. The platform produces rich content and original material with the biggest names in Hip-Hop, along with reports of breaking news, current events, trends, and announcements within the Black cultural movement and Hip-Hop world. REVOLT takes pride in its diversity, both in its mindset and its company makeup, further instilling its dedication to culture within its staff and audiences. Founded in 2013, REVOLT attracts over 50 million millennials and Gen Z audiences through their disruptive, authentic material across all platforms. In 2021, REVOLT launched a brand new digital mobile app where users can view extended releases, live updates from relevant news, exclusive specials and much more. SOURCE REVOLT NASHVILLE, Tenn., Aug. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Rural Healthcare Group "RHG" announces its intention to purchase Steward Medical Group and Steward Health Care Network (hereinafter "Stewardship"). Stewardship is one of the largest primary care provider organizations in the country, with a significant presence in Massachusetts and nine other states. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approval. RHG is a primary care provider organization delivering healthcare to underserved communities in multiple states. RHG's mission is to improve the lives of people living in underserved areas through high-quality primary care. "We are excited to bring our mission and approach to the state of Massachusetts, and the other states where Stewardship operates and supports primary care clinics," said Benson Sloan, CEO of RHG. "In many ways, RHG has directly preserved and restored primary care in our Tennessee and North Carolina markets as both independent providers and health systems have sought us out to ensure long-term continuity of care in their communities. A thriving primary care infrastructure is critical to supporting local hospitals and specialists, as primary care providers are instrumental in ensuring patients are directed to the appropriate facilities at the right time," Sloan continued. RHG plans to make significant investments in Stewardship's infrastructure, which will allow providers to continue seeing patients in existing clinics across the Stewardship network. RHG's partnership will help keep healthcare local for patients, allowing them to continue to see providers that are familiar with their medical history. Furthermore, the transaction will separate Steward Medical Group and Steward Health Care Network from Steward's hospital system - transitioning clinics from health system-owned to independent is an area of expertise for RHG, and ultimately a benefit to patients. "We are excited for this partnership with RHG. Working together, we will improve the patient and provider experience while enhancing the overall quality of care," said Dr. Joseph Weinstein, President of Steward Medical Group and Steward Health Care Network. RHG is owned by Kinderhook Industries, LLC, a private investment firm that invests in mid-sized health care businesses that serve the nation's most vulnerable populations. Kinderhook's investments are focused on protecting access to high-quality healthcare in communities that are truly underserved. Rural Healthcare Group is represented by Kirkland & Ellis LLP (Legal Counsel), Bass, Berry & Sims PLC (Regulatory Counsel) and Centerview Partners LLC (Investment Banker). Stewardship is represented by Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP (Restructuring Counsel), McDermott Will & Emery (Regulatory Counsel), Leerink Partners LLC (Healthcare Investment Banker), and AlixPartners, LLP (Financial Advisor). About RHG The mission of Rural Healthcare Group is to improve the lives of people in underserved communities by expanding healthcare access and empowering providers. RHG is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, and has 17 clinics across two states currently. https://www.ruralhealthcaregroup.com/ About Steward Medical Group and Steward Health Care Network Steward Medical Group and Steward Healthcare Network is a physician-led multispecialty organization offering primary care and specialty services. The company has more than 1,700 providers and operations in 11 states. https://www.stewardmedicalgroup.org/ About Kinderhook Industries, LLC Founded in 2003, Kinderhook Industries, LLC is a private investment firm that has raised $8.5 billion of committed capital. We have made in excess of 450 investments and follow-on acquisitions since inception. Kinderhook's investment philosophy is predicated on matching differentiated, growth-oriented investment opportunities with financial expertise and our proprietary network of operating partners. Our focus is on middle market businesses with defensible niche market positioning in the healthcare services, environmental/business services and automotive/light manufacturing sectors. https://www.kinderhook.com/ SOURCE Rural Healthcare Group GALWAY, Ireland , Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Claregalway Corporate Park, Co. Galway, is about to welcome a new player in the healthcare industry Salt Medical, a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation (CDMO) specialising in medical device manufacturing. The arrival of Salt Medical is set to bring a wave of innovation and opportunity to the region, further establishing Claregalway as a hub for cutting-edge medical technologies. Who is Salt Medical? Salt Medical: A New Medical Device Design Contract Manufacturer to open in& Galway Salt Medical establishes a renowned international medical device platform with an extensive global research and development (R&D) and manufacturing infrastructure. The company operates R&D and manufacturing facilities in Ireland, along with raw material and precision component supply and large-scale manufacturing facilities in the United States and the Asia Pacific region. Specialising in the production of catheters, guidewires, medical endoscopes, surgical robots, and various other medical devices, Salt Medical has garnered significant expertise in designing, developing, and manufacturing innovative products for cardiovascular, neurovascular and endovascular applications, as well as gastroenterology, respiratory, and other clinical fields. Salt Medical Ireland is a member of IBEC/Irish Medtech Association. By leveraging a fully integrated network, Salt Medical Ireland is able to offer highly efficient and responsive services to medical device manufacturers worldwide, ensuring cost-effectiveness and quality in every step of the production process. With the established supply chain in Europe, their dedicated team is capable to transfer non-EU/EU devices to the target markets. Learn more about Salt Medical at www.saltmedtec.com. Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2480964/Salt_Medical.jpg Media contact: [email protected] +353 91373884 "Jamaica's singular beauty and warm hospitality is shining brighter than ever. With frequent, easily accessible flights and value-packed offerings, visitors considering how to extend summertime into the fall, should look no further than our resort homes in Jamaica, where the possibilities for relaxation and exploration are endless," said Deryk Meany, General Manager of Sandals Dunn's River, the newest Sandals Resort in Jamaica. The "Experience Jamaica" Sale at Sandals and Beaches in Jamaica Available to book through October 6th and valid for travel through December 26, 2026, the Experience Jamaica sale offers a $350 air credit on stays of five to six nights, and a $500 air credit for stays of seven nights or longer at nine all-inclusive Jamaican properties. Further enticing travelers to truly experience the island's enduring appeal, guests staying at least seven nights will also enjoy a $275 Island Routes tour credit valid on an exciting array of Jamaica-centric excursions. Participating Sandals Resorts in Jamaica include Sandals Dunn's River, Sandals Montego Bay, Sandals South Coast, Sandals Ochi, Sandals Royal Plantation, Sandals Negril, and Sandals Royal Caribbean where a variety of luxury accommodations, cuisines and breathtaking island settings are the backdrop to quintessentially Caribbean vacations this fall and beyond. Fall adventure seeking families can, too, reap the benefits of the Experience Jamaica sale at Beaches Negril and Beaches Ocho Rios , home to engaging programming like Caribbean Adventures with Sesame Street, including the new Sunrise Yoga with Sesame Street; a dynamic Kids Club, waterparks, and an array of dining options. Experience Everything Irie with Island Routes Through Island Routes, Sandals' and Beaches' exclusive in-house tour provider, guests enjoy unique access to some of the island's most captivating experiences with expertly guided excursions departing directly from the resort from a Bob Marley reggae tour to marveling at natural wonders like the Martha Brae River from a personally guided bamboo raft, as well as the majestic YS Falls and Dunn's River Falls. Guests can also take the wheel of their own Mini Cooper and prepare to be engulfed by the island's beauty as they drive among gorgeous views, while the Appleton Estate is a feast for the senses as travelers go behind-the-scenes with one of the Caribbean's most sought-after rums. For more information, visit www.sandals.com/sale and www.beaches.com/sale . About Sandals Resorts Sandals Resorts offers the ease and refinement of the most-awarded luxury all-inclusive vacation experience in the Caribbean. With 17 beachfront settings in Jamaica, Antigua, Saint Lucia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Curacao, and Saint Vincent and The Grenadines, each resort reflects the design, cuisine, and unique essence of its island home. From butler service and gourmet dining to top-shelf spirits and unique suites, including the Caribbean's first Overwater Villas, Sandals Resorts creates the time and moments necessary for guests to reconnect and focus on what matters most. Celebrated for pioneering innovations that constantly evolve and elevate the all-inclusive vacation experience, Sandals Resorts has recently piloted fresh concepts such as an off-site Island Inclusive dining program that takes the all-inclusive experience beyond the resort gates all while staying true to its Caribbean roots and showcasing the transformative link between tourism and its power to transform lives through its philanthropic arm, the Sandals Foundation. Sandals Resorts is part of family-owned Sandals Resorts International (SRI) which includes family-friendly Beaches Resorts, and is the Caribbean's leading all-inclusive resort company. For more information, visit www.sandals.com . About Beaches Resorts Beaches Resorts is the Caribbean's most-awarded luxury family all-inclusive vacation experience, where memories are created and made to last. With three spectacular locations in Turks & Caicos and Jamaica, and a fourth one coming to The Bahamas, Beaches Resorts is the ultimate beachfront getaway for every member of the family. Kids can hang with the Sesame Street gang as part of the Caribbean Adventures with Sesame Street, splash in outrageous waterparks, enjoy exclusive Kids Camps and teen nightclubs, while parents indulge in butler service, luxurious spa treatments, gourmet restaurants and all with the assurance of Certified Nannies and expertly trained team members. Beaches Resorts is part of family-owned Sandals Resorts International (SRI), which includes Sandals Resorts, and is the Caribbean's leading all-inclusive resort company. For more information about Beaches Resorts, visit www.beaches.com . Media Contact [email protected] SOURCE Sandals Resorts International Study Finds Americans Rank Mental Health on Par with Economic Stability and Say Their Well-Being is Negatively Impacted by Mental Health Issues NEW YORK, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- When Elmo tweeted, "Elmo is just checking in! How is everybody doing?" on social media, the consensus was clear: people are struggling. Leveraging its five-decade history of addressing the most pressing needs of children and families, Sesame Workshopthe global impact nonprofit behind Sesame Streetpartnered with The Harris Poll to shed light on the mental health crisis, launching a first-of-its-kind index on the state of well-being in America. Elmo and friends The inaugural study found that Americans view mental health and education as on par with economic stability. When asked what we should prioritize for the future well-being of our country, Americans indicated that economic stability isn't enoughand is not alone as a top prioritybut must be accompanied by investment in mental health and education. Parents are particularly affected 1 in 3 say their or their family's well-being is negatively impacted by mental health issues, and 61% say their family is still experiencing negative effects from the pandemic. "We could not have predicted the overwhelming response that followed Elmo's post," said Samantha Maltin, Chief Marketing and Brand Officer, Sesame Workshop. "The tweet, and the campaign it spawned, reached over 300 million people, with more than 3 million heartfelt reactions pouring in. As Elmo's viral moment and this new study indicate, the most pressing issue facing American families right now is mental health and emotional well-being." Americans say getting honest about mental health and asking for help are critical steps to improving the state of well-being today. Sixty-seven percent of all Americans, with those numbers going up to 79% of parents, agree, "I wish my parents had been more honest with me about their mental health struggles"suggesting that today's parents are looking to break the silence around mental health with their own children. The study also found stark generational differences around attitudes towards mental health: 82% of Gen Z and Millennials agree, "I wish I had been taught more about how to understand and manage my emotions as a child," compared to 65% of respondents from older generations. That number jumps even higher to 84% of parents, signaling a major generational shift around the appreciation of speaking openly and honestly about emotional well-being from a young age. "Half of Americans describe the average American child as anxious, with a sizable number experiencing negative impacts to their well-being due to mental health issues, said Jill Crane, Vice President of Consumer Insights, Sesame Workshop. "As an organization grounded in research and focused on impact, this new index will allow us to keep a pulse on the well-being of Americans and their families and make a meaningful contribution to our collective understanding of what drives well-being today." And there is reason for hope: Americans see kindness and resilience as pathways to improving well-being. Strong majorities of Americans say it's important for society to promote kindness (85%) and resilience (83%), with over a third (42% and 35%, respectively) saying it's extremely important. Eighty-two percent agree, "My well-being would improve if society was kinder"increasing to 89% when asked about children. Seventy-two percent agree, "My well-being would improve if I had the tools to be more resilient"increasing to 88% when asked about children. "It's heartening to see the growing openness around mental health discussions today," Maltin said. "Americans understand that mental health is a vital issue, and that's why the need for our work has never been greater. By celebrating everyday joys, teaching children to understand their emotions, and helping parents recognize the signs of more serious mental health challenges, we're building a solid foundation for children's emotional well-being that will support them for years to come." Last year, in response to the growing mental health crisis among children, Sesame Workshop announced a multi-year commitment to the emotional well-being of young children and their families, building on a long history of support in this critical area. Free resources for children, parents, and providers are available in English and Spanish at sesame.org/mentalhealth. To explore the full survey report, visit here, and to join the conversation on social media, follow Sesame Workshop on Instagram. About the Survey Methodology The nationally-representative index on the state of well-being in America results are based on 2,012 online interviews. The survey was conducted among the general population, ages 16 years and older. The data was weighted to be representative of the general U.S. population. All fieldwork for this survey took place in May 2024. About Sesame Workshop Sesame Workshop is the global impact nonprofit behind Sesame Street and so much more. For over 50 years, we have worked at the intersection of education, media, and research, creating joyful experiences that enrich minds and expand hearts, all in service of empowering each generation to build a better world. Our beloved characters, iconic shows, outreach in communities, and more bring playful early learning to families in more than 150 countries and advance our mission to help children everywhere grow smarter, stronger, and kinder. Learn more at www.sesameworkshop.org and follow Sesame Workshop on Instagram, X, Facebook, and TikTok. SOURCE Sesame Workshop STOCKHOLM, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Sinch (Sinch AB (publ) XSTO: SINCH), which is pioneering the way the world communicates through its Customer Communications Cloud, is excited to announce that MINDD, a Dutch medical technology company, has selected Sinch to develop an advanced AI-driven solution to safely pre-triage patients, significantly alleviating the overwhelming burden on medical practices. In the Netherlands, doctors handle an immense number of calls daily, with an estimated 42% of calls coming from individuals who do not require medical attention the same day or not at all. This influx creates long phone wait times, endangering patients who require urgent care and putting immense pressure on already understaffed medical practices. MINDD, short for "Moet Ik Naar De Dokter" or "Should I go to the doctor," set out to support medical offices in managing call loads by selecting Sinch AI to sort calls based on medical urgency. Geertina Hamstra, a conversational AI expert, led this initiative. "My assignment was a clear one," Geertina explains, "create a system to support emergency routing. It sounds simple - pick up the phone, run through a few questions, and then get routed. But there are many technical steps in between to tackle, and choosing the right partner for the project's success was critical." The solution needed to allow patients to speak naturally in complete sentences, navigate emergencies without getting stuck in a triage loop, manage phone calls at scale, and handle the complexities of the Dutch language, including various accents and dialects. Sinch's expertise in Conversational AI made them the ideal partner for MINDD. "Starting a project like this comes with its fair share of unknowns and surprises. It has been a great experience working with Sinch because feedback flows both ways. They think deeply about the problem we're trying to solve," says Geertina. By combining the latest in conversational technology with Sinch AI, MINDD can now safely pre-triage patients by enabling patients to call the doctor's office and provide details such as age, sex, and the reason for calling, all in full sentences. All information is securely relayed directly to the doctor's office, equipping human agents or medical staff with the necessary data to assist and prioritize patients effectively. "Working with Geertina and her team at MINDD has always been a great experience. This project really embodies the meaningful and impactful AI that we aim to create with our clients at Sinch." shared Joachim Jonkers, Sinch's AI Director of Product. With Sinch AI, businesses can finally unlock the power of next-generation communications, ushering in a new age of customer engagement and loyalty. For more information about Sinch AI, please visit Sinch.com About: Moet ik naar de dokter "Moet ik naar de dokter?", also known as MINDD, is an organization that offers online and telephone digital self-triage and consultation preparation to Emergency Primary Care Posts and day practices. The self-triage and consultation preparation is co-developed and approved by a Medical Board of doctors and triage nurses. With the triage available 24/7, MINDD helps people take responsibility for their own health. Through this step-by-step online self-triage, the urgency of the health complaint is determined. When the patient's triage answers lead to the conclusion that emergency help is needed, they are directly routed to the emergency phone line. Patients who actually do not need to see a general practitioner or emergency care post, are reassured and provided with reliable (self-care) advice. For patients who, according to the triage, should contact the general practitioner or Emergency Care Post, MINDD already sends the online filled-in data to the practice. The available information leads to a more empathetic and efficient (shorter) conversation with the doctor's assistant or triage nurse. For further information, please contact: Janet Lennon, Director of Global Communications [email protected] This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/sinch-ab/r/sinch-ai-used-to-safely-pre-triage-patients,c4023468 NEW YORK, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The global specialty chemicals market size is estimated to grow by USD 368.2 billion from 2024-2028, according to Technavio. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.78% during the forecast period. Increasing demand for specialty chemicals from agrochemical industry is driving market growth, with a trend towards growing demand for bio-based chemicals. However, stringent regulations and policies towards specialty chemicals poses a challenge. Key market players include Albemarle Corp., Ashland Inc., BASF SE, Beardow and Adams Adhesives Ltd., Clariant International Ltd., Danimer Scientific Inc., Dow Chemical Co., Dymax Corp., Evonik Industries AG, Exxon Mobil Corp., H.B. Fuller Co., Henkel AG and Co. KGaA, Huntsman International LLC, Lanxess AG, Nouryon Chemicals Holding BV, PPG Industries Inc., Prince International Corp., Saudi Arabian Oil Co., Shree Ganesh Remedies Ltd., and Solvay SA. Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global specialty chemicals market 2024-2028 Get a detailed analysis on regions, market segments, customer landscape, and companies- View the snapshot of this report Specialty Chemicals Market Scope Report Coverage Details Base year 2023 Historic period 2018 - 2022 Forecast period 2024-2028 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 6.78% Market growth 2024-2028 USD 368.2 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 6.23 Regional analysis APAC, North America, Europe, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution APAC at 59% Key countries China, US, Japan, Germany, and South Korea Key companies profiled Albemarle Corp., Ashland Inc., BASF SE, Beardow and Adams Adhesives Ltd., Clariant International Ltd., Danimer Scientific Inc., Dow Chemical Co., Dymax Corp., Evonik Industries AG, Exxon Mobil Corp., H.B. Fuller Co., Henkel AG and Co. KGaA, Huntsman International LLC, Lanxess AG, Nouryon Chemicals Holding BV, PPG Industries Inc., Prince International Corp., Saudi Arabian Oil Co., Shree Ganesh Remedies Ltd., and Solvay SA Market Driver The specialty chemicals market is witnessing significant growth due to the increasing preference for environment-friendly bio-based chemicals. Bio-based lubricants, produced from renewable feedstocks like plant-based oil and sugar, are gaining popularity as alternatives to petroleum-based lubricants. These eco-friendly lubricants help reduce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and toxic gases, maintaining the ecological balance. Countries like Canada, the US, and Germany are focusing on their development. Similarly, bio-based resins, manufactured from renewable sources such as sugarcane, wood pulp, and soybean, are increasingly used in plastic additives for packaging materials, furniture, and carpets. The use of bio-based resins instead of petroleum-based ones leads to a 70% reduction in emissions and carbon footprint. The demand for biodegradable plastics, especially in the packaging industry, is driving the growth of the bio-based resins industry. The growing need for waste management further fuels this trend. The European Union aims to increase the use of biofuels to 20% by 2020, contributing to the market's growth. Overall, the shift towards sustainable and eco-friendly chemicals is expected to continue driving the global specialty chemicals market. Specialty chemicals market encompasses a wide range of products including water management chemicals, corrosion inhibitors, food additives, printing inks, and more. Specialty chemical companies focus on meeting specific customer needs, offering service-oriented solutions and support services. Trends include strategic sourcing through e-commerce platforms, customer awareness, and the shift from commodity-like products to higher-margin solutions. Industries like automotive coatings, pharmaceuticals, and water treatment rely heavily on specialty chemicals. Key players provide expert insights into industry dynamics, trade economics, and raw material prices. Barriers to entry are high due to the complex nature of these chemicals and the need for specialized knowledge. Products include water treatment chemicals, plastic and rubber additives, adhesives, cosmetic ingredients, lubricating oil additives, specialty oilfield chemicals, electronic chemicals, textile chemicals, and more. Price and margins are influenced by energy costs, raw material prices, and environmental regulations. Leading representatives in this sector include BASF, DuPont, Dow, and Evonik. Portfolios span various industries, from automotive to medical, and e-commerce platforms facilitate B2B transactions. Overall, the specialty chemicals market is a critical component of numerous industries, driving innovation and growth. Discover 360 analysis of this market. For complete information, schedule your consultation - Book Here! Market Challenges The global specialty chemicals market, particularly in sectors such as specialty paints and coatings, adhesives, and sealants, faces significant challenges due to stringent regulations on volatile organic compound (VOC) content. In the US, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) impose regulations that limit VOC content. For instance, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) imposed strict guidelines in August 2013 , and the US regulation 310 CMR 7.18(30) sets VOC limits for adhesives. California has established 13 Air Pollution Control Districts (APCDs) or Air Quality Management Districts (AQMDs) with varying VOC limits for adhesives and sealants. In Europe , EU No. 10/2011 regulates plastic materials and articles, including adhesives in indirect food additives. These regulations and policies are likely to hinder the growth of the global specialty chemicals market during the forecast period. Specialty chemicals vendors must comply with these standards to meet VOC requirements. , and the US regulation 310 CMR 7.18(30) sets VOC limits for adhesives. has established 13 Air Pollution Control Districts (APCDs) or Air Quality Management Districts (AQMDs) with varying VOC limits for adhesives and sealants. In , EU No. 10/2011 regulates plastic materials and articles, including adhesives in indirect food additives. These regulations and policies are likely to hinder the growth of the global specialty chemicals market during the forecast period. Specialty chemicals vendors must comply with these standards to meet VOC requirements. Specialty chemicals market faces challenges from various sectors. UV rays require advanced solutions for suncare and construction chemicals. Urbanization drives demand for water treatment chemicals, detergents, and surfactants. Automotive manufacturers seek synthetic lubricants and functional products like antioxidants and flame retardants. Operational plants grapple with labor costs and process technology. Trade liberalization intensifies competition, while end-user concentration affects pricing. Business segments like electronics chemicals, oil field chemicals, and flavors & fragrances witness unique challenges. Single-chemical entities must differentiate through formulations, composition, and performance. Companies like General Mills and Kraft Foods use specialty chemicals in their products. PGM catalyst market, oil costs, and biocides are other significant factors. Overlap between business segments requires strategic aspects, and convenience is a key consumer trend. Specialty polymers, water-soluble polymers, and individualized products cater to diverse industries. For more insights on driver and challenges - Request a sample report! Segment Overview This specialty chemicals market report extensively covers market segmentation by End-user 1.1 Agrochemicals 1.2 Lubricant and oilfield chemicals 1.3 Adhesives and sealants 1.4 Industrial and institutional cleaners 1.5 Others Type 2.1 Plasticizers 2.2 water-based 2.3 Coagulants and flocculants 2.4 Scale inhibitors Geography 3.1 APAC 3.2 North America 3.3 Europe 3.4 South America 3.5 Middle East and Africa 1.1 Agrochemicals- Agrochemicals are essential formulations used in agriculture to enhance crop quality and yield. This market is segmented into two main categories: fertilizers and pesticides. Fertilizers are further divided into nitrogenous, potassic, phosphatic, and others. Pesticides consist of insecticides, herbicides, bio-pesticides, and others. The agrochemicals market is projected to grow moderately due to the expansion of modern farming practices like floriculture and horticulture, rising farmer education, and increasing awareness of agrochemical usage in major agricultural economies. Agrochemicals contribute significantly to the agriculture industry by improving crop production. However, excessive usage of agrochemicals may lead to water pollution and environmental harm, which could hinder market growth during the forecast period. For more information on market segmentation with geographical analysis including forecast (2024-2028) and historic data (2017-2021) - Download a Sample Report Research Analysis The Specialty Chemicals market encompasses a wide range of chemical products used in various industries to enhance the performance, functionality, and durability of final products. This market includes segments such as Plastic Additives, Rubber Additives, Adhesives, Cosmetic Ingredients, Lubricating Oil Additives, Specialty Oilfield Chemicals, Water Treatment Chemicals, Electronic Chemicals, Textile Chemicals, Construction Chemicals, and Electronics Chemicals. Process technology plays a crucial role in the production of these chemicals. Trade liberalization has led to increased competition and convenience for consumers, but also presents strategic challenges for businesses. Overlap between different business segments can lead to innovation and synergy, while functional products such as Antioxidants and Biocides are essential additives in many applications. The real difference lies in the unique properties and applications of these specialty chemicals, which enable advancements in various industries. Market Research Overview Specialty chemicals refer to a diverse range of chemicals designed for specific applications in various industries. These include plastic additives that enhance the properties of plastics, rubber additives for improving rubber performance, adhesives for bonding different materials, cosmetic ingredients for personal care products, lubricating oil additives for engine performance, and specialty oilfield chemicals for oil and gas production. Other sectors include water treatment chemicals for industrial and municipal applications, electronic chemicals for electronics manufacturing, textile chemicals for textile processing, and construction chemicals for construction industry. E-commerce platforms have disrupted traditional sales channels, while the medical industry, environmental regulations, raw material prices, and urbanization influence market dynamics. Plasticizers, PVC-based pipes, UV rays, and automotive manufacturers are key end-users. Operational plants, labor costs, and trade liberalization impact production costs. Functional products like antioxidants, biocides, and corrosion inhibitors offer performance advantages. Strategic sourcing, customer awareness, and service-oriented business models differentiate specialty chemical companies. Specialty polymers, water-soluble polymers, and individualized product formulations cater to specific customer needs. Flame retardants, paper chemicals, printing inks, and food additives are other significant business segments. Energy, raw material costs, and barriers to entry are key challenges. The real difference lies in the unique composition, processing, and performance of specialty chemicals. Table of Contents: 1 Executive Summary 2 Market Landscape 3 Market Sizing 4 Historic Market Size 5 Five Forces Analysis 6 Market Segmentation End-user Agrochemicals Lubricant And Oilfield Chemicals Adhesives And Sealants Industrial And Institutional Cleaners Others Type Plasticizers Water-based Coagulants And Flocculants Scale Inhibitors 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. Contacts Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: [email protected] Website: www.technavio.com/ SOURCE Technavio Introducing BosCon connectors for large-diameter sets the new standard for the safe, continued expansion of the PV and EV industry infrastructure. WINDSOR, Calif., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Staubli Electrical Connectors, a global leader in high-quality electrical components and electrical connector solutions, is excited to announce its participation in this year's RE+ tradeshow in Anaheim, California, September 9-12. The event, formerly known as Solar Power International, is recognized as largest clean energy event in North America for industry professionals in the clean energy sector. We connect solar power for a sustainable world Showcasing a wide array of innovative products that have made it a mainstay in the connector industry. The company will also unveil new products, designed with the future of energy in mind, solidifying their commitment to advancing the efficiency and safety of electrical connection technology. "RE+ is the premier North American venue for Staubli to demonstrate our leadership in providing reliable and high-performance connectors," according to Brian Mills, Head of Renewable Energy, North America, Staubli Electrical Connectors. "We are thrilled not only to display our product lines but also to introduce effective and relevant new solutions that cater to the evolving needs of the renewable energy market." Highlights of Staubli's exhibition include the latest innovations in solar connectors including the robust MC4 product line and the advanced MC4-Evo 2, which have been specifically designed to meet the rigorous requirements of the global solar industry. In addition, Staubli will introduce a new range of connectors that offer higher current-carrying capacity and enhanced safety features to ensure reliable operation in challenging environmental conditions. The new products come with intelligent design features that enable installers to achieve quicker and more reliable installations, thus reducing overall system costs. Furthermore, the company's commitment to sustainability will be on full display, with solutions that prioritize not only performance but also environmental responsibility. One standout this year will be the newest product called the BosCon connector. The connector is made in the United States and is the first cULus listed PV connector of its kind for North American Renewable Energy Markets. Visitors to the Staubli booth can expect interactive demonstrations, one-on-one consultations with Staubli experts, and hands-on demos with the latest products. With its proven track record of precision and innovation, Staubli Electrical Connectors will continue to empower the energy sector by providing safer, more efficient, and more sustainable solutions for tomorrow's challenges. The RE+ tradeshow is an essential destination for anyone interested in the future of renewable energy. Staubli Electrical Connectors looks forward to welcoming attendees to their booth and engaging with other industry leaders to foster growth and drive advances in clean and renewable energy technologies. For more information about Staubli Electrical Connectors and their participation in RE+, please visit www.staubli-renewable-energy.com. About Staubli Staubli is a global industrial and mechatronic solution provider with four dedicated Divisions: Electrical Connectors, Fluid Connectors, Robotics and Textile, serving customers who aim to increase their productivity in many industrial sectors. Staubli currently operates in 28 countries, with agents in 50 countries on four continents. Its global workforce of 6,000 shares a commitment to partnering with customers in nearly every industry to provide comprehensive solutions with long-term support. Originally founded in 1892 as a small workshop in Horgen/Zurich, Switzerland, today Staubli is an international Group headquartered in Pfaffikon, Switzerland. SOURCE Staubli Electrical Connectors JACKSON, Ga., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The City of Jackson and the Downtown Development Authority are thrilled to announce that over 17 cast members from the hit Netflix series Stranger Things will gather in Jackson, Georgia, for the highly anticipated Stranger Things convention, The Upside Down Con. Hosted by the renowned convention organizers at Epic Cons (www.epiccons.com), this extraordinary event will take place on October 19th and 20th, 2024. Meet Joe Keery, the iconic Steve Harrington from Stranger Things! Joe will be joining us for The Upside Down Con in Jackson, Georgia on both Saturday and Sunday. Dont miss your chance to meet the star and get an autograph or photo! For tickets and more information, visit www.epiccons.com. As fans around the world eagerly await the fifth and final season of Stranger Things, they will also have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the world of Hawkins and meet their favorite stars in person. Attendees will get the chance to hear behind-the-scenes stories, take photos with the cast, and participate in Q&A sessions. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for any Stranger Things fan. The Upside Down Con will feature an incredible line-up of Stranger Things stars, including Joe Keery, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Dacre Montgomery, and many more. Fans will also have the chance to explore the filming location that has captured the hearts of millions and experience the magic of the show in person. But the fun doesn't stop there. Jackson's picturesque downtown area will be buzzing with excitement during the convention. Attendees can indulge in local dining at restaurants & food truck park, shops and experience exclusive Stranger Things tours and an escape room. Tickets for The Upside Down Con are available now at https://www.epiccons.com/events/the-upside-down. Don't miss your chance to be a part of this unforgettable event. And for those planning to attend, the City of Jackson's official website at www.strangerthingstv.net offers assistance in planning your stay and exploring everything that Jackson has to offer. "We are excited to welcome fans and visitors to our charming town as we celebrate the magic of Stranger Things and create unforgettable memories," says the City of Jackson and Downtown Development Authority. For media inquiries, please contact Cameron Thompson of Stranger Tours at 404-323-4312 or [email protected]. The Upside Down Con is not affiliated with Netflix or Stranger Things. About the City of Jackson, Georgia Located just south of Atlanta, the City of Jackson, Georgia, is a charming and vibrant small town celebrated for its rich history and welcoming community. Jackson has recently gained international fame as a key filming location for the popular Netflix series, Stranger Things. Over the years, we have proudly hosted the show's cast and crew, and we are thrilled to extend a warm invitation to fans from around the world to visit the iconic setting of "Hawkins." For more information, please visit www.strangerthingstv.net. SOURCE City of Jackson, GA $2.1M invested in seven companies to advance innovations from lab to market in Maryland COLUMBIA, Md., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- TEDCO, Maryland's economic engine for technology companies, announced a recent round of investments through its Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII), marking a significant milestone in promoting the commercialization of groundbreaking research from Maryland's prestigious academic institutions. $2.1M invested in seven companies to advance innovations from lab to market in Maryland Post this Genetic research and Biotech science Concept. Human Biology and pharmaceutical technology on laboratory background. Maryland Innovation Initiative logo (PRNewsfoto/TEDCO) "The latest awards highlight the innovative research in university labs with tremendous commercial potential across multiple industries," said Abi Kulshreshtha, Ph.D., executive director, MII. "We are excited to continue MII's role in advancing Maryland's innovation-driven economic development strategy." The fund recently invested $2.1 million into seven companies who are pushing the boundaries of innovation: Gelectric Medical, Inc., located in Baltimore, Md. , is a University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) spinout commercializing a reversible soft-tissue suture alternative for intestinal tissue repair: AnastoTape. , is a (UMCP) spinout commercializing a reversible soft-tissue suture alternative for intestinal tissue repair: AnastoTape. Imagining Reality Insights and Solutions, located in Baltimore, Md. , is a UMCP spinout commercializing IRIS Reads, an XR based reading intervention app for children with dyslexia and other struggling readers. , is a UMCP spinout commercializing IRIS Reads, an XR based reading intervention app for children with dyslexia and other struggling readers. Reversal Therapeutics , located in National Harbor, Md., is a UMCP spinout commercializing a new therapeutic to address drug misuse and addiction. located in National Harbor, Md., is a UMCP spinout commercializing a new therapeutic to address drug misuse and addiction. FlexiCharge: Harnessing Human Energy to Power Wearable Devices, located in Ellicott City, Md. , is a University of Maryland, Baltimore County spinout developing technology to power wearable devices with body heat. , is a spinout developing technology to power wearable devices with body heat. US Plasma, located in College Park, Md. , is a UMCP spinout that is working to electrify manufacturing and synthesis of new materials with minimal to negative carbon emission. , is a UMCP spinout that is working to electrify manufacturing and synthesis of new materials with minimal to negative carbon emission. Relai.ai, located in Bethesda, Md. , is a UMCP spinout that enhances the reliability of AI models. , is a UMCP spinout that enhances the reliability of AI models. New Copper, located in College Park, Md. , is a UMCP spinout enabling 3D printed electronics through a conducting technology using recycled copper. Start-up companies joining TEDCO's MII portfolio have access to a variety of TEDCO resources including mentor opportunities and CEO roundtables to loaned executives. A complete list of funded companies can be found on the MII website. MII's Funding Opportunities The MII program, administered by TEDCO (the Maryland Technology Development Corporation), was created as a collaboration between the State of Maryland and five leading academic research institutionsJohns Hopkins University, Morgan State University, University of Maryland, Baltimore, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and University of Maryland, College Park that aims to leverage each institution's strengths to transition promising technologies into the commercial sector. "We are excited to see the research and development taking place in our university laboratories," said Renee Winsky, MII board chair. "These seven investments highlight the diverse array of innovative minds we have in Maryland's university laboratories, and we are committed to supporting their continued growth. With the appointment of Abi as the MII executive director, we are confident that this initiative will continue driving innovation from the lab to the commercial market." In addition to investments, MII provides grant opportunities, through two phases of awards: Technology Assessment and Company Formation. The Technology Assessment phase is outlined as a nine-month project that focuses on technology validation and market assessment, while the Company Formation phase supports the commercial launch of technologies. This structure is designed to support the full commercialization journey, from lab to market. These two phases recently underwent changes to enhance the current support MII offers. Since inception, MII has expanded its reach to include two additional comprehensive universities, Frostburg State University and Bowie State University, as part of the MII Pilot Programs. This initiative aims to foster innovation and bring more research to the market. To view MII's 2023 Annual Report, click here, and for more information about the MII program, eligibility requirements and funding available, visit https://www.tedcomd.com/funding/maryland-innovation-initiative. About TEDCO TEDCO, the Maryland Technology Development Corporation, enhances economic empowerment growth through the fostering of an inclusive entrepreneurial innovation ecosystem. TEDCO identifies, invests in, and helps grow technology and life science-based companies in Maryland. Learn more at www.tedcomd.com. Media Contact Tammi Thomas, Chief Development & Marketing Officer, TEDCO, [email protected] SOURCE TEDCO LAS VEGAS, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Elvis weddings have long been a quintessential part of the Las Vegas experience, attracting couples from around the world to say "I do" in the presence of the King of Rock 'n' Roll. Bliss Wedding Chapel, the newest full-service wedding venue on the Las Vegas Strip in over 30 years, is excited to announce its innovative take on this classic ceremony, blending honored tradition with modern sophistication. Click Here for Downloadable, High-Res Photos Elvis weddings have come a long way since their inception, evolving to meet the tastes and expectations of contemporary couples. No longer just a kitschy novelty, today's Elvis ceremonies at Bliss Wedding Chapel provide a perfect blend of Elvis nostalgia, respectful of The King and delivering a range of options that honor the spirit of Elvis while offering a polished and memorable experience. "Our Elvis weddings are designed to celebrate the fun and reminiscence that Elvis brings while ensuring that couples receive a top-tier, elegant wedding experience," states Brandon Reed, owner of Bliss Wedding Chapel. "We've modernized the Elvis wedding to include lavish touches and personalized elements that make each ceremony unique." Bliss Wedding Chapel's Elvis packages cater to both renewal of vows and first-time grand celebrations. Highlights include: Bliss Elvis Wedding Package : Couples can choose from a range of themes, from classic Elvis to '70s Vegas style, each complete with live performances, professional photography & videography, and elegant floral arrangements. : Couples can choose from a range of themes, from classic Elvis to '70s Vegas style, each complete with live performances, professional photography & videography, and elegant floral arrangements. Elvis Ceremony in Las Vegas : For those wanting a traditional touch with modern flair, our Elvis ceremonies offer a perfect blend of nostalgia and contemporary style, featuring an Elvis Tribute artist officiating the ceremony. : For those wanting a traditional touch with modern flair, our Elvis ceremonies offer a perfect blend of nostalgia and contemporary style, featuring an Elvis Tribute artist officiating the ceremony. Elvis Wedding Photos: Capture the magic of your special day in Fabulous Las Vegas with high-quality photos that immortalize your Elvis wedding moment. "Elvis weddings at Bliss Wedding Chapel are more than just a ceremony; they are an immersive experience," added Reed. "As the bride promises to never step on the groom's Blue Suede Shoes, or the groom to never leave her at Heartbreak Hotel, we ensure that every couple feels special and that their ceremony is a reflection of their love story, enhanced by the charm and charisma of Elvis." Located on The Strip just blocks away from the Marriage License Bureau, Bliss Wedding Chapel provides all the amenities needed for a seamless and unforgettable wedding day. From luxury transportation to handcrafted fresh or life-like flowers, every detail is meticulously planned and executed. For more information about our Elvis wedding packages and to book your unforgettable Elvis ceremony, visit blisschapel.com or: Contact: (702)665-5577 Available Daily | 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM Address: 827 S Las Vegas Blvd. Las Vegas, Nevada 89101 Email: [email protected] About Bliss Wedding Chapel Bliss Wedding Chapel is the newest, full-service wedding venue on the Las Vegas Strip, offering a modern and elegant take on the classic Las Vegas wedding. With a dedicated team boasting over 100 years of combined experience, Bliss Wedding Chapel provides comprehensive services, including professional photography, luxury Rolls Royce or Mercedes transportation, and diverse wedding packages to suit every couple's vision. SOURCE Bliss Wedding Chapel Extra Space Storage, a publicly traded REIT (NYSE: EXR), will brand, operate, and manage the facility. Extra Space manages 1,400 storage facilities throughout the USA and owns an additional 472 facilities. Completion is expected by October 1, 2024. The development team, headed by de Stefanis & Associates of White Plains, NY, includes local, Danbury, CT area firms: Claris Construction, Inc. as the construction manager; Structural Consulting Services, P.C. for structural engineering; and CCA, LLC site engineering. Dean Architects PLLC of Clarence, NY, a nationally renowned self-storage design firm, is the architect of record. de Stefanis & Associates, Inc has been in operation since 1958; Carl de Stefanis, P.E., is the current president. The company has developed warehouses, offices, and banking facilities in Westchester County, New York. "The location is excellent due the proximity to many well-known big box retailers, and the site's easy-on and easy-off access from Super Route 7. Our market research indicates that the area has a high demand for storage. Potential commercial customers inquiring about preleasing our large, exterior-access drive-up units is strong," said Mr. de Stefanis. CONTACT: Carl de Stefanis, [email protected] SOURCE dSA Capital LLC Portland-based management consulting firm establishes Denver presence with robust team and growth plans DENVER, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Gunter Group (TGG), a leading management consulting firm, has selected Denver for its next expansion beyond its Portland headquarters. The firm, which serves some of the world's leading footwear and apparel brands, national insurance carriers and a Fortune 100 healthcare company, has already built a 14-person team in Denver, with plans to hire and grow further to serve Front Range clients. While TGG has employees located nationwide, it chose to focus on building a team in Denver due to the area's robust talent pool and an array of businesses that may benefit from TGG's services, particularly those in financial services, education, insurance, hospitality, life sciences, and retail. Additionally, Colorado's outdoor lifestyle and proximity to TGG's clients along the Front Range and in the Midwest make Denver an ideal location. "Culture fit is a critical consideration when hiring consultants and working with clients, and Denver represents that intersection of top talent, business opportunities, and quality of life," said Perin Wehde, principal consultant and TGG's senior leadership team member based in Denver. "We look forward to participating in Colorado's thriving business, cultural and nonprofit communities." TGG has won nearly 20 workplace awards including six consecutive years on Consulting Magazine's Best Firms to Work For list and Inc. Best Workplaces award. One-third of TGG's senior leadership team are military veterans, and the firm actively recruits veterans who are high-impact professionals with transferable skills and specialized experiences. Companies choose to work with TGG because of the firm's commitment to bespoke solutions customized for each engagement. "Part of our secret sauce is that we become a true extension of our clients' teams, embedding our people with our clients," continued Wehde. "Expanding in Denver enables us to more seamlessly integrate with our existing and future Front Range clients and deliver better outcomes." TGG helps organizations in retail, consumer products, financial services, healthcare, education and other industries achieve measurable results and specific business outcomes through Digital Transformation, Strategy, Large System Implementations, and more . About The Gunter Group Founded in Portland, Oregon in 2011, The Gunter Group (TGG) leads C-Suite executives and client teams through strategy development, digital transformations, large-scale system implementations, agile development, decision insights, data services, and enterprise architecture changes. With more than 75 employees across the United States, The Gunter Group is an innovative management consulting firm that leverages strong relationships to achieve high-impact results in partnership with clients ranging from global Fortune 100 organizations to local and regional-based operations. To learn more, please visit www.guntergroup.com or follow The Gunter Group | LinkedIn . SOURCE The Gunter Group SAN DIEGO, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Tide Rock, an unlevered buyout firm with a portfolio of diverse economically resilient B2B businesses, acquired Glenn Wayne Wholesale Bakery, a family owned and operated full-line bakery manufacturer. Founded in 1990, Glenn Wayne Wholesale Bakery has built a strong reputation for producing high-volume, high-quality baked goods, including donuts, muffins, Danish pastries, cookies, brownies, and other baked goods from their full line manufacturing facility strategically located in Bohemia, New York. The company's commitment to efficient operations and quality has enabled it to expand its reach and distribution nationally. "We are excited to add Glenn Wayne Bakery to the Tide Rock portfolio and help this successful company reach the next stage of growth," said Brooks Kincaid, President of Tide Rock. "Glenn Wayne has tremendous opportunity to broaden its customer base and explore additional opportunities for expansion. The bakery market has proven to be one of the most resilient categories within the food industry, and their newly obtained gluten-free certification opens several new markets." According to IBIS World, the North American bakery market, valued at $50 billion in 2022, is expected continue to grow and reach $55.6 billion by 2028. Glenn Alessi, one of the founders of Glenn Wayne, remarks, "From our humble beginnings in a 1,000 square foot building, we have always prioritized innovation and quality. Over the years, we've invested heavily in building a strong business with high quality products, operationally efficient processes and well-run facilities. Today, we are proud of our automated production processes, inventory management, and ordering systems, as well as our clean facilities and warehouse and our incredible employees. We look forward to working with Tide Rock to continue this legacy and achieve greater growth." Glenn Wayne's 40,000 square foot facility and 6,000 square foot warehouse location provide ample expansion opportunities and are strategically located near priority distributors and customers. The facilities are certified by the NYS Department of Agriculture & Markets Food Processor License (Article 20-C), FDA Facility Registration, BRCGS Gluten Free Certification, SQF Food Manufacturing Certification (Level 2), Kosher Certification (Kof-K), and Ethical Kosher Certification. With this acquisition, Tide Rock continues to expand its portfolio of economically resilient businesses, further solidifying its position as a leading unlevered buyout firm. About Tide Rock Tide Rock is an unlevered buyout firm that acquires companies with strong free cash flow and grows them to scale while distributing high quarterly yield to its investors. It owns a portfolio of economically resilient business-to-business companies in the lower middle market, specifically in the manufacturing, distribution, and services industries. The company's unique model consistently drives high yield returns without the risk profile typically associated with other investment vehicles. It has offices in Solana Beach, CA and New York, NY. Learn more at tiderock.com. About Glenn Wayne Bakery Glenn Wayne Bakery was founded in 1990 as a family-owned and operated wholesale bakery manufacturing donuts, muffins, danish, pastries, cookies, brownies, and other baked items. As a premier bakery manufacturer providing both branded and private label baked goods strategically located in Bohemia NY, Glenn Wayne has been serving local and regional customers with daily fresh deliveries and national brands with high-end thaw to serve baked goods. Recently, Glenn Wayne added a line of gluten-free fresh baked goods to their portfolio. Media Contact: Jessica McNellis ([email protected]) SOURCE Tide Rock LLC From Newark to Charlotte: Find Out Where Passengers Complain the Most and Least, What They Are Complaining About, and When Complaints Peak AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Upgraded Points' latest study analyzes TSA Contact Center Complaint data from 2015 to 2023, revealing U.S. airports that receive the most and least complaints from passengers. "Security checks are an unavoidable part of air travel, but the experience can vary greatly depending on the airport," said Keri Stooksbury, editor-in-chief at Upgraded Points. "And since navigating security can be such a high-stress experience, we identified where passengers are most and least satisfied with TSA, providing valuable insights for travelers." The U.S. Airports with the Most Complaints The U.S. Airports with the Fewest Complaints Study Methodology To determine the airports with the most and least complaints, Upgraded Points analyzed TSA complaint data by category from 2015 to 2023 at 44 large U.S. airports. Complaints were normalized by passenger volume for accurate comparisons across airports of varying sizes. The study also identified the most common complaints, the airports with the highest percentage of these complaints, and seasonal shifts in complaint trends. All data for the study came from the TSA FOIA Electronic Reading Room. High Stress Zones: Airports With the Most TSA Complaints Overall Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) 6.83 Complaints per 100,000 Passengers Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) 5.78 Complaints per 100,000 Passengers Orlando International Airport (MCO) 5.6 Complaints per 100,000 Passengers Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) 5.5 Complaints per 100,000 Passengers Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) 5.38 Complaints per 100,000 Passengers Top Complaints Received in 2023 Newark Liberty International Airport: 12.84 complaints per 100,000 passengers Cleveland Hopkins International Airport: 10.35 complaints per 100,000 passengers International Airport: 10.35 complaints per 100,000 passengers Palm Beach International Airport: 8.98 complaints per 100,000 passengers International Airport: 8.98 complaints per 100,000 passengers Southwest Florida International Airport: 8.92 complaints per 100,000 passengers International Airport: 8.92 complaints per 100,000 passengers Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD): 8.91 complaints per 100,000 passengers Smooth Flying: Airports With the Fewest TSA Complaints Overall Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) 1.97 Complaints per 100,000 Passengers Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) 2.63 Complaints per 100,000 Passengers Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) 2.74 Complaints per 100,000 Passengers Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) 2.75 Complaints per 100,000 Passengers Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) 2.8 Complaints per 100,000 Passengers Top Airport Performers in 2023 Charlotte Douglas International Airport: 3.47 complaints per 100,000 passengers Dallas Fort Worth International Airport: 4.22 complaints per 100,000 passengers International Airport: 4.22 complaints per 100,000 passengers Dallas Love Field (DAL): 4.3 complaints per 100,000 passengers (DAL): 4.3 complaints per 100,000 passengers Chicago Midway International Airport: 4.52 complaints per 100,000 passengers Harry Reid International Airport (LAS): 4.8 complaints per 100,000 passengers Peak Complaint Months: The Holiday Rush Navigating airport security can become increasingly challenging during certain times of the year. The study revealed that travelers encounter the most issues during the final months of the year, particularly around the holiday season. December: 1,457 complaints per day October: 1,450 complaints per day November: 1,398 complaints per day Meanwhile, the early months of the year, mainly January and February, show a noticeable drop in complaints. With fewer travelers, these months tend to be less stressful for those passing through airport security. Dive deeper into the full data for each airport, discover which complaints are filed the most often, and view helpful graphics by visiting the full study online. About Upgraded Points LLC Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Upgraded Points is a travel company that helps to demystify the complex world of travel and credit cards. Launched in 2016 by Alex Miller, Upgraded Points uses targeted research efforts and in-depth studies to help travelers maximize their travel, points, and experiences. Learn more at: www.UpgradedPoints.com. Media Contact: Alex Miller, Founder 1-214-646-8866 [email protected] SOURCE Upgraded Points WASHINGTON, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Commerce today announced the final determination of a combined anti-subsidy and anti-dumping duty rate of 14.54% in the fifth annual review of unfairly traded Canadian softwood lumber imports into the United States. This United States government ruling substantiates that Canada continues to subsidize and dump its softwood lumber products in the United States, distorting the U.S. softwood lumber market to the detriment of U.S. sawmills, their employees and communities. "This even higher level of unfair trade by Canada could not have come at a worse time for domestic producers," stated Andrew Miller, Chairman of the U.S. Lumber Coalition and CEO of Stimson Lumber. "Lumber demand and prices are at record lows and mills across the country are struggling to keep afloat." The increased levels of unfair trade confirmed by the Commerce Department makes it clear that Canadian unfair trade practices are making a bad situation worse by accelerating and deepening market downcycles, resulting in today's extreme low lumber prices, forcing U.S. mill closures and layoffs. "The United States does not need the unfairly traded Canadian lumber imports to supply current levels of home construction, added Miller. "What American mills, workers, and timberland holders need is the continued strong enforcement of the U.S. trade laws help facilitate a level playing field. That is how we retain production and availability of lumber produced by U.S. workers to build U.S. homes," concluded Miller. The U.S. lumber industry established its right to the imposition of antidumping and countervailing duties in the face of unfair competition from Canada, and the Coalition supports the Commerce Department's continued commitment to enforce the U.S. trade laws against subsidized and unfairly traded Canadian lumber imports. About the U.S. Lumber Coalition The U.S. Lumber Coalition is an alliance of large and small softwood lumber producers from around the country, joined by their employees, and woodland owners, working to address Canada's unfair lumber trade practices. Our goal is to serve as the voice of the American lumber community, and effectively address Canada's unfair softwood lumber trade practices, including its gross underpricing of timber. For more information, please visit the Coalition's website at www.uslumbercoalition.org. CONTACT: Zoltan van Heyningen [email protected] | 202-805-9133 SOURCE The U.S. Lumber Coalition GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- US Signal, a frontrunner in digital infrastructure solutions, is proud to announce the strategic acquisition of a cutting-edge data center located at 1035 West Entrance Drive, Auburn Hills, Michigan. This pivotal move not only strengthens US Signal's presence in the Detroit metro area but also marks a significant milestone as the third data center in this market, the fifth in Michigan, and the sixteenth across the United States. John White, Chief Operating Officer at US Signal, emphasized the company's strategic vision, stating, "Our mission to fortify digital infrastructure in Michigan has never been stronger. This acquisition underscores our position as the leading data center and managed services provider in the region. With three facilities in Metro Detroit now fully operational and in high demand, we are poised for growth." "This acquisition underscores our position as the leading data center and managed services provider in the region." Post this The Detroit North Data Center, encompassing 76,000 square feet, is ready for immediate lease, offering 4MW of available power with the ability to expand up to 8MW. This facility is set for substantial enhancements, including over 5 megawatts of critical IT load capabilities, 24/7 staffing, and top-tier multi-level security measures, meeting rigorous tier III standards for redundancy and reliability. Designed to accommodate the surging demand for AI and high-power consumption applications, the facility boasts 17,000 square feet of raised floor space, with ample room for expansion. It adheres to the highest compliance standards, being SSAE 18-audited, HIPAA-compliant, and PCI-certified, ensuring utmost security for all hosted data. In anticipation of increased operational needs, US Signal plans to augment its workforce in the market, adding office space and welcoming a number of new employees to meet the evolving needs of its customer base. In line with their commitment to expanding network capabilities, US Signal will also be adding a 6-mile fiber build around the Detroit North Data Center. This effort will further bolster connectivity and ensure seamless, high-speed data exchange for its clients. An open house event will be announced following the completion of the facility's renovations this fall. The swift commitment from several of US Signal's clients to utilize space within the new Detroit North Data Center highlights the strong market demand for premium digital infrastructure services. John White added, "Drawing from our success with the Indianapolis North Data Center, the Detroit North facility is on track to become a pivotal hub for network connectivity and digital infrastructure services." US Signal's remarkable year-over-year growth rate in data center operations is a testament to its commitment to providing robust and reliable digital infrastructure solutions. For more information on US Signal's comprehensive data center capabilities and services, please visit https://ussignal.com. About US Signal US Signal is a leading Midwest-based digital infrastructure provider, established in 2001. With a rich history of delivering cutting-edge digital infrastructure solutions, US Signal's strength lies in its extensive, wholly owned and operated fiber network. The company specializes in offering a wide array of managed and professional services, including network connectivity, cloud hosting, colocation, data protection, and disaster recovery solutions, all designed to optimize and safeguard business resources. For more insight into US Signal's services, visit www.ussignal.com. SOURCE US Signal Trailblazing Waynesboro Black businessman and community leader Carl Eugene McCutcheon Sr. was honored Sunday at Union Baptist Church. The church presented the 90-year-old McCutcheon the honor of deacon emeritus. Health issues have prevented McCutcheon from attending church in person, though he was present on Sunday. But the Rev. Dr. Earl Pendleton, pastor of Union Baptist, said McCutcheon has continued to watch church on Zoom and virtually attend Bible study and other meetings. Hes been a faithful member of the church, said Pendleton, who said McCutcheon had served as a deacon for more than two decades. And despite his declining health, Pendleton said McCutcheon has a wonderful sense of humor he has continued to display. Also honoring McCutcheon Sunday was the Waynesboro Black Heritage Museum. The museum presented McCutcheon with a certificate of appreciation. Museum curator Estello Randolph Barnett first came to know McCutcheon nearly three decades ago when her son was involved in an accident with him. She concluded that meeting him was fate. That is the way God brings us together. He is part of my family and my life, Barnett said. McCutcheon and his wife Jeanie established the McCutcheon Funeral Home on Port Republic Road 41 years ago. Today, the business is McCutcheon & Jones Funeral Home and Cremation Services. The McCutcheons have been married for 65 years and met in New Rochelle, New York. McCutcheon is a Waynesboro native, a graduate of the former Rosenwald School and did his mortuary training in the Northeast before returning to his hometown in the 1980s. McCutcheon told The News Virginian on the 40th anniversary of the funeral home that he was eager to come back to Waynesboro and serve as a role model for young Black men. Union Baptist Deacon Willie Johnson said McCutcheon was recognized as an accomplished embalmer and funeral director in the Northeast prior to returning to Waynesboro. Despite not attending regular Sunday services in person, McCutcheon is still with us in spirit, according to Johnson. McCutcheon flashed his wit during a video tribute. He said, I looked pretty good, when one picture flashed, eliciting laughter from the Union Baptist crowd. He has been confronted with multiple health challenges, including blood clots and heart trouble. During the most recent crisis, McCutcheon said he was told his heart was functioning at a low level. But his faith remains steadfast. Pendleton said McCutcheon should not view the title of deacon emeritus as merely symbolic. Were not putting you out to pasture, he said. We are not getting rid of you. Deacon emeritus is a promotion. You just dont go and sit. You will be a blessing to us individually and collectively. NEW YORK, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The vacuum packaging market size in Europe is estimated to grow by USD 2.23 billion from 2024-2028, according to Technavio. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of almost 4.18% during the forecast period. Rising focus on improving shelf life of products is driving market growth, with a trend towards use of high-barrier plastic. However, contamination of food during packaging poses a challenge. Key market players include Amcor Plc, ANL PACKAGING, Bernhardt SAS, Berry Global Inc., Coveris Management GmbH, Filtration Group Corp., G.MONDINI Spa, Green Packaging Material Jiangyin Co. Ltd., GRUPO ULMA S. COOP, Henkelman BV, JAW FENG MACHINERY CO. LTD., Kopack Enterprises, Mondi Plc, ORICS Industries Inc., Plastopil Hazorea Co. Ltd., Sealed Air Corp., SIA SCANDIVAC, Swiss Pack, The Middleby Corp., and Wihuri International Oy. Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled vacuum packaging market in Europe 2024-2028 Get a detailed analysis on regions, market segments, customer landscape, and companies- View the snapshot of this report Vacuum Packaging Market Scope In Europe Report Coverage Details Base year 2023 Historic period 2018 - 2022 Forecast period 2024-2028 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 4.18% Market growth 2024-2028 USD 2232.9 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 3.82 Regional analysis Europe Performing market contribution Europe at 100% Key countries Germany, UK, France, Italy, and Rest of Europe Key companies profiled Amcor Plc, ANL PACKAGING, Bernhardt SAS, Berry Global Inc., Coveris Management GmbH, Filtration Group Corp., G.MONDINI Spa, Green Packaging Material Jiangyin Co. Ltd., GRUPO ULMA S. COOP, Henkelman BV, JAW FENG MACHINERY CO. LTD., Kopack Enterprises, Mondi Plc, ORICS Industries Inc., Plastopil Hazorea Co. Ltd., Sealed Air Corp., SIA SCANDIVAC, Swiss Pack, The Middleby Corp., and Wihuri International Oy Market Driver The European vacuum packaging market is experiencing growth due to the increasing demand for high-barrier packaging solutions. Biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate (BOPET) and ethylene-vinyl alcohol (EVOH) resins are popular choices for their superior barrier properties. BOPET films are particularly sought after for their high gas and water resistance, while EVOH films offer excellent impermeability to gases. These resins are more expensive than conventional materials but are worth the investment due to their extended shelf life benefits. The UK, Germany, and Russia are key markets for vacuum packaging in Europe, driven by the need to preserve the aroma, texture, and flavor of food products. Vacuum packaging with high-barrier plastic helps prevent oxygen, light, and water from entering the package, thereby increasing the product's shelf life and reducing waste. The European Vacuum Packaging Market is experiencing significant growth due to increasing trends in food preservation and safety. This market caters to various sectors including nutritional value focused on fresh produce, meat and poultry, dairy products, bakery items, ready-to-eat meals, and more. External contaminants and odors are major concerns, leading to the demand for vacuum-sealed packaging. The meat industry benefits from vacuum packaging in maintaining color, flavor, and preventing bacterial growth. OECD and FAO emphasize reducing food waste and product losses, making vacuum packaging a sustainable solution. Innovations include modified atmosphere packaging, vacuum skin packaging, and intelligent sensors. Sustainable practices involve using recyclable films, materials like polymers, adhesives, biodegradable materials, and recyclable materials. Raw material costs, specifically polymers, polyamide, ethylene vinyl alcohol, and polypropylene, impact market prices. Sustainability remains a key focus with the reduction of plastic waste and the implementation of package technology. Discover 360 analysis of this market. For complete information, schedule your consultation - Book Here! Market Challenges Vacuum packaging is a crucial aspect of the food processing industry in Europe . However, it presents challenges related to contamination. Packaging materials, such as plastics and paper, may contain hazardous chemicals that can transfer into food during the packaging process. Exposure to high temperatures can accelerate this transfer. Recycled packaging poses additional risks, as it may contain fluorinated chemicals, mineral oils, phthalates, bisphenol A, and nonylphenol. Consumption of these chemicals may lead to health issues, including kidney and testicular cancer, decreased fertility, elevated cholesterol, and thyroid problems. Cross-contamination is another concern during vacuum packaging. Particles can get trapped between filling machine components, leading to contamination of the products being packaged. Contaminants can seep through the fillers and affect the food inside. These issues may hinder the growth of the vacuum packaging market in Europe during the forecast period. . However, it presents challenges related to contamination. Packaging materials, such as plastics and paper, may contain hazardous chemicals that can transfer into food during the packaging process. Exposure to high temperatures can accelerate this transfer. Recycled packaging poses additional risks, as it may contain fluorinated chemicals, mineral oils, phthalates, bisphenol A, and nonylphenol. Consumption of these chemicals may lead to health issues, including kidney and testicular cancer, decreased fertility, elevated cholesterol, and thyroid problems. Cross-contamination is another concern during vacuum packaging. Particles can get trapped between filling machine components, leading to contamination of the products being packaged. Contaminants can seep through the fillers and affect the food inside. These issues may hinder the growth of the vacuum packaging market in during the forecast period. The European vacuum packaging market is experiencing significant growth due to the increasing demand for convenient packaging solutions for perishable commodities like frozen food, seafood, and convenience foods. Modern packaging techniques, such as vacuum packaging, offer extended product shelf life by creating a sealed environment that prevents external pollutants, germs, mold, and moisture from entering. This is particularly important for fish and seafood products, which are prone to spoilage-causing bacteria and deterioration. Household spending on packaged food continues to rise, driven by consumers' preference for dining at home and the need for food safety, hygiene, and freshness. Vacuum packaging industry players invest in efficient packaging techniques and advanced vacuum sealers, vacuum chambers, and vacuum pumps to meet production needs. The market's focus on food waste reduction and food safety has led to the development of hygienic packaging solutions that maintain product quality and taste while ensuring cleanliness and preventing bacterial development. For more insights on driver and challenges - Request a sample report! Segment Overview This vacuum packaging market in Europe report extensively covers market segmentation by End-user 1.1 Food 1.2 Non-food Material 2.1 Polyethylene 2.2 Polyamide 2.3 EVOH 2.4 Others Geography 3.1 Europe 1.1 Food- The European vacuum packaging market is experiencing steady growth due to increasing demand for extended shelf life and preservation of food products. Supermarkets and food manufacturers are major consumers, utilizing vacuum packaging for various applications such as meat, cheese, and ready meals. Additionally, rising consumer awareness towards food safety and convenience is further boosting market growth. Overall, the market is expected to continue expanding in the coming years. For more information on market segmentation with geographical analysis including forecast (2024-2028) and historic data (2017-2021) - Download a Sample Report Learn and explore more about Technavio's in-depth research reports The global Secondary Packaging Market is poised for significant growth, driven by increasing demand for effective product protection and enhanced brand visibility. The market is expanding due to rising consumer preferences for convenience and eco-friendly solutions. The global Packaging Market, a broader segment, continues to evolve with innovations in materials and technologies, catering to diverse industries from food and beverage to pharmaceuticals. Key trends include sustainable packaging solutions and advancements in smart packaging technologies, shaping the future of the industry. Research Analysis The vacuum packaging market in Europe is witnessing significant growth due to the increasing demand for extended product shelf life and improved food safety. Vacuum packaging is a popular method for preserving various packaging items, including food products, pharmaceuticals, and industrial goods. The material used in vacuum packaging is primarily polyethylene (PE), which is known for its excellent barrier properties against air, water, and external pollutants. Vacuum packaging helps reduce food waste by maintaining food freshness and preventing bacterial development, oxidation, and oxygen degradation. It is particularly beneficial for convenience foods, ensuring hygiene and food safety while reducing the risk of contamination. The vacuum packing industry offers various packaging solutions, including pouches and bags, films, and thermoformed trays, to cater to diverse packaging needs. Vacuum packaging plays a crucial role in food preservation by creating an airtight seal that eliminates air and maintains optimal oxygen levels. This helps prevent deterioration, maintain food freshness, and ensure the safety of food from the harmful effects of oxygen, moisture, and germs. The market for vacuum packaging in Europe is expected to continue growing as consumers increasingly demand longer product shelf life and improved food safety and freshness. Market Research Overview The European vacuum packaging market is witnessing significant growth due to the increasing demand for extended shelf life, improved food safety, and hygiene in the packaging industry. Vacuum packaging, which involves removing air from containers or pouches to create a sealed environment, is increasingly being used for various packaging items such as fresh produce, meat and poultry, dairy products, bakery items, ready-to-eat meals, and seafood products. Materials used in vacuum packaging include PE films, pouches and bags, thermoformed trays, and waterproof containers. Oxygen levels are crucial in vacuum packaging as oxygen degradation can lead to spoilage-causing bacteria, bacterial growth, and deterioration of taste, texture, and nutritional value. Modern packaging techniques, such as barrier packaging and chemical preservations, are used to maintain product freshness and reduce food waste. Retailers prefer vacuum packaging due to its convenient and efficient packaging solutions, which also help in reducing household spending on food. The vacuum packing industry caters to various food segments, including convenience foods, frozen food consumption, and perishable commodities. External pollutants, germs, mold, moisture, and odors are effectively kept at bay in vacuum packaging, ensuring food safety and hygiene. The OECD and FAO have emphasized the importance of sustainable packaging solutions to reduce product losses and minimize food waste. Innovations in vacuum packaging, such as efficient production techniques and specific packaging requirements, continue to drive market growth. Table of Contents: 1 Executive Summary 2 Market Landscape 3 Market Sizing 4 Historic Market Size 5 Five Forces Analysis 6 Market Segmentation End-user Food Non-food Material Polyethylene Polyamide EVOH Others Geography Europe 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. Contacts Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: [email protected] Website: www.technavio.com/ SOURCE Technavio The global vehicle diesel engine market is experiencing growth due to several factors such as rise in infrastructural development in various regions and increase in automotive production in the transportation industry. PORTLAND, Ore., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Vehicle Diesel Engine Market by Speed (Low, Medium, and High), and Power Rating (Below 0.5 MW, 0.5 to 1.0 MW, and 1.1 to 2.0 MW): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2024-2032". According to the report, the vehicle diesel engine market was valued at $44.3 billion in 2023, and is estimated to reach $54.7 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 2.5% from 2024 to 2032. Request Sample of the Report on Vehicle Diesel Engine Market Forecast 2032: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/A125642 Prime determinants of growth The global vehicle diesel engine market is experiencing growth due to several factors such as rise in urbanization in development countries and increase in the production of vehicles. However, high operation costs and fuel costs hinder the market growth. Moreover, growth in development of vehicle diesel engines offers remunerative opportunities for the expansion of the global market. Report coverage & details: Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 20232032 Base Year 2023 Market Size in 2023 $44.3 billion Market Size in 2032 $54.7 billion CAGR 2.5 % No. of Pages in Report 324 Segments Covered Power Rating, Speed and Region. Drivers Rise in urbanization in development countries industry Increase in the production of vehicles Opportunities Growth in development of vehicle diesel engines Restraint High operation costs and fuel costs Procure Complete Report (324 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Tables, and Figures): https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/checkout-final/vehicle-diesel-engine-market-A125642 Segment Highlights The high-speed segment is expected to grow faster during the forecast period. By speed, the vehicle diesel engines with high speed find extensive use in power generating, maritime applications, and other fields. Slow and medium-speed engines can run on lower-grade fuels and are renowned for their fuel flexibility. Propellers and electrical generators are often powered by medium-speed engines found in smaller ships and power facilities. Typically, amphibious warfare ships such as major auxiliary engineering ships, tugboats, and landing craft utility (LCU) use medium-speed marine diesel engines. The Below 0.5 W segment to maintain its lead position during the forecast period. By power rating, low-power components are essential for optimizing the overall performance of diesel engines, as they help minimize the energy drawn from the engine's electrical system. This is particularly important in modern diesel vehicles, which are increasingly equipped with various electronic systems and sensors that require power. By using components with lower power ratings, manufacturers can improve the fuel efficiency of their vehicles, reduce emissions, and comply with stringent environmental regulations. Regional Outlook Growth of the vehicle diesel engine market in Asia-Pacific is attributed to the growing infrastructural expansions and electricity demand along with significant growth in the average energy consumption rate in the region. The huge surge in power consumption in developing countries of the Asia-Pacific region, such as China and India, with insufficient power infrastructure, is expected to take some serious initiatives for making steady power supply, which in turn is expected to fuel demand for diesel engine generator, especially in the industrial and commercial sector in the region. To Talk With Our Industry Expert @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/connect-to-analyst/A125642 Key Players: Cummins DEUTZ Perkins MAN Energy Solutions Volvo Penta Mitsubishi MTU Caterpillar EMD Weichai The report provides a detailed analysis of these key players in the global vehicle diesel engines 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. Recent Development: Inn June 2023 , GM announced that it plans on moving Duramax diesel engine production from Moraine to Brookville. , GM announced that it plans on moving Duramax diesel engine production from Moraine to Brookville. In November 2022 , Mitsubishi announced the release of a tier 4 marine diesel engine with 1260 horsepower in Seattle . , Mitsubishi announced the release of a tier 4 marine diesel engine with 1260 horsepower in . In February 2021 , Yanmar Group inaugurated India's first diesel engine manufacturing facility. The area is around 23, 000 square meters, with an annual production capacity of 80, 000 engines. Browse More Trending Reports Warehousing and Distribution Logistics Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report, by End Use, by Business Type, by Mode of operation, by Type : Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031 Autonomous Mobile Robot Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report, by Type, By Application, By End User : Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2022-2032 Automotive Steer-By-Wire System Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report, by Component, by Propulsion Type, by Vehicle Type : Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2022-2031 Electric Scooter and Motorcycle Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report, by Vehicle Type, by Battery Type, by Range, by Power, by Vehicle Class, by Usage : Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031 About Us Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry. Contact: David Correa 1209 Orange Street, Corporation Trust Center, Wilmington, New Castle, Delaware 19801 USA. USA/Canada (Toll Free): +1-800-792-5285 UK: +44-845-528-1300 Hong Kong: +852-301-84916 India (Pune): +91-20-66346060 Fax: +1-800-792-5285 [email protected] Web: www.alliedmarketresearch.com AMR Resource Center: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/resource-center Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/636519/Allied_Market_Research_Logo.jpg SOURCE Allied Market Research E190-E2 fleet to be based in Perth , Western Australia Embraer's E2 offers outstanding comfort, performance, the lowest noise emissions and fuel burn Delivery starts 2H2025 PERTH, Australia, Aug. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Virgin Australia has placed a firm order with Embraer (B3: EMBR3, NYSE: ERJ) for eight E190-E2 small narrowbody aircraft, as part of its fleet renewal plan. The order will see the E190-E2, the world's most fuel-efficient single-aisle aircraft with the lowest noise emissions, complement the airline's larger narrowbodies and replace its long-serving Fokker fleet. The order will be reflected in Embraer's Q3 backlog and deliveries are scheduled to begin in the second half of 2025. The announcement event was attended by the Deputy Premier of Western Australia and Treasurer, Minister for Transport and Minister for Tourism, the Hon. Rita Saffioti. Virgin Australia's E190-E2 fleet will be based in Perth and operated by Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA). The aircraft has a flying range of around six hours and is powered by Pratt & Whitney's PW1900G engines. "When the new E190-E2 enters service from October 2025, it will become the first new aircraft in the WA charter market this century," said Jayne Hrdlicka, Virgin Australia Group CEO. "The E190-E2 is the most fuel-efficient aircraft in its segment and will reduce emissions by about 30 per cent compared to the outgoing F100. These aircraft also feature significantly lower noise profiles and enhanced passenger comfort." "When the E190-E2 joins the fleet from late next year it will predominantly operate charter flights for VARA, bolstering its position as a leading operator in the WA charter market. "This is a huge vote of confidence by the Virgin Australia Group in our charter business and the WA market." "The E2 is a game changer," said Martyn Holmes, Chief Commercial Officer, Embraer Commercial Aviation. "We are excited to welcome Virgin Australia to the Embraer family and look forward to seeing our best in class E2 - renowned for comfort, quietness, and low emissions take the Airline to even greater heights." Building upon the first-generation E-Jets' 20 years of operational excellence, the E190-E2's enhanced aerodynamics, novel wing design, and new technologies deliver significant improvements in carbon emissions and fuel burn. It has been certified to fly with blends of up to 50% SAF and has demonstrated through test flights the engine's operability with 100% SAF. Embraer is committed to developing products, solutions, and technologies to contribute to the aviation industry's goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050. Embraer aims to be carbon neutral by 2040 and achieve carbon neutral growth from 2022. It plans to implement 25% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) use in its operations by 2040 and 100% renewable energy sources by 2030. Since the first Bandeirante took to Australia's skies in 1978, Embraer's has firmly established its presence there with close to 50 aircraft currently operating in the country, making it one of the largest E-Jets fleets in the Asia-Pacific region. Images: https://embraer.bynder.com/share/DEEE1B18-8924-4E0B-9D78954B108E0BEB/ Visit newsroom.virginaustralia.com to read Virgin Australia's press announcement. About VARA and Virgin Australia Group Virgin Australia Regional Airlines, formerly Skywest, has been a proud fixture in the Western Australian landscape for more than six decades. VARA joined Virgin Australia Group in 2013 and now operates more than 250 services per week. The Group was founded in the year 2000 by Sir Richard Branson and is now one of the largest Australian airlines operating an extensive domestic network as well as short-haul international services, charter and cargo operations, and its loyalty program, Velocity Frequent Flyer. The Group employs more than 7,800 people and boasts more than 12 million Velocity members who can use their Points to redeem flights to over 600 destinations around the world through Virgin Australia and the airline's extensive list of international partner carriers. About Embraer A global aerospace company headquartered in Brazil, Embraer has businesses in Commercial and Executive aviation, Defense and Security, and Agricultural Aviation. The company designs, develops, manufactures, and markets aircraft and systems, providing Services and Support to customers after-sales. Since it was founded in 1969, Embraer has delivered more than 8,000 aircraft. On average, about every 10 seconds an aircraft manufactured by Embraer takes off somewhere in the world, transporting over 145 million passengers a year. Embraer is the leading manufacturer of commercial jets with up to 150 seats and the main exporter of high value-added goods in Brazil. The company maintains industrial units, offices, service, and parts distribution centers, among other activities, across the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe. SOURCE Embraer S.A. JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- VyStar Credit Union is proud to announce its recent recognition as a Gold Military Friendly Company for 2024. This prestigious designation is awarded to organizations that have met or exceeded standards in at least three out of four critical areas of commitment to the military community. Military Friendly evaluates companies based on their recruitment, hiring, and training of veterans (Military Friendly Employers), recruitment, hiring, and training of military spouses (Military Spouse Friendly Employers), support of Veteran-Owned Businesses (Military Friendly Supplier Diversity Programs), and commitment to military consumer protections and positive brand reputation within the military community (Military Friendly Brands). "It is a profound honor for VyStar Credit Union to be recognized again as a Military Friendly Company for our commitment to service members and veterans," said VyStar Chief Human Resources Officer Kawanza Humphrey. "We are dedicated to providing exceptional opportunities for the courageous individuals, families, and small business owners who have served our country. These significant designations will enable us to continue attracting, developing, and retaining top talent, further empowering us to support and enrich the communities we serve." VyStar has also earned the following designations for 2024: Military Friendly Employer by recruiting, hiring and training veterans. Military Spouse Friendly Employer by recruiting, hiring and training of military spouses. Top 10 Military Friendly Supplier Diversity Program by partnering with and supporting veteran-owned businesses. Top 10 Military Friendly Brand for commitment to military consumer protections and having a positive brand reputation in the military community. This recognition from VIQTORY is indicative of the credit union's longtime commitment to supporting military members, veterans and their families. VyStar was founded at Naval Air Station Jacksonville in 1952 to provide military members with a secure financial institution. More than 70 years later, the credit union remains committed to supporting military members, veterans and their families through internal programs for employees and external programs for members and community partners. VyStar Employees That Served (VETS), the credit union's military-focused Employee Resource Group, assists in professional development and networking, supports employee and community engagement and provides outreach to the veteran community. Additionally, VyStar offers a variety of unique perks and military benefits. These include the Military Heroes Mortgage Program, special military-themed debit cards and more. Click here for photos of VyStar employees participating in military and veteran events. Learn more about VyStar's support for military members and veterans. About VyStar Credit Union VyStar Credit Union is the second-largest credit union headquartered in Florida, with over 80 branches and now serves more than 985,000 members with assets of over $14 billion. VyStar is the top mortgage lender in Northeast Florida and a major employer in the region with over 2,500 employees across the communities it serves. VyStar membership is open to everyone who lives or works in the 49 contiguous counties of Central to North Florida, 29 Georgia counties, and past and present military members and their families all over the world. For more information, visit vystarcu.org , and follow us on Facebook , Instagram , X (Twitter), and LinkedIn . About Military Friendly Military Friendly is the standard, a developmental program that measures an organization's commitment, effort, and success in creating sustainable and meaningful benefits for the military community. From its inception in 2003, Military Friendly has grown from recognizing 15 organizations to over 4,500 today. Military Friendly ratings are produced by Viqtory, Inc., a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business founded in 2001. The methodology and data calculations, evaluated for completeness and accuracy by a third-party external firm and can be found at https://www.militaryfriendly.com/mfcguide/ SOURCE VyStar Credit Union SHENZHEN, China, Aug. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Wealth Broker recently announced that it has upgraded its stock trading app to a one-stop multi-asset management app, significantly enhancing its functionality and user experience. This update allows users to manage a wide range of assets, including Hong Kong stocks, US stocks, crypto assets, fixed income products, bonds, mutual funds and more, all within a single platform. The app now supports multi-currency transactions and offers advanced analytical tools to help users track and optimise their investment performance. In addition, integration with various banks and brokers ensures seamless and automatic updates of transactions and portfolios, eliminating the need for manual entries. This upgrade positions Wealth Broker as a versatile and powerful tool for both novice and experienced investors. In today's global economic environment, the importance of multi-asset management is growing rapidly. Investors are seeking returns from different asset classes and looking for ways to diversify their portfolios to minimize risk and maximize returns. Wealth Broker, a leading fintech company, is at the forefront of redefining the future of multi-asset management with its innovative solutions. The Importance of Multi-Asset Management Multi-asset management involves the strategic allocation of investments across different asset classes, such as stocks, bonds, funds, and virtual currencies. This diversification helps mitigate the overall risk of an investment portfolio. Different asset classes often exhibit uncorrelated performance, meaning that poor performance in one asset class can be offset by good performance in another, thereby stabilizing the overall returns of the portfolio. Wealth Broker's Innovative Approach Wealth Broker leverages cutting-edge technology and a comprehensive range of financial products to provide professional individual clients with a full suite of wealth management products. This includes stocks, cash management,funds, structured products, bonds, and crypto assets. These offerings meet diverse client needs and provide flexible access to a broader array of investment opportunities. Future Prospects With the continuous advancement of financial technology, multi-asset management is set to become increasingly intelligent and efficient. Wealth Broker's innovative solutions not only help financial institutions improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their wealth management services but also provide investors with more diversified investment choices and a superior service experience. About Wealth Broker Wealth Broker, headquartered in Singapore, is a premier digital one-stop investment and wealth management platform with Australian ASIC financial qualifications. We are dedicated to providing global individual investors with a comprehensive range of cross-border asset and wealth management products, including stocks, bonds, and funds. Our institutional clients span commercial banks, securities companies, family offices, wealth management firms, and fund management companies across various financial sectors. Our Vision At Wealth Broker, we aspire to be the most trusted investment and wealth management partner for investors. Through continuous fintech innovation, we aim to safeguard user assets, enabling them to achieve asset preservation and growth safely, conveniently, and flexibly in today's complex and ever-changing financial markets. For more information, please visit wbroker.com SOURCE Wealth Broker The leading field service management solution leverages the premier search technology to offer service pros unprecedented reach and connectivity SAN DIEGO, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Workiz, the leading field service management and communication software, introduces an enhanced online booking feature that allows service professionals to reach more customers, book more jobs and stand out from the competition. With the new Reserve With Google feature, customers can connect directly to Workiz Online Booking through Google search results, increasing the pool of potential customers available to each business owner and streamlining scheduling, payments and other essential functions. Workiz, the leading field service management and communication software, introduces a Google integration that allows service professionals to reach more customers, book more jobs and stand out from the competition. "Our mission is to make life easier for service pros so they can grow their business," said Didi Azaria, CEO of Workiz. "Partnering with Google gives us a unique opportunity to leverage the premier search engine to enhance the reach and connectivity of our intuitive business management solutions. Business owners can offer a seamless process that benefits customers and maximizes the possibilities of the Workiz platform." Workiz' Reserve With Google online booking functionality empowers users to tap into millions of new customers for free, helping them achieve a 30% increase in jobs by simplifying the booking process. Customers can effortlessly schedule and pay for services instantly from Google, the company website, social media, or any location with a link. Service pros benefit from booking more jobs 24/7, as the Workiz online booking widget allows customers to book services and pay in advance directly from Google, turning clicks into jobs and enabling business growth even while they sleep. Additionally, Reserve With Google users gain prime placement at the top of Google search results through GLS ads integration, powered by Workiz Online Booking, helping them stand out from the competition, attract more customers, and increase their chances of being booked instantly. "The new integration of Reserve with Google into Workiz instantly converts leads into jobs and connects seamlessly with the Workiz communication suite," said Workiz founder Idan Kadosh. "This powerful enhancement amplifies the effectiveness of all communication channels, driving revenue up by 30%." Workiz is a leading field service management platform that aims to simplify the way businesses operate and navigate their day-to-day challenges. Workiz Online Booking is the easiest way for customers to book and pay for services online. "Since using Workiz's online booking, we've seen a 30% increase in jobs," said Jordan Viscusi, CEO of Plumbing 101. "Our customers love the convenience they can schedule and pay instantly through Google, our website, social media, or anywhere with just a link." Armed with an array of business tools, from job scheduling and dispatching to invoicing and payment tools, Workiz is committed to helping service professionals manage and grow their business. The company's focus on innovation ensures they consistently develop features that transform field operations and ultimately drive ROI. For more information, visit https://www.workiz.com. About Workiz Workiz is a leading field service management platform that aims to simplify the way home service businesses operate and navigate their day-to-day challenges. With over 120,000 pros, Workiz is ranked as the #1 platform for ease of use, ease of setup & implementation, customer satisfaction, and user adoption. Armed with an array of business tools, from job scheduling and dispatching to invoicing and payment tools, we're committed to helping service professionals manage and grow their businesses. To learn more about Workiz, visit the website: www.workiz.com MEDIA CONTACT: Heather Ripley Ripley PR (865) 977-1973 [email protected] SOURCE Workiz ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- X-Bow Systems Inc. (X-Bow), the nation's leading non-traditional small business producer of advance manufactured solid rocket motors (SRMs) and defense technologies announced that it has successfully completed the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for the Large Solid Rocket Motor (LSRM) program on schedule. This is the second major technical review for the X-Bow program, demonstrating design maturity and reduced risk for critical technologies. "It's exciting to see the character of our motor designs emerge during the PDR process. The tenants of affordability, producibility, and compliant system level performance criteria are all converging toward critical design review and initial motor manufacture," said Mark Kaufman the LSRM Executive VP and co-founder of X-Bow Systems. "Success to date is attributed to the excellent collaborative efforts by our experienced program/technical team and our valued association with customer and industry subject matter experts. We look forward to continued progress on the program." Ms. Carla Zeppieri, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Resilience stated, "X-Bow is expanding this defense-critical technology while enabling the DoD to increase its buying power through the introduction of unique capabilities in the Solid Rocket Motor technology sector. This Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment program investment under the management of DoD's Innovation Capability and Modernization office will enable the Military Services to field larger quantities of hypersonic weapons to deter our adversaries and ensure the future security of our nation." X-Bow's world-class team includes both known industry providers and non-traditional partners to establish a cost effective and increased domestic industrial base capacity. In March 2023, X-Bow finalized a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) agreement with Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division (NSWC IHD) that leverages their capabilities for future programs, including the LSRM program. LSRM partners include multiple domestic traditional and non-traditional small businesses employing highly skilled employees across four states, each offering cost reduction opportunities while expanding the SRM industrial base sources of supply. X-Bow's LSRM team is on track for its next major review, the Critical Design Review. ABOUT X-BOW SYSTEMS X-Bow Systems is disrupting the aerospace industry with innovative and cost-effective additively manufactured energetics for the solid rocket motor and launch vehicle market. X-Bow is also designing and building a suite of modular solid rocket motors and small launch vehicles for both orbital and suborbital launch services. X-Bow is led by CEO Jason Hundley, Chairman Mark Kaufman, CTO Max Vozoff, CRO Maureen Gannon, General Counsel John Leary and a growing team of seasoned industry veterans and new space entrepreneurs. X-Bow is a dual-use technology company with investment from Crosslink Capital, Razor's Edge Ventures and Lockheed Martin Ventures. Headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, X-Bow has additional presence in California, Alabama, Colorado, Texas, and Washington, DC. SOURCE X-Bow Launch Systems Inc. GUANGZHOU, China, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Yatsen Holding Limited ("Yatsen" or the "Company") (NYSE: YSG), a leading China-based beauty group, today announced that it will release its unaudited financial results for the second quarter of 2024, on Tuesday, August 20, 2024, before the open of the U.S. markets. The Company's management will hold a conference call on Tuesday, August 20, 2024 at 7:30 A.M. U.S. Eastern Time (7:30 P.M. Beijing/Hong Kong Time) to discuss the financial results. Listeners may access the call by dialing the following numbers: United States (toll free): +1-888-346-8982 International: +1-412-902-4272 Mainland China (toll free): 400-120-1203 Hong Kong (toll free): 800-905-945 Hong Kong: +852-3018-4992 Conference ID: 2105928 A live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the Company's investor relations website at http://ir.yatsenglobal.com/. A replay of the conference call will be accessible by phone one hour after the conclusion of the live call at the following numbers, until August 27, 2024: United States: +1-877-344-7529 International: +1-412-317-0088 Replay Access Code: 2105928 About Yatsen Holding Limited Yatsen Holding Limited (NYSE: YSG) is a leading China-based beauty group with the mission of creating an exciting new journey of beauty discovery for consumers around the world. Founded in 2016, the Company has launched and acquired numerous color cosmetics and skincare brands including Perfect Diary, Little Ondine, Pink Bear, Galenic, DR.WU (its mainland China business), Eve Lom and EANTiM. The Company's flagship brand, Perfect Diary, is one of the leading color cosmetics brands in China in terms of retail sales value. The Company primarily reaches and engages with customers directly both online and offline, with expansive presence across all major e-commerce, social and content platforms in China. For more information, please visit http://ir.yatsenglobal.com/. For investor and media inquiries, please contact: In China: Yatsen Holding Limited Investor Relations E-mail: [email protected] Piacente Financial Communications Hui Fan Tel: +86-10-6508-0677 E-mail: [email protected] In the United States: Piacente Financial Communications Brandi Piacente Tel: +1-212-481-2050 E-mail: [email protected] SOURCE Yatsen Holding Limited If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here United Nations, Aug 13 : Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged the Bangladesh interim government to consider the voices of minorities and respect human rights as it prepares for parliamentary elections, according to his Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq. While expressing solidarity with the people of Bangladesh, Guterres "welcomes efforts to restore calm and organise parliamentary elections in Bangladesh, with the support of an interim government", he said on Monday. "He urges the interim government in the coming weeks to continue to make every effort to be inclusive, including by taking into account the voices of women, youth, and people across the country, as well as that of minority and indigenous communities, as the country moves towards parliamentary elections," Haq said. Nobel Prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus has taken the leadership of the interim government after Sheikh Hasina resigned as prime minister and went into exile in India. Reports from Bangladesh said that Hindus have been attacked and their homes and businesses destroyed in several places after her government collapsed and some Hindus were also killed. According to Rana Dasgupta, a leader of the minority organisation Hindu-Bouddha-Christian Oikya Parishad, about 100 Hindus have been injured and two killed. Anti-Hindu violence took place at 97 places last week, and at least 10 temples were attacked, according to him. During the student protests against Hasina that turned violent about 300 people were reported killed. Guterres reiterates his call "for a full, independent, impartial, and transparent investigation into all acts of violence", Haq said. (Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis) Washington, Aug 12 : After former US President Donald Trump said on Monday that illegal immigration "saved" his life, he remarked that he wants to shut down the federal department of education. Trump spoke about the assassination attempt on him at an election rally in a highly anticipated interview with Elon Musk on the latter's social media platform X, which was delayed because of a cyberattack. In an audio interview heard by more than a million people on X, Trump and Musk discussed a wide range of issues from immigration to the economy, education, climate change, Russia and Ukraine, relationships with North Korea's Kim Jong-un, Russia's Vladimir Putin and China Xi Jinping in the context of the 2024 presidential election in which the X owner has endorsed the former President against his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris. The broadcast of the interview was delayed by a distributed denial of service, according to a post on X by Musk. But once it went on, the two had a freewheeling conversation that lasted about two hours. They began by talking about the assassination attempt on Trump at an election rally in Butler, Pennsylvania and Musk acknowledged that Trump won his support and endorsement when he called out "fight, fight" as he was being led out of the arena by Secret Service personnel. Trump recalled that he had turned his head towards a chart on illegal immigration and that that might have saved his life, agreeing with Musk. "Illegal immigration saved my life. You're right." "The incredible thing though, when you talk about the odds, you had to be exactly at that angle, but, the incredible thing is that the chart, I used it less than 20 per cent of the time. It was just a moment, yeah, it's always on my left, never my right, and it's always at the end of the speech. So we have it, it's on the right, not the left. It's at the beginning, not the end. And even the people that put it up, they were unprepared, and they did a great job. They got it up immediately, fortunately. But I looked to the right and the bullet came whizzing by, hitting my ear, so it was too busy. But when you think of the odds of that, and you know that normally, you wouldn't use it, normally, I wouldn't have the thing, and then, you know, would have been a very different story. It's, very much, I say, an act of God. It's a miracle that it happened, and I'm honoured by it." Trump has made undocumented immigration a centerpiece of his critique of the Biden-Harris administration saying that it threw open the southern border with Mexico. But he forced Republican lawmakers to kill a bipartisan legislation to end it because he did not want to be denied the chance to run on the issue. The former President also vowed to shut down the federal department of education that was created in 1980, according to its website, to lay down policies on federal financial aid for education, and distributing as well as monitoring those funds; collecting data on America's schools and disseminating research; focusing national attention on key educational issues; and prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equal access to education. Trump said: "We're ranked at the bottom of every list of the top 40. We're ranked number 40, number 38 Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, different countries are ranked good. Actually, China is pretty close to the top. There are top six or seven, but we're ranked at the bottom, almost at the bottom, 38 3940 In other words, horrible. And yet we spend more per pupil than any other country in the world. And what I'm going to do is one of the first acts, and this is where I need an Elon Musk. I need somebody that has a lot of strength and courage in sports. I want to close up the Department of Education." The highly anticipated interview of former US President Donald Trump by Elon Musk on X was way behind schedule because of technical issues. "There appears to be a massive DDOS attack on X," Musk posted on X 18 minutes after the scheduled start time of 8 p.m. US Eastern "Working on shutting it down." "Worst case," he added, "We will proceed with a smaller number of live listeners and post the conversation later." A distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack is a type of cyberattack in which an attacker overwhelms a website, server, or network resource with malicious traffic, according to one explanation. Six minutes later, Musk posted again: "We tested the system with 8 million concurrent listeners earlier today." Three minutes later, he wrote on X: "We will proceed with the smaller number of concurrent listeners at 8:30 ET and then post the unedited audio immediately thereafter." The former President was permanently suspended from X in January 2021, when the social media platform was known as Twitter. The ban was lifted by Musk after he bought the platform. Trump returned in August 2023 and has posted just one message since. He remains active, however, on Truth Social, the look-alike social media platform that he launched after being banned from X/Twitter. Trump returned to X with a flurry of posts and picked up over 300,000 new followers taking up his total to 88.3 million followers, which is 80.8 million more than the 7.5 million he has on Truth Social. X gives Trump a much bigger platform, which, according to Musk, has 600 million monthly active users (other estimates put it at 540 million). Truth Social is much smaller it had only 5 million monthly active users according to papers it filed during its IPO in March 2024 as reported by Axios. The vast difference in the reach of X and Truth Social won't be lost on Trump, who pays a lot of attention to the size of crowd for his election rallies and events. Musk is a supporter of Trump and is likely to be a friendly interviewer, but the former President is known to be both a showman and unpredictable and the interview will be closely followed by allies and the Harris campaign. The Trump campaign needs a bump. Trump had the upper hand in the 2024 presidential election till President Joe Biden was in the fray. The race has changed since Biden dropped out and endorsed his deputy, Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris has changed the race. She has energised the Democratic party, raised more funds and has taken the lead in polls, even in key battleground states. Mumbai, Aug 13 : In a serious bid to reach out to women voters in the run up to the Maharashtra Assembly elections, the BJP has organised a special programme where women across the state will be able to interact with Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. This will be done on August 18, a day prior to the festival of Rakshabandhan. This was announced by the Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule through his post on X. "All the beloved sisters of Maharashtra will communicate with their beloved Devabhau (Devendra Fadnavis). On August 18, the beloved Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will be interacting with all the beloved sisters of the state through the initiative 'Ladkya Bahinincha Devabhau (Brother of beloved sisters)'. "All mothers and sisters of the state are requested to take advantage of this golden opportunity. Also, I request the BJP workers, especially the Mahila Morcha to take responsibility and involve as many women as possible in this activity," said Bawankule. The BJP's initiative comes at a time when the party and its allies Shiv Sena and NCP are aggressively highlighting the ambitious 'Mukhamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana' to reach out to women voters ahead of the Assembly elections. "The Modi government at the Centre, the grand alliance government in the state and especially the BJP are working day and night for women empowerment. We are working to empower women through various schemes and activities through the party and the government," said Bawankule. He added that the Modi government passed the Women's Reservation Bill and took a slew of decisions during 2014 and 2019 to make opportunities available to women. Earlier, Bawankule said that 25 lakh women of the state would be sending Rakhis to Fadnavis to express their gratitude for the Ladki Bahin scheme. He added that the first instalment of the 'Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin' scheme will be deposited in women's accounts on August 17. Los Angeles, Aug 13 : As Halle Berry is set to turn 58 on August 14, her "The Union" co-star Mark Wahlberg sent out a thoughtful birthday present to the actress. Los Angeles, Aug 13 (IANS) As Halle Berry is set to turn 58 on August 14, her "The Union" co-star Mark Wahlberg sent out a thoughtful birthday present to the actress. Berry took to Instagram, where she shared a video of the thoughtful birthday present. In the clip, a food truck by Wahlberg's company was sent to the actress, who had told the actor she had not tried his burgers. The clip begins with two men asking the actress if she was expecting a food truck, and the actress laughed, saying she was just kidding. The actress then screams in excitement at seeing the truck. Berry then calls up her co-star, who said that he got the truck sent as she had said she hadn't tried the burgers. She then tried the margaritas and was seen praising the food. The actress ended the clip by thanking Wahlberg for sending the food truck. For the caption, she wrote: "When your co-star is actually a man of his word! Mark Wahlberg, your Wahlburgers are banging, and the margaritas were a nice touch! Thank you and I love you, man." Talking about the film, "The Union" is a spy action comedy-thriller film directed by Julian Farino. It also features Mike Colter, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Alice Lee, Jackie Earle Haley, and J. K. Simmons. The film tells the tale of a construction worker, who is roped into the espionage world by his former high school girlfriend. The film is slated to release on August 16 on Netflix. One of Hollywood's highest paid stars, Berry started her career as a model and entered several beauty contests, finishing as the first runner-up in the Miss USA pageant and coming in sixth in the Miss World 1986 pageant. It was in 1992 that she had her major breakout with the film "Boomerang." She was then a part of "The Flintstones," "Bulworth," "Monster's Ball," "X-Men" films, "Die Another Day," and "Swordfish," to name a few. Jerusalem, Aug 13 : Israel's military is monitoring Iran and Hezbollah "around the clock" for potential retaliatory strikes against Israel, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari said. "We are specifically monitoring what is happening with Iran, with all our capabilities," Hagari told a news conference on Monday, adding that allied countries are helping Israel with the monitoring. "We take the statements and declarations of our enemies seriously, and therefore, we are at the highest state of readiness in both offence and defence," he said. He noted that there has been no change to the safety guidelines for the public, reports Xinhua news agency, adding that the Israeli Home Front Command will, however, "immediately update the public" if any changes occur. Israel is carrying out attacks in Lebanon "every day, including today," he added. The Middle East has seen heightened regional tensions lately as Iran and its allies vowed to retaliate for the killings of Hamas Politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah senior military commander Fouad Shokor in Beirut, which both occurred in late July. Israel has claimed responsibility for Shokor's killing but has not commented on Haniyeh's assassination, which Hamas and Iran have blamed on Israel. In mid-April, Iran launched hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones at Israel in retaliation for an attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria earlier in the month, which killed seven Iranians, including two military commanders. Israel reported intercepting the majority of the missiles and drones. Amaravati, Aug 13 : The TDP-led NDA in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday decided not to contest the MLC bye-election for the Visakhapatnam Local Authorities constituency. The decision was taken by the TDP President and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who conveyed the same to the party and alliance leaders during a teleconference. CM Naidu is understood to have told the TDP leaders that winning the election was not a big issue but the alliance would act with dignity. Leaders of TDPas partners Jana Sena Party (JSP) and BJP backed CM Naiduas decision to stay away from the bye-election to the Legislative Council. CM Naidu took the decision after a six-member committee constituted by him submitted its report. The committee comprising leaders from the TDP, JSP and BJP held consultations with the leaders at the ground level. Tuesday (August 13) is also the last date for filing nominations for the bypolls. Former minister Botsa Satyanarayana on Monday filed his papers as the candidate of the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP). The name of Byra Dileep Chakravarthy as the NDA candidate was doing the round in political circles. However, the TDP chief decided not to field the candidate. Out of a total 838 electors (Corporators, Councillors, ZPTCs and MPTCs) in the combined Visakhapatnam District local authorities, more than 500 belong to the YSRCP and it is confident of winning the election. A section of the alliance leaders were of the view that if they field a candidate, local bodies representatives belonging to the YSRCP would support the ruling coalition as this would enable them to take up development works in their respective areas. The bypoll to the MLC seat is scheduled to be held on August 30 to fill the vacancy arising out of the disqualification of Chennuboina Srinivasa Rao. Srinivasa Rao, whose real name is Vamsi Krishna Yadav, was disqualified as MLC by the Council Chairman in March under the anti-defection law after he quit YSRCP to join JSP. Srinivasa Rao was elected to the Assembly on a JSP ticket from Visakhapatnam South constituency in the May 13 elections. Two nominations have been filed so far for the bye-election. While Botsa Satyanarayana filed the nomination as YSRCP candidate, Sheikh Shafiullah filed the papers as an Independent. One of the senior most leaders of YSRCP, Botsa Satyanarayana served as the minister for municipal administration and urban development and human resources development in the previous YSRCP government headed by Jagan Mohan Reddy. In the recent Assembly elections, Satyanarayana suffered a defeat from Cheepurupalli constituency in Vizianagaram District at the hands of TDPas K Kalavenkata Rao. A senior politician from north Andhra region, he was thrice elected from Cheepurupalli constituency and served as a minister in the Congress governments in united Andhra Pradesh between 2004 and 2014. He also headed the Congress party in the undivided state. Satyanarayana was also elected to Lok Sabha from Bobbili constituency in 1999. After bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, he joined YSRCP in 2015. Mumbai, Aug 13 : Bollywood star Sidharth Malhotra seems to be in awe of yesteryear diva Zeenat Aman as he thanked the actress for making the 1970s cool with her "style, panache and performances". Mumbai, Aug 13 (IANS) Bollywood star Sidharth Malhotra seems to be in awe of yesteryear diva Zeenat Aman as he thanked the actress for making the 1970s cool with her "style, panache and performances". Zeenat had reposted a video by Sidharth, where at a fashion event he went up to the actress while walking the ramp as a showstopper and gave a gentleman-like flying kiss. The actress said it was lovely to meet the "Shershaah" actor. The Bollywood heartthrob re-shared the post and wrote: "A pleasure meeting you. Zeenat ma'am Have grown up admiring your iconic work. Thank you for making the 70s so cool -your style, panache and performances are unmatched ! You are truly an inspiration." Apart from being an actress, Zeenat is a former beauty queen. She started her acting career in 1970 with films such as "The Evil Within", "Hulchul", "Hare Rama Hare Krishna", "Roti Kapada Aur Makaan", "Warrant", "Hum Kisise Kum Naheen", "The Great Gambler", "Laawaris" and "Sallu Ki Shaadi" to name a few. Talking about Sidharth, his film "Shershaah", has clocked three years in Hindi cinema and in a conversation with IANS, the actor said: "'Shershaah' is a special film for me. This was my first film that received a National Award." The 39-year-old actor played the real-life hero Captain Vikram Batra, killed in action in the Kargil War, in the film. "The process of getting into the character of Captain Vikram Batra was exhilarating and rewarding. Very rarely do you come across films that continue to give unabashed love even after a year, and 'Shershaah' is undoubtedly one of them." "The impact that resonated across the globe and the hearts that still beat with it. I am grateful and proud to have told this story," he shared. Rome, Aug 13 : The number of asylum seekers arriving in Italy this year has significantly decreased compared to the same period last year, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The UNHCR data showed that approximately 35,700 potential refugees had arrived in Italy, marking a 62 per cent decrease from the same period last year, which saw over 94,000 arrivals, reports Xinhua news agency. If current trends continue, this year could record the lowest annual total since 2020, when Italy had fewer than 35,000 arrivals. The number of arrivals in Italy grew steadily after 2020, reaching over 67,000 in 2021, more than 105,000 in 2022, and nearly 158,000 in 2023 --the highest annual figure since 2016. Despite the decline this year, Italy remains the top destination for migrants, followed by Spain with over 30,000 arrivals so far this year and Greece with over 28,000. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has been in office for two years, came to power with a pledge to reduce migrant arrivals in the country. Mumbai, Aug 13 : The Maharashtra Institution for Transformation (MITRA), established by the state government on the lines of NITI Aayog, in its roadmap to a one trillion dollar economy, has made a strong case for increasing investment to 37 per cent of the gross state domestic product (GSDP) from the current rate of 25 per cent. MITRA, in its presentation to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, has said that with the rise in investment, the state will have a 1.5 trillion dollar economy by 2028. It has strongly recommended that the state government actively consider raising international capital and monetise ideal public assets to boost gross capital formation. It has also suggested the development of sovereign AI for Maharashtra to become the AI capital of India. MITRA has cited several challenges the state government faces in capital formation. ''Maharashtraas budget has only 12 per cent outlay on capital formation. Stateas gross capital formation as part of GSDP is only 23-24 per cent and to reach a 1 trillion dollar economy by 2028 the gross capital formation must reach 36.9 per cent. Raising taxes or reducing subsidies is not a viable option and other options need to be explored for raising international capital and the monetisation of idle public assets." As a part of MITRAas strategy to tap various funding sources, the state government has raised 188 million dollars from the World Bank for the strengthening of districts, 500 million dollars from ADB for strengthening tertiary health care, 280 million dollars from World Bank under SMART project, 500 million dollars for flood water diversion wherein Krishna River water to be diverted to drought-prone areas and 1 billion dollars from Allied Irish Bank (AIB) for providing 5 lakh solar pumps to farmers. Furthermore, the state government will mobilise Rs 15,000 crore from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) for completing incomplete irrigation projects. Additionally, MITRA has suggested that the state government focus on IT and ITeS, Agriculture, Logistics and Skill development to achieve the 1 trillion dollar economy goal. In a bid to develop Maharashtra as the AI Capital of India, MITRA has recommended the development of sovereign AI with the establishment of a joint government and private sector company with 49 per cent - 51 per cent equity holding through a competitive selection process involving credible IT companies. IT firms specialising in AI, machine learning (ML) and Quantum Computing will have free access to large, high-quality, machine-reachable public datasets for the first two years. It has emphasised the need for establishing an Investment Fund to finance AI and Quantum Computing startups. In the case of Agriculture, MITRA has recommended setting up FPO (Farmer Producer Organisation) incubators with all agricultural universities to support and nurture FPO growth. Besides, it has recommended the introduction of a PPP scheme to strengthen the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) infrastructure (One APMC per district). As far as logistics are concerned, MITRA has recommended competitive power tariffs for logistics parks (cost-free access to the national power grid and captive power), modified Logistics Policy to incorporate height relaxation and given a mandate of 10-25 per cent apprentice to all Logistics Parks. To push skill development, MITRA has recommended introducing job-ready certification courses with the involvement of corporates, developing a mobile application for all available shilling courses, matching job vacancies and generating an employable pool through interventions in apprenticeship. (Sanjay Jog can be contacted at sanjay.j@ians.in) Kolkata, Aug 13 : The family members of the woman doctor of state-run R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital, who was raped and murdered on the premises last week, approached the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday with the plea for a court-monitored probe in the case. In the petition, the family members have raised doubts over the progress of the investigation and also claimed that several suspects have been kept out of the purview of the probe. Hence, they have urged the court that only a court-monitored probe was necessary to reveal the truth. In fact, the protesting medical students, junior doctors, representatives of the medical fraternity and the public, in general, have since the beginning questioned the argument of Kolkata Police to date that the arrested civic volunteer Sanjay Ray was the only accused in the case. Based on the preliminary autopsy report, members of the medical fraternity have claimed that from the nature of multiple injuries on the body of the victim, it was clear that the crime cannot be the handiwork of a single individual and there were more partners in the crime. The Calcutta High Court has admitted the petition. However, the date of the hearing is yet to be scheduled. Already public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed at the division bench of Calcutta High Courtas Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya in the matter, the hearing for which is scheduled on Tuesday. In all the PIL, demands have been raised about a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the case and claimed there is no faith in the ongoing investigation by the special investigation team (SIT) of Kolkata Police. However, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Monday, announced that she will hand over the charge of investigation to the CBI if the SIT is unable to complete the investigation process by next Sunday. The body of the junior doctor and a postgraduate student was found in the hospital's seminar room on Friday (August 9) morning. A civic volunteer with Kolkata Police, Sanjay Roy, was later arrested. The murder has sparked widespread outrage, with doctors and nurses leading protests in Kolkata and other parts of India. August 13 : In an exciting development for film enthusiasts, actor and producer Sivakarthikeyan has unveiled the official trailer for his latest production, Kottukkaali. Directed by the talented P. S. Vinothraj, the film stars Soori and Anna Ben in the lead roles, marking a significant milestone for Ben as this is her Tamil debut. The trailer was shared by Sivakarthikeyan on his social media profiles, where he expressed his pride in presenting the film to the public. In his post, he highlighted the film's impressive credentials and its upcoming release date. "Happy and proud to present the trailer of our #Kottukkaali directed by the incredibly talented @PsVinothraj. Releasing on August 23," he captioned the post, tagging various contributors and collaborators involved in the project. Kottukkaali explores themes of love and societal barriers through its compelling narrative. The story revolves around Meena, played by Anna Ben, who falls in love with a man from a lower caste. This relationship causes turmoil within her family, who believe that Meena is possessed and attempt to cast out the perceived spell. The film delves into the complexities of caste dynamics and personal relationships, offering a poignant look at societal prejudices. The film has already garnered significant attention on the international stage. Kottukkaali was selected for the Forum section at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, where it was screened on February 16, 2024. This recognition underscores the film's potential and the critical acclaim it has received from global audiences and critics alike. Produced by Sivakarthikeyan and Kalai Arasu under SK Productions, Kottukkaali has been eagerly anticipated by fans and critics. The film's official release is scheduled for August 23, 2024, promising to be a major event in Tamil cinema. The trailer's debut has only heightened the anticipation, showcasing the film's engaging storyline and the strong performances of its lead actors. The films production team, including the director P. S. Vinothraj, and the rest of the crew, have been praised for their dedication and creativity. The film also features contributions from several notable professionals in the industry, further enhancing its appeal. With its focus on important social issues and its international festival accolades, Kottukkaali is set to make a significant impact. As the release date approaches, the film's growing buzz suggests it will be a notable addition to Tamil cinemas rich tapestry of storytelling. Manila, Aug 13 : The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday said that leptospirosis cases have continued to rise after the July 24 severe flooding that hit Metro Manila and nearby provinces. From January to August 3, DOH tallied 2,115 cases and 224 deaths. The most recent epidemiologic data recorded 255 new leptospirosis cases from July 21 to August 3, 17 per cent higher than the 217 cases recorded from July 7 to 20, Xinhua news agency reported. "The DOH epidemiologists continue to be cautious in interpreting trends as there may be late reports," DOH spokesperson Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo said. The incubation period of leptospirosis ranges from two to 30 days, with a clinically observed average of seven to 14 days. At least two government hospitals in Metro Manila have expressed concern over the rising number of leptospirosis patients, forcing them to set up additional wards to accommodate more patients, especially those requiring dialysis. Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease affecting humans and animals. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), humans get infected through direct contact with the urine of infected animals or with a urine-contaminated environment. The bacteria enter the body through cuts or abrasions on the skin or the mucous membranes of the mouth, nose, and eyes, according to the WHO. On July 24, Metro Manila and many parts of the country were underwater due to the continuous rainfall dumped by a typhoon and enhanced southwest monsoon. Kochi, Aug 13 : A team of National Intelligence Agency (NIA) officials who arrived from Telangana, on Tuesday, broke open popular Maoist leader Murali Kannempilly's home after he failed to open the front door. Kochi, Aug 13 (IANS) A team of National Intelligence Agency (NIA) officials who arrived from Telangana, on Tuesday, broke open popular Maoist leader Murali Kannempillyas home after he failed to open the front door. Kannempilly is known as Keralaas most-wanted Maoist leader. The NIA team arrived in Kochi as part of the ongoing probe related to the arrest of Maoist Sanjoy Deepak Rao, the Central Committee Member of CPI (Maoist) in Telangana in September last year. Rao, an engineer, was wanted by the police of Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and the NIA in various cases. The NIA team, after knocking at the door of Kannempillyas home, told him that they had a warrant and hence, he should open the door. Kannempilly said that they would have to wait till his counsel arrived, but the NIA team broke open the front door. They are presently conducting a search in his house. 71-year-old Kannempilly is considered to be a top Maoist leader and is the son of a former diplomat. An engineer by profession, Kannempilly has been arrested in the past as well. Kannempilly is likely to be questioned by the NIA probe team. He has also authored five books on the Maoist movement under the pen name Ajith, and is believed to have wide-ranging connections with the Maoist movement in the country. Kannempilly Murali was the only one who represented India at the Revolutionary International Movement (RIM) conference held in France in 1984 and was put in charge of the armed revolution in India and Nepal. Kinshasa, Aug 13 : The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Zambia agreed to reopen border posts from Tuesday after three days of closing. The two sides also agreed to grant a special 30-day waiver to facilitate the transition and allow affected parties to adjust to new regulations, reports Xinhua news agency. The decision was made at a bilateral ministerial meeting held in Lubumbashi, the capital of Congo's southeastern Haut-Katanga province, attended by Congo Minister of External Trade Julien Paluku and Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry of Zambia Chipoka Mulenga. On Saturday, the Zambian government closed the border posts with Congo, saying the closure was a security measure due to protests by truck drivers angry at Congo's decision in June to ban the import of products such as beer and soft drinks for 12 months. Congo and Zambia rely heavily on roads for the export of precious metals, notably copper and cobalt. Zambia is a key export route for Congo, the world's second-largest producer of copper in 2023. Patna, Aug 13 : Five of a family, including a woman constable, were found dead in Bihar's Bhagalpur district, an official said on Tuesday. This incident came to light with the discovery of the bodies in the police quarters in the district. The dead included a constable named Neetu Kumari, her husband Pankaj Kumar, their two children, and Pankaj's mother. Vivekanand, the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Bhagalpur range said the incident appeared to be linked to a family dispute, which could be the primary reason behind the incident. The incident probably occurred on Monday night and district police learned about the incident on Tuesday morning. "A suicide note, believed to be written by Pankaj Kumar, was found at the scene. Pankaj was discovered hanging from a ceiling fan. The preliminary investigation suggests that Pankaj Kumar may have murdered his wife, Neetu Kumari, his mother, and their two children before taking his own life," he said. Neetu Kumari had been serving as a constable since 2015 and was residing in the police line with her family. She and Pankaj Kumar had a love marriage and were raising their two children together. Pankaj's mother also lived with them in the official quarters. "The incident appears to have stemmed from ongoing marital issues between Neetu Kumari and her husband, Pankaj Kumar. Recently, their relationship had deteriorated due to Pankaj's suspicions that Neetu was involved in an extramarital affair. These suspicions led to frequent quarrels, including one in the evening before the incident. However, Neetu did not report the matter to the police," Vivekanand said. The victims were originally from the Buxar district, and the rest of the family members have been informed, said the officials. The police are continuing their investigation to gather more details and clarify the circumstances leading to this horrific incident. Bengaluru, Aug 13 : Another complaint was lodged with Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot on Tuesday in connection with the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) land scam allegedly involving Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Social activist Snehamayi Krishna filed the complaint and the Governor's office has accepted it. The complaint demands serious action in connection with the relinquishing letter registered in the name of the Governor about the property in question in the MUDA land scam in violation of the law. A deed of relinquishment is a legal document that transfers the ownership of a property from one co-owner to another. In case of the formation of a layout, the land used for parks, roads and civic amenity sites will be registered in the name of the Governor by the land owners. Snehamayi Krishna stated that CM Siddaramaiah was repeatedly claiming that there was no violation of the law with regard to the allotment of 14 sites by the MUDA to his wife. However, it is very clear that in violation of the law, his wife had given a relinquishing letter. Later, she was allotted 14 sites by the MUDA on a 50:50 basis. The complainant also demanded that all such relinquishing letters registered in the name of the Governor by the MUDA should be cancelled. The Chief Secretary should be given immediate directions in this regard and sack the concerned First Division Clerk (FDC) in MUDA and other officers, and also initiate legal action as per BNS Column 223, Krishna has demanded. The complaint said, "I have complained with you and other agencies against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah misusing his power and allegedly creating fake documents in his family members' names and getting valuable 14 sites from the MUDA. I have also filed a private complaint in the court." "Meanwhile, I obtained a document of relinquishing letter made in the name of FDC ... on your (Governor) behalf by the wife of CM Siddaramaiah on Nov 25, 2021, over the 3.16 acres of land in Kesare village of Mysuru district," he says. The said land is at the centre of controversy in the MUDA land scam. As per the available documents, on September 30, 2020, the Karnataka Urban Development Department released a circular giving directions to local agencies regarding getting the agricultural land handed over directly from owners in the name of the Governor, the complaint stated. "The circular says the local agencies will have to take action while getting land handed over to the Governor only after the Deputy Commissioner issues notification as per the Revenue Act. The Act further says that the local agencies should do it if land owners submit the relinquishing letter claiming farmlands as road," Snehamayi Krishna said. "If the above factors are considered, the violation of the government rule is clearly evident. MUDA FDC ... has got the relinquishing letter registered by B.M. Parvathi (wife of CM Siddaramaiah) on your (Governor) behalf. You must consider the matter seriously as the illegality has been done in your name," he alleged. Snehamayi Krishna also said that the officer in question had worked as the personal assistant of CM Siddaramaiah earlier. He urged that action should be taken so that no government officer indulges in illegal activity in the name of the Governor in future. This is the third complaint registered with the Governor involving CM Siddaramaiah. In two cases, the direct involvement of CM Siddaramaiah is alleged and in the latest complaint, his indirect involvement is alleged as the signatory is his wife. Of the three, two complaints are lodged in connection with the MUDA scam and another one is related to a de-notification case. Bengaluru, Aug 13 : Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister, DK Shivakumar, stated on Tuesday that the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi was not scared of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Speaking to the media in New Delhi, Karnataka Congress President Shivakumar said this while answering a question on LoP Rahul Gandhi taking to X with regard to the central agencies. He stated that Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has faced everything in life and he would not be scared of the ED or CBI. When asked about BJP leader CP Yogeshwar stating that if he was denied a ticket by the party to contest from the Channapatna Assembly seat, he would stand as an Independent candidate, Shivakumar took a swipe stating "if he is threatened with a CBI, ED probe, Yogeshwar would keep quiet." He added, "We don't know yet as the announcement has not been made in this regard." However, the Dy CM did not reveal the purpose of his meeting with the Congress high command in New Delhi, where he has been camping since Monday. Commenting on Shivakumar's New Delhi tour, Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara stated on Tuesday, "We don't know why he has been called to New Delhi by the high command. State party presidents are called often to discuss issues concerning party organisation, other matters and policies. We don't know the agenda of the meeting as it has not been announced. What they discuss, would be known later." Shivakumar's New Delhi visit has assumed importance in the backdrop of the possibility of Karnataka Governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot giving consent to prosecution against CM Siddaramaiah in connection with the alleged irregularities in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority. The special court for MPs and MLAs will give its order on Tuesday and the Governor is also likely to take a call following the decision of the court. New Delhi, Aug 13 : In a heartwarming story of humanity and resilience, a Hindu family donated their brain-dead son's liver to save the life of a differently-abled Muslim man suffering from liver cirrhosis, a Delhi hospital reported on Tuesday on the occasion of World Organ Donation Day. New Delhi, Aug 13 (IANS) In a heartwarming story of humanity and resilience, a Hindu family donated their brain-dead sonas liver to save the life of a differently-abled Muslim man suffering from liver cirrhosis, a Delhi hospital reported on Tuesday on the occasion of World Organ Donation Day. Cirrhosis is a condition in which the liver gets scarred and becomes permanently damaged. Doctors at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital diagnosed Mohammad Abrar with Hepatitis B. He also presented signs of advanced liver cirrhosis, including jaundice, ascites (abdominal swelling caused by accumulation of fluid), and internal bleeding. Despite his physical challenges, Abrar led an active life, running his shop and participating in social activities. However, as his condition worsened, it severely impacted his personal and professional life. Anil Arora, Chairman of Medical Gastroenterology at the hospital, recommended an urgent liver transplant. Abrar's condition was further complicated by lung and heart issues due to long-standing cirrhosis, making it a particularly high-risk surgery. The surgery was also difficult due to Abrar's contracted right limb, a result of polio, which limited the operating space. However, he got a life-saving transplant from a brain-dead young man at the same hospital. His family made the selfless decision to donate his organ to save Abrar, showing that humanity can often come out in the most unexpected situations. After 15 days at the hospital, Abrar was discharged following full recovery, the doctor said, adding that he has resumed work. World Organ Donation Day is observed every year on August 13 to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation and to dispel common misconceptions surrounding it. India's cadaver organ donation rate is abysmally low -- less than one per million people. In stark contrast, Western countries have 70-80 per cent deceased organ donation. Sydney, Aug 13 : The Australian company that owns the helicopter that crashed into a hotel in Far North Queensland on Tuesday confirmed the pilot who was killed in the "unauthorised" flight was a current ground crew employee. Nautilus Aviation chief executive officer (CEO) Aaron Finn said that a ground crew employee gained unauthorised access to its helicopter hangar at the Cairns International Airport early Monday morning and misappropriated an aircraft, reports Xinhua news agency. The pilot, the sole occupant of the helicopter, died when it crashed into the roof of the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in the northeastern city of Cairns shortly after takeoff, sparking a fire and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of guests. Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Finn said that the employee -- who started working with the company four months ago -- held a pilot's license in New Zealand but had never flown in Australia. He said there was a gathering of company employees on Sunday night celebrating the man's promotion to a ground crew position at another Nautilus Aviation base. "We offer our heartfelt condolences to the individual's family and all who have been affected by this tragedy and continue to offer our support to our employees during this very challenging period," Finn said. Earlier on Tuesday, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) confirmed that evidence recovered from the wreck of the helicopter, including technical instruments, had been sent to its central office in Canberra for examination. The ATSB has appealed for any eyewitnesses or people with video or photographs of the helicopter flying before the crash to contact the bureau. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that investigators believe the helicopter was taken from the Cairns International Airport before flying into the no-fly zone over the city's central business district. The investigation into the crash will also scrutinise the Department of Home Affairs, which oversees security at all Australian airports. Nautilus Aviation has a fleet of over 40 helicopters across seven operating bases in Queensland and the Northern Territory, from which it offers scenic flights, tours, and charters. Chandigarh, Aug 13 : The District and Sessions Court in Jalandhar on Tuesday sentenced Britain-based NRI drug lord Ranjeet Singh alias Raja Kandola, who's presently lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail, to nine years' imprisonment in a 2012 PMLA case linked to a Rs 200 crore drug (methamphetamine) seizure. The court also sent his wife Rajwant Kaur to prison for three years, besides acquitting their son, Bally Singh, in the case. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on Kandola, while his wife was fined Rs 25,000. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had filed a chargesheet under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Kandola, who belongs to Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, in 2015. Kandola was arrested in June 2012 by the Punjab Police. However, he escaped from police custody in September the same year be3fore being rearrested from Delhi. Currently, he is lodged in Tihar Jail. An FIR was filed against Kandola, his wife Rajwant, their son Bally, among others, at the Kartarpur police station under the NDPS Act and the Arms Act. Based on the FIR, the ED probed the inflow of money from foreign accounts. Kandola was running a syndicate by procuring drugs from Pakistan. He was involved in supplying drugs in Punjab, Delhi and other big cities of the country. As per the prosecution, Kandola had wide connections in Canada, Australia, and the United States. Interestingly, in December 2023, the District and Sessions Judge had acquitted Kandola and 13 others in the case registered on June 1, 2012. The court later observed that the investigating officer, Inderjit Singh (now dismissed), was serving as an 'honourary inspector', while he was actually a head constable. The prosecution argued that an officer under the rank of an Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) could not investigate an NDPS case. Another investigating officer, Inderjit Singh, was named accused in another drug smuggling case. Mumbai, Aug 13 : Actor Varun Dhawan shared a throwback picture from Serbia and revealed who the constant "khoobsurati" is in his life. Mumbai, Aug 13 (IANS) Actor Varun Dhawan shared a throwback picture from Serbia and revealed who the constant "khoobsurati" is in his life. Varun took to Instagram, where he shared a picture of his face all bruised up from the sets of "Citadel: Honey Bunny". He is sitting across from his wife Natasha Dalal, whom he referred to as his "constant khoobsurati". "My constant #khoobsurati in my life #tbt filming in Serbia for #honeybunny getting bruised was pretty normal on that set," he wrote as the caption. "Citadel: Honey Bunny", an Indian adaptation of the Priyanka Chopra and Richard Madden-starrer "Citadel", is set to stream from November 7. The series also stars Kay Kay Menon and is set to drop on Prime Video. On the film front, Varun will next be seen in the action thriller film 'Baby John' by Kalees. The film is slated to release on Christmas 2024. The makers of "Babyt John" in June announced the new release date. The film was previously scheduled to hit the screens on May 31. It was said that the heavy reliance on visual effects and action sequences led to the postponement of the film, which marks the Hindi film debut of actress Keerthy Suresh. "Baby John" also stars Wamiqa Gabbi, who is making her silver screen debut, Jackie Shroff and Rajpal Yadav in this action entertainer. Varun also has 'Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari' with Janhvi Kapoor. Varun and his wife Natasha Dalal, who are childhood sweethearts, got married in January 2021. They welcomed their first child on July 3 but formally announced the arrival of their daughter on June 4 through social media. The actor wrote: "Our girl is here. Thank you for all the good wishes for the mama and the baby. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare." -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed New Delhi, Aug 13 : The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued notice on an application filed by Swami Avimukteshwaranand, the purported Shankaracharya of the Jyotish Peeth in Uttarakhand, seeking interim injunction against Swami Govindananda Saraswati in a civil defamation suit. Refusing to pass any ex-parte interim injunction order, a bench of Justice Navin Chawla sought reply from Swami Govindananda Saraswati and posted the matter for further hearing on August 29. Justice Chawla remarked that the alleged defamatory statements may be termed to have been made in bad taste, adding that a saintas reputation is established best through actions rather than a defamation suit. Swami Govindananda Saraswati termed Swami Avimukteshwaranand a "liar" and "cheat and a "toy" of the Congress party. He vehemently criticised Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for addressing Swami Avimukteshwaranand as Shankaracharya, demanding she issue an apology within 15 days. Showing a letter from Priyanka Gandhi (on her official letterhead) to Swami Avimukteshwaranand, Swami Govindananda Saraswati asked how she had addressed the former as "Shankaracharya", otherwise the latter would initiate legal action against her. Swami Govindananda Saraswati claimed that Swami Avimukteshwaranand, whose coronation as the new Shankaracharya of the Jyotish Peeth was stopped by the Supreme Court in October 2022, had submitted Priyanka Gandhi's letter before the apex court, contending that the Congress leader and her party had accepted him as the Shankaracharya, so he should be given the legal right too. He also accused Swami Avimukteshwaranand of lying to the Supreme Court that everyone recognised him as a Shankaracharya, and called him a "criminal" and a "cheat." Kochi, Aug 13 : In what could have far-reaching implications, the Kerala High Court on Tuesday ordered the release of Justice K Hema Committee Report on the conditions of women working in the Malayalam film industry. The court maintained that the report could be published after a week. The order of the State Information Commission to make the report public on July 24, 2024, was earlier stayed by the High Court. The court was acting on a petition filed by a Malayalam film producer Sajimon Parayil who argued that the publishing of the report could badly affect the Malayalam film industry. In 2017, the Pinarayi Vijayan government appointed a retired judge Justice Hema to study the problems of women in the industry after a 'Women in Cinema Collective' approached the Chief Minister and a report on womenas working conditions in the industry. Two years later, Justice Hema submitted her report after the state government spent Rs 1.50 crores on the Hema Committee. However, the state government decided not to publish the report. However, a group of journalists continued to persevere for the publication of the report finally prevailed upon the State Information Commission, which directed the release of the report after deleting certain portions. The release date was fixed on July 24th at 4 pm however film producer Sajimon Parayil filed a petition and the court stayed it and decided to hear the petition in more detail and issued an interim stay. Kolkata, Aug 13 : The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered a CBI probe into the alleged rape and murder of a woman junior doctor at the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata last week. Hearing a clutch of petitions in the matter, a division bench of the high court comprising Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya ordered a court-monitored probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), as demanded by the victim's family members. The bench also directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Kolkata Police, which is currently probing the matter, to immediately handover all the relevant documents, CCTV footage, and evidence to the CBI officials. Examining the case diary submitted by the police, the division bench observed that the progress of the investigation has not been satisfactory. On Monday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said that the state administration will hand over the probe to the CBI if the SIT is unable to conclude the investigation by Sunday. However, on Tuesday, the counsels for the petitioners argued that that time-frame might have a negative impact on the investigation since there were chances of tampering with the evidence during the interim period. The bench accepted the arguments and observed that during the last few days after the body of the victim was found in the seminar hall of the R.G. Kar MCH, there had not been any significant progress in the probe. The bench was also in agreement with the arguments that further loss of time would leave chances for tampering with the evidence. The court also questioned the communication goof-up on the part of the hospital authorities, including keeping the victim's parents waiting for information even after her bruised body was found on the morning of August 9. The counsel for one of the petitioners, Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya, pointed out that after the body was found, the victimas family members received a phone call from the hospital at around 10.30 a.m. informing that she was 'sick'. aHowever, 15 minutes later, the victimas parents were told that their daughter committed suicide. The family members were also made to sit for three hours during which they were not allowed to see the body. There are also complaints that the police advised the family members to somehow 'settle' the matter," he argued. Dhaka, Aug 13 : Muhammad Yunus, the Chief Advisor of the interim government in Bangladesh, said on Tuesday that establishing human rights and freedom of speech remains one of his prime goals as the country's minority communities, especially Hindus, continue to face horrendous acts of violence and vandalism since Sheikh Hasina's resignation as Prime Minister on August 5. "Everyone has equal rights in the country. There is no discrimination between us. Please help, be patient and judge us later on what we did and what we didn't. If we fail, then criticise," Yunus was quoted as saying by the local media during his visit to the Dhakeswari National Temple - one of the most significant places of worship for the Hindu community in the region for over 800 years - in Dhaka on Tuesday. Hundreds of Hindus are believed to be injured as radicals have attacked their homes, businesses and even temples over the past many days since Hasina left for India last week. "In our democratic spirit, we should not be seen as Muslims, Hindus or Buddhists, but as human beings. We must assert our rights. At the root of all problems lies the weakness of institutional arrangements. That is why such problems arise. Institutional systems need to be reformed," said Yunus in the presence of Bangladesh Puja Celebration Parishad President Vasudev Dhar, and General Secretary Santosh Sharma. Asif Nazrul and A.F.M. Khalid Hossain, the legal and religious affairs advisors to the interim government, also accompanied Yunus to the temple. On Monday, Hossain had condemned the attack on minorities and assured that the current establishment believes in communal harmony. In a media briefing that took place at the Secretariat, Hossain asserted that the attacks on minority communities were done by "miscreants" and the interim government will take action against them. He also mentioned that a list of destroyed houses and temples is being prepared and financial assistance will be given to the victims. The continuing violence comes as a massive challenge for the interim government which was sworn-in on August 8 under the leadership of Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus. On Saturday, tens of thousands of Hindus had converged in the heart of Chittagong, holding a massive protest rally against the ongoing attacks on the community and demanding safety and equal rights as citizens of the country. The Bangladesh Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Oikya Parishad had also sent an 'open letter' to Yunus, expressing "profound sorrow and concern" over a particular group's "unprecedented violence" against the minorities. "We seek protection because our lives are in a disastrous state. We are staying up at night guarding our homes and religious places. I have never seen such incidents in my life. We demand that the government restore communal harmony in the country," Nirmal Rosario, the President of the unity council, was quoted as saying by 'The Daily Star' newspaper. The letter mentioned that the communal violence, which began immediately after Hasina left Dhaka, has caused "widespread fear, anxiety, and uncertainty" among the minorities in Bangladesh. "According to organisational details and media reports, thousands of Hindu families have become destitute and many temples have been attacked and burned. Numerous women have faced assaults, and there have been murders in several places. Other minorities have also suffered during this period," it reported. Similarly, the Bangladesh Hindu Jagran Mancha has also organised processions and rallies to protest against the recent vandalism, arson, looting, and attacks on the Hindu community across the country. Mumbai, Aug 13 : On Vyjayantimala's 91st birthday on Tuesday, Saira Banu wished the actress, whom she lovingly referred to as "akka" and recalled her first meet during a song shoot. Mumbai, Aug 13 (IANS) On Vyjayantimala's 91st birthday on Tuesday, Saira Banu wished the actress, whom she lovingly referred to as "akka" and recalled her first meet during a song shoot. Sharing a picture with Vyjayanthimala, Saira wrote: "Wishing my favourite, Padma Vibhushan, Vyjayantimalaji (Akka Elder Sister) a very happy birthday! As I write about her, you will come to know how she became Akka to me." Talking about her "first memory" of Vyjayanthimala, Saira Banu said it was when "I was visiting Mehboob Studios, with my mother, who was visiting her friend Mrs. Akhtar Mehboob Khan." "I was thrilled to see such a spectacular song number of 'Radha Krishna', where Vyjayantimalaji was swirling in a beautiful Ghagra Choli. Next, we met when I started working in 'Junglee'." Saira Banu recalled how Vyjayanthimala saw her at a film premiere and fondly touched her cheek and called her "beautiful". "I think I did not wash my face that week! I always loved the pairing of Sahib with Vyjayantimalaji; the pair has given the maximum number of hits together, and my all-time favourite is the classic 'Gunga Jumna'." Saira said Vyjayanthimala did a "fabulous job" as Dhanno. "Sahib worked very hard on her diction to record the Purbi dialogues on tape with the correct pronunciations and dialect. There was a certain understanding between Sahib and Akka, and the onscreen chemistry worked in their favour," Saira Banu shared. The "Nehle Pe Dehla" actress said that Vyjayantimala once quoted that she learned a lot working with late legendary star Dilip Kumar, whom Saira Banu refers to as Sahib. "it was amazing watching him sink into a character and become oblivious of all else. However, once there came an unfortunate misunderstanding between them, and somehow, after shooting for 'Ram Aur Shyam' for a few days, she was replaced," said Saira Banu. She added: "Sahib and Akka, along with her husband Dr. Bali, would keep running into each other in Delhi at functions and celebration dinners. During one such meeting, the four of us met. Sahib and Dr. Bali sat together and chatted merrily, whereas Akka and l huddled and talked." "This went on for a while, and each of them would avoid meeting the other's gaze until I got fed up and brought the two of them together to patch up as friends again. That was quite a feat!" Saira Banu revealed Vyjayantimala and her son would keep visiting her and her late husband. "After this smooth sailing, Akka and her son Suchendra would always visit us at home whenever travelling from Madras. Once, there was a complicated issue troubling both of them for a long time, and Sahib and I, with sheer good luck, managed to solve that complex situation completely," she said. Saira Banu concluded: "Ever since, Vyjayantimala labelled me as her 'angel,' and as for me, Vyjayantimala turned into Akka." New Delhi, Aug 13 : External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar on Tuesday said that the Indian diaspora can help create synergy for digital collaborations for the world economies while helping the country create the necessary skilled pool for emerging technologies. Speaking at the launch of the 'Indiaspora BCG Impact Report' in the national capital, the EAM said that the diaspora can create a level of comfort and trust in critical areas, which has the potential to take world relationships to the next level. When it comes to skilling, "diaspora can make a valuable contribution by creating a bond, a digital connection in various areas like AI. It will help create a skilled pool as envisioned in the Union Budget 2024-2025 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi", EAM Jaishankar told the gathering. The Budget laid emphasis on the Prime Minister's package of five schemes and initiatives to facilitate employment, skilling and other opportunities for 4.1 crore youth over a 5-year period, with a Central outlay of Rs 2 lakh crore. EAM Jaishankar said that as India charts the future on semiconductors and associated areas, including chip designing, key figures in the Indian diaspora are the key drivers of these advanced technologies. "Several key collaborations in the field of semiconductors are currently happening in the country a" from establishing ATMP (Modified Assembly, Testing, Marking, and Packaging) units to chip designing. Global Capability Centres (GCC) are making India their new hub. And the role of the diaspora is commendable towards this," said the Minister. India has over 1,580 GCCs with an addition of multiple GCCs every quarter, as companies navigate the complexities of today's business environment. India has consistently maintained its status as one of the fastest-growing large economies which has positively impacted the office demand among the GCCs. On artificial intelligence (AI), S. Jaishankar said that ironically, it is AI which requires "very trusted human relationships" for collaborations to advance internationally. EAM Jaishankar said that he sees a myriad of global economic challenges and it is necessary to go back to the drawing board and look at these scenarios -- climate, technology, economic dependency, globalisation -- from a new perspective to find solutions. Patna, Aug 13 : Prashant Kishor, the chief of the Jan Suraaj campaign on Tuesday said that the Janata Dal (United), led by Nitish Kumar, will struggle to secure even 20 seats in the upcoming 2025 Assembly elections. "In 2015, the Grand Alliance government in Bihar was only formed because I supported Nitish Kumar. In the 2020 Assembly elections, Nitish's party significantly declined, securing just 43 seats. The 2025 elections will result in an even more drastic outcome. The JD-U will be uprooted from Bihar politics along with the RJD," Prashant Kishor told media persons in Jamui district. Kishor's remarks came in response to the statement of JD-U state president Umesh Kushwaha, who dismissed Kishor's political relevance, saying that "he is merely running an agency and is not a leader." Kushwaha even denied acknowledging Kishor and his Jan Suraaj campaign as significant players in Bihar's political landscape. Kishor, in turn, intensified his criticism by asserting that the people of Bihar would eventually reject the leadership of Lalu Prasad Yadav, Nitish Kumar, and the BJP. He also attacked the RJD, noting that the party has been issuing letters urging members not to leave. The top leaders of RJD are appealing to workers that if they believe in the ideology of Lalu Prasad Yadav, they will not leave the party. "This is a sign that RJD leaders no longer find inspiration in Tejashwi Yadav and are only staying due to Lalu's legacy," Kishor said. Kishor added that RJD would not be a significant factor in the 2025 elections, which he believes will primarily be contested between his Jan Suraaj and the NDA. New Delhi, Aug 13 : If you are a regular fish eater, beware of carcinogen formalin -- added to the seafood to keep it fresh -- that can harm your kidneys, said experts on Tuesday. Formalin, a toxic chemical commonly misused in preserving fish for consumption, poses severe health risks, particularly to the kidneys. Formalin is a solution composed of formaldehyde gas dissolved in water, and its use in food products is highly dangerous due to its harmful effects on human health. Formalin which contains formaldehyde is a known kidney toxin and its regular exposure can cause harm to kidneys. "Formaldehyde, the active ingredient in formalin, is a known kidney toxin. It can be absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract, leading to inflammation and impaired kidney function. Chronic exposure to even low levels of formaldehyde can result in progressive kidney disease."Dr. Mohit Khirbat, Consultant Nephrology at CK Birla Hospital Gurugram told IANS. Formalin can also cause kidney dysfunction, respiratory issues, and other serious health problems. "When fish are treated with ammonia formalin tablets to keep them fresh, the chemical leaches into the flesh, contaminating it. Prolonged exposure to formalin through food can lead to kidney dysfunction, respiratory issues, and other serious health problems," Dr. Salil Jain, Senior Director & HOD of Nephrology at Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram, told IANS. Studies by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also highlight the dangers of formalin exposure in fish. The FDA recommends a maximum formalin concentration of 250 mg/L for a prophylactic bath in fish, with a 1-hour exposure at temperatures below 27 degrees Celsisus and dissolved oxygen above 4 mg/L. Exceeding these limits, especially when formalin is used as a preservative, significantly increases the risk of toxicity. "Formalin's use in food preservation is not only illegal but also life-threatening. Avoiding contaminated fish is crucial for long-term health," added Dr. Jain. The misuse of formalin underscores the importance of strict food safety regulations and public awareness to prevent such dangerous practices. Hyderabad, Aug 13 : Telangana's Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar on Tuesday visited Peddapur Government Residential School in Jagtial district, where two students died, and some others fell sick during the last 15 days. The Deputy CM spoke to students and enquired about the cause of the death of Yedamalla Anirudh and Rajarapu Ganaditya, students of Class 6 and Class 7, respectively. While Ganaditya (13) died on July 26, Anirudh (12) died on August 9. Though the exact reason for the sudden deaths is not yet known, snakebite and food poisoning were suspected to be among the reasons. Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka consoled the families of the deceased children. He announced that the families of both the deceased students would be provided jobs. The Deputy CM, who went around the premises and inspected various facilities, also promised to arrange beds and bedsheets for the residential school students. Both the Deputy CM and the Minister spoke to the school's in-charge principal Mahipal Reddy and enquired details about the death of two students and four others falling sick. They asked the in-charge principal if medical check-up of students was being done every month. They also sought details about the facilities in the residential school, staff members and duty nurse. He said the government was on alert following the recent incidents of students in residential schools falling sick. He said cleaning of all schools will be taken up under NREGS and paramedical staff will be deployed at every school. He asked every MLA and Collector to inspect the government schools under their jurisdiction. He suggested that they have food with the students at least once every month and resolve the problems relating to food. The Deputy CM and Transport Minister visited the residential school a day after Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K.T. Rama Rao visited the residential school. He also stated that nearly 500 students were suffering various illnesses in government hostels. He said that a committee, led by BRS leader and former IPS officer R.S. Praveen Kumar, will be constituted to prepare a report, which will be submitted to the government. He demanded that the government should ensure a government job for the family members of students who died in hostels. Recalling that the BRS government established 1,000 Gurukul residential schools, the former minister urged all district collectors to adopt these schools and inspect them at least once a week. As many as six lakh students are currently studying in these schools. "Meanwhile, glad we have been able to push the Congress Govt out of its deep slumber that all is well in Gurukul hostels Hope the Deputy CM & Govt will take all necessary steps to prevent loss of life and improve the quality of food being served across 1,000 plus Gurukuls established by KCR Government Meanwhile, reacting to Deputy CM's visit, Rama Rao hoped the government will take steps to prevent loss of life. "Glad we have been able to push the Congress Govt out of its deep slumber that all is well in Gurukul hostels Hope the Deputy CM & Govt will take all necessary steps to prevent loss of life and improve quality of food being served across 1,000 plus Gurukuls established by KCR government," he posted on X. Chandigarh, Aug 13 : Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Tuesday virtually inaugurated and laid foundation stones for 600 projects of Rs 3,400 crore at a state-level programme in Panchkula. The Chief Minister inaugurated 220 projects of Rs 1,190 crores and laid the foundation stones for 380 projects costing Rs 2,210 crore. On this occasion, the Chief Minister also handed over appointment letters to 104 Trained Graduate Teacher-Punjabi and 3,878 Group-D candidates. He congratulated the selected candidates and their families, highlighting that their hard work has made it possible to get government jobs on merit. During the public event, Saini took a step towards fulfilling the dream of the poor to own a home by launching a portal for Mukhya Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana-Expansion. Under this scheme, plots of 100 yards will be provided in villages and 50 yards in Mahagram villages to those who do not own land. He slammed the previous government for its discriminatory practices in allotting plots, stating that it failed to provide possession or documentation, leaving people struggling. "The present state government has rectified this by giving plot possession to those who were previously denied." The Chief Minister said this is the 10th event where projects have been inaugurated or foundation stones laid online, adding up to a total of 2,891 projects of Rs 24,221 crore. These projects include roads, water facilities, health institutions, schools, colleges, power stations, canals, drains, and bridges, benefiting various aspects of connectivity, infrastructure, health, transport, education, and tourism. The Chief Minister emphasised that infrastructure is a crucial measure of development. The simultaneous inauguration and foundation laying of these projects reflect a vision of comprehensive development across all sectors. Before 2014, Haryana was marred by despair, distrust, and regionalism. "The present state government has prioritized merit over favoritism, ensuring job transparency and efficiency," added Saini. Earlier, speaking on the occasion, Vidhan Sabha Speaker Gian Chand Gupta said that today the dream of meritorious youth has been fulfilled today as their hardwork has paid off. He congratulated them on receiving appointment letters without any 'Parchi Kharchi', praising the government for its transparent job allocation process. New Delhi, Aug 13 : Sandeep Poundrik, an IAS officer of the 1993 batch, assumed charge as Secretary, Ministry of Steel, at Udyog Bhawan here on Tuesday. After taking over the charge, he held a meeting with senior officials of the Ministry to review the progress of the steel sector in the country. Poundrik was holding the charge of Additional Chief Secretary in the Industries Department and has also served in several other positions in the Government of Bihar. He had previously served as an Advisor in the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) under the Ministry of Home Affairs and as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas as well. India became the worldas second-largest steel producer in 2018 surpassing Japan and has succeeded in maintaining this rank since then. The countryas crude steel production has shot up by over 35 million tonnes in the last four years from 109.14 million tonnes in 2019-20 to 144.30 million tonnes in 2023-24, Minister of State for Steel and Heavy Industries Bhupathi Raju Srinivasa Varma informed the Rajya Sabha last week. He said the government as a facilitator has taken several measures to create a conducive policy environment for improving production and consumption of steel in the country. These include the implementation of the Domestically Manufactured Iron & Steel Products (DMI&SP) Policy to promote aMade in Indiaa steel for government procurement. The government has also launched a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme to promote the manufacturing of Specialty Steel within the country and reduce imports by attracting capital investments. The anticipated additional investment under PLI Scheme for Specialty Steel is Rs 29,500 crores. This is expected to create an additional capacity of around 25 million tonnes (MT) for speciality steel. The minister further stated that to make Indian steel become globally competitive, the government has reduced basic customs duty on ferro nickel, a raw material used for steel, from 2.5 per cent to zero, making it duty-free, while duty exemption on ferrous scrap has been extended up to 31st March 2026, in the Budget for 2024-25. New Delhi, Aug 13 : Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva on Tuesday launched a scathing attack against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over its decision to organise a 'Padayatra' starting August 14, and questioned why Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has not resigned yet. Sachdeva also labelled AAP as "shameless" as he accused the party of failing to recognise its wrongdoings. "It is unfortunate for Delhi that the AAP government with its Naxal mindset is trying to create conflict over every national festival," Sachdeva said. He also criticised AAP for its actions during significant national events, saying, "On January 26, their Chief Minister staged a protest. The Chief Minister should hoist the Tricolour on August 15 but he is in jail. Instead of some other minister hoisting the flag, it would be better if the Chief Minister resigns." The Delhi BJP chief also questioned why AAP, despite having 60 MLAs, has not selected a new Chief Minister. "The Chief Minister can write a letter from jail; can't he file his resignation from prison? He should resign and ask his party to select a new Chief Minister who can hoist the Tricolour on Independence Day," Sachdeva said, suggesting that the party's actions are intended to stir conflict and highlight what he described as "Naxal mindset". On Manish Sisodia's announcement of a 'Padayatra', Sachdeva accused AAP of remaining unapologetic about their alleged wrongdoings. "They are shameless. Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia committed a Rs 100 crore fraud," he claimed. Sachdeva also demanded Sisodia to provide answers during his 'Padayatra' on several issues, including the increase in liquor commission from 2 per cent to 12 per cent and the "opening of liquor shops in every lane of the national capital". "Will Manish Sisodia, who is out on bail, answer why liquor shops were opened in every lane? Will he answer how he is out of jail on a Rs 10 lakh bond and how he has to mark his attendance every week at the police station? Will he answer how he changed his paths from education to liquor," the BJP leader questioned. Sachdeva also slammed the state of public services in Delhi, including high power bills and recent incidents of waterlogging leading to fatalities. "People are getting high electricity bills in Delhi, ranging from Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000. In the last 22 days, around 40 people have died due to drowning and electrocution caused by waterlogging. Will he (Sisodia) answer how," Sachdeva asked. He concluded by reminding Sisodia that being out on bail does not mean being acquitted, saying, "The punishment is still awaited because you have committed a crime." Kolkata/New Delhi, August 13 : On the occasion of 78th Independence Day, ITC Ltd. has paid tribute to the nation with the creation of a unique musical composition, 'Desh Ek Raag', performed by 'gurus' and 'shishyas' of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy (ITC-SRA). Kolkata/New Delhi, August 13 (IANS) On the occasion of 78th Independence Day, ITC Ltd. has paid tribute to the nation with the creation of a unique musical composition, aDesh Ek Raaga, performed by 'gurus' and 'shishyas' of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy (ITC-SRA). The soul-stirring composition captures the confluence of Hindustani classical music forms rooted in the cultural traditions of the country. The musical ensemble innovatively combines western and Indian instrumental accompaniments to play Hindustani classical tunes to contemporise Indian classical music for the younger generations. The composition, rendered in a musical video, was shared by Sanjiv Puri, Chairman of ITC, through a post on LinkedIn. Puri is also the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of ITC-SRA. Performed by ITC-SRA gurus and scholars, in collaboration with other artistes, the special composition is an ode to the nation, in which 'parampara' and 'pragati' (tradition and progress), and 'viraasat' and 'vikas' (heritage and development) go hand-in-hand. The initiative is in line with ITCas credo of 'Nation First: Sab Saath Badheina, which underscores the companyas core belief in creating inclusive and enduring value for the nation. Speaking about the initiative, Sanjiv Puri said, aI am delighted that, as a tribute to our country on the occasion of 78th Independence Day, ITC Sangeet Research Academy (ITC-SRA) has created a special composition, presented in the form of a music video aDesh Ek Raag a" an Ode to the Nationa. This musical masterpiece by the talented scholars of ITC-SRA draws inspiration from Raag Desh, stirring a profound sense of pride and admiration for our great nation. aFor nearly five decades, ITC has nurtured and promoted Hindustani classical music through the ITC-SRA, a one-of its kind institution. ITC-SRA has been enriched over the years by Indiaas acclaimed gurus who have imparted precious knowledge and training through a unique guru-shishya parampara that embodies the countryas rich heritage." Srinagar, Aug 13 : Jammu and Kashmir Police said on Tuesday that a compact plan has been put in place to ensure smooth and peaceful conduct of Independence Day functions and parades in the Valley. Speaking to the media in Srinagar on Tuesday, VK Birdi, IGP (Kashmir) said that J&K Police is fully aware of the emerging security challenges in Kashmir and watertight security arrangements have been made to ensure smooth conduct of August 15 functions and celebrations across Kashmir keeping in view the recent terror attacks. "We are aware of recent terror activities. There is an ongoing operation in Kokernag. So we have laid a multi-layer security grid for smooth conduct of functions on August 15 across Kashmir", he said. A full dress rehearsal was held at the Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar on Tuesday in connection with the Independence Day main function during which Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha will hoist the national flag and take salute at the parade on August 15. Tight vigil is being maintained in Srinagar city and all other areas of the Valley where various district development commissioners will take salute at the main parade and hoist the national flag at the district headquarters. Dhaka, Aug 13 : The Bangladesh Jatiya Hindu Mohajot (BJHM), a grand national alliance of 23 religious organisations in the country, said on Tuesday that as many as 278 Hindu families have faced massive violence and vandalism in 48 districts of the nation since Sheikh Hasina resigned as the Prime Minister on August 5. Releasing detailed data on the horrendous acts of violence committed against the Hindu community in the country between August 5 and August 12, BJHM leaders said they continue to live in fear despite having lived in the country for generations. Calling itself a "politically neutral" Hindu rights body, the alliance also put forward a list of seven demands, urging the interim government led by Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus to act fast during times of uncertainty. "The incidents of vandalism, looting, arson, land grabbing, and threats to leave the country have been repeatedly inflicted on the Hindu community due to the shifting political landscape. This is not just an attack on individuals but an assault on the Hindu religion," Palash Kanti Dey, spokesperson and executive secretary of the alliance, was quoted as saying by Dhaka Tribune during a press conference organised at the National Press Club in Dhaka on Tuesday. Dey said the community leaders have conveyed their concerns to the interim government's Home Affairs Advisor Brigadier General (retd.) M. Sakhawat Hossain, who has assured that the issue will be raised in the next Cabinet meeting. The seven demands submitted by the alliance include the conduct of a thorough judicial inquiry into the "worst communal attacks" on the Hindu community across the country; creation of a Minority Protection Act and Commission; restoration and repair of damaged temples and houses of the Hindu community at public expense; a speedy trial confirming punishment of the guilty with the entire investigation report to be made public; a detailed report on minority persecution in the country from 2000 till date; a three-day holiday during the upcoming Durga Puja festival; and, the establishment of a Minority Ministry. "Whenever there is a change in government, Hindus are the first to be attacked. Although there were fewer incidents in the past, they have increased recently. We want to live in this country with security. We were born here, and we have rights in this country," said BJHM President Prabhas Chandra Roy. Earlier in the day, the interim government's Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus visited a historic Hindu temple in Dhaka and assured community leaders that establishing human rights and freedom of speech remains one of his prime goals. "Everyone has equal rights in the country. There is no discrimination between us. Please help, be patient and judge us later on what we did and what we didn't. If we fail, then criticise," Yunus was quoted as saying by the local media during his visit to the Dhakeshwari National Temple - one of the most significant places of worship for the Hindu community in the region for over 800 years. Asif Nazrul and A.F.M. Khalid Hossain, the legal and religious affairs advisors to the interim government, respectively, also accompanied Yunus to the temple. "In our democratic spirit, we should not be seen as Muslims, Hindus or Buddhists, but as human beings. We must assert our rights. At the root of all problems lies the weakness of institutional arrangements. That is why such problems arise. Institutional systems need to be reformed," said Yunus in the presence of Bangladesh Puja Celebration Parishad President Vasudev Dhar, and General Secretary Santosh Sharma. On Monday, Religious Affairs' Advisor Hossain condemned the attack on minorities and assured that the current establishment believes in communal harmony. In a media briefing, Hossain asserted that the attacks on minority communities were carried out by "miscreants" against whom the interim government will take action. He also mentioned that a list of destroyed houses and temples is being prepared and financial assistance will be given to the victims. The continuing violence comes as a massive challenge for the interim government which was sworn-in on August 8 under the leadership of Muhammad Yunus. On Saturday, tens of thousands of Hindus had converged in the heart of Chittagong, holding a massive protest rally against the ongoing attacks on the community, demanding safety and equal rights as citizens of the country. The Bangladesh Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Oikya Parishad had also sent an 'open letter' to Yunus, expressing "profound sorrow and concern" over a particular group's "unprecedented violence" against the minorities. "We seek protection because our lives are in a disastrous state. We are staying up at night guarding our homes and religious places. I have never seen such incidents in my life. We demand that the government restore communal harmony in the country," Nirmal Rosario, the President of the unity council, was quoted as saying by 'The Daily Star' newspaper. The letter also mentioned that the communal violence, which began immediately after Hasina left Dhaka, has caused "widespread fear, anxiety, and uncertainty" among the minorities in Bangladesh. "According to organisational details and media reports, thousands of Hindu families have become destitute while many temples have been attacked and burned. Numerous women have faced assaults, and there have been murders in several places. Other minorities have also suffered during this period," it said. Similarly, the Bangladesh Hindu Jagran Mancha has also organised processions and rallies to protest against the recent vandalism, arson, looting, and attacks on the Hindu community across the country. Bengaluru, Aug 13 : Union Heavy Industries and Steel Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Tuesday said that there is no question of returning the land under the control of the HMT factory, which is owned by the Union government, to the Karnataka government. Addressing a press conference at the HMT building in Bengaluru, Kumaraswamy said that if the Congress government in the state creates obstacles regarding the land issue with malicious intent, they would go to court. The Union Minister questioned the state government's intentions, asking what they plan to do with the land if they take it back from the factory, and which builder they intend to give it to. "On one hand, you accuse the Union government of not cooperating with the state, and on the other hand, you obstruct central ministers who are trying to do something good for the state," Kumaraswamy said. Kumaraswamy also mentioned that the HMT factory once employed 15,000 to 20,000 employees and made a profit of Rs 270 crore in 1970. "This money led to the establishment of branches in Hyderabad, North Karnataka, Kerala, Ajmer, and other places," he said. The minister pointed out that the decision to sell 200 acres of HMT land was made during the 1999-2004 period and that he had issued an order in 2006 preventing the sale of any HMT land. He criticized the state government for attempting to obstruct the factory's progress and for having an interest in the land that should have been preserved. The Union Minister also highlighted the obstacles faced in the Kudremukh Iron Ore Company project and the challenges in securing financial guarantees for the Devadari Mining Project, which were initially approved during Siddaramaiah's tenure as Chief Minister. He pointed out the inconsistency in the state government's policies, questioning the delay and confusion they created. Amaravati, Aug 13 : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday directed the officials of the Education Department to upgrade the syllabus in school education to meet future needs. He asked them to consult educational experts, intellectuals and prominent personalities in the academic field for necessary suggestions. Chairing a review meeting of the Education Department, the Chief Minister stated that providing value-based quality education is the basic objective of the state government. Naidu directed the officers to develop the government schools to compete with private educational institutions. Without any publicity focus should be laid on providing basic amenities on campuses of all schools, he said. "I want radical changes in the academic sector with the sole aim of achieving good results. The state government is spending Rs 32,000 crore annually on education and the necessary results should be seen at the ground level," the Chief Minister told the meeting. Observing that education is the fundamental right of every person, Chandrababu Naidu felt that kids of the school-going age should not be found outside. The Chief Minister wanted the Pratibha Awards and parent-teacher meetings to be relaunched and said that those who come forward for the development of the schools under the Janmabhoomi programme will be encouraged. "I want enrolment to be 100 per cent and proper monitoring should be conducted up to graduation level. Every student should be issued proper identity cards under the provisions of the Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR) of the Union government," the Chief Minister observed. He directed the officials to conduct a proper study on Government Order (GO) number 117 and submit a report after holding necessary discussions with academic experts and teachers. The GO was issued by the previous government of the YSR Congress, introducing many reforms in the education system. However, a section of teachers opposed the GO saying it would adversely affect the system. The officers of the Education Department explained, in detail, to the Chief Minister the reforms and the new policies introduced in the academic sector by the Minister for Education, Information Technology and Electronics, Nara Lokesh. They informed the Chief Minister that the 'one teacher for one class' system is being implemented and also brought down the app usage burden on the teachers. The officers, through a presentation, also explained to Chandrababu Naidu the current situation in the Education Department and said that currently there are 44,570 government schools and 813 aided schools in the state. About 5,530 schools have less than 10 students while 8,072 schools have less than 20 students. Later, the Chief Minister conducted a review meeting on Skill Development and the officers gave a presentation on skill development census which the state government has taken as a prestigious programme. The Chief Minister told the officers to take up a skill development census after holding consultations with industrialists too. The state government will take up the census at the grassroot-level after some more exercise. Chennai, Aug 13 : A rowdy classified under Category A+ by the Tamil Nadu Police was injured after the police opened fire at him on Tuesday. The goon, Rohit Raj, has 14 criminal cases registered against him, including for murder and attempt to murder. Sub-Inspector Kalaiselvi fired at the accused after he attacked her team members with a broken beer bottle in a bid to escape. Kalaiselvi warned him not to run away before shooting on his knee with her service weapon in an act of self-defence, the police said A senior officer told IANS that the history-sheeter was allegedly involved in the murder of another criminal named Shivakumar in Mylapore. Kilpauk Deputy Commissioner Ragupathy told mediapersons that a court had issued a non-bailable warrant against the accused after he didn't appear for a hearing in a criminal case following which a special team was formed to nab Rohit. The officer told IANS that the police team traced his whereabouts and nabbed him from his hideout in T.P. Chatram on Tuesday morning. Rohit and two injured head constables were rushed to a government hospital for treatment. It may be recalled that Tamil Nadu police had drawn flak from human rights bodies and political parties for highhandedness. Thiruvengadam, an accused in the murder of Tamil Nadu BSP President K. Armstrong, was shot dear by the police last month. The police had said that Thiruvengadam was shot after he attempted to attack policemen when he was taken to a secluded place to retrieve the weapons used for the BSP leader's murder. Political parties, including the BJP, AIADMK and PMK, had lashed out at the police stating they were trying to cover up something in connection with Thiruvengadam's 'murder'. New Delhi, Aug 13 : The Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) has gone up 12 ranks from the 27th position in 2023 to 15th this year in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) released by the Ministry of Education. Congratulating IIFT on this feat, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal expressed confidence that the institute would soon transform into a world-class one that would greatly contribute to India's impressive growth in trade and investments. "From 27th rank in 2023 to 15th rank this year, the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) Delhi has made remarkable progress. With India's growing influence in global trade, this achievement highlights IIFT's crucial role in nurturing future leaders in international business," he said. Sunil Barthwal, Secretary, Department of Commerce and Chancellor, IIFT, also congratulated the institute on this remarkable achievement and assured full support from the Department of Commerce to conduct cutting-edge research on contemporary issues in international trade, including bilateral and multilateral trade engagements, exports promotion and institutional development. In recent months, various measures of the institute have been recognised. The institute has taken a host of holistic initiatives to improve its teaching, learning and resources, research and professional practices, graduation outcomes, outreach and inclusivity and perception, according to a Commerce Ministry statement. IIFT is on the path of rapid transformation into a world-class B-School of global repute with special focus on international trade and business making it a unique institute that conducts highly sought after educational programmes such as Ph.D., MBA (International Business), MBA (Business Analytics) and MA Economics, specialising in International Trade and Finance. As a part of new initiatives, the institute is in the process of establishing a state-of-the-art Centre for International Negotiations (CIN) to provide training to corporates and policy-makers on international negotiations. Besides, IIFT is also establishing Foreign Trade Case Study Centre (FTCSC) to work closely with exporters, governments and businesses and develop world-class case studies on the lines of Harvard and share Indian experiences on international trade with the rest of the world. The institute plans to work closely with the Centre and states and carry out insightful research on issues of contemporary importance besides high-end capacity-building programmes. Various export promotion organisations such as APEDA have evinced keen interest to sponsor PhD students in the area of contemporary research. IIFT is also contemplating commencing an offshore campus in Dubai with active support from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Kabul, Aug 13 : Afghan caretaker government's Acting Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund on Tuesday called for efforts to maintain peace and security in Afghanistan and to rebuild the war-torn central Asian country, a statement by Prime Minister's Office released here said. The current opportunity provided by returning peace and security in Afghanistan should be used for strengthening the administration, good governance, stabilizing security and rebuilding the country, Akhund stressed in the statement released on the eve of the celebration of the third anniversary of the US-led forces pulling out of Afghanistan. On August 15, 2021, the Taliban force entered Kabul and took over power following the start of the withdrawal of the US-led forces from Afghanistan. That day, known as Asad 24 in the Persian calendar, has been declared by the Afghan administration as the victory day over US-led forces for the Afghan nation, and as a public holiday. Security measures have been beefed up in Kabul for the celebration of the victory day, with security personnel deployed in streets and sensitive areas. Streets and buildings in the capital have been decorated with white flags and slogans inscribed on the walls meaning "congratulation to freedom", or "Afghan nation defeated America". This year, Asad 24 falls on August 14, Xinhua news agency reported. Meanwhile, a total of 317 development projects worth over 3.9 million US dollars have been put into operation after completing construction in south Afghanistan's Helmand province, according to the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development on Tuesday. The projects included rural roads, bridges, culverts, protective walls, and water canals, implemented on the outskirts of the province's Nahr-e-Saraj, Garashk, Babaji, Nadali, and Nawa districts, said the ministry. With the implementation of these projects, the living conditions of local residents in the districts have improved, with job opportunities created for thousands of people, according to a ministry official. Since resuming power three years ago, the Afghan caretaker government has launched many public utility and development projects across the war-ravaged country, aiming to tackle economic challenges and bring positive changes in people's living conditions. Riga, Aug 13 : All 147 travellers who were stranded in Spain and Portugal due to issues with their tour operator have successfully returned to Latvia, the Latvian Consumer Rights Protection Centre (PTAC) announced on Tuesday. A group of 81 Latvian children, who had been stranded in Spain while en route to a surf camp in Portugal, arrived in Latvia on Monday via two buses. Another group of 66 individuals returned to Latvia on Tuesday. According to a post by the Latvian Foreign Ministry on the social platform X, formerly known as Twitter, a total of 171 people were on the trip to Portugal organized by Fisom. However, Fisom was unable to fulfill its obligations due to liquidity problems, leading to the disruption. Last Saturday, the PTAC and the Foreign Ministry initiated a repatriation procedure to bring home the 147 stranded travelers. Other travelers have either managed to return home on their own or plan to do so, Xinhua news agency reported. The Consumer Rights Protection Centre has since revoked Fisom's license, and the State Police have launched an investigation into the tour operator's possible violations. New Delhi, Aug 13 : The National Health Authority (NHA) on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) to foster digital health education in the country. As part of the collaboration, MUHS will offer its Digital Health Foundation Course (DHFC) to NHA. DHFC provides a comprehensive understanding of Digital Health fundamentals to doctors and healthcare providers. MUHS will also co-develop additional digital health programmes to support the roll-out of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) in the country. NHA, on its part, will steer the government policy on the digital health landscape in the country for the development of an interoperable digital health ecosystem. "The partnership marks a significant milestone in integrating digital health education into medical curricula and laying the foundation for a more connected and effective healthcare ecosystem," said Union Health Minister J P Nadda, in whose presence the MoU was inked. "Besides enhancing the skills of medical students and professionals, the tie-up will also boost the broader implementation of the ABDM, ultimately benefiting millions of Indians with better access to quality care," Nadda added. The DHFC curriculum has been curated by leading doctors and subject matter experts. It will be customised for the stakeholders in the public health ecosystem. It will be made available to medical students, in-service doctors, and healthcare professionals through various platforms, including Mission Karmayogi's iGOT platform, providing opportunities for digital health certification and continuing medical education credits. "While contributing to the digital teaching landscape in the country, the MUHS will create a 'need-based' designed course to ensure the capacity-building of the health workers" -- essential to enable health workers to effectively implement Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY)," Nadda said. The courses will be taken to the ground level by NHA to help in the strengthening of the healthcare ecosystem in our country, the minister noted. Shimla, Aug 13 : Himachal Pradesh Town and Country Planning, Housing Minister Rajesh Dharmani on Tuesday presided over a review meeting concerning the Mountain City township project at Jathia Devi, the much-delayed township project near the Shimla airport with an aim to decongest the state capital. Dharmani, the Chairman of Himachal Pradesh Urban Development Authority (HIMUDA), emphasised the importance of prioritising the commencement of work on the available land in the first phase. He stressed that this initial progress is vital to bolster public confidence, which has been building over time and to inspire investor confidence in the project. He also directed that the project must incorporate green initiatives to align with sustainable development goals. In addition to setting these priorities, the minister instructed officials to coordinate with district authorities to expedite the transfer of land necessary for the project's progression. CEO-cum-Secretary of HIMUDA, Sandeep Kumar, conducted the preceding meeting and provided an update on the current status of the Mountain City project at Jathia Devi. Chief Engineer (Works) Surinder Kumar Vashisht presented a detailed overview of the detailed project report (DPR) submitted to the government of India, while the Executive Director of HIMUDA shared the latest information on land status at Jathia Devi. Further insights were provided by TATA Consulting Engineers Ltd, which delivered an in-depth presentation on the Jathia Devi project. AGISAC representatives also contributed by presenting on the geo-tagging of HIMUDA properties. The government has already acquired 35 hectares for the project, 12 km from the state capital. The government had sent a Rs 1,374 crore proposal to the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Development for the project for approval. The previous Congress government headed by Virbhadra Singh had signed an agreement with a Singapore-based company for the project, but it didnat materialise. The project turned unviable after restrictions were imposed on construction and the number of floors that could be built within the Shimla Planning Area. Moscow/Kyiv, Aug 13 : Ukraine's attacks on Russia's border will receive a "worthy response," with the Russian military's primary task being to remove the Ukrainian forces from Russian territories, President Vladimir Putin said Monday. "The enemy will certainly receive a worthy response, and all the goals facing us will undoubtedly be achieved," Putin said at an operational meeting via videoconference on the situation in the border regions. Ukrainian forces crossed the Russian border last Tuesday and broke into parts of Russia's Kursk region. Currently, the Ukrainian military holds 28 settlements in the area, according to Alexei Smirnov, the region's acting governor. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday confirmed that Ukraine is carrying out an "operation" in the region. "Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky reported on our defensive actions on the front and our operation in the Kursk region," Zelensky wrote on Telegram. The Ukrainian leader also said that he instructed the country's Security Service, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko and other officials to prepare a humanitarian plan for the area of the "operation", Xinhua news agency reported. Separately, Oleksandr Syrsky wrote on Telegram that currently Ukrainian forces control about 1,000 square km of Russian territory. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia launched 38 Shahed-type drones at Ukraine overnight on Tuesday, and the air defence intercepted 30 of them. The projectiles were destroyed over eight regions in southern, northern and central Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. The Russian forces also fired two Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles at Ukraine from the Voronezh region, the air force said, without giving further details. Infrastructure facilities, including a gas pipeline and a hospital, were damaged. One person was injured in the attack in Ukraine's northeastern city of Sumy, the Sumy Regional Military Administration said in a statement. A nationwide air alert was issued in Ukraine on Tuesday morning after a MIG-31 fighter, a carrier of Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles, took off from an airfield in Russia. On Sunday, the infrastructure of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was reported to have sustained serious damage because of a fire in the cooling systems. The International Atomic Energy Agency said late Monday that its experts visited a damaged cooling tower of the nuclear power plant earlier that day but have not been able to determine the cause of the fire. Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other for the incident. Russia accused Ukraine of a drone attack, while Ukraine said Russian "negligence" or arson could have sparked the fire. "The team has not been able to draw definitive conclusions on the basis of the findings and observations so far," the agency said in the statement, adding that it will continue further analysis. It affirms that the nuclear safety of the Zaporizhzhia plant has not been affected by the incident, as its cooling towers are not in operation. The agency also confirmed no signs of elevated radiation levels in the area of the plant's cooling towers. Harare, Aug 13 : The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Council of Ministers' meeting opened in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare Tuesday, with officials reaffirming their commitment to upholding peace and security to foster regional integration and development. In his acceptance speech as the incoming chairperson of the SADC Council of Ministers, Zimbabwean Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Frederick Shava said SADC must continue to implement its regional development plan anchored on the foundation of peace, security, and good governance. "Peace and stability are fundamental ingredients for a regional transformative agenda. Without them, our aspirations and vision will be gravely compromised," Shava said, Xinhua news agency reported. He took over the chairmanship of the SADC Council of Ministers from Tete Antonio, minister of external relations of Angola. The two-day meeting is part of the preliminary events held ahead of the 44th Ordinary Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government scheduled for Saturday in Harare. Shava bemoaned the impact of terrorism-induced conflicts in some parts of the SADC region, notably in Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, noting that the regional development agenda can not be achieved without peace and tranquility. He said the region continues to face numerous challenges militating against its development, including climate change-induced disasters, epidemics, extreme poverty, conflicts, gender inequality, terrorism, illicit flow of resources, and low levels of intra-regional trade. Speaking at the same occasion, Executive Secretary of the SADC Elias Magosi said the regional bloc continues to put its focus on socioeconomic integration and maintenance of peace and security in the region. "SADC recognizes that peace and good governance provide pathways for integration and socioeconomic development of the region. To this end, SADC continued to make timely interventions to consolidate peace and stability in the region," Magosi added. Ahmedabad, Aug 13 : A special PMLA court in Ahmedabad on Tuesday framed criminal charges against Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP and national spokesperson Saket Gokhale under the anti-money laundering law. Sharing the information, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said in a post on X, "The Hon'ble Principal District and Sessions Judge, Ahmedabad (Rural), and Designated Special Court (PMLA), Ahmedabad, today, i.e., 13.08.2024, framed criminal charges against Saket Gokhale, MP, Rajya Sabha, and National Spokespersons of All India Trinamool Congress, under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in the Prosecution Complaint PMLA/02/2023 filed by ED. Charges against him for Scheduled offence in Police case have also been framed." Earlier, the special court had rejected an application filed by Gokhale under Section 309 of the CrPC for keeping the proceedings under PMLA in abeyance till the case of scheduled offence registered against him is decided by the court, the ED said. According to the probe agency, Gokhale was arrested by the ED on January 25, 2023, under PMLA for the offence of money laundering wherein the amount was crowdfunded to him by the public as he portrayed himself as an RTI activist and a social worker. "The crowdfunded amount was utilised by him for his personal expenses such as intraday trading in shares, payment of his credit card dues, shopping through online apps such as Swiggy, Zomato, and crypto currency trading, among others," the agency said. In December 2022, Gujarat Police arrested Gokhale from Delhi for allegedly misusing funds collected through crowdfunding. The ED informed the court that Gokhale had allegedly misused a substantial amount of money raised through crowdfunding for speculative share trading, dining, and other personal expenses, which they described as 'extravagant'. Gokhale, however, denied any misuse of the funds. A special court had granted regular bail to Gokhale in May last year in the money laundering case related to alleged irregularities. In July this year, the Delhi High Court directed Gokhale to pay Rs 50 lakh in damages to Lakshmi Puri, wife of Union Minister Hardeep Puri, in a defamation case. The defamation suit was filed by Lakshmi Puri in response to harmful statements made by Gokhale on social media. Chandigarh, Aug 13 : In a joint operation with the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Punjab Police have detained notorious drugs smuggler Balwinder Singh alias Billa Sarpanch from Gurdaspur, Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said here on Tuesday. The accused, who is a native of Havelian village in Tarn Taran district and was presently out on bail, faces over 15 criminal cases, majority of them under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, and Arms Act. The DGP said Billa has been detained under Section 3 (1) of the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in NDPS Act, and sent to Dibrugarh in Assam. The detainee will be lodged in Dibrugarh jail during his detention period, he said, adding that Billa was part of trans-border drug smuggling networks involving Pakistani smugglers. Senior Superintendent of Police (Amritsar Rural), Charanjit Singh, said that following reliable inputs about the presence of Billa in the Gurdaspur area, the police in a joint operation with the NCB detained the accused drugs smuggler. Further investigations are on to trace his other accomplices and identify the Pakistan-based drugs smugglers, he added. In 2019, the police nabbed Billa who had been evading arrest for more than two decades. He allegedly had links with Pakistan-based drugs smugglers and was wanted by the Intelligence Bureau and Punjabas anti-drugs Special Task Force (STF) for his involvement in trans-border smuggling. The police also recovered 750 gm heroin from the accused along with 32 SIM cards which he allegedly used to contact his clients. Guwahati, Aug 13 : Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that only one person entered India from the unrest-hit neighbouring nation of Bangladesh through the international border in Assam with proper documents while stressing that strict vigilance has been maintained along the frontier areas since things went disorderly in the neighbouring country. "One person named Tufail Hussain came to India through the international border in the Karimganj district on Tuesday. He is the only person who has entered our territory in the last few days and the man has proper reasons with valid documents," Sarma told the mediapersons. He said that Hussain came to India for his treatment at Rabindranath Tagore hospital in Kolkata. The Chief Minister also emphasised that the international border with Bangladesh has been well guarded and security has been beefed up along the boundary. Bangladesh has a 262-km border with Assam and a total of 4,096 km with India. Karimganj district of Assam shares a 103-km boundary with the neighbouring country and the district also has 4 km riverine boundary. Assam has a lone Integrated Check Post with Bangladesh at Karimganj districtas Sutarkandi area. However, people's movement between two countries along with trade business was halted for the last one week due to unrest in Bangladesh. aBangladesh has been witnessing unrest since the students' protest over a quota-related issue. On August 5, Sheikh Hasina was forced to resign from her prime ministerial position amid violent protests in Dhaka, and fled to India. There have also been reports of attacks on the Hindu community in Bangladesh. Protest rallies were taken out in the Bangladeshi capital city of Dhaka and port city of Chittagong by the minorities led by the Hindus, demanding a secure environment. Chief Advisor to the interim Bangladeshi government, Muhammad Yunus, has condemned the attacks on Hindus. The Hindu community in Bangladesh which make up around 8 per cent of the country's population of 170 million have been traditional supporters of Sheikh Hasina's Awami League party Bengaluru, Aug 13 : Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy on Tuesday said that if the state government stops corruption and cash for the posting of officers in Karnataka, serious incidents like the breakage of the Tungabhadra Dam's crest gate will stop. "Whenever transfers of officials take place, the government should stop accepting money. I have served as Chief Minister twice. The Congress leaders used to indulge in transfer corruption so much so that they heavily tortured me. I had no power over transfers in the Congress-JD(S) coalition government," he said. He added that the officials who give bribes for transfers and posting focus more on getting back the money they have given rather than on their duties. "Their primary goal becomes accumulating money while in their position. High-ranking officials, including chief engineers and executive engineers, are being posted after accepting money," Kumaraswamy said. He said that a detailed investigation into the Tungabhadra Dam incident should be conducted, warning against hasty decisions that might lead to further complications. "The government should seek expert assistance to address the issue permanently and avoid causing further trouble to farmers," Kumaraswamy said. He said that a technical committee inspects the dam's safety every year, adding that the committee comes out with a ready-made format of questions and completes the formalities casually. "The chains on the crest gates, which had not been lubricated for many years, were a major factor in the current situation," he said. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday visited the Tungabhadra Dam and instructed officials to expedite the repair work of the Tungabhadra Dam gate at the earliest. The 19th gate of the dam, which prevents water flow, has been damaged. Bengaluru, Aug 13 : Karnataka BJP on Tuesday condemned the incidents of violence against minority Hindus in Bangladesh. BJP State Spokesperson Ashwathnarayan said that political instability in Bangladesh is nothing new. However, it is condemnable when violence targets Hindu families during such turmoils. Ashwathnarayan stated that in Bangladesh, Hindu homes are being invaded and the Hindu population is subjected to atrocities. He maintained that heinous incidents of the rape of daughters in front of their mothers and the murder of sons in front of their fathers are reported from Bangladesh. Hindu temples are also ransacked, which is a highly condemnable development, he added. He criticised the hypocrisy of Indian leftists and leaders like West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, and senior leader Sonia Gandhi, who usually speak out and offer protection when violence against minorities occurs elsewhere in the world. "However, they are silent on the violence taking place in Bangladesh, and the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, and others are not condemning it. They are not condemning the political autocracy," he slammed. Ashwathnarayan also slammed former Union Minister Salman Khurshid's statement and dubbed it as irresponsible. He also slammed social media posts by former CM Mehbooba Mufti's daughter, Rubaiya Mufti. He questioned whether these leaders were aware of the chaos in Bangladesh. He explained that the Hindu population in Bangladesh has dwindled from about 30 per cent at the time of independence to 7.9 per cent now. Ashwathnarayan also expressed concern over the Tungabhadra Dam incident, which affected around 25 lakh farmers. He said that Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and the Congress government are not taking the farmers' plight seriously in the backdrop of the breakage of one of its gates. Paris, Aug 13 : The Ad-Hoc Division of the Court of Arbitration For Sport (CAS) has given three more days to the Sole Arbitrator to announce her verdict in Vinesh Phogat's appeal against her disqualification by the IOC and UWW from the women's 50 kg freestyle final for being 100gm overweight in the second-day weigh-in in the Paris Olympics. Now the verdict will be announced on August 16 (9:30 IST). "The CAS ad hoc division president has allowed Dr Annabelle Bennett, Sole Arbitrator in the Vinesh Phogat vs. United World Wrestling (UWW) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) matter, an extension until 6-00 pm (Paris time) on Friday, August 16, 2024," IOA said in a statement released on Tuesday. "Hence, the scheduled zoom meeting with IOA president PT Usha and Senior Counsel Harish Salve has been postponed," it further added. Mumbai, Aug 13 : Maharashtra Women and Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare on Tuesday urged all district guardian ministers to run a campaign for linking Aadhaar number with bank accounts of eligible beneficiaries of Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana. She also suggested that the district guardian ministers organise a special function for the distribution of benefits under the Ladki Bahin scheme on August 17. The government has planned to deposit Ra 3000 (Rs 1,500 each) for the months of July and August to the bank accounts through DBT of the eligible women beneficiaries on August 17 ahead of Rakshabandhan. Eligible beneficiary women who have applied till July 31 will get direct benefits in their bank account linked to Aadhaar. Special camps should be organised in the district to link the Aadhaar number with the bank account of eligible women whose bank account has not been linked. "After linking Aadhaar, the benefit of the scheme will be available in the accounts of these eligible beneficiaries," said Tatkare. The minister held a televisual review of the Ladki Bahin scheme with all divisional commissioners, district collectors, chief executive officers of zilla parishads and women and child development officers in the state. Tatkare said that the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana is important for the women of the state. "A state-level programme for distribution of benefits of the scheme will be held in Pune on August 17. At the same time, programs should be held in every district under the chairmanship of the Guardian Minister. A district-level programme of benefit distribution should be held in the presence of MPs/MLAs in the district where the Guardian Minister is not available. Live telecast of the state-level event should be shown at the venue," she added. So far, a list of 1.35 crore beneficiaries has been prepared under this scheme. Out of the eligible beneficiaries, about 27 lakh beneficiaries do not have their Aadhar cards linked to their bank account. "A special campaign should be launched in every district to link the Aadhaar number with the bank account of these beneficiaries. The administration should ensure that no beneficiary is deprived of the scheme. For this, the help of district-level bankers should be taken," she said. Tatkare directed that Aadhaar numbers should be linked to the bank accounts of as many beneficiaries as possible by August 17. "The deadline of August 31 is not final and the application process will continue. The Eligible beneficiaries who come after August 31 will also get the benefit of this scheme," said Tatkare. She added that Eligible beneficiaries will get benefits after linking their Aadhaar number with a bank account. "No eligible beneficiary will be deprived of benefits," said the minister. Hyderabad, Aug 13 : Telangana's Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Tuesday refuted claims by former minister Harish Rao that 90 per cent of the work of the Sitarama Lift Irrigation project was completed under the rule BRS and asserted that only 39 per cent of the work was completed by the previous government. Hyderabad, Aug 13 (IANS) Telanganaas Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Tuesday refuted claims by former minister Harish Rao that 90 per cent of the work of the Sitarama Lift Irrigation project was completed under the rule BRS and asserted that only 39 per cent of the work was completed by the previous government. He announced that Chief Minister Revanth Reddy will switch on three pumps of the Sitarama Lift Irrigation project on August 15. The project would be fully operational by August 15, 2026. Uttam Kumar Reddy, along with Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy, conducted a review meeting on the project. Speaking to media persons later, Uttam Kumar Reddy criticised the BRS party, questioning how 90 per cent of the project could be completed after spending only Rs 7,230 crore out of the allocated Rs 18,231 crore. He accused the BRS government of installing motors prematurely to earn higher commissions, even though a dry run was never conducted. He also dismissed claims that the necessary permissions from the Central Water Commission (CWC) had been obtained, stating that no such permissions had been granted. The Seetharama Lift Irrigation Project, now fully approved by the Godavari River Management Board, will receive 67 TMC of water from the Godavari River which is an achievement of the Congress government, he said. Uttam Kumar Reddy stated that the Sitarama Project was originally conceived as the Rajiv Sagar and Indira Sagar projects during the Congress government's tenure. He accused the BRS of renaming the project to Sitarama to claim credit and to conceal the fact that the original projects, estimated to cost Rs 3,500 crore, could have been completed with an additional Rs 1,500 crore. He alleged that the BRS government's negligence had led to a significant cost escalation to Rs 18,000 crore, without a corresponding increase in irrigated land. He accused the BRS government of neglecting the irrigation system in the state and failing to utilise the allocated funds effectively. He pointed out that despite spending Rs 1.81 lakh crore over 10 years, the previous government failed to bring new acreage under irrigation. New Delhi, Aug 13 : The Centre on Tuesday directed all access service providers to immediately stop voice promotional calls, whether pre-recorded or computer generated, or from all unregistered senders or telemarketers. In a major step to curb the increasing number of spam calls, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) mandated access service providers to take this action. "All promotional voice calls from the unregistered senders/unregistered telemarketer (UTMs) using telecom resources shall be stopped immediately," said the telecom regulatory authority body. If any unregistered sender or unregistered telemarketer is found to be misusing its telecom resources for making commercial voice calls in violation of the regulations resulting into consumer complaints against any one or more number of resource indicators allocated to the sender, all the telecom resources of such sender shall be disconnected by the originating access provider (OAP) for a period up to two years as per the provisions of the regulation 25 of the regulations. TRAI said the information regarding blacklisting of the sender will be shared by the OAP with all other access providers on the distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform, within 24 hours, who will, in turn, disconnect all the telecom resources given by them to that sender within the next 24 hours. "No new telecom resources shall be allocated to such sender by any Access Provider during the period of blacklisting as provided for in the regulations," said TRAI. All access providers have been directed to comply with these directives and submit regular updates on the actions taken on the first and 16th of every month. "This decisive action by TRAI is expected to significantly reduce spam calls and provide relief to consumers," said the regulatory body. Last week, the government warned access service providers and their delivery telemarketers to come forward and take effective measures to curb bulk communications and spam using voice calls. New Delhi, August 13 : The Supreme Court is slated to hear Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's plea challenging his arrest by the CBI in the alleged liquor policy scam on Wednesday. As per the cause list published on the official portal of the apex court, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan will also consider CM Kejriwal's bail plea in the corruption case. On August 5, the Delhi High Court dismissed a plea filed by the AAP supremo against his arrest by the CBI and asked him to approach a trial court for interim bail. In its impugned decision, the bench of Justice Neena Bansal Krishna of the Delhi High Court said that it cannot be said that the arrest was without any justifiable reasons or that it was illegal. On Monday, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi mentioned CM Kejriwal's petitions before Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud for urgent listing. In response, CJI Chandrachud assured the senior counsel of urgent listing of the matter and asked him to send an email to the apex court registry. "Send an email, I will examine it," the CJI said. The Delhi High Court is yet to pronounce its decision on a bail plea filed by CM Kejriwal in connection with the CBI case. Before it reserved its verdict on July 29, the CBI had filed its charge-sheet before a special court here against the AAP supremo and other accused persons in the excise policy case. The ED had already filed its prosecution complaint in the money laundering case, naming AAP and its national convenor Kejriwal as accused. On July 12, the Supreme Court ordered CM Kejriwal to be released on interim bail in connection with the money laundering case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). However, he was not able to walk out of jail since he was arrested by the CBI. Meanwhile, a court here has extended the judicial custody of CM Kejriwal till August 20 in the excise policy case. Jaipur, Aug 13 : Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma on Tuesday conducted an aerial survey of the areas affected by heavy rains in Karauli, Dausa and Bharatpur districts and took stock of the situation. The Chief Minister conducted an aerial survey of Lavan, Rahuvas, Nirjharna, Lalsot in Dausa district, Karauli, Sapotra, Hindaun City in Karauli district and other areas in Bharatpur district to take stock of the waterlogging and damage caused by heavy rains. He directed the officials that the affected people in the waterlogged areas should not face a shortage of essential items including drinking water, food items, milk, and medical facilities. He instructed the officials to find a permanent solution to the problem of waterlogging in Karauli and Hindaun city while taking information about the disaster relief and rescue operations done so far. He asked the officials to repair the damaged roads in the heavy rain-affected areas and to streamline the power supply. Sharma also inquired about the drainage system in waterlogged residential areas and directed that the general public should be prohibited from going near water bodies during heavy rainfall. Chief Minister also condoled the family of seven youths who lost their lives after getting drowned in Srinagar village of Bayana subdivision in Bharatpur. He said that this is a very unfortunate incident and the state government is with the family members in this hour of grief. The state government has given assistance of Rs 4 lakh each from the SDRF fund to the family members of each deceased. The Chief Minister directed the District Collector to provide the benefits of government schemes to the dependents of the deceased as per their eligibility and to get their issues resolved. Kolkata, Aug 13 : There was fresh tension at the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on Tuesday after members of the student and youth wings of the CPI-M staged a protest there accusing the state government of tampering evidence in the connection with the rape and murder of a woman junior doctor in the hospital last week. The protesters claimed they received information that workers of the Public Works Department (PWD) reached the fourth floor of the hospital to renovate a room adjacent to the seminar hall where the body of the victim was found on the morning of August 9. The protesting members of the Students' Federation of India (SFI) and the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) also engaged in a heated conversation with the police personnel present in the hospital. "From the move to renovate a room on the fourth floor, which is adjacent to the seminar hall where the victim's body was found, it becomes clear that state administration wants to tamper with the evidence before the CBI begins a full- fledged investigation into the matter. We will resist this move at any cost," a protester said. Meanwhile, the Joint Platform of Doctors has called for 'cease work' in the out-patient departments (OPD) of all the state-run and private hospitals in Bengal as a mark of protest against the heinous crime committed against the junior woman doctor. However, the emergency departments will continue to function normally, an association spokesman said. Earlier on Tuesday, the Calcutta High Court ordered a CBI probe into the case which has triggered nation-wide outrage. Hearing a clutch of petitions in the matter, a division bench of the high court comprising Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya ordered a court-monitored probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), as demanded by the victim's family members. The bench also directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Kolkata Police, which is currently probing the matter, to immediately handover all the relevant documents, CCTV footage, and evidence to the CBI officials. On Monday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said that the state administration will hand over the probe to the CBI if the SIT is unable to conclude the investigation by Sunday. However, on Tuesday, the counsels for the petitioners argued that that time-frame might have a negative impact on the investigation since there were chances of tampering with the evidence during the interim period. Patna, Aug 13 : Bihar Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Tejashwi Yadav on Tuesday criticised Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over failing to curb the rising crime in the state. The LoP highlighted 43 incidents of crime that have occurred in recent days, pointing to an increase in violence and lawlessness. He alleged that the government and administration are preoccupied with corruption, bribery, and looting, allowing criminals to operate with impunity. "The frequent occurrence of serious crimes, including loot, rape, gang rape, and the killing of innocent people in Bihar is alarming and the most shocking part is a government which is shielding criminals instead of enforcing law and order on them," the LoP wrote on X. He said that all these criminals involved in the 43 major crime incidents across Bihar are protected by those in power. The LoP also highlighted specific cases to underscore the state's deteriorating law and order situation. He cited the murder of a JD-U leader in Bettiah, the stoning death of a youth in Muzaffarpur, and the killing of another young man after being kidnapped in Chapra, additionally, he also mentioned the murders of women in Bhagalpur, Gaya, and Kaimur, and a particularly harrowing incident in Katihar where a rape victim was shot dead inside her home. Yadav also pointed out that even law enforcement officers are not safe, noting attacks on police personnel in Begusarai and the brutal assault of mining department officials in Supaul by criminals. He further accused the state of being a hub for contraband smuggling, referencing the recent seizure of contraband worth Rs eight crore in Gopalganj as evidence of the rampant illegal activities under the current administration. These incidents, according to Yadav, reflect a broader trend of rising crime in Bihar, exacerbated by the government's alleged protection of criminals and its failure to maintain law and order. Patna, Aug 13 : The police in Bihar's Begusarai on Tuesday arrested a 17-year-old boy in connection with the murder of four individuals, including his father, stepmother, and stepsister. On the night of August 9, the accused, a Class 10 student, allegedly committed the heinous crime at Chiranjivipur village in Begusarai district. The attacker used a baton and a knife to commit the murders, which the police later recovered along with the accused's clothes from the Balan River. The deceased have been identified as Sanjivan Mahto (40), his wife Sanjeeta Devi (36), and their daughter Sapna Kumari (10). His six-year-old stepbrother, who was critically injured, died at a hospital on Sunday. Sanjivan married twice and the accused teenager is the son of his first wife. According to Superintendent of Police (SP) Manish, the accused acted like a seasoned criminal. "Despite committing the brutal crime, he was found weeping next the victims' bodies in an attempt to cover up his involvement," the officer said. According to the police, the boy was reportedly humiliated by his stepmother while his father also did not support him. On the night of August 9, he went to his father's house, hit the victims on their head with a baton before slitting their throats. "During interrogation, the teenager broke down and confessed to the crime, revealing the extent of his resentment and the premeditated nature of his action," the SP said. According to the police, after committing the crime the accused disposed of the murder weapons in the Balan River. "The following day, before the police arrived at the crime scene, the accused was seen weeping next to the bodies of his father and stepsister. He even took his critically-injured stepbrother to the hospital, thus further complicating the investigation," the officer said. Bhubaneswar, Aug 13 : The police on Tuesday arrested a doctor on charges of sexual abuse in Cuttack. Thakur Dilbag Singh, the 37-year-old accused medico, is a resident of Bhopal and was working as a senior resident doctor in the cardiology department of SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. "On August 11, a complaint was lodged at the Mangalabag police station by a relative of the victim. The complainant, a second year MBBS student in the same college, alleged that two of his female relatives had gone to the SCB Medical College on Friday for an echocardiogram test. The accused doctor asked them to come on Sunday for the test," Additional DCP Anil Kumar Mishra told mediapersons on Tuesday. "As per rules, a woman attendant needs to be present during the echo test, but the accused doctor examined the two women without any lady attendant's presence," added Mishra. The officer told mediapersons that both the women came out of the room after the test and told the complainant that they were sexually abused by the doctor during testing. The police have initiated a probe into the matter by registering a case under Section 64 (2) and (e) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. "The statements of the victims have been recorded," Mishra said. The accused has been sent to 14-day judicial custody. Meanwhile, the state Health and Family Welfare Department has constituted a three-member committee to probe the allegations levelled against Singh. "A committee is hereby constituted to inquire the allegations regarding alleged misconduct by a resident doctor of SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack," read an order issued by the department on Tuesday. The committee comprises the Director of the Directorate of Medical Education and Training (DMET), Santosh Kumar Mishra, Joint Director of DMET, Roma Rattan, and Sudhansu Sekhar Mishra, the principal of the SCB Medical College and Hospital. "The committee shall undertake a detailed inquiry into the allegations and recommend appropriate action to the state government," the order said. Mumbai, Aug 14 : Mumbai BJP Chief Ashish Shelar said on Tuesday that the party will ask 51 questions on behalf of Mumbaikars during Congress's 'Nyay Yatra' to be held in the state ahead of the upcoming Assembly election. "The moment Congress' 'Nyay Yatra' reaches Mumbai, we will ask 'khata-khat 51 questions' to them on behalf of Mumbaikars," he added. The decision in this regard was taken at the Mumbai BJP's core committee meeting held on Tuesday. Mumbai BJP Chief Shelar questioned if the Congress, which had treated Mumbaikars unfairly till now, had any moral right to organise the 'Nyay Yatra'. "Organising 'yatras' is our prerogative. Is Congress walking on our path? If the Congress is keen on its 'Nyay Yatra', then we will also not leave this opportunity to ask Congress questions of injustice on behalf of Mumbaikars. No one has done as much injustice to Mumbaikars as Congress. Now Shiv Sena (UBT) has also joined the fray," he said. "Mumbaikars will also question the motive to hand over Mumbai to the green-clad community. They seek an answer to why Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad did not visit the family of one of our karyakartas -- Arvind, who was brutally killed in Dharavi. They also want an answer to the injustice being done to the roadside vendors who are basically Marathi and how there is a huge influx of the green-garbed people. These and 51 other issues concerning Mumbaikars will be asked by the BJP," said Mumbai BJP Chief Shelar. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis took a swipe at the Opposition, saying that no one will be able to stop or discontinue the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana. He was also responding to the statement by two legislators -- Ravi Rana and Mangesh Shinde -- supporting the MahaYuti government, that the money given to the women beneficiaries will be taken back if they did not vote for them and also that the scheme will remain in place till the upcoming state Assembly election. Deputy Chief Minister Fadnavis reiterated that the money will not be taken back from the women beneficiaries. He also replied to the Opposition's allegation that money given under the scheme was a bribe. "No one can buy a sister's love. The sister will starve but feed her brother. The Bhaubij (the present given by brother to a sister) is never taken back," he said. Deputy Chief Minister Fadnavis said that the state government will deposit Rs 3,000 for July and August into the bank accounts of eligible women beneficiaries of the Ladki Bahin scheme on August 17. Kolkata, Aug 13 : The BJP on Tuesday accused the West Bengal government of attempting to tamper with evidence in connection with the rape and murder of a woman junior doctor at the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital last week, stating that no woman is safe in West Bengal. After members of the student and youth wings of the CPI-M staged a protest at the R.G. Kar MCH accusing the state government of tampering evidence, BJP's IT cell chief and central observer for West Bengal, Amit Malviya, issued a statement on the issue. According to the protesters belonging to the SFI and DYFI, they received information that workers of the Public Works Department (PWD) had reached the fourth floor of the hospital to renovate a room adjacent to the seminar hall where the body of the victim was found on the morning of August 9. In a statement posted on X, Malviya claimed that the area marked for resident doctors and a ladies' toilet inside the chest medicine department were being broken down in the name of renovation. "This leaves no one in doubt that Mamata Banerjee was all along eliminating evidence and covering the crime trail to protect those involved in the heinous crime, who, it is speculated, happen to be family members of influential TMC leaders," Malviya's statement claimed. According to the BJP IT cell chief, while West Bengal is seething with anger, "given Mamata Banerjee's apathy and Kolkata Police's botched cover-up attempt", RG Kar Medical College authorities have broke down room walls inside the chest medicine department, where the on-duty junior doctor was subjected to brutal rape and murder, destroying what could have been crucial circumstantial evidence, which could have led the CBI's investigating team to the murderers. "Repeat: No woman is safe in Bengal," Malviya's statement read. Guwahati, Aug 14 : Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday announced that the BJP-led government in the state is just three jobs away from fulfilling its poll promise of giving 1 lakh government jobs to unemployed youth. He also said that the transfer posting of state government employees will be done through a specific app in the coming days. "We are just three jobs away from giving 1 lakh government jobs to youths of Assam. I made this promise in the run-up of the last assembly election three years ago, and we are delighted that we are on the verge of completing our poll promise," the Chief Minister told reporters here. He mentioned that the state government is set to give more jobs in August and September and the poll promise will be fulfilled very soon. Sarma also claimed that the state government is now aiming to give 1.5 lakh government jobs. "After fulfilling the 1 lakh job poll promise, we shall move forward with providing 1.5 lakh government jobs. It will begin in September," he added. The Chief Minister also said that the transfer postings of employees will now be controlled through an application and departments will stop using physical files for this purpose. He said: "Beginning October 2, all transfer posting applications will be governed through an online portal and government employees will be able to use an application for this purpose. They will apply for mutual transfer posting through the app and the whole process will be completed on the online portal. We shall provide a lot of flexibility in the transfer policy." Sarma said that this will end the "culture of maintaining bias" by a section of influential persons including the political leaders in the transfer posting of state government employees. "Nobody will chase any MLA or minister for getting a transfer posting in Assam in the coming days," he added. Sulur : , Aug 14 (IANS) Several aircraft, including indigenously manufactured helicopters Sarang and LCA Tejas, on Tuesday showcased their prowess in the multinational air exercise 'Tarang Shakti' being hosted by the Indian Air Force (IAF) for the first time. The first of the two-phased air exercise was held at the Sulur air base in Tamil Nadu. A total of 51 countries were sent invitation for the air exercise. Of them, the air forces of 12 countries have confirmed their presence in 'Tarang Shakti' which would be conducted in two phases. The air forces of Germany, France, Spain and Britain were in India for the first phase of 'Tarang Shakti' on Tuesday. The second phase of the air exercise would be held from August 29 to September 14 in Jodhpur in which air forces of the US, Australia, Greece, Bangladesh, Singapore, and the UAE would take part. Commenting on Tarang Shakti being organised for the first time in India, Air Chief Marshal V.R. Chaudhari said "It is a major achievement for us that we have been able to organise this air exercise in such a large scale." He added, "We have been holding bilateral air exercises for many years and this is for the first time that we are conducting a multi-national air exercise. We have six different types of aircraft which would be flying alongside Eurofighter Typhoon and Rafale." "We have also prepared an electronic warfare simulation. We have different types of radar and air defence missile systems which would function against the opposition in any networked environment," the IAF chief said. Chaudhari also said that India's prime focus through the air exercise is on 'Aatmanirbharta' and to put on display its indigenous capabilities. In the 'Aatmanirbharta Abhiyan', LCA Tejas is a symbol of success for India, the IAF chief said on the conclusion of the first phase of Tarang Shakti. Air Force chiefs from Spain, France, and Germany were also present on the occasion. India's Rafale, Sukhoi, and LCA Tejas participated in the first phase of the air exercise. --IANS hindi-pgh/arm Islamabad, Aug 14 : Pakistan's Olympic gold medallist Arshad Nadeem, who is enjoying a grand welcome on his home coming, has entered into a controversy after he met an individual with links to the banned outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Islamabad, Aug 14 (IANS) Pakistanas Olympic gold medallist Arshad Nadeem, who is enjoying a grand welcome on his home coming, has entered into a controversy after he met an individual with links to the banned outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). In a viral video on social media, Arshad Nadeem, the star javelin thrower who claimed gold at the Paris Olympics, was seen sharing pleasant moments with Haris Dar, a member of Milli Muslim League (MML), the political face of Jamat-ud-Dawa (JUD) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in Pakistan.. Haris Dar was seen sitting with Arshad Nadeem at his hometown in Mian Channu in Pakistanas Punjab province. Local sources said that Haris Dar is a known political figure in the area and that he had come to congratulate Arshad Nadeem on his achievement. However, the visuals of Haris Dar sitting next to Arshad Nadeem have sparked a serious controversy across the social media with concerns and questions being raised over the presence of proscribed groups and designated individuals under different political covers. It is pertinent to note that Haris Daras name is also in the USa Treasury Departmentas list of proscribed persons under the title 'Specially Designated Global Terrorists'. His name was enlisted by the United States in 2018 for his active role in the banned outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) has been on United Nations' identified list of terrorist organisations, making Haris Dar even more controversial. After the Pakistan government opted to take action against Hafiz Saeed and all of the affiliate organisations operating out of Pakistan, a new political party, Milli Muslim League (MML), was formed to provide political cover, shelter and presence to many operatives of JUD. The MML was founded in 2017 and had even contested the 2018 elections, followed by the 2024 polls. Haris Dar now serves as the Joint Secretary of MML and has been an active member of the party. MML is a political branch of JUD and LeTas founder and mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Hafiz Saeed. aHaris Dar may have been allegedly linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba. But today, he is a political representative of a political party -- Milli Muslim League (MML) -- who had come to congratulate Arshad Nadeem. Milli Muslim League is a registered political party in Pakistan and like all others who are visiting Arshad Nadeem, members of MML have all the right to do the same," said political analyst Adnan Shaukat. Ramallah, Aug 14 : The Israeli army has killed a Palestinian man during clashes that erupted after the soldiers blew up two apartments owned by prisoners in the West Bank, Palestinian sources said. Israeli forces stormed the cities of Ramallah and al-Bireh and surrounded two residential buildings, Palestinian security sources told Xinhua news agency. One apartment belongs to prisoner Ayser al-Barghouti, and the other to prisoner Khaled al-Kharouf, Xinhua news agency reported. The Israeli army arrested al-Barghouti and al-Kharouf on January 8 on the charge of carrying out a shooting attack east of Ramallah that killed an Israeli woman. The forces planted explosives inside the two apartments and then blew them up, causing loud explosions in the two areas, the sources added. Following that, clashes erupted between Palestinians who threw stones and empty bottles at Israeli forces while the forces fired live and rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters. Medical sources told Xinhua news agency that the young man, Moataz Sarsour, from the al-Am'ari refugee camp, was critically wounded by live bullets to the chest and was transferred to the Palestine Medical Complex, where doctors declared him dead due to his injuries. Israel frequently demolishes the homes of Palestinian attackers, which the Israeli government asserts is intended to deter potential attackers. Cities, villages, towns, and refugee camps in the West Bank have been experiencing increasing tensions between Palestinians and Israelis since October 7, 2023, when the Hamas-Israel conflict broke out. Since then, more than 620 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli gunfire and shelling across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The two competitors in what is an effective mobile operator duopoly in Ethiopia have both made headlines this week with upbeat news. State-owned incumbent Ethio Telecom has announced the official launch of a rural mobile solution, providing services to 903,000 previously unserved people living in 305 rural kebeles (or small administrative units). Local press reports suggest that enhanced rural connectivity will shorten the journey that local communities used to travel to get connectivity services by up to 20 kilometres on average. The company has said it aims to further expand mobile services in rural areas of the country where basic telecommunication services are not accessible. However, acknowledging the challenges of difficult terrains, lack of roads, scattered settlements and power shortages, the company has called for collaboration from all stakeholders, including regulators, policymakers, development partners and technology providers. Meanwhile relative newcomer Safaricom Ethiopia customer says its customer base grew by about 250,000 subscribers to 4.6 million in the second quarter ending July. Commercial momentum in the period was apparently supported by growth in customer numbers since the launch of operations in the formerly embattled Tigray region. However, capital-intensive investment in the Ethiopian unit ate into parent company Safaricoms profit, which fell by 18.71% to KES42.7 billion (about US$331 million) in the full year ending March this year. In July Reuters noted that Ethio Telecom had reported a rise in the total number of its subscribers of 9% to 78.3 million. Subscribers to its financial service Telebirr rose to 47.55 million customers from 34.3 million in the year to end-June 2023. Since the 1990s, the Federal Communications Commission has auctioned off licenses that allow private sector companies to commercialize portions of the radio spectrum band for the benefit of consumers. In the process, it has generated billions of dollars to help support government spending. So why is the FCC now considering just giving away to a single telecom company a portion of the spectrum band that is currently providing critical tech support for public safety? What's happening is that an organization called the Public Spectrum Safety Alliance, that claims to advocate for public safety protections, is, with the full cooperation of AT&T, promoting a single issue. They want the FCC to take the 4.9GHz spectrum band away from the state and local safety and other public-good users who presently rely on it for their communications capabilities and give it to an entity called FirstNet. Given AT&Ts enthusiastic support of the plan, it is unsurprising this telecom mega-corporation has an exclusive contract with FirstNet. In other words, giving the spectrum to FirstNet is the same as giving it directly to AT&T for free. The 4.9GHz spectrum band supports everything from municipal utilities to law enforcement to subways and other public transit systems, plus a whole lot more, in a number of states across America. If this proposal is approved by the FCC, AT&T will pay absolutely zero for exclusive control of this critical portion of valuable spectrum. And its not just public safety and consumers who will be hurt by this; so will taxpayers. Why would the FCC even consider such a plan without receiving appropriate monetary compensation? If they think the United States government doesnt need the money, they must not be paying attention. Most Americans are well aware that their federal governments finances are a disaster. The national deficit in FY 2024- the amount the government spent in excess of total revenues collected- heading beyond $1.5 trillion Our outstanding national debt, the money our country owes, is currently $35 trillion . The FCC, or any other regulatory agency for that matter, has to be aware that they cannot just give away the valuable resources they control. Instead, they must cost-effectively administer them in the most beneficial way for taxpayers. Handing over valuable spectrum free of charge should not be condoned by any FCC commissioner, regardless of their political affiliation. Our nation simply cannot afford for the FCC to act in such a fiscally irresponsible manner. Property details: Every Kid Swims Water Therapy | Swims Lessons Bid now to support Every Kid Swims swim lessons and water therapy programs for foster & at -risk youth. Total Sale Price: $39500BID FOR DOWN PAYMENT & Applied toward Sales Price$399 Month Payments + Taxes @ 0% until paid off Parcel ID: 12-0997 Location: 54 McMillan Rd, Whitingham, Vermont 05342 Annual Taxes: Appox $1271 Year The property at 54 McMillan Rd in Whitingham, Vermont, offers a unique opportunity to own a substantial 15.86-acre parcel in a ... Price: $ 153 Seller State of Residence: Florida Property Address: 54 M Zoning: Rural State/Province: Vermont Location: 967**, Waianae, Hawaii You will be redirected to eBay When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Nearby Vermont Instagram / Jessica Studer By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 08/12/2024 ADVERTISEMENT FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS! Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source! ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade. couple Jessica Studer and Austin Hurd have welcomed their second child into the world."Everett Brooks," Jessica and Austin wrote in a joint Instagram post on Sunday, August 11."We are so in love already," the pair added alongside photos of the couple holding their newborn in the hospital. "#boymom #newbornbaby #babyboy #love."Congratulatory messages poured in from the family, including Mindy Shiben , who gushed, "Soooo precious! Congratulations, he's perfect."And Jamie Otis wrote, "That last pic. CONGRATULATIONS!!! So happy for you all!!"Jessica, who married Austin on Season 10 of , gave birth to another son on Friday, August 9, People reported The newborn joins Jessica and Austin's two-year-old son Westin."Austin, Westin and I are so thrilled to welcome our sweet bundle of joy to the family," Jessica told the magazine."Everyone is happy and healthy and we are madly in love. [I'm] so grateful for this beautiful little family of mine and excited for all the days ahead."The couple's new baby was born weighing seven pounds and 13 ounces. He also measured 21 inches long."He looks just like his brother Westin!" the pair gushed.Jessica and Austin, who welcomed Westin in November 2021 , announced in March that they were expecting Baby No. 2 . At the time, Jessica was 20 weeks into her second pregnancy."We're expanding our 'Hurd' lol," Jessica captioned a family photo shoot. "Baby H coming August 2024."Ironically, Jessica was pregnant with Baby No. 1 at the same time her twin sister, Jennifer Snyderman, was also expecting -- and the women were only four weeks apart.Jessica shared with People at the time, "We aren't going to find out the gender."Jessica noted how the couple wanted to "keep it a surprise until" the delivery."Working in labor and delivery, I always find surprises extra special. So excited to share this with everyone! Love: Jessica, Austin & Westin Hurd."Jessica shared via Instagram Stories on Monday, August 12 that she's been "surviving on coffee and snuggles."Jessica and Austin's first pregnancy made headlines in July 2021, just one month before the couple's two-year wedding anniversary.Jessica and Austin, who share a dog Rex, explained that same month how they had been waiting "for the right time" to start a family."Now that we have been married for almost two years and are a little more settled with a house, we are as ready as we can be!" Jessica and Austin told E! News in Summer 2021 once they discovered they were expecting their first child.During a June 2021 episode of : Couples Cam's third season, Jessica and Austin were shown agreeing to start trying for a baby.While Jessica clearly had baby fever at the time, Austin needed a little convincing since he wasn't sure they were 100 percent ready for a baby. Austin said he didn't want to rush into expanding their family like he had rushed into marriage.But after talking things through, Austin determined he and Jessica were in a good place financially and emotionally and could raise their child in a stable home, especially since they had purchased a house in Fall 2020 and recently moved in.During a subsequent episode of : Couples Cam that aired the following month, Jessica was shown telling her husband on-camera that she was about to become a mother.Jessica admitted she and Austin hadn't anticipated on getting pregnant so quickly.When Jessica showed Austin her positive at-home pregnancy test, Austin, seemingly in disbelief, repeatedly asked, "What?! Are you serious?! What?""Finding out that Jess is pregnant is the best surprise," Austin said after hugging his wife."I just cannot believe it happened this quick. I am going to be a father. I have prepared myself for this. I've looked forward to this with Jess. I'm just so excited."Jessica went on to gush about how "happy" she was to hear the excitement in Austin's voice."I have always wanted to become a mom," Jessica shared in the footage, "but the fertility issues that ran in my family always made me wonder if it was meant to be and it's crazy to think that less than two years ago, Austin and I met at the altar and now we're going to be parents."Jessica celebrated the baby with her family and friends during an October 2021 baby shower, and then she and her husband revealed later that month that they had a baby boy on the way Jessica was a 31-year-old nurse manager from Oak Harbor, OH, when she married a total stranger, Austin, who was a 31-year-old network technician from Maryland, on in early 2020.Jessica and Austin, who are both quirky and fun-loving, seemingly had the strongest and most stable relationship on 's tenth season.In fact, the pair actually toned down their physical affection when in the presence of the other struggling couples.Jessica and Austin consummated their marriage early into their honeymoon in Panama and succeeded in navigating the highs and lows of daily life together.Austin, for example, cooked and cleaned the apartment when Jessica worked late, and for those reasons, Jessica didn't mind making more money than her husband.Jessica and Austin had a little tiff about how often Austin had to travel for work, but his schedule eventually changed and Jessica's job became more demanding when she was asked to run a COVID-19 unit.However, the couple continued to support each other and grow more in love.Interested in more news? Join our Married at First Sight Facebook Group or click here to view our newspage!And click here for more updates on former cast members and info on where they are now! Angel Salazar, best known for playing Chi Chi to Al Pacino's Tony Montana in Scarface, died Sunday. ADVERTISEMENT The 68-year-old actor had been visiting with a friend and was found dead in the bathroom, People reports. An exact cause of death has not yet been named, but a representative said he had an enlarged heart. In addition to Chi Chi, Salazar portrayed Walberto in Carlito's Way, joining Pacino once again for the 1993 film. He also starred in Punchline, Where the Buffalo Roam, Last Comic Standing, and The Latin Legends of Comedy. "Angel Salazar is not your typical comedian," his bio for that documentary reads. "His Cuban/Puerto Rican heritage and penchant for sporting mini-skirts notwithstanding, this manic, human laugh factory is rather difficult to describe. Salazar's performance is a mixture of street-smart ethnic wisecracks, risque humor, physical comedy and audience involvement." Tito Puente Jr., a bandleader, offered a brief tribute on X. FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS! Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source! "You were an amazing actor and good friend hermano," he wrote. "From Scarface to Carlito's Way, your characters and comedy will be forever missed." A number of news outlets in India are suggesting that cloud services provider Amazon Web Services (AWS) is looking to expand its data centre presence in Hyderabad, India, where it already has facilities that include three big data centres and its largest corporate building globally. It appears that, following discussions between IT and industries minister D Sridhar Babu and the AWS senior leadership team in the US, the company has said it will expand its investment in the Telangana region in southern India. According to the minister, quoted by a number of outlets, the company has designated Hyderabad as a strategic region and is not only already operational but has shared plans for further expanding its business. These plans, he says, include a new hyperscale data centre in Hyderabad that is critical for AI/ML-enabled (artificial intelligence/machine learning) services. The minister says that AWS has been assured that it will be provided with the best incentives and complete support to make [its] goals in Hyderabad successful. The Data Centre Dynamics website says AWS launched its Hyderabad cloud region in November 2022. Plans for the development region were revealed in 2020 when the company was expecting to invest US$2.8 billion in the city, following the launch of a Mumbai data centre region in 2016. The region has three availability zones. Availability Zones consist of one or more discrete data centres, each with redundant power, networking, and connectivity, and housed in separate facilities. Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. Bharti Global, the international investment arm of Bharti Enterprises, has decided to buy 24.5 per cent equity in BT Group a move that will make the Indian conglomerate the biggest shareholder in the UKs second-largest telecom company both in terms of market value and subscriber count. IMAGE: Bharti Enterprises Founder and Chairperson Sunil Bharti Mittal. Photograph: ANI Photo The shares are being purchased from billionaire Patrick Drahis Altice UK through a combination of cash and debt. Though the financial details were not disclosed, Bharti Enterprises chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal, during a virtual press conference on Monday, said the approximate deal size could be reached according to BTs stock price. That works out to about $4 billion, given that BT Group is valued at $16.6 billion on the London Stock Exchange. Shravin Mittal, managing director of Bharti Global, joined his father at the media interaction. In a stock exchange filing in London, Bharti said it had no intention of making an offer to buy the British fixed and mobile communications provider. Mittal revealed that his group wont even seek a board position. Bharti Enterprises and BT go back a long way: BT owned 21 per cent stake and had two board seats in Bharti Airtel during 1997-2001. Altice, which bought the BT stake in 2021 and 2023, is part of French telecom and mass media company Altice Europe. In 2022, the UK government began a security review into the possible implications of Altice's ownership for the country's national security. Though the UK government finally concluded the investment did not pose any national security concerns, the issue had raised debates over foreign entities owning the UK's infrastructure assets. Mittal is confident Bharti will not face those hurdles. We have submitted today an application under the UK's National Security and Investment Act to review our investments. "We are partners with the British government in the sensitive sector of satellites, he said. BT Group is the modern successor to the British Telecom brand and the government agency that originally began telephone services in Britain. EE (formerly Everything Everywhere), mobile network operator and internet service under BT Group, currently has 21 million subscribers -- second only to O2, a joint venture between Liberty Global and Telefonica, which has 23.4 million subscribers. Bharti Global-owned Bharti Televentures has entered into a binding agreement with Altice UK to acquire about 9.99 per cent stake of BT Groups issued capital imminently. The balance 14.51 per cent stake in the iconic company will be acquired after requisite regulatory clearances, which may take up to five months, Mittal told mediapersons after the announcement was made. This investment aims to support the commitment of our Honble Prime Minister Narendra Modi towards his vision in elevating and broadening the India-UK ties, he said. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal lauded the acquisition as a milestone, thanking British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy for their support in strengthening bilateral business ties. Deutsche Telekom, which holds a 12 per cent stake in BT Group, also welcomed the move. We see this as a positive step for BT. "We have a long and good working relationship with Bharti. "So we are looking forward to working together with Bharti on the board of directors for the sake of BT shareholders and customers, said Timotheus Hottges, CEO of Deutsche Telekom, in a statement. Mittal has clarified that Bharti Airtel, the second-largest telecom service provider in India, is not engaged in the sale and is not seeking any technology or any help from the British telecom major. Instead, Bharti Enterprises has cited artificial intelligence (AI), 5G research & development, and core engineering as key areas where the strategic investment will further help create new synergies in the telecom sector between both countries. British market BT Group provides fixed, mobile and converged connectivity solutions to individual consumers, small, medium and large businesses, public sector organisations, and other communications providers. This includes broadband, mobile, TV, networking and IT services. It also has a larger portfolio of other products and services across handsets, gaming and insurance. We review global investment opportunities in the world of technology from digital infrastructure to software. "BT is well known to us from the long association with Bharti, so we are pleased to have this opportunity to acquire a significant stake in the company. "We believe that BT is poised for leadership in the telecom arena, especially home broadband services, said Shravin Mittal. Bharti Global has a record of long-term investments in the UK, including the resurrection of Bharti Enterprises-backed satellite communications company OneWeb. It merged with French satcom player Eutelsat in 2023. With its significant investments in Norlake Hospitality, Bharti Global also owns marquee hotels in the UK. Its portfolio includes The Hoxton, Scottish resort Gleneagles, and other hospitality assets which are managed and operated by Ennismore. Former ISI DG Faiz Hameed's arrest sends a strong message to PTI supporters that Imran Khan's culpability for the May 9, 2023 violence could well be drawn within the purview of military courts, especially if General Hameed turns approver to save his skin, explains Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W. IMAGE: Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed (retd). The arrest of former director general, Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed (retd) and initiation of a Field General Court Martial (FGCM) of Enquiry against him marks a watershed in the somewhat chequered history of accountability of those in power in Pakistan, especially army generals, who have never really met their desserts. This would be the first time that an ISI chief is being court-martialled. It all started in May 2017, when Kunwar Moeez Khan, owner of Top City, a private housing scheme in Islamabad, was approached for a back door plot/flat allotment and on showing reluctance to oblige had his office and residence raided by ISI officials, ostensibly at General Faiz Hameed's behest, during which valuables, including gold, diamonds and money, were seized and allegedly, an amount of Rs 4 crore cash were extorted from him. Though efforts were made to hush up the case through contacts on behalf of the DG,ISI and his brother, Najaf Hameed, a revenue tehsildar in Chakwal, matters eventually reached Pakistan's supreme court in November, 2023. In its order dated November 14, a three judge bench headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa said the allegations against former spymaster retired General Faiz Hameed were of an 'extremely serious nature' and 'cannot be left unattended', as they would undermine the reputation of the country's institutions if proven to be true. The supreme court asked the owner of the housing society to approach (external link) the defence ministry for redressal of his grievances. On August 12, 2024, an Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) press release revealed 'Complying with the orders (external link) of Supreme Court of Pakistan, a detailed court of inquiry was undertaken by Pakistan Army to ascertain correctness of complaints', adding, 'Consequently, appropriate disciplinary action has been initiated against Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed (Retd), under provisions of Pakistan Army Act.' The military had reportedly formed an inquiry committee, headed by a serving major general, in April 2024 to investigate the allegations. Importantly, the ISPR statement further said, 'In addition, multiple instances of violation of Pakistan Army Act post-retirement have also been established. (Thereafter), the process of Field General Court Martial has been initiated and Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed (Retd) has been taken into military custody'. This additional proviso clearly reveals the direction of the unfolding drama which may lead to Faiz Hameed's possible denouement. The hostility between Faiz Hameed and General Syed Asim Munir dates back to even before the latter was appointed army chief in November 2022 and was director general, military intelligence. Faiz Hameed was from the Baloch regiment, one of then army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa's favourites. He was brought in as DG, ISI in June 2019, replacing Asim Munir, when the latter displeased then prime minister Imran Khan by bringing to his notice allegations of corruption/collusion between the his wife Bushra Bibi and then Punjab chief minister Usman Buzdar. Faiz Hameed quickly ingratiated himself with Imran Khan, so much so that when Bajwa posted him to XI Corps, Peshawar, to do his mandatory corps command, Imran would not let him go! When the army chief's succession took place, by a quirk of fate, Asim Munir, then quartermaster general, was placed senior most among three star generals. His retirement date was deferred by two days, just before Bajwa retired. This badly affected chances of the 76th Pakistan military academy (PMA) course of generals, including Faiz Hameed, to ascend to the army chief's slot. Munir was from the Officers Training School (OTS) recruitment stream, not a regular PMA inductee. The OTS was a feeder stream started in 1948 to meet the shortage of officers. It was stopped in 1992. Though not overtly stated, a 'caste system' prevails in the Pakistan army, where PMA long course recruits are considered superior or better professionals than OTS officers, though Munir's was not the first case of an OTS recruit becoming army chief. Two generals from the 76th PMA, Azhar Abbas and Faiz Hameed, put in their retirement papers in protest. What compounded the bitterness was Faiz Hameed's post-retirement contacts with Imran Khan who was leaving no stone unturned in pejorating serving generals, by referring to them in public meetings as 'neutrals' and betrayers like 'Mir Jaffer'. Suspicions abounded of his possible involvement, along with Imran Khan, in instigating the May 9, 2023 violence against military installations, including the arson at the Lahore corps commander's residence. After Imran Khan was arrested in August 2023, evidence surfaced of Faiz Hameed's interactions with different factions of the Pakistan Tehrik e Insaf (PTI), whose leaders were meeting Imran in the Adiala jail. They complained about Faiz Hameed's overbearing instructions. On July 21, PTI Spokesperson Raoof Hassan and Chairman Gohar Khan were arrested from the PTI's Islamabad office and accused of peddling anti-State propaganda. It is believed access obtained to Raoof's phone records may have further corroborated links about Faiz Hameed's dabbling with PTI functionaries, especially those active in social media denigrating the army chief. Apart from being a bold step by General Asim Munir against corruption in higher echelons of the army, Faiz Hameed's arrest sends a strong message to PTI supporters that Imran Khan's culpability for the May 9, 2023 violence could well be drawn within the purview of military courts in the near future, especially if Faiz Hameed turns approver to save his skin. The matter of trial of civilians by military courts is still pending before the supreme court. Lines of confrontation between the higher judiciary and the military establishment remain drawn against one another in Pakistan. 'This government is not in the hands of M K Stalin but in the hands of the bureaucracy -- the IAS and IPS.' IMAGE: Thoothukudi, May 22, 2018: Police personnel lathi charge protestors demanding the closure of Vedanta's Sterlite Copper unit. Photograph: PTI Photo/Rediff archives When residents of Thoothukudi in southern Tamil Nadu came out in protest more than two decades after Sterlite Copper started operations, the trigger for it was that the company had announced the doubling of its capacity. Why it made the announcement to the public is not known. When J Jayalalithaa as chief minister doubled the capacity of all thermal plants in the state, she did not announce it prior, but after it was done. On May 22, 2018, when protests erupted, 12 people were killed in police firing; the next day one more person was killed. Though the firing order was given at the collectorate compound when the protestors broke the police cordon, two people were killed in Thracepuram which is ten km from the collectorate. One gentleman who was distributing marriage cards for his daughter was shot dead in the town, very far from the collectorate. It was as if the police had gone on a killing spree. The state government gave Rs 20 lakh (Rs 2 million) to the family of the dead and also a government job. The injured got Rs 200,000, a pittance, for those who had lost a limb. The National Human Rights Commission issued a clean chit to the police after speaking to the Tamil Nadu government. The outrage that followed forced the government to order a CBI enquiry. In spite of videos and photographs being available in the public domain showing the shooting and the police personnel involved, the CBI found just one person guilty. The high court ordered a second enquiry. Again the CBI found only one person guilty. The Tamil Nadu government appointed a one-lady commission to enquire into the firing. Retired judge Aruna Jagadeesan was put in charge of the commission. She spoke to the public, protestors, police and the revenue officials who had ordered the firing. She found 17 people guilty which included cops, revenue officials and one other person. She called the firing 'a dastardly act'. Her report was filed in the assembly which passed a resolution demanding disciplinary action against those involved. Six years have passed and the policemen and revenue officials are still at the their jobs carrying on as if nothing has happened. People's Watch, Madurai, has been following the case from day one and have been pursuing the case in the lower court, the Madurai bench of the Madras high court and the Supreme Court. "There is an opportunity for Chief Justice Chandrachud to do justice about which he keeps talking about in his public speeches," Henry Tiphange, founder and secretary of People's Watch, human rights activist and seasoned lawyer, tells A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com. Your petition pleads for an NHRC probe into the Thoothukudi firings. Why another probe by th NHRC? I had sent a message to NHRC the day the firing took place from Ground Zero on May 22, 2018. I followed it up with a small complaint the next day. The NHRC ignored my plea but ordered a suo motu inquiry based on a Times of India report. In October 2018 they closed the enquiry after taking a response only from Tamil Nadu government officials. They ended it with saying normalcy has returned. The Aruna Jagadeesan commission had started work. The police case had been transferred from the state CB-CID to the CBI. As the CBI found only one person guilty and the TN government was not acting on the Aruna Jagadeesan report I asked what happened to my case. In 2021 I went to the high court. At that time both the CBI and the Justice Aruna Jagadeesan commission were still working on the enquiry. In 2023 I asked the court that if Justice Aruna Jagadeesan had indicted them, why have you not included them in the case? The latest order of the court is to the DVAC (Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption) to investigate the assets of IPS and IAS officers who were in Tuticorin at that time. We are not interested in the assets of senior officials. The police should be prosecuted. The CBI is useless. The Supreme Court has closed the case. There is an opportunity for Chief Justice Chandrachud to do justice about which he keeps talking about in his public speeches. Are the NHRC's findings binding, actionable? The recommendations of the NHRC under Section 18E of the Protection of Human Rights Act are binding on the government. What is the maximum action that the NHRC can recommend? My prayer to the NHRC was justice for the victims. That was our only demand. Is the administration duty bound to accept and implement the NHRC's recommendations? As per the full bench of the high court they have to act. There are incriminating videos and photographs in the public domain and yet the NHRC gave them a clean chit. Even the CBI did not find anything in spite of enquiring twice. Why? This government is in the hands of the executive which is protecting their brothers. Justice Aruna Jagadeesan submitted the commission report to Chief Minister M K Stalin. She called the firing a dastardly act and yet the state government has not taken any action Exactly! This government is not in the hands of M K Stalin but in the hands of the bureaucracy -- the IAS and IPS. Anti-nuclear protestor S P Udayakumar told me that the Tamil Nadu police is not under the control of the chief minister but under the control of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. I think it is the bureaucracy. If you are talking about financial corruption, why did IPS officers become jittery when the Supreme Court asked for their finances? Do you think the DVAC investigation of IAS and IPS officers who were posted in Thoothukudi at that time will yield anything? If they are expecting to find money lying in the banks they are going to be disappointed. The high court said the police acted at the 'behest of an industrialist'. The judge's comment was in court. Corporates never act directly. They always have agents in the middle between themselves and the government. On May 21 night Section 144 was proclaimed but the joint SP came to know about it only the next morning. It is clear that they were getting directions from different centres. The people who assembled did not know that 144 had been announced. Is it possible that the Tamil Nadu police and the revenue official who gave the firing order acted on their own, The revenue officials did not know what was happening. They were posted at a critical juncture. They were directed at the last minute. This was done by high ranking officials. The lower rung was used totally. Higher officers have misused the force. Do you think that at some stage in the future the concerned policemen will be charge sheeted for murder? And the then SP and collector will be tried for conspiracy? I am a firm believer in human rights. Ultimately we will ensure that the erring policemen are punished. The firing happened during AIADMK rule and yet the present DMK government is not taking any action. How do you explain this? The IAS and IPS control the government irrespective of who is in power. Transfer is the only action that is taken. The common man in Tamil Nadu is scared of the police, but for some reason the present chief minister does not look like he wants to take any action against the erring cops. Critics allege that this is because he needs the cops too. Could that be true? There is a matrix of IAS, IPS and someone close to the chief minister. Someone similar to what Sasikala was in Jayalalithaa's government. There is a firewall between reality and the chief minister. Members of minority communities in Bangladesh -- mostly Hindus -- faced at least 205 attacks in 52 districts since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on August 5, according to two Hindu organisations in the violence-hit nation. Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus on August 10 condemned the attacks on the minority communities terming them as 'heinous', and urged the youth to protect all Hindu, Christian and Buddhist families from harm. Glimpses from the ongoing protests in Bangladesh and abroad against the brutal atrocities on the country's minorities. IMAGE: A protest in Dhaka, here and below. Photograph: Fatima Tuj Johora/Reuters Photograph: Fatima Tuj Johora/Reuters Photograph: Fatima Tuj Johora/Reuters Photograph: Fatima Tuj Johora/Reuters IMAGE: Hindus block the streets of the Shahbagh intersection as they protest, here, below and below. Photograph: Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters Photograph: Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters Photograph: Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters IMAGE: A protest against violence targeting Bangladesh's Hindus in London, here and below. Photograph: Belinda Jiao/Reuters Photograph: Belinda Jiao/Reuters Photograph: Belinda Jiao/Reuters Photograph: Belinda Jiao/Reuters Photograph: Belinda Jiao/Reuters Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com The Border Security Force (BSF) held 83 flag meetings with Bangladesh's border guarding force Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in the last three days and impressed upon the need to protect Indian citizens and people belonging to minority communities in the neighbouring county in the wake of the unrest there. Photograph: ANI Photo Besides, the BSF and the BGB had around 241 simultaneous coordinating patrolling in vulnerable border areas, officials said here on Tuesday. A high-level committee, set up by the Union Home Ministry to monitor the current situation on the Indo-Bangladesh border, contacted their counterparts in Bangladesh. In conformity with the directions of the home ministry, a meeting of the high-level committee was held on August 10. Further, on directions of the Director General of the BSF, members of the committee made the communication with their counterpart, an official said. In order to reach out to counterparts up to the Border Outpost and company commander levels, both the border guarding forces, have had around 83 flag meetings at various levels in the last three days. The BGB has not only been cooperating with the BSF along the international border on operational matters but is also taking all steps for the safety of Indian citizens and people belonging to minority communities in Bangladesh in collaboration with their civil authorities, the official said. While appreciating the BGB's role in preventing the Bangladeshi nationals from coming to the border, the BSF authorities impressed upon ensuring the safety of Indian citizens and people belonging to minority communities in Bangladesh, another official said. On August 9, when 1500 Bangladeshi nationals had assembled near zero line on the Coochbehar-Lalmonirhat district border inside Bangladesh, the BGB made efforts in collaboration with civil authorities of Bangladesh's Lalmonirhat district to persuade them to return, the official said. Bilateral field meetings, matters related to border security and other mutual interests have also been discussed by the two border guarding forces. Also, BSF local commanders devised channels for effective coordinated mechanism to share real-time information on various operational matters with the BGB. In addition, 232 meetings have also been conducted with the Indian villagers residing along the international border to make them aware of the prevailing situation in Bangladesh and to seek their cooperation in border management. The BSF is in active communication with the BGB at all levels through available channels to monitor the security scenario and prepared to address any kind of unforeseen situation along the Indo-Bangladesh border, the official said. The prevailing situation in Bangladesh arose after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government following widespread student protests and violence and the subsequent formation of an interim dispensation. The Narendra Modi government on August 9 had constituted the high-level committee, headed by an Additional Director General rank officer of the BSF, to monitor the situation along the Indo-Bangladesh border in the wake of the ongoing state of affairs in the neighbouring country. The committee is supposed to be in touch with counterpart authorities in Bangladesh to ensure the safety and security of Indian nationals, Hindus and other minority communities living there. Maxis and Huawei Technologies (Malaysia) announced on Monday they will establish a new innovation centre to develop 5G-Advanced solutions with a focus on use cases, customer experience, operating efficiencies and nurturing local talent. Under the terms of the collaboration, Maxis and Huawei will establish a Joint Innovation Centre to explore potential innovations for 5G and 5G-A tech features such as mobile edge computing, network slicing, end-to-end network orchestration, RedCap and Passive-IoT. Maxis and Huawei will also explore ways to leverage digitalisation, artificial intelligence and machine learning to optimise network operating efficiencies for 5G and 5G-A. The collaboration also includes a programme to build up skillsets for Malaysian university students and the local workforce via training programmes, R&D projects and cooperation between the academic and telecoms industry sectors. Maxis CEO Goh Seow Eng said this component will equip Malaysian talent with the skills needed to thrive in the rapidly evolving telecoms and technology sector, and also develop industrial and entrepreneurship activities. With this latest collaboration we want to take full advantage of 5G-Advanced by building up human capital alongside commercialised innovation for enterprises and industries, he said in a statement. Maxis and Huawei have been collaborating on 5G-A since at least February 2024, when both companies staged what they claimed was the first 5G-A technology trial in Malaysia and Southeast Asia. The Joint Innovation Centre was announced during the opening ceremony of the Malaysia Commercialisation Year (MCY) Summit 2024 organised by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation where Maxis also showcased several 5G-A applications, such as remote classroom teaching, remote medical diagnosis and rescue, and autonomous smart sorting and assembly for factories. Maxis and Huawei arent the only ones keen on developing 5G-A for Malaysia. CelcomDigi and U Mobile are collaborating with Chinese vendor ZTE to run a live TV broadcast using 5G-A during this weekends 2024 Sukma Games. CelcomDigi and U Mobile have also agreed to co-develop use cases for 5G-A as part of a broader agreement to share 100 multi-operator core network sites across the country. At least one person was injured after an out-of-control state-owned Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation bus ploughed into multiple vehicles on a flyover in Bengaluru, police said on Tuesday. IMAGE: A screengrab taken from the CCTV video going viral on social media. Photograph: X The accident caught on CCTV camera installed inside the bus showed the driver crashing into multiple bikes and cars moving ahead, apparently after losing control of the vehicle, they said. This even as the conductor of the bus was seen asking him to apply the brake. On stopping the bus, the conductor and the driver can be seen rushing out to assist a person writhing in pain after being hit by the bus. The incident occurred on the Hebbal flyover at around 9:30 am on Monday, police said. One person was injured and being treated for a leg fracture at a hospital, a BMTC official said adding there were no casualties. According to BMTC, the vehicle was en route to HSR layout from the international airport and the mishap occurred near Esteem Team mall. 'Authorities are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding the accident to ensure that all relevant factors are thoroughly examined,' it said in a statement. A local court in Mumbai has refused to close a cheating case against Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kirit Somaiya and his son, noting further probe was necessary as police have not investigated what was done with funds collected by them to save the decommissioned naval aircraft carried Vikrant. IMAGE: BJP leader Kirit Somaiya. Photograph: ANI Photo The magistrate's court on August 8 refused to accept the closure report submitted by the Mumbai police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW). Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (Esplanade court), S P Shinde, directed the police to conduct further investigation in the case, saying it was necessary, and submit a report. The court in its order said the investigation revealed the accused had collected money but the police have not placed any document on record showing the said amount was deposited by the accused either with the office of the Maharashtra governor or the government. 'In this matter, the investigating officer has not done investigation as to what has been done by the accused with the amount collected by them,' the court said. 'Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, it appears to me that further investigation in the matter is necessary. Hence, the investigating officer is directed to conduct further investigation and submit a report,' it said. Commissioned in 1961, INS Vikrant, a Majestic-class aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy, played a key role in enforcing the naval blockade of East Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971. It was decommissioned in 1997. In January 2014, the ship was sold through an online auction and scrapped in November that year. The case against Somaiyas was registered at the Trombay police station here in April 2022 based on a complaint lodged by an ex-serviceman, who claimed he donated Rs 2,000 in 2013 for the campaign. The complainant alleged Somaiya had collected more than Rs 57 crore for saving the ship. However, instead of depositing the amount to the Maharashtra governor's secretary office, he misappropriated the funds, he claimed. The case was later transferred to the city police's EOW. The investigation officer of the case had submitted 'C' summary (closure report) before the court, saying after conducting a probe, it came to light that the 'crime comes under the category of neither true nor false'. The police submitted that the informant had lodged a report (complaint) because of a misunderstanding and prayed to accept the 'C' summary. The court, after going through the statements of witnesses, who had donated money for saving the aircraft carrier, said it appears that witnesses have contributed and the accused have collected the amount during the drive. 'But the investigating officer has not placed any document on record showing that the amount was deposited by the accused either with the office of Maharashtra Governor or the (state) government. Thus in this matter, the investigating officer has not done investigation as to what has been done by the accused with the amount collected by them,' the magistrate said. The court also said that as per the report, the accused have conducted drives at some other places too. But the investigation officer has not taken any pain to record statements of the witnesses, from other places, who have also alleged to have made a contribution, it said. The court then directed the investigation officer to conduct further probe in the light of its observations and submit a report. Bangladesh's deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday demanded "justice", saying those involved in recent "terror acts", killings and vandalism must be investigated, identified and punished. In her first public statement after her ouster on August 5, 76-year-old Hasina said several lives have been lost in violence in the name of agitation since July. Hasina resigned and fled to India last week after weeks of deadly protests involving students against her government over a controversial quota system in jobs. In a statement in Bengali posted by her United States-based son Sajeeb Wazed Joy on his X handle, Hasina said that since July, several lives of students, teachers, policemen, journalists, leaders and activists of her Awami League and ordinary people were lost in violence and anarchy. She mourned their deaths and sought eternal blessings for their souls and conveyed sympathy to the members of bereaved families. "I sympathise with those like me who continue to live with the pain of losing near and dear ones. I demand a proper investigation to identify those involved in these killings and terror acts, and appropriate punishment for them," Hasina said, recalling the brutal assassination of her family members on August 15, 1975. The interim government on Tuesday cancelled the national holiday on August 15, marking the assassination of the country's founder and Hasina's father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. In her statement, Hasina expressed grief over the burning down of the Bangabandhu Museum during the violence, saying the "memory and inspiration, which we had to live, was burnt into ashes. "This was an extreme defamation of someone...under whose leadership we became an independent nation. I seek justice from the countrymen for this act, she said. Hasina, who is currently in Delhi, urged Bangladeshis to observe the day peacefully, offering wreaths at the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum premises and through prayers. Soon after Hasina resigned and left the country, an angry mob virtually set the museum on fire. The museum was originally Bangbandhu's private residence, where he was killed along with his family members in a military coup staged by a group of junior officers while Hasina, her two minor children, and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana were in Germany on a short visit. "I appeal to you, to observe with due fervour August 15 as the national mourning day. Pay your respect by offering wreaths at Bangabandhu Bhaban and pray, seeking peace for the departed souls, she said. Dera Sacha Sauda chief and rape convict Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on Tuesday walked out of the Sunaria jail in Haryana's Rohtak after he was granted a 21-day furlough. IMAGE: Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. Photograph: ANI Photo During his temporary release period, Singh will stay at the Dera ashram in Barnawa in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat. The Sirsa-headquartered Dera sect chief was granted the temporary release days after the Punjab and Haryana High Court disposed of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee's (SGPC) petition against Singh's temporary release. The high court on August 9 observed that a plea for temporary release by the Dera chief should be considered by the competent authority without any 'arbitrariness or favouritism'. In June, Singh moved the high court and sought directions to grant him a 21-day furlough. On February 29, the high court directed the Haryana government not to grant further parole to the Dera Sacha Sauda chief without its permission. He had been granted a 50-day parole on January 19. According to the warrant for his temporary release, the Dera chief was released from custody on furlough for a period of 21 days, subject to conditions that he shall reside at the Dera's Shah Satnam Ji Ashram in Barnawa during this period. He will also not be allowed to visit any place not specified in the warrant without the district magistrate's prior permission, it said. The warrant also said that Singh would provide to the district magistrate concerned full particulars of the place where he intended to reside during the period of his temporary release at the time of his release and keep the official informed of any subsequent change in residence. The warrant also requires Singh to keep peace and maintain good behaviour. After the expiry of his 21-day furlough, Singh will have to surrender to the superintendent of the jail from which he was released to undergo the unexpired period of his sentence, it said. The in-charge of the police station concerned will keep a close watch on the conduct and activities of the convicted prisoner during the temporary release and submit a report to the jail superintendent through the deputy commissioner or superintendent of police as early as possible, it said. Singh is serving a 20-year sentence for raping two of his disciples and is lodged in the Sunaria jail in Haryana's Rohtak district. He was sentenced in 2017. The Dera chief and three others were also convicted in 2019 for the murder of a journalist more than 16 years ago. In May, the high court acquitted Singh and four others in the 2002 murder of the sect's former manager Ranjit Singh, citing 'tainted and sketchy' investigations in the matter. A special CBI court had sentenced them to life imprisonment in the nearly 20-year-old murder case. Singh had been held guilty of hatching a criminal conspiracy with his co-accused. The Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) on Tuesday said it was calling off its strike over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata as the Union health minister has accepted their demands. IMAGE: Junior doctors and medical students hold placards as they stage a protest demanding justice for the alleged sexual assault and murder of a female postgraduate trainee doctor of Kolkata RG Kar Medical College, in Prayagraj. Photograph: ANI Photo A delegation of FORDA met with Union Health Minister J P Nadda at his residence in New Delhi on Tuesday night. FORDA said the decision to end the strike, effective from Wednesday morning, was made in the interest of patient welfare. According to the statement issued by the association, "A key outcome of the meeting was the health minister's agreement to form a committee with FORDA's involvement to work on the Central Protection Act. The ministry has assured that work on this will begin within the next 15 days." An official notice from the health ministry is expected soon. On Monday, several government-run hospitals in the national capital went on an indefinite strike after a postgraduate trainee doctor was raped and murdered while on duty at the R G Kar Medical College in Kolkata, West Bengal. The Resident Doctors' Association decided to shut elective services in hospitals in response to a call from FORDA. Elon Musk has announced that a massive DDoS attack hit his livestream with former United States President Donald Trump, forcing X owner to scale down the live audience. IMAGE: A person tries to watch on a laptop billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's interview with Republican presidential candidate and former US president Donald Trump on the X social media network, in New York City, on August 12, 2024. Photograph: Adam Gray/Reuters The interview was delayed as the glitch kept the users out of the livestream. 'Worst case, we will proceed with a smaller number of live listeners and post the conversation later,' Musk wrote in a post on X. Notably, the users on social media platform X faced numerous issues while looking for access to the livestream conversation of Elon Musk with Trump on the platform Monday night. Within minutes of the event's expected 8 pm ET start time, 'crashed', 'unable' and '#TwitterBlackout' were trending on the site, reported CNN. A pop-up stating 'this space is not available' with a monkey emoji appeared on the screen of desktop users as well who attempted to attend the 'Spaces' event. Whereas, several others who tried to connect via the mobile app were met with a motionless, greyed-out screen and were unable to participate in the event. The disaster was akin to the technological difficulties X had encountered previously when Musk tried to conduct broadcast events featuring several other bigwigs. Bugs and audio problems marred last year's 'Spaces' event, which introduced Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' brief presidential bid. Musk attributed the problems to an overloaded server, according to CNN. When Musk was getting ready for the meeting with Trump, he seemed to be cognizant of the possibility of technical issues. In order to make sure X's systems were ready, the billionaire stated on Sunday night that he was doing 'streaming tests'. The Republican presidential nominee was recently interviewed at his Mar-a-Lago residence by live streamer Adin Ross. Trump noted that the interview with Ross helped the streaming platform 'Kick' break its viewing record. Last month, Musk, who owns the social media platform X, endorsed Trump's candidacy after the former president was injured in an attempted assassination in Pennsylvania. This endorsement marked a departure from the usual self-declared neutrality maintained by social media platform leaders, as reported by The New York Times. Following the January 6, 2021, attack on Capitol Hill, Trump's account was permanently suspended by Twitter (now X) under its previous ownership. However, under Musk's ownership, the account was reinstated. Trump's planned talk with Musk comes after Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. Senior Aam Aadmi Party leader and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia walked out of Tihar jail on Friday, August 09, 2024, after 17 months behind bars. The Supreme Court gave Sisodia bail in corruption and money laundering cases linked to the Delhi excise policy 'scam'. Sisodia shared pictures of him spending time with children from his family. On Monday, Sisodia met AAP leaders to prepare for next February's Delhi assembly elections. IMAGE: Sisodia plays with children while wife Seema Sisoida looks on. Photograph: ANI Photo IMAGE: Sisodia with the kids, here and below. IMAGE: Sisodia at a meeting with AAP leaders ahead of the Delhi assembly election. Sunita Kejriwal, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's wife, party MP Sandeep Pathak and Delhi Minister Gopal Rai are also present. Photograph: ANI Photo IMAGE: Sisodia speaks at the meeting of AAP MLAs. Photograph: ANI Photo Photographs curated by Anant Salvi/Rediff.com Feature Presentation: Mahipal Soni/Rediff.com Lt. Governor VK Saxena on Tuesday nominated Delhi Home Minister Kailash Gahlot to hoist the national flag at the state-level Independence Day event, bypassing the Aam Aadmi Party government's request to allow Education Minister Atishi to do so. IMAGE: Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena and Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot lay the foundation stone of a multi-level electric bus depot in the Vasant Vihar area in New Delhi on Tuesday, August 13, 2024. Photograph:@kgahlot/X The ruling Aam Aadmi Party, however, welcomed the LG's decision, saying it honoured the principle of democracy by "choosing an elected representative over an appointed one". Earlier in the day, a row brewed over the issue with the AAP lashing out at Saxena after the general administration department refused to implement Minister Gopal Rai's direction to let Atishi hoist the tricolour in place of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, saying it was legally "invalid". Kejriwal, currently in Tihar Jail in the Delhi excise police case, wrote to LG on August 6, seeking the flag hoisting by Atishi, considered close to him, in his absence at the Delhi government's annual event on August 15. His letter, however, was held back by jail authorities on the ground that the chief minister's communication was not "permissible". The LG nominated Gahlot for hoisting of the national flag after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Tuesday authorised him to nominate any minister of the Delhi government for the same. On Friday, the LG Secretariat sought MHA's clarification over the impasse due to the "peculiar circumstances of absence of the Chief Minister". The MHA has the remit to issue guidelines regarding the celebration of Independence Day at the Centre and the states, according to officials at the Raj Niwas. Ashish Kundra, principal secretary to LG, in a note to Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar, said: "Lieutenant Governor is pleased to nominate Minister (Home), GNCTD, Kailash Gahlot to unfurl the National Flag at the State level Independence day celebrations at Chhatrasal Stadium. Necessary arrangements may be made accordingly." Explaining the nomination of Gahlot by the LG, the note said that the Home Department and the Delhi Police play a primary role vis-a-vis the state-level Independence Day function. "The Lieutenant Governor has also noted that matters related to the police have been assigned to the Home department under the Allocation of Business Rules, 1993," it said. As per practice, Delhi Police is responsible for the ceremonial march-past parade after the unfurling of the national flag. The programme of the state-level function of Independence Day is finalised by the Delhi Police and the Home Department, it stated. It also said that the General Administration Department (GAD) had earlier referred the matter to the CMO seeking the convenience of the chief minister for the function. However, the Chief Minister's office (CMO) returned the file, saying he "is in judicial custody" and, therefore, it was not possible to seek his convenience. The AAP, which earlier vociferously demanded flag hoisting by Atishi, accepted the LG's decision and also took a dig at him. "We welcome the decision to have Delhi's Home Minister, Kailash Gahlot, hoist the national flag on August 15. "This move honours the principle of democracy by choosing an elected representative over an appointed one, reinforcing the importance of the people's mandate in our governance," said the party. Earlier, AAP leader and minister Saurabh Bharadwaj trained his guns at the LG without naming him, saying he should contest the elections in Delhi or Gujarat to have a chance of hoisting the tricolour. Former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also alleged "petty politics" over the issue and assailed the LG. "I read in the papers that when a conman Sukesh writes a letter, the Tihar administration duly submits it to the LG office. The LG too promptly takes action on it. But, when the Delhi chief minister writes a letter, the LG asks Tihar officials not to send it to him," said Kejriwal's former deputy. Any minister of the elected government only should hoist the national flag at the state Independence Day function, Sisodia said and added he did not see any difficulty in it. The Delhi BJP supported LG's decision to nominate Gahlot for flag hoisting. "We have been constantly saying that as CM Arvind Kejriwal is in jail, he is not authorised to decide as to who will hoist the national flag in his absence," said Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva. Since the Delhi chief minister is in jail and not authorised to take a decision then obviously the Lt Governor has the authority to decide and he has "rightfully" nominated one of the senior-most ministers of the government to hoist the national flag, Sachdeva said. A suspected Pakistani intruder trying to infiltrate into India from the Punjab border was shot dead by the Border Security Force (BSF) amid an ongoing 'high alert' ahead of Independence Day. IMAGE: BSF troops stand guard at Abohar Sector. Image used only for representation. Photograph: ANI Picture Service/ANI Photo A BSF spokesperson said the man was spotted 'surreptitiously' crossing the international boundary in the Dal village of Tarn Taran district around 8.30 pm on Monday and approaching the border fence. The BSF personnel on duty challenged the intruder but he did not stop and continued to advance towards the border security fence, the spokesperson said. "Sensing imminent danger and keeping in view the high alert situation on the border in the wake of the forthcoming Independence Day, the troops on duty fired upon the advancing intruder, neutralising him on the spot," he said. "Vigilant BSF troops once again successfully foiled the nefarious intentions of cross-border terror syndicate to carry out this infiltration bid into the Indian territory from across the border," said the spokesperson. The BSF, which guards the 553-kilometre-long India-Pakistan frontier in Punjab, has declared a high alert on the frontline from August 10 in the wake of Independence Day events on August 15. A woman in Rajasthan's Nagaur district was allegedly thrashed by her alcoholic husband, tied to a motorcycle and dragged around their village, police said on Tuesday. A video purporting to show the woman tied to the motorcycle and being dragged behind it was circulated on social media, following which her husband was arrested. Panchaudi police station assistant sub-inspector Surendra Kumar said the alleged incident occurred nearly a month ago in the Naharsinghpura village. Premaram Meghwal (32) allegedly thrashed his wife before tying her to his motorcycle and dragging her behind it, he said. A video of the incident surfaced online on Monday, following which the police probed into the matter and arrested the accused. The woman is currently living with her relatives. She did not report the matter to the police. The accused was arrested on Monday for disturbing the peace, the police said. His neighbours said Meghwal was an alcoholic and regularly thrashed his wife. He did not let her talk to anyone in the village either, the police added. Kumar said the matter was being investigated. A child sexual exploitation case from Nez Perce County has been moved up to the federal level. Jesse E. Burnett, 40, of Lewiston, had his charges dismissed in July and the case was then brought to the U.S. District Court in Idaho. In Nez Perce County, he was charged with sexual abuse of a child, child sexually exploitative material and faced a mandatory minimum sentencing enhancement as well as a persistent violator enhancement, all felonies. The probable cause affidavit for the case alleges that Burnett messaged a 10-year-old on an app called Randomly and sent and received nude photos. He also has two previous convictions in Latah County for lewd conduct and sexually exploitative material, according to court documents. The indictment in the federal case against Burnett reads that between April 18 and May 8 in Idaho Burnett allegedly attempted to entice a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct that would be transmitted by interstate commerce. It also alleges that Burnett as a registered sex offender committed a felony offense involving a minor and the alleged action occurred after his conviction of sexual exploitation of child and lewd conduct with a minor in Latah County, according to court documents. Burnett faces a 25 to 50 years in prison, with supervised release of five years to life, a $250,000 fine and a $5,100 special assessment for attempted sexual exploitation of a child. He also faces 10 years in prison for the charge of committing a felony involving a minor while registered as a sex offender, according to court documents. A motion for detention was filed July 18 and Burnett waived his right to a detention hearing. He is now in the custody of the U.S. Marshal Service, according to court documents. Burnett appeared July 22 before U.S. District Magistrate Judge Candy Dale in federal court in Coeur dAlene. A jury trial is scheduled for Sept. 9 before U.S. District Judge David Nye in Coeur dAlene, according to court documents. Adam Johnson, assistant U.S. attorney, is handling the case for the U.S. District of Idaho. J. Stephen Roberts Jr. and Amy Rubin from the Federal Defenders of Eastern Washington and Idaho are representing Burnett, according to court documents. BRATTLEBORO It is the middle of the pandemic and Andrew Ingall is on the internet. He is far from alone in this, but thats little comfort. Hes picked up a hobby of trawling his deceased fathers blog archives. An early adopter of the internet, the senior Ingall blogged about everything, but on this day, what catches Andys eye is the family history section: specifically, the area known as the gay corner. Ingall, a gay man, believes that this section of the blog was created by his father in order to process his sons coming out, looking through family history to know that his son isnt alone. In this gay corner, on this day, Andrew finds a story of his great uncle Leon, and his life partner Warren. Warren and Leon, like Andy, lived in New York City for most of their lives. Like Andy, they were both creatives. And like Andy and many other people, their lives are part of the story of how we take care of our elders. When they reached retirement age, Warren and Leon moved out here to Vermont, in the West River Valley. They established themselves as part of the community. And when Warren could no longer take care of himself on his own, they donated their land to become an assisted living facility, now known as Valley Village, so that not only would he get care, but many others would as well. Inspired by their story, Andy set to work trying the best he could to tell it. Now, almost five years later, Andy is bringing the resulting performance piece, Warle, to Epsilon Spires in Brattleboro. So close to Valley Village, he considers it a kind of homecoming. Warle recounts his experiences learning about his queer ancestors through a talk and presentation, but what separates it from a lecture is the accompaniment: three dancers trained in queer tango, a new dance movement which strips tango of its heteronormative baseline, leaving new room for experimentation. Readers familiar with the programming at Epsilon Spires will know of the venues dedication to interactivity. Warle brings two events alongside the performance: a Q&A with Andrew Ingall where he will engage with the audience on questions of queerness in history, mortality and end of life care; and a lesson in queer tango from the Warle dancers. Tickets to the performance, happening Sept. 7 from 7 to 9 p.m., are available at Epsilon Spires website, accessible at tinyurl.com/warlevt. Those interested can also get access to a livestream of the performance if not able to physically attend. Andy is the perfect artist to lead such an eclectic performance. He would say that he straddle(s) this world of creation and research and scholarship, with a history of acting, of work in museums, and a masters degree in performance studies. As part of the development of the piece, Andy worked extensively with Valley Village, an assisted living community in the West River Valley formerly known as Valley Cares, to learn about his ancestors. He toured Warren and Leons old home, turned into an office but with its identity maintained. He talked with their surviving friends. And he also came into a conversation Valley Village had already been having about their queer history. Right now, with more Americans openly identifying as queer or LGBTQ+, it can sometimes be tempting to think that this is a new thing, only for young people. But, of course, it isnt. There have always been queer people of all ages. And, historically, many elders, who may have been out in their old lives, before care, have had to face the terrifying prospect of going back into the closet to avoid violence and mistreatment. But Valley Village tries to fight this trend, and makes no secret of the fact that it only exists because of the generosity of Warren and Leon. The facilitys living room is dedicated to the couple, where a glass flame has been placed, representing their love. This piece is multifaceted, and defies definition. It has the element of history, and it has the element of dance. But, according to Andy, it also has a social element, to get people to have this conversation about care for vulnerable people in their communities. The number of people taking time out from their jobs to become full-time caregivers has been growing for the past years, but it often goes undiscussed. JoAnne Blanchard, executive director of Valley Village, says most people put off thinking about assisted living, whether for themselves or for loved ones, until an emergency situation, and find themselves in bad positions. Valley Village offers tours, available to be booked through phone or on its website, for those wanting to learn more. The idea of queer tango may seem odd to those familiar with the traditional heteronormativity of the dance form, but it has become a bona fide movement, with dancers from Buenos Aires to Berlin. Queer tango subverts the traditional roles of male leaders and female followers, with all different types of couples, frequent switches of leaders and followers, and the occasional incorporation of a third participant, as in Warle. Andy also feels like the leader-follower dynamic reflects the dynamics of caregiver and care recipient, making the dance a natural fit. The dancers, Mariana Parma, Walter Perez and Leonardo Sardella, have been with the performance for years now, and have developed four dances during their time, the latest of which will be premiered at the Epsilon Spires show. Epsilon Spires is an event space built out of a renovated church in the heart of Brattleboro. Under director Jamie Mohr, it hosts films, music (frequently featuring the buildings historic pipe organ) and a wide number of visiting artists with a wide number of projects. Those interested in supporting Epsilon Spires can become a member, gaining access to a monthly newsletter with special event discounts and invites to members-only events. Andy would like to thank the many funders of Warle who allowed the creative team to be paid for their work. These include Valley Village, Grace Cottage, Vermont Humanities, Vermont Community Foundation and Windham County Town Arts. Out in the Open, a nonprofit supporting rural LGBTQ+ communities and individuals, is a fiscal sponsor. Brattleboro, VT (05301) Today Mainly sunny to start, then a few afternoon clouds. Slight chance of a rain shower. High near 60F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 42F. Winds light and variable. The father of a Moscow man suspected for kidnapping his 2-year-old daughter and fleeing to Mexico has been indicted on federal charges. The U.S. Attorneys Office said in a news release Friday a federal grand jury in Spokane charged Jaimes Aung with one count conspiracy to commit international parental kidnapping and one count aiding and abetting international parental kidnapping. The indictment came about a week after Aaron Aung, Jaimes Aungs son, was charged with international parental kidnapping by the U.S. Department of Justice. Aaron Aungs daughter was reported missing June 4 when the two reportedly failed to show up for a custody exchange with the toddlers mother in Pullman, according to the news release. Cybersecurity is no longer a challenge exclusive to large corporations. SMEs are increasingly becoming targets for cyberattacks. With the digital landscape evolving rapidly, its essential for SMEs to prioritize robust cybersecurity measures. In this weeks edition of Lets Talk, we delve into the critical issue of cybersecurity for SMEs. Our experts explore the specific threats facing smaller businesses, share practical strategies for bolstering defences, and discuss the importance of staying informed about the latest cyber trends. Lets Talk More Lets Talk episodes Contribute to Dynamic Business Kelly Sabo, Segment Leader, SMB and Mid Market, Cisco ANZ Kelly Sabo, Segment Leader, SMB and Mid Market, Cisco ANZ For SMEs, robust cybersecurity is vital. Attackers often target SMEs, viewing them as easier prey due to perceived weaker defences compared to larger organisations. Additionally, many SMEs collaborate with larger companies, making them enticing entry points for cybercriminals aiming to infiltrate broader networks. Cisco stats show that in Australia 79% of SMEs believe that a serious cybersecurity breach could mean the end for their business. This statistic highlights the urgent need for a proactive, rather than reactive, cybersecurity strategy. Its not a question of if, but when an attack will occur. To mitigate these threats, SMEs should prioritise cybersecurity by implementing strong, unique passwords, enabling multi-factor authentication, and regularly updating software. Comprehensive employee training is also essential. Every staff member should be adept at recognising phishing attempts and practising safe online behaviours. By adopting these measures, SMEs can significantly enhance their cybersecurity posture, safeguarding their operations and maintaining customer trust. Steve Manley, Regional VP for Australia and New Zealand at Palo Alto Networks Steve Manley, Regional VP for Australia and New Zealand at Palo Alto Networks Cybersecurity and safety should be top priorities for businesses of all sizes and industries. While large corporations often make headlines when targeted by cyber attacks, SMEs are equally vulnerable due to their comparatively weaker protection. In fact, a cyber crime is reported by a small business to the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) every ten minutes. SMEs often lack the resources, tools, and understanding necessary to safeguard their sensitive data. Unlike larger enterprises, they may underestimate the value of their information to hackers, simply because it doesnt match the scale of larger corporations. Coupled with underdeveloped protective measures like backups and disaster recovery plans, a cyber attack can devastate an SME. Given these threats, its essential for SMEs to invest in security education, fostering awareness and a clear understanding of their responsibility to protect critical data. They should also consider adopting proactive security tools powered by AI, such as Palo Alto Networks Precision AI system, which leverages machine learning and AI for real-time security and safety. Its crucial to remember that Australian SMEs are valuable, their data is valuable, and it must be safeguarded. Jo Stewart-Rattray, Oceania Ambassador at ISACA Jo Stewart-Rattray, Oceania Ambassador at ISACA Safeguarding digital trust through robust cybersecurity measures is crucial for success, regardless of the organisations size. ISACAs recent State of Digital Trust 2024 report highlights the top three benefits of high digital trust: a positive reputation (71%), more reliable data for decision-making (60%) and fewer privacy breaches (60%). For small and medium enterprises, limited resources can make it more challenging to implement robust cybersecurity measures. However, there are some key practices that can help protect consumer data and enhance trust: Data Minimisation: Only collect essential customer information. Avoid handling sensitive data like credit card details directly; instead, use secure payment gateways. Educate and Enforce Policies: Ensure staff understand their roles in protecting data, leveraging encryption and secure storage practices. Invest in Technology: Allocate funds for high-quality security platforms to monitor and respond to suspicious activities. The right technology can reduce costs and boost profitability by preventing breaches. Engage Experts: Hiring qualified cybersecurity professionals or managed security services can provide tailored, cost-effective protection. Look for credentials such as CISM, CGEIT, CRISC, and CISA. Keeping your customers data safe is not only a moral obligation but also good for business! Craig Nielsen, Vice President for Asia Pacific and Japan at GitLab Craig Nielsen, Vice President for Asia Pacific and Japan at GitLab As organisations manage the complexity of their evolving tech stacks, we see many struggling to manage the expanding attack surface. Cybersecurity teams can combat this with operational simplification and automation which also applies to DevSecOps processes and by optimising design decisions while reducing difficult-to-maintain code and redundant dependencies. Organisations should approach software development through the lens of software tool chain optimisation being intentional about the tools they adopt and what they decide to build into their codebases. This will help minimise dependencies, improve the security of the software supply chain, reduce scanner noise, and ease the burden on developers to fix non-critical issues. Second, organisations should embrace tested and assured design patterns based on repeatable use cases: the paved roads approach. A paved road is a recommended path, including a curated set of tools, processes, and components, that teams can follow to build secure applications more efficiently. Adopting paved roads potentially removes some flexibility, but ultimately reduces the operational burden and rework on engineering teams and increases security. This needs to be a collaborative effort between security and development. Security can help design paved roads, but engineering must be involved to operate and maintain them as part of the codebase. Garry Valenzisi, Vice President & General Manager APAC at Iron Mountain Garry Valenzisi, Vice President & General Manager APAC at Iron Mountain Small businesses, with tighter budgets for security measures, are often easy targets for hackers. But as our reliance for the online ecosystem deepens, so does the need to strengthen our digital defenses. And navigating this threat landscape means taking a proactive approach. Understanding your data is an important first step, and managing and protecting this data effectively and in compliance with the law is vital. A data audit will help you to determine what information you have, pinpoint the most valuable assets and know where these records lie. Once you have this information, you can take the necessary steps to ensure it is contained securely by updating security software, managing access controls and implementing a dual authentication system or, even destroying the data you dont need. Employees can be your greatest weakness but also your greatest asset in spotting and protecting against cyber threats. Its important to educate them on common cyberattack tactics to look out for and develop a strategy to prevent and minimise business risk which is essential in any business, regardless of size. In return, youll feel prepared and confident to face any cyber threats that come your way. Ben King, VP Security Trust and Culture at Okta Ben King, VP Security Trust and Culture at Okta Okta solves security challenges for SMEs with a robust modern identity service, making login and authentication easier for employees, customers, and partners. This aligns with key cybersecurity best practices that SMEs should implement: Identity Management: Identity is security. Centralise user authentication on a single platform. Oktas solution automates this process, improving efficiency and security. Strong Access Controls: Implement multi-factor authentication and limit administrator access. Oktas passwordless authentication enhances security and user experience. Regular Updates: Maintain an up-to-date inventory of network devices and software. Data Protection: Regularly back up data and properly dispose of unused equipment. Secure wireless networks by changing default settings and using encryption. Employee Education: Train staff on creating strong passwords, securing personal devices, and recognising cyber threats. Security Software: Install and maintain anti-virus, anti-malware software, and network firewalls. Incident Response: Develop and regularly practice a cyber incident response plan. Okta empowers small businesses to scale quickly, securely, and efficiently through identity management. Our vendor-neutral platform offers speed, scalability, and security compliance, allowing SMEs to focus on strategic goals. By automating processes and centralising user authentication, Okta strengthens an SMEs security posture and delivers their customers a seamless user experience. Dr Aastha Gupta, Co-founder and CEO ViCyber For small business owners, cybersecurity is not just an IT issue but a foundational aspect of business continuity and trust. Conducting annual cyber health checks is essential, allowing SMEs to identify and rectify vulnerabilities in their office infrastructure, thus safeguarding client data, operational and compliance integrity. This proactive measure prevents severe financial losses and reputational damage. Starting with basic cybersecurity measures is vital; achieving at least Level 1 compliance with the Essential Eight Maturity Model lays a foundational security framework as per Government. This model includes strategies like application whitelisting and restricting administrative privileges, which are critical for businesses facing resource constraints. Identity and access management also deserves special focus. By enforcing complex passwords, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and the use of reputable password managers instead of insecure methods, SMEs can significantly diminish the risk of unauthorised access. Educating employees on safe online practices is equally important, as many cyber threats exploit human errors. Integrating firewalls and antivirus software creates a resilient, secure environment, crucial for fostering business growth and customer confidence in an increasingly digital world. E-Yang Tang, Practice Leader for Security, Resiliency, and Network, Kyndryl Australia and New Zealand The rise in cyberattacks targeting smaller companies, often serving as entry points for larger organisations, has intensified the focus on supply chain security. In turn, small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) are under more scrutiny than ever to ramp up their security practices and comply with stringent industry standards, all while operating with limited resources. It is crucial SMEs conduct regular infrastructure assessments to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities to decrease risk of exploitation. Part of this is identifying and updating outdated legacy infrastructure, which exposes organisations to unnecessary risk. Undergoing this assessment helps evaluate cyber readiness, identifies gaps and builds a roadmap for continuous improvement. Meanwhile, investing in intrusion detection tools offers an additional layer of protection. However, technology alone is insufficient. Staff training is paramount. Employees must be equipped to recognise and report suspicious activities. Finally, it goes without saying that having a cyber incident recovery plan is perhaps the most important best practice. Having a robust incident response plan in place is vital for minimising the impact of an inevitable cyberattack. By combining technological measures with human awareness and preparedness, SMEs can significantly enhance their resilience against cyber threats. Kumar Mitra, Managing Director and General Manager Central Asia Pacific & ANZ, Lenovo Infrastructure Solutions Group Kumar Mitra, Managing Director and General Manager Central Asia Pacific & ANZ, Lenovo Infrastructure Solutions Group In todays digital landscape, security forms the bedrock of effective business operations and customer trust. Elements like securing networks, conducting regular data backups, and having a solid incident response plan form the core of a robust cybersecurity strategy. Additionally, cyber insurance can help mitigate financial damages from breaches. Employee education is equally crucial. As our Chief AI & Security Officer, Doug Fisher, puts it, Our whole job is to create trust for our customers we have to be diligent. Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility, and comprehensive training is important to minimize risks, especially with generative AI (GenAI) platforms. SMEs must educate their teams to avoid inputting sensitive information into GenAI models, which often rely on public data and can pose significant security threats. Cloud data security is another critical area of focus. With valuable information like customer data and intellectual property in the cloud, businesses must implement stringent security measures. Regular backups and a zero-trust architecturerequiring continuous verification of users and devicesare essential for maintaining business continuity and securing cloud data. Vic Guerrero, Director of Channel Alliances at NinjaOne Vic Guerrero, Director of Channel Alliances at NinjaOne As threats continue to evolve, cybersecurity has rocketed in importance for businesses of all sizes. However, for smaller and medium sized organisations it can be difficult to allocate the necessary resources and time to bolstering cybersecurity posture. Many SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) do not have dedicated cybersecurity professionals, and instead the workload falls on IT teams. Therefore, SMEs must focus on making cybersecurity simple and efficient for IT professionals as they balance their responsibilities. A unified platform for IT and security helps streamline operations, providing a central location to manage employee device protection, system patches, and backups. Its also important to have a security-oriented culture across the organisation. Cybersecurity is no longer the sole responsibility of IT professionals, but instead requires a collaborative effort from every employee. From the top, company directors should be more aware of their compliance obligations, and throughout the organisation, employees should receive education on phishing, password sharing, and the value of multi-factor authentication. Finally, it is integral SMEs align their cyber strategy to national standards. Implementing the governments Essential Eight model is integral to building a robust cybersecurity framework, especially when under-resourced. With the right IT and security suite, culture, and strategy, SMEs can remain protected in the ever-evolving threat landscape. Mark Thomas, Director of Security Services, ANZ at Arctic Wolf Mark Thomas, Director of Security Services, ANZ at Arctic Wolf As technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace, it is harder for businesses to get a foothold into security best-practices particularly for resource-strapped SMEs. To improve cyber hygiene, there is a number of basic security measures that SMEs can take to protect against cyber threats and reduce business risk. Australian organisations are still failing to patch regularly, with over half of external exposure incidents stemming from vulnerabilities with known patches. Its critical that SMEs stay on top of vulnerability management by regularly patching and updating software in their environment. One of the most important pillars of a business security posture is understanding the breadth of their attack surface and having holistic visibility enabled through security operations. By taking stock of all assets across the enterprise, SMEs can better manage and prioritise risks and improve their overall cybersecurity posture. People are often the first line of defence against credential-based attacks and common phishing attempts that exploit social engineering techniques. SMEs should create a company culture around cybersecurity by implementing a robust security awareness training program across the business and enforcing multi-factor authentication (MFA) to enhance security operations. Anthony Spiteri, Regional CTO APJ at Veeam Software Anthony Spiteri, Regional CTO APJ at Veeam Software According to the Veeam 2024 Data Protection Trends Report, 75% of organisations have experienced at least one attack (or more) within the past year. While ransomware is undeniably a threat, a thorough cybersecurity plan alone is not enough to keep businesses safe. Industry experts tell us that cybersecurity focuses on securing data, and many companies understand the basicsinvesting in reliable antivirus and anti-malware software to detect and neutralise threats before they cause significant damage. However, to ensure business continuity, businesses must implement a holistic strategy and view cybersecurity as a subset of data resilience. Data resilience refers to an organisations ability to withstand and recover from data-related disruptions or failures. This includes ensuring data is available whenever and however it is needed. Veeam approaches data resilience through five key pillars. Beyond cybersecurity, companies should consider the following four elements: Backup Strategy: Implement a robust backup strategy to ensure data can be recovered in the event of a loss. Recovery Plan: Develop a comprehensive recovery plan to restore operations swiftly after a disruption. Data Freedom: Ensure data freedom, giving users control over data permissions and allowing flexibility to move data securely. Data Intelligence: Leverage new technologies to enhance products and improve decision-making. By addressing these five pillars, businesses can build a resilient infrastructure capable of withstanding and recovering from various data-related challenges. Aaron Bugal, Field CTO, APJ at Sophos Aaron Bugal, Field CTO, APJ at Sophos Small businesses face many of the same threats used to attack larger enterprises. While the amount of money on offer is generally less than whats available from a larger business, the higher success rate of an attack is very attractive to cybercriminals. Enhancing cybersecurity within small businesses begins with a culture shift. Cybercriminals expect SMEs to be less prepared and without sophisticated modern tools and solutions, so it is essential these assumptions are proved wrong. Regardless of IT budget constraints, SMEs should look to perfect the basics. This is done through educating staff, deploying multifactor authentication, while patching servers and network appliances with the utmost priority. In the event of a breach, it is equally as important to have the ability to respond quickly. Unfortunately, speed is something that small business owners seldom have on their side due to their lack of manpower, so investing in third-party security experts to monitor and respond 24/7 is table stakes for an effective defence in 2024. Staying safe isnt impossible for SMEs, it just requires comprehensive planning and layered defences to improve response time and minimise damages. Brenton Steenkamp, Cyber Partner at Clayton Utz Brenton Steenkamp, Cyber Partner at Clayton Utz For SMEs, cybersecurity best practices begin with data minimisation. Scrutinise your systems, manage unstructured data across platforms, and enforce stringent security controls for third-party access to ensure compliance and reduce legal risk. Effective data security requires a collaborative effort across teams to map and analyse all data assets, both structured and unstructured. SMEs should prioritise protection based on data sensitivity, use technology to identify risks, and ensure compliance at every stage. Turning awareness into action is important for SMEs too. This can be done by implementing strong data security measures, minimising data storage, implementing robust third-party management, and appointing data owners to oversee data quality, compliance, and effective governance. These steps can help to safeguard your business from cyber threats while ensuring legal and regulatory compliance. Luke McCarthy, Australia and New Zealand Country Manager and Director at SUSE Luke McCarthy, Australia and New Zealand Country Manager and Director at SUSE With attackers leveraging AI for malicious purposes, SMEs might feel tempted into hasty and costly security measures. However, security strategies shouldnt be driven by panic-induced decisions that can create more risk than they deliver intended outcomes. Firstly, implementing a zero-trust approach simplifies security operations and lower security costs. This model operates on the principle that no entity, inside or outside the business network, should be trusted by default. It means continually verifying the identity and integrity of every device and user trying to access systems and limiting the information available to just what that individual requires. Secondly, open source solutions (as opposed to closed source, proprietary ones) give SMEs access to advanced capabilities that were once reserved for larger organisations with infinitely bigger budgets. Its well understood that AI will significantly impact the way SMEs secure themselves, particularly in areas like threat detection, response automation, and predictive analytics. But one of the major benefits open source adds to this is its collaborative nature, ensuring constant updates and broad-based problem-solving its far more than just one pool of intelligence. This community-driven approach promotes more secure software and applications, offering SMEs a robust but cost-effective way to improve their security without the risk of over-reliance on single solutions or organisations silver bullets are misnomers. Mollie Eckersley, Head of Operations, BrightHR ANZ It seems like every other week a new cybersecurity breach hits the headlines in Australia. Businesses have their work cut out to protect themselves from cybersecurity threats and be aware of the different threats that emerge. In the current digital environment, exercising caution in every interaction is paramount. Its unfortunately too easy for employees who are aware of cybersecurity best practices to slip up, forget, and make a mistake. Thats why consistent training and awareness-building courses are any businesss secret weapon. Especially for small businesses that are more likely to be vulnerable to threats and dont have the sophisticated cybersecurity environment to protect them. The other important factor to consider is what devices your employees are using to access information. Putting policies in place to ensure that your employees arent using business devices to access their personal information or vice versa is vital. Prevention is better than any cure when it comes to cybersecurity. Ivano Bongiovanni, General Manager at AUSCERT Ivano Bongiovanni, General Manager at AUSCERT With SMEs representing a significant proportion of Australias economic prosperity, they are a ripe field for cybercriminals to harvest. And with many business operators under economic pressure, cybercrime is an existential threat. Some cybersecurity solutions may be expensive but the first steps in the right direction can be made at a low cost. SMEs need to analyse what data they collect and store, how they process it and what do they do with it. Then they can determine what level of protection needs to be applied that is the right fit for their risks and budget. For most SMEs, ransomware remains the most significant threat. Best practices and guidelines, such as the Australian Signals Directorates Essential Eight, can help reduce likelihood or impact of an attack and ensure they can recover quickly. The government provides many free resources to SMEs to help protect their business. It is important that all businesses in Australia, regardless of size, make cybersecurity part of their daily routine just like business development, customer relations, and accounting and continuously educate their staff on how to work in a cyber secure way. Sascha Giese, Global Technical Evangelist for Observability at SolarWinds Sascha Giese, Global Technical Evangelist for Observability at SolarWinds Despite resource constraints, robust cybersecurity is essential for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to safeguard sensitive data, maintain customer trust, and ensure business continuity. Secure by Design should be a crucial principle for SMEs, emphasising the integration of security from the outset, rather than as an afterthought. This also means embedding security in all operations from staff training to network security to secure coding practices. This proactive approach helps build a resilient security framework against potential threats. Adopting an assume breach mentality is also vital. Recognising that breaches are inevitable, SMEs should focus on looking at the possible result, and determine how to limit the impact. By assuming a compromised environment, businesses can strengthen defences and reduce vulnerabilities. And finally, observability is key gaining deep visibility into the entire IT environment allows for quicker detection and response to security incidents. If you cant see it, you cant secure it. Peter Kokkinos, Vice President & Managing Director for Asia-Pacific at Udemy Peter Kokkinos, Vice President & Managing Director for Asia-Pacific at Udemy Cyber threats are evolving, and cybercriminals are targeting businesses regardless of size or industry. Its well known that Australian businesses have been targets of relentless cyberattacks. Enterprise systems are vulnerable because employee access and multiple entry points increase the potential attack surface. In 2023, 30% of reported data breaches were caused due to human error. Therefore, it is vital that organisations prioritise continuous cybersecurity education for employees at all levels. For this reason, Australia doesnt have a skills gap; we have a learning gap. If the workforce doesnt have the tools and resources to build their knowledge rapidly and regularly, then this gap poses a substantial risk to the workforce across industries. With more than 700 courses dedicated to cybersecurity, Udemy is empowering individuals and businesses to address the growing demand worldwide. Employees need, and should demand, high-quality learning experiences that enable them to remain competitive. Investing in retraining and upskilling a diverse group of talent creates well-rounded professionals who are prepared to thrive in the workplace of the future. Chris Fisher, Regional Director of Australia and New Zealand at Vectra AI Chris Fisher, Regional Director of Australia and New Zealand at Vectra AI The current business landscape is witnessing an increased deployment of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) enabled tools like Microsoft Copilot to reimagine business models in the name of innovation. Unfortunately, this has directly contributed to an alarming spike in cyberattack frequency, severity and diversity. Recent research suggests that 75% of cybersecurity professionals have seen an increase in AI-powered cyberattacks over the past year, with 85% attributing these to hackers weaponising AI. Despite these challenges, GenAI presents an exciting opportunity for SMEs to use AI technology to protect their business against cyberattacks. If businesses go back to basics, leverage proven security expertise, and create a robust foundation of security measures, they are well-placed for innovation without the potential fallout. Defending against the unknown today requires a security solution that combines both security research and data science. Instant AI-driven remediation enables security teams to stop unauthorised behaviour, eliminate access and prevent breaches, application abuse, exfiltration and other damage, within minutes not months. Laetitia Boden, Founder of Gatheroo Laetitia Boden, Founder of Gatheroo Cybersecurity is not just something for the tech expertsits something everyone involved with the business needs to take seriously. Its not just about what happens within your own business; its also about how you interact with your suppliers and clients. As a leader and expert in your field, its important to build a culture where security is top of mind. Youve got a duty of care to ensure that not only your business but also that everyone you come in contact with is protected. This means checking in on your suppliers cybersecurity practices and making sure your clients know the best ways to keep communication secure. Using the right tools and having strong processes in place can make a big difference here. They help ensure everyones on the same page when it comes to protecting data and staying compliant. Remember, cybersecurity isnt a one-time jobits an ongoing effort that needs everyone to pitch in. By working together, you can keep your business and your partnerships safe from cyber threats. Chris Dahl, Co-CEO, Pin Payments In todays digital age, cybersecurity is a critical concern for businesses of all sizes, particularly SMEs. To help these businesses navigate the complexities of cybersecurity, heres a concise overview of six key strategies: Proactive Approach: Cybersecurity demands constant vigilance and adaptation. Threats evolve, and complacency leaves businesses vulnerable. Regular assessments, updates, and training are key. Strategic Framework: Develop a comprehensive framework encompassing risk assessment, incident response, and data protection. Regularly assess key operational elements and adjust your strategy. Risk Management and Capital Allocation: Invest in cybersecurity. Allocate resources for planning, preparedness, response, and recovery. Actively manage third-party risks. Proper Data Management: Re-evaluate data retention to balance insights and risks. Foster a culture of security awareness through employee training. Ongoing Management and Director Duties: Effective cybersecurity starts at the top. Business leaders and risk management teams must collaborate with clear communication and shared responsibility. Legal and Regulatory Compliance: Stay informed and compliant with all relevant standards. Non-compliance can result in severe penalties. Luke Dash, Chief Executive Officer at ISMS.online Luke Dash, Chief Executive Officer at ISMS.online Alignment with information security standards like ISO 27001 is vital for SMEs looking to secure their data against cyber threats, establish a competitive advantage and attract a broader range of customers. The ISO 27001 standard enables your organisation to create, maintain, monitor and continuously improve an information security management system (ISMS). This is done by implementing a thorough risk management process and addressing identified risks to your information assets using the standards 93 security controls. These controls are split into four key areas: Organisational controls People controls Technological controls Physical controls. ISO 27001 controls cover everything from your information security policy to your cryptography policy, your employee information security awareness and training actions to your clear screen policy. With an ISO 27001-compliant ISMS, you can ensure youve addressed potential risks to your organisations assets, reducing the risk of cyber incidents. Because the standard requires continual improvement your ISMS will grow with you, securing your business against cyber threats. Andrew Kay, Director of Systems Engineering, APJ at Illumio Andrew Kay, Director of Systems Engineering, APJ at Illumio SMEs are not confident when it comes to cybersecurity. Global Illumio research found that only 17 per cent of small businesses feel prepared to handle a cyberattack, with more than half believing an attack is likely to become a disaster. One of the biggest cybersecurity issues for SMEs is protection in cloud environments. Australian businesses are increasingly storing sensitive data and running high-value applications in the cloud, meaning any disruption can pose severe consequences for business operations, revenue, and customer trust. Given SMEs typically have finite resources, they need security solutions that they dont need specialist skill sets to build and manage themselves, that provide insight into the current attack surface and generate confidence through adaptive controls that limit breach damage. To build cyber resilience in the cloud, SMEs need simple, proactive security solutions that contain breaches as they happen. Zero Trust Segmentation (ZTS) operates on the premise that breaches are inevitable. By segmenting networks into smaller, manageable zones, ZTS limits attackers ability to move laterally, ensuring that if the inevitable intrusion occurs, its impact is minimised. This approach enables a granular level of visibility and control, something SMEs sorely need, and allows for greater agility and responsiveness. Chase Doelling, Principal Strategist at JumpCloud Chase Doelling, Principal Strategist at JumpCloud Recent global IT outages have demonstrated the vulnerability of organizations relying on single-vendor solutions and revealedquite painfullythat IT monocultures fail and can put all organizational resources at risk. To enhance security in the face of any disruption, SMEs should consider the following cybersecurity practices: Question homogeneous infrastructure and avoid being exclusively aligned with a single platform or vendor. Many IT professionals align themselves with specific platforms, making it part of their identity but this reliance creates a dangerous dependency that can lead to catastrophic security failures. Elevate IT and Security roles to C-suite functions, ensuring they have a seat at the decision-making table. This also creates space for critical conversations with senior leadership around the risks associated with homogeneous IT architectures. Create redundancy through mixed-platform environments can keep data and resources secure and reduce the risk of Shadow IT. Supporting multi-cloud solutions and diverse device types across the organization ensures users dont adopt sketchy workarounds when singular systems fail. Regularly review and update cybersecurity strategies and playbooks. By implementing these practices, SMEs can significantly improve their cybersecurity posture and keep organizational resources secure even during severe disruptions. David Price, CEO at Peninsula Australia and Peninsula New Zealand As major data breaches in recent times have taught us, businesses must be vigilant when it comes to cybersecurity. Having information stolen by hackers can lead to risks including a breach of customer privacy, loss of revenue and reputational damage, negative impacts that many small businesses cannot afford. Its imperative to have at least a basic understanding of cybersecurity, what it entails, how strong your systems are, and what policies and procedures should be in place. Armed with this information, youre in a better position to hire the right qualified and trained cybersecurity professionals to protect your business. Look for experts with proven experience or recognised credentials such as Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), Certified in Governance of Enterprise (CGEIT), Certificate in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC), and Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and a police check. Professional bodies or associations are a good starting point to find experts. Training staff on cybersecurity awareness is just as important after all, phishing attacks are one of the most common ways cyberattacks are conducted. Many small business owners are hesitant to spend on cybersecurity, but the importance of being cyber secure makes it a non-negotiable investment. Mark Jones, Senior Partner at Tesserent Mark Jones, Senior Partner at Tesserent As an SME safeguarding your digital assets and information is crucial. The Australian Cyber Security Centres (ACSC) Small Business Cyber Security Guide is a resource that offers practical advice to mitigate cyber threats. Tesserent one of the largest cyber security providers in Australia, recommends following this useful free resource which outlines key steps to take including implementing multi-factor authentication, regularly updating software, and backing up data. The risk of being impacted by common threats such as phishing, email scams, and ransomware can be reduced through some fundamental controls like employee training, strong passwords, and secure networks. Consulting IT professionals and following a structured backup plan is also recommended. Proactively addressing these issues can significantly enhance your businesss resilience against cyber-attacks. Ryan Economos, APAC Field CTO at Mimecast Sales Engineering Ryan Economos, APAC Field CTO at Mimecast Sales Engineering Theres no doubt that SMEs are at increased cyber risk. Whats less clear for many SME leaders is where to begin in building up their cyber defences. With limited budgets and minimal cybersecurity expertise, organisations can be challenged with putting in place the necessary controls. And in todays uncertain economy, SME leaders may be tempted to put off cybersecurity planning and investments. Understanding and implementing the foundational components of an effective cybersecurity strategy is the smartest approach to tackle this problem. SME leaders can take several actions that can prove powerful in mitigating their organisations cyber risk including: Designate a cybersecurity point person. Develop and practice an incident response plan. Conduct regular training for employees. Back it up. The threat of ransomware persists and continues to evolve as cybercriminals adapt to overcome companies bolstered protections. Perform regular patch management (software update that remediates vulnerabilities). Secure email and other communication channels. Email Security Cloud Integrated platform is a purpose-built, AI-powered integrated cloud email security solution that enhances and extends Microsoft 365 protections for small to medium-sized companies. By taking the actions above, SME leaders can create a foundation upon which they can continue to develop a robust cybersecurity defence. Geoff Schomburgk, Vice President of Asia Pacific and Japan at Yubico Geoff Schomburgk, Vice President of Asia Pacific and Japan at Yubico Protecting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) against cyber attacks will keep the innovation engine for the Australian economy safe since 97.3% of all businesses are SMEs. SMEs currently underestimate the risk of a cybersecurity breach. According to our research report, the State of Global Enterprise Authentication Survey of 2022, one in three breaches involved an SME. 52 per cent of SMEs experienced at least one cyberattack during that year and 40 per cent do not have a comprehensive and up-to-date cybersecurity incident response plan. Passwords are increasingly the cause of costly security breaches, with weak or stolen passwords responsible for more than 80 per cent of breaches. Stolen credentials can be used to launch ransomware, phishing and malware attacks on an unsuspecting business. Authentication using only a username and password is single-factor authentication. SMEs can significantly reduce cyber risks by adding a physical layer of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) with security keys. Even legacy MFA methods, such as SMS or mobile authentication, have been proven to be highly vulnerable to phishing. Phishing-resistant MFA is the modern and effective approach to protecting your hard work, brand image and business. Hank Clark, Executive Director and Chief Strategy Officer at CSO Group Hank Clark, Executive Director and Chief Strategy Officer at CSO Group Australian SMEs are the lifeblood of Australias economy, contributing to nearly $590 billion of value in 2022-23, roughly a third of Australias total GDP. Despite this, SMEs are a soft target for cyber criminals. To defend themselves from the rise in complex and targeted potential cyber-attacks, there are several strategies SMEs can employ: Treat cyber security as a priority Cyber security is no longer a nice to have and it isnt just for tech people anymore. Cyber breaches are costly, negatively impact trust and in cases affecting sensitive customer data, can be catastrophic. No business or individual is too small to be a target. Prioritising cyber security is a proactive step toward mitigating business risk and protecting what matters most. Cyber security is no longer a nice to have and it isnt just for tech people anymore. Cyber breaches are costly, negatively impact trust and in cases affecting sensitive customer data, can be catastrophic. No business or individual is too small to be a target. Prioritising cyber security is a proactive step toward mitigating business risk and protecting what matters most. Use the resources that are available to you as a small business There are many great tools to help SMEs both at the state and the federal government level. This is a good starting point for SMEs as it provides sound guidance, particularly for those who are just starting up. There are many great tools to help SMEs both at the state and the federal government level. This is a good starting point for SMEs as it provides sound guidance, particularly for those who are just starting up. Understand your risks and develop a strategy A well-articulated cyber security strategy helps to focus and prioritise investment towards the areas of greatest risk. It is a great tool for raising cyber awareness across the business and maximising the value realised through cyber initiatives. A well-articulated cyber security strategy helps to focus and prioritise investment towards the areas of greatest risk. It is a great tool for raising cyber awareness across the business and maximising the value realised through cyber initiatives. Find a good partner It is important to get the right technology partner who has the knowledge and experience to support your business because cyber threats are constantly evolving. Australian SMEs need to constantly remain vigilant and safeguard themselves against all types of attacks as its not a matter of if they will suffer a cyber-attack, but when. Soren Norgaard, Director of Security Exhibition & Conference at Diversified Communications Soren Norgaard, Director of Security Exhibition & Conference at Diversified Communications As cyber threats continue to evolve and businesses become increasingly reliant on technology to run, its essential for small businesses to stay ahead by implementing strong cybersecurity practices. Ensuring all systems and software are regularly updated to protect against vulnerabilities is essential to prevent criminals from taking advantage of outdated technology. Consider implementing Two-Factor Authentication across online accounts for an extra layer of security. Educate your employees on the importance of cybersecurity by sharing tips on proper password management and sending out test phishing emails to help them recognise the signs. You dont need to rely on internal knowledge or resources, either. Invite a security expert to talk to your staff or set up a small cybersecurity class during work hours. For more insights into best practice cybersecurity, consider attending industry events such as the upcoming Security Exhibition & Conference. These platforms provide excellent opportunities to learn from experts and stay updated on the latest developments in the field. Cyber threats are ever-changing, but a renewed focus on cybersecurity can help safeguard your business and its valuable data. Konstantin Klyagin, Founder of Redwerk and QAwerk Konstantin Klyagin, Founder of Redwerk and QAwerk You may have heard that the biggest cybersecurity threat comes from within an organization. Since phishing attacks remain a common and costly issue, SMEs should prioritize employee cybersecurity training, including practical workshops and simulations. Stolen or compromised credentials were the most prevalent attack vector in 2024. Thats why relying only on strong password policies and MFA is not enough. SMEs need to exercise a holistic approach to enhance their security. Implement a single sign-on (SSO) solution for critical systems to simplify logins and reduce password fatigue. Additionally, web application firewalls (WAFs) and rate-limiting techniques can detect and block brute-force attacks. IT failure accounted for 23% of data breaches in 2024. Outdated, unpatched, and misconfigured software often contains known security holes that hackers can probe. Older systems may not support modern security protocols or the latest antivirus software. Regular code security audits can help SMEs identify and address vulnerabilities before they are exploited. Dont neglect physical workplace security. Ensure employees lock their computers when unattended and avoid leaving passwords on sticky notes. Implement a visitor sign-in policy and escort visitors throughout the building. Remember to restrict access to sensitive areas like network rooms and server facilities. Given that cyber threats are constantly evolving, SMEs must keep up with the latest vulnerabilities and regularly update their incident response plans. Jacqueline Jayne, Cybersecurity Expert Jacqueline Jayne, Cybersecurity Expert SMEs face numerous cyber threats daily; phishing, smishing, vishing, and qishing are the most prevalent. Data breaches and significant financial losses are the results of these malicious threats, and to counteract evolving cyber threats, continuous (engaging) education and training for SMEs and their employees is critical. Business email compromise (aka BEC) scams are on the rise with cybercriminals impersonating trusted contacts to redirect payments. Ensure your payment processes are clear and strictly adhered to. Passwords are another weak link. Ditch the Post-it notes and spreadsheets; instead, use a Password Manager, and implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). The MFA layer of security requires not just a password plus a unique code from an authentication app, making unauthorised access harder. New vulnerabilities are discovered regularly, so enable automatic software and operating systems updates to stay protected. Finally and sometimes overlooked, backup your data. Regular backups can be a lifesaver in the event of a breach, enabling you to restore your systems without paying a ransom and delay. Use external devices, backup systems, or secure cloud storage to safeguard your data. Being vigilant, staying informed, and following best practices reduces the risk of cyberattacks and creates a safer digital environment for SMEs. Paul Wilson, Chief Technology Officer, Blue Connections IT There are four ways small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can prioritise cybersecurity to protect their operations and sensitive data: Implement strict access controls Enforce the use of strong passwords, multifactor authentication (MFA), and strict access controls to minimise the risk of unauthorised access to systems, sensitive information, and accounts. Keeping all software up to date also ensures that known vulnerabilities are patched, preventing potential exploits. Train employees in best practices Educate staff to recognise phishing attempts and understand the importance of data security protocols. Regular training sessions keep employees vigilant against the latest threats, fostering a culture of security awareness. Back up data regularly Automated backups should be scheduled, and the integrity of these backups should be checked routinely. SMEs should also develop a comprehensive incident response plan outlining steps to take in the event of a breach. Regularly testing and updating this plan will ensure its effectiveness and relevance to evolving threats. Partner with managed security service providers (MSSPs) MSSPs offer specialised expertise and continuous monitoring as a cost-effective alternative to an in-house security team. SMEs can better protect against sophisticated cyberthreats and ensure ongoing compliance with industry standards by partnering with an MSSP. Cam Roberson, Vice President at Beachhead Solutions Cam Roberson, Vice President at Beachhead Solutions SMEs must adopt proactive threat response measures to get ahead of attacks. This should involve utilizing sentinel technology to pre-set customized responses to potential security threats like hacking attempts, geo-fence violations, and lost devices. By automatically running scripts, revoking data access, or sending alerts when threats are detected, SMEs can prevent successful attacks before they occur. Another vital cybersecurity practice is maintaining comprehensive compliance reporting. This allows SMEs to demonstrate their commitment to regulatory compliance through detailed, on-demand reports covering security posture, risk assessments, and compliance status. Such transparency helps build trust and retain business by showcasing adherence to complex compliance frameworks and data privacy standards. Lastly, SMEs should consider strategies and solutions that streamline compliance across multiple requirements. By adopting a single platform that meets dozens (if not more) cybersecurity compliance mandatesincluding CMMC 2.0, HIPAA, FTC Safeguards, and NIST 800-171SMEs can efficiently monitor and enforce policies, encryption, access controls, and risk mitigation across their networks. Getting this right will avoid costly non-compliance penalties and reputation damage. Saaim Khan, Founder & Principal Advisor at Cyber Matters Saaim Khan, Founder & Principal Advisor at Cyber Matters In todays digital landscape, cybersecurity isnt just about protection; its a strategic growth vector for SMEs, SaaS, and small businesses. Building trust with your customers is crucial, and a robust cybersecurity posture is the currency that buys that trust. Start by embedding security hygiene into your business from day one. Good cybersecurity solutions dont necessarily mean extra expenses; many effective measures are cost-efficient and are probably already included in your existing technology stack. Think of cybersecurity like an onion, with layers that cover all aspects of your business. Begin with risk awareness embedded into every business process, ensuring that everyone understands the importance of security. Prioritise data security to protect sensitive information. Secure devices to prevent unauthorized access and breaches. Fortify your network and cloud infrastructure to defend against external threats. Finally, focus on people security by educating employees on best practices and fostering a culture of vigilance. By adopting these layered security measures, you can safeguard your business, build unwavering customer trust, and create a resilient foundation for future growth. Narendra Shukla, Consulting Services at Edwise Consulting Narendra Shukla, Consulting Services at Edwise Consulting Australia witnessed over 50% rise in cybersecurity incidents from 2020 to 2023 alone. The frequency of reported cyber incidents in Australia is trending upward, averaging 1 incident every 6 minutes instead of 1 every 7 minutes in 2021 (Reported by Australian Cyber Security Centre). The rise in cyber incidents now costs 14% more per incident to Australian businesses. These trends paint the picture of the rising cyber threats in Australia, which means businesses will need a more tailored and proactive approach to keeping pace with the growing threats. Baseline best practices include educating employees, implementing a robust password policy, and regularly updating software. However, to effectively mitigate risk, organisations should conduct a comprehensive risk assessment to identify vulnerabilities and protect their business through appropriate cyber insurance. Depending on their cybersecurity maturity level, businesses may benefit from engaging external consultants to identify threats and implement appropriate changes to align with global best practice capabilities such as Segmentation, Hardening, Identity Management, Legacy System Remediation, Cyber Forensic Capability, Event Detection and Response etc. The key to better cyber protection lies in understanding the unique challenges before preparing and implementing an effective mitigation plan and consistently uplifting capabilities to align with the changing trends. Fred Thiele, Group Chief Information Security Officer at Interactive Fred Thiele, Group Chief Information Security Officer at Interactive Maintaining strong cyber hygiene is crucial for safeguarding against ever-evolving cyber threats. Recent high-profile breaches, including 447 ransomware reports received by the ACSC, underscore the urgent need for effective cyber practices. With incidents costing Australian businesses up to $250,000 each and the economy $2.59 billion annually, prioritising preventive measures has never been more critical. Cyber hygiene involves fundamental practices like the management of vulnerabilities, identities, and assets. These practices are essential for maintaining the health and security of systems and should be integrated into the daily operations of any organisation. Fred Thiele, Group CISO at Interactive, stresses, Cyber hygiene isnt a one-time project; its an ongoing effort embedded into the very fabric of an organisation. Its about creating habits that become second nature for everyone, not just ticking off a checklist. Good cyber hygiene also combines best practice, technology countermeasures and strong cyber security awareness training. Effective cyber hygiene cant be underestimated. It helps protect against threats and also ensures that IT and security teams spend less time managing crises, allowing them to focus on strategic initiatives. For businesses seeking to enhance their cyber resilience, investing in robust cyber hygiene practices is a critical step. Mitch Colton, Founder and Managing Director at Colton Computer Technologies Mitch Colton, Founder and Managing Director at Colton Computer Technologies One of our strong best practice recommendations is to invest your time and energy in building a solid data strategy. Many companies are struggling with SaaS app sprawl and dont know where valuable company data is stored. You need to ensure confidential data is protected by data access rights and saved according to data storage format rules and a data architecture plan. Plus, organisations should be proactively deleting any data that doesnt hold business value to avoid data exposure and reduce risk. Overlaying an effective data strategy with multi-factor authentication, secure file sharing, and appropriate cyber security tools and monitoring will mitigate the risk of a data breach and the associated reputational damage. SMEs often make the mistake of thinking, It wont happen to me, when, in fact, they are a major target for cyber attacks due to their less sophisticated defence systems. The sad part is that the majority of SMEs will struggle to stay in business if they fall victim to a cyber incident. Simon Wijckmans, CEO at c/side The third-party scripts that SMEs interject into their websites to run everything from analytics to chatbots to error handling must be better monitored and secured. The repercussions, as headlines continue to show, are increasingly high. The average businesss website runs more than 20 of these third-party scripts (which change frequently, posing significant security risks). Malicious actors can exploit vulnerabilities within the scripts to redirect users, steal sensitive information, or manipulate website contentas we saw with polyfill[.]io only weeks ago. As a result of increased security awareness on the infrastructure and open source supply chain, malicious actors increasingly seek to weaponize the browser as the place of execution, yet most sites have nothing in place to monitor client-side behavior. To mitigate these risks, SMEs should implement real-time monitoring of all third-party scripts running on their websites. This involves tracking script changes, assessing their behavior, and validating their security. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scans of these scripts are essential. By maintaining visibility and control over third-party scripts, SMEs can significantly reduce their attack surface and protect their users data. This practice aligns with evolving security standards, such as PCI DSS 4.0which mandates tamper-detection mechanisms for entities handling card data. Discover Lets Talk Business Topics Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. 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 A new agreement for Kazakhstan to join Chinese-led plans to build and operate a research base on the moon could set the stage for deepening cooperation between the two countries as Beijing makes strides toward becoming a leading power in space. The July 3 agreement was signed on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit and admitted Kazakhstan as the 12th member of the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), a Chinese-led initiative with Russia's Roskosmos for a lunar base that was announced in 2021 and includes Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Serbia, Pakistan, South Africa, Thailand, and Venezuela. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a joint statement that, as part of the deal, Beijing and Astana would "support exchanges and cooperation between the two countries' aerospace agenciesin the peaceful use of outer space" and to "promote mutually beneficial cooperation in the moon and deep space." The Kazakh Digital Development, Innovation, and Aerospace Industry Ministry revealed new details of this cooperation on August 5, saying that Beijing and Astana would explore the commercial use of each other's spaceports and Kazakhstan would also be part of the development and launch of a lunar telescope project. The addition of Kazakhstan bolsters China's lunar exploration plans and puts the Central Asian country on a trajectory to further integrate into China's booming space industry, which is part of a drive by Beijing that experts say is motivated by an ambition to rival the United States. "China intends to equal and eventually surpass the United States as a space power," Bruce McClintock, a former defense attache at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and senior researcher on space policy at the RAND Corporation, told RFE/RL. "The recent return of a lunar sample mission from the moon demonstrates China's financial commitment to lunar exploration and their technical ability to achieve their long-term goals." The return to Earth of China's Chang'e-6 lunar module in June was the latest accomplishment as Beijing aims to finish building the ILRS in the 2030s. The China National Space Administration also said it plans to send astronauts to the moon before 2030 and Beijing established the International Lunar Research Station Cooperation Organization (ILRSCO) in April, a Chinese-led body to coordinate lunar missions with member states. The plans around the ILRS are seen as a response to NASA's Artemis Program, a U.S.-led initiative that aims to send a crewed mission to the moon by 2025, with a continuous presence by 2028. As part of its own diplomatic push for space, Washington has gotten more than 40 countries to sign the Artemis Accords, a set of principles for the exploration and use of outer space. "The Chinese are trying to build their own duplicative organizations as a race develops to see who can get the most support for their programs," Eva Seiwert, an analyst at the Berlin-based Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) think tank, told RFE/RL. "For Kazakhstan, it's clear that they see China as a future source of knowledge, training, and financing for their space industry." Liftoff For China Kazakhstan has been an integral part of the Soviet and Russian space programs for nearly 70 years. Baikonur, an expansive complex located in southern Kazakhstan, has shot hundreds of rockets into space and holds a special position as a launching pad for some of space flight's most historic achievements, such as the 1957 Soviet launch of Sputnik, the world's first satellite, and cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's first human journey to outer space in 1961. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Baikonur remained a launch site for Russia's Roskosmos, which maintained a dominant position within the space industry. But both Russia and Baikonur's places have begun to shift. The space complex has been at the center of a contract dispute between Russia and Kazakhstan for years, and Roskosmos is planning to move its space launches to Russian territory. At the same time, Russia's space program has faced funding cuts, technical setbacks, and scandals. Western sanctions first brought against Russia in 2014 and expanded following its February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine have further dimmed its space program as it has been cut off from some essential Western-made components. These changes have taken place as China's own space program leapt forward in recent years, with billions of dollars being invested. When the space partnership between Russia and China first gained traction in 2014 and gradually grew over the years, it culminated in joint projects like the ILRS. "I don't think Russia has many other choices," Juliana Suess, a fellow for space security at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank, told RFE/RL. "Russia has a lot of legacy and expertise, but that's all very much behind it. When it comes to space, Russia looks more like the junior partner in the China-Russia relationship." Beijing, meanwhile, has continued to broaden its outreach, even adding a space component to its multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as it has looked to build up and link its space industry with other countries. This has included deploying satellites, building ground stations, erecting data centers, and training foreign space personnel as part of the foundations of a Beijing-led space network. "China is actively building up its status as a space power, and this lunar base that Kazakhstan has signed up to is just one piece of a constant effort for space soft power," Suess said. A New Era In Space While Kazakhstan signing on to the ILRS marks another step forward for China's space ambitions, Bleddyn Bowen, an associate professor specializing in space policy at the University of Leicester, says the other aspects of the agreement reached between Astana and Beijing may be more significant in the long run. "The moon is for scientific or research projects," Bowen, also a fellow at RUSI, told RFE/RL. "Whereas a launch service agreement would mean putting more satellites into the Earth's orbit, which matters because it provides the daily infrastructure that we rely on and is central to the space economy." For Beijing, a crucial area for enhancing its capacity for competition in space with the United States is the Beidou Satellite Navigation System (BDS), which is China's answer to the American GPS, Russian GLONASS, or the European Galileo navigation systems. Widespread adoption of either system carries immense commercial value and China wants BDS to be used for aircraft, auto, and ship navigation, as well as humanitarian and disaster assistance, agricultural improvement, and weather forecasts. As a report by the U.S. Air Force's China Aerospace Studies Institute noted, all 30 BDS global networking satellites have been in place since 2020, and more than 120 countries have begun using BDS. For Kazakhstan, the drift toward Beijing began in 2013 when Chinese and Kazakh private space companies began cooperating. The collaboration has accelerated as Russia's space program has failed to keep pace with China's. "China is much more attractive now as an investor with money to spend," Bowen said. "China is also a massive market where anything that Kazakhstan's space industry produces is likely to find a use." Using Kazakh territory for space launches is also important as Russia looks to divest from the Baikonur complex. While Russia has a lease on the facility until 2050, China is currently working to boost launch-pad access around the world for commercial space providers and Kazakhstan, which shares a long border with China, also hosts the Sary Shagan anti-ballistic missile test site. "Kazakhstan needs to diversify and bring in new countries to pay for what Russia used to provide," said Bowen. "Partnering more with the Chinese is part of that plan for the future." 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. Ukraine's top military commander on August 13 said Ukrainian forces have taken control of 74 settlements in Russia's Kursk region as Ukrainian forces continued to make headway. Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskiy briefed President Volodymyr Zelenskiy by video link, telling him Kyiv's military had advanced in different directions by up to 3 kilometers over the past 24 hours and had seized 40 square kilometers of new territory. Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here. Zelesnskiy said on Telegram that he is constantly in touch with Syrskiy to receive reports on the front and the operation in the Kursk region. Despite the difficult, intense battles the advance continues, he said. "I am grateful to our soldiers for their heroic service," he said. Zelenskiy said later in a video message that hundreds of Russian soldiers surrendered to Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region and all of them are guaranteed humane treatment. In a separate post on Telegram, Zelenskiy said he met in Kyiv with Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurynas Kasciunas, who told him Russia is moving troops from its Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad to the Kursk region. Some military analysts have said Ukraine may have launched the incursion to draw the Kremlin's forces away from the front line to defend Kursk and other border areas. But Ukraine's General Staff said Kremlin forces had intensified their attacks in eastern Ukraine. In its assessment late on August 13, the General Staff said in the previous 24 hours Russian troops launched 52 assaults in the area of Pokrovsk, a town in Ukraine's Donetsk region that is close to the front line. That's roughly double the number of daily attacks there a week ago. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on August 13 he had informed EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell about Kyiv's operation in the Kursk region. Kuleba said on X that during his call with Borrell, weapons manufacturing and deliveries were also discussed. Ukrainian forces launched a surprise incursion into the Kursk region on August 6 and have occupied about 1,000 square kilometers and numerous population centers. It is not possible to verify battlefield claims, although some reports have suggested deeper incursions by Ukrainian forces. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhy said on August 13 that "Ukraine is not interested in taking over the territory of the Kursk region." He said Russia had launched more than 2,000 strikes from the Kursk region in recent months using antiaircraft missiles, artillery, mortars, drones, 255 glide bombs, and more than 100 missiles. "The purpose of this operation is to preserve the lives of our children, to protect the territory of Ukraine from Russian strikes," he said. "These Ukrainian actions are absolutely legitimate." The Kursk region's acting governor, Aleksei Smirnov, reported to President Vladimir Putin on August 12 that 28 settlements were "under enemy control." "The depth of the penetration into the territory of the Kursk region is 12 kilometers, the width of the front is 40 kilometers," he said. Repeating a Russian government talking point and without providing evidence, Russian Major General Apty Alaudinov, who is commander of the Akhmat special forces unit, said on Russian state TV that "the headquarters of the NATO bloc certainly took part in the development of the operation." U.S. State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters on August 13 that the United States is not engaged in any aspect, planning, or preparation of Ukraine's incursion into Russia. White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre also said the United States had no advance notice from Ukraine that it planned the military incursion and had no involvement in it. U.S. officials have been seeking clarification from Ukraine about its objectives, she added. Nearly the entire civilian population of the Krasnoyaruzh district of Russia's Belgorod region, located to the southeast of the Kursk region, has been evacuated, the region's governor said earlier. "More than 11,000 people have left," Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram early on August 13. "At present, about 1,000 people are in temporary housing." The district's prewar population was about 14,000 people. The governor announced the evacuation of the district on August 12 and closed off access to the area. The district head, Andrei Miskov, said the 500 people remaining in the area were mostly officials, emergency workers, and key specialists. The Krasnoyaruzh district borders Ukraine to the west and the Kursk region's embattled Belov district to the north. Ukrainian forces posted a video on August 12 that has been geolocated to the center of the Kursk region town of Sudzha. The exact date of the video is unclear, but Ukrainian soldiers can be heard saying that they had not yet encountered any Russian forces. Russian military vloggers have reported that Sudzha, about 10 kilometers from the border with a prewar population of more than 5,000 people, was under Ukrainian control. Russia's Defense Ministry said 12 Ukrainian drones had been "destroyed" overnight over the Kursk region and one each over the Belgorod and Voronezh regions. Across the border in Ukraine's Sumy region, the Russian military carried out overnight strikes that damaged civilian energy infrastructure and several private cars, the region's military administration reported. One civilian was reportedly wounded. Ukraine's General Staff announced restrictions on the movement of civilians in the Sumy region within 20 kilometers of the border with Russia, citing the "increasing intensity of hostilities." With reporting by AP Russian President Vladimir Putin has described Ukraine's unprecedented incursion into the Kursk region as a "provocation," an "attempt to destabilize" border regions, and an act of terrorism. He has avoided using a more eye-catching description: the first invasion of Russia by foreign troops since World War II. And he has cast it as something that Russia will deal with effectively, even if it has not found a way to do so nearly a week into Kyiv's cross-border offensive. The state-run, state-controlled, and state-influenced outlets that dominate Russian media have largely followed that line, often seemingly seeking to downplay the incursion and assure the domestic audience that it's no big deal -- and that, rather than a blow to Russia's war aims and an embarrassment for the Kremlin, it is bound to end up being a bad mistake on Ukraine's part. "The border area of the territory of the Kursk region is littered with the corpses of Ukrainian fighters and has been transformed into a graveyard of burned-out enemy equipment," an August 12 article in the popular tabloid Argumenty i fakty said, adding that an "enormous number" of Ukrainian attackers had been killed "in just the last few hours." The paper claimed that Ukraine had lost "nearly 2,000" soldiers during the operation, a number that is higher than some estimates of the size of Kyiv's force in the area. "And that is only according to officially documented kills," it added. "Who knows how many are still littering the forests, ravines, and roadside ditches?" Argumenty i fakty's take on Ukraine's surprise August 6 incursion into Russia's Kursk region echoed other reports in the state-owned or Kremlin-controlled media in Russia, where independent reporting has been stifled -- even more than it had been previously -- since Russia launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. 'An Adequate Response' Reports have focused on the purported failures of Ukraine's military, claiming broadly that Kyiv has invested enormous resources for minimal results. Some have suggested that the incursion will backfire, driving Russia to amplify its war aims. Both the Kremlin and media outlets that take their cues from the Kremlin appeared uncertain about what to say about the incursion at first, but more recently seem to have settled on a message meant to portray calm and confidence. "The enemy will, for sure, receive an adequate response, and all the goals we outlined will, no doubt, be reached," Putin said on August 12, adding that the "provocation" had not affected Russia's military operations inside Ukraine. "It is impossible to destabilize us or sow panic," prominent and avidly anti-Ukrainian presenter Olga Skabeyeva said on Rossia-1, one of the main state TV channels. "On the contrary, they have enraged Russians, and everyone now is ready to take up a weapon and make it clear that you cannot deal with Russia in this way." At the same time, some news reports are laced with notes of concern. Describing the military situation in the Kursk region, Skabeyeva used a word that can mean "complicated" or "difficult." Some reports point to a search for scapegoats, with suggestions of blame often landing on a Chechen force in the region and on the chief of the military General Staff, General Valery Gerasimov, who many accuse of badly mismanaging the war against Ukraine. The daily Nezavisimaya gazeta reported on August 12 that National Guard forces had repulsed "Ukrainian counterattacks" in the Kursk region. It also found something to like in foreign coverage of the incursion, citing the Associated Press as saying it would be difficult for Ukrainian forces to establish a foothold inside Russia because "their supply lines would be vulnerable to Russian fire." The popular newspaper Moskovsky komsomolets (MK), controlled by the Moscow mayor's office, claimed the Ukrainian operation was so chaotic that it was difficult to say what Kyiv's forces are trying to achieve. "Many of their actions seem senseless, as if the Ukrainians themselves do not understand their goals," the paper wrote. MK's own message was mixed: "On the whole, the situation remains extremely difficult, but under control," it added. An article in the newspaper Vzglyad on August 12 focused not on the battlefield but on the "information space," claiming without evidence that the Ukrainian security agencies had unleashed "numerous fake reports" in order "to sow panic among the people of the region." One such "fake," the paper claimed, was a photograph purporting to show a "Ukrainian nationalist" standing next to a sign indicating he was just 10 kilometers from the city of Kursk, the regional capital. The paper said the photograph was taken at the border between the two countries and that a second "0" had been photoshopped out of it. Other "fakes" purportedly were trying to take advantage of "a certain lack of faith the population has toward officials -- a weak point of Russian society," according to an academic expert quoted by the paper. West-Blaming In an August 8 report citing unnamed industry sources, Meduza, an independent outlet now based outside Russia, said that the Kremlin had "instructed" state-run and pro-Kremlin media not to describe the incursion as a "new front" in the war or to mention the proximity of the fighting to the nuclear power plant in the Kursk region city of Kurchatov. Rather than focusing on the fighting, media were told to highlight human interest stories such as "blood-donation drives and campaigns to provide shelter to" displaced people, Meduza reported. For example, the country's best-selling tabloid, Komsomolskaya pravda, published the dramatic story of a Kursk region monastery that supposedly came under Ukrainian fire in the initial phase of the operation under the headline "The Tanks Were Firing, But They Did Not Interrupt The Liturgy." The monastery's head managed to evacuate its "miracle-working icon" to the city of Kursk. As there has been throughout Russia's invasion of Ukraine, there was a dose of West-blaming, with reports stating or implying that Western countries were goading or aiding Ukraine in its Kursk incursion. Commentator Aleksandr Kazakov told state-run Channel 1 television that "this is a London story." "London is our worst enemy," Kazakov claimed. "They want the hostilities to continue until the last Ukrainian is dead." Without citing evidence, Skabeyeva claimed that Ukraine was operating on Russian territory "with the full approval and coordination of the U.S. government and the American president." Meanwhile, in an August 9 article billed as an "exclusive" look at the "Kremlin's battle plan," Moskovsky komsomolets seemed determined to assure readers that, even if they don't see a very powerful Russian response to the incursion yet, Putin knows what he's doing and will hit back hard when the time is right. "Putin refuses to play by the rules set by his 'partners' in Ukraine," MK author Mikhail Rostovsky wrote. "Putin is being pushed to make immediate, dramatic statements and actions. Actions will be taken, but they will come at a moment that is convenient and beneficial to Russia and to the president, and not at the moment that suits the enemy." "Pushing the Ukrainian military out of the Kursk region will be only part of his adequate response," the article concluded. Farmers and small business owners are banding together to warn the government that proposed superannuation changes will devastate thousands of Australian families and businesses. Farmers and small business have joined forces to raise concerns regarding the Governments proposed superannuation changes, warning they will adversely impact thousands of hardworking Australian families and small businesses. The peak body representing farmers, National Farmers Federation (NFF) and the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA), which is the voice of 2.5 million Australian small businesses, are urging Parliament to make sensible changes to the legislation. David Jochinke, President of NFF said by making appropriate amendments, the Bill* could still achieve its overall aim without causing undue hardship to small businesses. Farmers and small business owners are united in our view that this Bill will have unintended consequences on the operations and succession planning of these small businesses across the country, in particular for those that hold a Self-Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF) to structure their business. In the case of agriculture and small business, older farmers or business owners will often hold their assets in a SMSF and lease the operations to their children, providing both retirement income for them, as well as an opportunity for the next generation to enter the business. The peak bodies are particularly concerned about the proposed taxation of unrealised gains on holdings proposed in the Bill, with the increased tax obligation likely to place undue financial burden on thousands of small businesses. Luke Achterstraat, CEO of COSBOA has strong concerns on the detrimental impact the proposed tax changes could have on small business owners across the country. We urge parliamentarians to consider the real-world impact of these tax changes. Our small business owners deserve policies that support, not hinder, their hard work and contributions to the economy, Achterstraat said. This new tax on the unrealised gains on assets held in the SMSF may see an increased obligation that represents a significant proportion of an owners annual income, or even exceed it. This may see the older generation left in a terrible situation where they may have to sell their assets to meet this new tax obligation or increase lease rates to their children so much that their own childrens business may become unviable. The Government has consistently said this Bill targets the top end of town, people with hundreds of millions of dollars in their super accounts not hard-working, family-run small businesses. These issues have also been raised by numerous other groups who provide financial services and advice to small business and farming families including The Tax Institute, The Financial Advice Association of Australia and The Institute of Financial Professionals Australia. The NFF and COSBOA are calling on the Government and parliamentarians to listen to these concerns, come together and make sensible amendments to the Bill so Australian families and small businesses arent adversely affected. *Treasury Laws Amendment (Better Targeted Superannuation Concessions and Other Measures) Bill 2023 Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Welcome to Wider Europe, RFE/RL's newsletter focusing on the key issues concerning the European Union, NATO, and other institutions and their relationships with the Western Balkans and Europe's Eastern neighborhoods. I'm RFE/RL Europe Editor Rikard Jozwiak, and this week, both my briefings focus on Hungary and how the country's leaders have managed to irk Brussels all summer long. Briefing #1: Brussels Is Not Happy With Hungary's Visa Plans What You Need to Know: Many may have thought that Hungary, which currently holds the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union until the end of the year, would lay low in August. It's vacation season and, essentially, the Brussels machinery grinds to a halt. But then, at the end of July, Budapest announced that it would expand its "national card" immigration program to include Belarusians and Russians, as well as citizens from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, and North Macedonia. (Serbians and Ukrainians were already on the list.) The card allows holders to work in Hungary for two years and be joined by their immediate family. It is simpler to get hold of than a regular work permit or a business visa. After three years, it can even lead to permanent residency. The inclusion of Russians and Belarusians has irked Brussels and several member states alike, as it appears to contradict the EU policy toward the two countries. The bloc has imposed visa bans and asset freezes on well over 2,000 citizens from both countries over the ongoing war in Ukraine. It has frozen visa-facilitation agreements and made it harder to travel from Belarus and Russia to the EU's borderless Schengen zone via flight bans and limits on other modes of transport. On top of that, hundreds of Russian diplomats have been expelled from EU member states, many over accusations of espionage. Deep Background: The main criticism of Hungary's expansion of its "national card" program is that it could lead to undermining security in the Schengen zone and increasing the possibility of Russian spying, as cardholders -- in both theory and practice -- can move freely across most of the bloc. That critique was the gist of EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johannsson's August 1 letter to the Hungarian authorities, in which she noted that "there are increasing reports of sabotage and attacks on our critical infrastructure and other hostile acts." In the letter, seen by RFE/RL, she also said that "while the EU member states have the competence of issuing long-stay visas and residence permits, such schemes need to be carefully balanced not to put at risk the integrity of our common area without internal border controls and to duly consider potential security implications." She also asked Budapest to get back to her on 13 questions, included in an annex to the letter, by August 19. Perhaps the hardest of those questions will concern Hungary's justification for granting "national cards" to citizens of Belarus and Russia, as well as whether or not Budapest conducted a security analysis prior to making the decision. Johannsson also pressed Budapest on whether it will systematically carry out a search in the Schengen Information System (SIS), a database used by member countries to share security and border data, on Belarusians and Russians applying for the "national card." And, more importantly, she asked what would happen in case someone applying for the card was red-flagged in the SIS. Other questions relate to how Hungary is ensuring that sanctioned people aren't entering Schengen, and if border checks on Russian and Belarusian travelers are more stringent when compared to other third-country nationals. In the letter, Brussels also asked the Hungarian authorities how many applicants were expected from the two countries and the status (approved, refused, or pending) of those who have already applied. Drilling Down Despite Brussels' indignation on this issue, there is precious little the EU can do. EU officials I have spoken to on background say that Hungary has once again found a loophole in the EU's legal framework. "I am afraid they have the legal arguments on their side," one diplomat with knowledge of the situation told me, adding that on national visas they don't really need to consult with anyone else in the bloc. In an internal note, seen by RFE/RL, Hungary tried to reassure the EU member states by noting that "Russian and Belarusian citizens may enter Hungary, and thus the Schengen area, only in possession of a valid visa and may obtain a residence permit only after the procedure laid down by law." But if the other member states and the European Commission are still concerned, is there really nothing they can do? First of all, nothing will happen in August; Brussels is simply not up to speed yet on the issue and will want to assess the situation properly when its diplomats and bureaucrats are back from their vacations. Second, while some are calling for Hungary to be kicked out or suspended from the Schengen zone, that is very unlikely to happen. First of all, ejecting Hungary would have to be a unanimous decision, which would be almost impossible to get. After all, Hungary's neighbors in the EU are benefiting from the free movement of people, services, and goods, thus any proposed restrictions would have a negative economic impact if they were implemented. It is also worth noting that it would be unprecedented, as no country has been kicked out of Schengen since it was introduced back in 1985. Alternatively, heightened security measures may be implemented at the borders of Hungary's neighboring countries and at airports for flights arriving from Hungary. Given that home-affairs issues, such as this one, are a national competence, it is up to each and every member state to introduce more stringent measures. But they do need to notify Brussels of their moves. Such temporary restrictions were, for example, dusted off during the COVID-19 pandemic, the migration crisis of 2015-16, or with increased terror alerts. While Hungary may very well get away with it, there is increased frustration in the bloc about Budapest's behavior. "Momentum for some kind of pushback is growing," one EU official, who preferred to remain anonymous because they do not have the authority to speak on the record, told me, adding that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's trips to Moscow and Beijing earlier in the summer, ostensibly to pursue peace in Ukraine, still rankle. The nuclear option -- suspending Hungarian voting rights in the Council of the European Union -- is not off the table. The threat is there and has been for years, but is it realistic? So far, there is no appetite, but if France and Germany, the drivers of EU policy, get fed up with Hungary, things could start moving. Unanimity is needed here as well, but Berlin and Paris could cajole others into going ahead. "Until now, they were thinking that they had leverage over Budapest, and that they would act constructively during its presidency," one ambassador told me. It will be interesting to see how much patience diplomats will have with Hungary once they return from the beach. Briefing #2: Budapest Wants To Import More Russian Oil What You Need to Know: Although Hungary (and to a lesser extent Slovakia) have been a thorn in Brussels' side on a number of issues and have been frequently criticized, particularly by Ursula von der Leyen's European Commission, this hasn't stopped Budapest and Bratislava from recently asking for the EU executive's assistance in getting Russian oil flowing in larger volumes to the two landlocked Central European countries. Both countries have since mid-July complained that the recently imposed Ukrainian sanctions on the Russian oil firm LUKoil have resulted in stopping the flow of pipeline crude sold by the Moscow company. They sent a joint letter to the commission, asking for emergency consultations with Kyiv, saying that Ukraine had breached both the spirit and the letter of the Association Agreement it had signed with the EU in 2014. Yet, it appears that Hungary and Slovakia haven't managed to get their way. In a letter to their foreign ministers, sent by Valdis Dombrovskis, vice president of the European Commission and Brussels' trade supremo, it was noted that "the commission services have preliminary concluded that urgent consultation does not appear to be warranted as there is no current indication of an immediate risk to the security of supply." The August 1 letter, seen by RFE/RL, also states that "according to the information at our disposal and in line with commission analysis, it appears that the sanctions imposed by Ukraine on LUKoil do not affect the ongoing oil transit operations via [the] Druzhba [pipeline from Russia to Central and Eastern Europe] carried out by trading companies as long as LUKoil is not the formal trader of the oil." Deep Background: Some 5.5 million metric tons of oil were shipped via the Druzhba pipeline in the first half of 2024, of which half was sold by LUKoil. The remaining oil was transited by smaller Russian producers that aren't yet sanctioned by Ukraine. It is worth pointing out that Hungary and Slovakia are still allowed to import crude oil from Russia. They, along with Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and Poland, got exemptions from EU-imposed sanctions on pipelined Russian oil imports into the bloc that were agreed in 2022 and entered into force a year later. There is a difference with Hungary and Slovakia, though. Both Bulgaria and Poland have now completely cut Russian pipeline imports, and the Czech Republic is working hard to do the same in the near future. When these exemptions were granted, there was an understanding that the member states should actively work to find alternative supplies in order to minimize dependence on Russian energy imports. Drilling Down Hungary has actually increased its reliance on Russia, with the country importing 56 percent more Russian crude in 2024 than it did before the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. Slovakia's oil imports from Russia have decreased somewhat since 2022 but still amount to over 50 percent of its total imports. The need for Hungary and Slovakia to diversify was also hammered home by Dombrovskis in his letter: "A significant number of member state representatives asked about the availability of alternative supply routes in addition to the Druzhba pipeline for the import of crude oil and questioned why Hungary and Slovakia had apparently not yet explored alternatives so far." One of those member-state representatives was Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, who wrote a letter to European Commission President von der Leyen on July 31, a day before Dombrovskis' missive to Bratislava and Budapest. The letter, seen by RFE/RL, notes that "the alternative options that Croatia can offer...have so far been underutilized." Plenkovic is a close ally of von der Leyen and a stalwart of the center-right European People's Party (EPP), the largest group in the European Parliament, which the Hungarian ruling party Fidesz belonged to before quitting under pressure in 2021. The EPP also recently admitted Hungary's main opposition challenger, Peter Magyar and his newly formed Tisza party, to its ranks. Needless to say, the Croatian premier is also sensing a potential business opportunity. His letter points out that "Croatia, with its robust oil infrastructure -- including the Omisalj terminal, the Sisak storage tanks, the Urinj refinery near the port of Rijeka, and the JANAF Adriatic pipeline --possesses capacities that far exceed national needs." According to Plenkovic, the JANAF pipeline could be the solution for both Hungary and Slovakia, as it can "guarantee the transport of 14.3 mtpa (million tons of crude oil per annum) from the Omisalj terminal, on the island of Krk, to Hungary and Slovakia, and beyond." He noted that JANAF had already struck a deal earlier this year with the Hungarian oil company MOL for 2.2 mtpa for the rest of 2024, but this only represents some 15 percent of the transport capacity available. The letter concludes by stating that "in light of the recent circumstances and in the spirit of European solidarity, JANAF is willing to negotiate long-term contracts involving larger volumes to ensure energy supply security and reduce dependence." The question is whether Hungary is interested. Its foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, brushed away Zagreb's offer by noting that "Croatia is simply not a reliable country for transit" and adding that Croatia had increased oil transit prices fivefold since the outbreak of the Ukraine war. This prompted JANAF to respond, noting that "the statement regarding JANAF raising fees over the last three years is completely untrue. The methodology applied to calculate the fees takes into consideration the distance and the level of capacity utilization for a specific pipeline section, as well as the negotiation process, and is not related to the legal entity [of JANAF] ." This issue is likely to come up when EU foreign ministers gather for the first time after the summer break on August 29 -- a meeting that was originally supposed to be hosted by Budapest but was moved after several EU member states complained about Orban's trips to Moscow and Beijing. Looking Ahead While the EU and NATO are still mostly hibernating for the holidays, Eurostat, the bloc's official statistical office, is up and running. On August 14, it will publish its estimate of gross domestic product (GDP) growth and unemployment rates across the eurozone -- the countries that have adopted the euro -- and the EU. The statistics release is expected to show that an estimated 6 percent of the bloc's workforce is unemployed and there has only been 1 percent of GDP growth. That's all for this week! Feel free to reach out to me on any of these issues on Twitter, @RikardJozwiak, or by e-mail at jozwiakr@rferl.org. Until next time, Rikard Jozwiak If you enjoyed this briefing and don't want to miss the next edition, subscribe here. Oxfam Ireland is thrilled to announce a new initiative in partnership with Connacht GAA, aimed at making sure uncollected lost and found property finds a new home in the local community. As a first step in the partnership, the University of Galway GAA Air Dome will harness the power of the sports local communities in a bid to reduce landfill by donating lost property items. Oxfam donation boxes will hopefully be present in future. The initiative comes as part of Oxfams fifth Second Hand September campaign this year. This aims to promote sustainable fashion by encouraging people to shop second hand and donate their pre-loved items. Lost property often contains a treasure trove of high-quality items, rarely worn gems and pre-loved vintage jerseys that come back into fashion. Rather than ending their life cycle in a lost and found locker, Oxfam Ireland and Connacht GAA will revive what has been left behind. Pushing the circular fashion model will continue the journey of these belongings. With a story behind every piece donated, a GAA stars first jersey could find its way into your wardrobe! Oxfam Ireland aims to grow the partnership throughout the wider GAA as part of a national pilot scheme, following the adrenaline-fuelled All Ireland Finals. No matter if its at club or country level, Oxfam Ireland and Connacht GAA are a winning formula. Fighting poverty and climate goes hand in hand, and can be as easy as giving a forgotten pair of boots an entirely new lease of life. Charity stores play an important role in tackling the climate impacts of the fashion industry. With 103,150 tonnes of carbon equivalent emissions avoided through items donated and sold through charity retailers in Ireland last year. This is the equivalent of 3.8 billion trees absorbing carbon in one day. Oxfam Ireland are thrilled that the GAA is showing its support for a circular economy through The Domes donation drive. Trevor Anderson, Trading Director at Oxfam Ireland, welcomed the new partnership: Oxfam Ireland is proud and excited to be working with Connacht GAA, providing a sustainable solution for their uncollected lost & found campaign. Were looking forward to developing a long-term partnership that will promote and highlight the benefits of reuse delivering real impact for the communities where Oxfam and the GAA operate. John Prenty, CEO of Connacht GAA, added: "We are delighted to collaborate with Oxfam Ireland and look forward to having their Donation Stations on site here at the University of Galway GAA Air Dome. The GAA is a place where we all belong. This aligns perfectly with Oxfams values of fighting poverty, inequality and injustice. Hopefully through the partnership we can help raise awareness of the great work being done by Oxfam Ireland and raise some funds for those most in need." The increasing number of reports involving threats to politicians has raised the pertinent question about how safe is it being a public figure in todays climate? The issue about personal safety for politicians has become more heightened, reflected again in several threats made against the Taoiseach Simon Harris and his family over the last number of months. While Mr Harris said he would not be deterred from doing his job, many Irish politicians are no doubt reflecting on whether they may have to do more to enhance their own personal safety while doing their job. Aside from the trauma of online threats, more worryingly there are fears that physical attacks on politicians that have become notable in other countries could happen here in the near future. On Budget Day last October, an aggressive mob hassled politicians as they walked out into Kildare Street. Some of the protesters had brought a mocked-up gallows with a dummy hanging from a noose and images of politicians attached to the frame. To try and distil the reasons behind these threats is a complex one. However, it would be fair to say that the abuse of social media by the so called keyboard warriors and an increasingly aggressive and toxic political discourse are among them. Of course, the right for anyone to hold an elected politician to account in the form of legitimate criticism is acceptable in any democracy. Unfortunately, certain individuals feel it is acceptable to cross a line and indulge in far more sinister behaviour. A watershed moment happened in the UK in June 2016 when Labour MP Jo Cox died after being shot and stabbed multiple times in the street in the village of Birstall, where she was due to hold a constituency clinic. And in May of this year, Robert Fico, Slovakias hard-right populist prime minister, was fortunate to survive after being shot several times. The thought of being threatened online or in public is anathema to all right-thinking people but these threats are now becoming an increasing consideration for more and more Irish politicians. Such threats against politicians, whether digital or physical, are also an attack on democracy itself. Press Release August 13, 2024 Sponsorship Speech of Senator Cynthia A. Villar for Rice Tariffication Law or Republic Act (RA) No. 11203, Extension and Amendment 13 August 2024 Mr. President, esteemed colleagues: A pleasant day to you all. Today, I am happy to stand before you to sponsor the Extension and Amendment of Rice Tariffication Law or Republic Act No. 11203 that created the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund or RCEF from tariff collected on imported rice. It is contained in Committee Report Number 282 entitled, AN ACT AMENDING REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8178 OR THE AGRICULTURAL TARIFFICATION ACT OF 1996," AS AMENDED BY REPUBLIC ACT NO. 11203. Enacted in 2019, the RTL lifted quantitative restrictions on rice and introduced tariffs to protect local rice producers. The RTL ensured that farmers directly benefit from the liberalization of rice trading by providing P10 billion a year to the RCEF or the RICE FUND up to 2024. The RCEF provided P5 billion for the free distribution of farm machinery and equipment, P3 billion for free distribution of high quality inbred certified seeds, and P1 billion for credit support and another P1 billion for training of rice farmers. The collections in excess of the P10 billion funds go to the Rice Farmer Financial Assistance or RFFA under RA 11598. This law took effect on March 5, 2019 and will also expire in 2024. It is to compensate the projected reduction or loss of farm income arising from the tariffication of quantitative import restrictions on rice. The excess tariff collection from rice importations in 2022 amounted to PhP12 billion. The RFFA beneficiaries are farmers tilling two hectares and are registered in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture or RSBSA, which as of June 2024, totaled 2.5 M or 91.0 percent of all rice farmers (2.8 M). In the Senate there are five (5) bills filed on the same topic, and four (4) resolutions. 1. SN. 642 by Senator Marcos amending Republic Act No. 8178 or the Agricultural Tariffication Act of 1996 and proposing the expansion of the functions of the national rice buffer to cover both natural catastrophes and commodity crisis, among others; 2. SN. 1203 by Senator Padilla expanding the purpose of the RCEF from P10Billion to P15Billion annually and earmarking 10% to scholarship, health and other similar benefits; 3. SN. 2601, which I filed extending the RCEF until 2031, including the Financial Assistance to Rice Farmers, and allocating a portion of the fund for Small Water Impounding Projects, and Composting Facilities for Organic Fertilizer; 4. SN. 2672 by Senator Padilla proposing the restoration of the price stabilization and supply regulation functions of the National Food Authority (NFA) and the creation of the Rice Industry Development Program Management Office; 5. SN. 2708 by Senator Marcos proposing the importation of rice by the Department of Agriculture (DA) for price stabilization purposes; 6. Senate Resolution 503 by Senator Loren Legarda, to conduct an inquiry in aid of legislation on the implementation of the RCEF; 7. Senate Resolution 956, by Senator Risa Hontiveros, for a consultative and comprehensive review of the implementation of RTL; 8. Senate Resolution 1024 by Senator Padilla to conduct an inquiry in aid of legislation on the surging costs of rice in the market; and 9. Senate Resolution 1028 by Senator Padilla to conduct an inquiry in aid of legislation on the failure of the government to effectively communicate policies and relevant implementing details of laws that are targeted to support our local farmers and cushion the effects of the RTL. On May 14, 2024, the Senate Panel convened CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURAL AND FISHERIES MODERNIZATION [COCAFM] in the Senate, with the various implementing agencies and stakeholders including nationwide representatives of farmer cooperatives and associations. On June 13, 2024, the first public hearing was conducted in the Senate by the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform, again with the RCEF implementing agencies and another set of farmer's cooperatives and associations. On June 28, 2024 a focus group discussion (FGD) was hosted by the ATI, Regional Office in Region 2, Malasin, San Mateo, and Isabela with rice farmer's associations/cooperatives of Isabela, Kalinga and Ifugao. On June 29, 2024 AM, another focus group discussion (FGD) was conducted at the Phil Rice Headquarters Munoz City, Nueva Ecija with seed growers coops and rice farmer's beneficiaries of the seed program from Region 3, in attendance. In the afternoon of the same day, another focus group discussion (FGD) was conducted at PhilMech Training Hall, Maligaya, Science City of Munoz, Nueva Ecija which was attended by rice farmer-beneficiaries. The second RTL Hearing was conducted at the Senate in July 4, where the results of the FGDs were reported and upon the request of other farmer coops and associations who requested that they be heard on the RCEF and provide recommendations on how to improve the same. The Joint Meeting of the COCAFM panels of both Houses of Congress was held on August 1, 2024, in the Senate on the RCEF Extension and Amendment again with a new set of farmer's coops and associations in attendance. The consultation and discussion with stakeholders and fellow lawmakers are substantial and the sentiments of the stakeholders with 181 farmers groups is a resounding request that the law be extended with amendments. The Rice Tariffication Act amends the Agricultural Tariffication Act of 1996 (RA 8178). ACCOMPLISHMENT: 1. PhilMech a. PhilMech Distribution: 26,425 Machines and Equipment for Production and Harvesting 1,226 Post harvest facilities or a total of 27,651 vs. Target of 30,108 or 92%. Number of Beneficiaries: 6,575 Farmers' Coops and Associations, 388 LGUs. 2. PhilRice : Consecutive record-breaking palay production. 2018 - 19.06 MMT 2019 - 18.81 MMT* 2020 - 19.29 MMT 2021 - 19.96 MMT 2022 - 19.76 MMT 2023 - 20.06 MMT The 2019 baseline date was used because the funds for seed distribution arrived only in September 2020. Per PSA data, in 2019, there was an adverse effect brought about by El Nino / dry spell in rice production areas, namely, Cagayan Valley, Ilocos Region, CALABARZON, MIMAROPA Region, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, and SOCCSKSARGEN. (Source: Performance of Philippine Agriculture, January to March 2019, Philippine Statistics Authority. Link can be accessed at: https://pcaf.da.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/PAR_January-to-March-2019-compressed.pdf) In 2022, there was a slight decrease in palay production from 19.96 MMT to 19.76 MMT caused by the surge in the cost of fertilizers and typhoons like Typhoon "Karding" that affected the rice producing areas, such as Bataan, Zambales. Tarlac, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Bulacan, Aurora, Rizal, and a portion of Quezon) (Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer published on 02 January 2023. Link can be accessed at https://business.inquirer.net/380416/local-rice-output-likely-declined-in-22-as-costs-soared Organized and empowered seed producer's cooperatives that supplies to PhilRice high quality inbred certified rice seeds for distribution. Dry season unit cost of producing a kilo of palay by end of 2023 is down by 10% or less than P1.58 pesos per kilo or in absolute amount from P15.42 down to P13.84. During wet season production cost is lower by 3% or P14.92. Farmers have higher income per hectare in 2023 vs. 2019 or 107% increase during the dry season. During the wet season, in 2019 average income per hectare is P14, 974. Vs. P26, 035 in 2023 or 74% increase. We benchmarked our competitiveness in the cost of seeds and mechanization, and the average cost of production is 12.41 per kg of fresh palay. The data is based in a study by PIDS using Nueva Ecija as to represent the Philippines versus Vietnam at 6.53 per kg. In 2019, at the start of the RCEP program with PhilRice, the cost of seeds is 0.79. In 2023, the cost of seeds is 0.62. There is a decrease of .17 or 22% in the cost of seeds. Based on the study, the cost of fertilizer at the time is 1.94. In the Philippines in 2019, the cost of fertilizer is 1.08. In 2023, the cost of fertilizer is 2.45. But despite such increase in cost of fertilizer, the average income of rice farmer has increased to 74% per ha or Php26, 035. (we can insert our insistence and justification on organic fertilizer production through FCAs because of this) EXTENSION COMPONENT Training of Rice Specialist and Rice Mechanization Specialist covering all regions: 4,967 specialists Topics include a. High Quality in bred rice and seeds and farm mechanization b. Refresher Course on Training of Trainers c. TOT on Pest and Nutrient Mgmt. Physical Accomplishment: Rice Specialist Training Course: 19 batches with 634 participants or 113% of target (560); TOT 164 batches with 4,937 participants and graduated 4,333 or 87%; Farmers on FFS and Pest and Nutrient Management: 136 batches with target 4,080 participants but actually graduated 4,188 pax or 103 percent 3. LOANS Land bank Received: P2.641.98 B Disbursed: P2.552.09 Disbursement Rate: 97% Direct Borrowers Rice Farmers: 15,421 (98%) Cooperatives: 273 (1.74%) Total Accounts: 15,694 DBP Received: P3B Disbursed: P2.199 Rate: 73.33% Direct Borrowers Rice Farmers: 33 Coops/Asso.: 36 Training and Extension 4. EXTENSION TESDA Training Activities: 1. Training of Farmers a. Farmers Field School on Inbred Rice Seeds, Seeds Certification and Farm Mechanization b. Rice Machinery Operations NCII c. Drying and Milling Plant Servicing d. Service Motorcycle/small engine servicing e. Agro entrepreneurship NCII and NC III f. Pests and Nutrient Management g. Digital Agriculture Course Financial Accomplishment. Allocation vs. Disbursement 2019: 73.92% 2020: 88.74% 2021: 96.97% 2022:97.42% 2023:96.69% 2024 as of May 14, 16.38% or 86.69% Total Enrolled in all courses: From 2019 to April 2024: 309,278 approved slots of which 239,959 graduated or 86.86% Profile: by sex: 53.8% female and 46.2% Male; By Age: 31-59 yrs. old: 62.7% 18-30 yrs. old: 24.9% 60 and above: 12.4% AGRICULTURAL TRAINING INSTITUTE Amount Received: P600M Disbursed: P479M or 86% For FY 2024 as of June 30, a total of 53 trainings were conducted with 1,371 participants trained. Of these, there were 44 batches of Training of Trainers (TOT) which catered to 1,196 trainees; 26 trainings for other extension intermediaries with 605 participants; and 7 specialized trainings/activities with 196 participants. 1. Training of Other Extension Intermediaries a. For potential Seed Production and Cert'n for Potential Seed Growers b. For Seed Inspectors c. For Seed Analysts d. For Agripreneurship Training of GAP Certification PHILMECH: Allocation from 2019-2024: P557M disbursed P526.4M or 95%. They were able to train 17,554 farmers trained in 931 batches of training. PHILRICE: Received P515M, utilized P468M or 90.96% served 4,238 farmers. RA 11598 OR THE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO RICE FARMERS TILLING TWO HECTARES AND BELOW (P5, 000), passed in 2021 until 2024. Disbursement: Land Bank - (they only participated in 2021) they received P2.1B and disbursed P1.68B, and served 330,340 farmers or 78.90% of their fund. DBP - received P27B and disbursed P20.2B serving an average of 1.3 M farmers from 2021-2023 or 81.57% of their fund. As of 2024 they were able to received P19.9B with no disbursement yet as of today. (they said the schedule is in September 2024. Salient Features of the new bill: 1. Extension for another six years or until 2031. 2. Total Amount Covered: P30B sourced from tariff on imported rice any deficiency shall be supplemented by the GAA. 3. Strengthening the DA - Bureau of Plant Industry Regulatory Functions including registration and data basing of all grains warehouses. 4. Empowering the DA Secretary to respond to a declaration of rice food shortage and extraordinary increase of rice prices, where the DA can sell through government agencies such hospitals and jails and KADIWA outlets and replenish through procurement of locally produced rice from farmers and farmers' coop. 5. DA to import when no available locally produced rice. And it shall designate an importing authority except the NFA, the proceeds of sale shall revert to the buffer fund. 6. Disposal of aging stock with NFA shall be 4 week before expiration. 7. The President can prohibit further importation or specify the volume to be imported during excessive supply of both imported and locally produced rice in the market, for a specific period and volume. 8. Creation of the Program Management Office that will monitor both the RCEF and the National Rice Program. 9. Engage the services of an independent and Mid-term and End Term Evaluation of the RCEF to assess the performance the result of which to be submitted and discussed with the COCAFM. Distribution of the Fund Rice Farm Machineries and Equipment Php9B High Quality Inbred Rice Seeds, Propagation, Distribution and Promotion Php6B Financial Assistance to Rice Farmers tilling 2 hectares and below (2.4M farmers) Php8B Expanded Rice Credit Assistance Php2B Training and Extension a. TESDA for farm schools- Php1B b. ATI - Php500M c. PhilMech - P300M* (to include training for the establishment of repair, fabrication and maintenance centers nationwide) d. PhilRice - P200M e. BSWM - P200M Php2.2B Solar-Powered Water Irrigation or Water Impounding Irrigation Project Php1.4B Composting Facilities for Biodegradable Wastes Php1.4B TOTAL 30B That would be all Mr. President, esteemed colleagues. Its been four years since Alyaksandr Lukashenka extended his vice-like grip on power in Belarus by again winning a rigged presidential election. His sham re-election in August 2020 sparked massive protests, which Lukashenkas security forces met with violence. Tens of thousands of Belarusians were arrested; hundreds of media outlets and non-governmental organizations shuttered. Some 1400 political prisoners remain in detention. Marking the anniversary of the fraudulent 2020 presidential election, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced in a statement, In coordination with our allies and partners from Canada, the European Union, and the United Kingdom, we are taking additional sanctions actions to promote accountability for the Lukashenka regimes continued repression. The State Department is imposing visa restrictions on 19 regime officials and their affiliates for their involvement in undermining democracy in Belarus. These individuals, said Secretary Blinken, include those involved in efforts to misuse Interpol systems to target Belarusian dissidents abroad, the physical abuse and reported torture of pro-democracy activists, tracking and arresting citizens who subscribe to social media sites that carry content criticizing the regime, and granting permission for armed servicemen to violently disperse peaceful protests in 2020. The U.S. Treasury Department is imposing sanctions on 19 individuals, 14 entities and one aircraft pursuant to Belarus-related Executive Order 14038. As Belarus marks another year under Lukashenkas rule, the regimes blatantly corrupt, destabilizing and anti-democratic acts along with its continued support for Russias illegal invasion of Ukraine have only further ostracized Belarus from the global community, wrote Acting Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley Smith. The United States, in coordination with our allies and partners, remains committed to holding the regime and its key facilitators accountable. In a joint statement, the United States, Cananda, the United Kingdom, and the European Union called on Belarusian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release the almost 1400 prisoners being held in Belarusian prisons. We will continue to consider our options, they said, including additional sanctions, to hold accountable those who enable the Lukashenk[a] regimes suppression of democracy in Belarus. We will also continue to take meaningful steps to expose and cut off the flow of crucial support and components through Belarus that fuel Russias unprovoked war against Ukraine, while maintaining our support for the Belarusian people. Punjab News: Drug smuggler Billa Havelian detained, sent to Dibrugarh jail He has more than 10 drugs cases against him. Punjab Drug Smuggler Latest News, Billa Havelian detained: In a major development, the notorious drug smuggler Balwinder Singh has been detained under the stringent Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and sent to the Assam's Dibrugarh Jail. It is pertinent to mention that this was the first such action against the drug menace, which aims to break the jail-based drug mafia link in the region. The initiative has been taken by the bureau in Punjab. Advertisement Under the stringent Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (PITNDPS) Act, a habitual offender can be put under preventive detention for a period of one year without even bail. According to information, Balwinder Singh alias Billa Havelian will be lodged in Assam's Dibrugarh jail, the official said. Billa hails from the Havelian village in Tarn Taran district. He has been active in drug smuggling since 1992. He has reportedly "deep connections" with Pakistan-based drug syndicates, said the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer. He has more than 10 drug cases against him. Advertisement Billa was reportedly detained from Gurdaspur in a joint operation conducted by the NCB and the Punjab Police, the Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said while sharing the information. "Detention order u/s 3(1) Prevention of Illicit Traffic in NDPS Act (PITNDPS) is being served on the detainee, who will be lodged in Dibrugarh jail during the detention period. More than 10 cases of the NDPS Act stand registered against Billa, who is presently on bail. He is involved in trans-border drug smuggling networks with Pakistani smugglers," Yadav said in a post on X. UK and Greece 'disaprove' SGPC's decision to change Nishan Sahib's color SGPC's decision to change Nishan Sahib's color has upset a segment of the Sikh religious leaders both in India and abroad. Nishan Sahib Color Change News: Just recently, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee called for a change in the color of Nishan Sahibs attire from kesri to basanti. However, this decision has upset a segment of the Sikh religious leaders both in India and abroad as they have disapproved of the change and asked to stay with the prevalent color. As per the report filed by TOI, Baldev Singh of Amrit Sanchar Jatha UK, Europe, said that his group recently met the jathedar of the Sri Akal Takht Sahib, Giani Raghubir Singh, in Manchester. During the meeting, they discussed the ongoing confusion regarding the color of the Nishan Sahibs attire. Advertisement The jathedar told us that he had directed the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to clarify the confusion over the color of the Nishan Sahibs attire as per the Sikh Rehat Maryada (Sikh code of religious conduct), said Baldev Singh. He further said that no one, including the SGPC, had the authority to change the color of the Nishan Sahibs attire. With over 300 gurdwaras in the UK and more than 1,000 in Europe, none of the gurdwara managements were even consulted on this issue, Baldev Singh said. Likewise, Nihal Singh of Gurdwara Sahib, Koropi, Greece, said, Yesterday, we held a meeting at the gurdwara regarding the issue and we collectively rejected any changes to the color of the Nishan Sahibs attire. Advertisement Nihal Singh said there were over 15 gurdwaras in Greece and the management of 4 of these joined the meeting while the others could not make it due to short notice and long distances. August 13, 2024 A roundup of news from Romania and the world Newsflash Newsroom, 13.08.2024, 13:55 Drought The Agriculture Minister, Florin Barbu, requested the European Commission to grant urgent compensation to Romanian farmers, affected by the prolonged drought that Romania has been facing. According to him, over two million hectares of corn and sunflower crops have been compromised, the average loss being estimated at 200 230 Euros per hectare. He requested that the total budget of over 75 million Euros, intended for crops cultivated in the fall of 2023, be reimbursed to farmers through a single community legal act, which should include technical rules and sources of financing, both from the European Union, and additional national aids. The loss of income of agricultural producers endangers the viability of farms and Romanias security interests, the minister Florin Barbu also said. Fires On Tuesday Romania sent a second contingent of firefighters to support the efforts to fight the vegetation and forest fires affecting Greeces Attica region. According to the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, 40 firefighters and two special extinguishing and rapid intervention vehicles were supplied to Greece by air and two other 3,000-liter forest fire extinguishing machines and 4 rescuers, by land. On Monday, the Inspectorate announced that a Romanian firefighter, who participated in putting out a fire in Greece, suffered superficial injuries to his face, but did not require specialized treatment. Emergency services in Greece are battling the biggest fire this year, with multiple outbreaks, spread over an area of 200 square kilometers of vegetation and forest northeast of Athens. Entire towns have been evacuated. Meteorologists have warned that almost half of the country will be under a code red alert for fire, due to high temperatures that will reach 40 degrees Celsius in many regions of the country, and to the strong winds. EU states, as well as Turkey and Serbia, sent firefighters, planes and intervention trucks to Greece, after the Greek government activated the European Mutual Civil Protection Mechanism. Mini-holiday Romanians will have a new mini-holiday this week on the occasion of the Christian feast of the Dormition and the Day of the Romanian Navy, celebrated on August 15. The coast will be the favorite destination, the Black Sea resorts expecting one of the busiest weekends of this summer season, with an estimated number of over 140,000 tourists. According to statistics, the occupancy rate in the seaside hotels will be over 90%. 122 years after the first anniversary, the Romanian Naval Forces announce that the Day of the Romanian Navy will be celebrated in the Black Sea and the Danube cities as well as in Bucharest through various events that include demonstration exercises, technical and armament exhibitions, interactive workshops, cultural activities with maritime specificity as well as military music concerts. Tarom The Romanian airline TAROM maintains the suspension of flights to and from Tel Aviv, Amman and Beirut until August 16, the national airline operator announced in a press release. The company suspended, as of August 6, flights to these destinations following the travel alerts issued by the authorities, the recent developments in the Middle East area and the deterioration of the security context in the region. TAROM advises all passengers to follow the official communications for the latest updates and to contact the company to reschedule their trip to a later date. Passengers may also request a refund of the cost of the plane ticket, the press release states. Baccalaureate The autumn session of the Baccalaureate continues today and tomorrow with the assessment of language skills in an internationally spoken language. The written exams will start on August 19 with the Romanian language and literature. On August 20, the obligatory written test of the profile is scheduled, and on August 21, the optional written test of the profile and specialization. The first results will be published on August 26, and the final results will be issued on August 30. Almost 34,000 high school graduates registered for the autumn session of the Baccalaureate this year. In the summer session, the exam pass rate was a little over 78%. Barometer Young people in Romania want to be supported in relation to the labor market, housing and access to education, as well as to guidance and career counseling, show the conclusions of an opinion barometer regarding the situation of youth and their expectations, carried out at the order of the Ministry of Family, Youth and Equality of Chance. Another conclusion is that, for young people, high incomes and job security are the most important aspects. Young people considered the quality of life problematic and in terms of mobility and emigration, the barometer shows that going abroad is still a desire for many young Romanians. (LS) August 13, 2024 UPDATE A roundup of domestic and international news Newsflash Newsroom, 13.08.2024, 19:55 Farmers. The Minister of Agriculture, Florin Barbu, asked the European Commission to grant urgent compensation to Romanian farmers, affected by the prolonged drought the country is facing. According to him, over two million hectares of corn and sunflower crops were compromised, the average loss being estimated at 200 230 euros per hectare. He requested that the total budget of over 75 million euros, intended for crops established in the fall of 2023, be reimbursed to farmers through a single community legal act, to include technical regulations and sources of financing, both from the European Union, and from national sources. The loss of income suffered by farmers endangers the viability of farms and Romanias security interests, Minister Florin Barbu also said. Firefighters. Romania sent, on Tuesday, a second contingent of firefighters to support the efforts to fight the wildfires affecting the Attica region of Greece. According to the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (IGSU), the contingent is made up of 40 firefighters and two special rapid intervention vehicles supplied to Greece by air and another 3,000 liter forest firefighting vehicles and 4 rescuers, sent by land. On Monday, IGSU announced that a Romanian firefighter, who participated in extinguishing a fire in Greece, had suffered superficial injuries to the face, but did not require specialized treatment. Emergency services in Greece are battling the biggest wildfires this year, with multiple outbreaks, spread over an area of 200 square kilometers of vegetation and forest northeast of Athens. Entire towns have been evacuated. Meteorologists have warned that almost half of the country will be under code red alert, due to high temperatures that will reach 40 degrees Celsius in many regions of the country, as well as strong winds. EU states, as well as Turkey and Serbia, have sent firefighters, planes and intervention trucks to Greece, after the Greek government activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. Deficit. The first six months of this year ended with a deficit of over 60 billion lei, which represents 3.6% of Romanias Gross Domestic Product. Forecasts for the end of 2024 stand at 6.9% of the Gross Domestic Product, according to the European Commission, and even more than 7%, according to the calculations made by the Fiscal Council. Already in the excessive deficit procedure triggered by Brussels, the country will have, according to the new European fiscal rules, seven years to return to a budget deficit of 3% of the Gross Domestic Product. The gradual decrease in this indicator will be possible only on the basis of a realistic program and, obviously, by observing it, specialists warn. In the latest report Romania Euro Zone MONITOR, carried out by a team of experts from the NBR, it is shown that an increase in budget revenues is absolutely necessary and cannot be reduced to a better collection of fees and taxes, as it also requires changes in the fiscal system. The pressure on the public budget will increase if we also take into account the commitment to have expenditures for military purposes of 2.5% of the Gross Domestic Product, the authors of the analysis also say. Mini-holiday. Romanians will have a new mini-holiday this week, occasioned by the celebration of the Feast of the Assumption and the Romanian Navy Day on August 15. The Black Sea Coast will be the favorite destination and will see one of the busiest weekends of this summer season, with an estimated number of over 140,000 tourists. According to statistics, the occupancy rate in hotels by the sea will be over 90 percent. 122 years after the first anniversary, the Romanian Naval Forces announces that the Day of the Romanian Navy will be celebrated in the towns by the Black Sea and the Danube, but also in Bucharest with various events, including demonstration exercises, technical and armament exhibitions, interactive workshops, cultural activities and army music concerts. Labour. Young people in Romania want to be supported in terms of the labor market, housing and access to education, as well as for guidance and career counseling, according to the conclusions of an opinion barometer regarding the situation of the youth and their expectations, carried out at the request of the Ministry of the Family, Youth and Equal Opportunities. Another conclusion is that, for young people, high incomes and job security are the most important aspects. The quality of life is considered problematic by young people, and in terms of mobility and emigration, the barometer reveals that going abroad is still a desire for many young Romanians. TAROM. The flights operated by TAROM to and from Tel Aviv, Amman and Beirut remain suspended until August 16, the national airline operator announced in a statement. On August 6th, the company temporarily suspended flights to these destinations following the travel alerts issued by the authorities, the recent developments in the Middle East area and the deterioration of the security context in the region. TAROM advises all passengers to follow the official communications for the latest updates and to contact the company to reschedule the trip to a later date. Passengers also have the option to request a refund of the cost of the plane ticket, the press release states. (MI) We strongly condemn the execution of Reza Rasaei by the Iranian regime and its attempt to distract the world from its continued human rights abuses, wrote the U.S. Office of the Special Envoy for Iran on the social media platform X. Thirty-four-year-old Reza Rasaei was from the Kurdish and Yarsan communities in Iran. He was arrested in Kermanshah province during the anti-government protests in 2022. Those protests were part of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement that swept the country after the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish Iranian woman detained for violating Irans compulsory hijab law. Some 18,000 people were reportedly arrested during the subsequent protests; hundreds more were killed. Rasaei was charged with involvement in the murder of a member of Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps, and in October 2023 he was sentenced to death. Amnesty International and other human rights organizations claim Rasaies trial was grossly unfair and that he was subjected to torture and abuse. Rasaie was executed on August 6, bringing to 10 the number of individuals executed for purported crimes during the Woman, Life, Freedom protests. His execution took place one day after the UN Human Rights Council released a report from the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Iran. According to the Mission, the Iranian governments crackdown on protesters since 2022 disproportionally impacted ethnic and religious minorities in Iran, particularly Kurd and Baluch minorities. The report noted that the pre-existing security presence in Irans border provinces, predominantly inhabited by ethnic and religious minorities, created a permissive environment for the State to repress the September 2022 protests, including through launching a militarized response almost immediately after the movement began. The report said, Violations of the rights of members of minorities were amplified in the context of the September 2022 protests, and the Mission found that some of these amounted to crimes against humanity. The report deplored the lack of accountability for these crimes. Reza Rasaei is the latest known victim and the latest member of Irans minority communities to be executed after exercising his fundamental rights to free expression and association. As the Office of the Special Envoy for Iran wrote: Tehrans continued use of the death penalty against Woman, Life, Freedom protesters following sham trials and forced confessions is reprehensible. We remain committed to holding the Iranian regime to account for its significant human rights abuses. Prolonged drought wreaks havoc on Romania The latest drought has prompted authorities in Romania to limit the consumption of drinking water in many towns and villages across the country Photo: garten-gg / pixabay.com Stefan Stoica, 13.08.2024, 14:00 With record high temperatures and scarce precipitations, the past two years have wreaked havoc on Romania presently witnessing a chronic drought with devastating effects on the economy and the everyday life of its citizens. Restrictions to drinking water consumption have been maintained in more than 4 hundred towns and villages across the country, the most affected regions being the eastern counties of Botosani, Iasi, Vrancea, Neamt and Bacau. But water supplies have also been affected in the southern counties of Giurgiu and Gorj and representatives of the Romanian Waters have again urged people to avoid wasting water supplies as reservoirs are presently filled only 78%. Water supplies have been seriously diminished in 120 towns and villages in Botosani County as reservoirs here cannot accumulate enough water and residents have been advised to make their own minimum reserves during outages. In villages around the area, which lack centralized water supplies, wells have completely dried up and people must travel 3-4 kilometers to get water. Against the scarce water supplies, experts urge people to use drinking water only for drinking and resort to alternatives for other activities whenever possible. The prolonged drought this summer has wreaked havoc on crops as well. In July this year, field minister Florin Barbu notified EU Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski that large areas of Romanias farmland had been affected by drought and he has recently called on the European Commission to compensate the Romanian farmers heavily affected by drought. Large regions in Romania have been affected by drought and the heavy losses incurred by farmers are jeopardizing the economic viability of the Romanian farms as well as the countrys security interests, Bucharest has reported. The significant damage caused by unfavorable weather phenomena are calling for urgent compensations in the basis of an exceptional measure to contribute to solving the specific issues caused by these phenomena says the letter Romanias Agriculture Minister Florin Barbu sent to the European Commission. According to the ministry, the total estimated budget of maximum 75.2 million dollars for the crops sown in the autumn of 2023 must be urgently reimbursed to farmers. The low level of precipitations and the temperatures higher than usual this summer have wreaked havoc on the crops sown in spring as well, mainly corn and sunflower on a surface of roughly two million hectares. According to the Minister, Romania has incurred losses of 200 Euros per hectares. (bill) Indian shares opened a tad lower on Tuesday after oil prices gained over 3 percent the previous day on heightened Middle East tensions, with the United States saying it's preparing for significant attacks by Iran or its proxies against Israel as soon as this week. The benchmark S&P/BSE Sensex was down 74 points, or 0.1 percent, at 79,574 in early trade while the broader NSE Nifty index was down 13 points at 24,334. HDFC Bank fell 2.3 percent. The weightage of the private sector lender in the Global Standard index will be raised in two tranches, MSCI said. SBI Life, Tata Motors, HDFC Life and BPCL were down 1-2 percent. Vodafone Idea dropped 1.4 percent despite narrowing its quarterly net loss. IRFC gained nearly 2 percent on reporting a marginal rise in its Q1 net profit. Bharti Airtel rose about 1 percent. Bharti Enterprises' latest investment in British firm British Telecom does not involve Airtel, said Chairperson Sunil Bharti Mittal in an interview. Cipla, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise and Hero MotoCorp all rose over 1 percent. Bajaj Finance and Bajaj FinServ were subdued after the RBI issued revised regulations for non-banking finance companies and housing finance companies. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Market Analysis Australia's wage growth posted its slowest growth in a year in the June quarter, reflecting the gradual loosening of labor market, official data revealed on Tuesday. Consumer confidence improved in August as the support from tax cuts and other fiscal measures became more apparent, a private survey showed today. The wage price index climbed 0.8 percent sequentially, following a 0.9 percent rise in the first quarter, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported. A similar slower growth was last seen in the second quarter of 2023. On a yearly basis, wage growth steadied at 4.1 percent. The public sector contributed about 25 percent of overall wage growth in June quarter. Public sector wages rose at a faster pace of 0.9 percent, while growth in private sector wages eased to 0.7 percent from 0.9 percent. "The stronger June quarterly rise for the public sector was largely due to the newly synchronised timing pattern of Commonwealth public sector agreement increases," ABS head of prices statistics Michelle Marquardt said. Capital Economics' economist Abhijit Surya said wage pressures are expected to ease but there are reasons to think that the Reserve Bank won't change course on policy anytime soon. Earlier, RBA Chief Michele Bullock said that if productivity does not improve, then wage rises of around 3.5 percent might not be enough to keep unit labor costs contained. The economist said the Board will err on the side of caution and hold off on cutting rates until the second quarter of 2025. The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index rose to 85 in August from 82.7 in July. The improvement centered around family finances, while cost of living and fears of rate hike continued to weigh heavily. "It seems likely that the Board will hold the cash rate unchanged at its next meeting," Westpac's head of Australian macro-forecasting Matthew Hassan said. Elsewhere, the NAB confidence survey showed that the business conditions index improved to +6 in July. On the other hand, the business confidence index dropped to +1 point. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called Iran's new President Masoud Pezeshkian and urged him to refrain from attacking Israel. He made the call in the wake of threat by Iran and/or its proxies of an imminent attack targeting Israel. It is reportedly the first call between the leaders of the two countries since March 2021. According to the White House, "a significant set of attacks" could take place this week. There was a serious risk of miscalculation and now was the time for calm and careful consideration, Starmer told Iran's new leader. The new British Prime Minister underlined his commitment to an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages and increasing humanitarian aid to Gaza. He added that the focus should be on diplomatic negotiations to achieve those outcomes. Starmer also raised the cases of foreign detainees in Iran, adding that it was vital that they received the necessary medical care. The two leaders agreed that a constructive dialogue between the UK and Iran was in both countries' interests, says a press release issued by No. 10 Downing Street. Starmer made it clear that further talks could take place only if "Iran ceased its destabilizing actions including threats against individuals in the UK and did not further aid Russia's invasion of Ukraine". For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Political News Dr Ashley Westaway By The Division of Communication and Advancement Dr Ashley Westaway, a prominent South African education and community development champion, has been nominated to the Rhodes University Council. His extensive qualifications include a Master of Arts with distinction in History from Rhodes University, a Doctorate in Literature and Philosophy from Fort Hare University, and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) with distinction from Rhodes University, obtained in 2023. Significant contributions to local education initiatives mark Dr Westaway's professional career. His tenure at the Border Rural Committee was characterised by incisive strategic management and enhanced organisational sustainability. In 2010, he was recognised globally through the award of an Ashoka Fellowship, allowing him to innovate in the field of integrated rural development in the former Ciskei. Since December 2011, Dr Westaway has been the General Manager of GADRA Education, where he has made a profound impact. Under his leadership, GADRA Education has been revitalised with notable achievements, including developing the GADRA Matric School into Rhodes Universitys largest feeder school. He also played a crucial role in securing the Universitys appointment to manage its public school intervention programme and restoring GADRAs financial stability. Di Hornby, Director of Community Engagement at Rhodes University (RUCE), praised Dr Westaways thoughtful approach to crafting interventions. He generates useful data that informs programmes, ensuring meaningful impact, she said. His deep personal investment in his work is evident in his emotional connection to the success of young people who have benefited from GADRA's programmes. In addition to his work at GADRA, Dr Westaway has served in various advisory roles, including positions on the Eastern Cape Development Tribunal and the Betterment Task Team. Since 2015, he has been a Research Associate in the Faculty of Education at Rhodes University, contributing significantly to the Pathways to Education, spearheaded by Rhodes University Vice-Chancellor Professor Sizwe Mabizela upon his inauguration. The initiative addresses unequal access to quality education in Makhanda. GADRA Education, under Dr Westaways leadership, also partnered with RUCE in an initiative that saw Rhodes University become the first South African university to win a top place for the prestigious 2021 MacJannet Prize for Global Citizenship for its Nine-Tenths Matric Mentoring Programme. The prize, launched in 2009, recognises exemplary university student civic engagement programmes worldwide. Dr Westaways career is decorated with accolades from prestigious organisations such as the South African NGO Coalition, Impumelelo, and the United Nations Development Programme. He is married to Professor Lise Westaway, and the couple has a daughter, Anelisa Mfenyana, who is herself one of the success stories of the GADRA Matric School. Dr Westaways extensive academic background, strategic leadership and unwavering commitment to improving education and rural communities underscore his significant contributions to the field. Through his work with GADRA Education and Rhodes University, Dr Westaway continues to shape the future of education and development in the region. Mid-Size SUV Segment Sees Healthy Growth in July 2024 Led by Mahindra Scorpio and XUV700 The mid-size SUV segment in India, comprising vehicles ranging from 4.4 meters to 4.7 meters in length, recorded a total of 26,890 units sold in July 2024. This represents an 8.80% year-on-year (YoY) growth compared to July 2023, where 24,716 units were sold. The segment is dominated by Mahindra, with its Scorpio/N and XUV700 models leading the charge. Mid Size SUV Sales July 2024 YoY Comparison Mahindra Scorpio/N continued its strong performance, selling 12,237 units in July 2024. This marks a 16.30% YoY growth, with an increase of 1,715 units compared to July 2023. The Scorpio/Ns robust sales secured it a dominant 45.51% share of the mid-size SUV market, underscoring its popularity among Indian consumers. Following closely, Mahindra XUV700 also posted impressive numbers, with 7,769 units sold in July 2024, reflecting a 25.79% YoY growth. The XUV700 gained 1,593 additional units compared to the previous year. This surge is attributed to Mahindra celebrating the third anniversary of the XUV700, during which the company offered significant price cuts of about ?2 lakhs on the AX7 range. The XUV700 now commands a 28.89% market share in this segment. Tata Motors, with its Safari model, saw a 25.01% YoY growth in July 2024, selling 2,109 units, up by 422 units compared to July 2023. Tata has been offering exciting discounts on both the Safari and the Harrier, contributing to this positive performance. The Safari now holds a 7.84% share of the market. However, Tatas Harrier model experienced a slight decline in sales, with 1,991 units sold in July 2024, down by 4.83% YoY. Despite the discounts, the Harrier lost 101 units compared to July 2023 but still maintained a 7.40% market share. MG Motors Hector/Plus saw a decline in sales, with 1,780 units sold in July 2024, down by 15.36% YoY. This decrease of 323 units compared to July 2023 has reduced its market share to 6.62%. Alcazar Sales Decline Ahead Of New Launch Hyundais Alcazar faced a significant drop in sales, recording just 585 units sold in July 2024, down by 59.46% YoY. The decline of 858 units compared to the previous year can be attributed to Hyundais upcoming launch of a facelifted version of the Alcazar next month, which likely caused a slowdown in current model sales. Alcazar now holds a 2.18% share of the market. In the premium category of mid-size SUVs, Jeep Compass sold 213 units in July 2024, reflecting a 23.10% YoY decline. Despite the drop, it still holds a 0.79% market share. Hyundai Tucson also faced a decline, with sales dropping by 46.03% YoY to 129 units, securing a 0.48% market share. Similarly, Volkswagen Tiguan saw a 54.44% YoY decline, with 77 units sold, down by 92 units compared to July 2023. The Tiguan now holds a 0.29% share of the market. Citroen C5 Aircross saw the steepest decline, with zero units sold in July 2024, down from eight units in July 2023, resulting in a 100.00% YoY decrease. Overall, the mid-size SUV segment continues to grow, driven primarily by the strong performance of Mahindras Scorpio/N and XUV700. While Tatas Safari showed positive growth, other models like the Harrier and Hector/Plus faced challenges. The segments premium offerings, including the Jeep Compass, Hyundai Tucson, and Volkswagen Tiguan, saw significant declines, highlighting the competitive pressures within this category. After launch in China, the Honda CGX 150 will also be considered for multiple international markets Ahead of its expected official unveiling next month in September, some images of the Honda CGX 150 have been presented online. The retro bike will be manufactured at Wuyang-Honda in China. A total of three variants of Honda CGX 150 will be available for sale. Honda CGX 150 Engine, specs Upcoming Honda CGX 150 is based on the smaller sibling, the classic Wuyang Honda CG 125. Although Honda CGX 150 uses a higher capacity 149cc engine, the engine architecture is the same as the smaller 125cc engine. The air-cooled, four-stroke, single-cylinder unit generates 12 hp. The bike is expected to be offered with a 5-speed gearbox. Top-speed could be around 98 km/H. It is possible that Honda may also introduce a 125cc model of the CGX at a later date. Honda CGX 150 utilizes 17-inch wire spoke wheels at both ends, shod with dual-purpose knobby tyres. The front and rear tyres measure 90/90-17 and 110/80-17, respectively. Both ends have disc brakes and front ABS is offered as standard. Suspension setup comprises telescopic forks at front and dual-rear shock absorbers. The bike has a slightly upswept exhaust, which indicates its mild off-roading capabilities. Weighing just 128 kg, Honda CGX 150 can deliver agile performance across varied ride environments. The lightweight profile also makes the bike suitable for beginners. Honda CGX 150 Styling and features Similarities with the CB350 are quite apparent. Honda CGX 150 has a circular headlamp, circular rear-view mirrors, fork gaiters, curvy fuel tank and minimal body panelling. The cafe racer variant has an exotic design with bar-end dual-tone mirrors, frame in red shade and a rider only seat with a hump at the rear. The fuel tank utilizes a vibrant mix of Hondas signature blue, white and red colours. The seat is dual-tone and the rear suspension springs are painted red. Other two models get a proper seat and standard grab rails. One of these is a grey-black model, whereas the other utilizes an all-black theme. The latter can be seen with some official accessories such as a visor and side bags. Honda CGX 150 Launch date, pricing It is expected that Honda CGX 150 will make its debut in China in September 2024. Launch is scheduled in the spring of 2025 in China. Honda CGX 150 could be offered at a starting price of approximately 10,000 yuan (Rs 1.17 lakh). After the 150cc model, Honda could introduce a smaller 125cc bike based on the same format. Export potential will be evaluated across various international markets. Manufacturing will commence at the Wuyang-Honda facility. A joint venture between Honda Motor Co., Ltd. and Guangzhou Motors Group Company, Wuyang-Honda has been functional since 1992. At the Wuyang-Honda facility in China, around 20 million two-wheelers have been produced till date. Will Honda CGX 150 launch in India? As the CB350 has emerged as a popular choice, a smaller 150cc retro bike seems to have potential. But it is unlikely to be launched here anytime soon. Hideo Shimizu waits for a flight to China at the Kansai International Airport in Osaka, Japan, Aug. 12, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu) HARBIN, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Hideo Shimizu, a former member of Unit 731, the notorious Japanese germ-warfare detachment during World War II, arrived by plane in the city of Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, on Monday evening, expecting to testify and expose the crimes committed by the unit during the Japanese invasion of China during the war. He is expected to visit the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army and the former site of Unit 731 on Tuesday. Shimizu, 94, was among the last batch of Unit 731 Youth Corps members sent by Japan to Harbin, China, where he spent more than four months witnessing the war crimes committed by the unit, including the cultivation of pathogens, human dissections and human experiments. He fled China with the retreating Japanese forces on August 14, 1945. In 2016, Shimizu revealed his identity as a former Unit 731 member and began to expose the atrocities of the Japanese Imperial Army through public speeches and interviews, aiming to tell historical truths. This visit is Shimizu's first return to Chinese soil in 79 years. He has previously expressed a strong desire to return to China to pray for the deceased and apologize to their families. The trip was made possible by donations from various Japanese civilian groups. "The war ended 79 years ago, and most members of Unit 731 have passed away. Shimizu is currently the only surviving member who is willing to expose the Unit's crimes publicly, and he is likely to be the last Unit 731 member to return to Harbin," said Jin Chengmin, curator of the exhibition hall. Unit 731 was a top-secret biological and chemical warfare research base established in Harbin as the nerve center for Japanese biological warfare in China and Southeast Asia during World War II. At least 3,000 people were used in human experiments by Unit 731, while more than 300,000 people in China were killed by Japan's biological weapons. Hideo Shimizu is pictured during an interview with Xinhua at his home in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, Aug. 10, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu) Hideo Shimizu leaves his home for Osaka to take a flight to China, in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, Aug. 11, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu) An aerial drone photo taken on Aug. 11, 2024 shows the former site of Unit 731 in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. (Xinhua/Zhang Tao) This photo taken on Aug. 11, 2024 shows the former site of Unit 731 in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei) Editor: WRX An aerial drone photo taken on Aug. 6, 2024 shows commercial vehicles to be exported beside a ro-ro ship at Yantai Port in east China's Shandong Province. (Photo by Tang Ke/Xinhua) Chinese modernization is the modernization through peaceful development, said Xia Lu, a research fellow of Renmin University of China. It also embodies the idea of harmonious coexistence between man and nature, which adds to the diverse philosophies of global governance. BEIJING, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- As nations around the world navigate the complexities of modernization, China has forged its path -- Chinese modernization. It is the modernization of a huge population, of common prosperity for all, of material and cultural-ethical advancement, of harmony between humanity and nature, and of peaceful development. The approach prompts an important question: What is the global significance of Chinese modernization? What contributions can it make to human society? Chinese modernization provides a blueprint for developing countries that seek prosperity on their own terms and could contribute to a more equitable global framework, Xia Lu, a research fellow at the National Academy of Development and Strategy, Renmin University of China, told Xinhua. INSPIRING GLOBAL SOUTH "Development is the top priority for the Global South," said Xia, noting Chinese modernization is "referential for the extensive regions of the Global South, especially countries with large populations." China, the world's largest developing country, has 1.4 billion people, nearly one-fifth of the global population. Despite its vast size, China has managed to eradicate extreme poverty by the end of 2020, an accomplishment that United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hailed as "the biggest contribution to the dramatic reduction of poverty." From 2012 to 2023, China's GDP surged from 7.5 trillion U.S. dollars to 17.6 trillion dollars, with its share of global GDP increasing from 12.3 percent to about 18 percent. Xia, who frequently interacts with African and Southeast Asian scholars, noted that countries from the Global South are well aware of their common challenges, including poverty, wealth disparity, underdeveloped infrastructure, and inadequate medical and educational services. "They are expecting that China can show them something new, not merely copying others, but helping them find their own paths forward," Xia explained. People visit a 5G-powered immersive experience zone at China Grand Canal Museum in Yangzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, June 14, 2023. (Xinhua/Ji Chunpeng) NEW PATH TO MODERNIZATION Since the inception of modernization in Western capitalist countries, there has been a prevailing belief that modernization must adhere to the Western capitalist model. This perspective often disregards alternative approaches to modernization. Keith Bennett, vice chair of Britain's 48 Group Club, has criticized the foundations of Western modernization, noting the modernization of some Western countries "was based on the exploitation, oppression, and colonization of almost the entire world." In contrast, "Chinese modernization is quite distinct," said Xia. "It focuses on tailoring development drivers to fit national conditions." Xia highlighted China's innovative approach to development with its newly-proposed concept of new quality productive forces. "Instead of exploiting others, China has focused on internal innovation as its main driving force to achieve modernization," he said. "Some Western countries tend to impose their standards on others," Xia observed, adding, "If you don't meet the standard, then you fail." "This, in turn, stifles the potential of different nations," he said. Robots weld bodyshells of cars at a workshop of Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Li Auto Inc. in Changzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 10, 2024. (Xinhua/Ji Chunpeng) IMPROVING GLOBAL GOVERNANCE The current world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century. "It is no longer a world that can be dominated by one single country or a small group of countries," Xia said. "Every nation has the right to independently decide its future in its own hands, not in the hands of others," he added. Chinese modernization is the modernization through peaceful development, Xia said. It also embodies the idea of harmonious coexistence between man and nature, which adds to the diverse philosophies of global governance. China ranks first globally in the area of planted forests and forest coverage growth, contributing a quarter of the world's new forest area in the past decade. From 2012 to 2021, China's carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP declined by 34.4 percent, and energy consumption per unit of GDP decreased by 26.4 percent, equivalent to saving 1.4 billion tons of standard coal. For the world's common prosperity, China has proposed the Belt and Road Initiative, as well as Global Security Initiative, Global Civilization Initiative and Global Development Initiative. These efforts reflect China's commitment to fostering international cooperation and addressing global challenges through innovative thinking. "All these endeavors, including the practice of Chinese modernization, send out one message: the world needs new ways and new thinking to solve common problems," Xia said. Editor: WRX An aerial drone photo taken on Aug. 8, 2024 shows elephants playing in a mud puddle in Dadugang Township in the city of Jinghong, southwest China's Yunnan Province. The elephant herd that gained widespread recognition for its epic journey through southwest China's Yunnan Province has welcomed four new babies over the past three years, indicating a healthy and thriving wild Asian elephant population, said local authorities on Monday. Currently, the wild elephant family has split into two groups. One group of 13 elephants still roams the Mengyang area, while the other group of seven elephants co-exists with 28 wild elephants from another family in Dadugang Township in the city of Jinghong. (Xinhua/Hu Chao) KUNMING, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- The elephant herd that gained widespread recognition for its epic journey through southwest China's Yunnan Province has welcomed four new babies over the past three years, indicating a healthy and thriving wild Asian elephant population, said local authorities on Monday. In March 2020, the elephant herd, also dubbed China's "wandering elephants," left a forest nature reserve in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan, and trekked about 500 km northwards to the provincial capital Kunming, arriving in June 2021. The herd then headed south again and finally returned to their original habitat in the Mengyang area of Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve on Dec. 9, 2021. Since returning to their homeland, the elephants have been in good health and their population continues to grow. The baby elephants are gradually maturing, learning survival skills such as foraging and sand bathing from their family members, said Wang Bin, head of the Asian elephant protection and management center in Xishuangbanna. Currently, the wild elephant family has split into two groups. One group of 13 elephants still roams the Mengyang area, while the other group of seven elephants co-exists with 28 wild elephants from another family in Dadugang Township in the city of Jinghong. "Taking the wandering family as representative, the frequent births of new babies and the splitting and merging of herds fully demonstrate that there is frequent communication between the local elephant groups, and they are reproducing healthily," said Chen Fei, director of the Asian elephant research center under the National Forestry and Grassland Administration. Asian elephants, a pivotal species in the rainforest ecosystem, are under first-class national protection in China. The elephants are mostly found across Yunnan. Asian elephant observer Peng Jinfu operates a drone to monitor elephants in the city of Jinghong, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Aug. 7, 2024. The elephant herd that gained widespread recognition for its epic journey through southwest China's Yunnan Province has welcomed four new babies over the past three years, indicating a healthy and thriving wild Asian elephant population, said local authorities on Monday. Currently, the wild elephant family has split into two groups. One group of 13 elephants still roams the Mengyang area, while the other group of seven elephants co-exists with 28 wild elephants from another family in Dadugang Township in the city of Jinghong. (Xinhua/Hu Chao) A drone photo taken on Aug. 8, 2024 shows elephants playing in a mud puddle in Dadugang Township in the city of Jinghong, southwest China's Yunnan Province. The elephant herd that gained widespread recognition for its epic journey through southwest China's Yunnan Province has welcomed four new babies over the past three years, indicating a healthy and thriving wild Asian elephant population, said local authorities on Monday. Currently, the wild elephant family has split into two groups. One group of 13 elephants still roams the Mengyang area, while the other group of seven elephants co-exists with 28 wild elephants from another family in Dadugang Township in the city of Jinghong. (Xinhua/Hu Chao) A drone photo taken on Aug. 7, 2024 shows elephants playing in a pond in Dadugang Township in the city of Jinghong, southwest China's Yunnan Province. The elephant herd that gained widespread recognition for its epic journey through southwest China's Yunnan Province has welcomed four new babies over the past three years, indicating a healthy and thriving wild Asian elephant population, said local authorities on Monday. Currently, the wild elephant family has split into two groups. One group of 13 elephants still roams the Mengyang area, while the other group of seven elephants co-exists with 28 wild elephants from another family in Dadugang Township in the city of Jinghong. (Xinhua/Hu Chao) An aerial drone photo taken on Aug. 7, 2024 shows elephants playing in a pond in Dadugang Township in the city of Jinghong, southwest China's Yunnan Province. The elephant herd that gained widespread recognition for its epic journey through southwest China's Yunnan Province has welcomed four new babies over the past three years, indicating a healthy and thriving wild Asian elephant population, said local authorities on Monday. Currently, the wild elephant family has split into two groups. One group of 13 elephants still roams the Mengyang area, while the other group of seven elephants co-exists with 28 wild elephants from another family in Dadugang Township in the city of Jinghong. (Xinhua/Hu Chao) A drone photo taken on Aug. 8, 2024 shows elephants in Dadugang Township in the city of Jinghong, southwest China's Yunnan Province. The elephant herd that gained widespread recognition for its epic journey through southwest China's Yunnan Province has welcomed four new babies over the past three years, indicating a healthy and thriving wild Asian elephant population, said local authorities on Monday. Currently, the wild elephant family has split into two groups. One group of 13 elephants still roams the Mengyang area, while the other group of seven elephants co-exists with 28 wild elephants from another family in Dadugang Township in the city of Jinghong. (Xinhua/Hu Chao) Asian elephant observer Peng Jinfu operates a drone to monitor elephants in the city of Jinghong, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Aug. 7, 2024. The elephant herd that gained widespread recognition for its epic journey through southwest China's Yunnan Province has welcomed four new babies over the past three years, indicating a healthy and thriving wild Asian elephant population, said local authorities on Monday. Currently, the wild elephant family has split into two groups. One group of 13 elephants still roams the Mengyang area, while the other group of seven elephants co-exists with 28 wild elephants from another family in Dadugang Township in the city of Jinghong. (Xinhua/Hu Chao) A drone photo taken on Aug. 8, 2024 shows elephants in Dadugang Township in the city of Jinghong, southwest China's Yunnan Province. The elephant herd that gained widespread recognition for its epic journey through southwest China's Yunnan Province has welcomed four new babies over the past three years, indicating a healthy and thriving wild Asian elephant population, said local authorities on Monday. Currently, the wild elephant family has split into two groups. One group of 13 elephants still roams the Mengyang area, while the other group of seven elephants co-exists with 28 wild elephants from another family in Dadugang Township in the city of Jinghong. (Xinhua/Hu Chao) An aerial drone photo taken on Aug. 8, 2024 shows elephants playing in a mud puddle in Dadugang Township in the city of Jinghong, southwest China's Yunnan Province. The elephant herd that gained widespread recognition for its epic journey through southwest China's Yunnan Province has welcomed four new babies over the past three years, indicating a healthy and thriving wild Asian elephant population, said local authorities on Monday. Currently, the wild elephant family has split into two groups. One group of 13 elephants still roams the Mengyang area, while the other group of seven elephants co-exists with 28 wild elephants from another family in Dadugang Township in the city of Jinghong. (Xinhua/Hu Chao) A drone photo taken on Aug. 8, 2024 shows elephants in Dadugang Township in the city of Jinghong, southwest China's Yunnan Province. The elephant herd that gained widespread recognition for its epic journey through southwest China's Yunnan Province has welcomed four new babies over the past three years, indicating a healthy and thriving wild Asian elephant population, said local authorities on Monday. Currently, the wild elephant family has split into two groups. One group of 13 elephants still roams the Mengyang area, while the other group of seven elephants co-exists with 28 wild elephants from another family in Dadugang Township in the city of Jinghong. (Xinhua/Hu Chao) A drone photo taken on Aug. 8, 2024 shows elephants in Dadugang Township in the city of Jinghong, southwest China's Yunnan Province. The elephant herd that gained widespread recognition for its epic journey through southwest China's Yunnan Province has welcomed four new babies over the past three years, indicating a healthy and thriving wild Asian elephant population, said local authorities on Monday. Currently, the wild elephant family has split into two groups. One group of 13 elephants still roams the Mengyang area, while the other group of seven elephants co-exists with 28 wild elephants from another family in Dadugang Township in the city of Jinghong. (Xinhua/Hu Chao) A drone photo taken on Aug. 7, 2024 shows elephants playing in a pond in Dadugang Township in the city of Jinghong, southwest China's Yunnan Province. The elephant herd that gained widespread recognition for its epic journey through southwest China's Yunnan Province has welcomed four new babies over the past three years, indicating a healthy and thriving wild Asian elephant population, said local authorities on Monday. Currently, the wild elephant family has split into two groups. One group of 13 elephants still roams the Mengyang area, while the other group of seven elephants co-exists with 28 wild elephants from another family in Dadugang Township in the city of Jinghong. (Xinhua/Hu Chao) An aerial drone photo taken on Aug. 7, 2024 shows elephants playing in a pond in Dadugang Township in the city of Jinghong, southwest China's Yunnan Province. The elephant herd that gained widespread recognition for its epic journey through southwest China's Yunnan Province has welcomed four new babies over the past three years, indicating a healthy and thriving wild Asian elephant population, said local authorities on Monday. Currently, the wild elephant family has split into two groups. One group of 13 elephants still roams the Mengyang area, while the other group of seven elephants co-exists with 28 wild elephants from another family in Dadugang Township in the city of Jinghong. (Xinhua/Hu Chao) A drone photo taken on Aug. 8, 2024 shows elephants in Dadugang Township in the city of Jinghong, southwest China's Yunnan Province. The elephant herd that gained widespread recognition for its epic journey through southwest China's Yunnan Province has welcomed four new babies over the past three years, indicating a healthy and thriving wild Asian elephant population, said local authorities on Monday. Currently, the wild elephant family has split into two groups. One group of 13 elephants still roams the Mengyang area, while the other group of seven elephants co-exists with 28 wild elephants from another family in Dadugang Township in the city of Jinghong. (Xinhua/Hu Chao) Editor: WXY BEIJING, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Despite recent persistent rain in central China's Henan Province, Shen Jifeng's 600-mu (about 40 hectares) of contracted farmlands in the city of Xinxiang have largely avoided waterlogging. Outfitted with water pumps, sprinklers and smart sensors, these farmlands in the Pingyuan Pilot Zone of Xinxiang are part of "high-standard cropland" supported by modern infrastructure and advanced technologies. "The land has been leveled, and drainage ditches have been added along the edges, allowing water to drain quickly from the fields," Shen said. "High-standard cropland" has been written into a resolution adopted at the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in July. According to this resolution on further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization, the country will improve the mechanisms for developing, verifying, managing, and protecting high-standard cropland, as one of the concrete measures of deepening reform of the land system. High-standard cropland, also called well-facilitated farmland, requires sci-tech support for disaster prevention and control, soil quality and fertility improvement, and farmland management based on information technology. The CPC and the Chinese government have stressed the importance of high-standard cropland in important meetings and documents, including the government work report delivered during the second session of the 14th National People's Congress this March. According to a 10-year development plan released in 2021, China will build 1.2 billion mu of high-standard cropland, and renovate and upgrade 280 million mu of existing high-standard cropland by 2030. By then, the country aims to achieve stable grain production of over 600 billion kilograms per year, ensuring basic self-sufficiency in grain and security for staple food supplies. The high-standard cropland, which is in line with modern agricultural production and management, will significantly save water, energy, fertilizers and labor for farmers, and increase the yield. In Shen's case, over 100 mu of his land is equipped with automatic irrigation systems that can be controlled from his smartphone. This not only conserves water but also enables the mixing of liquid fertilizers with water for field application, significantly reducing the need for manual labor, he said, adding that combined with improvements in crop varieties and other factors, the yield of wheat per mu in his fields has increased by 100 to 150 kg. Various sensors have also played a crucial role. In the Pingyuan Pilot Zone, over 20 agricultural data poles equipped with solar panels, high-definition cameras, atmospheric sensors and soil sensors collect and transmit data. This information helps generate detailed insights about weather, soil and crops through large model calculation for Shen and other farmers. Other devices, such as pest radars and fungal spore collectors, provide local farmers with alerts for pests and diseases. The pest radar uses 32-mm radar waves to track and predict the timing, location, swarm density and migration trajectory of flying insects within a 20 km radius, offering precise guidance for pest prevention and control. All these data and information are consolidated into "Zhongyuan Nonggu," a sci-tech innovation platform featuring four major big data models for weather, soil, fertility and plant transpiration. "Agriculture differs from industry in that agricultural data are challenging to standardize. We are still training the four large models with additional data. As the number of data poles increases, more data will be fed into these models," explained Yin Yue, project manager of Zhongyuan Nonggu. Such practices are being implemented nationwide, ushering in the future of smart agriculture in China. The country had completed the development of more than 1 billion mu of high-standard cropland by the end of 2023, according to Chen Bangxun, a senior official at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. In Tumd Left Banner in Hohhot in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the local government established a corn planting demonstration zone with nearly 960 mu of high-standard cropland. It features an integrated platform for intelligent control and remote video monitoring, enabling real-time oversight of the entire planting and management process in the zone. Supported by Internet-of-Things devices such as monitoring stations, sensors and control valves, the platform can collect data on crop growth, leaf surface condition and pest movement, providing fertilization and management recommendations to farmers. Farmers can also monitor environmental temperature, humidity, soil pH and light intensity on their smartphones through dedicated apps. Liu Ruifei, head of a local agricultural tech promotion center, said that the local government will continue to integrate modern technologies and equipment into the demonstration zone, and help farmers achieve green production in agriculture. According to Yu Qiangyi, a researcher with the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning (IARRP), under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, smart agriculture can boost the efficiency of farming operations, alleviate labor shortage, protect and improve the agricultural ecosystem, reduce the cost of production, improve the quality of produce, and shift agriculture from experience-based to data-driven practice. "Smart agriculture leverages data from sensors and the Internet of Things as a crucial production factor, driving automation, unmanned operations and intelligent management in farming," said Yu, who is also the team leader of smart agriculture research in IARRP. Editor: WXY Bluejay Mining announced the launch of its inaugural exploration campaign focused on identifying significant deposits of geological hydrogen and helium in the Outokumpu Belt in Finland on Tuesday. The AIM-traded firm said the initiative was a crucial part of its strategy to assess and potentially exploit the regions industrial gas reserves, following promising historical data. It said the Outokumpu Belt had already shown substantial potential, with previous deep drilling by the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) revealing significant concentrations of helium and hydrogen. Notably, one intersection recorded 100 metres at 5.6% helium within a broader 1,500-metre intercept at 1.5% helium. Additionally, gas samples from a 2,480-metre-deep drill hole indicated up to 46% geological hydrogen, underscoring the belts potential as a source of valuable industrial gases. The geology of the Outokumpu Belt shares similarities with the Lorraine region in France, which hosts the worlds largest known deposit of white hydrogen, further highlighting the regions promise. Bluejay said its exploration programme would involve a comprehensive series of activities designed to evaluate the presence and concentration of these gases. Surface sampling would be conducted using portable detectors to measure hydrogen and helium levels, which will also help assess the condition of historical drill holes for further sampling. Water samples would be collected from deep boreholes to establish baseline concentrations of these gases, providing crucial data for future exploration. The company said it would also perform flow meter testing to measure groundwater flow rates, which could help identify gas-rich zones. In addition, pumping tests would be carried out to understand the hydrogeological structures and flow characteristics, essential for estimating the volume of recoverable gas. Further, packer testing would isolate specific borehole sections to measure water flow and rock integrity, identifying permeable zones that may contain hydrogen and helium. To enhance the understanding of the subsurface conditions, borehole magnetic resonance (BMR) logging would be used to measure formation porosity and water volume, providing detailed geophysical data that will inform and improve hydrogeological models. The board said the exploration campaign was underpinned by extensive historical data from over 2,000 drill holes in the region, providing a robust foundation for Bluejay to fast-track its gas assessment efforts across its 40-kilometre licence area. These encouraging but preliminary indications of helium, hydrogen and industrial gases in the Outokumpu Belt are very encouraging, said managing director Eric Sondergaard. They present a significant opportunity for shareholders. We have started dialogue with European groups with regards to progressing future work streams in a manner that is not dilutive to existing shareholders. We will update stakeholders accordingly, in the meantime, work program details are currently being devised in close collaboration with local experts and regulators. Sondergaard said the first pass evaluation of surface expressions of naturally-occurring helium and hydrogen would allow the company to assess the conditions of existing boreholes, and focus further phases of work. This encouraging opportunity is made possible by the vast datasets of high-quality historical data the company has absorbed recently and the availability of numerous pre-existing deep drill holes, positioning us to potentially unlock substantial value for our shareholders for minimal cost and no dilution. At 1156 BST, shares in Bluejay Mining were up 2.51% at 0.36p. Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com. London stocks were set to rise at the open on Tuesday as investors mulled the latest UK jobs data. The FTSE 100 was called to open around 30 points higher. Figures released earlier by the Office for National Statistics showed that the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell in June, to 4.2% from 4.4% in May. It came in below expectations for a reading of 4.5%. The data also showed that growth in average earnings excluding bonuses fell to 5.4% from 5.8% in May and versus expectations of 4.6%. This marked the slowest pace of growth since May to July 2022. Including bonuses, average earnings grew 4.5% in June, down from 5.7% and below expectations for a reading of 4.6%. In corporate news, Synthomer reported growth in revenues, earnings and underlying earnings per share over the first half of 2024. The specialty chemicals manufacturer also said that it was on track to turn positive on free cash flow for the full year and that it had extended debt maturities. Revenues for the half were ahead by 3.5% to 1.05bn at constant currencies. Earnings before interest and tax meanwhile rose by 18.7% to 29.0m. Just Group reported a 44% increase in underlying operating profit to 249m for the first half, driven by strong growth in new business sales and higher recurring in-force profit. The FTSE 250 company said retirement income sales grew 30% to 2.5bn, with a corresponding 38% increase in new business profits to 222m. It said it maintained a robust capital coverage ratio of 196%, and announced a 20% increase in the interim dividend to 0.7p per share. Telecom Plus reported continued strong trading performance in an update, saying that its multiservice customer proposition was enabling it to outperform competitors in a normalised market. The FTSE 250 company, which was holding its annual general meeting, said it was on track to double its customer base to two million over the medium term while also increasing profits and shareholder returns. It also reaffirmed the positive outlook it provided with its annual results in June. Accesso Technology Group announced the passing of its chief financial officer Fern MacDonald on Tuesday, after a battle with cancer. The AIM-traded company expressed sadness over the loss, extending condolences to MacDonalds family. In response to the unexpected loss, Accesso said it had appointed its vice-president of finance Matthew Boyle as interim CFO, effective immediately. Boyle, who had been with the company for five years and served as MacDonalds deputy for two of those years, would bring considerable experience to the role, the board said. Prior to joining Accesso, he spent eight years at BDO UK. On behalf of the Accesso board I would like to express my sincere condolences to Fern's family, said non-executive chairman Bill Russell. Quite apart from being a model CFO she was an outstanding person whose contribution to the company was immeasurable. She will be sorely missed by all. Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com. The Treasury has sought to defuse a bitter row with the North Sea oil and gas industry by promising to keep investment reliefs on low-carbon projects, aiming to protect jobs and soften the expansion of the energy windfall tax. The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said last month that she would expand the levy on energy industry profits as part of her plan to plug a 22bn hole in the public finances that Labour said had been left by the previous Conservative government. Guardian The UKs biggest housing association has been fined after a watchdog found that its failure to carry out repairs to a childs bedroom window for four years left the home mouldy and caused serious illness in the family that lived there. Clarion housing association showed no urgency to fix the window, instead leaving it boarded up, despite repeated complaints from the tenant who said the mould caused his asthma to flare up and affected his sons mental health. Guardian Boris Johnson has held talks about a role at The Telegraph as part of former Tory chancellor Nadhim Zahawis takeover bid. The former prime minister had informal discussions with Mr Zahawi, who is assembling a consortium to buy The Telegraph as part of an auction process, about a possible job if he is successful. Telegraph Offices in the UK are selling for almost a fifth less than what their owners were hoping they would fetch, the biggest discount since the global financial crisis 15 years ago. In a sign of how tepid demand is, especially for older and less eco-friendly blocks, buyers of offices this year have on average paid 18 per cent less than the asking price, data from CoStar, the property analytics group, shows. The Times Investors pulled a record amount of cash out of China in the second quarter of this year amid concerns about the health of the worlds second-largest economy, official data showed. In the three months to June, outflows of investor capital from China reached $15 billion, according to balance of payments figures published by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange last Friday. The numbers were first reported by Bloomberg. The Times Akanksha Srivastava Byrnes appointed as as Senior Vice President of Marketing of Vahdam. Based in New York, Akanksha in her new role will be responsible for spearheading overall brand-building, global marketing strategy and growth initiatives as the company embarks on its next step of expansion. Prior to joining vahdam India, Akanksha held several Marketing roles in the US, spanning in Innovation, Activation and Performance of brands under CPG conglomerates such as MARS (with Tasty Bite), PIM Brands (with Sun-Maid Chocolate Raisins, Welchs Fruit Snacks) and Godiva Chocolates. She brings over 12+ years of experience in global and regional marketing. The brand aslo launched its range of wellness teas & spices at Walmart in the United States, nationally. Speaking on the announcement, mr. Bala Sarda, Founder & ceo, vahdam India, said, As vahdam continues to strengthen its position in the global market, Akankshas expertise in the US and international markets will be invaluable. She has a proven track record in working with global teams that can adapt to the ever-changing marketing landscape. Akankshas leadership will help us connect with consumers and enhance our brand relevance even further. Akanksha holds a Master of Business Administration from Yale School of Management. Speaking on her appointment, Akanksha said, I am honored to join vahdam India at this pivotal moment in the thriving global wellness market. Our exceptional portfolio of products and loyalty from our customers worldwide provide a robust foundation for growth. I am excited to collaborate with Bala and the talented team to not only expand our reach but also to innovate and excel in delivering wellness solutions. Together, we will explore new avenues and harness our strengths to unlock the full potential of the brand, bringing the best of vahdam India to even more wellness enthusiasts around the world. Avaada Group has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Maharashtra to develop two significant Pumped Storage Projects (PSPs) with a combined capacity of 2750 MW. The agreement was formalized between the Water Resources Department and Avaada Aqua Batteries Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Avaada Group, in a ceremony attended by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Avaada Group Chairman Vineet Mittal. The two projects covered by the MoU are the 1500 MW Pawana Falyan PSP, which will span Pune and Raigad districts, and the 1250 MW Kumbhavade PSP, located across Kolhapur and Ratnagiri districts. The total investment for these initiatives is estimated at Rs 14,000 crore and is expected to be realized over the next five to seven years. These projects are aimed at enhancing Maharashtras energy security and advancing its environmental sustainability goals. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis underscored the state's commitment to expanding its renewable energy resources, setting a target for 50% of Maharashtra's total energy output to come from renewable sources by 2030. Fadnavis highlighted the role of renewable energy in the states economic sustainability, stating, "With the collaborative efforts of our strategic partners, we are committed to transforming Maharashtra into a leader in green energy". Vineet Mittal emphasized the strategic importance of the PSPs for Avaada Group, noting, "Our pumped storage projects will not only provide round-the-clock renewable power but also enhance grid stability by integrating more solar and wind energy". renewable initiatives in Maharashtra. This includes decentralized agricultural solar PV projects and solar-wind hybrid installations. A notable project is the 1,138 MW decentralized agricultural solar PV initiative under the Mukhyamantri Saur Krushi Vahini Yojana 2.0, which aims to provide uninterrupted daytime power to farmers and support the state's push towards sustainable energy. In addition to the pumped storage projects, Avaada Energy is leading several other. This includes decentralized agricultural solar PV projects and solar-wind hybrid installations. A notable project is the 1,138 MW decentralized agricultural solar PV initiative under the Mukhyamantri Saur Krushi Vahini Yojana 2.0, which aims to provide uninterrupted daytime power to farmers and support the state's push towards sustainable energy. The implementation of these PSPs is projected to create over 3,000 direct and indirect jobs, contributing to the region's socio-economic development. Additionally, the use of advanced pumped storage technology is expected to significantly reduce carbon emissions, aligning with both state and national sustainability objectives. The European Commission has issued a strong warning to Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and owner of X (formerly Twitter), concerning the platform's handling of harmful content. This comes just before a live conversation between Musk and former U.S. President Donald Trump, which will be accessible to users in the European Union. Thierry Breton, a key member of the European Commission, sent a formal letter emphasizing X's obligations under the Digital Services Act (DSA), a major EU regulation that enforces strict content management standards for large online platforms. Given that X has over 300 million users globally and is classified as a 'Very Large Online Platform' under the DSA, the company is required to adhere to stringent EU laws. Breton's letter highlighted the importance of the upcoming live interview, stressing that X must ensure its content complies with EU standards, especially since a significant portion of its users are in the EU. Breton wrote, "As the individual entity ultimately controlling a platform with over 300 million users worldwide, of which one-third are in the EU, that has been designated as a Very Large Online Platform, you have the legal obligation to ensure Xs compliance with EU law and in particular the DSA in the EU". The letter underlined X's dual responsibility to protect freedom of expression while also implementing effective measures to curb the spread of harmful content. Breton referenced recent unrest in the UK as an example of how content amplification on social media can lead to violence, hatred, and disinformation, particularly during politically sensitive periods. Breton also mentioned ongoing legal proceedings against X regarding its handling of illegal content under the DSA, warning of the potential risks posed by Xs content practices during major political events. He stated, "We are monitoring the potential risks in the EU associated with the dissemination of content that may incite violence, hate, and racism in conjunction with major political or societal events around the world". The letter concluded with a stern warning to Musk: "My services and I will be extremely vigilant to any evidence that points to breaches of the DSA and will not hesitate to make full use of our toolbox, including by adopting interim measures, should it be warranted to protect EU citizens from serious harm". Stocks to Watch Today, Tuesday, August 13, 2024: The BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty50, India's main stock indices, are expected to start the day with mixed global influences. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei rose by 2.33 percent, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.08 percent, South Korea's Kospi increased by 0.11 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose by 0.21 percent, and the Asia Dow went up by 1.42 percent. At 07:00 AM, GIFT Nifty futures were around 24,360, indicating a cautious opening for the NSE Nifty50 index. Vodafone Idea: The company reported a reduced loss of Rs 6,434 crore for the quarter ended June 2024, down from Rs 7,674 crore the previous year. Revenues slightly decreased to Rs 10,508 crore from Rs 10,606 crore. The company is currently in discussions with lenders to secure debt funding of Rs 35,000 crore for network expansion. As of June, the company has a total of 210 million subscribers, with 126.7 million being 4G subscribers. Hero MotoCorp: The worlds largest two-wheeler company is scheduled to release its earnings report for the first fiscal quarter of FY25 on August 13. Analysts expect strong growth in sales volume and premiumization trends to contribute to double-digit sales growth for the company. It is anticipated that the company will achieve a 20 percent year-on-year increase in revenue, reaching Rs 10,520 crore. Indian Railway Finance Corporation: IRFC reported a 1.64% increase in net profits, amounting to Rs 1,576.83 crore for the April to June quarter of the financial year 2024-25. The company's revenue from operations also saw a 1.37% rise, reaching Rs 6,765.63 crore for the first quarter of the financial year 2024-25. JSW Steel: The company is planning to acquire a controlling stake in an Australian miner for $170 million in order to secure the supply of coking coal, a key raw material that is scarce in India. The company's board has approved a payment of $120 million for a 66.67% stake in M Res NSW HCC Pty Ltd. Additionally, an extra $50 million will be paid by 2030 as part of a deferred payment agreement with the miner. Power Grid Corporation: The company has won a transmission project in Rajasthan through tariff-based competitive bidding. The project involves establishing the transmission system associated with the 'Additional Transmission System for Evacuation of Power from Bhadla-III PS as Part of Rajasthan REZ Phase-III Scheme (20 GW)'. RVNL, Vodafone Idea, Dixon Technologies (India), Oil India, Oracle Financial, Prestige Estates and Zydus Lifesciences: MSCI India Index will include seven new stocks in its August reshuffle. Stocks of companies like RVNL, Vodafone Idea, Dixon Technologies (India), Oil India, Oracle Financial, Prestige Estates, and Zydus Lifesciences are expected to be included in the index, while Bandhan Bank will be excluded from the index. The changes will be implemented as of the close of August 30, 2024. HDFC Bank shares will see an increase in its weightage in the MSCI indices in two tranches. After the August round of weightage increase, HDFC Bank is likely to attract inflows worth $1.5 billion. Wipro: The company announced the resignation of its Chief Technology Officer, Subha Tatavarti, effective August 16th. Tatavarti, who joined Wipro in March 2021 from Walmart Inc., is leaving to pursue opportunities outside the company. Wipro has not yet announced Tatavartis replacement. Yes Bank: Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) is in discussions to purchase a 51% stake in Yes Bank Ltd. SMBC's global CEO, Akihiro Fukutome, is expected to meet with officials from the RBI and SBI to discuss the potential acquisition. The deal is valued at about $5 billion. State-owned SBI, which currently owns a 23.99% stake in Yes Bank, has been seeking to reduce its holding since a three-year lock-in period expired last year. Apollo Hospitals Enterprise: The company is scheduled to release its April-June earnings on August 13. It is expected that the company's revenue will grow by around 15% from the previous fiscal year, reaching Rs 5,072 crore from Rs 4,418 crore. Additionally, the net profit is expected to surge by 72% to Rs 287 crore, up from Rs 166.60 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Bharti Airtel: The company is about to acquire a 24.5% stake in British Telecom Group Plc through its subsidiary, Bharti Televentures UK Ltd. The shares will be purchased from Altice UK, which currently holds a 24.5% stake in BT. Bharti Enterprises clarified that the funds for this transaction are not affiliated with Bharti Airtel or any of its subsidiaries. The acquisition will take place in two phases: 9.99% of BT will be acquired immediately, with the remaining 14.51% to be acquired after receiving regulatory clearances. The exact value of the deal was not disclosed, but Altice's 24.5% stake in BT was estimated to be worth about 3.2 billion based on the last closing price on the London Stock Exchange. National Mineral Development Corporation: In the June quarter, NMDC reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,970.8 crore, which is a 19% increase from Rs 1,652.2 crore in the same period last year. This rise is attributed to increased realizations. The company's consolidated revenue from operations remained unchanged at Rs 5,414.2 crore for the quarter ending on June 30. Credit Access Grameen: Indias largest micro-lender may soon have a new owner as its Dutch promoter looks to exit. The Netherlands-based CreditAccess India B.V., which holds a 66.56% stake, is seeking a valuation of around $2.7 billion for the micro-financier. Axis Bank: The Delhi High Court has directed the Securities and Exchange Board of India and the Reserve Bank of India to expedite their investigation into alleged fraudulent practices by Axis Bank in the sale and purchase of shares in Max Life Insurance. The court dismissed a petition by former Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy, who had requested the formation of a committee to look into these claims. ITC: The company has signed a new property in Pushkar, Rajasthan, to be operated under the Welcomhotel brand. The company has partnered with SRK Hospitality Pvt Ltd for the 96-room hotel, which is expected to open in 2026. Hindustan Copper: The company reported a twofold rise in consolidated net profit, reaching Rs 113.40 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2024, up from Rs 47.28 crore in the same period last year. Additionally, the company's consolidated income for the April-June period increased to Rs 500.44 crore from Rs 384.73 crore in the previous year. Zetwerk: The contract manufacturing marketplace has added automobile and engineering industry veteran Vinod Kumar Dasari to its board of directors. Dasari currently serves as an Operating Partner at private equity firm Advent International. TVS Motor Company: The company has earmarked Rs 2,200 crore for this fiscal year, with half of the funds allocated to capital expenditure and the remainder for product development, new launches, and marketing expenses. Berger Paints India: The company has implemented three price increases since June, which are expected to drive its 'value' growth to approximately 5% in the second quarter ending in September 2024. The company aims to double its revenue to Rs 20,000 crore by 2029. Hindustan Zinc: The company clarified a report claiming that it would be giving out a special dividend of Rs 6,000 crore to its shareholders this month. The company stated that only the Board of Directors has the authority to make such a decision, and no proposal has been submitted to the Board yet. Aadhar Housing Finance: The company plans to scale back its operations in Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Orissa due to increasing delinquencies. It is also considering partnering with a private sector bank for its co-lending business. Oberoi Realty: The company has announced that the National Company Law Tribunal has approved its resolution plan for Nirmal Lifestyle Realty. As per the plan, the company will pay Rs 230 crore to the creditors of the bankrupt firm. Additionally, the company will subscribe to 100% of the equity share capital of NLRPL for Rs 1,00,000, making it a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company. Olectra Greentech: The company reported a 34.2% increase in net profit to Rs 24.3 crore and a 45.3% rise in revenue to Rs 313.9 crore. Additionally, other income increased to Rs 3.06 crore, and the share of associates became profitable at Rs 3.55 crore. The board re-appointed Venkateswara Pradeep Karumuru as the Managing Director of the company for three years, effective July 29th. Kotak Mahindra Bank: The companys wholly-owned subsidiaries, Sonata Finance and BSS Microfinance, have approved a Scheme of Amalgamation of Sonata with BSS. The scheme is subject to approval from shareholders, creditors, and the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. To tackle overcrowding, a growing student population, and a class size law in New York state, hundreds of new school seats are on the way for Staten Island. New schools are being constructed throughout the borough, while other seats may be acquired by leasing or buying and renovating space. Additionally, charter schools are also expanding opportunities for more seats. The city School Construction Authority (SCA) 2020-2024 Capital Program includes more than $539 million in funding for 11 buildings, adding 4,989 seats on Staten Island. Heres a look at the new school seats expected for the borough. RICHMOND PREP The Richmond Preparatory Charter School welcomed all students, especially those on the autism spectrum, in September 2021. It is a college prep charter school with a computer science focus integrating all students in its classes and activities. The school opened to 110 sixth-grade students at its temporary space at Corporate Commons 3 in Bloomfield. It is slated to move into its permanent location in September at the former Barnes & Noble building on Richmond Avenue in New Springville. A new grade will be added each year up to 12th grade. The school provides students with all of the traditional classes, like English language arts, mathematics, science and social studies, as well as some classes unique to the school. NEW SCHOOL IN TRAVIS New York City broke ground last October on a new $80 million, three-story elementary school building that will serve students in the Travis neighborhood relieving overcrowding at nearby PS 26, which is located 1,000 feet away at 4108 Victory Blvd. Once completed, the new school will become a state-of-the-art, 547-seat facility located at 24 Shelley Ave. The new building will serve 547 students in elementary school from pre-K through fifth grade. It will also include 96 seats for District 75 special education students. Currently, the school name is referred to as PS 121, according to the SCA. EDUCATION COMPLEX AT FORMER ST. JOHN VILLA Hundreds of new school seats are on tap for Staten Island as the former St. John Villa Academy campus will be transformed into an educational complex which will include the boroughs first dedicated Gifted & Talented school over the next several years. Nearly 2,000 more public school seats will be added to Staten Island at the former seven-acre property in Arrochar. The SCA acquired the site in 2019 a year after the city purchased the property under former Mayor Bill de Blasio. In May, it was announced that a dedicated Gifted and Talented (G&T) school serving students from kindergarten through eighth grade will open at the campus. The proposed project consists of three new schools the G&T primary/intermediate school, and a shared facility for two separate, independently operated middle/high schools. That means a total of 2,114 total seats will be coming to the site 764 at the G&T school, and a combined 1,350 at the two middle/high schools. Seats will also be allocated for students in District 75. PS 5 ADDITION A new 290-seat addition is coming to PS 5 in Huguenot. According to the SCA, the site, located at 348 Deisius St., will be ready in 2025. The total estimated cost is $78.85 million. PS 13 ANNEX A new 283-seat annex will be created for PS 13 in Rosebank located at the former St. Marys School. The annex, located at 1 Virginia Ave., will be ready in 2027. The total estimated cost is $69.88 million. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. The Staten Island Rotary Foundation is now accepting proposals from Staten Island-based not-for-profit organizations interested in funding. Successful proposals will be selected from those which provide programs that benefit Staten Islanders and that benefit youth, the elderly and the disabled and are education/training or health/wellness programs in nature. A maximum grant of $3,000 per organization will be entertained. The proposal should be structured so that funds received from the Staten Island Rotary Foundation will be matched by other funding sources and/or in-kind services. It should not be as a stand-alone funding source. Organizations interested in applying for the grant should also meet certain eligibility criteria. They should be tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and file an IRS Form 990. This ensures that only qualified applicants apply, saving time for both the organizations and the Staten Island Rotary Foundation. To apply for the grant, request a Grant Application by emailing the Staten Island Rotary Foundation at SIRFoundation@verizon.net. The final proposal must be submitted by Monday, Sept. 30. At a Food Drive are from the left, Marylee Montalvo, Mary Jane O'Connell, both past presidents of the Rotary Club of Staten Island, January Nuzzo, club secretary, and Rosemarie Scampas, past president and secretary. (Courtesy/Rotary Club of Staten Island)Staten Island Advance About the Rotary Club of Staten Island and its giving arm the Staten Island Rotary Foundation The Rotary Club of Staten Island has assisted numerous social service and community initiatives that serve to better the community locally and worldwide. The Club, through the Staten Island Rotary Foundation, has funded hospitals, foster care agencies, and agencies that assist the aged, the homeless and those living with cancer, youth education, HIV/AIDS, and other diseases. Internationally, through its fundraising efforts, the Club has assisted when disasters hit near and far. In the aftermath of 9-11, the members collected and delivered water, food, and supplies to recovery workers. Theyve responded to hurricanes, tsunamis, and other disasters. The Club has assisted refugees from war-torn countries. The Rotary Club was there after SuperStorm Sandy devastated the Northeast, helping neighbors while being impacted personally and professionally. The Rotary Club of Staten Island Hunger Hurts initiative supports the need for food in the Staten Island community by purchasing and delivering food to local food pantries. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Staten Island Rotary Club stepped up its efforts to deliver supplies and food to its local community by partnering with Amazon to distribute hundreds of pallets of goods to those in need. It also hosts an Ecology Day program that challenges students to be mindful and creative in addressing ecological issues, awarding schools grants to recognize their participation and excellence. Since its inception, it has distributed more than $2.4 million. A star of the movie adaptation of Sen. JD Vances Hillbilly Elegy memoir is clapping back at the GOP vice presidential candidate, USA Today reported. Glenn Close, who was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in the film, hit at Vance for his comments about childless cat ladies. Eve would have left a bleeding mouse head in the bed of anyone who criticized any kind of lady with a CAT! Close wrote in a caption for a photo of her and her cat that Close posted on Instagram. Glenn Close shading JD Vance pic.twitter.com/Fbk31bOQJ9 Erik Anderson (@awards_watch) August 11, 2024 Close played Vances grandmother in the movie adaptation of Vances best-selling book. Vance has hit out at the media and opponents for mischaracterizing his childless cat ladies comment. Vance originally made the remark during a 2021 television appearance with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, USA Today reported. When asked to explain his comments about the childless left, Vance said, We are effectively run in this country by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that theyve made, and so they wanna make the rest of the country miserable, too, Vance answered. Its just a basic fact. You look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez), the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children. Harris has two stepchildren with her husband, Doug Emhoff, and Transportation Secretary Buttigieg has adopted twins with his husband, Chasten. Vance argued that people with children have a direct stake in the future of the country and are more worthy of votes and support. Speaking on ABC News This Week on Sunday, Vance said his comments about giving more votes to parents was not part of his policy platform, USA Today reported. Close has won three Tony Awards, three Emmy Awards and has been nominated for an Academy Award eight times. Former GOP Rep. Susan Molinari has backed Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris for president. And she said her father, the late GOP power broker Guy Molinari, might have done the same thing this year. Molinari told Spectrum News, I would not be surprised that my father would never vote for Donald Trump. I think he would be proud of me and understands all the reasons that I was doing it. Guy Molinari, who died in 2018, was a former five-term congressman from Staten Island and also served three terms as borough president. I wouldnt be surprised if he was not a Republican for Biden or a Republican for Harris, Susan Molinari said of her father. Guy Molinari during the 2016 primaries had said that he wouldnt vote for Trump under any circumstances, the Advance/SILive.com reported at the time. He slammed Trump for offensive comments and a dearth of clearly defined policy stances, and called upon fellow GOP pols to condemn Trump. But Molinari reconsidered and in September of 2016 and backed Trump in the general election. Much of the attention in the presidential campaign has been focused on only one side of Donald Trump, Molinari said at the time. However, in recent days, most particularly with his policy statements on child care, the economy and national security, we see the side of Donald Trump that I always knew existed: substantive, decisive and ready to serve. He also credited Trump for strong support of the military and national intelligence gathering. The real Donald Trump is standing up, Molinari said at that time. Hes our next president of the United States and I support him. Susan Molinari, who said she was once very close to former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a key ally of her fathers, told Spectrum News that it was so sad to see Giuliani these days. Giuliani, Trumps former attorney, has been involved in court cases and bankruptcy proceedings relating to his part in lodging challenges to Trumps loss in the 2020 presidential election. Donald Trump leaves very few people untouched and unscathed. And Rudy Giuliani is probably exhibit number one, she said. Susan Molinari, part of the Republicans for Harris campaign organization, said that her endorsement of Harris should be viewed as both a backing of the vice president and an endorsement against Trump. Susan Molinari backed Democrat Joe Biden for president in 2020. Ive known Donald Trump for most of my political career, she said at that years Democratic convention, so disappointing and lately so disturbing. Molinari said she is still a Republican and hopes that the GOP will revert to the party she once knew. Susan Molinari, who served in Congress from 1990 to 1997, was the keynote speaker at the 1996 Republican National Convention. Mamuka Mdinaradze, executive secretary of the ruling party Georgian Dream, has accused President Salome Zourabichvili of supporting opposition interests and called for an investigation into election monitoring organizations."Salome Zourabichvili is a person who still holds the post of President and is the most active oppositionist. It's a simple story. She is not concerned about any monitoring issues, and practically no risks accompany our elections. There are risks, for example, with ISFED, that the parallel vote counting data is not falsified again and that ISFED does not hide the truth from us for a month after the elections.I call on Salome Zourabichvili to observe the monitoring organizations, which in turn falsified the elections in Georgia, and maybe tell us what conclusions she will draw as a result of this good observation. However, she will not tell us, because she herself is a participant in these agency plans, on which the plans of the United National Movement are based," said Mamuka Mdinaradze.The political party Aleko Elisashvili - Citizens has officially joined the opposition coalition consisting of Lelo, Ana Dolidze for the People, and Freedom Square. The announcement was made during an event held at Gudiashvili Square.Aleko Elisashvili criticized the current government during his speech, stating that the administration is compromising national freedom and selling out the country. He expressed concerns about the government's impact on the nation's integrity and highlighted the necessity for opposition unity to address these issues.Elisashvili also addressed past conflicts within the opposition, stating that the time has come for reconciliation rather than apologies. He emphasized that overcoming previous disagreements is crucial for effectively tackling the current political challenges. Ive spent the past two weeks reading about how our Olympic athletes, especially our swimmers, are role models. Sure, role models for a small bunch of folks who want to train upwards of a zillion hours a week and can work brilliantly under pressure. But if they were role models, we wouldnt have hundreds of drownings a year (and many near misses). We wouldnt have millions of adults who describe themselves as poor swimmers or as non-swimmers. Australias gold medal-winning womens 4x200m relay team: Lani Pallister, Ariarne Titmus, Brianna Throssell and Mollie OCallaghan. Credit: Digitally altered Getty Image Our sport spending priorities are borked, and Im writing this as a person who LOVES the Olympics. Im as much a fan of winning as the next couch vegetable. But we need athletes to do more than win. Kevin Norton, professor of sport and exercise science at UNSW, first wrote about the cost of gold medals in 2000. Back then, we were spending about $37 million for each gold. He estimates its double that now. Vaso Ulic is a meticulous planner. Yet, this time, his alleged plans went seriously awry, literally going up in smoke. Police say the sometime vigneron was passionate about cultivating an antipodean industry: the Australian cocaine drug trade. The arrest of Ulic last month has exposed an audacious plan to bring 2.5 tonnes of cocaine into Australia that was brought undone by a series of unfortunate events. The panicked crew allegedly set fire to a boat stuffed with cocaine when a plane flew overhead. Credit: NSW Police Ulic was arrested in a global police operation involving the FBI, Europol and NSW Police that also saw his Australian-born son Nikolai Ulic and 10 others arrested in the Montenegrin capital of Podgorica in July. Documents outlining Montenegrin authorities allegations against Ulic, obtained by the Herald, reveal the truly global scope of the operation, which could have generated $7.5 billion, based on Sydneys current street value of $300-a-gram of cocaine . The revocation of a suppression order protecting the identity of a rapist who terrified women on the north shore during the 1990s and, after a 2020 court decision muzzling the media from publishing his name, indecently assaulted another young woman two years ago, is an important moment in holding courts to account on open justice principles. The Herald on Tuesday won a legal bid to publicly name Graham James Kay, the so-called North Shore Rapist. Now 73, Kay raped six women and girls and attacked two more victims and was sentenced to 20 years in prison when a judge concluded his crimes were calculated to instil the fear of death into his victims. Since his parole in 2015, the NSW government has taken out a series of Extended Supervision Orders designed to help him quietly rejoin society. Graham Kay has escaped public scrutiny thanks to court supression orders. But he did not quietly rejoin society. He grabbed and kissed a terrified 16-year-old girl in a supermarket, brought a sex worker to his home in breach of his order and followed a young woman home and groped her. Those crimes of stalking and sexual touching were reported in the media briefly, but crucial details including the NSW government dropping a significant restraint that might have prevented his latest attack remained secret because of the 2020 suppression order. The NSW government has serious questions to answer about why an order that helped Kay to re-offend was made. Kays ability to remain anonymous is just the tip of an iceberg. The number of suppression orders taken out across Australia has grown like a blight on the judicial framework. In the first six months of this year 467 suppression orders were circulated to the media (although far more were granted). Last year they totalled 1111 and have been mounting steadily since 2017 when 857 were circulated or notified. 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 Near the fence of Australias largest airport is an invisible barrier that cannot be penetrated. It was something workers building a $2.6 billion motorway to Sydney Airports domestic and international terminals had to be ultra-vigilant about, especially when lifting loads. The flight ceiling technically known as an obstacle limitation surface has required many of the new Sydney Gateway motorways light poles to be much shorter than standard poles. Those closest to the landing approach for the main north-south runway are just three metres high, less than a third of the height of a standard street light. Even so, the flight ceiling is only about 100 millimetres above the motorways light poles near the runway. The final section of the Sydney Gateway is due to open on September 1. Credit: Dominic Lorrimer It illustrates the raft of challenges workers have had to overcome over the past four years to build the toll-free motorway, the final stretch of which will open on September 1. Motorists will save an average of up to 17 minutes using a new Sydney Gateway exit to the airport from the WestConnex junction at St Peters, instead of driving through local streets in Mascot. Transport for NSW project director Tristan Frost said construction near the main runway was highly constrained because of the flight ceiling, requiring much work to be undertaken during the airports curfew from 11pm to 6am. Advertisement At other times, construction equipment had to be modified for work near the airports boundary fence during the day to ensure it was below the flight ceiling. Its an invisible ceiling. All the workers were always mindful because of the ceiling in case they lifted anything, he said. Light poles for the gateway motorway near Sydney Airports main north-south runway are only about three metres tall, less than a third the height of standard street lights. Credit: Dominic Lorrimer The flight ceiling was one of many challenges that made the new motorway a very risky project. Other risks included heavy industrial contamination, a nearby rail line to Port Botany and a building on the old Tempe rubbish tip, which required 10,000 column piles to be rammed into the ground. Its literally like a bridge in the sense that those piles are founded down to 20 to 25 metres, Frost explained. The landfill is soft ground, and its not strong enough to have normal pavement thats just compacted earth. Like projects such as Sydneys mega-metro rail lines, construction was severely disrupted by pandemic lockdowns and wet weather several years ago. All up, the gateway comprises five kilometres of motorway and 19 bridge structures, including twin arch bridges which are wider than the Sydney Harbour Bridge at eight lanes. Advertisement The opening of the final stretch to traffic will test officials management of greater traffic flows from the St Peters junction to the airports terminals. The gateway has the capacity for more than 100,000 vehicles a day. Officials want to avoid a repeat of the chaos that happened after the Rozelle interchange opened last November, and the project has been opened in stages to limit traffic disruption. Sydney Gateway comprises about five kilometres of motorway and 19 bridge structures. Credit: Dominic Lorrimer Sydney Airport operations general manager Greg Hay said staff were working to ensure the smooth opening of the final part of the motorway connection, doubling kerbside staff to 60 for two weeks during peak travel periods. Weve made sure that within the precinct as well, weve got defined areas and response plans to make sure that if there is any build-up of traffic, we can manage that in real-time and keep the traffic flowing, he said. Gateway is not just a new road. Its a critical piece of infrastructure that is significantly going to enhance travel times around Sydney. WestConnex general manager Denise Kelly said there would be a settling in period for the new airport connection, and she urged motorists to use recently released animated drive-throughs to familiarise themselves with their routes. Advertisement One of the women who survived the North Shore Rapist helped unmask her own attacker, penning a powerful letter that argued the community should have the right to protect themselves in a way she could not have protected herself. The NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down a 2020 ruling that had suppressed Graham James Kays name and allowed him to distance himself from his attacks on eight women and girls in the late 1990s. The North Shore Rapist was revealed again as Graham Kay after survivors and this masthead urged a court to unmask him. Kays attacks have continued since his release from prison without substantial punishment, and he has since been released back into the community, prompting The Sydney Morning Herald to challenge the suppression order. Among the pages of evidence provided to the court was a short but powerful letter written by one of the women Kay stalked and assaulted more than 20 years ago. The University of Sydney is co-operating with police as they work to contact the Chinese family of an international student found dead in a suspected murder-suicide at a Burwood unit complex on Monday. Investigators were called to the Burwood Grand at 8.45am on Monday when a member of the public found a 21-year-old man dead in a garden bed at the Conder Street block, having apparently leapt to his death. Strike Force Trophins has been launched after two bodies were found at the Burwood building. Credit: Edwina Pickles Officers then entered his apartment and discovered the body of a 21-year-old woman and what they say was the murder weapon. The woman, also a Chinese international student at the same university, had been stabbed to death. A fatal helicopter crash into the roof of a far north Queensland hotel could have been a lot worse, investigators say. Hundreds of guests were evacuated and two people hospitalised after the massive explosion at Cairns DoubleTree by Hilton in Cairns early on Monday. The pilot died at the scene and is yet to be identified, with mystery surrounding the circumstances of the unauthorised flight. Australian Transport Safety Bureau Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell said the crash could have been deadlier given the rotor blades of the helicopter smacked into the hotel rooms, one of which had an elderly couple asleep inside. Almost eight years ago, a routine morning bus trip in Moorooka suddenly turned into a horrifying emergency in which three Queensland men ran into danger to save 11 passengers. Now those men Peter Buxton, Crispin McCorry, and Aguek Nyok are being recognised by the governor-general with Australian bravery commendations. The three strangers worked to free trapped passengers and douse flames after bus driver Manmeet Sharma was attacked with a petrol bomb in Brisbanes south shortly after 9am on October 28, 2016. Peter Buxton (left), Aguek Nyok (middle) and Crispin McCorry (right) all individually received Commendations of Brave Conduct from the governor-general. Sharma, who had only been a bus driver for a few months, did not survive. A West Australian school has been caught cheating at NAPLAN, with teachers handing out a cheat sheet on the day when students were meant to have only a bit of blank paper for working out. The 2024 results were released late on Tuesday night, with a group of 19 year 3 students results withheld due to inappropriate assistance being made available during the test the only substantiated report of cheating made across the country. A spokesman for the School Curriculum and Standards Authority said it involved a planning sheet, which helps students prepare before NAPLAN testing, being handed out on the day of the test. The school has been counselled and is undertaking measures to improve procedures for future years. The compromised data has been withheld, he said. A rare disagreement has erupted between the nations top spy and the Coalition over whether Hamas supporters should be allowed in Australia, as Palestinian advocates grow impatient with delays in establishing a permanent visa scheme for people fleeing the war in Gaza. Coalition MPs wrote to new Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke on Tuesday urging him to ensure no known supporters of Hamas, a listed terrorist organisation, were permitted to enter Australia. ASIO boss Mike Burgess said there was a difference between financial, ideological and rhetorical support for Hamas. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen ASIO director-general Mike Burgess said on Sunday that anyone who had advocated violence would be ruled out and providing financial support or material aid to Hamas might be a problem for Palestinians undergoing security checks as part of their visa application process, but just rhetorical support for the group would not. The flare-up over visas for Palestinians came as parliaments powerful intelligence committee called for Foreign Minister Penny Wong to consider taking the dramatic step of designating the Hezbollah-controlled area of southern Lebanon a declared area, meaning it would be illegal for Australians to be there. Liverpool City Councils decision to enter direct negotiations over the sale of two parcels of land to Moorebank Sports Club may have fallen foul of corruption watchdog guidelines, a confidential report has found. The 23-page probity report found the embattled council did not manage conflict of interest declarations and no due diligence was undertaken before the $8 million sale of two lots of Hammondville Park. The report, prepared by professional services firm OConnor Marsden and obtained by the Herald, was submitted to council ahead of an extraordinary general meeting on Tuesday called in part to consider proceeding with the Hammondville Park plus the provision of 283 car spaces. An artists impression of the Hammondville pool which will be partially funded by the sale of the two lots to Moorebank Sports Club. Credit: Liverpool City Council Despite the concerns, Liberal councillors voted to proceed with the sale on Tuesday, which will partially fund the development of the Hammondville aquatic centre, a $50 million joint promise by Liverpool City Council Mayor Ned Mannoun and his wife, Liberal Holsworthy MP Tina Ayyad. Theres nothing easy about being a young nurse starting your career. Its rewarding, and I love my job, but it is also challenging. So I appreciate anything that makes my life a little easier. Thats why Ive come to love e-scooters. They make me feel safe, they save me money, theyre fun, and they make me feel good about not driving my car everywhere. So when Melbourne City Council announced its plan to ban hire e-scooters on Monday with no warning, I was naturally shocked and disappointed. Nurse Lucy Dahan uses e-scooters to commute. Credit: Joe Armao I know some people dont ride or park them as responsibly as I do, but a few bad apples shouldnt result in them being taken away from the overwhelming majority of good riders like me. Commuting from my home in Port Melbourne when I am working a night shift in the critical and intensive care unit can be intimidating and daunting. It can feel unsafe walking alone in the early hours of the morning or riding on near-empty public transport, hoping nothing goes wrong and that no untoward characters get on before you get off. Everyone in Melbourne has at least one story of a train, tram or bus ride from hell, where someone having a bad day gets on and makes everyone else feel unsafe. On an e-scooter, the worst that will happen is youll be forced to wait at a set of traffic lights next to someone for a minute or two. A retired judge will investigate allegations that union officials faked documents in a bid to force out the Transport Workers Unions Victorian secretary, who has been accused of harassing staff. On Friday, the TWUs national office said it would spend the weekend considering allegations made against state secretary Mem Suleyman of harassing behaviour, which he contests. Transport Workers Union Victoria branch secretary Mem Suleyman. Credit: TWU But over the weekend they were also notified of counter-allegations and the national committee has appointed its independent national ombudsman, retired judge Frank Marks, to investigate all claims. Sources have confirmed to The Age that these new allegations included that union officials Dissio Markos, Bill Baarini and Peter Mancuso had misled the union and their branch committee of management in the process against Suleyman, including alleged fraudulent production of documents. Kyle Flanagan maintained I did not bite Stephen Crichton, despite being found guilty of doing just that at the NRL judiciary. In a huge blow for St George Illawarras finals hopes, Flanagan was hit with a four-match ban for biting Crichtons nose midway through the season half of Saturday nights blockbuster clash against the Bulldogs. Canterbury captain Crichton did not complain on Saturday night, while it remains unclear if the Bulldogs informed a ground manager at Nestrata Jubilee Stadium of the incident after full-time. Crichton did not attend the two-hour hearing at League HQ on Tuesday night. Loading My trip is during September and October, the tail end of the wet season for most of South-East Asia. While this brings the occasional afternoon downpour, it also means fewer tourists, so accommodation is cheaper and more available. It soon becomes apparent that a private ensuite room in a hostel is almost always more expensive than one in a local guesthouse, so, aside from two nights at the start of my trip at The Yard, an excellent backpackers hostel, I stick to small hotels. Before arriving at a new destination, I use booking.com or agoda.com to reserve the first night or two, then look around for alternatives or negotiate directly with the accommodation if I want to extend. Travelling solo is the best way to meet other travellers. Most of the big cities have free (aka tip-based) walking tours, which are perfect for getting your bearings and some initial recommendations. Then I use getyourguide.com and tripadvisor.com to research more specialist tours. Often its possible to find the website of the underlying operator and get a better deal by going direct. Unsurprisingly, the most ground-breaking change from the last time I backpacked is having internet access on my phone thanks to cheap local SIMs. Google Maps is a lifesaver, not just for directions but also for attraction and restaurant reviews, as is Grab, the regions most popular rideshare app. The website 12go.asia also proves invaluable for booking train and bus tickets. The downside to all this technology is that its easy to squander your trip buried in your phone rather than interacting with people and appreciating the sights. Its a perennial challenge for the modern traveller with no easy fix. One rule I find helps is no phone usage while eating or waiting for transport. Its a simple edict that encourages me to be more present and engaged. Loading The merits of solo travel are frequently espoused the freedom, the flexibility, the lack of compromise but there are benefits to being an older traveller too. Not only are you more confident, capable and comfortable in your own skin, but you tend to care less about what anyone else thinks. While visiting one of the picturesque blue lagoons outside Vang Vieng in Laos one day, I watch the interactions of a group of young English backpackers. The boys spend the morning showing off in an attempt to impress the girls, who seem far more interested in gossiping and getting the perfect selfie. I remember those days and I dont miss them for a second. With no one to entertain or impress, Im able to savour the stunning beauty of the lagoon and its dramatic setting at the base of a soaring limestone escarpment. Savour the beauty of your surrounds without anyone to impress. Older travellers normally have bigger budgets, so Im able to jump in a cab when required, eat at nicer restaurants and splash out on the pricier experiences that are often the most memorable such as a sunrise hot-air balloon flight over Vang Viengs dramatic mountainous landscape. Rather than take the cheaper backpacker-crammed slow boat along the Mekong from Huay Xai to Luang Prabang, I upgrade to a more comfortable vessel with upmarket operator Shompoo Cruise and share it with just two other people, a delightful mother and daughter from Spain. One disadvantage of travelling solo during the low season is that many tours require a minimum of two people to operate, so occasionally I miss out on an activity. Still, it feels like a small sacrifice for the intoxicating freedom and flexibility that comes with travelling on your own. You dont need me to wax lyrical about South-East Asias extraordinary bounty of attractions and experiences from Thailands temples and Laos spectacular scenery to Cambodias ancient kingdoms and heartbreaking history. The most memorable parts of a trip can be the journeys themselves. And while sites like the sprawling ruins at Ayutthaya and the temples of Angkor Wat are as impressive as I hoped, they arent my most treasured memories. My fondest recollections are of the journeys themselves, from the sticky clamour of a third-class rail carriage from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi, to the high-tech hum of the new Chinese-built fast train from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng. Loading Another highlight is a pothole-dodging local bus trip from Chiang Rai to Chiang Khong with its frequent stops to collect everything from car parts to a karaoke speaker. Plus the cycle rides into Laos luminous green countryside to visit lagoons and waterfalls, past farmers shepherding clanking cows and through rustic villages with shy, waving children. And then, of course, there are the entertaining interactions with an eclectic cast from all over the world. The illuminating hour-long discussion with Mop, a 20-year-old Buddhist monk living in Wat Chedi Luang temple in Chiang Mai. The bizarre conversation with an inebriated local policeman at a night market in Kanchanaburi, where he insists on showing me photos of his latest arrest. The author, Rob McFarland, with Mop, a Buddhist monk living in Wat Chedi Luang temple in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The German YouTubing couple who just arrived in Thailand after driving through every country in Europe. A nomadic yogi from Ukraine, a group of six chain-smoking young South Koreans, an aspiring Zambian influencer and an endearingly earnest Japanese man who joined me on a steep scramble up a Vang Vieng lookout. Most of them I wont ever see again but some I already have. A German guy I met on a tour in Siem Reap has since visited me in Sydney. Now I have somewhere to stay in the city of Kassel. Loading As expected, most of the travellers I meet are in their 20s and 30s, but there are a few exceptions. On the very first night of the trip, I chat to an English couple in their 50s at the bar of The Yard hostel in Bangkok. Having fled England during the pandemic, they now live in Chiang Mai, which they use as a base for exploring the region. Were having the time of our lives, said Andy. If you have the means and the health, your 50s are a golden age for travel. US soldier pleads guilty to selling defense information to China Washington, Aug 13 (AFP) Aug 13, 2024 A US Army intelligence analyst pleaded guilty on Tuesday to providing sensitive defense information to China, including documents about US weapons systems and military tactics and strategy. Sergeant Korbein Schultz, who held a top-secret security clearance, was arrested in March at Fort Campbell, a military base on the Kentucky-Tennessee border. Schultz pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to obtain and disclose national defense information, exporting technical data related to defense articles without a license, conspiracy to export defense articles without a license, and bribery of a public official, the Justice Department said in a statement. According to the charging documents, Schultz provided dozens of sensitive US military documents to an individual living in Hong Kong who he believed to be associated with the Chinese government. He was paid $42,000 for the information, according to the Justice Department. Among the documents handed over by Schultz was one discussing the lessons learned by the US Army from the Ukraine-Russia war that it would apply in a defense of Taiwan. Other documents discussed Chinese military tactics and preparedness and US military exercises and forces in South Korea and the Philippines. Other documents included information related to the HH-60 helicopter, the F-22A fighter jet, the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft and missile systems. "Governments like China are aggressively targeting our military personnel and national security information and we will do everything in our power to ensure that information is safeguarded from hostile foreign governments," said Robert Wells, executive assistant director of the FBI's National Security Branch. Schultz potentially faces decades in prison. A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for January 23, 2025. Schultz's arrest came less than a year after the arrests of two US Navy sailors in California on charges of spying for China. Petty officer Wenheng Zhao was sentenced to 27 months in prison in January after pleading guilty to charges of conspiring with a foreign intelligence officer and accepting a bribe. Zhao and another US sailor, Jinchao Wei, were arrested in August. US approves $20 billion weapons package for Israel Washington, Aug 13 (AFP) Aug 13, 2024 US President Joe Biden's administration on Tuesday approved more than $20 billion in new weapons sales to Israel, brushing aside pressure from rights activists to stop arms deliveries over the death toll in Gaza. The sale comes as Biden has pressed Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire after 10 months of bloodshed, although the weapons would take years to reach Israel. In a notification to Congress, the State Department said it had approved a sale of 50 F-15 fighter jets to Israel for $18.82 billion. Israel will also buy nearly 33,000 tank cartridges, up to 50,000 explosive mortar cartridges and new military cargo vehicles. The F-15 aircraft, which will begin to be delivered in 2029, will upgrade Israel's current fleet and include radar and secure communications equipment. "The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to US national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability," the State Department said in its notice on the F-15s, which are made by Boeing. On the tank cartridges, the United States said the sale "will improve Israel's capability to meet current and future enemy threats, strengthen its homeland defense and serve as a deterrent to regional threats." The US Congress can block weapons sales, but such a process is difficult. Human rights groups and some left-leaning members of Biden's Democratic Party have urged the administration to curb or stop weapons sales to Israel, voicing revulsion at civilian casualties in the Gaza conflict. Josh Paul, who resigned from the State Department last year in protest at policy on Gaza, said Israel had given the United States no reason to believe it is moving away from "abject brutality." "Authorizing billions of dollars in new arms transfers effectively provides Israel a carte blanche to continue its atrocities in Gaza and to escalate the conflict to Lebanon," said Paul, now at the Middle East rights group Dawn. On Saturday, rescuers in the Hamas-run territory of Gaza said that 93 people were killed in an Israeli air strike at a school housing displaced Palestinians. Israel said it was targeting militants operating out of the school. Biden administration officials voiced concern over civilian deaths and declined comment on whether US weapons were used. In May, Biden froze a shipment to Israel that included 2,000-pound bombs as he warned against a mass-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where vast numbers of displaced Palestinians were living. But the administration said it has not stopped other weapons and dismissed complaints in June by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the United States was slowing down deliveries. The Gaza war began with Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,198 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures. Militants also seized 251 people, 111 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead. Israel's retaliatory military offensive in Gaza has killed at least 39,929 people, according to a toll from the territory's health ministry, which does not provide a breakdown of civilian and militant deaths. In a speech to Congress last month boycotted by many Democrats, Netanyahu called on the United States to fast-track military aid, saying it would "dramatically expedite an end to the war in Gaza." sct/aha After that, Trump began ranting about nuclear threats (which he later claimed only he could solve because he got on so well with the pot-bellied North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-un). No, Musk corrected him. Fukushima, the site of an appalling nuclear accident in 2011, as well as Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which were devastated by atomic bombs in 1945, were thriving cities again, so we had nothing to worry about. At least I think thats what Musk was saying. It took me a while to follow the discussion. Im pretty sure Elon and Donald are standing next to each other at a urinal having this conversation, quipped a Democratic strategist. Not being a guy, I wouldnt know, but they werent addressing me. Piers Morgan (with his army of 8.8 million followers) praised Trump and Musk for having a surprisingly fascinating chat about trains. This elicited a response from the alleged rapist, Andrew Tate (9.8 million followers), who said it was concerning that not everyone agreed with Trump on immigration. Brutal common sense, Tate posted. Hal Stevenson, director of policy for Lime, knows more needs to be done. We understand the importance of preventing pavement obstructions in London and have worked hard to improve user parking over the last 12 months, he says. Stevenson claims the firm is clamping down on bad parking using GPS and escalating warnings and fines, as well mandatory photos at the end of rides. Theyve also hired more people to work in their Bermondsey warehouse, as well as out on the streets. But some say that the parking rules are easily dodged. The reason all this matters is that e-bikes should be a good thing. For many of us, sailing around town on an electric bike is a useful and healthy way to travel, a great addition to the citys transport network. GadgetsBoy aka Tomi Adebayo, one of the UKs top tech experts, and Steven Woody Woodgate, from Samsung, discuss AI computing and why it can be a force for good in the creative community. Plus, how artificial intelligence wrapped in technology is helping people with accessibility needs. In fact, this upcoming Womens Super League season marks the first time that the Emirates will be the womens teams main home, and Arsenal are the only top WSL team to have that level of parity. Plus, unlike the mens game, tickets to the womens matches arent prohibitively pricey. So as well as providing for fans of the womens game, it also allows more casual fans of the mens team to visit the Emirates and cheer on the women. Waterhouse and Swift know each other socially, having been photographed on nights out together. She wrote online: It feels like an honour to simply exist at the same time as Taylor Swift, let alone be an opener for her on the biggest and best tour ever. A dream come true that I never want to wake up from. Taylor has praised Waterhouses music in return. Suki has always seemed like she stepped out of a time machine," Swift said. "Her music is so raw and hopelessly romantic because thats how she moves through the world." (He) took a photograph of the defendant (Nelson) and dog and was in the process of taking a selfie type picture of the dog, the defendant and himself when, as he started to turn away, the dog suddenly, and without warning, jumped up at him towards his neck, Mr Motaalis legal team set out in High Court filings. * FIRST NAME * LAST NAME * EMAIL Your email address * PASSWORD Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number Show * YEAR OF BIRTH You must be at least 18 years old to create an account 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1965 1964 1963 1962 1961 1960 1959 1958 1957 1956 1955 1954 1953 1952 1951 1950 1949 1948 1947 1946 1945 1944 1943 1942 1941 1940 1939 1938 1937 1936 1935 1934 1933 1932 1931 1930 1929 1928 1927 1926 1925 1924 1923 1922 1921 1920 1919 1918 1917 1916 1915 1914 1913 1912 1911 1910 1909 1908 1907 1906 * Required fields I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice CREATE ACCOUNT I'LL TRY LATER Already have an account? SIGN IN By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Pintaru was not asked to formally enter a plea to charges of attempted murder and possession of a bladed article in a public place. An urgent investigation is now ongoing and detectives are working to establish the details around exactly what happened. She praised members of the public and staff from local businesses, who bravely intervened in this incident. They put themselves at risk and showed the best of London in doing so, said Det Ch Supt Jessah. Met Detective Chief Superintendent Christina Jessah said on Monday: This is a horrific incident and our thoughts are with the victims and their family. We will continue to provide support to them over the coming days and weeks. A police cordon was in place surrounding the double doors of the TWG Tea Shop on Monday. Police officers were stationed in the cordon at the scene "I was heartbroken. I saw the woman was screaming with all her strength." Another witness named only as Desmond told reporters: It was so terrible, I've never seen a thing like that. "I just saw a kid getting stabbed and I just tried to save her, he said. It's my duty to just save them. He said he and his colleagues also gave first aid to the child until police arrived. A security guard from TWG Tea, named only as Abdullah, is understood to have intervened in the attack by accosting the knifeman. The stabbing is understood to have taken place outside TWG Tea shop, in front of the girls mother, and crowds of horrified tourists who were standing in the queues for the LEGO store and the M&M store. It was initially thought the girls mother, a 34-year-old woman, was also hurt but police said on Tuesday it was later confirmed that blood from her daughters injuries had been mistaken for injuries of her own. A court sketch of the suspect Ioan Pintaru An 11-year-old girl was found with stab wounds. She was taken to hospital with serious injuries, which were assessed as non-life threatening. The Metropolitan Police said officers were called to Leicester Square shortly after 11.30am on Monday, following reports of a stabbing. He was remanded in custody by District Judge Michael Snow until a hearing at the Old Bailey on September 10. Pintaru, a Romanian citizen, wore prison-issue grey clothes for the court hearing, and listened to proceedings with the help of an interpreter. Mr Burns added the girl is currently in hospital undergoing treatment, and requires plastic surgery for the injuries she sustained. 'Jail the Grenfell culprits': Families call for manslaughter charges over blaze 'We will never recover' says family of man, 21, stabbed to death in Brixton Society fixer banned by charity watchdog over funds meant for Kings Foundation Fortunately members of the public intervened which prevented any further injury to the child. He said the girl was stabbed eight times to the body, and she sustained wounds to her face, shoulder, wrist and neck area. Ioan Pintaru has been accused of the attempted murder of a 11-year-old girl in Leicester Square This was a random attack on a child in public, prosecutor David Burns told Tuesdays court hearing. It is said he was carrying a steak knife when he was arrested shortly after the stabbing . Ioan Pintaru, 32, of no fixed address, has been charged with attempted murder and possession of a bladed article . The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to two Australians injured in London, a Canberra official told The Independent. Authorities have revealed that the girl and her mother, who was with her at the time, are Australia tourists who were visiting the capital. The girl remains in hospital receiving treatment to her wounds, and will require plastic surgery to try to repair the damage. The attack was stopped when members of the public intervened, Westminster magistrates court was told. The youngster was stabbed repeatedly and sustained wounds to her head, shoulder, wrist and neck in the terrifying incident on Monday . An 11-year-old girl who was stabbed eight times in a random attack in Leicester Square was a tourist on holiday in London with her mother, a court has heard. I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice . Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy . Already have an account? SIGN IN I'LL TRY LATER You must be at least 18 years old to create an account Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app. Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism. Thank you for registering Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in The SNP are famed for their lack of transparency but this really takes the biscuit. They have laughably said by excluding the media that these events will be a safe space for members. What do they think the media are going to do to them? Described X owner Elon Musks claim that civil war was inevitable amid the UK riots as delusional and simply false. Ruled out striking a deal with Reform UK if he became Conservative leader. Claimed universities indulge in ideologies of grievance instead of transmitting knowledge and schools, museums and galleries apologise for our countrys history instead of celebrating it. Said equality of opportunity had given way to critical race theory and the UK has seen the politicisation of race in recent years, which he claimed Labour will do nothing to reverse. Proposed setting up a new national security police force to deal with counter-terrorism and replace Scotland Yards confused mix of national and local responsibilities and its reporting to the Mayor and the Home Secretary, with each blaming the other. Following sentencing, Chief Supt Alison Ross said: Since the start of the recent disorder in other areas of the UK, we have been clear that we will not tolerate this kind of behaviour in Cheshire, including those who post racial abuse online. About 121,000 people have been evacuated from Kursk or have fled the areas affected by fighting on their own, Russian officials say. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said it has seen geolocated footage indicating that Ukrainian forces advanced as much as 24 kilometers (15 miles) from the border. The National Weather Administration (ANM) has issued new Code Yellow and Code Orange warnings for particularly hot weather, valid until Thursday in half of the country, including Bucharest. According to meteorologists, during the day on Tuesday, there will be Code Yellow for heatwave and thermal discomfort in counties of Crisana, south-western Transylvania, north-eastern Muntenia and south-western Dobrogea. The temperature-humidity index (TIU) will exceed the critical threshold of 80 units, and maximum temperatures will range between 35 and 38 degrees Celsius, while locally, the lows will not fall below 20 degrees Celsius. Also on Tuesday, a Code Orange of particularly high temperatures, heat wave and severe discomfort will affect areas of Banat, Oltenia and most of Muntenia. Highs will reach 39 - 40 degrees, and lows will be 21 - 22 degrees, isolated up to 24 degrees in southern Banat. The forecast shows that on Wednesday, August 14, a Code Yellow heat warning will be in force, valid for northern Crisana, most of Transylvania, northern Oltenia, western, central and southern Muntenia. The ITU will exceed the critical threshold of 80 units and the maximum temperatures will generally range between 35 - 37 degrees Celsius and the minimum at 20 degrees. On the same day, a Code Orange heat wave will cover the counties of Banat, southern Crisana, southern and south-western Oltenia, and south-western Muntenia. In these areas, highs will reach 40 degrees Celsius, while the lows will not drop below 21 - 22 degrees, isolated up to 24 - 25 degrees in the Western Hills. According to ANM, on Thursday, August 15, a Code Yellow warning of particularly hot weather will affect areas of Crisana, most of Transylvania and Muntenia, and northern Oltenia. The maximum temperatures will be between 35 and 37 degrees Celsius, while the minimum temperatures will not drop below 20 degrees Celsius making for a tropical night. Also, in Banat, south and south-west Oltenia, as well as in south-west Muntenia there will be Code Orange of heat wave and severe heat discomfort. The ITU will exceed the critical threshold of 80 units, the maximum temperatures will range between 38 - 39 degrees Celsius, with the minimum temperatures at 21 - 22 degrees, isolated up to 25 degrees in the Western Hills. Meteorologists say that, in the coming days, the heat wave will persist in the west, south and restricted areas in the center and east, where the discomfort will also be high. Arad border guards on Tuesday found 40 migrants from Syria, Iran, Iraq and Turkey who tried to illegally cross the border to reach Western Europe, being hidden in two lorries. At the Nadlac II border crossing, a lorry driven by a Romanian, who declared that he was not shipping goods and was headed for Hungary, was checked on the way out of the country. "A thorough check of the vehicle led to 24 foreign citizens being found hidden in a semi-trailer. The persons were taken over for investigations. It was later revealed that they are citizens of Syria, Iraq and Turkey," the Arad Border Police reported. Also, at the Nadlac I border crossing, the border guards checked a lorry in the parking lot, finding 16 people hidden in a semi-trailer. These are migrants from Syria, Iran and Iraq who intended to cross the border illegally. The "Princess" with the elongated skull, a piece in the patrimony of the Buzau County Museum, recently introduced in the MuseumBus tour, represents one of the evidences of the skull deformation process in Romania, in the Gheraseni area, the vestige enjoying a special interest from visitors. According to the County Museum's specialists, among all the historical stories, the diadem from Gheraseni, the tomb of the princess who wore it, as well as the process of skull deformation in Hunnic peoples are of particular interest. "The skull was discovered in Gheraseni, a few kilometres from Buzau county, a tomb of a princess who wore a decorative element on her head, a diadem that is part of the County Museum's patrimony and a piece in the national treasury category, a diadem that, over time, has been the subject of many studies and exhibitions both nationally and internationally. The fascination of this discovery, among other things, lies in the fact that, being about the Hunnic population, 5th century AD, these populations have elongated skulls, skulls that were thus obtained as a result of applying a method of shaping from an early age and which gave the elongated skull shape to the members of this population. Since the development period, from early infancy, various ligatures were applied to the skull, which grew in this elongated shape, a custom that we still find today in certain populations. Similar methods can be found in Africa in those women who elongate their necks with rings, that custom of stretching their earlobes with rings," Daniel Costache, director of the Buzau County Museum, told AGERPRES. The procedure of elongating the skulls is placed by specialists in close connection with the social status of the people to whom it was applied, and the diadem discovered would confirm that only those in dominant positions were able to wear such ornaments. In the tomb of the noble Hun from Gheraseni a mirror was also deposited, representing a funerary motif of symbolic importance. "The diadem in Gheraseni is associated with the steppe practice of artificial skull deformation. It is one of the pieces of clothing specific to the noble 'Hunnic woman'. A tin mirror with a central ear was also placed in the tomb of the deceased member of the elite of the equestrian nomadic Huns from Gheraseni. The deposition of mirrors in tombs, attested in the 2nd-3rd century Sarmatic area of the Lower Danube basin, was practically unknown in the funerary ritual of the Santana de Mures culture. The practice of placing mirrors in the tombs reappeared during the first half of the 5th century when it became an important element of the funerary ritual, especially in the Middle Danube Basin. These objects may have served the purpose of mirroring but, more likely, they had a symbolic function. The pattern of concentric and radial ribs on the obverse of the mirror from Gheraseni probably suggests the sun, implicitly life, and the smooth and polished reverse, the moon, and due to its pale color was associated with the cloud, or death. The skull of the deceased Hun Alan from Gheraseni was artificially deformed. The artificial deformation of the skull is often documented in the Sarmatian funerary ritual of the 2nd-3rd centuries in Moldavia or Muntenia," shows the book "Huns and Hunnic Goths at Lower Danube", in the library of the County Museum. A replica of the deformed skull was part of the collection of exhibits presented to the public through the mobile museum. At the same time, those who want to learn about the Gheraseni diadem, the tomb of the princess who lived in the Buzau area about 1,600 years ago, or about the process and significance of skull deformation in the Huns, can visit the museum collections to talk to specialists and see the original objects. Restaurant profits fell by 12% last year, for the first time since the pandemic, and the number of active restaurants also recorded the lowest annual growth (+2%), but the number of employees in restaurants reached a record level, up by 1%, according to an analysis by online booking platform Bookingham. The analysis shows that just over 27,000 restaurants, bars, catering and other food services were listed as active in Romania last year. The evolution from 2022 to 2023 shows the lowest annual increase in the number of active companies recorded since 2008, of 2% (from 26,611 in 2022 to 27,045 active companies in 2023), reads a press release sent to AGERPRES on Tuesday. While growth of over 11% was registered after the pandemic, even 12% from year to year, 2023 proved to be a tougher year for the HoReCa industry, Bookingham maintains. "In my opinion, such a slow rise in the number of active restaurants in 2023 has two reasons and both of them are related to the legislative factor: legislative uncertainty and the lack of predictability of clear rules for the operation of the hospitality industry," said Cristian Cristea, HoReCa consultant and general manager Hostalion Business School, quoted in the press release. Profits evolved steadily until the pandemic year, when they suddenly dropped by 40% - a difference of more than EUR 200 million compared to 2019. An analysis conducted in 2021 showed that the net profit of HoReCa firms fell by 47% in that period. However, with the lifting of the restrictions, sales in restaurants, bars and cafes increased significantly in 2021 - by 57% compared to the previous year, with Romania recording the most significant increase in the European Union. 2023 is the first year after the pandemic when restaurant profits fell again, by 12% compared to 2022. "Looking at the data above, we look at three things that happened in 2023: the VAT increase on certain raw materials, the minimum wage increase and the change in the tax on sweet drinks. All these changes had an impact ranging between 3-5% on restaurants; an impact that is directly visible in profitability," says Cristian Cristea. In the top of the most profitable cities in Romania, Bucharest led in 2023, both in the number of active restaurants (3,309), as well as in terms of profit (about EUR 225 million) and number of employees (34,427). Cluj-Napoca ranked 2nd, with a profit almost 7 times lower than the capital - about EUR 33.5 million, followed by Constanta with profits of about EUR 33.2 million in 2023, Iasi (about EUR 21.4 million), and Timisoara (about EUR 21.2 million). Bookingham has collected the data of the active firms with CAEN code 56XX, which have filed their balance sheet on the List of Firms until July 8, 2024. This CAEN code covers restaurants, bars, catering and other food services. No data on hotels were included in the analysis. Romania on Tuesday dispatched a second contingent of firefighters to boost up efforts to fight wildfires affecting the Attica region of Greece. "Following the activation of the European Civil Protection Mechanism, the Romanian government has decided to add 44 Romanian firefighters and four vehicles to the crews already operatingin Greece. This is a confirmation of international solidarity and support amidst a major crisis caused by the large-scale wildfires affecting the host country," according to Romania's General Emergency Management Inspectorate (IGSU). The Emergency Management Department (DSU) through IGSU, in its capacity as national contact point, has received from the European Commission's Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) a request from Greece for international assistance, in view of the emergency generated by wildfires on its soil. "After consulting with the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu convened, on Monday, in a hybrid system, the National Emergency Management Committee, at the proposal of the DSU," the quoted source shows. As many as 40 firefighters and two fire extinguishing and rapid response vehicles are moving by air, with support from two aircraft belonging to the Romanian Air Force with the Ministry of National Defence, and another two forest fire extinguishing machines, of 3,000 liters, and four rescuers have started the dispatch by land. These additional resources are intended to improve the teams' ability to control and extinguish the fires that continue to affect the Attica region, thus helping to protect local communities. "The rapid mobilisation of Romanian firefighters underlines Romania's commitment to providing prompt aid in emergencies within the framework of international cooperation for disaster management," the IGSU said. Between August 1 and September 15, DSU, through IGSU, participates with the specialised national forest fire extinguishing module in the pre-positioning programme organised by the European Directorate-General for Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations - DG ECHO, in order to strengthen the resilience of Greece in managing this type of risk. The Romanian Naval Forces activated on Tuesday a team of EOD divers from Center 39 to intervene in the area of Chituc marine levee after receiving, around 09:30, a report from the Inspectorate for Emergency Situations Constanta about a suspicious object stranded on the shore in this area, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MApN). "From the examination of photographs taken at the scene, the object is most likely an anti-slide mine on the river, the YaRM type. The area is being monitored and secured, at this moment, by the representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in order to limit any danger," shows the cited source. EOD military divers from the Navy will intervene as soon as possible, in accordance with specific procedures, to classify and neutralize the mine. WEBSTER GROVES Residents of this suburban community are pushing back against a planned psychiatric health center on the site of a K-12 academy that they believe would add traffic and make their neighborhoods less safe. The not-for-profit mental health provider KVC Missouri wants the property at 303 North Gore Avenue to add a hospital that would take in hundreds of children and keep them overnight. KVC runs a K-12 therapeutic day school there that provides a range of community-based services. The academy will still be running if the property is rezoned. More than 40 residents came to a recent city planning commission meeting to oppose the idea. Webster Groves resident Julie Cohen, whose home is two doors from the site, said she worries about safety. Cohen said police caught a juvenile from the academy in her yard while her kids were playing nearby. I tried my hardest to shield my kids from these terrible past stories my neighbors have, Cohen said. I cant take back that incident of the kid being apprehended in my yard, but if they continue to feel this way, I am going to have to look to move elsewhere. A KVC Missouri spokesperson said the organization has no connection to the youth or incident described. Julie Cohens husband, Jared Cohen, said he spoke with a Webster Groves police officer who said there was an incident in March between a teenage girl with developmental delays and a teacher that left the teacher with severe head trauma. Webster Groves police Chief Erich Weimer confirmed there was an incident between a student and a staff member but said he could not disclose any more details, and the department denied a request for incident reports because it involved a minor. Jared Cohen said hes unhappy with the citys lack of transparency in the case. He tried to obtain the report himself, with no luck. Neither KVC nor the city of Webster Groves were proactive in disclosing the above issues, he said at the planning commission meeting last week. KVC claims an outstanding track record, and this simply isnt true. Plans call for a new childrens mental hospital with 77 beds and related outpatient services. KVC says the new health center is needed because the St. Louis region has less than half of the private psychiatric beds needed to support children. This, in turn, causes delays in admissions, long waiting lists for treatment and long travel times for families needing to find care, the organization said. Debbie Dinzebach, who lives on the same street as the KVC academy and has worked with patients with neuropathic disorders since 1985, said she is uncomfortable with the proposed expansion. She and some other residents started a petition against the facilitys expansion because she said shes scared for the neighborhoods safety. Ive experienced this firsthand with a number of patients Ive worked with over the years, she said. I dont want that where I live. Last week, the citys nine-member Plan Commission told designers they needed more information about the plans particularly those related to pedestrian crossings and biker traffic before making a decision. The City Council must ultimately approve the project before the hospital may be built. The lead architect for the KVC project, Michael Goslinga, defended the project and blamed prior problems with residents on the previous management company, Great Circle. Please dont judge this project based on the failings prior, Goslinga said at the meeting. Many of the stories we may hear tonight were all related to a previous point in time. Management issues with both operators Nonprofit group Great Circle managed the property until April 2023, when KVC Missouri acquired it. Great Circle, considered one of the largest providers of youth behavioral health services, admitted last year to federal authorities that it had falsely submitted bills to Medicaid for treatment services for six residents between 2019 and 2020. Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith Reiter, who led the team on the case, said the nonprofit claimed to provide enhanced supervision to the kids at the facility but failed to provide it. A cascade of issues can arise from inadequate supervision, particularly for children with such intensive need for treatment and assistance, she said in a statement last year. In a settlement with the Department of Justice, Great Circle agreed to pay $1.8 million and add programs to monitor the compliance of a code of ethics. KVC operates psychiatric hospitals for kids across the state. They have facilities in St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, Columbia and St. James. Its had its own legal issues involving patients. One suit, filed in May 2023, alleges KVC placed two 8-year-old girls together in a facility knowing one had a history of sexually inappropriate behavior and the other had survived sexual assault. The lawyer for the young assault victim said she was coerced into sexual acts, which she reported to KVC. The health system released her to her mother the next day, according to court records. KVC denied the allegations in court filings. Another family sued KVC in 2021. It claimed an infant placed by KVC in a foster home in Kansas died because of overcrowding. Another lawsuit in Kansas, filed in February of 2023, alleged that KVC placed a teen in an unsafe home with a man who sexually abused her. KVC spokesperson Jenny Kutz said in an email that KVC exceeds state and federal performance outcomes for child safety programs. She added that KVC has positively impacted 75,000 people each year on top of the more than 1 million children it has served in the past and that any lawsuit should be put into that context. Protecting children and keeping kids safe is KVCs first priority, she said. Barriers to access in Missouri Missouri Hospital Association spokesperson Dave Dillon said there are only 576 beds in childrens psychiatric facilities in Missouri. He could not cite a specific number that would solve the problem, but he noted that many children have to leave their communities, and sometimes even their states, to get needed treatment. Some children wait in hospitals health centers that often have no psychiatric providers for over a year to find a spot in the right facility, he said. This can overcrowd hospitals and overwork hospital staff, he said. Its really a bad environment for a child to wait for the right type of care, he said. Dillon said that while he understands the Webster Groves residents concerns, inpatient psychiatric facilities are highly secure, and many are hard to differentiate from any other hospital. The stigma with behavioral health is real, he said. Theres a lot of work needed to build the capacity to provide the care Missouri kids deserve. Adding adolescent behavioral health beds and outpatient services is an important part of the solution. Longtime Webster Groves resident Phyllis Hickey said she is disappointed to hear her community does not want to help support children. She said her husband and son once had to travel out of state to receive the mental health care her son needed. Before that, he had to wait in a hospital emergency department for days until a mental health facility finally had an opening. So many people are afraid of anybody with mental health problems, she said. These are traumatized children that someone is trying to provide healing. SULLIVAN, Mo. Business was slow at the liquor store Saturday night, so clerk Christopher Wilson stepped outside for a break on the parking lot that faces Interstate 44. He couldnt believe what he saw next: a deadly confrontation between police officers and a man standing on the shoulder. None of it seemed real, Wilson said. This is a small country town. Sullivan police and a Franklin County deputy had been summoned for an irate man walking in and along I-44 near Sullivan. Within minutes, the man was shot dead by police. Authorities said he started coming at the officers with a knife. Wilson insists that the account is not true. It was directly in front of me, Wilson told the Post-Dispatch. There is no way this gentleman was armed when he was shot. Sullivan police and the Franklin County sheriff have declined to release the name of the dead man, but his family has identified him as Garrett Michael Ryan, a 30-year-old machinist who lived with his mother in Sullivan. Ryans mother, Alana Ryan, said she is skeptical of the police account and hopes a thorough investigation uncovers what really happened. Her son had troubles in the past, including time in jail and issues with substance abuse. He had been depressed and agitated, she said. And he indeed owned pocket knives. He worked at his local pastors machine shop. He was so sweet and kind, and he was so nonconfrontational, she said. He was the middle child and just wanted everyone to be OK. Her son had just visited a cousin that day, and Alana Ryan cant figure out why he would have been walking along the interstate because he owned a car. Through tears Tuesday, she said she had so many questions. Alana Ryan said she understands police have to protect themselves. And if her son truly lunged at them with a knife, she said she would understand them taking action. But she wondered why they couldnt first use a Taser or something else nonlethal. I want the truth, she said. I want to see that he had a knife. Police closed the interstate for hours there to investigate the shooting. Traffic backed up, and a westbound tractor- trailer rear-ended one car, leading to a chain-reaction crash involving five vehicles. Three people died in the crash, including 5-year-old Emmett Jones and his mom, Chelsea Smith, 32, of Steelville, Missouri. The boys obituary said, Emmett was made out of love and Legos. The third motorist to die was Bailey Snider, 25, of Rolla. A man in distress It all began about 7:30 p.m. Saturday, when a Sullivan officer told dispatchers he saw a man walking east along the shoulder on the westbound side of I-44. He appears fine to me, the officer said, according to a recording of the dispatch call. The officer said he would head back that way and try talking to him to make sure he is OK. About a minute later, the officer reported back to the dispatcher that the man is in some type of distress (and was) not willing to come talk with me. Hes telling me to F off. He seems mad about something the officer continued. He said the man kept walking away, moving from the shoulder to the median, crossing the road when cars werent around. Local police checked with neighboring Crawford County to see if police there had been searching for a man fitting that description, but they hadnt. Over the next 10 minutes or so, the officer watched to see if the man would walk off the highway. The officer told a colleague he was worried the man would run into traffic if an officer tried to confront him again. Shortly after that, according to the dispatch call, the officer said, He has a big knife, guys. Hes armed. Shut the lane down. Police shut down traffic so the man wouldnt get run over. Police pleaded with him to stop and drop the knife, but he refused and continued toward police in an aggressive manner, according to a joint statement from Franklin County Sheriff Steve Pelton and Sullivan police Chief Patrick Johnson. Police said the Sullivan officer and a sheriffs deputy both shot the man, who was pronounced dead at a hospital. Authorities havent said how many shots in all were fired or described what kind of knife they said he wielded. No officers were hurt. Before he was shot, Ryan had been exaggeratedly talking with his hands, said Wilson, the witness. Maybe talking with his hands couldve been interpreted as aggressive, but we all do that and we dont get shot, Wilson said. He was clearly agitated. He was plucking at his shirt like, Its hot, Wilson said. I couldnt hear what he was saying, but his body language screamed, I just want to be left alone. Investigation could take weeksRyan paced a bit, going one step forward and two steps back, but never got closer to the officers than about 15 feet, Wilson said. Wilson said, I could clearly see his hands. And it was only seconds from the time there was four officers being present until that gentleman was on the ground. Wilson, a 42-year-old from Sullivan, served a stint in the Army. He knows the sound of gunfire. He said he distinctly heard six shots and saw smoke coming from the barrels of four officers guns. And through it all, Wilson insists, he never saw a knife. He was unarmed, as far as I can see, Wilson said. If he had anything, it was in his pocket because I saw his hands and he did not have a knife. Franklin County and Sullivan police have refused to answer questions about the shooting, referring inquiries to the Highway Patrol. The patrol wont say anything until its investigation is finished. They need to be held accountable, period. Why lie about it? Wilson said. This isnt St. Louis. This isnt something were accustomed to seeing. Local police said they turned everything over to the Missouri Highway Patrols Division of Drug and Crime Control to investigate the shooting death. Pelton said its protocol for an outside agency to investigate when an officer shoots someone. Lt. Eric Brown, with the Missouri Highway Patrols headquarters in Jefferson City, said Tuesday that the probe promises to be comprehensive. They will examine any available footage from police dashboard cameras or body-worn cameras, as well as any video from nearby businesses or witnesses. Brown said he cant put a timeline on when the patrols investigation will wrap up. A few weeks, at least, Brown said. Once the investigation is finished, the patrol will turn its findings over to the Franklin County prosecutors office for review. Rep. Cori Bush wasnt beaten in her re-election campaign by the America Israel PAC or by Republicans. She defeated herself. She opposed the Biden administrations monumental infrastructure bill because it didnt include her pet projects. She posed for publicity by camping on the Capitol steps about another issue because she couldnt move it legislatively. She wouldnt meet with local labor leaders concerned about her opposition to Bidens job-creating legislation. She empathized with Hamas after its genocidal attack on Israel. She wouldnt meet with local religious leaders concerned about her hostility to Israel and her sympathy for terrorists. I think Wesley Bell might have beaten Bush without AIPACs support, but that support helped highlight Bushs indefensible record for voters. And for that I thank AIPAC. I hope Bell will be a congressional representative who reflects well on his community, as he replaces an embarrassment. F.M. Oates St. Louis The entrance to Fort Drum, N.Y. is shown in this undated file photo. (U.S. Army) A Fort Drum soldier faces a murder charge in the death of another soldier in his 10th Mountain Division unit at the Army post in upstate New York, service officials said Tuesday. The Army charged Spc. Riley Birbilas on Monday with counts of premeditated murder and obstruction of justice in the death of Spc. Jacob Ashton, the division announced in a news release. Birbilas was arrested Friday by civilian law enforcement and held for the military. He was booked into the Oneida County jail, near Oriskany, N.Y., about 70 miles south of Fort Drum, jail records show. Ashton, 21, of Perry, Ohio, was found dead at Fort Drum on Aug. 5, Army officials said. Service officials have not said how he was killed. Ashton and Birbilas enlisted in the Army in 2021 and were assigned to the headquarters of the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment in the 10th Mountain Divisions 2nd Brigade Combat Team, according to the service. They had both served on a recent nine-month deployment to Iraq and Syria in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, the effort to stamp out the Islamic States remaining fighters. Division officials have described the June 2023 to April 2024 deployment as turbulent. The units soldiers faced repeated drone and missile attacks from enemy forces, especially after the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel by Hamas militants. Ashton earned a Combat Infantryman Badge on the deployment, showing he had directly participated in ground combat with enemy forces during the rotation. Ashton was also awarded the Army Commendation Medal with combat C device, during the tour, records show. The Army did not release information about any awards that Birbilas, who is from Kodiak, Alaska, received during the deployment. He faces the death penalty or life in prison if convicted of the murder charge, according to military law. Army officials said Birbilas was being held in pretrial confinement as of Tuesday, while he awaits an Article 32 preliminary hearing. That hearing is the military justice systems rough equivalent to a grand jury proceeding, in which evidence is presented to determine if the case should move forward. That hearing has yet to be scheduled, according to Army court records. Robert Capovilla, a lawyer representing Birbilas, said the investigation into the incident was still in its early stages. What we do know, however, is that the information we have at this point creates far more questions than answers about what happened, Capovilla said in a statement. We look forward to providing Spc. Birbilas with a vigorous defense to these charges and ask that the public reserve judgment until the investigation is complete and he has his day in court. Fort Drum officials declined to comment further on the case, citing an ongoing probe by the Army Criminal Investigation Division. CID officials did not respond to an inquiry on Tuesday seeking additional information, including on Ashtons cause of death. A Special Forces officer assigned to Fort Liberty who killed a Chechen immigrant conducting utility work on his property in North Carolina will not face charges after a three-month investigation into the shooting, law enforcement officials said Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (Corey Dickstein/Stars and Stripes) A Special Forces officer who killed a Chechen immigrant conducting utility work on his property in North Carolina will not face charges after a three-month investigation into the shooting, law enforcement officials said Tuesday. The Fort Liberty, N.C., soldier whose name has not been released to the public was justified in shooting and killing Ramzan Daraev, a 35-year-old utility worker, under North Carolina law, according to a statement from the Moore County Sheriffs Office announcing the probes conclusion. Moore County investigators determined Daraev was conducting legitimate utility work May 3 at the soldiers home in Carthage before he was shot. But the Green Beret officer perceived him as a threat after he became aggressive and lunged at the soldier. The determination of justification is based on the reasonable belief of the homeowner, considering the totality of the facts known to the homeowner at the time of the shooting, according to the sheriffs office. The homeowners actions were deemed justifiable under the North Carolina Castle Doctrine, which allows for the use of defensive force in situations where there is a perceived imminent threat to personal and family safety within ones home or property. The sheriffs office said it spent months probing the Dowd Road shooting, collecting physical evidence and interviewing witnesses. The Moore County District Attorney was briefed on the investigation and declined to bring charges in the case. Though the investigation into the Green Berets actions has concluded, the sheriffs office said it was continuing to probe the operational background of Daraevs employer, Cable Warriors, a subcontractor of New Jersey-based Utilities One. The sheriffs office said the Green Berets wife first encountered Daraev at dusk on May 3 as he took photographs near a utility line on their property. She said she believed Daraev was taking photos of their home and children, which investigators determined were in the same direction of the utility line, which he photographed with his cellphone. Daraev, at the time, was wearing a burgundy T-shirt, black shorts and flip flops and had nothing on his person to identify him as a utility worker, according to investigators. He was unarmed and only had his cell phone with him at the time of his death, the investigation concluded. Utilities One said in a statement that Daraev was performing pole surveys for an engineering project to install fiber infrastructure and had been transmitting photographs to the utility firm. Investigators wrote they had confirmed via business records that Daraev was employed by Cable Warriors and working on a fiber optic expansion project for Utilities One at the time of his death. The Green Beret told investigators that he initially approached Daraev unarmed and asked him to leave the property when Daraev did not identify himself or explain his business on the property. Daraev then grew increasingly aggressive toward the soldier and claimed to have served in the Russian military and fought in Ukraine, the Green Beret told investigators. Law enforcement officials could not verify whether Daraev served in the Russian military, they said. Investigators wrote that the Green Beret returned to his home at that point to retrieve a handgun. His wife then called 911 at about 8:12 p.m. to report the suspicious person, Daraev. Just 13 minutes later, the wife made a second 911 call, pleading for expedited law enforcement response and warning she was retrieving a shotgun, according to investigators. The Green Beret shot Daraev shortly after that call ended, just minutes before sheriffs deputies arrived at the scene, according to the sheriffs office. The soldier told investigators Daraev became agitated and lunged at him before he fired several shots in response. Under the North Carolina Castle Doctrine, the homeowners actions are protected, providing legal justification for using defensive force, the investigation concluded, citing the states version of what are more commonly referred to as stand-your-ground laws, which allow lethal force in defense of a persons home and property. Family members of Daraev have claimed the utility workers body and have said he was killed in cold blood while doing his job. They have demanded his shooter face punishment. In a Change.org petition, family members said he had left Russia for the United States in pursuit of a better life in a free country. The Moore County Sheriffs Office said Daraev entered the United States via the southern border in December 2022 and had been living in Chicago. The sheriffs office and the FBI have declined to provide Daraevs immigration status. Authorities said questions remain about Daraevs employers, including a potential link to a Russian cloud server, where employees were provided electrical infrastructure maps related to the utility expansion. During the probe, law enforcement officials found reports of other utility workers without any identification on their persons taking photos of infrastructure in remote locations in the area. They found the workers often worked at night without informing homeowners of their presence. Other workers in the utility industry told investigators that conducting utility work near dark on or near private property, especially during nonemergency activities, without identifying clothing and without notifying the homeowner is not common practice, investigators wrote in their report. The sheriffs office said it would continue efforts to access Daraevs cellphone to gather a better understanding of his work. Investigators were able to access some of Daraevs images during the probe, officials said. Given the unique circumstances of the incident, the sheriffs office has voluntarily kept all case materials accessible to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Army Criminal Investigation Division throughout the investigation, the sheriffs office said. Additionally, the Moore County Sheriffs Office has requested an investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration into the work practices surrounding this incident to ensure all safety protocols were followed, identify any potential violations and promote safer work practices among utility workers. Lt. Col. Roderick Vinson, assigned to Army Central Command, died Aug. 11, 2024, while exercising, the service announced. (Egypt Johnson/U.S. Army) A decorated soldier assigned to Army Central Command died Sunday while exercising, the service announced Tuesday. The Army released no other details about Lt. Col. Roderick Vinsons death, only stating no foul play was suspected. It was unclear Tuesday where he died. Vinson, 55, was a transportation officer assigned to the Army Central Command at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, S.C. The ARCENT family is devastated by the untimely passing of Lt. Col. Roderick Vinson, a beloved member of our team and an incredible leader in the organization, Col. Jason Squitier, U.S. Army Centrals deputy chief of staff, said in a prepared statement. Vinsons death is being investigated by the Sumter Police Department. Army Central Command and the Sumter police could not be reached immediately Tuesday for additional comments. Vinson, a native of Charlotte, N.C., has been assigned to the Army Central Command since 2018. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1987 as a fighting vehicle infantryman. He was commissioned as a transportation officer in July 1999. His awards and decorations include the Iraq Campaign Medal with two Campaign Stars, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Campaign Star, the National Defense Service Medal with Bronze Star, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the NATO Medal, among others. He left an enormously positive impact on every person with whom he interacted, and we miss him dearly, Squitier said. We send our condolences to his family and friends, and our prayers are with them during this difficult time. Photographs of Spencer R. Collart and his fellow Marines, Eleanor V. LeBeau, bottom left, and Tobin J. Lewis, bottom right, are displayed at the home of Collarts parents in Arlington, Va., on June 19, 2024. (Rod Lamkey Jr./AP) WASHINGTON Alexia and Bart Collart braced for a hard visit. Marines came to their home in Arlington, Virginia, last week to brief them on what caused the Osprey crash in Australia last year that resulted in the death of their son and two other Marines. But they werent expecting to hear these words: Your son didnt die in the crash. Cpl. Spencer R. Collart had safely escaped the aircraft. But the 21-year-old saw that the Ospreys two pilots were unaccounted for. Despite the smoke and flames, he went back in. Collart heroically reentered the burning cockpit of the aircraft in an attempt to rescue the trapped pilots, the official Marine Corps investigation into the crash found. He perished during this effort. For his valor, Collart will be posthumously awarded the services highest noncombat award: the Navy and Marine Corps Medal. It is an honor awarded for acts of heroism at great risk to the service members life. It didnt surprise his dad that Spencer tried to save the pilots. I heard a song the other day. Ive heard it many times, Bart Collart said. There was a quote in there, about how the last thing on my mind was to leave you. And I think that was Spencer talking with me a little. He had no intention of leaving us. I think he thought hed go in and get the job done. Spencer Collart was a goal-driven, 6-foot-2, grinning Washington-Liberty High School lacrosse player who walked into the house on his 18th birthday with a surprise: Hed just enlisted. The Marines are the top of the top. The best of the best, Spencer told his mom Alexia Collart, when she asked him why. The Collarts werent a military family, but Spencer wanted to serve. And he wanted to fly. He got his top assignment choice and met his two best friends, Lance Cpl. Evan Strickland and Cpl. Jonah Waser. They spent a year together training to become crew chiefs, enlisted Marines responsible for the aircraft and its passengers. Theres a photo of them posing with their class on April 22, 2022, the day they earned their wings. They were flying the V-22 Osprey, which functions as both an airplane and a helicopter. But its an aircraft that has a troubled history and four fatal accidents in two years. In June 2022, Strickland was killed along with four other Marines in a training crash in California. Collart served as a pallbearer. He stayed in close touch with Stricklands family, calling to check on them, Facetiming them on the crash anniversary, and reading the accident investigation report from cover to cover, Stricklands mother, Michelle, said. He wanted to really understand, she said. Family members of Spencer R. Collart, from left, father Bart Collart, sister Gwyneth Collart and mother Alexia Collart, hold his portrait as they pose for a photo at their home in Arlington, Va., on June 19, 2024. (Rod Lamkey Jr./AP) When Spencers unit deployed to Australia in April 2023, he asked his mother if he could give Michelle Strickland her number so they could text each other. He had the foresight to connect me with Michelle. I dont know if he was concerned or worried. I suspect maybe he was, Alexia Collart said. Still, Spencer flourished in his role. He took on hard jobs no one wanted, like packing the units plane before they deployed. His squadron kept showing up with more gear, so he kept unpacking and repacking it, again and again. By the fourth try Spencer was red and black, just covered in grease and sunburn, his commander told Bart Collart. Spencer earned a first-class ticket to Australia for his effort. In the Osprey, Spencer spent most of the flight in the tunnel, the area right behind the pilot and co-pilot, learning from them, with a goal to become a pilot himself. When Spencers personal effects arrived after his death, Bart Collart found his sons Marine Corps camouflage cap, known as a cover. He put it on and metal nudged his forehead. Spencer had pinned a 2nd lieutenants gold butter bar and a set of pilots wings into the band. He put these in here to remind himself every time he put his cap on of his next goal, Bart Collart said. He was all in. He walked the walk, he talked the talk, and he was just, he just loved it so much. Marine Corps patches belonging to Cpl. Spencer R. Collart are displayed at his parents home in Arlington, Va., on June 19, 2024. (Rod Lamkey Jr./AP) On Aug. 27, 2023, two Marines came to the Collarts door. Spencer Collarts Osprey had crashed during an Australian military exercise, killing him and Capt. Eleanor LeBeau and aircraft commander Maj. Tobin Lewis. For months, thats all his parents knew. Then, last week, the Marines came back, to brief their findings. Seconds after the Osprey hit the ground, the aircraft filled with smoke and flames. Collart had been standing in the tunnel even as the plane was going down. Most of the 23 troops on board escaped out the back, including a commander who told investigators he saw Collart escape out a side door. A site team later found Collarts tether what hed use to latch onto the Osprey to move around during flight undamaged outside the aircraft. But not everyone made it out. The pilots were still inside. The Osprey had crashed nose first, and they were trapped. Collart went back. Investigators believe he may have unbuckled Lewis from his restraints before he succumbed. Collart thought the world of Lewis and LeBeau, Bart Collart said. He believes Lewis last-minute maneuver to level the plane as it was crashing right side down helped the troops in the back survive. The fourth member of the flight crew, Cpl. Travis Reyes, has been at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio for the last year recovering from critical injuries. Saturday marked the first time he got to fly home to his parents house in Maryland. Spencers family met Waser for the first time at the funeral. This time it was Waser who put on dress blues to serve as a pallbearer and escort his best friends remains from Dover Air Force Base to Arlington National Cemetery. Spencers younger sister, Gwyneth Collart, felt instant chemistry. Her parents saw it too. As soon as I met him, I was like, this is not the time or the place to be falling in love, Gwyneth Collart said of Waser. Grieving will never be easy, but he made grieving a little bit more comfortable to do. And he just, I mean, he took my breath away. Months later, Waser asked her father for Gwyneths hand. You guys told me that Marines work fast, and you werent kidding, Bart Collart said, laughing. Gwyneth Collart and Waser married July 6 in Arlington and held their reception at Top of the Town, a ballroom that has a terrace overlooking Arlington National Cemetery. They could see the section where Spencer was buried, and Gwyneth pinned her brothers portrait to her bouquet. I think that Spencer knew what I needed and what my family needed after this, and it feels like I got exactly what I needed to get through this, Gwyneth Collart said. Brig. Gen. Jacob Middleton speaks to guardians and guests after taking command Aug. 13, 2024, of U.S. Space Forces in Europe-Space Forces Africa at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. Middleton is the second commander at the helm since the unit was activated at Ramstein in December 2023. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes) RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany Brig. Gen. Jacob Middleton gets asked all of the time: Why space? Its an apt question for his first day as the commander of U.S. Space Forces in Europe-Space Forces Africa. Id love to be able to say, like Independence Day and Will Smith, were fighting off aliens, he said Tuesday the Ramstein Officers Club. What Ill say, if thats true, I couldnt tell you anyway, because thats classified, he said. Middleton took over during a ceremony Tuesday for Col. Max Lantz II, who is retiring. Air Force Brig. Gen. Jacob Middleton takes the guidon for U.S. Space Forces in Europe-Space Forces Africa from Marine Corps Gen. Michael Langley, commander of U.S. Africa Command at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Aug. 13, 2024. As the new commander, Middleton supports both AFRICOM and U.S. European Command with space operations and activities. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes) Col. Max Lantz II smiles during his farewell speech on Aug. 13, 2024, as the outgoing commander of U.S. Space Forces in Europe-Space Forces Africa. Lantz is retiring after leading the unit since its activation in December at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes) Lantz was the first commander of a unit stood up at Ramstein in December to provide U.S. European and Africa commands with a cadre of experts to facilitate training, information sharing and other activities across some 100 countries. You should all be proud knowing you are part of a significant, historic undertaking those that came first, enabling all that will follow, Lantz said. That a one-star general was chosen to step in after Lantz underscores the importance of space power in the region, said Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, the services chief of space operations. A longtime space and missile operations officer, Middleton spent six years in the enlisted ranks before commissioning in 1998. Middleton said he looks forward to answering why were here and what we do as he builds on the work led by Lantz. Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, the chief of space operations for the U.S. Space Force, speaks at a change of command ceremony for U.S. Space Forces in Europe-Space Forces Africa on Aug. 13, 2024, at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. The Space Force component based at Ramstein was activated in December. The command was elevated to a one-star position, with Brig. Gen. Jacob Middleton replacing Col. Max Lantz II, who is retiring. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes) Saltzman and Gen. Michael Langley, AFRICOMs commander, did some of that explaining as well in their remarks. The guardians here bring a level of technical expertise to a domain that is rapidly advancing and changing, Langley said. We need you now more than ever on this global scene. In Africa, the Europe-based guardians helped build a space reconnaissance tracking program that allowed AFRICOM to provide partners with unclassified information through commercial satellite imagery and other means. The data-sharing helped with cross-border violence, disaster relief and illegal fishing, among other problems, Saltzman and Langley said. You know what, (China) doesnt do that, Langley said. The Russian Federation doesnt do that. Such initiatives foster U.S. partnerships on the continent, he said. In Europe, the unit enhanced cooperation with NATO and supported Ukraines defense against Russia, among other work. Take this command to new heights, or I should say, a new orbit, Langley said. Army Cpl. Edward J. Smith was a member of Baker Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action Aug. 31, 1950, at age 18. (Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency) The remains of Army Cpl. Edward J. Smith, who was killed during the Korean War, will be interred Aug. 23 at Bethlehem Memorial Park, Bethlehem, Pa. Smith will receive full military honors. Smith, a native of Allentown, Pa., was a member of Baker Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action Aug. 31, 1950, at age 18, while fighting North Korean forces in the vicinity of Changnyong, South Korea. Smith was accounted for by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency on May 15, 2024, after his remains were exhumed in June 2021 from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu also known as the Punchbowl for laboratory analysis and identification. Extracellular, brick-shaped mpox virions (colorized pink). (NIAID via Wikimedia Commons) Many of the Democratic Republic of Congos overcrowded hospitals are battling to treat babies as young as two weeks old who have caught a mutated mpox strain thats spreading rapidly in the central African country, according to Save the Children. Health systems in eastern DRC, where transmission is highest, were extremely fragile even before this outbreak. Past outbreaks of Ebola and Covid-19 and a scarcity of staff and medical supplies further complicate efforts to contain the disease, Greg Ramm, Save the Childrens country director in the DRC, said in a statement. This mpox variant was first reported in DRC less than a year ago and there have been more than 500 deaths related to the infection in 2024 alone. Renewed fighting in the country has increased the number of displaced people living in crowded camps, with malnutrition rates climbing. HIV co-infection, which cuts the bodys ability to fight disease, raises the risks. In some health centers patient intake is 4,000% higher than their capacity, Save the Children said. The bulk of DRCs almost 15,000 cases are in children under the age of 15, with 39% in children under five, according to the World Health Organization. Mpox causes fever, rash, and lesions all over the body, as well as severe headaches and fatigue. Some children also develop respiratory problems, have difficulty swallowing, and in severe cases develop sepsis, a life-threatening response to infection that requires immediate specialist medical attention. The close resemblance of some of the signs and symptoms of mpox to other common childhood illnesses such as scabies and chickenpox might be leading to late recognition and treatment, contributing to transmission and worse outcomes due to delayed diagnosis and treatment, Save the Children said. Medical staff are also fighting stigma based on a widespread belief that mpox is spread only through sexual contact, the organization said. Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to declare a public health emergency of continental security later on Tuesday, while a panel of advisers convened by the World Health Organization meets Wednesday to help determine whether the deadly outbreak constitutes an international emergency. If either declare mpox an emergency, it will prompt countries in the region to share timely information on mpoxs spread, including surveillance at borders, and will also help the agencies better tap financial aid, accelerate research and development of diagnostics and increase vaccination drives. President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro speaks during a briefing on Aug. 9, 2024, in Caracas, Venezuela. (Jesus Vargas/Getty Images/TNS) WASHINGTON (Tribune News Service) The Biden administration is treading a thin line as it attempts to usher Venezuelas dictator out of office without falling into the costly traps that vexed previous U.S. governments and angered Latin American allies. After a July 28 presidential election riddled with fraud, both Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez claimed victory. The U.S. sided with Gonzalez and declared him the winner but stopped short of actually recognizing him as president-elect. U.S. diplomats cited surveys of election ballots conducted by both the opposition and independent observers that gave Gonzalez a 2-1 margin of victory. Memories are fresh of the Trump administrations efforts to oust Maduro, including harsh sanctions and arrest warrants. After an attempted coup in 2019, the Trump administration embraced an alternative president, Juan Guaido. who led what became a government-in-exile. Nothing budged Maduro, a former bus driver and socialist who took office after the 2013 death of Latin American leftist icon Hugo Chavez. Now U.S. officials hope to try an untested tack while relying on the negotiating acumen of three Latin powerhouses that are friendly to both Caracas and Washington: Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. But they and other regional leaders have so far proven timid in their willingness to apply pressure to Maduro. Presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Gustavo Petro of Colombia and Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of Mexico, all left-leaning politicians, have urged Maduro to release a complete ballot count something the Venezuelan government has still refused to do two weeks after voting ended. None of the other leaders, however, has publicly declared him the loser. The Organization of American States, the regions largest multilateral organization, failed to muster majority approval of a mildly worded call for transparency. We would hope to see all parties take the steps that we have done, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, referring to the U.S. declaration that Maduro lost. However, he added, fuller recognition of Gonzalez is not a step that we are taking now. At stake as Maduro clings on to power is further political and economic chaos and international isolation. He has launched a deadly crackdown on protesters, with more than two dozen killed and at least 2,000 arrested, including opposition politicians and journalists. Once South Americas wealthiest country, Venezuela saw around 6 million of its citizens flee as refugees, with another wave possible in the coming months. Many have reached the U.S., fueling an intense and divisive debate here over immigration. It was extremely important for us to come out on the record: The most critical thing is for the results to be respected, and we are working with allies to make sure that is the case, a senior Biden administration official who works on the Venezuela issue said in an interview. The official was granted anonymity to discuss internal policy deliberations. The decision [to not accept a Maduro victory] is already a major form of diplomatic pressure, the official said. Maduro had agreed to hold the July election after months of negotiations involving regional officials and, unusually, the Persian Gulf state of Qatar, an OPEC partner of oil-rich Venezuela. U.S. officials were offering Maduro numerous benefits if he lost the election and agreed to step down, according to sources in the U.S. and Venezuela. Qatar has continued to participate in efforts to get Maduro to release election results, the White House said Monday. The incentives included lifting criminal indictments and offering Maduro safe passage to a third country. (A State Department spokesman said Monday that such offers of amnesty have not been repeated since the election.) The Venezuelan strongman was apparently worried that while Washington could drop its charges against him, the U.S. government was in no position to stop an investigation by the International Criminal Court into widespread human rights abuses attributed to the Maduro government. Maduro apparently thought he could use the election to cement his legitimacy, the senior administration official said, after a decade of ruling with an iron fist, crushing dissent and stacking the courts, legislature and other major institutions with loyalists. Ahead of the election, he frequently warned crowds that if he did not emerge the winner, Venezuelans faced a bloodbath and civil war. The ways in which the Biden administration approach to Maduro departed from that of the Trump era include emphasizing incentives over punishment more carrots than sticks, as several diplomats put it. Following a flawed election in 2019, the Trump administration swiftly recognized Juan Guaido, a little-known opposition politician who declared himself interim president. Guaido was seen as legitimate enough because he headed the National Assembly, at the time one of Venezuelas last remaining democratic institutions. It was never clear how much domestic support he had, however, and many of the people who made up his shadow government resided in Washington. By the end of 2022, the Venezuelan opposition removed Guaido, who today is believed to be residing in exile in Florida. In addition to indicting Maduro on drug-trafficking and other charges, former President Trump imposed harsh sanctions that targeted the Venezuelan economy, including its once-robust petroleum industry, in what was called a maximum pressure campaign. Diplomatic ties between the two countries were essentially severed in 2019. But, starting in 2022, Biden began to thaw the diplomatic freeze by secretly dispatching a team of emissaries to Caracas, where they launched talks that eventually led to prisoner swaps that freed more than a dozen Americans detained by Venezuela, including several executives from Houston-based Citgo Petroleum Corp. Last year, Biden eased a number of sanctions on Venezuelas oil, gas and gold sectors in exchange for Maduros commitment to negotiate with the Venezuelan opposition to hold fair elections. That set the stage for the July vote, with an opposition more unified than ever, fighting an electoral battle at home rather than in Washington, and, according to polls, with a hefty lead over Maduro. But now U.S. officials are forced to reassess their strategy, and they will have to maneuver carefully. Restoring the tougher sanctions could backfire, by driving Maduro further from any negotiations while alienating the Latin American countries who are attempting to pressure him but also dont want to be seen as doing Washingtons bidding. The administration has to keep the allies on board, said Ryan Berg, who heads the Americas program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank in Washington. They have to avoid giving [the presidents of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico] reason to care more about what the U.S. government is doing to Maduro than what Maduro did in stealing this election in such a brazen manner, he said. On Friday, the president of Panama, Jose Raul Mulino, stepped in to offer a solution, saying he would facilitate Maduros safe passage through Panama to a third country so that he could leave office peacefully. Maduro responded with disdain and a derogatory term for the U.S. officials he suspected were behind the offer. After warning those who mess with Venezuela, Maduro said the president of Panama was getting carried away by the gringos. 2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Rachel Billups, a teacher for Edgren Middle High School at Misawa Air Base, Japan, has been honored by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. (Mitchell Singler) As a child, Rachel Billups lined up her teddy bears in front of a chalkboard, imaging herself as a teacher. Decades later, a New York-based educational nonprofit has named her Department of Defense Education Activity History Teacher of the Year. Billups, of Edgren Middle High School at Misawa Air Base in northeastern Japan, has been a teacher since 2001 and with DODEA since 2013, according to a July 18 announcement by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. The institute names a K-12 teacher of the year for each state, U.S. territory, the District of Columbia and DOD schools. The 53 award winners receive $1,000 and a collection of classroom resources, including American history books. Billups said she was honored to be nominated by her students. You have to be high energy, she told Stars and Stripes by phone Monday. You have to definitely love the students, and you have to love what youre teaching. And you just have to allow yourself to have fun. Billups said her students made the award possible. I think its important to have that shout out to the students, because I dont think the world gives kids enough credit, she said. Theyre so smart and such analytical thinkers. Its such a joy, and I think more people should get into education and be able to experience working with these young people. Billups holds a bachelors degree in general studies from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., and a masters in education with a technology and curriculum focus from Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass. She described her teaching style as hands-on and immersive. I think my students would say that their favorite project last year was a Roaring 20s party, she said. I assigned each student a different famous person, because I only invite famous people to my party. Students, who portrayed historic figures like Henry Ford, mingled and taught one another all about their characters, Billups said. They also learned the Charleston, a popular jazz dance from that period. With the start of the school year next week, Billups will be teaching U.S. history, AP history and Global Studies subjects she said shes very passionate about. Billups said its important that students see the world through the eyes of the people of the past. You have to know where we came from, she said. I love the stories the stories of history and the whys. Billups is now a finalist for the 2024 National History Teacher of the Year Award, which will be announced in October. A panel of eminent historians, former winners, and master teachers will select one national winner for a $10,000 award, according to the institutes release. U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel visits Yokosuka Naval Base, south of Yokohama, Jan. 19, 2024. (Stars and Stripes) TOKYO The U.S. Embassy in Japan has denied a Japanese news agency report that Ambassador Rahm Emanuel could step down in November. Kyodo News, quoting anonymous government sources, claimed on Saturday that Emanuel plans to resign his post to help with the transition should Vice President Kamala Harris win the Nov. 5 presidential election. If Donald Trump wins, he is likely to name a new ambassador to Japan. However, the embassy spokesperson, in an email Tuesday to Stars and Stripes, said Emanuel has not decided on his departure date. He has always said he would serve out his full term which is three years, said the spokesperson, who responded to Stars and Stripes only on condition of anonymity. Emanuel, a former Illinois congressman and Chicago mayor who served as chief of staff to former President Barack Obama, arrived in Japan in January 2022. Ambassadors typically submit their resignations at the end of an administration, even if the incumbent stays in office, Brad Glosserman, deputy director and visiting professor at the Center for Rule-Making Strategies at Tama University in Tokyo, said by email Tuesday. I thought Emanuel would be a mistake because his bull in the China shop personality seemingly wouldnt fit in Japan, he said. But he has proved me very wrong. Hes been an outstanding success. The Japanese government and public think highly of the stalwart defender of the U.S.-Japan alliance who has pushed for greater participation for Japan in the security partnership and a greater role for Japan in international diplomacy, Glosserman said. His views of China mirror those of the Japanese government and seem to suggest the possibility of driving a wedge between Tokyo and Washington is near impossible, he wrote. The Axios news website on Wednesday listed Emanuel as a potential national security adviser in a Harris administration. Emanuel was rumored to have been ready to step down regardless of the outcome of this election and was thought to be seeking a Cabinet position in a second Biden administration, perhaps commerce or maybe even defense, Glosserman said. Its uncertain what his place might be in a Harris administration, Glosserman wrote. Its not at all clear how close a relationship he has with the vice president and that is what is key for any ambassador in an important post such as Japan, he said. Air Force Col. Richard McElhaney, commander of the 374th Airlift Wing, restocks milk at the commissary on Yokota Air Base, Japan, on Aug. 9, 2024, after a lightning strike caused a power outage that ruined about $50,000 in food products. (U.S. Air Force) YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan Another lightning strike at this airlift hub in western Tokyo knocked out power to the base commissary, causing the overnight loss of at least $50,000 in perishable food. The lightning strike around 11:30 p.m. Aug. 6 during another torrid summer thunderstorm cut power to the Yokota Community Center, which houses the base exchange, food court and commissary, Keith Desbois, a spokesman for Defense Commissary Agency, said via email Saturday. Commissaries are not unique to any other activity on an installation when it comes to power outages, he wrote. That said, because we have perishable products, we have processes such as backup generators to help us protect those items if an outage occurs. However, the backup generator failed, and the commissary was without power for seven hours before the 374th Civil Engineer Squadron could respond to the late-shift employees call for assistance, Desbois said. As a result, Yokota public health inspectors deemed much of the chilled products meat, milk and eggs and all the ice cream unsafe for consumption due to the length of time the power was out, Desbois said. Shoppers arriving early Aug. 7 were met with empty shelves and advised that some produce and prepared foods, such as salads, sandwiches and sushi, were also ruined. Employees managed to restock most of the empty shelves by Thursday. We try to prepare for most emergencies that could arise, but sometimes events occur that are beyond our control, Desbois said. This is one of those events. We will be looking into the cause of the generator failure with the goal of preventing this type of instance from happening in the future. Airmen restock dairy items at the commissary on Yokota Air Base, Japan, on Aug. 9, 2024, after a lightning strike caused a power outage that ruined about $50,000 in food products. (U.S. Air Force) Yokota has been inconvenienced twice by lightning so far this summer. On July 22, a fierce thunderstorm knocked out power to the east and central areas of the base. That outage and a subsequent reset of residential air conditioning units left some base occupants without air conditioning for nearly two days during the relentless Tokyo summer. Thunderstorms are occurring more frequently within 10 nautical miles of Yokota this year compared to last year, Master Sgt. Nathaniel Allen, a spokesman for the 374th Airlift Wing, said via email Monday. Lightning, particularly cloud-to-ground strikes, can occur anywhere and often goes unnoticed unless it impacts a prominent structure, he said. The perception that lightning hits the base more frequently may be due to the attention such strikes receive when they impact base facilities. A lightning strike on July 4, 2023, extinguished the lights that control vehicular traffic across the south end of Yokotas runway. Repairs to the obsolete system required innovation and more than a month of effort. A supporter holds a poster of Hezbollahs top commander Fuad Shukr on Aug. 6, 2024, in Beirut, Lebanon, during a ceremony to mark the first week since his death. (Chris McGrath, Getty Images/TNS) BEIRUT (Tribune News Service) When Israel assassinated Hezbollahs top military commander last month in a rare airstrike in Beirut, it marked the highest-level loss for the group since 2008 and the most provocative act to date in renewed cross-border clashes that now threaten to spark another full-blown war between Israel and Lebanon. Fuad Shukrs assassination was part of a decades-old policy by Israel to disrupt its adversaries capabilities through targeted killings. Hours before the strike on Shukr, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh died in a bombing in Tehran, an attack widely blamed on Israel. Israels assassination campaign against Hezbollah intensified last fall, after the Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite paramilitary faction which is also Lebanons most powerful political party began firing thousands of rockets into northern Israel. Hezbollah said the offensive was in support of Hamas, which has been fighting a 10-month war with Israel following the Gaza-based Palestinian militant groups Oct. 7 offensive that killed around 1,200 Israelis and captured 200 hostages. In response to Oct. 7, Israel invaded Gaza, killing nearly 40,000 Palestinians, Gaza authorities say, and triggering a humanitarian crisis. To its north, however, Israel has relied on its well-honed strategy of airstrikes and assassinations, killing more than 400 Hezbollah fighters and some two dozen Hezbollah commanders, including two senior division commanders serving under Shukr as well as high-ranking members of the Radwan Force, Hezbollahs special forces contingent. Israel says those losses have, one by one, degraded Hezbollahs leadership ranks and diminished its fighting capability at a time when the two enemies may soon face each other in direct conflict. Israeli officials also say that those killed had blood on their hands. The U.S. had a $5 million bounty on Shukr as the alleged architect of the 1983 Marine barracks suicide bombing in Beirut that killed 241 U.S. military personnel. Israel said he was responsible for a rocket attack last month that killed 12 children in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, a claim Hezbollah denied. 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, wrote Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, after the strike on Shukr. Yet the impact of Israels strategy remains in question. In the short term, it may yield some results, analysts say, but a longer-term strategic victory is less certain. Thats especially true when it comes to Hezbollah, said Hilal Khashan, a professor of political science at the American University of Beirut. Losses in its ranks hurt Hezbollah, but they dont really change anything in terms of the balance of power between it and Israel, he said. The group can backfill any void from its fighting force, thought to number roughly 100,000. It can also rely on its patron Iran, which provides arms, training and military advisors. And though Hezbollah has increasingly come to be organized as a conventional army an effort spearheaded by Shukr it retains the decentralized structure of a militia. We know that each unit or cell can operate autonomously; they dont have to refer to the central command for instructions, Khashan said. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah eulogized Shukr as one of the groups first military leaders and acknowledged his death was a very big loss for us. So closely was he involved in the day-to-day running of the current fight with Israel that Shukr had called Nasrallah to give him updates less than an hour before he was killed. Theres no question, this is an Israeli achievement, Nasrallah said of Shukrs assassination, vowing the group would retaliate soon. Nevertheless, it did not constitute an absolute victory, the Hezbollah leader said. Even so, analysts say, Israels strikes have dealt an immediate blow to Hezbollah. Removing an entire cadre of top commanders out of any army as Israel has systematically done over the past 10 months to Hezbollah [is] almost certain to have operational consequences, should the dogs of regional war be loosed in the near term, said John Hannah, a senior fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, a pro-Israel think tank in Washington D.C. That Israel appears to have penetrated communications among Hezbollahs upper echelons also serves to inject paranoia and caution inside the group, Hannah added. Israel has effectively used the heightened tensions with Hezbollah as an opportunity to remove leaders, said Michael Knights, a researcher of Iranian proxy groups at the D.C.-based, pro-Israel Washington Institute for Near East Policy. If you want to seriously degrade the performance of a terrorist movement, theres no substitute to killing their leaders, he said. It doesnt necessarily show immediate effect, but youll want to do it anyway. The ramped-up assassinations also serve to boost the morale of an Israeli public still angry and traumatized by the Oct. 7 attack which killed more Jews in any single day than any time since the Holocaust. If youre trying to placate an internal constituency, it can be very effective, said retired Israeli Brig. Gen. Jonatan Shimshoni. Youre showing that youre doing something, and since youve demonized the enemy, youre chopping off the head of the snake. At the same time, some analysts dismissed any long-term gains from assassinations, and said many times they backfire by rejuvenating militant groups or ushering in new, more radical leaders. This can refresh the organization, preventing it from getting older and injecting new blood, said Mohanad Hage Ali, deputy director for research at the Beirut-based Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center. More generally, theres little evidence that assassinations serve as a deterrent, said Jennifer Carson, who studied the impact of high-profile targeted killings on groups such as al-Qaida. Decreasing the number of what she terms motivated offenders within an organization does not lead to a decrease in terrorist attacks, according to her research. And if you kill a leader, particularly if theyre beloved, that can rally a base, bringing increases in violence that pretty much wash out any benefits, she said. Such killings can also bring in more extreme replacements. After the death of Haniyeh who was leading Gaza cease-fire talks and was seen as a relative moderate Hamas last week chose Yahya Sinwar, its leader in Gaza and one of the planners of the Oct. 7 attack, as the new head of its political politburo. When youre speaking to replacement, Carson said, for every leader that is killed, theres somebody more radical to replace them. Shimshoni, the retired Israeli general, added that with an adversary like Hezbollah, that is motivated, ideological and religious, decapitation strikes will have little strategic significance. In the Israeli case, the history of assassinations in this regard is basically not a success, he said. You either do not get the effect you want, or youll get counterproductive, unintended consequences. 2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Green Berets fire a .50-caliber machine gun from a vehicle during an exercise near At-Tanf in Syria in 2020. (William Howard/U.S. Army) WASHINGTON Eight U.S. service members were treated for traumatic brain injuries and smoke inhalation following a drone attack last week by Iranian-backed militia in Syria as tensions heighten throughout the Middle East, the Pentagon said Tuesday. Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the top Pentagon spokesman, said three service members have returned to duty, while the rest remain under observation. According to [U.S. Central Command], none of the injuries are life threatening, he said. The drone attack occurred at Rumalyn Landing Zone in northeastern Syria and caused damage to one set of facilities at the site. Military officials are still conducting an assessment, but Ryder said the Pentagon believes it was conducted by Iranian-backed militia. This was the second strike last week. Four U.S. troops and a defense contractor were injured in a rocket attack on Aug. 5 at al Asad Air Base in Iraq. The attack in western Iraq came after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Aug. 2 ordered additional warships and a fighter squadron to the Middle East to bolster defenses in the region. The decision to move U.S. forces came ahead of an anticipated Iranian attack in response to the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut. There are about 900 U.S. service members in Syria and another 2,500 troops in Iraq as part of a coalition fighting to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State. Austin on Sunday also ordered the USS Georgia, a guided-missile submarine, to the region and told the USS Lincoln to accelerate its transit to the area. The deployments bring the U.S. force to about 40,000 troops in the Middle East, according to a military official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The movement of forces also comes as the U.S. and other allies push Israel and Hamas to reach a cease-fire agreement in Gaza that could help calm soaring tensions in the region. CCTV: It was reported that Hideo Shimizu, a former member of the Japanese army Unit 731, and people accompanying him visited the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army and the former site of Unit 731 in Harbin recently to testify on the crimes of Unit 731. According to the reports, Hideo Shimizu is the only living veteran of Unit 731 willing to publicly expose the crimes of the Japanese unit for bacterial warfare. What is Chinas comment? Lin Jian: During World War II, in blatant violation of international law, the Japanese army launched horrendous bacterial warfare against the Chinese people and conducted gruesome human experimentation, which were heinous crimes against humanity. There are solid proofs for the bacterial warfare launched by Japanese militarists and theres no room for denial. We commend the courage of Mr. Hideo Shimizu who reveal the historical truth and face it squarely. Japan needs to heed the call for justice from both home and abroad, face up to and reflect on its history of militarist aggression, respect the feelings of the people from the Asian victim countries in Asia, including China, draw lessons from history, get rid of the specter of militarism that still haunts it, and never let history repeat itself. Reuters: According to our sources, Vietnam President and Party Chief To Lam is preparing for a possible visit to China. The sources said Lams visit could take place on August 18 and there would be meetings early next week and may include a meeting with Chinese leader. We are seeking to confirm this upcoming visit by President To Lam as well as the details about the visit. Lin Jian: China and Viet Nam are a community with a shared future that carries strategic significance. General Secretary Xi Jinping sent a message of congratulations to To Lam recently on his election as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Central Committee. China stands ready to work with Viet Nam, under the guidance of the strategic common understandings between the top leaders of the two parties and two countries, to strive for more solid progress in the building of the China-Viet Nam community with a shared future. As for your question, I have no information to share at the moment. Reuters: It was reported that Beijing admitted that a Chinese-owned ship flying the Hong Kong flag had damaged a Baltic Sea gas pipeline running between Estonia and Finland last October, but says it was an accident. The Chinese authorities conducted an internal investigation and recently communicated the results to governments in the European countries, which explained that the accident was the result of a strong storm. Could we confirm that Chinese authorities have conducted and concluded an investigation into this gas pipeline incident, and that the findings were as reported? Are there more details from the investigation report about what are the next steps in this matter? (Similar questions from AFP and Bloomberg) Lin Jian: China stands for closer international cooperation to jointly protect the safety and security of undersea infrastructure. The investigation is still ongoing based on the facts we have gathered and in accordance with the law. We remain in close communication with relevant countries and hope that relevant parties will continue to carry out the investigation in a professional, objective and cooperative way, and work together to ensure proper handling of the incident. AFP: It was reported that Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Romeo Brawner said on August 10 that two China air force aircraft executed a dangerous manoeuvre while flying over Huangyan Dao on August 8. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos on Sunday condemned what he called illegal and reckless actions by China. Does China have a response? Can you provide more details? Will Manila and Beijing meet to try and calm tensions? (Similar question from Reuters) Lin Jian: Huangyan Dao has always been Chinas territory. China has indisputable sovereignty over Huangyan Dao and its adjacent airspace and waters. On August 7 and 8, Philippine military aircraft twice intruded into the adjacent airspace of Huangyan Dao, which gravely infringed upon Chinas sovereignty and violated international law and the basic norms governing international relations. The Chinese military took necessary and lawful measures in response, and their maneuvers at the scene were professional and consistent with Chinese laws and international law. Considering that it sent the military aircraft to Huangyan Daos airspace during the joint patrol with the US, Australia and Canada in the South China Sea, what the Philippines did with its aircraft was clearly a deliberate provocation. China urges the Philippines to stop the infringement activities and provocations at Huangyan Dao at once. Such wanton acts must stop. China will continue to act resolutely in accordance with the law to firmly safeguard our nations territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests. A maintenance worker in 2019 for Balfour Beatty Communities, a private company that manages military housing, power washes the driveway of a home at Marsh Cove, a military residential community at Naval Station Mayport, Fla. (Nathan T. Beard/U.S. Navy) WASHINGTON The Defense Department launched a website Monday to track problems with military housing managed by private companies following years of relaxed oversight that led to rodent and pest infestations, exposure to lead paint, and mold growth. The Department of Defense has a moral obligation to ensure that the spaces where our service members and their families live are healthy, functional, and resilient, said Deborah Rosenblum, acting deputy undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment. The housing feedback system allows active-duty service members and dependents living in privatized military housing to submit feedback on the condition of their current lease. After it is approved by the military housing office and identifying information is removed, the feedback will be made public on the website, acting as an online database of reviews. This new feedback system is a critical step to ensuring transparent and timely responses to occupants concerns and aligns with [Defense Secretary Lloyd Austins] priority to take care of our people. We are focused on putting our peoples experiences at the very center of all the work we do, Rosenblum said in a prepared statement. Problems with privatized housing came to the forefront after a 2019 investigation by Reuters showed the squalid conditions that many military families lived in. Congress approved sweeping overhaul measures in response, including a tenant bill of rights that gave residents more leverage with their landlords and a formal process for residents to dispute inadequate resolutions. But a Government Accountability Office report in 2023 found a lack of management of military housing and an inconsistent standard of living conditions across the services. Earlier this year, the Pentagon also drew harsh criticism from lawmakers after some budget requests for the service branches included cuts to housing projects. This isnt just a money, pay, [and] salary issue, its quality of life at the base and in the barracks, Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Calif., a former Navy officer, said during an April hearing of the House Appropriations Committees defense subpanel. Having to live in squalor when your civilian counterparts arent. The Defense Departments announcement Monday touted the system as a critical step to address residents concerns in a timely manner. Heather Hall, president of the nonprofit advocacy group Military Housing Coalition, offered an example of a situation that some military families living in base housing face: A leaky roof displaces them while the ceiling of their home is ripped out and replaced. Three months later, the leak returns. Why wasnt it fixed properly? she asked. On top of worrying about all the things normal families worry about doctor appointments and school they have to also prepare for a deployment or a [permanent change of station] and fight to get repairs done to their house, Hall said. Her hope, she said, is the housing feedback system will alleviate the lack of oversight of military housing offices and lead to maintenance and repair requests being taken care of sooner and properly. Typically, service members or their families have to reach out to their local military housing office when they need to report on ongoing and unresolved maintenance issue. The website, Hall said, will help the service member voice the issue directly to the Defense Department. If you, as the resident, are posting to this big forum, the hope is that the people who need to see it are going to see it, she said. As long as it is being taken seriously and is addressed properly. The housing feedback system can be accessed at https://www.dhfs.mil/rfs. The homepage of the site includes resources where members and dependents can submit a maintenance work order for repair directly with the landlords property management office. They can also initiate the dispute resolution process if unsatisfied with their work order experience, find a copy of the privatized housing tenant bill of rights, and locate contact information for the military housing office and privatized landlord or their property manager. Before submitting feedback, individuals must confirm they are an active-duty service member or dependent and they live in privatized military housing. The database of feedback, which was empty as of Monday, is available for the public to view. When searching the database, the public can filter feedback based on service branch, installation, landlord and categorized conditions impacting a residence. The list of conditions touches every corner of a residence, including reports of asbestos, mold, pests, and problems with appliances, the roof or ceiling, flooring, plumbing, and electric. Landlords can also respond to feedback, with their response being published after being reviewed by the housing office. The housing feedback system will not replace existing processes for submitting maintenance work order requests. Privatized military housing residents should continue to submit work order requests through their communitys property manager. Now that the website is up and running, Hall said the real work begins ensuring service members and their families know about the new resource. Once feedback begins making its way onto the database, Hall suspects patterns will become evident multiple residents at once installation reporting similar problems. That is when accountability will come into play, she said. Sometimes (Interactive Customer Evaluation) complaints are bumped back to the housing provider to address it and nothing ever comes from it, Hall said. If this ends up being the same thing, it wont be worth anything and will be a waste of time. Spring Valley High School was among the schools in the East Ramapo Central School District that had tested positive for elevated lead levels in 2016. (Natalie Keyssar/The Washington Post) SPRING VALLEY, N.Y. When the state of New York became the first in the nation to require all public schools to test their drinking water for lead in 2016, Keyry Broncano learned that water drawn from 68 different taps at her high school contained dangerously high lead levels. Then Broncano, at the time a high school junior, discovered that the water shed been drinking since kindergarten in the East Ramapo Central School District, about an hour north of New York City, probably contained elevated lead levels: Water from 23 taps at her elementary school was found to contain at least 15 parts per billion of lead. At her middle school, 85 taps had high lead levels. I was like, I think Ive been drinking poison, Broncano said, recalling rushing home to explain the news to her mother, a Guatemalan immigrant. Its an experience that has been repeated in schools across the country since 2014, when a crisis involving lead in the water in Flint, Mich., prompted some states to adopt new testing requirements for schools and day care centers. Whenever states, counties or school districts have decided to test the water in their schools, lead has often been discovered. Many school buildings have aging infrastructure that is more likely to leach lead into the water. And children are the most vulnerable to the harmful effects of lead poisoning. But despite an increased awareness of the danger posed by lead in water, there is no national mandate that requires testing drinking water in schools and child care facilities. As of 2021, a report found that only 18 states and the District of Columbia had some kind of requirement for school testing. Lead is one of the most common and best-known contaminants found in drinking water, particularly in cities where pipes made of the substance were not widely phased out until a 1986 ban. While some cities have embarked on massive programs to replace lead pipes that connect to homes and businesses, there has been less attention on schools. Experts and advocates said that by not solving the problem of lead in drinking water in schools, government has failed at a core responsibility: providing its most vulnerable citizens with clean, safe drinking water. Schools are places for learning and not places for kids to end up with a substance that is going to damage their ability to learn and grow, said Cyndi Roper, a Michigan-based senior policy advocate at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group. We can do better. We must do better. Still, the Environmental Protection Agency is expected to release a new rule in October requiring utilities to test at all the elementary and child care facilities they serve and offering to test at middle and high schools within the first five years. The rule would not require schools to fix the water if the testing reveals elevated lead levels in it, said Bruno Pigott, the acting assistant administrator for the EPAs Office of Water, who said federal law does not give the agency authority to order schools and child care facilities to clean up their water unless they have their own water systems. After the high lead levels were discovered in 2016, East Ramapo Central School District shut down taps in all of its schools. Some water fountains were covered up with trash bags and tape. Children began bringing water bottles from home, and standing jugs of filtered water were placed in hallways along with cone-shaped paper cups for drinking. Eight years later, the district has still not fixed its taps. Harry Grossman, a former school board member who retired in June after 10 years on the board, said the district did not have enough money to fix them and instead provided bottled water. Anthony DiCarlo, who became superintendent of the East Ramapo Central School District in July, said that he plans to make the health and well-being of the school community his first priority. He said 18 lead-free water fountains and bottle filling stations are now being installed for the coming school year. But the public school community has been skeptical; families said they have been told for years that the taps would get fixed. And many worry the damage from lead has already been done to their children. Ultimately, I dont know if the lead affected my brain, said Broncano, 23. I dont know the damage the school has done to me, and unfortunately I dont think Ill ever fully know. Keyry Broncano, a former East Ramapo Central School District student, was a junior when she found out the water at her high school contained elevated lead levels. The water at her former middle and elementary schools did, too. (Natalie Keyssar/The Washington Post) Setting children up for success Long-term lead consumption can have debilitating and lifelong effects on children, including brain and nervous system damage, slow development, and hearing, speech and behavior issues, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Lead exposure also poses risks during pregnancy because the highly toxic contaminant can pass from mother to fetus, seeping into the placenta and the fetuss growing bones and teeth, permanently affecting development. Depending on state law, children are typically checked for blood lead levels at 1 and sometimes at 2 years old at annual doctors checkups but not afterward. But blood tests dont always tell the whole story: Because lead moves from blood into the bones within weeks, blood tests can identify recent lead exposure but not long-term damage. Banku Jairath, a Pennsylvania-based pediatrician who has studied the effects of lead poisoning on children, said too many children suffer from the effects of lead. She pointed to a 2009 study that showed 20 percent of ADHD cases in U.S. children can be attributed to lead poisoning. In Flint, where roughly 100,000 residents were exposed to lead-contaminated water, a study published this year found an increase in special needs and decrease in math achievement in the children following the lead-tainted water scandal, as compared with similar children in other Michigan schools. Health and environmental experts say fixing the water in schools is one of the most efficient solutions to lowering the dangers of lead. The water in one school building can affect hundreds or thousands of children, the segment of the U.S. population that is the most vulnerable to lead poisoning, in a place where they spend a significant amount of time as they grow up. In Chicago, a study published in March found that more than two-thirds of children under 6 years old are exposed to lead in their drinking water. And in New Jersey, more than 2,800 children under 6 years old had blood lead levels above the state standard in 2022. Lead seeps into water from pipes, plumbing and fixtures made at least in part of lead. The more corrosive the water, the more likely that it will erode the pipes, picking up more lead from them. In 1986, Congress amended the Safe Drinking Water Act to ban the use of lead pipes in further construction but did not require that lead pipes be replaced, leaving many existing homes and buildings vulnerable to toxic water. Studies show the communities that bear the brunt of lead-filled water are disproportionately low-income and non-White, concluding that the distribution of lead in drinking water is a product of systemic racism. Two years later, Congress mandated that states set up lead testing and remediation programs for schools, but the NRDC soon concluded that few states were complying and fewer than 1 percent of child care facilities had tested their water. The mandate was found to be unconstitutional by a federal appeals court in 1996. Congress has subsequently considered adopting a requirement but instead passed legislation that included only funding for voluntary testing of school water. The Biden administration last year proposed replacing all remaining lead pipes in the United States - estimated at more than 9 million pipes - within 10 years, with some exceptions. But lead service lines, which are a frequent cause of lead-filled water in homes, are often not the main source of lead in school water. In schools, lead often lurks in the buildings plumbing and faucet fixtures, tainting the water long after it leaves the public water utilitys treatment centers. Despite all of the evidence, encouraging schools to test for lead is often a challenge. Many schools that do test often find lead and face blowback from the parents and community, disincentivizing testing, said David Masur of PennEnvironment, an arm of the nonprofit and advocacy group Environment America. A Government Accountability Office report from 2018 found only 43 percent of school districts across the country had tested for lead in their water in the previous two years. When Houston tested every school last year, the school districts contractor found nearly a third had water samples with above 15 ppb lead. In New York, testing found that 82 percent of New York schools had at least one tap containing 15 ppb lead or more, which is considered a dangerously high amount that requires treatment, according to a 2018 NRDC analysis. In North Carolina, a testing effort from 2020 to 2021 of more than 4,000 child care facilities in the state found some child care centers were more likely than others to have positive lead tests in their water: those with old infrastructure, those that rely on private well water, and those that housed Head Start programs - a federal program for underserved children. The revelations led to a state law last year requiring that schools test their water for lead, too. When theyre in school and supposed to be learning, we dont want the water theyre drinking in school to be contributing to potential cognitive and behavior difficulties, said Jennifer Hoponick Redmon, a senior environmental health scientist at RTI, a nonprofit research institute that is operating the states school testing mandate. The patchwork of state testing has led some advocates to push instead for a national filter first policy, in which initial mass testing is skipped in favor of installing lead-filtering taps in schools en masse. They argue it is the quickest, cheapest way to ensure children get clean water, avoiding millions spent on testing and replacing plumbing. Michigan became the first state to adopt a filter-first policy in 2023. If I could instantly impose a new law and say every state had to take that route, I would do it, said Jim Elder, a former head of the EPAs drinking water office, known in the 1990s as the Office of Groundwater and Drinking Water, who believes the EPA should adopt a national testing mandate for schools. But others worry that filters would not be maintained and periodically replaced, as is necessary for them to be effective. Christina Hecht, a senior policy adviser at the University of California Nutrition Policy Institute, said she also worried a filter-first approach might convince children and their parents to avoid drinking water as dangerous, even when - depending on the severity of the lead level - it may still be a healthier option than carbonated beverages. Schools that receive federal funds to provide children free or reduced-price lunches have been required by the U.S. Department of Agriculture since 2010 to provide potable water during meals, but the agency hasnt addressed lead as part of the requirement. USDA said in a statement that the EPA is in charge of the issue. The EPAs new proposal has been met with mixed reaction. While advocates said they were glad the federal government was taking steps to address the issue of water in schools, many said the new rule doesnt go far enough because it would require testing only once within five years of adoption and only from five taps per school and two at day-care facilities. It makes me so upset, said Danielle Land, a postdoctoral research associate at Michigan State University who studies the issue and works with Mona Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician who helped expose the Flint crisis. Theres a lot of loopholes. The EPA says it disagrees that sampling requirements should be expanded, saying the program would be designed to be a preliminary, not comprehensive, screening for lead. In Ramapo, families with children in public schools have expressed skepticism that the water taps will be fixed. MUST CREDIT: Natalie Keyssar for The Washington Post (Natalie Keyssar) East Ramapo Ana Maeda, a parent chaperone of the East Ramapo Central School Districts marching band, said she was struck by a moment at an April performance for the American Cancer Society in Orangeburg, N.Y. After the performance, a small group of middle and high school students in the band spotted a water fountain. They gathered around it. How do you use it? she remembered one student asking. Dont touch it; youll break it, said another. What do I press? she remembered a third chiming in. They acted like a cave person that just discovered fire, said Maeda, 30. Their schools have not had working water fountains for the eight years since lead was found in the water, and the children were unfamiliar with how to use one. The school district has 9,800 students - 96 percent of them Latino or Black - attending public schools, while an estimated 30,000 other children from an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community attend private religious schools. Public-school parents have complained that parents who send their children to private schools won election to the school board and then starved the district of necessary funds. The school district has a state monitor, but the public school parents and advocacy groups have called for a broader intervention. Nancy Bermon, a local Jewish resident who has advocated on behalf of the public-school families, called the water situation only one piece of the larger problem. Its a symptom of neglect, she said. A state-mandated survey of the condition of East Ramapo schools completed last year found that all 13 district schools had water taps that were nonfunctioning. Many of the school buildings also dont have central air conditioning, some parents said, so classrooms can get hot, making it even more important that students stay hydrated. Families described buying water in bulk so their children can take multiple bottles to school at a time, a heavy expense in their budgets. Some said their children had moments of lightheadedness in school, often after gym class when the school jugs were out of water. Water seems like such a basic human right, said Kayla Hoke, 23, who attended the district from first grade through graduation. She said ceiling tiles sometimes fell down during class at schools with worn textbooks and equipment. When we learned there was lead in the water it was kind of like Okay, this was bound to happen. Documents show the district is using federal funds to renovate buildings and plans to replace all water fountains, though it is unclear whether the renovations will include lead filters. DiCarlo, who responded to a request for comment after this story was published online, said the district is spending $1.2 million in federal funds on the drinking water issue and also received a donation of 20 additional lead-free water fountains. Terry Rodriguez, whose three children attended public schools in the district, said she felt as though she were living back in the Martin Luther King days. Were being discriminated against, she said. Rodriguez said she was concerned enough over the issue that she had her childrens blood tested for lead several years ago. The tests revealed that her middle child, who is now 18, had elevated lead levels in her blood, though, she said, not so high as to be a serious worry. How many years and generations down did this lead problem persist? Rodriguez said. How many children actually have lead poisoning in their body and dont even know it? Marine One carrying President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump departs the White House Oct. 22, 2020, en route to Joint Base Andrews, Md. The Trump campaign has disavowed the Heritage Foundations Project 2025, which includes recommendations for changes to the U.S. military, following attacks by Democrats. But many of Trumps former appointees crafted the project and several of the proposals are in line with policies Trump has supported. (Tia Dufour/White House) Banning transgender recruits, abolishing diversity initiatives and shutting down command social media channels are among the changes to the Defense Department being advocated by influential conservatives should Donald Trump return to the White House. With the presidential election less than three months away, a prominent conservative think tanks recommendations for the Pentagon and the rest of the federal government remain under examination, even as the Trump camp tries to distance itself from the policy study. The Heritage Foundations 918-page Project 2025 playbook aims to set the agenda for a second Trump term with a program focused on dismantling the administrative state, resetting how the governments major institutions function and pursuing a strict anti-abortion agenda. In recent weeks, the Heritage project has become a focal point among Democrats for launching attacks on the Trump campaign. In response, Trump has sought to disavow Project 2025, calling some of the ideas absolutely ridiculous and abysmal and claiming he didnt know who was behind it, despite its authors having significant roles in his administration. On July 30, the Trump campaign repudiated the project and delivered a warning to those involved in the initiative. Reports of Project 2025s demise would be greatly welcomed and should serve as notice to anyone or any group trying to misrepresent their influence with President Trump and his campaign it will not end well for you, the campaign said in a statement. Project 2025 director Paul Dans, the Trump administrations chief of staff at the Office of Personnel Management, resigned afterward. However, the campaigns disavowal may have had more to do with the right-wing projects sweeping nature, at a time when presidential campaigns typically move closer to the center and aim to deliver messages with broad appeal. In 2022, Trump praised the Heritage Foundation for efforts to lay the groundwork and detail plans for exactly what our movement will do, according to a video clip from an event hosted by the think tank. Running mate Sen. JD Vance also has praised Project 2025s goals. What it envisions for the military lines up with many ideas Trump himself has espoused. Sen. JD Vance, the vice presidential running mate of former President Donald Trump, visits the 121st Air Refueling Wing May 25, 2023, at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base, Ohio. Vance in the past has praised the goals outlined in the Heritage Foundations Project 2025, which includes removing what conservatives see as woke influences from the armed forces. (Ralph Branson/U.S. Air National Guard) The projects section dealing with the Defense Department, which entails 127 pages of critiques and recommendations, zero in on many of the culture-war issues that split along partisan lines. Project 2025s central theme is the military, historically one of the most trusted institutions in America, has become politicized. The DOD is also a deeply troubled institution, wrote Christopher Miller, who served for a few months as Trumps defense secretary, in Project 2025s military section. The policy playbook says the top priority is to reestablish a culture of command accountability, non-politicization, and warfighting focus. That entails reversing policies that allow transgender people to serve in the military, a position Trump staked out in his first term. Gender dysphoria is incompatible with the demands of military service, the policy plan argues. The DODs policy of facilitating abortion services for troops living in areas where such services are outlawed by reimbursing them for travel costs should be ended, the policy states. Project 2025 also envisions a near total shutdown on social media channels for military commands. Restrict the use of social media solely for purposes of recruitment and discipline any armed services personnel who use an official command channel to engage with civilian critics on social media, the policy states. Its unclear whether Trump supports the idea. The restrictions on social media use could be connected to various dustups that have involved military leaders, who in some cases have taken on their critics. For example, now-retired Army Maj. Gen. Patrick Donahoe came under criticism in 2021 when he defended female soldiers on Twitter following a segment by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who described the U.S. military as becoming more feminine while Chinas becomes more masculine. Retired Army Maj. Gen. Patrick Donahoe, pictured in a 2021 file photo at Clay National Guard Center in Marietta, Ga., was once criticized for engaging in a social media debate defending female soldiers. The conservative policy document Project 2025 advocates ending the military's official use of social media in most cases. (Bryant Wine/U.S. Army) Military schools also are an area of focus for Project 2025, with a recommendation that audits be carried out on course offerings at the military academies to remove Marxist indoctrination and eliminate tenure for academic professionals who would be treated like ordinary DOD contractors. Project 2025 didnt cite specific examples of such material at the service academies, none of which have said they advocate Marxism. Audits also would be extended to Defense Department schools for military dependents, with the aim of removing all inappropriate materials and reverse inappropriate policies. The education section is likely a reference to library books at some Defense Department schools that are focused on transgender issues, a situation that has gotten considerable attention from conservative news outlets that have questioned whether such book offerings are appropriate for children. While Democrats talk about the merits of diversity and tolerance regarding transgender issues as a sign of inclusion and strength, conservatives have characterized them as an indication that the military has gone woke and lost focus on fighting wars. Woke bureaucrats at the Pentagon force troops to attend training seminars about white privilege, Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts wrote in the forward to Project 2025. Besides social and cultural issues, Project 2025 also has a more expansive vision for how troops could be mobilized domestically. For example, the Pentagon would provide necessary support to the Department of Homeland Security for border protection operations. It already deploys thousands of National Guard members, who primarily fill administrative and logistical roles. An Oklahoma National Guard soldier patrols a border fence along the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas, Aug. 16, 2023. Proposals under the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 include increasing military support for border security operations. Former President Donald Trump has suggested an expanded role for active-duty troops at the border. (Reece Heck/U.S. Army) Former President Donald Trump tours a section of the U.S.-Mexico border wall Jan. 12, 2021, near Alamo, Texas. Reinforcing his focus on border security is a key element of his policy agenda. Similar goals are outlined in the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 document. (Shealah Craighead/White House) But in April, Trump said he would not rule out using active-duty troops to carry out southern border operations. I can see myself using the National Guard, and if necessary, Id have to go a step further, Trump said in an interview with Time magazine at the time. We have to do whatever we have to do to stop the problem we have. Other changes prescribed by Project 2025 include increasing the Armys size by 50,000 soldiers, building a Navy fleet of more than 355 ships and ramping up procurement of the F-35A aircraft, already the most expensive program of its kind, to between 60 and 80 per year. The Heritage Foundation plan concedes that defense spending would need to rise to achieve its aims but doesnt specify by how much or indicate whether there is enough political support to make it feasible. As for overarching national security priorities abroad, Project 2025 shares similarities with the Biden administrations policy. Both see China as the top threat. The differences, however, lie in the degree to which the Pentagon needs to adapt to confront China. While the Biden administration has called China the pacing threat, it also has increased its military commitments in Europe over concerns about further Russian aggression. Project 2025, however, calls for a heavier focus on countering China, which has implications for how the U.S. positions troops in other parts of the world. In Europe, that means NATO allies would be forced to carry a much larger share of the security burden. Transform NATO so that U.S. allies are capable of fielding the great majority of the conventional forces required to deter Russia while relying on the United States primarily for our nuclear deterrent, and select other capabilities while reducing the U.S. force posture in Europe, Project 2025 states. While Trump hasnt spelled out what his plans are for the military overseas, he often has expressed skepticism about the value of NATO. Trump also sought to reduce the number of troops in Europe, a move that failed to come to fruition before the end of his first term. Picture of the logo of Smartmatic, the firm that supplies Venezuelas voting technology, seen on a sliding door at the headquarters of the company in Caracas, on Aug. 2, 2017. (Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images/TNS) MIAMI (Tribune News Service) A federal grand jury in South Florida on Thursday indicted Venezuelan-American executive Roger Pinate, founder and president of the voting-machine company Smartmatic, on charges of involving a bribery and money-laundering scheme used to secure elections contracts in the Philippines. According to federal prosecutors Pinate, 49, a Boca Raton resident, along with Jorge Miguel Vasquez, 62, of Davie, and others others were involved in the payment of a $1 million in bribes to the former chairman of the Philippines Commission on Elections, Juan Andres Donato Bautista. These bribes were allegedly paid to obtain and retain business related to providing voting machines and election services for the 2016 Philippine elections and to secure payments on the contracts, including the release of value added tax payments, the U.S. Justice Department said in a press release. Officials said the alleged co-conspirators financed the bribes by over-invoicing the cost per voting machine for the elections. To conceal the operation, the co-conspirators used coded language to refer to the slush fund used to make the illicit payments and caused the creation of fraudulent contracts and sham loan agreements to justify transfers, the Justice Department said. The co-conspirators then allegedly laundered funds related to the bribery scheme through bank accounts located in Asia, Europe, and the United States, including in the Southern District of Florida, the department added. Bautista, Pinate, Vasquez, and Elie Moreno, 44, a dual citizen of Venezuela and Israel, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and three counts of international laundering of monetary instruments. If convicted, Bautista, Pinate, Vasquez and Moreno each face a maximum penalty of 20 years for each count of international laundering of monetary instruments and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Pinate, alongside Venezuelans Antonio Mugica and Alfredo Jose Anzola, founded Smartmatic in 2000, and gained notoriety after the company was chosen by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez to replace the countrys voting machines in 2004. The company grew by acquiring the much larger Sequoia Voting Systems in 2006, though the company later announced that it had divested its stake in that company. 2024 Miami Herald. Visit at miamiherald.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Patrick Grealish (48) of Garrai Corcai, Lettermullen, Co Galway, was arrested by gardai on Sunday morning A 48-year-old man has promised to stay off social media after being charged with threatening to kill or cause serious harm to the Taoiseach and his family. Patrick Grealish (48) of Garrai Corcai, Lettermullen, Co Galway, was arrested by gardai on Sunday morning as part of the investigation into online threats made against Simon Harris. The accused was brought before Judge Gerard Furlong at a special sitting of Galway District Court yesterday afternoon. Taoiseach Simon Harris. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA He was led into the court building by gardai and covered his face as he was brought in. Detective Sergeant Eamonn ONeill, of the Special Detective Unit, gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution. He said Mr Grealish made replied no thanks when the charge was put to him. The defendant is accused of making a threat to kill or cause serious harm to the Taoiseach and his family at a location within the State on August 4. The detective said he was objecting to bail on a number of grounds, including that the serious offence related to a member of Government, with gardai taking it very seriously. The maximum penalty for the offence, under Section 5 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997, on conviction is a 10-year jail term. Det Sgt ONeill also said that the accused was caught red-handed with the device allegedly used to send the offending message. Under cross examination he accepted that the defendant was cooperative. Patrick Grealish leaving court after being charged with threatening to kill or cause serious harm to Taoiseach Simon Harris and his family The defence solicitor said that his client is a carer for his mother and also has his own health issues. Det Sgt ONeill said that a guarantee by Mr Grealish to stay off social media would alleviate some of his concerns. He also asked that any bail conditions include staying away from the Taoiseach, his family, and having no direct or indirect contact with them. Giving evidence in the bail hearing, the defendant said when asked if he would stay off social media: Absolutely your honour. I promise. Judge Furlong said the accused had the presumption of innocence and noted that gardai had no concerns about Mr Grealish not turning up for court. He remanded the accused on bail, on a number of strict conditions which include staying off social media, and he will appear in court again on September 17. Mr Conway had been associated with a notorious crime organisation known as The Firm Fergal Kane is charged with the murder of Kevin Conway. One of the men charged with the gangland murder of Kevin Conway in west Belfast is to be granted bail, a High Court judge has ruled. Mr Justice OHara held that 54-year-old Fergal Kane can be released from custody due to question marks in the case against him. Mr Conway (26) was shot multiple times at his flat at Rossnareen Park on January 9. He had been associated with a notorious crime organisation known as The Firm and was on bail for the murder of Shane Whitla in Lurgan 12 months previously. Police revealed Mr Conway was gunned down minutes after sending his partner a message to say he was relaxing at home on the PlayStation. The killers are believed to have entered the property and opened fire with a shotgun and a pistol. Kane and co-accused Aidan OKeefe, 27, have been charged with the murder as part of an alleged joint enterprise. Both men, whose addresses in Belfast cannot be reported, face a further count of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life. Neither of them is suspected of carrying out the shooting. But detectives claim the pair travelled in convoy by van and car to the scene of the murder. They are allegedly connected by CCTV evidence, a vehicle tracking device and registration plate sightings on the night in question. OKeefe left the Royal Victoria Hospital earlier that evening and drove his Toyota Proace work van through a number of streets in the west of the city before linking up with Kanes BMW car, according to the police case. The vehicles were said to have parked up a short distance from the victims home before two masked men in dark clothing got out and walked towards the property. Based on CCTV footage and GPRS tracking data, the van and car then left the area and split up. Two suspected gunmen observed walking on foot in the neighbourhood after the shooting have yet to be caught. Kevin Conway Kanes BMW was seized and forensically examined as part of the investigation. Initial tests revealed three particles indicative of cartridge discharge residue were located in the car. The court heard three men made a subsequent attempt to get rid of the work van but were chased off by plain-clothes police officers keeping the vehicle under observation. As Kane mounted a renewed bid for bail, his legal team argued that he strenuously denied any involvement in the killing. Defence counsel claimed the evidence was weak and raised issues about the health of his client. Mr Justice OHara also examined forensic material as part of the application. I am persuaded that there are sufficient question marks about the Crown case against Mr Kane that bail should be granted, the judge ruled. There are points in the events when the prosecution case appears to be based, at this stage at least, more on suspicion than actual evidence. He stressed that the same assessment does not necessarily apply to OKeefe who is still in custody. Kane was ordered to live at an undisclosed address and provide a 5,000 cash surety before his release. Tomasz Stacharczyk (39) mixed alcohol with medication and went out of control when he caused 1,500 worth of damage at the airport. An air passenger with a fear of flying got drunk and damaged an access control panel at Dublin Airport in an incident that he could not explain, a court has heard. Tomasz Stacharczyk (39) mixed alcohol with medication and went out of control when he caused 1,500 worth of damage at the airport. Judge Treasa Kelly adjourned the case at Dublin District Court for a community service suitability report. Stacharczyk, with an address at Coole Haven, Gort, Co Galway, pleaded guilty to causing criminal damage in the incident. He also admitted a second count of criminal damage by urinating in a cell at Dublin Airport garda station after his arrest. A garda sergeant said the accused was at Terminal 1 in the airport on June 20 this year when he caused damage to an access control panel. He was arrested and charged with the offence. The cost of the repair was 1,500. The court heard that while he was in custody, he caused further damage by urinating on a cell door, which cost 250 to clean. The accused had no previous convictions of any kind. Stacharczyk had bipolar disorder and a doctors letter outlining his medical issues was submitted to the court. He was on medication and was intoxicated at the time of the incident, his lawyer said. He had a fear of flying and had flown to Ireland from Poland at the time. He accepts he was highly intoxicated and out of control and he has no explanation for why he did what he did, the lawyer said. The court heard Stacharczyk also suffered from PTSD after he was assaulted in Poland as a young man. The accused had come to Ireland in 2011 to work, but was not in employment at the moment following an ankle injury that happened during this incident, the court heard. He also had other medical issues, which were outlined in the letter. He apologised and wanted to pay for the damage, but it would take him a considerable amount of time to save up the money, the lawyer said. Judge Kelly said she was giving Stacharczyk credit for the fact that he had taken responsibility for what he did and entered guilty pleas on only his second date in court. She asked why he caused the damage. Theres no explanation, the lawyer said, adding that clearly his mental health background mixed with alcohol were factors. Judge Kelly said to be on medication and drinking alcohol was very immature and not the actions of a grown-up man of 40 years of age. The judge remanded Stacharczyk on continuing bail to a date in October for assessment for suitability for community service. The Kinahan Cartel have been linked to the murder of Kearns, a convicted drug dealer. A garda investigation into the murder of a man outside a pub on Dublins northside nine years ago is very much ongoing with new lines of investigation being followed, an inquest has heard. Darren Kearns (33) of Ashington Dale, Navan Road, Ashtown suffered a number of fatal gunshot wounds when confronted by a lone gunman just after leaving a restaurant with his wife, Sharon, on December 30, 2015. The couple had been out for dinner at the Rising Phoenix restaurant located next to Cumiskeys pub on Blackhorse Avenue near the Cabra entrance to Phoenix Park. Detective Inspector Darragh Kenny told a brief sitting of Dublin District Coroners Court on Tuesday that the investigation into Mr Kearns death was very much ongoing. Det Insp Kenny, who is the senior investigator in the case, said he expected criminal proceedings would be considered arising from the Garda investigation. He applied for a 12-month adjournment of the inquest due to the nature of the ongoing inquiries. Det Insp Kenny said he realised that adjournments were normally granted for six-month periods but he believed it was more realistic to seek the longer timeframe as there were different areas of investigation that were not previously available heretofore. They will require a lot more time and a lot more consideration, he added. Det Insp Kenny said he believed it would be 12 months before an investigation file on the case would be prepared for forwarding to the DPP for direction. He explained that it would probably be inevitable that he would need to seek a further adjournment if he was only granted a six-month adjournment. The coroner, Clare Keane, granted the application but adjourned the inquest for a period of nine months with the case to be mentioned again on May 13, 2025. The Kinahan Cartel have been linked to the murder of Kearns, a convicted drug dealer. It was previously reported that Kearns was suspected of being involved in the botched Red Cow shooting involving cartel associate Liam Roe, in which a gunman approached Roe as he smoked a cigarette outside, but his gun jammed. On the evening of the murder, the couples vehicle was blocked by a 04-D reg, light coloured green BMW M Series car as Ms Kearns drove out of the car park shortly after 5.30pm. A male appeared running alongside the BMW and opened fire on Mr Kearns with a firearm he was carrying. He jumped into the rear seat of the BMW which took off at speed without headlights from outside the pub. The attackers vehicle was subsequently found burnt out a short distance away in a laneway off Regal Park, Cabra where a male was seen running to a waiting car. The BMW used as a getaway vehicle from the pub had been bought from a car buyers website two months earlier by someone who had supplied false details. Mr Kearns and his wife had left their home at around 3.30pm to go for an early evening meal with the deceased driving his wifes Fiat 500. They tried a number of restaurants in the area but they were closed. They travelled along Collins Avenue in Drumcondra before deciding to turn around at Dublin City University and go to a restaurant in Finglas which was also closed. Mr Kearns purchased petrol at Clearwater shopping centre in Finglas before they decided to try a Chinese restaurant on Blackhorse Avenue arriving there at 4.45pm. The deceased had received a six-year prison sentence in 2012 in relation to a seizure of cannabis worth 1.8 million two years earlier but he had been granted temporary release from custody several months before the fatal shooting. Mr Kearns had told gardai that he had been forced to transport the drugs to reduce a 180,000 debt he had to a criminal gang which he had amassed from spending 1,000 a day on cocaine. On RTE's Crimecall in 2018, Kearns's family spoke for the first time about his murder. His father Philip revealed the strong bond he once shared with his son, saying: ''People say you can't be a father and a best friend. We were, and that's how close we were as a family and a unit.'' His sister Martina said: ''He was so full of life, he loved life.'' Mother Frances recalled the last time she saw him, saying: "The last memory I have with him, he was so happy. We were going away and the next memory I have he was coming home in a box." On the evening of the murder, his family rushed to the scene. The events they witnessed were painful for Frances to recall. "Next I hear everyone was roaring that he was gone. It's very hard to look at your child lying in the cold night, lying on the ground," she said. Judge Paula Murphy gave her the benefit of the Probation of Offenders Act, leaving her without a criminal conviction. A woman caught carrying a knife in Dublin city centre said she had it to cut nettles to make herbal tea. Natalie Holokovas defence said this was a tradition in her native Slovakia and she was in the wrong place at the wrong time when gardai stopped her and found the Swiss Army knife. Judge Paula Murphy gave her the benefit of the Probation of Offenders Act, leaving her without a criminal conviction. Holokova (46), with an address at Capel Street in central Dublin, pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a knife on July 30 last year. Dublin District Court heard gardai came across the accused at Dorset Street flats, in an area well known for drug use. She was searched and found to be in possession of a knife and when asked why she had it, she replied that she used it for camping, a garda told the court. Holokova had two previous convictions, but nothing for a similar offence. Defence solicitor Yvonne Bambury said the accused, who had been in Ireland for 20 years, used the knife to cut nettles and make herbal tea from it. This was traditional and something she had done for many years. The knife was in her bag at the time. The accused had worked at a supermarket and other jobs and was not a person of any violent or criminal propensity. She just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, Ms Bambury said. The solicitor asked the judge to consider leaving the accused without a conviction, saying there were no aggravating factors in the case. The judge dismissed the charge under the Probation of Offenders Act. Ms Ghirxis family have said Johnston began harassing his former partner when she ended a two-year relationship between them Nicolette Ghirxi had filed police reports about her former partner An Irish man killed following a standoff with police in Malta, hours after he allegedly stabbed his ex-partner to death, pointed a fake gun at police before being shot dead. Edward Johnston (50) was killed by Maltese police on a beach in the seaside town of St Julians in the early hours of yesterday after a three-hour standoff. Nicolette Ghirxi (48), Mr Johnstons former partner, was stabbed to death in an apartment in Birkirkara, a town about 7km west of the capital Valletta a couple of hours earlier. Police found the body of the woman in her apartment in Swatar, Birkirkara, at about 2am yesterday. She had suffered upper-body knife injuries and two knives were discovered close to her body. Johnston had gone to the Hilton hotel in St Julians at midnight and asked for a drink but pulled out a gun when he was told the bar was closed. Police were alerted when they received a report of a man in St Julians wielding a gun and saying he had murdered someone. Police commissioner Angelo Gafa told a news conference yesterday that Johnston told police he had murdered a woman. A police negotiator was brought in and two police teams were deployed, one to Birkirkara, where they found the womans apartment door locked and had to break in to find the victim dead. The other unit was deployed to the Hilton. Police cordoned off the area behind the Hilton Hotel where Johnston was later shot dead. Johnston was in the sea with a gun pointed at his head at St Julians and despite police negotiators descending on the scene, he leapt at one of the officers, resulting in him being shot. Edward Johnston He was transported to Mater Dei Hospital and was later confirmed dead, Mr Gafa confirmed. It transpired the gun Johnston was holding was a replica of a Beretta pistol. Ms Ghirxis family have said Johnston began harassing his former partner when she ended a two-year relationship between them. They alleged he ran a number of fake social media accounts which were used to harass and slander Ms Ghirxi. Some of the posts, seen by the Irish Independent, targeted Ms Ghirxis employment at HSBC in Malta. A colleague revealed that while Ms Ghirxi was discreet about the harassment, everyone at work was aware of it due to the public nature of the posts. Some of the posts displayed Ms Ghirxis profile picture and on occasion, her home address. She filed police reports on two occasions with regard to her former partner, Maltese police confirmed. There were no previous reports of violence between the two but in April, Ms Ghirxi filed two harassment reports against Johnston after receiving some emails from him when they broke up. However, she decided against carrying out a risk assessment, telling police and social welfare officials she did not believe she was at risk. She filed another report of harassment in May, again linked to emails. At the time, police established that Johnston was not in Malta, Mr Gafa said, describing the emails as being harassment but not of a threatening nature. The victim herself told us she did not feel threatened and messages we saw also indicated as much, Mr Gafa said at a press conference yesterday. In July, the victim again contacted police about a number of slanderous social media posts about her and said she suspected Johnston. Ms Ghirxi was so unsettled by the situation that she shared her Facebook account credentials with a family member just in case something happened to her. Last Thursday, she told police by email that Johnston may be in Malta. Roberta Metsola, president of the European Parliament and a Maltese citizen, said: Nicolette Ghirxi should be alive today. Instead, Malta must bury another daughter. Another woman murdered, with her former partner the prime suspect. Our grief must turn into action. Our anger must fuel change. The epidemic of violence against women cannot go on. Not one more. Be their voice. Senior sources have confirmed Johnston was an Irish citizen but had not lived in Ireland for a number of years. He had no previous convictions in this jurisdiction. The police in Malta reported him to be a former soldier from Ireland but a Defence Forces spokesperson said: The Defence Forces has no record of service for a Mr Edward Johnston. A spokesperson for the Irish embassy said it was aware of the incident and would offer consular assistance to relatives. A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said it was aware of the case and was providing consular assistance, and added that the department did not comment on the details of individual cases. Post-mortems are still taking place and investigations are ongoing. With reporting from the Times of Malta Terrence Crosbie (37) of Dublin was arrested at Boston Logan International Airport in March as he attempted to fly back to Ireland. A Dublin Fire Brigade firefighter charged with raping a woman in Boston during the St Patricks festival weekend has had his bail reduced from $100,000 to $10,000 but still cant pay it, a court heard. Terrence Crosbie (37) of Dublin was arrested at Boston Logan International Airport in March as he attempted to fly back to Ireland. He was charged on March 18 with the alleged rape of a woman at the landmark hotel Omni Parker House, on Friday, March 15. Crosbie, who has been placed on leave by Dublin Fire Brigade since the charges emerged, has denied the allegations and claims he never said a word to her. He has been held at the Nashua Street Jail in Boston in lieu of $100,000 cash bail and ordered to surrender his passport since his arrest. Crosbie was indicted by a Suffolk County grand jury back in June, moving the case to Suffolk Superior Court, where he pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of rape during his arraignment. Terence Crosbie Court records show that the judge granted his motion for a bail reduction during a hearing on August 5, and at a hearing on Monday, Crosbies lawyer David C. Reilly argued that the $100,000 bail was unreasonable and totally unmakeable. If Crosbie posts bail, he is required to remain in Massachusetts and wear a GPS device. He must also have no contact with the victim or witnesses. But according to his lawyer, even if Crosbie could come up with bail money, his biggest hurdle is finding somewhere to live in the state. He said his client has no significant financial resources and will struggle as he has been jaild and unemployed since March. At a previous hearing, lawyers representing the Dublin Fire Brigade firefighter said he will do everything to clear his name. I can tell you right now, he is going to fight and clear his name and do everything that he can to address these charges and maintain his innocence, Boston attorney Brad Bailey told Boston 25 News Reporter Bob Ward. This is a man, Bob, who has never been in trouble before. Has no prior record, has never been in jail. Here he is, in a jail cell with no ability to make bail, really in a situation that is arguably punitive for somebody who has the presumption of innocence, Bailey said. The victim told police in a report, the incident occurred on March 14 at the Black Rose Irish Pub near Faneuil Hall where she met a man from Ireland. She told police they returned to his room at the Omni Parker House hotel where they had consensual sex. Afterward, she told police they fell asleep in separate beds. The following day, the victim said she woke up to another man, later identified as Terence Crosbie sexually assaulting her. The victim quoted Crosbie, who she didnt know, as saying, I know you want this, he (the other man) fell asleep. Crosbie and the other man, both from Ireland, were visiting Boston for St. Patricks Day and were sharing the hotel room. In an interview with police, Crosbie denied the rape. He told police he climbed into bed not knowing she was even there, but he heard her gather her clothes and leave the room. Crosbie who claims he never said a word to her, was arrested at Logan Airport on March 16, three days before his previously scheduled flight, trying to get back to Ireland. Members of the Massachusetts State Police stopped Mr Crosbies plane on the tarmac and removed him. As always in these matters, the willingness of the victim to come forward is crucial," District Attorney Kevin Hayden said on March 18. In a statement, Dublin Fire Brigade said: "Dublin Fire Brigade chief fire officer has been made aware that the Boston Police Department have begun a criminal investigation into an alleged serious case involving a member of Dublin Fire Brigade. "The firefighter has immediately been placed on leave. We cannot comment on the specific circumstances but we would reiterate the high standards that we expect from all who represent our organisation at any event. "As a result, we are conducting an internal investigation and establishing the facts in collaboration with the appropriate authorities and the organisers of the delegation. As this is a criminal investigation, we will not be making any further comment at this time." Valdo Calocane killed 19-year-old students Barnaby Webber and Grace OMalley-Kumar in June 2023 as they returned from a night out, before killing school caretaker Ian Coates. The families of two students and a caretaker who were stabbed to death in Nottingham last year have said that healthcare staff and police have blood on their hands over their handling of killer Valdo Calocane. Calocane killed 19-year-old students Barnaby Webber and Grace OMalley-Kumar in June 2023 as they returned from a night out, before killing school caretaker Ian Coates. He then stole a van and crashed into three other people, who were seriously injured. A new report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) identified a "series of errors, omissions and misjudgments in his treatment prior to the killings. Ian Coates, Barnaby Webber and Grace OMalley-Kumar (Nottinghamshire Police/PA) It detailed how medics minimised or omitted information that would have highlighted the threat Calocane posed to the public. The care regulator conducted a review into the Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) and found that risk assessments understated Calocanes symptoms of psychosis, violent behaviour towards others, and refusal to take his medication. It also raised concerns about how the Trust engaged with Calocane's family and how he was discharged to his GPs care in September 2022. Calocane was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2020. His family say they didn't find out until three years later and are calling for a public inquiry and urgent reforms to mental health services. They told the BBCs Panorama programme they only received the 300-page medical summary containing a psychiatrists warning that he could end up killing someone until after his sentencing. In a statement, the families of Grace, Barnaby, and Ian said the CQC report demonstrates gross, systematic failures and added that clinicians must bear a heavy burden of responsibility for their failures and poor decision-making". The statement continued: Sadly, this is the first of what we expect to be a series of damning reports concerning failures by public bodies in the lead-up to the killings of our loved ones and beyond. We were failed by multiple organisations pre and post June 13, 2023. Along with the Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire police forces, these departments and individual professionals have blood on their hands. Alarmingly, there seems to be little or no accountability amongst the senior management team within the mental health trust. We question how and why these people are still in position. Chris Dzikiti, interim chief inspector of healthcare at the CQC, said: This review identifies points where poor decision-making, omissions and errors of judgments contributed to a situation where a patient with very serious mental health issues did not receive the support and follow-up he needed. While it is not possible to say that the devastating events of June 13, 2023, would not have taken place had Valdo Calocane received that support, what is clear is that the risk he presented to the public was not managed well and that opportunities to mitigate that risk were missed. The regulator recommended that treatment plans for people with schizophrenia should be reviewed by the NHFT on a regular basis. It also called for clinical supervision of decisions to detain people under the Mental Health Act and for guidance from the NHS on setting national standards of care for people with complex psychosis and paranoid schizophrenia. Calocanes sentence was referred to the Court of Appeal in February, but three judges ruled the hospital order was not not arguably unduly lenient, stating the court could not ignore medical evidence related to his paranoid schizophrenia. Speaking following the appeal ruling, Barnaby Webbers mother Emma Webber said: Todays ruling comes as no surprise to the families of the Nottingham attack victims. It was inevitable and was not a review of anything other than the letter of the law as it stands. Despite the fact that the Attorney General herself feels that Valdo Calocane did not receive the appropriate sentence, todays outcome proves how utterly flawed and under-resourced the criminal justice system in the UK is. It also illustrates the need for urgent reforms in the UK homicide law. The fact remains, despite the words of the judge, that almost 90pc of people serving hospital orders are out within 10 years and 98pc within 20 years. In effect, the families now face their own life sentence of ensuring the monster that is Valdo Calocane becomes the next Ian Brady or Fred West and is never released. Smalls made his comments at a screening of the documentary film Union, which tells the story of the fight to unionise JFK8 Amazon customers across the world could feel the impact of strike action this Christmas unless the company finally negotiates with the unions that represent its employees, Amazon Labour Union (ALU) founder Chris Smalls has warned. Smalls, who is in Dublin to attend Mozillas Rise25 2nd Annual Awards which is taking place in the National Conference Centre in Dublin today, was speaking at a special screening of the film Union in the capital. He told an audience of political and trade union activists at the screening that ALU members would be in a position to take widespread industrial action later this year. I can tell you because of the affiliation I recently signed with the Teamsters we now have the support of 1.5 million union members throughout America. On the ground at JFK8 (one of the largest Amazon fulfillment centre in the US) we are going to prepare our members to be strike ready by the holiday season, Smalls said. The ALU won a ballot for union recognition at the JFK8 facility in 2022 but the company is yet to engage with the union on the terms and conditions of the more than 8,000 workers employed on the site. Smalls added: Im here in Ireland, after that I am in the UK because we are going to have to build international solidarity. We arent going to get anywhere unless we fight this on the international level. "Amazon is organised internationally and if we are to unionise it we will have to do that internationally. Smalls made his comments at a screening of the documentary film Union, which tells the story of the fight to unionise JFK8 at a special screening in the Sugar Club in Dublin on Sunday (11th August). The screening was hosted jointly by the Robert Tressell Festival and Mozilla. I was shocked and appalled when the children suddenly took up a chat of Ooh ah up the Ra which prompted a swift end to the live broadcast Members of the public on O'Connell Street in Dublin, ahead of a homecoming event for Irish Olympic athletes returning from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. PA Photo/Liam McBurney Reporter Aoife Moore handed swiftly back to the studio when chanting could be heard A live BBC Northern Ireland broadcast from the Team Ireland homecoming in Dublin on Monday had to be cut short after children in the background were heard chanting: Ooh ah up the Ra. During a BBC Newsline report on the Olympians returning from the Paris 2024 Games, reporter Aoife Moore had to stop as she said she couldnt hear anything, and the broadcast was diverted back to the studio in Belfast. TUV Carrick Councillor David Clarke said he has written to the Olympic Federation of Ireland and the director of BBC Northern Ireland raising concerns. In his correspondence, he states: This evenings edition of BBC Northern Irelands evening news programme, Newsline, included a live report from Dublin in which a reporter broadcast from in front of a group of primary school aged children. I was shocked and appalled when the children suddenly took up a chant of Ooh ah up the Ra which prompted a swift end to the live broadcast. Members of the public on O'Connell Street in Dublin, ahead of a homecoming event for Irish Olympic athletes returning from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. PA Photo/Liam McBurney I appreciate that The Olympic Federation of Ireland could not control this event. However, it took place following an event to welcome home athletes, some of whom as noted above are from Northern Ireland which bore the brunt of the brutal IRA campaign which resulted in the murders of over 1,700 people and the maiming of thousands of others. "You will also be aware that the FAI was fined 20,000 after some members of the Ireland womens team was filmed chanting this highly offensive slogan. I invite you to publicly distance The Olympic Federation of Ireland from what we saw tonight on the BBC and make clear that there is no place for the glorification of terrorism in sport. A BBC spokesperson said: We dealt quickly and effectively with this live broadcast situation. William Kenny had been working on cutting down the tree when it fell in the wrong direction William Kenny (41), from Ballinagh, Co Cavan, died when a tree fell on him as he was trying to cut it down with a friend A verdict of accidental death has been recorded after a workman was crushed by a 100-year-old pine tree he had been cutting down with a childhood friend. Father of two William Kenny (41) died almost instantly after the tree fell unexpectedly in the wrong direction. He ran but part of the pine landed on him, causing devastating injuries. Mr Kenny and his childhood friend Brendan McGahern had been preparing the tree to be cut down. The men heard a crack and the pine fell in the opposite direction to where it was meant to drop. Mr McGahern told Dublin Coroners Court he had played out the incident a thousand, a million times, and he still couldnt understand how the tree fell in the wrong direction after extensive preparatory work. Mr McGahern said: We just looked up at the tree to see why it wasn't moving. There was a sharp crack. It came down to the left, not from the top down. It came down vertically. We wanted it to fall horizontally For us, it was textbook, from start to finish. Mr Kenny had been hired to fell the tree by his colleague, Anton OMathuna, at his home in Portrane, north Dublin on February 11 last year. Coroner Dr Claire Keane recorded a death caused by a traumatic cranial injury, secondary to blunt force trauma an accidental death. Dr Keane stated the death had been an unspeakable tragedy, borne out of a task done many times, and carried out in good weather. I express condolences for your loss, I know it has been a very difficult time, Dr Keane told Mr Kennys family. A female relative asked the coroner: Id like to know, did he die instantly? He wouldn't have suffered, it was a pretty instantaneous death, replied Dr Keane. He would not have known, it would have been extremely quick. Dr Keane said the brain injury had been secondary to the blunt force trauma, which had then caused a severe head injury. Mr Kenny and Mr OMathuna both worked at Liffey Contracts Limited in Dublin, but this work was a side job the father had carried out for around 20 years. Mr Kenny had asked Mr McGahern to assist in cutting down Mr OMathunas tree. The inquest heard Mr McGahern was also experienced at felling trees. Mr McGahern explained how he and Mr Kenny had been friends since primary school and they had regularly helped each other out over the years with side jobs since 2013. When William asked me to help him with a job in Portrane, I didn't hesitate to say yes, said Mr McGahern. He would drop everything to help me. We loaded tools into my van and off we went. The men carried out extensive preparatory work for the tree to fall in one direction, away from Mr OMathunas house, but it was not moving as planned. We proceeded to hammer (wedges in) but there was still no movement, Mr McGahern said. It was completely cut through. I was to the left of the tree. We looked up and heard a crack of it moving. It didn't fall into a wedge. it came down vertical. We both ran. I ran to the left and William ran in the direction of the house. The tree hit me but I was up in a few seconds. I saw William, pinned under the tree. Anton came running and got on the phone straight away. I felt for a pulse but there was nothing. An emergency crew arrived and Mr Kenny was later pronounced dead. Mr McGahern said the job should have been straightforward and that there was no breeze. The work they had carried out should have created a controlled fall, he said. I never in my life saw a tree behave the way it did, Mr McGahern said. Mr OMathuna said: I could hear the chainsaw going. Willie stopped the chainsaw and I could see them looking at the tree. I heard a crack and I saw Willie and Brendan run. Willie disappeared and Brendan came out the other end of the tree. Brendan was far enough out he could see Willie. I couldn't see him. I called to him. I could hear Brendan talking but not what he was saying. I said Is he OK?. He said No. I remember Brendan saying to me that Willie was dead. Mr Kenny, from Ballinagh, Co Cavan, is survived by his wife Tammy and children Tamzin and William. As a result, the family, who are members of the Irish Traveller Community, have brought High Court Judicial Review Proceedings against the Council A couple and their five young children who claim they have nowhere to go because they can't stay at a property they claim is harming their health have launched High Court proceedings challenging Leitrim Co Council's decision that they are not homeless. The action has been taken by Thomas and Louise Stokes, who along with their five children, claim that they had resided at a property in Mount Temple, Carrick on Shannon, Co Leitrim for several years. They claim that since they moved into the property five years ago, which was provided for them by the local authority, their health has been adversely affected due to dampness and mould in the house. They claim that the mould was so bad that they were forced to sleep downstairs rather than in the upstairs bedrooms of the property. They complained about the problem to the local authority. They also claim that the council carried some works to alleviate the problems, such as improve ventilation in the house and remove the mould. Those works, the family claim, were insufficient, and that when they had lived there the property was not fit for human habitation. At one point the family decided to withhold paying rent to the council. This resulted in the council bringing legal proceedings against them, seeking an order for possession of the property. Those proceedings, after reports were compiled outlining the problems with the property, ultimately did not proceed. The family claim that while they were in the property the problem with mould became so bad, and adversely affected their children's health, that they left the property and temporarily resided with relatives. They initially returned, but the problems persisted, and the council agreed to put the family on its Housing Transfer List. Due to on-going health problems the family left the property for a second time, and again went to live with family members. That arrangement however ended, and having nowhere else to go, the family returned to the house. This it is claimed has had a huge detrimental effect on the family's health, which has resulted in the children being hospitalised. After members of their family were again hospitalised with severe respiratory problems the family left the property for a third time. They had been staying with another relative, in unsuitable conditions with all seven members of the family staying in a single room. The family claims they are homeless and require emergency accommodation. They claim that the council does not accept this and has failed to lawfully consider their requests for a social housing transfer. They claim the council has failed to take the mental health consequences of their residence at the property, and the knock detrimental effects on the applicants. As a result, the family, who are members of the Irish Traveller Community, have brought High Court Judicial Review Proceedings against the Council. Represented by Nuala Egan SC the family seeks various orders and declarations from the court, including an order quashing the council's decision that the family are not homeless within the mean of the 1998 Housing Act. They also seek orders quashing the Council's refusal to agree to their request for a social housing transfer, and that they be provided with emergency family-appropriate accommodation that is fit for human habitation. They further seek declarations including that the council's decision that they are not homeless, is irrational unreasonable, disproportionate and in breach of the applicants' Constitutional rights, rights under the European Convention on Human Rights, and the EU's Chater of Fundamental Rights. They also seek damages for the alleged breaches of the rights and for the council's breach of duty towards them. The matter came before Mr Justice Garrett Simons during Mondays' vacation sitting of the High Court. The judge, on an ex-parte basis, granted the applicants permission to bring the action against the council. The judge made the action returnable to a date later this month. One of the men is clinging to life and is in a critical condition tonight in hospital A total of 10 prisoners are now being treated in hospital for suspected drug overdoses that occurred on the C Wing of Portlaoise Prison today. One of the men is clinging to life and is in a critical condition tonight in hospital. The medical condition of the other nine men is described as serious. One of the prisoners who was initially brought to hospital after overdosing is a gangland criminal aged in his 40s who is serving a life sentence for murder. From the capitals south inner city, he was convicted for his role in a gun murder at a Dublin pub in 2009. He was one of the first six prisoners hospitalised on Tuesday afternoon. The drug used has still not been identified but it is understood to be a powder substance. It was discovered in at least one jail cell in a series of searches that happened when the prisoners became ill. It is understood that the inmates who had taken the drugs had thought it was Spice a Synthetic cannabinoid but it is now suspected that it was a far more stronger substance that they ingested. Phyllis Furness died on Monday evening A woman believed to be Irelands oldest person has died in Galway, just a few months after celebrating her 109th birthday. Phyllis Furness died on Monday evening. The Sunday World interviewed Ms Furness at her nursing home in Moycullen, Co Galway when she celebrated her birthday on May 23. Her granddaughter Jackie Ord had travelled from Melbourne, Australia to join well-wishers in the celebrations. Ms Furness expressed a wish at the time to reach her 110th birthday next May and become a supercentenarian. The late Phyllis Furness with her granddaughter Jackie Ord Born Phyllis Olwyn Ryder in Nottinghamshire in England, she moved with her husband John to the Glann Road outside Oughterard in 1981 as a retirement project. Her husband was keen on angling and wanted to be near Lough Corrib. After he died in 1984, Phyllis Furness moved to a house closer to Oughterard village and continued to live until last year when she moved to Moycullen Nursing Home. She became an active member in the local community, particularly in Kilcummin Church, when she arrived in Galway over 40 years ago. The couple, who had married in 1940, had one son John who was born in 1942 and died in 2012. Framed greeting cards from the late Queen Elizabeth and the current king and queen Charles and Camilla were on display in her room in Moycullen, while she also received commemorative coins from President Michael D Higgins every year since she turned 100. Several units of Wexford Fire Service are currently working to quench a blaze which broke out at a house in the heart of the town. More than four tenders from Wexford Fire Brigade rushed to the property on the corner of Devereux Villas at the junction with Green Street in Wexford town. The residents of the property were forced to flee and immediately called emergency services after the blaze broke out shortly after 11am, reportedly originating in the attic of the home. Firefighters on ladders immediately sought out the source of the blaze and began dampening things down with their hoses, breaking several holes in the roof in the process. A crowd of onlookers gathered on the green opposite the house, but a fire service spokesperson confirmed that no other properties were evacuated and the fire was confined to the detached home. The situation seemed to be under control shortly after 12.30pm, although additional back-up had also arrived. House destroyed by fire at Devereux Villas, Green Street in Wexford town on Tuesday. Pic: Jim Campbell Meanwhile, gardai partially blocked the road, keeping one lane of traffic moving as the fire service worked. A spokesperson for Wexford Fire Service confirmed that there were no injuries and residents had self-evacuated before making the emergency call. "We mobilised three pumps, two from Wexford and one from Enniscorthy, and a water tanker, they confirmed. The additional back-up was mainly a precaution due to the amount of smoke we were dealing with. There is significant damage to the property, theres no doubt about it, but thankfully there were no injuries and the fire was quickly brought under control. Fish & Game staff throughout the country are busy conducting spawning surveys for trout and salmon to ensure there are sustainable fisheries for the future and to check up on stream and river health. Fish & Game New Zealand chief executive Corina Jordan says there are a range of ways to monitor spawning, from using fish traps to walking up a stream and counting. Fish spawning monitoring tells us if a population is in trouble, if sites have moved and need protecting, and help us with planning work. Spawning is when a female fish digs holes in stream gravels by turning on their side and thrusting their tail. They lay eggs in the hole, and the male fish deposits milt onto the eggs to fertilise them. The female then digs a new hole in front of the eggs, which covers the eggs in gravel. The excavations are called redds, which simply means nest. A rainbow trout from the Eastern region being measured. Salmon and different species of trout spawn at different times, but often in the same waterways. There are also differences depending on where you are in the country, but generally, salmon spawn from March to June, brown trout from May and rainbow trout from June onwards. So, while this work is continuing, we are already getting interesting findings. Our Nelson Marlborough team recently monitored brown trout redd density for a section of Motupiko River. Based on the survey, which found an uptick in spawning activity, they are making recommendations to avoid any instream works activity upstream of the main spawning zone from May to October (as designated within the Motueka Water Conservation Order). We are also keeping an eye on salmon migrating from the sea to the headwaters of the main central South Island rivers to spawn as theres been a decline in recent years." Corina says spawning surveys were just one part of the work Fish & Game does to monitor and manage species and the work also allows the organisation to keep a close eye on the health of our precious waterways. Fishing and hunting are ways of being part of nature and its cycle. So, part of our focus is ensuring our wild places stay wild. And more than that, we must ensure that the life that survives there thrives there. Fish & Games journey has always been about protecting, restoring and rewilding Aotearoa New Zealands natural freshwater habitats and species. And that means safeguarding indigenous species and the management of valued introduced ones for the benefit of people and whenua. A Fish & Game officer inspecting a river. Regional updates: Auckland-Waikato Auckland/Waikato staff conduct spawning surveys to ensure there is adequate habitat for fish to spawn. If Hydro Lakes have no natural spawning or limited spawning, survival and hatchery releases are necessary to maintain the fishery. The spawning survey will be followed up with electrofishing in the spring to confirm juvenile survival. Eastern Eastern Region conduct a number of spawning surveys around the Rotorua lakes. A fish trap in the Ngongotaha stream monitors numbers and sizes of brown and rainbow trout throughout the year except when high rainfall prevents it from operating. Brown trout brood fish are also collected for use at the hatchery. Lake Taraweras spawning tributary streams are also monitored. Tarawera is an important fishery in the Eastern Region with the lake providing rainbow trout brood fish to run the hatchery. The Te Wairoa stream is trapped daily between the beginning of April and the end of August. Walk-up spawning counts are also conducted in other key Tarawera streams and drift dives of the lakes outlet are carried out four times over winter. Intensive anger creel surveys and walk-up spawning trout counts are also undertaken with Lake Waikaremoana and its tributaries on a 3-yearly basis. Trout are a key indicator species for ecosystem health and fluctuations in trout numbers or fish size may be indicative of changes occurring in the catchment. A man was fully circumcised despite telling both a consultant urologist and operating theatre staff that he did not want to be. The Health and Disability Commissioner found Health New Zealand breached the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights after the man was circumcised without his consent. He was seen by a consultant urologist, via a telehealth appointment, due to balanitis xerotica obliterans (BXO), a thin, white, scaly and inflammatory patch that appears on the foreskin of the penis. While explaining the surgical procedure needed to treat the condition, the consultant told the man there was a chance that a full or partial circumcision may be required. The man told the doctor he did not want a "full" circumcision. The man was not provided with written information about the procedure, nor was he provided with a copy of the consultation documentation, said Deputy Health and Disability Commissioner Dr Vanessa Caldwell. On the day of the surgery, the man met with the operating surgeon who was a different person from the consultant urologist. The surgeon said the usual treatment for BXO was a circumcision so proceeded on that basis, noting that on the consent form having discussed the procedure with the man prior. The man said he was confused by the terminology used but continued to sign the consent form because he assumed the cutting or removal of the scar tissue on the frenulum was a form of partial circumcision, not knowing that he was consenting to a full circumcision. While he was in the operating theatre he reiterated to other clinical staff (not the operating surgeon) that he did not want a full circumcision. However, no one raised concerns to the operating surgeon and a full circumcision was completed. Caldwell's report found that the man's understanding of the procedure was different from what was listed on the consent form and departed from the expected standard of care. She found the man was not provided with adequate information prior to his surgery; in particular, there was a lack of clarity about the extent of the procedure, he was not provided with written information, and he was not advised that a different person may be operating on him at the initial consultation. Caldwell also found that consenting took place in an inappropriate place, and there was a lack of mutual understanding amongst the providers, resulting from ineffective communication processes, which contributed to the man's unexpected surgical outcome. Since the events, Health NZ has made a number of changes, including that the theatre operational leadership team would continue regular audits of consent forms of patients presenting for elective surgery. Caldwell recommended Health NZ to provide a formal written apology to the man, provide an update to HDC on its implementation of a new system that supports sharing of clinical appointment letters with its patients, and remind staff that patients should be given adequate time and opportunities to ask questions about the proposed surgery. -RNZ. Someone got an extended but embarrassing break when they became stuck in Whiritoas restrooms early Monday morning. Whiritoa Volunteer Fire Brigade was called to the scene at 9.30am where a person had called emergency services after becoming trapped in a cubicle. The small settlement was alerted to the crisis when the volunteer fire brigades siren sounded. With the local volunteers on the job, it didnt take them long to free the trapped occupant. Brigade chief firefighter Errol Smith says it turned out a locking mechanism to the cubicle, situated near the Whiritoa Lifeguard Service, had fallen apart. Boaties are being warned to stay at least two nautical miles away from Whakaari/White Island. The active volcano is experiencing a period of elevated unrest. The Bay of Plenty Harbourmaster advises all vessels to stay at least 2 nautical miles from the island. "People on the water are asked to follow safe boating practices and use common sense to ensure that they keep both themselves and those onboard safe from any threat of volcanic activity by keeping their distance," says a statement from the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. Volcanic Alert Level Status The Volcanic Alert Level set by GNS Science remains at Level 3 (minor eruption) and the Aviation Colour Code remains at Orange. https://www.geonet.org.nz/vabs/1LXypC2x6ONaGltcfRMH6X Bay of Plenty Council works alongside Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) Group who is in close contact with GNS Science and NEMA (the national emergency management agency) to stay aware of activity on Whakaari. With over two years of service, New Zealand charity Kiwi K.A.R.E (Kiwi Aid & Refugee Evacuation) has expanded its mission to support Ukraine, securing a further 16 decommissioned ambulances. Led by humanitarian and former New Zealand Army colonel, Tenby Powell, the not-for-profit has managed to amass together another shipment of ambulances, which landed in Port Bremerhaven, Germany, last Friday. Powell says, a multi-national team of 20 drivers from New Zealand, Poland, France, Germany, the United States, Canada, the UK and Ukraine, successfully drove the ambulances to Kyiv, some 2000 kilometres away, where they will be serviced and painted in camouflage before being donated to frontline medical units. Kiwi K.A.R.E Team Leader, David Meister, an American based in Poland, has done a tremendous job of assembling a top team, while managing all the various permissions needed to transit Europe in non-EU vehicles bound for Ukraine. In August 2023, with support from Hato Hone St John, Kiwi K.A.R.E delivered seven decommissioned ambulances filled with medical supplies to the wartorn country. Kiwi K.A.R.E driver, Toni Lttermann, in front of the convoy of 16 drivers from New Zealand, Poland, France, Germany, the United States, Canada, the U.K., and Ukraine. Together with logistics support vehicles, such as large vans, 4x4 cars, and a 13-tonne truck, a total of 30 vehicles Kiwi K.A.R.E has deployed to the war-torn country. They have been used to deliver aid, transport refugees, evacuate the sick and injured, and run an outreach health programme called Road-of-Life, reaching civilians in Red Zone areas who havent seen a medical professional for, in some cases, years. Kiwi K.A.R.E hopes to keep one or two of the latest ambulances to augment its Road-of-Life programme. Manaaki (meaning Caring in te reo) is our only ambulance dedicated to Road-of-Life and we need at least another two assets, together with qualified staff, to meet the demand, Powell says. The call by Ukraine for more ambulances comes in the wake of continued attacks on hospitals, medical centres and civilian infrastructure. We need all the help we can get and we are very grateful to the many New Zealanders who have generously supported Kiwi K.A.R.E. Since the start of the invasion in February 2022, more than 800 Ukrainian hospitals and medical centres have been attacked by Russian artillery, drones and missiles, with 150 destroyed. These atrocities and war crimes are still being committed in Ukraine and emergency vehicles are vital to helping Ukraine while engaged in this full-scale war, Powell says. The European drivers handing over to the Ukrainian drivers at the border. Similar to the ambulances sent last year, these Mercedes Sprinters, while not fit for purpose as part of an ambulance fleet, are still considered of a very high standard in Ukraine despite having more than 200,000 kilometres on the clock. Behind the frontlines, Kiwi K.A.R.E continues to fabricate stoves and water heaters from recycled electrical water boilers collected from all over Ukraine. What started as a winter project in 2022, has evolved into what many Ukrainians have described as a life-saving project, now run all year. To date, we have distributed over 2500 stoves to families in desperate need. Ukrainian fabricators strip and re-weld the recycled cylinders, and we distribute them to Red Zone areas where power and water infrastructure has been completely destroyed. Kiwi K.A.R.E chairman Tenby Powell and Sharon Hunter. Kiwi K.A.R.E remains committed to helping Ukrainians in need and we could not do this without the support and generosity of so many people and organisations here in New Zealand, Australia, and throughout the US, UK and Europe. The support has been overwhelming. Please keep it coming, Powell says. To donate - please go to the Kiwi K.A.R.E Give-a-Little page or donate via their website. Warning: Disturbing content An unrepentant Mangakino farmer has been jailed and banned from farming animals after being found with hundreds of starving cattle and sheep, some near death, injured or deformed. Warren Koberstein is 75 and has been a farmer for 40 years. But Rotorua District Court Judge Tony Snell has jailed him for two years and four months and ordered he not own farm animals or be in charge of anyone who looks after farm animals again. Warren was sentenced on Friday after being convicted of animal cruelty charges in March. A jury found him guilty of 11 charges laid by the Ministry of Primary Industries. He was found to have wilfully ill-treated 33 sheep that had to be destroyed to end their pain and distress, and failing to ensure proper and sufficient food for 834 pregnant sheep, 86 cattle and 32 heifers. Other charges related to sheep that were found cast (stuck on their backs) with their eyes pecked out by hawks, one that had a deformed neck and was not able to eat properly and another that had an injured foot and was moving around the paddock on its knuckle. Judge Tony says he saw the offending as serious, as it involved hundreds of animals in very poor to extensively poor body condition who suffered over a lengthy time. Despite numerous warnings and previous convictions for similar offending, Warren buried his head in the sand. You showed little or no insight and are unrepentant. Judge Tony gave a prison starting point of two years and 10 months. He discounted the sentence by six months (or 17 per cent), including 5 per cent each for Warren's age and good character and 7 per cent for procedural delays in the case. He says he could give no discounts for plea, remorse and rehabilitation prospects and did not increase the sentence for Warrens previous convictions. What Warren did Judge Tony detailed the case during sentencing saying the ministry executed a search warrant on July 29, 2019 following a complaint. Aside from hundreds of sheep and cattle in serious physical condition, inspectors noticed insufficient grass to feed the animals in the coming weeks. In the following days, animals had to be destroyed to end their suffering. Prosecutor Anna McConachy, who was assisted by Kris Bucher, says Warren was worried about his bottom-line and it saw him neglect his stock while following chronic underfeeding and overstocking farming practices. She suggested to Judge Tony a prison starting point of three-and-a-half years prison and indefinite disqualification from farming. McConachy asked the judge to be cautious about any suggestion Warren had good character. She says he had a conviction from 2008 for assault against a farm worker, which he unsuccessfully appealed. Warren was also convicted in 2018 for animal cruelty charges relating to sheep with fly strike brought against him under the Animal Welfare Act. Warrens lawyer, Fletcher Pilditch KC, says it was difficult to understand the reasons for Warrens offending and he still had a lot to offer, including farming knowledge. He noted Warren and his wife had raised four high-achieving children and Warren had served his community, including being a previous school board chairman and treasurer, and helping workers on his farm. Judge Tony noted a pre-sentence report writer says Warren still disputed he did anything wrong and underestimated the pain and distress he caused to the animals. The report writer says Warren disregarded authority, disputed his poor management practices and failed to take responsibility. You make a point of expressing your contempt for the Ministry of Primary Industries. The judges sentence Judge Tony says he accepted the Crowns case and says it was unacceptable behaviour. He says relating to the 33 sheep, it would have taken a considerable time to reach such an extreme emaciated state. He says Warrens farming practices showed poor management, a failure to match his feed to what was required, a failure to destock when he realised he did not have enough farm cover and a failure to feed out supplementary feed. The judge did not accept drought conditions could be blamed, saying farmers always had to adapt to changes in weather conditions. The final sentence included two years and four months jail for the lead representative charge of wilfully ill-treating an animal. He sentenced Warren to 10 months imprisonment on five other charges of ill-treating an animal, six months imprisonment on a charge of reckless ill-treatment of an animal, six months on a charge of keeping an animal in unnecessary pain and seven months on each of three representative charges of failing to comply with obligations under the Animal Welfare Act to ensure the physical, health and behaviour needs of the animals were met. All prison terms were to be served concurrently, meaning his end sentence is one of two years and four months jail. Judge Tony also ordered Warren to pay costs of $15,865.05 to the Ministry of Primary Industries, which included veterinary expenses. He says given the serious circumstances, he agreed with the Crown that Warren should be indefinitely disqualified from farming all animals. The only animals he is allowed to keep are family pets at his home. Vanessa Melgar Ronda Tuesday, 13 August 2024, 09:46 Opciones para compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X (antes Twitter) LinkedIn Telegram Threads Pujerra, in the upper Genal valley of the Serrania de Ronda in Malaga province, is decorating its streets with cork and wood sculptures, designed by Galician artist Ricardo Davila, who lives in the local area - Arriate to be precise. Several works of art have already been installed in different parts of this village, which has enthusiastically welcomed the initiative, as have the visitors who have stumbled upon this new attraction. In principle, a total of 12 sculptures have been chosen to be made of cork and wood pallets as recycled materials. The cork is known as 'bornizo' cork - the first cork to be cut from a 25-year old cork oak tree. It is rough and uneven in shape, unsuitable for corking wine-bottles but very decorative. "The pieces are related to the social life of the village and the agricultural work of growing chestnuts, although I am also creating mythical characters from my imagination," said the artist. Among others, his hands have given life to a flying figure in homage to the work of the French painter Marc Chagall (a contemporary of Picasso), a chestnut-seller and a mythological female figure. It should be noted that Pujerra has a large area of its surrounding lands dedicated to the cultivation of chestnuts. "The aim is for these sculptures to fit perfectly into Pujerra and the surrounding area," Davila said. Also, the aim of this project is to offer a new attraction to visitors who come to the village and to explore the rest of the Genal valley. Davila, who was born in 1943 and studied at the School of Fine Arts in La Coruna, has a long career of national and international renown and has worked with materials such as stone and wood, especially chestnut and the roots of olive trees, with several earnest students who have studied with him, such as the Parauta sculptor Diego Guerrero. His art is spread throughout different countries and he has also collaborated with other villages in the Serrania de Ronda. Zoom Ignacio Lillo Malaga Tuesday, 13 August 2024, 20:11 Opciones para compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X (antes Twitter) LinkedIn Telegram Threads It is unusual for Rincon de la Victoria on the eastern strip of the Costa del Sol, which has historically been considered something of a climatic refuge from the intense summer heat by the inhabitants of Malaga city, to set the national record in Spain for maximum temperatures. But the hot 'terral' wind affects these things, and depending on how it blows it has a greater influence in some places than in others. At 12.10pm today, the Malaga province municipality reached 39C degrees, the highest temperature of the day in the whole of Spain, according to the data available on the website of the state weather agency (Aemet). In fact, as many as seven stations in the province were among the hottest places in the country, on an atypical summer day, marked by moderate gusts of wind from the west and high clouds. The effect of the terral was also high in Velez-Malaga, which tied the maximum temperature with its neighbouring municipality (39C) at 3.50pm. At similar levels there was Estepona at 38.8C; Torremolinos (38.6 degrees); Malaga Airport (38.3C); Algarrobo (37.9 degrees) and the Aemet headquarters in Malaga city (37.8C). The truth is that today's heat episode was less intense than expected, especially in the inland areas of the Guadalhorce valley, due to the wind and high-level cloudiness Outside Malaga province, high temperatures were also recorded in Spain in Tejeda (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria), with 38.8C; Murcia city (38.6)C; and Alhama de Murcia (37.9C). Although we will have to wait for these data to be validated by Aemet's meteorologists (it is usual for them to rise slightly), the thermometers already indicate the extent of the episode of warm weather that has been experienced today. This summer Axarquia has been one of the hottest areas of the country on other occasions. In the previous episode of terral at the beginning of August, Velez-Malaga already had one of the highest maximum temperatures in Spain, with 42.5C. And again Rincon de la Victoria was very close, with 42.1 degrees, followed by Torremolinos (41.9C). Forecast The truth is that today's heat episode was less intense than expected, especially in the inland areas of the Guadalhorce valley. Jose Luis Escudero, a specialist in Malaga meteorology, explained it by the coincidence of the passage of a weather trough, with a wind and high-level cloudiness, which has prevented the mercury from soaring. On Wednesday the terral will continue, but it will be milder and only during the day, as it is expected to turn east again in the evening. For this reason, on Thursday morning, 15 August, "a few drops" of rain could fall (Aemet gives a 55% chance) in the province. In any case, it will be nothing like what is expected in the neighbouring province of Almeria, which is under a yellow warning for rainfall of up to 20mm. Another indicator of what is to come is the temperature of the sea water, which today measured 25.6C at the buoy in the Port of Malaga. It has already dropped more than one degree since yesterday (26.8), and the 27C on the 10 August. By Thursday it is expected to have dropped to about 22 degrees, so that the sensation of heat and high temperatures will decrease. Current Print Subscribers will be prompted to either login to their current site user account or to create a new one. A confirmation email will be sent when a new user account is created, which must be confirmed within three days in order to provide uninterrupted online access through your Print Subscription. Once the email address is confirmed please provide your Account Number to activate your Print Subscription Service. New York Gym operator Blink Fitness has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Blink, an Equinox-owned chain with more than 100 locations, said Monday that it was filing for bankruptcy to help facilitate a sale of the business. The New York-based company added that its gyms remain open with Blink telling its members that it anticipates limited impact on day-to-day operations through the process. Also on Monday, Blink said it received a commitment for $21 million in new financing from existing lenders to help support its ongoing operations, pending court approval. Employees wages and vendor payments are expected to continue without interruption. Founded in 2011, Blink has long billed itself as an affordable gym for every body. Membership plans range from about $15 to $39 per month plus maintenance fees, competitive with rates from larger rivals like Planet Fitness and LA Fitness. Blink is a smaller chain that operates in seven U.S. states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California, Illinois, Massachusetts and Texas. Blink fitness has two locations in Central New York, one in Syracuse and one in Liverpool, according to the company website. In its Chapter 11 petition, which was filed in Delaware bankruptcy court, Blink listed both assets and liabilities in the $100 million to $500 million range. Total debts for Blink and its affiliates filing for Chapter 11 amount more than $280 million, according to a court affidavit from Chief Restructuring Officer Steven Shenker Monday, which also suggests the debtors may reject leases of certain facilities that are no longer in operation as part of wider cost-cutting efforts. The company said Monday that it has seen continuous improvement in recent financial performance, with revenue increasing by 40% over the last two years. Blink also pointed to recently-announced efforts to boost member experiences in its most popular gyms. Mondays bankruptcy filing arrives just months after the company announced a multimillion-dollar investment that included upgrading 30 of its most-trafficked locations with more than 1,700 pieces of new equipment. In a statement, Blink Fitness President and CEO Guy Harkless said that the companys leadership determined that using a court-supervised process to facilitate a sale is the best path forward for Blink and will help ensure Blink remains the destination for all people seeking an inclusive, community-focused gym. Blink did not immediately provide many details about the sale its pursuing. The chain is currently owned by luxury fitness company Equinox Group whose brands also include Soul Cycle, Pure Yoga and Equinox Fitness Clubs. The membership prices of those clubs are far more expensive than Blinks rates. Equinox is not listed as a debtor in Mondays Chapter 11 documents and is not expected to file its own bankruptcy petition, Shenker notes. Blinks bankruptcy filing arrives as much of the fitness industry works to bounce back pandemic-era losses. Gyms and workout studios from were among the hardest hit during the beginning days of COVID-19, as lockdowns shuttered or significantly limited many operations including Blink, which was forced to temporarily close all of its gyms at the height of the pandemic, the companys bankruptcy documents note. But gyms that made it through the worst have seen some stability since. Visits to major fitness chains were up nearly every week between January and April of this year compared to 2023s numbers, according to recent data from Placer.ai, which tracks retail and foot traffic. Disney Channel star arrested after fight with boyfriend, says shes pregnant Skai Jackson has been arrested for domestic battery after a public fight with her boyfriend, according to TMZ and Page Six. Vienna, N.Y. A man was found dead after a trailer fire in Upstate New York on Monday. A trailer caught fire on Mulholland Road in Vienna around 11 p.m., said Investigator Justin Copperwheat, a spokesperson for the Oneida County Sheriffs Office. When the fire was extinguished, a man was found dead inside, he said. Join NY Cannabis Insider for its next industry meetup in NYC on Aug. 13, 2024. Tickets available now. Four board members at the Cannabis Association of New York resigned last week in another shake-up at one of New York States largest cannabis industry trade groups. Daniel Dolgin, David Falkowski, Jason Klimek and Owen Martinetti all left CANYs board last week, the organization confirmed, as reported first by Cultivated News. CANY is deeply thankful for the voluntary work our board members put in day-in and day-out in their demanding roles, said CANY President Damien Cornwell in a statement provided to NY Cannabis Insider. That includes the two long-time members who were reaching the end of their terms and two others who will remain in their roles on the CANY policy committee. Falkowski, the founder of Long Island-based processing company OMO Labs, LLC; and Klimek, an attorney and co-leader of the cannabis team at law firm Barclay Damon, said they resigned because CANY is deprioritizing advocacy for policy issues. Sign up for the NY Cannabis Insider Newsletter Enter your email address to get exclusive reporting on NY's cannabis market delivered to your inbox: In an interview with NY Cannabis Insider in December, Cornwell said he planned to shift CANY from being primarily an advocacy organization to more of a Chamber of Commerce trade group. He also said he planned to create an advisory council, which would help CANY form policy positions and serve as better partners with the Office of Cannabis Management. Falkowski, who co-chairs CANYs Policy Committee with Klimek, said he has no ill will toward Cornwell. He said he understands CANYs shift in its mission, but that hes passionate about policy issues, and wants to continue focusing on them. Its becoming more of a Chamber of Commerce thats maybe not the direction that I want to continue to work in, Falkowski said. Its just not the work that Im necessarily attracted to. Klimek said he feels more aligned with the policy and advocacy work with a focus on small- to medium-sized businesses that CANY primarily did over the past couple of years, rather than the new direction Cornwell is taking the group. It seemed like we were becoming less policy focused and more a round table for all stakeholders doesnt matter the size of the business to voice their issues, Klimek said. That kind of lost the focus of the organization for me. Both Klimek and Falkowski said they planned to continue their work with CANYs Policy Committee. Dolgin, the CEO and co-founder of cultivation company Eaton Botanicals said that while his exit coincided with the other resignations, hed previously planned to leave the board on Aug. 1, because his term is up in 2025. I felt it wasnt right for me to go into the new legislative session as a lame duck, Dolgin said. I felt Damien would be better served by having somebody come in whos got new energy, new blood. Dolgin said he doesnt believe four board members leaving at the same time will cause operational issues at CANY. Martinetti, co-founder of cannabis brand Snoozy, didnt respond to a NY Cannabis Insider request for comment, but his term on CANYs board was also set to expire in 2025. CANY formed in 2019, initially as the New York Cannabis Growers and Processors Association. The group was instrumental in passing cannabinoid hemp regulations in 2019 and grew into one of the largest and possibly the most influential cannabis trade organizations in New York State. The group lobbied heavily to shift away from New Yorks original potency-based cannabis tax and to loosen advertising restrictions for retailers both of which happened this year. The four exits come amid recent controversy and turnover at CANY as the organization has made efforts to operate more like a traditional business lobby. CANY and Cornwell experienced a sharp backlash among many cannabis industry stakeholders including some CANY members when its board sent a letter in April urging state officials against issuing too many cannabis licenses. The letter urged caution and said too many licenses could risk flooding the statewide market. Several CANY members who spoke with NY Cannabis Insider at the time said leaders didnt tell members anything about the letter, and many felt blindsided when they first heard about it in a New York Post story. CANYs website currently lists its board members as: Damien Cornwell, CANYs president and owner of Just Breathe dispensary in Binghamton. Franklin Henderson, who works for Cornell University Cooperative Extension in New York City. Nicole Ndiaye, CEO of hemp cultivation company NAHE LLC and founder of hemp brand Bossiee Budz. CANY lists its emeritus board members as: Allan Gandelman, CANYs inaugural president, and founder of Head & Heal Andrew Rosner, co-founder HR Botanicals. In a statement, Cornwell said CANY is currently looking for potential board members who can provide perspectives from different parts of New Yorks cannabis industry. We look forward to finding the right mix of board members to help us continue to grow into the chamber of commerce for New Yorks cannabis industry, where we serve as both a policy mouthpiece for its needs and its most vocal promoter, Cornwell said. Syracuse, N.Y. State Sen. John Mannion, a Democrat campaigning for Congress in Central New York, will answer questions in a live Q and A with syracuse.com at 11 a.m. today. The Q and A interview will be streamed live at the top of this article and on the syracuse.com Facebook page. A recording will be available for viewing after the live event. Mannion, D-Geddes, will join syracuse.com reporter Kevin Tampone in our Syracuse office to answer questions for about 30 minutes. Mannion is challenging Rep. Brandon Williams, R-Sennett, in the 22nd Congressional District election. Williams participated in a Q and A last week. Williams, 57, is a first-term House member who will appear on the Republican and Conservative Party ballot lines in November. Mannion, 56, is a two-term state Senator. He will appear on the Democratic and Working Families Party ballot lines. The 22nd District election is among the most competitive House races in the nation this year. Democrats and Republicans view the district as a key to winning control of the House. The district spans all of Onondaga and Madison counties, and parts of Cayuga, Cortland and Oneida counties. When ChatGPT exploded on the tech scene in November 2022, one of the burning questions in the minds of many technologists was how Google which, up to that point, was known for its prowess in artificial intelligence could be caught flat-footed when the starters gun sounded in the race to bring generative AI to the masses? Paul Buchheit, creator of Gmail, suggested some answers to that question in a recent edition of the Y Combinator Startup podcast. Buchheit, who left Google in 2006, maintained that after the companys founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, began to reduce their roles in Google operations, the development of artificial intelligence began to be tempered by other considerations. I think it became more about protecting and preserving the search monopoly, he said on the podcast. That slowed their AI advancement substantially, added Rob Enderle, president and principal analyst at the Enderle Group, an advisory services firm in Bend, Ore. Up until that time, they were in a leadership position, then lost it with the refocus, he told TechNewsWorld. Tech Companies Surprised Google wasnt the only tech company surprised by the wild popularity of ChatGPT, but it did have more to lose from the development, noted Ross Rubin, principal analyst at Reticle Research, a consumer technology advisory firm in New York City. Many of the other big tech companies were caught by surprise by ChatGPT, in terms of the popularity and how it would resonate with the broad population, he told TechNewsWorld. But where such a high percentage of Googles business is driven by search and advertising revenue, its more important for them than for Apple or Amazon that they be able to harness generative AI in a way that either protects or expands its search business, he said. With Amazon, Alexa has never been a revenue driver, he continued. It is the face or voice of the company in many contexts. But clearly, Amazon drives much more revenue from AWS and the retail business. In a similar way, Azure and Windows licensing are much, much bigger revenue streams for Microsoft than search, he added. Buchheit pointed out that Google had good reason to worry about AI caving in its search goldmine. AI is an inherently disruptive technology because if you actually give people the right answer, they wont need to click on an entire page full of ads, he explained. Google has been aware of that tension between profitability and giving the right answers as far back as 1998, he continued. Theres always a temptation that if you make your results worse, people will click on more ads, he said. AI has the potential to disrupt that. Perils of Good Search Results Theres no question that Google remains one of the leaders in AI, but it is true that their focus on revenue and profitability may have hurt their capacity to innovate, as they pressure their AI teams to productize and monetize the technology, observed Greg Sterling, co-founder of Near Media, a news, commentary, and analysis website. He maintained that Googles focus on revenue growth has already hurt the experience of search users. And its possible that their removal or reduction of AI overview and search is tied to a negative impact on ad clicks, he told TechNewsWorld. In July, Search Engine Land, citing an analysis by enterprise SEO platform BrightEdge, reported a drop in AI overviews in Google searches from 11% to 7% during June. By prioritizing search, Google might have slowed its AI advancements compared to competitors who aggressively pushed AI boundaries, like OpenAI and Microsoft, said Mark N. Vena, president and principal analyst at SmartTech Research in Las Vegas. This strategic pivot likely allowed rivals to catch up or even surpass Google in AI research and applications, particularly in generative models and other cutting-edge AI technologies, potentially weakening Googles leadership in the AI field over time, he told TechNewsWorld. AI Ad Impact Exaggerated? While theres a risk that if search results are too good, ad clicks could be reduced, that risk may be exaggerated. I dont think generative AI steals much from the ad business, said Michael Hodel, director of equity research for the media and telecom sector at Morningstar Research Services in Chicago. The types of searches that generate ad revenue are those where there isnt a single answer and where advertisers hope to influence which route the user takes like, what are some cool new shoes I might like? he told TechNewsWorld. The question is how ads will surface in a generative AI context? The answer to that question, he continued, lies in a comment by Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai at the companys second-quarter conference call. [W]e are seeing that ads appearing either above or below AI overviews continue to provide valuable options for people to take action and connect with businesses, Pichai said. In addition to being concerned about the impact of generative AI on ad revenues, Buchheit maintained Google was worried about how the technology would play with regulators. AI had the potential to anger regulators because it would only be a matter of time before it said something offensive. I think they were kind of terrified of that, he said. So they were just extremely risk-averse, he explained. Slow Start but Formidable Player If Page and Brin were still running the company, that risk aversion might have been overridden, he continued. But it takes someone with that level of credibility to really bet the company or to say, Yeah, were going to do this thing, and its going to cause a lot of problems. he said. But I think that if given the chance, Google never would have launched AI, he contended. The only reason they launched it is because OpenAI put out ChatGPT, and suddenly, it became a thing that they were forced to do. And that also helped them because OpenAI took a lot of those bullets in terms of saying crazy and offensive things, he added. Despite a slow start, Vena asserted that Google is making significant strides in the AI arms race. Leveraging its vast data resources and deep expertise in machine learning, Google has developed powerful AI technologies like Bard/Gemini and advancements in large language models like PaLM, he said. While competitors like OpenAI and Microsoft initially gained attention, he continued, Google has recently accelerated its AI initiatives, integrating AI more deeply across its products, including search, cloud services, and consumer applications. This renewed focus, coupled with its strategic acquisitions and research, position Google as a formidable player in the rapidly evolving AI landscape. Get the boss involved: A tech support employee recently shared a story from 1996, when he allegedly sent an angry message about an Office bug directly to Bill Gates. The problem was resolved within days, suggesting that the employee may have indeed sent his software rant to the correct email inbox. In the early days of Windows and Office, you might have been lucky enough to directly contact Bill Gates and have Microsoft work overnight to fix a bug in the productivity suite. In a "classic" tech support story shared with The Register, a man known as "Brad" recounted his first IT support job at an unnamed retailer in a major US city. Brad sent an angry email to a Microsoft inbox, and the Redmond corporation resolved his issue in record time. Brad was responsible for managing and upgrading over a hundred PCs in different offices. In 1996, companies were still selling software on floppy disks, and "updating" something meant driving to a location to physically execute the installation process. Brad was tasked by his boss with replacing Office 95 (7.0) with Office 97 (8.0) since the old release struggled with large spreadsheets. The "IT guy" tested both the PC version and, a few weeks later, the Mac edition of Office 8.0, arranging the update process over the weekend to avoid service disruptions or complaints. Brad spent the next two days installing the new software on the company's machines, and on Monday morning, returned to his desk expecting to be praised for a job well done. But the job wasn't quite done, as employees were, in fact, complaining about corrupted Excel files. After running more tests, Brad identified the bug as an unreported compatibility issue between the Windows and Mac versions of Office 8. Once an Excel spreadsheet created on a PC was opened on a Mac, the file could no longer be correctly read back on the PC. Frustrated, Brad sent what he describes as a "quite angry email" to the "billg@microsoft.com" address, hoping it might reach the Microsoft co-founder. The address is known as a legitimate internal Microsoft mailbox, though it's unclear if Bill Gates himself was reading (or still reads) emails sent there. Long story short, the email was successful in getting Microsoft directly involved with the Office issue Brad was experiencing. A Microsoft employee contacted him the next morning, spending an hour discussing the bug and how it had been discovered. The following day, Brad received floppies containing a new Mac version of Office (8.01), with Microsoft explaining that they had isolated and fixed the issue. There were only a few Mac systems at Brad's company at the time, so the update was quickly deployed by lunchtime. The newer version resolved the issue, allowing Brad to update the PC edition of Office over the following week as well. "In the end," Brad said, "I was pretty sure I'd hit the email address I was aiming for, and that Bill Gates had likely expressed his frustration too." From endless meetings that could have been an email to more tedious tasks including taking minutes during said meetings and then assigning action points afterwards, it can sometimes feel as though your job is just one long to-do list, and you struggle to find time to do more meaningful work. Take comfort in the fact that you're not alone: according to the most recent Slack Workforce Index, workers are spending 41% of their time on tasks that are "low value, repetitive or lack meaningful contribution to their core job functions." However, the report also found that the 81% who have adopted AI tools to automate certain aspects of their job have experienced an increase in productivity. 3 jobs to apply for this week Similar research conducted by GitHub found that developers who started using its AI Copilot tools were able to complete tasks 55% faster. The vast majority (88%) felt they were more productive, 96% reported the software made them faster so they could complete more work, 59% found coding less frustrating, 87% found repetitive tasks less mentally taxing, and crucially, 74% had more time to focus on more rewarding tasks. Get proactive about productivity So if workers are crying out for tools that can streamline efficiency, and there's proof that implanting these kinds of tools has a direct impact on productivity, why aren't more employers paving the way for AI in the workplace? "Unsure of the extent to which AI will transform the workplace, some leaders are hesitant to shift their approach toward AI," says Aytekin Tank, CEO and founder of Jotform, an online form builder. You might remember when Snapchat first took social media by storm. Some businesses waited to see whether it was sticky enough. Ultimately, we discovered that the answer was 'yes', but with respect to a specific demographic. However, AI isn't a social media platform, and it's not just impacting a limited demographic. It's overhauling how work is done and requires more than just training sessions. It requires adopting a 'systems thinking' way of looking at your daily tasks. Within organizations, that kind of fundamental shift must come from the top-down. Don't get left behind by AI While having the vision to foster a symbiotic relationship with technological advancement might seem like a no-brainer for tech companies, the reality is that lots of employers are hesitant to invest in new technologies or change their way of doing things. If it ain't broke etc, etc. However, that shouldn't leave you feeling deterred or fearing you are going to be left behind. Instead take the initiative to research how you can use AI tools to increase your productivity, and present your findings to your manager. If you're met with resistance, there's nothing preventing you from upskilling in your own time and using AI tools in your everyday work. For example, if you struggle to write emails or get started on presentations, why not use a writing assistant such as Grammarly or Jasper AI to craft more efficient emails and the text for presentation slides. Or, if meetings are slowing you down, try Otter.ai, a tool that transcribes meetings in real time so you can summarize notes and action points in minutes rather than hours. Similarly, Notion is a great product management tool that can autofill databases and assign tasks and action points based on the data that has been entered. Tank adds: "Employees will need to build some slack into their schedules. But once employees set their automation machines in motion, automating more and more of their daily tasks, they'll recapture time for more meaningful tasks. And as I've seen with our employees at Jotform, when employees aren't drowning in busywork, they have more time and mental space for creative work." Face the facts In an ideal world, your employer should welcome a proactive approach to upskilling with open arms. However, if your endeavors are being met with resistance or the rest of your team is reluctant to engage with any kind of change, it could be time to start thinking about your future employment options. The good news? With the World Economic Forum predicting that automation could disrupt 85 million jobs globally in medium and large businesses across 15 industries and 26 economies as soon as 2025, those who get on board with AI tools now are more likely to be employable-and more valuable to employers-in the future. Why it matters: The dream of colonizing Mars has captivated everyone from billionaires and planetary scientists to Star Trek fans. However, a significant practical challenge to this vision has been the Red Planet's scarcity of accessible water resources. Recently, the discovery of water reserves on Mars has both excited and frustrated enthusiasts, as these reserves are located deep within the planet's crust. Establishing Martian colonies will have to wait until scientists develop a method to access this crucial resource. In a new discovery, scientists have reported the presence of a significant reservoir of liquid water deep within Mars' crust, marking the first time this vital resource has been detected on the Red Planet. While frozen water at the poles and atmospheric vapor were previously known, this finding opens new doors in our understanding of Mars' hydrological history and potential for harboring life. This conclusion is based on a new examination of data collected by NASA's Mars InSight Lander, which touched down on the Martian surface in 2018. The reservoir is located in tiny cracks and pores in the rock, between 7 to 13 miles below the surface. This depth makes it challenging to access, even with advanced drilling technology. "Drilling a hole 10km deep on Mars even for [Elon] Musk would be difficult," Prof Michael Manga from the University of California, Berkeley told BBC News. The InSight lander was sent to Mars by NASA in 2018 with the goal of investigating the planet's crust, mantle, core, and atmosphere. During its mission, which concluded in December 2022, the lander recorded invaluable information about Mars' interior, including the thickness of the crust, the depth and composition of the core, and details about the mantle's temperature. The lander was equipped with a seismometer that captured vibrations from Mars quakes, meteor impacts, and volcanic activity, all of which helped geophysicists probe the planet's interior. Throughout its four-year mission, the InSight lander had been monitoring "the pulse of Mars" with the probe detecting over 1,319 quakes. By analyzing the speed of seismic wave travel, scientists were able to determine the types of materials the waves were likely passing through. Scientists employed a mathematical model of rock physics, similar to those used on Earth for mapping underground aquifers and oil fields, to interpret the seismic data from Insight. "These are actually the same techniques we use to prospect for water on Earth, or to look for oil and gas," explained Manga. The analysis suggested that the seismic waves traveled through a deep layer of fractured igneous rock saturated with liquid water. Igneous rocks, formed from cooled magma, are analogous to the granite found in the Sierra Nevada. The discovery sheds light on Mars' geological history and the fate of its once-abundant surface water. The planet previously experienced a wet climate, characterized by river channels, deltas, and lake deposits, suggesting that liquid flowed on its surface over 3 billion years ago. However, after Mars lost its atmosphere, these resources vanished. Researchers have deployed numerous probes and landers to Mars to explore what happened to the water, as the frozen deposits in the polar ice caps do not fully account for its disappearance. It had been believed that much of the water had escaped into space. The new findings suggest that instead of escaping, a significant portion of the water filtered down into the crust, forming the discovered reservoir "Understanding the Martian water cycle is critical for understanding the evolution of the climate, surface and interior," said Dr. Vashan Wright from UC San Diego. The researchers expect that similar reservoirs may exist across the planet, potentially holding enough liquid water to cover Mars' surface to a depth of more than half a mile. All of this raises intriguing possibilities in the search for extraterrestrial life on Mars. Conceivably, the reservoir could sustain life, similar to how deep mines and ocean bottoms host life on Earth. "Without liquid water, you don't have life," said Manga. Wright, alongside colleagues Manga and Matthias Morzfeld of Scripps Oceanography, detailed their analysis in a paper that is appearing in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. WTF?! TikTok has faced numerous controversies over the years, including concerns about its Chinese ownership, which some lawmakers believe poses a potential threat to national security. The app is now being accused of spreading misinformation by displaying in-app alerts about false claims and conspiracy theories that originally started as pranks or satire. One notification falsely claimed that Taylor Swift accused Florida of being "racist" and had canceled her upcoming concerts in the state. Another misleading notification, labeled "BREAKING," issued a tsunami warning for Japan three weeks after an actual earthquake. A third claimed that LA Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani had been handed a five-year ban by the MLB for gambling. The Ohtani alert reportedly originated from an April Fools' Day prank, while the Taylor Swift alert likely stemmed from a satirical article published by The Dunning-Kruger Times earlier this year. According to her official itinerary, her concert in Miami in October is still scheduled. As noted by the Financial Times, the misleading notifications would appear on screen while scrolling through the feed, just like genuine news alerts. While social media platforms often use these types of notifications to boost engagement, some experts believe they also make users more susceptible to misinformation. According to Laura Edelson, a researcher at Northeastern University in Boston, notifications carry an "additional stamp of authority," leading users to assume that they are carefully curated by the platform rather than being a random tactic to increase traffic. Although TikTok claims to have removed the specific notifications reported by FT, it declined to explain how its notification-based alert system works. However, experts believe these alerts are algorithmically generated based on users' viewing history. Each alert is shown to a limited number of users, making it challenging to identify all misleading content. Despite the controversy, TikTok is rolling out new direct messaging features, including group chats that support up to 32 people. In a blog post, the company announced that the new feature will allow users aged 16 and above to "create a shared viewing experience with friends, family, and communities" by watching, commenting, and reacting to videos together in real time. However, like regular DMs, group chats are not available for users aged 13 to 15. Image credit: Jana Beamer What just happened? Elon Musk hosted a live interview with Donald Trump on Monday that was supposed to start at 8 pm ET on X Spaces. It was delayed by 42 minutes due to what Musk claims was a "massive DDOS attack," but several people, including some X employees, say he's lying. The live conversation between Musk and Trump on Spaces crashed as soon as it began yesterday and couldn't be accessed by many users. The Verge writes that those who did manage to get in were met with lo-fi techno playing from Trump's account for roughly 30 minutes before enduring several minutes of silence before the stream started at 8.40 pm ET. Around 18 minutes after the interview was supposed to begin, Musk posted that X had been hit by a massive DDoS attack and that only a small number of people would be able to listen to the conversation live. There appears to be a massive DDOS attack on i*i. Working on shutting it down. Worst case, we will proceed with a smaller number of live listeners and post the conversation later. Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 13, 2024 "All of our data lines, like basically hundreds of gigabits of data, were saturated," Musk said. "We think we've overcome most of that." Musk later said that the system had been tested with 8 million concurrent listeners earlier in the day. We tested the system with 8 million concurrent listeners earlier today https://t.co/ymqGBFEJX0 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 13, 2024 Despite claiming that the platform was being targeted by a DDoS attack, the rest of the X app and website were working fine. Musk never explained how this was possible. "As this massive attack illustrates, there's a lot of opposition to people just hearing what President Trump has to say," he said. According to The Verge, a source at X confirmed to the publication that there was no denial-of-service incident. Another employee said there was a "99 percent" chance Elon was lying about an attack. X has faced difficulties with live streams in the past. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' announcement that he was running for president last year saw the Spaces broadcast drop shortly after it began. Musk blamed the problem on the servers "melting" due to the huge number of people trying to watch the stream. However, Musk's biography later revealed that the problem was due to the servers being relocated after Musk instructed his cousins to move them from a data center in Sacramento to one in Oregon to save money. The move was completed in weeks rather than the several months that engineers estimated, resulting in months of instability in Twitter's systems. Sweating Planet: Rising temperatures are transforming vast regions of the planet into unbearably hot environments. While air conditioning is effective at cooling indoor spaces, it is also an enormous drain on energy resources. As a result, scientists are seeking innovative solutions that can provide comparable cooling without consuming excessive energy or resources. According to a recent study by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), a new and promising mechanism could effectively regulate heat absorption using common building materials. This innovative passive cooling technology involves coating walls and windows to manage heat transfer between buildings and their surroundings more efficiently. The "secret" to better heat management during hot and cold seasons lies in radiant heat. Radiant heat is the sensation we feel when a hot surface warms our body or home. This heat is carried by electromagnetic waves and can travel across the entire broadband spectrum at ground level between buildings and their surroundings. Streets and walls can quickly spread heat, while the sky interacts with a "much narrower" portion of the infrared spectrum known as the atmospheric transmission window. The challenge for cooling technologies lies in the differences in how radiant heat transfers between buildings, the sky, and ground structures, especially for buildings with fewer skyward-facing surfaces. These types of buildings are difficult to cool in the summer because they retain heat from the ground and surrounding walls. Similarly, they are challenging to warm in the winter, as dropping outside temperatures draw heat away from the building. The researchers discovered that common materials like polypropylene, sourced from everyday plastic products, can selectively and effectively radiate or absorb heat within the atmospheric transmission window. "These materials border on the mundane," said UCLA associate professor Aaswath Raman, "but the same scalability that makes them common also means that we could see them thermoregulating buildings in the near future." The proposed regulating mechanism is entirely passive, the researchers explained, and is similar to painting dark roofs with a white tint. While using "super white" paint to reflect sunlight has proven to be a very effective solution for cooling buildings, the novel mechanism proposed by UCLA researchers can achieve a similar passive cooling effect at ground level. This new technology can easily scale to cover large structures and would provide significant benefits for low-income communities where traditional cooling solutions are not available. Raman and his colleagues are now working to demonstrate this potential in real-world scenarios, including in heat-vulnerable communities in Southern California. Time is Money: The Biden administration is cracking down on shady techniques that businesses use to "add unnecessary headaches and hassles to people's days" and diminish their standard of living. "Time is Money" is an initiative targeting the strategically designed hoops that some companies force customers to jump through in order to cancel a membership or get a refund due. Faced with mountains of paperwork or endless hours on hold, many consumers simply give up and that's exactly what businesses want as it means more profit in their pockets. The wide-reaching push involves multiple government agencies. For example, the Federal Trade Commission is working on a proposal that would make canceling a service or subscription as easy as signing up for it. The FCC, meanwhile, is now looking into whether similar requirements should be extended to companies doing business in the communications industry. Elsewhere, the Department of Transportation's new automatic refund rule forces airlines to return airfare promptly and in the original form of payment when your flight is canceled or significantly changed for any reason, and you aren't offered rebooking options or choose not to accept them. The administration also wants to make it easier to submit claims when dealing with health insurance companies. According to the White House, some companies still require customers to physically mail in claims. With help from the Department of Health and Human Services, the administration hopes to identify tactics to help customers save time and money when dealing with their health coverage. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, meanwhile, is planning a rulemaking process by which companies under its jurisdiction will be required to let customers talk to a human representative simply by pressing a single button on their phone, putting an end to automated "doom loops." They also aim to crack down on the use of ineffective or time-wasting chatbots that are popular among banks and other financial institutions, and determine when the use of such bots is unlawful like when people think they are talking to a real person. Image credit: Brotin Biswas, Alexander Dummer What just happened? AI-enabled PCs are slowly but surely infiltrating the market. According to the latest data from Canalys, 8.8 million AI-capable PCs shipped worldwide in the second quarter of 2024. That equates to a small but meaningful 14 percent of all laptops and desktops shipped during the three-month period ending June 30. The market analyst firm said that among AI PCs, 60 percent were Macs utilizing Apple's M-series chips with the Neural Engine. Windows made up the remaining majority of the share (39 percent), with AI-capable PCs running Microsoft's operating system growing 127 percent sequentially. Among them, Lenovo was the leading PC vendor during the quarter thanks to entries like the Yoga Slim 7x and the ThinkPad T14s, with HP also making its presence felt with the Omnibook X 14 and EliteBook Ultra G1. Dell was in the mix as well, launching Copilot+ PCs across its Latitude, Inspiration, and XPS lines. Even with all the new Windows-based AI PCs now available, shipment volumes in the quarter were relatively low due to the fact that most of the new machines arrived at the tail end of the period. Canalys defines an AI PC as a notebook or desktop with a dedicated chipset or block to run AI workloads locally rather than in the cloud. Principal Analyst Ishan Dutt said that with the launch of Copilot+ PCs in June utilizing Qualcomm Snapdragon X chips, Intel ramping up its delivery of Core Ultra chipsets, and AMD having announced its Ryzen AI 300 series laptop CPUs, the foundation for strong AI-capable PC shipment growth has been set. The firm further noted that the industry is on track to ship roughly 44 million AI PCs this year and as many as 103 million units next year. What are your thoughts on AI PCs? Do you have any plans to go out of your way to ensure your next machine is capable of local AI processing, or would it just be a secondary benefit to other, more important features? Image credit: Cottonbro Studios Enterprises encounter complex security challenges as the threat landscape continues to evolve. Extended detection and response is a software-as-a-service tool that provides a comprehensive view of an organization's security posture by collecting data from multiple sources and then using the collected data to detect and respond to threats. It provides robust protection and extensive visibility with features for threat prevention, detection, analysis, and remediation. Is XDR necessary? Enterprises need unified and proactive security measures to safeguard their digital assets, from legacy endpoints to mobile, network, and cloud workloads. Security teams struggle to keep threats under control when using disconnected tools and data sets from too many vendors. An XDR solution unifies threat data, enabling more efficient threat investigation and response. XDR software detects and responds to threats across the entire attack surface instead of being limited to a specific area or device. It applies automated or manual actions to contain, investigate, and remediate the threat. It can also perform endpoint health checks, returning affected digital assets to a safe state by enacting healing actions like removing malicious forwarding rules or identifying compromised users in an organization's directory. Outlined below are the top 5 best XDR software in 2024. 1 Wazuh Overview Wazuh is a free, open source, and enterprise-ready SIEM and XDR solution. It offers various capabilities such as threat detection, incident response, File Integrity Monitoring (FIM), regulatory compliance, and more. Wazuh is specifically developed to improve your organization's overall security posture and safeguard your IT assets. It values transparency, collaboration, and innovation, as it protects workloads across various environments, including; on-premises, virtualized, containerized, and cloud-based. Wazuh ensures threat detection and remediation at no cost, through the use of multi-platform security agents that collect security and runtime event data. The Wazuh XDR solution aids regulatory compliance, avoiding costly fines and penalties. It supports compliance standards like PCI DSS, HIPAA, TSC, NIST 800-53, and GDPR. It can be customized to meet the specific requirements of organizations, providing users with greater flexibility and control over their environment. It also integrates with a wide range of security solutions, extending its threat detection capability for an effective security ecosystem. Wazuh distinguishes itself by charging only for special support services and not for the software license. Users can interact with product developers and other users via multiple community channels where they access complimentary support services. These channels comprise Wazuh internal developers, users, and contributors. Wazuh also provides automatic updates and health checks through the Wazuh cloud service so that customers no longer have to be concerned about maintaining the infrastructure. With more than 20 million annual downloads, it plays a crucial role in safeguarding organizations of various scales, ranging from SMBs to large enterprises. Key features Threat hunting Wazuh maps detected events to the relevant tactics, techniques, and procedures used by attackers according to the MITRE ATT&CK framework, making it easier to identify potential threats. Analysts can investigate threats that may have bypassed initial security controls through log data analysis. Analysts can also create custom rule sets to target specific Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) and improve security operations effectively. Behavioral analysis Wazuh identifies security threats by monitoring system anomalies, such as changes in file integrity and user behavior, with advanced analytics. Threat intelligence Wazuh integrates with threat intelligence sources like OSINT (open source intelligence), commercial feeds, and user-contributed data to provide security teams with the most relevant information on potential threats. User-contributed data can be updated on a Wazuh Constant Database (CBD) list. Incident response Wazuh has an active response module that can quickly respond to incidents, reducing the average response time. Security teams can create custom actions based on their incident response plan. The Wazuh active response module helps to minimize the potential impact of threats on the infrastructure. Cloud workload protection Wazuh protects both native and hybrid cloud environments. Its advanced threat detection capabilities enable it to detect and respond to both existing and emerging threats, ensuring that your organization remains secure. 2 Sophos Intercept X Overview Sophos Intercept X offers multiple layers of security for a high level of protection against advanced attacks. It employs a comprehensive defense-in-depth approach to stop the broadest range of threats before they can disrupt operations and cause lasting damage. It contains powerful EDR and XDR tools that enable organizations to hunt, investigate, and respond to suspicious activity and indicators of attack. Sophos provides cybersecurity solutions for real-world organizations to secure users, networks, and endpoints against a wide range of cyberattacks. Its platform is powered by threat intelligence, AI, and machine learning from SophosLabs and SophosAI. The company is the only vendor named a Gartner Customers' Choice in Endpoint Protection Platforms, Managed Detection & Response Services, Network Firewalls, and Mobile Threat Defense. Intercept X, in particular, is the #1 rated malware detection engine, validated by third-party testing authorities. It can easily detect malware that slips by other endpoint security tools. It includes patented CryptoGuard technology to detect and stop ransomware, from new variants to local and remote ransomware attacks. The XDR software also builds on the basic protection available in Microsoft Windows, adding 60 proprietary, pre-configured, and tuned exploit mitigations. It stops the techniques used throughout the attack chain to prevent file-less attacks and zero-day exploits. Key Features Malware Detection & Exploit Prevention Powered by deep learning, Sophos Intercept X detects known and unknown malware without relying on signatures. It can also ward off evasive attackers and zero-day attacks in the network through exploit prevention. It blocks the exploit tools and techniques used to distribute malware, steal credentials, and escape detection. Ransomware Protection It utilizes behavioral analysis for ransomware protection. It leverages its CrypoGuard technology to stop and revert hijacked files without any interaction from the security team. It keeps track of remote computers and local processes that attempt to compromise documents and other files. Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) Sophos integrates EDR to complement the robust prevention-first approach of Intercept X. Security teams can detect more threats with AI-driven analysis, investigate further, and respond with confidence. Streamlined Management Organizations can focus on threat prevention, detection, and response instead of administration, thanks to Sophos' cloud-based management console. It features strong default policy settings, ensuring protection is already in place. The endpoint solution can also help identify and address security issues through the Account Health Check within the console. Sophos Intercept X can block a broad range of attacks with tools for threat surface reduction, prevention, detection, investigation, and response. It supports Windows 7 and above and runs alongside third-party endpoint and antivirus products. It offers multiple layers of protection to stop advanced attacks across all devices before they impact the system. 3 Trend Vision One Overview Trend Vision One equips teams with powerful risk insights, threat detection, and automated risk and threat response options. It leverages predictive machine learning and advanced security analytics to provide a broader perspective and advanced context. It combines ASM (attack surface management) and XDR in a single console to manage cyber risk across cloud, hybrid, and on-premises environments. It delivers a broad native XDR sensor coverage, providing richer activity telemetry across security layers with full context and understanding. The hybrid approach results in an earlier, more precise risk and threat detection and more efficient investigation. Security teams can develop more proactive and resilient programs with in-depth coverage across the attack surface risk management lifecycle. Key Features Predictive Risk Insights Risk insights deliver a single source for teams across the organization to observe and evaluate the entire IT environment at varying and appropriate levels of detail. It offers central visibility into attack surface inventory, cyber risk score, vulnerable assets, operations efficiency, predicted impact, and recommended remediation tactics. Trend Vision One automatically measures and weighs different risk factors to predict potential gaps for exploitation. It can also automate and accelerate mitigation actions across people, processes, and technology. Zero Trust Secure Access In observance of zero trust principles, Trend Vision One can strengthen the overall security posture by enforcing strong access control permissions. It provides a gateway to specific applications and resources, restricting access to everything within the network not being employed by the user. It can contain the level of access of hackers when credentials are stolen, reducing the blast area of any attack. Purpose-Built XDR Trend Vision One becomes the single pane of glass to help teams detect, investigate, and respond to new and emerging threats like suspicious behavior, malware, ransomware, and disruption. It correlates data across multiple security layers, empowering teams to develop plans to reduce risk and improve key performance indicators. 4 SentinelOne Singularity XDR Overview SentinelOne Singularity XDR unifies and extends threat detection, investigation, and response capability across the organization, providing security teams with centralized end-to-end visibility, powerful analytics, and automated response across the technology stack. It empowers users to see data collected by disparate security solutions from all platforms within a single dashboard. It delivers increased flexibility, automation, and simplicity with unparalleled scale to every environment based on the foundation of EPP (endpoint protection platform) and EDR. It can also seamlessly integrate with leading ecosystem vendors, with no coding, massive time investment in custom business logic, or complex configuration necessary. Key Features Accelerate Triage and Investigations Singularity XDR provides campaign-level insight by enriching event data with context and intelligence from connected security tools. This enables users to correlate events across different vectors to facilitate the triage of alerts as a single incident. Analysts can automate elements of triage and uncover the cause of the breach. They get immediate visibility into suspicious privileged access before the endpoint infection; as a result, they can halt threats faster with insight into the privilege escalations paths and block them via attacks that can exploit them. Automate Response Actions Singularity XDR accelerates threat investigation and remediation recovery with automatic response actions, eliminating the need for manual intervention in resolving affected workloads and users. It can reverse unauthorized changes caused by malicious activity without complicated, human-driven scripts. SentinelOne Singularity XDR can power future investigations with historical and real-time logs and data. It can provide visibility across the enterprise so users can achieve more coverage with unrivaled speed and efficiency, even resolving issues automatically to protect them from disruptions and other cyber-attacks. 5 CrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR Overview CrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR delivers enterprise-wide visibility, detects advanced threats, and responds automatically across the environment. It unifies third-party data sources across key attack surfaces, giving users comprehensive detection and response across third-party tools. It empowers analysts to detect, investigate, and respond at a fast speed with word class, embedded threat intelligence, and full MITRE ATT&CK mappings. Key Features Full Attack Visibility Insight XDR can provide the complete picture of an attack for rapid decision-making. Users can conduct an enterprise-wide search across the endpoint estate since all key data sources are integrated. They can see details with complete cross-domain context to make informed decisions. Simple, Fast, and Lightweight It deploys a single lightweight agent in minutes. No reboot is required. It also features automated updates and a broad operating system to reduce the blindspots and operational complexity. Industry-Leading Threat Intel The CrowdStike XDR software also features built-in industry-leading threat intelligence to bolster detection and supercharge the security operations center (SOC). It offers a complete understanding of the threat and the adversary behind it. Falcon Insight XDR improves threat visibility and situational awareness across the enterprise. Teams can create a cohesive and more effective cybersecurity ecosystem to protect their digital assets and stop breaches that siloed tools and legacy approaches often miss from one unified, threat-centric command console. Conclusion XDR offers a range of security benefits, from increased visibility to alert management and automated tasks. It is a proactive and unified solution to improve companies' security position. Allow faster threat detection and improved response times by choosing from the top 5 best XDR software in 2024. Gain full visibility across the system, including on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments. Elon Musk has provided former President Donald Trump a political platform on X with a recent interview, with both personalities claiming it to be the largest event on the social media's Spaces feature. However, it did not start as expected, as it experienced technical issues from when it launched and over 40 minutes into the supposed talk, with Musk claiming it was because of a DDoS attack. The show started after quite some time, giving Trump an unfiltered political platform that aims to save his campaign, particularly after reportedly falling behind his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. Elon Musk, Donald Trump X Spaces Interview Faced Tech Issues, Delay Shortly after announcing that X Spaces' special showcase of Elon Musk and Donald Trump going all in for their audio-only interview on the platform, listeners were surprised that only lobby music was playing. It was shortly announced by Musk that X was hit with a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, which resulted in more than 40 minutes of delay to the showcase. The Spaces that Trump hosted on X on his famously-pardoned account saw 21.7 million users tuning in to the showcase, and it ran for a total of three hours, including the delay. Despite the delay and upon its service going back to normal, Trump congratulated Musk, claiming that he broke "every record in the book" for the quick response. Donald Trump Found an Unfiltered Political Platform on X As the two began their talk, they touched on multiple controversial topics, with both benefitting from having no holds barred on X. Musk was able to squeeze information from Trump about the "assassination attempt" last July, with the former POTUS claiming that looking at an immigration chart "saved" his life. Their talk moved forward regarding immigration in the country, with Musk wanting to tighten securities at US borders. Moreover, Trump talked about how Congo nationals who immigrated into the country are all "murderers." Later on, Trump then talked negatively about his opponent in the upcoming Presidential elections, VP Kamala Harris, claiming that she is a "believer in being radical left," according to CNN. Trump also claimed that Biden was "illegally" removed from his reelection campaign to make way for his running mate. Musk then regarded Trump as the "path to prosperity," while Harris was said to be the opposite. Both Musk and Trump praised the other and their accomplishments throughout the interview. Elon Musk and Donald Trump Musk and Trump shared an up-and-down relationship throughout the years, with both throwing criticisms and praise towards one another. It is known that when Musk took over Twitter, he asked to give banned accounts "general amnesty" in a poll, to which it won, and shortly reinstated Trump's X account which the former POTUS did not immediately lose. Both Musk and Trump also share the same ideology of "free speech" on the internet, centering on their freedom to discuss almost anything online, without restrictions or consequences. The latest X Spaces interview by Musk on Trump touched on controversial issues, with both being unhinged with what they shared online, but only after the platform faced a massive technical problem which was regarded to be a DDoS attack. The first human spaceflight that will fly over the Earth's polar regions is now set, with Fram2 looking to achieve the novel mission dedicated to observing its proximity from space. The main goal of the mission is observation, and it will also push for new kinds of studies on the planet's polar regions, while also helping SpaceX understand more of how spaceflight affects humans. Fram2 Set to Ride SpaceX's Crew Dragon to Fly Over Polar Regions SpaceX's latest announcement introduces the Fram2, a new mission headed by Maltese entrepreneur, Chun Wang, and is looking to make history as the "first human spaceflight to fly over Earth's polar regions." The team under the Fram2 mission would board SpaceX's Crew Dragon which would be joined by the Falcon 9, bringing this new team to the polar orbit. Wang would be accompanied by three other civilians including vehicle commander Jannicke Mikkelsen from Norway, pilot Eric Phillips from Australia, and mission specialist Rabea Rogge from Germany. The mission will last about three to five days, launching to around an altitude of 425 to 450 kilometers from the Earth's surface, and will be the first-ever visit to space by all of its crewmembers. Read Also: NASA Introduces Crew-10 Astronauts to Launch in Dragon to the ISS Ahead of Spacex's Crew-9 Mission Earth's Polar Regions: Fram2 Paves the Cosmic Way of Studies Fram2 was regarded to be the first that will focus on observing the Earth's polar regions, and it aims to expand more on these types of missions. The team would also focus on highlighting aurora-like light emissions in space found at the same altitude known as Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement or STEVE. The team would also help SpaceX further understand how spaceflight affects human physiology and would be the first to capture human X-rays in space. SpaceX targets a late 2024 launch for the Fram2 mission. SpaceX's Civilian and Private Spaceflights One of the most popular and successful private space companies in the world now is SpaceX, with the company seeing significant contracts and partnerships on its ride-sharing offers for those who can pay. Anyone who wishes to venture into space can do so in this day and age, with SpaceX among those who offer these services but have mostly focused on missions that look to raise awareness and help in learning more about how spaceflight affects humans. That being said, there is already one hopeful astronaut who canceled its contract with SpaceX, with Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa severing its ties after almost six years of delay on the dearMoon project, meant to use the Starship rocket. SpaceX still sees massive belief and support from their other partners, particularly with the upcoming Polaris Dawn mission led by Jared Isaacman, the private astronaut who will embark on his second space journey, collaborating with Musk's space company yet again. The Fram2 is set to make history with its upcoming mission, with SpaceX yet again being the company of choice for spaceflight, the first to fly researchers over Earth's polar regions. Related Article: SpaceX Polaris Dawn Mission Launch Date Confirmed-Civilian Space Flight Is Coming The semiconductor market is one of the sectors that power the tech industry. Taiwan, the US, and South Korea are the countries that come first to mind when we hear the word "microchip." However, Japan was never seen in the equation, but it was once a dominant force in the field, holding more than 50% of the market share. With several unexpected changes, Japan's position in the global chip supply chain performed weaker. At the time, the Netherlands rose to the ranks with ASML which is popular when it comes to cutting-edge chips. Now, Japan is looking to revive the chip business so it could compete with other chipmaking countries. Japan's Renewed Focus on Semiconductor Dominance In response to its diminished role in the semiconductor industry, Japan is now on a mission to revitalize this critical sector. The Japanese government has unlocked billions of dollars in subsidies to bolster the semiconductor industry. At the center of these efforts is Rapidus Corporation, a company founded in 2022 by the Japanese government and eight domestic companies. Rapidus aims to develop and manufacture advanced semiconductors, with an ambitious goal of producing 2-nanometer chips by 2027, as it seeks to catch up to industry giants like TSMC and Samsung. The Importance of Semiconductors in Modern Technology Semiconductors are essential components found in everything from smartphones to advanced AI systems. In the 1980s, Japan dominated the global semiconductor market. However, shifts in the industry led other countries to secure their supply chains, leaving Japan behind. Now, with government and business backing, Japan is determined to regain its position by developing the world's most advanced microchips. Japan's Past Semiconductor Leadership and Its Decline Japan was once a pioneer in global semiconductor research and development. By the late 1980s, Japanese companies controlled over half of the global semiconductor market. This success was due to breakthroughs in electron beam lithography technology and substantial state support. However, Japan's market share began to decline in the 1990s due to several factors. Fei Xue from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) told Tom Chitty and Arjun Kharpal in an episode of CNBC's Beyond the Valley that one significant reason was the political landscape, particularly the Reagan administration's tariffs on Japanese semiconductors and the 1986 U.S.-Japan Semiconductor Agreement. This agreement imposed price limits on Japanese semiconductors sold in the U.S. and increased the share of foreign semiconductors in the Japanese market, reducing the competitiveness of Japanese chipmakers. Another major shift in the semiconductor industry was the rise of specialization. Traditionally, companies handled both chip design and manufacturing, a model that Japan excelled in. However, starting in the 1990s, companies began to specialize in either design or manufacturing. TSMC, for instance, focused solely on manufacturing semiconductors designed by other companies, allowing it to leapfrog Japanese firms by investing heavily in specific segments of the industry. Japan's Strategy to Revive Its Semiconductor Industry To revive its semiconductor industry, Japan is adopting a comprehensive, state-led initiative that combines private sector resources and development capabilities. The government is collaborating with international partners, including IBM in the U.S., to step into the chip design sector. Japan has also attracted significant international investment, such as TSMC's decision to establish fabs in Kumamoto Prefecture on Kyushu Island. Additionally, eight Japanese electronics companies have pooled resources to create Rapidus, with state funding support, aiming to produce 2-nanometer semiconductors by 2027. Despite these efforts, Japan faces challenges. By 2027, when Rapidus hopes to commercialize 2-nanometer chips, competitors like TSMC and Samsung may already be producing 1.5-nanometer chips. Nevertheless, Japan's strategy includes developing advanced chip packaging technology to improve chip performance and exploring markets for legacy chips, which are still in high demand. Navigating Geopolitical Challenges Geopolitics plays a significant role in Japan's semiconductor strategy. The U.S. has imposed restrictions on semiconductor exports to China, affecting Japanese companies. However, Japan is exploring new markets and focusing on domestic demand to mitigate these challenges. The Japanese government's semiconductor revival efforts are not just about economic growth but also national security, as semiconductors are critical to advanced technologies like AI and EVs. While Japan may no longer lead in overall semiconductor production, it remains strong in niche areas such as semiconductor materials and precision equipment. Japanese companies dominate global market shares in segments like photoresist materials and coating techniques. By leveraging these strengths, collaborating with international companies, and investing in cutting-edge technology, Japan aims to reestablish itself as a key player in the global semiconductor industry. In Colombia, hungry beetle larvae combat trash buildup Tunja, Colombia, Aug 13 (AFP) Aug 13, 2024 In the far-flung Colombian highlands, beetles are the secret weapon in an innovative project to combat the ever-growing problem of trash buildup. Here, larvae of the enormous rhinoceros beetle eat through piles of organic garbage that would otherwise end up in polluting landfills. But that's not all. The larvae poop is gathered and sold as fertilizer, and when the beetles reach adulthood, they are sold as pets to clients as far afield as Japan. "The beetles have the answer" to rubbish disposal, said environmental and health engineer German Viasus, who runs the project in Colombia's central Boyaca region. The concept is simple, cheap and, Viasus believes, an example that would be easy to replicate elsewhere in the world. Each week, his facility in the city of Tunja receives about 15 tons of waste generated by some 40,000 inhabitants of neighboring municipalities. It is piled up as food for the voracious larvae, which can grow to the length of a human hand. Other larvae are held in tanks where they consume leachate -- a fluid produced by organic waste decomposition that can be damaging to ecosystems. - 'Cutting edge' - Official Colombian estimates are that the South American country produces some 32,000 tons of garbage every day -- more than 2,600 school buses -- about half of it organic. Worldwide, some 11.2 billion tons of trash are generated each year, according to the UN. With the landfill in Tunja fast approaching its end date, Viasus's larvae offer an alternative solution to a major headache. The engineer stumbled on the idea by chance when in 2000, after a similar project using earthworms had failed, he found scarab beetle larvae feasting on the contents of a garbage bag. The ones he has today are all descendents of those first foundlings. The larvae live for about four months before starting their metamorphosis and acquiring their characteristic hard shells. The beetles have a lifespan ranging from a few months to about three years. At this point, Viasus sells them to clients in countries including Germany, Canada, France, the United States and Japan -- where they are a popular pet. Some find homes in Colombia, where many see them as good luck charms. To avoid the fees associated with payments in yen, euros and dollars, Viasus teamed up with crypto wiz Carmelo Campos to develop a digital currency called Kmushicoin after the Japanese name for a horned beetle. Today in Tunja, but also cities such as Bogota and Medellin, a handful of businesses accept the currency as payment. "The world is so polluted, we are suffocating with this junk," electronics vendor Jefferson Bastidas told AFP in Tunja, saying he joined the initiative to aid the environment and place his business at the "cutting edge of technology." Paul Watson: eco-warrior on the high seas Paris, Aug 13 (AFP) Aug 13, 2024 Veteran anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson, detained in Greenland pending an extradition request from Japan, has spent decades battling harpoonists and sealers in spectacular high seas confrontations. For years a bete noire of Japan, one of the last three countries along with Iceland and Norway to practise commercial whale hunting, Watson was arrested on July 21 in Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory. The 73-year-old American-Canadian was arrested under an Interpol "red notice" issued by Japan. On Thursday a Greenland court holds a hearing to decide whether to extend his detention pending the request. Brigitte Bardot, the French screen legend turned animal rights activist, rushed to his defence, telling the daily newspaper Le Parisien that the Japanese government had "launched a global manhunt" against Watson, who was "caught in the trap". Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, where Watson has lived for the past year, also pressed Danish authorities not to extradite the campaigner, according to his office. - 'Pirate of compassion' - Watson devoted himself to saving marine life in 1977, forming what would become the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. He was dismissed from the group in 2022 after in-fighting, which he said left a bitter taste. Some branches of the association, including that of France, continue to support him. Before then he had spent time with the Canadian coast guard and Norwegian and Swedish merchant marine ships. Over the years he has become a familiar face in the media, appearing in the reality TV series "Whale Wars" and well-known for his innovative direct action tactics: chasing, harassing, scuttling and ramming illegal whaling and fishing vessels. "We are pirates of compassion hunting down and destroying pirates of profit," Sea Shepherd's website quotes him as saying. He uses acoustic weapons, water cannon and stink bombs against whalers. Employing these methods, he has sunk more than a dozen boats and raided just as many. As a campaigner, he has drawn on his degree in communications, galvanising support and funding from stars including longtime patron Bardot, Sean Penn, Pierce Brosnan and Pamela Anderson. - From beavers to whales - Born in Toronto in 1950, the eldest of seven children, Watson grew up in a fishing village in New Brunswick in eastern Canada. He lost his mother when he was 13 and two years later he left home after falling out with his father. His passion for whales was sparked in 1975, he says, when he was caught in a standoff with Soviet whalers and looked a dying whale in the eye. "If we cannot save the whales, turtles, sharks, tuna, and complex marine biodiversity, the oceans will not survive," he said in a web interview in 2017. "And if the oceans die, humanity will die, for we cannot survive on this planet with a dead ocean." - 'Eco-terrorist' - Over 45 years, the intrepid captain has carried out spectacular operations from Siberia to Iceland, Norway, the Faroe Islands and Japan. With his crews he has saved thousands of whales and spotlighted the illegal activities of whalers. In 2010 Sea Shepherd clashed violently with Japanese boats, leading to the sinking of the organisation's high-tech superboat Ady Gil in the remote Southern Ocean. Tokyo has accused him of causing injury and damage to one of its whaling ships in the Antarctic in 2020. He regularly says in interviews "we've never injured anybody". At the time, Japanese ships hunted whales in the Antarctic and North Pacific for what it said were scientific purposes. - Battles on sea, and land - The white-bearded father of three claims in his biography to have co-founded Greenpeace in 1972 but said he parted ways with the group over arguments about protest tactics. His ex-allies, and also the Japanese government, label him an "eco-terrorist" because of his radical tactics. He was detained for several months in the Netherlands in 1997 and lived in exile on the high seas from 2012 to 2014. His next battle is in court. He was arrested on the John Paul DeJoria in Greenland as the ship was headed to "intercept" Japan's new whaling factory vessel in the North Pacific, his foundation said. Despair at plant where Athens wildfire claims first victim Vrilissia, Greece, Aug 13 (AFP) Aug 13, 2024 Klearchos Smaraidas stood in a daze next to his burned-out factory in an Athens suburb, after learning that a massive wildfire killed one of his longtime employees as it swept through the area. The woman, a Moldovan citizen in her 60s, is believed to be the first death from the massive wildfires that have wreaked widespread destruction around Athens since Sunday. Too upset to even utter her name -- Nadia -- Smaraidas said her body was found in a bathroom of the factory in the suburb Vrilissia after her family raised the alarm. "She worked for me 20 years. She was perfect. On every level. She was hardworking, polite," said 74-year-old Smaraidas, black soot smudged on his nose and under his right eye. When the building caught fire from the burning pine trees outside, most of the employees escaped through the back but the woman was too afraid and thought she would be safe in the bathroom, according to one man on the scene who spoke on condition of anonymity. "She probably died because she didn't have oxygen. It's tragic, a disaster," Smaraidas said of the woman, who local news reports was a mother of two. At least 66 people have been treated for injuries and five firefighters hurt in Greece's worst wildfire this year, which was fuelled by strong winds and raced across a parched landscape. Inside the small plant -- a mess of broken steel and burnt chairs and tables -- someone had laid a bouquet of white flowers as a tribute to the woman. In the yard, bundles of charred roses lay on the ground, a reminder of the funeral decorations that the shop produced for four decades. Several gutted cars were nearby, only their frames intact and the battery melted in a silver zigzag on the ground. - 'Depressed, desperate, sad' - The house next door to the factory was also gutted, with only the brick structure left -- everything else turned to ash and rubble. "Never in a million years did I think a fire would come here," homeowner Sakis Morfis said from under his charred grape trees, a burnt washing machine behind him. "It's chaos. We're without clothes, money, everything was burnt inside. I feel depressed, desperate, sad," the 65-year-old told AFP. The neighbourhood and surrounding streets and areas had been the scene of hectic, panicked activity on Monday night, as residents joined forces to douse the many fires with buckets, hoses and fire extinguishers. In nearby Penteli, a helicopter had waterbombed huge balls of flames leaping up from a warehouse stocked with wood and what is believed to be propane tanks. Locals fled the loud booms of the explosions, which sent items shooting into the air. - 'Like a match' - "This specific area has too much forest and combined with the wind, it's bad," said Asterios, a 45-year-old veteran fireman from Athens. "The pine trees are like a match. And climate change has brought desert to the woods. This area is near the forest, so obviously it was affected," he told AFP. Asterios was sitting in a firetruck at the scene where the woman had died. He and his colleagues were there to make sure no new fires started and to keep people from venturing inside, where burnt steel could break off and injure them. "We've been working two, three days already, and have another couple of days at least," he said, just before he took a moment to brush his teeth. "These are the most difficult fires by far of the summer. Because of the heat. And with the wind, it was expanding like crazy." BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 13. Parliamentary election may reshape Azerbaijan's role and impact in the region, Turkish professor Mehmet Yuce told the Independent Media Center 'Election2024', Trend reports. He pointed out that the victory in the Second Karabakh War was a game-changer for Azerbaijan. "Thanks to this victory, Azerbaijan liberated its territories, which were occupied by Armenia during and pror to the First Karabakh War, and fully restored its territorial integrity and sovereignty. Azerbaijan showed off its military might and displayed its true colors of strong leadership. Through sheer determination and perseverance, the nation went from being a nation with occupied territories to one that emerged victorious. Foreign and domestic policies in Azerbaijan were reevaluated in light of this status shift. Accordingly, presidential election was held first. In the February 7 presidential election, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev was re-elected with a strong mandate, after which a new strategy was defined," he said. The professor also mentioned that Azerbaijan is making great strides towards its goals, and emphasized the need for new parliamentary elections to ensure a level playing field and a legislative body that encompasses all corners of the country, including Karabakh. He mentioned that the new parliament, with newly elected deputies, will steadily work towards achieving the country's new objectives. "Parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan will also have significant implications for regional politics. Azerbaijan is a key player in the South Caucasus. A stable Azerbaijan can contribute to regional cooperation and facilitate the resolution of other regional conflicts. Ultimately, the parliamentary election could lead to significant changes both in Azerbaijan's domestic politics and in regional processes. These changes could have a serious impact on the future of the country and the overall political and economic situation in the South Caucasus," Yuce emphasized. The Turkish professor also pointed out that, from the perspective of international relations, elections in a country that has restored its territorial integrity are especially important for strengthening international legitimacy and support for Karabakh. "A democratic and transparent electoral process will enhance Azerbaijan's authority on the international stage and help attract foreign investment. Moreover, the victory in Karabakh has altered the balance of power in the South Caucasus. In this context, the upcoming election will strengthen Azerbaijan's new position and have a positive impact on diplomatic relations in the region," he added. To note, on June 28, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a decree dissolving the sixth convocation of the Azerbaijani Parliament and scheduling a snap election for September 1. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 13. The Baku Court on Grave Crimes has passed sentences to Emin Aliyarov, Rashad Ahmadov, Azer Sarijanov, Elshad Asgarov, and Sabuhi Shirinov accused of armed assassination against local MP Fazil Mustafa, Trend reports. According to the sentencing, Sarijanov will spend the rest of his life behind bars. Ahmadov was sentenced to 19 years of imprisonment, with the first five years to be served in jail and the remaining years in a high-security penal colony. Shirinov was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment, with the first 10 years to be served in jail, and the remaining time in a high-security penal institution. Asgarov was sentenced to 18 years of imprisonment, with the first five years to be served in jail, and the rest in a high-security penal institution. Aliyarov was sentenced to four years of imprisonment, which he will serve in a general-regime correctional facility. Thus, the judicial investigation into the criminal case of the mentioned persons, detained in connection with the attempted murder of Mustafa, has been completed. To note, on March 28, 2023, at 21:51 (GMT +4), unknown men opened fire at Azerbaijani MP Fazil Mustafa, near his house. The MP came out unscathed, taking two bullets to the shoulder, one on the right side. A criminal case has been initiated in the Main Investigation Department of the State Security Service of Azerbaijan under articles 277 (attempt on the life of a statesman or public figure with the aim of terminating his official or political activity or revenge for this activity) and 228.2.1 (illegal acquisition, storage, transportation and carrying of firearms, their component parts, and ammunition by a group of persons, entered into a preliminary conspiracy) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel The four exploitation and nine exploration contiguous concessions at Rosario span 24 square kilometres and consist of three distinct prospective trends with a combined strike length of 15km. Management has agreed to pay an annual fee of US$100,000 (AU$154,000) for the three-year option, with 50 per cent to be paid via shares at the companys election. The deal also includes the option for Pan Asia to pay a US$2 million (AU$3.1 million) final purchase fee at any time, again with 50 per cent payable in shares at the companys election. Pan Asia Metals has fired the copper exploration starting gun in northern Chile by triggering the conversion of an exclusivity agreement into a binding option to buy the promising Rosario copper project which sits close to Enamis giant El Salvador mine. The company has interpreted the underexplored project as a Manto-style copper-silver opportunity a highly-prospective mineralisation type responsible for several 200 million tonne-plus discoveries grading more than 1 per cent copper throughout the northern parts of Chile, including the Mantos Blancos, El Solado and Michilla mines. Pan Asia Metals managing director Paul Lock said: The Rosario Copper Project ticks all PAMs boxes it is located in an infrastructure-rich setting, it has potential processing solutions located between Rosario and the nearest port, it demonstrates peer group-leading copper grades from a significant suite of rock chips samples and it is located in a premier copper-producing region known for its cost advantages. In essence, the Project has what is needed to gain a position in the lower third of the cost curve. To date, historical data at Rosario consists of 89 rock chip samples collected from small prospector workings and outcrops. Of those, 73 samples returned values greater than 0.1 per cent copper, with an average of 2.23 per cent and running as high as 5 per cent copper and 6.4 grams per tonne of silver. Sitting within Chiles Central Copper Belt, one of the countrys premier copper-producing areas and 120km east of Chanaral port in the Atacama region, the project area is just 10km north of the State-owned El Salvador mine that hosts 800 million tonnes of ore grading 0.59 per cent copper for a total of 4.7 million tonnes of contained copper. El Salvador is a porphyry-style deposit, with mineralisation intruding through the same rocks that host the Rosario project. Some minor intrusives have been mapped on Pan Asias grounds, but according to the company there is still plenty of potential for blind porphyry copper targets beneath the surface. Advertisement Review Eating outCarlton Beeline for the bacon and egg roll at this trove of home-cooked food treasures Little Stevies Shop brims with sweet and savoury goods selected and hand-made by owner Meg Stevenson, including frozen tubs of beef curry, chilled jars of tuna dip, free-range meats and breakfast rolls. Lenny Ann Low August 13, 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 1 / 12 Stevies Little Shop is a marvel of high-quality produce. Dion Georgopoulos 2 / 12 Sauteed five-spiced mushrooms with mirin on sourdough spinach and silken tofu cream. Dion Georgopoulos 3 / 12 Dion Georgopoulos 4 / 12 Owner and chef Meg Stevenson. Dion Georgopoulos 5 / 12 Folded eggs with mussel butter. Dion Georgopoulos 6 / 12 Dion Georgopoulos 7 / 12 Bacon and egg roll with spinach. Dion Georgopoulos 8 / 12 The Scandi, loaded up potato salad on sourdough with smoked salmon sauerkraut capers and pickles. Dion Georgopoulos 9 / 12 Dion Georgopoulos 10 / 12 Dion Georgopoulos 11 / 12 Dion Georgopoulos 12 / 12 Freshly squeezed orange juice. Dion Georgopoulos Previous Slide Next Slide Cafe$$$$ People say dont shop when youre hungry. I say come to Stevies Little Shop. Chef Meg Stevensons cornucopian cafe and food store, set on a residential Carlton street corner, is a marvel of high-quality produce and home-cooked food. There, amid potted palms, festoon lights and plumes of pink, red and purple fabric flowers, are shelves, counters and fridges brimming with sweet and savoury goods selected and made by Stevenson. First, Stevensons handpicked Australian and imported products; gourmet sauces, artisan relishes, providore salt, French butter biscuits, Italian pasta, Vermont maple syrup, freeze-dried fruit and brown paper packages of fermented black garlic. Advertisement Owner and chef Meg Stevenson. Dion Georgopoulos But this is a mere prologue to Stevies Little Shops greater beauties. Fridges and chilled cabinets of Stevensons preprepared food. Its hard not to look like a tourist stumbling across a spectacular waterfall or a 16th-century Renaissance painting, such is the fine food range in this small corner shop. To the left, frozen tubs of beef curry; sticky beef stout stew; king prawn laksa; seafood marinara with pesto; sweet potato, ginger and peanut soup; and green Thai curry with basil, eggplant and prawns. To the right, chilled jars of tuna dip; organic chicken and cognac pate; red lentil dahl; green olive and garlic hummus; black bean and corn fritters; roasted lemon chicken salad; and salmon chowder with leek, potatoes and corn. More fridges hold avocados, cherry tomatoes, lemons, mushrooms, free-range eggs and packets of free-range meats. Advertisement Its hard not to look like a tourist stumbling across a spectacular waterfall or a 16th-century Renaissance painting, such is the fine food range in this small corner shop. Its as if someone opened up their kitchen, all while cooking their greatest homemade food hits, and an army of fans came again and again to savour the beautifully judged flavours and ingredients. On this sunny Saturday morning, just arrived regulars are nodding keenly to Stevenson, a chef and hospitality veteran who opened Stevies in 2020. Heart-starter? she says, one arm manoeuvring vintage floral cups to the coffee machine, the other writing table orders for five-spice mushrooms with blue cheese silken cream. A heart-starter is a double-shot coffee. Advertisement We dont charge for the second shot, Stevenson says, now bagging a Stevies BLT (bacon, mayo, cherry tomatoes and spinach). I think a neighbourhood coffee needs to be strong and of good quality because thats how I drink it. She can tell a first-time customer instantly. Theyre standing still, staring at everything, she says. It can be a bit overwhelming, the first visit. Go-to dish: Bacon and egg roll with spinach. Dion Georgopoulos Born in Melbourne and raised in Canberra, Stevensons love of cooking began as a two-year-old helping her father in the kitchen. My first set of stitches was from a peeler, she says. By 11, I was doing my parents dinner parties after doing all the canapes before that. Advertisement She did the grocery shopping every week and created recipes for each night. I was never very academic, she says. But food and cooking, thats what I had a passion for. It was something tangible that, at the end of the day, I could see Id done. After gaining her apprenticeship in Canberra, Stevenson travelled to Europe the UK, Canada and the US where, across five years, she worked as a chef, ran a cafe and trained students. Back in Australia, after working in hospitality and training culinary students, she founded catering company Stevensons Fine Foods. Photo: Dion Georgopoulos Advertisement In 2019 she leased the Carlton shop, revamping its interior and expanding her already strong customer base through lockdown. I was adamant it wouldnt be a cafe, she says. I wanted it to be only grab-and-go. But its been an interesting evolution. Retail wasnt gaining enough traction, so now its dine-in on weekends. Today, two counter benches and five plywood tables lining a dark pink banquette are packed. The breakfast menus bacon and egg roll, with marmalade, spinach, mayonnaise and smoky salt on a crunchy bun, is going down a treat at my, and four other, tables. Between sips from good, strong La Marionette coffee served in a donated vintage mug, the folded eggs special, with spinach, roasted asparagus and smoked salmon, is excellent. Little Stevies Shop is eye-widening, all-welcoming, with affordable prices and seasonal home-cooked fare from a chef Id like at home. Advertisement Its like people being in my living room, Stevenson says. And them enjoying the food so theyll come back again. The low-down Vibe: Corner shop and cafe with high-quality produce and spiffy dine-in weekend menu Go-to dish: Bacon and egg roll or whatever is on the specials board Cost: $35, plus drinks Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox. Sign up Melbournes Mr Connected has just swapped billionaires. And in the cloistered world of family foundations, its a big deal. When rich listers John and Pauline Gandel, the $6.33 billion part-owners of retail pleasure palace Chadstone shopping centre, announced that the highly connected Vedran Drakulic was stepping down as chief executive of the Gandel Foundation, the tributes were glowing and the speculation intense. Vedran Drakulic has just been poached from the Gandel Foundation by the Hansen Little Foundation. John and Pauline Gandel and the board of Gandel Foundation would like to thank Vedran for his long-standing and significant contribution not only to the familys charitable activities but also to the broader philanthropic sector as well, and we all wish him all the very best in his future endeavours, the foundation said. After all, Drakulic had worked for more than 12 years at the foundation, one of the nations largest its given away more than $150 million in grants since it was founded in 1978. The University of Sydneys vice chancellor has warned staff of hiring freezes and other cutbacks as the institution prepares for financial shortfalls from the loss of international students. Australian universities and colleges are waiting to be told the limits on international student enrolments that would be imposed under proposed legislation currently before federal parliament. Sydney University vice chancellor Mark Scott. Credit: Janie Barrett Institutions say uncertainty about the scope of the student caps, due to come into effect in January, has put tens of thousands of international student enrolments in jeopardy and made it impossible to plan for the year ahead. Sydney University vice chancellor Mark Scott wrote to staff on Tuesday warning that the institution was considering how it would deal with the financial shortfalls a reduction in international students would bring. By Leyla Tarverdiyeva, Day.Az The massive looting that befell the lands of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia during and after the First Karabakh War probably knows no equal in scale and cynicism. Unfortunately, for many years the Azerbaijani side had only to state that our towns and villages were literally dissolving, being pulled apart by the Armenians brick by brick. The occupiers dragged everything that had been abandoned by the fleeing Azerbaijanis. Fleeing from the massacre, people had no time for their possessions, no time for household goods, sometimes they even had no time to put on shoes. And everything that was left in orphaned homes was taken away by the invaders. From Armenia , they came specifically to maraud into the captured villages and took out household utensils, furniture, and building materials by trucks. After the genocide in Khojaly, Russian journalist Ivleeva was allowed into the city by the Armenians and filmed what was happening there. The lens of her camera caught men dragging bales of Khojaly residents' property. These are residents of neighboring Armenian villages who were waiting for the city to be cleared of residents in order to come in and rob quietly. No one bothers them. I remembered this because one of the Armenian users of social networks, who fought in the First Karabakh War, spoke about the Armenian looting the other day. He recalled that during the occupation of Shusha in May 1992, the invaders who entered the city saw Armenian looters who were already actively looting abandoned houses. The looters entered the city even before the armed gangs and quietly did their job while the battle was going on. Apparently, Sevak, who participated in the occupation, was indelibly impressed by this scene, so he cannot forget it to this day. Perhaps that moment became a kind of moment of truth for him, revealing to him the whole truth about the behavioral characteristics of his people. This man does not live in Armenia and therefore, apparently, is telling the truth. He openly and contemptuously says that after the occupation, the Armenians looted the largest irrigation system in the South Caucasus , dismantled railway tracks, and sold them for scrap. In short, they dragged everything that could be dragged away. Apparently, the revelations spilled out during the discussion about the Great Return program being implemented by Azerbaijan and the pace at which the liberated lands are being rebuilt. However, Sevak did not discover America . Armenian looting is a phenomenon that neighbors should seriously address. Before the eyes of the whole world, illegal settlers, leaving Lachin and Kalbajar, took away everything that was lying badly. The Armenians themselves robbed the houses of their neighbors. I remembered the sensational video posted by Armenian blogger Vartan Ghukasyan on which depicted the robbed houses of Armenians living in Lachin. It was not the Azerbaijanis or the peacekeepers who did it, but the Armenians themselves. "When I saw these pictures, I was shocked. The Armenians' houses in Berdzor (Lachin - ed.) were robbed by the Armenians themselves. Although robbery is an understatement. This is when electrical equipment, gold and money are taken out of houses, then this is called a robbery. But I do not know what word to find for the fact that windows, doors, tiles and toilets were taken out of houses. There is no definition of this in any language. And the most important thing is that it was not the Turks (Azerbaijanis - ed.) who did it, but the Armenians themselves! As soon as they heard that Berdzor was being rented, they rushed to empty the houses. They didn't even realize that Armenians still live in these houses," the blogger lamented. Obviously, I didn't expect this from my own people either. The shock resulted in a confession that sounded as follows: there are "many scum among the Armenians, the number of which continues to increase." The same thing happened in Kalbajar before the Armenians left the area. And the Armenian media was shocked and shocked again. It would seem that it would be time for them to get used to it. The panorama of Aghdam, which was demolished into bricks, alone should have become a serious alarm signal for our neighbors, saying that their mentality is not all right. But no one noticed the towns and villages destroyed and looted during the occupation, and no one was interested in this. But during the mass looting in Lachin and Kalbajar, social networks already existed, and Armenian users did not hesitate, and even proudly shared their shameful deeds. "With great regret, indignation and surprise, we record a disgusting phenomenon in the deserted Karvachar (Kalbajar - ed.) - looters. We draw the attention of law enforcement agencies - this is unacceptable under any circumstances," the Armenian media wrote in November 2020. On the eve of the Azerbaijani army's entry into the Kalbajar region, Armenians, including those who came specifically from Armenia for looting, took everything away, cleaning out empty houses. Even lampposts were uprooted and taken out. Another blogger, Roman Baghdasaryan, shocked his fellow countrymen again by telling the truth about the looting of graves and cultural heritage by Armenians. Baghdasaryan stated in a video he distributed that 70 percent of the tombstones in 7 districts around the former NKAO are missing. Looters did business on tombstones, tore up graves in search of gold teeth... Armenian journalist Natalie Aleksanyan once shared her memories of her childhood during the first war. She herself happened to witness how, after the occupation, residents of Armenian villages drove trucks to the occupied Azerbaijani lands in order to plunder villages abandoned by Azerbaijanis. She admitted that she still does not understand why her tribesmen took everything out of the houses of Azerbaijanis, down to the dishes. She also does not understand how graves could be desecrated and destroyed, how corpses could be dug up in search of gold. If we turn to earlier events, we can find a shocking truth there. In 1988, a catastrophic earthquake struck Armenia . Cities were destroyed and a huge number of people died. And again, the looters were "in place" before anyone else, before the rescuers and the military. We will not say anything, we will only quote from the memoirs of eyewitnesses published in different years in the Russian media: "Looters are prowling in houses abandoned by people. They caught one in front of me, almost trampled to death. The military barely recaptured it. The worst thing is that not only houses are being robbed, but also the dead." "No one was really there yet, neither rescuers nor the military, they entered the city only two days later. But looters were already scurrying through the ruins." The hardest thing for the above-mentioned Sevak was not so much the looting of the Armenians, but the fact that the Azerbaijanis behaved completely differently even during the 44-day war. The liberators did not drag expensive equipment from the houses abandoned by the Armenians, while the Armenians, entering the occupied Azerbaijani villages, even took away toothbrushes. Please note that everything that is said here is voiced by the Armenians themselves. This is especially valuable because it allows us to hope that for our neighbors, with all the rigidity of their ideological categories, not everything is lost. Photo: Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 13. Deputy Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan, Director General Agil Gurbanov has met with a Turkish delegation led by Haluk Gorgon, Chairman of the Defense Industry Committee of Turkeys Presidential Administration, Trend reports via the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan. Director General Gurbanov welcomed the Turkish guests and highlighted the significance of such meetings for advancing joint cooperation with Turkiye. Gorgon thanked the Azerbaijani side for their hospitality and expressed confidence that joint production projects between Azerbaijan and Turkiye would enhance the defense capabilities of both nations. The meeting, which also included Turkish Ambassador to Azerbaijan Cahit Bagci and leaders of prominent Turkish military-industrial companies, covered the current status and future prospects of bilateral military and military-technical cooperation, with discussions on other mutual interests. During their visit, the Turkish delegation also met Lieutenant General Namik Islamzadeh, Deputy Minister of Defense and Acting Commander of the Air Force. They were briefed on the Air Force Central Command Center's history and activities and had their questions addressed. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel A 46-year-old woman has been arrested and charged with murder after a 10-year-old girl was found dead at her home in a tight-knit Gold Coast community on Tuesday night. Emergency services were called to a residential unit complex on Central Place at Carrara, just inland from Surfers Paradise, about 6pm. The girl, Sophie Wang, was located unresponsive in a unit, reportedly by one of her parents, and declared dead at the scene. Gold Coast schoolgirl Sophie Wang, 10, was found dead in her home at Carrara. A 46-year-old woman has been charged with her murder. Following investigations, Gold Coast detectives located and arrested a 46-year-old Carrara woman at a nearby street about 10.25pm. A once-revered Melbourne barrister, Norman OBryan, has been charged with fraud offences over his alleged involvement in a class action scheme that allegedly rorted claimants, many of whom were retirees, out of millions of dollars. OBryan, a former senior counsel, was charged with two counts of attempting to obtain a financial advantage by deception over the class action of the collapse of Banksia Securities Limited. Norman OBryan (pictured in 2010) was once one of the countrys most sought-after silks. Credit: Craig Abraham OBryan was removed from the bar roll in 2021 after a review of the Banksia Securities class action found issues in how members were charged fees by OBryan and lawyer Mark Elliott, who died in 2020, during the court action. The review also found both mens families were shareholders in the class action funder. A spokesperson for Victoria Police confirmed the 65-year-old from Blairgowrie had been charged. Lawyers warn an outrageous state government move to protect itself from compensation claims connected with Nicola Gobbo, the barrister turned police informer, is undemocratic and unjust, and could face a High Court challenge. The proposed law would derail several multimillion-dollar claims for damages by those affected by the Lawyer X scandal, which have been before the courts for up to five years. Some are due to proceed to trial within months. Nicola Gobbo was a barrister who became a police informer. Credit: The Age The cases include Faruk Orman, who launched a civil claim against Victoria Police in 2020 after his murder conviction was quashed by the Victorian Court of Appeal because Gobbo had been revealed as a police informer while also acting for him as his lawyer. Gobbo is also seeking significant damages in a long-running Supreme Court case over the forces failure to protect her identity as a supergrass, which was scheduled for trial in October. The results again showed sharp demographic and geographic divides, with about one in three First Nations students rated as needs additional support compared with under one in 10 of their non-Indigenous counterparts. Fewer than 24 per cent of students from remote areas were rated as strong or exceeding in their reading this year, compared with more than 70 per cent of students in big city schools, while in numeracy, just 22 per cent of very remote area youngsters were strong or exceeding compared with 69 per cent of urban children. Nick Parkinson, an education specialist with the Grattan Institute think tank, said on Tuesday this years NAPLAN results reinforced a clear message from last years marks. Too many Victorian kids are falling through the cracks, he said. Victorias 2024 results were not substantially different from the national average, the ACT or NSW on any of the NAPLAN tests. Loading Victoria must not be complacent, and there is hard work ahead to ensure excellence and equity in every school. Parkinson said the state governments commitment this year to phonics instruction and evidence-based teaching was positive, but called for further reform, including a long-term target of 90 per cent proficiency in literacy and numeracy. The state also needs better screening checks to flag students who need extra support. Waiting until year 3 NAPLAN is leaving it far too late, Parkinson said. There should be a resit in year 2 for students flagged in the year 1 screening checks. The current English online interview doesnt cut it. Other experts were concerned about the drop in literacy in high school, particularly for students in year nine. Weve been aware for some time that high school literacy is a problem and something that we need to really address, Professor Anne Castles from the Australian Catholic University. Theres been quite a lot of work addressing primary school literacy ... and that looks as though its having some moderate benefits ... but the thing about high school is we really dont have structures in place for identifying or supporting children who have literacy difficulties in high school because high school teachers arent taught how to teach literacy. The professor, who is part of the universitys Australian Centre for the Advancement of Literacy, added there needs to be a way to screen children in year 7 who may need extra support. On numeracy figures, maths Professor Vince Geiger from ACU said children should be taught and shown mathematics matters. A drop in maths skills in the middle years of high school was concerning, he said. Glenn Fahey, director of the educational program at the Centre for Independent Studies, said the stable achievement results between 2023 and 2024 might point to a broader stabilisation in the quality of the educational system. This is generally consistent with other test results that may point to a halt though not a reversal to decades of generally poor or declining outcomes, Fahey said. Loading It remains that case that Australian student achievement levels and the gaps between students remain disappointing, given the relatively high level of taxpayer spending. Despite more than a decade of Gonski funding intended to raise achievement and reduce gaps there is little evidence of substantial improvement in results. Fahey said the results showed the achievement targets demanded by the federal government in return for a new $16 billion schools funding package for the states were crucial to improving educational outcomes. The currently proposed targets to improve the proportion of proficient students and reducing those who need additional support are a good place to start but could benefit from being more ambitious, Fahey said. Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said the results underlined the need for the reform he was demanding from the states. The additional $16 billion of funding for public schools the government has put on the table will be tied to practical reforms, like phonics checks and numeracy checks, evidenced-based teaching and catch-up tutoring, he said. We leave you with a final scene from the West Australian Supreme Court, where Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds former chief of staff has recounted meeting with Brittany Higgins as the office fielded its first media enquiry about a security breach on the night of Higgins alleged rape, 18 months before Higgins went public with the allegation. Giving evidence in Reynolds defamation claim against Higgins on Tuesday, Alexandra Kelton told the West Australian Supreme Court she was called to a meeting with the former defence minister and the then-acting chief of staff in October 2019. In it, Reynolds revealed she had received a media enquiry from The Canberra Times via now-Opposition Leader Peter Duttons staff about an incident in her ministerial office. Kelton told the court Reynolds directed her to meet with Higgins, who by this time was working for Senator Michaelia Cash, because Reynolds held grave concerns for Higgins welfare and did not want the matter to play out in the media. After handing Higgins the media enquiry and asking how she would like it dealt with, Kelton told the court the former staffer became visibly upset, whispering how would they know this before requesting her colleague join them. After summoning another colleague and asking Higgins whether she was OK, Kelton reported back to Reynolds, she told the court. The story about what happened on March 23, 2019, would ultimately not see the light of day until February 15, 2021, when Higgins went public with allegations she had been raped by colleague Bruce Lehrmann in interviews with news.com.au and Network Tens The Project. Lehrmann has maintained his innocence. Kelton also told the court of Reynolds shock as media reports containing allegations she mishandled the rape swept her office. She recounted that staff overheard Reynolds utter the words lying cow while watching The Project, and that when this came to her attention she herself took it to Reynolds, who did not recall saying it but called a meeting with staff and apologised. Reynolds has told the court earlier this week that the lying cow comment did not refer to the rape allegation itself. Kelton also told the court of the former defence ministers anguish as they prepared for question time, telling the court Reynolds felt powerless because she did not want to say anything that might prejudice any future police investigation. Kelton recalled watching Reynolds mental and physical health decline before her very public breakdown, which led to a three-week break and ultimately cost her the defence portfolio. The trial continues. Good evening, and thanks for joining us for another day of live WA news coverage. The blog will be back tomorrow morning. It was a finding about the Sydney property market that shocked researchers to their core. Theyd begun with a study looking at whether buying a home in the most affordable areas Sydney might be achievable for someone on a part-time wage. But then they discovered that it wasnt possible even for a person on a median full-time salary and that it probably wouldnt be until at least 2031. Sydney property is broadly unaffordable to workers, a new study found. Credit: Nikki Short We found out that it was a problem for people working part-time but then we found that it was a significant problem for people on a full-time wage as well, said University of NSW School of Built Environment professor Chyi Lin Lee. That came as a big surprise to me. And the modelling we did showed that, unless there were any major changes like COVID on the way, then affordability wouldnt change until we were into the 2030s. The history of the place is precisely the reason why Berlin would never hand this building over to private hands where there would be a risk that it could be misused, Evers said. The villas fate is not only a logistical quandary for Germany. It illustrates a long-term and larger conundrum, the grounds of which have shifted over time, experts say: whether to preserve or obliterate the many edifices from Germanys hateful past. Marita and Frank Bernhardt visit the former culture house built by the Communist Party. Credit: Lena Mucha/The New York Times Directly after World War II, the prevailing approach was to move on, ignoring prior ownership, so as not to risk reifying it, according to Peter Longerich, a historian and the author of Goebbels, A Biography. Hitlers apartment in Munich, for example, has little information detailing its history; it has long been a police station in which officers still use Hitlers own wooden bookshelves, he said. The benefit of its law enforcement tenants is that their presence keeps at bay Nazi sympathisers who sometimes make pilgrimages to such sites. Last year in Austria, the government moved to convert Hitlers birthplace into a police station for this reason, drawing contentious debate. But as the far-right has re-emerged in German politics, sentiment has shifted towards remembering the past in order to never forget it. Loading The dominant attitude in education for a long time was to, if possible, ignore many things of this period, Longerich said. But nobody has a greater sense of coming to terms with the past than Germans have, so there is an ongoing process, he added. And it might be that over time, ignorance will need to be overcome, and people find it necessary to preserve this space. Just outside the centre of Wandlitz, the wildwood has grown up around the house, blocking the door to the private cinema where Goebbels screened his propaganda films. Cobwebs cloak bedroom windows. And motes of dust drift through airy salons where he wined and dined Nazi leadership and where his six children played beside the hearth until he and his wife poisoned them all in the wars final days. Maintenance of the property costs 280,000 a year ($465,000) just to keep it from falling into shambles, according to the buildings department. Restoration would not only be expensive but introduce another thorny issue that dogs preservationists who must deal with former structures from both the Nazi and communist chapters of Germanys past. If they look too beautiful, you re-aestheticise their reign, said Thomas Weber, a professor of history and international affairs at the University of Aberdeen, in Scotland. But if you leave them but somehow destroy how they functioned at the time, then people will not understand, either. The lecture hall used by the Communist Party. Credit: Lena Mucha/The New York Times The mansion is filled with architectural flourishes that were popular among Nazi leaders, like its clever day-room windows that fold away into the floor a touch also used in Hitlers own holiday retreat in the Bavarian Alps. There is a bunker out the back, too, just in case. Other structures were added over time. Down a path, past headless concrete statues of intertwined lovers, are several almost federal-style buildings. They were used as a communist international youth college from the 1940s until the fall of the Berlin Wall. Up weed-sprouted steps and behind graffitied doors, their cavernous interiors hold barracks and an echoing auditorium. It is a part of the sites past often eclipsed by its Nazi heritage, said Gerwin Strobl, a modern history instructor at Cardiff University in Wales, who studies Germany. But it is one also painful to Germans. In fact, it covers two German dictatorships in succession. That also explains why it is also so difficult to find a use for it, Strobl said. But buildings by themselves arent evil. Loading On a bike ride on a recent Friday, a man and a woman in their 60s paused in front of what was the campus social centre to take in the crumbling building. The pair, Marita and Frank Bernhardt, had met there as students in 1978. She learned of its Nazi past only after reunification, Marita Bernhardt said. Thats why it has a bitter aftertaste, she said of returning for the first time. And yet, it was where she and her husband had fallen in love. The memories are still nice. After hearing about Berlins offer to give away the property, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, chair of the European Jewish Association, sent an open letter offering to convert it into an education centre to counter all forms of hate. It is an important message to anyone, Margolin said. That even the darkest place in the world can become a source of light. Washington: US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered a guided missile submarine to the Middle East and is telling the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to sail more quickly to the area, as the US said it believes Iran or its proxies may launch a strike against Israel as soon as this week. The moves, announced by the Defence Department, come as the US and other allies push for Israel and Hamas to achieve a ceasefire agreement that could help calm soaring tensions in the region, following the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut. A pilot speaks to a crew member on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea. Credit: AP Officials have been on the lookout for retaliatory strikes by both Iran and Hezbollah for the killings, and the US has been beefing up its presence in the region. John Kirby, the White House national security spokesman, said Irans response to the killings could be this week, but that it is difficult to ascertain at this particular time if theres an attack by Iran or its proxies what it could look like. He said the US and its allies were preparing for a significant set of attacks. Hyundai and Children's Hospital Los Angeles Host Child Passenger and Pedestrian Safety Event FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., August 13, 2024 Hyundai Motor America hosted a child passenger and pedestrian safety event at its national headquarters in Fountain Valley, California with Childrens Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA). As part of its ongoing partnership, the two-part event featured a child safety seat check and a pedestrian safety training as part of CHLAs Injury Prevention Program. The nationally recognized program provides education and resources to families to prevent unintentional child injuries and fatalities from motor vehicle crashes and walking or playing near streets. Our continued partnership with CHLA is an important element in creating a culture of safety at Hyundai and for our customers, said Cole Stutz, chief safety officer, Hyundai Motor America. We are proud to offer this program to the local community and Hyundai families, especially at our Fountain Valley headquarters. Providing education and resources to families is an important part of our commitment to ensuring the safety of children whether they are as vehicle occupants or pedestrians. During the event, certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians (CPST) educated parents and caregivers on how to correctly install and use car seats. These technicians also inspected safety seats for expiration dates, manufacturer recalls, and proper fit. Families in need of new car seats were also given replacements to ensure the utmost safety for their children. Families of elementary school-aged children were also able to experience LA Street Smarts, a life-size replica of a small neighborhood with active traffic signals and interactive components, which teaches children proper pedestrian safety techniques, including helping understand the hazards associated with walking and playing near streets. This partnership is part of Hyundais corporate social responsibility initiative, Hyundai Hope, which seeks to improve the well-being of society through supporting the health and safety of the community. Childrens Hospital Los Angeles Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is at the forefront of pediatric medicine, offering acclaimed care to children from across the world, the country, and the greater Southern California region. Founded in 1901, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is the largest provider of care for children in Los Angeles County, the No. 1 pediatric hospital in California and the Pacific region, and is consistently ranked in the top 10 in the nation on U.S. News & World Reports Honor Roll of Best Childrens Hospitals. Clinical expertise spans the pediatric care continuum for newborns to young adults, from everyday preventive medicine to the most medically complex cases. Inclusive, compassionate, child- and family-friendly clinical care is led by physicians who are faculty members of the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Physicians translate the new discoveries, treatments and cures proven through the work of scientists in The Saban Research Institute of Childrens Hospital Los Angelesamong the top 10 childrens hospitals for National Institutes of Health fundingto bring answers to families faster. The hospital also is home to one of the largest training programs for pediatricians in the United States. To learn more, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter, and visit our blog at CHLA.org/blog. Hyundai Hope Hyundai Hope is a corporate social responsibility initiative from Hyundai Motor North America, committed to the principal of Progress for Humanity and the goal of improving the wellbeing of society. Hyundai Hope dedicates time and supplies resources to nonprofit organizations that support the health and safety of individuals and foster positive growth in communities. For more information, visit www.HyundaiHope.com. Hyundai Motor America Hyundai Motor America offers U.S. consumers a technology-rich lineup of cars, SUVs, and electrified vehicles, while supporting Hyundai Motor Companys Progress for Humanity vision. Hyundai has significant operations in the U.S., including its North American headquarters in California, 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 Hyundais 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. Subscription to paid content Gain access to all that Trend has to offer, as well as to premium, licensed content via subscription or direct purchase through a credit card. BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 13. The Azexport.az e-portal, operated by the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communication of Azerbaijan (CAERC), is boosting the export of Azerbaijani products to the US, Trend reports. The e-portal played matchmaker between US companies and Azerbaijani producers to grease the wheels for this surge in exports. Currently, the portal is pulling out all the stops to support the export of Azerbaijani agricultural products and a whole bunch of confectioneries to the US market. To cast a wider net and bring home the bacon, the existing partnership has kicked it up a notch. Last week, at Azexport's invitation, a representative from several US importing companies visited Baku. The representative toured over 15 production and processing facilities in Azerbaijan. The meetings focused on companies in the confectionery sector (including cakes, eclairs, wafers, and cookies), as well as those involved in mineral water, soft drinks, fruit juices, canned and frozen fruits and vegetables, spices, and dried fruits. During the visit, the potential for establishing a production facility in Azerbaijan for export-oriented products, funded by foreign investments, was also explored. It is anticipated that, in the future, the importing company will produce its products in Azerbaijan for the US market. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 13. Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan have discussed increasing the trade turnover of agricultural products, Trend reports. According to Azerbaijan's Ministry of Agriculture, the discussions occurred during a meeting between Deputy Agriculture Minister Elchin Zeynalov, on a working visit to Uzbekistan, and Uzbekistans Deputy Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade Akram Aliyev. Zeynalov highlighted the successful development of relations between the two countries and noted that this relationship provides a strong foundation for expanding mutual economic cooperation. He emphasized Azerbaijan's interest in enhancing collaboration with Uzbekistan, particularly in the agricultural sector, with a focus on increasing trade turnover in this area. The deputy minister also pointed out the significant potential for cooperation in modern technology transfer, agricultural education, and research. During the meeting, the parties explored opportunities to boost trade in agricultural products and discussed cooperation in crop production, sericulture, and agricultural education and research. To note, trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan reached $90.986 million from January through June 2024. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Bharatiya GPT Celebrating the Bharat Metaphor Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the BharatiyaGPT stall in New Delhi. R Ramakrishnan, founder of ImmverseAI (Nagpur - Silicon Valley) looks on. Staff Reporter : Riding Artificial Intelligence to universalise Indic wisdom One Indian company from the heart of IndiaNagpur and Silicon Valley, USA, ImmverseAI, is working on this mission to celebrate the rich prowess of Indic Wisdom which is thousands of years old. BharatiyaGPT is that metaphor that leverages bleeding edge generative AI to give an Indic response to Western bias that the global Large Language Model (LLM) has today. At the heart of BharatiyaGPT lies a Custom LLM, trained on an expansive 8 billion parameters. ImmverseAI has built a complete data pipeline from the ground up, collecting thousands of years old Indic manuscripts, digitising them, and training AI models on this digital data corpus, Contd from page 1 aggregating to over 50 terabytes and 10+ lakh manuscripts across 23 languages. This linguistic diversity ensures BharatiyaGPT can resonate with and serve a broad spectrum of the Indian population and those interested in exploring Indic Wisdom. R Ramakrishnan, Co-Founder and CEO of ImmverseAI, 5x Entrepreneur, with 20+ years in building multiple ventures in India & USA, and scaling it to over 50+ countries, a Past President of TiE with his AI team of 100+, expressed his enthusiasm about the launch, stating, BharatiyaGPT is not just another AI; it is an AI-infused tressure of the vast and diverse knowledge that India has contributed to the world, over millennia. By integrating this ancient wisdom into modern AI, we are not only immortalising our heritage but also offering the world an opportunity to learn from it. ImmverseAIs vision for BharatiyaGPT is not just to create another AI but to establish a global knowledge powerhouse grounded in Indias ancient wisdom and spiritual richness. Earlier this year, ImmverseAI was honoured for its creation of AI Avatars representing iconic Maharishis, with Padma Vibhushan Dr Vijay Bhatkar, Dr Kasturirangan, Dr E Sreedharan, and Dr Anil Kakodkar receiving special recognition. ImmverseAI was the only Indian startup invited to the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) to showcase its technological capabilities to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alongside global tech giants like Google, Meta, and Microsoft. ImmverseAI was also awarded the Best Use of Conversational AI at the Global AI Summit and Awards 2024 (GAISA). Landmark in AI innovation Indias rich legacy of scientific discoveries, mathematical insights, architectural wonders, and cosmic knowledge has been eroded over time. BharatiyaGPTs mission is to infuse AI into this ancient Indic Wisdom and preserve it for future generations. A major focus of BharatiyaGPT is addressing the biases prevalent in current AI systems, which often reflect Western perspectives. By integrating diverse cultural narratives from Indian civilization, BharatiyaGPT aims to offer a more balanced and inclusive worldview. This approach is vital in a globalized world where cultural sensitivity is increasingly important. BharatiyaGPTs deep engagement with Indian culture enables it to challenge and expand the conventional knowledge paradigms of AI. For instance, while other AI models credit John Dalton with the discovery of the atom, BharatiyaGPT acknowledges Rishi Kanads early conceptualization of atomic theory in ancient India, through the classic timeless treatise Vaisheshika Sutra which explains the concept of Anu, Renu and Paramanu some 2000 years ago, which then became the foundation for the modern sciencists like John Dalton, JJ. Thomson and Ernst Rutherford to come up with a refined version of The Atomic Theory in the 19 th century. At the same time, Vaimanika Shastram, attributed to Maharshi Bharadwaja, is a 10th-century Sanskrit text detailing principles of flight and aircraft design. Shivkar Bapuji Talpade, influenced by this text, is credited with building an airplane in 1895 and successfully flying it in the shores of Chowpaty in Mumbai. While the authenticity and scientific accuracy of the Vaimanika Shastram remain debated by ChatGPT and Gemini, which is trained on western data. By highlighting such contributions, BharatiyaGPT enriches the AI discourse and promotes a more equitable representation of global cultures. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi famously remarked, Not just Aai (Mother), but now Indian kids are saying AI as their first word ImmverseAI is committed to contributing with their groundbreaking AI solutions. BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 13. The price of Azerbaijani Azeri Light crude oil increased by $1.28 to $84.66 per barrel based on CIF in the Italian port of Augusta on August 12, compared to the previous reading, Trend reports, referring to the source from the country's oil and gas market. The price of Azeri LT FOB Ceyhan grew by $1.32 (to $83.54 per barrel). The price of URALS equaled $69.8 per barrel, which is $1.3 up from the previous price. Overall, the price of a barrel of Dated Brent oil produced in the North Sea went up by 69 cents on August 12, compared to the previous indication, to $83.31. The official exchange rate for August 13 stands at 1.7 AZN/1 USD. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Cal HC directs police to hand over all documents related to woman doctor murder case to CBI by 10 am on Wednesday. Date :13-Aug-2024 ED attaches Rs 122 crore worth assets of Haryana Cong MLA, ex-INLD legislator NEW DELHI : MORE than 100 acres of agricultural land and other immovable assets worth about Rs 122 crore of Haryana Congress MLA Surender Panwar, former INLD legislator Dilbag Singh and some other individuals have been attached under the anti-money laundering law in an alleged illegal mining case, the Enforcement Directorate said on Monday. All these properties are registered in the name of persons and entities, running a syndicate managed and controlled by Dilbag Singh and Surender Panwar, who indulged in large-scale illegal mining of sand, boulder and gravel in the Yamuna Nagar district of Haryana and some adjacent districts, the central agency said in a statement. Dilbag Singh and Panwar, a 55-year-old Congress legislator from the Sonipat Assembly seat, were raided and arrested by the ED recently in this case. The 145 immovable properties include more than 100 acres of agricultural land, some commercial plots and buildings -- all worth about Rs 122 crore. Kolkata doctor rape-murder case: Doctors halt services in many cities NEW DELHI ; AMID the growing anger and outrage over the rape and murder of a Kolkata doctor, doctors across many hospitals of the country have joined the protests and halted elective services, demanding that the perpetrators of heinous crime be brought to book. The Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) on Monday wrote to the Union Home Minister and announced the nation-wide halting of elective services in hospitals to express solidarity with the doctors of Kolkatas RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, where the trainee doctor was found violated and murdered at the hospitals seminar hall on Friday. This decision is not made lightly, but it is necessary to ensure that our voices are heard and that the demands for justice and safety are met without further delay, said the federation in its letter. Notably, the elective services are those which are not urgent, including the scheduled clinical anaesthesia services provided to the patients. These procedures differ from urgent or emergency surgeries requiring immediate attention due to life-threatening ailments. At least 10 government hospitals in Delhi have also started an indefinite strike and halted their elective services. They include AIIMS, RML Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital, Maulana Azad Medical College, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, Lady Hardinge Medical College, GTB Hospital, IHBAS, Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Medical College, and National Institute of TB and Respiratory Diseases Hospital. The FOR DA has also raised its five demands, which include-- Expeditious Acceptance of Residents Demands: The demands of the residents of R.G. Kar Medical College must be accepted and acted upon swiftly. Resignation of all the responsible authorities, which include the Principal, MSVP, Dean, HOD of pulmonary medicine, and ACP of RG Kar MC&H police outpost,whocouldnot perform their duty of protecting the dignity and life of a woman who was in this case an onduty doctor. No Police Brutality: There mustbea firmassurance that no police brutality or manhandling of the protesting doctorswilloccur.Theirright toprotestpeacefullymustbe respected. Swift Justice for the Deceased: Justice must be served swiftly, and due compensation provided to the family of the deceased. Security Protocols for HealthcareWorkers and formationofExpertCommittee: TheUniongovernmentmust release and enforce a mandated protocol for the security of healthcare workers across all hospitals, ensuring strict compliance and speeding up ratifying the Central Healthcare ProtectionAct.BesidesFORDA, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has also warned of nationwide protestsif their demands are not met within 48 hours. There has been a growing demand for a CBI probe and speedy trial of the accused in a fast-track court. NCW TEAM ARRIVES IN KOLKATA, TO MEET COPS, FAMILY OF DECEASED: A TWO-MEMBER team of the National Commission for Women (NCW) on Monday arrivedinKolkatain thewake of a woman doctors alleged rape and murder at a staterun hospital here. The two-member team, led by Delina Khongdup, went straight to the Kolkata Police headquarters at Lalbazar from the airport to speak to officers investigating the case. Polymer-made FRP challenges dominance of steel in construction sector Construction workers laying the FRP bars at Gorakshan Sabha construction site in Dhantoli on Monday. (Pic by Satish Raut) By Niraj Chinchkhede : The polymer-made material is twice as strong, thrice as durable as steel One can save upto 25-30% of estimated cost on steel bars, says renowned Structural Engineer Dilip Mase Even if it is beyond ones imagination that a building construction could be possible without using a single piece of steel, it is very much true. A newly introduced composite material made from polymer is here to challenge the age-old dominance of steel in the construction sector. Twice as strong and thrice as durable as steel, this wonder material called fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) is already finding its way into bungalows, roads, bridges, and even industrial floors. The material is also being used in place of steel for building a modern cowshed of 200X40 feet area coming up at Gorakshan Sabha in Dhantoli. An official of the company overseeing the construction at Gorakshan Sabha said it will put FRP bars in place of steel bars even in the slab. Renowned Structural Engineer Dilip Mase told The Hitavada on Monday that FRP has many advantages over steel and thus it is gaining popularity. It is corrosion resistant and thus the life of these FRP bars is more than that of steel bars. Further, it is about one fourth lighter than steel due to which it reduces the overall weight of the structure. Another important factor which gives it an edge over steel is its cost. One may save up to 25-30 per cent of the estimated cost on steel bars in any project, he said. Ritik Sanghani, manufacturer of the product, said that fiber reinforced polymers are widely used in many advanced countries while constructing highways, bridges, swimming pools, septic tanks and warehouses. It is very effective in places where the chances of water leakage are high. In marine applications, engineers prefer FRP to steel as it withstands the constant exposure to water and chemicals, ensuring the structural integrity of the projects. Because of its non-corrosive property, FRP remains intact for more than 100 years, Sanghani said. Unlike steel bars, fiber reinforced polymers come in a continuous coil which brings down the quantity of wastage during installing it on the site. Sanghani is Director of Dura Composites Pvt Ltd, a company manufacturing the innovative product using Russian technology. As of now, there are only three companies in the country manufacturing the material. Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has recently said the NHAI is also using FRP in construction of roads. Chartered Engineer Ketan Mase, who is doing research on the product, said use of FRP is gradually picking up pace in India. FRP is a revolutionary product which is going to change the face of the construction industry, he added. PROMINENT WITNESS THE passing away of Mr. K Natwar Singh, f o r m e r E x t e r n a l Affairs Minister of India, marks an end to the long innings of a prominent witness to, and participant in, foreign policy thinking of the country. A career diplomat, he contributed to Indias diplomacy and foreign affairs in official capacity. He worked closely with the offices of a few Indian Prime Ministers including Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, and with Dr. Manmohan Singh. All through working in official capacity as a diplomat, as an MP, and as External Affairs Minister, he was an active participant when Indias foreign policy shifted gears especially vis-a-vis Pakistan. The insight he had gained in the capacity of Indias Ambassador to Pakistan enriched the process of recalibration of Indian diplomatic thought with reference to Pakistan. But, his contribution was not restricted to Pakistan alone. He knew the dynamics of international relations well and his wisdom was put to good use by successive governments to further Indian interests on the platforms of different international institutions. That he was a Congress MP in later years does not affect the importance of his enriching the thought process of India reaching out to other nations towards multipolarity and multilateralism. SREES LEGACY A FTER the historic back-toback bronze medals in Tokyo and Paris Olympics, Indian hockey is looking at a new dawn. Indias showing in Paris has instilled big hopes from the mens team which boasts of an incredible talent pool. Under captain Harmanpreet Singh and coach Craig Fulton the Indian hockey team has gelled into a well-oiled unit which is ready to take on powerhouses without fear. A major credit of the change in thinking also goes to just-retired goalkeeper P R Sreejesh who was the hero of Indian triumph for the bronze medal. Not for nothing he is bestowed with the sobriquet of The Wall as the Kerala goalie has guarded the Indian citadel with tremendous grit. His saves against Great Britain in the quarter-final and then the solid showing against Germany in the bronze medal game firmed his place in the top-notch category of bartenders. Finding a replacement for Sreejesh would be a challenging task for Indian hockey Though Sreejesh has said that India possess enough talent to replace him, the fact remains that Sreejesh has created such a legacy guarding which would prove to be an onerous task for his replacement. Those are really big shoes to fill for the incumbent. Vinod Maheshwari of Navbharat no more Staff Reporter : Vinod Maheshwari, Managing Editor, Navbharat-Navrashtra, passed away on Monday. He was 79. He is survived by wife Shrirangdevi, son Nimish, daughter-in-law Anupama, grandson Vaibhav and granddaughter-in-law Shruti and Raghav. Last rites were performed at Mokshadham later in the evening. Vinodbabu as he was fondly called was indisposed of since last few days and was undergoing treatment. As his health deteriorated, he was flown to Mumbai on Sunday for advanced treatment and admitted at Breach Candy Hospital. However Vinodbabu lost his battle with illness in the morning. His remains were flown in from Mumbai and funeral procession started from his Civil Lines residence. Governor C P Radhakrishnan, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed their sorry at untimely demise of Vinod Maheshwari. Fadnavis visited Beach Candy Hospital on learning the sad news and paid his respects. Vinodbabu was actively associated with Navbharat and saw it grown in stature during his nearly six decades of association. He had a knack of understanding the readers shifting choices and from time to time the Navbharat evolved into a force to reckon with in Hindi journalism in Central India. The Maheshwari family then launched Marathi daily Navrashtra to tap the growing language media. The family also runs English daily Central Chronicle. His motto was quite simple, the newspaper should be for the readers, by the readers and of the readers and ensured that editorial policy was tailored similarly. He was keen observed of local situations and always advocated highlighting even smallest of issue. Through the medium of newspapers, Vinodbabu also was associated with Hindi Sahitya Sammelan following into footsteps of his illustrious father, Ramgopal Maheshwari, and actively devoted himself to cause of strengthening Hindi language. Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BFAM Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of Hold from the seven analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $128.43. Several equities research analysts have commented on BFAM shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $114.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Bright Horizons Family Solutions from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Bright Horizons Family Solutions from $104.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Get Bright Horizons Family Solutions alerts: Get Our Latest Report on Bright Horizons Family Solutions Bright Horizons Family Solutions Price Performance BFAM stock opened at $131.93 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $7.65 billion, a PE ratio of 92.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $114.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $110.74. Bright Horizons Family Solutions has a 12-month low of $71.65 and a 12-month high of $136.22. Bright Horizons Family Solutions (NYSE:BFAM Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $670.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $666.17 million. Bright Horizons Family Solutions had a return on equity of 13.08% and a net margin of 3.98%. The firms revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Bright Horizons Family Solutions will post 2.76 EPS for the current year. Insider Activity at Bright Horizons Family Solutions In related news, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.95, for a total value of $435,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 31,855 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,470,602.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Bright Horizons Family Solutions news, Director Mary Ann Tocio sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.95, for a total transaction of $435,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 31,855 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,470,602.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Mary Lou Burke sold 14,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.90, for a total value of $1,898,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 33,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,375,332.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 33,232 shares of company stock valued at $4,100,300. Insiders own 1.22% of the companys stock. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 850.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 342 shares of the companys stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions by 73.3% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 390 shares of the companys stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bright Horizons Family Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Bright Horizons Family Solutions Company Profile (Get Free Report Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc provides early education and childcare, back-up care, educational advisory, and other workplace solutions services for employers and families in the United States, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Australia, and India. The company operates in three segments: Full Service Center-Based Child Care, Back-Up Care, and Educational Advisory and Other Services. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Bright Horizons Family Solutions Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bright Horizons Family Solutions and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 13. An international feasibility study (FS) has affirmed the economic and technical viability of Azerbaijan's Black Sea green energy cable project, Trend reports. According to the Georgian Ministry of Economy, the study, developed since 2022 by the Italian CESI consulting firm at the request of the Georgian State Electrosystem (GSE), was supported by the World Bank and the Georgian Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development. "The study confirms that the Black Sea submarine cable project is both promising and technically and economically feasible," the statement of the Georgian ministry said. The feasibility study included the determination of optimal cable characteristics, construction cost estimates, and an economic analysis of the project. It also outlined the preliminary routes for the cables onshore and offshore sections and developed a project implementation plan and procurement strategy. Environmental and social impact studies are planned for 20252026, along with an assessment of the project's impact on the seabed. To note, on December 17, 2022, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania, and Hungary signed a strategic partnership agreement in Bucharest to construct the Black Sea Energy submarine electric cable. The project will feature a 1 GW capacity cable stretching 1,195 kilometers, designed to transport green electricity from Azerbaijans future offshore wind farms through Georgia and the Black Sea to Romania, for further distribution to Hungary and other parts of Europe. The European Commission plans to allocate 2.3 billion for this project. In May 2024, energy operators from Azerbaijan, Romania, Georgia, and Hungary signed a memorandum to establish a joint venture for the Black Sea Energy project, which will be headquartered in Bucharest. Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of Hold by the twelve research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $21.08. A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Get Hewlett Packard Enterprise alerts: Read Our Latest Stock Report on Hewlett Packard Enterprise Insider Buying and Selling Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hewlett Packard Enterprise In related news, Director Gary M. Reiner sold 50,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.51, for a total transaction of $975,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 150,948 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,944,995.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website . In other news, Director Gary M. Reiner sold 50,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.51, for a total value of $975,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 150,948 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,944,995.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website . Also, SVP Kirt P. Karros sold 30,686 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.49, for a total transaction of $628,756.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . In the last three months, insiders sold 140,141 shares of company stock valued at $2,850,108. Company insiders own 0.40% of the companys stock. Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Investment Counsel Inc raised its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 1.2% during the second quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 41,269 shares of the technology companys stock worth $874,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 4.8% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 10,933 shares of the technology companys stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 0.5% in the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 111,617 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $2,363,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 1.7% in the second quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 35,349 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the period. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 0.5% in the second quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 119,347 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $2,527,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.78% of the companys stock. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Price Performance Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock opened at $17.19 on Thursday. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $20.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.06. The company has a market capitalization of $22.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.20. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 1 year low of $14.47 and a 1 year high of $22.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.90. Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 4th. The technology company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.03. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 8.49%. The firm had revenue of $7.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 19th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. Hewlett Packard Enterprises dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.96%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company Profile (Get Free Report Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company provides solutions that allow customers to capture, analyze, and act upon data seamlessly in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Japan. It operates in six segments: Compute, HPC & AI, Storage, Intelligent Edge, Financial Services, and Corporate Investments and Other. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Hewlett Packard Enterprise Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Hewlett Packard Enterprise and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of The North West Company Inc. (OTCMKTS:NNWWF Get Free Report) traded down 1.5% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $31.62 and last traded at $31.62. 341 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 865 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.10. North West Stock Down 1.5 % The firms fifty day moving average price is $30.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.25. North West Company Profile (Get Free Report) The North West Company Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the retail of food and everyday products and services to rural communities and urban neighborhood markets in northern Canada, rural Alaska, the South Pacific, and the Caribbean. The Canadian operations comprises Northern stores, which offers food, financial services, and general merchandise; NorthMart stores that provides fresh foods, apparel, and health products and services; Quickstop convenience stores that provides ready-to-eat foods, and fuel and related services; Giant Tiger junior discount stores, which offers family fashion, household products, and food; Valu Lots discount center and direct-to-customer food distribution outlet; solo market, a store in remote market; Pharmacy and Convenience stores; and North West Company motorsports dealership offering sales, service, parts and accessories for Ski-doo, Honda, Can-am and other premier brands. See Also Receive News & Ratings for North West Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for North West and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY Free Report) by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,874 shares of the oil and gas producers stock after purchasing an additional 2,712 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLCs holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $1,568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 243,715,804 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $14,552,271,000 after acquiring an additional 19,586,612 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,699,722 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $220,910,000 after purchasing an additional 82,360 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 52.8% during the 4th quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,399,569 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $83,568,000 after purchasing an additional 483,422 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,342,292 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $80,148,000 after buying an additional 34,786 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clean Energy Transition LLP bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the first quarter valued at approximately $67,601,000. 88.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Occidental Petroleum alerts: Occidental Petroleum Price Performance Shares of NYSE:OXY traded down $1.10 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $57.88. 10,437,427 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,991,877. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $51.32 billion, a PE ratio of 15.72 and a beta of 1.61. The businesss fifty day moving average is $60.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.18. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a one year low of $55.04 and a one year high of $71.18. Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement Occidental Petroleum ( NYSE:OXY Get Free Report ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.26. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.50% and a net margin of 15.62%. The firm had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $6.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current year. The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. Occidental Petroleums dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.04%. Insider Buying and Selling In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 1,386,844 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.67 per share, with a total value of $82,752,981.48. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 250,583,605 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $14,952,323,710.35. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 4,656,747 shares of company stock worth $278,664,028. Insiders own 0.31% of the companys stock. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on OXY shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Mizuho increased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Stephens reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $76.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They set an outperform rating and a $81.00 price objective for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $71.94. Check Out Our Latest Research Report on OXY Occidental Petroleum Company Profile (Free Report) Occidental Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and gas properties in the United States, the Middle East, and North Africa. It operates through three segments: Oil and Gas, Chemical, and Midstream and Marketing. The company's Oil and Gas segment explores for, develops, and produces oil and condensate, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and natural gas. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding OXY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Occidental Petroleum Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Occidental Petroleum and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Trex Company, Inc. (NYSE:TREX Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of Hold from the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $80.88. Several analysts have recently weighed in on TREX shares. Stephens cut Trex from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $72.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Loop Capital lowered shares of Trex from a buy rating to a hold rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Trex from $88.00 to $70.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Trex from $110.00 to $85.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Benchmark decreased their price objective on Trex from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Get Trex alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on TREX Trex Price Performance Shares of Trex stock opened at $59.15 on Thursday. The companys 50 day moving average price is $77.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.50. Trex has a fifty-two week low of $53.59 and a fifty-two week high of $101.91. Trex (NYSE:TREX Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The construction company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. Trex had a return on equity of 33.53% and a net margin of 21.07%. The company had revenue of $376.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $387.87 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. Trexs revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Trex will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current year. Insider Activity In related news, SVP Jacob T. Rudolph sold 16,440 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.90, for a total transaction of $1,494,396.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 25,746 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,340,311.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Trex A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Trex in the first quarter valued at $26,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Trex in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Trex by 1,744.4% during the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 332 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Trex by 305.0% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 405 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Trex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.96% of the companys stock. Trex Company Profile (Get Free Report Trex Company, Inc manufactures and distributes composite decking, railing, and outdoor living products and accessories for residential and commercial markets in the United States. It offers decking products and accessories under the names Trex Transcend, Trex Select, Trex Signature, Trex Transcend Lineage, and Trex Enhance for protection against fading, staining, mold, and scratching; Trex Hideaway, a hidden fastening system; and Trex DeckLighting, a LED dimmable deck lighting for use on posts, floors, and steps. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Trex Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Trex and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its holdings in shares of Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE:IRM Free Report) by 3.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,011 shares of the financial services providers stock after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Cos holdings in Iron Mountain were worth $628,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of IRM. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its holdings in shares of Iron Mountain by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,515 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $853,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Iron Mountain by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,347 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Iron Mountain by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC now owns 32,409 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $2,905,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Iron Mountain by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,432 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $917,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Iron Mountain by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 9,097 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $730,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. 80.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Get Iron Mountain alerts: Analysts Set New Price Targets Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Iron Mountain from $86.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Iron Mountain from $82.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Iron Mountain from $106.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Iron Mountain from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $95.29. Iron Mountain Stock Performance Shares of Iron Mountain stock traded down $0.37 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $108.30. 670,006 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,660,209. Iron Mountain Incorporated has a 12-month low of $56.51 and a 12-month high of $112.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 164.65, a PEG ratio of 6.49 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 674.63, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Iron Mountain (NYSE:IRM Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.01 by ($0.59). Iron Mountain had a return on equity of 595.44% and a net margin of 3.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.50 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. The companys revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Iron Mountain Incorporated will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year. Iron Mountain Increases Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.715 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. This is a positive change from Iron Mountains previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Iron Mountains dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 433.33%. Insider Buying and Selling In other Iron Mountain news, Director Walter C. Rakowich sold 954 shares of Iron Mountain stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.33, for a total transaction of $77,588.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 35,166 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,860,050.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Iron Mountain news, Director Walter C. Rakowich sold 954 shares of Iron Mountain stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.33, for a total transaction of $77,588.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 35,166 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,860,050.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Daniel Borges sold 3,095 shares of Iron Mountain stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.83, for a total value of $268,738.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 96,372 shares of company stock valued at $8,516,435. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders. Iron Mountain Company Profile (Free Report) Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE: IRM) is a global leader in information management services. Founded in 1951 and trusted by more than 240,000 customers worldwide, Iron Mountain serves to protect and elevate the power of our customers' work. Through a range of offerings including digital transformation, data centers, secure records storage, information management, asset lifecycle management, secure destruction and art storage and logistics, Iron Mountain helps businesses bring light to their dark data, enabling customers to unlock value and intelligence from their stored digital and physical assets at speed and with security, while helping them meet their environmental goals. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IRM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE:IRM Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Iron Mountain Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Iron Mountain and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its stake in iShares National Muni Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:MUB Free Report) by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,211 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Cos holdings in iShares National Muni Bond ETF were worth $342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank OZK bought a new stake in shares of iShares National Muni Bond ETF during the 4th quarter valued at $263,000. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its position in shares of iShares National Muni Bond ETF by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 72,508 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $7,861,000 after purchasing an additional 11,559 shares during the period. Citizens & Northern Corp bought a new stake in shares of iShares National Muni Bond ETF during the 4th quarter valued at $324,000. TSA Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in shares of iShares National Muni Bond ETF during the 4th quarter valued at $221,000. Finally, Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC raised its position in shares of iShares National Muni Bond ETF by 39.7% during the 4th quarter. Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC now owns 16,787 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $1,820,000 after purchasing an additional 4,769 shares during the period. Get iShares National Muni Bond ETF alerts: iShares National Muni Bond ETF Stock Up 0.1 % Shares of MUB stock traded up $0.15 on Tuesday, hitting $107.95. 1,438,750 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,512,655. iShares National Muni Bond ETF has a 52 week low of $100.78 and a 52 week high of $108.82. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.11. iShares National Muni Bond ETF Profile iShares National AMT-Free Muni Bond ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Fund, is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index (the Index). Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MUB? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares National Muni Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:MUB Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for iShares National Muni Bond ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares National Muni Bond ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Peoples Bank KS cut its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 2.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,389 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 1,260 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company comprises 2.1% of Peoples Bank KSs portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Peoples Bank KSs holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $2,636,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. John W. Brooker & Co. CPAs boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. John W. Brooker & Co. CPAs now owns 7,075 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the period. Prentice Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 2.0% in the second quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,426 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $560,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Clearstead Trust LLC raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 1,617 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 3.4% during the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 5,897 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fruth Investment Management increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Fruth Investment Management now owns 6,518 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $377,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the companys stock. Get Wells Fargo & Company alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes Several brokerages have commented on WFC. Oppenheimer reissued a market perform rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $59.91. Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 1.3 % NYSE WFC traded down $0.70 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $52.06. The companys stock had a trading volume of 16,762,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,191,900. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.69, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.17. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $58.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $38.38 and a twelve month high of $62.55. Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.04. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 15.17% and a return on equity of 12.30%. The firm had revenue of $20.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $20.29 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year. Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Companys previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Companys payout ratio is currently 32.85%. Wells Fargo & Company Profile (Free Report) Wells Fargo & Company, a financial services company, provides diversified banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WFC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Wells Fargo & Company Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Wells Fargo & Company and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 13. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is ready to support Azerbaijan in low-carbon transition, Ines Rocha, IFCs Regional Director for Europe said in an exclusive interview with Trend. She pointed out that climate change is the biggest threat of our time, particularly in emerging economies. "Unfortunately, extreme weather events are likely to increase. In Azerbaijan, floods already impact 100,000 people every year, and droughts and water scarcity are constant threats. Azerbaijans role as host of COP29 signals its strong commitment to the climate agenda. The countrys revised Nationally Determined Contribution commits to a 40 percent reduction in emissions by 2050, compared to 1990 levels," said Rocha. IFCs regional director believes that fast-tracking decarbonization will be crucial to remain competitive in the global economy and ensure a sustainable future. "The World Bank Groups Country Climate and Development Report for Azerbaijan estimates that $44 billion in investments is needed until 2060 to achieve this, with a significant share coming from commercial and private sector financing. The country would benefit from diversifying its economy away from fossil fuels, investing in climate resilience measures, and implementing the necessary policy reforms to drive a low-carbon transition. We at IFC are well placed to support the country on this journey," she added. Follow the author on X: @Lyaman_Zeyn ASTANA, Kazakhstan, August 13. Kazakhstan aims to boost transit traffic by developing transport routes, including the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), also known as the Middle Corridor, Trend reports, referring to the National Development Plan of Kazakhstan until 2029, approved by the country's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. By 2029, Kazakhstan aims to enhance its role as a major regional trade and logistics hub, with the contribution of transportation and warehousing services to GDP expected to exceed nine percent. Key priorities include advancing multimodality, developing the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR, or Middle Corridor), and expanding the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) to boost transit traffic and export opportunities for Kazakh enterprises. The volume of transit traffic through Kazakhstan is projected to rise from 26.7 to 43.0 million tons and from 1.1 to 2.0 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) by 2029. The plan outlines priorities for the development of the transport and logistics sector, including the expansion and modernization of infrastructure, reduction of transportation losses through fleet renewal and expansion, improvement of operational efficiency and international cooperation, and promotion of competition while reducing state involvement. To note, the Middle Corridor connects the container rail freight networks of China with European Union countries via Central Asia, the Caucasus, Turkiye, and Eastern Europe. This multimodal transportation infrastructure integrates ferry terminals on the Caspian and Black Seas with the rail systems of China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkiye, Ukraine, and Poland. The corridor boosts cargo traffic from China to Turkiye and European countries, and vice versa. A train traveling along this route can deliver cargo from China to Europe in approximately 2025 days, which is a key advantage of the Middle Corridor. Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday asked the West Bengal government to take immediate and strict action against the accused in the female doctor murder case. I appeal to the state government to take immediate and strict action in this case and ensure justice to the victims family and fellow doctors, Priyanka Gandhi wrote on X. She added that the incident of rape and murder of a trainee doctor is heart-breaking while also emphasising that the safety of women at the workplace is a big issue in the country and concrete efforts are needed to address the issue. Advertisement Priyanka Gandhis statement is significant in the backdrop of the rising rage of the medical students, junior and senior doctors in particular and the public in general over the tragic incident. As per the preliminary post-mortem reports, the rape and murder is not the handiwork of a single person as was claimed by the investigating officials of Kolkata Police. More peoples involvement cannot be ruled out in the case. Police have so far arrested Sanjay Ray, a civic volunteer. However, the Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Kumar Goyal has said that if more persons are involved in the crime they will be arrested at the earliest. Last week, a female doctor in the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital was found dead under mysterious circumstances on the premises. She was a second-year postgraduate medical student at the hospital and was also working as a house staff with the chest medicine division. The body was discovered by the hospital staff on the fourth floor of the emergency building of the hospital at around noon. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has also said that her administration was open to any kind of central agency probe in the case. The Calcutta High Court on Monday issued notices to all parties concerned acting on a petition filed by Arup Kanti Digar, the BJP candidate from Arambagh Lok Sabha constituency in Hooghly District in the last Lok Sabha elections. The single-judge Bench of Justice Bibhas Ranjan De, besides issuing the order to serve notices also directed preservation of all election-related documents including EVMs, postal ballots and CCTV footage, among others. Those to be served notices in the matter include the winning Trinamool Congress candidate from Arambagh, Mitali Bag. Advertisement The next hearing in the matter has been scheduled on September 25 before which the notice will have to be served. In the last Lok Sabha election Bag defeated Digar by a margin of 6,399 votes. The BJP candidate alleged massive election malpractices and poll-related violence on polling day. Digar is among the five defeated BJP candidates who have filed petitions in the Calcutta High Court, the other four being Hiran Chatterjee from Ghatal in West Midnapore District, Rekha Patra from Basirhat in North 24 Parganas District, Abhijit Das from Diamond Harbour in South 24 Parganas District and Nisith Pramanik from Cooch Behar. While the other four candidates filed petitions alleging malpractices and rigging, Patra who is perceived as the face of the Sandeshkhali movement accused the winning Trinamool Congress candidate, Haji Nurul Islam, of suppressing information from the Election Commission of India. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Monday that the probe in the alleged rape and murder of the trainee doctor of Kolkata-based R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital will be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) if the Kolkata Police is unable to complete the investigation by next Sunday. A special investigation team (SIT) of Kolkata Police under the direct supervision of the joint commissioner (crime) of the city police Murli Dhar, is currently probing the case. If the police are unable to complete the investigation by next Sunday, then the responsibility of the investigation in the case will be handed over to the CBI, the Chief Minister told media persons after meeting the family members of the victim. The Chief Ministers statement came just a couple of hours after the Kolkata Police issued a public appeal earlier in the day through social media urging the public to have faith in the investigation being carried out by the SIT of the city police. She had earlier also made a statement that if the family members of the victim and the protesting junior doctor and medical students of R.G. Kar insist on a central agency probe, she will not have any objection to that. City police commissioner Vineet Kumar Goyal, too, reiterated the CMs statement on the matter. While affirming that the probe will be handed over to CBI, if the ongoing police investigation in the matter is not completed by next Sunday, the Chief Minister also said on Monday she had taken this decision despite being aware that the success rate of CBI in investigation is not satisfactory. I am aware of the success rate of CBI. They are yet to resolve the case of the Nobel Medal theft of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. Still in this matter, the charge of the investigation will be handed over to the CBI for the sake of public satisfaction, she said. The CM also said that she has instructed the city police to file the charge sheet within the next three to four days, move a fast-track court in the matter and if necessary, make an appeal for capital punishment for the guilty. The person who committed such a crime does not deserve any mercy, she added. She also expressed solidarity towards the protesting junior doctors and medical students. Advertisement Their demands are justified and I express my full solidarity towards them, the Chief Minister said. Amid massive protests over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor on the campus, the principal of Kolkata-based R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital, Dr Sandip Ghosh, on Monday resigned, appealing to the protesting medical students and house staff to withdraw their demonstrations. Amid the growing anger and outrage over the rape and murder of a Kolkata doctor, doctors across many hospitals of the country have joined the protests and halted elective services, demanding that the perpetrators of heinous crimes be brought to book. The Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) on Monday wrote to the Union Home Minister and announced the nationwide halting of elective services in hospitals to express solidarity with the doctors of Kolkatas RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. In the wake of the recent rape and murder of a female doctor in Kolkata, All India Mahila Congress President, Alka Lamba on Monday slammed rising crimes against women in the country. Slamming the audacity of the perpetrators amid the growing anger and outrage in the country, she said, There is no fear, no dread. How can they have the courage to rape a medical student and then murder her within the college premises? Such confidence indicates that the criminals believe they are untouchable, she said. Advertisement Lamba criticised chief minister Mamata Banerjee for her repeated assurances of justice and said such assurances will not bring the girl back to life. Our daughter will not return. It is deeply frightening that a gang-rape involving a doctor has taken place. I want to know how justice can be served. To make a real impact, focus on preventing such crimes from occurring anywhere, whether in Delhi or West Bengal, the Congress leader said. Lamba added, There is a demand to transfer the investigation to the CBI. But how many cases have been successful in the past? Hospital services in government medical colleges across West Bengal were disrupted on Monday as students, interns, and postgraduate trainee (PGT) trainee doctors threatened to intensify their ongoing cease-work programme in both out patients departments (OPDs) and emergency wards demanding immediate judicial inquiry to probe rape and murder of a woman PGT doctor of chest medicine department at R G Kar Medical College Hospital. Over the past three days, junior doctors had been attending to emergency duties, but from Monday morning, they have ceased even those responsibilities in most of the teaching hospitals starting from R G Kar Hospital, epicenter of the trouble rocking the nation, Medical College Hospital (MCH), N R S Hospital, SSKM Hospital, Calcutta National Medical College Hospital (CNMCH), College of Medicine and Sagar Dutta State General Hospital in the city and others in districts. Different doctors forums, students organisations and civil society brought out protest processions in different parts of the city showing solidarity to the agitating interns, junior dortors and PGTs. Advertisement We want an immediate impartial judicial investigation into the murder of our colleague. Why should we wait till Sunday? We want justice and exemplary punishment to those who are involved in the heinous crime, the protesting doctors and students at the R G Kar Medical college Hospital said. We want capital punishments for culprits and compensations for the family of the murder victim. We demand the government must not give any administrative portfolio to Prof Sandip Ghosh in the health department, they said, shouting slogans no safety, no duty. They would continue their strike until their demands are met. We are dissatisfied with the current police investigation and will continue our protest until justice is served and the state ensures foolproof security for all doctors and healthcare workers, said a protesting junior doctor from R G Kar Medical College and Hospital. A senior health department official at Swasthya Bhaban said that senior doctors, including medical officers have been asked to attend patients in emergency wards in all government medical colleges till the crisis is over. We are making appeal to the agitating junior doctors and PGTs to exempt emergency services from their protest programmes considering the plight of critical patients, the official said requesting anonymity. The body of the woman post-graduate trainee was found inside a seminar hall of the hospital on Friday morning. A civic volunteer was arrested on Saturday in connection with the crime. The Federation of Resident Doctors Association of India (FORDA) has endorsed the strike and called for a nationwide halt of elective services on Monday, informing the Union health ministry of their decision. The West Bengal Doctors Forum has also appealed to chief minister Mamata Banerjee for an impartial inquiry committee to investigate the rape and murder of the doctor. Additionally, they have demanded increased security for doctors and health workers across the state and capital punishment for the perpetrator. Medical professionals here have expressed their support for chief minister Mamata Banerjees decisive action in the investigation of the rape and murder of a lady doctor at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital. CM Banerjee has set a Sunday deadline for the police to identify and apprehend the culprits involved. If the police fail to do so, the case will be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), despite its lower success rate, according to the chief minister. We welcome the chief ministers statement. It will add urgency to the police investigation. The culprits must be brought to justice by any means, said Dr Sengupta, echoing the sentiments of the medical community. Advertisement In response to the incident, junior doctors at North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMC&H) staged a demonstration outside the emergency department, demanding the immediate arrest of those responsible. Their protest was supported by doctors from the Indian Medical Association (IMA) Siliguri and other organizations, who joined in solidarity. Similar demonstrations were held by junior doctors at other medical colleges across north Bengal, including in Malda, protesting the horrific incident at R G Kar Medical College. Dr Sengupta, dean of NBMC&H, assured that despite the agitation, medical services were not significantly disrupted. No services were hampered due to todays protest and cease work by junior doctors. However, there were minor delays due to the temporary shortage of manpower, he explained. The outrage has also sparked demonstrations from various student organizations across other districts in north Bengal. A fast-moving wildfire fuelled by gale-force winds spread to the edge of Athens on Monday, torching trees, houses and cars and forcing evacuations of several hospitals and a dozen towns and villages, Azernews reports, citing Greek authorities. Hundreds of wildfires have broken out across Greece since May. While summer fires are common in Greece, extraordinarily hot and dry weather linked to climate change have made blazes more frequent and intense. Wildfires fanned by extreme heat have also raged this month in parts of Spain and the Balkans. More than 670 firefighters backed by volunteers, 183 fire engines, 32 waterbombing planes and helicopters battled the latest wildfire that broke out at 3 p.m. (midday GMT) on Sunday near Varnavas 35 km (20 miles) north of the capital. By Monday the conflagration, the worst in Greece this year, had advanced to the village of Grammatiko, the seaside municipality of Nea Makri and the fringes of Athens' densely populated northern suburbs at the heavily wooded Mount Penteli. "It hurts, we have grown up in this forest. We feel great sadness and anger," 24-year old Penteli resident Marina Kalogerakou told Reuters outside her home, which the flames had nearly reached. Strong winds were constantly changing the direction of the fire and the extent of the area engulfed by flames was estimated at 30 km (18.64 miles). Winds were expected to pick up further in the coming hours, aggravating the blaze, said Theodore Giannaros, researcher at the National Observatory of Athens. "We have a very difficult day ahead of us," he told state TV ERT. Firefighting aircraft resumed operations early on Monday after an overnight pause. Police said they had helped evacuate at least 250 people in danger. Some residents spent the night in shelters but authorities could not yet provide an exact number. At least three hospitals and several communities had been evacuated in the Penteli area. The blaze, with flames as high as 25 metres (82 feet), had spread "like lightning" due to gale-force winds, fire brigade spokesperson Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said on Sunday. Thick clouds of smoke darkened the sky over Athens by Sunday evening. Hours later, the flames were nearing the residential suburb of Dionysos about 23 km (14 miles) northeast of the city centre, and nearby districts. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited the fire brigade's operations centre on Monday morning after rushing back from a holiday break on the island of Crete - with memories still fresh of a 2018 fire that killed 104 people in the seaside town of Mati, near the capital. After its warmest winter on record and long periods of little or no rainfall, Greece is forecast to record its hottest-ever summer. It is on high fire alert at least until Thursday with temperatures forecast at up to 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). "Unfortunately the forecasts...were confirmed," Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said in a televised statement. The state's response was immediate, he said, and the first aircraft were operating five minutes after the wildfire broke out. BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 13. Britain, Germany, the US, Italy and France believe that the Iranian authorities should stop threatening to attack Israel, a joint statement released by the White House following telephone conversations between the leaders of these countries says, Trend reports. It is noted that the heads of these countries called on Iran to stop threatening a military attack on Israel and discussed the serious consequences of such an attack for regional security. The parties also supported efforts to reach an agreement on de-escalating tensions in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages held by the Palestinian Hamas movement. A memorandum was submitted to the President of India, today, through the sub-divisional officer (SDO) in Siliguri, to protest against the ongoing violence targeting the Hindu minority in Bangladesh. The protest was organised by members of the Hindu Suraksha Mancha, who took out a rally from Baghajatin Park and marched to the SDO office on Hill Cart Road. The rally condemned the barbaric attacks on the Hindu community in Bangladesh and called for immediate action to protect their rights and safety. Advertisement Participants expressed deep concern over the escalating violence and urged both the Bangladeshi government and the international community to intervene. In their memorandum, the protestors demanded swift justice for the victims and stressed the importance of safeguarding religious freedom and human rights. They called for those responsible for the atrocities to be held accountable and for measures to be implemented to prevent further violence against the Hindu minority. The memorandum requested the President to send a strong message to Bangladesh, urging the Union government to initiate immediate and decisive steps to halt the atrocities being committed against Hindus. It reminded the interim government in Bangladesh of its duty to protect all citizens, regardless of class, creed, or religion. The memorandum warned that if the violence is not swiftly curbed, it could escalate further, leading to potential retaliation from the minority community. The protestors expressed their shock and dismay at the violence, which they described as a deliberate and premeditated attack on the Hindu minority, rather than a political movement. They recounted the horrific acts of torture, arson, looting, rape, and murder that have been inflicted on the Hindu community in Bangladesh, likening the situation to genocide. We, the members of Hindu Suraksha Mancha, are appalled by the terror unleashed on Hindus in Bangladesh, which has escalated into nothing short of genocide. This is not a revolution against any government but a pre-planned attack on the Hindu community, exploiting the absence of a stable government in the country, said a spokesperson from the Mancha. The memorandum highlighted the dire situation faced by women and children, who are being subjected to unspeakable violence without any intervention from law enforcement or the military in Bangladesh. In the face of growing unrest among the medical fraternity in particular and the common people over the second-year postgraduate students death, the Kolkata Police, on Monday issued a public appeal requesting all concerned to have faith in the Special Investigation Teams (SIT) probe. In the appeal issued in Bengali and English on the Facebook wall of Kolkata Police, the authorities have assured the public that the probe is proceeding well, and the city police will do whatever it takes to file an early charge sheet and ensure a speedy trial. The appeal by the police comes amid widespread claims by protesting medical students, junior doctors and even medical experts that preliminary autopsy findings suggest that the alleged rape and murder cannot be the handiwork of a single individual and more people were involved in the heinous act. Advertisement Till now, the cops have arrested a civic volunteer, Sanjay Ray in connection with the case. As per the appeal by the police, the probe is being conducted with utmost integrity, honesty and transparency. However, it has come to our notice that several factually incorrect and unverified claims are being widely circulated on social media. We urge everyone not to share or believe any so-called facts of the case, because they are nothing but unfounded rumours. Not only do they obstruct the investigation and cause even more distress to the bereaved family, but also hinder the course of justice. We are committed to ensuring a thorough investigation, and the rampant spread of misinformation will only make our job more difficult, the public appeal has read. It goes on to say: To the students who are seeking justice, we hear you, and we share your pain. We are in active dialogue with you and are fully dedicated to ensuring swift justice. We assure the public that our investigation is proceeding in the right direction, and we will do whatever it takes to file an early charge sheet and ensure a speedy trial. Justice will be served, and we will not rest until it is done. Prof (Dr) Sandip Ghosh, principal of the state-run R G Kar Medical College Hospital, has been transferred to the Calcutta National Medical College Hospital (CNMCH) in the same post on Monday evening, hours after he resigned from the state government service in the health department, early this morning. Prof (Dr) Suhita Pal, officer-on-special-duty (OSD) at Swasthya Bhaban and former vice-chancellor of the West Bengal University of Health Sciences, was made the principal of R G Kar Medical College Hospital. Prof (Dr) Ajay Roy, CNMCH principal, who is scheduled to retire by September, has been made OSD, replacing Prof Pal. Advertisement High drama followed the resignation of Prof Ghosh, an orthopaedic surgeon, throughout the day today because Swasthya Bhaban had not accepted his resignation that he submitted to the health department. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Kolkata Police, formed to probe the Fridays rape and murder case of the 31-year-old postgraduate trainee (PGT) doctor of chest medicine department at R G Kar Medical College Hospital, interrogated four other junior doctors on Monday, who had dinner with the victim at the incident spot. According to the ongoing initial investigation conducted by police, the PGT victim along with four other junior doctors had dinner together at the hospital and later she went to sleep inside the hall at midnight. They had ordered the food through an online delivery system. The SIT members interrogated the junior doctors for more than a couple of hours today at Lalbazar. Advertisement Civic volunteer Sanjay Roy, a resident of Sambhunath Pandit Street in the southern part of Kolkata, has been arrested so far in this case. He has been remanded to police custody by a court. Sources at Lalbazar said, the SIT investigators interrogated the junior doctors, including reportedly three doctors and one intern of the R G Kar Hospital to know details of chronological events till the dinner was over. The investigators also wanted to know whether the four medical professionals had noticed any abnormal and suspicious happening during the night on Friday. The SIT is also looking for the delivery man, who had supplied food to the doctors, including the victim. Vineet Kumar Goyal, commissioner of police, standing beside the chief minister at Sodepur told reporters, We have created a helpline number. If anyone wants to share names of other suspects in the case can do so through this number. We will keep their names secret. The GST Council, chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to meet on September 9, the Council said on Tuesday. In a post on social media platform X, the Council said, The 54th Meeting of GST Council will be held on 9th September, 2024 at New Delhi. As per the reports, the council is likely to discuss rate rationalisation, compliance measures, ITC reforms, among others. Advertisement Notably the 53rd meeting was held on June 22, 2024 where the GST Council announced various recommendations relating to taxation, ITC claims and demand notices. It also recommended a uniform rate of 12% on all milk cans, waiver of interest on penalties on tax demand notice among other measures. At the last meet, the Council had recommended waiving interest and penalties for demand notices under the CGST Act, monetary limit of Rs. 20 lakh for GST Appellate Tribunal, Rs. 1 crore for High Court and Rs. 2 crore for Supreme Court, for filing of appeals by the Department, among several other recommendations. After the previous Council meeting, the Finance Minister had said the next meeting of the GST Council the Group of Ministers (GoM) on rate rationalisation under Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sumant Chaudhary, will give a presentation on the status of the work and aspects covered by the panel and work pending before the panel. Sitharaman had said on the floor of the House that the issue of GST on health and life insurance premiums will be decided by the GST Council alone, and the matter should be left to the Council, now that all stakeholders have been heard of this. The GST Council, which comprises of finance ministers of Centre and states, is the apex decision making body with regard to Goods and Services Tax(GST). The tax was rolled out on July 1, in 2017. In a heartwarming and historic moment at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California, Miley Cyrus made waves as the youngest individual ever to be named a Disney Legend. This prestigious title is awarded to those who have made significant contributions to The Walt Disney Company, and Cyruss remarkable impact was celebrated with thunderous applause from the audience. As she took the stage, Cyrus was visibly emotional, holding back tears as she addressed the crowd. The 31-year-old star had prepared two speeches for the occasion: one long and powerful, and a shorter version in case nerves got the better of her. Reflecting on her journey, she reminisced about the origins of Hannah Montana, the iconic role that launched her career in 2005. With a touch of humor, she quipped about her not being a Disney kid created in a lab, and recounted the excitement and determination she felt once she tasted the possibilities her life could offer. Cyruss remarks highlighted her deep connection to the character who became a significant part of her life. A little bit of everything has changed, she noted, but at the same time, nothing has changed at all. I stand here still proud to have been Hannah Montana. Her speech paid tribute to the loyal fans and the many who helped make her dreams come true. With a nod to the characters enduring legacy, she quoted Hannah Montana herself: This is the life. Advertisement Disney CEO Bob Iger praised Cyrus in a pre-event statement, emphasizing that being named a Disney Legend is the highest honor the company can bestow. Iger highlighted that the fourteen honorees of the year, including Cyrus, had made extraordinary creative contributions to Disneys rich tapestry. Cyrus joined a distinguished list of 2024 Disney Legends, which included luminaries like Angela Bassett, Jamie Lee Curtis, Harrison Ford, and John Williams. Each honoree was recognized for their remarkable achievements and lasting influence across various Disney projects. Miley Cyrus first became known as Hannah Montana on the eponymous Disney Channel series, which aired from 2006 to 2011. The show followed the life of Miley Stewart, a regular teenager leading a secret life as a famous pop star. The role catapulted Cyrus to stardom and led to further successes, including Hannah Montana: The Movie in 2009 and the Best of Both Worlds tour in 2011. In a nostalgic celebration of her iconic role, Cyrus marked the 16th anniversary of the shows debut in 2021 by sharing a throwback video of herself performing Hoedown Throwdown from her concert. She expressed gratitude for the loyal fanbase that supported her throughout her career, noting how their enthusiasm allowed her to travel the world and perform. Cyrus has also hinted at a possible return to her beloved character, revealing in 2020 that she was keen to revisit Hannah Montana. I definitely would like to resurrect her at some point, Cyrus said, noting that the character might need a modern makeover to reflect todays style. With her latest accolade, Miley Cyruss legacy as both a Disney icon and a groundbreaking entertainer continues to shine brightly. The Army on Tuesday denied the report of a skirmish between the Indian Army and PLA soldiers on Monday in Burtse of the Durbuk Sector along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh. There have been no reports or confirmations of any skirmish, face-off or burning of RCC huts, the Army said in a statement. The Indian Army is committed to transparency and remains available to provide verified information to the media to prevent the spread of false narratives, the statement added. Advertisement BSF authorities have called for the protection of Indian citizens and people belonging to minority communities in Bangladesh. Lauding the Border Guard Bangladeshs role in preventing Bangladeshi nationals from crossing the border, the BSF said the force has not only been cooperating with the BSF on International border operations but also taking all steps for the safety of Indian citizens and people belonging to minority communities in the neighboring state in collaboration with their civil authorities, the border guarding force said. Besides, in order to reach out to counterpart up to Border Out Posts and company level, both the border guarding forces, have had around 83 flag meetings at various levels in last 3 days. Advertisement Besides, both the border guarding forces had around 241 simultaneous coordinating patrolling in vulnerable border area of Eastern Command AOR(area of responsibility). In above bilateral field meetings, matters related to border security and other mutual interests have also been discussed. Also, commanders devised channels for effective coordinated mechanism to share real time information on various operational matters with BGB. Besides, 232 meetings have also been conducted with the Indian villagers residing along the International border of Eastern Command to make them aware about prevalent situation on Bangladesh and to seek their cooperation in border management. BSF is in active communication with BGB at all levels through available channels to monitor security scenario and prepared to address any kind of unforeseen situation along Indo-Bangladesh border. Earlier, on August 9, when a large number of Bangladesh nationals around 1500 in number had assembled near zero line on the Coochbehar-Lalmonirhat district border inside Bangladesh then BGB made efforts with their civil authorities, to persuade them to return, the BSF said. In accordance with the o directions of the Ministry of Home Affairs, a meeting of members to monitor the current situation on the India-Bangladesh border was held on August 10. Further, on directions of the Director General BSF, members of the committee made the communication with their counterparts. The Union Home Ministry has intensified efforts to accelerate the construction of a border fence along the Indo-Myanmar border in Manipur, a move seen as crucial in curbing illegal immigration and enhancing national security. This push comes in in the wake oif growing concerns over the influx of illegal migrants and the security challenges posed by the porous border. In the assembly session, Manipur BJP MLA Rajkumar Imo Singh revealed that the Home Ministry has called for an expedited survey and alignment of the 243 km stretch of the Indo-Myanmar border in Manipur. Advertisement The urgency of the matter was underscored by Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, who shared this information during a session on the floor of the Manipur Legislative Assembly. The Indo-Myanmar border, which stretches 1,643 km, is shared by the northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Nagaland (215 km), Manipur (398 km), and Mizoram (510 km). The rugged terrain and dense forests along these borders have made them particularly vulnerable to illegal crossings, smuggling, and other transnational crimes. In response, the Central Government has taken significant steps to identify and remove illegal migrants while also tightening control over the previously lax border movement. The border fencing initiative, particularly in Manipur, is part of a broader strategy to prevent unauthorized entry and to bolster the security apparatus in the region. The urgency of the fencing project has also been reinforced by the recent decision to transfer certain paramilitary units that were seen as hindering ongoing peace efforts. The situation has been further complicated by concerns raised by civil bodies and organizations in neighboring Nagaland. A coalition comprising the United Naga Council (UNC), Naga Womens Union (NWU), All Naga Students Association Manipur (ANSAM), and Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights (NPM-HR) recently submitted a memorandum to Home Minister Amit Shah. The memorandum urged the repatriation of illegal migrants and fugitives from Myanmar, who have reportedly taken refuge in various parts of Manipur, particularly in Kamjong district. The civil organizations highlighted a dire situation in Kamjong, where an estimated 5,457 illegal immigrants from Myanmar are being sheltered in eight Tangkhul villages, creating severe demographic imbalances. The memorandum emphasized that these immigrants have outnumbered local residents, leading to the erosion of native customs and the rise of foreign cultural practices, further stressing the need for effective law enforcement to control escalating anti-social activities in the region. The organizations also called for the withdrawal of Assam Rifles from the Indo-Myanmar border areas around Kamjong, citing the forces involvement in activities that they believe exacerbate tensions rather than alleviate them. The Anti-corruption Bureau (ACB) conducted raids at the property of former Andhra Pradesh minister and YSRCP leader Jogi Ramesh and arrested his son Jogi Rajiv in connection with Agrigold land scam in which the latter is the prime accused. Agrigold was a ponzi scheme spread over eight states where the depositors were mostly poor and it went bust in 2014. Some of the land and property of the Agrigold were illegally sold off by its directors. The former housing minister is accused of having exploited his position to acquire 2300 square yards of land belonging to Agrigold in Ambapuram which were held by CID. He is said to have subdivided the land in plots and then sold it off to earn massive profit. There are also allegations that he threatened officials to get the registrations for such plots done illegally. Last month Jogi Ramesh had voiced concerns that he may face arrest in connection with Agrigold land or the attack on TDP office, during the previous regime. Advertisement A team of 15 ACB officials reached the residence of Jogi Ramesh at Ibrahimpatnam near Vijayawada at about 5:15 am. The team examined documents and records related to the land scam. Other family members of the former ministers too are involved in the scam, according to sources. Following the arrest of his son Jogi Ramesh claimed his son who studied in the US and worked at a multinational company was innocent. Dismissing the allegations he said it was political vendetta by chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his son and minister Nara Lokesh. He wondered whether it was possible to sell off land held by CID. If the state government proves my family guilty I will commit suicide in Vijayawada. It is not correct on the part of the government to file false cases against my son who returned from abroad, said Ramesh. BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 13. EU countries will send firefighters and special equipment to Greece to help fight the wildfire raging near Athens, European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on her X page, Trend reports. "EU sends rescue complex to help: two planes from Italy and a helicopter from France," von der Leyen wrote. It is reported that Italy will send two firefighting planes to Greece. They are expected to arrive in Greece on Tuesday. Paris will send 180 firefighters, 55 trucks and a helicopter to Athens. They are expected to arrive in Greece later on Monday, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said. In addition, according to von der Leyen, fire brigades from the Czech Republic and Romania will be sent to Greece to help localize the fire. New and horrifying details have surfaced in the case of a trainee doctors rape and murder at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata with a post-mortem report revealing the extent of violence and pain she endured. The report, which was handed over to the victims family on Monday by Kolkata Police, paints a gruesome picture of the final hours of the 31-year-old post-graduate trainee. According to the sources, the autopsy revealed the victim was subjected to severe physical assault before her death. Advertisement The assailant reportedly struck her with such force that her spectacles shattered, with glass shards reportedly piercing her eyes. This was the reason why her eyes were bleeding. Additionally, the report indicates that the victim suffered multiple cuts on her hands and face, suggesting a desperate struggle. The trainee doctor was found dead in a seminar hall within the medical institution early Friday morning. Authorities believe she was brutally attacked and injuries on her private parts indicate rape. She reportedly died between 3 and 5 am that day. After subjecting her to unimaginable torture, the attacker allegedly throttled and smothered her, resulting in a broken thyroid cartilage, as noted in the report. The report also contains deeply disturbing details, revealing that the victim suffered a severe injury to her private parts, indicative of what has been described as perverted sexuality and genital torture. The brutal rape and murder of the trainee doctor has triggered massive outrage and nationwide protests by doctors fraternity, with demands of a CBI inquiry and immediate measures to ensure the safety of medical staff. A person was allegedly beaten to death here in Pataudi town of Jatoli village by a man who suspected him of having illicit relations with his wife, the police said on Monday. The victim and the accused are residents of Jatoli village in Gurugram. According to the police, they received a complaint on Sunday that the victim Pawan Kumar (26), who was a driver, was missing since August 9, and his mobile phone was also switched off. Advertisement The complainant and brother of the victim told the police that on Sunday, he came to know that his brother was admitted to a hospital due to injuries. When he reached the hospital there, the doctors informed him that his brother was shifted to another hospital due to his serious injuries. When I reached the hospital, Pawan told me that he was beaten by a group of men and threw him in a drain located on Faridpur Road. He died due to suffering injuries, the complainant told the police. Based on a complaint, the police filed a murder case against unknown persons at the Pataudi police station. During the investigation, police arrested the prime accused Rajesh alias Lambu on Monday. The accused suspected that the victim had illicit relations with his wife. So he along with his accomplice beat the victim with sticks and threw him in a drain and road away from the spot, Sandeep Kumar, the Gurugram police spokesperson, said. India and Australia have strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and emphasized the need for strengthening international cooperation to combat the menace in a comprehensive and sustained manner. They also condemned the use of terrorist proxies for cross-border terrorism. The 14th meeting of the India-Australia Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism was held last evening in New Delhi. Mr K.D. Dewal, Joint Secretary for Counter-Terrorism at the Ministry of External Affairs, and Mr Richard Feakes, Ambassador for Counter-Terrorism, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia, led the respective delegations of experts to discuss the global counter-terrorism challenges and the ongoing counter-terrorism cooperation between the two countries. The two sides exchanged views on the domestic, regional and global terrorism threat assessment. They discussed counter-terrorism challenges related to the use of new and emerging technologies by terrorists, misuse of the internet for terrorist purposes, radicalisation and terror financing, and the nexus between organised crime and terrorism, among other issues. Advertisement The ongoing co-operation in counter terrorism is an important element of the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the MEA said. meanwhile, the sixth India-Australia Maritime Security Dialogue was held this morning in Canberra. The Indian delegation was led by Ms. Muanpuii Saiawi, Joint Secretary, Disarmament & International Security Affairs in the MEA and the Australian delegation was led by Ms. Sarah Storey, First Assistant Secretary in the Department of Defence. The two sides discussed ways to sustain a safe and secure maritime environment conducive for inclusive growth and global well-being. They exchanged views on various topics of mutual interest, including the maritime security environment in the Indo-Pacific region, maritime domain awareness, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) coordination, regional and multilateral engagements and sustainable use of marine resources. This included cooperation in Search and Rescue (SAR), pollution response, blue economy and Port State control. They discussed ways and means of further strengthening their bilateral cooperation in these areas. They also conferred on the way ahead for collaboration in the maritime ecology pillar of the Indo-Pacific Ocean Initiative (IPOI). The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered Dr. Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, to go on long leave following the brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the institution. The courts directive comes after Dr. Ghosh faced severe criticism for his handling of the incident and alleged remarks perceived as victim-blaming. Dr. Ghosh, who resigned from his position on Monday, saying the victim was like my daughter, was reappointed within 24 hours as the Principal of Calcutta Medical College and Hospital. Advertisement During the hearing of a clutch of petitions, a division bench led by Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam expressed deep concern over Dr. Ghoshs actions and the state governments response to the tragedy. The bench questioned the apparent lack of empathy displayed by the former principal and criticized the swift reappointment. The Principal is the guardian of all doctors working there if he doesnt show any empathy, who will show? He should be at home, not working anywhere the court observed, highlighting the moral responsibility that comes with such a position. How did he step down and then be rewarded with another responsibility? the HC asked. The court further rebuked the authorities, saying No man is above the law. It also questioned the rationale behind Dr. Ghoshs swift reappointment and demanded transparency regarding his resignation. If the principal stepped down owing moral responsibility, (it is) rather serious that he is rewarded, within 12 hours, with another appointment. This Principal will not function let him go on long leave. Otherwise, we pass an order, the court stated. The bench further instructed the state police to submit its case diary by 2 pm and ordered Dr. Ghoshs resignation letter to be filed for review. The court also questioned the states apparent protection of Dr. Ghosh, stating, why do you protect (him)? Let him tell the truth something is missing here. The traine doctor was found dead inside the seminar hall of the hospital on Friday evening. She was brutally tortured and raped before being killed. Her autopsy report revealed she was subjected to severe physical assault before her death. The assailant reportedly struck her with such force that her spectacles shattered, with glass shards reportedly piercing her eyes. This was the reason why her eyes were bleeding. Additionally, the report indicates that the victim suffered multiple cuts on her hands and face, suggesting a desperate struggle. The report also contained deeply disturbing details, revealing that the victim suffered a severe injury to her private parts, indicative of what has been described as perverted sexuality and genital torture. Union Minister for Labour & Employment Mansukh Mandaviya Tuesday launched a new Online facility for Surrender of Exemption from EPF Scheme . Speaking during the launch, he mentioned that the online facility is the first of the six modules under the EPFO Central IT System 2.01 that has been implemented in advance. This facility will reduce the time and effort while providing facilities such as online submission of applications, validation of applications and transfer of past accumulations of the member. It will replace the earlier system of physical submission with voluminous documents and allow the establishment to track its application with a tracking ID. This facility will benefit atleast 1 lakh members of 70 establishments to transfer the accumulations of almost Rs 1000 crores, as and when their surrenders are admitted, he said. Advertisement Dr Mandaviya further mentioned that the EPFO has taken several initiatives to address present issues. These are the first steps of the many other initiatives that are planned in immediate future, he added. He emphasized the need for further simplification of processes for ease of members and timely delivery of new IT systems of EPFO in this calendar year. He urged officers to find timely solutions to current issues while having a vision for the future. Dr Mandaviya also reviewed the IT interventions, including the new EPFO Central IT System 2.01. He expressed satisfaction on the readiness of the facilities for the seamless implementation of ELI schemes announced in the Union Budget. He also reviewed the plans towards new Integrated Grievance Management System. He directed that efforts should also be made for planning for adaptation of newer technologies, including Artificial Intelligence etc in EPFOs IT system. Patanjali University, Haridwar celebrated National Library Day at its Central Library, honoring the 132nd birth anniversary of Dr. S.R. Ranganathan, a pioneer in Indian library science. On this occasion, the universitys Pro Vice Chancellor, Prof. Mahavir Agarwal, paid tribute to Dr. Ranganathan and highlighted the significant contribution of books to the success of intellectuals around the world. He emphasized that libraries provide the youth with proper direction and a positive outlook, which in turn prepares them to contribute effectively to nation-building. Pro Vice Chancellor Dr. Mayank Agarwal discussed the crucial role of books in understanding Indias ancient history and culture. He encouraged students and the general public to read more books, asserting that books are the greatest source of knowledge. He also described Dr. Ranganathan as a sage. Patanjali Universitys Chancellor Swami Arshdev highlighted the importance of books in understanding the lives of freedom fighters. The event was attended by faculty members, teachers, library staff including Sandeep Pandey, Sangeeta Bhardwaj, Rishikant, Abhishek, and students from Patanjali Ayurved College, Patanjali Research Foundation, and Patanjali Gurukulam. Library heads Shri Prashant Vashisht, Mrs Deepti Sharma, Mrs Tanya Kimothi, and Arvind Dev, along with all university principals, were also present. The program was successfully conducted by Library Head Mrs Ruchi Dhiman, who expressed gratitude to all dignitaries at the conclusion of the event. BJD supremo and Odishas Leader of Opposition, Naveen Patnaik, has written to Union Minister of Science and Technology, Jitendra Singh, urging the continuation of the prestigious UNESCO Kalinga Prize, a significant international award in the field of science. In the letter dated August 12, 2024, Patnaik expressed deep concern over the reported decision of the Ministry of Science & Technology to cease support for the prize. The UNESCO Kalinga Prize, established in 1952 by the legendary Biju Patnaik, has been awarded to 72 eminent scientists, including seven Nobel laureates such as Louis de Broglie, Bertrand Russell, and Arthur C. Clarke. Advertisement The prize, which originated from a generous grant of 1000 pounds by the Kalinga Foundation Trust, remains the only international award from India in the field of the popularization of science. In his letter, Patnaik emphasized the significance of the award, not only for its contribution to science but also as a symbol of Odia identity. The Kalinga Prize is not just a symbol of Odia pride but it had set a legacy for independent India in the comity of nations globally, he wrote. He further highlighted the vision and determination of his father, Biju Patnaik, who, at the young age of 36, traveled to Paris to negotiate with UNESCO and establish this prestigious prize. Patnaik also recalled that after 50 years of the prizes successful completion, the Government of India, under the leadership of the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, decided in 2002 that the Department of Science and Technology, the Government of Odisha, and the Kalinga Foundation Trust would jointly fund the prize in a 6:4:4 ratio. However, Patnaik expressed his dismay over the recent decision by the Ministry to withdraw its support. I am now pained to learn that the Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India has decided to stop supporting this Prize, he siad, adding that such a move would undermine the legacy that Biju Patnaik had envisioned for India and Odisha. Following fresh claims by US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research, which allegedly connect the chief of the securities market regulator, Madhabi Buch, and her husband to offshore funds linked to the Adani Group, a fresh plea has been filed in the Supreme Court. The plea seeks the completion of SEBIs investigation into pending cases relating to the Adani groups alleged manipulation of its companies share prices to inflate their stock market values. In 2023, following the Supreme Courts intervention, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) began investigating 24 cases in response to Hindenburg Researchs report of January 24, 2023. According to petitioner advocate Vishal Tiwari, the probe into 22 of these cases has been completed, but the outcomes of the investigations into the remaining two cases are still not known. The fresh plea has stated that in light of the recent Hindenburg report, it is imperative for SEBI to conclude the pending investigations and make its findings public. Advertisement The SEBI chief has already denied the allegations in the Hindenburg report as baseless. Petitioner advocate Vishal Tiwari has said that the Hindenburg Research report, published on August 10, cited whistleblower documents to support its allegation that the SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Buch and her husband were involved with offshore Bermuda and Mauritius funds allegedly controlled by Vinod Adani, the elder brother of Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani. These funds are believed to have been used for round-tripping funds and inflating stock prices, the petitioners lawyer said, citing the Hindenburg Research report. Seeking the completion of the investigation into the two pending cases, advocate Vishal Tiwaris petition says that the latest allegations in the Hindenburg report have created an atmosphere of doubt in the minds of the public and investors. The plea by Tiwari says, Despite the SEBI chief denying the allegations as baseless and the top court ruling that third-party reports cannot be considered, this situation has created an atmosphere of doubt among the public and investors. In these circumstances, it is incumbent upon SEBI to conclude the pending investigations and declare their findings. In a blog post, Hindenburg claimed that 18 months after its initial report on Adani, the Securities and Exchange Board of India has shown a surprising lack of interest in investigating Adanis alleged web of undisclosed Mauritius and offshore shell entities. Citing whistleblower documents, Hindenburg alleged that SEBI Chairperson and her husband were involved with the same offshore Bermuda and Mauritius funds allegedly controlled by Vinod Adani, the elder brother of Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani, the petition by advocate Tiwari reads. In his appeal, the petitioner advocate has complained about the alleged refusal of the Supreme Court Registrar to register his miscellaneous application related to a matter that was disposed of last year. Moving a fresh plea, advocate Tiwari has urged the top court to allow his appeal against the August 5, 2024 lodgement order of the Registrar and direct the registry to register the miscellaneous application. The petitioner said that the conclusion drawn by the Registrar is contrary to the direction given by the court in an order dated January 3, 2024. The top court has fixed the timeline of three months for the completion of investigations by the SEBI. By using the word preferably it cannot be understood that no timeline was fixed. When specifically, three months have been mentioned in the order, it is sufficient to be understood as prudent that a fixed period is laid down for the completion of the pending investigations, Advocate Tiwari said. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday stressed the need for further research in data science through new techniques and greater focus on developing more renewable energy to benefit the people, country and the world. The finance minister gave a keynote address and handed over degrees to students at the 11th convocation ceremony of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) at Bhopal today. The finance minister justified the present taxation regime, saying that the country needs resources to meet the challenges facing the nation and also to fund research and development activities. Advertisement She said that she wishes to bring down the taxes to almost nil, but there are many challenges. Indias challenges are severe and they have to be overcome, the finance minister said. She pointed out that renewable energy can be stored and urged the scientific community and researchers to carry out more research on the storage of renewable energy. While urging scientists to come up with innovations, she said that India is moving from fossil fuel to renewable energy at its own strength as the country cannot afford to wait for money from somewhere else. Nirmala Sitharaman also urged scientists to develop batteries for the storage of renewable energy, as transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy has to be sustainable. She also called for efforts to meet the energy needs of the country through advanced chemistry. The finance minister urged for innovation, scientific thinking and finding quick solutions to make India a developed nation. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion. In keeping with its tradition, the Yogi Adityanath Government in Uttar Pradesh has announced free bus ride for sisters on the occasion of Rakshabandhan once again this year. This offer will be available to the female passengers on August 19-20 in Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) buses. The government has also issued instructions for making arrangements for additional transport on this occasion, officials here on Tuesday said. Notably, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, at a high-level meeting recently, directed officials to arrange free rides for sisters during the Rakshabandhan festival as many of them have to travel to different places to tie Rakhi to their brothers. Subsequently, the Transport Corporation has issued orders to all its regional managers, service managers, and assistant regional managers to ensure the implementation of this initiative. Advertisement Additionally, the corporation has been instructed to provide additional transport to accommodate the expected surge in passengers during Rakshabandhan. To manage the increased demand, the maximum number of buses will be in operation over an extended period of 8 days, from August 17 to August 22. Meanwhile, the UP Transport Department is also implementing a special incentive scheme to boost bus operations during this period. In addition, all employee leaves have been canceled. No leave, weekly rest, or DDR will be granted to officers, supervisors, drivers, conductors, and other bus operation staff, except in exceptional cases such as a family death or personal illness. No officer posted in the area is permitted to leave their work zone during this period. Duty rosters will be prepared and displayed on the notice board, informing drivers, conductors, workshop staff, and operation branch employees and supervisors of their schedules. Additionally, all contracted buses are to remain in operation, with no leaves approved during this time. As in previous years, each area has been instructed to run additional services to various destinations, such as Lucknow and Kanpur, based on passenger demand. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has assured the Centre of timely resolution of any issues in the execution of national highway projects in the state, an official statement said. At a meeting to review the progress of national highway projects here, the Chief Minister also said on Monday that departmental land will be provided free of charge for the expansion of national highways in Uttar Pradesh. The Chief Minister assured the Central government that any issues in the implementation of national highways in the state would be resolved in a timely manner and the process of land acquisition and compensation distribution would be completed within the stipulated time. Advertisement Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also placed a list of requirements related to national highways in the state before Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari. According to the statement, CM Adityanath underlined that the expansion of national highways will not stop in the state. He told the meeting that in 2017, the state had a total of 48 national highways spanning 8,364 km. By 2024, the number increased to 93 and the length grew to 12,733 km. He, however, pointed out that in terms of population, this is still below the national average of 11.77 km per lakh population. To bring it up to the national average, an additional 11,500 km of national highways will need to be constructed, he said. CM Adityanath also emphasised the need to complete projects related to the Mahakumbh, which will be held in 2025, including the Prayagraj Ring Road, by December 2024. He said Varanasi, Mathura and Ayodhya are the main tourist attractions in the state where the number of tourists and pilgrims is steadily increasing. He emphasised the need to complete the remaining work on the Varanasi Ring Road (Ganga Bridge) and to open the ring road for traffic as soon as possible. The Chief Minister highlighted the importance of declaring the Braj 84 Kosi Parikrama route a national highway and called for strengthening the Ayodhya bypass, the statement said. He said the construction of ring roads in 13 of the 18 divisions of the state is either underway or has been completed. It is also necessary to build ring roads in the remaining five divisions Aligarh, Devipatan, Jhansi, Mirzapur and Saharanpur. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar Tuesday expressed confidence that India will be able to work with whoever becomes the next president of the United States. Generally, we dont comment on other peoples elections because we also hope others dont comment on us. But the American system will throw up its verdict. And, Im not saying this just as a formality, but if you look over the last 20-odd years, maybe a little bit more for us, we have every confidence that we will be able to work with the president of the United States, whoever he or she will be, he said while speaking at the launch of the Indiaspora BCG Impact Report here. He noted that the world today is going through a difficult period and pointed towards the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Israel. Advertisement Im an optimistic person and generally tend to think of solutions to problems rather than the problems that come out of solutions. But I would say with a great deal of sobriety, that we are going through an exceptionally difficult period, he said. He added that it would be a very grim forecast for the next five years. You have what you see happening in the Middle East, what you see happening in Ukraine, what you see happening in Southeast Asia, East Asia, the continued impact of the COVID which those of us who have come out of it take for granted, but many have not come out of it, Dr Jaishankar said. Further noting the economic challenges worldwide, the EAM said many countries are struggling today. The kind of economic challenges that you see in the world, you see more and more countries struggling. You know, their trade is getting difficult, facing foreign exchange shortages, so, you know, disruptions of various kinds, he said. The minister observed that the Indian diaspora can help create synergy for digital collaborations for the world economies while helping the country create the necessary skilled pool for emerging technologies. He said the diaspora can create a level of comfort and trust in critical areas, which has the potential to take world relationships to the next level. When it comes to skilling, diaspora can make a valuable contribution by creating a bond, a digital connection in various areas like AI. It will help create a skilled pool as envisioned in the Union Budget 2024-2025 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday that she wished the taxes could be brought down to almost nil, but Indias challenges were severe and had to be overcome. While speaking at the 11th convocation ceremony at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal, the minister emphasised the need to fund research and development. She added that her role as the Finance Minister was to generate revenue, not to trouble people. Tax revenue is crucial for funding Indias research and development. The government is committed to generating revenue without burdening the people. Indias taxes fund critical sectors like renewable energy and innovation, and despite challenges, India continues to invest heavily in transitioning to renewable energy, she said. Advertisement The Finance Minister said that a thorough review of the Income Tax Act of 1961 will be conducted, aimed at benefiting the middle class. The review is expected to be completed within six months. She said that taxpayers could save up to Rs 17,500 with the revised tax structure. The Finance Minister was speaking in the context of India needing to use its own funds to fulfil its commitment to the energy transition, as the funds promised by the world was yet to come. She said that India cannot afford to wait for money which will come from somewhere else. India didnt wait. The promises made in Paris (Paris Agreement) were fulfilled with our own money. There are times when, as Finance Minister, it demotivates me to answer questions about why our taxes are as they are and why they cant be lowered, the minister said. The Finance Minister stressed that the money being collected through taxation is being put into funding for research and development in the country. She gave the example of schemes such as the Anusandhan Kosh announced in the interim budget for long-term financing in sunrise sectors. While urging the students of IISER to come up with innovative ways to help India progress towards Viksit Bharat and offer speedy solutions for climate transition, she said, My job is to generate revenue, not to trouble people, I assure you. She further urged the students to come up with solutions for the storage of energy coming from renewable sources. I seek a very learned audience graduates and PhD holders to understand Indias challenges. I have cited renewable energy and global energy as examples of sustainable sources crucial for a growing country like India, she added. A chapter in Bangladeshs history has ended. The family which led the fight for freedom from the shackles of Pakistan and headed it for most part of its democratic phase will no longer have any role in its future. Sheikh Hasinas departure from Dhaka, amidst the rising violence, marks the end of the familys presence in the country. Images of a protestor urinating on Mujibur Rehmans statue, and of others displaying the former PMs undergarments, project the hatred the nation bore towards the family. Shiekh Hasina flew into India seeking refuge, after the army refused to curb protests by violent means. She had barely 45 minutes to tender her resignation and leave. This is not the first time she has sought refuge in India. In 1975, when her father Mujibur Rehman was assassinated, Sheikh Hasina and her family lived in India. She stayed in New Delhi for six years, a favour she never forgot. She was then the daughter of the PM and happened to be in Germany when her father was assassinated in Dhaka and hence her life was spared. This time she is the PM who was dislodged, a major difference in the two scenarios. Her confidence that India would not disappoint her was valid. She was received by the National Security Advisor and subsequently the External Affairs Minister met her. She is currently lodged in a safe house in New Delhi while she decides where she wishes to go. She no longer possesses a diplomatic passport and therefore would need a visa from the nation she wishes to take refuge in. India would definitely play a role in her future movement. On her arrival in India, Dr Jaishankar mentioned, At very short notice, she requested approval to come to India. He added that the government will give her time to decide her future. The Indian government claimed she was in shock and would need time to recover. During her stay in India she would continue being treated as a state guest, accorded relevant protocol as also protection. Her immediate family includes a son, Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed, based in the US, and a daughter, Saima Wazed, who is the South East Asian regional director for the World Health Organization, currently based in Delhi. There were reports that the US has revoked Hasinas visa implying she cannot travel there. For her, the UK would be an ideal first option. Her sister, Sheikh Rehana, who fled with her from Dhaka, is a British citizen, thus moving there does make sense. Sheikh Rehanas daughter, Tulip Siddiq, is the sitting Labour Member of Parliament as also Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister. Media reports mention UK officials stating that under their immigration law there is no provision for those outside the UK to claim asylum or temporary refuge. They also mentioned, those who need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach (in this case, India) that is the fastest route to safety. The British Foreign Secretary added fuel to the Bangladesh crisis by demanding a UNled investigation into the events of the past few weeks, implying it supports the overthrow of Sheikh Hasina. Multiple options are under consideration for her future stay. Advertisement These include a few states in West Asia as also in Europe. She, as also the government of India, would be working together to find a suitable destination for her in the coming days. India will not be her final destination. For India, according her asylum would also not be ideal, despite close ties between her and the Indian government. Her security concerns would severely limit her movements. Further, once the new government is sworn in, post elections, there would be demands for her extradition to face charges on her decisions in her final days in power leading to large number of casualties, as also corruption. Some accusations could also be fabricated. She would become a pawn in the on-going political games within the country. Alternatively, as happened in Pakistan, their army prevented the government from prosecuting General Musharraf, enabling him to live his life in Dubai. This could be repeated in Bangladesh. This would depend on how the army hierarchy is aligned in the future. Mohamad Yunus, heading the interim government in Bangladesh, stated that it would not be right for her to continue staying in India. The Bangladesh Supreme Court Bar Association President has already made demands for Sheikh Hasina and her sister to be arrested and returned to the country to face charges. In case she remains in India, New Delhi would deny permission for her extradition, which could mar IndoBangla relations. India and Bangladesh have inked an extradition treaty in July 2016 aimed at expeditious extradition of fugitive criminals between the two countries. Refusing to adhere to the treaty would send a message that India is taking sides. Rejecting any demand for her return could also fan anti-India sentiments in Bangladesh, which India would not desire. The Jamaat-e-Islami, which is strongly anti Hasina could lead these protests, impacting normalisation. Further, in some timeframe, Bangladesh could request for an Interpol notice against her. New Delhi has hosted the Dalai Lama in the country for decades, despite the 1962 war and regular Chinese demands for handing him over. Since 1992, it has hosted the family of late Afghan President Mohammad Najibullah. The family has been provided a safe house and a monthly stipend. Recently, India began changing its policies due to geopolitical considerations. New Delhi refused to accept former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, when he fled the country in July 2022. Rajapaksa flew to Maldives and thence to Singapore from where he returned to Sri Lanka in September the same year. India also denied safe havens for members of the Ashraf Ghani government in Afghanistan, when the Taliban took over the country post the US withdrawal in August 2021. These are still early days. It will take time for Bangladesh to stabilize and for the interim government to consider demanding her extradition. While New Delhi cannot officially claim it is seeking options for asylum for Sheikh Hasina, it would be utilizing its diplomacy to find a suitable location for her. The faster it does so, the better. (The writer is a retired Major-General of the Indian Army.) As we advance into the digital age of the Anthro pocene Epoch, decision-makers place more and more reliance on computer programs, to the exclusion of common sense, and their own good judgement. Often a computer decides a humans bona fides, and even his identity. The computers decision is final; there is no way you can second guess, argue with, or convince a computer. Many of us have faced this situation; you are standing in a queue for something, and if for some reason the machine rejects your case, the human attendant can only express his helplessness, and politely ask you to come some other day. Cost-cutting, apathy and plain laziness inspire us to keep aside our native intelligence, and rely on dumb machines for even the most crucial tasks. The results are often terrifying; crores of rupees are credited to a wrong bank account or some daily wager receives an incometax recovery notice for hundreds of crores of rupees, or worse, a poor man is not able to collect his subsidised rations. Add to it, certain savvy individuals who know how to capitalise on human weaknesses, as also the systems loopholes, and you have a perfect recipe for a massacre of innocents. According to RBIs Annual Report for FY 2023-24 the number of bank frauds saw almost a 200 per cent increase over FY 2022-23, going up to 36,075 from 13,564. Sadly, cybercrime has reached endemic levels; as a result, police and other authorities simply ignore small cybercrimes, leaving the common citizen high and dry. Advertisement The above tally does not include cases where a persons email or Facebook account was hijacked, and the hijacker sent requests to that persons relatives and friends for money. It also does not include cases where someone pretending to be a police or customs officer extorted money from people by threatening to implicate them in some crime. Then, the charade of the Nigerian prince offering gullible people a share in his inheritance is a recurring theme. To top it all, there are Russian hackers who launch ransomware attacks on targets as diverse as hospitals and dairies, paralysing their computer systems, asking victims to cough up millions of dollars, to have their computers reactivated. BlackSuit, the most notorious of the lot, typically demands ransoms ranging from US $1 million to US $10 million, with payments in Bitcoin, and has collectively sought over US $500 million, with the highest individual demand reaching US $60 million. The day one scam is busted, another takes its place. All such scams operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with almost a third of internet users in India reporting cyber threats. It would appear that there are a number of young men whose only vocation is cybercrime. According to rep orts, classes offering training in cybercrime have sprung up, in places like Jamtara and Nuh. Yet, cybercrime is only the tip of the iceberg, the real problem is our penchant to adopt shortcuts to game the system. Recently, we witnessed widespread cheating in a medical entrance examination, where exam hackers adopted methods that could not have been imagined even by James Hadley Chase. No wonder, before entering the examination hall, students are frisked in ways that would do the Gestapo proud. The medical entrance examination, mentioned above, was not an aberration, the National Testing Agency cancelled/ postponed some equally prestigious examinations, on suspicions of paper leak. Again, this is the prevailing trend, with recruitment examinations in all States being afflicted by paper leaks. The nadir was reached when it was revealed that a candidate had faked multiple disabilities and used a fake income certificate to get into the Indian Administrative Service the creme-de-la-creme of the Indian bureaucracy ~ leaving UPSC, the granddaddy of examining bodies, red faced. UPSCs embarrassment was multiplied manifold when it was revealed that many others had also adopted similar stratagems to get into premier services. To cover up, the UPSC issued a press release that concluded: The UPSC has deservedly earned the trust and credibility of a very high order from the public, especially the candidates. Simultaneously, the UPSC Chairman, who had a residual tenure of five years, resigned, leaving the bewildered public to draw their own conclusions. The root cause of such shenanigans is the dire unemployment situation in India. According to the Harvard Business Review: India is in an employment crisis Less than half of the 950 million workingage population is actually employed, compared to 70 per cent in other emerging markets. Bleak as this statistic is, the reality is worse. According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey, some half of all those workers are self-employed, a category that includes unpaid helpers in family enterprises, which could cover family and friends who help out for no compensation. Just 32.7 per cent of workingaged women participated in the workforce in 2023. On top of this, a study of 388,000 college graduates by the educational testing services firm Wheebox found that only 51.25 per cent were employable, as measured by a skillsassessment test. These are significant problems for a country in which 40 per cent of the population is younger than 25 years old and an economy that is deeply dependent on domestic consumption. Such findings are reflected in a number of other private studies, notably by CMIE, Forb es and Citigroup. Anecdotal evidence also validates such findings; it is repeatedly seen that lakhs of well-educated youth apply for some few unskilled jobs; an advertisement for 60,000 constables in UP, had 50 lakh applicants. Sadly, the recruitment examination was cancelled after a paper leak. The desperation of Indian youth to get employment can well be imagined; they are willing to become cannon fodder in the wastelands of Russia or in the Badlands of Iraq or pay lakhs to immigrate unlawfully to some Western country. The Government has a different view of the matter; according to a recent statement eight crore jobs had been created in the last 3-4 years. Be that as it may, any examination or process that leads to a job is a fair target for fraudsters, and the only way to ensure fairness is to tailor the education system to the job market. The most dangerous kind of gamers are the ones who game their own organisation, like corrupt bureaucrats who undermine Government departments or politicians who award contracts for quid pro quo. There are multiple instances of In come-tax officers who facilitate tax evasion, Customs officers who encourage smuggling or police officers who connive with criminals. Every month we have multiple instances of high-ranking officials being arrested for multi-crore, multi-layered scams. Where does this leave us? Apart from hurting Government revenues, dishonesty of such high order promotes a lawless atmosphere, where everyone believes that they can get away with murder. The public has to pay the price for the Governments inaction. Examples are many; cities were flooded because drains were not cleaned, bridges tumbled because sub-standard materials were used, and for the same reason roads caved in, killing innocent motorists and pedestrians. Political masters make the right noises but seldom interfere in the bureaucrats nefarious activities, because many a time, such activities are carried out under the politicians directions, or for their benefit. The ultimate solution is electing good and honest people, who work for the benefit of the public. Remembering that after Independence, the Emergency was the only period when public servants worked according to rules, one can conclude that wielding a big stick is required to make government functionaries perform. Ergo, the middle and lower rungs of bureaucracy, who are the first point of contact for citizens, can easily be reformed by streamlining the convoluted procedure to book delinquent officers. However, politicians and top bureaucrats are reined in only by their conscience; acting in cahoots they are capable of inflicting immense damage on the body politic. As Goswami Tulsidas wrote in the Ramcharitmanas, centuries ago: If influenced by greed or fear a guru praises his shishya unnecessarily, then dharma is destroyed, likewise if a physician does not tell the truth to his patient, then the body is destroyed, and if influenced by greed or fear a minister does not give true advice to the King, then a kingdom is destroyed. Willy-nilly, we seem to have reached the last-mentioned position. (The writer is a former Principal Chief Commissioner of Income-Tax) Russian military repelled seven Ukrainian attacks in three settlements and thwarted an attempt to penetrate deeper into Russian territory, the Russian Defence Ministry said. The Ministry said on Monday in a statement that the attacks were repelled in the settlements of Martynovka, Borki and Korenevo over Sunday, Xinhua news agency reported. In the Kauchuk area, attempts by Ukrainian mobile groups to break through on armoured vehicles deep into Russian territory were thwarted, it said, adding that a tank, eight Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, 16 armoured combat vehicles and 14 pickups were destroyed. Advertisement The Ukrainian military lost up to 260 service members and 31 armoured vehicles over 24 hours, the Ministry said. Elon Musk has announced that a massive DDoS attack hit his livestream with former US President Donald Trump, forcing X owner to scale down the live audience. The interview was delayed as the glitch kept the users out of the livestream. Worst case, we will proceed with a smaller number of live listeners and post the conversation later, Musk wrote in a post on X. Notably, the users on social media platform X faced numerous issues while looking for access to the livestream conversation of Elon Musk with Trump on the platform Monday night. Within minutes of the events expected 8 p.m. ET start time, crashed, unable and #TwitterBlackout were trending on the site, reported CNN. A pop-up stating this space is not available with a monkey emoji appeared on the screen of desktop users as well who attempted to attend the Spaces event. Whereas, several others who tried to connect via the mobile app were met with a motionless, greyed-out screen and were unable to participate in the event. The disaster was akin to the technological difficulties X had encountered previously when Musk tried to conduct broadcast events featuring several other bigwigs. Bugs and audio problems marred last years Spaces event, which introduced Florida Governor Ron DeSantis brief presidential bid. Musk attributed the problems to an overloaded server, according to CNN. When Musk was getting ready for the meeting with Trump, he seemed to be cognizant of the possibility of technical issues. In order to make sure Xs systems were ready, the billionaire stated on Sunday night that he was doing streaming tests. The Republican presidential nominee was recently interviewed at his Mar-a-Lago residence by live streamer Adin Ross. Trump noted that the interview with Ross helped the streaming platform Kick break its viewing record. Advertisement Last month, Musk, who owns the social media platform X, endorsed Trumps candidacy after the former president was injured in an attempted assassination in Pennsylvania. This endorsement marked a departure from the usual self-declared neutrality maintained by social media platform leaders, as reported by The New York Times. Following the January 6, 2021, attack on Capitol Hill, Trumps account was permanently suspended by Twitter (now X) under its previous ownership. However, under Musks ownership, the account was reinstated. Trumps planned talk with Musk comes after Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. Ukrainian publicist and writer Oksana Zabuzhko explained the problem of Russian-speaking Ukrainians and how to recognize their hypocritical nature. According to the public figure, such people should study their bloodline even if they demonstrate sincere patriotism on social media. ADVERTISIMENT According to the publicist, most Russian-speaking people living in the territories that were dominated by Russia for a long time have a family trauma. Therefore, they need to work through it personally in order to understand the value of the Ukrainian nation. Oksana Zabuzhko spoke about this in an interview for @emma.hardtalk. "I always say that a certain process of overcoming trauma must take place. Russified Ukrainians should not be confused with those who shout, 'Oh, you Banderite spawn, it's a shame we didn't finish you off'. These are murderers! These murderers have descendants. That is, we have our own 'internal Russia,' of course. This 'internal Russia' may be sitting quietly there. They can write anything and put 'Glory to Ukraine' on their avatars, but it is because they did not manage to leave in time, or they still expect to maintain their dominant status quo, which they have had for all 30 years. This 'internal Russian' will make itself heard, don't worry, and it is already making itself heard. Somewhere in there, somehow, every now and then, it makes itself seen," the publicist explains. ADVERTISIMENT She noted that this trauma mostly occurred after Stalin's repressions and abuse of Ukrainians who resisted the dictatorial regime and assimilation. That is why, in Zabuzhko's opinion, it is necessary to personally research one's own family to find the reason that made descendants Russian-speaking. "The overwhelming majority of our Russian-speaking citizens, especially in those regions that were Russified as a result of Stalin's purges, are the result of trauma, the result of something bad happening to our grandparents, or great-grandparents, or perhaps parents. Everyone has to realize this trauma personally, everyone has to go through this intergenerational trauma. And everyone has to remember when their grandmother was bullied at school for speaking 'kolkhoz (collective farm) language,' or when their grandfather was taken to Siberia and returned from there speaking Russian with a Siberian wife," the writer continued. ADVERTISIMENT In particular, she noted that she tries to treat Russian-speaking people with understanding, and the only thing she does not accept in her information space is Russian songs. "I react when Russian music is played. It doesn't happen very often, very rarely lately, but every time it does, I can't ignore it, regardless of whether it's in a taxi or in public transport. I switch to my Maidan voice and say. 'Please, put on your headphones. I don't have to listen to something that traumatizes me.' Everything is quiet, calm, everyone is polite, no one is offended. On the other hand, I try to be somewhat understanding. At least I don't feel any primitive agression towards Russian-speaking Ukrainians (and sometimes people do write this on social networks) like, 'You need to be bombed more to understand more'," the public figure admitted. ADVERTISIMENT Earlier, it was reported that Oksana Zabuzhko shared her memories of a literary dinner in the Kremlin, to which she was invited in 2002. The cultural activist noted that the experience of being at such a "parade of unbridled tastelessness" helped her understand the true essence of the Moscow elite and their attitude to our country. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Police have filed an FIR after several lights mounted along the Bhakti Path and Ram Path in Ayodhya allegedly went missing. Shekhar Sharma, a native of Haryana but working in Ayodhya, has complained to the police that as many as 3,800 bamboo lights and 36 gobo projector lights have gone missing. According to Sharma, These lights were mounted on trees and poles. However, since May I have noticed that their numbers had started to fall. The Bhakti Path is a road leading to the Ram Mandirconnecting Shringar Ghat to Hanuman Garhi and then finally to the temple. Shops and residences along this 742-metre road have been painted saffron to give it a distinctive look. Important landmarks like Kanak Bhawan and Dashrath Mahal fall on the way. The Bhakti Path intersects with the Ram Path, a 13 km long four-lane highway which links Sadatganj to Naya Ghat. Sharmas FIR says that he is an employee with Yash Enterprises and Krishna Auto Mobile, a firm which was given the task of putting up 6,400 bamboo lights on the Ram Path and 96 gobo lights on the Bhakti Path. While the former are largely decorative, the latter are mostly flood lights. The FIR says that slowly the number of lights has reduced. Unknown people have stolen the lights, reads the report. Sharma refused to comment on who the culprits could be. My report is not because of any business interest but because I am a concerned citizen. I might be a temporary resident of Ayodhya but I have my duty towards the city, he said. A detailed inspection of the number of lights was done on May 9 this year. However, Sharma did not say why it had taken so long to file the report. There is speculation that the firm responsible for mounting the lights had actually put up fewer lights than what it had been contracted for and thus the FIR is an effort to divert attention. The FIR has been filed at the Ram Janmabhoomi police station. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said his decision to field his wife Sunetra Pawar against his cousin Supriya Sule in Baramati in the recent Lok Sabha elections was a mistake. "I love all my sisters. One shouldn't allow politics to enter homes. I made a mistake in fielding Sunetra against my sister, Ajit said in an interview to a Marathi news channel. Supriya, daughter of Nationalist Congress Party founder Sharad Pawar, had defeated Sunetra by a margin of around 1.5 lakh votes. Sunetra was later elected to the Rajya Sabha. Ajit Pawar and a number of other NCP MLAs joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government in July last year, leading to a split in the NCP. Ever since then, both the factions, led by Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar, have been at loggerheads to claim the legacy of the party. The Election Commission later declared the Ajit-led group as the real NCP while granting the name NCP (SP) to the rival faction. THE WEEK asked Supriya about her cousins remarks to the news channel, but she refused to make any comments and simply replied Ram Krishna Hari with a smiley. Meanwhile, NCP (SP) sources questioned why Ajit chose to talk to the media about the mistake he had done rather than speaking to the family or his sisters. Its not clear what prompted Ajit to make the remarks, but sources indicated that he might be worried about the chances of Sharad Pawar fielding Yogendra Pawar, Ajits nephew, against him in Baramati assembly seat. On Monday, Suriya took a swipe at the Mukhyamantri Ladki Bahin Yojana announced by Ajit Pawar in the state budget last month, saying the ruling dispensation believes relationships and elections can be won with money. "There is a difference between relationships and transactions. The ruling alliance feels relationships and elections can be won over by money. Blood relations, love are different from a transaction, she said. The Kerala High Court, on Tuesday, dismissed a plea opposing the release of the Justice Hema Commission report on issues faced by women in the Malayalam film industry. The 300-page report supposedly contains sensitive information about exploitation and harassment within the industry. The committee, led by Justice K. Hema, was officially appointed on July 1, 2017 following the infamous February 2017 abduction case in which a popular Malayalam actor was abducted and sexually assaulted by a group of men in a moving car. The committee submitted its final report on December 31, 2019. The petitioner, Sajimon Parayil, a producer in the Malayalam industry, argued that releasing the report would violate the privacy of individuals in the film industry. "Given the interconnected nature of the film industry, seemingly innocuous details could lead to the identification of witnesses or complainants, potentially exposing them to retaliation or further harassment," said his petition. However, the court dismissed the plea and ordered the report's release within a week. On July 7, State Information Commissioner A. Abdul Hakeem overrode the SIC's previous stance and ordered the release of the controversial report without withholding any information, except that which pertained to individual privacy. The State Information Commission was set to make the report public on July 25, but Parayil obtained a stay from the High Court. Parayil argued that there is no public interest in publishing the report at this time and noted that the SIC had previously denied its release. However, the SIC informed the court that a redacted version of the report could be published, ensuring that individual privacy would not be compromised. The Kerala government spent over 1 crore on the committees functioning alone. However, successive Pinarayi Vijayan governments faced allegations of withholding the report due to pressure from powerful individuals in the industry and beyond. With the High Court's judgment, only a week remains now until the release of the trimmed version of the controversial report. Mass tourism continues to create major problems for residents of some European countries. In some places, it has started to lead to protests. ADVERTISIMENT For example, on the Spanish island of Mallorca, locals seized a popular beach last weekend. According to Euronews, they decided to demonstrate to the authorities that they are dissatisfied with the way they control the flow of tourists. Among the main complaints raised by the people were the lack of affordable housing, which is rented by visitors en masse, the overloaded healthcare system, and the disrespectful behavior of the island's guests. To resist this, people united in the movement Occupem Les Nostres Platges ("Occupy Our Beaches"). The protesters laid towels on the sand and symbolically dipped into the sea. In this way, they tried to urge local authorities to impose restrictions on tourism. More than 100 people took part in the action. Demonstrators on S'Arenal beach said they could no longer enjoy their neighborhood because there were too many tourists. Some complained that because of the excess of vacationers, local residents lost the opportunity to visit the beaches. ADVERTISIMENT "The disappearance of local culture, the rising cost of living, the inability to live here and the deterioration of public services - many tourists understand this because they know what it means in their home countries," one of the demonstrators complained to journalists. It is known that last year Mallorca was visited by a record number of foreign tourists - 14 million. Then the islanders began placing homemade fake signs on Mallorca's beaches, telling tourists to stay away from the designated area. Similar actions took place in neighboring Ibiza. This year, the trend will continue. Even before the start of the summer season, more than 6 million tourists visited Mallorca, which is 8% more than in the same period a year earlier. ADVERTISIMENT It is known that the authorities of the Balearic Islands, which include Mallorca, Minorca, Ibiza, and others, have already responded to the complaints of residents. They have set up a special committee, which includes representatives of the tourism sector and civil society. The committee plans to develop means to curb the impact of tourism. Among the proposed changes are tighter control over illegal tourist accommodation, the appointment of 27 new inspectors and the introduction of fines of up to 80,000 euros for violations of tourism legislation. Subscribe to OBOZ.UA channels on Telegram and Viber to keep up with the latest events. The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered the West Bengal government to hand over the investigation of the alleged rape and murder case of a trainee doctor in Kolkatas RG Kar Medical College and Hospital to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam gave the verdict while hearing multiple petitions related to the case. While reviewing the case diary, the High Court instructed that all information and documents held by the state must be provided to the CBI. Additionally, the police should also hand over the CCTV footage they have gathered to the CBI, ordered Chief Justice Sivagnanam, who also expressed his dissatisfaction over the role of the police in the investigation so far. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee earlier had set a deadline till next Sunday for the police to solve the case. She had said that otherwise the case would be handed over to the CBI. The CM had said the same to the family members of the deceased. Protesting doctors and students welcomed the decision. We hope our student who was brutally killed gets justice. Anyone who is responsible must be punished irrespective of who they are and where they belong, said Dr. Debabani Biswas, an associate professor of the chest medicine department at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Questions were raised over the activities of the police and their investigations into the case since the first day by protesting students. Allegedly, the murder was earlier termed as suicide, leading to the suspicion of protesters. We welcome the court decision to hand over the case to CBI wholeheartedly. But this is not the end of our movement. The culprits must be arrested and punished, said Dr. Aniket Mahato of the anaesthesia department at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. #WATCH | Calcutta High Court ordered a CBI investigation into RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder incident. Advocate Billwadal Bhattacharyya says, "...There were statements made by the Chief Minister that they have no objection in transferring the case to the CBI but pic.twitter.com/qzcOXDiPk8 ANI (@ANI) August 13, 2024 Earlier in the day, the Calcutta High Court had also ordered the state government to place the principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Dr. Sandip Ghosh, on an extended leave. The order had come after the West Bengal government removed Ghosh and controversially appointed him as the principal of another government-run medical college, Calcutta National Medical College Hospital (CNMCH), within four hours, on Monday. The decision added fuel to the protests by students and doctors across West Bengal that began after a trainee doctor, who was allegedly raped, was found dead in semi-nude clothing inside the seminar hall of the chest medicine department in RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on Friday. Multiple allegations of financial irregularities and mismanagement were levelled against Ghosh. Students had also questioned his role as the administrative head after the death of the trainee doctor last week. #WATCH | RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder incident: On Calcutta High Court transfers case to CBI, a protesting doctor says "We are very happy and relieved that the case has been transferred to CBI. The accused will be arrested soon now..." pic.twitter.com/0mei2eKTY6 ANI (@ANI) August 13, 2024 Chief Justice Sivagnanam asked if the RG Kar Medical College principal was so influential that he was reappointed as the head of another prestigious medical institute in Kolkata. He also expressed disappointment over the lack of sympathy Ghosh showed for the trainee doctor who died in his college. The students demand that Ghosh, who is still being shown as the principal on the official website of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, must not be employed in any administrative post in any medical institution. Accepting multiple pleas for a fair probe into the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, the Calcutta High Court transferred the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation. The HC directed authorities to hand over all files related to the case to CBI by 10am on Wednesday. Pronouncing the judgment, A division bench of Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya observed that there has been no significant progress in the investigation. It is disheartening to note that the principal of the hospital was not proactive. It is on record that he resigned and it is unclear as to what orders were passed. Rather in the shortest possible time, he was made principal of another college, Live Law reported quoting the verdict. The bench came down heavily on the principal of the college and said the state government could have avoided appointing him to another college given the circumstances in which he tendered the resignation. When the deceased was a doctor in the same hospital, it is surprising why the principal did not lodge a complaint. This gives rise to suspicion, the bench observed. Instead of relieving him, he was appointed as head of another college. It is not clear what tearing hurry was there to appoint him again. Many submissions have been made about him being a powerful person however these aspects are not gone into, the bench said. The Court had directed the principal to go on long leave during the hearing earlier today. The bench directed that the principal must not be allowed to hold the principals post until further notice. The Court observed, There has been no significant progress in the investigation. The administration was not with the victim or her family. The principal has not even given a statement. The bench said the case is being transferred to CBI to instil confidence among the public. The Court also appealed to agitating doctors to call off the strike and hold discussions with the state government. The victim, 31, was found dead on Friday morning around 7.30am at the third floor seminar hall of the hospital with multiple injuries. A judicial inquest has found injuries in the private parts while there was bleeding from both her eyes and mouth. Her collarbone was broken and injuries were found in her neck, belly and limbs. The victim was a second-year postgraduate student and she was found dead under suspicious circumstances. The Kolkata police said they have again summoned for questioning four junior doctors who had dinner with the victim on the day of the murder. This comes as the investigating officials asked HoD, assistant superintendent, male-female nurses, group-D staff and security members of the hospital to appear at Kolkata police headquarters in Lalbazar on Tuesday. There were reports earlier that the assistant superintendent was under the radar as he had called the victims parents to inform them their daughter had "died of suicide." The body of a woman doctor was found in a seminar hall at the hospital on Friday morning, and a civic volunteer was arrested on Saturday in connection with the crime. Meanwhile, a medical intern who was said to be "missing" after the incident has broken his silence to claim that all reports regarding his disappearance were false. The student took to Facebook to state that he was under severe mental distress. "I want to clarify that I have been staying in the hostel since the day of the incident and been cooperating in the investigation with the police. I am already under severe mental distress, and I request you to stop circulating this fake news," the intern posted on Facebook. Strike hits operations The strike called by junior doctors across West Bengal continued to hit the operations of government hospitals in the state. Long queues were visible at out-patient departments (OPDs) of all government hospitals since early Tuesday morning. #WATCH | West Bengal: Visuals from OPD (Outpatient Department) at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata as patients arrive for medical and health services. FAIMA (Federation of All India Medical Association) calls for a nationwide shutdown of OPD services from today, pic.twitter.com/fQfX7k4aVz ANI (@ANI) August 13, 2024 #WATCH | Sheikh Shahzad says, "We have not been told anything so far. I asked the security guard here but he said that he is unable to tell us anything...We are standing here for 2 hours now. We have no information. The administration is not telling us anything. We are being pic.twitter.com/e4V3vU13qA ANI (@ANI) August 13, 2024 The junior doctors, who have been pressing for a magisterial probe into the killing of the woman doctor, on Tuesday set a deadline of August 14 for the Kolkata Police to complete their investigation. "The ceasework and protest will continue till our demands are met. We have been very clear about our demands. We want a judicial probe into the incident," a protesting junior doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital told PTI. "Why do they need a deadline till Sunday? We are asking the police to complete their investigation by Wednesday," he added. In view of the situation, the state government had urged all senior doctors to replace the junior doctors. An official of state-run SSKM Hospital said that the hospital was coping with the pressure with the aid of senior doctors. However, patients were seen complaining that many surgeries were being rescheduled. In todays tumultuous global geopolitical landscape, there is growing curiosity on whether the Government of India should revisit its Tibet policy. As a Tibetan, I believe it is essential to contextualise this question accurately. Changing dynamics in the region have often contributed to heightened media speculation on New Delhi resetting ties with Beijing. I vividly recall a brief period of reports of exaggerated bonhomie between India and China, especially following the Wuhan Summit in April 2018 and leading up to the Mamallapuram Summit in October 2019. During this period, numerous bilateral meetings between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi Jinping suggested a potential reset in Sino-Indian relations. The media also fervently highlighted their personal rapport, showcasing their informal interactions such as tea ceremonies and walks. At that time, some of our well-wishers expressed concern about whether the Government of India might alter its Tibet policy due to the improving ties with China. I was frequently asked whether there had been any noticeable change in Indias policy towards Tibet. However, following the Galwan Valley clash, relations between the two countries taking a hit dominated media reports. There is keen interest in deepening Indias strategic partnership with the United States, particularly in the military and defence spheres. The U.S. now views India as a key ally in countering Chinas influence in the Indo-Pacific region. Moreover, the recent passage of the Resolve Tibet Act, signed into law by U.S. President Joe Biden, which refutes Beijings claim that Tibet has been part of China since ancient times, has again intensified calls for a reassessment of Indias Tibet policy. Given that the current policy was framed in an entirely different geopolitical era, and considering Chinas growing belligerence on all fronts, it is quite understandable why the so-called Tibet card is being invoked in discussion every now and then. Thus, the question arises again: Will the Government of India change its Tibet policy? My answerthen and nowhas invariably remained the same. When it comes to core issues, Indias stance on Tibet has always been steadfast. Reflecting the prevailing global geopolitical climate and ongoing border tensions, the Government of India may fine-tune its rhetoric on Tibet, sometimes being vocal and at other times subdued. But I firmly believe that the Indian government will never adopt a position that is anti-Tibet or anti-Tibetan people. I am confident that my response will remain the same in the future. (Dhundup Gyalpo is the secretary of the Bureau of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, New Delhi. The views expressed are personal.) The Calcutta High Court hearing pleas in connection with the Kolkata trainee doctor rape and murder case came down heavily on the state government and principal of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on Tuesday. The court verbally directed that the principal should go on long leave, he should not function. Hearing the case, a division bench presided by Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam made scathing observations on the manner the state police handled the probe. The Court directed the state government to produce the case diary in the afternoon. Hearing the plea of the victims parents seeking court-monitored investigation, the Court asked why hasnt the police recorded the principals statement yet. By now a statement should have been recorded from the principal, Live Law reported quoting the bench. If the principal has stepped down owing moral responsibility, rather serious that he is rewarded within 12 hours with another appointment. There is an apprehension that with lost time there is something that will go wrong, the bench observed. The bench directed the state government to produce the resignation letter tendered by the principal. The principal will not function. Let him go on long leave. Otherwise, we will pass an order, the Court said. Dr Sandip Ghosh, Principal of the hospital resigned on Monday and said he is being unnecessarily targeted on social media. He said he is resigning as a parent. I am getting defamed on social media. The deceased doctor was like my daughter. As a parent, I resign, he told ANI on Monday. Advocate appearing for the parents charged the parents were initially misled by College authorities and police and the latter attempted to settle the case. The counsel told the Court that authorities initially informed the parents that she was sick and later told them that she committed suicide. The parents were also made to wait for three hours when they went to the hospital after knowing about the death, the counsel said. T. Devanathan Yadav, the BJP candidate from Sivaganga constituency in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, has been arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EoW) of the Tamil Nadu police on the charge of cheating 150 depositors of the Mylapore Hindu Permanent Fund Nidhi Limited. The finance firm had allegedly failed to return the investments and pay interest to its depositors after the maturity period. Yadav has been questioned by the EoW for more than four months now. With several depositors raising complaints, the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee and the Communist Party of India lodged a case against Yadav. Yadav was picked up from Pudukottai en route to Sivaganga from Trichy. According to police sources, he was travelling to Pudukottai. He will be brought to Chennai by the police and produced before the court. Sources say that Yadav and his company had cheated more than 150 depositors to the tune of Rs 50 crore. The depositors in April and June held protests and also laid siege to the office of the Mylapore Hindu Permanent Fund Nidhi Limited, in Mylapore. Based on the complaints from the depositors, the EoW registered a case against him. Meanwhile, BJP state chief K. Annamalai posted on X saying that, his party was committed to ensuring justice for the investors who lost their deposits. He also said that the Tamil Nadu government should conduct a thorough investigation. At the same time, if this is one of the attempts to threaten the NDA partners for pointing out the failure of the Law and Order in the state, I strongly condemn the DMK government. Who is Devanathan Yadav? 62-year-old Yadav, contested against Congresss Karti P. Chidambaram in Sivaganga, during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, on a BJP ticket. A resident of R Nagar in Chennai, Yadav is a businessman and runs a vernacular TV channel. A PhD graduate in Behavioural sciences from a University in the USA, Yadav was the richest candidate from Tamil Nadu during the election. His affidavit stated that he along with his wife Meenakshi Yadav and two daughters has assets worth Rs. 300 crore. Yadav, with his community back up in Sivaganga, pushed the AIADMKs candidate A. Xavierdas to the third position. Founder of the Indhiya Makkal Kalvi Munnetra Kazhagam (IMKMK) he is considered close to the state BJP leadership. A financially powerful leader, Yadav gave a foothold to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Tamil Nadu. He was the first to get Mayawati and Kanshiram for a public meeting in the state. At one point he came out of the BSP and took a stand with Jayalalithaas close aide V.K. Sasikalas husband M. Natarajan. And then he fell out with Natarajan only to take the caste card and launch a party on his own called the IMKMK. In the Lok Sabha elections, whenever Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Tamil Nadu to campaign for the BJP candidates Yadav was given space in the dias next to Modi. The Mylapore chit fund case Considered to be one of the oldest finance firms in the country, the Mylapore Hindu Permanent Fund Nidhi Ltd was launched in 1872. With over 5,000 depositors, most of them senior citizens from the affluent Brahmin community in Mylapore, the chit fund company was a legacy firm considered to be the most trusted institution, till a year before. In December 2023, the demand for withdrawals from the chit fund went up as one finance firm in Central Chennai had closed its operations. Panic-stricken depositors queued up in front of the finance firm to withdraw the money. Tamil Nadu Congress Committee, Communist Party of India also filed complaints against Devenathan Yadav for cheating the depositors. Days after Bangladesh's interim government said it would try to repatriate former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from India, a murder case was against her and six others. The case pertains to the murder of a grocery shop owner in the police firing in Dhaka's Mohammadpur area on July 19. The deceased, identified as Abu Sayed, was fired upon by police during a procession in support of the quota reform movement at Bosila, reported Daily Star. Besides Sheikh Hasina, a case has also been filed against Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and three former top police officials. This is the first case filed against Sheikh Hasina after she resigned and fled to India. The petitioner is a Mohammadpur resident named Amir Hamza Shatil, who identifies him as a well-wisher of the victim and a Bangladeshi citizen. He said he filed the case voluntarily as the victim's family members have no ability to file a case over the death of the victim. The hearing for this case will reportedly take place on Tuesday afternoon. The case comes as Bangladesh's foreign ministry said it will take steps to bring back Sheikh Hasina if the law ministry makes a request. Interim government foreign affairs adviser Md Touhid Hossain told reporters that the matter falls under the jurisdiction of the law ministry and any action will be taken by the foreign ministry only if a request is received from them. However, Bangladesh's interim government said Hasina's stay in Delhi won't affect the relations between the both countries. On a query related to Hasina's stay in India, Hossain said the bilateral relationship between the two countries was not influenced by the presence of one individual in a country. "Bilateral relations are a significant matter, involving mutual interests from both sidesIndia has its interests, and Bangladesh has its interests," he said. The much-awaited Donald Trump-Elon Musk interview got off on a rocky start after tech issues delayed it for about 40 minutes. Many users who tried to log in were unable to access the live stream, with X a message stating that the Spaces audio feed was unavailable. Musk blamed it on a cyber attack, posting "a massive DDOS attack on X. Working on shutting it down." A DDoS (distributed denial of service attack) is a malicious attempt by a low-skilled hacker to make the service unavailable to users by disrupting the services of a host connected to a network. He, however, did not give any proof. The incident was reminiscent of Musk's interview with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign. Interestingly, Trump had then mocked the delayed launch, posting on his social media Truth social: "The DeSantus TWITTER launch is a DISASTER! His whole campaign will be a disaster. WATCH!" Trump wrote in May last year. When the interview finally began, the duo spent the first 20 minutes discussing the assassination attempt on Trump at a July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. I think a lot of people admire your courage under fire, Musk added. To this Trump said: "It was amazing that I happened to be turned just at that perfect angle." He was talking about how the bullet grazed his ear. Trump also remembered Corey Comperatore, the firefighter who died during the shooting. "We lost somebody that was firefighter, a great Trumper," Trump said, adding, "He was a just a fantastic family [man] and a fantastic man." The Republican nominee then hit out at the Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris calling her candidature a scam. "She hasn't done an interview since this whole scam started," Trump said, adding that Biden dropping off the ticket was a coup. He also praised Musk for firing workers for dismissal of workers in Tesla during organizing efforts. "You're the greatest cutter. I mean, I look at what you do. You walk in, you just say: 'You want to quit?' They go on strike - I won't mention the name of the company - but they go on strike. And you say: 'That's okay, youre all gone." On illegal immigration, Trump repeated the false claim regarding Congo that the country was releasing people from jail into the US. "Elon, whats happened is unbelievable. You have from Africa, from the Congo. Theyre coming from the Congo and 22 people came in from the Congo recently, and theyre murderers," Trump said. "They take them out of jails, prisons, they take them out and they bring them to the United States. They deposit them in the United States and say, dont ever come back, or youre going to be executed." On illegal immigration, Trump once again criticised Harris on border issues, claiming she was a border czar and in charge of the border. He also hit out at Harris, calling her "a San Francisco liberal" who "destroyed" California. "Shes going to be worse than him," Trump said, referring to Joe Biden. "She is a San Francisco liberal who destroyed San Francisco, and then as attorney general, she destroyed California," he then said of Harris. Trump also spoke about artificial intelligence, discussing its significant need for electricity. "This is shocking to me, but AI requires twice the energy that the country already produces for everything," Trump said. "Youre gonna need a lot of electricity, youre gonna need tremendous electricity, like almost double what we produced now for the whole country, if you can believe it," he added. On the Ukraine war, he said he could have stopped the invasion if he had been the president. "You know, Russia defeated Germany with us, and they defeated Napoleon. You know, theyve been around a long time. Theyre a big fighting force and its very unfair. And Ukraine now doesnt have enough men, theyre now using young men and very old men to fight, and were in a very bad position. And Im not going to blame, exclusively, but I can tell you, I could have stopped that, and a smart president could have stopped that." He also praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as at the "top of their game." A top Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) commander has said that his forces were "minutes away" from capturing Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in a Gaza tunnel but the militant leader managed to get away. Brig. Gen. Dan Goldfus told Israeli media Channel12 in an interview that the troops managed to get inside the compound of the building where Sinawar stayed. "We were close. We were in his compound. We got to an underground compound. It was hot," Goldfus said, referring to Sinwar's coffee. Sinawar, allegedly the architect of the October 7 attacks on Israel, was appointed the new leader of the militant group last week after the death of its political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Sinawar, who is currently holed up in Gaza, is the groups chief decision-maker and is said to be in control of the 120 Israeli hostages. The founding member of Hamas, 61-year-old Sinawar is viewed as one of Hamass most extreme figures and Israel's 'most wanted man'. Goldfus added: "We found a lot of money there. The coffee was still hot. Weapons strewn around." In December, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the army had surrounded Sinwars house. However, nothing more has been mentioned about it since then. It is not clear if Goldfus was mentioning that operation. Israel has vowed to kill Sinwar after accusing him of being the architect of the October 7 attack. The IDF had earlier aired a clip showing troops giving a tour of one of the tunnels that Sinwar, his family, and other senior Hamas officials had been using as a compound during the war. It had two bathrooms, a stocked kitchen, an area to sleep in, and a separate room that the IDF said belonged to Sinwar himself, in which soldiers found a safe with millions in cash. Le porte-parole de Tsahal devoile la video ou l'on apercoit de dos, le numero un du Hamas, le terroriste Yahya Sinawar s'enfuir dans un tunnel avec sa femme et ses enfants. Cette video date du 10 octobre, 3 jours apres le debut de la guerre. *ISRANEWS* pic.twitter.com/2t39PJHihx Always look on the bright side of life (@Eliott064381604) February 13, 2024 Not many even within Hamas know the whereabouts of Sinawar, according to The Times of Israel. He is said to be staying in Gaza and communicates with Hamas officials once every two weeks and sometimes even once a week. This is done via a series of intermediaries to avoid detection. Usually, his messages are handwritten or printed and signed by him and moved manually from person to person until they reach their destination. However, in rare cases, a phone call has been arranged with special security protocols. The United States has said that it had no role in the unrest in Bangladesh, stating all allegations of the US interference were "simply false". Washington's response comes amid reports citing former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina accusing the U.S. of playing a role in ousting her because it wanted control over Bangladesh's Saint Martin island in the Bay of Bengal. "We have had no involvement at all. Any reports or rumours that the United States government was involved in these events is simply false," White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said at a press briefing when asked about reported claims of U.S. involvement. "We believe that the Bangladeshi people should determine the future of the Bangladeshi government and that's where we stand," the White House added. The report claimed that Hasina conveyed the message of US interference to it through her close associates. However, Hasina's son, Sajeeb Wazed, in a post on X on Sunday said she never made any such statement. However, the US will continue to monitor the situation in Bangladesh on human rights issues. There were instances of attacks on the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh after Hasina's government fell. Jean-Pierre, while responding to questions regarding calls from Hindu-American groups and Indian-American lawmakers seeking the US government's intervention in protecting the lives and properties of the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh, added: "We are certainly going to continue monitoring the situation. I don't have anything else to add beyond that. But, when it comes to any type of human rights issues, the president (Joe Biden) has been very consistent in speaking loud and clear in public and also privately and he'll continue to do that." The US had witnessed protests and marches by the members of the Bangladeshi Hindu diaspora over the weekend, urging President Biden to take decisive action. Chanting "Stop killing Hindus" and "Justice, justice, we want justice," the crowd urged the US government to intervene and protect Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh. A large protest rally, co-hosted by the Washington-based NGO HinduACTion, was also held in New York City, where protesters raised slogans of "Stop killing Hindus! Bangladesh! Bangladesh! Stop burning temples! Bangladesh! Bangladesh! We want justice! We want justice!". Robert Downey Jr. is a name that has become synonymous with Iron Man and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. His portrayal of Tony Stark on the big screen exceeded all expectations, making the actor one of the most recognizable and beloved in the world of cinema. ADVERTISIMENT The death of Iron Man in the cinematic universe was a real sensation, so the return of this character to the screens could be revolutionary. Deadpool & Wolverine co-writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick told IndieWire in an interview that they planned a cameo of the legendary hero, but Robert Downey Jr. refused. One of the most talked about moments of recent times was the news that Robert Downey Jr. could return to the role of Tony Stark in the movie Deadpool & Wolverine. For many fans, this would be a real gift. The idea of a cameo The co-writers of Deadpool & Wolverine planned to realize a scene featuring Robert Downey Jr. The idea was to have Tony Stark appear in a small role at the beginning of the movie, along with Happy Hogan, played by Jon Favreau. ADVERTISIMENT When Deadpool used Cable's time machine to apply for a place in the Avengers and came to them for an interview, it was to be conducted not only by Happy, but also by Tony Stark himself. In addition, the writers also talked about another interesting idea that was not realized: a scene where Deadpool would have met all the original Avengers, including Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Thor, and Captain America. Robert Downey Jr.'s refusal Despite attempts to involve Downey in the project, the actor turned down the offer. The reason for this, as it became known later, was that he was preparing to return to Marvel in a completely different role - Dr. Doom. ADVERTISIMENT This character will appear in the upcoming films Avengers: Doomsday in 2026 and Avengers: Secret Wars in 2027. Rhett Reese admitted that at first they hoped that they would be able to realize the cameo because they did not know about the new role of Robert Downey Jr. But it turned out that this decision was not entirely realistic, given the actor's future plans. Subscribe to OBOZ.UA channels on Telegram and Viber to keep up with the latest events. Mumbai, Aug 12 (PTI) Actor Rani Mukerji and director Karan Johar are set to address the Australian Parliament House ahead of the upcoming 15th Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM), the organisers on Monday said. Mukerji, 46 and Johar, 52, who have collaborated on films such as his directorial debut "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai", "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham..." and "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna", will deliver a keynote speech on August 13 ahead of the gala. IFFM, to be held in Melbourne from August 15 to 25, will showcase a diverse range of films that celebrate the rich tapestry of Indian cinema. The keynote address will be attended by distinguished dignitaries, members of Australian Parliament and various ministers, underscoring the global impact and cultural significance of Indian cinema. Mukerji said she is "proud" to represent the Indian film fraternity at the Australian Parliament House. "This is a milestone moment for our fraternity and it would be an honour for me to speak about the growing cultural ties between Australia and India through cinema," the actor said in a statement. Johar said he is honoured to be invited to speak at the "historic event" to celebrate the incredible journey of Indian cinema. "Its incredible to see how far the stories we as an industry create travels, and this moment is a testament to the growing influence of the cultural impact of Indian cinema. Im grateful to the house, the members of the parliament for extending this invite and to have me represent the rich legacy of cinema and storytelling," he added. Festival director Mitu Bhowmik Lange said it is a landmark year for the IFFM as it celebrates its 15th year. "Having Rani Mukherji and Karan Johar as keynote speakers at the Australian Parliament House is a testament to the festivals growing influence and recognition," she added. Dubai, Aug 13 (AP) Suspected attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels targeted shipping in the Red Sea on Tuesday, officials said, the latest in their campaign of assaults over the Israel-Hamas war. The attacks comes as Yemen's main sponsor, Iran, weighs a possible retaliatory attack against Israel over the assassination of Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh in late July, which has renewed fears of a wider regional war breaking out across the Mideast. Already, the Houthi assaults have have disrupted the USD 1 trillion of goods that flow annually through the maritime route crucial to trade between Asia, Europe and the Middle East, while also sparking the most intense combat the US Navy has seen since World War II. The first attack happened around 115 kilometres south of the Houthi-held port city of Hodeida, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said. That attack saw an explosive detonate near the ship, then a small vessel acting suspiciously and flashing a light near the ship came close, followed by a second blast, the UKMTO said. "The vessel and crew are reported safe, the UKMTO said. The private security firm Ambrey similarly reported the attack, saying the ship saw two close-proximity' explosions. The second attack happened hours later Tuesday some 180 kilometres northwest of Hodeida, with an explosion similarly sighted off from a ship, the UKMTO said. It wasn't immediately clear if it was the same ship being targeted. Though the Houthis didn't immediately claim the attack, it sometimes can take hours or even days to acknowledge their assaults. They've also claimed others that apparently haven't happened. The Houthis have targeted more than 70 vessels with missiles and drones in a campaign that has killed four sailors since the start of the war in Gaza in October. They have seized one vessel and sunk two in the time since. Other missiles and drones have been either intercepted by a US-led coalition in the Red Sea or splashed down before reaching their targets. The rebels maintain that their attacks target ships linked to Israel, the United States or the UK as part of a campaign they say seeks to force an end to the war. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran. The Houthis have launched drones and missiles toward Israel, including an attack on July 19 that killed one person and wounded 10 others in Tel Aviv. Israel responded the next day with airstrikes on the Houthi-held port city of Hodeida that hit fuel depots and electrical stations, killing and wounding a number of people, the rebels say. After the strikes, the Houthis paused their attacks until August 3, when they hit a Liberian-flagged container ship travelling through the Gulf of Aden. A Liberian-flagged oil tanker came under a particularly intense series of attacks beginning August 8 likely carried out by the rebels. As Iran threatens to retaliate over Haniyeh, the US military has told the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to sail more quickly to the area. America also has ordered the the USS Georgia guided missile submarine into the Mideast, while the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier strike group had been in the Gulf of Oman. Additional F-22 fighter jets have flown into the region, while the USS Wasp, a large amphibious assault ship carrying F-35 fighter jets, is in the Mediterranean Sea. (AP) GRS GRS Washington, Aug 13 (PTI) Vinay Mohan Kwatra has assumed charge as India's Ambassador to the US here and vowed that he and his team will continue to work intensely to strengthen the crucial partnership. Kwatra, 61, who retired as India's Foreign Secretary on July 14, arrived here in the US capital on Monday. He succeeds Taranjit Singh Sandhu, who retired from the foreign service early this year and served as Indias top diplomat in the US from 2020 to 2024. Privileged to assume charge as the Ambassador of India to the United States of America. Team @IndianEmbassyUS will continue to work intensely to strengthen this crucial partnership, Kwatra posted on X soon after assuming charge on Monday. Kwatra, who previously served as Minister of Commerce in the Indian Embassy here, was also Indias Ambassador to France and Nepal, after which he was appointed as the Foreign Secretary in New Delhi. IDF: Changes in the Home Front Command Defensive Guidelines Following a situational assessment, it was determined that as of today (Tuesday) at 6:00PM, changes will be made to the Home Front Commands defensive guidelines. As part of the changes, it was decided that in the area of the Haifa Bay (HaMifratz), specifically the communities of Kiryat Ata, Kiryat Bialik, Kiryat Yam, and Kiryat Motzkin, the activity scale will be changed from Partial Activity to Limited Activity, meaning educational activities are prohibited. The rest of the countrys guidelines remain unchanged. The instructions published on the official Home Front Command channels must be followed. The full instructions are updated on the National Emergency Portal and the Home Front Command app. WATCH: IDFs 98th Division Conducts Targeted Raids Against Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon The IDFs 98th Division, including the Paratroopers Brigade, Commando Brigade, 7th Brigade, and Yahalom Unit, has carried out a series of targeted operations against Hezbollah strongholds near Israels border with southern Lebanon. During these limited raids, the division has eliminated hundreds of Hezbollah terrorists, dismantled several underground tunnel routes, and destroyed dozens of terrorist infrastructure sites and combat compounds. Hezbollah had embedded hundreds of weapons along the border, which were located and destroyed by the IDF. The ongoing operations aim to neutralize Hezbollahs capabilities in the region. https://yeshivaworlds3.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/08103301/WhatsApp-Video-2024-10-08-at-10.30.15-AM.mp4 https://yeshivaworlds3.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/08103309/WhatsApp-Video-2024-10-08-at-10.30.00-AM.mp4 https://yeshivaworlds3.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/08103318/WhatsApp-Video-2024-10-08-at-10.29.49-AM.mp4 Hezbollah Fires Rockets Into Central Israel Interceptions seen over Central Israel after Hezbollah fired rockets. No reports of injuries. https://yeshivaworlds3.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/07162808/WhatsApp-Video-2024-10-07-at-4.26.19-PM.mp4 Air France Extends Flight Suspensions to Tel Aviv and Beirut Due to Regional Security Concerns Air France announced on Monday that it will continue suspending flights between Paris and Tel Aviv until October 15, and between Paris and Beirut until October 26, citing ongoing security concerns in the area, according to a company spokesperson. Netanyahus Address at the State Ceremony to Mark One Year since the October 7 Massacre Following is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus address at the state ceremony to mark one year since the October 7 massacre [translated from Hebrew]: Citizens of Israel, A year ago, on October 7th, we were all hurled into a critical battle. That day, a Saturday, the Sabbath and the holiday of Simchat Torah, will be etched in the history of our nation as a day of grief and loss, of unimaginable agony. On that day, the Hamas monsters attacked our communities, our brothers and sisters, who are so dear to our hearts. They murdered and kidnapped babies and children, adults and old people. They tortured, maimed, raped, burned and destroyed. The memory of our citizens who were killed in the terrorist attack, and the memory of all the fallen heroes from the IDF and security forces, will be cherished forever. On October 7th, we were all hurled into a critical battle, but we were not defeated. On the contrary, it is we who are acting to defeat and deter our enemies. And, as we have often experienced in our history, it is in dark moments such as these that we exude our great inner power. We rallied together to defend our country, our homeland. We mustered immense mental strength. We outlined the goals of the war and we are achieving them: toppling the rule of Hamas; bringing all the hostages home, the living and the deceased alikethis is a sacred mission and we will not stop until we complete it; eliminating any future threat from Gaza to Israel; and returning the residents of the south and the north safely to their homes. We are doing this with solidarity unlike anything among the nations. When put to the test we proved, once again, that we are the Eternal People. A people that fights to bring light to this world, that aspires to spread good and eradicate evil. A people that rises like a lion, leaps up like a lion. Every time my wife and I meet with our soldiers, our wounded, with bereaved families, we hear the same message over and over again: we mustnt stop the war prematurely. As long as the enemy threatens our existence and the peace of our country, we will continue to fight. As long as our hostages are still in Gaza, we will continue to fight. We will not forsake any of them. I will not give up. As long as our citizens have not returned to their homes safely, we will continue to fight. We will continue to fight, and unitedwe will win. And when we win, not only for our sake but for the sake of future generations and for all humanity, we will rebuild the Tekuma region even bigger. When we hold onto the roots, the tree of life will grow back . Laly Derai, the mother of Saadia, who fell in battle said: Shadow is not darkness. Shadow is a sign that there is light from behind. Even if a mountain of grief obscures the light, we must all, as a nation, climb the mountain, because the light exists. We must always aim up, towards the light. Citizens of Israel, my dear brothers and sisters, Victory is the light. Victory guarantees eternity. October 7th will symbolize for generations the cost of our revival, and for generations it will demonstrate how determined we are and how strong our spirit is. Together we will continue to fight. And together, with Gods help we will win. Am Yisrael Chai! NOW: Hamas Protests At Brooklyn College Pro-Hamas protestors are at Brooklyn College, as thousands are expected to protest at multiple locations around NYC on Monday. https://yeshivaworlds3.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/07142419/WhatsApp-Video-2024-10-07-at-2.23.01-PM.mp4 Home Front Command Eases Restrictions in Parts of Northern Israel, Allows Limited Educational Activities Following a situational assessment, it was determined that as of today (Monday) at 7:00PM, changes will be made to the Home Front Commands defensive guidelines. As part of the changes, it was decided that in the areas of the Lower Galilee, Southern Golan (in communities in the Emek HaYarden Regional Council) and Central Galilee (in some of the communities in the Lower Galilee Regional Council) the activity scale will be changed from Limited Activity to Partial Activity, meaning educational activities can be held in a place from which a standard protected space can be reached within the time available to reach shelter. The rest of the countrys guidelines remain unchanged. FLASHBACK FEARS: Paragliders in Northern Israel Cause Brief Panic on October 7th Anniversary Thousands of Israelis in the north were briefly alarmed Monday afternoon when they spotted three paragliders flying around, triggering memories of the Hamas attacks exactly a year ago on October 7th. However, authorities confirmed the paragliders were civilians, and there was no connection to any terrorist activity. https://yeshivaworlds3.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/07113116/WhatsApp-Video-2024-10-07-at-11.29.00-AM.mp4 Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz warned on Monday that Iran is expanding its influence and support to terror groups in Yehudah and Shomron, opening a new eastern front. A serious and dangerous situation is unfolding as Iran works to establish a new eastern terror front against Israels major population centers, he wrote. Iranian Revolutionary Guard units are collaborating with Hamas operatives in Lebanon to smuggle weapons and funds into Jordan with the aim of destabilizing the regime. From Jordan, these weapons are then smuggled across the eastern border, flooding Yehuda and Shomron, particularly refugee camps, with dangerous weapons and large sums of money aiming to create a pro-Iranian Islamic terror front, as they have done in Gaza, Lebanon, and other areas, targeting Tel Aviv and Israels major population centers. The Iranian axis of evil today effectively controls refugee camps in Yehuda and Shomron through its proxies, leaving the Palestinian Authority powerless to act. We must take terror hubs like the Jenin refugee camp and carry out a thorough operational campaign to dismantle the terror infrastructure in the camp. This is a shared interest of Israel, many regional states, and the entire free world to halt the spread of Irans axis of evil. At the same time, the construction of the eastern barrier along the border with Jordan must be expedited to prevent the smuggling of weapons from Jordan into Israel, which threatens both the Jordanian regime and the State of Israel. Army Radio reported on Monday morning that the IDF is considering establishing a new IDF Divison along the Jordanian border. The report comes after the murderous terror attack on Sunday in the Jordan Valley. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) A Hamas courier played a pivotal role in the assassination of Muhammad Deif, the commander of Hamass military wing, by passing on his location to Israeli forces, according to a report by Saudi outlet Al-Arabiya. The report cites a Hamas source claiming that the courier had been carrying messages from Muhammad Shabana, the commander of Hamass Rafah Brigade. It is alleged that Shabana leaked details about a planned meeting between Deif and Rafaa Salameh, the commander of Hamass Khan Younis Brigade. Both leaders were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip last month. The airstrike was reportedly carried out after the courier confirmed that Deif and Salameh had entered the targeted building. According to the report, Israeli fighter jets had been patrolling the area for half a day before the strike, and the operation was launched within minutes of receiving the intelligence that Deif was on site. The IDF released footage of the July 13 airstrike when it confirmed Deifs death earlier this month. The Al-Arabiya report also claims that Israel has made three attempts to assassinate Shabana during the ongoing conflict in Gaza, based on intelligence provided by the same courier. In addition to the information leading to Deifs assassination, the courier reportedly handed over maps of Rafah, including details of Hamass weapons stashes within its subterranean tunnel network. The report indicates that the Palestinian courier, described as an agent, is currently under investigation. (YWN World Headquarters NYC) The Hamas terror group launched two rockets at Tel Aviv on Tisha BAv afternoon, the first time it targeted the central city since May. One of the rockets fell within the Gaza Strip and one fell in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Tel Aviv. No sirens sounded and residents of Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, Bat Yam, and Herzliya were perturbed to hear the sounds of explosions. The IDF later clarified that a rocket was intercepted over the sea and no sirens were sounded in accordance with protocol. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack, issuing a statement on its Al-Qassam Brigades Telegram channel that it fired two long-range M90 rockets. It also published a video of the launch, which was carried out with improvised launchers. Army Radio reported that the rockets were launched from the humanitarian area in Khan Younis about one and a half kilometers from where IDF forces are currently operating. Other reports said that its possible that Hamas terrorists fired the rockets now before the nearby IDF forces reached them and captured them. On Monday, terrorists in Gaza fired a rocket at Ein HaShlosha in southern Israel. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) As we sit down to mourn the destruction of the Bais HaMikdash and approach one of the saddest Tisha BAvs in recent history, let us think for a moment about what it would mean for Klal Yisroel if the Kol Torah in Eretz Yisroel would be silenced chv. CLICK HERE TO DONATE We all know the situation in Eretz Yisroel today. The army is fighting on multiple fronts as our foes encircle us, suffering tremendous losses. And as the war wages on in the north and the south, our bochurim and avreichim are fighting a different battle. It is their learning that keeps our enemies at bay. It is their learning that protects our soldiers and the front lines. They are the battalion that is ensuring the safety of Klal Yisroel every single day. Yet that learning is now at risk. The Israeli government has instituted draconian budget cuts to yeshivos and kollelim across Eretz Yisroel. These budget cuts affect over 50,000 individuals and their families. This has caused a crisis among the Olam HaTorah, as the Torah institutions that struggle financially on a regular basis are at immediate risk of collapse. Avreichim have lost their kollel stipends, leaving them with no means to feed their families. Yeshivos have to ration electricity and air conditioning, as well as cut back on food for the bochurim. In previous weeks, communities around the world rallied with unparalleled unity to heed the call of our gedolim and save the Torah learning of Eretz Yisroel. The mission: To raise enough funds to cover the shortfall caused by the Israeli governments budget cuts. Wednesday, July 24, saw Klal Yisroel come out en masse in support of Keren Olam HaTorah, exceeding the audacious fundraising goal of $10 Million in one night. Following the event at Bell Works, NJ, communities across the world, most recently London, England followed suit, with local events and fundraisers, determined to do their part to ensure the survival of the Yeshiva world. But with a budget shortfall that amounts to $9 million a month, additional funds are needed to cover the deficit. On this day when we cry for what weve lost, we remember that throughout this long Galus our only salvation comes through Torah. And as the war in Eretz Yisroel unfortunately continues to unfold, we cannot afford to have the Kol Torah threatened and at risk. The zechus of their Torah learning, along with the incredible unity Klal Yisroel around the world has displayed in trying to save it, will ultimately bring us back to Yerushalayim and the third Bais HaMikdash. Let us do our part and contribute to the campaign that will guarantee our survival and the ultimate redemption. Donate today 732-686-6100 | [email protected] Ukraine has succeeded in getting the Arbitration Tribunal in Paris to consider the claim filed by Ukrenergo against Russia in 2019. The relevant jurisdiction of the court was approved on August 5. ADVERTISIMENT This was reported by Ukrenergo. The company noted that the Permanent Court of Arbitration appointed the Paris Arbitration Tribunal to hear the case. Ukrenergo's claims concern the payment of compensation for energy assets and investments in Crimea illegally expropriated by Russia. In particular, the property in question is worth EUR 527 million: 17 substations over 1300 kilometers of power lines. NPC Ukrenergo filed a lawsuit with the International Arbitration Tribunal back in 2019, but the proceedings only began at the end of 2020. The decision to dismiss the Russians' complaints finally paves the way for the case to be considered on the merits. Unlike other similar cases involving claims of Ukrainian companies against the aggressor state, Russia is actively involved in the tribunal initiated by Ukrenergo: representatives of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office are present during the tribunal's hearings. ADVERTISIMENT "It took 11 months for the arbitrators to analyze the arguments of the parties and make their decision on the jurisdiction of the case. Now we are preparing for the next stages of the proceedings in court. We understand that this path will be long and difficult. But in the end, the aggressor will pay for the damage caused to the Ukrainian power system to the last penny," Ukrenergo said. As OBOZ.UA previously reported, in May, the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) ruled to recover two passenger planes of the Russian airline Ilyushin Finance Co. to the state. Before and during the full-scale invasion, the company systematically cooperates with the top political leadership of the Russian Federation and participates in the logistics of the Russian armed aggression. Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! ADVERTISIMENT To Acheinu Kol Bnai Yisrael, I am reaching out to ask for your help. My name is , and I am currently battling stage IV squamous cell cancer of the palate. After initially being in remission, the cancer has unfortunately returned. On top of this, I was recently involved in a major accident, which left me with broken ribs and a fractured sternum. Despite these challenges, I must now make the difficult journey from New York to Cleveland every two weeks for treatment. CLICK HERE TO DONATE In addition to this, I am caring for my 90-year-old mother, who suffers from severe dementia. Despite my own struggles, the overwhelming expenses I am facing, coupled with my inability to earn a living, have left me in a very difficult position. I humbly ask for your support during this challenging time. Your generosity will make a significant difference in my life and help me continue to fight this battle. Please daven and ask for , for . When donating please add in the name you want me to daven for. When Im able to I will bln daven for you as well. May we all see and !. CLICK HERE TO DONATE Households in England and Wales are set to get extra compensation from 'broken' water firms due to a government crackdown on customer service. This year has already seen households ordered to boil tap water for being unsafe to drink, getting ill from contamination and being left without water - but so far, no hosepipe ban. But the amount of compensation households can get has been almost negligible compared to the level of inconvenience from disrupted water supplies. Thames Oughta : Water companies have agreed to Labour's plans to invest heavily in upgrading the UK's neglected water mains to tackle the sewage crisis in rivers and seas Now the Government has plans to shake up water bill compensation, in some cases more than doubling the amount water firms have to pay out. Here is everything you need to know about water bill compensation and how any changes will affect you. What are my current water bill compensation rights? If your home floods with sewage, you can get up to 1,000. If your water is cut off you get around 20, plus 10 for every extra 24 hours this situation continues. If you have low water pressure, you can get one payment of 25 a year, while if water firms are slow taking action over complaints you receive 20. If a water company makes an appointment it then misses, you are also eligible for 20. How could water compensation improve? The Government wants to increase compensation in the following ways: Home floods with sewage: maximum compensation up 100 per cent to 2,000 Water cut off: 50, with an extra 50 every 12 hours Low water pressure: maximum of five payments of 50 per year Water firm handles complaints poorly: 40 Water firm misses an appointment: 40 The Government also wants to bring in new water-related issues that households can be compensated for. These include automatic payouts for those issues 'boil notices', where homes are advised to boil water before drinking it or using it in cooking. The least a home can get in boil notice compensation will be 50 under Government plans. When will the new compensation rules come in? There is no set date yet. Government is currently consulting on the plans, and will then consider the responses and take its plan further. The new compensation requirements are also not confirmed yet - but these are what Government intends to bring in unless it hears strong evidence why not. Environment secretary Steve Reed said: 'Our water industry is broken. After years of failure, households and businesses have been let down by water companies time and time again. 'The new Government will clean up the water industry and turn the tide on the destruction of our waterways ensuring water companies protect the interests of their customers and the environment.' What about our polluted waterways? The Government also has plans to crack down on the polluted water scandal, which has seen water companies come under fire for pumping sewage into rivers, lakes and the sea. Water firms have already signed up to Labour's initial reform plans, which include more cash for fixing the UK's neglected sewer system, much of which dates back to Victorian times. Labour also want more private sector investment in reservoirs, mains water pipes and storm overflows. If any water firm does not spend cash earmarked for these improvements then it will be paid back to customers. Holidaymakers can fly as much as they like in a year with a new 445 limited-time offer from Wizz Air - but it only makes sense for serious travellers happy to book at the last minute. Wizz Air has launched an all-you-can-fly offer for 534 for 12 months, discounted to 445 from August 13 until August 15. Customers who buy the all-you-can-fly offer can take any trip they want on a Wizz Air flight, paying an additional 9 per trip. Last-minute jetaway: Prague is one of the options for travellers using the Wizz Air deal Flyers can use the deal to travel from 200 cities in more than 50 countries on 800 Wizz Air routes. The offer applies to any Wizz Air flights from 25 September 2024 onwards, and for one person only. One snag is that this is for last-minute trips only, and bookings must be made within 72 hours of the flight taking off. Another snag is that, while 445 a year sounds cheap, so are Wizz Air flights. This means customers could need to book up three to five flights a year before making their money back. For example, a Wizz Air return trip from Heathrow airport to Marrakesh leaving within 72 hours costs 161.99, one from Gatwick to Rome costs 134.99 and a return from Luton to Prague costs 89.99. These six flights cost 410.97 with the three 9 flat fees included - still 34.03 less than the cost of the all-you-can-fly offer. Holidaymakers taking advantage of the Wizz Air deal would also need to factor in accomodation and other holiday costs on top of the flights. However, booking somewhere to stay at the last minute is not typically more expensive in cities, though it can be in popular resorts. Factoring in more expensive Wizz Air flights makes the all-you-can-fly offer more tempting for less frequent travellers. The airline charges 228.99 for a return from Luton airport to Istanbul, leaving within 72 hours. Return flights from Luton to Tel Aviv are around 500 with Wizz Air, meaning customers could recoup the cost of the discounted all-you-can-fly offer with just one trip. The higher cost reflects an extra airport charge, as the Israel/Palestine conflict means planes need to land at a different terminal at Ben Gurion airport. However, Wizz Air has no Tel Aviv flights available until late October, meaning customers with Israel in mind would need to rely on last-minute cancellations. Baggage and seat selection charges are not included in the cost of the all-you-can-fly deal. Wizz Air baggage charges range from 11 (9.40) to 120.50, depending on when and how you book, as well as the weight of your luggage. Seat selection fees are between 80 and 100. There are 10,000 of the all-you-can-fly memberships available. Wizz Air commercial officer Silvia Mosquera said: 'From the adventurous travellers, to the digital nomads, this membership will make travel easier for frequent flyers and connect people with new people and places.' Ousted: Starbucks boss Laxman Narasimhan The boss of Starbucks has been ousted after less than two years as sales fall and customers boycott the coffee chain over perceived ties to Israel. Laxman Narasimhan the former chief executive of British consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser before joining Starbucks in March 2023 left yesterday with immediate effect. He will be replaced by Brian Niccol, the boss of Chipotle who has been praised for turning around the Mexican chains fortunes. The shake-up follows a period of falling sales and a row over its alleged links to Israel amid the war in Gaza. The board finally acted after coming under fire from activist investor Elliott Management and former boss Howard Schultz. Russia has occupied much more territory than Ukraine, and this is important to remember when Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is outraged by the Ukrainian Armed Forces' operation in the Kursk region. To end the war, Russia must leave Ukrainian lands. ADVERTISIMENT This statement was made by British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps. He wrote about this on his account on the social network X. "Putin's indignation at Ukraine's audacity to seize about 1,000 square kilometers of Russia's Kursk region should be seen in the context of Putin's illegal occupation of 100 times the size of Ukraine (well over 100,000 square kilometers). To end this war, Russia must leave democratic Ukraine," Grant Shapps emphasized. The day before, dictator Putin told Russians that the Russian army was trying to "drive the enemy out" of the Kursk region and boasted that despite these events, the pace of its offensive on the Ukrainian front had "increased by 1.5 times." At the same time, the war criminal demanded that his officials provide reliable coverage of the border with Ukraine. ADVERTISIMENT Earlier, the Ukrainian military told the WSJ about the details of the breakthrough into the Kursk region. According to the defenders, they "expected stiffer resistance" from the so-called second army of the world. It was also reported that the day before, Kyiv officially recognized the operation in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation for the first time, and the head of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrsky, said that as of August 12, the Armed Forces controlled about 1000 square kilometers in the Kursk region. Meanwhile, ISW stated that, despite Russia's statements, the Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to advance in the Kursk region. Meanwhile, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is trying to shift the responsibility for the situation in the region to the Russian military and officials and has already publicly declared his refusal to negotiate with Kyiv. ADVERTISIMENT At the same time, the SBU warned that the enemy could stage crimes against civilians in Kursk region, and the Center for Political Analysis analyzed the fakes spread by Russians in connection with the events in Kursk region. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber . Do not fall for fakes! The administration of US President Joe Biden has advised Russian dictator Vladimir Putin to withdraw his troops from Ukraine if he is concerned about the situation in the Kursk region. The head of the Kremlin was reminded that he is the aggressor in this war, and Ukraine is defending itself against the attack. ADVERTISIMENT This was stated by John Kirby, Strategic Communications Coordinator for the White House National Security Council, at a briefing on Monday, August 12. This is how the American official reacted to the latest statements by Russian officials that the Ukrainian Armed Forces' operation in Kursk region is allegedly run by the West. Kirby called such statements propaganda, which the dictator has been clinging to since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine. "The only ones who are at war in Ukraine are the Russians themselves. It is they who are invading Ukraine, and Ukraine is defending itself against aggression. This is Russia's war against Ukraine, nothing more and nothing less, and it has been that way from the very beginning," he emphasized. The White House representative reminded Putin that it was he who started the full-scale war against the Ukrainian people, and that at any moment he can give an order and end the war if he does not like the current situation, particularly in the Kursk region. ADVERTISIMENT "But make no mistake about it: this is Putin's war against Russia. And if he doesn't like it, if it's making him a little uncomfortable, then there's an easy solution: he can just get the hell out of Ukraine and call it a day," he added. As reported earlier, the United States and the European Union reacted to the situation in the Kursk region. In their opinion, Ukraine has the legal right to act within its capabilities in the situation. On August 12, Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said that the Defense Forces control about 1,000 square kilometers of the Kursk region. Fighting is taking place along almost the entire frontline. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Eight inmates have been taken to hospital after suffering from overdoses at Portlaoise Prison. The Irish Prison Service has issued a statement following a number of overdoses at Portlaoise Prison. Its reported eight inmates from Portlaoise Prison were taken to the Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise today suffering from overdoses. Last month the Irish Prison Service issued a National Drug Alert for prisons in relation to the drug nitrazene following a fatal overdose in a prison. Following the suspected overdoses today, the Irish Prison Service has issued a statement. The Irish Prison Service is working closely with the HSE in response to a number of overdose presentations in custody. The Prison Service has secured extra naloxone kits in the event of clinical intervention. Extra vigilance is being taken across the prison estate and the Irish Prison Service has commenced an information campaign for prisoners around the dangers of consuming contraband. The Irish Prison Service is committed to preventing the access of contraband including drugs into prisons and continues to be a high priority for the Irish Prison Service. The Irish Prison Service has committed to continuing to invest in new technologies and measures to support our efforts to keep contraband out of prisons. Prison staff have increased the use of random and intelligence led cell searches on a daily basis. Our Canine Unit carry out searches around the prisons, including a greater focus on searching deliveries into prisons. The Irish Prison Service continues to engage with An Garda Siochana with regard to preventing contraband entering our prison and this happens at both local and national level. The Operational Support Group work closely with their colleagues in An Garda Siochana on a regular basis and the sharing of intelligence has led to target searches resulting in the seizure of contraband. There is a free confidential telephone line (1800 855 717) and text line (086 180 2449) which is operational. Prisoners, visitors, staff or members of the public with information on the trafficking of prohibited items into our prisons can pass on that information in the strictest confidence. The Irish Prison Service are committed to strengthening our measures in keeping drugs out of prison and in this regard a new Drug Strategy was published last November. This new strategy sets out clear measures to be taken by the Irish Prison Service to tackle the problem of substance abuse in prisons over the next three years, the statement concluded. Ukrainian soldiers continue to fight the enemy in the Serebryansky forest in Luhansk region. The invaders are not able to gain a foothold there, as the fighters of the 1st Presidential Operational Brigade named after Bureviy are preventing them from doing so. ADVERTISIMENT The shelters and dugouts that the occupiers are trying to build are instantly hit by kamikaze drones or incinerated by UAV drops. The brigade's Telegram channel showed how the Russians were burning in the Serebryansky Forest. "Using kamikaze drones and drops, fighters of the Khoryv and Forpost battalions of the 1st Presidential Operational Brigade named after Hetman Petro Doroshenko "Bureviy" of the National Guard of Ukraine are stopping the Russian occupier's attempts to gain a foothold in the Serebryany Forest," the message reads. As can be seen in the video, Ukrainian soldiers are using thermobaric discharges to burn out the occupiers. After the soldiers' jewelry work, ashes remain in place of Russian dugouts and shelters. ADVERTISIMENT ADVERTISIMENT As a reminder, in the morning report of August 13, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that 134 combat engagements took place at the front the day before. The enemy's greatest activity is observed in the Pokrovsk, Lyman, and Toretsk directions. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber . Do not fall for fakes! The United States Department of State said it supports the advance of the Ukrainian Defense Forces in the Kursk region. They emphasized that this operation is aimed at self-defense. ADVERTISIMENT At the same time, the decision to conduct operations on the territory of the aggressor country is made exclusively by Ukraine. Deputy State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said this at a briefing in Washington on August 12. According to him, the United States is focused on ensuring that Ukraine has the necessary weapons to defend itself against full-scale Russian aggression. As for the strikes of the Ukrainian Armed Forces with American weapons deep into Russian territory, the White House still does not give permission for this, despite the requests of the Ukrainian authorities, Patel said. He emphasized that "nothing has changed in the US policy on strikes across the border." When asked how Washington assesses the advance of the Defense Forces in Kursk, the State Department spokesman said that Ukraine will talk about its operations, but added that the United States supports the Armed Forces. ADVERTISIMENT "But in general, we have supported Ukrainian troops who can defend themselves from attacks by Russian forces coming from abroad, to take measures to protect themselves from these attacks. That, as President Biden says, would be common sense," Patel said. Regarding Russian dictator Putin's threats of a "response" to the Ukrainian Armed Forces' operation in Kursk region, the representative of the department reminded that this is not the first time that such rhetoric has been heard from the Russian president. He emphasized that Putin launched an illegal invasion of Ukraine and if he does not like the way the country defends itself, he can simply withdraw his troops and end the war. As OBOZ.UA reported, earlier the White House also advised Putin to withdraw his occupation troops from Ukraine if he was concerned about the situation in the Kursk region. The head of the Kremlin was reminded that he is the aggressor in this war, and Ukraine is defending itself against the attack. ADVERTISIMENT Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Ecuadors Vice President Veronica Abad has filed a complaint against President Daniel Noboa before the Electoral Contentious Court, accusing him of gender-based political violence. The complaint comes after months of growing tension between the two leaders. The relationship between Noboa and Abad deteriorated significantly after the 2023 presidential election went to the runoff. Once they were elected, they did not speak again, the vice president said in an interview with EL PAIS. One of Noboas first decrees after assuming the presidency was to appoint Abad as ambassador of peace in Israel, in an unprecedented diplomatic mission for Ecuador. The vice president described this mission as useless because, she argued, Ecuador does not have a significant role in the conflict between Israel and Palestine. According to Abad, this move marked the beginning of a series of measures and declarations that violate her rights and seek to pressure her into leaving office. The complaint also names Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld; Deputy Minister of Government Esteban Torres; and Presidential Adviser Diana Jacome. According to Abad, all of them have actively participated in the smear campaign against her. Sommerfeld, for example, did not authorize Abads vacation requests and criticized her performance in the diplomatic post. In an interview in May, the minister claimed that Abad was acting against Ecuador instead of fulfilling her duties. At that time, the deputy minister and government spokesman, Esteban Torres, gave a press conference to warn of new legal proceedings in the case into Abads son for alleged influence peddling in the vice presidency. The Public Prosecutors Office also tried to criminally implicate Abad, but this effort was frustrated after Ecuadors Congress refused to lift her immunity from prosecution. Torres said that it would be disastrous for the country if Veronica Abad assumed power. In her complaint, Abad said that the government is using a coordinated strategy to damage her image and that of her family. Diana Jacome, the presidential adviser, has referred to Abad as an enemy backed by political groups that want to attack the government and has insinuated that Abad is a bad mother by hinting that she would prefer to maintain in power rather than take care about her son. If your son is in prison do you go back or do you prefer to stay because you want power? said Jacome, in an interview in June, at the height of the case, which led to the vice presidents son to be imprisoned in Guayaquils maximum security prison, La Roca. In the midst of this conflict, Noboa stated that Abad will leave on her own, adding: in the end, what goes around, comes around. The theories about the strained relations between Noboa and Abad have varied over time. At one point, spokespeople said it was because they knew about the corruption case, allegedly orchestrated by the vice presidents son. And other times, they accused Abad of being aligned with Correismo, the party of former president Rafael Correa, that she has always opposed. Abads complaint was filed on August 8, but was only made public on Monday, amid the crisis in the Electoral Contentious Court. In that body, three judges unexpectedly called a hearing to remove the president of the institution, Fernando Munoz, the judge who had filed a previous complaint against Abad. The complaint seeks the dismissal of the president, the chancellor, the vice minister and the adviser, the suspension of their participation rights for four years and a fine of $32,000. The government has tried five times to remove Abad from office to prevent her from assuming power in January, when Noboa must leave the presidency to campaign for the presidency. Current regulations prevent a public official from being a presidential candidate in order to ensure they cannot influence the election. The failed attempts include sending Abad to Israel, the arrest of her son, Congress refusal to authorize her investiture, and the complaint filed by a public official. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition They resemble an anti-tank barrier, but under their tombstones lie nearly 1,000 extinguished lives: 1,000 marble pyramids stretched across the skyline of the cemetery in Bakinskaya, a stanitsa Cossack village in the southern Russian region of Krasnodar. It is one of the cemeteries in which the Wagner Group has buried its casualties from the invasion of Ukraine. Just one more in the region where wreaths to honor dead servicemen dot the outskirts of the villages and burials go on and on. Everywhere there are recruitment advertisements, and offers from funeral companies. Young and old have gone to the front and the authorities pay those who survive well. Krasnodar was the main base of the Wagner mercenary company until the unit was forced to integrate into the Russian Armed Forces a year ago because of the hostility of its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, towards the high command. That confrontation culminated in a failed rebellion and the death in a plane crash, in circumstances that remain unclear, of the man who was known as Putins Chef. His ghost, however, still hovers over the Kremlin. In the cemetery, the memory of Prigozhin is still present. His figure was evoked again by nationalist circles after the dismissal last May of Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and a series arrests within his inner circle. Despite its integration into the military, the Kremlin has not ventured to close the Wagner companys main Telegram channels, such as Wagner Orchestra, with more than half a million subscribers. Amid the stalemate on the front, his supporters recall Prigozhins victories and his temperament in the face of the silence of other commanders. He was desperate, he was irascible and provoked terror, especially among our own. He was history and now he is a legend, recalls a veteran on Wagner Orchestra. Unlike Bakinskaya, the Goriachi Kliuch cemetery is closed to the public. It is a sacred place for Wagner. The mercenaries built their church there and last April, in defiance of the Kremlin, erected statues of Prigozhin and his right-hand man, commander Dmitry Utkin, who was also killed in plane crash two months after President Vladimir Putin said he had forgiven those who took part in the mutiny. These are small gestures, but highly symbolic in the context of the tension that pervades in Russia. In the Wagner cemeteries the flags with the famous skull of the mercenary group have been removed and criticism of the Ministry of Defense is now subtle. The channels of Prigozhins company have declined to make comments to this newspaper, although previously, in tributes to its founder, some members of Wagner acknowledged to El PAIS that the rebellion was a mistake and his death, a thing of politics. The Wagner Group area at Bakinskaya cemetery, Krasnodar, June 18. Javier G. Cuesta Continuous trickle of dead A section of the Bakinskaya cemetery houses the remains of Wagner foot soldiers who died for the fatherland between 2022 and 2023, most of them in the leaden months of the bloody offensive on Bakhmut. But the trickle of dead continues: in one corner several slabs are set aside with the year 2024 written on them. In another part of the cemetery, the civilian area, there are dozens more graves. There lie officers of both Wagner and the Russian army. On some tombstones is the symbol of the spetsnaz of the GRU, the special forces of the Russian military intelligence service. Our symbol is a bat. After all, we in intelligence are still with you, little brother, reads a message one of the tombstones, illustrated with the deceased carrying a heavy machine gun. Another states that to be a soldier is to be immortal. Opposite, two gravediggers prop up the grave of another officer who lost his life in January 2023 at the age of 58. His age is not exceptional: many Russian volunteers buried there were born between the 1960s and 1980s. But there are also young people and fathers, says one of the gravediggers as he prepares the slabs of that grave with fresh cement. As he explains anonymously to this newspaper, fighters from all over Russia are buried in Baksinskaya. Moscow does not publish its casualty figures. According to the British Ministry of Defense, the number of Russian dead and wounded up to April was 450,000, while the BBC and the Russian dailies Mediazona and Meduza estimate the number of dead at over 120,000. These media have been collecting data from open sources, such as inheritances, since the beginning of the conflict. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Russian army had 180,000 dead by February of this year, compared to about 31,000 Ukrainians. We lose our lives in an instant, but the pain lasts forever, reads the epitaph of an officer. More than 19,500 Wagner members died in the Bakhmut carnage between autumn 2022 and the first half of 2023, according to Mediazona and the BBC. Their journalists had access to a list of posthumous payments from the company and found that some 17,000 of the deceased were convicts pardoned by Putin. The bloodletting has not stopped in 2024. A few kilometers from Baksinskaya, a funeral procession of dozens of people can be seen from the road behind the portrait of another serviceman in a nearby village. Mass burials of soldiers have sparked protests in the Krasnodar region. The mayor of neighboring Goriachi Kliuch last year called for them to be buried elsewhere, but he was silenced by threats from some deputies in Moscow to send him to the front. According to the Bakinskaya mortician, the authorities will continue to bury servicemen at his cemetery. Everyone says they are going to close it, but I think they will continue. There is no space left anywhere, he says, before sighing at the hundreds of graves: What a pity. The Russian Defense Ministry resumed Wagner Group operations in Krasnodar after purging its ranks. Its main base in the area is located in the town of Molkino, in close proximity to the Bakinskaya and Goriachi Kliuch cemeteries. An army recruitment poster in Saint Petersburg, which reads "Serve Russia with a real job." Celestino Arce (NurPhoto / Getty) Enlistment offers and funerals Beyond Wagner, Krasnodar is a fishing ground for the Russian army. Death has become an industrial process in the province. The propaganda of the enlistment centers is mixed with the discounts offered by funeral homes. The army posters promise a job for real men, and combine images of soldiers equipped with assault weapons and balaclavas with astronomical salaries for the average Russian: just over 200,000 roubles a month ($2,185) plus an enlistment payment of one million roubles, split between the local administration and the government. These are unattainable figures for the average Russian worker. In addition, the small print on the posters reminds potential recruits that family members may receive other benefits if their loved ones die at the front. Among others, a payment of five million roubles: around $54,600. In July, Putin doubled the first payment volunteers receive from 195,000 to 400,000 roubles. Russian regions have entered a race to see who offers the highest salaries. Everyone has gone to the front, they pay well there, says Sasun, a restaurant owner in Krasnodar who started driving a cab a year ago because he ran out of customers. I was earning nothing for six months, many young people left. I am liquidating the business now, says the Armenian immigrant in his fifties. Business has totally changed, he sighs. In addition to being a recruiting point, Krasnodar is a key staging post for the army. There is a constant movement of troops marching to Donbas or returning home from the front. At the central bus station, a dozen servicemen wait with their loved ones before boarding the Novorossiysk-Luhansk bus. It is night-time and they hardly speak; it may be their last moment together. Among the servicemen is a very young boy accompanied by his mother. Dressed in a t-bearing the Z the Russian symbol of the invasion of Ukraine he looks more like a teenager going to his first day of college than someone who is going to try to survive the next few months among drones and artillery. Another fighter, in his fifties, waits next to his wife with a serious look on his face. They embrace before he boards the bus, and they wave goodbye to each other once he is inside. When the vehicle leaves, she bursts into tears. The front leaves its mark. At a night stop at a gas station in Kropotkin, a soldier from another bus joins another passenger at the table with a cup of coffee. With a sunken face and a long-abandoned beard, the serviceman moves slowly, but the most striking thing is his look, the thousand-yard stare, the lifeless expression in his eyes. Everything is complicated, says the soldier wearing the Demon insignia on his shoulder in a brief conversation. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Mexicos Attorney Generals Office (FGR) has included the crime of treason in its investigations into the arrest of the historic leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, Ismael El Mayo Zambada. Amid the tangle of versions about what happened more than two weeks ago when the drug lord was arrested on U.S. soil along with Joaquin Guzman Lopez, one of the sons of Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, and against the backdrop of an escalation of tension in the bilateral relationship between Mexico and Washington, the war-like crime that the prosecutors office has put on the table has attracted attention. The offense of treason has existed since the beginning of many laws around the world, but in Mexico it was recently modified in a context similar to the one surrounding the capture of El Mayo. What is treason in Mexico? The main definition of treason is by a person performing acts against the independence, sovereignty or integrity of the Mexican Nation with the purpose of subjecting it to a foreign person, group or government, and those instances when a person is illegally deprived of his or her liberty in the national territory, to deliver him or her to the authorities of another country or to transfer him or her out of Mexico for such purpose. This last cause was added relatively recently to the Mexican Federal Criminal Code, in its article 123. Twenty years ago, in April 1990, doctor Humberto Alvarez Machain was kidnapped in Guadalajara and transferred to El Paso, Texas, to be tried for his alleged involvement in the murder of U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent Enrique Kiki Camarena. According to the agency, Alvarez Machain allegedly collaborated with the Guadalajara Cartel to administer drugs to keep Camarena alive during his torture. However, in 1992, he was declared innocent and released after Judge Edward Rafeedie ruled that there was not enough evidence against him. After that event, the Mexican government incorporated the crime of treason into its criminal code to act against anyone who kidnapped someone to deliver them to another country. Currently, there are at least 15 causes for which a person can be accused of treason. In Mexico, being sentenced for such a crime precludes the possibility a pardon being issued by the government. Sentences can range from five to 40 years and a fine of up to 50,000 Mexican pesos ($2,633). El Mayo Zambada and kidnapping claims On the morning of August 12, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said in his morning press conference that there is an attempt underway to weaken his government. He made this assertion in response to the publication of a letter by El Mayo in which he claims that on the day of his arrest he was ambushed and kidnapped after arriving at a location where he was supposed to meet with Joaquin Guzman Lopez, Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha Moya, and the former rector of the Autonomous University of Sinaloa, Hector Melesio Cuen, whose murder was announced shortly after the capos arrest. A day after El Mayos lawyer released the letter to the media, the Attorney Generals Office released a statement in which it said it had requested an investigation into the murder of Cuen as a matter of urgency. It also requested information from the governor about his alleged meeting with the Sinaloa Cartel kingpin as El Mayo claimed in his communique that Cuen was killed after his kidnapping in the same place where the meeting was scheduled to be held, Huertos del Pedregal, on the outskirts of Culiacan, contrary to the official version that indicates that the murder took place in a gas station. El Mayo has stated that there was no negotiation for his voluntary surrender and that he was kidnapped and transferred to the United States without his consent. In his account, he stated: On July 25, I went to the ranch and event center called Huertos del Pedregal, just outside Culiacan, where the meeting was to be held. The meeting was scheduled for 11 a.m. and I arrived a little early. He added that after greeting Hector Cuen, whom he referred to as a longtime friend, he saw Guzman Lopez. I have known him since he was a child and he asked to me to follow him. Trusting the nature of the meeting and the people involved, I followed him without hesitation. I was directed to another room that was dark. As soon as I set foot in that room, I was ambushed. A group of men assaulted me, threw me to the ground and put a dark-colored hood over my head. They attacked and handcuffed me, and forced me into a van. Throughout this ordeal, I was subjected to physical abuse, which has resulted in severe injuries to my back, knee and wrists. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Sorry, but this feels like propaganda . . . Even worse . . . With no pitching, a rapidly aging roster and only superstar . . . It's very unlikely the home team will last more than a hot second in the playoffs if they make it. Instead . . . KANSAS CITY CELEBRATES MODEST IMPROVEMENT AFTER LOSING 106 GAMES LAST YEAR!!! Meanwhile . . . This constant news chatter is more of a political gambit as more Americans would rather play video games than visit the ballpark . . . Check-it: With a record of 65 wins and 53 losses so far, the team is on pace for 89 wins and a spot in the playoffs. The emergence of star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. as one of the most productive hitters, defenders and baserunners in Major League Baseball has certainly played a big role in the team's ascension to a winning season. Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . . The Seville City Council will cut off the water supply to around 5,000 illegal tourist apartments that operate in the Spanish city without a license or that do not comply with the regulations, according to municipal estimates. The local government wants to stop the spread of irregular holiday apartments and plans to shut down an estimated 5,000 homes a figure reached after cross-checking data with the rental technology platforms. However, the opposition argues that the measure is a publicity stunt, pointing out that the City Council which is led by a minority government of the conservative Popular Party (PP) refused a plan to stop issuing new VUT licenses that allow homes to be used for tourism purposes. Whats more, the local government is aiming to inspect just 10 irregular tourist apartments a week. If this pace does not rise with new inspectors, it will take nearly a decade to check all 5,000 homes. These 5,000 irregular dwellings include those registered in the municipal register and which do not comply with the obligation to be on the ground or first floor, or certain design conditions, and homes that are not registered, but operate in the market. We are cross-referencing data with the platforms and the analysis will determine the tourism stress of each neighborhood, sources from the Seville Urban Planning Department told EL PAIS. The City Council will first target the 715 apartments that, according to the land registry and the cadaster, are located above the first floor, and therefore do not comply with urban planning regulations, as reported by the Spanish news website El Diario. Seville is the capital of the Spanish region of Andalusia, which has the highest number of tourist rentals in all of Europe: 117,000 homes and 620,000 rooms. Complaints from residents about the problems caused by mass tourism have skyrocketed this year amid the record numbers of visitors, and politicians are trying to take note. Sign at the entrance to tourist accommodation in the centre of Seville, this Tuesday. PACO PUENTES The Mayor of Seville, Jose Luis Sanz, praised the plan on Monday: We will act with zero tolerance towards tourist apartments that operate irregularly. More control and more firmness in sanctions to put an end to illegal apartments in Seville after years of looking the other way. The City Council says that it top priority is to tackle the problem in the center of Seville and the Triana neighborhood, the two main tourist hubs which have been hit hard by the surge in tourist accommodation. But Seville Citizens Initiative a platform that fights against mass tourism in the Andalusian capital say the plan does not address the root causes of the problem. With 10 licenses being checked a week, how many years will it take to eradicate illegal housing? The crux of the matter is no longer illegal or legal apartments: the entire city and the political opposition are clamoring for a moratorium on issuing a single license more. And until [the City Council] takes this measure, everything else is just a smokescreen to cover up the problem, David Lopez, the spokesperson of the initiative, told EL PAIS. Before advancing this plan to tackle illegal housing, Mayor Sanz tried to pass a proposal to limit the number of homes to be used for tourism. But the opposition voted against it, arguing that it did not go far enough. The City Council planned to limit tourist accommodation to 10% of the total number of available homes, which would stop the rise in vacation rentals in the already-overwhelmed historic center and Triana, but allow them to continue to spread in the rest of the city. Last January, the Andalusian regional government approved a decree to regulate the 117,000 homes in the region, leaving it up to the local councils to limit or prohibit tourist apartments. There are 9,384 such tourist apartments in Seville. Several tourists stroll through the centre of Seville on Tuesday. PACO PUENTES The opposition has also cast doubt on the legality of the cutting off the water supply to a tourist apartment with a valid legal contract and its bills paid on time. You cant cut off the water just like that, said Francisco Paez, from the Spanish Sociality Party (PSOE). But the City Council maintains that cutting off water to illegal flats is supported by the municipal and regional legal services, and is hopeful that it will have a deterrent effect, arguing the number of homes to inspect will quickly fall once the inspections begin. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Credit where it's due . . . Kansas City's top conservative and his allies offer celebration over a high-profile and allegedly historic phone conference. As usual, KK offers a better summary from the right-wing perspective . . . "Donald Trump and Elon Musk's discussion on X Spaces melted down with the help of hackers and millions trying to join in. Then the Libs melted down. Why do they care so much if Trump and Musk have a chat? "Kamala Harris' strategy of not talking and not giving information about what she stands for is supposedly working for her. But it can't last. Trump will eventually get all the headlines and they know it." Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . . Trump/Elon Melt the Web and Libs, Harris Strategy Won't Last, Americans Believe Illegals Will Vote, Royals Flop, Chiefs Good News, Tyreek Runs Mouth | Kevin Kietzman Has Issues Donald Trump and Elon Musk's discussion on X Spaces melted down with the help of hackers and millions trying to join in. Then the Libs melted down. Why do they care so much if Trump and Musk have a chat? Kamala Harris' strategy of not talking and not giving information about what she stands for is supposedly working for her. 'We are the news now': Musk/Trump talk shows power of citizen journalism, growing irrelevance of corrupt legacy media Left-wing politicians and their legacy lapdog media were worried sick about Elon Musk airing Donald Trump's views on X Spaces Monday night. Indeed, a European Union commissioner, of all people, w... Developing . . . Most anglers like to brag about how big their catch was. But a U.K. fisherman is elated with his tiny catch. Richard West hails from Cornwall and was recently fishing for monkfish on the Atlantic Ocean, 20 miles south of Penzance, when he hauled in the net to find a tiny Lego shark among the catch. It turns out this is the first of 51,800 sharks that were lost in what has been dubbed the "Great Lego Spill" of 1997. Back on Feb. 13, 1997, a ship called the Tokio Express was heading to New York from Rotterdam, when a huge wave smashed into its side near Land's End, a U.K. Marine Conservation Society page said. The boat rocked dramatically, and with it, 62 cargo containers fell into the ocean one loaded with 4.8 million pieces of Lego. Ironically, the Lego inside was mostly sea-themed, for kits including Lego Pirates and Lego Aquazone, Wikipedia said. Ever since, the pieces have started to wash ashore, with U.K. beachcombers sharing their discoveries of octopus, flippers, swords, flowers and dragons. One of them was Tracey Williams, who began photographing her Lego and other plastic finds. The dragons and octopuses were significant, Williams said on the Marine Conservation Society website. There were 33,427 black dragons and 4,200 octopuses. But the green dragons were a real find there were only 514 of those! Dragons and octopuses still occasionally turn up and theres always much excitement when one does. She created a Facebook page in 2013, called Lego Lost At Sea, with other beachcombers sharing their finds as far away as Ireland and northern France. Williams even wrote a book, Adrift: The Curious Tale of Lego Lost at Sea. It was through that Facebook fan page that fisherman West realized the true value of his discovery. Im so happy about it its way better than any fish Ive caught all week, West told Williams. Credits to vessel skipper Andrew Shaw, who thinks I am insane for how excited I got about finding it. However, after 27 years exposed to the sea water, the Lego shark is showing signs of age and is missing its dorsal fin. Even Lego sharks gradually break apart into smaller and smaller fragments, eventually becoming microplastics, Wiliams noted on the Facebook page. Lego is something everybody identifies with. The spill has given us a platform to talk about plastic in the ocean, she said in a 2022 Toronto Star interview. The Lego sharks were used in several Lego sets from 1997, including Shark Cage Cove, Shark Attack and Deep Sea Bounty. While none of the Lego pieces have been found in Canada, the nation has its own stories of container spills. Back in 2021, a Greek-owned ship called the ZIM Kingston freighter left South Korea for Vancouver, but before it could dock, it was hit by high seas on the Pacific Ocean on Oct. 21, and spilled 109 containers off Vancouver Island. Inside were inflatable dinosaur and unicorn toys, vacuum cleaner parts, bike helmets, coolers and urinal mats, which have washed ashore in British Columbia. While the boat was anchored off Victoria, a fire broke out a day later, burning for five days before it was extinguished. On July 31, 2024, the Transportation Safety Board released a report about the ZIM Kingston spill, sharing concerns. The board is concerned that there are gaps in Canadas preparedness for marine emergencies that exceed the response capacity of a vessels crew, posing a risk to vessels, the environment, and the health and safety of the general public, the report said. It was also concerned about the lack of regulations for something called parametric rolling, when the waves unbalance a ship. Some ships have an electronic motion monitoring and forecasting tool known as Octopus-Onboard, which helps users counteract the unbalanced rolling. The report also noted four of the ZIM Kingston's shipping containers were later recovered in November 2021, and in July 2023, 29 containers were seen on the ocean floor in an underwater survey. While Canada is working with Indigenous communities, the marine industry, and other partners to respond to marine pollution incidents that involve oil and/or hazardous and noxious substances, there's no word if it is also creating a strategy for plastic pollution. July insect counts are now behind us and we are well into August and the end of the summer. Technically, we still have well over another month of summer but for most, mid-August marks the end of summer holidays and a time to return home, prepare the children for school and attend the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto, marking the end of summer holidays. The first days of August brings the first blooms of the great autumn displays of asters and goldenrods. Early Goldenrod and Gray Goldenrod are in full bloom and Canada Goldenrod and Tall Goldenrod will be in full bloom by mid-August. Add the beautiful purple and blue blooms of aster later in the month and you have the wonderful golden and purple displays of asters and goldenrod throughout September. I returned from Pelee Island in late July after having completed the 27th annual butterfly and dragonfly counts for the island. Pelee Island is the most southern habituated location in Canada and the gateway to many species of birds, butterflies and dragonflies moving north over the Marblehead Peninsula in Ohio and arriving in Canada at Pelee Island in Ontario. These counts are so important since they give the history of the numbers of insects and species from year to year now that we are experiencing impact of climate change. We now have 27 years of data, and the results are not looking good. A visitor to Pelee Island in late July may observe many white and yellow butterflies fluttering over the many soybean fields and assume there are still lots of butterflies on the island. Several Cabbage White, Orange Sulphurs and Clouded Sulphurs do well on the island and can be identified from a distance by the pure white, orange-yellow and greenish-yellow colours. Pelee Island is 13 kilometres southwest of Point Pelee on the Ontario mainland and is the largest of the 21 islands (nine Canadian) that form the Lake Erie Archipelago that act as stepping stones from Ohios Marblehead Peninsula in United States north to Point Pelee, just south of Leamington, Ont. in Canada. It is 12 km long from Lighthouse Point at the northeast tip to Fish Point in the southwest tip and five km wide encompassing 10,630 acres. It is a small island so you would not expect as many species as on the mainland but over the 27 years that we have been doing the counts, we have recorded 45 butterfly species. Most years you would expect around 35 species for the count on a good year. This year, we counted only 30 species. This doesnt seem that much lower than an average year, but many species included only one or two individuals. We are not observing the high numbers and good biodiversity in butterflies that we had in the past. The only species with good numbers are the three common species mentioned earlier. The butterfly count held on the last Saturday in July have disappointing low numbers, but the dragonfly count conducted the next day on the Sunday had even lower numbers. There were few damselflies and dragonflies to be found on the island this year. We checked all the local ponds and wet areas that usually produce good numbers and found very few if any species at these habitats. It appears that high numbers of butterflies and dragonflies on Pelee Island we observed in the past may now be just in the past as we observe fewer and fewer each year. This is also true for Simcoe County and this year we have conducted several surveys and workshops on dragonflies around the Robert L. Bowles Nature Centre and have found few species. It gave me some hope on a visit to Copeland Forest after the Pelee count when I observed more than 40 Canada Darners hunting down and eating mosquitoes late in the day on one of my trips. Mosquitoes were swarming around me as I bushwhacked my way through a large swamp and the darners were flying within inches from me picking off the mosquitoes looking for a blood meal from a very warm, sweaty human. Intersec Saudi Arabia, the countrys leading trade fair for security, safety and fire protection, has sold out two months ahead of the exhibition start date. A record number of 300 exhibitors, representing a 25% increase on last years number, and more than 17,000 visitors are expected to attend. The event, which will welcome 138 new exhibitors, including Saudi Arabian companies Draeger Arabia, Emdad Najed Company, and SETRA Saudi Electronic Trading & Contracting Ltd, as well as 162 returning companies, representing 27 countries. Three country pavilions have also been confirmed, including China, the Czech Republic, and the UK, further underscoring the events international standing. Organised by 1st Arabia and licensed by Messe Frankfurt, the exhibition will be held under the patronage of the High Commission of Industrial Security and in association with the Ministry of Interior and Saudi Civil Defence. It will return for its sixth edition from October 1 to 3 at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center (RICEC). Leading showcase Bilal Al Barmawi, CEO and Founder of 1st Arabia Trade Shows & Conferences, said: Due to the sheer demand from exhibitors, Intersec Saudi Arabia has reaffirmed its position as a leading showcase for the security, safety and fire protection industries. We look forward to welcoming these record numbers to Riyadh when the exhibition returns in October. To accommodate the demand from participants, the exhibition has increased in size by 34% from 2023 and will now cover a total area of 23,000 sqm across five halls and a dedicated outdoor space, showcasing recent innovations in the Fire and Security industries. Five product categories will be showcased throughout the exhibition, including Commercial & Perimeter Security, Cybersecurity, Homeland Security & Policing, Fire and Rescue, and Safety and Health. Riham Sedik, Show ManagerIntersec Saudi Arabia, Messe Frankfurt Middle East, said: This year, Intersec Saudi Arabia will be held under the theme Securing Progress, Igniting Safety: Unveiling Tomorrow's Solutions for Saudi Arabia. Through our five key product sectors, we will showcase the rapid growth of the fire, safety and security industry by underscoring the evolving competencies within the industry. We look forward to once again providing a platform for regional and international participants from these critical industries to meet and do business in our biggest show to date. Future Security and Safety Summit In addition to the bustling show floor, visitors will also have the opportunity to widen their knowledge and learn about the latest innovations in the market through the Future Security and Safety Summit and the Fire Protection and Technology Summit. The respective summits are tailored to the unique needs of the Saudi Arabian market as the Kingdom takes giant strides in technological evolution and visionary projects. They will be focused on topics such as future leadership, innovation, technology integration, and talent empowerment. The Premium Club, developed to provide unrivalled networking opportunities, will support key buyers with important connections to exhibitors. Designed to encourage networking, the Clun offers a seamless purchasing process. Intersec Saudi Arabia will take place in Halls 1-5 at RICEC. Halls 1 and 2 will feature the Commercial, Perimeter, Homeland and Cybersecurity show sections, while halls 3 and 4 will focus on Fire Health and Safety. Hall 5, named Intersec Infinity, will feature Security, Safety and Fire exhibitors and the purpose-built outdoor exhibition space will round out the exhibition.--TradeArabia News Service Fade to black and loading errors. That was the first thing tens of thousands of users experienced when they logged into X to watch the keenly anticipated conversation between Elon Musk and Donald Trump. Technical glitches caused thousands to disconnect from the chat, which eventually started 45 minutes later than scheduled. The tech mogul argued that his social network had been the target of a hacking offensive to prevent users from gaining access. There appears to be a massive DDOS attack on X. Working on shutting it down, said Musk, who explained that they had run tests to allow the platform to support up to eight million viewers. When the talk finally began, millions of people were exposed to two hours of half-truths, exaggerations, and lies. The conversation fell short of the potential eight million viewers. According to the platforms count a maximum of 2.1 million people came online despite Trump, with his fixation on physical or virtual capacity, stating that up to 60 million had listened to the cordial chat between tycoons. Musk had stated that he wanted to present a more relaxed former president, who would express himself as if in privacy and not under the pressures of a rally or a traditional press interview. But there was little difference between the Republican candidates words on X and his standard discourse at other conventional election events. Those who logged on were treated to a feast of misinformation from Trump, which Musk allowed barely unfiltered. The Tesla and SpaceX owner has put his money behind the Republican candidate in the November presidential race with $45 million invested in Trumps Save America political action committee. The impact of climate change and the risk of nuclear pollution were given short shrift and Trump even applauded Musk for firing workers who went on strike. It was a conversation without contrast or nuance, despite warnings issued to Musk not to lend his digital forum to the lies that the former president has repeated on more than occasion. With the tone of someone complaining about the domestic service in a country club, both reviewed one of their great obsessions: illegal immigration. Trump claimed that several foreign countries are sending people from prisons, mental institutions, and their unemployment registers to the United States. Theyre coming not just from South America. Theyre coming from Africa. Theyre coming from all over the world. Theyre coming from Asia. Theyre coming from the Middle East [...] As an example, Venezuela, their crime is down 72%. Theyre emptying out their prisons [...] But these are rough people. These are criminals that make our criminals look like nice people, said the former president, repeating a claim that has been consistently debunked. A little further on, he described some of the immigrants who enter the U.S. irregularly as nonproductive. Without objection to a single point, Musk limited himself to agreeing with the picture painted by Trump despite recent official figures showing that illegal crossings are at similar levels as under Trumps administration. Musk said he had been to the Texas border at Eagle Pass, where he witnessed what he described as people streaming across like a zombie apocalypse. I think this is a fundamental existential issue for the United States, he added. And if we have another four more years of open borders, and its gonna be even worse. Im not sure weve got a country. The tech entrepreneur warned at the outset that this would not be an interview, but a conversation aimed at open-minded, independent voters who are just trying to make up their mind. Musk and his team have pledged to convince 800,000 voters in swing states to back Trumps campaign. It is hard to imagine that an undecided voter would have been convinced by the talk, which regularly turned into a monologue. On several occasions one of the worlds richest men merely said yes, uh-huh, or thats a great argument. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump after an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa, July 13, 2024. Evan Vucci (AP) Musks first comment set the tone: at no point was there any attempt to contradict his interlocutor or seek clarification on any issues. They began by recalling the assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania last month, after which he raised his fist in the air as supporters chanted U-S-A! I have to say that your actions after that assassination attempt were inspiring [...] That is America, that is strength under fire, said the Tesla and SpaceX owner. I didnt know I had that much blood. The doctors later told me that the ear is a place that is a very bloody place if youre gonna get hit, Trump responded. I knew immediately that it was a bullet. The Republican candidate, who is seeking to reinvigorate his campaign against the rising momentum of Kamala Harris, has announced that he will return to Butler, the site of the attack, in October. And I think Ill probably start by saying, as I was saying, prior to being so horribly interrupted... Trump joked. The Republican candidate, as he usually claims in public statements, said that with him in the White House Russian President Vladimir Putin would have dared to invade Ukraine and Hamas would not have attacked Israel. I said to Vladimir Putin: dont do it. You cant do it, Vladimir. You do it, Its gonna be a bad day. And he said, no way. And I said, way. And its the last time we ever had the conversation, the real estate magnate explained at one point, with the tone of someone describing a schoolyard fight. Kamala Harris at a campaign rally in Las Vegas. Kevin Mohatt (REUTERS) Attacks on Harris Musk and Trump joined forces to attack Harris, whom Trump called a third-rate phony candidate " and incompetent and as bad as Joe Biden. The Republican standard-bearer asserted that the presidents withdrawal from the race was a coup. Musk, who has moved his businesses out of California in disapproval of some left-wing initiatives, asserted that the Harris campaign is rewriting history and making Kamala sound like a moderate. Worse than Bernie Sanders. She is considered more liberal by far than Bernie Sanders. Shes a radical left lunatic, Trump shot back. I think were at a fork in the road of destiny of civilization. And I think we need to take the right path. And I think youre the right path, Musk said to close the talk. The Harris campaign quickly responded to the encounter. Trumps entire campaign is in service of people like Elon Musk and himself self-obsessed rich guys who will sell out the middle class and who cannot run a livestream in the year 2024, noted a statement on the same social network that hosted the speech. With the talk, Trump has broken his silence on X. The former presidents account was suspended in January 2021 for inciting violence hours after his supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021. His account was reactivated by Musk when he took over the company, then still Twitter, in November 2022. But Trump had remained silent and opted to use his own platform, Truth Social. On Monday night, Trump thanked Musk for readmitting him to X and lifting the punishment on voices that say constructive things. Its an honor, the Republican candidate said. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition The Arbitration Tribunal in Paris recognized its jurisdiction in considering the claim filed by NEC Ukrenergo against Russia over assets based in temporarily occupied Crimea. Thats according to Ukrenergo Board Chairman Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, who reported the news on Facebook, as seen by Ukrinform. "The Arbitration Tribunal in Paris, appointed to consider the case by the Permanent Chamber of the Arbitration Court, on August 5 made a decision in favor of Ukrenergo, recognizing that the court does have jurisdiction over the dispute. This means that ultimately, the arbitration tribunal will hear and rule on the claims Ukrenergo filed against the Russian Federation in 2019," Kudrytskyi said. He recalled that the lawsuit covers assets worth EUR 527 million. Ukrenergo is suing over 17 Ukrenergo high-voltage substations in Crimea and over 1,300 km of power lines captured by the enemy since the occupation of the Ukrainian peninsula. "We also demand compensation for damages for other violations of the 1998 Agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Government of the Russian Federation on the Promotion and Mutual Protection of Investments," noted Kudrytskyi. The arbitration proceedings have been ongoing since November 2020, with the Russians actively defending their position. The arbitrators took 11 months to analyze the arguments produced by both parties and reach their decision on jurisdiction. Next, the Permanent Chamber of the Arbitration Court will determine the procedural schedule for the upcoming meetings for substantive consideration of the case. As reported, Russia is obliged to pay $5 billion in compensation for damage inflicted by the seizure of assets belonging to the Naftogaz Group companies during the occupation of Crimea in 2014. The first thematic conference dedicated to the third point of the Ukrainian Peace Formula "Energy Security" will be held online in August. This issue was discussed at an extended meeting of the working group on the implementation of the Energy Security point clause of the Peace Formula, which was held by Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak, Ukrinform reports, citing the presidential website. According to the statement, Yermak informed the audience that the Peace Summit would be followed by thematic conferences dedicated to individual blocks of the Peace Formula. They will be aimed at developing and agreeing on the components of the overall peace plan announced by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. "The first such conference will focus on the third point of the Peace Formula, Energy Security. The event will take place online this August," the statement reads. Yermak emphasized that the total loss of generation because of Russian shelling amounted to 9 GW. According to him, this year's July was the most difficult month for Ukrainians and the economy due to an unprecedented power shortage. "Now our power engineers have managed to stabilize the situation, and there have been no blackouts for more than two weeks. But the autumn and winter season is ahead, and we must coordinate our efforts to prevent new destruction and help restore the energy sector," Yermak said. Minister of Energy German Galushchenko provided detailed information on the consequences of attacks on energy infrastructure. "This conference should result in a joint communique that will reflect the key agreements on energy security," Yermak added. The meeting was attended by diplomatic representatives of about 40 partner countries and organizations, as well as Deputy Heads of the Presidential Office Ihor Zhovkva and Mykola Tochytskyi, Minister of Energy German Galushchenko and his Deputy Svitlana Hrynchuk, Advisors to the Head of the Presidential Office Dariia Zarivna and Oleksandr Bevz. The First Peace Summit was held in Switzerland on June 15-16. Three points of Volodymyr Zelensky's Peace Formula were discussed at the meeting, including nuclear security, food security and the humanitarian dimension the exchange of prisoners and the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia. A joint communique was signed after the summit. Emblem of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), at the agency's headquarters in Washington. Yuri Gripas (REUTERS) Despite Irans denial of interference in the U.S. presidential race, the FBI said Monday it is investigating allegations of espionage by Donald Trumps presidential campaign, which on Saturday accused Tehran of hacking its communications. Although it did not provide any evidence, Trumps team pointed specifically to information on the selection process that installed J.D. Vance as a vice-presidential candidate, which was published by the weekly Politico. The FBI, under scrutiny for security failures at the rally where Trump was the target of an assassination attempt, is also investigating an alleged hack targeting advisers to the campaign of President Joe Biden who dropped out of the race on July 21 as well as vice president and current Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, The Washington Post reported. The former president and Republican candidate said on Saturday that Microsoft had informed his campaign that Iran had hacked one of its websites. Trump then claimed that Iran was only able to obtain publicly available information but, as Reuters noted at the time, he was unable to provide any evidence to support the accusation. Some analysts suggested that the Trump campaigns primary intention was to divert attention from the media prominence of Harris. The FBI launched the investigation in June when Biden was still a presidential candidate, on the suspicion that Iran was behind attempts to steal data from two U.S. presidential campaigns, The Washington Post reported, citing sources close to the case. Before the existence of an investigation was confirmed Monday, the main U.S. media had been speculating about possible acts of hacking by China and Iran, which would replicate the disinformation maneuvers attributed to Russia in previous campaigns and in the 2020 campaign, to Tehran. In this regard, the spokesman for the National Security Council, John Kirby, recalled that a U.S. intelligence report published last month concluded Iran is working to influence the current elections. We are certainly mindful that they have this intent, he said. Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Through its spokeswoman, Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House on Monday strongly condemned any foreign government or entity who attempts to interfere in our electoral process or seeks to undermine confidence in our democratic institution. Washington, Jean-Pierre added, takes this type of reports of such activity extremely seriously although she declined to comment on the veracity of the claims that Iran was involved. The Trump campaign cited a report released Friday by Microsoft researchers stating that hackers linked to the Tehran authorities tried to access the data of a senior campaign official in June (Reuters cited Politicos report that the data was about Vance and his weak points, a comprehensive 271-page dossier that The Washington Post also received). The Microsoft report, which has not been made public, added that the hackers took over an account belonging to a former Republican political adviser and used it to attack the target, whose identity it did not provide. The alleged dossier on Vance was sent from an account on a popular U.S. email server along with a document on Marco Rubio, the Florida senator who was once considered a Trump running mate. For the past two weeks, Iran has been weighing up a retaliatory attack against Israel to avenge the assassinations of a Hezbollah leader in Beirut and of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. As such, the accusations of cyber espionage are of relative importance compared to the escalation of tension in the region and the possibility of open war that would be the likely Israeli response to a hypothetical Iranian strike. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Temple University officials announced felony charges have been approved against a student and an alumna in connection with a burglary attempt at an off-campus Jewish fraternity house. The incidents, which occurred on May 24 and July 27, have prompted the university to seek arrest warrants for the suspects, though they have not yet been apprehended. On July 27, police responded to reports of individuals on the rooftop of the Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) fraternity house on North 17th Street at around 4:40 a.m. Temple's Vice President for Public Safety Jennifer Griffin, reported that video footage showed the suspects banging on the sunroof of the building, with one individual appearing to urinate into the sunroof, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. In early May, the fraternity house was vandalized with "Free Palestine" graffiti and had an Israeli flag removed. The May 24 incident involved similar rooftop activity. The university's handling of the situation has garnered increased scrutiny, including a federal investigation into how Temple manages antisemitism complaints on campus. This investigation follows a series of nationwide inquiries into college responses to similar issues. "We will continue to make one thing abundantly clear: Temple University does not tolerate antisemitic or other hate crimes, including vandalism and damage to property," Temple President Richard Englert and Senior Vice President and Provost Gregory Mandel said in a statement. "Temple unequivocally condemns antisemitism and other acts of hatred, incitement to violence, threats, harassment and discrimination against any person." The vandalism comes as Israel's 10-month conflict with Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza continues. Pro-Palestine protests and encampments have emerged on college and university campuses across the country. The Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, which was suspended in 2018 following sexual assault and drug use, is no longer recognized by Temple University. Anyone with information regarding the incidents is asked to contact Temple police at 215-204-1234. Six police officers from the Antioch and Pittsburg police departments in California paid others to take online college courses for them, in an effort to get bachelor's degrees and secure higher pay. Now, they face jail time instead. Five of the six officers pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud earlier this year. Antioch Police Department's Morteza Amiri, the only one two went to trial, was convicted by a federal jury last week. In one of the texts shared at Amiri's trial, he wrote to the person taking his courses that he would pay "per class." "[D]on't tell a soul about me hiring you for this," Amiri wrote. "[W]e can't afford it getting leaked and me losing my job." Amiri received two convictions with a maximum of 20 years in prison; his sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 12. The other five officers were Patrick Berhan, Amanda "Nash" Theodosy, Samantha Peterson, Ernesto Mejia-Orozco, Brauli Rodriguez Jalapa. In April, Peterson was sentenced to three years of supervised release and to perform 100 hours of community service. The remaining officers' sentences are scheduled for later this year. "Amiri engaged in a calculated conspiracy to defraud his police department of taxpayer funds. His actions were a violation of the law and a grave betrayal of public trust," FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Tripp said in a Friday statement. "Amiri and his co-conspirators' deception has no place in law enforcement. With this conviction, he now faces the consequences of his actions." Sophia Rosing, a former University of Kentucky student, pleaded guilty Monday to multiple charges related to a racist attack on a Black student. Rosing, 23, admitted to four counts of fourth-degree assault, one count of disorderly conduct, and one count of public intoxication, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. The incident occurred in November 2022 when Rosing, who is white, assaulted Kylah Spring, a Black student working at the front desk of a campus residence hall. The attack, which was captured on video and widely shared on social media, showed Rosing hitting and kicking Spring while using racial slurs. Following the assault, Rosing was expelled from the university and banned from campus. "The safety and well-being of our students is our top priority, and we will not tolerate behavior that threatens it," the school said in a statement. Her attorney, Fred Peters, said that the guilty plea followed a mediation session between Rosing and Spring. "A lot of things got said, apologies were made and we worked it out," Peters told the outlet. "Her life has been on hold for the past 18 to 20 months. She has had a lot of time to think about what she has done, and she wrote a nice letter of apology." Rosing faces up to one year in jail, 100 hours of community service, and a $25 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 17. August 13 2024 A three-part podcast series co-produced by architect Jude Barber and crime writer Louise Welsh is set to clear the muddy waters around ownership of the River Clyde to promote community-led development. Guests on Who Owns the Clyde include council leader Susan Aitken, Paul Sweeney MSP and land reformer Andy Wightman, each of whom will explore the history of the waterway as well as plans for its future. Untangling the knot of opaque ownership the series will investigate the circumstances around a lack of activity on the river, attributing this to fragmented land ownership on both river banks. Barber commented: From opaque land ownership to an increasing trend towards privately owned public spaces (POPS), the podcast raises issues that concern us all. We hope that its reach will extend beyond communities on the Clyde and encourage more creative conversations and actions that explore new, sustainable uses for our rivers in post-industrial cities. Looking to the future Barber and Welsh will explore issues relating to management, movement, biodiversity and activity with fellow citizens and contributors to the podcast. ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Aug, 2024) Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday renewed his commitment to place the country on a national growth trajectory and include it among the worlds top ten economies. We will once again turn the wheel of the economy and give the youth a Pakistan that will be among the top ten economies of the world by 2047, he said, promising a future where the countrys youth would inherit a thriving and prosperous state. The minister expressed this resolve while addressing the Istehkam-e-Pakistan seminar organized by the Islamic International University Islamabad (IIUI) in connection with the 78th Independence Day. He highlighted the crucial role of peace, political stability, consistent policies and continuous reforms in achieving national development and prosperity, adding that no country in the world has ever attained progress without adhering to these principles. Ahsan Iqbal said it was a universal reality that no policy in any country bore fruit before a timeframe of ten years and that no one would invest a single penny in a country lacking political stability. He observed that nothing weakened the country economically more than political instability, long marches, sit-ins and unrest. Whenever the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government came into power and set the country on the path to economic stability and development, he said, unfortunately, obstacles were created, causing harm to democracy and the national economy. He noted that the PML-N government had presented Vision 2010 in 1998 and Vision 2025 in 2013, but it bore the brunt of so-called change in 2018. Following this, he said, state affairs were handed over to a person who had never been involved in even union council-level matters, which caused severe damage to the national economy, and the nation was still facing its negative impact. The minister said Pakistan was established after great sacrifices, with its founder, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, envisioning it as a developed nation despite having meager resources. He paid tribute to the national leadership that, in the first ten years of Pakistans creation, made significant achievements. He acknowledged that Pakistan has made many achievements, including becoming the 7th nuclear power state, manufacturing fighter jets like the JF-17 Thunder, establishing modern fiber optic infrastructure and setting up higher educational institutions across the country. However, he noted that Pakistan still lagged behind other countries in comparison. Addressing the youth, Ahsan Iqbal cited the example of Arshad Nadeem, the javelin thrower who set a new record at the Paris Olympics and won a gold medal, bringing laurels to the country despite limited resources. There is a lesson for you: never let your destiny fade away due to lack of resources. By working hard with a true purpose, all avenues will begin to open, he remarked. (@FahadShabbir) Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif chaired 13th meeting of the Provincial Cabinet to decide on important agenda items LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Aug, 2024) Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif chaired 13th meeting of the Provincial Cabinet to decide on important agenda items. The Cabinet approved Chief Minister Roshan Gharana Programme, under which solar home solution will be provided to protected consumers up to 100 units across Punjab. The CM said in next two months, a huge project is being launched to give relief to public in electricity bills. The Provincial Cabinet also approved model house of Apni ChhatApna Ghar project, under which Rs 15 lakh will be given for building house on a plot of up to 5 marlas in urban and 10 marlas in rural areas. The CM directed the authorities concerned not to take monthly installments for at least first three months to facilitate borrowers under the scheme. The Cabinet was apprised that electric buses will run in Punjab after Speedo buses. It approved a project to run electric buses in Lahore, 27 buses will reach by December. A model of electric bus was also presented to the cabinet. The Cabinet gave approval to establish Punjab Grid Company for direct supply of electricity to industries. It also considered provision of affordable electricity to Industrial Park through direct transmission line from Bhiki, Balloki and Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park. The Cabinet approved Amendment to Registration Act 1908 for Revenue Services to Overseas Pakistanis in 8 Countries. The CM said that land registration and important documents services will be provided to overseas Pakistanis in 8 countries. She added revenue services will be provided to residents of China, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, UK, USA, Italy, Qatar, Bahrain and Spain. The Cabinet also gave approval to Punjab Governments Advertisement Policy, besides approving Feasibility Study of Tourist Glass Train from Rawalpindi to Murree. The CM said that Murree Glass Tourist Train is a great vision of Muhammad Nawaz Sharif for the development of tourism, adding that glass train is also her dream for the development of tourism in Murree. She highlighted that Murree Glass Train is a first of its kind unique project not only of Punjab but also of Pakistan. (@FahadShabbir) ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Aug, 2024) The Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration has planned a series of events to celebrate Independence Day in a significant way, with both large and small events throughout the city to ensure widespread participation and enjoyment. According to the spokesperson of the ICT administration, officials are working to ensure a memorable and well-coordinated celebration, emphasizing the spirit of freedom and unity. A special focus is being given to F9 Park, where a major event is being organized for the citizens. The Chief Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Islamabad, and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Traffic recently visited the park to review the preparations. District officials are closely monitoring the arrangements to ensure everything goes smoothly. During their visit, they received a detailed briefing from the concerned staff about the planned events and decorations. Meanwhile, preparations for August 14 were also discussed in a meeting chaired by the DC Islamabad. Key officials, including the SSP Traffic, SP Dolphin, and all Deputy and Assistant Commissioners, attended the meeting to review the progress and finalize plans for the celebrations. They decided to decorate and light up various buildings across the city. National flags will be hoisted along key roads, and arrangements for August 13, the night before Independence Day, were thoroughly reviewed. The DC Islamabad has called on building owners to decorate high-rise buildings across the city, emphasizing the importance of a unified and festive appearance. He also warned that those engaging in unruly behavior, such as playing drums and whistles in an uncontrolled manner, will face action. Similarly, a joint strategy with the traffic police is being finalized to maintain order during the celebrations, as confirmed by DC Islamabad Irfan Nawaz Memon. As preparations continue, public and private buildings across the city are being adorned with colorful lights. These decorations are intended to enhance the city's beauty, especially at night when the green and white lights will illuminate the skyline. The DC urged all building owners to contribute to this effort by ensuring their properties are well-lit and decorated. Memon expressed the administration's commitment to making this year's Independence Day celebration one to remember. The district administration's efforts are focused on bringing the community together to celebrate the nation's freedom in a meaningful and unified manner. /395 (@FahadShabbir) ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Aug, 2024) The National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior held its third meeting on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Raja Khurram Shahzad Nawaz, MNA. The session commenced with a recitation from the Holy Quran and a solemn tribute to Panjgur Deputy Commissioner Zakir Baloch, who was tragically assassinated in Mastung district on Monday evening. The Committee then proceeded with its agenda. The Committee reviewed several bills during the meeting. The "Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2024" (Section 462O) was introduced but deferred until the next meeting. Similarly, the "Pakistan Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2024" was also deferred. The "Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Bill, 2024," presented by Ms. Sehar Kamran, MNA, was referred to the Council of Islamic Ideology for expert opinion. In contrast, the "Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2024" was discussed and approved by the Committee. The Chairman of the Capital Development Authority (CDA), Islamabad, provided an update on several major infrastructure projects. These included the Islamabad Expressway expansion, Bhindhar Bridge, Japan Road underpass, Saon Bridge, and various other significant developments. However, the Chairman highlighted a pressing issue: a shortage of funds for these ongoing projects. In response, the Committee expressed a keen interest in visiting the development sites to assess progress firsthand. It also directed the CDA to provide detailed information on charges collected from private societies for express highway access and to address outdated rules and regulations related to zoning and building bylaws. Furthermore, the Committee requested a comprehensive report on land allocated by private societies for public amenities such as graveyards and parks. Additionally, the Committee was briefed on a rainwater harvesting project in rural areas of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), which aims to enhance cultivation through dam construction, costing Rs. 115.296 million. The Committee decided to hold a separate meeting on the Charah Dam project with CDA and relevant Punjab Government departments to review its progress. The meeting also covered issues beyond infrastructure. The Director General of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) provided an update on a complaint involving social media blogger Mr. Mushtaq Sarki. The Committee urged the FIA to intensify efforts against social media misuse and recommended exploring amendments to enhance cybercrime laws. Finally, the representative from the Home Department, Government of Sindh, updated the Committee on the merger of a police check-post in Gulshan Sikanderabad into the District Keamari jurisdiction in Karachi. The Committee advised the Home Department to take necessary actions and report back in the next session. The meeting was attended by Hon. Members/MNAs including Mr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhary, Mr. Muhammad Hanif Abbasi, Malik Shakir Bashir Awan, Syed Rafiullah, Mr. Abdul Qadir Patel, Nawabzada Mir Jamal Khan Raisani, Khawaja Izhar Ul Hassan, Mr. Nisar Ahmed, Sahibzada Muhammad Hamid Raza, Mr. Jamshaid Ahmed, Muhammad Arshid Sahi, Ms. Sehar Kamran, and senior officials from various ministries and departments. NOWSHERA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Aug, 2024) Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Attaullah Tarar said that Pakistan was came into being after matchless sacrifices by our forefathers and the overwhelming enthusiasm shown by the people on Independence Day celebrations demonstrated their immeasurable love for their country. Addressing a big gathering on the 77th Independence Day celebrations here late Tuesday night, the federal minister said that up to 1.2 million people had been martyred and many women were inhumanely treated during freedom movement of Pakistan and it was due to their supreme sacrifices that we are living in a free country, enjoying all rights and facilities today. He said that Pakistan had been created on world map on 27th Ramazanul Mubarak (a blessed night believed of Lailatul Qadar) and nobody could bring harm to it. The federal minister asked the opposition to see how Pakistan was excellently progressing under the leadership of Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif. He said that the people of Pakistan knew about the ugly faces that attacked the security and government installations on May 9, 2923. He said Pakistan was made a declared atomic power on May 28, 1998 by former Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif. Against India's six nuclear tests, he said that the then Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif conducted six nuclear tests at Chaghi and made Pakistan's defense impregnable. He said that Nawaz Sharif had been offered USD 5 billion for not conducting the nuclear tests that was rejected by him. Besides getting rid of load shedding and establishing a network of motorways, he said that PMLN Govt restored the dignity of Pakistanis. The minister said that Pakistan would achieve all heights of success under the leadership of Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif. He said that the people knew that who had bankrupted the country in the rule of Niazi seb and who said goodbye to IMF program i.e Nawaz Sharif. He said that the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were peace loving and highly patriotic and they could not be left alone at the mercy of terrorists. Attaullah Tarar said that the people were fully aware that who brought terrorists back, that resulted surge of terrorism cases in khyber Pakhtunkhwa today. He said people knew about the poor mental condition of Niazi seb that was not good, adding Niazi seb once said that his government was overthrown by US, later talked about General Bajwa behind his dismissal, that all were later negated by he himself. "Our politics revolved around peace, development and love while Niazi seb wanted to achieve political objectives through division of people and spreading anarchy in the society. The federal minister said that the prices of petroleum products have been reduced that was a gift of Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif for its people on Independence Day. He said that the government was endeavoring to eliminate price hike and unemployment and provide jobs to youth at their doorsteps. Attaullah Tarar praised the long loyalty and dedication of KP PMLN Secretary Information Ikhtair Wali Khan with the party. Later, the minister witnessed an impressive firework after national anthem were played. (@ChaudhryMAli88) ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Aug, 2024) Advisor to Prime Minister Rana Sanaullah on Tuesday said that the Parliament was right forum for making legislation and amendment in the Constitution. Talking to a private television channel, he said that judicial reforms were imperative to bring improvement in the system. All the institutions, he said should work under their defined parameters. Replying to a question about talks with Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI), he said dialogue is the only way to resolve the political issues and we are ready to talk with PTI. He said that PTI never tried to sit with the government for addressing political matters. ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Aug, 2024) As Pakistan's 78th Independence day approaches, shops across the country are witnessing a surge in customers eager to capitalize on attractive 'Azadi deals' and discounts where from clothing to home appliances retailers were seen offering enticing promotions to commemorate the occasion. With discounts ranging from 10% to 50% off, shoppers are flocking to stores to snag unbeatable bargains, said a report aired by a Private news channel. The Azadi deal trend has become a highly anticipated event in Pakistan's retail landscape. Every year, customers eagerly await the discounts and promotions offered by retailers on August 14th, said a citizen. This trend has been gaining momentum over the years, with more and more retailers joining in to offer exclusive deals and discounts, he added. Major retailers, including popular malls and shopping centers have announced exclusive discounts and promotions to commemorate the occasion. Some stores are offering flat discounts of up to 50% off, while others are providing buy-one-get-one-free deals and bundle offers, said a citizen. The Azadi deal trend is not limited to physical stores alone, said a citizen, adding, online retailers also offer exciting discounts and promotions on their platforms. This has made it easier for customers to shop from the comfort of their own homes and take advantage of the deals. We are thrilled to see the response to our Azadi deals, said a retailer, adding, it is a pleasure to serve our customers and make their shopping experience memorable. Azadi is a special occasion, and w are honored to be a part of our customers' celebrations, said an online retailer. The Azadi sale has been a lifesaver for me. I was able to get everything I needed at affordable prices, said a youngster. Our team has worked tirelessly to ensure a smooth shopping experience for our customers during the Azadi sale. We are thrilled to see it paying off, said a seller. We have received amazing feedback from customers about our Azadi deals and discounts. We are grateful for their support and loyalty, said an owner of brand shop. The Azadi sale has been a wonderful opportunity for us to connect with our customers and show them our appreciation, said another worker in shop, adding, we are honored to be a part of their celebrations. Copenhagen, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Aug, 2024) American-Canadian anti-whaling activist Paul Watson, arrested in July in Greenland, will face a judge Thursday who will rule on his continued detention as a possible extradition requested by Japan looms. The district court in Nuuk -- the capital of the autonomous Danish territory -- will rule on whether there is cause to extend his detention for up to another four weeks. "The hearing on August 15, 2024 will therefore not deal with the question of whether or not to extradite him," police said in a statement. The decision on whether he will be extradited to Japan, which ultimately will be up to the Danish Ministry of Justice, will be taken independently. Nevertheless, it will still be discussed at the hearing, his lawyer Jonas Christoffersen told a press conference on Monday. "As a starting point, you would say that a person should be detained during the extradition case, because otherwise there could be a risk that the person would leave," Christoffersen said. Watson, who featured in the reality tv series "Whale Wars", founded Sea Shepherd and the Captain Paul Watson Foundation (CPWF), and is known for radical tactics including confrontations with whaling ships at sea. The 73-year-old campaigner was arrested on July 21 when the ship John Paul DeJoria docked in Nuuk to refuel. The vessel was on its way to "intercept" a new Japanese whaling factory vessel in the North Pacific, according to the CPWF. Watson was arrested on the basis of a 2012 Interpol "Red Notice" after Japan accused him of causing damage to one of its whaling ships in the Antarctic two years earlier and causing injury. Only Japan, Iceland and Norway allow commercial whaling. Lamya Essemlali, president of Sea Shepherd's French branch, has told AFP that Watson believes his arrest to be political, with Japan wanting him because he is a "political symbol". Essemlali explained Monday that the arrest warrant had been made confidential and was no longer listed on Interpol's website, and Watson would otherwise not have stopped in Nuuk. "All this was orchestrated. After all, 14 Federal police officers and a Danish public prosecutor were put on a direct plane to Greenland to arrest Paul." Japan asked Danish authorities to extradite him at the end of July. In Japan, Watson faces a charge of causing injury, which can carry up to 15 years in prison or a fine of up to 500,000 Yen ($3,300). He also faces a charge of forcible obstruction of business, which carries a penalty of up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 500,000 yen. At the upcoming hearing in Nuuk, Watson's lawyers intend to argue the detention he has already been subjected to is not proportional to the offence of which he is suspected. "We will argue that the three weeks that have passed is more than enough and you can't extend it further than that," Christoffersen said. With Watson's history of activism, Essemlali said that Japan would not be lenient, and given his age he would likely spend the rest of his life incarcerated. "We absolutely want to avoid his extradition to Japan, because we know that if he is extradited to Japan, he won't get out alive", Essemlali said. Francois Zimeray, another one of Watson's lawyers, also blasted the Japanese legal system on Monday. "In Japan, there is a presumption of guilt and the prosecutors are proud to announce that they have a 99.6 percent conviction rate," Zimeray said. Watson's arrest has sparked a series of protests calling for his release. French President Emmanuel Macron's office has asked Denmark not to extradite the activist, who has lived in France for the past year. (@FahadShabbir) Bangladesh was experiencing a "student-led revolution" after the ouster of premier Sheikh Hasina, the South Asian country's new interim leader Muhammad Yunus said Dhaka, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Aug, 2024) Bangladesh was experiencing a "student-led revolution" after the ouster of premier Sheikh Hasina, the South Asian country's new interim leader Muhammad Yunus said. "This is a revolution, a student-led revolution," the Nobel laureate told a news briefing. "There's no doubt about (that) because the business of the whole government collapsed." Yunus arrived back in Bangladesh from Europe on Thursday after he was called by the student leaders of the protests that toppled Hasina and asked to steer democratic reforms. "I said, 'I respect you, I admire you. What you have done is absolutely unparalleled'," he said. "'Because you ordered me to do this, I take your order'," Yunus said he told them. Several top allies of Hasina, whose iron-fisted tenure ended with her abrupt resignation and flight to India a week ago, subsequently stepped down. Among them were the former chief justice of the Supreme Court and the central bank governor. They had been issued ultimatums to quit their posts by students. Yunus said their resignations had been conducted legally. "I'm sure they will find the legal way to justify all of this, because legally... all the steps were followed," he said. Yunus made the comments at an off-the-record media briefing on Sunday night at a state building being used as a temporary seat of government. His office agreed to their publication on Monday evening. Dar es Salaam, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Aug, 2024) The leaders of Tanzania's main opposition party Chadema have been released on bail, a party spokesperson said on Tuesday, after they were detained ahead of a youth day rally. In a post on X, John Mrema said Chadema chairman Freeman Mbowe and his deputy Tundu Lissu -- both former presidential candidates -- "have been returned to Dar es Salaam by police and have bailed themselves out". However, the spokesperson said that "there are reports of some leaders of Bavicha continuing to be held by the Mbeya Police Force", without giving further details. Overnight Awadh Haji, police chief of operations and training, said "all the top Chadema leaders who were arrested, after interrogation and other procedures, have been returned to where they came from". A police statement said that 520 people connected to the party -- including leaders and youth members -- had been arrested ahead of the banned youth day rally on Monday. Mbowe, 62, was detained on Monday at the airport in the southwestern city of Mbeya, the day after several other leaders including Lissu were detained. Chadema earlier said that hundreds of youth supporters had been rounded up by police as they made their way into the city. Rights groups and opponents of the government had voiced fears the police action could signal a return to the oppressive policies of late president John Magufuli as the country gears up for elections due late next year. The arrests came despite his successor Samia Suluhu Hassan vowing a return to "competitive politics" and easing some restrictions on the opposition and the media, including the January 2023 lifting of a six-year ban on opposition gatherings. Dar es Salaam, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Aug, 2024) The leaders of Tanzania's main opposition party Chadema have been released on bail, a party spokesman said on Tuesday, after they were detained in a mass roundup ahead of a youth day rally. As many as 520 people were arrested across the country, according to a police statement, before a banned Chadema rally on Monday that had been expected to draw thousands of young people in the southwestern city of Mbeya. But Chadema posted on X on Tuesday that its offices in Mbeya "are surrounded by the police and they are not allowing people to enter the offices". Rights groups and government opponents have raised fears the police action could signal a return to the oppressive policies of Tanzania's late president John Magufuli. The arrests came despite his successor President Samia Suluhu Hassan vowing a return to "competitive politics" and easing some restrictions on the opposition and the media, including lifting a six-year ban on opposition gatherings. Those released included Chadema chairman Freeman Mbowe and his deputy Tundu Lissu -- both former presidential candidates -- and other top party officials, Chadema spokesman John Mrema said on X. "(They) have been returned to Dar es Salaam by police and have bailed themselves out", he said but added that "some leaders" continue to be held, without giving further details. - 'Strict action' - Awadh Haji, police chief of operations and training, said "all the top Chadema leaders who were arrested, after interrogation and other procedures, have been returned to where they came from". He warned that police would "take strict legal action against any individual or group involved in disrupting peace". Officers will continue to closely monitor the situation, he said, and will "strengthen security in the city of Mbeya and all other regions of Tanzania to prevent any planned acts of violence". Mbowe, 62, was detained on Monday at the airport in Mbeya, the day after several other leaders including Lissu were detained. Hundreds of youth supporters were also rounded up by police as they travelled into the city, according to the party. About 10,000 had been expected to meet in Mbeya to mark International Youth Day on Monday. But police accused Chadema of planning violent demonstrations and made reference to widespread anti-government protests in neighbouring Kenya, led largely by young activists. (UroToday.com) The first speaker, Dr. Inderbir Gill, delivered a thought-provoking presentation on the potential of bladder transplantationa frontier in urology that has yet to be explored in human patients. Dr. Gill began by highlighting the success of transplantation as a treatment for failing major organ systems, such as kidneys, livers, and hearts, as well as non-critical organs like faces, hands, and even penises. Yet, despite these advancements, bladder transplantation remains uncharted territory. The reasons for this are clear: the complex vascular anatomy of the deep pelvis and the procedural challenges associated with the bladder make this a daunting endeavor. Dr. Gill argued that the current alternativeusing the bowel for urinary diversionis far from ideal. He outlined the significant drawbacks of this method, including high rates of readmission, complications, metabolic and nutritional issues, and recurrent infections. Patients often experience incontinence, incomplete emptying, and other dysfunctions, leading to a diminished quality of life. With artificial bladders proving unsuccessful over the years, the need for a viable alternative is pressing. Since 2021, inspired by a pivotal publication from Dr. Granberg, Dr. Gill and his team have embarked on the ambitious journey toward bladder transplantation. They initiated their work with preclinical development across three vascularized models, ultimately securing approval from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) for a Vascularized Composite Bladder Allograft (VCBA) program. The path has been anything but straightforward. The team initially used a pulsatile perfused cadaveric model to simulate clinical scenarios, but this approach fell short of expectations. Undeterred, they transitioned to research donors who were ineligible for clinical organ donation, which allowed them to more accurately replicate real surgical conditions. In this setting, they successfully developed and tested a robotic technique, achieving the critical milestone of sustained bladder perfusion. Building on this progress, Dr. Gills team then mastered an open surgical technique using brain-dead, heart-beating donors. To further hone their skills, they conducted an open bladder recovery on the back table (seen below), ensuring they were thoroughly prepared for any challenges that might arise and familiarizing themselves with different approaches to their goal. With these significant strides, the team is now actively recruiting candidates for their first human bladder transplants. This journey highlights the relentless effort, time, and innovation required to push the boundaries of medical science. Dr. Gills teams progress, from refining surgical techniques to overcoming the challenges of perfusion, marks a significant step forward in the pursuit of bladder transplantation. Dr. Gill's presentation underscored the importance of preclinical work in shaping a platform for future, more daring endeavors. He emphasized that while the journey is fraught with challenges and raises many questions, it is precisely this tenacity and courage that drive innovation forward. His work is paving the way for what could be a revolutionary advancement in urology, offering hope to patients who currently have limited options. Title: Laparoscopic Renal Denervation for Refractory Hypertension: Foundation and Preclinical Studies Up next, Dr. Chang took the stage to discuss a groundbreaking advancement in the treatment of refractory hypertension to showcase a novel approach aimed at overcoming the limitations of current treatments. Dr. Chang opened his presentation by highlighting the critical role of the kidneys in blood pressure regulation. Overactivity of the renal sympathetic nervous system is a major contributor to both essential and resistant hypertension. Historically, surgical interventions were employed to manage hypertension, with Alfred W. Adson pioneering the first surgical sympathectomy in 1925. While bilateral thoracolumbar sympathectomy became a common practice, it was associated with a significant 5-year mortality rate and serious complications due to its invasive nature and non-selective approach. In the 21st century, catheter-based intravascular renal denervation (RDN) devices emerged as a less invasive alternative. Despite advancements, only two devices were FDA-approved. These devices had disappointing results and have faced significant challenges. Dr. Chang outlined three fundamental limitations of catheter-based RDN: the risk of endothelial damage due to limited control over energy delivery, insufficient energy penetration (only reaching 2-3mm when 31% of nerves are beyond this depth), and anatomical variability that renders the approach unsuitable for a substantial portion of patients. To address these issues, Dr. Chang's team developed a novel laparoscopic extravascular RDN approach. Their preclinical studies, including tissue modeling and ex-vivo experiments, demonstrated that this new technique offers more effective denervation compared to traditional catheter-based methods. The team further validated their approach through in-vivo studies, which confirmed its ability to lower blood pressure. They also noted that while incomplete denervation led to rebound hypertension, near-complete denervation significantly reduced blood pressure. The teams collaboration with HyperQure led to the creation of a specialized device for this procedure. They tested various temperature settings and found that a protocol of 50C for 70 seconds yielded optimal results without causing gross or intimal injuries. Even under "worst-case scenario" conditionssuch as using the device at 53C in small, distal vesselsthe procedure demonstrated a high safety profile. Dr. Chang also explored the posterior retroperitoneal approach in a modified prone position for its convenience and direct access to the renal arteries, which was tested in cadaver studies. This approach is now being evaluated in a human trial in Korea and is in the process of securing Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval with five major U.S. institutions. In conclusion, Dr. Changs presentation illustrated the limitations of current catheter-based RDN techniques and highlighted the potential of the novel extravascular approach. His work underscores the importance of innovative problem-solving in advancing medical treatments. The rigorous testing and development process exemplifies how effective innovation can emerge from addressing fundamental issues and striving to improve patient outcomes. Dr. Changs efforts demonstrate that through creativity and persistence, groundbreaking solutions can indeed transform the landscape of medical care. Title: The Current and Future Landscape of Telesurgery In the final segment of the plenary session, Dr. Raju Thomas delivered a compelling talk on exploring the transformative potential of telesurgery, its current status, and the promising future that lies ahead. Dr. Thomas began by addressing the foundational question: what role does telesurgery play, and how safe is it? Reflecting on the historical significance of the Lindberg operation, where underwater transatlantic cables connected surgeons in New York with those in Strasbourg, France, Dr. Thomas noted that while this pioneering effort laid the groundwork, significant progress has been made in surgical robotics since then. However, there has been a noticeable lack of practical application until recent developments in telesurgery. Drawing a parallel to the dramatic evolution of telecommunication since Alexander Graham Bells telephone invention in 1876, Dr. Thomas emphasized that network advancements should match the rapid progress in surgical technology. The most recent notable achievement in telesurgery occurred in 2023 when a successful operation was performed in China. The procedure demonstrated a latency of less than 100 milliseconds, though the goal remains to reduce this to around 15 milliseconds. Dr. Thomas highlighted the complexity of setting up such sophisticated systems, underscoring the need for precise coordination between remote teams. Throughout China, 11 telesurgeries have been conducted, with some cases involving impressive distances. For instance, one surgery required the surgeon's assistant to be 1,500 kilometers away, highlighting the necessity for flawless synchronization between the teams. Another notable procedure, a triple-console radical prostatectomy, involved a staggering distance of 2,700 kilometers, further emphasizing the challenges and capabilities of modern telesurgery. Dr. Thomas also introduced various types of robotic systems, including the MIRA Robot and the Space MIRAa miniaturized in-vivo robotic assistant capable of performing operations on simulated tissue and even being operated from space. Despite these advancements, Dr. Thomas acknowledged that significant uncharted territories remain, such as the compatibility of heterogeneous systems, cybersecurity, cultural implications, and physician licensing. The progression to remote surgery demands extensive experience, as surgeons must be well-prepared before undertaking solo remote operations. The FDAs guidelines on evaluation challenges and knowledge gaps highlight the essential components for successful telesurgery: seamless integration of surgery, connectivity, and evaluation methods. Real-time data processing, local-remote team interactions, and network reliability are critical factors in achieving effective telesurgery. Dr. Thomas shared a "10 Commandments" figure, which outlines best practices for optimizing telesurgical procedures. Dr. Thomas concluded by emphasizing that telesurgery is not just a feasible and safe reality but also holds immense humanitarian potential. It promises to enhance healthcare equity, expand access to surgical care, and provide new opportunities for education and training. The key to unlocking these benefits lies in proactive, collaborative efforts among specialists, robotic companies, doctors, patients, telecom companies, and other stakeholders. By staying vigilant and innovative, the telesurgery community can address current limitations and integrate this technology more effectively into practice. The plenary session on "Pioneering Innovations in Progress" highlighted the forefront of medical advancements with transformative insights from three distinguished speakers. Dr. Gills work on bladder transplantation illustrated the potential for revolutionary change in urological care, emphasizing the need for rigorous preclinical research to overcome existing treatment limitations. Dr. Changs exploration of laparoscopic renal denervation showcased a novel approach to managing refractory hypertension, addressing critical challenges with innovative solutions that push the boundaries of current technology. Meanwhile, Dr. Thomass discussion on telesurgery underscored the evolving landscape of remote surgical care, demonstrating how advancements in connectivity and robotics can enhance healthcare equity and access. Collectively, these presentations underscore the essence of pioneering innovation: tackling entrenched problems with groundbreaking solutions, continuous research, and cross-disciplinary collaboration to drive the future of medicine. Inderbir S. Gill, M.D., University of Southern California Chang Wook Jeong, M.D., PhD, Seoul National University, @drboss_urology on Twitter Raju Thomas, M.D., FACS, FRCS, MHA, @roboraju on Twitter during the 2024 World Congress of Endourology and Uro-Technology (WCET) Annual Meeting, August 12 -16, 2024, Seoul, South Korea Presented by: Moderated by: William W. Roberts, MD Written by: Seyed Amiryaghoub M. Lavasani, B.A., University of California, Irvine, @amirlavasani_ on Twitter during the 2024 World Congress of Endourology and Uro-Technology (WCET) Annual Meeting, August 12 -16, 2024, Seoul, South Korea KYODO NEWS - Aug 13, 2024 - 13:04 | All, Japan The Tokyo metropolitan government has launched an artificial intelligence system that uses high-altitude cameras to detect fires and building collapses in real-time to accelerate its initial disaster response during major earthquakes. Japan's weather agency last week issued its first-ever advisory warning of an increased risk of a megaquake along the Nankai Trough running between central and southwestern Japan. The AI-driven system analyzes footage from high-resolution cameras, with two installed at the Tokyo metropolitan government building and one each at a bridge near Tokyo Bay and a location in the western part of the metropolitan area, the local authorities and system developer Hitachi Ltd. said. The system automatically identifies fires and structural collapses, providing the information to relevant agencies such as the police, fire department and the Japan Self-Defense Forces to enable quicker response efforts. According to a damage assessment released by the Tokyo metropolitan government in 2022, a Nankai Trough megaquake could generate tsunami 2 to 2.6 meters high along the Tokyo Bay area. There is also a 70 percent chance of a massive earthquake occurring directly beneath Tokyo within the next 30 years. A powerful earthquake centered under southern Tokyo could result in about 6,100 deaths and damage to around 194,000 buildings. The system began full-scale operation in March. By the end of the fiscal year through March 2025, two additional cameras will be activated at Tokyo Skytree, expanding coverage to include nearly all of the capital's 23 wards and parts of the western area. The AI reviews camera footage to identify smoke or structural damage, displaying the information on a screen with reports and maps. It can also detect areas densely packed with wooden houses, allowing authorities to prioritize areas at higher risk of severe damage. Previously, cameras were operated manually, making it difficult to obtain accurate information immediately after a disaster. A Tokyo metropolitan government official said, "We try to use advanced technology to quickly assess the full scope of the damage." Related coverage: Q&A: A guide to Nankai Trough quake and areas in Japan at risk M7.1 quake hits southwestern Japan, megaquake fear grows Japan sees higher-than-usual risk of megaquake off Pacific Coast Hotels, Japanese inns hit by cancellations after megaquake alert Corey Tarwater, an associate professor in the University of Wyoming Department of Zoology and Physiology, bands a rufous motmot in Panama. Rebecca Wilcox, a UW adjunct professor of zoology and physiology and a postdoctoral researcher at the California Academy of Sciences, is lead author of a paper that was published in the journal Global Change Biology that determined nutritional stress, rather than an adaptive response to warming, is more likely the primary cause in the change of tropical birds body size in a protected national park in Panama. At the time of the study, Wilcox was a UW Ph.D. postdoctoral researcher. (Sam Case Photo) A University of Wyoming adjunct professor led a study in a Panama national park that found that nutritional stress, rather than an adaptive response to warming, is more likely the primary cause in the change of tropical birds body size. Additionally, the study found that changes in body size have opposing effects on juvenile recruitment and survival, and no effect on population growth rate, indicating that impacts of changes in body size on bird populations in Panama currently appear to be buffered. We found that the impact of changes in birds body size on recruitment and survival was variable across species, but those relationships were in the opposite directions. For example, if we saw a positive relationship between body condition and recruitment for a species, then we would see a negative relationship between body condition and survival for that species, ultimately resulting in no change in population growth rate, says Rebecca Wilcox, an adjunct professor in UWs Department of Zoology and Physiology and a postdoctoral researcher at the California Academy of Sciences. This indicates that, at least currently, populations in Panama may be resilient to the effects of changes in body size. Wilcox is lead author of a paper titled Observed declines in body size have different effects on survival and recruitment, but no effect on population growth in tropical birds that was published in Global Change Biology today (Aug. 13). The environmental change journal is dedicated to shaping the future and solving the worlds most challenging problems by tackling sustainability, climate change and environmental protection, food and water safety and provision, as well as global health. Wilcox, who was a Ph.D. student at UW from 2015-2020, headed the study while she was a postdoctoral researcher collaborating with Corey Tarwater, an associate professor in the UW Department of Zoology and Physiology. Tarwater is the papers senior author and runs the long-term study in Panama. Researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the Illinois Natural History Survey, which is part of the Prairie Research Institute, also contributed to the paper. During the study, researchers tracked the presence of 51 year-round resident bird species across 18 families in Parque Nacional Soberania, a 22,000-hectare protected forest in central Panama. Bird species were combined into four feeding guilds: frugivores, nectarivores, omnivores and insectivores. The study looked at data from 1993-2020. Of the 51 species examined, 45 species, or 88 percent, showed a decline in body condition across the duration of the study, according to the paper. Of those, the decline was significant for 22 percent, or 11 of the species. Six, or 12 percent of species, showed an increase in body condition but nothing significant, according to the paper. For wing length, 12 percent of species showed no change; 22 species showed increased wing length; and 23 species saw a decline in their wing length. However, only two species showed a significant change in wing length, with one showing an increase in wing length while the other showed a decrease in wing length. However, the paper concluded wing length had not significantly changed over time for most species. Precipitation in the dry and wet seasons had different impacts on the body condition of the four bird guilds. Body condition was higher -- except for omnivores -- when there was more precipitation in the dry season. Guilds also were impacted by precipitation anomalies. Frugivores, nectarivores and insectivores responded positively to more precipitation anomalies during the wet season, while frugivores and nectarivores positively responded to fewer precipitation anomalies in the dry season. Changes were stronger and more consistent in body condition and not wing length, which suggests that nutritional stress is the cause of body size declines rather than being an adaptive response, according to the study. These results indicate that we should give greater consideration to how indirect biotic impacts -- for example, changes in food availability, predators or parasites -- associated with climate change may influence changes in body condition, and that we should not assume that body size is a proxy for fitness, Wilcox says. Wilcox says the studys most interesting finding was that the opposite impacts of body size on survival and recruitment resulted in population growth rates being buffered. I think that this result is interesting because it suggests that multiple pathways may counteract each other to weaken any net population-level effect. However, it is important to consider that we dont know how long the effect of buffering will last, she says. Therefore, given that tropical bird populations are generally in decline, and that they continue to face a myriad of threats, such as changing climate and habitat quality, it is important that we continue to monitor these populations to better understand the processes impacting their population dynamics. Future studies should not assume that body size is a proxy for fitness. Rather, studies should test for links between body size and demography or consider alternative proxies, Wilcox says. Additionally, she says identifying mechanisms that lead to changes in demography will help researchers understand the processes that influence how populations respond to climate change. Research funding was provided by the National Science Foundation; the U.S. Department of Defense Legal Resource Program; the U.S. Department of Agricultures National Institute of Food and Agriculture; the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; UW; and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Youd be hard-pressed to find an Indigenous person who hasnt experienced that kind of loss and that kind of grief. We all know someone who has been murdered. We all know someone who has been removed from their family, we all know someone whos displaying all kinds of trauma as a result of Indian residential schools and the child welfare system, said Myrna McCallum, lawyer and product of the Sixties Scoop who has made it her lifes work to serve disenfranchised and disadvantaged Indigenous peoples and communities. What she says is backed up by stark statistics. Despite being only four per cent of the female population in Canada, Indigenous women make up nearly a quarter of homicide victims. Indigenous women are three times more likely to be physically assaulted, sexually assaulted or robbed than non-Indigenous women, and are vastly overrepresented in prisons. But these numbers dont indicate an issue pertaining solely to Canadas Indigenous population. Rather, according to the reports on Canadas Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG), it is widely concluded that the systemic nature of violence against Indigenous peoples is inherent in a colonial relationship with the Canadian state. The National Inquiry into MMIWG has said it will build upon the common conclusions of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry (AJI), the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP), and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC): that violence against Indigenous Peoples is rooted in colonization. For the violence against Indigenous women and girls to end, the ongoing colonial relationship that facilitates it must end. According to the AJI report, unresponsiveness by police and justice systems enable violence against Indigenous women. RCAP, found that a combination of racism and sexism in Canada are among the most damaging attitudes resulting in the stereotyping and devaluing of Aboriginal women. The TRCs legacy volume highlights Canadas sweeping history of violence against Indigenous women and girls, as deeply entrenched consequence of colonization. All three reports came to the conclusion that the solution must be Indigenous led, and requires transformational change to the core relationship between Canada and Indigenous peoples. Bags for tears at the National Inquiry for MMIWG in Richmond. Photo by Dylan S. Waisman Root causes of violence When we look at Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, nobody needs to really do a lot of intensive research to find out what are the root causes of that kind of victimization and vulnerability because we know, McCallum told National Observer. The MMIWG interim report acknowledges that no understanding of violence against Indigenous women and girls, including LGBTQ2S people can be understood without grounding it firmly within Canadian colonialism. Canadas Screen Awards got their nominations out, and right, this week. One of the top nominees is a drama that shows a real slice of life here in Vancouver. The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open, which Ive written about more than once, got six nominations including best picture. This website https://www.academy.ca/nominees/ shows all the categories on both the film and television side. While youre on-line you might also visit https://vimff.org/ for info on the Mountain Film Festival which starts today, mostly at North Vans Centennial Theatre but also at other locations including the Richmond Oval and dont forget https://www.vjff.org/. Thats the Jewish Film Festival which starts Thursday with When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit directed by Oscar winner Caroline Link. Meanwhile, these are now playing: The Call of the Wild: 3 stars The Kdocs Documentary Festival The Corporate Coup dEtat (at Kdocs): 4 BellingcatTruth in a Post-Truth World (Kdocs): 4 Terra Willy: 2 Brahms The Boy II: -- THE CALL OF THE WILD: This story has been filmed many times since Jack London published his novel in 1903. The leads before Harrison Ford included Clark Gable, Charlton Heston, Rick Schroeder in a TV movie filmed near Quesnel and Nick Mancuso in a TV series filmed around Maple Ridge. But this is the first time that Im aware of that a man has played the dog. Terry Notary is the guy; motion-capture recorded his movements and computers turned them into the amazingly expressive and responsive Buck, who can hold his own playing alongside Ford who alternates between amiable and dour, grief-laden. Buck was dognapped in California, taken to the Yukon gold rush and sold to work on a dogsled team transporting mail. He was clumsy at first but brave and managed to best the alpha dog to be the leader. But the mail run was shut down, he was bought by a cruel and greedy prospector (Dan Stevens) and had to be rescued by John Thornton, played by Ford. After that the film develops two ways: dog and man bond, (Buck even stops him drinking) and dog follows the call of his ancestors, the wolves. Theres a lady timberwolf involved too. The film celebrates nature and is a good choice for children. Its quite mild and doesnt scare. A bit of it was filmed here in BC, likely the canoe ride over a waterfall and through some rapids. The animals, the bears, caribou, rabbits and more are also computer generated and though Buck doesnt always look and move exactly realistically hell charm most any dog lover. (International Village, Marine Gateway and suburban theatres) 3 out of 5 KDOCS FILM FESTIVAL: It started small at Kwantlen University some years ago and is now an annual show of superb social-issue documentaries at the VanCity Theatre ( see http://www.kdocsff.com/). English literature instructor Janice Morris started and directs it and shes put together a very strong lineup of 13 films this year. They run through the weekend and include several Ive written about, and praised, before. BECAUSE WE ARE GIRLS is an incendiary film in which three sisters from northern B.C. confront their Punjabi parents who knew about but didnt stop the sexual abuse by a relative. The most forceful of the sisters will be there to talk about it. TOXIC BEAUTY is an alarming film that points out how dangerous some commonly-used cosmetics and personal care products really are. Most startling to me? Talcum powder. The director, Phyllis Ellis, and a whistleblower, Deane Berg, will be there. WE WILL STAND UP describes the shocking case of and continuing controversy over Colten Boushie, the Indigenous man in Saskatchewan who was shot dead by a farmer, who was then acquitted by a court. The film follows the trial and a campaign to get justice (which reached all the way to the United Nations) and adds a corrective history about how white/native relations really went in Canada. PUSH is particularly relevant here in Vancouver, even as housing prices have eased a bit. The film visits cities from Toronto to London, even Valparaiso, to see how, and why housing costs are so high there. No surprise: Housing is now a commodity, it says, sold, bought and flipped for profit by big corporations, pension funds and rich investors. Theres also a concise explanation of how money laundering works to make things worse. The main presenter in the film, Leilani Farha, of Ottawa, who works for the United Nations, will be here as a keynote speaker. HUMAN NATURE is relevant for everybody because its about our evolution. It outlines the latest advances in genetic engineering and the future they predict. Designer babies? No inherited disease? Soldiers who cant feel pain? The science is clearly explained and were forewarned of the dangers, in this film executive produced by Dan Rather. Provocative stuff. And two films Ive just now seen for the first time: Are people going to the movies these days? Or staying away like James Bond? Its not a time to stop because theres so much new in town. Ive got nine just arrived that Im writing about this week. One of them, Emma, snuck into one theatre around here last week and is now in 10. Onward: 3 stars Greed: 3 Emma: 3 The Way Back: 2 Sorry We Missed You: 4 Vitalina Varela: 2 I Was At Home But : 3 The Lodge: 3 Lie Exposed: 1 ONWARD: Its not as emotionally heady as the best of Pixars films, and too familiar at times, but theres quite a bit here to recommend it. Sharp animation, naturally, plus a heartfelt affirmation of family, a wild adventure, magic and myth, all set in a totally modern world. Two brothers out on a quest driving a souped-up van echo countless teen movies, except that these boys are elves, modern versions with only their big ears to distinguish them. They lament that inventions like the lightbulb and now the smart phone have killed magic and but are given a chance to get some back. Their father, a wizard who had to make do as an accountant and died before they got to know him, left them a present. Its a wizard stick with which they can bring him back for one whole day. It works but only half of him is there, from the belt down. Its a race against time to revive the rest of him. The burly older boy (voiced by Chris Pratt) pushes his insecure brother (Tom Holland) to come on the quest, hone his magic skills and find a mystical gem. They take the path of peril instead of the highway and encounter scavenging unicorns, a centaur cop, a crevasse they have to use magic to cross, fairies who ride motorcycles and a once-fierce manticore (Octavia Spencer) now reduced to running a roadside restaurant. Too easy, these sendups. Little kids wont get most of them but might enjoy the flash of the busy roadtrip. Everyone else should wait through it for a very poignant ending. The story, inspired by director Dan Scanlons own thoughts of a dad he lost, eventually rewards with real feelings. (Dunbar, International Village, Scotiabank, Marine Gateway and many suburban theatres) 3 out of 5 GREED: Some people, and critics, are down on this one because they thought it should be more of a comedy than it is. Others think it fires at too many targets. I dont. This is the most radical movie Ive seen in some time and it hits its targets bluntly and deservedly. Steve Coogan is the star, in his seventh collaboration with director Michael Winterbottom, and theyve created an evisceration of the super-rich. The comedy is there but its so stinging that it may not feel like it. If you like seeing pompous, hucksters getting hit with absolutely valid broadsides, youll enjoy this, and chuckle often. Coogan plays the owner of a chain of London fashion shops who worked his way up with the prodding of a harpy mother and his own feelings of entitlement. Hes inspired by a real merchandiser who is well-known in England but I see him as a stand in for not one man, but a type. Hes a bully as a deal maker; he has clothes manufactured for cheap in Sri Lanka sweatshops and sells them at top prices; hes immensely rich and avoids taxes. Hes shown organizing a lavish birthday party for himself on a Greek Island, testifying about bankruptcies before a parliamentary committee, humiliating his staff and driving unconscionable deals in Sri Lanka. There are many true details: a toady of a journalist is writing a biography, Bulgarian workers are building a mock Coliseum, Syrian refugees are spoiling the view by camping on the beach. He justifies avoiding taxes and cites Bono, Facebook and others to prove it. Too much? Not until the postscripts at the end that say it all again. Before that its a sprawling assault on income inequality. Bernie Sanders would like this film. (5th Avenue) 3 out of 5 KYODO NEWS - Aug 13, 2024 - 14:13 | All, Japan Regional business groups in central Japan are stepping up efforts to support Japanese language education for children with foreign roots, aiming to create a welcoming environment for the long-term integration of foreign workers in the area's manufacturing sector. With many local Japanese classes run by volunteers, the Central Japan Economic Federation has called on its member companies to provide venues and instructors for the lessons and has also launched an initiative matching teachers with classes. In mid-April, around 10 children and students from countries such as Bolivia and Vietnam participated in a Japanese language class in Komaki, Aichi Prefecture. Tatsuki Funakawa, a 36-year-old employee of ceramics company NGK Insulators Ltd., served as the instructor of the class held in a dormitory belonging to the company, helping students with homework in kanji and mathematics. Foreign workers are invaluable to the central Japan region, which is home to a thriving manufacturing industry. With workers often bringing their families to Japan, the area has seen an increase in the number of children not proficient in daily Japanese conversation or struggling to keep up in school. According to a 2023 survey by the education ministry, nearly 58,000 students of foreign nationality across the country are in need of Japanese language education. The figure has almost doubled in the past 10 years. By prefecture, Aichi topped the list at nearly 12,000 foreign children needing to learn Japanese, with Tagalog, Portuguese or Chinese making up the majority of mother tongues. While local Japanese language classes play a crucial role in preventing children from falling behind in their studies, roughly 80 percent of such classes in Aichi Prefecture are run by private volunteers, according to surveys by the federation and others. The federation offers support by collaborating with local entities to organize events matching Japanese classes with prospective volunteer instructors from its member companies. Four such events have been held as of January this year, with up to 45 employees from member companies, and five to eight classes, participating each time. "(Parents) have expressed gratitude for the opportunity for their children to connect with people from local companies. As building a foundation for coexistence is important, I hope this initiative will catch on (outside the central Japan region)," said Kazuki Nomura, head of the federation's International Affairs Division. Related coverage: Students in need of Japanese language support rise to record 69,000 FOCUS: Asylum seekers on provisional release facing poverty in Japan FOCUS: Allowing foreign trainees to switch jobs stirs debate in rural Japan Interesting event coming up at the VanCity Theatre: the renowned film editor Walter Murch will be talking about his craft Tuesday evening. Just naming a few of the films hes cut should be enough of a draw: Apocalypse Now, The Talented Mr Ripley, Cold Mountain and The English Patient. Hell have samples to show and a lot to say. Hes a writer too. Theres more information at https://www.viff.org Meanwhile, there a long list of new movies now in town. Mia and the White Lion: 3 stars Missing Link: 4 Little: 3 Mary Magdalene: 2 Stockholm: 3 Hellboy: 2 The Best of Enemies: -- After: -- Master Z: IP Man Legacy: -- MIA AND THE WHITE LION: This is a perfect film to take the kids to and maybe get a bit emotionally involved in yourself. It could be quite a bit because tension builds dramatically as the story progresses and then delivers a terrific cathartic moment, as the best of these animals-in-danger films do. You also learn a great deal about the wildlife tourism industry in Africa, some of which is not nice at all. Mia is the petulant daughter of a family thats returned to South Africa, after a few years in London. Shed rather still be there and isnt interested in her dads hard work to set up a wildlife park as a tourist attraction. Until a rare white lion cub is born and bonds with her like a pet. We watch their connection grow over three years but dad warns hes a wild animal and soon hell want to kill you. A shady operator wants to buy him but dad refuses and in a foreboding comment says he doesnt do that anymore. We eventually learn what that is. It shocks Mia enough to set her out on a desperate trek. The film is rich with drama about a young girls idealism and an expose of a dishonorable business. With lots of animals roaming through, its also something of a nature film. (International Village and suburban theatres) 3 out of 5 MISSING LINK: Adults will get a lot more out of this animated film than children. The humor is very droll; theres lots of it and most of it is based on classic situations reminiscent of novels and old movies. An exclusive explorers club in London, a saloon brawl in the old west, travelling to Shangri La and more get a send-up. A self-styled adventurer, voiced by Hugh Jackman, is barred from the club and heads all the way to Washington State on a tip that the Sasquatch is to be found there. What better way to prove himself? He does find the creature who turns out to be surprisingly articulate (voiced by Zach Galifianakis) but lonely. He wants to find his cousins, the Yeti, and off they go to the Himalayas. A pushy widow (Zoe Saldana) comes along (she has a map) and a creepy hitman (Timothy Olyphant) is on their trail. Hes on assignment from the London club to stop them. An elder (Emma Thompson) offers the final bit of information but, of course, Shangri La isnt what they had imagined. The film is full of surprises and gags as corralled by writer and director Chris Butler. He made it at Laika Studios in Oregon (his second there). The stop-motion animation is dazzling, especially in a scene with fragmented mirror images and a long sequence inside a storm-tossed ship. The story-telling shines. (International Village, Marine Gateway and suburban theatres) 4 out of 5 LITTLE: Take the plot of Big, turn it upside down, shift the culture and youve got this small and funny entertainer. Its peppered with laughs, not sullied with a single obscenity and still presents a reasonably authentic view of life today. Much tinted by fantasy, though. Regina Hall is a demanding, high-powered boss at a small software design company. Just as her biggest client (SNLs Mikey Day) is threatening to bail out, she is zapped with a magic spell by a young girl at a food truck. It works. She wakes up as a 14-year-old version of herself, played by Marsai Martin. Shes a regular on the popular TV comedy Black-ish and came up with the idea for this film. She forgets shes too young to drive and to drink, both bringing up many funny misunderstandings. She also cant supervise her company and has to let the assistant shes been disregarding (Issa Rae) do it. Worse, she has to go to school (a child welfare officer insists on it) and that brings back memories of being bullied when she was young because of her intelligence. She has to hang with the nerdy kids. The film, directed by Tina Gordon, avoids the trap of putting absolutely everything in parallel. But as a zippy, light and bright comedy its a winner. (International Village and suburban theatres) 3 out of 5 Refugee sagas and annals of exile are as old (at least!) as the Old Testament. Way back in Genesis, we find a pair of messenger angels hustling the Biblical patriarch Lot and his womenfolk out of their house in iniquitous Sodom. "Escape for thy life," the angels warn. "Look not behind thee lest thou be swept away." Easier said than done, at least for Mrs. Lot (nameless in the Bible), who cant help casting a backward glance at the rain of brimstone engulfing her homeland. For this all-too-human lapse, God turns her into a pillar of salt. To our abiding human sorrow and shame, the story remains as pertinent as ever in our own time, as attested by three brilliant exile dramas highlighting this years PuSh Fest bill. All three of these vivid productions feature bravura music and dance. Yet all three leave a distinctly salty aftertaste. In playwright Carmen Aguirres Anywhere But Here, the salt is delivered in the form of foul language, brief nudity, mature subject matter, fake guns [and] limited stage violence, as listed in the Audience Advice of the program notes. All this salt to help us bolt down a high-octane tequila shot; the searing, tragic saga of LatinX South-to-North dislocation. In the lobby of the Vancouver Playhouse, where the show World Premieres February 4-15, an audience-participation shrine commemorates the deadly toll of these mass migrations. A timeline unfurls alongside, running from the Spanish conquista all the way down to Trumps Big, Beautiful Wall and its attendant concentration camps, detailing LatinX hegiras, wave after wave. In the first such wave to be accorded refugee status in Canada, Aguirre and her family landed up here in the early 1970s, after Pierre Trudeaus government under pressure of sustained protests dialed back (a little) its embrace of the CIA-sponsored military coup that overthrew Chiles elected Marxist president, Salvador Allende. Like Lots wife, the Aguirres could not help looking back towards their lost homeland even as they adapted to their new milieu. It's this dilemma, finctionalised, that propels the action of Anywhere But Here. The play (or at least its outermost "shell story") is set in1979, with the coup and the resulting exile still a fresh, raw wound. The estranged Dad of a family hijacks his two daughters and sets out on a road trip back from Canada back to Chile, with the Mom in hot pursuit. But its a LatinX story, after all, with plenty of latitude for chronology-bending realismo magico. Racing southwards to the US/Mexico border, the 1970s exiles run smack up against the Donald Trump's Great Wall of MAGA. And skulking, scrambling and dodging their way northwards towards the same wall comes a file of very 21st century asylum-seekers. This "caravan" is spearheaded by a Honduran rapper (Alen Dominguez) who chronicles their travails in rat-a-tat-rhyme. The hip-hop lyrics are the only part of the eloquent script that Aguirre did not pen entirely on her own. For those hectoring cadences., she turned to a Juno-. Emmy- and Peabody-certified collaborator: rap laureate and broadcast curator, Shad Kabango. LatinX hes not, but Shad knows his way around the refugee experience, as a Kenya-born Rwandan shunted all over East Africa before settling at last in Ontario. And, anyway, the rest of the shows production team more than makes up for LatinX bona fides, starting with Mexico-born Los Angeles-based director Juliette Carillo. Switching and swapping roles throughout the show, the nine member cast -- Augusto Bitter, Alen Dominguez, Alexandra Lainfiesta, Shawn Lall, Nadeem Phillip, Christine Quintana, Michelle Rios, AJ Simmons, and Manuela Sosa boast immigrant roots ranging from Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, El Salvador, Venezuela to Puerto Rico. Other Mexico-born luminaries on the crew include costume designer Carmen Alatorre, projections designer Candelario Andrade and set designer Christopher Acebo. Between them, these ChicanX production superstars melded their talents for a compelling mise en scene a circular performance space, covered in cork fragments (to suggest desert grit) and backed by a cyclorama of shifting colours. Its marked at the base with the beckoning lights of a distant urban haven, but the sky above is streaked with projected footage of the hardships of the road and the legacies of the past. Age, according to Michel de Montaigne, imprints more wrinkles in the mind than it does on the face. And he knew whereof he spoke by the time he penned that, in the late 16th century, when his grey hairs gave [him] some authority. Hed already spent his entire writing life in mental self-portraiture, trying to capture the subtle byplay of his thought. From the French verb to try he derived the name Essay for the newfangled literary form he invented. Yet his ideas kept imprinting quirky new channels wrinkles faster than he could pin them down. Of all literary forms fable, horror, ode, farce, romance the essay is probably the hardest, and rarest, to bring to the stage. And no wonder, as its subjects tend to be immaterial, like thoughts, and sit static and composed, like portraits. Yet theres drama inherent in a well-lined face, if you know how to look for it. And the wrinklier the better. Two of this years PuSh Fest productions bring off the rare feat of spinning essays into riveting theatre. Each show goes about it in its own quirky way. Essayist, science explicator and broadcast personality David Suzuki is probably Canadas best known environmental advocate. Together with his wife, Tara Cullis herself an author, literary scholar and activist theyre widely hailed as godparents of the worldwide Green movement. But in What You Wont Do for Love, we meet them not through their published opus, but rather through the intimate and revealing lens of their decades-long love story. The play is still a work-in-progress, but PuSh audiences got to see it in an advanced stage of development at a one-off workshop presentation in New Westminsters Anvil Centre. The show is the handiwork of Ravi Jain and Miriam Fernandes of Torontos Why Not Theatre, a power couple in their own right (co-developers of a new Mahabharata in this years upcoming Shaw Festival). But in the Anvil workshop, they appeared as supporting facilitators only, with the starring roles reserved for Suzuki and Cullis in person. The framework is a convivial dinner, with Jain and Fernandes as admiring hosts who pour the wine and download their distinguished guests. The audience is arrayed, theatre-in-the-round style, on three sides of the circular table. An overhead camera beams a top-down view of the tabletop in real-time onto a cyclorama screen. Scattered amidst the stemware and hors doeuvres is a hodgepodge of Suzuki-Cullis memorabilia snapshots, clippings, papers, souvenirs which serve as reminiscent talking points. Photos of Canadas World War II Japanese internment camps, a seminal memory for 82-year-old Suzuki, tells us a lot about how he acquired his lifelong passion for social and, eventually, ecological justice. A studio portrait of Cullis as an earnest 20-something grad student (looks like Rita Hayworth, according to Suzuki) bespeaks her determination to win that man (13 years her senior and already a celebrity) so they could get past this noisome distraction of mating and get on with their joint life of service. We hear about the charms and trials of an intercultural marriage and the logistic travails of raising children while spearheading a cause. They expound their left-brain/right-brain theory of how they complement one another. Left-brain dominant as he is (logical, scientific, yang), hes at a loss without her right-brain support (intuitive, poetic, yin). Along the way they do get to squeeze off some disquisitions on their Green themes, but always in the dramatic context of their life stories. Their adoring on their grandchildren, for instance, lend a poignant urgency and concreteness to their hopes and fears for the planet. Rather than serving up discursive polemics, they offer us their memoirs as an essay in how to live responsibly. At Anvil Centre, they preached to a responsive choir, judging from their standing ovation. Ride hailing, electric vehicles and self-driving cars are transforming the future of Ford Canada, and CEO Mark Buzzell says the company is gearing up for a radical shift toward becoming an "auto and mobility" business. Buzzell said Tuesday the company sees these trends taking hold and is responding with billions of dollars in new investments. While he wouldn't speculate on long-term hiring plans in Canada, he said Ford would still need a strong manufacturing workforce. "At the end of the day, you still have to manufacture autonomous vehicles," he said in an interview at Vancouver's auto show. "If anything, it's going to add jobs because we need software development engineers to help us with the technology." Ford has already invested in San Francisco-based Chariot, which allows people to use a mobile app to hail rides on transit vans, as well as bike-sharing service GoBike. Last month, it announced $1 billion for a company called Argo AI, which is led by former Google and Uber executives and aims to develop a new software platform for Ford's first autonomous vehicle. "There's a lot of new disruptors or new players trying to get into this space," Buzzell said. "As our chairman Bill Ford has said, it's an interesting time when we need to figure out who's our friend and who's our foe. In some cases, they may be one and the same." The company is promising to have a self-driving vehicle, without a steering wheel or gas pedal, on the market by 2021. Currently, Ford is testing a fleet of 30 autonomous vehicles in the U.S. and aims to expand to 90 around the globe, Buzzell said. Ford has also invested $4.5 billion in electric vehicles to bring 13 new models to market over the next four or five years. "I think we can do a better job of creating awareness of the features and benefits these vehicles bring," he said. "Then I think we have to overcome some anxieties." Customers have "range anxiety," worrying that they will run out of energy, he said. But he said Ford is working to ensure more charging stations are available while piloting wireless charging technology in other parts of the world. Buzzell said Canada is trying to position itself as a technology and innovation leader and the company is working closely with the federal government on projects including improving engine development at its two engine plants in Windsor, Ont. Ford promised last fall it would inject $700 million into the Windsor plants and its assembly plant in Oakville, Ont., as part of a labour deal reached with Unifor, which represents about 6,700 workers at the company's facilities. Buzzell has said this commitment has not wavered since the election of U.S. President Donald Trump. He reaffirmed his position on Tuesday, adding it would be unfair to speculate about Trump's protectionist proposals. He said it's too early to comment on the U.S. administration's proposal for a border-adjusted tax on imports, but he said Ford chairman Bill Ford and CEO Mark Fields are communicating to Trump that the company supports free trade. He wouldn't comment on what they were hearing in response. He said the company is also working with Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and governors of Great Lakes states, as Ford facilities on either side of the border are highly interdependent. "NAFTA has been around for 22 years and for the most part, it's served us very well," he said. "We're in favour of very open trade agreements that make it easy for us to do business around the globe." Vietnam-South Korea Social Security Agreement: Key Details The Social Security Agreement between Vietnam and South Korea, which officially came into effect on January 1, 2024, represents a significant milestone in the bilateral relationship between the two countries. Introduction Vietnam and South Korea have enjoyed strong economic relations for years, with a significant number of Vietnamese workers in South Korea and Korean workers in Vietnam. The need for a formal agreement to address social security issues, such as double taxation and benefits protection, became apparent as the number of cross-border workers increased. The agreement was signed to address these concerns and ensure that workers are covered by social insurance in only one country at a time. The Social Security Agreement between Vietnam and South Korea, officially enacted on January 1, 2024, marks a significant milestone in bilateral relations. This reflects the growing economic and labor ties between the two nations. The agreement aims to eliminate double social security taxation, protect the rights of workers, and facilitate cross-border employment and business activities. The signing is seen as a significant step in protecting the social insurance rights of workers and enhancing cooperation between the two countries. Overview of the Agreement The agreement was signed by Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) Nguyen Ba Hoan and Deputy Minister for Planning and Coordination of the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) Kim Hye-jin, aiming to protect the social insurance rights of workers from both countries and prevent double taxation. This is the first such agreement between Vietnam and another country. It will benefit the approximately 250,000 Vietnamese in South Korea and 200,000 Koreans in Vietnam by facilitating better labor management and information sharing. Implementation and administration To facilitate the application and implementation of the agreement, Vietnams Social Insurance Agency issued Official Letter No. 862/BHXH-TST on March 29, 2024. The Vietnam Social Securitys official letter provides detailed guidance on implementing the Social Insurance Agreement between Vietnam and South Korea. The letter directs Social Insurance Departments in provinces and cities on the procedures for: The scope of application; The issuance and receipt of Social Insurance Certificates (SICs); and The suspension of compulsory social insurance contributions in Vietnam for Vietnamese workers working in South Korea. This directive applies to the below three specific categories. Dispatched workers : Vietnam and S.Korea will issue Social Insurance Certificates for the workers they send to each others markets, exempting them from contributions in their host country for up to 60 months, with the possibility of extensions up to an additional 36 months if the worker remains with the sending employer. The exemption period will be recalculated, and a new overseas work period will begin when workers who have returned to their home country are sent to work abroad again. Those sent overseas before the Agreements effective date will enjoy the exemption period beginning on that date. : Vietnam and S.Korea will issue Social Insurance Certificates for the workers they send to each others markets, exempting them from contributions in their host country for up to 60 months, with the possibility of extensions up to an additional 36 months if the worker remains with the sending employer. The exemption period will be recalculated, and a new overseas work period will begin when workers who have returned to their home country are sent to work abroad again. Those sent overseas before the Agreements effective date will enjoy the exemption period beginning on that date. Locally hired workers: Vietnamese citizens working in South Korea and S.Korean citizens working in Vietnam will adhere to the National Pension Act of South Korea. For S.Korean workers, this regulation will be applied during the employment period for at most 60 months, provided that these individuals are subject to South Korean law. Vietnamese citizens working in South Korea and S.Korean citizens working in Vietnam will adhere to the National Pension Act of South Korea. For S.Korean workers, this regulation will be applied during the employment period for at most 60 months, provided that these individuals are subject to South Korean law. Vietnamese workers in South Korea under contracts: Effective January 1, 2024, under certain contracts covered by mandatory social insurance regulations, Vietnamese workers in South Korea will stop making compulsory contributions in Vietnam and continue under South Korean law. This guidance represents a significant advancement in protecting the rights of migrant workers and streamlining the procedures under the Social Insurance Agreement between the two countries. It is expected to enhance worker mobility and streamline social security processes for Vietnamese and Korean workers. Provincial social insurance agencies are anticipated to provide further implementation guidance. A few more details of the same, in the scope of the application, are as follows: Issuance of Social Insurance Certificates: The VSS and the National Pension Service of South Korea are responsible for issuing SICs for their respective nationals, which exempt them from participating in the host countrys Social Insurance system. Procedure for Ceasing Contributions: Vietnamese workers in Korea are to cease compulsory Social Insurance contributions in Vietnam starting January 1, 2024, and contribute to South Koreas system instead. Necessary documents and procedures for ceasing contributions and confirming participation periods are outlined. Applicability: The agreement applies to workers who are employed in one country but are either nationals of the other country or are working for employers registered in the other country. The agreement covers both dispatched workers (those sent by their employer to work in the other country) and locally-hired workers. Vietnam competent agencies According to Plan No. 1374/KH-BHXH by Vietnam Social Security, relevant ministries and government agencies in Vietnam will share responsibilities on implementing the social insurance agreement between Vietnam and South Korea: The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs will work with other relevant ministries, sectors, and Korean partners, for policy formulation, agreement implementation and dissemination, training for civil servants, and rewarding outstanding achievements. The implementation of the agreement should be integrated into annual action plans. The Department of International Cooperation in Vietnam will oversee the promotion and execution of the tasks related to this agreement. All relevant units are required to ensure timely and effective implementation, with progress reports due by November 30, 2024. Heads of units and provincial directors are obligated to report to Vietnam Social Security by 30 November, 2024, on ensuring progress, quality, and effectiveness of the agreement. Benefits and impact The Agreement is expected to significantly enhance worker mobility between the two countries by reducing the administrative burden and financial costs associated with double social security contributions. It will also provide a more transparent framework for protecting workers rights and ensuring that they can benefit from the social insurance contributions made, regardless of where they have worked. By fostering easier cross-border assignments and business travel, the agreement is likely to further strengthen economic ties between Vietnam and South Korea, promoting increased investment and cooperation between businesses in both countries. Conclusion The Vietnam-South Korea Social Security Agreement represents a forward-thinking approach to managing the complexities of cross-border employment in an increasingly globalized world. By ensuring that workers are fairly covered by social insurance and by eliminating double taxation, the agreement sets a strong foundation for continued collaboration and growth between Vietnam and South Korea. As the Agreement is implemented, it is expected to bring significant benefits to both countries, their workers, and their economies. KYODO NEWS - Aug 13, 2024 - 21:51 | All, Japan, World Declassified official U.S. documents showed Tuesday the names and other detailed identification information of American troops who died in the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima after being held captive in Japan. The latest revelation followed a recently discovered U.S. report that confirmed that 12 American troops were killed in the blast that reduced the western city in Japan to ashes on Aug. 6, 1945. But the one-page investigation report did not contain information that identified the 12 individuals. Kyodo News made information disclosure requests to obtain detailed documents from the U.S. Department of the Army and the National Archives and Records Administration. Information on all of the victims was disclosed, based on the names of the 12 that were made public through studies conducted by Shigeaki Mori, an 87-year-old Japanese historian and a survivor of the bombing. The latest records, titled "Individual Deceased Personnel Files," compiled around 30 to 150 pages of information for each victim, including their dental identification results, lists of belongings, and death notices sent to family. Staff Sgt. Charles Baumgartner, 29, was among two of the military personnel described as having "perished in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima," while three, including 2nd Lt. Durden Looper, 22, were "killed in action" in Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, according to the documents. For two others, including 2nd Lt. James Ryan, 20, the papers said death while in action "on 6 Aug 45" had been established. Regarding Lt. Raymond Porter, 24, the papers included a death notice sent to his family, saying he died "as the result of the atomic bomb of Hiroshima." The remains of eight of the servicemen were first buried en masse at a mausoleum that the U.S. military set up in Yokohama during its occupation of Japan following the end of World War II. They were then sent to a national cemetery in the United States for reburial in 1949, the documents showed. Two other victims among the 12, including Normand Brissette, described in the report as a 19-year-old "3rd class Navy radio operator," died on Aug. 19, 1945 due to "Atomic Bomb Blast", the documents showed. Their remains were returned to the United States between 1948 and 1949 after being cremated in Hiroshima and shipped via Yokohama and the Philippines, the papers showed. Regarding information on the remaining two victims, the disclosed records did not have any clear descriptions that linked their deaths with the atomic bomb blast. The disclosed materials were analyzed by Hitoshi Nagai, a professor of modern Japanese history at the Hiroshima Peace Institute. The atomic bomb that detonated over Hiroshima killed an estimated 140,000 people by the end of 1945. A second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on Aug. 9, and Japan surrendered six days later, bringing an end to World War II. Related coverage: FEATURE: A-bomb survivor learns English to advocate for nuclear abolition Nagasaki urges nuke abolition on A-bomb anniv. rocked by Israel snub Dialogue critical to avoid nuke war: grandson of 'father of A-bomb' The United Nations expressed concern on Tuesday over the tense political climate in Venezuela following the countrys July 28 presidential election, which has been disputed. The U.N. reported that, according to official statements, more than 2,000 people have been arrested in Venezuela since the election. U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk said that the number of arbitrary detentions is continuing to rise, along with a disproportionate use of force by law enforcement officials. I call for the immediate release of everyone who has been arbitrarily detained, and for fair trial guarantees for all detainees, he said in a statement. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduros reelection has been deemed by several counties, including the United States, to be fraudulent, based on indications that the opposition received significantly more votes. Maduros reelection was met with protests that have become deadly, with 25 people killed. The president blames the opposition for the violence and called for severe justice to be served. Those whom Maduro wants detained for allegedly encouraging the violent climate include journalists and members of the opposition. Maduro also has urged Venezuelans to report election skeptics using a government app originally created for reporting power outages. It is especially troubling that so many people are being detained, accused or charged either with incitement to hatred or under counterterrorism legislation, Turk said in his statement. Criminal law must never be used to limit unduly the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association. Some information for this report was provided by Agence France-Presse and The Associated Press. Afghanistans Taliban officials said Tuesday that at least three civilians were killed on their side of the border in an overnight clash with Pakistan, saying the victims are a woman and two children. Abdul Mateen Qani, the spokesperson for the Taliban-led interior ministry in Kabul, accused Pakistani forces of initiating Mondays conflict near the busy Torkham border crossing. He claimed in a statement that the Pakistani side targeted Afghan civilian homes and, in retaliation, Taliban forces destroyed two Pakistani border outposts. The claims could not be verified by independent sources. A security official in Pakistan reported that the incident had injured three soldiers. He spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to discuss the matter with the media. The Pakistani militarys media wing did not respond to inquiries regarding the border skirmish and the reported casualties resulting from it. Multiple Pakistani security officials said that the Afghan side attempted to construct a border post in violation of bilateral agreements, prompting them to open fire when Taliban forces ignored warnings to stop the work. The clashes closed the historic Torkham border gate to all traffic between the two countries, and it remained closed Tuesday. The crossing is a major facility for landlocked Afghanistan to conduct bilateral and transit trade with Pakistan and other countries. Border controversy Clashes along the nearly 2,600-kilometer border separating the two countries are not uncommon. Afghanistan disputes parts of the 1893 demarcation that was established during British colonial rule of the Indian subcontinent. Pakistan rejects Afghan objections, saying it inherited the international border after gaining independence from Britain in 1947. Cross-border terror Mondays deadly clash came amid escalating mutual tensions stemming from Islamabads allegations that Kabul is not preventing fugitive militants from using sanctuaries on Afghan soil to plan cross-border terrorist attacks against Pakistani civilians and security forces. The latest such attack was reported Tuesday in the volatile Pakistani border district of South Waziristan. Security sources said that the predawn raid resulted in the death of at least four soldiers and injuries to 27 others, while four assailants were also killed. Military officials did not immediately respond to VOA inquiries seeking a response to the deadly militant attack in time for publication. The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, a globally designated terrorist organization, took responsibility for the attack and confirmed the death of at least one of their militants in the ensuing clashes with security forces. Pakistan complains that Taliban government forces in Afghanistan are facilitating TTP militants to carry out cross-border attacks. In its recent reports, the United Nations has also backed Islamabads assertions, saying TTP members are being trained and equipped at al-Qaida-run training camps in Afghan border areas. Kabul denies it is allowing anyone to use Afghan soil to threaten neighboring countries, dismissing U.N. reports about terror group presence in the country as propaganda against their Islamic government, established in August 2021 and not recognized by the world. Researchers in Australia have developed a drug that could revolutionize treatment for millions of diabetes patients around the world. Scientists in the U.S., China and Australia are designing treatments that imitate the bodys natural response to changing blood glucose, or sugar, levels and respond instantly. The Australian team is handling one of several research projects that have developed different types of so-called 'smart insulins,' which sits in the body of a diabetes patient and is activated only when it is needed. The aim is to keep glucose levels within a safe range, avoiding excessively high blood glucose, which is called hyperglycaemia, and excessively low blood sugar levels, known as hypoglycaemia. The new treatments are not cures for diabetes but could ease the burden on patients. Australian researchers say their new insulin delivery method would offer one injection every three days. Patients currently have to administer synthetic insulin up to 10 times a day. Christoph Hagemeyer, a professor at the Australian Center for Blood Diseases at Monash University and a lead researcher in the study, told Australian Broadcasting Corp. Tuesday how the technology works. Smart insulin is responding to sugar levels in the blood," he said. "In our case we are not actually making the insulin molecule smart, but we are loading the insulin onto a nanoparticle, which has a built-in mechanism that it changes its charge from positive to negative when the sugar levels go up. And that is the trick how we can ensure that there is enough insulin onboard and it is released in a smart manner. Insulin is a type of hormone that lowers the level of glucose in the blood. Glucose is a type of sugar from food that gives people energy. Diabetes affects glucose levels in the blood and is normally split into type 1 and type 2, the most common. Patients have a heightened risk of heart attack, stroke, and kidney failure. Monash University in Melbourne is part of a global effort to develop different types of smart insulins. It includes teams at Stanford University in the United States and Zhejiang University in China. Each project aims to develop smart insulin to act faster and more accurately to help patients with diabetes and to start trials as soon as possible. The World Health Organization has estimated that about 422 million people around the world have diabetes and that 1.5 million deaths are directly attributed to the chronic disease each year. Street artist Banksy on Monday unveiled a new mural of a rhinoceros that looks like it is climbing on top of a car in London the eighth animal-themed artwork he has posted in the past week in a collection that includes elephants, a goat, a wolf, pelicans and more. The elusive graffiti artist, who has never confirmed his full identity, has been posting the new work on his Instagram account every day since last Monday. The latest piece in Charlton, southeast London, features a rhino on a wall and gives the impression the animal is mounting a broken-down car parked in front of the building. On Sunday, the artist claimed another artwork depicting piranhas that appeared on a police box near the Central Criminal Court, known as the Old Bailey, in London. A small crowd of people flocked to the fish tank-themed artwork Monday, taking photos and selfies as workmen placed barriers around it. A spokesperson for the City of London Corporation said it was looking at options to preserve it. Other pieces unveiled last week included pelicans that appeared on the side of a fish shop in Walthamstow, east London, and a silhouette of a howling wolf that was painted on a satellite dish on a garage roof in south London. The wolf design was seen being taken down by men who carried it off on the same day it was revealed. It was not immediately clear who removed the satellite dish. Banksy began his career spray-painting buildings in Bristol, England, and has become one of the worlds best-known artists. His work has sold for millions of dollars at auction, and past murals on outdoor sites have often been stolen or removed by building owners soon after going up. China's top diplomat Wang Yi will visit Myanmar and Thailand from Aug. 14 to 17, Beijing's foreign ministry said Tuesday. "Wang Yi will visit Myanmar and travel to Thailand to co-chair the ninth Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Foreign Ministers' Meeting," foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said. Wang will also attend an "informal discussion" between counterparts from Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, Lin said. Last week, China's special envoy for Asian affairs met Myanmar's junta chief in the capital Naypyidaw for talks on "peace and stability" along their shared border, Myanmar state media said, days after ethnic rebels seized a regional military command. Myanmar's northern Shan state has seen repeated clashes since late June after ethnic rebel groups renewed an offensive against the military along a vital trade highway to China. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing discussed "internal peace processes in Myanmar, peace and stability measures in the border region" with China's Deng Xijun, according to the Global New Light of Myanmar. The senior general "explained the implementation of objectives and a five-point roadmap in order to ensure peace, stability," the state-run newspaper said. China is a major ally and arms supplier to the junta, but analysts say it also maintains ties with armed ethnic groups in Myanmar that hold territory near its border. An unnamed spokesman from China's foreign ministry on Tuesday said Wang's visit to Myanmar was "aimed at deepening bilateral mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields." China supports "Myanmar's effort to uphold stability, grow the economy and improve people's livelihood," the spokesman added. Last month was the hottest July on record, making it the fourteenth straight record-breaking month, a U.S. environmental agency reported Monday. The monthly report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) also said that 2024 now has a 77% chance of being the warmest year on record. The July calculation by NOAA contradicted the EU's Copernicus climate monitor, which -- using a different dataset calculated last month's average temperature as being slightly lower than July 2023. However, both agencies agree on the alarming trend of record-breaking heat, with the past year seeing month after month of new highs. According to NOAA, whose historical data goes back 175 years, 2024 will definitely be one of the five hottest years on record. In July, the global temperature was 2.18 degrees Fahrenheit (1.21 degrees Celsius) above the 20th century average of 60.4F (15.8C), the U.S. agency said. The month saw a series of heat waves across Mediterranean and Gulf countries, NOAA said. Africa, Europe and Asia recorded their hottest July on record, while North America was the second hottest. Ocean temperatures were their second warmest ever in July, according to NOAA -- the same reading as Copernicus. Scientists at Copernicus noted last week that "air temperatures over the ocean remained unusually high over many regions" despite a swing from the El Nino weather pattern that helped fuel a spike in global temperatures to its opposite La Nina, which has a cooling effect. Last year was also the warmest year on record. "The devastating effects of climate change started well before 2023 and will continue until global greenhouse gas emissions reach net zero," said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of Copernicus. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's interview with billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk finally got underway on Musk's social media platform X on Monday evening, following a lengthy delay caused by technical problems that kept many users from accessing the live stream. Musk, who has endorsed Trump, began the event at 8:42 p.m., more than 40 minutes after the scheduled start time. He blamed the difficulties on a distributed denial-of-service attack, in which a server or network is flooded with traffic in an attempt to shut it down, though his claim was not confirmed. More than 1.3 million people were listening about 45 minutes into the conversation, according to a counter on X. Trump sought to turn the problems into a positive, congratulating Musk on the number of people trying to tune in. The former president sounded at times as if he had a lisp, many listeners on X pointed out. Some said it made him sound like a cartoon character, others suggested it could be due to audio compression issues. The technical issues recalled a similar event on X in May 2023, when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis suffered a chaotic start to his bid for the Republican presidential nomination due to glitches on the platform. At the time, Trump mocked DeSantis on his own, social media platform, Truth Social. "My Red Button is bigger, better, stronger, and is working (TRUTH!)" Trump posted, "Yours does not." Ahead of Monday's event, Musk had written: "Am going to do some system scaling tests tonight & tomorrow in advance of the conversation." X did not respond to requests for details or evidence of the alleged cyberattack. Musk spent much of the early part of the interview lauding Trump for his bravery during the attempt on his life on July 13, when his ear was struck by a bullet. Musk, the world's richest person, announced his support for Trump shortly after the shooting. He backed Democratic President Joe Biden in 2020 but has tacked rightward since. Trump said he plans to return to Butler, Pennsylvania, the site of the attack, for a rally in October. As the conversation unfolded, Trump delivered his usual mix of grievances, exaggerated claims and personal attacks, with Musk offering occasional encouragement. Trump claimed without evidence that Russia would not have invaded Ukraine if he were still president and praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un all authoritarian strongmen as at the "top of their game." He also expressed anger that Vice President Kamala Harris had been swapped in for Biden on the Democratic ticket. "She hasn't done an interview since this whole scam started," Trump said, claiming falsely that Biden dropping off the ticket was a "coup." Trump had been leading Biden in many polls of battleground states likely to be critical to the outcome of the Nov. 5 election but is now trailing Harris in some of the same states. In an interview that was light on policy detail, Trump also appeared to praise Musk for firing workers. "You're the greatest cutter. I mean, I look at what you do. You walk in, you just say: You want to quit? They go on strike I won't mention the name of the company but they go on strike. And you say: 'That's OK, youre all gone.'" Trump back on X The interview provided an opportunity for Trump to seize the limelight at a time when his campaign is facing new headwinds. Harris has erased Trump's lead in opinion polls and energized Democratic voters with a series of high-energy rallies since she replaced Biden as the party's candidate three weeks ago. Her momentum could get another boost from the Democratic National Convention next week in Chicago. Trump returned to X, formerly known as Twitter, with a series of posts on Monday for the first time in a year, reviving an account that had served as a main method of communication in previous campaigns and his four years in the White House, including his followers' Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump's access to his account, @realDonaldTrump, was restored a month into Musk's ownership of X after being suspended by the platform's previous owners following the Jan. 6 attack, citing concerns he would incite violence. Trump frequently posts on his Truth Social platform, which was launched in February 2022, but his posts there reach a much smaller audience than on X. Musk backs Trump Musk, who heads electric car company Tesla, has echoed Trump's false claims about voter fraud and Biden's immigration policies. Musk has started an external super PAC spending group to support Trump's campaign. The political action committee is now under investigation in Michigan for possible violations of state laws on gathering voter information. Trump, a longstanding critic of electric vehicles, shifted gears after Musk's endorsement. "I'm for electric cars. I have to be, because Elon endorsed me very strongly. So I have no choice," Trump said at an early August rally. United Auto Workers President Shawn Fein, campaigning in support of Harris, called Trump a "sellout." The Biden administration has worked to popularize electric vehicles through tax breaks and other support as part of its broader goal of reducing carbon emissions blamed for climate change. Republicans in Congress, including Trump's running mate Senator JD Vance, have opposed those subsidies. After Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country last week, many families are harboring fresh hope of finding their loved ones who became victims of enforced disappearance during her rule. Hundreds of people, including opposition political activists, were abducted allegedly by government forces during Hasinas 15-year rule, and around 150 of them remain unaccounted for. As soon as Hasina lost power on August 5, members of Mayer Daak a group supporting the families of the victims of enforced disappearance swung into action with a fresh hunt for the victims, most of whom disappeared years ago. A day after Hasinas fall, Abdullahil Amaan Azmi, a suspended brigadier general, and Ahmad Bin Kashem, a Supreme Court lawyer, were freed. Both had gone missing in 2016. Political activist Michael Chakma, who had disappeared in 2019, was released from captivity the next day. Sanjida Islam Tulee, co-founder of Mayer Daak, said the families of other enforced disappearance victims believe that their loved ones are being held in secret detention by security agencies and that they too will be released soon. Most of the enforced disappearance cases were supported by the regime of Sheikh Hasina. So, the police did not bother to investigate or solve the cases then, Tulee told VOA. The protesting students who threw the [Hasina] government out of power are standing with us now. They have threatened to launch a new round of protests if the security authorities do not make any effort to release the enforced disappearance victims. We are highly hopeful that we will find out our brothers now. Years of accusations Hasina, in office since 2009, was long accused of authoritarianism and corrupt tactics. Her party was accused of rigging the last three general elections, a charge she consistently denied. Over the past 12 years, several global human rights groups issued reports accusing the nations police, army and paramilitary Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) of involvement in extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances of opposition political activists and other dissidents. In December 2021, the United States imposed human rights-related sanctions on the RAB and six of its former and then current officers, holding them responsible for serious levels of human rights violations, including hundreds of enforced disappearances and killings. Dhaka-based human rights group Odhikar, which has long been documenting human rights violations in the country, charged last week that around 3,000 people were killed extrajudicially and over 700 became victims of enforced disappearances during Hasinas 15 years in office. Among those who disappeared, some returned home alive while others were found dead. According to different rights groups, around 150 of the enforced disappearance victims remain untraced. Top officials of the Hasina-led governments consistently denied the allegations. When Michelle Bachelet, then U.N. high commissioner for human rights, visited Bangladesh in 2022, AK Abdul Momen, then the foreign minister of Bangladesh, told her that there were no cases of enforced disappearances or extrajudicial killings in the country. Rights groups have long alleged that among others, the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), the military intelligence authority, operated several secret detention centers for the enforced disappearance victims. Military acknowledges disappearances According to Mayer Daak, the DGFI admitted to a group of its members last week that many people had become victims of enforced disappearances over the past 15 years. The DGFI officials told us last week that they were not holding any of the victims in captivity. They also said that there was a possibility of some victims being held in secret detention by some other security agencies, Tulee told VOA on Monday. In 2022, in a startling investigative report, a Sweden-based news portal focusing on Bangladesh revealed the possible location of a secret prison in which the victims of enforced disappearances were being kept in Bangladesh. The report was based on on-the-record accounts of two victims of enforced disappearance. The two men said that they had been kept and tortured inside a DGFI-run secret prison in Dhaka named Aynaghar, meaning House of Mirrors. Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman of the Capital Punishment Justice Project, which has been documenting rights violations in Bangladesh for more than 15 years, said that Sheikh Hasina used the law-enforcement agencies as tools to force the disappearance of political opponents and other dissidents. The judiciary and the law-enforcement system collapsed under the Hasina regime to the extent that not a single case of enforced disappearance was investigated or accorded justice in over 15 years, Ashrafuzzaman told VOA. Currently, the police, military, judicial, and civil administrative hierarchy in Bangladesh consist of officials recruited by the deposed regime on the basis of partisan loyalty to Sheikh Hasina. The institutions are incapable of conducting credible investigations into the cases of enforced disappearance and accord justice, he said. The given context warrants an immediate probe under the capacity of the United Nations independent experts for the sake of unearthing the truth behind the institutionalized enforced disappearances and other gross violation of human rights under the deposed regime, he added. Please return my father On Sunday, over 100 families of victims of enforced disappearance formed a human chain in Dhaka demanding information on the whereabouts of their loved ones. Many at the rally held photos of their missing husbands, fathers, sons and brothers, and broke down emotionally while describing their pain. Ismail Hossain Baten went missing from Dhaka after RAB officers allegedly abducted him in 2019. Batens daughter Anisha Islam Insha, 17, who was part of Sundays human chain, told VOA that the ouster of Hasina rekindled her familys hope that they would soon see her father released. Since my father was abducted, my mother and I have not slept for a night peacefully. Our family has been going through a very painful phase for the past five years, Insha said. This is my fervent appeal to the security authority please return my father to us. A former Kansas police chief who led a widely condemned raid on a local newspaper in 2023 has been charged with one felony count of obstruction of justice. Gideon Cody, who resigned in October shortly after being suspended over the raid on the Marion County Record newspaper, stands accused of persuading a potential witness for an investigation into his conduct to withhold information from authorities. If convicted, Cody faces between seven and 23 months in prison. VOA could not reach Cody on Tuesday at phone numbers listed for him. The charge, which was filed Monday, comes just over one year after the Aug. 11, 2023, raid on the weekly newspaper. Press freedom groups and government officials condemned the raid as a flagrant violation of the First Amendment. This raid was so egregious, Katherine Jacobsen, the U.S. and Canada program coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists, told VOA. Its really important that there has been a rigorous investigation into what happened, because this kind of police behavior shouldnt have happened in the first place. At the time of the incident, Cody said the raid was over an identity theft complaint that a local restaurant owner had filed after the Record accessed her driving records. But during the raid itself, Cody rifled through records about himself, body camera footage showed. The Record, meanwhile, maintained that the raid was unlawful because the newspaper had engaged in basic journalistic practices by using the state Revenue Departments online search engine to access the driving records. Officers also raided the home of Record publisher Eric Meyer and his mother, Joan, and the home of then-Vice Mayor Ruth Herbel, who had been critical of then-Mayor David Mayfield, who had previously defended Cody's actions, according to The Wichita Eagle. Joan Meyer, 98, died one day after the raid. Eric Meyer blamed her death on the stress caused by the raid. Early last week, special prosecutors in the case released a 124-page final report on the raid, in which they confirmed the Record had done nothing wrong and revealed plans to file charges against Cody. We are gratified that we have finally, officially been vindicated, Meyer told VOA last week. He also welcomed that Cody would be held accountable for his role in the raid. Record lawyer Bernie Rhodes agreed. They concluded that this never should have happened in the first place, because there was never a so-called crime to investigate, he told VOA last week. In the aftermath of the raid, several lawsuits have been filed against Cody, the city, its former mayor and other government officials. The newspapers lawsuit over the raid is ongoing, Rhodes said. KYODO NEWS - Aug 13, 2024 - 19:56 | World, All, Japan Taiwanese leader Lai Ching-te on Tuesday called for unity with Japan in preventing mainland China from "making wrong decisions" to maintain regional peace and stability, as he met with former Japanese defense chief Shigeru Ishiba. In his talks with Ishiba, who is deemed by the Japanese public as a leading candidate to become the country's next prime minister, Lai said Taipei will "stand shoulder to shoulder with the democratic camp to exert the power of deterrence." Ishiba, who is on a three-day visit to Taiwan through Wednesday as the co-head of a six-member Japanese lawmakers' delegation, agreed that deterrence is key to maintaining regional peace and stability without referring to mainland China, which views the self-ruled island as its own and aims to bring it into its fold. The former secretary general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party touched on Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine and stressed that efforts should be made to prevent similar situations in Northeast Asia. "There is a debate in Japan that what is happening in Ukraine today might be a problem that Northeast Asia faces tomorrow," Ishiba said. "We have to rack our brains" to prevent that scenario from happening, he added. Turning to economic issues, Lai asked Japan to continue supporting Taiwan's bid to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact and strengthen economic and trade exchanges with the island so that Taipei will not overly rely on the mainland Chinese market. Ishiba called for cooperation between Japan and Taiwan to achieve economic development in the region and ensure a safe and secure environment for everyone to live in. China, which has threatened to use force to realize unification with Taiwan, has condemned Lai as a separatist and increased military pressure on the island since his inauguration in May. Ishiba told reporters Lai had told him that Taiwan will not seek independence and aims for maintaining status quo of the cross-strait relations. The cross-party Japanese lawmakers' delegation includes former Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara. Also on Tuesday, a four-member U.S. congressional delegation led by Marilyn Strickland, a Democrat representing the state of Washington, separately met with Lai and reaffirmed U.S. support for Taiwan to maintain the cross-strait status quo. Strickland noted there are adversaries around the world that want to destabilize democracy by using disinformation and swaying elections. "We are going to stand together and together we know that we can continue to promote freedom and democracy with the U.S., with Taiwan, and around the world," she said. The U.S. delegation, which is on a five-day visit to Taiwan through Thursday, also includes other Democrats Julia Brownley of California, Jill Tokuda of Hawaii and Jasmine Crockett of Texas. Related coverage: Japan local politicians show support for Taiwan at exchange event U.S., China top diplomats spar over Taiwan, S. China Sea Taiwan, Japan coast guards conduct joint rescue drill The 12-month grace period for student loan borrowers ended on September 30. The "on-ramp" period helped borrowers who are struggling to make payments avoid the risk of defaulting and hurting their credit score. "The end of the on-ramp period means the beginning of the potentially harsh consequences for student loan borrowers who are not able to make payments," said Persis Yu, Deputy Executive Director at the Student Borrower Protection Center. Around 43 million Americans have student loan debt, amounting to $1.5 trillion. Around eight million of those borrowers had enrolled in the SAVE plan, the newest income-driven repayment plan that extended the eligibility for borrowers to have affordable monthly student loan payments. However, this plan is currently on hold due to legal challenges. With the on-ramp period and a separate program known as Fresh Start ending and the SAVE plan on hold, student loan borrowers who are struggling to afford their monthly payments have fewer options, added Yu. Student loan borrowers who haven't been able to afford their monthly payments must consider their options to avoid going into default. If you have student loans, here's what you need to know. What was the on-ramp period? The Education Department implemented this grace period to ease the borrower's transition to make payments after a three-year payment pause during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this year-long period, borrowers were encouraged to keep making payments since interest continued to accumulate. "Normally, loans will default if you fall about nine months behind on making payments, but during this on-ramp period, missed payments would not move people towards defaulting and then being subject to forced collections. However, if you missed payments, you still be falling behind ultimately on repaying your loans," said Abby Shaforth, director of National Consumer Law Center's Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project. Since this grace period has ended, student loan borrowers who don't make payments will go delinquent or, if their loans are not paid for nine months, go into default. Borrowers who cannot afford to make payments can apply for deferment or forbearance, which pause payments, though interest continues to accrue. What happens if I don't make my payments? Borrowers who can't or don't pay risk delinquency and eventually default. That can badly hurt your credit rating and make you ineligible for additional aid and government benefits. If a borrower missed one month's payment, they will start receiving email notifications, said Shaforth. Once the loan hasn't been paid for three months, loan servicers notify to the credit reporting agencies that the loan is delinquent, affecting your credit history. Once the borrower hasn't paid the loan for nine months, the loan goes into default. If you're struggling to pay, advisers first encourage you to check if you qualify for an income-driven repayment plan, which determines your payments by looking at your expenses. You can see whether you qualify by visiting the Federal Student Aid website. If you've worked for a government agency or a non-profit organization, you could also be eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, which forgives student debt after 10 years. What happens when a loan goes into default? When you fall behind on a loan by 270 days roughly nine months the loan appears on your credit report as being in default. Once a loan is in default, it goes into collections. This means the government can garnish wages (without a court order) to go towards paying back the loan, intercept tax refunds, and seize portions of Social Security checks and other benefit payments. What if I can't pay? If your budget doesn't allow you to resume payments, it's important to know how to navigate the possibility of default and delinquency on a student loan. Both can hurt your credit rating, which would make you ineligible for additional aid. If you're in a short-term financial bind, you may qualify for deferment or forbearance allowing you to temporarily suspend payment. To determine whether deferment or forbearance are good options for you, you can contact your loan servicer. One thing to note: interest still accrues during deferment or forbearance. Both can also impact potential loan forgiveness options. Depending on the conditions of your deferment or forbearance, it may make sense to continue paying the interest during the payment suspension. What is an income-driven repayment plan? The U.S. Education Department offers several plans for repaying federal student loans. Under the standard plan, borrowers are charged a fixed monthly amount that ensures all their debt will be repaid after 10 years. But if borrowers have difficulty paying that amount, they can enroll in one of several plans that offer lower monthly payments based on income and family size. Those are known as income-driven repayment plans. Income-driven options have been offered for years and generally cap monthly payments at 10% of a borrower's discretionary income. If a borrower's earnings are low enough, their bill is reduced to $0. And after 20 or 25 years, any remaining debt gets erased. What is the latest with the SAVE program? In August, the Supreme Court kept on hold the SAVE plan, the income-driven repayment plan that would have lowered payments for millions of borrowers, while lawsuits make their way through lower courts. Eight million borrowers who had already enrolled in the SAVE plan don't have to pay their monthly student loan bills until the court case is resolved. Debt that already had been forgiven under the plan was unaffected. The next court hearing about this case will be held on October 15. What happened with the Fresh Start program? The Fresh Start program, which gave benefits to borrowers who were delinquent prior to the pandemic payment pause, also closed on September 30. During this limited program, student loan borrowers who were in default prior to the pandemic were given the opportunity to remove their loans from default, allowing them to enroll in income-driven payment plans, or apply for deferment, among other benefits. South Asia's youth bulge is a ticking time bomb. A demographic dividend looms, but millions of young people lack the job skills to cash in, choking the region's economic potential. Almost half of South Asia's population of 1.9 billion is under 24, the highest number of any region in the world. With nearly 100,000 young people entering the job market daily, the region boasts the largest youth labor force globally. For years, experts have sounded the alarm: Many of South Asias youth lack the education and skills for a modern labor force. A 2019 UNICEF study warned that if nothing changes, more than half risked not finding decent jobs in 2030. Now, International Youth Day has put the spotlight on the regions skills-gap crisis. While some South Asian countries have made progress in recent years, UNICEF's latest figures paint a sobering picture: Ninety-three million children and adolescents in South Asia are out of school; almost 6 in 10 cant read by age 10; and nearly a third are not in any form of education, employment or training, known as NEET. We know that the region has the highest number of children and young people, but sadly at the same time, despite the opportunity that that might bring, we know that for many young people, learning and skilling is not good enough, Mads Sorensen, UNICEFs chief adolescent adviser for South Asia, said in an interview with VOA. This clearly holds them back from reaching their full potential. The problem, Sorensen said, comes down to the quality of education: Many teachers cling to old methods, schools in many regions lack basic tools such as computers, and students are not taught the digital skills needed to thrive in the modern workplace. So, young people are not really acquiring those skills that we know are very much sought after by the labor market, especially the private sector, Sorensen said. The skill deficit extends beyond K-12 education. Higher education enrollment in South Asia has tripled in the past two decades, reaching an average of 27% in 2022, according to the World Bank. Yet the quality of college education remains uneven, with many graduates finding that their hard-earned degrees ill-prepare them for todays job market. Big investment but scant returns Take Ariful Islam, a recent graduate with a business administration degree, who now helps his father in his sweets shop in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka. After graduating last year, he had multiple job interviews. But none yielded an offer, forcing him to settle for a position that barely covered his expenses. Having invested nearly $13,000 on Islams education, his father, Akram Khan, said he had to quit his job to start a business. Islam wasnt earning enough, so Khan needed to boost the familys income. "I spent so much money to educate my son, but now he is not getting a job according to his qualifications, Khan said in an interview with VOA. As a father, [I] will feel bad. Others such as Zahirul Haque, a 2022 graduate in public administration, have been locked out of coveted government jobs. A controversial quota system favoring Liberation War veterans and their offspring, at the heart of Bangladeshs recent turmoil, has thwarted his aspirations for public service. After two years of fruitless government-administered exams, he reluctantly accepted a low-paying job with a local nongovernmental organization. It was a little disappointing, he told VOA. Bangladeshs strained job market offers few prospects for young graduates such as Haque. But he said he hasnt given up hope for a better job. Good news, sobering news Bangladesh, once among Asias poorest countries, has surged economically in recent decades and is now on track to become a middle-income country by 2026. Collectively, South Asia is poised to be the fastest-growing emerging market this year, according to the World Bank. In a new report released on Monday, the International Labour Organization, or ILO, said South Asias youth unemployment rate fell to a 15-year low of 15.1% last year. Though signaling an easing job market for young people, the unemployment rate was the highest in the Asia Pacific region, ILO said. Whats more, too many young women are excluded from the labor market in South Asia, with the number of women not working or learning at more than 42%, the highest in the region, the ILO said. Sorensen said that while countries such as Bhutan, the Maldives and Sri Lanka have narrowed the skills gap in recent years, the regions most populous nations India, Bangladesh and Pakistan are lagging behind. The plight of young women is even more grim. One in four girls in South Asia are married before age 18, their education and careers squandered. Bangladesh's underage marriage numbers have worsened in recent years, Pakistan's remains dire, Sorensen said. Pakistan lags most of the region in higher education, with 13% enrollment as of 2022. While the country boasts quality universities, many students complain about outdated curriculums. The curriculum is not incorporating the emerging trends of the 21st century, said Noor Ul Huda, an English major at a public university in Islamabad. Huda said her major is considered less practical than academic fields such as engineering and business, leaving her job prospects bleak. The job market is overwhelmingly competitive, and I think I'd have a lot of difficulty finding a job, she said. Not ready for jobs Many parents pouring money into their children's education confront the same reality: Schools fail to equip students for the job market. Humna Saleem, a preschool teacher in Rawalpindi, worries about her son, a soon-to-be computer science graduate from a private university. Despite a hefty tuition, he had to learn coding on his own, Saleem said. What I observed as an adult is that he is taught a lot of theoretical knowledge, but there are practical skills that are not taught to the students, she told VOA. Pakistans classrooms, she said, remain stuck in the past, while the world has changed. Students need digital skills and soft skills, such as critical thinking and interpersonal communication, not just degrees, she said. It doesnt matter if you are a doctor, or youre an accountant, or you are an engineer. Whatever profession you choose for yourself, you need to have those skills, Saleem said. In recent years, governments in the region have stepped up efforts to close the skills gap. In India, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has partnered with UNICEF to provide youth with 21st-century skills, apprenticeships and entrepreneurial opportunities. In Pakistan, the prime ministers Youth Skill Development Program, launched in 2013, aims to equip youth with market-driven skills in IT, entrepreneurship, agriculture, tourism and vocational fields. We have to equip our youth with the skills in line with modern requirements so that they can contribute to the countrys development, Pakistans education minister, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, said in July, according to Associated Press of Pakistan. In Bangladesh, the National Skills Development Council, led by the prime minister, has introduced a new policy to enhance workforce skills for the modern economy. Colleges and universities in South Asia have tried to tackle the skills gap crisis by emphasizing critical thinking, creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship. Some have also ramped up digital skills and vocational training to better prepare their graduates for the job market. Sorensen lauded the regional efforts but said more needs to be done to build a vibrant, modern workforce in South Asia. We keep saying that young people are leaders of today, which they are, but they're also more so leaders of tomorrow, Sorensen said. VOA's Afghan, Bangla, Deewa, and Urdu services contributed to this report. With tensions simmering in the Middle East over fears of a wider war, U.S. President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he is "not giving up" on concluding a cease-fire deal that could avert a bigger conflict. "It's getting hard," he told reporters about U.S., Egyptian and Qatari efforts to achieve a deal between Israel and Hamas, as he arrived in New Orleans. The three mediators plan to convene what they hope will be a last push for a cease-fire at talks Thursday either in Cairo or Doha. But efforts could be derailed if Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah make good on a threat to retaliate against Israel for the assassinations of a top Hezbollah operative in Beirut and of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Israel has claimed the Beirut attack, but not the Tehran one, although Israel is widely presumed to have carried it out. "We'll see what Iran does, and we'll see what happens if there is any attack," Biden said. "But I'm not giving up." There are also concerns around reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has added to his demands for a cease-fire deal. His office denied the reports Tuesday, saying he did not introduce new terms, only "essential clarifications" for the deal's implementation. Netanyahu has said he will send a delegation to Thursday's talks, but it was not yet clear whether Hamas would participate. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby has warned that Israel and its allies must be prepared for "what could be a significant set of attacks" from Iran as soon as "this week." Iran dismissed a joint call Monday from the leaders of Britain, France and Germany calling on Tehran to show restraint in its response to the killing of Haniyeh and expressing support for Israel in the face of possible aggression by Iran or its proxies. In response to the rising tensions, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Sunday ordered the USS Georgia, a guided missile submarine, to the Middle East and told the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to accelerate its transit to the region. At an U.N. Security Council meeting Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the warships were dispatched as a precautionary measure and to aid Israel should it be attacked. "But let me be clear: Our deployments of additional military assets are not a prediction of what is to come," she said. "A broader regional conflict is not inevitable. The United States' overall goal remains to turn the temperature down in the region, deter and defend against any future attacks, and avoid regional conflict." She said that starts with finalizing a cease-fire and hostage release deal. Meanwhile, as calls for restraint echoed around the region, Israel's far-right minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, defied an Israeli government ban and led hundreds of Israeli Jews on Tuesday to pray at a Jerusalem holy site sacred to both Jews and Muslims. Ben-Gvir went to the al-Aqsa mosque compound and said Jews should be allowed to pray there. Similar visits by Israeli officials in the past have sparked violence between Israelis and Palestinians, and the prime minister's office quickly sought to set the record straight. "This morning's incident on the Temple Mount deviated from the status quo," Netanyahu's office said in a statement, referring to the compound by its Jewish name. Muslims call it Haram al Sharif. "Israel's policy on the Temple Mount has not changed; this is how it has been and this is how it will be," the statement said. In Washington, Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned Ben-Gvir's actions. "These provocative actions only exacerbate tensions at a pivotal moment when all focus should be on the ongoing diplomatic efforts to achieve a cease-fire agreement and secure the release of all hostages and create the conditions for broader regional stability," he said. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in retaliation for the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack that killed 1,200 people and led to the capture of 250 hostages. Israel's counteroffensive has killed nearly 40,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, while Israel says the death toll includes thousands of Hamas fighters. VOA's Patsy Widakuswara, Margaret Besheer, Nike Ching, Carla Babb and Natasha Mozgovaya contributed to this report. Some information for this report came from Reuters. General Introduction: Iran pushes back on calls to refrain from retaliatory attacks against Israel, amid fears it could further escalate tensions in the region. Russia steps up attacks in Ukraines Donetsk region even as it works to repel Ukrainian forces that have brazenly stormed its territory near Kursk. Sudans military has not committed to peace talks this week as the U.N. says the country is at a breaking point. And water on Mars, NASA's Mars InSight lander shows evidence far below the surface. Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on Tuesday Jews should be allowed to pray at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, known to Jews as Temple Mount, launching a fresh challenge to rules covering one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly denied there would be any change to rules that prohibit Jews from praying at the site, which is holy to both Muslims and Jews, and issued a rebuke to Ben-Gvir, the head of one of the nationalist religious parties in the ruling coalition. "There is no private policy of any minister on the Temple Mount neither the Minister of National Security nor any other minister," Netanyahu's office said in a statement. The row with Ben-Gvir was the second time this week that Netanyahu has clashed with one of his senior ministers, following a sharp reprimand issued to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday over the aims of the Gaza war. Ben-Gvir's remarks, during a visit to the complex to mark the Jewish day of mourning for the destruction of the ancient temples, come at an especially sensitive time, with the war in Gaza at risk of escalating into a wider conflict, potentially drawing in Iran and its regional proxies. The Al-Aqsa compound, revered by Jews as a vestige of their two ancient temples, is administered by a Jordanian religious foundation and under rules dating back decades, Jews are allowed to visit, but may not pray there. "Our policy is to allow prayer," Ben-Gvir said as he passed a line of Jewish visitors who prostrated themselves on the ground, while others sang and clapped their hands in celebration. The Waqf, the foundation that administers the site, said around 2,250 Jews entered the site on Tuesday. The spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denounced Ben-Gvir's visit as a "provocation" and called on the United States to intervene "if it wants to prevent the region from exploding in an uncontrollable manner". The U.S. State Department said Washington was firmly committed to the status quo arrangements at the Jerusalem holy sites and any unilateral action would be unacceptable. Ben-Gvir has clashed repeatedly with other ministers over his calls to allow prayer at the compound, which has helped trigger repeated conflicts with the Palestinians over the years, including a 10-day war with Hamas in 2021. Moshe Gafni, head of United Torah Judaism, one of the religious parties in the government, criticized Ben-Gvir's visit to the compound, which many Orthodox Jews believe is too sacred a place for Jews to enter. "The damage it causes to the Jewish people is unbearable, and it also causes unfounded hatred on the day of the destruction of the Temple," he said in a statement. The row with Ben-Gvir was the latest in a long series that have laid bare the divisions that have been a feature of Netanyahu's right-wing coalition since its formation at the end of 2022. With opinion polls indicating that new elections would see the defeat of both Netanyahu's Likud party and the nationalist-religious bloc headed by Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the coalition has so far held together for much longer than many previous governments. But none of the ministers make even a pretense of cabinet unity. Ben-Gvir and Smotrich have clashed repeatedly with Gallant over issues ranging from the conduct of the war in Gaza to policy regarding the Israeli-occupied West Bank and moves to curb the power of the courts. For his part, Gallant has been determined to remain in government to act as a counterweight to the nationalist religious bloc and Netanyahu with whom he has openly disagreed on multiple occasions. On Monday, Netanyahu's office reprimanded Gallant after the minister was quoted in the Israeli press dismissing as "nonsense" Netanyahu's often repeated aim of "total victory" in the war with the Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza, now in its 11th month. Last year, Netanyahu tried to sack Gallant over his opposition to plans to curb the power of the Supreme Court, only to have to reverse course in the face of mass protests by hundreds of thousands of Israelis. On Tuesday, Ben-Gvir repeated his call for final victory in Gaza, saying the aim of the war should be to defeat Hamas, and "bring them to their knees." Benny Gantz, a centrist former general who joined Netanyahu's government shortly after the start of the Gaza war as a gesture of unity before quitting earlier this year, said Ben-Gvir had defied the prime minister and endangered the state and should be stripped of his official powers. "You don't trust your partner and they don't trust you," he said in a statement. A Liberian-flagged oil tanker in the Red Sea came under attack three times on Tuesday, including in an assault using a bomb-carrying drone boat, likely the latest in a campaign by Yemen's Houthi rebels over the Israel-Hamas war, officials said. The attacks come as the rebels' main sponsor, Iran, weighs possible retaliation against Israel over the assassination of Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh last month in Tehran, Iran's capital. Already, the Houthi assaults have disrupted the $1 trillion annual flow of goods through the maritime route crucial to trade among Asia, Europe and the Middle East, while also sparking the most intense combat for the U.S. Navy since World War II. The Greek-managed Delta Atlantica was first attacked when two explosives detonated near it, according to the Joint Maritime Information Center, a multinational force overseen by the U.S. Navy. A small ship "flashing lights" at the vessel had come close to the loaded tanker bound for Greece during the incident, the center said. A small ship later flashed lights at the Delta Atlantica before another explosion near it, the center said. The third attack happened hours later on Tuesday, about 180 kilometers northwest of the Houthi-held port city Hodeida, prompting an armed security force aboard the tanker to open fire. "The vessel was approached by an uncrewed surface vessel on the starboard side. The USV collided with the vessel but did not detonate," the center said. "Subsequently, the armed security team disabled the USV via small arms fire." Another vessel, identified by the center as a Panama-flagged crude oil tanker called On Phoenix, also saw an explosion off its side on Tuesday, but similarly sustained no damage, the center said. The Houthis have so far not claimed responsibility for the assaults, though sometimes they wait days to do so, and other times they have claimed attacks that appear not to have happened. The Houthis have targeted more than 70 vessels with missiles and drones since the start of the war in Gaza in October. They have seized one vessel and sunk two in the campaign that has killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have been either intercepted by a U.S.-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets. The rebels maintain that they have targeted ships linked to Israel, the United States or the U.K. to force an end to Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran. The center said it has not found any link between the Delta Atlantica and the war in Gaza. As Iran threatens to retaliate over Haniyeh's killing, the U.S. military has told the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to sail more quickly to the area. America also has ordered the USS Georgia guided missile submarine into the Mideast, while the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier strike group had been in the Gulf of Oman. Additional F-22 fighter jets have flown into the region, while the USS Wasp, a large amphibious assault ship carrying F-35 fighter jets, is in the Mediterranean Sea. Belarus sentenced two more journalists to prison last week in what media groups say is a continuation of a crackdown on media since the contested 2020 election and protest movement. A court in the city of Mogilev sentenced freelance reporter Ales Sabaleuski to four years in prison and cameraman Yauhen Hlushkou to three years on extremism-related charges. Both were also ordered to pay fines of $2,450, according to media watchdogs. The charges are linked to the journalists work with the independent news outlet 6TV Bielarus, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ. Belarus had earlier labeled 6TV Bielarus as an extremist group. Gulnoza Said, CPJs Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, condemned the closed-door trial that took place last Wednesday, calling the Belarusian judicial system rigged. The sentences are yet another example of the Belarusian authorities relentless harassment of members of the press, she said in a statement. Belarus-based human rights groups, including Viasna, issued a statement calling on authorities to release the journalists, and to stop using prosecution to limit rights and freedoms. Media and civil liberties groups say Belarusian authorities have used arrests and prison to target critics and opposition voices since the 2020 disputed presidential election. Mass protests spread across Belarus that year, after President Alexander Lukashenko was voted in for a sixth term. The election had been widely seen as fraudulent, with opposition leaders imprisoned or threatened. Belarus has since arrested dozens of journalists and labeled several media outlets as extremist organizations. Data collected by Viasna show thousands of politically motivated arrests in the past four years, with at least 1,385 still imprisoned. CPJ additionally found 28 journalists imprisoned in Belarus for their work as of late 2023. That makes Belarus the third-worst jailer of journalists in the world, after China and Myanmar, the watchdog says. The press office of the Belarus Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to VOAs request for comment. Among those detained are Ihar Losik and Andrey Kuznechyk, who worked for VOA sister network, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. On the four-year anniversary of the election on Friday, the Belarusian Association of Journalists issued a joint statement with other watchdogs, calling on authorities to release all jailed media workers. Lukashenkos regime has been crushing free speech and stripping journalists of their freedom for too long, the statement said. We demand the immediate and unconditional release of our unjustly imprisoned colleagues, and express our solidarity with those who were forced to flee their country and still have to live in fear abroad. Belarusian authorities must stop harassing and intimidating journalists. Belarus ranks 167 out of 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index and is considered one of the most dangerous countries in Europe to be a journalist. Millions of dollars are being spent this year to steer voters toward candidates for Republican-led Legislatures who not only support school vouchers, but will become key figures in implementing school choice programs in states across the U.S. Most recently, national pro-voucher advocates declared victory after spending more than $4.5 million in Tennessee's primary election to defend and elect legislative candidates they claim will support school choice proposals in 2025 when state lawmakers are slated to return to the Capitol to enact policy. Meanwhile, at least $14.8 million was spent by similar advocacy groups in the Texas primary election earlier in May to oust and replace voucher opponents. In Idaho, hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent on candidates who both opposed and supported school vouchers in the rural mountain-west state. The spending spree is backed by the nation's most high-profile voucher influencers, including the School Freedom Fund, a pro-voucher group tied to Club for Growth; the American Federation for Children, which was founded by former Trump administration Education Secretary Betsy DeVos; and Americans for Prosperity, the Koch familys well-heeled free-market group. Their focus is often on primary elections because in Republican-dominated states, primaries are seen as the most competitive hurdle to getting elected. Make no mistake if you call yourself a Republican and oppose school freedom, you should expect to lose your next primary, said David McIntosh, president of the School Freedom Fund, said in a statement shortly after Tennessee's primary election. As we continue to hear from different governors, we plan on repeating our results from Tennessee and Texas across the country. The school freedom revolution is just beginning. Thirty-two states have implemented some sort of voucher program in the U.S., and some have been in place for decades, often with strict income requirements or narrowly tailored for students with disabilities. Yet, over the years, there's been a noticeable push among Republican leaders to make available taxpayer-funded vouchers, or scholarships that can follow a child regardless of income to any public or private school. About a dozen states now have such programs. But proposals are being considered in many more, with varying degrees of legislative support. Idaho, Tennessee and Texas all weighed sweeping school voucher proposals over the past year, but faced resistance not only from Democrats who dont hold as much political power but also Republican members wary of directing public education dollars away from their districts. Tennessee's Republican Gov. Bill Lee was forced to abandon his plans for universal school choice earlier this year after divisions inside the GOP-controlled Statehouse failed to come to a consensus on key specifics. The failure prompted Lee to break with his previous stance of remaining quiet during GOP primary elections and instead publicly pick favorites this year in a handful of legislative races. Additionally, outside groups like Club for Growth, American Federation for Children, Americans for Prosperity Action, and others poured $4.5 million across 16 House and Senate legislative races. Three of the open primaries saw almost a million dollars spent in each of the races. Club for Growth spent the majority of the money, pouring $3.6 million across five races and ultimately winning four of those seats. Lee didn't endorse any opponents of a sitting Republican incumbent, but he did throw support behind candidates in four open legislative seats three of which were successful. The modest gains for Lee's cause came at a big political cost. After Lee endorsed Sen. Jon Lundberg, this year's voucher bill sponsor, former President Donald Trump backed Lundberg's opponent, Bobby Harshbarger, son of U.S. Rep. Diane Harshbarger. After Harshbarger was declared the winner, Trump swiped at Lee on social media, calling him a RINO, or Republican in Name Only" even though he endorsed Lee in his 2022 reelection. Lee has so far brushed aside the criticism, and instead released a statement declaring that Republican primary voters sent a clear message: Its time to deliver school choice for Tennessee families." Focusing solely on primary voters may be a winning strategy to securing key state level races, but it comes at a cost of electing candidates who may not represent the average voter, said John Geer, a political science professor at Vanderbilt University. A very small proportion of the Tennessee voting public is driving these outcomes, that's not good for democracy, he said. In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott also touted major wins for voucher advocates in the aftermath of the state's runoff primary election in May. Months prior, back in late 2023, a group of House Republicans joined Democrats to help defeat a school voucher bill delivering a blow to one of Abbott's top legislative priorities. Similar to the playbook used in Tennessee, Abbott and national voucher groups pivoted to ousting voucher opponents in the primary election in order to secure a legislative victory in 2025. Club for Growth ultimately took credit for removing 10 GOP incumbents who had opposed Abbott's voucher push after targeting 14 races in primary and runoff election. Club for Growth reported spending $8.8 million and Abbott spent at least $6 million between the primary and runoff elections. The Texas legislature now has enough votes to pass school choice," Abbott posted after the runoff election. And in Idaho, four anti-school voucher Republican incumbents lost their reelection bids after the American for Children PAC spent more than $300,000 to promote school choice candidates. During the 2022 election cycle, the organization spent $9 million on state legislative races to support school choice friendly candidates but CEO Tommy Schultz promised to spend at least $10 million this year. To date, AFC and its affiliates have deployed more than $9 million in state legislative primary elections across the country, and we will spend millions more in the general election to advance school choice policies for American families, Schultz said in a statement to AP. Hospital services were disrupted in several Indian cities on Tuesday after a doctors' protest spread nationwide following the rape and murder of a trainee medic in the city of Kolkata, authorities and media said. Thousands of doctors marched on Monday in Kolkata and the surrounding West Bengal state to denounce the killing at a government-run hospital, demanding justice for the victim and better security measures. The 31-year-old doctor was found dead on Friday. Police said she had been raped and murdered and a police volunteer was subsequently arrested in connection with the crime. Protests spread on Tuesday, with more than 8,000 government doctors in the western Maharashtra state, home to the financial capital of Mumbai, halting work in all hospital departments except emergency services, media said. In the capital, New Delhi, junior doctors wearing white coats held posters that read, "Doctors are not punching bags," as they sat in protest outside a large government hospital, Reuters Television images showed. Similar protests in cities such as Lucknow, capital of the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, and in the western tourist resort state of Goa hit some hospital services, media said. "Pedestrian working conditions, inhuman workloads and violence in the workplace are the reality," the Indian Medical Association (IMA), the biggest grouping of doctors in the country, told Health Minister J P Nadda in a letter released before they met him for talks on Tuesday. IMA General Secretary Anil Kumar J Nayak told the ANI news agency that his group had urged Nadda to step up security at medical facilities. The health ministry did not immediately comment. A high court in Kolkata ordered that the criminal investigation be transferred to India's federal police, the Central Bureau of Investigation, indicating that the authorities were treating the case as a national priority. Emergency services stayed suspended on Tuesday in almost all the government-run medical college hospitals in Kolkata, state official N S Nigam told Reuters, adding that the government was assessing the impact on health services. Doctors in India's crowded and often squalid government hospitals have long complained of being overworked and underpaid, and say not enough is done to curb violence leveled at them by people angered over the medical care on offer. The governor of Russias Belgorod region declared a state of emergency Wednesday following Ukraines bombardment of the region. "The situation in the Belgorod region continues to be extremely difficult and tense," Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app. Houses are destroyed. Civilians died and were injured. He added that "a state of emergency will be introduced on the regional level, followed by a request to the governmental commission to declare a federal state of emergency." In the neighboring region of Kursk, Ukrainian forces were in control of 74 settlements on Tuesday, Ukraines president said. "Hundreds of Russian servicemen have already surrendered, and all of them will receive humane treatment they did not experience such treatment even in their own Russian army," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his evening address. "We have proven once again that we, Ukrainians, are capable of achieving our goals in any situation capable of defending our interests and our independence. Watch related report by Anita Powell: This is the latest development in Ukraines cross-border assault on Kursk that began a week ago, a surprise operation that caught Russia off guard. Reuters reports that Ukrainian forces continue to advance in Kursk and have gained one to three kilometers in the last 24 hours. That account does not square with that of Russias Major General Apti Alaudinov, who said Ukraines troops had been stopped as have attacks on villages 26-28 kilometers from the border. Asked Tuesday about Ukraines action, U.S. President Joe Biden said hes been briefed every four to five hours for the last six to eight days on Ukraines action. "Its creating a real dilemma for Putin," he said of the operation, which appeared to have caught the Russians by surprise. Don Jensen, a senior adviser on Russia and Europe at the U.S. Institute of Peace, agreed that Russia has been scrambling to respond. "People around the world will note that Ukraine has really showed skill, great operational security ... excellent planning and, above all, excellent execution of that plan," Jensen said. "The bottom line is that Ukraine has surprised the world again, showing Russias weak spots," Jensen said. "Russia reacted very slowly and uncoordinated to the incursion, and not surprisingly, the Kremlin is shaking in its boots." Earlier Tuesday, Ukraine said it has no interest in holding territory it captured in Russias Kursk region for the long term, but in the meantime, the presence of Ukraine soldiers can complicate Moscows efforts to move more troops to the front battle lines in eastern Ukraine. "Unlike Russia, Ukraine does not need other peoples property," Ukraine Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgiy Tykhy told reporters in Kyiv. "Ukraine is not interested in taking the territory of the Kursk region, but we want to protect the lives of our people." Tykhy defended Ukraines actions as "absolutely legitimate." "The sooner Russia agrees to restore a just peace ... the sooner the raids by the Ukrainian defense forces into Russia will stop," he told reporters, although no peace talks are under way. President Zelenskyy said, "It should be emphasized that the operation in the Kursk region helps the front line because it does not allow Russia to transfer additional units to the Donetsk region complicates its military logistics." Zelenskyy said Russia has used the Kursk region to launch more than 2,000 cross-border strikes on Ukrainian territory since June. He said Ukrainian forces have captured areas used to launch such strikes during the weeklong incursion that has captured 1,000 square kilometers of land. Ukrainian forces have managed the biggest attack by a foreign army on Russian soil since World War II. Russia said Tuesday it had fended off new attacks in Kursk, but more than 120,000 people have fled the area. Ukraine said it was imposing movement restrictions in a 20-kilometer zone in Sumy region along the border with the Kursk region, due to an "increase in the intensity of hostilities" and "sabotage" activities. Since launching its invasion in February 2022, Russia has captured territory in southern and eastern Ukraine and subjected Ukrainian cities to missile and drone barrages. But Ukraines offensive into Kursk was its biggest cross-border action since the Russian invasion and it caught Moscow off guard. "They didnt protect the border," a Ukrainian serviceman who took part in the offensive, and identified himself as Ruzhyk, told Agence France-Presse in Ukraines Sumy region. "They only had anti-personnel mines scattered around trees at the side of the road and a few mines that they managed to quickly throw along the highways," he said. Ukrainian military analyst Mykola Bielieskov told AFP, "Russian complacency prevailed." "Russia assumed that since it had initiative elsewhere, Ukraine wouldnt dare to do things weve seen," he said, referring to months of Russian advances along the eastern front. Russia controls much of Ukraines eastern flank. VOAs Kim Lewis contributed to this report. Some material in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters By Masakatsu Ota, KYODO NEWS - Aug 13, 2024 - 09:40 | All, World Charles Oppenheimer, grandson of physicist Robert Oppenheimer, known as the "father of the atomic bomb," visited Hiroshima for the first time this summer, 79 years after the nuclear attack and emphasized the critical need for dialogue among nuclear power adversaries to prevent a war that could annihilate humanity. During his visit to the western Japan city, Oppenheimer interacted with atomic bomb survivors, including Keiko Ogura, who testified before U.S. President Joe Biden and other Group of Seven leaders last year. Although his grandfather visited Japan in 1960, he did not travel to Hiroshima. "I wanted to have human dialogue with A-bomb survivors and the people of Japan. My words and actions are driven from the family philosophy that nuclear weapons are dangerous in the first place, and that we can get over that danger by increasing dialogue and cooperation," Oppenheimer told an interview with Kyodo News in Tokyo in May. "I think we need to recognize and understand our past. My grandfather visited Japan in 1960 but did not go to Hiroshima. I have wanted to go and visit the people, then use that to help guide our thoughts about how to deal with the future," he said. This year, the movie 'Oppenheimer' was screened nationwide in Japan, but some A-bomb survivors expressed dissatisfaction, as the film did not depict the inhumane devastation caused by the bomb. While sympathizing with such a reaction, Oppenheimer critically evaluated the film. "My grandfather and the other scientists involved in the Manhattan Project clearly saw the arms race before the war ended, and saw a way to avoid it by increasing cooperation. However I think the movie doesn't seem to understand and focus on it," he said. On Aug. 17, 1945, Robert Oppenheimer, in consultation with fellow scientists Enrico Fermi, Earnest Lawrence and James Compton, wrote a letter to then Secretary of War Henry Stimson. According to the grandson, Oppenheimer said, "We're going to make more weapons. They're going to get more powerful. But they will never make us safer." Two days after the end of World War II, Robert Oppenheimer's letter warns: "We believe that the safety of this nation...cannot lie wholly or even primarily in its scientific or technical prowess. It can be based only on making future wars impossible. It is our unanimous and urgent recommendation to you that...all steps be taken, all necessary international arrangements be made, to this one end." The "father of the atomic bomb" feared the emergence of the hydrogen bomb, which would possess far greater destructive power than atomic bombs. Before the Soviet Union developed its own atomic bomb, Oppenheimer envisioned preventing nuclear technology from spiraling out of control through "international control of nuclear power." "There will never be any defense against nuclear weapons. And he was able to give that advice to Henry Stimson," Oppenheimer said of his grandfather. "The only possibility, then, of safety from them is international cooperation. That's what he worked on for from the moment the war ended until he was attacked by his government, trying to get that message that there was a way to avoid an arms race through increased cooperation." Stimson, who led the Manhattan Project, was also interested in the idea of "international control of nuclear power." On Sept. 11, 1945, he sent a secret memorandum to then President Harry Truman to sound the alarm, saying that the destructive nature of the atomic bomb was so revolutionary and dangerous that humanity needed to manage it in a new way. "But, it didn't go through. My grandfather had a dialogue with Truman, where Truman asked him, 'When do you think the Russian's get the bomb?' He said 'I don't know.' Then Truman said 'I know. Never.'" "In that case, you were having a politician override a scientist, who knew what would happen. And I think people who didn't understand the science thought that they could keep it secret and that the U.S. was the best country in the world. And, if we could just keep fission secret, it would prevent everybody else from having it" History shows Truman was wrong. The Soviet Union successfully conducted its first nuclear test in August 1949. Subsequently, the United States and the Soviet Union pursued the development of the hydrogen bomb and competed with each other in the expansion of nuclear arms. The concept of "international control of nuclear power" was buried, and instead, "Mutually Assured Destruction" emerged. It is based on a "balance of terror," whereby each side would possess a large amount of nuclear weapons, and one would face intolerable nuclear retaliation if one of them fired first. And it is also a gamble that includes the risk of human annihilation. "The world actually has changed, fundamentally. That's why Robert Oppenheimer said that the world will never be the same," the grandson said. "Nonetheless, the United States did not take into account the fears of the Soviet Union and gave priority to the belief that 'Communism is evil.' The Soviet Union also regarded the United States as an enemy and proceeded with nuclear development, believing that it needed to defend itself." "They ran into 'fear of the other'. That is what drove the policy into the arms race, which my grandfather was most afraid of. And it opened a door of the nuclear age of madness," he said. China has also become a strong nuclear power, and the world appears to have entered an era in which artificial intelligence can press the "nuclear button" is no longer a completely imaginary scenario. "We should sit down and talk with people we think are our enemy. And that's the only way to get over today's threats," Oppenheimer said. "I think, today, people are not afraid enough of the risk of nuclear weapons. It is a real and present danger to the world. As J. Robert Oppenheimer said, 'The people of this world,' meaning entire humanity, 'must unite or they will perish.'" Related coverage: Virtual reality tours show Hiroshima A-bomb reality as survivors age Hiroshima urges shift from nuclear deterrence on 79th A-bomb anniv. Nagasaki urges nuke abolition on A-bomb anniv. rocked by Israel snub Nigeria has launched the country's first National Elephant Action Plan. Authorities say the measure is designed to protect the small and rapidly declining population of elephants in the country. Human-caused activities, including poaching, have forced Nigerian elephants to the verge of extinction. The plan aims to save the remaining elephants by reducing illegal killings and trade, maintaining elephant habitats, creating public awareness and promoting community-led vigilance. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, Nigeria's minister of state for environment, said the National Elephant Action Plan will be a comprehensive approach to ensure the protection of wildlife. "What we're seeing today is an upscaling of the commitment of Nigeria to ensure that our natural resources are protected and preserved, Salako said. We're also focusing on the host communities, because these elephants live around some people. We're going to see a situation where people can see alternative livelihoods from preservation of our elephants." Over the last decade, Nigeria has emerged as a key source, transit and destination country for illegal wildlife trade. Elephant ivory and pangolin scales are some of the most trafficked items. The Elephant Protection Initiative Foundation said Nigeria accounts for nearly a quarter of the world's seized ivory. As a result, Nigeria's elephant population about 300 to 400 animals is a fourth of the population size three decades ago. Authorities say that along with the threats from poachers and habitat destruction, human-elephant conflict due to the animals invasion of farms is leading to more elephant killings. Andrew Dunn, country director of the Wildlife Conservation Society, is author of the National Elephant Action Plan. He said the plan has eight main objectives ranging from law enforcement to conservation education to sustainable livelihoods. "It's quite a comprehensive document, he said. There are a lot of actions in there, including the importance of reducing conflicts between farmers and elephants. That's a serious problem. Nigeria is unthinkable without elephants, he added. It's time we came together and protect the last of our elephants. It would be criminal, sad and catastrophic if we lose them." In 2010, all 36 African elephant range states committed to developing measures to ensure a secure future for the continents elephants. And in April, Nigeria and Cameroon agreed to a wildlife protection partnership to tackle cross-border wildlife crimes. As the world marked World Elephant Day on August 12 to raise awareness about the numerous threats elephants face, Nigerian authorities say the launch of the National Elephant Action Plan is a boost to the pact. About 10 to 20 kilometers below the surface of Mars could be a large amount of water, a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says. Scientists say there could be enough water on Mars to fill a global ocean for the Red Planet. The findings are derived from data collected by NASAs Mars InSight lander from 2018 to 2022. The lander included a seismometer among its equipment that recorded more than 1,300 marsquakes before it stopped recording the planets vibrations. Researchers, who are still analyzing the data, were able to use the seismic waves information to determine what kinds of materials the waves were encountering. Professor Michael Manga of the University of California-Berkeley, who was involved in the research, told the BBC that scientists used the same techniques for the Mars research that they use on Earth to find water. Scientists say Mars had plenty of water on its surface billions of years ago in the form of rivers, lakes and perhaps even an ocean. Researchers believe that as the planets atmosphere thinned, some of its water likely seeped underground while other water was lost to space, making Mars a desert about 3 billion years ago. Manga said the new study is providing an answer to one of the biggest questions about the planet: Where did all the Martian water go? Geophysicist Vashan Wright of the University of California-San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the studys lead scientist, told The Associated Press that water on Mars doesnt automatically mean there is life on the planet. "Instead, our findings mean that there are environments that could possibly be habitable, he said. Scientists say equipment for drilling and other tasks is needed to positively confirm the existence of water on Mars. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press. Firefighters in Greece battled scattered fires on Tuesday in hopes of containing the remains of a major wildfire that burned into the northern suburbs of Athens, triggering multiple evacuations and leaving at least one person dead. Strong winds that had fanned the flames on Sunday and Monday died down overnight. The blaze no longer had any active, advancing fronts, the fire department said, so firefighters focused on extinguishing hundreds of slow-burning areas. Reinforcements, including water-dropping aircraft and firefighters, arrived from abroad after Greece had requested assistance from Europe's joint disaster response mechanism. Dozens of homes and businesses were reported to have burned, although authorities did not yet have an exact number. Winds strengthened again Tuesday afternoon, but no new major flare-ups were reported. The European Union's Copernicus Emergency Management Service, which uses satellite images to map natural disasters, said that by Monday, the blaze had burned 8,500 hectares. Helicopters, planes and hundreds of firefighters and vehicles were arriving from France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Serbia and Romania. Turkey's Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said two firefighting planes and one helicopter had taken off Tuesday morning for Greece. "I wish all the best to our colleagues who work with the motto 'Forests are the world's common heritage,'" Yumakli posted on the social media platform X. Neighboring countries help Relations between neighbors Greece and Turkey are frequently tense over territorial disputes, but they tend to put differences aside and send each other help when faced with natural disasters such as earthquakes and forest fires. Several other Balkan countries also struggled with wildfires. Water-dropping planes and helicopters from Cyprus, Germany and Slovenia were helping North Macedonia tackle blazes that have been burning for weeks, while Bosnian firefighters and local authorities appealed for international help to tackle fires raging in a national park in the east of the country. The Athens blaze began Sunday afternoon near Lake Marathon, about 35 kilometers (21.7 miles) northeast of the city, and coursed across Mount Pendeli, descending into the city's suburbs. Firefighters found the burned body of a woman in an industrial building in the suburb of Vrilissia just after midnight. The woman, an employee of the business, was believed to have become trapped inside the building. Paramedics treated more than a dozen people, mostly for smoke inhalation, while five firefighters suffered light burns and breathing problems, the fire department said. Three hospitals, including a children's hospital, two monasteries and a children's home were evacuated on Monday, while about 30 push alerts were sent to cell phones warning people in several Athens suburbs and outlying settlements to flee. Authorities said some people who refused to leave their homes later became trapped and required rescuing, endangering the lives of firefighters. The affected areas at the closest, some 15 kilometers (9.32 miles) from the heart of Athens typically have thousands of residents. However, it was unclear how many were away on vacation at the height of the summer season, and how many had obeyed the evacuation orders or stayed to fight the blaze. Ten water-dropping planes and 10 helicopters were fighting the remaining flames Tuesday, backing up hundreds of firefighters on the ground, the fire department said. A trio of Paralympic athletes from Malawi, Uganda and the United Kingdom is advocating for the voices of youth with disabilities to be heard at the United Nations upcoming Summit of the Future, scheduled for September in New York. Their campaign, with support from the international charity Sightsavers, emphasizes the importance of including the voices of disabled youth on the international stage. Taonere Banda participates in 400 meters and 1,500 meters Paralympics races, and broke a record in 2016 to become the first athlete to represent Malawi at the Paralympic Games in Brazil. Husnah Kukundakwe is a Paralympic swimmer from Uganda. And Susie Rodgers is a former Paralympic swimmer for Britains team, who competed at the Paralympic Games in London in 2012 and Rio in 2016. Sightsavers says the three athletes are spokespeople for its Equal World campaign, which wants the voices of disabled youth to be included in discussions in September about the U.N.s Sustainable Development Goals at the Summit of the Future in New York. Currently, Banda and Kukundakwe are in a camp preparing for the Paris Paralympics. Banda hopes the campaign will address the stigma and discrimination people with disabilities have long faced. We are also human beings and we want to be treated equally, she said. Its sad that we are often being discriminated against. For example, we are often sidelined in various developmental programs, including during the distribution of some relief items. She fears that without such a campaign, people with disabilities risk, once again, being left behind, and that the Sustainable Developmental Goals will fail. Banda said the summit should ensure that there are programs benefiting people with disabilities. Simon Munde, executive director for the Federation of Disability Organizations in Malawi, welcomed the campaign. Its important that these para-athletes carry the voices of fellow young people with disabilities to the world leaders so that these world leaders, even our leaders from Africa, really champion the issues of inclusion of persons with disabilities. Munde said it was high time for people with disabilities to have an equal share of the development cake. Taxpayers money should actually be used for the development of the nation, or even the resources from the development partners should be used for development, but those kinds of development initiatives leave behind persons with disabilities, Munde said. Last week, the Malawi government, with support from the United Nations, convened a high-level consultation with representatives from government ministries, civil society organizations, the private sector, academia and the media to prepare for the Summit of the Future. A statement from the U.N. office in Malawi says the primary objective of the meeting was to gather diverse perspectives and input that will inform Malawi's position and contributions to the Summit of the Future in New York. During the meeting, various issues were discussed, including those seeking to address the needs of youth and future generations. Poland on Tuesday signed a $10 billion deal to buy 96 Apache attack helicopters from U.S. manufacturer Boeing in an upgrade to the country's military capabilities. Poland has sharply accelerated the modernization of its armed forces since Russia's full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine in 2022. "This is the landmark purchase by Poland for its armed forces of ... 96 state-of-the-art AH-64E Apache attack helicopters," Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz told reporters. "Today we are taking a milestone in the transformation and equipping of the army," he added, speaking at the Inowroclaw air base, where the Apaches are to be stationed. The deal is the latest in a string of contracts signed by Poland with the United States in recent days. On Friday, Warsaw announced a deal to buy hundreds of AIM-120C AMRAAM air-to-air missiles. On Monay there was a contract to build 48 launchers for the U.S.-designed Patriot air defense systems. Poland, a staunch ally of Ukraine, has announced it would spend more than 4% of its annual economic output on defense this year twice NATO's target of 2%. The Ukraine war has also solidified the relationship between the United States and Poland, a country on NATO's eastern flank that sees Washington as one of its main allies. The Apache helicopter sale was approved last year by the U.S. State Department and Congress. The deal "changes the face of the Polish army's operations and complements" previous purchases, Kosiniak-Kamysz said, pointing notably at the Abrams tanks that Poland bought in the past years. According to the Polish government, the Apaches are designed to work with the tanks. "For the Abrams, the Apache is an essential element," Kosiniak-Kamysz said. In 2022, Poland bought 250 Abrams tanks in a modern M1A2 variant, which are expected to be delivered later this year. It will be the first country outside the United States with the tanks. The attack helicopter agreement also envisages providing the Polish army with maintenance equipment, technical and training support, flight simulators and spare parts. "Offset, purchase, leasing, pilot training, technology, armament it was all negotiated together. It's a historic day for helicopter aviation," Deputy Defense Minister Pawel Bejda said. "These $10 billion are the insurance of our country, the insurance of our freedom," Bejda added, saying that the Apaches would serve the Polish efforts to "deter those who have evil intentions." The first U.S.-made helicopters are to be delivered in 2028, but some Polish pilots have already begun training on them. The Apaches will replace outdated Russian Mi-24 helicopters. Puerto Rico activated the National Guard and canceled the start of classes in public schools as forecasters warned that the U.S. territory would be hit by Tropical Storm Ernesto, which formed in the Atlantic Ocean on Monday. Tropical storm warnings were in effect for Puerto Rico, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, Antigua, Barbuda, Anguilla, St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat, Guadeloupe, St. Martin, St. Barts and St. Maarten. The storm was located about 295 miles (475 kilometers) off Antigua. It had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph) and was moving west-northwest at 28 mph (44 kph). Ernesto is the fifth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. Officials in the French Caribbean said the storm was expected to drench Guadeloupe on Monday and pass near St. Barts and St. Martin. The National Hurricane Center said Ernesto is forecast to move over or near Puerto Rico and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands on Tuesday afternoon or evening. Forecasters warned the storm is expected to unleash floods and landslides. We cannot let our guard down, Nino Correa, Puerto Rico's emergency management commissioner, said at a news conference. Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi said more than 340 shelters across the island would be available if necessary and that more than 200 personnel with the National Guard were activated. Ernesto Morales, with the National Weather Service in San Juan, said between six to eight inches (15 to 20 centimeters) of rain are expected, with higher amounts in isolated areas. He also warned of hurricane-strength wind gusts as the storm is expected to hit northeast Puerto Rico and move across the U.S. territory late Tuesday and early Wednesday. He urged people to prepare and stay alert given ongoing uncertainties over the approaching system. This trajectory is not written in stone and will be changing, he said. Officials also warned Ernesto would cause widespread power outages given the fragile state of Puerto Rico's power grid, which crews are still rebuilding after Hurricane Maria struck the island in September 2017 as a Category 4 storm. That's a reality, said Juan Saca, president of Luma Energy, a private company that operates the transmission and distribution of power in Puerto Rico. Power outages also were a concern in the neighboring U.S. Virgin Islands for similar reasons. Even before the storm approached, officials announced island-wide blackouts on St. John and St. Thomas. U.S. Virgin Islands Governor Albert Bryan Jr. urged people to take the storm seriously. This is a practice run to make sure were really prepared, he said, noting that the peak of hurricane season is yet to come. Ernesto is expected to become a hurricane early Thursday as it turns north toward Bermuda, with some forecasters warning it could strengthen into a major Category 3 storm. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this year because of record warm ocean temperatures. It forecasted 17 to 25 named storms, with four to seven major hurricanes of Category 3 or higher. Crews on Monday tore down a Texas church where a gunman killed more than two dozen worshippers in 2017, using heavy machinery to raze the small building even after some families sought to preserve the scene of the deadliest church shooting in U.S. history. A judge cleared the way last month for the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs to tear down the sanctuary where the attack took place, which until now had been kept as a memorial. Church members voted in 2021 to tear it down, but some families in the community of less than 1,000 people filed a lawsuit hoping for a new vote on the buildings fate. Authorities put the number of dead in the November 5, 2017, shooting at 26 people, including a pregnant woman and her unborn baby. After the shooting, the interior of the sanctuary was painted white and chairs with the names of those who were killed were placed there. A new church was completed for the congregation about a year and a half after the shooting. John Riley, an 86-year-old member of the church, watched with sadness and disappointment as the long arm of a yellow excavator swung a heavy claw into the building over and over. The devil got his way, Riley said, I would not be the man I am without that church. He said he would pray for God to punish the ones who put the demolition in motion. That was Gods house, not their house, Riley said. For many in the community, the sanctuary was a place of solace. Terrie Smith, president of the Sutherland Springs Community Association, visited often over the years, calling it a place where you feel the comfort of everybody that was lost there. Among those killed in the shooting were a woman who was like a daughter to Smith Joann Ward and Wards two daughters, ages 7 and 5. Smith watched Monday as the memorial sanctuary was torn down. I am sad, angry, hurt, she said. In early July, a Texas judge granted a temporary restraining order sought by some families. But another judge later denied a request to extend that order, setting in motion the demolition. In court filings, attorneys for the church called the structure a constant and very painful reminder." Attorneys for the church argued that it was within its rights to demolish the memorial while the attorney for the families who filed the lawsuit said they were just hoping to get a new vote. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs alleged that some church members were wrongfully removed from the church roster before the vote was taken. In a court filing, the church denied the allegations in the lawsuit. A woman who answered the phone at the church said Monday that she had no comment then hung up. The man who opened fire in the church, Devin Patrick Kelley, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after he was chased by bystanders and crashed his car. Investigators have said the shooting appeared to stem from a domestic dispute involving Kelley and his mother-in-law, who sometimes attended services at the church but was not present on the day of the shooting. Communities across the U.S. have grappled with what should happen to the sites of mass shootings. Last month, demolition began on the three-story building where 17 people died in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. After the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, it was torn down and replaced. Tops Friendly Markets in Buffalo, New York, and the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, where racist mass shootings happened, both reopened. In Colorado, Columbine High School still stands, though its library, where most of the victims were killed, was replaced. In Texas, officials closed Robb Elementary in Uvalde after the 2022 shooting there and plan to demolish the school. When a mass uprising forced Bangladeshs longtime prime minister to step down and flee the country last week, a 65-year-old retired auditor who had worked for her political party feared for his life. Arobinda Mohalder, who is part of Bangladeshs Hindu minority, had just learned that a Hindu official working for the Awami League party in the country's Khulna district escaped after an angry mob set his home on fire. Mohalder and his wife quickly packed clothes and passports as they fled their home to stay with a relative nearby. Later that evening, they found out their home had been torched. The attackers looted everything, including their television, refrigerator and two air conditioners. Ever since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled to India, her supporters and associates have faced retaliatory attacks by mobs who have been met by little, if any, resistance from authorities. Members of the country's Hindu minority feel the most vulnerable because they have traditionally backed the Awami League seen as a secular party in the Muslim-majority nation and because of a history of violence against them during previous upheavals. In the week since Hasina was ousted on Aug. 5, there have been at least 200 attacks against Hindus and other religious minorities across 52 districts, according to the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, a minority rights group that has been tracking incidents. But experts caution it is hard to establish the extent of and motivations for the violence in this South Asian country of 170 million. There may be an element of minorities, particularly Hindus, being targeted due to their faith. But many Hindus had links to the Awami League, because historically it has been the party that protected minorities, so they may have been targeted for their political affiliations, said Thomas Kean, a senior consultant on Bangladesh and Myanmar at the Crisis Group. Hasina's ouster was triggered by student-led protests against a quota system for government jobs. After clashes between protesters and government forces that led to hundreds of deaths, the movement grew into a broader rebellion against the leader and her government. Mobs rampaged across the country after Hasina fled. Some of the violence was just criminal activity, Kean said, and we shouldnt assume they are all due to race or religion. The interim government put in place after Hasinas ouster has condemned the attacks as heinous and said it was working with community leaders to ensure Hindus' safety. Hindus, who make up 8% of the population and are the largest minority group, are shivering, said Kajal Debnath, a vice president of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council. They are closing their doors. They are not opening it without confirming who is knocking. Everybody (in the Hindu minority) ... from the Dhaka capital to the remote villages, are very scared. For many, the violence has evoked painful memories of Bangladeshs 1971 war of independence against Pakistan during which Hindus were targeted. Hindus were also attacked during the rise of Islamic groups in the 1990s, which Hasina stamped out. Hindus have held large protests in the past week drawing thousands, demanding protection and condemning the recent spate of attacks. Munni Ghosh, a Hindu housewife in Dhaka, said that attacks have grown since Hasina fled. The reason (is) because she used to support us, she said. According to the minority groups organization, the attacks have included vandalizing and looting of Hindu homes and businesses. A few temples have been damaged. But details remain scarce, and police whose members were also killed during the recent violence went on strike last week. Some analysts say many of the attacks against Hindus are politically driven and reflect resentment against Hasinas party. Hindus have suffered, but most attacks have been politically motivated because the Awami League has been targeted, said Zillur Rahman, executive director of the Dhaka-based Center for Governance Studies. In Mohalders village, dozens of other Hindu homes were unscathed. And his brother-in-laws house, which is attached to his own, was not vandalized. A temple in their family compound was also untouched. Mohalder believes he was targeted because of his ties to the Awami League. He doesnt know when it will be safe for him to return home. I want to go back, but goons looted my home and because of that, I am scared. The issue has become increasingly sensitive for India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed concern over the reports of attacks last week. But experts say the lack of credible information and official investigations into violence against Hindus has also fueled misinformation about the attacks, much of it coming from Indian news, social media and leaders, said Kean. On Aug. 5, the day Hasina fled, a leader belonging to Modis party in West Bengal state, which borders Bangladesh, claimed without providing evidence that Hindus were being slaughtered. Television news channels ran headlines saying the attacks were an act of genocide and a pogrom. In another example, an Indian outlet claimed a certain temple had been set on fire, but Prothom Alo a leading Bengali-language daily newspaper found that false, and reported that an Awami League office behind the temple had been burnt down. Nahid Islam, one of the leading student protesters who was sworn in as a minister in the interim government last week, said the violence was more politically motivated, rather than religiously motivated, and was meant to divide the country, but that Bangladesh would protect them. The responsible will be brought to justice be assured that the people of Bangladesh, the government of Bangladesh, will stand by you. But for many Hindus, the biggest worry has been the lack of police since they went on strike in many parts of the country after Hasina fled. Anything can happen at any moment of time because there is no law and order," said Debnath. "There is no place to complain. If they kill me, if they burn my house, there is no one I can complain to. On Monday, several police stations opened up and many people hope that will help ease tensions. But while police were on strike, students and other volunteers in Dhaka and elsewhere banded together to patrol neighborhoods and keep watch, sometimes carrying sticks and umbrellas. Tahsim Uzzaman, a 26-year-old student in Dhaka, is one volunteer who has been patrolling Dhaka neighborhoods late at night. I no longer feel alright just sitting at home. Ive been going out at night to guard places, especially in minority neighborhoods. We took bullets to reclaim our country, it shouldnt be for nothing, we must now keep it safe for all, he said. Turkey's military conducted airstrikes in northern Iraq and "neutralized" 17 members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the defense ministry said Monday. Turkey, which typically uses the term neutralized to mean killed, has been carrying out a cross-border operation called Claw-Lock in Iraq as part of its offensive against the PKK militants. The PKK, which has been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, has been designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. Turkey has also launched military incursions in Syria against the Kurdish YPG militia, largely regarding it as a wing of the PKK. The United States is asking Turkey and other allies that have ties with Iran to persuade it to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey said. Ambassador Jeff Flake made the comments as the region braces for possible attacks by Iran and its allies after the killing of senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah. Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Iran-backed Hamas, was assassinated in the Iranian capital Tehran on July 31, triggering threats of revenge by Iran against Israel, which is fighting the Palestinian Islamist group in Gaza. Iran blamed Israel for the killing. Israel has not claimed responsibility. "We ask all of our allies that have any relations with Iran to prevail on them to de-escalate, and that includes Turkey," Flake said at a round-table with journalists in Istanbul as he comes to the end of his posting in Turkey. "They're doing what they can to make sure that it doesn't escalate," he said of Washington's Turkish interlocutors, adding that they "seem more confident than we are that it won't escalate." U.S.-Turkey ties have been strained in recent years by the U.S. alliance with Syrian Kurds that Turkey deems terrorists, and over Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 defenses that prompted U.S. sanctions and removal from a F-35 jet program. However, Flake said that he thought U.S.-Turkey relations are now "in a better place than we've been in a while." He noted the "useful role" that Turkey had played in what was the biggest prisoner exchange between the United States and Russia since the Cold War in Ankara at the start of August. "They weren't involved in the negotiation side, but on the logistics side, they played a significant role," he said. In an interview with Reuters in June, Flake had said that Turkey remained firmly anchored in the West and its partnership with the United States has never been stronger. But Flake said on Monday that the Gaza situation had been "very difficult," with President Tayyip Erdogan's rhetoric against Israel making it difficult for Turkey to play a role as an interlocutor. He said the divide between Ankara and Washington on Gaza had narrowed after Washington started "actively calling" for a ceasefire, but friction remained. KYODO NEWS - Aug 13, 2024 - 11:41 | All, Japan An Atlas Air cargo plane bound for Los Angeles returned to Narita airport near Tokyo early Tuesday for an emergency landing, causing the temporary closure of a runway. The U.S. carrier's Flight 7106 landed back at the airport at around 1:10 a.m. after detecting a malfunction in the hydraulic system. The Boeing 747 aircraft had a punctured tire, with a broken wheel. Due to the incident, Runway A at the airport was closed for about 7 hours. The transport ministry's airport office said seven crew were onboard the cargo plane but nobody was injured. File photo shows Runway A (R) at Narita International Airport in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, in April 2020. (Kyodo) File photo shows Runway A (R) at Narita International Airport in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, in April 2020. (Kyodo) Related coverage: Engine smoke seen from Singapore Airlines jet at Narita airport Japan summer holidays in full swing amid megaquake caution Crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by the Myanmar military have "escalated at an alarming rate," UN investigators warned Tuesday, citing systematic torture, gang rape and abuses against children. The United Nations' Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) said that in the last six months, more than three million people are estimated to have been forced to flee their homes, as conflict spirals within the country. "We have collected substantial evidence showing horrific levels of brutality and inhumanity across Myanmar," said IIMM chief Nicholas Koumjian. "Many crimes have been committed with an intent to punish and induce terror in the civilian population." In its annual report, covering July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024, the IIMM said the conflict in Myanmar had "escalated substantially" in that time, "with reports of more frequent and brutal crimes committed across the country." The investigators said they had collected significant evidence of more intensive and violent war crimes, including aerial attacks on schools, religious buildings and hospitals, with no apparent military target. They also cited physical mutilations against detainees, including beheadings and public displays of disfigured and sexually mutilated bodies. The investigators are looking into unlawful imprisonment, including arbitrary detention and "manifestly unfair trials" of perceived opponents of the military junta. "Thousands of people have been arrested and many tortured or killed in detention," the IIMM said. Rape and burnings Myanmar's ruling junta came to power in the February 2021 coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government, ending a 10-year experiment with democracy and plunging the Southeast Asian nation into bloody turmoil. The junta is struggling to crush resistance to its rule by long-established ethnic rebel groups and newer pro-democracy forces. In suppressing post-coup dissent, the report said there was "abundant evidence of systematic torture" in detention. Torture methods included beatings with bamboo sticks; electric shocks; pulling out fingernails with pliers; dousing detainees in petrol and setting them alight; waterboarding; strangulation; breaking fingers; and forcing detainees to punch each other. The report said there was reliable evidence of sexual crimes in detention committed against all genders, and including children. These crimes included rape, burning of sexual body parts with cigarettes and sexual humiliation. Mounting evidence against perpetrators The IIMM was established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2018 to collect evidence of the most serious international crimes and prepare files for criminal prosecution. The report's findings were based on almost 28 million items of information collected from more than 900 sources. The team also studied evidence such as videos, geospatial imagery and forensics. While most of the information concerns crimes allegedly committed by the Myanmar security forces, the monitor said there was also credible evidence of crimes committed by armed groups fighting against the military. "This includes summary executions of civilians suspected of being military informers or collaborators," the investigators said. It is also probing potential crimes committed against the Rohingya during the Myanmar military's 2016 and 2017 clearance operations. "No one has been held accountable for any crimes, which emboldens perpetrators and deepens the culture of impunity in the country. We are trying to break this cycle," said Koumjian. He claimed the IIMM had made considerable progress in building criminal cases against those most responsible. "The mechanism hopes that the evidence it collects will one day be presented in a court of law and that those responsible will face justice," the report concluded. In its latest report, Afrobarometer says African youth prefer democracy to any kind of authoritarian alternative but are more likely than their elders to be dissatisfied with the way democracy works in their countries. In its report, the first in what will be an annual series on high-priority topics, Afrobarometer distils findings from data spanning more than a decade, including the latest round of nationally representative surveys in 39 African countries, representing the views of more than three-fourths of the continents population. In a statement, Afrobarometer said the findings, based on 53,444 face-to-face interviews, show that while Africas youth (aged 18-35) differ little from their elders in their support for democracy, they express a greater willingness to tolerate military intervention when elected leaders abuse power for their own ends. They are also less trustful of government institutions and leaders and more likely to view them as corrupt. But like young citizens throughout the world, young Africans are significantly less likely than older cohorts to express their dissatisfaction and preferences at the ballot box. They also trail their elders in other forms of political engagement, such as joining others to raise an issue and contacting a local government councillor. The Afrobarometer findings show that the youth rank unemployment and management of the economy as their top priorities for urgent government action, and large majorities see their governments as failing on these issues. Taken together, these deficits suggest that the voices of young Africans are not yet fully heard in the continents policy processes. The code has been copied to your clipboard. width px height px How appropriate for the week with the Wicked: The Musical: The Motion Picture Part 1 promotional tie-in that we get the elimination weve all been screaming at our televisions for. Ding-dong, the dick is dead!! Jenn! Finally! All it took was for someone to ask a direct question that required Samm to recall and synthesize past events to knock him off his game. Its kind of stunning that it took until the week before hometowns before Jenn or anyone else thought, Hang on, what is this guy talking about? And really, isnt that what Wicked: The Musical: The Motion Picture Part 1 is all about? Communication. Before we get to the meat of this episode (and the Willy Wonka Wicked Experience featuring every Bachelorette in history), lets get one thing clear. As I was watching the episode, I saw a lot of chatter on Twitter that Samm is Luke P. You derelicts. You plebes. Samm is NOT Luke P. Luke P. was principled; he had a motivating ethos and ideology. Luke P. believed so strongly and so deeply in his regressive, misogynist, hypocritical morals that he was willing to absolutely blow up his relationship with Hannah Brown. Luke P. stood for something. Just because a contesticle speaks in a series of aphorisms and catchphrases doesnt make him Luke P. All of Luke P.s aphorisms and catchphrases were from the Bible. Samms sound bites are all from the Instagram captions of fitness influencers and pickup artists. There is someone else in the Bachelorette Cinematic Universe that Samm takes inspiration from, though: Jed. I mean, think about it: a smooth-talking, smug clout chaser with exactly ONE (1) trick. Its just a shame that Samms one trick and motto werent as emotionally rich and dazzling as Jeds Mr. Riiiiiight Guuuyyyy. So kudos, Jenn, for finally asking Samm to name one quality about me and shutting down his game. Lets get into it. Were back in the U.S. and its time for the Week Before Hometowns Date in Seattle the Emerald City. This is the week that Jenn went home, so she knows how strong the guys feelings can be at this point, and she needs a little help to get through this. Does every former Bachelorette live in Seattle? Because we are about to get a parade of former Bachelorettes. First up is Charity! She sits down with Jenn in a coffee shop to help Jenn sort through her feelings. Charity says, I kept a list of all the guys and I wrote a note about each of them after our dates, and Jenn says, I should have been doing that. This is also the first instance of Jenn saying that she only has a physical connection with Samm and she needs to see if theres something there. The guys are sitting around in their hotel, and Jeremy is the only one who hasnt gotten a one-on-one. As much as I like Jeremy because he seems like a cool dude hes still here? The first date card of the week arrives along with a box and says, Marcus, lets find love in the Emerald City. Inside the box, theres a green letterman jacket, and once I saw Jenns pink dress, it dawned on me what was happening. Yall what is Wicked: The Musical: The Motion Picture Part 1 about? I know, like, the witches and the wizard and also Madame Morrible and the whole Defying Gravity of it all. Its one of those prequels where every part of the way through, youre like, Ohhhh hes the Tin Man. But like, what is it ABOUT? The original novel of The Wizard of Oz can be seen as an allegory for the gold standard, and I think the book Wicked is about animal rights??? Because according to The Bachelorette, this exciting new film coming to theaters this fall is about understanding someones true character, the journey, difficult choices, so much more to a person than what meets the eye, and above all else, love. So like, girl, I guess. Marcus and Jenn head to a random part of Seattle, and Kelsey and Daisy tell them theyre going to go down their own yellow-brick road and make choices. For all the girlies who have ever had to think of a creative activation at their marketing day job, this ones for you. The yellow-brick road ends with Charity giving them a lawn dart to pop a wall of balloons that have messages from their past inside. Is this the best date to send the combat veteran who was in a coma on? Do we need to be surprising him with loud pops? Also, whoever wrote the words Galindas POPular Bubbles and came up with Theres no place like Hometowns had some of that good 80s cocaine before that brainstorming session. Marcus gets a video message from his sister and hints that his sister is the most important person in his world. Jenn gets a letter from her mom where she apologizes for not giving Jenn a perfect family. They head to the last stop, and its a green hot-air balloon introduced by Trista (!!) and the Cynthia Erivo version of the Defying Gravity vocal run kicks in louder than the dialogue. And get ready to hear it TEN MORE TIMES! They head to the evening portion of the date and Marcus explains that he relates to Jenns mom saying they didnt have the perfect family. He explains that his parents werent prepared to be parents and dropped him and his sister off at day care one day and never came back. Oh my God. I dont think any of us were prepared for this information, and it feels a little shallow to compare Marcuss family history to anything other than that exact situation. Jenn just calls it their untraditional families, which feels like the understatement of the century. Jenn says this is the love story shes always wanted and never thought she was worthy of. Where is this coming from? Marcus gets the rose. The Space Needle is lit up green. Coming to theaters this Thanksgiving. Its time for the group date and Jonathan, Samm, Devin, Grant, and Spencer are on the date. They head to a radio station with BENDER & JUBAL! One thing that truly brings me joy is the name of your local morning-show radio hosts. The morning-show hosts when I was growing up were Eddie & JoeBo. Perfection. Jason and Molly Mesnick are also there because this is a re-creation of one of their group dates. Jenn lets them know that shes got some reservations about Samm, so they should put some pressure on him. They do some word association with the guys. Spencer gets Rose, and he says, Me. Samm gets Fantasy Suite, and he says, after a long pause, Aggressive. Oh no. Ohhhh no. Everyone has their head in their hands and Molly is SHOOK. When asked to describe Jenn in three words, he says, I would say, fire, strong passion. To say that Ive been doing nothing but falling in love with you since the first time we had a conversation. I didnt know you would be able to show love the way I know how to. It literally took you giving a toast saying cheers to a ferocious love, to be so unorthodox, reckless, which is mathematically more than three words. The hosts give him a second chance and a one-on-one interview, and Samm says, I got out of the limo and I thought, This girl is not my type. I thought the Bachelorette was gonna be Daisy or Maria. ELIMINATE HIM ON THE SPOT. He also says that Jenn is selfless but cant name a single instance of her being selfless, and Spencer, who is watching with the rest of the guys in the other room, goes, I CAN THINK OF MULTIPLE EXAMPLES! The other jenntlemen are pissed. Finally, Samm can feel this is going badly and says, Honestly, my love language is physical touch and grabs Jenns face and starts to make out with her. Oh no. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. They head to the evening portion of the date, and while Grant tells her hes falling in love with her and Devin says hes falling in love with her (and she reciprocates!!), its all about Samm. Jenn starts the cocktail party by saying theres one conversation that didnt sit right and she needs more answers. Devin asks Samm if he thinks shes talking about him and Samm is like, That could have been anybody. Hes confident, Ill give him that. In a move of complete desperation, Samm decides to tell Jenn that hes in love with her. BITCH, WHAT? Jenn is frustrated and confused and just keeps asking him to say something about HER that MAKES SENSE. Then Samm short-circuits and starts repeating Ferocious love. Reckless love. There will be no group-date rose. Jenn has some things to think about. Before we can get to Samms downfall, its time for Jeremys one-on-one date. Jeremy and Jenn have a playful, joking relationship. They keep saying they have the same sense of humor and how they feel like themselves together. Also, Jeremy has one go-to joke and its going, Is this where you kill me? whenever Jenn leads him to a new location as they walk through Pike Place Market. He says it twice on this date. (I made this joke on a date with a guy once and he yelled STAB and pretended to stab me five minutes into our date. Do not recommend.) We get the fun facts that Jeremy was a drummer and a black belt as a kid when a produc I mean, palm reader, sits down with them. Jeremy also makes a stunning move and asks to put together a bouquet for Jenn. Im sure it was planned, but God damn, that was smooth. For the evening portion of the date, they start talking about their future and Jeremy talks about his family and his mom. He tells Jenn that his mom is an overly nice typical Jewish mother and they start talking about religion. Jeremy says he wouldnt want Jenn to convert to Judaism, but he would want his children to be raised Jewish, and being culturally Jewish is important to him. Jenn says that she goes to a Shabbat dinner with her friends in Miami and being Buddhist is important to her and her family. They imagine raising their kids with both religions and Jeremy says he could see raising little Jewish-Buddhist kids with Jenn. He gets the rose. The jenntlemen are sitting around waiting for the cocktail party to start. Shout-out to Jonathan and Marcus working on a Penny Press crossword book together. My wholesome puzzle kings! Jenn barges into the room and demands to see Samm. She finds Samm in his room and asks him to sit down for a chat. He starts out by saying, Im walking this fine line, being vulnerable and protecting my feelings in the same breath, only way to see it is to fall in love again. What the ever-loving shit is this man talking about? It takes Jenn waayyyyy too long in this conversation to realize that Samm is completely full of shit. She keeps saying he doesnt understand her and that he doesnt see her. He cant name anything specific about her and it seems like hes just falling in love with whoever is in front of him. He says that shes asking him questions and waiting for his answers with words, which is how verbal human speech works. He clearly has a speech planned and can only see and talk about his point of view. Heres my story: Your energy soothed my nerves. Dude, it is not about you. Love is selfless. Love is unconditional. Love is sacrifice. At this point, he sounds like someone trying to remember Corinthians but theyve only seen it on a weathered wooden-plank decoration at Hobby Lobby. Love is a bitch. Love is a lover. Love is a child. Love is a mother. Love is a sinner. Love is a saint, I do not feel ashamed. Jenn finally asks him to summarize their one-on-one date and everything he learned about her that night. Samm takes a long pause and finally says, Ferocious. Hes done. HES DONE. BYE-BYE. On his way out, Samm says, The energy she brought was very dull. And then he also says, and I quote, One thing I stand ten toes down on is it is what it is. Keep the main thing the main thing. Thats barely words. Its time for the rose ceremony. Devin gets the first rose and whispers, Youre the best. I trust you. And the final hometown rose is Jonathan. GRANT AND SPENCER NOO!!!! Grant says hes ready to give everything to someone and Spencer calls his mom and cries a lil bit. I want both to be co-Bachelors. I love them. Next week Hometowns!! Photo: Miramax Every Wednesday in August, Vulture will choose a film to watch with readers as part of our Vulture Movie Club. This weeks selection comes from Vulture critic Roxana Hadadi, who will begin her screening of The Crow on Wednesday, August 14, at 7 p.m. ET. Head to Vultures Twitter to catch the live commentary. That face. That beautifully sculpted, exquisitely controlled face, so capable of warmth and affection and menace and fury. Brandon Lee knew exactly what to do with his profile, his reactions, and his gaze in The Crow, the 1994 adaptation of James OBarrs cult-classic graphic novel the film seethes with the nuance and energy of Lees dual performance. Its impossible to talk about The Crow without acknowledging Lees accidental death during its production, and the eerie coincidence of Lee being fatally shot during the scene when his own character is killed. That tragedy will always hang over the film like a shroud, fueling conspiracy theories about the similarly early deaths of Lee and his father, martial arts icon Bruce Lee. But to focus only on that calamity is to ignore that Lee is marvelously, exhilaratingly alive in The Crow, an actor so totally disinterested in artifice that he gives the movies supernatural circumstances an intoxicatingly human pull. As charismatic rock star Eric Draven, Lee is a smiling, warm figure, a man easy with affection and a fascinated by the morbid and macabre. (The logo for his band, Hangmans Joke, is a skeleton smiling as it adjusts the noose on its own neck.) When Draven and his fiancee, Shelly (Sofia Shinas), are assassinated by crime lord Top Dollar (Michael Wincott, deliciously bad) and his favorite thugs, the crime is indicative of the apathy spreading throughout Detroit. Here was a nice young couple about to get married, involved in their community and opposed to tenant eviction in their neighborhood, and their slaughter remains unsolved until a year later, when Draven is brought back from the dead by a mysteriously powerful crow and sets out to murder everyone responsible. It would have been easy for Lee to play Draven as just a punishing force, to foreground only how hardened he is by the awful things that happened to him and Shelly. And to be fair, the films action scenes are visceral: A darkly mischievous Lee uses his martial-arts-trained fluidity as he takes hits, whirls and twirls around a massive shootout sequence, and waves good-bye to one of the baddies he sends to his death off a pier. But as great as those sequences are (and they are still some of the bloodiest and gnarliest scenes to ever appear in a comic-book movie), they wouldnt have nearly the same impact if Lee hadnt also leaned into Dravens vulnerabilities. His yell of agony and longing when he realizes why hes been brought back; how his face crumples into despair when he finds Shellys wedding-gown catalogue and her earrings gathering dust in her vanity; the little smile he gives disgraced detective Daryl Albrecht (Ernie Hudson) when he remembers an argument with Shelly and says, Believe me, nothing is trivial; the softness in his voice when he comforts Sarah (Rochelle Davis), the street kid Shelly used to take care of, and tells her, It cant rain all the time. The poignancy of Lees performance is in how measured it is, how simultaneously gentle and irate. And its a sign of how much the actor had to give that some of the films best moments are, because of him, its quietest. A lot of The Crow is baroque and brooding: Its a lost-love story decorated with gigantic headstones and snarling gargoyle sculptures, soundtracked by genre icons like the Cure and Nine Inch Nails, and complemented by a lot of black lipstick and leather. Neither director Alex Proyas nor screenwriters David J. Schow and John Shirley skimp on the visual or narrative accoutrements needed to make this film feel alternately melancholy and wrathful. Red-hued, strobe-lit flashbacks show Eric and Shelly in happier days and in the agonizing final moments of their lives. First-person-perspective shots put us in Erics shoes after hes brought back to life, from when he breaks through his coffin and crawls to the surface of his grave to his hand reaching for the crime-scene tape that still decorates his and Shellys front door. Every time Eric makes a crow symbol out of the blood of his victims, its a fist-pumping good time. Hell, theres a sword fight in the pouring rain on a church rooftop, and yes, the action-figure box set of that scene is part of my merch collection. All of this is goth excellence. But the textured humanity Lee gives The Crow is still its strongest asset and, 30 years after the films debut, still its most memorable quality. My apologies to the many franchise sequels and the upcoming reboot, but without Lee, The Crow doesnt fly. KYODO NEWS - Aug 13, 2024 - 19:55 | All, Japan The operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant plans to begin retrieving debris that contains melted nuclear fuel at one of the three meltdown-hit reactors as early as this month, with the unit to be the first to undergo the procedure. The removal of the radioactive debris is considered one of the most challenging tasks in decommissioning the Fukushima Daiichi plant, whose reactors were severely damaged by the loss of cooling functions triggered by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. intends to retrieve only a few grams of debris from the No. 2 unit in its first effort, with the roadmap for removing an estimated 880 tons of debris from Nos. 1 to 3 that suffered meltdowns remaining unclear. According to the decommissioning schedule by the government and TEPCO, the debris removal will be the third and final phase of the process that is projected to take 30 to 40 years. The upcoming operation, which is expected to take around two weeks to complete, will involve inserting a remote-controlled extendable pipe into the reactor containment vessel to trial retrieving debris. The tubular device comprises connected pipes with an outside diameter of 20 and 16 centimeters, which can be extended like a fishing rod to a length of around 22 meters. It will be inserted through a penetration point located on the side of the containment vessel, which has an internal diameter of about 55 cm and a length of approximately 2 meters. According to TEPCO, debris removal officially begins once the device passes through an "isolation valve" installed just before the penetration point. This valve blocks radioactive material from escaping the containment vessel. Further in sits an approximately 7.2-meter rail connected to the base of the reactor pressure vessel where the debris is located. Upon reaching this rail, an arm at the tip of the pipe will rotate downward to move toward the base. The tip of the pipe is equipped with a two-pronged metal claw to grip the pebble-sized debris. After entering the base, the claw will be lowered toward the debris at the bottom to retrieve the less than 3 grams. The pipe will be withdrawn from the containment vessel along the same route, with the debris placed in a transportation box, which will then be transferred by dolly into a nuclear glove box designed for handling radioactive material within the reactor building. After measuring radiation levels and other parameters inside the box, the debris will moved into a transportation container to be taken to an analysis facility in neighboring Ibaraki Prefecture. TEPCO had initially planned to start retrieving debris from the No. 2 unit in 2021 but postponed it to 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic and the need to improve the robotic arm. It said then that it aimed to carry out the process in the latter half of fiscal 2023 but gave up on the plan due to technical difficulties. Related coverage: Japan regulator blocks plan to restart Tsuruga nuclear unit Fukushima Pref. to end temporary housing for nuclear crisis evacuees Japan completes 7th round of Fukushima treated water discharge 22 cities across Italy on maximum red alert for heat on Wednesday. Italy continues to experience scorching hot temperatures from north to south in the days leading up to Ferragosto, the national summer holiday on Thursday 15 August. The Italian health ministry has issued a maximum "red alert" warning for 19 cities across Italy on Tuesday, rising to a record 22 cities on Wednesday, as the ongoing heatwave intensifies. Italy's bollino rosso alert indicates emergency conditions with possible negative effects on not just the elderly, sick or very young, but also on healthy and active people. Which cities will be affected? The 19 Italian cities with red alert status on Tuesday 13 August are: Ancona, Bologna, Bolzano, Brescia, Cagliari, Campobasso, Florence, Frosinone, Genoa, Latina, Milan, Naples, Palermo, Perugia, Rieti, Rome, Turin, Trieste and Verona. The red alert will remain in place for all of these cities on Wednesday 14 August, the eve of Ferrogosto, with the addition of three more - Bari, Venice and Viterbo - for a record 22 cities. New report The latest heat warnings coincide with the publication of a report documenting the deaths of more than 47,000 people in Europe due to heat in 2023. The country hit the hardest was Italy, recording an estimated total of 12,743 heat-attributable deaths, according to the report by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal). Italy has faced a series of heatwaves since June, with some central and southern areas of the country set to register temperatures above 40C this week. How to cope with the heat The health ministry advises people to avoid exposure to the sun and outdoor activity in the middle of the day, to drink plenty of water, eat lightly, preserve their medication properly, and pay particular attention to the wellbeing of babies, children, the elderly and pets. Tourists walking around Rome can avail themselves of the ubiquitous nasoni drinking fountains but should note that the city's historic fountains are off-limits, no matter how hot it gets. For heatwave details, see the Italian health ministry website. Photo credit: Adam McCullough / Shutterstock.com. Vandals change skin colour in mural of Egonu. A mural in Rome depicting the Italian Olympic volleyball champion Paola Egonu was vandalised on Monday night, just one day after it was unveiled by street artist Laika. The mural depicts Egonu, who was born in Italy to Nigerian parents, as she jumps to hit a ball with the words "stop racism, hate, xenophobia, ignorance". Vandals erased the ball from the mural, located in front of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) headquarters, and changed the colour of Egonu's skin from black to pink. Titled Italianita, Laika's mural was a response to right-wing MEP General Roberto Vannacci's assertion in his bestselling book Il mondo al contrario that even though Egonu "is an Italian by citizenship, it is clear that her physical features do not represent Italianness". Vannacci reiterated this controversial view on Sunday after the Italian women's volleyball team beat defending champions USA to win a first Olympic gold for Italy, with Egonu crowned as Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the women's Volleyball Nations League 2024. "I congratulate all the athletes, also to Paola Egonu who is a very good Italian athlete" - Vannacci told AGI news agency - "I have never doubted her Italian nature, but I continue to reiterate that her physical features do not represent the majority of Italians." Veteran television reporter Bruno Vespa also sparked controversy in a post on X in which he claimed that Paola "Enogu" was "an example of successful integration". Vespa faced widespread criticism from those who pointed out that Egonu, 25, was born in Italy and has been an Italian citizen since the age of 14 after her father obtained an Italian passport. Laika's mural of Paola Egonu before it was vandalised Last year Egonu sparked a racism debate in Italy days before she appeared as a co-presenter at the Sanremo Music Festival, the nation's biggest song contest. "If I ever have a child with black skin, he will face all the crap I went through" - Egonu said in an interview with Vanity Fair - "If he were to have mixed skin, worse again: they will make him feel too black for whites and too white for blacks. It is worth it, then, to give birth to a child and condemn him to unhappiness?" Asked subsequently by reporters if Italy is racist, Egonu said: "Yes, but this does not mean that everyone is racist or that everyone is bad or that everyone is ignorant." She then clarified: "In my opinion, it's a racist country but it is getting better. I don't want to play the victim, I just want to tell it like it is." In October 2022 she made headlines after threatening to quit the national volleyball team over racist abuse on social media. She took time out "to reflect on the situation" but not before receiving a wave of public support from Italian sporting figures and political leaders, including then prime minister Mario Draghi. KYODO NEWS - Aug 13, 2024 - 22:20 | World, All, Japan A former member of the Imperial Japanese Army's notorious Unit 731, which is thought to have undertaken covert biological and chemical warfare research in China during World War II, on Tuesday visited the former site of the unit's headquarters in Harbin. Hideo Shimizu, 94, from central Japan's Nagano Prefecture, who returned to the site in northeastern China for the first time in 79 years, mourned the victims of the research operation, which is believed to have included lethal experimentation and testing on humans, in front of a cenotaph dedicated to peace. "I had painful experiences and lost many fellow workers," Shimizu said. At age 14, he moved to the puppet state of Manchuria, now northeastern China, and later became a member of the unit's Youth Corps. Shimizu worked at the site between April and August of 1945 in the closing days of World War II and has expressed his remorse for being involved in the unit's operations. He visited the former site, escorted by the head of a Chinese exhibition hall on the unit, and recalled where a morgue was located. At the unit site, prisoners of war were secretly experimented upon to develop, among other things, plague and cholera-based biological weapons, according to historians. In 1997, Japan's Supreme Court, in a ruling concerning state textbook screeners objection to a history textbook's description of the unit's actions in China, said "the view had been established within academic circles to an undeniable extent that Unit 731 had killed many Chinese people through biological tests." Related coverage: Tragic story of young nurses' fate in Battle of Okinawa goes overseas Chinese Nobel laureate sued for "beautifying" wartime Japan soldiers By Rebecca Black, PA Fundamental change is needed to ensure the Police Service of Northern Ireland is adequately resourced, a political leader has said. Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie was speaking as officer numbers in the PSNI sit at 6,300, well below the 7,500 recommended in the Patten Review more than 20 years ago. This week, numbers have been bolstered with an additional 80 officers from Police Scotland, while the PSNI continues to investigate recent disorder in Belfast. Last week, chief constable Jon Boutcher described the PSNI as an outlier compared to any other police organisation in England, Wales or Scotland or the gardai in terms of funding. PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher (Liam McBurney/PA) He said the Stormont Executive does not get enough money for public services in Northern Ireland, and said he is pressing ministers and the UK government about the issue. Earlier, retired assistant chief constable Alan McQuillan claimed that Stormont is ignoring a developing police funding crisis. He told the BBC: Stormont has got the blinkers on. Northern Ireland politicians have failed policing. I think we are at the point of crisis now. There is no capacity to recruit and train people. Later on Tuesday, Mr Beattie said there is a crisis in policing around resources, staffing and political support. The headline is that our police, which should be sitting at 7,500 officers according to the Patten Review of Policing, is actually sitting at 6,300 officers, he said. Yet that doesnt tell the whole story, because from that 6,300 you need to remove those on long-term or short-term sick, those on maternity leave and those either assigned to an important desk job or are close to retirement. Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie (Liam McBurney/PA) The available officers on the beat figure is likely to be below 6,000. This creates an unbearable pressure on the force and on individual officers who are asked to do more with less. He added: If politicians in Northern Ireland are not willing to stand up and address this then we cannot complain when our Chief Constable grabs the nettle and delves into the political arena to save the force he commands. This is a line in the sand for policing in Northern Ireland, we need fundamental change, including direct support from the Home Office. The recent riots, with paramilitary influence, combined with ongoing Republican terrorism are without a doubt a threat to national security and our police are on the front line of that threat. They need support, and they need resources if we, as a society, are to turn this around. In a statement around the additional police officers arriving from Scotland this week, the PSNI said: Following a request to the National Police Co-ordination Centre for additional officers to support the policing operation, 80 officers from Police Scotland will arrive in Northern Ireland on Tuesday. We are really grateful for the support from our colleagues from Police Scotland and this will give us the vital additional resilience that we need at this time. Emergency crews launched a search operation for a kayaker missing off the coast of Co Waterford. It's understood the kayaker left Helvick Head, near Dungarvan, shortly before midday on Monday, August 13, but failed to return to shore. The Irish Coast Guard was alerted to the incident at around 5.25pm on Monday and a search operation was subsequently initiated from the Marine Rescue Coordination Centre in Dublin. The search is continuing with support from the RNLI's Helvick Head Lifeboat, Coast Guard units from Bunmahon and Ardmore along with the Rescue 117 helicopter out of Waterford airport. It's believed the Irish naval vessel, Le Aoibhinn, is also at the scene. A member of Waterford City & County Council has said the local authority needs to "get back to basics" with regard to its capital plan. Sinn Fein's, Councillor Conor McGuinness, who will contest the next general election for his party in Waterford, has also called for a review of the capital plan. Commenting on the matter to Waterford News & Star, Cllr McGuinness said there is an urgent need for the Council's capital plan to be reviewed. He said that doing so would is "essential" in terms of paving the way for investment and development in Dungarvan and West Waterford in particular. He highlighted the need for infrastructure projects such a community centre, swimming pool, public toilets, footpaths and dredging of Ce Heilbhic and other locations in Dungarvan Bay. There is a newly elected Council, a new chief executive and a new senior management team," he said. "From a governance point of view it would be timely and prudent to review the capital plan," he added. He went on to comment: Such a review would be a vital first step in finally getting Council backing for several essential developments in Dungarvan and West Waterford, including delivering a public swimming pool, public toilet facilities and a much-needed community centre; fixing footpaths, and getting Ce Heilbhic dredged." For too long Dungarvan and the wider county area has been let down when it comes to investment in infrastructure, often times when vast sums of public money are spent on apparent vanity projects for which there is no public demand," said Cllr McGuinness. There needs to be a sea-change in the way the Council prioritises projects for capital investment," he added "I will continue to campaign for the essential infrastructure that our communities are crying out for, like community facilities, a public swimming pool, and a public toilet for Dungarvan." Cllr McGuinness went on to comment "there also needs to be a focus on bringing our footpaths up to an acceptable and safe standard". "In the last Council I succeeded in getting West Waterfords first standalone footpath repair budget but it was a drop in the ocean of what is needed," he said. "A review of the capital plan needs to take into account the basic function of the Council to provide a safe and accessible public realm for all our citizens," he added. He said it was a cause of "deep frustration" that Government "is still refusing to get Ce Heilbhic dredged". "The indifference of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael on this issue is lost on no one," he said. "These works need to be high on the agenda in the capital plan, and hopefully a new Government will take a different approach and provide the necessary funding," he added. "Waterford City & County Council needs to get back to basics and start listening to communities instead of chasing expensive vanity projects. The family of a Waterford woman with intellectual disabilities, who have been fighting for her to receive the medical care necessary in relation to her false eye, have welcomed the news she is to receive help from the HSE. However, they insist more needs to be done for people in a similar position to them. John Devereux spoke to Waterford News & Star about the situation, which involves his sister Kitty, who is 60 years of age. In April, we highlighted Kittys case, which is based around her receiving the medical care necessary for the cleaning of her false eye. Kittys false eye is the result of an operation she had when she was young. Her late mother used to carry out the process of cleaning the eye, however, when she passed away the family were left in a situation whereby nobody within their family circle was skilled to carry out the process. When they appealed to the HSE and to doctors, they found their path blocked resulting in Kitty not being able to receive the care she required, with regard to her eye. However, John revealed to Waterford News & Star that the HSE now has funding to carry out the process for them. He said one of the issues with Kitty is that her false eye was never changed, when in fact, the family learned that it should have been changed every five years. As she got bigger, and obviously her skull got bigger, it meant there was a vacuum building up behind her eye, he said. That was something that led to her eye closing all the time and there was also a build-up of mucous behind it," he added. John said that while the family are very appreciative of the fact that Kitty will now get the help she requires that were disappointed at having to fight so hard for it to happen. Ironically, if Kitty had been in residential care she would have received assistance and that's something the family feels needs to be changed because for them it's important that Kitty remains at home. She has special needs and my mother used to look after her until she passed away, he said. John said the family contacted the Government about the situation initially but heard nothing back and then Minister Mary Butler intervened on their behalf. She got on to the HSE and they got on to Primary Care and we were always under the impression that Primary Care should be looking after this for Kitty, said John, when he first spoke to Waterford News & Star about the matter. They said no, its not them and then they said they had nobody to look after people with intellectual disabilities, he added. He also said the family were informed that they couldnt get the assistance because it wasnt a medical procedure, and that also annoyed them. If you do a dressing on a leg, or a cut and clean it out, well thats a medical procedure so we felt that this was a medical procedure but Primary Care said its not, he said. "It's a big issue because there are probably a lot of other people out there in a similar position to us," he said. "They need to have someone who is able to come out and do these checks regularly because in Kitty's case her eye has been in her head for around 56 years and has never been changed and that's not fair or good enough," he added. A specific regime will be set up so that Kitty will be seen and have her eye tended to but as John pointed out it should never have come to this in the first place. "This type of support should be there for people in our position, especially for people like Kitty," he said. Theres a vital lesson to be learnt from the latest episode in the saga of former chief executive Alan Joyces ignominious departure from Qantas last year: these days, no ones in control of the capitalist ship. It seems clear that, in his last years in the job, Joyce decided to give the size of his final payout priority over the maintenance of good relationships with the companys staff and customers. He left Qantas suddenly in September last year with what was to have been a package of $23 million, including his final-year salary and bonuses. Illustration by Simon Letch Credit: But by then, many customers were complaining and the companys behaviour was under investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. The board decided to retain the right to claw back much of the payout, pending a review of the airlines management. Meanwhile, the High Court found that the company had illegally sacked 1700 ground handlers. A pianist whose performance was cancelled by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra after he dedicated a new piece of music to journalists killed in Gaza says he was surprised by the response, as such introductions are normal practice. Pianist Jayson Gillham. Credit: Internet Jayson Gillham had been due to perform with the MSO at a concert in Melbourne on Thursday, but the orchestra confirmed on Tuesday that it had removed him from the program following remarks he made on stage during a performance on Sunday. The orchestra will now perform Beethovens Symphony No.8, in place of the scheduled Mozarts Piano Concerto No.12. Gillham was giving a recital at MSOs Iwaki Auditorium on Sunday, where he played a five-minute piece for piano by Australian composer Connor DNetto called Witness. DNettos website says the piece is dedicated to the journalists of Gaza. Gillham says he had spent some time thinking about how to introduce all the pieces of the concert. I knew that it was a Sunday morning and that there were going to be young people there as well for instance my niece and nephew were there and I wanted to make sure I got the tone right. 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 Actor Hunter Page-Lochard is an unlikely villain. Hes the son of beloved former Bangarra Dance Theatre artistic director Stephen Page and New York City Ballet dancer turned Pilates instructor Cynthia Lochard. Hes married to a Pilates instructor, Laura Thomas, and at 31 is a doting father to two young girls, Mila, 5, and Evara, 2. In May, he won an AACTA award for best supporting actor for his role as Aboriginal activist Lynus Preston in the Bicentennial episode of The Newsreader. While accepting the award, he brought the house down when he thanked his beautiful three fathers, Stephen, Russell and David his late uncles who co-founded Bangarra in 1991 with his dad for shaping me to be the man I am today. Hes a wholesome family guy in real life who hugs and greets everyone with a killer smile. Hes even a Play School presenter, for goodness sake. But boy is he convincing in the role of drug dealer Ty Egan in the new Australian police drama, Critical Incident. The contemporary psychological thriller, set in Sydneys multicultural western suburbs, revolves around a police officer who pursues a teen on a busy train platform, and what happens to her life after this incident. Its the brainchild of Sarah Bassiuoni, a former human rights lawyer who created this high-octane drama based on her experiences in the juvenile justice system. Page-Lochard as drug dealer Ty in Critical Incident. Credit: Lisa Tomasetti/Stan She met Page-Lochards wife in a Pilates class, and then sounded out the Indigenous/African-American actor for this role as a criminal in the middle management of western Sydneys party drug trade. The front for the operation is a suburban bakery and his character is a baker, so Page-Lochard learnt to bake to play Ty. I was looking for an ominous energy and trying to play with that. It sounds so easy just to act evil. But I think there are two different types of evil. Youve got your larger-than-life Scar character from the Lion King, your Disney villain with a kind of drag queen vibe. And then youve got your Heath Ledger Joker, which is a lot more nuanced and relatable, the sort of evil character you might see every day, Page-Lochard says. Advertisement He didnt want to play a stereotypical gangsta-tough guy, he adds, but instead was aiming for more of a Miami Vice-style character, wanting the money, the power and the look. I didnt want to act scary, I wanted to be mean. Ive never played someone so dark. I said to Sarah at the start, I dont want people to sympathise with Ty. Hes clearly the lead characters antagonistic force and obstacle. Playing into that was a challenge but also something I really was willing to try because as actors, we are always looking for something to do that weve never done before. Im pretty upbeat and usually the life of the party, but this was not that sort of role. Page-Lochard in the 2016 ABC sci-fi drama, Cleverman. Credit: Lisa Tomasetti Theres no denying Page-Lochards charisma both on and off stage and screen. Hes been performing since he was six months old when his father played a practical joke on a cast member of Praying Mantis Dreaming, Pages first full-length work for Bangarra Dance Theatre. On the last show, Dad thought it would be a good laugh to wrap me in the same cloth as the prop baby and hand me to the actor on stage who was expecting a doll. Apparently, the actor freaked out but held his composure ... though I was told I stole the show because I raised up to touch his nose as the lights were fading and everyone in the audience gasped, oh, its a real baby. That was my breakthrough. Bangarras former artistic director, Stephen Page, with son Hunter Page-Lochard. Credit: Louise Kennerley Since then, hes had a host of roles as a young actor, from TV where he was on Water Rats at the age of five, to his feature film debut in Rachel Perkins award-winning Bran Nue Dae as a teen. His recent credits include the ABC drama series, Barons, the critically acclaimed Fires and the groundbreaking Indigenous sci-fi series, Cleverman. Advertisement Page-Lochard was raised in Sydneys inner west and educated at St Marys Cathedral School (Prime Minister Anthony Albaneses alma mater). But he credits his father and his 11 uncles and aunts, descendants of the Nunukal people and the Munaldjali clan of the Yugambeh people of south-east Queensland, as his true teachers. It was backstage at Bangarra where a lot of his learning took place. I was so fortunate to grow up in the 90s when there was such an artistic boom for blackfellas the Aaron Pedersens, the Wayne Blairs, the Tessa Roses and aunties like Justine Saunders and Leah Purcell ... I grew up around that and was lucky enough to be given opportunities because of them. TAKE 7: THE ANSWERS ACCORDING TO HUNTER PAGE-LOCHARD Worst habit? Staying up late for no reason and watching movies that Ive already seen a thousand times before. Theres always something new you catch. Greatest fear? Wind. I have a unique phobia of strong winds that can pick you up off the ground. A balloon and an umbrella on a windy day scare me senseless. The line that stayed with you? Talent only gets you so far, the rest is up to you. Biggest regret? Not learning an instrument or different language at a young age. Favourite book? The Skullduggery Pleasant Series by Derek Landy. Its bloody great. R-rated Harry Potter meets True Detective with a touch of Avatar the Last Airbender ... Im in. The artwork/song you wish was yours? None. Art is a shared experience. If I get to experience a great idea, Im fortunate for that. It then inspires me to do the same. If you could time travel, where would you go? Pre-history, Id chill with all my ancient ancestors learning about the cosmos and seeing how they lived. Id come back feeling so content. Dancing is a big thing in the family. Its not a big thing in my life, but movement is a big thing in the family for sure. And thats something that Ive taken into my craft ... how I present myself through body language. When I played Ty, for example, youll notice that my shoulders are hunched. Whenever I play a dark character like this, theres something in me that tends to hunch my shoulders. I dont know why but the point is Im very fortunate to grow up in a movement-based family because I can incorporate that somehow into my work. Loading He sees himself as a storyteller. His production company, Djali House, is now an official industry-supported production company; his first feature as director, Native Gods, is in development. His guest role in series two of The Newsreader as a 70s DJ and Aboriginal activist was familiar territory to him. I knew this character. He was flamboyant. He was fly, fly, fly. That was my late uncle David [Bangarra composer] and I played it as a homage to him. And playing my uncles spirit got me an AACTA award. Youve got to be grateful for that. Advertisement After school, he studied scriptwriting at the Australian Film, TV and Radio School, then a two-week acting class at NIDA. He says working with Leah Purcell at Belvoir Street in the Brothers Wreck, taught him to act. As did Play School. Its like theatresports it teaches you so much ... Im going to freak out a lot of mums for sure in this role. Even my dad couldnt watch Critical Incident, he found me so mean. His fellow Play School host, Zindzi Okenyo, is part of the cast for this show which features Akshay Khanna, known for his Hindi films, and Brisbanes Zoe Boe in leading roles. Theres real diversity casting in this show. Theres not one mention about where each character comes from and thats what I love about it. Youve got an Indigenous actor playing a villain not because hes Indigenous. Hes just the villain. Loading Critical Incident is a shift for our countrys audiences, and its time for our countrys industry to really accept that. We have homegrown actors black and white who are stretching the boundaries. As Indigenous actors, weve moved away from playing the stereotype, and now were moving away from playing the safe character. I think the next 10 years is going to be a very exciting time for our industry, he says. Im hoping in 2025 and 2026, theres going to be a Hunter Page-Lochard boom. And that people will be sick of me. Advertisement Soaring house prices and high interest rates are driving would-be property owners and larger investors to fractional investment, where they buy smaller shares in properties rather than buying them outright. Joe Galvez, chief executive of BrickX, a platform that allows investors to buy one or more of 10,000 bricks in a property, says the company has a heavy concentration [of users] under the age of 30 amid the rising cost of home deposits and mortgage repayments. Anthony Rivans and wife Nene are investing in fractional property for each of their four daughters. Credit: Chris Hopkins In the June quarter, the median 20 per cent home deposit was $230,879 across the capital cities, up from $207,066 in 2019. The median deposit in Sydney was as high as $332,490, according to data from Domain. Former motor mechanic Anthony Rivans, from Melbourne, is among those looking to spend much less to help his four daughters, aged 16 to 25, access the market. He is helping them invest in $10,000 $2500 each worth of shares in a rental property in Geelong. KYODO NEWS - Aug 13, 2024 - 11:03 | All, World An executive of a joint venture of Japanese supermarket chain Aeon Co. in Myanmar has been released after being convicted for violating the rice pricing rules under the country's military government, diplomatic sources said Tuesday. Hiroshi Kasamatsu, 53, the merchandise division chief of Aeon Orange Co., was convicted and sentenced to one year in prison and fined on Monday. It was not immediately clear why he had been freed, according to sources familiar with the matter, who added he is expected to return to Japan soon. He had been held for interrogation in Yangon since June 30 and was indicted on July 11. According to the military, which has ruled the country since ousting its civilian government in a February 2021 coup, Kasamatsu was detained for selling rice at prices up to 70 percent higher than the level mandated by authorities. Local media have reported that dozens of Myanmar dealers of other goods, including fuel and cooking oil, were detained in May and June for violating price regulations, with many of them not yet released. The detention of a Japanese-affiliated company official in Myanmar came despite Japan's decision not to impose sanctions on the military or associated individuals and groups since the coup, unlike Western countries. Following the coup, widespread protests against the military government devolved into a violent conflict between the junta and opposition forces, comprising pro-democracy armed groups and ethnic minority rebels, ravaging Myanmar's economy. The junta has also set a reference exchange rate for Myanmar's currency, the kyat, which has weakened significantly since the coup, and sought to stabilize markets by fixing the prices of essential goods, including rice. Due to the low official prices, many merchants are violating the regulations to avoid losses. Aeon Orange was established in 2016 with local retailer Creation Myanmar Group of Companies. Related coverage: Japanese Aeon supermarket chain executive convicted in Myanmar He was sentenced to 20 years in prison and was paroled after 18 years behind bars in 2015. [His crimes were] calculated to instil in at least some of his victims the fear of death with the concomitant loss of all that life holds, at least unless they bowed to his demands, sentencing judge Robert Shallcross Hulme said in 2000. Kay had worked as a graphic artist and was a former volunteer firefighter before his arrest. What restrictions has he been under since he was released? Authorities feared Kay remained a danger to women in Sydney and convinced the NSW Supreme Court to put him on an Extended Supervision Order in 2017. The ESO forced Kay to wear an electronic ankle monitor and submit a schedule of movements to ensure he did not deviate from known locations. The same year, Kay asked for his name to be suppressed but failed because the media argued he was already a notorious sex offender, which the judge accepted. Then the serial rapist in 2018 had his monitoring tag removed. Within weeks, he walked into a Woolworths in Sydneys west and kissed a recoiling teenage girl on the cheek. Graham James Kay in 2018. Credit: Nine News Justice Sarah McNaughton on Tuesday said the girl was aware of Kays horrific past because of news reports and that could have been protective for her. That publicity likely helped to escalate the matter such that it was reported to the police, leading to [Kay] being charged, the judge wrote. Three days later, his supervisors discovered he had a sex worker in his home a breach of his conditions. Kay served four months in prison for those breaches and was released. His sentence for attacking the child was only a good behaviour bond. How did Kay get his name suppressed? In 2020, the state of NSW asked Justice Stephen Rothman to put Kay on a second ESO. Despite Kays breaches in 2018, the state of NSW removed the requirement for Kay to provide his schedule of movements in the second ESO, though he would still wear an ankle monitor. Kay told Rothman that the negative media attention had cost him family and friends, jobs and housing. Kay was sentenced to 20 years in jail after attacking eight women and teenage girls in the 1990s. Credit: Nine News The judge said negative press and threats would significantly impact upon [Kays] capacity to continue any process of rehabilitation and suppressed Kays name. Did Kay rehabilitate or reoffend in secret? Kay, in January 2022, followed a woman walking around Sydneys Queen Victoria Building and went on to commit the worst offence since his release. Loading CCTV cameras captured Kay stalking the woman through the shops before following her home and sneaking into her unit tower. As he exited the lift, he placed his right hand under the complainants dress, placing it over her underwear and touching her genitalia. She took evasive action, screamed and managed to gain entry to her apartment without [Kay], a Supreme Court judge would later say. She was significantly traumatised by these events. In May of that year, Kay was convicted of stalking and sexual touching. He was sentenced to two years and six months on appeal but granted parole in September 2023. Why is Kay in the news again? When the state of NSW applied for a third ESO against Kay earlier this year, Kay asked for his name to be kept secret for the third time. Kay argued that secrecy would assist his rehabilitation and avoid risks to his safety. Kay pointed to negative comments on social media about him and the vandalism of his car. The Herald intervened in the case, asking the NSW Supreme Court to revoke the suppression order over the serial rapists name. The mastheads lawyers argued that secrecy for the past four years had clearly not rehabilitated Kay, and there was no real risk to his safety. On Tuesday, a judge removed the suppression order, finding that rehabilitation was not a legal basis for any suppression order and there was no imminent threat to Kays safety. The win means the Herald can report that Kay has been out of prison for 10 months and quietly living in Sydney. He has not had to tell his employers, friends or neighbours about his past. How watering down Kays restrictions posed a danger to the public The state of NSW twice watered down the restrictions on Kay after his release from prison in 2018. The first, in 2018, came when Kays ankle monitor was removed. Shortly after, he assaulted the teenage girl, and the ankle monitor was reattached. Then, in 2020, the state allowed Kay to move around the city however he pleased, a dramatic change from submitting a schedule to his supervisors ahead of leaving the house. That schedule, along with the electronic ankle monitor, could have stopped him from attacking the woman in the CBD in 2022, a judge found. It may be that scheduling would have operated as a significant restraint upon (Kays) ability to stalk the victim for some two hours in and about the CBD shopping district and follow her home, Justice Stephen Campbell said this year. When quizzed about whether he would have launched the same inquiry in 2019 if he had known about the alleged rape before it reached the press, Morrison told the court there was no indication Higgins took issue with its handling at that point. Ms Reynolds and [Reynolds chief of staff] Fiona Brown had supported Higgins to make a complaint to the police, but she didnt wish to do that, he said. To my mind, [Higgins] hadnt previously suggested that the process was deficient. If [I had been told] there was an inhibitor to someone bringing the complaint to the police, which was always facilitated, or issues with support, I would seek to address it with the importance it deserved. Morrison also used his evidence to shut down claims of any plan to cover up the alleged rape. And Reynolds handling of Higgins alleged rape by colleague Bruce Lehrmann following a night out in March 2023 has become a critical part of Higgins defence. It has been more than a year since the former defence minister commenced suing Higgins for damages and aggravated damages over a series of social media posts in which she claims Higgins defamed her by claiming she mishandled her rape allegation and used the media to harass her. Higgins is defending the action on the basis the substance of her posts were true. Lehrmann has maintained his innocence since the 2022 criminal trial against him was aborted due to juror misconduct. Morrison also recalled watching Reynolds, his friend of more than two decades, suffer a public breakdown in parliament after several days of questioning and his fear her cardiac issues might prove fatal. [The questioning] was intended to discredit her, he told the court. It was the weaponising of this issue for political purposes to discredit her and the government and, by extension, myself, and it was causing her distress and anguish. Claims the government was involved in a cover-up of this issue [were] completely and utterly false, without any foundation. He said he himself didnt emerge unscathed, saying for weeks he was subjected to a barrage of questions levelled by the Labor Party and the media that appeared strangely co-ordinated. The claims back an important pillar of Reynolds claim against her former staffer: that she was the victim of a premeditated attack levelled by Higgins and Higgins now-husband, David Sharaz. Reynolds former staffer Alexandra Kelton also took the stand, recounting a meeting with Higgins as the office fielded its first media inquiry about a security breach on the night of her alleged rape, 18 months before Higgins went public with the allegation. Kelton told the court she was called to a meeting with the former defence minister and her acting chief of staff in October 2019 where she was told they had received a media enquiry from The Canberra Times about an incident in the ministerial office. Kelton said Reynolds directed her to meet with Higgins because she held concerns for her welfare and did not want the matter to play out in the media. After handing the enquiry to Higgins and asking how she would like it dealt with, Kelton told the court the former staffer became visibly upset, whispering how would they know this before requesting her colleague join them. After summoning another colleague and asking Higgins whether she was OK, Kelton reported back to Reynolds. The story about what happened in the early hours of March 23, 2019, would not see the light of day until February 2021. And Kelton spoke of Reynolds shock as those media reports claiming the alleged rape had been mishandled swept the office and how she described feeling powerless during question time because she did not want to say anything that might prejudice any future police investigation. The bombshell testimony comes as Reynolds month-long defamation trial against Higgins enters its second week, with former foreign minister Marise Payne and other staffers expected to take the witness box in the coming days. It is the second high-profile defamation action since Lehrmanns failed pursuit of Network Ten over The Project interview, which resulted in Federal Court Justice Michael Lee finding the rape allegation to be true on the balance of probabilities. Lehrmann is now appealing that judgment, which also concluded there was no evidence to support allegations of a political cover-up. A billionaire-backed peoples bid to buy TikTok in the US is gathering steam, in a move that could radically reshape the controversial social media app and its mysterious algorithms. Project Liberty is a consortium led by billionaire entrepreneur and former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, Frank McCourt, who has brought in investment banks, academics, technologists and citizens in a bid to migrate the TikTok platform to open-source protocols, and safeguard the health and well-being of our children, families, democracy and society. Taiwanese programmer and politician Audrey Tang is part of the consortium looking to buy TikToks US arm. Aiding those efforts is Audrey Tang, a Taiwanese politician and programmer who until recently served as Taiwans first-ever minister of digital affairs, as well as the first trans and non-binary Taiwanese government minister. Tang, who has been appointed a Senior Fellow with the Project Liberty Institute, is visiting Australia and will address the National Press Club in Canberra on Thursday. They have been brought to Australia by Per Capitas The Centre of the Public Square, an initiative to build platforms for better public discussions. Washington: Videos condemning or negatively depicting Chinas human rights abuses are more difficult to find on TikTok than other rival networks, a new study finds, suggesting that US users may be getting an incomplete picture of the countrys history when searching for key terms or phrases. TikTok users who search for terms like Tiananmen, Tibet, and Uighur words commonly used in Chinese Communist Party propaganda see less anti-China content than those same searches produce on Instagram and YouTube, according to a new study from the Network Contagion Research Institute at Rutgers University. TikTok users see less content like imagery from Tiananmen Square in 1989, when the Chinese Communist Party crushed a reform protest with violence. Credit: AP Analysts created 24 new accounts across ByteDance-owned TikTok, Metas Instagram and Alphabet Inc.s YouTube, to replicate the experience of American teenagers signing up for social media. When searching for keywords often related to the countrys human rights abuses, TikToks algorithm displayed a higher percentage of positive, neutral or irrelevant content than both Instagram and YouTube, the study found. What sets TikTok apart is that the accurate information about Chinas human rights abuses are most successfully crowded out on the platform, says Joel Finkelstein, director and chief science officer of NCRI. In a survey conducted alongside the study, people who used TikTok for three hours or more daily were significantly more positive about Chinas human rights record than non-users. LIMA, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- At least one person was killed and more than 20 others wounded after an interprovincial bus overturned in the Peruvian province of Huaral on Monday, local police said. The accident occurred at kilometer 109 of the north Pan-American highway in the province of Huaral, north of the country's capital Lima. The vehicle belonging to the company Angel Divino was traveling on the Chiclayo-Lima route with about 50 passengers on board, according to the police, as cited by local media. Several of the injured passengers were treated at the scene and others, with more delicate conditions, were taken to hospitals in the towns of Chancay and Huacho. Local highway police was investigating the accident. From 5 to 9 August 2024, the World Customs Organization (WCO) conducted a scoping mission under the Synthetic Drugs Detection Project (SDDP) Mail Channel Initiative (MC). The mission included site visits to the Postal Customs, the air cargo terminal, canine training center, premises of express couriers and postal operators, including the recently launched international mail processing center. Through series of meetings with relevant officials from the Customs, the Mongol Post LLC, and the Anti-Narcotics Unit of the General Police Department, WCO experts observed the postal and air cargo clearance procedure, information flow, risk assessment and targeting processes, challenges encountered in the overall efforts by the Mongolian Customs to combat synthetic drug trafficking. Additionally, the experts identified areas requiring further capacity building and provided recommendations aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of the current systems and practices and improving the safety and security of the officers handling potential synthetic drugs trafficking cases. The best practices observed during the mission are incorporated into the exchange of experiences to be shared among the project participants, comprising both Customs and Postal officers in the Asia Pacific region. This exchange facilitates a better understanding between the two sectors and fosters effective cooperation on mail channel controls while strengthening internal coordination and international cooperation to effectively combat the activities of Organized Crime Groups (OCGs). The SDDP-MC is part of the WCO Drugs and Precursors Programme and a joint collaboration between the WCO, the Universal Postal Union (UPU), and the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), funded by the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) at the U.S. Department of State . GAZA, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The conflict in Gaza has been going on for over ten months, causing an unprecedented, ever-worsening humanitarian catastrophe, with nearly 40,000 lives lost. One cannot help but ask: How many more lives must be lost, how many more women and children must die, and how many more homes must be destroyed before this tragedy can cease? The spread of war has left untold numbers of people homeless. The bombings and attacks have not stopped even for a moment, and innocent civilians are dying every single day in places such as camps for displaced people, hospitals, UN schools and the so-called "safe zones" designated by Israel. Yaser Adul Hadi, a Palestinian man displaced from northern Gaza, has endured his eighth relocation following an Israeli evacuation order from Khan Younis in southern Gaza. "After every evacuation order, the Israeli army launches violent military operations, rendering the area uninhabitable," said the 52-year-old father of seven. "The places where I was most exposed to real death were the areas that the army claimed were safe. Only my good luck saved me from death. Now, I cannot expect to live long," he said. "It seems that the army wants to kill us all without exception, if not through bombing, then it's through oppression, fatigue, and displacement," the man added. UN statistics showed that about nine out of ten people in Gaza are now estimated to be internally displaced, and many have been displaced multiple times. People have been facing a severe shortage of necessities. Ahmed Arfan, a displaced Palestinian from Rafah, has set up a temporary tent in Khan Younis for his six-member family. "I was forced to sleep in the open for several days. I had to send my children and wife to my relatives' tents until I could set up our own," Arfan, 39, told Xinhua. After a terrible ordeal, Arfan found a small area near a landfill in Khan Younis' Mawasi area to pitch his tent. "All day long we suffer from the foul smell of the waste. Mosquitoes and insects plague us day and night, but I have no choice. There are many displaced people here and (there is) no other place for us," he said. Many were struggling to carry on with their shattered life. Among them was Amna Abu Jahal, who chose to stay in the camp despite the harsh conditions after her husband was killed in the first week of the Israeli operation. Every day, she had to spend many hours walking on foot to get a few liters of saline water to drink. "The saline water was used for doing housework in the past, but now, we are forced to drink it. But I still feel lucky to find it," the 48-year-old mother of four told Xinhua. "The Israeli attack was retaliatory. They even destroyed public water wells and sewage networks," she said. UN statistics showed humanitarian aid entering Gaza has been more than halved since the Rafah ground operation began and Rafah Crossing was abruptly closed in early May. The new round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has dragged on for more than 300 days. Ceasefire negotiations have been conducted on and off with no breakthrough in sight. While certain countries keep asserting that negotiations for a ceasefire are underway, Israel has continued its large-scale military operations over the past months. Meanwhile, the negative spillover effects of the Gaza conflict are spreading and echoed at multiple points in the region, and the situation between Lebanon and Israel and the developments in the Red Sea are worrying. In the face of this grave situation, the international community, especially the countries of the region, have frequently called on all parties to make joint efforts to avoid an escalation of the situation and to promote a ceasefire and an end to the war. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar has said in a statement that the international community must provide full protection for the displaced people and prevent the occupation forces from forcibly displacing them from the Strip. King Abdullah II of Jordan said the region will remain vulnerable to an expansion of the conflict that threatens its stability as long as the war on Gaza continues, urging enhanced international efforts to stop the war by reaching an immediate and permanent ceasefire. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said the international community must work together to prevent any actions that could push the entire Middle East over the edge and inflict a devastating impact on civilians. Last month, Abu Khaled al-Hussary, 72, chose to remain in Gaza City despite evacuation orders and passed away in his home. "My father did not want to be killed in the southern areas of Gaza. He believed that there are no safe places in Gaza," Khaled al-Hussary, the son of the elderly man, told Xinhua. "Every day, we lose loved ones, homes, hopes, and the right to live until this war ends," he said. UN chief condemns continued loss of life following deadly Israeli strike on Gaza school Xinhua) 08:35, August 13, 2024 People mourn victims killed in an Israeli airstrike at a school serving as shelters for displaced people in Al-Daraj neighborhood in Gaza City, Aug. 10, 2024. (Photo by Mahmoud Zaki/Xinhua) "The secretary-general reiterates his urgent appeal for an immediate ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages," and "underscores the need to ensure the protection of civilians and for unimpeded and safe humanitarian access into and across Gaza," said a UN spokesman. UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday condemned the continued loss of life in Gaza, following a devastating strike by Israel on the Al-Taba'een school in Gaza City on Saturday killing over 100 Palestinians. "The secretary-general condemns the continued loss of life in Gaza, including women and children, as we witness yet another devastating strike by Israel on the Al-Taba'een school in Gaza City, sheltering hundreds of displaced Palestinian families, with scores of fatalities, amidst continued horror, displacement, and suffering in Gaza," said Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesperson for the UN secretary-general. Guterres was dismayed to see that the provisions of UN Security Council resolution 2735 remain unimplemented, Haq said. Haq noted that the UN chief welcomed the mediation efforts of the United States, Egypt and Qatar, and urged both sides to rejoin negotiations and conclude the ceasefire and hostages release deal. "The secretary-general reiterates his urgent appeal for an immediate ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages," and "underscores the need to ensure the protection of civilians and for unimpeded and safe humanitarian access into and across Gaza," said the spokesman. Guterres also underlined that international humanitarian law, including the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precautions in attack, must be upheld at all times, said Haq. More than 100 Palestinians were killed and dozens of others were injured in an Israeli bombing of the Al-Taba'een school in central Gaza City early Saturday, Palestinian medical and security sources said. (Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun) ANKARA, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- A masked man dressed up in a bulletproof vest and helmet randomly stabbed five people in northwest Turkiye on Monday. The 18-year-old man, identified as Arda K., was detained after the incident, which took place in Eskisehir, some 230 km west of the capital Ankara, the state-run TRT broadcaster reported. The attacker stabbed five people sitting on the patio of a cafe in front of a mosque and live-broadcast the incident on his social media account, the country's Daily Sabah reported. The five victims were hospitalized, and two were in serious condition, according to the reports. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said local police have begun an investigation into the attack. Family and Social Services Minister Mahinur Ozdemir Goktas said that the cause of the incident was game addiction, and the attacker was under the influence of war video games. "I wish a speedy recovery to our citizens who were injured in this heinous incident, which clearly demonstrates the negative impact of digital games on the health of our children and young people," she said. By Cillian Sherlock, PA Four people have been arrested as part of an operation to tackle human trafficking in Northern Ireland. Four searches, three in Ballymena and one in Omagh, were carried out on Tuesday by detectives from the Organised Crime Branch with the support of officers from Tactical Support Group (TSG). The operation focuses on the activities of an organised crime group suspected of trafficking Romanian women for the purpose of sexual exploitation. The Police Service of Northern Irelands Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Unit said that one female victim had been identified and offered safeguarding. Detective Inspector Rachel Miskelly said: Three men, aged 27, 31 and 52, and a 21-year-old woman were each arrested on suspicion of human trafficking for sexual exploitation, controlling prostitution for gain, brothel keeping and money laundering. All four remain in custody at this time. We believe the organised crime group coaxed Romanian women to travel to Northern Ireland with the false promise of a better quality of life. The shocking reality is that, upon arrival, the women have been forced into prostitution and exploited. From this operation we have, so far, identified and offered safeguarding to one female victim, but we believe there are others yet to be identified. Detective Inspector Miskelly added: Organised crime groups involved in human trafficking typically seek to identify, groom and exploit individuals. They prey upon those who are in any way vulnerable. Victims hopes of a better life are abruptly shattered, and instead they are treated appallingly. Innocent people are treated like commodities. They are forced to engage in sexual activity, with money made going straight into the pockets of criminals. Whilst the brothels linked to this group were located in Ballymena and Omagh, we believe that victims may have been transported to various locations throughout the country for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Unfortunately, we suspect there are more victims yet to be identified and our investigation will continue. Detective Inspector Miskelly is appealing for anyone who may have information to come forward. She added: We will continue to do everything in our power to tackle human trafficking for sexual exploitation, but we need your support. This very real issue could be happening in your street or neighbourhood. And I am appealing to you, if you have any information or concerns that someone is being exploited or controlled, to please contact us. Likewise, if you are, or have been, a victim please speak to us. We have a dedicated team who want to help you, and I promise you will be treated with the utmost respect and sensitivity. In an emergency call 999; 101 in a non-emergency; or call the Modern Slavery Helpline on 0800 012 1700. A group of ambitious and hard-working volunteers are progressing with plans to bring a former convent building back to its former glory. The convent, built in 1867 by the Sister of Mercy has laid vacant and in a state of dereliction since its closure. Cllr Mark Duffy, was approached by members of the Sisters of Mercy Order who once called the convent their home encouraging a regeneration project. We hope that by the end of 2024 with the support of the wider community, we can hold a Christmas service in the Old Chapel of the Convent, as well as reopening the dining room as a community and event space, said Cllr Duffy. Its a really exciting project, he added. Water damage and vandalism has impacted the property in recent years and there were fears that the building could become unsalvageable if action was not taken. The group has collaborated with UCD and the University of Notre Dames Church property division. They been supported by the LEADER programme for an architectural conservation plan. They received funding for an architectural lighting plan led by Dark Source, based on dark sky principles, which will celebrate the beautiful architecture and stained glass windows in a sensitive manner. We were awarded grant support from the Historic Structures Fund 2024 for repairing the gutters, windows and damaged roof of the convent, said Cllr Duffy. The entire project could cost in the region of 5m. We are a resourceful group and because its volunteer and community led the project can be done in phases and we can cut our cloth accordingly, said Cllr Duffy. We have a great team and we are getting a good response locally. This is a positive example of a community-led project which is trying to continue the Sisters tradition of charity and trying to be a force for good in the town, he added. The Sisters of Mercy arrived at Ballina on October 14th, 1851 following the devastation of the Great Famine. On their arrival, the humanitarian situation was dire, with disease, unemployment, mass emigration and extremely low levels of access to education and healthcare. The Sisters of Mercy went to work and by the 5th of December of that year, had taken charge of the female national school, where 4 Sisters taught 350 students. By May of 1867, having secured a site from the Bourke Family, the convent of the Immaculate Conception, All Hallows, opened its doors for the first time on McDermott Street, Ballina. From their arrival in 1851 the Sisters of Mercy devoted their lives to health, education and social good, specifically targeting the disadvantaged and those most in need in the Ballina community. The Sisters led the delivery of ambitious projects including the opening of St. Josephs hospital as well as Scoil Iosa primary school and St. Marys secondary school. A downpour didnt dampen the spirits of the large crowd that attended the annual Urlaur Pattern on the August Bank Holiday Weekend. The event drew a fine crowd on Sunday, August 4th, to the village by a lake in East Mayo. While the traditional mass in Urlaur Abbey was cancelled, a friar from the Dominican order travelled to Urlaur Community Centre where the Pattern events continued indoors. Musicians including Connie Gildea and Paddy Joe Tighe entertained the crowd in the hall while a marquee outside hosted other musicians, like the Tempo group featuring father and son Evan and Martin Fitzmaurice. Drinks were served in the hall by Spells Bar, Ballaghaderreen while locals purchased copies of Divided Paradise, the new book published by retired soldier and Urlaur Pattern volunteer Jim Casey. The Urlaur Pattern is a tradition carried on for hundreds of years in honour of Saint Dominic, whose feast days falls on August 4th. Among the events at the Pattern was the launch of a book by retired soldier Jim Casey about his experiences as a peacekeeper in war-torn Cyprus in the 1970s. Caseys frightening experiences in a Nicosia airport besieged by Turkish guns are recounted in 'Divided Paradise', a 200-page tome published by Cork-based self-publishing agent Orla Kelly. A new report has revealed the average selling price for a home in Mayo is now more than 220,000. The latest GeoDirectory Residential Buildings Report for Q2 2024 also details the rate of construction in the county. There were 486 new residential address points in Mayo added to the GeoDirectory database in the twelve months to June 2024. The report, prepared by EY, found that a further 587 residential buildings were under construction across the county in June 2024. In May 2024 the average house price nationally was 381,749. In Mayo, the average property transaction price was 224,955. The lowest vacancy rates in the country were recorded in Dublin (1.2%), Kildare (1.3%), Waterford (2.3%) and Carlow (2.5%), while the highest residential vacancy rates continue to be found along the North and Midwest coast. Leitrim, at 12% was the county with the highest vacancy rate, along with Mayo (10.7%), Roscommon (10.2%), Donegal (9.2%) and Sligo (8.2%). A further 20,413 residential buildings were classified as derelict in June 2024, with 13.8% of these located in Mayo. In Mayo, the residential vacancy rate in Q2 2024 was 10.7%. The national vacancy rate remained at a record low of 3.9%, which is unchanged from the corresponding period in Q2 2023. A total of 82,031 residential properties were recorded as vacant in June 2024. Nationally, 31,384 address points were added to the GeoDirectory database. The highest proportion were located in Dublin with over a third of the overall total (10,508), followed by Cork (3,621), Meath (1,812) and Kildare (1,599). Counties in Leinster accounted for over two-thirds (66.2%) of the new address points. The total number of buildings under construction nationally in June 2024 was down 4.3%, or 991 buildings, compared to June 2023. Of the 21,851 residential buildings under construction last month, 13.7% were located in Dublin (2,985 buildings), closely followed by Cork (2,844 buildings). the report showed construction activity was weakest in the neighbouring counties of Sligo, Roscommon, Leitrim and Longford where there were fewer than 200 buildings under construction. Gardai in Mayo are appealing for any witnesses to a fatral road traffic collision near Newport. The collision, involving a car and a campervan, happened at about 4.30pm on Thursday August 8 last, on the N59, the Mulranny side of Newport. If you can assist in the investigation, please contact Westport or any Garda Station. An Garda Siochana would like to extend our condolences to the Family and friends of Ms Saju, who tragically lost her life in the collision, said Mayo Gardai. Captain Lizy Abraham Saju, who was aged in her 60s, died after the car she was a passenger in collided with a camper van on the N59 between Newport and Mulranny. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Two other passengers in the car and four who were travelling in the camper van were taken to hospital, with those in the car treated for serious injuries. Ms Abraham Saju lived in Kill, county Kildare with her family, and she formerly worked for the Indian Army at the Ministry of Health and also for the Sultanate of Oman. Ms Abraham Saju will repose at the Brian McElroy Funeral Home in Crumlin Village on Saturday. Her Funeral Service and Repose will take place on Sunday in St. Marys College Chapel, Rathmines. She will then be repatriated to her home of Kerala, India. Achill Heinrich Boll Association is pleased to host the concert 'Illumination', by Kathy Fahey, which will be performed by Choral Symphony West (Mayo Concert Orchestra and Vocalessence Ladies Choir) with soloist Patrick Quinn in St Josephs Church in Bunacurry, Achill on Saturday, August 17th, at 8pm. This is a fundraising event for the Camille Souter Cottage Artist's Residency. A native of Mayo, Kathy is a freelance choral director and orchestra conductor. From a very young age, she has been immersed in music, both teaching and performing. Kathy 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. Her childhood was spent listening to and playing classical music, and as an accomplished pianist, has developed a keen interest in this genre. "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," explained Kathy. "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, 'Auroass Prelude and Enchanting Skies. The full work being completed by powerful solos for tenor, mezzo-soprano and baritone. When she was aged 18, Kathy preformed 'Handels Messiah' for the first time as part of the Maynooth College Choral Society, where she was studying, and went on many years later 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, collectively known as Choral Symphony West. 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 a 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. The Achill Heinrich Boll Association is a not-for-profit company based in the community of Achill Island. This concert is part of a fundraising initiative that is rooted in the association's decision to purchase and refurbish the cottage and studio of Camille Souter and establish a funded artists' residency in her memory. Professional artists will live and work at her studio for a given period with financial support. Camille Souter lived in Dooagh from 1958 - either full-time or part-time - up to her death in March 2023. She was raised in Ireland and originally trained as a nurse at Guys Hospital London, before taking up painting in the mid-1950s. Though her usually small-scale paintings appear abstract, they are firmly based within reality and the everyday. Souter has exhibited extensively since the 1960s. Tickets (20) are available at www.heinrichboellcottage.com. MANILA, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) said Tuesday that leptospirosis cases have continued to rise after the July 24 severe flooding that hit Metro Manila and nearby provinces. From January to Aug. 3, DOH tallied 2,115 cases and 224 deaths. The most recent epidemiologic data recorded 255 new leptospirosis cases from July 21 to Aug. 3, 17 percent higher than the 217 cases recorded from July 7 to 20. "The DOH epidemiologists continue to be cautious in interpreting trends as there may be late reports," DOH spokesperson Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo said. The incubation period of leptospirosis ranges from two to 30 days, with a clinically observed average of seven to 14 days. At least two government hospitals in Metro Manila have expressed concern over the rising number of leptospirosis patients, forcing them to set up additional wards to accommodate more patients, especially those requiring dialysis. Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease affecting humans and animals. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), humans get infected through direct contact with the urine of infected animals or with a urine-contaminated environment. The bacteria enter the body through cuts or abrasions on the skin or the mucous membranes of the mouth, nose and eyes, according to the WHO. On July 24, Metro Manila and many parts of the country were underwater due to the continuous rainfall dumped by a typhoon and enhanced southwest monsoon. KIEV, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Russia launched 38 Shahed-type drones at Ukraine overnight on Tuesday and the air defense intercepted 30 of them, the Ukrainian Air Force said in a statement. The projectiles were destroyed over eight regions in southern, northern and central Ukraine, the statement said. The Russian forces also fired two Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles at Ukraine from the Voronezh region, the air force said, without giving further details. Infrastructure facilities, including a gas pipeline and a hospital, were damaged. One person was injured in the attack in Ukraine's northeastern city of Sumy, the Sumy Regional Military Administration said in a statement. A nationwide air alert was issued in Ukraine on Tuesday morning after a MIG-31 fighter, a carrier of Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles, took off from an airfield in Russia. BAGHDAD, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani has reaffirmed Iraq's commitment to preventing any actions that could endanger the U.S.-led coalition advisors tasked with helping Iraq fight the extremist Islamic State (IS) militant group. The prime minister made the remarks during a phone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken late Monday night as the two sides discussed regional developments and efforts to bolster regional and international stability, according to a statement released by al-Sudani's media office on Tuesday. Al-Sudani stressed the need to continue communication between the two sides "to end the coalition's mission in Iraq and move to bilateral security relations," according to the statement. During the call, the Iraqi prime minister reiterated Iraq's position that the reasons behind the instability of the region are the continued aggression on Gaza and emphasized the need for major powers and international organizations to play their role in halting the "crimes" being committed against the Palestinian people. For his part, Blinken reiterated the U.S. commitment to continued consultation with the Iraqi side on regional issues and supporting the efforts of strengthening cooperation between the two countries. On Aug. 5, four rockets attacked the Ayn al-Asad Airbase in Iraq's western Anbar province, where U.S. troops are stationed. Two of the rockets were intercepted by anti-aircraft weapons while the other two landed in the perimeter of the airbase without causing casualties. In response to the attack, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that the United States would not tolerate attacks on its troops in the Middle East. GAZA, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said on Monday that an Israeli hostage was killed and two others were injured by its militants in Gaza. In two separate incidents, two conscripts assigned to guard the Israeli prisoners shot and killed one of them on the spot, while causing serious injuries to two others, Abu Obaida, spokesman of al-Qassam Brigades, said, adding that efforts are being made to save the wounded. The spokesman said a committee has been formed to investigate the details, and the findings will be disclosed at a later time. The statement did not reveal the identities of the killed and injured, but noted that this is the first instance of Israeli prisoners being killed by their guards. There was no official comment from the Israeli side regarding the incidents. Israel launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 others taken hostage. Exploring the next frontiers in social impact The 5th African Philanthropy Conference was held against the spectacular backdrop of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, and was the biggest gathering yet. Since the first edition was held at Wits Business School in 2019, this annual event has grown significantly in scale and impact. The 5th edition drew 320 participants representing 43 countries, including academics and researchers, philanthropic organisations, policy makers, and funders. The conference, themed The Next Frontiers of African Philanthropy was convened through the partnership of the Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment (CAPSI) at Wits Business School (WBS), and TrustAfrica, alongside the African Philanthropy Forum, the Africa Philanthropy Network, East Africa Philanthropy Network, the Southern Africa Trust and the Zambian Governance Foundation. The annual convening provides a platform for stakeholders from across the continent to share insights and understanding of what philanthropy means in Africa, for Africans. Sessions were curated to offer a deeper understanding of the emerging trends in African philanthropy in order to form an effective, collective response. Delegates participated in 22 parallel sessions and 18 academic panels while hearing six keynote addresses in five plenary sessions. The conference also hosted site visits to community projects running in Livingstone, Zambia which were excellently facilitated by the Healing Balm Foundation, an inspiring community organisation. A highlight of the conference was the Lifetime Achievement Awards gala dinner at which Tade Aina was announced as the 2024 awardee. Dr Aina is the Chief Impact and Research Officer at the Mastercard Foundation whose work in the fields of urban poverty, governance, development theory and practice, higher education, nutrition and child development, and environment and development has revolutionised philanthropy and made a immeasurable impact. Former recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, Graca Machel, Mozambican politician and humanitarian, was a guest of honour at the conference and shared an ignite talk which was moderated by renowned development leader Theo Sowa. Inspirational, forthright and a guiding light, Machels talk was a highlight for many as they savoured the opportunity to learn from a globally renowned freedom fighter, activist and policy influencer. The conference has announced the dates and location for its much anticipated next edition. Moving to another wonder of the world situated on the continent, the great pyramids of Cairo Egypt will offer a backdrop for the 6th African Philanthropy Conference. With the next frontiers and the agenda set, the conference looks forward to welcoming its growing pan-African community of practitioners, academics and change enablers from 28 July to 1 August 2025. ADEN, Yemen, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) on Tuesday issued reports of two separate incidents involving explosions near vessels off the coast of Yemen, heightening concerns over maritime security in the region. The first incident occurred approximately 63 nautical miles southwest of Hodeidah, a major port city on Yemen's Red Sea coast. According to the UKMTO, a vessel master in the area reported an explosion at a distance from the ship. The vessel and its crew were reported safe, and the ship continued its journey to its next port of call. A second incident was reported 97 nautical miles northwest of Hodeidah. In this case, the master of another vessel reported an explosion in the vicinity. As with the first incident, both crew and vessel were unharmed, and the ship proceeded with its planned route. Following the dual explosions, the UKMTO has advised all vessels transiting through the area to exercise caution and report any suspicious activity immediately. No group has claimed responsibility for these latest incidents. The Houthi militants, who were behind previous attacks, have not issued any statements regarding these explosions. These incidents occur amid ongoing tensions in the region. Since November 2023, Houthi militants based in Yemen have been conducting attacks on international shipping near the country's coastline to show solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. In response, the U.S.-British naval coalition stationed in the waters has conducted regular air raids and missile strikes against Houthi targets since January to deter the group. VIENTIANE, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Lao government, in collaboration with international and business partners, held a session to disseminate legislation on the export of Lao workers abroad, which has contributed to improving overseas job placements. The Lao government is committed to promoting employment opportunities for Lao workers both domestically and internationally. Since the enactment of the decree on sending Lao workers abroad in 2002, jobseekers have gained access to international labor markets, helping them generate income and develop valuable skills, according to a report issued by the Lao Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare on Tuesday. The number of workers going abroad has steadily increased each year, from 49,441 in 2017 to 120,360 in 2018, with more than 60,000 so far in 2024. Currently, over 400,000 Lao workers are employed abroad, sending annual average remittances of 625.3 million U.S. dollars back home. The demand for overseas employment has risen significantly. The Lao labor ministry has now established a memorandum of understanding to send workers to Thailand, Japan, and South Korea, with other ASEAN member countries also exploring similar opportunities. To address evolving needs, the ministry has revised the law on job placement, updated the decree on dispatching Lao workers, and enhanced regulations governing employment service enterprises to ensure a comprehensive and adaptable legal framework. WARSAW, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Poland signed on Monday a contract with Raytheon Polska and PGZ Huta Stalowa Wola for the production of 48 M903 launchers, which will be integrated into the Patriot air defense systems, according to the Polish defense minister. During a visit to Sochaczew in central Poland, Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said the 48 M903 launchers, worth 1.23 billion U.S. dollars, will be produced in Poland. Poland has significantly increased its defense spending to approximately 4 percent of its GDP this year, demonstrating its commitment to strengthening its armed forces. According to the Polish defense ministry, the United States last month provided Poland with a loan of 2 billion U.S. dollars to fund its purchase of American air and missile defense systems. Relatives mourn over the body of Palestinian Moataz Sarsour killed by Israeli forces during his funeral at the al-Am'ari refugee camp near the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Aug. 13, 2024. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua) RAMALLAH, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli army on Tuesday killed a Palestinian man during clashes that erupted after the soldiers blew up two apartments owned by prisoners in the West Bank, Palestinian sources said. Israeli forces stormed the cities of Ramallah and al-Bireh and surrounded two residential buildings, Palestinian security sources told Xinhua. One apartment belongs to prisoner Ayser al-Barghouti, and the other to prisoner Khaled al-Kharouf. The Israeli army arrested al-Barghouti and al-Kharouf on Jan. 8 on the charge of carrying out a shooting attack east of Ramallah that killed an Israeli woman. The forces planted explosives inside the two apartments and then blew them up, causing loud explosions in the two areas, the sources added. Following that, clashes erupted between Palestinians who threw stones and empty bottles at Israeli forces while the forces fired live and rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters. Medical sources told Xinhua that the young man, Moataz Sarsour, from the al-Am'ari refugee camp, was critically wounded by live bullets to the chest and was transferred to the Palestine Medical Complex, where doctors declared him dead due to his injuries. Israel frequently demolishes the homes of Palestinian attackers, which the Israeli government asserts is intended to deter potential attackers. Cities, villages, towns, and refugee camps in the West Bank have been experiencing increasing tensions between Palestinians and Israelis since Oct. 7, 2023, when the Hamas-Israel conflict broke out. Since then, more than 620 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli gunfire and shelling across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Relatives mourn Palestinian Moataz Sarsour killed by Israeli forces during his funeral at the al-Am'ari refugee camp near the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Aug. 13, 2024. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua) People carry the body of Palestinian Moataz Sarsour killed by Israeli forces during his funeral at the al-Am'ari refugee camp near the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Aug. 13, 2024. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua) A man is seen in an apartment demolished by Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Aug. 13, 2024. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua) Members of civil defense are seen in an apartment demolished by Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Aug. 13, 2024. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua) People are seen in an apartment demolished by Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Aug. 13, 2024. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua) A man is seen in an apartment demolished by Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Aug. 13, 2024. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua) People are seen in an apartment demolished by Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Aug. 13, 2024. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua) Members of civil defense are seen in an apartment demolished by Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Aug. 13, 2024. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua) Matrimonial Tradition Fades in Face of Healthier, Sugar-Free Lifestyles, Declining Nuptials A bride gives sweets to a child at her wedding ceremony in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on Saturday during Qixi Festival, or Chinese Valentine's Day. [Ding Lei/Xinhua] Candy shop owners on Nanchang's Zigu Road are more worried than the parents of young couples about the growing number of young people being in no hurry to get married. "We sell candies for all kinds of celebrations, but mainly for weddings," said Liu Xiaojun, one of the candy shop owners. "This year's May Day holiday brought almost no business for us. It's been a tough year." Zigu Road is an old street in Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi Province, named after the famous Song Dynasty (960-1279) writer Zeng Gong, whose courtesy name was Zigu. In the 1990s, there were more than 20 candy shops lining the road, and Nanchang families enjoyed its sweet treats, especially the popular White Rabbit candies, a household brand from Shanghai. The street is less than a kilometer from Tengwang Pavilion, a well-known tourist spot. However, in stark contrast to the bustling tourist area, nowadays few pedestrians are seen in front of the wedding candy shops. The declining marriage rate, competition from online sales, and the younger generation's preference for sugar-free products are all eroding the revenue of these small shops. Traditional Treats It's late July, and Nanchang is still very hot and humid, even at dusk. One of Liu's customers, Qiu, arrives in a white car and enters the Zigu Road candy shop. She recently got married and needs wedding sweets for the banquet. Qiu points at some fancy candy boxes and asks Liu "how much are these?" A short while later, she returns to her car carrying a large red plastic bag. Candy plays a small but essential role in any traditional Chinese wedding. It is often handed out at the reception feast or offered as a wedding favor to guests. Typically, candy is also exchanged between families as a traditional symbol of happiness and to invoke good luck for having many children. "A single wedding candy order usually costs around 1,000 ($140) to 2,000 yuan. However, with fewer people getting married, our profit margins have decreased," Liu said. Her husband, Xu Wei, pulls out a calculator and says, "We just received an order totaling 1,340 yuan. After all expenses, our profit is less than 100 yuan, and we also need to pack the candies for the customer." Each small wedding pack usually contains 8 to 20 different types of candies. "When business was booming, we would be up packing candies until one or two in the morning," Xu said. "Now, we don't have those busy nights." Daily sales are often less than a few hundred yuan. "This year is particularly tough," he said. "They say that young people in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai are not getting married, but even here in Nanchang, few people are tying the knot." Lately, their shop's main customers have been families hosting graduation banquets, which generates business that is slightly better than in the offseason. Wedding candy culture in East China is popular, particularly in provinces like Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Anhui and Jiangxi, which together account for nearly 80 percent of the market, according to China Candy magazine. In Nanchang, whether it's to celebrate a wedding, birth, housewarming or birthday, residents like to give out candy. The wedding candy business is also seasonal. After the Chinese New Year, business picks up in April, peaks during the May Day holiday, and slows down until the graduation banquets in July and August. It picks up once more during the National Day holiday in October before falling off again. No Sugarcoating Lin Yiwei lived on Zigu Road during her elementary school years in the late 1990s, and fondly remembers the rows of candy shops filled with all sorts of confectionery. They were her favorite places in the city. "During those days, my mom used to take me to the shop downstairs to buy candies on weekends, which was the happiest moment for me. Later in the 2010s, these shops moved to the middle section of the street, and we moved out of the district," Lin said. Now, there are only eight candy shops remaining on Zigu Road. The street is a microcosm of China's wedding candy industry. In recent years, the declining number of marriages has had an impact on various aspects of economic life, including the candy industry. The number of marriages in China dropped from 13 million in 2013 to below 7 million in 2022, reaching the lowest level since records began in 1986. It was only last year that the number of marriages started to pick up again. From 2013 to 2016, China's marriage rate hit new highs, leading to a resurgence in the Chinese wedding candy market. During this period, the market expanded from 30 billion yuan to about 40 billion yuan, with an annual growth rate of over 10 percent, surpassing the growth rate of the traditional candy market. However, a report by market research company Mintel indicates that China's candy industry experienced a turning point in 2014 and has been declining ever since. Furthermore, the marriage rate in Jiangxi is notably low. According to the China Statistical Yearbook 2023, Jiangxi's marriage rate stood at 4.65 percent, ranking among the lowest in the country. Last year, only 210,000 couples registered their marriages in Jiangxi. It's also uncertain whether those intending to get married will buy candies from brick-and-mortar shops or purchase them online. Lin said most of her married friends either buy candies online or entrust the entire wedding ceremony to a matrimonial agency. "None of my friends go to brick-and-mortar candy shops," she said. Youyou, who married in May, spent an afternoon comparing prices on e-commerce platforms like Taobao and Pinduoduo while preparing for her wedding. She finally decided to buy 700 boxes of wedding candies online. "Each box of candies costs about 1.9 yuan, and I bought what I like to eat. Weddings are expensive, so I try to save where I can," she said. The quality of wedding candies bought online can vary, but the variety is greater, and products are updated quickly. Offline shops also have to follow online trends. A man walks past a candy shop in Zigu Road in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province. [Zhao Ruinan/China Daily] E-Commerce Deals On social media platform Xiaohongshu users share detailed shopping guides, including how to assemble candy boxes using different candies and chocolates wrapped in colorful paper. Savvy young people compare prices and products, making online shopping more attractive and fun. Even those who go to brick-and-mortar shops use their phones to check prices and negotiate with the shopkeepers. However, online shopping is not always cheaper. For example, WoWo milk candies cost about 19 to 21 yuan per 500 grams on Taobao. Liu sells them for 18 yuan in her shop, with possible discounts for bulk purchases. "Online shopping does impact us because they offer more variety, and it's more convenient to shop directly on your smartphone with a quick delivery," Liu said. To compete with e-commerce, candy shops are offering better services, such as promising "10 times the compensation for any fake product", free candy box packaging, and free home delivery. Refunds were even offered for postponed weddings during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, competition is fierce. Some shop owners, who once charged less than 1 yuan for the boxes the candy comes in, are now giving them away. Once one shop starts giving away the boxes, others are forced to follow. The loss is recouped by slightly increasing the price of the candies. Qiu is one of those who prefers buying candy in a store. "Many online gift boxes look flashy but don't have as many varieties as they seem. It's more reliable to buy offline, where I can see and touch the products," she said. Shop owner Xu Wei sorts candy at his store in Zigu Road, Nanchang. [Zhao Ruinan/China Daily] Healthy Lifestyle A major reason the candy market is in decline is that candies are not as popular with young people as they once were. They have been replaced with sweet alternatives such as fruit and tea-flavored beverages, while there are also sugar-free, and low-sugar options for health-conscious consumers. Many celebrities and online influencers across the world are also advocating sugar-free lifestyles, often scrutinizing the sugar content of various drinks and foods. Urban residents' per capita sugar consumption has been decreasing annually over the past decade, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. To address the decline, food manufacturers in recent years have come up with the concept of "functional candy" the addition of vitamins to products to give them purported health benefits. According to Market Research.com, global functional confectionery market reached $2.30 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $3.98 billion by 2030. The 2022 financial report of White Rabbit candy also highlights "functional and health-oriented" as future development trends. In the past, it was common for families to buy substantial amounts of candy for the Chinese New Year. Today, even a small amount of 500 grams is considered "too much". "Five or six years ago, our family still bought candy for the traditional Chinese New Year holiday. But later we found that the candy bought in February wasn't finished by the Mid-Autumn Festival," Lin said. "Over the past two years, my parents haven't bought any candy during the Spring Festival they only bought some chocolates that I like." Hu Jiaying, who is getting married in Nanchang in October, delegated the task of buying wedding candy to her elders. "Buying wedding candy is just a formality now. We don't eat it ourselves. It's too sweet and unhealthy," Hu said. At the 2023 China Candy Forum, Wang Qi, vice president of the China Food Industry Association, said that since 2015, the total output of large-scale candy enterprises in China has been declining. "Food consumption is shifting from survival to health and enjoyment," Wang said. "But compared to developed countries, China's candy industry lacks innovation, product variety, brand presence, and has an outdated research and development structure, resulting in a low market share." To survive financially after the pandemic, Liu has started another business in her shop. Half the shop displays candy, while the other half has rows of women's clothes. "We open the shop at 8 am and close at 9 in the evening. Just selling wedding candy can hardly make ends meet. We have two kids to support," Liu said. Liu's son is in eighth grade and her eldest daughter is a high school senior. During the summer vacation, they do their homework and play games in the candy shop. "We have no other way to make a living. We just hope more people get married so we can make some money during the upcoming National Day holiday," said Xu. (Source: China Daily) Editor: Wang Shasha A newlywed couple hold their wedding party on a bus in Fuling District, southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, May 12, 2024. [Xinhua] CHONGQING, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) As Xiao Peng, 26, met her boyfriend on a bus in Fuling District of southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, the couple instinctively knew what would be the perfect wedding car. "Compared to traditional wedding car convoys, buses are more eco-friendly and cost-effective," she said, adding that her wedding party spent the journey singing, taking photos and reminiscing. However, such unique wedding activities are quite unconventional in China, where traditional weddings are often lavish affairs with long vehicle convoys, numerous customs and a lengthy guest list. According to a survey conducted by Guyu Data, a data analysis and social commentary platform under Tencent News, in 2021, the average cost of a wedding for young Chinese was about 174,000 yuan (about 24,350 U.S. dollars), which was 8.8 times the average monthly income of each couple. A significant 42 percent of the surveyed couples admitted that their weddings went over budget. Like Xiao Peng, nowadays more and more young Chinese are moving away from the elaborate formalities of traditional weddings. They believe that by focusing less on customs and procedures, they can concentrate more on the experience, emotions and the true essence of marriage. Lin Mo, 34, who lives in east China's Fujian Province, held her own simplified ceremony this year. "My husband and I hosted the wedding ourselves, and the main ceremony lasted only 10 minutes, during which we simply addressed the guests and exchanged rings," she said. Lin believes that the preference for high-profile weddings among many Chinese stems from the importance they place on "mianzi," a term that refers to one's sense of dignity or prestige. They always want to present their best image to others, she explained. "I think weddings are very personal and not for showing off. Therefore, we focused on our own experience and retained what we believe is most important and provides us with sufficient emotional value," said Lin. "Traditional weddings in China involve a complex series of ceremonies that are rooted in history and may become impractical in today's fast-paced lifestyle. Streamlined and personalized weddings are a logical and natural choice for young couples, as they help reduce financial pressure and enhance their experience," said Mei Zhigang, associate professor at the School of Sociology, Central China Normal University. China's local authorities are also looking to reform wedding customs and have implemented multiple measures. One example is the widespread practice of collective weddings across the country. Before August 10, the traditional Qixi Festival, also known Chinese Valentine's Day, a collective wedding ceremony took place in Chongqing's Nan'an District, organized by the local civil affairs bureau. Dozens of couples donned traditional Chinese attire and embraced the significant moment of their lives. "It saved us a lot of money and effort since we didn't have to find a venue, plan the procedures, or worry about various unexpected incidents. The bureau handled everything," said Xiong Qi, one of the newlyweds, who comes from Yubei District of Chongqing. "Such reforms of wedding customs aim to avoid waste, unrealistic comparisons and corrupt practices such as vulgar wedding pranks. It seeks to make people realize the essence of marriage, which is love and responsibility," said Chen Wei, associate professor at the College of State Governance of Southwest University. A collective wedding ceremony is held in Xinzhou District, Wuhan City of central China's Hubei Province, May 18, 2024. [Xinhua] (Source: Xinhua) Editor: Wang Shasha OSAKA, Japan, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Hideo Shimizu, a Japanese veteran who served at the notorious Japanese germ warfare army during World War II, found himself standing at the departure gate of Osaka's Kansai International Airport on Monday morning, ready to board a flight to China. After 79 years, the former Unit 731 Youth Corps member who had just celebrated his 94th birthday, was ready to return to the site that has haunted him for a lifetime -- the Japanese bacteriology unit's sprawling complex in the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin, where thousands of Chinese civilians and Allied prisoners of war were killed from the late 1930s to the end of the war, and now the Museum of Evidence of War Crimes by the Japanese Army Unit 731. Despite facing criticism from Japanese society and battling his own deteriorating health, Shimizu was resolute in confronting the past that he had long sought to atone for. "Regardless of all these concerns, I just want to go to China, putting everything else aside," he told Xinhua in an exclusive interview before he departed from his home in the central Japanese prefecture of Nagano. "This is my first trip leaving Japan since the war, and also my first time returning to China," Shimizu explained. "Rather than worrying about how the Chinese might react, I'm more concerned that some Japanese politicians would prefer I never made this trip." In 1945, as part of the last group of Unit 731 Youth Corps members, Shimizu spent over four months in Harbin. On Aug. 14 of the same year, he fled China alongside his defeated unit. It was not until 2016 that Shimizu publicly revealed his involvement with Unit 731, dedicating himself thereafter to exposing the unit's war crimes and educating the public about this dark chapter of history. In his memoirs, Shimizu recalls the horrific scenes he experienced in Harbin, including the gruesome task of collecting the charred remains of "marutas," which means "logs" in Japanese, referring to live human beings brought in for experiments. Shimizu wrote: "On the morning of Aug. 11, 1945, an older soldier remarked: 'There's still smoke.' I believe he was referring to the burning of 'marutas' in the special prison." "On Aug. 12, I entered the special prison to collect the remains of human bones that hadn't fully burned." "On Aug. 13, we loaded our belongings onto trucks, waiting for the order to depart..." These memories have made him a target of those in Japan who would rather forget or deny the past. "Look at this article from 2017," Shimizu said, pointing out a news story in which a Japanese politician accused him of lying. "He called me an old man completely fabricating stories!" Faced with doubt and criticism, the veteran stands firm, backing up his claims with irrefutable historical evidence. Shimizu recalled that when they were retreating from China, their superiors ordered them to destroy all evidence related to Unit 731. However, a few materials were still smuggled back to Japan, proving that he had served in the unit. "The four of us were classmates from the same school in Nagano. We joined the fourth and final group of the Youth Corps together. This photo was secretly brought back from China by one of my classmates," Shimizu took out a group photograph of the Unit 731 Youth Corps, pointing to four people in the last row. He also displayed various pieces of evidence, including a roster of Unit 731 members that included his name, and three old banknotes issued by the Manchurian Central Bank. "These were the notes issued to us by the unit, which could be used in Harbin. This is the only thing I managed to carry back in my pocket." Shimizu's stay in Harbin left deep psychological scars. He recounted how the sight of preserved fetuses and children in the specimen room of Unit 731 haunted him throughout his life. "Every time I heard my own child cry at night, I would see those images of the specimen room. It was as if the souls of those lost children were crying out," he said, his eyes welling up with tears. As he returned to China 79 years later, Shimizu told Xinhua about his two wishes. "One is to sincerely pray for those who perished at the hands of Unit 731 and to apologize to their families, while the other wish is to learn more about the impact of the plague released by the Japanese imperial army in Harbin after the war, a topic on which there is little testimony in Japan." "After Japan's defeat, they released plague-infected rats... If a person were to contract the plague, I imagine it would be incredibly painful," Shimizu said. Before setting out, Shimizu made a stop on Saturday afternoon at the Iida City Peace Memorial Hall in Nagano to participate in the 35th Shinshu War Exhibition for Peace. It was during a visit to this very exhibition in 2015 that Shimizu accidentally revealed his past, a revelation that led to his decision to speak publicly about Unit 731's atrocities in 2016. Hideaki Hara, leader of the exhibition's organizer, or Shinshu War Exhibition for Peace Organizing Committee, praised Shimizu's determination. "It is truly admirable for a 94-year-old man to embark on this journey to China. It takes incredible conviction and courage to repent for the dead." "We hope the Japanese government will take Shimizu's actions seriously and consider official apologies to China," Hara added. The peace group raised funds to support Shimizu's journey, with contributions coming from members across Japan, including Tokyo, Osaka, and Hokkaido. The former chairman of the group, Noboru Kubota, himself in his 90s, emphasized the significance of Shimizu's mission. "Unit 731 was the epitome of Japan's war of aggression. I hope Shimizu can offer his apologies to the local public upon his arrival, which is something only he can do as a former member of Unit 731." Among over 20 doctors from the Osaka Medical Practitioners Association accompanying Shimizu on this trip was Fumio Hara, who pointed out the cruel irony of Unit 731's so-called "medical experiments," which were conducted not to save lives, but to take them. "It's unacceptable that so many Japanese are unaware of this brutal history," he said. As Shimizu walked through the security gate at the Osaka airport to start the nearly eight-hour trip to Harbin, his words echoed in the minds of those who heard him: "I want to go to China to testify. It is for the sake of peace." Kyleigh Thurman, one of the patients who is filing a federal complaint against an emergency room for not treating her ectopic pregnancy, talks about her experience at her studio, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Burnet County, Texas. CANBERRA, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government has announced plans to launch a world-leading digital identification system. Bill Shorten, the minister for government services, on Tuesday said that Australians will be able to use the Trust Exchange (TEx) program to digitally verify their identities and credentials using a QR code on the existing myGov smartphone app by the end of 2024. He said in a speech to the National Press Club in Canberra that the system would eliminate the need for people to hand over sensitive documents such as a passport or driver's license, giving Australians more control over the personal information they share. Currently, in a proof-of-concept stage, the technology will securely store information already maintained by the government including users' date of birth, address, citizenship or visa status, qualifications and occupational licenses. Shorten described it as a world-leading digital ID platform and said he hopes it will rival the gold standard for data protection. He said the system could be used when applying for jobs, checking into hotels or at venues with age requirements. "Whatever the case, online or in person, you choose what is shared, you consent to it being shared, and you can trust it is safe," he told the press club. "All that has been exchanged has been a digital 'thumbs up' from the government that you are who you say you are." Records of what information was shared and who it was shared with will be available for users in the myGov system. The rollout of TEx will be managed by Services Australia, which will partner with other government systems. This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Aug 13th, 2024 Wrexham.com has invited Wrexham & Clwyd South Members of Parliament and Members of the Senedd to write a monthly article with updates on their work in their respective Parliaments and closer to home you can find them all here. In this months column Plaid Cymrus Llyr Gruffydd MS writes: The summer holidays are a welcome break for many school children as well as staff. But come the autumn, the pressures will pile up once more. For schools in Wrexham, it will mean dealing with an increase in demand for specialist services with fewer 1:1 and specialists to provide support. Children across north Wales are already waiting years to be assessed for autism and other learning needs. I have raised my concerns at current failings and the fear amongst many parents and teachers that coming cuts in school budgets will make matters worse. In the Senedd, I questioned the Cabinet Secretary for Education Lynne Neagle about what her government was doing to address this delay in assessment, which can have a serious impact on the childs ability to access support. There is growing concern that the whole support system for children with additional learning needs (ALN) is failing. Children referred for assessment frequently have to wait years for that assessment, and even when diagnosed the support simply isnt there to help them. In 2018 the Welsh Government passed a law that made supporting ALN a priority. This was meant to streamline the processes as well as to protect the rights of ALN children to get the support they need. My fear is that far too many children are falling through the net. Some fail to get the assessment they need, others fail to get the most basic of support they need to thrive. If and when that comes, it often far too late for many of them the most critical years of their education are behind them by the time they get any kind of help. Thats not good enough. Thats why Im calling on the Government to sort this out as a matter of priority before we lose more of this generation to a system that is far from being fit-for-purpose. Wrexham University and ACE Lifts Ltd partner for SMART technology project This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Aug 13th, 2024 Wrexham University has secured Welsh Government funding for a pioneering 12-month SMART Partnership. Working alongside ACE Lifts Ltd, a Deeside-based company specialising in remote monitoring maintenance solutions for lifts across the UK, the partnership aims to enhance ACE Lifts innovative technology. This helps to significantly reduce breakdowns, improves safety, and ensures up-to-date documentation via a cloud-based portal. The SMART Partnership will focus on reviewing and upgrading ACE Lifts current system, with the goal of embedding critical knowledge for ongoing development. This strategic move is part of ACE Lifts efforts to future-proof its market position and continue meeting the evolving needs of its customers. Charles Salter, Managing Director of ACE Lifts Ltd, expressed enthusiasm about the initiative: This SMART Partnership is the first step in establishing an in-house Intelligent Lift Management Software system to meet our growing customer needs. Laura Gough, Head of Enterprise & Development at the university, said: We are excited to collaborate with ACE Lifts Ltd and incorporate real industry experience into our teaching for our students benefit. SMART Partnerships, such as this one, are three-way collaborations involving a company, a university, and an Associate or graduate. Part-funded by the Welsh Government, these partnerships aim to drive business growth, boost productivity, and enhance competitiveness through innovative projects. For those seeking more information, Wrexham University invites enquiries via email at enterprise@wrexham.ac.uk. WELLINGTON, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand will invest 4.4 million NZ dollars (2.65 million U.S. dollars) to support United Nations Children's Fund-led projects for improving early childhood development outcomes across the North Pacific, said a government statement on Tuesday. New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters made the statement during a visit to Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). Improving the well-being of children across the Pacific is an important development focus area for New Zealand, Peters said, adding that this focus is underpinned by a commitment to longer-term economic development for the benefit of current and future generations. FSM is the third leg of the delegation's four-country Pacific tour to be followed by Palau. Are you an East Coast dockworker? Tell us what youre demanding in the next contract. All submissions will be kept anonymous. Shipping containers are stacked in the Port of New York and New Jersey in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Thursday, May 20, 2021. [AP Photo/Seth Wenig] Last week, the International Longshoremens Association provided a legally-required 60-day strike notice ahead of the expiration of the East Coast dockworkers contract at the end of September. More than 40,000 port workers are pressing for strike action against the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) on October 1 if their demands are not met. A strike by East Coast dockworkers would have a colossal impact not only on the profits of the major maritime shipping companies, but, most significantly, on the entire global capitalist economy. The contract covers 36 ports on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States, including the port of New York and New Jersey, the second biggest in the country. The Atlantic and Gulf ports handle over 100 million tons of cargo every year from Europe, South America and Asia. Unimpeded operation of the ports is paramount for the profits of major American and transnational corporations, as well as for the shipments of weapons to Israel, Ukraine and other US proxy forces. Among rank-and-file dockworkers, there is broad opposition to forced work speedup, increased working hours and the decline of basic safety measures. Thousands of dockworkers also face the loss of their jobs to automation, as the ports seek to use labor-saving technologies as a weapon against workers. But East Coast dockworkers have immense leverage to win their demands. A strike would not only bring whole sections of the economy to a halt, it would also embolden workers across the country and the world to press for their own demands and become the start of a broader offensive by the working class. The ILA bureaucracy is maneuvering to get out in front of this. For months, it has threatened to strike if a new deal is not in place by the time the old one expires. But the critical question dockworkers face is enforcing democratic control over their struggle. The last 45 years has seen not one strike on the East Coast docks despite vicious cuts. The ILA bureaucrats, steeped in decades of sellouts, are following the playbook of the Teamsters bureaucrats last year at UPS. There, officials used a strike ready campaign to lend credibility to a deal it already had worked out, and which is now being used to lay off tens of thousands of UPS workers under the new, automated Network of the Future. Dockworkers must be on guard against a similar 11th hour surprise deal. They must form rank-and-file committees, composed of trusted workers, to give them the ability to countermand a betrayal. This will also put them in the best position to answer any attempt by the government to ban a strike, as Congress and Biden did to the railroaders in 2022, and as the White House did to the West Coast dockworkers last year. The port operators are nervous that the ILA bureaucracy will be unable to control the ranks and avoid a strike. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), monthly inbound cargo volume at major US container ports is expected to hit record levels, as major retail companies expedite shipments in anticipation of a strike on the East and Gulf Coast docks. Jonathan Gold, NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy, said Many retailers have taken precautions, including earlier shipping and shifting cargo to West Coast ports. On the potential disruption of global supply chains caused by a strike, Gold continued, This comes on top of ongoing disruption issues, including attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea. Vessel diversions have led to increased shipping times and costs, as well as equipment shortages and congestion in Asian ports. Christian Roeloffs, co-founder and CEO of equipment visibility platform Container xChange, told the Journal of Commerce, Retailers have been preparing for the peak season since early 2024, aiming to avoid stock shortages, and now that were entering this busy period, the focus will be on understanding the true demand dynamics. The NRFs Global Port Tracker report shows that U.S. ports handled 2.16 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) in June of this year, a 3.6 percent increase from May and up 17.7 percent year over year. This brings volumes for the first half of 2024 to 12.1 million TEU, up 15 percent from 2023. The Global Port Tracker projects that volume will have surged to 2.34 million TEU in July and will remain the same in August, the highest levels since the record of 2.4 million TEU in May of 2022, when shipping companies were still working through backlogs caused by the early phase of the pandemic. Further increases in TEU volumes are projected for the rest of the year, significantly higher than 2023. A strike would shut down 6 of the 10 busiest ports in the US. According to Maersk, a one-week shutdown could take 4-6 weeks to recover from, with significant backlogs and delays compounding with each passing day. Over the last several years, the major maritime shippers have raked in tens of billions of dollars. In May, the container shipping industry reported profits of $5.4 billion for the first quarter of 2024. Corporate America, as it did at UPS, on the railroads and on the West Coast docks, is appealing to the Biden administration to directly intervene to prevent a strike. But there can be no doubt that, behind the scenes, the White House is already intimately involved, as they have in every major contract over the past four years. In particular, the administration wants to avoid a strike weeks before the US presidential elections and, above all, ensure no interruptions to the supply of weapons to US-backed wars abroad. In a revealing comment, Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc told analysts during Maersks second-quarter earnings call, I look at the likelihood of having strong industrial action as in strike as being highly unlikely. He continued, It is our expectation that when the contract expires in September there may be some extension of the contract as there is a lot that still needs to be negotiated. In fact, an extension is exactly what the Teamsters agreed to last year at UPS. Workers must use the time they have between now and the end of September to organize themselves for a three-front war against USMX, the White House and the ILA bureaucrats. The enemies which workers face are powerful, but the working class, the source of the worlds wealth, is more powerful. In an interview on the Australian Broadcasting Corporations 7:30 program last Thursday, former Prime Minister Paul Keating branded the US as an aggressor targeting China in the Indo-Pacific. He condemned the militarist AUKUS pact, involving the US, Britain and Australia, warning that it threatened to involve Australia in a catastrophic regional war. Former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating on ABC-TV, August 8, 2024 [Photo: ABC News/YouTube] The comments amplify points that Keating has made repeatedly over the past 18 months. Keating states certain basic truths that are almost entirely suppressed in official political and media discussion. For years, Australian politicians and the media have been in a frenzy, accusing China of all manner of sins, including regional aggression, violation of the international rules-based order and attempts to dominate Indo-Pacific nations. In contrast, Keating noted the real dynamic of the growing war threat in the Indo-Pacific, involving the attempts of an American imperialism in decline to maintain its hegemony through a build-up against China. As someone in a position to know such things, having been at the apex of the Australian state, he outlined the logic of this drive, which is towards a major war. At the same time, Keatings interventions underscore the bankruptcy of a layer of ruling class critics of AUKUS. Their differences are entirely tactical, centring on the potentially catastrophic consequences for Australian capitalism of a war with China, which remains its major trading partner. Increasingly marginalised, such critics advance no clear alternative and, as is the case with Keating, propose only a more independent military expansion. Keatings latest interview coincided with Australia-US Ministerial Consultations in Washington last week. The Labor government and the Biden administration outlined expanded US basing arrangements in Australia across all domainsair, sea and land. On Thursday, the day of the interview, US President Joe Biden revealed in a letter to Congress an updated AUKUS agreement providing for the transfer of nuclear propulsion technology to Australia, crucial to its acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines. He revealed that the deal included unspecified political commitments from the Labor government. Keating responded by declaring: We completely lose our strategic autonomy, the right of Australian governments and the Australian people to determine where and how they respond in the world is taken away if we let the United States and its military displace our military and our foreign policy prerogatives. He claimed that Australia was compelled to defend itself by virtue of its membership in AUKUS, when it would otherwise face no threats. We are better being left alone than we are being protected by an aggressive power like the United States, Keating said. The incredulous interviewer, Sarah Ferguson, ignoring the past 30 years of unending American militarism, demanded to know how Keating could describe the US as an aggressive power. In response, the former PM stated that Washington was attempting to superintend from the Atlantic, the largest Asian power, which is China, with four times its population, an economy 20 percent larger, a navy of the same size That is 9,000 kilometers from the California coast Theyre going to knock them into line. Much of Keatings remarks focussed on Taiwan. It has been deliberately inflamed as a potential flashpoint for war with China by successive US administrations. Biden, extending upon deepening ties with Taipei established by his predecessors, has actively called into question the previous One China policy, under which the US effectively recognised the Chinese Communist Party regime as the sole government of all China, including Taiwan. China in turn has warned that any move to Taiwanese independence would provoke a military response. Keating likened the US promotion of Taiwanese nationalism to an attempt by a foreign power to encourage the secession of Tasmania, Australias southern island state. He noted that the US would not tolerate aggressive Chinese naval activities in the Gulf of California, but regularly conducts them near Chinas coastline. Pointing to the chilling implications of the US attempts to goad China into a war, Keating asked: Does anyone want their kids to be shot to death on a sandy beach in Taiwan? This is the outcome of such a policy. In his concluding comments on the broader purpose of AUKUS, Keating presented Australias acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines, slated to arrive from the US in the early 2030s as secondary. Instead, he claimed that the central purpose of the pact was to lock Australia into a US military build-up over decades, including through American bases all around Australia. Keatings remarks touched a raw nerve. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese noted that Keatings tenure as PM ended more than two decades ago, and declared: The world has changed between 1996 and 2024. Ferguson asked Nancy Pelosi to respond to Keatings comments. The senior US Democratic Party politician and former House speaker denounced his comments on Taiwan being Chinese real estate as stupid and ridiculous. In 2022, Pelosi created sharp tensions across the Taiwan Strait with her provocative visit to Taipei that deliberately undermined the One China policy. Notwithstanding some of the obvious truths he raised, Keatings comments were shot through with contradictions. For instance, he condemned the Albanese government as having betrayed Labor values through its embrace of AUKUS and US aggression in the region. As prime minister, however, Keating supported US militarism globally, including in the Indo-Pacific. There is no record of his having criticised, let alone opposed the US-Australia alliance while he was in office. In reality, the actions of Albanese and his colleagues are entirely in line with Labors more than 100-year record as a party of imperialist war. Keating likewise cannot explain why AUKUS and the war drive against China enjoy the support of the overwhelming majority of the Australian political establishment and ruling elite. As with his own US-aligned prime ministership, the answer lies in the historical development of Australian imperialism. As a middle-order power, Australia has always prosecuted its own predatory interests, especially in the South Pacific, in alliance with the dominant power of the day, first Britain and then with the opening of the Pacific theatre in World War II, the United States. It was the Labor government of John Curtin that oversaw that wartime switch, which was consolidated by the post-war Labor administration of Ben Chifley. That relationship has underlain the support of all governments, including Labor administrations, for US militarism ever since. The alliance has, over the course of decades, entailed the ever-greater integration of the US and Australian national security establishments. While China remains Australias largest trading partner, in an epoch where finance capital is dominant, the US is the largest source of direct foreign investment. The war drive in the Indo-Pacific, moreover, cannot be viewed in isolation. It is part of a global eruption of militarism, fuelled by the decline of American imperialism and the deepening crisis of world capitalism. Increasingly, aggression against China is viewed in Washington as one theatre of a developing global conflict, including the Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and preparations for war with Iran, and the US-NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine. Keating simply says nothing about these wars. It is not evident what Keating exactly is advocating. His comments are clearest when exposing the reality of the US war drive, but decidedly hazy when it comes to what he is proposing. Asked by Ferguson if Australia should do nothing in the way of military expansion, Keating declared he was in favour of acquiring conventional submarines, underwater drones and a host of materiel that would inevitably be used in aggressive conflicts, including war with China. Keatings positions are a nationalist dead end, that in no way represent opposition to militarism and war. Politically, they serve to line workers and young people up with the ruling elite and to promote Australian nationalism, covering over Australias character of an imperialist power. The only way to fight the looming threat of war is on an independent class basis. That means linking the developing social struggles of the working class with the fight against militarism and all of its proponents, including the Labor government. What is required is an international anti-war movement, uniting workers globally on the basis of a socialist perspective directed against the source of war, the capitalist system itself. On Monday, the Pandemic Mitigation Collaborative (PMC) released its updated model, estimating that over 1.3 million Americans are now being infected with COVID-19 each day as the summer surge deepens. At present, 1 in 38 Americans are infected with COVID-19, as documented extensively in a new report from PMC. The Collaborative, which is run by Michael Hoerger, Ph.D. at Tulane University in New Orleans, just released version 2.0 of its PMC COVID-19 forecasting model. It is one of the most sophisticated models available, designed to inform the public about the current state of the pandemic, while encouraging people to take appropriate precautions to protect themselves. Current levels of transmission exceed those seen during 91 percent of the pandemic to date and are the highest ever seen in mid-August during the entire pandemic. This deepening summer wave is the 9th wave of the pandemic in the US and is taking place amid a complete cover-up by the Biden administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the corporate media, all of whom have conspired to impose the homicidal forever COVID policy of unending mass infection, death and debilitation with Long COVID. Graph of year-over-year transmission shows we have likely never had such high COVID transmission in mid-August. [Photo by Dr. Mike Hoerger (@michael_hoerger on Twitter/X)] The PMC report includes a map of transmission levels by US state, a modified version of a map published by the CDC based on data from the National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS). While the CDC map uses pastel colors to try to portray the deluge of infections as harmless, the PMC report follows best practices in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) design, according to which they note consensus is to use colors like red to indicate something is hotter or greater cause for concern. CDC COVID-19 Heat Map, with higher transmission shown with deeper red [Photo by Dr. Mike Hoerger] The deepening summer surge coincides with the emergence of the new viral variant KP.3.1.1, which has rapidly become dominant since first emerging in early June as a descendent of the KP.3 variant. The confluence of the summer surge and a new viral variant, to which the population has less immunity, is highly dangerous. Combined with the timing of mid-August when children are beginning to return to schools and colleges, it raises the potential for a perfect storm to send viral transmissions even higher in the fall. Commenting on this, the report notes: This is the highest level of transmission at the time of schools starting, so expect K-12 schools and universities to be hotbeds for COVID outbreaks unless they are using multilayered mitigation like indoor air quality that meets ASHRAE standard 241 (if they have never heard of this or cannot explain how they are meeting the standard, they likely are not meeting the standard), surveillance testing, free on-demand testing, and universal masking. In fact, the reopening of schools with zero mitigations in place makes it challenging for the PMC model to predict the peak of the current summer surge. The report notes, we are likely near the peak of the wave, unless the unprecedented context of back-to-school with no emphasis on mitigation pushes transmission higher in ways the model cannot predict statistically. Significantly, the PMC model estimates that Americans have now had COVID-19 on average 3.3 times. According to one study, people who self-report having had 3 infections have a 40 percent chance of developing Long COVID. The PMC model estimates 468,000 to 1,870,000 new cases of Long COVID per week at current transmission levels, an astounding level of new disability being created on a weekly basis. This estimate comes on the heels of the latest groundbreaking study led by Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, which estimated that by the end of last year over 400 million people were suffering from Long COVID globally. A key strength of the new version of the PMC model is that it incorporates three sources of data. The first is the NWSS data from the CDC. The second is BioBot wastewater data that used to be funded by the CDC, which has increasingly been less publicly available. The third source of data is the true case data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), which correlated wastewater levels with daily new cases and was regularly updated through April 1, 2023. Because the three sources of data overlapped for parts of the pandemic, it was possible for the Collaborative to build a statistical model that continues to estimate current case and transmission levels from the wastewater surveillance data. The two wastewater data sources are both used in the model, which enables the model to provide much more reliable estimates. Overall, the Collaborative has provided a highly valuable service in creating a robust model and informing the public about surging COVID-19 levels in the United States. The fact that the CDC itself is not providing this type of modeling and analysis, as any true public health agency would, is an indictment of the capitalist system which instead has sought to keep the public in the dark. Indeed, neither the Twitter account of the CDC nor its director, Mandy Cohen, has issued any warnings about the summer COVID surge. Nor have they urged the public to take precautions to avoid infection and reinfection, such as masks, air purification and avoiding crowds. Several aspects of the PMC model emphasize the extent to which the ruling class has eviscerated public health protections. First, the shutting down of surveillance data has required the Collaborative to be creative in stitching together three different sources of data, which have been active at different times in the pandemic. In particular, the shutting down of the true case data is a complete violation of public health science and practice. Basic case reporting and surveillance is fundamental to the response to a deadly and debilitating virus. Second, the deliberate use of welcoming and cool colors in COVID-19 maps by the CDC serve to downplay the danger to the public of current transmission levels. The Collaboratives red-shifted map paints a much more accurate picture of just how high transmissionand therefore the dangeris. Third, the PMC model has only begun to be able to provide regional estimates of transmission levels within the United States. The Collaborative hopes to increase the robustness of its regional estimates in future versions of its PMC model, but the difficulty in doing so is again due to the systematic shutting down of case reporting and detection at the local, state and national levels by public health agencies. The ongoing coverup of the pandemic and its true dangers is a social crime committed by the capitalist ruling class. They continue to subordinate the publics health to private profit, no matter the immediate and long-term consequences to the publics health. Their let it rip and forever COVID policies continue to generate mass death and disability. The working class is the only social force capable of ending the pandemic and creating new institutions and policies that protect the publics health and prevent new pandemics. It can only do so by overthrowing the capitalist system based on its own independent political program. The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) in the United States held its Eighth National Congress from August 4 to August 9, 2024. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Congress was held online. The Congress unanimously adopted two resolutions, The 2024 US elections and the tasks of the Socialist Equality Party, which elaborates the programmatic basis of the SEPs presidential election campaign of Joseph Kishore and Jerry White, and Free Bogdan Syrotiuk! These resolutions were the subject of extensive and detailed discussion by the delegates throughout the six days of the Congress. The Congress was an international event, with substantial delegations from all the sections and sympathizing groups of the International Committee of the Fourth International. Greetings were delivered to the Congress by leading members of the ICFI from the UK, France, Germany, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Brazil. David North was unanimously re-elected by the Congress delegates as the partys national chairman. The newly elected National Committee re-elected Joseph Kishore as the partys national secretary. Kathleen Martin was elected as the partys assistant national secretary. Lawrence Porter, who served as the partys assistant national secretary since the SEPs Founding Congress in 2008, announced his retirement from the position and remains in the leadership of the party. Martin, 32, joined the SEP in 2014 and has been on the National Committee of the SEP since 2018. The incoming National Committee appointed three co-national editors of the World Socialist Web Site: Barry Grey, Andre Damon and Niles Niemuth. In opening the Congress, David North paid tribute to Helen Halyard, a longtime leading member of the Socialist Equality Party and its predecessor, the Workers League, who died on November 23, 2023, at the age of 73. Comrade Helen was a member of the National Committee of the Workers League/SEP from 1973 until her death. Helen played a major role in not only the history of the Workers League and Socialist Equality Party, but of the International Committee of the Fourth International, North said. Her contribution is embedded in the foundations of our world party. Though Helen is no longer with us physically, all that she contributed to the party lives on. North placed the work and tasks of the Congress in the context of the history of the party and the extraordinary crisis of the entire capitalist system. The Eighth Congress is being held under conditions of a massive economic and political crisis of the capitalist system, he said, stressing that the US presidential election is dominated by two issues: the escalation of American imperialism toward global war and the breakdown of democracy within the United States. The resolution, The 2024 US elections and the tasks of the Socialist Equality Party, outlines the features of the global capitalist crisis and the political basis of the SEPs presidential election campaign. The SEP does not have a separate election program, the resolution states. It utilizes the election campaign to develop and popularize the program of the party, which is rooted in and based on the perspective of the International Committee of the Fourth International. The resolution details the escalation of the US-NATO war against Russia in Ukraine, the imperialist-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the extreme growth of social inequality and the turn of the ruling elites toward fascism and dictatorship. It states: The crisis of global capitalism finds its most concentrated expression in the United States. Bourgeois democracy in America is on its last legs. One of the principal parties of the ruling class, the Republican Party, has acquired an increasingly overt fascistic character, headed by the former president, Donald Trump, who less than four years ago instigated a coup aimed at overturning the presidential election result and the entire constitutional order. The central priority of the Democratic Party is to cover up this political transformation in order to gain the bipartisan support of the Republicans for the vast escalation of imperialist war. The resolution points to the growth of mass opposition and class struggle throughout the world. However, the transformation of this objective process into a conscious movement for socialism is not automatic, it states. Building the revolutionary leadership, in the United States and internationally, is the decisive strategic question upon which the fate of mankind depends. The Congress was devoted to a detailed examination of the historical background to different elements of the global crisis of capitalism and the response of the SEP. Introducing the resolution, Joseph Kishore placed the partys intervention in the 2024 elections in the context of a review of the political practice of the SEP in the 16 years since the partys Founding Congress in 2008. It is a characteristic feature of our approach to politics that we do not respond impressionistically, he explained. We seek continuously to root our present analysis in the historical development of the capitalist crisis and the assimilation of the lessons of the experiences of the working class as they are consciously reflected in the history of the movement itself. There were extensive reports on the eruption of imperialist war (by Andre Damon), the attack on immigrants (by Eric London), the breakdown of democratic forms of rule (by Tom Mackaman and Tom Carter), the development of the class struggle and the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (by Tom Hall and Jerry White), and the experience of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic (by Evan Blake and Benjamin Mateus). One session of the Congress was devoted to a report by Clara Weiss and a discussion of the campaign by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) to free Bogdan Syrotiuk, the founder and leader of the Young Guard of Bolshevik-Leninists (YGBL), a Trotskyist youth organization that has declared its political solidarity with the ICFI. Members of the YGBL participated in the discussion. Comrade Bogdan has been arrested by the fascistic Zelensky regime in Ukraine on trumped-up charges for his opposition to the NATO-instigated Ukraine-Russia war and his fight for the unity of Russian and Ukrainian workers against imperialism and capitalism. The resolution, adopted unanimously, demands the immediate and unconditional release of Bogdan and declares that the SEP supports and encourages the widest circulation of this resolution on social media and other platforms, urging individuals and organizations to sign the petition calling for Bogdans release and to involve their communities in this critical campaign. The World Socialist Web Site will be publishing the resolutions, reports and greetings to the Congress over the coming days. We urge all of our readers to study these documents and make the decision to join the Socialist Equality Party. July 23 was the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Lublin-Majdanek concentration camp in Poland. Commemorative ceremonies were held in Lublin, where a memorial to the Nazi crimes was established shortly after the liberation in 1944. In Germany, however, the date was hardly noticed by the official political establishment. There were only a few small events, including one at the Berlin-Karlshorst Museum, which commemorates the site of the capitulation of Nazi Germany in the Second World War. This is remarkable, because it was the first major Nazi camp to be liberated by the Red Army, and that was half a year before Auschwitz. Its history shows, as historian and Holocaust researcher Stephan Lehnstaedt put it at the Berlin memorial event, basically all aspects of occupation and the Holocaust in Eastern Europe. In fact, the history of Majdanek is particularly revealing. It is here that the connection between Nazi Germanys war of aggression against the Soviet Union and the Holocaust, the extermination of the Jewish population, which primarily affected Poland and Eastern Europe, can be seen most directly. What began as a prison and forced labour camp as part of the Germanisation and resettlement policy ended with the murder of around 80,000 prisoners, including over 60,000 Jews. Death camps in German occupied Poland [Photo: US Holocaust Memorial Museum] When Soviet soldiers and members of the Polish underground army reached the camp on the outskirts of Lublin in eastern Poland on the night of July 22-23,1944, they found a place of horror: burning barracks, demolished watchtowers, shooting pits, destroyed gas chambers, crematoria with ashes, bones, human remains and mountains of shoes of murdered people. Between all this, around a thousand prisoners in a pitiful state between life and death. The SS guards had fled the camp a few hours before their arrival, setting the buildings on fire, hastily burying corpses and transporting around a thousand prisoners to Auschwitz. Red Army soldiers in front of the remains of the crematorium [Photo by Deutsche Fotothek / wikimedia / CC BY-SA 3.0 Shortly after the soldiers arrived, relatives and local residents flocked to the huge camp site. On August 6, 1944, they gathered at a memorial service in Lublin, which was also attended by international war reporters. The horrific images of the Nazi killing machine quickly spread around the world. However, the pleas of Jewish exile groups to the American and British allied forces to bomb the railway lines to Auschwitz, where the mass murders continued day after day, fell on deaf ears. A Soviet-Polish camera teamincluding Stanisaw Wohl, Aleksander Ford and Adolf Forbert, who would later found the Filmhochschule odzimmediately began work on a film documentary, which was released that same year: Vernichtungslager MajdanekFriedhof Europas (Majdanek Extermination CampEuropes Cemetery), in which original statements by survivors and captured SS guards can be heard. On 19 August 1944, just under a month after the camp was liquidated, the initiative to establish a museum was launched. Majdanek thus became the first concentration camp memorial in Europe to begin its work during the war, in November 1944. From the Generalplan Ost to Aktion Reinhardt Lublin, a historic city in eastern Poland with a population of 120,000 at the time, a third being Jews, was located only about a hundred kilometres from the border with the Soviet Ukrainian Republic. After the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, it became part of the occupied General Government of Poland under the command of General Governor Hans Frank, the Butcher of Poland who was later executed in Nuremberg. His right-hand man in the Lublin district was Odilo Globocnik, whom Heinrich Himmler had appointed SS and police leader of Lublin. The Austrian Nazi, former Gauleiter in Vienna, notorious for his mistreatment of Jews and personal enrichment at their expense, organised a brutal campaign of terror in the city and surrounding area immediately after the occupation. He drove farmers from their farms and their homes, recruited paramilitary gangs of the Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz (German Self-Defence) from the German minority and used them for the mass executions of the so-called Intelligenzaktion (Intelligentsia Action) and the subsequent AB-Aktion (Extraordinary Pacification Action). This genocidal campaign by the German occupying power was intended to break the resistance of the Polish population and to initiate the Nazis plans for Germanisation and resettlement. Globocnik began building forced labour camps as early as 1939, including the Lublin Lipowa camp. Polish teachers are led to execution by the Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz on 1 November 1939 Four weeks after the start of the campaign against the Soviet Union in 1941, Hitler gave the Reichsfuhrer of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, the task of securing the newly occupied eastern territories. He immediately travelled to Lublin and appointed Odilo Globocnik as his representative for the establishment of SS and police bases in the new eastern territories. Lublin, with its high proportion of Jewish inhabitants, was to be the centre and was to be settled by Germans from the Reich. To this end, the construction of the camp in the Lublin suburb of Majdan Tatarski, which later became the Majdanek camp complex, began in October 1941. Himmler initially ordered the construction of a concentration camp for 25,000 to 50,000 prisoners to be used for workshops and buildings for the SS and police[1], which was officially called the prisoner-of-war camp of the Waffen-SS. It was not until 1943 that Majdanek was designated the Lublin concentration and labour camp. The intention was to create a central military supply base for the network of fortified SS and police locations and industrial enterprises planned for the east, to supply the Wehrmacht (Armed Forces). Globocnik became one of the two managing directors of Ostindustrie GmbH, which operated its own SS armaments company and appropriated existing private companies. In effect, Globocnik was thus entrusted with the implementation of the Generalplan Ost, Stephan Lehnstaedt said in Berlin. This plan of the Nazi regime, commissioned by Himmler and developed at the Friedrich Wilhelm University, now Humboldt University, under the leadership of the agronomist and SS-Oberfuhrer Konrad Meyer (1901-1973), was an essential basis for the Nazis war strategy in the east. The Generalplan Ost envisaged the expulsion of the majority of the Slavic sub-humansRussians, Poles, Czechs and Ukrainiansfrom Eastern Europe and the enslavement of the remainder. The plan also included the extensive extermination of Jews and 30 million deaths from starvation. The Nazis originally planned to build barracks for 250,000 prisoners on a huge site covering 516 hectares but were later forced to scale down their plans. Unlike the outright extermination camps such as Auschwitz II, also known as Auschwitz-Birkenau, or Treblinka II, crematoria with a smaller capacity were only built relatively late at Majdanek. Initially, the prisoners were exploited to the point of exhaustion as forced labourers under miserable living conditions. The mortality rate was extremely high. Of the 76,000 Jewish forced labourers, 63,000 diedfirst through extermination through work and then through extermination with gas vans and in gas chambers. Inmates who were unfit for work or ill were deported to the regions specially constructed death camps, to Belzec, Sobibor and Treblinka. According to more recent findings, the inmates of Majdanek also included 35,000 Poles, among them numerous resistance fighters, as well as entire families from Belarus and Ukraine who had been deported to build SS bases, and 14,000 Soviet prisoners of war. Around 15,000 members of this group of prisoners were also murdered. According to Stephan Lehnstaedt, the fact that there were not even more Polish victims was also due to the courageous intervention of a Jewish mathematician from the Galician city of Lviv (Lemberg), Dr Janina Mehlberg, who passed herself off as the Polish countess Janina Suchodolska and, in negotiations with the camp commandants, saved thousands of Polish prisoners, including over 2,000 farmers. After the Wannsee Conference in 1942, at which the Nazi leadership decided upon the extermination of European Jewry, the Aktion Reinhardt programme was concentrated in Lublin, leading to the murder of 1.8 million Polish Jews and Roma within a year. The code name is associated with the Nazi response to the assassination of the head of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA, Reich Security Main Office), Reinhard Heydrich, in Prague at the end of May 1942. Lublin was the centre of Aktion Reinhardt, said Lehnstaedt in an interview. It is the place where the economic activities converge. It is where the Jews who are still needed for forced labour and exploitation are distributed. It is where the stolen goods are sorted and processed. It is from there that people are transported to other camps, and it is from there that everything is coordinated. The forced labour in the workshops of Majdanek and its satellite camps Lublin-Lipowastrae, Budzyn, Blizin, Trawniki and others served to supply the Wehrmacht for example, Wehrmacht uniforms were manufactured by the company Schultz & Co., ammunition and ammunition boxes by the Deutsche Ausrustungswerke DAW, parts for Heinkel aircraft construction and weapons by Steyr Daimler Puch. Aktion Erntefest Aktion Reinhardt was followed by Aktion Erntefest (Action Harvest Festival). This cynical code name concealed the mass shooting of all remaining Jews in occupied Poland, including forced labourers. SS Reichsfuhrer Himmler had personally planned and ordered it in 1943, justifying it with security concerns. He was reacting to the uprisings of Jewish, Polish and Soviet prisoners that had broken out in the Warsaw Ghetto (April/May 1943), Bialystok Ghetto (August 1943) and the extermination camps Treblinka (August 1943) and Sobibor (October 1943) after the defeat of the Wehrmacht in Stalingrad. Fearing further unrest, Himmler and Globocnik planned a mass murder of 43,000 Jewish inmates of the remaining labour camps Majdanek, Trawniki and Poniatowa at the same time on November 3-4, 1943. In the main camp of Majdanek alone, the SS shot 18,400 people in one day! To drown out the sound of the machine-gun fire and the screams of the victims, the Nazis played a gramophone loudly, blaring out classical music. Silence after 1945 After the Second World War, the Nazi murders were mainly prosecuted by Polish-Soviet courts. Immediately after the liberation of the camp, the Soviet army command, with the support of Polish units, set up a commission of inquiry that organised an inspection of the camp and prepared the first trial in the same year against six captured SS perpetrators. It ended with death sentences. A second trial against 95 SS prisoners from 1946 to 1948 ended with seven death penalties and long prison sentences. In West Germany, the murderers of Majdanek remained virtually unchallenged, the existence of the camp was long kept secret and has hardly been discussed to this day. It was not until ten years after the end of the Auschwitz trial, in 1975, that a six-year trial began in Dusseldorf against some mostly lower-ranking members of the SS guard team. In 1981, the trial ended with only one life sentence for Hermine Braunsteiner-Ryan, the female camp guard, and mostly with short prison sentences or acquittals. The trial ended in a riot when a lawyer for one of the Nazi defendants loudly demanded that a surviving witness who had been forced by the warden to carry a container of Zyklon B be charged with aiding and abetting the murder. Even today, the Federal Republic of Germany refuses to contribute financially to the Majdanek memorial in Lublin. Stephan Lehnstaedt responded to a question from the Berlin audience: A clear no. Except for Auschwitz, Germany also refuses to contribute financially to other memorials. And this happens with very absurd justifications. Cornelia Pieper (Liberal Democrat, FDP), until 2013 State Secretary at the Foreign Ministry and since 2014 Consul General in Gdansk, Poland, said during the construction of a new memorial in Sobibor: The victim nations are participating, but Germany was not there. According to Lehnstaedt, the so-called Theresienstadt Declaration is being invoked. And that is a masterpiece of German diplomacy, in that it states that the countries in which the memorials are located are financially responsible for them. The German government only provides subsidies for individual projects. Overall, it was focusing unilaterally on the Holocaust and on Auschwitz, Lehnstaedt complained, since this was more effective in the media. The real reason is that German politics after 1945 never really broke with the Nazi traditions. The 80th anniversary commemoration of Majdanek in the Berlin-Karlshorst Museum ended a series of events on the year 1944, which included the liberation of Leningrad after the Wehrmachts hunger blockade, the severe crimes committed by the Wehrmacht in the Ozarichi death camp and the Maly Trostenez extermination site on the outskirts of Minsk. But these crimes against humanity do not prevent German imperialism today from pursuing its geopolitical and economic goals through war and the promotion of fascist tendencies. In Ukraine, it is supporting the war against Russia with billions of euros and is working with a regime that erects monuments to Nazi collaborators and mass murderers from the Second World War, such as Stepan Bandera and Roman Shushkevich. Just a few days before the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Majdanek by the Soviet Red Army, a decree issued by the Bundeswehr (Armed Forces) was announced, honouring leading generals and officers of the Nazi Wehrmacht as fostering tradition and identification. And two weeks later, German-supplied tanks rolled over the border into Russia near Kursk. In Gaza, the German government supports the Israeli armys genocide of the Palestinians and denounces anyone who protests against it as an anti-Semite, including numerous Jews. In return, it receives applause from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and numerous other fascist organisations. Official politics, its compliant media and academic lackeys twist history to justify this criminal policy. In doing so, they eliminate the Holocaust, the extermination of the Jews, from its historical context, the war of extermination against the Soviet Union. Hitlers and the Nazi leaderships anti-Semitism was inextricably linked to their hatred of socialism and the Soviet Union. At the centre of their aggressive war propaganda was Jewish Bolshevism, which they held responsible for the October Revolution of 1917 and the defeat of German imperialism in the First World War. As the American historian Stephen G. Fritz put it in 2011, For him [Hitler], the right war was always the one against the Soviet Union, because for him the fate of Germany depended on the conquest of living space (Lebensraum) and the solution of the Jewish question. Both, in turn, depended on the destruction of the Soviet Union. For him, the war against Jewish Bolshevism and for Lebensraum was comprehensive and of a piece.[3] This is also the deeper reason for the almost complete annihilation of Polish Jews, who, after the October Revolution, tended to be politically left-wing, especially in the cities, and did not support the religious, Zionist minority parties. Before the Nazi invasion on 1 September 1939, the socialist and anti-Zionist General Labour UnionThe Bundwas the strongest Jewish party in Poland. The Communist Party also had a large following among Jews. *** [1] Tomasz Kranz: The Lublin Concentration Camp Between Planning and Realisation. In: Ulrich Herbert, Karin Orth, Christoph Dieckmann: The Nazi Concentration Camps. FiTb, Frankfurt 1998 [2] Elizabeth B. White, Joanna Sliwa: The Counterfeit Countess. Simon & Schuster 2024 [3] Fritz, Stephen G., Ostkrieg: Hitlers War of Extermination in the East. The University Press of Kentucky. Kindle Edition Nashoba Valley Medical Center nurses protest the closing of the hospital. July 31, 2024 [Photo: Massachusetts Nurses Association] Steward Health Care plans to shutter two hospitalsCarney Hospital in Dorchester, a Boston neighborhood, and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayerby the end of August. The closures are the result of a federal bankruptcy ruling won by the deeply indebted Steward, which is based in Dallas. Nearly 1,250 healthcare workers will lose their jobs if the closures go ahead, with no guarantee of employment at other facilities. Massachusetts healthcare workers must rally in defense of the affected healthcare workers and of the communities they serve. The Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), which has 23,000 members working in hospitals, schools, public health agencies and other facilities across the state, has mounted only perfunctory protests at the hospitals and at the city halls in Ayer and Boston, but these actions have been aimed only at dissipating workers anger. The federal bankruptcy judge in Houston gave Steward permission to circumvent Massachusetts state law, which requires a 60-day notice for mass layoffs and 120-day notice for hospital closings. This action allows Steward to rush ahead with the closures with no regard for the communities, patients or workers involved. Workers have already been told to remove their belongings from their lockers by August 15, and hospital equipment is being dumped outside the facilities. Notice posted on a nurses locker at Nashoba Valley Medical Center Steward operates 31 hospitals and hundreds of facilities across eight states. The corporate healthcare giant owns eight hospitals in Massachusetts, which all will be sold or closed as part of the bankruptcy. The hospital chain provides healthcare to more than 2 million people and employs 30,000 people across the United States and in Colombia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. It has more than $9 billion in liabilities. Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center have served thousands of patients per year for decades. The closures will make it substantially more difficult for people living in the surrounding areas to receive timely care. Carney Hospital has 159 beds, an emergency department and other services covering a wide range of specialties. It received 63,172 visits in 2022, according to the Center for Health Information and Analysis. Nashoba Valley Medical Center has 77 licensed beds and had 39,897 visits in 2022. It is also the largest employer in Ayer. Workers all over Massachusetts are outraged by the closures. I used to work at Norwood Hospital [Carney and Nashoba Valley] serve areas where there are no other hospitals, wrote a worker on Facebook in a comment about the closures. When you need emergency care, you need it in minutes, not hours. I feel very sad for these communities. Shame on Steward and shame on the state for not stepping in to save them. So, Carney Hospital is closing? wrote a Milton resident on a different thread. Where are all the sick and injured patients going to go? The resident added that the hospitals should be put into a receivership. Its worse than a tragedy. Its a travesty fueled by greed, remarked another person. Discarded hospital equipment outside Nashoba Valley Medical Center Democratic Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey has rejected any action to stop the closures, saying, Theres nothing that the state can do, that I can do, that I have the power to do, to keep [the closures] from happening. The market has spoken, Kate Walsh, Massachusetts secretary of Health and Human Services, said bluntly, according to the Boston Globe. The Healey administration allowed $11.3 million in MassHealth (Medicaid) funds to be transferred to Steward to temporarily prop up the company in preparation for the sale of Stewards other six Massachusetts hospitals. While Steward claims that no qualified offers have been made for Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center, the Boston Globe reports that Michigan-based Insight Health Systems had made a bid to buy all Stewards hospitals in Massachusetts, including Carney and Nashoba Valley. Although the details of the hospital sales arent known, the Globe described the bankruptcy hearings in Houston as a spectacle in which dozens of high-priced lawyers [are] tasked with maximizing the payout for an army of lenders, creditors and business partners that are their clients. Reacting to public pressure, Boston city councilors passed a resolution on August 7 calling for a declaration of a state of emergency and a city takeover of Carney Hospital until a new owner is secured. The town of Ayer passed a similar resolution on the same day. It is a given that the Healy administration will not act on these measures. Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre has been subpoenaed by the US Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, chaired by Sen. Bernie Sanders, to testify on Stewards bankruptcy. De la Torre, who hauls in around $16 million per year, according to an insider cited by The American Prospect, has come under scrutiny for making lavish purchases, including a $40 million yacht and two private jets, while Steward was going bankrupt. During the bankruptcy hearings, de la Torre was in Versailles, France, to view the Olympic equestrian events. Perhaps more than anyone else in America, Ralph de la Torre, the CEO of Steward Health Care, epitomizes the type of outrageous corporate greed that is permeating our for-profit health care system, said Sanders in his usual bombastic fashion. But in fact, both the Democrats and Republicans support this very same for-profit healthcare system in America, which subordinates health and lives to corporate interests. The MNA has subordinated the struggle against the Steward hospital closures to our leaders throughout state government who are ultimately responsible for protecting and ensuring the public health. They call on the state and municipalities to intervene to prop up the hospitals until they can find new buyers. On April 7, the MNA published a post on X calling on workers to attend an August 13 hearing in Boston. This is our chance to let the governor know we expect her to save Carney to protect the health of our community, said the post. The only force that can protect and ensure public health is the working class, which has an objective interest in maintaining public health and jobs. The bankruptcy courts and big-business politicians, meanwhile, view as legitimate the liquidation of hospitals to pay off the debts of financial speculators and corporate vultures. Healthcare workers and community residents cannot allow hospitals to destroy jobs and dismantle healthcare services in the interest of the corporate bottom line. Steward workers should organize rank-and-file committees, independent of the MNA and other union apparatuses, to unite healthcare workers across the state and beyond to fight against the closures of Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center. Workers can form lines of communication to organize rallies outside Steward hospitals that bring together workers and area residents in a fight to stop the closures and save jobs. If these demands are not met, then nurses and other healthcare workers should call strikes at hospitals across the state. The defense of the basic right to high-quality and affordable healthcare, as well as the right to decent, high-paying jobs, requires the expropriation of the giant healthcare chains, pharmaceutical companies and private insurers and the establishment of genuine socialized medicine. If you agree with these policies, visit here to find out more about building an interconnected network of rank-and-file committees throughout the healthcare industry to fight for them. The Biden administration has escalated the threat of a region-wide war in the Middle East by moving warships to the Eastern Mediterranean as tensions mounted following Israels assassinations of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders in Lebanon and Iran late last month. The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in formation during Rim of the Pacific exercises July 28, 2022. [Photo: Canadian Armed Forces photo by Cpl. Djalma Vuong-De Ramos] In a Sunday phone call, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant that he had ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, which is equipped with F-35C jet fighters, to accelerate its transit to the Middle East. It would add to the capabilities of the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group that is already in the Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility. Austin also ordered the USS Georgia (SSGN 729) guided missile submarine to the CENTCOM region, a 4 million square mile area in the Middle East populated by more than 560 million people and which is between the European, African and Indo-Pacific Commands of the US military. In a Pentagon readout released after the phone call, Austin, reiterated the United States commitment to take every possible step to defend Israel and noted the strengthening of US military force posture and capabilities throughout the Middle East in light of escalating regional tensions. Revealing the geostrategic aims behind the escalation with Iran, the Lincoln strike group is currently near the South China Sea and it will take approximately two weeks to reach the Middle East, according to Pentagon officials. The Lincoln and the Roosevelt aircraft carriers are nuclear-powered and can carry dozens of fighter jets. According to the Navy, the guided-missile submarine USS Georgia can carry more than 150 Tomahawk missiles. An unnamed Pentagon official told the Washington Post on Monday that the destroyer USS Laboon arrived in the area after making its way from the Red Sea through the Suez Canal. The destroyer, which has a battery of surface-to-air and Tomahawk cruise missiles and anti-submarine rockets, will join a fleet of ships with sailors and Marines in a task force trained for evacuation operations. On Monday, National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby told reporters that President Biden had been on the phone with his counterparts from the UK, Germany, France and Italy to discuss the situation. The imperialist powers issued a hypocritical joint statement after the call that said, We called on Iran to stand down its ongoing threats of a military attack against Israel and discussed the serious consequences for regional security should such an attack take place. During the press briefing, Kirby spelled out Israels role as the imperialists attack dog in the region, saying, The Israelis think there is an increasing probability that Iran and its proxies will attack in the coming days. We share this concern and therefore we are coordinating with Israel and other partners in the region. Kirby added that US intelligence thinks an attack could happen this week. Unnamed US officials told the Wall Street Journal that intelligence shows shifting Iranian force postures. However, the official added that identifying the moving of military assets doesnt provide enough information to determine the timing of a potential attack, according to the Journal report. Meanwhile, the leading daily Times of Israel had previously reported that the Benjamin Netanyahu-led government could carry out a preemptive strike on Iran to prevent an attack on Israel. The report said, Israels leading intelligence agencies Mossad and Shin Bet and their respective heads David Barnea and Ronen Bar, were part of a meeting called by Netanyahu that was also attended by Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi. The Israeli government carried out two major assassinations aimed at provoking a conflict with Iran. On July 30, the Israeli regime carried out the murder of top Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in an airstrike in Beirut. The next day, Israel killed Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran with a remote-controlled bomb. The murder of Haniyeh, the Hamas leader involved in the cease-fire negotiations over the Gaza genocide, demonstrates that Israel has no intention of ending its ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from the enclave. After a phone call with German Chancellor Olaf Sholz on Monday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country has the right to respond to any aggression and Iran will never give in to pressure, to sanctions and to bullying and considers it has the right to respond to aggressors in accordance with international norms. In a speech last week, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said his group was certain to retaliate but in its own time. He said, Their [Israels] government, their army, their society, their settlements and their occupiers are all waiting, and the wait is part of the punishment. Israel put its military on high alert saying that its intelligence service observed preparations by Iran and Hezbollah toward carrying out attacks. Yoav Gallant, Israels defense minister, said, We are in the days of vigilance and readiness. On Monday, the commander of Israels Air Force, Major General Tomer Bar, issued an order barring service-members from traveling abroad. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the directive applies to career officers and non-commissioned officers but not conscripts. The Gaza genocide in which 186,000 people, the majority of whom are women and children, have been killed in 10 months, is a foreshadowing of the type of barbarism that the Israeli regime will carry out in a war with Iran and/or Lebanon with US weapons and military technology. In fact, Israel has used the regional tensions to take its mass murder of Palestinians to new heights of criminality with its three air strikes on Tabeen School in Gaza City on Saturday, where 6,000 displaced people were sheltering. The response of the Biden and Netanyahu governments to immediately escalate military presence and readiness means that they are both seeking a wider war. The leaders of US imperialismDemocrats Joe Biden and Kamala Harrishave worked to coordinate the genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza with Israel from the outset and it is a key component of their preparations for a region-wide war targeting Iran. Behind the insanity of provoking war with Iran, a country of 89 million people with substantial military power including 1 million troops, is the deep economic, social and political crisis of the US government. As it has done for the past three decades, the US is seeking to offset its precipitous decline as the worlds preeminent capitalist power through the methods of imperialist military force. This drive for global hegemony is also behind the US proxy war in Ukraine against Russia. People gather at an apartment building damaged after shelling by the Ukrainian side in Kursk, Russia, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. [AP Photo] Six days ago, Ukraine launched a military offensive against the Kursk region of Russia. In that time, several thousand troops have advanced as much as a dozen miles beyond the Russian border. Russia has, up to this point, been unable to repel the offensive, and advancing columns of Russian reinforcements have been destroyed in long-range strikes. On Monday, Russia began evacuations from Belgorod, another nearby border region, as Ukrainian forces claimed to have crossed the border there. The Kursk offensive is of limited military effectiveness, but its political significance is substantial. It is an immense political humiliation for the Putin regime and a demonstration that NATO has no red lines in its escalation against Russia. The United States, Germany and the European Union have endorsed the Ukrainian offensive, all the while claiming not to have been involved in its planning and coordination. Such claims of NATO non-involvement are absurd. The attack comes just one month after the NATO summit in Washington, which formally transferred oversight of the arming and training of the Ukrainian army directly to NATO. Ukraines Kursk offensive, using American and German tanks and long-range missiles, is in reality being coordinated from Washington, Berlin and London minute by minute. Eighty-three years ago, at the start of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, German tanks poured over the border of the Soviet Union. Today, German armored vehicles are once again driving into Russia, manned by Ukrainian forces that often display the same insignia, including swastikas and the double-sig rune used by Himmlers SS. Two years after the start of Operation Barbarossa, the Nazi forces were decisively defeated in the largest land battle in history in the Kursk region of Russia. Now, the Economist, the leading publication of British imperialism, has proclaimed the start of the Second Battle of Kursk, hailing an offensive that falls on the exact month of the 81st anniversary of Hitlers defeat in that same region. The attack on Kursk has demonstrated, in the words of Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, that a significant part of the global community considers [Russia] a legitimate target for any operations and types of weapons. It inevitably follows that if it is permissible for Ukraine to attack Russia using NATO weapons, it is also permissible for NATO troops to attack Russia directly. The Biden administrations self-declared limitations on direct involvement in the war, one after another, have been systematically dismantled. In 2017, before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the US first officially provided Ukraine with lethal weapons. Then came armored vehicles and tanks in 2023, and F-16 fighters and long-range missiles in 2024. Then came the authorization to use those weapons inside Russia. Now, Ukraine, using US and German armored vehicles, has directly launched a ground assault on Russia. The next red line that NATO will cross could be the deployment of its own troops, including for a military offensive against Crimea. The Ukrainian regime, which hails as its ideological leader Nazi collaborator and Holocaust perpetrator Stepan Bandera, has created the jumping-off point for the legitimization of a war to subjugate Russia. When last year the ambassadors of the major NATO powers, including Germany, joined with the entire Canadian parliament in applauding the Nazi war criminal Yaroslav Hunka, they were expressing the fundamental political content of NATOs war against Russia. The oligarchic regime in the Kremlin, which emerged out of the Stalinist bureaucracys destruction of the USSR and restoration of capitalism, has no viable, let alone progressive, response to the drive by NATO to subjugate Russia. On Sunday, the Atlantic Council think tank published a blog post assessing Russian President Vladimir Putins response to the attack: Ukraines offensive is now posing serious questions about the credibility of Russias saber-rattling and the rationality behind the Wests abundance of caution. After all, the Ukrainian armys current invasion of Russia is surely the reddest of all red lines. If Russia was at all serious about a possible nuclear escalation, this would be the moment to make good on its many threats. In fact, Putin has responded by seeking to downplay the invasion while pretending that everything is still going according to plan. Indeed, NATO is determined to cross every red line it had previously set to limit its own involvement in direct war with Russia; this now includes the reddest of all red lines: direct attacks on Russian territory. The recklessness of this policy is impossible to overstate. The Russian government has publicly proclaimed that an attack on Russian territory would be met with the use of nuclear weapons. The NATO powers are all but daring Russia to make good on this threat, an action that could spark not only full-scale war between Russia and NATO, but a thermonuclear exchange capable of destroying all of humanity. The attack on Kursk has exposed the weakness of the bourgeois state that emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Time and time again, Putin has insisted that the Russian oligarchy is a well-behaved, anti-communist bourgeois regime, desperate to do whatever is necessary to salvage what it can of its relationship with the United States. As Putin plaintively explained in his interview with Tucker Carlson earlier this year: We were trying to persuade them. We were saying, Please dont. We are as bourgeois now as you are. We are a market economy, and there is no Communist Party power. Lets negotiate. However, the imperialist powers are not interested in negotiation. Rather, they are determined to dominate and to compel Russia to accept American dictates. All of Putins pleading for the imperialist powers to be rational only increases their recklessness. They are determined to militarily crush Russia, overturn its government and ultimately dissolve the country, using Yugoslavia as a model, into a group of warring statelets that can be exploited by imperialism. Putin himself is under enormous pressure from a substantial section of the Russian oligarchy that wants an agreement with NATO that will allow them to access their Western bank accounts and their yachts. This social layer fears the radicalization of the working class much more than it fears NATO. At the same time, the continuous escalation on the part of the NATO powers can create the conditions in which the Putin government feels compelled to make good on its threats of military retaliation. Putin no doubt believes that a possible Trump presidency would reduce the scale of direct US-NATO involvement in the war against Russia. But it was the Trump administration that first authorized direct US-NATO weapons sales to Ukraine that were so critical to the build-up to the present war. Regardless of the outcome of the US presidential election, US imperialism is determined to subjugate the whole of the former Soviet Union, no matter the cost in human lives. The Kursk offensive is part of a global eruption of imperialist violence all over the world, targeting not just Russia, but China and Iran as well. On Monday, the US announced the deployment of a group of warships to the Middle East threatening Iran, making it clear that the present global military escalation is taking place worldwide. The escalating NATO war against Russia demonstrates, once again, the full and disastrous consequences of the dissolution of the former Soviet Union, which marked the final betrayal by the Stalinist bureaucracy of the 1917 Russian Revolution. At the time, the proponents of dismantling the Soviet Union claimed that this would create the conditions for peaceful coexistence with the US and NATO. Imperialism, they claimed, was a myth invented by Lenin. Three decades later, it has become clear that imperialism is, indeed, very real, and it has selected Russia as a target for destruction. There is no solution to the escalation of imperialist war outside of the building of a mass anti-war movement, based on the traditions of the October Revolution, uniting the workers of Europe, Asia, the Americas and the whole world in the struggle to overturn the capitalist system that is the root cause of imperialist war. The 2024 World Youth Development Forum is held in China. Follow Xinhua's Liu Yutian to hear thoughts of international attendees on China's role in promoting sustainable development and how youth can contribute to the global effort. #2024WorldYouthDevelopmentForum Rescuers operate excavators in search of victims at the site of the landslide at the Kiteezi landfill in Kampala, Uganda, on Aug 13, 2024. (Photo by Hajarah Nalwadda/Xinhua) KAMPALA, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Ugandan police said Tuesday there are still more people trapped under the waste mass, following the landslide of the Kiteezi landfill in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, Saturday morning. Patrick Onyango, spokesperson for the Kampala Metropolitan Police, told Xinhua by telephone that police are not yet sure how many people are still trapped with more reports about missing relatives filed to the police. "There are still [more] people trapped down there. It's the reason why we are still here. We can't estimate the numbers," Onyango said. He said the search and rescue efforts will continue at the garbage dump located in Kawempe, one of the five divisions of Kampala. "We are still here at the scene searching for [deceased] bodies and possibly those still alive. This operation will continue as long as the relatives say their persons are still down there, we shall be here," he said. The Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS), a local humanitarian organization involved in the rescue operations, said the death toll by Tuesday morning had risen to 22. The spokesperson of URCS Irene Nakasiita told Xinhua over the phone that the relief agency has set up makeshift shelters nearby for people whose houses were destroyed and who still need to stay around to help identify the retrieved bodies. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Sunday called for an investigation into the incident, saying people should not have been allowed to live near the landfill. He directed Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja to coordinate the removal of all households in the zone. Locals stand next to the collapsed waste mass at the Kiteezi landfill in Kampala, Uganda, on Aug 13, 2024. (Photo by Hajarah Nalwadda/Xinhua) Survivors receive relief items at an emergency camp set up by Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) near the Kiteezi landfill in Kampala, Uganda, on Aug 13, 2024. (Photo by Hajarah Nalwadda/Xinhua) Locals walk through the garbage at the site of the landslide at the Kiteezi landfill in Kampala, Uganda, on Aug 13, 2024. (Photo by Hajarah Nalwadda/Xinhua) by James Gashumba, Ji Li KIGALI, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- When Agnes Ayinkamiye first encountered Juncao mushroom technology in 2007, she was an agriculture science major just graduated from the University of Rwanda. She had yet to fathom how mushrooms could grow indoors. "At first, people, including myself, didn't understand how mushrooms could be grown indoors. Even when they came, observed, and tasted them," said Ayinkamiye, now manager of Rubirizi Station of Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Board in Kigali, the Rwandan capital. Juncao is a hybrid grass and an important multifunctional agricultural resource developed and used for mushroom farming in China. The innovation, invented by Lin Zhanxi from China's Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University in the 1980s, has benefited more than 100 countries, including Rwanda, allowing smallholder farmers to grow mushrooms from dried, chopped grasses, without cutting down trees and damaging the environment. The grasses also help prevent soil erosion, a feature especially important to the mostly hilly Rwanda. After months of learning with Chinese experts, Ayinkamiye became one of the first Rwandan trainers to help others master the Juncao technology. Some have now turned mushroom growing into a business and their operations are expanding, said Ayinkamiye, 40. She later earned a master's degree in project management from Mount Kenya University. "In my country, we typically find mushrooms in the hills; we never cultivated them. So, it was an exciting experience for me, and I was very happy to work on the project," she said in a recent interview. Ayinkamiye said one of the amazing moments in her new job was the training sessions. "The project was well-received, and we trained many people, particularly women's cooperatives and youth groups," she said. "I enjoyed my work immensely and was thrilled to collaborate with experts." In Kabuye, a village in Kigali's Gasabo District, local farmers registered with non-governmental organizations would join Juncao technology training at Ayinkamiye's site. Sometimes, Ayinkamiye and the experts would visit farmers' farms to provide on-site training. Thanks to efforts by Chinese experts and local trainers like Ayinkamiye, Juncao technology has now been widely adopted in Rwanda. Ayinkamiye spoke highly of the hard-working Chinese experts, who work at a much faster pace than Rwandans were used to. "It was challenging to keep up at first, but I adapted," she said. "The Chinese experts were also kind and supportive of the laborers we worked with. It was a positive experience." "There has been a significant change since then. You can now find mushrooms in different markets, which wasn't the case before," Ayinkamiye said. "People can earn money through Juncao technology, and it's become very popular. I'm very happy about this progress." The progress, however, came after beating some challenges. One was a shortage of mushroom tubes to meet the growing demand from farmers, Ayinkamiye said. The tubes, with mushroom substrate, are needed to transport "seed mushrooms" to distant regions of the country. Pascasie Niragire received training in China in 2016, with Prof. Lin, the inventor of Juncao technology. She now works with the Umushumba Mwiza organization, helping women earn a better living through the cultivation of mushrooms, using Juncao technology. "We produce mushroom tubes, grow them and sell fresh mushrooms," Niragire said. "We plan to sell dry mushrooms and mushroom flour." The organization, which means "Good Shepherd" in the local Kinyarwanda language, also offers catering and hotelier training, using mushrooms produced with Juncao technology in their kitchens. Since 2006, experts from Fujian Agricultural and Forestry University have been working with the Rwandan government on Juncao technology, extending Juncao and other agricultural technologies at the China-Rwanda Agriculture Technology Demonstration Center, located in southern Rwanda. Niragire hopes to open a school dedicated to teaching the cultivation of different types of mushrooms and the promotion of mushroom consumption. She said she was happy to see Prof. Lin, her mentor, visiting Rwanda again in early August, about 18 years after his innovation was introduced in the country. Lin, now 81, told Xinhua in a recent interview that the success of Juncao technology in Rwanda was about firm belief and perseverance. "It is precisely because of our persistence that a new way has been forged for the low-income poor rural households in Rwanda, which is to increase job opportunities, eradicate poverty, and uplift millions of poor women in rural households," he said. About 4,000 Rwandan households have benefited from Juncao technology, some seeing their income double or even triple over the years, Lin said. Filmed between May 2023 and June 2024, Finland's Beyond skate shop went fully in for their fifth full-length video, JONI. I just have to sayfive full-length videos is no small feat! And this crew certainly provided once again. Settle in and take a look: "For this video, our team embarked on filming trips to Spain, Estonia, and Chicago," Beyond mentions in the description. "We also shot in various locations across Finland, with most of the footage captured in Helsinki." That's some serious traveling! This crew isn't messing around, and the fun they clearly had on some of these sessions is impossible to ignore. I don't even know any of them personally, but the FOMO is all too real. Related: Watch: Frecks Just Dropped a Ripping New Part for the House of Vista Skate Shop The video features: Victor Hoglund, Aleksi Suovaara, Heini Luotola, Eppu Vatanen, Ville Keituri, Olli Ilmonen, Samu Karvonen, Eetu Toropainen, Marko Harmaala, Ville Lepisto and Onni Saltevo. Productive skate shop teams like Beyond will always keep us on our toes. Love to see it. Coast to coast, country to country, skate shops continue to be the backbone of this fun little pastime we all so happily obsess over and hungry up-and-comers like thisgoing for broke, strictly for the lovewill forever be admirable. Big ups to all involved! VIDEO / Teemu Metsakyla Subscribe to our newsletter and stay connected. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more quality skate content. 'Games of Thrones' star Kit Harington says he was 'lucky' he got sober before having kids Kit Harington, who played Jon Snow on "Game of Thrones," says he's proud of his sobriety journey. John Nacion/Variety via Getty Images Kit Harington told GQ he was "lucky" to get sober before becoming a father. The actor went to rehab in 2019, before the "Game of Thrones" series finale. Alcohol misuse cost the US $249 billion in 2010, per the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Kit Harington, 37, is proud of his sobriety. In an interview published on Monday, the "Game of Thrones" star told GQ that getting sober changed him for the better. "I was so lucky I got sober before having kids," Harington said, because at one time, it felt "physically and emotionally impossible" for him not to drink again. Harington who played Jon Snow on the hit HBO series for almost a decade checked into a "wellness facility" in 2019 to "work on some personal issues," his rep told People then. According to Page Six, Harington had entered rehab for "stress and alcohol use" ahead of the airing of the "Game of Thrones" series finale, which "really hit him hard." Reflecting on his sobriety and fatherhood, Harington told GQ that both experiences shone a new light on the way he viewed himself. "Everything before kids is research. It does just change everything. I think, at heart and I say this with love for myself I'm quite self-centred," Harington said. "But with kids, you just don't get to be self-centred. They strip you of it. And that's an amazing gift." Even the very idea of being proud of himself was new to him. "Because before getting sober, I would stare in the mirror and call myself a cunt. I'd hate myself. I would literally despise myself and not be proud of anything I'd done. I couldn't be proud," Harington said. "So the fact that I am proud of getting sober is in and of itself a mark of being an entirely different person." Harington has two kids with his wife, fellow "Game of Thrones" actor Rose Leslie. He isn't the only celebrity who has been open about their sobriety journey. During a podcast interview in 2023, Tom Holland spoke about getting sober and called it "the best thing" he's ever done. Earlier this year, Anne Hathaway told The New York Times that she had been sober for over five years, which felt like a milestone for her. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the economic burden of alcohol misuse in 2010 was $249 billion in the United States. Three-quarters of the total cost is related to binge drinking. However, there's been a shift in the pattern of alcohol consumption in recent years, especially among younger generations. A study of 182,722 young adults in the US published by researchers from the University of Michigan, Iowa State University, University of Central Florida, and Texas State University found that alcohol abstinence is increasingly common among Gen Z. Researchers found that 28% of college students in 2018 reported abstaining from alcohol, compared to 20% in 2002. While that may be good for health, it's not that good for some economies. The Japan Times reported that Japan's tax revenue from alcohol sales fell by around 110 billion yen, or about $813 million, in 2020. According to Bloomberg's estimates in 2023, the UK has missed out on $5.7 billion in alcohol tax since 2002. Some industries have been hit harder than others: In 2023, Billboard reported that concert venues especially smaller places without many revenue sources are worried about losing profits from alcohol sales. A representative for Harington did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours. Read the original article on Business Insider Glenn Close, who played JD Vances grandmother in the film version of his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, has a comment about the Republican presidential nominees attack on childless cat ladies. Close posted a photo on Instagram with her cat and the message, Eve would have left a bleeding mouse head in the bed of anyone who criticized any kind of lady with a CAT! #abyssiniancats. More from Deadline Vances 2016 memoir was a best seller, as it shed light on the despair of the working class on Ohio and Kentucky. The book was turned into a Netflix movie in 2020, directed by Ron Howard, as Vance launched a political career. He won a U.S. Senate seat in 2022, before Donald Trump tapped him as his running mate last month. But since then, a clip has surfaced of a 2021 interview that Vance gave to then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson. We are effectively run in this country, via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that theyve made, and so they want make the rest of the country miserable, too, Vance answered. And its just a basic fact. You look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC, the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children. Harris has stepchildren from her marriage to Doug Emhoff. Vance has said that his comments were not a policy proposal but a thought experiment. He said that he was being critical of Democrats for not being pro-family. Best of Deadline Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. New photos obtained by the Daily Beast show JD Vance donning a blonde wig and skirt playing beer pong with fellow Yale Law School students. The photographs were posted to Facebook in April 2011 by a former classmate, and the Ohio senator is tagged. His wife, Usha Vance, is mentioned in one of the images captions. According to the posts, Vance appears to be the only person in drag or costume. The Republican vice presidential pick attended Yale University from 2010 to 2013, before receiving a Juris Doctorate from the Ivy League school. Prior to 2021, Vance was an open supporter of LGBTQ+ causes and, in law school, advocated against Dont Ask Dont Tell, a source who knew the statesman told the Daily Beast. Second Photo Alleged to Show JD Vance in Drag Posted Online His current stance, however, is a point of concern for LGBTQ+ advocacy groups. The Ohio statesman is a vocal critic of gender-affirming care for minors and once opposed federal protections for gay and interracial marriages. In 2022, Vance called critics of so-called dont say gay legislation groomers. Unconfirmed images of Donald Trumps running mate crossdressing first surfaced on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Sunday, and began trending under the hashtag #SofaLoren, a reference to the iconic Italian actress Sophia Loren and false claims that the Republican senator had sex with a couch. A spokesperson for the Republican vice presidential pick did not deny the viral photos authenticity when approached by the Daily Beast, and did not offer any further comment. On Monday, a second unconfirmed photo of Vance was posted to the app. All of the photos look as though they were taken on the same night. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. STEWART AIRPORT - PLAY Airlines is offering Swifties a chance to enter a contest to win a free flight for two and tickets to Taylor Swift's last concert in London this month. Through Friday, Swifties can enter for a chance to win a free flight for two and tickets to the final Taylor Swift concert at London's Wembley Stadium on Aug. 20. Fans have to go to the airline's website, flyplay.com, and sign up for their newsletter to enter. Those who sign up for the newsletter will automatically be entered in a drawing to win two free flights and tickets to the Taylor Swift concert. The winner will be announced via newsletter on Friday, and PLAY Airlines will get in touch with the winner to deliver the prize. They'll fly to London via PLAY's hub in Reykjavik, Iceland. More Stewart flights: Jet away to Florida, South Carolina, Iceland this summer from Hudson Valley Fly to London Taylor Swift concert from Stewart Airport PLAY flies direct to Iceland from New York Stewart International Airport. The airline also has flights out of Baltimore and Washington D.C., and from Iceland provides connecting flights to European markets. PLAY is also offering 22% discounts off select flights to London and eight European destinations through December, using the code "PLAYERA" and the contest is being used to promote their services. PLAY says that in the unlikely event of a concert cancellation, the winner will receive a free round-trip ticket for two to any of PLAY's destinations, valid through Dec. 31. Mike Randall covers breaking news for the Times Herald-Record and the Poughkeepsie Journal. Reach him at mrandall@th-record.com. This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: PLAY Airlines offering chance to win tickets to see Taylor Swift in London French winemaker Nicolas Billot-Grima (L) tastes wine with his colleague in a cellar in Qingtongxia City, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Aug. 7, 2024.(Xinhua/Liu Hai) YINCHUAN, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Nicolas Billot-Grima recalls the night years ago when he stood on a hill in the barren Gobi Desert and saw huge stones everywhere. Looking up at the sky, he couldn't help but exclaim, "I've never seen such a big moon in France." This is how Stone and Moon Winery, which is located at the eastern foot of Helan Mountain in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, obtained its name. Billot-Grima, the sixth generation of a wine family from Bordeaux, France, was attracted to Ningxia's favorable terroir and chose to "make world-class wine here" after exploring many famous wine-producing regions around the world. "I will be 60 years old next year, and I've spent more than half of my life in China," said Billot-Grima, whose love affair with China began more than 30 years ago. In 1987, Billot-Grima, then 22, ventured to China to work for a wine business. He has since helped build several wineries across the country, including in Shandong, Xinjiang and Yunnan. The Frenchman was instrumental in introducing Marselan, an important grape variety, to China. Marselan was quite new at the time, even in France, he explained. "It tastes a little spicy, so I thought maybe it's suitable for China." It turned out to be a success. The first harvest of wine made from Marselan received high recognition from the industry. China is the world's second-largest producer of Marselan, and it is widely available in Ningxia wineries. "Marselan found the best growing environment in China, where it shows a unique charm," said Baudouin Havaux, chairman of the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles. With a dry climate and abundant sunshine, the eastern foot of Helan Mountain is widely regarded as a "golden zone" for grape growing and high-end wine production, which impressed Billot-Grima deeply when he first visited this location in 2012 to compete in a contest. "Ningxia's wine-producing areas enjoy a unique terroir, which is an ideal place to make the wine I want," said Billot-Grima, who relocated to Ningxia and established Stone and Moon Winery in 2017. Billot-Grima has poured his heart into the Ningxia vineyard, importing high-quality equipment and assembling an international team of winemakers from France, Chile and Argentina. The first wine they produced won an international award. "Wine is not a standardized product, so we have to adapt ourselves to new changes every year," said Billot-Grima. "We can collect more information and knowledge through cooperation from all over the world, which helps us find the solution quickly." In June this year, wine from the eastern foot of Helan Mountain, representing China, was showcased for the first time at the Bordeaux Wine Festival 2024. During the event, Billot-Grima served wine to customers from several countries. "They said it's wonderful and they couldn't believe it's made in China," he said. From Helan Mountain to Bordeaux, the relationship between China and France in grape farming and winemaking continues to deepen. China is expected to join the International Organisation of Vine and Wine this year, which Billot-Grima welcomes. "It can show officially that China is a big wine country and China can improve by exchanging with other countries as well," he said. In the vineyard, Billot-Grima and his team are busy preparing for the upcoming harvest. "Bordeaux is known for its wine, and so it can be for Ningxia. I hope to show the world in the near future that Ningxia's wine is among the best wines in the world," he concluded. French winemaker Nicolas Billot-Grima (R) tastes wine with his colleague in a cellar in Qingtongxia City, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Aug. 7, 2024.(Xinhua/Liu Hai) This undated photo provided by French winemaker Nicolas Billot-Grima (C, front) shows him posing for a group photo with local wine industry practitioners in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province.(Xinhua) A group of incarcerated fathers are warned in the documentary Daughters that theyre about to go on emotional rollercoasters. A truer prediction has never been uttered. In the film, directed by Natalie Rae and Angela Patton, the imprisoned fathers at a Washington, D.C., correctional facility, are given a rare gift: a few hours to spend with their daughters, who range in age from 5 to late teens. For one afternoon, they can be together to dance, hug and laugh. For some of the girls, the program, called the Daddy Daughter Dance, will be the first time theyve ever touched their father. Others havent seen their dad in years. The trend in U.S. prisons has been toward video calls and away from in-person touch visits. Even in-person visits are often through plexiglass and a phone. The unspoken question that runs through Daughters, which debuts Wednesday on Netflix, is: Should it be this seldom that incarcerated men have real human interaction with their children? In this heartache of a documentary, the most plaintive plea is a basic one. Whatever else they are, one of the incarcerated men says, Were still fathers. Daughters, a prize-winner at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, first turns its attention to some of the young girls as they prepare for the afternoon. Aubrey, a chatty, immediately loveable 5-year-old, says, When he says he loves me, Im gonna say I love him more. Aubreys father, Keith, will be in prison for another seven years, a time period that even a 5-year-old as bright as Aubrey simply cant conceive. Shes learning to count. Others have more complicated feelings before the dance. Santana, 10, vows not to shed a tear when she goes. The only reason he aint here is he wants to keep doing bad stuff, she says. Her father, Mark, didnt hug his daughter until she was a year old. For JaAna, 11, seeing her father is even rarer. Her mother didnt want her to see her father behind bars. I dont remember nothin about my father, nothin at all," she says. On the day of the dance, the fathers, all wearing suits and a flower on their lapel, are sitting in a long row of seats when their daughters arrive. The filmmakers capture the moment almost like a fairy tale, with lots of light and little sound besides some music, a few shouts of Daddy! and a little muffled crying. Inside a gym, the fathers and daughters play and dance. Some have a ball. For others, its clear that the gulf between them cant be bridged in a day. When its time for the daughters to go home and the fathers to return to their cells, the parting is inevitably crushing. Before the girls depart, the fathers sign pledges to remain their life. In the 12 years of the program, 95% of participating fathers dont return to jail. We've had the good fortune of two exquisitely tender films this summer about the lives of incarcerated people and the paths they might take to redemption in Daughters and the recently released true-tale-inspired drama Sing Sing. In Daughters, the dialogue around the dance is cause for reflection, also, on the imprisoned mens own upbringing and cycles of parental absence that can extend across generations. Time is the fundamental metric of prison life, which makes a documentary like Daughters, filmed over years, uniquely, maybe even monstrously capable of capturing its passing. As much as Daughters can be an emotional rollercoaster, theres no preparing for the films painful years-later epilogue. Aubrey is now 8. She hasnt seen her dad since the dance. When she's finally permitted to visit her father, she doesnt recognize him through the plexiglass. On the ride home, Aubrey no longer looks like the bundle of optimism she was at 5. Make no mistake. This is tragedy, in very real time. Daughters, a Netflix release, is rated PG-13 for some thematic elements and language. Running time: 107 minutes. Three stars out of four. Business TechCrunch OpenAI said in a post on X that it is opening new offices in multiple cities, including NYC, Seattle, Paris, Brussels, and Singapore, in addition to its existing locations in San Francisco, London, Dublin and Tokyo, as part of the company's global expansion efforts. The expansion effort follows the San Francisco-based ChatGPT maker's whopping $6.4 billion funding round, a restructuring plan announcement, and a series of executive departures. The company also said managing director Oliver Jay (formerly the chief revenue officer at Asana and head of APAC and LATAM at Dropbox) will oversee international operations and facilitate global expansion from Singapore. Scott Peterson, Serving a Life Sentence for Murdering His Wife, Is Optimistic and Confident Hell Go Free (Exclusive) In 'Face to Face With Scott Peterson,' a new three-part docuseries premiering on Peacock on Aug. 20, Peterson maintains his innocence from behind bars ZUMA Press/ZUMAPRESS.com Laci Peterson and Scott Peterson For the first time in more than two decades, Scott Peterson is speaking out in a new documentary amid an effort to prove hes innocent of the murders of his wife Laci and unborn son Conner. In Face to Face With Scott Peterson, a new three-part docuseries premiering on Peacock on Aug. 20, the 51-year-old Peterson who is now serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole continues to maintain his innocence from behind bars at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, Calif., as detailed in this week's PEOPLE cover story. Today, as the Los Angeles Innocence Projects appeal of Scotts 2004 conviction makes its way through California courts, Face to Face director Shareen Anderson who spent a year interviewing Scott via video from prison says the inmate is optimistic and confident that ongoing efforts to free him will be successful. On May 29, a judge approved his attorneys request to conduct a DNA test on duct tape found attached to Lacis body but refused testing on 16 other pieces of evidence. Scott, however, is patient. People want the answer they believed in to continue to be the answer, he says with a cool smile. Were all slow to admit when were wrong. Related: Scott Peterson Breaks His Silence: I Was an A-Hole to LaciBut 'I Didnt Kill My Wife (Exclusive) On Dec. 24, 2002, shortly after 6 p.m., Scott called the Modesto Police Department to report his wife missing. Laci was eight months pregnant at the time. Justin Sullivan/Getty Scott Peterson in 2005 By the time detectives arrived at the couples home, nearly three dozen friends, family members and neighbors had already frantically fanned out in the quiet suburban neighborhood looking for Laci. For more about Scott Peterson and the new documentary, subscribe now to PEOPLE or pick up this week's issue, on newsstands Friday. Scott left home at about 9:30 a.m. that day, he told police, to take his new boat out on the San Francisco Bay. On Dec. 30, 2002, the investigation took a dramatic twist when detectives learned that Scott had been engaged in an extramarital affair with a Fresno, Calif., massage therapist named Amber Frey. On April 18 days after Lacis and Conners decomposed bodies washed up on a shoreline roughly two miles from where Scott claimed to have been fishing he was arrested in La Jolla, Calif. He had $15,000 in cash and bleached hair, and prosecutors believed he was fleeing to Mexico. However, Scott claims he was never running from the police. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Scott's supporters believe that on the morning Laci disappeared in Modesto, Calif., the house across the street from the Petersons home was burglarized. They say Laci witnessed the crime in progress and was abductedand killedby members of a network of criminals active in the neighborhood. JOHN MABANGLO/EPA Neighbors told police a van was parked outside the house, and the next day a burned-out van was found less than a mile from the couples house. Scotts lawyers filed a motion for DNA tests on a mattress found in the back of the van, but a judge turned down the request. According to this theory, the burglars disposed of Lacis body in the San Francisco Bay. Prosecutors described Scott during his 2004 murder trial as a man who regretted that he was soon to become a father and committed murder to get out of his marriage without having to pay spousal and child support. Scott admits today that he made a terrible mistake, referring to his affair with Frey. Its horrible, he says. I was a total a-hole to be having sex outside our marriage." But he insists he withheld the information from police in order to focus on finding Laci. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Scott Peterson Shares Details of the Day He Last Saw His Wife Laci Alive: 'Little Things That Are Still with Me' (Exclusive) In the new Peacock docuseries 'Face to Face With Scott Peterson,' the convicted double-murderer finally breaks his silence Modesto Police Dept/ZUMAPRESS.com Laci and Scott Peterson In the nearly two decades since his conviction in the heinous double murder of his wife, Laci, and their unborn son Conner, Scott Peterson has remained tight-lipped about the case. But, in this weeks PEOPLE cover story, Peterson, now 51, finally breaks his silence about the murders and his memories of the morning he last saw Laci alive. Sitting in the noisy dayroom of Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, Calif., and speaking over a grainy video call, Peterson his demeanor calm and friendly, his hair long and tousled discusses the details of the hours before he claims his wife vanished on Dec. 24, 2002. His expression turns somber when he shares the things that I relish from that final morning when he claimed he left the couples home in Modesto, Calif., to go fishing 90 miles away in the San Francisco Bay then returned home to find Laci missing. Peacock Peterson, speaking from Mule Creek State Prison, in the Peacock documentary. I would see Laci smile when she would do her hair on the morning of the 24th, and the way we would share a bowl for cereal because we were too lazy to do two bowls, he says in Face to Face with Scott Peterson, a new three-part docuseries premiering on Peacock on Aug. 20. Just those little things are still with me. In the documentary, the former fertilizer salesperson now serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole still denies any involvement in the disappearance and death of Laci and the child she was carrying. ZUMA Press/ZUMAPRESS.com Laci, shortly before her murder in December 2002. He's using the nearly-three-hour-long program to appeal to the public to listen his side of what he refers to as the so-called investigation carried out by police and prosecutors who, he claims, ignored significant leads and relied solely on circumstantial evidence to convict him during his trial in 2004. I regret not testifying [at my trial], he says. But if I have a chance to show people what the truth is, and if they are willing to accept it, it would be the biggest thing that I can accomplish right nowbecause I didnt kill my family. Four months after Lacis disappearance sparked a massive search effort, Laci and Conners decomposed bodies washed up roughly two miles from where Peterson claimed to have been fishing in the San Francisco Bay on the day she vanished. Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office/Getty Images Petersonwho had recently dyed his hair blondein his mugshot, shortly after his arrest on April 18, 2003. He was arrested in La Jolla, Calif., with $15,000 in cash, a baggie filled with Viagra tablets, camping gear and four cell phones in his car. Police believed that Peterson who they learned had been entangled in an extramarital affair with a Fresno, Calif., massage therapist named Amber Frey was preparing to flee to Mexico. I dont understand that at all, says Peterson, whose original death sentence was overturned in 2020 on a legal technicality. I just want to be clear I was never running from the police. Face to Face also chronicles efforts by the Los Angeles Innocence Project which announced earlier this year that it was taking on Petersons case in an effort to get his conviction overturned. This past Saturday somebody made a mention [of the anniversary] and I was stunned, says Peterson in the documentary that offers candid details about Petersons life behind bars. A guy I never would expect to show humanity, a guy I was working in the kitchen with that day, brought it up. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Is that a bookstore back in the mall? Aventura retail goes retro, with a new twist For the past decade, Aventura has been book desert. When I was a teenager, said Romina Garber, a bestselling author who grew up in the area, we had a Borders and a Barnes and Noble. But the Borders folded, along with its parent company, in 2011. And in 2014, a nearby Barnes and Noble closed. For years, Aventura readers had to journey to Pembroke Pines or Coral Gables to buy a book in person or hear an author. But that has changed. From Argentina to Miami Farah Cano, right, reads the book You are a Little Seed to her daughter Valentina Cicardini at Quade Books in Aventura Mall on Friday, August 9, 2024 in Aventura, Fla. Quade Books, an independent bookstore based in Argentina, opened its first U.S. location in the Aventura Mall in July. The store fits right into bilingual Miami, offering a robust selection of adult and childrens books both in English and in Spanish. Quade books opened its first store in Cordoba, Argentina, in 2007. The company expanded over the years, opening three more locations in Argentina. The Aventura store is the first location in the United States, but not the last, said Evangelina Montiel, who co-owns Quade Books with her husband, Jorge Caparelli. To be in the book-selling business, you have to be a little crazy, Caparelli said in Spanish. This is not business. This is culture. What the bookstore looks like Customers leave Quade Books in Aventura Mall after making a purchase on Friday, August 9, 2024 in Aventura, Fla. Quade Books is tucked into a corner of the Aventura Mall, right next to the Apple store. A wide, floor-to-ceiling opening beckons customers into the shop. The store is small but spacious, brightly lit, with high ceilings and an open-floor plan. The walls and tables look papered with books, their multi-colored covers facing out, giving the store a candy-shop-like vibrancy. I keep coming back because its so pretty, Jennifer Valdes said as she browsed the shelves. Valdes, who lives in Aventura, was so excited about the new store that she visited just days after it opened, and has continued to come back. On a recent visit, she took home a limited edition of the Jane Austen classic Emma, with a bright pink cover. Quades stock Owners of Quade Books in Aventura Mall Jorge Caparelli and Evangelina Montiel discuss their favorite books at the store on Friday, August 9, 2024 in Aventura, Fla. Montiel and Caparelli work hard to curate a bilingual collection specifically for their new store. They try to focus on supplying books that are difficult to find in the United States, Montiel said. But the couple clearly arent afraid to stock popular works. Two sets of the Harry Potter series sit atop one another on the shelves, one in English and one in Spanish. A few shelves down is a Spanish Karl Marx translation, entitled El Capital. Avril Rodriguez, who has worked at Quade Books since it opened, says shes been selling lots of romance novels, such as It Ends With Us, in both English and Spanish. She also says the store gets parents hoping to raise bilingual children. The entire left side of the store is dedicated to childrens books, many of them designed to teach Spanish or English language skills. Its important to have a big childrens section in all our stores, said Montiel, who has three children with Caparelli. A tote bag hanging on the wall has the phrase, Reading, all the cool kids are doing it. Montiel says she and her husband have been visiting Miami for a long time, and began to consider opening a bookstore here about three years ago. They wanted to open a shop that was similar to their locations in Argentina, but adapted to the profile of this city, where cultural diversity and bilingualism are the norms, Montiel said in an email to the Miami Herald. Advantage of Aventura Mall Author of Castle of the Cursed, Romina Garber, left, and co-owner of Quade Books in Aventura Mall Evangelina Montiel Bertone talk at the book store on Friday, August 9, 2024 in Aventura, Fla. The couple chose Aventura Mall, Northeast 195th Street and Biscayne Boulevard, for their first U.S. location because of its high foot traffic, convenient location, and appreciation for culture, she said. The Aventura Mall did not comment to the Miami Herald about the new bookstore. When the mall opened in 1983, the mall featured two bookstores that remained for years: B Dalton Bookseller and Waldenbooks. But like record stores and video game arcades, those disappeared to make way for boutiques. Montiel says that the most common thing she hears from her Aventura customers, after years without a local bookstore, is thank you. Its really serving the needs of the community, said Garber, the author who can now see her books stocked on shelves in her hometown. Garber says her family used to have to wait to order Spanish translations of her latest novels, but now she can just send everyone to Quade Books. Thats such a treat, she said. Garber has already supplied the shop with some signed copies of her newest book, Castle of the Cursed. And shell be signing books at an event at Quade Books at 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 18. In these destinations you can bag a five-star holiday for the same price of a three-star Spain or Cyprus break The cheapest place you can experience a five-star week-long holiday is in Bulgaria (Getty Images/iStockphoto) Bourgas in Bulgaria has been revealed as the cheapest European destination for a five-star holiday suited to a family getaway, according to new research. In the Bourgas region, which is home to long stretches of coastline and historical sites, the average price for a package holiday was found to be 776. At this price, Travel Supermarkets Cheap Holiday Index Platform (CHIPs) found that holidaymakers could enjoy a five-star week-long break, including one meal and a day out to a local attraction for one person. In comparison, a three-star break in Larnaca, Cyprus, would cost 828. The stay in Bulgaria would also be 1,000 cheaper than a family holiday to the Costa del Sol in Spain. Egypt comes in second place on the index, with a five-star stay costing an average of 795 per person for a week. A seven-night stay in Malta would cost an average of 818 for that five-star experience both of which are still under the price for three-star accommodation in Larnaca. A week stay at a five-star resort, one meal and a day out at an attraction would cost one person on average 776 in Bourgas, Bulgaria (Getty Images) If a trip to Turkey is on your bucket list, a five-star package holiday in Dalaman would only cost 833 per person on average, just 5 more than Larnacas three-star hotels. The Algarve in Portugal comes in at 985 per person, while Costa Dorada is an affordable option in Spain with prices settling just under the 1,000 mark at 996 per person. Rounding out the top ten cheapest five-star package holidays are four destinations just creeping over the 1,000 per person barrier: a Crete stay averages at 1,040, Larnaca at 1,050, Paphos at 1,061, and Lanzarote just makes the list with an average person price of 1,063. At the other end of the list, Costa del Sol comes in as the most expensive five-star package holiday destination in the research, averaging at 1,799 per person for a week. Even if someone were to opt to travel long haul to a destination outside of Europe, such as Cancun or the Dominican Republic, those holidays would still be, on average, over 295 less than the Costa del Sol. For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calders podcast Tourists at the border fence of Modlareuth, a village in eastern Germany known as "Little Berlin." Andreas Drouve/dpa Two families in East Germany, longing for freedom, built their own hot air balloon out of masses of taffeta, bought secretly in preparations that took more than a year. They planned to flee and cross into West Germany in a daring plan put into action in September 1979. They set out in their craft on a moonlit September night - after a failed attempt when they ran out of gas in the air and crashed into the bushes below. However, they managed to reach the West in their second try, making it out of the country in a highly dramatic feat just before the East German police caught up with them. The two families were dicing with death, as guards protecting the border in East Germany, then part of the Eastern Bloc, were ordered to use lethal force to prevent people defecting to the West. The inner German border and the Berlin Wall were heavily fortified with watchtowers, land mines, armed soldiers and other measures to prevent illegal crossings. "We didn't know anything about ballooning," says Gunter Wetzel, 69, from one of the two families who managed to flee in their homemade balloon, who researched at length after a television programme provided inspiration. When asked whether his dreams have been fulfilled in his new home, he replies soberly, "What do you mean by dreams?" Wetzel, who retrained as a car mechanic, was sure it would all work out. His story was later made into several films. His character was played by US star Beau Bridges in the Disney film "Nightcrossing" and by David Kross in a German movie called "Balloon" (2018). Sadly the films did not make him rich, however. "We were naive," he says, looking back. Exploring the former death strip A sign located on what used to be East Germany's infamous death strip now tells visitors about the balloon flight, known worldwide for its boldness. Following World War II, Germany was divided for decades, separated by a lengthy border that can now be walked by hikers. Where the death strip ran along the inner German border, there is now a green belt between the Saxon-Bavarian Vogtland region and the Baltic Sea. Day trippers are drawn by the combination of forests, moorland, rivers, heathland and low mountain ranges. Hiking journalist Thorsten Hoyer has covered 1,250 kilometres of the roughly 1,400-kilometre-long green belt in less than a month, but he does not recommend it, saying, "70% of it is over concrete and asphalt." Nature is working on reclaiming the terrain, but has not yet managed completely. The route is modelled on the Kolonnenweg on the east side, where the former East Germany border guards patrolled over perforated slabs. Today, there is greenery everywhere along the path - though less in the way of tourist infrastructure and in places, there could be better signposting. So it is better if cyclists and hikers focus on select routes, perhaps in the Franconian Forest where the states of Bavaria and Thuringia meet. 'Little Berlin' The river Saale, once a border, flows leisurely along and builds up to a smooth surface near Hirschberg and is lined with trees and bushes, while canoeists rush over a weir. If you cycle along the colonnade path, watch out for the wide depressions in the concrete. The situation eases on a forest path and the little road to Modlareuth. Here, Americans used to call the village "Little Berlin." Just like the German capital, Modlareuth was divided by a wall and you can still visit the German-German Museum which has a memorial to the separation of the country. Visitors can also see a section of the Wall, and watchtowers and barbed wire fences bear witness to the painful division. Britt Hornig, who is currently wandering through the museum grounds, is deeply moved and agitated. She used to work as a paediatric nurse in East Germany. "There can't be anything like this again. That was my childhood, my youth. It was absolute madness what they did to us." "I went to the demonstrations in Leipzig every week and fought for freedom until the Wall came down." Otto Oeder, a former border policeman and now 79 years old, also recalls the division. "I thought the world ended there," he says, describing his deployment on the Bavarian side of the Iron Curtain. He wrote and published his book about those divided years, recalling refugees who made it through. "At our police station, we first dressed them in dry clothes, donated by us, not paid for by the state." He also set up a regular meeting point in a pub for people who had crossed the border and could share their anecdotes. Anyone loyal to the East German regime was unwelcome. Hiking through the past Frankenwald-Steigla is the name of a network of circular hiking trails in the Franconian Forest, three of which illustrate the German-German past. The Wetzsteinmacher trail, 5.3 kilometres long and starting below Lauenstein Castle, leads up to the Thuringer Warte. It is a viewing tower on the summit of the Ratzenberg and provides a fantastic vantage point to survey the area. Climb 117 steps and you can take in a view of the forests of the Thuringian-Franconian Slate Mountains. Other climbs include the challenging Grenzer-Weg trail - 16.8 kilometres from Carlsgrun - and the moderate, recently inaugurated 10-kilometre Grunes Band trail, which starts in Mitwitz. Along the way, a stream babbles and cuckoo calls echo through the forest. You can hear birdsong, while dewdrops sparkle like pearls on blades of grass. Dragonflies dance in the sun and it is so peaceful that you cannot imagine anything ever happened here. For decades Germany was divided by a 1,400-kilometre border that marked the separation between the Eastern Bloc and the West. Today hikers can explore the country's recent history by walking the green belt that used to be East Germany's infamous death strip. Andreas Drouve/dpa Where East Germany's infamous death strip once ran along the inner German border, there is now a green belt between the Saxon-Bavarian Vogtland region and the Baltic Sea. Andreas Drouve/dpa At the German-German Museum in Modlareuth, visitors can see a section of the Berlin Wall, and watchtowers and barbed wire fences bear witness to the painful division of Germany. Andreas Drouve/dpa Otto Oeder, a former border policeman, used to work on the West German side of the border that divided the country for decades. Andreas Drouve/dpa A watchtower at the German-German Museum in the village of Modlareuth. Andreas Drouve/dpa Guests at The Nauti Lobstah (311 S. Forest Ave. in Apopka) often suffer from analysis paralysis when gazing at the menu of delights available, including Southern classics from its era of operation as The Catfish Place (2324 13th St. in St Cloud), or the northeastern dishes that came courtesy of its next-gen, Rhode Island-native chef/owner, Mike Rumplik. So, sometimes, says Rumpliks wife and partner, Cara, theyll work backward. Visit Orlandos Magical Dining returns with record 150 restaurants I do know that I want the whoopie pies for dessert, theyll say, and then they figure out which appetizer and entree theyd like, she told the Orlando Sentinel as we explored the sweet-ending side of this years Magical Dining roster. Aunt Peggys Wicked Whoopie Pies, a $3 enhancement option and one of the restaurants most popular desserts, are among the items offered. Sometimes. when we go by to check on the tables, and theyre eating dessert, all you get is a moan and eyes rollingno words even come out! Thats the best compliment that we can ask for. The pies, light chocolate cakes stuffed into a sandwich full of sweet, but not too sweet icing, says Cara Rumplik, are named for the chefs Aunt Peggy, who lives in Canton, Massachusetts. Growing up, all of her kids and the nieces and nephews would go to Aunt Peggy and Uncle Franks and she always made whoopie pies, Cara Rumplik says. She would have bags of them for everyone to take home. She even has all of the kids and now grandkids help in making them. Whoopie pies are a traditional New England dessert favorite, she explains. Guests have been asking since we opened almost three years ago whether we were going to have them. So, Chef Mike called Aunt Peggy and asked if she would share her recipe, which she gladly did. Theres a similar story at Reel Fish Coastal Kitchen + Bar (1234 N. Orange Ave. in Winter Park), says owner Fred Thimm, only in their case, the brilliant dessert idea came via his wife, Carey, who one morning, over coffee, suggested that her Great Aunt Libbys coconut cake would make a delicious addition to the menu. Never having tasted it, I took another sip of coffee while thinking to myself with a tinge of panic at the potential pitfalls of a wrong answer that our dessert menu was already a sublimely perfect curation and then suggested she bake it for our chef to see what he thought. Excellent thinking. And his wife complied. The chef was wowed. We put the Careys Coconut Cake on our dessert menu, the guests loved it and the rest is history. Out in Apopka, Mike Rumplik worked on his aunts recipe over time and, once perfected, put it on the menu. Now, says Cara Rumplik, we make them from scratch every day. The kitchen at Four Flamingos: A Richard Blais Florida Kitchen (1 Grand Cypress Blvd. in Orlando) may not be one where scads of cousins are making drop cookies but, says chef de cuisine Shelby Farrell, the goodies are 100 percent scratch-made. We wanted to ensure everyone who joins us for Magical Dining gets the full Four Flamingos experience, and our hand-crafted desserts are the real icing on the cake pun fully intended. One of this years offerings, the Dragon Fruit tiramisu, is bright like the bird for which the place is named. It couldnt be a better fit for Four Flamingos, says Farrell. Housemade lady fingers dipped in Chinola liquor with whipped mascarpone, vibrant powdered dragon fruit, and fresh yellow dragon fruit my personal favorite. When it comes to dessert, the ones we love best are often those that bring us back to childhood, which is why The Nauti Lobstahs New England-raised guests so often count the whoopie pies among theirs, says Rumplik. Sometimes, the simplest dishes are the most delicious. Got a sweet tooth? Peruse the dessert offerings for all of this years participating restaurants at OrlandoMagicalDining.com. Want to reach out? Find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com. For more fun, join the Lets Eat, Orlando Facebook group. The wait is overalmost. After months of hype and glimpses at Surf Abu Dhabi the latest synthetic surf pool from Kelly Slater Wave Co., located in the United Arab Emirates the world is finally going to have the opportunity to surf the thing, come October. In multiple posts on social media, Surf Abu Dhabi, located on Hudayriyat Island in the UAE capital city, made the grand opening announcement, claiming were on. They continued: Cant wait to see you all in October. Thank you for staying curious and sharing the love for Surf Abu Dhabi, its all happening! And before you flood our DMs bookings for October sessions will be live on our website in September. As mentioned before, theres been much hype about this pool mainly due to the size of it, the length of ride, and the stature of the tube. But, due to clandestine setbacks, the grand opening was pushed back from the end of 2023, to now, October, 2024. In a press release, Modon Properties (the folks who collaborated on Surf Abu Dhabi with KSWC), made these claims about the pools potential and size: Surf Abu Dhabi will be the biggest and most advanced artificial wave facility in the world. Designed in partnership with Kelly Slater Wave Co., the landmark destination will offer a high-performance surfing experience, featuring the worlds longest ride, biggest barrel, and largest man-made wave pool. Underscoring Abu Dhabis sporting and leisure credentials, the exclusive surfing complex seeks to attract everyone from beginners to pro-surfers. Surf Abu Dhabi will provide an ideal location to host major international events and will play a major role in developing the surfing community locally, regionally, and globally. Related: Kelly Slaters Abu Dhabi Wavepool: Everything to Know About the Mega Middle East Synthetic Surfing Destination And since footage first emerged of the pool, many of the worlds best had their first tastes. Heres just a few of the testimonials over the past few months: WOW congratulations on another incredible project! Thank you for having me and for the amazing hospitality. Caroline Marks "Super stoked to experience the biggest man-made wave and is built for every surfer from beginner to professional level." Emirates surfer, Mohammed Mo Rahma So much respect for you [Kelly Slater]! thanks for the invite brotha. it was one of the sickest experiences. Filipe Toledo Really, really cool. High quality wave. Its a wonderful place for an artificial wave, so it makes sense to be here. This is definitely the longest and highest quality ride that you can get as a surfer. Stephanie Gilmore I never thought Id get waves in Abu Dhabi, you know? You just want to go big on every turn. Gabriel Medina Surf trip to the Middle East in October? It's on. Related: Watch: Kelly Slaters First Wave at the New Pool in Abu Dhabi *** Don't miss another headline from SURFER! Subscribe to our newsletter, follow us on Instagram, and stay connected with the latest happenings in the world of surfing. We're always on the lookout for amusing, interesting and engaging surf-related videos to feature on our channels. Whether you're a professional surfer or just an amateur, we want to see your best footage and help you share it with the world. Submit your video for a chance to be featured on SURFER and our social channels. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch high-quality surf videos. A Louisville cat cafe is celebrating a huge milestone with 10,000 adoptions. Purrfect Day Cafe, located at 1741 Bardstown Road, became the first cat cafe nationally to facilitate 10,000 cat adoptions Sunday just after its sixth anniversary, the Kentucky Humane Society stated in a news release. First opening in 2018, Purrfect Day Cafe works in partnership with the Kentucky Humane Society to adopt out cats "who would otherwise be homeless or in a shelter," the release said, and 10,000 adoptions mark a "significant achievement in animal welfare and community engagement." Cats adopted at the cafe come from 37 Kentucky counties and cats are spayed or neutered, vaccinated and microchipped before Purrfect Day acts as a foster home. Louisville Animal Services Louisville Metro Animal Services facing overcapacity, could euthanize 600 dogs in 2024 This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Purrfect Day cat cafe in Louisville celebrates 10,000 adoptions TOKYO, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- A cargo plane made an emergency landing at Japan's Narita International Airport near Tokyo on Tuesday morning, leading to runway closure. A Boeing 747 cargo plane operated by Atlas Air, or flight 7106 bound for Los Angeles, was forced to make an emergency return to Narita airport due to a hydraulic system malfunction at around 1:10 a.m., reported national news agency Kyodo. Upon landing at around 1:10 a.m. local time, a tire burst and wheel damage were detected on the plane. Runway A at the airport was closed for about seven hours due to the accident. None of the seven crew members on board were injured, according to the transport ministry's airport office. Despite the runway closure, there were no significant delays or cancellations of other flights. Missouri rejected these vulgar license plates. Im not sure what to think about it | Opinion This commentary references profanity and may be offensive to some readers. When I read The Stars news story on automobile license plates that were rejected, I was intrigued. My family recently bought a used car, so we are in the market for new plates. I dont usually buy what are referred to as vanity plates, but after reading this story, it makes me wonder: Are license plates the last bastion of our individuality? And who is making the call on whats offensive or vulgar? From June 2023 to May 2024, the Missouri Department of Revenue rejected 475 unique license plate configurations. Apparently, the Department of Revenue is able to catch profanities in many languages, and reject license plate applications about the president, drugs or violence. Obviously, each license plate must follow state obscenity laws. They cannot be obscene, profane, patently offensive or contemptuous of a racial or ethnic group, or offensive to good taste or decency. Ill be the first person to say you shouldnt be able to use racial epithets, or calls for violence. I get that. But in a world where more and more people feel constrained and controlled, shouldnt you just be able to say what you feel on one of the most expensive purchases you make your vehicle? The news story published 16 of the 475 rejected plates. Those of you submitting these plate ideas are really clever. Considering you can use only up to six characters plus one space, dash or apostrophe, you guys are downright gifted. I figured out on my own why a few were rejected (and sorry, I cant explain here in a general news outlet). If you dont understand, ask a 20-something: Anything ending in AF Anything with or alluding to MOFO Anything alluding to the f-word Anything alluding to the b-word Anything using the combination of numbers 69 A few of the ones rejected were fascinating meaning why would someone want to have this on their vehicle? Of the 16 The Star cited, two had to do with cannibalism (CANABL and DAHMER). Is this a thing now? Do I have to worry about this? One, FB1CAR, makes sense, I guess. You dont want drivers out there impersonating the FBI, right? And HANKYP? Which Im guessing is short for hanky-panky. Who is rejecting these plates, the Missouri Department of Revenue, or my grandmother? The rest 1ETAS5, PFAAF0, FCRDF0, UFAUF0, BEAUCH and PNSCAR are beyond me. I dont get why they were rejected. I suppose my mind isnt that filthy. Dont email me with your guesses. I dont think I want to know. I get a lot of letters from readers who feel like they are not heard (on both political sides, but recently, more from the right.) Im sure this has contributed to the rise of Trumps MAGA. So again, why cant we express ourselves fully inside the little box on our vehicles? But as Im thinking this through, imagine the increases in road rage wed experience if you really could say what you want on your plate. So whats left to say? Nerddom rise! Those of us who love sci-fi and geeky stuff, unite! There are plenty of you who might not share this interest, but its not against the law. Here are five license plate ideas. Youre welcome. D0KTR (British sci-fi icon Doctor Who) JLPCRD (Star Trek Captain Jean- Luc Picard) STEMLF (STEM Life, or Fan of STEM science, technology, engineering and math) VIDGMR (Video gamer) NRDC0R (Nerdcore, an internet aesthetic and genre of music) These may already be taken, but I havent checked. Remember, there are a lot of us nerds out there, thank goodness. "Red or white?" is more than an outdated question. It's so far beyond a foodie faux-pas that, if your server asks it at the start of your meal, you can probably expect a lousy dining experience. It's no secret that not all white wines are created equal -- which is why today we're deep-diving into what separates two of the most popular, accessible varieties in the modern white wine oeuvre: Pinot grigio and sauvignon blanc. For starters, it might be helpful to get their commonalities out of the way. Both wines are high-acidity and dry. It'd be tough to confuse either of these varieties with a sweet Riesling or Moscato. They share an ideal serving temperature of 45-55 degrees Fahrenheit (you can overchill wine, for the record), and both clock in at 11.5%-13.5% ABV. Both wines are also (happily) wicked affordable and commonly available in most grocery stores. For those looking to try a high-quality yet still affordable bottle, Costco carries a great sauvignon blanc and pinot grigio. This is largely where their similarities end. As with any wine, their flavor profiles can vary depending on in which region the wine was produced, and whether it is a mass-batch or single-vineyard product (and within that, the conditions of that year's vintage). But, with a sharpened sense of knowing what to expect, the taste of pinot grigio and the taste of sauvignon blanc couldn't seem further apart in your palette. Read more: The 40 Absolute Best Cocktails That Feature Only 2 Ingredients What Is Pinot Grigio? Pinot grigio grapes in vineyard - Nalidsa/Shutterstock Pinot grigio is made from the eponymous pinot grigio grape, a mutation of pinot noir. The grape itself is surrounded in a pinkish-gray skin responsible for the "grigio" or "gris" in the variety's name, both meaning "gray." The hallmark of pinot grigio is a crisp, dry to medium-dry profile with a light body and low tannins. Zippy acidity and airy citrus top notes combine for a refreshing counterbalance to the dryness. This pale gold beauty finishes with a smooth, rich, silky, lingering mouthfeel. On the palette, top notes often include meyer lemon, lime, peach, pear, apricot, honeysuckle, raw almond, melon, Granny Smith green apple, white nectarine, and salinity. While wine varieties tend to be organized and subsequently named by region, pinot grigio is a vino well-known and well-loved by fans worldwide. "Pinot grigio" is the wine's Italian name. In France, the same wine is called "pinot gris." Although, an important distinction here: Pinot grigio and pinot gris are not identical, even though colloquially, they are often used interchangeably to refer to the same wine. Alsace-style totes higher tannins and yields a fuller-bodied wine that leans sweeter than its Italian counterpart. Still, the difference is truly marginal enough that to use both regional names interchangeably is not necessarily incorrect. What Is Sauvignon Blanc? Sauvignon blanc grapes in vineyard - Heike Richter, New Zealand/Getty Images Like pinot grigio, sauvignon blanc is dry yet refreshing. But, where pinot grigio shines in zesty, bright citrus notes, sauvignon blanc brings the depth with a terroir-driven palette. To be clear, that's "terroir," not "minerality" (more on the new-age wine term debate here). With sauvignon blanc, it's all about herbaceous "greenness" and razor-sharp acidity. It's a strong-tasting and highly expressive wine, leaning either citrus-fruity (New Zealand-produced sauvignon blancs feature distinctive top notes of dry gooseberry and grapefruit) or savory (vegetal notes of grass, tomato leaf, and bell pepper). That herbal, vegetal flavor comes from a chemical compound called pyrazine, which gives sauvignon blanc its unique, wildly recognizable flavor compared to other high-acid white wines. This semi-aromatic, medium-light-bodied wine is less accessible than pinot grigio, but extremely balanced and with an equally long finish. Prominent tasting notes include gooseberry, honeydew melon, grapefruit, white peach, and passion fruit. More specific, subtler regional notes can range from beeswax to lemongrass, saline, flint, and pea shoot. Sauvignons blanc also generally features a better aging capacity than pinot grigio, and can be batonnaged, a process you're less likely to spy with pinot grigio. Pinot Grigio Is Dominantly Italian, While Sauvignon Blanc Comes From New Zealand And France White wine glasses with grapes - Andreas-saldavs/Getty Images Wine is heavily influenced by its growing region, and as such, the foundational difference between pinot grigio and sauvignon blanc begins with the soil and climate in which they're grown. The Lombardy region in Northern Italy is the most popular, well-known region for pinot grigio production. This area produces consistent, accessible wine that makes up for any lack in dimensionality with affordability. In fact, perhaps counterintuitively, during blind tastings, many sommeliers are able to identify pinot grigio based on its lack of complexity. Beyond Italy, pinot grigio's top two production regions are Oregon's Willamette Valley and Alsace Grand Cru of France. Despite its Italian name, pinot grigio originates from the French grapes of Burgundy, but is also produced today in Trentino-Alto Adige, Umbria, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli, and Austria, among other places. Like pinot girigio, Sauvignon blanc also originated in Bordeaux (specifically Bordeaux's Pessac-Leognan and Entre-Deux-Mers regions and the Loire Valley) but quickly spread from France thanks to Paris's electric nightlife to vineyards across New Zealand, Africa, Chile, Argentina, California, and Australia. In fact, the "sauvignon" in the wine's title evolves from the French "sauvage" meaning "wild," a nod to how quickly the grape variety rooted and spread across the region. In the modern wine scene, sauvignon blanc's dominant regional identity belongs to New Zealand, where it is most commonly produced in Marlborough. Pinot Grigio Is Food-Pairing Friendly, While Sauvignon Blanc Specifically Favors Herbaceous Dishes Two glasses of white wine - Yulia Naumenko/Getty Images Thanks to their unique and vastly different flavor profiles, it's only natural that pinot grigio and sauvignon blanc fare better alongside different food pairings. Pinot grigio pairs famously well with non-tomato pasta dishes like chicken alfredo, shrimp scampi, and any lemon, butter, or pesto sauces (the wine's high acididty makes quick work of cutting through richer sauces). It's also a great match for subtly-flavored seafood like ceviche, tilapia, scallops, oysters, sea bass, salmon, halibut, and sole, as well as spiced meats like pork and duck. Pinot grigio's versatility and relatively uncomplicated profile makes it a good pair for eclectic charcuterie spreads (especially with sheep's milk cheeses like gruyere and manchego), and its bright acidity can round out spicy dishes like green curry or chicken tikka masala. Sauvignon blanc is a bit bolder and, by extension, requires a bit more intentionality to pair well. This grassy wine complements herb-forward dishes, making it a popular pairing with Thai and Vietnamese culinary stylings, which prominently feature herbaceous flavors. It works well with grassy chevre cheese, or any soft, flavorful cheese like goat cheese, burrata, ricotta, and creme fraiche. Like most white wines, it's also a good match for light proteins like tofu, chicken, turkey, and seafood, particularly mild-yet-funky trout, calamari, smoked salmon, lobster, and garlic prawns. Other solid food matches include veal picatta, pork chops, woody creamed mushroom risotto, Greek pasta salad, artichokes, eggplants, leeks, zucchini, and asparagus. Read the original article on Tasting Table. These 2 cities are the best places to rent apartments in SC, new report shows. Heres why If youre looking for a place to rent, South Carolina has at least two cities worth your attention, a new report shows. And one of those cities is apparently your overall best option in the nation. RentCafe recently unveiled its annual ranking of the 50 best cities for renters. To help renters pick their ideal city, the nationwide apartment search website looked at 20 metrics across 150 U.S. cities. The metrics, including apartment quality, economic strength, traffic, air quality and natural amenities, were grouped into three categories cost of living and housing, local economy, and quality of life. Overall, the South claimed 38 of the 50 positions in the 2024 ranking, establishing itself as the best region for renters in 2024. From popular rental hot spots like Atlanta and highly competitive Miami to small locales such as McKinney, TX; Marietta, GA; and Daytona Beach, FL the South offers options that cater to nearly every renters preference, RentCafe wrote in an article. Heres a look at the South Carolina cities that made the list. #1 Charleston Charleston snagged the spot as the best city for renters for the second year in a row, due in part to its strong local economy (ranked #2) and affordability (ranked #7). Besides having a cost of living thats below the national average, the city is loaded with career opportunities from major employers like Boeing, Benefitfocus, Blackbaud, and BoomTown, which has earned it the nickname of Silicon Harbor, RentCafe writes. Charleston has a thriving tourism industry with plenty of job opportunities too. The city also excels in quality of life by offering spacious apartments, quality schools and abundant green spaces, making it all the more appealing to renters, RentCafe writes. Furthermore, young adults can look forward to living in a socially active city, with plenty of fitness centers, cultural events and fairs, as well as museums to keep them busy clear reasons why Charleston remains the #1 city for renters in 2024. #16 Greenville RentCafe didnt have anything specific to say about Greenville, but for those who are familiar with South Carolina, its not hard to understand why the city made it so far up on the ranking. The city has been booming for years and has routinely been featured on seemingly endless best of lists. Greenville is at the center of everything, Southern Living wrote earlier this year. You can be in Asheville in an hour, Atlanta in two, and Charleston in three. But with the citys gorgeous Falls Park on the Reedy, a walkable and lively downtown, and the 22-mile Swamp Rabbit Trail connecting major attractions throughout the city, theres really no reason to leave. According to RentCafe, Greenville ranked 11th in housing and cost of living, 23rd in local economy and 37th in quality of life. Top 10 best cities for renters in 2024 Charleston, SC Atlanta, GA Sarasota, FL McKinney, TX Scottsdale, AZ Round Rock, TX Austin, TX Chapel Hill, NC Gilbert, AZ Miami, FL DENVER (KDVR) Parts of a Nederland carousel have been standing for over a century, but if it wasnt for a Marine with a tiny music box during the Vietnam War, it might not be standing at all. The Carousel of Happiness in Nederland started as a daydream. Scott Harrison, a Marine, carried around music that his sister sent him while he was in Vietnam. According to the carousels executive director Melody Baumhover, Harrison would hold the music box up to his ear and listen. While he was in the trenches in the war with bombs and gunfire going off around him, that for some odd reason made him think of a carousel, said Baumhover. It played Chopins Tristesse, and theres no rhyme or reason to why he thought of a carousel, simply that it was something peaceful, something happy, something joyful, and that song and trying to just escape where he was, thats what he would picture. This Colorado carousel still runs over 100 years later Little did Harrison know, the carousel would become a reality years later. Hand-carved animal on the Carousel of Happiness (Courtesy of Melody Baumhover) Hand-carved animal on the Carousel of Happiness (Courtesy of Melody Baumhover) Hand-carved animal on the Carousel of Happiness (Courtesy of Melody Baumhover) Hand-carved animal on the Carousel of Happiness (Courtesy of Melody Baumhover) Hand-carved animal on the Carousel of Happiness (Courtesy of Melody Baumhover) There was talk between Harrison and two of his Marine buddies about building a carousel when they went back to the United States. They wanted to create something that was the opposite of what they experienced. So, they wanted to just create a place of joy and happiness, something that was going to be fun, happy, where people would come in and smile every day, said Baumhover. Then, Harrisons two Marine friends passed away and Harrison was injured on the same day and sent home. He met his wife and built a family in Nederland. Harrison was building his house when he found the frame of a carousel made in the early 1900s for sale. The animals in the carousel had since been sold, but Harrison brought the frame from Utah to Colorado, according to Baumhover. It took many decades for him to kind of get the final inspiration of, this is what I want to make is that carousel I pictured. But throughout the time, he never really let go of that memory of how he got through the war, said Baumhover. Poll: Favorite roadside attractions in Colorado Harrison carved from 1986 to about 2008, learning how to carve and craft animals on the carousel, each one taking about six to nine months to create, according to Baumhover. After the carousel was finished, he created a nonprofit organization. With the help of the Nederland community, a population of 1,500 at the time, they raised the $700,000 needed to build the carousel a home, according to the website. The carousel is still up and running in downtown Nederland and lies in a shopping center. He was looking for a place for this, where we are at in the shopping center now, was just kind of a big grassy meadow. There wasnt anything here. Its right up next to the highway. Its next to the grocery store, but it was an open field, said Baumhover. And so, we like to say eventually he found that little mountain meadow that he wanted to put the carousel in. The carousel costs $3 to ride and is open seven days a week. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver. 1 of every 10 NYC public restrooms is closed, according to new analysis 1 of every 10 NYC public restrooms is closed, according to new analysis EAST HARLEM, Manhattan (PIX11) Anyone whos lived in or visited New York City may recall times when theyve needed to go to the bathroom, but when they finally find one, their hopes are dashed because its out of service. The frequency with which that happens may come as a surprise to some. More Local News Alyssa Mendez said that she wasnt surprised to learn that many bathroom facilities citywide are like the one in the park and playground on 118th Street where she was watching her younger siblings. They were playing in the splash pad. They have to use the bathroom with the water and stuff, Mendez said. When the restroom isnt working, she added, its a hassle for her and her family. You have to go more farther to find a changing stall to change, she said. The shuttered restroom at her playground is one of 116 citywide that are out of service among the citys 1,047 public restrooms. Thats according to a new analysis done by the website Gothamist. Use Google Maps to find public bathrooms near you in NYC It means that 1 of every 10 public restrooms is shut down, for various reasons. Mustapha Camara, who was also at the 118th Street playground, said that the closed facility is an inconvenience. Weve got to use the bathroom, Camara said. Its a park. Everybody should be able to use the bathroom. Public libraries citywide also have restrooms available, but some of those are like the Aguilar Branch Library in East Harlem. The entire building is closed for renovations, making the restrooms completely off-limits. Ironically, there are portable restrooms in front of the building, with signs posted on them reading, For Construction Only. David Torres, a neighborhood resident, said that more access is needed, especially in East Harlem. As the citys interactive public bathroom finder map shows it doesnt have quite as many facilities available as many other neighborhoods. With restroom closures added to the equation, the neighborhood becomes something of a bathroom desert. They should keep all the bathrooms open obviously, Torres said, for the public, for the kids. Security executive Robert Tucker is the new FDNY commissioner The new analysis compared the citys interactive bathroom map, which it released this summer, with its list of the working status of all public bathrooms. Thats how it concluded that 10 percent of the facilities were out of order. For its part, the Parks Department responded with a statement: Parks is proud to operate the vast majority of the citys public restrooms, and we are committed to expanding New Yorkers access to this vital resource. Currently, there are approximately fifty public restrooms in the construction pipeline, and we continue to bring new restrooms online, including recently at Pier 42 in Manhattan. Earlier this summer, Mayor Eric Adams announced that the city is building or renovating 82 public restrooms. RFK Jr. will not be on New Yorks ballot, judge says he is not a state resident One parkgoer, who gave only her first name, Yasmine, said that even the open facilities have issues with cleaning and maintenance that leave her concerned about using them. I have the lowest expectations for bathrooms here, she said, as she played with her two-year-old and sixth-month-old sons in a park on East 111th Street. I try to either try the Starbucks and buy something, or, like, be close to home. PIX11 News also contacted the public library systems that serve the five boroughs. They said that their facilities are only closed for construction and that those renovations make the restrooms more accessible and appealing. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. It's official, both the Democrat and Republican Parties have selected their nominees for President and V.P. after a few election-year weeks that have been... chaotic to say the least. Vice President Kamala Harris has officially been chosen as the 2024 Democratic Presidential nominee and just announced her running mate to be Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Donald Trump has selected author and Republican Senator from Ohio, JD Vance, known for his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, as his VP pick. Choosing your running mate is one of the most important calls a Presidential hopeful has to make, and we've all seen the results of previous disastrous VP picks by both parties. Let's look back at the past 60 years of elections, with 15 photos of American Vice Presidents before they were elected (or re-elected) out on the campaign trail. 2020: Kamala Harris Before becoming Vice President, Harris served as a U.S. Senator from California and Attorney General of the Golden State. Harris also campaigned for the 2020 Presidential nomination, and even clashed with Biden at a few debates, but dropped out in December 2019. She was announced as the VP pick in August of 2020 among other frontrunners including Elizabeth Warren, Susan Rice, and Gretchen Whitmer. Drew Angerer - Getty Images 2016: Mike Pence Mike Pence, previously the Governor of Indiana, first endorsed Ted Cruz as the 2016 Republican Presidential nominee but endorsed Donald Trump when he beat Cruz at the primary and was selected as Trump's running mate over other choices including Chris Christie and Newt Gingrich. Following his Vice Presidency, Pence was one of the targets of rioters during the January 6th Capitol attack while he presided over the joint session of Congress certifying the 2020 electoral college vote results. Pence has since distanced himself from Trump, criticizing him for his role in inciting the Capitol Riots and attempting to pressure Pence to overturn the election results. Alex Wong - Getty Images 2012: Joe Biden Incumbents Barack Obama and Joe Biden at a rally in Dayton, Ohio. Ohio is a major swing state that went blue in the 2012 election, a key victory for Obama and Biden along with Colorado, Florida, Nevada, and Virginia. Key issues discussed during the campaign included the response to the 2008 recession, the ending of the Iraq War, and the efficacy of Obama's legislative achievements including the Affordable Care Act which he signed into law in 2010. Brooks Kraft - Getty Images 2008: Joe Biden Obama and Biden at Windmill Ice Cream Shop in Pennsylvania in August 2008, shortly after Biden was officially selected as the Democratic VP nominee. Securing both the popular vote and electoral vote majority over Republican candidates John McCain and Sarah Palin, the former junior Illinois Senator and Delaware Senator took office in 2009. SAUL LOEB - Getty Images 2004: Dick Cheney Incumbent veep Dick Cheney at a rally in Ohio. It was rumored that Cheney may be replaced for re-election and names like Rudy Giuliani, Bill Frist, and Rob Portman were reportedly floated, but Cheney stayed on the ticket with the pair clinching a second term over Democrats John Kerry and John Edwards. Joe Sohm/Visions of America - Getty Images 2000: Dick Cheney George W. Bush and Dick Cheney held a rally in Naperville, Illinois on Labor Day, 2000. It was one of only five elections in history, and the first since 1888, where the winning candidate lost the popular vote. Bush and Cheney won 271 electoral votes to Al Gore and Joe Lieberman's 266, while the democratic candidates won 48.4% of the popular vote just over Bush and Cheney's 47.9%. Bush won the election by securing Florida's electoral college votes by a margin of just over 500 votes, and a manual recount of the votes was halted by the U.S. Supreme Court in the winter, with Gore officially conceding the election on December 13, 2000. PAUL BUCK - Getty Images 1996: Al Gore Vice President Al Gore and Bill Clinton ran for a second term against the former Kansas Congressman and Senator Bob Dole and his running mate Jack Kemp. In this shot, Gore and Clinton are campaigning in Great Falls, Maryland by participating in an Earth Day cleanup. Cynthia Johnson - Getty Images 1992: Al Gore Gore and Clinton at a campaign rally in Gore's hometown of Carthage, Tennessee. Gore served as a congressman and Senator from Tennessee before joining Clinton's campaign, and in fact, Gore's 1990 re-election to the Senate was the last time a Democratic Senator was elected in Tennessee. The Democrats defeated incumbents George H.W. Bush and Dan Quayle, ending a long period of mostly Republican electoral victories through the '7os and '80s. Bettmann - Getty Images 1988: Dan Quayle Quayle spoke with a voter during a stop at the Bush/Quayle 1988 campaign headquarters in Washington D.C. just about a month before the election in October. George H.W. Bush and Quayle beat Democrats Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bensten with 426 electoral college votes and 53.4% of the popular vote. Bettmann - Getty Images 1984: George H.W. Bush George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush aboard Air Force Two while on the campaign trail for his second term as Vice President. Facing former VP Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro on the Democratic ticket, incumbents Ronald Reagan and Bush won the presidency in one of the biggest landslide victories in U.S. election history. Reagan's campaign highlighted economic recovery efforts from the 1981-82 recession and was able to counter criticisms of Reagen's old age with messaging in TV advertisements. Cynthia Johnson - Getty Images 1980: George H.W. Bush Bush with Ronald Reagan at a campaign press conference. They ran against each other for the Presidential nomination in the primaries, and Bush claimed a few states, but Reagan's substantial lead proved insurmountable. Partly due to the poor approval ratings of incumbents Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale because of factors like economic stagflation and the Iran hostage crisis, the Reagan and Bush ticket claimed a landslide victory in the General election. Dirck Halstead - Getty Images 1976: Walter Mondale Walter Mondale and Jimmy Carter ate together in Carter's hometown of Plains, Georgia on the campaign trail. They secured a narrow victory against incumbents Gerald Ford and Bob Dole, with Carter appearing as a surprise Democratic nominee who was relatively unknown outside of Georgia where he had served as Governor and a State Senator. Owen Franken - Corbis - Getty Images 1972: Spiro Agnew The incumbents Spiro Agnew and Richard Nixon at the Republican National Convention. Another big electoral win for Republicans, they beat George McGovern and Sargent Shriver with 60.7% of the popular vote, the largest percentage of any Republican candidate for U.S. President. Both Nixon and Agnew resigned before the end of their second terms, due to the Watergate scandal and a corruption investigation and conviction respectively. Historical - Getty Images 1968: Spiro Agnew Nixon and Agnew accepted their nominations for President and Vice President at the 1968 RNC, beating former VP Hubert Humphrey and Edmund Muskie, and segregationist politician George Wallace who ran on the American Independent Party ticket, at the general election. The assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr and Robert F. Kennedy, and university campus protests against the Vietnam War were just a few of the events that made it a particularly chaotic campaign year. Bettmann - Getty Images 1964: Hubert Humphrey Hubert Humphrey at a campaign stop in a shopping center in Levittown, Pennsylvania. He and Lyndon B. Johnson secured the highest percentage of the popular vote for any Democratic Party candidate in history over Republican opponents Barry Goldwater and William E. Miller. Jack Rosen - Getty Images You Might Also Like The authorities in Kharkiv Oblast have extended the curfew for 201 settlements in border areas it will last for 16 hours per day. Source: Oleh Syniehubov, Head of Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram Quote: "Curfew was extended for 201 settlements of Kharkiv Oblast it will last from 17:00 to 9:00 every day. This decision was adopted to facilitate efficient work of the Defence Forces of Ukraine and to ensure the safety of civilians since its quite dangerous to live in these border areas." Details: Syniehubov specified that this decision is valid for 11 settlements of the Izium district, 37 settlements of the Chuhuiv district, 41 settlements of the Kharkiv district, 42 settlements of the Bohodukhiv district and 73 settlements of Kupiansk district. He reported that almost 14,000 civilians, including 1,000 children, in total have been evacuated from the Kharkiv, Chuhuiv and Kupiansk districts since 10 May. "Over the past day 55 people were evacuated: 46 adults and nine children," Syniehubov summed up. Background: Earlier it was reported that from 12 August the curfew will last from 17:00 to 9:00 in Derhachi and Lyptsi hromadas [a hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories ed.] of Kharkiv Oblast, which border Russia. Support UP or become our patron! KANSAS CITY, Mo. Kyleigh Guzman, 19, was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to shooting 25-year-old Jarod Rogers in 2022. Guzman has been charged with second-degree murder and aggravated robbery. According to court records, all other charges have been dismissed. Kansas City man sentenced 20 years in deadly Westport shooting Four other teens have been charged in connection to Rogerss death: 19-year-old Sabrina Clark, 19-year-old Roger Hernandez, 19-year-old Fernando Gonzalez-Prado, and 20-year-old Fernando Reyes-Lara. According to previous reporting, on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, officers responded to a welfare check at about 6:30 p.m. in a parking lot near Johnson Drive and Nieman Road in Shawnee, Kan. Upon arrival, officers found Rogers suffering from a gunshot wound and took him to a hospital. Investigators said on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022, multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Kansas Highway Patrol, Olathe Police Department and Shawnee Police Department, were involved in a chase connected to the shooting. Kansas City man pleads guilty to killing man in 2022 shooting The following Friday, Dec. 2, 2022, Shawnee police learned that someone in connection to the shooting had turned themselves in to the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department, and another person was taken into custody. Later that day, police confirmed all five suspected had been arrested. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. ADEN, Yemen, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) office in Sanaa, Yemen, has been shut down by Houthi forces, UN and government officials said on Tuesday. In an escalation of tensions between the Houthi group and international organizations operating in Yemen, UN and local government officials confirmed to Xinhua that armed Houthi personnel conducted a raid operation of the OHCHR premises, situated in Sanaa's Hadda district, last Thursday and Friday. During the operation, the militant group confiscated various properties, vehicles, assets, and documents belonging to the office, including the main hard disk containing crucial electronic information. A source within the UN commission, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the incident, saying that "gunmen from the Houthi group entered our headquarters, conducted a comprehensive search, and seized our properties." Following the raid, the Houthi gunmen expelled the employees and completely shut down the OHCHR office. The Yemeni government, through a senior official in the Ministry of Legal Affairs and Human Rights, confirmed the incident, saying that "the raid against the UN office is part of a broader pattern of Houthi hostility towards international entities operating in the country's northern regions." He said that the latest development follows a series of arrests targeting employees of UN and international organizations in Sanaa. In June, six OHCHR staff members were detained and still remain in custody. Yemen's government had previously reported that the number of detained aid workers exceeded 50, prompting calls for international organizations to evacuate Sanaa due to security concerns. Last month, UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, issued an appeal for the immediate and unconditional release of UN staff, aid workers, and civil society members detained by the Houthi group in Sanaa. The Houthi group has controlled Sanaa and most of the northern Yemeni provinces since late 2014 and has since been engaged in a years-long military conflict with the Yemeni government forces. The conflict has resulted in one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, according to the UN. SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) A 19-year-old man was taken into custody on Monday, accused of shooting at a house and seriously injuring a 55-year-old woman inside. Apisai Matelau, 19, was booked into the Salt Lake Metro Jail on one count of aggravated assault resulting in serious bodily injury, a second-degree felony. According to court documents, Matelau was one of two men who approached the back of the Glendale neighborhood home near Concord Street and California Avenue just before 11 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 10. The Salt Lake City Police Department said Matelau turned himself in at the Salt Lake County Jail for his involvement with the shooting just days later. Matelau reportedly told detectives he was not the shooter but that he had gone to the house for a robbery of disposable THC cartridges. Two suspected gang members arrested in death of 18-year-old on Mt. Olympus trailhead Matelau told police he did not know what house they were going to and he did not know that the other suspect was going to fire his gun at the house. Police said surveillance footage from a doorbell camera does show two men at the back of the home, one of which was carrying a gun. Seconds later, numerous gunshots can be heard. According to the Salt Lake City Police Department, the gunman fired about 14 shots at the house with one bullet striking the 55-year-old woman in the arm. The woman was taken to the hospital by paramedics with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. As of Monday, Aug. 13, no other arrest has been made in connection to the shooting. An investigation remains ongoing. Charges are allegations only. All arrested persons are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. 2 out of 5 Russian working airfields in occupied Crimea 'operating at a minimum,' military says Russia is using only five military airfields in occupied Crimea, two of which were hit by the Ukrainian military and are now functioning "at a minimum," Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk, said on Aug. 13 on national television. Following the annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014, Russia began using local airfields to station its air force and launch attacks on Ukrainian cities. The occupied peninsula has been repeatedly targeted by Ukrainian drone and naval strikes, forcing Russian forces to withdraw much of its naval power and strengthen its air defenses. According to Pletenchuk, two of the five airfields no longer have the load they had at the beginning of the full-scale invasion because they "suffered damage." The spokesperson added that Russia could have used more airfields on the occupied peninsula, but it uses only five of them. Pletenchuk did not specify the airfields used by Russian troops in occupied Crimea and which of them were damaged by Ukrainian forces. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces confirmed on July 26 that Ukraine had struck the Saky airfield. Radio Liberty's (RFE/RL) Schemes investigative project published satellite images of the airfield after the strike. The July 28 images showed dark spots on the air base where Su-30 aircraft were stationed, which may indicate a fire and explosions. The Russian government did not comment on the strike on the airfield in occupied Crimea. The Saky military airfield in Novofedorivka has been hit several times by missiles since the beginning of the all-out war in 2022. The 43rd Fighter Aviation Regiment, as well as Su-24 bombers and Su-30 fighters, are based there. Read also: Kursk incursion and Crimea strikes could ease pressure on Ukraines Donbas forces Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. LENOIR CITY, Tenn. (WATE) In 2019, Tennessee Army National Guard Soldier Jacob Bishop was found dead at his home in Lenoir City. Nearly five years later, two people have been arrested and charged with his murder. The Loudon County Sheriffs Office released on Tuesday that Eric Austin Byrd, 39, of Lenoir City, and Amanda James Bishop, 39, of Kingston were arrested in connection to Jacob Bishops murder. The arrests were made after a thorough and comprehensive investigation involving numerous law enforcement agencies. Athens child left in hot car dies, father facing reckless homicide charge According to the sheriffs office, Amanda and Jacob Bishop were going through a divorce and in a heated custody battle at the time of the murder. Sheriff Jimmy Davis explained during a press conference Tuesday afternoon that they believe that is what sparked the animosity between them and eventually led to Jacob Bishops murder. Davis added that Amanda Bishop was always kind of at the top of the list of suspects. LCSO also identified Byrd as Amanda Bishops cousin. Amanda Bishop (Loudon County Sheriffs Office) Eric Byrd (Loudon County Sheriffs Office) During the press conference, Davis explained details of the case, including how it was the only unsolved murder case the department had during former Sheriff Tim Guiders 32 year-tenure. On October 1, 2019, Jacob Bishop was found dead at his home. He suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was bound by zip ties, according to the sheriffs office. He had just returned from Poland that May. Davis also shared that the case has been actively investigated constantly since it began, and they have been in contact with Jacob Bishops mother, who was the one that found him dead, around every week. Some people say, you know, give them peace or closure. I dont think theres really a closure in a case like this, but we can at least try to give them some justice. So thats what were trying to do today is give her a little bit of justice and be able to follow this through to get a conviction, said Davis. LCSO said the investigation has faced numerous challenges, but advancements in technology and evidence allowed the case to progress. Although Davis did not share exactly what technology was used in the breakthrough, he did share that the investigation included geofencing and data collection of that nature. Both Byrd and Amanda Bishop were charged with first-degree murder. They are being held at the Loudon County Detention Center on $1 million bonds. Davis added that the case also hit close to home. Before Jacob was killed he was in a deployment to Poland attendance, Tennessee Army National Guard. As you know, our Chief Deputy Zac Frye, is also in the National Guard as well as Sergeant Detective Shane Gomer. We are preparing three of those to be able to be deployed to Kuwait, Davis explained, continuing to say Frye was deployed to Poland with a separate unit at the same time and knew of Bishop. Us having those close personal ties with Tennessee Army National Guard really brings it close to home, as we all obviously want to take care of our service members that take care of us. So when this happened, it was very, very shocking that someone would do this to one of our service members. Suspect in West Knoxville bank robbery captured The case was investigated by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), United States Secret Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Maryville Police Department, Lenoir City Police Department, Knoxville Police Department, Sulphur Springs Police Department, TX, Hopkins County Sheriffs Office, TX, Roane County Sheriffs Office, Wilson County Sheriffs Office, Union County Sheriffs Office, 9th Judicial District Drug Task Force, 9th Judicial District Attorneys Office, University of Tennessee Regional Forensics Center and the Regional Organized Crime Information Center (ROCIC). EDITORS NOTE: This story has been updated. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WATE 6 On Your Side. TOLLAND, Conn. (WTNH) Two people were arrested in East Hartford on Monday after stealing thousands of dollars worth of Apple merchandise from a store in New Hampshire, according to state police. Driver arrested after fleeing fatal crash in Hartford Tolland police officers were contacted by nearby Haverhill, Massachusetts officers on Monday morning, saying that they were helping officers in Plaistow, New Hampshire find people who allegedly stole $50,000 in Apple products. After using tracking technology on one of the stolen devices, the Haverhill detective found that the thieves were travelling on Interstate 84 westbound. Using radio communication only, a trooper patrolling the highway was able to locate a vehicle registered out of Lawrence, Massachusetts that was following too closely behind another car. As the trooper pulled them over, he communicated with the officer tracking the device, who could see the vehicles speed slowing down as the car that was getting pulled over slowed down. Police allegedly found 69 stolen devices, totaling to $51,000. Patrick Cadet, 51, was charged with larceny and 29-year-old Yaritza Sanchez Gonzalez was charged with conspiracy to commit larceny. Both of them are Lawrence residents. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTNH.com. Two former Los Angeles sheriff's deputies and two former foreign military members one from the U.K. and one from Australia have been accused of staging a "sham raid" on a man's home as part of a business dispute, federal prosecutors said. According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, the four men were hired by a "wealthy Chinese national" -- who is being identified as an unindicted co-conspirator -- to pressure the victim into handing over his shares of a Chinese rubber chemical manufacturer and nearly $37 million. The alleged co-conspirator and victim, neither of whom are identified, had been in a yearslong feud over ownership interests in the company, prosecutors said. The four men charged were identified as Steven Arthur Lankford, 68, a since-retired Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputy; Glen Louis Cozart, 63, a former Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputy who runs a private investigation and security services company; Max Samuel Bennett Turbett, 39, a former member of the British military who owns a private investigation and asset recovery business; and Matthew Phillip Hart, 41, a former member of the Australian military who owns a risk management services business. MORE: Justice Department indicts North Korean military hacker for extorting hospitals, health care providers They were arraigned Monday, each on one count of conspiracy to commit extortion, one count of attempted extortion, one count of conspiracy against rights and one count of deprivation of rights under color of law. If convicted, they could face up to 20 years in federal prison for each extortion-related count and up to 10 years in federal prison for each deprivation of rights-related count, prosecutors said. It was not immediately clear if they had retained attorneys. ABC News reached out to all of the defendants except Hart, whose contact information could not be found, but did not immediately hear back. The alleged co-conspirator contacted Turbett in December 2018 to ask for help in solving the two business partners' feud, prosecutors said. The co-conspirator allegedly said prior litigation had not been "the smart way" to handle the dispute and asked Turbett to find another "solution to finish the problem," promising that if he did, "we can both retire." Turbett and the alleged co-conspirator then allegedly "drafted purported settlement agreements" that called for the victim to transfer shares of the company and nearly $37 million cash to the co-conspirator. Prosecutors said Turbett hired Cozart in order to locate the victim and assemble a team to get the victim to sign the settlement agreements. PHOTO: A sheriff's car is seen behind a sign at the entrance of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Station in City of Industry, CA, March 25, 2024. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images) Prosecutors said Turbett hired Lankford -- who was still working for the sheriff's office -- who, in violation of department policy, allegedly used a law enforcement database to search the victim's name and date of birth. In June 2019, the four men allegedly drove an unmarked vehicle belonging to the sheriff's office to the victim's home in Irvine. There, prosecutors said they entered his home and "forced [him], his wife, and their two children into one room, took their phones, and prevented them from leaving for hours." The victim was also allegedly "slammed against a wall and choked." "Defendants allegedly also threatened to deport Victim 1 and his wife and permanently separate them from their 4-year-old son unless Victim 1 complied with their demands," the news release states. The man, fearing for his family's safety, signed the documents, handing over shares in the company that were worth millions, prosecutors said. MORE: Michigan man accused of fatally shooting his neighbor following argument over mulch Despite Lankford allegedly threatening the victim against calling police, saying he would be deported if he did so, prosecutors said the victim contacted police immediately afterward. "Lankford thereafter spoke with an [Irvine Police Department] officer and falsely claimed that he had been at Victim 1's home for a legitimate law enforcement purpose, that Victim 1 consented to all parties being in his home, and that no force was used," prosecutors said in the release. Within several months, the alleged co-conspirator paid Turbett's company $419,813 and emailed to thank him for a "very good job," prosecutors said. "It is critical that we hold public officials, including law enforcement officers, to the same standards as the rest of us," said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. "It is unacceptable and a serious civil rights violation for a sworn police officer to take the law into his own hands and abuse the authority of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department." 2 former LA sheriff's deputies charged in alleged 'sham raid': Prosecutors originally appeared on abcnews.go.com 2 million project: women's teams with trained dogs to clear minefields in Ukraine The European Union is allocating 2 million to fund a new humanitarian mine clearance initiative. The project will be financed through a grant from the European Commissions Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI). Source: Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine Details: Ukrainian handlers with their trained dogs will be involved in clearing landmines and unexploded ordnance across the country. The 16 Belgian Malinois will be the first mine-detection dogs deployed in Ukraine. Along with 8 Ukrainian women handlers, they underwent intensive five-month training in Cambodia before returning to Ukraine. Many of the handlers had previously studied dog training at Sumy National Agrarian University. During the course for mine-detection dog handlers, they also received training in manual mine clearance. Background: The first farmers in Ukraine applied for compensation for clearing landmines. Support UP or become our patron! Two Arizona State Supreme Court justices up for retention this year have recused themselves from a lawsuit challenging a legislative ballot referral that would end most judicial retention elections in Arizona. Progress Arizona is suing to prevent Senate Concurrent Resolution 1044 from appearing on the ballot. The group alleged SCR 1044 was unconstitutional because it bore a deceptive title and contained more than a single amendment to the state constitution. The measure states that only judges who have been convicted of a felony, have declared bankruptcy or have been found not to have followed judicial standards should stand for retention. Currently, judges on the state Supreme Court and the state Court of Appeals are subject to retention, as well as Superior Court judges in Maricopa and Pima counties. In Arizona's rural counties, judges are elected. Arizona Supreme Court Justices Clint Bolick and Kathryn H. King. Last week, Yavapai County Superior Court Judge John Napper ruled against the plaintiffs, finding that the component parts of SCR 1044 related to a single topic and that the measure did not violate the separate amendment rule of the Arizona Constitution. Napper also found that the title Judicial Accountability Act was not misleading. Napper was assigned to the case by Judge Joseph Welty, presiding judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court, because Yavapai county judges were elected and therefore not subject to the retention election process the ballot referral seeks to change. Attorneys for Progress Now then appealed the ruling the Arizona State Supreme Court. On Monday, the court announced a briefing schedule for the appeal, noting that Justices Clint Bolick and Kathryn King would recuse from the appeal. Bolick and King, who ruled the 1864 territorial ban on abortions could be enforced, both will be on the ballot in November. Have a news tip? Reach the reporter at jjenkins@arizonarepublic.com or 812-243-5582. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @JimmyJenkins. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Bolick, King recuse from suit over judicial retention ballot measure 2 women struck by lightning while standing near rim of Horseshoe Bend in Glen Canyon GLEN CANYON, Arizona Two women, ages 22 and 23, visiting from out of the country were struck by lightning Monday afternoon while standing near the rim of Horseshoe Bend in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, according to the National Park Service. Just before 4 p.m., one woman from the Netherlands and another from Australia were standing near the iconic Horseshoe Bend when they were struck by lightning. The victims were flown by helicopter to the St. George Regional Hospital by Classic Air Medical helicopters. The extent of their injuries and their current conditions have not been released. NPS officials said thunderstorms are most frequent during monsoon season which runs from mid-June to September in the region. If you hear thunder, you are at risk of getting struck by lightning and should immediately seek shelter in a vehicle or building, officials warned. Horseshoe Bend is located on the Arizona side of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. A nurse pushes a gurney with a stretcher in the hospital corridor. (File/Sviatlana Lazarenka/Getty Images) This story was originally published by The 19th Two women have filed complaints with the federal government alleging that Texas hospitals denied them abortion care necessary to treat their ectopic pregnancies. The complaints were filed Aug. 6 by Kelsie Norris-De La Cruz and Kyleigh Thurman against Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital and Round Rock-based Ascension Seton Williamson Hospital, respectively. Both women are represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights. Both say the hospitals denied them appropriate stabilizing medical care, which hospitals that accept federal Medicare funding are required to do under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, also known as EMTALA. Ectopic pregnancies, which happen when a fertilized egg implants outside the pregnant persons uterus, can be fatal to them and cannot result in birth. Both women had ectopic pregnancies that implanted in their fallopian tubes, which connect ovaries to the uterus. The women say that they were initially sent home without receiving appropriate care, which in this case should have been terminating the pregnancy. The women say they continued to seek follow-up care: Norris-De LaCruz sought a second opinion hours later with a different doctor who diagnosed her ectopic pregnancy and had her brought in for surgery. Thurman returned days later after experiencing continued vaginal bleeding. But by the time both could receive abortions, their pregnancies had ruptured. Both women had to have their affected fallopian tube removed. A spokesperson for Ascension wrote that, while we cannot speak to specifics of this case, Ascension is committed to providing high-quality care to all who seek our services. Texas Health did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. In theory, Texas law, which bans almost all abortions, allows termination for patients with ectopic pregnancies. But the physicians still have to prove in court that any abortion they provide is protected by law. As a result, doctors in the state have said offering abortions still carries immense legal risks, even for ectopic pregnancies. Texas law clearly allows for abortions to treat ectopic pregnancies, and federal law requires it. Yet, Kelsie and Kyleigh were denied absolutely urgent care, Beth Brinkmann, Senior Director of U.S. Litigation at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement. As long as these bans are in place, doctors will be terrified to provide abortions of any kind, she continued, referring to the states near-total abortion ban. Pregnancy is not straightforward, and I now have to live with the consequences of these extreme laws every day, Thurman said in a statement. None of this should have happened to me, and I want to make sure this doesnt happen to anyone else. These complaints mark the second round of legal action by the Center for Reproductive Rights regarding Texas abortion laws. In 2023, the organization filed suit on behalf of a group of women who were denied abortions for medically complex pregnancies, arguing that those patients were unable to get health care because of confusion over the states narrow medical emergency exception, which allows abortions to save the life of the pregnant person or to prevent substantial impairment of major bodily function. The women lost that case, Zurawski v. State of Texas, in a decision issued May 31. Typically, EMTALA complaints are investigated by the state. But in this case, the womens attorneys are asking the federal Department of Health and Human Services Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services to handle these complaints instead. The federal government has argued that EMTALA protects abortions under emergency circumstances, trumping state bans. Idaho, another state with strict abortion laws, has challenged the federal governments enforcement of EMTALA, arguing that the state cannot protect the right to an abortion that is in conflict with its own near-total ban. This June, the Supreme Court sent that case back to lower courts for continued litigation. Texas has also challenged the federal government; an appeals court has said that while this question is litigated, emergency rooms in the state are not required to give abortions in medical emergencies. Molly Duane, a senior staff attorney at Center for Reproductive Rights, argued that even in that context, the federal law should protect care for ectopic pregnancies, given Texas explicit carveout for this medical situation. The State agrees that terminating ectopic pregnancies is not an abortion under Texass legal definition of the term. So the 5th Circuits ruling is irrelevant because that case only addresses places where Texass abortion ban and EMTALA potentially conflict, Duane said. Here there is no conflict, so it is clear that the federal government can and should enforce EMTALA. What does SC law say? South Carolina law banning abortions past six weeks includes an exception for medical emergencies. The law specifically lists an ectopic pregnancy among examples of a medical emergency. This is what it says: (C)(1) It is not a violation of Section 44-41-630 for a physician to perform a medical procedure necessary in his reasonable medical judgment to prevent the death of a pregnant woman or the serious risk of a substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman, not including psychological or emotional conditions. (2) It is presumed that the following medical conditions constitute a risk of death or serious risk of a substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of a pregnant woman, not including psychological or emotional conditions: molar pregnancy, partial molar pregnancy, blighted ovum, ectopic pregnancy, severe preeclampsia, HELLP syndrome, abruptio placentae, severe physical maternal trauma, uterine rupture, intrauterine fetal demise, and miscarriage. The enumeration of the medical conditions in this item is not intended to exclude or abrogate other conditions that satisfy the exclusions contained in item (1) or prevent other procedures that are not included in the definition of abortion. (3) A physician who performs a medical procedure pursuant to item (1) shall declare, in a written document maintained with the womans medical records, that the medical procedure was necessary, the womans medical condition necessitating the procedure, the physicians rationale for his conclusion that the procedure was necessary, and that all reasonable efforts were made to save the unborn child in the event it was living prior to the procedure. The declaration required by this item must be placed in the womans medical records not later than thirty days after the procedure was completed. A physicians exercise of reasonable medical judgment in relation to a medical procedure undertaken pursuant to this subsection is presumed to be within the applicable standard of care. SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) A 20-year-old man who worked for the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department died last week in a hiking accident while visiting Yosemite National Park. Matt Mullen was an assistant cook at Camp Mather, an annual family summer camp in the Sierra Nevada run by SF Rec & Parks. According to a Rec & Parks spokesperson, Mullen lost his life last Thursday, Aug. 8 in a tragic accident during a day off with co-workers in Yosemite. Mullen was in his second summer working for the department. Video: Huge great white shark follows Half Moon Bay kayakers Grief counselors from the San Francisco Department of Public Health were sent to the camp the following day to comfort those impacted by the loss, officials said. Ongoing support to Mullens co-workers will be provided through the departments employee assistance program. Matt will be remembered as an upbeat, adventurous person whose can-do attitude and willingness to help endeared him to both colleagues and campers, a Rec & Parks spokesperson said. Our hearts are with his loved ones at this difficult time. Last month, another 20-year-old died at Yosemite, when they fell to their death while on a bucket-list climb to the top of Half Dome. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4. A staff member checks equipment at a cloud computing information zone of China Telecom in Horinger, Hohhot City, north China's Inner Mongolia, Nov. 28, 2023. (Xinhua/Li Zhipeng) BEIJING, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- With its far-reaching impact across various sectors, the data industry is rapidly evolving into a game-changer in China, contributing to the country's economic growth and digital transformation. Last year, the total amount of data generated nationwide reached 32 zettabytes, equivalent to the digital resources of over 10 million national libraries, according to the National Data Administration (NDA). Emerging from the application of data technology to develop products and services, the data industry is an industrial form that spans a broad range of digital activities, including data collection, storage, processing, management, application, circulation and transaction. As the once abstract concept of "big data" has been widely integrated into business practices, it has unlocked significant opportunities for companies to enhance efficiency and expand their market reach. The market size of China's database industry exceeded 52 billion yuan (about 7.28 billion U.S. dollars) in 2023, and it is expected to reach 93.03 billion yuan by 2028. This growth is complemented by the data transaction sector, which has experienced stable and rapid expansion in recent years. In 2022, the overall market size of data transactions reached 87.68 billion yuan, accounting for 13.4 percent of the global data market, and is projected to surpass 500 billion yuan by 2030, the industry data showed. Contributing to this vibrant growth, in the past decade the number of data-driven businesses in China has surged from 110,000 to over 1 million. These enterprises play no small part in maximizing the value of data elements and driving further expansion and innovation across the data industry. "In this new development stage where data has become a novel factor of production, we are witnessing the emergence of new production factors, new dataspace, and new infrastructure, as well as the rise and evolution of new industry forms," said Zhang Xianghong, a professor at Beijing Jiaotong University. In response to the evolving landscape of the burgeoning sector, Chinese policymakers have turned their attentions to supporting, advancing and guiding the development of the data industry. Although the industry is closely intertwined with information technologies and the internet sector, it has unique development characteristics that require targeted policies, said NDA official Zhang Wang at a recent press conference. Zhang said the administration is formulating targeted policies for businesses looking to make technological breakthroughs, explore data circulation, and improve infrastructure, which would support a more dynamic and innovative data ecosystem. According to an action plan jointly released by the NDA with several other government organs at the end of last year, by the end of 2026 the breadth and depth of data element applications in China will significantly expand with the annual growth rate exceeding 20 percent and data transaction scale doubling. By aligning the burgeoning data industry with its broader digital drive, China has also accelerated advancement in cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), e-commerce, among other digital domains. The number of valid AI invention patents in China had reached 378,000 by the end of last year, with its growth rate surpassing 40 percent, 1.4 times the global average, according to a report by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology. Essential to these achievements is China's expansive digital infrastructure. The number of 5G base stations in China had risen to nearly 3.92 million by the end of June, representing a net increase of 540,000 over the end of last year. A recent official report forecasts that as the construction of digital infrastructure accelerates nationwide, the data industry is set to maintain its rapid growth, further permeating other sectors and driving the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries. Looking ahead, Zhang said the country would fully leverage policy tools to develop the data industry, including implementing tailored measures to bolster investment, nurture talent, and promote industrial clustering in the sector. 2024 DNC in Chicago: What to Know About Speakers, Protests, and More Andrew Harnik/Getty Images This story was written by Teen Vogue's 2024 Student Correspondents, a team of college students and recent graduates covering the election cycle from key battleground states. Since President Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential race several weeks ago, staffers have been working overtime to adjust plans for the 2024 Democratic National Convention (DNC), which is being held in Chicago from August 19-22. Vice President Kamala Harris is now the official Democratic presidential nominee after receiving the vast majority of delegate votes in a virtual roll call on Monday, August 5, according to the Democratic National Committee. Despite the change in nominee, thousands of protesters from across the country are still planning to show up in Chicago. The March on the DNC is moving forward, built on a set of demands, the main one being, according to the group's website, to stand with Palestine" and "end US aid to Israel. The Democratic National Convention is expecting 50,000 visitors, and March on the DNC organizers say theyre expecting 20,000 to 25,000 protesters, tens of thousands more than the March on the RNC in Milwaukee last month, which had over 3,000 protesters. What is the Democratic National Convention? Why is it in Chicago? The Democratic National Convention (and the Republican National Convention, or RNC) happens every four years in the lead-up to a presidential election. Delegates from all 50 states, as well as overseas territories, will gather this year in Chicago to rally around Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Democrats aim to tell their story to the American people as they come together to energize, organize, and mobilize to win, according to the DNC website. The convention will feature speakers, presentations, performances, and more, though a specific schedule has not been released yet. Elected officials in Illinois worked alongside one another to bring the 2024 DNC to Chicago. Senator Tammy Duckworth told NBC that Chicagos "union labor advantage, hotel capacity, and size are all factors that made the city an ideal location. And Illinois is part of the blue wall of Midwestern states that have historically formed a Democratic stronghold, helping the party win the presidential election most recently in 2020. Who is scheduled to speak at the 2024 DNC? How have plans changed since Biden dropped out? The Democratic National Convention Committee has released a list of confirmed official speakers and programming details. Since Harris and Biden have switched roles, the president will deliver a speech on Monday, August 19, the DNC's opening night, according to CNN. Biden's speech will focus on his legacy and achievements as president, before turning the attention to Vice President Harris. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Dr. Jill Biden, former first lady and secretary of state Hillary Clinton, and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson will also make remarks on Monday night. Tuesday will see speeches from both Michelle and Barack Obama, as well as second gentleman Doug Emhoff, who will highlight the possibility of becoming the first first gentleman. On Wednesday night, Harriss running mate, Tim Walz, will deliver his acceptance speech. Former president Bill Clinton, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg are also slated to give remarks, per Axios. Harris will close out the convention on Thursday, which follows tradition for presidential nominees. CNN reported that the convention will also feature four celebrity hosts: Scandal actors Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn, actor and director Mindy Kaling, and former Republican strategist turned The View co-host Ana Navarro. The revamped convention aims to capitalize on new energy brought to the race by Harriss campaign. In just a few weeks, her campaign has made the vice president an internet sensation, caught the attention of youth voters, and raised tens of millions of dollars. The event will now be held mostly live to capture the high-energy crowds Harris can draw in, as opposed to initial plans to rely more heavily on pre-taped pieces, per the Chicago Sun-Times. Organizers are also leaning heavily into social media, building the "first ever creator platform on the convention floor from which the 250 invited influencers can shoot and share content. Five young online influencers, including Deja Foxx and Olivia Julianna, will also get speaking slots at the convention, according to The New York Times. Harris is now the official Democratic presidential nominee, but she did not automatically get the votes of delegates who had been previously committed to Biden although Biden did endorse Harris after he withdrew. Harris did, however, inherit Bidens campaign money, and Bidens presidential campaign has been renamed Harris for President. At the end of June, the campaign reported having more than $95 million. Throughout July, Harris for President brought in $310 million, more than double what her opponent, Republican nominee Donald Trump, raised during the same time period, according to CBS News. Who is protesting at the DNC, and what are their demands? The Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, the US Palestinian Community Network, and Black Lives Matter Chicago are a few of the organizations working together to form the Coalition to March on the DNC. Many of the same groups that took to Milwaukee streets in July to protest the RNC are also going to Chicago. This year, the March on the DNC is a March for Palestine, organizers say. The main demand of protesters is that the Democratic Party stop sending US military aid to Israel amid the ongoing devastation of Gaza. According to a statement by the coalition, President Joe Bidens decision to withdraw from the race does not change the policies of Democratic Party leadership, specifically their support of the genocide in Palestine. The March on the DNC will continue regardless of the nominee. They are all complicit, the statement reads. We plan to have the largest march for Palestinian rights in Chicagos history. Additional demands include using money to fund the needs of people instead of war; defending the rights of immigrants, LGBTQIA+ people, workers, and women; and establishing community control of the police. The March on the DNC is currently in a legal battle with the City of Chicago to obtain a longer and more visible protest route. Earlier this year, the ACLU of Wisconsin fought on behalf of the March on the RNC against the City of Milwaukee to be within sight and sound of the RNC. Days before that event, the Coalition to March on the RNC and the City of Milwaukee came to an agreement. There has not yet been a verdict concerning the route for the March on the DNC, but Hatem Abudayyeh of the US Palestinian Community Network told NBC Chicago, We are not going to accept 'take it or leave it' again. We are going to fight, and we are going to continue to pressure the City of Chicago to give us this route. Stay up-to-date with the politics team. Sign up for the Teen Vogue Take Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue Want more U.S. government coverage? We're over halfway through 2024, and this year there have been some pretty big food recalls. While it may be upsetting, it's not all that surprising to hear of recalls on such items as deli meats, chicken, and salad greens, since all of these are not shelf-stable and their production processes are more likely to cause food poisoning and get recalled. Nuts, however, are low in moisture and tend to stay fresh for a relatively long period of time. But any food can be recalled. Earlier in the year, both Trader Joe's and Walmart had to recall some of their bagged cashews, while in July, California-based Stutz Packing Company recalled some of its shelled walnuts for a pretty serious reason. The reason for the walnut recall is that the product might be contaminated with listeria monocytogenes. As there is the potential for listeria infection to be quite harmful or even fatal in some cases, this recall is now being classified as having a Class One risk level. According to the FDA, this indicates a "reasonable probability that the... product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death," and some of the biggest food recalls in Aldi's history, Trader Joe's history, and Walmart's history have all been linked to listeria. Fortunately, there's been no word of any illnesses caused by these walnuts as of yet. Read more: Kitchen Nightmares: Secrets About The Gordon Ramsay Show Where Were The Recalled Walnuts Distributed? unmarked bag of shelled walnuts - Anton Starikov/Shutterstock The distribution of the recalled walnuts seems to have been limited to food bank warehouses in the states of Arizona and Texas. What is concerning, however, is the fact that these warehouses then redistribute supplies to other food banks, prisons, schools, and shelters. While healthy people infected with listeria may experience painful symptoms including diarrhea, headaches, nausea, and stomach cramps, anyone with a weakened immune system, as well as pregnant people and those over 65, are all on the CDC's high-risk list for listeria infection. As shelters, prisons, and schools may house a number of vulnerable individuals who may not have access to good healthcare, this recall is a particularly concerning one. Some packages of the walnuts also could have found their way into retail outlets, so if you are in either of the affected states (or just want to be on the safe side), you may still want to check any bagged walnuts you have in the house. The affected walnuts are packaged in clear plastic 1-pound bags marked with a white box outlined in red and have the UPC code 7 15001 00908 1. They would have been processed on June 19, 2024, per the FDA, so any nuts purchased before that date should be safe. Read the original article on Mashed. KAUKAUNA, Wis. (WFRV) A 22-year-old Kaukauna man has been formally charged after allegedly crashing a motorcycle that killed his passenger, all while under the influence of an intoxicant. According to a criminal complaint obtained by Local 5 News, 22-year-old Zachary Burr is facing three felony charges for an incident on August 11. Prosecutors wont charge officers who killed armed student outside Wisconsin school Two officers from the Kaukauna Police Department responded to the intersection of Taylor Street and Depot Street on Sunday at around 4:30 a.m. for a report of a motorcycle accident. Upon arrival, the two officers located the motorcycle that had damage to it alongside a 20-year-old woman who was lying on the street with heavy blood loss in her head region. The officers immediately began rendering life-saving aid until emergency medical services arrived on the scene and transported her to a nearby hospital, where she later died. Two witnesses at the scene of the crash told officers that Burr had allegedly fled the scene. The police later found Burr walking along the street with significant road rash injuries. While talking with the Kaukauna Police Department, Burr told authorities that the motorcycle was his brothers, whom he lived with. During the conversation, officers noted that Burrs eyes were red and glassy. Burr was also reportedly slightly slurring in his speech. Officers conducted two sobriety tests on Burr, which he completed successfully. However, a preliminary breath test reported a value of .11 breath alcohol concentration (BrAC). This led to Burrs arrest. Collision at intersection kills 73-year-old from Wisconsin, sends 22-year-old to hospital in Washington County While interviewing Burr at the police station, he told officers he had been talking to the woman who died at the scene for around two weeks. The two were hanging out together, and the complaint states that both had consumed four alcoholic beverages. Both Burr and the woman made their way to the garage to look at the motorcycle, which the woman said she wanted a ride. Burr told the authorities the woman had never ridden a motorcycle before, and although he attempted to get the woman to wear a helmet, she refused. Burr also reportedly did not wear a helmet. Burr, who admitted to not having a drivers license or a motorcycle endorsement, took off with the woman and rode around the city. Shortly before the crash, Burr told the authorities he was traveling around 50 miles per hour in a 35-mile-per-hour zone before a peg hit the concrete, causing the bike to hit the curb and crash. The complaint states Burr noticed the woman on the ground with lots of blood around her. He checked for a pulse and could not find one. Thats when two females showed up to help. Four people arrested by the Oshkosh Police Department on drug-related felony charges Burr told the authorities he was scared and panicked, so he ran back to the motorcycle and took the license plate off the bike. He then reportedly fled the scene. Wisconsin Circuit Court records show that Zachary Burr is charged with the following: Homicide by Intoxicated Use of Vehicle Up to 25 years in prison Up to $100,000 in fines Hit and Run-Involve Death Up to 25 years in prison Up to $100,000 in fines Knowingly Operating While Revoked (Cause Death) Up to six years in prison Up to $10,000 in fines Deputies respond to domestic disturbance in Bellevue Burr was scheduled for his initial court appearance at 3:30 p.m. on Monday. If convicted on all three felonies, he faces up to 56 years in prison and up to $210,000 in fines. Local 5 News will continue to follow this case as it progresses through the court system. No additional details were provided. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton. Wildlife officials are attempting to capture a black bear that attacked a 3-year-old girl while she was sleeping in her tent at a private campground near Red Lodge, Montana. The incident occurred around 10 oclock on Sunday night at Perrys RV Park and Campground, which was evacuated and temporarily closed, as reported by Hamilton, Montana-based Ravalli Republic. The girl was transported to a hospital in Billings where she was treated, though her condition is not known. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesperson Chrissy Webb told KRTV that there were attractants in the campground that contributed to the attack, but it was not known if any were inside the tent. A live trap has been set in the area in hopes of capturing the offensive bear. More from Ravalli Republic: Bear Encounters It doesnt help that bears are attracted to the area because the town sits along Rock Creek, considered a perfect corridor for wildlife to travel, according to Ravalli Republic. Plus, the town is near large sections of wildlands, such as the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, and agricultural lands. Last month, a grizzly bear that was food-conditioned was shot and killed by FWP staff as it had been breaking into homes and businesses near and in the town of Gardiner, Ravalli Republic reported. This article originally appeared on For The Win: 3-year-old girl sleeping in tent attacked by a black bear CENTRAL PARK, Manhattan (PIX11) Three teenagers were arrested and a fourth was wanted in a robbery outside of Central Park early Tuesday morning, sources told PIX11 News. It happened near Grand Army Plaza, which is located at 59th Street and 5th Avenue, around 1 a.m. Three people were approached by a group of four, who then simulated a firearm, according to authorities. More Local News A chain and a pair of AirPods were stolen, per police. Charges are pending against the three suspects taken into custody. Robberies are up 200% in Central Park, according to sources. Some of those crimes are connected with the migrant crisis happening in New York City, sources said. Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Erin Pflaumer is a digital content producer from Long Island who has covered both local and national news since 2018. She joined PIX11 in 2023. See more of her work here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. In a targeted crime suppression operation dubbed Smash & Grab, law enforcement agencies in San Bernardino recovered more than $25,000 worth of stolen retail merchandise and arrested 36 people, authorities announced Monday. The operation, which ran between the weeks of July 26 and Aug. 8, focused on areas where authorities with the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department said there had been a rise in retail theft, including stores in Rancho Cucamonga, Apple Valley, Hesperia, Victorville and Chino Hills. According to a news release from SBSD, these crimes often involved organized crews that conspire to commit robberies, burglaries, shelve sweeps and vandalism. Mob of teens violently assault man, break his leg in downtown Los Angeles These violent criminals terrorize the citizens of San Bernardino County by utilizing intimidation tactics and a mob mentality that creates an unsafe and uncomfortable shopping environment for our residents, the release stated. A firearm recovered during a crime suppression operation dubbed Smash & Grab in San Bernardino County between July 26 and Aug. 8, 2024. (SBSD) Stolen retail property recovered during a crime suppression operation dubbed Smash & Grab in San Bernardino County between July 26 and Aug. 8, 2024. (SBSD) Stolen retail property recovered during a crime suppression operation dubbed Smash & Grab in San Bernardino County between July 26 and Aug. 8, 2024. (SBSD) Stolen retail property recovered during a crime suppression operation dubbed Smash & Grab in San Bernardino County between July 26 and Aug. 8, 2024. (SBSD) In images released by SBSD, investigators recovered merchandise that included tools, beverages, packaged beef and poultry, laundry detergent, toiletries, clothing, electronics and a firearm. Mall security guard in Southern California fired for rooftop sideshow Funds for the crime suppression operation were authorized by the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, allowing the sheriffs department and its partners to increase enforcement services where the crimes are related to quality-of-life issues in the community, the release noted. In addition to SBSD and its gang and narcotics division, the San Bernardino Police Department, San Bernardino County Probation Department, Homeland Security Investigations and California Highway Patrol assisted in operation Smash & Grab. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. MANHATTAN (KSNT) Outdoor Bank in Manhattan is inviting locals to participate in its $5,000 treasure hunt again this year. Bobby Sloan, director of marketing with Outdoor Bank, announced in a press release on Tuesday, Aug. 13 that The Hunt is back for 2024. He told 27 News in late July he planned to bring the treasure hunt back following popular demand. Outdoor Bank will release one clue per week starting on Friday, Aug. 16 through its Facebook, Instagram and X social media pages. Each clue will be delivered as a riddle for treasure hunters to solve while embarking on adventures in and around Manhattans outdoor spaces. We are thrilled to bring back The Hunt and to once again invite the community on this exciting adventure, Sloan said. Last year, we witnessed an incredible turnout with thousands of people joining in and following on social media, and were eager to continue fostering a sense of connection, adventure and discovery. 1.2 million-pound steam locomotive Big Boy Heartland of America Tour released Treasure hunters will need to put on their critical thinking hats to solve each riddle for a chance to win the grand prize of $5,000. You can learn more about Outdoor Bank by clicking here. For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here. Follow Matthew Self on X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MatthewLeoSelf Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News. Five New Hampshire residents have developed Legionnaires' disease, after an outbreak of the bacterial infection caused by exposure to contaminated water. The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services issued an advisory on August 12, confirming that five people had developed the illness in June and July after being exposed to contaminated water droplets from a cooling tower behind the RiverWalk Resort in downtown Lincoln, New Hampshire. Anybody who has visited the area near the contaminated cooling tower should monitor themselves for symptoms, Dr. Benjamin Chan, New Hampshire State Epidemiologist, said in a health department press release. People who develop fever or other symptoms of pneumonia within 14 days after spending time in this area should talk to their healthcare provider about testing for Legionella infection. Health department officials said that the cooling tower would remain in operation during ongoing remediation efforts, meaning there is still a possible risk of exposure to the disease within a half-mile radius. Approximate area of Lincoln, New Hampshire that may have been exposed to Legionnaires' disease bacteria. More: What is Legionnaire's disease? Five cases identified in NH. What officials say caused it What is Legionnaires' disease? A picture taken on May 17, 2019 shows an antigen test for quick detection and a culture of the Legionella pneumophila bacteria at the UZ Gent hospital. Since May 3rd at least 18 people were admitted to the hospital with the legionella bacteria, two persons died. The exact source is still to be determined, but thought to be found in the Evergem canal zone. (Photo by NICOLAS MAETERLINCK / BELGA / AFP) / Belgium OUT (Photo by NICOLAS MAETERLINCK/BELGA/AFP via Getty Images) Legionnaires' disease is caused by inhaling water droplets contaminated with the Legionella bacteria. The bacteria can grow in water droplets from showers, hot tubs, faucets, cooling towers, misters, and decorative fountains. While infections do not spread from person-to-person contact, symptoms can include fever, cough, shortness of breath, and other symptoms of pneumonia. Symptoms can appear anywhere from 2 to 14 days after exposure. Health officials cautioned that most people show only minor symptoms. However, about 1 out of every 10 people who get infected with the disease will die from complications, according to the CDC. New Hampshire public health officials cautioned anyone who has visited the downtown Lincoln area to monitor for symptoms. Melina Khan contributed to this report. Max Hauptman is a Trending Reporter for USA TODAY. He can be reached at MHauptman@gannett.com This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Legionnaires' disease outbreak: 5 people diagnosed in Lincoln, NH VIENTIANE, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Representatives from the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have gathered here to discuss the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) post-2025 strategic plan. During the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Council meeting on Monday and Tuesday, participants jointly contributed to creating strategies to increase the community's policy-making and improve existing legislative mechanisms, according to Lao National Radio on Tuesday. They decided on ways to make the ASCC more flexible and able to adapt to the uncertainties and complexities of the region and the world. Participants shared ideas on the community's plans, such as strategies and methods that can be endorsed to improve policies under the pillars of the community to support an effective agenda going forward. The comments made by participants will be considered for inclusion in the post-2025 plan. Vice President Harris has enjoyed a strong start as the Democratic presidential nominee. But even those closest to her acknowledge there will be tougher moments ahead. Harris herself has contended she is the underdog in Novembers election match-up against former President Trump. Right now, its hard to identify the favorite with certainty. Harris has erased the national polling lead that Trump had enjoyed over President Biden. Some, but not all, battleground state polls have moved in her direction as well. The forecasting model maintained by The Hill and Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ) still gives Trump a 56 percent chance of prevailing. Here are the big questions Harris faces now and in the weeks to come. Does she pay a price for her policy shifts? Harris has enjoyed a stretch of positive media coverage as she quickly wrapped up the Democratic nomination, bathed in the adulation of big crowds, and executed a smooth rollout of her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D). But the positive headlines have overshadowed the fact that Harriss current positions differ from those she adopted during her 2020 bid for the Democratic nomination. She no longer backs a ban on fracking, which she did in 2020. She now considers unauthorized border crossings to be illegal, having previously said the people who made those crossings should not be charged with a crime. Harris was also a supporter of Medicare-for-All in the past. Biden has not proposed that policy, and it remains unclear if Harris will suggest otherwise. A lack of clarity over what Harris really believes was one of the reasons her 2020 campaign was disappointing. She wont want to suffer the same fate again. How much detail will she provide on her economic plans? Harris has said she will reveal more about her economic plans this week. During a brief gaggle with reporters in Phoenix on Saturday, she said she would focus on what we need to do to bring down costs and also strengthen the economy overall. Later that day, Harris made a surprise announcement that she wanted to exempt service and hospitality workers from having to pay taxes on tips a plan that originated with Trump. The former president complained quickly and vociferously on social media, accusing Harris of stealing his idea. It seems likely that Harris will offer something closely resembling the economic arguments Biden had hoped to make. To be fair, some of Bidens proposals have received very little attention, and Harris could give them a patina of freshness. The president previously proposed tax credits for people selling starter homes as well as Americans buying first homes as a way to loosen up the housing market. Another Biden proposal with clear political appeal is the suggestion that Medicare should be able to negotiate prices for a wider range of drugs. Can Harris make the case for such ideas in a more compelling way than Biden has been able to do? An Economist/YouGov poll last week found 52 percent of Americans disapproving of Bidens handling of jobs and the economy, while just 40 percent approved. What specifically does she want to do on Israel and Gaza? Perhaps the single most divisive issue within the Democratic base is Gaza, and Harriss direction isnt entirely clear. Polls show a clear majority of Democratic voters believing Israel has gone too far in its 10 months of reprisals in Gaza, following the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas killed around 1,200 Israelis in those attacks. Israel has killed almost 40,000 Palestinians in response, according to estimates from local health authorities. Biden has been politically damaged by his handling of the crisis. During the Democratic primary process, uncommitted a de facto protest vote against the presidents stance wracked up 19 percent of the vote in Minnesota and 13 percent in the battleground state of Michigan. Harris has, so far, used rhetoric that appears somewhat more sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinians. She promised she would not be silent about civilian suffering, right after she met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month. In her brief gaggle in Phoenix, she responded to an Israeli airstrike that reportedly killed more than 80 people by saying that far too many civilians have been killed in the conflict. But the question now looms as to whether Harris is proposing any substantive shift from the Biden policy. If she is not, progressives many of whom want the U.S. to halt arms shipments to Israel will be disappointed. If she does move toward the progressives, she will draw criticism from pro-Israel Democrats and from Republicans, who are almost universally supportive of Israel. Can she escape the Biden administrations vulnerabilities on immigration? The Harris campaign has tried to go on offense on this topic, which has been widely seen as a big vulnerability for the vice president. Team Harriss campaign commercials have sought to put a spotlight on Trumps role in blowing up a bipartisan proposal for immigration reform earlier this year. The deal would have provided more Border Patrol agents, so Harris can legitimately make the argument that she favored the idea and that Trump sank it. But the Harris campaign will have an uphill climb to get ahead of the immigration issue overall. In polling, it is one of the areas where Biden performs worst, with voters disapproving of his performance by margins of around 2 to 1. Democrats often respond to Trumps characterization of Harris as Bidens border czar by noting that no such position officially existed. But Harris was closely identified with border policy, especially at the start of the Biden administration and was often called the border czar in reports from a wide range of media outlets. Her specific focus tackling the long-term drivers of migration was one where demonstrating meaningful progress is hard by its nature. How will she perform in unscripted interviews and on the debate stage with Trump? Harris has come under criticism, especially from conservatives, for having avoided any sit-down interviews or full-scale news conferences since she became the Democratic nominee. The vice president has said she told her staff to schedule an interview before the end of this month. Her performance in any such encounter will be closely watched. Any missteps could sap the momentum she is now enjoying. As for debates, the only encounter that appears confirmed as of now is a Sept. 10 clash with Trump to be hosted by ABC News. There is some possibility of an NBC News debate as well. Team Harris appears highly reluctant to agree to Trumps proposal of yet another clash, on Fox News. Any Harris-Trump debates will be among the most vital events of the campaigns closing stretch. Its no exaggeration to say the elections result could hinge on the outcome. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. CHICAGO Chicago police are searching for five suspects who robbed a jewelry store Monday evening at gunpoint. Police said the robbery happened at around 5:50 p.m. Monday in the 5200 block of South Pulaski Road in the citys West Elsdon neighborhood. The suspects, all males, went into the jewelry store with guns. One of them then smashed display cases and took merchandise from inside, according to investigators. Over $1 million in jewelry stolen from Woodfield Mall store Police said the suspects also demanded property from a woman before leaving the area southbound on Pulaski Road. No injuries were reported and no arrests have been made. Area One Detectives are investigating. Anyone with additional information may leave an anonymous tip at cpdtip.com. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV. Former President Donald Trump went on a two-hour tear of lies, exaggerations and fearmongering in a conversation Monday with billionaire Elon Musk on the X social media platform. The chat between the two men, one the Republican nominee for president and the other the worlds richest man, is Trumps latest effort to appeal to voters as Vice President Kamala Harris has continued to gain ground in the early days of her Democratic presidential bid. Musk, who has endorsed Trump, said the event was meant to let people get a feel for what the former president is like when hes having a casual conversation. Its hard to catch a vibe when people dont talk in a normal way, Musk said. Here are five notable moments from their conversation. Trump repeated his lies about a migrant crisis on the southern border. The former president shared familiar attacks against migrants who cross the U.S. border with Mexico, describing many of them as rapists, murderers and criminals while claiming countries such as Venezuela were emptying their jails to ship people to the United States. There is no evidence to support those claims. In fact, recent research shows that immigrants are much less likely to be incarcerated than people who were born in the U.S. Other studies show that undocumented migration does not increase violent crime. Trump also attempted to link the surge in migration to Harris, echoing Republican claims that she was the Biden administrations border czar. She was tasked with investigating the root causes of the immigration wave, but claims about an all-encompassing role are exaggerations. Trump bragged about his relationships with Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. At one point, Musk congratulated Trump for his epic tweets during his administration, including when the former president called North Korean leader Kim Jong Un rocket man. Trump poses with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Feb. 27, 2019, in Hanoi, Vietnam. Evan Vucci/Associated Press I know Putin, I know President Xi, I know Kim Jong Un of North Korea. I know every one of them, Trump said. Im not saying anything good or bad. Theyre at the top of their game. Theyre tough, theyre smart, theyre vicious, and theyre going to protect their country. Whether they love their country, they probably do. Its just a different form of love, but theyre going to protect their country. Trump was the first president to meet with Kim, a decision critics said lent legitimacy to Kims authoritarian regime on an international stage. Musk said critics shouldnt vilify the oil and gas industry. Musk, whose mammoth fortune is largely tied to his electric vehicle company, said the world should lean in the direction of sustainability but not vilify fossil fuels because theyre needed to keep the world moving. Im pro-environment, but Im not against, I dont think we should vilify the oil and gas industry, Musk said. Tesla CEO Elon Musk at his 2019 introduction of the electric Cybertruck. FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images Trump, for his part, made fun of those concerned about climate change and touted his efforts to open up a critical wildlife refuge in Alaska to oil and gas exploration during his administration. (President Joe Biden rolled back those plans.) Trump is still obsessed with crowd sizes. Trump repeatedly mentioned the sizes of his various audiences throughout the conversation. At one point he claimed that 60 million people were listening to the livestream on Monday night, even though the count on X indicated 1.3 million listeners at its peak. He also described the July 13 assassination attempt at a rally near Butler, Pennsylvania, saying he had a massive crowd there. The size of the event, he said, made him worry how many people could have been killed. A bystander was fatally shot. Trump sounded odd for a large portion of the call. The former president sounded like he was slurring his words for a large portion of the conversation, although its unclear if the audio was to blame. Video of Trump speaking that was shared by an X employee appeared to show similar issues. X Spaces with Donald Trump and Elon Musk pic.twitter.com/YhH0YUMGUP Christopher Stanley (@cstanley) August 13, 2024 Related... 500 Trauma Bears given to Fresno Police: What are they for? FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) Hundreds of Trauma Bears were given to the Fresno Police Department to give children so they have something to hug and hold. On Monday, the Assistance League of Fresnos Assisteens program provided the Fresno Police Department with 500 Trauma Bears. According to officers, these bears are in each patrol car. They are provided to children on calls where they may need something to hug and hold. The story of the Trauma Bears does not end on scene -officers have also heard stories of adults who still have these bears that they received from law enforcement when they were children. The Fresno Police Department thanked the program to help them continue to support the hurting community members. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47. 6 California police officers paid someone to take college courses for them. Now they face prison The troubled Antioch Police Department faces another blow, as a second police officer was convicted last week in a scheme to fraudulently obtain college degrees for higher pay. Morteza Amiri, 33, and five others from the Antioch and Pittsburg police departments falsely claimed they had obtained bachelor's degrees in criminal justice in a ploy to qualify for higher pay, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California said in a statement Friday. But the officers actually hired someone else to complete the courses online, unlocking raises and financial incentives they had not earned, prosecutors said. The other five pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud earlier this year; Amiri's case was the only one to go to trial. Amiri was also caught up in the Antioch Police Department's racist texting scandal in 2023. In May 2020, two days after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, Amiri texted another officer about riots in LA over the gorilla that died. In texts presented at Amiri's trial, he wrote to the person hired to take classes that he would "pay you per class. [D]ont tell a soul about me hiring you for this," he wrote. "[W]e cant afford it getting leaked and me losing my job. Read more: Antioch police officers texted racist slurs, threats to harm Black mayor, D.A. report says Im gonna rush order my degree to get my pay raise jump started, he allegedly wrote. The other five officers convicted in the conspiracy to defraud police departments were Patrick Berhan, Amanda Theodosy a.k.a. Nash, Ernesto Mejia-Orozco and Brauli Rodriguez Jalapa, who were current or former members of the Pittsburg Police Department at the time, and Samantha Peterson of the Antioch Police Department, the U.S. attorney's office said. Amiri engaged in a calculated conspiracy to defraud his police department of taxpayer funds. His actions were a violation of the law and a grave betrayal of public trust, said Robert Tripp, a spokesman for the FBI. Amiri and his co-conspirators deception has no place in law enforcement. With this conviction, he now faces the consequences of his actions. Each of Amiri's two convictions comes with a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. He is scheduled to be tried in a related case in February. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. 7-Year-Old Who Disappeared While Camping with Grandparents Found Safe After Fisherman Heard Her Cries for Help Shelby Wolff disappeared from a campsite and spent 12 hours alone before rescuers found her along the shoreline of a lake in Washington state, per authorities Getty Lake Merwin, Washington A 7-year-old girl is safe after disappearing overnight at a campsite in Washington state. Shelby Wolff was staying with her grandparents when she went missing from a campsite at Lake Merwin Campers Hideaway on Sunday, Aug. 11 at about 8:30 p.m. local time, according to the Clark County Sheriffs Office. Deputies and area residents started searching for Shelby before Clark County Search and Rescue was alerted to her disappearance. Meanwhile, access to the campground was closed, authorities said. Related: Body of Missing Teen Who Went for Swim on Huntington Beach Found After Week-Long Search First responders and volunteers searched through the night and into the morning before a local fisherman heard Shelby's cries from a steep section of the shoreline near Lake Merwin Campers Hideaway and called 911, about 12 hours after she went missing. Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Once authorities located her, Shelby was transported via boat to a dock where she was reunited with her family, NBC affiliate KGW-TV reported. A representative with the sheriffs office told the station that Shelby possibly slipped and fell into bushes, becoming disoriented. Related: 3-Year-Old Girl Kicked in Head by Wild Horse in Nevada Park, Mom 'Thought She Had Died' The child was not seriously injured, but she was checked out by medical personnel at the scene, the sheriffs office said. Clark County is about 170 miles south of Seattle. In a post on Facebook, Shelby's sister, Cammy Wolff, shared words of gratitude in the wake of the rescue, updating a post she made earlier amid the investigation. "She has been FOUND and she is safe and unharmed!" Cammy wrote. "Thank you to all who reached out as well as prayed for my family and I during this time! Love you all." For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. GEARY COUNTY (KSNT) Kansas transportation officials are set to close a bridge above I-70 next month for repairs to take place. The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) announced in a press release on Monday, Aug. 12 that it will begin work on McDowell Creek Bridge in Geary County this September. Workers with King Construction Co. Inc. will focus on replacing the bridge deck during this $1.196 million project. Drivers on I-70 can expect to find the highway reduced to one lane at slower speeds through the work zone for the duration of the project. All ramps to access I-70 at this location will remain open for travelers on the highway. KDOT will close McDowell Creek Road over I-70 for the project with cross traffic being redirected to I-70. Drivers can then proceed to the next interchange at exits 311 or 304 before returning to exit 307 and continuing down McDowell Creek Road. Driver busted going 102 mph in Topeka highway construction zone Workers will temporarily close I-70 during the day with traffic being directed through construction at a slower speed. KDOT estimates the project, slated to start on Sept. 9, will wrap up by May 2025. For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here. Follow Matthew Self on X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MatthewLeoSelf Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News. Livestock wasn't the only evidence removed last week from a Wrightstown dairy farm as part of what is being called the largest animal cruelty and neglect investigation in recent Bucks County memory. Newtown Township police also seized 73 pounds of suspected marijuana, a jar of oil containing either suspected CBD or THC, the active ingredients found in cannabis and eight firearms from Narrow Way Farm in the 800 block of Worthington Mill Road, according to search warrants. Farm owner Abigail Tuttle OKeefe left the United States for Belize in Central America on July 20 leaving care for the 124 animals in the hands of two employees and a group of volunteers, according to sources familiar with Tuttle OKeeffe and her farm, and confirmed in the search warrant affidavit of probable cause. Photos of one of the steers seized from Narrow Way Farm in Newtown Township, where livestock and farm animals were living in squalid unhealthy conditions, according to the Bucks County SPCA Provided by the Bucks County SPCA More on Narrow Way farm Bucks County, PA investigating Narrow Way Farm after animals found sick. Store sold to public Tuttle O'Keeffe allegedly told farm staff and volunteers the trip was a vacation and she was supposed to return on July 27, but then announced in Facebook posts that she has relocated to Belize, is seeking residency there, and purchased land where she plans to open a dairy farm. Since Tuttle OKeeffe has stated she has no plans to return to the Wrightstown farm, which she and her former husband brought in 2017, she is considered to have abandoned her animals, according to the search warrant for the animal neglect case. Tuttle OKeeffe has since surrendered the animals to the SPCA so they could receive treatment and be rehomed. Animal abandonment is a crime in Pennsylvania and it can result in felony charges if an animal dies, under the law. No charges have been filed against Tuttle O'Keeffe as of Monday, but an affidavit filed with the search warrant provided new details into the case. Newtown Police investigate guns and drugs on Narrow Way Farm on Worthington Mill Road It also appears that Newtown Township police are now investigating if Tuttle OKeeffe was selling illegal drugs in her self-service farm store, where she offered farm-produced products. OKeeffe is not licensed to grow or sell CBD or THC products, according to the search warrant paperwork. But on the Narrow Way Farms now archived Facebook page and other social media sites, Tuttle OKeeffe advertised the sale of her CBD lotions and CBD tinctures, which are herbal liquid extracts used in folk medicine; she described the products in a November 2023 Facebook post as rocket fuel as usual. Newtown Township police were assisting the Bucks County SPCA with serving its search warrant for the animal neglect case when officers found the firearms including six in an unsecured gun safe in the laundry room of the home, according to the search warrant affidavit. Police also found 15 lawn bags filled with a green leafy substance that smelled like marijuana in the attic and another bag in the dining room of the home and a mason jar containing suspected THC/CBD oil with $80 written on the lid, the warrant's affidavit said. Police also seized what was described as a filter with green leafy substance, which a former farm employee said is likely a strainer that Tuttle OKeeffe used in the tincture making process. CBD sales in Pennsylvania: What's required The sale of CBD products in Pennsylvania is allowed without a special license or permit if the product contains less than 0.3% THC, is derived from industrial hemp plants, and meets all testing requirements, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. Since 2020, hemp processors need to have a permit from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and only those permit holders can grow and process their own harvested hemp to produce CBD, which users say reduces aches, pains, and stress, but does not produce the high associated with marijuana. Newtown farm animal cruelty case remains under investigation by Bucks County SPCA The Bucks County SPCA investigation into what it has described as the largest alleged animal cruelty and neglect case in its recent history is continuing. The search warrants and other documents show that Bucks County Chief Humane Officer Nikki Thompson went to the farm on Aug. 5 to investigate cruelty and neglect allegations, and a volunteer showed her several pens where the livestock appeared in good condition. Later on Aug. 5 a former farmhand, who was volunteering to care for the animals, showed Thompson photos he said he took on Aug. 4 and 5 and shared on social media of several goats in poor condition as well as a sheep that was not using its hind leg. When she spoke to the farms manager on Aug. 6 Thompson learned at least three sheep had died in recent weeks at the farm including a six-month old goat that died that morning; at least another 20 animals, mostly goats and sheep, also showed signs of illness, the warrant said.. The farm manager said that he contacted Tuttle OKeeffe in Belize and asked to get vet care for the animals after the normal agricultural practices didnt work, but she refused, the warrant affidavit said. She instructed him to continue with the over-the-counter treatments. A recent former farm employee and volunteers said the animals showed signs of illness before Tuttle OKeeffe left for Belize. They provided Facebook posts from Tuttle OKeeffe that show she said she made plans to sell the animals at auction this month. Thompson attempted to contact Tuttle OKeeffe on Aug. 5 and again Aug. 6 through her cellphone and Facebook Messenger but she did not respond, the affidavit said. While executing the search warrant on Aug. 6, the farm manager was exchanging text messages with Tuttle OKeeffe who refused to speak with Thompson, but she did agree to surrender the animals to the SPCA. The SPCAs director of shelter medicine determined that veterinary intervention and care was necessary for the goats and sheep to assess their health and diagnose any illness or parasitic infections. After the animals were removed, a veterinarian with the state Department of Agriculture examined them and determined the suspected cause of death was a heavy parasite load. Other animals appeared malnourished, some with respiratory problems and some goats and sheep had a preventable contagious foot condition. In addition to operating her farm store since at least 2020, Tuttle O'Keeffe also offered other events and activities on the farm that provided the public a chance to interact with the animals including goat yoga, bottle feeding goats and what she called "Sip and Snuggle" afternoons with the baby goats. Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at jciavaglia@gannett.com This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Guns, suspected marijuana removed from Narrow Way Farm in Newtown Eight U.S. service members were treated for traumatic brain injury and smoke inhalation after a one-way drone attack in Syria over the weekend, a Pentagon spokesperson confirmed Tuesday. Of those eight, three service members have already returned to duty, and the rest are still under medical observation, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder told reporters at a briefing. Ryder stressed that "none of the injuries are life-threatening," but provided no other details on the condition of the service members or the severity of the brain injuries. Read Next: Soldiers Hit with More Problems Accessing Education Benefits Amid Fall Enrollment Deadlines The injuries were caused by a drone that struck Saturday at the Rumalyn Landing Zone in northeast Syria. There are roughly 900 U.S. troops in Syria as part of an international coalition working to keep remnants of the Islamic State terrorist group at bay. Ryder previously told reporters Monday that "several" troops were transported to an undisclosed separate location to treat minor injuries after Saturday's attack, but did not specify exactly how many until Tuesday. The drone strike in Syria is the second time in recent weeks that U.S. troops in the Middle East have been injured. While there had been a lull in recent months, Iranian-backed militias launched a spate of attacks against U.S. forces in the region after Israel began its military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas' brutal Oct. 7 massacre. Ryder did not attribute Saturday's attack to a specific group, but said officials believe it was carried out by an Iranian-backed militia. The renewed targeting of U.S. service members in the region comes as the United States and Israel brace for a threatened Iranian attack on Israel in retaliation for Israel's recent strikes that killed two top Iranian-backed militia leaders in Iran and Lebanon. In an effort to deter an attack and prepare to defend Israel if necessary, the U.S. military has bolstered its forces in the region. Earlier this month, the Pentagon announced the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group was heading to the region to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt strike group. On Sunday, the Pentagon said in a statement that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the Lincoln to "accelerate" its transit to the Middle East, though it is unclear what that means and Ryder declined several times Tuesday to elaborate. In the same statement Sunday, the Pentagon also announced that Austin ordered the USS Georgia guided missile submarine to the Central Command region, a rare public announcement of a U.S. submarine movement. On Monday, the White House told reporters that Iran's retaliation could come as soon as this week. Asked about the White House assessment Tuesday, Ryder said that an attack this week is "certainly possible." Related: As Tensions Simmer in the Middle East, Pentagon Redirects Carrier Strike Group to the Area An amendment that would create a right to an abortion in Arizonas constitution will appear on the states ballot this November. Arizona for Abortion Access, a coalition supporting the amendment, announced on Monday night that the measure would appear on the states November ballot as Proposition 139, allowing voters in the swing state to decide on the issue this election cycle. Arizonas secretary of state office confirmed to ABC News on Monday evening that the Arizona for Abortion Access Act will officially be on the ballot this November. PHOTO: Abortion-Rights-Activists-Protest-Washington-DC (Aashish Kiphayet/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty) MORE: Abortion-rights ballot measures may not help Democrats as much as they think The secretary of state's office told ABC News that Arizona turned in an estimated 577,971 valid signatures for Abortion Access. The group surpassed the minimum number of signatures needed, which was 383,923. Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes signed the required paperwork to put the ballot measure in front of voters. If passed in November, the measure would establish a fundamental right to an abortion in the state. It would protect access to abortion up until viability, which is generally around 24 weeks, with exceptions after that if a healthcare provider determines an abortion is needed to protect the life or physical or mental health of the patient. Arizona law currently bans abortions after 15 weeks and includes exceptions in cases of medical emergencies. Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs in May signed repeal legislation of a long-dormant, near-total abortion ban that had been revived by the state Supreme Court, stirring widespread controversy and debate. Abortion access will officially be on Arizonas ballot in November originally appeared on abcnews.go.com PHNOM PENH, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Foreign Minister Sok Chenda Sophea will attend the ninth Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Chiang Mai, Thailand on Friday, the country's foreign ministry said in a news release. "The meeting, under the theme 'Towards a Safer and Cleaner Lancang-Mekong Community,' will provide an opportunity for the foreign ministers to review progress under the LMC mechanism," the news release said. "This includes implementing the substantive outcomes of the fourth LMC Leaders' Meeting in December last year, jointly addressing emerging challenges and exploring better ways, based on the Five-Year Plan of Action on the LMC (2023-2027), to move LMC forward for the benefits of peoples in the Mekong sub-region as a whole," it added. During his stay, Chenda Sophea is expected to have bilateral talks with other foreign ministers to further strengthen ties and cooperation under bilateral and multilateral frameworks, it said. The LMC countries include China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Launch in China in 2016, the LMC focuses on five priority areas of cooperation, namely connectivity, production capacity, cross-border economic cooperation, water resources management and agriculture, and poverty reduction. This week, Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft is expected to certify Missourians for Constitutional Freedoms proposed amendment to the Missouri Constitution. If approved by voters in November, this would enshrine a right to reproductive freedom in the Missouri Constitution. As a high school social studies teacher in St. Louis, this raises fascinating issues of law and policy that are as relevant to my advanced placement U.S. government and politics students, as they are to Missourians generally. It is important to appreciate the historical context for the initiative. My students and I have discussed how the U.S. Supreme Courts 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization held that the U.S. Constitution is agnostic on the question of abortion, which is to say that it is silent on whether there is a right to abortion or, for that matter, a right to life of the unborn. As such, and by virtue of the principles of federalism set forth in the 10th Amendment that regulate the relationship between the states and the federal government, it is up to the states to regulate abortion. The Missouri General Assembly passed a statute, the Right to Life of the Unborn Child Act, which protects the right to life of the unborn, with exception in cases of medical emergency. While the law imposes criminal and civil penalties upon anyone who knowingly performs or induces a prohibited abortion, it protects pregnant women (upon whom an abortion is performed or induced) from liability. Voters will likely decide in a matter of months whether to maintain Missouris statutory protection of the unborn or, in the words of the proposed amendment, prohibit the state from deny(ing) or infring(ing) upon a persons fundamental right to reproductive freedom. Missourians should consider maintaining the status quo, which protects the right to life of the unborn while upholding the dignity of women, and vote against the proposed amendment, for a number of reasons. As I teach my students, legal language can take on a life of its own. Judges can broadly or narrowly interpret the law according to their policy preferences, and our system of government prohibits the political branches of government from interfering with the judicial function. As Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist No. 78, a text that my students study, interpreting the law is the proper and peculiar province of the courts. How might all of this play out if the proposed amendment were adopted and our elected officials sought to regulate abortion? Virtually any state law that would regulate abortion would likely be held unconstitutional. The proposed amendment would make it nearly impossible to pass commonsense, consensus abortion regulation. This is because any law that would, in the words of the proposed amendment, infringe upon a womans autonomous decision-making (among other hurdles) would be struck down. In effect, this could mean that Missouri courts would prohibit our duly-elected legislators from adopting heartbeat protection bills, pain-capable limits or even parental consent laws for minors in future. And even after what the proposed amendment terms fetal viability, the state could under no circumstances undermine access to abortion if in the good faith judgment of a treating health care professional (it) is needed to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person. Given the malleability of language, a creative judge could quite plausibly find abortion during all nine months of pregnancy to be constitutionally protected. Finally, and as a more general matter, is constitutional change really the best approach to settling the question of abortion in Missouri? It is not at all clear that it is. Adopting a constitutional amendment takes legislative power away from elected officials, who are accountable to the people and tasked with policymaking. Constitutional change should be difficult. This is why the U.S. Constitution requires three-fourths of states to approve proposed amendments. Unfortunately, in Missouri, only a bare majority is required to amend the Missouri Constitution, and to tie the hands of legislators. Civic-minded Missourians should engage with the political process in November at the ballot box. And, on the proposed abortion amendment, as with everything else, inform themselves accordingly. Robert P. Barnidge Jr. teaches high school social studies in St. Louis. Organizers for a ballot initiative that would amend the Arizona Constitution to protect abortion rights set up outside the Arizona Capitol on April 9, 2024, shortly after the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that an 1864 near-total abortion ban is enforceable. Photo by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy | Arizona Mirror Voters in November will be able to decide whether to amend the Arizona Constitution to guarantee the right to abortion, state election officials said Monday. The Arizona Abortion Access Act collected around 578,000 valid signatures, significantly more than the nearly 384,000 it needed to qualify for the ballot. This is a huge win for Arizona voters, who will now get to vote YES on restoring and protecting the right to access abortion care, free from political interference, once and for all, Cheryl Bruce, campaign manager for the initiative, said in a written statement. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The Abortion Access Act, which will be Proposition 139 on the ballot, would guarantee a womans right to an abortion up to the point of fetal viability, around 24 weeks of pregnancy. Exceptions to that limit would be allowed if a health care provider determined it was necessary to preserve a patients life, physical or mental health. The constitutional amendment would also forbid the state from adopting or enforcing any policy that restricts access to abortion unless its intent is to safeguard the patients life or health potentially upending decades of anti-abortion laws passed to encumber and deter women from seeking abortions. Currently, Arizona has ban after 15 weeks of gestation, with no exceptions for rape or incest. Health care providers who perform an abortion beyond that gestational deadline for any reason except to prevent a patients death or the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function face a possible felony charge, with a potential prison sentence of up to two years. Members of the Arizona for Abortion Access campaign who gathered signatures for the constitutional amendment celebrated their win on Monday. Thousands of local volunteers, and dozens of organizations focused on reproductive rights, healthcare, faith communities, and veterans rights, not to mention millions of Arizonans have been looking forward to this day for more than a year, campaign spokeswoman Chris Love said in the statement. More than 7,000 Arizonans worked through snow, heat, wind and rain since September 2023 collecting these signatures from friends, neighbors and fellow voters to ensure we would have a say in the laws that govern our lives. The initiative is still facing litigation, however. A trial court judge on Aug. 5 shot down a lawsuit filed by Arizona Right to Life, an anti-abortion organization. In the suit, attorneys for Right to Life challenged the 200-word summary of the act shown to voters before they signed petition sheets to get the act on the ballot. The organization claimed that the summary was so misleading that all of the signatures gathered for it should be disqualified. One of Arizona Right to Lifes qualms with the summary of the act was the use of the term health care provider while the text of the act refers to the treating health care provider when describing who has the authority to determine that an abortion is necessary beyond fetal viability. Attorneys for the anti-abortion organization claimed that omitting the word treating misled those who signed the petition into thinking that a neutral doctor, and not an abortion provider, would be the person deciding whether an abortion past the point of fetal viability was warranted. But a Maricopa County Superior Court judge disagreed, dismissing the lawsuit. Two days later, Right to Life filed an appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court, which is expected to rule before the Aug. 22 deadline to print ballots. DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) Let out from work early, William Largent went to his bosss home for a Fourth of July party. Driving home that night, he headed north on Oak Street and attempted to make a right turn onto 24th Street well above the posted speed limit, according to newly released police reports. 2 arrested after foot pursuit leads CHP to illegal chop shop Largents car ran over the center divider striking and fatally injuring a pedestrian then hit three vehicles on westbound 24th Street before coming to a stop, police said. Chad Anthony Jacques, 48, was declared dead at the scene. Arrested and taken to Kern Medical, Largent blew a 0.170 and 0.166% double the states 0.08% blood-alcohol limit for driving, the reports say. On Monday, the 33-year-old Largent made his first court appearance, pleading not guilty to charges including second-degree murder. He remains out of custody for a few days, at least. A bail hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. A witness to the crash estimated Largents Toyota Camry was traveling 80 mph on Oak Street before attempting the turn, according to the documents. Police gave a higher estimate of 90 mph based on evidence at the scene. Mom accused of using stun gun on autistic son said she previously used pepper spray, kept him locked up Largent, who works at Terry Bedford Concrete Construction Inc., denied drinking but smelled of alcohol and had red, watery eyes, police said. He performed poorly on some of the field sobriety tests officers administered, according to the documents. Largent has a DUI conviction from 2013, and, as with everyone convicted of DUI, has previously been read a Watson advisement a formal statement telling him he can be charged with murder if he continues to drive under the influence and someone dies as a result. An officer on July 4 again read the advisement to Largent. Largent did not respond to me; however, he did cry, the officer wrote in the reports. This indicates to me that he understands the advisement. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17. TOWN OF DICKINSON, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) An evening of good local food, beer and wine tastings, and fireworks, with a beautiful backdrop, all for a good cause. ACHIEVE New York is hosting its 14th annual Savor the Summer event at Cutler Pond in the Town of Dickinson. Several local restaurants will be in attendance including Food and Fire Barbecue Taphouse, Remliks, and Beer Tree Brew. Plus, you can try locally brewed beers, ciders, and wine. The Vice President of Development at ACHIEVE, Lila Balliett, says all of the funds raised will go directly to support the organizations programming. She says you must be at least 21 years old to get into the event. Even if youve never heard of Achieve before, if you like food, and you like beer and wine, and you like live music and fireworks, this event is for you, and you should come. And if youve never been before I think that youll be very pleasantly surprised and probably come back again next year, said Balliett. Savor the Summer is on the 15th, from 6 to 9 p.m. The night will cap off with a fireworks display over Cutler Pond. Tickets are $60 apiece and can be purchased online at achieveny.org. Any tickets purchased after Friday will be held at will-call. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WIVT - News 34. The freakout begins: "Elon Musk is slated to interview [former President] Donald Trump tonight on XI think that misinformation on Twitter is not just a campaign issue, it's an America issue. What role does the White House or the president have? Any sort of stopping that, or stopping the spread of that or sort of intervening in that?" a reporter from The Washington Post asked White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a moment that went viral yesterday. Her response was fairly anodyne but alluded to the purportedly problematic nature of Trump being interviewed or platformed at all, which is itself telling. "You've heard us talk about this many times from here, about the responsibilities that social media platforms have when it comes to misinformation, disinformation," responded Jean-Pierre. "These are also private companies, so we're mindful of that too.I just don't have any specifics on what we have been doing internally as it relates to the interviews." The fact that a professional journalistfor a massive, mainstream publicationbelieves it improper for the Republican presidential nominee to be interviewed, and for that interview to reach the ears of more than a million people, remains a bit stunning (that is, if you haven't been paying attention to the journalism-industry meltdown over Trump that's been going on since he announced his candidacy in 2015). Presidential campaigns have long been in the business of spreading, if not misinformation, then at least partial truths and talking points of questionable veracity that are designed to sell. To act like this was invented by Trump is absurd, and to suggest that the White Houseoccupied by Trump's former opponenthas a responsibility to stop it is horrifying. But American journalists aren't the only ones attempting to stop him from being heard. Just a little reminder: "The European Union's digital enforcer wrote an open letter to tech mogul Elon Musk on Monday ahead of a planned interview with former United States President Donald Trump to remind him of the EU's rules on promoting hate speech," reports Politico. "As the relevant content is accessible to EU users and being amplified also in our jurisdiction, we cannot exclude potential spillovers in the EU," wrote Digital Commissioner Thierry Breton on X. "With great audience comes greater responsibility." Meanwhile, The Guardian reports that Bruce Daisley, Twitter's former vice-president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, has said Musk should face "personal sanctions"which are "much more effective on executives than the risk of corporate fines"and even, possibly, an "arrest warrant" if he "continue[s] stirring up unrest" on the platform. "The question we are presented with is whether we're willing to allow a billionaire oligarch to camp off the UK coastline and take potshots at our society," says Daisley. "The idea that a boycottwhether by high-profile users or advertisersshould be our only sanction is clearly not meaningful." (All Musk has done, for the record, is criticize British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for his handling of riots over immigration, calling him a "hypocrite" and "two-tier Keir.") Just incredible that the person who said this was once making executive-level decisions at Twitter: "Musk's actions should be a wake-up call for Starmer's government to quietly legislate to take back control of what we collectively agree is permissible on social media." https://t.co/9M9W6LMl1G Zach Weissmueller (@TheAbridgedZach) August 12, 2024 The EU is threatening X with legal action "in relation to" a planned interview between Elon and Trump, as it may "generate detrimental effects on civic discourse" https://t.co/LbTSaEoiR1 Mason (@webdevMason) August 12, 2024 Back to the actual event: As for the Trump-Musk discussion itself, the first 30 minutes were marred by technical problems, which Musk attributed to a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. The rest was a free-flowing, ostensibly comfortable conversation between Musk and Trump that wasn't even especially revealing. Trump noted that he wants to shutter the Department of Education and "move education back to the states," conceding that "not every state will do great." (He thinks maybe 35 or so would "do great.") Trump downplayed the threat of global warming, which Musk pushed back on a fair bit. "It's not like the house is on fire immediately," Musk said. "It is something we need to move towards. On balance it's probably better to move faster than slower." And, quite sensibly, that climate progress should happen "without vilifying the oil and gas industry. People can stilldrive gasoline cars." Musk used the opportunity to vent some of his frustration at President Joe Biden and Democratic nominee/Vice President Kamala Harris, saying that talking to them is "like talking to an NPC," or non-player character. On the dictators of the world, like Russia's Vladimir Putin, Trump said what we already know he believes: "Getting along well with them is a good thing, not a bad thing." In short, everyone played their part perfectly and predictably. Nothing shocking was revealed. It was moderately interesting, as both Musk and Trump are fascinating characters with strong beliefs who clearly command the respect (or at least the attention) of millions. Perhaps the most interesting part was how threatened so many people were by this conversation taking place at all. Scenes from New York: A judge has thrown Robert F. Kennedy Jr. off the state's ballot, so you willat least as of right nowno longer be able to vote for him if you live here. QUICK HITS "Trump as de facto Fed Chair is a dangerous idea," writes Jonathan Levin at Bloomberg. "Threatening central bank independence is among the worst economic proposals ever floated by a major-party presidential candidate." "When my mother told me she hadn't ever considered how I felt about growing up without her, my first reaction was that her wiring was off," writes Xochitl Gonzalez in The Atlantic, reflecting on being abandoned by her mother, who pursued Socialist activism instead of parenthood. "But speaking with those two Socialist candidates, I came to view it differently. All around my mother, people were being told to give up one life here and start another there. And they did, no questions asked. She must have seen me as just another comrade being relocated for the movement. She had not considered my feelings because, I suspect, she had not considered her own." Live-caption glasses help deaf people to follow conversations as they're happening. "Ukrainian troops sliced easily through a thinly defended border, pushing tens of miles into Russia and shifting the narrative of the war after a glum year in which Ukraine had struggled, often in vain, to hold back Russian advances across its eastern front," reports The New York Times. "By Monday, Ukraine's commanding general had told President Volodymyr Zelensky that his troops held 390 square miles of territory in Russia's southeastern Kursk region. Two dozen settlements were overrun." So very true: Disclaimer: The Democrats' "Mind your own damn business" rhetoric applies to abortion only. Not your money, job, business, school choices, covid "snitch lines," energy usage, DEI-compliance, guns, "hate speech," etc. Then suddenly "government is what we do together." https://t.co/1N0WOqxtdq Brian Riedl ???? ???????? (@Brian_Riedl) August 11, 2024 The post Actually, Interviewing Presidential Candidates Is a Good Thing appeared first on Reason.com. A federal grand jury in Oklahoma City has indicted a Weatherford-based erosion control company and a top executive in a price-fixing conspiracy that targeted more than $100 million in publicly funded transportation contracts across the state. Sioux Erosion Control Inc. along with Vice President BG Dale Biscoe and Randall David Shelton, an estimator, are accused of violating the Sherman Act the federal antitrust law prohibiting unreasonable restraints of trade by conspiring with their competitors to raise and maintain prices for products and services from September 2017 through April 2023. The three defendants have entered pleas of not guilty. Weve not done anything wrong, Mack Martin, an attorney for Biscoe, told The Oklahoman. Were gonna defend this to the end. Were proud of the work weve done. More: Four Oklahoma executives plead guilty to $100 million contract bidding scheme Sioux issued the following statement: Sioux Erosion Control, BG Biscoe and Randy Shelton entered pleas of not guilty and will vigorously defend the charges. We are proud of the high-quality soil erosion service we have provided and continue to provide in Oklahoma. Erosion control products and services, including the use of solid slab sodding, are often incorporated into contracts with federal, state and local governments for publicly funded projects including highway construction and repair. In addition to conspiring to raise prices for sod, prosecutors accuse the defendants of agreeing to divide up contracts across different areas of Oklahoma and rigging bids for projects by submitting intentionally high-priced bids or outright refusing to bid. Earlier this year, four others, including a former Sioux employee, pleaded guilty for their roles in the alleged conspiracy. They have not yet been sentenced. They each face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million criminal fine. The U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General and the FBI Oklahoma City Field Office investigated the case. We will continue to work alongside our law enforcement partners to uncover these harmful schemes and hold the perpetrators responsible, Acting Special Agent in Charge Joseph Skarda of the FBI Oklahoma City Field Office said in a news release. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: 3 more indicted in Oklahoma public transport contract bidding scheme The Black Death plague, bird flu and mpox are among 24 threats that have been added to an influential watchlist of the pathogens that could trigger the next pandemic. In the first update since Covid-19 swept the planet, a World Health Organisation (WHO) panel has dramatically expanded the scope of its index of so-called priority pathogens. Already notorious diseases like Zika, yellow fever and avian influenza have been added, alongside lesser known threats such as Sin Nombre virus which jumps from deer mice to people and has a fatality rate of 30 per cent in the US. Several bacteria, including cholera, the plague and salmonella, have also been incorporated for the first time. The watchlist may sound like more WHO jargon especially its name, the R&D Blueprint for Epidemics but its contents have become hugely influential since the first iteration was published in 2017. Not only did it popularise the concept of Disease X, an as yet unknown pandemic threat, but the exercise pointed out the most dangerous diseases for which there were no vaccines, diagnostics or treatments. Since then, it has been used by scientists and research consortiums around the world to prioritise research. The list, first published in 2017, pointed out the most dangerous diseases for which there were no vaccines, diagnostics or treatments - SIA KAMBOU/AFP In our world, [the blueprint] has been a very big deal, said Dr Richard Hatchett, chief executive of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (Cepi), which funds vaccine research. It helped focus attention on a set of pathogens that had been neglected, effectively because there were no commercial drivers for countermeasure development. He pointed to one example as the signal success to date: Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers), a close relative of Covid which featured on the first priority pathogen list. That certainly helped those of us who were trying to fund programmes to justify our investments in developing Mers vaccines, Dr Hatchett told the Telegraph. And it was that investment in solving the general coronavirus design problem that, I think, enabled the rapid pivot to Covid. At least the Moderna vaccine and the AstraZeneca vaccine were direct pivots from the Mers vaccine development programmes, so to that extent its been really, really important, he said. Click here to view this content. But while pre-pandemic lists focused on a narrow set of around a dozen priority diseases, the latest blueprint includes well over 30. It also creates a set of prototype pathogens for 22 major families of viruses, in an attempt to replicate the success seen with Mers and Covid. Dr Hatchett said this updated approach was not so much a reflection of a major shift in the underlying risk each disease presents, but an evolution in the thinking of the scientific community about how best to prepare for pandemic threats. By getting to know as much as we can about each of the pathogen families that are most likely to harbour the next pandemic-causing disease, scientists can get a head start in creating new medical defences such as vaccines and treatments that can be swiftly adapted to target a new disease, he said. Think of it as a jigsaw, with each family representing a part of the puzzle. The new pathogen family framework maps out each of these families and will help to coordinate the efforts and resources of institutions around the globe and put the pieces together to solve the problem of pandemics for the world. Speaking at the Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit in Brazil at the end of July, the WHOs Dr Ana Maria Henao-Restrepo, who co-leads the project, used a different analogy: the streetlight effect. This is the metaphor of the drunken man looking for the lost keys under the streetlamp. The first place where the drunken man is going to look for his keys is under the light. The light areas are the pathogens for which we have a lot of information today, we know that they are global threats but we want to expand that light area, she said. So one way to expand is [to use] prototype vaccines which are pathfinders, who will help us develop medical countermeasures that maybe can be useful for other pathogens in the same family. She added: So we are now promoting research in all the viral families, regardless of the pandemic threat potential that we perceive today, because the pandemic threat potential that we perceive today is based on the data and the knowledge that we have today. To further this strategy, the WHO has also announced that institutions across the world will become central hubs (dubbed a Collaborative Open Research Consortium, or Corc) for different pathogen families, leading and coordinating work between partners - from funders to researchers and regulators. But Dr Henao-Restrepo added that it is improbable that the next pandemic will be caused by a disease we know which is why experts must still plan for Disease X. The concept of pathogen X says there is uncertainty, and there are pathogens in these less illuminated, less studied areas that we still need to pay attention to, she warned. Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. DENVER (KDVR) A well-known anti-violence advocate was arrested in connection to a deadly shooting at a Commerce City park in what detectives are investigating as retaliation for his sons shooting death a year prior. Lumumba Sayers Sr., 46, was arrested in connection to the shooting that left one dead at Pioneer Park on Saturday. Sayers Sr. founded the Aurora-based nonprofit Heavy Hands Heavy Hearts, which is aimed at helping young people in the community. Mom raising funds to attend Colorado trial for sons suspected killer In August 2023, Sayers Sr. lost his son to gun violence after he was shot and killed near 28th and Welton streets. Sayers Sr. was booked into the Adams County Jail on a $1 million bond. He is facing charges of first-degree murder and felony menacing. On Tuesday, FOX31 received the arrest affidavit which details the possible motive behind the shooting. Affidavit: Suspect kills victim at childs party When Commerce City Police Department officers arrived at the park, they spoke to several witnesses who told them the victim, identified as Malcolm Watson, 28, was attending a childs birthday party. Sayers Sr. showed up at the party uninvited, according to the arrest affidavit. Per a witness, Sayers Sr. walked up to Watson and shot him. Witnesses also claim that another man dressed in all tan clothing was also shooting. Police have not yet identified him. Download the FOX31 App: Breaking news alerts & Pinpoint Weather According to detectives who spoke to witnesses at the scene, Watson was a friend of the person who allegedly killed Sayers Sr.s son one year ago. The witnesses said Watsons murder was probably retaliation or revenge, and detectives are considering this as a possible motive. Witnesses: Sayers Sr. attempts to rob victim, plant gun After allegedly shooting Watson, witnesses told officers that Sayers Sr. attempted to fire another gun at Watson, but this gun jammed. A witness said Sayers Sr. then robbed him by removing a set of keys on a lanyard from Watsons pocket. Detectives did obtain two sets of keys, one on a lanyard, when they booked Sayers Sr. into jail, according to the affidavit. A video provided by a witness allegedly shows Sayers Sr. attempting to place a black handgun near Watsons body. According to the affidavit, the witness can be heard on the video yelling at Sayers Sr. that she saw him planting the gun. Stolen truck with strong sentimental value returned after 2 months Per the affidavit, the witness also yelled at Sayers Sr. that he killed her babys daddy on her babys birthday. Suspects daughter also on scene of the shooting A woman and the unidentified second shooter arrived in a black Cadillac Escalade. Police identified the woman in the Escalade as Hawaii Sayers, the daughter of Sayers Sr. According to witnesses, Sayers Sr., the unidentified male and Hawaii were seen conversing, but police do not know if they exchanged any items. Police have not said if they have contacted Hawaii for further questioning. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver. ECTOR OCUNTY, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- The Ector County Sheriffs Office has arrested one person in connection with a shooting that left another man dead last weekend. 50-year-old Omar Babativa Beltran has been charged with Murder, and Aggravated Kidnapping with a Deadly Weapon, both first-degree felonies. According to an affidavit, on August 11, deputies responded to a trailer home in the 12000 block of W Love Drive after a man, later identified as Beltran, called 911 and said hed shot and killed someone. When deputies arrived on the scene, they said Beltran exited the home and threw two handguns down on the porch; during a subsequent search, investigators said Beltran was wearing a gun holster on both sides of his body and that both discarded guns belonged to him. Inside the home, deputies cleared the residence and found a victim, later identified as 44-year-old Raul Hernandez Uribe, dead from multiple gunshot wounds. During the course of the investigation, detectives learned that a 61-year-old man was also present in the home at the time of the murder; he was later found and questioned and said he saw Beltran shoot Uribe, who was unarmed, and had done nothing to provoke his alleged shooter. The witness said he tried to leave the home after the shooting, but that Beltran pointed the gun in his direction and said he was not allowed to leave. In a later interview with ECSO investigators, Beltran reportedly confessed to shooting Uribe. He was arrested and booked into the Ector County Law Enforcement Center where he remained as of Monday afternoon on a combined $350,000 bond. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Yourbasin. A senior investigator has resigned from the Republican House Foreign Affairs Committee probe into the Biden administrations deadly and chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, accusing the panel of holding back its full power in examining the failures of the U.S. pullout. Jerry Dunleavy, a former journalist and author of a book detailing first-person accounts of the withdrawal, posted his resignation letter Monday to social platform X. He described himself as a whistleblower, criticizing the committee as suffering from investigative paralysis. I did not come lightly to this decision to resign and to blow the whistle publicly, Dunleavy wrote in a post accompanying screenshots of his four-page resignation letter. Efforts to pursue investigative leads were repeatedly stymied by our chief investigator and by senior staff, and unfortunately, sometimes by indecision from you, Mr. Chairman, Dunleavy wrote in the letter, referring to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas). In a phone call with The Hill, Dunleavy said he was motivated to speak out publicly ahead of the November election to raise an urgency to go after interviews with key administration officials and dig deeper into the responsibility of the military generals and commanders while Republicans are still in the majority in the House. There is definitely a significant bias from the chairman, downward, toward not really looking to hold the military commanders and generals accountable for what happened, Dunleavy said. He described committee members treating retired Gens. Mark Milley and Kenneth McKenzie with kid gloves during a March hearing. Milley served as chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during both the Trump and Biden administrations, and McKenzie is the former commander of United States Central Command. Dunleavy further said that the committee has taken zero steps to look at Vice President Harriss role in the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying I have received pushback from my superiors related to taking action on this. I have argued repeatedly that Vice President Kamala Harris should be held accountable for her role in the debacle in Afghanistan, especially now that she is the Democratic nominee for President of the United States and could soon be making national security decisions and directing foreign policy for our entire nation, Dunleavy wrote in his letter. Emily Cassil, a spokesperson for committee Republicans, responded to Dunleavys resignation by saying McCaul pours his heart and soul into getting answers for our Gold Star families and Afghanistan veterans and pointed to the committees expected publication in September of its final report looking at the decisionmaking surrounding the U.S. pullout. Separately, a Republican committee aide pushed back on Dunleaveys assertion that the vice president was off limits, adding that her role in the withdrawal would be addressed in the September report. McCaul has made investigating President Bidens 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan a centerpiece of his agenda heading the committee, promising to discover how the two-decade war culminated in a deadly and chaotic end in which 13 U.S. service members were killed in a terrorist attack, along with roughly 170 Afghan civilians. But Democrats have criticized McCaul as carrying out a partisan investigation that fails to look at former President Trumps role in setting up the conditions for the U.S. exit from Afghanistan, as well as decisions by previous administrations from Presidents Bush and Obama. McCauls staff published an interim report in August 2022 that detailed a lack of planning on the part of the administration and analyzed a series of missteps and errors that complicated the withdrawal. The final Republican committee report is expected to be based on more than 20 transcribed interviews with administration officials involved in the withdrawal and conclusions drawn from at least five public hearings carried out over the course of the year. The U.S. military and diplomatic withdrawal from Afghanistan is largely viewed as one of the darkest moments in Bidens term in office. Over a fraught two weeks in August 2021, the U.S. watched the Taliban advance a lightning offensive to take over the country, sweeping through Kabul as the internationally recognized Afghan government and military crumbled. The administration evacuated an estimated 125,000 people over those two weeks, but tens of thousands of vulnerable Afghans who worked alongside U.S. forces were initially left behind, and pathways to immigration to the U.S. got caught up in a bureaucratic backlog. The withdrawal was marked by hectic scenes of civilians mobbing Kabuls Hamid Karzai International Airport and departing planes. A deadly terrorist bombing by the group ISIS-K left more than a dozen U.S. forces dead. I dont want there to be more unnecessary Gold Star families in the future, Dunleavy told The Hill. Thats what I worry about, if we dont pursue real accountability and pursue real answers here is that there arent going to be lessons learned. Theres not going to be accountability, no ones going to feel like there needs to be a big mindset change. No ones gonna really absorb the fact that this was a big loss. We lost a two decade war, and we better get serious if we dont want to lose the next one. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. YANGON, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar's 142nd South Sea Pearl Emporium kicked off in the capital city Nay Pyi Taw on Monday, the state-run daily The Mirror reported on Tuesday. Local and foreign merchants attended the event, observing the pearl lots displayed at the Maniyadana Jade Hall in Nay Pyi Taw on the opening day, the report said. A total of 175,000 pearls, grouped into 700 lots, will be sold through an open tender system during the four-day emporium, with sales conducted in U.S. dollars, according to the report. Of the 700 pearl lots, 230 lots were set to be sold on Tuesday, another 230 lots on Wednesday, and the remaining 240 lots on Thursday, the report said. The News Africas leading public health organization has declared mpox a public health emergency. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) issued the warning following an outbreak of the infectious disease that was recorded in DR Congo before spreading to nearby countries. Symptoms of an mpox infection include fever and painful rashes that spread around the body. It is typically contracted through physical contact with other humans or animals. A new, more transmissible, strain of the virus has been identified, and carries a mortality rate of up to 10% among children. We must act now with urgency and purpose. Protect yourself and your loved ones. Follow the guidance of health authorities, Africa CDC Director General Jean Kaseya said on Tuesday. We must stand together as one continent, united by our resolve to overcome this. Mpox might have taken us by surprise but it will not defeat us. Know More Cases have been surging at an unprecedented scale on the African continent, the World Health Organization said, prompting the body and Africas top health officials to consider labeling the disease an emergency. Mpox was previously known as monkeypox because it is thought to have been first spotted in laboratory monkeys, according to the US governments Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It was renamed in late 2022. This is not the first time medical bodies have issued such a warning against mpox: In 2022, the disease was found simultaneously in endemic countries, including those in West and Central Africa, and in Europe and North America, where it is less common. Most cases were found at clinics that provide sexual health services and involved mainly, but not exclusively, men who have sex with men, the WHO said at the time. Nine in 10 of the current cases are found in DR Congo. The Idaho Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit Attorney General Raul Labrador filed over an upcoming ballot initiative on Idahos closed primary system, concluding that it was too early to rule on the measures constitutionality. The justices unanimous decision left the door open for Labrador to file another lawsuit in a lower court. The justices did not resolve the ethical question they raised on whether Labrador has a conflict of interest in suing a state official while his office also represents him in the same lawsuit. Labrador last month sued Secretary of State Phil McGrane and a coalition of voters hoping to end the Republican Partys closed primaries and implement ranked choice voting in general elections. Set to go before voters in November, Labrador argued the proposed measure violated the Idaho Constitution and accused the organizers of misleading voters, rendering the tens of thousands of signatures they gathered void. The court Tuesday delivered an opinion that dismissed both of Labradors arguments on procedural grounds. Justice Robyn M. Brody said the constitutional question would not be ready to review unless and until the ballot measure is approved during the November election. She also said the Supreme Court was not the right venue to explore whether any signatures were improperly collected and that such a question must first be answered in lower courts. State law doesnt give the secretary of state authority to determine whether signatures on an initiative petition are fraudulently collected, she said in the decision. The attorney generals petition fundamentally misapprehends the role of this court under the Idaho Constitution and the role of the secretary of state under the initiative laws enacted by the Idaho Legislature, Brody wrote. The courts ruling still allows Labrador to challenge the collected signatures in a lower court, or to challenge the initiatives constitutionality after voters choose to make it law. Court leaves AG option to file second lawsuit Volunteers for the coalition, Idahoans for Open Primaries, gathered nearly 75,000 verified signatures for a citizen-led initiative last month to place the measure on the general election ballot. Labrador accused the organizers of deceptive practices by focusing intentionally on eliminating the states closed primaries and not ranked choice voting. The initiatives organizers have denied Labradors allegations on misleading voters who signed the petition. Luke Mayville, the coalitions spokesperson, called them a political stunt from an attorney general who opposes the initiative on political grounds. Mayville said Tuesday that the dismissal was very good news for voters. The attorney general has once again failed in his attempts to game the system and deny Idaho voters a voice, he said by text. Dan Estes, spokesperson for the attorney general, told the Statesman by email that the office appreciates the courts reasoned analysis. We are disappointed that the court did not take up the single subject issue at this time but are confident that the people of Idaho and the courts will eventually reject this clearly unconstitutional petition, Estes said. The office is reviewing our options to show that outside interest groups knowingly misled Idaho voters about the petition they were signing, he added. Mayville said another challenge over the signatures, less than three months before the election, would be dead in the water. Even if the AG sues again in a lower court, he wont have enough time before Election Day, Mayville said, adding that he thinks this will give voters a chance to vote for the initiative and restore the right of all voters to participate in primary elections. Court stays quiet on ethical question Labrador asked the court to prevent the states top elections official from placing the measure on voters ballots this fall. The attorney general usually represents other state officials in court. But Labradors decision to both sue and represent McGrane prompted the Supreme Court to demand the attorney general explain how his decision did not violate the states ethical requirements for lawyers. The courts request was unusual, and an Idaho legal academic previously told the Statesman the issue likely violated the rules of professional conduct. In the last sentence of its dismissal, the court said it need not address the question because the case was dismissed. Labradors office previously said in court filings that the attorneys representing McGrane have been insulated from the rest of his office, which he said fulfills all the professional rules require and all they can possibly require. Agencies in dire need of foster homes in central Alabama BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) In Alabama, there are less than 2,500 homes available for the nearly 6,000 foster children in need across the state. Foster care agencies in central Alabama are urging the public to consider assisting the states most vulnerable population. Caseworkers understand that taking on the role of a foster parent can be intimidating. To alleviate potential stressors, programs are available to provide resources and knowledge for new foster parents to help children succeed. According to Lifeline, a childrens services agency in Jefferson County, there are over 900 children in foster care and 318 foster homes in the area alone. Its children that are going into overcrowded foster homes, or residential foster homes that are not a family setting, Christie Mac Segers, vice president of domestic services with Lifeline, said. Sozo Children to host annual gala fundraiser in Birmingham At Lifeline, classes are being held to prepare potential foster parents on how to raise a child in the foster care system. The training for foster parents before they become a foster parent and even continuing training after that, helps them understand that trauma, helps them understand how it impacts their brain, how it impacts their behavior, Segers said. The Foster Coalition, another agency based in Birmingham, works to connect those in foster care with resources, Kelly Alligood says she has seen firsthand the positive impact a foster parent can have on a child. They need a secure, reliable person in their lives, no matter is what going on in their situation, they need someone they can depend on, Alligood said. Two foster parent training classes are planned for Aug. 26 and 27 by Lifeline. More information can be found on the flyers below: Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS 42. Afghan men wait outside a bank to withdraw money. More than half of the Afghan population is dependent on humanitarian support, international aid organizations reported in a joint statement issued on Tuesday. Oliver Weiken/dpa More than half of the Afghan population is dependent on humanitarian support, international aid organizations reported in a joint statement issued on Tuesday. "Millions of Afghans continue to struggle in one of the world's largest and most complex humanitarian crises, three years after the change in power," the 10 organizations said, referring to the Taliban's return to power in Kabul in 2021. "Heavily dependent on humanitarian aid, Afghans are trapped in cycles of poverty, displacement, and despair. Afghanistan is at risk of becoming a forgotten crisis without sustained support and engagement from the international community," the statement added. According to the organizations - which include Save the Children, World Vision, Islamic Relief Worldwide and the International Rescue Committee - an estimated 23.7 million people are currently in need of assistance in Afghanistan, out of a population of around 40 million. Only 25% of the $3.06 billion in aid required to support them has been raised so far this year. More than 6.3 million people are internally displaced in Afghanistan, the statement said, while unemployment has doubled over the past year. Some 680,000 Afghans have reportedly returned to the country from Pakistan since September last year. "Afghanistan is experiencing shock after shock the ongoing economic crisis, the legacy of decades of conflict, the impacts of climate change, and the gender crisis have taken a devastating toll on the country," the organizations say. Declining aid budgets are further adding to the problems. The organizations stressed that the ongoing crisis could not be addressed with humanitarian assistance alone and that "a comprehensive, sustained, and contextualized response from the international community is required." They added that diplomatic engagement was crucial to creating an enabling environment. "The current isolationist approach of most donor countries does not support durable solutions to the challenges faced by the people of Afghanistan, especially children, women, ethnic and other marginalized groups," the statement said. Afghan refugees wait at the Torkham border crossing to return to Afghanistan. Nabila Lalee/dpa Air Force lawyers are fighting an emergency order from the Environmental Protection Agency requiring the service to clean contaminated drinking water in Arizona, pointing to a recent Supreme Court ruling that restricts regulatory agencies as a justification to dodge the mandate. In a letter last month, lawyers for the Air Force argued that a landmark June decision by the court in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo -- which reduced regulatory agencies' power by pushing authority to the courts to interpret ambiguous laws, referred to as "Chevron deference" -- makes the EPA's order asking the service to clean contaminated water from the Tucson International Airport moot. "In this respect, the Supreme Court's recent decision ... makes clear that EPA's interpretation of these statutory terms is not entitled to deference," lawyers for the Air Force wrote, citing the recent ruling. "The EPA will not have the benefit of any 'Chevron deference' in any such proceeding." Read Next: Soldiers Hit with More Problems Accessing Education Benefits Amid Fall Enrollment Deadlines In the 1980s, a 10-square-mile area around the Tucson International Airport and military facilities was designated as a Superfund site by the EPA. Groundwater was contaminated by "former aircraft and electronics manufacturing and aircraft maintenance," "fire drill trainings" and "leaking of chemicals from unlined landfills" from Air Force Plant 44 and Morris Air National Guard Base, according to the agency's website. Joshua Alexander, a press officer for the EPA who provided the letter to Military.com, said Monday that trichloroethylene and 1,4-Dioxane have been detected in the past and, more recently, concentrations of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances -- known as PFAS or "forever chemicals" because they do not break down in the environment and build up in the body -- have been detected in the environment and groundwater. Potential adverse health effects from PFAS include kidney and testicular cancer, increased cholesterol levels and changes in liver enzymes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "EPA is in the process of reviewing that correspondence and developing a response," Alexander said, referring to the Air Forces response to the agencys order. "EPA will continue to carry out its oversight role and use its authority to protect public health." The EPA issued an order May 26 to the Air Force and Air National Guard citing the Safe Drinking Water Act, and asked the service to come up with a water treatment plan for PFAS within 60 days of that notice. That May order referenced that the underground source of drinking water had PFAS in concentrations as high as 53,000 parts per trillion. The EPA standards list anywhere from 4 to 10 parts per trillion as acceptable. But the service has pushed back, culminating in the most recent letter invoking the Supreme Court decision. "Any enforcement of the order will not survive review, either in an administrative process or in federal court," the letter reads. The Air Force also argued in its letter fighting against the order that "there is no threat, 'imminent' or otherwise, to the public from the treated water." Environmental advocates have argued in the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling in late June that the decision could cause harm to a host of regulatory agencies fighting for oversight. "This is a profound change, and a terrible one," David Doniger, senior attorney at the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement at the time of the ruling. "Whether they're making food safer, air cleaner or safeguarding prescription drugs, agencies need to be able to respond to complex problems the modern world throws at us. This decision is profoundly destabilizing and leaves policy -- and public health -- up to the individual preferences and political biases of unaccountable judges." Despite the service's opposition to the EPA in the letter, Laurel Falls, an Air Force spokesperson, told Military.com on Monday that the service will comply with its obligations. "The Air Force will continue to meet our obligations under the federal clean up law [Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act], and the Safe Drinking Water Act while partnering with the City of Tucson, regulators and stakeholders on a regional solution for the Tucson community," Falls said. The news of the Air Force pushing back against the EPA's order comes as the service has publicly announced it will be adopting new federal standards into its own PFAS testing and cleanup efforts. Since 2015, the Department of the Air Force has found that 191 of 204 installations that it inspected had released PFAS into the environment, Military.com previously reported. Related: Air Force Sees Increased Testing for PFAS Contamination in Response to More Stringent Federal Guidelines Airbnb's struggles go beyond people spending less. It's losing some travelers to hotels. Airbnb stock tumbled 14% in one day after the company predicted slowing demand. Some former Airbnb diehards say they now prefer the consistency of hotels. Airbnb said it might increase travelers' ability to book hotel rooms through Airbnb. Duane Brown jets off to international destinations seven or eight times a year. After staying in his first Airbnb in London in 2011, the 42-year-old digital marketer was so enamored with the concept that he became a host himself. He welcomed guests to his two-bedroom apartment in downtown Toronto for a year and a half. But Brown told Business Insider that more-recent disappointing experiences with short-term rentals had led to a change of heart. On one trip to Budapest, Hungary, in 2019, Brown said he booked an Airbnb whose listing photos were shot at strategic angles that hid a dilapidated bathroom and damaged walls. He now stays in hotels, which he believes have a more consistent "standard of care," he said. "If there are no independent hotels or Marriotts, well, then maybe I'd go to Airbnb, but there's always been at least one of those in a city I go to," he said. Brown is just one traveler, but in an earnings call last week, Airbnb told investors to temper expectations for the third quarter because of waning customer demand. Even after announcing growth in bookings, the short-term-rental giant lowered its projected third-quarter earnings to between $3.67 billion and $3.73 billion, below the $3.8 billion analysts expected. Wall Street flinched and Airbnb stock took a tumble last week, dropping 14% in one day. The company also warned of a global dwindling of lead times, or the number of days in advance travelers book their stays, a sign of less enthusiastic demand. It's a far cry from the record-setting demand Airbnb saw immediately following COVID-19 lockdowns, when travelers craved private homes and acres of outdoor space. New data shows traveler demand for short-term rentals is stalling or waning in some parts of the US and for certain types of accommodation. With some consumers' gripes over burdensome cleaning fees, lists of checkout chores, increasing prices, and a lack of quality control, the short-term-rental giant has some convincing to do to retain its loyal customers. Part of the issue is that travelers' perceptions of what makes a good travel deal have changed. Airbnb used to have a stronger upper hand for budget-conscious tourists. In 2019, hotels commanded an average of 49% more a night in large cities, according to March data from AirDNA, which analyzes the short-term-rental industry. That gap shrunk to just 26% in 2022, AirDNA found. On the earnings call with investors last week, CEO Brian Chesky mentioned competing with hotels was central to the company's strategy. He teased the prospect of an expansion of hotel rooms available to book on Airbnb, tied to the company's ownership of the last-minute-accommodation platform HotelTonight. Last month, an Airbnb executive hinted that Airbnb guests could soon add hotellike extras, like spa treatments and personal chefs, to their stays. "We are still investing in hotels," Chesky said on the earnings call, adding that there were opportunities in the future to "sell new things, including hotels." Hotels are winning over travelers in some areas Demand for Airbnbs is stalling or slipping in some categories where hotels are competitive, AirDNA found. In cities and suburban areas, traveler demand for Airbnbs and Vrbos is no longer rapidly rising like it was immediately following 2020. Instead, the share of demand for short-term rentals in suburban markets has remained flat over the past year, staying at about 9% year over year. In urban markets, the share of demand for short-term rentals still hovers around 7%. AirDNA analyzed a group of five popular vacation spots in Florida, including Daytona Beach and Sarasota, and found demand for short-term rentals was weakest in the categories most likely to compete with single hotel rooms. Demand for one-bedroom short-term rentals in the five Florida markets grew by only 1% from 2023 to 2024, and demand for private rooms inside shared homes fell 8.7% compared with last year. AirDNA's chief economist, Jamie Lane, said the fees associated with short-term rentals could be more of a burden for some travelers booking short stays or with smaller groups. "It may make more economic sense to stay in a hotel, depending on how high the hotel rates are," Lane said. An Airbnb spokesperson said the company believed its offerings provided an elevated experience. "Airbnb listings can provide travelers with amenities that can drive additional value and comfort bedrooms for everyone, a kitchen to prepare a meal, a space to work, a backyard to socialize and play with pets and much more, unlike most traditional accommodations," the company spokesperson said in a statement to BI. Some avid travelers are falling out of love with Airbnb Adam Burgh, a 40-year-old Seattle startup founder, booked his first Airbnb in Rio de Janeiro over New Year's Eve 2012. For seven years, he traveled South America, mostly staying in Airbnbs. However, Burgh said a recent experience with cleaning fees had turned him off from the site entirely. Earlier this summer, he was looking into a short getaway with his family to Whidbey Island, a ferry ride from Seattle. It was a last-minute trip, and he checked the available Airbnbs, gawking when he saw listings with cleaning fees as high as $200 for a two-night stay. "What do you do with a $200 cleaning fee? There's no way it should cost that much," Burgh told BI. Instead, he scrapped the trip altogether and decided to put the money toward a longer vacation later this year. Burgh has recently preferred to cash in points for Marriott stays, he said. In the past, he might've defaulted to booking on Airbnb. Now he thinks twice. "I'm going to go check hotels and see if this is actually the best value," he told BI. Read the original article on Business Insider A Democratic legislator has prefiled a bill that would extend state protections to mothers. (File) A state representative has introduced a bill that would require employers in Alabama to better accommodate employees who are nursing mothers. Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, said she is sponsoring HB 21, also known as The Nursing Mothers Act, so that no woman is penalized for having to pump breast milk. We are dealing with human anatomy now, Givan said. We are certainly in the year of the woman, especially now dealing with so many issues with reproductive rights, maternal health issues, and things of that nature. We want to make sure we have a safeguard in place. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX If passed, the bill would go into effect on October 1, 2025. The bill will require employers to provide their employees who are nursing mothers with designated break times, along with providing a private location for women to express breast milk when needed. Employers would also not be allowed to discriminate against women who choose to pump breast milk in the workplace. In December 2022, Joe Biden signed the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections Act, also known as the PUMP Act. Like HB 21, this federal law also requires reasonable break time and a private location for women to nurse besides a bathroom. All employers under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) must comply with the PUMP Act. Additionally, if women are not receiving the proper accommodations from their workplace, they may be entitled to remedies that are available under the FLSA. Organizations such as the United States Breastfeeding Committee work to protect mothers who breastfeed by mobilizing legislation and by educating women on different federal resources available to them. Policies and legislation that provide the right to workplace lactation accommodations are so critical for families and for public health, said Cheryl Lebedevitch, USBC National Policy Director. Despite there already being some federal protections for nursing mothers, Givan said a state law would give Alabama women an extra layer of protection. We know all things settled do not always trickle down to the state, Givan said. We have seen many women scrutinized over the years, some actresses, some celebrity types and just the everyday, ordinary mother because they may have nursed in public, or somewhere in the workplace where it was frowned upon. During the 2024 legislative session, Givan sponsored HB 6, a nearly identical bill to HB 21. The Business Council of Alabama opposed this bill. BCA Communications Director, Katelyn Bussey said that the BCA is against any government mandates on businesses. Givan said some employers believe women are goofing off instead of pumping when requesting breaks, and hopes the bill will dismantle that idea. I have always been a proponent of good maternal health and have increased knowledge in that particular field, Givan said. For years, I have been engaged on what is going on with women around the country. As a woman, I was thankful when the act passed on a national level and I thought Hey, we just need to make sure we have something in place in Alabama. DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST The Alabama Historical Commission, which has been involved in efforts to identify and preserve the Clotilda since 1997, said it cannot be from underwater using existing technology. (Courtesy of the Alabama Historical Commission) The Alabama Historical Commission (AHC) plans to keep the last known vessel to transport enslaved Africans to the United States in its current location in the Mobile River, saying the ship is too deteriorated to be raised above water. The Clotilda transported 110 Africans from what is now Benin to Mobile, Alabama in 1860, over 50 years after the United States outlawed the international slave trade. The voyage was arranged by Mobile businessman Timothy Meaher, who made a bet that he could smuggle slaves into the country without being caught. After the ships arrival, the captors set it ablaze to destroy evidence of their crime. The AHC, which has been involved in efforts to identify and preserve the Clotilda since 1997, said it cannot be from underwater using existing technology. This phase of the investigation was vital in determining the next steps for the Clotilda. With this report, the Alabama Historical Commission can continue with its preservation plan and continue preserving this tremendous artifact and its history, said Alabama Historical Commission Chairman Eddie Griffith in the announcement. The survivors of the Clotilda went on to establish Africatown, a community near Mobile, where many of their descendants still reside today. The wreck of the Clotilda remained hidden for over a century until its discovery in 2019. Since the discovery of the ship, there had been talk about raising the remains and putting them on display, possibly in a museum. The study found that the Clotildas structural integrity has been severely compromised by both natural and human activities over the past 164 years. Investigators concluded that corrosion, physical impacts and biological factors have led to significant structural damage to the remains of the Clotilda. The report recommends in situ preservation, meaning they will keep the wreck in place and cover the exposed sections with sediment to slow down decay. The location of Clotilda in a shallow, medium to high energy brackish water environment, coupled with the biological and physical processes of deterioration observed, poses an immediate threat to the wrecks long-term survival, the report said. The report further said that the wreck was extremely vulnerable to physical damage from vessel strikes, impacts with floating objects, as well as damage from vandalism or severe weather events. There is a possibility of partial or complete loss of the surviving hull resulting from such events, the report said. Stabilization of the wreck, physical protection through reburial, and security are immediate needs. Jeremy Ellis, president of the Clotilda Descendants Association, said in a statement that they look forward to learning more about persevering Clotilda, its history and how it affected survivors ancestors, but said the site of Clotilda is a crime scene and should be treated as such. Until there is justice and accountability for this crime, any narrative or conversation regarding Clotilda and the site of Clotilda should be about the 110 survivors aboard Clotilda and the crime that was committed, Ellis said in a statement, adding that conversation that focuses on raising the ship is a distraction from the 110 survivors aboard Clotilda and the horrendous crime committed. In the announcement, the AHC said that while the structural integrity of the ship may have deteriorated significantly, the archeological integrity is still there. Archaeological integrity means that the vessel still has the ability to tell its story through careful scientific investigation. Structural integrity means that the structure of the vessel remains strong and intact, said State Archaeologist Stacye Hathorn in AHCs statement. Ellis said they look forward to learning more about persevering Clotilda and learning more about the final voyage of Clotilda and how it impacted our ancestors and hopes to work with the organizations involved in the Clotilda wreck investigation to build a memorial to remember ancestors Africatowns ancestors and across Alabama. We also look forward to partnering with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mobile District (USACE) and the Alabama Historical Commission (AHC) on a memorial that honor the lives of the 110 aboard Clotilda and at the current site where it remains, Ellis said. Alabama Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Brian Lyman for questions: info@alabamareflector.com. Follow Alabama Reflector on Facebook and X. Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm reiterated the problems he is having in recruiting corrections officers to staff prisons. The head of the Alabama Department of Corrections said Tuesday the department will not likely meet a court order to hire an additional 2,000 corrections officers by next July. Commissioner John Hamm told lawmakers during a budget hearing that DOC has made progress in recruiting candidates to oversee and manage individuals incarcerated within different facilities in the state. But Hamm said the department would probably not meet the staffing requirement as set out in the Braggs v. Dunn lawsuit over the physical and mental health needs of those incarcerated in the prisons. There is that number, but we are going to hire as many as we can for as long as we can, Hamm told reporters during an interview after the hearing. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Hamm added, We have been averaging 55 correctional officer trainees in academy classes through four years, and we also get to count our correctional security guards, of which those are 30, 40, 50 per class. So, what is that, 200? We probably added 300, but doing 2,000 by July of 2025? Alabamas prisons have been plagued violence, due to understaffing and overcrowding. In 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice sued the state over the conditions in Alabamas mens prisons, alleging that they violated inmates Eighth Amendment rights against cruel and unusual punishment. The Braggs vs Dunn lawsuit was filed in 2014 by inmates who alleged they received inadequate mental health care treatment in Alabamas prison facilities. The court agreed with the plaintiffs and issued several orders dealing with oversight for people with severe mental illness or those with a history of self-harm. The court also mandated that the ADOC increase the staff of corrections officers by 2,000 to have the personnel to adequately meet the mental health treatment of people who are incarcerated. Hamm also said retention remained an issue in the prison as officers continued to resign. In January 2022, Corrections had about 2,100 full time officers working in the facilities, according to one of Hamms presentation slides. That number decreased to about 1,700 by April 2023, but rose to 1,953 as of June, Hamm said. Lawmakers have attempted to address the staffing issue through improved pay and benefits for officers. In 2019, we passed a law to allow bonuses to be paid, said Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore. We have been paying out about $10 million just on bonuses to retain people and to get them promoted and to move them along. Almost 1,200 people have attended 76 recruiting events the department has hosted this year so far with another 47 planned for the year. Even with that, not everyone who attends a recruiting event will be correctional officers, as some are unable to meet the qualifications. Of the 1,200 candidates who began corrections officer training, Hamm said, only 453 of them passed the physical agility and ability test. Katie Glenn, a senior policy associate with the Southern Poverty Law Center, which filed suit in the Braggs v. Dunn case, said the department could resolve its recruitment issues by addressing the systemic issues in state prisons, like the violence that we see, the extortion that we see. Issues related to staffing have been present in ADOC for years now, she said. Every time there is a budget hearing, or these concerns are raised, representatives of the Alabama Department of Corrections make it seem like it is not their fault or there is nothing they could possibly do to attract and retain more people. At one point, Hamm mentioned the temperature in facility, which not only affects the prison population but also the correctional staff. Last legislative session, the last several sessions, and I am sure in sessions to come, we have seen ways in which ADOC can address overpopulation, Glenn said. If you are unable to meet the threshold of people employed by the organization, and you need to bring those ratios of incarcerated people to correctional officers down, the only way to do that is to have fewer people inside of those facilities. Rising prison construction costs Hamm also focused on new prison construction, with the completion of the Elmore prison set for summer 2026. Legislators passed a law to construct two new facilities for a total price of about $1 billion. That amount will now be enough to construct a single facility, the Elmore facility, for about $1.2 billion including fixtures and other amenities. Lawmakers had been counting on the new prison to help defray the increasing operational costs, as well as the increasing amount that Corrections, along with Medicaid, has consumed of the General Fund budget. Since 2002, the ADOC budget has increased from $197 million to $737 million in 2025, an increase of 274%. The trend, according to Hamm, is only set to increase. He mentioned laws that the Legislature passed, such as the reduction in correctional incentive time law passed by legislators in 2023, as factors. Both the prison population, and the budget needed to maintain custody of the population, will increase in future. The frustration among the lawmakers was evident throughout the hearing, as Hamm tried to explain that he was not part of the ADOC when many of the issues with the department began. This is your problem, Albritton finally said at one point. DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- UN humanitarians said on Monday their partners are providing relief to families returning to the Al Taba'een school in Gaza City, bombed by the Israeli military over the weekend. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the school-turned-shelter was reportedly hosting hundreds of displaced families and people were performing the dawn prayer at the school's prayer hall when the attack occurred on Saturday. OCHA said its partners in Gaza City helped families who returned to the school with drinking water, food parcels, hot meals, hygiene kits, and clothing. They also provided children and their parents with psychological first aid and psychosocial support. "Casualties (from the attack) were brought to Al Ahli hospital, which is one of the 16 hospitals that remain only partially functional in the Gaza Strip," OCHA said. "The hospital is overwhelmed by this mass casualty incident amid shortage of medications, clean water and beds." The humanitarians said bombardment and hostilities continued to kill, injure and displace Palestinians in Gaza, and damage and destroy the homes and infrastructure they rely on, such as the school. The UN Human Rights Office said the attack was at least the 21st strike on a school since July 4, each one of the schools serving as a shelter, resulting in at least 274 fatalities, including women and children. OCHA said two evacuation orders were issued by the Israeli military over the weekend for Khan Younis, mostly for areas previously placed under evacuation. "Initial mapping indicates that the areas affected by these orders encompass about 23 displacement sites, 14 water, sanitation and hygiene facilities and four educational facilities," OCHA said. "In total, about 305 square kilometers, or nearly 84 percent of the Gaza Strip, have been placed under evacuation orders by the Israeli military." The office said that the United Nations called for all parties to the conflict to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law, including by taking constant care to spare civilians and civilian objects. This included allowing civilians to leave for safer areas and allowing their return as soon as circumstances permit. People must be able to receive humanitarian assistance, whether they move or stay. Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said the UN chief condemned the continued loss of life in Gaza, including women and children, and underscored the need to ensure the protection of civilians and for unimpeded and safe humanitarian access into and across Gaza. "The secretary-general reiterates his urgent appeal for an immediate ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages," the spokesman said. Alabama legislator wants to limit power of political parties regarding campaign contributions Rep. Phillip Pettus, R-Killen, discusses a bill to cap property tax increases on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives on April 9, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) A member of the Alabama House of Representatives has prefiled a bill for the coming legislative session that would limit the power of political parties to reject candidates for accepting donations from particular groups. HB 6, sponsored by Rep. Phillip Pettus, R-Killen, prohibits political parties from disqualifying candidates for elected office based solely on the contributions they receive from specific people or organizations. The legislation stems from a rule that the Alabama Republican Party adopted in August 2023 that prohibits GOP candidates for superintendent or school board from accepting campaign contributions from the Alabama Education Association, an organization that represents teachers in the state. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX My constituents should decide if I should be taking money from a certain one, that is who I represent, Pettus said in an interview Monday. I dont represent the Alabama GOP. I represent my constituents. Pettus filed similar legislation during the 2024 session, but the House Constitution, Campaigns and Elections Committee did not pass the measure. John Wahl, chair of the Alabama Republican Party, said he opposes the bill. There have been multiple court cases upholding the Partys authority over ballot access, Wahl said in a statement sent to the Alabama Reflector. We believe our time would be better spent coming together and working as a team to elect Republicans who will challenge the radical agenda of the Democrat Party. Messages were left with the AEA seeking comment. It is not uncommon for parties to impose rules that compel party members to comport themselves in a particular manner. According to Alabama Democratic Party Chair Randy Kelley, the party adopted rules that prohibits its candidates from either accepting contributions or contributing to the campaigns of Republican candidates. There is a clause in our bylaws that if a person is giving money to the Republican Party, or has given money to the Republican Party, and for a Democratic office, that person could be disqualified, he said. Kelley said he is indifferent to the situation in which a candidate receives money from individuals or groups that contribute to candidates who are either Republicans or Democrats. I am ambivalent to that because there are some entities who give money to both parties because they are concerned about bills being passed that would serve their interests, he said. Pettus said he has accepted campaign contributions from the Alabama Education Association. At first, according to Pettus, the group supported his opponent but afterwards approached him to lend support to his campaign. According to campaign finance records from the Alabama Secretary of States Office, since 2018 Pettus has received at least $56,500 in direct contributions and about $5,000 in in-kind donations from Alabama Voice of Teachers for Education (A-VOTE), the AEAs political action committee. They said, all we ask is if we have a question we can come in and talk to you. We will never tell you how to vote, Pettus said. I said, I do that now. They said, Yes, that is why we want to support you. DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST A ballot and instructions for the 2024 Alaska primary election are seen on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon) Alaskans voting in the Aug. 20 primary election again have a resource to learn where the candidates stand on a wide range of issues: the Alaska Beacons 2024 Voter Guide. These questions encompass candidates positions on everything from schools to taxes to what candidates see as the biggest local need. Whats on the ballot: In the primary, voters vote on two or three races this year: U.S. House, state House and, in half of the state, state Senate. The other half of the state will vote on state Senate seats in 2026. Voters must choose only one candidate in each primary race, with the top four vote-getters advancing to the general election, in which ranked choice voting is used. Two ballot measures will also be on the November ballot, including one related to labor issues and another seeking repeal of the current voting system. Across the U.S., many news organizations have stopped sending questionnaires to candidates due to poor response rates. But weve found that Alaska candidates continue to respond: 10 of 12 U.S. House candidates and 78 of 115 legislative candidates answered our questions. The Beacon is covering individual races, starting with the U.S. House race. And we plan to have at least one news article on all of the most competitive legislative races before the November general election. As in 2022, the guiding principle in our election coverage is whats at stake, not the horse race. But the Voter Guide gives Alaskans a chance to hear directly from candidates, in their own words. And unlike in campaign advertising, the candidates were responding to challenging questions. As a news organization, the Alaska Beacons highest priority is to connect Alaskans to their state government, helping them understand the state politics and policies that affect them. We believe that the Voter Guide helps advance this mission. The Beacon news staff wrote these questions with a focus on what Alaskans have told us are the most important issues for them. Some drew directly from questions posed by voters, since they are ultimately the ones elected officials answer to. Our four-person team sorted through dozens of potential questions, honing the list to the two separate sets of 15 for the U.S. House and the Legislature. I encourage voters to spend time with the candidates answers before they vote. The Voter Guide also includes each candidates partisan registration, as well as links to candidates campaign sites. The salary and length of term is included for each race. You can read more about the primary in recent articles we published. And our Election 2024 page includes key election dates, answers to questions about how to vote, and a link to our parent organization States Newsrooms national election newsletter. DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST Alaskas pre-primary election turnout is down from extraordinary 2022 and 2020 primaries Poll workers set up an early voting station in the atrium of the State Office Building in Juneau, Alaska on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, the first day of early voting for the 2024 Alaska primary election. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon) Poll workers set up an early voting station in the atrium of the State Office Building in Juneau, Alaska on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, the first day of early voting for the 2024 Alaska primary election. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon) Voter turnout ahead of Alaskas Aug. 20 primary election is down from the past two elections but is running ahead of what it was in 2018 and 2016, the last two primaries without extraordinary factors in play. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic emergency encouraged Americans to vote by mail, and in 2022, Alaskas primary election coincided with a special election for the states lone U.S. House seat. How Alaska votes In Alaskas election system, all candidates for an office, regardless of political party, are placed in the same primary election. Voters pick one candidate, and the four candidates with the most votes advance to the general election. In the general election, voters are asked to rank the candidates in order of preference, one through four, with a fifth option for a write-in, if wanted. If a candidate receives more than half of the first-preference votes, they win. If no one receives more than half of the first-preference votes, the lowest finisher is eliminated, and voters who picked that candidate have their votes go for their second preference. The elimination process continues until one candidate has more than half of the remaining votes. Presidential elections do not have a top-four primary. Voters in November may be asked to rank more than four candidates for president. Through Thursday, the Alaska Division of Elections had received 12,578 absentee ballot requests through mail, fax or email, according to figures posted on the divisions website. Additional requests are expected in coming days. Two years ago, Alaskans requested more than 27,000 absentee ballots by mail, fax or email for the primary, and in 2020, the figure was more than 62,000 for the primary. The Alaska Republican Party, Alaska Democratic Party and the Voter Participation Center have all sent unsolicited absentee ballot request forms to voters, according to the Division of Elections. Though this years requests are lagging behind the past two primary elections, theyre running ahead of the 10,807 that were issued ahead of the 2018 primary or the 10,364 that were issued ahead of the 2016 primary. Those figures do not include thousands more ballots that were cast at early voting sites or at places with in-person absentee voting. According to the division, 2,100 Alaskans cast ballots at early voting sites between Aug. 5 and Aug. 7 this year. In-person absentee voting, used at many rural Alaska voting locations, was disrupted last week by delays that prevented ballots from arriving in time for the Aug. 5 start of early voting. All polling stations were open by Friday, the Alaska Division of Elections said. James Boxrud, a spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Service, said on Friday that the agency is committed to the secure, timely delivery of the nations Election Mail. Regarding election materials shipped by the Alaska Division of Elections, we are aware those materials have all been delivered or are available for pickup by local election officials. We continue working closely with state and local election authorities to resolve concerns ahead of the August 20th primary election, he said by email. Friday was the deadline for Alaskans to request that an absentee ballot be mailed to them, but voters can request an emailed ballot through Aug. 19. A ballot must be postmarked on or before Election Day to be counted, and because much of Alaskas mail is postmarked in either Anchorage or Juneau, voters are encouraged to have their ballot postmarked by hand inside a local post office. Ballots will be counted if they are appropriately postmarked and arrive no later than 10 days after Election Day. Correction: Friday was the deadline to request that an absentee ballot by mail, but voters can request an emailed ballot through Aug. 19. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) A couple is accused of terrorizing three different Blakes Lotaburger locations and a dispensary in Albuquerque over the span of four months, threatening to rob each place at gunpoint before making off with thousands in cash. The first time police said Robert Jaramillo, 47, and Jacqueline Smith, 43, were picked up on camera was at the La Mota Dispensary in the Near North Valley on March 13. Security images show a woman holding the door open for a man who proceeded to threaten the employee at the register with a silver revolver, before saying: Give me all of the money in the register, or I will shoot her. They made off with $600 in cash. New Mexico eliminates child support fees On June 3, police responded to a domestic violence incident involving Smith and Jaramillo. Police claimed he was seemingly wearing the same glasses as the one caught on camera at the dispensary. Police also noted his BMW and license plate. The next time police alleged the pair was spotted was on June 24th; this time, at a Blakes Lotaburger near Old Town. Police said Jaramillo and Smith handed an employee a note saying they had a gun and wanted money. This time, they made off with more than $1,700. Police stated the couple was caught on camera again more than a month later on July 28, using the same tactic of passing a note at another Blakes Lotaburger on Coors Boulevard on the Westside. The next day, police claimed Jaramillo and Smith struck one more time at yet another Blakes Lotaburger near Eagle Ranch in northwestern Albuquerque, again, by passing a threatening note saying they had a gun and wanted money and taking off. Just a few days later, they were behind bars after police identified them based on the shoes and glasses Jaramillo was wearing as well as the license plates and vehicles they were driving. Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District faces water concerns as irrigation season wraps up An arrest warrant was issued for the pair on August 2, and they were taken into custody that same day. During hearings last week, Robert Jaramillo was ordered to be held in jail until trial; Jacqueline Smith was released. Both are facing four counts of armed robbery. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. Alexander County manufacturing plant gets new life after hundreds of layoffs Alexander County manufacturing plant gets new life after hundreds of layoffs TAYLORSVILLE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) One year after Alexander Countys largest private employer closed its doors and laid off hundreds of employees, the company is back in business. Last summer, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams closed three of its furniture manufacturing facilities in Hiddenite, Statesville, and Taylorsville. Reports posted by the North Carolina Department of Commerce showed the majority of the 533 laid-off workers are from the Taylorsville facility. We all have lived here. We all know people, and so it really shocked everybody, Taylorsville resident Becky Smith told Queen City News at the time of the closings. 134-year-old home goods retailer with locations in the Charlotte area files for bankruptcy, closing 71 stores Days and weeks after the announcement last September, hiring signs lined the entrance to the Taylorsville Mitchell Gold plant. Other companies were looking to recruit workers who lost their jobs. It was a transition for everyone, said Connie Kincaid, Alexander County Economic Development Corporations business development manager. One year later, many of those same employees are back to reclaim their positions. Just months after the layoffs, Surya, a Georgia-based manufacturer acquired Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams with plans to re-launch the company. Since then, the 1 million-square-foot facility off of One Comfortable Way has slowly been modernized. We are thrilled that Surya has come in and bought Mitchell Gold and is now looking to put employees in there again and begin the manufacturing of furniture because Mitchell Gold is a very exclusive product, Kincaid said. Alexander Co. Sheriffs Office K9s get protective vests Darryl Webster, Mitchell Golds chief operating officer, told Queen City News the goal is to re-capture the culture of the company that has been around since the 1980s. So, far Webster says 75 people have applied to work at the plant, the majority of which are former employees. As of Monday, 38 positions out of the 50 available have been filled. Webster says eventually, they hope to expand. We are thrilled to have them in Alexander County, Kincaid said. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. ALEXANDRIA, Va. (DC News Now) Police said investigators are working to learn the details after Alexandria police shot and killed a man on Monday night. Details are limited; however, the Alexandria Police Department (APD) said just after 10:45 p.m., officers responded to the 5100 block of Maris Avenue for a call of service. This is near the Parkside at Alexandria condominium complex. Police: K-9s looking for 5 teenagers in armed robbery in Reston When they arrived, police said officers encountered a man in the stairwell, who was allegedly holding a gun. Thats when officers shot him, according to APD. He died at the scene. Investigators on the scene after Alexandria police shoot and kill an armed man on Aug. 12. (John Finley/ DC News Now) Witnesses told DC News Now that they saw several officers running toward the building and later heard about three gunshots. Another witness said the victim, whose name has not been released, was a good man. Multiple neighbors complimented him for his kindness and were still in shock about what happened. Police said there were no reported injuries. The regional Critical Incident Response Team is leading the investigation. This is a developing story. (John Finley/ DC News Now) Investigators on the scene after Alexandria police shoot and kill an armed man on Aug. 12. (John Finley/ DC News Now) Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. Allegheny County health officials have identified the first human case of a tickborne disease in the county. On Tuesday, the Allegheny County Health Department said it identified a human case of Powassan virus disease, which is spread to people when an infected blacklegged tick bites them. The same tick also spreads Lyme disease. Officials say a child who lives in northern Allegheny County tested positive for the disease. They were hospitalized after experiencing fever and other symptoms, but are now back home recovering. This is the first reported case of Powassan virus disease in Allegheny County, and the first reported case in Pennsylvania this year. Health officials say they are collaborating with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection on an enhanced tick surveillance plan in the area where the case was identified. According to the CDC, most people infected with Powassan virus disease dont experience symptoms. Symptoms of the disease include fever, headache, vomiting and weakness. The illness can be severe, which could lead to long-term health problems or death. There is no vaccine to prevent infection or medicine to treat the disease. Lyme disease tends to give you more fatigue, joint aches and a rash, said Dr. Brian Lamb with Allegheny Health Network. If you get this virus, its going to give you headaches, severe fevers, chills. Youre going to feel like youre coming down with a viral infection. The disease is considered rare, but ACHD says reports of infections are increasing, mostly in the Great Lakes region. ACHD urges community members to protect themselves from ticks by avoiding woody or brushy areas, using repellants with DEET, showering after being outside and checking for and removing ticks as soon as possible. Anyone who thinks theyve been bitten by a tick or exposed to a tickborne disease should contact their doctor. Pennsylvanias Department of Environmental Protection is collaborating with ACHD on an enhanced tick surveillance plan for the area where this case was identified. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW TRENDING NOW: Man accused of assaulting his son, 3, at Butler Farm Show 2 men, 1 woman dead in apparent murder-suicide in Pennsylvania Plum community coming together Monday to remember neighbors killed in house explosion VIDEO: Memorial Mass held to honor, remember neighbors killed in Plum house explosion DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts Amendment to protect abortion access will be on the ballot in Missouri Amendment to protect abortion access will be on the ballot in Missouri Voters in Missouri will decide whether to enshrine the right to an abortion in their state constitution after state officials on Tuesday signed off on the citizen-led initiative. Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (R) certified that the petition received more than enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot. Missouri has an almost complete abortion ban and was the first state to enact one in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade more than two years ago. The state has extremely limited exceptions for medical emergencies, but not for survivors of rape or incest. Performing or inducing an abortion is a felony punishable by five to 15 years in prison, though a woman undergoing an abortion cant be charged. Since the abortion ban passed, there have been almost no clinician-provided abortions in the state. The amendment would create a right to abortion up to the point of fetal viability. It would prohibit any state regulation of abortion, and supporters say it establishes the right for people to make their own decisions around pregnancy including abortion, birth control and miscarriage care free from political interference. Missouri will join at least five other states this fall with abortion-related ballot initiatives, including other red states looking to overturn current bans. In each state that has put an abortion question on the ballot since Roe was overturned, voters have chosen to protect access. This is a monumental achievement for our campaign and a significant step forward for the rights of all Missourians, said Rachel Sweet, campaign manager for the ballot initiative coalition Missourians for Constitutional Freedom. The amendment will pass if it receives a simple majority of votes. Now that the amendment has been certified, Sweet said the coalition is focusing on voter mobilization and is launching a series of events across the state this week. We will be present in every corner of Missouri, championing a cause that we know Missourians overwhelmingly support, she said. As a proud Missourian who has led abortion rights ballot measure campaigns in states across the Midwest, I am honored to say that it is our turn to do something that no other state has done before; end a total abortion ban at the ballot box. Abortion measures will also go before voters in Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada and South Dakota. A ballot measure to protect abortion in Arizona was officially certified by the secretary of state Monday, but there are still unresolved lawsuits. Abortion ballot measures are also under consideration in Montana, Arkansas and Nebraska, though officials have yet to certify them. In Missouri, Ashcroft and other state Republicans waged a lengthy legal campaign to try to keep the amendment off the ballot. We filed this amendment over a year ago, fought and won every lawsuit against power hungry politicians and activated hundreds of volunteers who collected more than 380,000 signatures to put this amendment on the ballot, said Tori Schafer, deputy director for policy and campaigns of the ACLU of Missouri. Schafer said the coalition is prepared for more lawsuits. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. ANTWERP, N.Y. (WWTI) The American Red Cross is assisting one person after dealing with flooding in Antwerp. Volunteers from the Central and Northern New York Chapter of the American Red Cross provided immediate emergency aid to one person after storms and flooding damaged their home on Mechanic Street in Antwerp. Gov. Hochul thanks first responders in St. Lawrence County in dealing with flooding The Red Cross provided financial assistance which can be used for necessities such as shelter, food, and clothing to one adult. Volunteers also offered comfort kits containing personal care items, clean-up kits for the flooding, and blankets. In the coming days, Red Cross staff and volunteers will remain available to help those affected by the flooding as they navigate the road to recovery. The Red Cross relies on the generosity of local donors to help families prepare, respond and recover from disasters in Central and Northern New York. Please visit redcross.org or call 1-800-RED-CROSS to donate to Disaster Relief and help people affected by disasters big and small. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWTI - InformNNY.com. BEIJING, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese mainland on Tuesday arranged for the return of four crew members from a Taiwan ship who were suspected of illegal fishing near the waters off Quanzhou in Fujian Province, according to a mainland spokesperson. The four crew members will not be prosecuted as their offenses were minor, while another member remains under further investigation, Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, told reporters. The boat was seized by the mainland's coast guard on July 2. Zhu said that the mainland attaches great importance to protecting its fishery resources and maintaining order in the sea areas. The coast guard has acted in accordance with the law and guaranteed the legitimate rights and interests of the crew members, she added. FILE - Iranians follow a truck, center, carrying the coffins of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and his bodyguard during their funeral ceremony at Enqelab-e-Eslami (Islamic Revolution) Sq. in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File) DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) Iran's threatened retaliatory strike on Israel over the assassination of Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh drew major world powers into a high-wire act of diplomacy Tuesday. Halting or limiting an Iranian strike in some eyes could bolster a monthslong effort to reach a cease-fire in a war that's devastated the Gaza Strip and killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians, according to the territory's health ministry. It could also free the Israeli hostages who remain captive there since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and began the conflict. Failure to do so could see Iran launch a complex drone-and-missile attack in tandem with Lebanon's Hezbollah militia, now separately aggrieved over Israel's killing of one of its top commanders, straining the ability of Israel's missile defenses and its allies to defend against the assault. Widespread losses could push Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-line government into its own direct attack on Iran and drag the wider Middle East into a regional war. That fear has prompted a flurry of diplomacy in the region. France, Germany, and the United Kingdom on Monday urged Iran and its allies to refrain from attacks that would further escalate regional tensions and jeopardize the opportunity to agree (to) a cease-fire and the release of hostages." In a call, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned Iran's new reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian that there was a serious risk of miscalculation and now was the time for calm and careful consideration. Pezeshkian rebuffed the message. "A punitive response to an aggressor is a right of nations and a solution for stopping crimes and aggression, Pezeshkian said. The new Iranian president also has been called by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's secretary of state, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz over the retaliation threat. Pezeshkian has acknowledged he will follow the orders of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who already said Israel paved the way for a severe punishment upon itself with this action. Iran has been repeatedly targeted by suspected Israeli assassinations and sabotage campaigns, increasing the pressure on its theocracy to act to maintain its leadership position in its self-declared Axis of Resistance with militias it arms in the region. But it also has faced years of widespread protests, economic woes and other domestic challenges embrittling the public's support of the government. Its first complex attack on Israel in April caused little damage, raising the risk of it needing to go larger this time in response. The United States, Israel's main backer, has called repeatedly on Iran not to retaliate. It also has backed efforts mediated by Egypt and Qatar to reach a cease-fire in the wider war. However, it's also prepared militarily in the Mideast in case things do escalate. The U.S. military has instructed the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to sail more quickly to the area. America also has ordered the USS Georgia guided missile submarine into the Mideast, while the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier strike group has been in the Gulf of Oman. Additional F-22 fighter jets have flown into the region, while the USS Wasp, a large amphibious assault ship carrying F-35 fighter jets, is in the Mediterranean Sea. It's not just Western powers that have been involved in recent weeks. Russian officials under President Vladimir Putin have engaged in discussions with Iran. The secretary of Russias national security council, Sergei Shoigu, visited Tehran and described the assassination of Haniyeh as tragic" and something that was impossible to bypass in talks with Iran's government. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov separately said Moscow was calling on everybody to refrain from escalating the situation from turning into a disaster for all regional players, according to the state-run Tass news agency. Political ways out of the existing problems must be found, it quoted Bogdanov as saying. For Iran, Russia remains one of the few international suppliers of advanced weaponry willing to do business with it even as its nuclear program enriches uranium at nearly weapons-grade levels. Iran for years has asked for Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets. Tehran has also sought Russia's S-400 surface-to-air missile defense system, a possible deterrent for the American-made F-35 fighter jets flown by the U.S. and Israel. It's not just Iran, though, that needs weapons. Putin has relied increasingly on Iranian-made bomb-carrying drones in his war on Ukraine, which has escalated in recent days with Kyiv marching into Russia's Kursk region as a means to pressure Moscow as it makes gains in eastern Ukraines Donbas region. Putin also hosted Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday in Moscow. Then there's China, which has tried quietly to assert more influence in the Mideast without devoting the same amount of military power as the United States. China last year mediated a deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia that saw the countries reach a detente, though Riyadh continues to eye Tehran warily. In July, China also hosted the signing of a deal between Hamas and Fatah, the main force in the U.S.-backed Palestinian Authority that administers parts of the occupied West Bank. While the agreement calls for the factions to form a joint government, previous deals fell apart between the rivals, calling into question whether this one would be any different. China also has begun criticizing Israel more directly amid the war, rather than following its typical pattern of calling for restraint on all sides. Responding to questions from The Associated Press, China's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said Beijing had on many occasions appealed to the international community for an early end of the Gaza conflicts and prevention of the continuous expansion of the spillover effect, and has been playing a positive role in easing the regional tense situation. China supports all efforts that are conducive to achieving permanent all-round cease-fire in Gaza and is willing, together with the international community, to promote the cooling down of the regional situation, so as to avoid the further escalation of the conflicts, the ministry said. ___ EDITORS NOTE Jon Gambrell, the news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press, has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the world since joining the AP in 2006. Anderson, Weaver host kids safety expo in Kewanee A free childrens safety expo in Kewanee on Saturday will offer activities for the whole family. Illinois State Senator Neil Anderson and Representative Travis Weaver are hosting a free Childrens Safety Expo on Saturday, August 17 from 9:30 a.m. 12:30 p.m. at Black Hawk College, 404 E. Third Street in Kewanee. Area vendors will be on hand to provide information and activities for children of all ages. Over 30 groups will have booths, along with facepainting, the Illinois Conservation Police education trailer, car seat safety and stranger danger information. Children can touch a truck and sit on the nearly 20 vehicles expected to attend. The Med Force Medical Helicopter will land at the event. Free giveaways, including a bicycle, will also be available. The days schedule includes: 10 a.m. Med Force Medical Helicopter (weather permitting), 10:30 a.m. Pattis Gym, 11 a.m. Flip Tops Tumbling Group, 11:30 a.m. Kewanee Police K-9, 12:30 p.m. giveaways drawing. Participants in the event include: Abilities Plus Ameren Braveheart CAC City of Kewanee City of Kewanee City Clerk Comcast Galva Fire Department Hammond-Henry Hospital Henry County Farm Bureau Henry County Office of Emergency Management Henry County Regional Office of Education Henry County Sheriff Henry County Youth Services Bureau Illinois Conservation Police Illinois Department of Transportation Illinois Emergency Management Agency Henry Stark Health Department Kewanee Fire Department Kewanee Park District Kewanee Police Department Kewanee Public Library Kewanee Public Works Kewanee YMCA Med Force New Horizon Learning Center & Daycare Office of the Illinois Attorney General Painting Faces & Places Pattis Gym Project NOW Head Start Ray Bollinger Racing The Arc of Illinois Toulon Fire Department Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com. The Nevada County Sheriffs Office arrested a Grass Valley man Thursday for alleged animal cruelty after deputies seized 49 animals who were denied food, water and clean conditions. An anonymous tipster alerted the sheriffs department to several unattended animals in a business unit at the Alta Sierra Business Park complex in the 10000 block of Alta Sierra Drive, off Highway 49, according to a law enforcement news release. A sheriffs deputy and Sheriffs Office Animal Control made a welfare check to the unit on Aug. 6 and found the suspect. Authorities said the 35-year-old Grass Valley resident claimed he had plans to open a reptile business, but it was not yet open and he did not have a permit. Many of the 47 animals in the business unit including reptiles, rabbits, rodents, birds, cats and dogs were locked in small cages or tubs contaminated with urine and feces with no access to water or food, according to the Sheriffs Office. Sheriffs Office Animal Control Supervisor Stefanie Geckler said the unit was warm and humid with no signs of ventilation or air conditioning, with a strong stench of ammonia. Inside one small room were approximately six plastic tubs with various types of birds in them, Geckler said in the news release. When I checked inside the tubs, none of the tubs contained water or food for the birds. Some of the plastic tubs were also covered with plastic lids, making it likely very difficult for the birds to breathe. The ammonia stench grew, the deeper we got into the room. Animal Control seized the animals that day and the man was written a citation for animal cruelty. Two additional dogs that were in the process of being seized for negligence were given to the residents neighbor who agreed to assume care, according to the news release. Animal Control and a sheriffs deputy returned on Thursday for a follow-up check and found the two canines were back with the 35-year-old. The two dogs were caged with no access to food or water, the Sheriffs Office said. They were seized, and the Grass Valley man was arrested and booked into Wayne Brown Correctional Facility on animal cruelty charges. A Kansas Highway Patrol officer "keeps the peace" Aug. 16, 2023, at the Marion County Courthouse, as journalists gather at the newspaper office across the street A Kansas Highway Patrol officer keeps the peace Aug. 16, 2023, outside the Marion County Courthouse. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector) LAWRENCE An annual report on crime in Kansas shows property crime rising and a decline in violent crime, providing benchmarks that may guide law enforcement and community leaders. The Kansas Bureau of Investigations Crime Index Report, which summarizes crime data submitted by law enforcement agencies from across the state, shows property crime increased by 2.6% and violent crime decreased by 3.7% from 2022 to 2023. The number of reported property crimes increased to 66,782 cases. The report said the overall crime index was heavily impacted by the uptick in property crimes, increasing from 26.7 offenses per 1,000 people in 2022 to 27 offenses per 1,000 people in 2023. The property crime rate was 10% below the 10-year average. Property offenses have steadily declined in recent years, making 2023 the first year since 2017 that the state experienced an uptick in property crime reports, the report said. Property crime offenses are assumed to be underreported to law enforcement. The crime that saw the largest individual increase was motor vehicle theft, which was up 4.8% Law enforcement agencies recorded 13,294 violent crimes throughout the state. The violent crime rate was nearly 10% above the 10-year average. The number of reported rape cases decreased by 12.6%, or 161 cases, from 2022 to 2023. Although crime stats compiled by the KBI can be helpful for identifying trends, the KBI said in a news release it is often not possible to draw further interpretations or conclusions from the data. It is dependent on victims reporting crimes. We typically see more property crimes than violent crimes based on raw numbers, said Sgt. Drew Fennelly, public information officer for the Lawrence Police Department. Crime touches each community very differently. The reasons for trends could be very different in Wichita, Kansas City, or Dodge City. Melissa Underwood, spokeswoman for the KBI, didnt respond to inquiries for this story. Adrianne Nunez, spokeswoman for the Willow Domestic Violence Center of Lawrence, said the data is important for looking at crime on a broader scale. Agencies like the Willow use a variety of data from across the state to spread awareness or use in training, she said. We believe tracking crime data is important. It gives us a snapshot of what is happening in our communities, Nunez said. We hope these statistics continue to drop to the point that our job is unnecessary. More specifically, we hope these statistics continue to evolve to reflect the most accurate information in our communities while allowing survivors to be safe. The report does not track specific categories of murder or aggravated assault in the data, which can make it difficult to draw conclusions about statewide violence within smaller communities. While the 3.7% decrease in violent crime overall is a step forward for Kansas, organizations like Moms Demand Action still worry about gun violence and incidents that are not counted in the annual report. I do think its beneficial to track the data because data gives us things that we can improve on, said Shannon Little, a Moms Demand Action co-leader and volunteer. Comparing different sets of data will give you different answers. Even though our violent crime rate has gone down almost 4%, Kansas still has some of the weakest gun safety laws in the country. (WTAJ) As companies around the country file for bankruptcy and stores close in many states, another national retailer is joining the list. LL Flooring, formerly known as Lumber Liquidators, has filed for bankruptcy in Delaware, saying it is nearly $110 million in long-term debt. The filing comes with the announcement that 94 locations nationwide will be closing, including three in Pennsylvania. Even with the three closures in Pennsylvania, 18 stores will remain open in places such as State College, Pittsburgh, Wilkes-Barre, York, and a second location in Philadelphia becoming the sole location in the city. Big Lots closing more stores across Pennsylvania: Heres where First and foremost, we are open for business. While we recently announced plans to close 94 of our stores, LL Flooring has more than 300 continuing stores that, along with our online platform, remain open and operating. CEO Charles Tyson said in a letter to customers. The Company remains focused on providing customers with outstanding hard and soft surface flooring and an exceptional shopping experience. Its important to note that the company will stop accepting gift cards on Sept. 3 at all stores nationwide, even ones that will remain open. The company went on to say in documents that there are no plans to close any other stores, leaving more than 300 to remain open. Theyre also currently hoping to find a buyer for the company. Stay up to date with the latest news in the palm of your hand. Click here to download the WTAJ app for Apple and Android devices. You can check out all the other stores closing around the country by clicking here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTAJ - www.wtaj.com. A second person has died this summer from heat exposure symptoms after hiking at California's Death Valley National Park, where temperatures have lately soared, park officials said. Peter Hayes Robino, 57, of Los Angeles County, drove a car off a steep embankment on Aug. 1 after taking a one-mile circular hike at the park. An autopsy later confirmed that Robino died of heat exposure, the National Park Service said Monday. Robino is the second person to die this summer after visiting Death Valley, a region that has experienced an unprecedented heat wave in recent months as temperatures have reached highs of about 130 degrees Fahrenheit. Los Angeles County man drove car off embankment after hike Bystanders saw Robino stumbling as he returned from hiking Death Valley's Natural Bridge Trail, a shorter, rocky route that park officials recommend avoiding on hot days. The temperature reached a high of 119 degrees that day. Witnesses offered to help Robino, but he refused with responses that "did not make sense," according to the park service. A 57-year-old man drove his car off a steep embankment earlier in August after suffering from heat exposure during a walk at Death Valley National Park, the park service said Monday. Robino then got into his car to exit the park, but drove off a steep 20-foot embankment at the edge of the parking lot, park officials said. The car rolled over and the airbags deployed in the crash. Robino was able to exit the vehicle and walk to a shaded area of the parking lot as a bystander called 911. He was still breathing when emergency responders with the park arrived at 4:10 p.m., but died within the hour despite receiving CPR and being moved into an air-conditioned ambulance, park officials said. An autopsy conducted by the Inyo County Coroner found that Robino died of hyperthermia, symptoms of which include overheating, confusion, irritability and lack of coordination. Scorching heat at Death Valley threatens guests Robino's death comes less than a month after a motorcyclist also died of heat exposure at Death Valley, a park famous for being one of the hottest, driest places in the United States. A vehicle drives as heat waves shimmer in July near Death Valley National Park, California. The heat dome has driven extreme temperatures with at least 12 California cities breaking all-time heat records while numerous wildfires have been sparked around the state. The rider, who was with a group of six motorcyclists traveling through the park, was taken to a hospital in Las Vegas to be treated for severe heat illness. Four others were also treated in the national park that day when temps reached 128 degrees and were released. In early July, California was under excessive heat warnings and advisories as temperatures across the state broke the 100 degree mark. Later in the month, another traveler to Death Valley National Park was rescued and hospitalized after suffering third-degree burns on his feet. Amid the scorching heat, park officials at Death Valley have repeatedly warned visitors about the danger of spending long periods of time outside in such conditions. Park rangers advise those who visit Death Valley National Park in the summer to stay in or near air-conditioning, to not hike after 10 a.m. in low elevations, to drink plenty of water and eat salty snacks. Contributing: Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Death Valley National Park claims 2nd summer death to heat exposure DENVER (KDVR) A well-known anti-violence advocate in the Denver area was arrested in connection to a deadly shooting at Pioneer Park on Saturday, according to the Commerce City Police Department. Lumumba Sayers Sr., 46, was arrested and booked into the Adams County Jail early Sunday morning. His bond was set at $1 million, according to jail records. FOX31 has previously talked to Sayers Sr. about his advocacy efforts several times. Download the FOX31 App: Breaking news alerts & Pinpoint Weather He founded the Aurora-based nonprofit Heavy Hands Heavy Hearts, which is aimed at helping young people in the community. His son, Lumumba Sayers Jr., was shot and killed near 28th and Welton streets in August 2023. The Pioneer Park shooting Sayers Sr. was arrested in connection to was among three deadly shootings in Commerce City over the weekend. The police department called it one of the most violent weekends the city had ever seen, with five people being killed in total. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver. HARARE, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Council of Ministers' meeting opened in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare Tuesday, with officials reaffirming their commitment to upholding peace and security to foster regional integration and development. In his acceptance speech as the incoming chairperson of the SADC Council of Ministers, Zimbabwean Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Frederick Shava said SADC must continue to implement its regional development plan anchored on the foundation of peace, security, and good governance. "Peace and stability are fundamental ingredients for a regional transformative agenda. Without them, our aspirations and vision will be gravely compromised," Shava said. He took over the chairmanship of the SADC Council of Ministers from Tete Antonio, minister of external relations of Angola. The two-day meeting is part of the preliminary events held ahead of the 44th Ordinary Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government scheduled for Saturday in Harare. Shava bemoaned the impact of terrorism-induced conflicts in some parts of the SADC region, notably in Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, noting that the regional development agenda can not be achieved without peace and tranquility. He said the region continues to face numerous challenges militating against its development, including climate change-induced disasters, epidemics, extreme poverty, conflicts, gender inequality, terrorism, illicit flow of resources, and low levels of intra-regional trade. Speaking at the same occasion, Executive Secretary of the SADC Elias Magosi said the regional bloc continues to put its focus on socioeconomic integration and maintenance of peace and security in the region. "SADC recognizes that peace and good governance provide pathways for integration and socioeconomic development of the region. To this end, SADC continued to make timely interventions to consolidate peace and stability in the region," Magosi added. Iranians walk past next to a wall painting of Iran's national flag on a street in Tehran on Tuesday. Tension remains high between Iran and Israel since late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran last month. Photo by Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA-EFE Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Rising tensions among Iran and its proxies and Israel forced U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday to postpone a planned trip to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Blinken postponed the diplomatic trip due to security concerns as Iran threatened to retaliate against Israel for the recent killings of the top Hamas and Hezbollah leaders. Blinken was scheduled to help broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and to prevent a significant escalation of regional conflict between Iran, Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah in the Middle East. Blinken's itinerary included stops in Israel, Egypt and Qatar while trying to get Hamas leaders to resume cease-fire and hostage-release negotiations to end the war in Gaza. The negotiations were to resume Thursday, but newly appointed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has demanded Israel stop it military campaign before resuming talks. An anticipated retaliatory strike by Iran against Israel forced Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone a planned trip to the Middle East to help negotiate a cease-fire in Gaza. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI U.S. officials have said a cease-fire deal is close to being finalized but no formal agreement has been reached to stop fighting in Gaza. Iranian officials refuse to stand down to enable negotiations to continue or to prevent a widening military conflict in the Middle East despite a joint request from governmental leaders in the United States, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. "Iran is determined to defend its sovereignty and national security," Iranian Ministry of Foreign affairs spokesman Nasser Kanaani said in a prepared statement Tuesday. Kanaani accused Israel of violating international law by engaging in alleged genocide and other war crimes while waging war on Hamas in Gaza. Iranian and Hamas officials say Israel assassinated former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh while he was staying at a hotel in Tehran and after he returned from an inaugural ceremony for Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian U.S and Israeli officials have said that they anticipate a retaliatory strike from Iran sometime this week. APH reports rising number of HIV cases for 4th year in a row, launches new campaign AUSTIN (KXAN) Austin Public Health (APH) on Tuesday announced it launched a campaign called Ending the HIV Epidemic to highlight local resources, testing and treatment as the number of diagnoses for the virus is on the rise in Travis County. APH said in a release that for the fourth year in a row, Travis County has seen a steady rise in new HIV diagnoses. The organization said it launched the campaign as part of its continued efforts, and hopes it will highlight local resources such as testing and treatment available to support those who have tested positive for HIV and stem the rise in new cases. Austin Public Health talks accessibility for HIV treatment While testing positive for HIV is a life-changing experience, it doesnt have to be a life-ending one, said APH Director Adrienne Sturrup in the announcement. Our teams are here to not only provide services in a clinic theyre also here to support you as you receive the treatment you need. According to APH, the recent rise has been across Black, Latine, Transgender Individuals and white populations, with a majority of new cases involving men who have sex with men. APH also said data shows that Black women who have sex with men are the fastest growing demographic nationally. With treatment, HIV can become undetectable as the viral load is reduced. The benefit of HIV becoming undetectable means the virus is untransmittable to someone who has not tested positive for HIV, APH said. Experts say a twice-yearly injection that offers 100% protection against HIV is stunning Low-cost or no-cost testing, treatment and more resources are available at the following locations: APHs Sexual Health Clinic ASHWell CommUnity Care Texas Health Action (KIND Clinic) Vivent Health APH said counseling is available for those who test positive for HIV. An all-in-one HIV healthcare center focused on bringing affordable medical services for those living with HIV also opened in central Austin at the beginning of this month. All-in-one HIV healthcare center opens in central Austin Several local organizations offer prescription assistance to help get prescriptions filled at zero or low cost. Providers across the community also offer HIV support groups. Peer support has been shown to have a positive impact on HIV+ individuals making them more likely to properly take medications, stay active and experience a better quality of life, according to APH. Visit the HIV Ends With U website to learn more about HIV and the resources available in the Austin community. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin. This apple is still No. 1 in WA. But another is taking a bite out of its popularity Grocery store favorites Gala and Granny Smith will again be the most grown apples in Washington state this year. Galas continue to be at number one, accounting for 19% of the states apple production, the Washington State Tree Fruit Association forecast on Monday. Granny Smiths are the next most popular at 14.5% of the states apple crop. But a newer out of this world variety is quickly gaining on them. The Cosmic Crisp is growing in popularity. Just five years after it was first introduced, it will make up 9% of the states harvest in 2024. It was developed as WA-38 by Washington State University specifically for Eastern Washingtons agriculture conditions and production will be up 3% since last year. The newest Washington State University apple variety is the Cosmic Crisp. Washington is the top apple-producing state in the U.S. and this years crop is expected to be at 124 million, 40-pound boxes. The other top five varieties are Red Delicious (13%), Honeycrisp (12%) and Fuji (10.5%). This year, a moderate spring and a warm early summer created stable growing conditions for apples, said the association. Cool and wet weather in 2022 caused a smaller crop of 103.9 million, and then a much larger rebound crop in 2023 of 136.1 million boxes. There also is an upward trend in production of organic apples, said the group. Apples are synonymous with Washington state, and we are known for producing the worlds finest apples, said Derek Sandison, director of the Washington State Department of Agriculture. Thanks to more favorable growing conditions this past year, we expect the projected harvest to be not only high in quantity but also quality. Nearly 30% percent of Washingtons harvest is exported to other nations. And as the states leading agricultural commodity, apples are vital to the state economy. They represented 16%, or $2 billion, of the states total farm-gate agricultural value in 2022, meaning the market value after selling costs, said the association. The apple forecast is based on a survey of tree fruit association members and is the best estimate of the total volume of apples that will be packed and sold on the fresh market. Apple harvest typically begins in August and continues into November. Workers paint a new market-rate apartment complex near Old Town Albuquerque in December 2022. Applications for a $125 million loan program open in September, aimed at spurring workforce housing development and affordable housing infrastructure across the state. (Photo by Patrick Lohmann / Source NM) A key part of what state lawmakers called a historic investment in affordable housing will take a major step forward in September, when applications open for what will ultimately be $125 million in loans to develop middle-income housing and affordable housing infrastructure. An interim legislative committee Monday approved rules for administering a new revolving loan program to boost the states housing supply. Up to $30 million in low-interest loans will be available to applicants, largely private and nonprofit developers, when the first round of loans opens up in early September. The loan program is overseen by staff from the New Mexico Finance Authority and approved by a newly created board, which includes members appointed by the governor, commercial developers and others. Loan recipients are expected to be private developers and housing nonprofits. Lawmakers approved the loan program in February, part of what they touted as the biggest one-time investment in housing in state history. In total, the Legislature approved about $200 million in one-time spending, including $20 million on homelessness initiatives and $50 million for the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority, which recently rebranded as Housing New Mexico. The loan program is spurring development of workforce housing, which authority officials say is housing for those who make too much income to qualify for federal or state housing aid but too little to afford anything in the current, hot housing market. The program also seeks to subsidize infrastructure projects that would support new affordable housing development, which are projects that qualify for state and federal subsidies. Taken together, the two goals of the loan program are to complement existing programs by various local and state housing agencies and Housing New Mexico, which oversees numerous programs for low-income renters and prospective homebuyers. Point system defined for applicants The rules and a related policy guide describe a 100-point system that will reward applicants whose projects are in rural areas, use local developers, are close to amenities and transportation, are affordable and have more than 65% of the project costs covered by the entity seeking a loan. Under the guidelines, up to 40 points could be awarded for projects that demonstrate they meet a community need, use inclusive design techniques, or use local apprenticeship programs and developers. Up to 25 points can be awarded for projects that use the funding efficiently, pay it back quickly and keep costs low. Applicants that seek funding for a project that spends more than $100,000 per dwelling unit wont receive any points, for example. A maximum of 15 points would be awarded for projects that are ready to be built quickly and successfully, showing a high potential for success based on financial feasibility and having an experienced development team in place. Finally, up to 20 points could be awarded for projects that demonstrate local governments have bought in through zoning reforms and flexible land use regulations. Development of attainable housing is frequently hindered by and made more costly by local government regulations, the guidelines note. The loans will be 60% of the Wall Street Journal prime rate on the day they are issued. The current rate is 8.5%, so such a loan given today would be 5.1%. Loans to be capped at $15M Marquita Russel, CEO of the Mortgage Finance Authority, told the legislative committee Monday that the staff who developed the guidelines tried to tailor the policy even more narrowly, identifying specific gaps for funding prioritization, including where in New Mexico such housing projects were highly needed, whether they should be for infrastructure or development, whether they should be multi-family or single-family, and other factors. Ultimately, there wasnt enough statewide data to really support that kind of prioritization, she said. So they couldnt decide where there were gaps, because the data is inconsistent or in some instances, just missing. Still, recent studies show New Mexico is experiencing a housing affordability crisis. A report late last month by Housing New Mexico found monthly rent increased by nearly 17% since 2018, and 28% of homeowners spend roughly a third or more of their incomes on mortgages. Also, homelessness in Albuquerque increased by more than a quarter over last year, according to a recently released point-in-time count. The authority will accept applications for the latest round starting Sept. 4. Loans are limited at $15 million, though Russel suggested the board would try to avoid awarding the maximum amount: Our board would like to see smaller portions of that $15 million cap, she said. The next application window will be open Jan. 8, and a third will begin April 30, according to Russels presentation Monday. When New Mexicos governor signed the bill approving the loan program in February, she challenged Russel and the authority to get the first project approved by this fall, citing the pressing need for new housing across the state. State Sen. Michael Padilla (D-Albuquerque), who chairs the NMFA Oversight Committee, praised the quick release of rules as the debate wrapped up Monday afternoon. This things moving quickly, he said. I was really hoping this thing wouldnt last two or three years, trying to get the dang rules together. So, Im really glad. A research team from the University of Cadiz investigated the middle valley of the Guadalete River in the hopes of finding Roman history. The team relied largely on multispectral cameras and LiDAR technology to discover 57 Roman-era sites, and has started on-the-ground research into some of the settlements. Along with plans to further investigate settlements, the team hopes to understand how the regions trade routes were interconnected. Researchers from the University of Cadiz decided it was time to scour the middle valley of the Guadalete River in search of Roman history. They found plenty, and there will be plenty more work where that came from to understand how it all links together. The research team, led by Macarena Lara, began their project in 2023 in the hopes of finding Roman settlements. They were also eager to understand any potential links between multiple finds. In the end, they discovered 57 Roman-era sites of unprecedented nature, according to a translated statement from the school. To kick off the search, the team used unmanned aircraft equipped with sensorsspecifically, multispectral cameras and LiDAR (light detection and ranging)to more quickly process loads of data without encroaching on the area they were surveying. From there, the team added geo radar to help define wall and settlement layouts not visible on the surface. With the 57 new sites locatedand the team mapping out how they link together through trade and communication routesthe second phase started in earnest this past spring. The ground investigation effort also helped bridge the gap between decades-old findings and modern-day technology. The team was able to formally catalog previously cited finds from the 1980s and 1990s that hadnt been investigated further after their discoveries, adding even more new sites to our understanding of the patchwork of the Roman presence in the rivers valley. The first site the team focused was a Roman villa in Bornos, which included walls delineating both residential and work zones within the settlement. This marks the first time that a Roman settlement has ever been comprehensively analyzed in this environment, according to the scholars. The data we have has allowed us to generate a solid base of archaeological information and documentation to continue with research in the coming years in this environment, Lara said in a statement. Our main objective is to continue carrying out excavations and surveys with non-traditional techniques and tools that will be completed with the study of the contexts found, as well as analyze techniques on the documented materials that will allow us to obtain a holistic vision of the Roman settlement and the territory in the area around the Bornos and Arcos de la Frontera reservoirs. Work is ongoing, with an interdisciplinary team on the ground identifying and cataloging the archaeological materials unearthed at the villa. The team believes that the effort will help them better understand the fundamental aspects of these sites located in the mountain region and relationships at different levels with other sites. You Might Also Like An ancient fifth-century Roman prison discovered in Greece contains harrowing graffiti on the prison floor. Located in Corinth, Greece, the Greek-language pleas that remain etched into the prisons remnants cast a shadow of disdain for those that put the captives in confinement. Roman prisons, of which few have been excavated across the former empires terrain, were a dark place that led some in captivity to wish harm on those who put them there. Ancient Roman prisons were not at all pleasant, at least according to one captive. An archaeologist that identified the remains of a prison in Corinth, Greece, found that an ancient inmate had some not-so-nice things to say about their captors. The prisoner left their ancient Yelp review on the prison floor, rendering a prayer for their captors for all to see: Lord, make them die an awful death. Matthew Larsen, an archaeologist and associate professor of New Testament at the University of Copenhagen, wrote in the journal Hesperia that prisons must have existed in almost every Roman town, at least those that had a forum, but the archaeological remains of those prisons have proven exceedingly hard to identify. A 1901 excavation uncovered the prison in Corinth, and Larsen recently studied the prison and the graffiti found inside as well. He identified the site as a prison by comparing excavation records and by examining the graffiti found written on the floor, concluding the remains are 1,600 years old. While the flooring found in 1901 had a wealth of cracks, Larsen says that all the etched words were found within the confines of the cracks. That led him to the conclusion that the slabs hadnt been moved to the site from previous use, meaning that all that graffiti marked onto the floor was done in place, while the site served as a prison. Add in that the find uncovered jugs and lamps meant to offer water and light reminiscent of what might be found in a prison, and that a small bathroom was found in what could have been a guards quarters, and all signs point further toward the ancient architecture being the remnants of a Roman prison. Plus, a quick reading of the Greek-written graffiti in the cracks of the floor shows whoever was locked up was none too happy about it. The anguish is evident in the ancient graffiti authors writing. Some of the pleas read May the fortune of those who suffer in this lawless place prevail. Lord, do not show mercy on the one who threw us in here. Another etched plea: Godbearer, repay [punishment given by] Marinos, the one who threw us in here and made us spend winter. Larsen surmises the winters were especially rough on the prisoners. This particular prison is likely from a time the Roman Empire had control of Corinth. That didnt lead to a healthy relationship between the Roman rulers and the Greek prisoners. Larsen told Live Science it exasperated the difficult existence in the prison. You get a sense that theyre in a very dark space, he said, that they cannot be given a hearing. While life was drearyand full of desire for vengeancesome prisoners were apparently making the best of a bad situation. One inscription praised the fortune of the beautiful girls who love the unmarried men and other locations featured game boards that would have given the prisoners something to do when not inscribing vindictive threats against those who put them in the cheerless confines. You Might Also Like Members of Arizona for Abortion Access, the ballot initiative to enshrine abortion rights in the Arizona State Constitution, hold a press conference and protest condemning Arizona House Republicans and the 1864 abortion ban during a recess from a legislative session at the Arizona House of Representatives on April 17, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona. Credit - Rebecca Noble/Getty Images Arizona voters will decide in November whether to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitutiona move in a key swing state that could have implications for the tumultuous and historic presidential election. The Arizona secretary of states office confirmed to TIME that the measure will appear on the ballot in the November election after it had certified on Monday about 577,971 signaturesfar surpassing the number needed to put the initiative on the ballot. Dawn Penich, communications director for the coalition supporting the initiative, Arizona for Abortion Access, says the group turned in the highest number of signatures by a citizens initiative in state history: more than 820,000. The coalition, which includes reproductive rights organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, celebrated the news. Us moving forward with our ballot initiative and getting as much support as weve already gotten shows that Arizonans are tired of seeing their rights subject to the political whims of whoever might be in the legislature or whoever we may be in our courts, and they want to settle this matter once and for all for themselves through this citizens initiative process, says Chris Love, spokesperson for the coalitions campaign. Arizona currently prohibits abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The law, which was signed in 2022, includes exceptions for medical emergencies. The November ballot measure, Proposition 139, would allow abortions until a fetus could survive outside the womb, which is typically around the 24th week of pregnancy. It would also include exceptions after that if the pregnant persons life is at risk or to protect the individuals physical or mental health. It would establish a fundamental right to abortion in the state constitution and would prevent the state from banning or restricting access to the procedure before viability. States including Michigan and Ohio have previously approved similar measures. Those who oppose the measure have said it goes too far, arguing that the mental health exception is broad and would allow people to end viable pregnancies. Having the abortion initiative on the ballot in November could have political effects beyond reproductive rights in Arizona. In the presidential campaign, its a key difference between Vice President Kamala Harris, who was central to the Biden Administrations messaging on reproductive rights, and former President Donald Trump, who appointed three of the Supreme Court Justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade. Other Democrats have made it a main focus of their 2024 campaigns, and states including Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, and South Dakota are all set to vote on abortion rights this year. The issues interplay with political races and how it affects turnout could be particularly determinative in Arizona, one of the most crucial battleground states in the 2024 election. Arizona is a swing state; our electoral outcomes typically are razor, razor thin, says Samara Klar, a political science professor at the University of Arizona. We are seeing tiny margins of victory in very high-profile elections, and frankly, in local elections as well. So having something on the ballot that is going to mobilize voters to come out is really, really crucial. In other abortion ballot initiatives that have come before voters since the U.S. Supreme Court gutted the constitutional right to abortion in 2022, Americans have largely sided with abortion rights and the issue has typically boosted Democrats. Having abortion on the ballot is helpful for Democrats because it mobilizes the types of people that are going to support Democratic candidates, Klar says. Some polls show support for abortion rights among Arizonans. In March, Klar collaborated with YouGov on a survey of 800 registered Arizona voters. More than 40% said abortion decisions should be left up to a woman and her doctor, while about 25% supported a near-total abortion ban. A CBS News poll in May found that 65% of likely Arizona voters said they would vote yes on a ballot measure establishing a constitutional right to abortion in the state; 21% said they would vote against it. Abortion policy in Arizona has been somewhat unsettled since the U.S. Supreme Courts decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization two years ago. In April, the Arizona Supreme Court upheld an 1864 law that only allowed abortions to save the pregnant persons life, with no exceptions for rape or incest. The Republican-controlled legislature then repealed the law, leaving a 2022 statute banning abortions after 15 weeks in place. Theres been a lot of confusion about what the status of the law in Arizona has been, Love says. Ensuring this right in the constitution gives Arizona voters the certainty that theyll need to understand what their reproductive rights are and, again, take those matters back into their own hands and make those personal health care decisions with their families and their medical providers. And as Arizona voters head to the ballot box, the abortion initiative absolutely could make a difference in the presidential race, Klar says. This is a tight state, a salient issue, and a very mobilizing issue. Contact us at letters@time.com. Arizona voters will decide if the right to an abortion should be part of the states constitution in November after organizers successfully gathered enough signatures for the initiative to end up on the ballot. On Monday, the Arizona Secretary of States office confirmed that the Arizona for Abortion Access Act will be a voting measure on the November ballot under Proposition 139." The proposed act asks voters if the state should establish a fundamental right to abortion in the Arizona Constitution, prohibit the state from outlawing abortion before fetal viability around 24 weeks and allow for abortion after that point if a physician determines it is necessary to protect the physical or mental health of the pregnant person. It arrives after a chaotic year for the state in which the Arizona Supreme Court voted to uphold a Civil War-era abortion ban that criminalized nearly all abortions and would have overridden the states current 15-week abortion ban. The near-total ban was repealed in May. Members of Arizona for Abortion Access, the ballot initiative to enshrine abortion rights in the Arizona State Constitution (Getty Images) An estimated 577,971 Arizonians signed the proposed ballot measure, a record number of certified signatures that far exceeds the necessary 383,923 needed. "Well, if you just look at the number of petition signatures that were submitted youre talking about almost one out of every five Arizona voters signed that petition to put this on the ballot," Secretary of State Adrian Fontes told The Independent last week. "Weve never seen anything close to that ever for any issue, Fontes added. Abortion rights advocates had been lobbying to get the proposition on the swing states ballot for months. The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, Affirm Sexual and Reproductive Health, Reproductive Freedom for All and other organizations supported the ballot measure. This is a huge win for Arizona voters who will now get to vote YES on restoring and protecting the right to access abortion care, free from political interference, once and for all, said Cheryl Bruce, the campaign manager for Arizona for Abortion Access. Abortion rights supporters gather outside the Capitol, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Phoenix. Arizona (AP) Similar propositions are on the ballot in six other states including Nevada, Colorado, Maryland, New York, Florida and South Dakota. Missouri will also have an abortion rights measure on their ballot in November, the secretary of state announced on Tuesday. Democrats hope the amendments will lift them in a must-win election. Vice President Kamala Harris hopes to keep Arizona in the Democratic column after President Joe Biden won it in 2020. Representative Ruben Gallego is running heavily on abortion rights in his Senate race against former news anchor and election denier Kari Lake. Oscar De Los Santos, the assistant Democratic leader in the Arizona legislature, said he hopes to flip the state legislature this year. "I think were in a very strong position to flip weve obviously got the abortion ballot initiative out there that I think is going to help drive contrast on a very important issue between Democrats and Republicans," he said. A CBS poll from May found that 51 percent of voters believed abortion was a major factor in their voting decision. More than 60 percent of survey respondents said they believed abortion should be legal in most or all cases. Arizona voters can decide on Prop 139 in the November general election while casting their ballots for the president, Senate and other races. Arizona and Missouri will join a growing group of states holding ballot measures this November to codify the right to abortion into state law. On Monday, Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes certified that advocates had gathered 577,971 signatures in favor of the Arizona For Abortion Access Act, a proposed amendment that would certify the right to abortion into the states constitution. On Tuesday, Missouri approved a similar initiative that if passed in November would reverse the states all-but blanket ban on abortion. The two states join Nevada, Arkansas, Colorado, South Dakota, Florida, and Maryland in putting abortion referendums in front of voters on Election Day. In the aftermath of the Supreme Court overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, state-level ballot measures seeking to enshrine the right to reproductive choice have been overwhelmingly successful and have been a driver of Democratic turnout in midterm and off-cycle elections. In California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio, and Vermont, voters have affirmed their right to reproductive freedom. This is a huge win for Arizona voters who will now get to vote YES on restoring and protecting the right to access abortion care, free from political interference, once and for all, Arizona for Abortion Access Coalition Campaign Manager Cheryl Bruce said Monday. The decision to have an abortion is personal, private, and must be left up to patients and their families. But here in Missouri, the government is making that decision for us by force, Margot Riphagen Vice President of External Affairs, Advocates of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri said during an online press conference on Tuesday. This ballot measure is our opportunity to vote for reproductive freedom, and this certification is one step closer to building meaningful abortion access for Missourians. This is an opportunity to put the power back into the hands of the people. Dr. Selina Sandoval, Associate Medical Director at Planned Parenthood Great Plains, added that this moment is not an end point, but a beginning. We must continue to advocate for policies that protect access to care and stand firm against those that seek to undermine it. We have a lot of work ahead, but today is a day we celebrate a crucial step forward. Tori Schafer, Deputy Director for Policy and Campaigns of the ACLU of Missouri, indicated that the coalition was prepared to counter any legal challenges to the ballot measure. Given the overwhelming success of past measures in other states, anti-abortion groups have leveled challenges against these sorts of initiatives. In Arizona, Republican lawmakers in the legislature have signaled that they will approve an opposing ballot measure restricting reproductive rights in the state. The voter referendums on reproductive freedom are not the only way the fight over abortion rights will affect the 2024 election. Republican election conspiracy theorist and failed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake is locked in an intense fight with Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) for the Senate seat that will be vacated by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), and Gallego has made Lakes support of hardline anti-abortion policies a central component of his campaign against her. Gallego cheered the news about the abortion initiative on Monday. YES. One step closer to protecting abortion rights in AZ, he wrote on X. In Missouri, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley is seeking a second term in Congress. His 2024 Democratic opponent, Lucas Kunce, has hammered Hawley as an anti-abortion zealot who is out of touch with the average voter. Kunce, too, celebrated the news of Missouris initiative. Democrats, Republicans, and Independents came together across our state to take back power over their lives and bodies from control-freak politicians, thanks to the hard work of Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, Kunce said in May after the referendum coalition announced it had secured the necessary signatures to submit the ballot measure. See you in November, Josh Hawley. More from Rolling Stone Best of Rolling Stone BEIJING, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- China's trade with Africa in intermediate goods posted 6.4 percent year-on-year growth in the first seven months of 2024, official data showed Tuesday. Trade in intermediate goods between China and Africa accounts for 68 percent of the total value of bilateral trade, helping Africa in its process of industrialization and economic diversification, said Lyu Daliang, an official with the General Administration of Customs. During the January-July period, bilateral trade totaled 1.19 trillion yuan (about 166.48 billion U.S. dollars), with China's exports to Africa hitting 697.93 billion yuan, while imports reached 490.89 billion yuan, customs data revealed. The 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be held in Beijing from Sept. 4 to 6, and a further deepening of economic and trade cooperation between the two sides is expected, Lyu said. The theme of the 2024 FOCAC is "Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future," according to an announcement made by the Chinese foreign ministry on July 30. NEW YORK A stickup man who held up Brooklyn Bling Bishop Lamor Whitehead during a sermon is no Robin Hood hes just a robbing hood, said a federal judge who sentenced the crook to more than seven years behind bars. Say-Quan Pollack tried to argue in court filings that he should get leniency for the fact that his victim was convicted in a string of frauds, including stealing a parishioners life savings. But on Monday, Brooklyn Federal Court Judge William Kuntz hit him with a 7 1/4-year sentence, agreeing with prosecutors on how long Pollack should be locked away for the infamous, caught-on-video 2022 heist. The record reveals that the defendant was not some modern-day Robin Hood taking from the rich equivalent of the Sheriff of Nottingham to help the poor, Kuntz said. No, the record reveals that the defendant was simply a modern-day robbing hood. Kuntz offered up more than one reference to the legendary English outlaw, stating that Pollacks accomplices were not his merry men, and stating, The crimes of the bishop do not justify the crimes of the defendant. With all respect, robbing a hood does not make you a Robin Hood. Not in this court, not in this case, and not on my watch. Nevertheless, Pollacks sentence is shorter than the nine years Whitehead got in June for his crimes. Whitehead, who Mayor Adams took under his wing as a mentor, was delivering his live-streamed sermon inside the Leaders of Tomorrow International church in Canarsie, Brooklyn, on July 24, 2022, when three masked bandits stormed in. They forced the bishop to the ground and took jewelry from him and his wife who was holding their young daughter on her lap. His first action was to point a firearm in the direction of the pulpit, with parishioners positioned between him and the pulpit, Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Schuman said of Pollack. This is not a typical armed robbery. Though police had described their haul as $1 million worth of bling, so far the victims have only documented some of the stolen items to be worth more than $400,000. One of Pollacks cohorts, Juwan Anderson, is still awaiting sentence, while the third, Shamar Leggette, was cut down in a gunfight with police and U.S. Marshals at a New Jersey motel in January. Pollack, who was also convicted in a 2015 string of armed robberies, told the judge he was in the process of turning his life around. He pleaded guilty to a federal robbery charge in November. I understand what you see on record is hard to overlook, he said. What you see on record is not who I am. Its not who I want to be Im better than that. I know I am. Whitehead, whos known for his flashy designer clothing and his prosperity gospel preaching, caught the publics attention in May 2022, after he unsuccessfully tried to broker an accused subway shooters surrender, interfering with police and defense lawyers attempts to bring the suspect in peacefully. The robbery happened two months later, and Whiteheads legal troubles started multiplying, culminating with his conviction in Manhattan Federal Court of a $6 million string of loan frauds, of fleecing a parishioner out of her $90,000 life savings, and of lying about his ties to Adams to extort and try to defraud a Bronx body shop owner. _____ A stickup man who held up Brooklyn Bling Bishop Lamor Whitehead during a sermon is no Robin Hood hes just a robbing hood, said a federal judge who sentenced the crook to more than seven years behind bars. Say-Quan Pollack tried to argue in court filings that he should get leniency for the fact that his victim was convicted in a string of frauds, including stealing a parishioners life savings. But on Monday, Brooklyn Federal Court Judge William Kuntz hit him with a 7-year sentence, agreeing with prosecutors on how long Pollack should be locked away for the infamous, caught-on-video 2022 heist. The record reveals that the defendant was not some modern-day Robin Hood taking from the rich equivalent of the Sheriff of Nottingham to help the poor, Kuntz said. No, the record reveals that the defendant was simply a modern-day robbing hood. Kuntz offered up more than one reference to the legendary English outlaw, stating that Pollacks accomplices were not his merry men, and stating, The crimes of the bishop do not justify the crimes of the defendant. With all respect, robbing a hood does not make you a Robin Hood. Not in this court, not in this case, and not on my watch. Nevertheless, Pollacks sentence is shorter than the nine years Whitehead got in June for his crimes. Whitehead, who Mayor Adams took under his wing as a mentor, was delivering his live-streamed sermon inside the Leaders of Tomorrow International church in Canarsie, Brooklyn, on July 24, 2022, when three masked bandits stormed in. They forced the bishop to the ground and took jewelry from him and his wife who was holding their young daughter on her lap. His first action was to point a firearm in the direction of the pulpit, with parishioners positioned between him and the pulpit, Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Schuman said of Pollack. This is not a typical armed robbery. Though police had described their haul as $1 million worth of bling, so far the victims have only documented some of the stolen items to be worth more than $400,000. One of Pollacks cohorts, Juwan Anderson, is still awaiting sentence, while the third, Shamar Leggette, was cut down in a gunfight with police and U.S. Marshals at a New Jersey motel in January. Pollack, who was also convicted in a 2015 string of armed robberies, told the judge he was in the process of turning his life around. He pleaded guilty to a federal robbery charge in November. I understand what you see on record is hard to overlook, he said. What you see on record is not who I am. Its not who I want to be Im better than that. I know I am. Whitehead, whos known for his flashy designer clothing and his prosperity gospel preaching, caught the publics attention in May 2022, after he unsuccessfully tried to broker an accused subway shooters surrender, interfering with police and defense lawyers attempts to bring the suspect in peacefully. The robbery happened two months later, and Whiteheads legal troubles started multiplying, culminating with his conviction in Manhattan Federal Court of a $6 million string of loan frauds, of fleecing a parishioner out of her $90,000 life savings, and of lying about his ties to Adams to extort and try to defraud a Bronx body shop owner. Editors note: This story has been updated. The Army has charged a Fort Drum, New York, soldier with killing a fellow soldier stationed at the post, officials confirmed. Officials charged Spc. Riley Birbilas on Monday with the premeditated murder of Spc. Jacob Ashton and obstruction of justice, according to a Fort Drum release. Ashton, 21, originally from Perry, Ohio, served in the same battalion as Birbilas. He was found dead at Fort Drum on Aug. 5. Officials did not specify where his body was discovered or his cause of death. Birbilas has been placed in confinement until his Article 32 hearing, at which an officer will review the evidence in the case and recommend whether it should go to court-martial. Capovilla and Williams, the law firm representing Birbilas, said in a statement to Military Times that the case is in the initial stages of the military justice process and a complete and thorough investigation into the facts is nowhere near complete. We look forward to providing SPC Birbilas with a vigorous defense to these charges and ask that the public reserve judgment until the investigation is complete and he has his day in court, the law firm said. Birbilas enlisted in the Army in 2021 and currently serves in the Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division. Ashton deployed to Iraq last year with the 10th Mountains 2nd Brigade, according to the Army. Our entire commando family feels profound sorrow for the loss of Jacob, Col. Anthony Gore, 2nd Brigade Combat Team commander, said in a statement following Ashtons death. While words do little to ease the pain of Jacobs passing, we are a family, and we will wrap our arms around his family as well as support each other. Fort Drum employs more than 15,000 service members and nearly 4,000 civilians, according to the Defense Department. The Army Criminal Investigative Division, which is investigating the matter, declined to comment. Artists suing generative artificial intelligence art generators have cleared a major hurdle in a first-of-its-kind lawsuit over the uncompensated and unauthorized use of billions of images downloaded from the internet to train AI systems, with a federal judge allowing key claims to move forward. U.S. District Judge William Orrick on Monday advanced all copyright infringement and trademark claims in a pivotal win for artists. He found that Stable Diffusion, Stabilitys AI tool that can create hyperrealistic images in response to a prompt of just a few words, may have been built to a significant extent on copyrighted works and created with the intent to facilitate infringement. The order could entangle in the litigation any AI company that incorporated the model into its products. More from The Hollywood Reporter Claims against the companies for breach of contract and unjust enrichment, plus violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act for removal of information identifying intellectual property, were dismissed. The case will move forward to discovery, where the artists could uncover information related to the way in which the AI firms harvested copyrighted materials that were then used to train large language models. Karla Ortiz, who brought the lawsuit, has worked on projects like Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War and Thor: Ragnarok and is credited with coming up with the main character design for Doctor Strange. Amid the rise of AI tools in the production pipeline, concept artists like Ortiz are taking stock of further displacement down the road if the tech advances and courts side with AI firms on certain intellectual property questions posed by the tools. Widespread adoption of AI in the moviemaking process will depend largely on how courts rule on novel legal issues raised by the tech. Among the few considerations holding back further deployment of the tech is the specter of a court ruling that the use of copyrighted materials to train AI systems constitutes copyright infringement. Another factor is that AI-generated works are not eligible for copyright protection. The lawsuit, filed last year, revolves around the LAION data set, which was built using 5 billion images that were allegedly scraped from the internet and utilized by Stability and Runway to create Stable Diffusion. It implicated Midjourney, which trained its AI system using the model, as well as DeviantArt for using the model in DreamUp, an image generation tool. On dismissal, Stability and Runway challenged the artists arguments that it induced copyright infringement and that the Stable Diffusion models are themselves infringing works. Under this theory, they induced infringement by distributing the models when any third-party uses the models provided by the company, exposing it to potentially massive damages. Siding with artists, Orrick concluded that they sufficiently alleged that Stable Diffusion is built off of copyrighted material and that the way the product operates necessarily invokes copies or protected elements of those works. In a finding that could spell trouble for AI companies that used the model, he said that Stability and Runway couldve promoted copyright infringement and that Stable Diffusion was created to facilitate that infringement by design. When it dismissed infringement claims last year, the court found that the theory of the case was unclear as to whether there are copies of training images stored in Stable Diffusion that are then utilized by DeviantArt and Midjourney. It pointed to the defenses arguments that its impossible for billions of images to be compressed into an active program, like Stable Diffusion. Following the dismissal, the artists amended one of the prongs of their lawsuit to claim that Midjourney separately trained its product on the LAION data set and that it incorporates Stable Diffusion into its own product. In another loss for the AI companies, the court rebuffed arguments that the lawsuit must identify specific, individual works that each of the artists who filed the complaint alleges were used for training. Given the unique facts of this case including the size of the LAION datasets and the nature of defendants products, including the added allegations disputing the transparency of the open source software at the heart of Stable Diffusion that level of detail is not required for plaintiffs to state their claims, the order stated. In a May hearing, DeviantArt warned that several other companies will be sued if the artists infringement claims against firms that simply utilized Stable Diffusion and had no part in creating it survives dismissal. The havoc that would be wreaked by allowing this to proceed against DeviantArt is hard to state, said Andy Gass, a lawyer for the company. Here, we really have an innumerable number of parties no differently situated than [us] that would be subject to a claim. Gass added that DeviantArt didnt develop any gen AI models and that all [its] alleged to have done is take StabilityAIs Stable Diffusion model, download it, upload it and offer a version DreamUp to users. The court also stressed that Midjourney produced images similar to artists works when their names were used as prompts. This, along with claims that the company published images that incorporate plaintiffs names on its site showcasing the capability of its tool, served as the basis for allowing trademark claims to move forward. It said that whether a consumer would be misled by Stabilitys actions into believing that artists endorsed its product can be tested at a later stage of the case. In a thread on Discord, the platform where Midjourney operates, chief executive David Holz posted the names of roughly 4,700 artists he said that its AI tool can replicate. This followed Stability chief executive Prem Akkaraju saying that the company downloaded from the internet troves of images and compressed them in a way that can re-create any of those images. In discovery, lawyers for the artists are expected to pursue information related to how Stability and Runway built Stable Diffusion and the LAION data set. They represent Sarah Andersen, Kelly McKernan and Ortiz, among several others. This embedded content is not available in your region. Best of The Hollywood Reporter A Facebook post from a group called Republican Patriots claims that Arizona has banned voting without proof of citizenship. The statement is missing important context. Arizona does have a state law that requires proof of citizenship to vote, but the law is not new, and federal law requires only a declaration of citizenship to register to vote. As such, Arizonas law has faced various legal challenges over the last two decades, and as it stands, voters without proof of citizenship are permitted to vote in federal elections. Non-citizen voting has long been a source of contention in the state of Arizona, where non-citizens make up 13 percent of the state population. In 2004, Arizona voters approved Proposition 200, which required documentary proof of citizenship to vote. When Arizona voters approved Proposition 200, the Arizona Legislature sought to apply this proposition to state and federal elections. But, as Thomas Collins, executive director for the nonpartisan Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission, explained to The Dispatch, the law has faced various legal challenges since then. The Supreme Court ruled in 2013 in Arizona Intertribal Council v. Arizona that Arizona must allow individuals who register without proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections. In response, Arizona decided that voters could use the federal voting registration form for federal elections, but must use the state form, which required additional documentary proof of citizenship, to register for state elections. That prompted a lawsuit in 2018 from individuals who argued that the rules discriminated against those without easy access to proof of citizenship, which resulted in a consent decree that ended the two-registration form system. Instead, then-Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan agreed in the decree that the state of Arizona would eliminate the two-form registration system and would check forms submitted without additional documentary proof against state documentation, such as drivers license records, to determine citizenship status. In 2022, Arizona legislators enacted two laws, House Bill 2492 and 2243, which required documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote and created new regulations about citizens moving states after voting, respectively. U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton ruled on the new voting laws, deciding that the laws were not discriminatory and that Arizona did have an interest in preventing voter fraud. However, Bolton also ruled that requiring individuals to use a state registration form to include their place of birth violates part of the Civil Rights Act and part of the National Voter Registration Act. On July 18, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling allowed a partial stay of the lower-court decision by Bolton. Based on the circuit court decision, federal-only voters are allowed to vote in federal elections only if they register using a federal voter registration form, which few voters currently register with. This ruling will remain in effect until September, when an appeals panel hears the case. On August 8, the Republican National Committee asked the Supreme Court to revive certain parts of an Arizona voting law requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote in the state, including to vote in presidential elections and to utilize mail-in ballots. They have asked for Justice Elena Kagan, who oversees the 9th Circuit, to respond to this request by August 16 ahead of the presidential election later this fall. While federal law allows voters to declare their citizenship for the sake of registering to vote, it is worth noting both that non-citizen voting is illegal in federal elections in the United States and that experts have found non-citizen voting to be very rare. Someone would have to knowingly and intentionally commit a class 6 Felony if they did vote as a non-citizen, and it would result in their revocation of their legal status in the USA and they would likely face deportation, JP Martin, deputy communications director for Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, told The Dispatch in an email. If you have a claim you would like to see us fact check, please send us an email at factcheck@thedispatch.com. If you would like to suggest a correction to this piece or any other Dispatch article, please email corrections@thedispatch.com. Read more at The Dispatch The Dispatch is a new digital media company providing engaged citizens with fact-based reporting and commentary, informed by conservative principles. Sign up for free. Editors note: News 19 received information from the City of Athens, and this story has been updated to reflect that information. ATHENS, Ala. (WHNT) A homeowner on Luke Street in Athens is planning to sue the city for flooding damage to her home. Sharon Wilson said that the long-standing flooding issues have worsened and are being ignored by city officials. 7-year-old to donate life-saving bone marrow to little sister in Sheffield The water is all over everywhere. You cant see my driveway and how to turn in, and really, you cant see the street when you come down here, Wilson explained. Wilson takes her ailing mother to her doctors appointments but says she often cant make it because water has flooded the access ramp for the wheelchair. As previously reported by News 19, Wilson says she had several meetings with city leaders over the years, who promised to get the aging infrastructure repaired. A city spokesperson says Wilson was notified who to contact to submit a claim and was told our insurance provider would be the entity to decide whether or not to accept the claim, and as of today, she has not submitted one. Fire at Essity Plant warehouse could continue for days, officials say Wilson hired attorney Gerard Truesdale, who is pursuing claims of negligence and violations of health and safety codes against Athens. Water runoff from Interstate 65 has caused persistent flooding thats leading to sewage backup into their homes, and in Ms. Wilsons case, this has resulted in significant mold growth, making it very unsafe for her and her elderly mother to live, and thats not a good thing, said Truesdale. Wilson said the flooding has caused extensive damage to her home. The citys failure to maintain proper drainage has created a hazardous living condition, and we believe they must be held accountable, Truesdale said. But, an Athens spokesperson says the city never promised to fix any issues related to Interstate 65, as that is a state highway. The City has contacted the Alabama Department of Transportation to look at I-65 to see if there are drainage issues related to its construction and design, the spokesperson said. Athens City Mayor Ronnie Marks told News 19 in May that the city was working to get a pre-application submitted to ADEM for grants related to the drainage and sewer. The city spokesperson said as of Tuesday it had, alongside nonprofit Community Consultants, conducted surveys, collected photo and video of the issues and turned in an application to ADEM. Truesdale said the survey is a great idea, but the homeowners experiencing the floods have not been notified of that. Surveys without following up with concrete solutions only prolongs suffering of the residents and exacerbate the health risks that they face every day, Truesdale said. A spokesperson from the city of Athens says the city has yet to hear back from ADEM about whether it will approve the City to submit a full application for funding assistance. In addition, residents were informed information being collected was for the purpose of turning in an application to ADEM, the city said. The city also tells News 19 The City of Athens Public Works Dept. and Wastewater Dept. have submitted preliminary engineering plans that address East and West Strain roads, and those were submitted with the pre-application to ADEM. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com. Atlanta man accused of swindling GEICO out of nearly $6 million A 54-year-old man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with a scheme to defraud GEICO insurance company. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] According to the Northern District of Georgia Attorneys Office, GEICO was the majority owner, and Dwayne Peterson Davis, 54, of Atlanta, was the minority owner, of a limited partnership called PIS QOZ Fund 2018-A, LP. In November 2018, GEICO gave $26 million to the partnership as an investment in Riverside Village, a commercial development in North Augusta, SC. The attorneys office said in April 2021, GEICO agreed to give another $5.91 million to the partnership to resolve a dispute involving unpaid taxes, a construction lawsuit, and foreclosure activities. GEICO wire transferred the $5.91 million to the partnerships accountan account that Davis controlledwith the understanding that Davis would use the money solely to pay the taxes, settle the lawsuit, and stop the foreclosure proceedings, officials said. After Davis took control of the $5.91 million, he allegedly began draining the account and secretly transferring money to accounts that he controlled at other banks. In total, Davis transferred $5,898,000 out of the partnerships account. Authorities said the transfers were allegedly made with the intent to rip off GEICO and the partnership. TRENDING STORIES: The attorneys office said Davis eventually used some of the rerouted money to pay taxes owed by the partnership, but he never made the payments to settle the lawsuit or stop the foreclosure proceedings. He allegedly used the remaining money to pay off personal debts and expenses that did not involve the partnership or GEICO. Davis was indicted on Tuesday by a federal grand jury for wire fraud and money laundering. This defendant allegedly took advantage of his business partners, violating their trust and deceiving them for his own personal gain, said FBI Atlanta Assistant Special Agent in Charge Sean Burke. Actions like these ultimately impact customers through higher insurance costs. The case is being investigated by the FBI. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: An Atlanta man is fighting back in federal court after having his cash seized at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Attorneys for Brian Moore Jr. argued before a three-judge panel at the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals in downtown Atlanta Tuesday that he should have his $15,000 in attorney fees paid after successfully fighting to have $8,500 in cash that was seized from him at the airport returned. Federal prosecutors dropped the case with prejudice and returned the cash, but a lower court judge did not order them to pay attorney fees. How is that legal, let alone fair? one of the judges asked prosecutors in the courtroom during oral arguments today. Its definitely about the principle and the fact of the matter of whats right and whats wrong. And I didnt do anything wrong, obviously. So, I just want them to do whats right, Moore told Channel 2 consumer investigator Justin Gray outside the courthouse. In a Channel 2 Action News Investigation in November 2023 on airport seizures, we reported how DEA agents seized $8,500 from Moore as he waited at the gate for a flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles. He said the money was for a music video shoot. [HAVE A STORY FOR 2 INVESTIGATES? Submit your tip here] A DEA agent snapped a picture of Moore, who had green hair at the time, at the gate at Hartsfield-Jackson. They announced we were about to start boarding and I was approached by two women and one of them quickly flashed me a card, Moore said. He said they asked if he was carrying guns or drugs. He wasnt. Then they asked about the cash he had. Ive never been in a situation where I was being treated as a terrorist or a criminal or something less than a person, Moore said. He said he explained to the DEA agents the money was his to pay for his music video from the sale of his grandfathers car he inherited. They put my money in a big Ziplock bag, and they told me I was free to go. They were like, You might want to leave or youre going to miss your flight, Moore said. Moore was never contacted for more questioning by DEA agents and was never charged with a crime. He fought for two years to get his money back and that is how he racked up those $15,000 in legal fees. The government decided to throw in the towel. And now the government is saying, Oh, no harm, no foul. Well give you your $8,500 back, but not the attorneys fees. But that doesnt make Brian whole. And Congress said that victims of civil forfeiture should be made whole when they successfully contest the seizure of their property, said Moores attorney, Dan Alban from the Institute for Justice. MORE STORIES FROM 2 INVESTIGATES: Federal data shows that at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport just one agency, Customs and Border Protection, seized more than $108 million in cash from travelers between 2000 and 2016. A 2017 Department of Justice Inspector General audit looked at a sample of 100 DEA seizures and found only 44 of those advanced or were even related to a criminal investigation. The same year, a Treasury Inspector General found that 91% of the money seized in cases it looked at was from a legal source. Federal prosecutors argued before the appeals panel that they dropped the case not because of lack of evidence, but because of the cost. At some point, the government has to decide what is the best use of government time and resources, Deputy U.S. Attorney Sekret Sneed argued in court. She also argued that since prosecutors voluntarily dismissed the case and returned the money, and were not ordered by a judge to do so, they should not have to pay attorney fees. But a district judge did sign off on the agreement dismissing the case. The government didnt want to pay those fees. It seemed to suggest that Bryan hadnt proved his innocence. That flips the presumption of innocence on its head. Thats not the rule of law in the United States, Aldan said. Moore said the money is important, but he is also pressing this case to send a message to others. I definitely want people to know that they can fight for their property back because thats the whole idea of it. They feel like they can just take things from people and theyre not going to fight for their stuff back, Moore said. A decision by the 11th Circuit could take several months. RELATED NEWS: Hideo Shimizu offers apology in front of an apology and anti-war monument at the former site of Unit 731 in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. Shimizu, a former member of Unit 731, the notorious Japanese germ-warfare detachment during World War II, identified the crimes of the Japanese army on Tuesday at the site where he served 79 years ago in China. Shimizu, 94, was among the last batch of Unit 731 Youth Corps members sent by Japan to Harbin, China, where he spent more than four months witnessing the war crimes committed by the unit, including the cultivation of pathogens, human dissections and human experiments. He fled China with the retreating Japanese forces on August 14, 1945. This visit is Shimizu's first return to Chinese soil in 79 years. (Xinhua/Wang Song) HARBIN, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- After a 79-year hiatus, Hideo Shimizu, a former member of Unit 731, the notorious Japanese germ-warfare detachment during World War II, returned to China to acknowledge the atrocities committed by the invading Japanese forces and to offer sincere repentance and apologies to the victims. His itinerary included a poignant visit to the former headquarters of Unit 731 and the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army, both located in the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin, where he grappled with the stark and haunting evidence of the unit's inhumane deeds. Shimizu, 94, arrived by plane in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, on Monday evening and visited the former site of Unit 731's headquarters building, including the office of the unit commander, the specimen room, and the site of the frostbite laboratory, on Tuesday morning. He recalled that in the specimen room, he had seen a variety of dissected human organs soaked in formalin-filled bottles, and he had been ordered to collect the bones of prisoners who were used as experimental subjects. Shimizu was among the last batch of Unit 731 Youth Corps members sent by Japan to Harbin, where he spent more than four months witnessing the war crimes committed by the unit, including the cultivation of pathogens, human dissections and human experiments. He fled China with the retreating Japanese forces on August 14, 1945. In 2016, Shimizu revealed his identity as a former Unit 731 member and began to expose the atrocities of the Japanese Imperial Army through public speeches and interviews, aiming to tell historical truths. This visit is Shimizu's first return to Chinese soil in 79 years. He had previously expressed a strong desire to return to China to pray for the deceased and apologize to their families. The trip was made possible by donations from various Japanese civilian groups. "For me, overcoming many difficulties to return to China is about hoping that the Japanese authorities can face history squarely, safeguard peace, and not repeat the mistakes of war," Shimizu said. At the site of the Unit 731 headquarters, he repented and apologized in front of the monument to "apology and the commitment to peace without war." The monument was built with funding from various Japanese civilian groups in 2011. With black background and white characters, the inscription on the monument reads: "The Japanese Army's Unit 731 committed unprecedented national crimes in world history in China." This trip to Harbin is also his first time traveling abroad after the war. Standing in front of the monument, Shimizu put his palms together and bowed deeply. "I sincerely apologize and repent to the victims in China," he said. On Tuesday afternoon, Shimizu visited the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army. Unit 731 was a top-secret biological and chemical warfare research base established in Harbin as the nerve center for Japanese biological warfare in China and Southeast Asia during World War II. At least 3,000 people were used in human experiments by Unit 731, while more than 300,000 people in China were killed by Japan's biological weapons. In 2015, the exhibition hall was built, resembling a "black box," which preserves and displays archives, relics and physical evidence of the Japanese invasion of China. Its exhibits include the evidences obtained by Chinese experts such as the curator Jin Chengmin through more than 20 years of international investigation. "Indeed, Japan has inflicted acts of cruelty, and the truth stands unaltered. Confronting history and yearning for peace constitute the most profound lesson we must embrace," Shimizu said. Hideo Shimizu offers apology in front of an apology and anti-war monument at the former site of Unit 731 in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Song) Hideo Shimizu identifies the crimes of the Japanese germ-warfare at the former site of Unit 731 in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Song) Hideo Shimizu offers apology in front of an apology and anti-war monument at the former site of Unit 731 in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei) Hideo Shimizu offers apology in front of an apology and anti-war monument at the former site of Unit 731 in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei) Hideo Shimizu (2nd R, front) identifies the crimes of the Japanese germ-warfare at the former site of Unit 731 in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Jianfei) Hideo Shimizu offers apology in front of an apology and anti-war monument at the former site of Unit 731 in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Jianfei) Hideo Shimizu offers apology in front of an apology and anti-war monument at the former site of Unit 731 in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Song) Hideo Shimizu (L) offers apology in front of an apology and anti-war monument at the former site of Unit 731 in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Song) Hideo Shimizu (1st R) takes pictures at the former site of Unit 731 in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei) Hideo Shimizu (C) identifies the crimes of the Japanese germ-warfare at the former site of Unit 731 in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Jianfei) Hideo Shimizu (C) identifies the crimes of the Japanese germ-warfare at the former site of Unit 731 in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei) Hideo Shimizu (C) identifies the crimes of the Japanese germ-warfare at the former site of Unit 731 in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei) Hideo Shimizu takes pictures at the former site of Unit 731 in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Song) Hideo Shimizu (C) identifies the crimes of the Japanese germ-warfare at the former site of Unit 731 in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Jianfei) Hideo Shimizu (C) identifies the crimes of the Japanese germ-warfare at the former site of Unit 731 in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Jianfei) Hideo Shimizu offers apology in front of an apology and anti-war monument at the former site of Unit 731 in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei) Hideo Shimizu (2nd L, front) puts his palms together as he identifies the crimes of the Japanese germ-warfare at the former site of Unit 731 in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Jianfei) Hideo Shimizu (2nd R) takes pictures at the former site of Unit 731 in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Jianfei) Hideo Shimizu (L) visits the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. After a 79-year hiatus, Hideo Shimizu, a former member of Unit 731, the notorious Japanese germ-warfare detachment during World War II, returned to China to acknowledge the atrocities committed by the invading Japanese forces and to offer sincere repentance and apologies to the victims. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei) Hideo Shimizu (C, front) visits the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. After a 79-year hiatus, Hideo Shimizu, a former member of Unit 731, the notorious Japanese germ-warfare detachment during World War II, returned to China to acknowledge the atrocities committed by the invading Japanese forces and to offer sincere repentance and apologies to the victims. (Xinhua/Zhang Tao) Hideo Shimizu prays in front of the list of victims at the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. After a 79-year hiatus, Hideo Shimizu, a former member of Unit 731, the notorious Japanese germ-warfare detachment during World War II, returned to China to acknowledge the atrocities committed by the invading Japanese forces and to offer sincere repentance and apologies to the victims. (Xinhua/Zhang Tao) Hideo Shimizu visits the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. After a 79-year hiatus, Hideo Shimizu, a former member of Unit 731, the notorious Japanese germ-warfare detachment during World War II, returned to China to acknowledge the atrocities committed by the invading Japanese forces and to offer sincere repentance and apologies to the victims. (Xinhua/Zhang Tao) Hideo Shimizu (2nd R) visits the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. After a 79-year hiatus, Hideo Shimizu, a former member of Unit 731, the notorious Japanese germ-warfare detachment during World War II, returned to China to acknowledge the atrocities committed by the invading Japanese forces and to offer sincere repentance and apologies to the victims. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei) Hideo Shimizu (3rd L) visits the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. After a 79-year hiatus, Hideo Shimizu, a former member of Unit 731, the notorious Japanese germ-warfare detachment during World War II, returned to China to acknowledge the atrocities committed by the invading Japanese forces and to offer sincere repentance and apologies to the victims. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei) Hideo Shimizu prays in front of the list of victims at the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. After a 79-year hiatus, Hideo Shimizu, a former member of Unit 731, the notorious Japanese germ-warfare detachment during World War II, returned to China to acknowledge the atrocities committed by the invading Japanese forces and to offer sincere repentance and apologies to the victims. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei) Hideo Shimizu visits the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. After a 79-year hiatus, Hideo Shimizu, a former member of Unit 731, the notorious Japanese germ-warfare detachment during World War II, returned to China to acknowledge the atrocities committed by the invading Japanese forces and to offer sincere repentance and apologies to the victims. (Xinhua/Zhang Tao) Hideo Shimizu (2nd R) visits the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. After a 79-year hiatus, Hideo Shimizu, a former member of Unit 731, the notorious Japanese germ-warfare detachment during World War II, returned to China to acknowledge the atrocities committed by the invading Japanese forces and to offer sincere repentance and apologies to the victims. (Xinhua/Zhang Tao) Hideo Shimizu (2nd L, front) visits the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. After a 79-year hiatus, Hideo Shimizu, a former member of Unit 731, the notorious Japanese germ-warfare detachment during World War II, returned to China to acknowledge the atrocities committed by the invading Japanese forces and to offer sincere repentance and apologies to the victims. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei) Hideo Shimizu leaves the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. After a 79-year hiatus, Hideo Shimizu, a former member of Unit 731, the notorious Japanese germ-warfare detachment during World War II, returned to China to acknowledge the atrocities committed by the invading Japanese forces and to offer sincere repentance and apologies to the victims. (Xinhua/Zhang Tao) Hideo Shimizu visits the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 13, 2024. After a 79-year hiatus, Hideo Shimizu, a former member of Unit 731, the notorious Japanese germ-warfare detachment during World War II, returned to China to acknowledge the atrocities committed by the invading Japanese forces and to offer sincere repentance and apologies to the victims. (Xinhua/Zhang Tao) A woman was dragged over a freeway barrier and into traffic lanes at the Allen Metro station last week, police say. (KTLA) A man has been charged with attempted murder in an attack at a Pasadena Metro station last week in which a woman was punched and her head was pounded against the station platform before she was dragged over a freeway divider and into traffic lanes, authorities said. Juan Pablo Flores, 33, was arrested Wednesday around 5:45 a.m., shortly after the brutal, unprovoked attack occurred at the Allen Metro station, the L.A. County district attorney's office said Monday. The victim was thrown onto the train tracks and wound up in the carpool lane of the adjacent 210 Freeway. She was transported to a hospital and was said to be in stable condition Thursday. Flores is charged with attempted murder and mayhem and is being held in lieu of $2 million bail. He could face a life sentence if convicted. Read more: 'Mercenary group' with ex-L.A. County deputies hired in extortion scheme, feds allege Our thoughts are with the victim and her loved ones as she begins her journey toward recovery following this horrific attack, said Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascon. No one should have to endure such brutality, and everyone deserves to go about their day without fear for their safety. We will not tolerate violence on our transit system and will continue holding those responsible fully accountable for their actions. Flores is scheduled to appear for arraignment Tuesday in Pasadena. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. The Austin Police Department identified a pedestrian who died after being struck by a driver in Tarrytown last week. Two pedestrians were struck by the driver at the intersection of Hillview Road and Greenlee Drive in West Austin shortly after 8:30 a.m. Thursday, the police said in a news release Tuesday. One of the pedestrians, Allison Baker, 65, was pronounced dead on the scene, the news release said. The other pedestrian was taken to a local hospital for serious injuries. The driver remained on the scene, was not injured or impaired, and is cooperating with the investigation, the police said. The driver has not been arrested in connection with the crash, the Austin Police Department said in an unsigned email to the American-Statesman on Tuesday. This incident is being investigated as Austins 51st fatal crash of 2024, totaling 54 "crash-related fatalities" this year to date, the news release said. The numbers are marginally lower than they were about this time last year: As of Aug. 8, 2023, 56 fatal crashes had resulted in 59 fatalities so far that year. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin police identify woman killed in Tarrytown auto-pedestrian crash The campaign office of former President Donald Trump in Auburn, Virginia, was broken into over the weekend, local authorities announced on Monday, as their investigation into the incident continues. The Loudoun County Sheriffs Office is seeking a suspect in connection to the burglary and has released still images of a white male suspect wearing dark clothing, a hat and a backpack, recovered from the offices surveillance footage while asking the public to assist in their probe. Authorities were alerted to the break-in on Sunday evening and deputies headed to the location, which is also the headquarters of the Virginia 10th District Republican Committee. It is rare to have the office of any political campaign or party broken into, Sheriff Mike Chapman said in a statement. We are determined to identify the suspect, investigate why it happened, and determine what may have been taken as well as what may have been left behind. HuffPost has reached out to Trumps campaign for comment on the incident. Meanwhile, the FBI is investigating a number of cyber attacks which they suspect Iran is behind, including one targeting longtime GOP operative Roger Stone, a Trump ally, according to The Washington Post. Stones email account appears to have been compromised by the hackers, who then used it to send messages to people in the Trump campaign, the Post reported. The FBI on Monday confirmed it is investigating a cyber attack targeting Trumps campaign without offering further details. Hackers also took aim at staffers from the now-defunct Biden-Harris campaign, but their phishing attempts appeared to have been unsuccessful, sources told the Post. The former president spent Monday evening talking to billionaire Elon Musk in a live event hosted on X, formerly Twitter, during which he spread falsehoods and attacked his main rival, Vice President Kamala Harris. Related... FILE - President Donald Trump, right, talks with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk at the White House in Washington, Feb. 3, 2017. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) DETROIT (AP) The United Auto Workers union has filed unfair labor practice charges against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk after the two discussed on social media about Musk supposedly firing striking workers. In documents filed Tuesday with the National Labor Relations Board, the union alleges that both men interfered with workers who may want to exercise their right to join a union. The NLRB said it would look into the charges, which are a request for the agency to investigate. UAW President Shawn Fain, whose union has endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris, said in a statement that Trump is anti-labor. Both Trump and Musk want working class people to sit down and shut up, and they laugh about it openly, Fain said. Brian Hughes, a senior advisor with the Trump campaign, called the allegations frivolous and a shameless political stunt designed to erode Trump's strong support among American workers. The NLRB said it would investigate the complaints, one filed against the Trump campaign and the other naming Tesla Inc., the electric vehicle, battery and solar panel manufacturer based in Austin, Texas, and led by Musk. The charges stem from statements made by Trump Monday night during a conversation between the two men on X, the social media platform Musk now owns. The former president spent much of the discussion that lasted more than two hours focused on his recent assassination attempt, illegal immigration and plans to cut government regulations. But during a discussion about government spending, Trump praised Musk for firing workers who went on strike. The UAW contends this could intimidate workers for the Trump campaign or at Tesla who might want to join a union. You're the greatest cutter, Trump told Musk. I look at what you do. You walk in and say, 'You want to quit?' I won't mention the name of the company but they go on strike and you say, Thats OK. You're all gone.'" Musk said, Yeah, and laughed while Trump was talking. It wasn't clear what employees Trump was referring to. In June, eight former workers at SpaceX, Musk's rocket company, sued the company and Musk, alleging he ordered them fired after they challenged what they called rampant sexual harassment and a hostile Animal House-style work environment at the company. In addition, the NLRB determined that a 2018 Twitter post by Musk unlawfully threatened Tesla employees with the loss of stock options if they decided to be represented by a union. Three judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans upheld that decision, as well as a related NLRB order that Tesla rehire a fired employee, with back pay. But the full 5th Circuit later threw out that decision and voted to hear the matter again. Sanjukta Paul, a law professor at the University of Michigan, said the UAW charges have real substance because the comments from Trump and Musk could chill efforts by workers to act collectively, including union organizing, or just getting together to improve working conditions. You're approvingly describing, you're wholeheartedly commending the blatant violation of our main federal labor statute, she said. It would constitute interference with protected rights. Marick Masters, a business professor emeritus at Wayne State University who follows labor issues, said the UAW's move "puts the spotlight on Trump and attempts to put him on the defensive in terms of his attitude and demeanor toward unions. He added that the union is watching Musk's comments because it has targeted Tesla's U.S. factories for organizing drives. NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) Fliers will soon have the opportunity to head nonstop to New Orleans from the Nutmeg State. Avelo Airlines Tuesday announced the new route to Louisianas Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) will start at $79 one-way from Tweed-New Haven Airport in November. Exclusive one-on-one with Avelo Airlines CEO on expanding to Bradley International Airport With New Havens focus on cultural equity and economic opportunity, New Orleans is an exceptionally important new destination, New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said. Avelos nonstop service will strengthen existing ties between our cities and help foster new collaborations in the arts, academia, and innovation. The new route will fly Thursdays and Sundays, starting Nov. 14. The airlines also reminded customers it will double its frequency of flights to San Juan, Puerto Rico to four flights a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Avelo Airlines doubles flights to Puerto Rico, extends scheduling dates for all destinations That will begin Friday, Nov. 8. November will also mark Avelo expanding its Boeing Next Generation 737-800s fleet, which officials say will double the year-over-year number of big airplanes allowing for more customer capacity during the winter. Over half the airlines 19 planes will be dedicated for Connecticut. Avelo is proud to be Connecticuts Airline and continue growth in New Haven with a new route to New Orleans, plus more Puerto Rico flights this winter and increased (Customer) capacity, Avelo Airlines Founder and CEO Andrew Levy said. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTNH.com. The tone of this years presidential election may have shifted since Joe Biden ended his reelection bid and passed the baton to Vice President Kamala Harris. Still, Democratic lawmakers say voters must ward off the threat of another Donald Trump presidency and the ideology of his supporters. People should stay woke, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a founding member of the Stop Project 2025 Task Force, told Capital B in a recent phone interview. Project 2025 has been coordinated at every level, she added. The same mega donors that are influencing Justice [Samuel] Alito and Justice [Clarence] Thomas with lavish gifts are the same mega donors who bankrolled The Heritage Foundations Project 2025, she said. Although Trumps campaign has tried to distance itself from Project 2025, Pressley and others say the manifestos ideas written by Trump associates and published in April 2023 are sprinkled throughout the former presidents plans. Trump started posting videos of his policy ideas, if he were to return to the White House, in December 2022, and called it Agenda 47. Agenda 47s plans to restrict prosecutorial discretion when it comes to enforcing immigration laws, give state leaders power over their education system by eliminating the U.S. Department of Education, and weaponize the U.S. Department of Justices criminal and civil rights divisions are eerily similar to the plans outlined in Project 2025. The 922-page Project 2025 dedicates 36 pages to the DOJ, and its assault on civil rights. The proposed transition plan officially titled Mandate for Leadership 2025: The Conservative Promise is spearheaded by The Heritage Foundation a right-wing think tank for the next Republican president. Their outlook for the DOJ mirrors what Americans witnessed with Jeff Sessions and William Barr in charge. Sunlight is the best disinfectant. We will continue to shine a light on Project 2025, [which is] institutionalized Trumpism that we have every reason to believe would be made real if Donald Trump is elected to another term in the White House, Pressley told CapitalB. This week, the Massachusetts Democrat and others from Congress signed a letter to the president of the Heritage Foundation requesting he release the fourth pillar of Project 2025. Its described as a roadmap of comprehensive, concrete, early actions for each federal agency within the presidents first 180 days. Pressley helps break down some key areas of this policy agenda that voters should pay closer attention to. Why are the Project 2025 plans so alarming? I was immediately alarmed because I saw what was laid out in this manifesto as plans. Not ideas, but plans. A policy plan, and a transition plan for institutionalized Trumpism, and, in my opinion, a weaponized White House, DOJ, and Supreme Court, Pressley said. The Justice Department under Trump had two attorneys general, Sessions and Barr, who split the four-year term. During their short tenures, they collectively: Shutdown the DOJs civil rights division ability to launch pattern and practice investigations against police departments with allegations of misconduct. Allowed the federal executions of more people in a six-month period than any other administration. Used a loophole to send the U.S. National Guard into cities whose elected prosecutor didnt prosecute low-level crimes an offense the Trump administration saw as defiant. Under current U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, there has been a moratorium on executing anyone on federal death row; a review was launched into the use of the lethal injection; and the civil rights division has been revitalized with Kristen Clarke as its new leader. Project 2025s ideas for the DOJ are in one chapter that, in part, calls for: Federal prosecutors to override local prosecutors discretion. And prosecute crimes the local prosecutor wont. An end to investigating voter suppression and election interference allegations. Executing the 40 people currently on federal death row and enforcing death as a penalty, especially for those convicted of particularly heinous crimes involving violence and sexual abuse of children until Congress says otherwise through legislation. Reviewing all active consent decrees implemented in law enforcement agencies across the country and surrounding U.S. territories before eliminating the practice altogether. Given the education that Ive gotten and we all received from these extremists in the last five years they do not make threats, they make promises, Pressley said. Pressley is a sponsor and co-sponsor of several proposed bills that may be affected by Project 2025 if it comes to fruition. For instance, the Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act hasnt been passed yet, but the momentum to support it continues to grow more than in previous years, she said. Especially because the best predictor of the future is the past, and Donald Trump, in the final days of his presidency, executed more people than in the last six decades, Pressley said. So, again, I take them at their hateful word that they do think that state-sanctioned violence is justice, and that he [Trump] would go on a murdering spree, because theyve already demonstrated that. What chapters or sections of Project 2025 really stand out? Pressley said she and her colleagues are hosting briefings, hearings, and webinars to continue to shine a light on Project 2025. I would encourage people to read it. You know, its such a frightening read you cant put it down even for its density, because it is just hard to believe, Pressley said, adding, But again, when people show you who they are the first time, believe them, and they have shown us time and time again. We have every reason to believe it would be made real if Donald Trump is elected to another term in the White House. So were leveraging every congressional tool available to us, oversight and accountability, to make sure people are aware of the real threat codified in this document, she said. Pressley emphasizes that Project 2025 is a threat to every person who calls this country home, and what they want to do is control every aspect of our lives. Dobbs was just the beginning referring to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. Pressley said there has been a coordinated, unrelenting effort to: defund Diversity Equity and Inclusion initiatives. defund Title I funding for K through 12 education. ban books. dismantle the U.S. Department of Education. rename the Department of Health and Human Services to the Department of Life. weaponize the U.S. Supreme Court. restart a murdering spree on federal death row; and stop the DOJ from investigating voter suppression and election interference allegations. So if you just look at the contrast here, they want to control every aspect of our lives. And I can go on, Pressley said. Outside of Project 2025, taking what Trump says during his rally stops cannot be taken lightly, either. His twice repeated comments that a vote for him would be the last time Americans would have to vote wasnt a joke to Pressley. I firmly believe, if he is reelected which Im going to do fighting with every fiber of my being to ensure that does not happen I firmly believe he will not leave office, Pressley said. And so when we say that this institutionalized Trumpism laid out in this extremist blueprint, this policy, and transition plan of Project 2025, that it is an existential threat it is a real threat. It is a real threat to our democracy, to our federal government as we know it, and again, it implicates the courts, because they cant do any of this without Donald Trump as president and without a Supreme Court, which they have enlisted as co-conspirators in this national extremist march. What are the similarities between Project 2025 and Trumps Agenda 47? Those who might be doubters or naysayers about the real threat here, and consider us histrionics, Pressley said, those are probably the same people that felt that we were being dramatic in our fears about [U.S. Supreme Court Justice] Brett Kavanaugh. During Kavanaughs Senate confirmation hearing, he said he wouldnt touch Roe v. Wade, the legal precedent that gave women the right to access to an abortion. And we didnt believe him. We knew we had cause to question his sincerity, said Pressley, who has called for Kavanaughs impeachment. Im a woman. Im a Black woman in movement building work in electoral politics, and they often think that were being dramatic. But I would argue that when we have been the canaries in the coal mine, those things have come to pass. So I would just say to those who think were being hysterical, that wont be the first time that weve been told that, and likely not the last, she said. But I know that we are not being hysterical or hyperbolic. Donald Trump, and his sycophants, his allies, have already revealed who they are. We have a term to look at as a guide, it mimics the agenda that he had in the White House. This has been very coordinated, every level and stay woke. This is not a drill. The post Ayanna Pressley: Stay Woke About Project 2025s Weaponization of the DOJ appeared first on Capital B News. SPARTANBURG, S.C. (WSPA) School populations in the Upstate are booming and many school districts are adding new construction to keep up with that demand. A big part of the building process involves taking into account how weather impacts the design and function of these schools. Spartanburg High School is an impressive building. Dr. Eric Levitt, Chief Operations and Technology Officer for Spartanburg County School District 7, recalled the energy and excitement of the first day at the new Spartanburg High. When this school was built, this community supported the building. The families were very excited to bring their kids here because I remember the first day of school here then and it was awesome. These kids were mouths to the floor. They were so excited and just thought it was beautiful. This year the school celebrates its fifth year and Spartanburg High is thriving. Dr. Levitt said the building continues to impress. We know that an energy-efficient well-designed building promotes learning and the environment that students are in and teachers are in every day has an impact. The building is built to withstand all types of weather conditions. Dr. Levitt explained how the building process comes together: So every school building thats built in South Carolina goes to a very rigorous certification process. Its called the Office of School Facilities so they are a governing body at every step. Literally every step of the building process goes through F. to get certified so one of the things among minis is that the building is built to tornado standards, hurricane standards, heavy rain so forth, and those type of things even earthquakes because even because South Carolina has a few earthquakes so the buildings are built withstand those types of weather events. School designs have changed significantly over the past 20 years. Its not just enough to protect students from bad weather, newer schools try to take advantage of the weather to be more economically and environmentally friendly while saving money to heat and cool buildings. Dr. Levitt said there are several features that add to the schools efficiency. The windows in this building they have something called a low glaze finish. Its nontoxic. You cant see it only does it tent to the windows so it reduces inside the building, so it reduces the thermal transmission of the building so the building stays cooler when its hot out. And in the winter its warmer and will retain heat. Also, he added, If you look at the kind of yellow light brick thats another type of insulation system that has something called solar radiation index and what that does is it reflects certain wavelengths of the sun and keep the building more efficient. Not only is District 7 taking advantage of the weather, they are winning awards for their building. Spartanburg High became the ninth high school nationwide, and the first in South Carolina, to earn level two Green Globes Certification from the Green Building Initiative for resource efficiency and reduction of environmental impact. Spartanburg High also features a wetland area and a retention pond that captures rainwater that is used for on-campus irrigation. Having that type of efficiency one- prevents you from having to update constantly or upgrade constantly because we know that the equipment is going to last longer building school buildings we think of in terms of 50 or 60 years but if you have a building built like a Spartanburg high school we might be able to get 70 or 75 years out of it because its so future proof in terms of energy efficiency that we may not need something for a longer amount of time, according to Dr. Levitt. New schools are being built every year and school districts construct buildings with weather safety and operation costs in mind. Spartanburg High shines as an example of how sustainability and educational goals can work hand in hand. As Dr. Levitt said, And thats not to say that an older building anywhere great learning and teaching doesnt go on because it goes on if you have a good teacher. But we just know that the environment does have a positive impact on students. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSPA 7NEWS. An Ohio grand jury decided whether the officer seen on body camera footage fatally shooting a pregnant Black woman should be held accountable for his actions... and it does not look good. The Franklin County grand jury slammed Blendon Township Officer Connor Grubb with charges of murder, involuntary manslaughter and felonious assault. The indictment stems from August 24, 2023 when grocery store clerks called 911 on 21-year-old TaKiya Young, who was 25 weeks pregnant, alleging shed stolen bottles of alcohol, authorities said. Surveillance footage showed Young enter the wine and spirits side of the store with another woman, place bottles of alcohol into various tote bags and then walk into the general grocery area before exiting. By the time Young made it to her car, body camera video showed Grubb and another officer approach her car, banging on the window and cursing at her various demands to exit the vehicle. Young then slowly pulled the car out of the parking space as Grubb placed himself in front of it. He then shot a single bullet through her windshield, striking Young in the chest. Photo: Blendon Township Police Both Young and her unborn baby girl died. Despite various critics and the police union who defended Grubb saying he was forced to make a split-second decision, a grand jury found it necessary to make him face the gavel. Read more from CBS News: A Franklin County grand jury indicted Blendon Township police officer Connor Grubb on charges of murder, involuntary manslaughter and felonious assault. He is scheduled to be arraigned in court Wednesday. Blendon Township Police Chief John Belford said in a video posted to Facebook that disciplinary proceedings against Grubb would begin immediately, noting that people under indictment cant legally possess firearms. Belford said the town wasnt involved in the outside investigation into the shooting. The townships policy on the use of force advises officers to move away from an approaching vehicle instead of firing their weapons unless they have reason to believe the car is being used as a deadly weapon, the report says. After almost a year of demanding the officer be charged, Youngs family finally got what they were advocating for. Though, it doesnt heal the wound they bear from losing their loved one. He took a lot from us. Its not fair. We dont have her or the baby, she said to CBS. Its been agony, its been like a whirlwind of hurt and pain. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. * Reform has vitalized the western region of China, which accounts for about two-thirds of the country's land area, turning the once economically underdeveloped region into one full of growth potential. * A slew of reform measures have been rolled out to further unleash its growth potential, with a focus on region-specific approaches to nurturing emerging industries and expediting industrial transformation and upgrade. * Serving as a vital ecological defense, the western region is persistently forging ahead with practical exploration of promoting ecological civilization. * This commitment is bolstering the drive toward a modernization that embodies harmony between humanity and nature, ensuring robust support for its transformative journey. BEIJING, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- In as little as 30 minutes, a new business can be opened in the Lanzhou New Area, northwest China's Gansu Province. Speed is a testament to the power of reform. In recent years, the Lanzhou New Area has significantly simplified administrative procedures, enabling more than 2,800 government service items to be handled online. With all these efforts in place, the annual growth rate of the number of business entities in the area has been maintained at over 20 percent, and in the first half of this year, the area saw the establishment of more than 10,000 new business entities. Workers hoist a storage tank at an industrial park of Lanzhou LS Group in Lanzhou New Area, northwest China's Gansu Province, July 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Fan Peishen) "A key characteristic of a high-level socialist market economy is that it is both vibrant and manageable," said Wang Shuzheng, who is with the Party work committee of the Lanzhou New Area. Focusing on the core issue of managing the relationship between government and market, Wang emphasized the commitment to creating a more fair and dynamic market environment through deepening systematic and institutional reforms. In 2012, the Lanzhou New Area was approved by the State Council as the fifth national-level special economic development zone, and it was also the first state-level new development area in the northwest of China. From 2011 to 2023, the regional GDP of the Lanzhou New Area increased from less than 500 million yuan (about 70 million U.S. dollars) to 37.5 billion yuan. CREATING NEW DYNAMICS The Lanzhou New Area is an epitome of how reform vitalizes the western region of China, which accounts for about two-thirds of the country's land area, turning the once economically underdeveloped region into one full of growth potential. Over the years, a slew of reform measures have been rolled out to further unleash the growth potential of the expansive and resource-rich western region, with a focus on region-specific approaches to nurturing emerging industries and expediting industrial transformation and upgrade. In the Liangjiang New Area of Chongqing Municipality in the southwest of China, a vibrant ecosystem of research and development institutions is flourishing, supported by prestigious academic institutions including the Beijing Institute of Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology and Northwestern Polytechnical University. An aerial drone photo taken on July 17, 2023 shows a view of Chongqing Liangjiang Coordinative Zone, where the Chongqing Institute of New Energy Storage Materials and Equipment is located, in the Liangjiang New Area of southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. (Photo by Wang Jiaxi/Xinhua) Among these, the Chongqing Institute of New Energy Storage Materials and Equipment stands out for its dedication to advancing hydrogen energy research, aiming to achieve significant technological breakthroughs in new energy batteries. "The potential for hydrogen energy is vast, yet we face the challenge of developing safe and cost-effective methods for hydrogen storage and transportation," remarked Wang Jingfeng, executive director of the institute. Chongqing University, in partnership with the Liangjiang New Area, has established the research institute to amalgamate cutting-edge R&D with industry resources, thereby constructing a premier platform for scientific inquiry. "Our current research into magnesium-based battery materials and hydrogen storage technologies is leading the industry, marking a significant stride toward the future of energy solutions," Wang added. As China's southwestern industrial powerhouse, Chongqing had built 144 intelligent factories and 958 digital workshops by the end of 2023, according to Chongqing's municipal commission of economy and informatization. In Gansu, the transition of Lanzhou LS Group, a long-established equipment manufacturer, has proven how reform propels innovation. By steering toward high-end transformation, the group maintains its competitive edge in traditional sectors such as oil refining and chemical equipment, as well as oil and gas drilling equipment. Simultaneously, it is cultivating strategic emerging industries with a focus on cutting-edge nuclear, hydrogen and photovoltaic energy storage technologies, complemented by the development of high-end alloys and nanotechnology-based new materials. This dual-pronged approach has yielded significant results, as evidenced by a robust 32.78 percent year-on-year increase in the output value of the group's strategic emerging industries in the first half of 2024. "Without reform and innovation, we would not have reached where we are today, nor would we have a bright future," said Gao Feng, deputy general manager of LS Group. In the border province of Yunnan, southwest China, cross-border cargo shipments on the China-Laos Railway, launched in December 2021, have exceeded 41 million tonnes, injecting new impetus into high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and inter-regional development. ALL FOR A BETTER LIVING Serving as a vital ecological defense, the western region is persistently forging ahead with practical exploration of promoting ecological civilization. This commitment is bolstering the drive toward a modernization that embodies harmony between humanity and nature, ensuring robust support for its transformative journey. With a better ecological environment, the western region's tourism sector has welcomed a boom in recent years, leveraging its unique splendid landscape and culture. This photo taken on July 26, 2024 shows a view of Suji Yellow River, a cluster of China's leading luxury guesthouses, in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Lyu Shuai) Located in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in northwest China, Suji Yellow River, a cluster of China's leading luxury guesthouses, has become a sensation on the country's social media for preserving the architectural style of the original villages while at the same time implanting a fashionable and modern vacation lifestyle into the countryside. "Seeing the children revel in the sand and splash in the water brings us immense joy. The tranquility of the desert offers a serene escape from the hustle and bustle," said Yang Sha, a 39-year-old visitor from Sichuan. In Xinjiang, northwest China, the region's grasslands and snowy mountains draw flocks of adventure-seekers, while in Yunnan, the charm of rural and ecological tours has won the hearts of travelers from near and far, making it a sought-after destination for those seeking a connection with nature and local culture. Yuhu Village, nestled in Baisha Township of Yulong Naxi Autonomous County in the city of Lijiang in Yunnan, is one of the earliest settlements of the Naxi ethnic people and is renowned for its well-preserved traditional Naxi architecture. A tourist takes photos in Yuhu Village of Baisha Township, Yulong Naxi Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, July 31, 2024. (Xinhua/Lyu Shuai) A leisurely walk through the village reveals a picturesque landscape where ancient dwellings are artfully arranged, creating a harmonious blend with the snow-capped mountains and tranquil lakes. "In the past, activities such as lumbering, gold mining, and sand and stone excavation did not truly enrich our villagers," remarked He Xinhua, a local official. "In recent years, we have strictly adhered to ecological and agricultural preservation policies while enhancing our agricultural and cultural tourism industries. In just the first seven months of this year, we welcomed over 350,000 visitors, generating more than 25 million yuan in tourism revenue," He said. "Our ultimate goal is to improve the livelihood of the local residents while safeguarding the ecological environment, preserving our ancient villages, and protecting our ethnic culture. This commitment to sustainable development is the true 'treasure' that transforms Yuhu's natural beauty into a source of prosperity and wealth," He added. (Video reporters: Jiang Xuelan, Ma Yujie, Zhang Songhong, Lu Shujian, Xiong Xuan'ang and Ding Yiquan; Video editors: Zhang Yueyuan, Zhu Cong, Zhu Jianhui and Zheng Xin.) Naloxone, a fast-acting drug that can be used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images. Baltimore has reached a second $45 million settlement in its lawsuit against multiple pharmaceutical companies and drug stores for their part in the citys opioid crisis. The agreement Friday with CVS comes two months after the city reached a similar agreement with Allergan Finance in June. That company was given 30 days to pay the $45 million settlement to the city; the agreement with CVS gives it until the end of the year to complete the payment. These companies targeted Baltimore and decided profits were more important than the health and safety of the people of this City. We are fully committed to ensuring that these companies pay their fair share to repair the damage theyve done to our neighborhoods and families, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said in a press release announcing the agreement. CVS denies any wrongdoing in the settlement, which has resolved all city claims against the drug chain, said Michael Deangelis, the executive director of corporate communications for CVS. CVS will no longer be a defendant in the citys opioid distribution lawsuit that is scheduled for trial in September 2024. Putting these claims behind us is in the best interest of all parties and the agreement does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing, Deangelis said in a statement to Maryland Matters. Allergan and CVS accounted for only a small portion of the opioids distributed in Baltimore from 2006 to 2014, according to the citys lawsuit, with each company making up less than half a percent of the market. Baltimore City Solicitor Ebony Thompson said in the press release that litigation will continue against seven other companies targeted in the citys suit. We have built an overwhelming case against the opioid companies, and we will continue to move litigation forward to trial against any defendant that is unwilling to recognize their own role in driving this crisis and the significant resources this City needs to combat the consequences of their decisions, Thompson said. City officials said that with the two settlements so far, they have already recovered as much as they could have received under all available global settlements between drug makers and state and local governments. Under a settlement announced by the state in late February, Maryland is scheduled to receive a total of $238 million to distribute over several years among counties affected by the opioid crisis, according to an official statement from Marylands Attorney General Anthony Brown. City officials said their strategy of going their own way has proved successful. Under Fridays agreement, $12 million of the $45 million from CVS is already dedicated: $5 million will go to the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program, which trains police to handle drug-use incidents without arrest; $5 million will go to community advocacy organization Healing City Baltimore; $1 million will go to Robertas House, a family grief support center; and $1 million will go to Prison Cells to PhD, a community reintegration organization. The Allergan settlement dedicates $10 million of the $45 total: $5 million to a Baltimore harm reduction organization called Charm City Care Connection and another $5 million to the Peer Navigators Program, a library-based program focused on helping those facing drug addictions. Anne Langley, the executive director of Charm City Care Connection, said her organization is already in conversation with the city for delivery of the Allergan funds. Were having regular conversations with the city, were talking about all the things we can do and just how were going to make it happen. Its moving quickly, Langley said. She couldnt speak in depth on the settlement because of the sensitivity of the situation, however, she said the organization was excited to find out that it had been included as a recipient of some of the citys award. The remaining $68 million in the settlements has not been dedicated. Distribution of that share will be overseen by Sara Whaley, the program manager of the Bloomberg Overdose Prevention Initiative at Johns Hopkins University. Whaley will serve an advisory role overseeing the funds, according to the citys press release. A driver hands money to a man panhandling on a median in Jacksonville, Fla., where a ban on panhandling has been challenged in court. Citing public safety, other cities and the state of New Mexico are considering banning pedestrians, including panhandlers, from medians. (Dan Scanlan/Jacksonville Today) Despite court rulings that soliciting money is protected as free speech, some cities and at least one state are considering new restrictions on panhandling in traffic medians, arguing its a safety hazard. New Mexicos Democratic governor this year and an Arizona Republican lawmaker last year proposed statewide bans on asking for money on street medians, though neither passed. Wilmington, North Carolina, passed a similar ordinance this year, and Roanoke, Virginia, has stepped up enforcement of a law that has been on the books since last year. Advocates for homeless people have sued over a similar law in Jacksonville, Florida. A handful of cities are turning to incentives as a solution: Oklahoma City, where courts struck down a panhandling ban, offers city cleanup work to panhandlers. Philadelphia and Fairfax County, Virginia, have similar programs, and Albuquerque, New Mexicos largest city, recently reinstated one. The efforts have grown amid a nationwide homelessness crisis, with more people visibly soliciting money in the streets, and higher pedestrian deaths compared with before the pandemic. Backers of the bans argue that they promote safety, but opponents say that theres no proof such restrictions protect pedestrians and that they infringe on free speech rights. Court rulings have been mixed. Many of the newest laws or proposed laws banning pedestrians on narrow medians followed one in Sandy City, Utah, which a federal appeals court upheld in 2019. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2020 declined to take up the case, leaving the law in place. The ordinance makes it illegal for any individual to sit or stand, in or on any unpaved median, or any median of less than 36 inches for any period of time. In New Mexico which has the highest rate of pedestrian fatalities of any state, according to a Governors Highway Safety Association report based on 2023 data Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham this year proposed a state law banning pedestrians on narrow medians. Some cities in New Mexico, including Santa Fe and Espanola, already have such bans. Benjamin Baker, a public safety adviser to the governor, said it makes sense to keep panhandlers and others off medians near cars. Like other proponents of the bans, Baker acknowledged theres no clear connection between panhandling and pedestrian deaths. But he said it makes intuitive sense to ban seemingly dangerous activities such as standing on narrow medians in heavy traffic. Exercising free speech is not the issue, said Baker, who added that panhandling from a safe area is fine. But lawmakers from her own party declined to sponsor Lujan Grishams bill. And during a special session on public safety in July called by the governor, the bills sole sponsor was Republican state Sen. Mark Moores of Albuquerque. The panhandling just got out of control across New Mexico and primarily Albuquerque, said Moores. Its just unsafe. People are running back and forth through heavy traffic. We have to balance their right to free speech with public safety. Despite her legislative defeat, Lujan Grisham continued to lobby for her proposed bill in a series of town halls across the state in July, saying she wants a statewide version of the city of Espanolas 2022 law banning loitering on narrow medians. Efforts elsewhere The American Civil Liberties Union has opposed a new law in Bangor, Maine, passed in June, that bans pedestrians from medians less than 6 feet wide in high-speed traffic areas. Courts have overturned some similar laws. In 2020, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down an Oklahoma City ban, ruling the city had failed to prove a clear safety problem because of pedestrians in street medians. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the case, leaving the ruling in place. Scout Katovich, an attorney at the ACLUs Trone Center for Justice and Equality, said pedestrian safety is not a credible motive for the recent legislation. Everybodys talking about how we have to get rid of these panhandlers, We dont want to see unhoused people, and then they turn around and say this is about safety. Thats not going to fly, Katovich said. In Roanoke, Virginia, a ban on panhandling on medians less than 4 feet wide has been on the books since last year and enforcement is on the rise, with about a hundred $25 citations issued since spring, said Roanoke Police Capt. Andrew Pulley. Larger fines or jail sentences could follow for repeat offenders, he said. Police have gotten complaints about panhandlers, and the city tries to respond to them, Pulley said. Issuing citations deters panhandling, he said, but the effect is usually temporary. Its like speeding. When were there, its better, but you go away and come back and its there again. In Arizona, Republican state Sen. John Kavanagh, who had sponsored anti-panhandling legislation in 2015, last year introduced a bill targeting panhandling on traffic medians. A committee approved the bill along party lines, but it didnt reach the Senate floor. A legal challenge In Florida, the Homeless Voice, a newspaper that employs homeless people to distribute it on the street and ask for donations, sued the city of Jacksonville over its new law banning panhandling in high-traffic areas, which prevented many of its workers from operating in the city. Workers could make up to about $100 a day, which was often enough to split a hotel room or even pay rent in some areas, said Sean Cononie, publisher of the Homeless Voice. Were going backwards in this country, Cononie said. People think homeless people are lazy, and they are not lazy. This is hard work. The Jacksonville Homeless Voice staff is down from 90 recently to eight, he said, as police have warned his workers to stop asking drivers for money on the street. In the Jacksonville case, federal Judge Timothy Corrigan allowed the city to continue enforcing the law during an upcoming trial, noting that the city offered to suspend enforcement on public sidewalks and enforce it only on medians. Corrigan called it a clash between First Amendment rights and public safety concerns, but did not say how he might rule. In court papers, Jacksonville defended the ban, saying its motivated by concern for pedestrian safety and that the city respects the Homeless Voices right to ask for money on sidewalks but not in and on the citys busiest roadways without a required permit. Like SC Daily Gazette, Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org. Follow Stateline on Facebook and X. (WJET/WFXP) Local businesses are teaming up to make sure kids look their best for the first day of school. Masters Barbers of Erie, in collaboration with Independent Muffler & Brake Shop and Taqueria Montes, will be giving out free haircuts to school-aged kids. Erie Community Foundation ready for another record-breaking Erie Gives Day The event will take place on Sunday, August 25, from 11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. at Master Barbers, located at 266 West 8th Street. Along with haircuts, backpacks and school supplies will be handed out to students while supplies last. Local Lego connoisseur building his way to glory at national competition Food and beverages will be provided by Priscila Montes, owner of the Taqueria Montes food truck. Those interested in volunteering or donating to the event can reach out to Shaun Huegal, owner of Independent Muffler & Brake Shop. More information can be found on Facebook. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJET/WFXP/YourErie.com. Barbra Streisand Goes to the Mat for Harris With Event for Jewish Women Barbra Streisand came out early for Kamala Harris presidential campaignand plans to increase her visibility in the coming days as the leader of Jewish Women for Kamala. WEVE GOT BARBRA!!! the group announced Monday on its Facebook page. Beyond thrilled to announce that the one and only BARBRA STREISAND will be joining in for the #JewishWomenforKamala call on Thursday! Join us to hear from the legend herself about why shes all in for Kamala! The iconic star of stage, screen and billboards will be headlining the Jewish Women for Kamala call this week, following similar affinity group events for Harris, including the White Dudes for Harris Zoom call last month that featured Jeff Bridges, Mark Ruffalo, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Josh Groban, and many others, raising nearly $4 million. The Thursday call with Streisand in support of Harris and running mate Tim Walz starts at 8 p.m. ET. Kamala and Tim have our backs, and Jewish women want to show that we have theirslet's make sure we say so loudly and clearly! according to the group. Mishpocha welcome! All genders and all Jewish allies are welcome to join. A flyer for the Jewish Women for Kamala event. Courtesy of Jewish Women for Kamala Streisand, 82, who has won two Oscars and 10 Grammy Awards, is a vocal critic of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and, more recently, the media that covers him. She tweeted Monday about the former presidents small, invitation-only news conference last week, saying, I was shocked watching Trumps press conference at Mar-a-Lago (the place where he stored the stolen classified documents). So many of his lies went unchallenged. I was shocked watching Trumps press conference at Mar-a-Lago (the place where he stored the stolen classified documents). So many of his lies went unchallenged. He said his crowds were bigger than Martin Luther King Jr., which just shows how deluded he is. Barbra Streisand (@BarbraStreisand) August 12, 2024 She linked to a column by The Washington Posts Jennifer Rubin who criticized reporters who made the cut for not asking tougher questions. A prolific donor to Democratic candidates, Streisand was also a vocal defender of President Joe Biden before he stepped aside as the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee. It would be wonderful if more people judged more closely the character of a President, she tweeted on April 17. You dont want a vain and vindictive man who is a pathological liar and whose only goals are more money and power to prop up his fragile ego. Like Donald Trump. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Battle axes unearthed in a cemetery in Russia may have belonged to 11th-century taxmen When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. An overhead view of one of the burial pits, which contain human remains and a metal battle ax. . | Credit: Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences While excavating a vast cemetery in Russia, archaeologists unearthed two medieval human skeletons buried with battle axes and equestrian equipment. Since 2020, researchers have been conducting fieldwork at the 7-acre (3 hectares) medieval site, known as the Gnezdilovo burial ground, which was originally discovered in 1851 in the town of Suzdal, located northeast of Moscow. During the latest excavations, archaeologists surveyed roughly 50 "undisturbed burials" scattered throughout the cemetery, according to a translated statement from the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The cemetery has been a hotbed for archaeological discoveries, including "prestigious jewelry, coins and weapons." However, one burial, known as grave No. 59, has captured archaeologists' attention because it contains the skeletal remains of a 35-to-40-year-old man who was buried with several artifacts, including a bronze belt buckle shaped like a lyre (a stringed musical instrument), a knife, a broken ceramic vessel and a metal battle ax. Related: 8,200-year-old burials in Russia contain pendants crafted from human bone This type of ax, which features a "small hammer" on one end and a semicircular notch at its base, was popular during the 11th and 12th centuries, and similar types have been found in Volga Bulgaria, a former state that's now part of Russia. A rusty metal battle ax seen from two viewpoints. RELATED STORIES Ancient Siberian grave holds 'warrior woman' and huge weapons stash 3,500-year-old axes potentially used for 'cult practice' discovered in Polish forest 'Giant' 300,000-year-old hand ax found in England may have been used for prehistoric butchery In the plot next to his are the remains of a man who was between 25 and 30 years old when he died. His burial contains a "complex wooden burial structure assembled without the use of iron nails;" another lyre-shaped buckle; a lock; a knife with the remnants of a sheath; equestrian equipment, such as stirrups and a buckle used to tighten a saddle; and a similar battle ax. The archaeologists also found a series of different weights, which might have been used to weigh coins that were "collected as taxes." Archaeologists remain unclear of the two men's identities, but based on the size of their graves and the tools they were buried with, they were likely "high status" and may have "performed fiscal functions," such as tax collection. Researchers concluded that the site offers a glimpse at the "formation of the military culture of northeastern Russia." (WHNT) The president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of North Alabama has a new scam you should look out for to protect yourself. We are all familiar by now with QR codes and they seem to be popping up everywhere now. The use and consumer familiarity with QR codes presents an opportunity for businesses to direct current or potential customers to their websites, mobile apps, digital marketplaces, or anything else available online. How to help college students fight fraud Restaurants often use them to allow their diners to access a digital menu, preventing the spread of contagions and saving the business money. Business cards can include a QR code that will direct to an online portfolio, complete with videos and more in-depth information about the services offered than what a standard business card can display. There are many legitimate and helpful uses for QR codes. However, scammers also note the technology and use QR codes to carry out various schemes. President and CEO Karen Reeves said that consumer reports to BBB and warnings issued by police departments in cities nationwide detail how some QR codes direct users to phishing websites, fraudulent payment portals, and downloads that infect devices with viruses or malware. While the way victims are exposed to QR code fraud varies, a common theme identified in reports is that most come from unsolicited communications or a QR code posted in a publicly accessible location. BBB Tips: Watch for scammers during online shopping sales Some recent ways scammers are using QR scams are parking meter payments, Cryptocurrency wallets, romance scams and phishing scams. To avoid these Reeves said to make sure to confirm the QR code before scanning, never open links from strangers, be careful of short links and check for any tampering. For more information and how to protect yourself, you can visit the BBB website here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com. A Beckenham street sweeper has won a competition for a free holiday to Portugal after being told by his bosses he could not accept money raised by locals for him to travel abroad. Hundreds of Bromley residents chipped in to send Paul Spiers, 63, on a summer break as a thank you for his hard work, only for his employer Veolia to say he was not allowed to accept the gift. Bosses at the waste company said its contract with Bromley council does not permit our staff to accept any monies or incentives outside of agreed pay structures. The firm said it would match the more than 3,000 in donations and give the cash to charity. The move prompted outrage from residents and local MP Liam Conlon even stepped in to ask Veolia and the council to rethink the rule. On Tuesday morning online travel agent On The Beach vowed to send the street sweeper abroad. The company said Elvis fan Mr Spiers had won a trip to Portugal in its competition, meaning he would not have to turn down the holiday because it is not a gift. Its prize giveaway stated that to win you must be between the ages of 62 and 64, love Elvis, have a surname of Spiers, be a street cleaner in Beckenham and be loved by your local community. Zoe Harris, chief customer officer at On the Beach said: Congratulations Paul. Who would have thought that just a day after he was denied a holiday, he would win one in a competition. What are the odds? Were all for the fundraised money going to charity, but everyone deserves a holiday, its one of those moments that we dream of all year round. We know how much Paul dreamed of going to Portugal again and so for him to win the competition is fantastic. Lisa Knight set up the fundraiser to help pay for the holiday for Mr Spiers, who has only been abroad once in his life. She said: Paul has been our dedicated Beckenham road sweeper since 2017, bringing joy to local residents and keeping our streets immaculate...His habit of playing music from his speaker while meticulously cleaning our streets lifts everyone's spirits with his positive presence. But after the money rolled in she has to tell donors: Paul is unable to accept the donations due to restrictions set by his employer, Veolia, in accordance with their contract with Bromley council. Veolia said it would match the amount of money raised and donate it to a charity nominated by Mr Spiers. Paul will be the recipient of Bromleys employee of the quarter an internal financial reward to recognise his hard work and dedication, a spokesperson said. Belarus to transfer military equipment to Russia amid Ukraine's operation in Kursk Oblast, media says Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko ordered the transfer of some of Belarusian military equipment to the Russian Armed Forces for reinforcement in Kursk Oblast and other sectors of the front line, Belarusian outlet Belnovosti reported on Aug. 13. The recent delivery of Belarusian military equipment is related to "an urgent request from the Russian side" due to losses and a lack of equipment in Kursk Oblast and other areas, Belnovosti said, citing an undisclosed source in the country's defense ministry. Ukraine's cross-border incursion into neighboring Kursk Oblast began on Aug. 6, and by Aug. 13, Ukraine said it controlled 74 settlements in the region. Lukashenko also sent equipment to Russia in 2022 when the allied country launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and had difficulties with its arsenal. Now Belarus supplies ammunition and equipment directly from combat units, not warehouses, indicating the draining of Belarusian stockpiles, according to Belnovosti's sources. Lukashenko previously ordered strengthening the military presence in the Gomel and Mozyr directions, including sending the Polonez rocket systems and Iskander mid-range ballistic missile complexes there. On the Ukrainian side, the area borders Kyiv, Zhytomyr, and Chernihiv oblasts. On Aug. 12, State Border Guard Service spokesperson Andrii Demchenko said Ukraine does not spot additional Belarusian troops being deployed to the border amid Minsk's claims of reinforcing the border. Demchenko called Minsk's actions "a whipping up to play along with Russia." The spokesperson did not rule out that Belarus could take photos and videos "for information influence." Read also: Kursk incursion aims to divert Russian troops, protect Ukrainian border regions, Kyiv says Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Below average temperatures and rain chances through Wednesday Below average temperatures and rain chances through Wednesday ST. LOUIS Rain lingered late into Monday evening but we mostly dried out in the early morning hours of Tuesday. A complex of storms out in Kansas is our next watcher. It is expected to move southeastward into southwestern Missouri. This may bring some scattered showers and storms along and south of Interstate 44 later Tuesday afternoon. Otherwise, cloudy skies today and highs around 80. As a warm front moves closer into early Wednesday, a batch of widespread rain and storms is expected to develop ahead of it. That rain is expected to impact areas along and west of the Mississippi River through Wednesday midday. Highs Wednesday again around 80. A hot and more humid air mass slides in for Thursday. Highs will push back towards 90. Thunderstorms are expected again Thursday afternoon and evening ahead of a cold front. Once that front pushes through, we should cool back a bit and dry out into the weekend. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2. Shanghai is welcoming an increasing number of inbound tourists with festivals, live performances, and more. Thanks to visa-free policies, exploring Shanghai has never been easier! #GLOBALink NEW BERN, N.C. (WNCT) A New Bern man was convicted by a federal jury for leading a drug trafficking organization in Craven County. Lucio Camargo Garcia, 45, was convicted on one count of conspiracy, six counts of drug distribution and possession with intent to distribute, and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Garcia could face life in prison at his sentencing, which is scheduled for later in 2024. Court documents showed that from January through October of 2022, law enforcement officers made controlled buys from Garcia. The buys contained methamphetamine or fentanyl. Search warrants were done at Garcias home and other suspicious places on Oct. 31, 2022. One kilogram of methamphetamine, 900 grams of fentanyl, and a loaded gun were found in Garcias home. Most of the drugs were found in a secret compartment in Garcias closet. Other people were also arrested and charged, along with Garcia. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WNCT. NEW BERN, N.C. (WNCT) A New Bern woman had her luck pay off last Tuesday. Ruby Rozenblad bought a $5 Rockin Bingo ticket from the Publix on South Glenburnie Road. This ticket won $287,970, which was 50% of the total jackpot. After tax withholdings, Rozenblad took home $205,828 on August 12. The new Fast Play jackpot was at $350,000 as of Monday afternoon. It continues to rise. Craven County plans to use money raised from the lottery to build a new middle school, along with a $15.2 million grant. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WNCT. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued a striking warning on Tuesday: by lying about the size of Kamala Harris campaign events, Donald Trump is gearing up to deny the 2024 election results. The Vermont senator weighed in after Trump falsely claimed over the weekend that Harris is using artificial intelligence to fake images of thousands of people at her campaign rallies, and that nobody showed up to one in Detroit. Donald Trump may be crazy, but hes not stupid. When he claims that nobody showed up at a 10,000 person Harris-Walz rally in Michigan that was live-streamed and widely covered by the media, that it was all AI, and that Democrats cheat all of the time, there is a method to his madness, Sanders said in a statement. Clearly, and dangerously, what Trump is doing is laying the groundwork for rejecting the election results if he loses, he added. If you can convince your supporters that thousands of people who attended a televised rally do not exist, it will not be hard to convince them that the election returns in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and elsewhere are fake and fraudulent. Trump has reportedly been frustrated by the enthusiasm and media attention for Harris in recent weeks, complaining about having to face her in November instead of President Joe Biden. Hes been stewing about her crowd sizes online and fantasizing that Biden will somehow attempt to wrest back control of the presidential nomination at next weeks Democratic convention in Chicago. Trumps allies have been urging him for weeks to stay focused on Harris record in Bidens administration and the progressive stances she took during her 2020 Democratic presidential primary bid, to little avail. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, attends a campaign rally in an airport hangar outside Detroit, Michigan, on Aug. 7. Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images Youve got to make this race not on personalities, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told Fox News on Monday. Stop questioning the size of her crowds and start questioning her position when it comes to, what did she do as [California] attorney general on crime? What did she do when she was supposed to take care of the border as a czar? In 2020, Republicans led by then-President Trump sought to throw out the presidential election results and disenfranchise millions of Americans based on false allegations of widespread voter fraud, culminating in a violent riot at the U.S. Capitol. This time around, the GOP is laying the groundwork to contest the November election based on unfounded fears of undocumented immigrants voting in federal elections something thats already illegal. We cannot allow the many millions of illegal aliens they allowed to cross our borders harm our citizens, or disrupt our elections. We will not allow it, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) declared at last months Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who participated in efforts to overturn the 2020 election, urged House Republicans this week not to agree to fund the government next month unless the chamber passes a bill against illegal voting which, according to election experts, is so exceedingly rare as to not be an issue. It is the last chance for Democrats (and a few Republicans) to sabotage President Trumps next term, fund Bidens disastrous policies, and leave the door open to illegal voting, Lee claimed on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday. In his statement on Tuesday, Sanders warned that a Trump victory in November put the very foundations of democracy at risk. This is what destroying faith in institutions is about. This is what undermining democracy is about. This is what fascism is about, he said of Trumps campaign falsehoods. This is why we must do everything we can to see that Trump is defeated. For the first time in American history, a major political party has nominated a woman of color as its Presidential candidate. Despite or perhaps because of this historic moment, the rush of sexist, racist attacks lobbed at the presumptive Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris, have been fast and furious. Though shes the acting vice president of the United States, a former attorney general of California, a lifelong public servant and an accomplished attorney, for some, none of these credentials hold nearly as much weight in evaluating Harriss qualifications for presidency as her birthing status. Vice-presidential nominee Senator JD Vance addresses media members outside the Shelby Township Police Department on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. He's due back in Michigan this Wednesday, on the west side of the state. What seemingly matters most to Harriss political opponents is the singular fact that she has never had biological children (despite having raised two step-children, who lovingly call her Momala). Three years prior to Harriss rise as the Democratic presidential nominee in a now resurfaced video, then senatorial candidate and current Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance, bemoaned in a Fox interview that childless cat ladies were responsible for destroying American values. Specifically referencing Harris by name, he complained that the Democratic Party was led by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too. The childless cat lady leadership of the Democratic Party, according to Vance and others, had resulted in the party becoming anti-family and anti-children. In the years since reciting his now viral sexist childless cat lady trope, Vance, who is scheduled to visit Michigan on Wednesday, has done little to distance himself from his earlier comments. In multiple social media posts, he has repeatedly complained that weird cat ladies have too much power in this country and that they must be stopped. Separately, he has expressed that childless adults are more sociopathic than those with children and ultimately (makes) our whole country a little bit less mentally stable. Vance has denied his comments are misogynistic, but, to his credit, he did eventually apologize to cats. Amongst its many factual and logical deficiencies, Vances childless cat lady comments also lack originality. The sexist childless cat lady stereotype is an enduring cultural criticism. It has assumed many forms and undergone various iterations over time, but the sentiment it is intended to convey has remained unchanged. Old maid. Spinster. All of these terms have been used to denigrate the character of women who do not have children, irrespective of the circumstances of their childless status. Women who do not have children are viewed as inherently suspect. Notably, birthing has never been a prerequisite for occupying the office of the President. Indeed, no American president has ever given birth, and yet being childless has not always been a political liability at least not for men. Many of the Founding Fathers were themselves childless. Like Harris, George Washington was a stepparent but had no children of his own. James Madison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, James Polk, Warren Harding, and James Buchanan all lacked biological children. During the 18th and 19th centuries when women could not vote and the idea of a female president was inconceivable childless leaders were actually preferred. Rather than viewed as anti-family or having no physical commitment to the future of the country, it was commonly believed that leaders who were untethered to parental responsibilities would be more fully committed to the country and their official duties. George Washington acknowledged as much. In an early draft of his first inaugural address, Washington expressed that his lack of children would benefit him in his role as president. Despite calls to penalize adults without children by imposing tax penalties and curtailing their voting rights (while simultaneously making the lives of parents more difficult by failing to support tangible pro-family and pro-child policies), childless cat ladies are not an insignificant constituency. They are, in fact, a powerful voting bloc. About 20% of American women under the age of 44 have no children. That translates to roughly 22 million American voters. President Joe Biden received 63% of the unmarried womens vote. Arizona, a state that former President Trump lost in 2016 by 10,000 votes, happens to be home to approximately the same number of registered female voters who own a cat and dont have children. One of the most influential people in the world Taylor Swift is a childless cat lady whose endorsement could potentially influence the outcome of the presidential election. When November comes, politicians should brace themselves for the wrath of childless cat ladies. It will come, and when it does, it will arrive in full force at the ballot box. Erin M. Carr is an assistant professor of law at Seattle University School of Law. She is also a childless dog lady who will be voting in November. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Beware the enduring wrath of childless cat ladies The Justice Department petitioned the Supreme Court to uphold a 2019 law that would allow terror victims lawsuits against the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to move forward. It adds new weight to an existing appeal already filed at the high court that has drawn support from House leadership in both parties and several senators. At issue is whether victims can haul the PA and PLO into U.S. courts under the federal Anti-Terrorism Act, which provides Americans injured by acts of terrorism a pathway to sue for damages. In response to a series of court decisions dismissing such cases for lack of personal jurisdiction, Congress in 2019 passed a law providing that federal courts had authority to hear the lawsuits against the PA and PLO. The Biden administrations petition, which was docketed Monday, urges the Supreme Court to take up its appeal of a lower decision finding the law violated constitutional due process protections under the Fifth Amendment. That due-process holding is incorrect and undermines Congresss judgment that the [law] is an important measure to further U.S. interests and protect and compensate U.S. nationals, the petition reads. The Biden administration intervened in two underlying cases brought by U.S. citizens injured in attacks, or their survivors, to defend the 2019 law. In the first case, a group of 11 American families originally sued the PA and PLO two decades ago for various attacks in Israel, winning $655.5 million at trial in 2015. The second case was brought by the spouse and children of Ari Fuld, an Israeli American fatally stabbed at a shopping mall in the West Bank in 2018. Fulds family already appealed to the Supreme Court last month, and the case has garnered bipartisan support. The House filed a friend-of-the-court brief with authorization from House leadership in both parties, including Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). If this latest ruling is allowed to stand, American victims of international terrorism will be unlikely to get their day in court, and foreign terrorists will not need to worry about civil judgments draining their resources. Yet these are the exact policy objectives that Congress has consistently attempted to advance, it read. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo filed a similar brief, as did a bipartisan group of lawmakers: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.). Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. New Biden administration rule brings changes to overtime pay, gets pushback from Arkansas attorney general, others New Biden administration rule brings changes to overtime pay, gets pushback from Arkansas attorney general, others LITTLE ROCK, Ark. A rule under the Biden-Harris administration looks to make changes to overtime pay and is getting some pushback from Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin and some business owners. The rule is said to regulate overtime pay for originally exempt employees. Currently, those eligible for overtime are salaried workers making $35,568 a year or less. Under the new law, it should be anyone making $43,888 a year or less as of July 1, 2024. Then as of Jan. 1, it would be anyone making $58,656 or less. Overtime pay rules to change soon: What to know Westley Sullins, owner of The Pest Detective in Conway, said this rule change is not only a headache for his business but will change the dynamic and cause him to turn his salaried employees to hourly employees, which he said will impact paid time off. The way we work is as long as they dont abuse it- which they dont- as long as they get ahead of the schedule, they can take time off and I dont badger them about it, Sullins said. We all have to work. Thats just part of life. But it doesnt have to be a prison. It can be a place that you enjoy. With the new policies, its gonna take a little bit of that freedom away. A preliminary injunction issued against the rule has put that on hold for now, thanks to a Texas lawsuit. Attorney General Tim Griffin is leading a 14-state amicus in support of the Texas suit. We have a process where small business owners individually can contact their elected representatives and weigh in on what that law looks like, Griffin said. They weigh in with Congress. Thats the constitutional system. Do you qualify? Biden rule expanding overtime pay goes into effect Griffin said he believes the current workers receiving overtime through the original law passed by Congress deserve overtime pay and his concern is directed at how this law went into place more than what it changes. The attorney general said the Biden-Harris administration continues to overstep that to push their agenda they cannot pass through Congress. How changes to noncompete agreements and overtime could affect workers Democratic Party of Arkansas Chair Grant Tennille shared a statement in support of the new rule as well as in response to Griffins stance against it. Arkansans understand if you work more, you should be paid more. Tim Griffin and other MAGA attorneys general are suing to protect their corporate donors from paying fair wages, the statement read. This rule will benefit millions, including a significant portion of Arkansass state employees. Arkansas Democrats stand with President Biden in this fight for working folks and their families to bring home more pay for extra work. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK. By Andrea Shalal and Steve Holland NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Ukraine's military incursion into Russia has "created a real dilemma" for Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Joe Biden said on Tuesday, adding that U.S. officials are in constant touch with the Ukrainians about the move. About 1,000 Ukrainian troops rammed through the Russian border in the early hours of Aug. 6 with tanks and armored vehicles. A U.S. official said late on Tuesday that the goal of Ukraine's Kursk incursion appears to be to force Russia to pull troops out of Ukraine to defend Russian territory against the cross-border assault. Answering questions from reporters upon arrival in New Orleans, Biden said he has been briefed every four to five hours for the last six to eight days on Ukraine's action. "It's creating a real dilemma for Putin," he said in his first substantive comments about the operation, which appeared to have caught the Russians off guard. The U.S. has provided billions of dollars of weaponry to Ukraine intended largely for defensive purposes, as Ukraine tries to repel the Russian invasion launched in February 2022. Biden in May authorized Kyiv to launch U.S.-supplied weapons at military targets inside Russia that are supporting an offensive against the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. The White House said Ukraine did not provide advance notice of its incursion, which took place in the Kursk region of Russia. Russian forces on Tuesday struck back at Ukrainian troops with missiles, drones and airstrikes. White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, said Washington had no involvement in the operation. We had nothing to do with this," she said. "We have no involvement. Well continue to have conversations with the Ukrainians about their approach, but it is really for them to speak to," she added. Putin has said he believed Ukraine's operation was aimed at improving Kyiv's negotiating position ahead of possible talks and slowing the advance of Russian forces along the front. U.S. officials say the objectives of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy remain to be seen. "Were trying to figure out exactly what they are doing and the goal here, and its still not 100% clear," said a U.S. official. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Steve Holland; additional reporting by Kanishka Singh; Editing by Franklin Paul, Josie Kao and Leslie Adler) Biden says he would attend Trumps inauguration if he wins election but slams former presidents manners President Joe Biden took a swing at Donald Trumps manners on Tuesday, saying he would attend the former presidents inauguration if he were re-elected in November. Standing on the South Lawn of the White House, shortly before departing on Marine One to New Orleans, the president was asked if he would attend the inauguration if the Republican nominee succeeds. I have good manners, not like him, Biden responded, referring to Trumps refusal to attend his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Famously, Trump did not attend Bidens inauguration, breaking the tradition of the outgoing president passing the torch to the incoming president. Tensions between the two men were at an all-time high as Trump refused to concede the 2020 presidential election results or participate in the transfer of power for several weeks. President Joe Biden spoke with reporters outside of Marine One on Tuesday (AP) The former president refused to acknowledge Biden as the winner. For months, he spread false claims of election fraud and inflamed his supporters with allegations that the election was stolen from him. Weeks before the inauguration, on January 6, 2021, Trump held a Stop the Steal rally and encouraged a mass of his supporters to march to the Capitol and fight like hell for the country. The mob of angry Trump supporters then violently stormed the Capitol while Congress was supposed to be certifying election results. Weeks later, as Biden took to the national stage to be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States, Trump departed on Marine One and headed to his residence in Palm Beach, Florida. At the time, Biden said Trumps non-appearance was a good thing. Former president Barack Obama and former vice president Joe Biden attended Donald Trumps inauguration in 2017 (AFP via Getty Images) While insinuating he would attend a Trump inauguration if nothing else then for good manners sake Biden also maintained to reporters that Trump is a genuine danger to American security. The president has asked that the inflammatory political rhetoric around Trump be lowered after a 20-year-old gunman attempted to assassinate the president during a rally. When asked by a reporter if maintaining Trump was a threat to American security aligned with Bidens request to reduce divisive rhetoric, the president responded, Thats just a statement. Thats a factual statement. President Biden suggested Tuesday that he would attend former President Trumps inauguration if he wins in November, taking a jab at his predecessors manners. When asked if he would attend a January 2025 swearing-in, Biden replied, I have good manners, not like him. Trump did not attend Bidens inauguration in January 2021 after the president beat him in the 2020 election. Biden dropped out of the 2024 race against Trump last month and later endorsed Vice President Harris, who has since become the Democratic nominee. The president was also pressed on his calls to cool down the rhetoric in the wake of the assassination attempt on Trump last month. When asked if calling Trump a danger to American security is tempering rhetoric, the president replied, Thats just a statement. Thats a factual statement. Following the shooting, Biden who was still running for president at the time made a prime-time speech to call for the temperature in American politics to be brought down. Biden is set to speak at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday to kick off the event. Since the move at the top of the ticket, Harris has gained momentum in national and swing-state polls and has taken the lead over Trump in the polling average kept by The Hill and Decision Desk HQ. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) Its the latest proposal on what to do with the Soldiers Monument in Santa Fe after the obelisk at the center of the plaza was torn down by protestors in 2020. Now, there is a new proposal to look into the feasibility of moving it to the Santa Fe National Cemetery. Story continues below Since protestors tore down part of the obelisk, whats left is in a box at the center of the plaza. The monument honoring Civil War Union soldiers stirred controversy for decades with one of its four plaques referring to indigenous people as savages. Since 2020, its been an ongoing process of what to do next with the controversial monument. The city partnered with Artful Life LLC to conduct a collaborative process known as CHART to figure out what the community wanted to do moving forward. It came out with its final report in August 2022. There was also a resolution to move the obelisk last year that was withdrawn. Now, Santa Fe city councilors Carol Romero-Wirth, Alma Castro, and Amanda Chavez have a new proposal. I think we as a community are tired of that box and we need figure out how we move forward, said Councilor Romero-Wirth. If passed, the proposal would remove the fourth plaque with the word savages, which was scratched out years before 2020. It would also direct the city to simply investigate the feasibility of moving the monument to the Santa Fe National Cemetery. It seems like a fitting place, said Councilor Romero-Wirth. It does kind of more, more specifically honor what that monument was intended, would be to place it near the Union soldiers graves. The councilor said it was a few of her constituents who brought the idea to her. Then, after the reinstating of an Onate statue in Espanola ended with gunfire, Councilor Romero-Wirth said she came back to the idea. She said shes spoken with a number of groups who either felt neutral or positive to the idea. The Santa Fe National Cemetery would need a formal request to even consider it. I think is a solid proposal worth exploring. But we have to take the first step. We have to pass this resolution to take the first step, she said. But some councilors are already expressing concern. Councilor Michael Garcia said hes concerned about ownership of the monument. Were putting the cart before the horse in regards to this resolution, he said. He has his own requested bill to determine the ownership of the monument. He said his resolution request is currently going through the city attorney. What can be done, what cant be done and do we own it? And once we determine that information, we can have discussions on whether to move it to another location, he said. The city attorney has done thorough research on ownership of the monument following the 2020 incident and the lawsuits that stemmed from it. She sent News 13 paperwork from her research saying shows the citys ownership of the obelisk. She has returned with her opinion based on all the available evidence that the city owns the monument, said Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber. He supports the bill. Whats a good solution that would honor the soldiers that kept New Mexico out of the confederacy, he said while noting removing the controversial plaque would leave monument honoring what it was intended to. If you like this idea, lets vote to explore it, he said. In the past, there has been concern that removing the obelisk would hurt the plazas designation as a National Historic Landmark. But city leaders said it is not a founded concern. The status was not given to the obelisk, it was given to the plaza. So, no it doesnt change the plaza as a historical place, said Councilor Romero-Wirth. Its unclear how the resolution will go moving forward though everyone does agree something needs to be done. Ultimately something thats going to bring our community together and I think that is what direly needs to be done, said Councilor Garcia. Doing nothing is not an option, said Mayor Webber. The director of the Santa Fe National Cemetery, Victor Vasquez, said it would need to receive a formal request from the monument owner to even consider the relocation to the cemetery. Once a formal request is made, the NCA would evaluate the request in accordance to state and federal regulations before making a decision. The bill is set to be introduced to Santa Fes governing body on Wednesday before working its way through the Public Works and Finance Committees. It will then go back to the governing body for a final vote at the end of the month. There is an opportunity for public comment at multiple meetings including on Wednesday. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. Staff members check an image from an ultrasound scan of giant panda Meng Meng in Berlin, Germany, Aug. 11, 2024. (Berlin Zoo/Handout via Xinhua) BERLIN, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Meng Meng, the female giant panda at Berlin Zoo, has been confirmed pregnant with twins after ultrasound scans detected the heartbeats of two cubs, zoo authorities announced on Tuesday. The embryos currently measure approximately 2.5 cm each. The zoo noted that they will grow significantly before their expected birth at the end of August. The joyous news came on Sunday after weeks of anxious anticipation, the zoo said. "The ultrasound initially detected a heartbeat, and soon after, a second was identified." To ensure the best care, experts from China have arrived to assist with the preparations. Eleven-year-old Meng Meng arrived from China in 2017. She and her partner Jiao Qing previously gave birth in August 2019 to the first-ever twin panda cubs born in Germany, Meng Xiang and Meng Yuan. The twins were sent back to China last December. Meng Meng was artificially inseminated in April following intensive observation and careful preparation by an international team of experts. The zoo emphasized that female giant pandas are only fertile for approximately 72 hours each year. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) The Birmingham Police Department is requesting assistance from the public in locating three missing people. Jeff Horsley Jeff Horsley, 49, was last seen on Tuesday, May 14 when he was dropped off in the 200 block of Gadsden Highway. He hasnt been seen or heard from since. Hes described as being 60, 200 pounds. David Farrow David Farrow, 76,was last seen on Friday, July 19 near Dollar General in the 2000 block of Avenue H. His is diabetic and walks with a limp. Hes described as being 58, 182 pounds and was last seen wearing a blue button-down shirt with khaki pants. Oxford law enforcement discuss human trafficking at town hall Jerry Vogel Jerry Vogel, 53, has been reported missing by his family since he has not been in contact with them since mid-July. He has a scar on his chest and is known to frequent the Sun Valley / Jeff State area of east Birmingham. Anyone with information can contact BPD at 205-328-9311. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS 42. A three-year-old girl was hospitalized after a black bear attacked and injured her while she was inside a tent at a private campground near Custer National Forest, Montana authorities say. The child was inside a tent at a private campground south of Red Lodge when the subadult female black bear attacked the tent around 10 p.m. Sunday, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) said in a news release Tuesday. Game wardens and bear specialists with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks responded to the incident, evacuated the campground and set up traps and snares to capture the bear, the news release said. The injured child, meanwhile, was transported to a medical facility in Billings. Carbon County Sheriff Josh McQuillan, in an email to USA TODAY late Tuesday evening said the victim was in stable condition at the hospital in Billings and was set to be released soon. The bear was captured the next afternoon, Sunday, Aug. 12, and was shot and euthanized, according to FWP. 'Unsecured attractants' found near campsite "FWP found unsecured attractants, including garbage, a cooler, and human food, around and inside the tent where the attack occurred," the news release said, adding the the black bear involved in the incident had no history of conflicts. However, FWP said it was likely the bear had become "food-conditioned and human-habituated after accessing unsecured attractants in the area." The agency said on-site evidence matched the physical characteristics of the bear and the animal that was euthanized was the one involved in the attack. What to do if you spot a bear The National Park Service suggests keeping a few things in mind in case of an encounter: Talk in a low, steady voice and do not scream or otherwise act suddenly. Make yourself appear as large as possible. Travel in groups and pick up small children upon sighting a bear. If you encounter a bear in your own yard, do not leave the house. Ensure everyone is secure inside before banging pots or making other loud noises to scare the bear away. If you see cubs, be extra cautious. Mother bears are very protective of their young. Do not approach, touch or interact with cubs. It is also permissible to throw items and yell at the bear and fight back if attacked. Secure food, garbage and any other food items that are likely to attract bears. 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: Black bear attacks child at Montana campground; animal euthanized Black church leaders say Harris is perfect warrior to help them take on Christian nationalism Vice President Kamala Harris arrives for a memorial service for former first lady Rosalynn Carter at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church at Emory University on Nov. 28, 2023, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo: Brynn Anderson-Pool/Getty Images) Black faith leaders see this moment, as Donald Trump continues to ride a wave of support from Christian conservatism, to reclaim their political power. Black church leaders are determined to take back the narrative from white Christian nationalists, contending they have wrongfully used faith to justify policies that attack Black, brown, and LGBTQ communities and women. These leaders also see Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, as the consummate political figure to help them push back against the Christian rights agenda. She is the perfect warrior at this moment, said Bishop Joseph Tolton, a pro-LGBTQ, Pan-African faith activist who recently convened Black faith leaders, including Dr. Rev. William Barber II and Bishop Yvette Flunder, to publicly condemn the pro-Donald Trump and Republican playbook known as Project 2025. The fact that she is African-American, but also a person of color, more broadly, and the fact that she is a woman, she [can] ignite a fire on the left, Tolton told theGrio. Democrats and liberal activists have united in their outrage against Project 2025 and its connections to Trump and his presidential campaign, even as the Republican nominee has attempted to distance himself from the 922-page document experts warn will roll back freedoms for Black Americans and other minorities. Black Christian leaders say they have a responsibility to enter the political arena and call out Trump and Republicans who use faith to justify policies like restricting abortion care and censoring LGBTQ identity in public spaces while also simultaneously attacking racial equity programs and suppressing voting rights. Pastors, both those who are in the LGBTQI community and other Black pastors, have to with precision take on the issues surrounding white nationalism and Project 2025, Barber said during last weeks convening of The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries (TFAM), a network of pro-LGBTQ faith leaders. We have to have a retooling, added the minister and longtime activist, who leads the Poor Peoples Campaign. The church has to become deeply offended by someone representing us as people of faith and claiming to have a monopoly on Christian faith. Reverend Dr. William Barber II speaks to activists during the Mass Poor Peoples & Low-Wage Workers Assembly & Moral March on Washington, D.C. & to The Polls on Pennsylvania Ave. on June 29, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Repairers of the Breach) Last Monday, Black church leaders also convened for a Win with the Black Church virtual kick-off organizing call in support of Harris presidential campaign, hosted by the Black Church PAC. Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III, a board member of Black Church PAC, told theGrio that 16,000 attendees joined the call and raised $500,000 toward voter outreach efforts to safeguard Black voters from voter suppression this election cycle. Moss who, along with other pastors, joined Black Church PAC as individuals, not leaders of their congregations said it is imperative that Black church leaders speak out against the destructive nature of Christian nationalism, which he described as white supremacy in ecclesiastical garments. Lets be clear that this kind of religious hijacking is as old as slave master religion, Barber told theGrio, It always pops up. Tolton who has organized and advocated against Christian nationalism for years in the United States and on the African continent says the policies supported by Christian conservatives and powered by Republican lawmakers are alarmingly similar to other periods in history when religion was used to subjugate and disenfranchise Black Americans and women. We should not be surprised that conservative Christians have adopted Trump. It is very much so in keeping with the legacy of Christianity, where you had lynchings in the 1950s not that long ago that were held on the grounds of church properties and often done after worship services, he explained. That relationship between Christianity, colonization, slavery, the subjugation of Black bodies, the superiority of whiteness, all of all of this, historically, are elements that are a part of Christianity. Tolton noted that the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s reminded us of how Black faith leaders challenged the status quo of religion and taught us something very different about what Christianity should produce. Faith leaders see this moment, as Trump continues to ride a wave of support from Christian conservatism, to reclaim their political power. Whats more, they believe Harris may be just the candidate to help them do it. Democratic presidential candidate, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks as Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz looks on during a campaign event at the Liacouras Center at Temple University on Aug. 6, 2024, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) Barber pointed out that Harris campaign launch focused on key policies aligned with the teachings of Jesus Christ. When she made her opening comment as to why she was running for president, she named what ought to be one of Americas greatest moral failures that anybody seeking to lead this country should say upfront, Im not going to have it, deal with it and thats child poverty, Barber told theGrio. He added, She said, I believe in the world where first you [should] be able to work one job. And so that means she believes in living wages. Moss said Harris has the skill set to combat Christian nationalism and the radical right, expressing his confidence in her ability to articulate the challenges of white supremacist rhetoric. But she cannot do it alone, he continued. It is important that voices within the faith community speak up about the dangers of the ideologies that we are seeing. Moss added, Christian nationalism, along with the radical right, seeks to remove the rights of people who are quote, unquote, different, who do not fit within a particular mythology of whiteness. In the words of Vice President Harris, were not going back, Moss declared, But we also want to be able to frame what we believe will be the yet-to-United States of America that everybody brings a brush to paint on the canvas of our democracy. Recommended Stories More must-reads: COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) A Franklin County grand jury has indicted the Blendon Township police officer who fatally shot a pregnant woman in a grocery store parking lot as she inched her car toward him. Officer Connor Grubb is facing murder charges in the deaths of TaKiya Young, 21, and her unborn daughter in August 2023. According to court records, he is being charged with four counts each of murder and felonious assault and two of involuntary manslaughter. After a warrant for Grubbs arrest was issued Tuesday morning, he turned himself in. An arraignment hearing is set for Wednesday afternoon. TaKiya Young. (Courtesy Photo/Sean Walton) Young was caught on camera stealing several bottles of liquor with two others and exiting the store when Grubb and another officer, who happened to be there helping a person get into their locked car, were flagged down by a store employee. The other officer yelled multiple times at Young to get out of her car as Grubb moved in front of it. She responded, I didnt steal s, and, What, are you going to shoot me? As Young began to pull out of her parking spot, the bag of liquor bottles still over her shoulder, Grubb fired through the windshield as he fell onto the hood. The car rolled until it hit the grocery store building. Body camera footage from the officers showed her foot still on the gas as they opened the door, as well as the full encounter with her beforehand and their attempts to keep her alive afterward until she was taken to a hospital, where she and the unborn child died. Man who ran school background checks charged with possessing sexual materials This embedded content is not available in your region. In the days that followed, demonstrations against police took place in the parking lot and Blendon Township asserted that it couldnt even identify the officers involved, saying they deserved the protections of crime victims under the Ohio version of Marsys Law. Attorneys retained by Youngs survivors eventually named Grubb as the investigation continued. Through those attorneys, Youngs family called the indictment a solemn victory. The actions that led to the death of TaKiya the unnecessary aggression, the chilling commands that amounted to comply or die were there for us all to witness in dreadful clarity, a statement read. TaKiyas life and that of her daughter were extinguished in an act of brutality, becoming yet another symbol of the urgent need for reform in police conduct and accountability. Blendon Township police officer Connor Grubb in a Franklin County jail booking photo on Aug. 13, 2024. Attorneys representing Grubb, 29, said the indictment was expected and that proving hes not guilty will fall on other factors. This case is not about if Connor Grubb made the decision to use deadly force, but why he made the decision to use deadly force, a statement read. The Supreme Court of the United States outlined specific jury instructions on the defense of justification, which governs the use of deadly force by police officers. It is crystal clear that this Grand Jury did not have access to instructions of justification as the Grand Jury is controlled solely by the special prosecutors. Chief John Belford said Blendon Township police will begin a disciplinary review of Grubb, who has been on paid administrative leave since the incident. And the Fraternal Order of Police lodge that represents local officers expressed disappointment with the indictment. Grubb had to make a split-second decision, Lodge President Brian Steel, a lieutenant with Columbus police, said. These decisions are made under extreme pressure and often in life-threatening situations, with the primary goal of safeguarding the general publics and their own lives. (NBC4 Photo/Kyle Beachy) Body camera footage of a Blendon Township police officer fatally shooting 21-year-old TaKiya Young outside a Kroger on Aug. 24, 2023. (Courtesy Photo/Blendon Township Police Department) Body-worn camera footage from Blendon Township police of the fatal shooting of TaKiya Young on Aug. 23, 2023 (NBC4 Photo/Kyle Beachy) (NBC4 Photo/Kyle Beachy) In this photo released by the Young Family via their family attorney, TaKiya Young is pictured with her sons, JaKobie, right, and JaKenlie, left, in an undated photo. Young was shot and killed on Aug. 24, 2023, by Blendon Township police outside an Ohio supermarket. (Courtesy of Young Family/Walton + Brown LLP via AP) TaKiya Young. (Courtesy Photo/Sean Walton) After the shooting, the release of details in the shooting played out over several days. Security footage as well as police body cameras showed the incident unfold, beginning from when Young was seen placing liquor bottles into a shopping basket at the Kroger on Sunbury Road, then transferring them later into a shoulder bag. She then walked out of the store with two other women without paying for the items, setting off an alarm. A store employee came outside and pointed out Young to the police officers. As seen in footage released Sept. 1, one officer went to Youngs drivers side window and ordered her out of the car multiple times as Grubb stepped in front of the car and pulled out his handgun. Young told the officer, I didnt steal s, and, What, are you going to shoot me? seconds before she began to pull her car forward, lifting Grubb off the ground. Grubb, who was identified publicly by Youngs family attorney Sean Walton, fired one shot through the windshield, striking Young, and the car rolled about 50 feet before hitting the store wall. Grubb, said multiple times that Young was going to run me over. The extended footage from the officers body cameras showed that as they tried to pull Young out, her foot was still on the gas, causing the car to lurch forward and Young to fall to the ground. Grubb then ran to his squad car to retrieve a chest seal. A passerby wearing an OhioHealth shirt identified himself as an emergency room physician and helped for several minutes. After the chest seal was applied, the doctor said he couldnt locate a pulse, and the other officer began CPR. A rotation of responding officers kept up chest compressions until medics arrived about 12 minutes after the shot was fired. Blendon Township police classified both officers involved as assault victims because the other officers hand was still in the window when Young started driving, and her car struck Grubb. Brian Steel of the Fraternal Order of Police said Young was not shot for stealing alcohol but because, following an aggravated robbery, she tried to run down a fellow human being. Ms. Young chose to accelerate her vehicle directly into the path of an officer. The officers were therefore afforded victims rights under Marsys Law, which included not releasing their names. Ryan Stubenrauch, an attorney who serves as the spokesman for Blendon Township police, told NBC4 that the department had considered withholding Youngs name as well but chose not to because Young had been publicly identified by the coroner and her family. An investigation began shortly after the shooting, and it concluded in December after Montgomery County Prosecuting Attorney Mat Heck was appointed special prosecutor in the case. A decision was made to convene a grand jury. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV. Bling Bishop Lamor Whiteheads robber sentenced for live-streamed heist and hes spending less time behind bars than fraudster pastor An ex-con who robbed "Bling Bishop" Lamor Whitehead will spend less time in prison than the fraudster pastor he held up at gunpoint during a live-streamed sermon. An ex-con who robbed Bling Bishop Lamor Whitehead will spend less time in prison than the fraudster pastor he held up at gunpoint during a live-streamed sermon. Say-Quan Pollack, 25, received a seven-year sentence Monday during a hearing in Brooklyn federal court. Livestream footage of the robbery of Bling Bishop Lamor Whitehead at church. USANYE Say-Quan Pollack, 25, received a seven-year sentence Monday during a hearing in Brooklyn federal court. Jane Rosenberg Pollack pleaded guilty to sticking up Whitehead and the pastors wife of $400,000 during a July 2022 church service in a stunning, caught on camera heist. Pollack has been held accountable for committing a bold robbery in a house of worship with a gun, terrorizing the men, women, and children participating in the religious service that Sunday morning, said US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace in a statement. In June, Whitehead was slapped with a nine-year sentence in an unrelated fraud case. Bling Bishop Lamor Whitehead was slapped with a nine-year sentence in an unrelated fraud case. Paul Martinka Whitehead, who claimed Mayor Eric Adams as a friend and mentor, was found guilty in March of fraud, extortion and other crimes during a trial in which prosecutors said he scammed parishioners elderly mother out of $90,000 to blow on luxury goods. Pollacks lawyer Gary Villanueva had tried to argue that Whiteheads crimes should lead to a lighter sentence for the robber, but Judge William Kuntz ultimately handed down the 87 months requested by prosecutors. BLOSSVALE, NY (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY) A Blossvale man faces several charges after an investigation by the New York State Police led to his arrest, according to State Troopers. The investigation by New York State Police began on Friday, August 9, when the suspect 40-year-old Michael Perron of Blossvale allegedly manaced a female victim. According to police. Perron forcibly took the victims cell phone on that night. He also allegedly pushed the victim while there were two infant children on her lap. Police say the next morning on Saturday, August 10 Perron allegedly took the victims vehicle without permission and left the residence. Troopers say that the victim was able to contact State Police, who responded to the residence and interviewed her. During that investigation, the victim also turned over an illegal rifle that allegedly belonged to Perron, which was not used during the previous nights domestic dispute. State Police were able to locate Perron the next day Sunday, August 11 at his residence with an arrest warrant. He was subsequently taken into custody without further incident. Perron was processed at the State Polices station in the town of Lee and held at the Oneida County Jail in Oriskany pending arraignment. Perron is currently being charged with: third-degree Robbery, a Class D Felony, third-degree Criminal Mischief, a Class E Felony, fourth-degree Grand Larceny, a Class E Felony, third-degree Menacing, a Class B Misdemeanor, third-degree Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle, a Class A Misdemeanor, two counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, a Class A Misdemeanor, fourth-degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon, a Class A Misdemeanor, and second-degree Harassment, a violation. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WUTR/WFXV - CNYhomepage.com. Blunt force trauma was the cause of death for two in Peoria County motorcycle accident PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) Autopsy results for two Chillicothe residents who died over the weekend when their motorcycle collided with a truck are in and consistent with injuries suffered from the accident. Toxicology lab tests, as required by state statute, are still pending but Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood said both Floyd and Leah Henderson suffered multiple blunt force trauma injuries that were inconsistent with life. Both likely died instantly, the coroner said. According to the state police, troopers responded to a crash shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday involving a 2004 GMC Sierra and a 2018 Harley-Davidson motorcycle near the intersection of Knox Street and Illinois Route 29 near Rome in northwestern Peoria County. State police says two are in custody for double shooting in Bartonville The state police believe the motorcycle was traveling westbound on Knox Street and failed to yield a stop sign and merged on Route 29, going in front of the truck. The driver and passenger were ejected from the motorcycle. Floyd Henderson, 58, was declared dead on the scene. Leah Henderson, 51, who was riding as a passenger, was declared dead at the scene as well, the coroner said. The driver of the truck has no reported injuries, the state police said. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CIProud.com. The owner of several restaurants in Columbus and Cleveland, who was recently at the center of a controversy surrounding the Olympics, has been charged in Cuyahoga County with attempted murder, kidnapping, rape and other felonies. Robert "Bobby" T. George, 43, of Lakewood, in northeast Ohio, was charged on Friday with attempted murder, four counts of kidnapping, two counts of strangulation and one count each of rape and felony assault in Cleveland Municipal Court, according to court records. The records say that the offenses took place between November 2023 and July of this year, and were reported to police Aug. 9. A warrant has been issued for George's arrest. As of 8 p.m. Monday, he was not in police custody. Citing the arrest warrant, Cleveland television stations WOIO Channel 19 and WEWS News 5 reported that George is accused of strangling a woman he pinned to the ground and slamming her head on the ground on Nov. 14, 2023. She sustained a concussion and other injuries and was treated by a nurse practitioner with George's business for post-concussion syndrome, according to the reports. Another time, George is accused in the arrest warrant of chasing after the woman who had fled a home they shared, holding a gun to the window of the car she had just gotten into, and forcing the woman to get out of the car. When she did so, George is accused of holding the gun to her stomach as he led her back inside. In another incident, the woman alleges that George raped her when she came out of the shower. During an altercation in June, George is accused of refusing to let the woman leave their home, throwing the woman around and attempting to strangle and suffocate her. When she was hiding in a closet and George found her, the arrest warrant states the woman prayed she would not die. George is accused of stuffing a towel down her throat and saying, "You think God is going to help you?" Among George's restaurants in the Columbus area are TownHall and Mandrake Rooftop in the Short North and REBoL in Dublin. Several of George's restaurants, including TownHall in the Short North, were involved in a controversy in July surrounding the Olympics. The restaurants announced they would not show the Olympics on their TVs after the opening ceremony showed what the restaurant group claimed was a parody of the Last Supper. Organizers of the ceremony said it was not, in fact, the Last Supper depicted, but a celebration dedicated to the Greek god Dionysus. The segment in question featured a scantily clad man painted blue, who emerged at the center of a table surrounded by dancing drag queens. Some observers thought the segment resembled Leonardo Da Vinci's famed "Last Supper" painting. The portrayal drew backlash from Christian communities and conservatives, claiming it was an offensive parody of a religious event. smeighan@dispatch.com @ShahidMeighan This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Bobby George, Ohio restaurant owner charged with rape, attempted murder VILNIUS, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Lithuania will increase its defense spending by 130 million euros (142 million U.S. dollars) this year for weapons systems procurement, the Ministry of Finance announced on Tuesday. With this additional funding, Lithuania's defense spending in 2024 is set to account for 3.2 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), according to a statement from the ministry. A draft resolution signed by Minister of Finance Gintare Skaiste calls for borrowed funds to be used to accelerate the Defense Ministry's procurement of drones, anti-drone systems and other weaponry, and to upgrade existing mobile air defense systems and acquire new ones, the Baltic News Service (BNS) reported. Skaiste noted that this funding would accelerate the development of the national division and equip the Lithuanian Armed Forces with essential military hardware. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said a missing person investigation led Georgia officers to discover a body in a shed over the weekend. On Saturday, the Pooler Police Department conducted two welfare checks at a home off South Skinner Avenue after it received information about a missing person. Officers then found a body in a shed in the backyard of the home. After an initial examination, investigators began to suspect foul play. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Police and the GBI did not say if the body found belonged to the person who was reported missing. No one has been arrested in connection to this death. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the Pooler Police Department at 912-748-7333 or the GBI Regional Investigative Office in Statesboro at 912-213-5777. Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app. TRENDING STORIES: [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: Boeing's malfunctioning Starliner has left two NASA astronauts stuck in space. NASA must choose whether to risk flying them home on Boeing's spacecraft or turn to Elon Musk's SpaceX for help. It presents a dilemma for Boeing, which is facing questions over safety and quality control. After years of delays, the launch of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft was meant to show the world that the aviation giant could challenge the likes of Elon Musk's SpaceX in the space race. Two months later, those ambitions are hanging by a thread. A series of problems on the craft's maiden crewed voyage has left two NASA astronauts stuck on the International Space Station, with Boeing facing the humiliating prospect that they may have to be rescued by Musk's rocket firm. After insisting that Starliner was safe to take the astronauts back to Earth, officials at NASA, which hired Boeing in 2014 to transport astronauts to the ISS, said last week they were still struggling to understand the issues with the spacecraft, which experienced thruster malfunctions and helium leaks when it docked with the ISS. The agency said it was considering a backup option that would see the astronauts remain on the space station until 2025, before hitching a ride home on a SpaceX rocket, rather than traveling in Starliner as planned. The decision, which NASA says it will make by mid-August, is a huge one, with no shortage of risk. Officials confirmed there is an internal debate within NASA about what course to take, and the word "uncertainty" was used 18 times during the press conference, per CNBC. NASA and Boeing did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider. The dilemma may be causing a rift between NASA and Boeing, with the latter insisting that Starliner is safe to return to Earth with crew. Boeing engineers did not take part in last week's press conference, in a break from usual procedure. The reasons for the uncertainty remain unclear, but NASA engineers are focusing on Starliner's thrusters, some of which experienced failures when the spacecraft docked with the ISS back in June. Starliner docked with the International Space Station (ISS) in June. NASA/Reuters Sources previously told Ars Technica that there is concern within the agency that if the right combination of thrusters fail when Starliner undocks from the space station, the craft could spin out of control and collide with the ISS. "If you are undocking from the space station and you lose more than a certain number of your thrusters, there's a chance that you might be stuck drifting and or even crash into the Space Station," Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, told Business Insider. A NASA spokesperson would not comment on the Ars Technica report when contacted by BI but flagged the agency's latest mission update. A damning report The drama unfolding around Starliner is a narrative new Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg could really do without. The aviation veteran has been drafted in to turn around the company's fortunes after a series of damaging crises, but is now having to face more questions over Boeing's engineering prowess. Even as NASA was deliberating whether to turn to SpaceX, which is competing with Boeing to bring crew to the ISS, the space agency's inspector general released a damning report into Boeing's engineering practices. The report criticized Boeing's work on the next version of the Space Launch System rocket, which hopes to launch astronauts to the moon. It cited "quality control issues" at Boeing and the "lack of a trained and qualified workforce." Boeing is still recovering from the fallout of Alaska Airlines flight 1282, which saw a door plug blow out in midair on one of its planes. NTSB via Reuters The audit concluded that Boeing's engineers had "insufficient aerospace production experience" and estimated that the cost of building the upper stage of the SLS would balloon to nearly $2.8 billion, almost three times what NASA predicted in 2017. It adds to the damage done to Boeing's reputation as an engineering company in recent months, with the airplane manufacturer still dealing with the fallout over a midair blowout aboard one of its 737 Max planes in January. SpaceX races ahead Starliner's woes are the latest in a long line of problems to hit Boeing's space program. The aviation giant and SpaceX both won contracts in 2014 to transport astronauts to the ISS, with Boeing's worth $4.2 billion to SpaceX's $2.6 billion. Despite this, Musk's rocket company handily beat Boeing to launch, with its Crew Dragon spacecraft successfully passing the same test Starliner is now struggling to complete in 2020. Starliner, meanwhile, has been beset with problems, including a 2019 test flight that had to be aborted because the spacecraft's clock was set to the wrong time. The capsule's delayed return from orbit is costing Boeing an estimated $125 million, adding to the company's already-significant financial woes. If NASA does decide to turn to SpaceX, it is unclear what that would mean for the future of Boeing's Starliner program. With the ISS expected to be retired in 2030 and Starliner unlikely to fly again until next year at the earliest, McDowell said it was difficult to say how much use Boeing's multi-billion dollar spacecraft will actually see. "I've got to think that the higher ups of Boeing are regretting ever getting into this game," he said. "It's important to Boeing, but this particular program has been a financial disaster for them, a public relations disaster for them. And it's unlikely to fly that many times," McDowell added. NASA is considering whether to use the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft to bring the astronauts home. NASA Whatever happens with Starliner, the situation is a big win for Musk and SpaceX, which has been running regular missions to the ISS since 2020. Musk has been firing shots at its rival in recent months, posting on X ahead of Starliner's first crewed launch that the company had "too many non-technical managers." "SpaceX finished 4 years sooner," he said. Read the original article on Business Insider Boeing's Starliner Could Spin Out of Control and Crash Into the Space Station, Expert Warns Collision Calculation While NASA works on figuring out how to get the Boeing Starliner astronauts home, experts are concerned that it may straight-up crash into the International Space Station. As Business Insider notes, there are concerns inside and outside the agency that once the plagued spacecraft undocks from the ISS, malfunctioning thrusters could lead it to spin out of control and ultimately crash into the station. First floated by sources who spoke to Ars Technica about the issue on condition of anonymity last week, this seeming worst-case scenario was not entirely dismissed by a NASA spokesperson that BI spoke to, who refused to comment on the issue. We have also reached out to the agency about whether or not those concerns are being discussed internally, and have yet to hear back. In an interview with BI, famed Harvard astronomer Jonathan McDowell explained how such a fiasco could unfold. "If you are undocking from the [ISS] and you lose more than a certain number of your thrusters," he explained, "there's a chance that you might be stuck drifting and or even crash into the Space Station." Boeing Blues Though the agency didn't comment on that specific concern, the spokesperson BI was in contact with did flag its latest update on the SpaceX Crew-9 mission, which has been delayed from August 18 until no sooner than September 24 as NASA continues to grapple with Starliner issues. Indeed, even as Starliner astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams' marooning on the Space Station is potentially being extended into 2025, NASA's watchdog has released a damning report on the Space Launch System, Boeing's other agency commission that has ended up costing $700 million more than it was ever supposed to. As McDowell told BI, this entire debacle smacks of dissatisfaction on both sides. "I've got to think that the higher-ups of Boeing are regretting ever getting into this game," he said. "This particular program has been a financial disaster for them, a public relations disaster for them." With so much going wrong for Boeing here on terra firma, there's no doubt that the nightmarish Starliner saga and the SLS embarrassment are making internal waves at that company. What's worse: once the SLS actually is finished, McDowell predicted that "it's unlikely to fly that many times." Seriously though, how much bad press can one company handle? More on Starliner woes: NASA Clown Car Plan Would Stuff Extra Astronauts Into SpaceX Capsule to Avoid Return Journey in Disastrous Boeing Starliner Boise School District trustees have decided on the future for a Boise Bench elementary school: Close it down. The Boise school board Monday approved the administrations recommendation to shutter Owyhee Elementary starting with the 2025-26 school year, despite outcry earlier this year from parents who said they loved the small school and the close-knit community it fostered. The district said it recommended closing Owyhee in part because the schools enrollment has steadily declined in the past decade. About 140 students are enrolled in the school this year, and only about half live in the schools boundaries, according to the district. District officials plan to convert the building into an early childhood learning center for students ages 3-5, and they expect the facility could serve up to about 350 pre-kindergarten students. The district also has a lot of pre-K students who live on the Bench, and a waiting list, so Owyhee would be a convenient location. The district offers early childhood options in many of its elementary schools but it hopes to move to a center model. District officials said early childhood centers better accommodate young learners because the building can be outfitted specifically for students ages 3-5. The central location also allows teachers to collaborate and creates an inclusive environment, where students with disabilities can be educated with peers without disabilities in general education classrooms, the district said. During the meeting, several people testified for and against the proposal and trustees said the decision to close the school was difficult, but that it would benefit the districts earliest learners. Trustee Nancy Gregory said the district has some of the top professionals in the state who care. We do things in this district that are right for kids, but not necessarily the easiest thing, she said. We dont make this decision lightly. We value neighborhood schools. Trustees said they appreciated the emphasis on creating inclusive and accessible classrooms. Im very convinced that integrating our classrooms and improving accessibility in our classrooms is really important, both for students with disabilities and students without disabilities, Trustee Shiva Rajbhandari said. Trustees also encouraged parents to stay involved through the transition and thanked families for their involvement. District faced pushback from parents When the district first announced its plans to repurpose Owyhee, the announcement was met with surprise and pushback from parents. Parents said they werent informed about the plan and that the districts communication was misleading, making it seem like the closure was a done deal before it was finalized. In an effort to be more transparent, the district in May announced the board would vote on the closure. While neither state code nor district policy requires a vote of the board for repurposing a school, we believe that this proposal merits a direct vote of the board, district administration and trustees said in an email to Owyhee families. The district also sent a survey to families in the boundaries of Owyhee and three other nearby elementary schools, but of the 1,482 recipients, only 72 filled it out. Those who filled out the survey raised questions and concerns about busing, class sizes, traffic and safety. People also asked about the benefits of an early childhood center model. During the meeting, Board President Dave Wagers apologized to parents for the miscommunication and the process. He said the board would need to go back and look at its policy and appreciated that families pointed out the districts mistakes so it could improve. A few parents during the meeting testified against the closure, arguing that the district could offer pre-K options at its elementary schools that were inclusive and served young learners. Parents also questioned the efficacy of early childhood learning centers and warned that the district could be destroying the community with the closure. Others, including pre-K teachers, testified in support of the learning center. They said having a building specific for young kids, with appropriate-sized facilities, makes a significant impact on students. Teachers also shared stories about how students with disabilities thrived in inclusive classrooms, which they said positively impact all students. District officials said they plan to establish a boundary committee of stakeholders, solicit feedback and create a proposal to redraw the districts boundaries, which will likely reroute students at Owyhee to Hawthorne, Hillcrest and Whitney elementary schools. The boundary recommendations will be presented to the board in the late fall, according to the proposed timeline, and the district plans to open the early childhood learning center next fall. Former White House national security adviser John Bolton disputed former President Trumps account of a conversation he allegedly had with Russian President Vladimir Putin prior to Russia invading Ukraine more than two years ago. In that conversation according to Trumps retelling of events the former president warned the Russian leader of the consequences of launching an invasion. I said to Putin, Dont do it, Vladimir. And I told him things that what I would do. And he said, No way. And I said, Way. Its the last time we had the conversation. He would have never done. I get along very well with him, Trump said Monday in an interview with tech mogul Elon Musk on X Spaces, recalling the alleged conversation. I hope to get along well with him again. Its a good thing, not a bad thing. Bolton, who served in the Trump administration from April 2018 to September 2019, responded to Trumps story in an interview with CNNs Kaitlan Collins, saying, I think Trumps making that up. He certainly didnt have that conversation with Putin when I was in the White House. I dont believe he had it before that. I cant really speak to what came after, he said. But this is another case of Trump making things up that its hard to prove or disprove. He can say he had some private conversation at a dinner, at a [Group of 20] meeting, or something like that. I dont think it happened, Bolton continued. And I dont think that there was really an occasion for Trump to have that conversation. But it fits the persona that Trump thinks he has. Bolton said Trumps account of the alleged conversation did not reflect the dynamic that he witnessed between the two world leaders on multiple occasions. I personally having watched Trump and Putin together, on several occasions, having listened into their phone conversations, having, myself, met Putin on a number of occasions, going back to October of 2001 I think that Putin essentially thinks that Trump is an easy mark, Bolton said. Bolton said he doesnt think Putin respects the former president, but he understands that using flattery with Trump can get him a long way. If Trump did get Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a room together to solve the war as the GOP nominee for president said he intends to do Bolton predicted, Putin would take Trump to the cleaners, to Ukraines detriment. Collins read again from the Trump quote, emphasizing the no way and way language Trump attributed to himself and Putin. She asked Bolton if world leaders truly talk to each other that way, saying, I mean, it sounds like two high school girls. No, its not even how Donald Trump talks, Bolton responded. Its how he wished he talked, and how he wished he could show that hes the big alpha guy. This is imagination on Trumps part. And it shows he really doesnt understand whats at stake here. He knows very little history. He certainly knows next to nothing about the history of Ukraine and Russia, which is deeply complicated, even for experts, Bolton said. So, to me, the way he recounts these conversations is one more demonstration that hes just not fit to be president. Trump fired the former national security adviser from his Cabinet in a social media post in 2019, citing policy disagreements. Bolton has become an outspoken critic of his former boss in recent years, especially after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. The Hill has reached out to the Trump campaign for a response. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Disclaimer: All suspects are innocent until proven guilty. SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) Police arrested a man in California believed to be the suspect in a bomb threat against a local church. According to the Shreveport Police Department, a bomb threat was made against St. Joseph Catholic Church on June 23rd. An investigation ensued involving the Shreveport Fire Investigations Officer Charles Menefee, along with Shreveport Police Department Agent Gilmore, Louisiana State Police Agent Cahn, the Caddo Parish District Attorneys Office, Mt. Shasta California Police Department, and the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force. On Monday, authorities in Mt. Shasta, California, arrested Grant Livigni in connection with the threat. Authorities said Livigni will be extradited back to Shreveport by the Caddo Parish Sheriffs Office. Livigni is facing charges of communicating false information of a planned arson or bombing. He is being held without bond. Bishop Francis I. Malone of the Diocese of Shreveport released a statement Tuesday about the bomb threat. (We) are aware of an incident in June at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Shreveport. A bomb threat was called into the parish during Sunday Mass. The parish staff immediately treated it as a credible threat and alerted local public safety authorities to ensure the safety and well-being of all parishioners. We are grateful to the local authorities who responded expediently to sweep the building and clear the threat. The Diocese of Shreveport and St. Joseph Parish have and continue to work with local authorities as this legal process moves forward. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTALnews.com. YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) The Youngstown Playhouse now has documentation of its long history available for the public as the 100th season is only two weeks away. The archive room at the Playhouse is filled with items from its past. They all tell the story showcasing the organizations first century. Jack Ballantyne flipped through a scrapbook from one of the first 100 years of the Youngstown Playhouse. I think one of the most fascinating things was when the Playhouse started way, way back in 24 [1924], they were hiring Broadway directors right off the bat to come in and direct shows with them, Ballantyne said. The first home for the Playhouse was in the Arlington Street Theater. It moved to its current home in 1959. The Playhouse has always been a popular place for Youngstown community theater. At one time, it was called a beehive of activity. Ballantyne feels the best days are easy to recognize. Between the mid 60s, probably up through the mid 80s to the 90s, when Bentley Lanhoff was here he really knew how to run this place, he said. Ballantyne has written two books corresponding with this historic season. One shares the written story and the other is a picture book. Its called the Centennial Project. Each chapter covers a decade of what happened at the Playhouse, which was incorporated as Youngstown Players. Ballantyne found something in the archives to include every time period. Theater goes up and down and up and down, just like everything else, and in the book, I deal a lot with Youngstown, the history of Youngstown also, because what happens in Youngstown affects the Playhouse, Ballantyne said. As the 100th season is about to start, Ballantyne has dug through every scrap in the archive room to document the history but hes also looking forward to the Playhouses future. Well I hope they see it progress even further than it is now, than it did over the first 100 years. I hope they see a bigger boom than any of us can imagine, he said. Those interested in the books or other parts of the Centennial Project can find it on the projects website. The 100th season opens Aug. 23 with The Carole King Musical. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. Boosting health services at schools among proposals being eyed by state lawmakers Last year, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued guidance designed to encourage schools to provide more health services under Medicaid, including preventive care, mental health and substance use disorder services, physical and occupational therapy, and disease management. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) A new state office of childrens health, expanded Medicaid reimbursements for health services provided at schools, and implementing social work apprentice program are among priorities a panel of state lawmakers will recommend to their colleagues when the Nevada Legislature convenes in February. Ahead of the 2025 Legislative Session, the interim Committee on Health and Human Services Monday approved 15 legislative proposals seeking to address public and behavioral health priorities. One bill draft request was proposed to aid the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services in its effort to receive reimbursements for health services conducted at schools covered by Medicaid. Schools in Clark and Washoe counties are already doing this, and this would allow some of our rural communities to be able to engage and capture this federal money and go further to get more money, said state Sen. Rochelle Nguyen. Stacie Weeks, the administrator for Nevada Medicaid, said the department recently received a federal grant to help expand health services provided in schools. The bill would complement the work already being done, she added. Last year, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued guidance designed to encourage schools to provide more health services under Medicaid, including preventive care, mental health and substance use disorder services, physical and occupational therapy, and disease management. State. Sen. Robin Titus said she had concerns about the proposal to expand Medicaid services at schools, citing possible interference with some other issues. Titus didnt elaborate during the meeting. Titus and two other Republicans, Assemblyman Ken Gray and Brian Hibbitts, voted against the proposal. Gray also raised concerns about a measure that sought to amend state law to enhance existing protections for individuals who report suspected and known cases of child abuse and neglect. The proposal would extend immunity from civil or criminal liability to every person who in good faith provides medical opinions in cases related to alleged child abuse and neglect. Gray worried it was too broad and questioned if instead of extending it to individuals instead of specifically for mandatory reporters, like health care officials or teachers. The proposal was ultimately approved unanimously. Other proposals that lawmakers are looking to turn into laws include: Creating a Tribal Health Authority Council, which could address issues to access health by creating and adopting an advisory plan for the state; Establishing a social work apprenticeship program at the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services; Require the Division of Public and Behavioral Health and the Division of Health Care Financing and Policy to establish a method of reimbursements for therapeutic group groups for adults with serious mental illness; Requiring private and public health insurance to cover screenings and assessment for those under 22 for disorders including fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and other intellectual disabilities. Several bills were specifically put forward to deal with child welfare and childrens mental health, including creating an office of childrens mental and behavioral health within the DHHS. The idea was recommended by the Childrens Advocacy Alliance in a previous interim committee meeting. Both Trump and Harris want to eliminate taxes on tips. This is how it could affect workers With the presidential campaign heating up, both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are making a play for service and hospitality workers votes by promising to eliminate taxes on tips. But the move likely wouldnt help many tipped workers, largely because a sizable share dont earn enough to pay federal income taxes, experts say. Neither Trump, who announced the idea at a Las Vegas rally in June, nor Harris, who voiced her support for the policy in Las Vegas on Saturday, have released detailed proposals, which would have to go through Congress. Among the questions are how much tipped income would be free of taxes, whether any guardrails would be put in place to prevent fraud and abuse and whether both federal income and payroll taxes would be eliminated. Harris would couple her plan to eliminate taxes on tips with a push for Congress to raise the minimum wage, a Harris campaign official said. Also, the proposal would include an income limit and prevent hedge fund managers and lawyers from structuring their compensation to try to take advantage of the policy. Tips would remain subject to payroll taxes. Trump on Tuesday suggested he supported eliminating federal income and payroll taxes on tips, clarifying that his proposal would cover both levies. Were looking at doing the full bore, Trump said in an interview with Spectrum News 1 in North Carolina when asked if he supported eliminating both federal income and payroll taxes. Such a measure would require congressional approval. Soon after Trump promised in June to get rid of taxes on tips, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas introduced a bill titled No Tax on Tips Act, which would allow workers to deduct tips paid by cash, check, credit card and debit card on their federal income taxes. However, it would not eliminate federal payroll taxes, which fund Social Security and Medicare and total 15.3%, half of which is paid by employers. The legislation is supported by Democratic Sens. Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, a key swing state where many residents work in the hospitality industry. Other bills introduced in the House include different provisions, such as eliminating both federal income and payroll taxes or placing a cap on the amount of tip income that could be excluded from taxes. Who gets tips About 4 million people worked in tipped occupations in 2023, or about 2.5% of all employment, according to the Budget Lab at Yale University, a policy research center. They include waiters, bartenders, for-hire drivers, food delivery workers, hairdressers and hotel staffers, among others. More establishments, such as quick-service restaurants, have added tipping options in recent years. The federal minimum wage for tipped workers is $2.13 an hour, but they must make at least the federal hourly minimum wage of $7.25 or their employers have to cover the difference. Many states and municipalities have higher minimum wages and minimum tipped wages, while some states have eliminated lower minimum wages for tipped workers. Tipped workers are typically younger and lower paid. Their typical weekly wage in 2023 was $538, including tips, compared with $1,000 for non-tipped workers, according to the Budget Lab. That means many earn too little to owe federal income taxes 37% of tipped workers fell into this category in 2022, the Budget Lab found. If you dont pay income tax right now, its not going to help you very much, Ernie Tedeschi, the Budget Labs director of economics and former chief economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers in the Biden administration, said of the proposals to end taxes on tips. Whats more, nearly two-thirds of tipped restaurant workers would not benefit from the proposals since they dont earn enough to pay federal income taxes, according to an analysis by One Fair Wage, an advocacy group. The proposals wouldnt do much for low- and moderate-income workers in general. Even among workers at the bottom of the income ladder making less than $17.66 an hour, only 5% are in tipped jobs, the Budget Lab found. This is good politics, but bad policy, said Erica York, senior economist and research director at the Tax Foundation, a right-leaning think tank. York expressed concern that eliminating taxes on tips would be overly complicated and unfair to workers other than the tiny slice who would benefit. The fact the Harris campaign is talking about guardrails and income limits gives you a hint there might be some problems, York said. It fails on equity grounds and neutrality. Also, its unclear how employers and customers could react to such a policy change. For instance, if more workers flock to tipped jobs, employers could try to pay them less in wages, Tedeschi said. Or companies could try to shift more positions such as ones that rely on commissions to tipped jobs. And customers, many of whom already have tipping fatigue, might resist and tip less. The powerful Culinary Workers Union Local 226 in Nevada, however, said it supports ending taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers, as well as raising the federal minimum wage. Culinary Union Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge praised Harris, whom the union endorsed last week, saying in a statement Saturday that she acknowledged the hard working men and women of the hospitality industry. However, when Trump floated the proposal in June, Pappageorge said, Relief is definitely needed for tip earners, but Nevada workers are smart enough to know the difference between real solutions and wild campaign promises from a convicted felon. The union changed its position because there are now bills in Congress that have support from Nevada senators and representatives, including two lawmakers who were former Culinary Union members, said Bethany Khan, a union spokesperson. This enables hospitality workers to have a seat at the table as conversations around the bill continue to develop, she told CNN. Hurting the federal budget Removing federal taxes on tips would also increase the federal budget deficit, though the amount would depend on what provisions the legislation contains. Just excluding tips from federal income taxes could reduce revenues by at least $107 billion over 10 years, according to the Tax Foundation. If both federal income and payroll taxes were eliminated, it would lower revenue by $150 billion to $250 billion over a decade, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Just getting rid of federal income taxes on tips would lead to a loss of about half that size. CNNs Aaron Pellish and Kate Sullivan contributed to this report. This story has been updated with additional information. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com BPD searching for at-risk missing 14-year-old boy last seen in central Bakersfield BPD searching for at-risk missing 14-year-old boy last seen in central Bakersfield BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) The Bakersfield Police Department is asking for the communitys assistance in searching for a missing 14-year-old boy last seen on Cypress Street. Police say Jeadean Wilkerson, 14, is considered at risk due to having no history of running away. Wilkerson was last seen in the 10 block of Cypress Street near Brundage Lane on Monday, Aug. 12 around 10 a.m. Police describe Wilkerson as 5 feet, 6 inches tall, 145 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information regarding Wilkersons whereabouts is asked to contact the Bakersfield Police Department at 661-327-7111. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17. BISHKEK, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Kyrgyzstan's foreign trade in goods grew 9.4 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2024, said the National Statistics Committee on Monday. The foreign trade totaled almost 7.6 billion U.S. dollars from January to June, according to a report by the statistics agency. Exports amounted to 1.3 billion dollars, down 3.2 percent, while imports increased by 12.4 percent to 6.3 billion dollars. The two-way trade between Kyrgyzstan and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) member states went down 9.3 percent to almost 2 billion dollars. Russia, the country's largest trading partner, accounted for 71.6 percent of its foreign trade, while Kazakhstan contributed to 26.5 percent of the total trade turnover. Kyrgyzstan's foreign trade with countries outside the EAEU stood at 5.6 billion dollars, up 18.1 percent from a year earlier, said the report. Brain stimulation therapy may be offered to police, fire personnel in Turlock. What to know Magnetic wave stimulation targeting areas of the brain could be used to enhance the job performance of police and fire personnel in Turlock. The city is considering whether to spend federal funds to offer personalized transcranial magnetic stimulation, or PrTMS, to public safety personnel who may feel groggy from poor sleep or want to improve interactions with the public. Dr. Kevin Murphy explained the drug-free, noninvasive therapy at workshops Monday in Turlock. Therapy performed in a clinic directs magnetic pulses to stimulate electrical activity in neurons in the brain to regulate moods and restore mental well-being. The treatment is tailored for each individual based on an EEG and mapping of brain activity. Murphy said the benefits for first responders will be fewer injuries and complaints, better sleep and employee satisfaction. The doctor said improved sleep is a common denominator for people who come into the clinic struggling with different issues. If you improve sleep, you improve a lot of behavioral patterns, Murphy said at a workshop attended by 20 people. Different versions of transcranial magnetic stimulation have developed as possible drug-free treatments for depression, post-traumatic stress disorder in combat veterans, autism and Alzheimers disease. The Food and Drug Administration has approved the therapy for depression, obsessive compulsive disorder and migraine headaches. After the workshop, which was held at a church, Turlock Police Chief Jason Hedden said the proposed voluntary use of PrTMS for first responders is in the early stage of consideration. The City Council is expected to decide on a contract in September to spend perhaps $642,500 in American Rescue Plan Act funds for Genesis Behavior Center to administer the therapy. Murphys presentation included video clips of his son, who has autism and has shown dramatic progress since age 10 with language acquisition and behavior, the doctor said, though studies on PrTMS for severe effects of autism are ongoing. The proposed therapy for city employees with high-stress public safety jobs would employ the Genesis system to deliver low-amplitude energy pulses to nerve cells in the brain. The goal is to change brain wave patterns that are out of sync and causing negative emotions or other symptoms. The first step is a five-minute EEG, followed by data analysis to map the persons brain activity. A personalized treatment plan is developed and the treatment is five days a week for four to eight weeks. Genesis offers its services at a clinic in Modesto and will soon open a clinic location in Turlock. Its website lists other locations in Elk Grove, Sacramento, Merced and Stockton. Transcranial magnetic stimulation for treatment-resistant depression was one of the services at an advanced psychiatric therapeutic clinic at UC Davis Health, announced in January. Murphys legal battle in Southern California Some media attention has questioned whether Murphys approach to PrTMS has been tested in clinical trials. In Southern California, the former cancer doctor also was embroiled in major litigation with UC San Diego over $10 million in funds that Murphy said was donated for his research. In August 2023, CBS8 in Southern California reported that Murphy prevailed in the lawsuit, with the jury awarding $39 million to the former UC San Diego oncologist. I didnt want to be fighting with the state, Murphy said Monday in Turlock. They misused the funds. ... I was a whistleblower. Murphy said his specific therapy is being tested in a study at Walter Reed Hospital in Maryland. The data also have been reviewed in retrospective studies of patients who underwent the therapy. Murphy said the equipment for PrTMS therapy costs $150,000. The economics work out to a charge of $200 per treatment in clinics. Brazil's air force flies the remains of 3 victims of last week's plane crash to their families Air Force members load the remains of plane crash victims into a plane to transport them to their families in Cascavel where the Aug. 9 flight originated, at an Air Force base in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner) SAO PAULO (AP) A Brazilian air force plane on Tuesday carried the remains of three of the 62 people killed in last week's plane crash to a small, distraught city in the country's south where they were to be handed over to their families for burial. Forensics experts have so far identified 45 of the victims and authorized that the remains of 27 of them be returned to their families, the Sao Paulo state government said later Tuesday. Eight of the victims had been returned by Monday night to their families. The 35-year-old pilot of the plane, Danilo Santos Romano, was the first to be buried. He was laid to rest on Monday in the city of Sao Paulo. Authorities were still working to determine what caused the ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop of the local airline Voepass to plunge from the sky on Friday with 58 passengers and four crew members aboard. Footage of the crash had shocked people around the world. The plane was headed for the Guarulhos international airport when it crashed in the nearby city of Vinhedo. Both of the planes black boxes one with flight data and the other with cockpit audio that are key to determining what went wrong have been found. The air force is analyzing them at a laboratory in the nations capital, Brasilia, and has said it will issue a preliminary report within 30 days. A criminal probe is also underway. Voepass and French-Italian plane manufacturer ATR are collaborating with the investigation. In the rural city of Cascavel in the countrys south, more than a dozen families were divided on whether to hold a mass funeral for their kin or just separate, private ceremonies. The remains of two of the passengers would stay in Cascavel, while that of the third would be taken to the city of Pelotas, Brazil's air force said in a statement. Cascavel Mayor Leonaldo Paranhos told local media on Tuesday that 27 of the victims of the crash lived in the west of Parana state, where his city is located. More than ten families were preparing private ceremonies, he said, while a local conference center would be available for those who want to hold a collective funeral. The remains of two more victims would be taken to Cascavel later on Tuesday with a regular airliner, Paranhos also said. Some experts have pointed to the possibility of severe icing on the wings of the plane, which caused pilots to lose control, but airports minister Silvio Costa Filho told reporters Friday that Romano and his copilot made no calls for an emergency landing, nor did they communicate any adverse weather conditions. BRASILIA (Reuters) - Lawmakers in Brazil's lower house of Congress approved on Tuesday the main text of a bill that would carry out a major overhaul on consumption taxes, while voting on amendments to the proposal is expected on Wednesday. This is the second bill the government has sent lawmakers with regulations needed to implement a major constitutional tax reform Congress approved last year. The first one is already with the Senate, where the bill approved on Tuesday will be also sent to. (Reporting by Maria Carolina Marcello in Brasilia; Writing by Andre Romani; Editing by Brendan O'Boyle) Breeze Airways has added New Haven, Connecticut as the airlines second destination in Connecticut to be served from Vero Beach and West Palm Beach, according to a news release Tuesday. New Haven is between Hartford and Westchester County, New York. From Vero Beach: Breeze will fly from Vero Beach Regional Airport to New Haven on Mondays and Fridays, starting Dec. 13. Prices start from $69 one way. From West Palm Beach: Breeze will fly to New Haven from Palm Beach International Airport on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday starting Dec. 11, from $69 one way; and will add twice weekly service to Norfolk, Thursdays and Sundays, starting Feb. 6, 2025, from $59 one way. Breeze has seen so much growth from West Palm and Vero Beach, said David Neeleman, Breeze Airways Founder and CEO in a prepared statement. With the addition of New Haven, well now offer six destinations each from PBI and VRB." Destination New York: Breeze adds flight to one city and doubles flights to another city Breeze Airways: What to know about fares, routes, refunds and cancellation policies Where does Breeze Airways fly? Breeze currently operates some seasonal flights out of Vero Beach, meaning some services stop for months at a time before restarting them. You can fly to these Northeast cities from Vero Beach, depending on the time of year: Breeze low-cost tickets, prices, fares, bundles Nice fare benefits: "Our Nice fare is perfect if you seek flexibility in your travel plans while still enjoying great savings. It includes a standard seat and one personal item. You will earn 2% BreezePoints on each Nice flight purchase. The Nice fare features no change or cancellation fees. If you need to adjust your plans, you will receive a reuseable Breeze credit that is valid for 24 months." Its nice to have added flexibility when you travel!" Nicer bundle benefits: "For those desiring added comfort and benefits, our Nicer bundle is the way to go. Stretch out and enjoy extra legroom seating. In addition to a personal item, bring a carry-on bag and checked one bag for free. Earn double the BreezePoints at a rate of 4% on each Nicer bundle purchase. This option also allows you to change or cancel your flight without any fees." Nicest bundle benefits: The "Nicest Bundle offers all the perks of Nicer, plus our Breeze Ascent seating and elevated in-flight experience. Fly upfront in Breeze Ascent with a recliner-style seat with the most generous legroom offering. Delight in complimentary food and beverages, including alcohol. Earn 6% BreezePoints on your total purchase. Bring not one, but two checked bags for free, in addition to a personal item and carry-on. Change or cancel your flight at any time without incurring any additional fees. Finally, Nicest comes with priority boarding." This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Breeze Airways adds New Haven, Connecticut from West Palm, Vero Beach The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) has released new evidence in the case of a US$500,000 bribe given to Oleksandr Kheilo, Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Energy. Source: SSU press service Details: Ukrainska Pravda has confirmed that Kheilo is indeed the deputy minister involved in the case. "According to the case file, in exchange for a bribe of US$500,000, the official, [ab]using his powers, promised the heads of state-owned enterprises in the Lviv-Volyn coal basin that mining equipment from [coal] mines in a frontline area of Donetsk Oblast would be freely transferred for their use," the SSU said in a statement. The SSU also noted that the equipment in question is unique and in short supply, and belongs to a state-owned coal company located in the hottest spot of the front line Pokrovsk. Background: On 12 August, the High Anti-Corruption Court imposed a pre-trial restriction on former deputy energy minister Oleksandr Kheilo, who was detained for bribe-taking. He was remanded in custody until 8 October with the right to be released on bail in the amount of UAH 25 million (US$605,000). The corruption scheme organised by the deputy energy minister was uncovered by the Security Service of Ukraine and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau on 12 August. Ukrainska Pravda sources said Oleksandr Kheilo was detained in Kyiv for taking a bribe of US$500,000. Kheilo was appointed as deputy to Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko by the Cabinet of Ministers on 1 September 2023. Support UP or become our patron! Bribes, escape to Pakistan and a diary: the bizarre story of Ohio's former deputy treasurer A decade ago, Ohio's former deputy state treasurer Amer Ahmad fled the country to avoid sentencing in federal court in a bribery and kickback scheme traveling to San Diego, walking into Mexico and flying to Pakistan with a suitcase full of cash. While on the lam, Ahmad kept a journal titled "Journey to Freedom: Who said escaping injustice would be easy?" Pakistani authorities intercepted him in Lahore where he was jailed for more than a year. It's a bizarre story about how an Ivy League educated financial whiz amassed power in the state treasury, how he used it to enrich himself and how the FBI caught on to the scheme. Retired FBI agent Jeff Williams led the Columbus-based team that investigated state lawmakers Carlton Weddington and Clayton Luckie, former deputy Ohio treasurer Amer Ahmad, former Ohio House speaker Larry Householder, former Ohio GOP chairman Matt Borges and others. Retired FBI agent Jeff Williams joined Ohio Politics Explained podcast to dust off the details on this nearly forgotten public corruption case. Williams served as team leader of a Columbus-based public corruption team that investigated the case. Who is Amer Ahmad? Ahmad grew up in North Canton, earned an undergraduate degree from Columbia University and an MBA from Harvard. After working in the financial markets in Chicago, he and his wife moved to Columbus and Democrat Richard Cordray hired Ahmad as the state's chief financial officer. When Cordray became attorney general, Ahmad remained in the treasurer's office and Democrat Kevin Boyce, the newly appointed treasurer, elevated Ahmad to deputy treasurer. After Boyce lost the 2010 election to Republican Josh Mandel, Ahmad landed a job as the comptroller for the city of Chicago. He resigned that job shortly before being indicted on federal charges. The bribery scheme In 2009, Ahmad re-wrote the state's investment strategy and put his high school friend, Doug Hampton, on the state's trader list. Hampton made $3.2 million in fees and kicked back more than $500,000 to Ahmad via two other men, attorney Noure Alo and small business owner Joe Chiavaroli. The kickback scheme isn't what initially caught the FBI's attention, Williams said. The investigation started in early 2010 when a major bank reported that Alo had offered his lobbying services to help secure state contracts overseeing billions of dollars in public pension funds. The Dayton Daily News reported in May 2010 that another bank had hired Alo as its lobbyist. Alo had no lobbying or banking experience but was close with Ahmad. The Securities and Exchange Commission pursued the banking issues while the FBI investigated the other scheme, Williams said. Eventually all four men pleaded guilty to federal charges. Ahmad pleaded guilty to bribery and to conspiracy to commit bribery, wire fraud and money laundering and was released on bond awaiting sentencing. Escape, a diary and 16 months in Pakistani jails In April 2014, Ahmad flew from Chicago to San Diego, walked across the border into Tijuana, flew to Mexico City and tried to convince the Pakistani embassy that he was someone else and in need of a new passport, according to a journal he kept. When authorities denied him the new documents, he asked his taxi driver for a fake passport. He landed in Lahore where authorities detained him based on the false documents. American officials tried to extradite Ahmad. When that failed to materialize, U.S. District Court Judge Michael Watson sentenced in absentia Ahmad to 15 years in prison. In August 2015, Ahmad dropped his opposition to returning to the U.S. and federal agents went to collect him. Watson told Ahmad he didn't think he'd ever see him again. Spending 16 months in a third-world jail was the consequence of my own actions, Ahmad told Watson. He thanked his parents for "staying with me" and told them Please stick with me. Ill make you proud once again. Lessons learned Williams said he was floored by how much money Hampton made in commissions on state trading work and how Ahmad was able to deceive people in the state treasurer's office. There were red flags: a little-known firm, Hampton Capital Management, ended up getting the vast majority of the state trades against big institutional investment firms. "I never understood how there weren't other people that were more vigilant in identifying and understanding what was going on," Williams said. This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Retired FBI agent details Ohio corruption scheme Brick homeschool mom wants to rent Sunday school: 'We want our kids to get together' BRICK - Brick residents will have to wait another seven weeks to learn whether a church at the center of local controversy will be allowed to rent out its Sunday school to a group of homeschool families. Pastor Cliff Whitehead of Fellowship Chapel of the Jersey Shore, located at 170 Duchess Lane, wants to rent the church's Sunday school building to the Liberty School Association, a group of local parents who homeschool and want to gather in a central location four days per week. Yet dozens of nearby residents want the township Board of Adjustment which is tasked with considering the church's variance request to rent out the Sunday school to reject the application. At Monday night's Board of Adjustment hearing on the issue at Civic Plaza, residents wore white shirts with red square pins that read "no school." Allowing the Liberty School Association to use the building could lead to lawsuits against the township, said Laura Mccutcheon, a Brick resident who attended the hearing. She noted that Brick municipal officials denied a Jewish school from using a former temple on Van Zile Road. Brick authorities at the time said the school officials failed to secure a variance from the Board of Adjustment to use the temple and to meet the strict criteria for operating schools. "The precedence has already been set for that. Brick already has decided you can't do that," Mccutcheon said. Related: Brick temple at center of boys school controversy sold to new owner Rebeka Snegon, who organizes and runs the Liberty School Association, told the Board of Adjustment that she is looking to rent classroom space from the church so that fellow homeschool students can meet, study and socialize. "Were a group of homeschool families, and we want our kids to get together," she told the board. Homeschools in New Jersey are subject to little regulation, board attorney Ronald D. Cucchiaro said. "Unlike a private school or a public school, the state does not require that any teachers (in a homeschool) have any license or have any particular qualifications or background in order to be eligible to teach the students," Cucchiaro told the Board of Adjustment. However, the state "does permit what was referenced as the (homeschool) co-ops." The Brick Board of Adjustment hears plans by Fellowship Chapel officials to rent out the organization's Sunday school to a homeschool organization during a meeting on June 10, 2024. Snegon said if permitted to rent the Sunday school, Liberty School Association would meet from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. Mothers in the group would teach and supervise the students, who follow a Christian curriculum, she said. While the group includes students from kindergarten through eighth grade, most of the students are younger, she said. Many of the homeschool students leave the group for private or public schools by middle school in order to play sports, Snegon said. Previously: Brick crowd opposes plan to rent Sunday school to Liberty School Association The site is a perfect location for the group, said Snegon, who lives in Brick. Most of the families who participate are local, although the farthest family lives in Beachwood, she said. "The building is beautiful," she said. "It fits enough kids to where everybody would be happy." Snegon said her group would accommodate as many as 30 to 35 students, maximum, depending on the layout of the classroom space. Edward Liston, an attorney who represents more than 50 nearby residents to the church, questioned whether Liberty School Association's plans would subject it to the same requirements as daycare facilities in New Jersey. Any daycare or home-based care center that provides "care, development or supervision" for six or more children under the age of 13 (who do not live in the home) must be licensed by the state, according to New Jersey law. However, numerous exemptions exist for religious instruction, care of children for parents attending religious services, and programs where a parent remains on site. Private and public schools, which are regulated under different state statutes, are also excluded from the rule. "This is not childcare, so I don't think it applies at all," said Richard Sciria, an attorney who represents Fellowship Chapel before the board. After listening to three hours of testimony and failing to conclude the hearing, the Board of Adjustment voted to continue the meeting at on Oct. 1. That meeting will begin at 7 p.m. and be held in Civic Plaza, 270 Chambers Bridge Road. Members of the public are expected to have an opportunity to speak about the application at that time. Amanda Oglesby is an Ocean County native who covers education and the environment. She has worked for the Press for more than 16 years. Reach her at @OglesbyAPP, aoglesby@gannettnj.com or 732-557-5701. This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Brick residents resist church plan to rent school: 'You can't do that' BROOKLYN, N.Y. (PIX11) A Brooklyn man convicted of an armed robbery during a live-streamed church service on July 24, 2022, was sentenced to 87 months in prison, officials announced Monday. Say-Quan Pollack, 25, was also ordered to pay $402,639 in restitution to the victims, according to the United States Attorneys Office. More Local News Prosecutors say Pollack and co-conspirators, Juwan Anderson and Shamar Leggette, stole more than $400,000 in jewelry from the pastor and his wife. They entered the Church wearing masks and black clothing and brandished guns, prosecutors said. They removed jewelry from the victims and fled. Pollack was arrested in September 2022 and pleaded guilty in November 2023 to Hobbs Act robbery. Anderson, who was also arrested and pleaded guilty to Hobbs Act robbery is awaiting sentencing. Bronx man accused of raping woman after asking her for directions Officials dismissed charges against Leggette following his death in January 2024. Ben Mitchell is a digital content producer from Vermont who has covered both local and international news since 2021. He joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of his work here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. Cleveland Browns defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr. waits for his turn to speak at a news conference during an NFL football training camp practice Saturday, July 27, 2024, in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) CLEVELAND (AP) Cleveland Browns rookie defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr. was arrested Tuesday and charged with domestic violence after police said he threatened his fiancee with a gun during a fight. Hall was booked and arraigned at Avon Lake Municipal Court, said James M. Drozdowski, a public information officer with Avon Police. He posted bond and was released, the officer told The Associated Press. Hall appeared in court with his attorney, Kevin Spellacy, who did not immediately return a message seeking comment. The Browns said in a statement they were aware of the incident involving Hall, a second-round pick from Ohio State. Mike and his representatives have been in touch with the appropriate authorities, the team said. We are in the process of gathering more information and will have no further comment at the time. The team did not practice Tuesday as players were only getting treatment and working out at Cleveland's training facility in Berea, Ohio. The Browns are hosting the Minnesota Vikings for joint practices on Wednesday and Thursday before playing an exhibition game on Saturday. A detailed incident report obtained by the AP said officers responded to a call at 10 p.m. Monday night from a woman who claimed that Hall had pushed her daughter and struck her with a baby bottle. According to the report, the woman told police she is engaged to Hall and they share an 11-month-old daughter. The woman said their fight escalated after the couple were discussing financial needs for the child. The woman told police Hall is not the biological father. The woman said Hall, 21, became increasingly agitated, threw her belongings outside and dragged her on her back along a porch and driveway. At one point, the woman said Hall put a gun to her temple and said, I will (expletive) end it all. I don't care. The woman did not seek medical treatment. Hall locked the woman out of the house and left in a pickup truck, according to the report. Police said they found evidence including a damaged door frame and a hole in a door the woman said Hall had punched. Officers also seized two handguns a .40-caliber Glock and a 9mm Smith & Wesson. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl TEHRAN, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have exchanged views on bilateral ties and developments in West Asia, including the situation in Gaza. In a phone call on Monday night, the two sides discussed ways to improve relations between Iran and Britain and ensure peace and stability in West Asia and the world, according to a statement published on the website of the Iranian president's office on Tuesday. The Iranian president expressed his willingness to improve bilateral ties and resumption of the talks on the revival of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, stressing that all sides' fulfillment of their commitments is the key to the nuclear negotiations' success. He slammed as being "irresponsible and in contradiction with international law" the international organizations' silence in the face of Israel's "unprecedented and inhumane crimes in Gaza and terrorist actions in the region" and some Western countries' support for Israel, saying such approaches had jeopardized peace and security in the region and the world by encouraging Israel to continue its "crimes." Pezeshkian added that Iran maintained that war in any part of the world would not be in the interests of any country, stressing that giving a punitive response to aggressors was a legal right of countries and a solution to stop "crimes and aggression." The British prime minister, for his part, called for the cessation of the conflict in Gaza and the swift beginning of aid delivery to people in the coastal enclave, requesting Iran to further contribute to those processes. Starmer expressed his country's readiness to promote relations with Iran, hoping that the two countries' new ambassadors would begin their missions as soon as possible. According to a press release published on the British government's website on Monday, during the phone call, Starmer also said that he was "deeply concerned by the situation" in West Asia, stressing that "now was the time for calm and careful consideration," and calling on Iran to refrain from exacting revenge on Israel. Building roof collapses during fire at West Seattle church Investigators are working to determine how a fire started at a West Seattle church. Around 12:30 p.m. on Monday, Seattle Fire was called to a building on fire in the 5000 block of Delridge Way Southwest. Crews reported seeing a large column of smoke coming from a detached building on the propertys northwest side. Firefighters quickly extinguished the flames, but the roof of the building collapsed. No one was inside and no injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation. KIRO 7 has sent a reporter to gather more information. WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) A national-record-holding Paralympic shooter with roots in Texoma is gearing up to compete against the best of the best in his third appearance on the worlds biggest stage. Sgt. 1st Class John Wayne Joss III, 41, of Corsicana, is a soldier-athlete with the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program who has qualified to compete in the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, France, beginning August 28, 2024. RECAP: Texomas own Taliyah Brooks competes in 2024 Paris Olympics After competing in the 2016 Paralympics in Rio and the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo, Sgt. Joss qualified for the 2024 Paralympics in France after finishing second in the R6 50m Rifle Prone SH1 during the U.S. Paralympic Trials in Talladega, Alabama, according to U.S. Army Public Affairs. According to his Team USA biography, Sgt. Joss graduated from Burkburnett High School in 2002 before enlisting in the U.S. Army in 2004. Sgt. Joss served in combat in Iraq until he was injured in May 2007 after a vehicle he was in was ambushed and he lost a portion of his right leg as a result. After completing rehabilitation and being equipped with a prosthetic, Sgt. Joss was assigned to an infantry battalion as a mortar gunnery instructor. According to his USA Shooting bio, Sgt. Joss began shooting comparatively in 2012 after the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit recruited him. The Purple Heart recipient is again looking to add a Paralympic medal to his collection. This is a developing story. Stick with Texomas Homepage for updates as more information becomes available. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Texomashomepage.com. Business leaders and politicians react to Elon Musk and Donald Trump's conversation on X Elon Musk and former President Donald Trump live-streamed a conversation on X on Monday night. During their discussion, delayed by 40+ minutes, Trump largely repeated his typical talking points. Business leaders and politicians quickly weighed in on the pair's discussion. Elon Musk and former President Donald Trump live-streamed a wide-ranging discussion on Monday, eliciting reactions from tech and business leaders. The rambling conversation, which was largely dominated by Trump in the first hour, ranged from the attempt on his life to immigration. It also started about 42 minutes behind schedule due to technical issues. Here's how prominent business and political leaders responded to the conversation. Mark Cuban Mark Cuban (left) and former President Donald Trump (right). Michael Reaves via Getty Images; Joe Raedle via Getty Images In a post on X, billionaire Mark Cuban asked: "Anyone tracking how much each participant in this Spaces "conversation" is speaking ?" The use of quotes around "conversation" appeared to reference Musk's marketing of the Space as a conversation rather than an interview. "My use of the word conversation is deliberate," Musk said earlier on Monday, adding: "Nobody is quite themselves in an interview, so it's hard to understand what they're really like." But Cuban's question seemed to allude to the fact that Trump spent most of the time during the space talking, with Musk only occasionally speaking up between long, rambling responses from Trump. In a follow-up post, Cuban wrote, "Aren't most conversations a little more balanced? Shouldn't both participants ask the other questions rather than only one asking ?" Gavin Newsom Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, who has a strained relationship with Musk, got a jab in at both the X CEO and the GOP nominee. "Glitchy. Tech issues. Uncomfortable silences. A complete failure to launch. And that's just the candidate," Newsom tweeted, along with a screenshot of an error message for the X livestream. Newsom's message was a word-for-word quote of what a Trump spokesperson said about the disastrous campaign livestream Gov. Ron DeSantis held on X in May 2023. That livestream was a messy start to DeSantis' failed presidential campaign and was plagued by long silences, multiple false starts, and repeated crashes. Aaron Levie Box cofounder and CEO Aaron Levie. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Aaron Levie, the CEO of Box, had a request for Musk during the conversation. ".@elonmusk please ask him to explain the Hannibal Lecter reference," Levie said in an X post, referring to Trump's habit of bringing up the fictional cannibal made famous by the 1991 film, "The Silence of the Lambs," during his speeches. Levie later deleted his post. Mark Pincus Mark Pincus, the founder of Zynga, the gaming company behind FarmVille, praised the former president during the conversation with Musk. "Trump is strong in conversation. Hate me for stating truths!" Pincus said in an X post. But Pincus had harsher words for the Tesla CEO, writing in a second post: "Elon: its like talking to an NPC. We all know thats every time you try to talk to any politician." David Sacks David Sacks, the venture capitalist behind Craft Ventures and former CEO of Yammer, had a simple and positive takeaway from the evening, responding to a post on X asking users to describe Musk and Trump's conversation in one word. "Joyful," Sacks wrote. Sacks and Musk have previously bonded over shared distrust of Democratic politicians and, at a Hollywood Hills dinner in April, discussed strategies to defeat Biden in the coming election. He has since hosted a major fundraiser supporting Trump that raised about $12 million. The Harris campaign Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign hit out at both Musk and the Trump campaign right after the livestream ended in a statement on X. "Donald Trump's extremism and dangerous Project 2025 agenda is a feature not a glitch of his campaign, which was on full display for those unlucky enough to listen in tonight during whatever that was on X.com," the statement read. "Trump's entire campaign is in service of people like Elon Musk and himself self-obsessed rich guys who will sell out the middle class and who cannot run a live stream in the year 2024," the campaign added. Read the original article on Business Insider Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg joins workers to break ground on Maryland Parkway Bus Rapid Transit construction project. (Photo: Jeniffer Solis/Nevada Current) Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg joined Nevada elected officials to break ground Monday on a $378 million construction project designed to create more efficient, frequent, and speedier bus transit on one of the busiest corridors in Southern Nevada. Earlier this year, Clark County was awarded nearly $150 million in federal funding for the 13-mile Maryland Parkway Bus Rapid Transit project between the Harry Reid International Airport and the Las Vegas Medical District in the north. On Monday, Buttigieg joined the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC) and members of Nevadas congressional delegation including U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, U.S. Reps. Dina Titus, Susie Lee and Steven Horsford at the Boulevard Mall to mark the beginning of construction. The project will expand transit service, reduce wait times for transit riders on Maryland Parkway, enhance transit shelters, and create wider sidewalks and pedestrian crossings. Maryland Parkway is home to about 63,000 residents, and is one of the busiest corridors in Las Vegas, carrying nearly 35,000 vehicles and 9,000 transit riders daily, according to the RTC, which estimates about 32% of all households on the corridor dont have access to a personal vehicle. Its especially important to us to continue investing in places with different levels of economic investment, especially those that have been overburdened and underserved in the past, Buttigieg said Monday. none The upgraded bus route will be accompanied by the launch of 15 hydrogen fuel cell electric buses along Maryland Parkway, making for less polluting and quieter buses. The project will also create 42 new and enhanced transit shelters that will provide more shade. And the route will include seven miles of dedicated shared bus-bike lanes. Construction on the bus transit project is scheduled be completed in phases by the end 2026. The project is expected to create traffic impacts on Maryland Parkway from Sahara Avenue to Oakey Boulevard throughout its construction. The project is expected to create 1,100 new jobs and $33 million in contracts for 18 local and small businesses. Buttigieg praised the White House and Congress for passing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act in 2022, which included the biggest investment in public transit in U.S. history. We are saving people money. We are saving people time. We are better connecting this community, Buttigieg said. This is how government is supposed to work. Im not saying it always does, but when it does, its remarkable. Listening to people, hearing what they need and working hard to deliver. The last time Buttigieg visited Nevada was to break ground for the Brightline West High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail System to connect Las Vegas to Southern California by train for the first time in more than 50 years. The rail line benefits from $6.5 billion in federal grants and financing, much of that provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act. The 218-mile all electric high-speed rail system will take passengers between Las Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga, California in just over two hours nearly twice as fast as driving. The route is projected to serve more than 11 million passengers annually, taking millions of cars off Interstate 15. Were using that funding package to improve roads in Las Vegas, weve started work on Americas first high-speed rail line between Las Vegas and Southern California, and today we begin construction on a new rapid bus route that will give residents a faster, more reliable, more comfortable trip between the airport, UNLV, downtown Las Vegas, and the Medical District, Buttigieg said. While Nevada has received a large chunk of federal funding for both projects, urban mass transit has received a fraction of the funding provided for the public-private partnership fueling the Brightline high-speed rail. The bus project was selected after RTC commissioners in 2019 rejected a proposal to build a light rail line on the Maryland corridor, citing light rails billion-dollar price tag. Transit officials say the hope is that the Brightline high-speed rail will alleviate traffic congestion on the I-15 and eliminate some of the pressure to widen the interstate between California and Nevada. Whether youre expecting to be on the train or not, youre going to benefit when its running, because theres going to be less congestion. We need to make sure were investing in an all-of-the-above strategy in this country. That means our aviation systems, our rail systems, our roads and highways, which also need a lot of work and public transport like what were celebrating today. You cant just pick one and only do that, we really need to help all these systems work together, Buttigeg said. The Brightline high-speed rail is also projected to employ 10,000 workers during the construction of the high-speed rail line, and about 1,000 permanent full-time employees once the train is running. Cortez Masto highlighted her work on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, which has jurisdiction over the U.S. Department of Transportations federal transit programs. The Nevada senator said she has prioritized funding for transportation projects in Nevada during her time on the committee. It is important that we continue to recognize this is a major corridor, and it needs to be rejuvenated. This is where people come together for work, for social gatherings, for jobs, you name it. Thats why we have to continue to invest in our communities like right here at Maryland Parkway, Cortez Masto said. BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) Cal/OSHA is investigating the death of a farmworker who was crushed to death between equipment Monday morning. Cal/OSHA officials told 17 News that the incident was reported at 7:30 a.m. Monday when a Lost Hills farmworker was crushed between a mobile wagon and stationary equipment. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, the United Farm Workers said officials are aware of the worker who was crushed at Wonderful Orchards. UFW said no worker should be killed on the job. A Wonderful spokesperson released a statement Tuesday morning: Yesterday morning, a contract employee was tragically lost in an almond harvest-related accident in one of our orchards in western Kern County. We are deeply saddened by this terrible loss and are providing support to his family, as well as our employees. We are also conducting a full investigation to determine the cause of the accident. The safety and extensive training of our employees is our highest priority and will always remain of the utmost importance. On behalf of our entire organization, we express our sincerest condolences to his family. Spokesperson for The Wonderful Company This is a developing story. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17. Florida banned 'fake meat.' This company is suing to serve it at an arts festival. TALLAHASSEE, Florida A California company that sells lab-grown meat is asking a federal court to block Florida's ban on the product, which was the first in the nation. UPSIDE Foods Inc. of Berkeley argued in its lawsuit, filed Monday in Tallahassee, that the law that was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on May 1 violates the U. S. Constitution. Paul Sherman a senior attorney with the libertarian-leaning Institute for Justice, a nonprofit law firm that filed the lawsuit told reporters on Tuesday that UPSIDE Foods soon will request a preliminary injunction so the company can offer lab-grown meat samples at a Miami Beach art festival later this year. When he signed the legislation into law, DeSantis said that a ban was needed to protect the state's cattle industry from international "elites" who he said want to phase out farms. "Take your fake lab-grown meat elsewhere, DeSantis said. "We're not doing that in the state of Florida. But UPSIDE Foods CEO and founder Uma Valeti, a cardiologist, said during a call with reporters Tuesday that there is no effort by his company to replace conventional meat. He said lab grown meat offers an ethical alternative to slaughtering animals. Wilton Simpson, Florida's Republican agriculture commissioner, on Tuesday called the lawsuit "ridiculous" and said it was an attempt by liberals "to shut down farms." His department is responsible for enforcing state food safety laws. The company says lab grown meat can reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change and the need for land used to produce conventional meat. Florida's ban on lab-grown meat was the first in the nation, Sherman said, with a similar ban in Alabama going into effect later this year. He argued that bans like the one imposed by Florida could be used similarly by states to ban conventional meat or other food products. "If consumers don't like the idea of cultivated meat, there's a simple solution they don't have to eat it," Sherman said. "But they can't make that decision for other consumers." The state agriculture department bill, FL SB1084 (24R), passed the Senate 26-10 and passed the House 86-27 largely along party lines. Democrats argued that the bill sent a bad message that the state was interested in banning new, innovative types of food. Bill supporters labeled the product "fake meat" and questioned its safety, although the USDA under President Joe Biden has approved it for sale. And Simpson on Tuesday called it a "Frankenmeat experiment" that should be left to California. "Lab-grown meat is not proven to be safe enough for consumers and it is being pushed by a liberal agenda to shut down farms," Simpson said. Valeti said in response that the FDA and USDA have affirmed the safety of cultivated meat and that his facilities are routinely inspected by the USDA. Sherman said federal laws preempt local regulation of ingredients in poultry products and the facilities where they are produced. "If states have the power to ban meats they don't like, that would give a liberal state the power to ban conventional meat in favor of cultivated meat," Sherman said. "That is simply not the role of the states in our common market." The lawsuit was filed against Simpson, Attorney General Ashley Moody and four state attorneys. Californias electric vehicle owners, who are disproportionately wealthy, are also tax dodgers. Ironically, the money the state should be collecting would battle of all things climate change, by funding transit and transportation projects. The state has long funded transportation through a tax on gasoline, since its use was once ubiquitous. Electric vehicle owners get to skirt that tax. And because Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Democratically-controlled California Legislature havent found a substitute way to collect the necessary money, the taxes are now disproportionately falling onto lower-income residents. For a governor who likes to crow about how progressive Californias tax structure is, he is not walking the walk when it comes to vehicles without gas tanks. A train wreck is looming somewhere on the horizon on how the state maintains and improves its transportation system. If the state met its goals to dramatically shift our vehicle fleet to all-electric, half of this revenue source could be gone in 10 years, according to projections by the California Legislative Analysts Office. Opinion For Sacramento and every region of the state, gas taxes are the primary source of money to maintain local roads. Sacramento County roads on average barely rate above poor as it is. Every Californian who abandoned the internal combustion engine simply makes the problem worse. Why the political gridlock in Sacramento on fixing this problem? Because two logical solutions could get some lawmakers unelected. Increase the gas tax There are two uses of taxes, said Christopher Thornberg, head of Beacon Economics. One is for revenue, the other is to alter decisions for public policy purposes. Currently, the states gas tax is 60 cents a gallon, which generates about $8 billion annually for state and local transportation projects. The state has a stunning 31 million registered vehicles. Each car, on average, generates about $260 a year in taxes via gasoline to fuel the states transportation system. In the short run, California could increase gas tax revenue by increasing the tax itself. There is no way you are going to go all electric without high gas taxes, said Thornberg, who, in his next breath, evaluated the politics of this approach. Forget about it, he said. This is clearly a problem from a competitive/tourism/trade perspective. Tax driving differently Theres nothing sacrosanct about funding transportation based on how much gas a Californian buys. How about collecting the same money based on how many miles each and every one of us drive? This idea is not new. The California Department of Transportation has been toying with versions of a road charge program for years. Another pilot study is now under way, enticing Californians with gift cards of up to $400 to test how to collect taxes based entirely on miles driven or a tax thats adjusted up or down based both on miles and the cars fuel efficiency. This concept has been discussed in Sacramento multiple times, with no progress made, Thornberg said. Why? The politics of this are nearly as brutal as jacking up the gas tax. Do you want your car to automatically tell the Department of Motor Vehicles how many miles you have driven? If government gets under the hood to follow your driving behavior, is your privacy somehow violated? Taxing drivers based on how much they use the state road system, which sounds fair at one level, is an economic injustice at another. Many Californians who are prisoners of long commutes do so because they cant afford a home close to their jobs. Legislators cant bear to put higher taxes on lower-income families, Thornberg said. Sacramento has yet to comprehend that you cant make an omelet without busting a few eggs. One Sacramentan, Kevin Bewsey, is a big fan of this mileage-based tax idea. In the long term, a usage-based fee makes more sense and is much more equitable, Bewsey said. In the short run, Increase the vehicle fees on electric and hydrogen vehicles. I say this as an owner of an electric vehicle, who wants to pay their fair share. Bewseys altruism is also grounded in the pragmatism of his day job. He happens to lead the Sacramento Transportation Authority, which distributes local sales tax dollars to local transportation projects. The STA has launched a much-needed public discussion locally on how to fix our decaying road system given that existing funding sources are woefully insufficient. In the meantime, the Democratic leadership in this state has placed California in the worst of both worlds when it comes to taxes for transportation: The gas tax isnt high enough to provide the necessary money for our transportation needs or to motivate Californians to buy electric cars, and nobody in the halls of power is in a hurry to do anything about it. When it comes to tough choices to deal with climate change, California simply isnt leading. California farmworkers say they were fired for leaving jobs in heat. Could a bill prevent that? Earlier this summer, Erika Deluque began to feel weak while working in a Dixon tomato field in triple-digit heat. Her headache grew stronger, her body involuntarily shivered and she felt like vomiting. I felt so suffocated, so desperate, recalled Deluque, 32. Nearby co-workers noticed Deluque and suggested she go home. Still Deluque, a recent immigrant from Colombia, felt hesitant. She feared losing her job. Erika Deluque, left, talks at a press conference outside the Capitol for Senate Bill 1299 on Monday, as she recounts her experience with the help of an interpreter, right, when she became sick while working in triple-digit heat in a Dixon tomato field. To convince her, a group of five farmworkers offered to go home with her in solidarity. The workers and Deluque said they got permission from their supervisor to go home early that June 6 as an excessive heat warning continued. When they returned the following day, the entire group was told there was no more work for them and received their final paychecks. Truthfully, if I had known they were going to fire me, I probably wouldnt have left, even if I felt so bad, Deluque said. Conrado Ruiz, the owner of the contractor that employed the workers, declined to comment on the allegations. While Cal-OSHA and the California Labor Commissioners Office investigate the incident as a retaliatory firing, the six farmworkers have become the face for new legislation intended to prevent similar situations. On Monday, Deluque and the other workers recalled their experiences at a press conference outside the Capitol for Senate Bill 1299. The legislation, authored by Sen. Dave Cortese, D-San Jose, would make workers compensation claims for farmworkers presumed work-related when agricultural employers are not complying with heat safety standards. Sen. Dave Cortese, D-San Jose, speaks at a press conference outside the Capitol on Monday for Senate Bill 1299, that would make workers compensation claims for farmworkers presumed work-related when agricultural employers are not complying with heat safety standards. Agricultural workers are 35 times more likely to die from heat-related stress than workers in other industries, according to the National Institutes of Health. Cortese and advocates say the bill is designed to promote employer compliance with added financial pressure and circumvent Cal-OSHA understaffing. Agricultural employers are already required to provide shade, hydration access, rest breaks and heat illness prevention training, per a 2005 California law. But all too often, Cortese said, employers fail to comply. One in six farmworkers reported not receiving the minimum number of rest breaks, according to a 2022 study from the UC Merced Community and Labor Center. The laws are fine, Cortese said. Theyve been on the books for 19 years. We just want them enforced, and were going to insist on them being enforced. Jorge Santana, one of the now-called Yolo Six farmworkers, said he called Cal-OSHA repeatedly to report concerns about heat safety the day the workers were let go. Santana, 61, didnt hear back from an inspector until three weeks later. SB 1299 would prevent more of these unfortunate situations and help farmworkers across the state, Santana said. He encouraged state lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom to pass the legislation. Do your jobs (because) tomorrow and the day after, I will be doing my job, Santana said. So please do your job. United Farm Workers members hold banners at a press conference outside the Capitol in support of Senate Bill 1299 on Monday. In June, six farmworkers left work with permission during triple digit heat and were fired the next day. In April, police inspectors at the Indianapolis FedEx distribution center seized a box containing nearly $43,000 in cash. Even though no criminal charges have been filed in connection with the package, its been in the governments possession for about four months. Now, the boxs intended recipient, Henry Minh Inc., is pursuing a class action lawsuit against the state of Indiana. The jewelry wholesale business consists of the husband-and-wife duo Henry and Minh Cheng. Working with the Institute for Justice, a nonprofit focused on civil liberties, Henry Minh alleges a widespread pattern of unlawful package seizure at Indys FedEx processing facility. In court documents, the Marion County prosecutors office wrote that shipments of bulk cash are typically associated with criminal activity. Even though Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department dogs alerted handlers to the smell of drugs in the box, no contraband could be found once it was opened. A Virginia client sent the Chengs the box of cash in exchange for gold chains, according to an itemized receipt included in the lawsuit. Henry Minhs box was one of 130 cash parcels seized by the government from the FedEx facility in the last year, according to the lawsuit. The government took the box through a process called civil forfeiture. The practice allows law enforcement to confiscate property from people suspected of criminal activity, even if they havent been charged with an offense. If the court does not return the box to the Chengs, the prosecutors office will be required by statute to disburse the money into attorneys' fees, law enforcement and school funds. The Marion County Prosecutors Office has filed forfeiture cases for over $2.5 million since 2022, according to the Henry Minh lawsuit. Its so far removed from a law enforcement function. Its simply profiteering, said Marie Miller, the IJ attorney representing Henry Minh Inc. The Indianapolis facility is the second-largest FedEx processing center in the country. It can sort up to 99,000 packages per hour. Many packages traveling from coast to coast like the Chengs go through the Indy hub at some point on their journey, even if they arent being sent from or to Indiana. FedEx and the Marion County prosecutor's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. I think its unfair, and it just shouldnt happen in America, said Henry Cheng in a Monday news conference. The cases next hearing is scheduled for Sept. 16, where the judge will rule whether the case can proceed as a class-action suit. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Calif. jewelry business sues Indiana over cash seized at FedEx facility The California Legislature is back in session, and lawmakers are making quick work of passing a multitude of bills to target rising retail crime in the Golden State. A total of 10 mostly bipartisan proposals addressing retail theft and property-related offenses passed through the state Assembly and Senate on Thursday, receiving final votes on Monday. By the end of the day, they were sent to Governor Gavin Newsoms desk for final sign-off. More from Sourcing Journal The package of legislation orbits around the California Retail Theft Reduction Act (AB 2943), which was introduced in February by select committee on retail theft chair and Assemblymember Rick Zbur (D-L.A.). One of the most multi-faceted proposals to come out of the State Assembly this year, the law solidifies a new crime classification for possessing stolen merchandise worth over $950 with the intent to resell, carrying a prison sentence of up to three years. Evidence may include repeat offenses or the possession of large volumes of stolen property. The law also stipulates that the value of thefts from different retailers can be tallied up and prosecuted as grand thefta felony charge. AB 2943 foists some responsibility onto online marketplaces, as sellers would be required to maintain records proving their products were obtained legally. Larger retail businesses would also be required to provide data to law enforcement to help strengthen crime laws and prevent stolen stuff from being sold on the web. The bill package, which operates under the header of Californians Against Retail Theft, also includes AB 1779, which allows California district attorneys to prosecute theft cases across multiple jurisdictions at once, AB 1802, which removes the sunset provision for the states organized retail crime statute, making a statewide California Highway Patrol (CHP) criminal task force permanent, and AB 1972, which expands that CHP task force to include cargo theft. Passed in the State Senate on Monday was SB 1144, which would require online marketplaces to establish and maintain policies for prohibiting the sale of stolen goods. Meanwhile, SB 1242 imposes longer sentences on individuals convicted of setting reckless fire to a retailers property in order to commit organized retail crime, and SB 1416 beefs up sentences for those convicted of selling, exchanging or returning stolen goods. SB 982 eliminates the statute of limitations for prosecuting organized retail theft. The lawmakers behind the bundle of bills have been chomping at the bit to get the proposals passed as a means of thwarting the advancement of a ballot initiative that would imperil one of the states most controversial laws: Prop. 47. But despite the crime reduction proposals rapid advancement in recent days, Prop. 36, the Homelessness, Drug Addiction and Theft Reduction Act, is still headed to the polls. If passed, the petition will most notably revise the 2014 law that established $950 as the felony threshold for theft. Currently, [under Prop. 47] theft of items worth $950 or less is generally a misdemeanor, according to the California Legislative Analysts Office. Proposition 36 makes this crime a felony if the person has two or more past convictions for certain theft crimes (such as shoplifting, burglary, or carjacking). The resulting sentence could be up to three years in a county jail or state prison. Prop. 36 would also lengthen certain felony sentences for theft or property damage by up to three years if three or more people committed the crime togethera move that the authoring advocacy group, Californians for Safer Communities, believes will deter organized retail theft. The petition is backed by Mayor London Breed of San Francisco, Mayor Matt Mahan of San Jose and Assemblymember James Ramos of San Bernadino, as well as dozens of other policymakers and law enforcement groups. It has reportedly received signatures from hundreds of thousands of California voters, sealing the deal for its inclusion on the November ballot. The lawmakers behind the Californians Against Retail Theft package, as well as Governor Newsom, dont want to see Prop. 47 repealed or picked apart, as they believe the 10-year-old law has been an instrumental element of the states prison reform strategy. In 2010 when it passedalso as a ballot initiative decided by votersProp. 47 was billed as a way to reduce prison overcrowding. Reducing the charges for certain non-violent drug- or property-related crimes has saved the state more than $800 million in funds that would have been spent on housing prisoners, Newsoms office said. Whats happening in our neighborhoods is unacceptable and we must act expeditiously, but we must also look at facts and find solutions that will actually work, Assemblymember Zbur said on the Assembly floor Monday. We need to make sure were pursuing reforms that are effective at targeting retail crime while avoiding a rollback of criminal justice reforms that have been successful at keeping our communities safe and reduce the human cost of imprisoning people for minor infractions. The governor is reportedly planning to sign the bills quickly, though this office has not indicated a timeline. A press conference is held during the Africa-China-CIMMYT Science Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, on Aug. 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Yahui) NAIROBI, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Policymakers, scientists, and industry leaders from China, Africa, and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) convened in Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday to launch a forum aimed at advancing agricultural transformation, achieving food security, and addressing rural poverty on the continent. The Africa-China-CIMMYT Science Forum, organized by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) and CIMMYT, runs from Aug. 13 to 16. The event, which has drawn over 100 participants, focuses on "Transforming Agrifood Systems in Africa through Scientific Innovations and Partnerships." Bram Govaerts, director general of CIMMYT, highlighted the importance of the forum, noting that it provides a crucial platform for African and Chinese scientists to explore new strategies for transforming food systems amid challenges such as climate change, crop pests, and diseases. Govaerts emphasized that regular exchanges between Chinese and African scientists, based on South-South cooperation, are vital for transferring technologies, innovations, and best practices essential for revolutionizing smallholder farming in Africa. He also called for collaborative research to develop and deploy dryland crops like legumes and cereals, which are critical for addressing the continent's hunger crisis. Ye Yujiang, vice president of CAAS, noted that mutual partnerships between Chinese and African scientists can drive agricultural modernization, enhance food and nutritional security, and improve rural incomes. He highlighted Chinese research institutions' commitment to advancing cooperation with their African counterparts through training, technology transfer, and innovations aimed at increasing crop yields for smallholders. Ye also pointed to successful outcomes from China-Africa agricultural collaboration, such as the development of hybrid rice and training programs for young African scientists, which have bolstered food security and rural development. Prasanna Boddupalli, director of CIMMYT's Global Maize Program, underscored the importance of win-win cooperation between Chinese and African scientists to ensure that smallholder farmers in Africa access high-yield, disease-resistant, pest-resistant, and drought-tolerant crop varieties. Boddupalli suggested that African countries should benefit from China's experience in transitioning to modern, climate-smart, and economically viable farming systems. Felister Makini, deputy director general of Research and Partnerships at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, highlighted that collaboration with China will help African governments address gaps in research, capacity, policy, and financing that have hindered the continent's agricultural transformation. Bram Govaerts, director general of CIMMYT, speaks in an interview with Xinhua during the Africa-China-CIMMYT Science Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, on Aug. 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Yahui) Prasanna Boddupalli, director of CIMMYT's Global Maize Program, speaks in an interview with Xinhua during the Africa-China-CIMMYT Science Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, on Aug. 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Yahui) People attend the Africa-China-CIMMYT Science Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, on Aug. 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Yahui) Felister Makini, deputy director general of Research and Partnerships at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, speaks at the Africa-China-CIMMYT Science Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, on Aug. 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Yahui) Heat illness claimed a Southern California mans life at Death Valley National Park, the second such death this year. According to a press release issued on Monday by the National Park Service, bystanders saw a man stumbling as he returned from the Natural Bridge Trail, which is about one-mile roundtrip, on Aug. 1. The bystanders offered to help the man, identified as 57-year-old Peter Hayes Robino of Duarte, but he refused; witnesses said his responses did not make sense. After declining assistance, Robino got into his car and drove off a steep 20-foot embankment at the edge of the Natural Bridge Trail parking lot, NPS said. Burglars drive car into Los Angeles smoke shop but find owner waiting The car rolled over and airbags deployed, officials said. A bystander left to call 911 [while] other bystanders helped Robino walk back to the parking lot and provided shade. The press release states that National Park Service emergency responders received the call for help at exactly 3:50 p.m. and arrived at 4:10 p.m. Robino was breathing until just before park rangers arrived, NPS stated. NPS EMTs started CPR and moved Robino into the air-conditioned ambulance, [but] he was declared dead at 4:42 p.m., the parks service said. An autopsy conducted by the Inyo County Coroner found that Robino died due to hyperthermia, or overheating. According to park officials, the nearby Furnace Creek weather station recorded a high temperature of 119 degrees that afternoon. Symptoms of heat illness include confusion, irritability and lack of coordination, which corresponds with Robinos incoherence when interacting with bystanders. My condolences go out to Mr. Robinos family and friends, said Park Superintendent Mike Reynolds, who was one of the EMTs who responded to the call on Aug. 1. His death serves as a reminder not to underestimate the dangers of extreme heat. Mom drove son, another child nearly an hour-and-a-half to fraudulently panhandle: LASD Park rangers at Death Valley National Park remind summer visitors that hiking after 10 a.m. at low elevations is not recommended. Those who do decide to go outside are advised to drink plenty of water and eat salty snacks, but the best way to avoid the heat is to stay in or near air conditioning, NPS said. Robinos death follows the death of a motorcyclist who was riding through Death Valley National Park on July 6. According to NPS, the man was part of a group of six motorcyclists, three of whom were transported almost 20 miles by good Samaritans to the Furnace Creek Visitor Center. One of the men transported by good Samaritans lost consciousness and was transported 62 miles by ambulance to a hospital in Pahrump, Nevada; due to the high temperatures (the preliminary high temperature on July 6 was over 125 degrees, NPS said) it was not safe for a medical helicopter to fly to the scene, despite a request from park officials. After being taken to Pahrump, the man was flown to a larger hospital in Las Vegas. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. Leer en Espanol California is, by almost every measure, one of the United States most diverse and vibrant states. The countrys most populous state, it also has no majority racial or ethnic group. The combination of public investments in the University of California system and the states welcoming approach to immigration have created a dynamic, technology-infused economy that is the largest of any U.S. state. Its diverse public education system also reflects that dynamism, serving more English learners (ELs) than schools in any other state. In 2021, California enrolled more K12 ELs than Indiana enrolled students. And yet, from 1998 to 2016, the states schools belied its cosmopolitan reputation, enacting an English-only mandate for ELs amid a late-1990s surge in anxiety about immigration. Unsurprisingly, the policy did little to change the states demographic trajectory and even less to improve student learning. Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Thats why California voters passed Proposition 58 in 2016, a referendum that reopened the possibility of bilingual education for Californias ELs. Supporters sold the measure as an opportunity for the state to deliver a multilingual school system befitting its reputation as a plural and diverse society preparing students to succeed in the global economy. This is the first in The 74s series on Californias effort to build a bilingual education system worthy of its culturally diverse reputation. Eight years after Prop. 58s passage, progress towards that vision has been uneven. Nearly two decades of actively subtracting languages from the states classrooms created myriad challenges. And yet, the states embrace of bilingualism has brought public narratives closer to the research consensus on the benefits of learning multiple languages. California launched the now-national Seal of Biliteracy, which provides public recognition for K12 graduates who demonstrate proficiency in more than one language. Efforts like these are changing Californias public discourse around languages and increasing demand for bilingual learning opportunities. Part 1: An 18- year ban on Bilingual Education in California begins When Proposition 227 made California an English-only state in 1998, some polling suggested that roughly half of Latino voters supported the move. Subsequent exit polls suggested a somewhat more complicated story, but the measure passed all the same. The number of ELs in bilingual education classrooms dropped by nearly 70 percent from 1998 to 2003. While the new English-only policy permitted communities to offer bilingual education if enough ELs parents opted out of English-only education, only a small fraction of schools were able to meet that threshold. Spanish, Korean, Japanese, Cantonese, and other non-English languages vanished from schools. But the states decision didnt erase many Californians desire to have their childrens emerging bilingual abilities recognized and cultivated at school. Persistent demand from Latino parents launched and/or maintained bilingual and DLI programs, such as Los Angeles Camino Nuevo Charter Academys Burlington campus. The school opened in 2000; community interest in bilingualism pushed leaders to prioritize students development in both English and Spanish. We were getting kids that were coming from programs that were all over the city, says former Camino Nuevo CEO Ana Ponce. And parents wanted their kids to keep their native language. We were not bound by Proposition 227s limitations because we were a charter, so we embarked on exploring different bilingual education models. The school settled on a DLI model that begins with a majority of instruction in Spanish and gradually increases English-language instruction until the languages are evenly balanced in later elementary grades. Decades later, the Central Los Angeles campus effervesces with chatter swinging from Spanish to English. Fourth-graders pair off to practice division problems in math class to decide who goes first by playing Rock, Paper, Scissors or Piedra, Papel, Tijeras. I hope that God keeps these schools from disappearing, because they really help our children, says 13-year Camino Nuevo parent Maribel Martinez in Spanish. I dont want to talk down the districts schools, they also teach well, but their big mistake was cutting bilingual educationtwo languages are worth so much. Some of that value is academic. Research suggests that dual language immersion programs are the best way to support young, non-native English speakers in U.S. schools. But Camino parents say that this is only one of the reasons they prize their childrens emerging Spanish and English skills. Gloribel Reyes first child started at the school twenty years ago and her youngest is enrolled in fourth grade. Its very important that the children learn both Spanish and English, she says in Spanish, because if they only learn English, they forget their own language, the language their parents speak. Some of their parents dont speak Englishhow can we speak with them? Martinez agreesand notes that the schools bilingualism makes it easier for Spanish-dominant families to engage with teachers and staff. That is, decades of hiring to staff Burlingtons DLI program have produced a fully bilingual staff. After years of serving as a bilingual outpost, Camino Nuevo has become a bilingual quarry for other schools to mine. Kylie Rector, Camino Nuevos Director of Biliteracy and English Learners, says that the buzz to invest more in bilingual education has brought administrators from districts from San Diego to Northern California to the school. Still, while bilingual and dual language immersion (DLI) programs are relaunching across the state, they are not growing anywhere fast enough to meet the states 2030 goal of building a system of at least 1,600 DLI programs to have half of all K12 studentsparticipate in programs leading to proficiency in two or more languages. Last year, the state devoted $10 million in new grant support for launching new DLI schools the state estimates it will produce 55 new programs. This is partly because Californias eighteen-year ban on most bilingual programs also flatlined the job market for bilingual teachers. This meant that K12 school systems produced more monolingual, English-dominant graduates, and it meant that the states bilingual teacher training programs largely shuttered. This presents California leaders with a chicken-and-egg problem. They cannot grow bilingual classrooms around the state without more bilingual teachers, but the states K12 system remains mostly English-only and is not producing enough bilingual graduates to rapidly grow the linguistic diversity of the states teaching force. As a result, Californias K12 teaching force is much whiter and more native English-speaking monolingual than Californias K12 student body. Just 27 percent of California teachers speak a non-English language at home, compared to 40 percent of California K12 students. The increased demand for bilingual educators has also made Camino Nuevo staff valuable across Californias public education sector. Some erstwhile Camino Nuevo employees have gone on to launch dual language schools of their own, like Yu Ming Public Charter School founder Sue Park. Others are working in schools across LAUSD and other California districts. Still others are working in education advocacy at non-profit organizations like Great Public Schools Now, TNTP, Communities in Schools of Los Angeles, NewSchools, and the Cesar Chavez Foundation. Cross-Pollinating Bilingualism in San Diego County Just a ten mile drive from the U.S.-Mexico San Ysidro border crossing, Chula Vista Learning Community Charter Schools (CVLCC) campus is another hotbed of bilingualism. The school was founded by the Chula Vista Unified School District in 1998 as a way to maintain bilingual options once the states English-only mandate arrived. Eddie Caballero joined CVLCC a year later as a 5th grade teacher. It was a rough start, he says, as the school struggled to focus its academic and linguistic instructional approaches. But by 2004, the school had coalesced around a vision putting extra campus emphasis on foundational early literacy skills in both languages simultaneously. In 2005, Caballero moved to San Diego Unified School District to work in administrative roles. In 2008, a number of families of ELs were organizing to sign waivers to start a bilingual education program at Sherman Elementary, on San Diegos east side. The school needed an experienced bilingual educator; Caballero was a natural fit. He was eager to use what hed learned at CVLCC to replicate high-quality bilingual education now in a district setting. Just as at CVLCC, We didnt see success immediately, Caballero says. He warns that just any bilingual education program wont automatically succeed just by virtue of being bilingual. Too often, he warns, district leaders think they can rebrand their schools by launching DLI programs, but no, you have to implement it carefully. This requires careful planning around curriculum, staffing, family engagement efforts, and much more. Thats why, in 2016, Caballero hired former CVLCC teacher Nicole Enriquez to be his assistant principal; she stepped in as principal when he left San Diego Unified. Now, in 2024, Caballero is back as CVLCCs CEO, which continues to serve as a flywheel for the local bilingual education ecosystem. He says that bilingual teachers often come to his school from nearby districts with the goal of developing their expertise teaching in bilingual or DLI settings. However, many leave after five years, because staying longer would cost them contractual seniority back in the districts where they began their careers. CVLCC is an exemplary dual language school that not only has a culturally and linguistically responsive curriculumbut also prepares students global critical consciousness through innovative and impactful approaches, says Cristina Alfaro. At its inceptionwe called it the Dream School. Building Back In the 26 years since California voters launched their states monolingual era and eight years since they ended it its clear that the ground of public opinion has shifted. Polling before the 2016 Proposition 58 referendum found that more than two-thirds of California Latino voters supported restoring bilingual education. Meanwhile, a 2023 Abriendo Puertas/Open Doors survey found that 65% of Latino families would enroll their children in a bilingual program if it were available. In a separate 2023 poll of mostly Spanish-dominant Californians, Keep Learning California found that 59% of respondents listed access to bilingual programs as an essential or high priority for their families. Bilingual strongholds like CVLCC and Camino Nuevo are essential resources for helping make that hope realistic for more of those families. Im second-generation Chicana, says Sherman principal Enriquez. And this generation of parents says things like, I never got this opportunity as a kid. I wish that I could speak more Spanish. I want my kids to be able to be bilingual, to get the opportunity that I never had. And Im that parent too! I brought my kids here, through Sherman, so they could be bilingual. Call Gaza ceasefire and we will not attack you, Iranian officials reportedly tell Israel Iran will not launch an attack on Israel if there is a ceasefire deal in Gaza, officials in Tehran said on Tuesday. It is the first time Iran has linked its threatened retaliation against Israel to the Gaza peace and hostage negotiations. Israel has been braced for a twin attack from Iran and its proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon for two weeks after the assassinations of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas political leader, in Tehran and a Hezbollah commander in Beirut. Iran is said to fear an attack on its nuclear facilities should a regional war break out, while Israel is reportedly plotting strikes on the countrys water and oil infrastructure to shatter its economy and bring down its hard-line Islamic regime. For two weeks, the US has sought to avert an escalation by rushing massive military capability into the region while pursuing a peace deal. Its strategy hinges on a new round of ceasefire talks scheduled to take place in Doha, the Qatari capital, on Thursday. Billboard depicts Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian, right, and slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh - ATTA KENARE/AFP via GETTY IMAGES On Tuesday night, Joe Biden said it was his expectation that Iran would hold off on a retaliatory strike if a ceasefire agreement is reached. Three senior Iranian officials quoted by Reuters have now linked the countrys planned military response to the Doha talks. Iran was even considering sending a representative to the talks as an observer to maintain a line of diplomatic communication with the US while negotiations proceeded, one of the unnamed officials said. Iran, along with allies such as Hezbollah, would launch a direct attack [on Israel] if the Gaza talks fail or it perceives Israel is dragging out negotiations, Reuters reported one of the sources as saying. The sources did not say how long Iran would allow for talks to progress before responding. Iran does not directly control Hezbollah but has significant influence over both it and Hamas as the principal funder of both terrorist groups. Reuters quoted a source close to Hezbollah who said Iran would give the negotiations in Doha a chance but would not give up entirely on its intention to strike Israel. A ceasefire in Gaza would give Iran cover for a smaller, symbolic response, one of the sources said. Night sky over Amman in Jordan in April when Iran launched drones targeting Israel - SEMYON GALPERIN via REUTERS The US-led diplomatic effort to avert war remains intense, with Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, expected to arrive in the region on Tuesday night. Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, and Olaf Sholtz, the German chancellor, spoke to Masoud Pezeshkian, Irans president, on Monday, expressing their concern about a regional war if Iran followed through on its threats to attack Israel directly. The US, Britain, France, Italy and Germany urged Tehran to stand down in a joint letter. However, Iran continued to insist on its right to respond to an attack on its soil. Nasser Kanaani, the spokesman for the Iranian ministry of foreign affairs, said: The declaration by France, Germany and Britain, which raised no objection to crimes of the Zionist regime, brazenly asks Iran to take no deterrent action against a regime which has violated its sovereignty. Instead of issuing such demands, Western nations should once and for all stand up against the war in Gaza and the warmongering of Israel, Mr Kanaani added. A drone launched from undisclosed area in Iran towards Israel - TASNIM NEWS AGENCY/ZUMA PRESS/EYEVINE Iran would never give in to pressure, to sanctions and to bullying and considers it has the right to respond. Israels Army Radio reported that Israel had conveyed messages to its allies warning that it would strike Iran if it launched an attack. We take the declarations and statements of our enemies seriously. Therefore, we are prepared at peak readiness in offence and defence, said Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, an IDF spokesman. On Tuesday, it was reported that Mr Blinken would visit Israel, Egypt and Qatar in a last-ditch attempt to secure a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. Hamas had been holding out on attending the talks but on Tuesday the US said that may change. Qatar has assured us that they will work to have Hamas represented, said Vedant Patel, a state department spokesman. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. (Bloomberg) -- Suspected attempts by Iranian hackers to infiltrate US presidential campaigns have touched off a widening federal investigation into the first major effort by a foreign actor to disrupt the November election. Most Read from Bloomberg Investigators believe that attackers tied to Iran succeeded in hacking Republican nominee Donald Trumps campaign and gained access to internal documents, according to a US law enforcement official who discussed the matter on condition of anonymity. The intruders also tried to breach the campaigns of Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden, before his departure from the race, but its unclear whether the attempted hacks on Democrats succeeded, the official said. The inquiry, led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, emerged after a report from Microsoft Corp. last week described efforts by the Iranian government to access email accounts of presidential campaign staff members. Microsoft said the attacks were pulled off by a hacking cell dubbed Mint Sandstorm thats linked to Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard. Allegations of an Iranian hacking effort come just weeks after US intelligence officials warned that foreign adversaries including Iran and Russia would seek to influence the 2024 election in ways that favor their interests. That includes recruiting Americans to spread propaganda, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Microsofts report didnt identify the campaigns targeted by Iran, but said it had notified affected parties. Trump acknowledged the breach in a post on his Truth Social network, where he cast the intrusion as attempted election interference. The law enforcement official confirmed that the Microsoft report was in line with the ongoing inquiry. A Harris campaign official said that its legal and security teams were notified last month by the FBI that it had been targeted by a foreign influence operation. The campaign is unaware of any breaches to its systems and remains in touch with authorities, the official said on condition of anonymity to discuss a security issue. Irans mission to the United Nations has disputed the allegations. We do not accord any credence to such reports, the mission said in a statement. The Iranian Government neither possesses nor harbors any intent or motive to interfere in the United States presidential election. US officials and cybersecurity experts believe Irans government is seeking to undermine Trumps candidacy after he antagonized Tehran during his first term in office. While president, Trump scrapped an international nuclear deal with Iran, imposed severe sanctions on the Islamic Republic and ordered the killing of Qassem Soleimani, the head of Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps. The regime sees Trump as militantly hawkish on Iran and probably has a preference for Harris, just based on the history of Trumps relationship with Iran, said David Salvo, managing director at the German Marshall Funds Alliance for Securing Democracy. Listen to the Heres Why podcast on Apple, Spotify or anywhere you listen. The news comes as US officials brace for a possible attack by Iran against Israel in retaliation for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh last month in Tehran, as the conflict in Gaza threatened to escalate into a wider regional confrontation. The war in Gaza is ample fuel for the Iranian regime to want to step up their information operations against us, Salvo said. This election has real consequences for the Middle East. Iran has tried to disrupt past US elections. In 2020, its operatives impersonated members of the right-wing Proud Boys group as part of a voter intimidation effort, according to the FBI, resulting in charges against two men. That same year, Iranian hackers breached a website that a municipal government in the US used to publish election results, though the attackers were caught before carrying out any nefarious activity, US officials said. The FBI had no immediate comment. A spokesperson for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency referred questions about the hack of the Trump campaign to the Justice Department. Microsoft cited a so-called spearphishing email sent in June to a high-ranking official on a presidential campaign from the compromised email account of an unidentified former Trump adviser. While Microsofts report did not name him, Roger Stone, a close Trump associate, was told by FBI and Microsoft officials months ago that two of his email accounts had been breached by a foreign state actor, according to a person familiar with the matter. Federal authorities told Stone that the hackers aim was to use his email accounts to send phishing emails to people within the Trump campaign, the person said. Stone seldom uses the accounts and doesnt know how they might have been accessed, the person said, adding that Stone is cooperating with authorities. On Wednesday, Googles Threat Analysis Group published a blog post that complimented Microsofts findings. Alphabet Inc.s Google said the Iranian hackers in May and June targeted the personal email accounts of roughly a dozen individuals affiliated with Biden and Trump, including current and former US government officials and individuals associated with their campaigns. Google blocked numerous attempts by the attackers to log in to the personal email accounts of potential victims. Google also observed that the Iranian hackers successfully gained access to the personal Gmail account of a high-profile political consultant, who it didnt identify. Google referred the malicious activity to law enforcement in early July, and it also warned campaign officials about the heightened hacking attempts from foreign state actors, according to the posting. The hack of Trumps campaign was first reported by Politico, which said last week it began receiving emails last month containing purported internal campaign documents from an anonymous account. Those files included a dossier on Senator JD Vance, Trumps vice presidential pick, according to Politico. In his Truth Social post, Trump insisted that only publicly available information had been affected, and his campaign warned media outlets not to publish any materials they received from the breach. Nation-state hackers have previously used email attacks to infiltrate American political campaigns, such as the Russian hack in 2016, when a state-sponsored group obtained internal emails from Hillary Clintons staffers that were later published by WikiLeaks. Its unclear whether the material sent to Politico and other news organizations came via the suspected Iranian hackers. For US adversaries, the goal is to sow chaos, said Christopher Krebs, a former CISA director. Its undermining our confidence in our governments ability and democracy in general to provide us the basic services and look out for us, Krebs told PBS News Hour. --With assistance from Jamie Tarabay, Charles Gorrivan, Josh Wingrove, Jake Bleiberg, Billy House and Hadriana Lowenkron. (Updates with new information from Googles Threat Analysis Group starting in 16th paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Medically assisted death, also known as assisted suicide, is among the top six leading causes of death in Canada. A new research report from Christian think tank Cardus showed cancer, heart diseases, COVID-19, accidents and cerebrovascular diseases were the only conditions that exceeded medically assisted death as causes of death. Since assisted suicide became legal in Canada, the number of deaths have grown each year. In 2016, 1,018 people died via medically-assisted death, according to Statista. By 2020, it was 7,611 people. The most recent data shows 13,241 people died in 2022. The program has come under scrutiny for its expansive approach, as shown in articles and editorials from The Washington Post, The Associated Press and National Review. There may also be issues with the way records report deaths. At present, there is a variety of ways in which Canadian federal and provincial government agencies record MAiD deaths for vital-statistics purposes, said the report. Some record MAiD deaths as natural deaths by assigning the underlying condition as the immediate cause of death and MAiD as the secondary cause. Some records only include the illness the person has and do not record medically-assisted death, said the record. According to Statistics Canada, no person in Canada dies from MAiD, even if the underlying illness or disability was not terminal, said the report, linking to a fact check. The fact check quoted spokesperson Jadyn Yelle, who said, Medical assistance in dying is recognized as the manner of death and not the cause of death. Yelle said it was inappropriate to situate it among the leading causes of death, since the illness, disease or disability is recognized as the underlying cause of death. The report said there is no way to independently verify the reporting of medically-assisted death in Canada. The same medical professionals who directly assess requests and administer MAiD are the ones who submit the data to Health Canada. Health Canada is responsible for publishing an annual report with the number of medically-assisted deaths, though the report said Statistics Canada is used by policymakers. The report also raises other concerns about the way medically-assisted deaths are reported to Canada. It states the reporting is self-reporting without the patient or an outside doctor participating. The same persons who could face criminal repercussions for not strictly following the criminal exemptions for assisted suicide and homicide under Canadas federal laws regulating MAiD are the only ones reporting whether they adhered to the regulations, said the report. The issues with reporting prevent researchers from being able to accurately verify how many people die from medically-assisted death, said the report. This could have a direct impact on policymaking. Requests for medically-assisted death are also denied less frequently than before. In 2019, around 8% of requests were denied. In 2022, 3.5% were. The percentage has decreased each year. Canada has expanded its medically-assisted death program. To qualify for assisted-suicide, a person would need to be an adult and have a serious and incurable illness, disease or disability. The law requires a person say their physical or psychological suffering cannot be alleviated in a manner acceptable to them. There is no explicit requirement in law for a terminal prognosis. The country is expected to modify its law to expand medically-assisted death to people with mental illness as a persons sore underlying condition on March 17, 2027. The report also said Canadas medically-assisted death program has grown faster than other countries and U.S. states. Either in absolute numbers or when weighed as a percentage of deaths, Canadas MAiD program is by far the worlds fastest-growing assisted-dying program, said the report, adding it had outpaced other programs started much earlier than Canadas. The report said the Netherlands has a comparable system to Canadas. In 2013, thirty-two years after the countrys effective decriminalization, the percentage of total deaths crossed the 3 percent bar, said the report. Canada crossed the 3 percent threshold just six years after legalization. No jurisdiction with an assisted-dying program other than Canada and the Netherlands has crossed the 3 percent threshold. In the seventh year of its legalization, Canada crossed the 4 percent line. The report concluded by saying the Canadian government underestimated how many people would use the medically-assisted death program. Intentionally, Canada is increasingly an outlier, as the worlds fastest-growing assisted-dying program and heading toward further liberalization of the eligibility criteria, said the report. It is difficult to understand how the Government of Canada continues to claim that the rate of MAiD in Canada is similar to rates in other jurisdictions. PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) At least four people, including kids, were rescued off the Oregon coast Monday when their car got stuck at a low point near a sandbar, sending ocean water up to their waist. The car ended up in the ocean between the Del Ray and Sunset beach access points in Gearhart, neighbors told KOIN 6 News. They said there were five people in the car while officials with Gearhart Fire Department said there were four. All were tourists. Gearhart Fire Chief Josh Como said first responders from both the police and fire departments were sent to rescue them. They helped the adults and kids out of the car and guided them to shore. Five people, including three kids, were rescued from the ocean near Gearhart, August 12, 2024 (Ben Doney) Five people, including three kids, were rescued from the ocean near Gearhart, August 12, 2024 (Ben Doney) Five people, including three kids, were rescued from the ocean near Gearhart, August 12, 2024 (Ben Doney) Five people, including three kids, were rescued from the ocean near Gearhart, August 12, 2024 (Ben Doney) Como said the car got stuck in a low spot right before a sand bar, trapping the car. No one was hurt. Sons of Beaches, a volunteer group that patrols the beach and helps with towing stuck vehicles and assisting law enforcement, successfully pulled the vehicle out of the water. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. Cecilia Gentili's work still persists, even after her passing. The Human Rights Campaign has just announced the launch of the Cecilia Gentili grant, in partnership with the late trans activists organization, Transgender Equity Consulting. The award aims to assist organizations continuing the advocacy work of Gentili, aiding trans women of color, sex workers, immigrants, and the formerly incarcerated. "Cecilia was a warrior, she was a fighter, she was a sister," Tori Cooper, director of the HRC's Trans Justice Initiative, told The Advocate. "She was an amazing advocate for a lot of different causes and communities that she represented, and just for folks who needed stuff to get done. ... The world is going to miss who she is and all the the amazing things that she still had yet to birth." Cooper said that the scholarship "was an opportunity for us to honor Cecilia's legacy" while working with the organization she "created and worked very hard to ensure would be would be able to provide the support that she needed and that other people needed in a variety of different ways." The first-ever Cecilia Gentili grant has been awarded to Alianza Translatinx, the first Latine-focused trans-led advocacy group in the Orange County area. Cooper explained that the HRC AND TEC believed ATL "would be a great organization to receive the inaugural decision to live because they represent so much of who she was." "It's not a lot of money, but it is enough money that trans Latin-serving, Latin-run organizations who are doing advocacy work, can impact some of the work that they're already doing, and perhaps create something new," she said. Cooper also noted that the grant is "not tied to any deliverables like a traditional grant would be, because we wanted to make sure that we're investing in them in a way that Cecilia would." She emphasized: "We trust organizations that she trusted." "Cecilia's legacy must continue, and the legacy of people who are doing good work for our trans community, it must continue as well," Cooper said. "Any time folks hear the name, the Cecilia Gentili Award, for folks who may not be familiar with her directly, it provides an opportunity for them to learn about her, to Google her, to find out information about the work and the impact that she left." Though it's not just organizations that can continue Gentili's legacy Cooper, who knew the activist personally before her tragic death in February, encouraged others to "do what Cecilia would do" and "ask the people in their community what they need most," as she asserted it's "important that people use the gifts that they have to help and support trans and gender-expansive people and trans and gender-expansive movements across the country." "If you get in touch with trans and gender-expansive folks in your community, they'll tell you the things that they need," Cooper said. "They may need books for book drives, clothing, computers for computer labs and job readiness programs. It's important to find out what's necessary in your community because communities all the all across the country will have different needs and different priorities." "There's an old adage when talking about the civil rights movement certainly there were some amazing folks who were in the streets, but there were also folks who didn't March, who were at home frying chicken, who were creating the signs that people use when they were on a National Mall," she continued. "So, if sign-building is your gift, or frying chicken is your gift, or if writing a check is your gift, then do all of those things and do them with the right intention and do them often." Video: Unrelated incident involving Zebras escaping in Washington. DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released their findings following an inspection of Cedar Points animal enclosures. According to reports from WJW Fox 8 in Cleveland, a guest at the park was almost trampled by two massive mammals, referring to two camels who were seen on the loose in June. Cedar Point released an initial statement stating that they were investigating how the mammals made their way out of their enclosure and to an other area of the park. Animal Resource Center joins national adoption campaign to Clear the Shelters The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) alerted the USDA to the incident and requested that they conduct an investigation. Yesterday, the non-profit animal rights organization issued a press release referencing a report from the USDA. The report alleges that several parameters were not met during the time of the incident at Cedar Point. Namely that there were not enough identifiable employees nearby as the animals were loose amongst the public, as well as that barriers were inadequate. The report continues, stating that about two dromedary camels and about 15 goats were released from their spaces. All of the animals were caught and placed back into their primary enclosures without harm to them or the public. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDTN.com. BEIJING, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- China's State Council and the Central Military Commission have jointly issued a set of newly-revised regulations on subsidies and benefits for military service members, which will take effect on Oct. 1. These regulations aim to ensure that military personnel receive the subsidies and preferential treatment they are entitled to, to inspire them to make dedicated efforts in defending and building the homeland, and to further modernize China's national defense and armed forces. SHINNSTON, W.Va. (WBOY) WBOY and the Miley Legal Group are celebrating Cliff Shingleton and Terry Rundell from American Legion Riders Post 31 as its August volunteers! The American Legion has several charities that it supports. Post 31 often does elimination dinners, motorcycle ride fundraisers, veteran funeral escorts, and even an oratorical contest, and they help with Mountaineer Boys and Rhododendron Girls State. Cliff Shingleton joined the American Legion in 2010, after retiring from the U.S. Air Force in 2009. He now serves as a First Vice Commander for American Legion Riders Post 31. Within that role, he is in charge of membership. Shingleton says that the Legion is always looking for more veterans to join. If interested, all you have to do is show up to the Legion, knock on the door, meet members, find out what they have to offer and go from there. There is a way to do it online by going to this link, and selecting the join button. But be sure to pick a Post when joining or else you will be put in Post 200, which is more difficult to find. Clarksburg taking public comments on homelessness, addiction at community conversation Shingleton mentioned the decrease in social organizations around the country, saying he thinks organizations like the Post 31 helps veterans understand the value of community. When a veterans in need of something, we can pull together a community of like-minded individuals to go help them. Whether its painting a ramp, or building a ramp for a veteran, or attending a veterans memorial, cleaning it up and repairing itthose sorts of things. But you need a community of people to make these programs work well, Shingleton said. Shingleton said that veterans are the last people in the world to ever ask for help, but that the American Legion does need veterans to speak up, especially to congress for things that are beneficial for veterans, as well as helping in serving other veterans. The motorcycles are what inspired Shingleton to join the Legion. Someone had come to him and asked him to check out the motorcycle program they were starting at the Legion. I jumped in and took off and never looked back, Shingleton said. Shingleton is also the American Legion Director of the Riders Programs in West Virginia. He sets up and guides those programs. Terry Rundell is a member at Post 31 who joined over a year and a half ago. She is also part of the Lady Auxiliary out of Shinnston. I didnt know hardly anything that these people do as far as events, community, just evenI didnt think about it. The veterans at the hospital and all theyve got to go through, so yeah, its just made an incredible difference in my life. And I needed it, Rundell told 12 News. She joined the legion when a friend she grew up with asked her to come to a meeting with her. While at the meeting, Terry felt so at home and welcomed. She said it was like the old saying, you had me at hello, and it just blossomed from there. Glenville State University donates to West Virginia Black Heritage Festival Some upcoming events and fundraisers include for the Post are: Aug. 15 First American Legion National Legacy Run, from Shinnston to New Orleans Sept. 7 Monument clean-up and repair at the Clay District Veterans Memorial in Shinnston Sept. 14 The Honor Flight, and Legion will be doing a motorcycle fundraiser that same day to raise money for next years flight Sept. 28 Veterans Service Fair at Post 31 You can find future updates on Post 31 on its Facebook page. Congratulations Cliff and Terry, and thank you for all that you do for our communities! Due to the amazing work these two do with their organization, the Tim Miley Legal Group has given the American Legion Riders a $500 check. To nominate a volunteer for WBOY and Tim Miley Legal Groups Celebrating Volunteers, click here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBOY.com. Troy Oliver, the new superintendent of North Thurston Public Schools, has been on the job a little over a month and now he has a major announcement: the district is going to embrace a cell phone rule already in place for its elementary and middle schools and extend it to the area high schools. The practice is this: Students are allowed to have a cell phone, but starting district-wide this fall, including at its high schools, the phones must be off and away all day during the school day, as well as headphones and earbuds. Smart watches also must be set to airplane mode, a setting that suspends its use. Teachers had pushed for this change, he said. Oliver, 57, shared this news during an interview with The Olympian on Monday. District spokeswoman Amy Blondin added that visual reminders about the rules will be posted at schools and information will be provided on school websites. Oliver replaced former Superintendent Debra Clemens on July 1, following a competitive application process in which an Alaska administrator was offered and accepted the job, but who later resigned. The school board then interviewed the two remaining finalists again, including Oliver, and he was named the new superintendent. Prior to being named the district leader, Oliver participated in a public forum where he answered a series of questions, including some that touched on social media and teacher diversity. The Olympian asked him about some of those topics, as well as issues raised by the Lacey Equity Commission. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. Question: Middle schools in the district have an off-and-away-all-day rule for cell phones. Why not extend that to high schools? Answer: Many of our schools have done this in a variety of different ways over the course of time, and we know that increasingly mobile phones and social media, and all that comes with it, is a distraction for students. A distraction for learning creates some situations where bullying manifests out of that sort of stuff. So we are going to move towards a district-wide expectation of off and away all day. Were still working out the details. Theres a lot of moving parts going on there, but its something that we feel is important if we want to meet many of the goals in our strategic plan around student learning and student outcomes. If a mobile phone is a distraction, a distraction for a student, then were going to address that, just like we would if they dont show up to class on time. Q: Beyond the cell phone, is there anything else you want to do with regard to social media? A: Theres some things we can do around educating students on the use of social media and appropriate use of social media. How when you post something online, its there forever. I dont think kids necessarily think about that when theyre 16 years old, that somethings going to pop up when theyre 28. Q: During the candidates forum you mentioned the need to improve teacher diversity. How? A: We have a diverse classified staffing group and we are working very closely with Saint Martins University on how they can create programs that take our staff who are classified that want to go from a paraeducator position or an office professional position and get the training and background to enter the teacher workforce. The other thing that were working on, and I think its a high leverage but long range plan, is our Teacher Academy with our students in our schools. They can go through a Teacher Academy program that gets them thinking about teaching as a profession. And you figure, you know, 50% of our students are from the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) community. If 50% of that class is made up of those kids, and they want to come back to our community to teach, thatll be a great way to improve diversity. Q: The Lacey Equity Commission questioned why the district doesnt tap into the diversity of the community to teach, for example, more world languages. How do you reduce that barrier? A: It is a barrier, and its something that we work on with professional education standards and boards on alternate paths to teaching credentials, teaching certificates, and weve done that with career and technical education programming in a lot of ways. So were continuing to look at that, and that absolutely is a path that we need to work on with the state and the certification requirements and how do we, you know, get people alternatively certified for any number of things. Q: What kind of superintendent do you want to be? A: I want to be collaborative. I want to listen. I want to build trust. Every interaction you have with someone is an opportunity to build trust or erode trust, and I take that very seriously, so I want to work very hard to do that with individuals and groups, but also knowing full well that youre not going to make everybody happy in every conversation and just being clear and honest about things. I dont want to say were going to do something, then leave the room with no intention of doing it. If we can do it, well do it. If we cant, then well let you know we cant. Well have the conversation or figure out how we can maybe do it differently. Q: You werent the school boards first pick to be superintendent. Are you in any way bitter about that? A: Ive been on the other side of the table. Ive hired countless leaders in our district, and theres never been a case where the candidate that we didnt pick wasnt also very qualified and very competent. Youve got to make a decision, and thats what the board did. So Im absolutely not bitter. Every interaction Ive had with our school board members up to that point and since that point has been positive. Were all here for the same reason. We care about kids, care about our staff, care about our community, and were all on the same page. The path to get here was odd, but Im not looking back, Im looking forward. Lacey equity commissioners grill North Thurston official about staff diversity North Thurston school board taps longtime employee as superintendent in special vote BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) A convicted felon from Center Point pleaded guilty to illegally possessing firearms, according to U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona. RoDaryus Mitchell, 27, pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm Tuesday. Arrest made in connection to Mercedes-Benz plant vehicle break-ins According to the plea agreement, on May 31, 2023, the United States Marshals Service began the search for Mitchell. He was located at a residence in Birmingham where multiple guns and ammunition were located. Warrants for his arrest included 22 counts of unlawful breaking and entering a vehicle, four counts of second-degree theft of property, second-degree receiving stolen property and a probation revocation warrant for violation of the States Firearms Act. ATF assisted in the investigation. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS 42. The Scoop Yusef Salaam, the New York City Councilman who was wrongly imprisoned as a member of the Central Park Five, has been invited to speak at the Democratic National Convention. According to multiple sources, Democratic officials have been in communication with Salaam, but its not yet clear if plans have been locked in. One source familiar with convention planning said Salaam had been invited and that other members of the Central Park Five could also potentially join him onstage. Reached by phone, Salaam declined to comment, referring calls to his office. A convention spokesman declined to comment on programming. Know More Trump took out newspaper ads in 1989 calling for New York State to bring back the death penalty after the group of Black and Latino teenagers were arrested and accused of raping a woman in Central Park. They were later cleared by DNA evidence and a confession by the perpetrator and the city paid a settlement of over $40 million for their wrongful imprisonment. Since then they have called themselves The Exonerated Five. Trump has never acknowledged their innocence, a subject he was asked about as a candidate in 2016 and as president in 2019. Then-Sen. Kamala Harris wrote an op-ed in 2019 for NBC News urging Trump to watch When They See Us, a dramatized mini-series about the Central Park Five by director Ava DuVernay, and also calling for reforms to the criminal justice system around young suspects, defendants, and prisoners. The Biden campaign since inherited by Harris has highlighted their story as part of its messaging to Black voters this cycle amid polling suggesting Trump is making gains. Salaam won his City Council seat in 2023, thanks in part to a burst of attention to his campaign after Trumps own indictment in Manhattan. He offered a one word statement in response: Karma. Notable Mike Tyson, a longtime friend of Trump, told Semafors Kadia Goba that the Central Park Five episode has been a barrier to convincing other Black celebrities to support his campaign. The only thing they can say is that hes a racist, he said. Central Park Five, other than that, they cant bring up anything else. Salaam spoke to Semafors David Weigel in 2023 about his journey from prison to politics. He contrasted his own experience in the criminal justice system with Trumps various indictments. He has the complexion for acceptance; therefore, he should be afforded every right under the law, the right to due process, he said. We didnt get that same treatment. President Joe Biden speaks about student loan debt in Madison, Wis. on April 8, 2024. Credit - Evan VucciAP Millions of student loan borrowers enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan have their forgiveness in limbo after federal judges blocked the program on Friday, marking the latest in a series of court battles against President Joe Bidens student loan cancellation efforts. The Eighth Circuit of Appeals preliminary injunction comes just weeks after a separate federal court issued a stay on the income-driven repayment plan. Under SAVE, borrowers with a principal balance of $12,000 or less in loans and who made 10 years of monthly payments were set to receive loan forgiveness, while people who owed more than that would see similar relief after 20-25 years. The program was also dubbed the most affordable student loan repayment plan, with payment plans based on income and family size as low as $0 a month. The ruling, made by Republican-appointed judges, says that borrowers who already received forgiveness under the program will not have to retroactively pay back their loans. But, they argue that the program is illegal, and broader than any other repayment plan enacted by the Education Department, per the ruling. U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said the Biden Administration strongly disagreed with the Eighth Circuits decision in a Monday statement. Its shameful that politically motivated lawsuits waged by Republican elected officials are once again standing in the way of lower payments for millions of borrowers, he said. If allowed to stand, this ruling would force millions of borrowers to pay hundreds of dollars more each month. And the decisions reasoning could also deny loan forgiveness to individuals who were expecting it after up to 25 years of faithful repayments. The Supreme Court also struck down President Bidens forgiveness plan in July 2023, preventing some 16 million borrowers from experiencing relief. What happens now? SAVE borrowers were placed on an interest-free forbearance plan in Julymeaning borrowers will not have to make any payments on their loans due to the previous court ruling that issued a stay on SAVE. The Department will be providing regular updates to borrowers affected by these rulings in the coming days, Sec. Cardona said Monday. The injunction is set in place until either the Supreme Court or the Eighth Circuit of Appeals orders otherwise, according to the ruling. Borrowers interested in SAVE can still apply for enrollment in income-driven repayment plans, including SAVE, though the future of the program will be decided in court. However, the Department of Education says that because of the administrative stay, servicers have temporarily paused processing income-driven repayment plan applications. Through other relief efforts, the Biden Administration has approved $169 billion in student loan forgiveness for 4.8 million borrowers. Contact us at letters@time.com. Charlotte mans search for a kidney encourages others to help those in need Charlotte mans search for a kidney encourages others to help those in need CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) A Charlotte familys campaign to find their loved one a kidney caused one wife to put her vows to the test. While they search for an organ donor, theyre encouraging others to help those in need as well. Greg Kent spends a lot of time in a chair, next to him his dialysis machine. Roughly an hour in preparation to be in the chair, four hours in the chair, half-hour getting ready to get off. And thats four times a week. Greg says. Thats been the Charlotte mans routine for nearly two years after being diagnosed with double kidney failure. Just like that, times spent on family vacations or watching his Pittsburgh Pirates take the field were overtaken by his disease. For more than a year, his family has been on a mission to get him a kidney. Theyve been unsuccessful in finding Greg a health match among 25 family members, friends and neighbors who tried to donate including his children. His wife Tricia found out she wasnt a match either, but that didnt stop her from giving. So if I keep going with this, what do I get for Greg? Tricia asked. And basically they said, well, if you donate a kidney, the National Kidney Registry will help you search for his kidney. Registry workers quickly found someone Tricia matched a patient in Pennsylvania so she went in for surgery. Now, Tricia is putting her energy into a national search for Greg and shes using her experience to let others know there are other ways to help loved ones in need of a kidney. They have been handing out cards about his search for a kidney with a Catholic prayer on the back Thats part of being our support system, and weve had a marvelous support system in all of this. He says all the time that he can tell that there are prayers and that they are working because they give him the patience to go on. The Kents are confident that Gregs match is out there as the search continues. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. Charlotte man who shot at NoDa bartender and shot an officers leg makes plea deal A 34-year-old Charlotte man who shot a police officer in the leg after being kicked out of a NoDa bar in 2022 will spend at least four years in prison. The Mecklenburg District Attorneys Office agreed to drop some charges in exchange for a guilty plea from Toddrick McFadden on July 29 to charges of assaulting an officer with a firearm and shooting into occupied property, according to court records. Some charges, including attempted first-degree murder, were dropped as part of McFaddens plea agreement, records show. The DAs office also dropped some charges from 2020, including malicous conduct by a prisoner and communicating threats. McFadden got kicked out of the Blind Pig on E. 36th Street for not paying his tab early on June 28, 2022, according to a news release Monday from District Attorney Spencer Merriweather. He then shot at a bartender who was taking out trash. Someone called CMPD, and after officers arrived, McFadden shot an officer in the leg and fled, the press release said. Surveillance video and a debit card McFadden used help lead police to his house, and he surrendered after briefly refusing to come out. CMPDs crime lab matched casings at the scene to McFaddens pistol, the district attorneys office said. McFadden has faced other criminal charges dating back to 2008, according to court records. After the Blind Pig shooting, he was released after posting a $170,000 bond, which Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings said at the time was too low. Superior Court Judge David H. Strickland sentenced McFadden last month to serve between 51 and 74 months. CHEROKEE COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) A high school in Cherokee County kicked the school year off with an all-new initiative to fight back against teen suicide rates. Staff at Gaffney High School introduced The Hope Squad. It involves a team of forty students who can alert an adult when one of their peers is showing signs of distress. Students are nominated to the program and receive basic mental health training. I think adults who are in the building are sometimes intimidating for our students. So, by reaching out and making it available to one another, and spreading the word is the key to that because one life lost is too many, said Gaffney High School Principal Dr. Eric Blanton. School leaders told 7NEWS the initiative is crucial after losing two of their students to suicides ahead of the 2021-2022 school year. Laura Blanton helped kick the program into action at Gaffney High School, and currently serves as the program coordinator for The Hope Squad. The idea is that students are more likely to talk to their peers than anyone else about their problems. And those students who are in the Hope Squad are trained to talk to their friends about getting the help they need to prevent suicide attempts, said Blanton. The Hope Squad is in its pilot stage at Gaffney High School. Principal Dr. Eric Blanton explained that if all goes as planned, all Cherokee County schools will have something similar in place later this year. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSPA 7NEWS. KIGALI, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- At the invitation of the Rwandan side, Liu Jianchao, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, led a CPC delegation to attend the inauguration ceremony of Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Kigali on Sunday and Monday. During the visit, Liu exchanged views with President Kagame and met with Secretary General of the Rwandan Patriotic Front Wellars Gasamagera. Liu discussed China-Rwanda relations with the Rwandan side and promoted the guiding principles of the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee. Both sides agreed to jointly implement the critical consensus reached by leaders of the two countries, strengthen interparty exchanges, enhance political dialogue, consolidate strategic mutual trust, and deepen cooperation under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced a Chicago attorney to 25 years in prison for helping embezzle more than $8 million from a small Bridgeport neighborhood bank that later collapsed, calling him a delusional and unrepentant criminal who abused the trust placed in him as a lawyer. Robert Kowalski, 62, was convicted by a jury last year on all counts of embezzlement, bankruptcy fraud and income tax fraud after a 3 -week trial before U.S. District Chief Judge Virginia Kendall, where Kowalski took the unusual and typically ill-advised step of representing himself. The long-running case featured years of bizarre pretrial hearings that saw Kowalski locked up for violating his bond and filing dozens of motions alleging investigators were hiding evidence and colluding with the judge to railroad him. It was more of the same during Tuesdays five-hour sentencing hearing, where Kowalski repeatedly interrupted the judge and prosecutors with complaints of unfair treatment. For the most part, Kendall listened patiently to Kowalskis rants. But when he repeatedly interrupted her as she issued the sentence, the judge cut him off with a sharp Enough. You are absolutely incapable of looking at the reality of this situation and your role in it, Kendall said to Kowalski, who stood at the lectern in an orange jail outfit with deputy U.S. marshals flanking him. You fabricated records to the IRS, you fabricated records to the bankruptcy court You are absolutely delusional that you are a victim of this case. Youre not. Kendall said Kowalskis criminal culpability was further exacerbated by his status as an attorney and that he helped steal from a community bank where people felt that they could trust that bank to hold their money. You do not have any respect for the rule of law, she said. After the judge imposed the 25-year prison term and $7.2 million forfeiture, Kowalski shouted, This is not right! For all my hard work I get a life sentence? This is very unfair. This is a day of evil. Kowalski was among 14 defendants charged in an alleged multiyear embezzlement scheme that preceded the failure of Washington Federal Bank for Savings, a family-run institution that had been a mainstay in the citys Bridgeport neighborhood for more than a century. Kowalski, who was a large debtor of the bank when it was closed by regulators in December 2017, was accused of conspiring with the banks president, John Gembara, to rack up millions in collateral-free loans, then lying about and concealing assets and income in bankruptcy proceedings and on his tax returns. Police records show Gembara, 56, was found dead on Dec. 3, 2017, in the Park Ridge home of a bank customer where he had been staying. An autopsy report showed Gembara was found seated in a chair in his bedroom with a rope tied to the banister and around his neck. His death was ruled a suicide by the Cook County medical examiners office. The sprawling investigation also led to one other high-profile trial. Patrick Daley Thompson, the then-11th Ward alderman and scion of the Daley political dynasty, was convicted in 2021 of two counts of lying to federal regulators about loans he had with Washington Federal and falsely claiming mortgage interest deductions on his tax returns. Thompson, who by law was forced to step down immediately after his conviction, was sentenced to four months in prison. Prosecutors said in their opening statement last month that Kowalski used his friendship with Gembara to turn Washington Federal into his own piggy bank, getting collateral-free loans to bankroll his real estate developments and using letters of credit from the bank to fool other creditors. Kowalski, meanwhile, tried to pin the blame on Gembara, saying his friend ran a scheme that allegedly involved years of bad loans, shifting collateral, forged signatures and even cash buried by one of his customers somewhere in the Cayman Islands. He didnt start out to be a bad man, but his plan was terrible, Kowalski said in his opening statement to the jury. It wasnt George Bailey in Its a Wonderful Life. The jury deliberated only about an hour before convicting him on all counts. jmeisner@chicagotribune.com ALTOONA, Pa. (WTAJ) A 5-year-old was seen at Sheetz, allegedly covered in food and feces, prompting a call to Altoona police and the arrest of the childs father. Gavin James Lynch, 27 (Blair County Prison) Gavin James Lynch, 27, of Altoona, was charged with child endangerment, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness after police were called to Sheetz on Plank Road in Altoona Sunday, Aug. 11, at around 7:14 p.m. According to charges filed, police arrived to find Lynch and his 5-year-old daughter walking down Plank Road. Police said a Sheetz employee inside had called 911 after the two were inside of the store where Lynch allegedly bought a Black & Mild. The employee told police the child had on socks but no shoes and when they left, Lynch left one of the kids socks behind. Police said when they found Lynch and the child, he was sitting with the kid in his lap and he was swaying back and forth, the criminal complaint reads. Police noted that his pupils were dilated and he was unresponsive to them. They also observed the child to be covered in filth that appeared to be food and feces and that flies and gnats were being attracted to her diaper, which appeared to be full. 4-year-old dies after falling in neighbors pool in Altoona As time passed and Lynch became more coherent, police said he claimed he got into an argument with the childs mother and she left them. Lynch went on to tell police that someone passing by offered them food from McDonalds and that he was just trying to get home, the complaint shows. Lynch, while coherent, was still slurring his speech. Police asked if he was under the influence of anything and he claimed he hadnt used anything in six months. According to the complaint, Lynch proceeded to show signs of impairment during multiple field sobriety tests administered by officers. When placed into custody, police noted that they could then smell alcohol on Lynchs breath. He allegedly began to tense up and thrash back and forth, resisting being put in a patrol car. Police said he then began to hit his head against the plexiglass cage in the cruiser, causing a gash to his forehead. Stay up to date with the latest news in the palm of your hand. Click here to download the WTAJ app for Apple and Android devices. Lynch was taken to UPMC Altoona for further evaluation before ultimately being placed in Blair County Prison with his bail set at $40,000. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTAJ - www.wtaj.com. HONOLULU (KHON2) A 16-year-old teen was shot while on a city bus at around 3:30 p.m. on Friday, August 9. Honolulu police said he was struck by a bullet fired by two males who were riding on a moped. Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You As of Monday, HPD said the investigation continues, and wouldnt specify if the victim and suspects knew one another. A video was recovered showing the moped circling around the bus, which was at a stop, before the suspects took off. I contacted OTS, and I learned of the 485 buses we have in our city fleet, all of them do have both exterior and interior cameras, Honolulu City Council Public Safety Chair Val Okimoto said. According to Okimoto, the Friday afternoon incident was not caught on the exterior cameras of the bus. The footage from the interior cameras were given to HPD. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news The Department of Transportation Services claims that the cameras are regularly maintained. However, parents are raising concerns after the Department of Education canceled a number of school bus routes due to a shortage of drivers on island, and were told public transportation could be a way to get their kid to school. Katherine Thomas has two kids in middle school. She said she didnt receive notice about the school buses until three days before school started. She and her husband have busy schedules and had to make adjustments because she was hesitant to have them take public transportation. After Fridays shooting, she said it was a no-brainer. I was shocked, Thomas said. That was definitely one of the concerns in the back of my mind. My kids do not take public transportation regularly, so on top of having that as a potential option to put my kids on the bus, having to work with them to learn the bus schedule, now we have to fear for their safety as well? That was a stopper for me, that was not going to be an option to put my kids on the bus. HIDOE: 34 school bus routes restored; 113 remain suspended Our students safety and I cant stress this enough should be our number one priority, Rep. Trish La Chica said, who is vice chair of the Committee on Education. La Chica plans to host a special hearing with the committee on education to discuss solutions for the driver shortage. Right now, there are areas where were falling short, and I dont want to see our kids just be vulnerable and think their safety is at risk, she added. She said getting kids to school safely and on time is a priority, and one many parents are concerned about. This is an unfortunate, isolated situation that happened at the beginning of the school year, we hope it doesnt happen again, but this is something again I would like to continue to work with HPD and OTS with, and working together so when it happens we can look at the situation and see if there are any changes that need to be made to improve public safety, said Okimoto. Workforce shortages prompt HIDOE to cancel school bus routes for some areas Okimoto, who is a parent herself, said for the most part, taking the city bus is safe, and parents should always teach kids best safety precautions. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KHON2. A 44-year-old Ventura County man is facing 325 years to life in prison after a jury convicted him on 13 felony counts of lewd acts upon a child, authorities announced Monday. Prosecutors said that in May 2020, a 6-year-old victim of Jesus Andrew Sapien disclosed to her mother and, later, detectives with the Port Hueneme Police Department, that then 40-year-old had molested her several times over many months, a news release from the Ventura County District Attorneys Office stated. During the investigation, two additional children came forward and reported repeated sexual abuse by Sapien, who had gained access to the victims through a family relationship. Jesus Andrew Sapien In their decision against Sapien, the jury also found the defendant guilty of aggravating circumstances and special allegations that included the three victims being under the age of 14, that they were vulnerable, and that Sapien engaged in substantial abuse of the victims. 36 arrested, $25K in stolen merch recovered in Southern California raid I commend the victims for their extraordinary courage in standing up to their abuser and telling the truth, Deputy DA Benjamin Moreno, who prosecuted the case, said. Their unwavering bravery has led to justice being served today. I also extend my sincere gratitude to the jury for their careful consideration of the emotional evidence. I hope that this verdict provides the victims with a sense of closure as they continue their journey towards healing. Sapien, who remains in custody without bail, is scheduled to be sentenced in September in Ventura County Superior Court. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. China says it has an uncrewed cargo plane that can carry 4,400 pounds that just made its 20-minute maiden flight China says it has an uncrewed cargo plane that can carry 4,400 pounds that just made its 20-minute maiden flight China tested its largest unmanned cargo aircraft, capable of carrying 4,400 pounds. The maiden flight lasted 20 minutes at Fengming General Aviation Airport in Sichuan. This aircraft advances China's "low-altitude economy," projected to be worth $279 billion by 2030. China tested its biggest unmanned cargo aircraft to date and it's capable of carrying 4,400 pounds of load. The plane completed its maiden flight on Sunday morning, which lasted about 20 minutes. The flight was conducted in Fengming General Aviation Airport in China's southwestern Sichuan province, according to state media CCTV. The new aircraft has a wingspan of 52.8 feet, around the width of an Olympic-sized swimming pool. CCTV wrote in its report that "it is the largest and domestically produced large-scale unmanned transport aircraft currently developed in China." Developed by state-funded drone manufacturing company Sichuan Tengden Sci-tech Innovation Co, the new aircraft is a step forward in progressing the country's "low-altitude economy." This refers to economic activities that take place in airspace 0.6 miles above the earth's surface, per the South China Morning Post. Drones and flying taxis, which are categorized by the term unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), are included in this "low altitude economy," which is forecast to be worth $279 billion by 2030, per Reuters. There were 1.87 million UAVs registered in China as of June this year, SCMP reported, citing data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China. The new cargo plane test comes as China has already started commercial drone deliveries. In April, the SCMP reported that drone company Phoenix Wings started a commercial cargo drone route to hasten deliveries of goods between Shenzhen and Zhongshan in southeastern China, a 43-mile stretch. The low-cost delivery service is priced at $5.60 per order and can be completed within 45 minutes, cutting delivery time by nearly an hour, the outlet reported. Meanwhile, helicopter taxis are becoming a thing in China. Reuters reported that a crewed commercial passenger helicopter took its maiden flight from Kunshun, a city in Jiangsu province, to Shanghai Pudong Airport on Saturday. It slashed travel time from several hours to just 20 minutes, per the outlet. Read the original article on Business Insider Aug 13, 2024, 1:23pm EDT The News Wang Yi, Chinas top diplomat, heads to Myanmar and Thailand on Tuesday to meet his counterparts, Beijings foreign ministry said. In a state media piece published Tuesday, Wang wrote that China is striving to reform and improve the global governance system and safeguard world peace and stability, especially in the Global South, which Beijing believes is gaining momentum economically. SIGNALS Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories. Global South vital for Chinas economic survival Source: The Washington Post As the West tries to isolate China, Beijing is pursuing a deliberate campaign to court developing countries by funding infrastructure projects through its Belt and Road Initiative and ramping up security engagement with nations that have felt at odds with American foreign policy, The Washington Post reported. China understands the Wests arrogance and the weakness of the Wests approaches in developing countries, said a Tsinghua University academic. But Chinas own projection of power limits its strategy to exploit this anti-West sentiment in the Global South, a political science expert argued, such as by alienating the Philippines with aggressive maritime tactics in the South China Sea. Chinas economic dominance raises dumping fears Sources: The Diplomat, Bloomberg Thailand sees China as crucial for its post-COVID economic recovery, The Diplomat reported, but the government is worried that its rapid acceleration in the Thai market is disenfranchising local workers. More than 3,500 factories producing cheap goods have closed in the last four years, according to one local Thai outlet, which officials blamed on the flood of low-cost Chinese imports. Thailand is boosting custom inspections and slapping import taxes to limit Chinese competition, mirroring measures taken by Indonesia, Vietnam, and Malaysia. But Bangkok has to strike a balance between protecting local businesses and adhering to international trade agreements, a Thai government official told Bloomberg, and it is wary of characterizing the anti-dumping policies as a response to China for fear of reprisal. Stability in Myanmar remains elusive Sources: United States Institute of Peace, The Diplomat Myanmar is proving to be a hurdle in Chinas efforts to be perceived as an international peacekeeper, including a failed attempt to broker peace through coercing the military junta into conceding land. Gains by ethnic rebel groups have decimated trade across the China-Myanmar border, cut off Beijings links to the Indian Ocean, and imperiled a strategic oil pipeline project all compounding Chinas economic woes. China is now pushing for an impossible nationwide election in Myanmar that the junta doesnt have the ability to carry out, The Diplomat wrote. Instead, the country is more likely to see a Chinese election, a human-rights advocate argued, where Beijing will provide logistics and advisers, and polls will be conducted only in military-controlled areas. A gunman in the 2015 murder of rapper Chinx has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for his role in the grisly shooting. On Monday (Aug. 12), Quincy Homere, who previously plead guilty to one count of first-degree manslaughter in connection to Chinxs death, received his sentence in a Queens courtroom, marking the end of a lengthy battle for justice for the rappers family. Quincy Homere was sentenced today to 23 years in prison for killing Lionel Pickens Jr., a successful rapper, husband and father who was mercilessly gunned down in 2015, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement. Hip-hop artist Chinx attends 106 & Park on June 11, 2014 in New York City. Homere fired numerous rounds into Pickens car while he was stopped at a red light in Briarwood and then fled, leaving the young man for dead. Nothing can undo what happened, but I hope todays sentence brings some solace to Pickens loved ones as they continue to grieve. Chinxs widow, Janelli Caceres, was in attendence throughout the court proceedings and shared her experience being in the presence of the man responsible for taking her childrens fathers life. It was pretty emotional, Caceres told FOX 5 NYs Lisa Evers. I literally cried the whole time sitting there, actually staring at him, because theres so many different thoughts and words are running through your head, and you know you have to keep your composure. Chinx Caceres, who shared three children with Chinx, detailed the grief shes endured while facing her husbands murderer. A lot of sadness, a lot of hurt, a lot of anger. The DA sat with me most of the time until it was time for him to present, but I was there by myself, so it was a lot, she added. Homere, also known as Qwality, had a beef with Chinx that stemmed from an altercation between the two on Rikers Island years prior to the shooting. Homere, who was an aspiring rapper himself, is said to have become jealous of Chinxs success and set out to get retribution for their previous run-in. According to law enforcement, Homere and an accomplice stalked the rappers vehicle from a Brooklyn nightclub to Queens, where he and an accomplice pulled beside Chinxs car and opened fire, striking the rapper and an occupant before fleeing the scene. Chinx Best known for his work as a member of French Montanas Coke Boys crew, Chinx was a rising star in Hip-Hop prior to his death, having worked with the likes of Diddy, Akon, Mac Miller, Rick Ross, Wale, Juicy J and more. The rappers estate has released four posthumous albums since his passing, including his debut album, Welcome to JFK, Legends Never Die, CR6, and Cocaine Riot 7. More from VIBE.com A-level pupils should choose a degree they enjoy over one based on future earning potential, university chiefs have suggested. A record number of students across England, Wales and Northern Ireland are due to receive their A-level results this week as they decide what to study next and where. Experts have predicted that getting onto the most prestigious courses this year will be easier as universities face financial pressure to fill places following a drop in international students. Extra places on courses that are more competitive are expected to be made available through clearing, with university bosses previously saying students would be likely to trade up their existing offers. However, they acknowledged that pupils often face conflicting advice from teachers and their families over whether to prioritise prospects over passion. Writing in The Telegraph, the chief executives of Ucas and Universities UK (UUK) say that pupils need to think about whats important. Jo Saxton, the chief of Ucas, and Vivienne Stern of UUK, say: The aim here is for students to gain a place on the course that they are passionate about. Clearing now offers an opportunity for students to reassess their choices once they know their results and find a course that best matches their aspirations and strengths. It also provides an opportunity to explore courses they might not have previously considered. Ms Saxton said on Tuesday that pupils were facing pressure from parents to choose a degree based on how big a salary they can earn in future. Speaking at a webinar hosted by the Higher Education Policy Institute, she said that students she had spoken to recently talked about how difficult it is to hear conflicting advice. Youve got teachers in school and college saying you know pursue the thing that you absolutely love, and then influence from families and carers to do the subjects that are just perceived to be the ones that you most get highly paid from, she said. Analysis by The Telegraph earlier this year suggested degrees in medicine and dentistry yielded the highest earnings per subject, with an average of 52,750 a year across all UK universities. Economics came second with 41,400, followed by computing on 37,600. At the other end of the scale, performing arts graduates were the most poorly remunerated across all UK universities, with salaries averaging just 22,000 after five years well below average, and barely more than the roughly 19,000 salary of someone working 35 hours a week on minimum wage. Click here to view this content. Ms Saxton said that while there has been a huge surge in interest for all things Stem (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) as pupils try to boost their salaries, they should consider their options more broadly. She said that every kind of course under the sun was available through clearing this year as top universities scramble for students, adding that there would be absolutely, absolutely loads of choice including previously oversubscribed courses. Clearing is open to students who do not meet the conditions of their offer on A-level results day, as well as those who did not receive any offers or have changed their mind about their university choice. The top Russell Group of universities are offering a greater number of courses through clearing, with around 3,892 courses available across 18 out of the 24 institutions at the latest count. Click here to view this content. Ucas data published earlier this year showed a continued demand for Stem courses among pupils applying to university this year. Since 2023, applications for engineering and technology courses increased by 10 per cent, while both mathematical sciences and computing rose by seven per cent. Separate data published by the Higher Education Statistics Authority last week showed a similar rise in the overall numbers of students enrolled on Stem-related undergraduate courses, while those on many humanities courses declined. The number of undergraduates enrolled on computing courses increased eight per cent compared with 2022, while subjects linked to medicine grew one per cent to become the second-most popular type of course. Business and management degrees were the most popular undergraduate choice after total enrolments rose five per cent to 359,000. Meanwhile, the total number of undergraduates enrolled on English literature and foreign language degrees declined 3 per cent last year to 67,000, and those studying history, philosophy and religion sank 5 per cent to 60,000. Ms Saxton, who received a 2:1 in her undergraduate degree in history of art at the University of Cambridge and now earns six figures, suggested it came as students have become hyper-focused on the value of degrees, saying that the cost of living is the number one thing on [students] minds. Meanwhile, a survey published on Wednesday suggested that while the majority of employers overlook the type of university where graduates studied, they did prioritise applicants skills and degree subjects. Fewer than one in 10 British employers said the type of university which graduates attended was an important factor in the recruitment process, according to a poll by CBI Economics. The survey of 252 employers found that the most important characteristic in the graduate recruitment process was their enthusiasm and attitude towards the role, which was chosen by 68 per cent. This was followed by skills and competencies other than academic knowledge, with 55 per cent of employers saying they prioritised this. More than half said they looked at the subject studied by applicants at university. Securing a fantastic investment By Jo Saxton and Vivienne Stern It is a really good year to be a student, with universities and colleges making a record two million offers. There has been quite a lot of coverage focused on the fall in applicants this year. Whilst its true there has been a 0.2 percentage point decline in the proportion of UK 18-year-olds applying to university, the number of applicants is actually up, as the 18-year-old population continues to grow. In fact, were seeing the second-highest number of UK 18-year-old applicants on record 321,410 this year, up from 319,570 last year (up 0.6 per cent), with more students this year entering the results period with that university offer in hand. Alongside this there has been a continued decrease in mature applicants however, as well as applicants for courses in teacher training and healthcare professions. Turning that decline around is important, given that all of us would like to see more teachers and nurses. As is the case every cycle, we anticipate the majority of students will get their first (Ucas firm) choice. But for those who dont get the grades they were hoping for, or if you are supporting someone who ends up in this position on results day, be assured that there are plenty of options to explore in clearing. We would encourage students to research all options available to them ahead of results day and to have a plan ready it is best to be prepared for all eventualities, even if they dont end up needing it. Have a look at the courses which are currently available in Ucas clearing and find out a little bit about the universities offering them. Its also worth thinking about whats important; a big university or a small one, a campus surrounded by fields or a big city? The most important thing is to be prepared, even to the point of having phone numbers ready which are all available on http://ucas.com. The aim here is for students to gain a place on the course that they are passionate about. The idea of entering clearing may seem daunting at first, particularly to parents and carers. Every year, tens of thousands of students go through this process and last year, a record 39,620 UK 18-year-olds got a place through clearing almost 14 per cent more than 2022. This shift is partly due to changes in how students engage with clearing. More applicants are now using clearing after changing their minds or getting better grades than expected. Clearing now offers an opportunity for students to reassess their choices once they know their results and find a course that best matches their aspirations and strengths. It also provides an opportunity to explore courses they might not have previously considered. Clearing is for students of all ages and background, including students who havent even started their application yet. Students will then be able to add a clearing choice from 1pm on results day itself. Route to success Whatever route students take to get there, university continues to be a fantastic investment for the future. We know the decision to go to university is a big one, with many factors at play and it is not the only route to success. But the data shows that it continues to be a great investment and a great vehicle for social mobility. The simple fact remains: the more you learn, the more you are likely to earn across your working life. Graduates overtake those who chose not to go university within just a few years and, on average, earn at least 20 per cent more once they are in their mid-20s. There are especially positive outcomes for students from less advantaged backgrounds graduates who previously received Free School Meals on average end up earning 41,400 more than non-graduates from the same background. Going to university narrows the gap between the most advantaged and the most disadvantaged, and sets people up for a lifetime of opportunities that they may not otherwise have had. The benefits are not just financial though going to university is a chance to find their feet, meet people from all walks of life and explore and debate different ideas. Every university has different specialities and strengths from very small and close campus communities to huge city centre powerhouses of teaching and research. We have some of the worlds leading universities in this country, but they come in many different shapes and sizes including some of the worlds best places to study creative subjects like art and music. We are incredibly lucky to have such a wide range of options available in the UK. There is a wealth of support and a range of options available for students. Ucas and university admissions staff have spent months preparing to support students in a range of positions, including those who decide they want to apply to university at the last minute. From the moment support lines open at 8am, advisers and university admissions teams will have their ears to the phone and fingers on the keyboard ready to walk applicants through Clearing and make sure they are informed about their options. Having listened in on some of these calls, we know that students are often quite anxious when they call but generally end up reassured and confident that they have good options. To all the students, and their families, carers, friends and loved ones good luck. Whatever the outcome on Thursday, we congratulate every student who has worked hard to get to this point and we will celebrate their journeys and achievements with them. Click here to view this content. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. MERCED COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) A CHP Merced captain helped a German family on a road trip on Highway 99 until they hit a bump in the road. While on duty and heading back to the officer, Captain Tony Dominguez of CHP Merced noticed a family on the side of Highway 99 who needed a hand. According to CHP, the group of international tourists from Germany were on a road trip to Bishop, with plans to explore Yellowstone National Park when their adventure hit a bump in the road -and they found themselves with a flat tire. Captain Dominguez assisted with the tire change so their journey through the United States continued smoothly, according to CHP. Thanks to this, the familys road trip was back on track. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47. EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) Free flu vaccines are being provided by the City of El Paso Department of Public Health through their Be POWERflu campaign. In partnership with the El Paso Fire Department, the Be POWERflu campaign is providing free flu vaccines for individuals 6 months and older at any of the Citys four Community Clinics, the City said in a news release. The El Paso Community Clinics require no appointments or insurance and are open from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and close for lunch from noon to 1 p.m., according to the City. The clinics are at the following locations: 7380 Remcon Circle 721 S. Mesa St. 9566 Railroad Dr. 9341 Alameda Ave. The City is also collaborating with local organizations on Be POWERflu pop-up events: El Paso Animal Services Drive-Thru Wellness Event: Vax Your Pet and Vax Yourself! From 8 to 10 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 18 at 6500 Bonanza St. Free pet vaccines and microchips. El Paso Parks and Recreation Department 3K Walk or Run: Celebrate Live Active El Paso From 8 to 10 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 24 at Marty Robins Park (11620 Vista Del Sol Dr.) Fitness sessions with free t-shirts, raffles, giveaways and live DJ. For more information about flu vaccines and locations on upcoming flu events, visit BePowerFlu.com. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. THE HAGUE, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Giethoorn, a picturesque village in the northwest of the Netherlands, is often described as a living postcard. With its wooden bridges connecting charming thatched-roof houses, restaurants, hotels, and campsites, the village radiates a serene beauty. Once a destination primarily for European tourists, Giethoorn has recently seen a surge in popularity among visitors from China. "I've lost count of how many times I've visited Giethoorn," said Zhu Xi, a Chinese agricultural scholar currently working in the Netherlands. Zhu first visited the village years ago while studying in the Netherlands and was immediately captivated by its tranquil, idyllic scenery. The village's charm continues to draw her back time and again. In recent years, Chinese tourists have become a key demographic for the Netherlands, notable for their large numbers and significant spending power. According to the Netherlands Board of Tourism and Conventions (NBTC), Chinese tourists are among the highest spenders of all international visitors to the country. Their interests extend beyond sightseeing and shopping; many are increasingly drawn to sustainable tourism practices, including energy conservation, waste reduction, and the use of clean energy, reflecting a growing commitment to eco-friendly travel, as noted by the NBTC. In 2023, China emerged as one of the fastest-growing source markets for Dutch tourism. The NBTC reported that Dutch hotels hosted 177,000 visitors from China in 2023, more than double the figure from 2022. The agency predicts that with the increase in flights between China and the Netherlands, the number of Chinese tourists will continue to rise in 2024. Dutch tourism promoter Gabriella Esselbrugge, who played a pivotal role in introducing Giethoorn to the Chinese market, has observed a shift in how Chinese tourists experience the village. More young travelers are opting for extended stays, immersing themselves in the local lifestyle and embracing the village's slow pace of life. To meet this growing interest, Giethoorn now offers workshops on traditional Dutch agriculture and modern sustainable farming practices. "We showcase Dutch expertise in water management," Esselbrugge said, explaining that these workshops give tourists a deeper understanding of the region's cultural and agricultural heritage, blending tradition with innovation. Having traveled extensively in China, Esselbrugge has been struck by the parallels between Dutch and Chinese approaches to environmental protection and sustainable development. "I've noticed many similarities between our approaches, and there's a lot we can learn from each other," she said. Reflecting on Giethoorn's many bridges, Esselbrugge added, "These bridges connect our thatched-roof homes to the main roads, bringing people together. They symbolize how we reach out to the world to learn, and how the world, in turn, comes to understand us. It's a powerful metaphor for the connections we all need." COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) The owners of a west Columbus apartment complex have been given a court order to increase safety in and around the property. According to the City Attorneys Office, court action was necessary to clean up an apartment complex that has been the subject to over 150 calls for service in recent years. A 16-unit apartment complex on North Huron Avenue in the Hilltop has been the site of significant drug trafficking and gang related activity. Columbus police have responded to over 150 calls for service, including incidents of drug sales, overdoses, shots fired, stabbings, break-ins and assault. In August 2022 police engaged in a standoff with a person who pointed a weapon at officers. Blendon Township police officer indicted on murder charges in shooting of TaKiya Young On multiple occasions police were informed of narcotics sales and stopped alleged suspects who indicated several apartment units were operating as drug houses. The court injunction details that the propertys landlords agreed to several enhanced security measures, including right of access to police, fire code enforcement and court compliance officers to ensure the courts orders are being followed. Landlords must also provide a list of tenants, and anyone banned from the property. Every tenant will also be required to sign a crime-free lease addendum and submit to background checks which will be shared with CPD. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV. City of Las Vegas targeted with legal action by rural preservation association group over LDS temple vote LAS VEGAS (KLAS) A group of Nevada homeowners are asking a Clark County District Court to intervene following an alleged erroneous vote of a religious temple. The Nevada Rural Preservation Alliance, a non-profit group made up of and representing Nevada homeowners, alleged Sunday that the City of Las Vegas City Council made a clear error during a unanimous July 17 vote which approved a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints temple. Homeowners cited what they believe to be issues of how City of Las Vegas staff interpreted material in the Interlocal Agreement, a document which outlines building restrictions in the area. Evan Schwab, the attorney representing homeowners, outlined several concerns with city staffs findings prior to the city council vote. Las Vegas City Council abused its discretion and the findings/rulings, Schwab wrote. The City of Las Vegas were not supported by substantial evidence. Zoning districts, county regulations, and state law were cited by Schwab as being misinterpreted or not considered by city staff in their review before the city council vote. Kaempfer and Cromwell, a Nevada law firm that represented the interests of the LDS church earlier this year, was cited as allegedly contributing to Las Vegas City Council members ahead of votes regarding the LDS temple. Lone Mountain, public records seen by DailyMail.com show the LDS law firm gave $70,000 in individual campaign contributions, Schwab wrote. Shortly before it purchased the parcel of land on which it intends to build. 8 News Now did obtain documents that showed campaign contributions to City Councilwoman Francis Allen-Palenske from Kaempfer and Cromwell but have not obtained documents regarding other city council members. Schwab alleged numerous codes and regulations conflicting with the LDS temple project which city staff previously have cited some as being irrelevant to a religious building. This is a developing story. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS. DUBLIN, Ohio (WCMH) Dublin officials are striking down a pitch by Dublin City Schools to buy a central Ohio healthcare providers headquarters for $37 million to serve as a new high school for the district. The school district settled on a purchase agreement with Cardinal Health to buy the companys 250,000 square-foot west campus headquarters at 7200 Cardinal Place. However, the Dublin Planning and Zoning Commission rejected the idea during an Aug. 8 meeting and argued that rezoning the site from commercial to academic use would not align with the citys Envision Dublin community plan, which went into effect Aug. 1. Restraint of a student spurs investigation, resignations and community divide We are eight days into the plan. To recommend violating the plan, eight days in, after having 18 months of planning where Dublin City Schools was at the table and planning right along with us, I dont think that would be what the city council is looking for, said Rebecca Call, chair of the planning and zoning commission. The district settled an agreement to buy Cardinals west campus headquarters. (Franklin County Auditors Office) The district settled an agreement to buy Cardinals west campus headquarters. (Franklin County Auditors Office) John Marschhausen, superintendent of Dublin schools, said during the meeting that the district is anticipating 2,000 more high school students over the next eight to 10 years. He explained that the upcoming Bishop Elementary will be over capacity when the building opens next fall, and Eversole Run Middle School and Abraham Depp Elementary already use modulars for overflow. Marschhausen argued the districts acquisition of Cardinals now empty building makes the most financial sense given the cost to build a high school would be more than $200 million. The superintendent also noted that the $145 million bond issue and a 7.9 mill operating levy that passed last year grants the district the authority to issue another $40 million in debt, which would allow Dublin schools to buy the building without going back to the voters for additional resources. How Columbus residents can get up to $2,500 for an e-bike Taxes are very high in Dublin. We were very fortunate to pass our most recent levy, said Marschhausen. Working together, if we can get 250,000 square feet thats usable as academic space, it be a opportunity for us as a school district and community to save our taxpayers over $150 million. Ed Daniels, Cardinals chief security officer, reiterated to the committee that the building has been emptied by Cardinal, so theres no revenue being generated. Daniels said Cardinal, who moved its operations to inside the building directly to the east, is likely to keep the west building empty if the deal with Dublin schools does not progress. We are very conscious about who we are going to be next to and, if we sell that property to someone, we dont control that, said Daniels. We sell it to the schools, we know for the foreseeable future who our neighbor is going to be. High Bank Distillery sets opening date for eatery in historic post office Still, Call said Envision Dublin outlines a very black and white picture for the site and reaffirmed that the committee will not deviate from the plan. And, regardless of the plan, Call argued the property raises a number of concerns given its proximity to Interstate 270, and urged Dublin schools to assess other local buildings for conversion opportunities. We do have other areas in this city that are office uses that are empty buildings that could have equally fiscally-fortuitous opportunities outside of the particular Cardinal campus that I would invite you to explore, she said. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV. Iowa Workforce Development manages unemployment claims filed on behalf of Iowans. (Photo by Getty Images, logo courtesy the State of Iowa) A City of Des Moines worker resigned recently after being accused of mocking a disabled colleague, using a racial slur and threatening his colleagues. State records indicate Bryan P. Nelson worked for the City of Des Moines as a public works maintenance employee from April 2016 until he quit on May 23, 2024. According to the findings of an administrative law judge who presided over a recent hearing on Nelsons application for unemployment benefits, in early May the city received three complaints about Nelson from his co-workers. Two of the complaints alleged Nelson had used the N-word to describe a specific Black co-worker, and one alleged he had used the word in reference to Black people generally. Deputy Public Works Director Adam Smith began an investigation in which Nelson was interviewed and allegedly admitted to using the N-word but denied directing it at any specific employee. According to the city, Nelson also admitted joking about a co-workers disability, believing his actions to be in good fun. Nelson, the city alleged, admitted calling the co-worker, who has cerebral palsy, a fing cripple. Later that day, after the interview with Smith, Nelson allegedly wrote on his Facebook page the phrase, Snitches get stitches. He was placed on administrative leave on May 8, and two days later he allegedly posted to his Facebook page the phrase, Im coming for you. On May 22, the city mailed Nelson a notice indicating he was accused of making racist and sexist remarks about his co-workers, making disparaging comments about coworkers with disabilities, discouraging co-workers from reporting his behavior, and making intimidating and threatening statements during the investigation. During a disciplinary hearing, a union representative, Tom Hayes, allegedly sent a Nelson a text message in which he told Nelson, Stop talking. Hayes then advised Nelson to resign because he could still use the city as a reference in seeking employment elsewhere. After hearing testimony in the unemployment benefits hearing, Administrative Law Judge Sean Nelson ruled Bryan Nelson was not eligible for benefits because he had resigned voluntarily without good cause attributable to the city. Judge Nelson found that Bryan Nelson had quit not because hed otherwise be fired but because he believed he could still use the employer as a reference if he resigned. Essentially, (he) looked back on his interview with Mr. Smith and guessed that he would be terminated. This is a natural reason to quit, but it is not quitting in lieu of termination. The Iowa Capital Dispatch was unable to reach Bryan Nelson for comment on the case. In his ruling, Judge Nelson found that the citys public works department was a very blue-collar working environment where profanity is not uncommon and where workers typically werent disciplined unless the language was directed at another individual with the intent to harm them. Two day care centers in Clive were evacuated on Monday afternoon due to a bomb threat. The Clive Police Department said in a news release that staff at Cadence Academy, a preschool and day care serving kids ages 6 weeks to 5 years old, called around 3:40 p.m. to report an email claiming there was a bomb in the premises. Staff and children were evacuated from the location. Clive police and fire searched the building but didn't find any threats. According to the news release, the same email that threatened Cadence Academy also indicated that KinderCare, another Clive day care, was similarly threatened. KinderCare was evacuated and searched but no threat was found. According to the news release, the process of reunifying children with their parents had already begun before 6 p.m. Both centers were expected to open again as normal Tuesday morning. The release also stated that Clive police will be working with federal agencies to investigate the incident and more information will be released as it becomes available. Clive police took the opportunity to remind parents and guardians of the importance of communication, encouraging anyone whose child is enrolled in a day care to keep their contact information up to date. Ryan Magalhaes is a reporter for the Register. Reach them at rmagalhaes@dmreg.com. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Clive police say two day care centers received bomb threats Monday CNN called Rainier the US volcano troubling scientists the most. How would Tacoma fare? Mount Rainier is central to Tacomas identity, so much so that it appears on the citys logo. But as CNN recently reported, the striking mountain is also an active volcano and no one knows when it will blow. CNN briefly mentioned Tacoma in its June article, Why Mount Rainier is the US volcano that troubles scientists most. One expert told that outlet the volcano keeps [her] up at night. To learn more about how Rainier would hit Tacoma, specifically, The News Tribune asked some experts. Heres what you should know. How would a Rainier eruption affect Tacoma? The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) states that Rainier hasnt had a significant eruption in the past 500 years. The city of Tacoma works closely with its USGS partners, said Tacomas Chief Emergency Management officer Tieka Adeogun. Any signs of impending eruption would spur officials into action. For right now, they (USGS) have not said that anything is going to happen with Mount Rainier, Adeogun said. So I want people to breathe but understand that the hazard is real and the threat is real and it could be 2,500 years from now; it could be 25 years from now. USGS notes in a 1998 Rainier fact sheet that eruptions produce lahars: quick-moving mixtures of water, mud and volcanic rock that behave and look like flowing concrete. While this type of slurry is dangerous, Adeogun said Tacoma would not be at a major risk for lahar activity. Most of the city is uphill. A lahar would likely extend into Tacomas Tide Flats but take at least a couple hours to get there, she said. People would be evacuated out of that area, and roads would be closed in the event of an eruption. Lahar sirens are tested each month. As for the cost? So when we talk with our port partners, were looking at millions of dollars in damage, right? she said. Especially if we get a pretty fast-flowing lahar, something thats going to have a huge impact. Maybe it knocks over some cranes into the waters. The sun rises behind Mount Rainier as seen from Tumwater, Washington, on March 7, 2024. toverman@theolympian.com Most dangerous volcano in the Cascades The lowlands around the Puyallup River, down to Commencement Bay, could be affected by a lahar, said Steve Malone, a retired seismologist with the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network. The farther away from the mountain, the lower and slower a lahar would charge. Apart from the risk to life and limb, infrastructure would be jeopardized. Similar to what happened with Mount St. Helens eruption in 1980, Rainier would show hints for days or weeks in advance, Malone said. Signs such as precursory earthquakes or steaming would grant extra time for authorities to plan and conduct evacuations if needed. Mount St. Helens killed more than 50 people, but Malone said the death toll could have been far higher without the advance warnings. Regardless, Rainier imperils the areas that surround it. Its a heap of sort of unstable rock covered with lots of ice and snow, Malone said. So in that respect, I consider it the most dangerous volcano in the Cascades: its size, amount of ice and snow, and the fact that there are population centers directly in the path of potential lahars. How would a Rainier eruption affect Pierce County? Other parts of Pierce County are at much higher risk of destruction compared with Tacoma. Orting, for instance, has been described as ground zero for volcanic activity. One commenter on Reddit wrote in response to the CNN article: Lahars are why you couldnt pay me to live in Orting. Beautiful town, absolute deathtrap in that situation. The reason why USGS has focused so heavily on keeping an eye on Rainier is because of its proximity to population centers, noted Amy Gillespie, deputy director of Pierce County Emergency Management. The volcano brings two major concerns: ash fall and mudflows. When we look from a mudflow or a lahar perspective, really, were looking at the Ashford-Elbe area, Gillespie said. Were looking at Orting, everything along the Puyallup River Basin and then the White River. In March, more than 45,000 students from Orting, Puyallup, Carbonado, Sumner-Bonney Lake and White River took part in the worlds biggest-ever lahar-evacuation drill, according to USGS. A Rainier eruption also would be costly as far as emergency-response and debris-removal costs, plus temporary housing, she said. Will there always be warning of a lahar? The mountain is essentially monitored at all times, Malone said. Its very unlikely that a volcanic event would sneak up without warning. However, a no-notice or spontaneous lahar could occur in circumstances such as slope failure and intense rainfall. Phew. Then, a worst-case scenario is: Its the middle of the night, and the weathers awful, and here comes a lahar, Malone said. Youve got to jump out of bed and try to get away. Thats a scary, scary scenario. A runner jogs along the Ruston Way Path as Mount Rainier looms through the partly cloudy skies on May 8, 2024, in Tacoma. Brian Hayes/bhayes@thenewstribune.com Associated risks of Rainier eruption Lahars arent the only thing we should be worried about if Rainier erupts. Air quality would plummet, Adeogun said a hazard that sometimes gets overlooked. Mount St. Helens last eruption caused ash to drop from the sky over a period of weeks, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Rainier could disrupt the air quality in states as far away as Idaho, Oregon and California, Adeogun said. Breathing in ash or volcanic gases can be detrimental to your health, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A lot of the focus is largely on the lahars, Adeogun said, but when we look at the impact for Tacoma, thats very minimal compared to the air quality that well face in the city. In this May 18, 1980 file photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey, Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington state, sending a plume of ash many miles skyward. Austin Post/AP How to prepare for when Rainier erupts Adeogun recommends that households stock up on N-95 masks in preparation for a Rainier eruption. Residents would need to close their windows and doors and shut off ventilation systems that connect to outside, she said. Avoid travel. Its unclear how long a sheltering-in-place would last, but it could be a week to well over a month. People should have nonperishable food on hand, she said. Stock up on water, too a gallon per day per person, including pets. Adeogun said shell empty out old milk jugs and fill those with water. In addition, its important to know where ones community supports are located, such as food banks. Adeogun said the city partners well with USGS and other jurisdictions in the county that are closer to Rainier. Just know that if we see something and we hear something, were going to start moving and making sure our citizens are as ready and prepared as possible, Adeogun said. Gillespie highlighted a county-wide Mount Rainier response plan that covers various cities and unincorporated areas as well as neighboring jurisdictions, she said, citing Rainiers potential statewide impacts. The county has been enhancing the plan since 2020-21, Gillespie said. It focuses on notifying the public and first responders, evacuation routes, shelter guidelines and more. Gillespie recommends signing up for Pierce County ALERT, which informs residents of emergencies. She also suggests having a battery-operated weather radio to receive Rainier notifications, something especially handy in the middle of the night. Mike Halliday, spokesperson for the Pierce County Department of Emergency Management, said its important to build an emergency kit. We also really encourage people to get to know their neighbors, he said. Watch out for folks who you know need extra help during any sort of emergency not just this. JD Vance was an early investor in a Kentucky startup that was undermined by lawsuits, employee complaints and later bankruptcy, an investigation by CNN found. AppHarvest, a startup that promised high-tech indoor farming in Eastern Kentucky, went public with major investor backing in 2021. Senate disclosures show Vance joined as a board member in 2017, CNN reported, and he also supported the company in interviews. Narya, his Ohio-based venture capital firm, also invested in AppHarvest. A Vance spokesperson told CNN the vice presidential candidate was unaware of the problems and wished the company had succeeded. A member of AppHarvests senior management team, who chose to remain anonymous, told CNN allegations against the company were not discussed at board meetings during Vance's tenure and that issues such as extreme heat and health insurance arose after Vance left the board. Former employees told the outlet they were subjected to extreme heat inside greenhouses, suffered injuries and heat exhaustion and weren't provided proper protective equipment, among other complaints. Public records obtained by CNN showed complaints were filed with the U.S. Department of Labor and a Kentucky regulator between 2020 and 2023, but state inspections found no violations. AppHarvest also employed contract migrant workers from Mexico, Guatemala and other countries despite touting itself as a company dedicated to bringing jobs to Kentucky, CNN wrote. Vance stepped down as a board member in 2021 when he launched his U.S, Senate bid, but remained an investor. Luke Schroeder, a spokesperson for the Republican vice presidential candidate, told CNN Vance was not aware of the operational decisions regarding hiring, employee benefits, or other workplace policies which were made after he departed AppHarvests board. Like all early supporters, JD believed in AppHarvests mission and wishes the company would have succeeded." AppHarvest launched in Morehead, Kentucky, in 2018. AppHarvest's chief restructuring officer Gary Broadbent told CNN the company "has no continuing operations." Vance, who grew up in Middletown but whose family is from Eastern Kentucky, has often toted his Appalachian roots while on the campaign trail. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: CNN: Workers at JD Vance-supported startup allege poor conditions CHANGCHUN, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Liu Guozhong has called for efforts to minimize the damage to agricultural production caused by recent torrential rains and flooding and to ensure a bumper harvest this autumn and for the year. Liu, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during an investigation and research trip to Liaoning and Jilin provinces in northeast China from Saturday to Monday. He urged measures to drain accumulated water, promote the restoration of affected crops and guide farmers in replanting areas where crops were destroyed. Liu also urged efforts to improve the agriculture sector's capacity for disaster prevention and mitigation, and to step up financial support for the restoration of agricultural production. For farmland unaffected by flooding, steps should be taken to boost output and further consolidate the foundation for a bountiful autumn harvest, he said. Liu also inspected major water conservancy projects in China's northeastern regions, where the flood situation remains complex and severe. He called for strengthening the monitoring and early warning of rainfall conditions and enhancing the defense capabilities against water and drought disasters in these projects. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis speaks during a news conference about a bipartisan property tax reduction bill on May 6, 2024, at the Colorado Capitol. (Quentin Young/Colorado Newsline) A bipartisan property tax commission at the Colorado Legislature heard details Monday of a proposed legislative deal that could be considered during a possible special session, the same day a broad array of civic groups said they would support additional legislation that would keep a pair of property tax initiatives off the ballot in November. When I look at the numbers of the budgets, it is tight to begin with. And these initiatives make me even more worried about what the impact is, Mark Ferrandino, the governors budget director, said. And the long term, because its not a one-year impact. These reductions will be significant and long lasting. A special legislative session could occur later this month to cut property taxes further than lawmakers did in May. The potential deal with backers of the initiatives could stave off the ballot measures, which experts warn would be disastrous for local government revenue. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Analysts briefed members of the property tax commission which was formed during a separate special session on property taxes last fall on what the tax landscape looks like under Senate Bill 24-233, what it could look like if the two initiatives pass, and the outline of a potential compromise during a special session. Together, ballot initiatives 50 and 108 would limit property tax collections and overall revenue growth. Initiative 50 would put a constitutional cap on annual statewide property tax growth. Initiative 108, which is undergoing signature verification and is not officially on the ballot yet, would lower the assessment rate used for property taxes and would result in $2.4 billion less collected in 2026, according to state economists. Many lawmakers and other state leaders want to avoid the two initiatives passage, or prevent them from appearing on the ballot at all. If the Legislature convenes and passes more relief before the Sept. 6 deadline to withdraw initiatives, Michael Fields who leads Advance Colorado, the conservative political nonprofit behind the initiatives could pull them off the ballot. Initiatives 108 and 50 were created by advocates for statewide property tax relief efforts. Unfortunately, these initiatives go too far, swinging the pendulum from responsible reform to immense local budget reductions that threaten the delivery of vital local services, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman and Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade wrote in a joint letter to lawmakers, according to The Colorado Sun. To mitigate these unintended consequences, we urge you to convene a special session to strengthen SB24-233 while maintaining key services upon which Colorado families depend. No assurances The bipartisan SB-233, passed in the last days of the most recent legislative session, was focused on mitigating the sharp increase in property taxes experienced by many Colorado homeowners. Negotiations at the time to remove the ballot initiatives failed. Another letter, signed by social justice groups, business organizations, the states hospital association and education unions, urged lawmakers to meet in a special session to consider one narrow, limited bill to implement an agreed-upon deal. A special session can be called by Gov. Jared Polis or by a two-thirds vote of the Legislature. Ferrandino outlined a deal that would cut the residential assessment rate for local governments further for the 2025 tax year to 6.25%. School district assessment rates would remain separate and fall to 7.05%. Nonresidential assessment rates would drop to 25% in the 2027 tax year. Growth limits for local government revenue would be capped at 10.5% over two years, and school districts would be limited to 12% growth over two years. There is currently no backfill or reimbursement mechanism in the proposal. This seems like a good path forward to end, hopefully, the property tax battles, and de-risk the budget, Ferrandino said. The deal would mean that Advance Colorado and other groups wouldnt bring property tax issues to the ballot for 10 years. Most of us dont object to the policy. Most of us dont even object to a special session, at least thats what Im hearing, Summit County Commissioner Tamara Pogue said. But I think what a lot of us object to is being here over and over again, and having no assurances whatsoever that we wont be back here next June, having the same conversation about different ballot initiatives. Commissioners said they want to see a deal that is enforceable and valid, potentially in a legally-binding way. It is challenging to move forward when you dont believe there is any way to guarantee that the minute the governor signs this into law, then the letter (removing the initiatives) will be sent. Weve got a chicken and egg problem here, said Rep. Cathy Kipp, a Democrat from Fort Collins who expressed her caucus lukewarm view on the proposal. Polis reconvened the Legislature in special session last November to address rising property taxes following the failure of Proposition HH at the ballot box. DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST This story was updated to add a mugshot of Jacob Heckman. BIG FLATS, N.Y. (WETM) A Colorado man was arrested after allegedly shooting a car on the highway during a road rage incident in Big Flats on Monday afternoon. According to the New York State Police Department, a man driving a blue Dodge Dakota pickup truck with Colorado plates shot at a blue Toyota Rav4 with New York plates during a road rage incident on the eastbound side of I-86 in the Town of Big Flats near the Elmira Corning Regional Airport shortly before 12:30 p.m. on Aug. 12. Police say the Toyotas back passenger side door had a bullet hole in it after the reported incident. One arrested on weapon charge following traffic stop in Elmira Troopers searched the area after interviewing the victim and found the suspect. The suspect was identified as Jacob R. Heckman, 40, of Denver, Colorado. Police say Heckman had a .380 caliber Ruger handgun that he was not legally allowed to possess in New York State. Heckman was arrested and charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon (a class C felony) and first-degree reckless endangerment (a class D felony). Elmira man arrested, allegedly punched police officer Heckmans charges were read in the Town of Big Flats Court, and he was taken to the Chemung County Jail. Heckman is being held at the jail on $50,000 cash bail or $200,000 bond. The Chemung County Sheriffs Office and the Horseheads Police Department assisted the New York State Police Department with this investigation. The investigation into this incident is ongoing at this time. Anyone who may have witnessed the alleged road rage incident is asked to contact the New York State Police in Horseheads by calling 607-739-8797. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WETM - MyTwinTiers.com. DENVER (KDVR) Coloradans will get to decide if hunters should be able to kill big cats, and both sides of the issue have weighed in. We collected 188,000 signatures from registered Colorado voters, and we submitted those to the Colorado Secretary of State, said Sam Miller, campaign manager for Cats Arent Trophies. This was largely a grassroots effort. We had 900 volunteers statewide out collecting those signatures. Tina Peters, election deniers hero, found guilty in election computer breach If voters approve the measure, the trophy hunting of big cats like mountain lions, bobcats or lynx would be banned in Colorado. Trophy hunting is defined as killing a wild animal for display; defined in the initiative as intentionally killing, wounding, pursuing, or entrapping a mountain lion, bobcat, or lynx. Supporters of the initiative want to be clear: The initiative does not prohibit killing big cats if they threaten human life, property or livestock. FOX31 asked Miller why the decision was made to bring this measure to voters now, given the debate surrounding wildlife initiatives on the ballot in recent years. I think this a different question for the Colorado voter, Miller said. I think gray wolves were a question of reintroduction, of bringing a species in that Coloradans dont really know. She said the group is asking voters to decide whether it is acceptable to hunt animals for trophies. What we are saying is that you cant just kill them for trophies (and) that recreational hunting of lions really doesnt have a place in Colorado, Miller said. A wild bobcat walks into the trees What are hunters saying about Colorados big cat initiative? Patt Dorsey is the director of conservation operations for the National Wild Turkey Federations Western division. We have really healthy wildlife populations because of all the hard work and all of the expertise and all of the stuff that has gone into wildlife management in the past, she said. And any change can potentially change the outcome for wildlife and conservation. Away from work, Dorsey admits she does hunt big cats. FOX31 asked if she considers herself a trophy hunter. I would not consider myself a trophy hunter, Dorsey said. I hunt for the enjoyment of being outdoors. I hunt to be with family and friends. I hunt for meat. In fact, most of whats in my freezer is wild game that Ive harvested. I throw nothing away. West Nile patient from Colorado still partially paralyzed one year later By law, hunters are required to prepare mountain lions for human consumption after killing them. Colorado Parks and Wildlife numbers show about 500 mountain lions were harvested, or killed, in the state in 2023, with 502 mountain lions harvested in 2022. CPW said they are staying neutral on the ballot initiative. Colorado state agencies, like Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Department of Natural Resources, are prohibited by Colorado law from having positions/opinions or using state resources in support of or against ballot initiatives, CPW said in a statement. Colorado Parks and Wildlife is neutral, which means we take no position for or against Proposition 91 and will diligently implement all laws duly passed by the legislature, the Governor, or Colorado voters. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver. UPDATE 8/14/24 10:52 a.m.: According to the Columbus Police Department, Jones has been located in good health. COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) The Columbus Police Department are asking for assistance in locating a juvenile who was last seen Aug. 7. Police say Isaiah Jermell Jones, 13, was last seen in the area of the 6000 block of Georgetown Drive on Aug. 7 at about 10 p.m. Jones is described as standing at 5-foot-3-inches tall, weighing about 130 pounds, and having black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a white shirt, baby blue shorts and a black backpack. Police are asking anyone with information to contact , the CPD Special Victims Unit at 706-225-3449, lead investigator, CPL Emily Stice 706-225-4366 or 911. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WRBL. COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) Cybersecurity experts are sharing methods of protection for anyone who may be affected after hackers dumped over three terabytes of the citys data on the dark web. The leak came within a month of a July 18 ransomware attack where hackers claimed to make off with over six terabytes of data from city servers. The Rhysida group took responsibility and attempted two auctions for stolen city data on the dark web. When it failed to secure a buyer by Thursday at the price tag of 30 bitcoin or just under $2 million Rhysida publicly leaked the data. NBC4 has asked the mayors office whether the hack could go beyond city workers, such as through residents water bill accounts or those listed as beneficiaries of employees. But Ginther has cited an investigation involving the FBI and U.S. Department of Homeland Security as limiting his ability to answer. Cybersecurity expert Shawn Waldman the CEO of SecureCyber told NBC4 that until definitive answers surface on the hacks scope, its better to expect that nothing is safe. I generally tell people even outside of this incident, to already assume that all of your information has been compromised anyway, Waldman said. Now, these threat actors are able to get a hold of this information so much quicker because for the most part, the world lives online. Restraint of a student spurs investigation, resignations and community divide For anyone potentially impacted, Ohio State assistant professor Carter Yagemann previously warned how any accounts connected to the city could also compromise unrelated online accounts. If the leak turns out to be legitimate, it is likely to contain sensitive information that includes passwords and banking information, Yagemann said. Impacted residents should be on the lookout for unusual activity with their bank accounts and should change their passwords on any accounts that may share the same password. Rhysida begins leaking stolen data from the City of Columbus on the groups dark web onion site. (Courtesy Photo/Daniel Maldet) Waldman said one of the worst outcomes of a data breach can include when a bad actor takes a line of credit out in a victims name. But another less obvious result can come with a suspect gaining personal information to scare and extort a victim as well. On preventative measures, he recommended a way to halt attacks on a victims credit. I would contact all three credit bureaus and do whats called freezing your credit, Waldman said. Now, that should be done regardless. Even if youre not part of an incident, everyone should have their credit frozen If you go to like, buy a new car or buy a house or something, it really just takes minutes to thaw your credit. Waldman added that watching bank account activity is also vital. If youve got notifications that you can turn on, like your credit cards and your bank accounts, have them start notifying you about every transaction, Waldman said. That way you get a heads-up. How Columbus residents can get up to $2,500 for an e-bike The mayor has challenged the danger of the leak in the aftermath, calling the auctions failure a strong indication that the data lacks value to those who would seek to do harm or profit from it. But the next day, attorneys representing two Columbus officers filed a class-action lawsuit against the city, claiming they had seen real-world damage: ones Social Security number was compromised, and the others cover was blown. NBC4 asked Columbus City Attorney Zach Kleins office if he would defend the city in the case, because his team could potentially qualify as a claimant under the class-action lawsuits guidelines. Kleins communications director shared that his office was consulting with the Ohio Board of Professional Conduct, and would follow its guidance on what to do. Speaking with reporters Tuesday morning, Ginther confirmed Rhysidas involvement for the first time but stood by his previous comments. He claimed personal information in the leak was encrypted or corrupted, making it unusable. Still, he admitted unencrypted personal information was temporarily accessed during Rhysidas attack in July. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV. COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) The owner of multiple businesses in Ohio, including three in the Columbus area, is facing multiple serious charges out of Cleveland. Robert Bobby George, 43, had a warrant issued for his arrest on Friday, according to records from Cleveland Municipal Court. Ohio Secretary of State business records for Ethos Capital Partners and TownHall an investing firm and Columbus bar, respectively list George as the registered agent, and include a Lakewood address that matches the one in the court record. The case contains at least nine felony counts against George, including: Attempted murder Rape Four counts of kidnapping Felonious assault Two counts of strangulation, with substantial risk of serious physical harm Nexstar sister station FOX8 described George as owning multiple restaurants, including at least five in Cleveland. His business presence in Columbus includes Townhall, Mandrake Rooftop and REBoL in Dublin. In July 2023, George publicly offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a suspect in a mass shooting in Clevelands Warehouse District. Court records indicated that charges against George, whose attorney confirmed he turned himself in Tuesday morning, stemmed from reported incidents that allegedly occurred between November 2023 and June of this year. The victim filed an order of protection and at an arraignment hearing Tuesday morning, a judge gave George a $200,000 bond. The case is being bound over to Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV. (WJET/WFXP) The Community Blood Bank (CBB) will be hosting a blood drive in the coming weeks at a pretty tasty location. On Wednesday, August 21, the CBB will host a blood drive from 1:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. at Sticks & Bricks Wood Fired Pizza, located at 1301 East Grandview Boulevard. Barbershop offers free haircuts, school supplies for back-to-school season For those unable to attend the blood drive at Sticks & Bricks but still wish to donate, the Erie Donor Center, located at 646 Peach Street, is open during the following times: Monday, Thursday, & Friday: 8:00 a.m. 5:00 p.m. Tuesday & Wednesday: 10:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m. 1st & 3rd Saturday of the month: 9:00 a.m. 12:30 p.m. While appointments are encouraged, CBB does accept walk-ins. To schedule an appointment, please call (814) 456-4206. Erie Community Foundation ready for another record-breaking Erie Gives Day Regardless of where you donate, CBB blood donors will be automatically entered to win one of two Outdoor Yeti packages during the month of August. Those packages include a Yeti 35 Cooler, Solo Stove, two Yeti tumblers, and two camp chairs. For more information, visit CBBs website. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJET/WFXP/YourErie.com. PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) People gathered in Providence on Monday night to honor long-time community leader Cedric Huntley on what would have been his 66th birthday. Huntley was commonly known as Mr. Ced and previously served as the executive director of the Nonviolence Institute. The nonprofit organized the celebration, deeming August 12, Mr. Ced Day. BACKGROUND: Former Nonviolence Institute director Cedric Huntley dies The Dynamic New Force Steppin Drill Team kicked things off, marching from the Southside Recreation Center to the Nonviolence Institute on Oxford Street. The march was followed by a cookout and a balloon release. Huntleys wife Anika Kimble-Huntley described her late husband as a champion for people who need a voice. He really was that it shows that his life was worth everything he put into it, she said. I think his wish is exactly what you saw outside: people celebrating, people smiling and not crying, people communing, people talking, people just getting together and being one. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Roundup Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WPRI.com. FERGUSON, Mo. The community is rallying around a Ferguson police officer after he suffered a severe brain injury during a protest on Friday night. Ferguson Mayor Ella Jones is calling on elected officials to stand in solidarity for Officer Brown, Chief Troy Doyle and the Ferguson Police Department for a press conference on Tuesday. Shes also arranged a prayer vigil that night. Officer Brown suffered that brain injury during a protest outside the Ferguson police department as the community marked ten years since the death of Michael Brown. Officer Travis Brown remains in critical condition in the hospital Tuesday morning. Officer Brown has been with the Ferguson Police Department since January. He was on the frontlines during the 2014 protests as a St. Louis County police officer. Friday nights chaos unfolded when officers attempted to arrest protesters who were removing fencing outside the police department. During the arrest, Officer Brown was knocked to the ground and he fell backwards, hitting his head on the pavement. The St. Louis County Prosecutors Office issued charges against 28-year-old Elijah Gantt of East St. Louis in connection with the brutal assault. He is currently being held on a half-million-dollar bond. Two other officers suffered minor injuries during Fridays protest. That news conference with Mayor Jones, Chief Doyle, and other elected officials is scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday afternoon at the Community Center on Smith Avenue. In the press conference, Chief Doyle will provide updates on arrests, investigations and other issues regarding Fridays protest. Doyle will also present body-camera footage from the event. The prayer vigil will be held at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Ferguson Police Department parking lot. The community is invited to join in prayer for Officer Browns recovery and for peace in the city. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2. Commuters beware! Farmers Almanac releases its winter weather prediction and it will be plenty wet Most of the US can expect this winter to be plenty wet - bad news for the nations commuters. The Farmers Almanac released its annual 2024-2025 winter forecast, which shows an unpleasant winter, expected to last longer than normal, for most of the country. La Nina is expected to play a major impact on the winter forecast , according to the Almanac. That weather pattern brings warmer air to the Americas during the winter months. This years forecast comes after last winter was the hottest on record, and July 204 has been the Earths warmest month . Much of the country can expect milder temperatures and wetter weather throughout the winter, according to the Almanac. "It definitely looks more wet than white in many areas," Farmers Almanac Editor Sandi Duncan said to USA TODAY . "Obviously, depending on where you live, there might be more white than wet, but were focusing in on the wet winter ahead." Kennedy Shoemaker, 2, of Simi Valley, tries out her rain gear on a puddle at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California on February 19, 2024. The Farmers Almanac predicts a a wet winter in 2024-2025 for much of the US. (AP) The coldest temperatures will be found from the Northern Plains to the Great Lakes region. But, areas stretching from the Rockies to the Appalachian Mountains will also experience cold conditions. The coldest outbreak is expected at the end of January to the start of February. Farmers Almanac predicts the Northeast will have average to above-average temperatures throughout the winter. Texas and the Southern Plains are expected to see above-average temperatures this winter. While the Southwest will be about average. Bad news for the Pacific Northwest, where the Almanac predicts unseasonably chilly temps. The Farmers Almanac 2024-2025 winter outlook. Much of the country is expected to see wet weather and mild temperatures this season. (Farmers Almanac) As for precipitation, the Northwest, the Great Lakes and the Ohio Valley can expect a wet winter. The south is looking at average or even below-average precipitation this winter. In the Northeast , sleet and rain are expected to hit near the coast for most of the winter. Snow will be prominent in the mountain ranges of the Northeast. While the Almanac has been making winter predictions for more than 200 years. Some local meteorologists are suggesting not to put too much stock in the report. WISH-TV in Indianapolis noted the Almanac has been wrong each of the last five years for the region. WARSAW, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- A passenger car crashed into a bus stop on Woronicza Street here on Tuesday, resulting in one death and nine injuries, according to local media reports. Police, firefighters, and medical services are working on site. The fatal victim was a woman. According to local police, the perpetrator of the accident was sober. Disruptions to public transport were also reported in the area of the accident. (WKBN) A Tennessee-based healthcare group announced its intention to purchase Steward Medical Group and Steward Health Care Network (Stewardship) after its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in May. Read next: Watch live as Realty Building demolition continues in Youngstown The sales process has been a lengthy one, with delayed proceedings and a lack of qualified bids. Steward Health operates 31 hospitals across eight states, including Trumbull Regional Medical Center in Warren, Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital in Howland and Sharon Regional Medical Center. It is also the umbrella company for Steward Medical Group, which represents hundreds of providers. Steward Medical Group is part of Steward, which provides primary care and specialty services in clinics and doctors office settings. Rural Healthcare Group (RHG) is a primary care provider organization delivering healthcare to underserved communities in multiple states, headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. It currently has 17 clinics across two states: North Carolina and Tennessee. We are excited to bring our mission and approach to the state of Massachusetts, and the other states where Stewardship operates and supports primary care clinics, said Benson Sloan, CEO of RHG, in a statement. RHG said it plans to make significant investments in Stewardships infrastructure, allowing providers to continue seeing patients in existing clinics across the Stewardship network. Furthermore, the transaction will separate Steward Medical Group and Steward Health Care Network from Stewards hospital system. RHG says transitioning clinics from health system-owned to independent is an area of expertise for the group. RHG is owned by Kinderhook Industries, LLC, a private investment firm that invests in mid-sized health care businesses. According to reporting by the Boston Globe, Brady Health Buyer LLC, the company listed as the buyer on court filings, is a company set up by New York-based Kinderhook to purchase Stewardship. Court records show an aggregate consideration of $245 million as a purchase price, with some room for adjustment. The sale objection deadline is set for Wednesday and the hearing to consider the approval of sales is set for Friday at 10 a.m. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. Congestion at Bangladeshs largest seaport has made it more difficult for workers to unload containers from vessels on time, and delays in the arrival of export containers from depots have further complicated matters. According to Bangladeshi publication The Business Standard, vessels docked at the Chattogram Port could previously complete loading and unloading within 48 hours. This process now takes more than 96 hours as space constraints at the port persist. More from Sourcing Journal As of Tuesday, more than 20 container ships are currently waiting to berth at Chattogram, with average berthing delays rising to seven to 10 days, according to container shipping analysis firm Linerlytica. Data from freight management and container tracking software GoComet lists the median delay at six days, with import dwell for containers reaching eight days and export dwell totaling five days. Operations at the port have been hamstrung since mid-July, as deadly student protests broke out across Bangladesh over quotas in government jobs. Days of unrest resulted in a government-imposed curfew, a nationwide internet blackout and mass closure of factories, before Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country on Aug. 5. An interim government has been put in place, but the countrys future appears to have more questions than answers. For six days, the Chattogram Port (also known as Chittagong Port) was closed, stalling container movement entirely until it was reopened June 25. This created a ripple effect as trucks and vessels alike piled up outside the hub, and containers across terminals were unable to be moved. In one example of the congestion outside the port, container ship Sol Promise arrived at the outer anchorage of Chattogram on Aug. 4, carrying imported goods from Colombo. Yet the vessel has been unable to dock for unloading and remains anchored as of Monday. According to the report, the delay will cost the shipper of the cargo at least $1.5 million in demurrage fees since the vessel has been idle for eight days. The Bangladeshi government had waived demurrage fees at the end of July, but exclusively for the countrys vital garment sector. This is a major difference from just one month ago, The Business Standard said, when cargo ships could typically berth at the port within a day of arriving at the outer anchorage. As a result of the ongoing disturbances, export container handling at Chattogram Port had a 16.4 percent month-over-month decline in July to 59,845 exported 20-foot equivalents (TEUs), from 69,662 TEUs in June. The congestion at sea and slower unloading doesnt appear to be impacting total import volumes, with the port handling 114,455 imported TEUs in July, 0.1 percent down from the 114,591 TEUs the month prior. Currently, 43,941 TEUs are stored in the ports yard, which has a storage capacity of 53,518 TEUs, but ideally requires a load of 30,000 to 32,000 TEUs for optimal operations. Chattogram Port Authority secretary Mohammad Omar Faruk said that while container congestion is gradually easing, it may take another seven to 10 days for operations to return to normal levels. To help alleviate the ports container congestion, the authority requested importers to take deliveries on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, in addition to regular working days. In one positive development, rail operations between Chattogram and Kamalapur Inland Container Depot (ICD) resumed Sunday night after 23 days of suspension, according to Farouk. The service, which carries containers from the port to the container storage facility, had been completely halted on July 19 following the imposition of the curfew in the wake of the protests and violence. Kamalapur is one of 21 inland depots in Bangladesh built to alleviate congestion at the main port by adding more area for container handling. On Sunday, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) held a meeting with other industry stakeholders including the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) and Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) to voice concerns with an army-led joint task force to ensure the smooth operations of the garment sector amid the protests. The organizations are seeking better security for cargo-carrying vehicles on roads and highways, further exacerbating the loading and unloading of goods at Chittagong Port. Businesses and logistics companies alike have reportedly not wanted to move cargo since there is no traffic police presence on the highways near the port. They also highlighted delays in clearing goods at Dhaka Airport and requested that the Bangladesh Army step in to expedite these processes. The Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed to PEOPLE Linda Kosuda-Bigazzi's cause of death on Monday, Aug. 12 Patrick Raycraft/Hartford Courant via AP Linda Kosuda-Bigazzi during a court appearance in Feb. 13, 2018 A Connecticut woman died by suicide hours before she was scheduled to be sentenced in connection to her husband's death. Linda Kosuda-Bigazzi, 76, who was found dead at her Burlington home on the morning of Wednesday, July 24, died by suicide, the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed PEOPLE on Monday, Aug. 12. Her cause of death is ethylene glycol toxicity, per the medical examiner's office. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ethylene glycol is an "industrial compound" found in consumer products such as "antifreeze, hydraulic brake fluids, some stamp pad inks, ballpoint pens, solvents, paints, plastics, films, and cosmetics." Connecticut State Police via AP Linda Kosuda-Bigazzi booking photo Related: A Conn. Woman Confessed to Killing Her Husband. She Was Found Dead Hours Before Her Sentencing The Connecticut State Police were called to Kosuda-Bigazzi's home at approximately 10:37 a.m. on July 24 after an individual reported that they were "unable to make contact with the resident." She was scheduled to be sentenced at 2 p.m. that day for the death of her husband, Dr. Pierluigi Bigazzi, 84, per the Associated Press. "Attempts by responding Troopers to initiate contact with anyone inside of the residence were unsuccessful and with the assistance of the local fire department, Troopers made entry into the residence," said the Connecticut State Police. "An unresponsive female was located within the residence, who was subsequently pronounced deceased at the scene." Rebecca Lurye/Tribune News Service via Getty Images via Getty Photo of home where Dr. Pierluigi Bigazzi was found dead Related: 76-Year-Old Connecticut Woman Admits to Killing Husband, Hiding His Body and Collecting His Paychecks Kosuda-Bigazzi was found dead four months after she pleaded guilty to a charge of manslaughter in the first degree and larceny in the first degree during a court appearance in March. She was arrested after her husband, who worked at the University of Connecticut, was found dead in their basement on Feb. 5, 2018, a criminal information summary previously obtained by PEOPLE revealed. Getty Stock image of police sirens A press release from Hartford Judicial District States Attorney Sharmese L. Walcott stated that police were called to do a welfare check at the home "from the victims employer, who had not heard from the victim for several months." Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. "An investigation showed paychecks from the victims employer continued to be deposited into the couples joint checking account from the time of his death, which authorities believe to be sometime in July 2017, until his body was discovered in early February 2018," the press release stated. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. ATLANTA (AP) At the Republican National Convention and multiple rallies since, former President Donald Trump has been greeted as a hero who narrowly escaped assassination and is destined to lead a new American golden age. At a recent conservative conference in Georgia, there was a different vibe. There were few, if any, red hats at The Gathering, the annual confab hosted by influential syndicated radio host Erick Erickson, and no rousing promises to Make America Great Again. Instead, Erickson's guests, from rank-and-file voters up to Trumps onetime vice president, spent two days critiquing the GOPs path in the Trump era. And when it came to the November election, many of them spent more time hand-wringing over a Kamala Harris presidency than celebrating the promise of another Trump administration. The dynamics are particularly problematic for the former president's chances in Georgia, a longtime Republican stronghold that has shifted into a genuine two-party state, and a handful of other tossup states. They also serve as a reminder that despite his near-complete takeover of the GOP, Trump still has detractors and skeptics among conservatives whose decisions this fall could help determine whether he returns to the White House. I voted for him willingly in 2016, and then I held my nose and did it again in 2020, said Atlanta small business owner Barton McMillan, a four-decade resident of the city who blames Trump for recent Democratic victories in Georgia, which backed Joe Biden for president in 2020 and elected two Democratic U.S. senators. This time, I dont know what Im going to do, McMillan said. And I'm representative of a lot of the people here. Indeed, Erickson's assembly featured consternation over federal spending, abortion policy, Trumps proposed tariffs, Americas uncertain role in the international order, the former presidents penchant for personal attacks, his fixation on the lie that systemic voter fraud was to blame for his 2020 loss and his false contention that his vice president at the time, Mike Pence, had the power to overturn Biden's election. I cannot endorse President Trumps continuing assertion that I should have put aside my oath to support the Constitution and act in a way that would have overturned the election, Pence said. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who was recently blasted by Trump for not helping overturn the 2020 election, drew a standing ovation when he was introduced, laughter when he compared the former president to a tropical storm and more applause when he called for Republicans to focus on the future. Were going to use our political operation to win Georgia despite past grievances, Kemp assured Erickson without mentioning Trump by name. Trump has been indicted for his efforts to overturn the 2020 results in Georgia and elsewhere; those cases are pending. In his criticisms, Pence pointed to the 2024 Republican platform that fails for the first time in decades to call for a national abortion ban and sidesteps the mounting national debt, which ballooned during Trumps four years. Pence bemoaned an increasingly isolationist and protectionist bent among the GOP base opposition to U.S. aid to Ukraine against Vladimir Putins invading Russian forces and Trumps promise of sweeping tariffs in a second term. The Republican Party, Pence said, is under a spell of populism unmoored to conservative principle. Walter Michaelis, a 22-year-old getting ready to cast his second presidential ballot, stood and cheered the former vice president and said afterward that Trumps America First approach can go too far, especially on tariffs and trade. I understand why Trump was needed in 2016, Michaelis said. But sometimes I do think it would be better now for the party to move on. Michaelis, who voted for Trump in 2020, said he would not back Harris but had not yet decided whether to vote for the former president again. Kent Kim, a 30-year-old from Alpharetta, said he has decided to go with Trump. But he added, he's withheld his vote from Trump before and said, I know people who probably will do that this year. A key reason for Trumps defeat was underperforming the usual Republican marks in suburban Atlanta, Philadelphia and Phoenix, areas that helped tilt Georgia, Pennsylvania and Arizona to Biden. Those same places also could boost Harris in the fall. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., during his turn on stage with Erickson, tacitly acknowledged the risks as he lamented recent Republican losses in winnable Senate contests. He said that included Georgia, where Trump-backed Herschel Walker lost to Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in 2022 despite Republicans winning every other statewide election. McConnell predicted a GOP Senate majority in the new Congress but sounded less confident about the presidency. Despite blaming Trump for the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, he has endorsed Trump for president. We all know who we hope will be the next administration, he told Erickson. Yet McConnell outlined a conservative agenda without mentioning the former president except to support extending the Trump tax cuts of 2017. And, echoing Pence, McConnell scolded a nameless Republican for turning away from the traditional U.S. role on the world stage. Weve had occasionally these isolationist moods, he said, noting that the 1930s gave rise to the original America First rallying cry. That stopped after Pearl Harbor, McConnell said, only for some U.S. conservatives to resist the establishment of NATO and the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after World War II. McConnell warned that the same mistakes loom with North Korea, China, Russia and Iran all talking to each other as an axis of powerful regimes. McConnell said that demands an assertive international U.S. presence and more robust defense spending across Western democracies. If I had a message for the next administration ... take this seriously, McConnell said. Even some of Trumps full-throated allies offered subtle warnings. Former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Erickson talked about her loss to Democrat Raphael Warnock in January 2021, when tens of thousands of Republicans who voted for Trump the previous November stayed home in the runoff after Trump openly questioned the veracity of vote counts. Loeffler did not blame Trump, as Erickson implicitly did, but she did emphasize that Trump, as he campaigns this year, is encouraging his backers to take advantage of any voting option: mail, in-person early voting or on Election Day. Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who is running to succeed McConnell as GOP Senate leader, said in a brief interview that Trump is going to be fine. But when asked about Trump picking new fights within the party, Scott steered the conversation to his own success in a series of close gubernatorial and Senate contests. I try to make sure that, ultimately in my races, that theres a choice, and its a policy choice. ... Just talk about the issues," he said. Asked whether he would offer Trump that advice, Scott replied: Well, I mean, hes going to run the race he likes to run. As the director of social, cultural and constitutional studies at the American Enterprise Institute, Yuval Levin spends a lot of time thinking about American institutions and the ways in which they are struggling. From the family to three branches of government, the outlook can seem grim amid political acrimony and historically low levels of public trust. Levin, however, brims with hope. America could be just fine, he says, if we can let go of the idea that we need to agree on everything. Unity in a free society doesnt mean thinking alike, but acting together, Levin said in a conversation with Deseret News about American Covenant, his latest book. We have to be open to an idea of unity where we dont all end up sharing the same opinions, but were able to solve problems together. And a lot of our political institutions are built to make that possible. As is the U.S. Constitution, Levin believes. The Constitution, he says, is a multi-pronged framework with most attention paid to its legal, policymaking, institutional and political structure. But the document also comprises a unity framework, which was just as important in 1787 as it is now. He notes that the Articles of Confederation were formally titled The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. Yet they had clearly failed to foster union. The fearful prospect of disunity and even war among the states was quite real to late eighteenth-century Americans, Levin writes in American Covenant. The framers understood that, as James Madison once said, We cannot ... be regarded, even at this time, as one homogeneous mass and that the Constitution could compel disparate factions to work together. Through the institutions it constructed, the boundaries it set, the ambitions it held out, and the spirit of the polity it helped instantiate, the system was plainly intended to help forge common ground in American life, and not just occupy such ground, Levin writes. Yuval Levin, the author of "American Covenant" is director of social, cultural and constitutional studies at the American Enterprise Institute, and is the founder and editor of the journal National Affairs. | MOSHE ZUSMAN PHOTOGRAPHY STUD Levin, 47, comes to the topic as a conservative, and not a bashful or halfhearted one, but says that his views need not be partisan, even though readers might disagree with him on some points. This is part of his message, too that Americans need to engage more with each other even when they disagree, and that doing so is part of our responsibility as citizens. Like Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, he wants Americans to disagree better and Levin believes that doing so may involve some changes to our political process, as well as intentional effort by individuals. A father of two who came to the U.S. from Israel as a child, Levin became an American citizen at age 19 and in the book, he recounts a story from from his naturalization ceremony. The judge who presided over the ceremony told the new citizens that from then on, they should think about America in first-person plural: in terms of we and our and not them and their. At the time, Levin had hoped for something more inspirational, but he writes, His point was profound, and it was one we all need to hear all the time. Levin, who is also the founder and editor of the journal National Affairs, spoke with the Deseret News earlier this month about the reasons he is hopeful about America, why he doesnt think the next election will be as impactful as many people fear, and the simple steps that individuals can do to strengthen democracy. The conversation has been edited for clarity and length. Deseret News: You are probably familiar with Dennis Rasmussens book from 2021, Fears of a Setting Sun, in which he talked about the disillusionment of the Founding Fathers and their fears about the future. Your book seems like an antidote to that one. Why are you so hopeful about Americas future at a time when many people arent? Yuval Levin: The reason for me is very simple: We live in America. And we have a lot to work with here. I do think that we tend to overstate and over-catastrophize the degree of challenges we face. Its actually a very American characteristic. This has been the case from the very beginning. The people who created the system thought it could never last. You can look at just about every generation of Americans and you can find a lot of people who think this is where it ends. Were always kind of amazed that were still here. I was thinking about our national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, which was a very unusual song to choose as our national anthem. Its not about triumph or the beauty of America. Its just about surviving the night. The flag was still there thats the best we can say. I think thats part of the American character. Certainly, there are reasons for worry, and thats true in every generation. Its surely true in this one. We are divided in some dangerous ways. We are forgetful of the truths that have to guide how we live together. Were not treating each other well. But, is there a place youd rather be than America in the 21st century? Is there a time youd rather be here than the 21st century? I really dont think so. We have tremendous resources for recovering from the problems we have. And so I am hopeful. I dont think its guaranteed that well be able to pull this off. I dont think its easy or simple. But I do think that its achievable, and I do think were up to it. Part of what we need to get it done is to remember our strengths and to remember our political traditions. DN: At an event in May that AEI held in conjunction with BYUs Wheatley Institute, you said that the next election is just the next election, which is the opposite of what we hear from many people, on both sides of the aisle, who say that democracy is at stake if you dont vote for my candidate. Can you talk a little bit about what you meant by that? YL: Politics is very important. I care about it a lot. But I think whether things are better or worse for the average person four years from now is probably not going to be a function of this election. DN: But how do you persuade a person who is genuinely anxious that democracy hangs on this election which has almost become a cliche that they need not worry about that? YL: Well, I think our institutions are durable; they have endured through very difficult times. Weve lived through very hard periods, not just the Civil War, but weve seen times of much more intense political violence than we face now, weve seen times of much greater threats to the basic preconditions of American life. Think about the 1930s, the late 1960s. This is a time like that. We do have big problems. We are divided in dangerous ways, and we have seen political violence, and theres reason to imagine we would again. The question is not whether we will face these challenges, but whether we will survive them. And I think theres every reason to think that we will because we do have strong institutions. We do have a fundamental stability here so that most peoples lives are not about politics. For the most part, peoples happiness is not a function of who wins an election, who loses an election. Those of us who are most invested in politics just imagine that everything rides on it in a way that is not well supported by the history of our country. Its important that we take the framework of democracy seriously. Its a problem when we treat it as unimportant, or when political leaders trash it and attack it. But are we on the verge of losing everything? I simply think were not. DN: I have to ask: Did you steal the phrase Disagree better from Spencer Cox, or did he steal it from you? YL: (Laughs.) I dont know, we probably both stole it from somebody else. It just makes a lot of sense. The notion that the problem we have is not that weve forgotten how to agree, but we dont know how to disagree is something Ive been writing about for a number of years. Where that particular phrase came from, I dont know. Im happy to give him the credit for it. DN: Still, this idea that its not that we disagree too much, but we disagree too little, is counterintuitive to most people. YL: Even the Americans who are most engaged in politics, mostly we spend our time with people we agree with, talking about people we disagree with. We spend very little time actually engaged in disagreement with those people. Its very easy now to live in a bubble, to constantly have yourself inundated with affirmations of the things you already think, and to constantly be bombarded by people who think the people on the other side are idiots. Thats easier than actually having to deal with them and say, This is what I think and this is what you think. Heres a problem we need to solve, and maybe we can go part of the way here and part of the way there. Thats much less satisfying and more complicated political engagement. We do it less and less. The venues where we might do that where we might really hear other people to begin with, and also deal with them places like Congress, or a university campus or just the op-ed page of a newspaper all those places are getting degraded, and theres less and less disagreement permitted in all of those places. The skill were forgetting is more like disagreeing than agreeing. DN: What has changed since the publication of your book A Time to Build in 2020? Were only four years out, but have things improved or gotten worse with our institutions and how they are regarded since then? YL: Theres much more of a recognition now that some core institutions are broken, that the party system has run aground, that there are deep problems in Congress. Obviously there were people who understood that in 2020, but I think the experience of Covid and the experience of the Trump and Biden era has made it clearer to people that there is a problem to think through in those terms. I think were approaching a period of political reform, which could go well or could go poorly, but the sense that the status quo is not working is very, very palpable and powerful. DN: Are there any prescriptions you have for the system, and for each of us as individuals? YL: For all of us as individuals, to my mind, this really is about trying to remember the role that we have as citizens. Remembering the obligations we have to one another. Treating public problems as our problems. Thinking, how can my neighbors and I do something about this, rather than hanging around with our arms folded waiting for somebody to show up and then we can complain about what they do. The strength of Americans has always been to see a problem and think of it as belonging to us. I think we need to work on that. Weve lost that knack some, and thats something each of us can do where we are. But I also think there is an argument for political reform, for changing the system in such a way that it incentivizes the politics of coalition building and bargaining, rather than a politics of confrontational theatrics. That means changing some of the rules of our election system. The move to primaries, I argue at length in the book, has been a big problem, a mistake ultimately. ... . A system that tries to populate our political institutions in ways that are more likely to build broad coalitions could help us deal with some of the challenges we have. An employee vaccinates a man against monkeypox with Bavarian Nordic's vaccine (Imvanex / Jynneos) at Klinikum rechts der Isar. Cases of the infectious viral disease mpox are continuing to occur around the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported from Geneva, adding that it has convened its Emergency Committee to discuss the outbreak. Sven Hoppe/dpa Cases of the infectious viral disease mpox are continuing to occur around the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported from Geneva, adding that it has convened its Emergency Committee to discuss the outbreak. Confirmed cases of the disease, formerly known as monkeypox, declined slightly in June to 934 from 963 in May, but the WHO is assuming incidence is probably higher, as not all cases are being recorded and testing has declined. The committee is to discuss the spread of a new clade, or variant, on Wednesday as they deliberate on whether a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) should be declared. Emergencies of this kind were declared in 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic and in 2022 on account of an earlier mpox outbreak. The aim is to alert health authorities to a rise in cases. Mpox can cause a rash and can be dangerous for children, pregnant women and those with suppressed immune systems. In June, 100 cases were recorded in Europe, 175 in the Americas and 567 in Africa, where 96% of the cases were in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The lack of testing meant that only a quarter of suspect cases were tested, with two thirds of the tests being positive. "The confirmed case counts are, therefore, underestimates of the true burden," the WHO said. Full data are available only to the end of June, since when mpox cases have for the first time been reported from four more African countries: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. Since the beginning of 2022, 99,176 confirmed cases from 116 countries have been reported to the WHO up to the end of June, with 208 people dying from the disease. The WHO assesses the risk of infection with the clades I and II of the virus as high in parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo. A new variant was found there last year that could be more infectious. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, while speaking with X owner Elon Musk on the billionaires social media site on Aug. 12, said Russia wouldn't have invaded Ukraine if U.S. President Joe Biden weren't in office. Musk told Trump he's made "an excellent point." Musk officially endorsed Trump on the same day GOP nominee was shot at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Musk had planned to host Donald Trump for an interview Live on X (formerly Twitter Spaces) at 8 p.m. ET. However, the social media platform experienced glitches, preventing many users from listening to the interview. Musk later posted that there was a "massive DDOS (distributed denial of service) attack on X" and mentioned efforts to shut it down, adding that he might continue the interview with a smaller audience. The interview started about 45 minutes late. Trump has been saying that he "knows" Putin and "gets along" with North Korea's ruler Kim Jong Un. "They're smart and they're vicious. I got along with (Russia's President Vladimir) Putin very well, and he respected me," Trump said, adding that he used to speak to Putin often. "We would talk about Ukraine. It was the apple of his eye. But I told him don't do it," he claimed. Known for his longstanding public sympathy for Putin and his repeated criticism of U.S. aid to Ukraine, Trump claimed during his presidential campaign that he would end the war within 24 hours if elected, though he refused to provide details of his plan. During the debates with U.S. President Joe Biden, Trump rejected Putin's ceasefire terms, which demanded that Ukraine surrender four regions partially occupied by Russia and abandon its effort to join NATO, calling them "not acceptable." However, earlier media reports indicated that Trump privately suggested ending Russias war by pressuring Ukraine to cede Crimea and Donbas to Moscow. He also said publicly in May 2023 that he would not guarantee continued defense assistance to Ukraine if he won the presidential election. In April, Trump said that Ukraine's survival is important to the United States. This statement came just before a vote on a $61 billion aid package for Ukraine. Trump's vice-presidential pick, J.D. Vance repeatedly disparaged Ukraine and voiced his unwillingness to continue U.S. support in leaked text messages with far-right conspiracy theorist Charles Johnson, the Washington Post reported on Aug. 7. In text messages revealed by Johnson to the Washington Post, Vance remarked in October 2023, "Dude, I won't even take calls from Ukraine." This conversation took place as congressional Republicans began obstructing an aid package for Ukraine, resulting in a standoff that persisted for several months. Trump also noted that he allegedly counselled Putin against invading Ukraine: "I told him, 'don't do it. You can't do it, Vladimir. He said 'no way', and I said 'way'," Trump added. Read also: Pro-Ukraine lobbying efforts bet on Trump pivot to look tough on Putin Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. SPENCER, Okla. (KFOR) A confrontation turned deadly. Three people were shot, including the suspect, and another was killed. They learned quickly the suspect was attempting to walk away, said Sgt. Dillon Quirk, with the Oklahoma City Police Department. LOCAL NEWS: One arrested after fatal shooting near Spencer On Friday, around 7:30 p.m., OKCPD were called to the Fred Factory Garden Apartments, also known as the Dunjee Apartments, an Oklahoma City Housing Authority property, near NE 36th & Hiwassee. Although the apartment complex is within Spencer city limits, it is OKCPDs jurisdiction. It appears there was some type of altercation going on, in that apartment complex there in the parking lot, said Sgt. Quirk. When they arrived they found three subjects at the apartment complex that had been shot, said Lt. Jeff Cooper, on scene the night of the murder. At first, police thought all three people shot were victims. They were found at two crime scenes. The first was in the parking lot, where a man and 49-year-old Sherratt Johnson were found. While one was injured, Johnson didnt make it. The second crime scene was outside the apartment complex. One of the victims was on this side of the street, said Lt. Cooper. That alleged victim was Devontia Robinson. However, police made a discovery after talking to witnesses. This turns out to be the shooter, said Quirk. According to online court records, Robinson, 36, has been in and out of prison. Currently, he is on probation. Those at the apartment complex, who did not want to speak on camera, said several people saw what happened. Others, like Kashia Hutson, only saw the aftermath. LOCAL NEWS: Victim identified in deadly shooting at NE Oklahoma City hotel I came outside, seen someone laying on the ground. They said he was dead. They started putting yellow tape up, said Hutson. Thats my cousins brother. Hutson said Johnson, the man who was killed, was well loved by the community. He was a people-pleaser I believe, cause he always had them around him, said Hutson. He was the group leader. Now, Robinson is in the Oklahoma County Detention Center facing complaints of First-Degree Murder and Shooting With Intent to Kill. He is also facing complaints for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City. VIENNA, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said late Monday that its experts visited a damaged cooling tower of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) earlier that day but have not been able to determine the cause of a fire there on Sunday. Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other for the incident. Russia accused Ukraine of a drone attack, while Ukraine said Russian "negligence" or arson could have sparked the fire. The IAEA said in a statement late Monday night that its experts stationed at ZNPP, following their observations at the site of the damaged cooling tower, assessed that "it was unlikely that the primary source of the fire began at the base of the cooling tower." According to the statement, the experts "determined that the damage was most likely concentrated on the interior of the tower at the water nozzle distribution level, located at roughly 10 meters high," but they have not been granted access to the level. The IAEA expert team did not observe tire or drone remains during their inspection, and they confirmed that "there were no significant signs of disturbance of the debris, ash or soot located at the base of the cooling tower." "The team has not been able to draw definitive conclusions on the basis of the findings and observations so far," the IAEA said in the statement, adding that it will continue further analysis. The United Nations nuclear watchdog said that the nuclear safety of ZNPP has not been affected by the incident as its cooling towers are not in operation. The agency also confirmed no signs of elevated radiation levels in the area of the plant's cooling towers. A cool and comfy night; mainly dry for the next several days Tonight features partly cloudy skies and temperatures dipping back into the mid to upper 50s. Its the perfect evening to enjoy outside for dinner or if youre checking out the Seether concert here at the State Fair of West Virginia! Perhaps even give the air conditioner a break with a light northerly breeze. Tuesday continues our trend of beautiful weather here in the two Virginias with high pressure in control. With an area of low pressure down across Georgia, an isolated shower could try to sneak up into the area. Most of us will be dry with high temperatures in the upper 70s. Wednesday brings plenty of sunshine into the region once again with high pressure up to our north. Thatll keep the heat and humidity still at bay with highs in the low 80s. Thursday keeps us with plenty of sunshine but were warming up into the mid 80s with a touch more humidity out ahead of our next storm system, which will arrive late Thursday night into Friday. That could give us a few sprinkles overnight Thursday into Friday morning. Friday brings a better chance for scattered showers and storms, with a warm front lifting north through the region. Its not a washout but a few storms will be a good bet in a more unsettled pattern. Well see highs in the low 80s. Look Into The Future Using Our StormTracker 59 Predictor Saturday continues our risk for showers as Fridays warm front is followed by a cold front on Saturday. A few showers will still be a good bet with high temperatures closer to 80. Sunday keeps the risk for showers once again as our system takes its time getting out of the area. Well see a few showers once again with plenty of breaks and highs in the upper 70s. Monday provides more of an isolated chance for showers with high temperatures remaining close to 80 degrees. #WeatherTogether Looking ahead in your extended forecast, a broad upper level low pressure system will keep the risk for a few showers around. This will in turn help keep temperatures from becoming too hot, as well hang close to 80 degrees for highs, which is right about normal for this time of year. TONIGHT Partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 50s. TUESDAY Mostly sunny. Gorgeous! Highs in the upper 50s. WEDNESDAY Mostly sunny. Highs in the low 80s. THURSDAY Partly sunny. Warmer. Highs in the mid 80s. FRIDAY Scattered showers likely. Highs in the low 80s. SATURDAY Few showers still likely. Highs around 80. SUNDAY Scattered showers. Highs in the upper 70s. MONDAY Isolated showers. Highs near 80. TUESDAY Isolated showers. Highs in the low 80s. WEDNESDAY Scattered showers. Highs near 80. THURSDAY Isolated showers. Highs in the low 80s. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WVNS. Independent presidential candidate Cornel West will be on the ballot in North Carolina, a federal judge ruled Monday, siding with a group of West supporters who challenged a state board of elections decision to keep Wests party off the ballot. The Justice for All Party (JFA) was denied ballot access in North Carolina at a state board of elections meeting last month, with the board finding that the party misled voters into signing its ballot access petition. Judge Terrence Boyle ruled Monday that the boards reasoning was flawed, finding that it did not have proper justification to deny the Justice for All Party of access. He issued a preliminary injunction in the case, allowing West on the ballot as the case moves forward. Boyle said the board failed to use the required narrow tailoring to determine whether the partys petition signatures were invalid, instead writing them off altogether based on its own flawed internal analysis. Narrow tailoring requires a scalpel; the Board used a blunt instrument, he wrote. The Board effectively disenfranchised over 17,000 North Carolina voters who signed petitions to certify JFA as a new political party on flawed, highly suspect grounds. JFA access was first challenged by Clear Choice Action, a Democratic-aligned group which has filed challenges to third-party ballot access nationwide. The suit by West supporters alleges the Democratic members of the board were overly reliant on misleading evidence provided by the group to reject its application. North Carolina JFA co-Chair Italo Medelius celebrated the ruling Tuesday. This is a monumental day for our party and for all supporters of a diverse political representation, he said in a statement. The courts decision to allow our candidates on the ballot is not just a win for JFA but a victory for every North Carolinian who believes in the power of choice and the strength of democracy. The North Carolina State Board of Elections told The Hill that its attorneys are reviewing the decision. Updated at 2:28 p.m. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. HIGH POINT, N.C. (WGHP) Governor Roy Cooper announced on Tuesday that Cosmetics & Cleaners International LLC will invest millions in Guilford County and bring jobs. A statement released by the governors office says the company will invest $8.4 million to locate a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in High Point. Cosmetics & Cleaners International LLC will bring 108 jobs to Brentwood Street, according to a City of High Point spokesperson. Manufacturers want to operate in the best state for their long-term success, and its positive news that this company chose High Point, Cooper said. With a $114 billion manufacturing economy, investments in infrastructure for distribution from a prime east coast location and a highly skilled workforce, our state will continue to be a top choice. Headquartered in Miami, Cosmetics & Cleaners International, doing business as C&C Industries, provides contract manufacturing, filling, private labeling, packaging and distributing services of over-the-counter topical, beauty and personal care products. As an FDA-registered manufacturer, C&C Industries distributes products in all 50 states to department stores and retailers for national and globally recognized brands. The new production site will cover 108,000 square feet. This new facility is a significant step forward in expanding our operations and meeting the growing demands of our clients. High Point offers the perfect blend of skilled workforce and strategic location that will enable us to deliver even greater value to our customers, CEO of C&C Industries Andy Boutros said. We are excited to become a part of the Guilford County community and look forward to contributing to the local economy. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX8 WGHP. Cosmic coincidence or political karma? Trump and Daniels are both in NC city this week Former President Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels are both appearing in Asheville this week -- on different days and stages. The most curious stop on this weeks political calendar might be former President Donald Trump making a speech in downtown Asheville, blocks away from the weekly drum circle, a store that sells magic mushrooms gummies and a restaurant that serves $14 cauliflower for dinner. Not exactly Trump Country. But the campaign rally takes on even more bizarre quality that considering Stormy Daniels porn actress, comedian and the presidents persistent legal foil will perform there just two days later. This might be their closest brush since a Manhattan courtroom in May. Why Asheville? Trump appears Wednesday at Harrahs Cherokee Center in Asheville, a free event aimed at criticizing the economic hardship he blames on President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris plans her own North Carolina speech in Raleigh on Friday. Trumps choice of venue, in what may be North Carolinas bluest ZIP Code, has already drawn a puzzled response statewide. I think a lot of people are scratching their heads, theyre saying, well, Asheville is liberal. Trump is not. Why Asheville? asked Western Carolina University political science professor Chris Cooper in the Asheville Citizen Times. And part of it may just be simple logistics. If you want to hit Western North Carolina, you need a venue that holds thousands of people, and after the assassination attempt, you prefer to be indoors, then you pretty much have one option and one option only, and its Harrahs Cherokee in the center of the city of Asheville. Daniels, meanwhile, sold out her One Night Stand show in New Orleans in June, Newsweek reported, after a jury in New York convicted Trump on 34 felony counts, largely on her testimony about their affair and hush-money payments. Her Friday show at the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts in Asheville has tickets selling between $40 and $95 and offers excitement, laughter and maybe even a few surprises. But heres a surprise nobody would expect: an Asheville resident showing up both nights. You could help St. Louis County design its new flag. Heres how ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. Saint Louis Countys flag will have a new look in the near future, and county leaders seek help from residents in crafting its design. Saint Louis County officials will host a series of workshops, beginning Tuesday, in which residents pitch their own designs and offer feedback on possible concepts. The workshops are set for the following dates, times and locations: Tuesday, Aug. 13 at Florissant Valley Library at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 14 at Clark Family Library at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 15 at Grants View Library at 6 p.m. The push for a new flag comes as St. Louis County launched a comprehensive rebrand earlier this year. Officials hope to promote the countys diversity, history and future through the rebrand with a slogan of Opportunity Central. New A&E series exposes Greek life, starting with Mizzou hazing case Saint Louis County is the economic engine of Missouri; however, our population has been stagnated for decades. This branding campaign and new flag will showcase the dynamic character of this county and that we are a welcoming place to live, work, and invest in your future, said St. Louis County Executive Sam Page, via a news release. County officials have partnered with the Kranzberg Arts Foundation to host the workshops. The county has not yet disclosed a timetable on when a final design could be selected and unveiled. The countys current flag, according to CRWFlags.com, primarily consists of blue, with traces of red, green, yellow, black and white, along with a seal of an ambiguous object. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2. JACKSON COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) A man sentenced to death for the murder of a Walton County woman will remain on death row. A federal appeals court rejected 62-year-old Jesse Guardados attempt to overturn the death penalty. Guardado murdered a 75-year-old woman named Jackie Malone on September 13th, 2004. Bay County man charged with lewd and lascivious molestation of a disabled adult Malone was helping Guardado get back on his feet after he was released from prison. One night he went to her home, asked to use the telephone, and then hit Malone in the head with an iron tool. He then stabbed her in the chest, slit her throat, then robbed her. Guardado pled guilty to murder, but is arguing his attorneys ineffectual representation resulted in the death penalty. However, the 3-appellate court judges rejected the appeal. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to mypanhandle.com. COUSHATTA, La. (KTAL/KMSS) A Coushatta man has been arrested after he allegedly shot and killed a woman. According to a press release, on Monday at 1:35 p.m., Red River Parish Sheriffs Office Deputies and Coushatta City Police Officers were dispatched to a residence in the 900 block of Second Street in Coushatta, Louisiana, about a possible shooting. Investigation: Warrant seeks teacher accused of inappropriate relationship with student Officials say deputies and officers found a female in the front yard of the residence suffering from a single gunshot wound. Red River Parish EMS responded to the location. However, the victim was unresponsive. She was later pronounced deceased on-scene by the Red River Parish Deputy Coroner and was identified as a 20-year-old, black female from Coushatta. Police say the identity of the victim is being withheld pending notification of the family. The alleged shooter and homeowner of the residence was on scene and was identified as Thomas Mangham of Coushatta. Mangham was detained, and a search warrant was obtained for the residence where the firearm, which is believed to have been used during the shooting, was subsequently located. Mangham was then transported to RRPSOs Criminal Investigations Division and later booked into the Red River Parish Jail and faces charges of illegal discharge of a firearm and second-degree murder. Mangham is a 58-year-old white man and remains incarcerated awaiting bond. The investigation is ongoing. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTALnews.com. Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett's proposed 2025 budget, unveiled Monday, avoids tax increases despite a loss of COVID era federal money. The $1.65 billion budget is a proposed increase from last years approved budget of $1.5 billion. City Controller Sarah Riordan said some programs funded by the American Rescue Plan Act will receive support from city money while others, including a $195 million rental assistance program, will be allowed to expire. Planned infrastructure improvements include the further transformation of Georgia Street in downtown Indianapolis into a pedestrian-friendly area. The city will use $50 million in TIF money to pay for that along with nine other projects. We can keep using our borrowing power to make substantial changes to our downtown while at the same time reserving our budget dollars for neighborhood improvements, Hogsett said in his budget pitch Monday. Vision Zero the movement to eliminate pedestrian deaths receives its first proposed budget allocation, a senior program manager position with broad authority to work across city departments to bring about safety changes, according to Dan Parker, Hogsetts chief of staff. The proposed budget allocates each district city-county councilor $1 million to address up to three of their most hazardous intersections for improvement. The money may also be used for park improvements. This gives you the power to make the changes you want to see in the neighborhoods you represent, Hogsett said. The city also plans to allocate $1 million to a forest-related stormwater fund that will preserve some forests, an effort to strategically absorb stormwater, according to Brandon Herget, director of the Department of Public Works. Public safety initiatives account for 41% of the allocated expenses at $637 million. Hogsetts budget also allocates $313 million toward criminal justice expenses. The budget includes money for 1,743 officers, a goal that the department has tried to but failed to reach since 2019. To meet that goal, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department will add a third new recruit class. Hogsetts administration bragged about his proposed eighth consecutive balanced budget during his pitch. His administration has said that when he took office in 2016, he inherited a structural deficit of $50 million. By his second budget, the city had eliminated it. City-county council committees will review the budget before it's voted on this fall. An earlier version of this story misstated the planned use for $50 million in TIF money. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Rent aid will expire, Georgia St. will get upgrade in proposed budget Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry of Zambia Chipoka Mulenga (L) and Minister of External Commerce of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Julien Paluku pose for a photo after a meeting held in Lubumbashi, capital of DRC's southeastern province of Haut-Katanga, on Aug. 12, 2024. The DRC and Zambia agreed to reopen border posts from Tuesday after three days of closing. The decision was made at a bilateral ministerial meeting held in Lubumbashi, capital of the DRC's southeastern Haut-Katanga province. (DRC Ministry of External Commerce/Handout via Xinhua) KINSHASA, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Zambia agreed to reopen border posts from Tuesday after three days of closing. The two sides also agreed to grant a special 30-day waiver to facilitate the transition and allow affected parties to adjust to new regulations. The decision was made at a bilateral ministerial meeting held in Lubumbashi, capital of the DRC's southeastern Haut-Katanga province, attended by DRC Minister of External Trade Julien Paluku and Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry of Zambia Chipoka Mulenga. The Zambian government on Saturday closed the border posts with the DRC, saying the closure was a security measure due to protests by truck drivers angry at the DRC's decision in June to ban the import of products such as beer and soft drinks for 12 months. The DRC and Zambia rely heavily on roads for the export of precious metals, notably copper and cobalt. Zambia is a key export route for the DRC, the world's second-largest producer of copper in 2023. Crime Reports: Suspect accused of punching employee in face at Abilene store Editors Note: The following arrest and incident reports were supplied by the Abilene Police Department. All information below comes from reports made by responding officers, and all suspects are considered not guilty unless determined otherwise in a court of law. Incidents 2000 block of S Clack Street Theft of Firearm A firearm was reported stolen during a motor vehicle burglary. 2700 block of Old Anson Road Theft of Property An Abilene nursing home resident reported cash and a wallet was stolen from his room. 300 block of N Jefferson Drive Criminal Trespass A known suspect entered an apartment without permission. 00 block of Windmill Circle Theft of Property A victim reported an employee stole several tools. 2000 block of S Clack Street Forgery Police took a report for fraud. 700 block of N Willis Street Burglary of Vehicle A victim reported a leaf blower worth $250 was reported stolen. 300 block of N Jefferson Drive Assault Family Violence A victim was arrested for assault family violence after allegedly choking his girlfriend. 800 block of Chestnut Street Theft of Property A victim reported a motorcycle was stolen by an unknown suspect. 2000 block of Clinton Street Theft of Property A vehicle was reported stolen. 400 block of Cockerell Drive Assault Family Violence A suspect was arrested for assaulting her twin sister. 2100 block of Vogel Avenue Criminal Mischief Police responded to a disturbance at a north Abilene apartment where a suspect is accused of breaking his ex-girlfriends phone. 1600 block of Westwood Drive Assault Family Violence A report for assault was taken in north Abilene. 900 block of N Mockingbird Lane Theft of Property A north Abilene business reported a customer borrowed a loaner mower and never returned it. 1600 block of Hwy 351 Criminal Trespass A known suspect was located inside Walmart and warned of criminal trespass. 1300 block of Barrow Street Theft of Property A suspect is accused of stealing $136 worth of groceries from an Abilene store. 2000 block of Palm Street Criminal Trespass 3100 block of S 1st Street Terroristic Threat Cause Fear of Imminent SBI A victim alleged an unknown suspect threatened to cause him harm and placed him in fear of his life. 800 block of Sycamore Street Assault A report for assault was taken in south Abilene. 5800 block of Quail Run Road Assault An assault report was taken in south Abilene. 2700 block of N Judge Ely Boulevard Aggravated Robbery An arrest was made in north Abilene. 5200 block of Aztec Drive Assault Family Violence A victim advised he was slapped in the face by his girlfriend. 1300 block of S Danville Drive Assault Family Violence A victim reported her ex-boyfriend grabbed her by the neck and choked her. 1900 block of Chestnut Street Burglary of Habitation A victim reported an unknown suspect broke into her house and took clothing and a bag. 2400 block of Buffalo Gap Road Assault Family Violence Police took a report of assault family violence in south Abilene. 1600 block of Ambler Avenue Theft of Property A suspect was arrested for theft in north Abilene. 1500 block of E Stamford Street Criminal Mischief A victim reported her boyfriend damaged her motor vehicle. 5200 block of Hartford Street Assault Family Violence A victim reported her boyfriend choked her. 3800 block of Patriot Drive Burglary of Vehicle 2000 block of S Clack Street Burglary of Vehicle 1900 block of Bel Air Drive Theft of Motor Vehicle Police took a report in reference to theft of a motor vehicle in north Abilene. 2100 block of S 14th Street Theft of Property A report for theft was taken. 1600 block of Ambler Avenue Assault Police were dispatched to a north Abilene business where a suspect is accused of punching an employee in the face. 700 block of Butternut Street Criminal Trespass A south Abilene business reported a suspect was on their property and refused to leave while she was also acting aggressive. 1300 block of Barrow Street Criminal Trespass A suspect was seen drawing on the outside wall of an Abilene business using permanent marker. 4300 block of Buffalo Gap Road Theft of Property A victim reported her three wheeled tricycle was stolen. 3700 block of W Lake Road Theft of Property A victim reported his ex-wife stole property from his pickup truck. 300 block of N Jefferson Drive Continuous Violence Against the Family A victim was assaulted by a known suspect in north Abilene. 1100 block of N Alameda Road Assault Family Violence A victim reported a disturbance in progress. 5200 block of S 7th Street Assault Family Violence A report was taken for assault family violence in south Abilene. 2400 block of Buffalo Gap Road Assault Family Violence A suspect was arrested for assaulting her boyfriend. 3500 block of Curry Lane Assault Family Violence 5400 block of Texas Avenue Theft of Property A resident woke up and discovered her vehicle had been stolen. 600 block of Westwood Drive Theft of Property A refrigerator was reported stolen. Arrests Salvador Maravilla Warrant, Evading Arrest Detention Jedidiah Green Assault Family Violence Treya Hall Possession of Controlled Substance Fabian Chavez Warrant Gabriel Costa Unlawful Carrying Weapon, Evading Arrest Detention Sandie Conner Assault Family Violence Leobardo Bersosa Public Intoxication Cade Burk Public Intoxication Justin Smith Driving While Intoxicated Jonas Gutierrez Criminal Trespass Lizbeth Ojeda Guillen Theft of Property James Sandefur Warrant Bobbie Wilson Criminal Trespass Michael Sneed Warrant Katrina Rogers Warrant, Warrant Kala Jackson Warrant Joseph Weimer Public Intoxication Tony Marney Manufacture Delivery of Controlled Substance, Manufacture Delivery of Controlled Substance Barihenuye Twehangane Assault Family Violence Michael James Public Intoxication Joseph Gamez Driving While Intoxicated Ladon Pressley Warrant Joe Martinez Public Intoxication Aaliyah Alejandro Theft of Property Jo Franks Driving While Intoxicated Ricardo Zapata Evading Arrest Detention Eric Sibomana Assault Family Violence, Interfere with Emergency Request for Assistance Mario Morales Warrant, Evading Arrest Detention with Previous Conviction Brandon Logan Criminal Mischief Deandre Robinson Warrant, Resist Arrest Search or Transport, Evading Arrest, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia Jacob Rodriquez Possession of Controlled Substance, Public Intoxication Evan Allen Possession of Controlled Substance, Interfer with Public Duties Ashton Franco Assault Family Violence, Unlawful Restraint Family Violence Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTAB - BigCountryHomepage.com. Twenty years into an ongoing federal cleanup of toxic chemicals from the Hudson River, environmental advocates are expressing displeasure with the progress, according to Gothamist. What's happening? The publication explained that two General Electric plants dumped 1.3 million pounds of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs a type of "forever chemicals" into the Hudson River between the 1940s and 1970s. The company paid to remove contamination from the riverbed from 2002 to 2015. However, environmental advocates are now claiming that new data released by the Environmental Protection Agency shows unacceptable levels of PCBs still in the water. For instance, average PCB levels in fish were measured at 0.71 milligrams per kilogram in 2021, which is much higher than the 2020 target of 0.4 milligrams per kilogram. "We're extremely frustrated that EPA has yet again failed to recognize that the cleanup efforts in the upper Hudson River just have not sufficiently protected human health and the environment," Drew Gamils, an attorney for the nonprofit organization Riverkeeper, told the publication, adding that dredging the river is not doing the job. Meanwhile, the EPA said it needs more data to determine if the cleanup is meeting expectations, and environmentalists say they fear this could delay further progress. Why is this cleanup important? PCBs accumulate in animals' fatty tissue and increase as they move up through the food chain, Gothamist reported, explaining that these chemicals can eventually make their way to humans. In fact, children and pregnant women are warned against eating anything from the Hudson River. While not all the same, the broader class of forever chemicals has been associated with health maladies like cancer, birth defects, liver disease, thyroid disease, and lower sperm counts. Plus, one new study outlined how these contaminants can pass from mother to newborn through maternal serum, cord serum, and breast milk. PCBs are of particular concern for women, Gothamist reported, as elevated levels can lead to miscarriages and interfere with menstruation and menopause. What's being done about forever chemicals? The EPA said its desire for more study and data collection will not delay any decisions on how it will move forward on the Hudson cleanup. The agency is also seeking public comments until October 8, 2024. It's impossible to completely avoid PFAS these chemicals can be found in many everyday products along with a lot of our drinking water but you can limit your risk by taking actions like avoiding nonstick cookware and limiting your use of stain- or water-resistant clothing. You can also choose products from PFAS-free brands. The good news is that scientists are exploring new ways to eliminate these chemicals from our environment. Some researchers at the University of California, Riverside recently revealed a new method to break down two of the most common PFAS compounds PFOA and PFOS in water in less than an hour. Plus, a team at Northwestern has found that heating forever chemicals in a dimethyl sulfoxide and sodium hydroxide mixture breaks down their chemical bonds. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. As Vice President Kamala Harris campaigns with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, photographs and videos have captured large crowds of energetic supporters gathering at the campaign events to support the Democratic Party ticket. Several posts on social media claim that some of these images are inauthenticthat the crowds pictured at a Harris campaign rally in Michigan last week have been digitally added by artificial intelligence technology. BREAKING REPORT: Harris campaign BUSTED using FAKE crowd photo at campaign rally stop.. pic.twitter.com/HjTjN7vCdz Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) August 10, 2024 For example, right-wing commentator Dinesh DSouzacreator of the 2000 Mules documentary recently pulled by its producer Salem Media for spreading disinformation about voter fraud in the 2020 electionwas among the first to suggest on Saturday that the image was doctored. Check the reflection in the plane, DSouza said. Does this look like a real picture to you? However, these claims are false. The crowds depicted in the images at Harris campaign rally at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport were not faked or digitally altered, but are clearly visible in other photos and videos taken at the campaign event. The viral image used in several posts and shared by former President Donald Trump was initially posted to X by Harris campaign staffer Bhavik Lathia, who credited another campaign official, Ben Sarle, for taking the picture. Less than 30 minutes before Lathia shared the image, he shared a video of the same Detroit airport campaign event. C-SPANs live footage of the Detroit airport campaign rally also depicted the large crowds gathered around Air Force Two. Meanwhile, Reuters photographer Elizabeth Frantz also featured the crowds in an image taken from a slightly different vantage point than Lathia, as did Anadolu Agency photographer Adam J. Dewey. If you have a claim you would like to see us fact check, please send us an email at factcheck@thedispatch.com. If you would like to suggest a correction to this piece or any other Dispatch article, please email corrections@thedispatch.com. Read more at The Dispatch The Dispatch is a new digital media company providing engaged citizens with fact-based reporting and commentary, informed by conservative principles. Sign up for free. Crown Prince Haakon of Norway's stepson was arrested on Aug. 4 LISE ASERUD/NTB/AFP/Getty Marius Borg Hiby on June 16, 2022. Alleged new details have emerged around the recent arrest of Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway's son, Marius Borg Hiby. One week after Marius, Crown Princess Mette-Marit's 27-year-old son from before her marriage to Crown Prince Haakon, was arrested and released after a "violent incident" involving a woman at an apartment in Oslo, according to a police statement, it has been alleged that he threatened to set her clothes on fire after the attack. "Two anonymous sources told the Norwegian magazine Se og Hor that police were in possession of an audio tape of the crown princes stepson telling the victim he would set fire to her clothes if she did not do what he wanted," The Times reported on Aug. 12. The next day, Se og Hor published photos claiming to be taken from inside the apartment where the attack happened, including a knife sticking out of a wall and a light fixture shattered on the floor. (Outlets like the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph have also reported on the allegations.) Abaca Press/Alamy Marius Borg Hiby at Skagum Stadium in Asker, Norway on June 13, 2022. Related: Meet Norway's Royal Family: All About the 1,000-Year-Old Monarchy A statement shared by the Oslo Police on Aug. 13 said that Marius, who doesn't have a royal role, was arrested on accusations of causing bodily harm on Aug. 4 after authorities received word of a "violent incident carried out in an apartment on Frogner in Oslo during the night," per an English translation. Authorities responded to the apartment where the incident allegedly happened, received information from the victim and investigated the scene before they decided to make the arrest, it continued. The police then contacted Marius at Skagum, a royal residence outside Oslo, and the arrest happened "calmly" at Janslkka school, where they agreed to meet. He was released the following day. Police shared more about his alleged relationship with the woman and what's next in the Aug. 13 release. LISE ASERUD/NTB/AFP/Getty Marius Borg Hiby and Crown Princess Mette-Marit on June 16, 2022. "Hiby has a relationship with the woman who was subjected to the physical abuse. The police do not have information that the woman has suffered serious injuries, but it will be part of the investigation to map out the extent of the victim's injuries," the police statement (translated into English) said. "The charge has since been extended to cover damage to the apartment." "Hiby has not wanted to explain himself as of now, but the police are in dialogue with the defense attorney about possible questioning," it continued. "The police will also carry out follow-up interviews with the victim. We also collect witness information and other documentation in the case." It added that the case is being investigated by the center unit of the Oslo police district. Se og Hr previously reported that Marius was arrested and detained for 30 hours on Aug. 4 after being accused that he had "attacked" a woman at an apartment in Oslo. The woman was reportedly hospitalized for a concussion, according to the outlet. Rolf Vennenbernd/picture alliance/Getty Crown Prince Haakon of Norway attends the Paris Olympics on Aug. 6, 2024. Related: Every Royal from Around the World at the Paris Olympic Games Two days later, Crown Prince Haakon, 51, briefly spoke about his stepson's arrest for the first time. "It is a serious matter when the police are involved in the way they are, but at the same time, it is not right for me to go into the details of the case," the heir to the throne told reporters, according to the Daily Express. Crown Prince Haakon was in Paris for the Summer Olympics and added that Crown Princess Mette-Marit, 50, stayed home despite previous plans to join him in France. "In our family, as in all families, it is sometimes important to be there. This time it was me who went while she stayed at home," Crown Prince Haakon explained, according to the outlet. Haakon first stepped out at the global games on Aug. 6, where he watched an equestrian final and sat with Prince Albert of Monaco and Princess Alexandra of Hanover at another event. He mingled with athletes around the Olympic Village in photos shared by the Royal House of Norway on Aug. 8, before Crown Princess Mette-Marit joined him in Paris on Aug. 10, appearing the day before the closing ceremony. ALEX PLAVEVSKI/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock (From left) Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stone, Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Crown Prince Haakon at the women's handball match between Norway and France at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 10, 2024. Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more! The crown prince couple are also parents to Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 20, who follows her father in the line of succession, and Prince Sverre Magnus, 18. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Firefighters on Tuesday had more than half of the Crozier Fire contained as they continued mop-up operations to corral the wildfire that has been burning for a week northeast of Placerville in El Dorado County. The Crozier Fire has burned 1,938 acres as of Tuesday morning, and firefighters had contained 52% of the wildfire as of Tuesday morning, according to Cal Fire. The size of the wildfire has not increased for the past few days. Kyle Ferris, a fire behavior analyst with Cal Fire, said in a Tuesday morning briefing that the fire has remained within the containment lines with no expected growth. But he told firefighters working in the interior area of the Crozier Fire to be cautious of fire-weakened trees, ash pits and smoldering tree stumps. The wildfire started northwest of Slate Mountain and grew to about 244 acres after the first few hours, before it nearly tripled its size by the following morning. Nearly 1,600 firefighting personnel on Tuesday were assigned to encircle the Crozier Fire, but Cal Fire officials said that number will continue to get smaller as Crozier Fire containment increases and the state agency pulls away resources to tackle other wildfires throughout California. Cal Fire was in unified command with U.S. Forest Service officials from the Eldorado National Forest. Cooler-than-normal temperatures and increased humidity allowed firefighters to gain additional containment of the blaze, according to a Tuesday morning situational summary from Cal Fire.The wildfire continued to smolder in steep, rugged terrain with abundant dry fuel. Chris Baldoni, who leads night operations for Cal Fire, said firefighters continued patrols and mop-up overnight, pushing the heat well into the interior of the fires perimeter with seek and destroy operations along the containment lines. Cal Fire expects better weather conditions Tuesday with maximum wind speeds reaching about 15 mph after the 20 mph gusts on Monday. Firefighters on Tuesday were expected to continue to mop-up operations of hot spots within the fire perimeter, working from the edges toward the interior. Cal Fire said dozer operations are improving secondary and tertiary contingency containment lines, which will serve as breaks in any future fires. Jeff Loveless, a Cal Fire operations sections chief, told firefighters on Tuesday not to lose sight of their goal to return normalcy to the El Dorado County communities impacted by the Crozier Fire. He said crews have to make sure the wildfire doesnt spread, mainly on the north side of the blaze, by continuing to strengthen containment lines. On Monday, residents in another area previously evacuated were allowed to return to their homes, according to Cal Fire. That area was in addition to areas where residents were allowed to return home Sunday. An area where firefighting operations continued Tuesday remained under mandatory evacuation order, and an immediate surrounding area remained under an evacuation warning. Sheriffs officials have asked residents to visit perimetermap.com to view the evacuation map. Residents can enter their address in the search bar to see the latest information. The El Dorado County Sheriffs Office on Monday afternoon announced that a temporary evacuation shelter opened last week at the Cameron Park Community Services District is now closed. Sheriffs officials also said the El Dorado County Animal Services Shelter is no longer accepting animals displaced by an evacuation order and asked anyone with an animal housed at the shelter to call 530-621-5795 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (COLORADO SPRINGS) The Colorado Springs Police Department notified the community of a Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) on Tuesday, Aug. 13. Christopher James McGough has been released on parole and moved to an address in Colorado Springs, he is registered at 25 West Las Vegas Street. Per Colorado law, CSPD must notify anyone who resides in the community of any SVPs in the area. Christopher McGough. Courtesy: CSPD McGoughs criminal history reveals he was convicted of Attempted Sexual Assault on a child in Jefferson County in Colorado in 2009. McGough failed to register as a sex offender in El Paso County in 2021 and 2019, he also had an unauthorized absence in El Paso County in 2021 and a Felony charge for menacing in 2018. In addition, McGough failed to register as a sex offender in Denver in 2017 and has a third-degree assault charge in Douglas County. In 2007, he was charged with Motor Vehicle theft and Criminal Mischief in Adams County. McGough is described as a 34-year-old white male, he stands at 56 tall and weighs 150 pounds. He has blond hair and blue eyes. CSPD said they will make all reasonable efforts to ensure McGough registers as a sex offender and understands his responsibilities as such. McGough is one of 20 SVPs in the Colorado Springs area who resides in the community. For further questions about this SVP and the community notification process, contact Detective Nancy Gifford with CSPDs Registered Sex Offender Unit at (719)-444-7672. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado. Cutting off Russian gas supplies could be 'massive risk' for country, Austria says The Austrian Energy Ministry has warned that a possible cut-off of Russian gas supplies poses risks to the country, which is still dependent on natural gas from Russia, the ministry said to Bloomberg, as reported on Aug. 13. Despite efforts by European countries to reduce dependency on Russia's gas, Russian supplies remain an important part of the EU's imports. Russia cut much of its pipeline gas transit to Europe in 2022, but countries like Austria, Hungary, and Slovakia remain heavily reliant on Russian imports. The Austrian Energy Ministry said as long as there is dependence on Russian gas supplies, "there is a massive risk of a corresponding supply failure with far-reaching consequences." "We must end Austria's dependency on Russian gas supplies as soon as possible," the ministry said. According to the Austrian government's report, the country can replace Russian gas with supplies from Italy and Germany. But if it fails to do so, its gas storage capacity will drop to 15% by 2026. Austria's ruling coalition has pledged to end Russian gas imports by 2027 as part of a broader transformation of the country's energy system. The government is expected to present a detailed roadmap ahead of the national elections on Sep. 29. A more likely scenario envisages the cessation of Russian supplies from January 2025, new supplies via Italy to meet growing demand, and a 60% storage capacity in 2027, Bloomberg said. While the total amount of gas imported from Russia has decreased, 98% of all gas imports to Austria in December 2023 came from Russia, constituting a record-high share. In 2018, Austria extended its gas supply contract with Russia until 2040. The Austrian government is currently exploring whether it is possible to terminate the agreement with Gazprom ahead of schedule. Read also: Ukraine, Russia have no intention of halting gas flows to Europe amid fighting in Kursk Oblast, Bloomberg reports Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Cyprus ready for evacuees from Lebanon and Israel, minister says Heavy smoke billows following an Israeli air strike over the southern Lebanese border village of Kfarkela. STR/dpa Cyprus has completed preparations for a potential evacuation of foreigners from Lebanon and Israel, Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos told Cypriot news agency CNA on Tuesday. The plans come amid fears that Iran and its proxies could soon launch major attacks on Israel and push the region into a wider war. Kombos said that Cyprus could accommodate a large number of people - including citizens of other EU countries and third-country nationals - provided they travel on to their home countries in due time. In the Mediterranean island's port city of Larnaca, beds have already been set up in schools and hygiene facilities prepared. Cyprus is the European Union member state closest to the Middle East, with the flight from Lebanon to Cyprus taking about 35 minutes. The foreign minister recalled that during the 2006 Lebanon War, Cyprus temporarily took in around 60,000 people. Ferries could also be used to bring evacuees to the Cypriot port cities of Limassol or Larnaca. Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, people have already been brought to safety several times via these sea routes. Worries of an all-out regional war have grown following the recent targeted killings of two leading figures, one from the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and the other from the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militia. Iran and Hezbollah announced they would undertake massive retaliatory strikes against Israel in response to the assassinations. The Israeli armed forces have been on high alert for days. Planes are seen on the runway at Beirut Rafiq Hariri International Airport. A growing number of flights have been canceled or suspended at Beirut's only commercial airport, as the US, UK, Australia, Sweden, France, Italy, Canada, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan urge their citizens to flee Lebanon as soon as possible as fears of an all-out war between Israel and pro-Iranian Hezbollah grow. Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KREX) After ex-Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters was found guilty on seven of 10 counts Monday, both she and the District Attorneys Office provided their thoughts on the verdict. District Attorney Dan Rubinstein sent out a statement Tuesday, saying: This community has suffered greatly from the dishonesty, lack of transparency and refusal of Ms. Peters to take accountability. Our system of government is based upon checks and balances, and no single elected official, or even branch of government, is above the law or should be allowed to act without those checks and balances. Many thanks to (Colorado) Attorney General Phil Weiser for lending some of the finest prosecutors and investigators to us and his staff for being willing to be sworn in under my authority as district attorney for the 21st Judicial District. They, along with the talented members of my office, assured a successful prosecution. Peters was found guilty of failure to comply with the Colorado Secretary of States office, three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, violation of duty and official misconduct. She was found not guilty on two counts of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation and identity theft. Her sentencing will be Thursday, Oct. 3. Weiser and Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold sent press releases after the verdict, saying they were pleased with the result. Peters wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying, Im taking a day off to grieve for the people that have been hurt by (Dominion Voting Systems) and the (Colorado) Secretary of States attorneys actions to steal their vote and their voice. I will continue to fight until the Truth is revealed that was not allowed to be brought during this trial. This is a sad day for our nation and the world. But we WILL win in the end. Keep the faith and continue to pray. Galatians 6:9 let us not be weary in welldoing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WesternSlopeNow.com. HOHHOT, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The embankment of a river in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region was breached around 12:40 p.m. Tuesday following recent torrential rains, forcing over 820 residents to evacuate, according to local authorities. The dike breach, measuring over 10 meters in width, occurred at the Laoha River in Taipingdi Town of Chifeng City, affecting some 467 hectares of farmland, said the city's drought relief and flood control headquarters. No casualties were reported. More than 600 people are working to seal the breach. J.D. Vance helped to fund a startup that was supposed to make things better for working people in eastern Kentucky. But not only did it fail, it provided terrible working conditions, causing employees to flee in drovesonly to be soon replaced by migrant workers. CNN reports that in 2017, in the wake of his successful book Hillbilly Elegy, Vance was hired by AOL co-founder Steve Case to invest in underserved markets. One week later, Vance took a meeting with Jonathan Webb, the founder of a startup called AppHarvest. AppHarvests plan was to create an indoor farming operation growing fruits and vegetables in eastern Kentucky, an economically distressed region close to much of the U.S. population with plenty of land and water nearby. Webb had already drained his savings and maxed out his credit cards to run the startup, and he needed more cash. So he reached out to investors, including Vance. Vance would invest $150,000 in AppHarvest, with other investors chipping in $50,000 each. While Senate disclosures say Vance was named to the companys board of directors in March 2017, AppHarvests security filings say that he joined in 2020. Vances own venture capital firm, Narya, had AppHarvest as one of its earliest publicly disclosed investments. Over the next few years, Vance helped the startup get millions of dollars in capital, and helped Webb as a pitchman. All the while, AppHarvest was hiring eastern Kentucky locals to help with its crops, having pledged to bring thousands of jobs to high unemployment areas, according to a presentation it gave to investors in 2020. At first, things were going well, said one new hire, Anthony Morgan. He said his hours as a crop care specialist were manageable and that the benefits were better than anything else in the area. But a few months later, production fell behind and workers were put under pressure. The company cut employee health care benefits along with other costs, and hours were increased with breaks cut. For workers like Morgan, that meant longer days in a very hot greenhouse, which put them in danger. I think about the hottest that I experienced was around 128 degrees, Morgan told CNN. A couple days a week, youd have an ambulance show up and you seen people leaving on gurneys to go to the hospital. As conditions got worse, more and more workers left the company. Morgan organized a sit-in to demand better conditions and was later fired after he took time off to get treatment for an injury that he suffered on the job, he said. Morgans issues were shared by other workers at the company. One other crop care specialist, Shelby Hester, said that the company didnt provide masks for employees to deal with mold and other contaminants in the greenhouses. Hester corroborated Morgans account of workers experiencing heat stroke symptoms, and added that managers disregarded doctors notes as a reason to miss work. With native Kentuckians leaving their jobs, their positions were soon filled by migrant workers coming from countries like Mexico and Guatemala. Politicians and other leaders, like Senator Mitch McConnell, would visit the companys facilities, only for the migrant workers to be sent away so they wouldnt be seen. Kentucky state inspectors visited AppHarvest facilities but didnt issue any citations, and instead lauded supposed company precautions like mandatory heat breaks and drinks for employees. Nothing would ever happen, and the poor working conditions were documented in a report last year by Grist and the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting. The company went bankrupt in 2023 with $341 million in debt, dealing with millions of dollars in lawsuits. Vance left the companys board in April 2021 before his run for the Senate in Ohio but still had $100,000 invested in the company. With Vance touting his business record as the Republican vice presidential nominee, AppHarvest is another big strike against him and the campaign. OZARK, Ala (WDHN) A 59-year-old woman accused of neglecting her mother, leading to her death, will undergo mental health treatment to see if she is able to stand before a jury of her peers. Wendy Woodham was arrested in May 2023 and charged with elder abuse and neglect after police claimed they found her mother on the floor of their shared home, suffering from severe malnourishment, dehydration, and flesh rot. Nearly a month later, the unidentified 81-year-old died under a doctors care in Dothan, and police charged Woodham with one count of murder. Following her arrest, Judge Kimberly Crawford ordered Woodham to undergo a mental evaluation, and after reviewing the results during a hearing on Tuesday, August 13, the judge decided Woodham would undergo treatments from a mental health professional before a possible trial. Judge Crawford said Woodham would be referred to SpectreCare, but if they cannot take her case, she must find another doctor and mental health facility. Should Woodham not attend the court-ordered appointments, she will be arrested and taken to the Dale County Jail, where the Alabama Department of Mental Health will send her to a mental health facility. The court will review Woodhams first month of treatments, followed by a review every three months. Judge Crawford says that at the end of the reviews, she will consider the doctors recommendations and decide whether Woodham is competent to stand trial. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDHN - wdhn.com. His jaw was broken and he was in agony when doctors pieced him back together in June. Now the dog that Humane Society of Scott County staff called Fred is in a new home, living a happy life that includes car rides and a comfortable couch for snoozing. And the 42-year-old Davenport man convicted for battering him has been sentenced to prison. Fred waits for a car ride. (Humane Society of Scott County) After Fred was cared for in a foster home, he has been adopted into a forever home. Now hes like any other happy dog, living with a family that appreciates him. Fred enjoy cuddles now that he has recovered. (Human Society of Scott County) A brutal attack on a dog Ricky Titus (Scott County Jail) On Dec. 6, 2022, Ricky Titus did intentionally and knowingly commit animal abuse resulting in serious injury when he kicked a chained dog in the head numerous times and struck the same dog in the head/neck area repeatedly with an approximate 4-foot section of a wooden 24, arrest affidavits show. The dog was beaten unconscious on two separate occasions and did require treatment from a vet for a broken jaw, among other injuries, after it was abandoned, court records show. The incident occurred in Titus back yard on West 8th Street and was caught on video by another person, court records show. Fred relaxes in front of the television. (Humane Society of Scott County) On June 11, 2024, Our Quad Cities News was in the courtroom, where Titus appeared with his attorney for sentencing on two aggravated misdemeanor charges of possession of controlled substance marijuana third or subsequent and an aggravated misdemeanor of animal abuse, to which he had pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to no more than two years for each charge. This was a brutal, vicious attack on this animal, said prosecutor Kelly Cunningham, Scott County states attorney. The dog bit me. Thats why I lost it, Titus said. I did mess up, he said. The video shows what happened. Titus said he has taken anger-management classes and they have helped him. I know I did mess up. The video was pretty violent, he said. Titus said the dog bit him in the garage, then he took the dog outside and beat it after it bit him. I was in a blackout mode when he saw blood on his arm, he said. Cunningham said Titus chained the dog to a tree and beat it into unconsciousness twice. That is a not a mess-up, Kelly said. Fred enjoys the outdoors. (Humane Society of Scott County.) Titus said he never planned it. I didnt know anything that happened until I seen the video, Titus said. The judge said she was a concerned about the number of batteries and assaults Titus has had over the years. According to the sentencing order, Titus has a long record of violence toward other people. In this case, he beat the dog while it was tied up then left it and returned later to continue beating it. Youre at the age where you need to figure out why you attack things, she said to Titus. I do think you need to go to prison. Fred waits for dinner in the kitchen. (Humane Society of Scott County.) Titus sobbed as he told his family members goodbye before he was led from the courtroom. Meanwhile, Fred continues to heal and thrive. He was unable to walk when we found him and he had a fractured jaw and head trauma, said Erika Gunn, executive director for the Humane Society of Scott County. It was a very long road to recovery for Fred, but thanks to multiple veterinarians, our health team at HSSC, and his amazing foster Fred has made great strides and now lives a happy life with his new family. To help other animals at the Humane Society of Scott County, visit here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com. DC police looking for child believed to be kidnapped by parent WASHINGTON (DC News Now) D.C. police are looking for a child who they believe was kidnapped Monday. (Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Police Department) The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) said it believes 8-year-old Zoey Griffin was kidnapped by one of her parents. She was last seen in the 4100 block of Benning Road in Northeast D.C. DC police: Man arrested for assaulting person with a stone in Northwest Griffin is described to be 311 tall and 70 pounds with brown hair and eyes. She was last seen wearing a green t-shirt with navy blue shorts and green socks. Anyone with information is asked to call (202) 727-9099 or text 50411. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. WASHINGTON (DC News Now) The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) said officers arrested a man for assaulting two people on Monday morning. Just before 9 a.m., MPD responded to the intersection of 7th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW for the report of an assault. There, they found a man and a woman who had both been assaulted by the same person. Loudoun Countys Trump Campaign HQ burglarized, sheriff still searching for suspects A police report said that the suspect approached the woman, asking for the time. She continued to walk and the suspect through a paver stone at her, causing cuts, bruising, and swelling to her left arm and hand. The suspect then approached the man and hit him on the side of his face before walking off. Both of them were treated at the scene by DC Fire and EMS. Officers quickly found and arrested the suspect, 46-year-old John Kennedy. He was charged with Assault with a Dangerous Weapon (Rock) and Simple Assault. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. The summer heat has claimed another life in Death Valley National Park, one of the hottest places on Earth. Park Service officials say that on Aug. 1, Duarte resident Peter Hayes Robino, 57, was on the one-mile round-trip Natural Bridge Trail hike when he showed signs of being overheated. As he returned to the trailhead, bystanders saw Robino stumble and offered to help him, but he declined and said things that didn't make sense, Park Service officials said in a news release. Temperatures reached 119 degrees that afternoon, and the hike can take up to 45 minutes, according to the park website. When he got back to his car, Robino drove it off a 20-foot embankment at the edge of the parking lot, rolling the vehicle over and setting off the airbags, the Park Service said. Emergency responders were called about 3:50 p.m., but Robino stopped breathing just before medics arrived 20 minutes later, officials said. They rushed him into the back of an air-conditioned ambulance and tried to resuscitate him to no avail. He was pronounced dead at 4:42 p.m., according to the Park Service. An autopsy determined that he died of hyperthermia, a dangerous internal overheating that can cause confusion, irritability and a lack of coordination. "My condolences go out to Mr. Robino's family and friends," park superintendent Mike Reynolds, who also responded to the incident, said in a statement. "His death serves as a reminder not to underestimate the dangers of extreme heat." Robino was the second person to die of heat-related causes in the park in a month. In July, a group of motorcyclists traveling through the desert basin amid 128-degree temperatures were overcome by the heat. One died, another became severely ill and four others were treated by medics before being released. A few weeks later, the desert floor melted the skin off a European tourist's feet when he lost his flip-flops in the sand dunes. According to the Park Service, July was the hottest month in the park's recorded history, with the average daily temperature leveling out at 108.5 degrees and the average daily high reaching 121.9 degrees. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Democrat Lanon Baccam, running in Iowa's 3rd District, asked for fairgoers to support his campaign for Congress in his speech at the Des Moines Register's Political Soapbox Aug. 12, 2024. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch) Democrat Lanon Baccam told the crowd at the Iowa State Fair Monday that he would bring his history of service and commitment to health care access to the U.S. Congress if elected. Speaking at the Des Moines Registers Political Soapbox Monday, the 3rd District Democratic nominee shared stories of his time serving in the Iowa National Guard. Baccam said he was inspired to enlist by the legacy of Iowa Gov. Robert Ray, a Republican, and his decision to accept and resettle Tai Dam refugees in Iowa including Baccams family in Mount Pleasant as well as the people who sponsored and built communities with refugees across the state. Following his time in the military, Baccam took on roles in the U.S. federal government, most recently at the U.S. Department of Agriculture under former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack. Baccam said he has dedicated my life to giving back to this country, and that running against U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn, the incumbent Republican, in the Nov. 5 election is the best way to continue that work. You all can sense and feel lately, at times, our country feels like our democracy is on the line, Baccam said. Our freedoms are on the line, and we know that. We see that here in Iowa, with a near total abortion ban that went into effect. These are extreme positions that Iowans dont support, Iowans are not there. People want to have their rights back. People know when their freedoms are being taken away, and thats whats happening right here in this state right now. But were going to change that. Democrats across the country are hoping abortion access and reproductive health care will be winning issues in the upcoming election. Baccam criticized Nunn for supporting a measure similar to Iowas current law when the Republican served in the Legislature. The state law banning most abortions after six weeks of gestation took effect in late July. Nunn spoke at the soapbox Friday the only Republican on the schedule emphasizing his commitment to working across the aisle while preparing for a competitive election year. Election forecasters like Sabatos Crystal Ball and Cook Political Report have rated the race as leaning Republican. While Nunn spoke about his bipartisan efforts in Congress, he also called for increasing security along the U.S. southern border a top issue for Republicans heading into the 2024 election and a focus of criticism against the Biden administration. Baccam criticized Nunn and Republican lawmakers for not advancing the bipartisan border deal that Baccam said would have increased border security by deploying more border patrol agents to the U.S. southern border and giving agents improved drug detection technology. I mean, those are things that actually could have made a difference, to give the president a chance to be able to shut down the border when it became overwhelmed, Baccam told reporters. Those are things that the bipartisan border security package would have allowed for. And yet, for purely political purposes, reasons, it was killed. And this is the kind of stuff that I think Iowans are tired of. Every time theres a chance to actually do something and get something done, politics gets in the way. In campaign materials, Nunn and Iowa Republicans have highlighted Baccams connections to Presiden Joe Biden, as the Democratic congressional candidate previously worked on Bidens Iowa campaign team. But there have been major changes to the top of the ticket for Democrats in recent weeks Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to take on former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election. Baccam said Harris leading the ticket has sparked a surge of engagement with his campaign, but also said that he believes he is the best choice for moderates in the upcoming election. I am a person that is right in the middle here, Baccam said. And the key is, Im not running for a party. Im running to serve the communities thats whats really important to me. And its so exciting to know that the challenges that people face in their communities are challenges that we can actually fix, but we actually need to get people in Congress who will put aside the politics and the political games that we constantly see, and actually pay attention to the people in our in our towns. More soapbox stories: Libertarian presidential candidate Chase Oliver speaks against two-party system at Iowa State Fair U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn emphasizes bipartisan work, calls for border security at state fair Libertarian Marco Battaglia blasts efforts to take him off ballots in state fair speech Democrat Christina Bohannan vows to defend abortion in Iowa State Fair speech Libertarian Nicholas Gluba blasts eminent domain in pitch at Iowa State Fair Democrat Ryan Melton says pipelines, corporate influence are pivotal issues in 4th District race 4th District Libertarian candidate Charles Aldrich calls ballot challenges inaccurate Demolition looms for building that has hulked over WA Capitol campus for decades The General Administration Building on the Washington state Capitol campus in Olympia was completed in 1956. It's now slated for demolition. (Photo courtesy of Department of Enterprise Services) Stroll the grounds of the Washington state Capitol and its hard to miss the boxy, white building squatting on the campus northern edge, its four floors of linear window banks staring back at the manicured lawns and paths across the way. For some, the 283,865-square-foot General Administration Building, vacant since 2018, stands as a reminder of a bygone era of architecture and government in Olympia. For others, its an eyesore occupying a large city lot. Either way, its days are numbered. The Legislature last year approved $4.3 million to plan for demolition of the structure and the states Department of Enterprise Services is seeking comments through Sept. 11 on a draft environmental review for the teardown. A spokesman for the agency said that the total cost of demolition itself is forecast to be an additional $14.2 million, for a total project cost of $18.5 million. Completed in 1956, the building was designed in a minimalist, post-World War II style that became common for institutional structures around the U.S. in the second half of the 20th century. Its poured concrete shell is painted off-white. A vertical, sandstone pylon serves as something of a decorative element, stretching from ground to roof, with the state seal affixed near its top. The General Administration Building is an outstanding example of Modern architecture in Olympia, notes a form the Washington State Historic Preservation Office filed in 2007 to have the building added to the National Register of Historic Places. It is built in the International Style, distinctive for its horizontal cubical form and spare ornamentation. There are few examples in Olympia, and this is the only one associated with the Capitol Campus, the filing added. Despite this architectural significance, the Department of Enterprise Services says the building is at the end of its usable lifespan with structural, electrical and plumbing systems that are outdated and unsafe. The planned demolition project includes capping all utilities, performing an asbestos survey, and stabilizing a hillside at the site. Entry is hazardous to human health, the department said in a statement about the building on Monday. Renovating the building would be more costly than replacing it. In its place, a temporary 293-stall parking lot is planned, along with, potentially, a new restroom building. The parking lot will cover about 120,000 square feet. As early as the 1890s, until around the time the building was constructed, many state agencies had located their main offices in Seattle. But, as the National Register of Historic Places filing recounts, four businessmen with ties to Olympia, helped by former Attorney General Smith Troy, an Olympia native, filed a lawsuit arguing the agencies were constitutionally required to be located in the state capital. The state Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of the businessmen in 1954. The court decision led to heightened demand for government office space in Olympia, including an expansion in the design for the General Administration Building. More on the draft environmental review can be found here. Comments can be submitted by email to DESSEPA@des.wa.gov or mailed to: Department of Enterprise Services, General Administration Building SEPA Checklist, Attn: John Lyons, 1500 Jefferson St. SE, Suite 3050, Olympia, WA 98504 This story was updated to include the total estimated cost of the demolition project. DENVER (KDVR) The Denver City Council met Monday night and voted to move forward with Mayor Mike Johnstons affordable housing ballot proposal. The proposal would increase the sales and use tax rate by 0.5% from 8.81% to 9.31%. The money would be used to pay for affordable housing projects. The tax increase does have some exceptions and would not apply to everyday essentials like food, fuel and medical supplies. When can someone claim squatters rights in Colorado? Johnstons team said the proposal change would raise about $100 million a year. The proposal is now going to a second and final reading on Aug. 19, and if signed, it will be on the November ballot for voters to approve. Johnston released this statement following the vote to move forward by the city council: The opportunity for affordable housing for all Denverites is one step closer to the November ballot. Housing costs are a significant concern for the vast majority of our residents, and the teachers, nurses, seniors, and servers who make our city run are struggling to keep up. The creation of this fund is a critical step toward ensuring Denver is a city for everyone, not just the rich, and we are grateful for Councils partnership in this mission. Denver Mayor Mike Johnston According to the mayors office, the estimated $100 million annual fund would complement existing funding projects such as the Affordable Housing Fund and the Homelessness Resolution Fund. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver. Anti-government protesters gather at Prime Minister Hasina's palace in Dhaka, which they had previously stormed. Following weeks of violent student protests that left roughly more than 300 people dead, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has resigned, army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman said on 05 August. Km Asad/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa Deposed Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina and six of her loyalists were accused in a murder case more than a week after she resigned and fled the South Asian country in the face of massive student protests, court officials said on Tuesday. Amir Hamza, a businessman, filed the case with the metropolitan magistrate court in Dhaka. He accuses Hasina, two of her Cabinet colleagues and senior police officers of being responsible for Abu Sayeed's killing on July 19. Hamza asserts that Sayeed died after police opened fire indiscriminately on student protesters in Dhaka's Mohammadpur neighbourhood, defence lawyer Anwarul Islam said. A judge at the Dhaka court has ordered the local police station to open an investigation into the allegations. Hamza said he volunteered to file the case as part of his civic responsibilities. Former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, former transport and bridges affairs minister Obaidul Quader, former chief of the police Abdullah Al Mamun and three other senior police officers were named in the case, lawyers said. More than 500 people were reportedly killed in a month of violence that began with students demanding an end to a discriminatory government job quota system and turned into a mass uprising against Hasinas government. Hasina resigned on August 5 and left the country for India by military helicopter, prompting protesters to carry out further attacks on police, as well as the businesses, homes and offices of her loyalists. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus took over as the head of an interim government formed last week. The protesters denounced the former prime minister as an authoritarian ruler and accused her of using excessive force to crack down on protests by deploying police, members of the paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh and army troops. BEIJING, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Standing in front of a seemingly ordinary white aluminum-alloy frame, Xu Ying couldn't help feeling proud when saying that it leverages a manufacturing method that is usually applied in car manufacturing, namely integrated die-casting technology. The frame served as the main platform of the Lingxi-03 satellite. This commercial satellite was made by Beijing-based space unicorn firm GalaxySpace, in cooperation with Changsha Hefeng wear-resistant material company, a private enterprise located in central China's Hunan Province, whose major business used to be the production of parts for railway equipment and automobiles. "We put forward the design for the satellite, collaborated closely with Hefeng, and innovated together during the whole process," said Xu, general manager of public affairs at GalaxySpace, as she revealed more about the development process. Established in 2018, GalaxySpace is a leading satellite internet solution provider and satellite manufacturer in China. It was also crowned as the first unicorn company in commercial aerospace in the country. The rapid growth of the company underlines the effectiveness of China's push for developing the commercial space sector, as well as its broader policy efforts in fostering new quality productive forces. The commercialization of China's aerospace sector started in 2014, when the country's State Council, in a guideline, encouraged private capital to participate in the construction of national civil space infrastructure. In 2020, the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's economic planner, defined the scope of new infrastructure for the first time. Satellite internet was incorporated into the category of communication network infrastructure. China's commercial space industry has experienced rapid growth in recent years, emerging as one of the new quality productive forces. The sector has been fostering the industrial ecosystem via cooperation with other industries, injecting fresh impetus for high-quality development in the country. Similar to the cooperation between GalaxySpace and Hefeng, leading private enterprises in the commercial space sector are driving the commercial space supply chain toward innovation by tapping into the country's robust industrial manufacturing system. "Our technicians worked together with employees from one of our suppliers when developing a product. They put in a lot of time and efforts to polish the product, make corrections and finalize product details," said Raymond Luo, general manager of supply chain at GalaxySpace. In the early exploratory phase, this cooperation mode has the potential to be rather energy-consuming for both the company and its suppliers. However, once established, it can be used to develop other new products along supply chains, according to Luo. By bringing onboard firms with strong industrial foundations and integrating them into the supply chain system, China's commercial space enterprises are seeking to create a cost-effective commercial mode to scale up satellite production, Luo said. Meanwhile, through co-creating with supply chain partners, GalaxySpace has developed internal procurement technical regulations. These guidelines prioritize product design feasibility for low cost and mass production. To date, the company has signed over 20 procurement technical specifications with its suppliers. This collaborative mode has opened up new business opportunities for traditional industrial firms and upgraded their production and processing capabilities. The GalaxySpace supply chain network has now expanded to over 1,000 companies -- up from around 100 in 2018. Notably, more than half of these are private companies, and a significant proportion are small and medium-sized enterprises, data from the company showed. GalaxySpace's cooperation with enterprises along the supply chain features a feedback mechanism that enables suppliers to provide suggestions and help the satellite manufacturer optimize its designs. "One of our suppliers discovered a power- and time-consuming process while delivering our design. The supplier offered useful suggestions for improvement," Luo said, adding that the company now solicits and collects this kind of feedback, and adopts such advice if it proves conducive to boosting production efficiency. The satellite startup has developed and produced over 10 satellites to date. The company has continued to increase its spending on R&D as the trillion-dollar market still holds great appeal for global aerospace firms. According to a report jointly issued by Boston Consulting Group BCG and the European Space Policy Institute last year, the estimated value of the space economy will reach 1 trillion U.S. dollars in 2040, while the value of space for the broader economy and society is projected to reach approximately 7.9 trillion U.S. dollars, leading to a cumulative impact of over 80 trillion U.S. dollars between 2025 and 2040. The satellite business is inherently a global business, as the coverage of such space infrastructure spans great distances. GalaxySpace has already moved to expand its reach to the overseas market. In June 2024, this satellite unicorn and Thailand's Mahanakorn University of Technology held a seminar in Bangkok, where they showcased a real-time demonstration of satellite internet applications and conducted a telemedicine trial application. More policy boosts are in the pipeline for aerospace firms. In the 2024 government work report, commercial spaceflight has been listed as one of the new growth engines, along with biomanufacturing and the low-altitude economy. "The government work report bears great significance for commercial space sector," Xu said, adding that "it has boosted our confidence in strengthening scientific and technological innovation and further stimulated our motivation to continue to promote the development of the commercial space industry." GalaxySpace is looking forward to joining hands with partners along the industrial chain for rapid construction of a satellite internet constellation, said Zhu Zhengxian, chief technology officer of the company. ZEELAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) A 75-year-old bicyclist was taken to the hospital after being hit by a vehicle near Zeeland Monday, deputies say. Around 3:25 p.m., the Hudsonville man was riding his bicycle headed south in a northbound lane of 48th Avenue near Ransom Street in Zeeland Township when he cut back across the center line into the southbound lane, according to the Ottawa County Sheriffs Office. He rode into the path of a southbound Honda driven by a 25-year-old Hudsonville man, deputies say. The Honda ran into the bicyclist, throwing him off his bike into the shoulder of 48th Avenue. The bicyclist was taken to the hospital and was in stable condition as 6 p.m. Monday, according to the sheriffs office. The driver and passenger of the Honda were not injured, deputies said. This embedded content is not available in your region. The crash is under investigation. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com. BLENDON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) Eight people, including five children, were injured Tuesday when a dump truck and a passenger vehicle crashed in Blendon Township, deputies say. The crash happened around 11:25 a.m. at Tyler Street and 72nd Avenue, according to a release from the Ottawa County Sheriffs Office. Based on their initial investigation, deputies said a passenger vehicle with seven people inside a male driver in his 60s, another adult in their 60s and five children between ages 3 and 10 was heading east on Tyler Street when it stopped at the stop sign for 72nd Avenue. Then, according to deputies, the driver started up directly into the path of a commercial dump truck that was southbound on 72nd Avenue. There is no stop sign for northbound and southbound traffic at the intersection, investigators said. The dump truck hit the passenger vehicle, and both vehicles came to a rest in a cornfield east of 72nd Avenue, according to the sheriffs office. The two adults and five children in the passenger vehicle suffered injuries, deputies said. They said all five children were hospitalized, two of whom were initially in critical condition. Later Tuesday afternoon, the sheriffs office told News 8 that one 10-year-old remained in critical condition, three children were in stable condition and one child was set to be released. The driver of the dump truck, a 58-year-old Jenison man, was also taken to the hospital with an arm injury, according to the sheriffs office. Crews respond to a crash in Blendon Township on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. Dispatchers initially said that a garbage truck was involved and the sheriffs office originally said that four children were hurt, but deputies later clarified that it was a dump truck and five children suffered injuries. This embedded content is not available in your region. Deputies are investigating. If you saw the crash and havent already spoken with deputies, youre asked to call dispatch at 1.800.249.0911. The Blendon Township Hall is at the intersection where the crash happened and the township manager told News 8 that he saw it. He said there are far too many crashes there and he is in talks with the road commission to look for safety solutions. News 8s Josh Sanchez contributed to this report. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com. Deputies have warned of a jury duty scam that features a fake arrest warrant in Darke County. >>RELATED: Police warns of scam phone calls from fake officers in Riverside The Darke County Sheriffs Office said on social media Monday that they received complaints from people that a man had called claiming to be from the sheriffs office. He tells the caller they missed jury duty, and a warrant is out for them. The man also says the caller needs to go to Walmart and purchase a money card or deputies will make an arrest. The caller has given his name as David Tanner and Jason Wheatly. The sheriffs office states they will never call to obtain money cars or gift cards to pay fines. They remind people not to give personal information or money to scammers. OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was convicted of killing George Floyd has been re-located to a Oklahoma facility. FILE - This undated photo provided by the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office in Minnesota on June 3, 2020, shows former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin. Recent assaults on two notorious, high-profile federal prisoners have renewed concerns about whether the federal Bureau of Prisons is capable of keeping people in its custody safe. Chauvin was stabbed nearly two-dozen times in the law library at a federal prison in Arizona in November. (Hennepin County Sheriff's Office via AP, File) The Bureau of Prisons confirms Derek Chauvin is behind bars at the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma. While officials wouldnt say why he was moved, his mother posted on social media that this is a temporary move. He was previously serving his time at the federal prison in Arizona where another inmate stabbed him 22 times late last year. Chauvin is serving 21 years for violating George Floyds Civil Rights. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City. The front page of the Deseret News on Aug. 14, 1961, the day after Eastern Germany shut off travel from its side of Berlin. A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives. Aug. 13, 1961, on what would become known as Barbed Wire Sunday, East Germany sealed the border between Berlins eastern and western sectors before building a wall that would divide the city for the next 28 years. According to historical accounts, the border was closed to prevent East Germans from migrating to the West. About 20% of the nations population had already defected to West Germany, due to a lack of security. At midnight, construction on the beefed-up border, using more barbed wire, began. Berliners gathered in the streets near what would become the Berlin Wall. Coverage in the West, including the Deseret News, was extensive. The front page of the Deseret News on Aug. 12, 1961. Here are some stories from Deseret News archives about that moment in Germany, the Berlin Wall and its eventual collapse: Wall of tension was erected 28 years ago The church and the Berlin Wall: President Uchtdorf recalls escape from East Germany, life with the wall Germany marks 25 years since Berlin Walls fall Thousands remember 1989 fall of Berlin Wall Germany celebrates memory of Berlin Wall falling Pieces of wall appear everywhere but Berlin In our opinion: The collapse of the Berlin Wall brings its own set of obligations for Americans Barbed wire still divides Hong Kong, China Despite settlement reports and GOP call to step down, Johnny Olszewski still favored to win congressional race BALTIMORE With less than three months to Election Day, Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. is still poised to win the seat of retiring U.S. Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger in November despite calls for him to step aside. Olszewski, 41, is the favorite to win Marylands 2nd Congressional District after winning his May 14 primary. His Republican opponent, Kim Klacik, has only $14,700 on hand and her national profile has waned since 2020, when former President Donald Trump boosted her online and she spoke at the Republican National Convention. John Dedie, a Baltimore County Community College political science professor, said the settlements were unlikely to threaten Olszewskis odds of winning, citing his hefty campaign war chest, support from the incumbent Ruppersberger, and his name recognition built up from two decades in public service. The Baltimore County Council began searching last week for a successor to serve the remainder of Olszewskis term, which ends in 2026, signaling members belief that he will prevail Nov. 5. The 2nd District, which covers Baltimore and Carroll counties and part of Baltimore City, is considered a safe district for any Democratic candidate. The three Republican members of the County Council said they wanted an internal investigation before taking any action, bucking an ask from the state GOP for Olszewskis resignation. The Maryland Republican Party called earlier this month for Olszewski to resign from office and withdraw from the race, citing The Baltimore Suns reporting about his financial ties to brothers John and Philip Tirabassi. Philip Tirabassi, a retired firefighter, received a confidential settlement in 2020 after he asked to transfer retirement credits to his county pension despite numerous officials saying it violated state and local law. John Tirabassi, Olszewskis friend and high school classmate, sold the county $4.2 million worth of dump trucks in 2023 and 2024. Olszewski said he did not know about the sale, and that the county settled with Philip Tirabassi to avoid further litigation. The council was initially not informed of Tirabassis settlement, which was included in an annual list of county payouts under the name Philip Dough. Both brothers, who are also real estate agents, helped Olszewski and his wife buy or sell three properties between 2016 and 2020, despite Olszewski saying he did not have a close, personal relationship with Philip Tirabassi. During that time, Olszewski named Laura Ray, Philip Tirabassis onetime employee, to the county ethics commission. Those stories prompted state GOP chairwoman Nicole Beus Harris to issue a statement Aug. 1 calling Olszewski corrupt and saying he had no business serving as county executive or running for Congress. In a staff commentary, The Suns editorial board called for Baltimore County Inspector General Kelly Madigan to investigate. Olszewski has not been formally accused of or charged of any impropriety. Madigan has refused to confirm or deny the existence of an investigation. Asa Leventhal, Olszewskis campaign manager, previously batted away the criticism as the GOPs grasping at straws, and cited Klaciks support for Trump, a convicted felon. While the Maryland GOP tries to distract voters with partisan attacks, those who know Johnny O best including their own Republican members on the County Council continue to reject the political theater, he said in a statement Friday. County Executive Olszewski remains laser-focused on delivering results for the people of Baltimore County and making sure that voters know the stark difference between him and his MAGA extremist opponent. Klacik, a Middle River radio host, lost both of her previous campaigns by double-digit margins. She received a $6.4 million surge in donations after Trump endorsed her campaign against U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume in 2020. Most of that money was spent on advertising and consulting fees. Klaciks campaign carries $202,387.88 of debt, according to the Federal Election Commission. Klacik said news of the settlement was outrageous but unsurprising. The 16 dump trucks Johnny purchased with taxpayer funds from his friend, John Tirabassi, for $4.2M, better glow in the dark for that price, Klacik wrote via email. Taxpayers and hardworking families should not only expect transparency and accountability from their government servants, but they should also demand it. Dedie said Olszewskis ties to the Tirabassi brothers demanded an aisle-one cleanup, though it was unlikely that the stories would thwart his congressional ambitions. Its only a liability if the other shoe drops, Dedie said. His public reputation is good, he has a family name thats been in politics for 40 years. The things hes been accused of doing will become Google searches. Theyll be forgotten as quickly as theyre brought up. The council began its search for Olszewskis interim successor last week. County administrative officer DAndrea Walker is expected to serve temporarily until a more permanent person is named. WYPR reported Thursday that educational advocate Yara Cheikh, Pikesville nonprofit leader Barry Williams, and former State Sen. Jim Brochin have expressed interest. The county charter requires temporary administrative officers be a member of the majority party; Olszewski is a Democrat. The Baltimore County GOP, which has previously criticized Olszewski, has remained silent. Chairwoman Patricia Fallon did not respond to a request for comment. Nor did the Baltimore County Democratic Party. The three Republican members of the Baltimore County Council said calls for Olszewskis resignation were rash. We have a rule here in the United States innocent until proven guilty, said Councilman Todd Crandell of Dundalk. The council doesnt have all the facts in this matter. The prudent thing to do is investigate. Crandell, Councilman David Marks of Upper Falls and Councilman Wade Kach of Timonium said the state GOP did not speak to them before issuing the statement. Marks said there was strong support among the council for Madigan to perform a full and thorough investigation and offer recommendations in the future for how to handle personnel issues like Philip Tirabassis settlement. Where was the breakdown? he said in an interview. The inspector general should investigate. Theres a reason this office was created. ------- PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) Kert Huber bought the GAR Hall in Downtown Peoria because he wanted to make sure it was preserved and can continue to serve as a testament to those who fought in the Civil War. The developer recently closed on on the building, buying it from the Central Illinois Landmark Foundation for $30,000 the amount of the remaining mortgage. He also agreed to fix the air conditioning, redo parts of the roof, fix some of the plaster issues and address some water damage. All that was well over six figures, said Molly Bishop, the head of the foundation and who lavished praise upon Huber for his events to save the old building, which was opened in 1909 on the corner of Hamilton and Madison. A huge blessing that we dont have to worry and someone is coming in to help us before something really bad happened to the building, she said. Hubert shrugged his shoulders. To him, its simply the right thing to do. He has several other old buildings in his inventory and having a soft spot for veterans, this was a natural fit. When asked why he wanted to spend all that money, Huber simply said, Not everything has to make money. The building opened a year after the Chicago Cubs won the World Series and was for veterans of the Civil War to gather. Its official moniker is the Greenhut Memorial after Capt. Joseph Greenhut who was with the 82nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment. But nearly everyone knows it at the Grand Army of the Republic Hall. The building was put on the National Register of Historic Landmarks in 1976 and offers people a chance to peer back into the 19th century. For years, the building was a place for veterans of that war but time waits for no one. And by the mid-1950s, the Grand Army of the Republic society disbanded. Interest in the building faded and it fell into disrepair until the foundation bought it in the 1970s. The foundation rehabbed the building and it became a place for people to hold weddings, banquets and birthday parties. But as the building aged so did the issues with it. Zach Oyler, the at-large city councilman who also did the real estate deal for the building, said the building was unable to be rented out in the warmer months due to the lack of air conditioning. Leakage from the roof damaged some office space. But where some saw a building that was on its last leg, Huber saw a jewel. Its one of the few buildings in Peoria that has a history. It has a national significance in that there are some deer halls throughout the country, but this one is absolutely pristine like it was built, he said. I have a soft spot for for veterans. And, of course, the Civil War. You know, its the only the only civil war this countrys ever had. He didnt want it converted into an office building. So he took it over and is trying to find the right tenants. The foundation will be able to use the building for their meetings and they have a small office there. But hes asked another not-for-profit organization if they want to use the building. But if they say no, Huber said hell wait. Hes not looking to use the building for profit. Its a civic gesture for him. Its to make sure that it remains what it was originally designed for. To honor our veterans, our history, he said. Oyler said the deal could stop the building from falling into more disrepair and adding to the blight that is in some parts of the city. This is an opportunity to ensure the building is safe, and is kept in good condition and hopefully has increased use because more people being around and using a building incentivizes the buildings around it, he said. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CIProud.com. Did you know him? Authorities identify Vietnam Army vet found dead by Jupiter stream in 1988 JUPITER Two men searching for a spot to fish on an afternoon in 1988 found a decomposing body instead. More than three decades later, authorities say they have identified the man and hope to solve the mystery of his death next. The body of John Lee Peppard, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam, was found east of Interstate 95 in Jupiter on Jan. 31, 1988, about 2 miles north of the Indiantown Road interchange. West Palm Beach fishermen Douglas Donahue and Raymond Paskell, then 46 and 29, said the remains a skeleton in blue jeans and sneakers appeared as if they had been in the woods for more than a month. "I said, 'Look, a dead body,' " Donahue told a Palm Beach Post reporter. "So we decided we should let someone know about it." Donahue and Paskell traveled south to a Florida Turnpike toll booth in Jupiter to radio authorities about their discovery. Palm Beach County sheriff's deputies said they had no explanation for how or why the body, which had several teeth missing, ended where it did. "It might not even be a homicide," said then-Lt. John Kianka. "It might have been a vagrant, or there may be some other explanation. We won't know anything until the investigation is complete." Do police have access to your DNA? What to know about investigative genetic genealogy Investigators suspect foul play in John Lee Peppard's death Using the same technology that led to the arrest of the Golden State Killer in California, investigators extracted DNA from Peppard's bones and matched it with that of a distant relative. An investigative genealogist then built out the relative's family tree and found the branch that ended with the man by the Jupiter stream. Peppard joins a growing list of people identified through the use of forensic investigative genetic genealogy. The expensive sleuthing technique has helped solve several high-profile cases in Palm Beach County, including the rape and murder of 78-year-old Mildred Matheny and the death of Baby June, an infant found in the Boynton Inlet. PBSO cold-case detectives now hope to identify any and all associates known to Peppard, described only as someone who lived "somewhat of a transient lifestyle" in the Florida Keys, Texas, California, Alaska and Idaho. According to investigators, he made a living installing and repairing floors. Deputies have not said when Peppard was last seen alive, or how old he was at the time of his death. In 1988, an investigator with the Medical Examiner's Office said Peppard had a muscular build, was between 5-foot-5 and 5-foot-7, with a beard and medium-length blond or brown hair. He had been dead two to 14 weeks. Authorities have not specified the man's cause of death but said they suspect foul play was involved. Anyone with information is urged to contact Detective John Cogburn at 561-688-4063, CogburnJ@pbso.org or Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County at 1-800-458-TIPS (8477). Crime Stoppers is offering up to $3,000 for information about Peppard's death. Hannah Phillips is a journalist covering public safety and criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at hphillips@pbpost.com. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Vietnam Army veteran found dead in 1988 identified as John Lee Peppard He Died Trying to Save Fellow Marines from a Burning Osprey. Now, Spencer Collart Will Be Awarded for His Valor. The Osprey was engulfed in smoke and fire when Cpl. Spencer Collart, the aircraft's crew chief, rushed back into the burning wreckage in an attempt to save the two Marine pilots trapped inside. Before it crashed, the fuel-heavy aircraft nearly collided with the other Osprey it was trailing, causing it to bank three times before descending nose-down toward the trees on Melville Island, a spit north of mainland Australia, a recently released investigation revealed. The trees sheared off the Osprey's tail as it descended, and Maj. Tobin Lewis, one of the pilots, gripped the controls with both hands in an attempt to level the aircraft and slow its speed. Collart was situated in the tunnel of the aircraft, behind the two pilots, the other being Capt. Eleanor LeBeau. Witnesses described the Osprey skimming along the trees for "a couple of long seconds" before hitting the ground, skidding and kicking up a "wave" of dirt. Read Next: Soldiers Hit with More Problems Accessing Education Benefits Amid Fall Enrollment Deadlines As the crew chief, Collart was responsible for the safety and readiness of the 22 other Marines on the Osprey, including the pilots. When it crashed, he tried heroically to fulfill that duty. Driven by knowing it was the right thing to do, his father said, Collart rushed back into the burning aircraft to try and rescue the pilots, at the cost of his own life. Despite his efforts, LeBeau and Lewis perished in the crash, but the other 20 Marines survived. In an email Monday, the Marine Corps confirmed that it will be posthumously awarding Collart the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, the services' highest noncombat award for acts of valor. "I have people come and say, 'Oh, you did a great job of raising your son to be a hero,'" Bart Collart, Spencer's father, told Military.com in a phone interview Tuesday about his son's attempt to save the trapped pilots. "I don't know if I can take credit for that or not. I just think Spencer, that's just the way he was. He cared so much about people, and I know he cared about his friends." Earlier this month, the Collarts heard a familiar call at their door. It had been nearly a year since Marines entered their home to inform them that their son -- a tall, former high school athlete and Arlington, Virginia, native -- had been killed as a result of the crash. During that year, Collart was honored at a vigil held at the family's home and at Arlington National Cemetery, where they received a folded flag from a military officer. His passing also brought the Collarts into a community of Osprey survivors, which offered communal support and relief to the grieving family. But it wasn't until a Sunday afternoon in early August, after a long year of unanswered questions about the crash, that the Collarts learned of Spencer's heroic actions. And that he did not die in the initial impact but escaped the aircraft "whole," as his father put it, only to risk his life to save those still trapped inside. Collart "egressed through the crew door of the [aircraft] and then heroically reentered the burning cockpit of the aircraft in an attempt to rescue the trapped pilots," said the investigation report, which was relayed to the family by four Marines during the visit. "He perished during this effort." Collart's father said that his son's friends and family, some of whom had called in via Zoom to hear the briefing, were shocked by the initial news. It became difficult to hear the rest of the briefing in the wake of the information, and the Marine briefers, mostly officers accompanied by a crew chief who knew Collart, suggested a break. Eventually, after the initial shock wore off, the gathered family and friends realized they weren't surprised by Collart's heroism. "To be honest with you, we both came away feeling better about it after this than we did going into it." Bart Collart said of his and his wife's reaction to the news about their son. "The fact that he went in on his own -- that was his choice to go back in -- and somehow that made us both feel better, the fact that he went in for all the right reasons and trying to help people." Bart Collart also wants to see due credit to the pilots, he said. "I don't know exactly what happened in those fleeting seconds when they had to react to a bad situation," he said of Lewis and LeBeau, whom his son looked up to and revered, he added. "But those pilots managed to get that thing on the ground in such a way that everybody survived the initial crash." Collart joined the Marine Corps in 2020 and served as a crew chief, a highly respected role in the aviation community. At the vigil held last year, family, friends and well-wishers remembered the 21-year-old as someone who would always pick up the phone, who was selfless, and who was also a tough older brother, his sister Gwyneth said. "He was the one that would go up and down and pull [the Marines'] straps to make sure they were buckled down," Greg O'Dell, an elder from the Cherrydale Baptist Church where Collart attended, said at his vigil, recalling the last conversation he had with the crew chief. "He was the one, if they needed to bail out, he would open the back door and start bailing them out," the pastor said. "He protected his Marines that came onto that Osprey, and so did the pilots." According to the investigation and his family, Collart embodied that role with a high degree of professionalism, with some witnesses of the crash describing him as a "seasoned crew chief." "He could be a knucklehead with the best of them and goof around when you wanted to," Bart Collart said. "But he took his job so seriously. ... He wanted to know everything there was to know about it. And he embraced the platform. He loved that Osprey." Witnesses saw Collart exit the burning wreckage as the team was attempting to account for all the Marines. At one point, they realized two were missing -- the pilots. Before he went back in, Collart left his tether, which had bound him to the aircraft during flight, unburned on the ground outside the wreckage. It was a sign to investigators that he exited unscathed but chose to go back in. "Cpl. Collart's heroic actions evinced the highest standards of courage and dedication to his fellow Marines," a spokesperson for I Marine Expeditionary Force told Military.com in a statement Tuesday. "We will continue to honor his legacy and celebrate his life." When asked why it took a year for the family to find out about Collart's act of bravery, the spokesperson pointed to the time it takes to conduct aviation mishap investigations. "Investigations take varying amounts of time to complete, depending on the level of complexity," he said. "The Marine Corps thoroughly investigates all mishaps to identify the causes, learn from them, and take action to reduce the chances of future mishaps." Bart Collart told Military.com that Spencer's headstone at Arlington will be updated to reflect his posthumous award. The Marine Corps said that the award has been signed and approved. Collart's father said that, while the year has been filled with unknowns and grief, the tragedy has also brought unexpected bright moments into their lives. One such moment was the marriage of their daughter Gwyneth to Cpl. Jonah Waser, a Marine and close friend of their son's who helped carry his remains from Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, last year. While questions still loom for the Marine Corps and its sister services about the safety of the Osprey, given its troubled maintenance and crash history, the Collarts choose to focus on the positives, though they remain concerned for the new Marines in their lives who continue to use the aircraft. "We have so many sons and daughters now who are on the Osprey and are Marines," Bart Collart said. "The jobs are just dangerous jobs." Tragedy has brought them together with so many other families who have faced it themselves, such as the Strickland family who lost their son Evan, a close friend of Collart's who died in an Osprey crash in 2022. Collart had been a pallbearer at his funeral. "It's been a tough year. It's hard losing your son and [being] reminded of it every single day," Bart Collart said. Reflecting on the grieving process and the new connections formed through the loss of his son, Bart Collart added, "That's one of the amazing things about such a tragic thing happening. I never anticipated it bearing so much fruit. That's not the things that you anticipate at all ... and it's all because of Spencer." Related: Fatal Marine Osprey Crash Investigation Points to Pilot Error, Safety Lapses While Revealing Heroic Rescue Effort BEIJING, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- On the desolate surface of the moon, a shimmering spacecraft with a long robotic arm appears dazzling against the backdrop of the black sky, while the faint line of a rut is visible on the lunar soil. When the China National Space Administration released this picture after China's Chang'e-6 probe collected the first samples from the far side of the moon in June, it went viral across Chinese social media platforms, arousing people's curiosity as to how the photo was taken. Chinese space engineers recently revealed the "secret photographer." The "photographer" is not a person, but an autonomous, intelligent mini robot weighing less than five kilograms that was attached to the lander of the Chang'e-6 during the mission's journey to the moon, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), its developer. After Chang'e-6 collected its lunar samples, the mini robot autonomously detached from the lander, moved to a suitable position, selected an ideal angle for the photograph, and then captured the image. As the world's first autonomous intelligent robot to land on the far side of the moon, it is highly capable and has significantly enhanced autonomous intelligence despite its compact size, according to the CASC. Equipped with artificial intelligence technologies based on neural networks, the robot can think and judge like a human, said Xing Yan, a researcher with the CASC. It can accomplish many tasks that are not possible with traditional methods, such as adjusting the camera angle, she said. Traditional lunar photography missions require meticulous calculations to determine the relative distance, position and ideal timing for capturing images. However, on the Chang'e-6 mission, the robot did not need exact computations. Instead, it autonomously assessed and refined its approach based on the quality of the images it captured, thereby ensuring the optimal visual outcome. To accumulate the necessary experience, it requires extensive learning in autonomous intelligence development. The researchers prepared a variety of lights to help the robot learn and adapt to the unique lighting conditions on the far side of the moon, where the light source is singular and the backdrop is the inky expanse of space, said Huang Huang, another researcher of the CASC. She still remembers her online shopping spree, purchasing a variety of lights such as fishing lamps, camping lamps, stage lights, all in an effort to broaden the mini robot's exposure to diverse lighting conditions. The researchers developed a feature model of the environment based on the lights. By immersing the robot in this setting, they facilitated its learning process, ultimately achieving intelligent photographic decision-making. Besides having a clever mind, the mini robot also boasts a robust "physique" to cope with the complex environment on the far side of the moon. In contrast to the moon's near side, which is relatively flat, the far side features a more complex terrain, characterized by more mountains, deep valleys and craters. Researchers conducted numerous simulation experiments with the mini robot working on special types of terrain. The research team had to repeatedly adjust the structure and technical details of the mini robot to meet the requirements for the Chang'e-6 mission. At times, the relentless string of setbacks cast doubt on their design principles, Xing said. "However, no matter how challenging, exhausting or stressful the situation was, we managed to calm ourselves down and address the issues first," she said. Despite its great technological complexity, the mini robot is cost-effective to produce. As the technology matures, the potential applications for the future are diverse. It can be reconfigured into a variety of forms, such as a floor-sweeping robot, a household assistant, a companion robot and an educational robot. It is also capable of performing inspections in confined spaces like narrow caves or pipelines, Xing said. As deep-space exploration targets extend further and further away, autonomous intelligence will become a key technology in China's deep-space exploration endeavors, said Li Yong with the CASC. For many deep-space missions, current telemetry and control technologies fall short of coverage. The uncertainty of the terrain to be explored dictates that many activities must be independently carried out by the probe itself, he said. Digital licenses, pesticide notices and more: These new Illinois laws were signed Friday SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) Governor J.B. Pritzker signed more than 250 bills into law Friday afternoon. Here is a list of some of those new laws that you should know about. 1. Notification for public pesticide application Any pesticide applicators working for the government will need to provide public notice before spraying chemicals on public property. Chemical drift depleting crops, Central IL farmers say The goal here is to help families plan for when pesticides are applied near their home so they can take whatever precautions they feel are necessary, whether that means keeping kids inside or covering things like plants and pools, Senator Steve McClure (R-Springfield) said. This is a way to keep government accountable to the citizens of our state. Required in the public notice is the applicators contact information so concerned citizens can ask questions. The law does not apply to farmers or private individuals. 2. Full clearance for the Shelby County Rescue Squad The Shelby County Rescue Squad is officially authorized to work under state law. Shelby County Board members asked McClure to file the bill to help keep their rescue squad operational. 3. More grocery stores can apply to grants to keep open Farmer-owned grocery stores will be available to apply for Illinois Grocery Initiative grants, including Grab n Go Greenhouse in Scott County. Food deserts, especially in Central and Southern Illinois, deprive people of fresh, nutritious foods, Senator Doris Turner (D-Springfield) said. This is an important step to tackling food deserts while uplifting our farmers. Illinois grocery tax to end in 2026 4. Ending the legal shipment of e-cigarette products At the start of 2025, e-cigarettes will no longer be allowed to shipped to Illinois addresses. The change was to prevent minors from accessing vaping devices while underage. Local elected officials have reported higher usage of vapes in schools and asked for lawmakers to establish stricter guardrails. 5. No small plastic bottles in hotel rooms A new law cracks down on the single, small-sized plastic bottles inside hotels. All hotels with 50 or more rooms will not be allowed to offer those small hygiene products in individual rooms and public bathrooms starting on July 1, 2025, with smaller hotels expected to follow suit by 2026. Advocates hope the bill lessens the amount of plastic waste. Microplastics are everywhere, but are they harming us? Tiny plastic bottles provided by hotels that contain personal care products, like shampoo and conditioner, produce unnecessary plastic pollution, Senator Laura Fine (D-Glenview), who sponsored the bill, said. By taking an environmentally conscious approach to hospitality, we can reduce plastic pollution across the state and throughout our waterways. 6. Establishing a maximum price for asthma inhalers Insurance companies in 2026 will be required to cover prescription inhalers. The maximum price a person with health insurance can pay for a month supply after then is $25. Illinois schools now allowed to carry inhalers for any student As someone with asthma, I know the importance of having access to an inhaler and the cost that comes with it, said Sen. Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago). People shouldnt be faced with financial hardship when it comes to essential medication. 7. Easier ways to cancel gym memberships Gyms and fitness businesses in the state will be required to offer contracts that can be cancelled online or by email, instead of by letter or in person. Advocates believe the law protects consumers from financial strain of forgotten and unused subscription fees. White House proposes new rules to cancel subscriptions 8. More accessibility for distributing free fentanyl test strips A new law eases the regulations on distributing free fentanyl test strips, including allowing county health departments to distribute free test strips outside of their buildings. Advocates say fentanyl is the cause behind the majority of overdose deaths in Illinois and access to test strips improves harm reduction efforts. States look for solutions as US fentanyl deaths keep rising 9. More options for prospective teachers taking content tests Anyone applying for a teaching licenses can now take their content area tests before, during and after. The laws Senate sponsor, Meg Loughran Cappell (D-Shorewood), hopes the new rule helps more teachers get certified and eventually, into their own classroom. Under this law, students will be given more opportunities to thrive because we are able to get qualified teachers in the classroom more quickly, providing a stable learning environment for all, Loughran Cappell said. 10. Get replacement stickers for free if your license plate gets stolen The $20 fee for replacing a registration sticker and $6 fee for a new plate if a drivers license plate or sticker will be gone by the start of 2025. OMGWHOA: these Illinois license plates proposals were rejected 11. Digital Drivers Licenses available on phones One bill signed into law Friday starts the efforts to allow Illinois residents to carry digital drivers licenses. Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias heavily lobbied for the bill. He hopes for the mobile IDs to be available to Illinoisans as soon as next year though the IDs still need to pass testing and security requirements. Were excited to reach a point where we can implement mobile IDs in a manner that ensures our roads are safe and that the privacy of Illinoisans is protected, while still providing law enforcement, businesses and medical professionals, which rely on physical drivers licenses and identification cards, the information they require, he said. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com. Copies of the new book by author Danielle Burbank gives elementary school readers insight into the Navajo Code Talkers. (Courtesy Photo) Danielle Burbank collected each and every book on Navajo Code Talkers that she came across in her nearly two decades of work as a librarian. She found paths to learn her own family history. Her research process started at home in Crystal, New Mexico, where she wondered what her grandfather experienced in his time serving as a Navajo Code Talker. He didnt share his stories freely with me, Burbank said. I know he shared a lot of stories with my dad and my uncles, but I dont know if it was because he just didnt think I needed to know about his experiences or to relive what he experienced during World War II. More than 400 Navajo Code Talkers remained under orders after the war by a U.S. military program that was highly classified until 1968. The first Code Talkers Day was celebrated in 1982. Hear from the author Danielle Burbank will speak at the Navajo Nation Library to discuss her book, DK Super Readers Level 4: Navajo Code Talkers. The event will be livestreamed on the library Facebook page. It is also in person, masks are encouraged. WHEN: Tuesday Aug. 13, 5:30-6:30 WHERE: Navajo Nation Library, Highway 265 and Postal Loop Road ONLINE: Navajo Nation Library livestream Burbank wrote DK Super Readers Level 4: Navajo Code Talkers with fellow Dine researchers that offered guidance and review. The publisher sought writers like Burbank for its series geared toward giving fourth- and fifth-grade readers insight into Navajo Code Talkers as part of history and social studies classes. She will debut the book Tuesday night as part of the Navajo Nation Librarys celebration for Navajo Code Talkers Day that takes place Aug. 14 each year. Former New Mexico Sen. Jeff Bingaman introduced the Honoring the Code Talkers Act in 2000, and the following year, the 29 Navajo Code Talkers were awarded a gold medal by President George W. Bush. Thats what this book gets into, is sharing with kiddos that because it was a classified program they couldnt share it until almost two decades later. Then we came to celebrate these older gentlemen who did all of this, Burbank said. Navajo Code Talkers took their place in U.S. military history. John Woo directed a big budget Hollywood movie in 2002. Code Talkers began regular appearances in parade routes and at schools across the Navajo Nation. Burbank recalls a visit by Dr. Samuel Billison to her high school that opened her eyes to understanding more of the Code Talkers history. She said that led to research at the Library of Congress as part of its Veterans History Project. Her book ties those experiences together and brings her family background to a better understanding that she hopes can connect with more readers, some who may be living with this history too. Thats what I really get into in my book is how our Dine upbringing our schools on the reservation and a lot of those social aspects, how that made them stronger, to be Code Talkers and then also what it was like when they returned home, and have to celebrate them in their older age. Burbank said she writes to educate children and sees her book as a tool that can be valuable for any classroom or student in the country. Sharing a story like this can be powerful for the kiddos that I envisioned when I was researching this, like my own kiddo or my friends kiddos who are interested in history, interested in Native culture, interested in military history as well, she said. So that made it really exciting when I got the book in my hand. DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KREX) Almost everyone loves a school field trip. But this time it was the D51s senior leadership team and Board of Education taking a cross-town trip around the Grand Valley, making stops at Redlands Middle School, Grand Junction High School and Pomona Elementary. Dr. Brian Hill, superintendent of District 51, states, We love highlighting all of our schools and we look forward to every year getting out to a different group of schools. When the team made its first stop at Redlands Middle School, a red carpet fittingly greeted, along with a big round of applause. Soon after the students had a chance to challenge the board members to a friendly round of dodgeball. Scott Davis, principal of Redlands Middle School, states, I just love the fact that they are out here. Theyre seeing what happens in our schools. Theyre interfacing with our students. It gives the opportunity for our students to put a face with the names that they hear so often. So we really appreciate it and were grateful that theyre taking that time in their busy schedules. Group members then made their way to the brand-new Grand Junction High School where they were greeted with a musical entrance. GJHS senior Dutch Bullock, states, Weve gone on a few tours now, but every time a new group comes in. Im super excited to show them our gym because this, to me, is the highlight of our town at the moment. Student leaders say when community members come together, theres something special about showing off what makes you proud. This new school and the excitement around it. Everyones coming in excited for a new school and to kind of build the new memories, Bullock states. The last stop of the tour was Pomona Elementary School, where leaders learned about the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) program and shared story time reading. Hill explained, I just think its important when youre working in a central office to not lose sight of where the impact is, and thats in the schools. So we gotta make sure that we find ways to get into our school buildings, hear from our students here, from our staff. So this was just a great opportunity to be inside the school business, be around kids. Especially for those of us who were year-round in the summer. Every stop was filled with smiles and laughter, showing that this school year is going to be A great one. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WesternSlopeNow.com. District Heights man found guilty of killing man outside his home in 2019 PRINCE GEORGES COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) The Attorneys Office for Prince Georges County said a jury found a District Heights man guilty of murdering a man outside his home in 2019. According to the Attorneys Office, in November 2019, Sean Spences wife was parked in the driveway of her home on Rollins Lane, in Capitol Heights. Thats when a man, later identified as 31-year-old Troy Cleveland, of District Heights, approached her and took out a gun. Spence confronted Cleveland, who then shot him several times, killing him. After the shooting, Spences wife called the police, and Cleveland ran from the scene. Fairfax County teacher, football coach charged with sexual solicitation of minor The Attorneys Office said investigators were unaware of Clevelands identity for more than two years. However, in January 2022, he turned himself into the Maryland State Police and confessed to the murder. Thats when investigators learned that Clevelands sister and Spences son were involved in an argument at a pep rally that led to him shooting and killing Spence. We are pleased that the jury considered the evidence and rendered the appropriate verdict, said States Attorney Aisha Braveboy. Mr. Cleveland callously murdered the victim, terrorized, and assaulted his wife with a gun. This family has been left without their loved one because of Mr. Clevelands actions and that is unacceptable. I would like to thank Assistant States Attorneys Shauna Coleman and Elena Greene for diligently securing this conviction and justice for this family. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. DNC protesters are about to ruin Kamala Harris' honeymoon with voters Friday night at Glendales Desert Diamond Arena, Democrats who came to see Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz soon became their jubilation choir. They were 15,000 people enraptured by the sight of a new Democratic ticket that is suddenly unburdened by the mental and physical infirmities of Joe Biden. The mood was joyous and upward. Except, something was off. Pro-Palestinian protesters made a scene Barely perceptible at first, there came a few sour notes from the upper seats that eventually broke through the euphoria. A handful of pro-Palestinian protesters had gotten into the arena and were chanting against the vice president and the Middle East policies of the present administration. The larger crowd started to drown them out with USA-USA, but the protesters persisted. And there it was. Oct. 7. Its not going way. The Hamas massacre of some 1,200 mostly Israeli civilians and the unavoidable Israeli counterattack have ripped the fabric of Democratic Party, a tear that will likely run deeper as the Harris-Walz ticket marches on. Protests could be even bigger at the DNC Next week, the party will converge on Chicago, where some 50,000 to 100,000 pro-Palestinian protesters will await them, ready to raise hell and possibly crash the gates. Chicago is also home to the large concentration of Palestinian immigrants in the U.S. Democrats have felt this tension for months as both Joe Biden and now Kamala Harris have gone wobbly on Israel, our most important Middle East ally, trying to appease Arab Americans and young Americans who accuse Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinian people. Earlier last week in Detroit, Harris put another group of these protesters in their place when they started chanting, Kamala, Kamala, you cant hide, we wont vote for genocide. Harris turned to them and said, (Were) here because I believe in democracy and everybodys voice matters, but I am speaking now. The protests continued and Harris grew miffed. You know what, if you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, Im speaking. That didnt sit well with the pro-Palestinian left. Harris dialed back her Phoenix response By the time she got to Phoenix, Kamala Harris toned down her approach. This time she turned to the protesters and said, Were here to fight for our democracy, which includes respecting the voices that I think we are hearing from. The president and I are working around the clock every day to get that cease-fire deal done and bring the hostages home. But that wont get it done. Pro-Palestinian protesters: Won't get far if they get radical The anti-Israel protesters will not be satisfied until the Biden administration (and that means Harris) stops helping to supply arms to the Israeli Defense Forces. The White House isnt going to budge on an arms embargo, her national security adviser, Phil Gordon, tweeted on the social media platform X: (The vice president) has been clear: she will always ensure Israel is able to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups. She does not support an arms embargo on Israel. She will continue to work to protect civilians in Gaza and to uphold international humanitarian law. But just to show how Democrats play both sides against the middle, Gordon also tweeted sympathy for the anti-Israeli cause: Deeply concerned about reports of civilian casualties in Gaza following strike by IDF on compound that included school. We know Hamas uses schools to gather and operate out of, but also have been clear: Israel must take measures to minimize civilian harm. Chicago police won't tolerate lawlessness Chicago is a Democratic city, run largely by African Americans, an important constituency in the Democratic Party. The mayor is African American. So, too, are much of the city council, the head of police and the district attorney, among others. On Monday, Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling leveled a strong warning to the protesters who plan to disrupt the Democratic National Convention. Were not going to allow you to riot, he said. Protesting and rioting are two different things. You have the right to protest, but there will be no rioting tolerated. The mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, is caught in the middle on the DNC. He is sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. In January he cast the deciding vote in the Chicago City Councils call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. However, Johnson was among the first of Chicagos political leadership to leap on the Kamala Harris Express, WBEZ-Chicago reported. Harris, Democrats should expect a bumpy ride DNC protests are likely to disrupt the smooth ride Kamala Harris has enjoyed so far. At the moment she is cocooned by an army of handlers and a swooning national media. More than 150 groups nationally will be in Chicago to protest as part of the Coalition to March on the DNC, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Kamala Harris can write the script inside the United Center in Chicago. That will be a coronation. She cant write the script outside. That could be something quite different. And if it is, Easy Street is over for the Democratic candidate for president. Phil Boas is an editorial columnist with The Arizona Republic. Email him at phil.boas@arizonarepublic.com. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kamala Harris will encounter her first major test in Chicago at DNC A sign in Tomi Bergstroms yard in Charleston denotes that its certified as a Wild Yard by the state Division of Natural Resources. (Tomi Bergstrom | Courtesy photo) Tomi Bergstrom skips the lawn mower on the lower half of her lawn in Charleston, West Virginia, and it isnt because she hates yard work. Shes growing native plants on the 1.6 acres with the goal of protecting the states native wildlife. Bergstroms yard is one of the 400 that have been certified by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources as a Wild Yard over the programs 25-year history. The program aims to help the states wildlife by encouraging property owners to grow native plants and incorporate animal habitats. Ive been doing what the program recommends for years, said Bergstrom. When I heard of the program, I was like, Oh, this is a way for me to justify to my husband all the work that I do in our yard. The states Wild Yards program is similar to a number of programs around the country that encourage planting native plants for wildlife, coordinator Michelle Fonda said. West Virginias program is free to be certified. Certified lawns get signs letting neighbors know of their participation in the program. You can get started pretty easily by planting a few native wildflowers like milkweed, goldenrod, an oak tree, said Fonda, a wildlife biologist. [Or] putting out a bird bath, putting out a bluebird box or a bee hotel. Fonda said growing the states native plants helps wildlife, from bees and butterflies to songbirds, frogs and salamanders. The monarch butterfly needs milkweed in order to feed its caterpillars, she said. [They] only feed on species of milkweed. And if we want to keep our state butterfly around into the future, we need milkweed on the landscape. Blue birds were experiencing declines in population, but people putting out nest boxes for them to raise their young has helped them bounce back, Fonda said. Benefits to lawn owners Growing native plants can also be less work for property owners, requiring less maintenance, fertilizer and water than typical lawns, Fonda said. Native plants can also help reduce flooding, erosion and runoff, especially in those urban and suburban areas where this kind of impervious surface creates real problems with stormwater, Fonda said. Bergstrom who studied herpetology said when she first moved to her property, she was disappointed not to find amphibians in her yard. I was like, Well, OK, what do I need to do here? There should be some toads hopping around, eating some insects. I wasnt hearing any gray tree frogs calling. And I realized, well, theres not a water source anywhere. So one of the first things Bergstrom did was put a water source on the property. Bergstrom went with a pond, but even a bird bath would have helped, she said. Then Bergstrom started working to remove the invasive species of plants from the yard. Her work is paying off. This year she saw some American toads for the first time ever. And some wood frogs laid eggs in the pond. I have little baby wood frogs hopping around now, Bergstrom said. And if the amphibians are there, thats going to bring in even more animals then as part of the food chain. Shes also seen southern flying squirrels, woodpeckers and blue birds, barred owls, coyotes, foxes, and at least one bear. Then there are the insects, including tiger swallowtail butterfly larvae and dragonflies that eat mosquitoes. We have lots of fireflies, too, an incredible amount, Bergstrom said. Its really nice to just sit on the porch and watch. For many people, helping pollinators and wildlife can be as simple as letting an area in the lawn go unmowed. That may result in growing some nonnative plant species that should be controlled, as well, Fonda said. But a lot of the time you might come up with some really great wildflowers that have a lot of benefit to pollinators and other wildlife, she said. So for a lot of people, starting off can be as simple as doing nothing. Local mowing rules still apply Not everyone likes a wild yard. Homeowners who opt not to mow can run afoul of local public nuisance ordinances, and some homeowner associations require lawns be kept at a certain length. Bergstrom has found that a nice, trimmed border is the secret to keeping neighbors OK with her yard. For whatever reason, that seems to make people really happy, she said. So I think it still has that clean edge and it shows that youre intentionally letting it grow up. Also, for me, with invasive [plants], it allows me to make sure invasives dont vine from nearby trees or shrubs over into the grassy meadow part. Its important that people check the rules where they live, Fonda said. While having an official Wild Yard sign will indicate to neighbors that the grass is being grown intentionally, participating in the program doesnt exempt a homeowner from other rules, she said. If they really want to enforce some ordinance we cant necessarily protect folks from that, but if you are able to talk about the benefits of native plant landscaping to wildlife, that can help convince some people, she said. Fonda said she encourages people to organize in their community to have some of the more restrictive ordinances change. So far this year, 25 people have applied to be certified with the program, and Fonda is trying to get the word out to more people. Manuals for the program are available by calling the state Division of Natural Resources Wildlife Diversity Program at 304-637-0245. I think native plants, and native plant landscaping and the importance of plants for wildlife is continuing to grow in prominence and importance, but we definitely have a long way to go, she said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) The new school year is just around the corner, but right now is the time to be thinking about back-to-school vaccines for your student. Before your child gets back on the bus, its time to get back to the doctors office. The number one reason to get your kid vaccinated is to protect your kid from these diseases, said Dr. Sarah Marsh, MD, a pediatrician for St. Josephs Primary Care Center West. Dr. Marsh says right now is the best time to make an appointment for your child to get vaccinated before the new school year starts. I would say as soon as possible just because doctors offices are busy and everyone is getting the letter that says their kid needs a shot, which means that everyone is calling the doctor all at the same time, and certain grades actually require physicals too. So if parents can call as soon as possible, thats better, said Dr. Marsh. The state requires students to receive all vaccinations to attend school to keep everyone in the classroom safe, unless they have a valid medical exemption. A medical exemption would require that somebody be undergoing chemotherapy, have a notable genetic immune deficiency, and these are actually the kids we want people to vaccinate their kids to protect because they cant get the vaccines because theyll actually get the illnesses or at least thats the concern that they would get the illnesses because their immune systems are down, said Dr. Marsh. Immunization requirements vary by age. Those in day care, pre-K and beyond must receive a number of vaccinations, including measles, mumps and rubella. Those in middle and high school are required to get Tetanus and Meningitis shots. But just how safe and effective are they? Vaccines are safer arguably than any drug on the market. If you were to give your kid Tylenol or amoxicillin, it has been tested a certain amount to make sure that its safe. Vaccines are vetted a lot more thoroughly. They have to be researched in a series of trials. They have to be tested in a lot of different people, huge numbers of people, Dr. Marsh said. Just last week, more than 200 cases of measles were reported in different states across the U.S. including, New York. The cases of measles that have been reported have been reported in people who are not vaccinated, and so another reason to get yourself vaccinated is that if you can protect yourself from these diseases. Arguably, vaccines are the most important medical development ever, said Dr. Marsh. If your child is afraid of getting shots, there are several things parents can do to make the process easier and less stressful. If your kid is really, really anxious, telling them at the very last second might be the best idea because its less time to be anxious. If theyre pretty easy going or if they just do better if theyre prepared, then prepare them, Dr. Marsh said. The state also requires parents to show proof that their child is up-to-date on their vaccinations within two weeks of the first day of school or day care. Preparing to keep everyone in the classroom protected. Click here to find out what vaccinations are required in the state. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSYR. When does daylight saving time end? Here's when to change your clocks Fall is around the corner, which means the end of this year's daylight saving time is coming up. In November, millions of Americans will turn back their clocks, marking the end of daylight saving time in 2024. The controversial practice of "springing forward" and "falling back" has been observed in most states for decades. Under the current daylight saving period, most Americans will lose an hour of sleep on the second Sunday of March and gain an hour on the first Sunday of November. Here's what to know about the end of daylight saving time in 2024. In November, millions of Americans will turn back their clocks, marking the end of daylight saving time in 2024. When does daylight saving time end? When to change clocks back in 2024 In 2024, daylight saving time will end at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 3. Why do we gain an hour in November? We gain an hour in November to accommodate for more daylight in the mornings. When we "spring forward" in March, it's to add more daylight in the summer evenings. In the Northern Hemisphere, the autumnal equinox is Sept. 22, marking the start of the fall season. Why do we have daylight saving time? In 1966, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act, standardizing the length of daylight saving time, which runs from March to November. Daylight saving time begins each year on the second Sunday of March and ends on the first Sunday of November. The Department of Transportation said daylight saving time saves energy, prevents traffic injuries, and reduces crime. The DOT oversees time zones and the uniform observance of daylight saving time because the railroad industry first instituted time standards. What states have gotten rid of daylight saving time? Not all states and U.S. territories participate in daylight saving time. Hawaii and Arizona (except the Navajo Nation) do not observe daylight saving time, nor do the territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In 1966, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act, standardizing the length of daylight saving time, which runs from March to November. Who created daylight saving time? Benjamin Franklin is often credited with first proposing daylight saving in his 1784 essay, "An Economical Project." However, the idea wasn't seriously considered until more than a century later when William Willetts, a British builder, fiercely advocated for it. The current daylight saving time format was proposed in New Zealand by entomologist George Hudson. In 1895, he recommended a two-hour time change because he wanted more daylight after work to hunt for bugs in the summer. Is daylight saving time ending in Ohio? Ohio's House State and Local Government Committee passed House Concurrent Resolution 7 in October 2023, urging Congress to enact the Sunshine Uniformity Act. This act would make daylight saving time permanent and end the bi-annual tradition of changing the clocks. State representatives Rodney Creech, R-West Alexandria, and Bob Peterson, R-Sabina, sponsored the bill. Under this resolution, passed by the Ohio House, switching to permanent daylight saving time would increase the hours of sunlight in the evenings during the winter months, which helps combat mental health issues, Creech said. However, the bill did not pass the U.S. House of Representatives, and President Joe Biden did not sign it into law. Is it daylight saving or daylight savings? While it's common to hear "daylight savings" with an "s," the correct term is "daylight saving time," since the practice saves daylight. Emily DeLetter, a trending news reporter for USA Today, contributed to this story. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: When does daylight saving time end? When do the clocks change? MANILA, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Dengue cases in the Philippines surged to 136,161 from January to Aug. 3 this year, with at least 364 deaths, the country's Department of Health (DOH) said Tuesday. "Fewer deaths continue to be recorded this year despite the rising number of cases," DOH spokesperson Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo said. He attributed the relatively lower number of deaths this year to "people seeking early consultation and hospitals doing better management." Domingo urged the public to be vigilant, reminding them that dengue cases "are still on an uptrend." Dengue is endemic in the Philippines. Water-borne infectious diseases, including dengue, usually peak at the start of the rainy season from July to October due to fluctuating weather conditions, flooding, and accumulation of contaminated water. Dengue mosquitos breed in stagnant water, like water-filled containers, and in some plants, such as bananas. HONOLULU (KHON2) One of the federal antitrust attorneys for the Department of Justice assigned to the case that ended up blocking the Jet Blue-Spirit merger earlier this year has told the U.S. District Court here that he expects to be heading to Hawaii. Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You Brian Hanna who is a trial attorney with the U.S. DOJs Antitrust Division filed an application today in federal district court in Honolulu. The filing said: I expect to appear on behalf of the United States and to tend to the interests of the United States before this Court. A federal judge approved him to appear and practice here. KHON2 reached out for comment. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news Whether federal antitrust regulators allow or block Alaska Airlines buyout of Hawaiian Airlines is yet to be determined. On Thursday, August 15, an extended review period by the Department of Justice comes to an end. Review periods are meant to give regulators time to investigate potential impacts of mergers. KHON2 reached out to the airlines for any updates as of today and a spokesperson for Hawaiian Airlines said they cannot comment on the ongoing DOJ review. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KHON2. Donald Trump has always inhabited an alternate reality of his own making, bending and twisting the truth for personal and political gain throughout his time in the public spotlight. Lately, though, the former presidents claims have gotten even more bizarre and outlandish a trend that just so happens to coincide with Vice President Kamala Harris surge in the polls and heightened enthusiasm among Democrats not seen since the early days of Barack Obamas presidency. Over the weekend, Trump said that a huge crowd of 15,000 people gathered to see Harris and her new vice presidential running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, at a Detroit airport hangar last week simply DIDNT EXIST. Nobody was there, Trump claimed Sunday on his social media platform Truth Social, accusing the Harris campaign of using artificial intelligence to fake the image. Dozens of images and videos posted online by people who attended the event confirmed that there was indeed a large crowd of Harris supporters at her Michigan rally and that Trump is, once again, lying about something plain as day. Harris also drew similar attendance at other rallies in the battleground states of Georgia, Wisconsin, Arizona and Nevada, underscoring Trumps political peril just 90 days from the November presidential election. Vice President Kamala Harris waves to the crowd at Signature Aviation Hangar in Detroit on Aug. 7, 2024. Harris' campaign said 15,000 people attended the rally. Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images The GOP nominee, a convicted felon, doesnt have to worry about just winning; he also has to worry about potentially going to jail if he doesnt become president again. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), meanwhile, accused Trump of gearing up to deny the 2024 election results. If you can convince your supporters that thousands of people who attended a televised rally do not exist, it will not be hard to convince them that the election returns in PA, MI and elsewhere are fake and fraudulent, Sanders said in a statement on Tuesday. Last week, Trump claimed falsely at a press conference that his crowd at the White House on Jan. 6, 2021, rivaled that of Martin Luther King Jr. for his 1963 I Have A Dream speech on the National Mall, which vastly outnumbered Trumps pre-insurrection rally with about 260,000 people. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) urged Trump to quit obsessing about crowd sizes and keep his eye on the ball in an interview with Fox News on Monday. Youve got to make this race not on personalities, McCarthy said. Stop questioning the size of her crowds and start questioning her position when it comes to, what did she do as [California] attorney general on crime? What did she do when she was supposed to take care of the border as a czar? Trump hasnt shown an ability to stay focused on GOP talking points despite pleas from many in his party to do so. Hes been far more preoccupied with complaining about President Joe Bidens decision to leave the race after Democrats called for a younger nominee, veering decidedly into conspiratorial theories about the nature of Bidens exit. This was a coup. This was a coup of a president of the United States. He didnt want to leave, Trump told billionare Elon Musk on Monday. They just took him out back behind the shed and basically shot him. Trump also baselessly alleged during his press conference last week that Harris was working with the people that wanted [Biden] out. And in what is perhaps the biggest sign of his desperation and anger about having to face Harris in November, Trump fantasized about Biden somehow returning to try and reclaim the presidential nomination during next weeks Democratic National Convention in Chicago. What are the chances that Crooked Joe Biden CRASHES the Democrat National Convention and tries to take back the Nomination, beginning with challenging me to another DEBATE, Trump wrote on Truth Social last week. He feels that he made a historically tragic mistake by handing over the U.S. Presidency, a COUP, to the people in the World he most hates, and he wants it back, NOW!!! The chances are zero. Harris has officially been nominated as her partys standard bearer by 99% of Democratic delegates. Biden endorsed her last month and is reportedly scheduled to deliver a speech on the opening day of the convention. Even when Trump does home in on Harris, he tends to get into trouble by making comments about her race and gender, eliciting grimaces from elected Republicans. He falsely claimed that Harris only recently identified as Black, and has reportedly referred to her as a bitch on several occasions in private (his campaign has denied it). For weeks, Republicans have urged Trump to stick to hammering Harris on policy, with mixed results. This is a perfect person to run against, McCarthy told Fox on Monday. You thought John Kerry was a flip-flopper? She is the biggest flip-flop, with the most extreme positions, and you got a short time frame to do it. So dont sit back, get out there and start making the case and use her own words to do it to her, he counseled. Related... WASHINGTON - After mechanical problems put its regular airplane out of commission, the Donald Trump campaign faced another transportation headache Monday, Aug. 12: It recently wound up using an airplane once owned by convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. The campaign said they used the plane on an emergency basis on Saturday after "Trump Force One" was sidelined en route to a campaign rally in Montana. Officials said they did not know the replacement plane they used to go to fundraisers in Wyoming and Colorado was once owned by Epstein a long time ago. "We had absolutely no idea," said a campaign official who discussed the airplane situation on condition of anonymity. The plane in question was not the so-called "Lolita Express" that Epstein allegedly used to ferry young girls to a private island. That aircraft has been destroyed. Trump and Epstein once knew each other socially, but there is no evidence that the former president was aware of Epstein's illegal activities. Epstein died in 2019 while in a Manhattan jail awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. The imbroglio surfaced after a social media user tracked the tail number of the airplane that Trump used Saturday. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Donald Trump team accidentally uses plane owned by Jeffrey Epstein The live conversation was initially delayed for almost an hour due to what Musk said was a 'DDoS' cyber attack. About 1 million people eventually tuned in. Hundreds of thousands of X users flocked to the platform on Monday night to hear owner Elon Musk speak with former President Donald Trump. But they would have to wait almost 45 minutes before the interview began because of what Musk called a denial of service attack. Once the problems were resolved, Musk kicked off the discussion by emphasizing this was a "conversation" one that ultimately stretched over two hours long, beginning with a question about Trump's assassination attempt in July in Butler, Pa. Musk and the Republican nominee then worked their way through topics like immigration, foreign policy and the economy. Trumps X interview took place over X Spaces, a feature in the X app that lets users listen in and join live audio conversations with other users and groups. The interview is part of a strategy that journalist and conspiracy theory expert Mike Rothschild says is indicative of the types of voters the Trump campaign is courting. Rothschild also cited the changing election landscape in general, which is becoming increasingly less reliant on traditional media. New voters, the people who are just getting involved in the electoral process, those are people you can reach through streamers, through podcasts, through influencers. So its a very smart strategy, Rothschild told Yahoo News. Its not the hour-long cable news special, its not the press conference. Trump himself has completely upended what it means to be campaigning. Interview delayed by technical issues The interview between Trump and Musk, which was scheduled to start at 8 p.m. ET, didn't start until around 8:40 p.m., with around 1 million listeners tuned in. In a post, Musk blamed the delay on a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on the platform. What did Trump and Musk say? The interview covered a number of key Trump themes: Recounting his assassination attempt in July, slamming his presidential opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, for her role as "border czar," and condemning President Biden over wars in Gaza and Ukraine. The two also discussed immigration, with Trump repeating his frequent claim that murderers and other criminals have been crossing into the U.S. Despite Trump's statements, numerous studies have found that immigrants commit crimes at a lower rate than U.S.-born citizens. Trump added that "non-productive people" were also coming to the country. Trump went after President Biden repeatedly, despite Biden having dropped out of the 2024 race weeks ago, a decision Trump referred to as "a coup." Musk also took the opportunity to bring up energy and at one point turned the conversation toward Tesla, his electric vehicle company. Trump, previously a critic of electric vehicles, called Tesla an "incredible" product in the conversation. At a rally on Aug. 3, Trump said he had to like electric vehicles because "Elon endorsed me very strongly." The Harris campaign sent out an email a little after 9 p.m. ET calling the conversation "a big deal" because "the richest person in the world is a lackey for Team MAGA." How does this fit into the Trump campaigns larger communication strategy? This marks the third social-media-first interview Trump has done in recent weeks. In June, he gave an interview to YouTuber turned wrestler turned energy drink entrepreneur Logan Paul. More recently, Trump joined a stream on the platform Kick with controversial 23-year-old streamer Adin Ross on Aug. 5. At its peak, the video had over 580,000 concurrent viewers. Ross has made headlines in the past for being banned from the popular streaming platform Twitch for using homophobic slurs, sharing racist and antisemitic messages in his live chat and displaying pornographic images during streams to his predominantly teenage audience. Trumps vice presidential pick, JD Vance, also made an appearance on a podcast hosted by the YouTube group Nelk Boys on Aug. 1, which he leveraged to help launch his TikTok account. The Nelk Boys are no strangers to controversy and regularly promote right-wing political causes and incel culture. What Ross, the Nelk Boys and Musk have in common are their massive and dedicated fan bases, composed predominantly of young men. This demographic a subset of the coveted Gen Z crowd is exactly who the Trump campaign is trying to speak to, Rothschild told Yahoo News. The target audience can be described as hyper-masculine edgelords, referring to people who try to have the most provocative and contrarian opinions, especially online. This group is not plugged into traditional news sources, Rothschild says, and they most likely think that voting is a joke and for losers. Hes really trying to reach these people because this is kind of the only potentially new demographic he has left, according to Rothschild. His base is not growing. Can Trump grow his base? The Associated Press reported in February that there were some doubts over whether Trump could expand his base which is made up of mostly white, middle-aged men and win over new Republicans or undecided voters. Trumps return to X and the interview with Musk are all about amping up his dedicated base and enticing them enough to get them to vote in November, especially as Harris has seen an explosive surge in the polls recently. The interview was not about clearing up Trumps past controversial comments or providing insight into what a potential second Trump administration would look like. This is not going to be any kind of an attempt to find consistency in the things that [Trump] has said, because the people who are watching this dont care, Rothschild said. Its the spectacle. Were bypassing legacy media and were going straight to the people. What does Elon Musk get out of this? Despite how publicly Musk has embraced Trump even to the detriment of Teslas sales the former president has stayed off of X for almost a full year. But Trumps return could help boost the platform, which has been struggling against lawsuits, declining user growth and its own advertisers. Musk, who has endorsed Trump for president, has also been accused of censoring liberal political content on X, as well as elevating inaccurate information, both of which promote the Trump campaign to the platforms 540 million users. In an Aug. 12 letter to the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jerrold Nadler demanded an investigation into X, calling some of the content deceptive or harmful to democratic elections at large. Others have speculated that Musk is trying to redeem himself and X after Ron DeSantiss disastrous and glitchy presidential bid launch in May 2023. Even Trump made fun of the stream at the time. Donald Trumps story about a conversation during a helicopter ride has gotten even more confusing and more embarrassing for the former president. Trumps story, meant to embarrass Vice President Kamala Harris, has instead blown up in his face. Trumps tall tale quickly fell apart The controversy began during Trumps unhinged Mar-a-Lago press conference when he was asked about Willie Brown, the first Black mayor of San Francisco who briefly dated Harris in the 1990s. Trump told a story of riding with Brown on a helicopter, during which he alleged that Brown told him horrible things about Harris. The ride was memorable, Trump said, because the vehicle almost crashed and had to make an emergency landing. The story quickly fell apart when Brown commented that hed never been in a helicopter with Trump nor discussed Harris with him. Meanwhile, it was confirmed that Trump had taken a helicopter ride with former California Gov. Jerry Brown, who is white. However, Brown stated their ride didnt have an emergency landing and didnt include any conversation about Harris. I guess we all look alike. A new wrinkle has developed as a third man, Nate Holden, has come forward as the person who experienced an emergency landing with Trump. The 95-year-old Black Los Angeles politician, who previously served on the LA City Council and in the California State Senate, confirmed to Politico that he shared a helicopter ride with Trump in 1990 that had to make an emergency landing. Trumps apparent mix-up amused Holden. Willie is the short Black guy living in San Francisco. Im a tall Black guy living in Los Angeles, Holden told Politico. He laughed, I guess we all look alike. Holden, who did not date Harris, also noted she was not discussed during the helicopter ride. Barbara Res, a former executive with Trumps construction company who was also on the helicopter, confirmed to Politico that Holden was the man on the helicopter ride, which shes previously written about in her book. Trump doubles down, threatens lawsuit Despite numerous people contradicting his story, Trump has doubled down and is now threatening to sue The New York Times over its coverage of the story. The paper reported that Trump called one of its reporters on Friday to complain about their coverage, claiming he had flight records to prove his story and said he was probably going to sue the news outlet. When asked to provide the records, the paper reported, Mr. Trump responded mockingly, repeating the request in a sing-song voice but hadnt given them. Overall, Trumps story has painted him as a serial liar or as someone unable to remember basic details from his past or differentiate between various people with which hes interacted. With Trump continuing to double down on his tall tale, the GOP presidential candidate ironically prolongs the story that continues to embarrass him. Donald Trump interview with Elon Musk coming to X following campaign stumbles WASHINGTON - As Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump tries to figure out how to run against surging Vice President Kamala Harris, he turns Monday to a unique venue: An interview on X with prominent supporter Elon Musk. To mark the occasion, Trump for the first time in nearly a year posted a flurry of campaign-related items on the Musk-owned social media site X, formerly known as Twitter. He started with a two-and-a-half minute video that celebrated Trump's victory in the 2016 presidential election, attacked all the criminal indictments lodged against him in 2023, and repeated his pledge to "totally obliterate the deep state." As for his Monday night sit-down with Musk, Trump tweeted simply: "Enjoy!" Also on X, Musk said of the Trump interview: "Entertainment guaranteed." Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during an election campaign rally in Bozeman, Montana, on August 9, 2024. Vying against Harris Trump speaks with Musk after weeks in which Harris erased the poll lead the former president had enjoyed over President Joe Biden before he withdrew from the race. In response, Trump has employed a variety of tactics to try and win back attention. He has spread lies about Harris' crowd sizes, claimed (without evidence) that former San Francisco mayor and prominent Harris backer Willie Brown has criticized the vice president, conducted a rambling news conference at Mar-a-Lago, and, on Monday, threatened to sue the Justice Department over the 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago home for pilfered documents. U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are seen at the Firing Room Four after the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft on NASA's SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. May 30, 2020. Trump and Musk In many ways, the X Spaces interview is a continuation of Trump's habit of granting interviews to friendly media. The social media site has tended to trend in a more conservative direction since Musk bought Twitter in 2022. Trump and Musk, meanwhile, have had a complicated relationship. The former president long solicited Musk's support - and money - but the electric car magnate held off on a formal endorsement until July. Around the same time, news reports indicated that Musk was prepared to spend around $45 million a month on a pro-Trump political action committee; Musk denied those reports. The feeling has been mutual. During a recent rally in Grand Rapids, Mich., Trump said of Musk: "We have to make life good for our smart people and hes as smart as you get. This is not the first time Musk has weighed in on the presidential election. He sponsored a 2023 X interview in which Trump Republican rival Ron DeSantis announced his presidential candidacy - an event marred by technical difficulties. Also, in expressing support for DeSantis back in 2022, Musk suggested that Trump shouldn't run again because of an issue that now hangs over the 2024 campaign: His age. "Trump would be 82 at end of term, which is too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States of America," Musk said on X in July 2022. "If DeSantis runs against Biden in 2024, then DeSantis will easily win - he doesnt even need to campaign." U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz acknowledge supporters as they exit Air Force Two to attend a campaign rally in Romulus, Michigan, U.S., August 7, 2024. REUTERS/Rebecca cook Flailing attack lines The Musk interview takes place as Trump tries a number of ways to get attention, some of them .... unusual. On Sunday, Trump amplified a debunked conspiracy theory that Harris used AI to portray a big crowd at a recent airport rally, prompting Harris supporters to again question the former president's mental health. In his post, Trump falsely claimed there was nobody at the plane, and she A.I.d it," even though thousands of people attended the event. David Plouffe, former campaign guru for President Barack Obama and now an adviser to Harris, said on X: These are not conspiratorial rantings from the deepest recesses of the internet. The author could have the nuclear codes and be responsible for decisions that will affect us all for decades. During his news conference last week at Mar-a-Lago, Trump said he was in a near-helicopter crash with Brown, and that the former mayor criticized Harris during their discussion. Brown, a long-time supporter of Harris - the two once had a romantic relationship back in the day - said none of this ever happened. A rising number of Republicans have questioned Trump's campaign of late, and said he needs to focus on Harris' policies, not personality. In an interview Monday on Fox News, former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said to Trump: "Stop questioning the size of her crowds." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump and Musk's on-again-off-again saga gets a surprising development Donald Trumps increasingly unhinged attacks on Kamala Harris are an example of personal compulsion as a type of political strategy. Because he is a human wrecking ball against American democracy, the rule of law, and human decency, this approach has served Trump very well. His political and personal brand is based on disruption and chaos. His MAGA people see such behavior by Trump as a sign of his authenticity and honesty instead of as the behavior of a deeply troubled person. Public opinion polls and other research show that supporters of political strongmen and autocrats like Donald Trump are driven by voters who want leaders who will break the law to get things done for people like them. For a variety of reasons, President Biden, as exemplified by his disastrous debate with Donald Trump in June, was having a very difficult time effectively confronting such a human force of destruction and chaos. Enter Vice President Kamala Harris in her new role as the Democratic Partys presidential nominee. At this very early stage in the 2024 election, Trumps personal compulsion as a political strategy appears to be encountering serious difficulties against Vice President Kamala Harris. Public opinion polls show a great change in momentum, and Harris is now tied with or leading Trump nationally. She is also tied with or leading him in the key battleground states. The crowds at Harris political rallies are growing and enthusiastic. Trumps MAGA people appear to be increasingly bored. His rallies, while well-attended, are being dwarfed by Kamala Harris (and now her vice-presidential running mate Tim Walzs) crowds. Trump is increasingly triggered by Kamala Harris early success and how she refuses to be intimidated or cowed by him. In all, Trumps sudden change of political fortunes has left him in a state of confusion, upset and rage. Trump is now saying that Kamala Harriss crowds are faked, the result of manipulation by artificial intelligence (AI). Trump is lying. The crowds at Kamala Harris rallies and other gatherings have in fact dwarfed Donald Trumps these last two or so weeks since she became the Democratic Partys presidential nominee. Trumps claims that he is a victim of a conspiracy by a pro-Harris AI is a sign of his egomania and how he is experiencing a narcissistic injury. It is also an attempt to manipulate his gullible MAGA cultists to further do his bidding. If Donald Trump actually believes that Kamala Harris crowds do not exist then, as George Conway recently suggested during an appearance on MSNBC, his family should seek out medical help for him. Even Jonathan Chait, the reliable centrist at New York magazine, is sounding the alarm about Donald Trump's apparent challenges with reality and what that suggests about his mental and emotional well-being: "Trump is literally claiming Harris spoke before an empty room, created a false impression of a large crowd, with the participation of the national media that reported on the event as it occurred. He then bootstraps this ludicrous assertion into the charge that Harris is stealing the election and 'should be disqualified.' The most important thing about this Trump claim is that it confirms once again that he is both completely demented the fake-crowd theory is less plausible than the notion NASA faked the moon landings and totally unwilling to abide by the democratic rules of the road. It has become tedious to say so, but supporting his candidacy, even if you prefer his policies on taxes or regulation, in any way is deeply irresponsible." Most importantly, Donald Trumps lies and/or delusions about Harris popularity are an iteration of the Big Lie and a preview of the attacks on her legitimacy and that of the 2024 election if she defeats him. During an appearance on MSNBCs Morning Joe, conservative political commentator Charlie Sykes warned: This is pre-election denialism by Donald Trump.It's no mystery, Donald Trump is never going to graciously concede defeat in this election. He's already laying the groundwork for what's going to happen after November. I think this is going to be an extraordinarily dangerous period. He has election deniers in key states, his base is psychologically not prepared for him to lose. This is a desperate man. Donald Trump will not simply lose the election. Donald Trump knows if he is not elected president, he may be going to jail. He will do and say anything. You see in that tweet, not merely the fact that he is rattled and losing it, but that he is already coming up with his lines for why he can deny the results of the election, how Kamala Harris' nomination is unconstitutional, how this is being stolen all of that in advance. No one should be surprised or think that this fever is going to break on Nov. 5. Whatever happens, we are about to head into a very dangerous period in American politics, led by Donald Trump, obviously assisted by Republicans who simply have decided that they're not going to draw the line. In his decades of public life, Donald Trump has repeatedly shown himself to be a racist, a white supremacist, and a violent misogynist. Based on information first-hand witnesses, the New York Times is reporting that Donald Trump has been calling Vice President Harris a bitch in private. Based on what Trumps own nephew alleges in his new book, there is little to no doubt that Donald Trump uses even more hateful language about Harris identity as a Black woman in private. The Times reports: At the Aug. 2 dinner, Mr. Trump told donors that the news media had been incorrectly suggesting that he had mellowed since the assassination attempt. Im not nicer, he said, according to one person in attendance. Another said Mr. Trump described himself as angry, because they unspecified adversaries that the attendee took to mean Democrats had first tried to bankrupt him and then to kill him. Indeed, Mr. Trump has often been in a foul mood the past few weeks. He has ranted about Ms. Harris. He has called her nasty, on Fox & Friends, and a bitch, repeatedly, in private, according to two people who heard the remark on different occasions. (That is not language President Trump has used to describe Kamala, and its not how the campaign would characterize her, Mr. Cheung said.) His quickness to anger has left him susceptible to manipulation, even among close allies. During a recent series of rallies, interviews and other events Donald Trump is continuing to behave in such a way that suggests he is experiencing some type of crisis in his thinking, cognition, and overall mental health. For example, during a rally in Montana on Friday, Trump appears to glitch and pause as he searches for words and then makes unintelligible noises and strange utterances. This is not a creative use of language as some have suggested. Something is clearly amiss. Last Thursday, in an attempt to recapture some momentum following a several-day absence from the campaign trail, Trump hosted a press conference/speechifying event at his Mar-A-Lago headquarters in Florida. This did not help Trumps cause. He was detached from realityin a manner that was even more extreme than his normally aberrant standards. By NPRs very conservative count, Trump lied more than 200 times (he does not make misstatements): There were a host of false things that Donald Trump said during his hour-long news conference Thursday that have gotten attention. A glaring example is his helicopter emergency landing story, which has not stood up to scrutiny. But there was so much more. A team of NPR reporters and editors reviewed the transcript of his news conference and found at least 162 misstatements, exaggerations and outright lies in 64 minutes. Thats more than two a minute. Its a stunning number for anyone and even more problematic for a person running to lead the free world. Politicians spin. They fib. They misspeak. They make honest mistakes like the rest of us. And, yes, they even sometimes exaggerate their biographies. The expectation, though, is that they will treat the truth as something important and correct any errors. But what former President Trump did this past Thursday went well beyond the bounds of what most politicians would do. Donald Trump would go even further in his attempts to rewrite reality, this time literally, in response to Harris early surge of popularity and this whiplash moment since Biden stepped aside. In a post on his Truth Social propaganda disinformation platform last Tuesday, Donald Trump shared a conspiracy theory-paranoid fantasy that President Biden is going to take back the nomination from Harris at the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Chicago: What are the chances that Crooked Joe Biden, the WORST President in the history of the U.S., whose Presidency was Unconstitutionally STOLEN from him by Kamabla, Barrack HUSSEIN Obama, Crazy Nancy Pelosi, Shifty Adam Schiff, Cryin Chuck Schumer, and others on the Lunatic Left, CRASHES the Democrat National Convention and tries to take back the Nomination, beginning with challenging me to another DEBATE. He feels that he made a historically tragic mistake by handing over the U.S. Presidency, a COUP, to the people in the World he most hates, and he wants it back, NOW!!! A generous reading of Trumps conspiracy theory is that it is part of a larger strategy of projection, where he accuses the Democrats of staging some type of internal coup against Harris and that they are the real fascists and enemies of democracy. In reality, Trump is describing what he and his forces tried to do on Jan. 6 and their plans to end American democracy in the future when/if he and they take power. The more likely explanation for Trumps conspiracism (and paranoia more generally) is that he is increasingly detached from reality because a Black South Asian woman is beating him in the pollsand if she wins the election he may find himself in prison for his many crimes. Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course. In total, Trumps increasingly unhinged (deranged is an ever more appropriate word) attacks on Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, and his behavior more generally, reinforces the conclusion that has been reached by many expert observers that something is profoundly wrong with the corrupt ex-presidents cognition, mind, and emotions. Given that Trump is the presidential nominee of one of the countrys two main political parties, this should be a cause of great national alarm and concern among the mainstream news media. By comparison, the mainstream news media savaged President Biden, a man who is experiencing normal challenges of aging but whose mind remains sharp and his personality normal and healthy, and drove him to step aside as the Democratic Partys nominee. The situation is even more serious given Donald Trumps promises and threats to be a dictator (who will be empowered by a corrupt Supreme Court) and how he is channeling Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. What if the American mainstream news media exercised even one-tenth of the scrutiny, rumor-mongering and muckraking, personal and professional invective and score-settling towards Donald Trump that they directed at President Biden? Americas political reality at this moment (and throughout the Age of Trump) would likely be much different. In a series of posts on X/Twitter, Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin called out this negligence: Press should report this as incoherent, displaying mental deterioration. He is unwell. The refusal to explain how unhinged he is and instead to normalize is reprehensible The press was able to describe Bidens affect, energy, syntax. Why dont they do it for Trump? It is nothing short of shameful To make this rather than his mental breakdown is everything wrong with MSM. They are blatantly covering for him. The same paper that had blanket cover of Biden Here is how to write it: Donald Trump, in a shocking display of incoherence and break with reality, held a press conference that will reraise fears of his mental competency. Among the blatant lies: His rallies were bigger than MLK, Gov. Walz wants to kill babies and he is ahead. No candidate has ever lied this much, this bizarrely, no candidate has had such a tenuous grip on reality. Why haven't RS yanked a clearly disturbed person? Will you hound them to comment on this meltdown? Bring in the shrinks and the historians to explain what he is doing. Do. Your. Damn. Job. At his website Press Watchers, media watchdog Dan Froomkin highlights how the mainstream news medias enabling of Trumps lying and detachment from reality is actually doing the work of the Republican Partys anti-democracy agenda: Now that the players have been clearly established, its time for the political media to turn to the issues. And when writing about those issues, its imperative that journalists point out the most salient characteristic of the Republican platform: That its almost entirely based on lies. This is not hyperbole. Just listen to Trumps semi-coherent news conference on Thursday (transcript parts one, two and three.) It was lie after lie after lie. The fact checks (by the New York Times, the Associated Press, and MSNBC) barely scratched the surface. As it happens, the Trumpian vision for the future is most effectively summarized in one handy document, the official Republican platform. It is a litany of lies about the border, immigration, the economy, energy, our international standing, the military, you name it. Its one thing when a party makes unlikely campaign promises. Thats normal. But its another when the underlying premises beneath those promises is wildly deceitful. Political journalists at our most powerful news organizations are strongly averse to taking sides in a partisan dispute. They dont want to be accused of bias. Their bosses tell them to afflict both sides. They consider themselves above the fray. But when one of the two political parties entire argument is so obviously deceitful, from start to finish, its not right for journalists to treat them alike. While the fact checks are well intentioned, they arent enough. Every article or broadcast segment about where Trump stands on the issues should make it clear that his entire pitch is built on an edifice of lies. And if those lies are gaining traction in the public sphere, the media has an obligation to correct them. Anything else is dishonest. He concludes, Trump and the Republican Party arent so much trying to persuade as theyre trying to deceive. These are not disputes about policy. These are deceptive incitements. Indeed, there is very little in terms of actual, detailed policy proposals in the platform or in Trumps stump speeches just broad strokes with no details, based on lies.Thats the message that American political reporters should be conveying to the public. Doing anything short of that is journalist malpractice. Its aiding and abetting liars. Once again, there is no liberal media. If such a thing were in fact true, then there would be endless coverage of Donald Trumps obvious and worsening state of mind and increasingly dangerous behavior. I am not going to hold my breath waiting for the American mainstream news media to practice pro-democracy journalism and to speak truth to power about Trumpism and the larger neofascist danger to the countrys democracy and society. All I want is for the mainstream news media to do their jobs, just the bare minimum at this point, in how they report on Donald Trump and his behavior and what it will mean for the country when/if he takes control of the White House in 2025. The facts and the proper context for these events are sufficient. The dangers of Trump and his MAGA movement and its forces are that grossly obvious. For the mainstream news media to do anything less if even worse malpractice than we have seen to this point throughout the Age of Trump and the democracy crisis. US presidential candidate Donald Trump, during an interview with billionaire Elon Musk, has heavily criticised US President Joe Biden and blamed him for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Source: European Pravda with reference to an interview broadcast on Twitter (X) Details: The war in Ukraine was one of the many topics of the more than two-hour conversation between Trump and Musk, who repeatedly demonstrated agreement with his interviewee during the interview. Trump repeated several times his assertion that Russian aggression would never have happened if he had been president, suggesting that Vladimir Putin was provoked to invade by President Joe Biden's words about opening the door for Ukraine to join NATO. Trump remarked that Bidens words were extremely bad, referring to them as foolish threats coming from what he described as a "stupid face". Musk did not challenge Trump's statement but instead concurred, acknowledging that Trump had made "an excellent point". The former president also recalled his alleged conversation with the Russian leader, in which he allegedly warned him against invading Ukraine. He mentioned telling Vladimir Putin: "Dont do it. You cant do it, Vladimir," cautioning that it would lead to a bad day for him. Despite this, the former president noted that he got along well with Putin and hopes to maintain a good relationship with him in the future. It is worth noting that Elon Musk said that his platform was subjected to a "massive" DDoS attack before the interview. He suggested that this happened due to significant opposition to people simply listening to what President Trump had to say. The conversation, billed by Trump's team as "the biggest interview in history", was delayed by about half an hour. In the end, just over a million users joined the conversation. During the interview, Trump and Musk also agreed on the need to curb illegal immigration, criticise the European Union, the unfair distribution of defence spending in NATO, and support for Israel. Background: Earlier, in an interview with Bloomberg, Donald Trump once again boasted of his good relationship with Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin. In the same interview, Trump said that he was thinking about easing sanctions against Russia, as he is not in favour of restrictions. He also said that if the US had a "smart president", countries such as Russia, China and North Korea (DPRK) would cease to be enemies of the United States. Trump's headquarters said that the priority of his potential second term would be to end the war between Russia and Ukraine as soon as possible. Support UP or become our patron! CARACAS, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- At least eight people were killed and 22 others injured on Monday in a gas explosion in a town east of Venezuela's capital Caracas, a government official said. "Unfortunately, eight people are dead, including two babies. We extend our deepest condolences and solidarity to their families," Hector Rodriguez, governor of Miranda state, said in a post on social media. Those injured in the blast in the town of Petare were taken to hospitals for treatment, said Rodriguez. Earlier, the governor said the accident was caused by a "gas leak and subsequent explosion of the cylinder." MADISON Ballots printed for the Town of Summit, in Douglas County, contained the wrong Assembly district, County Clerk Kaci Jo Lundgren said in a news release Tuesday afternoon, leaving no time to print new ballots for residents voting in Tuesday's primary. The town has about 700 registered voters. More: Live updates: Wisconsin heads to polls Tuesday for 2024 primary election, referendum questions The ballots contain the state's 73rd Assembly District but should instead contain the 74th as the result of changes under the state's new legislative maps. The 73rd District has a contested Democratic primary, and the 74th has a contested Republican primary. According to the county clerk, candidates were notified, all other races on the ballot were listed correctly, and all other Douglas County ballots are correct. Lundgren said there is no plan to issue corrected ballots today because there isn't time to print new ones, absentee ballots have already been circulating for weeks and voting equipment has already been programmed and tested. Voters should proceed as planned, she said, but should contact the county clerk's office with any questions. All other votes cast on the Town of Summit ballots, aside from the Assembly race, will count, Wisconsin Elections Commission administrator Meagan Wolfe told reporters on a call Tuesday afternoon. "My office is committed to transparency and accuracy. Our protocols will be thoroughly reviewed and any procedures that are identified that could eliminate this type of error in the future will be implemented," Lundgren said in a statement. The decision on how to handle the issue is under the jurisdiction of the local clerk and the local board of canvassers, Wolfe said however, the commission could eventually weigh in if a legal challenge is filed. "I don't know what the remedies might look like that could be offered if this is something that's litigated," Wolfe said. "To my knowledge, I'm not aware of something happening quite like this, of there being any sort of precedent for exactly what happens in this situation." State statutes "do not give us a road map" for the scenario, she said. "The county clerk, the municipal clerk and the ballot canvassers, the chief inspectors, they're all going to have to work together in part of a public process to figure exactly what the best course of action is here," Wolfe said. Wolfe said she's not aware of any identical issues in other parts of the state. The best way for voters to verify that the ballot they've received includes the correct races is to check the state's elections website, myvote.wi.gov. "We feel very confident in how the information was input into the statewide voter registration database, and that all the correct information would indeed be displaying for voters if they go to my vote.wi.gov," Wolfe said. Jessie Opoien can be reached at jessie.opoien@jrn.com. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Douglas County ballot error could affect 700 voters EAST PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) A man is in the hospital after his truck and trailer struck the overpass and overturned on U.S. Route 24 near North Main Street on Tuesday. UPDATED: Judge finds probable cause found in citys latest homicide According to an Illinois State Police news release, it was just after 9 a.m. when ISP Troop 4 responded to a truck that was over-height and struck the on-way ramp bridge over Illinois Route 116. The drivers condition isnt known. The bridge has been inspected and is safe to carry traffic. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CIProud.com. Bryan Caluwe, a Toyota Mirai owner, says that hydrogen stations "are either down for mechanical reasons, or they're out of fuel, or, in the case of Shell, they've rolled up the carpet and gone home." Here a hydrogen car fuels up at TrueZero in Fountain Valley. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) For the record: 10:45 a.m. Aug. 13, 2024: A previous version of this article misspelled California Energy Commission Chair David Hochschilds surname as Hoschild. When he first bought his Toyota Mirai in 2022, Ryan Kiskis was a happy man. He loved the idea of applying cutting edge hydrogen fuel cell technology to environmental consciousness. Its a great car, he said. My background is an engineer, Im a huge automotive fan, and I felt the the world was finally catching up with what we have to do to cut greenhouse gases. Then reality crashed in. He soon learned that hydrogen refueling stations are scarce and reliably unreliable. He learned that apps to identify broken stations hand out bad information. He learned that the state of California, which is funding the station buildout, is far behind schedule 200 stations were supposed to be up and running by 2025, but only 54 exist. And since Kiskis bought his car, the price of hydrogen has more than doubled, currently the equivalent of $15 a gallon of gasoline. With fueling so expensive and stations so undependable, Kiskis who lives in Pacific Palisades and works at Google in Playa Vista drives a gasoline Jeep for everything but short trips around the neighborhood. Ive got a great car that sits in the driveway, he said. Bryan Caluwe poses for a portrait with his Toyota Mirai, a fuel cell car on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024 in Los Angeles, CA. (Michael Blackshire/Los Angeles Times) Brian Caluwe with his Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell car. He's a big fan of the car, "but it's been a total inconvenience." (Michael Blackshire / Los Angeles Times) Bryan Caluwe can relate. The retired Santa Monican bought a Mirai in 2022. He likes his car too. But its been a total inconvenience. Hydrogen stations are either down for mechanical reasons, or theyre out of fuel, or, in the case of Shell, theyve rolled up the carpet and gone home. And dont get Irving Alden started. He runs a commercial print shop in North Hollywood. He leases a Mirai. He too loves the car. But the refueling system? Its a frickin joke. Read more: California will host a billion-dollar 'hydrogen hub.' What it means for our energy future The three are part of a class action lawsuit filed in July against Toyota. They claim that Toyota salespeople misled them about the sorry state of Californias hydrogen refueling system. They were told the stations were convenient and readily available, said lawyer Nilofar Nouri of Beverly Hills Trial Attorneys. That turned out to be far from reality. The class action now amounts to two dozen plaintiffs and growing, Nouri said. We have thousands of these individuals in California who are stuck with this vehicle. Kiskis believes Toyota sales staff duped him but says, Im just as irritated with the state of California" for poor oversight of the program it's funding. Toyota told The Times it is "committed to customer satisfaction and will continue to evaluate how we can best support our customers. We will respond to the allegations in this lawsuit in the appropriate forum. Hyundai also sells a fuel cell car in California called the Nexo, and although the the suit is aimed only at Toyota, the hydrogen station situation affects Hyundai too. Hyundai said it "shares the concern regarding the current state of the hydrogen fueling infrastructure in California" and that "we are also closely collaborating with government agencies such as the California Energy Commission, which provided a majority of the funding for public refueling stations." It's more bad news for California political leaders' attempts to turn the state carbon neutral by 2045. Zero-emission vehicles are key to that goal, but the state is already struggling with a bungled rollout of public charging stations. The top reason car buyers give for not considering EVs is lack of availability for public chargers, according to a recent J.D. Power market survey, which concluded that "concerns about public charging infrastructure are only getting worse." A Toyota Mirai fills up at a True Zero hydrogen station in Fountain Valley. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Fuel cell cars are a key pillar in the state's decarbonization plan. The California Air Resources Board has projected that more than 10% of new cars sold in 2035 will be fuel cell vehicles, growing to more than 20% annually by 2045. That's a lot of cars 1.78 million new vehicles were sold in California last year. Since hydrogen station growth has stalled and hydrogen prices exploded, fuel cell sales have stalled too. In the first half of 2023, 1,765 such cars were sold or leased. This year's first half: 298. The owners rarely complain about their cars. It's the hydrogen refueling system that gives them grief. As early as 2006, 20 hydrogen stations had been installed in California. Today, more than $260 million of state money later, there are 54. They're clustered in greater L.A. and in the Bay Area, with a single station in between, along Interstate 5 at Harris Ranch. (Once, after finding the Harris Ranch station closed on his way back to L.A., Caluwe said, he nearly ran out of fuel and had to be towed over the Grapevine.) Who built the hydrogen stations in California? Not the carmakers. Just as they didn't construct the nations gasoline station system, theyre not building out the hydrogen system. That falls to hydrogen station operators Iwatani, Air Products and True Zero, which is owned by FirstElement Fuel. The state money awarded to those companies is pulled from transportation fees paid by California vehicle owners and from revenue produced by the states carbon-credit market. Fueling station companies did contribute some money of their own, but the vast bulk of the cash was paid by the state. A main points at the Toyota fuel cell badging on his car. Top, fuel cell cars work by combining hydrogen fuel with oxygen in the air to make electricity, which powers an electric motor, which makes the car go. Bottom, refueling a hydrogen fuel cell car is more like filling up at a gas station than recharging an EV. (Michael Blackshire/Los Angeles Times) Fuel cell cars are a pillar of the states ambitious climate goals. Like battery electric cars, they emit no greenhouse gases. Basically, they work like this: The fuel cell combines hydrogen fuel with airborne oxygen to create electricity, in turn driving an electric motor that turns the wheels of the car. Although hydrogen fuel is made through methods that range from clean to dirty, the only emission from the cars themselves is water vapor. Although battery electric cars are far more popular, fuel cell vehicles boast some advantages. The full tank range is 350 to 400 miles. A fill-up usually takes no more than five or 10 minutes, compared with much longer waits at public EV charging stations. But unlike electric vehicles, you can't fill up at home. You have to travel to a dedicated fueling station. The state planned to have nearly 200 stations installed by now, but only a quarter are up and (sometimes) working. Nearly 18,000 fuel cell cars have been bought or leased to date in California. Since 2020, more than 10,000 fuel cell cars were registered and hit California highways. Over those years, the net number of available hydrogen stations increased by a paltry two. (One California station operator dropped out of the market earlier this year: International oil giant Shell had installed seven hydrogen stations in California with more on the way, but earlier this year it shut them down and refunded the $40-million-plus in grant money from the state.) So far, the state's 54 hydrogen stations have cost Californians nearly $5 million apiece. Read more: The first big-rig hydrogen fuel station in the U.S. opens in California It wasnt supposed to be this way. Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger pumped up the idea of hydrogen cars in his first term. The state began to subsidize purchase of fuel cell cars. Under Gov. Jerry Brown, the 200 state-subsidized stations were planned, after which, it was stated, the free market would take over and hydrogen stations would proliferate. More cars would mean more demand for retail [stations], retail would attract more cars, in a virtuous circle, said State Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton), who owns a Mirai. The California Energy Commission is in charge of hydrogen station funding. The commission, Newman said, did not follow through on levels of funding that would maintain that balance." While hes not disputing the accounts of the class action litigants, Newman said, I think Toyota has been mistreated as badly as anybody. Toyota and Hyundai (and, for a few years, Honda) were depending on a robust station build-out to encourage sales. The carmakers give new fuel cell owners a debit card worth $15,000 of fuel, Newman noted, another rich incentive to go hydrogen. But the steep hike in hydrogen prices has degraded the benefit's value by more than half, Caluwe noted. Pump nozzle and pressure buttons on a True Zero hydrogen dispenser. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times) The energy commission declined requests for an interview with chair David Hochschild or commissioner Patty Monahan. In a prepared statement, the commission said improving the reliability and performance of hydrogen stations is "a current priority." Furthermore, the commission "will continue to track the market and make informed decisions for both electric and hydrogen infrastructure. In making those decisions the [commission] will continue to conduct analysis, publish reports [and] monitor vehicle model availability and customer uptake and interest by the private market to build and invest in hydrogen stations." This year, the energy commission granted an extra $9.4 million to FirstElement and Iwatani for operations and maintenance at the company's stations. (Those companies did not responded to requests for comment.) Unlike previous such grants, these insist on 95% uptime performance. The commission has yet to define how the 95% figure will be determined, and has not spelled out any consequences should the requirement not be met. Read more: Broken chargers, lax oversight: How California's troubled EV charging stations threaten emission goals This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Drivers who have never been to Dartford Crossing fined for unpaid journeys National Highways say penalty charge errors do occur in a minority of circumstances but are cancelled as soon as they are contacted by the driver (PA Archive) Drivers from all over the UK said they have received fines for unpaid journeys on across the Dartford Crossing, yet some have never even been to that part of the country. Deputy headteacher Anne Marie Kenyon, who lives in Bury, Greater Manchester, told the BBC that she received two fines in the post this year, one in June and one in April, but said that she has never even used the crossing. Kenyon said that both photos on the penalty charge notices were quite blurred and hard to read and that it had also mixed up the start of her number plate both times. She said her plate starts with a DV, but the vehicles who had used the crossing had number plates starting with DY and OV. Kenyon added that while the first fine was easy to deal with, the second time she rang to try to clear her name, she found it so frustrating and felt the way [she] was treated was poor. While both of her fines were eventually cancelled, she told the outlet that she is worried it could happen again. The Dartford Crossing, located over the River Thames carrying the A282 between Dartford in Kent and Thurrock in Essex, charges cars up to 2.50 every time they use the bridge and offers local residents who often use the crossing special offers. It uses automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology to monitor crossings, but it appears that these cameras are causing drivers to be wrongly identified after mistaking similar number plates. National Highways says the Dart Charge system automatically reads number plates and captures images of the vehicle on the crossing, but manual checks are also conducted when the image quality is not substantial. Eleanor Vousden had a similar issue to Kenyon; however, she regularly visits her parents in Dartford, Kent. Yet when she received a notification saying she used the crossing on Christmas Eve, she knew that was a mistake. The vehicle pictured was similar to hers, a Honda Jazz, but Vousden owns a Honda CRG. The number plates were also identical, except for the last letter, as her car ended with a G, and the vehicle fined ended with a C. While she had a good experience contacting Dart Charge, who dropped the fee immediately, she told the BBC that she wondered "how often such mistakes occur and whether people do bother to check if they cant remember where they were. National Highways told The Independent that these are a small minority of cases, while more than 94.6 per cent of journeys made using the Dartford Crossing are paid correctly and on time. They added: When penalty charges are issued in error, the charge will be cancelled as soon as a customer contacts us to let us know they are not the registered keeper of the vehicle. In some cases, manual checks are needed to make sure crossing details are accurate. This can delay those crossings being visible on the website. However, customers can still pay for these crossings at any time up to midnight the following day, whether the crossing is visible online or not. For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calders podcast SMYTH COUNTY, Va. (WJHL) Law enforcement from across Southwest Virginia accompanied a fallen Smyth County deputy home from Roanoke on Monday. Deputy Hunter Reedy was fatally shot on Friday night in Smyth County. Another deputy, Michael Fedorchuk, was also injured in the shooting. Fedorchuk was released from the hospital the next afternoon, according to Virginia State Police. PREVIOUS: Deputy killed, another injured in Smyth County, Va. shooting Photo: Deputy Hunter Reedy, courtesy of the Smyth County Sheriffs Office On Monday, Reedys body was transported back from the medical examiners office in Roanoke. A full procession comprised of vehicles from multiple law enforcement agencies accompanied him back to the Bradley Funeral Home in Marion. Crowds lined the streets of Marion to show their support and honor Reedy, while the Marion and Chilhowie Fire Departments hoisted an American flag over Main Street. I just had someone tell me recently that every bridge or overpass between here and Roanoke had apparatus or citizens or first responders showing their remorse and appreciation for Deputy Reedy, Marion Fire Chief Rusty Hamm said. Its important because we stand with law enforcement here, said Jeanette Winston of the Job Corps in Marion, who attended the procession. They have been such awesome supporters of the Job Corps. They come and do different demonstrations there, and we just want to show that we care for them and we support them in this tragic situation. Reedy leaves behind a wife and three children, Smyth County Sheriff Chip Shuler told News Channel 11. Funeral services will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Chilhowie Christian Church. The family will receive friends on Friday from 36 p.m. at the church. Smyth County, Va. community shows support for fallen, injured deputies Following Reedys death, various agencies, lawmakers and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin offered their condolences and support. Chaplains from the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team were deployed to Smyth County to offer some comfort and assistance to Reedys fellow deputies. Weve been given the thumbs up to do ride along, said Jason Scalzi, a chaplain with the response team. Were all either retired or active law enforcement. We know the culture, we know those vehicles are their offices and thats where they spend most of their time, and were able to ride with them, hear their heart and share with them. Photo: Deputy Hunter Reedys body was accompanied back to Marion on Monday by a procession. (WJHL) Timothy Wayne Goodman, 65, of North Carolina has been charged in the shooting. Goodman faces one count of aggravated murder, four counts of attempted aggravated murder and using a firearm in the commission of a felony. According to VSP, officers with the Town of Marion Police Department attempted to stop a vehicle in the town limits on Friday. The vehicle reportedly did not stop until it was out in the county, and deputies had arrived to assist the officers. Marion Police Chief John Clair told News Channel 11 that Goodman was issued a citation but then became agitated. The VSP reports that during the traffic stop, Goodman fired shots at the deputies and officers, who returned fire. Goodman was transported to a nearby hospital after the shooting for treatment of serious injuries, state police previously reported. Commonwealths Attorney Phillip Blevins said in a previous statement that Fedorchuk is expected to fully recover. He also said that he will not rest until the murderer is held accountable for his actions. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather. Cody John Jazdzewski told the court Monday that what he did just over a year ago was not an accident, nor a mistake. He said they were his choices, his decisions and his selfishness. Jazdzewski said he went into that night of drinking alcohol and playing billiards with an intention of keeping himself under the legal limit to drive. But I played a game, he told Anoka County District Judge Suzanne Brown. I was arrogant. I thought that I was smarter. And I couldnt have been more wrong. Jazdzewski, of Minneapolis, said he was ready to try to make amends for that night, when he drove drunk in his 1998 BMW convertible south on Central Avenue, lost control of the car near 39th Avenue and struck Carrie Lynn Rivero and her boyfriend, James Junior Beller. Rivero, 58, of Minneapolis, died at the scene. Beller, 63, also of Minneapolis, was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, but survived the crash. Jazdzewski apologized, adding that sorry will not fix this tragedy that I have caused, that I have brought onto their families. Forty-one months isnt enough. Fifty months isnt enough. A hundred months, a hundred years isnt enough. Theres a life that is gone. Brown went on to accept Jazdzewskis guilty plea to criminal vehicular homicide while under the influence of alcohol. She spared the 36-year-old prison time, giving him a stayed four-year prison term in favor of five years of probation and 364 days in the county jail, which he can serve on work release. The sentence was a downward departure from state guidelines. Jazdzewski faced a prison term between about 3 years and nearly five years; his criminal record was made up of two petty misdemeanor traffic offenses. Assistant Anoka County Attorney Mitch Schluter, meanwhile, had asked for a bottom-of-the-box prison sentence. Brown said she found substantial and compelling reasons to depart that Jazdzewski is particularly amenable to probation. She cited his age and clean record; that he is remorseful; has accepted responsibility; and is a productive member of society. She pointed out how Jazdzewski has completed treatment and maintained sobriety. Gross negligence A State Patrol trooper dispatched to the scene around 10:30 p.m. July 13, 2023, found Jazdzewskis badly damaged car up against a tree near a home. Jazdzewski, who had bloodshot, watery eyes and slurred his speech, admitted to drinking alcohol before driving. A preliminary breath test showed Jazdzewski had a bloodalcohol concentration of 0.131. The Minnesota legal limit to drive is 0.08. Shortly after the accident, Jazdzewskis BAC was measured at 0.137 by a laboratory, Schluter said Monday in court. The accident was caused solely by the gross negligence, Schluter said, adding that Rivero and Beller were merely walking on a sidewalk. The reconstruction report indicated 195 feet of skid marks leading up to the impact, and found that neither weather nor road conditions were a factor in this crash, Schluter said. I think without a doubt there was significant rain prior, but these are experts that make conclusions and that was their conclusion in this case, he said. The primary factor in this crash was concluded to be speeding and losing control of the vehicle. The secondary factor was alcohol consumption. Victim impact, statements of support Riveros daughter, Elizabeth Rivera, told the court in her victim impact statement that she had spoken with her mother over the phone earlier that night. She said they talked about a spaghetti sauce recipe they planned to make and how her son and Beller also joined in on the conversation. We laughed and joked, as we always did, she said. We ended the conversation with I love you. And I told her Id call her back. After days in a coma and having multiple surgeries, Beller was told his life partner of over 20 years was gone, Rivera said. He woke up with broken legs, unable to walk, and suffered for close to a year with medical issues and trauma. James passed away June 1st, 2024, she then told the court. I saw him just a few weeks before. He told me that he was trying to be strong, but nothing was the same without mom. Schluter said that although Jazdzewski bore no criminal culpability for Bellers death, he went into a depression and deteriorated because of this incident. Marsh Halberg, Jazdzewskis attorney, said the accident reconstruction report calculated the speed at the time of impact at 26 mph. One statement put them at 35 mph as he accelerated past his friend down the road, Halberg said. It was a soaking wet road. He hydroplaned onto the sidewalk. He was over the (BAC) limit and he was above 30 miles an hour. But its not like this guy is blasting it at 60 in a 30 or something like that. Related Articles Halberg said that two lives have been destroyed here, two good people are gone, and all of the people around them have this incredible heartache that will never heal to an extent. And Im hoping the court will consider not sending (Jazdzewski) to prison so that a third life can do better in the honor of these people. Prior to the sentencing hearing, 49 people wrote letters to the court about Jazdzewskis character. They included his wife; his father, who is a retired Duluth police lieutenant; his former coworker at a health technology company; and his friend who was playing pool with him at Jimmys Pro Billiards before he got behind the wheel drunk. I do not minimize or challenge the fact that he had too much to drink before he went home, his friend Scott Dallman wrote in his letter to the judge. However, I am certain that there was no intention of overdrinking by Cody on that night. Cody would not have driven, nor would I have ever allowed him to drive home if either of us thought he had drank (sic) too much. In fact, when we were served a beer just before driving home, we both took only one sip and decided not to even risk having too much to drink. We left without finishing the beers. YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) Sparks fly as two men in a basket work Monday to bring down the steel skeleton of what had been the Realty Building. On the ground, Mayor Tito Brown has been following the work. From Thursday until Monday afternoon, theres so much progress, Brown said. Its been a month since demolition began on the explosion-damaged building and two months since residents in the neighboring International Towers were evacuated. Many of those residents came to watch, eager to be allowed back into their apartments. Its hard to tell with the I-beams and all the scrap, the pile of debris. I dont know how theyre going to do it and clean it up, said William Kinnard, of Youngstown. At this point, theres still no firm date when it will be safe enough to re-open the rest of the downtown. Its kind of a day-to-day assessment. If the contractor can get a couple of those barriers out of the way, then we can assess and see where we are, Brown said. As a crew with a cutting torch works to bring down the beams, which had been holding up the building for so many years, one of the next delicate tasks will be taking down the fire escape so it doesnt hit anything else. Once given the go-ahead, Mayor Brown believes the re-opening of both the DoubleTree Hotel and Bistro restaurant can proceed fairly quickly but moving residents back into their apartments may take more preparation. Were waiting at the edge of our seats. When we can find a safe time that they an start moving back, we have a plan in place, Brown said. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. SAYRE, Pa. (WETM) An Eagle Scout candidate in Bradford County organized the creation of care kits for new chemotherapy patients at the Guthrie Cancer Center in Sayre. Each care kit was assembled with help from local businesses and volunteers and includes essential items such as blankets, earbuds, fidget toys, hand sanitizer, lip balm, wipes, lotion, a journal, a hat, candy and a special Jenga block that features encouraging notes from students at Epiphany School. 72 care kits were assembled to be donated to the patients for the project. Watkins Glen Elks presents grant funding to Schuyler Hospital Throughout the project, Andrew Quattrini, the Eagle Scout candidate, collaborated with local schools and businesses including students and student-athletes at Sayre and Athens High Schools, Alligers House of Wings, Broad Street Pub and Walmart to put together the care kits. Quattrini also received help from his parents, Peter Quattrini, Scout Master of the Eagle Scouts, and Brenda, a teacher at Epiphany School, to engage the community in the project. How you can help Tioga County, PA, residents impacted by flooding Quattrinis project not only demonstrated his commitment to community service but also had a personal connection to it. The project was chosen by Quattrini to honor his grandmother, who was an oncology nurse at Guthrie for more than 20 years, and to support current cancer patients. He was joined by other Eagle Scout candidates and troop members to present the care kits to staff at the Guthrie Cancer Center. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WETM - MyTwinTiers.com. Early morning storm knocks out power for thousands of people in Wichita and Kansas Just over 1,000 Evergy customers in Wichita were still without power as of 9:40 a.m. Tuesday after a storm rolled in during the early morning hours. Evergy says the estimated restoration times are unavailable due to storm activity. Most of the people affected in Wichita are in central and west Wichita. Evergy has 2,123 of its 1,672,396 customers across central and east Kansas and parts of western Missouri without power, according to Evergys power map as of 9:45 a.m. Storms rolled into the Wichita area before 5 a.m., according to the National Weather Service. Between about 5 to 6 a.m., Wichita saw its strongest winds at 15 mph and a gust that reached 28 mph, according to the NWS in Wichitas hourly observed weather. During that time, Wichita had thunderstorms and heavy rain, the NWS said. The chances of rain and thunderstorms in Wichita taper off throughout the morning and are expected to clear by early afternoon, the NWS says. Still, crews are working on the outages. Just before 10 a.m., the number of customers with outages in Wichita dropped under 1,000 to 910. Evergys outage map can be found at outagemap.evergy.com. The Darvaza Gas Crater is actually man-made: in the 1970s, Soviet engineers were doing gas explorations in the area, and made a whole mass of land sink in to reveal Darvaza. They subsequently set the sinkhole on fire - it has been burning to this day and remains a major tourist attraction. Our planet is full of beautiful and awe inspiring geological features. And then there are those that inspiresomething else: Perhaps a sense of doom or foreboding. Around the world and throughout history, people have repeatedly referred to various natural sites as entryways into the underworldthink hells gate, mouth of hell, dry riverbed of the netherworld. And whats in a name? Quite a lot, according to Francesco Perono Cacciafoco, a professor of linguistics at Xian Jiaotong Liverpool University in China. Perono Cacciafoco studies toponyms, or place nameshow people have christened settlements, structures, and natural features through time. Geologic formations are often named for their physical traits, but also in accordance with the context of local culture, ritual, spirituality, and myth, he says. And names can track waves of settlement and colonization, as new people come to new places and overlay their own interpretations onto maps. [ Related: Earths Gateway to Hell is growing ] In Perono Cacciafocos experience, he says associations with the underworld are often rooted in how a place looks. A mysterious location, with sinister rocks, fog, natural holes in the ground (think of a karst landscape), thick vegetation, or sudden changes in natural features can easily trigger evocative thoughts about other worlds and, ultimately, about the underworld, he tells Popular Science. But the trend also goes deeper than surface-level. Names of places considered the gates of the underworld, when reconstructed and explained, tell us a lot about the culture and religion of a civilization, as well as humanity as whole, he adds. Many civilizations, going back to ancienteven prehistorictimes and long before the spread of Christianity, had local stories about landscape features leading to the land of the dead or other spirit realms, he says. Somethough fewerare named after entryways to heaven, he points out. The gates of hell are universal (sort of archetypes) and appear all over the world, independently of geography, culture, religion, language, and tradition, he says. Because theyre almost always linked to mythic events, they mark the substance of cultural identity. Here are a few notable, supposed natural portals to the supernatural abyss. Gate to the underworld The Batagay Crater in Siberia A huge thermokarst crater showing the damage to the permafrost and our climate, Batagay, Russia. Credit: Padi Prints / Troy TV Stock / Alamy Stock Photo Padi Prints / Troy TV Stock / Alamy Stock Photo The Batagay Crater is the worlds largest permafrost thaw slump. Though it only emerged relatively recently following forest clearing in the mid-1900s, its already garnered a mythic reputation. Among the indigenous Yakut people who inhabit the Siberian taiga surrounding the slump, the expanding pit is known as a doorway or gate to the underworld for the loud booms that can echo and emanate from the depression as earth shifts. Consequently, its been nicknamed the Gateway to Hell by both locals and international space agencies alike. Scientists have studied the slump to track its growth as more and more permafrost melts along its margins. Though its probably not an entryway into another dimension, it is an unsettling symbol of ongoing climate change. Door to Hell Darvaza Gas Crater in Turkmenistan Close-up of the burning Darvaza gas crater at night, Turkmenistan. Credit: Pavel Gospodinov via Getty Images How, exactly, the Darvaza Gas Crater formed isnt clear. Sometime between the 1960s and 80s, Soviet prospectors were digging around in Turkmenistans Karakum desert looking for extractable fossil fuels. Their exploratory drilling efforts accidentally led to the collapse of a rig as earth fell away to reveal a giant pit that continually emits methane among other gasses. Whether lit intentionally, or as an additional accident, the hole has been burning since the mid 20th century. The resulting, noxious, flame-filled depression has a few names, but the most common one, Darvaza literally means the Gate in Turkmen. In English, its sometimes known as the Door to Hell. The reasons are pretty apparent: its an inhospitable open pit of fire. The Gates of Hell Namibias Skeleton Coast An old wooden shipwreck on the Skeleton Coast in Namibia. Credit: Steve Allen via Getty Images Steve Allen By any of its names, Namibias Skeleton Coast is foreboding. San or Bushmen people have historically referred to the stretch of desolate desert against ferocious ocean as The Land God Made in Anger. Portuguese sailors christened the coastline The Gates of Hell, as its rocks and fog wrecked many of their ships, and those who made it to land had to then content with the harsh climate. Skeleton Coast comes from the whale bones and ship remains scattered along the shore. Hells Gate National Park in Kenya Hells Gate Gorge, Ol Njorowa, showing water erosion of the sandstone, Hells Gate National Park, Naivasha, Great Rift Valley, Kenya. Credit: Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Education Images Hells Gate National Park is a relatively small preserve about 56 miles away from Nairobi in Kenya. Its home to all sorts of wildlife, from leopards and baboons to rare vultures and hyraxesand also to five geothermal power stations. The park was established in 1984, but various sources attribute the name to slightly different origins. Some say that the name for the area was bestowed by European explorers Gustav Fischer and Joseph Thomson in 1883, and is derivative of the Dutch term Hellegat which means a clear opening or bright passage, in reference to the Ol Njorowa Gorge or another narrow rift in the high-cliffed plateau that comprises most of the park. While others have their own explanations, related to the eruption of nearby volcano Mt. Longonot and the geothermal activity in the region. Mouth of Hell Masaya caldera in Nicaragua Smoke and vapour rises from the crater of the Masaya Volcano at the Masaya national park in Masaya, Nicaragua. Credit: Jens Kalaene/picture alliance via Getty Images picture alliance Speaking of geothermal activity, many of the places designated entries to the underworld are, unsurprisingly, volcanoes. One of the most astounding and photogenic is Masaya caldera in Nicaragua, in the countrys first and biggest national park. Indigenous inhabitants of the area supposedly considered the volcano a god and made offerings to it. While Spanish colonizers dubbed the fiery mountain Mouth of Hell or Masayas Hell (Infierno de Masaya) after coming upon the calderas lava lake in the 16th Century. Masaya is a very active volcano and has been erupting continuously since 2015, releasing gas and steam and bubbling lava. Due to ongoing risk of more explosive activity and because of landslides Masaya National Park was temporarily closed in March. Gateway to Hell Mount Hekla in Iceland Lava flows down the face of the erupting volcano, Mt. Hekla, Iceland. Credit: Paul Almasy/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images Paul Almasy Another storied volcano thats been historically referred to as the Gateway to Hell is Mount Hekla in Iceland. Amid multiple large eruptions in the Middle Ages, monks and other scholars repeatedly wrote of the mountain as an entrance to the underworld. One 12th Century poem by the monk Benedeit describes it specifically as the prison of Judas. Other variations on the name include Abode of the Condemned. The dry riverbed of the netherworld Mt. Osore or Osorezan in Japan The lake by Mt. Osore in Japan. Credit: Angaurits / Wikimedia Mt. Osore or Osorezan in Japan literally translates to Horror or Fear Mountain. It is a Buddhist sacred site for its similarities to mythic descriptions of the entrance to the afterlife: Being surrounded by eight other peaks, and containing a river popularly thought to be the Sanzu River, or the crossing into the underworld. As a bonus, theres a lake thats largely devoid of life, thanks to its acidity. Again, geothermal activity is a central aspect of Mt. Osore, which is also a volcano, although with a less dramatic presentation than Hekla or Masaya. The smell of sulfur permeates, by multiple accounts, and many locations on Osorezan are named in specific reference to hell or death, including Sai no Kawara, which translates to the dry riverbed of the netherworld or riverbed of death. GAZA, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 84 percent of the Gaza Strip is under evacuation orders issued by the Israeli army, a UN relief and human development agency said Tuesday. "People run for their lives, grabbing what they can and leaving everything else behind. They are exhausted and have nowhere safe to go," the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on social media platform X. Since the onset of the Gaza war, the Israeli army has demanded that residents in Gaza leave their homes in preparation for military operations. Displaced individuals have been forced to seek refuge in UNRWA shelters, stay with relatives, or set up tents in streets and schools. According to data from the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, 2 million people out of a total population of 2.3 million in the enclave have been displaced due to the current conflict. Israel launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for a Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths and around 250 hostages being taken. The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 39,929, the Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Tuesday. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations recently warned that the entire Gaza Strip is at high risk of famine. According to Palestinian organizations active in the enclave, many diseases, including skin conditions, have been reported in overcrowded shelters in Gaza. SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) With only one week since the district returned for the 2024-2025 school year, Eden CISD has taken to social media to address allegations raised regarding a potential threat to the school. According to a public statement issued by Eden CISD during the morning of Aug. 13 just seven days after Aug. 6, the campus first day of school the district was notified of alleged concerning statements made by a student over the weekend. After an investigation was conducted by the Concho County Sheriffs Office, the allegations were deemed unfounded and not a credible threat to the district. The district encourages students and parents to report knowledge of potential threats immediately. It also asks parents to speak with their children about the importance of the matter. Parents, please visit with your child about the importance of reporting threats, Eden CISD said. Students should report suspicious behavior rather than sharing it on social media. Parents and students can report suspicious activity through the STOPit website and phone application. They may access it through Eden CISDs STOPit webpage. Concho Valley Homepage staff reached out to the Eden CISD superintendent and Concho County Sheriffs Office for comment but was unable to be provided with more information as of the time of publication. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ConchoValleyHomepage.com. The former federal courthouse on Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles now houses part of the Los Angeles Superior Court, which was shut down for several days in July by a ransomware attack. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) The Los Angeles Superior Court has an enormous data and online system that for years remained too vulnerable to hackers. The court began stepping up its monitoring, defenses and response operations less than two years ago, and it belatedly brought on a cybersecurity officer a standard move for any large organization, public or private this year. Six weeks later, the court was hit by a ransomware attack that infected its computer system with damaging software, forcing it to temporarily close. The new security systems spotted the breach early on Friday, July 19, and court personnel who began their workdays early found ransom notes on their devices before 7 a.m. that day. The court remained unavailable to the public until the following Tuesday, and even then, it operated at severely diminished capacity for several more days. Read more: L.A. County Superior Court hit by ransomware attack The effect of the July hack was enormous. The L.A. Superior Court is the largest local trial court system in the nation and perhaps the world and, on any given day, conducts hearings and issues orders that directly affect the liberty, familial relationships and pocketbooks of thousands of people. The attack briefly postponed trials and other essential courtroom work, including issuing time-sensitive domestic violence restraining orders and ordering jail releases. Public-facing operations are now back online, and a criminal investigation is underway. As soon as it concludes, the court owes the public a full accounting of the scope of the attack and any ransom paid to the hackers. Unlike private businesses that often suppress accounts of cyberattacks to avoid embarrassment and lawsuits, the court is a public entity and any amount it may have paid is public money. Any security breach was a failure of an institution accountable to the public. Read more: UCLA confirms it was hit by wide-ranging cyberattack but offers few details Things could have gone much worse for the court and the 10 million Los Angeles County residents and numerous businesses and other entities that it serves. Other courts and agencies had their systems down much longer after similar attacks. Apart from federal intelligence, security and military operations, public agencies and offices generally lag behind private corporations in tech matters. Read more: LAUSD investigates claims that student and teacher data are for sale on the dark web And among public entities, local courts are often furthest behind, in part because of inadequate funding (the bulk of Superior Court funding is provided by the state budget), and in part because courtroom culture relies so heavily on independence, precedent and tradition. For decades, judges who began their legal careers before the internet or electronic data networks steered their courts away from automation and resented efforts to impose uniform rules for electronic case management. That was especially true in the Los Angeles Superior Court. But things have slowly changed, and the court now manages one of the nations largest cyber operations. As the swift response to the July ransomware attack demonstrates, it has begun to catch up on cybersecurity as well. There are good reasons for the public to be patient with the court and the FBI as they continue their investigation. This was not a simple stickup and may well have involved foreign actors looking for more than financial rewards. Read more: LAPD website goes offline; officials give no cause but say it's 'not ransomware' First, its important to remember that crimes of this sort and this magnitude are usually well-planned to impose maximum disruption, and not only because bigger disruption is calculated to produce a bigger ransom payment. Ransomware perpetrators are often described as pirates, invoking images of freelance criminal mariners who might attack any ship sailing under any flag if the vessel carries treasure that the brigands might plunder. Many are more like real-life privateers such as Sir Francis Drake, Sir Henry Morgan and others who sailed and robbed with the authority of their governments in order to harass their national adversaries. Read more: Malware attack disrupts delivery of L.A. Times and Tribune papers across the U.S. In todays world of online piracy, privateer hackers often operate with the tacit approval or even at the behest of foreign governments, particularly Russia (although Iran, China, North Korea and pre-invasion Ukraine are also implicated). The cyberattack on the Los Angeles Superior Court was an attempt to extort money, but theres a good chance that it was also a bid to undermine confidence in the justice system, and to explore and exploit vulnerabilities in data systems and in public attitudes. In other words, it may well have been one of numerous assaults on behalf of foreign adversaries. As in more open warfare, defense against such attacks ideally includes a measure of public understanding about court delays and other inconveniences. Read more: Hackers target L.A.'s Housing Authority in a suspected ransomware attack The same is true of similar assaults on other public agencies, including 2022 attacks on the Los Angeles Unified School District and the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles. But again, that patience must have limits. The court owes the public, at the earliest opportunity that does not compromise the investigation, a full report on what lasting damage was done, what lapses were responsible and what steps are being taken (and what further public investment is needed) to strengthen the court's defenses against future attacks. If its in the news right now, the L.A. Times Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Egypt and Jordan on Tuesday criticized Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's controversial visit to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Temple Mount is known as the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims and is Islam's third-holiest site, containing the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque. Jews venerate the Temple Mount as the site of two destroyed Jewish temples, but while they are permitted to visit it, they are not allowed to pray there. After dozens of observant Jews were pictured praying at the site during the minister's visit, Egypt called the incident "irresponsible and provocative." Jordan, which administers the site, also chimed in, decrying violations of the status quo. (EL PASO COUNTY, Colo.) Ahead of the 2024 November General Election, the El Paso County Clerk and Recorder is hiring temporary election judges to help provide support to El Paso County staff during the election process. The Clerk and Recorders Office said the positions wages begin at $16.50 per hour and have various assignment lengths from three days up to five weeks, with work dates ranging from Sept. 1 through Dec. 1. Available Job Openings: Logistics Judge Performs daily courier deliveries to the offices of the Clerk & Recorder and Voter Service & Polling Centers (VSPCs). Prepares, maintains, repairs, delivers, and retrieves computer, voting, and other equipment and supplies. Assists in the maintenance of records and physical inventories of equipment information stored for archival purposes. Must possess and maintain a valid Colorado Drivers License. Call Center Representative Provides customer service and information to voters by responding to routine inbound phone inquiries. Must be able to take detailed messages, perform basic data entry, and possess excellent customer service skills. Data Entry Clerk Provides administrative data entry support to the Elections Department through the statewide database, ensuring accuracy and adhering to department rules and regulations. Ballot Processing Judge Completes a variety of ballot processing tasks, including ballot sorting, scanning undelivered ballots, identifying signature discrepancies, removing ballots from envelopes, and ensuring there are no major tears or blemishes on the ballots. Voter Service and Polling Center Judge Assists in daily operations of Voter Service and Polling Center(s), including registering voters, voter address changes, issuing ballots, instructing voters to complete and sign applicable forms, and complying with election laws and rules. Ballot Security Team Works as a bipartisan team to collect ballots from secure 24/7 drop-off locations throughout the county and returns them securely to the mail office. Click here to view the qualifications and education requirements, as well as a full list of available jobs at the Clerk and Recorders Office. The Clerks and Recorders Office said all applications must be filed online through the El Paso County Human Resources website. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado. EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) The El Paso Police Departments Safe Communities Program received a $70,000 grant that is designed to help combat speeding, drunk driving, underage drinking and driving and other safety concerns, the department said. The grant was announced during a ceremony Tuesday, Aug. 13 at Police Headquarters in Central El Paso and was awarded through State Farm and its Good Neighbor Citizen Company Grant program. Photos by Shaun Felice/KTSM This generous funding will significantly bolster the departments efforts to enhance community safety. The grant will be directed toward specific initiatives designed to address critical issues such as speeding, drunk driving, underage drinking and driving, distracted driving, pedestrian safety, and seat belt awareness. With this support, the department will be able to purchase essential traffic safety items, camera equipment, and other educational materials aimed at promoting and educating the community about the importance of traffic safety, the Police Department said in a news release. The Police Department said that State Farm has been a consistent partner in supporting the departments Safe Communites initiatives since 2019. With this new funding, the El Paso Police Department-Safe Communities is poised to make a significant impact on the safety of our roads, further strengthening the bond between the department and the community it serves, the Police Department said. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. Getty Images Wisconsin voters go to the polls Tuesday to vote on a constitutional amendment that would change how federal funds that come to Wisconsin are distributed and to nominate partisan candidates for Congress and the state Legislature. In southwestern and western Wisconsin, voters in the 3rd Congressional District Democratic primary will choose which of three rivals will challenge first-term U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Prairie du Chien) in November. The three Democratic hopefuls are state Rep. Katrina Shankland (D-Stevens Point); small business owner and 2022 unsuccessful Democratic primary contestant Rebecca Cooke; and Eric Wilson of Eau Claire, a Democratic party activist. Republican primary voters in the Fox Valley will nominate a candidate to run in November for the open 8th Congressional District seat. The three vying for the nomination are state Sen. Andre Jacque (R-De Pere), former state Sen. Roger Roth and businessman Tony Wied, who has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee in this years presidential race. The winner on Tuesday will face Democrat Kristin Lyerly, an OB-GYN and outspoken reproductive rights advocate, in November. The 8th District seat was held by Republican Mike Gallagher, who was elected in 2016 and who resigned in April after earlier announcing he would not run for reelection this year. Because of the timing of his departure, a special election was not required under Wisconsin law; however, Gov. Tony Evers called a special election to fill the balance of the term, coinciding with the regular election. Republican voters statewide will choose a candidate to run against U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat, who is seeking her third term. Eric Hovde, owner and CEO of Sunwest Bank in California, will face two little-known contestants seeking to be the GOP nominee: Rejani Raveendran, a student Republican leader and single mother from Stevens Point, and Charles Barman, a construction superintendent from the Walworth County village of Sharon. Hovde has already received the Republican Party of Wisconsin endorsement, and his campaign advertising focuses on Baldwin and the general election rather than on either of his rivals in the primary. Similarly, Baldwin in her campaign messaging tacitly assumes Hovde will be the Republican on the November ballot. Legislature makeover Tuesday will also include the first primary elections under new Wisconsin legislative maps after the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled the previous maps, approved in 2022, were unconstitutional. The new maps include many Assembly and Senate districts in which the balance is more evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats and many more districts than the previous maps in which Democrats appear to have a slight advantage, based on past election results. A total of 46 Assembly primaries are on ballots across the state, with 21 Democratic primaries and 25 Republican primaries to select candidates. In the state Senate, there are Democratic primaries for two open seats, in Milwaukee and in Madison. Sitting Assembly members are competing in both primaries. There are also Republican primaries for two Senate seats. One, in the Fox Valley, features two political newcomers. The other, in east-central Wisconsin between the Fox Valley and Milwaukees northern suburbs, pits an incumbent against a former Assembly member. Constitutional amendment questions Ballots statewide will ask voters two questions that relate to a proposed constitutional amendment that would remove the governors control over federal funds that come to the state. Current state law gives the governor exclusive control over the distribution of federal funds that are not part of the regular state budget. One question on the ballot would take that power away from the governors office, requiring Legislative approval of all money that passes through the state government. Another question would ask voters to forbid the Legislature from delegating its spending power. Voter ratification via a state referendum is the final step to pass a state constitutional amendment in Wisconsin, coming after the measure has passed the Legislature in two consecutive two-year sessions. Since Evers took office in 2019, the Republican majority in the Legislature has passed and voters approved constitutional amendments expanding crime victims rights; allowing judges to consider past criminal convictions when setting bail for criminal suspects; and declaring that local elections officials cannot accept outside funding or engage private businesses to do the work involved in administering elections. Each of those amendments passed notwithstanding limited opposition campaigns. Opposition to the state spending questions, however, has taken a much higher profile than in the past several amendment campaigns. Several groups aligned with the Legislatures Republican majority have campaigned for Yes votes on the two questions. Meanwhile, a broad mix of nonpartisan groups and Democratic-aligned organizations have mounted campaigns to vote No on the measures. The last time voters in Wisconsin rejected a proposed constitutional amendment was in 2018, on a measure that would have eliminated the elected state treasurers office. Early voting, turnout expectations Early and absentee voting turnout for the August primary this year is keeping pace with the August 2022 primary, when a contested Republican primary for governor was on the ballot. According to data from the Wisconsin Elections Commission, on Aug. 9, 2022, the Monday before Election Day, 388,843 absentee ballots had been requested and 277,951 had been returned. Another 63,169 people had voted early in-person. This year, as of Monday morning, 387,280 absentee ballots have been requested and 288,021 have been returned. In addition, 92,171 people have voted early in-person. Both races are trailing far behind the 2020 August primary, when 903,760 absentee ballots had been requested by the Monday before the election and 506,709 had been returned. The year 2020 was also the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, which sparked a substantial increase in absentee voting. (The WEC 2020 data does not address in-person absentee voting.) But despite 2020s increased early voting, the 2022 primary saw higher overall turnout, with 1,229,501 votes cast in that partisan primary compared with 957,197 cast in 2020, when there were no statewide offices on the ballot. At a news conference Monday afternoon, WEC Administrator Meagan Wolfe said the agency doesnt know how many votes will be cast on Tuesday, but that turnout in August primaries has ranged from as low as 9% of eligible voters in 2008 to 27% in 2022. Turnout for this type of election typically seems to be between the mid-teens and the upper 20s, she said. Security concerns Since the 2020 presidential election, Wisconsin has been the focus of conspiracy theories about election administration. This year has seen a number of court battles over access to the polls and the methods by which voters can return absentee ballots. During a special election for the 4th Senate District in July, the police were called to polling places in the Milwaukee suburb of Glendale after a number of prominent election conspiracy theorists went to the polls to observe and started challenging every absentee ballot being counted. After leaving the polling places, the election deniers promised to return in subsequent elections this fall. At the news conference Monday, Wolfe said engaging with observers is a topic that election officials have repeatedly been trained on over the last four years. Thats something thats really sort of ingrained in the local election official training process at this point making sure that the chief inspector is aware of their authority in terms of how they run the polling place and if somebody is causing a disturbance, that they know how to handle that and engage law enforcement if necessary. After Trumps attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election, fears have been raised that he will try to do so again this year, with the help of allies installed on the bodies across the country responsible for certifying the results. On Monday, pro-voting nonprofit All Voting is Local warned that any officials refusing to certify elections are not following the law. The refusal to certify an election goes against election officials job descriptions and their responsibility to voters in their county, Sam Liebert, Wisconsin director for All Voting is Local, said in a statement. Additionally, delaying or refusing certification of current and future elections based on unfounded allegations further erodes trust in the system and allows the possibility of election sabotage. We cannot normalize these egregious acts or fuel anti-voter conspiracy theories, especially during the 2024 election cycle. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Clarification: This report has been updated to clarify that, while a special election in the 8th District was not required under state law, one has been scheduled on the same days as the regular election to fill the remaining balance of the current term. general view of the Inner Dowsing offshore wind farm in the North Sea Wind power generated in Scotland will be sent to Yorkshire via a new 3.4bn super cable, as the Government scrambles to overhaul the energy system to meet net zero. Ofgem, the energy regulator, said it had signed off plans for the Eastern Green Link 2 project, one of several schemes aimed at improving grid connectivity. The 311-mile largely subsea cable will run from Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, to Wilsthorpe, East Yorkshire, before running inland to a converter station at the Drax power station near Selby. It will have a capacity of two gigawatts (GW) and is aimed at addressing grid bottlenecks between Scotland and England, which have fueled fears of future blackouts. Construction is set to begin later this year, with the new cable due to start operating by 2029. In a statement, Ofgem said the scheme a joint project between transmission network owners SSEN Transmission and the National Grid represented a big step towards the Labour Governments target to make the power grid net zero by 2030. Jonathan Brearley, the regulators chief executive, said it was also the first project to be approved using a new, speedier process for important grid infrastructure. He added: Ofgem is fully committed to supporting the Government to meet its aims of getting clean power by 2030. Todays announcement is a further step in putting the regulatory systems and processes in place to speed up network regulation to achieve its aim. Under plans to reach net zero carbon emissions, Britain is moving from a system of big, highly-centralised power stations to one that is more spread out and dependent on harnessing less predictable wind and solar energy. This is leading to lots of power being generated in certain areas, such as wind farms in Scotland, which are often located far away from the biggest demand centres, including London. But tight grid capacity means north-to-south transmission cables can become too congested to send power from Scotland to the South East when it is needed most. That forces the electricity system operator (ESO) to pay wind farms to switch off and gas power stations to fire up in the South, which ultimately costs bill payers. The ESO is responsible for moving electricity around the system to keep the lights on. It is part of the National Grid but is set to become a government-owned entity this summer. Officials at the ESO have privately warned fellow energy industry insiders that the grid in the South East is becoming so congested that they fear blackouts as soon as 2028, The Telegraph revealed last week. The ESO has insisted categorically that there are no such forecasts for blackouts but called for zonal electricity pricing to ease existing grid constraints. Eastern Green Link 2 and other similar projects dubbed bootstraps by some experts are also meant to alleviate the overall problem by creating extra motorways for power to travel between Scotland and England. Ofgem said the scheme was one of 26 currently being considered under its new fast-track approvals process. Sarah Jones, the energy and net zero minister, said: To achieve our mission for clean power by 2030, we need a grid capable of transporting homegrown energy from renewable sources to power up our homes and businesses. These projects could support thousands of good jobs, whilst saving over 1bn by upgrading the system, using the latest in offshore technology. It forms part of our plan to reduce our reliance on fossil fuel imports so we can protect bill payers, boost Britains energy independence and accelerate our path to net zero. Lawrence Slade, chief executive of the Energy Networks Association trade group, added: This is really welcome news from Ofgem. To move us forward towards clean power will require the biggest upgrade to the grid in decades. This is a crucial part of that jigsaw. Ofgem also provisionally approved a 295m funding package for a set of upgrades to the electricity grid in Yorkshire. The project, which is run by National Grid, will involve building new substations and overhead lines to improve networks in the North East. Separately, the ESO unveiled plans to connect up to 4.5GW of floating offshore wind power from the Celtic Sea to southern Wales and Englands South West. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. North Carolinas Health leaders say all eligible hospitals have singed on to the states plan to relieve medical debt. Hospitals that are taking part in the relief plan include Atrium, Novant and CaroMont, along with Lake Norman Regional and Iredell Memorial Hospitals. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: NC governor announces plan to eliminate $4B in medical debt The plan provides hospitals with more federal Medicaid money if they agree to forgive medical debt deemed uncollectible, dating back for low and middle income patients. Medical debt is not a choice, and its monumental to have North Carolina hospitals committing to be part of eliminating medical debt for their patients, said Gov. Roy Cooper. By joining this first-in-the-nation solution they are raising the bar for health care, and together we will make a life-changing difference for our families and our economy. The goal is for those eligible in North Carolinian to begin to see relief within the next two years. ELMIRA, N.Y. (WETM) The Elmira City Council says its revising a proposed law aimed at removing homeless encampments around the city. Monday night, the resolution was tabled after a packed room of residents raised concerns about punishing people who are unhoused with fines and jail time. The motion to table the resolution passed in a unanimous vote. Residents packing an Elmira City Council meeting on Monday, August 12th, 2024 The proposed camping ordinance was drafted after a Supreme Court ruling in June cleared the way for cities to enforce bans on homeless people sleeping on public property. The proposed ordinance states in part: a) A person shall not occupy a campsite anywhere in the City of Elmira without permission of the property owner except where otherwise defined as family camping. b) In addition to penalties provided by this Article, a person found in violation of this section may be immediately removed from the premises. Section 3. Removal of Campsite a) Upon discovery of a campsite, the Elmira Police Department, the Department of Code Enforcement, and the City Sanitation Department are authorized to remove the campsite and all personal property related thereto, and to detain individuals in violation of this ordinance. Section 4. Penalties A person found to be in violation of this Article shall be subject to a fine of not less than $350.00 nor more than $500.00 or by imprisonment of up to ninety (90) days or both; for a second violation of this Article within eighteen (18) months of the first violation, a person shall be subject to a fine of not less than $750.00 nor more than $1,000.00 or by imprisonment of not less than one (1) year or both. Each day any violation of this Article shall continue, it shall constitute a separate offense. Residents outside Elmira City Hall displaying their opposition to the citys proposed camping law aimed at banning homeless encampments on public and private property. Coy Gobble told 18 News he was among dozens of residents who packed the City Council chamber to express their concerns before the resolution was put up for a vote. I dont think that ordinance should be passed in any form whatsoever, Gobble said. Gobble says about 20 people got up to speak to the council directly during the public comment portion of the meeting. Most people there were there to speak against the ordinance that was proposed. A lot of citizens came out and said that poverty is not a crime, that peoples existence should not be criminalized, nobody should be illegal Gobble said. I would say at least probably 20 people got up and spoke. Id say at least 18 of them spoke very passionately against passing this ordinance. Thankfully, the council heard the citizens voice, and they decided to delay the vote table it until they could have more public input. Fourth District Council Member Gary Brinn sponsored the resolution. Brinn told 18 News he listened to the concerns of residents and agrees the resolution is imperfect. He added that something needs to be done about this issue. Brinn also read his own statement in the city council chamber. Brinn cited a personal family tragedy stemming from addiction and homelessness. Here is the statement in full. My nephew Joshua was born with cleft palate. Fortunately, my brother-in-law had good health insurance as a firefighter, and they lived in a major metro area where they had access to great doctors. Unfortunately, Josh needed repeated surgery well into his late teens as his skull grew, and Purdue Pharma was pushing murderous doses of opioids. By the time Josh was an adult, he was an addict. Josh bounced between jail, treatment, and the streets repeatedly. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, many sheriffs released everyone they could, while treatment programs shut down. Josh was back on the streets, and soon after was dead with a needle in his arm. A year later his heartbroken father would follow him to the grave. I watched my sister as she watched her son commit slow motion suicide. If you are telling people that this ordinance criminalizes homelessness or poverty, you are either misinformed or you are a liar. There are hundreds of homeless in Chemung County, and 95% of them will not be impacted by this law. Their homelessness is not a crime. Poverty is not a crime. And even though services to that 95% trapped in hotel rooms are provided by the county, we are doing everything we can as a city. I ran for office with housing as a key part of my platform, and you are looking at a city council that is doing everything we can to improve availability, affordability, and accessibility of housing. We have faced months of withering criticism over the encampments in this city, including sometimes contradictory demands. Some want the encampments gone because they feel unsafe, others because the camps are an unsanitary nuisance. We even have to address flood mitigation, for the under-the-bridge encampments violate flood plain management requirements. And yet, these are all secondary considerations. Grants Pass, Oregon vs. Johnson went too far in allowing municipalities to take enforcement action even when no shelter is available. But that simply is not the case in Elmira. Since Catholic Charities opened the new dorm shelter, everyone who wants a bed has a bed. Everyone who is un-sheltered in Elmira is voluntarily un-sheltered, because they refuse to stop drugging and drinking, because they are too sick to make the decisions necessary for self-preservation, or because they want the benefit of living in an urban community without accepting the responsibilities of living in an urban community. Whether sick or sociopathic, they are a clear and present danger to themselves and others. During Holy Week of 1988, I spent several nights riding around Manhattan with outreach workers from Covenant House, providing socks and sandwiches to LGBTQ+ kids living on the streets, often turning tricks for money. Even then, I wrestled with whether we were helping or enabling. I have wrestled with that on the frontlines of faith and justice work ever since. The federal government, state governments, local governments, and countless non-profits around the country have spent trillions of dollars for decades looking for a solution. The only glimmer of success has involved housing-first options and intense wrap-around services that get people off of the streets. Unfortunately, the division of powers and funding means the city has a very limited tool kit. The tool that is available to us is public safety. Even liberal California realizes that homeless encampments are filled with drugs, disease, and despair, with Gavin Newsom on the ground helping to clear encampments in Los Angeles last week. I am not arrogant enough to think I know better than Governor Newsom and the entire leadership structure of California, a state that wrestles with 180,000 homeless. Im just not that smart. I dont have the answers when wed rather give tax breaks to billionaires than take care of our most vulnerable, when we rarely care about mental illness and addiction until a coroner is involved. It breaks my heart when I see the junkies in the Wisner Park gazebo five days a week. I wonder why Chemung County is sitting on cash reserves when there is so much desperate need in our community. How many of you have been down there with your outrage? Of course, you havent, because youre not offering an alternative plan and seeking funding for it. The status quo is simply not acceptable. This is about lives at risk. I will not enable the slow-motion suicide that is happening in our small city. I am sponsoring this imperfect resolution for my sister, because as bad as it is, it is better than doing nothing. I am sponsoring this resolution to save the next Josh. In an interview with 18 News, Chemung County Executive Chris Moss said he didnt think the resolution would lead to positive outcomes. Mr. Moss also answered council member Brinns allegation that Chemung County was sitting on cash reserves when there is so much desperate need in our area. Im not sure its a great idea, Moss said. :Jail probably isnt the place for most of the homeless. A lot of these folks have mental health issues. A lot of these folks have substance abuse issues. I think thats probably the realm we ought to be trying, not to say there arent some that probably belong in the County Jail, but just simply passing no camping in the city and throwing everybody in the jail isnt going to be the solution. You have to remember the Human Services Department of Chemung County, our cost local share went up $11 million alone last year. So, its ever rising, Moss said. We have lots of programs over there. But to address Gary Brinn, to be honest with you, long on mouth, short on any solutions, Moss said. Its easy to point down the street at the County and say that they have a fund balance thats huge. Thats not the truth. Our fund balance falls within our fund balance policy that was recently enacted by the legislature a little less than two years ago. So, were not sitting on a ton of money. Its the second time hes alluded to that. As a community leader, he ought to be looking for solutions to work with the County to address this issue. But Im really tired of him running off at the mouth and not having the facts. Gary Brinn couldnt read a financial statement, or an audit if his life depended on it, Moss concluded. You can watch the full interview with County Executive Moss below: First District Council Member Nick Grasso told 18 News he introduced a motion to table the resolution after hearing from concerned residents. Council member Brinn said we welcomed the motion. It was approved in a unanimous vote. Sixth District Council Member Nanette Moss was absent. Tuesday, Grasso posted this statement on his Facebook page. Last evening before our Regular Council Meeting commenced, I met with 2nd District Councilman Corey Cooke to discuss some concerns we fielded from our constituents that pertained to the Camping resolution we were about to vote on. Between Thursday morning of last week, after workshop (at 10:30am) and up until moments before last nights meeting, I spent HOURS, fielding calls and in person concerns regarding the proposed resolution. I wanted their concerns, and my questions addressed prior to voting, either for or against it. During that meeting, 4th District Councilman Gary Brinn in passing, joined in our conversation. He was immediately confrontational and dismissive of our questions, concerns, and perspectives that we were advocating for on behalf of our constituents. He then proceeded down from the 3rd floor and upon intercepting the Mayor, I heard him tell the Mayor that Councilmember Cooke and I were planning to vote NO on the resolution and it should be withdrawn because it wouldnt pass, also due to Councilwoman Moss being absent. This was so far fetched from the truth and an extreme exaggeration that weve seen Councilman Brinn display countless times. We simply wanted to table the resolution so that it was more wholesome, effective and sustainable in regards to addressing the issue(s) at hand. This sort of behavior from an elected is disgraceful, not to mention, emotionally and intellectually immature. Our Regular Meeting of the Elmira City Council proceeded, and we heard from multiple City residents (and beyond) as to why they did not agree with or support the resolution in its current form. Who I also might add, are professionals across a wide spectrum of mental health, social services, and medical experts, right here in our community. Councilman Brinn had a prepared statement he spoke on during his comment period and then I followed in my usual fashion, top of the mind and right from the heart. No prepared speech, because I am not a politician, I am a representative for the people that ELECTED ME to serve them, and I do my best to do exactly that. Earlier last week via text, Councilman Brinn explicitly told my peers and I to stick to the script. For one, I was unaware of said script. Secondly and more importantly, the 1st term Councilman should know better than to assume that I, would follow anyones script, let alone his. I DID, during my comment period state, Correct me if Im wrong, but no one up here is an expert in any field surrounding this issue. One Councilwoman (Wilson) did correct me and state some credentials that would elude me to believe she may have some experience in the fields surrounding the issue. Outside of here K-12 school guidance counselor experience that I was aware of, this came as a surprise to me. I then implored her that perhaps she should have been the main sponsor or co-sponsor of the revised and improved proposed ordinance, since she has alleged experience with the subject. No other Councilmember, nor the Mayor, corrected me on the record regarding this matter, which I welcomed even before speaking. Before the voting roll for the proposed existing ordinance was called, I motioned to table it until we could engage community stake holders and experts in order to come back with a more well-rounded ordinance that would be palatable for all. Corey Cooke graciously seconded it, and the motion carried to a full floor vote. In which it passed UNANIMOUSLY. I hardly doubt it was anything I said to convince our peers to revisit and revise the ordinance. The real credit is due to those who showed up and filled Council Chambers (standing room only) and those who spoke from a wide range of perspectives. You all are the heroes! There are power in numbers and when The People speak, it DOES make a difference. Unfortunately, some elected leaders I sit amongst, prefer to play politics instead of being a public servant as they were elected to do. As a lifelong resident, business owner, blue collar, working class, family man, who is VERY fortunate and humbled to serve a 2nd term, serving the City I care deeply about. I will always passionately advocate, legislate, and FIGHT for it! And serve THE PEOPLE who hired me to do exactly that. No politics. No games. No agenda, other than what THE PEOPLE of the 1st District and the City of Elmira want! After Monday nights meeting and into Tuesday, Council Member Brinn released more statements on his Facebook page. He addressed council member Grasso directly. He also spoke about his thought process in welcoming a tabling of the resolution he sponsored. During this evenings meeting, Council Member Grasso made inaccurate comments about the experience of the council with mental health and addiction. In fact, Council Member Wilson is a retired mental health and addiction professional. Mayor Mandell worked with the mentally ill and addicted during his career and received extensive training. My clinical training unit was in a lock-down psychiatric facility, and I have worked with the mentally ill, addicted, and at-risk throughout my ministry career. I can understand that Council Member Grasso might not have a whole lot of experience with vulnerable population when hes detailing cars, but he should not speak for the council as a whole, Brinn posted on his Facebook page. In a post on Tuesday, Brinn added: I refuse to engage in petty personality politics. The mayor and I have met with our county social service professionals and worked relentlessly on housing availability, accessibility, and affordability in conjunction with city staff. We are trying our best to find solutions to a number of incredibly complex issues, much beyond our control as part-time elected city officials. I knew our resolution was imperfect, but the concerns raised five minutes before the meeting made no sense to me. I dont do well with ambushes. I need time for thoughtful engagement. But as I listened to citizen concerns, I came to believe we could do better. That is why I invited another council member to offer a resolution to table. The resolution did not need a super majority. There were and still are enough votes to pass it. But we will go back and see if we can find a solution that does not create a criminal record for folks already struggling with addiction and mental illness, that helps keep them and our wider community safe. In another statement, Brinn added: The thing that changed my mind last night wasnt all the liberal enabling, which quite frankly disgusts me. Nor was it all of the demands that the city do things it is not authorized or equipped to do. It was the simple (and in hindsight obvious) fact that a camping misdemeanor would make it harder for folks transitioning out of homelessness to get a job. And, surprise surprise, I not only support the Clean Slate Law, I was on a planning call last week for a regional roll-out. I still believe we need to address the encampments. But I do support a shelter-first approach. We will do the best we can with the tools we have. No one will be 100% happy. That isnt possible in a loud and polarized context where people are accusing each other of evil Resident Coy Gobble says he understands the city cannot solve homelessness by itself. He added that he appreciates the City Council for listening to concerned residents. Now, to what Gary said about the city having a limited toolbox, absolutely, they do have a limited toolbox on how to address this issue, and not everybody understands its just how limited their power is, especially when the county holds a lot more power in providing resources for people who are homeless, Gobble added. But that does not excuse trying to create a law or an ordinance that would essentially criminalize the homelessness existence here in Elmira. So that tool is not really a tool. Its more of a weapon directed at the most vulnerable people in Elmira. That being said, I think the council is very receptive to the public comment. I think theyre absolutely working sincerely with the public to try to create a better world for Elmira. You can watch the full interview with Elmira resident Coy Gobble below: Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WETM - MyTwinTiers.com. Elon Musks judge-shopping attempt to get back at advertisers has failed. The CEO of X (formerly Twitter) is trying to sue a coalition of advertisers who he claims conspired against the social networking site by refusing to buy advertisements. Reed OConnor, a federal judge in the northern district of Texas, recused himself from the lawsuit Tuesday after NPR reported that he owns stock in Tesla, another one of Musks companies. Twitter screenshot Bobby Allyn @BobbyAllyn: NEW: Judge Reed O'Connor has recused himself from one of Elon Musk's lawsuits, against the coalition of advertisers. This comes after NPR reported on Reed's investment in Tesla and Musk's forum-shopping by filing in Reed's district, where none of the parties are based. Last week, Musk sued the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, a group of advertisers, media agencies, and platforms that focus on safety in media and technology. The lawsuit also targets the parent organization of GARM, the World Federation of Advertisers, and four of its member companies: Orsted, Unilever, CVS Health, and Mars. Musk appears to have chosen the northern district because it is a favorite of conservatives, as almost all of its judges have been appointed by Republicans, even though the case has little, if anything, to do with Texas. OConnor has a reputation for giving the right the rulings they are looking for. For example, he has repeatedly tried to gut or eliminate the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, even going after HIV drugs and cancer screenings. NPRs report found that OConnor owns between $15,001 and $50,000 worth of Tesla stock, which gives the appearance of a conflict of interest and ultimately seems to have led to OConnors recusal. But while that will delay the advertiser lawsuit, OConnor is still presiding over a different Musk lawsuit against Media Matters, filed in November, accusing the liberal media watchdog of defaming X by pointing out the rise in hate speech on the site. The Media Matters lawsuit is still ongoing and still has the right-wing judge presiding over it. Even with OConnors recusal from the advertiser lawsuit, Musk had a small measure of success as GARM announced last week that it would be disbanding, claiming that it didnt have the financial resources to fight billionaire Musk. The question is how much more money Musk is willing to spend to punish perceived slights. People flee from the eastern districts of the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Aug. 8, 2024. Following a new evacuation order issued by the Israeli authorities, UN humanitarians said on Thursday its partners reported thousands of Gazans again fleeing parts of the Khan Younis area, west, toward Al Mawasi. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) GAZA, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 84 percent of the Gaza Strip is under evacuation orders issued by the Israeli army, a UN relief and human development agency said Tuesday. "People run for their lives, grabbing what they can and leaving everything else behind. They are exhausted and have nowhere safe to go," the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on social media platform X. Since the onset of the Gaza war, the Israeli army has demanded that residents in Gaza leave their homes in preparation for military operations. Displaced individuals have been forced to seek refuge in UNRWA shelters, stay with relatives, or set up tents in streets and schools. People flee from the Hamad City, a neighborhood in the northwest of the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Aug. 11, 2024, following the latest evacuation order issued by the Israeli authorities. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) According to data from the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, 2 million people out of a total population of 2.3 million in the enclave have been displaced due to the current conflict. Israel launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for a Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths and around 250 hostages being taken. The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 39,929, the Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Tuesday. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations recently warned that the entire Gaza Strip is at high risk of famine. According to Palestinian organizations active in the enclave, many diseases, including skin conditions, have been reported in overcrowded shelters in Gaza. The European Union issued a stark warning to X owner and executive chairman Elon Musk before his live-streamed X interview with former U.S. president Donald Trump and received an expletive-filled response. On Monday night, Trump and Musk had a conversation marred by technical issues that caused a 40-minute-plus delay and was widely described as rambling. It featured some of the Republican presidential hopefuls key talking points, including his recent brush with death and his anti-immigration views. Among other things, he told Musk that there were many rough people attempting to enter the U.S. at the border with Mexico. More from The Hollywood Reporter In between a series of attacks on Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, Trump called her beautiful on the cover of Time magazine and likened her to his wife Melania. She looks like the most beautiful actress ever to live. It was a drawing, and actually, she looked very much like a great First Lady, Melania. Trump praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as being at the top of their game. He also told Musk, who could be heard laughing through many sections of the interview, that if he loses the election, youre not going to have a country anymore. The post sharing the interview on Trumps account had more than 130 million views as of 5:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday. The EUs commissioner for internal market, Frenchman Thierry Breton, had posted an open letter to the X founder and tech mogul on Monday asking that he censor his interview with Trump to avoid the amplification of harmful content. Breton said Musk, who bought the platform in 2022, has a legal obligation to comply with the Digital Services Act (DSA) and fight the spread of misinformation as the man in charge of the platform used by over 300 million people worldwide. With great audience comes greater responsibility #DSA, Breton wrote on X in posting the letter. As there is a risk of amplification of potentially harmful content in connection with events with major audience around the world, I sent this letter to @elonmusk. Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X (formerly Twitter), was copied. With great audience comes greater responsibility #DSA As there is a risk of amplification of potentially harmful content in in connection with events with major audience around the world, I sent this letter to @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/P1IgxdPLzn Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) August 12, 2024 As the relevant content is accessible to EU users and being amplified also in our jurisdiction, we cannot exclude potential spillovers in the EU, Breton continued in his letter. Any negative effect of illegal content could lead the EU to take further action against X and Musk, using our full toolbox, including by adopting interim measures, should it be warranted to protect EU citizens from harm. Musk replied to Bretons letter with a meme that said: Take a big step back and literally, fuck your own face! He even asked Trump in the interview: Theres a lot of attempts to do censorship and to force censorship, even on Americans from other countries. What do you think about that? But Trump instead launched into a conversation about the U.S. trade deficit with the EU, arguing that the European Union was taking great advantage of the U.S. In July, the EU charged X for failing to respect its social media laws, leaving the platform facing multimillion-euro fines. Only recently, Musk drew extensive criticism from the U.K. government after being accused of fanning the flames as far-right riots occurred. It began when misinformation spread on X that the perpetrator of the Southport stabbing of three young girls was Muslim, which he was not. Among other comments, Musk had said civil war is inevitable in response to a video of a riot in Liverpool, which was met with threats that X could be banned and Musk prosecuted for his part in the violence. Trump has made a recent return to the app after having his account suspended following the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021, due to the risk of further incitement of violence, as the company said at the time. When Musk took over, though, he reinstated Trumps account. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk talks with then-President Donald Trump, May 30, 2020, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Musk is set to host a live conversation with Trump on Musks social media platform on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024. | Alex Brandon Billionaire Elon Musk is set to host a live conversation with former President Donald Trump on Musks social media platform. This is unscripted with no limits on the subject matter, so should be highly entertaining! Musk said. The interview is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. MT on X, formerly known as Twitter. In anticipation of this interview, Trump returned to X and posted three campaign videos highlighting his vision for the United States and attacking his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. Trumps last post before his return was his mugshot from Aug. 24, 2023, the day he voluntarily surrendered himself to authorities at the county jail in Atlanta. Aside from television appearances on Fox News, he prefers to use his propriety platform Truth Social after his account was canceled following the Jan. 6 riots. Musk and Trump will be drawing new audiences online at a time when Harris is building momentum months before the 2024 presidential election, as seen in national and swing state polls. Elon Musks X a hot spot for 2024 election moves Since the last presidential election, where Musk cast his ballot for the Biden-Harris ticket, the billionaire has moved away from the Democratic Party, registering instead as an independent. In recent months, not only did he give Trump his endorsement but also pledged to donate $45 million a month. He backtracked on the monetary pledge. X, which Musk intends to make the everything app, has been the place for some of the 2024 cycles most memorable moments. Last month, President Joe Biden revealed he was withdrawing his bid for reelection in a letter posted on X. In August 2023, Trump skipped the Republican primary debate and opted for a pre-recorded interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. This interview aired on X minutes after the debate began. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis leaned on the platform to officially launch his bid for president, but technical difficulties mired the conversation that garnered an overload of 400,000 listeners. Musk said he plans to conduct system scaling tests in the hours leading up to his chat with Trump to avoid such problems. As an alternative to ChatGPT, X has an artificial intelligence anti-woke chatbot, Grok, which, like other AI tools, is under scrutiny for spreading disinformation. Five secretaries of state in a letter to X urged Musk to immediately implement changes to Xs AI search assistant, Grok, to ensure voters have accurate information in this critical election year. Also under investigation is the Musk-backed and funded America political action committee, which is supporting Trump. The PAC set up a website to help register people to vote in Michigan and other battleground states and allegedly collected this data, as CNBC reported earlier in August. Could Elon Musk be Trumps energy czar? Trump and Musk are increasingly seen working together. Last week, Trump at a rally said he has no choice but to support electric vehicles. Because Elon endorsed me, the former president said. Im for them for a small slice, Trump added, noting that you want to have gas-propelled cars, you want to have hybrids, you want to have every kind of a car imaginable. Musk, who is concerned about global warming and is the owner of Tesla, the most dominant automaker in the EV market, has the chance to influence Trump on climate as well as space policy. (Musk also owns advanced rocket company SpaceX.) The Harris campaign, in response to Trumps close contact with Musk said, Elon knows Trump is a sucker who will sell America out, cutting his taxes while raising taxes on the middle class. The campaign spokesperson added, Vice President Harris has been standing up to people like Elon and fighting for the middle class her entire career and its why she is going to win in November, as Politico reported. Fact-checking on social media hits a low From time to time, Musk posts conspiracy theories to his nearly 194 million followers, the biggest account on the platform. He recently shared an AI-generated campaign video for Harris, where she says, I am the ultimate diversity hire. Musk wrote, This is amazing, with a laughing emoji. Many defended that as a party. Musk also boosted a claim that Democrats are allowing migrants to illegally cross the border as a way of importing voters. None of these posts earned a community note, a crowd-sourced information check on X. But its not just X. Social media platforms across the board have slowly backed away from fact-checking. This comes after Republican talking heads and research showed the flagged information was influencing the result of the election in 2020, as The Guardian reported. I think X really kind of sticks out as a place where that change has been striking, and for it to come from the very top kind of just shows how much of an issue it is, said Mekela Panditharatne, senior counsel for the Brennan Centers elections and government program. Despite his political affiliations, Musk told The Atlantic magazine he will accept the results of the 2024 election, even if Harris wins. The will of the people must be recognized, he said. If there are questions of election integrity, they should be properly investigated and neither be dismissed out of hand nor unreasonably questioned. If, after review of the election results, it turns out that Kamala wins, that win should be recognized and not disputed. X owner Elon Musk said that a massive cyberattack delayed his Spaces interview with former President Donald Trump on Monday night while others noted the disruption was eerily reminiscent of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis glitch-filled presidential campaign launch on the platform the year before. There appears to be a massive DDOS [Distributed Denial of Service] attack on . Working on shutting it down, Musk posted 18 minutes after the scheduled start time for the interview. Worst case, we will proceed with a smaller number of live listeners and post the conversation later, he said, claiming to have tested the Space earlier Monday with 8 million concurrent listeners. There appears to be a massive DDOS attack on . Working on shutting it down. Worst case, we will proceed with a smaller number of live listeners and post the conversation later. Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 13, 2024 Reps for X did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but company insiders spilled to the Verge that likely no such cyberattack took place. One insider went as far as to say there was a 99% chance that Musk had lied about it. The conversation kicked off a little after 8:40 p.m., with the X owner saying, As this massive attack illustrates, theres a lot of opposition to people just hearing what President Trump has to say. More than 1 million listeners eventually tuned in. Netizens still speculated that the botched start to the more than two-hour interview was more likely the result of technical issues. The screw-up also left an opening for the Harris-Walz campaign to strike. Donald Trumps extremism and dangerous Project 2025 agenda is a feature not a glitch of his campaign, which was on full display for those unlucky enough to listen in tonight during whatever that was on X.com, said spokesperson Joseph Costello in a statement. Elon Musk said that a massive cyberattack delayed his X Spaces interview with Trump. AFP via Getty Images Trumps entire campaign is in service of people like Elon Musk and himself self-obsessed rich guys who will sell out the middle class and who cannot run a livestream in the year 2024, Costello added. The Democratic campaign also took to Trumps Truth Social platform to repost the former presidents scathing remarks about a similar conversation that occurred between Musk and DeSantis on May 24, 2023. Wow! The DeSanctus TWITTER launch is a DISASTER! His whole campaign will be a disaster. WATCH! the 45th president gloated in a message the same day. That Musk-led interview crashed after just 20 minutes with more than 400,000 listeners. The Florida governor had planned on using the novel platform to announce his presidential run, alongside staunch backers like venture capital investor David Sacks. Both Musk and Sacks, who initially backed DeSantis in the 2024 GOP primary, have since endorsed Trump, 78, for the presidency. The Tesla CEO declined to donate to any candidate during the Republican primary but pledged to donate tens of millions to a tech industry-linked super PAC working to help re-elect Trump. An iPhone shows President Trumps X Space with billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk as a co-host on the X social media network, in this illustration taken Aug. 12, 2024. REUTERS Earlier on Monday, a top European Union official had warned Musk about potentially contributing to the amplification of harmful content by broadcasting the lengthy interview with Trump. The official, Thierry Breton, posted a letter on X that he had sent to Musk, warning him against not complying with EU law. The Trump campaign fired back in a statement of their own that the European official and others should mind their own business instead of trying to meddle in the U.S. Presidential election. Let us be very clear: the European Union is an enemy of free speech and has no authority of any kind to dictate how we campaign, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in the statement. The FBI also announced a probe Monday into the alleged hacking of documents belonging to the Trump campaign after receiving anonymous emails that included internal documents related to the vetting of now-vice presidential candidate JD Vance. Pulling a Musk Now that he has fully endorsed the far right by throwing his full weight behind the election of former president and fellow notorious liar Donald Trump, multi-hyphenate CEO Elon Musk is deep in the trenches. As the Wall Street Journal reports, Musk has been talking about raising an army of thousands of workers as part of his $160 million pro-Trump super political-action committee (PAC) called America PAC. But just three months in, he fired almost all of the vendors, just for the PAC to rehire one of them exactly the kind of characteristic and highly chaotic mismanagement Musk has become known for. Unconvinced The timing couldn't be worse, as the WSJ points out: we're less than three months away from the presidential election and America PAC is still reeling from a hard reset. Even the group's original, Texas-based donors were ditched in favor of veterans of former Ron DeSantis supporters, who decided to call it quits in January. But trouble started brewing quickly within America PAC's ranks. The committee burned through cash, per the WSJ, ultimately leading to an email being sent out to most of the group's vendors, informing them that they had been fired. According to the report, Musk was aiming to convince some 800,000 voters to vote for Trump in key swing states. But whether the PAC got anywhere near that remains unclear at best. In an interview with far-right provocateur Jordan Peterson last month, Musk claimed that America PAC was "not meant" to be "hyperpartisan" and the "intent is to promote the principles that made America great in the first place." But by throwing his weight behind a convicted felon, who is trying to pander to the cryptocurrency community, Tesla fanboys, and gun-toting rednecks, Musk is putting his true, hyperpartisan colors on full display. Besides the sheer moral bankruptcy of Trump's reelection campaign, Musk is also actively burning bridges and turning a blind eye to his own ventures by pursuing national politics. Particularly at Tesla, the mercurial CEO's hard turn to the far right has raised alarm bells, with business clients and individual customers alike becoming disgusted with the brand's new MAGA image. More on Elon Musk: Zoomers Think Teslas Aren't "Cool" Anymore, Survey Finds Emergency crews continue search for 10-year-old boy who went missing kayaking on Pennsylvania river FAIRVIEW TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WHTM) Emergency crews from across central Pennsylvania are continuing to look for the young boy who went missing kayaking over the weekend. The missing kayaker is a 10-year-old boy who was with a group of seven others, three adults and four children, who were doing a kayaking trip on Yellow Breeches Creek, officials said during a news conference Tuesday afternoon. The group, who is from Pennsylvania, started their trip at Sheepford Road and planned to get out the water at a private property that was about a mile and a half downstream. During, they encountered debris in the water and the boy was swept under but the others were able to get away to land, officials said. Currently there are hundreds of crews, as far as Berks County that are involved in the search for the body. A debris field on the York County side of the river is being removed. Search for missing kayaker on Yellow Breeches Creek now treated as recovery mission The Fairview Township Fire Department decided on Monday to begin treating the situation as a recovery mission rather than a rescue due to the amount of time passed since the victim went missing. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now This Week in Pennsylvania Emergency crews are treating the operation as a recovery mission into Tuesday as search efforts continue near the dam in the Limekiln and Slate Hill Road area. The York County Office of Emergency Management authorized resources, including authorization to remove debris from the dam area, to help aid in the search. The Fairview Township Fire Department says Limekiln Rd. at Spanglers Mill Rd. and Slate Hill Rd. at Argali Ln. are closed today to allow crews to work safely. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27. Ending Taxes on Tips Is Controversial Even Though Trump and Harris Both Want It Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have both endorsed a policy to eliminate federal taxes on tips, a rare instance of agreement between the two campaigns as they aim to sway a critical bloc of voters. While the policy could address some immediate concerns of service and hospitality workers, it has sparked significant debate over its budgetary implications, fairness, and potential impacts on the broader labor market. During a rally in Las Vegas on Saturday, Harris unveiled her proposal to end taxes on tips, positioning it as a potential cornerstone of her forthcoming economic platform. It is my promise to everyone here: When I am President, we will continue our fight for working families of America, including to raise the minimum wage and eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers, she said at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. A Harris campaign official tells TIME that the proposal would require legislation and that she would push for it alongside an increase in the minimum wage: As President, she would work with Congress to craft a proposal that comes with an income limit and with strict requirements to prevent hedge fund managers and lawyers from structuring their compensation in ways to try to take advantage of the policy, the official says. Read More: The Reintroduction of Kamala Harris Harriss proposal comes after Trump floated a similar policy in June, after he had a conversation with a Las Vegas waitress that highlighted the financial burden of taxed tips. To those hotel workers and people who get tips, you are going to be very happy, because when I get to office we are going to not charge taxes on tips, people making tips, Trump said at a rally. Were going to do that right away, first thing in office. Trump has accused Harris of borrowing his policy for political gain. This was a TRUMP ideaShe has no ideas, she can only steal from me, Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday, branding Harris as Copy Cat Kamala. Trumps campaign has also said Harriss stance contradicts the Biden Administrations previous proposals to establish a voluntary tip-reporting program. Economists say the proposed elimination of taxes on tips could have profound effects on both federal revenue and the labor market. The Center for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) estimated that Harris proposal to exempt tip income from federal income taxes and raise the minimum wage would increase deficits by $100 billion to $200 billion over the next decade, while the Trump proposal to nix federal taxes on tips could cost up to $250 billion. The conservative-leaning Tax Foundation estimated that removing taxes on tips could cost around $107 billion over the next decade by lowering income and payroll tax revenues that currently support Social Security and Medicare. The potential shortfall has raised concerns about how such a policy would impact the already strained federal budget. But advocates argue that eliminating taxes on tips would alleviate a financial burden on service workers, many of whom rely on tips for their livelihoods. Currently, tips are considered taxable income, which requires both accurate reporting by workers and enforcement by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The IRS has struggled with compliance and enforcement, leading to ongoing debates about the fairness and feasibility of taxing tips. An estimated 4 million workers regularly receive tipsless than 3% of the overall workforce, according to an analysis by Yale University's Budget Lab. The federal minimum wage for tipped workers is $2.13 an hour, but they are required to make at least the federal hourly minimum wage of $7.25 with tips or their employers have to cover the difference. Detractors believe that the policy would exacerbate existing inequities in the tax system. Andrew Lautz, associate director for the Bipartisan Policy Centers economic policy program, cautions that the policy might create a two-tiered system where tipped workers enjoy a substantial tax advantage over their non-tipped counterparts, a disparity that could distort wage structures and incentivize employers to shift more compensation to tips to benefit from lower tax rates. Are we to say that someone making $18 an hour at a fast food job, versus someone making $18 an hour inclusive of tips at a sit-down restaurant, that those workers should be treated differently from a tax perspective? Lautz asks. Policymakers need to carefully consider what it means for fairness in the U.S. economy and in the jobs that people seek out. For example, the policy might drive more industrieslike grocery storesto adopt tipping practices similar to those in the restaurant sector, thereby increasing the overall cost of the policy. The proposal could also lead to increased pressure on workers to solicit tips, potentially leading to less predictable and less stable income. Lautz also raised concerns about the administrative challenges of implementing such a policy. There's always the potential for misuse or abuse of rules like this, he says. The intent is not to have high paid lawyers and accountants re-classify their income as tips and escape some level of taxation. He says that Congress would need to either write specific rules or direct the IRS to write provisions that limit misuse or abuse of the no tax on tips policy. Both the Harris and Trump campaigns have yet to release detailed policy proposals, leaving many questions unanswered about how their plans would be implemented and financed. The next administration will face significant challenges in navigating these issues, particularly as major sections of the 2017 tax cuts are set to expire and broader tax reform discussions loom. Still, exempting tip income has already gained bipartisan traction on Capitol Hill. In July, Democratic Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen of Nevada signed onto the No Tax on Tips Act that Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas proposed. A companion bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives. President Joe Biden also supports eliminating taxes on tips, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday. The Culinary Workers Union, a powerful Nevada labor union, had initially called the proposal by Trump a wild campaign promise but has since come out in support of the general idea. Write to Nik Popli at nik.popli@time.com. Contractors install solar panels on the roof of a house in Oregon. (Courtesy of Oregon Department of Energy) Oregon environmental regulators are concerned that the states largest natural gas utility is misinforming customers about a key climate change policy aimed to reduce greenhouse gases. NW Natural, which provides natural gas to more than 2 million people in Oregon and southwest Washington, told its customers in a newsletter this month that the state is proposing a carbon crediting program that might not lead to direct greenhouse gas emission cuts. This is untrue, according to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. The fundamental purpose of the Community Climate Investments is to support projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Oregon, Lauren Wirtis, a spokesperson for DEQ, said in an email. NW Natural did not respond to a request for more information Monday. The carbon credits, called Community Climate Investments or CCIs, are part of the states landmark Climate Protection Program that was first passed in 2021 but is being reworked this year following a judicial ruling in a lawsuit. NW Natural and two other natural gas companies filed the suit to derail the protection program, which includes emission reduction goals. Under the climate program, the state would sell the carbon credits to fossil fuel companies in Oregon to help them offset some of their greenhouse gas emissions and meet the states emission targets. The state, with its suite of climate laws, is attempting to reach a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas pollution by 2035 and a 90% reduction by 2050 to confront the growing threat of climate change. The Environmental Quality Commission will vote on whether to approve the new Climate Protection Program by the end of the year. Draft regulations for the states redo of the 2021 Climate Protection Program were published in late July by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. The agency gave the public until Friday, Aug. 30 to comment on them by going here. Money from the sale of each carbon credit would be invested in projects that reduce emissions in Oregon. One credit would be equal to one metric ton of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, and companies could buy them for $129 per credit. Credits would equal emission cuts But in its newsletter, NW Natural claimed that this was not the case. In its carbon accounting, DEQ will include CCIs as emissions savings even if a project has not reduced emissions, it reads. The sale of carbon credits, the newsletter claims, could but are not required to result in emissions reductions at some point in the future. In an email, Wirtis cited three provisions of the draft Climate Protection Program showing that each credit the state sells would have to be commensurate with a metric ton of carbon dioxide that is not released into the atmosphere. The $129 cost per credit, described in the NW Natural newsletter as the most expensive in North America, includes a 4.5% fee so DEQ can pay for audits of all projects to ensure each credit reduces greenhouse gas emissions. DEQ would report compliance to the Environmental Quality Commission every two years. The price per Oregon credit is about six times higher than the average cost of a credit on unregulated carbon markets, and about 1.5 times the price of average credits in state-run markets in California, Washington and British Columbia, Canada. Only projects that reduce emissions, such as weatherizing buildings, heat pump or solar panel installations, or buying electric vehicles or vehicle chargers would get money from the sale of credits, according to DEQ officials. Credit recipients, largely nonprofits working on community-based projects, would be the beneficiaries in charge of executing the work. DEQ developed this model rather than allow companies to select their own offset projects, to better guarantee that Oregon communities will be involved in project development, will directly benefit from projects by reducing co-pollutants and so more communities could benefit from investments that support the transition to cleaner fuels and technologies, Wirtis said. In its newsletter, NW Natural officials also warned that residential rates could go up as much as 14% in the first year that the climate program is implemented if passed, and 35% within the next decade. A footnote says the projection is based on average customer usage and average weather conditions for customers. Charlotte Shuff, a spokesperson for the watchdog group Citizens Utility Board, said its hard to know how accurate that might be without analyzing the data the company is using. Its really hard to speak to how true the rate impacts are that NW Natural is referencing, she said via email. We have seen a trend in the past of NW Natural inflating the impact of customer costs. Theyve done it in communications to customers. Theyve done it in presentations to legislators. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Article first published: Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, 5 a.m. ET Article last updated: Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, 8 a.m. ET As per the National Hurricane Center's 8 am Wednesday update, Tropical Storm Ernesto is 125 miles northwest of San Juan Puerto Rico, with maximum sustained wind of 70 mph. Its moving 16 mph to the northwest. "A turn toward the north-northwest and north with a gradual decrease in forward speed is expected tonight and Thursday." meteorologists observed. "On the forecast track, the center of Ernesto will move northward away from Puerto Rico through today." They also said "Ernesto is expected to become a hurricane later today and could become a major hurricane in a couple of days." YESTERDAY (Tuesday): Yesterday, Ernesto departed British Virgin Islands and moved toward the Atlantic Ocean Forecasters issued a hurricane watch for the Virgin Islands, Vieques, and culebra. CHANGES WITH THIS ADVISORY: The Hurricane Watch has been discontinued for the British Virgin Islands. SUMMARY OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS IN EFFECT: A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for: - British Virgin Islands - U.S. Virgin Islands - Puerto Rico - Vieques and Culebra A Tropical Storm Warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area. Interests in Bermuda should monitor the progress of Ernesto. HAZARDS AFFECTING LAND: RAINFALL: Ernesto is expected to produce total rain accumulations of 4 to 6 inches over the U.S and British Virgin Islands. Rainfall totals of 6 to 8 inches, with maximum amounts of 10 inches, are expected across southeastern Puerto Rico, with totals of 2 to 4 inches across northwestern Puerto Rico. For a complete depiction of forecast rainfall associated with Ernesto, please see the National Weather Service Storm Total Rainfall Graphic, available at hurricanes.gov/graphics_at5.shtml? Rainqpf WIND: Tropical storm conditions will continue across the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Vieques, and Culebra through the overnight hours. Hurricane conditions are possible in portions of the watch area during the next few hours. STORM SURGE: Minor coastal flooding remains possible in areas of onshore winds along the eastern coast of Puerto Rico, including the islands of Culebra and Vieques, and in the U.S. Virgin Islands, including St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix. SURF: Swells generated by Ernesto are affecting portions of the Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. These swells will reach the Turks and Caicos Islands and southeastern Bahamas today, and Bermuda and the rest of the Bahamas on Thursday. Swells are expected to reach the east coast of the United States Thursday night and continue into the weekend. These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions. Source: National Hurricane Center This article was generated by the Sun Herald Bot, artificial intelligence software that analyzes information from the National Hurricane Center and applies it to templates created by journalists in the newsroom. We are experimenting with this and other new ways of providing more useful content to our readers and subscribers. You can report errors or bugs to mcclatchybot@mcclatchy.com. Full hurricane coverage at sunherald.com/news/weather-news/ Article first published: Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, 5 a.m. ET Article last updated: Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, 8 a.m. ET As per the National Hurricane Center's 8 am Wednesday update, Tropical Storm Ernesto is 125 miles northwest of San Juan Puerto Rico, with maximum sustained wind of 70 mph. Its moving 16 mph to the northwest. "A turn toward the north-northwest and north with a gradual decrease in forward speed is expected tonight and Thursday." meteorologists state. "On the forecast track, the center of Ernesto will move northward away from Puerto Rico through today." They also said "Ernesto is expected to become a hurricane later today and could become a major hurricane in a couple of days." YESTERDAY (Tuesday): Yesterday, Ernesto left British Virgin Islands and headed to the Atlantic Ocean The Virgin Islands, Vieques, and culebra placed under a hurricane watch by forecasters. CHANGES WITH THIS ADVISORY: The Hurricane Watch has been discontinued for the British Virgin Islands. SUMMARY OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS IN EFFECT: A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for: - British Virgin Islands - U.S. Virgin Islands - Puerto Rico - Vieques and Culebra A Tropical Storm Warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area. Interests in Bermuda should monitor the progress of Ernesto. HAZARDS AFFECTING LAND: RAINFALL: Ernesto is expected to produce total rain accumulations of 4 to 6 inches over the U.S and British Virgin Islands. Rainfall totals of 6 to 8 inches, with maximum amounts of 10 inches, are expected across southeastern Puerto Rico, with totals of 2 to 4 inches across northwestern Puerto Rico. For a complete depiction of forecast rainfall associated with Ernesto, please see the National Weather Service Storm Total Rainfall Graphic, available at hurricanes.gov/graphics_at5.shtml? Rainqpf WIND: Tropical storm conditions will continue across the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Vieques, and Culebra through the overnight hours. Hurricane conditions are possible in portions of the watch area during the next few hours. STORM SURGE: Minor coastal flooding remains possible in areas of onshore winds along the eastern coast of Puerto Rico, including the islands of Culebra and Vieques, and in the U.S. Virgin Islands, including St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix. SURF: Swells generated by Ernesto are affecting portions of the Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. These swells will reach the Turks and Caicos Islands and southeastern Bahamas today, and Bermuda and the rest of the Bahamas on Thursday. Swells are expected to reach the east coast of the United States Thursday night and continue into the weekend. These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions. Source: National Hurricane Center This article was generated by the Miami Herald Bot, artificial intelligence software that analyzes information from the National Hurricane Center and applies it to templates created by journalists in the newsroom. We are experimenting with this and other new ways of providing more useful content to our readers and subscribers. You can report errors or bugs to mcclatchybot@mcclatchy.com. Full hurricane coverage at miamiherald.com/news/weather/hurricane/ RAYNHAM, Mass. (WPRI) A 1,300-pound bull caused a multi-car crash and charged at police officers after escaping from a farm in Raynham, Massachusetts, on Monday. Raynham police said they received multiple calls around 9 a.m. that a large black bull was running down Jennings Drive near Elm Street East. Workers at Mathieu Farms were reportedly loading the bull onto a truck to be taken to a slaughterhouse when it became frightened and got loose. The owners of the farm warned police that the bull was highly aggressive. According to police, the bull ran through multiple fences, some of which were electrified, and jumped over a six-foot berm to escape. The Raynham Fire Department said the bull caused a three-car crash after it ran onto I-495. One of the drivers was taken to a local hospital for their injuries. After the crash, the bull ran through the woods and into Lake Nippenicket before it was spotted near a water district building. Bodycam still of escaped bull charging at Raynham police officers on Monday, Aug. 12. (Courtesy: Raynham Police Department) Upon noticing the officers, police said the bull quickly and aggressively swam toward the group, prompting an officer to fire shots. However, that didnt stop the bull, and it then charged out of the water at the group onshore. To avoid being injured, the officer fired several more shots, hitting the bulls leg and disabling it, police said. The farm owner was on scene and humanely euthanized the animal because the officers gun was not powerful enough. Farm staff had informed police early on that the bull would most likely need to be euthanized rather than captured due to its aggression. I want to commend our brave officers who put themselves in harms way to make sure that a bad situation did not get worse, Raynham Police Chief David LaPlante said in a press release. Facing a charging 1,300-pound bull is not something you go into your shift thinking is going to happen, but our officers were able to respond and effectively handle the situation and prevent further injury and destruction. Massachusetts State Police and other area departments also responded to help with the search. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. MOSCOW, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- It is imperative to implement all United Nations resolutions to secure lasting and stable peace in the Middle East region, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday. Putin made these remarks while holding a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Novo-Ogaryovo of the Moscow Region. Russia is closely following the unfolding humanitarian disaster in Palestine with deep anguish and concern, Putin said, adding that the country has always advocated for a peaceful settlement to the Palestinian issue. "We believe that in order to secure lasting and stable peace in the region, it is imperative to implement all UN resolutions, with the establishment of a full-fledged Palestinian state as a priority," Putin said. Abbas thanked Russia for its support and noted that Palestine will not accept the expatriation of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Jerusalem. "We hope that the Palestinian people will get their own state," Abbas said. The Palestinian president said the meeting with Putin was honest and open, and the discussions included the Gaza Strip and the actions of the United States, TASS news agency reported. Estonia has provided humanitarian aid to Ukraine in the form of five fully equipped ambulances and medical equipment. Source: European Pravda, citing Estonian public broadcaster ERR. The donated equipment includes electric aspirators, defibrillators, drug dosing and administration devices, as well as stretchers, medical vacuum mattresses, and more. Raul Adlas, Chief Physician of the Tallinn Ambulance Service, said that Tallinn has sent a total of 11 fully equipped ambulances to Ukraine since the start of the full-scale war. The donated vehicles were actively used by Tallinn Ambulance until 2023, but new vehicles were purchased to replace them last year. Background: Ukrainian cities will receive an additional 68 large generators for critical infrastructure from the European Union. Finland also announced that it will provide an additional 2 million to support elderly Ukrainians in frontline areas. Support UP or become our patron! Volunteers extinguish a forest fire in Ano Patima near Penteli in the northern Athens region. EU member states are sending aid to Greece to help emergency services in battling the country's biggest wildfire of the year on Monday, with multiple flash points burning across some 200 square kilometres of woodland north-east of the capital Athens. Socrates Baltagiannis/dpa The European Commission on Tuesday announced that it was activating a system for European countries to help Greece and Albania battle ongoing wildfires. At a press conference on Tuesday, a commission spokesman said the support to Greece includes: two planes from Italy, two helicopters from France and Serbia, and ground firefighting crews from the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Romania and Serbia. Romanian, Maltese and Moldovan firefighters were already in Greece, the spokesman said. According to a commission statement, Albania will receive a military plane from Romania capable of carrying 6 tons of water. The plane will be deployed on Wednesday, the commission said. Serbia and Moldova are not in the EU, but along with Albania and several others, they participate in the EU's Civil Protection Mechanism, which responds to such disasters. A firefighter extinguishes a large fire, just a few kilometers northeast of Athens. EU member states are sending aid to Greece to help emergency services in battling the country's biggest wildfire of the year on Monday, with multiple flash points burning across some 200 square kilometres of woodland north-east of the capital Athens. Socrates Baltagiannis/dpa Firefighters try to extinguish pockets of embers in the blaze near Athens. Hundreds of firefighters, supported by dozens of water-dropping planes and helicopters, continued their battle against the flames of the blaze in the north of Athens this morning. Socrates Baltagiannis/dpa The European Commission has transferred almost 4.2 billion to Ukraine as part of the first tranche of the Ukraine Facility programme. Source: a statement by the European Commission, as reported by European Pravda Details: The European Commission reiterated that after considering Ukraine's payment request, the EU Council endorsed the Commission's assessment that Ukraine had satisfactorily fulfilled nine reform indicators related to the first regular quarterly payment. These conditions, covering public financial management, management of state-owned companies, business environment, energy and mine clearance, were set out in the Ukraine Plan. Quote: "Today's payment follows the initial payments made under the Facility, namely 6 billion in bridge financing and 1.9 billion in pre-financing, and is a testament to the swift implementation of the Ukraine Plan." Background: At a government meeting last week, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that Ukraine expects to receive a 4.2 billion tranche under the Ukraine Facility programme in the near future. In July, the EU ambassadors approved the allocation of the first payment (4.2 billion) under the Ukraine Plan reform plan under the Ukraine Facility. The funds are part of a macro-financial assistance programme for Ukraine worth up to 50 billion. Ukraine received the first tranches without any conditions, and the next tranches are conditional on the implementation of a specific reform plan in a number of areas. Support UP or become our patron! EU transfers further 4.2 billion in financial aid to Ukraine European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen speaks at a press conference during the Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels. Aurore Martignoni/European Commission/dpa The European Commission on Tuesday transferred almost 4.2 billion ($4.6 billion) in financial aid to Ukraine. The funding is intended to "keep the Ukrainian state running" as Kiev fights for its survival against Russia, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X. "Europe stands firmly with Ukraine," she added. The aid is part of the EU's Ukraine Plan, which was formally adopted in April and will provide Ukraine with financial assistance worth 50 billion by the end of 2027. With Tuesday's payment, 12 billion has already been transferred to Kiev under the programme. Under the terms of the plan, Ukraine must implement reforms to public financial management and governance of state-owned enterprises. The funds are to be used to pay Ukrainians' salaries and pensions, provide basic services and support reconstruction. Ukraine, which is an official candidate to join the EU, has been resisting a Russian invasion for more than two years with Western military assistance. Editor's note: A story incorrectly identified the highway on which an alleged donation scam was reported. The incident took place on Oregon Route 99. The Eugene Police Department, along with other law enforcement agencies in Oregon, encourages residents to be aware of who they donate their money to after groups of people have been spotted at high-traffic areas in Eugene asking for donations to help pay for the healthcare of children with life-threatening illnesses. According to the Sherwood Police Department in north-central Oregon, officers contacted a group of people walking in the middle of traffic on Highway 99 while asking for money. The "charity group" was holding up a sign that said, "Donation: Help Noel Marrow Transplant," and showed an image of a child. Sherwood Police officials said in a Facebook post on July 16 that the group couldn't provide details about the baby they needed money for, they couldn't give details on the required medical procedures, or which medical facility the child was in, other than it was in another country. Detectives with Sherwood Police found photos on social media of the alleged scammers in different locations, one in Sherwood and another in San Francisco. They also discovered an article from North Carolina that mentioned the same group doing the same thing. After seeing reports on Facebook that local residents were concerned about the alleged scammers who were spotted in Eugene over the weekend, The Register-Guard reached out to the Eugene Police Department for comment. According to Melinda McLaughlin, spokesperson for the Eugene Police Department, officers received a call regarding the alleged scammers and "checked it out." "If someone willingly gives their money as a donation to someone, there is not a crime to charge," said McLaughlin. "That is why it is so important that people verify where their money is going." The following is a list of things to look out for when donating to charities to avoid falling victim to a scam. How to avoid charity scams Don't trust caller ID as a form of identity verification; it is relatively simple for scammers to manipulate what appears on your screen to make it look like the call is coming from a recognized person or organization. Don't click links in messages or emails without confirming the sender's origin. Check a charity's online presence before donating. Search for the name of the organization online and look for an official website and accompanying contact information. Check that the website is secure and keep an eye out for bad reviews or a lack of additional information about them. Another easy way to do this is to type the name of the charity online along with the words "fraud" or "scam." Beware of selling tactics such as pressuring you to donate immediately, promising you will receive prizes or other compensation for donating, contacting you repeatedly or out of the blue, or insisting you have previously donated though you have no memory of doing so. Beware of suspicious payment methods such as requests to send your donation via wire transfers, gift cards, cash, or cryptocurrency. The safest way to pay is using a credit card so that your banking institutions can help you if things go awry. If you are contacted with requests for a donation, ask for the charity's name, website, phone number, address, email and details about their mission statement, who and how many people they service, what percentage of donations go directly to programs and where you can find further disclosures on their financials. Check if the charity is registered or has credentials with your state charity regulator, the Better Business Burea Wise Giving Alliance, AARP, Charity Navigator, Charity Watch, GuideStar, or the IRS Tax Exempt Organization search. Double-check the name of the charity to ensure it is not only findable and known but also isn't a suspiciously close variation of an existing, trusted organization. Get a receipt after donating and check your bank statement to be sure things are consistent. Haleigh Kochanski is a breaking news and public safety reporter for The Register-Guard. You may reach her at HKochanski@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Eugene police warn of roadside donation scam in Oregon Evacuation extended to another area in Russia's Kursk Oblast following Ukrainian offensive The residents of the Bolshesoldatskiy district (with the administrative district in the village of Bolshoye Soldatskoye) in Kursk Oblast, Russia, have been urged to evacuate by district officials. Source: Vladimir Zaitsev, Head of the Bolshesoldatskiy district, on Telegram Details: Zaitsev said that the evacuation was announced on 13 August. Until then, "everyone who wanted to leave could leave on their own, no one was stopping them". "Today," Zaitsev said, "we are gathering information about people who need to be evacuated." Background: On the morning of 6 August, the Russians claimed that Ukrainian forces had mounted an attempt to infiltrate Kursk Oblast, Russia. Russian propagandists and military bloggers are claiming that Ukrainian forces have secured a foothold in the border area. Russian ruler Vladimir Putin called the situation a "provocation". On 9 August, Russias Ministry of Defence issued a statement on the situation in Kursk Oblast, acknowledging that Ukrainian forces were on the outskirts of the town of Sudzha. On 10 August, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations said that 76,000 civilians have been evacuated from areas near the Russian-Ukrainian border in Kursk Oblast. On 12 August, Alexei Smirnov, acting Governor of Kursk Oblast in Russia, informed Russian leader Vladimir Putin that 28 towns and villages in Kursk Oblast were "under enemy control". As of 12 August, the Ukrainian army might be controlling up to 44 towns and villages in Russias Kursk Oblast, according to DeepState military analysts. Support UP or become our patron! Evacuees from resort town in the Canadian Rockies can return Friday after wildfire, officials say FILE - Damage is seen after a wildfire in Jasper, Alberta, Friday July 26, 2024. (Amber Bracken/The Canadian Press via AP, File) EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) About 5,000 residents of a resort town in the Canadian Rockies who fled their homes because of a wildfire can return on Friday, officials said Monday. Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland said residents should prepare for a new normal but added that essential services have been restored to the point where they can allow a blanket re-entry. About 25,000 people fled both the town of Jasper and its national park on the night of July 22 as wildfires inched closer to the area. Two days later, wind-whipped flames overwhelmed crews and destroyed one-third of the towns buildings. Key infrastructure, like schools and the water treatment plant, was spared in the picturesque resort town. Jasper National Park is considered a national treasure. The United Nations designated the parks that make up the Canadian Rockies, including Jasper, a World Heritage Site in 1984 for its striking mountain landscape. Officials said utility services could still be hit and miss. Some homes may look fine on the outside but will have sustained heavy smoke or water damage on the inside. Other homes may be fenced off as public safety hazards. The main highway through Jasper National Park, Highway 16, reopened last week, but park trails, campgrounds and day-use areas remain closed pending safety checks. Officials are still trying to figure out where to put students for the upcoming school year. Hospital services are not fully back. Garbage collection plans are still being worked on. Parts of town are under a boil water advisory. In Edmonton, Alberta Jasper resident Victoria Wilson said she was itching to get back home, but now feels a bit of trepidation. A record number of wildfires in 2023 forced more than 235,000 people across Canada to evacuate and sent thick smoke into parts of the U.S., leading to hazy skies and health advisories in multiple U.S. cities. Everything to Know About the Democratic National Convention "Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." The Democratic National Convention is nearly here, and the entire country is preparing to see the turnout from the Dem nominees: presidential candidate Kamala Harris and vice presidential candidate Tim Walz. Here is everything you need to know about the multiday event. When is the Democratic National Convention? The convention will run from Monday, August 19, through Thursday, August 22. Election Day is just 75 days later, on November 5. Where is the DNC? It will be held in Chicago, at two separate venues. The United Center, located on the citys west side, will host evening events, including speeches meant to be livestreamed and watched by the public. McCormick Place, near Lake Michigan, will host more private, closed-meeting daytime events. Who will be there? Of course, well get plenty of speeches and appearances from Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz. President Joe Biden (who stepped away from the race this July) is expected to speak as well, and well surely hear speeches from other politicians within the party, as well as regular voters who support the Harris-Walz ticket. A full list of speakers will likely be released closer to the start of the convention. What is the purpose of the convention? At prior DNCs, the party held a roll-call vote to official choose its nominees, but that will not happen this time. Harris was already confirmed earlier in August through a virtual roll call. So the point of the convention this year will be for the candidates to pour their hearts out about their policies, appeal to their supporters and voters, and make a case for the Harris-Walz ticket, explaining what their tenure in the White House would entail. You Might Also Like Sarah Matthews, a former press aide to Donald Trump, said the former president is behaving with increasing desperation as his campaign flails against Vice President Kamala Harris momentum. I think that he feels this election slipping away from him, and thats where youre beginning to see him spiral and cling to these conspiracy theories, as you noted with the AI-generated crowds, which obviously can be easily disproven, Matthews said on MSNBCs Inside with Jen Psaki on Monday. Trump on Sunday falsely accused Harris of using artificial intelligence to enhance the size of the crowd she drew at a rally in Michigan last week. Thats what happens when he gets desperate, Matthews added, noting that Trump has also recently questioned Harris racial identity and ramped up his feud with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R). These are not winning campaign messages, Matthews said. But that is what he does when he feels like hes under attack, is he uses these kinds of lines of defense that dont make much sense for campaigning. I can assure you that his campaign team is telling him to talk about policy, she continued. They want him to go out there and talk about the economy and immigration and things that voters actually care about, because I can assure you that none of these things that hes talking about in his rallies, or his Truth Social posts, are things that are top of mind for most voters. According to the New York Times, the Republican nominee has often been in a foul mood these past few weeks, which the newspaper described as the worst weeks of his entire campaign. He has repeatedly launched incoherent attacks on his opponent, reportedly rattling wealthy donors. Watch Matthews MSNBC appearance below. Related... GAZA, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- At least seven Palestinians, including three children, were killed on Tuesday evening in an Israeli airstrike on a home in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources said. Palestinian security sources told Xinhua that the airstrike targeted at least one residential home belonging to the Abu Nadda family in the camp. The Israeli army has not commented on the incident yet. Israel launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 were taken hostage. SOCIETY HILL, S.C. (WBTW) A former Darlington County sheriffs captain who was previously the subject of multiple Internal Affairs investigations and more recently a SLED investigation has now been hired by the Society Hill Police Department. Mark Campbell, who News13 has reported on several times over the past two years, joined Society Hills police force in late July. He was fired in March 2023 after News13s investigation into his alleged misconduct and the conduct of another captain, but the South Carolina Attorney Generals Office in March of this year said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him. News13s investigative series into Campbell began in November 2022 when Campbell was initially named Darlingtons police chief but then backed out just days after News13 reported about his previous firing from the Darlington County Sheriffs Office. After that, News13 uncovered multiple Internal Affairs investigations into Campbell while he worked with the Hartsville Police Department from April 2019 to November 2020. Those included substantiated violations of department policies like sexual misconduct. Campbell was also accused of sexual harassment against many female Hartsville police officers. He quit before he was set to be fired. News13 has tried to reach out to Society Hill police for weeks to ask about Campbells hiring, but we havent heard back as of this writing. * * * Caleb is a digital producer at News13. Caleb joined the team in January 2023 after graduating from Liberty University. He is from Northern Virginia. Follow Caleb on X, formerly Twitter, and read more of his work here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW. The former police chief who led a raid on a Kansas newspaper has been charged with a felony. Gideon Cody faces one count of interference with the judicial process, a felony with a possible punishment of seven to 23 months in prison. The case stems from Codys actions following the Aug. 11, 2023, raid on the Marion County Record when he allegedly told local businesswoman Kari Newell to delete texts between them. The charge was announced earlier last week when special prosecutors who reviewed the case released a 124-page report detailing their findings. Prosecutors formally filed the case on Monday in Marion County District Court. The criminal complaint against Cody lists the date of the crime as between Aug. 11 and Aug. 17. A host of law enforcement officials, journalists and local figures are listed as witnesses. Kansas Bureau of Investigation Director Tony Mattivi is also listed as a witness. The controversial raid was carried out as the Marion Police Department investigated allegations that a reporter had illegally accessed Newells driving records from the Kansas Department of Revenue. However, the department of revenue confirmed to The Star that the driving records were on a public-facing website. Search warrants were executed at the newspaper, the home of publishers Joan and Eric Meyer and former Vice Mayor Ruth Herbel. Officers seized computers, cell phones and other items. Body camera footage shows a phone call the day of the raid where Cody provides Newell with a play-by-play of the days events. Newell told KSHB that she had deleted texts between her and Cody at his behest. Marion County Prosecutor Joel Ensey rescinded the search warrants the next week, finding that there was insufficient evidence to support the allegations. On Sept. 29, former Marion City Administrator Brogan Jones found out that Cody had instructed Newell to delete text messages. Cody was put on administrative leave and he resigned on Oct. 2. In November, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation was brought in to look into the case, which was then reviewed by the two special prosecutors. In addition to the criminal charge against Cody, the police department has been subject to several civil lawsuits. The newspaper alleges the raid resulted in First and Fourth Amendment violations and is seeking more than $10 million in damages. SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) A lawsuit alleges that a former top-performing Safeway security employee was fired after giving sandwiches to police officers working a late-night shoplifting sting at a San Francisco location. His lawyer alleges Safeway purposefully did so to cut costs. Oscar Santos, 33, now requests $20 million in punitive damages. VTA creating list of troublesome people banned from riding public transit Santos former formal title was loss prevention manager, which, in his terms, battles theft by holding shoplifters accountable through recovering stolen merchandise. A big part of his and his supervisors job was working with law enforcement, which, he says, involved eight officers deployed in and out of the Mission and 30th Street store to detain shoplifting suspects. As a thank you for their service, we would take care of their lunch and provide deli sandwiches and chicken from the deli, Santos told KRON4. More specifically, he said he gave away the fried chicken and deli sandwiches because they would go bad the next day anyways, so there was no loss to the store whatsoever. He said his supervisor was aware of the ritual. Five years into his full-time employment with Safeway, Santos boss passed away and was replaced with someone from Southern California, which Santos said he did not get along with. I think the new manager just didnt like meMe and him just didnt get along, he said, claiming his boss often tried finding useless agreements. In late 2023, Santos received a formal anonymous complaint of him illegally taking away the Safeway sandwiches outside store property. I tell [Safeway] yeah, thats for SFPD. Weve been doing that this entire time, Santos said, claiming he also told the new manager at the time he was giving out the sandwiches. They said the sandwich inventory was never correctly documented through the inventory log. The only concern raised was that the documentation for these transactions was not completed properly a responsibility that falls under the store director, who oversees inventory, he said. Two weeks later, Santos was fired without warning after Safeway accused him of violating company policy. KRON4 obtained a copy of the termination letter (see below). Termination-letter-from-Kevin-Lovell.jpgDownload Hey, next time you need to document it instead of the manager, go back to work. Thats what the conversation should have been. Same thing with the handcuffs Next thing you know, I get a letter in the mail saying that Im terminated, Santos said. Santos then filed for unemployment. When the Department of Labor reached out to Safeway to find out the reasoning behind Santos termination, he said Safeway simply did not respond. He said his termination letter from Safeway only included him violating company policy. Santos said he is still confused to this day as to why he was fired. In the six years that I worked directly for Safeway, Ive never got any type of disciplinary action, written warning, no, nothing negative ask around, go to any Safeway store, ask, show them a picture of me. Theyll tell you nothing but positive things about me And on the contrary, Ive received several awards and recognitions from both Safeway and law enforcement agenciesSafeway used my alleged failure to correctly document a donation as grounds for termination, despite the fact that this does not constitute just cause Oscar Santos, former Loss Prevention Manager at Safeway Oscar Santos, 33, awarded for his outstanding achievement as a loss prevention manager at Safeway. Pictured with AP Director Victor Woods and Sr APM Celia Kettle. Photo Courtesy: Oscar Santos Oscar Santos, 33, awarded for his outstanding achievement as a loss prevention manager at Safeway. Santos required stitches and a dental implant due getting hit with a liquor bottle while employed at US-Security at Safeway. Photo: Oscar Santos Thats like saying that people shouldnt give coffee and donuts to cops on the beat. They should be so happy that those cops came to their safe way to deal with shoplifting. But instead, they fire the most effective guy in the state of California stopping shoplifting, Santos attorney, Neil Eisenberg, told KRON4. Attorney Eisenberg claims this was not the first of ridiculous reasons a Safeway employee had been abruptly fired and that he believes shoplifting is a money-making proposition for Safeway. This is his third Safeway client alleging wrongful termination. Eisenberg claims large corporations such as Safeway are actually incentivized to lay off their best-performing employees because they no longer have to pay higher salaries or accommodate the employees benefits. sf-safeway-lawsuitDownload The lawsuit filed on June 30 accused the supermarket chain of wrongful termination and is seeking $20 million in punitive damages. KRON4 has reached out to both Safeway and Albertsons regarding the lawsuit and has heard nothing back as of the publishing of this report. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4. By Parisa Hafezi and Laila Bassam DUBAI/BEIRUT (Reuters) -Only a ceasefire deal in Gaza stemming from hoped-for talks this week would hold Iran back from direct retaliation against Israel for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on its soil, three senior Iranian officials said. Iran has vowed a severe response to Haniyeh's killing, which took place as he visited Tehran late last month and which it blamed on Israel. Israel has neither confirmed or denied its involvement. The U.S. Navy has deployed warships and a submarine to the Middle East to bolster Israeli defenses. One of the sources, a senior Iranian security official, said Iran, along with allies such as Hezbollah, would launch a direct attack if the Gaza talks fail or it perceives Israel is dragging out negotiations. The sources did not say how long Iran would allow for talks to progress before responding. With an increased risk of a broader Middle East war after the killings of Haniyeh and Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr, Iran has been involved in intense dialogue with Western countries and the United States in recent days on ways to calibrate retaliation, said the sources, who all spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. In comments published on Tuesday, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey confirmed Washington was asking allies to help convince Iran to de-escalate tensions. Three regional government sources described conversations with Tehran to avoid escalation ahead of the Gaza ceasefire talks, due to begin on Thursday in either Egypt or Qatar. "We hope our response will be timed and executed in a way that does not harm a potential ceasefire," Iran's mission to the U.N. said on Friday in a statement. Iran's foreign ministry on Tuesday said calls to exercise restraint "contradict principles of international law." Iran's foreign ministry and its Revolutionary Guards Corps did not immediately respond to questions for this story. The Israeli Prime Minister's Office and the U.S. State Department did not respond to questions. "Something could happen as soon as this week by Iran and its proxies... That is a U.S. assessment as well as an Israel assessment," White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Monday. "If something does happen this week, the timing of it could certainly well have an impact on these talks we want to do on Thursday," he added. At the weekend, Hamas cast doubt on whether talks would go ahead. Israel and Hamas have held several rounds of talks in recent months without agreeing a final ceasefire. In Israel, many observers believe a response is imminent after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran would "harshly punish" Israel for the strike in Tehran. We are closely following what happens in Beirut and Tehran, and are working to thwart any (possible) threat, while also preparing a variety of offensive options," Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said during a visit to an intelligence base in Northern Israel. "We are determined to fulfill our mission - we must ensure the safe return of (Israels northern) residents to their homes, once we ensure that Hezbollah withdraws north of the Litani River." Iran's regional policy is set by the elite Revolutionary Guards, who answer only to Khamenei, the country's top authority. Iran's relatively moderate new president Masoud Pezeshkian has repeatedly reaffirmed Iran's anti-Israel stance and its support for resistance movements across the region since taking office last month. Meir Litvak, a senior researcher at Tel Aviv University's Alliance Center for Iranian Studies, said he thought Iran would put its needs before helping its ally Hamas but that Iran also wanted to avoid a full-scale war. "The Iranians never subordinated their strategy and policies to the needs of their proxies or protegees, Litvak said. An attack is likely and almost inevitable but I don't know the scale and the timing. Iran-based analyst Saeed Laylaz said the Islamic Republic's leaders were now keen to work towards a ceasefire in Gaza, "to obtain incentives, avoid an all-out war and strengthen its position in the region." Laylaz said Iran had not previously been involved in the Gaza peace process but was now ready to play "a key role." Iran, two of the sources said, was considering sending a representative to the ceasefire talks. However, they said the representative would not directly attend the meetings but would engage in behind-the-scenes discussions "to maintain a line of diplomatic communication" with the United States while negotiations proceed. Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York told Reuters that Tehran would not have a representative present on the sidelines of the ceasefire talks. Officials in Washington, Qatar and Egypt did not immediately respond to questions about whether Iran would play an indirect role in talks. Two senior sources close to Lebanon's Hezbollah said Tehran would give the negotiations a chance but would not give up its intentions to retaliate. A ceasefire in Gaza would give Iran cover for a smaller "symbolic" response, one of the sources said. Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to the health ministry. APRIL MISSILES Iran has not publicly indicated what would be the target of an eventual response to the Haniyeh assassination. On April 13, two weeks after two Iranian generals were killed in a strike on Tehran's embassy in Syria, Iran unleashed a barrage of hundreds of drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles towards Israel, damaging two airbases. Almost all of the weapons were shot down before they reached their targets. "Iran wants its response to be much more effective than the April 13 attack," said Farzin Nadimi, senior fellow with the Washington Institute for Near East policy." Nadimi said such a response would require "a lot of preparation and coordination" especially if it involved Iran's network of allied armed groups opposing Israel and the United States across the Middle East, with Hezbollah the senior member of the so-called "Axis of Resistance," that along with Iraqi militias and Yemen's Houthis have harried Israel since Oct. 7. Two of the Iranian sources said Iran would support Hezbollah and other allies if they launched their own responses to the killing of Haniyeh and Hezbollah's top military commander, Fuad Shukr, who died in a strike in Beirut the day before Haniyeh was killed in Tehran. The sources did not specify what form such support could take. (Reporting by Parisa Hafezi in Dubai, Laila Bassam in Lebanon; Additional reporting by James Mackenzie, Maayan Lubell, Maytaal Angel and Steven Scheer in Jerusalem, Phil Stewart, Humeyra Pamuk, Idris Ali and Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington and Michelle Nichols in New YorkWriting by Samia Nakhoul; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Giles Elgood) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. The man convicted of raping and killing a southwest Missouri nine-year-old girl learns the day he will die. Christopher Collings, 49, execution date is now set for December 3 at 6 p.m. The Missouri Supreme Court filed the warrant of execution Tuesday. This comes after justices denied his latest attempt to have his sentence and conviction thrown out. All other appeals have been exhausted. Execution date requested for convicted child murderer Collings was found guilty of raping and killing nine-year-old Rowan Ford in November 2007. Her body was discovered, naked, in a McDonald County cave six days after she went missing. Autopsy results showed she died from ligature strangulation. Collings confessed to the crime. The little girls stepfather, David Spears, also pleaded guilty for his role in her death and has already been released from prison. Collings now awaits his execution at the Potosi Correctional Center. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com. Nearly 17 years after the murder of nine-year-old Rowan Ford, an execution date has been set for one of the men involved in her death. The Supreme Court of Missouri issued a warrant of execution for Christopher Collings on Tuesday. He will be executed at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 3. In April, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey requested an execution date for Collings, who was convicted of the 2007 killing of nine-year-old Ford. Ford, who was a fourth-grader at Stella Elementary School, was last seen Nov. 2, 2007, at her home in Stella, where she lived with her mother Colleen Spears and stepfather David Spears. Following a weeklong search, which included support from about 40 FBI agents, Ford's body was found in a hillside cave in McDonald County, about 10 miles south of her home. The day after Ford's body was found, David Spears, 25 at the time, and Collings, 32 at the time, were arrested and charged with first-degree murder, forcible rape and statutory rape, according to previous News-Leader reporting. Collings, now 49, was sentenced in 2012 to life in prison for first-degree murder, and Spears was sentenced to a total of 11 years in prison for first-degree endangering the welfare of a child and hindering the prosecution of a felony. As of Tuesday, Spears was no longer in Missouri Department of Corrections custody. A story about the charging of David Spears and Chris Collings for first-degree murder, forcible rape and statutory rape in conjunction with the disappearance and death of Rowan Ford from a clipping of the Springfield News-Leader on Nov. 11, 2007. What happened to Rowan Ford? Just a few days after Spears and Collings' arrest, Collings confessed his crimes to the authorities. According to previous News-Leader reporting based on Collings' confession, on the night of Ford's disappearance, Collings and Spears took the girl from her home to a camping trailer in Barry County where Collings lived. There, the men raped Ford and one of them strangled her with a cord. Her body was later moved to the cave in McDonald County. Authorities initially had been suspicious of Spears because he did not cooperate in explaining the reason behind his "lengthy absence" from the family's home the night of Ford's disappearance, per previous News-Leader coverage. Ford's mother, Colleen, last saw her daughter on the evening of Nov. 2 before going to a shift at Walmart in a neighboring town. When Colleen left, Ford was asleep in her bed and Spears remained at home to watch her. A story about the disappearance of the late Rowan Ford from a clipping of the Springfield News-Leader on Nov. 8, 2007. Spears later told authorities that he went out with friends the night of Nov. 2, leaving Ford at home. He returned around midnight but did not check on his stepdaughter. Spears later left the house a second time after calling his mother, asking to borrow her sport utility vehicle, according to previous News-Leader reporting. Spears' mother brought her vehicle to the Spears' household but did not check on Ford while Spears was gone for about five-and-a-half hours. More: Access news, today's paper anywhere you go with the Springfield News-Leader app Initially, Spears and Collings pleaded not guilty to the charges. However, after obtaining lawyers, the two men pleaded guilty. Discussion about the death penalty for Collings began as early as May 2008. A story about the arrest of David Spears and Chris Collings in conjunction with the disappearance and death of Rowan Ford from a clipping of the Springfield News-Leader on Nov. 14, 2007. On Nov. 14, 2007, not two weeks after Ford was reported missing, more than 300 community members gathered to mourn her loss at Gospel Lighthouse Church in Neosho. Colleen filed for a divorce from Spears in December 2007, according to court documents. Greta Cross is the trending topics reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. She has more than five years of journalism experience covering everything from Ozarks history to Springfields LGBTQIA+ community. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretalcross. Story idea? Email her at gcross@news-leader.com. This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Execution date set for man who killed 9-year-old Rowan Ford in 2007 (Getty Images) (This image cannot be republished unless you have a Getty subscription.) It may seem like its always been a part of America, but July 30 was Medicares 59th birthday. We should pause, celebrate its success and commit to stopping the corporations who are pilfering it for their own profits. Health care in the United States remains unaffordable and inaccessible despite costing Americans $4.7 trillion a year. Medical costs are the leading cause of personal bankruptcy for Americans, and the problem is even more dire among seniors. Those older than age 55 represent 31% of our country but account for 55% of health care spending. When Medicare was signed into law 59 years ago in Independence, it offered the hope that our populations elderly and disabled could access health care and age with dignity. Its lived up to that promise for generations now. The attack on Medicare began in the 1970s with a proposal to turn the nations best public health program over to profit-centric corporations and privatize Medicare. The false premise was that the free market would create competition that could drive down health care costs and turn a profit for the investment community. That strategy works in many parts of the economy, but not in health care. Health care by nature cannot be a free market good. It isnt like purchasing a cell phone where you can identify prices, compare specs of different models, read reviews and ultimately choose to walk away if you dont like the options. Patients dont wake up in the morning and choose to take medications because they want to, but because they need to. Health care emergencies like heart attacks and strokes dont afford patients or their families the luxury to price shop, compare facilities or reviews. Health care can only turn a profit at the expense of quality care. This is exactly what so-called Medicare Advantage (MA) plans have demonstrated every year since their creation in 2003. MA corporations restrict access to care through small networks, ghost networks, limited out of network coverage, and referral requirements for specialty care none of which exist in Traditional Medicare. MA plans typically refuse access to more than half of the physicians in a community, sometimes excluding up to 70% of providers, and cover only half of hospitals in a county. Because these plans force patients with many types of cancer to delay their care and block them from going to Centers of Excellence, these critically ill patients are more likely to die after their cancer surgery than similar patients in traditional Medicare. No one warns patients about these barriers to care, and in fact MA plans grossly mislead people about what they cover. MA network directories frequently include providers who are retired, deceased or simply dont exist. These limitations are even worse for those living in rural areas where access is already limited. Even when patients go to in-network providers, they are then faced with prior authorizations and claims denials that further delay access to care. In 2018 the Office of Inspector General (OIG) published a report showing 75% of appealed claims denied by MA plans were overturned on first repeal. Analysis by KFF found that in 2021, 82% of appealed denials were approved. These high successful repeal rates suggest that many of the denials should have never happened in the first place. Unfortunately, the appeals system for claims denials is so convoluted that only 1-6% of claims are ever attempted to be appealed, allowing companies to reap massive profits just by denying care. These coverage restrictions have also extended to physician administered medications; in reviewing the 20 most commonly prescribed medications between 12-17 of 20 had access restricted with prior authorizations in 2018. By 2020, CVS/Aetna and Humana only retained four of the 20 most commonly used physician administered medications on their formularies, Kaiser covered 6 and United Healthcare covered only 2. One of the shiny selling points for an MA plan over traditional Medicare plans is the inclusion of vision, hearing and dental benefits that arent part of traditional Medicare, but on closer look most of these plans have dollar limits that result in thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs, making it hard to see much true benefit. With all the harms noted for MA plans over traditional Medicare plans, one might expect that if the plan were truly bad in a free market, patients would switch away from MA plans. Unfortunately, consumers dont get a choice, since health care is not a true free-market commodity. Those with higher health care needs do in fact switch out of MA plans at significant rates, but this option isnt accessible to everyone. Protections against pre-existing conditions in pricing of Medigap policies only exist for the first 6-12 months in most states, including Missouri. Switching out of MA plans after the first year can be cost prohibitive, trapping patients in a vicious cycle of care delays and denials. The experiment of privatization of Medicare is a failed one. In addition to the actual patient harms that have come from privatized Medicare, MA plans are inefficient, have high administrative burden and more costly to taxpayers. The government pays more per person in MA plans than in TM plans, at a conservative estimate of 140 billion dollars a year in excess payments. If that money instead went towards improving traditional Medicare, we could eliminate the need for people in traditional Medicare to purchase Medigap (a $5,000 out-of-pocket maximum would cost $39 billion); we could include hearing, dental, vision for everyone in Medicare and Medicaid ($84 billion), or free people from having to pay a premium for Medicare Part B ($131 billion). For its 59th birthday this year, lets protect Medicare from the corporate raiders, call for an end to the subsidies and make the best thing (Medicare) even better. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST The regional authorities in Kharkiv Oblast have extended curfew hours from 5 p.m. to 9 a.m. in 201 towns and villages in Kharkiv Oblast, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said on air on Aug. 13. Most settlements in Ukraine, including Kyiv, Lviv, and Odesa, have a curfew from midnight to 5 a.m. due to the imposition of martial law. The authorities announced on Aug. 12 an extended curfew for towns and villages in the Derhachi and Lyptsi communities in Kharkiv Oblast. "In fact, in five districts, that is 201 settlements, we will strengthen the curfew," Syniehubov clarified on Aug. 13. The decision was taken to ensure the safety of civilians and allow the Ukrainian Armed Forces to operate effectively, Syniehubov said. Russia launched its offensive in Kharkiv Oblast on May 10, and although the assault quickly stalled, civilians in the region still come under regular fire. Three civilians in Kharkiv Oblast were injured by Russian attacks over just the past day. Almost 14,000 people, including 1,000 children, have been evacuated from Kharkiv Oblast since May 10, Syniehubov added. Kharkiv Oblast borders Belgorod Oblast, one of the three regions where Russian authorities introduced a so-called "counter-terrorism operation" on Aug. 9 in response to Ukraine's incursion into Russian territory. Ukrainian troops reportedly entered Belgorod Oblast on Aug. 10. The extension of the curfew comes the same day as the Ukrainian military announced that civilians in neighboring Sumy Oblast will be subject to restrictions on movement within a 20-kilometer zone of the Russian border. Read also: Ukraine war latest: Ukraine in control of 28 settlements in Kursk Oblast Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. WINDHOEK, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF) highlighted the importance of equipping African youth with essential information technology skills on Monday, in honor of International Youth Day. Boemo Sekgoma, secretary general of the regional inter-parliamentary body SADC PF, made the remarks in a statement in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. "The youth represent the new generation of individuals who have grown up with exposure to digital systems, be it in the form of desktop computers, smartphones, or laptops, and have been trained to acquire digital and web-based skills," Sekgoma said. According to Sekgoma, at this stage of African development, the full potential of digital learning and transformation must be tapped by the youth to make them partake equitably in the gains of the information and communications technology sector. "The Forum encourages national parliaments to promote dedicated committees that can examine digital legal and policy initiatives and make recommendations to the plenary assembly for comprehensive deliberations that should be inclusive of the voices of the youth," she added. Sekgoma said the forum fully associates itself with this year's theme for International Youth Day, "From Clicks to Progress: Youth Digital Pathways for Sustainable Development," which emphasizes the significance of youth digital education and capacity-building that can undeniably translate into socio-economic progress and an upgrading of the quality of life of citizens at large. International Youth Day, observed annually on Aug. 12, aims to bring youth issues to the attention of the international community and celebrate the potential of youth as partners in today's global society. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaks during a television interview at the White House on July 23. He helped announce a new round of infrastructure improvements for airports. Photo by Chris Kleponis/UPI Aug. 13 (UPI) -- The Federal Aviation Administration will award $566.4 million in grants to nearly 300 projects to improve airports around the country, the Department of Transportation said Tuesday. The grants, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will support projects in 47 states, according to the FAA. They will be used for various projects, including airport planning and development, sustainability initiatives, terminal expansions, baggage system upgrades and safety enhancements. "As Americans fly in record numbers, the Biden-Harris administration is improving our nation's airports to make travel more convenient for passengers," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. The Transportation Department said about half of the country's airports have received grants for upgrades. "We're helping ensure traveler safety by upgrading every part of airfield operations, from better runway and taxiway configuration vivid signage, better lighting and improved pavement markings," FAA Associate Administrator for Airports Shannetta Griffin said. Airport improvement grants, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will support projects in 47 states, according to the FAA. They will be used for various projects, including airport planning and development, sustainability initiatives, terminal expansions, baggage system upgrades and safety enhancements. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI Some projects already included are a terminal expansion at the Asheville Regional Airport in North Carolina, a new $8.4 million yard for a new air cargo apron at the Albuquerque International Sunport in New Mexico and a new taxiway at the San Diego International Airport. In April, the FAA announced $148.3 million in airport projects in 28 states and Guam, helping some 70 airports complete vital infrastructure projects to improve safety and efficiency. The Biden administration has now dedicated $9 billion to Airport Infrastructure Grants from the infrastructure law. Claim: A mug shot shared online in August 2024 authentically showed a young Bill Gates after he was arrested in 1977 for running a stop sign and driving without a license in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Rating: Rating: True For several years, a viral image purportedly showing a mug shot of a young Bill Gates has circulated online. (X user @timecaptales) The billionaire co-founder of Microsoft did indeed have some minor run-ins with the law in his younger days, including one that led to the infamous mug shot. The above image shows a young Gates in police custody in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The caption claims, semi-accurately, that he was arrested for jumping a red light and driving without a license. According to the Albuquerque police, he failed to stop at a stop sign. Gates himself addressed the arrest that led to that mug shot in an interview with Time magazine in 2007: There's a great photo of Bill Gates from 1977, the year he would have graduated from Harvard if he hadn't dropped out. He was 22 at the time and looks all of 16. He's got a flowered collar, tinted glasses and feathered blond hair, and he looks so happy, you'd swear he knew what the rest of his life was going to be like. He also has a sign around his neck: it's a mug shot. "I was out driving Paul [Allen]'s car," Gates says, flashing that same smile 30 years later. "They pulled me over, and I didn't have my license, and they put me in with all the drunks all night long. And that's why the rest of my life, I've always tried to have a fair amount of cash with me. I like the idea of being able to bail myself out." While Time said he was 22, articles from 1998 put his age at 21 at the time of his arrest. According to a 1998 Associated Press story, the same mug shot featured on the cover of Brill's Content magazine a media watchdog publication as part of a story about Microsoft's public relations machine. According to the AP article (which cited the Albuquerque police), the 1977 arrest was for running a stop sign and driving without a license. Gates had also been arrested in 1975 for speeding and driving without a license. Gates himself reportedly first saw the photograph when representatives of the city of Albuquerque asked him if they could release it to Brill's Content. He also showed it at a May 1998 speech, which many said was a preemptive attempt at damage control. Given that Gates himself and the AP both addressed the circumstances of the arrest, we rated this mug shot as "True." Sources: "Clipped From The Times Recorder." The Times Recorder, 15 Aug. 1998, p. 6. newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99976411/the-times-recorder/. Accessed 18 Apr. 2022. Gammon, Katharine. "What We'll Miss About Bill Gates a Very Long Good-Bye." Wired. www.wired.com, https://www.wired.com/2008/05/st-billgates/. Accessed 18 Apr. 2022. Grossman, Lev. "Bill Gates Goes Back to School." Time, June 2007. content.time.com, https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,1630564-1,00.html. Accessed 18 Apr. 2022. Claim: Photos shared online in early August 2024 authentically showed a young Kamala Harris in revealing clothes, working as an escort. Rating: Rating: False In early August 2024, social media users claimed three widely shared images showed U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris in a series of revealing outfits. Numerous captions stated these pictures showed a young Harris as an "escort." One caption read: "Staffers in San Francisco are coming forward stating that Kamala Harris was an escort for judges, politicians, and various powerful businessmen to sway court cases and help push leftist policies in the state." The three photos can be seen in the two X posts below (the photo on the left is repeated in both posts). (X user @IKennect) (X user @ArmaLite15OU812) Although we were unable to find an authentic source for the photographs, one expert told Snopes his theory was the pictures were low-quality images that did not feature Harris at all. There was also no evidence Harris was ever an "escort," as the captions claimed. Considering these points, and several others outlined below, we rated the photos and the associated claims "False." Using numerous reverse-image search tools, we found the photos appeared to start spreading on Facebook, Instagram, X, and 4chan in early August, not long after Harris formally declared her candidacy for president. A Reddit post (archived) and a Facebook post credited the images to a "Glenn Sparks" on Facebook; however, Snopes was unable to find the pictures on Sparks' account. The latter Facebook post said the photo showed Harris in the 1980s "with Montel Williams (a television host and actor) at some awards show." Meanwhile, one of the earliest similar posts was published by an Instagram account that also posted the images of Harris. Analyzing Each Photograph Starting with the second pair of photos featuring a woman in slightly different black and purple outfits, the individual carried a small resemblance to the vice president but, upon our viewing, did not appear to be Harris. Snopes shared the images with Hany Farid, a professor who specialized in digital forensics and image analysis at the University of California, Berkeley. We attempted to determine whether artificial intelligence (AI) or photo editing software was used to place Harris' head onto another woman's body, or if any other manipulation occurred. Farid, who analyzed both the photographs featuring the woman in black, told Snopes: "It is a pretty low-quality image, making an analysis difficult. But, I don't find any obvious signs that the image is AI-generated. I think it is more likely that this is a cheap fake and the person just isn't [Harris]." He also ran the photo on the right through a facial biometric system and found it did not match Harris at all. Farid sent us a gif, seen below, comparing Harris' face to that of the woman in one of the photographs. Even if it was a much younger image of Harris, the ear shape and structure did not align, and neither did the eyes. "I [aligned] the face in the photo to a recent photo of Harris and you can see that there are significant differences in the shape of the ear (while not unique, ear shape/structure has been used as a biometric)," he told us. (Hany Farid) Farid also used the facial biometric system on the woman in the red dress, from the first pair of photos, and found it matched with Harris. However, he explained: "This is most likely a simple photoshop manipulation, but the image is too low resolution/quality for me to say anything definitive." Snopes then ran the images through AI detectors, Winston AI and IsitAI, both of which suggested the images of the woman in the black and purple outfits were human-generated, though they were conflicted on the origin of the woman in the red dress. IsitAI said it was likely human-generated, while Winston AI said it was likely AI-generated. Why We Rated Each Image 'False' The posts containing the images did not include any links to authentic reporting on the photos, nor details of their origin, nor credible evidence other than the low-quality pictures themselves, making the images immediately suspect. If there were any truth to the claims Harris was an "escort," or to these photographs, both would be eminently newsworthy and mainstream media outlets would have investigated them. However, Snopes found no evidence of news outlets reporting on Harris being an escort, or stating the images were authentic. Furthermore, if these were pictures of a young Harris, the photographs would have been more widespread before August 2024. Snopes, the BBC and MSNBC have all previously reported on other authentic photos of Harris in the 1980s, none of which looked like the above three photos. We also reached out to other experts to determine whether there were any potential manipulations in the images, as well as to the Harris campaign to get their response. We will update this article if we learn more. False claims about Harris have proliferated ever since she became a presidential nominee, many focusing on her race and gender. Such racist and misogynist speech is common during political campaigns. In the past, we covered the false claim that Harris could not run for president because her parents were foreign-born. Sources: 'College Pics of Kamala Harris Help Highlight Her Black Greek History'. MSNBC.Com, 5 Aug. 2024, https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/reidout-blog/kamala-harris-alpha-kappa-alpha-sorority-howard-rcna164185." target="blank">https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/reidout-blog/kamala-harris-alpha-kappa-alpha-sorority-howard-rcna164185.">https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/reidout-blog/kamala-harris-alpha-kappa-alpha-sorority-howard-rcna164185. Accessed 13 Aug. 2024. Evon, Dan. "Snopes Tips: A Guide To Performing Reverse Image Searches." Snopes, 22 Mar. 2022, https://www.snopes.com//articles/400681/how-to-perform-reverse-image-searches/." target="blank">https://www.snopes.com//articles/400681/how-to-perform-reverse-image-searches/.">https://www.snopes.com//articles/400681/how-to-perform-reverse-image-searches/. Accessed 12 Aug. 2024. "Hate Speech Targets Kamala Harris on Social Media DW 08/07/2024." Dw.Com, https://www.dw.com/en/kamala-harris-battles-hate-speech-and-false-claims-online/a-69872700. Accessed 12 Aug. 2024. Ibrahim, Nur. "Kamala Harris Is Eligible to Run for US President, Despite Parents Being Foreign-Born." Snopes, 5 Aug. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/harris-president-foreign-parents/." target="blank">https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/harris-president-foreign-parents/.">https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/harris-president-foreign-parents/. Accessed 12 Aug. 2024. 'Kamala Harris and a 1986 Snapshot of That Howard Generation'. BBC News, 20 Jan. 2021. www.bbc.co.uk, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55690001." target="blank">https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55690001.">https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55690001. Accessed 13 Aug. 2024. PerryCook, Taija. 'Authentic Pic of Kamala Harris in the '80s?' Snopes, 29 July 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/kamala-harris-photo-from-the-1980s/." target="blank">https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/kamala-harris-photo-from-the-1980s/.">https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/kamala-harris-photo-from-the-1980s/. Accessed 13 Aug. 2024. Wrona, Aleksandra. "Fake Photo Supposedly Shows Hitler Once Posed Like Trump After Assassination Attempt." Snopes, 8 Aug. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/trump-hitler-photo/." target="blank">https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/trump-hitler-photo/.">https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/trump-hitler-photo/. Accessed 12 Aug. 2024. Fact Check: No, Tim Walz Did Not Lie About Being at Bagram Airfield or Claim It Was in Iraq Claim: Tim Walz claimed to have traveled to Bagram Airfield as a service member and also incorrectly stated that Bagram was in Iraq, not Afghanistan. Rating: Rating: False Context: Tim Walz traveled to Bagram Airfield as a U.S. congressman. The claim that Walz implied that such trips were part of his service in the National Guard, or that he incorrectly stated that Bagram was in Iraq, stem from a written version of his remarks at a 9/11 memorial service that differ from the remarks he actually gave. In the wake of renewed interest in how Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz has described his service in the National Guard, right-leaning accounts on X claimed to have caught Walz in a case of stolen valor: falsely claiming to have seen combat. The evidence? A video of Walz "claiming he was on the tarmac in Bagram": The video shared in support of the claim is a real speech Walz gave as governor of Minnesota on Sept. 11, 2021, for the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11th attacks. However, it does not catch Walz in a lie. In the speech, shown below, Walz never claimed that he went to Bagram as a soldier, and he also never claimed that Bagram Airfield, located in Afghanistan, was in Iraq. The confusion stems, in part, from an official Minnesota publication that collected the 20th-anniversary remarks of various Minnesota politicians. This collection contains a version of the speech that differs significantly from the one Walz actually gave. In the print version, the words attributed to Walz differ in at least two key ways. First, the printed remarks described Walz's National Guard service closer to the part of the speech where he recounted his time on Bagram. Second, the printed remarks incorrectly placed Bagram Air Force base in Iraq (emphasis ours): In the years after [9/11], I had the privilege of serving in this state's national guard. I stood one night in the dark of night on the tarmac at Bagram Air Base in Iraq and watched a military ramp ceremonya soldier's body being loaded onto a plane to be returned home. And if you've seen it, you don't leave the same. In the actual speech however, Walz's mention of the National Guard is separated from his mention of Bagram, and it is raised in the context of his not having given the ultimate sacrifice, saying that he was always able to return home to his daughter, unlike two mothers who lost their sons in combat who spoke before him. He also does not mention Bagram being in Iraq (emphasis ours): In the years that happened after [9/11], I had the privilege of serving in this state's National Guard. And when I left, I had a 2-year-old. When I came home, I had a 3-year-old. But as I listened to [Jill Stephenson and Mariah Jacobsen, gold star mothers who spoke before Walz] the guilt. I came home and my daughter went on. And when you're 2 and 3, she knew no difference. That's not true for some. They can't do that. And over the preceding [sic] years of watching us and as our nation changed, and as our political systems became more difficult for all of us to understand, I stood one night in the dark of night on the tarmac at Bagram and watched a military ramp ceremony. And if you've seen it, which these folks many have, unfortunately, you don't leave the same. Walz has, in fact, traveled to Bagram Airfield and did witness a military ramp ceremony in his capacity as a U.S. congressman. On Jan. 9, 2008, as part of a nine-day tour of the Middle East, Walz stayed overnight at Bagram Airfield and participated in a fallen comrade ceremony, according to a news release. "I went to the Middle East last week to find out how we can continue to improve the health care soldiers receive, from the time they're injured on the battlefield until they conclude their recovery at a major military medical facility," Walz said in a statement upon his return. "It is clear to me that we have great medical professionals and incredibly brave soldiers, but what we don't have is a streamlined medical records system. I am committed to changing this." Because the printed version of Walz's remarks are incorrect with regard to Iraq, because the full context of his actual remarks makes clear he is speaking of a time after his service in the National Guard, and because he has actually been to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan and witnessed the return of fallen soldiers on that tarmac, the claim is "False." Sources: "9/11 Day of Remembrance at the MN State Capitol." Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xXpYNWi1Jg&t=5513s. Accessed 12 Aug. 2024. Minnesota in the Global War on Terrorism. Minnesota Military and Veterans Museum , 2023, https://www.lrl.mn.gov/docs/2023/mandated/231447.pdf. WALZ RETURNS FROM OVERSEAS TRIP INVESTIGATING MILITARY HEALTHCARE. 2 Jan. 2009, https://web.archive.org/web/20090102232739/https://walz.house.gov/list/press/mn01_walz/0116Investigatingmilitary.shtml. Fact Check: Yes, Musk Once Said Trump Would Be 'Too Old' at End of 2nd Term To Be President Claim: Elon Musk once said: "Trump would be 82 at end of term, which is too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States of America." Rating: Rating: Correct Attribution Context: Musk did say this on X in July 2022, but it was only one half of his post. The second half read: "If [Ron] DeSantis runs against Biden in 2024, then DeSantis will easily win he doesnt even need to campaign." As former U.S. President Donald Trump and X owner Elon Musk prepared to chat live on X Live, the campaign account of Vice President Kamala Harris Trump's opponent in the 2024 presidential election posted a screenshot purportedly showing one of Musk's old posts (archived): The Tesla founder's alleged X post read: "Trump would be 82 at end of term, which is too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States of America." Harris' campaign appeared to be pointing out that this supposed post contradicted Musk's recent endorsement of the former president. One month prior to their live chat, the X owner announced he backed Trump on the day the Republican nominee survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania (archived): I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery pic.twitter.com/ZdxkF63EqF Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 13, 2024 Musk did indeed post the quote on July 12, 2022, which is why we rated this claim "Correct Attribution." However, it required more context. The original post read as follows (archived): "Trump would be 82 at end of term, which is too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States of America. If DeSantis runs against Biden in 2024, then DeSantis will easily win he doesn't even need to campaign." Trump would be 82 at end of term, which is too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States of America. If DeSantis runs against Biden in 2024, then DeSantis will easily win he doesnt even need to campaign. Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 12, 2022 That same day, Musk posted various arguments for not supporting Trump (archived and archived): I dont hate the man, but its time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset. Dems should also call off the attack dont make it so that Trumps only way to survive is to regain the Presidency. Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 12, 2022 Yeah, but too much drama. Do we really want a bull in a china shop situation every single day!? Also, I think the legal maximum age for start of Presidential term should be 69. Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 12, 2022 Snopes has regularly addressed social media posts about Musk and Trump in the build-up to the 2024 presidential election. Sources: 'DeSantis Drops out of Presidential Race, Leaving Trump and Haley to Face off in New Hampshire'. AP News, 21 Jan. 2024, https://apnews.com/article/ron-desantis-250c8ed4b49843350e258f0c2754c8ba. Gibson, Brittany. 'Trump's Interview with Musk Devolves into yet Another X Catastrophe'. Politico, 12 Aug. 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/12/trump-musk-x-interview-problems-00173739. Hardinges, Nick. 'Elon Musk Agreed to Host Presidential Debate Between Biden, Trump and RFK Jr.?' Snopes, 23 May 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/musk-debate-biden-trump-rfk/. 'Here's How Elon Musk Became a Ron DeSantis Supporter'. Tampa Bay Times, https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2023/05/24/desantis-elon-musk-twitter-spaces-endorsement-president-2024/. Accessed 13 Aug. 2024. Ibrahim, Nur. 'Elon Musk Said X Users Who Use "Weird" to Describe Trump Supporters "Will Be Punished"?' Snopes, 31 July 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/elon-musk-x-weird-trump-punished/. Izzo, Jack. 'Elon Musk Could Donate $45M Per Month to Trump Campaign for 462 Years?' Snopes, 22 July 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/elon-musk-45-million-trump/. 'Ron DeSantis Will Launch His 2024 Bid on Twitter Spaces with Elon Musk'. NBC News, 23 May 2023, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/ron-desantis-presidential-bid-campaign-elon-musk-rcna85288. Trump Assassination Attempt Articles | Snopes.Com. https://www.snopes.com/tag/trump_assassination_attempt/. Accessed 13 Aug. 2024. 'X.Com'. X (Formerly Twitter), https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1823144316014911820. Accessed 13 Aug. 2024. Fact Check: Yes, Photos Do Show JD Vance Wearing Dress and Blonde Wig While at Yale Law School Claim: Photos shared in August 2024 authentically showed U.S. Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance wearing a dress and a blonde wig. Rating: Rating: True On Aug. 11 2024, X user and podcaster Matt Bernstein posted a photo purportedly showing U.S. Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance once wearing a dress and a blonde wig. Bernstein captioned the image, which had amassed more than 17.6 million views as of this writing: "New: i have obtained a photo of jd vance in drag while at yale law school." new: i have obtained a photo of jd vance in drag while at yale law school pic.twitter.com/jYf14Lwa4D matt (@mattxiv) August 11, 2024 Nearly 24 hours later, Bernstein posted another picture, captioned: "A second photo has hit my inbox." He also shared both photos on his verified Instagram account. (X user @mattxiv) Snopes spoke to numerous sources who all confirmed the authenticity of the images meaning they were not digitally manipulated, not AI-generated, and indeed showed JD Vance which is why we rated this claim "True." A representative for the Ohio senator who asked not to be named told Snopes via email: "JD put on a bad wig at a party in college - not exactly scandalous." A member of the Yale Law School class of 2013 Vance's class also confirmed to Snopes via phone call under the condition of anonymity that "classmates have confirmed that the two pictures posted are real." Likewise, another fellow student at Yale, Travis Whitfill, claimed to have originally released the first photo. (X user @twhitfill) "It's from a group chat of Vance's fellow classmates and is from a friend of a friend," Whitfill told American news website The Daily Beast. "I believe it was grabbed from Facebook and was taken at a Halloween party." Whitfill also pointed to a site called "jdvanceindrag.com" (archived), which directed visitors to The Trevor Project a nonprofit dedicated to "suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youth" as well as fundraising platform ActBlue and nonprofit organizations Vote Forward and Vote.org. Sources: JD Vance Hates Drag? https://jdvanceindrag.com/. Accessed 12 Aug. 2024. 'J.D. Vance's Team Won't Comment on His Viral Drag Photo'. The New Republic. The New Republic, https://newrepublic.com/post/184764/jd-vance-team-wont-comment-viral-drag-photo. Accessed 12 Aug. 2024. Lazarus, Lily Mae. 'JD Vance's Campaign Won't Deny That's Him in Viral Drag Photo'. The Daily Beast, 11 Aug. 2024. www.thedailybeast.com, https://www.thedailybeast.com/jd-vances-campaign-wont-deny-thats-him-in-viral-drag-photo. Netanyahu in his Jerusalem office on Aug. 4 Credit - Paolo PellegrinMagnum Photos for TIME Read our full cover story on Benjamin Netanyahu here. You can also read a full transcript of the interview here. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sat down for a wide-ranging interview with TIME on Aug. 4 at his Jerusalem office. During the discussion with TIME Correspondent Eric Cortellessa, Netanyahu made a number of claims that lacked context, were not supported by facts, or were not true. Following is a review of Netanyahus false statements during the interview. TIME has also published a full transcript of the conversation. What Netanyahu Said: Regarding Israel's tacit and direct support for Hamas before Oct. 7, Its not only my government. It's the previous government, the government before me, and the government after me. It wasn't bankrolling Hamas. The Facts: The Qataris began funding Hamas shortly after the Islamist terror group took over the Gaza Strip in 2007. Ehud Olmert was Prime Minister then, but Israel was not directly involved in those initial cash infusions. It wasnt until 2014, under the approval of Netanyahu, that the Israeli government became directly involved in the financial transfers of $30 million a month. From 2012 to 2018, Qatar funneled roughly $1.1 billion into the Strip, directing the funds to cover humanitarian aid, fuel, and government salaries, according to an analysis provided to Israeli ministers. Its unknown just how much was diverted by Hamas to build its vast network of underground tunnels and military installations. Netanyahus government was so invested in the policy that when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas sanctioned Hamas in 2018 and cut off salaries for government workers in Gaza, the Israeli government delivered the money into Gaza through cash-filled suitcases. At the time, Netanyahus Education Minister Naftali Bennett opposed the payments, calling it protection money that would buy only temporary quiet. Bennett would succeed Netanyahu in 2021, the first Prime Minister in a unity government that lasted nearly 18 months. While Bennett continued to allow Qatari money to fund Hamas, one of his first moves as the Israeli premier was to cancel the cash-filled suitcases sent into Gaza. What Netanyahu Said: Regarding the impact of that support, I don't think it made that big a difference, because the main issue was the transfer of weapons and ammunition from the Sinai into Gaza. That's what made themit wasn't so much a question of money. It was a question of availability. The Facts: With the more than one billion dollars Qatar funneled into Hamas coffers with Israeli cooperation, the group was able to buy and smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip. Money is fungible, Chip Usher, a retired senior analyst for the CIA, told the New York Times. Anything that Hamas didnt have to use out of its own budget freed up money for other things. What Netanyahu Said: Regarding his reported admission of support for Hamas, Thats a false statement. I never said that. The Facts: Multiple Israeli news outlets reported Netanyahus quote from a 2019 Likud Party conference. He also reportedly told the journalist Dan Margalit in 2012 that he wanted to keep Hamas as a counterweight to the Fatah-controlled PA. Others in Netanyahus government have explicitly said that the strategy of funding Hamas was to prevent the emergence of a Palestinian State. In a 2015 interview, Netanyahus current Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said "the Palestinian Authority is a burden, and Hamas is an asset. What Netanyahu Said: Oct. 7th showed that those who said that Hamas was deterred were wrong. If anything, I didn't challenge enough the assumption that was common to all the security agencies. The Facts: Israeli security agencies did not uniformly say before Oct. 7 that Hamas was deterred. In fact, as Netanyahu was asked about in the interview, his own security chiefs warned him that Hezbollah and Hamas saw the societal division over his plan to diminish the power of the Supreme Court as weakening Israels deterrence. If Netanyahu challenged his security agencies, it was in the opposite direction: he refused to heed the warnings that Hamas saw an opening to strike Israel. At the same time, Netanyahu himself said publicly on numerous occasions that Hamas was deterred from attacking Israel. Just months before Oct. 7, Netanyahu appeared on Israels Channel 14, a friendly right-wing network, to say that he fended off future attacks from the Gaza Strip after an 11-day round of fighting in 2021. In his 2022 memoir, Bibi, Netanyahu wrote that Hamas was sufficiently constrained and that he didnt want to wage all-out war in Gaza when he was more concerned about Iran. Did I really want to tie down the IDF in Gaza for years when we had to deal with Iran and a possible Syrian front? he wrote. The answer was categorically no. I had bigger fish to fry. What Netanyahu Said: Regarding the lack of prosecution of Israelis impeding aid to Gaza, They have. I don't know. I don't know that they're not prosecuted. The Facts: While Israelis caught trying to divert humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip have been detained for questioning, there have been no known indictments, according to the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporations legal affairs reporter Avishai Grinzaig. What Netanyahu Said: Regarding his trial on corruption charges, "That trial is unraveling now. You don't hear about it very much, but it's really unraveling." The Facts: Netanyahu's trial on corruption charges has been moving forward. Over the summer, Netanyahu sought to delay giving testimony for his corruption trial to March 2025. Israels State Attorneys Office opposed the request, and the Jerusalem District Court ruled against Netanyahu, ordering him to begin his testimony in December 2024. What Netanyahu Said: Regarding illegal West Bank settlement activity, I've not sought annexation. The Facts: This is not true. In January 2020, after President Donald Trump unveiled his Israeli-Palestinian peace plan at the White House, Netanyahu promised to annex the Jordan Valley and the settlements in the West Bank. The Prime Minister pushed a plan to extend Israeli sovereignty over that territory, roughly 30% of the West Bank, triggering a backlash in Israel, the United States, and throughout the Middle East. Netanyahu caught Trump off guard. According to Israeli journalist Barak Ravid, the former President turned to his aides once he exited the stage and said, What the hell was that? Netanyahu was ultimately forced to withdraw his annexation proposal under pressure from the Trump Administration. When Netanyahu returned to power in Dec. 2022, he appointed far-right ministers to key positions overseeing the West Bank: Bezalel Smotrich as Finance Minister and Itamar Ben-Gvir as National Security Minister. Both have undertaken a systematic effort to expand Israels footprint in the occupied territories, with Smotrich approving unauthorized outposts and streamlining settlement activities. As part of the coalition agreement, Netanyahu transferred substantial governing powers in the West Bank, except over security control, from the army to an apparatus headed by Smotrich. Israeli lawyers and human rights activists say the move amounts to de jure annexation. Netanyahus own coalition partners have said as much. In June, Smotrich told settlers of his plan to effectively annex the West Bank and prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state. Im telling you, its mega-dramatic, Smotrich said. Such changes change a systems DNA. What Netanyahu Said: Regarding his control of the coalition government in Israel, I run the show, I make the decisions. I formulate the policy. The Facts: Given Netanyahus fragile coalition, holding 64 seats in a 120-member parliament, hes beholden to far-right cabinet members who have the power to topple his government and trigger snap elections. The White House has cited Smotrich as an obstacle to a ceasefire deal, saying his obstinacy was jeopardizing the hostages. Smotrich and Ben-Gvir have both threatened to quit and collapse the governing coalition if Netanyahu agrees to the proposed ceasefire deal by President Joe Biden. Together, they hold 13 seats in Netanyahus four-seat majority. Contact us at letters@time.com. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) A Fairfield man is charged with capital murder after a man was killed and a woman was injured in an shooting at the Collegeville Housing Community. According to Officer Fitzgerald with the BPD, the shooting happened just before midnight on August 10 at the housing community on 30th Avenue North. Fitzgerald said North Precinct officers arrived at the apartments and found 35-year-old Brandon Lee and a woman inside shot. Center Point man charged in Birmingham homicide Lee was pronounced dead at the scene and the unidentified woman was taken to UAB Hospital with life-threatening injuries. Fitzgerald said the preliminary investigation showed Lee was arguing with the suspect, 32-year-old Roddregus Williams-Johnson, prior to the shooting. Police said Williams-Johnson then fired shots into an apartment and hit the two victims. Police believe one of the victims returned fire and hit the suspect. At around 1:40 a.m. Sunday, Williams-Johnson arrived at UAB Hospital suffering from a gunshot wound and was placed in police custody. He is charged with capital murder (victim inside dwelling) and attempted murder. He is held without bond. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS 42. From left to right Revs. Joe Parramore, James Golden and Rachel Gunter Shapard photographed on Jan. 25, 2024. Golden and Gunter Shapard spoke against HB 931, which would authorize public and charter school districts to allow chaplains in schools. (Photo by Jackie Llanos/Florida Phoenix) School districts have shown little interest in welcoming volunteer chaplains to serve in their facilities, an initiative recently permitted by the Legislature that, according to the ACLU, could create legal liability for schools and risk creating an environment of religious coercion and indoctrination of students. Districts have no obligation to implement a chaplain program under the law Gov. Ron DeSantis signed this spring. It permits schools to host volunteer chaplains but does not require it. For school boards and districts that may move to implement the program, religious and civil rights leaders have recommended approaches they believe would best protect children. The Council of Florida Churches, Inc. plans to send school superintendents and school board members a letter this week raising concerns. The letters are signed by Council President James Morris, Vice President Charles Myers, Secretary James Golden, and Director of Legislative Affairs Joe Parramore. The letter raises concerns about the lack of training required of volunteers leading to possible religious discrimination. What is the law? The measure, HB 931, allows schools to authorize religious figures to offer counseling on campus. Schools would publish lists of volunteers available to provide support, services, and programs to students as assigned by the district school board or charter school governing board, the legislation says. The law allows public districts and public charters to partake in the program, but does not require it and, in districts that do, parents must approve a student visiting with a chaplain. Similar programs have been discussed in other states. The measure passed the House 89-25 and the Senate 28-12. Risks The volunteer program creates no requirements for who would qualify as a chaplain and who does not, aside from passing a background check. That worries civil rights organizations. Representatives of the Florida Education Association and ACLU were not aware of any schools that had implemented the program. Of a dozen traditional public and charter schools the Phoenix reached out to, none indicated any plan to implement a volunteer chaplain program. Miami-Dade schools discussed conducting a feasibility study in May, and according to a district spokesperson, that study is still underway. The slow uptake makes sense to Kara Gross, senior policy counsel to the ACLU of Florida. Its not surprising that were not seeing a lot of school districts want to take this up, because it creates significant risk of liability for school districts, Gross said. The ACLU and 33 other civil rights organizations wrote a letter opposing the bill after it passed the House. In relying on uncertified, unqualified clergy to perform student-support duties, such as counseling, schools risk students receiving inadequate or inappropriate care and could be held liable for this negligence, the letter reads. The ACLU issued another letter in July signed by more than 300 chaplains in opposition to chaplains in public schools nationwide. The primary role of chaplains is to provide pastoral or religious counseling to people in spiritual need, Gross said. And allowing them to assume an official position in a public school, even if its a voluntary position in a public school, creates an environment that is ripe for religious coercion and indoctrination of students. Golden, an ordained African Methodist Episcopal minister, former Manatee County School Board member, attorney, and co-founder of Pastors for Florida Children, said chaplains he has spoken with see a risk that inadequately trained volunteers could abuse the program. My primary focus is as a faith leader, and the harm that we are doing to the diversity that we have in our school systems, when we turn lose volunteer chaplains on our children and on their parents without any more of a guideline than, Pass a level 2 background check from the state, Golden said. Anyone that would use this volunteer opportunity to generically provide spiritual comfort that takes advantage of that moment to engage in proselytizing would be abusing that system, he added. And the real problem that I have with that is that there is no checks and balances within the process to prevent that or to preclude that. It comes down to scouts honor for volunteers, specifically those not trained chaplains, not to proselytize, he said. Such practices not only undermine the secular nature of public education but also create barriers to meaningful interfaith dialogue and cooperation among students from varied backgrounds, the letter states. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Sen. Erin Grall, a Republican and sponsor of the bill, previously defended the language, saying the law was written to allow differently experienced volunteers to participate. Theres so many different ways in which somebody can train; so many different ways in which somebody can become qualified to be a chaplain, Grall said. What we didnt want to do in this legislation was be so prescriptive so as to pick the right way to do it. While signing the law, DeSantis stressed that the program is totally voluntary for students and parents. No ones being forced to do anything, DeSantis said. But to exclude religious groups from campus, that is discrimination. Youre basically saying that God has no place. Thats wrong. Thats not what our Founding Fathers intended. The ACLU letter argues that the law creates an opportunity for districts to violate the Establishment Clause, the part of the Constitution that prohibits government establishment or preference of a religion. In deciding which chaplains to hire or accept as volunteers, schools will inherently give preference to particular denominations, violating the clearest command of the Establishment Clause. Schools that do so and decline to accept chaplains of minority religions, even controversial ones, will place themselves at even greater risk of liability, the ACLU letter reads. For example, the Satanic Temple has offered to provide chaplains, although DeSantis argued districts could disallow that. DeSantis sees the ACLU opposition as an attack on religious organizations. The First Amendment was enacted to ensure that people werent discriminated against on the basis of religion or the basis of their faith. So, I think its a bogus challenge. I do not think its gonna go anywhere, DeSantis said during the signing ceremony. Despite his experience as a faith leader, Golden said he would hesitate to participate in the program. Im not a chaplain myself, and I have a masters of divinity degree, and I would hesitate to go into a school to be a volunteer chaplain, because that school might have Jewish children there, they might have Muslim children there, they might have Hindu children there, and I have not been trained in any way to be able to meet the spiritual needs of those kinds of children, Golden said. The clergy members suggest alternatives such as engaging more certified counselors, school psychiatrists, or other trained professionals with expertise in supporting students diverse spiritual and emotional needs. Background checks According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, a level 2 background check is a state and national fingerprint-based check and consideration of disqualifying offenses and applies to those employees designated by law as holding positions of responsibility or trust. Thats not a good enough screening process, Golden said. Thats the only requirement. So, whether you have a high school education or PhD, or whether your high school education is in quantum physics and your PhD is in acrobatic swimming, none of that matters its just are you able to pass a level 2 background check. Interested in implementing? Evaluating the faith demographic and parental demand of a school district could be an important first step for school districts interested in implementing a voluntary chaplain program, according to Golden. If I am a child of Christian background, Hindu background, Jewish background, Muslim background, and there are no volunteers in the school to help me with my particular spiritual orientation, then by definition I have been treated disparately, Golden said. There is a lack of protection in that school setting for my particular religious orientation. Conducting feasibility studies in each county could help provide due process and determine what communities might desire from a program, Golden said. I dont understand how you put on the agenda, Were going to adopt a volunteer chaplaincy program, and let five school board members decide or seven school board members decide whether to do that without any input at all from the parents in the district, from the staff of the district, he said. Some 70% of Floridians identify as Christian, nearly a quarter are unaffiliated with any religion, and about 6% are non-Christian including Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu, according to Pew Research. A month after DeSantis signed the law, the Florida Department of Education sent a memo to school superintendents listing the requirements to implement the program, including publishing lists of chaplains available, obtaining parental consent for a child to meet with a chaplain, and designating the services a volunteer may be assigned. The Council of Florida Churches, Inc. opposed the law since its introduction and sent an attendee to every committee meeting for the volunteer chaplain program, according to Parramore. The faith leaders flagged unintended consequences. While the intention behind incorporating spiritual guidance and support into schools may stem from a genuine desire to nurture the holistic development of students, the deployment of untrained chaplains poses significant risks, particularly in terms of divisive exclusionary practices and as yet unknown, unexpected, and unintended consequences, the letter states. School District letter Chaplains DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST This story was updated to correct the name of the organization that sent the letter, The Council of Florida Churches, Inc. False bomb threats made at two elementary schools in Lititz, police say LITITZ, Pa. (WHTM) A police investigation is underway Tuesday into false bomb threats made against two elementary schools in Warwick School District, according to a news release. The threats indicated that bombs were put inside Lititz Elementary School, located at 20 S Cedar St., and Kissel Hill Elementary School, 215 Landis Valley Rd., borough police said. Police said that the threats were false, there were no bombs found after a search of the campuses and the incident was deemed to be from swatting. Also, police added that there is no threats to the community or the Warwick School District. Swatting is commonly used to refer to making a false call to police to bring about the dispatch of many police officers to a particular address. According to police, the threats were reported around 1 p.m. by a chat feature to the 988 Crisis Line. The person who made the chat said they put bombs inside the schools. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now WHTM Morning Weather Some staff that were inside the schools had to evacuate out of an abundance of caution, and no students were present on the campuses, police said. Eventually, the campuses were cleared at 3:15 p.m. and canine units trained to detect explosives found nothing during a search. Internet data from the threats showed that they were made out of the United States. The Lancaster County Sheriffs Office and York County Sheriffs Office helped assist borough police in the search. The investigation is ongoing. Both elementary schools are located under two miles of each other, and Lititz Elementary School has over 450 students who attend while Kissel Hill Elementary School has over 570 students, according to Niches website. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27. UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Torrential rains and severe flooding have impacted more than 700,000 people in West and Central Africa, just two months into the rainy season, a UN spokesman said on Tuesday. Torrential rains and severe flooding in the Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Mali and Togo have impacted more than 700,000 people, said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, at a daily briefing. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said it is concerned about flooding in the region. In Chad, the worst-hit, more than 245,000 people were affected by high water in just a few weeks, OCHA said, adding that floods have destroyed or damaged more than 60,000 houses, affected schools and medical facilities, and hampered access to health care and education. The United Nations and its partners are supporting the responses by governments of the region, including with the distribution of food, shelter, and water and sanitation assistance, said Haq. This year, the UN Central Emergency Response Fund allocated 10 million U.S. dollars to the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Niger to respond to emergencies related to climate shocks, including floods, said the spokesman. According to OCHA, the 2024 seasonal forecast predicted above-average cumulative rainfall over the June to August and the July to September periods in areas already prone to flooding in the Sahel and some countries in West Africa. Family members of Gabriela Trejo-Garcia, a 44-year-old woman killed in a crash involving a man who was being chased by police, are suing the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas. The lawsuit, filed Friday in Wyandotte County District Court, is brought on behalf of Trejo-Garcias three children. The unified city and county government is named as the sole defendant in the case. The crash happened in January 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri. Officers with Kansas City, Kansas, police were pursuing Charles Matthews, a suspect in a knifepoint carjacking, when Matthews ran a red light at Independence and Hardesty avenues, according to court documents. Matthews struck a Nissan sedan that Trejo-Garcia was driving, according to police. Juan Avila, a 26-year-old passenger, was killed at the scene. Trejo-Garcia died in the hospital two days later. A friend of Trejo-Garcias told The Star previously the two had been dating. Lawyers representing Trejo-Garcias children allege the Unified Government is responsible for Trejo-Garcias death. Police officers involved in the chase breached the duty to drive with due regard for the safety of others, the lawsuit says. Lawyers for the Unified Government in the civil case denied the allegations in a written answer to the claims filed in court Friday. Matthews admitted to drinking alcohol and smoking methamphetamine before he stole the SUV, according to court documents. During a police interview, Matthews allegedly said he thought the officers would stop chasing him if he crossed the state line. Jackson County prosecutors charged Matthews last year with resisting arrest, motor vehicle tampering and two counts of felony murder. Each murder charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. The 31-year-old remains in custody. In April, a judge suspended the case pending the outcome of an evaluation by a state mental health expert to determine Matthews fitness for trial. Earlier this year, The Star published an investigative series titled Reckless Pursuit, highlighting the danger of police chases. More than 320 people were injured in area police chases over a five-year period, The Star found. Police chases are often dangerous to officers, suspects and the public at large. Some agencies in the Kansas City metro have adopted policies that restrict pursuits to cases where the driver is suspected of committing a violent felony. Policing experts caution officers to continually weigh public safety risks during pursuits against the benefits of making an immediate arrest. The lawsuit filed Friday seeks more than $75,000 in damages. Rumina Slazas and her children are suing Moore County. (Photo courtesy of Disability Rights NC) A Moore County woman and her two disabled children are suing Moore County claiming that the county improperly retained custody of the children after her cancer treatment and violated the childrens rights by failing to arrange for proper care. The federal lawsuit Disability Rights North Carolina filed last week says Moore County dropped Rumina Slazass daughter at the pediatric emergency department at UNC and left her there, refusing requests from the hospital to pick her up. Slazass daughter is referred to in the lawsuit as S.S. and is now 15. In all, Slazass daughter, who has intellectual and developmental disabilities, spent nearly nine months at UNC Health before Moore County transferred her to a psychiatric residential treatment facility in South Carolina. S.S. spent about four months there before she was allowed to return home to her mother. Moore County rejected options that would have allowed S.S. to live in a group home or with a former special education teacher. Moore County sent S.S. to the psychiatric residential facility even after being told she did not have a diagnosed mental illness, the lawsuit said. Slazass son J.S., now 16, lived for a while in the countys social services office before being transferred to an intermediate care facility. J.S. has intellectual and physical disabilities that limit his ability to walk, balance and care for himself, the lawsuit says. Both of the teenagers regressed because they did not receive needed care while in the institutions, the lawsuit says. The lawsuit asks the court to award the family damages and find that the county violated their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act. MCDSS (Moore County Department of Social Services) does not know how to care for children with autism, Slazas said in a press release. Instead of seeking out and listening to advice from disability professionals about how to provide my children a loving, family-like home, they institutionalized both of them. Both of my children returned home traumatized and far worse off than when they were removed from my home. The Moore County attorney and the countys social services director did not respond to emailed questions about the lawsuit, why the county retained custody of the teens, or how it decided where they would live. According to the lawsuit, Slazas was rushed from Moore County Regional Hospital to Duke University Hospital on July 8, 2022, where she was diagnosed with cancer and admitted for inpatient treatment. For about a month, her children lived with a family member who tried to help out, said Holly Stiles, assistant legal director for litigation at Disability Rights. The Moore County social services department took custody of the children on August 8, 2022. Slazas returned home about a week later and continued to receive medical care for the rest of the year. She was able to care for her children by early 2023, or sooner, if she had the proper support, the lawsuit says. When Slazas asked about her children returning home, the county refused saying she might have cancer again in the future. Slazas spent the following months trying to get her children back. When Slazas visited S.S. in the South Carolina treatment facility, she found bruises on bite marks on her daughter that the staff could not explain and reported symptoms she suspected were the result of overmedication. Moore County responded by telling the facility to limit parental visits, the lawsuit says. S.S. was returned home after a year in county custody, and J.S. after about 16 months. Family sues Refresco Beverages over shooting death of father of 5 at Fort Worth plant A family is suing Refresco Beverages and its location in Fort Worth, alleging the companys lack of security led to the shooting death of an employee by a teenager who flew into DFW Airport and appeared to target victims at random. The wrongful death lawsuit was filed in a Tarrant County district court on Aug. 7. Lee Douglas family is seeking damages in excess of $1 million. Douglas, a 36-year-old father of five, died June 11 at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. His death came about two weeks after he was shot on the early morning of May 30 outside of his workplace, Refresco Beverages at 15200 Trinity Blvd, according to Fort Worth police. The victim, who was employed at the company as an electrician, was walking to his car that morning when he was shot twice, according to his family and an autopsy. He was struck in his back and in his face. Police initially said his injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, but he died due to complications from the gunshot wounds, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiners Office. The suspect, 18-year-old Decan Medeiros, of Kettle Falls, Washington, is accused of shooting Douglas and firing at three other men nearby. He initially was arrested on four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Medeiros was charged with murder after Douglas death. More top stories from our newsroom: Woman accused of killing Fort Worth officer was on probation Layoffs with no warning at Dr. Phils Fort Worth media company More jailers sued by family of man killed in Tarrant County Jail [Get our breaking news alerts.] The suit says Refresco Beverages did not have 24-hour security on its premises, unlike neighboring businesses, such as Oncor. These nearby businesses recognized the dangers in the area whereas Refresco Beverages was neglectful in taking similar precautions, according to a news release from The Law Offices of Blerim Elmazi, which is representing Douglas family. The companys lack of security measures such as security personnel and adequate lighting including during night shifts left the premises vulnerable to unauthorized access and criminal activities, the suit says. The suit further alleges the lack of security demonstrated a disregard for the safety and well-being of its employees, and contributed to the shooting that killed Douglas. Lee Douglas death was not just a tragic incident; it was preventable, the familys attorney, Blerim Elmazi, said in the release. Refresco had a duty to protect its employees, and their failure to do so led directly to this devastating loss. The company denied all allegations and demanded a trial, according to a response filed with the court on Tuesday. Refresco Beverages has not yet responded to the Star-Telegrams request for comment. Fat, bald, stupid Genghis Khan: All the conservative lines of attack against Tim Walz. Fat, bald, stupid Genghis Khan. Hes abandoned his troops. He's a freak in sheep's clothing. Conservatives have many lines of attack for Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz. In less than a week since Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris tabbed him as her running mate, Republican elected officials and Fox News hosts and commentators have ripped into Walz and argued his liberal record as Minnesota governor would be dangerous for the United States. This is a ticket that would want this country to go communist immediately, if not sooner, Donald Trump said the day after Harris picked Walz. Prager University CEO Marissa Streit told Fox News that Walz has exhibited Marxist and almost Islamic behavior in Minnesota, pointing to the state adopting a new flag. He changed Minnesota's flag to look basically like a Somali flag, Streit said last Wednesday, despite aesthetic differences between the two flags. Walzs counterpart, Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance, is among the conservatives who have hammered Walz over his time in the Army National Guard, claiming his decision decades ago to run for Congress a few months before his unit deployed for Iraq amounted to abandonment. What was this weapon that you carried into war, given that you abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq? Vance said at a news conference last week. What bothers me about Tim Walz is the stolen valor garbage. He went AWOL on his own unit, Fox News contributor Joe Concha said last week. There is no evidence that Walz, who served in the National Guard for 24 years, had advance notice that his unit would be deployed to Iraq when he retired to run for office. Conservatives have also honed in on Walzs handling of the racial justice protests after a white police officer killed George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020. Walz has been accused of delaying sending the National Guard to respond to some instances of looting, violence, and unrest, a charge he denies. People would love to mind their own damn business if you, asshole, hadn't let rioters burn down those businesses! Fox News host Greg Gutfeld said last week, referencing Walzs mind your own damn business tagline. The path toward federal approval for medical treatments involving psychedelics may be longer and less straightforward after the US Food and Drug Administration denied the first application for a treatment in this category, but experts say the work is far from over. On Friday, the FDA declined to approve the use of MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy, as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a news release from drug sponsor Lykos Therapeutics. The company says the agency has requested an additional Phase 3 trial to further study the safety and efficacy of the treatment. The initial application from Lykos presented positive data from two late-stage clinical trials that used MDMA in combination with talk therapy to treat PTSD. But in June, an independent FDA advisory committee voted overwhelmingly against the treatment, citing concerns about the integrity of the particular trials up for review notably regarding missing information about safety and bias in efficacy data. The advisers said it was also difficult to parse how much the accompanying talk therapy an area that the FDA does not regulate contributed to outcomes. Lykos said Friday that it plans to seek a meeting with the FDA to discuss its recommendations and ask the agency to reconsider, confident that the concerns raised by the FDA and its advisers can be addressed. Otherwise, conducting the additional trial could take years, Lykos said. Advocates for the treatment, including some veterans groups, said they were incredibly disappointed by the FDA decision. While we remain confident MDMA-AT will eventually be approved, there is no doubt that this decision will lead to more unnecessary suffering and lives lost, Martin Steele, president of the Veteran Mental Health Leadership Coalition, and Reason for Hope Executive Director Brett Waters said in a statement. But experts say its important to honor the integrity of the scientific process. Dozens of clinical trials involving psychedelics are in various stages, and additional scrutiny can help strengthen the findings and build confidence. The whole field of science is one of peer review and critique. People are always weighing in, and hopefully that makes a better product. So hopefully all of this will lead to clarification, said Dr. Rachel Yehuda, director of the Center for Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma Research at Mount Sinais Icahn School of Medicine. Theres a difference between saying We think this drug is dangerous and asking for more data. The FDA has a high bar for approval and for good reason, said Dr. Michael Bogenschutz, director of the NYU Langone Center for Psychedelic Medicine. Its frustrating to people who were hoping that this treatment would be found to be safe and effective and become available. I think we just need to take a deep breath and be patient and let the data accumulate to show more definitively, one way or the other, whether, in this particular case, MDMA can become a bona fide medical treatment for PTSD, he said. This was just one decision point along the road. Still, the FDAs denial means that MDMA remains a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act, or a prohibited substance that has no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Drug trials that involve a controlled substance require a much more extensive approval process than standard treatments, involving significantly more logistics and expenses, Yehuda said. The additional barriers require people who undertake the work to be highly motivated, she said. It can become risky when researchers are advocates instead of analysts, experts say. Its really critical to research and to the sacred obligation of researchers to the general public to conduct studies with an open mind and with a degree of skepticism and to report the good and the bad results, said Lori Bruce, who researches psychedelic ethics with the Oxford-NUS Centre for Neuroethics and Society and is associate director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics at Yale University. Its OK for people to believe in a substance, but those conflicts of interest need to be reported. Studies retracted On Saturday, one day after the FDA declined to approve an application for the use of MDMA as a treatment for PTSD, the journal Psychopharmacology retracted three studies about MDMA-assisted psychotherapy due to unethical conduct that was not disclosed before publication, the journal said. The studies were published in 2019 and 2020. The protocol violations mentioned in the retraction notices occurred at a research site during a Phase 2 study on the use of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, Psychopharmacology said. The journal also said that the authors of the studies did not fully declare a potential competing interest, because at least two of the authors were affiliated with either the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) or one of its subsidiaries. In early 2024, MAPS, a nonprofit research organization, spun off the company Lykos Therapeutics, which focused on getting FDA approval and insurance coverage for MDMA-assisted therapy for people with PTSD. MAPS announced in a January news release that it maintains select governance oversight of Lykos Therapeutics. In 2019, MAPS posted a public announcement of ethical violations by investigators who had been involved in a MAPS-sponsored clinical trial of MDMA. A female participant in a study submitted complaints in 2018 about two therapists in Canada after one of the therapists engaged in a sexual relationship with the participant, MAPS said in an updated statement in 2022. The two therapists verbally confirmed to MAPS that the sexual relationship occurred and were banned in 2018 from all MAPS-related activities and from becoming providers of MAPS-affiliated MDMA-assisted therapy if the treatment is approved, the statement said. During the public comment section of an FDA advisory committee meeting in June, a statement was read on behalf of the female participant who made the complaints. In the statement, she said that she was blindfolded, gagged, pinned, cuddled, and caressed and that the assault was captured on video, which was later made public. I became suicidal during the trial, leading to a near missed attempt. Lykos was informed and chose not to document it. Undoubtedly, it was an adverse event and they hid it, the participants statement said. Earlier in the same meeting, a Lykos representative said, its never OK for a care provider to cross boundaries. Its unethical behavior,and its malpractice. We work with licensed and health care providers now only, and they are trained, in addition through our therapy training program, to understand how the drug may impact boundary-setting for patients and to reinforce an upholding of boundaries on their part of things, as well. According to the retraction notices, four of the study authors disagreed with the retractions, and one of the study authors said she agreed with the retractions but disagrees with the wording of the retraction notice. The other authors did not respond to the journal. MAPS referred CNN to Lykos for comment. Amy Emerson, the CEO of Lykos and a member of MAPSs board of directors, is among the authors of two of the papers. In a statement, Lykos said the issues should have been resolved through corrections, not retractions, and said it has filed a complaint with a third party to review the process through which the journal came to this decision. The ethical violations at issue were reported to the FDA, Health Canada, and the Institutional Review Board (IRB)/Independent Ethics Committee (IEC), and a public statement was issued in May 2019. However, we did not disclose the violations to the journal itself, an additional step we should have taken and regret not doing. The journal also raised an issue regarding disclosure around conflict of interest, however, the authors did appropriately disclose contributions, funding sources, and affiliations, Lykos said. Psychopharmacology did not allow the study authors to publish a correction with data that excluded findings from one study site, said Allison Feduccia, an author in all three retracted studies. No significant changes were found in the results from the updated data set for any of the publications, she said in a statement to CNN. She says she agrees with the retraction since a correction was not permitted but plans to submit the publications with updated data to another journal. Lykos also said the articles remain scientifically sound and present important contributions to the study of potential treatments for PTSD. It is important to note that these are not the efficacy data that was submitted to the FDA, and this was not the basis for their decision to issue a Complete Response Letter, the company said in the statement. The retractions were an additional disheartening surprise for psychedelic science but an important emphasis on the importance of having high-quality data, said Dr. Brian Barnett, a psychiatrist who leads psychedelic research for Cleveland Clinic. Integrity matters in every arena of science, and psychedelic science is no exception, he said. Hopefully, these retractions will help ensure high quality and transparency in the rapidly growing field of psychedelic science in years to come. This integrity is key to building public trust and confidence in the way drugs are vetted, experts say. Right now, we are aware that some people do indeed have positive outcomes from psychedelics. We also know that some smaller percentage are going to have negative outcomes, sometimes for years, and we dont yet know who is more likely to have the positive experience and who is more likely to have the negative experience or long term harms, Bruce said. We need to find better solutions to address the mental health crises that are occurring in our country. Absolutely, it could be that psychedelics have a tremendous impact for patients, and I would love to see that happen, but we just need to proceed cautiously and examine all the data, not just the data that support a certain interest. CNNs Nadia Kounang contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) A man is behind bars after the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) said he stole more than $50,000 from Hardee High School. The Hardee County Sheriffs Office contacted FDLE regarding misappropriated funds at the school, alleging Elvis Raymond Gray, 52, of Wauchula of using a school credit card for personal gain. FDLE said an investigation into Gray, the schools sole bookkeeper, revealed he may have stolen more than $300,000 between 2016 and 2021. The investigation also revealed the schools petty cash fund was being deposited into Grays personal accounts. The thorough and diligent work of our agents and analysts is the best example of service and integrity that we can give to the youth and staff who were affected by this persons self-serving actions, said FDLE Tampa Bay Special Agent in Charge Mark Brutnell. Gray was booked into the Hardee County Jail without bond pending first appearance. He is facing one count of scheme to defraud $50,000 or more, a felony. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. CHICAGO The leader of a coalition of pro-Palestinian supporters said Tuesday afternoon the group will appeal a federal judges ruling on the route demonstrators can take during next weeks Democratic National Convention. DNC 2024 security zones and protest plans: What we know US District Judge Andrea Wood late Monday night issued a 24-page ruling siding with the citys proposed route. That route exits Union Park and heads westbound on Washington Boulevard before turning north a couple of blocks away from the arena, before heading back to Union Park. The protest group want to be within sight and sound of the United Center to express their views on the war in Gaza. Wood said the citys plan meets the First Amendment, as well as safety and security concerns. We thought she was going to rule in the hearing. The fact that she ruled 12 hours before was a little bit of a surprise, said Hatem Abudayyeh, a spokesperson for the Coalition to March on the DNC. Abudayyeh said the citys proposal is too short and too winding for the tens of thousands of people theyre expecting. The demonstrators prefer a 2.3 mile route that heads west out of Union Park and proceeds along Washington Boulevard to Western Avenue. Demonstrators park plans still up in the air Another unresolved issue for demonstrators is their use of Union Park and Park 578. Abudayyeh said applications for permits for use of the parks before, during and after their protest were submitted back in November but a decision has yet to come down. We had applied, dotted all the Is and crossed all the Ts, for permits in the parks in two separate parks, months ago and they have violated our rights by not responding to those permit requests, Abudayyeh said. That is another thing that we have to address here because weve got sound equipment, massive stage, tens of thousands of people, a program of 20 incredible speaker and music and culture and all of that, and we dont have a damn permit. In a Tuesday afternoon hearing at the Dirksen Federal Building, attorneys for the city said a decision will be ready within 24 hours. Democrats will host their nominating convention in Chicago August 19-22. Chicago has hosted Democrats 12 times, the last being nearly 30 years ago when President Bill Clinton was nominated for a second term. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV. UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Heavy rains and flooding, coupled with the continuing deadly fighting, have resulted in a grim situation in Sudan, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that heavy rains and flooding are affecting 143,000 people across 12 of Sudan's 18 states. Flooding has displaced 27,000 people since June, the office said. The embattled town of El Fasher in North Darfur has been among the hardest hit. OCHA said hundreds of homes have been damaged or destroyed at the Abu Shouk site for internally displaced people in El Fasher, where the Famine Review Committee (IPC) warned just two weeks ago of famine conditions. "The flooding is compounding people's misery, as intense fighting in and around El Fasher in recent days continues to displace already vulnerable people and severely limits people's access to basic services," the office said. "Access to the Abu Shouk camp and other areas of El Fasher remains extremely constrained due to fighting and flooding, challenging the ability of aid workers to scale up relief efforts in the worst-affected areas." The humanitarians said that despite the challenges, the United Nations and its humanitarian partners are working hard to deliver assistance in hunger hotspots, including in western Darfur and other parts of the country. The World Food Program reported distributing food to nearly 14,000 people in Sheikan, North Kordofan, one of the areas assessed by the IPC as at risk of famine. OCHA repeated the call from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for an immediate cessation of hostilities and for all parties to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and allow safe passage for civilians and facilitate rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access. Sudanese Armed Forces have been battling the militia, known as the Rapid Support Forces, across a large swath of the country since April 2023. Cornel West Third party presidential candidate Cornel West (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) A federal judge has ordered the state Board of Elections to put presidential candidate Cornel West on the November ballot. In an order issued Monday, U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle wrote that the state Board of Elections decision last month to deny certification of Wests Justice for All party infringed on voters constitutional rights. In a 3-2 party line vote last month, the state elections board declined to certify Justice for All as a political party. The Democratic majority questioned the validity of petition signatures submitted for the group. County elections boards from a handful of counties reported fraudulent signatures, which prompted state board members to direct staff to contact more signatories. State office staff tried to reach 250 people by phone and spoke with 49. Of those, 18 said they didnt sign and three didnt remember signing. The board majority used these results, as well as questions about a third party that collected signatures on Justice for Alls behalf, to deny party certification. Three petition signers sued. Boyle said using results of a limited telephone survey to conclude that a substantial portion did not sign and many others were not informed of the petitions purpose defies reason. Though West is a left-of-center candidate, well-known GOP lawyers represented the Justice for All voters. The Republican National Committee and the North Carolina Republican Party submitted a court brief supporting Justice for All. Justice for Alls court win marked Mondays second victory for alternative party candidates seeking ballot access. On Monday afternoon, a Wake Superior Court judge turned back the North Carolina Democrats attempt to keep Robert F. Kennedy Jr. off the ballot. Federal judge refuses to grant changes to DNC protest route: This falls well short of a First Amendment violation A federal judge has ruled she will not force City Hall to widen and lengthen the route for Democratic National Convention protesters near the United Center, writing the city has a significant government interest in controlling the expected crowds for safety and security. In her 24-page decision, U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood wrote the latest challenges to the alternate parade route proposed by the city boil down to a complaint that City Hall hasnt offered the exact route plaintiffs desire, even though that route allows them to speak near their intended audience. This falls well short of a First Amendment violation, Wood wrote. As such, the alternative parade route represents an adequate alternative channel of communication. The ruling, which comes just days before the convention begins, is part of an ongoing lawsuit contending the city of Chicago was violating protesters First Amendment rights by proposing an initial route in Grant Park that was far from within sight and sound of the convention center. Last month, Mayor Brandon Johnsons administration proposed an amended route calling for protesters to assemble in Union Park on the Near West Side before marching west along Washington Boulevard to Hermitage Avenue, then past a small park north of the United Center. The route then turns east on Lake Street back to Union Park. The marchs organizers celebrated the new route but vowed to keep fighting for a wider, longer path to the convention center, including being allowed to stay on Washington Boulevard instead of being diverted to smaller side streets. Other sticking points continue to be where and when the groups involved will be able to stage a rally near the United Center. Its a win. But its not the win, Hatem Abudayyeh, executive director of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, one of the plaintiff groups, told the Tribune. Organizing works. You put a little pressure on the powers that be and you can move them. In court last week, however, the two sides were still at odds, with plaintiffs attorney Chris Williams telling the judge they were blindsided by the possibility that they might not be able to hold speeches in a park two blocks north of the United Center. Williams vowed to keep fighting for a plan for marches and speeches he argued would be safer than what the city has proposed and better align with his clients First Amendment rights. The way the city is doing this is take-it-or-leave-it, you do what we say, Williams told Wood at the hearing on Aug. 5. Its not enough to say, You have a route, youre going to live with it. Youre going to have chaos. In her ruling Monday, Wood said the need to maintain an accessible route to and from the United Center in case of emergency constitutes a separate significant governmental interest that is not trumped by any free speech issues. The judge also noted the potential for danger if the anticipated crowds between 20,000 and 25,000 people, according to estimates from the plaintiffs were allowed to continue to march along Washington Boulevard, where fencing will mark the security perimeter set up by the U.S. Secret Service. Simply put, allowing a crowd of that size (or even a smaller one) to march directly alongside an unyielding barrierno matter how much of the street is available for pedestrian useposes an obvious risk of injury, she said. The plaintiffs still have the opportunity to appeal the ruling, but with the convention just days away its unclear if anything could be resolved in time. At a status hearing in the case on Tuesday, an attorney for the city told the judge they plan on responding Wednesday to separate permit applications to hold rallies in Union Park and a nearby smaller park on Monday and Thursday of convention week. The plaintiffs want to set up a stage, sound equipment and portable restrooms on those dates. We envision all of these open issues being resolved and communicated to plaintiffs by tomorrow, said Andrew Worseck, an attorney with the Law Department. Williams, who appeared via telephone due to an illness, said the city had been dragging its feet on the requests, which have been pending for nine months, and warned it would violate his clients due process rights if they say nothing and then deny it at the last minute because of issues including the rental of equipment. They need to contract on those things and nobody is going to do it without permits, Williams said. This isnt find out Monday morning. They need an answer. Wood set another status hearing in the case for Thursday. There is just no more time to play around with here, she said. Meanwhile, at a DNC-related news conference Tuesday morning, Chicago police superintendent Larry Snelling was asked about protesters space concerns and the potential for demonstrators to spill over outside the designated marching route. Snelling said police know they have to prepare for fluid situations. Things are ever-evolving, and as they evolve we make necessary adjustments to accommodate that, Snelling told reporters. We know what we didnt want to do is tie up additional resources by prolonging a protest of that nature, but we will make sure as a police department that people who are protesting and exercising their First Amendment rights get the opportunity to do that, Snelling said. We will protect them and we will protect the neighborhoods. Snelling said the department is in communication with protest organizers all the time, and said protesters will only be subject to arrest if they act violently or commit crimes. Snelling, along with representatives of the Secret Service, the mayors office and the city Office of Emergency Management and Communications, repeatedly told reporters that the city is prepared and the DNC will be safe. The OEMC has launched a text notification service that Chicagoans can opt into for convention-related updates by texting DNC to 226787. jmeisner@chicagotribune.com mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com Cornel West, who is now a third party presidential candidate, speaks to Arab-Americans at a Pro-Palestinian interfaith event in Dearborn, Michigan on Dec. 19, 2023. U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle granted an emergency injunction on Monday directing the North Carolina State Board of Elections to certify the Justice for All party and place its candidates on the ballot in November. The decision comes after three party supporters sued the elections board after it declined to recognize the party, foreclosing the possibility of getting its presidential candidate, left-wing academic Cornel West, on the 2024 presidential ballot. The boards Democratic majority voted against JFA earlier this month after raising concerns about misleading petition gatherers and signers who asked for their signatures to be removed. The board also said an investigation into potentially fraudulent signatures is ongoing. In declining to certify JFA as a new political party, the board has categorically excluded JFA and its candidates from the ballot, Boyle wrote in his order. As a result, the board has precluded those voters who wish to associate with both from exercising their First Amendment right to do so. That is a severe burden on First Amendment rights. Boyles decision means West will be allowed to appear as a presidential candidate on North Carolinas November ballot. The lawsuit, filed in federal court, accused the board of violating the party members core First Amendment rights as voters and citizens who wish to grow and develop a new political party in North Carolina. Party supporters also accused the board of violating their due process rights by failing to provide them with specific evidence to discredit the signatures they provided in their petition campaign for ballot access. The board cited issues with petition gathering and potential fraud in the partys signature collection process. Boyle made the decision after hearing arguments from attorneys Mary Carla Babb, representing the State Board of Elections, and Phillip Strach, who represented the plaintiffs, on July 30 in Elizabeth City. Though West is running as a left-wing candidate, the partys supporters were represented in court by Strach, a prominent conservative attorney. Strach frequently represents the states Republican legislative leaders in court and has recently defended them in gerrymandering lawsuits and challenges to stricter election laws. The state Republican Party commended the court on Tuesday morning for its ruling. This partisan board failed the people of North Carolina for months abusing the certification process. Now, these contests will be decided where they should: by the citizens of our great state, NC GOP Communications Director Matt Mercer said in a statement. The courts ruling could be appealed, but time is running out for any further changes to ballots. The ballot printing process begins in mid-August and the first absentee ballots are sent out to voters on Sept. 6. Have to follow the law West joined the lawsuit as an intervening plaintiff, as well as JFA Co-Chair Italo Medelius and the party itself. Attorney Oliver Hall, with the Center for Competitive Democracy, represented the intervenor-plaintiffs in the hearing on July 30. Our campaign stands in solidarity with the Justice for All Party and all those who seek justice and truth in the electoral process, West said in a campaign press release on Aug. 2. We are committed to ensuring that every voice is heard and that our place on the ballot is secured. As we join this lawsuit, we remain focused on fighting for truth, justice, and love. At the hearing, Strach argued that the Justice for All party had more than enough verified signatures to be on the ballot, saying that should be the end of the story. According to the complaint, the party was required to submit 13,865 valid signatures and it had 17,362 signatures validated by county board of elections. Instead of taking this at face value, like they did for others, JFA was the only party they subjected to this sloppy review, he said. Babb called for Boyle to dismiss the case because the resolution of this is dependent on a state law issue. The parties have to follow the law, and thats not what happened in this particular case, she said. Boyle asked several questions of both attorneys throughout the hearing, though he returned to one question on several occasions: Do you want more people to vote or fewer people to vote? In the order, Boyle commented on the state boards action, saying narrow tailoring requires a scalpel; the Board used a blunt instrument. The Board effectively disenfranchised over 17,000 North Carolina voters who signed petitions to certify JFA as a new political party on flawed, highly suspect grounds, he wrote. Accordingly, the Court concludes that Plaintiffs First Amendment claims are likely to succeed on the merits. Growing criticism from the right The boards Republicans disagreed with its decision with member Stacy Four Eggers noting that the party had passed the threshold of signatures required to form a new party. In that same meeting, board members voted 4-1 in favor of certifying Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s new party, We the People, after having initially voted against certification in June. The North Carolina Democratic Party sued over the boards decision to certify Kennedy, but a judge rejected its challenge on Monday. The board has faced a wave of criticism from Republicans and independents since it initially voted to deny ballot access to Kennedy and West in June. State lawmakers, advocacy groups and even congressional leaders accused the boards Democrats of trying to boost their partys presidential nominee by eliminating third-party challengers. In a court filing, the North Carolina Republican Party and Republican National Committee allege that the boards action infringed North Carolinians constitutional rights by denying the opportunity to vote for the candidate of their choice. The state House Oversight Committee grilled the board chair and executive director about their handling of the parties, questioning the influence of politics on the boards decisions. Clear Choice Action, a group tied to President Joe Biden with goals to dissuade voters from supporting third-party presidential candidates, filed a brief opposing an injunction. In it, the group called partys signature gathering process a sham petitioning effort marred by fraudulent and misleading signature gathering practices by third-party groups unaffiliated with and politically unaligned with the proposed party. House Speaker Tim Moore, Rep. Destin Hall and Rep. Grey Mills, all Republicans, filed a brief in support of the injunction. From the initial delay of proceedings to the final rejection based on a questionable survey, the State Board took its cues from Clear Choice a group openly dedicated to keeping third-party candidates off the ballot to protect Democrats, the Republican leaders said in the court filing. Under the Dome Get the latest news about North Carolina politics from The News & Observer's award-winning team. Get the free digest sent to your inbox by signing up here. HENDERSON, Ky (WEHT) An Evansville man has been sentenced to ten years in federal prison and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. According to court documents, on December 30, 2023, an Evansville Police Department officer stopped Glenn Taylor Tenbarge, 35, for traffic violations. Documents state as the officer approached the truck, Tenbarge started acting nervous and leaning forward in his seat, attempting to block the officers view of the right side of his body. The officer reportedly asked Tenbarge if he had a weapon, which Tenbarge responded, its not mine but yes. Authorities say when the officer asked Tenbarge to step out of the truck, a short barrel shotgun with a wooden grip could be seen in the seat of the truck, and the barrel appeared to be modified and possibly cut. Officials state this is not the first time Tenbarge has been in trouble with the law. They state he has several prior felony convictions in Vanderburgh County, including two counts of attempted robbery, dealing in meth and possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon. Due to these convictions, federal law prohibits prior felons to own a firearm. Illegally armed, repeat felons drive the gun violence plaguing our state, said Zachary A. Myers, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. I commend the response by EPD and the work of ATF to protect the public from this dangerous criminal. The sentence imposed by the court demonstrates that those who illegally possess firearms risk serious federal time. Returning to prison isnt worth it, put down the guns, or we will hold you accountable. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW). KILLEEN, Texas (FOX 44) The Killeen Police Department has made four arrests during the serving of a narcotics search warrant. Organized Crime Unit dectectives, along with the departments SWAT Team, were serving the warrant on Madison Drive Monday morning as part of a fentanyl investigation. Several items were discovered and seized. The items seized include 11.6 grams of fentanyl, 5.4 grams of ecstasy or MDMA, firearms parts and accessories, ammunition, drug paraphernalia and approximately $8,711 in cash. The names of those arrested have not been released. This is a developing story. FOX 44 News will have more information as it becomes available. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KWKT - FOX 44. Festival Foods, a family-owned grocery chain with stores throughout Wisconsin, announced that it will be closing its Greenfield location. In a WARN notice filed Tuesday with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, Festival Foods said it plans to permanently close the store at 4777 S. 27th St., Greenfield. The move will affect 91 workers at the location. The business will terminate all but three employees effective Nov. 4, 2024. The remaining three employees will transfer to other Festival Foods locations, according to the notice. Brian Stenzel, senior director of community involvement for Skogens Festival Foods, said closing the store was a difficult decision. "Despite the hard work of the Greenfield team, the sales of this store never reached the goals we had for it," he said. Stenzel said there were also other factors. "While sales are the largest factor driving the decision to close this location, we also have seen an increase in theft and safety related incidents impacting our guests and associates," Stenzel said. He said there are no plans to close any other stores and said the company remains focused on growth with the opening of stores in Kimberly and Hudson this fall. Greenfield Mayor Michael Neitzke said he was saddened greatly by the store's closure. "Festival is a great company that recognizes the value of being part of community," Neitzke said. "That recognition translated to generously participating in, and donating to, our community without great fanfare. This is not something seen by many of the largest of grocers." Neitzke said the Greenfield community is weaker because of the store's exit. "Festival put their money where their spirit is, while the bigger players seem to put their resources into advertising the promotion of an image of virtue," he said. The Greenfield location has only been open for a little over three years. It opened in July 2021. The Greenfield Festival Foods used to be the home of a Target store. When it opened as a Festival Foods, it was the third Festival Foods location in the Milwaukee area. The other two Festival Foods in the area are in West Allis, at 11111 W. Greenfield Ave., and in Hales Corners at 5600 S. 108th St. Contact Adrienne Davis at amdavis@gannett.com. Follow her on X at @AdriReportss. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Festival Foods to close Greenfield store, lay off 91 employees Where just hours ago there were thick rows of trees, now stumps protrude and smoke still rises from scorched soil. On one road in Chalandri, a hilltop village above Athens, a family returns to see their house charred, with bedsheets left on the line to dry in the sun now blackened. The teenage son is in tears. Next door, inside the office of an events company, firefighters found the burned body of the first person to be killed in the blaze. The unnamed woman who perished had worked at the company for 20 years, and had shut herself in the bathroom as the fire swept through the village. Outside, the ground is strewn with roses, now burned, which would have been used to decorate this summers weddings and baptisms organized by the company. Greeces worst wildfire of the year has eased for now, but firefighters are still working to put out the last of the blaze. After the fire started over the weekend, it tore through more than 156 square miles (400 square kilometers) of forests in the Attica region and up to the suburbs of Athens. Thousands of residents were evaucated. At some point, the fire went faster than the cars, Vasilis Xypolitas, mayor of Kifisia municipality on the outskirts of Athens, told CNN. On the mountain, there were no roads to stop the trucks and to fight the actual fire. Although wildfires have become an annual occurrence in Greece, none have reached so close to Athens, a city of more than 3 million people. Residents in nearby villages said they were shocked by how fast the fire had spread. We saw the fire at the top of the hill. We blinked, and it was basically in front of us, a man in the village of Penteli, who declined to be named, told CNN. Another resident said she couldnt understand how a fire which began more than 40 kilometers (25 miles) away reached the village so quickly. Her car, like scores of others lining the roads that climb out of Athens, was burned. The rubber of the tires, the glass of the windows and fabric of the seating was scorched away, leaving just a carcass of blistered metal. Emergency crews worked through the night to try to extinguish the fire, which began Sunday afternoon near the town of Varnavas. More than 700 firefighters, nearly 200 vehicles and 35 water-bombing aircraft were deployed to battle the blaze, Greek public broadcaster ERT reported. Despite the efforts of fire crews, they were hugely aided by the dying down of the wind on Tuesday, which had reached up to 40 mph (65 kph) over the weekend. The fire hazard threat level was set to level 4 out of 5 on Tuesday, and is forecast to fall to a level 3 on Wednesday for the Athens region, according to the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection in Greece. Winds are, however, expected to pick up again on Thursday. Once the winds and the worst of the blaze abated, residents in Chalandri returned to inspect the damage. A woman named Sophia, whose house was mostly spared but whose awnings were burned, despaired: This was our land. This was our air and our breath. And its completely gone. A firefighting plane pours water as a wildfire burns in Grammatiko, near Athens, August 12, 2024. - Alexandros Avramidis/Reuters Although wildfires are common in Greek summers, climate scientists say that unusually hot and dry weather linked to global warming make the blazes fiercer and more common. Greek authorities have battled dozens of blazes already this summer after enduring its hottest June and July on record. In the next year we will have many incidents like this one, and we must find solutions in the way of evacuating, said Xypolitas, the mayor. The family in Chalandri whose house was burned said the government was providing emergency accommodation for two nights, but then they would be left to their own devices. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Clarification: The headline of this story was updated to reflect the location of the incident A Florida middle school student was in critical condition Tuesday after she was ran over while being dropped off at a middle school in Sarasota on Monday, the first day of school, said Florida Highway Patrol. I honestly was just wiping tears, Myra Moore, a mom who drove her kids to school when she witnessed the aftermath of the incident, told WFLA. I said I cannot imagine what should be a happy day, a joyous day, just turned into tragedy so quickly. On Monday, at around 7:45 a.m., the student was struck by the SUV after getting out of the passenger side of the vehicle, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, part of the USA TODAY Network. She dropped pens and markers, bent over to pick them up from under the vehicle, investigators said. Without knowing the child was under the car, the driver drove the vehicle forward, according to a Florida Highway Patrol statement emailed to USA TODAY. The student is in critical condition and was airlifted to All Children's Hospital. Mother runs over student, states reports The driver, 30, is the mother of the victim, a 12-year-old middle school student, reports WFLA and ABC Action News. The driver was dropping the student off in an area that was off school property, according to the school district. She got out the passenger side door, went under the car after she dropped her things, her mom didn't realize she was there and drove forward. "The school district encourages all families to follow district and school safety protocols and use the designated student pickup and drop off areas on school campuses," said Kelsey Whealy, the school district's Media Relations and Communications Manager. The victim's mom, who reportedly drove a Lincoln Navigator SUV, stopped immediately stopped the car when "she heard her child screaming," FHP Trooper Kenn Watson explained told ABC Action News. Here we are, day one, and weve already had a tragedy," said Watson. "Were hoping this does not happen again, but we have to remember to have that good spatial awareness when you are anywhere around a school zone and most certainly when you are letting your kid out of your vehicle. Contributing: Steven Walker, Sarasota Herald-Tribune Julia is a trending reporter for USA TODAY. She has covered various topics, from local businesses and government in her hometown, Miami, to tech and pop culture. You can connect with her on LinkedIn or follow her on X, formerly Twitter, Instagram and TikTok: @juliamariegz This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sarasota girl hit by mom's SUV at Booker Middle School, reports say Kamala Harris Is Running For President In 2024, But Here Are 7 Women Who Ran Before Her, And The Intense Obstacles They Faced Being a woman in politics has always been a difficult experience. Even nowadays, female candidates running for office face far more scrutiny than their male counterparts. So, when Vice President Kamala Harris announced her presidential campaign in July, I decided to learn all I could about the fierce political women who have come before her. ELIJAH NOUVELAGE/AFP via Getty Images Only in the past few decades have people taken female Presidential candidates seriously, but women have been running for President since before we had the right to vote. From cruel nicknames to all-out smear campaigns, one could argue that, in the past, the press wasn't very supportive of the idea of a female President. Here are the stories of seven awe-inspiring women who ran for President and the fierce opposition they faced from the press (and their political counterparts): 1.Victoria Claflin Woodhull (1838-1927) A prominent suffragist and social justice campaigner, Victoria Woodhull became the first woman to officially run for President, even though she couldn't yet vote. Nominated in 1872 by the short-lived Equal Rights Party, Woodhull announced her candidacy in a letter to the New York Herald, stating, While others argued the equality of woman with man, I proved it by successfully engaging in business; while others sought to show that there was no valid reason why woman should be treated socially and politically as a being inferior to man, I boldly entered the arena of politics and business and exercised the rights I already possessed. She ran on a progressive platform of equal rights for women, birth control, divorce law changes, and free love. Bettmann / Bettmann Archive But as with any time a woman does literally anything, a smear campaign began. In February 1872, Thomas Nast, the day's leading political cartoonist, depicted Woodhull as the devil while holding a scroll that said, Be Saved by Free Love. The drawing also featured a haggard woman with two young children and a drunk husband traveling a jagged mountainside with the caption, "Get thee behind me (Mrs.) Satan, I'd rather travel the hardest path of matrimony than follow your footsteps." This particular drawing led to the press's favorite nickname for Woodhull...Mrs. Satan. Alongside this new nickname, she and her sister, Tennessee Claflin, published a salacious article that made national news for exposing the affair of a famous Protestant minister, Henry Ward Beecher. (Beecher was Uncle Tom's Cabin author Harriet Beecher Stowe's brother.) The article violated the obscenity laws of the time and effectively ended Woodhull's political career. Shortly after, she was arrested and jailed for several months for distributing so-called "pornography" and could no longer campaign. Woodhull later moved to England with her sister in an effort to distance herself from the negative press. Ken Florey Suffrage Collection/Gado / Getty Images 2.Belva Ann Lockwood (1830-1917) A lawyer, politician, and suffragist, Belva Lockwood never took "no" for an answer. After her first husband passed away when she was 22, Lockwood decided to eschew the traditional role of widow and went to college. In 1873, much to the chagrin of her male classmates, Lockwood graduated from the National University Law School (even though she had to wring her degree away from Ulysses S. Grant's hands) and became a full-fledged lawyer. Three years later, in 1876, the Supreme Court justices refused to admit her to its bar, claiming "none but men are permitted to practice before [us] as attorneys and counselors." Lockwood successfully (and singlehandedly) lobbied Congress into passing "An Act to relieve certain legal disabilities of women." She became the first woman sworn into the Supreme Court bar on March 3, 1879. Library Of Congress / Corbis/VCG via Getty Images In 1884, Lockwood attracted national news when she announced her presidential candidacy, running for the Equal Rights Party. She aimed to secure women's suffrage, achieve equal pay, and work towards world peace. Sounds great, doesn't it? The press didn't think so. Cartoonists mocked her; men organized "Belva Lockwood" parties and would parade around in Mother Hubbard costumes, and to top it all off, some suffrage leaders opposed her candidacy because they believed it ridiculed the cause. Ultimately, Lockwood won fewer than 5,000 votes but was not discouraged. She ran for President again in 1888 with a more modest campaign, but it received little attention. Ken Florey Suffrage Collection/Gado / Getty Images) 3.Margaret Chase-Smith (1897-1995) Margaret Chase Smith, the first woman to serve in both houses of the Senate, had an unusual introduction to politics. In 1930, she married Clyde Smith, a man twenty-one years her senior. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1936, and Chase Smith began accompanying her husband to Washington, D.C, to serve as his secretary. Clyde Smith fell seriously ill in the spring of 1940 and asked his wife to run for his seat in the House in the general election the following September. He died on April 8, 1940, and a special election was held on June 3 to complete his term. With no Democratic challenger, Chase Smith won the special election and became the first woman from Maine to be elected to Congress. Three months after the special election, she was elected to a full two-year term in her own right. Although a Republican, Smith often broke ranks with her party and supported FDR's New Deal, among other Democratic policies. She was also a fierce advocate of women in the armed forces, becoming known as "Mother of the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service)." Bettmann / Bettmann Archive After serving four terms in the House, she began campaigning for a Senate seat, and the press's backlash was intense. One reporter commented, "The little ladyis simply over-reaching herself, The press could not hide their prejudices, with some stating that Chase Smith has stepped out of her class." Even one of her opponent's wives said, Why [send] a woman to Washington when you can get a man? Chase Smith, however, used these criticisms to her advantage, stating, "Women administer the home. They set the rules, enforce them, and mete out justice for violations. Thus, like Congress, they legislate; like the Executive, they administer; like the courts, they interpret the rules. It is an ideal experience for politics. When the election was held on September 13, 1948, she crushed her opponent with seventy-one percent of the vote and began a highly successful twenty-four-year career in the Senate. In 1964, Chase Smith decided to throw her hat into the presidential election ring and ran in several Republican primaries. At the San Francisco RNC, she became the first woman to have her name placed as a nomination for either of the two major parties. She, however, came in second to Senator Barry Goldwater but continued her political career until she retired from the Senate in 1973. Bettmann / Bettmann Archive 4.Charlene Mitchell (1930-2022) Charlene Mitchell, the first Black woman to ever make a presidential bid, was politically active from a young age. When she was 9, her family moved to Chicago, where her father, Charles, worked as a Pullman porter and hod carrier. The Mitchell family settled in Cabrini Homes, an integrated housing development known as a center of left-wing politics. At 13, Mitchell joined the local youth branch of the Communist Party, the American Youth for Democracy. One of the first protests she helped lead was against a nearby theater that forced Black patrons to sit on the balcony. By the mid-'40s, Mitchell's activism was already in full swing. She officially joined the main Communist Party in 1946 and quickly rose through the ranks in what was a very dangerous time to openly identify as a Communist. In 1958, Mitchell joined the party's national committee and became its youngest member ever at the age of 28. New York Daily News Archive / NY Daily News via Getty Images In 1968, the Communist Party nominated Mitchell as its presidential candidate. At a convention in Manhattan, she officially accepted the nomination under a banner that read, "Black and White Unite to Fight RacismPovertyWar!" She chose Michael Zagarell, the National Youth Director of the party, as her running mate. Despite running on a third-party ticket, her campaign received much publicity, although most was negative. The press forced the narrative that Mitchell was an underqualified candidate and that she was attempting to, as the Chicago Tribune stated, dramatize what the Communists perceive to be the nations major discontents. Ultimately, the Mitchell-Zagarell ticket only appeared on four state ballots and received little over 1,000 votes. However, Mitchell stayed politically active, forming the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and helping many falsely accused individuals get acquitted. New York Daily News Archive / NY Daily News via Getty Images 5.Shirley Chisholm (1924-2005) An educator and politician, Shirley Chisholm is best known for being the first Black woman to run for a major party's presidential nomination. In 1951, Chisholm graduated from Columbia University with a Master's Degree in early childhood education, and by 1960, she was a consultant to the New York City Division of Day Care. Increasingly aware of gender and racial inequalities, she soon joined the League of Women Voters, the NAACP, the Urban League, and the Democratic Party club in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. In 1964, Chisholm became the second Black person to be a member of the New York State Legislature; by 1968, she had won a seat in Congress. In Congress, she became known as "Fighting Shirley" and introduced over 50 pieces of legislation, focusing on ending the Vietnam War, racial and gender equality, and helping those with financial hardship. Bettmann / Bettmann Archive On January 25, 1972, Chisholm formally announced her presidential bid and sought the nomination for the Democratic Party. A co-founder of the National Women's Political Caucus, Chisholm's platform supported the Equal Rights Amendment and legalized abortions. A self-described "people's politician", her campaign slogan was "Unbought and Unbossed." However, her campaign encountered much discrimination, so much so that she was blocked from televised primary debates and had to take legal action to be allowed to make a single speech. Even though her campaign was underfinanced and under difficult circumstances, many young voters followed the "Chisholm Trail." Chisholm participated in 12 primaries and received 10% of the delegates votes for the Nomination. Despite her valiant efforts, the 1972 Democratic Nomination went to South Dakota Senator George McGovern. Chisholm retired from Congress in 1983 and was then appointed Purington Chair at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. Bettmann / Bettmann Archive 6.Patsy Takemoto Mink (1927-2002) Patsy Mink was destined for political greatness from an early age. Born in Paia, Hawaii, Mink won her first election as a high school junior, becoming Maui High School's class president. After graduating high school, she attended college in Pennsylvania and Nebraska but transferred due to racial discrimination. She decided to move to Honolulu and attend The University of Hawaii to become a doctor. Although she applied to several medical schools after graduation, none of her applications were accepted, so instead, she applied to law school at the University of Chicago. Mink met and married her husband, John, in Chicago. After graduating from law school in 1951, Mink and her growing family returned to Hawaii. She registered to take the bar exam to begin practicing law in the then-territory. Although she passed the exam, Mink couldn't find work due to her interracial marriage, so she instead started her own practice and founded the Oahu Young Democrats in 1954. Bettmann / Bettmann Archive Her political career began when she became a private attorney for the House of Representatives. When Hawaii became a state in 1959, Mink instantly began campaigning to become a congresswoman. Although her congressional attempt was unsuccessful, she returned to politics and won a seat in the Hawaii State Senate in 1962. In 1964, Mink won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, which made her the first Asian American to serve in Congress. As a congresswoman, she co-authored Title IX (which was renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act after her passing). Mink was staunchly against the Vietnam War, leading other members of Congress to dub her Patsy Pink. She continually fought for racial and gender equality, bilingual education, and affordable childcare. In 1972, the Oregon Democrats asked Mink to run for President with their party's support. With aligning views on the anti-war movement, she agreed and began her presidential campaign. Although she only received two percent of the vote, Mink stayed active in politics for the rest of her life, even running for Congress the year she passed away. Bettmann / Bettmann Archive 7.Patricia S. Schroeder (1940-2023) Born in 1940 to a military family, Patricia Schroeder's political aspirations were no surprise. In interviews, she recalled, "My father was always interested in politics, and he talked about it. The dinner table conversations were always very vivid about what was going on." As a teenager, Schroeder earned her pilot's license and began her own flying service in an effort to raise funds for college tuition. Her plan worked, and she graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1961 with a degree in philosophy, history, and political science. In 1964, she earned a JD (Juris Doctorpostgraduate law degree) from Harvard. As one of only fifteen women in a class of 500, Schroeder went on to say that she felt "submerged in sexism." After graduation, she became a field attorney for the National Labor Relations Board for two years before moving on to private practice and, eventually, volunteer counsel for Planned Parenthood. Bettmann / Bettmann Archive In 1972, Schroeder ran for a congressional seat in Colorado on an anti-war and women's rights platform. She later recalled, When I announced for Congress, the newspaper said, Denver housewife runs for Congress. They didnt even put my name in. I kept thinking, Well, yes, Im a housewife, but Im also a Harvard lawyer.' So it was really a problem from day one. Despite her grassroots campaign and running without the official support of the Democratic party, Schroeder won and became the first woman from Colorado to be elected to Congress. When asked how she intended to be both a mother and Congresswoman, she thoughtfully replied, ''I have a brain and a uterus, and I use both.'' Even though she encountered much opposition from her male counterparts, who dubbed her little Patsy, Schroeder became one of the most recognizable faces on Capitol Hill. A fierce representative in all matters, her area of expertise was women's rights and family reform. A vocal advocate for abortion rights and passage of the ERA, Schroeder subsequently became a founding member of the Congressional Womens Caucus. In 1988, after spending well over a decade battling Republicans on issues such as reproductive rights and military budgeting, Schroeder decided to seek the Democratic nomination for President. As a candidate, she promised a Rendezvous with Reality and declared she would bring America's underrepresented issues to the forefront. Schroeder's campaign seemed to be gaining traction, even with expected press opposition. In the 1988 Democratic nominee race, she was dubbed Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, in reference to her being the only female candidate. However, Schroeder's campaign could not raise enough funds, and she had to drop out of the race before the Democratic primaries. Later, she would say, "I realized that America was not man enough to elect a woman." She continued, Imagine the frustration I felt when, after giving a speech on the Rendezvous with Reality this nation needed, the first question would be, Why are you running as a woman? It was heartbreaking to face the many ways in which my gender eclipsed my message and to realize that running a symbolic campaign was the best I could hope for. Schroeder remained in Congress until 1997 and was crucial to passing the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. Bettman/Bettman Archive Which of these women did you find most inspiring? Do you think the press's treatment of female Presidential candidates has improved? Share your thoughts in the comments below! WELLINGTON, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand is ending its nearly 30-year ban on gene technology outside the lab to bring health, productivity and climate gains for Kiwis. Legislation is expected to go to Parliament by the end of the year, removing regulatory hurdles that have been in place for the last 30 years and implementing a dedicated regulator to oversee gene technology applications and manage potential risks, said Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins on Tuesday. The move will allow researchers and companies to further develop and commercialize their innovative products, Collins said, adding it will help New Zealanders to better access treatments such as CAR T-cell therapy to effectively treat some cancers, and help farmers and growers mitigate emissions and increase productivity. New Zealand's biotech sector, of which gene technology is a part, generated 2.7 billion NZ dollars (1.63 billion U.S. dollars) in revenue in 2020, government statistics show. Restrictive rules and time-consuming processes have made research outside the lab almost impossible, resulting in New Zealand falling behind, Collins said, adding these changes will bring New Zealand up to global best practice and ensure the country can capitalize on the benefits. The new legislation will be based on Australia's Gene Technology Act 2000, which will be modified to work here in New Zealand, the minister said, adding the legislation is expected to be passed with the regulator in operation by the end of 2025. Zahra Champion, executive director of BioTechNZ, said that current regulations for genetic technologies are outdated and not fit for purpose. For years, they have been hampering companies and researchers from keeping pace with scientific advancements and have been stifling innovation. "New Zealand can no longer afford to shy away from the transformative potential of cutting-edge genetic technologies," said Alec Foster of the research institute Scion. This opens up a wide array of opportunities that are key to achieving important environmental and societal goals while also improving productivity, Foster said. Concord, NH Five people who developed Legionnaires disease may have been exposed to contaminated water from a cooling tower near the RiverWalk Resort in Lincoln, according to The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. Legionnaires disease is a bacterial pneumonia caused by inhaling water droplets contaminated with Legionella bacteria. Many people who are exposed to the bacteria develop no or mild symptoms. However, the bacteria can be fatal if left untreated. After testing with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, the presence of Legionella bacteria was confirmed at the tower. RiverWalk is working with DHHS to address the contamination, with additional test results expected next week. While healthy people exposed to Legionella bacteria do not often get sick, there may still be some risk of exposure, especially for individuals within half-a-mile of the cooling tower. Dr. Benjamin Chan, New Hampshire State Epidemiologist, said that Anybody who has visited the area near the contaminated cooling tower should monitor themselves for symptoms. People who develop fever or other symptoms of pneumonia within 14 days after spending time in this area should talk to their healthcare provider about testing for Legionella infection. Individuals who are older, have weakened immune systems, or have certain medical conditions like chronic lung disease are at a higher risk for developing Legionnaires disease. Symptoms include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Individuals can call DPHS at 603-271-4496, visit the DHHS Waterborne Disease webpage, or go to the CDC webpage for more information. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC22 & FOX44. Nearly five years after millions of euros worth of jewelry was stolen in a museum heist in eastern Germany, visitors can once again admire nearly all of the precious pieces in person. In November 2019, thieves stole pieces that contained more than 4,300 diamonds with an estimated value of over 113 million euros ($124 million), from the Gruenes Gewoelbe (Green Vault) museum in Dresden, in the eastern German state of Saxony. Police have said most of the jewels stolen from the museum, which houses one of Europes greatest art collections, have been recovered. Pieces still missing include an epaulette on which a precious stone known as the Dresden White Diamond was mounted. Starting this week, the jewelry pieces will be back on display in their original spots albeit in the same condition in which they were recovered in December 2022 as they are part of ongoing legal proceedings and still considered court property. The jewels have not yet been restored as ongoing legal proceedings continue. - Sean Gallup/Getty Images There are certain things that perhaps absolute experts can see; we with the naked eye can actually barely see the damage, said Marion Ackermann, Dresden State Museums director general. And this damage is mainly due to the fact that they were either broken out during the crime or improperly stored by the perpetrators after the crime, Ackermann added. Five men, all members of the same family, were sentenced to several years behind bars in May 2023 for their involvement. The heist was a bitter lesson about security at the museum, which before had been considered one of the safest buildings in Europe, said Saxony premier Michael Kretschmer. Dresden Castle houses the Gruenes Gewoelbe (Green Vault) collection of treasures. - Jens Schlueter/Getty Images We were shocked that it was actually possible, but we have drawn the necessary conclusions, he said on Tuesday. The stolen Dresden collection was assembled in the 18th century by Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and later King of Poland, who commissioned ever more brilliant jewelry as part of his rivalry with Frances King Louis XIV. The treasures survived Allied bombing raids in World War II, only to be carted off as war booty by the Soviet Union. They were returned to Dresden, the historic capital of the state of Saxony, in 1958. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Flags to be flown at half-staff for flight instructor killed in helicopter crash DOTHAN, Ala (WDHN) Flags will be flown at half-staff within the city of Enterprise on Wednesday, August 14, in memory of an Army veteran and pilot instructor killed in a helicopter crash on Fort Novosel last week. Enterprise resident Daniel Munger, 46, was killed when an AH-64 Apache went down during routine flight training near Lake Tholocco on the post on August 7. On Tuesday, Governor Kay Ivey ordered Enterprise Mayor William E. Cooper to fly all flags at half-staff until Wednesday sunset. Mungers funeral will be held the same day at 5:00 p.m. in the Army Aviation Museum at Fort Novosel. According to Mungers obituary, plans are being made to hold a memorial service in his home state of Illinois at the end of the month. Munger was a retired Chief Warrant Officer 3 and contracted instructor pilot with the 1st battalion, 14th Aviation Regiment. Following the deadly crash, a GoFundMe was set up, and two Legacy Foodmart gas stations in Enterprise raised fuel prices by 20 cents on Sunday to assist Mungers family with funeral expenses. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDHN - wdhn.com. CANNON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) The Kent County Sheriffs Office is getting ready to host its annual Flame of Hope benefit for Special Olympics Michigan. The event is part of the 2024 Law Enforcement Torch Run, which began in 1981 as a way to raise funds and create awareness for the athletes who participate in Special Olympics Michigan. It has become the single largest grassroots effort for Special Olympics International. I think in law enforcement sometimes we dont get to see very much of the good aspect and honestly seeing a smile on the Special Olympics (athletes) face and putting a medal on them, it kind of just brings you right to your heart and soul, said Kent County Sheriffs Deputy Shelby Humphries. The KCSO Flame of Hope Community Run will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 20 at Cannonsburg Ski Area. The community is invited to join local law enforcement, Special Olympics athletes and LETR members in a 5K trail run, one-mile fun run, open trail bike ride, or hill bike challenge. The cost to register is $30 and includes the annual LETR T-shirt and raffle ticket for a chance to win a gift card to The Score. Cannonsburg will also be hosting Taco Tuesday, with 10% of proceeds going back to Special Olympics. The Score and Cannonsburg have been very supportive in our efforts to raise funds and to get this event kicked off and were really excited for it, Humphries said. All ages are welcome and children are encouraged to bring their bicycles to participate in a small obstacle course put on by KCSO. There will also be helmet checks and Riding for Ryan and Grand Valley Metro Council will be handing out safety items. Money raised through The Flame of Hope Community Run will go to support athletes in the State of Michigan who compete year-round at no cost. You can sign up for the event here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com. OSAGE COUNTY (KSNT) The National Weather Service of (NOAA) Topeka has issued flood warnings until later this afternoon for Osage and Coffey counties. At 10:44 a.m., NOAA issued a flood warning that will be in effect until 1:45 p.m. Rivers, creeks, streams and other low-lying areas are prone to flooding or will see imminent flooding. Flooding is expected to happen shortly in the warned area. Some locations specified by NOAA included: Lebo, Waverly and Beto Junction. NOAA also warned of flooding impacts on I-35 between mile marker 144 and 161. The warning comes after life-threatening flash flooding warnings for Lyon County and Emporia. NOAA is warning of life-threatening flash flooding, flooding creeks, streams, urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses. Power out for over 1,500 KS customers, Emporia faces severe flooding For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News. Close up view of a scientist's hand holding a cultivated meat sample with tweezers. (Getty Images) Upside Foods, one of only two companies in the country authorized to sell cultivated meat, is suing over Floridas recently enacted ban of its product, which went into effect last month. The new law (SB 1084) makes it illegal to sell, manufacture, or distribute cultivated meat in Florida, with penalties including up to 60 days in jail and fines of up to $500. The company, represented by the Institute for Justice, a public interest law firm, filed its lawsuit on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida in Tallahassee. It alleges that the ban violates the U.S. Constitutions prohibition of protectionist measures favoring in-state businesses at the expense of out-of-state competitors. Upside Foods is based in Berkeley, California. The listed defendants include Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, Attorney General Ashley Moody, and state attorneys from four of the biggest jurisdictions in Florida: Jack Campbell in the Second Judicial Circuit (including Tallahassee); Bruce Bartlett in the Sixth Judicial Circuit (Pinellas and Pasco counties); Andrew Bain in the Ninth Judicial Circuit (Orange and Osceola); and Katherine Fernandez Rundle in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit (Miami-Dade). The lawsuit is ridiculous, Simpson replied in a written statement. Lab-grown meat is not proven to be safe enough for consumers and it is being pushed by a liberal agenda to shut down farms. Food security is a matter of national security, and our farmers are the first line of defense. As Floridas Commissioner of Agriculture, I will fight every day to protect a safe, affordable, and abundant food supply. States are the laboratory of democracy, and Florida has the right to not be a corporate guinea pig. Leave the Frankenmeat experiment to California. On a conference call organized by the Institute for Justice on Tuesday morning, an attorney with the group dismissed the safety concerns expressed by Simpson. Floridas law has nothing to do with protecting public health and safety, said Paul Sherman, senior attorney with the institute. Both the USDA and the FDA have given Upside Foods the green light to sell their product throughout the country. Instead, Floridas law is a transparent example of economic protectionism. It was passed following intense lobbying by cattle interests, and its protectionist purpose was no secret. The lawsuit says that the ban violates the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution because it is expressly preempted by federal law regulating meat and poultry products. SB 1084 separately violates the dormant aspect of the Commerce Clause, because it was enacted with the express purpose of insulating Florida agricultural businesses from innovative, out-of-state competition like Upside. This Court should thus declare SB 1084 unconstitutional and enjoin its operation. Lab-grown Cultivated meat, sometimes called lab-grown meat, is genuine animal meat (including seafood and organ meats) produced by growing animal cells directly. This eliminates the need to raise animals for food. According to the Good Food Institute, cultivated meat is made of the same cell types that can be arranged in the same or similar structure as animal tissues, thus replicating the sensory and nutritional profiles of conventional meat. The bill that Im going to sign today is going to say, basically, take your fake, lab-grown meat elsewhere. Were not doing that in the state of Florida, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said when he signed the legislation on May 1. This is not just being done willy-nilly. They want to do this stuff in a lab to be able to wipe the people sitting here out of business. We will not let that happen in the great state of Florida. Upside Foods and Good Meat are only two companies in the United States that have received approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration to start producing their cell-based proteins. That approval took place in June 2023. Since then, venture capital funding for those two companies and the cultivated meat industry has slowed. The industry received $922 million in 2022 but that dropped to $226 million in 2023, according to the Good Food Institute. For the same reason that California cannot ban orange juice made from oranges grown in Florida, Florida cannot ban Upsides meat, Institute for Justice attorney Suranjan Sen said in a written statement. A major purpose for enacting the Constitution was to prevent exactly this kind of economic protectionism, ensuring that all Americans can benefit from a free and open national market. Florida cannot ban products that are lawful to sell throughout the rest of the country simply to protect in-state businesses from honest competition. Dr. Uma Veleti, CEO and founder of Upside Foods, said it was surreal watching the Florida Legislature debate the bill during the session that took place this winter. I watched the whole session, and I thought this is probably what it probably looked like several hundred years ago when people were challenging nearly every transformative innovation that came into the world and innovators had to fight and fight and fight, he said on the Zoom call on Tuesday. I felt like I was watching an old boys club trying to have a privileged group protected and protecting an incumbent industry. I just couldnt believe that was happening at this day and age. Florida is the first state in the country to ban cultivated meat. Alabama will become the second when its ban goes into effect on Oct. 1. Attorneys for the Institute for Justice say they hope to file for a preliminary injunction in federal court to stop the law from being enforced by the end of this week. This story has been updated to include additional comments and to correct the name of the organization behind the lawsuit in several references to the Institute for Justice. In participating states, low-income families will receive $40 each month for each eligible school-aged child, up to $120, to buy groceries, beginning in the summer of 2024. Shown is a sign at a grocery store noting the acceptance of electronic benefit transfer, or EBT, cards, on Dec. 4, 2019, in Oakland, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Florida House Democrats sent a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday pressing him to apply for a federal program that would provide food assistance to low-income kids next summer. The Sunshine State was one of 13 states that passed up millions in federal funds for the summer EBT program that gave low-income families $120 for school-aged children this year, according to States Newsrooms D.C. Bureau. Pressure from parents, anti-hunger and child advocacy groups, and now Democrats keeps mounting on Florida to notify the federal government that it plans to participate in the program next year as the Aug. 15 deadline approaches. Florida has an opportunity to correct the egregious error made by DeSantis in 2024 when he decided to politicize food insecurity, House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell wrote in a press release on Tuesday. Floridians have had to suffer through political stunt after political stunt by this governor while theyre trying to address their affordability crisis. Struggling families cant eat political stunts and dont deserve to suffer the consequences imposed by the governors limited view of freedom. In a state that purportedly prioritizes parental rights, Gov. DeSantis must allow Floridians the freedom to access the federal benefits their tax dollars paid for. The USDA estimates that more than 2 million children in Florida would get around $258.9 million in federal aid through the program. Florida would only have to fund half of the administrative costs to distribute the benefits, which adds up to $13 million. Florida officials sued over states lab-grown meat law Video above: Gov. DeSantis signs bill banning sale of lab-grown meat in Florida TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) A company that produces cultivated meat is suing several Florida officials over a new state law that bans their products from being produced or sold in the state. The lawsuit was filed by California-based Upside Foods, a cultivated meat company which alleges the law is meant to stifle competition. Upside Foods is one of two companies approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to sell cultivated meat, also known as lab-grown meat, nationwide. Ron DeSantis has beef with lab-grown meat products It claims lawmakers approved the ban to favor Florida agriculture over out-of-state competitors. This violates the Constitution, which bars states from creating laws that tip the scales in favor of their own in-state businesses, according to the lawsuit. When discussing the law earlier this year, DeSantis said the legislature was working to pass it to protect our meat from the global elite, whom he claimed want to go after agriculture. At another news conference, he spoke behind a podium with a sign reading save our beef. Florida Commissioner of Agriculture made similar statements, saying at a news conference, We must protect our incredible farmers and the integrity of American agriculture. For the same reason that California cannot ban orange juice made from oranges grown in Florida, Florida cannot ban Upsides meat, Institute for Justice Attorney Suranjan Sen said. A major purpose for enacting the Constitution was to prevent exactly this kind of economic protectionism, ensuring that all Americans can benefit from a free and open national market. Florida cannot ban products that are lawful to sell throughout the rest of the country simply to protect in-state businesses from honest competition. Upside said the law violates the Supremacy Clause and the Commerce Clause, claiming it was created with the purpose to stifle innovation from the out-of-state company. The company does not want to force anyone to consume their products, but would like to give consumers a choice. If some Floridians dont like the idea of eating cultivated chicken, theres a simple solution: Dont eat it. said Paul Sherman, a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, the law firm that filed the suit. The government has no right to tell consumers who want to try cultivated meat that theyre not allowed to. This law is not about safety; its about stifling innovation and protecting entrenched interests at the expense of consumer choice. Attorneys are seeking to stop the law from being enforced and asking a judge to rule that it is unconstitutional. A Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) Our community is close to a food crisis, according to the Food Bank of North Alabama. Thats why News 19 is partnering with them for the Fill the Food Bank campaign! From August 12 through August 23, you can make a monetary donation online, or by texting FOODBANK to 256-746-6112. 7-year-old to donate life-saving bone marrow to little sister in Sheffield Your donations can make a big difference for organizations that source their food from the Food Bank of North Alabama. One partner organization, Food to Grow, is a backpack program put on by volunteers at Trinity United Methodist Church in Huntsville. We heard of the need of children going home on weekends and not having enough to eat, volunteer Steve McCurry told News 19. Once a week, he and other volunteers visit the food bank to stock up on food that can be packed up and sent home with children on the weekends. Other volunteers at the church ensure the packs are delivered to six local schools schools where they help ensure 1,100 children have food to eat on the weekends. For McCurry, volunteering is a passion. Hes been working with the food bank and the backpack program for 15 years. There are a lot of hungry people, a lot of people that dont get enough to eat, and were called to share he said. We should be helping our neighbors and this is a great way to do it. We all feel it: Combating hunger in North Alabama with annual Fill the Food Bank fundraiser The Food Bank of North Alabama partners with more than 200 agencies and organizations across the Tennessee Valley. Our partnership with the Food Bank of North Alabama has been a complete game changer, said Unique Dunston, the Founder and Executive Director of Albertville-based non-profit, Reclaiming Our Time. Dunston told News 19 that since partnering with the food bank, theyve been able to feed more people than ever before. Partnering with them has allowed us to feed hundreds of people, if not thousands of more people, Dunston said. Reclaiming Our Time runs a food bank inside Christ Episcopal Church on East Main Street in Albertville. Dunston says theyre there for anyone who needs a meal. We serve anybody and everybody who is hungry, she said. Theres no paperwork, theres no questions asked, theres no way to qualify the only way to qualify is that you are in need. The News 19 Fill the Food Bank campaign runs through August 23rd. Again, you can donate on the Fill the Food Bank donation website or by texting FOODBANK to 256-746-6112. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com. SYDNEY, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Australian company that owns the helicopter that crashed into a hotel in Far North Queensland confirmed on Tuesday the pilot who was killed in the "unauthorized" flight was a current ground crew employee. Nautilus Aviation chief executive officer (CEO) Aaron Finn said that a ground crew employee gained unauthorized access to its helicopter hangar at the Cairns international airport early Monday morning and misappropriated an aircraft. The pilot, the sole occupant of the helicopter, died when it crashed into the roof of the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in the northeastern city of Cairns shortly after takeoff, sparking a fire and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of guests. Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Finn said that the employee -- who started working with the company four months ago -- held a pilot's license in New Zealand but had never flown in Australia. He said there was a gathering of company employees on Sunday night celebrating the man's promotion to a ground crew position at another Nautilus Aviation base. "We offer our heartfelt condolences to the individual's family and all who have been affected by this tragedy and continue to offer our support to our employees during this very challenging period," Finn said. Earlier on Tuesday, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) confirmed that evidence recovered from the wreck of the helicopter, including technical instruments, had been sent to its central office in Canberra for examination. The ATSB has appealed for any eyewitnesses or people with video or photographs of the helicopter flying before the crash to contact the bureau. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that investigators believe the helicopter was taken from the Cairns international airport before flying into the no-fly zone over the city's central business district. The investigation into the crash will also scrutinize the Department of Home Affairs, which oversees security at all Australian airports. Nautilus Aviation has a fleet of over 40 helicopters across seven operating bases in Queensland and the Northern Territory, from which it offers scenic flights, tours, and charters. DETROIT, Mich. (WTVO) Ford Motor Company has issued a do not drive warning to owners of more than 457,000 vehicles, including some of its most popular models. On Tuesday, Ford said older vehicles are subject to the order due to dangerous Takata airbag inflators that have not been replaced. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the inflators can explode with too much force in a crash, blowing apart a metal canister and shooting fragments that can severely injure or kill people. All were recalled previously but repairs have not been completed. The following Ford models are included in the Do Not Drive order: 2004 to 2011 Ranger pickups 2005 through 2014 Mustangs 2005 and 2006 Ford GTs 2006 through 2012 Fusions 2007 through 2010 Edge SUVs The company has made more than 121 million attempts to contact owners including emails, phone calls, text messages and visits to customer homes. The company says over 95% of its U.S. customers have had their inflators replaced. The government says 27 people have been killed in the U.S. by faulty Takata inflators, which used volatile ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion to inflate air bags in a crash. The chemical can deteriorate over time when exposed to high temperatures and humidity. More than 400 people in the U.S. have been hurt. The potential for a dangerous malfunction led to the largest series of auto recalls in U.S. history, with at least 67 million Takata inflators involved. The U.S. government says many have not been repaired. Owners can check to see if their vehicles are covered by going to the NHTSA website and keying in their vehicle identification or license plate numbers. If a vehicle has an unrepaired Takata inflator, owners should stop driving them and call a dealer to set up a repair appointment. Ford is offering free towing or mobile repairs and loaner vehicles if necessary, NHTSA says. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to MyStateline | WTVO News, Weather and Sports. Former Ald. Munoz could go back to prison after May DUI arrest CHICAGO A former alderman on supervised release on a fraud conviction had a blood alcohol concentration of nearly four times the legal limit after being found slumped over in his vehicle with a half-empty bottle of rum at his side in May, federal prosecutors allege. In a Monday court filing, the government seeks to revoke the supervised release of Ricardo Munoz, the longtime 22nd Ward alderman who retired in 2019. The terms of his supervised release required he stay out of trouble with the law and refrain from any use of alcohol. Ex-Ald. Munoz gets 13 months in prison, $6K in restitution for fraud According to a police report, witnesses said Munozs vehicle veered into oncoming traffic and slow rolled into another vehicle in west suburban Berwyn on May 23. He was unresponsive and slumped at the steering wheel when first responders arrived, prosecutors said. A responding officer found a half-empty bottle of Captain Morgan rum on the passenger front seat. Munoz was taken to Rush University Medical Center where testing showed his blood alcohol concentration to be approximately 0.3, the court filing said. It is illegal to drive in Illinois with a BAC of .08 or greater. Munoz told his probation officer he had relapsed after his release from custody last year, the court filing said. A hearing was scheduled for Thursday on the prosecutors motion to revoke Munoz supervised release. Prosecutors have asked the court to sentence him to another 3 to 9 months in prison followed by an additional term of supervised release. Munoz has a documented history with alcohol. He entered an Indiana rehabilitation facility in 2019 following a domestic incident with his wife. Two years later, while on bond in the fraud case, he was charged with DUI after being found in a vehicle and a preliminary breath test showed he had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.214. That DUI case was dismissed. Former Ald. Ricardo Munoz found not guilty of domestic battery Munoz later admitted to using campaign funds for personal expenses and was found guilty of fraud and sentenced to 13 months in prison. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV. Former Browns linebacker signs with new team MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (WKBN) Former Cleveland Browns linebacker Jordan Kunaszyk has officially signed with the Minnesota Vikings. Read next: Browns cut running back in series of roster moves Kunaszyk spent the past two seasons in Cleveland as a core special teams player and linebacker. He played in 20 games with the Browns, with a pair of starts. Prior to his time in Cleveland, Kunaszyk also spent time with the Carolina Panthers (2019) and the Washington Commanders (2020-21). Kunaszyk has played in 46 career games, piling up 45 total tackles, one pass defensed and one forced fumble. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. A former county clerk in Colorado who had become an icon among election deniers was convicted of election interference Monday for a breach of her countys voting systems. Tina Peters, the former clerk of Mesa County, was found guilty of four felonies after a lengthy criminal trial. She was cleared of three lesser charges. Prosecutors alleged Peters stole a county employees security badge to help a man associated with MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell gain access to the countys voter systems to assist Lindells false conspiracies about the validity of the 2020 election results. In the trials closing arguments, prosecutor Janet Drake argued Peters allowed a man posing as a county employee to take copies of the election systems hard drive before and after a software upgrade in May 2021. Drake argued Peters was fixated on a desire to be a hero and to impress Lindell, one of the most notable election-denying conspiracy theorists. The defendant was a fox guarding the henhouse. It was her job to protect the election equipment, and she turned on it and used her power for her own advantage, Drake said in arguments, according to The Associated Press. Peters lost her 2022 primary to keep the clerk post. Peters is the first local official to be convicted related to conspiracy theories surrounding 2020 election results. Election analysts have raised warnings that local officials may again play a key role in the 2024 election, refusing to certify election results if former President Trump does not win. While Trump has attempted to distance himself from 2020 election conspiracies, he has continued to leave open concerns about the upcoming November election, specifically surrounding election security. Trump and other top Republicans including his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) have refused calls to outright affirm that they will accept the results of the November election, only saying they will do so if the results are free and fair. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Tina Peters, the Republican former county clerk and right-wing folk hero, was found guilty Monday on four of seven felony counts against her, and guilty of all three misdemeanor counts. The charges related to one of the most significant election security breaches in recent years. Peters, who declined to testify at trial, is the former clerk and recorder of Mesa County, Colorado, which is home to Grand Junction and around 150,000 people. She became a cause celebre for the nationwide election denial movement after she was indicted in relation to the security breach maintaining that the breach occurred while she was trying to investigate Dominion voting machines, and that her actions were legal. The jury reached the verdict after about four hours of deliberation Monday. Peters was not taken into custody at the courthouse but rather instructed to report to a probation officer by noon Tuesday. Shell face a sentencing hearing on Oct. 3. Based on the verdict, Peters could face anywhere from 7 to 22 years in prison, according to Marshall Zelinger, a reporter at KUSA-TV in Denver. Tina Peters willfully compromised her own election equipment trying to prove Trumps Big Lie, Jena Griswold, Colorados Democratic secretary of state, said in a statement reacting to the verdict. She has been found guilty of 4 felonies and 3 misdemeanors by a jury of her peers and will now face the consequences of her actions. Todays verdict sends a clear message: we will not tolerate any effort to threaten the security of our gold standard elections. I am proud that justice for Colorado voters has been served today. After the 2020 election, Peters secretly brought a computer analyst aligned with the election denial movement into a protected software update meeting for Dominion election machines in her county, wary of state officials erasing election information. The analyst attended the update under a disguise, using the name and access badge of a local Mesa County resident. Digital images from the software update soon leaked online published by Ron Watkins, a key QAnon figure and state officials quickly descended upon the Mesa County elections office to investigate. Peters was indicted in 2022, and pleaded not guilty ahead of trial to three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, two counts of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, and one count each of criminal impersonation, identity theft, first-degree official misconduct, violation of duty, and failing to comply with the secretary of state. The first seven counts were felonies, the last three were misdemeanors. Peters was found guilty Monday of all felony counts except one of the counts of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, criminal impersonation, and identity theft. She was found guilty of the three counts of attempting to influence a public servant and one of the counts of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation. The crux of the case against Peters was that she used the identity of Gerald Jerry Wood, a local resident, as cover for the computer analyst, Conan Hayes, who attended the software update, which is known as a trusted build. Peters, working with Hayes, a former pro surfer who co-founded the clothing brand RVCA, meant to deceive both county employees and employees from the Colorado secretary of states office, prosecutors argued; the office had previously denied Peters request to include members of the public in the trusted build. Peters then-deputy in the county elections office, Belinda Knisley, also faced charges, but reached a plea deal with prosecutors, agreeing to testify against Peters in order to avoid prison time. Prosecutors alleged Peters had instructed Knisley to have security cameras turned off prior to the trusted build. Another former Peters employee who testified against her as part of a plea deal, Sandra Brown, told the jury that Peters introduced her to a new hire ahead of the trusted build, but that she grew suspicious after she overheard Jerry talking about taking forensic images of voting systems in other states. Peters lied to me, Brown said. Both Brown and Knisley recalled Peters telling them, Im fucked, after images of the software update were published online. Despite or perhaps because of the charges against her, Peters became popular statewide among Republican Party faithful, earning the support of 61% of delegates at the Colorado GOP assembly to be the Republican nominee for secretary of state. Still, she later lost the actual statewide Republican primary then raised $250,000 for a recount, which confirmed the loss. A National Network Though elections in the United States are largely run on the local level, Peters trial showed the truly national scope of the election conspiracy theory movement, which Donald Trump supercharged four years ago when he denied the facts of his own 2020 reelection loss ultimately leading to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on Congress, an attempt by Trump supporters to overturn Joe Bidens win. For one thing, Sherronna Bishop, an ally of Peters and a key witness in the trial, is Rep. Lauren Boeberts (R-Co.) former campaign manager. Bishop, a right-wing activist, introduced Peters to the national election conspiracy theory community among them Douglas Frank, a election conspiracy theorist who has toured the country claiming to have discovered mathematical proof of election rigging. In reality, as The Washington Post reported, Franks pitch involves a bit of impressive-sounding chicanery that is light-years away from any proof of fraud. It was Bishop who testified that Wood, the supposed victim of identity theft, had actually consented to the use of his Mesa County badge as part of the scheme a claim Wood and the prosecution denied. Jurors in the Peters case heard a secretly-recorded meeting between Frank and Peters taped by a concerned member of Peters office in which Frank encouraged the then-county clerk to root out phantom ballots and acknowledged he was being paid by Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow and a major funder of the election denial movement. The same concerned staff member, Stephanie Wenholz, Mesa Countys front-end elections manager, said Peters had mandated that staff attend a presentation by Frank, hosted by Bishop, at a Grand Junction hotel. Wenholz said the mood at the event was kind of like a revival and said she felt her safety was in jeopardy at the event. Lindell himself loomed large over the trial: The Mesa County story became national news as Peters spoke at a Lindell event, deemed the Cyber Symposium, in South Dakota. She reportedly traveled there via Lindells private jet. In 2022, Lindell claimed to have donated $800,000 to Peters defense fund. Lindells cell phone was seized by the FBI in 2022 (when he was in a Hardees drive-through) as part of a federal investigation of the Mesa County breach. Lindell sued, but the suit went nowhere, with the Supreme Court ultimately declining to hear an appeal. Tina Peters, Mesa County Clerk and Colorado Republican candidate for secretary of state (center), follows election results with supporters during a primary night watch party at the Wide Open Saloon on June 28, 2022, in Sedalia, Colorado. Peters lost to former Jefferson County Clerk Pam Anderson. Marc Piscotty via Getty Images Just days before the trial began, Lindell and other national election conspiracy theorists, including David Clements and Joe Oltmann, attended a film screening in Mesa County, where at least one organizer urged potential jurists to support Tina Peters. Oltmann (pictured above on the left with Peters in 2022) told the crowd, Im at that place where I want to hurt somebody, and Theyre going to steal the election in November, the Colorado Times Recorder reported. He added: Lets go get our guns; we have to have a target. The time is coming when good people will have to do bad things to bad people. Theres a sacrifice to be made. Closing Arguments Throughout the trial, prosecutors attempted to steer jurors away from opinions about election security. This case was a simple case centered around the use of deceit to commit a fraud, Robert Shapiro, first assistant attorney general for special prosecutions at the Colorado attorney generals office, said at the start of closing arguments Monday. Its not about computers, its not about election records, its about using deceit to trick and manipulate others specifically public servants who are simply trying to do their job, despite the agenda and motives that the defendant had, in concert with like-minded people, mostly from outside Mesa County. Peters, in working with members of the national election conspiracy theory movement, let the outsiders come into this secured world that she was supposed to be focusing on, Shapiro said. He also argued that Peters, with outsiders and some within Mesa County, worked to deceive Colorado secretary of states office employees, as well as an employee from Mesa County. Employees from the secretary of states office were instructed to leave the Mesa County trusted build if any unauthorized outsiders were present; in order for the election conspiracy theory movement to gain crucial access to a sensitive process on friendly turf that is, the Mesa County elections office their cyber mercenary technician, Hayes, needed to use a supposed local employees identity, prosecutors argued. Peters attorneys argued essentially that the former clerk broke no laws in disguising Hayes as Gerald Wood and smuggling him into a sensitive software update noting that, even though the secretary of states office told Peters no outsiders were allowed at the trusted build, employees from that office didnt check the identification of attendees. Defense attorney John Case, during his closing argument, compared giving Hayes Woods county ID badge to giving a friend your hotel room key. There was no harm. Misrepresenting Hayes identity didnt hurt a computer, it didnt hurt any software, it didnt affect [Danny] Casias [the Colorado secretary of states senior voting system specialist], it didnt interrupt the trusted build. No harm, Case said. Wood, Case argued, was dishonest when he claimed that he didnt know what would happen with the ID badge Peters had made for him. The defense also argued that it was not illegal to share information about the software update, and that the images that did ultimately leak did not contain any truly sensitive information. Its not unlawful to publish videos on the internet, thank God, because we live in a country that still values free speech unless youre a target of the government, then your speech has no value, Case said. He added, referring to the trusted build: So whats the harm with having the public in the room? Prior to the start of the trial, Colorado District Court Judge Matthew Barrett forbade Peters defense from mentioning any claim that Hayes was working for the federal government a would-be justification for concealing his identity. (Theres no proof of Hayes supposedly working with the government, and Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein told the court the FBI confirmed Hayes was never an informant.) Case told the jury, rather, that Clerk Peters made one decision: She made a decision to protect the identity of Conan Hayes, because he said he couldnt do the work that needed to be done if his identity was revealed a comment that drew an objection from the defense for assuming facts not in evidence. Later, Case wondered aloud why the prosecution hadnt called Hayes as a witness. Well, did the background check show that he was a CIA asset, or an NSA. The prosecution interjected with another objection. Later, Case said that rather than evaluating the case based on who was harmed no one, hed argued the jury should consider who Tina Peters actions had threatened, namely Dominion and the secretary of state, he said. Shapiro objected, saying it was an improper argument. Barrett sustained the objection. Theres no evidence that Mesa Countys elections were ever corrupted by Dominion voting machines, or anything else. As a result of the breach in Mesa County, the Colorado secretary of states office decertified the existing machines, and county officials voted to replace them with new Dominion machines, at a higher cost, in 2021. The prosecution concluded closing arguments with a rebuttal to the defense, painting Peters as the engine of a conspiracy that connected national election conspiracy theorists with collaborators in Mesa County. The defendant was a fox guarding the henhouse, Janet Drake, a deputy attorney general in the Colorado attorney generals office, told the jury. It was her job to protect the election equipment, and she turned on it, and used her power for her own advantage. Related... Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, a once-prominent Democrat who is now a supporter of former Republican President Donald Trump, will be a featured speaker at the Oakland County GOP Lincoln Day dinner in Novi next week, an official announced Tuesday. Kwame Kilpatrick urges his audience to support Donald Trump for president during a meeting at Lelli's Inn on the Green in Farmington Hills on June 24, 2024. Vance Patrick, chairman of the Oakland County Republican Party, announced on the social media platform X that Kilpatrick will speak at the Suburban Collection Showplace Aug. 21. When I asked him, there was a long pause, and he said, I would be honored to be involved with this event, Patrick told the Free Press on Tuesday. I'm proud to announce that Kwame Kilpatrick will be a featured speaker at next Wednesday's @oakland_party Lincoln Day Dinner! Get your tickets here: https://t.co/8Tq0Q6t1mR pic.twitter.com/7tKrpZB9RT Chairman Vance Patrick (@vance_gop) August 13, 2024 Kilpatrick was a Democratic leader in the Michigan Legislature before serving as mayor of Detroit from 2002 to 2008. But he has become a supporter of the former GOP president since Trump, in 2021, commuted the 28-year federal prison sentence Kilpatrick received in 2013 after he was convicted of corruption crimes, including racketeering, extortion and fraud. Kilpatrick attended a Trump rally in Saginaw in May. And at an event in Farmington Hills in June, he urged a predominantly Black audience to publicly proclaim their support for Trump, who is seeking a second four-year term as president in November after losing a bid for reelection to President Joe Biden in 2020. Trump has touted his support from Black voters during the current campaign, though recent polls show Vice President Kamala Harris, who has replaced Biden as the Democratic nominee, is performing better among Black voters than Biden did. Patrick said former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Ben Carson, remains the keynote speaker.Patrick acknowledged Kilpatrick brings baggage with his corruption convictions, but said he heard him speak recently in Farmington Hills and "he is definitely a changed man" and "the real deal."Patrick said discussions are still early, but he hopes to have Kilpatrick out stumping for Republican candidates in Oakland County and beyond. Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on X, @paulegan4. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to address GOP dinner in Novi Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan encouraged Minnesotans to file their taxes, highlighting the states new child tax credit at the nonprofit Prepare + Prosper on Feb. 5, 2023. Photo by Michelle Griffith/Minnesota Reformer. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz really, really likes maps. The former Mankato geography teacher, now a vice presidential candidate, identifies as a GIS nerd and proclaimed November 15, 2023 as Geographic Information Systems day, writing that an understanding of maps and data helps community leaders and government officials make data-driven decisions governing important policy issues like education, public safety and the environment. Over the past several years Walz has given several addresses at conferences hosted by ESRI, the company that makes leading GIS software ArcGIS. Part stump speech and part GIS infomercial, the talks underscore how maps shaped Walzs understanding of the world as a young educator and member of Congress, and how he now relies on them as the tools to implement the ambitious policy agenda crafted by Minnesotas DFL trifecta this term. The end product of these maps is a more sustainable economy, a more sustainable environment, and lifting up of peoples lives in a way that they can thrive, he said as part of the keynote of an ESRI conference in mid-July. Geography in the classroom and in Congress Walz said he was an early adopter of GIS software in the 1990s, using it, among other things, to teach high school students about the Holocaust. He had his students build maps of the contemporary world using different layers of data that scholars believed could factor into modern-day genocides. They started looking at food insecurity, potential drought, just like the UN was doing around famine early warning, Walz said. In 1993, he asked his sophomores where they thought the next genocide might happen, based on the geographic data. They pinpointed Rwanda. The following year, the Rwandan Genocide occurred. The New York Times interviewed some of the students involved in the project in 2008, when Walz was a U.S. congressman. Walz also criticized his former congressional colleagues for their lack of knowledge about global geography. He spoke of blank stares in an Armed Services Committee hearing when he brought up the Durand Line, referring to the often disputed border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. A geographically illiterate member of the United States Congress is a very scary proposition, he said. All the governors maps Walz says that he now relies heavily on maps to both share information with constituents and to target policy interventions. As a governor, the ability to use what I knew about mapping and the visual display of data to convey complex issues, to affect change amongst people, is really important, he said. The early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when maps of case counts and geographic spread were a ubiquitous part of newscasts and policy discussions, underscored this point. GIS helps build trust, he said. Conveying data to people in a complex way helps to build trust. Walz also boasted about St. Pauls map of lead pipes that allows homeowners to look up their addresses and schedule service to get the pipes replaced. This is the interaction between your map and policies, and a united world and good outcomes for people, he said. Walz also says maps help implement the nitty-gritty details of otherwise abstract policy. You have to have a plan for how were doing power and economic justice and environmental justice, he said. The tools for that plan are GIS. Those tools transfer a vision of a fair society into one that actually has results. At the keynote, Walz shared something called the Minnesota Executive Map Portfolio, a collection of online maps showing data on some of his policy priorities: children and families, the climate and the economy. He spoke at length about a map of peat bogs (Minnesota has the second most of these only behind Alaska); one showing child tax credit filing versus eligibility (we had to get out there and find out whos not filing for taxes and break it down to the street level); and a map of youth job skills training rates (matched up with the employers who are there, overlaid with our high school graduation rates, means fewer students drop through the cracks.) Walz also has strong feelings about maps hes not particularly fond of. In 2023, he told an ESRI audience that we need to find the first person who put that red-blue map up and beat the hell out of them for putting that on, because it divided the country. And it did not show the nuance that GIS shows. Those red and blue maps were the subject of off-the-cuff remarks that became infamous among Walzs Republican opponents. In 2017, he was speaking at a candidate roundtable on comedy show T2P2 when he brought up the urban-rural partisan divide. You see those maps. Red and blue and theres all that red across there. And Democrats go into depression over it. Its mostly rocks and cows that are in that red area because of demographics, he said. Im a geographer. But it doesnt change the fact that moving toward an urban population left a lot of areas where they were wondering, Where was the person speaking for them? Republicans circulated an abbreviated clip of the rocks and cows comment and turned it into an attack line. But overall, Walz tends to speak rapturously about the power of good maps to bring about social change. I know Im preaching to the choir, but the choir needs to sing, he told ESRI in 2024. This stuff works. This stuff makes a difference. The map is wonderful to look at. Its exciting. As an ESRI executive put it while introducing Walz to the crowd of GIS enthusiasts and map nerds: Hes one of us. Minnesota Reformer is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Minnesota Reformer maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor J. Patrick Coolican for questions: info@minnesotareformer.com. Follow Minnesota Reformer on Facebook and X. Kansas prosecutors have filed a charge of interference with the judicial process against former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody, alleging he tampered with an investigation into his departments raid on a local newspaper office last year. Marion police raided the Marion County Record and the homes of two of its employees, including its publisher Eric Meyer, in August 2023 based on a search warrant that alleged the paper, Meyer, and reporter Phyllis Zorn had committed identity theft or other computer crimes to verify the authenticity of a business owners driving record. An Aug. 5 report by two special prosecutors, Marc Bennett and Barry Wilkerson, cleared the paper and its employees of any wrongdoing and concluded that there was enough evidence to charge Cody for tampering with the investigation into the raid. Cody resigned from the department last October. Small town familiarity explains but does not excuse the inadequate investigation that gave rise to the search warrant applications in this matter, prosecutors said in their report. A few minutes on the phone with the Kansas Department of Revenue was, functionally, the entirety of the investigation. It would have taken longer to draft (and re-draft) the warrant applications than the time to investigate. Meyer welcomed the charge but criticized prosecutors for not charging anyone but Cody and for not charging Cody in connection to the raid itself. While Im pleased to finally be cleared of wrongdoing on our part and to finally see some sort of charges filed, Im disappointed that the charges dont address the underlying issues of the 1st and 4th amendments, Meyer told The Hill. Even though the special prosecutors clearly indicated that the raid was wrong, the charges filed arent about the raid itself but rather about an alleged cover-up that occurred afterward, he added. The report found that the warrant would not have stood on appeal and that any evidence tied to it would have been suppressed. However, the prosecutors concluded that the officers involved acted within the color of the law and thought they were carrying out a lawful search against the paper. The paper and its employees allege that local officials, including Cody, used the raid in an attempt to settle a score. A reporter at the paper was looking into Codys past experience as a police officer and had reached out to him for comment, leading Cody to threaten to sue the paper for libel. The report concluded that there was not enough evidence to determine whether Cody or other local officials had carried out the investigation for personal reasons. The specter of ulterior motives, personal animus and conclusions based not on investigation but rather on assumption permeates much of this case, the prosecutors wrote. These factors arguably colored the perceptions of Marion law enforcements and civilian actors alike. If Chief Cody harborded ill-motives toward the Marion County Record, he managed to keep them hidden in personal communications with other officers both verbal and electronic, the report adds. Meyer and other employees at the Marion County Record have filed civil suits against Marion Countys former mayor, David Mayfield, Cody, and other local officials for violating their First Amendment rights. Four civil lawsuits are pending. Meyer alleges in his civil suit that the raid was an ill-fated attempt to silence the press. He also alleged that the officers involved in the execution of the search warrant were responsible for the death of his mother, Joan Meyer, 98, who died the day after the raid. The special prosecutor report concluded that there was not enough evidence to conclusively tie the officers conduct to her death and said that there was no evidence that showed they intended to cause Joan Meyer harm. The raid on the Record drew widespread condemnation from press freedom organizations, which denounced it as an attempt to restrict the freedom of the press in the U.S. Seth Stern, the advocacy director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, told The Hill that his organization welcomes the reports findings but questioned why the investigation took close to a year to finish. It should not have taken nearly a year for investigators to reach these extremely obvious conclusions, he said. We welcome the news that the former police chief who orchestrated the raid, Gideon Cody, will be criminally charged, he shouldve been charged with more than after-the-fact obstruction the raid itself was criminal. And Cody is far from the only one at fault here. We hope he and everyone else behind the raid will also be held accountable, through the criminal courts, civil courts, and courts of public opinion. They should never work in law enforcement or government again, he added. The Hill has contacted the Marion police department and mayor. The Associated Press attempted to contact Cody and believe he is now in Hawaii. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Video above: Police raid the Marion County Record on Aug. 11, 2023 (Courtesy: Eric Myer) MARION, Kan. (KSNW) One year after the police raid on the Marion County Record, the former Marion police chief has been formally charged. Gideon Cody has been charged with one count of interference with the judicial process, inducing a witness to withhold/delay information in a felony case. On Aug. 11, 2023, officers from the Marion Police Department raided the newspapers office and the home of the publisher, Eric Myer, seizing equipment and even personal cell phones. Cody, who was the police chief at the time, claimed that he was investigating whether the newspaper committed identity theft or other crimes in assessing a local restaurant owners state driving record. Local business owners oppose downtown parking changes Earlier this month, Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett and Riley County Attorney Barry Wilkerson issued a 124-page report on the raid. It was concluded they have probable cause to believe that Cody may have withheld two pages of a local business owners written statement from September 2023. Sentencing for violation of the judicial process ranges between seven and 23 months in prison or probation. There are no scheduled hearings in this case at this time. Five lawsuits have been filed against Cody, the City of Marion, the former mayor, and other government officials since the raid. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV. YANGON, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar plans to set up eight polytechnic universities in the 2024-25 academic year to foster talent and boost research, technological development and innovation in the country, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar reported on Tuesday. Chairman of the State Administration Council (SAC) Senior General Min Aung Hlaing made the remarks in addressing a ceremony marking the International Youth Day 2024 in capital Nay Pyi Taw on Monday, while emphasizing the need to develop physical, mental, moral, social, and economic strengths of the nation, the report said. At present, the Myanmar government is working on the youth affairs policy to nurture knowledgeable and capable citizens, the report said. The SAC has also formed committees to effectively carry out various youth development programs, it added. Front pages of the post-raid edition of the Marion County Record are displayed July 25, 2024, on the front window of the newspaper office Front pages of the post-raid edition of the Marion County Record are displayed July 25, 2024, on the front window of the newspaper office. The page read: "Seized ... but not silenced." (Grace Hills/Kansas Reflector) TOPEKA A special prosecutor in court documents filed Tuesday says former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody induced a witness to withhold information in the days after Cody led a raid on a newspaper office, the publishers home and the home of a city councilwoman. Special prosecutor Barry Wilkerson, of Riley County, charged Cody with interference with judicial process, a low-level felony, in Marion County District Court. If convicted, the presumed sentence would be probation. Wilkerson and special prosecutor Marc Bennett, of Sedgwick County, announced last week they would file the charge against Cody. But they determined Cody and other officials didnt break the law by planning and conducting an illegal and unconstitutional raid. The prosecutors wrote that Cody, his officers, Sheriff Jeff Soyez and his deputies, Kansas Bureau of Investigation agents, County Attorney Joel Ensey and Magistrate Judge Laura Viar didnt realize their inadequacy in accusing journalists and a political outcast of committing identity theft because they obtained Kari Newells driving record a public document. Newell wanted a liquor license for her restaurant, but her driving record showed she had a DUI and suspended driving license. Five federal lawsuits accuse Cody, with support from Mayor David Mayfield, of spearheading an investigation into Marion County Record reporter Phyllis Zorn, publisher Eric Meyer and Councilwoman Ruth Herbel. On Aug. 11, 2023, Cody led the raids of the newsroom, Herbels home, and the home where Meyer lived with his 98-year-old mother, Joan Meyer, who co-owned the newspaper with her son. Body camera video shows Joan Meyer cursing at and confronting the officers in her home. She died the next day from a stress-induced heart attack. Wilkerson and Bennett said in their report they would not hold police responsible for her death. Cody resigned in October after KSHB-TV reported he had instructed Newell to delete text messages the two had exchanged. Wilkerson and Bennetts report said Codys actions regarding text messages would provide the basis for a criminal charge. The complaint filed Tuesday identifies 37 witnesses, including law enforcement, city leaders, journalists and Newell. One year later Judge who authorized Kansas newspaper raid escapes discipline with secret conflicting explanation Special prosecutors plan to file criminal charge against police chief who led Marion raid One year after chilling police raid on Kansas newspaper, aftershocks linger in Marion News of police raiding a Kansas newspaper unfolded like a novella. The story keeps churning. After Kansas newspaper raid, journalists remain defiant in battle for accountability SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) Former Mike Durfee State Prison inmates Michael and Joey are sharing their perspectives on the July violence at the Springfield, S.D. prison. Michael and Joey, who are now out on parole, were inmates at the facility during the violence. Since the duo is afraid of retaliation, KELOLAND News agreed not to share their last names or show their faces. The South Dakota Department of Corrections says fighting among inmates in Springfield on July 9 and July 10 left inmates and staff members hurt, with none of the injuries life-threatening. Making a difference through free medical care Seen a guy get stabbed with a, looked like either a mop handle or a broomstick, Michael said. It just started to break out with a lot of violent acts such as people getting beaten, stomped, pulled out of their bunks and objects being thrown at them, Joey said. They chased them into our housing unit, and it was like 20 to 30 on one, just stomping all these guys out, and they had already beat these guys up once, Michael said. South Dakota Secretary of Corrections Kellie Wasko told state lawmakers in late July in Pierre that the construction of a new mens prison planned for Lincoln County will mean a safer number of inmates in Springfield, which is currently over capacity. Well decrease Durfee so that they are at a safe and manageable capacity with the physical plant that they have, Wasko said on July 30. Well decrease Rapid City. Its going to stabilize all of the facilities within the state. The latest available inmate population statistics on the DOCs website say that as of late May, 1,227 inmates were in Springfield. Wasko herself says thats not acceptable. Durfee should not be housing 12 hundred inmates, Wasko said on July 30. The DOC used the word fight to describe Julys violence in Springfield. Joey describes it another way. I believe its more gang-related violence, but a more accurate description would be a war, a gang war in my opinion, because of how extreme the violence got at points, Joey said. KELOLANDs Dan Santella also spoke Monday with a woman whose husband is an inmate at the state penitentiary in Sioux Falls. Hes scheduled for a transfer to the Mike Durfee State Prison, and she says shes terrified for him. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KELOLAND.com. Former Milwaukee Public Schools board member Aisha Carr makes remarks as the board discusses whether to put a referendum on the spring ballot in January. Carr has since stepped down, and is now facing charges alleging she did not live in the district she represented. A former Milwaukee Public Schools board member accused of lying about living in the district she was elected to represent has pleaded not guilty. Aisha Carr's defense attorney Daniel Morgan Adams made the plea on her behalf at an Aug. 13 preliminary hearing. Adams also sought to get the case dismissed, but that motion was denied. Milwaukee County Circuit Court Commissioner Barry Phillips found probable cause and ordered the case be bound over for trial. A scheduling conference has been scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Sept. 12 in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, according to online court records. Carr and her attorney declined to talk with media members as they left the courtroom Tuesday. Carr is facing two felony charges. If convicted of felony misconduct in office, she could face up to a $10,000 fine and up to 18 months in prison and two years of extended supervision. If convicted of theft by false representation, she could face a fine of up to $25,000 and up to five years in prison and five years of extended supervision. The theft charge stems from allegations that she was paid for a position she could not hold since she did not live in the area she was elected to represent. Carr told an investigator from the district attorney's office that she put the money from her board salary into an account for a future charitable organization she wants to create, according to the complaint. Charges were filed over a month after Carr resigned May 1 from the board without explanation. The criminal complaint filed June 25 alleges that Carr was living at an address outside District 4, the district she represented as a board member. Records such as phone data and utility payments led investigators to that conclusion. Carr said that address was for work purposes, the complaint said. Voting records also showed that Carr voted outside District 4 in the February 2022, November 2022 and April 2023 elections. She did vote in District 4 in April this year, records showed. Carr did not live in the district when she ran for the District 4 seat in April 2021, but said she planned to move to the district before being sworn in April 26, 2021. Carr claims that she lived in District 4 while she was a board member. The district attorney's office alleged, however, that even though court records said Carr updated her driver's license to show a District 4 address in April 2021, other evidence showed that Carr did not move to the district until after March 2023, the complaint said. Contact Alec Johnson at (262) 875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AlecJohnson12. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Aisha Carr pleads not guilty to fraud, misconduct charges Former President Trump says he plans to return to Butler in October Former President Donald Trump plans to return to Butler in October. NBC News reports the former president made the announcement during his virtual event with Elon Musk on X. Were all set up, and the people are fantastic in Butler, Trump said during the event. Trump first announced he planned to return to Butler on July 26, nearly two weeks after a gunman tried to assassinate him at the Butler Farm Show Grounds. >> Trump injured in assassination attempt at rally in Butler; 1 attendee, suspected shooter killed When he made his July 26 announcement, Trump said he planned to honor Corey Comperatore, who was killed in the shooting, and the two men who were injured. >> Butler Trump rally attendees describe panic as shots rang out during attempted Trump assassination I will be going back to Butler, Pennsylvania for a big and beautiful rally, honoring the soul of our beloved firefighting hero Corey and those brave patriots injured two weeks ago. What a day it will be-- fight, fight, fight! the former president said on Truth Social. >> A true hero: Vigil held to pay tribute to life, legacy of man killed at Trump rally in Butler An exact date for his next rally in Butler has not been announced. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW TRENDING NOW: Time is money: Government to make it easier to cancel memberships, recurring payments Teen boy killed, another hurt in Wilkinsburg car crash Plum community coming together Monday to remember neighbors killed in house explosion VIDEO: New protocol for area EMS service helps rural patients get life-saving heart attack treatment faster DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts A white former University of Kentucky student who was filmed attacking a Black student and spouting racial slurs pleaded guilty to multiple charges on Monday, according to a report. Sophia Rosing, 23, abused student desk clerk Kylah Spring at a residence hall in Nov. 2022. Shocking footage quickly went viral online, with Rosing soon banned from campus and fired from a school influencer role. Embarrassed University of Kentucky Student to Withdraw After Hurling Slurs at Black Student Rosing pleaded guilty to four counts of fourth-degree assault, one count of disorderly conduct, and one count of public intoxication, her attorney, Fred Peters, told the Lexington Herald-Leader. He said his client now faces 12 months in jail, 100 hours of community service, and a $25 fine. Her life has been on hold for the past 18 to 20 months, Peters told the Herald-Leader. She has had a lot of time to think about what she has done, and she wrote a nice letter of apology. On the night of the incident, Rosing went into Boyd Hall on the U.K. campus and started making derogatory remarks toward Spring, including racial slurs, according to the arrest report. Video of the drunken rampage shows Rosing spewing over 200 slurs in 10 minutes, and she continued using slurs when the cops showed up. She also bit one of the officers, the arrest report says. The video caused uproar, with a large on-campus demonstration held to show solidarity with Spring and denounce racism. At the time, Peters announced that Rosing would be withdrawing from the college. Shes a very, very embarrassed and humiliated young lady, he told NBC News, adding that he would get her into some kind of treatment program and sensitivity program to help her through this situation. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. VIRGINIA BEACH Travel expenses of the citys former economic development director are being scrutinized following his recent resignation. Charles Chuck Rigney resigned July 24, less than six months after taking on the role. It has been confirmed through a comprehensive review of our department financial records that some travel expenses do not align with our policies, City Manager Patrick Duhaney said at the start of Tuesdays City Council meeting. Duhaney said City Auditor Lyndon Remias will conduct an investigation of Rigneys expenses and the findings will be shared publicly. Tuesdays meeting, which was the first since the City Councils summer recess, provided the first public insight into Rigneys departure. Any abuse by city staff of the privilege to travel and represent the city of Virginia Beach will not be tolerated, and we have checks and balances in place so we are grateful that we were able to catch this before it got out of hand, Duhaney said. A city spokesperson had previously declined to discuss Rigneys resignation due to it being a personnel matter. The Virginian-Pilot has requested copies of Rigneys expenses and reimbursements. Travel, meals and more: What Hampton Roads cities allow council members to expense to taxpayers Rigney, 68, replaced Taylor Adams, who left for another job in 2023. Before coming to Virginia Beach, Rigney worked in economic development for several Hampton Roads cities, including Hampton, Norfolk and Portsmouth. A national search for Rigneys replacement will occur. Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com On Monday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigations arrested a former Walton County jailer for aggravated battery, cruelty to inmates, and violation of oath of office. On Aug. 1, the Walton County Sheriffs Office requested the GBI to investigate allegations that Jeffrey Sean Day, 39, physically injured a handcuffed Walton County inmate on July 28. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] The inmate sustained injuries that required medical treatment. The GBI did not specify how the jailer injured the inmate. Day was taken into custody and booked into the Walton County Jail. TRENDING STORIES: Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Walton County Sheriffs Office at 770-307-3080 (for anonymous tips) or the GBI Regional Investigative Office in Athens, GA at 706-552-2309. Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-8477, online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: MCMINNVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) A former Warren County teacher and club sponsor has been indicted for stealing more than $1,400 from a school club over several years after an investigation from the Tennessee Comptrollers Office. According to the office, the investigation began when Warren County High School (WCHS) officials reported allegations of misappropriation to the Comptrollers Office. Investigators then determined Jamie Branin, the WCHS Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) club sponsor, misappropriated at least $1,431.54 between 2017 and 2024. Fire crew extinguish flames at furniture store along Dickerson Pike The Comptrollers Office said the majority of the stolen money came from club fundraising efforts. The club sold chocolate bars and meat sticks to support student participation in the club. Branin is accused of collecting the proceeds from the fundraisers and turning in false reports to the school bookkeeper to conceal her misappropriation. Branin also failed to remit collections she received for students membership dues and conference fees to the bookkeeper, the Comptrollers Office said. She resigned from her position with Warren County High School Feb. 14, according to the Comptroller. Read todays top stories on wkrn.com She was indicted by the Warren County Grand Jury Aug. 2, on one count of theft of property over $1,000, one count of forgery over $1,000, one count of tampering with government records, and one count of official misconduct. School officials should take more steps to properly review fundraiser reports, Comptroller Jason Mumpower said. This includes following up on inventory shortages and receiving more detailed information when inventory is either given away or sold at a discounted price. Our investigators have met with school officials to provide recommendations on implementing stronger controls over these processes. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. The Worcester City Motel, a local landmark, will be used to shelter families once living at another hotel in Shrewsbury. SHREWSBURY Less than a mile from where the Kenneth F. Burns Memorial Bridge brings in motorists from Worcester, a square sign with blue lettering along Route 9 continues to be a landmark symbolic of what once was. Once dilapidated by the weight of time, the building at 235 Boston Turnpike, known by many as the Worcester City Motel, has seen efforts to breathe new life into it since renovations that started in 2021. The once patched-up parking lot now holds the freshness of newly layered asphalt, while the buildings exterior has been refinished to match the deep blue theme of the signs lettering. According to an announcement made by Town Manager Kevin J. Mizikar at a Select Board meeting on June 25, the location is set to shelter families most recently living at the former Days Inn in Shrewsbury, part of a state-funded sheltering program. Mizikar said at the meeting that the decision was made by the states Executive Office of Housing, indicating that the location would be a longer-term stay environment for the families. We'll work with all town officials and continue the relationship with the state to make sure this is as smooth as possible, especially for those with school-aged children, Mizikar said during the meeting. Mizikar said at the June 25 Select Board meeting that the families would be moved into the building throughout the summer. On Tuesday, a site manager on the former motels grounds said that the families have yet to move in, but they are still expected to do so. He mentioned that among them, there would be refugees. Starting in May 2023, Shrewsbury was picked by the state Department of Housing and Community Development to shelter up to 16 families at a local lodging facility. The families, supported by a third-party contractor of the state for food and other needs, according to a statement by the town, were characterized as homeless/migrant. The Worcester City Motel, a local landmark, will be used to shelter families once living at another hotel in Shrewsbury. In a right to shelter state, the DHCD is obligated to find shelter for families who fulfill certain eligibility criteria, which include low-income families with children under 21 or pregnant women who qualify for the state Emergency Assistance program, according to the towns statement. In Shrewsbury, priority to shelter is given to local families. Entirely funded by the state, the Emergency Assistance program was part of the governors $389 million investment for housing that was signed for fiscal year 2023. According to the towns statement, the DHCD does not require local approval to shelter families under this program. Calls to Mizikars office were not immediately returned, while a call to one of the lots owners, Ketan H. Patel, who is part of a three-headed partnership with Azad Legacy Partners LLC, was dropped after a reporter introduced himself. A Lexington-based property investment firm, Azad also includes Robert Parsekian and Charlie P. Minasian alongside Patel in its partnership. The company took over the former Worcester City Motel on Aug. 15, 2019, for $2.3 million from Vihar Inc., a company led by President Pramod B. Thaker of Shrewsbury. Azad focuses on office, laboratory, flex, retail and industrial properties in the Boston area. In January 2023, the firms trio was ordered to pay $65,000 in restitution and penalties for labor violations, including the failure to pay wages and earned sick time in a timely manner for locations that include the motel at 235 Boston Turnpike. The other motels, also under Azads ownership, were two Red Roof Inn locations in Sutton and Woburn. The former Worcester City Motel, located at 235 Boston Turnpike, spreads on about 21,538 square feet of space. With the construction year dated by property records to have been 1957, the motel once belonged to a time when roadside motor inns ruled Route 9, providing travelers a much-needed break. It was once known for its low-cost rooms. This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Former Worcester City Motel in Shrewsbury to shelter families, refugees A Fort Campbell intelligence analyst admitted to selling military information to a Chinese co-conspirator on Tuesday. Korbein Schultz, who was a sergeant at the U.S. Army site just across the Kentucky border, pleaded guilty to all six felonies he was charged with five months ago. U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger will sentence Schultz on Jan. 23. The three charges for unlawful export of defense articles to China carry the most severe possible punishment with a maximum 20-year prison sentence and $1 million fine. Schultz is also required to surrender any property or money "traceable" to his crimes, and he is prohibited from profiting off his crimes in the future. The Fred D. Thompson United States Courthouse and Federal Building Wednesday, June 22, 2022, in Nashville, Tenn. "You can't go out and write a book and make a million dollars," Trauger told him. An FBI special agent revealed new details of Schultz' crimes as he read the facts of the case. While Schultz' indictment had identified his co-conspirator in China as a purported geopolitical consulting firm employee, the FBI agent said Tuesday the person worked for the Chinese government. The agent said Schultz realized at some point that the co-conspirator's pretense of working for a consulting firm was a lie and that the person worked for the Chinese government. Mary-Kathryn Harcombe, Schultz's appointed attorney, said he thinks while he ought to have known, he never fully realized this. Some of the information Schultz sold his co-conspirator related to how the U.S. would respond to an invasion of Taiwan and what it learned from Russia's war with Ukraine. He received $200 for providing the co-conspirator the document that provided that information. He also provided information about the presence of U.S. troops in South Korea and the Philippines. The agent also said that Schultz tried to recruit a higher ranking Army employee into his scheme with the Chinese co-conspirator to get ahold of more sensitive information. In a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Tennessee, Executive Assistant Director Robert Wells of the FBIs National Security Branch said the Chinese government is "aggressively targeting our military personnel." This Soldier swore an oath to faithfully discharge his duties, to include protecting national defense information," Brig. Gen. Rhett R. Cox, commanding general of the Army Counterintelligence Command, said in the news release. "Not only did he fail in his sworn duty, but he placed personal gain above his duty to our country and disclosed information that could give advantage to a foreign nation, putting his fellow Soldiers in jeopardy." In sum, Schultz gave away information about advanced military helicopters, high-mobility artillery rocket systems, defensive missile systems and Chinese military tactics, as well as the tactics, techniques and procedures manuals for the F-22A fighter jet and intercontinental missiles, in exchange for $42,000, prosecutors say. The co-conspirator baited Schultz with promises of perks and leveraged his apparent love of auto racing and desire for wealth, based on the indictment. Schultz once told the co-conspirator he "wished he could be 'Jason Bourne,'" according to his indictment. Schultz, 25, appeared in court just before 1 p.m. Tuesday wearing a green jumpsuit and shackled at the ankles. Several onlookers, some of whom were from Fort Campbell, were seated in the gallery. Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him at emealins@gannett.com or follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @EvanMealins. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Fort Campbell soldier pleads guilty to selling military info to China KUALA LUMPUR, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's pension fund the Employee Provident Fund (EPF) said Tuesday that its total distributable income for the second quarter after write-downs rose 25 percent year on year to 17.50 billion ringgit (3.93 billion U.S. dollars). The fund said in a statement that its total distributable income for the first half of 2024 grew 29 percent year on year to 36.70 billion ringgit. According to EPF Chief Executive Officer Ahmad Zulqarnain Onn, favorable market conditions in Malaysia and internationally contributed to the growth in distributable income in the first half. "The Malaysian market has benefited from increasing investor interest in growth oriented policies and fiscal reforms," he said. Despite relatively calm market conditions, he noted risks persist as illustrated in the recent sell-down in global markets and sharp increases in volatility caused by market participants unwinding some concentrated and crowded positions. Fort Drum soldier charged with murder for other soldiers death FORT DRUM, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) On Monday, August 12, Fort Drum announced that Specialist Riley Birbilas was charged in connection with the death of Specialist Jacob Ashton. Soldier death at Fort Drum under investigation A press release from Fort Drum stated the general nature of the charges are premeditated murder and obstruction of justice in violation of Articles 118 and 131b of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Birbilas is currently being held in pretrial confinement and is awaiting a preliminary hearing, the release stated. Ashton was discovered dead on August 5. Birbilas joined the Army in 2021 and completed Basic Training at Fort Benning, Georgia. He has also deployed to Iraq, according to the release. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSYR. Fort Worth has high hopes for UT Arlingtons new campus. Will growth really follow? The University of Texas at Arlington last week unveiled early plans for a glistening new satellite campus on Fort Worths western frontier. UTs Board of Regents plans to pump $150 million into the project, converting 51 acres of ranchland into a network of classrooms and labs situated strategically along one of the fastest growing corridors in one of the nations fastest growing cities. Jennifer Cowley, UTAs president, envisions a straightforward and powerful dynamic of symbiotic development: thousands of new students and faculty providing cash and skilled labor to nearby businesses who, in turn, offer goods and jobs. Advantageously positioned at the intersection of I-30 and I-20 at the western gateway to Fort Worth, the new campus is located just 14 miles from downtown, she wrote in an Aug. 5 essay. The area around UTA West has the potential to add 1 million new residents. This isnt a matter of If you build it, they will come. Theyre already there, and more are coming. UTA West will be there to serve them. Are these aspirations realistic, and what might it take to realize them? The University of Texas System Board of Regents approved a plan to purchase 51 acres in the Walsh development to build a new UTA West just south of the the intersection of Walsh Ranch Parkway and Interstate 30. Photographed on Thursday, August 8, 2024. Everybody wins? City leaders share Cowleys enthusiasm. Fort Worth mayor Mattie Parker described the undertaking as a game changer. Robert Sturns, the citys economic development director, wrote to the Star-Telegram that the campus presents an opportunity to cultivate top talent and workforce development. Not only does this expansion build on the excellent foundations already laid by UTAs downtown campus, but it joins several other Fort Worth universities like Texas A&M, TCU, and Tarleton who have likewise committed to expanding their footprint and their programming to prepare todays students for tomorrows jobs, he wrote. Far west Fort Worths biggest developers agree. The significance of their investment and the size of what theyll bring, just from a commercial real estate development standpoint, will drive additional traffic and needs for retail and housing and other ancillary uses, said Taylor Baird, a founding partner of Dallas real estate firm PMB Capital Investments. Bairds firm manages Veale Ranch, a 3,800-acre master planned community promising a vibrant business environment and tens of thousands of homes upon completion. Veale Ranch sits just south of Walsh, another ranch-turned-development where UTA West plans to plant its flag. (A spokesperson for Walsh declined to comment on UTAs plans because the firm has yet to finalize its transaction with the school.) Though Veale wont host the campus, Baird predicts the property, and the area writ large, will reap substantial rewards from its presence. The University of Texas System Board of Regents approved a plan to purchase 51 acres in the Walsh development to build a new UTA West just south of the the intersection of Walsh Ranch Parkway and Interstate 30. City officials and developers say the project will energize growth in an already booming part of the city. The schools research centers and the thousands of well-trained graduates pumped out of its labs and lecture halls will, officials suspect, lure big, cutting-edge firms to the region. New employees, needing places to shop and sleep, will encourage more retail and residential construction, or so market logic dictates. It will certainly accelerate growth, Baird predicted. And I think they selected this area because of their diligence and knowledge that it really was the kind of epicenter of growth for Fort Worth. The Walsh Ranch development on Thursday, August 8, 2024. The costs of campuses Researchers have charted strong correlations between the establishment of universities and long-term economic growth in the areas around them. High-tech firms tend to coalesce around schools specializing in high-tech subjects, forming with the right nourishment hubs of innovation and entrepreneurship. Even less sophisticated higher education institutions can be a boon for the local economy. Universities, depending on their size, can provide hundreds to thousands of jobs to nearby residents. Student and faculty spending can buoy a vibrant commercial atmosphere around the campus gates. But college creation, some experts warn, doesnt come without drawbacks. All this prosperity comes at a cost, said Davarian Baldwin, an urbanist and historian at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. Its passed on to the city. Its passed on to the residents and the surrounding area. These costs take different forms. Universities, being nonprofits or, in UTAs case, public entities, are tax exempt. The missing revenue can strain city budgets if not properly accommodated. The shifted tax burden is often taken up, in part, by surrounding properties including households. Fifty-one acres would amount to little more than a drop in Fort Worths pool of taxable property. Still, Baldwin says, the project could reinforce development inequities in the city. The question remains about the fruits of targeting both public and private investment dollars to an area when there are many existing communities that could benefit from investment, while there is very little discussion about how the prosperity from this campus may or may not trickle down to the rest of the city, he said. Big, glitzy campuses can also drive up land values, Baldwin added, potentially pricing out low and middle income households that staff the schools cleaning crews and dining facilities. Its the low income workers on these campuses that will carry the burden of long commutes and low wages without policies that ensure workforce housing mandates and resources that encourage mixed-income communities, especially in undeveloped areas, he said. Higher education does and can serve a public good, and we need higher education, Baldwin continued. To offer public good, there must be public oversight and democratic arrangements. Four family members killed returning from Six Flags after street racer slams into their SUV Four family members killed returning from Six Flags after street racer slams into their SUV Four family members were killed and another was left in critical condition after a street racer smashed into their car as they returned home from a Texas theme park. Jessie Rosales, his wife Lorena, and children Anthony, 17, Stephanie,13, and Angel, 6, were traveling back from the Six Flags resort and dinner at a Panda Express on Saturday when the crash happened. A red Dodge Charger collided with the familys Chevy Traverse, causing the SUV to roll twice and burst into flames. Video of the incident shared on social media showed the fiery wreckage of the car by a gas station and the Charger nearby. Three of the Rosales family died at the scene and a fourth died at the hospital. Only 17-year-old Anthony Rosales survived the crash, though he remains in hospital in critical condition, according to a GoFundMe, which had raised over $32,000 as of Tuesday. Members of the Rosales family who died in Grand Prairie, Texas, on Saturday after a street racer crashed into their vehicle. Anthony Rosales (center back) was the sole survivor of the incident (Rosales Family) His brother Jessie and sister Natalie have stepped up to get him through this physical battle in addition to all the other battles they will face, the page description read. This sweet sibling group has a long hard road ahead of them physically, emotionally and financially. The funds from the page will be used for Anthonys medical bills and funeral expenses. Two men are in custody and charged with multiple felonies following the incident. According to investigators, 20-year-old Jaime Mesa was driving the red charger, WBAP reported. He faces four counts of manslaughter, four counts of racing on a highway causing death, one count of racing on a highway causing serious bodily injury and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Mesa is also currently hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, according to WBAP. The driver of the second vehicle involved in the race, a white Dodge Charger Daytona, fled the scene after the crash, according to investigators but was later named as 22-year-old Antony Morales. Morales is charged with counts of racing on a highway causing death and one count of racing on a highway causing serious bodily injury. The Independent has reached out to the Grand Prairie Police Department for further information about the incident. Fox News reporter Peter Doocy clashed with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday over Vice President Harriss beliefs about President Bidens border policy. Doocy asked Jean-Pierre about Harriss commitment to hiring more border agents, concluding that the vice president must disagree with Bidens approach to the southern border. How long have you guys known that Vice President Harris does not think that President Biden is effective with his border? Doocy asked. Jean-Pierre rejected the question, pushing back on any idea that there is a such a policy difference in the White House. I mean, youre making a huge jump there. She did not say this. This is something that you are assuming. I dont understand why you would assume that. Its not true, Jean-Pierre replied. Really, we believe that, she continued after Doocy asked again. The president does want more Border Patrol agents. You know whos getting in the way, you know is getting in the way? Republicans in Congress, theyre getting in the way. You know who else is getting in the way? The former President Donald Trump; hes getting in the way. Republicans have attempted to hit Harris over border policy due to her role in the administration managing big picture causes of immigration, including diplomacy with Central and South American countries. Harris has never overseen day-to-day border policy or held the title of border czar. Jean-Pierres comments pointed to the GOP rejection of a bipartisan border bill earlier this year that would have strengthened border security. Trump opposed the plan. Theres no daylight here. Im not understanding the question because theres no daylight, she added. The president believes that as well, and hes worked towards doing that. Theres a bipartisan I know you guys probably get sick of me saying this but there was a bipartisan agreement that was on the table that the president worked through for a couple of months with Republicans in the Senate and Democrats, she continued. They were told not to move forward because it would help Joe Biden by the former president. Thats their decision. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits Al-Aqsa compound also known to Jews as the Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City PARIS (Reuters) - France condemned Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's visit to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Tuesday, saying it was in violation of the historic status quo of the holy places in Jerusalem. "This new provocation is unacceptable. France calls on the Israeli government to take all necessary measures to ensure respect for the historic status quo of the holy places in Jerusalem," the French foreign ministry said in a statement. Ben-Gvir said on Tuesday Jews should be allowed to pray at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, known to Jews as Temple Mount, launching a fresh challenge to rules covering one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East. (Reporting by Michel Rose, writing by Geert De Clercq) FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) Free meals will be provided to Fresno Unified students, as well as to welcome the new school year with new meals, district officials announced on Monday. Under USDA guidelines, officials say they will provide meals at no cost to all enrolled students regardless of income level to support the districts efforts to eliminate all barriers to student learning and to ensure students are not hungry at school while they are trying to learn. The new menu items include: Barbecue chicken pizza. Buffalo chicken wrap. Teriyaki chicken with vegetable fried rice. Chicken Caesar salad. Macaroni and cheese with roasted broccoli. Barbecue tofu with cornbread. The program is part of the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which officials say is an option available to schools under the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program. Meal applications for this program are not required. The district also has an app and an interactive website for parents and guardians to view information on school menus for breakfast and lunch each day. The app allows students to provide feedback on their meals, as well. The app can be accessed by searching for School Menus by Nustrislice on Google Play or App Store or by visiting the Fresno Unified menus webpage. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47. CAMBRIA COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) State Representative Jim Rigby (R-Cambria/Somerset) will be hosting a free document shredding event for residents in the 71st Legislative District. The event will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 28 from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Richland Township Fire Department (1321 Scalp Avenue). There will be a limit of four boxes and/or bags per household and the event is limited to residential customers only (no businesses). I am glad to be providing this opportunity for my constituents to safely dispose of documents containing personal information, like Social Security, credit card numbers and more, Rigby said. Sadly, scammers utilize the information found on personal documents. By shredding what is no longer needed, we can better protect ourselves from becoming victims of scams and fraud schemes. Johnstown Church in search of donations after vandalization Here are the township and boroughs that belong to the 71st District: Cambria County Adams Township Allegheny Township Chest Township Clearfield Township Cresson Township Dean Township Gallitzin Township Munster Township Portage Township Reade Township Richland Township Stonycreek Township Summerhill Township Washington Township White Township Ashville Borough Cassandra Borough Chest Springs Borough Cresson Borough Ferndale Borough Gallitzin Borough Geistown Borough Lilly Borough Loretto Borough Portage Borough Sankertown Borough Scalp Level Borough South Fork Borough Tunnelhill Borough Wilmore Borough Somerset County Ogle Township Paint Township Paint Borough Windber Borough Get the latest news, weather forecasts and sports stories delivered straight to your inbox! Sign up for our newsletters. Attendees are asked to make sure that all paper and binder clips are removed before the event. Staples in documents will be accepted. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTAJ - www.wtaj.com. French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne on Tuesday called on the country's "republican parties" to overcome their differences to unite on a legislative programme. Sejourne is the general secretary of President Emmanuel Macron's centrist Renaissance party, which lost to the left-wing New Popular Front (NPF) alliance in July's second round of parliamentary elections. Political machinations are set to resume in Paris after a two-week truce for the Olympic Games, as the NPF and Renaissance battle to lead a viable government. No party or alliance holds a majority in the National Assembly, France's lower house. In a letter posted on X, Sejourne said his centrist camp was ready to introduce an "action plan" to address seven key priorities, including France's economic sovereignty, its security and defence, the environment and public services. The statement was addressed to France's republican parties, which presumably intended to exclude the far-right National Rally as well as Jean-Luc Melenchon's hard-left France Unbowed. Sejourne's efforts to unite France's centrist parties could prove difficult, however. The NPF - consisting of France Unbowed, the Socialists, the Communists and the Greens - announced in July that it had agreed to propose civil servant Lucie Castets as the leader of the next government. The Le Parisien newspaper reported that Castets has written to lawmakers calling for cooperation in the Assembly. A growing chain that offers fresh Mex favorites such as burritos, quesadillas and more is planning a new spot in a popular commercial development in Forest Acres. Surcheros, which has numerous locations in Georgia and Florida and recently announced expansion efforts in Tennessee, will bring a location to 4609 Forest Drive suite 2 in the Cardinal Crossing development. The Surcheros will be next door to a Yoga Six location, and across from a Nothing Bundt Cakes. City of Forest Acres officials said plans for the Surcheros have been reviewed and approved. Construction was ongoing Tuesday morning when a reporter rode by. The restaurant could open in November, according to a release from Surcheros. The Forest Acres location will be one of four Surcheros the company plans to open in the Columbia area in the next few years, the company said. Columbia has always been a target market for us, with its strong business community, family presence, and vibrant student population, Surcheros vice president of business development Jake Philpotts said in a statement. Andrew Powell, a two-decade veteran of the food service industry, will be the franchisee for the Forest Acres Surcheros. We chose to partner with Surcheros because of several reasons, including their commitment to using the freshest ingredients and their strong focus on community involvement, said Powell. What really stood out to us was how they engage with the communities they serve. Were eager to bring that same dedication to Columbia and become an active, supportive part of the community. Cardinal Crossing has continued to be a thriving commercial development in the heart of Forest Acres. It features a host of restaurants and businesses, including Yoga Six, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Handels Homemade Ice Cream, Bad Daddys Burger Bar, Clean Juice, and more. Its in a high-traffic area, as more than 27,000 cars per day travel down Forest Drive, per the SC Department of Transportation. OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) A 2019 bill signed by Governor Stitt authorized schools to stock emergency asthma inhalers in schools as a precaution for students. Last year, lawmakers secured new funding to put enough inhalers in every district in the state. However, they now claim that funding is being withheld. The bill was created in partnership with the Brendon McLarty foundation in memory of 16-year-old Brendon McLarty, who died from an asthma attack at school. The McLarty Foundation provides asthma awareness and has been using private funding to stock emergency inhalers at most schools for the last few years. They were hoping the new state funding secured last year would allow them to expand to every district in Oklahoma and stock emergency inhalers for students. We are currently in 356 districts across the state of Oklahoma, said Jennifer Blair, the Executive Director of the Brendon McLarty Memorial Foundation. The McLarty Foundation said theyve given thousands of inhalers to schools since they started their endeavor in 2019. Last year, lawmakers worked to keep those life-saving measures in schools with the hope of expanding to every district in the state. I was able to secure funding for $250,000, said Representative Mickey Dollens, D-Oklahoma City. State board ends charter school contract with St. Isidore following Supreme Court ruling Thats a lot of money and it would actually allow us to fund the entire state. So we were really excited, said Blair. However, more than a year later, the McLarty Foundation said the $250,000 anticipated hasnt been recovered. We havent really been told why, said Blair. Lawmakers now want to know why the money hasnt been moved. Not a penny has gone out the door. And again, its just its so disappointing that that we had bipartisan, support for these life saving measures that have just been sitting over at the state department of education with little or no activity, said Senator Chuck Hall, R-Perry. Senator Chuck Hall said hes gone back and forth with the State Department of Education and had multiple meetings. With every discussion, with every meeting, it seemed like that there was some other need that they had in order to get these to get these these lifesaving inhalers out the door, said Senator Hall. Senator Hall said the State Department of Education agreed to a meeting with specific guidelines to move forward. Back to school brings increased risk of accidental poisonings in children They needed permission and approval from the licensure board. They wanted permission and approval from the pharmacy board, and then they wanted a letter of legislative intent. The letter written by Senator Hall and Representative Kevin Wallace explains OSDE was given the money to purchase inhalers for all school districts and the intent at the time is that they would work with the McLarty Foundation. Senator Hall also said in another meeting with OSDE, he received news about something else. They quoted some Oklahoma statute of Oklahoma law whereby, the legislature really does everything that they can to to remove themselves from sole source, said Senator Hall. He said he talked with the Office of Management Enterprises who agreed the letter sent to OSDE satisfies the law and funds should be approved to the McLarty Foundation. Weeks later, the money still hasnt been moved, which has lawmakers concerned. Its looking like the State Superintendent is withholding those funds and not allowing for schools to to access those funds to buy the inhalers that could potentially be lifesaving for kids and students in Oklahoma, said Representative Dollens. News 4 reached out to OSDE multiple times on Monday asking why the funding hasnt been received and what their plans are, but did not hear back. Monday night, the Attorney Generals office confirmed Superintendent Walters submitted an opinion request from the AG on inhaler payments. Request-for-AG-opinionDownload Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City. WARSAW, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Poland signed a contract on Monday to build 48 M903 launchers for the U.S.-designed Patriot air defense systems, said Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz. According to the deal worth 1.23 billion U.S. dollars, the launchers, set to be built at Stalowa Wola steelworks in Poland, are expected to be delivered to the Polish army between 2027 and 2029. On Friday, Poland inked a deal with the United States to buy hundreds of AIM-120C AMRAAM air-to-air missiles. Last month, the Polish Defense Ministry announced that the United States would lend Poland 2 billion dollars to fund the purchase of American air and missile defense systems. Poland has increased its defense spending to around 4 percent of its GDP this year, the highest among NATO countries. BROOKHAVEN, Miss. (WJTV) People in Lincoln County are remembering a fallen officer for his years of dedication to public safety and the community. The visitation and funeral for Summit Police Officer Troy Floyd was held on Tuesday, August 13 at Bethel Temple Pentecostal Church in Brookhaven. He was killed in the line of duty last week. Family, friends remember fallen Summit officer as God-fearing man Law enforcement officers from across Mississippi, and event Louisiana, traveled to Brookhaven to honor Floyd. He served in law enforcement for 25 years. Floyd is survived by his wife and children. Those who knew him said Floyd was a beloved community leader with a heart for people. He tried to find a way to help them, not just not just get them off the street. But he was concerned with their soul as much as he was with their with their well-being of life. So, he definitely deserved all this and more and so much more. Everywhere youve seen him in town, he knew somebody that wasnt afraid to pray out, open. He was a good, good, good man. Excellent man, said Samuel White, a relative of Floyd. The visitation and funeral for Summit Police Officer Troy Floyd was held on Tuesday, August 13 at Bethel Temple Pentecostal Church in Brookhaven. (WJTV) The visitation and funeral for Summit Police Officer Troy Floyd was held on Tuesday, August 13 at Bethel Temple Pentecostal Church in Brookhaven. (WJTV) The visitation and funeral for Summit Police Officer Troy Floyd was held on Tuesday, August 13 at Bethel Temple Pentecostal Church in Brookhaven. (WJTV) Governor Tate Reeves (R-Miss.) declared August 13 as a day of mourning due to the loss of Floyd. He ordered flags to be flown at half-staff. The Mississippi Police Benevolent Association and the Police Benevolent Foundation also announced fundraising efforts for Floyds widow. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJTV. GA man sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years for child sex crimes A Georgia man was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole plus 30 years for child sex crimes. A Carroll County jury found John Earl Mack, 43, guilty on two counts of aggravated child molestation, rape and enticing a child for indecent purposes. Mack was previously convicted of rape in the second degree in 2002 in the state of New York. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] According to evidence collected during the investigation by Villa Rica police, on Sept. 18, 2022, a 15-year-old girl reported to police that Mack, who previously had a relationship with her mother, sexually assaulted her multiple times between May 1 and May 22, 2022. The crime was revealed to the mother when she heard Mack make sexual comments to the girl and request sex from her. When the mother confronted her daughter, the girl denied that Mack was speaking to her or that anything sexual had happened between them. Eventually, she did admit that Mack was talking to her. The girl told police that Mack sexually assaulted her at an abandoned home in Villa Rica and a home in Fulton County too. The girl said Mack gave her drugs to smoke at the Villa Rica home. TRENDING STORIES: [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: LITTLE ROCK, Ark. Students everywhere are returning to the classroom this week, and with it comes one of their biggest tests: that of their immune systems. A new Gallup poll shows the percentage of Americans who believe parents vaccinating their children is extremely important has dropped to 40%, an 18% drop since 2019. Arkansas schools, hospitals offering immunization clinics ahead of school year Joshua Hain, who lives in North Little Rock, gave one reason he thinks the drop happened. COVID created some strong opinions on vaccines in general, Hain stated. Data from the Arkansas Department of Education shows the number of students receiving immunization exemptions has grown from 615 to 9910 over the past 10 years. The largest jump was in 2016, but post-2020, a thousand more kids have received exemptions each year. Sydnee Owens also lives in Little Rock and said she does not understand why parents would not believe childhood vaccinations are important. I feel like COVID kind of created a bad stigma about vaccinations which is kind of scary, Owens said. I feel like exemptions would be harder to get I guess. Health officials push to get schoolchildren vaccinated as more US parents opt out Dr. Robert Hopkins is a professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at UAMS. He says Arkansas has one of the lowest COVID vaccination rates in America and there has been a drop off in other vaccinations with it. The impact, he says is already being seen. Weve seen more measles in the first half of this year than we saw in the last three years before that, Dr. Hopkins explained. We are at risk of having more emergence of vaccine-preventable diseases which could happen in any daycare, any school, any community. He would prescribe a talk with a family doctor if any vaccine gives a family doubt, but ultimately its up to each Arkansan to decide for their family. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK. GATLINBURG, Tenn. (WATE) Multiple groups hosted an educational bear management open house in Gatlinburg on Tuesday. The City of Gatlinburg, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), and the Smokies BearWise Task Force partnered on the event to teach residents, businesses and visitors how to live responsibly and safely around bears. The event comes after a series of human-bear interactions were caught on camera, leading to some of the bears involved being euthanized, due to their comfort level around humans. 2 arrested in 2019 murder of Tennessee Army National Guard Soldier Neighbors Debra Summers and Paul Albert attended the event to learn how they can do their part to prevent bear euthanasia. I have several bears coming through my property and I live alone, Summers said. I feel that its important to respect the bears and take care of our bears and I want to do everything I could to make my place be bear-wise. The two have both lived in Gatlinburg for six years, and said bears are becoming more and more comfortable in their neighborhood. Were on bear routes. Weve seen more bears this year than weve ever seen before, Albert said. We wanted to find better ways of really creating more separation between ourselves and the bears, for their safety and ours. City of Gatlinburg asks residents to skip this popular fall decor item They have gotten rid of bird feeders, started keeping pets indoors and locked up trash to prevent bears from coming too close. TWRA Black Bear Support Biologist Janelle Musser said making sure people are informed is the first step to solving the issue. A lot of these people own businesses, have rental units, and they want some quality, correct information to be able to provide these guests that may not live around bears, she said. So thats a big part of it too. How they get that information, what should they be using, and where. Some guests also asked about the possibility of enhanced punishments for those who feed and entice bears. Seth Butler with the City of Gatlinburg said more legislation is possible. See more top stories on WATE.com The city has ordinances that we can fine or cite folks for unsecured trash, or noncompliance with the animal-resistant container zone. TWRA has their proclamation, which they can cite people for feeding a bear, Butler said. Obviously, were always looking at what we can do. I know TWRA has mentioned theres a push by the state legislature of possibly making that a statewide law. The city has taken other recent measures to prevent these interactions, adding new signage and bear-resistant trash cans. Butler said hes hopeful more educational events will be held in the future. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WATE 6 On Your Side. A group of demonstrators blocked part of the 405 Freeway in Los Angeles during Tuesday mornings commute. The group appeared on the southbound side of the freeway near National Boulevard in L.A.s Westside around 9 a.m. According to CHP Officer Mike Naser, the freeway was shut down at National Boulevard as of 9:10 a.m. but was completely reopened just over an hour after the protest started. Motorists were being advised to get off at Olympic Boulevard and divert to the 10 Freeway while the protesters blocked traffic. Sky5 footage shows CHP officers detaining several demonstrators, who are part of a coalition of American Jews and allies, according to a press release from IfNotNowLA, which dubs itself a movement of anti-Apartheid American Jews working to end our communitys support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Video posted to IfNotNowLAs Instagram page at 9:35 a.m. shows CHP officers detaining multiple people as other demonstrators chanted and marched along the shoulder. More video posted to the Citizen App showed a massive traffic backup starting to build. According to IfNotNowLA, the protesters shut down the freeway in protest of the United States support for Israels assault on Gaza. The demonstration comes on Tisha Bav, an annual fast day in the Jewish religion and considered the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. A total of eight arrests were made, CHP confirmed to KTLA, adding that there were around 40 protesters, most of whom left on foot when police arrived. IfNotNowLA is part of the larger IfNotNow movement. More information about the group can be found here. Sofia Pop Perez contributed to this report. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) A Geneva man has been sentenced to prison after a shooting in Geneva and his attempts to hire a hitman. In total for his charges, Jerry Lovett Jr. has been sentenced to serve 43 years to life in prison. Lovetts attorneys said they plan to appeal. Lovett was arrested in January 2023 and was charged with second-degree attempted murder. Lovett got into an argument, displayed a handgun, and shot a man several times in the chest and face. The victim survived. Police said Lovett was then stabbed several times by 52-year-old Erwin Wineglass. Both Lovett and Wineglass were arrested. Following his arrest, investigators said Lovett tried to hire a hitman to prevent the victim from testifying against him. The man he tried to hire was an undercover ATF agent. Lovett was found guilty last May of first and second-degree attempted murder, conspiracy, criminal use of a firearm, assault, and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon. Meanwhile, Wineglass was charged with second-degree attempted murder and third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to RochesterFirst. George Pickett: his experiments were described as 'the Big Bang in a drop of helium' - Science Photo Library/DPA Professor George Pickett, who has died aged 85, invented forms of nuclear refrigeration which helped him to create the lowest temperatures ever recorded. With colleagues in the Physics Department at Lancaster University, Pickett developed nuclear cooling facilities which enabled them to break the low-temperature record twice, first in 1984, then again in 1993, when they managed to cool a small piece of copper to 7 microkelvin, seven millionths of a degree above absolute zero (the point at which an object has no heat at all around -273.15 degrees Celsius). Cooling to such low temperatures makes it possible to study the fundamental quantum behaviour of matter. Pickett and his team used these temperatures to study superconductors, and superfluidity a state in which a liquids atoms become so well-ordered that they behave, in effect, like a single atom and disobey the rules of classical physics. This allows them to flow without losing any energy to friction, climbing up and out of bottles and seeping through the tiny pores of ceramic containers. Ultra-low-temperature physics also enables scientists to shed light on the origins of the universe. The lowest natural temperature is 2.7 kelvin (-270.5 Celsius), the heat of radiation left behind by the Big Bang, found in the furthest recesses of outer space. Pickett was an early advocate for experiments that simulated early-universe phenomena in the laboratory. In the mid-1990s Pickett led one of two groups of scientists who captured the first few fractions of a second of the history of the universe in laboratory experiments described in a landmark article in Nature in 1996. The scientists used a superfluid of liquid helium to mimic the primordial fireball of the Big Bang which started the cosmos 13.8 billion years ago. In its earliest moments, the universe was infinitely hot, infinitely dense and totally uniform, but then evolved into clusters of galaxies. To see how this change came about and to mimic the effects of the subsequent rapid cooling, the scientists heated the helium by passing neutrons through it. The neutrons had the effect of producing hot bubbles within the helium which cooled to yield a network of vortices, edges and boundaries that caused the clustering of galaxies, Pickett told The Daily Telegraph. These experiments dubbed the Big Bang in a drop of helium, helped to show how the structure of the universe reached its present clumpy state, in which galaxies are scattered not evenly, but in alternate patches of density and almost complete vacuum. George Richard Pickett was born April 10 1939 and educated at Bedford Modern School and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he stayed on to take a DPhil at the Clarendon Laboratory. After a period spent at Helsinki University of Technology in Finland, he joined Lancaster University as a senior visiting fellow in 1970. He remained at the university, rising through the academic ranks to be awarded a personal chair in Low Temperature Physics in 1988 and appointed head of the department of physics, where he developed the ultra-low-temperature laboratory, which is now one of the worlds leading specialist laboratories. Pickett was fluent in several Scandinavian and eastern European languages. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1997 and was a member of both the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters and a foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 1998 he was awarded the Simon Memorial Prize. Pickett was instrumental in initiating the European Microkelvin Platform (EMP), a consortium of 17 ultra-low-temperature laboratories, and played a pivotal role in establishing the European Cryocourse, an intensive course on the science and technology of low temperatures which, since 2002, has attracted some 500 young researchers. Picketts wife Deborah predeceased him. He is survived by their two daughters. Professor George Pickett, born April 10 1939, died July 21 2024 Click here to view this content. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Fraud trial of George Santos to begin next month with an anonymous jury FILE - Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., waits for the start of a session in the House chamber in Washington, Jan. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) The fraud trial against former U.S. Rep. George Santos, slated to start in a matter of weeks, is coming into focus after a federal judge ruled Tuesday that jurors will have their identities kept secret from the public. They wont, however, be required to fill out a written questionnaire gauging their opinions of Santos when they arrive for jury selection Sept. 9, as his lawyers had requested. Judge Joanna Seybert said during a brief hearing in federal court on Long Island that she agreed with the governments assessment that a questionnaire would only bog the proceedings down. She said questioning each potential juror in person would allow her and both sides to ask more varied and probing questions to elicit more truthful responses. Prosecutors told the judge the trial could last three weeks because they expect to call at least three dozen witnesses, including some victims of Santos' alleged crimes. Santos has pleaded not guilty to a range of financial crimes, including lying to Congress about his wealth, collecting unemployment benefits while actually working, and using campaign contributions to pay for personal expenses such as designer clothing. Seybert urged both sides to work together to streamline the proceedings where possible. Make me hopeful. Seriously, she said. Sit down and discuss what is absolutely necessary. Santos, who was dressed in a blue suit, declined to speak with reporters outside the courthouse after the hearing, the last expected before the trial. But when asked whether he believed his client could receive a fair trial, Santos lawyer Robert Fantone said, I think were going to be alright. In court, Santos lawyers pushed back at claims prosecutors made in prior legal filings that theyre not participating fully in the required pretrial document-sharing process known as discovery. Prosecutors this month said theyve turned over more than 1.3 million pages of records, while defense lawyers have produced just five pages. But when pressed by the judge, Santos lawyers maintained that theyve turned over every document in their possession. Were not stonewalling, said Joe Murray, another Santos lawyer. Trial by ambush is not how I operate. The New York Republicans lawyers had argued in recent court filings that a questionnaire addressing potential jurors "knowledge, beliefs, and preconceptions was needed because of the extensive negative media coverage surrounding Santos, who was expelled from Congress in December after an ethics investigation found overwhelming evidence he had broken the law and exploited his public position for his own profit. They cited more than 1,500 articles by major news outlets and a " Saturday Night Live " skit about Santos. They also noted similar questionnaires were used in other high-profile federal cases in New York, including the trial of notorious drug kingpin Joaquin El Chapo Guzman. For all intents and purposes, Santos has already been found guilty in the court of public opinion, read the defense memo filed last week. But prosecutors, voicing their opposition in a legal brief Friday, argued Santos request was simply a delay tactic, as the trial date was set more than nine months ago and some 850 prospective jurors have already been summoned. The public perception of Santos, they argued, is also largely a product of his own making as hes spent months courting the press and ginning up media attention. Seybert on Tuesday granted Santos' request for a partially anonymous jury in which the individual jurors identities will be known only by the judge, the two sides and their attorneys. Prosecutors had previously said they didn't object to the measure, given the case's high-profile nature. Lawyers for the government are also seeking to admit as evidence some of the lies Santos made during his campaign. Before he was elected in 2022 to represent parts of Queens and Long Island, he made false claims that he graduated from both New York University and Baruch College and that he had worked at financial giants Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. Prosecutors argue that the wholesale fabrications are inextricably intertwined with the criminal charges he faces. Seybert didnt immediately rule on that request Tuesday, and Santos lawyers have declined to comment on it. Last month, the federal judge turned down Santos request to dismiss three of the 23 charges he faces. Santos dropped a long-shot bid to return to Congress as an independent in April. ___ Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo. A growing number of states across the country are enacting universal school meal laws to bolster child food security and academic equity. Danielle P. Richards/New Jersey Monitor Georgia Democrats are urging Gov. Brian Kemp to sign the state up to participate in a federal program they say could help feed over 1 million students next summer ahead of a preliminary Thursday deadline, but the governors office says it has questions about the programs sustainability. According to the USDA, just over 17% of U.S. households with children experienced food insecurity in 2022. Experts say school meals can provide kids in need with healthy meals, priming them to perform academically and reducing pressure on the family budget. The summer EBT program, or SUN Bucks, is a U.S. Department of Agriculture program designed to continue those benefits during the summer break. It provides families with school-age children $120 to buy groceries when school is out. Families in participating states who receive other federal benefits are automatically enrolled, and they can use the money for things like meat, fruits and vegetables, snacks and non-alcoholic drinks, while items like pre-cooked hot meals, cleaning supplies and pet food are prohibited. The state would be on the hook for half of the programs administrative costs, an estimated $4.5 million. Kemp, a Republican, declined to sign the state up for the program this summer. The USDAs Food and Nutrition Service strongly encourages participating states to submit an operations plan by Aug. 15, though the agency will accept signups through Jan. 1. Georgia Democrats are hoping to convince him to change his mind ahead of that early deadline or to exact a political toll if he doesnt. Speaking in a Zoom call with reporters Tuesday, Congresswoman Lucy McBath said the program could benefit about 1.2 million Georgia kids if the state joined in. As a mother, Im enraged by that, she said. Every single parent across this state should be incensed. And Im not even sure most of the parents even recognize whats happening across the state of Georgia, but they should be incensed that our governor is playing politics with the lives of our children. Atlanta Democratic state Sen. Jason Esteves sought to tie the issue to the upcoming presidential election and Project 2025, a controversial governance plan written by the conservative Heritage Foundation. Trumps Project 2025 calls for slashing eligibility programs for school meals and ensuring that kids get fewer meals through the EBT program, Esteves said. In fact, Project 2025 calls for the elimination of programs like the USDAs EBT program. Kemp and (former president Donald) Trump are part of the same club of Republicans who were trying to save a buck at the risk of kids going hungry. In an email, Kemp spokesman Garrison Douglas did not indicate a desire to join the program. While it is disappointing that the Biden administration continues to ignore reasonable concerns surrounding the programs lack of nutrition standards and fiscal sustainability, we will continue to promote the many successful programs Georgia already has in place, the most notable being GaDOEs Seamless Summer Option, which alone provided millions of breakfast and lunch meals to students statewide last year and are tailored to address our states specific needs by providing necessary nutrition and engagement to families and kids, he said. Douglas did not respond to a followup email requesting specifics on the governors concerns. According to the governors office, Seamless Summer provided more than 2.5 million breakfasts and 3.2 million lunches in 2023, with the majority of Georgias districts participating. Kemps office also touts the Happy Helpings program, which reimburses organizations that feed children during the summer and provided 2.8 million meals around the state in 2023. Esteves said Seamless Summer does not reach all of the children who need it. Folks on the ground across this state know that this program is not nearly enough, he said. There are not enough sites for the program, for the Seamless Summer program across the state, especially in rural Georgia, and especially in south Georgia, where we have some of the highest food insecurity rates in the entire country. Every public school student was eligible for free school meals during the COVID-19 pandemic, but that program expired in 2022. The issue of free school meals has gained political salience since Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. Walz lists signing a free universal school meal into law as one of his top wins as governor. A handful of other states have similar policies. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE ATLANTA (AP) A Georgia state lawmaker accused of driving under the influence after state troopers say he collided with a bicyclist in the bike lane of an Atlanta street says he was not drunk. Rep. Devan Seabaugh faces seven charges, including driving under the influence of alcohol, driving under the influence of drugs and failing to follow traffic control devices, Atlanta Municipal Court records show. In a statement on social media over the weekend, Seabaugh said he was not intoxicated, and that there were no drugs involved. The Cobb County Republican was arrested Thursday night in the Grant Park neighborhood of Atlanta by the NightHawks, a Georgia State Patrol unit that targets drunken drivers. The state patrol has not detailed the circumstances of the crash, but Seabaugh said there were no serious injuries. I have never used drugs in my life. I did not use or possess drugs on Thursday evening, Seabaugh said on Facebook. Charges involving drugs are not supported by evidence in this case, he added. Seabaugh also said the bike lane wasnt adequately marked, saying there was not proper signage to let me know it had recently converted into a bike lane. Seabaugh, a Republican, was elected to the Georgia House in a special election in the summer of 2021, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. His district includes parts of western Cobb County and portions of Marietta and Kennesaw in Atlantas northwest suburbs. Seabaugh faces Democrat challenger Karl Gallegos in the Nov. 5 general election. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJBF. This photo taken on Aug. 13, 2024 shows a damaged building in Kursk, Russia. Russia has been grappling with expelling Ukrainian armies from its territory as tens of thousands of Russian residents in the border regions have been evacuated following a fresh Ukrainian offensive. Ukrainian forces crossed the Russian border last Tuesday and broke into parts of Russia's Kursk region. (Str/Xinhua) MOSCOW, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Russia has been grappling with expelling Ukrainian armies from its territory as tens of thousands of Russian residents in the border regions have been evacuated following a fresh Ukrainian offensive. Ukrainian forces crossed the Russian border last Tuesday and broke into parts of Russia's Kursk region. Currently, the Ukrainian military holds 28 settlements in the area, according to Alexei Smirnov, the region's acting governor. Twelve civilians have died, and another 121 have been injured following Ukraine's attack on the Kursk region, Russian authorities said. Russia's border region of Belgorod has also begun relocating its residents in the Krasnoyaruzhsky district to safer places amid increased military activity near the Ukrainian border. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday confirmed that Ukraine is carrying out an "operation" in the region, adding that Kiev's assault into Kursk was a matter of security for Ukraine and that Kiev had captured areas from where Russia had launched strikes. Ukraine's attack on the Russian border will receive a "worthy response," Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday at a meeting on the situation in the border regions, adding that the Russian military's main task is to knock the Ukrainian forces out of Russian territories. The Ukrainian army will continue to try to destabilize the situation in the border zone to disrupt Russia internally, said Putin. Kiev, by its actions in the Kursk region, is also trying to improve its negotiating position in the future, he said, while questioning the possibility of such talks when Ukraine indiscriminately strikes at Russian civilians and nuclear facilities. Ukraine and Russia have also exchanged blame for the outbreak of fire at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which remains under Russian control. The fire has since been put out but damaged a cooling tower. Putin said the situation in the Kursk region shows why Kiev has rejected Moscow and the mediators' peace proposals. Meanwhile, Zelensky said that Russia must be forced to make peace "if Putin wants to fight so badly." Putin stated that Russia's offensive pace increased rather than decreased following the events in Kursk. He noted that the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are dramatically increasing, including among the most combat-ready units and subunits that Ukraine is transferring to the Russian border. Since the start of hostilities in the Kursk region, Ukraine lost up to 1,610 service members and 32 tanks in the Kursk direction, the Russian defense ministry said Monday. Oleksandr Syrsky, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said Monday that Ukrainian forces control about 1,000 square km of Russian territory. This photo taken on Aug. 13, 2024 shows a damaged building in Kursk, Russia. Russia has been grappling with expelling Ukrainian armies from its territory as tens of thousands of Russian residents in the border regions have been evacuated following a fresh Ukrainian offensive. Ukrainian forces crossed the Russian border last Tuesday and broke into parts of Russia's Kursk region. (Str/Xinhua) People gather to get relief supplies in Kursk, Russia, Aug. 13, 2024. Russia has been grappling with expelling Ukrainian armies from its territory as tens of thousands of Russian residents in the border regions have been evacuated following a fresh Ukrainian offensive. Ukrainian forces crossed the Russian border last Tuesday and broke into parts of Russia's Kursk region. (Str/Xinhua) People gather to get relief supplies in Kursk, Russia, Aug. 13, 2024. Russia has been grappling with expelling Ukrainian armies from its territory as tens of thousands of Russian residents in the border regions have been evacuated following a fresh Ukrainian offensive. Ukrainian forces crossed the Russian border last Tuesday and broke into parts of Russia's Kursk region. (Str/Xinhua) People line up to get relief supplies in Kursk, Russia, Aug. 13, 2024. Russia has been grappling with expelling Ukrainian armies from its territory as tens of thousands of Russian residents in the border regions have been evacuated following a fresh Ukrainian offensive. Ukrainian forces crossed the Russian border last Tuesday and broke into parts of Russia's Kursk region. (Str/Xinhua) People line up to get relief supplies in Kursk, Russia, Aug. 13, 2024. Russia has been grappling with expelling Ukrainian armies from its territory as tens of thousands of Russian residents in the border regions have been evacuated following a fresh Ukrainian offensive. Ukrainian forces crossed the Russian border last Tuesday and broke into parts of Russia's Kursk region. (Str/Xinhua) A father and a mother smiling with their heads on a bed, with a boy on top of them and a small baby next to them Katherine Sylvester, who had preeclampsia after the birth of her second child, said a new biomarker test for preeclampsia has the potential to empower moms. Shes seen here with her family. (Courtesy of Katherine Sylvester) This story originally appeared on Georgia Recorder. A recently approved biomarker test can help pinpoint which patients are at highest risk for preeclampsia, which is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality in Georgia. Champions of the test hail it as a life-saving tool that takes the guesswork out of identifying which patients are developing the hypertensive disorder that only occurs during and after pregnancy. But access to the test may still be limited, partly because it is a relatively new tool in the United States. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved biomarker testing for preeclampsia last year, though the test has been used for nearly a decade in Europe. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX State lawmakers passed a broad biomarker testing bill last year, but state Rep. Darlene Taylor, who says she had preeclampsia, sponsored a bill earlier this year that would have specifically required all health benefit policies in Georgia to cover biomarker testing for preeclampsia. That proposal ended up stalling, but Taylor, who chairs the House committee overseeing spending on health services, said she made sure funding was put in the budget to cover the testing for Medicaid enrollees. Nearly half of child births in Georgia are covered by Medicaid, according to KFF Health News. A woman sitting at a microphone I have been shocked at the number of women who have told me that they had it, and left untreated, it can be fatal for the mother but it can also hurt the baby, the Thomasville Republican said in an interview. So, I think its very important to do it. Offering the testing for state employees is still in the works, said a spokesperson for the Department of Community Health. While commercial payers may have determined preeclampsia biomarker testing is still investigational, our Georgia legislative partners have made this coverage commitment in the states Medicaid program, said David Graves, the agencys director of communications. The state is evaluating a path forward for this coverage within the State Health Benefit Plan. Jesse Weathington, who is president and CEO of the Georgia Association of Health Plans, confirmed Friday that the test is still seen among commercial insurers as investigational for now, but he said that could change as more research is done. Were going to follow the science, and if the science changes and this becomes something that is deemed efficacious by some of these (industry) groups, I think youll see the policy start to change, Weathington said. There were 30.2 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births in Georgia from 2018 to 2020, which is the most recent report available from Georgias maternal mortality review committee. That represents about a 20% increase from the previous three-year period, when the rate was 25.1. Black women are twice as likely as white women to die from pregnancy-related causes. Of the 113 pregnancy-related deaths during those three years, about 90% of them had some chance of being prevented, according to the committees report released last year. The 10 deaths attributed to preeclampsia or eclampsia were all ruled preventable. Taylor argues the test also saves the state and insurers money in the long run by intervening when needed and preventing more advanced illness like stroke. State Rep. Sharon Cooper, a Marietta Republican who chairs the House Public Health Committee, which advanced Taylors bill, said she sees the predictive test as a medical breakthrough. It will be a life-saver, Cooper said. More important now than ever The test isnt meant for everyone, but in the situations where a patient is eligible, it can be a powerful tool, says Dr. Padmashree Chaudhury Woodham, who is a professor of maternal-fetal medicine at Wellstar Medical College of Georgia Health. Thats particularly true as the maternal mortality rate has increased, due to factors like women waiting later in life to have children and increases in obesity. Not to scare people, but facts are facts, and I want people to realize why this kind of screening test is even more important now than ever, said Woodham, who is also a member of the committee that reviews maternal deaths. Being able to better identify which patients need intervention can help a womans lifelong health, potentially blunting the risk of other cardiovascular conditions and the need for other costly medical treatments later, Woodham said. And the test results can also spare others the inconvenience and cost of unnecessary hospitalizations and the early deliveries that often lead to preterm babies and time in the NICU. The test is available for patients who are pregnant with one baby and who are at least 23 weeks into the pregnancy. Its also only approved right now for hospitalized patients, which means the women are likely already showing signs of illness, and the patient must have already been diagnosed with a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy. Woodham says the test is more accurate than the standard clinical measures currently being used to guide medical providers. Its a test that really triages patients to determine who are the ones who are going to get sicker in the next two weeks, and that will then help the provider make a decision of how much surveillance that patient will need, Woodham said. Woodham said they are testing patients about two or three times a week at Wellstar MCG Health, which is acquiring the equipment to process the tests in house. She said that number will likely increase as awareness of the new test grows. Nationally, about 16% of pregnant women have some form of hypertensive disorder of pregnancy and up to half of those will then go on to develop preeclampsia, Woodham said. I think the biggest hurdle right now is it is such a new test for the United States that a lot of doctors just dont know about the test, Woodham said. Woodham said she encourages patients to ask their obstetrician about the test and whether they are eligible for it. Empowering moms The availability of the test in the U.S. is long overdue, says Katherine Sylvester. Sylvester, who lives in Macon, Georgia, experienced preeclampsia after the birth of her second child in 2020. It was caught after her midwife noticed Sylvesters blood pressure was elevated for her, though not by general standards. Her personal experience inspired her to start an organization called Operation MIST that uses smart watches to monitor womens health data before they are pregnant through the first year after delivery. Her program leans on lifestyle modifications to head off problems before they start and course correct along the way. Sylvester, who is a physical therapist and doula, said the biomarker test can help empower mothers, though she does not know of anyone yet who has received the test. The more we know, the more we can do, she said. And I also think that sometimes we do know more, and nothing is done. But I feel like if we have access to this at least then providers can help moms make better decisions, and moms can make better decisions. But Sylvester said she would also like to see the testing help connect mothers with the support they need. Thats what I think the biomarker testing is doing is giving us more information, so that we whether its the health care system or whether its our family unit, our community, the churches, people who want to do pro bono work, nonprofit organizations we can support moms who need the support. Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor John McCosh for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com. Follow Georgia Recorder on Facebook and X. DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST WINNESHIEK COUNTY, Iowa After seven years an arrest has been made in the murder investigation of a 15-year-old girl in Winneshiek County. In the spring of 2017 Jade Marie Colvin arrived in Iowa from Arizona. According to the Winneshiek County Sheriffs Office, Colvins mother brought her to Iowa to live at the farm of 65-year-old James David Bachmurski in rural, southern Winneshiek County. Marshalltown murder suspect dead after being shot, officials say In May 2022 the sheriffs office received information from the US Marshal Service and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that Colvin had not been seen or heard from since approximately two days after she arrived at the farm in 2017. The sheriffs office said that after receiving the information an investigation involving multiple agencies and states was launched. The investigation lasted two years and led to Bachmurski being charged with second-degree murder. Bachmurski was arrested in Georgia and was extradited to Winneshiek County on a probation violation warrant. Bachmurski is currently being held at the Winneshiek County Jail without bond. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to who13.com. The Georgia Public Service Commission held an Aug. 6 hearing on a group of Hancock County property owners seeking to overturn an April ruling that would allow the Sandersville Railroad Co. to acquire their land through condemnation. City of Sandersville Correction: The original version of this story published Aug. 13 contained an incorrect quote attributed to Sandersville Railroad attorney Robert Highsmith. State regulators are set to decide soon whether a Georgia short line railroad backed by one of the states best connected families should be allowed to force property owners in one of the states poorest counties to sell their land. The battle that pits private property owners rights against a claim of public benefit that trumps them is expected to be decided in the coming weeks when the Georgia Public Service Commission rules in a case that could have longstanding ramifications on Georgias eminent domain law. The five-member PSC will vote at an upcoming meeting whether to uphold Aprils recommendation by an administrative hearing officer that allowed the Sandersville Railroad Co. to condemn 18 parcels in a rural predominantly Black Hancock County neighborhood in order to build a rail line extension to ship locally manufactured goods. The states eminent domain law authorizes governments to seize land for public use for the purpose of building new roads, utilities, and other infrastructure. The Sandersville Railroad Co., headed by Ben J. Tarbutton III, plans to construct the 4.5-mile Hanson Spur rail line that connects the Hanson Quarries and other manufacturing facilities with the CSX Transportation main line that allows trains to deliver granite, liquid asphalt, paper-quality wood chips and various other materials throughout the U.S. Eastern Seaboard. Tarbutton is the grandson of a businessman who took over operation of the railroad in 1916 and it has been a prominent family business for more than a century. On Aug. 6, the PSC heard oral arguments on the case from attorneys representing the property owners, a local community group and the railroad company. The commission should allow the people whose property the railroad has threatened to condemn to keep what belongs to them no matter how much the railroad company and its network of interested companies desire to increase their profits, said Bill Maurer, an attorney with the Institute for Justice, which is representing the property owners in the case. This is not just a question of our evidence versus their evidence. Instead, the railroad has failed to show either the most basic facts that this project constitutes a public use or is necessary to accommodate their business. The eminent domain rail expansion proposal came under increasing scrutiny two years ago when a group formed the No Railroad In Our Community Coalition in support of the predominantly Black Sparta neighborhood. The Sparta neighborhoods landowners often feel a sense of connection to the properties they inherited from their families, such as the Smiths who inherited their property from their ancestors who were born into slavery on it, and the property of the Garrett family, who owned the land since the Civil War. In the PSC hearing, Maurer argued that Sandersville did not provide enough expert reports, independent financial analyses, or counter-witness testimony that factored in the environmental and social harm caused by condemnation. What the railroad has produced is a sales pamphlet in an effort to provide a sufficient legal justification to use eminent domain to destroy the property, the peace of mind, and lives of these clients, he said. Jamie Rush, an attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center representing the No Railroad group, said once condemned, the damage will extend to the property owners peace of mind, and familial heritage. Sandersville attorney Robert Highsmith said last week the Sandersville companys proposal serves a public purpose by opening a channel of trade that is going to be used by multiple customers to ship agricultural products, material from a nearby rock quarry and other manufacturing products. Every condemnation is a failure of a private negotiation for sale, but a recognition that a public use and a public need is enough to justify the exercise of imminent domain, Highsmith said. Without it, we wouldnt have airports, we wouldnt have roads, wouldnt have railroads, we wouldnt have utility infrastructure, virtually every public infrastructure, some of which is operated by private companies, investor owned utilities and railroads. The Sandersville Railroad plan will cause irreversible damage properties that have been in families for generations in the predominantly Black neighborhood, Maurer said. That is a very good reason for a stay. What can be broken cannot be unbroken, he said. And that reason to wait until all of the courts have weighed in on this, especially when were dealing with such important pieces of property that means so much to my clients. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SPD flags fly in front of the event hall. At the state election conference there, the delegates vote on the state list. Top figures in German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party (SPD) have expressed support for the stationing of long-range US weapons in Germany, an issue that has stoked controversy. Sebastian Willnow/dpa Top figures in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party (SPD) have expressed support for the stationing of long-range US weapons in Germany, an issue that has stoked controversy. The party praesidium said in a resolution taken on Monday: "As the SPD, we take responsibility for ensuring that no child born in Germany today will experience war again. The agreement between the SPD-led federal government and the US administration to station longer-range American missiles in Germany from 2026 is an important component of this." At the sidelines of the NATO summit in July, the White House and the German government announced that the United States plans to station weapon systems in Germany again from 2026 that can reach far into Russia. They specifically mentioned Tomahawk cruise missiles, SM-6 missiles, and new hypersonic weapons. No nuclear warheads Although the weapons are capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, the presidium noted that the missiles stationed in Germany will not. "The planned weapons will be equipped with conventional warheads and stationed in existing US military facilities in western Germany. Nuclear armament of the systems is not envisaged," says the resolution, seen by dpa. It added that the stationing of the weapons does not represent a boost in offensive weapons, but rather a strengthening of Germany's defence and the alliance capability of NATO and the European Union with weapons systems that Russia has had for years. Scholz had argued that the weapons serve as a deterrence, with the aim of preventing a war. SPD flags fly in front of the event hall. At the state election conference there, the delegates vote on the state list. Top figures in German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party (SPD) have expressed support for the stationing of long-range US weapons in Germany, an issue that has stoked controversy. Sebastian Willnow/dpa Top figures in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party (SPD) have expressed support for the stationing of long-range US weapons in Germany, an issue that has stoked controversy. The party praesidium said in a resolution taken on Monday: "As the SPD, we take responsibility for ensuring that no child born in Germany today will experience war again. The agreement between the SPD-led federal government and the US administration to station longer-range American missiles in Germany from 2026 is an important component of this." At the sidelines of the NATO summit in July, the White House and the German government announced that the United States plans to station weapon systems in Germany again from 2026 that can reach far into Russia. They specifically mentioned Tomahawk cruise missiles, SM-6 missiles, and new hypersonic weapons. No nuclear warheads Although the weapons are capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, the praesidium noted that the missiles stationed in Germany will not. "The planned weapons will be equipped with conventional warheads and stationed in existing US military facilities in western Germany. Nuclear armament of the systems is not envisaged," says the resolution, seen by dpa. It added that the stationing of the weapons does not represent a boost in offensive weapons, but rather a strengthening of Germany's defence and the alliance capability of NATO and the European Union with weapons systems that Russia has had for years. Scholz had argued that the weapons serve as a deterrence, with the aim of preventing a war. Surprise at decision The decision, taken without any prior discussion in parliament, raised eyebrows in Germany. SPD leader Lars Klingbeil, who had defended the decision a few days ago, acknowledged that the government needed to better explain the issues at hand. The praesidiums resolution says the party will create spaces for dialogue with members and citizens in the coming weeks and months. The Bundestag will also comprehensively address the issue after the parliamentary summer recess. Opposition to the weapons exists Not everyone in the SPD is happy with Scholz's decision. Parliamentary group leader Rolf Mutzenich warned of the risk of military escalation, while SPD lawmaker Ralf Stegner spoke out against further armament. Sahra Wagenknecht, of the recently formed Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), a populist party, criticized the resolution. Speaking on the Deutschlandfunk broadcaster, she said the party had taken a worrying u-turn. She expressed concern that, by hosting US weapons, Germany would become a target for Russian attack missiles. This is a highly dangerous development, the former far-left politician said. She pointed to the September state elections in the former eastern states of Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg as a referendum on war and peace. If the BSW performs strongly there, she said, it would also influence debates at the federal level. She has come out vehemently opposed to sending Ukraine weapons, lobbying for an end to the war in Ukraine via a dialogue with Russia, which many criticize as appeasement towards Russia. NEW YORK Frank Carone has been a near-constant presence in Mayor Eric Adams political and personal life since 2013. That year, Carone, an attorney and veteran political powerbroker in the city, helped clear the field for Adams to be elected Brooklyn borough president, a post that became a perch for him to launch his successful 2021 mayoral run. Ever since, Carone has remained a close friend and confidant to Adams, serving as his first chief of staff until late 2022, when he left City Hall to chair his reelection campaign and launch a lobbying firm representing private interests, some of which have business before the mayors administration. Their respective partners, Diana Carone and Tracey Collins, have also been friends for a decade, with Carones wife giving the mayors girlfriend, whos a senior Education Department official, gifts worth thousands of dollars last year, according to documents obtained by the Daily News and people familiar with their relationship. Diana Carones gifts to Collins, Adams longtime partner, totaled between $5,000 and $55,000 in 2023, per Collins annual financial disclosure, which offers only ranges as opposed to exact dollar figures. The disclosure, which Collins is required to file as a senior city government official, describes the gifts from Diana Carone as being for leisure activities. It doesnt specify when or where the outings took place. Theres no indication the gifts violate any laws. But government ethics watchdogs say their timing coming as Frank Carones firm was already representing private entities with city government business interests creates a situation that highlights why they believe laws around gifts to public officials should be stricter. There are laws on the books barring spouses of lobbyists from treating city officials with gifts. However, Carone and his Oaktree Solutions firms employees did not become registered lobbyists until this year. Once Carone and his employees registered as lobbyists, his wife became barred from giving any gifts to Collins. Collins, who works as a senior adviser to the Education Departments deputy chancellor of school leadership, didnt return calls or texts last week. Diana Carone declined to discuss the matter. Fabien Levy, Adams spokesman, emailed a statement saying Collins and Diana Carone are longtime friends and that the gifts are associated with activities they shared as friends throughout 2023. Levy didnt elaborate on the activities or specify the exact monetary value of the gifts. Frank Carone referred comment to his spokesman Stu Loeser, who wouldnt specify the exact value of the gifts, but said they covered expenses Diana Carone picked up for Collins when they went places together, including fundraisers for Citymeals on Wheels, a nonprofit Diana Carone serves on the board of that provides food for senior citizens. Loeser wouldnt say whether Diana Carone has continued to give Collins gifts in 2024, but confirmed the pair have been friends for at least a decade. The gifts to Collins came after Carone left City Hall in late 2022. Within days of exiting the administration, Carone confirmed Oaktree had picked up multiple clients with business interests before the city, including real estate powerhouses SL Green, Related Cos. and the Durst Organization, as well as Northwell, New Yorks largest health care provider. City ethics law prohibits the spouse of a lobbyist from giving any gift which has any value whatsoever to any public servant. Carone, though, wasnt a registered lobbyist in 2023. He told Politico shortly after leaving City Hall he was only providing advice to his clients with city business and would potentially register as a lobbyist later. On Jan. 1, 2024, Carone and several Oaktree employees formally registered to lobby both city and state officials on behalf of private interests, including ones vying for Education Department funding, city filings show. Rachel Fauss, senior policy adviser at the Reinvent Albany watchdog group, said the situation underscores why she believes the law needs to be tightened so the spouse gift ban also covers consultants who advise and represent private firms with city business dealings. When you have people who are trying to influence the city, even if they arent registered lobbyists, and they or their spouses are giving gifts of a big size like this to city officials, it doesnt look good, Fauss said. Conflicts of Interest Board Executive Director Carolyn Miller, whose agency enforces city ethics law, declined to comment, citing confidentiality protocols barring her from opining on specific activities outside of enforcement actions. Among the dozens of clients that Oaktree has registered to lobby Adams administration officials in 2024 is NOLA, a company seeking funding for a STEM education program in the city, public filings say. As part of that contract, Oaktree is being paid $10,000 monthly to lobby Sheena Wright, Adams first deputy mayor, who is city Schools Chancellor David Banks longtime partner. Oaktree has also this year lobbied for Big Dreams Child Care Center, a Brooklyn day care. Oaktrees public disclosures dont yet list any specific city officials it has lobbied on behalf of Big Dreams, but the contract relates to education and budget matters, paperwork says. Collins has worked at the Education Department for decades, mostly as a principal, per payroll records. After Adams became mayor, Collins was promoted to her senior adviser post in July 2022. The school leadership division where Collins serves as a senior adviser oversees all of the citys school district superintendents as well as the Education Departments literacy efforts. Department spokesman Nathaniel Styer said Collins doesnt have any direct authority over agency contracts with private vendors, though. ------- (With Cayla Bamberger.) GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KREX) Grand Junction Police Department arrested a man Tuesday morning after he fled from law enforcement the day before. GJPD said in a press release around 9:30 a.m., Monday, officers responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle in the 2700 Block of Highway 6 and 50. When officers contacted the driver, he allegedly held the scene and drove into oncoming traffic, eluding law enforcement. The next day, the officers arrested Lakota Lamb, 24, when they responded to the area of Connected Lakes to help a Colorado Parks and Wildlife officer who allegedly found Lamb with a gun in his possession. After arriving on the scene, law enforcement identified the 24-year-old as the suspect who evaded police, according to GJPD. He was taken into custody without incident. Lamb, who was remanded to Mesa County Detention Facility, was booked and charged with vehicular eluding, obstructing a peace officer, reckless driving and other related charges. He also had an active warrant. This is believed to be an isolated incident and there is no threat to the public. This is an ongoing investigation and there is no further information at this time, according to GJPD. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WesternSlopeNow.com. HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) Officials say the Glema Mahr Center for the Arts has announced its 2024-2025 School Days Matinees lineup. Officials with Madisonville Community College say this years series is comprised of eight events: Lexington Childrens Theatre October Winnie the Pooh Old Dry Frye The Childrens Center for Dance Education December The Childrens Nutcracker Sons of Mystro February Will bring classical, contemporary and improvised music to the stage Lexington Childrens Theatre- March Alice in Wonderland Quetzali the Comic Book Queen vs the Alebrije of Darkness Hopkins County High School November and March Annie in November Disneys The Little Mermaid in March Owensboro Symphony to perform classic television themes at Glema Center This is most definitely my favorite series at the Glema Center, said Toby Roberts, Director of Programs. The programming offered starts as early as Kindergarten and goes through grade twelve. I cant stress enough how important we think it is. Its usually the first time and may be the only time many of them will have a live arts experience. We hope to foster a love of the arts that will last their whole lives. According to Madisonville Community College, School Days Matinees performances are underwritten with financial support from Hopkins County Schools. Each event is considered a district-sponsored field trip for a predetermined grade level within Hopkins County Schools, but participation is not automatic; teachers must make reservations with the Glema Center and the Transportation Department for their classes to participate. Audition date set for The Childrens Nutcracker Officials explain although these events are not open to the community, they are not limited to classes within the Hopkins County Schools system. Public schools, private schools, and home schools in the region are welcome to attend; ticket pricing is available on the Glema Center website, and advance reservations are required. Madisonville Community College officials say people can find out more about the Glema Centers 2024-2025 School Days Matinees, including a complete schedule and reservation forms for teachers and home educators, here. For additional information, contact Toby Roberts at 270-821-2787, email Toby.Roberts@kctcs.edu or visit the Glema Center office between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. (Courtesy: Madisonville Community College) Eyewitness News. Everywhere you are. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW). August 15 is a significant date in the history of India, marking its independence from British rule in 1947. However, India is not the only country that celebrates its Independence Day on this date. In fact, several other nations also commemorate their freedom from colonial rule or occupation on August 15. Heres a closer look at five other countries that share this historic date: 1. South Korea South Korea, officially known as the Republic of Korea, observes August 15 as its Liberation Day (Gwangbokjeol). On this day in 1945, South Korea gained independence from Japanese colonial rule, which had lasted for 35 years. The Japanese occupation ended as a result of Japans defeat in World War II, following the actions of Allied forces, including the United States and the Soviet Union. This day is celebrated with various ceremonies and events, including patriotic displays and public ceremonies. Its a national holiday marked by festivities and remembrance of the countrys journey to freedom. 2. North Korea North Korea, or the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, also celebrates August 15 as Liberation Day. Similar to South Korea, North Koreas independence from Japanese rule was achieved on this date in 1945. The liberation led to the eventual division of the Korean Peninsula into North and South Korea three years later, in 1948. In North Korea, this day is observed with state-led ceremonies and commemorations that reflect the countrys focus on its revolutionary past and its leaders roles in the struggle for independence. 3. Bahrain Bahrain celebrates its Independence Day on August 15, but with a slightly different historical context. On this day in 1971, Bahrain gained independence from British rule. The British began withdrawing from the Gulf region in the 1960s, and a treaty signed on August 15 officially ended their protectorate over Bahrain. This day is celebrated in Bahrain with various national events, including parades and cultural performances, reflecting the countrys modern identity and achievements since gaining independence. 4. Liechtenstein Liechtenstein, a small European country, observes August 15 as a national holiday known as the Assumption Day. Although not an independence day in the traditional sense, August 15, 1866, is significant for Liechtenstein as it marks the day it formally secured its independence from the German Confederation. Liechtenstein's independence has been a defining feature of its political and historical identity, and the day is celebrated with various local events and traditions. 5. Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly known as the Belgian Congo) marks its Independence Day on August 15, 1960. This was the day when Congo gained independence from Belgian colonial rule. The country's long history of colonization under Belgium was a significant period in its history, and August 15 represents the culmination of its struggle for self-determination and sovereignty. The day is observed with national celebrations and remembrance of the country's journey to independence. August 15 is a day of profound significance for several nations beyond India, each with its own unique history of achieving freedom from colonial rule or occupation. From the Korean Peninsula to the Gulf region and central Africa, this date symbolizes the end of colonial dominance and the beginning of a new chapter for these countries. Understanding the diverse historical contexts and celebrations associated with August 15 provides a broader perspective on global independence movements and their lasting impacts on national identities. These films made after 1947 will win your heart OnePlus Launches Monthly Updates for Faster Features and Improvements: Eligible Devices List Jawan Who Killed Four Colleagues in Bathinda in 2023 Gets Life Imprisonment CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) With less than a month until the West Virginia Black Heritage Festival (WVBHF), Glenville State University (GSU) president Mark Manchin has already expressed his appreciation of the festival through a donation to it. On Monday, GSU President Dr. Mark Manchin presented a $5,000 check on behalf of the university to the WVBHF. Manchins relationship with the organization began during his time as superintendent of Harrison County Schools when the board of education was located in the Kelly Miller Community Center. As superintendent, Manchin contributed and assisted with the organization as much as possible, and has continued to do so once gaining his position at GSU. Image from check presentation (WBOY image). Were here to encourage the communities to continue to grow and many of the foundations and people who are making a difference in so many peoples lives. Weve come here today in that spirit, Manchin said. 100 years ago: Clarksburg native John W. Davis got presidential candidate nomination WVBHFs Board of Directors Chairman James Griffin said that it was Manchin who donated the Kelly Miller Community Center back to the community and the WVBHF in 2017, and that his donations throughout the years have been greatly appreciated. Griffin spoke with 12 News on what the $5,000 check would be used for. It goes into the general fund to help to pay the overall expenses of the festival. Were 100 percent volunteer, we have no large overhead so everything that we receive goes directly to the festival, Griffin said. The West Virginia Black Heritage Festival will take place Sept. 6-8 in downtown Clarksburg in front of the Harrison County Courthouse. A display of the history of the festival will be held at the Kelly Miller Community Center a week prior for the public to come and enjoy. As the WVBHF is completely volunteer-based, the organization is always accepting helping hands. You can learn more through the organizations website and Facebook page. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBOY.com. The News Welcome to the Global Hot List, our subjective, dynamic ranking of the races and political developments you should be paying attention to right now, compiled by world elections expert Brad Glasser. In todays edition: Bangladesh puts an anti-poverty icon in charge, a presidential drug war continues in the Philippines, and a misogynist YouTuber appears in Chilean polling. The List 1. Bangladesh Nobel laureate Bangladeshs military met student activists demands by installing Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus as interim leader. The protestors previously forced Bangladeshs longtime leader Sheik Hasina to flee the country, and showed signs of continued influence by pressuring the generals now in control to tap 84-year-old Yunus to take the helm of the country. Yunus, nicknamed the banker to the poor for his signature advocacy of microloans, was the receipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. Its not my dream, its their dream, said Yunus of the protesters push to reform society. So Im kind of helping make it come true. 2. USA Trump revanchism As Kamala Harris sees mostly positive signs in polling, an injured Trump campaign is now clearly seeking a course-correction. Enlisting JD Vance as their attack dog, the Trump campaign is targeting the service record of Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz with claims of stolen valor, hoping to drag down the popular governors approval ratings by highlighting objections to his National Guard retirement from some members of his unit who later went on to deploy in Iraq, as well as examples of imprecise language around his service record. Trumps highly-publicized interview with Elon Musk also represented an opportunity to recapture the news cycle, but was marred by technical difficulties which Musk claimed resulted from a DDOS attack. 3. Philippines Cocaine and cash The vice president of the Philippines, Sara Duterte-Carpio, is carrying out attacks against the presidents administration, warning officials not to succumb to bribery. Leaders should not be motivated by cash, cocaine or champagne, said Duterte-Carpio, as tensions between her family and the family of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. continue to simmer. Duterte himself has launched accusations of drug use at Marcos, and his daughters remarks were viewed as a not-so-subtle nod to a debunked video being shared on pro-Duterte social media that purports to show the president using the substance. 4. Thailand Peoples Party Thailands Move Forward Party was officially dissolved by courts over its stance against lese majeste laws, but a new party has already stepped in as a replacement. Move Forward, a progressive party, was the first-place vote-winner in last years election, and its targeting for dissolution has been identified as an example of continued democratic backsliding in Thailand. All of Move Forwards elected officials joined the new Peoples Party, which is a continuation of the party in virtually every way. 5. Chile Johannes Kaiser A Chilean legislator and former Youtuber, infamous for questioning whether women should be able to vote, is working on a longshot presidential bid. Johannes Kaisers comments caused outrage in Chile, with the countrys Womens Minister publicly condemning the legislator at the time of his election. It is unacceptable that womens right to vote is called into question, Minister Monica Zalaquett weighed in. Kaiser left the far-right Republican Party and plans to run for president in 2025, appearing at 7% in the latest poll. 6. Rwanda 99% support Rwandas president Paul Kagame was sworn into another term, after a vote in which he supposedly claimed 99% of all ballots cast. Kagame has been described as a brutal dictator, and the vote serves as another marker of his cemented rule in the relatively-smaller country. The election, in which Kagame smashed his own record for total votes, was an example of Rwandas lack of democracy, according to observers. 7. Vanuatu Historic win Jenny Regenvanu was elected mayor of Vanuatus capital Port Vila, becoming the first woman to serve in the role. Regenvanu, a member of the Land and Justice Party, takes office for a two-year term after winning the support of city council, and will serve alongside Marie-Louise Milne of Vanuatus Green party as deputy, who is also the first woman nominated to that position. 8. Lithuania Shock poll A new party led by an antisemitic legislator hit double-digit polling in Lithuania. Remigijus Zemaitaitis was investigated by parliament for antisemitic statements, which resulted in his legal immunity being waived by lawmakers. Social media posts showed that Zemaitaitis falsely attributed a World War II massacre committed by the Nazi SS to Jews and Russians. Zemaitaitis ran for president in May, taking 9% of the vote. His new party, Dawn of Nemunas, recently appeared at 17% in a poll. 9. Estonia Far-right split Likewise, in Estonia, a new far-right party is emerging. The Estonian Nationalists and Conservatives (ERK), a splinter group from the Conservative Peoples Party (EKRE), stood at 3% of the vote in a recent poll, compared to the latter at 11%. ERK claims they will pursue a path between the increasingly extremist EKRE and the more standard right-wing party Isamaa, though one political expert doesnt see much room for them. If its EKRE light, people still want the real EKRE, he explains. (Bloomberg) -- The asset management unit of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has walked away from the worlds biggest climate alliance for investors, marking the latest in a string of similar defections amid continued Republican Party attacks on green finance. Most Read from Bloomberg Goldman Sachs Asset Management confirmed its withdrawal from Climate Action 100+ in an email to Bloomberg on Tuesday. GSAM has made investments in our ability to meet the sustainable investing needs of our clients and remain committed to leveraging our global capabilities, a spokesperson for the firm said. The comments were reported earlier by ESG Today. The departure feeds into a broader retreat from such coalitions as financial firms based in the US contend with an increasingly entrenched anti-ESG movement. Key members of the Republican Party have attacked banks and investors for embracing environmental, social or governance goals, accusing them of being woke and even anti-American. In some states, members of climate alliances have even faced lawsuits amid GOP accusations of alleged collusion against the fossil-fuel industry. Other firms to have quit CA100+ include AllianceBernstein Holding LP, the asset management arm of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Pacific Investment Management Co. CA100+ said last month it was going through an administrative update with regards to signatories. The alliance still counts well over 600 members representing more than $50 trillion of assets under management, and has attracted more than 80 new signatories since last July, a CA100+ spokesperson said at the time. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. CANTON, N.Y. (WWTI) New York Governor Kathy Hochul thanked first responders at the Canton Volunteer Fire Department for their handling of severe weather late last week in Northern New York. The remnants of Hurricane Debby caused roads to be closed and plenty of damage in Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties. A number of roadways are still severely affected from the flooding rains. Its been a really tough summer for New Yorkers, particularly here in the North Country, as were still dealing with the onslaught of Beryl just 33 days ago, some of our neighbors in Lewis County are still suffering from those effects. But here in St. Lawrence St. Lawrence is the largest county geographically in the State of New York, told that the size of Rhode Island. Imagine the scale of having to deal with the crisis of this magnitude with a volunteer fire department from a place like Canton. I want to thank every one of them for stepping up and giving their time and their talents and literally being willing to put themselves directly in harms way to save the lives of their neighbors. New York Governor Kathy Hochul At one time over 50 road and bridges were closed in St. Lawrence County due to the rains on Friday. This list was updated on late Saturday afternoon. The governors office said homeowners in the county can apply for up to $50,000 to make storm-related repairs from last weeks weather. The New York State Department of Financial Services will be on the campus of SUNY Potsdam from 2 p.m. until 7 p.m. Thursday. They will be there to help provide insurance resources to residents and businesses dealing with the flooding and severe weather. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWTI - InformNNY.com. Gov. Katie Hobbs folds in standoff with Arizona Senate. But its attack dog still lurks Gov. Katie Hobbs has capitulated in her standoff with the Senate, agreeing to once again give senators the final word on who can run Arizonas various state agencies. Really, she had no choice. That is, if she wants to avoid an embarrassing court order to follow the law, which clearly requires her to submit her agency heads for Senate confirmation. Now well see if there are any adults over in the Republican-controlled Senate, serious people more interested in seeing government work than in sticking it to a Democratic governor they despise. Or put another way, whether Senate President Warren Petersen will put a muzzle on his attack dog, Sen. Jake Hoffman, a fake elector who chairs the far right Arizona Freedom Caucus and serves chairman and chief saboteur of the Committee on Director Nominations. That is, assuming Republicans still control the Senate next year. Confirmation fight has raged since last year Petersen says hes not expecting much confirmation controversy next year, whether Hoffman is chair or not. I believe the governor realizes she needs to send us competent nominations, he told me. As long as that happens they will be confirmed and the process will be smooth. Hmm. The Great Arizona Confirmation Conflict raged from the moment Hobbs took office last year. Petersen dumped the decades-long process of having standing committees review nominees to run agencies within their areas of oversight and instead set up a special committee to vet Hobbs nominees. Then he tapped Hoffman, the biggest bully in the Legislature, to chair it. Hoffman was angry at Hobbs, so he refused hearings Hoffmans hearings were at times more like interrogations than interviews, as Hobbs nominees were grilled not just on their qualifications but on their political leanings. His delight was evident as his panel rejected several of her appointees. He declined even to schedule hearings for more than a dozen others. Not because they werent qualified, but because Hobbs had issued an executive order he didnt like one that essentially decriminalized abortion. So, because Hobbs doesnt want to put doctors in jail, Hoffman refused to hold a hearing into whether Barbara Richardson should lead the Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions. As a result, she and a second unconfirmed agency chief were barred from monthly meetings of the board that reviews state investments. Sure, that makes sense. In all, the Senate confirmed just six of Hobbs nearly two dozen nominees last year. Attacks, rejections left agencies in limbo Hoffman chased away a clearly qualified candidate to run the Department of Health Services and rejected a former Democratic legislator nominated to run the Registrar of Contractors because he didnt like their politics. Meanwhile, 13 agency heads were left in limbo and to heck with the damage done when we have no confirmed directors to oversee the states critical needs, from social services and prisons to public health, nursing home oversight and child safety. Unconfirmed agency heads can serve no longer than a year. So, Hobbs devised a workaround, reappointing her unconfirmed agency heads as executive assistant directors who need no Senate approval. Beware of a bipartisan push: To protect lawmakers' power It is clear that this Committee is being used as a weapon, wielded for the personal whim of a few legislators, she wrote in a September letter to Petersen, notifying him of her plan. It was equally clear that it was an end-run on state law, and a judge ruled as such in June after Petersen filed the inevitable lawsuit. Hobbs dialed it down. Now, will Petersen? What we needed, of course, was not a lawsuit in which the public pays for both sides. What we needed was for our enemy combatants to grow the heck up and find a compromise. Hobbs should have followed the law, and Petersen should have named a new chairman to oversee confirmations. Now one-half of the problem is solved. Hobbs has agreed to submit her agency heads for Senate confirmation to avoid a judge ordering her to do so. As for Petersen, he wont say whether he plans to reappoint Hoffman to oversee confirmations next year, should Republicans still control the Senate. With the new session, we will be asking members what chairs they want, he said. If two or more people want the same chairmanship we look at experience, background, competence and knowledge. He should also look for somebody more interested in the smooth operation of the state than in hamstringing the states governor. Hoffman shouldn't lead the committee next year You cant run a state with what amounts to temps. Not well, anyway. And you certainly cant expect to attract the best and brightest, knowing that Hoffman awaits with freshly sharpened fangs. A fresh start is what is badly needed here, and that begins now with Petersen giving Hoffman the hook. Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @LaurieRobertsaz and on Threads at @LaurieRobertsaz. Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Senate must call off its attack dog on Hobbs' director picks The outside of Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023. The facility is Oregon's only women's prison. (Ben Botkin/Oregon Capital Chronicle) Oregon Department of Corrections officials have received hundreds of ideas from a governor-appointed panel for reforming the states only womens prison and better protecting women against trauma, sexual abuse and misconduct. The recommendations would make administrators more accountable for Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, which houses about 900 female inmates, and seek a change in culture at the Wilsonville prison. They would also increase oversight of allegations of sexual assault and strip searches and expand behavioral health programs, records obtained by the Capital Chronicle show. The agency is reviewing most of the ideas, but has committed to a handful, such as expanded peer programs to help women train to become mentors, body scanners to reduce strip searches and others. The panel behind the recommendations was created by Gov. Tina Kotek nearly a year ago after a state-commissioned report found rampant problems at Coffee Creek, such as a culture of retaliation that discourages staff and inmates alike from reporting sexual misconduct. The 20-member advisory panel, primarily made up of advocates and state officials, continues to meet with Koteks staff and the list is not a final set of recommendations. Critics want changes at Coffee Creek, and some advocates on the panel have publicly complained that the committees work may not lead to meaningful reforms. Since the committee started to meet behind closed doors, the prison has had high-profile problems, including a woman released nearly two years late and backlogged medical care. Bobbin Singh, executive director of the Oregon Justice Resource Center, which has two staffers on the committee, said that legislation is needed to reform the system. Unless the Oregon Department of Corrections has clear statutory mandates, nothing will really change, he said. From our perspective, its a little embarrassing that these are the recommendations that DOC is looking at right now. Corrections agency reviews recommendations Amber Campbell, a spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Corrections, said the agency is reviewing the recommendations. This work and review of the hundreds of recommendations will be ongoing, Campbell said in an email. The agency has committed to supporting some changes, Campbell said. Those include establishing a full-time sexual assault liaison and convening an oversight board to review audit findings related to the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act, she said. Other changes include: Procuring body scanners to eliminate or reduce the need for unclothed strip searches, Expanding visitation policy so more children and family members are eligible to visit, and Expanding a peer recovery support program that allows inmates to train and certify as peer mentors who help people through their life experiences. The agency also will request the expansion of a contracted with a provider that offers counseling, advocacy and support services for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. And Campbell said officials are making other changes, like establishing four annual family events and making behavioral health services staff available after hours to respond to crises. The corrections agency and the governors office declined to provide a timeline or say how long the review process will take. Anca Matica, a spokesperson for Koteks office, said the governor and agency have a preliminary agreement to support certain recommendations and will call on lawmakers to approve targeted investments in the 2025 legislative session. Wider recommendations The committees ideas are wider than what the agency has committed to so far. For example, it has recommended that prison officials enact monitoring to flag staffers who have potential misconduct issues and create a public dashboard with data about sexual assault cases. The panel also called for training on transgender, nonbinary and gender diverse people for agency staff members and the enactment of policies on gender diversity. Another idea: explore options for free phone or video visits for inmates to enable them to have more outside communication. And the panel called for the prison to set up a system so that women can schedule medical appointments before release. Singh expressed frustration that the governors office is not taking a more vigorous approach. What were seeing really is this delegation or this sort of lack of ownership of this and just giving it to the agency to have the final say in all of this, he said. It seems like a very odd way of fixing such a profound problem. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX All governmental parties of Denmark have acted in favour of Ukraines offensive operation in Russias Kursk Oblast. Source: DR.dk Danish media outlet cited by European Pravda Details: Jesper Petersen, a representative of the Social-Democratic party of Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, is optimistic about the latest events. "When you see that they [the Ukrainians ed.] have resources and strength for such operations, there are reasons to be optimistic," he said. Michael Aastrup Jensen, a representative of the Liberal Party of Denmark, also treats these Ukrainian attacks with respect. He believes that it is "totally normal" that Ukraine has crossed the Russian border. Jeppe Se, member of the Moderates Party, shares this opinion and calls the attack "quite natural". "Sometimes it is necessary to cross the border of the country youre at war with. I think its quite natural in the border area between two countries," he says. Even the opposition Danish Peoples Party expressed its support for Ukraines offensive in Kursk Oblast in Russia Alex Ahrendtsen, a representative of the party, believes that these attacks are "absolutely spectacular and noticeable". Denmark has sent one of the largest quantities of armament to Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion. This includes, among other things, anti-tank weapons, missiles, mortars, tanks and, very recently, the first out of the batch of 19 F-16 fighter jets which have just been delivered to Ukraine. All the parties DR spoke with stated that it was of no significance that it were Danish tanks which had crossed the borders last week. "Every time we supply Ukraine with aid, it faces the Council for foreign policy where we set clear rules with the Ukrainians regarding what they can use these supplies for. As long as the Ukrainians adhere to these rules, we have no ground for criticism," Aastrup Jensen says, noting that the specifics of the rules are confidential so he does not want to go into detail when it comes to them. Lars-Christian Brask, a representative of the Liberals, believes there are no reasons to think that the Ukrainians do not follow the laws of war. "The Ukrainians target troops and military bases and do not hurt civilians. Their ethics and morals are different from those of the Russians. They respect human rights," he says. All parties stress that the reason for concern will only arise when Ukraine starts occupying a part of Russian territory. "It is important for us to support Ukraine in its fight for freedom and the liberation of its territory, not in attempts to capture new territories," Aastrup Jensen says. Background: Recently, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, confirmed for the first time that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are conducting an offensive in Russia's Kursk Oblast. Oleksandr Syrskyi reported at a meeting of the Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have taken control of about 1,000 square kilometres of Russian territory. The Pentagon said that Ukraine's advance in Kursk Oblast aligns with US policy and that it is not concerned about a possible increase in tensions with Russia. A bipartisan delegation from the United States supported the actions of the Ukrainian defence forces in Russias Kursk Oblast and called the operation "historic" and hopeful during an official visit to Kyiv. Support UP or become our patron! ODESSA, Texas (KMID/KPEJ) Governor Greg Abbott recently announced the next 2024 Governors Small Business Summit will be in Odessa on Thursday, August 22. Held across the state throughout the year, the Governors Office said the Small Business Summits aim to help Texas small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs succeed by connecting them with the resources and information needed to start, strengthen, and grow a business. Everything is bigger in Texas, and that includes our small businesses. With over 3 million small businesses employing nearly half of the Texas workforce, Texas remains a top state for small business job growth. Texas offers opportunities and partnership for businesses of all sizes to grow and succeed. I invite Texas small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs to attend a Governors Small Business Summit. Together, we will build a bigger, better Texas for decades to come, said Governor Abbott. Abbott said the Summit will bring together local, state, and federal resource partners to provide key insights on critical business topics. The Summit will also provide the opportunity to network with other business owners and meet experts who will share timely, relevant, and actionable advice on several small business topics. Topics will include: Cybersecurity: Protecting your business in a digital economy Access to finance and funding for small businesses Recruiting, training, and retaining employees in todays economy Local strategies for starting and growing a small business The Governors Small Business Summit will be held at The Venue at Lantana Acres, located at 6300 North Golder Avenue, from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 22. Registration is $20 and includes access to all sessions, resource providers, lunch, and complimentary headshots. For more information and to register, visit the Texas Economic Development and Tourism website here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Yourbasin. WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) Wichita Falls police said a 14-year-old boy was beaten with a clothes hanger by his grandmother after he took away alcohol from her and her boyfriend. Rayna Zimmer has been released from jail on bond for her charge of injury to a child. Suspect in Archer City officer-involved shooting awake, alert On July 10, police responded to the 1200 block of Sun Valley Drive after a 12-year-old girl ran there to tell neighbors that her grandmother was beating her brother. Police went to the 2800 block of Bandera Drive and found the boy with redness to the inside of his left arm and an abrasion to his forearm. He told them his grandmother got angry when they argued about the Wi-Fi and about him taking alcohol from her and her boyfriend. He said his grandmother started hitting him in the arms and body with a plastic hanger, and when he took the hanger away, she began hitting him in the face and head with her hands and pinned him down on a bed while yelling at him. He told them Zimmer had been drinking alcohol, which officers said has been common at this residence. Two other children in the home corroborated the victims account. Officers say Zimmers boyfriend confirmed the assault, and the children said he tried to stop it. Police said they spoke to Zimmer, who had apparently gone to sleep, and she admitted to drinking four glasses of wine, losing her temper, and striking the boy with the hanger and her hands. Dispute over Dr Pepper leads to standoff, shots fired Zimmers court records show two previous charges of family violence assaults, which were both dismissed. This is a developing story. Stick with Texomas Homepage for updates as more information becomes available. All individuals charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Texomashomepage.com. At the heart of the Aquarian persona lies an unwavering commitment to progress and innovation. These individuals are true forward-thinkers, constantly envisioning new possibilities and ways to enact positive change in the world around them. Their intelligence is often described as cerebral and analytical, with an uncanny ability to identify solutions to complex problems. Aquarians are not content with the status quo; instead, they thrive on challenging existing norms and embracing unconventional ideas. This penchant for originality extends to their personal lives as well, where Aquarians are known to embrace their eccentricities and proudly march to the beat of their own drum. From their fashion choices to their hobbies and interests, Aquarians possess a unique flair that sets them apart from the crowd. Whether it's experimenting with avant-garde art forms or delving into the latest technological advancements, these individuals are always seeking to push the boundaries of what is considered "normal." Greece to assist residents displaced by fire as EU sends aid A firefighter tries to extinguish a wildfire after a fire broke out in low vegetation. Aristidis Vafeiadakis/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa Greek authorities on Tuesday announced measures to assist displaced people driven from their homes by catastrophic fires near Athens in recent days, as the country's European Union partners offered assistance to combat the deadly blazes. Homes, businesses and farms have been destroyed or severely damaged over an area of around 100 square kilometres after high winds caused a devastating blaze on Sunday. Early on Tuesday, the emergency services recovered the body of a woman from a burnt-out factory, Greek media reported. She is the sole fatality recorded in the incident so far. More than 40 settlements have been evacuated since Sunday. The precautionary efforts appeared successful, as only 13 people have suffered mild smoke inhalation thus far, despite flames reaching 25 metres high. However, one firefighter was seriously injured on Monday. The Civil Protection Ministry has drawn up an assistance plan along with other departments providing immediate financial support of up to 10,000 ($11,000) to people whose homes have been damaged on destroyed. Assessors have begun working in the affected regions. Businesses and farms will also receive assistance including interest-free loans. Most of the fires were under control by Tuesday, with the fire services focusing on prevention. Satellite images provided by NASA showed only isolated fires on Tuesday, after previous images showed fronts advancing along 30 kilometres, with the flames almost 10 kilometres deep. The fire services were continuing to deploy 17 aircraft and 18 helicopters, along with hundreds of firefighters across the region. European Commission activates aid plans Earlier on Tuesday, the European Commission announced it was activating a system for European countries to help Greece and Albania battle the fires. A commission spokesman said the support to Greece included two planes from Italy, two helicopters from France and Serbia, and ground firefighting crews from the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Romania and Serbia. Romanian, Maltese and Moldovan firefighters were already in Greece, he said. According to a commission statement, Albania will receive a military plane from Romania capable of carrying 6 tons of water. The plane will be deployed on Wednesday, the commission said. Serbia and Moldova are not in the EU, but along with Albania and several others, they participate in the EU's Civil Protection Mechanism, which responds to such disasters. Firefighters try to extinguish a wildfire after a fire broke out in low vegetation. Aristidis Vafeiadakis/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa A firefighter tries to extinguish a wildfire after a fire broke out in low vegetation. Aristidis Vafeiadakis/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa The logo of Alliance 90/The Greens (Bundnis 90/Die Grunen) seen at the opening of a Green Party office. A campaigner for Germany's Green Party was attacked and robbed on the outskirts of Berlin on Tuesday. Jens Kalaene/dpa A campaigner for Germany's Green Party was attacked and robbed on the outskirts of Berlin on Tuesday. The attack took place at around 11:30 am (0930 GMT) in Hohen Neuendorf in the eastern German state of Brandenburg, which is holding elections in September. The Markische Allgemeine newspaper reported that an unknown man approached a 68-year-old Green campaigner and verbally assaulted him, before pushing him to the ground and stealing his bag, which contained electoral flyers. The alleged perpetrator then ran away, leaving the campaigner slightly injured. Special police teams responsible for politically motivated crimes have taken over the case, said a police spokesman in the eastern German state of Brandenburg. Green Party spokeswoman Anne Schumacher condemned the attack, calling it cowardly and unacceptable. Brandenburg police have reported a significant increase in attacks on politicians this year. The state interior ministry said 75 politically motivated crimes against officeholders and party representatives were recorded from January to March alone, up from 55 over the same period in 2023. In one notable recent incident, Adeline Abimnwi Awemo of the Christian Democratic Union was racially abused and attacked while putting up posters in the eastern city of Cottbus, where the Cameroon-born politician has lived for more than 20 years. The violent incidents have come amid a bumper election year for the state, which is holding elections to the state parliament on September 22 after European and local polls earlier this year. The Green Party will appear on Nevadas presidential ballot in November, a state judge ruled Monday, tossing out an appeal from state Democrats and setting up the potential for the third party to bleed votes from Vice President Harris. The Green Party has not appeared on Nevada ballots since 2008. Its 2024 petition for ballot access was challenged by the state Democratic Party, which claimed some of the submitted signatures were invalid. Carson City District Court Judge Kristin Luis ruled Monday that the challenge was not enough to disqualify the Green Party from the ballot. The Democratic Party has not met its burden of demonstrating that the petition is clearly invalid because it has not produced sufficient evidence to show that the petition has less than the required number of valid signatures in any petition district, she wrote. The ruling comes just two weeks before the filing deadline for third parties in Nevada. Green Party candidate Jill Stein celebrated the ruling in a post Monday. In June, the NV Dems sued the Nevada Green Party to kick us off the ballot after we submitted nearly 3x the required signatures, Stein wrote on Facebook. We are excited to say that the ruling has been made in our favor and we will offer an anti-genocide, pro-worker, climate action choice for Silver State voters! The Green Party presence in Nevada could threaten what is expected to be a thin margin in the November election. In previous races, Democrats have blasted the Green Party for taking away a small portion of voters in races where every vote counts. That includes the 2016 election in Wisconsin, where Stein received more votes than the winning margin of former President Trump over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In limited, head-to-head polling of the Nevada race between Trump and Harris, Trump leads Harris by 2.4 percent, according to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ average of polls. No poll included in the average has included Stein. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. GREENWOOD, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) A Greenwood sex offender has pleaded guilty and been sentenced to 12 years in prison for illegally entering a schools campus, according to court documents. Scott Nell, 52 (Courtesy: Sebastian County Detention Center) Scott Nell, 52, was arrested on April 19 on four counts of registered offender prohibited from entering upon school campus. Greenwood police said a staff member with the Greenwood School District noticed Nell trespassing on school property at Greenwood Junior High and notified the schools resource officer, according to an affidavit. After reviewing security camera footage, GPD found Nell was illegally on school grounds. Sex offender pleads not guilty to sexually assaulting minor at Greenwood daycare Working in conjunction with School Resource Officers, School Security Officers, and School Administration, the Greenwood Police Department was able to identify and arrest Nell for failure to comply with the requirements of the Arkansas Sex Offender Registration Act of 1997, the department said in a social media post. The SRO told Greenwood police he had been on Greenwood school campuses multiple times between March 26 and April 19, according to the affidavit. Nell is a level 3 sex offender and pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual assault in 2006 in Mississippi County court. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KNWA FOX24. DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) Though statistically, numbers arent higher than normal, residents and the Dayton mayor agree the city needs to do something about the alarming gun violence issues. Crime is not significantly up this year compared to previous years, but there has been a spike in gun-related crime this summer. A string of shootings involving groups of juveniles coupled with deaths due to domestic disputes increased the number of violent crimes involving guns in Dayton to more than 15 in just 3 days. Federal, local authorities working together to combat violent crime Having all that in a period of just a few days, it causes us to be more alarmed than the normal, says Dayton Mayor Jeffrey Mims, Jr. While Mims says these numbers are typical, its still an issue the city is addressing head-on. One thats now getting federal attention. One big effort that Mayor Mims has championed is the Violence Interruption Program. The Violence Interruption Program is one that weve seen that has produced the most positive results, said Mims. Mims says its worked in other cities struggling with gun violence like New York and Philadelphia, nearly cutting gun violence numbers in half. A key focus is youth development, an effort Dayton community members are supporting in the hopes it will stop these crimes. I think theyre moving in the right direction. You just got to get the kids doing something other than nothing, said Keith Hogan, a Dayton resident. FBI presence confirmed in Turtlecreek Township Mims adds that now with collaboration between federal law enforcement and local departments, the city is closer to getting these deadly weapons off Dayton streets. One guns too much. And they dont belong in the communities, especially those weapons that have multiple rounds, said Mims. He and other mayors in the Ohio Mayors Alliance will also be speaking to Governor Mike DeWine in Columbus on Wednesday about state solutions to the issues surrounding gun violence happening across the state. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDTN.com. Hackers were able to break into the email accounts of Roger Stone, a longtime GOP operative and adviser to former President Donald Trump, in hopes of compromising the accounts of his senior campaign officials, according to new media reports. The FBI said Monday it is investigating a cyberintrusion aimed at the Trump campaign, just days after the former president said Iran was targeting his reelection bid. Trumps remarks came after multiple media outlets, including Politico, received anonymous emails with internal Trump campaign documents attached, including a dossier on his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance. The Washington Post reports the FBI is now investigating a broad range of cyber attacks, including phishing attempts received earlier this year by staffers working on the then-Biden-Harris campaign. The publication said another phishing attempt appeared to have compromised Stones email, which was then used to send emails to people in the Trump campaign. The nefarious messages were designed to encourage recipients to click on a link. If they did so, the Post reports, the hackers may have been able to intercept other emails. The U.S. has not formally accused Iran of being responsible for the hack. I was informed by the authorities that a couple of my personal email accounts have been compromised, Stone told The Washington Post on Monday. I really dont know more about it. And Im cooperating. Its all very strange. Microsoft confirmed Friday that a group run by Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had compromised the account of a former senior adviser to a presidential campaign, part of a growing campaign of foreign malign influence. It did not name the adviser or campaign that was targeted. Iran has rejected accusations it is involved. The countrys mission to the United Nations told The New York Times the Iranian government neither possesses nor harbors any intent or motive to interfere in the United States presidential election. Its unclear how broad the phishing attempts were. The Harris campaign told the media outlets it remained vigilant in its effort to defend against cyberthreats and that it was not aware of any security breaches. An adviser for the Trump campaign told the Post it had taken new measures to secure its email servers and staffers have been informed to keep sensitive documents or information out of such messages. Related... Several months after a hacking group claimed to be selling nearly 3 billion records stolen from a prominent data broker, much of the information appears to have been leaked on a forum. According to Bleeping Computer, the data dump includes 2.7 billion records of personal info for people in the US, such as names, Social Security Numbers, potential aliases and all physical addresses they are known to have lived at. The data, which is unencrypted, is believed to have been obtained from a broker called National Public Data. It's said that the business assembles profiles for individuals by scraping information from public sources and then sells the data for the likes of background checks and looking up criminal records. (A proposed class-action suit was filed against National Public Data over the breach earlier this month.) In April, hacking collective USDoD attempted to sell 2.9 billion records it claimed was stolen from the company and included personal data on everyone in the US, UK and Canada. The group was looking for $3.5 million for the whole 4TB database, but since then chunks of the data have been leaked by various entities. Previous leaks included phone numbers and email addresses, but those reportedly weren't included in the latest and most comprehensive dump. As such, you won't be able to check whether your information has been included in this particular leak by punching your email address into Have I Been Pwned? The data includes multiple records for many people, with one for each address they are known to have lived at. The dump comprises two text files that amount to a total of 277GB. It's not really possible for any independent body to confirm that the data includes records for every person in the US, but as Bleeping Computer points out, the breach is likely to include information on anyone who is living in the country. The publication states that several people confirmed the information that the dump has on them and their family members (including some dead relatives) is accurate, but in other cases some SSNs were associated with the wrong individuals. Bleeping Computer posits that the information may have been stolen from an old backup as it doesn't include the current home address for the people whose details its reporters checked against the data. In any case, it's worth taking some steps to protect yourself against any negative repercussions from the leak, such as fraud and identity theft. Be extra vigilant against scammers and phishing attacks that look to obtain access to your online accounts. Keep an eye on credit reports to see if there has been any fraudulent activity on your accounts and inform credit bureaus Experian, Equifax and TransUnion if so. You can ask the bureaus to put a freeze on your credit files to stop anyone else opening a bank account, taking out a loan or obtaining a credit card under your name. You can sign up for services that offer identity fraud protection and remove your personal information from the public web to reduce the chances that you'll be negatively impacted. However, such services often charge a fee. Be sure to use two-factor authentication wherever possible (preferably with you obtaining codes from an authenticator app rather than SMS). And, as always, we highly recommend having a password manager, never reusing the same login credentials for different services and regularly changing the password on your most sensitive accounts. This article contains affiliate links; if you click such a link and make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Hackers may have stolen the Social Security numbers of every American. Here's how to protect yourself The breach, which includes Social Security numbers and other sensitive data, could power a raft of identity theft, one expert says. (Jenny Kane / Associated Press) For the record: 2:39 p.m. Aug. 15, 2024: A previous version of this article identified Teresa Murray as the consumer watchdog director for the U.S. Public Information Research Group. She works for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. About four months after a notorious hacking group claimed to have stolen an extraordinary amount of sensitive personal information from a major data broker, a member of the group has reportedly released most of it for free on an online marketplace for stolen personal data. The breach, which includes Social Security numbers and other sensitive data, could power a raft of identity theft, fraud and other crimes, said Teresa Murray, consumer watchdog director for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. "If this in fact is pretty much the whole dossier on all of us, it certainly is much more concerning" than prior breaches, Murray said in an interview. "And if people werent taking precautions in the past, which they should have been doing, this should be a five-alarm wake-up call for them." According to a class-action lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the hacking group USDoD claimed in April to have stolen personal records of 2.9 billion people from National Public Data, which offers personal information to employers, private investigators, staffing agencies and others doing background checks. The group offered in a forum for hackers to sell the data, which included records from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, for $3.5 million, a cybersecurity expert said in a post on X. The lawsuit was reported by Bloomberg Law. Last week, a purported member of USDoD identified only as Felice told the hacking forum that they were offering "the full NPD database," according to a screenshot taken by BleepingComputer. The information consists of about 2.7 billion records, each of which includes a person's full name, address, date of birth, Social Security number and phone number, along with alternate names and birth dates, Felice claimed. Read more: Data of nearly all AT&T customers downloaded in security breach National Public Data didn't respond to a request for comment, nor has it formally notified people about the alleged breach. It has, however, been telling people who contacted it via email that "we are aware of certain third-party claims about consumer data and are investigating these issues." In that email, the company also said that it had "purged the entire database, as a whole, of any and all entries, essentially opting everyone out." As a result, it said, it has deleted any "non-public personal information" about people, although it added, "We may be required to retain certain records to comply with legal obligations." Several news outlets that focus on cybersecurity have looked at portions of the data Felice offered and said they appear to be real people's actual information. If the leaked material is what it's claimed to be, here are some of the risks posed and the steps you can take to protect yourself. The threat of ID theft The leak purports to provide much of the information that banks, insurance companies and service providers seek when creating accounts and when granting a request to change the password on an existing account. A few key pieces appeared to be missing from the hackers' haul. One is email addresses, which many people use to log on to services. Another is driver's license or passport photos, which some governmental agencies rely on to verify identities. Still, Murray of PIRG said that bad actors could do "all kinds of things" with the leaked information, the most worrisome probably being to try to take over someone's accounts including those associated with their bank, investments, insurance policies and email. With your name, Social Security number, date of birth and mailing address, a fraudster could create fake accounts in your name or try to talk someone into resetting the password on one of your existing accounts. "For somebody whos really suave at it," Murray said, "the possibilities are really endless." It's also possible that criminals could use information from previous data breaches to add email addresses to the data from the reported National Public Data leak. Armed with all that, Murray said, "you can cause all kinds of chaos, commit all kinds of crimes, steal all kinds of money." Read more: Phishing attack hits L.A. County public health agency, jeopardizing 200,000-plus residents' personal info How to protect yourself Data breaches have been so common over the years, some security experts say sensitive information about you is almost certainly available in the dark corners of the internet. And there are a lot of people capable of finding it; VPNRanks, a website that rates virtual private network services, estimates that 5 million people a day will access the dark web through the anonymizing TOR browser, although only a portion of them will be up to no good. If you suspect that your Social Security number or other important identifying information about you has been leaked, experts say you should put a freeze on your credit files at the three major credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. You can do so for free, and it will prevent criminals from taking out loans, signing up for credit cards and opening financial accounts under your name. The catch is that you'll need to remember to lift the freeze temporarily if you are obtaining or applying for something that requires a credit check. Read more: Are you the victim of identity theft? Heres what to do Placing a freeze can be done online or by phone, working with each credit bureau individually. PIRG cautions never to do so in response to an unsolicited email or text purporting to be from one of the credit agencies such a message is probably the work of a scammer trying to dupe you into revealing sensitive personal information. For more details, check out PIRG's step-by-step guide to credit freezes. You can also sign up for a service that monitors your accounts and the dark web to guard against identity theft, typically for a fee. If your data is exposed in a breach, the company whose network was breached will often provide one of these services for free for a year or more. If you want to know whether you have something to worry about, multiple websites and service providers such as Google and Experian can scan the dark web for your information to see whether it's out there. But those aren't specific to the reported National Public Data breach. For that information, try a free tool from the cybersecurity company Pentester that offers to search for your information in the breached National Public Data files. Along with the search results, Pentester displays links to the sites where you can freeze your credit reports. Atlas Privacy, a company that helps people remove their personal information from data brokers, also offers a way to check whether your info was breached in the National Public Data hack. As important as these steps are to stop people from opening new accounts in your name, they aren't much help protecting your existing accounts. Oddly enough, those accounts are especially vulnerable to identity thieves if you haven't signed up for online access to them, Murray said that's because it's easier for thieves to create a login and password while pretending to be you than it is for them to crack your existing login and password. Read more: Trump campaign says its emails were hacked Of course, having strong passwords that are different for every service and changed periodically helps. Password manager apps offer a simple way to create and keep track of passwords by storing them in the cloud, essentially requiring you to remember one master password instead of dozens of long and unpronounceable ones. These are available both for free (such as Apple's iCloud Keychain) and for a fee. Beyond that, experts say it's extremely important to sign up for two-factor authentication. That adds another layer of security on top of your login and password. The second factor is usually something sent or linked to your phone, such as a text message; a more secure approach is to use an authenticator app, which will keep you secure even if your phone number is hijacked by scammers. Yes, scammers can hijack your phone number through techniques called SIM swaps and port-out fraud, causing more identity-theft nightmares. To protect you on that front, AT&T allows you to create a passcode restricting access to your account; T-Mobile offers optional protection against your phone number being switched to a new device, and Verizon automatically blocks SIM swaps by shutting down both the new device and the existing one until the account holder weighs in with the existing device. Your worst enemy may be you As much or more than hacked data, scammers also rely on people to reveal sensitive information about themselves. One common tactic is to pose as your bank, employer, phone company or other service provider with whom you've done business and then try to hook you with a text or email message. Banks, for example, routinely tell customers that they will not ask for their account information by phone. Nevertheless, scammers have coaxed victims into providing their account numbers, logins and passwords by posing as bank security officers trying to stop an unauthorized withdrawal or some other supposedly urgent threat. People may even get an official-looking email purportedly from National Public Data, offering to help them deal with the reported leak, Murray said. "Its not going to be NPD trying to help. Its going to be some bad guy overseas" trying to con them out of sensitive information, she said. It's a good rule of thumb never to click on a link or call a phone number in an unsolicited text or email. If the message warns about fraud on your account and you don't want to simply ignore it, look up the phone number for that company's fraud department (it's on the back of your debit and credit cards) and call for guidance. "These bad guys, this is what they do for a living," Murray said. They might send out tens of thousands of queries and get only one response, but that response could net them $10,000 from an unwitting victim. "Ten thousand dollars in one day for having one hit with one victim, that's a pretty good return on investment," she said. "That's what motivates them." Sign up for our Wide Shot newsletter to get the latest entertainment business news, analysis and insights. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Displaced Palestinians make their way as they flee Hamad City following an Israeli evacuation order, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip Displaced Palestinians make their way as they flee Hamad City following an Israeli evacuation order, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maytaal Angel CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Hamas fired two rockets at Israel's commercial hub Tel Aviv on Tuesday for the first time in months and Israeli airstrikes killed at least 19 Palestinians in Gaza, as mediators aimed to resume ceasefire talks later in the week. There were no reports of casualties in Israel. Two rockets had been fired from Gaza, the Israeli military said, one of which fell in the sea and the other had not reached Israeli territory. Hamas' military wing said in a statement: "We have bombed the city of Tel Aviv and its suburbs with two 'M90' missiles in response to the Zionist massacres against civilians and the deliberate displacement of our people." Israeli airstrikes killed 19 Palestinians in the central and southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, medics said. Hamas last claimed firing rockets at Tel Aviv in May. One strike killed six people in Deir Al-Balah, including a mother and her twin four-day-old babies, while seven other Palestinians were killed in a strike on a house in the nearby Al-Bureij camp. Four people were killed in two separate strikes on the Al-Maghazi camp in the central Gaza Strip and Rafah in the south, and two were killed in a strike on a house in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood of Gaza City in the north, medics said. The Israeli military and Islamic Jihad and Hamas said they were fighting in several areas of Gaza. The Israeli military said it had killed Palestinian gunmen and dismantled military structures in Khan Younis, located weapons and explosives in Rafah, and struck rocket launchers and sniper posts in central Gaza. CEASEFIRE TALKS The U.S. said on Monday that it expected Gaza ceasefire talks slated for Thursday to go ahead as planned, and that an agreement was still possible. Axios reported that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken planned to set off on Tuesday for discussions in Qatar, Egypt and Israel. The Israeli government said it would send a delegation to Thursday's talks to finalise the details of the agreement proposal. But Hamas is demanding a workable plan to implement the proposal, presented by U.S. President Joe Biden in May - rather than more talks. A Hamas official told Reuters that a CNN report saying the group planned to attend on Thursday was wrong. "Our statement the other day was clear: what is needed is the implementation, not more negotiation," said the official, who declined to be named owing to the sensitivity of the issue. The war was triggered when Hamas-led fighters stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostage back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Almost 40,000 Palestinians have since been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, with much of the enclave laid to waste and most the population displaced. A ceasefire deal would aim to end fighting in Gaza and ensure the release of Israeli hostages held in the enclave in return for Palestinians jailed in Israel. In Deir Al-Balah, one of the most overcrowded places in Gaza with hundreds of thousands of displaced, many were desperate for a truce. "Enough, we are no longer able to tolerate the war, the starvation and the frequent displacement," said Ghada, a mother of six who two days ago had to leave her tent in Khan Younis under new Israeli evacuation orders. "I hope this time they will reach a ceasefire. If they don't, I don't know how much longer we can survive," she told Reuters via a chat app. (Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo and Maytaal Angel and Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Alison Williams) These are the hardest SAT vocabulary words for Wisconsinites, according to a new study A new study from crossword expert WordDB.com released the most searched-for SAT vocabulary words by Wisconsinites. While students may perceive that summer is here to stay, schools have tentative start dates on the calendar, and the 2024-2025 academic year is imminent. For many, one of the most dreaded but memorable parts of school is standardized testing. Standardized tests have become less universal since the COVID-19 pandemic, and numerous colleges continue to offer test-optional admissions. Still, studying for the ACT, SAT and AP exams remains a big part of teenagers' schedules, especially those eyeing the nation's top-ranked colleges. As another class of Wisconsin high schoolers starts preparing for these exams, crossword experts at WordDB.com released a study seeking to measure the difficulty of every word listed as an answer option in the Reading and Writing section of the most recent SAT practice tests. To accomplish this, the researchers evaluated how frequently residents of each U.S. state searched on Google for the definition of 257 words featured in six SAT practice tests. Here are some of their key findings: The most searched-for SAT words in Wisconsin include "nuanced," "manifest" and "antecedent." These are also the top three nationwide. On average, one out of every 86 Wisconsinites searches online for the definition of an SAT word each month. "Nuanced" was the most searched-for SAT word in America, with nearly 134,500 monthly searches. What are the hardest SAT vocabulary words for Wisconsinites? More: Test-optional admissions extended at UW-Madison, other UW campuses More: Student test scores rise in Wisconsin but haven't recovered from pandemic This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: These are the 10 hardest SAT vocabulary words for Wisconsinites $350 Could Cost You Thousands: Wall Street Banks Clamp Down On Harris-Walz Donations Vice President Kamala Harriss selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate has created an unexpected challenge for Wall Streets political donors. Major financial institutions are now grappling with stringent regulations that could limit their employees ability to contribute to the Harris-Walz campaign. Don't Miss: At the heart of the issue, reported initially by Business Insider, is the Securities and Exchange Commissions pay-to-play rule, adopted in 2010. The regulation aims to prevent financial firms from influencing politicians through campaign contributions in hopes of securing lucrative government contracts, like managing state pension funds. Citigroup issued a memo on Aug. 6 requiring most U.S. employees to seek pre-approval for donations to the Harris-Walz campaign. According to Business Insider, the policy affects staff across investment banking, wealth management, and other divisions, with only the consumer banking arm exempt. See Also: Amid the ongoing EV revolution, previously overlooked low-income communities now harbor a huge investment opportunity at just $500. The stakes are high for financial institutions. Even small donations can trigger significant penalties. In 2017, Pershing Square faced a $75,000 fine after an analyst made a $500 contribution to a Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate. Similarly, JPMorgan Chase agreed to advise a Tallahassee, Florida pension fund pro bono for two years due to an employees prior political donation. According to data cited by Insider from the Center for Responsive Politics, the situation contrasts the 2020 election, when Wall Street donors contributed over $74 million to Joe Bidens campaign. See Also: Dont miss out on the next Nvidia you can invest in the future of AI for only $10. The regulations extend beyond the SEC. Similar rules exist across other financial regulatory bodies, including the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board. The rules generally prohibit firms from providing certain services to state and local governments for two years after covered employees make political contributions to relevant officials. Story continues However, according to Skadden, a New York City-based law firm, the regulations have some nuances. A de minimis exemption exists for individual contributions $350 under SEC, CFTC, and FINRA rules and $250 under MSRB Rule G-37. The exemption applies regardless of whether the donor resides in Minnesota. Trending: Will the surge continue or decline on real estate prices? People are finding out about risk-free real estate investing that lets you cash out whenever you want. Critics argue that the regulations may stifle political participation. Insider noted that in 2022, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce criticized the pay-to-play rule, calling it an exceedingly blunt instrument that imposes unique, unquantifiable costs on individuals by impeding their ability to participate in the political process. As the campaign progresses, financial institutions and their employees must navigate the regulatory landscape. While some may find workarounds through donations to certain PACs or Super PACs not directly tied to the candidates, the overall effect will likely dampen Wall Streets financial support for the Harris-Walz ticket. Read Next: "ACTIVE INVESTORS' SECRET WEAPON" Supercharge Your Stock Market Game with the #1 "news & everything else" trading tool: Benzinga Pro - Click here to start Your 14-Day Trial Now! Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? This article $350 Could Cost You Thousands: Wall Street Banks Clamp Down On Harris-Walz Donations originally appeared on Benzinga.com 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) Mississippis former Congressmen Gregg Harper and Mike Espy spoke in Jackson on Monday about the state of the 2024 presidential race and how they see things shaking out. Harper, a Republican who represented the Third District of Mississippi for a decade, believes former President Donald Trump will be reelected to the White House, if Trump can stay out of his own way. FBI says it is investigating after Trump campaign said sensitive documents were hacked by Iran I do believe at the end of the day, Trump will prevail. If, and its a big if, if he can just act presidential for a couple of months. Dont be calling people names. Dont be having battles where you dont have to have battles, stated Harper. Espy, a former Democratic congressman and Secretary of Agriculture, is feeling the momentum from the Harris-Walz campaign. Hes confident theyll be able to get their vision out with just 84 days until the election. Harris inherited a formidable grassroots organization to knock on doors, to call. So, shes not hurting for money shes not hurting for volunteers, he said. Espy is no stranger to the challenges Democrats face in Mississippi. Hes expecting a Trump victory in Mississippi, but he believes Harris will over-perform. Harris is pushing joy. Trump paints a darker picture. Will mismatched moods matter? Shes not going to win Mississippi, but shes going to do very, very, very well because her base is excited. Her base is excited, he said. Harper joins the Mississippi GOP in expecting a Trump victory. It might be a little bit closer because Biden was just viewed as so inept down the stretch there. And there are a lot of behind-the-scenes stories there that Im sure well learn more about how that process went down. But as far as Mississippis electoral college votes, I think Trump clearly will carry those, he said. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJTV. Vice President Kamala Harris campaign team is taking aim at Donald Trump and Elon Musk after their live-streamed X interview, claiming the Republican hopefuls agenda is for self-obsessed rich guys who will sell out the middle class. On Monday, Musk, who bought Twitter in 2022 and later renamed it X, had a conversation with former president Trump on the platform an interview that was marred by technical difficulties that got off to an awkward start after a 40-minute-plus delay where Trump spoke on a myriad of his key talking points, including immigration, censorship, trade and the assassination attempt against him. More from The Hollywood Reporter In between a series of attacks on the Democratic presidential candidate, where he called Harris incompetent and her campaign a scam, Trump, bizarrely, called Harris beautiful on the cover of Time magazine and likened her to his wife Melania. He also praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as being at the top of their game. As of 6 a.m. PT on Tuesday when this story published, the post sharing the interview on Trumps X account had more than 165 million views. Harris campaign spokesperson Joseph Costello is now firing back on behalf of the Vice President following the interview, saying Trumps extremism and dangerous Project 2025 agenda is a feature, not a glitch of his campaign, which was on full display for those unlucky enough to listen in tonight during whatever that was on X.com. Trumps entire campaign is in service of people like Elon Musk and himself self-obsessed rich guys who will sell out the middle class and who cannot run a livestream in the year 2024, he added. The Hollywood Reporters latest cover story focuses on the L.A. liberal moguls who are coming after Musk and the Silicon Valley billionaire boys club this election. A clash has ensued over just who each side wants in the White House this November, as one studio executive succinctly summed up Hollywoods new battle cry: Fuck these Trump-loving techies. Musk is, this election, backing Trump. The Space X owner had pledged to donate $45 million a month to Trumps campaign, although he later denied making that pledge. He is now claiming to be channeling his money into his own pro-Trump political action committee, AmericaPAC and hes not the only one getting the checkbook out for Trump 2024. Before the interview, Musk took some heat from the European Union. The EUs commissioner for internal market, Frenchman Thierry Breton, had posted an open letter to the X founder and tech mogul on Monday asking that he censor his interview with Trump to avoid the amplification of harmful content. Breton said Musk, who bought the platform in 2022, has a legal obligation to comply with the Digital Services Act (DSA) and fight the spread of misinformation. Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X (formerly Twitter), was copied. As the relevant content is accessible to EU users and being amplified also in our jurisdiction, we cannot exclude potential spillovers in the EU, Breton continued in his letter. Any negative effect of illegal content could lead the EU to take further action against X and Musk, using our full toolbox, including by adopting interim measures, should it be warranted to protect EU citizens from harm. Musk replied to Bretons letter with a meme that said: Take a big step back and literally, fuck your own face! Trump returned to the app after having his account suspended following the Capitol riots on Jan. 6, 2021, due to the risk of further incitement of violence, the company said at the time. When Musk took over, though, he reinstated Trumps account. Best of The Hollywood Reporter WASHINGTON (AP) Vice President Kamala Harris is trying to outmaneuver former President Donald Trump and address old vulnerabilities on her policy positions as she starts to fill in how she would govern if elected in November. Vice presidents rarely have policy portfolios of their own and almost always set aside any views that differ from those of the Oval Office occupant. Now, after four years of following President Joe Biden's lead, Harris is taking a cautious approach to unveiling a policy vision in her own right. But her surprise ascendance to the top of the ticket after Biden dropped his reelection bid also means her policy platform is being pulled together just as quickly. When Harris inherited Bidens political operation in late July, the campaigns website was quietly scrubbed of the six-point issues page that framed the race against Trump, including expanding voting protections and restoring nationwide access to abortion. Instead, Harris has peppered her speeches so far heavy on biography for herself and her running mate with broad goals like building up the middle class." She has called for federal laws to provide abortion access and ban assault-style weapons, but has been thin on the details of what specifically they would entail or how she would persuade Congress to make progress on some of the most hot-button political issues. Asked by reporters on Saturday when she would unveil her policy platform, Harris promised more details this week and added, "Itll be focused on the economy and what we need to do to bring down costs and also strengthen the economy overall. The first major window into her thinking came this past weekend, with a proposal pulled not from the policy backwaters of the Biden administration or the cutting-room floor of the legislative process but from her rival: Trump. Harris announced that she, like Trump, wants to end federal taxation of tipped earnings for workers with the added caveat that she would limit the plan to those in the lower- and middle incomes. The idea has drawn bipartisan support in recent months and is particularly salient in service industry-heavy Nevada. It's also one of the most prominent ideas embraced by Trump in his 2024 bid to get back into the White House a bonus in the view of the Harris camp, which has tried to needle the Republican into making unforced errors. The Republican was none too amused by Harris endorsing the idea, complaining on his social media platform that This was a TRUMP idea - She has no ideas, she can only steal from me. Trump continued on the matter in an interview with Elon Musk on Monday night, criticizing Harris for adopting his idea after what he claimed was harassment by the Biden administration of tipped workers. On Monday, the White House said that Biden backed the plan too, though White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre wouldnt address why Biden and Harris didnt push for it during their first three-and-a-half years in office. Obviously, its a new idea, she said, but added later in response to criticism from Trump, Why didnt they pass it during the last administration? In her first weeks as a candidate, Harris most pronounced policy moves have been to back away from liberal stances she took in her failed 2020 bid for the White House, including proposals to ban fracking, establish a single-payer healthcare system and decriminalize illegal border crossings. Harris dropped out of that heated race before a single vote had been cast but recognizes that voters now could punish her for those stances if not quickly addressed. Another complication for Harris comes from her relationship with Biden, who quickly endorsed her and handed her the keys to his political operation after he dropped out. The last three and a half years, theyve been in sync, said Jean-Pierre. They have been certainly on the same page. And I presume that that will continue from here. Biden himself only began outlining detailed policy ideas for a second term during his final, frenzied effort to salvage his candidacy after his disastrous June 27 debate against Trump. He advocated for restoring abortion access, raising the federal minimum wage and passing a new surtax on billionaires. Harris has largely embraced all those priorities, including the incumbents call for changes to the Supreme Court. But all those plans would require congressional support, which proved elusive even when Democrats held unified control of Washington during the first two years of the Biden-Harris administration. Harris campaign, meanwhile, suggested that her attempted shifts to the center are reflective of how she would try to bring consensus to government. While Donald Trump is wedded to the extreme ideas in his Project 2025 agenda, Vice President Harris believes real leadership means bringing all sides together to build consensus, said Harris spokesman Kevin Munoz. It is that approach that made it possible for the Biden-Harris administration to achieve bipartisan breakthroughs on everything from infrastructure to gun violence prevention. As President, she will take that same pragmatic approach, focusing on common-sense solutions for the sake of progress. While Trump in recent weeks has resorted to personal and racially tinged attacks on his new rival, his campaign has been working to put Harris' policy aims front and center, aiming to paint Harris as a radical liberal, pointing to old videos of her discussing policy positions during the 2020 Democratic primary. Kamala Harris has flip-flopped on virtually every policy she has supported and lived by for her entire career, from the Border to Tips, and the Fake News Media isnt reporting it, Trump posted Sunday. She sounds more like Trump than Trump, copying almost everything. She is conning the American public, and will flip right back. I will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! There will be no flipping!!! ___ Associated Press writers Jill Colvin and Darlene Superville contributed to this report. Harris to hold North Carolina rally to outline her plan to lower costs Vice President Harris will travel to North Carolina for a campaign event Friday, her office announced. The event in Raleigh, N.C., will be a policy-focused rally where she will discuss her plan to lower costs for middle-class families and take on corporate price-gouging, a campaign official told The Hill. Harris said during a rally in Las Vegas on Saturday that, if elected president, she would support ending taxes on tipping, which is a policy initiative that has become popular with former President Trump on the campaign trail. That proposal could cost up to $200 billion over a decade, a budget watchdog estimated. The Friday trip will mark Harriss eighth visit to North Carolina this year. She canceled a trip to the state last week because of Tropical Storm Debby. The Harris campaign, and President Bidens reelection campaign before that, has been focused on flipping North Carolina in November. Former President Trump won the state in 2020. Harris will also travel to Maryland on Thursday for an event alongside Biden that will be similarly focused on plans to lower costs. Meanwhile, her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), is on his first solo campaign swing. He is in California on Tuesday and then will travel to Colorado, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Harris in striking distance of Trump in Florida, pollster says Harris in striking distance of Trump in Florida, pollster says Vice President Harris is nipping at former President Trumps heels in his home state of Florida, a pollster from Suffolk University says after a new Sunshine State survey. The USA Today/Suffolk University/WSVN-TV poll found Harris just 5 points behind Trump among likely Florida voters, 42 percent to 47 percent, just outside the polls margin of error. Florida has a million more registered Republicans than Democrats, and Trump won the state in both 2016 and 2020. Given those circumstances, I was surprised that Harris is within striking distance, being only 5 points down, David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, told USA Today in a Tuesday report. Among Florida independents, the vice president leads the former president with 41 percent support to 34 percent, with independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. taking 10 percent. This poll seems to indicate that the overwhelming Republican Party registration advantage is partially offset by Kamala Harris winning independents, especially independent women, Paleologos said in a press release accompanying the survey. Florida could become more of a battleground state than anyone would have expected, especially given that there will be an abortion rights question (Amendment 4) on the statewide ballot, which could drive up turnout among women. Harris has surged in surveys since entering the race last month after President Biden withdrew. Recent polling from The New York Times/Siena College found Harris ahead of Trump by 4 points in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, three important swing states. Harris has also pulled ahead of Trump in an average of national polls from The Hill/Decision Desk HQ, up 1.4 points over the former president. The USA Today/Suffolk University/WSVN-TV poll was conducted between Aug. 7 and 11, featuring 500 likely Florida general election voters and a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The Harris-Walz campaign said they drew 14,000 people to a Philadelphia rally and thousands more to rallies across battleground states. Andrew Harnik via Getty Images Former President Donald Trumps crowd-size obsession took on a predictable new dimension over the weekend when Trump suggested without evidence that Vice President Kamala Harris had faked one of her big crowds using AI. There is zero basis for claiming that Harris crowds last week in Arizona, Michigan or Pennsylvania were anything but real. I would know, I was at one of these events. HuffPost sent me to Philadelphia last week to cover Harris and her new running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. The line to Temple Universitys Liacouras Center snaked around several city blocks. People stood outside for hours, enduring the extreme heat and thunderstorms. I spoke to one family, slowly marching toward the entrance, who had stopped by a print shop on their way to the venue to make Harris-Walz T-shirts. I met Zoomers excited to vote for the first time and two Republicans for Kamala. To my eyes (and ringing ears), the arena was nearly full by the time Harris and Walz took the stage that evening. The Harris campaign pegged attendance at over 14,000 people, including overflow. Its easy to see what these events are like simply by following the dozens of journalists who frequently cover them. But that hasnt stopped Trump from baselessly accusing Harris campaign of manipulating images while drawing on the same inflammatory language he used to deny the 2020 election results and foment the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. Has anyone noticed that Kamala CHEATED at the airport? There was nobody at the plane, and she A.I.d it, and showed a massive crowd of so-called followers, BUT THEY DIDNT EXIST! Trump ranted Sunday on Truth Social, falsely suggesting Harris doctored images from a rally at a Detroit airport hangar on Wednesday. The event was covered extensively in local media, which described the crowd spilling out onto the tarmac and cheering as Air Force Two arrived. Turnout was 15,000 people, according to the Harris campaign. Trumps AI rant proves to some that Harris momentum is getting under Trumps skin. Harris has been climbing in polls and surpassing the former president in both fundraising and earned media. Theres a palpable excitement building around Harris thats been missing from Democratic politics. For the first time since probably the 2020 primary, Democrats are just as excited about their candidate as Republicans at MAGA rallies normally are about Trump. To have Harris generating all of this enthusiasm has thrown him off, said Nicholas Grossman, a political science professor at the University of Illinois and a senior editor at Arc Digital. Politically, thats a big problem for him. But also, it seems pretty clear psychologically, its a big problem for him. Trump falsely claimed that Harris manipulated images of her 15,000-person Detroit rally using AI. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson) Trumps baseless AI attack on Harris also underscores Trumps increasingly autocratic tendencies, Grossman argued, even as Trump tries to distance himself from the Heritage Foundations Project 2025, the blueprint for a second Trump term that seeks to consolidate power in the executive branch. Trump is notorious for lying and exaggerating, but lying about something as demonstrably false as Harris doctoring images is a new dangerous front, even for Trump, Grossman said. Theres the old lies playing up his popularity, in the same way youd market products. Then theres the authoritarian, The truth is whatever we say it is, often blatant lying so that everybody unites on a team. Its playing a different sort of game than what is true and what is false, Grossman said, adding that AI is a tool uniquely suited to this end: AI is new enough that it gives people an easy, plausible excuse for being able to question any image. Crowds were clearly on Trumps mind throughout last week. At a solo press conference Thursday, he dusted off a classic riff about the 1963 March on Washington, claiming he drew more people to his 2016 swearing-in than Martin Luther King Jr. did for his I Have a Dream speech. Nobodys spoken to crowds bigger than me, Trump declared. Trump also falsely claimed he once drew 107,000 people to a New Jersey rally. Trump complained, too, when he failed to fill every last seat at an Aug. 4 rally at Georgia State University. Just imagine what theyre going to do on Election Day, Trump told supporters from the lectern, accusing the university of blocking thousands of people from the venue and framing it as part of a left-wing conspiracy to diminish him. Trumps strongman persona hinges on the idea that he alone draws the biggest and most enthusiastic crowds. This is really an important part of Trumps self-image and also the campaign, Grossman said. The whole idea of theyre low energy and therefore weak, and were high energy. While Trump was reviving an old playbook, Democrats were debuting a new one, drawing thousands of people to rallies across battleground states after a restless few years under President Joe Biden. As the former presumptive Democratic nominee, Biden didnt engage in the type of barnstorming that Harris, 20 years younger, has done in just the past three weeks. The sudden and unorthodox change at the top of the ticket makes it that much easier for Trump to convince his followers the reality thats in front of them isnt real at all. In turn, Walz, stumping to one of the largest Democratic crowds of this election cycle last week, identified Trumps raw nerve and plucked it like a fiddle. Its not as if anybody cares about crowd sizes or anything, he teased a crowd of 15,000 in Arizona. Related... HONOLULU (KHON2) Hawaii is entering a dangerous wildfire season, officials have cautioned, with reports of fires on all islands in recent months. Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You Were seeing conditions drift into those or high fire risk conditions that were well aware of, especially weve had lots of windy trade wind days when we get trade winds, those drying fuels, and then all it takes is an ignition, UH Wildfire Scientist Clay Trauernicht said. According to forecasters from the National Weather Service, conditions will be most prevalent for fire weather watch or red flag warning conditions in August and September due to warm temperature, very low humidity, and strong winds that can produce an increased risk of fire danger. So if the conditions are dry enough, a red flag gets declared, and that just means expect sort of extra chance of fire. If those, if fire does break out, it might be harder to contain for firefighters, Trauernicht said. HECO plans to mitigate fire risks with AI Forecasters attribute the issue to unexpected storms during winter. The actions that we need to take, Trauernicht said. That is establishing fuel breaks, reducing vegetation, hazardous fuels around your home, things like that, The Kauai Fire Prevention Bureau also advises individuals to: Remove flammable materials from the areas outside or around your home. Keep your lawn hydrated and shorter than four inches. Do not mow your lawn during the hottest time of the day or when it is windy. Have a fire escape route ready. It sort of feels like youre happening more often, but its more a function right now of just the coverage and the attention being paid to it, which is rightfully, Trauernicht said. And people are right to be concerned with it. They can be quite dangerous. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KHON2. Dallas-Based Realty Capital is bringing more single family homes and a publicly owned nature preserve to west Mansfield. The Dallas-based firm said purchased 309 acres between West Broad Street and Newt Patterson Road, about five minutes from historic downtown Mansfield, for the 600-home Westhill Parks development. Prices are expected to be $600,000 to $1.5 million. Mansfield has also acquired 100 acres inside Westhill Parks for a nature preserve, according to a news release from Realty Capital. The 100 acres will help complete Mansfields Walnut Creek Linear Trail and contribute toward the City Councils vision for the Western Promise, a special area plan designed to improve overall connectivity and opportunity for west Mansfield. We are committed to preserving the propertys rural charm while offering beautiful executive homes in a thoughtfully planned community, said Tim Coltart, managing director of Realty Capital. Mansfield will work with Realty Capital to build a new road and bridge crossing at Walnut Creek to connect West Broad Street and Newt Patterson Road. Through this partnership we can strengthen western Mansfields connection to the rest of the city, City Manager Joe Smolinski said. Realty Capital has developed other projects in Mansfield, including Main Street Lofts, a 266-unit multi-family community, and Watson Branch, a 77-acre mixed-use community. The city of 82,000 is among the fastest growing in North Texas. KYLE, Texas (KXAN) Hays Consolidated Independent School District welcomed students back to school Tuesday, with some students attending a brand new elementary school in Kyle. Officials cut the ribbon on Cullen Elementary School just in time for the 2024-25 school year. Its the districts 16th elementary school, with a 17th under construction. Superintendent Dr. Eric Wright said the school district is trying to keep up with growth. We have been averaging about 1,100 to 1,200 students, Wright said. And so we are averaging about 3,500 new homes a year. Top Education Headlines Cullen Elementary School is named after Jim Cullen a long time educator at Hays CISD. The schools website describes Cullen as having an educational focus that has always been on building positive, personal relationships a trait that helped lead to many positive outcomes in his classroom. Giving back to his communityspecifically the students and staff of the Hays CISD educational communityremains a driving force in his life. Cullen was at his namesake school to welcome students and staff to their brand new 117,611-square-foot building with a 900-student capacity. Jim Cullen, who Jim Cullen Elementary School was named after, sits in front of the school on the first day of classes for the 2024-25 school year. (KXAN Photo/Frank Martinez) Jim Cullen Elementary School in Hays Consolidated Elementary School (KXAN Photo/Sally Hernandez) Jim Cullen Elementary School in Hays Consolidated Elementary School (KXAN Photo/Frank Martinez) Jim Cullen Elementary School in Hays Consolidated Elementary School (KXAN Photo/Frank Martinez) HCISD plans to ask voters to approve plans in May for even more schools. Right now, our facilities and bond oversight committee is working diligently to pare that down for what we can afford without increasing the tax rate, Wright added. In 2020, Cullen received the first Hays CISD Lifetime Achievement Award. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin. BOARDMAN, Ohio (WKBN) At Monday evenings meeting, the Boardman Township Board of Trustees unanimously approved Mahoning Countys hazard mitigation plan. The plan will help the township go after money for any disasters like HAZMAT spills and flooding. Trustees are especially concerned about flooding. During the meeting, it was said the plan would help get any money needed for the Forestlawn Stormwater Park being put in behind the old Market Street School. Were hoping that once this project is complete, these people that have seen that flooding in the streets and sanitary in the basement that goes away, said Boardman Township Administrator Jason Loree. Loree added that homeowners who experience flooding can get help with construction costs from the county and the ABC stormwater district to help prevent further backflow. Also at Mondays meeting, new officer Kyler Freeland was sworn in by Trustee Brad Calhoun. According to the townships website, that brings the department up to 42 patrolmen. It was also announced the gas rate will drop to $3.73 per MCF from $ 3.96 per MCF starting in October. That rate is locked in for two years. Tino DiCenso contributed to this report. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. TIOGA COUNTY, Pa. (WETM) People who want to help their neighbors in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, who were impacted by the floods that swept through the area on Friday have a few options. A few locations around Tioga County are accepting donations for flood victims. Donation centers dont need any more food (with a couple of exceptions) or clothes and are instead asking for specific items and types of supplies. People who were impacted by the floods can also go to the donation drop-off spots to take what they need. Wellsboro Firemans Ambulance is taking water and cleaning supply donations. Donations can be dropped off at 21 Crafton St. in Wellsboro. The Lawrenceville Fire Department is taking water, cleaning supply, dog food, and cat food donations. These can be dropped off at 9 Mechanic St. in Lawrenceville. If no one is at the Lawrenceville Fire Department when you stop by, you can leave donations at the side of the station on the parking lot side. Representative Owlett provides flooding update for Tioga County PA Tioga County PA Emergency Services is taking donations at the Cowanesque Valley High School, which is located at 51 N. Fork Road in Westfield, between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. each day through Friday, Aug. 16. The department is asking for the following items: Heavy-duty garbage bags Floor squeegees 2 Gallon buckets Rakes Tarps Brooms Latex gloves Muck boots Fans Extension cords Cat litter Peanut butter and jelly Manual can openers Paper plates, paper bowls, plastic silverware Large Ziplock bags Free cleanup available for Northern Tier residents after Debby flooding The Northern Tioga School District says that the following items are also needed and can be dropped off at the Cowanesque Valley High School: Bath towels Mops Flat Shovels Hand soap Those who would prefer to make monetary donations can do so through the Tioga County Partnership for Community Health. Checks are preferred and should be made payable to TCPCH with the memo Flood Relief. Checks can be mailed to TCPCH; 33 Pearl St.; Wellsboro, PA 16901. Monetary donations are tax-deductible. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WETM - MyTwinTiers.com. HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT)- A Henderson Man was sentenced last week to 30 years in federal prison for numerous child-related sex offenses. Couple arrested after 3 year-old child was never fed solid food According to court documents, Collin Newton was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison, followed by a 30-year supervised release for one count of sex trafficking of children, two counts of online enticement of a minor, three counts of sexual exploitation of children, one count of attempted online enticement of a minor and one count of distribution of child pornography. Newton was also ordered to pay over $3,000 in restitution. The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and Kentuckys Attorney Generals Office. There is no possibility of parole in the Federal Prison System. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW). Her 15-year-old son was arrested. Brookfield police won't give her the body camera footage. JoEllen Islo was woken up around 11 p.m. on April 13 by the sound of two Brookfield police officers knocking on her front door. Startled and still half-asleep, Islo listened as Officers Brad Piontkowski and Dylon Iverson explained that they needed to speak with her son about starting a fire with his friends by the nearby railroad tracks earlier that night. Islo complied, bringing her 15-year-old son downstairs. But when her son began to explain that he arrived after the fire had already been started, Iverson interjected. "Before you get too much into the lie that you're telling right now, we have three people that watched you guys, specifically you on the bike, light the fire," said Iverson. In addition, Iverson said the teen had fled from police, despite officers' commands to stop. Before the teen could respond that he didn't know the people shouting at him were police, the two officers handcuffed and drove him to the station. There, police issued him three municipal citations for resisting arrest, trespassing and burning, amounting to over $1,300 in fines. In an effort to verify whether her son was telling the truth, Islo filed an open records request for reports and body camera footage related to the incident. But weeks later, and just days before her son's court date, she was shocked to find out her request had been denied. According to a policy that's been in place since 1976, the Brookfield Police Department does not release juvenile records without a court order. As a result, Islo's son had to face a municipal judge with just his word versus the officer's. "How do I make an informed decision when they will not provide me information?" Islo asked Public Investigator in May. JoEllen Islo was startled and confused when she learned she couldn't access documentation of her own son's arrest through an open records request. Through an exception in the open records law for news organizations, Public Investigator obtained in July the records related to Islo's son's arrest. The body camera footage reveals that none of the witnesses said they saw Islo's son start the fire, as Iverson claimed, nor did officers identify themselves as law enforcement before commanding Islo's son to stop information the teen's parents hoped to have before his court date. Instead, the 15-year-old took a plea deal in which he pleaded guilty to trespassing and resisting an officer in exchange for 20 hours of community service. The Journal Sentinel is not naming Islo's son because he is a minor. Islo said if she had access to the footage of her son's arrest, they would have pleaded not guilty. Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, said the Brookfield Police Department's policy likely contradicts state law. "These records do not belong to the Brookfield Police Department," Lueders said. "They're public records. And there is an expectation in the law that public records are open and parents ought to be able to obtain public records regarding their children." Brookfield Police Chief James Adlam did not respond to Public Investigators request to explain the reasoning behind the department's policy. "Our official agency policy is not to release juvenile records, Adlam told Public Investigator in an email. Public Investigator asked 10 nearby police departments, including Wauwatosa, West Allis and Milwaukee, for their juvenile records policies. None had the same blanket policy barring the release of such records. When asked to address discrepancies between officers' claims and what happened on the body cam footage, Adlam declined to comment, stating that the case is pending. When Public Investigator pointed out that the teen's case has been closed since July 15, Adlam responded, "I have nothing further to add." Body cam footage backs up teen's side of the story It was late at night on April 13 when Iverson was dispatched to check on reports about a group of teens starting a fire by the railroad tracks. His body cam footage shows him approaching Islo's son in a dark area behind someone's residence. He was still far enough away for the teen to be out of frame. "Come here," Iverson says on video. "Why?" Islo's son replies off camera. "Because I'm telling you to come here," Iverson says. After running for about 30 seconds, Iverson yells "come here" again, although it is unclear whether he is speaking to Islo's son or someone else. He then diverts his attention to a different teen by the railroad tracks. When Iverson arrested Islo's son later that night, the 15-year-old admitted to the interaction captured on video. However, he maintained that he didn't know the commands were coming from a police officer. None of the footage reviewed by Public Investigator shows Iverson announcing himself as law enforcement. Iverson also claimed that three witnesses saw Islo's son light the fire and called police. However, body cam footage does not show any witnesses identifying who started the fire. Only one witness mentions seeing a teen on the bike riding down the street after officers' arrival. Police are generally allowed to lie to suspects to obtain information. The day after the arrest, Justin Buchman, the teen's father, went to the Brookfield Police Department to get more clarity from the supervisor on duty that night, Sgt. Cody Griebling. In the body camera footage, Buchman asks how he can verify his son's claim that he didn't resist arrest, especially because he taught his son to never flee from police. "If they didn't identify themselves as officers, he's got every right, right? I mean, he can leave," Buchman said. "Yep, that would take care of the resisting (charge)," said Griebling. "That would be able to disprove the resisting, because we do have to identify ourselves." He then instructs Buchman on how to file an open records request. About a month later, the police department denied the family's records request. Because Islo and Buchman couldn't afford an attorney and didn't qualify for a public defender, they attended their son's hearing a few days later without legal representation. Islo has always been a firm supporter of police, she said. But this situation has broken her trust. "(Iverson) says to my son, 'I think you're lying, turn around," Islo recalled from her son's arrest. "But actually, he was the one lying." Brookfield's policy contradicts state law, open records expert says Adlam, the police chief, maintains that Brookfield's policy "is in compliance with state law." "I cannot interpret state statutes for you," he said. "You should probably consult your attorney." Lueders said the Brookfield Police Department may be relying on one word within state law to justify its policy: The statute says that a law enforcement agency "may" provide records to the parent or legal guardian of the juvenile, subject to "official agency policy." The department is likely arguing that "may" does not mean "must," Lueders said. However, Lueders said that law enforcement agencies' policies must still conform to open records law. For example, he explained, the law gives police departments the leeway to set the cost of fulfilling records requests. "You could have a policy from one police department that says, 'we charge 25 cents a page' and have another public entity that says, 'we charge 10 cents a page,'" Lueders said. "And both of them would be within the law because the standard is not specific." However, Lueders doubts the Brookfield Police Department's blanket refusal to release juvenile records is legal and called it "contrary to the spirit of the Open Records Law." "The law seems to pretty clearly carve out an exception for parents and guardians," said Lueders. "(Islo) should have gotten that record on request." More: How you can obtain public records in Wisconsin: a primer Juvenile justice system also has obligation to protect kids' privacy Cary Bloodworth, a University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School professor, told Public Investigator that she hasn't seen a blanket policy for juvenile records like this one before. However, she said there are some advantages to such policies, like maintaining a minors privacy. The goal of the juvenile justice system is focused on rehabilitation, she said, rather than punishment. State law provides an exception for news organizations that request law enforcement records about children and youth for "the purpose of reporting the news," as long as they do not publish their identities. "It's really about protecting kids and recognizing that when kids are kids and making bad choices, we're trying not to punish them," said Bloodworth, who is also the supervising attorney at the Family Legal Advocacy and Supports Clinic. "And having their name out there can really have a big impact." Islo said she's always taught her kids to obey officers. If her son really did resist arrest and flee the scene, she wanted to make sure he faced the consequences. But without access to her son's records, not only did Islo not know how to proceed in court, but she also didn't know how to properly address the incident at home. "It's frustrating because I want my son to follow the rules," Islo said. "But I also want him to know that I'm behind him, and I want him to trust me." Her son's outlook on police has been damaged, she added, but Public Investigator's interest in the case has brought him some relief. "I let him know I've been talking with you," Islo told Public Investigator. "And he said, 'Oh, finally someone that cares.'" Quinn Clark is a Public Investigator reporter. She can be emailed at QClark@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Quinn_A_Clark. About Public Investigator Government corruption. Corporate wrongdoing. Consumer complaints. Medical scams. Public Investigator is a new initiative of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and its sister newsrooms across Wisconsin. Our team wants to hear your tips, chase the leads and uncover the truth. We'll investigate anywhere in Wisconsin. Send your tips to watchdog@journalsentinel.com or call 414-319-9061. You can also submit tips at jsonline.com/tips. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brookfield police refuse to release juvenile records to parents Here's how Wisconsin parents can prevent COVID-19 as students head back to school Respiratory viruses are expected to rise as students make their way back to school in the next few weeks across Wisconsin. Already, COVID-19 is appearing in wastewater at higher levels than at the same time last year and hospitalizations of patients with COVID-19 increased by around 20% last month in parts of the state, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Here's what you need to know about COVID-19 and how to prepare for the upcoming school year. What are the symptoms of COVID-19? Typical COVID-19 symptoms can show up 2 to 14 days after contact with the COVID-19 virus. People with COVID-19 may only have a few symptoms, and can have none. Some people can have symptoms that progress about 7 to 14 days after symptoms start. According to the Mayo Clinic, COVID-19 symptoms can include: Dry cough Shortness of breath Loss of taste of smell Extreme tiredness, also known as fatigue Digestive issues, such as upset stomach, vomiting, or diarrhea Pain, such as headaches, body or muscle aches Fever or chills Cold-like symptoms, such as congestion, runny nose, or sore throat Do most recent COVID-19 variants have different symptoms? According to the CDC, current SARS-CoV-2 variants do not cause more severe disease than the original strain or other variants. Where can I get COVID-19 testing in Wisconsin in 2024? The Wisconsin DHS does not offer free COVID-19 self-testing, but they are widely available to purchase at local pharmacies and stores. According to the DHS, you can contact your doctor or primary health care provider, pharmacy or local community health center to see if they offer testing. Local or Tribal health departments may also offer COVID-19 testing. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has more information on its website for people searching for tests after the public health emergency ended in 2023. You can also get free COVID-19 testing if you are uninsured and symptomatic. More information is located here. When should you keep your child home from school? According to Milwaukee Public Schools, you should keep your child home with the following COVID-19 symptoms: Fever (100 degrees or higher), chills or shaking shills Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath New loss of taste or smell Muscle aches or body aches Cough (not due to other known cause, such as chronic cough) Sore throat (in combination with other symptoms) Nausea and vomiting (in combination with other symptoms) Headache (in combination with other symptoms) Fatigue (in combination with other symptoms) Nasal congestion or runny nose (not due to other known causes like allergies) Symptoms (Child tests negative for COVID-19 or symptoms are due to other illness): Fever of 100.4 degrees or above Throwing up or vomiting Diarrhea Persistent coughing Rashes from unknown causes Headache Any health concern where the child is unable to learn How long is COVID-19 contagious? The CDC advises people to wait to return to normal activities at least 24 hours after symptoms subside and you no longer have a fever. How to prevent back-to-school illness in Wisconsin: Make sure your child is up-to-date on all routine childhood vaccinations, including the annual flu vaccine in the fall. You can find a list of required immunizations here, and can check your child's vaccination record through the Wisconsin Immunization Registry. Schedule any routine childhood health care visits or well visits, which can help prevent conditions and illnesses. To prevent COVID-19, the DHS recommends washing hands frequently, wearing masks at school and on the bus, staying 6 feet from others when possible and getting vaccinated when eligible. How to treat COVID-19: People with COVID-19 usually can recover at home, and some require additional medical care. Mayo Clinic recommends the following medications to help with symptoms: Fever reducers Pain relievers, such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen Cough syrup or medicine For those who are at high risk of severe COVID-19, your doctor may prescribe medicine such as Paxlovid and Lagevrio. These medications stop COVID-19 from replicating, which reduces the risk of severe COVID-19. What is long COVID? Symptoms for long COVID can last weeks, months or years, according to the CDC. General symptoms include tiredness or fatigue, symptoms that get worse after physical or mental effort, fever. You can find a full list of symptoms on the CDC's website. Most people with long COVID see improvement after three months, and other people may see improvement up to six months after the virus, according to the CDC. Long COVID symptoms can result in disability. RELATED: What vaccinations are required in Wisconsin before kids start school in fall RELATED: New report calls attention to lagging Wisconsin childhood vaccination rates Midwest Connect Gannett contributed to this report. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Prevent COVID-19 illness during back-to-school 2024 in Wisconsin "Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Although Mars lost its surface oceans billions of years ago, a new study from UC Berkeley suggests that theres lots of water deep within the planets crust. After analyzing data gathered from NASAs InSight lander, the teams mathematical models have suggested that water trapped with fractured igneous rock could cover the planet in a one-mile-thick ocean. Sadly, this water is located roughly 7 to 13 miles below the surfacea drilling depth thatd be incredibly difficult on Earth, let alone Mars. Its no secret that Mars containedand currently containslots of water. Before the planet lost most of its atmosphere and its magnetic field, Mars likely contained flowing rivers and oceans much like its blue marble neighbor next door. The Red Planet eventually lost some H 2 0 to evaporation, but a new study suggests that a lot of water is still locked away deep within the planets crust. Analyzing seismic data gathered from NASAs InSight lander, which arrived at Mars at the tail end of 2018, scientists from the University of California Berkeley concluded that its likely that Mars contains enough water deep within its crust to cover the entire planet with an ocean nearly one mile thick. The results of the study were published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Scripps Institution of Oceanography Understanding the Martian water cycle is critical for understanding the evolution of the climate, surface, and interior, study co-author Vashan Wright, previously a postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley and now an assistant professor at UC San Diego, said in a press statement. A useful starting point is to identify where water is and how much is there. Finding water within Mars crust wasnt exactly the primary mission of the Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander, though it certainly falls within its purview. NASA describes InSights mission, which officially wrapped up in 2022, as measuring the planets vital signs: its pulse, temperature, and reflexes. While other missions explored canyons, volcanoes, and the geochemistry of Mars topsoil, InSight probed its geologic depths for evidence of tectonic activity and answers to lingering questions about how rocky planets formed around our Sun. In this new study, scientists used seismic data collected by InSight and created mathematical models to explore the possible interior of Mars, employing the same methods that industries use to find underground aquifers and oil fields on Earth. According to these calculations, Mars contains a deep layer of fractured igneous rock with cracks that are saturated with liquid water. And where theres water, theres always a chance to find some form of (likely microbial) life lurking nearby. Establishing that there is a big reservoir of liquid water provides some window into what the climate was like or could be like, UC Berkeleys Michael Manga, a co-author of the study, said in a press statement. And water is necessary for life as we know it. I dont see why [the underground reservoir] is not a habitable environment. Its certainly true on Earthdeep, deep mines host life, the bottom of the ocean hosts life. We havent found any evidence for life on Mars, but at least we have identified a place that should, in principle, be able to sustain life. And this water isnt a mere tricklein fact, if future astronauts could somehow pump out all of it, itd likely fill entire oceans across Mars that are around one mile thick. However, the scientists behind this new study assert that such a feat is likely impossible. While fresh groundwater on Earth can typically be found anywhere from 500 to 1,000 meters down, the researchers estimate that this water is likely located somewhere 11.5 and 20 kilometers, or around 7 to 13 miles, underground. Thats as deep (on the low end) as the deepest hole ever dug by humans on Earthdoing so on Mars is likely an engineering and logistical impossibility (at least, for now). But confirming and analyzing this vast reservoir of water deep within the Martian crust will be essential for understanding the planets overall composition, geologic history, and ancient climate. So, while this locked away water probably wont sustain future Martian colonies, its certainly quenching our never-ending thirst for knowledge about our planetary neighbor. You Might Also Like High school students dismissed early on 1st day after bomb threat in Butler County The first day of school came to an early end for high school students due to a bomb threat in Butler County. >>2 dead, 1 flown to hospital after crash in Miami County Hamilton High School closed early Monday due to abundance of caution after receiving multiple threatening calls indicating a possible bomb threat, according to our news partner WCPO in Cincinnati. The district contacted Hamilton Police and evacuated the high school. Officers swept the building and found nothing, Cincinnati TV station WKRC reported. The district canceled all after-school events and programs at Hamilton High School. This article looks at the 7 most powerful countries before World War 2 and dives into one of the deadliest conflicts in human history. You can skip our detailed analysis and go directly to the 5 Most Powerful Countries Before World War 2. Deadliest Conflict in Human History World War II was the biggest and deadliest war in human history, lasting six years, and involving more than 30 countries. While the battle was primarily fought in Europe and expanded to the Pacific, its impact was also felt globally, including in North Africa, where military campaigns in Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria resulted in thousands of deaths. The war was fought between two alliances the Allies led by Great Britain, the United States, France, and the Soviet Union, and the Axis Powers, spearheaded by Germany, Italy, and Japan. An estimated 50-85 million people lost their lives in World War 2, with more property and land damaged than in any other previous wars. The catastrophe included at least 6 million Jews getting murdered in Hitlers concentration camps as part of the Holocaust, coupled with the planned ethnic cleansing of the Romani people during the same time, in which between 150,000 to 250,000 people were killed. This was also the first and only conflict in history, in which nuclear weapons were used when the United States launched strikes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 that maimed and killed hundreds of thousands of people. READ ALSO: 20 Most Powerful Countries Ruling the World in 2050 and 15 Countries that will have the Most Powerful Militaries by 2030. The conflict started in Europe in 1939 with Germany invading Poland. This resulted in both Great Britain and France declaring war against the Germans. Two years later, Germany invaded the Soviet Union, and the war entered the Pacific during the same year with Japans attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941, which officially dragged the United States to become an active player in both the European and Pacific theaters. The war lingered on for six years until 1945 when the Allies defeated Nazi Germany and Japan. America in World War 2 The United States declared war on Japan after the Pearl Harbour attack in 1941. This was followed by Italy and Germanys declaration of war against the United States, which resulted in the nation becoming fully engulfed in the conflict. Washingtons involvement in the war led to a mass mobilization effort, involving millions of men and women, including citizen soldiers, serving their country overseas by joining the armed forces. More than 330,000 American soldiers lost their lives in the war. Those who could not join militarily played their part and supported the war efforts through other means. Several industrialists retooled their parts to manufacture war goods. Housewives and women working outside the defense industry started working in plants that produced aircraft, munition, military uniforms, etc. The increasing demand for steel to support the war was met by Americans through scrap metal drives and rationing programs. Several citizens also purchased Liberty Bonds from the government to raise funds for the war. This mobilization revitalized Americas idle economy, creating around 17 million new jobs. Industrial productivity rose 96%, increasing the supply of consumer goods. Corporate profits after taxes increased by 50% compared to 1939, and workers wages before taxes too doubled from 1939. A large number of women and Blacks also entered the workforce. There was a realization among American citizens that the war was being fought for common men and women, and that the veterans should return to a stable economy with ample economic opportunities available to them. A major expansion was witnessed in Americas aerospace industry. According to the Air Force Historical Research Agency, the US Army Air Forces strength grew from a mere 2,200 aircraft and over 26,000 men in 1939 to a staggering 63,715 aircraft and 2.3 million personnel by 1945. As far as overall military aircraft are concerned, the country produced 300,017 of those between 1940 and 1945, aided by several factories that ran 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Various bombers and fighter jets were used by the US during the war. Consolidated Aircrafts B-24 heavy bomber was a workhorse, with about 18,000 of these being built between 1940 and 1945. This is one of the most produced heavy bombers and American military aircraft in history. The B-24 had an effective shoulder-mounted Davis swing that provided the aircraft the ability to cruise at high speeds and carry heavy bomb loads. In 1940 President Roosevelt announced that his country would have to mass-produce combat aircraft over the next year to prepare for the challenges ahead. With Consolidated Aircraft lacking the resources and capacity to build the B-24 at that pace, the War Department chose the Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) to manufacture them. Among all B-24s produced during WW2, nearly half of them were made by the automobile giant. While critics initially scoffed at the decision, Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) proved them wrong over time. The company manufactured 8,675 B-24 Liberators over the next two and a half years in a 3.5m square foot plant in Willow Run, compared to 9,808 built by four factories of Consolidated, North American Aviation, and Douglas Aircraft combined. At one point in mid-1944, Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) was manufacturing one B-24 per hour. The company to date is acclaimed for its role in helping the Allied Powers win the war. Another heavy hitter used by the US during the war was the B-17 Flying Fortress. The four-engined bomber was built by The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) in 1935 and was introduced in 1938. It is famed for having dropped more bombs during World War 2 than any other American aircraft. The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) also produced the B-29 Superfortress, which was designed for high-altitude heavy bombing but also proved useful in low-altitude bombing. It was used by the United States to blockade Japan and also dropped the nuclear bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) continues to be a leading aerospace company that produces commercial aircraft, space systems, and defense equipment for countries worldwide. As of 2022, it is the fifth largest defense contractor in the world, with defense-related sales worth $31 billion during the year. However, the company has come under some pressure lately after a door plug of an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 flight fell off after takeoff in January. As a result, it reported a net loss of $355 million during the first quarter of 2024. While the financial results were down, they were not as bad as industry analysts had forecast. The company beat analysts' earning forecasts and posted a negative EPS of -$0.56 against the anticipated -$1.43. This reflected the aerospace giant's resilience amid challenges as well as signs of a resurgence across the aviation industry. Moreover, experts believe that it is too big a company to fail, and with a backlog of orders worth $500 billion and international travel growing every year, The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) is likely to turn things around in 2025 after the headwinds are over. According to Insider Monkey, 54 hedge funds were bullish about the company's prospects as of the first quarter of 2024. While we acknowledge the potential of The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock. 7 Most Powerful Countries Before World War 2 Everett Historical/Shutterstock.com Methodology While the major combatants of World War 2 and the war's outcome are well known, there is little written material available that ranks countries based on their strength before the start of the war. For this purpose, we studied several articles and publications related to the subject. After carefully analyzing each powers strengths on the eve of the conflict, we have listed the most powerful countries before World War 2 in ascending order. At Insider Monkey we are obsessed with the stocks that hedge funds pile into. The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletters strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points. (see more details here). Lets now head over to the list of the most powerful countries before World War 2. Here are the Most Powerful Countries Before World War 2: 7. Italy Italy was part of the Axis alliance during World War 2 which comprised Germany and Japan as the other countries. Ruled by Mussolini, the country was part of the alliances quest for territorial expansion, and in October 1935, seized Ethiopia. The fascist leader believed that Italy needed outlets beyond its borders for its surplus population, and aspired to political hegemony in the Mediterranean, Danubian, and Balkan regions. This aggression left Italy with few friends outside of its borders and brought the country further close to like-minded regimes in Germany and Japan. Before the beginning of the Great War, Italy signed several military cooperation pacts with both of these nations. Italy was considered one of the most powerful countries before World War 2. 6. France France was one of the most powerful countries before World War 2, with a large, well-trained military that recovered much of the territories lost in 1918 and held colonial control over much of Central, North, and West Africa. As of 1935, the French armed forces had 320,000 troops stationed at home, with 210,000 others in North Africa, Syria, and other French colonies. The countrys air force was also well-equipped with 463 bombers, 634 fighter jets, and 444 reconnaissance aircraft, as of September 1939 when the war broke out. Moreover, the French army had around 90 infantry divisions. 5. Japan Japan was one of the most powerful countries before World War 2. Under the Meiji Restoration, which started in 1868, Japan rapidly transformed itself into a major power through modernization and the adoption of Western technologies, while at the same time upholding its own values and traditions. With an ambition to free Asia from Western influence, Japan turned into an imperial power in 1895 with the territorial acquisition of Taiwan, and then later Manchuria, Korea, and parts of China. The Japanese military had an estimated manpower of 1.7 million personnel before the conflict started. On the naval front, the country had 10 battleships, 6 aircraft carriers, 65 submarines, 112 destroyers, 18 heavy cruisers, and over 2,200 combat aircraft. 4. Soviet Union The Soviet Union was a great military power heading into World War 2. It had the largest standing army at that point, equipped with sizable inventories of weapons, including the biggest fleet of battle tanks in the world estimated at 30,000 in number. In the years preceding the conflict, Stalin had also established several self-sufficient heavy industries at home capable of producing tanks and ammunition on a large scale. It also sought rapprochement with Nazi Germany and signed a non-aggression pact with Hitler's government a week before the start of the conflict. However, after the collapse of France, in 1941, Germany launched Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union, which was one of the largest invasions in history. Around 27 million Soviets lost their lives during the war. 3. United States The United States in the wake of the Great Depression in 1929 had distanced itself from the tide of fascism sweeping over Europe and Asia during the next decade. Despite the economic challenges it faced at home, the United States was still regarded among the most powerful countries before World War 2, because it had the largest economy in the world in nominal terms. While the country remained on the sidelines of the conflict until the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack, it lent significant financial and military support in the form of weapons to Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union, with the hope that it would tilt the outcome of the battle. As far as military strength is concerned, while the United States only had a manpower of 119,000, the country was technologically ahead of most and had advanced aircraft and naval assets. In the years that followed, millions joined the US military to defend the nation and the country's industry worked at full capacity, dedicating its efforts to support the war which ultimately resulted in victory for the Allied Powers. 2. Germany Germany was among the most powerful countries before World War 2, annexing various countries and regions across Europe, including Austria and Czechoslovakia before the conflict started. While Great Britain and France were superior compared to Germany when it came to population, manpower, and industrial resources, the Germans had a strong military due to their rigorous training, discipline, quality of weapons, and fighting spirit. The country had 100 infantry divisions and six armored divisions. Each division comprised between 12,000 to 25,000 troops equipped with over 440 machine guns, 135 mortars, more than 70 anti-tank guns, and 24 howitzers. 1. Great Britain Great Britain was the most powerful country in the world heading into World War 2, just as it was before World War 1. Stephen Leacock in his 1941 book The British Empire mentioned that the crown held direct or de facto control over about a quarter of the worlds population and economic resources. The empire also boasted the strongest and largest navy in the world, with 15 battleships, 7 aircraft carriers, 66 cruisers, 184 destroyers, 60 submarines, and 45 patrol and escort vessels. It also had the most naval bases in the world. On the aerial front, Great Britain had 536 bombers and 608 fighter jets, among other military aircraft. READ NEXT: $30 Trillion Opportunity: 15 Best Humanoid Robot Stocks to Buy According to Morgan Stanley and Jim Cramer Says NVIDIA Has Become A Wasteland. Disclosure: None. 7 Most Powerful Countries Before World War 2 is originally published on Insider Monkey. PETROLIA (KFDX/KJTL) On the first day of high school volleyball games in the state of Texas, Petrolia hosted Gold-Burg for a high school volleyball non-district match. The Lady Pirates defeated the Lady Bears in straight sets: 25-10 25-11 25-13 The Lady Pirates next game is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 13, in Northside, where they will play the Munday Mogulettes and the Northside Lady Indians. View the Lady Pirates volleyball schedule on Petrolia CISDs website. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Texomashomepage.com. As Floridas House primaries approach, incumbents across the state are battling fierce challengers in what could be a game-changing election season. Over a quarter of the 120 Florida House seats are up for primary elections on August 20, with Democrats competing in 14 districts and Republicans squaring off in 21. The Florida Democratic Partys strategy this year involves fielding candidates in all House districts, but due to district gerrymandering, next weeks primaries will largely determine the winners in many areas. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< Here are snapshots of seven House primaries, including six where incumbents face challengers: District 13: In Jacksonville, Rep. Angie Nixon has been challenged by former Jacksonville City Council member Brenda Priestly Jackson. Nixon has drawn controversy for her stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict calling for an immediate de-escalation and cease-fire. She has received endorsements from groups like Florida Planned Parenthood PAC. Jackson has support from former Republican colleagues and groups such as the Florida Chamber of Commerce. District 14: Another Jacksonville race, Rep. Kim Daniels faces challenges from Therese Wakefield-Gamble, a former teacher, and Lloyd Caulker, founder of Gospeler Ministries. Daniels, who returned to the House in 2022, has backing from several political committees, while Wakefield-Gamble is endorsed by Florida Planned Parenthood PAC. District 32: Republican voters in Brevard County must choose between state Sen. Debbie Mayfield and former Congressman Dave Weldon. Mayfield, looking to return to the House, has endorsements from figures like former President Donald Trump. Weldon has support from local leaders, with Democrat Juan Hinojosa awaiting the winner. District 44: Rep. Rita Harris is in a rematch against former Rep. Daisy Morales. Harris has financial backing from major Democratic groups, while Morales has largely self-funded her campaign. The primary will decide the winner of the Orange County seat. District 74: Rep. James Buchanan is challenged by education activist Michelle Pozzie. Buchanan, who has drawn support from Gov. Ron DeSantis, is seeking a fourth term, while Moms endorse Pozzie for America Action. District 106: Rep. Fabian Basabe is being challenged by Melinda Almonte in his first re-election bid. Basabe has significant financial backing, while Almonte has self-funded her campaign. Democrats are eyeing the district as a possible flip in November. District 109: Rep. Ashley Gantt faces former House members James Bush and Roy Hardemon. Gantt, an attorney, is trying to fend off these challengers in a Miami-Dade County race that is open to all voters. These primaries could have significant implications for the political landscape in Florida, with incumbents and challengers alike vying for critical positions in the states House of Representatives. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live. Editors Note: A version of this story appears in CNNs Meanwhile in the Middle East newsletter, a three-times-a-week look inside the regions biggest stories. Sign up here. Mediators in talks for a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel are making a last-ditch effort this week to revive stalled negotiations as the Middle East braces for an Iranian attack on Israel. A high-stakes meeting concluded on Thursday and will resume on Friday, a diplomatic source briefed on the talks told CNN. In the meeting, Qatar, Egypt and the United States were expected to present a plan to implement a deal that could bring about a ceasefire in the 10-month-long war in Gaza and free the remaining hostages. The deal was proposed by US President Joe Biden in May but unresolved differences have left the path forward unclear. Participants on Thursday included CIA director Bill Burns, Mossad chief David Barnea, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Jassim Al Thani and Egyptian intelligence head Abbas Kamel, a diplomatic source close to negotiations told CNN. An Israeli official confirmed to CNN that the Israeli delegation headed by Barnea will stay in Doha overnight. Hamas had said it would not participate in talks but engaged separately with Qatari and Egyptian mediators, a source told CNN, adding that the mediators are still working to bridge the gap on the remaining key differences. Our position was clear we will not go for new negotiation rounds. We will only go to implement what has been agreed on, Basem Naim, a member of the Hamas political bureau, told CNN on Tuesday. While inconclusive so far, Thursdays talks marked a promising start, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said as they got underway in Doha. Al Thani, a key mediator in the talks, has updated the Iranian foreign minister Ali Bagheri Kani on the ongoing mediation efforts, according to a statement by the Qatari foreign ministry. Meanwhile on Thursday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said during a speech to Turkeys parliament that he would visit Gaza soon, in an effort to help bring about a pause to the barbaric aggression. Heres what we know about the status of the talks so far. What is Bidens proposal? In May, Biden laid out a three-phase proposal the administration said was submitted by Israel that would pair a release of hostages from Gaza with a full and complete ceasefire and a release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. The first phase would last six weeks and include the withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza and the release of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly, the wounded in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and the implementation of a temporary truce. Phase 2 would allow for the exchange for the release of all remaining living hostages, including male soldiers and a permanent end to the fighting. In Phase 3, a major reconstruction plan for Gaza would commence and any final remains of hostages whove been killed will be returned to their families, the US president said. Israel launched its war against Hamas after the groups cross-border October 7 attacks, in which more than 1,200 Israelis were killed and 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities. More than 100 of those hostages remain in Gaza, their families back home pleading for a breakthrough to secure their safe return. It is unclear how many of the original hostages set for release are still alive. Hamas and Israel have been engaged in tedious negotiations for months. Officials from Qatar and Egypt act as intermediaries, delivering messages to Israeli and Hamas representatives in shuttle-style diplomacy since representatives from the warring parties are not present at the same location. Technical teams have flown in and out of Doha and Cairo to iron out details for a potential agreement. What are the key remaining sticking points to Bidens proposal? Despite an initial positive reaction from Hamas and Israel, both sides failed to agree on the implementation of the finer details of the proposal including the sequencing of the hostage-prisoner exchange, the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released and how far back Israeli forces should withdraw in Gaza. Netanyahu has been accused of undermining the deal as far-right members of his ruling coalition threaten to collapse the government despite pressure from the US and families of hostages. Last month, the prime minister reversed on a key Israeli concession in ceasefire negotiations, demanding that armed men be barred from returning to northern Gaza during an eventual ceasefire, an Israeli source familiar with the talks told CNN. Israel had previously agreed to allow Palestinians unrestricted access to northern Gaza. Netanyahus office on Tuesday rejected claims that the prime minister had changed positions, saying his most recent stance does not introduce extra conditions and certainly does not contradict or undermine the May proposal. Netanyahus office instead accused Hamas of adding unrealistic demands to its position. US President Joe Biden presents a ceasefire proposal at the White House on May 31. - Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images The prime ministers office also addressed three contentious issues in the negotiations including the movement of armed men from southern Gaza to the north, the number of living hostages to be released, and Israel retaining the right to approve the Palestinian prisoners that will be released as well as whether they should be sent into exile. A senior US administration official, speaking to reporters this week, said the bulk of the work has been done for the deal, but its unlikely that it will be signed at Thursdays meeting as both sides still have positions on four or five issues. A regional diplomat familiar with the negotiations told CNN that the remaining sticking points for Hamas are Israels restrictions on the movement of people from southern Gaza to the north, its demand for a veto over which Palestinian prisoners would be released, as well as its continued presence at the Philadelphi corridor and the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. What is Hamas position on Thursdays talks? US officials had said that talks had reached an advanced stage until Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in Tehran in late July in an assassination Iran blamed on Israel. Israel hasnt confirmed or denied responsibility, but Iran has vowed vengeance. There were concerns that the assassination would throw a wrench in the negotiations between Israel and Hamas. The militant group replaced Haniyeh with Yahya Sinwar, the hardline Hamas leader in Gaza who is one of Israels most wanted men. While Haniyeh, a relative moderate, lived in Qatar and was susceptible to pressure from his host country, Sinwar is believed to be deep underground in a tunnel in Gaza and is hard to reach. Hamas on Thursday denied it was having difficulty communicating with its leader Sinwar, after one of its top officials Osama Hamdan reportedly acknowledged in an interview with the Associated Press on Tuesday that there are some difficulties and delays in communicating with him. Hamas hasnt ruled out an agreement with Israel, but said that it wont engage in further negotiations. It instead asked mediators for a plan to implement a ceasefire proposal put forward by Biden. The senior Biden administration official who spoke to journalists last week said that a framework agreement is on the table and that it is the details of implementation that are left to conclude. A Hamas source told CNN on Wednesday that the group has adopted a position of intentional ambiguity over whether it will attend ceasefire talks, adding that its position on a potential ceasefire is firm whether not it attends the talks. Asked why Hamas has been unclear about whether it will attend the ceasefire talks, the source said: This ambiguity is the movements position, which was announced in its latest statement, is intentional and did not come by chance. It comes as a result of Netanyahus behavior. Why were Thursdays talks so important? Thursdays ceasefire talks were the result of a major diplomatic effort by mediators Qatar, Egypt and the US to push for a last-ditch effort to end the war and free the hostages as Iran prepares to attack Israel. The urgency of the talks was highlighted by the three mediators, who issued a rare joint statement last week calling on the warring parties to return to negotiations and offered what they called a final bridge proposal to overcome the remaining sticking points. The details of that proposal have not been made public. A young Palestinian woman checks the damage inside a classroom at the al-Zahra school used as a refuge by displaced Palestinians, after it was hit by an Israeli strike in the Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City on August 8. - Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP/Getty Images In parallel, US and Middle East diplomats have been mobilizing to dissuade Iran from launching an attack on Israel that could lead to a wider regional war. Both Iran and the US have said that that lines of communication between them are open through intermediaries. There have been some indications that Iran may abandon plans to attack Israel if a ceasefire deal is reached. But the countrys mission to the United Nations said on Saturday that Tehrans retaliation is totally unrelated to the Gaza ceasefire. As of Tuesday afternoon, US officials didnt believe that Iran has decided on a course of retaliatory action against Israel, according to two US administration officials. Furious diplomatic backchannel efforts are ongoing to try to deter a wide-scale attack and de-escalate the volatile situation, one of those officials said. The second official added that the Biden administration does believe that the USs public warnings in recent days have affected Irans calculus. Biden acknowledged the challenges facing a ceasefire deal Tuesday, telling reporters traveling with him to New Orleans hes concerned about negotiations between the two parties amid the looming threat of an attack on Israel from Iran. The president rebuffed questions on what hes doing to pressure Israel and Hamas to come to the bargaining table for proposed ceasefire deal talks Thursday, telling reporters, If I told you what pressure tha t Im putting on it, it wouldnt be very much pressure would it? The regional diplomat who spoke to CNN said there is concern that Iran may not hold back on striking Israel, as the diplomat believes the Biden administration is not applying enough pressure on Netanyahu to reach an agreement. The lack of clarity on whether the Israeli prime minister will adhere to Bidens May proposal, the source added, suggests time is running out to strike a deal before an Iranian attack. Qatar and Egypt, the source said, may not have enough influence to push Hamas to compromise. This story has been updated. CNNs Abbas Al Lawati, DJ Judd, Abeer Salman and Betsy Klein contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com The Hill Bar & Grill looking to expand, area residents concerned The Hill Bar & Grill looking to expand, area residents concerned WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) An east Wichita restaurant is getting pushback on its plan to expand. The Hill Bar & Grill at Douglas and Oliver wants to take over more space on the corner and add outdoor speakers and televisions. Some who live in the College Hill, Crown Heights, and Crown Heights South neighborhoods are concerned about the noise it may bring. The zoning request passed the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission and the District Advisory Board. The city council gets the final say. They are discussing the issue on Tuesday. Click here to read the agenda report. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV. Hillsborough County Commissioners agreed Tuesday to put a schools tax referendum on the November ballot just in time for a deadline imposed by a judge but also vowed to continue the legal battle to delay putting the tax question to voters until 2026. I do not believe that a judge can order duly elected officials and violate their First Amendment right and dictate whether they should vote up or down on an item, said Josh Wostal, the Republican commissioner who led the charge to delay the property tax ballot question. With a shortage of more than 400 classroom teachers and neighboring counties able to pay more, the Hillsborough school district plans to ask voters to consider paying $1 per $1,000 in taxable property value. Most of the estimated $177 million a year from the four-year tax would go to yearly supplements of $6,000 for teachers and administrators and $3,000 for support staff. But the County Commission, responsible for sending the referendum to the elections office, instead voted 4-3 to delay it for two years. The school district quickly sued. Hillsborough Circuit Judge Emily Peacock agreed that the county didnt get to decide the timing and imposed an Aug. 13 deadline for the county to get it done. The commission voted to appeal, and the case is now in the hands of the 2nd District Court of Appeal. With an appeal comes an automatic stay, which means the judges order isnt enforced while the higher court is making up its mind. In this case, the school board asked the judge to vacate that stay. Peacock agreed and on Tuesday, the deadline loomed. The vote to both continue the appeals process and comply with the judges order was 6-1, with Commissioner Gwen Myers voting no. The matter of whether that stay is lifted or remains is now up to the appeals court, which has agreed to fast-track the case as the Nov. 5 general election approaches. Tuesdays developments occurred on the second day of the school year. Despite fierce competition from privately managed charter schools, Hillsboroughs traditional schools stayed even with last years first-day enrollment at about 170,000 students. First-day charter enrollment dropped by 1,571 students, to 31,618. As in past discussions, the commission vote pitted Democrats against Republicans. Simply just put this on the ballot like we should have done in the first place months ago, Commissioner Pat Kemp urged the board. We can save face by bringing this to an end, she said. She was joined by Commissioner Harry Cohen, an attorney who argued that the board had no choice in the matter. Ive heard some of these arguments of separation of powers and all these things, and I just think this is a fundamental misunderstanding of the way that our system works and the way that the law works, he said. In my view, when a board has been issued a writ like this one from a circuit court judge, there is absolutely no discretion given to us as to whether or not we should vote to follow it or not, he said. The boards three Democrats tried to stop the appeal, but their attempt died on a 3-4 vote. Kemp also expressed frustration with the boards vote to hire an outside attorney picked by Wostal former appeals court judge Samuel J. Salario Jr. of Tampa at a cost of up to $50,000. Up until then, the county attorneys office had handled the case. Salario appeared before the board Tuesday to update them. He was asked by commission chairperson Ken Hagan about the likelihood that the appeals court would impose a stay or make a ruling. Salario pointed out that the appeals court thought the matter was important enough to order responses from the lawyers, and to agree to expedite it. But he declined to say what might happen beyond that. I think its just very dangerous to predict on the face of a two-sentence order, he said. Also Tuesday, the appeals court set a schedule that appears aimed at a quick ruling. The County Commission must file its brief by 5 p.m. Wednesday, the school district by 5 p.m. Thursday and the countys reply brief by 5 p.m. Friday. The Supervisor of Elections must have all ballot language by Aug. 20. No motions for an extension of time will be entertained, said a notice from the clerks office. Hillsborough schools Superintendent Van Ayres said he was pleased at the accelerated pace. One hundred percent of my attention is on the more than 200,000 students we welcomed back to school this week, Ayres said in a written statement. I am pleased that the court has decided to fast-track this appeal so we should have a final decision by Monday. CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) The Charleston County School District will welcome back students and a full staff of teachers on Tuesday for the first day of the 2024-2025 school year. This is a historic time in CCSD. I dont recall a time where we were able to open all of our classrooms and theyd be covered by certified folks, CCSD Superintendent Anita Huggins said during a news conference on Monday. District leaders shared they were able to fill 547 vacancies posted this year including 82, hard to fill, special education positions. This news comes on the heels of an $8,000 salary increase and other efforts to recruit and retain educators. One of our big initiatives, started in 2018, was our Pathways program. Where we were able to hire folks who had Bachelors degrees, who wanted to be teachers but had never gone through a teacher-ed program. So, because of that type of program, we were able to add additional teachers into our pipeline, explained Bill Briggman, the Chief Human Resources Officer for CCSD. This school year will be the first with a Weighted Student Funding Formula which was approved as part of the budget. Leaders also said they expanded childcare options for employees and added 18 new bus routes. So, every year we take a close look at the numbers of students on the busses, as well as where theyre living and that would potentially require additional routes. Another demand signal for additional routes is the traffic, Jeffrey Borowy, CCSDs Chief Operating Officer, said. Superintendent Huggins said the Back to School Hotline is up and running, in addition to a new Facebook group initiative. Both serve as platforms for district families to submit questions and concerns. According to the superintendent, theyve received a lot of submissions regarding student attendance, after school offerings, and transportation. I want to thank the community in advance for the grace over the next few days as we work those things out. Tomorrow wont be perfect for everybody but its going to be great for most, Huggins added. The hotline is open from 8 am-4:30 pm through August 14 and can be reached at 843-444-5417. CCSD could potentially see the implementation of an Honors African American Studies course later in the school year. On Tuesday, the CCSD Committee of the Whole voted to advance the course to the next Board of Trustees meeting for consideration. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCBD News 2. Gov. Katie Hobbs delivers her State of the State address on Jan. 8, 2024. To her right is Senate President Warren Petersen. Photo by Gloria Rebecca Gomez | Arizona Mirror Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs has come to an agreement with the Republican state legislative leaders who sued her last year over her attempt to circumvent their oversight of her appointment of state agency directors. After Hobbs struggled to get many of her director nominees through a newly created Republican-led Senate approval committee last year, Hobbs went around the chamber and instead appointed deputy directors that essentially served as directors. Agency directors are subject to Senate approval, but deputy directors are not. Senate President Warren Petersen, a Queen Creek Republican, filed a lawsuit in December, accusing Hobbs of violating state law by circumventing legislative hearings for her appointees and asking the Maricopa County Superior Court to restore the decades-long practice of requiring Senate approval for nominees. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX In a January request for the case to be dismissed, Andy Gaona, Hobbs attorney, blamed the Senate for essentially giving the governor no other choice than to sidestep the Senates Committee on Director Nominations, saying the panel was designed to slow-walk nominees. Gaona wrote that the committee engaged in bad faith conduct that impeded the governors ability to fulfill her constitutional and statutory duties. He also pointed out that the committee grilled the nominees about hot-button issues like transgender athletes, white nationalism and border security, which had little to do with the jobs for which they were nominated. But in June, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott Blaney ruled that Hobbs had improperly, unilaterally appointed de facto directors for these 13 agencies, despite the actual job title she has assigned to each of them. Blaney ordered Hobbs to come to an agreement with Petersen regarding the appointment of new agency directors, or to return to court on Aug. 14 for a hearing, after which he would rule on the matter. After the June 5 ruling, Hobbs asked the state Court of Appeals to review the case, but it declined to do so. Blaney did not accept the agreement on Monday, saying in a Tuesday ruling that he disagreed with language that said the agreement superseded his June 5 ruling. He ordered the two parties to inform him of whether they would submit a modified agreement by Aug. 23 or return to court for a hearing on the matter. The agreement requires Hobbs to nominate directors for the open positions and transmit the nominations to the Senate by the first week of the next regular legislative session, in January. The Court finds that the Governor did not comply with these requirements for the agency director positions at issue, Blaney previously wrote. Because the director positions were vacated outside of a legislative session, state law does not require Hobbs to make the nominations immediately. The agreement stipulates that the judgment should not be construed as a ruling on the validity or legality of the appointment of Executive Deputy Directors for the agencies at issue or any actions taken by those deputy directors. Hobbs and Petersen agreed that the year timeframe during which directors must be approved by the Senate will begin on the date the new nominations are made. Christian Slater, a spokesman for Hobbs, told the Mirror in a written statement that the governor put politics aside to do whats best for the state. While she disagrees with the Senate on the law and is disappointed in the earlier ruling in this case, she has reached an agreement that includes transmitting director nominees to the Senate to ensure stability and continuity for veterans, small businesses and vulnerable Arizonans who rely on state agencies to provide critical services that they need, Slater said. This outcome, rather than continued litigation, is whats in the best interest of the State right now. Both sides agreed to cover their own attorneys fees. We continue to see a disturbing trend unfolding, where Democrats are weaponizing the government in an attempt to force unlawful and extreme agendas upon our citizens, Petersen said in a written statement. No elected official is above the law, and the Governors manipulative scheme to circumvent Senate confirmation demonstrates the crucial role the Legislature serves in holding the executive accountable against abuses of power. ***CORRECTION: This story has been corrected to reflect that Judge Scott Blaney has rejected the agreement between Hobbs and Petersen. DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) While preparing for the upcoming school year, a daycare in Dayton was struck by a vehicle, causing major damage to the building. The owner and neighbors spoke with 2 NEWS about this reoccurring issue. Doorbell camera footage shows neighbors rushing to help after hearing a loud crash. Authorities responded to the home on Prescott Ave. near Picadilly Ave. on Sunday. Federal, local authorities working together to combat violent crime Upon arrival, authorities located a car lodged inside the home daycare. No one was home at the time of the incident, and no one was seriously injured. This is the third time since 2012 that a car has hit a home in the 3900 block of Prescott Ave. During the incident Sunday, the vehicle struck two homes. Part of Jane Marzettis carport was hit, launching the downspout onto the roof of the neighboring daycare and her parked car. She says this isnt the first time her home has been hit; she even put cinder blocks in her yard to prevent it from happening again. We need those bumps- those speed bumps to slow these people down because theyre not going to stop. This neighborhood is full of children. Stop it before it happens, said Marzetti. The owner of Donnas Daycare, Ledonna Miller, says shes saddened and frustrated by the incident. She was set to open for the school year on Monday but remains closed at this time. Im very sad about my daycare being closed. My preschool program was supposed to start Monday. I just remodeled the daycare two weeks ago, said Miller. Road gators: What to know when driving in Ohio 2 NEWS reached out to the Miami Valley Planning Commission, which was unavailable for an interview but did provide data on vehicles striking buildings. In 2019, 109 crashes in Miami, Greene, Montgomery and Warren Counties involved a building being hit. From 2021 to 2023, 347 buildings were hit, averaging 115 collisions per year. To learn how to help Donnas Daycare in their recovery efforts, visit their social media page. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDTN.com. Homeless man accused of trying to rape woman, 19, near Gracie Mansion Homeless man accused of trying to rape woman, 19, near Gracie Mansion Editors note: The above video originally aired on Aug. 10, 2024. UPPER EAST SIDE, Manhattan (PIX11) A homeless man is accused of trying to rape a 19-year-old woman near Gracie Mansion on the Upper East Side over the weekend, police said Tuesday. Quincy Burks, 30, was arrested Monday and charged with attempted rape, sex abuse, and forcible touching, according to the NYPD. He was held without bail following his arraignment. More Local News Burks was caught on surveillance video following the woman out of Carl Schulz Park and throwing her to the ground near East End Avenue and 90th Street at around 1:15 a.m. Saturday, police said. Burks allegedly held the victim down with his body and put his hands on her mouth before trying to rape her, prosecutors said. The victim was taken to the hospital to be treated for cuts and bruises. Hector Mateo, a nearby doorman, jumped in and saved the woman when he grabbed a flashlight and scared off the suspect. He told PIX11 News he wished he wouldve caught the man before he ran off. I didnt pursue him. I helped the little girl. She was down on the floor, bloody, crying and in shock, Mateo said. Neighbors were hailing the quick-thinking doorman as a hero. Absolutely. What he did was incredible, said Gabby Newman, 20, who lives in Mateos building. I applaud him for it, absolutely. Burks arraignment was pending on Tuesday. On Monday, a homeless migrant was arrested for allegedly raping a 46-year-old woman at knifepoint near the Coney Island boardwalk, authorities said. Citywide rapes are up 11% as of Aug. 4 compared to the same time last year, according to NYPD data. If you or someone you know is a victim of sexual assault, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. It is a free, 24/7 service that offers support, information, and local resources. You can also click here for additional hotlines within your state. Mira Wassef is a digital reporter who has covered news and sports in the NYC area for more than a decade. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. Palestinian prisoners released by the Israeli army arrive at the Al-Aqsa Hospital for medical examination. Omar Ashtawy/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa Israeli military prosecutors have requested that the soldiers allegedly involved in the severe sexual abuse of a Palestinian prisoner be released to house arrest pending further investigation. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Tuesday that military prosecutors had requested the soldiers stay under house arrest until at least August 22. Israeli media reported that a court was expected to approve the release of the five reservists under a plan agreed to both by the military prosecution and the soldiers' defence team. They have been held in pre-trial detention on accusations of sexually assaulting a member of the Hamas militant group so severely that he had to be taken to hospital with injuries. Israeli military police had initially detained 10 soldiers at the Sde Teiman military base near the desert town of Beersheba. Five of them have since been released. There have been repeated reports of shocking conditions for Palestinian detainees in Israel, including abuse, torture, sexual assault and rape. According to the UN Human Rights Office, at least 53 people have died in Israeli custody since October 7. We recently compiled a list of 10 Best Dividend Aristocrats According to Wall Street Analysts. In this article we are going to take a look at where Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) stands against the other dividend aristocrats. Shifts in investment trends have revealed new insights for investors in recent years. Certain times call for specific investments, and its often experienced investors who can spot these opportunities. However, its clear that the value of a good investment remains steady, even amidst ongoing changes. This is where the long-standing dividend aristocrats play a role. These companies are strong dividend payers, having raised their payouts for at least 25 consecutive years. The extended periods of dividend increases have significantly boosted the impressive returns of these stocks over time. Since its inception in 2005, the Dividend Aristocrats Index has outperformed the broader market with lower volatility, according to a report by ProShares. In addition, these stocks demonstrated strong performance in all market conditions, capturing 90% of market gains while only experiencing 82% of market declines. Also read: 10 Best Dividend Aristocrats with Over 3% Yield. Achieving 25 consecutive years of dividend growth is quite an accomplishment. Out of approximately 6,000 stocks listed on the NYSE and Nasdaq, only 67 are part of the prestigious Dividend Aristocrats index in 2024. This highlights that only a small number of companies have reached this milestone. Maintaining a record of annual dividend increases for 25 years means the company has managed to boost shareholder payouts through various challenges, including the dot-com bubble, the 2007 financial crisis, and the pandemic. This reflects a robust business model, strong cash flow visibility, and disciplined management of capital. Even dividend aristocrats can struggle with consistency, as weve seen recently. Companies like Walgreens and 3M were unable to sustain their decades-long dividend growth streaks and have been removed from the Dividend Aristocrats club this year. This highlights the importance of financial strength for dividend aristocrats. The Great Financial Crisis exposed the financial vulnerabilities of these dividend-growers, as 17 out of the 60 Aristocrats in the S&P 500 were removed in 2008 and 2009. As mentioned before, dividend aristocrats have consistently outperformed the broader market since their inception, even during market downturns. Don Kilbride, a senior managing director and portfolio manager at Wellington Management, has noted this performance, particularly with the Vanguard Dividend Growth fund, which he manages. This fund focuses on companies that have reliably increased their dividends annually, some for decades. During the 2008 market crash, while the market fell 37%, Vanguard Dividend Growth only lost about two-thirds of that amount, thanks to its dividend-generating stocks. As the market recovered, the fund quickly made up for its losses, outperforming many of its peers. Kilbride further mentioned that dividend growth is crucial for weathering tough markets and achieving long-term success, stating that its benefits are substantial and enduring. Story continues According to analysts, for those building their portfolios, incorporating dividend investments can be beneficial, particularly if the dividends are reinvested. By using dividends to purchase additional shares each time they are received, investors create a cycle where payouts increase with the number of shares owned, leading to the ability to acquire even more shares. In this article, we will take a look at some of the best dividend aristocrat stocks according to analysts. Our Methodology: For our list, we first scanned a list of the best dividend aristocrat stocks, which are the companies that have raised their dividends for 25 consecutive years or more. From this group, we picked stocks with a projected upside potential of over 10% based on analyst price targets. The stocks are ranked according to their upside potential, as of August 7. We also measured hedge fund sentiment around each stock according to Insider Monkeys database of 920 funds as of Q1 2024. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletters strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points. (see more details here). Top Medical AI Companies An operating room with a doctor monitoring a patient's vital signs during surgery with a medical device. Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Analyst Upside Potential as of August 7: 14.5% Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) is an American multinational medical device and healthcare company. The company is attracting investors interest due to its broader range of businesses compared to its peers. This diversity provides multiple avenues for growth and enables the company to generate revenue from various sources. In the second quarter of 2024, the company posted revenue of $10.38 billion, which saw a 4% growth from the same period last year. Its diagnostic segment stumbled during the quarter, generating $2.2 billion in revenues, which fell by 5.3% from the prior year period. Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)s growth prospects were also highlighted by Diamond Hill Capital in its Q2 2024 investor letter. Here is what the firm has to say: Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) is a diversified health care company with an extensive portfolio that spans medical devices, pharmaceuticals, nutritionals and diagnostics. With a substantial portion of its revenues generated internationally, emerging markets contribute about 40% of overall sales. We have always liked Abbotts diverse mix of businesses and its fundamental growth prospects. The management team has consistently demonstrated skill in capital allocation, highlighted by strategic divestitures such as the European generic business in 2014, and significant acquisitions like St. Jude in 2016. The healthcare sector is generally robust and can thrive through various market cycles, but it often faces challenges related to lawsuits. Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT), for example, faces legal issues, particularly concerning its baby formula products, but these are not as severe as the extensive legal troubles faced by Johnson & Johnson, which involves tens of thousands of lawsuits. High legal costs can impact a companys cash flow and its capacity to invest in growth opportunities. For Abbott, the cash position is strong, promising regular dividend payments in the future. Its trailing twelve-month operating cash flow came in at $7.9 billion and levered free cash flow amounts to $5.39 billion. As of the most recent quarter, the company had $7.22 billion available in cash. Street analysts maintain a Strong Buy rating on ABT, with a $109.9 price target, which reflects an upside potential of 14.5%. Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT), one of the best dividend aristocrat stocks on our list, has been making regular dividend payments to shareholders for the past 402 quarters. It also maintains a 52-year streak of consistent dividend growth. On June 14, the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.55 per share, which was in line with its previous dividend. The stocks dividend yield on August 7 came in at 2%. Insider Monkeys database of Q1 2024 indicated that 62 hedge funds held stakes in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT), compared with 64 in the previous quarter. These stakes are collectively valued at roughly $2.7 billion. Overall ABT ranks 7th on our list of the best dividend aristocrats to buy according to Wall Street Analysts. While we acknowledge the potential of ABT as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some deeply undervalued dividend stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for a deeply undervalued dividend stock that is more promising than ABT but that trades at less than 7 times its earnings and yields nearly 10%, check out our report about the dirt cheap dividend stock. READ NEXT: $30 Trillion Opportunity: 15 Best Humanoid Robot Stocks to Buy According to Morgan Stanley and Jim Cramer Says NVIDIA Has Become A Wasteland. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Happy Tuesday and welcome to another family-friendly edition of Rent Free. This week's lead story takes a look at whether a YIMBY policy agenda of reducing regulation on new housing construction will help or hurt people's willingness to start families. Housing Boom = Baby Bust? America's low birth rate is in the news again, thanks largely to Vice Presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance's (ROhio) resurfaced comments criticizing America's anti-family "childless cat lady" ruling class, as well as his various policy proposalsfrom higher taxes on the childless to more votes for parentsto get Americans breeding again. Vance's comments have prompted a flurry of think pieces that dispute his specific points while accepting his basic argument that various, liberal-coded public policies are contributing to America's declining birth rateparticularly in large, high-cost cities. Derek Thompson in The Atlantic argues that "the steady march of the childless city is not merely the inevitable result of declining birth rates. It's the result of urban policy, conceived by, written by, and enacted by liberals." Thompson singles out excessive land use regulations for making life difficult for urban families. More regulation means higher housing costs and higher childcare costs (by limiting the number of lower-wage childcare workers who can live in the city). Neither is good for keeping families in town. Writing at Discourse, Addison Del Mastro is even more direct, saying that the most "pro-natalist" policy the government could adopt "would be to force down the cost of housing through supplygetting out of the way of the normal process of building, i.e., slashing the red tape of zoning and related elements of the land use regime." This is a common, plausible YIMBY refrainlowering the cost of housing through deregulation will enable more people to go forth and multiply. The idea is not without its critics. At a recent campaign rally, former President Donald Trump dusted off his argument from his 2020 campaign trail that "forcing" more low-income apartments into the suburbs will ruin family-friendly neighborhoods. Other pro-natalists have argued that because high-rise apartment developments are associated with lower fertility rates, allowing more of them could reduce the number of births. So, will a YIMBY building boom produce a baby boom or bust? Housing Cost As mentioned, the basic assumption of the YIMBY natalist case is that there's a pretty tight link between housing costs and people's willingness to start families. It's an assumption that appears to be correct, says demographer Lyman Stone. "Housing costs are one of the biggest line items in raising a child because kids tend to take space and we know when there are plausibly exogenous shocks to housing costs, that fertility responds," Stone tells Reason. As evidence, he cites a study of changes in fertility rates in the United Kingdom during the Great Recession, where government policy interventions dramatically lowered the costs of mortgages for some, but not all, homeowners. Households that were eligible for lower mortgage rates saw increased birth rates. The literature shows a similar dynamic for renters too, says Stone. When rents drop, births go up. In his Atlantic article, Thompson cites a recent research brief from the Economic Innovation Group showing that while high-cost, high-regulation urban areas have seen a huge drop in their young child population, quickly growing exurban counties in the Sun Belt (where housing supply is more elastic) are adding lots of toddlers. The relationship between housing regulation and housing supply is also pretty robust and straightforward: more regulation leads to less supply, which in turn drives up home prices and rents. Reducing regulation would increase supply and lower home prices and rents. The most straightforward assumption would be that this would lead to an increase in the number of children people have. So case closed? Housing Density Not necessarily. In a recent post, the popular pro-natalist X account More Births pulls together a lot of international data on density and fertility to argue that "apartments in high-rises are inherently anti-family. The more of them you build, the lower fertility will be." In an article for the Institute for Family Studies (IFS), Stone conducts a more thorough parsing of the data and comes to a similar conclusion. He finds that while many measures of density don't have much of an impact on the number of children women have, others do. The number of people per square mile doesn't seem to affect fertility rates much, except for a slight negative effect in the densest areas. Likewise, whether a woman lives in single-family or multi-family housing doesn't make much of a difference either. But other measures of densitylike the number of people per bedroom and unit sizedo matter a lot, argues Stone. Women who live in smaller one- and two-bedroom apartments have fewer children than women who live in larger apartments. Likewise, women who live with their parents and those in households with more people per bedroom have lower fertility rates. There's also a significant interactive effect between various measures of density. "When women live in smaller, more crowded houses, they have fewer children. This is especially true if those small, crowded houses happen to be in areas of high population density," writes Stone. In Asian megacities where basically all the housing is small, overcrowded housing units, fertility rates are at rock bottom. Looking Ahead When talking about affordability, YIMBYs like to invoke the concept of filtering. This is the idea that building new, expensive housing that only some people can afford still improves affordability for everyone. High-income people move into the new units, lowering demand (and therefore prices) for older, existing units. One could similarly argue that building lots of small units associated with lower fertility rates would still improve overall fertility. Existing groups of single roommates occupying family-friendly multi-bedroom apartments could move into studios of their own, opening up their former homes to families with children. Stone is critical of this "filtering for families" idea in the long run. "It's one thing to say we should build small apartments to get young people out of roommate situations that we'd like to go to families," he says. "In the future, you're just adding more and family-unfriendly housing that the next generation has to deal with." Stone argues that if YIMBY-style zoning reform focuses only on adding denser housing in already dense urban areas, cities will eventually become dominated by housing types that are bad for family formation. People's willingness to have children will fall as a result. Salim Furth, a housing economist at George Mason University's Mercatus Center, is more copacetic. While there's some truth to the idea that ultra-dense megacities would lower fertility rates, it would take a truly eye-popping, improbable level of high-density redevelopment to turn Boston or New York City into low-fertility Hong Kong or Seoul, he says. And that's not the result we should expect from free market housing reforms. "In a market economy, people build housing of lots of different types," says Furth. He notes that huge swaths of the YIMBY-style policy platform would produce the kinds of housing that appear to be good for family formation. Minimum lot size reform would enable the construction of more affordable starter homes. Eliminating requirements that apartments have two staircases would make family-sized apartment floor plans easier to build. In his IFS article, Stone mentions common YIMBY policies like allowing more accessory dwelling units and eliminating minimum parking requirements as reforms that would reduce overcrowding and produce more family-friendly units. The Housing Theory of EverythingBut Not All Things Furth also cautions that housing cost and availability are only part of the puzzle. The wealthiest Americans, who can afford as much floor space as they want, are not necessarily the ones having the most children. Thompson's Atlantic article spends a lot of time describing the cratering of the toddler populations in large cities during the first year of the pandemic. That was also a time when rents and home prices in the urban cores of large cities were falling fast. That short-term decline in prices didn't act as a magnet for families flooding into the city. Other factors, like prolonged school closures and rising crime, plausibly played a bigger role in families deciding to get out of the city. The "housing theory of everything"the idea that housing regulation impacts almost every social and economic issueis an increasingly popular idea. I've made a version of it myself. But one shouldn't overstate the case that housing is the only thing that matters. Still, economists are trained to think on the margins. The marginal impact of reducing regulations on building new homes will reduce housing costs and increase the availability of all different types of housing. We should expect that to make it easier for people who want families to have them. Quick Links San Francisco becomes the first city to ban property managers from using third-party rent recommendation software to help set rents. Such software has received a lot of (I'd argue misplaced) blame for enabling landlords to "collude" and raise prices. Hopefully, San Francisco's ban will be a good test case. If RealPage is the reason for expensive rents, we should expect the city to become a bastion of affordability now. Roanoke, Virginia, is the latest city to allow multi-unit homes in single-family areas and get sued for their trouble. After losing a battle with the zoning board, a Connecticut woman is being forced to relocate some 50 rescue pigs she was keeping on her property. As I've covered in the past, zoning laws frequently hamstring people's efforts to run animal shelters and animal-related businesses on their properties. At his Construction Physics Substack, Brian Potter looks at whether building regulations reduce construction productivity. Politico reports on the bipartisan consensus that we should allow more housing development on federal lands, as well as the partisan conflict over how best to do that. The post The Housing Theory of Childless Cat Ladies appeared first on Reason.com. Gov. Wes Moore (D) and U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-5th) listen to a question from the media at a Nov. 10, 2023, press conference about a new Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters planned for Maryland. Photo by Danielle E. Gaines. U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-5th), Marylands senior member of Congress, suffered a mild stroke on Sunday night, his office announced late Tuesday afternoon. The 85-year-old lawmaker has no lingering symptoms, a spokesperson said, and expects to be back at work next week. On Sunday night, August 11, Rep. Steny Hoyer experienced a mild ischemic stroke and sought medical treatment, Hoyers deputy chief of staff, Margaret Mulkerrin, said in the statement. Mr. Hoyer has responded well to treatment and has no lingering symptoms. He expects to resume his normal schedule next week. Mr. Hoyers wife and family extend their deepest thanks to his medical team. A transient ischemic attack is generally referred to as a ministroke. Its triggered by a brief blockage of blood flow to part of the brain, spinal cord or the retina. This blockage may cause temporary stroke-like symptoms, according to medical websites. Hoyers office offered no immediate details on where Hoyer was when the stroke occurred, or where he sought medical treatment. Congress is in recess until after Labor Day, and Hoyer was expecting to attend the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next week. But it isnt immediately clear if he will move forward with those plans. News of Hoyers stroke quickly brought well-wishes from colleagues and acquaintances. Prince Georges County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D) in a social media post wished Hoyer a speedy recovery and know you will be back delivering for Marylanders, as you always have followed shortly thereafter by former Gov. Larry Hogan (R), Alsobrooks opponent in this falls election for Senate, who wished Hoyer well on behalf of himself and his wife, Yumi. Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-4th) wished my colleague @RepStenyHoyer a speedy recovery this week, while the Maryland Democratic Partys official X account wished him well and said it looked forward to seeing him back on the campaign trail soon! Hoyer is an icon in both Maryland politics and on Capitol Hill, a rousing orator who is most at home at political gatherings like the Democratic convention. He is the senior-most Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives and the third most senior member overall, having entered Congress after winning a special election in 1981. He rose to become the second-ranking House Democrat for several years before exiting leadership at the beginning of this Congress. Hoyer has been heavily favored to win a 22nd full term in November over Republican Michelle Talkington. He is already the longest-serving member of Congress in Maryland history. U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) suffered a mini-stroke in May 2022 while addressing the Western Maryland Democratic Summit in Cumberland. He briefly leaned forward while delivering a speech but showed no other signs of distress, but said later he felt a popping in his neck at the time. Only after consulting with doctors on the car ride home did he realize something might be seriously wrong. Doctors kept him in the hospital for a week, for observation. He then recuperated for a few days at home before returning to work remotely while the Senate was in recess, then in the office. Van Hollen was 63 at the time and has shown no ill effects from the stroke since. Reporter Elijah Pittman contributed to this report. Hundreds of firefighters battled dozens of wildfires into submission in Greece over two days, a "superhuman effort" that had been paired with a "rapid operational response" to slow fast-moving blazes that threatened Athens, officials said. There are no active fires at the moment, the Hellenic Fire Service spokesperson said Tuesday evening local time in Greece. "Firemen are watering the fire-affected areas today and will keep watering them [over the] next days to keep the ground moist and control possible rekindling," the spokesperson said. Fire crews will remain vigilant for possible flare-ups, the spokesperson added. The European Union's Copernicus Emergency Management Service estimates that 10,409.7 hectares, or more than 25,000 acres, were burned in the affected area in the Attica region of Greece. PHOTO: Volunteers attempt to extinguish a wildfire in Vrilissia, on the outskirts of Athens on August 12, 2024. (Aris Oikonomou/AFP via Getty Images) Fire crews battled 41 wildfires over the past 24 hours, the Hellenic Fire Service said in an update earlier Tuesday. The fire danger is expected to continue into Wednesday, with a "very high risk of fire" predicted in several areas in the regions of Central Macedonia, Eastern Macedonia and the North Aegean, according to the Hellenic Fire Service, which said there will be aerial surveillance patrols due to the risk. The wildfires, which arrived amid extreme heat, had been cropping up throughout the country since at least Saturday, European officials said. Greek officials, who said an "outbreak" began Sunday, asked the European Commission for help battling the fires on Monday, according to a notice published by the Commission's Emergency Response Coordination Centre. MORE: Wildfire spreads near Athens amid scorching heat, prompting evacuations Greek authorities said Tuesday that two minors were arrested for allegedly setting an intentional fire in a forest area in the country's Attica region, where some wildfires have been raging. ABC News on Tuesday visited the scene of a shop that was engulfed in flames in the north Athens suburb of Vrilissia, where local authorities said the burned body of a woman was found late Monday. The circumstances of the death were still unclear, but authorities said it appeared the woman had stayed behind or may have been trapped as others evacuated the building, which was located some 18 miles from where a wildfire erupted in the wider Attica region. Hundreds of firefighters had been working to stop the fast-moving wildfires Monday near Athens, with tens of thousands of people under evacuation orders in the region, emergency officials said. Those fires burned some 6,600 hectares, or about 25 square miles, in the East Attica region, European officials said. Government officials warned of heightened risk for fire in several areas, including the Athens peninsula and the region north of it. The fire risk category in those areas had been raised to "extreme," weather officials said in a statement released Sunday. Those fires burned in a "rugged" location, where firefighters had to navigate mountains, forests and villages, Vassilis Kikilias, the Greek climate minister, said Tuesday. "This is the reality: despite the rapid operational response -- the new doctrine combined with technological support from drones, which has been applied to hundreds of wildfires throughout the summer -- when extreme conditions prevail, the problem becomes insurmountable," he said. PHOTO: This combination of Planet Labs handout satellite pictures created on August 12, 2024 shows East Attica, Greece, on August 11, 2024, and during a wildfire on August 12, 2024. (Planet Labs PBC/AFP via Getty Images) But calmer winds had helped firefighters near Athens get the upper hand on several fires burning in the suburbs. European countries were sending assistance, including firefighters and vehicles. Italy was sending two planes, and France was sending a helicopter, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said on Monday. Teams of firefighters were on their way from Czechia and Romania, she said. Temperatures near Athens were expected to climb on Tuesday to about 100 degrees Fahrenheit, with daily highs expected to be over 95 degrees for the remainder of the week, according to the Hellenic National Meteorological Center. PHOTO: Volunteers fight a wildfire near Penteli, on August 12, 2024. Greece's civil protection authorities ordered the evacuation of several towns in the north-eastern suburbs of Athens, threatened by a violent fire that started the day before. (Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP via Getty Images) Dozens of blazes were burning Monday along the edges of a fire that broke out in Varnavas on Sunday afternoon, Col. Vassilios Vathrakogiannis, of the country's fire service, said in a statement on Monday. More than 700 firefighters and nearly 200 vehicles were working with the Civil Protection agencies, he said. Eighteen helicopters and 17 other firefighting aircraft had been in use since the Varnavas blaze began spreading. Kikilias, the climate minister, said the people in towns north of Athens knew that "the firefighters, the Police, the Local Government, the volunteers, and the Army were there, fighting with superhuman efforts to prevent worse consequences." "These same firefighters have been working throughout the summer, extinguishing one fire after another," he said. ABC News' Emma Ogao, Ellie Kaufman, Guy Davies, Britt Clennett and Daphne Tolls contributed to this report. No active wildfires after hundreds of firefighters battled outbreak near Athens originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Hundreds of fleeing Rohingya reportedly killed in drone strikes as fears mount of ethnic cleansing in Myanmar Warning: This story contains graphic imagery. Renewed fears of ethnic cleansing against the stateless Rohingya Muslim community are mounting after reports that hundreds of people, including women and children, were killed by drone strikes while fleeing violence in Myanmars western Rakhine state last week. Videos shared widely on social media and geolocated by CNN showed dozens of bodies strewn across the muddy banks of the Naf River that separates Myanmar from Bangladesh. In one video, geolocated to the western edge of Maungdaw townships Myo Ma ward on the banks of the river, a man sobs as he walks down a muddy path stained with blood. The bodies of men, women and children can be seen lying in the sand, grass and pools of water. Piles of their colorful clothing and belongings are scattered half-submerged around them. Witnesses and Rohingya activists told CNN that a series of drone strikes on August 5 hit civilians fleeing fighting and violence in their villages in Maungdaw, northern Rakhine. The displaced families had been waiting to cross the river to Bangladesh at the time of the attack, they said. Imagery verified by CNN shows the aftermath of an attack on the western edge of Maungdaw townships Myo Ma ward. - From X Unverified reports put the death toll at about 200 people, which, if confirmed, would be one of the deadliest attacks against civilians in Myanmars three-year civil war, a conflict that broke out following the militarys 2021 coup. Witnesses and activists who spoke to CNN claim the Arakan Army (AA), a powerful ethic armed group fighting the Myanmar military, were responsible for last Mondays attacks on the Rohingya. The AA has denied involvement, saying in a statement that these deaths did not occur in areas under our control and are not related to our organization. But it added that its carrying out an offensive near Maungdaw to completely capture remaining military camps and had been warning civilians since June 16 to evacuate Muangdaw as quickly as possible. The AA said it was saddened to learn that Rohingya fleeing the town had reportedly been killed by small arms fire, bombings, drownings, airstrikes or massive explosions near the coast of Maungdaw, causing great distress. And it blamed the deaths on the Myanmar military and allied Rohingya armed groups. However, Myanmars military junta blamed the AA for attacks in Maungdaw in a state media report that claimed AA terrorists fired at townships, wards and villages in Rakhine state using heavy weapons and drones and tortured the villagers. CNN cannot independently attribute the reports of responsibility, or verify the number of people who were killed. A junta-imposed internet and telecoms blackout, and restrictions on access in the state is making it almost impossible for journalists, activists and international monitoring groups to verify exactly what is unfolding. Myanmars Rohingya have long suffered mass atrocities and forced displacement that many including United Nations experts consider to be genocide, perpetrated by the countrys military. The latest violence has echoes of attacks on the Rohingya in 2016 and 2017, when Myanmars military launched a brutal campaign of killing, rape and arson that is currently subject to a genocide investigation at the International Court of Justice. Fires and forced conscription Reports by activists and local media suggest attacks in villages close to Myanmars border with Bangladesh, along the Naf River, continued in the days after August 5, with accounts of more deaths, sexual violence, the burning of homes and forced conscription by the AA. The fighting is increasing, Nay San Lwin, a Rohingya activist and co-founder of the Free Rohingya Coalition, who spoke with residents in Maungdaw, told CNN Monday. There are about 4,000 to 5,000 people fleeing to AA-controlled areas and some 5,000 people in the downtown area. Remote sensing data curated by NASAs Fire Information for Resource Management System and viewed by CNN also suggests fires began in downtown Maungdaw in the early hours of August 6. Satellite imagery similarly indicates thermal scarring in Rohingya-majority areas of Maungdaw, though fire damage does not appear extensive. In a statement on Friday, medical NGO Doctors Without Borders said its teams in Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh treated 39 Rohingya people who had crossed from Myanmar with violence-related injuries including mortar shell injuries and gunshot wounds. Patients, more than 40% of whom were women and children, described seeing people bombed while trying to board boats across the river and others said they saw hundreds of bodies on the riverbanks, said the statement from the NGO, also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). MSF said its the first time in a year their staff have seen serious injuries on this scale. It is clear that the safe space for civilians in Myanmar is shrinking more each day, with people forced to make perilous journeys to Bangladesh to seek safety, said Orla Murphy, MSF country representative in Bangladesh. Forced to flee Fighting between the AA and the Myanmar military have intensified around Maungdaw in recent weeks as the rebel group continues its offensive to seize more military posts and towns from the junta. Hasan, a 24-year-old student who spoke with CNN by phone from Bangladesh on Friday, said he fled his village north of Maungdaw on August 5, following a series of drones and artillery attacks that he said were launched by the AA. In the first drone attack, 30 people were killed and in the second attack I saw 50 people dead, he said. Two villages were set on fire, he added. Hasan, who goes by one name, was shot in his right leg as he fled to the river, according to X-ray and medical records he shared with CNN. But Hasan said he is one of the lucky ones. He managed to board a boat and cross the 2-mile stretch of river to Bangladesh. It was not easy to cross the border. During the attack I got to a boat. After one hour waiting in the middle of the river, we crossed the Bangladesh border, he said. People were dead in the river Luckily I safely reached Bangladesh. Rohingya refugees walk on road through a closed market at Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhia, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on August 25, 2020. - Rehman Asad/NurPhoto/Getty Images/File On Thursday, doctors removed shrapnel from Hasans leg at an MSF-run field hospital in Coxs Bazar, where an estimated 1 million Rohingya people live in squalid and overcrowded conditions in sprawling refugee camps. Mohammad Elias, another Rohingya resident of Maungdaw, said AA soldiers attacked his village last week, killing residents. I saw it with my eyes. The AA launched a drone attack. They came to our houses, they came into our villages, said Elias, who spoke to CNN by phone from the camps in Bangladesh. I saw some of the young men (killed) in knife attacks a lot of people were killed, men, women and children - my family members. On the evening of August 5, Elias said he sheltered under a bridge as residents were attacked with guns and drones. He managed to cross by boat to Bangladesh with his brother and father, who was shot in the knee. Elias said his sister and niece tried to flee on another boat but were detained by Bangladeshi law enforcement. He doesnt know what has happened to them, he said. I dont have money, I dont have shelter, Elias said. We need justice, innocent people are dying We need a ceasefire. CNN has reached out to Bangladeshs Border Guard Force for comment following reports that hundreds of Rohingya refugees had been detained. Reports suggested some people had been sent back to Myanmar. CNN cannot independently verify these reports. In its statement, the AA said it condemns all forms of violence against civilian population and clearly instructs its members to adhere to military discipline and international humanitarian laws during warfare. Fears of ethnic cleansing A new report from Human Rights Watch released Tuesday said both the Myanmar junta forces and the AA have committed extrajudicial killings and widespread arson against Rohingya and other civilians in Rakhine state in recent months, raising the specter of ethnic cleansing. In May, the AA seized the town of Buthidaung, east of Maungdaw. Subsequent reports from activists and relatives emerged of extrajudicial killings, fighters torching and looting Rohingya neighborhoods, and forcing thousands of people to flee. Forced recruitment of Rohingya men and boys is stoking religious tensions between the Rohingya Muslim and Rakhine Buddhist communities, the report said. Ethnic Rohingya and Rakhine civilians are bearing the brunt of the atrocities that the Myanmar military and opposition Arakan Army are committing, said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. Both sides are using hate speech, attacks on civilians, and massive arson to drive people from their homes and villages, raising the specter of ethnic cleansing. CNNs Michael Mitsanas and Nyah Peebles contributed reporting. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com 'Hundreds' of Russian soldiers surrendered during Ukraine's incursion of Kursk Oblast, Zelensky says "Hundreds" of Russian soldiers have so far surrendered during Ukraine's operation in Russia's Kursk Oblast, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Aug. 13. "I would like to thank all our soldiers who replenish the exchange fund. It is very important for our country," Zelensky said in his evening address. "Hundreds of Russian soldiers have already surrendered, and all of them will be treated humanely. They did not even receive such treatment in their own Russian army," Zelensky added. Ukraine's cross-border incursion into neighboring Kursk Oblast began on Aug. 6, and by Aug. 13, Ukraine said it controlled 74 settlements in the region. Russia's regional authorities claimed on Aug. 12 that Ukraine is in control of 28 settlements in Kursk Oblast, adding that the incursion was up to 12 kilometers deep along a 40-kilometer front. Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi told reporters on Aug. 13 that "unlike Russia, Ukraine does not seek to seize territory" but wants to "protect the lives of our people." Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast aims to prevent Moscow from sending additional reinforcements to the front in Donbas and stop Russian cross-border strikes, Tykhyi said. Read also: Kursk incursion and Crimea strikes could ease pressure on Ukraines Donbas forces Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. IAEA experts unable to determine cause of fire at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have conducted an inspection of the cooling tower after the fire at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), but were unable to determine the cause of the blaze. Source: IAEAs statement Details: The IAEA stated that the team confirmed there were no significant signs of damage from wreckage, ash or soot near the base of the cooling tower. Quote: "Neither tyre nor drone remains were observed during the walkdown." "The team has not been able to draw definitive conclusions on the basis of the findings and observations so far. The IAEA will continue its overall analysis after additional review and access to the water nozzle distribution level and the cold-water basin." Previously: Serhii Lysak, Head of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration, reported that the fire at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) had been extinguished. Background: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced that its experts had witnessed thick dark smoke coming out of the northern area of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) following numerous explosions on the evening of 11 August. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Russians had started a fire on the territory of the ZNPP and urged the IAEA and the international community to respond to the incident. No changes to radiation levels near the ZNPP have been documented. Yevhen Yevtushenko, Head of Nikopol District Military Administration, had previously reported that the ZNPP was operating as usual, and the Russians had likely set fire to a large quantity of car tyres in the cooling tower. Cooling tower number one is located about a kilometre from the plant's power units. The Russian occupiers have blamed Ukraine for allegedly attacking the city of Enerhodar and claim that background radiation around the ZNPP is normal. Support UP or become our patron! IAEA says still no known cause of fire at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant (Reuters) - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said late on Tuesday that evidence continues to indicate that Monday's fire at the Russia-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine did not start at the base of the cooling tower or by a foreign object. "The evidence gathered reinforces our conclusion that the main fire seems unlikely to be at the base of the cooling tower," the IAEA cited its head, Rafael Mariano Grossi, as saying in a statement. It said "foreign objects or materials were visible" in the damaged tower. The Russian management of the plant told the IAEA that the tower may need to be dismantled, the IAEA said. (Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Leslie Adler) IAEA says it is unable to determine cause of fire at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Aug. 12 that it had been unable to determine the cause of the fire at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) that was started a day earlier. Ukrainian officials accused Russian forces on Aug. 11 of setting fire to "a large number of automobile tires in cooling towers" at the nuclear plant in an effort to "create panic in the settlements on the right bank of the former reservoir." Soon after, President Vlodymyr Zelensky called on the IAEA to hold Russia accountable for the alleged provocation. "As long as Russian terrorists retain control of the nuclear power plant, the situation is not and cannot be normal," Zelensky said in a Telegram post Aug. 11. "We are waiting for the world's reaction, waiting for the IAEA's reaction," he added. In response to the fire, the IAEA responded on Aug. 11 that its expert witnesses were "told by ZNPP of an alleged drone attack" on a cooling tower on-site, echoing claims of a drone attack shared by Russian-installed authorities in occupied Zaporizhzhia, CNN reported. On Aug. 12, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Rossi issued a statement describing damage to the cooling stations, and adding that the agency found no signs of drone debris or evidence that the fire started at the base of the cooling tower. "The team has not been able to draw definitive conclusions on the basis of the findings and observations so far," the statement from the IAEA read. "The IAEA will continue its overall analysis after additional review and access to the water nozzle distribution level and the cold-water basin." The IAEA added that nuclear safety at the power plant had not been affected. "No radioactive material is present in the area of the cooling towers, which is located approximately 1.5 kilometers from the reactor units at ZNPP," the statement added. Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Governor Serhii Lysak said that the fire had been put out in the morning of Aug. 12. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe's largest nuclear power station, has been under Russian occupation since March 2022. Its position near the front line has led to heightened nuclear safety risks throughout Russia's full-scale war. Read also: Russian forces dig trenches near Kursk nuclear plant as Ukrainian troops advance, BBC reports Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Idaho students will head back to school this month and should expect some changes this year. From new state laws, to school closures and budget shortfalls, families in the Treasure Valley will need to navigate some new policies implemented at school districts. Heres what students across Idaho and in the Boise area can expect this coming school year. Boise School District Class begins Wednesday for Boise schools, where all students will get free breakfast as part of an initiative administrators say will ensure kids have access to nutritious meals at the start of each day. The district approved the change as part of the 2024-25 budget. Many schools in the district will also offer free lunch to all students as part of a program meant to help schools in high-poverty areas to provide meals to all students. You can find which schools here. The district is also opening the Lincoln Early Learning Center, a new facility that will serve students ages 3 to 5. And the district is planning to open another early childhood learning center next school year to serve pre-kindergarten students on the Bench. The district offers early childhood options at many elementary schools but is looking to shift to a center approach. With the centers, district officials said they can outfit buildings specifically for young kids, provide services and encourage collaboration among teachers. Early childhood learning centers also emphasize inclusion for students with disabilities, which helps with cognitive, communication, and social-emotional skills, Lincoln Assistant Principal Lisa Ramey-Hernandez said in a news release. West Ada School District Students in the West Ada School District can expect to see a few major changes this year. Cellphones will no longer be allowed in the classroom. The school board fell in line with policymakers nationwide, as school districts struggle with distractions and social media abuse, and passed a policy that directs the superintendent to create procedures to limit students access to personal electronic devices during instructional time. The district plans to implement a new monitoring system for students who ride the bus districtwide. All students will be given identifying badges that they will scan when they get on and off the bus. The badges dont track student locations aside from the location of their stops, West Adas Chief Operating Officer David Reinhart said, but allow parents to know if their children get off the bus at the wrong place. The system will also be able to generate a list of all of the students on the bus if its involved in a crash. Parents are really anxious if their kid doesnt get home to the stop that they thought they were going to, Reinhart told the Idaho Statesman. Younger kids often dont use cellphones yet, he added. So its been well worth it. Just for kids, safety, communication with parents. The district is launching new resources for students with behavioral needs and partnering with Varsity Tutors for Schools, a platform students can use for free for services that include on-demand chat tutoring and essay review. The platform will be available to all students until 2030. Nampa School District Students in Nampa and Caldwell school districts will be attending new schools after budget shortfalls and enrollment drops forced school closures and shifted school boundaries. The Nampa School District stopped operating four schools Centennial, Greenhurt and Snake River elementary schools and West Middle School. Most of the buildings will be repurposed. If you were a student at one of these schools, you can find your new school on the Nampa School District website. The school district also moved to a four-day week. Students in elementary school will attend school from 8:51 a.m. to 4:21 p.m., and students in secondary schools will go from 7:30 a.m. to 3:36 p.m. Caldwell School District The Caldwell School District will close Lincoln Elementary, which served about 300 students over the past year. The district decided to close the school after a failed levy and budget cuts, but the building will be repurposed. As part of the reorganization of its schools, the district will reconfigure its middle schools and move fifth and sixth graders to Jefferson Middle School and seventh and eighth graders to Syringa Middle School. Both of those schools previously served students in grades 6-8. The district also implemented new pay-to-play fees after its supplemental levy failed. Students will now need to pay $100 to play a sport in middle or high school. Many school districts in the Treasure Valley already had pay-to-play fees, including West Ada and Kuna, according to previous Statesman reporting. Idaho laws address harmful materials, pronouns New state laws implemented July 1 will impact all schools across Idaho. That includes a new law on harmful library materials for children. School libraries will need to adjust to more scrutiny over the books they offer students and may create restricted sections. The law makes it easier to sue districts over books parents consider harmful to children, which could include books that contain sexual conduct, nudity or homosexual content. It allows parents to try to claim damages if a library doesnt move a challenged material to an adults only section within 60 days. Students over 18 would be able to access that section or those with parent permission. The Idaho School Boards Association advised school districts against reviewing every book in their collections. Rather, districts should already have some level of review in their collection policies and should respond to challenges as they come, according to guidance from the groups legal counsel. But the association said schools should be prepared to create some kind of restricted section, where they can move books after a successful challenge with a review committee or while theyre being reviewed. The law is in litigation. A group of private schools and privately funded libraries sued state officials, arguing that the law takes away parental rights, threatens the independence of institutions and amounts to unprecedented government interference, according to previous Statesman reporting. Other new laws that impact students: Districts will have to comply with a new law that requires parental approval for students who use pronouns or names different from their sex at birth forcing teachers to potentially out transgender or nonbinary students to their families. It also protects teachers who refuse to use the pronouns students request. The state will offer more money students can use on dual credit courses, career technical education workforce training courses, college entrance exams and AP exams, giving students more opportunities to earn credits. Each public school student will be able to get $500 more than last year, while each private or home-schooled student could also get an additional $1,750. In the last fiscal year, about 43,000 students used the advanced opportunities program. A drivers education law allows qualified parents to serve as private educators for Class D Drivers Training Instruction permits. Parents with valid drivers licenses who havent had their license suspended or revoked in the previous two years and live in a rural school district could qualify for the program. Lawmakers said this could help students in rural areas who have to travel long distances to take required drivers education. According to a bullish Wall Street analyst, Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) stock could outperform for investors. Following the company's latest earnings report, Matt Miksic from Barclays maintained his buy rating and raised his price target to $143 per share. At recent prices, Miksic's price target predicts a gain of about 32% once the rest of the stock market sees Abbott Laboratories in the same light as he does. In the "pro" column, Abbott Laboratories recently announced an advantageous deal with Medtronic (NYSE: MDT), another leading medical device maker. In the "con" column, Abbott attracted a hefty penalty related to a baby formula lawsuit. Can Abbott overcome its challenges to deliver a market-beating performance? Let's look at both sides. Reasons to buy Abbott Laboratories now It's been over 100 years since Abbott Laboratories shareholders did not get a quarterly dividend payment. Moreover, the company has raised its payout for 52 consecutive years. At recent prices, the stock offers an uninspiring 2% yield, but it could become a big source of passive income in the coming years. Abbott's dividend payout isn't just rising, it's soaring. It's up by 72% over the past five years thanks partly to company success due to sales of diabetes devices that could shift into an even higher gear. The latest version of Abbott's continuous blood-glucose monitor (CGM), FreeStyle Libre 3, launched in the U.S. market in late 2022. That was about eight months ahead of its top competitor, Dexcom's G7. Abbott has hung on to its early lead with second-quarter FreeStyle Libre sales that soared 18.4% year over year to $1.6 billion. Over the same time frame, Dexcom reported revenue that grew by 15% to an even $1 billion. As a diversified conglomerate, Abbott can afford to price its CGM competitively, and this isn't the only reason to expect continued dominance in this space. Recently, Abbott announced a new partnership with Medtronic, the world's leading manufacturer of medical devices. Abbott will contribute CGM technology to a new integrated system that includes Medtronic's automated insulin delivery technology and its smart insulin pens. Abbott's CGM franchise is an important growth driver, but it isn't the only revenue stream that's getting bigger. The company's nutrition and established pharmaceuticals segments reported strong growth in the most recent quarter and so did diagnostics if you exclude the impact of COVID-19 tests. With all of its operating segments moving in the right direction, Abbott reported total first-half sales that rose 10% year over year, if you ignore COVID-19 tests and the negative effects of currency exchange. Story continues Shares of Abbott are not as highly valued as you might expect for a company growing sales by a double-digit percentage. At recent prices, you can scoop up shares for about 23 times the midpoint of management's adjusted earnings estimate for 2024. Reason to avoid Abbott Laboratories While Abbott investors are most interested in its innovative medical devices, it's also a leading producer of baby formula and adult nutrition supplements. However, Abbott's nutrition segment could become an albatross. In July, a jury in St. Louis ordered the company to pay $495 million over allegations that it hid the risk that its premature-infant formula could cause a severe bowel complication called necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). The company plans to appeal. The recent verdict against Abbott might not be the last. At the end of January, Abbott was a party to 993 lawsuits in state and federal courts. Is the stock a buy now? Abbott does not expect a material loss from NEC lawsuits and plans to appeal the latest ruling against it. I agree that proving Abbott's baby formula is responsible for NEC cases will be an uphill battle, so there's a good chance that the first verdict to go against Abbott can be overturned on appeal. Missouri civil law doesn't require unanimous jury verdicts and in this case, only nine out of 12 were in agreement. Over the past year, Abbott's operations generated $5.7 billion in free cash flow and the company only needed 65% of this sum to meet its dividend obligation. Even if the company ends up spending more than $1 billion related to NEC lawsuits, it will still have plenty of profits left over to invest in the future and raise its dividend payout. Buying the stock now and holding it over the long run looks like a smart move. Should you invest $1,000 in Abbott Laboratories right now? Before you buy stock in Abbott Laboratories, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now and Abbott Laboratories wasnt one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, youd have $641,864!* Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than quadrupled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of August 12, 2024 Cory Renauer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Abbott Laboratories. The Motley Fool recommends Barclays Plc, DexCom, and Medtronic and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $75 calls on Medtronic and short January 2026 $85 calls on Medtronic. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Abbott Laboratories Stock Could Soar to $143, According to a Wall Street Analyst. Is It a Buy Around $108? was originally published by The Motley Fool What Idiot Let the Trump Campaign Get Hacked? This One. Roger Stones email account was broken into by suspected hackers to try to gain access to the accounts of senior Trump campaign officials. Microsoft reported Friday that a former senior adviser of a presidential campaign had been successfully spear-phished. The next day, the Trump campaign announced that it had fallen victim to a hack in June. The campaign did not initially alert the FBI because the team distrusts the agency, people close to the campaign said. Multiple sources confirmed to CNN Tuesday that the adviser whod been hacked was none other than Stone, a longtime GOP operative and self-proclaimed agent provocateur. A group of hackers were able to break into Stones email account in June, with the hopes of accessing his vast network, and using phishing emails as a means of entry into the Trump campaigns inner workingsand it seems they were successful. The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Politico have all reported receiving stolen files from the Trump campaign, but as of yet have not reported on the contents of their bounty. Mr. Stone was contacted about this matter by Microsoft and the FBI and continues to cooperate with both, said Grant Smith, Stones lawyer, per CNN. Mr. Stone will have no further comment at this time. In a brief statement, Stone told the Post that hed been informed by authorities that a couple of his personal email accounts had been accessed by the hackers. I really dont know more about it. And Im cooperating. Its all very strange. Donald Trump, for his part, has blamed the hack on Iran, citing Microsofts report as its evidence. Microsoft declined to comment to NBC, citing its policy of not sharing client details without permission. While Iran has denied allegations that it was connected to the incident, the techniques associated with the hack are consistent with those used by Iranian hackers, according to CNN. Ultimately, it seems like Stone shouldve known better, given his prior brush with massive, campaign-damaging email hacks. It has been theorized that Stone allegedly knew about the 2016 hacking of emails from the Democratic National Committee, and Hillary Clintons campaign chairman John Podesta, before they were ever published by WikiLeaks, thanks to his backchannel communications with Julian Assange. This story has been updated. Ilhan Omar fights for reelection after 'the Squad' sees major losses: What to know about Tuesday's primary Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., a member of the progressive set of lawmakers known as the Squad, faces a fight for her political life on Tuesday in a closely watched showdown. Omar, one of the most prominent lawmakers on the left, is running in the Democratic primary for Minnesotas 5th Congressional District against former Minneapolis City Council Member Don Samuels. The two also competed in the districts 2022 primary, a race that came down to just a few thousand votes. But surely Omars race is one of several primaries happening across the country on Tuesday? Why has the rematch garnered national attention? Its because the Democratic showdown comes as two other members of the Squad Reps. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., and Cori Bush, D-Mo. were ousted in primaries earlier this year where they saw widespread pushback from pro-Israel groups. Bush, Bowman and Omar are three of the most vocal critics of the Israeli government in Congress. But if youre following Omars race and get deja vu, keep in mind that her reelection bid has some significant differences from those of her fellow progressives. Heres what you need to know about Tuesdays primary. Ilhan Omar's 2022 rematch First, lets catch up on Omar and Samuels 2022 race. That year, the Democratic lawmaker defeated Samuels by just 2,466 votes. It was much closer than her 2020 reelection primary, which she handily won by a little more than 35,000. While Omar and Samuels sparred on a wide range of issues, it was policing in America that took center stage in their last election. Omar had been one of the more outspoken lawmakers demanding police policy changes in the state where George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police in 2020. During that campaign, she didnt waver from her support for cutting police budgets to fund anti-violence and social programs to lower crime. Samuels ran heavily on putting more money toward police to combat rising crime. He focused on his role in defeating a Minneapolis ballot initiative that tried to replace the police department with a public safety agency. 'Squad' members and the Israel-Hamas war In 2024, political observers are less focused on Omar and Samuels stances on policing and have instead zeroed in on their comments on the Israel-Hamas war. Thats because Omar is a frequent critic of the Israeli government and has condemned its actions in Gaza. But shes made more controversial comments than many other lawmakers who have raised concerns about Israels actions. She faced significant backlash in April after she suggested while visiting protesters on Columbia Universitys campus that some Jewish students supported genocide. But her comments date back to before Hamas Oct. 7 attack on Israel that sparked the ongoing war. The Republican majority removed Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee in February 2023 over previous comments she made about Israel that members of both parties viewed as antisemitic. After launching his campaign last year, Samuels knocked Omar for voting against sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine but backing sanctions for Israel. More: Rep. Ilhan Omar vows to 'continue to speak up' after GOP House removes her from committee Our congresswoman has a predilection to divisiveness and conflict, Samuels told the Associated Press at the time. So if youve been following the Squads recent primaries, including Bush and Bowmans losses, you might think Omar is certain to follow in her colleagues footsteps, as they were also major critics of the Israeli government. But there are a couple of factors that set her on firmer ground. For example, Omar has out-fundraised Samuels, according to multiple reports, and shes spent significantly more on ads to reach voters in the district. Additionally, Bush and Bowman were facing millions of dollars in spending against them from pro-Israel groups, particularly the United Democracy Project, a super PAC thats affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Omars race hasnt seen the same money pour in from outside groups, a factor that could make a difference in her reelection bid. Contributing: Phillip Bailey and Karissa Waddick, USA TODAY This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ilhan Omar fights for reelection after 'the Squad' sees major losses Representative Ilhan Omars Democratic primary opponent Don Samuels has had quite the week leading up to polls opening in Minnesota on Tuesdayincluding openly courting Republican voters and getting caught possibly breaking campaign finance laws. In a WhatsApp group chat titled Zionists for Don Samuels, Alexander Minnwho has been a director of strategic engagement for Samuelss campaign since 2022openly discussed campaign strategy with its many members, The Intercept reported on Sunday. Minn is no longer with the campaign, according to Samuelss campaign manager, Joe Radinovich. This chat of wealthy pro-Israel donors included businessman Michael Sinensky, who said hed worked with a super PAC called Make a Difference MN, which he proudly claimed had taken on the role of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in the race. Ive heard dozens of questions of where is AIPAC, Sinensky wrote in the chat. We are fucking AIPAC now. AIPAC has funded the victorious primary challengers of two other progressive lawmakers in the Squad, Representatives Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush, both of whom were critical of Israel and its U.S.-backed military campaign in Gaza, which has killed nearly 40,000 people. Both lawmakers were knocked out in their primary races, against the tidal wave of pro-Israel funding and opponents who supported Israel. Omar seems to be the next target from the list of lawmakers who have called for a cease-fire and criticized Israels military campaign in Gaza. Last month, she called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a war criminal who is actively committing genocide against the Palestinian people while putting the lives of the hostages and the stability of the region in jeopardy. Sinensky, who argued that Zionists ought to be supportive of alt right Christian Neo Nazis on the PRESIDENTIAL LEVEL in the group chat, later alleged that Omar was antisemitic in a statement to The Intercept. Minn also claimed that she was a purveyor of hate against Jewish people. In the chat with Minn, Sinensky claimed that hed worked with Make a Difference MN to raise $120,000 since the end of July to support Samuelss bid. Campaign finance laws strictly prohibit political campaigns from coordinating with super PACS. While Minn tried to make clear the legal boundaries preventing his coordination, he still discussed raising six-figure sums for Make a Difference MN. Minn also said that his campaign was in regular communication with AIPAC. Several members of my campaign staff, myself included, have intimate relationships with active and Former executive member of AIPAC, Minn wrote in a message on July 24. In the Zionists for Don Samuels chat, Minn also discussed strategies to attract Republican voters, to bolster support for Samuels. While Radinovich claimed that he doesnt think winning a primary with Republican voters in an 80 percent Democratic district is a strategy that would be successful, it seems that Samuels has moved forward with outreach to conservative voters anyway. Samuels appeared on Fox News Monday night, speaking about a fundraising surge hed experienced since Bush was knocked out of her primary only a week ago. He called Omar divisive and combative. She picks a side including simply trying to divide her constituency and ignores the other side, he said, claiming she had taken contrarian actions apart from her Democratic colleagues. Samuels said hed gone from 100 volunteers to 13,000 volunteers. When asked why he had decided to challenge Omar, he did not mention Israel. Ilhan Omar seeks to avoid same fate as fellow Squad members in primary race Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar will face off against a former challenger in her districts primary race on Tuesday (Getty Images) Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, a progressive member of the House and part of The Squad, will try to avoid a similar fate met by two close allies in her primary election on Tuesday. Omar, who has represented Minnesotas 5th congressional district since 2018, is facing off, again, against Don Samuels a Minneapolis City Council member who Omar narrowly defeated two years ago. All eyes will be on Tuesdays primary to see how Omar fares against Samuels given two other members of The Squad the group of progressive left-wing young representatives in the House have faced defeats in their districts. Last week, Missouri Rep Cori Bush lost her primary to a local prosecutor in an expensive and contentious race. New York Rep Jamaal Bowman also lost his seat in the most expensive House primary in history thanks to an onslaught of funding to his challenger. Both losses were, in part, attributed to Bush and Bowmans support of a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict something Omar has been an outspoken advocate of. Ilhan Omar (left) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are both members of The Squad a group of progressive left-wing representatives in the House of Representatives (Getty Images) The American Israel Public Affairs Committee super PAC, a pro-Israel lobbying group, poured more than $14 million into Bowmans primary, successfully unseating him. That same group spent more than $9 million in Bushs primary. But the super PAC chose not to involve itself in Omars primary, a spokesperson for the group told The Hill. This has given Omars supporters a confidence boost that she can maintain her seat. Despite last-ditch efforts by right-wing interests and Trump donors to boost her opponent, the people of MN-05 know Ilhan Omar is the representation they deserve to have in Congress, Usamah Andrabi, communications director for Justice Democrats, an organization supporting Omar, told The Hill. Two years ago, Omar defeated Samuels by less than 3,000 votes in her district an extremely narrow win. At the time, Samuels campaign outpaced Omars in donations and spending. But Omars campaign has changed strategies since then, she told AXIOS that her team was campaigning the way we normally campaign like using volunteers to door knock, call or text voters So far, Omar has outraised Samuels by millions of dollars, according to OpenSecrets. Her campaign has spent more than $4 million while Samuels has spent less than one million. Omar became the first Somali-American elected to Congress in 2018 when she won her district with more than 70 percent of the vote. She is one of the first two Muslim women to serve in Congress, alongside fellow Squad member Rashida Tlaib. Over the last year, Omar has made headlines for heavily criticizing Israel for the invasion of Gaza and killing of thousands of innocent Palestinians in retaliation for the October 7th attack by Hamas. But some have accused her of making antisemitic comments. U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota on Tuesday put a stop to the losing streak that the Squad of progressive Democrats in the House had been on this summer. Omar, the incumbent of Minnesotas 5th Congressional District, beat her primary challenger, Don Samuels, a former Minneapolis City Council member who nearly defeated her in the same race in 2022, with the help of a $350,000 contribution from the United Democracy Project, a super PAC affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. But this result wasnt a foregone conclusion. Just ask Nina Turner. They specifically target Black progressives, said Turner, a former Ohio state legislator who in 2022 was defeated in a Democratic congressional primary by current U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown, who received support from the Democratic Majority for Israel, an AIPAC ally. They do not care about hungry babies, unemployed mommies and daddies, or the struggle. They only care about the positioning of that person to Israel, a foreign country. Samuels was the latest Democratic challenger this year to take on a member of the Squad, whose members include staunch critics of U.S. foreign policy toward Israel. Last year, AIPACs leaders promised to spend up to $100 million to defeat every member of the Squad during the 2024 election cycle. Turner told Capital B that the group, its allies, and affiliated super PACs have succeeded in undermining candidates whose policies are overwhelmingly supported by Black Americans across the nation. AIPACs critics, including supporters of the Squad and some progressive activists, have accused the group and its affiliates of deploying misinformation and racist campaign ads among other tactics intended to defeat progressive Black and brown candidates. AIPAC counters that it has never been anti-Black and that it backs Black candidates aligned with its mission of supporting Israel, including some of the Squads challengers. The group has also donated to the campaigns of more than half of the Congressional Black Caucus, according to The Intercept. Still, some organizers on the left characterize AIPACs involvement in the primary challenges as an effort to undermine a progressive legislative agenda that includes protecting voting rights, enacting police reform, battling homelessness, and pushing for higher wages all issues important to many Black voters for the sake of advancing of Israeli foreign policy concerns. AIPAC and their donors are threatened by working-class people having working-class representation because the interests they advance are the interests of everyday people, Usamah Andrabi, spokesperson for the progressive PAC known as Justice Democrats, told Capital B on Monday. This is a fight for the soul of the Democratic Party. Omar holds the line Whether as a result of pro-Israel groups campaigning or their own political missteps, the Squad suffered big losses this primary season. Omar, whose district includes Minneapolis, a diverse city with many left-leaning voters, bucked that trend. Samuels painted himself as a pragmatist willing to work across the political spectrum. He cast Omar as an uncompromising radical who alienates even those within her own party, rebuking her for opposing President Joe Bidens infrastructure bill, which she saw as not going far enough. AIPAC may not have viewed this primary as fertile ground for an upset, as it did with the challenges to U.S. Reps. Jamaal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri. Those were races in which the group poured financial support to help defeat Squad incumbents this year., But it didnt directly target Omar this cycle by buying campaign ads that championed her challenger. Still, Samuels and some of his supporters worked to make Israel a top issue in the campaign. Samuels railed against Omar for criticizing Israels reprisal against Gaza following Hamas attack on the country last October, and even called her a pawn for Hamas and claimed that her opinions are the last straw in a long series of insensitive statements about Israel and Jewish people. The Intercept reported on Sunday that a group calling itself Zionists for Don Samuels was using WhatsApp to coordinate their efforts to defeat Omar. Of all the members of the Squad to face primary challenges so far, Omar was best poised to succeed. Her fundraising haul dwarfed Samuels. In her pre-primary financial report, she recorded raising $6.2 million, more than four times what Samuels raked in and more than double what she accrued two years ago, according to the Associated Press. That positioned her to fend off her challengers campaign, which Omars team said had received donations from right-wing and Republican-supporting donors, per Mother Jones. [Pro-Israel groups] really dont like Ilhan Omar. I dont think theres any doubt about that, Larry Jacobs, a political scientist and the director of the University of Minnesotas Center for the Study of Politics and Governance, told the Star Tribune last month. But they just dont see the probability of a win there being adequate enough to justify a substantial investment. Omar emphasized her various legislative accomplishments and endeavors, from directing $54 million toward community project funding to feeding about 30 million children via the MEALS Act to fighting to cancel student loan debt. Its those types of policies that Turner and others say get lost as groups backing Israel elevate foreign policy as an issue in local congressional races. AIPAC, though, says that it has supported candidates with strong ties to both Black constituents and its primary concern. Any allegation or suggestion that our support or opposition is based on race is categorically false, AIPAC spokesman Marshall Wittmann told Capital B. It is entirely consistent with progressive values to stand with Americas democratic ally, Israel. This story has been updated. The post Ilhan Omar Ends the Squads Losing Streak appeared first on Capital B News. PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) The state of Illinois announced it returned a record-breaking $301 million back to Illinois residents in the fiscal year 2024. Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs returned the money through the states missing money program called I-CASH. Last month, WMBD worked with the treasurer to hold an I-CASH event to connect viewers with unclaimed items. That money will be part of the 2025 fiscal year. During Julys event, a total of 415 people called in, which led to 136 claims created for a total value of more than $66,000. The Illinois State Treasurers office recommends that people check at least twice a year to see if any money is waiting for you. You can find a link to check for missing money by clicking here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CIProud.com. South Dakotas increase of foreign-born population over the past 12 years exceeded the national average by three times, according to the American Community Survey Brief of the most recent U.S. Census Bureau report. The states population of people born overseas grew by 45.5% between 2010 and 2022, or 10,000 people, compared to 15.6% across the entire United States. Only North Dakota, where the foreign-born population grew from 17,000 to 38,000 people within the same 12 years, had a larger percentage increase. Nassir Yemam moved to South Dakota in the early 2000s as a refugee from Ethiopia and lives in Sioux Falls. I havent had any bad experience, the people are good. I like the American way of life, he said. Im really happy with the place where I am, thats why I stayed here for a very long time. Weiwei Zhang, state demographer and South Dakota State University professor, said that despite the increase, the number of foreign-born residents in South Dakota is still low, compared to states like California and New York. In fact, analysis of the American Community Survey Brief shows that South Dakota has the fifth-lowest share of foreign-born residents in the country. Out of South Dakotas estimated 910,000 residents, nearly 32,000, or 3.5%, are from outside of the United States, according to the brief. Zhang added that the increase in foreign-born population in South Dakota is an extension of the national trend. Whats notable, however, is where foreign-born residents come from, she said. Before 2000, the largest number of people came to South Dakota from Latin America, which was closely followed by Asia and then Europe. Since 2000, more people have been moving to South Dakota from Asia and Africa, moving Latin America to third place. In 2018, according to an American Immigration Council report, most foreign-born residents in South Dakota were from Guatemala, the Philippines, Mexico, Sudan and Ethiopia. Financial impact of immigration in South Dakota Households led by foreign-born residents paid $137.7 million in federal, state and local taxes in 2018, the same report said. Zhang said some of the industries with the most workers from abroad are manufacturing, health care, transportation, and human and social services. While official statistics do not contain data on why people might be moving to a particular place, Zhang said she speculates job opportunities, housing supply and existing ties with family or friends might be some of the reasons why people move to South Dakota from overseas. For some people, moving to the United States is caused by the fear for their lives and the lives of their family, said Rebecca Kiesow-Knudsen, president and CEO at Lutheran Social Services of South Dakota. Those people are refugees. No individual wishes to become a refugee. Thats not something that people desire, Kiesow-Knudsen said. Current affairs affect where people resettle from As of July 31, more than 280 refugees have resettled in South Dakota in fiscal year 2024, which started in October, according to the Refugee Processing Center. This is an increase compared to last years 206 people. So far, most people came from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Archives from the Refugee Processing Center show that 509 people from there have resettled in South Dakota since 2012. Ahead of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in terms of arrivals in South Dakota, are Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, and Bhutan with 821 and 1,085 people, respectively. Kiesow-Knudsen said countries from which people resettle in the United States tend to change based on conflicts that are happening around the world. Kiesow-Knudsen added that it is difficult for the center to accurately say how many refugees are in the state. The organization only knows of those people who come to it and seek assistance. We know that there are many individuals who arrive, maybe in a different part of the country, and decide to move to South Dakota because its a good place for their families and never talk to us, Kiesow-Knudsen said. The process behind the scenes The decision on how many refugees will relocate to the United States starts in the White House, said Kiesow-Knudsen. In 2023, the U.S. government sponsored more than 60,000 refugees to enter the country, according to the LSS Center for New Americans. For fiscal year 2024, President Joe Biden authorized the admission of up to 125,000 refugees, according to the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. As of July 31, the United States has already welcomed more than 74,000 refugees, according to the Refugee Processing Center. Kiesow-Knudsen said that once the president signs the determination that authorizes refugee admission, the U.S. Department of State begins a very robust process of background checks for individuals, registered as refugees, to gain approval status into the country. LSSs Center for New Americans is an affiliate of Global Refuge, a nonprofit organization, formerly known as Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. Organizations, like the Center for New Americans, start a back-and-forth conversation with Global Refuge and local stakeholders about the number of refugees that they can serve, considering factors like employment environment, school situation and housing market, Kiesow-Knudsen said. The United States has this wonderful tradition of welcoming refugees and helping to integrate them into the country, and we are just a part of that process to help people become successful, she said. Center for New Americans consolidated with Multi-Cultural Center The LSS Center for New Americans began the process of merging with the Multi-Cultural Center of Sioux Falls in October 2022. Kiesow-Knudsen said the Multi-Cultural Center, which had previously worked with Native American and immigrant populations, was trying to find a new executive director and reached out to the Center for New Americans. Because the two organizations had been providing similar services and had a lot of synergy, both their boards of directors decided to merge. The vision of LSS is that every South Dakotan is healthy, safe and accepted, and that last part is really what the MCC focuses on that feeling of acceptance in Sioux Falls and in South Dakota, being able to celebrate our community and the diversity thats here, said Valeria Wicker, leading supervisor for the LSS Multi-Cultural Center. Upon arrival: Community orientation Kiesow-Knudsen said as a resettlement agency, LSSs Center for New Americans has the responsibility to make sure that people get integrated into the community. This means that a few weeks before a refugee lands at the Sioux Falls Regional Airport, the Center for New Americans receives a case file about them. This way, the organizations case management team arranges housing and provides basic, What do I need to have in my home in order to live there? items, Kiesow-Knudsen said. The team then meets the refugee at the airport, provides them with interpretation and translation services, takes them to their new home and welcomes them with a culturally appropriate meal. Soon afterwards, new arrivals are invited to take part in community orientation, which spans two weeks. Ethiopia native Yemam remembers his orientation as very, very helpful. He said the program covered topics like getting a job, doing groceries and starting a new life in America. To Yemam, this means depending on yourself. Yemam said the center paid a lot of attention to preparing refugees to enter the workforce by connecting them with different opportunities and helping them get ready for job interviews. Some people who come to the United States get the feeling that when they come here, dreams come true, but life is not easy the way you think, he said. To make life easy, you need to work hard. Thats what the American dream is like. Yemam works at the African Community Center of Sioux Falls, providing services to African immigrants and their families. Kiesow-Knudsen said the federal government provides financial assistance to refugees for up to eight months, which is a quick turnaround. She added that orientation leaders often invite members of the Sioux Falls community, representatives from law enforcement, Falls Community Health, the school district and more. One of Yemams biggest dreams is to send his 17-year-old son to college. My whole success is his future, he said. I tell him that if he works hard on his education after high school, he will have a better life for 40 years. English is the key to enjoying life in America Aside from community orientation, the Center for New Americans also provides English classes that can range in length, depending on the students fluency. English here, in this country, is the key, Yemam said. The more you speak English and the more you understand English, the more you enjoy life. Kiesow-Knudsen said the process of acquiring a drivers license can be long for refugees, and not speaking English can make it particularly difficult. She said the center offers classes in several languages to help people understand the basics of what they will need to pass the written examination. Yemam said he had driven a car with a manual transmission before coming to the United States, so he was able to pass the driving exam with ease. He recalls the first vehicle he bought here, a $300 Nissan. It was a big deal for me, he said. Community keeps culture alive: We feel free Yemam said one of the traits that American and Ethiopian cultures share is respect. Americans are very, very respectful people, he said. Thats why when we come to the United States, we feel free because nobody took away our faith, our culture or our anything. They respect what we have, and we have the right to practice our culture. Yemam said the community of Ethiopians in Sioux Falls is sizable and vibrant. People tend to gather for church services, celebrations or mourning ceremonies. For such occasions, Ethiopians usually dress up in traditional clothing, cook authentic food, meet up or call each other, he said. Because many Orthodox churches use the Julian calendar to set days for religious holidays, some Ethiopian families in the United States celebrate two Easters, for example: one with their American neighbors and another that aligns with fellow Ethiopians, Yemam said. I say, Thank you, God for everything that I have, Yemam said. I always believe that I am blessed, I have no complaints. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports. Nearly 300,000 resident doctors of government hospitals in India have been on strike since Monday after a 31-year-old resident trainee doctor was raped and murdered while working in Kolkata, the capital of Indias West Bengal state. As a result, elective and non-emergency procedures have been halted. Her body was found last Friday in a seminar room at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, where she worked. A suspect has since been arrested, according to reports. In addition to the doctor strikes, womens rights activists have mobilized to demand safer conditions for women across the country. Thousands of women in the state of West Bengal are planning to hold a Reclaim the Night march that will begin at 11:55 p.m. on Wednesday, according to The Hindustan Times. The protest will coincide with the official start to Indias Independence day, which will happen on Thursday, August 15. This heartbreaking incident starkly highlights the glaring deficiencies in security within our medical institutions across the nation, the Federation of Resident Doctors Association India (FORDA) said in a statement posted on X (formerly known as Twitter.) On Wednesday, photos showed dozens of female doctors gathering outside the Government General Hospital in Vijayawada and Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad holding signs saying We demand safety and security in our workplace and Hands that heal should not bleed. Doctors hold posters at the Government General Hospital in Vijayawada on Aug. 14, 2024, to protest the rape and murder of a young medic in Kolkata. Idrees MohammedGetty Images In the aftermath of the incident, FORDA has demanded that the government pass the Central Protection Act for Doctors, which they say will ensure the safety of health care workers across the country by creating a uniform definition of what violence entails and establishing clear penalties for perpetrators. FORDA is demanding that a committee be established to help expedite the ratification of the law and an immediate, transparent, and impartial investigation into the crime. On Tuesday, FAIMA, the Federation of All India Medical Association, also announced in a statement on X that it would participate in the strike. This heinous crime exposes the alarming lack of security in our hospital premises. Today, this atrocity occurred in Kolkata; tomorrow, it could happen anywhere else, FAIMA said in its statement. FAIMA is demanding the suspension of the former principal of RG Kar Medical College, where the incident took place, and has echoed FORDAs demands for a committee to be created to draft a Central Protection Act for Doctors. Currently, 25 out of Indias 28 states have laws in place to protect doctors and healthcare workers from violence, according to the Indian Medical Association. However, advocates say that the laws are mostly ineffective and that a central law passed by the national government would be more likely to be enforced. The differences many doctors say they still experience violence at the workplace, usually caused by patients and their relatives. A 2015 survey conducted by the Indian Medical Association found that 75% of doctors had experienced some form of violence while on the job. R.V. Asokan, the president of the National Indian Medical Association, told the Indian television station NDTV, that he is especially worried about protection for female doctors who may be more vulnerable to sexual assault and harassment. Doctors hold posters at the Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad on Aug. 14, 2024. Doctors in many government hospitals halted elective services on Aug. 12 to protest murder of a young medic. Noah SeelamGetty Images There is a need for an overall comprehensive relook at the whole system and the amenities provided, R.V. Asokan, the president of the National Indian Medical Association, told the Indian television station NDTV. He also called for the installation of CCTV cameras in health care facilities and said that hospitals across the country should be declared safe zones. He said these actions were especially important as increasing numbers of women enroll in medical school in India. India struggles with high rates of violence against women, with over 31,000 rapes reported in 2022. Experts say that the true rate is likely much higher, as many women do not report due to fear of reprisal and stigma. Several high profile rape cases have led to protests across the country in recent years, with activists demanding safer conditions for women. Most infamous of all these cases was a 2012 a gang rape of a physiotherapy student on a bus, which was condemned around the world. The incident led to legislative changes in how India prosecutes sexual assault cases and more severe punishments for perpetrators. Contact us at letters@time.com. INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Indianas attorney general has dropped a lawsuit that accused the states largest hospital system of violating patient privacy laws when a doctor told a newspaper that a 10-year-old Ohio girl had traveled to Indiana for an abortion. A federal judge last week approved Attorney General Todd Rokita's request to dismiss his lawsuit, which the Republican had filed last year against Indiana University Health and IU Healthcare Associates, The Indianapolis Star reported. The suit accused the hospital system of violating HIPAA, the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, and a state law, for not protecting patient information in the case of a 10-year-old rape victim who traveled to Indiana to receive abortion drugs. Dr. Caitlin Bernard 's attorneys later that she shared no personally identifiable information about the girl, and no such details were reported in the Star's story on July 1, 2022, but it became a flashpoint in the abortion debate days after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade that June. A federal judge in Indianapolis initially granted IU Healths motion to dismiss the case in June, prompting Rokita to file an amended complaint in July. His office then sought the case's dismissal last week, writing that the state's initial complaints have been satisfied by actions IU Health has taken since The Star first reported on the girl's case. These actions include continuing to train employees not to talk about patients in public spaces and informing employees that if they are contacted by a reporter, they must inform the public relations or communications departments before responding, Rokita's dismissal motion said. We are pleased the information this office sought over two years ago has finally been provided and the necessary steps have been taken to accurately and consistently train their workforce to protect patients and their health care workers, Rokita said Monday in a statement. However, IU Health said it has always had such practices in place, and it's disheartened by the claim that these were corrective actions made in response to Rokita's suit. IU Health has and will continue to maintain its robust HIPAA compliance policies and training for its team members, as it has for years, its statement reads. While we are pleased the Indiana Attorney Generals office voluntarily moved to dismiss the case, we are disappointed the states limited taxpayer resources were put toward this matter after the first complaint was dismissed by the Court on the merits. Indianas medical licensing board reprimanded Bernard in May 2023, saying she didnt abide by privacy laws by talking publicly about the girls treatment. It was far short of the medical license suspension Rokitas office sought, and IU Healths own internal investigation found that Bernard did not violate privacy laws. The Indiana Supreme Court, meanwhile, reprimanded Rokita and ordered him to pay $250 in court costs after he admitted making statements about Bernard that violated rules of professional conduct for attorneys. ArborXR, a startup that helps companies remotely manage AR and VR devices, believed that enterprise customers would be the primary targets for AR and VR devices. Now, that bet is paying off. On Tuesday, the company announced it has secured $12 million in funding, a Series A that will be used to develop and scale its platform. Mercury Fund and Cortado Ventures led the new round, which included participation from Impact Venture Capital and Lewis & Clark Ventures. To date, ArborXR has raised over $25 million. While the hype around XR (extended reality), which includes AR and VR, is premature among consumers, its being more widely used in the corporate world. Companies such as Adidas, Bank of America, Coca-Cola, Dell, Pfizer, Nike and Walmart all utilize VR training programs to teach employees in hybrid and remote office settings. However, businesses may find it difficult to manage the thousands of VR devices their employees use. This is where companies like ArborXR step in. ArborXR provides a platform for companies to remotely manage AR and VR devices, install apps and content, and control user access within the headset. Managers can set up devices through ArborXRs web app (available on Windows and Mac devices), then monitor training progress in real time, guide employees through virtual experiences, control user settings, limit access, trigger updates, see device health like battery and storage and more. Theres also a directory to discover over 600 app developers and download apps tailored to enterprise needs. The company also offers an education offering similar to its enterprise-focused product, which is utilized by over 420 educational institutions. For both offerings, users can manage unlimited devices. ArborXR CEO and co-founder Brad Scoggin told TechCrunch, People need to know about the quiet adoption of XR happening in enterprise, healthcare and education right now. This isnt about Meta, Apple, Qualcomm, or Google although their significant commitment to XR is not unimportant. This is about a fundamental shift in the way that people learn, and VR is driving that change. ArborXR directory Since its launch in 2020, ArborXR has believed enterprise customers would be the primary adopters of VR. That turned out to be true as now over 3,000 major companies utilize its device management services, such as Bank of America, Delta, Pfizer, Qualcomm, UPS and Walmart. According to the company, ArborXRs customer base tripled in the last year. It hopes the new funding will help it meet the growing demand. The three co-founders -- Scoggin, Will Stackable (CMO) and Jordan Williams (CRO) -- began their first startup in 2017, which was a VR arcade company called UpwardVR. They later launched a software platform, SpringboardVR, to help manage VR devices, which was acquired by Vertigo Games in 2021. Scoggin, Stackable and Williams leveraged the success and experience gained from SpringboardVR to launch ArborXR. Story continues Our long-term vision? XR that transforms learning and work, Stackable said. Pilots mastering flight simulations at home, surgeons practicing complex procedures risk-free and students accessing world-class education, regardless of location. Imagine a kid in a rural area taking a virtual tour of the Louvre or a med student practicing a complicated surgery. Ultimately, we believe XR, at its best, is a tool that gives people their time back. To learn faster and work smarter, then unplug and enjoy real life. That's the future we're working towards -- XR as a powerful tool, not a digital escape. There are very few VR device management companies that currently exist, including ManageXR, and Omnissas (formerly VMware) Workspace One UEM. Apple also offers an enterprise device management capability for the Apple Vision Pro. ArborXR aims to offer affordable pricing compared to its rivals and a straightforward user interface. The company offers three subscription options: Starter for $7 per device per month for small companies, Essential at $10 per device per month, and Enterprise for $13 per device per month for large businesses. It also has a 30-day free trial. ArborXR supports a wide range of VR devices, including Apple Vision Pro, DPVR headsets, HTC Vive, Lenovo VRX, Meta Quest and Pico devices, as well as AR glasses like DigiLens, Magic Leap 2, Vuzix and RealWear. For 20 years, Republicans have led our state well. Weve built roads and bridges, kept our neighborhoods safe, and protected the right to life. As the party of purpose, weve consistently pushed to ensure that every Hoosier can pursue the American Dream. As we look to Indianas next chapter, there are several issues worthy of reform, property taxes being one of them. Its a crucial conversation that has the opportunity to simultaneously ease the burden on property owners, invigorate the free market and equip communities of all sizes with the resources to thrive if tackled the right way. Hicks: People prefer living where property taxes are high Unlike the federal government's reckless spending priorities, municipalities like Noblesville operate under strict fiscal discipline. We first set aside a portion of our annual revenues for our rainy day fund, ensuring we're prepared for unforeseen challenges. Next, we dedicate 51% of our budget to public safety, recognizing that secure communities are the bedrock of thriving cities. Only then do we allocate the remaining funds to other critical initiatives, such as the long-anticipated Pleasant Street extension. These big-ticket items are vital investments in our city's growth, safety, and long-term prosperity. It's not just major projects that shape our community, though. Smaller initiatives also yield long-term benefits. This year, we've allocated $200,000 to start rehabilitating a brick street downtown and $290,000 for sidewalk repairs. While these are certainly large dollar figures to any family or business, they are a drop in the bucket for a city that is home to 77,000 residents, whose homes are built along 313 miles of road, in a community that collectively spans more than 37 square miles. The truth is, like every municipality in Indiana, Noblesville competes in a marketplace. But we're not just vying with neighboring cities; we're up against Dublin, Ohio; Franklin, Tennessee; and Davidson, North Carolina. In a hybrid work environment where a growing number of people can choose to live anywhere, we must ensure Indiana is the top pick not just for its favorable tax climate, but for its vibrant and safe communities. Construction fills the roadway, as seen from inside The Annex by Thistle & Thyme on Conner Street, Thursday, May 9, 2024 in Noblesville. Im concerned that some reform proposals, while ambitious, will risk hamstringing communities from adequately investing in public safety and infrastructure improvements in the future. One idea suggests flattening and reducing the process entirely a potential hazard for small communities relying on consistent revenue for essential services and infrastructure. Another caps revenue from specific groups of Hoosiers. While I am all in to have a conversation around reform, and would personally benefit from both programs, Im not sure either are the best way to ensure our communities remain vibrant and the tax burden is eased. True reform demands difficult conversations between local officials and Statehouse leaders. It requires a critical examination of our priorities as communities and as a state. It calls for deeper civic engagement, with citizens actively participating in local government decisions and budget discussions. Let there be tax reform, indeed. But let it be thoughtful and focused on building stronger communities not just quick fixes that shine on campaign literature. As Republicans, we have the opportunity to craft a solution that reflects our values of fiscal responsibility, local empowerment, and community investment. Let's seize this moment to reinforce Indiana's position as a beacon of conservative governance and economic vitality for all. Aaron Smith is a member of the Noblesville City Council and served as the bodys president in 2023. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana property tax reform can't come at local government's expense HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT)- The three candidates for Indiana Lieutenant Governor will meet today for their first debate. Owensboro Planning and Zoning recommends approval of medical cannabis regulations Democrat Terry Goodin, Libertarian Tonya Hudson, and Republican Micah Beckwith will face off in a debate today at the Indiana State Fair. The Debate is being hosted by the AgriInstitute, as the position of Lieutenant Governor plays a crucial role in Indianas government. The Lieutenant Governor heads the states Agricultural Commission, and chairs the officers of Community and Rural Affairs, Energy and Defense Development, Tourism Development, and the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority. The debate gets underway at 2:00 p.m. Central Time and will be held at the Purdue University Extension Building within the Fairgrounds. The event will also be livestreamed on hoosieragtoday.com. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW). An apprentice of the Roche pharmaceutical company explains some of the work she and other apprentices do at the companys training center outside Basel, Switzerland in 2022. Teams from Indiana have been working with Swiss experts to adapt the Swiss apprenticeship system to that state. (Photo by Patrick ODonnell/The 74) Indiana officials have turned to experts at the Swiss version of MIT for help becoming a national career training leader by making apprenticeships available to thousands of high school students across the state. Indiana is the latest state to work with ETH Zurich where Albert Einstein once studied to develop ways to break down barriers between educators and business so that career training can be a large part of a reinvented high school experience. Indiana government, business and education officials like those in Alabama, California, Colorado, Washington State, New York City and Washington, D.C. have spent the last few years working with Ursula Renold, the former head of the Swiss vocational system. Now a professor at ETH, Renolds highly-regarded Center on the Economics and Management of Education and Training Systems, known as CEMETS, earns rave reviews and advises companies and officials around the world. A broad Indiana coalition including legislators, the state community college Ivy Tech, the Indiana Department of Education and Indiana Chamber of Commerce have visited Switzerland under CEMETS direction. Committees of executives from several industries have also taken trips to see Swiss companies and schools in their field. The coalition expects to release a statewide plan to expand youth apprenticeships potentially from 500 today to 50,000 in 10 years in September. College, of course, is very important, and it will continue to be important, said Claire Fiddian-Green, President and CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation, which has paid for and is leading some of the work. But we know that its not serving the majority of students in Indiana today. We are trying to grow another great pathway that allows for upward mobility for young people in our state and also meets the demand for skilled labor that employers have been struggling to find for a long time, she said. That vision includes creating thousands of apprenticeships in fields such as health care, manufacturing and information technology, which are common in Europe. Such apprenticeships would add to the more traditional ones in the U.S. in the construction trades. Among potential changes coming to Indiana based on the Swiss system are letting 11th and 12th graders work part time while attending school part time; and letting businesses have a say in which work skills schools teach students. The plan will likely call for high school students to receive credit toward graduation from their work and training experiences, a change already being discussed at the department of education as it debates new diploma requirements. Indiana already has a pilot Modern Youth Apprenticeship Program that started in 2021 to let high school juniors and seniors earn money working in businesses, such as AES Indiana and pharmaceutical company Roche, through their first year in college. Nearly 500 students have worked as apprentices in the three-year program. This story is from The 74, a nonprofit news organization covering Americas education system from early childhood through college and career. That program will soon expand to four other communities across the state, but officials want to grow it even more. Weve really kind of hit the accelerator, said Robert Behning, the Indiana House education committee chairman. Annelies Goger, a fellow at the Brookings Institution who researches career training, has traveled to Switzerland with Indiana officials for research on how the state, along with Colorado and Alabama, is breaking ground in trying to bring apprenticeships to a large scale. I am struck by the level of cohesion and shared vision in the state across many of the key leaders in workforce, education, the legislature, and the chamber, Goger said. CEMETS has played a critical role in creating the space and time for these leaders to work together and align around how they plan to tackle several challenges with student success. The top challenges the Indiana coalition has identified and are looking to Renold and the Swiss for solutions include high school class schedules that interfere with work, a lack of public transportation for students to get to jobs without a car, and businesses willingness to train large numbers of students not just a few as a charity effort. Perhaps the biggest will be having competitors in each field partner to find common skills they all want new employees to have, so apprentices can train for an entire industry, not just a single employer. The Swiss have solved many of these issues, at least to a far greater degree than the U.S. About two thirds of students in Switzerland participate in apprenticeships as part of their education. Though attending university can still be the most prestigious path, apprenticeships are respected and are often combined with college by students who want both theoretical and practical training. The Swiss also have no reluctance in having high-school age students as apprentices as Indiana is considering. Many Swiss apprenticeships start as early as age 15, not after high school when most start in the U.S. Swiss companies view working with young people as a chance to attract new talent, not the risk and bother many American companies do. The Swiss system also gives companies a say in what skills schools teach in return for taking on responsibility and the expense of co-training teenagers. Fiddian-Green said she was sold on the potential of Indiana schools and businesses cooperating to help students and themselves after attending a summer seminar in 2019 that CEMETS runs every year. Teams from around the world spend the week of the seminar touring businesses and schools, then work with Renolds staff to try and better grow training programs back home. Fiddian-Green said visiting training centers that Swiss businesses create just for young people and seeing how competing companies can agree on what students need to be taught to succeed in that industry, not just their own company, was eye-opening. You start to have light bulbs go off after youve been there about three days, because it all starts to kind of click together, she said. Noel Ginsburg, the Colorado businessman who created the CareerWise youth apprenticeship program in Colorado in 2016 had a similar experience. He credits Renold and the CEMETS summer seminar with showing him how apprenticeships succeed for so many students and inspiring CareerWise, which has served nearly 2,200 apprentices. Its the combination of the theoretical that you learn in the classroom, where theres discussion, but then you see it at scale, which is why CEMETS is powerful, Ginsburg told The 74. JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and his wife Judith are also fans of Renold, CEMETS and the Swiss system after Renold and staff took them to businesses and schools to see it in person. Chase now hires CareerWise apprentices in its New York City offices and is an outspoken backer of CareerWise expansion in that city. Judi Dimon told The 74 she was impressed with how engaged Swiss apprentices were, even those still of high school age. And she saw how seriously companies took apprenticeships as a recruiting and talent pipeline strategy, not a charity program as many youth training programs are. It was not a corporate responsibility project that is paid for by the (company) foundation, Dimon said. It is core to the businesses themselves, and to the culture and to their ability to attract young talent. Need to get in touch? Have a news tip? CONTACT US That shift of viewing high school work experiences as a real business strategy and not just a public relations effort is cited by many experts as crucial to expanding high school internships or apprenticeships to a large scale anywhere in the U.S., not just Indiana. Making a return on investment case to businesses is one of the key issues that Indiana teams have been working on with CEMETS staff. Others include adapting high school schedules so that students can fit in real work time, perhaps by having some days of only work and some devoted to school as in Switzerland. The state also wants each industry to develop standards for what employees should know across many companies, so that training can be common across an industry. Having committees of competitors from Indiana building a plan together with CEMETS is a step toward the industry associations that determine training in Switzerland. Those associations actually create a curriculum with input from the education system, Fiddian-Green said. Thats a huge critical function that makes it possible for employers to engage in apprenticeship, and thats what we dont have in Indiana. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX If youre sending your packages via FedEx, beware. The State of Indiana could be seizing them without any warrant or probable cause. According to a lawsuit filed by the Institute for Justice, police have been seizing FedEx packages containing cash, and then taking the cash under civil asset forfeiture. Civil asset forfeiture is a process by which police can take anything suspected of being involved in a crime without a warrant or conviction, and then keep the loot for themselves. In this case, its happening at the nations second-largest FedEx hub, located at the Indianapolis International Airport. Police dogs sniff packages and flag those expected to contain cash. Officers then remove the tape, rummage through the package and take the cash for themselves if they find any. Ostensibly, the police can do so because they perceive the cash is connected with a crime, even if no actual crime is identified. More: In Indiana, legal fines and fees are determined by where you live This isnt crime fighting. Its an actual crime a blatant, naked theft carried out by uniformed officers. Indiana law requires any assets seized in a civil forfeiture case to go directly to the school fund likely to mitigate the moral hazard and incentive to steal citizens assets but little money is actually going to that fund. Instead, police departments are keeping it for themselves, and a 2019 Indiana Supreme Court case upheld that, allowing police, prosecutors or private lawyers contracted to carry out the cases to keep a minimum of 90%. Indiana, by the way, is the only state that allows prosecutors to contract out asset forfeiture cases to private attorneys, who then can get a cut of the proceeds. Civil asset forfeiture cases tie up money through long, challenging legal proceedings. In 2023, $6.6 million was stolen by the police in asset forfeiture. Of that, only 5% went into the school fund, but 30% went to prosecutors and attorneys and 64% to law enforcement agencies. In this particular case, California jewelers Henry and Minh Cheng made a $42,825 bulk sale to a retail customer in Virginia, which was paid for in cash. However, the package containing the cash was routed through Indianapolis, where the K-9s flagged it, the officers seized it and Marion County stole the money. Marion County prosecutor Ryan Mears has still not identified a crime that was committed, but he has begun forfeiture proceedings to allow his office and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department to keep the cash. Often, the reason civil asset forfeiture is justified is because large amounts of cash are sometimes used to buy drugs, so therefore, anyone carrying or mailing cash is automatically suspected of being involved in the drug trade, and thus involved in a crime. However, people carry and transfer cash for a number of reasons that would never be involved in crime. In this case, it was carrying out a legitimate business transaction, for which Cheng has a bill of sale to prove it. The Chengs are suing Mears and the State of Indiana to get their rightful payment back. It is not a crime to sell jewelry, and it is not a crime to use cash where this is legal tender for all debts, private and public is clearly written on each bill to pay for a purchase. When their assets are tangled up in forfeiture proceedings, the burden of proof is often on the citizen to obtain their money. However, that is extremely difficult, because the assets themselves inanimate objects are listed as the defendants, and such cases often tie the money up in long and challenging legal proceedings. Not only should the Chengs prevail, the Indiana General Assembly should put an end to the heinous practice of civil asset forfeiture, especially in cases where there is no conviction recorded. As powerful agents of the state, the job of the police is supposed to be to protect and serve, not to abuse their office to pilfer and plunder. Evan McMahon is chairman of the Libertarian Party of Indiana. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Marion County asset forfeiture treats cash transfers as crimes (Bloomberg) -- Indonesia has drastically scaled back its Aug. 17 Independence Day celebrations planned for its future capital because of challenges providing food and accommodation in the remote location. Most Read from Bloomberg Organizers are now only inviting 1,300 people to travel to Nusantara, down from initial plans for 8,000 guests, President Joko Widodo said in a speech to break ground for a convention center in the new capital. Thats the third reduction in the official guest list, though officials are going to open the event to thousands of local residents who wont require hotel rooms, the outgoing Indonesian leader said on Monday. The president, popularly known as Jokowi, has championed the Nusantara project and made it a goal for the new city to host Indonesias independence day celebrations before he leaves office in October. But construction has been slow at the site, more than a thousand kilometers northeast of Jakarta and located on the island of Borneo. Organizers have already split events, which include cultural performances, flag-raising and military drills, between Jakarta and Nusantara due to capacity limits. Still, the project got a boost this week when President-Elect Prabowo Subianto said he is committed to continue, and if possible finish the new capital, ending uncertainty as to whether he would abandon Jokowis multibillion-dollar project to pursue his own policy agenda. Prabowo, who will be sworn in as the countrys eighth president in October, estimated that the new capital will be functionally running in four to five years, he told reporters at the future capital. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. IOC president Thomas Bach holds the board Salt Lake City during the 142nd IOC session at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, July 24, 2024, in Paris, France. Bach announced shortly before the close of the 2024 Summer Games in Paris that he would step down next year after reaching the end of his second and final term under the Olympic Charter. | Natacha Pisarenko For a while, it looked like the head of the International Olympic Committee for more than a decade might remain in office. But IOC President Thomas Bach announced shortly before the close of the 2024 Summer Games in Paris that he would step down next year after reaching the end of his second and final term under the Olympic Charter, which allows for eight years in office that can be followed by another four years. That means there will be a new IOC president elected in 2025, as Utah begins preparations to host another Winter Games in 2034. Contenders reportedly include Spains Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., whose father headed the IOC when Salt Lake City bid for the 2002 Winter Games. Samaranch Sr., who ran the IOC for 21 years, was succeeded by Jacques Rogge in 2001. It was Rogge who presided over Utahs last Olympics, declaring them superb. The next IOC member elected to the presidency of the Switerland-based organization may well still be in office a decade from now. Bach, a German lawyer and Olympic fencer who took over from Rogge in 2013, helped draft the term limits in the charter as part of a series of reforms instituted in the 1990s after the international bribery scandal involving Salt Lake Citys 2002 bid. The reforms allowed a dual award of the 2030 and 2034 Winter Games in Paris. The French Alps were named the host for 2030, and Salt Lake City for 2034, albeit with a last-minute termination clause added to the contract with the IOC amid concerns over a U.S. investigation into doping allegations. Bach, who oversaw the new, less formal bid process being used to select Winter Games sites for the first time, has been seen as a strong leader. He has also been scrutinized for the IOCs handling of some issues, including allowing Russians to participate as neutral athletes in Paris despite their countrys invasion of Ukraine. Last October, Bach was publicly encouraged by some IOC members to support changing the rules on term limits and seek four more years as president through 2029. While he did not dismiss running again, Bach did make it clear the election should not disrupt the Paris Games. In order to safeguard the credibility of the IOC we all, and in particular I, as your president, have to respect the high standards of good governance which we have set for ourselves, Bach told IOC members in an emotional speech last Saturday. After 12 years in the office of IOC President our organization is best served with a change in leadership. New times are calling for new leaders, said the 70-year-old leader who became a member in 1991. He said he will ask the IOC Executive Board to schedule the election of a new president for March 2025, with the term set to start on June 24, 2025. Besides Samaranch, Jr., other IOC members seen as in contention include Sebastian Coe, who led the 2012 Summer Games in London and now heads the international federation for track and field, as well as several women. The IOC has never had a woman president. What do the Iowa cities losing the most population have in common? They're mostly rural. Iowa's population has grown by 0.05% between 2020 and 2023 according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. While some cities like Waukee have grown faster than the national average, others have been losing population. Which cities in Iowa have seen the largest population declines between 2020 and 2023? Based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, here are the 10 cities in Iowa which have seen the most population decline. A traction steam engine on display at the Mount Pleasant town square. Four cities tied with a decline of 8%: Murray, a small town in Clarke County, had a population of just 624 in 2023. Albert City, in Buena Vista County, was just ahead with a population of 626. Morning Sun in Louisa County had 693. Mount Pleasant, the county seat of Henry County, had a population of 8,581 in 2023. Newell and Carbon lost 7% each. Newell is in Buena Vista County and had 847 residents last year, while Carbon in Adams County had just 30. Carbon also ranked as the 24th smallest city in Iowa, with no businesses or services besides a church and a community center. Another four cities declined by 6%: Woodburn, in Clarke County Zearing, in Story County Terril, in Dickinson County Fenton, in Kossouth County Woodburn was the smallest in this group, with just 141 residents last year. Zearing was the largest with 503. How does education affect population change? The Pilot Grove #6 one room country school was moved to East Grove Farms near Salem in 2021 and the original bell, blackboard,and a few pre-1870 desks are on display with other rural school artifacts. The one-room school house was a fixture on the early Iowa landscape. With the exception of Mount Pleasant and Corning, no city that declined by more than 5% had a population above 750. This is in line with broader trends across America as populations continue to concentrate in urban, suburban and metropolitan areas. Education is a major factor behind this change. The National Rural Education Association's 2023 report highlights disparities in resources and funding between rural and more urban school districts. As parents and guardians seek better education, they're incentivized to move closer to population centers. Recent developments in Iowa law may be contributing to this problem. As the Register has previously reported, the school choice program started last year is likely to move funds away from rural school districts and towards private institutions. Similarly, the Register has reported on how district consolidation a phenomenon almost exclusive to rural areas can create challenges for the affected towns. The 10 cities with the largest population declines were concentrated in eight counties. Only three of those eight countries are home to a private school. According to the Iowa Department of Education data, as of 2023 41 of Iowa's 99 counties have no private school. Another 24 only have one. Ryan Magalhaes is a reporter for the Register. Reach them at rmagalhaes@dmreg.com. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Which Iowa cities lost the most population since 2020? SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) Sioux City council members are moving ahead with a grant application to help with improvements associated with the Gordon Drive viaduct project. The citys engineering division is requesting almost $92,000 in safety funds. The application will be submitted to the Iowa DOTs traffic safety improvement program for fiscal year 2026. The money would be used for the conversion of Dace Avenue and Leech Avenue into a three-lane roadway in the viaduct project, which includes two driving lanes, a shared left lane, and on-street bike lines. Norfolk Police Division working to address a lack of space Mayor Bob Scott spoke to KCAU 9 about the grant and whats been happening with the westbound lane of the viaduct. Well this is what this is, is a supportive of a big federal help with that project, he said. Obviously its a big project for even the state, and so we had to agree to that, which, why wouldnt we, and get that thing done as quickly as we can. Yeah, thats a state deal, I dont know but it appears that they have more people in town, they got more lifts so I think they must be close to being done I hope. Community helping McCook Lake residents reunite with lost belongings The council also awarded a contract for the Business Highway 75 turn lanes and new street paving improvements. The contract was given to Bainbridge Construction, LLC for more than $1.5 million. Its to put a southbound left turn lane and a northbound right turn lane on the highway for the Siouxland Splash water park project. The turning lanes project is scheduled to begin as late as Aug. 20 with a completion date expected to be in late Dec. 2024. City council also approved an over $310,000 agreement with the Sioux City Community School District to provide transportation services for students who live beyond the mileage limit from their respective school. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports. Veterans and active duty military can get a helping hand from IowaWORKS to return to civilian life. James Stout from IowaWORKS joined Our Quad Cities News with details about the upcoming Quad-Cities Success Fair. For more information, click here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com. Masoud Pezeshkian, the Iranian president, spoke with to Sir Keir Starmer and Olaf Sholtz, the German chancellor, on Monday - Shutterstock Iran has dismissed calls from Sir Keir Starmer and other Western leaders to refrain from attacking Israel. The Prime Minister and Olaf Sholtz, the German chancellor, spoke to Masoud Pezeshkian, the Iranian president, on Monday, expressing their concern about a regional war if Iran follows through on its threats to attack Israel directly. The US, Britain, France, Italy and Germany called on Tehran to stand down in a joint letter. Nasser Kanaani, a spokesman for the Iranian ministry of foreign affairs, said: The declaration by France, Germany and Britain, which raised no objection to international crimes of the Zionist regime, brazenly asks Iran to take no deterrent action against a regime which has violated its sovereignty. Mr Kanaani added that instead of issuing such demands, Western nations should once and for all stand up against the war in Gaza and the warmongering of Israel. In the aftermath of the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month, Mr Pezeshkian said Iran would never give in to pressure, to sanctions and to bullying, and considers it has the right to respond. Israels Army Radio reported that Israel had conveyed messages to its allies warning that Jerusalem would strike Iran if it launched an attack. We take the declarations and statements of our enemies seriously. Therefore, we are prepared at peak readiness in offence and defence, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, an IDF spokesman, said. As Western leaders called on Iran and its proxies not to attack Israel, Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, was due to arrive in the Middle East on Tuesday, according to Axios, a US news website. Mr Blinken will reportedly visit Israel, Egypt and Qatar in what appears to be a last-ditch attempt to secure a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. Both the US and Israel assess that an attack from Iran might be imminent. We share the same concerns and expectations that our Israeli counterparts have with respect to potential timing here. It could be this week, John Kirby, a White House spokesman, said on Monday. Mr Kirby warned that the attack might be significant, but said that it was difficult to predict what it could look like. The president is confident that we have the capability available to us to help defend Israel should it come to that. Nobody wants to see it come to that, he said. According to the Washington Post, Iran has expressed fears that the US and Israel could strike sites used in its nuclear programme in any revenge attacks. A source close to Hezbollah, briefed on communications between the Lebanese terror group and the Iranian regime, said there were concerns that US and Israeli retaliation could essentially neutralise Irans nuclear deterrence. Click here to view this content. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. We recently compiled a list of 10 Best Dividend Aristocrats According to Wall Street Analysts. In this article we are going to take a look at where PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) stands against the other dividend aristocrats. Shifts in investment trends have revealed new insights for investors in recent years. Certain times call for specific investments, and its often experienced investors who can spot these opportunities. However, its clear that the value of a good investment remains steady, even amidst ongoing changes. This is where the long-standing dividend aristocrats play a role. These companies are strong dividend payers, having raised their payouts for at least 25 consecutive years. The extended periods of dividend increases have significantly boosted the impressive returns of these stocks over time. Since its inception in 2005, the Dividend Aristocrats Index has outperformed the broader market with lower volatility, according to a report by ProShares. In addition, these stocks demonstrated strong performance in all market conditions, capturing 90% of market gains while only experiencing 82% of market declines. Also read: 10 Best Dividend Aristocrats with Over 3% Yield. Achieving 25 consecutive years of dividend growth is quite an accomplishment. Out of approximately 6,000 stocks listed on the NYSE and Nasdaq, only 67 are part of the prestigious Dividend Aristocrats index in 2024. This highlights that only a small number of companies have reached this milestone. Maintaining a record of annual dividend increases for 25 years means the company has managed to boost shareholder payouts through various challenges, including the dot-com bubble, the 2007 financial crisis, and the pandemic. This reflects a robust business model, strong cash flow visibility, and disciplined management of capital. Even dividend aristocrats can struggle with consistency, as weve seen recently. Companies like Walgreens and 3M were unable to sustain their decades-long dividend growth streaks and have been removed from the Dividend Aristocrats club this year. This highlights the importance of financial strength for dividend aristocrats. The Great Financial Crisis exposed the financial vulnerabilities of these dividend-growers, as 17 out of the 60 Aristocrats in the S&P 500 were removed in 2008 and 2009. As mentioned before, dividend aristocrats have consistently outperformed the broader market since their inception, even during market downturns. Don Kilbride, a senior managing director and portfolio manager at Wellington Management, has noted this performance, particularly with the Vanguard Dividend Growth fund, which he manages. This fund focuses on companies that have reliably increased their dividends annually, some for decades. During the 2008 market crash, while the market fell 37%, Vanguard Dividend Growth only lost about two-thirds of that amount, thanks to its dividend-generating stocks. As the market recovered, the fund quickly made up for its losses, outperforming many of its peers. Kilbride further mentioned that dividend growth is crucial for weathering tough markets and achieving long-term success, stating that its benefits are substantial and enduring. Story continues According to analysts, for those building their portfolios, incorporating dividend investments can be beneficial, particularly if the dividends are reinvested. By using dividends to purchase additional shares each time they are received, investors create a cycle where payouts increase with the number of shares owned, leading to the ability to acquire even more shares. In this article, we will take a look at some of the best dividend aristocrat stocks according to analysts. Our Methodology: For our list, we first scanned a list of the best dividend aristocrat stocks, which are the companies that have raised their dividends for 25 consecutive years or more. From this group, we picked stocks with a projected upside potential of over 10% based on analyst price targets. The stocks are ranked according to their upside potential, as of August 7. We also measured hedge fund sentiment around each stock according to Insider Monkeys database of 920 funds as of Q1 2024. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletters strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points. (see more details here). A close-up of an artist carefully applying a coat of paint to a wood structure. PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) Analyst Upside Potential as of August 7: 25.1% PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) is an American paint and coating manufacturing company that provides a wide range of related services and products. The stock is down by over 18% since the start of 2024 due to investors disappointment in the companys quarterly earnings. In the second quarter of 2024, the companys organic sales were flat but showed growth in different segments. It generated $4.8 billion in revenues, which fell by 1.6% from the same period last year and also missed analysts estimates by $130 million. That said, its segment margins increased by 110 basis points compared to the previous year, marking the seventh consecutive quarter of margin growth. PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) has greatly benefited from its European presence. In the early 1900s, it was among the first U.S. companies to expand into Europe by acquiring a glass plant in Belgium. During the 1920s, it saw steady growth thanks to its glass and paint divisions, which were fueled by the booming automotive industry and the construction of skyscrapers. Looking ahead, the company anticipates demand in Europe to stabilize in the second half of the year, while it expects continued growth in China and Mexico. When evaluating PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) for dividends, investors view it as a favorable choice. Its trailing twelve-month operating cash flow came in at $2.1 billion and levered free cash flow was $1.37 billion. On July 18, the company hiked its quarterly dividend by 4.6% to $0.68 per share. This marked the companys 53rd consecutive year of dividend growth, which makes PPG one of the best dividend aristocrat stocks on our list. As of August 7, the stock has a dividend yield of 2.26%. At the end of the March quarter of 2024, 35 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG), down from 39 in the previous quarter. These stakes are valued at nearly $758 million in total. Among these hedge funds, First Eagle Investment Management was the companys leading stakeholder in Q1. Overall PPG ranks 4th on our list of the best dividend aristocrats to buy according to Wall Street Analysts. While we acknowledge the potential of PPG as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some deeply undervalued dividend stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for a deeply undervalued dividend stock that is more promising than PPG but that trades at less than 7 times its earnings and yields nearly 10%, check out our report about the dirt cheap dividend stock. READ NEXT: $30 Trillion Opportunity: 15 Best Humanoid Robot Stocks to Buy According to Morgan Stanley and Jim Cramer Says NVIDIA Has Become A Wasteland. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. The email account of longtime Donald Trump ally Roger Stone was breached as part of suspected hacking attempts from Iran targeting Trumps campaign, according to reports. The self-proclaimed GOP agent provocateurwhose dirty tricks can be traced back to the Nixon campaignwas duped by an espionage unit. The hackers then used Stones account in an effort to get into another account belonging to a senior Trump campaign official, a source told CNN. That attempt was part of wider efforts to breach campaign networks which are now being investigated by the FBI. Roger Stone Caught on Tape Discussing Trumps Plan to Challenge 2024 Election The hacking incident in June was spotted by Microsoft and the FBI, which in turn informed Stone that a Foreign State Actor had compromised his account, according to CNN. A source told the network that Stone was informed his account was breached so that it could be used to send a link to officials in the Trump campaign which, if clicked, would allow the hackers to access the recipients computer. I was informed by the authorities that a couple of my personal email accounts have been compromised, Stone told The Washington Post. I really dont know more about it. And Im cooperating. Its all very strange. Stone was convicted of seven felony charges in November 2019, including for lying about his attempts to obtain information from WikiLeaks about Hillary Clintons emails stolen by Russian hackers and released on the eve of the 2016 election. Trump then pardoned Stone just before leaving the White House in 2020. Democrats also appear to have been targeted in recent hacking attempts, with the FBI briefing the Biden-Harris campaign in June about Iranian hackers attempting to breach their campaign, according to CNN. Three staffers on the campaign received spear-phishing emails which could give a hacker access to their communications, according to the Post, but investigators have not yet found evidence that those attacks succeeded. Our campaign vigilantly monitors and protects against cyber threats, and we are not aware of any security breaches of our systems, a Harris campaign official told CNN. Over the weekend, Trumps campaign said it had been targeted by foreign hacking after media organizations reported receiving a campaign vetting document on Trumps running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance. These documents were obtained illegally from foreign sources hostile to the United States, intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our Democratic process, Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman said Saturday. He pointed to a report from Microsoft last week in which the tech giant said it had uncovered evidence that Iranian hackers had tried to access the email account of a high-ranking official in a presidential campaign in June. Irans operations have been notable and distinguishable from Russian campaigns for appearing later in the election season and employing cyberattacks more geared toward election conduct than swaying voters, Microsoft said. Recent activity suggests the Iranian regimealong with the Kremlinmay be equally engaged in election 2024. The U.S. government has not publicly blamed Iran and Tehran has denied hacking allegations. We do not accord any credence to such reports, a spokesperson for the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations said over the weekend. The Iranian Government neither possesses nor harbors any intent or motive to interfere in the United States presidential election. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. A televised speech by Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah is transmitted on large screens during the funeral service of top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut's southern suburbs. Shukr was killed in an Israeli strike that also claimed the lives of five civilians and injured dozens. Marwan Naamani/dpa Iran on Tuesday rejected European attempts at mediation amid rising tensions in the Middle East, as Tehran insisted on its right to launch a retaliatory strike on Israel. "These calls are politically one-sided and illogical, as they encourage a regime [Israel] to commit even more crimes in the region," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani in Tehran. Iran does not need advice or permission from abroad to defend its security and territorial integrity, the spokesman said in a statement. European leaders such as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have called on Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to prevent a further military escalation in the Middle East. Pezeshkian reportedly told the trio that Israel was to blame for the recent crisis and needed to be punished. In order to seriously prevent an escalation, he argued, the West should condemn the Israeli government and stop ignoring what he called war crimes. The Middle East has been hovering on the brink of a regional conflagration since the targeted killing of two leading Israeli opponents two weeks ago. In response, Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia announced they would launch massive retaliatory strikes against Israel. The Israeli armed forces have been on high alert for days. Updated Aug 13, 2024, 1:09pm EDT Middle East The News The only way to delay a retaliatory strike by Iran on Israel is to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza, three top Iranian officials told Reuters. Tehran had promised to avenge the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh on its soil three weeks ago, and Israeli and US officials have said a significant and direct strike could come as soon as this week. A senior Iranian security official told Reuters that Tehran and its allies, including its proxy militias like Hezbollah in Lebanon, would launch an attack if Gaza ceasefire talks expected to take place this week fail. Its unclear how long Iran might wait for talks to progress before making a decision. Separately on Tuesday, international officials including the European Unions foreign policy chief Josep Borrell condemned Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for engaging in provocations during a visit to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, one of the holiest sites in Islam and Judaism. SIGNALS Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories. Israels ceasefire requirements have changed Source: The New York Times Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly pointed to Hamas as the cause of the ceasefire deadlock, but documents reviewed by The New York Times suggest that Israel has also hardened its position. Netanyahus government has added new conditions to Israels demands for a ceasefire, and some negotiators fear a deal is increasingly elusive, the Times noted. Among Israels additions are stipulations that its forces remain at Gazas southern border, and inflexibility over allowing displaced Palestinians to return to their homes in the event of a pause in fighting. Each strike escalates risk of war Source: The Economist So far, the Middle East has avoided a wider regional war. But the deterrents that have kept the region stable are now buckling under pressure, The Economist noted. Red lines that previously seemed immutable are now being approached: Israel carried out strikes on Beirut, while Iran launched a barrage of missiles and drones at Israel in April. The Middle Easts old rules of engagement have been erased. Because no one is sure about the new ones, each strike risks escalating to all-out war, the outlet wrote. The best pathway to avoid a spiraling conflict, the outlet argued, is to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza. Iran has showcased one of its newest drones at a defense exhibit in Russia, Tehran's official news agency reported on Aug. 12. The Mohajer-10 drone appeared at the Army 2024 International Military-Technical Forum, being held just outside Moscow this week. Given the track record of its predecessor, the Mohajer-6, there's a chance they could be appearing in the skies of Ukraine in the near future. So what does it do? Unlike the Iranian-made Shahed kamikaze drones, which Russia launches against Ukraine on a near-daily basis, the Mohajer-10 is designed to return to base in one piece after launch. While it is equipped with missiles with which to attack enemy targets, it can also be used for reconnaissance, target acquisition, and intelligence gathering, just like the Mohajer-6. According to Reuters, Tehran has denied ever sending the Mohajer-6 to Russia for use in Ukraine, but there's plenty of evidence to suggest otherwise. Iran smuggled at least 18 long-range Mohajer-6 combat drones to Russia in November 2022 for the war against Ukraine shortly after a Russian delegation visited Tehran, the Guardian reported in February 2023, citing sources in Iran. In February of this year, a report by the U.K. Defense Ministry identified a Mohajer-6 in satellite imagery taken of the Saky airfield in occupied Crimea, adding it had been observed flying over the peninsula and the Black Sea. Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine 08 March 2024. Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/JA3Q89aXTg #StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/bmxSRTYZ7B Ministry of Defence (@DefenceHQ) March 8, 2024 The report suggested it was being used in a surveillance capacity to monitor "threats to Russian ports and vessels" following Ukraine's regular strikes against Moscow's Black Sea Fleet. "There is a realistic possibility its mission also includes supporting Russian targeting processes for the south-west Ukrainian coastline," it added. And if satellite imagery wasn't enough to convince someone that the drones were being used by Russian forces, Ukraine actually shot one down in 2022 and then paraded it in front of the world's media as proof. We were given exclusive access to an Iranian-made Mohajer-6 drone, shot down a few weeks ago by Ukrainian forces in Southern Ukraine. This as the Kremlin today claimed Russia is only using "Russian weapons with Russian numbers" in its "special operation." More tonight on CNN. pic.twitter.com/FNM97EaHtk Clarissa Ward (@clarissaward) October 18, 2022 The Mohajer-10 is a new and improved version of the Mohajer-6 and bears more than a passing resemblance to the U.S.-made Reaper drone. According to Iranian media, it has a range of 2,000 kilometers (around 1,240 miles), can stay airborne for 24 hours, fly at 210 km/h (130 mph), and can carry 300 kilograms of weaponry, around double that of its predecessor. When it was officially unveiled last year, the accompanying promotional video included an ominous call to "prepare your bunkers." Western nations have tried to stem the flow of Iranian drones to Russia in October 2023, the U.S. imposed sanctions against 11 individuals and eight entities connected to Iran's drone program, including those responsible for producing drones used in Russia's war against Ukraine. The U.S. sanctioned the Iran-based Sarmad Electronic Sepahan Company for producing components used in Mohajer-6 drones. But while yet to be proven effective on the battlefield, the apparent advancement of the Mohajer-10 suggests they've had only a limited effect. Read also: Explainer: Irans cheap, effective Shahed drones and how Russia uses them in Ukraine Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Social media apps are pictured on an iPhone in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 11, 2024. The Iranian government is pushing content online intended to influence the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, Microsoft announced recently. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News The Iranian government is pushing content online intended to influence the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, Microsoft announced recently. The company found that Iranian actors had laid the groundwork for influence campaigns on trending election-related topics and began to activate these campaigns in an apparent effort to stir up controversy or sway voters ... (and) designed to gain intelligence on political campaigns and help enable them to influence the elections in the future. The Microsoft Threat Analysis Center published its findings in a Microsoft Threat Intelligence Report last week. Heres what we know. Iran has attacked both Trump and Harris campaigns According to the report, these actors are targeting both major presidential campaigns using phishing emails and fake news sites. One group connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps contacted a campaign official using the compromised email address of a former senior adviser with a spear-phishing email containing a fake link that would give the group access to the campaign officials online activity. Another group has launched and maintained covert news sites that target voters across the political spectrum and discuss issues pertaining to the candidates, LGBTQ+ rights and the Israel-Hamas conflict. This effort has been in progress since 2020, possibly earlier, and produces polarizing messages. Articles are compiled using AI tools that support some plagiarizing from other content sources and SEO plug-ins that help write headlines to drive search traffic to the fake sites. One recent example, articles were posted to the website Nio Thinker beginning in October 2023 targeting liberal audiences. Articles on the site called former President Donald Trump an opioid-pilled elephant in the MAGA china shop and a raving mad litigiosaur. It initially published material about the Israel-Hamas conflict and has made the shift to covering the U.S. election in the lead up to November. The Savannah Time, another fake site, called itself a trusted source for conservative news in the vibrant city of Savannah. Microsoft hasnt noted any substantial social media amplification of these sites. According to The Associated Press, the Iranian government is also utilizing social media to encourage protests as people pose as activists online and provide financial support to protest organizers ahead of the election. These efforts are intended to influence the publics trust in democratic institutions, AP reported. Iran is following Russias example Though the Iranian governments actions are concerning, AP reported that Russia is still the biggest threat to election security and Iran has taken a page out of their playbook. Officials from various government agencies, including the FBI and Office for the Director of National Intelligence told reporters that the Russian government is already working to spread disinformation regarding the presidential election. One of Russias tactics includes laundering information through news sites, which Iranian actors are mirroring in their use of covert news sites. Russian actors also depend on American influencers to spread their talking points to the public, AP noted. Evidence in the Microsoft report indicates that Russia is continuing to interfere in the election to boost Trump. Groups have pushed fake stories about scandals that didnt happen, disinformation about immigration and Ukraine, and calls for violence against immigrants in the U.S. The U.S. and Iranian governments respond The White House said in a statement it condemned, any foreign government or entity who attempts to interfere in our electoral process or seeks to undermine confidence in our democratic institutions, per NewsNation. Sen. Mark Warner, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, described the U.S. position this year as being in the bulls-eye of bad actors across the globe, AP reported. An official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said, The American public should know that content that they read online especially on social media could be foreign propaganda, even if it appears to be coming from fellow Americans or originating in the United States, per AP. In a statement, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said, Iran is becoming increasingly aggressive in their foreign influence efforts, seeking to stoke discord and undermine confidence in our democratic institutions. Americans who are being targeted by this Iranian campaign may not be aware that they are interacting with or receiving support from a foreign government, Haines also said. According to Al Jazeera, an Iranian official at the U.N. denied claims of Irans involvement in election interference. The Iranian government neither possesses nor harbors any intent or motive to interfere in the United States presidential election, the official said in an email. Iran's new President Masoud Pezeshkian is facing fierce criticism over his Cabinet line-up even before his government has been confirmed by parliament. Some of the conservative ministers selected have nothing to do with the reform course Pezeshkian promised during the campaign, detractors have said. Pezeshkian responded by saying that he is open to criticism, but that the ministers should be given a chance. "Wait for the Cabinet to get to work and criticize it based on its performance," he wrote on X on Tuesday. Political observers believe that Pezeshkian was compelled to add certain names to the 19-member Cabinet roster by the parliament, which is dominated by hardliners. In protest against the Cabinet list, Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday he had resigned as Pezeshkian's vice president after only 11 days in the position. His post had not required parliament's confirmation. Zarif said he had not agreed with at least seven of the 19 Cabinet nominees and so had decide to return to his academic work. The former foreign minister was considered one of the key figures in Pezeshkian's future government due to his diplomatic experience. Pezeshkian had hoped to be able to resume nuclear negotiations with West, with Zarif in a lead role. Zarif was the country's chief diplomat between 2013 and 2021 and was able to finalize the international nuclear agreement with six world powers in 2015 as head of the Iranian negotiating team in Vienna. Isle of Wight locals outraged at ferry trips to the mainland costing up to 440 Isle of Wight residents have set up a Facebook group called Wightlink Users Group that campaigns for better ferry services (iStock) Isle of Wight loocals say they are feel cut off from society with ferry return trips to the mainland costing up to 440 during peak tourist times. Residents of the island off the south coast of England, which is also a popular tourist hotspot for Brits, are complaining about the high prices that ferry companies are charging to cross the Solent, as well as claiming that the services can be unreliable. Some locals claim the expensive ferry tickets, which they say can cost up to 440 during busy times like Cowes Week and the Isle of Wight Festival, have a knock-on effect on their access to emergency healthcare and deter more essential services from setting up on the island. Wightlink and Red Funnel are the two major companies that run passenger and vehicle ferry services from ports in Lymington, Southampton, and Portsmouth to the island. The longest service is around an hour long. Isle of Wight residents told the MailOnline that fares just keep on skyrocketing, causing a divide between them and their families on the mainland and even prompting some to decide to move off the island. Bronwyn Hamilton-Brown, a 62-year-old retired headteacher, set up the Facebook group Wightlink Users Group over a year and a half ago to campaign for better ferry services. It currently has over 8,000 members. We are in a dreadful pickle because the ferries hold us to ransom. People find it insanely difficult to get to appointments. It is an absolute scandal, she said. The island has limited health services, meaning many have to travel to Portsmouth or Southampton for treatment, but the Wightlink Users Group say they managed to help win a 70 cap on fares for patients and a dedicated phone line for people travelling to appointments. Wightlink toldThe Independent that the 70 round-trip cap was implemented following discussions at its Customer Forum meetings and not just the Wightlink Users Group. According to their website, Wightlink has capped the cost of vehicles travelling from the Isle of Wight for NHS hospital appointments to 35 per single crossing, even in peak times. Other residents say the Isle of Wight has a recruitment issue, blaming the ferries for deterring doctors, teachers and vets from relocating there. I went to see a specialist in February who was offered the position here and he told me he wouldnt accept it because it would separate him from his family, Jackie Devonshire, 71, told the MailOnline. I wish I had never come here, I cant wait to leave, she added. A petition was set up earlier this month by Utilita Hub manager Simon Jackson to try and raise the issue on a national level, and has already gained more than 4,000 signatures, the outlet reported. I have lived here for over ten years and the ferries seem to have just got worse and worse, especially in the last few months and prices are skyrocketing, Jackson said. Wightlink said in a statement to The Independent: "On average, an Isle of Wight customer pays around 35 for a single crossing with a car (and up to seven passengers) and 70 per cent of Islanders travel with Wightlink using a discount. Those travelling for NHS-funded hospital appointments benefit from 50 per cent off their crossings, which are capped at 35 each way, even in peak times. With Wightlinks Multilink Pass, which is offered exclusively for Island residents, vehicle prices start at 27.75 per sailing. In a separate statement, Red Funnel told The Independent that they are dedicated to providing reliable, punctual and affordable ferry services and do not profit from service disruptions or cancellations. They added: Our dynamic pricing for vehicles adjusts based on factors such as journey duration, demand, and the time of year, with the summer being the most popular time for travel. All foot passenger fares are published at fixed prices. Last year, over 70 per cent of bookings included some form of discount, with Island residents who often travel during off-peak timespaying an average of 30 per cent less for car travel compared to visitors. Red Funnel also said they provide discounts for those with NHS medical appointments at 12.40 per person. For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calders podcast As the Israel-Hamas war continues, the U.S. military announced it is moving more forces to the Middle East. The United States and its allies continue to plead for a cease-fire deal while Israel anticipates possible retaliatory action from Iran or Hezbollah following multiple assassinations of top Hamas and Hezbollah leaders in recent weeks. Latest Developments Aug 13, 4:26 PM US approves $20 billion more in arms sales to Israel The U.S. State Department has signed off on several large arms transfers to Israel, notifying Congress on Tuesday that it has approved the sale of more than $20 billion worth of weaponry and military equipment. All of the sales surpass the value threshold that requires the State Department to formally notify Congress 15 days before initiating the transfer process. Congress can move to reject the transaction by adopting a joint resolution of disapproval within that timeframe. Some of the items arent scheduled to arrive in Israel for years. -ABC News' Shannon K. Kingston Aug 13, 4:23 PM Israeli forces kill 2 Hezbollah fighters, IDF says Israeli forces killed two Hezbollah fighters from its Southern Front on Tuesday, the Israeli Defense Forces said in a statement. Hezbollah has confirmed the death of two of their fighters on Tuesday. These attacks come as Israel awaits a response from Hezbollah and Iran for killings in recent weeks. Aug 12, 7:09 PM CIA director, Biden aide to head to Middle East to salvage hostage talks Several U.S. officials are headed to the Middle East this week in a bid to de-escalate regional tensions and try to salvage hostage negotiations, as the window for a deal appears to be closing. CIA Director Bill Burns is expected to arrive in Doha, Qatar, this week, where he will lead a crucial meeting on the hostages, according to a U.S. official. Its not clear, however, whether a representative of Hamas will attend. Meanwhile, Brett McGurk, Bidens top adviser on the Middle East at the White House, was expected to travel separately to Cairo, according to the U.S. official. Axios first reported the travel plans for Burns and McGurk, noting that McGurks plan was to nail down a security plan for the Egypt-Gaza border. The diplomatic trip also comes as the U.S. has been scrambling to revive a coalition of countries that helped to defend Israel last April during an attack by Iran. Israel has been bracing for Iran to launch a retaliatory attack following the assassination of a senior Hamas official in Tehran. The U.S. official acknowledged "there have been complications" with getting some of the Arab countries on board but added they've been "able to put in place preparations" to defend Israel successfully. -ABC News' Anne Flaherty Aug 12, 4:15 PM Western leaders call on Iran to 'stand down' The leaders of the U.S., U.K., France, Germany and Italy called on Iran to "stand down" and expressed their support for Israel's defense "against Iranian aggression" during a call on Monday, according to a joint statement released by the White House. We called on Iran to stand down its ongoing threats of a military attack against Israel and discussed the serious consequences for regional security should such an attack take place," the statement said. The leaders also expressed their support for ongoing efforts to reach a cease-fire and hostage release deal in Gaza, according to the statement. Prime Minister @Keir_Starmer, President @EmmanuelMacron, @Bundeskanzler Scholz, Prime Minister @GiorgiaMeloni and I express our support for efforts to de-escalate tensions and reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza. All parties must live up to their responsibilities. pic.twitter.com/Oluqidk30S President Biden (@POTUS) August 12, 2024 -ABC News' Justin Gomez Aug 12, 2:53 PM Hostage deal talks expected to move forward: State Department As the Middle East continues its uneasy wait for Iran's response to the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, the State Department is pressing on with its high-stakes diplomatic campaign to constrain military action from Tehran amid fresh waves of uncertainty. "We continue to work diplomatically to prevent any major escalation in this conflict, deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters Monday. "We obviously don't want to see any kind of attack or response happen in the first place." Multiple officials within the State Department said they are still cautiously optimistic that Iran will limit the scope of its retaliation, but that they increasingly expect the country will strike at Israel before Thursday -- the date the Biden administration, along with Egypt and Qatar, set to relaunch hostage/cease-fire deal talks in hopes of bringing Israel and Hamas back to the table for a final push. A joint statement issued by the mediators last week was designed not only to pressure the parties involved, but as a message to Iran that an agreement was in the offing meant to persuade the country against military action that could scuttle a deal, according to an official. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby also publicly warned Monday that Iranian military action could impede progress at a critical point in the negotiations. However, Hamas' earlier announcement that it would not participate in the round of negotiations and public infighting among top Israeli officials have cast significant doubt over whether the Thursday meeting will even happen -- undercutting the administration's intended message to Tehran. At the podium Monday, Patel said mediators "fully expect talks to move forward as they should" in order to "bring this deal to conclusion." He declined to say whether Hamas or Israel was the bigger impediment. "I'm not going to color it one way or the other," Patel said while noting that "the prime minister of Israel immediately welcomed this initiative and confirmed that the Israeli team will be there, and they'll be prepared to finalize the details of implementing the deal." -ABC News' Shannon K. Kingston Aug 12, 2:38 PM Retaliatory attack on Israel could come 'this week': Kirby A United States assessment shows a retaliatory attack by Iran and its proxies against Israel could be launched "this week," the White House said Monday. "We share the same concerns and expectations that our Israeli counterparts have with respect to potential timing here. Could be this week," National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters. "We're continuing to watch it very, very closely." Kirby said it's difficult to ascertain what a potential attack could look like at this time but that "we have to be prepared for what could be a significant set of attacks." PHOTO: National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby speaks during a daily press briefing at the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on July 31, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images, FILE) Meanwhile, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari told reporters on Monday that Israel remains "on high alert." "We take seriously the threats of our enemies and that is why we are on high alert offensively and defensively," he said. Hagari said the IDF will "work hard to give the public time to get organized." -ABC News' Justin Gomez Aug 12, 11:40 AM Netanyahu accuses defense minister of 'adopting anti-Israel narrative' Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant appeared to take a swing at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a Knesset committee meeting about Israels response to ongoing cross-border tensions with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. "I hear all the heroes with the war drums, the 'absolute victory' and this gibberish," Gallant reportedly said, alluding to Netanyahu's slogan through the war, according to Israeli media. PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a state memorial ceremony for Zeev Jabotinsky, founder of the Revisionist Zionist movement, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict at Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, Aug. 4, 2024. (Naama Grynbaum/Pool via Reuters) Netanyahu's office released a statement shortly after, saying Gallant too is bound by the policy of "absolute victory." "When Gallant adopts the anti-Israel narrative, he hurts the chances of reaching a deal for the release of the abductees," the Israeli Prime Minister's Office said. "He should have attacked [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar, who refuses to send a delegation to the negotiations, and who was and remains the only obstacle to the kidnapping deal." National Unity Party Chairman Benny Gantz warned about internal divisions in Israel during an address on Monday. "If we don't come to our senses, there will be a civil war here," Gantz said. He said there have been "heroes," from soldiers to volunteers, in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack, but also "leadership that dissolves, networks that poison the well from which we live." "The patriotic Israeli majority should stop the hatred and make amends," Gantz said. -ABC News' Jordana Miller Aug 12, 10:44 AM Hezbollah says it is still determined to attack Israel While the weekend passed with no direct retaliation from Hezbollah for the killings of several top leaders by Israeli strikes, the group said it still plans to strike. "The response is coming and inevitable and there is no turning back from it," Ali Damoush, the deputy chairman of the Executive Council of Hezbollah, said Monday. PHOTO: A general view of St Paul Cathedral on Aug. 11, 2024, in Beirut, Lebanon. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images) The Hezbollah official saif America, Great Britain, Germany and everyone who supplies Israel with weapons is a partner in the Gaza massacres. "Israel does not find any practical and serious response to its massacres, and this is what encourages it to continue committing crimes and massacres, and without effective pressure Netanyahu will not stop his crimes," Damoush claimed. Aug 12, 8:33 AM Israeli Air Force bans travel abroad Amid fears that an attack from Iran may be imminent, the commander of Israels Air Force, Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, has issued an order barring servicemembers from traveling abroad. The directive applies to career officers and non-commissioned officers, not conscripts, according to the Israel Defense Forces. PHOTO: This picture taken from a position in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon shows an Israeli Air Force fighter flying over the border area on Aug. 11, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah. (Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty Images) -ABC News' Jordana Miller Aug 12, 8:40 AM US is 'strengthening' military force in Middle East over 'escalating' tensions The U.S. is "strengthening" its capabilities in the Middle East by sending an additional guided missile submarine to the region "in light of escalating regional tensions," according to a statement from Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder issued on Sunday. The update comes the same day Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant. PHOTO: The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (L), the air-defense destroyer HMS Defender and the guided-missile destroyer USS Farragut transit the Strait of Hormuz on Nov. 19, 2019. The U.S. will bolster its military presence in the Middle East. (Zachary Pearson/US Navy/AFP via Getty Images, FILE) "Secretary Austin reiterated the United States' commitment to take every possible step to defend Israel," according to the statement. Secretary Austin ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, equipped with F-35C fighters, to accelerate its transit to the Middle East, which was previously expected to get there by the end of the month. The Lincoln was already en route to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt, but will now add to the capabilities of the Roosevelt Additionally, Austin has ordered the USS Georgia guided missile submarine to the Middle East. The statement doesnt say how soon the Lincoln or the USS Georgia will arrive in the region. -ABC News' Anne Flaherty Click here to read the rest of the blog. Many years in the making, the State Department has just announced that it has cleared Israel to acquire 50 new Advanced F-15 derivatives and major updates for some of Israels existing F-15 fleet. These aircraft are designated F-15IA for new-build airframes that are based on the F-15EX and F-15I+ for the 25 F-15I Raam Strike Eagle derivatives that received upgrade packages to bring them more in line with the F-15IA configuration. As it sits, a total of 75 F-15s would be involved if the $18.82B Foreign Military Sales (FMS) deal goes through and is fully executed. Back in April, we reported that just such a deal was finally on the verge of being approved. The details of the potential sale from the official press release reads as follows: The Government of Israel has requested to buy up to fifty (50) new F-15IA multi-role fighter aircraft, as well as Mid-Life Update modification kits for its existing twenty-five (25) F-15I multi-role fighter aircraft; one hundred twenty (120) F110-GE-129 engines; ninety (90) Advanced Display Core Processors II; seventy-five (75) APG-82(V)1 Active Electronically Scanned Array radars; fifty (50) AN/AAQ-13 LANTIRN navigation pods with containers; three-hundred twenty (320) LAU-128 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile launchers; twenty-five (25) M61A Vulcan cannons; and one hundred eighty (180) Embedded Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation System devices with M-Code. Also included are Cartridge Actuated Devices and Propellant Actuated Devices; Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing Systems; APX-119 Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) systems; KIV-77 Mode 4/5 IFF cryptographic appliques; AN/PYQ-10 Simple Key Loaders; impulse cartridges, chaff, and flares; integration and test support and equipment; aircraft and munitions support and support equipment; secure communications equipment, precision navigation, and cryptographic devices; classified software development, delivery, and support; spare parts, consumables and accessories, and repair and return support; major and minor modifications, maintenance, and maintenance support; facilities and construction support; transportation and airlift support; classified publications and technical documentation; personnel training and training equipment; warranties; studies and surveys; U.S. Government and contractor engineering, technical, and logistics support services; and other related elements of logistics and program support. The estimated total cost is $18.82 billion. Deliveries are estimated to begin in 2029. F-15I Raam on the apron. (IAF) The initiative to revitalize Israels F-15 fleet goes back many years, but the supposed mix of new aircraft and upgrades has fluctuated over time. It was always thought that the IAF would opt to purchase new F-15s to serve alongside the air arms growing fleet of F-35I Adirs, as they offer a special complimentary set of capabilities within the IAF, and all variants F-15A/B/C/D Baz and F-15I Raam remain a foundational element of the force. F-15s of all variants have served as Israels primary long-range strike weapon, along with fulfilling air defense and standard attack roles, as well as acting as forward networking and command and control nodes. The F-15s are also well suited for carrying outsized weapons, including air-launched ballistic missiles, over long distances. The now very dated F-15 Baz airframes took up the ground attack mission well before the F-15E Strike Eagle was a reality and today deeply upgraded examples continue to serve as multi-role platforms. Even the F-15Is are now aging, with the last example delivered 25 years ago. Overall, the F-15 fleet is seen as a precious commodity within the IAF. The news of the F-15 FMS approval comes at a very controversial time for Israel, and Americas military support of it, after many months of bombardment and military operations in Gaza that have killed thousands of people. The operation came after the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas launched an unprecedented and horrific attack on Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023. It also comes at a time when tensions between Israel and Iran have never been greater. An impending reprisal attack on Israel is now expected to come at any time following the assassination of Hamass top political leader while he was visiting Tehran. F-15A/B/C/D Bazs in action. (AMIT AGRONOV) The press release about the F-15IA/I+ deal from the Pentagons Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) also states: The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to U.S. national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability. This proposed sale is consistent with those objectives. Incorporating F-15IAs into the Israel Air Forces fleet of fighter aircraft will enhance Israels interoperability with U.S. systems and bolster Israels aerial capabilities to meet current and future enemy threats, strengthen its homeland defense, and serve as a deterrent to regional threats. Israel will have no difficulty absorbing these articles and services into its armed forces. The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region. Other approved sales of weaponry to Israel that were announced today include the following: The F-15s will likely replace the nearly 50-year-old F-15A/B/C/D Bazs, while also reinforcing the F-15I fleet for the back half of its service life and bringing it more in line with the F-15IA configuration for commonality and future supportability. USAF F-15EX. (USAF) This proposed sale would be huge for Boeing as it will greatly reinforce the Advanced F-15 production line that is now turning out F-15EXs for the USAF, which is currently looking to buy 98 of the jets, but that could be expanded further. So the IAFs order would be over half the size of the entire USAF one, not counting the upgrade kits that will be needed to modify the existing F-15Is, a process that will take around eight years, according to the DSCA release. Its also possible that Israel could procure fewer new-build F-15IAs than the full number approved. In the past, 25 airframes were widely referenced as the number in play, but considering how old the Bazs are getting, and the fact that the F-15EX will serve for decades with the USAF, a larger buy does make sense. Its also worth noting that Indonesia and Poland also have a high interest in obtaining F-15EXs, among other international prospects, and Japan is upgrading its F-15Js into a super interceptor configuration with Boeings help. Now that the Biden Administration has approved the deal, Congress will have to, as well. Some will clearly protest it based on Israels recent actions, but its likely to be approved in the end. Contact the author: tyler@twz.com Israeli drone attack kills two in south Lebanon Heavy smoke billows following an Israeli air strike over the southern Lebanese border village of Kfarkela. STR/dpa Two people were killed Tuesday in an Israeli drone attack in southern Lebanon, Lebanese security sources said. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, the Israeli attack targeted a car near the city of Baraashit in southern Lebanon. It was not initially clear whether the victims were members of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement. The Israeli military said it is investigating the matter. Hezbollah claimed Tuesday several attacks on Israeli targets in northern Israel. Hezbollah in Lebanon and Israel have been engaged in daily firefights since the Gaza war began las October. More than 120 civilians were killed, most of them on the Lebanese side. By Rajasik Mukherjee (Reuters) - Shares of Challenger Ltd rose to their highest levels in nearly 16 months on Tuesday after the Australian investment management firm beat estimates on annual earnings, while investors also cheered its fiscal 2025 earnings outlook. The stock gained as much as 10% to hit its highest level since Feb. 20, 2023. Shares marked their biggest intraday jump since Oct. 20, 2022, and are poised for a fifth consecutive sessions of gains, if trend holds. Challenger reported a fiscal 2024 normalised net profit before tax (NPBT) of A$608 million ($400.73 million), a 17% hike from 2023 levels, buoyed by a 110% growth in the Sydney-based firm's lifetime annuity sales of A$1.5 billion. Annuity sales are income products, sold by insurance companies, which provide financial stability to the purchaser after retirement. Challenger trounced both UBS and Citi's NPBT expectations of A$600 million and A$603 million, respectively. The company, which increased its group assets under management to A$127 billion in fiscal 2024, forecast its 2025 NPBT to come between A$640 million and A$700 million. Analysts at UBS were upbeat on the 2025 forecast, and said the midpoint of fiscal 2025 forecast was in line with their consensus. "With Challenger on track to meet its RoE (target) in FY25 and with capital much better than expected due to permanent benefits, we expect the market to like this result," Citi analysts wrote in a note. Challenger Life segment, which provides financial security post retirement, was capitalised with an ability to tackle different market cycles and support future growth, the company said. Challenger attributed the jump in profit to lower costs and strong performance in Life segment, and also declared a final dividend of 13.5 Australian cents. ($1 = 1.5172 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Rajasik Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips) By James Mackenzie JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Tuesday visited the Al-Aqsa mosque compound known to Jews as Temple Mount, and said Jews should be allowed to pray there, freshly challenging rules covering one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly denied there would be any change to rules prohibiting Jews from praying at the site, which is holy to Muslims as well. He also issued a rebuke to Ben-Gvir, head of one of the nationalist religious parties in the ruling coalition. "There is no private policy of any minister on the Temple Mount - neither the Minister of National Security nor any other minister," Netanyahu's office said in a statement. In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a statement blasting Ben-Gvir's visit to the site. The row with Ben-Gvir was the second time this week that Netanyahu has clashed with one of his senior ministers, following a sharp reprimand issued to Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday over the aims of the Gaza war. Ben-Gvir's remarks, during a visit to the complex to mark the Jewish day of mourning for the destruction of the ancient temples, come at an especially sensitive time, with the war in Gaza at risk of escalating into a wider conflict, potentially drawing in Iran and its regional proxies. The Al-Aqsa compound, revered by Jews as a vestige of their two ancient temples, is administered by a Jordanian religious foundation and under rules dating back decades, Jews are allowed to visit, but may not pray there. "Our policy is to allow prayer," Ben-Gvir said as he passed a line of Jewish visitors who prostrated themselves on the ground, while others sang and clapped their hands in celebration. The Waqf, the foundation that administers the site, said around 2,250 Jews entered the site on Tuesday. The spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denounced Ben-Gvir's visit as a "provocation" and called on the U.S. to intervene "if it wants to prevent the region from exploding in an uncontrollable manner". Blinken said Washington strongly opposed Ben-Gvir's visit, which he said "demonstrated blatant disregard for the historic status quo with respect to the holy sites in Jerusalem." "These provocative actions only exacerbate tensions at a pivotal moment when all focus should be on the ongoing diplomatic efforts to achieve a ceasefire agreement and secure the release of all hostages and create the conditions for broader regional stability," Blinken said, calling on the Israeli government to prevent similar incidents going forward. Ben-Gvir has clashed repeatedly with other ministers over his calls to allow prayer at the compound, which has helped trigger repeated conflicts with the Palestinians over the years, including a 10-day war with Hamas in 2021. Moshe Gafni, head of United Torah Judaism, one of the religious parties in the government, criticized Ben-Gvir's visit to the compound, which many Orthodox Jews believe is too sacred a place for Jews to enter. "The damage it causes to the Jewish people is unbearable, and it also causes unfounded hatred on the day of the destruction of the Temple," he said in a statement. GOVERNMENT DIVISIONS The row with Ben-Gvir was the latest in a long series that have laid bare the divisions that have been a feature of Netanyahu's right-wing coalition since its formation at the end of 2022. With opinion polls indicating that new elections would see the defeat of both Netanyahu's Likud party and the nationalist-religious bloc headed by Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the coalition has so far held together for much longer than many previous governments. But none of the ministers make even a pretence of cabinet unity. Ben-Gvir and Smotrich have clashed repeatedly with Gallant over issues ranging from the conduct of the war in Gaza to policy regarding the Israeli-occupied West Bank and moves to curb the power of the courts. For his part, Gallant has been determined to remain in government to act as a counterweight to the nationalist religious bloc and Netanyahu with whom he has openly disagreed on multiple occasions. On Monday, Netanyahu's office reprimanded Gallant after the minister was quoted in the Israeli press dismissing as "nonsense" Netanyahu's often repeated aim of "total victory" in the war with the Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza, now in its 11th month. Last year, Netanyahu tried to sack Gallant over his opposition to plans to curb the power of the Supreme Court, only to have to reverse course in the face of mass protests by hundreds of thousands of Israelis. On Tuesday, Ben-Gvir repeated his call for final victory in Gaza, saying the aim of the war should be to defeat Hamas, and "bring them to their knees". Benny Gantz, a centrist former general who joined Netanyahu's government shortly after the start of the Gaza war as a gesture of unity before quitting earlier this year, said Ben-Gvir had defied the prime minister and endangered the state and should be stripped of his official powers. "You don't trust your partner and they don't trust you," he said in a statement. (Reporting by James Mackenzie; Additional reporting by Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and David Gregorio) Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, head of a far-right religious party in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government, again rejected talks with Hamas during a visit to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on Tuesday. Speaking in a video published on X, Ben Gvir repeated his opposition to negotiations with the radical Islamist Hamas movement on a ceasefire and the release of the hostages it continues to hold. He also called for Jews to be allowed to pray at the Temple Mount, which is known as the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims and is Islam's third-holiest site, containing the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque. Jews venerate the Temple Mount as the site of two destroyed Jewish temples. The site is currently under the administration of Jordan's Islamic Affairs Ministry, with Israel providing security. While Jews are permitted to visit the site, they are not allowed to pray there. Following Ben-Gvir's visit, which was seen as provocative, Netanyahu's office said policy on the Temple Mount had not changed. "There is no private policy by a minister," it said. Prayers can be heard in the background of Ben-Gvir's video, and Israeli media also published images of dozens of observant Jews praying during the minister's visit. Ben-Gvir has in the past criticized the agreement with the Muslim authorities as "racist" and anti-Jewish, while Palestinians fear that Israel plans to extend its control over the holy sites. According to the video, Ben-Gvir visited the Temple Mount on Tisha B'Av, a day of fasting by observant Jews to mark the destruction of the two temples. Media reports put the number attending at more than 1,600. The Palestinian Authority condemned the visit. Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, head of a far-right religious party in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government, again rejected talks with Hamas during a controversial visit to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on Tuesday. Speaking in a video published on X, Ben Gvir repeated his opposition to negotiations with the radical Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement on a ceasefire and the release of the hostages it continues to hold. He also called for Jews to be allowed to pray at the Temple Mount, which is known as the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims and is Islam's third-holiest site, containing the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque. Jews venerate the Temple Mount as the site of two destroyed Jewish temples. The site is currently under the administration of Jordan's Islamic Affairs Ministry, with Israel providing security. While Jews are permitted to visit the site, they are not allowed to pray there. Following Ben-Gvir's visit, which was seen as provocative, Netanyahu's office said policy on the Temple Mount had not changed. "There is no private policy by a minister," it said. Prayers can be heard in the background of Ben-Gvir's video, and Israeli media also published images of dozens of observant Jews praying during the minister's visit. Ben-Gvir has in the past criticized the agreement with the Muslim authorities as "racist" and anti-Jewish, while Palestinians fear that Israel plans to extend its control over the holy sites. According to the video, Ben-Gvir visited the Temple Mount on Tisha B'Av, a day of fasting by observant Jews to mark the destruction of the two temples. Media reports put the number attending at more than 1,600. The Palestinian Authority condemned the visit. Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid expressed criticism of Ben-Gvir's "election campaigning on Temple Mount" in "complete contrast to the position of the security forces." The visit by a "group of irresponsible extremists" within the government endangered lives, Lapid, the head of a centrist party, said. Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, head of a far-right religious party in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government, again rejected talks with Hamas during a controversial visit to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on Tuesday. Speaking in a video published on X, Ben Gvir repeated his opposition to negotiations with the radical Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement on a ceasefire and the release of the hostages it continues to hold. He also called for Jews to be allowed to pray at the Temple Mount, which is known as the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims and is Islam's third-holiest site, containing the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque. Jews venerate the Temple Mount as the site of two destroyed Jewish temples. The site is currently under the administration of Jordan's Islamic Affairs Ministry, with Israel providing security. While Jews are permitted to visit the site, they are not allowed to pray there. Following Ben-Gvir's visit, which was seen as provocative, Netanyahu's office said policy on the Temple Mount had not changed. "There is no private policy by a minister," it said. Prayers can be heard in the background of Ben-Gvir's video, and Israeli media also published images of dozens of observant Jews praying during the minister's visit. Ben-Gvir has in the past criticized the agreement with the Muslim authorities as "racist" and anti-Jewish, while Palestinians fear that Israel plans to extend its control over the holy sites. According to the video, Ben-Gvir visited the Temple Mount on Tisha B'Av, a day of fasting by observant Jews to mark the destruction of the two temples. Media reports put the number attending at more than 1,600. The Palestinian Authority condemned the visit. Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid expressed criticism of Ben-Gvir's "election campaigning on Temple Mount" in "complete contrast to the position of the security forces." The visit by a "group of irresponsible extremists" within the government endangered lives, Lapid, the head of a centrist party, said. The US government strongly condemned Ben-Gvir's action. "Let me just say clearly that the United States stands firmly for preservation of the historic status quo with respects to the holy sites of Jerusalem," US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said in response to a question in Washington. "Any unilateral action like this that jeopardizes such a status quo is unacceptable," he added. "And not only is it unacceptable, it detracts from what we think is a vital time as we are working to get the ceasefire deal across the finish line." The spokesman continued: "It detracts from what our stated goal is for the region, which is a two state solution, a Palestinian state and an Israeli state that's side by side, living in with dignity and harmony." "We recognize how important the holy site is, so we urge all sides to respect the status quo," Patel added. Egypt and Jordan on Tuesday also criticized Ben-Gvir's controversial visit to the Temple Mount. After dozens of observant Jews were pictured praying at the site during the minister's visit, Egypt called the incident "irresponsible and provocative." Jordan, which administers the site, also chimed in, decrying violations of the status quo. A Palestinian man mourns his 4-day-old twin relatives, killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, as he holds their birth certificates, at a hospital morgue in Deir al-Balah, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana) DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) Reem Abu Hayyah, just three months old, was the only member of her family to survive an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip late Monday. A few miles (kilometers) to the north, Mohamed Abuel-Qomasan lost his wife and their twin babies just four days old in another strike. More than 10 months into its war with Hamas, Israel's relentless bombardment of the isolated territory has wiped out extended families. It has left parents without children and children without parents or siblings. And some of the sole survivors are so young they will have no memory of those they lost. The Israeli strike late Monday destroyed a home near the southern city of Khan Younis, killing 10 people. The dead included Abu Hayyah's parents and five siblings, ranging in age from 5 to 12, as well as the parents of three other children. All four children were wounded in the strike. There is no one left except this baby, said her aunt, Soad Abu Hayyah. Since this morning, we have been trying to feed her formula, but she does not accept it, because she is used to her mothers milk. The strike that killed Abuel-Qomasan's wife and newborns a boy, Asser, and a girl, Ayssel also killed the twins' maternal grandmother. As he sat in a hospital, stunned into near-silence by the loss, he held up the twins' birth certificates. His wife, Joumana Arafa, a pharmacist, had given birth by cesarean section four days ago and announced the twins' arrival on Facebook. On Tuesday, he had gone to register the births at a local government office. While he was there, neighbors called to say the home where he was sheltering, near the central city of Deir al-Balah, had been bombed. I dont know what happened, he said. "I am told it was a shell that hit the house. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strikes. The Health Ministry in Gaza said 115 newborns have been killed in the territory since the war began. The military says it tries to avoid harming Palestinian civilians, and blames their deaths on Hamas because the militants operate in dense residential areas, sometimes sheltering in and launching attacks from homes, schools, mosques and other civilian buildings. But the army rarely comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children. Gaza's Health Ministry says nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, without saying how many were fighters. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 in the Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel that ignited the war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has often said that they killed parents in front of their children and children in front of their parents" to illustrate the brutality of the attack, most recently in his July address to the United States Congress. Israel's offensive has left thousands of orphans so many that local doctors employ an acronym when registering them: WCNSF, or wounded child, no surviving family. The United Nations estimated in February that some 17,000 children in Gaza are now unaccompanied, and the number is likely to have grown since. The Abu Hayyah family was sheltering in an area that Israel had ordered people to evacuate in recent days. It was one of several such orders that have led hundreds of thousands to seek shelter in an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone consisting of squalid, crowded tent camps along the coast. The vast majority of Gaza's population has fled their homes, often multiple times. The coastal strip, which is just 25 miles (40 kilometers) long by about 7 miles (11 kilometers) wide, has been completely sealed off by Israeli forces since May. Around 84% of Gaza's territory has been placed under evacuation orders by the Israeli military, according to the United Nations. Many families have ignored the evacuation orders because they say nowhere feels safe, or because they are unable to make the arduous journey on foot, or because they fear they will never be able to return to their homes, even after the war. Abuel-Qomasan and his wife had heeded orders to evacuate Gaza City in the opening weeks of the war. They sought shelter in central Gaza, as the army had instructed. ___ Magdy reported from Cairo. ___ Follow APs coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war Supporters cheer as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah eulogizes Fuad Shukr, the group's top military commander, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Aug. 6. (Mustafa Jamalddine / Associated Press) When Israel assassinated Hezbollah's top military commander last month in a rare airstrike in Beirut, it marked the highest-level loss for the group since 2008 and the most provocative act to date in renewed cross-border clashes that now threaten to spark another full-blown war between Israel and Lebanon. Fuad Shukr's assassination was part of a decades-old policy by Israel to disrupt its adversaries' capabilities through targeted killings. Hours after the strike on Shukr, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh died in a bombing in Tehran, an attack widely blamed on Israel. Israel's assassination campaign against Hezbollah intensified in the fall, after the Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite paramilitary faction which is also Lebanon's most powerful political party began firing thousands of rockets into northern Israel. Hezbollah said the offensive was in support of Hamas, which has been fighting a 10-month war with Israel following the Gaza-based Palestinian militant group's Oct. 7 offensive that killed around 1,200 Israelis and captured about 250 hostages. In response to Oct. 7, Israel invaded Gaza, killing nearly 40,000 Palestinians, Gaza authorities say, a figure that does not differentiate between combatants and civilians. The war has also triggered a humanitarian crisis. To its north, however, Israel has relied on its well-honed strategy of airstrikes and assassinations, killing more than 400 Hezbollah fighters and some two dozen Hezbollah commanders, including two senior division commanders serving under Shukr as well as high-ranking members of the Radwan Force, Hezbollah's special forces contingent. Israel says those losses have, one by one, degraded Hezbollah's leadership ranks and diminished its fighting capability at a time when the two enemies may soon face each other in direct conflict. Israeli officials also say that those killed had "blood on their hands." Read more: Israel is spying on Hezbollah commanders and killing them one by one The U.S. had a $5-million bounty on Shukr as the alleged architect of the 1983 Marine barracks suicide bombing in Beirut that killed 241 American military personnel. Israel said he was responsible for a rocket attack last month that killed 12 children in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, a claim Hezbollah denied. "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," wrote Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in a post on the social media platform X after the strike on Shukr. Yet the impact of Israel's strategy remains in question. In the short term, it may yield some results, analysts say, but a longer-term strategic victory is less certain. That's especially true when it comes to Hezbollah, said Hilal Khashan, a professor of political science at the American University of Beirut. Losses in its ranks "hurt Hezbollah, but they don't really change anything in terms of the balance of power between it and Israel," he said. Read more: Killing of Hamas leader likely to derail Gaza peace talks, inflame regional tensions The group can backfill any void from its fighting force, thought to number roughly 100,000. It can also rely on its patron Iran, which provides arms, training and military advisors. And though Hezbollah has increasingly come to be organized as a conventional army an effort spearheaded by Shukr it retains the decentralized structure of a militia. "We know that each unit or cell can operate autonomously; they don't have to refer to the central command for instructions," Khashan said. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah eulogized Shukr as one of the group's first military leaders and acknowledged his death "was a very big loss for us." So closely was he involved in the day-to-day running of the current fight with Israel that Shukr had called Nasrallah to give him updates less than an hour before he was killed. Hezbollah fighters stand behind the coffin of their top commander Fouad Shukur, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday, July 30, as Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah speaks through a screen during Shukur's funeral in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Aug. 1, 2024. (Hussein Malla / Associated Press) "There's no question, this is an Israeli achievement," Nasrallah said of Shukr's assassination, vowing the group would retaliate soon. Nevertheless, it did not constitute an "absolute victory," the Hezbollah leader said. Even so, analysts say, Israel's strikes have dealt an immediate blow to Hezbollah. "Removing an entire cadre of top commanders out of any army as Israel has systematically done over the past 10 months to Hezbollah [is] almost certain to have operational consequences, should the dogs of regional war be loosed in the near term," said John Hannah, a senior fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, a pro-Israel think tank in Washington. That Israel appears to have penetrated communications among Hezbollah's upper echelons also serves to inject paranoia and caution within the group, Hannah added. Israel has in effect used the heightened tensions with Hezbollah as an opportunity to remove leaders, said Michael Knights, a researcher of Iranian proxy groups at the D.C.-based, pro-Israel Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "If you want to seriously degrade the performance of a terrorist movement, there's no substitute to killing their leaders," he said. "It doesn't necessarily show immediate effect, but you'll want to do it anyway." The ramped-up assassinations also serve to boost the morale of an Israeli public still angry and traumatized by the Oct. 7 attack which killed more Jews in any single day than any time since the Holocaust. "If you're trying to placate an internal constituency, it can be very effective," said retired Israeli Brig. Gen. Jonatan Shimshoni. "You're showing that you're doing something, and since you've demonized the enemy, you're chopping off the head of the snake." At the same time, some analysts dismissed any long-term gains from assassinations, and said that many times they backfire by rejuvenating militant groups or ushering in new, more radical leaders. Read more: Yemen's Houthi rebels vow open battle with Israel and the U.S., as fears rise of wider Mideast war "This can refresh the organization, preventing it from getting older and injecting new blood," said Mohanad Hage Ali, deputy director for research at the Beirut-based Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center. More generally, there's little evidence that assassinations serve as a deterrent, said Jennifer Carson, who studied the effect of high-profile targeted killings on groups such as Al Qaeda. Hezbollah supporters hold portraits that show Hezbollah leader Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah and one of his commander Fouad Shukur, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike last week, during a ceremony to commemorate his death in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024. (Mustafa Jamalddine / Associated Press) Decreasing the number of what she terms "motivated offenders" within an organization does not lead to a decrease in terrorist attacks, according to her research. "And if you kill a leader, particularly if they're beloved, that can rally a base, bringing increases in violence that pretty much wash out any benefits," she said. Such killings can also bring in more extreme replacements. After the death of Haniyeh who was leading Gaza cease-fire talks and was seen as a relative moderate Hamas last week chose Yahya Sinwar, its leader in Gaza and one of the planners of the Oct. 7 attack, as the new head of its politburo. "When you're speaking to replacement," Carson said, "for every leader that is killed, there's somebody more radical to replace them." Shimshoni, the retired Israeli general, added that with an adversary such as Hezbollah that is motivated, ideological and religious, decapitation strikes will have little strategic significance. "In the Israeli case, the history of assassinations in this regard is basically not a success," he said. "You either do not get the effect you want, or you'll get counterproductive, unintended consequences." Bulos reported from Beirut and Wilkinson from Washington. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi. (Photo by Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today) Dawn McLin, faculty senate president at Jackson State University in Mississippi, was placed on leave pending termination last week for allegedly abusing the power of the position, according to faculty who met last to discuss how to support her. The accusation has sowed confusion and fear of retaliation among members of the historically Black universitys faculty senate. A Jackson State spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment by press time. McLin, a psychology professor whose family has deep roots at Jackson State, was elected faculty senate president in 2020. She has presided during a fraught relationship between faculty and administration that has seen the senate take multiple votes of no-confidence in members of the current and former administration, due in part to a continuous pattern of failing to respect shared governance and other professional norms. Though faculty do not know the exact circumstances of McLins leave, many expressed alarm that what happened is highly unusual. A tenured professor, McLin is entitled to certain employment protections per university policies and the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees. But McLin was apparently placed on leave without any written warning, members of the faculty senate executive committee shared during the meeting. She was also accused of harassment, malfeasance, and contumacious conduct, a term stemming from IHL policies that means insubordination. This sort of treatment of faculty senate presidents rarely happens, at most once or twice every few years, according to the American Association of University Professors, a professional organization that advocates for tenure, shared governance and academic freedom. Such actions are generally taken in retaliation for criticisms of the administration the faculty members may have offered in the performance of their faculty leadership duties, Anita Levy, a program officer for AAUP, wrote in an email. McLin will receive a hearing in front of a faculty panel, but multiple faculty noted that the president, Marcus Thompson, could terminate her even if the panel recommends she be reinstated. Hearing this, multiple faculty stated that if McLin could be placed on leave without a warning, any of them could be. Many said the universitys reason didnt matter, because as a tenured professor McLin was owed more due process than it seemed she had received. One professor said he felt like tenure no longer existed at Jackson State and that faculty, no matter their age or length of service, were no longer protected. Some faculty wanted more information which led others to point out that the university would have nothing to say because this is a personnel matter. Confusion, alarm McLin did not comment for this story. She was not on the Zoom call to speak for herself because she had been removed from the university altogether, a member of the faculty senate executive committee told the meetings roughly 90 participants. But the call, initially intended to be a general assembly to help faculty prepare for the fall semester, was briefly attended by representatives for Thompson. The timing of Thompsons two liaisons Onetta Whitley, the general counsel, and Van Gillespie, Thompsons chief of staff who used to be IHLs general counsel had disturbed some faculty, because one executive committee member stated the senate typically does not invite anyone from the presidents office to a meeting of the full senate unless faculty request it. It was also unusual, multiple faculty stated, because no one from Thompsons office had attended a faculty senate meeting in months. One executive committee member said that Thompson had been invited to attend a meeting in the spring but designated representatives to go instead, and they failed to show. In the few minutes that Whitley spoke to faculty, she did not address McLins leave but implied that was the reason she and Gillespie had not received the Zoom link, stating we know the faculty senate has recently undergone some changes and that may explain why we did not receive such an invitation. Whitley added she was hoping to have a more collegial relationship with the senate going forward. I wanted to say to the faculty senate how much we are looking forward to working with you all, she said. We hope to be in a position to foster, really, a better working relationship than in 2024, a more collaborative, collegial relationship than what I understand has existed between the administration and the faculty senate in the past. After Whitley left, some faculty expressed confusion at her remarks, because they thought the relationship was collegial. At the same time, one member of the executive committee mentioned that the faculty senate has not been allowed to send a letter to Thompson and instead has been required to reach out to interact with his liaisons instead. He doesnt have any communication with us, they said. History at JSU McLin has worked at Jackson State since 2001, according to LinkedIn. Her family has attended Jackson State since the 1920s, and her mother, a former chair in the College of Education, also served as faculty senate president. Earlier this year, McLin was the principal investigator and project director behind a $1.5 million grant the university received to support an initiative to study how the health of underserved communities is affected by social problems like climate change and structural racism. It is unclear if her potential departure will jeopardize the grant. JSU is well-prepared to lead this research effort, she had said in a press release. Like many HBCUs, JSU has a history of addressing inequities and advocating for social justice. Our faculty, staff, and students have actively advocated for equal rights, racial justice, and systemic change at local and international levels. As faculty senate president, McLin stuck her neck out for faculty, so it was time for them to do the same, multiple people said on the call. They noted that McLin did not act unless the faculty senate wanted her to. Still, many faculty on the call urged caution because they were concerned the administration would retaliate against anyone, especially the remaining members of the senates executive committee, who stands up for McLin, especially for the remaining members of the senates executive committee. We love JSU as much as they do, said one faculty member whose name was not available on the Zoom. The question we have to ask is this the best way to address the issue of faculty? Is this the best way to address the needs of students? Is this the best way to address the community? Jackson State does not belong to one person or two persons, they added. It belongs to all of us. This story first appeared in Mississippi Today, a partner of the nonprofit States Newsroom, which includes the Florida Phoenix. Japan is bracing for a once-in-a-century earthquake. Does it need to? As tremors shook the ground in parts of western Japan last Thursday, local and national government bodies leapt into action. Meteorologists gathered and issued a temporary tsunami advisory. A special committee warned that another major earthquake could hit in the coming week the first time in its history the body had issued this type of nationwide advisory. High-speed trains slowed down as a precaution, causing travel delays, and the countrys prime minister canceled his overseas trips. In the end, the government lifted most advisories and reported no major damage from the 7.1-magnitude quake. But much of the country remains on high alert, preparing for a potential emergency during what is normally peak travel season during summer holidays reflecting Japans laser-focus on earthquake preparedness. However, some experts have cast doubt on whether such an advisory is necessary, or even accurate and whether it risks pulling resources away from communities deemed lower risk. Japan is no stranger to severe earthquakes. It lies on the Ring of Fire, an area of intense seismic and volcanic activity on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. Japan sits on the boundaries of four tectonic plates, which makes it one of the most earthquake-prone areas in the world, said Shoichi Yoshioka, a professor at Japans Kobe University. About 10% of the worlds earthquakes of magnitude 6 or higher occur in or around Japan, so the risk is much higher than in places like Europe or the eastern United States, where earthquakes are rare, Yoshioka said. Residents pass through a devastated street in Ishinomaki, Miyagi prefecture, after Japan was hit by a devastating earthquake and tsunami, on March 15, 2011. - Kim Jae-Hwan/AFP/Getty Images The worst quake in recent Japanese history was the 9.1 magnitude Tohoku earthquake in 2011 that triggered a major tsunami and nuclear disaster. About 20,000 people were killed. Then theres the looming threat of the Nankai Trough megathrust earthquake the most powerful of its kind, with magnitudes that can exceed 9. Seismologists say this could come potentially within a few decades, though the science remains disputed. Japans government has warned of the possible Nankai Trough quake for so many years that the possibility of it occurring has become common knowledge. But its also controversial with some scientists arguing its ineffective to focus solely on the slim odds of a hypothetical earthquake in a specific part of Japan, especially when other parts of the country face similar threats but receive far less attention. The big one The Nankai Trough is a 700-kilometer long (435-mile) subduction zone, which refers to when tectonic plates slip beneath each other. Most of the worlds earthquakes and tsunamis are caused by the movements of tectonic plates and the most powerful often occur in subduction zones. In this case, the tectonic plate under the Philippine Sea is slowly slipping beneath the continental plate where Japan is located, moving several centimeters each year, according to a 2013 report by the governments Earthquake Research Committee. At the Nankai Trough, severe earthquakes have been recorded every 100 to 200 years, according to the committee. The last such quakes took place in 1944 and 1946, both measuring 8.1 in magnitude; they devastated Japan, with at least 2,500 total deaths and thousands more injured, as well as tens of thousands of homes destroyed. By calculating the intervals between each major quake, the Japanese government has warned there is a 70% to 80% chance that Japan will be rocked by another Nankai Trough earthquake within 30 years, expected to be between magnitude 8 and 9. But these forecasts, and the utility of even making long-term imprecise predictions, have faced strong pushback from some quarters. Yoshioka, from Kobe University, said the 70%-80% figure was likely too high, and that the data drew from one specific theory, making it potentially more prone to errors. However, he had no doubt that a major earthquake will occur in this area in the future. I tell (my students), the Nankai Trough earthquake will definitely come, whether its your generation or your childrens generation, he said. Robert Geller, a seismologist and professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo, was more skeptical, calling the Nankai Trough earthquake a made-up construct and a purely hypothetical scenario. He also argued that earthquakes dont occur in cycles, but can take place at any place and time meaning theres little point calculating when the next quake will come based on when previous ones have occurred. Its a point of contention in the scientific community; seismologists have long relied on the idea that stress accumulates slowly along a fault between two tectonic plates, then is suddenly released in earthquakes, a cycle known as the stick-slip process though more recent studies have shown thats not always the case. Even if there is a potential threat on the horizon, the odds are extremely low, with both Yoshioka and Geller calling the public safety measures taken in the past week excessive or unnecessary. It is true that after one earthquake, a second, larger one can follow which is why authorities issued the unprecedented warning last Thursday, Yoshioka said. But even then, the probability of the Nankai Trough earthquake happening the next day is low perhaps increasing from the typical risk of one in 1,000 to one in a few hundred. Thats still less than a 1% chance, he said. The danger of overblowing these low odds is that, You would be like the boy who cried wolf, Geller said. Youd be issuing these warnings of a slightly larger than normal probability over and over and over again, and the public would get tired of you in a big hurry. A notice at a railway station announces that trains would operate at reduced speeds after an earthquake advisory on August 9, 2024 in Tokyo. - The Asahi Shimbun/Getty Images The public prepares However, there are no signs of public fatigue yet, with people nationwide on high alert. Yota Sugai, a 22-year-old college student, said seeing the warning on television made me feel a sense of urgency and fear, like a wake-up call. After Thursdays quake, he secured emergency supplies like food and water, monitored online maps for hazardous areas, and considered visiting his relatives in coastal areas to help them plan evacuation routes. The recent earthquake on New Years Day reminded me that you never know when the earthquake will hit. It made me realize the terrifying power of nature, he said, referring to the 7.5 magnitude quake that hit the Noto Peninsula on January 1 this year killing hundreds, including dozens who died after the quake from related causes. Student Mashiro Ogawa, 21, took similar precautions, preparing an emergency kit at home and urging her parents to do the same. Shes going to avoid beaches for now and change the furniture in her home, such as moving shelves away from her bed and lowering their height, she said. It didnt feel like a close issue before, but now it feels very real, she said. Part of the reason people are taking this so seriously is because of how many earthquakes rock Japan, and how fresh they feel. The 2011 disaster left major scars on the national psyche, which are compounded by new major quakes every few years. Each time, we witness the tragic loss of lives, buildings being crushed, and tsunamis causing devastation, leaving a lasting impression of fear, said Yoshioka, from Kobe University. This fear is likely shared by many citizens. I think this contributes significantly to why Japan is so prepared. Its why the Japanese government also emphasizes preparation to avoid another major tragedy like the 2011 earthquake, he added. Japan is largely recognized to be a world leader in earthquake preparedness and resiliency, from its infrastructure and building codes to its relief and rescue systems. Megumi Sugimoto, an associate professor at Osaka University specializing in disaster prevention, said that preparedness starts in school with even kindergartens holding evacuation and earthquake drills for toddlers. Its not only (earthquakes and) tsunamis, but other disasters occur frequently, especially in the summer season, she said, pointing to typhoons, severe rain and flooding. Public awareness and precautions, like stocking up on emergency supplies, can help protect people from any type of disasters, she said. Demolition work on July 10 in Wajima City, Japan - one of the worst-hit locations during the Noto earthquake at the start of 2024. - Shuhei Yokoyama/AP But theres still work to be done. Sugimoto and Geller, from the University of Tokyo, both pointed to the Noto earthquake as exposing gaps in Japans response systems, with road collapses that stranded the worst-hit communities, and many displaced residents still without homes months afterward. And, they said, the obstacles in Noto point to the risk of focusing too much attention on the Nankai Trough, when other parts of the country are just as threatened. For instance, Sugimoto used to work in Fukuoka, on the southwest island of Kyushu. The area where she lived has experienced damaging quakes in the past, despite not being labeled as one of the high-risk areas near the Nankai Trough. Because of that, people didnt prepare well, she said. And whereas the Nankai Trough area received government funding for quake preparations, the Fukuoka area where I was living is not supported by the central government. Geller added that while the emphasis on Nankai has made people in that region well-prepared, its bad for rest of the country. Because people think, Nankai is very dangerous, but were OK here in Kumamoto, or in the Noto Peninsula, he said. So, it has the effect of lulling everyone into a sense of false security, except in the supposedly imminent area. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance will return to Wisconsin Friday to deliver remarks at the Milwaukee Police Association. The trip will be Vance's second to the battleground state this month. The Ohio senator stopped in Eau Claire last week to speak to reporters at an equipment manufacturer as Vice President Kamala Harris and her new running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, held a rally nearby at the same time. Vance's campaign on Tuesday slammed Harris over the country's southern border and argued Harris and "dangerously liberal Democrats have done absolutely nothing" to address crime in places like Milwaukee. "President Donald Trump and JD Vance know Wisconsinites cant take another four years of weak leadership and they are devastated to see Americans suffer because of the Democrats soft on crime agenda," the campaign said in a statement announcing the visit. More: Just how horrible is Milwaukees crime? A look at the midyear stats. Vance is expected to deliver remarks about 11 a.m. Central Time at Milwaukee's police union. The visit comes as Democratic energy has swelled both across the country and in Wisconsin after President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race last month and Harris became the party's new nominee. A Marquette University Law School Poll released as both Harris and Vance campaign in Eau Claire last week showed Harris and former President Donald Trump in a dead-heat race. But it also saw Democrats narrow the enthusiasm gap with Republicans. Registered voters who considered themselves very enthusiastic to vote sided with Trump over Harris 52% to 47%, a marked improvement from the poll's last survey in June, when Biden was the Democratic nominee and those who considered themselves very enthusiastic to vote sided with Trump over Biden 61% to 39%. More than 12,000 people attended the Harris-Walz rally in Eau Claire last week the largest crowd a campaign has drawn in the state this cycle. The Harris campaign on Tuesday noted violent crime has been on a decline under the Biden-Harris administration. "JD Vance is running alongside a convicted felon who saw violent crime skyrocket when he was president and tried to overturn an election on January 6th," said Brianna Johnson, the Harris campaign's Wisconsin communications director. "Vice President Harris is the only candidate who will keep our communities safe and protect our democracy." This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: JD Vance to campaign at Milwaukee police union Friday JD Vance coming to Kansas City area for high-dollar fundraiser to help pro-Trump efforts Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential candidate, will headline a high-dollar fundraiser in Johnson County next week, hoping to tap wealthy Trump supporters ahead of the fall campaign. Vance will appear at a reception in Mission Hills on Aug. 22, according to an invitation. The event will raise money for the Trump 47 Committee, a joint fundraising committee that includes the Trump campaign, a PAC and the Republican National Committee. A $5,000 donation per couple is required to attend, with a photo opportunity set at $10,000 per photo and a roundtable set at $25,0000 per couple. For $50,000 a couple can sit on the host committee. Vance will be joined by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Sen. Roger Marshall and Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma. The exact time or location of the fundraiser in Mission Hills, a wealthy enclave along the Kansas-Missouri border, isnt included in the invitation. While neither Kansas nor Missouri are both solidly Republican states at the presidential level and not considered competitive in the 2024 election. But the region is still home to numerous Republicans of means who can provide funds to fuel a close race against the Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris. Vance, who rose to national prominence as the author of Hillbilly Elegy, previously fundraised in St. Louis in the days after former President Donald Trump picked him to be his running mate. The fundraisers come a year after Sen. Ron DeSantis, the Florida Republican who challenged Trump for the nomination, held his own fundraisers in Kansas City and Wichita. For a self-proclaimed hillbilly hero it seems JD Vance doesnt much care for the little man, if new revelations about one of the vice-presidential candidates former ventures are anything to go by. Before collapsing under the weight of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of debt, AppHarvest was touted as the herald of a new, tech-savvy era of farming in Eastern Kentucky. Last year, the firm filed for bankruptcy after years of pursuing aggressive growth, in part by prioritizing migrant workers from Central America despite early pledges of employment opportunities for impoverished local communities. By that point, the company had already come under a slew of complaints over unsafe working conditions, such as employees being provided with poor quality gear and insufficient water breaks while toiling in greenhouses where temperatures are alleged to have regularly soared into triple digits. It was a nightmare that should never have happened, as one worker told CNN. Second Photo Alleged to Show JD Vance in Drag Posted Online AppHarvests failures further tarnishes the image of a working mans champion that helped catapult Vance to the top of the Republican campaign alongside Donald Trump. I grew up in Middletown, Ohio, a small town where people spoke their minds, built with their hands and loved their God, their family, their community and their country with their whole hearts, Vance told the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last month. But it was also a place that had been cast aside and forgotten by Americas ruling class in Washington. Such comments stand in stark contrast to testimony from AppHarvests workers. Eastern Kentucky is well-known for people coming and going. They start up companies, then they disappear, Anthony Morgan, a former worker at the firm, said in the recent CNN report. They didnt care about us. Making the decision to go work at AppHarvest, like many of us made, the livelihood just went right down the drain, Morgan added. I blame all of the original investors. George Santos Defends JD Vance Over Alleged Gender Bender Gear A senior company manager told CNN: The allegations made against AppHarvest do not reflect matters discussed at board meetings during JDs tenure for obvious reasons. AppHarvest implemented robust heat policies when temperatures rose in the summer, months after JDs departure, continued to cover 100% of employees health insurance premiums until mid-2022, and maintained a workforce dedicated to Appalachia throughout its existence. Riding hot off the back of the tearaway success of his bestselling 2016 memoir Hillbilly Elegy, Senate filings indicate Vance joined the board at AppHarvest in 2017, though the firms own documents state he joined three years later. He would go on to help channel millions of dollars worth of investments into the company, with its stated mission of creating local jobs by developing vertical, self-contained farming hubs in the Kentucky heartlands. Farm worker Morgan says that by late 2020, the working culture underwent a significant shift, with cuts to healthcare benefits and longer hours in a push to meet ballooning production quotas. Bleeding employees, AppHarvest turned to hiring migrant workers in a bid to keep up the pace, eventually finding itself slapped with shareholder lawsuits over steady losses from the beginning of 2021. A spokesperson for Vance, who left AppHarvests board that April but continued to hold $100,000 in the firm, said in response to the recent report the vice presidential candidate was not aware of the operational decisions regarding hiring and that like all early supporters [he] believed in AppHarvests mission and wishes the company would have succeeded. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Photojournalists shoot the display case at a press event hosted by the Dresden State Art Collections (SKD) to present the discovered jewels in the Historic Green Vault at the Royal Palace. Robert Michael/dpa The antique jewellery stolen from Dresden's Green Vault museum in a spectacular robbery almost five years ago went back on display in the eastern German city on Tuesday. The jewels are being shown unrestored in the condition they were in when recovered in December 2022. "We are happy and extremely grateful. Today is a beautiful day for us," Michael Kretschmer, premier of the state of Saxony said on opening the display once more. Marion Ackermann, head of the Dresden State Art Collections, described the day as a "particularly beautiful moment." The jewellery is being displayed under special lights in its case alongside the jewels that survived the heist. Close examination reveals damage to the pieces. "We are currently assuming that all the pieces can be restored," Ackermann said. International experts are to be called in, but the jewels are currently evidence in ongoing trials. They will be on view to the general public beginning Wednesday, with extended evening hours to start on Thursday. The break-in at Saxony's famous museum on November 25, 2019 is considered one of Germany's most spectacular art thefts. The burglars stole 21 pieces of jewellery stored at the Dresden Royal Palace, one of the oldest buildings in the city and home to one of Europe's largest collections of treasures. They caused more than $1 million worth of damage when they set fire to an electricity distribution box in Dresden's Old Town and to a getaway car in the underground car park of a residential building to cover their tracks. In May 2023, the Dresden District Court sentenced five young men from the Berlin Remmo clan to several years in prison. The sentencing was preceded by an agreement between the parties involved in the trial, which involved the return of a large part of the loot, but there is still no trace of some of the most valuable items. Kretschmer and Ackermann expressed the hope that they would one day be returned. Minister President of Saxony Michael Kretschmer, and Director General of the Dresden State Art Collections Marion Ackermann attend a press event hosted by the Dresden State Art Collections (SKD) to present the discovered jewels in the Historic Green Vault at the Royal Palace. Robert Michael/dpa Minister President of Saxony Michael Kretschmer, and Director General of the Dresden State Art Collections Marion Ackermann attend a press event hosted by the Dresden State Art Collections (SKD) to present the discovered jewels in the Historic Green Vault at the Royal Palace. Robert Michael/dpa Multiple Jewish civil rights groups have filed a federal complaint alleging Jewish and Israeli students have faced a hostile and intolerable environment at K-12 schools in Fulton County, Georgia, since the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel and routinely face antisemitism, bullying and harassment. The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law filed the complaint with the US Department of Education on August 6, on behalf of multiple Jewish organizations. It alleges leadership, students, and staff at Fulton County School District, one of the largest school districts in Georgia, have fostered an intense climate of hostility and fear that enables some students to act with impunity, harassing Jewish students before, during and after class, mocking their pain and threatening their families. The complaint also alleges parents repeatedly reported the anti-Semitism but the district denied the anti-Semitic nature of the incidents and/or offered inadequate solutions that were not intended to eliminate the hostile climate. The complaint accuses the district of violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on race, color, or national origin. The harassment alleged in the complaint is a disturbing reminder that anti-Semitism is a problem that impacts students long before they step foot on a college campus, Denise Katz-Prober, director of legal initiatives for the Brandeis Center, said in a statement Tuesday. The families of these Jewish and Israeli students have been left to fend for themselves, by administrators who dismiss their complaints and refuse to act. It is long past due for FCSD to take swift corrective action against the anti-Semitism that pervades their schools, she added. A spokesperson for the Fulton County School District confirmed Tuesday district officials are aware the complaint has been filed with the Education Department. This private groups effort to depict Fulton County Schools as promoting or even tolerating anti-Semitism is false, the district said in a statement shared with CNN. Like most, if not all, schools across the country, world events have sometimes spilled onto our campuses. Whenever inappropriate behavior is brought to our attention, Fulton County Schools takes it seriously, investigates, and takes appropriate action. The Fulton County School District educates more than 87,000 students in metro Atlanta and the surrounding area, according to its website. CNN has reached out to the Department of Education for comment. Marci Miller, director of legal investigations at the Brandeis Center, told CNN the antisemitic incidents described in the complaint are a nonexhaustive list of whats taken place. They are children, theyre relying on the adults around them to protect them. And in a lot of cases, including in the Fulton County schools, that is not happening. The children are not protected, she said. Theres such a power differential there, based on the fact that these are children being bullied and harassed it has a real lasting impact. Miller noted the groups are not seeking monetary remediation, but have instead called for further education on antisemitism. The complaint details suggested remedies, including asking the district to issue a statement that condemns antisemitism and says in part, We recognize that Zionism is a key component of the shared ancestral and ethnic identity of many Jewish Americans. Other proposed remedies include appointing an independent investigator to assess the climate of the district, creating a task force of Jewish leaders and students, and having the district offer to reimburse any students for past counseling, academic, or therapeutic services they obtained as a result of the harassment they experienced based on their Jewish shared ancestry and/or Israeli national origin. Its really based on a request for systemic change in the district that will help everybody, she said. The complaint comes as students return to school amid a rise in antisemitic, anti-Arab and Islamophobic incidents as tensions over the Israel-Hamas conflict continue to permeate classrooms and college campuses across the country. In recent months, Jewish civil rights and legal groups, like the Brandeis Center, have filed complaints against school districts for allegedly failing to address the sharp increase in antisemitic incidents since October 7. In May, Enikia Ford Morthel, superintendent of Californias Berkeley Unified School District, faced tough questions from lawmakers during a Congressional hearing on antisemitism in public schools. During the hearing, Morthel confirmed the Department of Education had launched an investigation into alleged antisemitic incidents in her district, but denied allegations that the issues were unchecked. If we have a concern or complaint about antisemitism, or any form of hate, we take it very seriously, we investigate and we take action pending the outcome of that investigation, she said. The Department of Education has since announced multiple investigations into antisemitism at colleges and schools across the country. The departments Office of Civil Rights enforces Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. According to the department, investigating a complaint in no way implies that OCR has made a determination with regard to the merits. However, if after the investigation the office finds a violation of federal civil rights laws, the Department of Education will seek to work with both parties to outline specific actions that must be taken to protect civil rights. Failure to voluntarily agree to correct the violations could result in a termination of federal financial assistance, or the case could be referred to the Department of Justice, according to the departments website. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com (Bloomberg) -- The mayor of Johannesburg has quit after months of political infighting and as South Africas biggest city struggles to balance its budget. Most Read from Bloomberg Kabelo Gwamandas resignation will be effective once a new mayor has been elected, the city said in a statement. A meeting to elect a new mayor will take place on Aug. 16. Financial and political turmoil in recent years has beset the city of about 5 million people thats had eight mayors since 2019 due to constantly shifting coalitions. While the African National Congress and Economic Freedom fighters are the largest parties in the ruling coalition with 119 seats between them, they installed Gwamanda a mayor from the Al-Jama-ah party that has just three seats. There are 270 councilors in total. Gwamanda has faced calls for his resignation from opposition parties and civil-society groups as services have deteriorated. Potholes are unattended for months, power supply in some areas is erratic and a swath of the city had no water for as long as 11 days earlier this year. The city, billed as Africas richest because of its concentration of businesses and millionaires, needs 221 billion rand ($12.1 billion) to catch up on maintenance and overdue upgrades across its collapsing road, power and water networks, documents seen by Bloomberg show. A separate document, dated March 6, showed that the city is struggling with revenue collection from large customers including government departments and companies, with 6.1 billion rand of payments more than 90 days overdue. Last month, Johannesburgs council imposed above-inflation increases for utilities and rates and forced through a 2.5 billion-rand loan from the Agence Francaise de Developpement despite objections from opposition parties including the Democratic Alliance. The DA said there hadnt been clarity on what the money was needed for. National Election The shakeup follows South Africas May 29 national elections in which the ANC lost its majority for the first time in 30 years of rule. The ANC has agreed to a national alliance with the DA and a number of smaller parties to form a government. That alliance excludes the EFF. Thats created a situation where the EFF is in the national opposition but helps the ANC govern the biggest city. Talks about reorganizing the coalition that rules Johannesburg have taken place in recent weeks. Those have been largely informed by the new political architecture of governance in the country following the elections, the city said. The ANC has nominated Dada Morero, Johannesburgs member of the mayoral committee for finance, to become mayor, Sasabona Manganye, the partys regional secretary, said at a press briefing on Tuesday. Morero was mayor for 25 days in 2022 before being removed after a court challenge. You can follow Bloombergs reporting on Africa on WhatsApp. Sign up here. (Updates with ANC nominating a mayoral candidate in last paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. By Deborah Mary Sophia (Reuters) -Social media platform Bluesky said it has seen a surge in signups in the United Kingdom in the recent days, a sign that Elon Musk's controversial comments on the nationwide riots were prompting people to look for alternatives to X. Bluesky has seen a 60% jump in general activity from accounts in the UK, with several Members of Parliament also joining the platform recently, the company said in an emailed statement on Monday. Musk has been accused of exacerbating tensions after days of far-right rioting in Britain triggered by online misinformation around the murder of three girls in northern England last month. The Tesla CEO used his platform to share misleading information with his millions of followers, including one post suggesting civil war was "inevitable" in Britain, prompting a reaction from Prime Minister Keir Starmer and sparking calls for the government to roll out laws policing online content sooner. "For 5 out of the last 7 days, the UK had the most Bluesky signups of any country," said Bluesky, a newer player in the social media space. The South Africa-born billionaire, who became a U.S. citizen in 2002, has moved towards right-wing politics in the recent years and has publicly endorsed Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential race. Bluesky is one in a long list of apps that have been looking to replace Twitter after Elon Musk's chaotic takeover of the company in late 2022. In July, Bluesky's monthly active user base stood at about 688,568, a fraction of X's base of 76.9 million, according to data from Similarweb, a digital market intelligence company. Facebook and Instagram parent Meta said it did not have an update on user growth for its Twitter rival, Threads, in the UK. Mastodon, another smaller X competitor, did not respond to Reuters' requests for user growth details. (Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Yuvraj Malik; Editing by Tasim Zahid) Two men riding in a black Porsche were killed in a hail of gunfire on a residential street in the Campestre, an upscale Juarez neighborhood. The luxury sportscar's windshield was peppered with two dozen gunshots and the driver's side window was shattered as the car stood in the middle of a street, according to news photos from the scene. Drug cartels: Mexico investigates abduction, treason in 'El Mayo' flight to El Paso area The double homicide was unusual because of its location in one of the border city's most-exclusive neighborhoods, with streets lined with mansions behind walls and tall ornate fences in the northeastern part of Juarez. A Mexican soldier secures the scene of a double homicide in Juarez, Mexico, in late June 2024. The rate of homicides in Juarez is a longtime concern. State crime-scene investigators collected 34 bullet casings at the scene of the street shooting, which occurred about 3:30 a.m. Monday, Aug. 12, on Calzada de Senecu and Fresno streets, El Heraldo de Juarez reported. The men killed were identified by El Heraldo de Juarez and other local news reports as Toribio Hernandez and Miguel Amador Zubia Martinez, who was a YouTube rapero known as Besio, his latest song posted two days before his death. An investigation into the double homicide continued. No arrests had been announced. Juarez homicides on downward trend Homicides continue to be a concern in Juarez but have been on a recent downward trend despite Monday's high-profile bloodshed in the Campestre, state law enforcement officials said. Femicides: 'I can't live with this pain': Fort Bliss soldier accused of killing Juarez woman Homicides have decreased 33% in Juarez in the first 11 days of August, compared with the same period in July, Chihuahua State Public Safety Secretary Gilberto Loya said at a Monday news conference. Statewide, homicides are down 38% compared to last month. There were about 85 homicides in July in Juarez, the lowest monthly total so far this year, according to news accounts. There have been about 700 killings this year. Chihuahua Attorney General Cesar Gustavo Jauregui Moreno said that 90% of the homicides in the state are linked to organized crime, namely drug cartels and gangs trafficking drugs and migrants. State police on alert since Sinaloa cartel arrests of El Mayo, Chapo's son Because of the Sinaloa cartel's presence in Chihuahua, state police have been on alert since the arrests of reputed cartel leaders 76-year-old Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, son of imprisoned drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, Jauregui said. More: 'Los Chapos' Sinaloa cartel brawl erupts inside Juarez's Cereso No. 3 state prison Intelligence gathering operations are permanently monitoring the Sinaloa cartel in the state, Jauregui said, adding that the Sinaloa cartel has influence zones in: The Valley of Juarez, along the U.S. border east of Juarez. Parral, in the state's southern part. Madera, western mountain region, where the Sinaloa cartel is in a longtime conflict with La Linea crime organization. "We have not had a single homicide or violent event" in Chihuahua directly, or indirectly, linked to the arrests of Zambada and Guzman in the United States, Jauregui said at a news conference on Friday, Aug. 8. "I believe those arrests wont have a direct impact," neither increasing nor lowering Chihuahua's homicide rate, the attorney general said. This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Sinaloa cartel arrests: police on alert. 2 dead in Porsche shooting A Travis County judge has blocked the Texas Education Agency from releasing its ratings of the states school districts and campuses for a second year in a row. Judge Karin Crump on Monday issued a temporary restraining order after Texas school districts filed their second lawsuit over changes to the metrics that are used to measure their performance. Heres what you need to know: The background: How to grade Texas school districts for their performance has been a contention point after the TEA changed up the metrics last year. The state announced in 2023 that schools would need to meet stricter benchmarks to get a good rating. The TEAs accountability rating system ranks schools and districts on an A-F scale. High schools can now only get an A if 88% of their seniors enrolled in college, pursued a non-college career or entered the military. That benchmark used to be 60%. The state says stricter benchmarks will mean schools will be required to better prepare students for life after high school. And while Texas school districts agree on the importance of improving college and career readiness, they argue that the state wants to move the needle too fast. The state also redesigned the STAAR test, an annual statewide standardized test that measures students understanding of state-mandated core curriculum and is a key metric in calculating schools A-F ratings. What is the A-F accountability system? Each school district and school is graded on an A-F scale every year based on their students standardized test scores and academic growth. The TEA also looks at their progress on closing racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps. Parents rely on the rating system to see how successful school districts are in preparing their children and to decide where to enroll their kids. For schools, a bad grade could bring big consequences. If a failing score leads to families leaving the district, that means less money for the school since state funding is tied to student attendance. Consecutive years with a failing grade could trigger a state takeover, like the one at Houston ISD. What has happened in the courts so far: The lawsuit filed Monday is the second legal battle over the A-F rating system. Last fall, a Travis County judge temporarily blocked the release of the 2023-24 ratings. The judge sided with more than 120 school districts who had filed a lawsuit contending the stricter standards would bring unfair drops to their ratings. The judge still has to make a final ruling but has said she will likely side with school districts. The TEA has already said it plans to appeal the judges decision. Families have had five years without a complete set of school ratings. Texas schools and districts did not get ratings in 2020 or 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. And in 2022, struggling schools set to get a D or an F got extra relief: Senate Bill 1365 directed TEA to forgo official ratings for those schools to give them time to respond to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. Judge could force City of Topeka to let residents decide on property tax increase Judge could force City of Topeka to let residents decide on property tax increase TOPEKA (KSNT) A Topeka man is suing the city, claiming it ignored what he calls a lawful petition. The petitions creator Earl McIntosh wants Topeka taxpayers, not the city council, to decide whether property taxes increase. After the council took no action on his petition last month, hes filed a lawsuit demanding they take it to a vote. Hes served the city with a mandamus lawsuit. Hes accusing city leaders of failing to perform their law-mandated duty. The citizens of Topeka have decided to file this lawsuit, McIntosh said. To ask a judge to force the city to vote or let the people have a vote. Topeka seeks input on pedestrian plan, city walkability McIntosh submitted 5,400 signatures for a proposed ordinance that would require a public vote before the city can raise property taxes. However, the citys government cast it aside last month, taking no action after the city attorney said the ordinance was not legally valid. Were only asking the city to follow the law, McIntoshs attorney David Graham said. The law says that when these signatures are submitted, if theres a requisite number of signatures, by law the city has a choice. It can adopt the ordinance, or it can put it to a vote of the residents. 27 News reached out to the City of Topeka Tuesday for its take on the situation. A city spokeswoman sent 27 News the statement below: The city was served on this request for mandamus action. After careful consideration, the governing body decided not to act because the petition has constitutional issues, and the initiative and referendum law doesnt apply to administrative ordinances. The city will respond to the lawsuit as necessary. Taylor Bugg, City of Topeka Spokeswoman Jury trial moves forward for Kansas Turnpike deaths of Topeka girl scouts The city has 21 days to affirm or deny the allegations. If they dont, a judge could make the city council vote. If they vote it down, and the judge agrees the petition is valid, they could grant the mandamus action, ordering the city to call a public vote. For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News. LAS VEGAS (KLAS) On Monday, a Clark County juvenile justice judge declined to accept a plea agreement for several Las Vegas teens accused of murdering their high school classmate. Damien Hernandez, Dontral Beaver, Gianni Robinson, and Treavion Randolph, all appeared in juvenile court. The court declined to accept the plea because the court wanted to ensure that any potential jurisdictional issues are addressed in the plea, according to the Clark County District Attorneys office. Those issues centered around sending the criminal case from the adult court system to the juvenile system. On Aug. 1, all four former Rancho High School students accepted a plea deal with the district attorneys office that allowed them to plead guilty as juveniles to voluntary manslaughter. The four teens were part of nine students arrested last November accused of killing Jonathan Lewis, 17, outside of Rancho High School. They were formally charged with murder in January. No justice for my son, Mother criticizes plea deal for teens Lewis mother Mellisa Ready previously criticized the plea agreement, claiming she wasnt notified of the deal. I wouldve disagreed with the deal entirely. They should be accountable as adults they made an adult choice, she said. They knew that when they were stomping on my childs head. That he was going to die as a result. The district attorneys office defended the plea deal saying: While the District Attorneys Office acknowledges the pain the victims mother is going through as she mourns the loss of her son, the negotiation was accurately conveyed to her last week, prior to the court proceeding. The conversation was witnessed by multiple DA personnel. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. A Monday decision in Pulaski County court means the Arkansas LEARNS Act is closer to having its day in court. The decision by Circuit Court Judge Morgan Welch denies a motion to have the case opposing the act dismissed. The state had asked for the suit to be dismissed based upon its failure to adequately state the facts and that the state had sovereign immunity from being sued. Judge rules partially in favor of plaintiffs against Arkansas LEARNS Act, also prohibits blocking part of the law Welchs opinion held that the complaint against the state met legal standards. The suit was brought by four parents of children in public schools against Arkansas officials including Secretary of the Department of Education Jacob Oliva and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Members of the board of education and the department of finance and administration officials were also named. The complaint, first filed in June, held that the LEARNS Act violated the state constitution at five points by diverting funds from public to private schools through its Education Freedom Accounts provision. Those accounts provide about $6,600 per student to attend any school, including private or home schools. Educators reflect on first year of Arkansas LEARNS Act The lawsuit states that diverting funding away from public schools is moving public tax money to the private sector, violating the Constitution. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK. Judge orders Biden administration to resume controversial permits for new facilities with liquefied natural gas exports: 'We remain committed' A federal judge has ordered the Biden administration to reinstitute permits for new facilities with liquefied natural gas exports. According to The New York Times, the United States District Court made the decision for the Western District of Louisiana on July 1, 2024. What's happening? In January, the Biden administration paused all new permits for liquefied natural gas export facilities, also known as LNG, to study their effects on the environment, economy, and national security. Sixteen state attorneys generals brought lawsuits claiming that the pause hurt their state economies. These states included many that produce a significant amount of natural gas, such as Texas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, West Virginia, and Louisiana. The judge who made the decision, James D. Cain Jr., wrote in his decision that jobs had been lost and that taxes and royalties would have continued in the states if there had been no pause in exports. For instance, according to the Times, Texas estimated it would "lose $259.8 million in tax revenues associated with natural gas production over five years as a result of the pause of permitting." The Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm had expected the study of LNG exports to be concluded by late 2024. Why is the continuation of new LNG exports concerning? With the approved facilities, the U.S. is already projected to more than double its existing LNG export capacity. While natural gas is cleaner than coal when burned, it's more potent in the short term than other polluting gases, such as carbon dioxide. It can also leak anywhere along the supply chain and is energy-intensive to transport. According to Oxfam, the methane in natural gas can be extremely harmful to communities. Methane can cause several health issues, including cancer, respiratory issues, and maternal and fetal health problems, and leads to one million premature deaths yearly. It also affects economies and wildlife. For example, Oxfam further reported that a parish in Louisiana was the "largest producer of seafood in the entire country before" warming temperatures and the LNG facilities arrived there. There used to be 250 operating commercial fishing vessels. Now, there are only 16. What's being done about stopping LNG exports? The Times reported that White House spokesman Angelo Fernandez Hernandez said in a statement, "We remain committed to informing our decisions with the best available economic and environmental analysis, underpinned by sound science." You can also use your voice by voting for climate candidates and speaking to your representatives about policies that protect communities and the environment. It's also crucial to explore climate issues to better understand the problems and what can be done about them. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. Lake County Superior Court Judge John Sedia denied a motion to dismiss Monday in a pending lawsuit filed 25 years ago by the city of Gary against the gun industry. The 1999 lawsuit alleged the gun industry should be held as a public nuisance for supplying guns they know will reach criminals and others who cant legally buy them. In March, the 11 gun manufacturers filed a motion to dismiss the case citing a new law signed by Gov. Eric Holcomb. The law, which was made retroactive to three days before the 1999 lawsuit was filed, takes the right to sue the gun industry away from municipalities and allows only the Indiana Attorney General to file such lawsuits. Sedia ruled Monday that while the state legislature can make laws that are retroactive, it cannot end this lawsuit which the appellate courts of this state have found to be permitted by prior statute, according to the motion. To do so would violate years of vested rights and constitutional guarantees set forth so eloquently in Garys Memorandum of Law, Sedia wrote. To avoid manifest injustice, the substance of this lawsuit must be taken to its conclusion. The new law could create issues with determining the real party in interest of a case, Sedia wrote. In this case, Gary filed the lawsuit on behalf of its residents, Sedia wrote, and the city and its residents are entitled to the fruits of the action from the lawsuit and not the Attorney General. Gary Mayor Eddie Melton said in a statement he was pleased that the court ruled to uphold the lawsuit. It is a significant step in affirming and protecting the vested rights and constitutional guarantees of the citizens of the city of Gary. This ruling reinforces the importance of the independence of each branch of government, Melton said. State Rep. Ragen Hatcher, D-Gary, said in a statement the state attempted to end the lawsuit on behalf of the gun lobby and attempted to give firearm manufacturers some legal immunity. Yesterdays decision upheld the rule of law, and the court recognized the importance of this lawsuit to Gary and Indianas other urban communities. Yet again, the gun lobby tried to stop this lawsuit and yet again Gary prevailed, Hatcher said. Hatcher remembered when the lawsuit was filed in 1999, a time when Gary was the murder capital of the world, and that it felt like city officials were taking action to address the rise in gun violence and increase public safety. Gary has improved immensely since then in part due to this lawsuit. This lawsuit warns firearm manufacturers that we noticed their predatory practices. We noticed that they were pumping guns to retailers even though our community was suffering, Hatcher said. State Sen. Rodney Pol, D-Chesterton, a city of Gary attorney, said the state legislature has tried three times in the last 20 years to intervene in this lawsuit. The city has prevailed every time because its a valid case, Pol said. I think thats a testament to the validity of our claim. Its been a roller coaster of a case. Pol said Sedias ruling is a win for the city. I thought it was well researched, Pol said. (Sedia) approached it in a really realistic way. akukulka@post-trib.com (Getty Images) A judge on Monday denied the Arkansas attorney generals motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the states new school voucher program. Parents and guardians of public school children filed a lawsuit in Pulaski County Circuit Court in June asking a judge to block enforcement of the new Educational Freedom Account Program, which provides state funds for allowable educational expenses, such as private school tuition. The voucher program, which is being phased in over three years, was created through the LEARNS Act, a 2023 law that made wide-ranging changes to the states education system. The plaintiffs contend the legislation violates the state Constitution by transferring taxes intended to benefit public schools to the EFA program. In a motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed in July, Attorney General Tim Griffin argued that plaintiffs claim that EFAs illegally divert funding from its intended purpose is mistaken as a matter of law and therefore their suit should be dismissed for failure to state a claim. Griffin also argued the case should be dismissed because plaintiffs failed to state an exception to sovereign immunity, a legal doctrine that the state cannot be sued in its own courts. In Mondays order, Circuit Court Judge Morgan Chip Welch denied Griffins motion to dismiss, arguing that the plaintiffs pleadings are sufficient under the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure. Additionally, plaintiffs allege the voucher program constitutes illegal exaction, an exception to the doctrine of sovereign immunity. Therefore, sovereign immunity does not apply to this case, Welch said. Illegal exaction refers to the use of tax funds for unauthorized or illegal purposes. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Bob Arthur is suing the Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office over investigative records pertaining to his son's death in 2017. Prosecutor Paul Connick has decline to pursue homicide charges in the case even though the suspects have been convicted on federal charges related to the incident. (Greg LaRose/Louisiana Illuminator) GRETNA A Jefferson Parish judge said she intends to review records from the district attorneys office that were withheld from a Missouri man who alleges authorities bungled the investigation into his sons 2017 death. The judges action signals that details of the probe, kept secret for years, could be brought to light. The records Bob Arthur has been provided show a pattern of police ineptitude, he said, bringing him no closer to finding justice or closure. He has also been intent on correcting what he says is a false narrative investigators fashioned and from which they have refused to divert. Immediately they said Shawn was having a drug and alcohol party with multiple people present the night he died, Bob Arthur said in a 2020 interview with WDSU-TV. And of course, we indicated to them this was not Shawn. Arthur, a retired insurance investigator who lives in Missouri, has pressed the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office and District Attorney Paul Connick for answers since they refused to charge and prosecute the couple who conspired to slip drugs into his 40-year-old sons drink at his Metairie apartment. Coroner Dr. Gerry Cvitanovich initially ruled Shawn Arthurs death accidental, the result of drinking too much, before later switching it to undetermined. Federal prosecutors convicted Randy Schenck for human trafficking and identity theft in 2019 and sentenced to 25 years in prison. His accomplice, Dominique Berry, claimed she was a trafficking victim and testified against Schenck. She was sentenced to 45 months. Randy Schenck (Gwinnett County Sheriffs Office) The core of the federal case against the two came from a fact-finding mission Bob Arthur personally spearheaded with help from investigative journalist David Lohr and two private detectives. Through police records and interviews, they pieced together a cross-country string of incidents where Berry arranged to meet men online for a date similar to how she met Shawn Arthur drug them at Schencks direction and then rob the unconscious victim. Berry admitted in a recorded jailhouse interview in Georgia with Lohr and a private eye that she had drugged Shawn Arthur so that she and Schenck and other accomplices could rob him. Despite the overwhelming evidence against Schenck and Berry, a Jefferson sheriffs investigator refused to treat Shawn Arthurs death as a homicide. And despite several pleas from Bob Arthur, Connick declined to bring the case before a grand jury to let its members decide if he should bring state charges against the suspects. Attorneys with the Tulane First Amendment Clinic filed a lawsuit on Bob Arthurs behalf against Connick in January after the DAs office sent him a bill for more than $18,000 for copies of the investigative records he had requested. The cost was $5,560 if he wanted digital copies of more than 37,000 pages the district attorney produced. The cost was eventually waived after the Tulane Clinic filed its lawsuit. In addition to seeking public records the DAs office has yet to provide to Arthur, the suit also challenges the initial fees. The attorneys argue they are exorbitant and could deter the public from asking the district attorney for records theyre entitled to receive. These are public documents that are created with our taxpayer dollars. They should be provided for actual cost. (The district attorney) shouldnt be getting an income from public records requesters, Tulane First Amendment Clinic attorney Melia Cerrato said Thursday after a hearing in the case. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Family knows more records exist Among the records the lawsuit seeks are documents that would detail deliberations within Connicks office when prosecutors decided whether or not to bring Shawn Arthurs case before a grand jury. Bob Arthur also wants the privilege log, which lists documents the DAs office has refused to provide, with explanations of why they should be exempted from Louisianas public records law. Judge June Berry Darensburg granted a request from Arthurs lawyers to review those records and keep them under seal, meaning they will not become part of the public case documents. Richard Stanley, the district attorneys lawyer in the case, told the judge those records would be provided within five days. The judge said she intends to review them within 15 days. As for other records Arthur wants produced, Stanley said in court they do not exist. When asked after the hearing about other records he believes are being withheld, Arthur said they should include email correspondence between the DA and coroners office during the investigation into his sons death. Lohr, the investigative journalist, and WDSU-TV reviewed copies of those emails the coroners office provided in response to a public records request. Arthur insists the coroner and sheriff did nothing to avoid what he considers a conflict of interest between the agencies that rendered them unable to conduct a fair investigation into his sons death. Dr. Marianna Eserman, the forensic pathologist who performed the original autopsy on Shawn Arthur, was married at the time to an investigator on the case, Sgt. Travis Eserman with the sheriffs office. The sheriffs office maintains Sgt. Esermans involvement in the case was minor. Police reports show that Travis Eserman interviewed Shawn Arthurs former fiance, and Bob Arthur said the detective also took part in two interviews with his family at the sheriffs office. Shawn Arthur, photographed in New Orleans. (Courtesy Arthur family) Sgt. Esserman also met Bob Arthur at his hotel to collect four empty capsules the family found at the apartment. After Shawns body was removed, investigators allowed Bob Arthur and his youngest son, Travis, inside. Among their findings were four more open drug capsules under a newspaper. How did they miss the drugs that were laying on the floor when we lifted up the paper? Theres capsules right there on the floor, Travis Arthur told WDSU-TV. One of the emails from the coroners office stated there was a conflict of interest policy that did not allow Marianna Esserman to perform an autopsy on a case in which her husband was part of the investigation team. The coroners office was not notified that Shawn Arthurs case was a possible homicide, the email said. Among the records the DA has provided to Bob Arthur is a 52-page supplemental investigative report from the sheriffs office by Detective Kurt Zeagler, who led the investigation into Shawns death. Throughout the report, Zeagler paints the Arthurs as uncooperative and attempts to poke holes in the familys investigation that became the basis of federal indictments and felony convictions. Its obvious he has egg on his face for a mishandled investigation, Bob Arthur said about Zeaglers viewpoint in the report. In Zeaglers words, Bob Arthur used a contentious tone in multiple emails in three days after Shawns death as well as during in-person meetings in the days that followed. Questions for the Arthurs about Shawns alcohol and drug use fell upon deaf ears, the detective wrote. To support their narrative of Shawn Arthur being a frequent drinker, detectives tracked Shawns debit card use prior to his death to show a pattern of purchases at bars, convenience stores and other places that sold alcohol. Bob Arthur said he and his sons told detectives Shawn was not a heavy drinker and never used illegal drugs. Zeaglers report also mentions Shawns use of a dating app and chat discussions with women about sexual, neither of which Bob Arthur said have anything to do with the cause of his sons death. Bob Arthur, pictured in November 2022, returns to the Metairie apartment complex where his son, Shawn, died in 2017. Police and the parish prosecutor have refused to treat the case as a homicide, although two people have been convicted in federal court in connection with the incident. (Greg LaRose/Louisiana Illuminator) Detective sows doubt in jailhouse interview The detective also characterized the private detectives jailhouse interviews with Berry as disconcerting and that her answers were based on generalizations. The Arthurs provided journalists with audio copies of the interviews, in which Berry admitted she had been arrested in California for drugging and robbing a man she met online. Zeaglers report confirms this admission. Zeagler also wrote that Berry wasnt aware she was being recorded during three days of interviews. Like Louisiana, Georgia law allows recording in secret as long as one party to the conversation consents. Courts have ruled that the interviewer can be that one person, plus Lohr clearly identified himself as a journalist to Berry. Dominique Berry (Gwinnet County Sheriffs Office) Lohr was the first to report on Berry and Schencks multi-state series of crimes, with 11 victims in seven states, in a HuffPost article. The Jefferson coroners reclassification of Shawn Arthurs death from accidental to underdetermined came two weeks after Lohrs report was published. Detectives were able to identify Berry early in their investigation based on a fingerprint left on a liquor bottle in Shawn Arthurs apartment but were not able to locate her. It should be noted that Berry is a documented prostitute that operated under numerous identities and traveled extensively, which hampered the investigators ability to locate and interview Berry relative to this investigation, Zeagler wrote. After learning through Arthurs investigation where Berry was being held, Zeagler went to Georgia to conduct his own interview with her in April 2018. Berry told Zeagler she did not remember being with Shawn Arthur the night he died, according to his investigative report. She did acknowledge in detail the steps she and Schenck used to drug and rob victims she met online. They included the specific drugs placed in capsules that were slipped in their drinks. Similar capsules with traces of the same drugs were found in Arthurs apartment, police tests discovered. An amended autopsy report confirmed the presence of those drugs in Shawns system and said they were a contributory cause of his death. Pathologist Marianna Eserman explained that, in this instance, contributory meant the drugs had between .001% and 99% to do with the death of Shawn Arthur, Zeaglers report said. Bob Arthur has said the coroners amended report leaves enough wiggle room for the sheriffs office to stick by its story that Shawns drinking led to his death. Trial could explore records search process In Thursdays court hearing, which Bob Arthur traveled from Missouri to attend, Judge Darensburg implied the District Attorney Connicks waiver of public records fees might settle the matter of the charges being excessive. Cerrato told the judge if its determined that the district attorneys office withheld records from Arthur, knowingly or accidentally, she could potentially put employees on the witness stand in a trial. Darensburg suggested a deposition of those employees could produce the answers Cerrato wants, expressing reluctance over the cost to the public for a full trial. Any costs for the trial would fall solely on the district attorneys side because the Tulane First Amendment Clinic is not charging Bob Arthur for its services. In response to questions from the Illuminator, Connicks office said via email that Stanley, a New Orleans-based attorney, is paid $350 an hour to handle various matters for the district attorney. Cerrato said its not certain how many records the DA might be holding back, making it all the more important to know who conducted the searches within the office and how. Thats a question we dont really know because every single time we file a petition, then they dump a bunch of records, Cerrato said. So its like, is their search good? Obviously not, because this has happened twice now. Its taken over a year and a half. DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST Editors note: The Tulane First Amendment Clinic has provided legal representation and guidance to the Louisiana Illuminator. By Allison Lampert (Reuters) - Boeing said on Tuesday it delivered 43 commercial jets in July, unchanged from the same month a year earlier when it faced supply chain hurdles, as the U.S. planemaker works to grow aircraft production under new CEO Kelly Ortberg. The company has pledged to grow output by the end of the year, after wrestling with supply chain snags and operating a slower assembly line since a Jan. 5 in-flight blowout of a door plug on a 737 MAX 9 jet that heightened regulatory scrutiny. The company handed over 31 MAX jets to customers last month, including a handful to Chinese carriers. Boeing had said it resumed deliveries of its best-selling airplane in July to China, in a boost for the company, after a delay stemming from regulatory issues. Boeing also finalized a guilty plea to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge and agreed to pay at least $243.6 million after breaching a 2021 agreement with the U.S. Justice Department. Boeing also reported 72 gross orders in July, up from 52 during the same month a year earlier, including orders for 57 737 MAX planes that were partly announced during the Farnborough Air Show. After adjustments to reflect the backlog, Boeing reported adjusted net orders for the month of 72. That brought Boeing's gross order total so far this year through July 31 to 228. After removing cancellations and conversions, Boeing posted a net total of 186 orders since the start of 2024. Following further accounting adjustments, Boeing reported adjusted net orders of 98 airplanes so far this year. Year to date through July 31, Boeing delivered 218 airplanes, including 166 MAX jets. Boeing's European rival Airbus delivered 77 planes in July. (This story has been refiled to fix a typographical error in paragraph 1) (Reporting By Allison Lampert in Montreal; editing by Jonathan Oatis) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will not appear on the ballot in New York, a court in Albany ruled on Monday after a judge determined that he did not live in the New York address he claimed as his residence. New York Supreme Court Judge Christina Ryba ruled on Monday that Kennedys address in Westchester County was invalid and instructed the New York Board of Elections to keep him off the ballot in the November presidential election. Kennedy listed a home in Katonah, New York as his primary address when he petitioned to appear on the New York ballot as an independent candidate for president. However, lawyers for a Democrat-aligned super PAC argued that he actually lived with his wife, actor Cheryl Hines, in their home in California, the Associated Press reported. Kennedy testified that he only slept in the home once due to his ongoing presidential campaign, but maintained that he was planning to move back to New York in the future. Joe Rogan Quickly Reverses Course on Supporting RFK Jr. After MAGA Freaks Out The owner of the Katonah home, Barbara Moss, testified that she only started receiving $500 rent checks from Kennedy after the New York Post published a story in May about inconsistencies with his stated address. In a press release issued after the ruling on Monday, Kennedy insisted that his law practice, drivers license, falconry license are all registered in New York. He also insisted he has listed New York as his primary residence since 1964 and pays taxes in the Empire State. The suit was brought by the Clear Choice PACa Democratic Party aligned political action committee. Clear Choice has brought similar suits against Kennedy in other states, including Pennsylvania. The Kennedy campaign has won other ballot access challenges in New Jersey, Hawaii, and Utah. A judge in North Carolina ruled that his name will remain on the ballot in the Tar Heel State just hours before the decision in New York. Kennedy has three days to appeal the decision. His lawyer, William F. Savino, previously told the New York Times he planned to appeal any adverse ruling. RFK Jr. Admits to Dumping Dead Bear Cub in Central Park 10 Years Ago We will appeal and we will win, Kennedy said in a press release issued after the ruling. Paul Rossi, an attorney for the independent candidate, also questioned the constitutionality of New York's residency requirement. We intend to pursue injunctive relief in the Southern District of New York. If state court judges are going to ignore the Constitution, the federal courts must step in to protect voters rights, Rossi said in the same statement. A representative from the Kennedy campaign slammed the courts decision, accusing the Democratic Party of conducting lawfare. "Democracy is about trusting voters to make the best choice for themselves and their families, not weaponizing the courts to restrict voter choice and prevent Americans from supporting the candidate they like best, Amaryllis Fox Kennedy told the Daily Beast in a statement. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is teaming up with the Democratic Governors Association during the week of the 2024 Democratic National Convention to highlight the countrys women governors. The Emmy-winning Veep and Seinfeld star, producer and activist will host a daytime panel on Aug. 21, which will be the third day of the upcoming four-day convention in Chicago. Joining her will be the countrys eight Democratic women governors: Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, Maine Gov. Janet Mills, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek. More from The Hollywood Reporter Im honored to host this conversation with Americas Democratic women governors while our party comes together to celebrate in Chicago, says Louis-Dreyfus in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. Throughout their time in office, Democratic women governors have made history, changed the conversation surrounding women in executive roles, and gotten big things done for the good people of their states. Theyve shattered marble ceilings and demonstrated excellent leadership. Their voices are essential. Im looking forward to our conversation and the opportunity to shine the spotlight on these accomplished leaders. The event comes as Veep is experiencing a summer resurgence, both on social media and in viewership the series saw a whopping 350 percent jump in viewers following the July 21 announcement that President Joe Biden would not be seeking reelection, elevating Vice President Kamala Harris to the top of the ticket for the 2024 presidential race. The real-life events so closely mirrored plotlines on Veep HBOs Emmy-winning political satire that ran for seven seasons with Louis-Dreyfus playing a first female VP-turned-first female POTUS that Louis-Dreyfus, creator Armando Ianucci and showrunner David Mandel have all weighed in on the Veep-surgence and how memes from the show have been recirculated amid Harris campaign. Female candidates are more scrutinized, Louis-Dreyfus recently said of the comparisons being made between Harris and her fictional character, Selina Meyer. That is the reality and we played into it and used it to our comedic advantage. There is an episode in which a character suggests Selina open a speech with As a woman and she said, I cant identify as a woman! People cant know that! Men hate that and women who hate women hate that, which I believe is most women. So we used that for a lot of fodder. The panel of governors who represent over 43 million Americans across the country have led the way on a number of key issues, including growing their economies, expanding access to health care and child care, increasing funding for public education, cutting taxes for hard working families, making higher education more affordable, tackling the housing and the mental health crises and protecting and expanding reproductive rights. The eight women have forged a friendship in their rarified positions, with the governors sharing meals, quick walk-and-talks, and thoughts and emotional support via a group chat, as they revealed in a recent Elle feature. The Louis-Dreyfus-hosted conversation will cover this historic class of women as state executives, as well as the DGA Women Governors Fund. Since 2018, the DGA has invested more than $80 million in states and campaigns to elect and re-elect this group, also launching the Women Governors Fund dedicated to electing Democratic women governors. Julia Louis-Dreyfus brings the same passion and intensity that drives her successful career on-screen to her projects off of it, including her decades of work as an advocate and activist fighting to protect abortion rights, voting rights and democracy and fighting to combat climate change, says DGA Women Governors Fund chair Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey. We share a mutual goal of supporting and electing more female candidates to all levels of government including for governor, Congress, and, of course, for president but we know all too well that female candidates face more obstacles to higher office than their male counterparts. As Democratic women governors, we have changed what it means and looks like to be a state executive. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Julia Louis-Dreyfus to shine the spotlight on female governors at DNC convention event Julia Louis-Dreyfus to shine the spotlight on female governors at DNC convention event Julia Louis-Dreyfuss next starring role will be at the Democratic National Convention, hosting an event aimed at highlighting the essential leadership of female governors. The former Veep star will headline a daytime panel next Wednesday at the Democratic National Committees (DNC) convention in Chicago, which is poised to feature eight Democratic governors, including Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Im honored to host this conversation with Americas Democratic women governors while our party comes together to celebrate in Chicago, Louis-Dreyfus said in a Tuesday announcement about the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) Women Governors Fund event. News of Louis-Dreyfuss participation in the panel was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter. Julia Louis-Dreyfus attends the 28th annual Webby Awards at Cipriani Wall Street on May 13, 2024, in New York. Throughout their time in office, Democratic women governors have made history, changed the conversation surrounding women in executive roles, and gotten big things done for the good people of their states. Theyve shattered marble ceilings and demonstrated excellent leadership, Louis-Dreyfus said. Their voices are essential. Im looking forward to our conversation and the opportunity to shine the spotlight on these accomplished leaders, the 63-year-old actor said. Healey, the chair of the DGA Women Governors Fund, praised Louis-Dreyfus for bringing the same passion and intensity that drives her successful career on-screen to her projects off of it. We share a mutual goal of supporting and electing more female candidates to all levels of government including for governor, Congress, and, of course, for president but we know all too well that female candidates face more obstacles to higher office than their male counterparts, Healey said. Louis-Dreyfus, who played fictional Vice President Selina Meyer on HBOs political satire Veep, also played a part at the 2020 convention, emceeing the final night of the virtual convention. The Emmy Award winner and Democratic supporter has been a frequent critic of former President Trump. In 2022, she reunited with the cast of Veep for a Democratic fundraiser ahead of that years midterm elections. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. (COLORADO) At the end of the 2023-2024 school year, Safe2Tell saw a surge in report volume with an increase of more than 25% compared to the previous year and reached a record of reports for the school year. According to Safe2Tell, the July report revealed the total reports for the 2023-2024 school year reached 28,218, the highest in Safe2Tells history. In July Safe2Tell received 738 reports, a 50% rise over July 2023. This increase in reports reflects a collective commitment to creating a safer environment for every student, explained Safe2Tell Director Stacey Jenkins. We look forward to building on this progress in the upcoming school year. Safe2Tell said the most common reports in July were suicide (130), cyberbullying (38), and welfare checks (36). Safe2Tell highlighted two stories where it said reports played a crucial role in protecting students safety: A report was received about a student bullying another student based on their appearance. School teams notified the parents and will take disciplinary action, monitoring the situation when school resumes. Another report highlighted a student using drugs and pressuring others to do the same. School teams are aware, and the dean and counselor will meet with the student when the fall semester begins. Safe2Tell started as a non-profit in 2004 before being incorporated into the Colorado Office of the Attorney General in 2014. Reports can be made to Safe2Tell at 1-(877) 542-7233, at Safe2Tell.org, by texting S2TCO to 738477, or through the Safe2Tell mobile app. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado. GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KREX) After a few hours of deliberation, the jury found ex-Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters guilty on most charges including a violation of duty and official misconduct on Monday. Peters was also found guilty of failure to comply with the Colorado Secretary of States office, three counts of attempting to influence a public servant and one of three counts of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation. Peters was found not guilty on two counts of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation and identity theft. Sentencing will be Thursday, Oct. 3. Peters, who didnt have a noticeable reaction when the verdict was read, didnt speak to reporters following the outcome and left with her lawyers. Judge Matthew Barnett thanked the jurors for their time. This was a big ask, he said. There was a lot of information. There was a lot of instructions for you to digest. It was obvious that each and every one of you as jurors took your job seriously. After the verdict, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold released a statement, saying she was proud of the outcome: Tina Peters willfully compromised her own election equipment trying to prove Trumps Big Lie. She has been found guilty by a jury of her peers and will now face the consequences of her actions. Todays verdict sends a clear message: We will not tolerate any effort to threaten the security of our gold-standard elections. I am proud that justice for Colorado voters has been served today. As Secretary of State, I will enforce Colorado law to ensure that every eligible voter has access to safe and secure elections. I acted quickly to address the Peters election equipment breach, and then I led the first law in the nation on these types of insider threats. We will have a great general election in 2024. The Mesa County Democrats wrote a short message on Facebook, Dont mess with our Elections!!! Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser also released a statement on the guilty verdict. The freedom to vote is sacred in America. Many fought for and even died for establishing voting as a fundamental constitutional right. And its a right we continue to protect today. Thats because our democratic republic rests on the promise that every vote matters, every vote is counted and the will of the people shall govern. We place a sacred trust in our elections officials to conduct safe, honest and fair elections ensuring that every vote is counted, Weiser said. Tina Peters violated that trust with her fellow Coloradans Today, she was held accountable for her criminal acts, which put the safety of our elections and the freedom and safety of others at risk Todays verdict is a warning to others that they will face serious consequences if they attempt to illegally tamper with our voting processes or election systems. I want to be clear our elections are safe and fair. In fact, Colorados election system is the gold standard of the nation. And make no mistake: my office will continue to protect it. Earlier in the day, the defense and prosecution gave their closing arguments. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WesternSlopeNow.com. UPDATE: 9:45 PM The jury was seated at 1 P.M Prosecutor Maleia Cheney said during her opening statements Dawn Wynn increased her husbands life insurance policy days before he was killed. Dawns 911 call was rerouted to the Delaware County, Okla. Sheriffs office before it was rerouted to the McDonald County 911 Dispatch Center. Harold Wynns body was moved according to different photographs. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ PINEVILLE, Mo. An 87-member jury pool filled the McDonald County Courthouse on Tuesday for the first day of the murder trial of Dawn Wynn. McDonald County Woman Charged with Killing Her Husband Wynn, 50, of Anderson, is charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting death of her husband, Harold Wynn, on Nov. 16, 2021. Authorities said Wynn fled the state of Missouri six months after she was charged and was found hiding out at a hotel in Indiana. Prosecutor Maleia Cheney questioned the potential jurors backgrounds before taking a break. No jurors have been chosen yet. The trial is expected to last three days. Harold Wynn was found dead in a 5th wheel camper, lying partially on the right side of his back, with his right arm under his body, court records show. According to an arrest affidavit, his left arm was underneath the blanket and sheet of the bed. Investigators said the weapon, a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson semi-automatic pistol, was found at Harold Wynns head. The gun was facing an outward wall along with a second pillow where Dawn Wynn told investigators she slept. The weapon had a live round chambered when authorities recovered the pistol, the affidavit states. A hole in the pillow underneath Harold Wynns head was about five inches from where the pistol was located. Dawn Wynn called McDonald County 911 Dispatch Center and reported she was awoken by something brushing her face and a gunshot, according to an arrest affidavit. She also told authorities that she was lying next to her husband and facing him when the shot was fired, and when she awoke, she saw her husband covered in blood and called 911, the affidavit states. The weapon was stored on the bottom shelf of a bookcase above the head of the bed. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com. TOPEKA (KSNT) Jury selection took place Monday in the trial of a local mom accused of causing a crash that killed three children during a Girl Scout trip in 2022. 27 News is following up on the court trial of Amber Peery who is on trial and facing several charges in connection to the deaths of Laila El Azari, 9, Kylie Lunn, 9, and Brooklyn Peery, 8, all of Topeka in October 2022. Her charges include: Three counts of reckless involuntary manslaughter. Two counts of aggravated battery. Improper crossover on a divided highway. Fail to check for safe passage before passing from single lane. The Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP) responded to reports of a crash in October of 2022 involving a Dodge van and a Kenworth semi-truck on the turnpike. The van was traveling south when it tried to turn through the barrier wall on the turnpike. The van was then hit from behind by the semi-truck. Driver busted going 102 mph in Topeka highway construction zone Two other children were inside the car at the time of the crash with one being taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of serious injuries. Peery was also hospitalized in the aftermath of the crash. She was eventually charged in June 2023. Dr. Scott McWilliams, superintendent of the Auburn-Washburn school district, issued a statement following the deaths of the three girls. He said the students attended Jay Shideler Elementary and Farley Elementary. 27 News spoke with family and friends of Azari and Lunn during a memorial service at a west Topeka apartment complex a year after the crash. The group paid their respects by nailing two butterfly plaques to a tree at the apartment complex where the two girls used to play together. Norsemen Lakeheim shutting down at Lake Shawnee For more crime news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here. Follow Matthew Self on X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MatthewLeoSelf Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News. He was just a loving person, Loved ones remember PCSSD security guard one year after his death He was just a loving person, Loved ones remember PCSSD security guard one year after his death PULASKI COUNTY, Ark. As school starts in Arkansas, many are remembering a Pulaski County Special School District security officer who was hit and killed on the first day of school last year. Security Officer Victor Montgomery was struck and killed by a car while he was directing traffic for Robinson Elementary School. What was supposed to be the first day of his last year as a security officer turned into the last day of his life. Family of PCSSD security guard killed on first day of school seeking justice He was just a loving person. He loved people, he loved kids, Montgomerys wife Alice Montgomery said. His family and friends gather to pay tribute. His old colleagues said his death changed the way security is now done at the schools. Security will continue to be present on the sidewalks but they will not be directing any traffic outside of the streets unless there is a crosswalk available for students to cross, PCSSD safety and security facilitator William El-Amin said. Family of PCSSD security officer killed in crash speak on arrest of driver Over the past year, Alice describes the love her family has felt as the same type of love from the school and security that he did when he was alive. The support we have. Joe. T Robinson, the security department, she said. We havent walked this journey by ourselves. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK. Juvenile shot in Pasco. And another man jailed for shooting at his brother-in-law Pasco police are investigating after a juvenile male was shot on Monday. Around 7:15 p.m. Pasco police were dispatched to an area on Chapel Hill Boulevard near Belgian Lane for a report of someone being shot, according to Pasco Police Lt. Tom Groom. When officers arrived they found a juvenile male who had been shot in the torso. Its unclear how old the boy is. He was taken to a local hospital for injuries that were not life threatening. Roads were briefly closed in the area while police investigated Monday night. Groom said that no arrests had been made by Tuesday morning, but they do not believe there is a threat to the public. Sunday shooting One person is in jail after another shooting Sunday. Lorenzo Cruz Magana, 22, is being held in the Franklin County jail in lieu of $500,000 bail on suspicion of four counts of first-degree assault. About 11:15 p.m. on Sunday officers were dispatched for a disturbance with weapons on the 1700 block of W. Irving St., according to court documents. The caller said gunshots were heard and a GMC Yukon was seen leaving the area, headed toward Edgar Brown Stadium near Pasco High School. When officers arrived they spoke to the man at the stadium and were told that his brother had gotten into an argument with his brother-in-law and his family at the Irving Street home. The man said he told his brother to get back in the car because he knew the father-in-law had guns and was going to shoot at him. As he began to speed away from the house, he heard the vehicle get hit by multiple gunshots, according to court documents. Police found five bullet holes in the drivers side of the SUV. There were two other men in the vehicle with the victim and his brother, but none were hurt. After speaking with the victim officers headed to the Irving Street home and found multiple bullet casings in the front yard. Video footage of a Ring doorbell camera showed Magana firing a pistol toward the vehicle. Magana told investigators that someone in the vehicle was shooting at him and he returned fire. He refused to hand over the gun or tell investigators where it was, and stopped answering questions. He was arrested and booked into the Franklin County Jail just before midnight on Sunday. Click here to view this content. Donald Trump has complained that Kamala Harris is getting a free ride from the media, saying Time magazine made her look like the most beautiful actress ever on its front cover. In a two-hour long conversation with Elon Musk broadcast on X, Trump said Ms Harris was terrible but had not faced enough scrutiny on her views since becoming the Democrats presidential candidate. Shes terrible, but shes getting a free ride, Trump said. A picture of her on Time magazine today... she looks like the most beautiful actress ever to live. She looked very much like our great first lady, Melania, Trump told Mr Musk, as they discussed the cover image of Mondays issue. She didnt look like Kamala but of course, shes a beautiful woman, so well leave it at that. Ms Harris declined to be interviewed for the article and her reluctance to engage with one-on-one media interviews since replacing Joe Biden as the Democrats presidential candidate has been seized upon by Republicans. Click here to view this content. Trump hit out at his political rival for being afraid to do an interview, claiming that she would be guaranteed a friendly interviewer. The Time piece said Ms Harris had pulled off the swiftest vibe shift in modern political history, praised her work ethic and political dexterity, and called her an overnight sensation. The occasionally rambling talk between Trump and Mr Musk began 45 minutes late after the X owner claimed his platform had been hit by a massive cyber attack. More Trump than Trump The former president attacked Ms Harris as a San Francisco liberal who had tried to pretend she was more Trump than Trump since she entered the race. Ms Harris made a rare policy announcement on the weekend when she announced she would copy Trumps policy of ending tax on tips a move that drew a furious rebuke from the Republican on his Truth Social platform. Donald Trump kisses his wife Melania - BRENDAN SMIAOWSKI/AFP VIA GETTY Trump told Mr Musk that the vice-president was trying to copy everything I do, complaining: No tax on tips, and all of sudden, shes making speeches, and there will be no tax on tips. I said that months ago. She is a radical-Left San Francisco liberal, and now shes trying to pretend, shes looking like she wants to be more Trump than Trump, if thats possible, he added. I dont think thats possible. Harris disinformation Trump accused Democrats of waging a disinformation campaign as he hammered Ms Harris on her immigration record. He claimed Ms Harris had been Joe Bidens border tsar and that she was responsible for 20 million people coming into the country illegally, disparaging her recent promises to tighten security at the US-Mexico border. You people cant allow them to get away with their disinformation campaign. Now shes trying to say that she wasnt really involved, and the whole thing is horrible, Trump said. She was totally in charge. She could have shut the border down without [Mr Biden]. He didnt know what he was doing anyways. Global warming Trump launched into a monologue about solar panels when Mr Musk, chief executive of electric car company Tesla, made the case for tackling global warming and pollution. Im sort of waiting for you to come up with solar panels on the roofs of your cars, and on the trunks of the cars, the former president, who rarely engages on environmental issues, said. And it just seems like something that at some point you will come up with. Im sure youll be the first, he continued. It would seem that a solar panel on surfaces might be good at least in certain areas of the country. X owner Elon Musk - GONZALO FUENTES/REUTERS He then admitted that the issue is not my world and tried to steer the conversation back towards nuclear proliferation. Trump, whose main business is property development, joked about the potential financial benefits of rising sea levels. The biggest threat is not global warming, where the ocean is going to rise one-eighth of an inch over the next 400 years, he told Mr Musk. Youll have more oceanfront property, right? The biggest threat is not that. The biggest threat is nuclear warming, because we have five countries now that have significant nuclear power, and we have to not allow anything to happen with stupid people like Biden. Ill move to Venezuela Trump suggested he would move to Venezuela if he were to lose the election in November because it would be a far safer place to meet than our country. He claimed that the South American country had cut its crime rate by emptying out its prisons, sending dangerous criminals to cross the border into the US. Trump with his Republican running mate JD Vance - BEN GRAY/AP Theyre taking their criminals, their murderers, their rapists, and theyre delivering them this is a massive scale, he told Mr Musk. If something happens with this election, which would be a horror show, well meet the next time in Venezuela, because itll be a far safer place to meet than our country, he added. You and I will go, and well have a meeting and dinner in Venezuela. Musk pitches ideas Mr Musk repeatedly tried to pitch ideas to Trump for his second term, but had little success in steering the conversation with the 78-year-old. Trump pushed back when the billionaire said he had made some progress with deregulation during his first term in office, but could be radical if he returned to the White House. We set a record, he insisted. We said we did more deregulation and more restrictions on all of the different businesses than any other president. Mr Musk struggled to interest the Republican in a proposal for a government efficiency commission to ensure taxpayer money was spent properly. The Republican eventually said he would love the billionaires help when he brought up the subject three times. Sacking workers Trump, who frequently sought to flatter Mr Musk throughout their talk, praised him for sacking workers who went on strike. You walk in, you say, You want to quit? the former president said. I wont mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, Thats ok, youre all gone. Youre all gone. So, every one of you is gone. The United Auto Workers (UAW) union, which has endorsed Ms Harris in the presidential race, filed a federal complaint against the pair for attempting to threaten and intimidate workers who stand up for themselves. It is unclear precisely what Trump was referring to, but Tesla has previously denied that it sacked 27 employees in New York because they attempted to form a union. Mr Musk has a reputation as a ferocious job cutter, claiming to have slashed Xs workforce by 80 per cent since taking it over. Earlier this year he announced plans to cut 14,000 jobs at Tesla. Click here to view this content. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Brazil switched off two of its largest hydroelectric power plants last week due to a severe drought. On Wednesday (7 August), the Electric Sector Monitoring Committee (CMSE) advised the Brazilian government to minimise hydropower usage and shift its focus to thermal sources as well as import electricity from Argentina and Uruguay, citing low water levels in the River Madeira. According to Brazils National Water Agency, the current conditions are set to last until 30 November. Brazil is the second-largest producer of hydroelectricity in the world, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF). Power Technologys parent company, GlobalData, reports that the country recorded 41GW of hydropower generation in 2023. The country was expected to continue high levels of hydro generation this year with large amounts of water secured in its dams, but the drought on the river Madeira, which has been an issue since mid-2023, has remained a hurdle. The global hydro crisis Brazil is not the only country to experience this crisis; droughts have led to a significant drop in hydropower generation worldwide. China is the global leader in hydropower output. However, droughts have contributed to the decline of hydropower generation in the country since 2021. Despite its hydro capacity increasing by 7.8% between 2021 and 2023, hydropower generation did not see the same increase, registering 1,184 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2021, 1,202TWh in 2022 and 1,141TWh in 2023, according to the WEF. The International Energy Agency (IEA) confirmed that Chinas hydropower generation fell by 4.9% in 2023, stating that the countrys generation would have been 125TWh higher if its hydropower fleet availability had been the same as 2022. The US, another hydro powerhouse, suffered a 6% decrease in hydropower generation in 2023 due to significant water loss in the north-west from high global temperatures that halted production at its hydropower plants. The IEA highlighted that the global shortfall in hydropower generation due to droughts drove up global emissions by around 170 tonnes last year as countries had to revert to conventional sources to meet their energy demands. A potential solution: grid development To combat the effect of droughts on hydropower, the WEF suggested removing regulatory barriers and providing significant financial support to develop an interconnected grid. Brazil has benefitted from this solution. Other nations have turned to fossil fuels when droughts affected their hydro generation. Brazil, on the other hand, has been able to easily switch to other renewable sources or access rain from other parts of the country thanks to its fully interconnected grid. Story continues While droughts have hindered, and are expected to continue hindering, Brazil and the worlds hydroelectricity generation, continued development of electricity infrastructure is likely to help minimise the consequences. "Brazil cuts hydro use as droughts continue impacting global hydro generation" was originally created and published by Power Technology, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. The News In the weeks since Kamala Harris took over from Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee, one question has loomed over her campaign: How online is too online? Harris team has had an impressive start, quickly dominating the media conversation by leaning into memes and social media trends set to songs like Charli XCXs Brat and Chappell Roans Feminomenon. One of her rallies featured a DJ playing a dance remix of a viral clip where she recounts her mom telling her she didnt just fall out a coconut tree now the unofficial symbol of her campaign. The Kamala Harris TikTok account gained two million followers within 24 hours; the meme-heavy, rapid-response KamalaHQ account, renamed from BidenHQ, doubled its following in the day after the rebrand, according to numbers the Harris social team shared with Semafor. In the early going, Democrats especially younger ones have seemed head-over-heels with the candidates fresh, lighthearted approach to securing the most important job in the world. Some early polling seemed to confirm the growth in enthusiasm, with one survey finding younger Americans feel less meh about voting in key swing states. It sent an immediate signal that, essentially, everyone is welcome to participate in what is somewhere between a campaign and a movement, pollster and MSNBC commentator John Della Volpe told Semafor. It seemed like social media was right there with her. [Young people] want to be part of it from the ground floor. But some critics worry that these efforts to build social media buzz risks becoming cringe, like Hillary Clinton declaring Pokemon Go to the polls! in 2016, or distract from reaching the median voter, who is significantly older and less plugged in. In that vein, a recent press release that included a screenshot of a meme from popular X account Dril quickly made the rounds among users, but struck some internet-savvy commentators as a bridge too far. It also set the stage for Dril to respond with a reference to the administrations support for Israels military operations, a topic thats been especially difficult for the White House to navigate online. The old adage is you cant force a meme and I think thats still very true, tech journalist Ryan Broderick told Semafor in a message. When its natural and organic it works super well. Brat summer just felt totally right. But thats tough to sustain without feeling forced. For pollster Della Volpe, theres no such thing as too online. Using social media is as necessary today as using the radio was for FDR, he said. But its still unclear whether itll translate to votes, Della Volpe added. Shes not where she needs to be with the younger people, he said. This isnt about sustaining it. Its about growing it. She needs to grow it. The View From The Harris Campaign Harris team is going full steam ahead on its social media strategy, and being too online seems like a risk theyre willing to take in order to break through to younger voters. The media is fragmented and people increasingly get their news from social networks, a Harris campaign spokesperson told Semafor. The campaign has to show up and meet voters where they are. The team has more than 175 staffers who do grassroots fundraising, digital persuasion and mobilization, and creative work across the Kamala Harris and KamalaHQ accounts, while also building relationships with creators and influencers inside and outside of politics, according to the spokesperson. They have a Gen Z rapid response team driving daily content, reacting to trends and key moments in real time. The social teams North Star goals have not changed since Biden bowed out, nor has their strategy, the spokesperson said. Harris has just clicked with the audience, and the content has started flowing organically from supporters. It may be because shes younger, Della Volpe said, and can more comfortably share passions with younger people than Biden. She may also just be a better fit for social, personality-wise. Biden, by contrast, came from a different generation, Della Volpe said. And that really, I think, impacted his ability to maintain a relationship with the young voters over four years. The signal that [Harris] social media is sending is that you can be a joyful warrior, he added. Politics doesnt always have to be stressful. Politics doesnt always have to be hard and anxiety driven. There can be joy in this process, right? Digital messaging is not just about vibes, its also about money. The campaign has made historic investments in its digital strategy, the spokesperson said. Its also been outspending on ads across most social platforms compared to other political groups, and employing Gen Z-friendly fundraising tactics, like selling the viral Harris-Walz camo cap and reportedly amassing $1 million in a day. The View From An online media analyst For Jasmine Enberg, vice president and principal analyst at research firm eMarketer, the battle for votes wont be fought or won on social media especially not TikTok, which doesnt allow targeted political advertising. Rather, political ad dollars are going more to streaming and CTV than in the past, in part because of its wide youth audience and more precise targeting techniques, Enberg said. Social media, too, but to a lesser extent. Its more about transferring that energy and excitement she generated on social and making that part of a more holistic strategy. She cant ride the meme wave all the way to the White House, she added. Theres always a risk of over-saturation or missing the mark on social media. Trends move fast and mistakes can annoy or alienate even the people who love her Feminomenon and Brat content today. Room for Disagreement For some, the Harris campaign doesnt risk being too online it already is. The recent press release may have crossed the line by taking the memes out of where they belong the internet. This is...flying a bit too close to the sun for me, The Atlantics Charlie Warzel wrote on X, just two weeks after giving a positive analysis of the way the Harris campaign had been harnessing online attention. Notable Memes are, by nature, like weeds growing best when uncultivated, journalist Katie Notopoulos wrote in Business Insider. If the Harris campaign wants to let this internet goodwill keep flowing, it should be very cautious not to overwater the seeds. YouTube commentator Jules Terpak argued the newly online-oriented campaign approach fits Harriss personality. Compared to Biden, she is perhaps more clippable. I just love Gen Z. I know it may be complicated if you have Gen Z in your family, but I think theyre terrific... When Gen Z starts voting in their numbers, a whole lot of this is going to have an absolute sea change in terms of leadership, Harris reportedly said at a fundraising event in San Francisco. Alpha Kappa Alpha, the historically Black sorority that counts Vice President Kamala Harris as one of its most notable alumni, has created a political action committee, an unusual venture by a sorority rallying around the chance to send one of its own to the White House. AKA is part of a collective of the countrys oldest and most prestigious sororities and fraternities known as the Divine Nine, whose network of more than 2 million alumni represents a massive political force among a constituency that both parties are hoping to mobilize ahead of Novembers election. When Harris was announced as Joe Bidens running mate back in 2020, their campaign was flooded with thousands of donations of $19.08 a reference to the year of Alpha Kappa Alphas founding. In office, Harris hosted a visit of the Divine Nine leaders at the White House, the first time they had all been invited there to meet with a president or vice president, POLITICO reported in 2021. Leaders of the Divine Nine have visited the White House or met with Biden or Harris routinely since then including as recently as May, as Biden sought to shore up his support among Black voters. Last month, after Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris, every Divine Nine president pledged in a statement to meet this critical moment in history with an unprecedented voter registration, education and mobilization coordinated campaign. The statement did not mention specific candidates or parties. The Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority PAC, Inc., or AKA 1908 PAC, will be able to accept donations of up to $5,000 from members of the sorority and their families to support federal campaigns and political parties. Kiahna Davis, a regional director at AKA for the Central region, is listed as the PACs treasurer. Neither Davis nor the PAC responded to a request for comment. Harris has long spoken fondly of AKA whose members she has likened to family along with the other Divine Nine sororities and fraternities. The vice presidents first public event after becoming the de facto Democratic nominee was an appearance at a national gathering for another Divine Nine sorority, Zeta Phi Beta, and she addressed Alpha Kappa Alphas gathering, or Boule, earlier this summer. And a rally she held in Atlanta shortly afterward featured just a small sampling of Divine Nine alumni in political power. AKA isnt the only Greek organization with a federal fundraising operation. Phi Beta Sigma, a Divine Nine fraternity, operates a PAC, and fraternity and sorority leaders founded the Fraternity & Sorority Political Action Committee in 2005 to support candidates who defend and enhance the fraternity and sorority experience. Kamala Harris sorority has established its own political action committee. Alpha Kappa Alpha, a prestigious and historically Black sorority recently launched the AKA 1908 PAC, Politico reports. The sorority was founded in 1908 at Harris alma mater, Howard University in Washington, DC. Sorority members and their family members can donate up to $5,000 per person to the PAC in support of federal campaigns and parties, according to Politico. Harris, one of their most notable members, has long praised the sorority and fondly described her membership. Throughout your life, you find friends who become family and like family they help shape you and your life experiences, Harris told USA Today of the sorority in 2019. For me, that was the women of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. who became my sisters. AKA is part of the Divine Nine, a collective of sororities and fraternities with some 2 million members that has historically championed civil rights activism and uplifting Black Americans. Kamala Harris speaking at an Alpha Kappa Alpha event in July. The sorority has launched its own PAC after Harris announced her presidential candidacy last month (Getty Images) The collective, which does not explicitly endorse candidates, plays a key role in mobilizing voters, Politico reports. However, individual members of the Divine Nine collective have praised Harris. As a Black woman, to see that she will potentially be the first Black woman nominee for the president of the United States its not something that I thought I would see this soon, Felicia Gray, president of AKAs Theta Omega Chapter, told the Chicago Sun-Times last month. Kiahna Davis, AKA central regional director, told the Chicago Sun-Times that Harris candidacy made her proud. Kamala Harris is a member of the D9 (the Divine Nine) and she reflects the values that exist in us already, Davis told the outlet. We should not be surprised when people are energized because they see a path for their future, in the present, sitting there at the top of the ticket. The Divine Nine also has a long-standing coordinated campaign that encourages voter registration, education and mobilization among members, NPR reports. Divine Nine leaders have also routinely visited both President Joe Biden and Harris in the White House since 2021, according to Politico. The AKA 1908 PAC comes as Harris takes the lead on Donald Trump in national polls. The vice president has a 2.8-point lead over her GOP opponent, according to the latest average of several national polls. Harris has also secured a four-point lead over Trump in the swing states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, a new poll from The New York Times and Siena College revealed this week. Kannapolis to use $16,000 NC grant for police officers wellness KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) Kannapolis Police will soon have a program to enhance their performance and wellness, thanks to a state grant. On Monday night, the Kannapolis City Council accepted a $16,619 grant from the North Carolina Association of Chiefs of Police. In 2021, the General Assembly passed a law that introduced significant reforms aimed at improving policing and criminal justice in North Carolina. Mooresville seeks funding to enhance mental health program for police officers The funds were authorized to be deployed to enhance the performance and wellness of its law enforcement agencies and their officers. Kannapolis city leaders say the grant will go toward the police departments wellness initiative. It comes as law enforcement agencies across the state are looking to provide more pay and benefits to their officers. The funds will be used during the current fiscal year ending June 30, 2025. The NCACP is grateful for all that you do to support and enhance the performance and wellness of your agency and its officers, a letter from the NCACP says. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. KSNF/KODE The Kansas Attorney Generals office files charges against the Neosho County Attorney, Linus Thuston. The Neosho County Sheriff, Greg Taylor, says 11 criminal complaints had been forwarded to the AGs office, some were felony-level offenseshowever, only two misdemeanors were filed. Taylors office, along with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, has been looking into ethical questions involving Thuston, some of which date back to 2017. Thuston is charged with willfully failing to pay the appropriate amount of sales tax on a vehicle purchase from November of 2021, and misuse of public funds. Prosecutors say Thuston knowingly used public money from the County Attorneys office for an unauthorized reason. Thuston will make his first appearance in court on Wednesday. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com. Dan Riley, chief counsel to the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, was criticized by members of a Kansas Legislature committee because he declined to follow a state law requiring proposed rules and regulations to be accompanied by an economic impact report. (Kansas Reflector screen capture of Kansas Legislature's YouTube channel) Dan Riley, chief counsel to the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, was criticized by members of a Kansas Legislature committee because he declined to follow a state law requiring proposed rules and regulations to be accompanied by an economic impact report. (Kansas Reflector screen capture of Kansas Legislature's YouTube channel) TOPEKA A state Department of Wildlife and Parks attorney ran into a bipartisan buzz saw for failing to submit to the Kansas Legislature an estimate of the potential cost to consumers, businesses and government if lawmakers approved a proposed regulation requiring the replacement of fire extinguishers on boats every 12 years. State Wildlife and Parks general counsel Dan Riley told the Legislatures joint committee on rules and regulations Monday that he didnt follow the state statute requiring the economic impact report whenever requesting approval of regulatory changes. He left blank a set of generic questions that would explain the economics of adopting the U.S. Coast Guards recommendation for replacing portable fire extinguishers stored on boats. One thing I will not do is put in information thats based on speculation or a guess or some haphazard estimate just for the sake of filling in a line, Riley said. We take safety very seriously given the fact that boats on the water transport large groups of people families, small children. We dont want a fire to become a tragedy because a fire extinguisher thats 13 years old doesnt function. Sen. Kelli Warren, a Leawood Republican and chair of the Legislatures rules and regulations oversight committee, joined other legislators in pointing to Kansas law directing state agencies to complete an economic impact report when submitting proposed regulations or rules for consideration by the Legislature. She said the state Department of Wildlife and Parks should return to the committee with a report showing how the fire equipment change would impose new costs on Kansans. None of this was really answered, the senator said. I would think a revised economic impact statement would be prudent. Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, told Riley that he wasnt convinced the U.S. Coast Guard was justified in establishing a 12-year limit on the life of a hand-held extinguisher. You just listened to what came from Washington? They said every 12 years I have to throw the perfectly good fire extinguisher away on my boat and buy a new one? Because if its 12 years old, it would work. But if it is 13 years old, it wont? Carmichael said. Carmichael asked Riley for information about the number of watercraft registered in Kansas. Riley said he didnt know. He asked whether Riley consulted sporting associations or marina owners about the proposed policy on extinguishers. Riley said he didnt. The state representative asked Riley to estimate of the number of extinguishers likely to be found noncompliant during random inspections by state law enforcement officers? Riley said he didnt know, but assumed a small number would fail a 12-year rule. Carmichael asked Riley how much a replacement extinguisher would cost. Riley said a basic extinguisher might cost $32, which he said should be viewed as not significant. That may not be significant to you, but to me and some of my constituents, $32 is real money. Thats food for kids at the lake, Carmichael said. Your answers are unsatisfactory. Under the U.S. Coast Guard policy, Riley said, a disposable dry chemical fire extinguisher would have to be removed from service 12 years after the date of manufacture. Existing Kansas regulations say fire extinguishers on boats must be readily accessible, maintained in serviceable working condition and of a type approved by the Coast Guard. Republican Rep. Patrick Penn of Wichita, who also serves on the Legislatures rules committee, said expecting the committee to endorse the extinguisher regulation without following state law on economic impact reports was unprofessional. Ill pull no punches. This is lazy. This is shoddy, Penn said. The problem we have is that we work for the people of Kansas. He said if Riley couldnt pull together the economic statement associated with the proposed rule, responsibility for that work should be passed to someone else at the state Department of Wildlife and Parks. Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego's campaign is pointing the finger back at her opponent a day after he accused her of breaking political sign rules by posting them too soon. "While our opponent put his campaign signs which lack basic legal requirements up in June, some of ours were put up very recently within two months of when voting will begin," Kevin Kirchmeier, Gallego's campaign manager, said. Kirchmeier was referring to two signs: a large Black sign with red text reading, "REPUBLICAN FOR MAYOR! SIGN MATT'S PETITION," and a smaller black-and-white sign reading, "STOP KATE GALLEGO. SIGN MATT'S PETITION!" The signs direct readers to Matt Evans' campaign website but do not disclose the telephone number of the candidate or the campaign committee contact, which city rules require for political signs. Evans, who posted two photos with his signs in June on social media, acknowledged on Tuesday the signs were his, but denied any wrongdoing. He said the larger sign was placed on his father's private property along 44th Street, and he said he didn't know who placed the smaller sign in a city right of way. City staff notified him of it and took the sign down within 24 hours, Evans said. City rules do not restrict when political signs can be posted on private property. Candidates must only secure the property owner's permission. The Arizona Republic could not independently verify whether Evans' larger sign was placed in a right of way or private property. He said he took it down because it asked residents to sign his petition to help him qualify for the ballot, after the deadline had passed. Evans was certified to the ballot on July 18. City officials did not immediately respond to questions. Evans also acknowledged he did not disclose a campaign contact on the political signs but said he didn't believe it was required because the signs were intended for private property. "If it's a sign on private property, it's protected under free speech and doesn't necessarily fall within those guidelines," Evans said. On Monday, The Republic reported that Gallego's campaign posted the mayor's campaign signs over the weekend, violating city guidelines that say candidates must wait until Aug. 26. Kirchmeier did not answer why the mayor's campaign posted her signs before Aug. 26, nor did he elaborate. The city's interpretation has been the 71-day-rule applies to the Nov. 5 election, making the deadline Aug. 26. The candidate packet clearly states the date. Phoenix City Council races don't have primaries, only an election in November and a runoff contest in March, if needed. Spats over political signs are a hallmark of election season. Candidates, their campaigns and passionate residents often accuse each other of violations to penalize their opponents. The controversies typically favor incumbents who have the upper hand of experience and familiarity with the rules. The Nov. 5, 2024, general election will be Gallego's fourth run for Phoenix mayor. She first ran in a 2018 special election, then a 2019 runoff. She ran for her first full term in 2020. Evans ran for Phoenix City Council District 2 in 2022 unsuccessfully. This is his first run for mayor. Taylor Seely covers Phoenix for The Arizona Republic / azcentral.com. Reach her at tseely@arizonarepublic.com or by phone at 480-476-6116. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kate Gallego team accuses opponent of breaking campaign rules OGDEN, Utah (ABC4) A Kaysville man accused of kidnapping a 14-year-old relative in Mexico is now facing new rape charges in Utah, according to court documents. Antonio Moreno Cisneros, 31, has been charged with two counts of first-degree felony object rape and two counts of first-degree felony rape in the second judicial court of Weber County. Moreno made headlines in July when he was named a suspect in the disappearance of a relative, a 14-year-old girl from Ogden, as well as his two daughters while all three were visiting family in Mexico. The girls grandmother reported that the three had walked to a nearby store for a soda but never returned home. The FBI led a search in collaboration with their Mexican counterparts until the three girls were allegedly found with Moreno two weeks later in Veracruz, Mexico. The FBI reported at the time they issued a federal arrest warrant for Moreno with charges related to kidnapping and the extradition process was underway. According to new court documents, Moreno sexually abused a girl multiple times in both Ogden and Mexico. The girl reported being close with Moreno and that his behavior had started escalating as he tried to find ways to be close to her. According to court documents, Moreno would send the girl explicit photos and ask for pictures in return while she was in Mexico. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. Key Insights Using the 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity, Sasbadi Holdings Berhad fair value estimate is RM0.18 With RM0.15 share price, Sasbadi Holdings Berhad appears to be trading close to its estimated fair value Peers of Sasbadi Holdings Berhad are currently trading on average at a 146% premium How far off is Sasbadi Holdings Berhad (KLSE:SASBADI) from its intrinsic value? Using the most recent financial data, we'll take a look at whether the stock is fairly priced by taking the forecast future cash flows of the company and discounting them back to today's value. The Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model is the tool we will apply to do this. There's really not all that much to it, even though it might appear quite complex. Companies can be valued in a lot of ways, so we would point out that a DCF is not perfect for every situation. If you still have some burning questions about this type of valuation, take a look at the Simply Wall St analysis model. View our latest analysis for Sasbadi Holdings Berhad The Method We are going to use a two-stage DCF model, which, as the name states, takes into account two stages of growth. The first stage is generally a higher growth period which levels off heading towards the terminal value, captured in the second 'steady growth' period. To start off with, we need to estimate the next ten years of cash flows. Seeing as no analyst estimates of free cash flow are available to us, we have extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the company's last reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years. Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we need to discount the sum of these future cash flows to arrive at a present value estimate: 10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 Levered FCF (MYR, Millions) RM4.69m RM4.55m RM4.51m RM4.52m RM4.58m RM4.68m RM4.79m RM4.92m RM5.07m RM5.23m Growth Rate Estimate Source Est @ -5.69% Est @ -2.92% Est @ -0.98% Est @ 0.38% Est @ 1.33% Est @ 2.00% Est @ 2.46% Est @ 2.79% Est @ 3.02% Est @ 3.18% Present Value (MYR, Millions) Discounted @ 8.6% RM4.3 RM3.9 RM3.5 RM3.3 RM3.0 RM2.9 RM2.7 RM2.5 RM2.4 RM2.3 ("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St) Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = RM31m The second stage is also known as Terminal Value, this is the business's cash flow after the first stage. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (3.6%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 8.6%. Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2034 (1 + g) (r g) = RM5.2m (1 + 3.6%) (8.6% 3.6%) = RM108m Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= RM108m ( 1 + 8.6%)10= RM47m The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is RM78m. In the final step we divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of RM0.2, the company appears about fair value at a 13% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out. dcf Important Assumptions We would point out that the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate and of course the actual cash flows. You don't have to agree with these inputs, I recommend redoing the calculations yourself and playing with them. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Sasbadi Holdings Berhad as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 8.6%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.902. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business. SWOT Analysis for Sasbadi Holdings Berhad Strength Debt is not viewed as a risk. Dividends are covered by earnings and cash flows. Dividend is in the top 25% of dividend payers in the market. Weakness Earnings declined over the past year. Opportunity Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the Malaysian market. Good value based on P/E ratio and estimated fair value. Threat No apparent threats visible for SASBADI. Looking Ahead: Although the valuation of a company is important, it is only one of many factors that you need to assess for a company. It's not possible to obtain a foolproof valuation with a DCF model. Preferably you'd apply different cases and assumptions and see how they would impact the company's valuation. For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. For Sasbadi Holdings Berhad, there are three essential aspects you should consider: Risks: Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Sasbadi Holdings Berhad you should know about. Future Earnings: How does SASBADI's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other High Quality Alternatives: Do you like a good all-rounder? Explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing! PS. The Simply Wall St app conducts a discounted cash flow valuation for every stock on the KLSE every day. If you want to find the calculation for other stocks just search here. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. KANSAS CITY, Mo. Kansas City police are investigating after one woman died from her injuries after being shot earlier this month. On August 4, just after 4:15 a.m., officers were called to Gregory and Holmes on an EMS call. When they arrived, they found two victims in a vehicle that were suffering from gunshot wounds. Union Pacifics Big Boy to steam through Kansas City this fall The victims, a man and a woman, were taken to the hospital. The male victim was listed in stable condition and later released from the hospital. The female victim suffered life-threatening injuries and remained in the hospital. On Monday. August 12, she succumbed to her injuries. Preliminary investigations revealed that the shooting took place somewhere between Gregory and Prospect and Gregory and Holmes, and appeared to possibly involve shots being fired from another vehicle. Homicide detectives are asking for the publics help with any video in this case. They ask anyone between Paseo and Oak, two blocks north and two blocks south of Gregory that hat may have doorbell or other camera footage to check it on August 4, between 4:12 a.m. and 4:15 a.m. Detectives are looking for any footage of the victims vehicle, a grey Jeep Renegade with black wheels and black trim, traveling westbound, as well as any other vehicles or people near it at that time. Abortion rights, sports gambling make Missouris November ballot This incident is still under investigation. If you have any information, you are asked to contact Homicide detectives directly at 816-234-5043 or TIPS Hotline to remain anonymous at (816) 474-8477. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. Labour's winter fuel raid is set to backfire at a cost of 490m to the Treasury - Jessica Taylor/AFP Keir Starmer accused the Conservatives of plotting to cut pensioners winter fuel payments just weeks before the election was called. The prime minister urged Rishi Sunak to rule out scrapping winter fuel payments in May, and suggested the then-government wanted to use the money to abolish National Insurance. Rachel Reeves, who this month axed the payments for 10 million state pensioners, also repeatedly criticised the Conservatives for reducing the support while in her role as an opposition frontbencher. In 2012, she accused the party of hitting pensioners hard over a decision to not raise winter fuel payments for retirees. A year earlier, she sought assurances over the future of the payments. Gareth Davies MP, the shadow exchequer secretary, accused Labour of hypocrisy over the claims. It comes as figures show the raid is set to backfire at a cost of 490m to the Treasury. Click here to view this content. Mr Davies said: Labours hypocrisy knows no bounds. Not only has the Chancellor invented a fictitious black hole to try and justify her true economic agenda, but she has also done the very thing Labour baselessly tried to accuse the Conservatives of considering cutting winter fuel payments in a desperate attempt to lay the groundwork for tax rises. Caroline Abrahams CBE, Age UK charity director added: Enabling our older population to stay warm and well through the winter is an objective we should all be able to agree on, one that deserves to be above the cut and thrust of party politics. Keir Starmer asked whether Mr Sunak would rule out taking pensioners winter fuel payments off them during a session of Prime Ministers Questions on 1 May. He said: Last year, the prime minister was apparently drawing up plans to remove the winter fuel allowance from pensioners, and suggested Conservative ministers were considering scrapping the allowance to fund the abolition of National Insurance. In 2011, Ms Reeves sought assurances from the Conservative government about the winter fuel allowance. She said: In the Budget we saw a cut in the winter fuel allowance, despite rising energy prices and two successive cold winters. A year later, she accused ministers of having hit hard pensioners after her predecessor George Osborne allowed a temporary uplift in the payments to expire. The then-shadow Treasury minister told the House of Commons: Pensioners have already been hit hard by the Government. The winter fuel allowance has been cut. She added that those in receipt of the state pensions had little prospect or opportunity of making up that loss combined with VAT changes at the time. Click here to view this content. During Ed Milibands time as leader, Labour proposed to halt winter fuel payments for only Britains richest pensioners, then thought to number 600,000. Ms Reeves supported the policy as shadow work and pensions secretary in 2014. She told the Commons that year: We are the party who have said that we will cut the winter fuel allowance for the richest pensioners and means-test that benefit to save money. As Chancellor, Ms Reeves has decided to limit the payments to those receiving means-tested benefits, meaning 10 million pensioners are expected to lose support during colder months. All 11.4 million pensioners currently receive 200 from the state to help heat their homes every winter, with those aged 80 or over receiving a blanket payment of 300. Ms Reeves said it was a difficult decision last month, and defended the move as necessary to pay for a 22bn fiscal black hole left by the Conservative government. Click here to view this content. A large part of this includes a 9.4bn pay settlement that will be made to public sector workers this year. Later challenged at a press conference on whether she was picking on pensioners, Ms Reeves said in the circumstances I found myself in, these are the fair and right decisions. Concerns have been raised in the weeks since the move was announced that it will save a third less than the 1.4bn the Chancellor has claimed. Sir Steve Webb, former pensions minister, estimated that those savings could be cut by 490m as retirees hit by the change seek extra support from the state. A group of 50 charities wrote an open letter to the Chancellor last week urging her to rethink the decision. It argued the Government had underestimated the criteria that defines what a wealthy pensioner is. In some cases, the difference in income between pensioners who receive the support and those that will no longer qualify could be as little as 3. Average annual energy bills were 1,834 last winter under regulator Ofgem price cap but for households receiving the full 300 winter fuel subsidy, this would have been 1,534. Caroline Abrahams CBE, director of charity Age UK added: The winter fuel payment is important because it helps pensioners on low fixed incomes or who face extremely high fuel bills due to ill-health to be able to run their heating when the weather gets cold. Unfortunately, the Governments decision to means-test this benefit means millions of older people who really need it are likely to miss out and thats why it is the wrong policy choice. A Treasury spokesman said: We have been clear that difficult decisions have had to be made after inheriting a 22bn black hole in the public finances from the previous Government. This is not a choice we wanted or expected to take, but one that was needed. He added: The pensioners who need this support most will continue to receive winter fuel payments, and we will work with local authorities and charities to maximise the take-up of pension credit and winter fuel payments. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. During a notorious period in American history, insecure governments obsessed about the threat from Communist Reds. Amid a post-war panic over Russian influence, Americans were encouraged to do their bit to hunt down suspected Marxists. Politicians were particularly worried about secret Communist sympathisers on the airwaves, urging all right-thinking citizens to help drive the Reds out of television, radio and Hollywood. According to one propaganda poster, journalists and other creatives were Moscows most effective Fifth Column, and were surreptitiously piping their malign views into the nations living rooms via their TV sets. This was McCarthyism, and it was supposed to have died out in the 1950s. Such was the fear of alternative political views at the time that freedom of speech was brutally repressed. Those who fell foul of the thought police were ostracised, scapegoated, and worse. Many lost their jobs or even went to prison. All this would come to be mocked as foolish hysteria about Reds Under the Bed. Crazed witch hunts were no way for the leaders of the free world to deal with diverging political views 70 years ago; and they are certainly no way for democracies to deal with them now. As Sir Keir Starmer reels from this summers riots however, he shows alarming signs of heading down a similar route. Shellshocked by the displays of public anger over immigration, and desperate to shut down uncomfortable debate, the former Director of Public Prosecutions appears to be embarking on his own McCarthy-style crusade. This is not about the remarkable acceleration of the normally glacial judicial process for carefully selected far -Right thugs. Though there is something quite sinister about the gleeful public parading of a particular cohort of (white) criminals, most voters will be pleased to discover that justice can be so swift when ministers want to make a political point. Wouldnt it be marvellous if all straightforward cases were routinely handled with such brutal efficiency, and jail time were a dead cert for all of those convicted of violent crime no matter their skin colour? Far more concerning than the treatment of these louts is the harnessing of the states machinery to silence Right-leaning writers, commentators and other free thinkers. We saw it during Covid, when lockdown critics were disgracefully smeared and vilified by government agencies, and we are now seeing it again, in relation to immigration. Desperate to silence those who draw attention to the dreadful consequences of losing control of our borders, the State has begun aggressively shooting the messenger. Witness the plight of Bernadette Spofforth. A successful businesswoman and mother-of-three from Chester, she recently spent some 36 hours in a police cell. Her day job is selling swimwear. Like thousands of others these days, she is also a self-styled social commentator, opining on a range of issues on social media platforms such as X. On subjects such as net zero, lockdowns and mandatory vaccination, she certainly has forthright views but she is neither party political nor anyones definition of a far-Right thug. With only a modest number of followers on X, she isnt even that influential. Nonetheless, last Thursday afternoon, she was the target of an extraordinarily and seemingly heavy-handed police operation all triggered by a single ill-advised tweet. Her crime? To have speculated on the identity and religion of the suspect in the Southport killings. Very briefly, her comment on X, which featured the caveat if this is true, added momentum to false rumours that the culprit in the killing of three little girls was a Muslim asylum seeker. The tweet in question was deleted within hours, the minute she realised her mistake. Nonetheless, Chester Police saw fit to dispatch not one, but several police cars to her home and cart her off to the local cop shop, where she was arrested on suspicion of publishing written material to stir up racial hatred and false communication. Friends say she was subjected to the kind of interrogation that might be expected of a terror suspect. What a grotesquely disproportionate reaction to an intervention that patently contained a note of caution and was never intended as a call to arms. Arent the police always complaining about being short of resources the standard excuse for rock-bottom crime detection rates? In a finger-wagging statement, Cheshire Police described Spofforths arrest as a warning that we are all accountable for our actions, whether that be online or in person. Indeed! Spofforth herself agrees, which is why she has issued a grovelling public apology for her mistake though she certainly doesnt admit to being either a racist or a deliberate rabble rouser. Were we living in normal times, that ought to be that. Her shocking experience has already had the desired effect, putting the fear of God into others tempted to highlight concerns about violent crime in this country and its link to mass uncontrolled immigration. This phenomenon is terrifyingly real but very inconvenient for a government which does not have any answers to the crisis. Thus the former director of public prosecutions who now occupies No10 appears to be resorting to modern-day McCarthyism. Sir Keir Starmer would do well to note what happened to Senator McCarthy. Eventually, he took his shrieking denunciations too far. His demented crusade to impose a single political ideology on the population failed, and his career ended in tatters. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway offered former President Trump advice in an interview Monday, urging the GOP presidential nominee to throw fewer insults at his political opponents and focus more on policy differences. The winning formula for President Trump is very plain to see, Conway told Fox Business anchor Larry Kudlow. Its fewer insults, more insights and that policy contrast. Trump has been slinging insults at Vice President Harris as she has risen to the top of the Democratic ticket. Harris is now neck and neck with the former president in polling, with The Hill/Decision Desk HQs polling index placing her 1.4 points ahead of Trump, 47.8 percent to 46.4 percent. Hes got that hunger, swagger, underdog, underestimated of 2016 back, Larry, and you overlay that with the four-year presidential record where we did have growth we did have wage growth, we had low unemployment and the whole nine that you and I know, Conway said in the clip, highlighted by Mediaite. The former president has also faced blowback for questioning Harriss racial identity during a controversial interview late last month at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) a Trump ally has advised him against continuing such attacks. So, heres what I would say to President Trump: The problem I have with Kamala Harris is not her heritage. It is her judgment, Graham said earlier this month. Every day were talking about her heritage and not her terrible, dangerous liberal record throughout her entire political life is a good day for her and a bad day for us. So, I would encourage President Trump to prosecute the case against Kamala Harriss bad judgment, the senator added. Harris has been gaining momentum in the first few weeks of her campaign, garnering key endorsements from figures in her party, pulling in large hauls from fundraising and officially becoming the Democratic nominee in a short period of time. Her ascent followed President Bidens decision to withdraw from the race late last month after weeks of pressure from his fellow Democrats to step aside. The Hill has reached out to the Trump campaign. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Kennewick residents doing good for their community could find themselves with an extra $100 to spend. The Kennewick Police Foundation and HAPO Credit Union officially launched a Positive Policing Program on Monday. The pilot program puts preloaded VISA gift cards into police officers hands to distribute to upstanding residents found doing positive deeds. It brings to light the good stuff going on neighbors helping neighbors kind of thing, said Jim Zimmerman, vice president of the Kennewick Police Foundation, a nonprofit organization independent of the city. Police Chief Chris Guerrero said the program will allow patrol officers to seek out community good, empower residents to help their neighbors and build more community. He said the new program aligns with the police departments mission to provide professional police services with integrity, courage and commitment. In our profession, oftentimes, we are seeing a lot of negative things happen, Guerrero said. So, going out there and doing that, its just not looking for people doing things wrong all the time, sometimes its wanting to catch people doing things right. And thats really what the core of this program is about. Cards are already being handed out to residents, Guerrero said. One example was recently highlighted on the departments Facebook page. Two men received cards for helping a woman change a flat tire one morning near the corner of Deschutes Avenue and Crosswind Boulevard. The two citizens who helped the driver had been working at a nearby construction site and immediately went to help the stranded driver. The two also stated they only hoped that someone would help their wives if they were ever in a similar situation, the July 30 post read. Another person also was recognized for helping someone with a medical condition, Guerrero said. Stephanie Waechter, a community support specialist with HAPO, said they hope to inspire more positive interactions and foster a sense of unity and safety. This program is modeled off a previous campaign that gifted cards to random citizens. It was just a really cool thing to be able to make someones day through an act of kindness. So, were really excited, she said. The city cannot lead the effort, however, because Washington state laws and rules prevent city governments from giving away public money. To distribute a VISA card, police officers must fill out a form that includes the information of who is receiving the money and why they are receiving the card. Guerrero said HAPO and the foundation will have oversight of the cards. The program will begin with 20 $100 gift cards, and will possibly be extended after that depending on engagement and what people are being recognized for, Guerrero said. I would hope theres no end in sight, he said. Kennewick has great members, great citizens, great people out there really doing things for each other. Thats what builds a strong community and thats exactly what our folks are looking for. FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56) Its not a comfortable topic, but its a real risk that state leaders want to stay on top of. If your kids are on these devices, you are throwing open the doors to your home, to the world, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said Monday. LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS: Speaking not just as a prosecutor but as a parent, Coleman said he wanted to make clear just how easy it is to fall victim to online child predators. A new law recently took effect trying to close any loopholes for predators using artificial intelligence to make child porn or found possessing a child sex doll. These predators that use this technology, that use these dolls to accelerate their activity, theyre not just in the shadows. They are here, Coleman said. At a press conference in Kenton County, the attorney general applauded lawmakers for their work thats already producing results. In the past month, a Metcalfe County man was charged with child sex crimes under the new law. Kenton County commonwealths attorney, Rob Sanders, said before now finding such a doll was an immediate red flag, but there was nothing the law could do. We had a problem in Kenton County. We had three individuals that had child-sized sex dolls shipped into our jurisdiction inside of about two years. And the problem was they werent illegal in and of themselves. Yet we were three for three in catching those individuals with child sexual assault material stored on their electronic devices, Sanders said. LATEST KENTUCKY LISTS AND RANKINGS: The AGs special victims unit, which investigates these crimes, has also brought on a K-9 detective, one of only four electronic service detection dogs in the state. Lets say 100, but banker boxes, and youre looking for something thats the size of a microSD card. That dog can alert and tell you which box to look at, Deputy Commissioner for Counter Exploitation Jeremy Murrell said. The biggest message Coleman stressed to parents: be vigilant, especially online. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 56 News. HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT)- Kentucky Democratic Party leaders will visit Henderson County today as part of a rural listening tour. Support continues for Lucy Nash throughout the county The new statewide campaign by the Kentucky Democratic Party is meant to engage rural voters across the Commonwealth. During the tour, local Democrat leaders will engage in conversation with the public. The event is set to take place from 5:30 p.m. until 7 p.m. at the International Union of Operating Engineers on North Elm Street in Henderson. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW). LEXINGTON, Ky. (FOX 56) A Kentucky man allegedly recorded children through a peephole in his bathroom. According to court records, 21-year-old Bailey Tully, of Brooksville, was arrested on Jan. 12 when a caller reported that Tully was in possession of child pornography. LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS: A Kentucky State Police trooper arrived at a home in Brooksville and began talking with Tully. The arrest citation said that Tully first denied the accusations of possessing child pornography and willingly gave his phone to the officer. The officer allegedly located the child pornography on Tullys phone in a secret folder. Tully admitted that the images on his phone were of children between 8 and 9 years old that he found online, according to his arrest citation. The report said Tully let the officer into the home and showed the trooper a peephole in his bedroom, which he used to watch alleged victims go to the bathroom. LATEST KENTUCKY LISTS AND RANKINGS: Tully allegedly admitted that some of the images on his phone were of young girls from the community. Tully was arrested and lodged in the Bourbon County Detention Center. Court records show Tully has been ordered to avoid contact with minor children and to stay away from school property. How to check for Kentucky registered sex offenders near you in 2023 A date for Tullys trial has not been set. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 56 News. FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56) Leaders with the Kentucky National Guard came together Tuesday to celebrate a new resource that will help them even better serve the commonwealth and the nation. It was a big day for the Kentucky National Guard, as leaders cut the ribbon on the new Joint Force Headquarters. Kentucky Adjutant General Haldane Lamberton was one of the speakers. Lamberton spoke on how proud he is to have seen all the support for the Kentucky National Guard over the years, with this facility symbolizing that tradition. Lexington animal care takes in 16 pets over 24 hours, highlights preventable cruelty The formal part of breaking the ground with this began just under three years ago. The more informal part of breaking the ground with this concept began about ten years ago, Lamberton said. The new facility is meant to give the Kentucky National Guard an even more efficient way to collaborate and consolidate team efforts. Lamberton said this vital resource was well worth the wait. The conceptual aspect of having a new Joint Force headquarters for the Kentucky National Guard began two decades and longer ago. Its been a work thats been long in the process, Lamberton said. Governor Andy Beshear was also a speaker at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. This state-of-the-art complex is a testament to our unwavering commitment to providing the very best resources to the very best servicemen and women, Beshear said. After the natural disasters Kentucky has been through, Beshear said quick response is everything. Right here, our Army and Air National Guard will be able to collaborate more closely, making you more prepared and better equipped, Beshear said. LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS: Whether its us responding to a domestic operations type of scenario, a weather-related incident, as the governor alluded to, as civil disturbance type of operation, or were sending some of our service members overseas as we currently have folks who are serving there right now. This enables us to be a more efficient organization, a more collaborative organization. Quite simply, an organization that is prepared to evolve even further, Lamberton said. The staff of the joint force headquarters is estimated to be moved in by the end of 2024, per officials. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 56 News. A teacher waves to her students as they get off the bus at Carter Traditional Elementary School in Louisville on Jan. 24, 2022, in this file photo. (Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images) One Kentucky public school district is speaking against a proposed constitutional amendment that would affect school funding raising questions about what school districts can say on political issues. Pulaski County Schools, a district seated around Somerset with more than 7,500 students, shared a message advocating against Amendment 2 on its official Facebook page Friday. Similar images were on the websites of each school within the district as of Tuesday morning. Some Kentucky Republicans, including Congressman Thomas Massie, suggested the posts blatantly broke state law. Meanwhile, the district released a Tuesday statement that said nothing prevented it from sharing the posts, adding: The Pulaski County Board of Education is not intimidated by the threats of politicians and advocates of Amendment 2, which it called an attempt to siphon off public school money for private schools, particularly Charter Schools. The school districts online messages cited data specifically about how the amendment would affect the district from a recent Kentucky Center for Economic Policy (KyPolicy) report. If passed, Amendment 2 would allow the Kentucky General Assembly to fund nonpublic schools, such as private or charter schools. Advocates against the amendment say the change could cut into funding for existing public schools. KyPolicy, a progressive think tank, estimated that Pulaski County Schools could lose between 8% to 16% of its current budget based on two possible models from other states if the amendment passes. Superintendent Patrick Richardson shared a statement from the school district with the Kentucky Lantern via email. The statement says school board members have received open records requests for their private cell phone and devices for texts or emails discussing this issue and acknowledged a call for the Kentucky Attorney Generals Office to investigate the posts. Pulaski Board members have been threatened and intimidated by some on social media for speaking against this and for exercising their First Amendment rights, the statement said. The US Supreme Court said long ago that those rights are not surrendered at the school house gate. The school district cited a landmark Kentucky Supreme Court decision, Rose v. Council for Better Education, saying that state law gives the districts school board the power to do all things necessary to carry out its duties and responsibilities. The district added that Amendment 2 focuses on school funding. The Pulaski County Board and Superintendent have a legitimate and legal right to protect public school money that should properly be spent on the public education of children in Pulaski County, the statement said. Nothing prevents the Board from taking a public position on this issue that goes to the very heart of the existence of the Pulaski County Public Schools. This is an educational issue and a school funding issue. The Pulaski Board Members and Superintendent have a right to speak against Amendment 2. Jennifer Ginn, communications director for the Kentucky Department of Education, said in an email that public schools and their leaders may engage in conversations with their communities to educate community members on public school funding and measures that may impact funding to Kentuckys public schools. With knowledge of how public schools in their own communities may be impacted, individual community members may make informed decisions on matters impacting Kentuckys public schools, Ginn said. Kentucky law has some limits on how school employees can engage in political activities, such as school board elections. State law also says that public funds cannot be used against any public question that appears on the ballot. However, there is disagreement as to whether the law applies to a school district. According to guidance from the Kentucky School Boards Association, school district employees may have limited political speech during work hours. KSBA, which officially opposes the amendment, says in its guidance that school boards may discuss the amendment during public meetings and board members can share their personal opinions on the topic. Districts always strive to stay within the bounds of policy and meet every letter of the law, said Joshua Shoulta, the communications director for KSBA. There is gray area between the use of public funds for lobbying which is legal versus use of public funds for what statute refers to as political activity. Amendment 2 is a perfect example, as districts seek to inform their communities on the potential consequences of granting lawmakers broad new authority to divert public tax dollars to private schools. Pulaski County Schools posts has gained criticism from Republicans, including Massie, who represents Kentuckys fourth congressional district. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Massie said the school district is blatantly breaking the law by using public resources to campaign against a ballot initiative. Pulaski County is in Kentuckys fifth congressional district. T.J. Roberts, the GOP candidate for the House 66th District seat in Boone County, said on X that he was extremely concerned about the school districts online posts and called for an investigation by the Attorney Generals Office. The people of Kentucky deserve to know whether their tax dollars are being used illegally to undermine parental rights and school choice, Roberts said. This kind of unlawful activity cannot be tolerated, and I will do everything in my power to ensure that those responsible are held accountable. Republican Attorney General Russell Coleman issued an advisory Tuesday evening to remind those entrusted with the administration of tax dollars appropriated for public education that those resources must not be used to advocate for or against the proposed constitutional amendment. Colemans advisory highlighted the section of state law prohibiting tax dollars from being used to campaign for public questions. This prohibition on the use of tax dollars to campaign on either side of a ballot question necessarily extends to the use of any public resources paid for by those tax dollars to campaign either in support of or in opposition to the question, the advisory said. The advisory said the Attorney Generals Office will continue monitoring reports about this topic and is prepared to take any necessary action within its authority to ensure these constitutional and statutory limitations are upheld. In a Monday press conference at the Kenton County Courthouse, Coleman said he was aware of the post, which he called pretty crystal clear. If indeed theres a violation of state law, we know what the facts are, Coleman said. Were looking at the law. We will act with our partners accordingly. The proposed constitutional amendment was a priority for many GOP lawmakers earlier this year, despite a small group of Republicans in the House and Senate ultimately voting against it. Democrats, including Gov. Andy Beshear, have strongly voiced opposition to it. Kentucky voters will decide to reject or adopt the amendment this fall on Nov. 5. Editors note: This story was updated with additional comments Tuesday evening. Cloudbeds Amit Popat & Nikhil Shah Cloudbeds welcomes AI and Machine Learning pioneers to revolutionize hospitality technology San Diego, CA, Aug. 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cloudbeds, the innovative leader in hospitality management technology, today announced the strategic hiring of AI visionaries Amit Popat, Head of Machine Learning, and Nikhil Shah, Head of Data Science. This move marks a significant investment in artificial intelligence by Cloudbeds, aimed at developing unparalleled applications for the hotel industry and ushering in a new era of whats possible for hoteliers. Leveraging over a decade of rich, comprehensive data from Cloudbeds industry-leading hospitality platform, this step toward integrating intelligence and machine learning into the platform will empower hoteliers to unlock insights and enable automation and real-time recommendations spanning the propertys entire operations. Popat and Shah, both mathematicians who met at the University of Cambridge, bring a wealth of experience in utilizing AI and machine learning to translate advanced analytics into tangible value for hoteliers. Their expertise in applying causal inference to hospitality data, combined with Cloudbeds extensive data sets, will position the company at the forefront of technological innovation in this sector. Adam Harris, Co-Founder and CEO of Cloudbeds, commented: "The hospitality industry has long sought a solution to break down departmental silos, enabling revenue, marketing, and operations teams to work together collaboratively to drive profitability across the entire hotel. Amit and Nikhil are two of the brightest minds in AI and ML, and theyre helping Cloudbeds achieve just that. These individuals are scary brilliant, and they know hospitality. All we have to do is give them a place to thrive with the resources they need and plenty of snacks. We are more than excited about the applications this will have for our hotelier customers." Popat is a distinguished machine-learning expert with a remarkable career spanning senior roles at Valtech and London Town Group. He went on to establish his own AI software consultancy firm, where he pioneered cutting-edge AI analytics and marketing solutions for FTSE-250 companies and multinational giants such as easyJet, Shell Energy, and Herbert Smith Freehills. Shah holds a PhD in large-scale computational optimization from Imperial College London. He went on to co-found S-Cube, an award-winning energy tech spin-out from his PhD. Shah has since worked with global industry supermajors such as Chevron, Woodside and Petrobras, spearheading impactful research and practical applications in the upstream energy sector. His capacity for innovation and strategic foresight has led to significant algorithmic advancements for optimizing high-stakes drilling investment decisions. Story continues Together, Popat and Shah co-founded the AI analytics and e-marketing platform Hotel Cloud in 2020, an intelligence platform designed to maximize revenue at every stage of the guest journey. Their combined expertise in creating practical applications of data science and machine learning across hospitality management will now fuel Cloudbeds vision of developing the industrys most comprehensive, intelligent platform serving hoteliers. For more information, visit www.cloudbeds.com/our-team. About Cloudbeds Cloudbeds is the leading platform redefining property management systems (PMS) for the hospitality industry, serving tens of thousands of properties in more than 150 countries worldwide. Built from the ground up to be masterfully unified and scalable, the award-winning Cloudbeds Platform integrates solutions that modernize hotel operations, distribution, guest experience, and data & analytics. Founded in 2012, Cloudbeds has been named a top PMS, Hotel Management System, and Channel Manager (2021-2024) by Hotel Tech Report, Worlds Best Hotel PMS Solutions Provider (2022) by World Travel Awards, and recognized in Deloittes Technology Fast 500 in 2023. For more information, visit www.cloudbeds.com. Attachment CONTACT: Nancy Huang Cloudbeds nancy.huang@cloudbeds.com The head of the Kenyan support mission in Haiti is refuting allegations that his forces had to be rescued by Haitian police after armed gangs fired on them during a recent joint operation to protect a city 28 miles east of Port-au-Prince from being overtaken. Godfrey Otunge, the force commander of the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support mission, told the Miami Herald that while his officers were fired upon by armed gangs during the operation with the Haiti National Police last month in rural Ganthier near Haitis border with the Dominican Republican, the combined forces acted together to return fire. At no given time did the HNP or MSS seem to be competing with each other, Otunge said. The Kenyan force is in Haiti following a United Nations Security Council mandate that authorized its role supporting the Haitian police force to take on the gangs, which control more than 80 percent of the Haitian capital. On Monday Frantz Duval, the editor in chief of the countrys oldest daily, Le Nouvelliste, cited the failed operation in Ganthier as an example of how promises by both the United States and Canada to help Haiti restore security have fallen short. READ MORE: American missionary in Haiti: I feel like a sitting duck ready to be shot Little has changed in Haiti, Duval said, since Feb. 29, when the gangs united and launched an offensive to bring down the government. Nor has much changed, Duval added, since the first contingent of 400 Kenyan police officers began arriving in Haiti on June 25. To drive home the point, Duval highlighted the operation in Ganthier, which came under fresh attacks on July 21 from the powerful 400 Mawozo gang. The Kenyans went on a mission to Ganthier with the HNP, Duval said, using the initials for the Haiti National Police. When things went awry it was the HNP that provided cover to the Kenyans... because the Haitians are better equipped than the Kenyans. Ganthier, a rural city east of Port-au-Prince that has come under full control since a July 21, 2024 attack, now resembles a ghost town. The city has been abandoned by thousands of residents, says a resident who provided the Miami Herald with this aerial image. Duval did not reveal his sources. However, in the three weeks since Ganthier has been under gang control, the papers journalists have been digging into the incident to understand what went wrong. The reporters found that public frustrations over the Kenya mission are shared by the countrys transitional government. Under pressure from panicked residents of Ganthier and neighboring Fond-Parisien to help, Haitian officials have been increasingly critical of the Kenya security mission, citing a lack of equipment, from helicopters to armored vehicles, to the lack of personnel. READ MORE: Gangs fled a Haitian town as Kenya force moved in. But only for a day In the weeks since the missions deployment began, armed gangs have not only taken control of Ganthier but are also close to taking over the cities of Fond-Parisien, Arcahaie and Gressier in the areas around the capital. After the Kenya mission and Haitian police failed to secure Ganthier, residents told the Miami Herald the Kenyan forces did not fire back at the gangs and ultimately left Ganthier. Last week, during a meeting in Port-au-Prince with representatives of Haitis international partners, Prime Minister Garry Conille expressed his impatience and frustrations with the missions current limitations and called for a rapid build up of personnel, equipment and funding. After the 400 Mawozo gang launched its first attack on the community of Ganthier, east of Port-au-Prince, on July 21, the Haiti National Police and Kenya-led Multinational Security Support, MSS, mission launched a joint operation into the town. The missions force commander disputes claims that his officers had to be rescued by Haitian police after coming under gang gunfire. The operation in Ganthier was the first major joint mission by Kenyan and Haitian police, who were trying to secure the city during a gang attemot to take it over. Though Haitian police later declared victory, the city remains under gang control. Gangs attacked the city for a second time, ambushing Haitian police officers in the middle of the night as they slept inside a customs office. The attacks led the police forces to abandon Ganthier, which now resembles a ghost town. In neighboring Fond-Parisien, a citizens brigade has set up its own roadblocks to try to stop the expansion of the 400 Mawozo gang. Otunge said forces deployed twice to Ganthier after the 400 Mawozo gangs first attack. An initial attempt to enter the city, he said, had to be aborted after a bulldozer developed problems and the police had to wait for a mechanic. The cops were using the equipment to remove shipping containers the gang had used to block the main highway from Port-au-Prince into the city. After the bulldozer was fixed, the troops returned and gained access, the Kenyan force commander said. My officers and my vehicles were shot at, Otunge said, and the officers fought fiercely together with the HNP. READ MORE: Colombian President Petro wants to visit Haiti, but timing isnt right, authorities During a debriefing later both the Haiti cops and the Kenyan force praised the team effort and said if they continue to work together they are going to win it, Otunge added. The Kenya force commander said that when the missions convoy of eight armored vehicles rolled into Ganthier, they were confronted by charred government offices and a police station that had been turned to rubble after the gangs bulldozed it. Because of the lack of accommodations and the force having food for only one night, the troops returned to Port-au-Prince the next day. Otunge rejected any notion that during an exchange of fire with gangs as forces left the city Haitian police had to come to the Kenyans rescue. Kenyan police officers speaking to residents of Ganthier in July 2024 after gaining access to the community amid an active attack by the 400 Mawozo gang. The missions supporters, including the U.S., which has provided more than $300 million in support, have been sensitive about any implications that it is not working, despite being seriously underfunded, understaffed and ill-equipped. In a series of postings on X on Monday, the Biden administrations top diplomat for the Western Hemisphere, Brian Nichols, reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the mission as well as to Haitis Transitional Presidential Council, which currently faces accusations that some of its members have demanded bribes from the heads of goverment agencies. Quoting President Biden, Nichols said Haitians deserve to feel safe in their homes, build better lives for their families, and enjoy democratic freedoms. While these goals may not be accomplished overnight, the Haiti Multinational Security Support mission provides the best chance of achieving them. Otunge, who provided video clips of his forces moving containers of the road and of the destruction they found in Ganthier, doesnt dispute that the situation in the farming community is challenging or that the mission needs equipment and more personnel. However, he said the mission is determined to work with the Haiti National police to tackle the countrys security problems. When the forces entered Ganthier, they were greeted warmly by the citys residents, who began singing, Kenya! Kenya!, he said. Kenyan cult leader let his children eat as 400 followers starved to death Paul Nthenge Mackenzie ordered his congregation to begin the deadly fast in stages - SIMON MAINA/AFP/Getty Images The leader of a Kenyan sect ordered followers to starve themselves to death to meet Jesus, but exempted his own children from the deadly edict, a court has heard. Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie told his congregation to begin the fast in stages: starving their infants and children first, and arranging for adults to die last. On Tuesday, a Mombasa magistrates court heard the first public evidence in a manslaughter trial over the deaths of more than 400 of his followers in one of the worlds worst cult-related tragedies. The mass-grave site in Shakahola Forest, outside the coastal town of Malindi - YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images Mackenzie, who is in his early fifties, and dozens of other suspects have pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of manslaughter at Shakahola Forest camp, on an underdeveloped coastal strip in Malindi, about 75 miles north of the Kenyan capital, known for low literacy, poor health and poverty. A 17-year-old former cult member, who gave evidence from behind a screen with her voice scrambled to protect her identity, said Mackenzie had given the order to fast in January 2023. The witness, identified only as JCK, said his adherents obeyed without question and soon began to die one by one. She said she saw six children from a single family die, but Mackenzies seven children were exempted from the decree. She said: In January 2023, the pastor issued a decree that all of us should begin fasting without interruption, without water and without even taking a shower until death. He told his followers by fasting we would achieve redemption, end all human suffering and meet Jesus. The witness said: I fasted also because l believed in him. I believed l would meet Jesus and redeem myself from all earthly suffering and meet Jesus when l died. Bodies are exhumed at Shakahola Forest, where Mackenzie and his family lived - YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images Mackenzie, his wife Rodah and their children all lived in the forest with adherents, but they did not join the fast. She told the court: They didnt fast with us because we were told Mackenzie and his family would come last. The witness said she fasted for 38 days, only surviving by taking small sips of water. When police finally broke up the sect in April, as news of the deaths emerged, she said she had escaped into the forest with other followers. Mackenzies lieutenants resisted the police rescue mission and forcibly moved adherents to different parts of the forest to escape detection. She said: While hiding in a house all the children died except two, including me. Mackenzie, his wife and 92 other members of his Good News International Church are charged with the manslaughter of 429 people including children. Prosecutors allege Mackenzie and his lieutenants brainwashed his followers into a suicide pact using a messianic bible doctrine. Paul Nthenge Mackenzie (right, first row) sits with his alleged accomplices at a court in Mombasa - AFP/Getty Images He is facing murder charges and a charge of cruelty against children in two other courts. The witness said when children first began dying, designated undertakers would wrap them in shrouds and bury them in shallow, concealed graves. She said: One man called Titus lost all his six children in this period. Mackenzie had preached against cosmetics and against sinful modern education, she said. She recalled: He said people should be natural. He also preached against formal school and modern medicine. Mackenzie gave his decree to fast while preaching at a village called Galilee. The witness said: I can remember this meeting on a Saturday. The pastor had called a huge meeting and he told us that he had received a message from Jesus, that something terrible was about to happen and so everyone was supposed to fast. The trial continues. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) Rep. Jen Kiggans recently visited with the Chesapeake Police Departments Marine Patrol Unit. Kiggans secured $500,000 in government funding to help the unit increase community safety. The funding will go towards the purchase of a new state-of-the-art patrol vessel. The boat will be used to escort vessels through the Port of Virginia, patrol rivers and waterways in Chesapeake, and give aid and assistance to boaters in distress. Our brave men and women in blue selflessly confront danger each and every day to protect us and our families, and I firmly believe it is only right to support them as they work to keep our communities safe, said Kiggans. With this federal funding I secured, the Chesapeake Police Department Marine Patrol Unit will have access to a new vessel equipped with the latest technology to keep Hampton Roads waterways safe. During her visit, the Congresswoman met with several officers and heard from them about their efforts to keep local waterways safe. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com. Kiribati goes to election in which China ties, climate stance face test By Kirsty Needham (Reuters) - The remote Pacific Island nation of Kiribati holds a national election on Wednesday at which major issues for voters are the government's close ties to China and a softer stance on global climate advocacy, competing with cost of living pressures. A nation of 115,000 residents, Kiribati is considered strategic despite being small, because it is relatively close to Hawaii and controls more than 3.5 million sq km (1.4 million sq miles) of Pacific Ocean. President Taneti Maamau, who switched Kiribati's ties from Taiwan to Beijing in 2019, has won Chinese development support but also courted international controversy after the sacking and deportation of an Australian-born high court judge who is married to Kiribati's Opposition leader. Kiribati's loose political groupings are typical of several Pacific Island nations, where many candidates run as individuals and voters directly elect the president later, from a shortlist chosen by the new lawmakers. An audit by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association this year recommended that Kiribati introduce campaign financing laws - there is currently no monitoring of election spending - and restore constitutional free-speech protections. In February, Reuters reported that Chinese police had begun working in Kiribati, a sensitive issue for neighbour the United States, which signed a 1983 treaty providing for consultation before Kiribati allows third-party military use of its islands. China's police force donated riot control gear last month, pledging to "solidify collaboration in law enforcement and policing", the Kiribati police said in a statement on Facebook. A U.S. request to establish an embassy has meanwhile stalled. Chloe Karea, 27, a travel agent in Tarawa, who recently returned home to Kiribati from studies in Britain, was disappointed to find she could not register for Wednesday's vote because of identification requirements. "It's a really important election and could be pivotal because we have a lot of activity with China. It will show the people's opinion on what has been happening," she said in a telephone interview. Voting is not compulsory in Kiribati, and Wednesday's ballot is the first of two rounds of voting for members of parliament, to be followed by the vote for president. "A lot of female candidates and lawyers have put themselves up for election," Karea added. Kiribati was left without a functioning appeals court system in 2022 after the government suspended all three Court of Appeal judges and the chief justice. A popular government policy of paying a monthly allowance to people of voting age who do not work, and a subsidy on the cost of copra, could win over some voters, Karea said. The election "will let the people say if they are satisfied or not", said Robert Karora, project manager for the Kiribati Climate Action Network. "We definitely need a change - so that climate change issues are taken seriously," he said in a telephone interview. Under past governments, Kiribati had been a prominent campaigner on the global stage for climate change issues, he said. Maamau's government has backed deep sea mining, an issue that put it at odds with environmental groups. The Kiribati government did not respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) Kirk Franklin Says Marriage Has Been Weaponized In Western Christianity, Also Calls Out Support Of Trump Based On Religion Kirk Franklin Says Marriage Has Been Weaponized In Western Christianity, Also Calls Out Support Of Trump Based On Religion | Photo: Paras Griffin/Getty Images Kirk Franklin has strongly criticized Christians for their unwavering support of former President Donald Trump despite his problematic lifestyle. According to The Jasmine Brand, the gospel artist appeared on a recent episode of Cam Newtons Funky Friday podcast, where he condemned the Christian community for endorsing the Republican presidential nominee despite his controversial statements before and after rising to political prominence. Sometimes when somebody acknowledges or says that they are Christian or represent their faith, everybody in the Christian community wants to jump on it. You also see that even in the white Christian community. If Donald Trump says that hes a Christian, then all the evangelicals vote for him even though there are so many things about his life and lifestyle that are problematic to the Christian ideal, Franklin, 54, said. Trump has garnered steadfast backing from Christians, particularly among white far-right evangelicals. Since entering the political sphere, the 78-year-old has made disturbing remarks about women, Black and Latino Americans and disabled individuals, among others. He has also faced multiple lawsuits, including those involving adult film star Stormy Daniels, and has been convicted of fraud and falsifying business records, per The Associated Press. Despite these issues, Christians, including some Black believers, still intend to vote for him in the upcoming November presidential election. In addition to his criticism of Christian support for Trump, Franklin has also addressed the Western Christianitys flawed views on marriage, pointing out how these perspectives are used to marginalize single Black and childless women within the Black community, according to Vibe. I believe that marriage has been weaponized in Western Christianity, he shared. Its very much that You living in sin, you need to get married, without realizing that marriage doesnt fix sin, Franklin said, referencing his marriage. [Tammy Collins] and I have had to walk through deep waters of a lot of the bad beginnings of religious dogma. Thats why it is very important for people to understand the fullness of faith and to not allow the culture of Christianity to dictate what God wants for them. He continued, Dont be no 30-35 year old single Black woman and go to the family reunion, he said. All the older women are gonna do nothing but they gonna look at you and wonder and question you and challenge you. Why you not married?' Franklin also discussed the distinctions between marriage and singleness, as mentioned in the Bible. How we superspiritualize these messages: He that findeth a wife, findeth a good thing. But Paul also said, I wish some of you were like me. I wish some of you could be single because some of you could be even more useful in the kingdom if you were single. Now marriage is a good thing. Paul said, But marriage is a necessary distraction,' the Texas native said. The Melodies from Heaven artist also revealed that some of his friends were told they could not be active in the church unless they were married. Were not going to let you work with the youth ministry if you single, you cant do this if you single,' Franklin recounted. And so what people do, they quickly get married thinking that theyre fulfilling Gods will for their lives, but they are fulfilling mans dogma. You can be single and be used by God. You can be single and have purpose. Being married is not a prerequisite for Gods hand on your life. It is not, but weve weaponized it. Clips of the interview have circulated on X, formerly Twitter, with users sharing their thoughts on Franklins viewpoints on Christianity. This is deep. They will crucify you when the marriage didnt work. Mehn, one user said. This is deep. They will crucify you when the marriage didn't work. Mehn. Crypto Airdrop | 50x (@blochief) August 11, 2024 Hes speaking facts. Marriage is a gift from God. Singleness is also a gift from God. You can be used by God in both cases. To say otherwise is dangerous, another wrote. Hes speaking facts. Marriage is a gift from God. Singleness is also a gift from God. You can be used by God in both cases. To say otherwise is dangerous. Matt Fontaine (@IamMattFontaine) August 12, 2024 Hes right. Its not just in Christianity either. Our entire society attaches individual value to relationship identity, a third user said. Hes right. Its not just in Christianity either. Our entire society attaches individual value to relationship identity. Ishmael Mayhew (@ishcontent) August 12, 2024 Watch full interview below. The Republican-controlled Georgia State Election Board approved a rule last week, only a few months shy of the presidential election, giving county officials new authority over election certification and potentially giving the board the ability to delay certification of election results in a state that served as a hotbed for conspiracy theories pushed by Donald Trump himself in 2020. Election experts note that this change, which will go into effect in time for the upcoming presidential election, gives election deniers, fueled by baseless voter fraud claims, new grounds to delay certifying election results if Trump appears to be losing in the fall. At the core of these changes is the attempt for a power grab by the state election board, and theyre really looking to write their own rules for the election based on this new partisan majority thats taking control of the Georgia State Election Board, Megan Bellamy, vice president of law and policy at Voting Rights Lab, told TPM. The rule change passed by the GOP-run State Election Board gives that very board which is meant to hold a largely ministerial responsibility in the certification process, according to state law the power to not certify election results until a reasonable inquiry into any discrepancies in the voting process at the county level has been conducted by election officials there. The problem is, the full text of the new rule does not define what constitutes a reasonable inquiry. The rule states that the Georgia State Election Board can only certify an election after reasonable inquiry that the tabulation and canvassing of the election are complete and accurate and that the results are a true and accurate accounting of all votes cast in that election. This vagueness in the rule, voting experts say, is a deliberate way to give election deniers more power to delay certification based on false claims over voter fraud. Stephanie Jackson Ali, policy director of the nonpartisan New Georgia Project, explained in an interview with TPM that this newly passed measure is both a way to potentially keep an election from moving forward, but also as she notes, a way to add fuel to the fire of the election deniers. It has potential to allow those election deniers who have made it onto seats on election boards in our state to hold up a perfectly viable election to hold that up and to keep it from moving forward as pace as it should, she added. Three GOP members of the five-person board who voted in favor of the change were given a shout out explicitly by Trump at a campaign rally in Atlanta on August 3, only highlighting that the composition of the current board is itself a consequence of election denialism. Trump called the three members who voted in favor of last weeks measure and have previously questioned the results of the 2020 election, Janelle King, Janice Johnston and Rick Jaffares, pitbulls, fighting for honesty, transparency, and victory. Later, King told CNN that although she is appreciative of the presidents support she is not working on behalf of anyone. During the meeting when the new rule was adopted in a 3-2 vote last week, Johnson argued that the rule is designed to help the board only certify elections that have been conducted fairly again, leaving what exactly that means ambiguous. Its language similar to what Trump himself has used in recent months when dodging reporters questions about whether he will accept the results of the election in November: All we want is honest elections. If we have honest elections in Georgia and we have honest elections in Pennsylvania, were going to win them by a lot, Trump said just last week. Not all elections are certified, Johnston said during the meeting last Tuesday. There are ballot battles and there are elections that need to be addressed carefully, and there may be issues that prevent a board from certifying. Were not asking the board to do a full election audit or a forensic audit, were just asking for a reasonable inquiry, she added. The singular Democratic member of the board, Sarah Tindall Ghazal, in an interview with MSNBC, called the rule a deliberate and coordinated effort to undermine the certification process. Although the new rule gives the board more authority to potentially delay certification by saying they now have the power to push for a reasonable inquiry into county-level tabulation processes, again, not defining what exactly that entails, it does not give the board power to refrain from certifying an election altogether. The vagueness of this new rule also means that the process will likely be applied inconsistently throughout the state. We have a process that has been understood to be largely ministerial, said election integrity consultant David Levine. We have a process that has largely been accurate, and we now are talking about a change being made close to the election that could substantially change how boards go about reviewing the certification results. Knoxville homeowner claims lack of communication from HOA before lien placed on home KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) A Knoxville homeowner was astonished when she received notice of a lien placed on her house by her homeowners association. Sharon Hartless is a real estate investor owning five homes in Knoxville and three in Florida. As a result, she is familiar with the rules and regulations of HOAs. Homeowners associations play a role in preserving curb appeal and property values of condo communities and subdivisions. Tennessee, like many states, has laws that specifically address homeowners associations and the way they must operate. 2 arrested in 2019 murder of Tennessee Army National Guard Soldier Hartless and her husband bought a new home in the Gallaher Station subdivision in 1999. They lived there for five years, then moved to another home. They have leased the house ever since, and a medical doctor lives there now. When we bought the house, we knew that there was a homeowners association. We paid $55 a year because all that is there is the entrance to the subdivision. Theres no pool, no clubhouse, said Hartless. She said her HOA dues were sent by automatic payment every year from her bank to the associations president until six years ago. In 2018, the president told me that they were moving and there would not be an HOA. It was going to be dissolved because there werent any volunteers who wanted to serve, said Hartless. She went on to explain that the HOA dissolved for two years, 2019 and 2020. However, she did not receive any information that the HOA was back and re-organized. I didnt hear anything until I received this invoice on May 29 from my tenant, said Hartless. The invoice is for a $1,000. A lien had been placed on her house for non-payment of dues. It says that two liens were put on my property for a total of $1,003. They say I owe back dues in the amount, the real amount is $355 total. But when you add attorneys fees in, I wrote a check for $1,003 to get the lien off my house, said Hartless. A letter came with the invoice from the Association President. It reads: Our records show a severe delinquency in your dues to the HOA. I havent received anything from the HOA from 2018 until the spring of 2024, said Hartless. White Pine man exasperated after contractor stops mid-repair on crumbling driveway Another letter from the HOAs attorney said the original Notice of Lien was sent in 2018 to Hartlesss address at Gallaher Station subdivision. She said that the HOA claims communication was sent to her renter. But Doctor D. told me there were never any notices sent to that house. If there had been he would have sent it to me exactly like he did on May 29, said Hartless. If notice of association dues had been sent each year since 2018, Hartless wonders why she never received notice of association meetings or the minutes during which time late dues were discussed. I want to see all of the minutes, the election ballots and when the HOA was reinstated, said Hartless. Tennessees Condominium Act said association meetings must be held once a year and notice must be given of the meeting and sent electronically or by mail. Ive lived here for 20 years. Ive had the same phone, same email for 30 years. Im easy to find, said Hartless. 6 News sent a letter to the association president requesting an interview or a response to our questions. Theres been no answer. Tennessee Athletics and Pilot announce 20-year Neyland Stadium sponsorship deal Others in the subdivision have received late fee notices as well. There are 26 other homeowners who had liens on their houses. I think it is unfair. I think it is an abuse of power, said Hartless. Hartless hopes the association improves its communication with members so further liens are not necessary. We have yet to hear back from the HOA president at the Gallaher Station subdivision and to be clear, Harless did pay the lien and the lawyers fee associated with it. The Tennessee Homeowners Association Act outlines the rights and responsibilities of HOAs and their members. It includes information on how to manage common areas, enforce rules, and conduct meetings. Thats why Hartless requested the minutes of meetings from 2018 through 2024. So far, she has not received them. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WATE 6 On Your Side. Even when Kris Kobach is right, hes wrong. Kansas attorney general last week announced yet another lawsuit against the Biden administration this time for attempting to extend eligibility to buy Affordable Care Act health insurance to DACA recipients, the so-called Dreamers who migrated to the United States illegally with their parents decades ago and who currently live in a sort of legal limbo as a result. Theyre citizens without a country. And Kobach wants to make life harder for them. When word about taxpayer-subsidized health care reaches the home countries of would-be illegal aliens, many more will make the journey, Kobach said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. When you reward illegal behavior, you get more of it. His argument and the argument of 14 other GOP attorneys general, including Missouris Andrew Bailey is that the White House effort violates a federal law which bans giving public benefits to undocumented migrants. The administration, Kobach said, shouldnt get a free pass to violate federal law. You know what? From a technical and strictly legal standpoint, Kobach might actually be correct. Federal law generally prohibits federal benefits from going to undocumented migrants, though there are some exceptions. Certainly, a conservative Supreme Court eager to hem in President Joe Biden might be willing to side with a Republican attorney general on this matter. From a policy standpoint, though, the lawsuit is simply cruel. Make no mistake: Kobachs argument is primarily about policy. Hes saying the Biden administration is breaking the law, yes but hes also saying that helping Dreamers is a bad idea even if the idea is legal. Illegal aliens shouldnt get a free pass into our country, he wrote, and they shouldnt receive taxpayer benefits when they arrive. Which means that nearly 5,000 DACA recipients in Kansas and more than 2,500 Dreamers in Missouri would be left out in the cold. Again. Americans, if not US citizens Just a little reminder about who DACA recipients are: They have to have entered the United States before their 16th birthday, which means they were mostly brought here (through no choice of their own) by parents seeking a better life. And they have to have lived here continuously since 2007, which means theyve already lived here for nearly two decades or more. Technically, theyre not U.S. citizens. Thats true. In a very real sense, though, theyre Americans people who have largely grown up in the United States, acculturated here, and who have lifelong bonds here. Thats also true, no matter what the law says. Members of Congress have made several attempts over the last few decades to grant the DACA folks permanent status. Theyve been blocked every time by right-wing Republicans who would rather see those onetime migrants deported to countries they havent seen in decades. Like I said: cruel. There are two reasons why the suit doesnt make sense on its own terms. First, the Biden policy applies only to Dreamers. The current wave of migrants will see no such benefits. So its doubtful (no matter what Kobach argues) theyd be drawn to our borders with the hope that someday, decades hence, a future administration might or might not also allow their then-adult children to purchase health benefits via the ACA. For the most part, migrants come here to work. Thats the real reward for their illegal behavior. Second, undocumented migrants already get health care. They just often get that care in hospital emergency rooms, which are legally required to take all comers regardless of ability to pay. Thats why the federal government spends an estimated $7 billion a year on emergency services for undocumented migrants. Youre already paying for migrant health care, in other words. Youre just doing it in the most costly, cumbersome way possible. Kobach might win his lawsuit. Give him that. But that victory would be bad for Dreamers and costly for taxpayers. Youve got to wonder: How do Kansas or Missouri actually benefit? Joel Mathis is a regular Kansas City Star and Wichita Eagle Opinion correspondent. Formerly a writer and editor at Kansas newspapers, he served nine years as a syndicated columnist. Tuesdays Top Stories Tuesdays Five Facts [1] U.S. Attorney General visits Albuquerque U.S. Attorney General, Merrick Garland, was in Albuquerque discussing crime in the metro and the state. According to Albuquerque police, since 2021 homicides have decreased by 32%, robberies by 42% and aggravated assaults by 9%. Though some categories of violent crime are on a downward trend, community members say theres still work to be done. [2] Lawmakers speak out on crime in New Mexico Some state lawmakers are blaming New Mexicos crime rate on Bernalillo County. They argue that Albuquerque city officials are failing to use appropriated funds to hire and retain police officers as well as keeping criminals behind bars. Some lawmakers denounced the finger pointing and are urging for a holistic approach to address the issue of violent crime. Lawmakers failed to pass any of the governors violent crime bills during its latest special legislative session. [3] Widespread rain around New Mexico in the short term Temperatures across the region will rise into the upper 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and near 100 degrees in a few southern areas by the afternoon, Plenty of moisture in the air, along with enough daytime heating, will lead to the likelihood of widespread rainfall. The northern and western three-fourths of the region have the best chance of rain for today with flash flooding very likely in the northern burn-scars, as well as around Ruidoso in the early afternoon hours. Most of the San Juan Mountains, the Gila National Forest, and eventually a large swath of the Rio Grande Valley as well, will have the likelihood for some potent storms [4] Construction begins on two major Albuquerque interchanges The New Mexico Department of Transportation says heavy construction and lane closures around some major Albuquerque interchange revamps will hit this week. The first phase of the project on I-25 between Montgomery and Comanche is expected to close lanes. Crews will work on adding an extra lane for southbound traffic. Officials also say the loop ramp at Montgomery going to I-25 southbound will be permanently removed. The DOT says crews will do most of the barricade placement overnight for the next two weeks from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. The full project is scheduled to last through mid 2027. [5] Amazon fulfillment center opening in Los Lunas A ribbon cutting event is scheduled for Amazons newest facility in Los Lunas. Amazon has completed construction of its fulfilment center west of Los Lunas, on the north side of New Mexico State Road 6. The company invested more than $300 million into the facility. The grand opening and ribbon cutting is scheduled for Tuesday, August 13 at 9 a.m. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. The cost of college is adding up - everything from tuition to books to room and board is getting more expensive. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< Recent studies show nearly half of graduates leave public universities owing more than $20,000 in student loan debt. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] Prissila Moreno is one of them. Shes a senior and first-generation college student at the University of Oregon. I get to, you know, graduate from a university which my family was never able to do, and Im very grateful for it, said Moreno. She said shes finishing her degree in three years, instead of four to try to save money. But when Moreno graduates in the spring, shell still have roughly $80,000 in student loan debt. I know that unfortunately, a lot of people like me cant finish, or they cant even start the process because of that financial burden, she said. READ: $1.2B in student debt relief approved, helps 35,000 public service workers Now Moreno is rethinking whether to purse post graduate plans because of the costs. Deciding to take a gap year and thinking through, if I cant get Law School mostly for free, Im probably not going to go because of the debt that Ive accumulated through my undergrad, said Moreno. Federal data shows Americans owed $1.75 trillion in student loan debt, during the first quarter of this year. You see that like student loan balance, and it can be the most overwhelming feeling. I remember going through it, said Hanneh Bareham, Bankrate analyst. Bareham said students can minimize their debt by maximizing these options: federal financial aid, scholarships and grants and discounted tuition. READ: Private colleges could cost more than $90K this fall And then consider private student loan debt, just because private lenders, they all offer different regulations and rules, and a lot of them dont offer the same hardship options that federal loans do, said Bareham. After graduating, she recommends applying for federal repayment through the U.S. Department of education. It is a very simple solution that is offered to every single borrower with a federal student loan that qualifies, said Bareham. Its based off of income and family size. So especially for you know, borrowers with maybe a lower to a middle income, this can really reduce their monthly payment. READ: We are very excited: Nearly 40,000 students in Clay County go back to school For first generation students like Moreno, she said the process was very difficult to navigate. She wishes more high schools and even universities offered more guidance for prospective students. Story continues I dont think they make the intentional effort to reach out to those first gen students and share those resources as well. You kind of have to really look for them, which is just an additional burden on top of, you know, already being the first in your family to do something like this, said Morena. To complicate matters more, the rollout of the new federal financial aid forms known as FAFSA had several delays last school year. Officials now say forms the 2025-26 academic year wont be available for all students until December. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live. Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast aims to prevent Moscow from sending additional reinforcements to the front in Donbas and stop Russian cross-border strikes, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said at a press conference on Aug. 13 attended by a Kyiv Independent reporter. "Unlike Russia, Ukraine does not seek to seize territory. We want to protect the lives of our people," spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said. Until now, Kyiv has been mostly tight-lipped about the goals of its operation, which has reportedly led to Ukrainian forces controlling 1,000 square kilometers of Russian land since Aug. 6. Russia's regional authorities said that Ukraine is in control of 28 settlements in Kursk Oblast as of Aug. 12, claiming that the incursion was up to 12 kilometers deep along a 40-kilometer front. "I would like to remind you that since the beginning of this summer, Ukraine's Sumy Oblast has been targeted with over 2,000 strikes using multiple launch rocket systems, mortars, drones, 255 guided bombs, and more than a hundred missiles, launched from Kursk Oblast," Tykhyi said. "Unfortunately, Ukraine does not have sufficient capabilities to carry out long-range strikes with the weapons it has to defend itself against this terror," Tykhyi said. Read also: Kursk incursion and Crimea strikes could ease pressure on Ukraines Donbas forces "Therefore, there is a need to liberate these border areas with the help of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the Russian military contingent that strikes at Ukraine." The Kursk incursion also helps to prevent Russia from "moving additional units to Donetsk Oblast and complicating (Russian) military logistics," the spokesperson added. After Russia's Kharkiv Oblast offensive failed, Moscow began concentrating its efforts in the east, "throwing everything they have" in the direction of Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on July 30. Tykhyi added that Moscow "would very much like to see" violations of international and humanitarian law in the operation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Kursk Oblast. "They would very much like to see this and use it in their propaganda." There are "reasonable" fears that Russia may fabricate incidents, "including those involving Russian soldiers disguised as the Ukrainian military," Tykhyi said. Ukraine has warned its partners "to be prepared for such developments," he added. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. The 1,000 square kilometers Ukraine says it controls in Russia's Kursk Oblast amounts to a tiny share of Russias massive terrain. Yet, politically, the surprise Ukrainian move poses one of the biggest challenges to Russian President Vladimir Putins grip on power. The stunning operation, conducted by Ukraines Armed Forces, amounts to the first ground invasion by a foreign power of Russian territory since World War II. It also appears to be the most severe blow for the Kremlin since warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin's insurrection in June 2023. "It has caused significant damage to Putin's prestige, Russian political analyst Dmitry Oreshkin told the Kyiv Independent. The Ukrainian operation in Kursk Oblast comes as Kyiv continues to relentlessly conduct long-range air strikes on Russian military airfields, oil refineries, and ammunition depots in Russia and occupied parts of Ukraine. Vladimir Putin (R) chairs a meeting regarding the situation in the Kursk region, in his residence in Novo-Ogaryovo outside Moscow, Russia on Aug. 12, 2024. (Gavriil Grigorov/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) The Kremlin's setback in Kursk Oblast resembles Moscows withdrawal from parts of Kharkiv and Kherson oblasts in 2022, when Putin had to mobilize conscripts to hold the line. Since Russia lacked troops to repel the Ukrainian incursion in Kursk Oblast, the likelihood of a second mobilization is increasing, analysts say. Putin has postponed conscription due to risks of potential domestic instability caused by an apparent decrease in the number of people willing to fight in Ukraine. At the same time, the Kremlin is facing a backlash from pro-war hawks, who believe Russia's leadership has failed to protect the border and created a military system thats unable to properly wage the war. The Kursk operation may also weaken the West's fears of escalating the war since the ground invasion of Russian territory did not lead to any dramatic consequences like a nuclear war or a conflict with NATO. The nuclear saber rattling, used occasionally by the Kremlin, disappeared altogether as Ukrainian troops, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky, took control of 74 Russian settlements. Read also: Kursk incursion and Crimea strikes could ease pressure on Ukraines Donbas forces Scale of the problem Ukraine launched its incursion into Kursk Oblast on Aug. 6. Although Russian volunteers fighting for Ukraine had previously conducted small-scale raids into Bryansk, Belgorod, and Kursk oblasts, the ongoing operation in Kursk Oblast is the first significant ground invasion of Russian territory by a foreign power since the last world war. This time, the incursion is being carried out directly by the Ukrainian army, not by a small number of Russian volunteers under Ukrainian control. Ukraines Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Aug. 12 that Ukrainian troops controlled about 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory in Kursk Oblast, while Zelensky said the next day that Ukraine holds 74 settlements. Alexei Smirnov, acting governor of Kursk Oblast, said on Aug. 12 that Ukrainian forces had pushed 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) into his region across a 40-kilometer (25-mile) front and currently control 28 Russian settlements. Smirnov also said that 121,000 people had been evacuated or left Kursk Oblast on their own. The authorities are planning to evacuate 180,000 people from the region, he added. Residents of the region have recorded videos saying that the authorities had not helped them to evacuate and called on Putin to interfere. Some 11,000 residents of a nearby district in Russia's Belgorod Oblast have also left their homes, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Aug. 13. Putins prestige Oreshkin says that since the start of the full-scale invasion, the Kremlin was trying to spread the message that Russia is invincible and stronger than everyone," but this idea has been dealt a major blow. "It's clear that things aren't going as well for Putin as he's trying to present it," Oreshkin said. "When he started the special military operation, he thought it would be fast and painless and would bring fame. It has turned out to be lengthy, bloody and hopeless," Oreshkin added. A political analyst based in Russia told the Kyiv Independent that Ukraine's control of Russian territory is a "very sensitive issue" for Putin, who "took it very hard." The analyst spoke on condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisals from state authorities. He thinks the Kursk incursion will not have any major domestic political consequences for Russia. Still, Putin will likely have to send significant reserves to the region to offset the blow to his reputation, he added. Meanwhile, state propaganda is downplaying the Kursk incursion and trying to minimize the damage to the Kremlin's prestige, Oreshkin said. Vladimir Putin walks past an honour guard at the Kremlin in Moscow on July 31, 2024. (Maxim Shemetov / POOL / AFP via Getty Images) He added that the Kremlin had decided to block the YouTube video hosting service and the Signal messaging app to crack down on alternative sources of information competing with state propaganda. Putin's propaganda machine appears to be at least partially effective in keeping the population inert and apathetic. Russian political analyst Andrei Kolesnikov argued that "the majority of the population is distanced from the war, and their attitude towards the Kursk (incursion) may be the same as towards (Ukrainian attacks on) Belgorod." "These events are unlikely to have a fundamental impact on attitudes towards Putin at this point," he said. "However, it's too early to draw conclusions there have been no surveys or focus groups yet." Read also: Kursk Oblast incursion would be less necessary if Kyiv could strike deep in Russia with Western arms, Kyiv says Destabilization? Speculation is rife on whether the Kursk operation will destabilize the political situation in Russia. Putin himself said on Aug. 13 that "the enemy will keep trying to destabilize the situation in the border zone in order to destabilize the domestic political situation in our country." Russia has long been in a situation where anything can cause destabilization in an unpredictable way, Russian political analyst Georgy Satarov told the Kyiv Independent. Meanwhile, the Kremlin has faced a backlash from the most hawkish and imperialist part of the population pro-war bloggers. They have criticized Russia's leadership for failing to prepare for the Ukrainian operation and have fueled a panic mood similar to that during Russia's withdrawal from parts of Kharkiv and Kherson oblasts in 2022. Pro-war blogger Roman Alyokhin said on Telegram that he "just couldnt believe what was happening" when he found out about the Ukrainian incursion. "I thought that all this was just a series of mistakes that would be quickly corrected," he said. "But after the speech by the Chief of the General Staff (Valery Gerasimov), I became convinced that these are no longer just mistakes.... It reminds me of the series of lies about Kherson and Izium (in Kharkiv Oblast). Another pro-war propagandist, Yury Podolyaka, was also furious. "How did it happen that after two and a half years, a full-fledged defensive line was not created in the Kursk border area?" he wrote on Telegram. "Doesnt anyone question why everything is like this? Maybe its time to change something in our usual system, where everything seems to be fine at least thats what they say on TV, but in reality, its not so great, to put it mildly." While Russia's hawks are unhappy with the Kremlin's blunders during the Kursk incursion, another part of the population is increasingly frustrated with the war itself. One of Russia's wealthiest tycoons, Oleg Deripaska, called for an unconditional ceasefire in an Aug. 8 interview with Nikkei and said Russia's war against Ukraine was "mad." According to a survey published by Russian pollster Levada Center on Aug. 8, 58% of the respondents supported starting peace talks with Ukraine, and 34% were in favor of continuing the war. However, the Levada Center also said that 75% of those polled supported the war, and 17% were against it. Although Levada is seen as independent from the Kremlin, its polls have been questioned due to alleged distortions caused by respondents' fear of the authorities that have been actively persecuting those who oppose the countrys war against Ukraine. Red lines Outside of Russia, the ongoing incursion may have an even more dramatic effect. As things stand, the offensive weakened the West's fears that attacks on Russian territory with the use of Western arms could lead to an escalation. Russia has repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons or to attack NATO territory if "red lines" were crossed, but the threats have failed to materialize. "It's become clear that talk of red lines is nonsense," Oreshkin said. "This is important for the West's position." The political analyst currently based in Russia also said that the Kursk operation would have "consequences in the West" because "the West will be persuaded once again that the Kremlin's red lines are fake." The Kursk incursion has already drawn praise from some Western politicians, including top members of the Republican Party. Visiting Kyiv, U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham on Aug. 12 called the Kursk operation "brilliant," "bold," and "beautiful." U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (L) and Senator Lindsey Graham (R) attend a briefing on Aug. 12, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Vitalii Nosach/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images) "Give them weapons they need to win the war they cant afford to lose," Graham said following a meeting with Zelensky in Kyiv. Meanwhile, the U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Aug. 12 that Putin should "just get the hell out of Ukraine" if he is worried about the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk Oblast. Russian independent observers now add that Ukraine's control of part of Kursk Oblast could be used as a bargaining chip in potential peace talks. Putin said in June that, as a condition for peace negotiations, Ukrainian troops must leave the countrys Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. He added that Ukraine must recognize Russia's illegal annexation of those regions and abandon any ambition to join NATO. "Now, this sounds hollow," Oreshkin said. Long-term prospects Despite all the upsides of the Kursk operation for Ukraine, a lot depends on whether it continues for a long time. "The impact of the Ukrainian operation in Kursk Oblast on the political situation in Russia and on Putin's image will depend on how long it lasts, how actively it develops, and what its successes will be," Russian columnist Sergei Parkhomenko told the Kyiv Independent. "So far, it has been going on for a very short time and has not had a significant impact beyond Kursk Oblast itself and two adjacent areas... For now, the scale is insufficient for serious consequences," he added. Parkhomenko and Oreshkin said that serious political decisions like full-blown mobilization that risks a public backlash are only possible if the operation is long-lasting. "(Additional forced mobilization) is possible if it lasts for months," Oreshkin said. "But if Ukrainian forces are pushed out soon, there will be no need to carry out a mobilization." The analyst based in Russia said that mobilization is not highly likely, but the possibility of mobilization is increasing due to the Kursk operation. "If it happens, the second mobilization will be harsher than the first because all those who were easy to mobilize have already been drafted," he said. "And since people don't want to serve in the army, the authorities will likely close the border." Read also: How Ukraines Kursk incursion threw Russias top propagandists into crisis Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Kursk incursion has not yet influenced situation near Toretsk, military says The Ukrainian operation in Russia's Kursk Oblast is yet to have an impact on the fighting in the Toretsk sector in Donetsk Oblast, a spokesperson of the 32nd Separate Mechanized Brigade said on air on Aug. 13. Russian forces continue attacking Toretsk, and battles have now reached the outskirts of the town, military spokesperson Oleksandr Bordiian told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Russia keeps sending sabotage groups and increased the frequency of airstrikes, he added. The statement comes the same day as Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said the cross-border operation in Kursk Oblast aims to divert Russian troops from Donetsk Oblast, among other goals. "As for the ground attacks, yes, the intensity has dropped a bit... They did not decrease significantly, but they (Russian forces) are trying to compensate for this by increased strikes with guided aerial bombs," Bordiian said. The spokesperson also reported battles in the immediate proximity of Toretsk, specifically in the urban area of the Pivnichne-Zalizne agglomeration. Russia deploys small sabotage groups to infiltrate the Ukrainian army's immediate rear, he said. The Toretsk sector in Donetsk Oblast has become another hotspot in recent weeks, with Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi reporting that heavy fighting near Toretsk and Pokrovsk has expanded the active Russia-Ukraine front line. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think-tank said on Aug. 5 that Russia had made "significant tactical advances in the Toretsk direction," pointing to geolocated footage of Russian forces in Druzhba east of Toretsk. Russia also continues to press against other Donetsk Oblast towns, namely Chasiv Yar and Pokrovsk. Read also: Kursk incursion aims to divert Russian troops, protect Ukrainian border regions, Kyiv says Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Kursk Oblast incursion would be 'less necessary' if Kyiv could strike deep in Russia with Western arms, Kyiv says The Ukrainian incursion into Kursk Oblast would be "less necessary" if Kyiv were allowed to "fully utilize (its) long-range capabilities" against Russia, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Aug. 13 at a press conference attended by a Kyiv Independent reporter. The U.S. permitted Ukraine in June to strike Russian military targets just across the border but maintained a ban on attacks deep inside Russia with long-range arms like ATACMS. In the wake of the Ukrainian incursion in Kursk Oblast, which lies just across the border from Ukraine's Sumy Oblast, the Pentagon said the operation is "within the U.S. policy of where they can operate our weapons, our systems, our capabilities." In turn, the U.K. has reportedly not allowed Ukraine to use British-supplied Storm Shadow as part of the incursion, maintaining their policy of only permitting strikes within Ukrainian sovereign territory. "If Ukraine could strike the enemy troops on their territory, from where they threaten Ukraine, then Ukraine would be in a much better position to protect itself," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said. "In particular, it would be less necessary to use the Ukrainian defense forces outside of the Ukrainian borders, including Kursk Oblast." The spokesperson added that Ukrainian officials are in talks with Western partners to allow Ukraine to strike military targets deep inside Russia. "This step is necessary it is 'de-esalatory,' it will contribute to security," said Tykhyi. "All fears must be left behind, and we must be allowed to fully utilize our long-range capabilities to reduce Russias military potential," the official added. Earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg addressed U.S. restrictions on the use of long-range weapons to strike targets deep inside Russian territory during a press conference on July 10 by affirming Ukraine's "right to self-defense." "Under international law, Ukraine has the right to self-defense," Stoltenberg said. "We are helping Ukraine to realize its right to self-defense by supplying weapons and equipment, including long-range missiles, in particular, ATACMS. The right of self-defense includes the right to strike legitimate military targets on the territory of the aggressor, Russia." Read also: Kursk incursion and Crimea strikes could ease pressure on Ukraines Donbas forces Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. In our Reality Check stories, Herald-Leader journalists dig deeper into questions over facts, consequences and accountability. Read more. Story idea? hlcityregion@herald-leader.com. A public school district faces scrutiny from the Kentucky Attorney Generals Office over social media posts against a proposed state constitutional amendment on school choice. The Pulaski County Board of Education posted information on its web site urging people to vote against the measure called Amendment 2 which will be on the ballot across Kentucky in November. A Republican candidate for state representative in Northern Kentucky, T.J. Roberts, issued a release Monday saying that using public tax dollars to campaign against the amendment appeared to be a violation of the law by the school district. This is just a blatant misuse of tax dollars, Roberts said in an interview. But in a statement Tuesday, the Pulaski board defended itself, saying it has a legitimate and legal right to protect public school money. Roberts also formally requested Attorney General Russell Coleman issue an opinion on the legality of public schools using public money or resources to campaign for or against the amendment. State Rep. Candy Massaroni, R-Bardstown, also requested Colemans office opine on the legality and appropriateness of public schools weighing in on the amendment. T.J. Roberts, a Republican, is a candidate for House District 66 in Northern Kentucky in November 2024. Coleman, a Republican, issued an advisory Tuesday evening saying that tax dollars must not be used to advocate for or against the amendment. The advisory noted that school officials and employees have a First Amendment right to express their views, but that they cant use school resources or school time to advance their views. Amendment 2, if approved by voters, would change the Kentucky constitution in a way that gives lawmakers the option to fund private and charter schools in the future. That is prohibited by the constitution as it is now written. The bill putting the amendment on the ballot faced bipartisan opposition in both the Kentucky House and Senate. School district pushes back In a statement issued Tuesday prior to the attorney general opinion, the Pulaski County Board of Education pushed back strongly against the notion that it ran afoul of the law by urging people to vote against the amendment. The statement said its wrong to refer to the amendment as school choice because it is really an effort to siphon off public tax money to benefit private schools and charter schools. The Pulaski County Board and Superintendent have a legitimate and legal right to protect public school money that should properly be spent on the public education of children in Pulaski County, the board said in a statement released by its attorney, Larry G. Bryson. Nothing prevents the Board from taking a public position on this issue that goes to the very heart of the existence of the Pulaski County Public Schools, the statement said. The Kentucky School Boards Association, which opposes the amendment, put out guidance to school districts on how to handle their position on the measure. The guidance said one opinion from the Attorney Generals Office says school districts can spend tax money to lobby for or against legislation, but that another says districts cannot legally spend money to promote a certain viewpoint on a political issue. The guidance says Amendment 2 is clearly a political issue and a district may not spend funds to take a side. Empower parents to make choices However, in a statement issued after controversy arose over the post in Pulaski County, the KSBA said the issue was not cut and dried. There is gray area between the use of public funds for lobbying which is legal versus use of public funds for what statute refers to as political activity, the association said in the statement. Amendment 2 is a perfect example, as districts seek to inform their communities on the potential consequences of granting lawmakers broad new authority to divert public tax dollars to private schools. In his request to Coleman, Roberts cited a state law that bars the use of local, state and federal tax dollars to push for or against ballot questions. Taxpayers fund our schools to provide an excellent education for our children, not to campaign against measures that empower parents to make choices for their own children, Roberts said in his request. Sign up for our Bluegrass Politics Newsletter A must-read newsletter for political junkies across the Bluegrass State with reporting and analysis from the Lexington Herald-Leader. Never miss a story! Sign up for our Bluegrass Politics newsletter to connect with our reporting team and get behind-the-scenes insights, plus previews of the biggest stories. In its response, the Pulaski County board said that in one historic ruling, the state Supreme Court said no entity was better qualified or had a bigger duty to raise a a question about school funding than local school boards. Members of the Pulaski County board have been threatened and intimidated on social media for exercising their right to speak against Amendment 2, the board said in its statement. The ballot question will read as follows: To give parents choices in educational opportunities for their children, are you in favor of enabling the General Assembly to provide financial support for the education costs of students in kindergarten through 12th grade who are outside the system of common (public) schools by amending the Constitution of Kentucky as stated below? The General Assembly may provide financial support for the education of students outside the system of common schools. The General Assembly may exercise this authority by law, Sections 59, 60, 171, 183, 184, 186, and 189 of this Constitution notwithstanding. School district says it could lose money Supporters argue it would give parents more choices on where to send their children to school, including getting them out of poorly-performing schools. Opponents argue the amendment could undermine funding for public schools, which serve most students in the state, by switching money to private or charter schools. If voters approve the measure, state lawmakers would put together rules on public funding for private and charter schools in a future legislative session. The post by the Pulaski County school system, which is on the boards site and the site for individual schools, says that if the amendment passes and Kentucky lawmakers set up a system similar to the one used in Florida. the district could lose $15.4 million in public tax funding and have to cut 143 jobs. That information is based on an analysis of amendment by the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, which estimated that approval of the measure could result in public schools losing more than $1 billion in state funding. Supporters of the amendment have said concerns about public schools losing money are not well-founded. Roberts said Pulaski County was the only school district he had seen using its web site to oppose the amendment. Roberts, an attorney, is running for the open House District 66 seat, which lies within Boone County. Herald-Leader staff writer Valarie Honeycutt Spears contributed to this story. Save Lives. Live Better. Thats the name of a new, Walmart-focused report from United for Respect (UFR), a labor group focused on improving workers rights. The title is a play on the Bentonville big dogs own slogan: Save money. Live better. More from Sourcing Journal In the report, UFR dives into what it calls Walmarts workplace violence crisis, which is primarily centered around instances of gun violence in or at Walmart stores. Bianca Agustin, co-executive director of UFR, said the group began researching and acting on violence in Walmart stores after a 2022 mass shooting in one of the companys El Paso, Tex., stores. Since then, she said, Walmarts lack of response to a matter of life and death for associates has been insufficient. Our hope with this is really to demonstrate to Walmart that we believe theres evidence that there is a problem, and that its not a retail problem, but its a Walmart problem, Agustin told Sourcing Journal. They really impact hundreds of thousands of communities. According to UFRs data, Walmart stores saw more than 200 instances of violence at its stores in 2023. That included 132 gun-related incidents, 26 bomb threats, 31 physical assaults and more. The group said 51 percent of those incidents occurred in the regional South. In the past, Cyndi Murray, a Walmart associate and founding member of UFR, filed shareholders petitions calling on the company to conduct a third-party, independent review of the impact of company policies and practices on workplace safety and violence, including gun violence. Each time Murray submitted the proposal, with support from UFR, it has been rejected. Thats partly because Walmart recommended shareholders vote against it. In its 2024 proxy statement, when the company provided its reasoning for recommending against the proposal, it said it has a comprehensive approach to promoting safety and security, including training on workplace violence awareness and prevention. UFRs report states that Walmart asks its employees to complete active shooter training on a computer module. Agustin said UFR recommends that the company start implementing live simulation trainings for active shooter scenarios, similar to those performed in public schools nationwide, to help guide its associates. [Walmart associates] said that they do not feel prepared and that most of their colleagues, because of the interface, are just clicking through the modules. The rate of absorption is low, and when something actually happens, they dont know how to behave in their own store in terms of where to hide, where to go, [who] to call, she said. My understanding from one of our associates is that Walmart tells its associates that the training will eventually include a live simulation, but it never happens. A Walmart spokesperson did not comment on the companys training methodology, instead referring Sourcing Journal to the 2024 proxy statement, which does not provide any details about how safety and security training is administered to associates. Walmarts 2024 proxy statement also claims that its safety record is consistent with or better than that of U.S. retail peers. Specifically, it points to reporting metrics about lost time incidents and injuries. But it never addresses its track record for gun violence in its claims about its safety record. That may be because the reality shows Walmart is not at parity with its peers, at least when it comes to violence. The Gun Violence Archive, a non-profit tracking data on gun violence incidents in the United States, has reported 52 gun violence incidents in Walmart stores in 2024. In the same time period, Target stores have had eight incidents; Costco stores have had two incidents and Macys stores have not had any. Data from Guns Down America shows that, between January 1, 2020 and March 20, 2024, Walmart saw 473 gun-related incidents, yielding 279 injuries and 104 deaths. Over that same period, Kroger dealt with 54 gun-related incidents, which caused 43 injuries and 18 deaths. Walmart does have a larger fleet of stores than those retailers, but its incidence rate remains higher. For Walmart, one out of every 10 stores in the U.S. experienced a gun-related injury or death during the period reviewed by Guns Down America. For Kroger, that number dropped precipitously to one out of every 52 stores, UFR wrote in the report. In addition to UFRs demands for Walmart to implement better training, the group is encouraging the superstore giant to provide employer-paid healthcare that includes mental health services, physical therapy and rehabilitative services; paid time off to recover physically and emotionally for those affected by in-store incidents and more. UFR members also want Walmart to reconsider its store procedures. Agustin said workers have brought ideas like in-store panic buttons to the fore in discussions with UFR. However, Walmart has not engaged in meaningful dialogue on workers rights and protections with the labor group, she said. Agustin said for real forward progress, Walmart should take action to listen to associates who tell the company they feel unsafe at work. Acknowledge that there is a problem and put some resources and attention into addressing it. [Walmart] doesnt have to take all of our recommendations as a cookie cutter solution[but] we hope that if they started to give this attention, that they would involve committees of workers across the country and by regionnot just a select few that they hand pick out of headquarters, but real, frontline workers. ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) A portion of Cedarwood Terrace near Kingston Street in Rochester was reopened after a brief standoff Tuesday. According to Rochester police, a city official was carrying out an eviction around 3:30 p.m. when an uninvolved person began an argument and showed what appeared to be a firearm. Police surrounded the house and tried to contact the suspect until they discovered that person was no longer inside. Investigators say the suspect was identified and charges are likely. On scene of a standoff on cedarwood Terr. and Kingston St. RPD telling someone to come out with their hands up over loudspeaker. Im at media staging area, and will update once I learn more. @News_8 pic.twitter.com/MX7P45GNOr Emalee Burkhard (@EmaleeBurkhard) August 13, 2024 Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to RochesterFirst. The UKs largest housing association has been fined for failing to repair a childs bedroom window for four years. Clarion, who owns 125,000 homes in the UK, was fined by the Housing Ombudsman for severe maladministration over the case. The housing watchdog heard that the housing association had boarded up the window during a repair job, and did not follow up despite resident complaints. This led to parts of the home developing mould due to lack of ventilation, causing issues with a residents asthma and his sons mental health. A report says the resident raised concerns over those four years, but Clarion kept no record on file to show this. The ombudsman criticised the housing association for showing no urgency to fix the issue. In a statement, Clarion said: We apologise sincerely to the resident and their family in this case. The issue took too long to resolve and our communication was not good enough. Since then, we have made improvements that would now prevent this from happening. Clarion owns the most homes of any housing association in the UK (Tim Goode/PA) (PA Archive) The housing association was ordered to pay 1,700 in compensation, alongside a written apology. The case was shared by the watchdog as part of a monthly report into cases of severe maladministration, focusing on issues with window repairs. The Housing Ombudsman Richard Blakeway in his report that around 4,000 children (aged 15 years or younger), are injured following an incident with a window every year. Mr Blakeway also notes in his report that the cases show many landlords are not ready for Awaabs Law, which makes major changes to the law on damp and mould. The law is named after Awaab Ishak, a toddler who died in 2020 due to the presence of black mould in the flat he was living in. Brought into statue in 2023, the new rules put a legal obligation on social landlords to investigate hazards (not just mould-related) within 14 calendar days. Two-year-old Awaab Ishak, who died in 2020 (Family Handout/PA) (PA Media) The new Renters Rights Bill introduced by Labour at the Kings Speech in July will also extend the law to private landlords. The Housing Ombudsman also named Camden and Tower Hamlets councils in its report. It found that Tower Hamlets had delayed repairs to one residents window for 134 weeks, leading to her son being unable to sleep in his bedroom and the entire property becoming cold. The watchdog says there was no evidence that the council had assessed the detriment to the family, or assessed their vulnerability. They were ordered to pay 3,810 in compensation and apologise in person. A spokesperson for Tower Hamlets councils said: We fully accept the report and its findings, and we apologise to the resident for the upset caused by delays to repairs in her home and poor communication. This was during the pandemic which was an extremely challenging period. Our team are working hard to improve and are already acting on the reports recommendations. Responding to the report, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said: These findings are completely shocking and show tenants are being let down and ignored, forcing them to live in unsafe conditions for years. All landlords have a legal and moral duty to make sure their homes are safe. The Government will go further and bring in Awaabs Law, to protect families, strengthening their voice and force landlords to fix dangerous homes as quickly as possible. FILE - Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks during a news conference, Aug. 14, 2023, in Atlanta. People connected with former President Donald Trumps legal cases have been inundated with threats. In Atlanta, Willis, who brought criminal charges against Trump and 18 other people alleging they schemed to illegally overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, is known to be accompanied by round-the-clock bodyguards. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File) ATLANTA (AP) A year after a Georgia grand jury accused Donald Trump and others of illegally trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state, the case has stalled with no chance of going to trial before the end of this year. When Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis secured the indictment a year ago Wednesday, it was the fourth and most sprawling of the criminal cases against the former president. Trump narrowly lost Georgia to Democrat Joe Biden, and Willis used Georgia's anti-racketeering law to allege that he and 18 others had participated in a wide-ranging scheme to subvert the will of the state's voters. Willis' team notched some early victories in the case, but explosive allegations raised by one of Trump's co-defendants early this year have caused a delay and could even derail the prosecution. Here are some things to know about the case. A lengthy indictment that cast a wide net Nearly 100 pages long, the indictment included 41 criminal counts against Trump and 18 others. High-profile people charged along with the former president include his White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and conservative attorney Sidney Powell. All of the defendants were charged with violating the states anti-racketeering law and the indictment includes 161 alleged acts to support that charge. The narrative put forth by prosecutors alleges multiple people committed separate crimes to accomplish a common goal challenging Trump's electoral loss. The indictment includes charges related to a Jan. 2, 2021, phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger during which Trump urged the state's top elections official to help him find the votes he needed to win. Other charges have to do with a getting a slate of Republican electors to falsely declare that Trump won the state, allegations of harassment of a Georgia election worker and a breach of election equipment in a rural south Georgia county. The judge overseeing the case in March dismissed six counts in the indictment, including three of the 13 counts against Trump. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee wrote that prosecutors had failed to provide enough detail about the alleged crime in those counts. Willis' team has appealed that ruling. A first-of-its-kind mug shot When Trump arrived in Atlanta last August to be booked on the charges against him, he was quickly released on bond. But his brief stop at the Fulton County Jail marked the first time that a former president has had to sit for a mug shot. While Trump and the others indicted all had to be booked at the jail, they waived their first court appearances. While his lawyers have been present and made arguments at numerous hearings over the last year, Trump has yet to set foot in a Georgia courtroom. Early victories for prosecutors Four of the 18 people charged along with Trump in Georgia pleaded guilty to lesser charges after reaching plea deals with prosecutors within a few months of the indictment. Bail bondsman Scott Hall pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in September. Prosecutors had accused him of participating in a breach of election equipment in rural Coffee County. The following month, Powell and lawyer Kenneth Chesebro each pleaded guilty. Powell was also accused in the Coffee County breach, while Chesebro had helped organize the Republican elector plan. The two of them reached deals with prosecutors just before they were scheduled to go to trial, having asserted their rights to a speedy trial. Days later, attorney Jenna Ellis, a vocal part of Trump's reelection campaign in 2020, entered a tearful guilty plea. Salacious allegations upend the case In early January, a lawyer for co-defendant Michael Roman, a Trump campaign staffer and onetime White House aide, alleged in a court filing that Willis had improperly engaged in a romantic relationship with lawyer Nathan Wade, whom she had picked to lead the prosecution against Trump and the others. The court filing alleged that Willis benefitted financially from the case since Wade used his earnings to take her on trips. It said that caused a conflict of interest and that Willis and her office should be removed from the case. Willis and Wade acknowledged the relationship but said they had split travel and other costs. During an extraordinary hearing, intimate details of Willis and Wade's personal lives were aired in court and broadcast live on television. Judge McAfee chided Willis for a tremendous lapse in judgment but found no conflict of interest that merited her removal, as long as Wade left the case. Wade resigned hours later. Trump and other defendants have appealed McAfee's ruling. That appeal is currently pending before the Georgia Court of Appeals, which plans to hear arguments in December and then must rule by mid-March. Meanwhile, the appeals court has barred McAfee from taking any further action in the case against Trump and the others participating in the appeal while it is pending. What's next It's not entirely clear. Regardless of how the Court of Appeals rules, the losing side will likely ask the Georgia Supreme Court to weigh in. That would cause a further delay if the high court agrees to hear the case. The general election in November, in which Trump is the Republican nominee for president, provides more uncertainty. Even if the appellate courts ultimately decide that Willis can remain on the case, it seems unlikely she would be able to move forward with the prosecution against Trump while he's president if he wins the election. Complicating things further, the U.S. Supreme Court last month ruled that former presidents have absolute immunity from prosecution for official acts that fall within their exclusive sphere of constitutional authority and are presumptively entitled to immunity for all official acts. They are not protected for unofficial, or private, actions. Trump's lawyers in Georgia had already filed a motion earlier this year asserting presidential immunity. If Willis is allowed to continue her prosecution at some point, his lawyers will surely use the Supreme Court ruling to argue it should be dismissed. ___ This story has been corrected to reflect that the filing anniversary of the Georgia election indictment is Wednesday, not Thursday. ATLANTA (AP) A year after a Georgia grand jury accused Donald Trump and others of illegally trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state, the case has stalled with no chance of going to trial before the end of this year. When Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis secured the indictment a year ago Thursday, it was the fourth and most sprawling of the criminal cases against the former president. Trump narrowly lost Georgia to Democrat Joe Biden, and Willis used Georgias anti-racketeering law to allege that he and 18 others had participated in a wide-ranging scheme to subvert the will of the states voters. Willis team notched some early victories in the case, but explosive allegations raised by one of Trumps co-defendants early this year have caused a delay and could even derail the prosecution. Here are some things to know about the case. A lengthy indictment that cast a wide net Nearly 100 pages long, the indictment included 41 criminal counts against Trump and 18 others. High-profile people charged along with the former president include his White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and conservative attorney Sidney Powell. Image All of the defendants were charged with violating the states anti-racketeering law and the indictment includes 161 alleged acts to support that charge. The narrative put forth by prosecutors alleges multiple people committed separate crimes to accomplish a common goal challenging Trumps electoral loss. The indictment includes charges related to a Jan. 2, 2021, phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger during which Trump urged the states top elections official to help him find the votes he needed to win. Other charges have to do with a getting a slate of Republican electors to falsely declare that Trump won the state, allegations of harassment of a Georgia election worker and a breach of election equipment in a rural south Georgia county. The judge overseeing the case in March dismissed six counts in the indictment, including three of the 13 counts against Trump. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee wrote that prosecutors had failed to provide enough detail about the alleged crime in those counts. Willis team has appealed that ruling. A first-of-its-kind mug shot When Trump arrived in Atlanta last August to be booked on the charges against him, he was quickly released on bond. But his brief stop at the Fulton County Jail marked the first time that a former president has had to sit for a mug shot. While Trump and the others indicted all had to be booked at the jail, they waived their first court appearances. While his lawyers have been present and made arguments at numerous hearings over the last year, Trump has yet to set foot in a Georgia courtroom. Early victories for prosecutors Four of the 18 people charged along with Trump in Georgia pleaded guilty to lesser charges after reaching plea deals with prosecutors within a few months of the indictment. Bail bondsman Scott Hall pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in September. Prosecutors had accused him of participating in a breach of election equipment in rural Coffee County. The following month, Powell and lawyer Kenneth Chesebro each pleaded guilty. Powell was also accused in the Coffee County breach, while Chesebro had helped organize the Republican elector plan. The two of them reached deals with prosecutors just before they were scheduled to go to trial, having asserted their rights to a speedy trial. Days later, attorney Jenna Ellis, a vocal part of Trumps reelection campaign in 2020, entered a tearful guilty plea. Salacious allegations upend the case In early January, a lawyer for co-defendant Michael Roman, a Trump campaign staffer and onetime White House aide, alleged in a court filing that Willis had improperly engaged in a romantic relationship with lawyer Nathan Wade, whom she had picked to lead the prosecution against Trump and the others. The court filing alleged that Willis benefitted financially from the case since Wade used his earnings to take her on trips. It said that caused a conflict of interest and that Willis and her office should be removed from the case. Willis and Wade acknowledged the relationship but said they had split travel and other costs. During an extraordinary hearing, intimate details of Willis and Wades personal lives were aired in court and broadcast live on television. Judge McAfee chided Willis for a tremendous lapse in judgment but found no conflict of interest that merited her removal, as long as Wade left the case. Wade resigned hours later. Trump and other defendants have appealed McAfees ruling. That appeal is currently pending before the Georgia Court of Appeals, which plans to hear arguments in December and then must rule by mid-March. Meanwhile, the appeals court has barred McAfee from taking any further action in the case against Trump and the others participating in the appeal while it is pending. Whats next Its not entirely clear. Regardless of how the Court of Appeals rules, the losing side will likely ask the Georgia Supreme Court to weigh in. That would cause a further delay if the high court agrees to hear the case. The general election in November, in which Trump is the Republican nominee for president, provides more uncertainty. Even if the appellate courts ultimately decide that Willis can remain on the case, it seems unlikely she would be able to move forward with the prosecution against Trump while hes president if he wins the election. Complicating things further, the U.S. Supreme Court last month ruled that former presidents have absolute immunity from prosecution for official acts that fall within their exclusive sphere of constitutional authority and are presumptively entitled to immunity for all official acts. They are not protected for unofficial, or private, actions. Trumps lawyers in Georgia had already filed a motion earlier this year asserting presidential immunity. If Willis is allowed to continue her prosecution at some point, his lawyers will surely use the Supreme Court ruling to argue it should be dismissed. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WRBL. A Richland County manufacturer is planning a multi-million dollar expansion and will add 33 new jobs. US Brick, which is a manufacturer of residential and commercial bricks, will expand its facility at 9931 Two Notch Road in Columbia, according to a release from Richland Countys economic development office. The $5.5 million project will add a secondary kiln and another manufacturing line. US Bricks roots run deep in Richland County, and county council is thrilled to be able to assist the company in its reinvestment efforts here, Richland County Council Chairwoman Jesica Mackey said in a statement. Founded as Carolina Ceramics in 1939 in Columbia, the company became known US Brick when it was acquired in 2020. The company is currently headquartered in Charleston and has the capacity to make 350 million bricks per year at its various facilities across four states. The expansion and new operations at the Richland County brick facility are expected to be fully phased in by the end of 2025, per the economic development office. Were incredibly grateful for the opportunity to expand our operations in Richland County and consider this a significant milestone for US Brick, US Brick Columbia President Robert Coker said. As we phase in operations to be fully online in 2025, we remain committed to supporting our local community and are excited to build a brighter future together with the people of South Carolina. Gov. Henry McMaster lauded US Bricks coming Columbia expansion, and pointed to the companys long record in South Carolina. With an 85-year legacy in South Carolina, US Brick serves as a prime example that companies can start, grow and thrive in South Carolina, McMaster said in a statement. We applaud the companys commitment to our state and look forward to offering continued support throughout its business life cycle. Andris Spruds, Minister of Defence of Latvia, has reported the delivery of another package of drones to Ukraine. Source: European Pravda with reference to Spruds on X (Twitter) Details: The drones are being supplied to Ukraine within the framework of the drone coalition. Quote: "Another drone package is ready! About 500 Latvia-produced drones will help Ukrainian perform various combat missions." Gatava nakama dronu pakotne! Ap 500 Latvija razotu dronu sniegs atbalstu ukrainiem dazadu kaujas uzdevumu veiksana. #DroneCoalition #StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/QLPxMkKugn Andris Spruds (@AndrisSpruds) August 13, 2024 Recently it was reported that Latvia had prepared another batch of aid for Ukraine consisting of 2,500 UAVs which would be provided gradually within the course of July within the framework of the drone coalition. Before that it was revealed that Latvia and Germany had reached an agreement regarding a joint procurement of drones as aid for Ukraine. Earlier Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, stated that Latvia would increase drone production within the framework of the drone coalition jointly with Ukraine. Support UP or become our patron! Two suspects in custody after manhunt in Polk County UPDATE 9:00 PM Missouri State Highway Patrol says two suspects were taken into custody following a manhunt by law enforcement earlier tonight. The Greene County K9 assisted in finding the suspects. Original Story: POLK COUNTY, Mo. Missouri troopers and Polk County deputies are searching for a male suspect who fled law enforcement in the Humansville area Monday night. In a post on X, Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) Troop D says the man fled officers in the MO-13 and 350th Road area near Humansville and is possibly armed. Springfield man sentenced to prison time in two separate stealing cases A patrol helicopter was doing an aerial search for the suspect, but it was later canceled due to a low ceiling. Polk County deputies are using a drone and Greene County has sent a K9 to help with the search. MSHP urges caution and says you should call 911 if a suspicious person is observed. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOLR - OzarksFirst.com. YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) Betras Kopp has filed multiple lawsuits against the owners of the Realty Building and those involved in the work there prior to a gas explosion in the building in May. Read next: Company announces intent to buy Steward Health doctor network Crews were working in the building on May 28 to remove utility lines when a below-ground service line that was pressurized but not actively servicing the building was cut. A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board said that a worker felt natural gas blowing in his face after he cut a service line he thought was dead. One person was killed and nine others were injured. The building housed Chase Bank and several apartments. The tenants of those apartments were displaced when it was decided that the building would be demolished due to the damage. Attorneys Brian Kopp, Frank Cassese and James Melfi of Betras Kopp LLC filed multiple lawsuits in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on behalf of people who suffered personal injuries, property loss and other economic damages as a result of the explosion. The lawsuits allege that gross negligence by natural gas suppliers, contractors and the building owners caused the explosion. We are totally committed to ensuring that all those responsible for this avoidable catastrophe are held responsible for their actions and to securing justice and just compensation for our clients, Attorney Brian Kopp said. The suits were filed on behalf of six people who were injured in the blast Caroline Pizarro, Ariadna Pizzaro, Christina Will, Richard Will, Susie A. Page and Vito Colella as well as 22 Realty Tower residents who lost their homes and possessions. The defendants are listed as Enbridge, Inc., Dominion Energy, Inc. and its affiliates, Greenheart Companies, LLC, Ly Property Management, LLC, and Yo Properties 47, LLC. Some residents of International Towers next to the Realty Building filed a similar lawsuit last week, as they were displaced following the explosion due to safety concerns. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. The lawyer for the main suspect in the alleged threat to attack the since-canceled Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna, Austria, claims that the way authorities presented the case is exaggerated. He had neither the means nor the possibility and the explosives to carry this out, Defense lawyer Werner Tomanek said, per Associated Press. He added that the alleged attack plans were pure fantasies. More from Billboard Tomanek said that his client had admitted in principle to Islamist tendencies because he found it cool. Associated Press previously reported that the main suspect in the case, a 19-year-old male, confessed that he planned to kill as many people as possible outside Ernst Happel Stadium, where Swift was scheduled to perform from August 8 to 10. In a statement on Wednesday (Aug. 7), Barracuda Music, the concert promoters for the Austrian shows said, With confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack at Ernst Happel Stadium, we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyones safety. All tickets will be automatically refunded within the next 10 business days. The person identified as the main plotter reportedly quit his job and conspicuously changed his appearance and adapted to IS [Islamic State] propaganda, despite his North Macedonian roots. Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, Austrias head of the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence, said the suspect wanted to use knives or homemade explosives to attack Swifties outside the stadium at the event, which was expected to draw more than 195,000 fans. Authorities also said that I.S. and al-Qaida materials were found at the home of a second, 17-year-old Austrian suspect, who was reportedly recently hired by a company that provides services at the venue. Both suspects are currently in custody. Swift is currently set to perform at Londons Wembley Stadium over five sold-out nights from August 15 to 20. Best of Billboard At least 12 die in motorcycle accidents before, during and after 2024 Sturgis rally Motorcycle enthusiasts attend the 81st annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally on August 8, 2021, in Sturgis, South Dakota. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) Three people died in motorcycle accidents during the recently concluded Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, according to the official tally of the state Department of Public Safety, but the actual number of motorcycle-involved traffic deaths in the state from the days before, during and after the event is 12. The department, which includes the Highway Patrol, attributes traffic deaths to the rally only if they occur in a particular area of western South Dakota during the official rally dates, up to the morning of the last day. That number this year was three deaths, down from five last year. When the scope is expanded to motorcycle-involved crashes in all of South Dakota during not only the rally dates but also the days just before and afterward, this years death toll is 12 and last years was 11. Neither number includes any rallygoers who may have died in other states while traveling to or from the rally. In other statistics, this years rally included more arrests for drug possession and impaired driving, but fewer crashes and citations. Law enforcement also seized $71,504 in assets allegedly tied to criminal activity this year more than 35 times the total from 2023 and arrested seven men on sex trafficking charges. Automated traffic counters showed a slight decrease in traffic compared to the previous five-year average. The rally began Aug. 2 and ended Sunday. Fatalities, injuries Among the motorcycle-involved traffic deaths not included in the official tally, five occurred during the three days immediately preceding the rallys Aug. 2 start, and two occurred the day after the rallys Aug. 11 end. Two others were omitted from the tally because one occurred during the rally but on Interstate 90 near Hartford, outside of the area of western South Dakota included in the official count; and the other occurred near Deadwood in western South Dakota on the final Sunday afternoon of the rally, after the Highway Patrol stopped counting rally statistics at 6 a.m. that day. Ten of the people killed in this years crashes were driving Harley-Davidsons, and two were driving other kinds of motorcycles. Two of the deceased people were from South Dakota; others were from Iowa, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota; two were from Ohio; and the residence of three of the people has not yet been released. The North Dakota victim was James Luchi, 73, of Watford City. An obituary for Luchi said he had been at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally for his 37th year. A report from the South Dakota Department of Public Safety said a minivan turned in front of Luchi. Three of the 12 deceased people were wearing a helmet, seven were not wearing helmets, and helmet usage remains under investigation in the other two accidents. In addition to fatal accidents, this years rally included 35 accidents that caused injuries and 54 that did not. Last years totals were 64 and 58, respectively. Motorcycle-involved traffic deaths Motorcycle-involved traffic deaths from the days before, during and after the 2024 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, listed by name, age, place of residence, type of motorcycle driven, accident location, accident date and helmet status: Source: South Dakota Department of Public Safety Fewer vehicles counted The state Department of Transportation logs the number of vehicles that enter Sturgis at any of nine traffic counters placed for the duration of the rally. The final release from the DOT showed 470,987 vehicles hitting the counters Aug. 2-11. That was down 4% compared to the previous five-year average. Drugs and cash Misdemeanor drug arrests were up 14% over 2023. Felony drug arrests were up 5%. Law enforcement wrote 24 fewer citations of all kinds but 149 more warnings than in 2023. In terms of raw numbers, the biggest change from 2023 came in the amount of seized cash. Officers collected $71,504 through asset forfeiture, a process by which law enforcement can seize money or property suspected of being used in crimes. In 2023, officers seized $2,005. The 2024 pool of allegedly ill-gotten funds was collected on three different days. Two seizures took place in the Sturgis area; a third was seized near Rapid City. The Department of Public Safety declined to offer details on the cases linked to the seized money, but civil cases filed in Meade County offer details on two of the situations behind the total. The first case is tied to the Aug. 4 traffic stop of South Roy, Indiana, resident Robert Alan Ruple, court documents say. Ruple allegedly admitted to having a marijuana vape pen in his backpack. A search of his backpack allegedly yielded two vape cartridges, 6 grams of methamphetamine and a plastic bag with two-hundredths of a gram of fentanyl. The backpack also housed $11,094 in cash. The other Meade County asset forfeiture case located by South Dakota Searchlight names Peter Christopher Colucci of Pleasantville, New York, as the alleged owner, possessor or party of interest for $29,710 in cash collected after a traffic stop conducted by an unnamed agency. The complaint says a police dog reacted to the smell of drugs during the stop, prompting a search that turned up 2 grams of steroids and a packet with 13 grams of steroid tablets. Officers also allegedly found syringes, ledgers and cash, $2,120 in a brown paper bag and the remainder in a duct-taped safe. As of Monday afternoon, no asset forfeiture case had yet been filed in Pennington County during the time period covered by the rally. Sex trafficking sting As in prior years, federal law enforcement and their local partners were involved in a sex trafficking sting during the rally. Agents with the Internet Crimes Against Children task force posed as underage children in electronic communications with people seeking to pay for sex. According to the U.S. Attorneys Office, the following seven men were arrested and charged with crimes as listed in the 2024 sting operation: Brockton Dominquez, 26, Rapid City Enticement of a Minor Using the Internet. Eli Poorman, 20, Rapid City Attempted Commercial Sex Trafficking of a Minor. Dustin Day, 20, Piedmont Attempted Commercial Sex Trafficking of a Minor. Vance Coats, 25, Box Elder Attempted Enticement of a Minor Using the Internet. Brandon Bishop, 36, Rapid City Attempted Enticement of a Minor Using the Internet. Corey Simon, 36, Rapid City Attempted Enticement of a Minor Using the Internet. Aaron Ray Williams Jr., 23, Rapid City Attempted Enticement of a Minor Using the Internet. The North Dakota Monitor contributed to this report. South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@southdakotasearchlight.com. Follow South Dakota Searchlight on Facebook and X. OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) Big Boy No. 4014 one of the largest and extremely powerful steam engines ever built, is set to make stops in Oklahoma in October. The legendary Big Boy Steam Locomotive known as Big Boy No. 4014 will depart on the Heartland of America Tour on Wednesday, Aug. 28 from Cheyenne, Wyoming, and travel across nine additional states: Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas. The eight-week tour concludes in late October. No. 4014 will be on display in the following locations in Oklahoma: Sunday, Oct. 13 Fort Worth, Texas (8:00 a.m. departure) to McAlester, Okla. Durant, Okla. Louisiana St. Crossing Arrival Depart 1:15 p.m. CT 1:45 p.m. CT Monday, Oct. 14 McAlester, Okla. (9:00 a.m. departure) to Coffeyville, Kan. Muskogee, Okla. Okmulgee St. Crossing Arrival Depart 11:00 a.m. CT 11:30 a.m. CT Claremore, Okla. Florence Ave. Crossing Arrival Depart 1:15 p.m. CT 1:45 p.m. CT Admission to display days are free (no tickets required), though parking at surrounding parking facilities may involve a charge, according to Union Pacific Steam officials. Opportunities to ride are rare, but are available as a fundraiser for charitable groups, click here for schedule listings. Any passenger excursion tickets are sold by outside entities not Union Pacific and are not available on the day of the excursion, says Union Pacific Steam. There will not be a passenger excursion during the Heartland of America tour, however there is an exciting opportunity to ride in the Big Boys cab! Other Headlines The Union Pacific Railroad Museum is scheduled to auction off four cab rides on Big Boy No. 4014, with proceeds going to two worthy causes: the Union Pacific Museum Association and Union Pacifics Friend-to-Friend Network, a nonprofit that benefits railroad families in times of need, such as medical or natural disaster hardships. The auction starts Monday, Aug. 12 and ends Monday, Aug. 19. Details can be found here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City. ESCANABA, Mich. (WJMN) As part of a statewide tour, the director of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) met with local business owners and community members at Bay College in Escanaba August 12. This embedded content is not available in your region. Conversation revolved around the Michigan Statewide Workforce Plan put forth in March that outlines a collaborative vision where state departments and external partners work together to further the growth of Michigans workforce. The states workforce is on the rise, and Michigan currently serves more workforce participants than any other state in the Midwest. Three principal goals make up the Workforce Plan: help Michiganders earn a skills certificate or degree, increase access to opportunities that grow the middle class and support business and entrepreneurial growth through talent solutions. Specifically, the plan aims to: Increase the number of Michigan working-age adults with skill certificates or college degrees from the current 51.1% to 60% by 2030. Move 75,000 Michigan households into the middle class by the end of 2027. Make Michigan a top-10 state for labor force participation growth by 2027. LEO Director Susan Corbin gave a presentation ahead of the roundtable in Escanaba August 12, which Corbin hosted. We have a strong economy now, but we have jobs that are going unfilled because we dont have enough people in Michigan to take those jobs, or we have people who are sitting on the sidelines, people that maybe dont have a high school diploma, they dont have a post-secondary education, said Corbin. Thats why we are putting strong emphasis on supporting people, removing barriers so that they can get those degrees so that when they go into the job market, theyre going to be earning a strong wage, and theyre going to be helping meet the needs of our local employers. Roundtable attendees mentioned that quality of life, not quality of work life, is what attracts many people to a communityand what keeps them there. Multiple people noted that healthcare, childcare and cost of housing are all important quality of life factors that should be addressed moving forward. A copy of the Michigan Statewide Workforce Plan can be found here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJMN - UPMatters.com. Lexington man was already in prison, now hell spend decades more behind bars. Heres why A Lexington man who has spent more than a decade as an inmate in the South Carolina Department of Corrections will serve more time behind bars for running a drug dealing operation while locked up, the U.S. Attorneys Office said. Benjamin Johnathan Newman, 38, was sentenced to more than 26 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and heroin, the U.S. Attorneys Office said Tuesday in a news release. Newman has been an S.C. Department of Corrections inmate since 2012, serving a 25-year sentence for drug trafficking, according to the release. There was no word if Newman will begin serving his federal prison sentence immediately, or if the term will begin at the end of his sentence for his prior drug trafficking conviction in South Carolina. Since hes been in prison, S.C. Department of Corrections officials have seized 16 illegal contraband cellphones from Newman, the U.S. Attorneys Office said. Since at least January 2018, Newman used those phones to lead a large-scale drug distribution operation and ordered large quantities of meth, heroin, cocaine and marijuana to be imported, including direct communication with sources in Mexico, according to the release. Some of our highest volume drug traffickers are working from a prison cell, U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina Adair Ford Boroughs said in the release. Newman recruited drivers to pick up the drugs in Georgia, Texas, and Florida and to deliver the drugs to stash houses in the Lexington County area, where the operation would then supply drug dealers in South Carolina, the U.S. Attorneys Office said. The operation also used threats of violence to protect against cooperation with law enforcement and to protect its drug supply, according to the release. More than 350 kilograms of meth, four kilograms of heroin, about a kilogram of cocaine, 18 kilograms of marijuana, and 250 grams of crack cocaine were distributed in South Carolina by Newman and the operation, the U.S. Attorneys Office said. This man is a very large-scale drug dealer in South Carolina, and he was able to continue his crimes from behind bars using illegal cellphones, S.C. Department of Corrections Director Bryan Stirling said in the release. His conviction highlights the urgent need for state prisons to be able to jam illegal contraband cell phones. Newman is not the only person involved in the operation who will serve time in federal prison, according to the release. The U.S. Attorneys Office said there are seven other co-defendants who have been convicted, and three of them have been sentenced to time behind bars in federal prison. That includes a pair of Lexington residents, 32-year-old Chelsea Grace Wynn and 29-year-old Nehemiah Jimmy Mayes III, according to the release. Wynn was sentenced to 220 months in federal prison, while Mayes was 170 months, the U.S. Attorneys Office said. Josiah Daniel Dailey, a 38-year-old Aynor resident, was sentenced to 63 months in prison, according to the release. The U.S. Attorneys Office said that all of those sentences, including Newmans, will be followed by five years of court-ordered supervision and there is no parole in the federal system. This case was investigated by the ATF, the Lexington County Sheriffs Department, and the South Carolina Department of Corrections Office of Inspector General. Britta Pedersen-Pool/Getty Images, Robert Perry/Getty Images Youd think a billionaire obsessed with the woke mind virus attempting to destroy civilization would spend his call with Donald Trump trying to figure out what to do about transgender people. Instead, Elon Musk spent much of his two-hour conversation with the former (and potential future) president begging for a cabinet position. Indeed, apart from Trump making a throwaway reference to Democratic VP candidate Tim Walz signing a law that stocked period products in public schools, the two men didnt really talk about gender at all! And here I thought Western society was going to crumble if we didnt do something about trans people. The Musk-Trump interview, held on X Spaces, was a fiasco from the get-go. Scheduled to begin at 8 P.M. Eastern time on August 13, the URL returned an error message for over 40 minutes. Musk, who reportedly fired 80% of Twitters staff after buying the social media company, which he has since renamed X, initially claimed that the glitch was due to a massive distributed denial of service (or DDOS) attack. An X staffer anonymously told tech publication The Verge that there was no such attack. Finally, at 8:42 p.m., the two worst people you know were able to talk. About a million people tuned in live (not the millions Trump claimed). Given how much Musk has been fixated on trans issues lately, whinging to podcasters about how his daughter, who is trans, has been killed by the aforementioned woke mind virus, I was expecting him to at least spend a few minutes petitioning Trump to find a cure for all this gender madness. Id speculate the tech billionaire is probably privately seething about the fact that his daughter, Vivian Jenna Wilson, is now boldly speaking out against her father, drawing support from Musks ex-partner Grimes in the process. But instead, Musk spent several minutes of his rambling chat with the Republican politician ranting about government overspending and, perhaps more to the point trying to angle for some kind of federal-level position in a Trump 2.0 administration. I think we need, like, a government efficiency commission to say, like, Hey, where are we spending money thats sensible, where is it not sensible? the avowed capitalist proposed, perhaps not realizing the irony of the fact that solving a problem by expanding government, even more, sounds suspiciously like communism. When Trump didnt really respond to the idea, instead telling a rehashed story about renegotiating the cost of Air Force One with Boeing, Musk had to make sure that the ex-president got the point: I think it would be great to just have a government efficiency commission that takes a look at these things and just ensures that the taxpayer money the taxpayers hard-earned money is spent in a good way, Musk said, adding in a desperate moment of cringe: And Id be happy to help out on such a commission. (For the record, Trump responded, Id love it, but he didnt seem all that enthusiastic about the idea, immediately moving on to talk about a place called Argentina.) Elon Musks Trans Daughter Is Disputing Her Portrayal in the Billionaires Biography Vivian Jenna Wilson said she hasnt spoken about Walter Isaacsons 2023 book until now because it genuinely hurts so much to remember. Billed as Trumps triumphant return to the social media platform that skyrocketed him to fame, the conversation was a technical mess that whenever Musk wasnt trying to secure his next job largely defaulted to anti-immigrant talking points. In fact, its most noticeable impact was its deleterious effect on Trump Media stock, which dipped 5% on Monday when investors noticed that Trump was beginning to post on X again. But as a reluctant trans listener, what I found most predictable about the Musk-Trump event is the fact that these two men who have spent so much time bloviating about queer issues mostly seem to care about their wallets at the end of the day. That doesnt mean the lackeys in a Trump administration wont try to put an end to left-wing gender insanity as the official Republican platform promises. But it does expose the fact that the rich guys at the top are cynically using anti-trans and anti-immigrant sentiment to try to get more tax breaks and looser business regulations. Billionaires like money, more at eleven. Get the best of whats queer. Sign up for Thems weekly newsletter here. Originally Appeared on them. Wisconsin voters went to the polls Tuesday for the partisan primary election, which featured races for Congress, state Legislature, county-level offices and two statewide referendum questions. Primary winners advance to the Nov. 5 election, which also includes the presidential race. The Journal Sentinel provided updates throughout the day and night. Here's a review of our primary election day coverage: More: Bice: Donald Trump, election deniers and Pocan lead Tuesday's election winners and losers More: Here are the takeaways from Tuesday's legislative primary elections in Wisconsin 2024 Wisconsin primary results More: Wisconsin statewide primary election results More: Milwaukee area primary election results Andrew Hysell, who drew criticism from opponents, wins primary in Madison area Andrew Hysell won the 48th Assembly District in the Sun Prairie area, taking about 32% of the vote. The second-place primary finisher was Bill Connors, with about 26% of the vote. Five Democrats competed in the race, which was among the most crowded primaries of the election. Hysell's challengers had issued a joint statement sharing their concerns about Hysell's previous activities after receiving a flood of messages from voters in the district. Hysell came under fire for an audit that found his company had bilked millions of dollars in welfare funds to boost executive salaries and pay for cross-country trips while operating in Kansas. Hope Karnopp After winning special election, Dora Drake wins full Senate term State Rep. Dora Drake, who won special elections in July to fill the vacancy of former state Sen. Lena Taylor's 4th Senate District seat, cleared the way to earn a full term in the state Legislature's upper chamber. She took about 62% of the vote Tuesday night. While the July elections were to fill a term ending in 2024, the August and November elections are for a full, four-year term in the Senate beginning in 2025. Because no Republicans are in the race, Drake's victory Tuesday all but guarantees her spot in the Senate. State Rep. LaKeshia Myers challenged Drake in both the special election and the August contest. Myers' margins were slightly higher this time around: she took about 38% of the vote, compared to 34% in the July 2 special election primary. After that loss, Myers indicated she would focus her campaign on the August primary. Hope Karnopp Rebecca Cooke wins heated Democratic primary to take on Rep. Derrick Van Orden Eau Claire non-profit owner Rebecca Cooke won the heated three-way Democratic primary for a western Wisconsin battleground House seat Tuesday night, setting up a November fight with freshman Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden in the 3rd Congressional District. Read more Lawrence Andrea Assembly Speaker Robin Vos defeats primary challenger Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, one of the state's top Republicans, won his primary election in the 33rd Assembly District. Vos will still face a Democrat on the Nov. 5 ballot: Alan Kupsik. But the redrawn district still leans Republican. Hope Karnopp Trump-backed Tony Wied wins GOP primary in congressional seat vacated by Mike Gallagher Former gas station owner Tony Wied won the 8th Congressional District Republican primary to replace retired U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher following a campaign that leaned almost exclusively on former President Donald Trumps endorsement. Wied, whom Trump endorsed before he formally launched his campaign in April, edged former Appleton state Sen. Roger Roth and handily defeated De Pere state Sen. Andre Jacque in both the special primary election and regularly scheduled primary election. Roth and Jacque called Wied to concede the race late Tuesday. Read more Lawrence Andrea Extremely close race in western Wisconsin Assembly district It's an extremely tight Republican primary in the 28th Assembly District, which includes communities in western Wisconsin like New Richmond and the villages of Hammond, Baldwin and Woodville. Former television anchorman Rob Kreibich has 2,888 votes, just 55 votes ahead of University of Wisconsin-River Falls student Brady Penfield, who sits at 2,843 votes with about 99% of the vote reported. Hope Karnopp West Allis-area seat shaping up to be a close race About 99% of the vote has been counted in the 14th Assembly District, where former West Allis alder Angelito Tenorio has 214 votes more than mental health social worker Nathan Kieso. Former College Democrats vice chair Brady Coulthard is also running in the Democratic primary, and is 275 votes behind Kieso. Hope Karnopp City of Milwaukee arrives with absentee ballot jump drives before 10 p.m. Jump drives containing the results of the City of Milwaukee's absentee ballots arrived at the Milwaukee County Election Commission just before 10 p.m. Tuesday. The city had a total of 24,545 absentee ballots cast in this election, according to the city Election Commission. Like other municipalities around the county and state, the city counts its absentee ballots in a single location known as "central count." Alison Dirr Democrats celebrate referendum victory Gov. Tony Evers praised the referendums no vote as result of his administrations effort to stabilize Wisconsins economy during the pandemic, saying the proof of our hard work is in the pudding. This was a referendum on our administrations work and the future for Wisconsin weve been working hard to build together, and the answer is reflected in the peoples vote tonight, Evers said. Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Ben Wikler in a statement said voters defeated an attempt by MAGA politicians to bend our Constitution. Wisconsin Democrats are proud to have organized to defeat these risky and misleading constitutional amendmentsmarking only the second time since 1996 that a constitutional amendment has been defeated at the ballot box, Wikler said. Republican politicians in Madison pushed these amendments because they recognized their grip on power was waning with new, fair maps, and they were desperate to cement their extreme agenda into Wisconsins Constitution. Rachel Hale Voters shoot down both referendums in a win for Democrats Wisconsin voters said "no" to two referendums that asked to give the state Legislature more power over distributing federal funding, which could have upended how billions of dollars are spent in the state. The result is a win for Democrats, who intensely pushed for a "no" vote in statewide advertisements and press conferences. With over 50% of the vote reported by Tuesday night, 58% of voters voted down both questions. Because a majority of voters selected "no," the Legislature will not be prohibited from delegating its power to appropriate money and the governor will not be required to earn legislative approval in the form of a joint resolution before expending federal funds appropriated to the state. The outcome of the two referendums bucked the trend in Wisconsin voters typically ratify them. Out of the 200 times lawmakers have proposed changes to the state Constitution since 1854, voters have only rejected the changes about 50 times, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau. Read more Rachel Hale State Rep. Ratcliff emerges victorious from Dane County primary State Rep. Melissa Ratcliff, D-Cottage Grove, won a hard-fought Democratic primary race in the state's 16th Senate District with about 52% of the vote, edging out her fellow state Reps. Jimmy Anderson, D-Fitchburg, and Samba Baldeh, D-Madison. The open seat resulted from former Senate Minority Leader Melissa Agard's decision to run for Dane County executive. Jessie Opoien Republican Sen. Dan Feyen deflects challenge from election denier Timothy Ramthun Sen. Dan Feyen of Fond du Lac fended off a challenge from former Assembly representative Tim Ramthun to win the 20th Senate District's Republican primary, with about 64% of the vote. Ramthun served in the Assembly from 2019 to 2023 and competed in the 2022 GOP gubernatorial primary. After running a campaign rooted in an illegal and impossible push to revoke Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes for President Joe Biden, he finished third in the primary with 6% of the vote. Read more Jessie Opoien Ryan Clancy wins closely watched primary in downtown Milwaukee, Bay View One of the most closely watched primaries was the 19th Assembly District in downtown Milwaukee: Incumbent state Rep. Ryan Clancy held off Democratic challenger Jarrod Anderson, who was endorsed by top Milwaukee Democrats. Clancy had about 57% of the vote, with about 98% reported. Clancy has declared victory, but he said Anderson had yet to concede. All votes had been counted but absentee ballots. The race pulled in more than $130,000 in donations, an unusually high amount. Clancy, a Democratic socialist, has been outspoken in his support of Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war and supported the "unsinstructed" movement in April. Hope Karnopp and Daniel Bice Incumbent David Cullen beats out Ted Chisholm in Milwaukee County treasurer's race With almost 93% of the votes in, incumbent treasurer David Cullen won two-to-one against Ted Chisholm, the 26-year-old son of Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm. Cullen has served as treasurer since 2014. In a statement on Facebook, Chisholm conceded before all the absentee ballots were counted. Read more Vanessa Swales 'No' is leading two referendum questions with 44% of the vote in As of 9 p.m., a no vote was leading two referendum questions that asked to give the state Legislature more power over distributing federal funding. On both questions, 58% percent of voters selected no." The first referendum would prohibit the Legislature from delegating appropriations, while the second would require legislative approval for federal funds. Rachel Hale State Rep. Bob Donovan fends off Republican primary challenger In Milwaukee's southwest suburbs, former Milwaukee alder and current state Rep. Bob Donovan fended off MMA instructor Martin Gomez in the 61st Assembly District Republican primary. Donovan took about 93% of the vote compared to Gomez's 7%, with about 92% of the vote reported. Donovan will face Democratic candidate LuAnn Bird in November in what could be a competitive election in a slightly redrawn district. Hope Karnopp Eric Hovde wins Republican U.S. Senate primary Republican banking and real estate mogul Eric Hovde emerged victorious from Wisconsin's GOP U.S. Senate primary with nearly 90% of the vote. He fended off challenges within his party from Rejani Raveendran of Stevens Point and Charles Barman of Sharon. "Since I started this campaign, my focus has been to defeat do-nothing Tammy Baldwin and restore the American Dream for people in Wisconsin and across the country," Hovde said in a statement, referencing the Democratic senator seeking a third term. Hovde argued Baldwin's time in Washington has led to "time for a change." "I will always put the people of Wisconsin first by working tirelessly to lower costs, secure the southern border, and fix our broken healthcare system," Hovde said. Jessie Opoien State Rep. Mike Bare wins one of first contested races called Results for contested primaries on the ballot are slowly coming in, but state Rep. Mike Bare was one of the first winners declared. In the 80th Assembly District primary, he faced challenger Nasra Wehelie and took over 80% of the vote with 77% of precincts reported. Bare will face Republican Robert Relph in November. Hope Karnopp Kamala Harris plans DNC week rally in Milwaukee at site of Republican National Convention Vice President Kamala Harris is planning to hold a rally at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on Tuesday, the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, according to sources with knowledge of the plans. The stop would be Harris' third visit to Wisconsin since she became the Democratic nominee for president late last month. She held the first rally of her presidential campaign just outside Milwaukee and last week stopped in Eau Claire with her newly selected running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Read more Lawrence Andrea Wisconsin primary polls have closed Voting concluded at 8 p.m. As long as you were in line at your polling place by 8 p.m., you'll be allowed to vote. One hour left to vote in Wisconsin There's about one hour left to vote in Wisconsin: Polls are open statewide until 8 p.m. As long as you're in line at your polling place by 8 p.m., you'll be allowed to vote. Results will slowly start filtering in after 8 p.m. Some communities may report their results fairly quickly, while others may take a couple of hours to report their numbers. Hope Karnopp Menomonee Falls voters spend the afternoon practicing their civic duty and figuring out referendum questions When asked if he found the referendum questions at the end of his ballot clear, Marcel Clarke, 50, said, Absolutely not. This sentiment has been a common theme among southeastern Wisconsin voters when asked if they understood what the two referendum questions were asking. Clarke said he did a ton of research before voting, and he showed up to the Menomonee Falls Public Library to give some attention to the down ballots. Clarke said he feels as though citizens dont pay enough attention to these less prominent elections, so he came to do his civic duty. Chrystal Gillon-Mabry, 72, said she went online to get the information she needed to understand the referendum questions. Gillon-Mabry said preserving democracy was what brought her to vote. We can figure out conservatives and liberals later, said Gillon-Mabry. If we dont have a democracy, we wont even have to worry about those issues. Michael Zareczny, 65, said he was informed about his decision on voting against or in favor of the referendum questions because he had read an explanation in the newspaper. Zarecznys findings led him to vote against the referendum, but he said he initially came to the polls because hes never missed voting in an election since he was 18 years old. He took issue with the fact that a resident can only vote for one party in primary elections. I dont know who put that law in place, but I think its unjustified and unconstitutional, Zareczny said. Thats really taking your freedom of choice away from you. Another qualm he expressed was about how third-party voices arent made as prominent as the Democratic and Republican voices. Zareczny said campaigns are all about money, and independent candidates who may be a better choice than either prevailing parties dont have the financial backing to make their voices and platforms heard. You dont have the money, you cant have a voice, Zareczny said. Thats terrible. That should never be. Angelika Ytuarte About 17,000 absentee ballots counted in Milwaukee as of mid-afternoon About 17,000 absentee ballots had been counted by early afternoon Tuesday, Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Paulina Gutierrez told the Journal Sentinel. The city had received about 23,900 ballots as of 3:45 p.m., though ballots were still coming in. Voters have been steadily using the absentee ballot drop boxes that had been reinstated ahead of the election, she said. Im feeling pretty confident well be done before midnight, she said. Gutierrez said there had been no major issues at the polling places, including with observers. There had been one ballot challenge, though she didn't immediately have additional details. I think we're pretty lucky that everybody observers, workers so far have understood the process and their roles and are respecting it, and so discourse has been great. Let's hope that that continues in November, she said. Hilario Deleon was among the observers. The Milwaukee County GOP chairman said he hadnt seen any issues in Tuesdays election. Alison Dirr Referendum questions unclear to voters in New Berlin, following trend echoed by other southeastern Wisconsin voters Voters in New Berlin got their chance to vote yes or no on the ballot referendums, but the options were confusing to most voters who talked to a Journal Sentinel reporter. Although he thought the referendum questions were unclear, Scott Therrian, 42, still came out to the polls to make his voice heard. There needs to be a change, and you have to vote in order for things to change, said Therrian. Everyone, happy voting." One outlier of the confusion the questions are bringing is Julie Remituz, 68. Remituz said she thought the referendum questions were clear without any prior research into the questions before voting. The referendum is exactly what made Remituz come to the polls, she said. James Farnsworth, 58, said he listened to radio programs and members of Congress' thoughts on the referendums before he came to the polls to vote yes on the questions. Im surprised (the election) is running pretty smoothly, Farnsworth said. Im excited for the big one in November. Savannah Schleicher, 24, was another voter who found clarity in the referendum questions only after looking into the verbiage. Schleicher said she came to the polls to vote in favor of candidates who support abortion and other womens reproductive rights. Its important to vote. Everyone should vote, Schleicher said. (Primaries) are the elections people tend to miss. Cameron Holcomb, 28, also had to examine the meaning behind the referendum questions that brought him to the polls before he voted no to them. Andrew Thompson, 38, simply said, Oh, theyre definitely unclear, when asked about the clarity of the referendum questions on the ballot. After some research into the questions, he also ended up voting no. Angelika Ytuarte 'Very slow' voter turnout at south-side polling place Election workers sat in an empty classroom in Milwaukee's Historic Mitchell Street neighborhood, south of Walker's Point. By 2 p.m., only 44 voters had cast their votes at the polling place. By comparison, one Shorewood polling place received 300 in-person voters by 11:30 a.m. Rafael Garcia, the supervisor at the Adams-Field Middle School polling place, described the pace as "very slow" and attributed it to a lack of accessible information. He said candidates should provide "more marketing" to the constituents. Megan Keller, an election worker and a college coach for under-resourced students, attributed the lack of turnout to the area's lack of accessible and affordable daycare. She said it's hard for people parents especially to take the time to vote on a weekday. "If you're taking the time to vote, you're damned," Keller said. Michael Morales, who was checking people in at the door, remained optimistic. He said he's preparing for a rush later that night when folks get off work. "We're a really strong team here," he said. Zoe Jaeger JD Vance to campaign at Milwaukee police union Friday Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance will return to Wisconsin Friday to deliver remarks at the Milwaukee Police Association. The trip will be Vance's second to the battleground state this month. The Ohio senator stopped in Eau Claire last week to speak to reporters at an equipment manufacturer as Vice President Kamala Harris and her new running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, held a rally nearby at the same time. Read more Lawrence Andrea Voters in West Allis identify different ballot items as reason for voting Voters have slowly and steadily trickled into the West Allis City Hall and Public Library to vote. Heather Hintz said she wanted to vote specifically on the referendum questions and the 14th Assembly District Democratic primary. Angelito Tenorio, Brady Coulthard and Nathan Kieso are competing in the race. None of the candidates are incumbents. I think theyre all viable candidates. However, I think womens reproductive rights are foremost for me, especially in this state, so that weighed heavily into my decisions, she said. Hintz said that would continue to be a salient issue for her in the November election. Christopher Dickinson, 42, said the U.S. Senate race was important to him. I like Tammy Baldwin so I wanted to make sure she stays in the mix, he said. Baldwin is running unopposed in the Democratic primary for Senate, but she will face the winner of a three-way Republican primary in November. Mike McMahon said he always voted but the referendum questions were an important part of todays election. The governor is not a king, so I think the money should be legislated through the Legislature, he said. Kathryn Muchnick Douglas County ballot error could affect 700 voters Ballots printed for the Town of Summit, in Douglas County, contained the wrong Assembly district, County Clerk Kaci Jo Lundgren said in a news release Tuesday afternoon, leaving no time to print new ballots for residents voting in Tuesday's primary. The town has about 700 registered voters. The ballots contain the state's 73rd Assembly District but should instead contain the 74th as the result of changes under the state's new legislative maps. The 73rd District has a contested Democratic primary, and the 74th has a contested Republican primary. Read more Jessie Opoien Waukesha voters steadily enter the city hall to vote, be turned away or find out where they need to go A man who wasn't able to provide a valid form of ID at the Waukesha City Hall voter registration table falsely stated, If an illegal immigrant were to come in here, theyd just be able to walk right in there and vote. His statement, though, highlighted concerns some Wisconsin residents have about potential voter fraud, as well as some residents' struggle to provide forms of ID deemed acceptable proof of residency to vote. Some voters came to the city hall to vote because they didnt know their polling location. City employees were able to tell them the polling location they need to go to, but residents can also find out their polling location by filling our their address on the Find My Polling Place page on myvote.wi.gov. Those who did vote were a mixed bag of people who understood and didnt understand the referendum questions. Ann Wanner, 81, found the two questions unclear, but still felt compelled to come to the polls to vote on them. Joe Espinosa, 70, also found the referendum questions unclear and voted no on the questions. Andrew Green, 52, and his wife, Katie, 44, both voted yes on the referendums after they looked more into what the questions meant. Angelika Ytuarte Eric Hovde attacks Tammy Baldwin on fentanyl crisis, questions use of ballot drop boxes Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Eric Hovde on Tuesday accused Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin of failing to address the fentanyl crisis in Wisconsin and argued she only spends time in the state during campaign season. "She seems to only come back into the state when it's time for election, and does staged events and doesn't want to talk about her record," Hovde said outside of the Shorewood Hills Village Hall shortly after casting his vote in the primary. Read more Laura Schulte and Jessie Opoien Turnout 'steady' at Shorewood polling location Turnout has been "steady" at the Shorewood Village Center, said Janet Kreilein, the elections chief there. "Steady, but not really any lines of any significance," Kreilein said late Tuesday morning. "There were 1,300 absentee ballots submitted, so that may have something to do with it." She said nearly 300 people had cast ballots in person by 11:30 a.m. at the location, which is the polling place for wards 1 through 4 in the village. Mary Spicuzza Glendale residents come out to vote In Glendale, polls were relatively quiet following the July special election primary, when police had to be called for unruly spectators. We werent here for that. Thank goodness the mayor acted promptly, said MaryJo Wellenstein. MaryJo voted with her husband, Larry. The couple has lived in Glendale since 1983. We need our right to vote. Its a democracy, MaryJo said. But the couple did have one minor concern going into the election: referendums. With referendums, we think there should be legislation on how theyre worded, Larry said. Another Glendale resident said the referendums drew him to the polls. Theres two referendum questions. For the most part, we came for that, said Jim Beckmann, who was there with his wife. Beckmann said he had to read through the questions a bit, but it wasnt confusing for him because he did prior research and overall thinks the oversight is a good thing. Laura Wagner, a Glendale resident for 26 years, said she thinks the referendum questions were constructed in a confusing manner on purpose. They are very confusing on purpose I think so they can get their money, Wagner said. But voting is very important and I think everyone should vote. Jolan Kruse Voters in District 19 motivated by referendum question, assembly primary Voting at the east-side Maryland Avenue Montessori School, 2418 N. Maryland Ave., John Bonlender said the referendum questions drew him to the polls. They are confusing, but theres a good ad campaign that went on that let people just how confusing and how bad they were, he said. Other voters said they hadnt seen much messaging around the referendum questions but still said they were confusing. Its just intentionally confusing language, said Adam Stoner, who was at the polls with his family Tuesday morning. I think its intended for you to breeze past it or to obfuscate the truth. Jeff Loss, 72, said the referendum was an important issue for him in this election. Unless you understood exactly what the issue is, I dont think most people would know what yes or no meant, he said. Eugene Strei, 23, said he received lots of mail about the 19th Assembly District Democratic primary but said he decided to do his own research on the election. If I dont vote, I feel like I cant complain. Its the job that was given to us, Strei said. The race has pulled in more than $130,000 in donations and has been contentious, despite few policy differences between the candidates. Ryan Clancy, the districts incumbent, has become outspoken in his support for progressive causes and Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war. Prominent Milwaukee Democrats, including Mayor Cavalier Johnson, have backed challenger Jarrod Anderson, citing differences in the candidates approach to legislating. Strei said the politicians stances on the war in Gaza were one of the deciding factors in how he voted. Others pointed to different qualities of the candidates. I saw the mayor endorsed Jarrod Anderson, so I voted for him, Gilbert Church said. My understanding is that Clancy is not well-liked, but hes a candidate that I support, Stoner said. I think he backs up what he believes in and hes in a long line of socialist leaders that I think have regular people at the heart of the campaign. Kathryn Muchnick Democratic messaging about referendums reached Greendale voters Voters in Greendale said they received texts and postcards about referendum questions. Mostly, they came from the Democratic Party advising them to vote no, they said. William Kelly, 65, said he received cards in the mail urging him to vote no and warning that the referendums intentionally use confusing language. They werent confusing at all, Kelly said after voting. Patti Abbott, 63, said she received text messages also advising she vote no. But Abbott agreed the questions are confusing. Abbott said referendum questions, regardless of the party that introduced them, are written to confuse the voters, so you have to do some research beforehand. Connie Hughes agreed. She said she had seen a few unmemorable ads advising they vote no. Referendum questions are confusing and tricky. Theyre a trick, Hughes said. Zoe Jaeger Menomonee Falls residents come out to vote Dean and Judy Wiesner, Menomonee Falls residents for three years, showed up at the polls Tuesday morning. Its our civil duty, Dean said. The couple said they did research ahead of time so there was no confusion on the statewide referendum questions. We feel we need to protect our country, Judy said. Another Menomonee Falls voter said coming to the polls holds importance to him. The future of the country is at stake, Bill Heise said. Theres some bad stuff being proposed. Jolan Kruse Family brought out to the polls by two referendum questions Three members of the Nastoff family made their way out of the Brookfield Central High School gymnasium after they came out to vote on two referendum questions included on the primary election ballots. Allison Nastoff, 34, voted no on the referendum questions. She didnt find the referendum questions clear but voted for the option the Democratic Party was advocating for. The referendums brought me out, because I heard its kind of a power grab by the Legislature, Allison said. I really wanted to vote to stand up to that. Jane Nastoff, 68, also found the referendum questions unclear when she first read about them, but after a reread, they made more sense to her. I understood after some explanation, but not on the first read by any means, said Jane. Janes husband, Stephen Nastoff, 70, also investigated the referendum questions before voting Tuesday. Once he understood what they were asking, he was able to more make a more concrete choice in the voting booth. Angelika Ytuarte What's on my ballot in Wisconsin today? The race for U.S. Senate is the only race that will appear on all ballots in Wisconsin, outside of the two statewide referendum questions. The rest of the races for state Legislature, the U.S. House of Representatives and county offices depend on where you live. The boundaries of some state legislative districts changed after redistricting earlier this year, meaning you might see new names on your ballot. Some lawmakers retired or moved into new districts. All state Assembly seats and half of state Senate seats are up for election this year. Here's a list of the candidates running for state Legislature in the Milwaukee area. The district lines within the City of Milwaukee didn't change much, but there were more changes in the suburbs. There are also congressional races on the ballot, including the Senate race, in which Madison businessman Eric Hovde and two other Republicans are challenging Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin. The other races for Congress depend on which of the eight U.S. House districts you live in, which did not change during redistricting. In most counties, there are four county elected offices on the ballot, too district attorney, clerk, treasurer and register of deeds. You can preview your ballot at myvote.wi.gov. Hope Karnopp What do the August referendum questions mean in Wisconsin? There are two referendum questions on the Aug. 13 ballot that all voters will see. The questions are written as follows: QUESTION 1: Delegation of appropriation power. Shall section 35 (1) of article IV of the constitution be created to provide that the legislature may not delegate its sole power to determine how moneys shall be appropriated? QUESTION 2: Allocation of federal moneys. Shall section 35 (2) of article IV of the constitution be created to prohibit the governor from allocating any federal moneys the governor accepts on behalf of the state without the approval of the legislature by joint resolution or as provided by legislative rule? The questions stem from debates between Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and the Republican-led state Legislature over distributing federal pandemic relief funds. If the referendums pass, they would require the governor to get legislative approval to spend federal money. Republicans and conservative groups support voting "yes" on the two questions because they see the amendments as an important check on the governor's power. Democrats and liberal groups support voting "no" because they believe the Legislature would slow down how the state government responds to emergencies. Hope Karnopp Remember to select a party at the top of the ballot The August election is a partisan primary, and voters will see bubbles at the top of their ballot to vote in either the Democratic, Republican, Constitution, Libertarian or Wisconsin Green parties. "It's very important to remember that you can only vote for candidates of one party in this election," said Wisconsin Elections Commission administrator Meagan Wolfe. If you choose a party at the top of the ballot and accidentally vote in more than one party's primary, only the votes within the party you chose will count. If you accidentally vote for candidates in more than one party without making a party selection at the top, then no votes will be counted for those races, Wolfe explained. Hope Karnopp Turnout percentage expected to be in mid-teens, upper 20s Wolfe said turnout for the August election typically lands in the mid-teens to upper-20s percentage range. In 2022, turnout in the August partisan primary was around 27%, compared to just 9% in 2008. Hope Karnopp Two Democrats are running for Milwaukee County treasurer Elections to fill the partisan office of Milwaukee County treasurer have often been quiet, sometimes with no competition on the ballot. But that's not the case this year. Longtime Treasurer David Cullen, 63, is fending off a political newcomer with a well-known name: Ted Chisholm, 26, son of Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm. With no Republicans running, Tuesday's primary will determine who holds the office next. Hope Karnopp Northeastern Wisconsin voters will see some names twice on ballot If you vote in the 8th Congressional District, which includes Green Bay, your ballot will look a bit unusual: The names of candidates for U.S. House will appear twice. That's because a special election was called for Aug. 13 to complete the remainder of U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher's term through Jan. 3, 2025, the same time as the regular election for a full term from 2025 to 2027. The Wisconsin Elections Commission voted to provide elections clerks with an informational sheet to accompany each ballot that explains to voters why the 8th District seat is on the ballot twice and lets voters know they can vote in both contests. Hope Karnopp Where do I vote in Wisconsin today? Polls are open between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. across Wisconsin. As long as you're in line by 8 p.m., you'll be allowed to vote. You can find your polling place by typing in your address at myvote.wi.gov. Hope Karnopp What do I need to bring to vote in Wisconsin? How do I register to vote? To vote in Wisconsin, you need to bring a current photo ID that has your name on it. The Wisconsin Elections Commission's website has a list of accepted forms of identification. You also can register to vote at your polling place, or re-register if you've changed addresses since the last time you voted or if you haven't voted in the last four years. In that case, you'll need to bring a document that shows proof of residence. A driver's license or ID card issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles counts as proof as residence, if it shows your current address. Or, you can bring documents like a lease, utility bill or bank statement that has your new address. Hope Karnopp Wisconsin DMVs staying open late to provide photo IDs If you need a photo ID to vote in the election today, it's not too late. The DMV is extending their hours at customer service centers until 6 p.m. The DMV offers identification cards for voting purposes which are different than driver's licenses free of charge. You can find the closest DMV at this link. The DMV recommends bringing as many documents as possible, like a birth certificate, proof of identity and Wisconsin residency. More information is available here. Hope Karnopp This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin primary election recap: referendums fail; Wied, Cooke win Egypt plans to draw 2bln ($2.19bln) euros from the EU to fund new industrial projects this year, a government official told Al Arabiya Business. The country hopes to increase its exports to the EU by 10% by the end of 2024 and reach 12.5bln ($13.7bln) worth of trade, up from 11.5bln ($12.6bln) the year before. Investments from the EU contribute 32% of total FDI inflows in Egypt. However, the government wants to further strengthen ties with both the public and private sectors. Investment commitments The comments come after a series of investment pledges in the past year have made confidence in Egypts FDI sector grow. Earlier in the year, BP agreed to invest $1.5bln in gas and drilling in Egypt after forming a joint venture with UAE-based Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. Egyptian group GV Investments signed a partnership with a Chinese car manufacturer to produce one of its low-cost models for the Egyptian market. In June, Egypts sovereign wealth fund signed four agreements valued at $35.4bln with European companies to produce green ammonia as the country seeks to become a player in the renewable energy market. European aid in exchange for easing migration At the EU-Egypt Investment Conference in late June, the governments signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the disbursement of 1bln ($1.09bln) in macro-financial assistance to Egypt. The aid is meant to boost the private sector. At the conference, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, remarked her hopes for the country: We deliver strategic investments that will help make Egypt a clean energy hub at the centre of the Mediterranean crossroads. And we deliver for Egypts youth, with a new skills programme so they succeed in the economy of the future. And this is just the beginning. However, the deal is not a simple economic agreement. The short-term aid is also geared towards curbing irregular migration. Similar deals have been made with Tunisia, Mauritania and Turkey. The move has been criticized by NGOs as another EU cash for migrant control deal. Still, Egypt is focused on raising FDI inflows to bolster its private sector and boost its economy. "Egypt targets EU investment. Von der Leyen says its just the beginning" was originally created and published by Investment Monitor, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. [Watch in the player above: What to do after a data breach] CLEVELAND (WJW) The Federal Bureau of Investigations Cleveland office on Monday announced the disruption of a criminal ransomware group which operated using servers and domains in the U.S. and two other countries. The group Radar/Dispossessor, formed in August 2023, used ransomware in attacks against at least 43 small to mid-sized businesses in 13 countries, according to a Monday news release from the FBI. TownHall owner Bobby George charged with rape, attempted murder Ransomware is malicious software that essentially locks up and holds computer systems hostage until the victim pays a ransom. The groups ransomware used a dual-extortion model, according to the FBI. It not only encrypted the victims data but also copied then removed it from their systems, allowing the group to re-victimize their targets by threatening to destroy the data or leak it to the public. The group identified vulnerable computer systems with weak passwords or a lack of two-factor authentication a safety measure which requires a second method of login verification like a text message or email. They would then call or email company employees and send them links to videos presenting their stolen data with the aim of increasing the blackmail pressure and increasing the willingness to pay, reads the release. They then showed the victims a website that would leak their data, demanding ransom payment before its countdown expired. The groups leader goes by the online name Brain, according to the release. The groups network, now dismantled by the FBI, included three servers in the U.S. three in the U.K. and 18 in Germany as well as eight criminal domains based in the U.S. and one in Germany, according to the release. School worker pleads guilty to stealing $1.5M worth of chicken wings from district Federal agents worked alongside Northern Ohios U.S. Attorneys Office, the National Crime Agency and Bavarian authorities in the takedown, according to the release. The groups ransomware has many variants, so its still unknown just how many businesses or organizations have been affected by it, according to the release. Anyone with information about Radar Ransomware or the groups leader Brain, or whose business or organization has been targeted by ransomware or is currently paying a ransom to an online extortionist, is urged to contact the FBIs Internet Crime Complaint Center by visiting ic3.gov or calling 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324). Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW. YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) A local farm is partnering with community organizations to address food waste and hunger. Grow Urban Farm in Youngstown, a division of Flying HIGH Inc.s Access Healthy Foods Mahoning Valley initiative, is now providing fresh produce to those in need through new partnerships. Organizations receiving support include: Adult & Teen Challenge Ohio Valley Big Reach Center of Hope Food Distribution Center Evergreen Seventh-Day Adventist Church Food Pantry Mahoning Valley Second Harvest Food Bank The Salvation Army of Mahoning County Youngstown Citadel Food Pantry We believe in not just growing food, but growing connections, said Jeffrey Magada, Executive Director and Founder at Flying HIGH Inc. Our goal is to ensure that no harvest goes to waste and that our community has access to nutritious, locally-grown food. The farm has designated specific days and times for harvesting and delivering produce to each of these organizations. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. BOARDMAN, Ohio (WKBN) School supplies are on the way to local children thanks to an effort at United Ways new building in Boardman. Read next: Schools to start on time after asbestos, lead detection Volunteers from Huntington Bank were at the new Resource Center on Tuesday for the annual Stuff the Bus program. They were packing backpacks to donate to 1,000 students in Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana and Mercer counties. Huntington Bank has been partnering with local nonprofits for 14 years to help low- and moderate-income children as they get ready to go back to school. We have school lists from several districts. Its not just packing them with random items. These are exactly whats on their back-to-school list. So to have that ability and to have these little ones walk into the class knowing that they are on the same footing as their peers is amazing, said United Way Vice President Roxanne Sebest. Great Clips and Coccas Pizza are raising money in their locations throughout August to help United Way purchase the school supplies for the bookbags that were donated by Huntington Bank. Brian Oehlbeck contributed to this report. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (WKBN)- East Palestine Schools and its teachers union will meet again at the negotiating table to work on a new contract. The East Palestine Education Association reached out to the East Palestine City Schools Board of Education to begin negotiating in early March. The Board eventually agreed to an initial bargaining date of May 1. Negotiations have continued since then. A federal mediator was called in to assist in the process beginning July 18. In a release from the union, they state the following: When the new school year starts, we want nothing more than to be with our students in safe learning environments, giving them the best education possible and ensuring all students have the individualized support they need to reach their full potential. The board must deliver a fair contract that achieves those aims. On Tuesday, the two parties will meet again, hoping to reach a fair contract agreement soon. The first day of classes is 2 weeks away. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. William G. "Bill" Holland, who served as Illinois Auditor General for 23 years in a public service career that spanned four decades, died at his home in Seattle on Saturday. He was 72. According to an obituary supplied by the family, Holland had been diagnosed with colon cancer. More: Sonya Massey's death: How race, police and mental health collided in America's heartland A native of Joliet but raised in Kansas, Holland served as chief of staff to then-Senate President Phil Rock, D-Chicago, before his appointment as auditor general by the Illinois General Assembly in 1992. The office, created as part of the 1970 Illinois Constitution, analyzes state agencies to ensure money is spent appropriately. Bill Holland, who served as Illinois Auditor General for 23 years, passed away at his family home in Seattle on Aug. 10, 2024. He was 72. Holland's tenure overlapped five different governors, both Democrat and Republican. According to a 2015 State Journal-Register story, Hollands 2005 audit of the Department of Central Management Services brought into question suspicious activities of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. He was impeached in 2009. Gov. Jim Edgar told the SJ-R in 2015 that Holland never let partisan politics play into his role. "He came at Republicans and Democrats with equal gusto," Edgar said. Before joining Rock's staff, Holland served as director of the Illinois House Majority Appropriations Committee Staff and as first director of the Illinois General Assemblys Washington, D.C., office. He is survived by three children and seven grandchildren. A memorial will be held in Springfield this coming fall. Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie. This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Illinois' longest-serving auditor general Bill Holland dead at 72 Take a look at Kamala Harris' homes over the years, from an LA house worth millions to a DC condo with a rooftop pool The Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has split time between the East and West coasts. The vice president has lived and owned property in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC. See a few of the places she's called home, including her current residence: the VP's mansion. The Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is already familiar with Washington, DC. After all, she's had a base there since becoming a senator. In 2017, three years before Harris became Joe Biden's vice-presidential running mate, she took office as a senator representing her home state of California. Her journey into politics began when she was elected San Francisco's 27th district attorney, a position she held from 2004 to 2011. After serving as California's attorney general, she ran for Senate and traded coasts. Harris, now 59, was born in Oakland, in the Bay Area, and worked as a lawyer in Alameda County. In 2014, she married Doug Emhoff, who is also a lawyer and has two kids from a previous marriage. Harris and Emhoff still own property in an upscale neighborhood in Los Angeles. While the sitting vice president no longer owns any properties in the nation's capital, she does spend most of her time there. Representatives for Harris did not reply to a request for comment for this story. Take a look at where Harris has lived over the years. When Harris was the San Francisco district attorney, she lived in the city's South of Market neighborhood. An aerial view of San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood. Michael Lee/Getty Images In 2004, when Harris became San Francisco's district attorney, she bought a condo in the South of Market, or SoMa, neighborhood. Near the San Francisco Bay, South of Market is also close to Oracle Park, where the San Francisco Giants play, and the Chase Center, where the Golden State Warriors play. (Harris is a big fan of the Warriors.) Harris purchased a one-bedroom apartment in a condo building for $489,000, according to the listing, and sold it in 2021 for $860,000. According to Redfin, the current median sales price for SoMa is $877,500. The loft-style apartment has a bedroom on the upper floor and includes a patio and a fireplace. Today, the apartment is an Airbnb that its host bills as "Vice President Kamala Harris's Old Home." A 30-day minimum stay costs about $5,000, depending on the month. Harris and Emhoff still own a house in Los Angeles' swanky Brentwood neighborhood. Homes in Brentwood, one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Adam Mustafa/Getty Images In 2012, Emhoff bought a four-bedroom, five-bathroom home in LA's Brentwood neighborhood for $2.7 million, according to property records for Los Angeles County. The house, which is about 3,500 square feet, has since been transferred to a trust with ownership by both Harris and Emhoff, The Wall Street Journal reported. Zillow estimates that the Los Angeles property, built in the 1940s, is now worth more than $5 million. A Google Maps satellite image shows the home has a pool. Harris owned a condo in Washington, DC, during her time as a US senator. The Washington condo building where Harris lived during her time as a senator. Benjamin C. Tankersley/For The Washington Post/Getty Images In 2017, her first year as a senator, Harris bought a two-bedroom condo in downtown Washington for $1.7 million. The condo building is within walking distance of Dupont Circle, a residential neighborhood near many embassy buildings. Building amenities include a heated rooftop pool, a business center, and a fitness center with Peloton bikes, according to its website. According to The Wall Street Journal, Harris sold the condo for $1.85 million in 2021, the year she became vice president. Harris now lives in the vice president's residence in Washington, DC, called the Naval Observatory. The Naval Observatory in Washington is the official residence of the US vice president. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images Harris started her tenure as vice president with a two-month stint at Blair House, just off the White House grounds, while the vice president's mansion was being renovated. She then moved into the vice president's residence on the grounds of the US Naval Observatory. It's been occupied by the sitting vice president since Walter Mondale lived there in 1977. The mansion, which has 14 bedrooms, is in Northwest Washington. The 9,000-square-foot home was originally built in 1893, but Harris made the most recent renovations in 2021. Harris' next home could be the White House. The White House. Shutterstock If Harris is elected as the next president, she would move about 3 miles across town into the White House. Built in 1792, the White House has 132 rooms, including 16 guest rooms, 35 bathrooms, and three kitchens. Correction: August 16, 2024 An earlier version of this story misstated Joe Biden's title. He was a presidential candidate in 2020, not a former president. The story and an earlier version of this correction note also misstated the number of years between Kamala Harris' election to the Senate and being named Biden's running mate. It was four years, not 10; she took office as a senator in 2017, three years before joining Biden's campaign. Read the original article on Business Insider FLORENCE, S.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) The U.S. Department of Justice will work to convict suspended Marlboro County Sheriff Charles Lemon this week over a video recording unearthed in a Queen City News investigation. Federal grand jury indicts former Marlboro County Sheriff, deputy in 2020 jailhouse assault The video shows Lemon, who was the duly elected Marlboro County Sheriff at the time, order Deputy Andrew Cook to use a Taser to shock an inmate multiple times inside the county jail in May 2020. Someone inside the sheriffs office destroyed that body camera evidence sometime between May 2020 and November 2021. Thats when QCN Chief Investigative Reporter Jody Barr obtained the recording, along with the S.C. Law Enforcement Division. READ: FEDERAL INDICTMENT AGAINST CHARLES LEMON AND ANDREW COOK 01252024-LEMON-COOK-FEDERAL-INDICTMENTDownload S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilsons office indicted Lemon and Cook each on one count of felony assault and misconduct in office in December 2021. Wilsons office never held a single court hearing from Dec. 21, 2021, through January 2024 when Wilsons office abandoned the state prosecutions, letting the Merrick Garland-led U.S. Justice Department take over the job. Suspended Marlboro County Sheriff Charles Lemon poses for a mugshot during a booking procedure inside the Marlboro County jail following his arraignment on Dec. 21, 2021. (WJZY Photo/Jody Barr) Former Marlboro County Sheriffs Deputy Andrew Cook was booked into the county jail a week after his and Sheriff Charles Lemons Dec. 14, 2021 indictments stemming from a jailhouse inmate tasing on May 3, 2020. (WJZY Photo/Jody Barr) Lemon and Cook were indicted by a federal grand jury in Florence, S.C. in January 2024. Thats where Lemon will be tried starting Tuesday, August 13, 2024. Prosecutors expect the trial to last three to four days. Since federal courts will not allow cameras into federal courthouses, Queen City News will provide daily updates on the testimony and evidence presented each day in this article in a chain to follow below. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. AUSTIN (KXAN) The 2020 election saw one of the highest young voter turnouts, according to Tufts University research. It estimated that about 50% of young people voted in 2020, which is 11 percentage points higher than what they saw in 2016. Will it be the same this year? The answer is all over the board, with some very eager to vote but many feeling apathetic about this years election, according to Joshua Blank, research director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas. Polling indicates a younger electorate that is somewhat unenthused about the current election cycle, he said. The characterization of young voters are citizens between the ages 18- to 29-years-old, Tufts University research indicates. How is this election different from 2020? We were planning to see the same two candidates as 2020 on the ticket this November, but now there is a change after President Joe Biden withdrew his candidacy on July 21. Vice President Kamala Harris is now the Democratic nominee. Blank said that there is a growing feeling of uncertainty and fear surrounding this election due to Americans lacking trust. Its not just that Republicans dont trust Democrats and Democrats dont trust Republicans, its that people cant feel like they can trust groups and institutions in society that have generally lent stability, like the public schools, like universities, like the news media, like doctors and hospitals. Joshua Blank, Research Director of the Texas Politics Project With young people, there is typically a stereotype surrounding their voting patterns: that most dont vote in elections. Blank refers to this as a chicken and egg situation. Young people often dont feel heard by politicians and therefore are less inspired to turn out and vote, whereas politicians dont focus on young voters because they dont always participate in the election process, Blank said. How UT students have participated in elections UT Austin has been analyzing its students voting trends since 2014, according to Texas Votes Program Coordinator Sarah Batson. The institution is part of a national survey done by the Tish College of Civic Life at Tufts University called NSLVE (National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement). There are more than 1,200 participating schools across the country, according to the Tufts University website. This survey grabs election data and voting records for participating universities and provides statistics showing how many students vote in elections. NSLVE analyzes a series of demographics such as race/ethnicity, gender, age, majors and voting methods. The green line is the turnout of students who were eligible meaning they were able to participate in the election (an American citizen, aged 18 or older). The blue line is students who registered to vote. The yellow line is students who both registered and turned out to vote. UT saw its highest student-voter turnout, with 75.8% of all students casting their ballots, during the 2020 election, according to NSLVEs report. In 2014, we saw really, really low numbers, so in the past decade, weve seen a really great rebound. Now were consistently around 50%, although 2022 was a little bit lower, Batson said. UT has been consistently above the median of institutions that are a part of NSLVE, according to the report. Texas A&M and University of Houston are some other Texas schools in the national survey. Texas A&M saw that 59.4% of all eligible students voted in 2020 and UH had 62.8% of its students turn out, according to their surveys. The national median of the student voting rate was 66%, according to NSLVE. Young perspective at UT Going against the stereotype of young voters, 21-year-old Sid Reddy, a UT biology major, said he thinks Gen Z is getting more politically active. I think in terms of our generation, were starting to come into terms with how much voting impacts us, he said. He described this election as one of the wildest presidential elections, probably in our lifetime. Reddy said it has been crazy because of the recent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, and Biden dropping out of the race just a week later. It almost feels uncivilized in a way, the most its ever been. Theres a lot of animosity, he said. Related: KXANs Campaign Context Reddy is unsure what voter turnout will look like from young people, but he is hopeful that young people will turn out. Nineteen-year-old Laney Windlan, a civil engineering major at UT, said she has heard people around her talk about participating in the election this year. What Ive experienced this year is that young people are pretty engaged in whats happening in the election, but I know statistically thats not always the case, so well see, she said. She hopes more young people turn out this year. I think maybe this year there might be some change, hopefully, she said when talking about youth participation. Abigail Marler, a 21-year-old math major at UT, thinks that social media helps young people stay informed with whats going on in politics. It is a domino effect that if more people are seeing information online about candidates then more people are talking about it, according to Marler. This might not change the amount of young people actually going out to cast their ballots though, Marler said. University of Texas at Austin freshmen Aura Maria Salazar and Nicolas Montoya study inside the Flawn Academic Center, the designated polling location on campus, while the line to vote wraps around the building on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012 in Austin, Texas. After a grinding presidential campaign President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, yield center stage to American voters Tuesday for an Election Day choice that will frame the contours of government and the nation for years to come. (AP Photo/Tamir Kalifa) Voters wait in line to cast their ballots at the Flawn Academic Center on the University of Texas at Austin campus on Tuesday, March 1, 2016 in Austin, Texas. Voters from Vermont to Colorado, Alaska to American Samoa and a host of states in between were heading to polling places and caucus sites on the busiest day of the 2016 primaries. (AP Photo/Tamir Kalifa) A line of mostly students wait to vote at a Texas primary election polling site on the University of Texas campus, Tuesday, March 6, 2018, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) You have to still be excited about it. You have to go out of your way to go vote on Election Day, but I think it definitely brings more awareness about voting, she said. Through her experience at UT, Marler said the school does a good job around elections by having voter registration forms, information about candidates and polling stations. She said that people have come into her classes and given out voter registration forms. Every single election, theres definitely people on Speedway like students, faculty and outside people from the community tabling for candidates, she said. You cant miss it and it makes you naturally think about it. Marler does think it will be hard for UT students to top the nearly 76% student voter turnout in 2020 since the country is in a different place were out of a pandemic. This was a main reason why people voted, Marler said, as people were passionate about wanting a change. Moving forward The state of Texas requires high schools to have voter registration forms available every year for students eligible to vote elections, according to the Texas Secretary of State website. The law was put into effect in 1983, and is supposed to give registration forms to high school students who are 17 years and 10 months old or older. The state has not been regulating this law so well, according to reporting done by The Texas Tribune. The report found that some schools were not distributing these forms like the law requires. The secretary of states office, who created the instructions of the law, does not track compliance, the Tribune reported. This means that schools that dont distribute the forms arent penalized. Batson said she thinks the amount of young people interested in politics is growing based on statistics like NSLVE and her own personal experiences working within politics. I think what youre seeing is that younger voters are really thoughtful about politics. They really care about whats happening in the country. They just need a reason to believe that voting is that best conduit, Batson said. Batson, being a part of the young voter demographic as a 23-year-old UT graduate student, encourages her peers to vote even if they feel discouraged. I think that its actually even more important, when the choices arent easy, to make them anyways, Batson said. Thats why we vote not to make easy decisions, but to make hard ones. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin. Louisiana officials are proactively trying to prevent existing underground utilities from being damaged during broadband internet service infrastructure is being installed. (John Lamb/Getty Images) Louisiana has led the nation for its quick rollout and management of federal broadband grants and is about to spearhead the countrys largest ever infrastructure investment to bring affordable high-speed internet to every corner of the state. But not everyone is celebrating the states success. At a legislative hearing Monday, state lawmakers discussed policy ideas to try to rectify an unintentional side effect of the many infrastructure projects currently underway across Louisiana. Occasionally, construction crews have accidentally damaged underground pipes and cables while trying to bury fiber optic lines that provide broadband service. Most of the accidents are the result of miscommunication among contractors for the internet service providers (ISP) and the local governments and utility companies. Poor record keeping by local governments and utilities is also to blame. Another factor contributing to the problem has to do with the level of cooperation from some of the states legacy internet service providers, such as Cox Communications, Sparklight, Charter Communications and other telecom giants. Having long dominated the ISP market in Louisiana, those telecom giants are now facing more competition as a result of the federal subsidies, and they dont want others to know where their cables are buried, though they claim its a matter of national security and not about competition. Guy Cormier, executive director of the Police Jury Association of Louisiana, said he knows of some incidents that occurred after a subcontractor failed to get a local permit or failed to call Louisianas 811 dig safety hotline before starting a project. Other cases occurred because the local government had no permitting process, he said. Minden Mayor Nick Cox told lawmakers he is very thankful for the broadband expansion currently underway in his town but expressed some dismay over some unethical and inexperienced boring contractors that have caused problems. Boring is a construction technique that uses a pressurized stream of water to tunnel underneath a road or sidewalk to allow for the burial of a pipe or cable. We call them bore and ignore contractors because they just bore and ignore the problems, Cox said. On one project, a crew removed an entire section of a sidewalk in a busy area that sees heavy foot traffic. On another, a crew stole water from a city fire hydrant to use for their boring job, Cox said. When accidents happen, contractors often fail to alert the city or ignore city inspectors when they arrive on the scene. It has gotten to the point where Cox said hes had to assign city employees to babysit some of the contractors while they work, he said. The accidents are not always the fault of the contractors. Many cases of damage occur when utility companies or municipalities cannot accurately mark the location of their underground pipes and cables. In some cases, the infrastructure was buried many decades ago, and the town either never mapped it at the time or has since lost the maps, according to others who testified Monday. Cox admitted that some of the boring in Minden has revealed underground infrastructure the city did not have mapped. Swyft Fiber CEO Jason Hunt told lawmakers that his company has struck underground infrastructure eight times while burying roughly 1,300 miles of fiber optic cable. In all of those cases, the pipes and cables were inaccurately marked, he said. Cormier said such accidents are to be expected with the level of progress Louisiana has made with broadband expansion. I have colleagues throughout the other 49 states, and when I talk about where we are on broadband, it blows their mind, Cormier said. Some of them are just starting to set up their broadband offices now. State Rep. Daryl Deshotel, R-Marksville, who has spearheaded much of the legislative framework for rural broadband expansion, created the Louisiana Office of Broadband Development and Connectivity in 2020. Louisiana was one of the only states in the nation to have such an office at that time, and it gave the state an edge when it came to applying for federal dollars under President Joe Bidens infrastructure investments. Louisiana was ranked best in the nation for its handling of federal broadband subsidies, according to a recent report from the right-leaning think tank American Enterprise Institute. Also, the National Digital Inclusion Alliances Digital Equity Index ranked Louisiana sixth in the country for how well the state government and local governments are addressing digital equity. We have a once in a lifetime opportunity a once in a generation opportunity to understand what is actually underneath our ground. Rep. Daryl Deshotel, R-Marskville The federal subsidies are coming from President Joe Bidens American Rescue Plan Act (APRA) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. From ARPA, Louisiana received $176 million and is awarding the money through what it calls the Granting Unserved Municipalities Broadband Opportunities (GUMBO 1.0) grant program. Roughly 88% of those projects are either currently under construction or are complete. The much bigger investment is coming this fall with $1.3 billion allocated to Louisiana from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Already, the state Office of Broadband has begun preparing by vetting and prequalifying all of the internet service providers that want to compete for the grant money, which the state will distribute as GUMBO 2.0. Veneeth Iyengar, Office of Broadband director, said the grant program has attracted a number of new businesses to the state that will compete for the money. GUMBO 1.0 saw participation from 18 providers, while GUMBO 2.0 had more than double that number apply and saw 33 companies pass pre-qualification screening, he said. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle took time out of Mondays House Commerce Committee hearing to praise Iyengar for his offices progress. The hearing was part of Deshotels effort to keep the momentum going and try to foresee problems likely to surface once the bigger grant program takes off, such as crews damaging underground cables and pipes. What were trying to do in this case is head off what I think is going to be a serious, serious issue, Deshotel said. I tried to address this during the regular session, but this is going to come back, and we need to make sure everyone is on the same page and understand whats going to happen when we deploy $1.355 billion of capital in the state at the same time. Were going to have a massive amount of hit utilities. One policy consideration to address the problem includes requiring more precise mapping of underground infrastructure. During the 2024 regular session, Deshotel tried to amend a bill to add such a requirement but later withdrew it after a Senate committee questioned whether it would benefit his son. Weeks before Deshotel inserted that language into the bill, his son, Noah Deshotel, registered a business that would deliver comprehensive online maps for Louisianas utility lines, according to the Times-Picayune. Still, the problem of striking underground utilities exists, and any new location disclosure requirements are likely to face opposition from the major telecom companies. The committee heard testimony from the Louisiana Internet and Television Association, which represents the states legacy telecom giants, some of which tried challenging the grants in an attempt to keep competition out of the state. Executive director Lauren Chauvin told lawmakers her organizations members are opposed to anything that would lead to the public disclosure of the location of their infrastructure. Such a law would make the companies a target for terrorists and vandals, she said. Deshotel, who used to own a small internet service provider, wasnt buying the argument. Under his questioning, the associations members revealed that the vast majority of their cables are aerial and hanging from utility poles where they can be located by anyone who walks outside and looks. The same goes for underground fiber optic cables, which are usually marked with plastic utility posts or domes that protrude a few feet out of the ground with brightly-colored wording that says a fiber optic cable is buried directly below. The LIT members also admitted that they know of no such incidents in which someone attacked their cables or utility poles. We have a once in a lifetime opportunity a once in a generation opportunity to understand what is actually underneath our ground No ones trying to get your secret sauce information, Deshotel said. DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) A Blanchard woman pleaded guilty in federal court to pointing a laser at a Baltimore police helicopter flying 3,500 feet over the city. United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown detailed that on August 15, 2023, April Nicole Poitras pointed a green laser at a Cessna 172L. Law enforcement officers responded to the area by vehicle and helicopter. According to information presented in court, While responding to the scene, the police helicopter, an Airbus H125, was also illuminated by a green laser from the ground. Blanchard laser lady (Source: Caddo Parish Sheriffs Office) Poitras admitted to knowingly aiming the laser pointer at both aircraft and their flight paths, and she admitted to targeting several aircraft that night. According to the news release, Poitras faces a sentence of up to 5 years in prison, 3 years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. The U.S. Department of Justice noted Poitras appeared before United States District Judge S. Maurice Hicks, Jr. Poitras sentencing is on December 12, 2024. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTALnews.com. We recently compiled a list of the Shake-Up Alert: 40 Companies Facing Activist Pressure. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Nevro Corp. (NYSE:NVRO) stands against the other companies facing activist pressure. The equity market has been on a roll, rallying by 10% in the first half of 2024, adding to the 24% gain registered in 2024. Amid the gains, one would be mistaken to think activist investors would go slowly, given the bumper returns on offer. That is not the case, given that activist investors are becoming more active and bold in a push to squeeze optimum value in the equity markets. It was arguably one of the busiest years for activist investors as they launched 1,151 campaigns in 2023, up from 1,083 campaigns recorded in 2022. Since 82% of the campaigns revolved around environmental, social, and governance issues, ESG affirms a new wave of activism in the equity markets. In addition, there was a 7% jump in new activist investor campaigns in 2023 to 252, setting a new record. Likewise, there were 77 first-time activist-initiated campaigns in 2023, up from 55 in 2022, according to data by Lazard. Some of the most targeted sectors with activist campaigns were industrials at 21%, followed by technology at 20% and healthcare at 20%. Consumer and financial sectors accounted for 11% and 8% of the activist campaigns, respectively. Activist investors can be individuals or institutions that acquire a controlling stake in a target company. With the investment, they gain the much-needed power to push for strategic changes that can unlock hidden value in a company they believe is underperforming. A push for seats on the board is one of the strategies deployed as one way of influencing decision-making and advocating for management changes. In aggressive cases, activist investors can push for the sale of the entire business or some part of the business to generate shareholder value. Some activist campaigns also involve pushing for restructuring, such as cutting costs to bolster margins. A push to sell the entire business or split some units were some of the favorite actions pushed by activist investors, in 49% of the activist campaigns last year. Additionally, the activist investors pushed for a change of leadership, with some advocating for streamlining operations through cost cuts to improve margins. Activist investors pushed for management changes in 10% of the campaigns initiated last year following a 46% year-on-year increase in 2022. Elliot Management, Starboard Value, Trian Partners, and Third Point were some of the top US activist investors at the center of most corporate wars. US activist investors accounted for 14% of the total activist campaigns last year, affirming their influence in pushing for value in various companies. Likewise, ValueAct posted a 39% gain through its campaigns as Caligan Partners rose 37% and Engaged Capital returned 29%. Pershing Square Holdings, spearheaded by activist Bill Ackman, generated a 27% gain. Story continues Activist investors fared much better in 2023 thanks to the rising stock market that shrugged off the high interest rates that had been increased to 22-year highs of 5.25% to 5.50%. Similarly, activist hedge funds also deserve some credit for focusing on market-beating stocks that did much better amid an uncertain market environment. In the end, activist investors enjoyed one of their best years in the recent past, with an average return of 20.2% in 2023. The gains came after the strops had lost an average of 16% in 2022 Activist investors showed no signs of slowing in the first half of 2024, going by 147 new campaigns, surpassing the 2018 record of 143. In the second quarter of 2024, 86 new activist campaigns were recorded, barely a year after a strong rebound. The heightened activist investor pressure came amid concerns that factors like high interest rates and slowing growth would hurt the company's performance. Amid a surge in activist investor campaigns in 2024, the success rates of most of the campaigns have dropped significantly. For instance, most of the campaigns in the first half only won 74 board seats, down from 93 as of last year. It is also a concern that activists only secured 11% of their sought-after board seats compared to a 65% win ratio in 2023. The significant decline in success rates affirms that companies are becoming more effective in fending off activist pressure. Investors are already pushing companies harder for change in 2024, concerned by the impact of soaring geopolitical instability and economic uncertainty. Creating a lower and stable interest rate environment is expected to create more opportunities for activist investors to capitalize. Given that nearly half of the campaigns in 2023 involved a merger and acquisition objective, it is expected to be the case in 2024, especially with the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates. Reports show that there could be more than $2 trillion in capital set for acquisitions in 2024, and more activist investors are expected to demand companies review their business portfolios. Part of the proposals that activist investors are likely to push for is the divestment of some units or the sale of the entire company. Even though activist investing is evolving significantly with a renewed focus on industrial investment plays, technology companies are expected to dominate most campaigns in 2024. Nevertheless, the broader situation, including unpredictable interest rates, political instability, and the forthcoming US presidential race, adds complexity, making it harder and longer for activist efforts to succeed. Our Methodology Activist campaigns are growing as activist investors look to unlock hidden value in stocks trading below their fair value. Upon sifting through numerous media reports and scanning the Insider Monkey hedge fund database, we came up with the 40 companies facing activist pressure. The stocks are ranked based on the number of hedge funds that own them, as of Q1 2024. Note: The returns are calculated from the investment date to August 1, 2024. We also mentioned the number of hedge funds that had bought these stocks during the same filing period. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter's strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here). A closeup of electrodes being used to deliver the 10 kHz Therapy spinal cord stimulation system to a patient. Engaged Capital at Nevro Corp. (NYSE:NVRO) Stock Return: - 59% S&P 500 Return: 13.5% Investment date: 12/12/2023 Number of hedge funds holding stakes: 29 Nevro Corp. (NYSE:NVRO) is a medical device company that provides products for patients suffering from chronic pain. Activist hedge fund Engaged Capital took a position in the medical devices company, calling it to focus on improving profitability and stop pursuing acquisitions. Activist investor Engaged Capital confirmed a 3% stake in Nevro Corp. (NYSE:NVRO) in December 2023. Early this year, the company entered into a corporation agreement with the activist investor, upon which it secured a seat on the board to influence strategic direction. Additionally, the hedge fund believes the company could be an acquisition target of a larger rival, which should provide an avenue for generating value. 29 out of 920 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in Nevro Corp. (NYSE:NVRO) as of the first quarter, up from 21 as of the end of 2023. Overall NVRO ranks 28th on our list of the companies facing activist pressure. While we acknowledge the potential of NVRO as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than NVRO and that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock. READ NEXT: Analyst Sees a New $25 Billion "Opportunity" for NVIDIA and Jim Cramer Says NVIDIA Has Become A Wasteland. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Louisville Metro Council passed an ordinance Thursday dictating where medical marijuana facilities can be located in Jefferson County, with members choosing to establish regulations close to state law, despite talks of imposing tighter restrictions. The decision comes just weeks before applications are due for a potential statewide lottery to determine which business owners can open a limited number of medical cannabis facilities. Jefferson County is granted two licenses for dispensaries. Kentucky officials legalized medical marijuana during the 2023 legislative session, with the law going into effect Jan. 1, 2025. The Cabinet for Health and Family Services has since established statewide regulations, including preventing dispensaries from opening within 1,000 feet of a childcare center or school. For weeks, Metro Council members considered imposing additional regulations on where the Jefferson County dispensaries could be located. A recommendation by Louisville's Planning Commission suggested adding standards for odor and preventing dispensaries from being located within 1,000 feet of parks, public playgrounds, libraries, religious centers and other areas. However, after a push by Republican Councilman Dan Seum Jr., the city abandoned tighter regulations. "I'm worried that some of the amendments may conflate what may happen 10 years from now," Seum said at a committee meeting, referencing conversations the council had about the possible future legalization of recreational marijuana. "We'll deal with that then, but right now we're dealing with patients. We're dealing with like a Walgreens for cannabis." He went on to say, "We don't need to put more regulations on these patients than is necessary." Councilwoman Jennifer Chappell, a Democrat, agreed. She warned during another committee meeting that imposing such strict zoning rules could create "pockets of places for unsavory activity," rather than allowing dispensaries in safer areas. She added medical cannabis facilities are secure, clean and that she would love to have one in her neighborhood. After debate, some council members who once favored stronger regulations expressed their perspectives had changed. The ordinance passed with a 22-1 vote. The council also defined "school" as an elementary, middle or high school. It did not include colleges or trade schools. Dispensaries and safety compliance facilities will be allowed in C-2 and C-3 commercial district zones and will require conditional use permits. Dispensaries, safety compliance facilities and medical cannabis processors, cultivators and producers will also be permitted in several additional zoning districts including enterprise zone districts, industrial districts and planned employment center districts according to the ordinance. Dispensaries will only be able to operate between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. All business will be required to occur inside, with the exception of secure loading and unloading areas, drive-through windows or curbside pick-ups. The dispensaries cannot be located on the same site used for growing or cultivating cannabis. They can also not be located in the same office as a physician. Louisville's ordinance also has the caveat that, if any rule conflicts with state law, the more restrictive one applies. The portal for marijuana business licensing applications will be open for submissions until August 31, but the state office has requested people submit them by August 15 for processing time. The lottery will be held if the number of eligible applicants exceeds the number of licenses available. Prospective medical cannabis entrepreneurs will have to spend between $3,000 and $20,000 to apply for a license, depending on what kind of business they want to start. Another license category, a Tier IV cultivator, will cost $30,000 in application fees but will not be available during the initial licensing period. Reach reporter Eleanor McCrary at EMcCrary@courier-journal.com or at @ellie_mccrary on X, formerly known as Twitter. This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville passes medical marijuana regulations in line with state law Recent reports of malware scam attempts through Virginia's Freedom of Information Act have prompted Maryland state officials to warn county governments of similar attacks. Photo by Getty Images. Maryland officials are warning county agencies and employees to be wary when handling requests under the states Public Information Act, after malware attacks using a similar scheme reportedly hit some county attorneys in Virginia. Maryland Association of Counties (MACo) officials, who posted the warning last week, said they are not aware of any attempts against Maryland offices, but wanted to put local officials on lookout mode. We havent seen any instances of this happening in Maryland, but I just felt like it was a good opportunity to share this with our people, said Karrington Anderson, associate policy director with MACo. She posted the alert to the associations blog last week urging county agencies and employees to beware malware scams that could come through links attached to PIA requests, after similar attempts were identified in Virginia using that states Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Public Information Act (PIA) malware scams could target county governments, Anderson warned in her Aug. 7 post. In Virginia, counties are receiving FOIA requests as attachments that, once opened, contain malware. Not only is this malware capable of shutting down entire systems, but it also expends resources and require counties to spend significant amounts of money to repair the damage. The disruption caused by these attacks can lead to delays in government operations, her post said. The Maryland Department of Information Technology said that it has not identified any such attacks in the state yet. OSM (Office of Security Management) has not received any information regarding a malware attack directed at MACo. OSM has not been informed of malware attacks by any local agencies, counties, or municipalities we serve, said a statement from Nathaniel Miller, a public information officer speaking on behalf of the Maryland Department of Information Technology. Marylands PIA allows people to request information on the activities of state and local governments. The process to receive documents and information can be an arduous and time-consuming task, depending on the scope of the request. Generally, PIA requests are sent over email. Anderson and other officials warn that malware disguised as links or attachments in PIA requests could compromise the security of county and state agencies if an employee mistakenly clicks on it, often known as a phishing scam. Officials from the Virginia Association of Counties said they did not have many details other than what Lancaster County Attorney James Cornwell said in an article from a local newspaper, in which he was quoted as saying that several county attorneys had been hit by malware posing as a FOIA request. VACo said it alerted its members, and will monitor the situation. That said, a successful malware attack could lead to multiple issues for county and state agencies, depending on the end goals of the attackers, according Dave Levin, an associate professor with the University of Marylands Department of Computer Science. He is also a core member of the universitys Maryland Cybersecurity Center. Levin listed a variety of potential malware capabilities, such as turning on computer microphones and cameras, accessing private networks, looking through files within a network or computer, accessing private data and surveilling activities, among many others. He also noted malware can unleash ransomware, which is when data on a computer is locked until the attacker receives financial payment from the victim. The question is: What can software do? What sort of data is the malware able to gain access to? What permissions is it able to run as? he said. What can malware do? Whatever a computer can do, whatever permissions they get thats what they can start doing. He also noted that malware can be stealthy and hard to identify if there is malware present on a computer system. Once youre infected with malware, especially malware that was able to gain high levels of privilege, it can be really, really difficult to identify that malware is even there and to know that youve actually removed it, Levin said. In her post last week, Anderson urged state and county officials to be aware that no system is infallible and all are vulnerable to malicious cyber attacks. It is important to be vigilant of suspicious links or attachments that could contain malware. If a PIA link or attachment is sent in an email, it is recommended to request that the sender resends the PIA request within the body of an email, she said in last weeks post. The increased scrutiny on PIA requests for the sake of cyber security could create additional hurdles for Marylanders to get their legitimate requests for information through, said Rebecca Snyder, executive director of the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association. She said that fears of phishing attempts could be used as a loophole to slow down the process of fulfilling PIA requests. It whittles out people who are legitimately looking for information, she said. So the risk there, they get disenfranchised, they get demoralized, they feel like no one is going to get back to them. When the recommendation is to resend the request in the body of the email instead of as an attachments I think it just creates another loophole, she said. It just feels like it can be a tool, when theres not always a lot of trust between (PIA) custodians and requesters to begin with. But Snyder conceded that she doesnt think theres anything to be done about it. We also do have to guard against phishing attacks and things like that, she said. She believes cyber-security incidents are happening more frequently, and that protecting against malware scams in PIA requests is a valid concern. Internet and email are not as firmly trusted as they used to be, just because there are so many threats, she said. Recent reports of malware scam attempts through Virginia's Freedom of Information Act have prompted Maryland state officials to warn county governments of similar attacks. (Photo by Getty Images.) Maryland officials are warning county agencies and employees to be wary when handling requests under the states Public Information Act, after malware attacks using a similar scheme reportedly hit some county attorneys in Virginia. Maryland Association of Counties (MACo) officials, who posted the warning last week, said they are not aware of any attempts against Maryland offices, but wanted to put local officials on lookout mode. We havent seen any instances of this happening in Maryland, but I just felt like it was a good opportunity to share this with our people, said Karrington Anderson, associate policy director with MACo. She posted the alert to the associations blog last week urging county agencies and employees to beware malware scams that could come through links attached to PIA requests, after similar attempts were identified in Virginia using that states Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Public Information Act (PIA) malware scams could target county governments, Anderson warned in her Aug. 7 post. In Virginia, counties are receiving FOIA requests as attachments that, once opened, contain malware. Not only is this malware capable of shutting down entire systems, but it also expends resources and require counties to spend significant amounts of money to repair the damage. The disruption caused by these attacks can lead to delays in government operations, her post said. The Maryland Department of Information Technology said that it has not identified any such attacks in the state yet. OSM (Office of Security Management) has not received any information regarding a malware attack directed at MACo. OSM has not been informed of malware attacks by any local agencies, counties, or municipalities we serve, said a statement from Nathaniel Miller, a public information officer speaking on behalf of the Maryland Department of Information Technology. Marylands PIA like Virginias FOIA allows people to request information on the activities of state and local governments. The process to receive documents and information can be an arduous and time-consuming task, depending on the scope of the request. Generally, PIA requests are sent over email. Warning from Virginia Anderson and other officials warn that malware disguised as links or attachments in PIA requests could compromise the security of county and state agencies if an employee mistakenly clicks on it, often known as a phishing scam. Officials from the Virginia Association of Counties said they did not have many details other than what Lancaster County Attorney James Cornwell said in an article from a local newspaper, in which he was quoted as saying that several county attorneys had been hit by malware posing as a FOIA request. VACo said it alerted its members, and will monitor the situation. That said, a successful malware attack could lead to multiple issues for county and state agencies, depending on the end goals of the attackers, said Dave Levin, an associate professor with the University of Marylands Department of Computer Science. He is also a core member of the universitys Maryland Cybersecurity Center. It whittles out people who are legitimately looking for information, she said. So the risk there, they get disenfranchised, they get demoralized, they feel like no one is going to get back to them. Rebecca Synder, executive director, Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association Levin listed a variety of potential malware capabilities, such as turning on computer microphones and cameras, accessing private networks, looking through files within a network or computer, accessing private data and surveilling activities, among many others. He also noted malware can unleash ransomware, which is when data on a computer is locked until the attacker receives financial payment from the victim. The question is: What can software do? What sort of data is the malware able to gain access to? What permissions is it able to run as? he said. What can malware do? Whatever a computer can do, whatever permissions they get thats what they can start doing. He also noted that malware can be stealthy. Once youre infected with malware, especially malware that was able to gain high levels of privilege, it can be really, really difficult to identify that malware is even there and to know that youve actually removed it, Levin said. Concerns could lead to more hurdles for public In her post last week, Anderson urged state and county officials to be aware that no system is infallible and all are vulnerable to malicious cyber attacks. It is important to be vigilant of suspicious links or attachments that could contain malware. If a PIA link or attachment is sent in an email, it is recommended to request that the sender resends the PIA request within the body of an email, she said. The increased scrutiny on PIA requests for the sake of cyber security could create additional hurdles for Marylanders to get their legitimate requests for information through, said Rebecca Snyder, executive director of the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association. She said that fears of phishing attempts could be used as a loophole to slow down the process of fulfilling PIA requests. It whittles out people who are legitimately looking for information, she said. So the risk there, they get disenfranchised, they get demoralized, they feel like no one is going to get back to them. When the recommendation is to resend the request in the body of the email instead of as an attachments I think it just creates another loophole, she said. It just feels like it can be a tool, when theres not always a lot of trust between (PIA) custodians and requesters to begin with. But Snyder conceded that she doesnt think theres anything to be done about it. We also do have to guard against phishing attacks and things like that, she said. She believes cyber-security incidents are happening more frequently, and that protecting against malware scams in PIA requests is a valid concern. Internet and email are not as firmly trusted as they used to be, just because there are so many threats, she said. Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org. Follow Maryland Matters on Facebook and X. State Republican candidates in North Carolina are hopping onto a nationwide Bible bandwagon thats pushing for the religious text to be a mandatory instructional element in public schools. Speaking with an undercover operative from the Democratic super PAC American Bridge at the Republican National Convention, the Republican nominee to become North Carolinas public school superintendent, Michele Morrow, praised unconstitutional efforts that have made the Bible and its teachings mandatory reading in states such as Louisiana and Oklahoma. She revealed that she has similar intentions for the Tar Heel State. I absolutely believe that we need to get elective Bible classes back in every middle and high schoolin our schools, Morrow told the incognito operative, adding that she absolutely meant in public schools. Morrow had previously gained national attention for her questionable social media history, which included espousing QAnon conspiracies and calling for the pay per view executions by firing squad of several prominent Democrats, including former President Barack Obama and Joe Biden shortly after he won the 2020 presidential election. But the GOP state superintendent nominees political platform is similarly alarming. In February, Morrow advocated for an amendment to get the state Board of Education abolished, a move that would effectively hand the power to craft school policy to the superintendentand the states GOP-controlled legislature. But Morrow isnt the only North Carolinian Republican hoping to use the states public schools as a vehicle for promoting Christian nationalism. North Carolina lieutenant governorand GOP gubernatorial nomineeMark Robinson has suggested that schools wouldnt be getting shot up if Christian teachings were forced into the classroom, and told a congregation at Asbury Baptist Church that public schools had taken a nosedive since mandatory prayer had been excised from curriculums. Like Morrow, Robinson has also shared a host of his disturbing positions online, including posts in which he minimized the horrors of the Holocaust, claimed a satanic marxist had made the movie Black Panther to pull shekels out of Black audiences, likened women getting abortions to murderers, and derided gay people as filth and maggots. Robinson has also expressed archaic views about womens role in society, telling a Charlotte-area church in 2022 that Christians are called to be led by men. Election-conspiracy theorist Tina Peters has been convicted of tampering with voting machines in Mesa County, Colorado, in the aftermath of the 2020 election. On Monday, Peters was found guilty of seven charges related to her efforts to grant unauthorized individuals access to county voting machines in order to prove false claims that the election had been fraudulently stolen from Donald Trump. In March, Peters pleaded not guilty to 10 criminal charges, including seven felonies, in connection to a scheme to use her position as Mesa County clerk to transfer voting data from the machines to allies of former President Trump. She resigned from her role as Mesa County clerk in 2023. Peters sentencing is scheduled to take place on Oct. 3. This community has suffered greatly from the dishonesty, lack of transparency, and refusal of Ms. Peters to take accountability, Mesa County District Attorney Daniel P. Rubinstein said in response to the verdict. No single elected official, or even branch of government, is above the law or should be allowed to act without those checks and balances. Despite the criminal charges against her, Peters has spent the past several years unsuccessfully attempting to leverage her status as a martyr for Trumps election-conspiracy theories to gain additional political power within Colorado. In 2022, Peters came third in the Republican primary for Colorado secretary of state, the role that oversees the states elections. Unsurprisingly, Peters accused election officials of having cheated her of the nomination and refused to concede her primary loss. In February 2022, Peters was arrested after attempting to kick a police officer serving a search warrant for her iPad in connection with allegations that she had illegally recorded a court hearing for one of her deputies involved in the election security breach. On Monday, Peters responded to her conviction on X, formerly Twitter, writing that she was taking a day off to grieve for the people that have been hurt by Dominion brand voting systems and the Secretary of States attorneys actions to steal their vote and their voice. This is a sad day for our nation and the world. But we WILL win in the end, she added, tagging fellow conspiracy theorists Alex Jones, Mike Lindell, and Elon Musk in her post. More from Rolling Stone Best of Rolling Stone Maine voters can now request absentee ballots for the November election. Maine voters can now request absentee ballots for the Nov. 5 general election. The ballots wont be available until early October 30 days before Election Day but Maine law allows for people to request them three months before the election. Absentee ballots can be requested online or by contacting the local municipal clerk. Maines no-excuse absentee voting laws are foundational to our safe, secure and accessible elections, said Secretary of State Shenna Bellows. Voting in person on Election Day is always an option, but many busy Mainers find it more convenient to cast an absentee ballot, and those Mainers can put their request in now for the November election. In addition to the presidential race, the November election includes both of Maines seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, a Senate seat and state legislators. There are also five statewide referendum questions, including one about whether to adopt a new state flag. Once an absentee ballot has been requested, voters can track the process of their request online. If a replacement ballot is needed, voters should contact their municipal clerk. In-person absentee voting will also be available at town and city halls through Oct. 31. All absentee ballots must be returned to the voters municipality by 8 p.m. on Election Day. DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) A two-month investigation in San Francisco led to the seizure of 927 grams of illegal narcotics and the arrest of two suspects involved in drug trafficking. Donald Trump-Elon Musk stream delayed due to cyberattack, Musk says Law enforcement officers confiscated a range of substances, including suspected fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine (both base and salt forms), heroin, and other related evidence, said the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD). The operation targeted an RV parked in San Francisco and two residences in Oakland. Photo courtesy of San Francisco Police Department Photo courtesy of San Francisco Police Department Photo courtesy of San Francisco Police Department Photo courtesy of San Francisco Police Department Photo courtesy of San Francisco Police Department The SFPD collaborated with multiple agencies, including plainclothes teams from Tenderloin, Northern, and Central District stations, as well as local, state, and federal law enforcement partners, said authorities. The suspects have been identified as Fany Reanos-Moreno, 32, and Alexander Wyatt, 57. Reanos-Moreno was apprehended while driving near Van Ness Avenue and Market Street. Officers said they had probable cause to arrest her on felony narcotics trafficking charges. Wyatt was detained in a motor home parked on the 1000 block of Turk Street. He faces multiple charges, including possession of brass knuckles, resisting arrest, possession of narcotics, and an outstanding warrant from the San Joaquin Sheriffs Office. Police said the successful operation underscores the ongoing efforts of law enforcement to combat narcotics trafficking in the Bay Area. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4. What makes a successful businessman? Probably paying bills, taxes and fines on time or at all The Greenbrier Hotel, located in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., is set to go to public auction Aug. 27 because of a default. The hotel is owned by Gov. Jim Justice and run by his family. (Getty Images) Gov. Jim Justice often brags about being a businessman and not a politician. He likes to say that he runs West Virginia like a business. If hes running the state like he ran his own businesses, its no wonder so many agencies are struggling financially. Two weeks ago, the Greenbrier Hotel, owned by Justice and run by his children, was listed for auction after the Justice Companies defaulted on the banks loan. According to a statement from the Justice Companies, the debt had been reduced to $9.4 million, or 235 years worth of salary for the average West Virginian. On Aug. 27 at 2 p.m., the Greenbrier Hotel will be auctioned off on the front steps of the Greenbrier County Courthouse in Lewisburg lucky for Justice its in his hometown, so maybe hell arrive on time. When Justice was questioned during his Friday briefing about the auction, he said that the sale of the loan was so peculiar its unbelievable, and said it was politically driven because hes running for Senate and will be the one to flip the Senate in favor of Republicans. It almost approaches blackmail, Justice said. But not only was the company not paying the loan, taxes werent being paid either. Five liens totaling more than $2.7 million (or about 67.5 years salary for the average West Virginian) still remain against the Greenbrier Hotel Corp. In his briefings, when questioned about the liens, Justice acts like it has nothing to do with his job as governor. In fact, he became so upset that Metronews Brad McElhinny asked him about the liens a few weeks ago, that McElhinny has been banned from Justices briefings. Let me just use this opportunity to go back to the governors speech at the Republican National Convention in July. You may have missed Justice saying this because you were distracted by Babydog on the stage beside him. The foundation of my life is the truth. I challenge the media all the time to find something that knowingly Ive told them thats not the truth. And they cant do it because Im not going to do that, Justice said. Yes, we can. And we do. Justice talks all the time about how transparent he is, and how he encourages others to be transparent. Banning a member of the media from your briefings is the opposite of being transparent. Not answering questions about your personal businesses is not being transparent. But back to Justice not paying his bills. Less than a week after the Greenbrier was listed for auction, a motion was filed by the federal government asking to hold 23 of the Justice familys coal companies in contempt for unpaid health and safety fines dating back over the last 10 years totaling about $600,000 or about 15 years salary for the average West Virginian. These fines go back to 2014 before Justice was elected governor and was running his businesses full time. According to a settlement agreement made in 2020, the entire debt about $5.13 million was supposed to be paid off by March 1, 2024. Some poor legal assistant emailed the companies legal representatives about the debt dozens of times, and for weeks after they were due. The only thing consistent about [the Justice companies] payments is the fact they are consistently late, the federal attorneys wrote. Thats not just true for payments, its true for Justice in general. As Ive written multiple times, hes consistently late to his own weekly administrative briefings and speaking events. During Fridays briefing, West Virginia Watch reporter Caity Coyne asked Justice if his coal companies are going to pay the fines, and whats the financial situation at the Justice family businesses. In the middle of her question, the audio cut out glitch or on purpose? and Justice said he couldnt hear her well because she was muffled. He did say hes not involved anywhere close to the daily operations to what you would think I would know for our businesses, and if theres a problem, it gets taken care of. We may be a few minutes late to the fire, but we always show up to the fire, Justice said. Well, if you get to the fire once its engulfed the entire structure, its too late. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX WASHINGTON - Billionaire and social media owner Elon Musk conducted a very friendly interview Monday with his endorsed 2024 presidential candidate, Republican Donald Trump - once X was able to broadcast it after a glitch delayed the start by about 40 minutes. Many thousands of X users could not hear a thing when the broadcast began at 8 p.m., eastern time, blocked by Internet denial of service troubles that have plagued the website in previous events. "Worst case, we will proceed with a smaller number of live listeners and post the conversation later," Musk said in an X post as frustrated listeners complained. The broadcast began shortly after 8:40 p.m., with Musk discussing how much he disliked "adversarial" interviews and millions of people listening in. Instead, Musk spent much of the session by asking about the GOP nominee's assassination attempt and discussing their mutual opposition to illegal border crossings. Trump again announced he will soon be traveling back to Butler, Pa., site of last month's shooting. When Musk called the assassination attempt "a very near thing," Trump said: "It was a miracle ... If I hadn't turned my head, yeah, I would not be talking to you right now, as much as I like you." This illustration photo shows former US President Donald Trump mugshot on X (formerly Twitter), on August 24, 2023. In his questioning, the X owner who endorsed Trump last month allowed him to attack Democratic opponent Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden without any pushback on issues like the economy and tense foreign relations. Trump repeated many of the same stories about his presidency he tells on the campaign trail. The ex-president also denounced the criminal cases and lawsuits against him, again without any skepticism from Musk, who at one point attacked "abuse of the legal system." The two men did not discuss campaign fundraising, though Trump marveled at the number of people tuned into the interview and joked at one point: "Do I get paid for this or not?" Aides to Harris called the interview little more than a paid advertisement for the former president. Donald Trumps extremism and dangerous Project 2025 agenda is a feature not a glitch of his campaign, which was on full display for those unlucky enough to listen in," said Harris campaign spokesperson Joseph Costello. "Trumps entire campaign is in service of people like Elon Musk and himself - self-obsessed rich guys who will sell out the middle class and who cannot run a livestream in the year 2024. U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are seen at the Firing Room Four after the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft on NASA's SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. May 30, 2020. The pro-Trump crowd seemed pleased with the two-hour conversation, after numerous users expressed frustration with the problems that delayed the broadcast at its start. "The @realDonaldTrump X space lets me in briefly and then says its unavailable," tweeted U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. Later in the evening, Lee added: Thank you, @realDonaldTrump, for your willingness to serve. The problems were reminiscent of the meltdown that marred Musk's 2023 interview with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to announce his presidential candidacy. Some Trump supporters took the problems in stride. On X, activist Laura Loomer wrote: "President Trump broke the internet. Literally." Trump spokesman Steven Cheung also posted a tribute to "BREAKING THE INTERNET!" The Trump team had hoped to use the event to raise money. In another post on X, the campaign said: "This is the biggest interview in history, and now, were asking YOU to make this President Trumps BIGGEST FUNDRAISING DAY EVER!" Trump critics, meanwhile, reminded Internet viewers what the campaign said about DeSantis' problems during his X interview last year: "Glitchy. Tech issues. Uncomfortable silences. A complete failure to launch. And that's just the candidate." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Elon Musk chats up Donald Trump amid X's tech glitches By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) -Enzo Biochem will pay $4.5 million to settle regulatory charges that lax security protocols contributed to an April 2023 cyberattack that compromised Social Security numbers, health histories and other information for about 2.4 million patients. Tuesday's settlement with New York, New Jersey and Connecticut resolved claims that Enzo did not adequately safeguard patients' personal and private health information, New York Attorney General Letitia James said. According to an assurance of discontinuance signed by Enzo, cyberattackers accessed the biotechnology company's network with two log-in credentials that were shared by five Enzo employees, including one credential that had not changed in a decade. Attackers then installed malware on several systems, which the Farmingdale, New York-based company needed several days to discover because it did not monitor for suspicious activity. Prior to and as part of the settlement, Enzo is bolstering security, including by requiring stronger passwords and two-factor authentication, encrypting personal information, and developing a plan to respond to cyberattacks faster. Enzo began alerting patients to the breach in June 2023. About 1.46 million New Yorkers were affected, including about 405,000 whose Social Security numbers were compromised. New York will receive $2.8 million from the settlement. "Getting blood work or medical testing should not result in patients having their personal and health information stolen by cybercriminals," James said in a statement. Enzo did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company exited clinical lab testing last August. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis) A 74-year-old man from Orange County is facing 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to embezzling nearly $6 million dollars over a period of about six years, federal officials announced Monday. David Robert McDonnell, a resident of Laguna Beach, owned and operated McDonnell Business Services, a company that served as the executor of the estates of wealthy people, a news release from the U.S. Attorneys Central District of California Office stated. Mob of teens violently assault man, break his leg in downtown Los Angeles Prosecutors say that between 2018 and Jan. 2024, the 74-year-old took advantage of his high net-worth clients while he had power of executor of their trusts. As an executor, McDonnells job was to manage the trusts assets and when the individuals died to sell the assets and distribute the proceeds to the trusts beneficiaries, the release stated. Instead of doing this, McDonnell liquidated the assets and diverted funds to his personal bank accounts. In an Aug. 2020 incident, McDonnell wrote himself a $300,000 check from a victims trust in Capistrano Beach. The funds, according to federal prosecutors, were processed by Bank of America through a computer server in Texas. 36 arrested, $25K in stolen merch recovered in Southern California raid McDonnel pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and admitted in his plea agreement that he stole an estimated $5.9 million from approximately four trusts, the release noted. A sentencing hearing for the 74-year-old is scheduled for Dec. 9, at which time he could be sentenced to a maximum 20-year sentence in federal prison. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. Man accused of driving 118 mph down I-84 in Vernon VERNON, Conn. (WTNH) A Mansfield man was arrested Monday after state police say he was driving 118 mph on Interstate 84. Rahnda Charles, 29, of Mansfield, was charged with reckless driving. The charges stem from about 9:40 p.m., when a trooper monitoring traffic on I-84 eastbound near Exit 66 noticed a white Toyota Camry traveling fast in the left lane. Deadly motorcycle crash closes Route 189 in Simsbury Their issued laser recorded the Toyota traveling at 118 mph in a posted 65 mph zone. Charles stopped when the trooper pulled him over. Charles was released on a $5,000 non-surety bond and is scheduled to appear for arraignment at Rockville Superior Court on Aug. 28. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTNH.com. CHICAGO Felony charges have been filed against a Chicago man accused of opening fire on another man inside of an Englewood business on Saturday afternoon. Erick Cameron, a 33-year-old West Englewood resident, is facing several felony charges, including attempted first-degree murder, armed violence with the discharge of a weapon and possession of a controlled substance. LATEST CASES: Missing people in Chicagoland The charges were handed down following an alleged shootout that left Cameron and a 34-year-old man seriously injured over the weekend. Chicago police said the shooting unfolded just before 4:30 p.m. on Saturday inside a business in the 7300 block of South Halsted Street. According to police, the victim was inside the business when Cameron entered and allegedly pulled out a gun and opened fire. Amid the altercation, officers said a separate individual also pulled out a gun and opened fire on Cameron, striking him in the thigh and back Read more: Latest Chicago news and headlines The victim suffered gunshot wounds to his face and arm and was taken to the hospital in serious condition. Both shooters were taken in for questioning shortly after the incident and officers said two weapons were recovered. Cameron appeared in court on Tuesday for a detention hearing and authorities did not provide a booking photo. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV. SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) A San Diego man pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl on an airplane last year, prosecutors said. Ryan Coffey, 33, admitted to giving the girl, whom he did not know and was sitting next to, rum and touching her inner thigh and breasts on an American Airlines evening flight from Charlotte, North Carolina to San Diego on Jan. 7, 2023, the Office of the United States Attorney Southern District of California said in a news release. Coffey was indicted on March 15 for sexual abuse of a minor and abusive sexual contact. Escondido High teacher arrested, suspected of sexual contact with student Thanks to the courage of a brave girl who reported what happened in the dark on a plane, and swift engagement from law enforcement, this defendant was brought to justice, U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath said. The U.S. Attorneys Office is committed to protecting the public in the air, on the ground, or at sea. Acting FBI San Diego Special Agent in Charge TJ Holland called Coffeys conduct abhorrent. The FBI, along with our dedicated law enforcement partners remain committed to using all tools available to follow the evidence and bring those who commit crimes against children to justice, Holland said. Coffey faces a maximum penalty of two years in prison. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News. Man allegedly forced his ex-girlfriend to watch as he dug her grave. Then he murdered her, police say Tony Charboneau (top right) is accused of beating his ex-girlfriend Amy Hogue (left) and tying her to a wheelchair before shooting her in the head and enlisting the help of his new girlfriend Brandi Luffy (bottom right) to help hide the body (GoFundMe/Washington County Sheriffs Office ) A Missouri man is accused of tying his ex-girlfriend to a wheelchair, stomping on her and making her watch as he dug her grave before shooting her in the head and enlisting his new girlfriend to bury her. Tony Charboneau and Brandi Luffy, both of Sullivan, were arrested and charged with murder in the June 20 death of Charboneaus ex-girlfriend, according to Washington County Prosecuting Attorney John Jones. The victim was not named by Jones, but was identified by Washington County Sheriff Zach Jacobsen as 43-year-old Amy Hogue. Her family confirmed Hogues death in a GoFundMe campaign. Hogue went missing in mid-June near the community of Redwoods, according to the Washington County Sheriffs Office. Seven weeks later, on August 2, authorities found Hogues body in a shallow grave near Charboneaus home, the prosecuting attorney said in the release. She had a bullet hole in her skull. Both Charboneau and Luffy were taken into custody and Luffy laid out for law enforcement officials what allegedly happened leading up to Hogues death. Amy Hogues body was found in a shallow grave seven weeks after she went missing (GoFundMe) Charboneau allegedly punched and stomped the victim, a former girlfriend of Charboneau, on June 20, 2024, following a verbal argument, according to probable cause statements filed with the Associate Circuit Court of Washington County. Luffy then told investigators that she helped Charboneau put Hogue in a wheelchair and tied her to the wheelchair using ratchet straps. Charboneau and Luffy left Hogue in the wheelchair while they gathered shovels, a tarp, a pickax and a gun, according to the probable cause statement. According to Luffy, she and Charboneau moved the victim to a spot in the woods where Charboneau shot the victim in the head, then buried her, the prosecutor alleges in the release. Charboneau spent the rest of the day burying her in the grave, covering her with large rocks and tree limbs. Brandi stayed at the vehicle and was a lookout for any persons that may come. Luffy confessed to acting as lookout while Charboneau shot and buried the victim, then helping Charboneau to destroy the ratchet straps and a tarp used in the crime and dispose of the victims purse. Charboneau allegedly punched and stomped his x-girlfriend Amy Hogue before shooting her in the head and enlisting his new girlfriend to help bury the body (Washington County Sheriffs Office) Charboneau is charged with first-degree murder, domestic assault in the first degree, kidnapping in the first degree, abandonment of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution and conspiracy to commit kidnapping. He was previously charged with two instances of domestic assault against the victim, and the charges remain pending in the Washington County Associate Circuit Court, according to the release. Luffy is charged with felony murder, kidnapping in the first degree, abandonment of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution and conspiracy to commit kidnapping. Both Charboneau and Luffy are being held at the Washington County Jail on a $1m bond each. Luffy confessed to acting as lookout while Charboneau shot and buried Hogue (Washington County Sheriffs Office) A GoFundMe has been created to help Hogues family, who were left devastated by her tragic death. Taylor Crider, Hogues daughter-in-law wrote that they are hoping to raise enough money to have her cremated, and to hold a celebration of life in her honor. We want to give Amy the memorial she deserves, to honor her memory and say our last goodbyes, she wrote. As you can imagine, we were not prepared for this at all, she added. We are all devastated. Amy in no way deserved what happened to her. KANSAS CITY, Mo. An Independence man has been charged in connection to a deadly bus stop shooting in May. The Jackson County Prosecutors Office charged Garrett N. King with one count of first-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action, one count of unlawful use of a weapon, one count of unlawful possession of a firearm, and one count of tampering with a vehicle. Burglary causes Liberty gun store to close doors just weeks later The charges are in connection with the May 28, 2024, shooting death of 23-year-old Xavier Keith at East 51st Street and Prospect Avenue. According to the Kansas City Police Department, just after 1 p.m. on May 28, officers were sent to the intersection of East 51st Street and Prospect Avenue less than a block west of Highway 71. After arriving on the scene, officers said they saw a man lying on the sidewalk near a bus stop, suffering from gunshot wounds. Emergency responders were called to the scene and took the man to a hospital, where he later died from his injuries. According to court documents, a handgun, bullet fragments, and 9mm casings were among the evidence gathered at the scene. View the latest headlines from Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas at fox4kc.com Police say surveillance video showed a white Subaru Impreza driving past the victim multiple times before King shot at the victim. Investigators found that earlier in the year, the victims home had been the target of two different shooting incidents. Casings from these shootings matched those found at the murder scene, per court documents. Police discovered the abandoned Subaru in Shawnee, which is where King was arrested. During questioning, King admitted to having past conflicts with the victim but denied involvement in the shooting. [Friday 10:31 AM] Andrew Lynch [12:47 PM] Andrew Lynch Online court records show King has been in the Johnson County Jail since May 30 on charges of felony theft and firearm possession by a felon. If hes extradited, Jackson County prosecutors have requested a $250,000 cash bond. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. Man Charged with Murder of 15-Year-Old Girl Who Vanished in 2017 The teen girl was allegedly brought from Arizona to Iowa by her mother to live on the suspect's farm, police say Winneshiek County Sheriff's Office James David Bachmurski A Georgia man has been charged in the 2017 disappearance of a teen girl. On Monday, August 12, James Bachmurski, 65, from Emanuel County, Ga., was charged with second-degree murder for the death of 15-year-old Jade Marie Colvin, according to the Winneshiek County Sheriffs Office in Iowa. Authorities allege that Colvin's mother brought her to live on Bachmurskis farm in spring 2017, but it is unclear why. She was reportedly last seen or heard from two days after her arrival. Winneshiek County Sheriffs Office was made aware of the teen girls disappearance in May 2022 by the US Marshal Service and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. After a two-year investigation, authorities have arrested Bachmurski in connection with the death of Colvin. The investigation is ongoing with "the possibility of additional charges and arrests," per a press release. Police state that no additional information about the case will be released at the time. It is unclear if Bachmurski has retained an attorney to speak on his behalf. KWWL reports that Bachmurski has his first court appearance on Tuesday, August 13 with a preliminary hearing set for August 20. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. According to property records obtained by Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Bachmurski previously owned more than 400 acres of land near his home and operated a corn maze. He is currently being held at the Winneshiek County Jail without bond. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) The Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) said authorities charged a man with murder in connection to a deadly shooting in Montgomery Village on Monday. Police said that shortly after 11:30 a.m., officers responded to the 19300 block of Club House Road. There, police found a 21-year-old Gaithersburg man suffering from gunshot wounds. Officers tried several life-saving measures, but he died at the scene. Alexandria police shoot, kill man allegedly armed with gun, police say Montgomery County police officers on the scene of a deadly shooting in Montgomery Village on Aug. 12. (Kevon Dupree/ DC News Now) Crime scene tape was up on Club House Road after a deadly shooting on Aug. 12. (Kevon Dupree/ DC News Now) After interviewing witnesses and processing evidence, detectives identified 20-year-old Oliver Alexis Perez Fierro, of Montgomery Village, as the alleged shooter. He was taken into custody and to the Montgomery County Public Safety Headquarters. Police said detectives served a warrant at Fierros home, where they discovered evidence. Search continues for 28-year-old Manassas mother missing for nearly two weeks As a result, authorities charged Fierro with first-degree murder and use of a handgun in the commission of a felony. Fierro was being held at the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit and was awaiting a bond hearing. Police believed the shooting was isolated between the victim and Fierro. The victims name has not been released at this time. The investigation is ongoing. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. ZANESVILLE, Ohio (WCMH) A Zanesville woman will spend a decade in prison for selling a man the drugs that led to his overdose death. Tashia Stevens, 41, pleaded guilty Monday to involuntary manslaughter and trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound in the Muskingum County Court of Common Pleas. A judge sentenced her to ten years in prison for the pair of felonies. On Feb. 22, 2024, law enforcement officers found a man who had overdosed on drugs in the bathroom of an area business. Emergency crews took him to to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Columbus police receive funding to process sexual assault kits faster Investigators found the victims phone while searching him. Once his phone was unlocked, they saw text messages between the victim and Stevens, which included evidence of drug transactions. In early May, investigators found and questioned Stevens, who admitted to selling drugs to the victim. Stevens holds responsibility for supplying the victim with the drugs that ended his life, according to the Muskingum County Prosecutors Office. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV. ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), the largest U.S.-based energy stock by market cap, has been a reliable dividend stock for decades. Despite the volatility of oil and natural gas prices, Exxon has paid and raised its dividend for 42 consecutive years. While Exxon is knocking on the door of an all-time high, other companies in the oil and gas and renewable energy industries have seen their stock prices tumble. Here's why Chevron (NYSE: CVX), Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN), and Brookfield Renewable (NYSE: BEPC) (NYSE: BEP) stand out as top high-yield dividend stocks to buy now. Image source: Getty Images. Like Exxon, Chevron has been a consistent passive income powerhouse Daniel Foelber (Chevron): In a vacuum, Chevron reported a good quarter. But not relative to its U.S. peer, ExxonMobil. Everything is working for Exxon right now, which may be why it has outperformed Chevron over the last year. XOM data by YCharts Exxon just reported its best second-quarter results in over a decade. Its acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources was a success, while Chevron's similar-sized acquisition of Hess is chock-full of uncertainty. Hess, Exxon, and CNOOC are part of a consortium to drill offshore Guyana in the coveted Stabroek Block. The low cost of production and rich reserves are a key reason why Chevron wanted to buy Hess in the first place. However, Exxon and CNOOC are resisting the acquisition and pushing the case to arbitration proceedings. On the earnings call, Chevron reiterated its confidence that the deal will go through. But that's mostly based on its own shareholder vote. "Absent Hess, we've got a 10% growth in free cash flow," said Chevron CEO Michael Wirth on the second-quarter earnings call. "We've got projects coming on and numerous basins in the world and in our chemicals business as well. So we're really focused on that and creating value there. But if another opportunity were to present itself that were compelling, we're certainly in a position to consider it." For several quarters now, Chevron has made the case that Hess is a good fit, but it is still thriving without it. But the market hates uncertainty, and having a $53 billion deal up in the air is just one more unchecked box that may lead some investors to prefer Exxon over Chevron right now. After all, it has been nearly 10 months since Chevron first announced plans to buy Hess. It takes time to integrate an acquisition, begging the question of whether Chevron would be better off throwing in the towel and buying a different exploration and production company. In a way, it is doing just that by ramping up the pace of buybacks. As you can see in the chart, Chevron is now repurchasing around triple the amount of stock it was buying pre-pandemic. Story continues CVX Stock Buybacks (TTM) Chart Companies make acquisitions to boost profits. But stock buybacks accomplish the same goal, just in a different way. Instead of increasing earnings per share, buybacks reduce the number of shares outstanding. With fewer shares to go around, there are greater earnings per share. Chevron has an incredibly efficient cash cow of a business. If the Hess deal does fall through, it wouldn't be the worst idea to do a massive buyback. Chevron stock isn't overpriced and is arguably a good value compared to riskier plays in the oil patch. With 37 consecutive years of dividend raises and a 4.5% yield, Chevron stands out as an excellent dividend stock to consider now. A cash flow generating oil and gas stock to buy Lee Samaha (Devon Energy): It's hard to know precisely what Devon Energy will pay in dividends this year. That's mainly because it has a flexible capital return policy to shareholders. Management targets returning 70% of its free cash flow through a fixed dividend of $0.22 per share a quarter, a variable dividend payment, and opportunistic share buybacks. The remaining 30% is allocated toward improving the balance sheet, such as the $2.5 billion debt reduction program announced on the announcement of the $5 billion purchase of Grayson Mill, adding to its assets in the Williston Basin in North Dakota. Assuming the worst-case scenario of merely the fixed dividend of $0.88 a year gives a dividend yield of 2.1% at the current price. However, the trailing total dividend (which includes the variable dividend) is $2.05, implying a 4.95% dividend yield. While it's difficult to know what Devon will pay out this year, not least as the dip in the share price makes share buybacks more attractive, management is clear it's expecting significant free cash flow generation in the coming year. For example, based on a price of oil of $70 a barrel, at the time of the announcement of the Grayson Mill deal, management said it expected a 9% FCF yield. Since the share price was around $47 at the time, and the share price is $41.34 at the time of writing, interpolating the numbers suggests a 10% FCF yield at the current price. If 70% of FCF is going toward returning cash, then Devon could, theoretically at least, be trading on a 7% dividend yield. While it's highly unlikely not to make share buybacks, there should be plenty of cash left over for a highly attractive dividend, provided the price of oil behaves. Stable cash flows support Brookfield Renewable's high-yield dividend Scott Levine (Brookfield Renewable): The appeal of high-yield dividend stocks is undeniable. But an industry leader that provides prodigious passive income to investors? That's considerably more alluring. This is the case with green energy powerhouse Brookfield Renewable. Operating a global portfolio of renewable energy assets, Brookfield Renewable generates consistent cash flows through its long-term power purchase agreements with customers, providing ample support for its dividend, which currently represents a forward yield of 5.1%. With an average contract length of 13 years, Brookfield Renewable is afforded great insight into future cash flows. This luxury helps the company plan accordingly for capital expenditures such as acquisitions and dividends. This is clearly illustrated by the significant degree to which the company's funds from operations have underpinned the dividend in the past. BEP FFO Per Share (Annual) Chart In the years ahead, management plans to maintain the same responsible approach to the dividend. While targeting annual funds from operation growth of 10% per share, management estimates it will hike the payout by 5% to 9% annually. And if this isn't enough to mitigate the fears of conservative investors who question the Brookfield Renewable's financial well-being in light of its high dividend, perhaps they'll feel better after learning of the company's investment grade balance sheet, rated BBB+ by Standard & Poor's. It's neither only income investors nor renewable energy aficionados who will find Brookfield Renewable appealing right now. With shares trading at 4.4 times operating cash flow -- a discount to their five-year average cash flow multiple of 5.7 -- value investors will also be encouraged to power their portfolios with Brookfield Renewable right now. Should you invest $1,000 in Chevron right now? Before you buy stock in Chevron, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now and Chevron wasnt one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, youd have $641,864!* Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than quadrupled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of August 12, 2024 Daniel Foelber has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Lee Samaha has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Scott Levine has positions in Brookfield Renewable. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Brookfield Renewable, Chevron, and S&P Global. The Motley Fool recommends Brookfield Renewable Partners. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. ExxonMobil Is a Rock-Solid Dividend Stock, but So Are These High-Yield Stocks That Are Down Between 4% and 15% Over the Last Year was originally published by The Motley Fool Man detained on suspicion of murdering Ukrainian released in Rostock, Germany The Prosecutor's Office of the German city of Rostock has decided to release a 26-year-old Ukrainian man who was previously detained on suspicion of murdering a 46-year-old Ukrainian refugee. Source: a joint statement by the Prosecutor's Office and the Rostock police, European Pravda reports Details: The Prosecutor's Office noted that the investigation is ongoing with respect to the 26-year-old Ukrainian suspected of the murder, but at the moment the Rostock Prosecutor's Office "does not see any reasonable suspicion". "For this reason, the man was released from custody today," they added. Background: The body of a 46-year-old Ukrainian was found in a specialist centre for refugees on the afternoon of Monday, 12 August. A staff member notified the police and emergency services, but a paramedic could only pronounce the Ukrainian dead on the spot. According to law enforcement officers, the circumstances of the death point to a murder. The 26-year-old suspect was detained on the same day. Support UP or become our patron! Man dies of heat exposure after crashing car off embankment in Death Valley National Park A second man has died of heat exposure in California's Death Valley National Park this summer, according to the National Park Service. Peter Hayes Robino, 57, a Los Angeles resident, died of hyperthermia on Aug. 1, the park announced Monday. Bystanders saw Robino stumble as he returned from the National Bridge Trail -- a 1-mile round-trip journey -- and offered to help him but he declined, the NPS said, adding bystanders said his responses were not making sense. PHOTO: Peter Hayes Robino's vehicle at Death Valley National Park, Aug. 1, 2024. (National Park Service) Robino then got in his car and drove off a steep, 20-foot embankment at the edge of the parking lot and his car rolled over, deploying its airbags. A bystander left to call 911 and other bystanders helped him walk back to the parking lot and sit in the shade, the NPS said. Bystanders said Robino was still breathing until just before park rangers arrived to provide help, according to officials. NPS emergency responders said they provided Robino with CPR and moved him to an air-conditioned ambulance. MORE: 20-year-old woman found dead in Grand Canyon following multiday search: NPS He was declared dead shortly afterward, according to the park service. The temperature reached 119 degrees in Death Valley that afternoon. PHOTO: A trailhead sign lists details on the extreme heat risks at Death Valley National Park in Death Valley, Calif., Aug. 6, 2024. (Bridget Bennett for The Washington Post via Getty Images) MORE: 20-year-old man falls 400 feet to his death from rim of Grand Canyon Symptoms of overheating can include confusion, irritability and lack of coordination. Park rangers in Death Valley National Park advise summer visitors to avoid the heat by staying in or near air conditioning, not hiking at low elevations after 10 a.m., drinking plenty of water and eating salty snacks. "My condolences go out to Mr. Robinos family and friends," said Mike Reynolds, a superintendent at the park and emergency medical technician who responded to the incident. "His death serves as a reminder not to underestimate the dangers of extreme heat." Man dies of heat exposure after crashing car off embankment in Death Valley National Park originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Robino's vehicle below Natural Bridge parking lot. (NPS) Robinos vehicle below Natural Bridge parking lot. (NPS) A second person has died in Death Valley National Park due to heat. A Los Angeles County man visiting the park died of heat exposure on Aug. 1 at the Natural Bridge Trailhead, the National Park Service said in a news release. Temperatures measured 119 degrees Fahrenheit at the Furnace Creek weather station that afternoon when, after a 1-mile walk, bystanders said 57-year-old Peter Hayes Robino stumbled and had trouble speaking, but he said he was okay. Robino got in a car but drove off a 20-foot embankment on the edge of the parking lot. Bystanders walked him back up to a shaded area in the parking lot, but Robino stopped breathing shortly thereafter. NPS emergency responders arrived on the scene and declared the man dead. An autopsy by the Inyo County Coroner found he died from hyperthermia. A sign warns people of extreme heat in multiple languages on Tuesday, July 11, 2023, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. July is the hottest month at the park with an average high of 116 degrees (46.5 Celsius). (AP Photo/Ty ONeil) A sign warns people of extreme heat in multiple languages on Tuesday, July 11, 2023, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. July is the hottest month at the park with an average high of 116 degrees (46.5 Celsius). (AP Photo/Ty ONeil) "My condolences go out to Mr. Robino's family and friends," Mike Reynolds, an EMT who responded to the call, said. "His death serves as a reminder not to underestimate the dangers of extreme heat," Reynolds added. In July, a motorcyclist died from heat exposure in the park while a man suffered third-degree burns on his feet as temperatures soared above 120 degrees. Death Valley reached 129 degrees on July 7, 2024, and afternoon highs were above 120 for 24 days in the month. July was the hottest month on record in the park, with reliable records going back to 1940. Officially, the park is the location of the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth, 134 degrees in 1913, but some scientists refute this record. Man donating blood platelets in every state for 3rd time is in RI on Tuesday PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) The Rhode Island Blood Center is asking for help since they are still dangerously low on blood donations, particularly platelets. These platelets are liquid gold running through our veins, according to the RIBC, and while everyone who donates is a superhero, platelet donors are extra special. Founder of Platelets Across America 87-year-old Al Whitney has donated platelets in every state across the country twice already and is now doing it for the third time. Youre not donating blood, youre donating life, he said Whitney started his lifesaving journey nearly 60 years ago in Ohio with his first blood donation. Since then, he has organized hundreds of blood drives, donated five gallons of whole blood, and more than 1,000 units of platelets across the country. He will be in Rhode Island on Tuesday. RELATED: Rhode Island faces critical need for type O blood I think it just shows how easy blood donation is, I mean he is a superstar in that he is donating platelets in all 50 states, RIBC Marketing and Communications Manager Caitlin Grimaldi-Flick said. Its really easy and I just encourage everyone to follow in Als footsteps and be a superhero to those in our community who need this life-saving product. Platelets are tiny cells in your blood that form clots and stop bleeding. They are used to treat cancer patients, trauma patients, and people with bleeding disorders. The donation process is longer than most and can take up to two hours. As you are pumping blood, a machine separates the platelets and sends the red cells back into your veins. Its still trauma season so we are seeing that increased need, the Labor Day holiday is right around the corner which also means back to school is right around the corner so families are getting busy with getting those last-minute vacations, but also getting ready for school so blood donation is not necessarily top of mind, Grimaldi-Flick said. So we really still need everybody to come out whether its whole blood or platelet donors. To make an appointment or learn more about donating blood you can call (401) 453 8383 or visit ribc.org. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Roundup Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WPRI.com. MEMPHIS, Tenn. A man convinced a bank teller to give him $2,000 after pretending to have been kidnapped and held hostage, police say. The suspects wife told police that the entire charade was for crack cocaine. On Monday, the Memphis Police Department received a call from a bank employee at the First South Financial Credit Union on Madison Avenue. The woman told officers that there was a customer inside the bank who claimed he was being held hostage and was being forced to withdraw money from banks for his kidnappers. Reports say the man first entered the bank around 10 a.m. and tried to withdraw $2,000 from his joint bank account, but the teller told him that his wife had withdrawn the money from the account earlier that morning. The man left the bank in a grey Yukon and returned later that day. He allegedly asked the teller to call his wife so that she would return the money to their account. He also asked the woman to call the police and claimed to be held hostage by two kidnappers in the Yukon outside. Woman uses Molotov cocktail to burn neighbors house: Police Police say he told the bank employee that he would be harmed if he did not give the kidnappers $2,000. The employee gave him the money and the man left the bank. Officers arrived on the scene as the suspect was walking out of the building. The man, identified as Mark Hamilton, was detained on the scene, and the driver of the Yukon fled. After speaking with Hamiltons wife, police say it became clear that the kidnapping was a hoax and all of the money would be spent on crack cocaine. See more breaking news, local news and weather from WREG.com for Memphis and the Mid-South. Sign up for WREG newsletters and have the latest top stories sent right to your inbox. She allegedly told police that she withdrew all of the money from their bank account earlier that morning because her husband was a drug addict. Police were also informed that the other man in the Yukon was his crack dealer. The Yukon was later found at a home in Parkway Village and was released to the suspects wife. Police say Hamilton also claimed to have attempted the same scheme at a Navy Federal in Millington. Hamilton was charged with theft of property $1,000-$2,500 and extortion. He is being held on a $20,000 bond. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com. (KRON) A man attempted to cross over a massive active rockslide on Highway 1 south of Big Sur even after he was warned he will probably die, the California Highway Patrol said. Despite receiving strong warnings, Cody Lynn Mortensen attempted to cross Regent Slide, and he tumbled 100 feet down a cliff toward the beach below, according to the CHP. A Big Sur Fire Department search and rescue team later found the injured man and launched a rescue mission. The incident began on Friday morning when Mortensen approached a construction crew on his bicycle. The construction site is located two miles south from where Highway 1 has been closed all summer due to the rock slide. One construction worker gave Mortensen a bottle of water and advised him that Highway 1 was closed at Post Mile 27.8 because of Regent Slide. The construction worker warned, If he attempted to cross he will probably die. The crew member also told him that if he gets caught by CHP in the closure he would be cited. Mortensen said he was going to try anyways, CHP Officer Saul Perez wrote. A search and rescue team is seen at Regent Slide on Aug. 9, 2024. (Photo courtesy California Highway Patrol) Mortensen rode his bicycle past road closure signs and fell down the rock slide. A rescue team responded. As they were looking across the slide, they saw a backpack and a bloody arm approximately 100 feet below them, Perez wrote. Mortensen was rescued on the beach and flown in a helicopter to Natividad Medical Center. He was treated for his injuries before CHP officers arrested Mortensen. He was booked into the Monterey County Jail on suspicion of failing to obey a person directing traffic and failing to obey the traffic signs and signals. Video: Huge shark follows Half Moon Bay kayakers He also endangered the lives of rescue personnel who had to traverse an active slide. Road closures are put in place for the safety of the public as well as for the crews working within the closure. It is against the law to drive, ride or walk past a road closed sign, Perez wrote. Regent Slide was trigged by a winter storm that pummeled the region. California Department of Transportation officials said the slide is expected to be cleared by late fall. Roughly 300,000 cubic yards of dirt and rock will be removed. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4. CHICAGO A man was killed in a shooting Monday afternoon in the citys Austin neighborhood. Chicago police said the shooting happened at around 4:15 p.m. in the 4800 block of West Madison Street. According to investigators, a 40-year-old man was on the sidewalk when a vehicle pulled up. Thats when a suspect inside the vehicle started shooting at him. 4 men shot inside South Loop strip club Police said the man was shot multiple times and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital where he was pronounced dead. No other information was released and Area Four Detectives are investigating. Anyone with additional information may leave an anonymous tip at cpdtip.com. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV. A man was shot to death in Washington Park on Sunday. Leon Richardson, 67, was pronounced dead at 2:14 p.m. at the scene of the shooting in the 5000 block of North Park Drive, said St. Clair County Coroner Calvin Dye Sr. Witnesses told officers they heard three gunshots around 11:57 a.m. behind Good Samaritan Ministries of the Metro East, according to the Washington Park Police Department. Richardson lived in a housing pod near Good Samaritan. Local police asked the Illinois State Police Division of Criminal Investigation to investigate a body found. The investigation is in its infancy and no further information is available at this time, state police said in a press release. VIENNA, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) Around 11 p.m. on Aug. 12, the Oneida County Sheriffs Office was sent to a fire at a mobile home on Mulholland Road, in the Town of Vienna. At the scene, the fire was fully involved, according to police. Minor dropped off at Upstate Hospital with a gunshot wound, listed in critical condition Once the fire was put out, first responders and deputies found a deceased man inside the home. An investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing. The name of the victim will be released when identification has been made. Sheriffs deputies were assisted on the scene by the North Bay, Vienna, Camden, Sylvan Beach, Cleveland Volunteer Fire Departments, and State Fire. Latest local news Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSYR. By Kenrick Cai and Max A. Cherney MOUNTAIN VIEW, California - Alphabet's Google on Tuesday unveiled a lineup of new Pixel smartphones with deeper integrations of its artificial intelligence technology as it races to incorporate AI into its hardware. The upgrades include a Pixel-only feature that lets users search for information stored in screenshots. Android users can also now pull up Gemini, Googles chatbot, as an overlay on top of another app to answer questions or generate content. "There have been so many promises, so many coming-soons, and not enough real-world helpfulness when it comes to AI, which is why today we're getting real," said Rick Osterloh, Google's senior vice president of devices and services. "We're fully in the Gemini era," he told engineers, executives, analysts and media attending the bigger-than-usual event at Alphabet's Bay View campus in Mountain View, California. The event bucked another tradition: the latest versions of its Pixel smartphones were announced in the summer rather than in autumn as Google had done with every iteration of the device since its launch in 2016. "I've been to a lot of Google events and not only was this one of the most elaborate, but it was one of the most complete," said Avi Greengart, lead analyst at Techsponential. He said Google demonstrated that it was at the forefront of AI. The earlier timing of the event is Googles latest bid to keep up with rivals in injecting AI features into its consumer-facing products and comes ahead of Apple's planned launch of a new iPhone in September. In June, Apple announced that devices including its latest version of iPhones would get upgrades that include Apple Intelligence, a slew of generative AI-powered features within native applications, and an integration with ChatGPT, the chatbot developed by Microsoft-backed OpenAI. Google employees showcased several live demos of new Gemini functions, such as a voice conversation feature, though an attempt to use Gemini to cross-reference a picture of a concert poster with the calendar app took three tries and two devices to run successfully. Pixel 9, the base 6.3-inch display model, will retail at a starting price of $799, which is $100 more than the previous model. This and the 6.8-inch Pixel 9 Pro XL will begin shipping later in August, a company spokesperson said. The Pixel 9 Pro, which comes with added features like a better camera, and the foldable Pixel 9 Pro Fold will ship in September. The new gadgets are available to preorder on Tuesday. Story continues 'MANAGE MY LIFE BETTER' "The two things that (consumers are) looking at AI to do right now is organization and that's across communications, across calendaring, basically manage my life better than I can and then the other thing is content creation," said IDC analyst Linn Huang. "I think Google nailed both." Google holds less than 1% market share in global smartphone shipments as of the second quarter of 2024, according to IDC. It trails far behind Samsungs market share of 18.9% and Apple's market share of 15.8%, in part because Google has entered fewer markets and is focused on higher-end price segments. In the United States, Google's 4.5% share makes it the fourth-biggest smartphone maker. The Pixel line has also enabled Google to show off advances and spur the developer ecosystem around its Android operating system, which is used by device manufacturers like Samsung. Android, globally, is installed on more than 80% of smartphones. Android represents one of several frontlines where Google is battling competitors to embed AI in ways that consumers will use. In May, it debuted a swath of upgrades to core products like its search engine. The company's engineers redesigned the Pixel's exterior and included camera upgrades as well as Google's new Tensor G4 chip. Google announced new versions of its smartwatch, the Pixel Watch 3, and Pixel Buds Pro 2 wireless earbuds on Tuesday as well. Google also added a Loss of Pulse feature to the new Pixel Watch. The feature uses algorithms to determine whether a users heart has stopped and can contact emergency services. The feature will be available in the United Kingdom and the European Union. Also on Tuesday, Google and Peloton, the fitness company known for its stationary bike, announced a content partnership in which subscribers to Google's Fitbit Premium service would gain access to a library of Peloton's training classes. (Reporting by Kenrick Cai and Max A. Cherney in Mountain View, California; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh and Matthew Lewis) KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) State prosecutors say a man has pleaded guilty to a 2010 sexual assault at Western Michigan University. Cameron Alvarez, 34, of Livonia, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree criminal conduct in 9th Circuit Court in Kalamazoo on Friday, according to a news release from Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessels office. He faces up to 25 years in prison. Man charged in case of 2010 rape at WMU Alvarez was charged in 2022 for a sexual assault committed in January 2010 on WMUs campus. The victim testified that Alvarez raped her in her dorm when she was a freshman. He was a sophomore, the release said. The victim did not pursue criminal charges in 2010, in part, because she felt that her assault was not taken seriously by police when she reported it. Court records show she reported it that night and underwent a rape examination, but the case didnt go anywhere until it was taken up by the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative in 2016, the release said. More allegations against 2010 sex assault suspect Six other women have accused Alvarez of sexual assault that happened between 2009 and 2014 in Oakland, Kalamazoo, and Ingham County, according to Nessels office. Alvarez was arrested in Port St. Lucie, Florida, where he has lived for about seven years, in May 2022 and brought back to Michigan, where he was formally charged on June 3, 2022. He will be sentenced on Sept. 16. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com. A man pleaded guilty to giving rum to a 14-year-old girl, who was sitting next to him on a flight before sexually abusing her on an American Airlines flight from Charlotte to San Diego, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office, Southern District of California. Family sues American Airlines after daughter finds camera in plane bathroom Ryan Coffey, 33, of San Diego, pleaded guilty Monday to the charges that happened on Jan. 7, 2023. He was 31 at the time. He admitted to giving the girl rum and touching her inner thigh and breasts. They didnt know each other. Coffey was indicted on March 15 for sexual abuse of a minor and abusive sexual contact stemming from what he did on that flight. Thanks to the courage of a brave girl who reported what happened in the dark on a plane, and swift engagement from law enforcement, this defendant was brought to justice, said U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath in a news release. The U.S. Attorneys Office is committed to protecting the public in the air, on the ground, or at sea. He faces a maximum of two years in prison. SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) A 20-year-old man has been sentenced to twenty years in prison for an armed robbery and kidnapping of college students in 2022. Spartanburg County officials said Tajuan Devon Garrett, of Spartanburg, pleaded guilty Friday for a slew of crimes against two Wofford College students on February 20, 2022. Investigators said Garrett was armed with a handgun along with a codefendant when they approached the students in a parked vehicle on Woffords campus shortly after midnight. Garrett was wearing all black with sunglasses and a ski mask to obscure his face. Garrett and the codefendant entered the vehicle and separated the students by forcing one of the victims to sit in front of the car and the other to sit in the rear. The victims were threatened to keep their heads down according to officials. Garrett sat in the back of the vehicle while the codefendant drove the car to Founders Credit Union and Bank of America on East Main Street, investigators said. Money was withdrawn using a bank card that belonged to one of the students. The suspects drove to another location in the city and took jewelry along with other belongings from the students before walking away with the keys to the vehicle. Later that day, Garrett sold the victims phones using a self-serve kiosk in Westgate Mall. Garrett was apprehended two weeks after the incident. Authorities found distinctive boots the suspect was wearing during the robbery and a stolen pistol in his vehicle. On August 9, Garrett pleaded guilty to the following: Attempted armed robbery (two counts) Sentenced to 20 years Kidnapping (two counts) Sentenced to 20 years Possession of a weapon during commission of a violent crime Sentenced to 5 years Possession of a stolen pistol Sentenced to 5 years Unlawful carrying of a handgun Sentenced to a year Receiving stolen goods (two counts) Sentenced to 30 days Obtaining goods by false pretenses (two counts) Sentenced to 30 days All of Garretts sentences shall be served concurrently with each other according to officials. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSPA 7NEWS. CORTLAND, Ohio (WKBN) A man who was previously accused of felony animal cruelty-related charges pleaded guilty to amended charges on Monday. According to court records, Elijah Waldrop pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of prohibitions concerning companion animals. Waldrop was previously charged with two felony counts of prohibitions concerning companion animals. Last month, police said Waldrop was accused of leaving puppies in a hot car. Waldrop was sentenced to serve two years of probation and to pay fines and court fees. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. AUSTINTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) An Austintown man was sentenced last Wednesday in a gun case after he pleaded guilty to amended charges. According to court records, Jason Goodspeed pleaded guilty to two minor misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct. Goodspeed was previously charged with aggravated menacing and improper handling of firearms in a motor vehicle. As a result of the plea, his charge of discharging a firearm on our near prohibited premises was dismissed. Police arrested Goodspeed in July on a warrant for an incident in April that police said involved gunfire. At Goodspeeds preliminary hearing in Mahoning County Court #4, he was ordered to pay fines and court costs. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) A Sioux City man has pleaded not guilty to vehicular homicide after a crash that killed two people. According to court documents, Kenry Rodney Silas, 26, pleaded not guilty to two counts of vehicular homicide, one count of serious injury by vehicle, one count of possession of a controlled substance, and one count of operating while intoxicated. The pleas came Monday from a written arraignment. Mother arrested 37 years after babys body found in California dumpster The charges stem from a deadly crash that took place on July 21. The crash took place in the evening at the intersection of W. 3rd Street and Rebecca Street. Silas allegedly hit a vehicle broadside, killing the driver at the scene and the female passenger who was taken to the hospital after the crash, Sandro Sanchez Mendez, 51, and Susana Estrade Molina, 39, respectively. Court documents stated that officials noted Silas smelled of alcohol and also found beer containers in his vehicle. They also found marijuana on him during a search. Silas was arrested after the deadly crash and held in Woodbury County Jail on a $6,000 bond. Silas will appear in court on Oct. 16 with a jury trial scheduled for Oct. 22 at 9:30 a.m. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports. WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) A man accused of lying about his military status during his trial was sentenced Tuesday following his guilty plea on a perjury charge. Read next: Tropical Storm Ernesto forecast to become hurricane Kotey Paden, 32, received a two-year sentence in a domestic violence case in May. Prosecutors say during that trial, Paden testified he was a combat veteran while serving in the U.S. military overseas, but prosecutors said they later found that Paden had been dishonorably discharged from the service due to criminal offenses and that he did not serve overseas. A Trumbull County grand jury later returned an indictment on a perjury charge against Paden for those alleged lies he told during the trial. Tuesday, Paden received an additional 18-month sentence for that conviction, but it was to be served concurrently with his original sentence. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. Man sentenced to 9 years in federal prison for armed robberies in Albuquerque ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) A French national was sentenced to 111 months in federal prison for a series of armed robberies in Albuquerque on Halloween in 2019. On the morning of October 31, 2019, Mathis Laau, 26, entered the lobby of Motel 6 located at 13141 Central Ave. NE and demanded money as he pointed a gun at the clerk, according to court documents. Albuquerque couple accused of armed robberies at 3 Blakes Lotaburgers and a dispensary Laau was given $300 and he left. Later that same day, he went to the Circle K store at 5301 Wyoming Boulevard NE, pointed a gun at an employee, and demanded cash from the register. After taking approximately $175 and several packs of cigarettes, Laau fled the scene in a waiting vehicle driven by his girlfriend, court documents state. Albuquerque Police Department detectives followed the vehicle and arrested Laau and his girlfriend at the intersection of Louisiana Boulevard and Constitution Avenue. Laau and Jasmine Montoya were accused of robbing 20 businesses. Police were able to identify the duo with surveillance video after they were seen using a distinctive silver and purple gun. When released from prison, Laau will undergo three years of supervised release, which will convert to unsupervised release if he is deported to France. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. ST. LOUIS A man convicted of spreading counterfeit $100 bills around the St. Louis area was sentenced to federal prison on Tuesday. Barry Young, 45, of Memphis, Tennessee, was sentenced to 20 months behind bars. Investigators say that Young passed along $3,300 in counterfeit bills across several stores in the St. Louis region last year. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Young used up to four fake $100 bills at a time for various purchases in February and March 2023. Investigators say that Young targeted stores in Arnold, Brentwood, Crestwood, Fenton and Perryville. Young pleaded guilty in April to one felony count of passing counterfeit obligations. If you suspect you may have ended up with counterfeit cash, there are a few ways to tell, according to a March report from Nexstar affiliate The Hill. First, many retailers and restaurants used counterfeit detection pens. You can also use a light to examine the bill and check for watermarks, serial numbers and other features. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2. Key news highlights: Mowilex won an Indonesia's Best Managed Companies award from Deloitte for the third year in a row. Just 1,300 companies worldwide are named to the Best Managed Companies list, earning recognition for excellence in strategy, innovation, culture and governance. In the past year, Mowilex received a fifth consecutive carbon neutral certification and recorded new product and environmental innovations. JAKARTA, Indonesia, Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- An innovative approach to strategy, culture and community impact helped PT Mowilex Indonesia (Mowilex) earn a spot-on Deloitte's Best Managed Companies in Indonesia list for the third year in a row. The 2024 recognition puts Mowilex, a leading producer of premium paints and coatings, in an exclusive network of just 1,300 global brands to win this prestigious award. PT Mowilex Indonesia won the 2024 Best Managed Companies in Indonesia award from Deloitte for the third consecutive year. The announcement came on August 8, during an awards ceremony at Grand Hyatt Jakarta. How did Mowilex impress the independent judging panel that evaluated the company's industry-leading performance, excellent business practices and sustained growth? "It all starts with our commitment to innovation, plus a focus on environmental responsibility, ethics and building meaningful connections with our communities, employees and stakeholders," says Niko Safavi, CEO of PT Mowilex Indonesia. "Mowilex takes a unique approach to corporate strategy, culture and governance, and that's what helped us earn our third annual award from Deloitte. We're proud to be recognised as a market leader, and we continue working hard to be Indonesia's most trusted paint brand." Since winning its previous Deloitte award in 2023, Mowilex has further expanded its environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives. The company, which became Indonesia's first certified carbon neutral manufacturer in 2019, earned a fifth consecutive carbon neutral certification in late 2023. To do that, Mowilex continues investing in projects that significantly increase the company's efficiency. A new Cikande production plant inaugurated in 2023 conserves resources through a zero-waste water system for domestic wastewater, along with skylights and various smart technologies. The updates reduced average monthly electricity use by 4.03% compared to FY2022. Additionally, the ratio of electricity usage per production output decreased by 3.47%. New solar panels at the Mowilex headquarters cut that facility's carbon emissions by 22% in 2023, and the company recently completed its pledge to plant 50,000 mangrove trees that are increasing its positive environmental impact across Indonesia. Mowilex also supports several offset projects that advance United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Mowilex earned a 2024 Top Brand Award for its strong brand performance and customer loyalty in the Indonesian market. Frost & Sullivan named Mowilex Indonesian Company of the Year in 2024, praising its eco-friendly products and resource-efficient operations. Mowilex has also earned Green Label certification in both Indonesia and Singapore, along with additional awards for product innovation and continuous improvement. Company employees at all levels enjoy inclusive learning opportunities, and Mowilex supports its local communities with major donations of volunteer time and products including more than 7,650 donated litres of paint in 2023 alone. Mowilex representatives joined Deloitte executives to celebrate the 2024 Indonesia's Best Managed Companies awards during an August 8 ceremony at Jakarta's Grand Hyatt Hotel. "The winners of Indonesia's Best Managed Companies awards stand out for their innovation, purpose-driven value creation, industry leadership, commitment to sustainability, active talent engagement and customer-centric mindset. Having witnessed the evolution of the winners through the awards process, particularly for those who have participated over recent years, it is remarkable to see how they have raised the bar for success among private businesses in Indonesia," says How Kiat Chua, Best Managed Companies leader, Deloitte Southeast Asia. This year's Best Managed Companies, recognized by Deloitte Private's flagship program, are located in 46 countries across the Americas, Europe, and Asia Pacific, serving private clients of all sizes. Learn more about Mowilex products and ESG programs at Mowilex.com. About PT Mowilex Indonesia PT Mowilex Indonesia (Mowilex), a subsidiary of Asia Coatings Enterprises, Pte. Ltd., is a leading producer of premium paints and coatings. Since launching the first Indonesian-made, water-based paints in 1970, the company has expanded its commitment to environmental ethics, equality, community and innovation. PT Mowilex is Indonesia's only certified carbon neutral manufacturer, producing zero and low VOC paints in modern colours, and the company regularly wins awards for its corporate social responsibility and sustainability efforts. media@mowilex.com Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/heres-why-deloitte-named-mowilex-one-of-indonesias-best-managed-companies-for-a-third-consecutive-year-302220653.html SOURCE PT Mowilex Indonesia Man shot to death near dumpster in south Las Vegas valley LAS VEGAS (KLAS) Las Vegas Metro police found a man shot to death near a dumpster in the south Las Vegas valley on Sunday. Around 10 p.m. on Aug. 11, police responded to a report of an unresponsive man lying near a garbage bin in the 5000 block of Maryland Parkway, near Tropicana Avenue. Man dead after argument escalates to shooting in northeast Las Vegas: police LVMPD investigators believe the man was talking with several people prior to the shooting. The suspects left the scene right before officers arrived. Emergency responders pronounced the man dead at the scene, police said. This is an ongoing investigation. Investigators ask anyone with information on the shooting to contact the LVMPD Homicide Section at 702-828-3521 or via email at homicide@lvmpd.com. Additionally, those wishing to remain anonymous can contact Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555 or via the organizations website. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS. BOARDMAN, Ohio (WKBN) A man was taken to the hospital Saturday after a fight at Southern Park Mall, according to police. Boardman police were dispatched to the food court at the Southern Park Mall just before 2 p.m. Saturday for reports of an assault that left the victim unconscious on the floor. The victim was at the mall with his brother, who told police he witnessed several guys punching his brother in the face and joined the fight to prevent his brother from being assaulted further, reports state. Security footage from a nearby store provided to police captured the incident, which showed two men approaching the victim and getting into a verbal argument before the assault occurred. Reports state the victim had cuts along his cheek, and a bloody nose and that his eye was swollen shut, as well as a possible concussion. He was transported from the scene to Mercy Health Main for treatment. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) A man has been arrested over a month after he was accused of killing a Georgia man and coming to Huntsville. The Huntsville Police Department arrested Mario Rene Lopez-Jalon, who was wanted in Georgia for the death of Guadalupe Garcia Rodriguez, at a hotel in Huntsville. 37-year-old woman arrested after domestic shooting in Huntsville Authorities say that he is charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of certain felonies. He is currently awaiting extradition to Gwinnett County, Georgia from Madison County, Alabama. According to the Gwinnett County Police Department (GA), officers began a homicide investigation after the body of a missing Lawrenceville, Georgia man was found in his truck on July 3. Authorities in Gwinnett County responded to the 200 block of Paden Cove Trail in Lawrenceville to check on a parked truck. Upon arrival, officers found the body of Rodriguez, 40, of Lawrenceville. Police say that Rodriguez was previously reported missing by his wife on July 1. She told officers that Rodriguez never came home that afternoon and was last seen leaving in the truck that day. According to the department, detectives received new information that Rodriguez was recently in a dispute over some land in Mexico with the father of an ex-girlfriend. Investigators then conducted more interviews with the ex-girlfriend at her home in Lawrenceville. After conducting multiple interviews, detectives identified the suspect as Mario Rene Lopez-Jolon, 38, of Lawrenceville, and learned that he had traveled to Huntsville, Alabama. Download the WHNT News 19 App to stay updated on the go. Sign up for WHNT News 19 newsletters to have news sent to your inbox. After learning of Lopez-Jalons whereabouts, Gwinnett County Police contacted the Huntsville Police Department to assist in the investigation and HPD took him into custody. Jail records indicate that Mario Rene Lopez-Jolon was booked into the Madison County Jail on Friday, August 9 at 4:57 a.m. with no bond set. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com. Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Jury selection began Monday in the manslaughter trial of a White woman in Florida accused of shooting through her closed front door and killing her Black neighbor in 2023. Susan Lorincz, 60, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree manslaughter, battery, crimes against a person and two counts of simple assault in Ocala, which is is 80 miles north of Orlando. She is facing up to 30 years in prison if convicted, according to the Marion County Sheriff's Office. Ajike Owens, 35, was shot on June 2, 2023, during an argument. She was a single mother with four children. Anthony Thomas, the attorney representing the family of Owens, told ABC News in a statement that two of her children will be called by prosecutors to testify during the trial. "This is an unimaginably painful experience for them, as they continue to grapple with the deep emotional wounds caused by losing their mother in such a violent way. And witnessing her murder. Izzy stood right beside her as that bullet penetrated his mother's body," Thomas said. He added that Isaac, 13, and Izzy, 10, are "determined to testify" on their mother's behalf, "despite their grief." "They do this out of profound love and respect for her, knowing that their voices are crucial in the pursuit of justice," Thomas said. "They understand the gravity of this moment and want to ensure that their mother's death is not in vain." Owens' family has called on prosecutors to upgrade the manslaughter charge to second-degree murder. State Attorney William "Bill" Gladson said there was insufficient evidence to prove a murder charge in court. At about 9 p.m., she allegedly shot Owens through a closed door in the presence of her now 10-year-old son after the mother went to speak with Lorincz about a dispute over Owens' children playing near her home. During her interview with detectives, she said she was acting in self-defense when she shot Owens. "She was saying 'I'm going to kill you,'" Lorincz claimed in the video. "No one that we've interviewed so far has made any statements about her saying that she wanted to kill you," one of the detectives told Lorincz. Body camera footage showed seven incidents between Feb. 25, 2022, and April 25, 2023, in which Lorincz called sheriff's deputies to complain about neighborhood children, including Owens' ones, playing near her home. Lorincz told deputies she purchased two handguns but used to be afraid of guns. Owens' mother, Pamela Dias, is seeking closure. "The children have always been anxious and questioned whether Susan was still locked up, had she been released?" Dias told Central Florida Public Media. "So I think at this point they will have a sense of relief." Lorincz is being held on a $150,000 bond. There they stood isolated, majestic, imperious, brooded over by the gigantic water tower and chimney combined, rising unmistakable and daunting out of the countryside. Enoch Powells description of the foreboding Victorian asylums that dotted the country until the 1960s heralded the accelerated adoption of a policy known as care in the community. Valdo Calocane, who killed three people in Nottingham last year, was someone who in the past might have been treated in a secure asylum for paranoid schizophrenia. He was occasionally sectioned under the Mental Health Act but was essentially expected to live in the community, supervised by mental-health specialists who were supposed to ensure that he took the required medication. When the system breaks down, as it did with Calocane, the consequences are disastrous. A report from the Care Quality Commission listed a familiar litany of failure and poor decision-making by those charged with dealing with people who pose a potential danger to themselves and to others. Care in the community represented the biggest political change in mental healthcare in the history of the NHS. It was a function of social changes, political expediency, and a movement away from the isolation of the mentally ill towards their integration into society. The concept, developed with the best of intentions, was incorporated in the 1959 Mental Health Act, which reflected a changing attitude towards the mentally ill, away from their incarceration in a world of straitjackets, padded cells, locked wards and dishevelled inmates. New drugs allowing effective treatment and symptom-suppression also encouraged politicians to believe that patients who would have spent their lives in an institution could be rehabilitated into the community. Powell, who delivered his water tower speech in 1961 as minister for health, called for a torch to be lit under the funeral pyre of the asylums. Gradually, the number of beds was reduced, from around 140,000 in 1959 to around 23,000 in specialist psychiatric hospitals today. Long-term institutionalisation is no longer encouraged. Calocane was first diagnosed as psychotic in 2020, after he knocked down a door to another flat in his block, something he did more than once. He was repeatedly sectioned, and upon release found to be both confrontational and ignoring his medication. In September 2021, he assaulted a police officer, which triggered a warrant for his arrest following his failure to appear in court. That was still outstanding, nine months later, when he committed the attacks in Nottingham. Had he been arrested, his victims may be alive today. However, he would eventually have been back in the community where ensuring that medication is taken is the biggest issue of all. Even though he was in regular contact with mental health services, he stopped taking his prescribed treatment and frequently refused to engage with health professionals. He was even allowed to reject the advice of doctors that he be given a long-lasting antipsychotic injection because he preferred oral medication, which was less effective. The families of the three who died have accused the NHS and the police of having blood on their hands, displaying understandable anger and frustration, not least because we have been here before. More than 30 years ago, an inquiry into the killing of musician Jonathan Zito by Christopher Clunis, a paranoid schizophrenic living in the community, found similar failings. Zito was fatally stabbed at Finsbury Park Tube station in London. His killer had a problematic history of engagement with psychiatric services, frequent failure to attend appointments or take medication, and recurring incidents involving criminal damage and violence. This grim story has changed little. Sir Keir Starmer has promised a judge-led inquiry into what happened in Nottingham, but to what end? The mistakes have been well documented just as they were in 1992, yet little has improved in the meantime. An inquiry producing another report that is not acted upon will help no one. There have been dozens of inquiry reports into murders involving the mentally ill in which half the victims were health care professionals or strangers. Over the decades, many thousands have been returned to the community from mental hospitals. Many have no back-up or support and are often abandoned in squalid bedsits, lodging houses, or even on to the street. If they become ill, it can be impossible for them to get hospital care because so many psychiatric beds have been closed. Some go on to kill, often their relatives and neighbours. Many more die by suicide. Julian Hendy, a campaigner whose father was fatally stabbed by a psychotic stranger in 2007, estimates that some 100 people a year in the UK are killed by someone who is mentally ill. As with Calocane, threatening behaviour is often ignored, warnings are not passed on, and lines of responsibility are blurred. What we see is the same recommendations keep coming up time and time again, said Hendy. People try to work on the principle of least restriction. So theyre not assertive enough. And they work on the basis of what the patient wants rather than the public. Attitudes to mental illness have changed down the years and rightly so. The idea of people being incarcerated in what used to be derided as loony bins has long gone but the replacements have to work. Yet that would need a network of specialist residential homes rather than the halfway houses now used and no government is prepared to pay for them. Many of the people who might once have found sanctuary in the old asylums now end up in jail. In 1992, the report into Mr Zitos murder said: If the needs of this small group are not met, care in the community will be perceived as a policy which has failed. We cannot afford to let this happen. We have no wish to return to the day of locked, impersonal, dehumanising and undignified institutional care. Since most of the asylums have been closed and the land sold, that is no longer an option, even if they would be run today in a far more humane way. But when the alternative fails, the cost is incalculable. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Alexia and Bart Collart braced for a hard visit. Marines came to their home in Arlington, Virginia, last week to brief them on what caused the Osprey crash in Australia last year that resulted in the death of their son and two other Marines. But they werent expecting to hear these words: Your son didnt die in the crash. Cpl. Spencer R. Collart had safely escaped the aircraft. But the 21-year-old saw that the Ospreys two pilots were unaccounted for. Despite the smoke and flames, he went back in. Collart heroically reentered the burning cockpit of the aircraft in an attempt to rescue the trapped pilots, the official Marine Corps investigation into the crash found. He perished during this effort. For his valor, Collart will be posthumously awarded the services highest non-combat award: the Navy and Marine Corps Medal. It is an honor awarded for acts of heroism at great risk to the service members life. It didnt surprise his dad that Spencer tried to save the pilots. I heard a song the other day. Ive heard it many times, Bart Collart said. There was a quote in there, about how the last thing on my mind was to leave you. And I think that was Spencer talking with me a little. He had no intention of leaving us. I think he thought hed go in and get the job done. Spencer Collart was a goal-driven, 6-foot-2, grinning Washington-Liberty High School lacrosse player who walked into the house on his 18th birthday with a surprise: Hed just enlisted. The Marines are the top of the top. The best of the best, Spencer told his mom Alexia Collart, when she asked him why. The Collarts werent a military family, but Spencer wanted to serve. And he wanted to fly. He got his top assignment choice and met his two best friends, Lance Cpl. Evan Strickland and Cpl. Jonah Waser. They spent a year together training to become crew chiefs, enlisted Marines responsible for the aircraft and its passengers. Theres a photo of them posing with their class on April 22, 2022, the day they earned their wings. They were flying the V-22 Osprey, which functions as both an airplane and a helicopter. But its an aircraft that has a troubled history and four fatal accidents in two years. In June 2022, Strickland was killed along with four other Marines in a training crash in California. Collart served as a pallbearer. He stayed in close touch with Stricklands family, calling to check on them, Facetiming them on the crash anniversary and reading the accident investigation report from cover to cover, Stricklands mother, Michelle, said. He wanted to really understand, she said. When Spencer's unit deployed to Australia in April 2023, he asked his mother if he could give Michelle Strickland her number so they could text each other. He had the foresight to connect me with Michelle. I dont know if he was concerned or worried. I suspect maybe he was, Alexia Collart said. Still, Spencer flourished in his role. He took on hard jobs no one wanted, like packing the units plane before they deployed. His squadron kept showing up with more gear, so he kept unpacking and repacking it, again and again. By the fourth try Spencer was red and black, just covered in grease and sunburn, his commander told Bart Collart. Spencer earned a first-class ticket to Australia for his effort. In the Osprey, Spencer spent most of the flight in the tunnel, the area right behind the pilot and co-pilot, learning from them, with a goal to become a pilot himself. When Spencers personal effects arrived after his death, Bart Collart found his sons Marine Corps camouflage cap, known as a cover. He put it on and metal nudged his forehead. Spencer had pinned a 2nd lieutenants gold butter bar and a set of pilots wings into the band. He put these in here to remind himself every time he put his cap on of his next goal, Bart Collart said. He was all in. He walked the walk, he talked the talk, and he was just, he just loved it so much. Marine Cpl. Spencer R. Collart's family, from left, father Bart Collart, sister Gwyneth Collart and mother Alexia Collart, hold his portrait at their home in Arlington, Virginia, Thursday, June 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr./AP) On August 27, 2023, two Marines came to the Collart's door. Spencer Collart's Osprey had crashed during an Australian military exercise, killing him and Capt. Eleanor LeBeau and aircraft commander Maj. Tobin Lewis. For months, that's all his parents knew. Then, last week, the Marines came back, to brief their findings. Seconds after the Osprey hit the ground, the aircraft filled with smoke and flames. Collart had been standing in the tunnel even as the plane was going down. Most of the 23 troops on board escaped out the back, including a commander who told investigators he saw Collart escape out a side door. A site team later found Collarts tether what hed use to latch onto the Osprey to move around during flight undamaged outside the aircraft. But not everyone made it out. The pilots were still inside. The Osprey had crashed nose first, and they were trapped. Collart went back. Investigators believe he may have unbuckled Lewis from his restraints before he succumbed. Collart thought the world" of Lewis and LeBeau, Bart Collart said. He believes Lewis' last-minute maneuver to level the plane as it was crashing right side down helped the troops in the back survive. The fourth member of the flight crew, Cpl. Travis Reyes, has been at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio for the last year recovering from critical injuries. Saturday marked the first time he got to fly home to his parents' house in Maryland. Spencer's family met Waser for the first time at the funeral. This time it was Waser who put on dress blues to serve as a pallbearer and escort his best friend's remains from Dover Air Force Base to Arlington National Cemetery. Spencers younger sister, Gwyneth Collart, felt instant chemistry. Her parents saw it too. As soon as I met him, I was like, this is not the time or the place to be falling in love, Gwyneth Collart said of Waser. Grieving will never be easy, but he made grieving a little bit more comfortable to do. And he just, I mean, he took my breath away. Months later, Waser asked her father for Gwyneths hand. You guys told me that Marines work fast, and you werent kidding, Bart Collart said, laughing. Gwyneth Collart and Waser married July 6 in Arlington and held their reception at Top of the Town, a ballroom that has a terrace overlooking Arlington National Cemetery. They could see the section where Spencer was buried, and Gwyneth pinned her brothers portrait to her bouquet. I think that Spencer knew what I needed and what my family needed after this, and it feels like I got exactly what I needed to get through this, Gwyneth Collart said. Marine who died trying to save crew in fiery Osprey crash to receive service's top noncombat medal Photographs of Marine Corporal Spencer R. Collart and his fellow marines, Marine Corps Captain Eleanor V. LeBeau, bottom left, and Marine Corps Major Tobin J. Lewis, bottom right, are seen at the home of his parents in Arlington, Va., Thursday, June 19, 2024. Collart, 21, was killed along with the two Marines when the MV-22B Osprey aircraft they were on crashed during drills on a north Australian island on Aug. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.) WASHINGTON (AP) Alexia and Bart Collart braced for a hard visit. Marines came to their home in Arlington, Virginia, last week to brief them on what caused the Osprey crash in Australia last year that resulted in the death of their son and two other Marines. But they werent expecting to hear these words: Your son didnt die in the crash. Cpl. Spencer R. Collart had safely escaped the aircraft. But the 21-year-old saw that the Osprey's two pilots were unaccounted for. Despite the smoke and flames, he went back in. Collart heroically reentered the burning cockpit of the aircraft in an attempt to rescue the trapped pilots, the official Marine Corps investigation into the crash found. He perished during this effort. For his valor, Collart will be posthumously awarded the services highest noncombat award: the Navy and Marine Corps Medal. It is an honor awarded for acts of heroism at great risk to the service members life. It didnt surprise his dad that Spencer tried to save the pilots. I heard a song the other day. Ive heard it many times, Bart Collart said. There was a quote in there, about how the last thing on my mind was to leave you. And I think that was Spencer talking with me a little. He had no intention of leaving us. I think he thought hed go in and get the job done. Spencer Collart was a goal-driven, 6-foot-2, grinning Washington-Liberty High School lacrosse player who walked into the house on his 18th birthday with a surprise: Hed just enlisted. The Marines are the top of the top. The best of the best, Spencer told his mom Alexia Collart, when she asked him why. The Collarts werent a military family, but Spencer wanted to serve. And he wanted to fly. He got his top assignment choice and met his two best friends, Lance Cpl. Evan Strickland and Cpl. Jonah Waser. They spent a year together training to become crew chiefs, enlisted Marines responsible for the aircraft and its passengers. Theres a photo of them posing with their class on April 22, 2022, the day they earned their wings. They were flying the V-22 Osprey, which functions as both an airplane and a helicopter. But its an aircraft that has a troubled history and four fatal accidents in two years. In June 2022, Strickland was killed along with four other Marines in a training crash in California. Collart served as a pallbearer. He stayed in close touch with Strickland's family, calling to check on them, Facetiming them on the crash anniversary, and reading the accident investigation report from cover to cover, Strickland's mother, Michelle, said. He wanted to really understand, she said. When Spencer's unit deployed to Australia in April 2023, he asked his mother if he could give Michelle Strickland her number so they could text each other. He had the foresight to connect me with Michelle. I dont know if he was concerned or worried. I suspect maybe he was, Alexia Collart said. Still, Spencer flourished in his role. He took on hard jobs no one wanted, like packing the units plane before they deployed. His squadron kept showing up with more gear, so he kept unpacking and repacking it, again and again. By the fourth try Spencer was red and black, just covered in grease and sunburn, his commander told Bart Collart. Spencer earned a first-class ticket to Australia for his effort. In the Osprey, Spencer spent most of the flight in the tunnel, the area right behind the pilot and co-pilot, learning from them, with a goal to become a pilot himself. When Spencers personal effects arrived after his death, Bart Collart found his sons Marine Corps camouflage cap, known as a cover. He put it on and metal nudged his forehead. Spencer had pinned a 2nd lieutenants gold butter bar and a set of pilots wings into the band. He put these in here to remind himself every time he put his cap on of his next goal, Bart Collart said. He was all in. He walked the walk, he talked the talk, and he was just, he just loved it so much. On August 27, 2023, two Marines came to the Collart's door. Spencer Collart's Osprey had crashed during an Australian military exercise, killing him and Capt. Eleanor LeBeau and aircraft commander Maj. Tobin Lewis. For months, that's all his parents knew. Then, last week, the Marines came back, to brief their findings. Seconds after the Osprey hit the ground, the aircraft filled with smoke and flames. Collart had been standing in the tunnel even as the plane was going down. Most of the 23 troops on board escaped out the back, including a commander who told investigators he saw Collart escape out a side door. A site team later found Collarts tether what hed use to latch onto the Osprey to move around during flight undamaged outside the aircraft. But not everyone made it out. The pilots were still inside. The Osprey had crashed nose first, and they were trapped. Collart went back. Investigators believe he may have unbuckled Lewis from his restraints before he succumbed. Collart thought the world" of Lewis and LeBeau, Bart Collart said. He believes Lewis' last-minute maneuver to level the plane as it was crashing right side down helped the troops in the back survive. The fourth member of the flight crew, Cpl. Travis Reyes, has been at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio for the last year recovering from critical injuries. Saturday marked the first time he got to fly home to his parents' house in Maryland. Spencer's family met Waser for the first time at the funeral. This time it was Waser who put on dress blues to serve as a pallbearer and escort his best friend's remains from Dover Air Force Base to Arlington National Cemetery. Spencers younger sister, Gwyneth Collart, felt instant chemistry. Her parents saw it too. As soon as I met him, I was like, this is not the time or the place to be falling in love, Gwyneth Collart said of Waser. Grieving will never be easy, but he made grieving a little bit more comfortable to do. And he just, I mean, he took my breath away. Months later, Waser asked her father for Gwyneths hand. You guys told me that Marines work fast, and you werent kidding, Bart Collart said, laughing. Gwyneth Collart and Waser married July 6 in Arlington and held their reception at Top of the Town, a ballroom that has a terrace overlooking Arlington National Cemetery. They could see the section where Spencer was buried, and Gwyneth pinned her brothers portrait to her bouquet. I think that Spencer knew what I needed and what my family needed after this, and it feels like I got exactly what I needed to get through this, Gwyneth Collart said. Matthews wants bigger tax hike or no new trains. Will vote derail Mecklenburg plans? Matthews commissioners voted unanimously Monday to oppose a deal that could raise sales taxes to fund long-awaited transit plans and create a new regional authority. Officials say they hope their actions will derail what they call an underfunded and reprehensible plan. Matthews is obviously not in favor at all, because were getting a deal that everybody in the county is getting but getting with light rail while well be getting bus rapid transit, Mayor John Higdon told The Charlotte Observer. Buses dont work like they are promising. Its unclear if the Matthews vote will stall the plan, which aims to put a sales tax referendum on the ballot. Mecklenburgs other municipalities also have to vote on whether theyre in favor of the draft transit legislation, and Matthews wasnt listed in an announcement last week saying representatives from a majority of towns successfully negotiated a deal for further consideration from their elected officials. Besides Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, the announcement included the seals of Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, Mint Hill and Pineville. Higdon isnt hopeful his colleagues will support Matthews. We just hope to convince our colleagues across the area to support us in something thats more equitable for everyone, not having winners and losers, he said. But, Im not very hopeful. If approved, the plan will be formally submitted to the N.C. General Assembly, where legislators will decide the fate of a sales tax increase referendum before voters get to decide. Matthews residents are being asked to foot the bill without any true rail to Matthews, Commissioner Ken McCool said at the meeting. Weve been consistently lied to that Matthews is getting what is equal and equitable as everyone else. Thats a lie. Transit deal on the table Under the draft legislation, spending on light rail, commuter rail and streetcar projects would be capped at 40% of revenue generated by a 1-cent sales tax increase, according to a presentation to some Charlotte leaders in late July. The presentation lists the Red Line and Silver Line, as well as expansions of the Gold Line and Blue Line, as rail projects. But, it notes funding availability will determine how those projects are prioritized and what the final mode of transport will be. Spending on buses including bus rapid transit would be capped at 20% of revenue, leaving 40% of the new money for roads. Money allocated for rail that goes unspent could be rolled into bus projects. Road money would be distributed directly to the city of Charlotte and Mecklenburgs towns, based on local road miles, population and relative transit service, according to the presentation. The draft legislation would also shake up how the Charlotte Area Transit System is managed. CATS is currently a city of Charlotte department and also governed by the Metropolitan Transit Commission. But the legislation would create a new transit authority with 27 members, with Charlotte, towns and state officials all having appointments. The new authority could expand to include more communities, according to the presentation. What Matthews resolution says Some in east Mecklenburg spoke out earlier this summer when details of transit negotiations were first reported publicly, expressing concern a 40% cap on rail spending would spell the end of the eastern portion of the Silver Line. This is the original 2016 alignment for the LYNX Silver Line. Feedback from the public and third-party experts has CATS weighing changes to the Silver Line, which would run from Matthews through uptown, then west past the airport to Gaston County. Matthews resolution says bus rapid transit, a proposed alternative for the corridor, has failed to deliver in other parts of the country. The resolution opposes the sales tax referendum because its not the community consensus plan requested by North Carolina General Assembly leadership. Most transit-oriented development around light rails is exponentially greater than around the bus stations, Higdon said. This embedded content is not available in your region. It calls for either a bigger sales tax increase 1.4 cents or for all rail projects to be converted to bus rapid transit. This was made somewhat facetiously, because we know this will never happen, Higdon said. Its included to address all those that have suggested BRT is every bit as good as light rail. It isnt. They know it. I know it, everybody knows it. Could Matthews vote derail transit deal? Matthews decision comes after local leaders previously stressed the importance of sending a message of regional unity to the General Assembly on transportation. Charlotte City Council member Ed Driggs told the Observer hes talked to legislators about the potential impact of Matthews resolution. It appears to me that it does have a negative impact, but it doesnt kill it, said Driggs, who chairs the Charlotte councils transportation committee. Higdon told The Observer hes been in regular conversations with mayors of surrounding municipalities but was not optimistic they would back Matthews plan. He said the city could move forward even without the support of Matthews. Apparently, in a dark room, in a non-discreet office, some elected leaders and some non-elected well-connected persons repeatedly met and decided who the winners or losers would be in this new scheme, Higdon said. Matthews wasnt the winner. Other commissioners like Mark Tofano echoed that sentiment. When youre asked to increase an individuals tax and give something to get nothing, theres something basically and morally wrong with that, Tofano said. Whats next for transit deal Charlottes transportation committee will meet Tuesday to discuss the sales tax deal and the citys purchase of railroad tracks from Norfolk Southern for the Red Line commuter rail project to the Lake Norman area. This is a big, complicated project ... My impression talking to council colleagues is that we can pass it, but I cant say with certainty that there wont be some dissent, Driggs said of what to expect Tuesday. Charlotte council members also are scheduled to get a closed session briefing Aug. 19 and discuss transit at its Aug. 26 meeting. The council is scheduled to vote to authorize the purchase of the Red Line and on a resolution in support of the sales tax increase Sept. 3, with Sept. 9 as a closing date for the Red Line purchase. A map shows the current stops planned along the Red Line. Getting the Red Line purchase finished is critical to getting the draft legislation approved locally, Driggs said. The Red Line is kind of a prerequisite for the legislation, because the northern towns have indicated they dont want to proceed unless they can reasonably expect that the Red Line is going to get done this time, he said. Once the cities and towns have their say, the draft legislation will still have to be approved by the General Assembly. State Sen. Vickie Sawyer, one of three Senate transportation chairs and a supporter of the Red Line, told the Observer in early August she doesnt think legislation on a sales tax increase will move at all this year. It could get a look in the 2025 legislative session, the Iredell County Republican said, but shes doubtful it could gain traction in the Republican caucus. Im just not hearing a lot of great things about it, she said. ... Its just very difficult to get our caucus behind a tax increase. In our Reality Check stories, Charlotte Observer journalists dig deeper into questions over facts, consequences and accountability. Read more. Story idea? RealityCheck@charlotteobserver.com. Mayor Arceneaux everyone was on the same page to make Humor & Harmony successful SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) Safety, cleanliness, and streamlined operations were executed well for Humor and Harmony Weekend through a collaboration between the City of Shreveport and Curtis 50 Cent Jacksons team. Mayor Tom Acrenceaux says the city stuck to its detailed plan over the weekend, which paid off. It takes hundreds of officers for an event like this. We are pretty accustomed to preparing and executing our mission for one-day events. But seldom for events that extend over, you know, a 5-6-7 day period. Caddo Parish Sheriffs Department, the Shreveport City Marshal, or the Louisiana State Police, Louisiana Office of Parole and Probation came in to help us with this event, said Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith. With over 30,000 people in the area, its easy for a city to be cluttered with trash, but that was not the case for the Humor and Harmony Festival. What we hoped happened and what I believe did happen is that on Friday morning, it was as clean as Thursday morning. said Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux, And on Saturday morning, it was as clean as Friday morning. On Sunday morning, it was as clean as Saturday morning. And today I believe it was as clean as Sunday morning. The mayor says everyone was on the same page, from spar to property standards to public works and local law enforcement officials, accomplishing the goal of letting everyone know that Shreveport can do big things and do them well. I think a lot of people thought we couldnt pull it off. And yet here we are, said Mayor Arceneaux. Chief Smith says they will meet in the coming days to discuss the roles everyone played and what they learned from each event. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTALnews.com. The excitement of investing in a company that can reverse its fortunes is a big draw for some speculators, so even companies that have no revenue, no profit, and a record of falling short, can manage to find investors. Sometimes these stories can cloud the minds of investors, leading them to invest with their emotions rather than on the merit of good company fundamentals. A loss-making company is yet to prove itself with profit, and eventually the inflow of external capital may dry up. If this kind of company isn't your style, you like companies that generate revenue, and even earn profits, then you may well be interested in Civmec (SGX:P9D). While this doesn't necessarily speak to whether it's undervalued, the profitability of the business is enough to warrant some appreciation - especially if its growing. Check out our latest analysis for Civmec How Fast Is Civmec Growing? If a company can keep growing earnings per share (EPS) long enough, its share price should eventually follow. So it makes sense that experienced investors pay close attention to company EPS when undertaking investment research. Shareholders will be happy to know that Civmec's EPS has grown 35% each year, compound, over three years. If the company can sustain that sort of growth, we'd expect shareholders to come away satisfied. It's often helpful to take a look at earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) margins, as well as revenue growth, to get another take on the quality of the company's growth. Civmec maintained stable EBIT margins over the last year, all while growing revenue 7.8% to AU$904m. That's a real positive. You can take a look at the company's revenue and earnings growth trend, in the chart below. Click on the chart to see the exact numbers. Of course the knack is to find stocks that have their best days in the future, not in the past. You could base your opinion on past performance, of course, but you may also want to check this interactive graph of professional analyst EPS forecasts for Civmec. Are Civmec Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders? Theory would suggest that it's an encouraging sign to see high insider ownership of a company, since it ties company performance directly to the financial success of its management. So as you can imagine, the fact that Civmec insiders own a significant number of shares certainly is appealing. In fact, they own 50% of the shares, making insiders a very influential shareholder group. This should be a welcoming sign for investors because it suggests that the people making the decisions are also impacted by their choices. In terms of absolute value, insiders have AU$226m invested in the business, at the current share price. That's nothing to sneeze at! Story continues Is Civmec Worth Keeping An Eye On? You can't deny that Civmec has grown its earnings per share at a very impressive rate. That's attractive. With EPS growth rates like that, it's hardly surprising to see company higher-ups place confidence in the company through continuing to hold a significant investment. Fast growth and confident insiders should be enough to warrant further research, so it would seem that it's a good stock to follow. Now, you could try to make up your mind on Civmec by focusing on just these factors, or you could also consider how its price-to-earnings ratio compares to other companies in its industry. There's always the possibility of doing well buying stocks that are not growing earnings and do not have insiders buying shares. But for those who consider these important metrics, we encourage you to check out companies that do have those features. You can access a tailored list of Singaporean companies which have demonstrated growth backed by significant insider holdings. Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Through open-source research, Mediazona, a Russian independent media outlet, together with BBC Russia, confirmed the names of 61,831 Russian soldiers who had been killed since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Since Mediazona's last update in early July, the names of 2,106 Russian soldiers have been added to the list of casualties. The journalists note that the actual figures are likely significantly higher, as their verified information comes from public sources such as obituaries, posts by relatives, regional media reports, and statements from local authorities. Since the start of Russia's renewed offensive into Khariv Oblast, the country's Armed Forces have experienced some of its heaviest losses since the start of the full-scale invasion. Due to the "growth of losses in the last several months," the journalists note that "several thousand obituaries" are not yet accounted for due to processing delays - with the total casualties expected to rise significantly in subsequent reports. On July 5, Russian media outlets Meduza and Mediazona published an estimated report indicating that approximately 120,000 Russian troops have been killed since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Kyiv Independent is unable to independently confirm the figure. Since Russia began its all-out war against Ukraine, over 3,800 officers have been killed in action. The analysts note that at least 12,339 Russian inmates have been also killed on Ukraine's eastern front - or 20 per cent of the total confirmed casualties. According to Mediazona's estimates, a majority of those killed in action come from Rostov, Sverdlovsk, Bashkiria, and Chelyabinsk oblasts, as well as the Buryatia republic. As of August 12, 2024, the Ukrainian military estimates Russian combat losses at 598,000 troops. Read also: Kursk incursion and Crimea strikes could ease pressure on Ukraines Donbas forces Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. The Pure Dakota Health medical marijuana dispensary sits off of Memorial Highway in Bismarck on Aug. 12, 2024. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor) North Dakota medical marijuana businesses are high on the list of donors backing the states legalized pot ballot measure, according to campaign finance reports. More than $287,000 has been donated to the ballot initiatives sponsoring committee by two organizations associated with North Dakota medical marijuana dispensaries, with only $130 in small-dollar donations collected outside of that total. Pure Dakota Health, a chain of three medical marijuana dispensaries operating in the state, has contributed about $247,000 in regular and in-kind donations to New Economic Frontier, the group promoting the ballot initiative. In July, GR Holding OH-ND LLC, a company associated with Curaleaf, donated $40,000 to the effort. Curaleaf operates four medical marijuana dispensaries in North Dakota, as well as more than 140 cannabis dispensaries nationwide. GR Holding also donated to North Dakotas recreational marijuana initiative in 2022, according to campaign committee filings. The Secretary of States Office announced Monday it has approved the recreational marijuana measure for the November ballot after verifying nearly 19,000 signatures of people who signed onto the petition, more than the 15,582 required by law. Casey Neumann, chief operating officer for Pure Dakota Health, said the company donated to the initiative because officials see the potential for recreational marijuana in North Dakota as a net-positive for the states medical marijuana industry. Paul Chialdikas, senior vice president and central region lead for Curaleaf, said in a statement the company has helped other states transition from medical to adult-use markets in the past and has the infrastructure and expertise to provide a diverse assortment of safe, tested products to adult-use consumers and medical patients alike if the initiative passes. Pat Finken, chair of the Brighter Future Alliance, a group opposing the measure, said the medical marijuana providers and others see dollar signs in getting the measure passed. This is not about helping the judicial system or law enforcement, this is about greed and its that simple, Finken said. You look at the money being spent on recreational marijuana, its a very profitable business and thats whats driving this. Steven Bakken, chair of recreational marijuana initiatives sponsoring committee, said any business, including North Dakotas medical marijuana providers, would have a chance to apply through the state for recreational permits, if the measure should pass this fall. The ballot measure was drafted in a way that allows the state government to have full control to make the determination on who will receive permits and who will not, Bakken said. He also said the donations to the ballot initiatives sponsoring committee from medical dispensary groups, while hopeful for their own interests, may be funding opportunities for competitors to challenge their position in the marketplace. Its an interesting dichotomy, he said. Medical marijuana sales in North Dakota have increased from about $6.4 million in 2020 to $21.6 million in 2023, according to a 2023 Department of Health and Human Services annual report. Those sales have resulted in more than $2.1 million in medical marijuana fees being collected by the state during the 2021-23 biennium. More than 9,500 North Dakota patients were enrolled as of June 30, 2023. Neumann added, if the measure passes, the only thing that would change for Pure Dakota Health would be an increase in the number of plants the company could cultivate at its processing facility. Neumann is also one of 27 co-sponsors for the recreational marijuana measure and collected signatures for the initiative. The ballot measure would limit North Dakota to seven cannabis manufacturing facilities and 18 recreational cannabis dispensaries across the state with applicants limited to controlling no more than four dispensaries and one processor each. Neumann said since Pure Dakota Health already has three permitted dispensaries under the states medical cannabis program, under state law the company would only be able to apply for one additional dispensary should the recreational marijuana measure pass. Those laws wont change, he said. Were not looking at that and that surprises a lot of people. Neumann said he hopes the states medical marijuana program would continue to operate with a lower tax rate on sales than recreational cannabis, which would provide a value for those still participating in the medical program. In North Dakota, a 5% sales tax is added to every medical marijuana sale and additional taxes can be collected by local subdivisions. Montana has a medical cannabis tax rate of 4%, which increases to 20% for recreational sales. November will be the third opportunity since 2018 that North Dakota voters will cast ballots on the fate of recreational cannabis in the state. If approved by voters, North Dakotans 21 and older would be allowed to possess up to 1 ounce of cannabis flower, up to 4 grams of THC concentrate, up to 1,500 milligrams of various cannabis products and up to 300 milligrams of THC edible products. Adults also would be able to grow up to three cannabis plants in a private residence, or on private property, generally not accessible to the public, with the blessing of the property owner. Law enforcement associations have opposed previous recreational cannabis measures in North Dakota, but have not taken an official position on the new cannabis measure that will be put before voters this fall. On July 8, New Economic Frontier reported more than $68,000 in cash on hand after spending nearly $147,000 during the circulation period, campaign finance reports showed. DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX MEDWAY The town has sent a letter to several state government officials expressing its formal opposition to the MBTA Communities Law, which requires the town to zone for more housing near public transit stations. The letter, dated July 16 and signed by four of the five Select Board members, is addressed to Gov. Maura Healey; state Senate President Karen Spilka, D-Ashland; state Rep. Jeffrey Roy, D-Franklin; state Rep. Michael Soter, R-Bellingham; and state Attorney General Andrea Campbell. The letter also requests the officials' "collective efforts" in repealing the law. The Select Board sent the letter after voters during the town's May 21 annual election approved, 405-105, a nonbinding referendum question instructing the board to send the letter. The Select Board voted in April to place the question on the ballot. Gov. Maura Healey is one of four recipients of a letter sent by the Medway Select Board that cites the town's opposition to the MBTA Communities Law. 'Hoping to get it reopened': Medway officials caught off-guard by post office's sudden closing The law, which was signed by former Gov. Charlie Baker in January 2021, affects municipalities that either have direct access to MBTA service or border communities with such access. These municipalities are required to permit a higher level of density by right in neighborhoods that are within a half-mile radius of rail stops. Medway Select Board member cites residents' NIMBY concern Select Board member Dennis Crowley told the Daily News the most common concern stems from "not-in-my-backyard syndrome." "I understand where they're (residents) coming from, but we do have a number of alternatives we're looking at and hopefully we'll make recommendations for residents (to consider)," he said. Crowley said he just wanted to tell state officials how residents felt about the law. But he also noted the consequences the town may face for not complying with the MBTA Communities Law. As an adjacent community, Medway has until Dec. 31 to comply with the law. "I wanted to let legislators both the House and the Senate side understand that our residents really aren't all that happy about having this mandate forced down our throat," Crowley said. "The consequences of not adhering to it are a substantial loss of grants, and that's the carrot they hold over you: the loss of potential grants in the future." Roy, whose district includes Precincts 2-4 in Medway, voted in favor of the law. He told the Daily News he was surprised to see the letter get voted on at town election, as he hadn't heard any concern from constituents. He also said the letter does not describe the issues Medway has with the law. 'Paper compliance': MBTA housing law advocates say communities are settling for 'bare minimum' "The decision as to whether to build is up to the owner of that parcel, and does not require the community to expend any money whatsoever," said Roy, who is in his sixth two-year term as a state rep. "It's part of an effort to allow owners to do more with their property, particularly if they have residences near MBTA stations and communities allowing more people to build housing that can take advantage of those public transportation systems designed to get more affordable housing out there, designed to get more people using public transportation, which are all part of the greater good." What is the MBTA Communities Act? The MBTA Communities Act requires 177 communities in eastern Massachusetts to designate at least one zoning district that allows for multifamily housing by right, meaning certain conditions like special permits or variances arent required. The law's intent is to boost housing production. These zoning overlay districts must allow for projects that are suitable for families and have a minimum density of 15 units per acre. If applicable, districts must be within a half-mile of public transportation and are encouraged to be near existing commercial districts. This type of zoning would allow multifamily housing, in addition to the lands existing zoning. The law does not require that anything be actually built only that land be zoned to allow for multifamily residences. Medway is considered an "MBTA adjacent" community, due its proximity to the two Commuter Rail stations in Franklin. It's required to zone for a minimum of 750 units, or about 15% of its current housing stock. Attorney General Andrea Campbell said the MBTA Communities Law is mandatory and is designed to tackle the state's housing crisis. In a statement to the Daily News, Campbell said the law is mandatory and will help the state tackle its housing crisis. The housing affordability crisis affects all of us: families who face impossible choices between food on the table or a roof over their heads, young people who want to live here but are driven away by the cost, and a growing workforce we cannot house, she said in an emailed statement. The MBTA Communities Law was enacted to address our region-wide need for housing, and compliance with it is mandatory. Article 39 a 'setback': Hopkinton voters reject proposal for multifamily housing near public transit Medway isn't the only community pushing back against the law. In Hopkinton, another MBTA adjacent community, Town Meeting voters in May rejected a proposal that would have added multifamily zoning to three areas directly adjacent to the Southborough Commuter Rail station. Marshfield, Milton, Hanson and Norwell have each rejected housing proposals that would accommodate the law. In Hanover, the town voted to send a plan back to the Planning Board for further review. Medway has several potential sites to accommodate the new zones, with the town expected to vote on a plan this fall. This article originally appeared on The Milford Daily News: Medway Select Board tells state officials it opposes new zoning law Metas mercurial X/Twitter rival, Threads, is currently saturated with posts from new and returning users who have fled X in the wake of Elon Musks far-right pivot. The exiles are introducing themselves to their fellow Threads users (all 200 million of them), seeking connections, and berating Xs divisive commander-in-chief as they find their bearings on the fledgling social media app. What are people saying about Elon Musk on Threads? The Twitter exodus to Threads today must be setting new records, posted actor Josh Gad, best known for voicing Olaf in Disneys Frozen franchise, and playing Elder Arnold Cunningham in the Broadway musical, The Book of Mormon. Elon Musk is the Boeing of social media, wrote Dean Obeidallah, a US satellite radio host, in a post comparing the Tesla bosss managerial skills to the troubled US airplane manufacturer. Musk has been to Twitter what [Liz] Truss was to the British economy Catastrophic, exclaimed writer and podcaster Jemma Forte. Its no coincidence that the sudden influx of posts panning Musks X comes in the wake of the entrepreneurs endorsement of Trump, and his subsequent interview with the former US president on Tuesday morning (Aug 13). The audio livestream was riddled with tech errors that almost derailed it altogether. Back on Threads, Musks fiercest critics have seized upon his tweet blaming the bugs on a massive DDOS attack and turned it into a meme. How does Metas Threads algorithm work and can you turn it off? Make no mistake, Mark Zuckerbergs one-year-old social media platform was already hot, reaching 100 million users in record time, but the current surge feels different. The barrage of posts lambasting Musk and X has some users wondering whether Meta is amplifying the content. Is it me or is the Threads algorithm promoting people who left Twitter. Well played Zuckerberg, well played, said Marc Owen Jones, an associate professor at the Northwestern University in Qatar, in a popular post that has garnered more than a thousand likes. Its more likely, however, that Threads is just home to a lot of users who simply dislike Musk and (ironically) are increasingly engaging with posts about him. Lifting the lid on how its algorithm works, Meta revealed that its influenced by user behaviour and post popularity. The platform considers factors such as how often you like and reply to posts, as well as how many others have engaged with content. To give users more control, Threads offers a dual feed, with an algorithmic "For You" tab and a chronological "Following" timeline. While Meta insists the algorithm is still evolving, it's clear the platform is heavily reliant on AI to predict user preferences and curate content. Is Threads poaching Twitter users? Meanwhile, the jury is out on whether Threads is benefiting from a so-called Twitter exodus. TechCrunch dug into the trend but found no evidence of a mass migration in the data. Still, Threads is currently sitting pretty in second place on the Apple App Store in the UK, behind online shopping giant Temu. So, how do you join the party? There are those that say its not enough to simply post on Threads, you have to fully abandon your Twitter profile in the process (which some, including this writer, have spent years slavishly trying to curate and build). Some users are actively encouraging and directing people to bin Twitter altogether. Or, in the words of Threads user Juan Rivera: Just deleting the bird app doesnt count. You have to deactivate your bird account. SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) A Shreveport man was sentenced on drug trafficking charges after a K9 found hundreds of orange tablets were found in his car. According to the United States Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, on or about May 15 of last year, near Southern Avenue, a Louisiana State Police trooper conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle for having a switched license plate. They detailed that the trooper had determined that James Edward Knighten Jr., 35, had an outstanding warrant and arrested him. Organization works to heal community of gun violence The news release detailed that Knighten was the driver and sole occupant of the car. A K-9 and his handler positively alerted the presence of narcotics during an open-air sniff around the vehicle. The tablets were sent to the crime lab for analysis and were confirmed to contain methamphetamine. Knighten was arrested and pleaded guilty to possessing said drugs with intent to distribute. United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown. United States District Judge S. Maurice Hicks, Jr. sentenced Knighten to 8 years in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release. They note the investigation and conviction of Knighten is part of an ongoing Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation identifies, disputes, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTALnews.com. DES MOINES, Iowa A Bondurant man is being held in the Polk County Jail after police say he shot a man in the face with a BB gun and stabbed him before realizing he was attacking the wrong man. Christopher Dorf, 28, is charged with attempted murder for an attack on a man in a homeless camp in the 200 block of SE 16th Street. The criminal complaint filed in the case said the incident happened around 11:53 p.m. on August 11th. Woman died in fiery Polk County crash Sunday According to the complaint, Dorf said hed been planning the attack for weeks and thought he had been attacking Colton a man he believed had hurt a friend of his. He told Des Moines Police Department investigators Colton was at the top of his Red List and he hoped to eliminate him that night. Dorf had a short-barreled rifle BB gun and a throwing knife that was duct-taped to the gun he hoped to use as a makeshift bayonet, the complaint said. He told police he tried to use a laser to draw Colton out of a tent and when that didnt work he started firing BBs at the tent. The man came out and Dorf told police he shot him in the face multiple times and then stabbed him in the back, then realized the man wasnt Colton like he thought. He fled the scene in his parents Chevy Impala. The complaint said police later found him in that vehicle and they also located the weapon, with blood on it, in the trunk. Dorf is being held on a $500,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for August 23rd. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to who13.com. MEXIA, Texas (FOX 44) The Mexia Police Department is investigating two overdose cases, with one being fatal. The Mexia Police Department says both overdoses occurred on Friday. One case resulted in the death of 22-year-old Zariahya Carter, who was found unresponsive and transported to Parkview Regional Hospital that morning. She was later transferred to Medical City Arlington for advanced care, where she passed away. The department received information about a possible second overdose involving a substance the victims believed was Xanax. This individual was seen by Parkview Regional Hospital and was transferred to Waco for further treatment. Mexia PD does not have an update on this victims condition. Mexia PD believes it is possbile that both of these victims might have obtained these substances from the same place. The department is investigating the origin of these unknown substances. The community is encouraged to share any information regarding these incidents. You can reach out to Mexia Police at 254-562-4154 or Limestone County Crimestoppers at 254-729-8477. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KWKT - FOX 44. NEW MEXICO (KRQE) The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) withdrew a $1.2 million fine against El Paso Water as part of a settlement of a lawsuit, according to a news release from El Pasos water utility. In June 2022, NMED issued the fine and two Administrative Compliance Orders (ACOs), claiming that EPWater violated portions of New Mexicos Surface and Groundwater Protection regulations when the utility discharged wastewater into the Rio Grande. Story continues below El Pasos water utility dumped 1.2 billion gallons of sewage into the Rio Grande at Sunland Park, New Mexico, between August 2021 and January 2022. The utility discharged the water into the river after portions of the Frontera Wastewater mains experienced a catastrophic failure, EPWater stated in a news release. The utility said they dumped the sewage in the river in order to prevent wastewater from inundating homes, businesses, streets and in an effort to protect the public health and safety of the community. EPWater filed a lawsuit in federal court against NMED, denying all allegations and challenging the legality of NMEDs enforcement action, claiming that NMED lacked the authority or jurisdiction to institute its enforcement action. On Aug. 6, Judge David Briones issued an order dismissing the lawsuit and claims. As part of the settlement, EPWater will continue to provide NMED with information, documents, and materials pertaining to the wastewater discharge, according to the news release from the utility. When a company shows reckless disregard for New Mexicos natural resources and public health, were going to show up to protect them. The people of Sunland Park were heavily impacted by the over billion gallons of sewage released by El Paso Water thats why we filed this case. However, after evaluating its legal merits, weve decided to withdraw it, NMED Director of Communications Drew Goretzka wrote in an email to KRQE. Since the discharge, EPWater has cleaned up the area and removed 70,000 tons of impacted soil that had been stored in mounds along the riverbank. The cleanup process cost an estimated $7 million, according to the utility. EPWater was also fined about $2 million by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for the discharge. EPWater did not have to pay that fine, but instead used the money to clean up the sewage discharge, per an agreement with TCEQ. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. More from Footwear News On Holding had another stellar quarter as the Swiss brand continued to defend its prime spot in the ultra-competitive running market. In the second quarter, the running shoe company reported record net sales of 567.7 million Swiss francs, up 27.8 percent from the same period a year ago. (Sales increased 29.4 percent on a constant currency basis.) Q2 gross profit margin was 59.9 percent, which was up from 59.5 percent in the year-ago period. Net income came in at 30.8 million Swiss francs, and adjusted diluted earnings per share increased to 0.14 Swiss francs from 0.04 Swiss francs a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA was 90.8 million Swiss francs. Over the last 12 months, On has achieved net sales of over 2 billion Swiss francs. We clearly see that the brand is extremely hot all around the world, Martin Hoffmann, co-chief executive officer and chief financial officer, told FN in an interview. And in the end, that high demand is converting into all our channels: wholesale, e-commerce and retail. By channel, wholesale sales grew 29 percent in Q2 and DTC sales increased 30 percent, driven by in-store sales as well as digital. As On continues to expand its retail fleet, new stores in cities like Paris and Hong Kong have seen positive early trends in terms of customer conversion. On the digital side, Ons recently launched mobile app exceeded expectations in terms of downloads and sign-ups. Its just the beginning of creating a new level of customer experience in the digital world, Hoffmann said of the app, which has seen stronger engagement in the apparel segment compared to the brands website. Looking at the quarterly results by region, sales in Asia-Pacific grew 73.7 percent to 59.2 million Swiss francs, and sales in EMEA increased 21.8 percent to 138.4 million Swiss francs. In the Americas, the companys largest market, net sales increased 24.8 percent to 370 million Swiss francs. The U.S., specifically, had a negative sales impact from brands warehouse transition in the region that caused some order disruptions. Apparel sales increased 63 percent in the quarter, showing strong momentum for the growing category. Footwear sales were up 26.7 percent and accessories sales were up 23.6 percent. On the product side, Hoffmann called out recent key launches that contributed to high demand, such as the Cloudrunner 2 and the On x Loewe Cloudtilt 2.0 sneakers, which were single out as the hottest footwear products on Lysts quarterly ranking. And just last week, On launched its latest cushioned running shoe, the Cloudsurfer Next. Story continues Hoffman also called out more recent initiatives that are bringing Ons brand awareness to the next level, such as store openings in key cities; a new multi-year partnership with Zendaya; a strong performance at the Olympic Games with 66 athletes; and the recent debut of LightSpray, Ons latest upper technology created through a fully automated production process. Given the strong trends, On reiterated its full-year outlook, and still expects to reach net sales of 2.26 billion Swiss francs in 2024. Gross profit margin is expected to be around 60 percent and adjusted EBITDA margin is projecting in the range of 16 percent to 16.5 percent for the full year. Constant currency growth rate for the year is expected to be at least 30 percent. What we have now done in the last months and weeks is clearly a laid a foundation for much more brand awareness in the world, Hoffmann said. And so we expect that this will convert into strong demand in the mid and the long term. We also have more exciting product launches for the second half of the year. Best of Footwear News A Miami-Dade County Public Schools psychologist has been arrested for possessing and distributing child pornography, police say. Robert Lee Turner, 62, an autism specialist who was employed by the school district per his LinkedIn profile, was arrested after allegedly uploading two videos of child pornography to more than 50 users, according to the Miami-Dade Police Department, which announced his arrest Tuesday. Robert Lee Turner, 62, is a Miami-Dade County Public Schools psychologist arrested on charges of child pornography. The departments Special Response Team on Monday conducted a search of Turners home, where he had barricaded himself in a locked bathroom. Police arrested him and took him to Jackson South Medical Center for a medical evaluation. He was later booked at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center and appeared in bond court Tuesday, where a judge set his bond at $28,000 and ordered him underhouse arrest, according to court records. Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) is deeply troubled by the disturbing allegations made against this individual. This type of behavior will not be tolerated. As such, the individuals employment with the District has been terminated and he will be precluded from seeking future employment with M-DCPS, the school district said in an email to the Herald. The investigation began following a tip received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on May 28. A judge issued a search warrant on Aug. 7 for an Instagram account linked to the distribution of child pornography. Police traced the IP address and phone number associated with the account back to Turner, who later admitted to being the account owner, police said. During the investigation, authorities discovered a photo showing a video library with 28 thumbnails to videos of child sexual abuse material, containing 205 files with approximately two hours of video content, police said. They also found group text threads discussing child pornography, in which Turner made comments like yummy and nice f*** in response to videos of children. The victims in videos and pictures are described as boys and girls ages 6 to 14. Miami-Dade County Police said they are continuing the investigation. Michigan man accused of fatally shooting his neighbor following argument over mulch Michigan man accused of fatally shooting his neighbor following argument over mulch A Michigan man is accused of fatally shooting his neighbor after getting into an argument with him on the street, officials said. Devereaux Christopher Johnson, 47, of Canton, was arraigned Monday on first-degree murder in connection with the shooting, the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office said. The victim -- 35-year-old father-of-two Nathan Morris, also of Canton -- was shot and killed while on a walk Saturday morning, the prosecutor's office said. PHOTO: The booking photo for Devereaux Christopher Johnson. (Canton Public Safety Department) "It is alleged that the defendant initiated a verbal argument when he saw Mr. Morris walking down the street," the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office said in a statement. "Defendant Johnson then produced and fired a handgun multiple times, fatally wounding Mr. Morris who was unarmed at the time he was killed." The suspect allegedly started threatening Morris' family after one of Morris' daughters touched the neighbor's mulch, according to a statement from former RNC National Committeewoman Hima Kolanagireddy, a friend and colleague of the victim's, shared on the Michigan GOP X account. Morris stayed behind to try and "diffuse" the situation while his family went home, her statement continued. Canton police officers responding to a reported shooting shortly before noon Saturday found Morris lying in the street suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, the prosecutor's office said. Morris was transported to a local hospital, where he died, police said. Johnson barricaded himself inside his home following the shooting before ultimately surrendering, according to police. PHOTO: Police said a 35-year-old man was fatally shot by his neighbor in Canton, Michigan. (WXYZ) Johnson was additionally charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and two counts of felony firearm, the prosecutor's office said. Judge Jim Plakas entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf to all charges during his arraignment on Monday. Johnson's attorney, Wade McCann, requested a referral to the Center for Forensic Psychiatry to assess competency and criminal responsibility, which Plakas allowed. The suspect was remanded to jail without bond and is next scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 23. ABC News has reached out to his attorney for comment. The charge of first-degree murder carries a sentence of life without parole if convicted, police said. "This was a senseless act of violence toward the victim," Canton Police Chief Chad Baugh said in a statement following the incident. "The Canton Police Department sends our deepest condolences to the victim's family, and to the neighbors who may have witnessed this tragic event." Morris worked as an engineer at Ford Motors, according to Kolanagireddy, an executive committee member of the Wayne 6th County Republican Committee, where Morris served as the secretary. "Nathan is one of those few guys who are near perfect," Kolanagireddy said. "He would do no harm and think no harm. He is just an amazing and gentle soul. He will be missed dearly." He is survived by his wife of 10 years and two girls, ages 5 and 2, according to his church, St. Michael Lutheran Church of Canton. His friend, Edward McCall, called the incident "surreal" and said the victim's family and friends are "numb and shocked." "He was a great man, and a real gentleman, a real father figure," McCall told ABC Detroit affiliate WXYZ. "I'm just kind of sorting through the kind of loss that represents for his family." Michigan man accused of fatally shooting his neighbor following argument over mulch originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Getty Images With Wednesday marking the first national ABLE Savings Day, the Michigan Department of Treasury is spotlighting opportunities to financially empower people with disabilities. Through the month of August, those opening an eligible MiABLE savings account will receive up to a $100 match, the department said in a statement. We are proud to have been among the earliest states in the nation to establish access to ABLE accounts as life-changing financial empowerment tools for people with disabilities and their families, MiABLE Program Director Scott de Varona said. Offering match incentives to encourage more people to participate in such a beneficial program allows us to underscore just how life-changing opening a MiABLE account can be for all those eligible Michiganders who have yet to enroll, de Varona said. The disability savings program was created after the Stephen Beck, Jr., Achieving a Better Life Experience Act (ABLE Act) was passed into federal law on Dec. 19, 2014 and is intended to help ease the financial burden faced by those with disabilities. According to the Department of Treasury, the accounts can help people with disabilities save for current and future expenses without jeopardizing government assistance like Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income. People with disabilities who receive government benefits are subject to a $2,000 asset limit. When compared to those without disabilities, disabled individuals are twice as likely to have incomes below the federal poverty threshold, less likely to be employed and more likely to be underemployed. The MiABLE program allows individuals who became disabled before age 26 and their families to save up to $18,000 annually in various investment options. Outside of that limit, account beneficiaries who are employed can contribute an amount equal to their current-year gross income, up to $14,580. Approximately 500,000 individuals in Michigan are eligible to open MiABLE accounts, but only about 1% of that number are currently enrolled statewide, de Varona said. Additional information on eligibility, benefits and how to apply for an account are available through the National ABLE alliances website at savewithable.com/mi/home.html. The ABLE Savings Plans Network is also hosting a webinar for individuals who have opened, or plan to open an ABLE account on Wednesday, Aug. 21 at 2 p.m., with registration available at abletoday.org/webinar-home. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said Monday her home was the target of a pair of swatting attacks within the span of 48 hours, meant to threaten her as the state's top elections official. Swatting entails a hoax call to law enforcement to prompt an armed response. The incidents can put victims in harm's way when law enforcement arrive at their home with the understanding that officers are responding to a horrific crime, rather than a prank. Benson thanked local and federal law enforcement for responding to the incidents. "Swatting is a form of political violence that is horrific, dangerous and intended to terrify its victims," Benson wrote in a social media post on X, shared Monday night. "But hear me clearly: I will not be intimidated. These threats never have and never will deter me from my job: ensuring Michigan citizens can have confidence in their secure, fair, accurate elections." Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson heads talks with the media during a press conference on Election Day outside of Berkley High School which has precinct three and seven at its location during the primary election on Tuesday, August 8, 2023. The Secretary of State's Office said the Detroit Police Department responded to the incidents that occurred Saturday night and Monday morning at Bensons home in Detroit. "We're sharing information with them and our various law enforcement partners at the state and federal level," wrote Angela Benander, the communications director for Benson's office. She did not respond to a request for comment on how Benson knows the perpetrator was targeting the elections official because of her job. The Detroit Police Department said its Cyber Crimes Unit is handling the investigation in the swatting attacks. "At this time, this is all the information that we are releasing," the police media relations wrote in an email. During a prior tumultuous election year, Benson's home drew protesters opposing former President Donald Trump's loss in Michigan in 2020 in a late-night demonstration she has described as another effort to intimidate her. "The demands made outside my home were unambiguous, loud and threatening. They targeted me in my role as Michigans Chief Election Officer," Benson said in a December 2020 statement responding to the incident. In addition to Benson, other Michigan politicians and candidates have reported swatting attacks against them. Michigan 2024 Election: JD Vance to visit Grand Rapids Wednesday as battle for Michigan heats up On Aug. 8, U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, was targeted by a swatting attack, according to her spokesperson Lynsey Mukomel. Michigan State Police responded "to a false threat that was emailed to a local elected official," Mukomel wrote in an email. "The congresswoman was not home at the time, and Michigan State Police checked the property and confirmed no one was in danger." U.S. Capitol Police will follow-up with an investigation, Mukomel added. The next day, Slotkin's GOP opponent in the race for Michigan's open U.S. Senate seat, former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, reported a swatting attack against his family members at their Livingston County home. "Michigan State Police responded to the false threat and thankfully no one at the home was harmed," said Rogers for Senate Communications Director Chris Gustafson in a statement Friday. "This is the second time that Mike has been the target of a swatting, first in 2013 as a member of Congress, and reports that Rep. Slotkin was also the target yesterday are a clear example of the deeply concerning trend of political violence that has quickly become the norm." The Michigan State Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment on either Slotkin's or Rogers' incidents. Contact Clara Hendrickson at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on X, previously called Twitter, @clarajanehen. Looking for more on Michigans elections this year? Check out our voter guide, subscribe to our elections newsletter and always feel free to share your thoughts in a letter to the editor. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan SOS Jocelyn Benson home targeted in swatting attack WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) The U.S. government warns Iran could attack Israel this week leading to fears of a regional war in the Middle East. Leaders from around the world the U.K., Germany, even the Vatican have encouraged Iran not to attack Israel. The Department of Defense is beefing up U.S. presence in the region. The Israeli Defense Forces issued a warning to Iran saying, We take the declarations and statements of our enemies seriously. The U.S. government believes Iran could attack Israel as early as this week. We have to be prepared for what could be a significant set of attacks, said National Security Spokesperson John Kirby. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered a guided missile submarine to the Middle East, and hes asked the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier group to get there quickly. We are committed to defending Israel and have put robust military capabilities in the region, said State Department Spokesperson Vedant Patel. U.S. officials have warned Iran could attack Israel after two attacks on senior military leaders. Israel says it killed a top commander of the Iranian backed militant group Hezbollah in July and Iran has blamed Israel for an airstrike in the Iranian capital that killed Hamass political leader. Hamas carried out the October 7th attacks the deadliest in Israels history. We obviously dont want to see any attack or response happening in the first place, said Patel. White House officials say they dont know how the attacks will look if Iran decides to attack Israel. Ceasefire talks are still panned for Thursday. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. Middle school teacher throws name in to take vacant Democratic ballot spot for House District 53 The Recycled Roadrunner sculpture overlooks Las Cruces and the Organ Mountains on May 29, 2024. House District 53, which includes portions of Las Cruces, southeast Dona Ana and Otero County is seeking a new Democratic candidate for the upcoming general election. (Photo by Danielle Prokop / Source New Mexico) Kasey Pena, a teacher at Lynn Community Middle School in Las Cruces, is seeking the nomination for House District 53 after the withdrawal of Jon Hill, the Democratic candidate in the race. The district spans much of southeast Dona Ana, and includes a chunk of Otero County. It includes a variety of rural colonias, including Chaparral, and portions of Las Cruces. The replacement candidate will face Republican Elizabeth Winterrowd in the general election. Seven members of the Democratic partys State Central Committee who live in the district will consider and approve the replacement later this month. Daniel Garcia, a spokesperson for the Democratic Party of New Mexico said that the Aug. 22 selection meeting will not be open to the public. Pena, 36, is the third person seeking to be the replacement Democratic party candidate. Last week, Rep. Willie Madrid (D-Chaparral) who lost to Hill in the June primary, put forward his name. Also joining the bid is Sarah Silva, a community organizer from Las Cruces and first-time candidate. Pena lives in Las Cruces but said she is working to connect with rural colonias communities in the district. Ive always connected to New Mexico as a safe place, full of hope and possibility, and it created the potential for positive paths forward, she said. So, as I drive through Chaparral and I see the realities of a neglected community, it really resonated with me. The House District 53 campaign is the first for Pena. Her experience in civil engineering would help address rural communities aging or neglected infrastructure, she said. She supports paid family leave, saying that her experience of taking unpaid parental leave with her three children left her in a place trying to balance her childrens needs and her own. I 100% experienced the reality of having to make the voice of staying, home, starting a family, bonding with your newborn baby and the financial reality, she said. On Monday, Pena announced endorsements from high-profile Las Cruces Democratic women. Endorsements in her first race In a press release, six current and former officeholders requested the State Central Committee choose Kasey Pena as the replacement candidate for the Democratic nominee for House District 53. Endorsements include: State Sen. Carrie Hamblen State Rep. Angelica Rubio Las Cruces City Councilor Yvonne Flores Las Cruces Public School Board President Teresa Tenorio Dona Ana County Sheriff Kim Stewart Former Las Cruces Mayor Pro-Tem Kassandra Gandara Midwest City parents have been charged in the death of their 7-year-old daughter. Midwest City parents have been charged in the death of their 7-year-old daughter who had signs of rigor mortis when they took her to a local hospital earlier this month. In Oklahoma County District Court, Anthony Yonko, 37, and Lisa Mitchell, 30, each face one count of felony second-degree murder of a child in commission of child neglect. On Aug. 2, Midwest City police were notified the girl was brought to St. Anthony Midwest Hospital just before noon by a personal vehicle, and she appeared to be dead. A nurse told police she spoke with the girls parents, and the mother was holding the child in a blanket, according to a police affidavit. The girl was malnourished weighing just 25 pounds at 3 feet 1 inch tall. The girl appeared to have internal and external injuries. She was pronounced dead at 12:19 p.m., and the hospital notified a medical examiner, who notified police. More: Midwest City parents face murder charges after taking child to hospital, police say Yonko told police he and Mitchell were living at the Vista Green Apartments in the 7000 block of E Reno Avenue in Midwest City. Both parents said the girl had the flu. Yonko told police they had been feeding her crackers and soup. On the morning the girl died, Yonko told police, he awoke to Mitchell telling him the girl was not moving and was sick and needed to go to the hospital. Yonkos brother drove them to the hospital, according to the affidavit. He told police he could not tell if the girl was alive because she was wrapped in the blanket. Yonkos brother said he dropped them off in the emergency area and drove away from the area because he was afraid and needed to get to work, a police officer wrote in the affidavit. On Tuesday, Yonko and Mitchell each remained in the Oklahoma County jail on $10,000,000 bond. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Midwest City Oklahoma parents charged with death of 7-year-old Millions of campaign dollars aimed at tilting school voucher battle are flowing into state races FILE - Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee speaks during a news conference Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn.. Lee presented the Education Freedom Scholarship Act of 2024, his administration's legislative proposal to establish statewide universal school choice. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File) NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Millions of dollars are being spent this year to steer voters toward candidates for Republican-led Legislatures who not only support school vouchers, but will become key figures in implementing school choice programs in states across the U.S. Most recently, national pro-voucher advocates declared victory after spending more than $4.5 million in Tennessee's primary election to defend and elect legislative candidates they claim will support school choice proposals in 2025 when state lawmakers are slated to return to the Capitol to enact policy. Meanwhile, at least $14.8 million was spent by similar advocacy groups in the Texas primary election earlier in May to oust and replace voucher opponents. In Idaho, hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent on candidates who both opposed and supported school vouchers in the rural mountain-west state. The spending spree is backed by the nation's most high-profile voucher influencers, including the School Freedom Fund, a pro-voucher group tied to Club for Growth; the American Federation for Children, which was founded by former Trump administration Education Secretary Betsy DeVos; and Americans for Prosperity, the Koch familys well-heeled free-market group. Their focus is often on primary elections because in Republican-dominated states, primaries are seen as the most competitive hurdle to getting elected. Make no mistake if you call yourself a Republican and oppose school freedom, you should expect to lose your next primary, said David McIntosh, president of the School Freedom Fund, said in a statement shortly after Tennessee's primary election. As we continue to hear from different governors, we plan on repeating our results from Tennessee and Texas across the country. The school freedom revolution is just beginning. Thirty-two states have implemented some sort of voucher program in the U.S., and some have been in place for decades, often with strict income requirements or narrowly tailored for students with disabilities. Yet, over the years, there's been a noticeable push among Republican leaders to make available taxpayer-funded vouchers, or scholarships that can follow a child regardless of income to any public or private school. About a dozen states now have such programs. But proposals are being considered in many more, with varying degrees of legislative support. Idaho, Tennessee and Texas all weighed sweeping school voucher proposals over the past year, but faced resistance not only from Democrats who dont hold as much political power but also Republican members wary of directing public education dollars away from their districts. Tennessee's Republican Gov. Bill Lee was forced to abandon his plans for universal school choice earlier this year after divisions inside the GOP-controlled Statehouse failed to come to a consensus on key specifics. The failure prompted Lee to break with his previous stance of remaining quiet during GOP primary elections and instead publicly pick favorites this year in a handful of legislative races. Additionally, outside groups like Club for Growth, American Federation for Children, Americans for Prosperity Action, and others poured $4.5 million across 16 House and Senate legislative races. Three of the open primaries saw almost a million dollars spent in each of the races. Club for Growth spent the majority of the money, pouring $3.6 million across five races and ultimately winning four of those seats. Lee didn't endorse any opponents of a sitting Republican incumbent, but he did throw support behind candidates in four open legislative seats three of which were successful. The modest gains for Lee's cause came at a big political cost. After Lee endorsed Sen. Jon Lundberg, this year's voucher bill sponsor, former President Donald Trump backed Lundberg's opponent, Bobby Harshbarger, son of U.S. Rep. Diane Harshbarger. After Harshbarger was declared the winner, Trump swiped at Lee on social media, calling him a RINO, or Republican in Name Only" even though he endorsed Lee in his 2022 reelection. Lee has so far brushed aside the criticism, and instead released a statement declaring that Republican primary voters sent a clear message: Its time to deliver school choice for Tennessee families." Focusing solely on primary voters may be a winning strategy to securing key state level races, but it comes at a cost of electing candidates who may not represent the average voter, said John Geer, a political science professor at Vanderbilt University. A very small proportion of the Tennessee voting public is driving these outcomes, that's not good for democracy, he said. In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott also touted major wins for voucher advocates in the aftermath of the state's runoff primary election in May. Months prior, back in late 2023, a group of House Republicans joined Democrats to help defeat a school voucher bill delivering a blow to one of Abbott's top legislative priorities. Similar to the playbook used in Tennessee, Abbott and national voucher groups pivoted to ousting voucher opponents in the primary election in order to secure a legislative victory in 2025. Club for Growth ultimately took credit for removing 10 GOP incumbents who had opposed Abbott's voucher push after targeting 14 races in primary and runoff election. Club for Growth reported spending $8.8 million and Abbott spent at least $6 million between the primary and runoff elections. The Texas legislature now has enough votes to pass school choice," Abbott posted after the runoff election. And in Idaho, four anti-school voucher Republican incumbents lost their reelection bids after the American for Children PAC spent more than $300,000 to promote school choice candidates. During the 2022 election cycle, the organization spent $9 million on state legislative races to support school choice friendly candidates but CEO Tommy Schultz promised to spend at least $10 million this year. To date, AFC and its affiliates have deployed more than $9 million in state legislative primary elections across the country, and we will spend millions more in the general election to advance school choice policies for American families, Schultz said in a statement to AP. ___ Associated Press writer Jonathan Mattise contributed to this report. (Bloomberg) -- Sign up for the India Edition newsletter by Menaka Doshi an insider's guide to the emerging economic powerhouse, and the billionaires and businesses behind its rise, delivered weekly. Most Read from Bloomberg Indias antitrust regulator will withdraw a report that found Apple Inc. abused its dominance of the domestic market, backtracking for now from its high-profile investigation into the US company. An arm of the Competition Commission of India conducted an initial investigation this year and found Apple exerted significant influence over the provision of digital products and services to consumers, according to people familiar with the matter. But the agency is withdrawing the probe report after Apple protested that it contained sensitive, privileged information, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing non-public discussions. Its unclear whether the regulator can now seek to revive the probe, which would likely require restarting the process. As a next step, the CCI could release a copy of the report which omits the confidential information. All of this would effectively delay the matter at the regulator. The privileged information which Apple shared with the director general of investigation includes business data such as India sales numbers which the company does not publicly disclose, according to another person who is aware of the matter. The details were provided to help with the probe and were intended to be private. Representatives for the watchdog didnt immediately respond to a request for a comment while Apple declined to comment. Tech giants are grappling with growing scrutiny from regulators around the world, who accuse Apple and its peers of unfairly sustaining their dominance of markets from mobile apps to content. The India probe focused on Apples billing practices in the mobile apps market, where it competes against rivals such as Google. Apple is defending its app policies on multiple fronts, including a lawsuit at home in the US and via challenges in Europe, South Korea and Japan. It has consistently argued its commissions are justified by the security and peace of mind that the app store provides users, while giving developers a global showcase. In India, the company controls just a single-percentage share of the 690 million-strong smartphone market, which is led by other foreign brands. Reuters first reported the recall of the probe report Tuesday and the findings of the investigation, which were not public and shared only internally with regulators, last month. Story continues But the country is increasingly an important manufacturing base for Apple, which is seeking to lessen its reliance on China at a time of escalating geopolitical tensions. --With assistance from Shruti Srivastava and Ville Heiskanen. (Updates with details on privileged information in fourth paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. What Minnesota primary voters are saying at the polls Republican candidate for U.S. House in Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District Joe Teirab puts a "I voted" sticker on his shirt after voting for himself in the primary at his polling place in Burnsville on August 13, 2024. Photo by Max Nesterak/Minnesota Reformer. Minnesotans are energized by the fall election after Vice President Kamala Harris selected Gov. Tim Walz to be her running mate, but Tuesdays primary election is turning out to be a relatively sleepy affair. Republicans need to settle on a U.S. Senate candidate and vote in what could be a couple of close U.S. House races, while Democrats in Minneapolis and close suburbs will again choose between U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar and former Minneapolis City Council Member Don Samuels. The primary will settle a smattering of state House contests, as well. If you need information on how to vote and more about the biggest races, read our coverage here. The Reformer fanned out across the metro and northwest Minnesota to talk to voters. Heres some of what they told us so far. Support for Samuels in the 5th Ulysses Brown, 76, a retired machine operator with three grown children, said he voted for Samuels because he saw a photo of Omar posing with a gun, although he wasnt sure it was real. TikTok lies a lot, he said outside a polling place at a high-rise in northeast Minneapolis. (In 2019, a photo circulated on Facebook falsely identifying a woman checking an automatic weapon as Omar.) He said he doesnt think things are going well in Minnesota: Because thats the way the white man want. He said Black people have to work harder than white people for jobs his top issue this election year and hes not happy with Walz. Because he aint doing nothing. Mark Johnston, 55, also voted for Samuels because He cares about Minnesota and not about Ethiopia, seeming to refer to Omars east African origins, though Omar is from Somalia. Weve got problems in Minnesota, and shes worried about problems in her home country, and I honestly think she shouldnt be here, said the IT worker. I think shes been illegally gotten here. (Omar is a legal immigrant.) His top issue is crime, especially after several of his friends have been accosted by criminals, including one who was assaulted in a parking lot. Overall, he thinks things are not badin Minnesota, although he has some concerns about Walz, including how he and the DFL-controlled Legislature spent nearly all of a $17.5 billion surplus. I think were turning the economy around a bit, but I dont walk at night anymore, he said. Alex Sloan, a 69-year-old retired University of Minnesota police officer and Hennepin County sheriffs deputy, also voted for Samuels, citing Omars decision to pay $2.78 million to a political consulting firm co-owned by her husband in 2019-2020. And, he said, I cant forget that shes made remarks in the past that come across as pretty antisemitic. Omar once said support for Israel is all about the Benjamins baby. She apologized. There seems to be some questions about the ethics of that, and Samuels just seems to me to be a better option; he strikes me as more ethical, Sloan said after voting at Edison High School in northeast Minneapolis. His top issue is ethical government. What we all need is good governance, and the Republican Party has become the Trump cult, and they dont want to govern. They want to rule, and thats just completely antithetical to a democracy. And the only major party left that is interested in governing, that is interested in maintaining democracy, is the Democratic Party. He thinks Walz has been an outstanding populist. Hes just an ethical, moral man whos about leadership, and thats that is exactly what we need in all levels of government, Sloan said. Anna Thares, a 54-year-old ultrasound technician, said she voted for Samuels even though she likes Omar. Thares said Omar stirs up a little bit more partisanship and said it would be nice to have a member of Congress who doesnt regularly make national headlines. Thares, who lives in Minneapolis East Isles neighborhood, said she voted for Will Stancil for the House District 61A seat. Three Democratic candidates Stancil, Katie Jones and Isabel Rolfes are battling for the Minneapolis House seat after venerated Rep. Frank Hornstein, DFL-Minneapolis, announced his retirement earlier this year. I think theyre all fairly similar, but I just randomly voted, Thares said after voting at Temple Israel in Minneapolis. Katherine Byrn, a 53-year-old teacher at the University of Minnesota, said she voted for Omar because she kicks ass. Bryn, after she cast her vote at the Walker Art Center, said she voted for Rolfes because she believes Rolfes can unite Democrats on a variety of issues. Kerry Newstrom, a 45-year-old high school teacher in northeast Minneapolis, voted for Omar because we need women in elective office. She has no kids and called herself a childless cat lady, referring to disparaging comments made by Republican vice presidential nominee, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance. Her top issues are maintaining funding for underprivileged people; womens rights and taxing the super-wealthy. She said Minnesota is doing relatively well, and Walz has done a great job, especially navigating the state through the pandemic and uprising after George Floyds police murder. Don and Penny Hon of northeast Minneapolis both voted for Omar. Ive been a raging progressive my whole life, said Don Hon, a 70-year-old retired health care administrator. I just think shes done a bang-up job. Even though shes cute as a button and a little, little gal shes also tough as nails, he said. His top concern is saving democracy and opposing the conservative initiative called Project 2025, which is a conservative blueprint for a second Trump term. The BBC recently described some highlights: The document calls for the sacking of thousands of civil servants, expanding the power of the president, dismantling the Department of Education, sweeping tax cuts, a ban on pornography, halting sales of the abortion pill, and more. I dont want to see the country turn any more fascist than it already is, Don Hon said. Penny Hon, 63, said her top issues are human rights, womens rights, health care and feeding the hungry. She, too, thinks Walz has done a bang-up job. Minnesotas 2nd Congressional District Michelle Volgren, 67, cast her Republican primary ballot for Wayne Johnson for state House and Joe Teirab for Congress at Park Senior High School in Cottage Grove. Ill vote for a veteran anytime, she said of Teirab, noting her late husband served in the U.S. Air Force during Vietnam. Asked about Walzs record serving for 24 years in the Army National Guard, Volgren said, Yeah but hes an educator and Im sorry but I dont have a whole lot of respect for a lot of them. She said public school teachers whine all the time while making good money for only working nine months a year. She said she homeschooled two of her kids and sent the other two to private school on her husbands blue-collar salary working for Andersen windows. Needless to say, she wont be supporting Walz for vice president in the fall. Mary Heath, a retired retail manager from Apple Valley, voted for Royce White, the GOP-endorsed candidate for U.S. Senate, and Teirab. She said shes disgusted by Democrats allowing undocumented immigrants to get drivers licenses and tampons in the boys bathrooms in schools. Walz has been called Tampon Tim in conservative circles on social media because of a new state law requiring school districts to provide free menstrual products. Walz is accused of requiring tampons be placed in both girls and boys bathrooms, but school districts have autonomy over where the products are placed. Im a Christian. I have principles, Heath said. Im a pro-life person, with exception, and the fact that you can come from any state now and get a full-term, almost full-term abortion, that was a big issue for me. Speaking with the Reformer, Teirab said he was humbled as the son of a Sudanese immigrant to be able to vote for himself for U.S. Congress at a church in Burnsville. Its just utterly humbling, and Im just very, very thankful to be an American, where we have the freedom to vote, he said. Teirabs challenger, GOP-endorsed Tayler Rahm, suspended his campaign to work on re-electing Trump, but he still appears on the ballot and most voters interviewed by the Reformer didnt know he had dropped out of the race. Rahms campaign signs are also still up around the district and his campaign literature has reportedly continued to arrive in voters mailboxes, raising questions of whether hed fully dropped out of the race. Teirab brushed off the possibility that Rahm might win. Tayler Rahm is a true patriot and Im thankful for the race that he ran, Teirab said. Im focused right now on uniting a party to make sure that we take the fight to Angie Craig and that we elect Republicans up and down the ballot in November. Tom Murr, 74, of Apple Valley voted for U.S. Rep. Angie Craig and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, neither of whom face a serious primary challenger. Murr, who is retired, said his biggest issues are LGBT rights and abortion rights. He said hes pleased with the state of the state and more hopeful about Democrats prospects in November since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. Hes got 50 years of experience Hes still capable. Hes not capable of winning, Murr said. And who knows where hell be in two years. I mean, Im 74 years old and I feel myself sliding a little bit. Its not like Im 68 anymore. Minnesotas 7th congressional district Despite a relatively high-profile GOP primary challenge to U.S. Rep. Michelle Fischbach, turnout was light in the 7th Congressional District in the rural western part of the state. By noon about 25 people including the dozen or so volunteers working the polls had cast their ballots in the town of Red Lake Falls. Joanne Covlin, a retired retail worker voting in the Democratic primary, said she turned out primarily to support Klobuchar. She said she is relieved Biden had turned the reins over to Harris. It was to the point where I didnt even want to vote, because I didnt want either Trump or Biden, she said. Citing the latters age, she added that Biden couldnt fight against things that were happening. Covlin also gave the governor high marks on his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Not as many people died in Minnesota as died in Arizona and Florida and all those other places, she said. I was grateful to him for that. But most primary voters in this deep red district said they were supporting Republican candidates. In neighboring Thief River Falls, a retiree named Judy who declined to give her last name said she was voting in the Republican primary just to get some decent people in there. She was especially concerned about Walz and the DFLs efforts to expand abortion protections. Patrick Whitcomb, a Red Lake Falls resident who works at a local electronics manufacturer, said he was voting for Fischbach against her primary challenger, Christian nationalist Steve Boyd of Alexandria. Fischbachs voting record in Congress has been right along with what Ive been wanting a Republican to do, he said. He cited the economy as his primary concern, with Second Amendment rights a close second. Whitcomb said that while he wasnt necessarily happy with the direction Minnesota was heading under the Democratic trifecta led by Walz, he understood why things are the way they are. Its part of the democratic process, he said. I love this state. Hopefully one day it will swing back to the right. Teen listed in critical condition at Upstate Hospital after being shot in the head Update at 11:43 a.m. on Aug. 13, 2024: The Syracuse Police Department said the victim is a 15-year-old male, still in critical condition. An investigation helped determine that the incident happened on the 200 block of Westmoreland Avenue, near the intersection of East Fayette Street. SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) Right before 11 p.m. on August 12, Syracuse Police officers were sent to a shooting with injury complaint at Upstate University Hospital. When they arrived, they were made aware of a juvenile male who had been dropped off by a private vehicle, according to police. The victim had a gunshot wound to his head. He is currently listed in critical condition. Police say the location of the incident is undetermined at this time. The investigation into this incident is active and ongoing. Anyone with information should contact the Syracuse Police Department Criminal Investigations Division at (315) 442-5222. Latest local news Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSYR. A Steuben County man who was reported missing Thursday evening has been found injured but alive. Meanwhile, the whereabouts of a Tioga County man who went missing during heavy rains and flooding Friday remains unknown. Shortly after 9 a.m. Friday, deputies and investigators from the Steuben County Sheriff's Office responded to the area of Taggart Road in the Town of Urbana for a report of a missing person, according to Sheriff Jim Allard. The 54-year-old man had reportedly left his home around 4 p.m. Thursday and did not return, and was not answering his phone, Allard said. Responding deputies located the mans vehicle near Taggart Road, and found the man around 9:48 a.m., alive but injured and unable to walk. He had spent the night outside in the rain near a ravine, Allard said. Emergency responders transport an injured man who had been reported missing away from the Taggart Road area in the Steuben County Town of Urbana on Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. The man was located and rescued before heavy rains triggered widespread flooding through much of Steuben County and elsewhere Friday. The Hammondsport Fire Department responded to the scene with a utility task vehicle and transported the patient to the roadway, where he was then taken by ambulance to a medical treatment facility. The man was conscious and alert during the transport, Allard said. Related At least 25 homes likely destroyed by Steuben County flood. When will roads reopen? Knoxville man still missing after Tioga County flooding Authorities are still searching for a man who went missing during flooding along the Cowanesque Valley in northern Tioga County, Pennsylvania on Friday. The man was from Knoxville and has not been located despite the efforts of hundreds of volunteers, according to Westfield Mayor Faun James, who has been in regular contact with emergency officials. Heavy rains from the remnants of Tropical Storm Debby caused the Cowanesque River and tributaries to flood Knoxville, Westfield, Harrison Valley and other communities along the valley. State and local officials are still assessing the extent of the damage. Follow Jeff Murray on Twitter @SGJeffMurray. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today. This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Knoxville man still missing after flood, Steuben County man found Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft did not violate state law when he described himself as an engineer in his unsuccessful bid for governor, the top agency overseeing engineer licenses in the state has found. The dismissal letter was dated one day after Ashcroft came in third place in the Republican primary for governor on Aug. 6. Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe won the GOP nomination while Sen. Bill Eigel received the second most votes. Rhonda Bullock, the executive director for the Missouri Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Professional Land Surveyors and Professional Landscape Architects, informed Ashcroft of the dismissal in a letter dated Aug. 7. Based on the information gathered, it was the Boards decision that you have not violated any provision of (state law) or the Board rules, according to the letter, which The Star obtained a copy of. It stated that the board voted to dismiss the complaint on Election Day. Ashcrofts engineering background became a flashpoint in the Republican primary after a complaint was filed accusing him of fraud and dishonesty. It alleged that Ashcroft was not licensed as an engineer and therefore is violating the law by holding himself out as one. Ashcroft had aggressively pushed back on the allegation, pointing to the fact that the person who filed the complaint had donated to Kehoes campaign. The boards dismissal letter also referenced a second complaint that was also dismissed. Ashcroft, in a phone interview, said the dismissal was expected and attacked the complaint as politically motivated. This was a political hit job. It was completely false, the allegation, he said. The law was clear. He declined to say whether he felt the complaint hurt his campaign. But he said that the dismissal shows how difficult it is for the people of this state to know the truth when they go to vote. Regardless of who is running, regardless of the election, we should all want a process where its not difficult for the people of the state, voters of the state, to find out the truth, so that they can vote accordingly, as they so desire, he said. Ashcroft had largely centered his campaign on his engineering background in ads and on his website. In a video launching his campaign, Ashcroft said Im an engineer and engineers fix problems. His biography with the Secretary of States Office states that he graduated with degrees in engineering management from Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla and later worked for a defense-based engineering company in West Plains. While state law bans people without engineering licenses from holding themselves out to be professional engineers, it allows individuals to use the word engineer without facing discipline so long as such use is reflective of that persons profession or vocation and is clearly not indicating or implying that such person is holding himself or herself out as being a professional engineer or is willing or able to practice engineering as defined in this section. Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center is shown in this Feb. 7, 2023 photograph. The prison in Bonne Terre, Missouri, houses the prison systems execution chamber. The state of Missouri has scheduled a fourth execution for this year. The Missouri Supreme Court issued a warrant of execution Tuesday for Christopher L. Collings. The 49-year-old is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Dec. 3. He was convicted in 2012 of killing Rowan Ford, a 9-year-old girl who was found in a cave in McDonald County, The Springfield News-Leader reported. Appeals at the state and federal level were struck down. Collings attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He is the fourth person scheduled to be executed in Missouri this year. Brian Dorsey was executed on April 9 at Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center, in Bonne Terre, about an hour south of St. Louis. The state prison houses the execution chamber. David Hosier was executed June 11. Marcellus Khaliifah Williams is scheduled to be executed Sept. 24. He claims he is innocent and that DNA found on the murder weapon was not a match. An evidentiary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 21. The St. Louis County Prosecutors Office supports his case and in January, filed a motion to vacate his conviction. Ten people remain on death row in Missouri, which in recent years has increased its pace of executions. Last year, the state executed four people. MoDOT needs to update environmental study for I-70 expansion. Here's how to comment As the Missouri Department of Transportation continues the process for widening Interstate 70 to six lanes across the entire state, it needs to reevaluate an environmental assessment in Cooper County. The state is taking public comments on the National Environmental Policy Act reevaluation an previously completed environmental study documents for the next month. MoDOT is taking comments online through the Improve I-70 Tier II Section 3 website now through Sept. 12. The section in question is in Cooper County from east of Boonville to the Union Pacific Railroad, known as SIU 3. The comments can help MoDOT update the 2005 environmental assessment when I-70 was broken down into seven Tier II sections for independent study. The sections were evaluated over 2004-2006 and reevaluations are ongoing for Improve I-70. There were some minor changes in SIU 3 from the original NEPA document, which is why MoDOT is seeking public comments. The original impacts at mile marker 100 were described as a removal and replacement of the bridge on the Katy Trail over I-70, requiring a temporary closure of the structure and a detour via U.S. Route 40, Dunkles Drive and Prairie Lick Road. With the current design, MoDOT is anticipating similar bridge reconstruction impacts to the original 2005 EA, but the impacts to right of way on the Katy Trail will be reduced from the previous analysis, MoDOT said in a news release. More information is available by calling MoDOT customer service at 1-888-275-6636 or via the MoDOT website. This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Improve I-70 environmental study needs updates, public comments taken Kimberly Dell Davidson-Drolet, 53, has been arrested alongside her son, sister and another person, per federal prosecutors Buchanan County Sheriffs Office; Murray Police Department Kimberly Dell Davidson-Drolet (left); and Gracyn A Utah woman and her son were arrested on accusations they kidnapped her 4-year-old daughter, who was found on a religious compound a year after vanishing, according to federal prosecutors. Kimberly Dell Davidson-Drolet, 53, was indicted on kidnapping and conspiracy charges for allegedly abducting her child and transporting her across state lines while keeping her hidden for nearly 18 months, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Utah said in a statement last week. The child, who was not named in the statement, has been identified as Gracyn Drolet by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Davidson-Drolet, who prosecutors allege was accompanied by her son Jaxson Davidson, 30, among others, is accused of taking her non-custodial child from Utah and taking her to Springfield, Mo., in January 2023, where she allegedly kept Gracyn on a religious compound through July 2024, federal prosecutors say. An arrest warrant was issued for Davidson-Drolet in December, per prosecutors. Prior to Drolets arrest, she was observed with the child who was located at a religious compound led by a religious cult leader, who is also related to Drolet, prosecutors alleged in their statement released on Friday, Aug. 9. Alongside Davidson, the mother was also allegedly assisted by Dallas Davidson, 23, and Kristine Merrill, 53, per prosecutors. All four are in custody. One of the suspects is Davidson-Drolet's sister, police said. Buchanan County Sheriff's Office Kimberly Dell Davidson-Drolet Utah officials say Davidson-Drolet allegedly hatched an elaborate plan to take Gracyn away from Utah and then hide her from her custodial father and law enforcement. She allegedly planned the kidnapping over 14 months, prosecutors said. Davidson-Drolet allegedly used tools such as burner phones and postal services to help her hide her daughter, per the statement. Merrill, Dallas and Jaxson allegedly assisted Davidson-Drolet in keeping their location hidden from law enforcement, prosecutors said. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. All four suspects have been charged with kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping, Utah prosecutors said. Plea and attorney information was not immediately available for any of the suspects. If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Mom of kids with autism gives away locks to try and prevent future tragedy SUTTON, Mass. (WPRI) A mom from Minnesota traveled to Massachusetts this week to try and prevent future tragedy with a special kind of lock. A four-year-old girl with autism died in Sutton last week after she went missing and was later found unresponsive in a neighbors pool. RELATED: The Autism Project offers resources in wake of Sutton tragedy Also last week, a 9-year-old boy with autism ended up in intensive care after he was found unresponsive in a swimming pool in Pawtucket. Sheletta Brundidge has three children on the autism spectrum and knows from personal experience that kids with autism can be prone to wandering off, a behavior called eloping. Eloping, being drawn to water, stimming and running away from home, that is a deadly combination, Brundidge said. When she saw what happened to the children in Sutton and Pawtucket, Brundidge jumped into action, using her experiences to spread awareness and potentially save lives. LEARN MORE: Locks to save lives On Sunday, Brundidge teamed up with Amazon and gave the Sutton Police Department 100 free keyless electronic interior combination locks. So far, the department has distributed about 70 of those locks to members of the community. I dont want to see another child die, I dont want to see another child drown, Brundidge said. It could be me standing there at the news conference it could be me showing a picture on the TV and asking for help. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Roundup Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WPRI.com. A mom who cops tried to charge with terrorism after her protest of the release of Daniel Penny is suing the city for at least $2.5 million, claiming the NYPD and Mayor Eric Adams fueled accusations against her. Kimberly Bernard, 35, of Manhattan says top city police brass and Hizzoner perpetuated the bogus terrorism charge against her in public statements and social-media posts after she was cuffed while protesting that Penny had not yet been charged in the subway chokehold death of disturbed homeless man Jordan Neely. The mother of three says the public officials misdeeds included sharing a picture of a Molotov cocktail they claimed she and others brought to the May 2023 protest in Manhattan. New court documents include this image of mom-of-three Kimberly Bernard being arrested in May 2023 in Manhattan. Obtained by the NY Post Bernard says she knows nothing about anyone having a Molotov cocktail and was never charged over it. She told The Post on Monday that when a detective informed of the pending terrorism charge against her as she sat in a cell, I was absolutely terrified. I thought I was going away for a very long time for such a serious charge. Its a scary thought, said the plaintiff, whose suit was filed in Manhattan federal court last week. Prosecutors dropped the terrorism charge against her hours later and instead left only minor infractions against Bernard, a full-time mom. The entire case was dropped a month later. Bernard, here on the roof of her lawyers office in DUMBO in Brooklyn on Monday, is suing the NYPD after it temporarily branded her a terrorist. James Messerschmidt Despite the dropping of the charges, Bernards anxiety, depression and fear following having her name associated as a terrorism suspect remain, she says. While youre sitting there in your cell, you dont know if youre going to be going to prison for a very long time, she said. And with the understanding that you have not done anything wrong that makes it even more frustrating. Bernard was arrested on the evening of May 8 as she waited near a downtown police precinct to provide jail support for demonstrators who had been arrested some who are also suing the city earlier that evening at a protest held for Neely near the Broadway-Lafayette subway station where he was killed. As she stood on the sidewalk, an assistant NYPD chief grabbed her arms and shoved her into a brick building, her suit states. Bernard said she obeyed all orders and did not resist arrest. She spent the next nearly 23 hours in police custody. The mom protests Jordan Neelys death during a demonstration near the Broadway-Lafayette subway station in downtown Manhattan in 2023. Daniel William McKnight Cops initially slapped her with a terrorism charge, but prosecutors declined to take the arresting officers suggestion, instead filing minor misdemeanors against her. The charges were dismissed against her that June. One of Bernards lawyers, Masoud Mortazavi, said he and his client have no idea where the initial terrorism rap came from. Thats part of what we want to get to the bottom of, the lawyer said. Top police officials and Mayor Adams held a press conference and displayed fabricated evidence of a Molotov cocktail, the suit says, suggesting that she and other protesters intended to engage in violent or terroristic conduct. These images from Bernards arrest are included in her new lawsuit. Obtained by the NY Post While the suit states damages of $2.5 million, that number can grow as the legal process proceeds, her camp said. Her suit notes that the NYPDs public-information office sent out her name and address, stating that she had been arrested on terrorism even after the district attorneys office declined to pursue the terror charges. I felt unsafe in my own home with my own children, she told The Post. I was feeling very paranoid every time the doorbell rang. It was a very scary time. Her suit adds, NYPD members repeatedly, publicly, and intentionally accused Ms. Bernard of terrorism-related conduct, despite full knowledge that this allegation was false, and even after this arrest charge was rejected by the reviewing prosecuting agency, the New York County District Attorneys Office. Bernard says shell never forget how scared she was when her name and address were released in connection with a terrorism charge. James Messerschmidt Confusingly, the original NYPD press release appears to associate her arrest with a separate protest on the Upper East Side. Bernard contrasts that with the information police shared about Penny. Just his name and a single charge was included, not his address, according to the suit, and he was allowed to walk away from the scene and turn himself in weeks after Neelys death. He was eventually charged in the case. Its clear that the Departments priority was not transparency or public safety, but rather retaliation against community organizers like Ms. Bernard for the content of their speech, said her other lawyer, MK Kaishian. The lawsuit is claiming excessive force, fabrication of evidence, first amendment retaliation and violation of her fair trial rights. A rep for the NYPD declined to comment on pending litigation. A representative for the citys Law Department also declined to comment. NEWARK, N.J. (PIX11) Like many others, Niama Ores patience at Newark Penn Station has been tested. Myself, and some other people, said Ore. I mean, God is patient with us every day, so why not be patient with everything else? But not everyone is as patient. Its been a year filled with morning and evening commute meltdowns, cancellations and delays many of them caused by aging Amtrak infrastructure, like overhead catenary wires, which power the trains. More Local News To try to get New Jersey Transit commuting back on track, Rep. Josh Gottheimer is introducing what he calls the All Aboard Act a bill thats modeled after new air passenger rights put into place this year by the U.S. Department of Transportation. If your train is delayed by hours, you should get your money back, said Gottheimer. Theres no reason we should just address passenger rights for the air. We should also do it for the rail. More New Jersey News If passed into law, his bill would create a rail passenger bill of rights, which would guarantee automatic refunds to Amtrak riders and New Jersey Transit riders impacted by Amtrak delays if their train is canceled or significantly changed by more than three hours. This new measure will compel Amtrak to prevent delays for commuters to the greatest extent possible, said Gottheimer. For longtime NJ Transit riders like Ron Kurzeja, its a welcome idea. Long overdue, said Kurzeja. Its time to make the system accountable. Accountability is on-time performance. Gottheimer has also requested a meeting this week with Amtrak leadership and U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Amtrak said in a statement to PIX11 News in part, Amtrak is working hard to improve the reliability of the Northeast Corridor after nearly five decades of chronic underfunding by both the federal government and our commuter partners. We and NJ TRANSIT, like, Congressman Gottheimer, want on-time service that meet customer expectations and we are working diligently, together, to identify root causes and make improvements to the many old assets we rely on every day to support roughly 450 daily trains in New Jersey. Amtrak Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. Wipro, an Indian technology services and consulting services provider, has announced the expansion of its partnership with Google Cloud, focusing on the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. This partnership aims to enhance developer productivity, accelerate cloud migrations, and deliver innovative AI solutions. Wipro is integrating Vertex AI and Gemini models into its project execution for clients, aiming to equip its workforce with generative AI-powered tools. As part of Wipro's ai360 initiative, the Wipro FullStride Cloud Studio is incorporating Gemini's advanced reasoning and analysis capabilities into its core business platforms and innovation hubs. These hubs are designed to drive business transformation by developing best practices, tools, and frameworks that combine Wipros ecosystem with Google Clouds offerings. Wipro is also training its associates on Google Clouds AI technologies, including Gemini, to better assist global enterprise customers. The company aims to enhance digital transformation projects, with estimates suggesting GenAI-powered productivity improvements of up to 30%. The capabilities of Gemini for Google Cloud are being embedded into Wipro FullStride Cloud Studio platforms and utilised across Wipro FullStride Cloud Studios in Bangalore, London, New Jersey, Dallas, and Mountain View. Wipro FullStride Cloud Studios provide cloud-native solutions using tools, accelerators, and blueprints to streamline the design, deployment, and management of cloud programs for clients. Wipro FullStride Cloud managing partner and global head Jo Debeckersaid: Through this expanded relationship with Google Cloud, we are able to significantly accelerate our clients digital transformation journeys and empower them to maximize their cloud-run businesses. With Gemini infused into our Wipro FullStride Cloud Studio platform, we will continue to help our clients leverage the power of cloud, adapt to an AI-driven future, and transform their businesses. Google Cloud corporate vice president of global ecosystem and channels Kevin Ichhpurani said: Through this partnership, Googles powerful Gemini models and AI services are powering digital transformation within Wipro and with its broad set of enterprise clients. Wipros expanding expertise with Google Cloud AI will benefit its enterprise clients on many of their most critical projects, including cloud migrations, data analytics, application modernization, and more. Earlier this year, Wipro expanded its partnership with IBM, introducing the Wipro Enterprise AI-Ready platform, which utilises IBMs Watson to enable clients to establish integrated enterprise-level AI environments. Story continues "Indias Wipro expands AI partnership with Google Cloud " was originally created and published by Verdict, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Its an active start to the week, with even more monsoon showers and thunderstorms Tuesday afternoon. Drier and hotter weather moves in later this week. Monsoon moisture is bringing widely scattered showers and storms across the western two-thirds of New Mexico, with a few storms around Roswell too. Storms have had a history of dropping heavy rainfall, bringing Flash Flood Warnings to the HPCC and Ruidoso area burn scars. Storms will continue to move to the north/northeast through late this evening, with some storms even sticking around through late tonight and some spotty showers into early Tuesday morning. Tuesday is going to be an even more active afternoon of monsoon showers and thunderstorms. Storms will again first develop across the mountains early in the afternoon, with more widespread storms by the late afternoon and evening. Storms will again be travelling to the north/northeast. Heavy rain is likely over burn scar areas, which could mean more burn scar flash flooding Tuesday afternoon from Ruidoso to northern New Mexico. There is also a good chance for storms in the Albuquerque Metro. Drier air moves into the state starting Wednesday as westerly mid-level winds bring it in from Arizona and high pressure moves back overhead. This will bring a significant downtick in thunderstorms through Friday, with the best chances for only a few spotty showers and storms mainly over the mountains. The heat will be returning late this week too, with record and near record high temperatures Friday through Sunday. Highs will be in the mid and upper 90s and triple-digits. Monsoon moisture will slowly return to New Mexico this weekend, bringing back better chances for rain to the state once again. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. HASTINGS, Mich. (WOOD) A multimillion-dollar project aimed to revitalize downtown Hastings is wrapping up nearly a year after construction began. While the new roadway is a welcome change for many business owners, the roadwork has taken a toll on businesses. Since Hastings started revamping its downtown last September, Melissa Gillons, who owns a clothing shop downtown, said her sales have been down 60%. Monthslong closures of parts of State Street kept many people away from businesses. You really have to tighten things up, Gillons said. It determines what you can purchase for the future, for fall, for Christmas. Gillons opened The Clothier in December 2021. Its a two-story clothing and boutique shop that does in-house alterations. Businesses on Cesar E. Chavez struggle amid construction I think there was a need, she said. There wasnt a lot of clothing options for the community, and I wanted to bring down quality clothing people can get. Dan King, the citys community development director, said the area hadnt been updated since the early 1990s. The street had become unsafe, he said. King said that trees past their lifespan were hazards, old sidewalks were beginning to heave and streetlight poles had corroded because of salt put down during the winter. (It) was becoming unsafe in a highly-trafficked central business district, King said. Gillons feels all the changes were needed. Thats what you see when you come into town, she said. I think it will bring in more businesses and more visitors for sure. You gotta look good and attract more people, and its absolutely beautiful. On top of replacing the aging infrastructure, the city wanted to add new amenities to make downtown look nicer. That includes a fireplace, pots for flowers and plants, new street furniture, crosswalks and spaces for outdoor dining. Downtown Hastings nears the end of its monthslong construction project. (Aug. 11, 2024) Downtown Hastings nears the end of its monthslong construction project. (Aug. 11, 2024) Downtown Hastings nears the end of its monthslong construction project. (Aug. 11, 2024) Downtown Hastings nears the end of its monthslong construction project. (Aug. 11, 2024) Downtown Hastings nears the end of its monthslong construction project. (Aug. 11, 2024) The initial phase of construction started last September before pausing for the winter. When it resumed in the spring, business owners felt more of the impact. Lawton businesses struggle through Main Street road construction The street started coming up, Gillons said. (They were) redoing the intersections. Thats when the foot traffic really slowed down for us. I think with less people coming to town, because theyre worried about the traffic obstacles and not being able to negotiate sidewalks, we just werent getting the foot traffic, she added. People were going elsewhere to shop and get dinner. While the project was expected to finish by late June, King said the citys timeline was delayed. Like many construction projects of this magnitude, there were unexpected issues that came up that created delays including underground infrastructure that were unknown at the time of project planning, King said. All construction signs, cones and barricades will be gone by Friday afternoon at the latest, King said. The project wont officially be considered a wrap until the city, design group and contractor look things over one final time. King also told News 8 the city has been in touch with businesses for years about the construction. Despite the loss in sales, Gillons doesnt blame the city. The city did a great job communicating with us, always getting emails and whats the next phase and when its anticipated to be done, she said. Its a ghost town: Construction hurting Kalamazoo businesses Planning for the project first began in fall 2019 but was shelved due to the pandemic until late 2022. King said city staff, the project manager and the contractor met with store owners during planning and tried to minimize the impact to businesses. The contractor demolished the street side of the sidewalk first, leaving a section of the sidewalk next to the stores open for pedestrian traffic, King said. After the streetside section of the sidewalk was prepped for the new sidewalks, irrigation, electrical, etc., the contractor then went section by section excavating and pouring concrete in front of store buildings, allowing them to shorten the time that front access to stores was not available. A few weeks ago, Gillons took to Facebook to share her concerns. While she said she is excited about the project, she expressed that downtown businesses have struggled. This remodel will be in vain if our amazing, unique stores have to close their doors, she wrote. Gillons said the point was to encourage people to shop local. She also wanted to emphasize that there was parking just blocks away from the construction, even in front of many stores. They thought there was nowhere to park and there was, she said. Gillons said she and other business owners are close to one another, and theyre on the same page. Its been tough, but now that the work is finally wrapping up, theyre hopeful the new look downtown will turn things around. Its a gamble, she said. Are we gonna pick back up? I believe we are. I think people are gonna come down here and see our beautfiul downtown and well be fine, we just need to get through the growing pains. Much of West Michigan has been dealing with the impact of construction this summer. Gillons encouraged everyone to continue to support local businesses, especially during construction season. The small businesses depend on you, she said. So (during) that little bit of frustration and inconvenience still support us. Come down, shop at our shops. It might take you a little longer while the construction is going on, but its worth it. Theres no experience like a small town experience. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com. MONTICELLO, Ill. (WCIA) A Monticello police officer was arrested Tuesday morning for disseminating child pornography. WCIA confirmed with Zack Cooper, the Superintendent of the Piatt County Jail, that Craig Griswold was booked into the jail on Tuesday, with the Illinois State Police as the primary arresting agency. Cooper said Griswold was booked on a single count of dissemination of child pornography, a Class X felony. Suspected gas explosion, fire leaves two hurt in Springfield State Police said special agents served a search warrant Tuesday morning after receiving multiple cyber tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) regarding child pornography. They said 39-year-old William C. Griswold was taken into custody shortly before that search warrant was served. Monticello Police said in a press release that they were informed of the investigation into Griswold Tuesday morning. When the department learned of his arrest, Griswold was immediately placed on unpaid leave. Pending further investigation, other action may be taken against Griswold including termination. The investigation into Griswold was described as a collaborative effort between the Illinois Attorney Generals Office Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Piatt County States Attorneys Office, the Monticello Police Department and Illinois State Police. This is a developing story. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com. RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) Two significant court decisions in one day mean additional presidential candidates will appear on the ballot in North Carolina, the latest shakeup in this key battleground state. On Monday, Wake County Judge Keith Gregory ruled against the state Democratic Party, which had sued to try to keep Robert F. Kennedy Jr. off the ballot over the process he used to gather signatures and form the new We the People Party. In a separate decision issued Monday, U.S. District Judge Terence Boyd ordered the NC State Board of Elections to recognize the Justice for All Party, which has Cornel West as its nominee. The state board, which has a Democratic majority, voted against certification last month, raising concerns about the legitimacy of the signatures gathered for Justice for All and saying an investigation was underway. The judge said state election officials used too small of a sample of signatures in drawing conclusions that there were larger issues with the signatures submitted. Certainly if we have a very close election, the presence of third-party candidates could be enough to sway it one way or another, said NC State political expert Steven Greene. Polling conducted in North Carolina after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and Vice President Kamala Harris entered shows the state is competitive. Those polls show former President Donald Trump with a narrow lead or tied with Vice President Harris. He won the state in 2020 by about 1.3 percent, which was just over 74,000 votes. We could still easily have 2, 3, maybe even 4 percent of voters vote for a third-party candidate. And, in a state that was decided by one-and-a-half percent on the presidential level last time, that could absolutely make the difference, said Greene. In the weeks since Bidens exit, Greene says support for Kennedy has dropped into the low single digits. Greene added that some of Kennedys supporters were dissatisfied with the choice of Biden and Trump. But, now that Biden is out, some of them are willing to support Harris. Its fair to say theres many fewer double-haters, that there were a lot of voters who were skeptical of both Trump and Biden for different reasons, said Greene. The best evidence suggests now hes probably hurting Donald Trump more. The Green Partys Jill Stein, Libertarian Chase Oliver and the Constitution Partys Randall Terry will also appear on the ballot in North Carolina. While the state Republican Party cheered the decisions that led to Kennedy and West appearing on the ballot, the state Democratic Party has not responded to a request for comment. Kennedys campaign says theyve gathered enough signatures to get on the ballot in all 50 states. However, he still faces legal challenges. On Monday, the same day he won his case in North Carolina, he lost a separate case in New York where a judge determined he falsely claimed to be a resident of the Empire State on nominating forms when he actually lives in California. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS17.com. DES MOINES, Iowa Fire crews responded to a soybean processing plant in Des Moines after a fire broke out early Tuesday morning. Captain Stacia Swanson of the Des Moines Fire Department said the call came in at 5:34 a.m. about a structure fire at the ADM plant at 1935 E. Euclid Avenue. The fire was located on the fourth-floor roof of the bag house. Car crashes into Des Moines house during early morning police chase Firefighters were able to extinguish the flames in about an hour. The fire may have started in the hammer millers or elevators from soybean dust that ignited, Capt. Swanson said. No injuries were reported. Fire crews remained on the scene for a short time after the flames were out to monitor hot spots. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to who13.com. DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) WDTN.com has you covered for up-to-date information on traffic issues across the Miami Valley. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDTN.com. From the assassination attempt on Donald Trumps life to Joe Bidens sudden withdrawal from the presidential race, the past month has offered ample material for the most paranoid creatives among us to do what they do best: spark baseless allegations on the internetand watch the world burn. Whether they originated from casual s---posts or strategically planted by political operatives online, the conspiracy theories keep coming. The most widespread and outrageous among them are here to stay, gaining traction by the day and jamming your social media feeds in the process. So without further ado Conspiracy Theory: The Donald Trump Shooting Was Staged Ah, a classic. It didnt take long for the ever-predictable false flag narrative to take hold in the aftermath of the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump. From Facebook, to X, to Instagramsocial media was quickly flooded with claims that Trump staged his own shooting at a July 13 campaign rally to galvanize his supporters and paint himself a martyr in the eyes of the electorate. Never mind that the attack was live-streamed, captured by dozens of photographers, in front of thousands of Trump supporters in Butler, Pennsylvania. The blood dripping from his ear? A simple pill filled with red liquid. The three people killed in the incident? All actors, of course. How else could such a picturesque photograph like this one come to be? Surely not the result of skilled camerawork by a storied war photographer whos quick on his feet. Both Sides Push Donald Trump Assassination Conspiracies: Deep State, Crisis Actor The staging narrative is just one of several conspiracy theories that circulated about the Trump shootingbut this one is still going strong a full month later. Conspiracy Theory: Joe Biden Is Actually Dead A throwback! The conspiracy theory that the U.S. president is well, no longer with us had actually emerged well before Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential election, and came hand-in-hand with the debate around his health and cognitive capacities. While social media users had been alleging for months that Biden had been replaced by a clone, the presidents withdrawal from the race certainly breathed new life into the absurd fantasy. Mask technology. A body double. A CIA masterplan. This particular conspiracy theory might seem like the unhinged ramblings of an eternally online troll, but that didnt stop billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman from sharing his thoughts on the matter. If this were a hostage situation, that letter would not qualify as proof of life, Ackman tweeted to his 1.3 million followers, in response to Bidens letter formally announcing he wont be running for re-election. Oops. One would think that a letter to the American people from the president announcing his decision to step aside would not be signed using a digital signature and would be accompanied by a photo op and a scheduled conference in the morning that followed. Instead we have a Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) July 22, 2024 At least theres not much of a Kamala is dead crowd yet. Speaking of the vice president Conspiracy Theory: Kamala Harris Huge Crowds Are Just AI Being the subject of bonkers conspiracy theories does not preclude you from spouting equally ridiculous lies. Take Donald Trump, who has taken to Truth Social to accuse Vice President Kamala Harris of using AI to generate false crowd sizes at her rallies. Has anyone noticed that Kamala CHEATED at the airport? There was nobody at the plane, and she A.I.d it, and showed a massive crowd of so-called followers, BUT THEY DIDNT EXIST!, the Republican presidential nominee said in a post on Sunday, referencing the crowds pictured at Vice President Kamala Harris Michigan rally last week. Trump Rolls Out Bonkers Harris Plane Conspiracybut Photographer Disproves It What else is a presidential candidate to do when up against an opponent who has garnered such popularity and enthusiasm so quickly? Blame those crafty computers, of course! Never mind all the subsequent fact-checking and expert assessments that will inevitably follow, exposing your lies. Bonus! Veep Edition Lest you believe the vice presidential candidates have been spared from the creative fabrications, think again! Hours after he was named Kamala Harris running mate, Governor Tim Walz was accused of having changed the flag of Minnesota to resemble that of Somalias. Can you believe it? (Please dont!) J.D. Vance Accuses 24-Year Army Veteran Tim Walz of Stolen Valor His Republican counterpart has been the subject of a misinformation campaign too. Who can forget the unfortunate rumor that JD Vance had sexual relations with a couch, which spread like wildfire? Vance took an unconventional approach in addressing the outrageous claimby awkwardly attempting to get in on the joke himself. As the saying goes: if you cant beat em, join em. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Mother still looking for answers after daughter was killed by train BELOIT, Ohio (WKBN) A mother of a Beloit girl who was hit and killed by a train in Sebring last month is sharing her daughters memory as she still searches for closure. Twenty-one-year-old Allison Carter and a 21-year-old Alliance man were trying to cross the tracks of a Norfolk Southern line near Pennsylvania Avenue between 16th and 17th streets during the early morning hours of July 15 when they were hit, according to Ohio State Highway Patrol. The man was killed instantly, and Carter died at a hospital. Carters mother, Cindy Masters, is still looking for answers after her daughters sudden death. It was the hardest thing ever watching her die, Masters said. I just want to know exactly what happened. She did not commit suicide. My daughter would never do that no matter how hard life got. No way. No way. She loved life. Masters said she believes her daughter was in the wrong place with the wrong people and isnt sure her death was an accident. I think Allie was getting mixed up with some not so very nice, not good people, Masters said. Masters remembers her daughter as a beautiful, funny girl who would help anyone. She was getting ready to go to cosmetology school and loved boating and being on the water. She now wears a necklace that was once Carters. Her smile would definitely light up a room when she walked, and she was very silly, always playing jokes. Everybody loved her, Masters said. After Carter was taken off life support, Masters chose to donate her daughters organs. She said it brings her a little peace to know her daughters heart is still beating. She had the biggest heart in the world. So, I think she would want that, Masters said. I left a little letter for them about Allison so they could have it, and whoever it was, I hope to gosh, that they know that they have a beautiful heart. Police are still investigating Carters death. Masters said she hasnt gotten many answers. I need closure. I need so much closure, she said. Masters hopes to host a celebration of life for Carter in mid-September. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. Key Insights Significantly high institutional ownership implies MBSB Berhad's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions 57% of the company is held by a single shareholder (Employees Provident Fund of Malaysia) Past performance of a company along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business If you want to know who really controls MBSB Berhad (KLSE:MBSB), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 63% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk). And last week, institutional investors ended up benefitting the most after the company hit RM6.5b in market cap. The gains from last week would have further boosted the one-year return to shareholders which currently stand at 9.7%. Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of MBSB Berhad, beginning with the chart below. View our latest analysis for MBSB Berhad What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About MBSB Berhad? Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices. MBSB Berhad already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at MBSB Berhad's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters. Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. Hedge funds don't have many shares in MBSB Berhad. Our data shows that Employees Provident Fund of Malaysia is the largest shareholder with 57% of shares outstanding. This implies that they have majority interest control of the future of the company. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 13% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 1.6% by the third-largest shareholder. While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. There is a little analyst coverage of the stock, but not much. So there is room for it to gain more coverage. Story continues Insider Ownership Of MBSB Berhad The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves. Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group. Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in MBSB Berhad. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth RM97m. Most would see this as a real positive. It is good to see this level of investment by insiders. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently. General Public Ownership The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 23% stake in MBSB Berhad. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies. Next Steps: While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with MBSB Berhad (including 1 which doesn't sit too well with us) . If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts. NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. LANSING Michigan prison officials failed a woman with a history of mental health problems who committed suicide at the state's prison for women in 2021, a federal lawsuit alleges. Natasha Roark, 39, who had been recognized as a suicide risk both before and after she was sent to Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility near Ypsilanti, had stopped taking her medications and attending medical appointments and was left alone with a bedsheet inside a handicapped restroom when she died on Aug. 11, 2021, according to the lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Detroit. Natasha Roark. "Defendants should have instituted policies and/or enforced policies which would have alerted WHV personnel to respond to an inmate making multiple trips to a bathroom with bedsheets, especially one who has a long history of mental health issues," alleges the lawsuit, filed by Roark's mother and legal guardian, Sheila Lewis of Florida. Lewis told the Free Press in 2021 that her daughter was a widow and the mother of three daughters, ages 18, 14 and 9, at the time of her death. Roark, who was close to her earliest release date at the time of her suicide, had both mental and physical health issues, suffering from psychosis and problems with one of her legs because she did not receive required physical therapy after a hip replacement, Lewis said. Roark grew up in Florida and was a marine biologist who worked for the city of Chicago, but who had struggled with alcoholism, her mother said. "It just doesn't make any sense it's horrible." Named as defendants in the lawsuit are MDOC Director Heidi Washington, Warden Jeremy Howard and other unnamed prison officials. Racine Miller, the Birmingham attorney representing Lewis, alleges violation of Roark's federal constitutional rights and also cites Michigan's wrongful death law. The suit seeks unspecified damages in excess of $75,000. Jennie Riehle, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Corrections, declined comment on the lawsuit Tuesday, saying the department does not comment on pending litigation. An autopsy showed the medications prescribed and ordered for Roark were not present in her system at the time of her death, according to the lawsuit. Also, Roark had missed a scheduled medical review on June 8, a group therapy session on June 14, and a medical appointment on July 26, the lawsuit alleges. Prison video shows Roark entered the restroom and closed the door at 11:40 a.m. and was not discovered by prison officials until just over one hour later. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Jonathan Grey. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org. Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on X, @paulegan4. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Mother sues over 2021 suicide of troubled daughter at Michigan prison Movement of civilians in Sumy Oblast restricted within 20 km of Russian border Civilians in Sumy Oblast within 20 kilometers (12 miles) of the border with Kursk Oblast are subject to restrictions on movement due to increasing Russian attacks, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces announced on Aug. 13. The security situation in Sumy Oblast became more tense with the start of Ukraine's cross-border incursion into neighboring Kursk Oblast in Russia, which began on Aug. 6. Ukraine's National Police said on Aug. 9 that around 20,000 people need to be evacuated from border settlements in Sumy Oblast as Russia intensified its attacks against the region. The people affected by the evacuation order live within 10 kilometers of the border with Russia. The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said in a statement on Aug. 13 that the military has "imposed restrictions on the movement of all categories of citizens in the 20-kilometer border zone of Sumy Oblast." The decision was made due to the "increase in the intensity of hostilities, intensification of the activities of sabotage and reconnaissance groups, special operations forces of the enemy, and in order to preserve the lives of the civilian population and military personnel." "Admission of persons to the specified territory is carried out on passports of citizens of Ukraine with a corresponding mark on the registration of residence in this zone," the General Staff added. Russian forces on Aug. 13 damaged a hospital building and energy infrastructure in the city of Sumy, located around 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the Russian border, injuring at least one person. Read also: Ukraine war latest: Ukraine in control of 28 settlements in Kursk Oblast Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. A London MP has stepped in to demand a dedicated south London street sweeper can accept more than 3,000 raised for him to go on holiday. Hundreds of residents of Beckenham in Bromley chipped in to send Paul Spiers, 63, on a summer break to Portugal as a thank you for his hard work. But his bosses at waste company Veolia have refused to let him accept the cash. Veolia said its contract with Bromley council does not permit our staff to accept any monies or incentives outside of agreed pay structures. Beckenham and Penge MP Liam Conlon said he had written to the town hall and asked councillors to take action so Mr Spiers can go abroad. He told the Standard: Paul works hard every day to keep our streets clean, and helps make Beckenham the great place it is to live. He is much-loved by the local community, and hundreds of people have come together to pay for a holiday as a way to say thank you to him. This is an act of kindness and generosity that we should celebrate, so I am dismayed that Veolia are treating it as a conflict of interest. Veolias contract is with Bromley Council, and I have asked the Leader of Bromley Council to see sense and take action. This is not the time for a computer says no attitude, but to find a way forward so Paul can enjoy the well-deserved we all want him to have. Lisa Knight set up the fundraiser to help pay for the holiday for Mr Spiers, who has only been abroad once. She said: Paul has been our dedicated Beckenham road sweeper since 2017, bringing joy to local residents and keeping our streets immaculate... His habit of playing music from his speaker while meticulously cleaning our streets lifts everyone's spirits with his positive presence. But after the money rolled in she told generous donors: Paul is unable to accept the donations due to restrictions set by his employer, Veolia, in accordance with their contract with Bromley council. Veolia said it would match the amount of money raised and donate it to a charity nominated by Mr Spiers. Paul will be the recipient of Bromleys employee of the quarter an internal financial reward to recognise his hard work and dedication, a spokesperson said. Bromley council has been contacted for comment. MIDLAND, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- The Midland Police Department is asking for help from the community to identify a man accused of theft. According to Crime Stoppers, on July 24, a man entered Academy Sports, located at 5300 W Wadley Avenue, and began to conceal about $460 worth of merchandise in a duffle bag. The suspect then left the store without paying and drove away on a small black motorcycle. Anyone with information on this suspect is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 432-694-TIPS and reference case number 240725015. You may also submit your anonymous tip online or via the P3 TIPS mobile app. If your tip leads to an arrest, it could be worth a cash reward. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Yourbasin. Attendees inside Ocean Springs City Hall stepped back three centuries in time. In an era of swords, settlers, gunpowder and pirates, two men made resounding impacts still felt on the Mississippi Coast today. The Ocean Springs Board of Aldermen motioned last month to find funding for historical markers for two figures that evoke the foundations of Coast history: buccaneer Laurens de Graaf and Native American frontier hero Jean Baptiste Baudreau II. The aldermen made their decision after a presentation by Rodney Mooney, a historian who has found a passion for exploring Mississippi history. He said the stories behind these two individuals reveal glimpses of the vibrant past that makes Coast history unlike any other. These two men were both incredible and when they had a pursuit that they thought was worth fighting for, no matter if it was against an entire nation, they stood their ground, Mooney said. The people on the Gulf Coast were adventurous, incredibly brave, brilliant. They were settlers, but they didnt settle. They did miraculous things. They had passions that they pursued, and they didnt back down. The Royal Navy fourth-rate frigate Hampshire (at left) exchanges broadsides with the French fourth-rate ship of the line Pelican (at center) as two other English vessels seek to intervene on Sept. 5, 1697. DIberville was captain of the Pelican before his expedition to the Gulf Coast. Laurens de Graaf In the late 1600s, European powers, particularly Spain, France and England, sought to lay claim to the vast resources of the New World. Growing colonies in the Caribbean and Latin America brought ships laden with valuable goods and treasure to the region. Rival nations, and men who sailed without a flag, were desperate for these commodities and struck out in acts of piracy. Laurens de Graaf, said to be physically imposing and complete with a blonde, bushy mustache, was a notorious participant in the violence. Sir Henry Morgan, governor of Jamaica, pirate and now the namesake of a popular rum brand, called de Graaf a great and mischievous pirate. During his career in swashbuckling, de Graaf captured enough Spanish ships and gold to form a pirate fleet. When the Spanish sent an armada to hunt him down, de Graaf sailed to confront them. After hours of thundering cannon smoke, the Spanish had surrendered de Graaf claimed a new flagship and 120,000 pesos in silver. He later joined a combined pirate fleet to raid the Spanish city of Veracruz, where the pirates misled city defenders by leading the attack with captured Spanish ships. On the second day of plundering, a disagreement erupted between de Graaf and pirate Nicholas van Hoorn over the treatment of hostages among pirates, de Graaf was known to treat his hostages well and the division of spoils, leading to a duel where de Graaf claimed victory. The sacking of Veracruz is the basis of the popular song La Bomba. In the background is the captured Spanish ship Santa Rosa on the left, and a small three-masted bark on the right, both commanded by Laurens de Graaf, at the Cayemite Islands in the Gulf of Gonaive, Hispaniola, January 1688. In the foreground, the ship le Marin is one of the two frigates that dIberville would use when exploring the Mississippi Gulf region in 1699. De Graaf met and married his second wife, buccaneer Anne Dieu-le-Veut, after she threatened to shoot him for insulting her. Mooney said that much of popular media surrounding pirates, including scenes from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, is at least partly based on de Graafs life. He was considered well-spoken, gentlemanly, beautiful, brave. He was in a smaller ship that sailed between two Spanish war machines, and he fell between them because they would be too scared to keep firing because they would fire on each other. He fought them off and escaped. At one point he was shot and went downstairs. He thought he was gonna die he came back out and recovered. And the two Spanish armada ships just kind of gave up, Mooney said. Marcus Poole, a professor of fine art at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and former chairman of the Ocean Springs Museum of History Commission, said de Graaf left his life of piracy behind on the island of Saint-Domingue, now modern Haiti, to work as a mercenary captain. There, de Graaf met Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur dIberville, who was searching for a navigator to lead a French incursion into Pensacola Bay. DIberville sought to create a foothold for more expeditions into the mouth of the Mississippi, and Pensacola Bay was well charted. De Graaf had experience in those waters, and according to dIbervilles journal, he led the French fleet along the Gulf Coast. After encountering a Spanish settlement at Pensacola, they continued west, past the foggy mouth of Mobile Bay, and anchored at Ship Island. In 1699, dIberville established Fort Maurepas at Ocean Springs, the first European settlement in Mississippi. Some other pirates joined the settlers and remained in Ocean Springs. A cigarette card depicting de Graaf and his duel with pirate Van Hoorn, issued ca. 1888 in a set of 50 cards to promote Allen & Ginter brand cigarettes. There is no definitive depiction of de Graafs appearance. Everything started here in Ocean Springs. Before there was a New Orleans, before there was a Mobile, the toehold for the French was right there on Lovers Lane. Thats where it all began and it started there for two solid years, and there were some hardy souls that never left, Poole said. The first bricks that were laid for New Orleans were fired in Ocean Springs and Biloxi. Poole said little is known about de Graafs later years. Many historians assert he returned to Saint-Domingue, while some people believe he remained on the Coast to live out the rest of his days. De Graafs influence on dIbervilles expedition would be the subject of a marker. Mobile claims the first Mardi Gras as being there, but they would have had it at Ship Island first and then at Fort Maurepas in Ocean Springs in the years before they were at Mobile, Poole said. So much of our history has just been claimed by others and just forgotten nobody really puts much emphasis here. If it doesnt get recorded and theres nothing to remind people, it just disappears. Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur dIberville landing on the Gulf Coast. Jean Baptiste Baudreau II On his second voyage, dIberville arrived at Biloxi in 1700. He was accompanied by Jean Baptiste Baudreau dit Graveline, a settler who eventually claimed 40,000 acres of holdings between the Back Bay of Biloxi and the Pascagoula River. He married Susanne, who was a daughter of a prominent Native American chief. Graveline traded with local tribal nations and died somewhere in what is now Ocean Springs. Son to Graveline and Susanne, Jean Baptiste Baudreau II was born on Dauphin Island. He grew up in Pascagoula, immersed in both European and Native American culture. Said to be tall and broad-shouldered, Baudreau II was popular among Gulf Coast tribespeople and often served as a translator and liaison between settlers and native peoples. Baudreau II, although well-liked by many, was a man of mixed descent and heir to thousands of acres of land. Despite his cooperation with the French, he fell afoul of authorities by smuggling goods to Spanish Pensacola. He was accused of kidnapping and rape when he fled the colony to Cuba with his mistress, Marie Henriette Huet, who was the daughter of a plantation-owning family. Baudreau II returned to the Gulf Coast with his lover to answer the charges and was imprisoned in 1744. Despite being chained by his hands and feet in New Orleans, he managed a daring escape to live among Native American tribes for several years. Despite French attempts to buy Baudreau II from Native Americans, they refused. Due to his sway among native tribespeople, King Louis XV of France was persuaded to grant Baudreau II a royal pardon. From 1747-49, a civil war within the Choctaw nation plunged the Gulf Coast into violence between Choctaw people and French settlers. French governors relied on Baudreau IIs leadership of local Choctaw allies to guard settlements from the coast of Biloxi to the Pascagoula River against attacks by the rebellious Choctaw chief Red Shoe. An artists reconstruction of Jean Baptiste Baudreau IIs portrait based on the facial features of his descendants. Graveline Bayou is depicted in the background. Steve Register, tribe historian of the Vancleave Live Oak Choctaw Tribe, said that despite French attempts to erase Baudreau II from history, stories of his deeds have been kept alive by the Vancleave Live Oak Choctaw Tribe, descendants of Baudreau II and his sister Magdeline. Were all descended from him. Everything we were all told and we got history firsthand, more than anybody is that he was a good man, and he helped a lot of people, both Indians and French and English and Spanish, Register said. The Spanish were having a hard time over there (at Pensacola), and Baudreau was selling them food and stuff. But then, he was found with that shipwreck. Baudreau II was arrested for salvaging a Spanish shipwreck and jailed on Cat Island. When soldiers there launched bloody mutiny against their commander, they forced Baudreau II at gunpoint to guide them to Georgia, afterward giving him a signed letter absolving him of joining the mutiny. Baudreau II was arrested, and Governor Kerlerec had him broken on the wheel, without trial, at Place dArmes (Jackson Square) on June 7, 1757, and his quartered body thrown into the Mississippi River. Register said that Kerlerec feared Baudreau IIs influence among native peoples, concerned that he could bring them to war against French settlers. Baudreau II could have escaped his fate but refused to leave his home on the Gulf Coast. Thousands of descendants honor him today, including author and historian Richard Hobs Allan, a member of the Vancleave Live Oak Choctaw Tribe and fifth-great-grandson to Baudreau II. My granddad is sort of a Robin Hood figure. He would help the small man, and he would try to fight oppressors. The primary oppressor back in those days was the Chickasaws, because the English would come across the Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi border they hired the Chickasaws to go down into the Creek Nation and the Choctaw Nation and hide in the woods and run out and grab women, children and young men and throw ropes around them and bring them up and take them in coffles over to Charleston and sell them down into the Caribbean, Allan said. Allan said that many of Baudreaus descendants escaped forced relocation to Oklahoma during the Trail of Tears, forming a community in Vancleave, Mississippi. Only recent generations of the Vancleave Live Oak Choctaw Tribe have begun to rediscover their tribal history. Shoring up an eroding history Ocean Springs Alderman at Large Bobby Cox said the city is still searching for funding and suitable locations for the markers and hopes to see development within the next year. Cox mentioned that an unveiling of the markers could be appropriate during a reenactment of dIbervilles 1699 landing at Ocean Springs, which has not been held since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. They both meant a lot to us and so I think its worthy of having a historical marker celebrating their life, instead of like the one in New Orleans celebrating his death we can claim that (Baudreau II) lived over here, Cox said. Allan and Register pushed for a historical marker to memorialize the execution of Baudreau II in New Orleans, erected last summer. Allan said people often forget that they are the product of history. History has always along the Gulf Coast been both eroding and rejuvenating. But I am a strong proponent for rejuvenation, and that requires us to think and know our history and not just think, Oh, lets see whats on Netflix tonight, Allan laughed. Mooney said that in his research, he realized that Gulf Coast history is more fragile than it appears. He hopes the new markers will breathe new life into Gulf Coast history. When I started looking into de Graaf, I spoke with some of the local historians like Ray Bellande, whos a pretty famous historian on the Gulf Coast. And he said, Man, the people you need to talk to you cant talk to anymore. Theyve either passed away, or they wrote a book, but it was self-published so you cant get it anymore, or Hurricane Katrina wiped out all their notes and its just gone, Mooney said. Our history is literally fleeting at a fast rate. Even historical markers can be destroyed, but its a start. The more its written about, the more people that talk about it, and with a permanent structure there as well; it just helps keep our history and hold onto it for as long as possible. JOPLIN, Mo. Several college students have traveled much farther than others to begin their fall semester. A group of 115 international students are getting acquainted with the campus of Missouri Southern. School officials said its the largest such group of degree-seeking freshmen ever. We have a large group from Nepal, we have several from Japan, Korea, we have a few from India as well as Nigeria, Brazil, Germany, and Sweden, said Dr. Stephanie Goad, MSSU international admissions. Among the group from Nepal is Anuska Khulal, who is following in the footsteps of others from the same country. More on MSSU So when I came here and saw the people from Nepal, I got very relieved like yah, come on, there is someone from like us, like me, and it was really, you know, helpful, and environment, it became so warm for us, said Khulal. The goal is to make the newcomers as much at home as possible as soon as possible. And those connections and bonds that they form this week are critical to that sense of belonging and hopefully help us retain them through to graduation, said Dr. Goad. Making that transition from their old life to their new one is made easier by students who have been there and done that themselves, like Hector Emilio-Moreno from Mexico. It does not matter if you came here alone or with someone else, you are, at the end of the day, in a new culture, a whole different experience, so its very helpful to have someone that has lived it in one way or another, said Emilio-Moreno. The international students really enrich our campus as well as our community. You know, its really nice to see them all over campus, and they shop at our stores. It helps diversify the campus and community, said Dr. Goad. Classes for all students at MSSU begin on Monday. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com. By Gianluca Lo Nostro and Olivier Sorgho (Reuters) - With Muhammad Yunus in charge, Bangladesh may see much-needed reforms and investment in its telecoms sector given the caretaker government leader's knowledge of the industry, according to one of the country's leading mobile operators. Yunus, who took over last Thursday, founded the Grameen Bank that won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for pioneering the microcredit movement. He is also a stakeholder in Grameenphone, Bangladesh's leading telecom operator, jointly owned by Yunus' non-profit Grameen Telecom and Norway's Telenor, which holds 55% of Grameenphone's shares. "I'm happy to see that the interim government leader is someone who is very familiar with our industry, who is very familiar with foreign direct investment and what international investors actually expect," Kaan Terzioglu, head of mobile operator Banglalink's parent company Veon, told Reuters. Banglalink is the third-largest mobile operator in Bangladesh. Sabhanaz Rashid Diya, executive director at Tech Global Institute, a tech policy and human rights non-profit, also said Yunus' experience would be useful in bringing reforms to a highly complex, competitive, and regulated telecom industry. She also cited Yunus' work in advancing microfinancing as a pathway to lift people out of poverty, but noted that competition within traditional banking and mobile financial services as well as reforms to the financial sector would have to be addressed first. Another challenge for the next Bangladeshi government will be reducing the significant unconnected population too. More than half of the South Asian country's 170-million population has no access to a mobile network, while only a third can use mobile internet services, according to estimates by the Global System for Mobile Communications Association. Mobile service taxes are also serving as a barrier to wider internet access, especially for low-income households, it said in a report. Yunus will not be directly responsible for overseeing telecoms and information and communications technology. On Friday, he appointed 26-year-old student Nahid Islam, who spearheaded the protests that ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, as the new telecommunications minister. (Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro and Olivier Sorgho, additional reporting by Fanny Potkin; editing by Milla Nissi and Tomasz Janowski) The mural in honor of the black Italian volleyball player Paola Egonu, which was vandalized during the night and appeared yesterday in front of the CONI headquarters, is being restored to its natural colors by a citizen with strokes of a marker. Mauro Scrobogna/LaPresse via ZUMA Press/dpa A mural dedicated to an Italian volleyball star has been defaced with racist graffiti by unknown perpetrators, authorities in Rome said on Tuesday. The work depicting Paola Egonu, who was part of Italy's gold medal-winning volleyball team at the Paris Olympics, was vandalized on Monday night, hours after it was installed in front of the headquarters of the Italian National Olympic Committee. In the piece, Egonu - who was born in northern Italy to two Nigerian immigrants and has been an Italian citizen since 2014 - is shown taking a serve, with the colours of the Italian flag and the word "Italianita" ("Italianness") next to her. The vandals painted over Egonu's skin with pink paint. Egonu has already faced racism on several occasions, with Italian MEP Roberto Vannacci recently causing an uproar by saying her "physical features" did not fit with "Italianita." The comments were alluded to directly in street artist Laika's mural. Italian politicians reacted furiously on Tuesday. Rome Mayor Roberto Gualteri called the incident a "disgrace, a vile insult to a great Italian woman who has brought the colours of our country to the top of the world." He said it was sad to see that in 2024, there are still racists trapped in their own ignorance. Sports Minister Andrea Abodi also expressed his solidarity with Egonu. The mural in honor of the black Italian volleyball player Paola Egonu, which was vandalized during the night and appeared yesterday in front of the CONI headquarters, is being restored to its natural colors by a citizen with strokes of a marker. Mauro Scrobogna/LaPresse via ZUMA Press/dpa (Reuters) -Intel, which is cutting thousands of jobs as it struggles to stay relevant in the chip industry, sold its 1.18 million share stake in British chip firm Arm Holdings in the second quarter, a regulatory filing showed on Tuesday. Intel would have raised about $146.7 million from the sale, based on the average price of Arm's stock between April and June, according to Reuters calculations. The chipmaker said earlier this month that it would cut more than 15% of its workforce and suspend its dividend amid a pullback in spending on traditional data center semiconductors and a shift towards AI chips, where it lags rivals such as Nvidia. Intel has said it is focused on developing advanced AI chips and building out its for-hire manufacturing capabilities, as it aims to recoup the technological edge lost to Taiwan's TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker. The push to energize that contracting foundry business under CEO Pat Gelsinger has increased Intel's costs and pressured profit margins, forcing it to seek cost cuts. Intel and ARM both declined to comment on Tuesday when contacted by Reuters about the share sale. "This looks to be consistent with the restructuring plan and the renewed focus on liquidity and efficiency that Gelsinger laid out from the last conference call," said Benchmark Co analyst Cody Acree. Santa Clara, California-based Intel had cash and cash equivalents of $11.29 billion, and total current liabilities of about $32 billion, as of end June. Intel stock has lost more than 59% of its value so far this year, slumping 26% on Aug. 2 after the company suspended its dividend. It was nearly flat in extended trading on Tuesday. (Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru and Juby Babu in Mexico City; Additional reporting by Max Cherney in San Francisco; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar, Sayantani Ghosh and Subhranshu Sahu) SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) On Monday evening a new mural representing the Italian heritage of Springfield was unveiled in the south end of the city. The new mural outside the Mt. Carmel Society building on Winthrop Street, a gathering place for Italian Americans for over 100 years. Hopefully this is the beginning of new traditions and unity, expressed Rosa Alves of Springfield. Many Members of Springfields Italian community say they are proud to see their heritage represented, through this piece of art. The years that have gone by, we have lost pride and maybe this will tell them, wow, look how beautiful this looks. Maybe we can get all together and clean up our city, and be proud of who we are and what we do. The Madonna depicted in this mural will now oversee the Italian-Americans in the city of Springfield. Every Italian society here in Springfield was attributed and put their patriots under our lady, said Salvatore Circosta, the President of the Springfield Sons and Daughters of Italy, and Casa Italiana Social Club. Whether its Lady Mount Carmel or Our Lady Grace. So we thought it was important to use our blessed mother as a symbol of our community. Surrounding the Madonna is a bounty of prickly pears, lemons and cherries, all native fruits of Italy. Muralist Nico Cathcart told 22News that she wishes for the work to bring a sense of pride to the community, Im hoping that brings a whole bunch of stuff together, and create a point of pride. The artwork lies in the heart of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church and many Italian businesses. Its a joy, its beautiful, expressed the Owner of Mom and Ricos Specialty Market, Rico Daniele. It will bring people together. We got make this world a better place, so we gotta help each other. No matter what nationality, we gotta help each other. With this mural the Mt. Carmel Society aims to both bring Italian-Americans together and get the younger generations involved. Latest Local News Headlines WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com. Kayleigh Thomas is a digital reporter who has been a part of the 22News team since 2022. Follow Kayleigh on X @kayleighcthomas and view her bio to see more of her work. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWLP. The meeting comes nearly two weeks after a federal judge declined to weigh in on whether federal law bars cops from using cannabis off duty. (Getty Images/iStockphoto) Nearly two weeks after a federal judge said he wouldnt weigh in yet on whether its legal for New Jersey cops to use marijuana, the Civil Service Commission is set to decide the fate of another police officer who was terminated for ingesting cannabis. On Wednesday, the commission is expected to hear the case of Mackenzie Reilly, a Jersey City police officer fired in August 2023 after a drug test showed his urine tested positive for cannabis. Reilly is one of five Jersey City police officers fighting their terminations for cannabis use and seeking to dismiss a lawsuit Jersey City filed against the state in October that argues the federal ban on cannabis preempts the state law legalizing the substance. An administrative law judge has recommended the commission reverse Reillys termination. New Jersey legalized cannabis in 2021, and after the marijuana legalization act went into effect, the state attorney general said police officers cannot be disciplined for using marijuana legally and off duty. When the state issued that memo, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop announced the city would defy the state and continue to bar its officers from using cannabis. Fulop is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2025. Reilly, Omar Polanco, Norhan Mansour, Montavious Patten, and Richie Lopez are the five cops named as defendants in the lawsuit, arguing they should be able to consume legal cannabis and hold their jobs as cops. The Civil Service Commission has already ordered the city to reinstate Mansour and Polanco, though it is unclear if the city has hired them back to their posts. In its lawsuit against New Jersey, attorneys for the city have argued that police officers are subject to a federal law that bans people from possessing firearms and ammunition if they use cannabis. That federal law, they say, preempts the states marijuana legalization law. But the Civil Service Commission and administrative law judges have repeatedly found otherwise. The five officers and the Jersey City Police Officers Benevolent Association maintain the city has no standing to sue and claim the city filed in federal court only because they have been losing in the state employment proceedings. The judge overseeing the lawsuit on Aug. 2 declined to step in, staying his findings at least until all the officers fighting their terminations have had their cases heard by the Civil Service Commission. DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST NASA visits Simsbury aerospace company to say thank you for help on Artemis missions NASA visits Simsbury aerospace company to say thank you for help on Artemis missions SIMSBURY, Conn. (WTNH) When you think about trips into outer-space, NASA typically comes to mind. A local company is being applauded for helping to make those missions possible- Artemis 1 in particular. Connecticut State Universities and Colleges get $3.2M award to help get minorities into STEM field For this particular project we manufactured joints for state separation, manufactured explosive transfer lines for transferring signals throughout the mission, president of Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Chad Thompson said. Ensign-Bickford is a family owned operation thats been around for 188 years. On Tuesday, NASA representatives paid a visit to the company in Simsbury to say thank you. We are not able to do. Our lives depend on those work, specifically for Ensign-Bickford for the separation for the many parts of the spacecraft, NASA astronaut Lee Morin said. Astronauts sent on 8-day mission may be stuck in space until 2025: NASA Morin said the separation must occur or they wont get home. In 2022, NASA launched its first Artemis mission. The test flight was designed to make human exploration of the moon possible for the first time since 1972. That demonstrated that the rocket was ready to go on to the next step, which is to put people on it and have them out around the moon, Morin said. Artemis is gearing up for its next flight and NASA is calling it one for the history books. First female engineer at CT aircraft company turns 100 On board will be one Canadian and three American astronauts. The first astronaut of color going around the moon and the first woman to be going out around the moon, Morin said. Bringing astronauts back to the moon I think is very historic and our employees are extremely proud, Ensign-Bickford Market Segment Director Lisa Brown said. The Artemis 2 will set off on its mission to the moon in late 2025 thanks to a lot of the work performed by the employees at Ensign-Bickford. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTNH.com. Nashville leaders should condemn neo-Nazis but avoid new laws that will stifle free speech A recent spate of neo-Nazi demonstrations in Nashville has heightened tensions in an already polarized political environment. Fortunately, there has been bipartisan condemnation of these vile and obscene efforts to promote hatred in our community. However, some Tennessee public officials want to go beyond condemnation, claiming that hate speech is not free speech. This would both be unconstitutional and bad policy. The Supreme Court has consistently upheld freedom for the thought we hate excepting narrow categories such as incitement to imminent lawless action or true threats. Governments can also make rules that are content-neutral. The proposed bill to ban Metro Nashville Police Department officials from associating with hate groups may well pass constitutional muster since it prohibits associating with groups engaged in criminal acts. To understand why criminalizing hate speech is a cure worse than the disease, Nashville leaders should look to the democracies of Europe. Attempts to regulate hate speech have backfired in Europe Given its past, Germany has strict laws against displaying Nazi symbolism in public or on social media, with punishments of up to three years in jail. That may sound appealing to some Americans, but such laws often target those who are critical of far-right ideology. Members of tan out-of-state neo-Nazi group leave after arguing with counter protesters at Historic Metro Courthouse in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, July 16, 2024. In 2013, a German artist named Jonathan Meese was prosecuted for making a Nazi salute in an artistic performance satirizing Nazism. Meese was eventually acquitted, but these laws can have a chilling effect on legitimate criticism for those unwilling to go through a long court process. Others have not been so lucky. In a 2014 blog post, a 54-year-old German man criticized the Federal Employment Agency for denying the application of his daughter of German-Nepalese origin. He included a picture of Heinrich Himmler with a swastika armband to imply that the employment office racially discriminated against her. A Munich court convicted him and the decision was upheld on appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. In many European countries, zero tolerance for Naziism and the far-right has led to broad bans on antisemitic hate speech, which has prompted crackdowns on pro-Palestinian protests. On April 12, German police cut power and shut down a conference of pro-Palestinian activists and banned the final two days of the event, citing concern about the potential for hate speech. Recently, a Berlin court convicted and fined a 22-year-old pro-Palestinian activist of condoning a crime for leading a chant of the slogan from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free at a rally. Free speech helped young Black civil rights protesters make change As our local leaders look for ways to address hate groups, we must remember that censorship not only fails to prevent hatred, but it often can have nasty unintended consequences for political speech. Frequently, European hate speech laws end up affecting the very minorities they were supposed to protect. In the United Kingdom, several Black Britons have been arrested and charged for using GIFs of raccoons and Daffy Duck in online discussions about racism. Moreover, research shows that strong free speech protections act as a safety valve, reducing the likelihood that fringe groups resort to violence. A Metro police officer points his stick at John Lewis, left, one of the leaders of the civil rights demonstrators at Morrison's Cafeteria on West End Ave., April 29, 1964. Lewis was the first person of many to be arrested by the police. In a city where many people still have a living memory of life under strict racial segregation, its also vital to remember the role that free speech played in advancing equality. Civil Rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis used the power of free speech, assembly, and protest to reshape public opinion and make the grim reality of racism and segregation impossible for white Americans to ignore. As Southern states attempted to undermine the Civil Rights Movement by censoring literature, arresting sit-in participants, and deploying defamation law, the Supreme Court held that the First Amendment protected activist free speech, peaceful protest, and uninhibited debate on public issues. Jacob Mchangama In the words of John Lewis, Without freedom of speech and the right to dissent, the Civil Rights movement would have been a bird without wings. Jacob Mchangama is the executive director of The Future of Free Speech, a research professor at Vanderbilt University, and the author of Free Speech: A History From Socrates to Social Media. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Neo-Nazis rattled Nashville, but be wary of laws that censor speech Is Nashville still getting a Ritz-Carlton? What to know about lawsuits against developer The Ritz-Carlton hotel development in Nashville has been stalled since it was first announced in 2021, and several lawsuits have stacked up against the principal developer on the project. Between October 2023 and July 2024, at least seven lawsuits have been filed against Florida-based developer Tim Morris alleging unpaid loan balances, unpaid rent and misappropriation of funds related to the Ritz-Carlton development and other real estate projects. Plaintiffs say Morris owes a collective $16.7 million, at least. A bank has already secured a $6 million judgment against him in federal court. Meanwhile, the vacant SoBro land originally selected for the luxury hotel was sold to a new owner earlier this year in a foreclosure auction after the developer defaulted on the loan. The Tennessean reviewed hundreds of pages of court records to reveal the status of the Ritz-Carlton development and the legal battles of the principal developer behind the project. Tennessean subscribers can read how those documents describe a developer with a Marriott family connection who painted himself as a wealthy man with luxury vehicles worth $500,000 and easy access to capital before later claiming he didn't even own a lawn mower. Whether Nashville will see a Ritz-Carlton hotel remains to be seen, and the answer may come after the legal battles are resolved in court. Here's what you should know about the timeline of the Ritz-Carlton hotel and the pending legal cases. Information for this story came from complaints and other legal documents filed in court. The two-tower Ritz-Carlton Nashville project had a target completion date of early 2025. 2018 - Morris meets Nashville-based developers. The group begins work on several real estate development projects, including townhouses in the Belmont-Hillsboro area and apartment buildings in the Buena Vista and Midtown neighborhoods. March 2020 - A group led by Morris purchases a small property at 727 Korean Veterans Boulevard for $35 million with the intention of building a Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Residences. May 2021 - The development group officially announces plans to build the Ritz-Carlton project under the banner of M2 Development Partners and RC Nashville Development Partners LLC. October 2021 through August 2022 - Morris and M2 Development Partners obtain an office lease in Fifth + Broadway, lease a storage facility for the Ritz-Carlton project and obtain a $10 million line of credit at Alabama-based Oakworth Capital Bank for pre-development expenses related to the Ritz-Carlton project. June 2023 - M2 Development Partners and RC Nashville Development Partners are in default for failing to pay rent at their Fifth + Broadway office, according to lawsuit filed by Fifth + Broadway. October 2023 - Oakworth Capital Bank files two multi-million dollar lawsuits against RC Nashville Development Partners and Morris as guarantor. October 2023 through January 2024 - Three other lawsuits are filed against Morris and his business entities. April 2024 - The would-be Ritz-Carlton property changes hands in a foreclosure sale. A pedestrian walks past an empty lot off of Korean Veterans Boulevard in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, Aug. 2, 2024. A Ritz-Carlton hotel was proposed to be developed on this lot but its primary developer mired in several lawsuits. June 2024 - The court sides with Oakworth Capital Bank in one lawsuit, ordering Morris to pay more than $6 million. July 2024 - Without an official answer from Morris and RC Nashville, the court sides with Oakworth Capital Bank in another lawsuit and recommends final judgment against Morris. July 2024 - Two additional lawsuits are filed against Morris, including by his former development partners on the Ritz-Carlton project regarding several residential projects. Reporter Molly Davis covers growth and development in Nashville. Reach her at mdavis2@gannett.com. Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him at emealins@gannett.com or follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @EvanMealins. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Legal battles surround Ritz-Carlton Nashville developer: Timeline Sharon Goodson speaks to crowd during rally at NC Department of Environmental Quality building in downtown Raleigh. (Photo: Greg Childress) a woman holds a sign that read "weatherization saves lives!!" The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) is not responsive to the concerns of agencies that administer the states Weatherization Assistance Program, leaders of the N.C. Community Action Association complained Tuesday. Dozens of NCCAA-member agencies from across the state traveled to Raleigh to rally outside the NCDEQ building on Jones Street, hoping to get the attention of agency officials responsible for administrative functions that help the weatherization program do its work. Sharon Goodson, executive director of the NCCAA, complained that a decline in communication between her agency and NCDEQ, reduced funding and stalled contracts have made it difficult to serve low-income and elderly residents who rely on the program to make homes safe and more energy efficient. We are here because this leadership, the leadership at the Weatherization Assistance Program, it has failed to respond to the requests of this network, Goodson told dozens of NCCAA representatives. They have failed to address issues and the concerns impacting the work that you do on the ground in communities everyday. NCCAA currently has a wait list of more than 2,700 applicants due to the failure of NCDEQs leadership, Goodson said. They [NCDEQ] have failed to address concerns about our contracts, Goodson said. Theyve failed to address [budget] reductions. They failed to address concerns about timely reimbursements. Youre nonprofit organizations. They have failed to even look at how these severe weatherization reductions will impact the work you do on the ground and the families you serve. Patsy Davis and Sharon Goodson Patsy Davis, executive director of Mountain Projects and Board President of NCCAA, said weatherization saves lives. She worries that some clients might resort to unsafe heating methods, which could lead to dangerous fires. Im in the mountain region and in a couple of months were going to be having frost, Davis told NC Newsline. Weve [Mountain Projects] got hundreds of people on the waiting list. Weve got to work together and we do not feel like we have worked effectively with our state office after many efforts of trying, so were here to bring attention to this and to get a seat at the table. NCDEQ released this statement in response to NCCAAs criticism: The Weatherization Assistance Program provides critical services to North Carolinians. The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) administers the programs use of state and federal funds through partnerships with agencies across the state. We understand the agencies frustration with recent changes related to the federal allocation and efforts to ensure accountability in use of those resources for the residents of our state. DEQ received reduced funding for Weatherization agency contracts in Fiscal Year 2024-2025 due to cuts at the federal level. In Federal Fiscal Year 2024-2025, the budget for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Block Grant Funding was reduced by $4 billion dollars nationwide in a return to pre-pandemic spending levels, resulting in a $53.4 million reduction to the state of North Carolina.?NC Department of Health and Human Services provides a portion of the LIHEAP federal funding to DEQ for the state?Weatherization?Assistance Program. DEQ was initially projected to receive $24 million for?LIHEAP, but the actual amount of federal funding will be closer to $15 million. Reduced funding at the federal level has resulted in formulaic budget changes for Weatherization agencies across the state. Due to the budget and programmatic changes to ensure compliance with federal guidelines, DEQ was required to revise the contracts and budgets for FY2024-2025. DEQ continues to communicate with agencies regarding the implementation of contracts and associated documentation. DEQ is committed to managing these federal funds in an effective and efficient manner to accomplish program goals and ensure theyre fully utilized to serve as many low-income North Carolinians as possible. Member agencies of the NCCAA such as Davis have provided home weatherization for low-income and elderly North Carolinians since 1976. The services are intended to make deteriorating homes safer and more energy efficient for eligible households with incomes under 200% of the federal poverty threshold. The weatherization assistance program is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, which allocates money through NCDEQ to Community Action Agencies and other assistance providers. The funding is used for repairs such as fixing roof leaks, replacing windows and heating units, and installing insulation. These improvements boost energy efficiency and provide a stable and safe living environment, which advocates say is important for individuals with limited mobility or chronic health conditions. Hurricane Debby left billions of dollars of damage in its wake as it moved across the southeastern U.S. last week losses made all the more devastating because so many of them may have been uninsured. More than three-quarters of the houses damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Debby were in regions where flood insurance isnt required, a new report from nonprofit First Street Foundation has found. Thats because nearly $10 billion of the slow-moving storms estimated $12.3 billion in damage happened in regions outside the Federal Emergency Management Agencys (FEMA) designated Flood Zones. FEMAs flood maps dictate where homeowners are required by law to purchase flood insurance a financial protection that is becoming increasingly necessary to shield families from crippling losses as flood risk worsens around the country. But as climate change driven by the burning of fossil fuels has expanded the area at risk of catastrophic flooding, FEMAs maps have been slower to change. More than three-quarters of federal flood maps are more than five years old, and more than 10 percent date back to the 1970s or 1980s. That is due in large measure to Congress kicking the can down the road for 27 straight years on the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), the nations flood insurer of last resort. Since the 1990s, that program has been reauthorized only for short-term, one-year periods rather than for the five years enshrined in statute, which also requires the maps to be redone every five years. When the latest short-term reauthorization passed in 2023, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), a staunch advocate of the program, decried a pattern that has put the NFIP repeatedly at risk of lapse throughout the years. Waters successfully moved legislation that would have reauthorized the program for the full five years out of the House Financial Services Committee in 2019 but the legislation failed to pass either the House or Senate. The reasons for that failure are complicated. But it largely stems from resistance from real estate developers and floodplain municipalities reluctant to see premiums rise, a review in the Journal of Public and International Affairs found. That resistance has arisen due to a federally subsidized population boom along the coasts that has created wealth but also placed vastly more people and more property in previously undeveloped floodplains and hurricane zones and into harms way, according to a 2014 Cambridge University survey of the program. That dynamic has effectively created a morass of competing flood maps: the official but out-of-date ones used by FEMA, and a series of competing attempts by nonprofits and other agencies to map the vast, shadowy and expanding extent of national flood risk. For example, a 2020 report by First Street found that 6 million Americans were likely to live in the hundred year flood zone an area where residents have a 1 percent chance per year of having a foot or more of water in their houses without knowing it. That, in turn, means they were less likely to know that they needed flood insurance an expensive problem for both those individuals and for society as a whole. A 2023 Congressional Budget Office report found that flood damage to homes with mortgages in some way backstopped by the federal government would exceed $250 billion by midcentury. In some flood-prone regions, the gap between the official maps and the apparent risk led policymakers to effectively throw the federal flood maps out. In Houston, for example, where Hurricane Beryl recently brought on destructive, widespread flooding and outages, about half of all claims made to FEMA in the three decades before the catastrophic downpour from 2017s Hurricane Harvey came from properties outside the agencys flood maps a fact that has driven Harris County to recommend that all area homeowners purchase voluntary insurance. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lambasted his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday and accused him of adopting an anti-Israel narrative, revealing a deep rupture at the top of the Israeli government as the Middle East risks spiraling into a full-scale regional conflict. Israeli media reported this week that Gallant, speaking to lawmakers in a private security briefing, had dismissed Netanyahus war aim of achieving absolute victory over Hamas as gibberish, branding those who say this is achievable as heroes with war drums. Netanyahus office shot back, saying Gallants comments jeopardize talks to release the hostages held in Gaza. When Gallant adopts the anti-Israel narrative, he harms the chances of reaching a hostage deal, the prime ministers office said in a statement. It said Gallant was obligated to pursue the twin goals of Israels war in Gaza: Eliminating Hamas and the release of the hostages seized by Hamas in the October 7 attacks. The barbed exchange is the latest in a series of spats between the two men during more than 10 months of war, and comes as Israel has been bracing for a possible attack by Iran and its proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon. That has prompted the United States to bolster Israels defenses, sending a guided missile submarine to the region over the weekend. Gallant arrives at the US State Department in Washington, DC, on June 24. - Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images Iran and Hezbollah have vowed to avenge the killings last month of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who died in an explosion in Tehran, and of Hezbollahs top military commander Fuad Shukr, who was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike in a Beirut suburb. Iran blamed Haniyehs death on Israel, and a source familiar with the matter previously told CNN that Haniyeh was assassinated with an explosive device hidden in the guest house where he was staying. The death of Haniyeh, who had been a key player in ceasefire talks, threatened to derail the negotiations to halt the war in Gaza and escalate the conflict, with Iran warning that blood vengeance for the killing was certain. Hezbollah also promised that Shukrs blood will not have been shed in vain and threatened to retaliate, forcing Israel to confront the prospect of a war on multiple fronts. Critics have accused Netanyahu of being more interested in defeating Hamas and preserving his government than returning the hostages. Far-right members of his coalition have threatened to collapse the government should a deal go through. There is growing frustration in the international community with some of these far-right ministers, as Western leaders push for a deal. On Monday, the European Unions top diplomat Josep Borrell told CNN he would put forward a proposal at the EU to sanction far-right Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir. Borrell had called for sanctions against Smotrich and Ben Gvir in a post on X, days after Smotrich said it would be moral to starve two million Gazans until Israeli hostages are freed. The EU has no taboo in activating its Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime against any individual involved in serious violations of Human Rights, like the Hamas operatives and extremist Israeli settlers we already sanctioned, Borrell told CNN in a statement on Monday. Since last October, Ministers Smotrich and Ben-Gvir statements inciting to hate and activities related to humanitarian aid clearly fall into this category, the EU foreign policy chief added. A group of hostage families on Saturday accused the prime minister of gambling with the lives of the hostages to ensure that his government survives, according to the Times of Israel. The US, Egypt and Qatar key mediators in talks between the warring parties have urged Israel and Hamas to return to the negotiating table to consider a final bridging proposal. Discussions are set to resume Thursday in the Egyptian capital Cairo or the Qatari capital Doha. Deepening schism Gallant, who has emerged as a top interlocutor for advisers to US President Joe Biden, has often stressed the need for a ceasefire deal. He has previously called on Netanyahu to declare that Israel would not establish civilian or military control over Gaza, although the prime minister has remained vague on his plans for the day after the war. In his leaked comments, Gallant also claimed he had in October proposed a pre-emptive attack on Hezbollah in Lebanon, but that Netanyahu had not supported the strike and had missed the opportunity. The conditions today for a Lebanon war are the opposite of what they were at the beginning of the war, Gallant reportedly told lawmakers. Responding to Gallants claims, Netanyahus office deflected blame for the failure to reach a ceasefire deal, saying Gallant should have attacked (Hamas leader Yahya) Sinwar, who refuses to send a delegation to the negotiations, and who was and remains the only obstacle to the hostage deal. In a later post on X, a chastened Gallant said he had told the private meeting that he is determined to meet the goals of the war and to continue the fighting until Hamas is dismantled and the hostages return, and also criticized the leaks from sensitive and confidential forums. He stressed Israel is facing challenging days in which well be required to stand firm and take powerful and defensive offensive actions. Gallant joins a number of senior Israeli officials to have questioned Netanyahus aim of destroying Hamas. In June, top military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the idea that Israel could make Hamas vanish is throwing sand in the eyes of the public. CNN recently reported that nearly half of Hamas military battalions in northern and central Gaza have rebuilt some of their fighting capabilities, despite Israels unrelenting assault, according to a joint analysis with the American Enterprise Institutes Critical Threats Project and the Institute for the Study of War. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images The number of years your 401(k) and Social Security benefits will last you in retirement hinges on several factors. First, of course, it depends at what age you start claiming benefits. Generally, the longer you wait to claim the better. In addition, at what age you start contributing to your 401(k) as well as how much you contribute will also affect this outcome. Whats more, your lifestyle and health are key factors, as both medical and leisure costs can put a huge dent in savings. Finally, where you live is also an important component and can affect how much savings you will need. Check Out: Cutting Expenses for Retirement? Heres the No. 1 Thing To Get Rid of First Read Next: 7 Reasons You Shouldnt Retire Before Speaking To a Financial Advisor For instance, in Virginia, while you will still need a sizable amount of money for your nest egg, your 401(k) and Social Security benefits will last you 15.38 years, placing the state at the No. 31 spot in terms of where these will last you the longest, according to a new GOBankingRates survey. In contrast, in West Virginia (No. 1 spot), your 401(k) and Social Security benefits will last you the longest, with 21.36 years; while in Hawaii, they will last you the least, as you will deplete these in a meager 6.52 years, the survey found. The findings underscore the importance of the place you live in on the amount of retirement savings and preparation you will need to retire comfortably. And this is mostly due to cost of living, which varies geographically. Learn More: How Long $1 Million in Retirement Will Last in Every State In fact, in Virginia, the cost-of-living score ranks at 101.3 (slightly above average nationwide), while it stands at 83.8 in West Virginia and at a startling 186.2 in Hawaii. According to Rene Lacad, an entrepreneur and content creator, the results of the GOBankingRates survey shed light on the hurdles retirees in Virginia could encounter. Virginia ranks 31st, highlighting the importance of prudent financial planning especially given the annual cost of living amounting to $58,569.63, said Lacad. He added that while Virginia offers a better situation compared to states such as Hawaii, where retirees require over $2 million for sustenance, the significant variation in living costs among states underscores the necessity for careful retirement preparation. In Virginia it may be essential for individuals to supplement their 401(k) with income sources or investments to ensure a comfortable retirement, added Lacad. Here are other costs in Virginia, which also contribute to the number of years your 401(k) and Social Security benefits will last. Story continues Number of years average 401(k) and Social Security benefits will last you in Virginia: 15.38 Annual cost of living: $58,569.63 Cost of living after using Social Security income: $36,132.39 Annual cost of groceries: $4.792.20 Annual Cost of housing: $12,510.44 Annual cost of utilities: $4,231.76 Annual transportation costs: $4,661.25 Annual healthcare costs: $7,690.80 How much you will need to retire: $912.258.3 Median home price: $395,685, according to Zillow Median rent: $2,100, according to Zillow More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: How Long Your 401(k) Plus Social Security Benefits Will Last You in Virginia Newly found skeletons in Pompeii spent last moments hiding from eruption in bedroom Archeologists have found new victims of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the ruins of Pompeii. The Archaeological Park of Pompeii found two skeletons, a man and a woman, in what was likely a temporary bedroom used during the renovation of the home, the park said on Monday. The woman was discovered on a bed with gold, silver and bronze coins and multiple pieces of jewelry, including a pair of gold and pearl earrings. An archaeologist works on the recently discovered remains of a victim in the archaeological site of the ancient city of Pompeii, which was destroyed in AD 79 by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, in Pompeii Italy, July 5, 2024. The pair appeared to use the bedroom to hide from the falling pumice during the eruption, which occurred in 79 A.D., and the room's seal caused the pair to be crushed from the volcano's pyroclastic flow. "The invaluable anthropological data relating to the two victims found within the archaeological context that marked their tragic end allows us to recover a considerable amount of information about the daily life of the ancient Pompeiians and the micro-histories of some of them," park director Gabriel Zuchtriegel said in a statement. Ancient Roman coins and an earring are seen at the archaeological site of the ancient city of Pompeii, in Pompeii Italy, on July 5, 2024. Skeletons found in discovery-rich area The skeletons were found in an area of Pompeii called Insula 10 of Regio IX that has yielded multiple new discoveries in recent months. In June, the park announced that it discovered what it calls the "Blue Shrine" room near where the skeletons were found. The room is believed to be a sacrarium, a shrine devoted to ritual activities and the storage of sacred objects. The room is a pale blue, rarely occurs in Pompeian frescoes and was generally used for elaborately decorated rooms. The excavation found objects relating to the furnishing and renovation of the house. A painting of Paris and Helen of Troy recently recovered in Pompeii in a long lost dining room. Excavators discovered intact Roman frescoes in the same region of the park in April. The frescoes were found in a dining room in the ruined city buried under ash after a catastrophic volcanic eruption. The paintings depicted the Helen of Troy among other Greek figures. The work showcased themes of heroism through the role heroes and gods played in the Trojan War, as well as themes of fate and the idea that humans can change their own destiny. The excavations are a part of a broader project to maintain the perimeter between excavated and unexcavated sites and preserve the Pompeii site. Contributing: Anthony Robledo This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Archeologists discover 2 new skeletons in Pompeii excavation A bill backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom to overhaul Californias ranking system for wildfire hazards is taking heat from environmentalists and local governments, who argue the bill would lead to a dangerous increase in housing development in fire-prone areas. Senate Bill 610 would replace the states existing, three-tiered, labeling system that rates communities based on their probability of burning with a single framework that would only identify whether or not an area requires fire mitigation. The hazard ranking system is a key to local development processes, building safety standards and home defensible space requirements. Proponents say the reform would simplify a convoluted system and help expand compliance with those rules. What were striving to accomplish here is create a singular set of codes so local officials can more easily interpret requirements and thus hopefully be able to more easily enforce them, said Daniel Berlant, the state fire marshal. That has been a challenge in the past. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protections fire hazard severity designations were established in the 1980s in the wake of severe fires. According to Cal Fire, the assignments take into account an areas terrain, vegetation and historic weather conditions. The zones are historically broken up into three tiers moderate, high and very high fire hazard that correspond to specific and sometimes piecemeal requirements for housing developers and existing homeowners. Home developers building in very high hazard zones, for example, must obey roofing standards and adhere to siding material rules as well as setback and parking area distances. Homeowners in those zones, meanwhile, must maintain defensible space and conduct annual brush clearance. The requirements are also different for zones depending on whether they have been identified as a State Responsibility Area (SRA) and Local Responsibility Area (LRA), which designate which government entity is responsible for wildfire suppression. Simplifying these requirements may seem like sensible policy in fire-prone California, but opponents of SB 610 say the plan to abolish the ranking system unnecessarily seizes control from local governments and promotes more housing construction in high-risk areas. Paul Mason, vice president of Pacific Forest Trust, one of the dozens of opposed environmental groups, said eliminating the tiered fire hazard severity zones could have consequences that are antithetical to building new housing that is resilient to the impacts of climate change. We need to be making places for people to live that are close to existing roads, transportation and schools, not sprawling out into the forest because that makes our fire problem harder to deal with, said Mason. I fear that treating every area with the same application with no distinction between them increases the chance of that happening. Some 90 other environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and Center for Biological Diversity, called on Gov. Gavin Newsom to withdraw his support for the measure they said in a letter perpetuates the false narrative that new large-scale development in fire risk areas is safe. The letter insisted that SB 610 contradicts the governors own 2019 Strike Force on Addressing Wildfire Risk, which urged California agencies to begin to deprioritize new development in areas of the most extreme fire risk and prioritize infill development in urban areas. Opponents say their frustration also stems from the last-minute nature of this sweeping proposed change. Senator Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, introduced the bill in June. The last day for lawmakers to pass bills is August 31. But proponents of the measure, which is up for a critical vote in the Assembly Appropriations Committee Thursday, have been quick to defend it as a common sense reform needed to help California fire officials communicate and enforce wildfire mitigation measures. The current mapping system is sort of a mess, said senator Wiener, who partnered on SB 610 with Cal Fire, the state fire marshal and the governors office. He also stressed the bills support from the California Fire Chiefs Association and Fire Districts Association. Wiener said the bill is not intended to increase development in high-risk areas, because the existing system does not dictate where homes can or cant be built. The proposed bill, he said, merely ensures high fire protection standards for buildings in the wildfire mitigation area. Spokesperson for the governors office Alex Stack said the measure would make it easier for Californians to understand the threat of wildfire in their communities, and is meant to help protect against blazes growing in size and intensity with climate change. As parties negotiate back and forth on amendments, critics have yet to be swayed. The League of California cities said its letter expressing concerns about the bill consolidating too much power with the state fire marshal still stands. Cal Cities believes local agencies must maintain their existing authorities to make wildfire-related designations within their jurisdictions, wrote the letter, and the new regulations must incorporate local agency expertise. The next 'Phoenix is running out of water' stories will be worse. Let's stop them GOP lawmakers have grown impatient with Gov. Katie Hobbs 2023 pause on new subdivisions in areas of metro Phoenix that rely on groundwater. And theyre not at all happy with the governors vetoes on efforts to get that growth moving again. Its a good bet that if the House and Senate remain in Republican control next year, theyll be back with even more legislation to ditch the governors pause. And if past is prologue, theyll look for ways to get it into law, without the governors approval. Metro Phoenix needs to grow and save water But this fight doesnt just have political implications. Metro Phoenix needs homes. And while single-family home construction has increased markedly since the beginning of the year, some of the most affordable areas remain off-limits because of the pause. Thats a problem because growth in those areas isnt stopping. Build-to-rent homes and industrial projects which, unlike subdivisions, are not required to prove they have enough water for the long haul before building in certain areas are simply taking their place. Without those protections, its just a matter of time before trouble arises with these uses and another round of Phoenix is running out of water stories hit the national press, kicking investors fears into overdrive. And when that happens, oh, buddy. It wont be pleasant for any of us. This designation could help cities do both Governor Hobbs knows this. But she also knows (or should, anyway) that her pause creates uncertainty, and that cant go on forever, politically or economically. Somehow, shes going to have to find a way to turn it off, without creating a panic that weve thrown sustainability to the wind. Which may explain why shes pressing a separate, non-legislative process to help a handful of communities earn an assured water supply designation, which essentially signifies that they have enough supplies to cover existing and future water use for the long haul. Most cities in metro Phoenix already have such a designation. But its proven difficult for the remaining ones mostly in the West Valley and in Pinal County, which grew predominantly on groundwater because the rules stipulate that they must have all the water they need in hand, before they apply. And it cant just be any water. It must be a renewable supply, like leased river water or treated effluent. This water can be costly to acquire and deliver, and that takes time to program into water rates, so customers that largely must foot the bill for this infrastructure arent paying for it all at once. The idea: To buy water providers time The proposed workaround is to create an alternative path to earning a designation of assured water supply, or ADAWS for short. Water providers would get an initial allotment of groundwater to use, but it would decrease over time essentially buying time for providers to wean themselves off this pumping, instead of having to do it all at once. Paused growth could then resume, but the designation would level the playing field in these areas, forcing every new use be it a subdivision, a build-to-rent development or an industrial lot to prove it has enough water for the long haul before it can build. Arizona will never solve: Its water issues until it changes this It also would require water providers to replenish pumping from users in their service territories that havent historically had to do so. An analysis from the state water department suggests that if fast-growing communities like Buckeye and Queen Creek were to earn this alternative designation, it would result in less long-term groundwater use than if we held fast to the current rules. Which is exactly what we want. Or should be, anyway. Is Arizona ready to compromise? The good news is almost everyone agrees on the concept. They recognize that the program needs enough teeth to ensure groundwater savings are real and sustainable, but that it also needs enough flexibility to help providers make it work financially. But disagreement remains on the details to make this work. Some argue, for example, that a decreasing allotment by itself will force providers to find other sources, while others say there should be more guardrails to ensure providers wean themselves off groundwater over time. Others argue that replenishment stipulations are too drastic, while still others say theyre not firm enough. Balancing these views wont be easy. And if a wide range of water providers arent willing to sign off on provisions they might not love but can live with, this rulemaking process is sure to collapse. Lets hope theyre in the mood to compromise. An alternative designation wont solve every water issue. But it could put fast-growing areas on a more sustainable track, without killing growth or draining the aquifer. Its in all our best interests to make this work. Reach Allhands at joanna.allhands@arizonarepublic.com. On X, formerly Twitter: @joannaallhands. If you love this content (or love to hate it hey, I won't judge), why not subscribe to get more? This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix area can grow again and save water while doing it NH families of the missing and murdered demand answers from AGs office In New Hampshire, there are about 130 active missing persons and unsolved murder cases under investigation. At the New Hampshire State House in Concord, families of some of those cases gathered to demand that their loved ones are not forgotten. Among them was Valerie Haynes Alvarez. Her niece, Trish Haynes, was last seen in New Hampshire in 2017. Her dismembered body was found a year later. Alvarez is frustrated with the way the case has been handled. Trishs case is not an unsolved case. Its unprosecuted, she said. Its like reliving it. We dont want to have to keep reliving it, especially in the light of they have not charged the people who did this. Julie Murray, the sister of missing UMass student Maura Murray, is a key member of the group organizing the event. She is urging the New Hampshire Attorney General John Formellas Office to be more responsive to these families. Maura Murray has been missing for more than twenty years. NE Unsolved: Family of missing UMass Amherst student Maura Murray still fighting for justice We want a response to an email. We want a return phone call so that we feel some small sense of hope that somebody cares, Julie Murray said. Members of the Attorney Generals staff attended the event and talked to families In a statement, the AG said resolving cold cases is a top priority. The daughters of 2015 unsolved murder victim David Oldham, says whats needed, is very simple. Everybody deserves justice. It doesnt bring them back, but it least gives us answers, Ashley Pittman, David Oldhams daughter, said. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Nine arrested as pro-Palestine protesters shut down rush hour traffic on Los Angeles freeway Nine arrested as pro-Palestine protesters shut down rush hour traffic on Los Angeles freeway Protesters calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war shut down the busy 405 freeway in Los Angeles on Tuesday morning during rush hour, demanding a ceasefire and a US arms embargo on Israel. The demonstration paused traffic for about an hour, and nine were arrested without injury, according to the California Highway Patrol. Today, American Jews risked their bodies to demand a lasting ceasefire and an end to U.S. military aid to Israel, the progressive Jewish activist group If Not Now LA, whose members joined the protest, wrote on Instagram. Joe Bidens administration cannot provide 14 billion dollars in unconditional aid to Israel, cosigning the unbridled murders of Palestinian civilians. A call for a lasting ceasefire is only meaningful if there will be no more funds given to the Israeli military. The protesters carried signs calling for an embargo and urging fellow Jews to reject the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a pro-Israel group that spends heavily on US congressional races, including the recent defeat of Representative Cori Bush. Protests came during Jewish holiday of Tishah BAv (REUTERS) The protest was reminiscent of others that have taken place across the country. In April, a group of activists blocked the Golden Gate Bridge for a ceasefire protest. This week, 26 involved in the demonstration were charged with offenses including false imprisonment, conspiracy, trespassing, unlawful assembly, and failure to obey a uniformed officer. As The Independent has reported, the war in Gaza could define the incoming administration and the 2024 election that precedes it. The Biden administration has called on Israel to avoid civilian casualties and achieve a ceasefire but has continued to support the US ally with weapons as it conducts a campaign thats involved allegedly assassinating its negotiating partners within Hamas and has been deemed genocide by human rights experts. On the campaign trail, Harris has called for an immediate ceasefire but has shown irritation with pro-Palestine protesters interrupting her rallies. Trump, meanwhile, has been less vocal about the conflict, though in March he called on Israel to finish up the war because it is losing a lot of the world. NM governor hiring at least two people for her new statewide housing office Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, left, with Sen. Michael Padilla, D-Albuquerque, and Daniel Werwath, a housing policy adviser, urge lawmakers to support her push for an "Office of Housing" on Feb. 8, 2024. The governor's office is hiring at least two people to staff the new "Office of Housing." (Photo by Eddie Moore / Albuquerque Journal) Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishams office is seeking applicants to fill at least two jobs for the newly created Office of Housing, a small group of executive branch officials tasked with coordinating various statewide housing programs. Creating a statewide housing office under the governors control was one of Lujan Grishams main priorities during the 2024 30-day legislative session. Lawmakers ultimately stymied her request to create a formal office with expanded authority, but she did find $2 million to fund new positions to work in her office on the issue over the next two years. New gigs at Govs Office of Housing The Director of Homelessness Initiatives posting; The general job posting for the Office of Housing The job openings include a new director of statewide homelessness initiatives, who would be responsible for a coordinated and strategic response to the growing unhoused population across the state, according to a news release from the governors office. The job would pay between $75,000 and $130,000. The statewide housing office is also hiring at least one more person,creating a general job listing for those with experience in housing development, programs, policy, regulatory frameworks, data and demographics, according to the governors office.. That job would pay between $50,000 and $120,000. The governor staffing up a state housing office comes after the Legislature made a historic one-time investment to try and spark home building across New Mexico. New state money includes a $125 million loan program for affordable housing infrastructure and workforce housing development, a $50 million payment for the New Mexico Affordable Housing Trust Fund and $20 million for initiatives aimed at homelessness. The housing office is built to improve availability and affordability of homes across the state..The governors office is seeking talented and innovative thinkers to come up with new ideas and to build a strategic approach, according to the release. The housing landscape has changed monumentally in the last few years, and its time for new models and new levels of coordination, said Daniel Werwath, whom the governor hired in January to lead the office, in the news release. The Governor is assembling an experienced team with broad expertise to develop innovative ways to combat the unprecedented housing crisis facing New Mexico. Lujan Grisham asked the Legislature to sanction her push for an Office of Housing and grant it new authority, including putting the offices new director on the board of the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority, which recently rebranded as Housing New Mexico. She made the rare move of advocating for the bill in person in front of a legislative committee. A bill the governor supported faced pushback from some lawmakers who thought a new office could be redundant or get in the way of existing state entities, like Housing New Mexico. Housing New Mexico officials also lobbied against Lujan Grishams proposal. LAS VEGAS (KLAS) The economic lifeline to Las Vegas, where thousands of travelers sat nearly idle for two days due to a big rig fire in July, has no plans of widening. The 113 miles between Barstow and Las Vegas are infamous for bottlenecking as 11 million travelers navigate it annually. The multi-lane freeway fluctuates from up to four or five lanes in one direction down to two. In a statement to 8 News Now, a Caltrans representative highlighted the conversion of five miles of shoulder just outside the Nevada state line into California. It was first announced in 2021 and was completed roughly a year after it was expected to be. The conversion allows drivers leaving Las Vegas to utilize the shoulder as a third travel lane in an area known for bottlenecking, though signs along the road indicate drivers may only use it two days of the week. Then-Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak said, at the time, This is the beginning. This isnt the end solution. One of several signs along five miles of I-15 southbound leaving the Nevada state line that alerts travelers when they are allowed to use the shoulder for travel. (KLAS) On non-holiday weekends, these improvements are saving an average of 30 to 40 minutes on these days for travelers heading back to Southern California from Las Vegas. Roadway signage along I-15 informs drivers of the hours and days of operation. Caltrans has no additional plans to expand I-15 near the state line, the statement said. Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman has been vocal in her efforts to expand the stretch of freeway. They opened up five miles. Well, that doesnt do anything. It needs to go all the way, Goodman said inside her Downtown Las Vegas office. She points to the fiery closure of I-15 last month as a situation that may have benefitted from widening. A truck fire closed I-15 in California on July 26, 2024. (X/@SBCOUNTYFIRE) A truck fire closed I-15 in California on July 26, 2024. (X/@SBCOUNTYFIRE) CHP closed massive stretches of the northbound and southbound freeway between Barstow and the Nevada state line in the morning of July 26 through July 28. The driver of a 2020 Freightliner lost control and overturned onto the right shoulder of the freeway, spilling lithium-ion batteries over it that provoked a HAZMAT response while the big rig burned. Drivers reported their typical commute multiplied while CHP worked to alternate the north and southbound flow exclusively on the southbound lanes. The fire burned several miles away from the Nevada state line on a portion of the freeway two lanes wide. A portion of I-15 southbound that features the shoulder temporarily used as a third travel lane while leaving Nevada. (KLAS) To know this went on for 44 hours, what do you do in 110-degree heat? Where are you getting water? Where are you getting food? Goodman said. Theres no place to move, theres no place for help. Goodman believes this furthers emergency response and safety issues along the freeway. The planned Brightline West high-speed rail from Rancho Cucamonga to Las Vegas is intended to alleviate some of this stress, though it is not intended to be operational until 2028. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS. Hundreds of members of the Animation Guild, along with fellow IATSE members joining in solidarity, gathered at the IATSE 80 headquarters in Burbank on Saturday ahead of Mondays start of contract negotiations. The crowd was over twice that of the Guilds previous rally in 2022. Animation writer and negotiating committee member Joey Clift told TheWrap that the union had over 2,000 RSVPs as of Friday, doubling the number of the 2022 event. He estimated that nearly 2,500 people attended in the near 90-degree heat. Mike Rianda, animator known for his work on Gravity Falls, emceed the festivities Saturday afternoon. Rianda kicked off the rally by bringing up six animation avengers to the stage to rally the crowd, including Steven Universe creator Rebecca Sugar, Hotel Transylvania and Samurai Jack creator Genndy Tartakovsky and legendary Disney and DreamWorks animator James Baxter. Stand With Animation Rally on Aug. 11, 2024 (Credit: Tess Patton for TheWrap) Attendees also heard from guild leaders, local politicians and workers from all facets of the animation industry all united in the fight for increased rights and protections for the security of the animation industry. Animation is most vulnerable to outsourcing and its already happening. Animation is most vulnerable to AI threat and its already happening, Julia Prescott, animation writer for Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, told the crowd of thousands. The Guild sent out a survey to gauge what its members felt was most important to bring to the negotiating table. With a record number of responses, members of the negotiating committee said generative AI and outsourcing of jobs were the primary concerns. You told us that addressing the impact of generative AI tools and processes are of the greatest importance and that you want us to make sure jobs in animation are made for human beings and not software routines, Steve Kaplan, the Animation Guilds business representative, said. I was so thrilled to be able to join the @animationguild rally today to help fire up the THOUSANDS of animators and union allies gathered for a fair contract! WGA and SAG-AFTRA stand with the Animation Guild!! https://t.co/hP9rSAfY2M pic.twitter.com/8jKtV60mxs Adam Conover (@adamconover) August 11, 2024 You told us that outsourcing of our work especially now is a grave concern, he added. Your negotiations committee deliberated for months on this matter and is prepared to bring your concerns to the studios to have a meaningful discussion, so we can find ways to keep work in Los Angeles. L.A. Mayor Karen Bass announced increased production focus groups to keep live action film production local. The Animation Guild is also calling for their own outsourcing protections. Then theres artificial intelligence, which continues to be the biggest hot-button labor issue in Hollywood. Many of the signs drawn at the rally decried generative AI, the technology behind image-generating software such as OpenAIs Sora and Midjourney, using characters from shows like Futurama and Smiling Friends to mock it. Generative AI is a pale imitation, Danny Ducker, member of the unions AI task force, said. We make art. These programs make content. Credit: Tess Patton for TheWrap Rianda even added that the tool should be used to cure cancer and fix climate change, not take away jobs that people love. How do you think Jeffrey and 14 computers are going to do with Shrek 5? Rianda joked. AI cannot do what artists do, but that wont stop shortsighted producers from using it to shrink budgets, staff and eliminate our jobs to make a profit. Members from other Hollywood unions showed out for the Guild rally, too. Writers from the WGA and actors from SAG-AFTRA said that without passionate animation union workers on the picket lines last summer, their deal may not have gone through. Actor and WGA board member Adam Conover delivered a fiery speech to the crowd, thanking them for their support but also asking them to stop caring so much about executives approval. They want you to believe that their respect matters, and it does not. You do not need their respect because they will never give it to you! Conover said. Their respect doesnt matter! What matters is your respect for yourself! And if you respect yourself enough to say, You know what, I will not work for you until I get what I deserve, then you will fking win! Attendees also heard from TAG members with various roles in the animation production process, who offered a ground-level perspective of the various problems making animation so untenable as a profession. Color specialist Sam Kestin (they/them) recounted how they told the producer on a project that they were being assigned work outside of their job description and could have been assigned to a more appropriate, higher seniority role. The producer agreed and spoke to the studios labor head, but a week later, Kestin said they received a job listing that was not the one I signed when I got hired and mysteriously included all the tasks my producer agreed were ridiculous. They changed my job right in front of me and I could do nothing. These studios are not idiots. They know we are the last artists to touch a design, she said of being a color specialist. By strategically disrespecting and undervaluing our role, they sweep all outstanding pre-production tasks onto us. Kestin has worked as a freelancer for much of their career and said that the industrys instability and lack of healthcare support has put them out of work. This is off my script, but Im recovering from surgery right now. Im a trans employee. Im recovering from top surgery. Because one of these fking studios laid me off five days before my surgery, I cant work for the rest of the year, and I cant pay my fking rent, Kestin said. We are incredible artists. We can handle a job that asks for three times the assets of our colleagues, but it has got to match the pay! Credit: Tess Patton for TheWrap Animation writers are also demanding pay equal to that earned by live action writers under WGA rates. Currently, the Animation Guild estimates that its writers receive 21-48% of what WGA writers receive for the same work, and that doesnt count extra work such as punch-ups and lore research that are not compensated for when writers are employed as freelancers, which is becoming more common on animated shows. Unfortunately, our writers are a lot cheaper, and it feels kind of gross that theyre using our contract to undercut writers, and so we want pay parity, TAG president Jeanette Moreno King told TheWrap. WBD CEO David Zaslav got the biggest boo after Nora Meek told the crowd about the unpaid extra labor that exists in her role as a board artist, while Zaslav took home a $50 million paycheck last year. Its unclear how long the negotiations will take. Insiders with knowledge of the negotiations tell TheWrap that talks between the Animation Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) were initially only scheduled through this week. But at the rally, the guild vowed to push for however long it takes to get a deal that members deserve. The post No Contract, No Cartoons: Animation Guild Members Stand Together as Talks Begin appeared first on TheWrap. There won't be a fourth Wawa in Fairfield. Cincinnati-based STNL Development and Wawa withdrew their request to rezone an area near the intersection of Pleasant Avenue and John Gray Road to allow for a gas station after residents voiced concerns about the project. "While our team believes that the proposed development was an opportunity to provide great benefits to the City of Fairfield and to the community, the lack of support for the project indicates that the withdrawal of the PUD Application is the appropriate action," STNL's Jonathan Wocher wrote in a letter to the Fairfield planning manager on July 25. One person clapped at the city council's Monday night meeting after council members said Wawa withdrew its application. Wawa has withdrawn its request to rezone an area to allow for a fourth store in Fairfield. STNL and Wawa had hoped to purchase the 4.6-acre corner portion of the roughly 24-acre wooded area near the intersection and redevelop it into a gas station. The 6,300-square-foot Wawa would have been the chain's fourth location in Fairfield. Wawa, a Pennsylvania-based gas station and convenience store chain known for its made-to-order eats, announced an expansion in Ohio last year, which included over a dozen stores in Hamilton and neighboring counties. Five of those Wawa stores are planned for Butler County and three of them will be in Fairfield. Several residents spoke out against the Wawa at the Fairfield City Council's July meeting, citing concerns about traffic, constant outdoor lighting, flooding and possible impacts on crime and property values. The full 24.1-acre property is owned by John and Paul McGilliard. Under its current zoning, the property could be developed into a number of businesses, such as a salon, gym or retail. So far, uneven ground, streams and other factors have made it difficult to develop. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Wawa withdraws plan for fourth Fairfield store No, Tenn. School District Didnt Cancel All Field Trips Due to Low Test Scores. Here's What Really Happened A school board member reportedly claimed the district scrapped field trips "due to low test scores," but the superintendent tells PEOPLE that is not the case GETTY A stock image of a school bus A Tennessee school district has not canceled all field trips for the 2024-25 school year due to low test scores, despite what one school board member had reportedly claimed. Superintendent Dr. Versie R. Hamlett confirmed the news in an email to PEOPLE on Tuesday, Aug. 13, citing information from a letter to families of the Fayette County Public Schools after the first week of the new school year. The clarification comes after a Fayette County school board member shared a post on social media that suggested they had been scrapped altogether, according to CBS affiliates WREG and WKRC. Due to low test scores, Dr. Hamlett has canceled all field trips, school board member Warner Speakman reportedly shared online, per WREG. However, the letter sent to families on Friday, Aug. 9 does not make that assertion. Related: 12-Year-Old Rescues Classmate Struggling to Swim During Class Field Trip: 'Ive Got to Help Him' The letter, obtained by PEOPLE, states that schools will limit field trips, similar to last year as the district enters its second year of a new academic plan. Doing so allows educators to increase classroom instruction time. We look forward to seeing these measures continue to advance our district and enhance student learning, Hamlett said in the letter. Some parents, and even some members of the community, were upset after hearing their children might have lost all field trips for the year. Ashley Turner, a mom of a student who attends FCPS, believes kids are often learning more from the field trips because theyre having fun, according to WREG. Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. She also expressed concerns about the teacher shortages impact on the school districts plan to have students spend more time in the classroom. "They don't have teachers to teach the kids so how are they going to have higher test scores when half of them, Turner said, noting that some kids went without a math teacher last year. Bart Gilmer, whose Falcon Ridge Farm is often a destination for school field trips, told WKRC it would be a bad decision. "I can't see a whole lot of advantages for it, Gilmer explained. On a good year we'll have 6,000 to 7,000 kids come out here and experience life on the farm and get to see some stuff that they may have never seen before and may never get to see again." Related: Mom Wants to Cancel Daughter's Band Trip That the Teen Saved for After She's Caught Bullying a Peer The Aug. 9 letter to families asked parents to communicate with their childs teachers or school administration team should they have any questions, concerns or suggestions about the plans outlined for the year. To our families, your support is invaluable, Hamlett wrote. She later added, We look forward to working together to make this year a great one for all. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. monkeybusinessimages / Getty Images/iStockphoto Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee for this years election, has yet to unveil her first economic policy plans though she intends to soon. Given this, its unclear just how a Harris presidency would affect businesses in the United States. Even though its too soon to say with certainty whatll happen next, many economists, political observers and financial planners are trying to predict what a Harris presidency might mean for the future. GOBankingRates spoke with one such individual, David Fritch, about his predictions on the upcoming election and the factors that could affect those starting a business as well as current business owners going forward. Find Out: Im a Retirement Planner: What Social Security Could Look Like in a Decade If Kamala Harris Wins in November Read Next: 7 Reasons You Must Speak To a Financial Advisor To Boost Your Savings in 2024 Earning passive income doesn't need to be difficult. You can start this week. Harris Has a Track Record of Supporting Small Businesses Harris has a track record of supporting small and local businesses. During her time as vice president and in the Senate, she has consistently supported the small business community. Given this, theres a good chance that shell continue to do so going forward if elected president. This is potentially good news for those who want to start a business in 2025. But it might be better not to make your decision solely based on who ends up in office it might not affect your business quite as much as you expect, especially in the beginning. I dont anticipate major direct impacts on my business or clients from the 2025 election, said David Fritch, an investment advisor, estate planning attorney and owner of Fritch Law Office and CPA practice. However, broader economic and policy changes could affect small businesses. In terms of policies, Vice President Harris has already played a key role in passing and implementing legislation to support the American people and business owners alike. For example, she supported Bidens Investing in America Agenda, which prioritized making main streets and communities stronger. Harris was also the one to cast the deciding vote on the American Rescue Plan, which provided $1.9 trillion in funding to support those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Perhaps more importantly for businesses, Harris was integral in getting the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) passed. While this act has had a wider-reaching impact, its also positively impacted many small businesses, allocating hundreds of billions of dollars in funding to different projects across several thousand communities nationwide. This funding has helped revitalize smaller communities, helped small businesses thrive and compete and given consumers the confidence in shopping locally again. Story continues Not only that, but the Biden-Harris administration has a track record of increasing spending on small business contracts. As of fiscal year 2022, small businesses received almost $163 billion in federal contract dollars of which $70 billion ended up in the hands of small businesses run by economically and socially disadvantaged owners. Plus, Harris has made a point of prioritizing helping small business owners get access to the capital they need to stay afloat and grow. In 2022, Harris established the Economic Opportunity Coalition, which directly addressed economic disparities particularly in underserved communities. As part of this coalition, over $3 billion was raised to support the recovery of these communities and pave the way to economic growth. All of this is to say that Harris could continue to support small businesses going forward, a good thing for those looking to start one up in 2025 or beyond. See More: Im a Financial Planner Heres What a Kamala Harris Presidency Would Mean If You Plan To Retire in 2025 Any Changes Could Be Multi-Layered Going with the idea that future regulations and policies could impact businesses, Fritch believes that a Harris presidency could have both a positive and a negative effect though it might all balance out in the end. If Harris were to increase corporate taxes, some of my clients businesses may face higher costs, he said. However, more government spending could boost consumer demand, offsetting this. Additionally, Harris has consistently encouraged consumers to shop small that is, to shop locally. If this were to continue going forward, it could be a good sign for those starting their own business who want to keep things local. But its important for future small businesses to understand how regulation could affect them positively and negatively. Regulation is always a concern, Fritch said. But targeted relief for small businesses, like simplified employee benefits or tax credits, may encourage entrepreneurship. Health Coverage Expansions Can Have a Positive Impact Fritch also spoke about how expanded health coverage under the current administration has made it easier for some business owners to invest more in growing their ventures. Recently, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities posted an article about how millions of small businesses have gained health coverage through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010. Back in 2022, the rate of uninsured individuals reached record lows. Historically speaking, small business owners tend to have a higher uninsured rate for their employees, especially compared to large businesses. A big reason for this is the lack of affordable healthcare, something the ACA strives to address. While this is not directly correlated to Harris, the Democratic party has historically supported quality, affordable healthcare. For small business owners who want to provide affordable healthcare to their employees, the possible expansion, or at least the continuation, of the ACA could be a boon. Bottom Line Right now, its too soon to say whatll happen if Harris becomes the next president. But if history is anything to go by, there could be quite a few positive changes for new businesses especially those in underserved communities. Overall, the impacts will depend on the specific policies that emerge after the election, Fritch said. His advice to any new business owners is to focus on controlling costs and adapting to any changes that come your way. Editors note on election coverage: GOBankingRates is nonpartisan and strives to cover all aspects of the economy objectively and present balanced reports on politically focused finance stories. You can find more coverage of this topic on GOBankingRates.com. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Im a Financial Planner: Heres What a Kamala Harris Presidency Would Mean If You Plan To Start a Business in 2025 MIDLAND, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- The Salvation Army is a Christian-based non-profit whose mission is to meet human needs while also spreading the gospel. The organization, with locations in both Midland and Odessa, shared how they are working to aid the community. Widely known for its annual bell ringing in winter and donations during Christmastime- the organization does much more to impact the community than people may know. Some of the many ways the Salvation Army offers assistance is by providing plenty of resources such as rent and/or utility assistance, shelter, cooling stations, and a cafeteria that is open to the public. As summer winds down, the Salvation Army shared how its stepping in to help assist many people and families in the Permian Basin who need aid in getting all their back-to-school supplies. Were taking all of kids from both Ector ISD and Midland ISD to go pick out their own back-to-school shoes, Captain Robert Criston with the Salvation Army said. It is through community support that the Salvation Army can do all that it does to serve those in need. Salvation Army can be a powerful source in the community to help with poverty and homelessness, but we are only as powerful as the community that supports us, Criston said. If you or someone you know is in need of the services offered by the Salvation Army you can find out more here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Yourbasin. NORFOLK, Neb. (KCAU) A northeast Nebraska police department is tackling a problem theyve been dealing with for 40 years. The Norfolk Police Divisions building has its fair share of problems, from leaky ceilings to cramped working conditions. This November, a new ballot will address those issues. Community helping McCook Lake residents reunite with lost belongings The building was originally built in 1986, and they had 30 police officers, Chief Don Miller said. When they built the building, they had 28 lockers in one shower, so it was too small to begin with. Nowadays, the Norfolk Police Division has 40 officers, with five to seven people on duty for a shift. Despite a few changes to the building over the years, some days are a struggle for employees due to the lack of room. One of the best examples is our administrative secretary, Miller said. Its not uncommon. If shes at her file cabinet, she needs to move out of the way for somebody to walk down the hallway. We have a roll call room. Its a briefing room when we have incidents, we clean our weapons there, we eat lunch there, we package evidence there, which isnt smart. You shouldnt be packaging evidence the same place youre eating your lunch, but thats the only room that we have to do that in. Police are also running out of room to store important files, sometimes having to put cabinets in the hallways. However, space is only one problem theyve run into with the roughly 40-year-old building. Because of time, were starting to have significant maintenance issues, Miller said. Were having plumbing issues, heating and air issues. Were working on fixing those things, but now Im in a situation where, do I budget to fix something or do I not budget for that and put that money towards the renovation that we need? Since 2019, the Norfolk Police Division has attempted to get a bond passed to expand their base of command, but it failed in 2022. Now, officials are leaving it up to the voters once again. Its a two-story renovation to the east with a single story garage to the east of the addition and weve already done the architectural work, Miller said. Weve been working with architects for a couple of years. Were at 100% drawings and ready to go. Some of this passes, well be able to start the construction right away. Itsexpected to cost $10.5 to $11 million, not just for construction, but also to buy desks and TVs and and chairs and all that stuff. Chief Miller also said that if the bond passes, this project will improve space issues for years to come. Siouxland Miracle Riders return from 15-day fundraising journey Were not wanting the Taj Mahal, he said. We just want to have the facility to be able to do our job. And as I said, I dont want to eat lunch next to the guy whos packaging methamphetamine. Were literally doing that now, and thats not safe. But we dont have another place to do it. So well just keep on doing what we can to get the job done. The police division will explain and answer questions on Aug. 13 at the Norfolk Public Library. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports. North Korea is flying trash-filled balloons across the border again, Seoul says North Korea is flying trash-filled balloons across the border again, Seoul says North Korea is again flying balloons likely carrying trash toward the South, continuing a bizarre psychological warfare campaign amid growing tensions between the war-divided rivals, South Korea's military said. Seoul's joint chiefs of staff said Saturday that the winds could carry the balloons to regions north of the South Korean capital. Seoul City Hall and the Gyeonggi provincial government issued text alerts urging citizens to beware of objects dropping from the sky and report to the military or police if they spot any unidentified flying objects. There were no immediate reports of injuries or property damage. In recent weeks, Pyongyang has flown more than 2,000 balloons carrying waste paper, cloth scraps and cigarette butts toward the South in what it has described as a retaliation toward South Korean civilian activists flying anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets across the border. Pyongyang has long condemned such activities as it is extremely sensitive to any outside criticism of leader Kim Jong Un's authoritarian rule. Forever blowing balloons North Korea last flew balloons toward the South on 24 July, when trash carried by at least one of them fell on the South Korean presidential compound, raising worries about the vulnerability of key South Korean facilities. The balloon contained no dangerous material, and no one was hurt, Seoul's presidential security service said. South Korea, in reaction to the North's balloon campaign, activated its front-line loudspeakers to blast broadcasts of propaganda messages and K-pop songs. Experts say North Korea hates such broadcasts because it fears it could demoralise front-line troops and residents. The Koreas' tit-for-tat Cold War-style campaigns are inflaming tensions, with the rivals threatening stronger steps and warning of grave consequences. The resumption of the balloon campaign comes as North Korea struggles to recover from devastating floods that submerged thousands of homes and huge swaths of farmland in areas near its border with China. NorthWestern Energy logo. NorthWestern Energy said in a recent letter it is essential for the utility to be able to close advisory meetings that are technical in nature, and it also said its technical advisors represent varying interests as required by law. The Montana Public Service Commission had requested the monopoly utility answer questions raised by three renewable energy groups about whether its Electrical Technical Advisory Committee is operating legally. The groups alleged NorthWestern hadnt selected broad based membership as required by statute, and it had closed meetings unnecessarily despite a requirement they be open whenever possible. In doing so, the groups said NorthWestern was an extreme outlier in the region. Commissioners agreed the questions raised by the groups needed to be addressed, and in a letter Friday, NorthWestern defended its practices. It also acknowledged the importance of addressing the questions to maintain transparency and public trust. A letter from NorthWesterns Vice President of Asset Management and Business Development Bleau LaFave explained the decision to close committee meetings. The committee is advising the utility on the way its putting together a plan to meet future energy demand. While open meetings offer transparency, the ability to close meetings is essential for technical advisory committees, NorthWestern said in the letter. This enables honest discussions, efficient deliberations, and thorough reviews of preliminary findings, ensuring compliance with regulations and protecting stakeholder interests. As a result, the committee can make effective recommendations to engage in the stakeholder and public process. The letter addressed qualifications for members and their responsibilities. It did not disclose the selection process, or the way it chooses members, who chooses them and how, although it said the NorthWestern Energy Supply Group makes the final selections. In an email in response a question from the Daily Montanan about what the supply group is, NorthWestern said, There are many employees that are involved in energy supply planning at NorthWestern Energy. I am not disclosing any specific names. One of the requirements NorthWestern identified in its response to the PSC is that its members not communicate to the media on behalf of ETAC or NorthWestern to characterize the views of other members to the media or in other forums. Each member agrees to not present materials or documentation obtained in their role as an ETAC member in contested cases, to the media, or in other forums, unless in response to a request as required by law. The three groups that had raised questions were the Montana Environmental Information Center, Montana Renewable Energy Association and Renewable Northwest. They said the advisory committee had convened in the past representatives from many different interests, but this time, it had stacked the committee to exclude spokespeople for residential and low-income customers, energy developers and independent economists. NorthWestern, however, argued it had chosen a broad based group in compliance with state statute. It said it reserves seats for representatives from the Montana Public Service Commission, the Montana Consumer Counsel, and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. It said the other three to five slots are filled with people who have technical knowledge who are active in energy policy, resource adequacy, regional utility planning, and/or RTO (Regional Transmission Organization) development. In addition to the three state agencies, current membership represents the University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research (at least one of the groups said the committee should have an economic research representative that is not paid by NorthWestern); Southwest Power Pool, a regional transmission organization; the Natural Resources Defense Council; and the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. In its letter, NorthWestern also said it will develop, with input from the committee, a stakeholder and public process to engage a broad cross-section of its customers as it starts putting together a new Integrated Resource Plan, its plan to meet energy demand. It said that process is in addition to the technical committees meetings. In December 2023, NorthWestern engaged with ETAC, and the committee decided to close the upcoming March and June meetings. It said it needed to close meetings to set a public engagement timeline and ensure their recommendations are effective and well-considered. It also said the rules allow meetings to be closed when needed for a complete review, evaluation or recommendation. In June, the committee decided it would open its next meeting to the public allowing community members and stakeholders to learn about resource planning concepts. The meeting will take place in September, and a date is being finalized. NorthWestern submitted the letter Friday, and the Public Service Commission may take up the matter at an upcoming meeting, a spokesperson said. Rebecca Helberg Arntsen was said to be in a relationship with Marius Hiby last month The son of Norways crown princess has been accused of stabbing a wall with a knife in an apartment where he allegedly attacked a young woman and threatened to set her clothes on fire. On Tuesday, Norwegian magazine Se og Hr published photographs showing damage to the apartment, which belonged to the victim, in the aftermath of the alleged attack. Reproduced on the magazines front page, the images show a knife sticking out of a wall, and a chandelier lying on the floor surrounded by broken glass. It comes after Marius Borg Hiby, the son of Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit, was arrested for psychologically and physically attacking the woman, who has not been identified. Norwegian magazine Se og Hr published photographs showing damage to the flat The case has plunged the Norwegian royal family into turmoil and forced Crown Princess Mette-Marit to abandon a planned visit to the Paris Olympics. Crown Princess Mette-Marit was a single mother to Mr Hiby when she met her husband Prince Haakon. Mr Hiby, 27, has been charged with causing damage and bodily harm since the incident, for which he faces up to one year in prison. According to Se og Hr, the victim had been in a relationship with Mr Hiby at the time of the attack, which took place on Aug 4 in Oslo. Reports said that the woman, said to be in her 20s, made Mr Hiby leave the apartment after the attack and called the police. They took her to a hospital where she was diagnosed with a concussion. Marius Borg Hiby with his mother Crown Princess Mette-Marit - LISE ASERUD/NTB/AFP/Getty A source told Se og Hr that police suspect Mr Hiby had plunged the knife into the wall during the alleged attack and were seeking forensic evidence to confirm this. Two other sources told the magazine that police had audio recordings of Mr Hiby threatening to set fire to and burn the girls clothes and belongings. Police are also attempting to put together a minute by minute reconstruction of the attack, the magazine said. Police said that the alleged victim was in a relationship with Mr Hiby. Last month, the crown princesss son said he was in a relationship with Rebecca Helberg Arntsen. It is not known if the pair are still together. Mr Hiby appears to be tagged in one of Ms Arntsens photographs on Instagram. The Telegraph approached the Royal House of Norway for comment but did not immediately receive a response. Mr Hiby has never held a royal title. Growing up, he made public appearances with his mother, stepfather and siblings. He stepped back from public life in 2017 aged 20 in pursuit of privacy. Haakon Magnus, the Crown Prince of Norway, has previously said of the case: Its a serious matter when police are involved like this...at the same time, it would not be right for me to comment on it at this time. Oyvind Bratlien, Mr Hibys lawyer, told Se og Hr: It is important that the process is allowed to take its course in the right way, and that the media respects my clients need for privacy and tranquillity. The police must be allowed to do their job without the media deciding the facts and culpability. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Norwegian man sneaks onto planes twice in Munich without valid ticket Passengers go to the security check at the terminal in Munich Airport. A 39-year-old Norwegian man managed to board planes at Munich Airport twice without a valid ticket, police said on Tuesday. Sven Hoppe/dpa A 39-year-old Norwegian man managed to board planes at Munich Airport twice without a valid ticket, police said on Tuesday. The man first passed through security without a ticket on August 4 and attempted to fly to Hamburg. But airline staff caught him before departure and handed him over to the police. A day later, he successfully travelled to Sweden on a flight that was not fully booked. He was eventually discovered and apprehended by Swedish police following a tip-off from airport staff. Police are investigating the man for trespassing and fare evasion, but say that it appears he posed no risk to others. They are also trying to determine how he managed to pass through security at Munich Airport without a ticket on two occasions. Some danced, some ducked and covered, others evacuated when quake jolted L.A. schools Aldama Elementary second-grader Mateo Rodriguez, 7, with his dad, Juvenal Rodriguez, wasn't impressed by Monday's earthquake and said a hailstorm at their home months earlier had been far more interesting. (Howard Blume) It took a split second for the instincts of Principal Laura Gutierrez to kick in when an earthquake coursed through Aldama Elementary School in Highland Park as she stood outside supervising recess. She started to dance shaking in time to the shaking. A few students, frozen in momentary fear, saw her and started dancing too. "They looked at me, a lot of them with big eyes. I looked back and it was like, 'OK, we're gonna just sway to this.' And so a lot of them did it with me." She then immediately radioed her plant manager and supervision aides to coordinate a full campus response. A 12:20 p.m. moderate earthquake jolted the first day of school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, causing no reported damage, but bringing on jitters and testing preparedness instilled by earthquake drills. Centered in El Sereno, the 4.4 magnitude temblor especially rattled nearby, including Wilson High School, which was temporarily evacuated, said Supt. Alberto Carvalho. Students ducked and covered at many campuses, with a smaller number of schools following with a short-term evacuation. The main campus at Academia Anawakalmekak, a charter school, sits two blocks from the epicenter. The force of the shock was no dancing matter. "It felt like an ocean liner hit the building," said Marcos Aguilar, co-head of the K-12 charter school. The initial jolt was the worst of it, with follow-up shaking lasting just a few seconds, Aguilar said. That's about how Jose Montes de Oca, the assistant principal at the upper-grades campus, felt it although he used the word "truck," not "ocean liner." Read more: 4.4 earthquake was centered on notorious L.A. fault system Aguilar was upstairs working with some staff and admits he and colleagues ignored the standard protocol to duck and cover and instead rushed downstairs to check on students. They were fine and were following the rules of duck and cover under or near their desks and then evacuating after the shaking stopped under adult supervision. Many if not most of the students already were outside because it was lunch time, said Montes de Oca. Parents were flooding the phone lines to check on kids which also happened at other schools, including Aldama. The charter school staff could not initially pick up the calls because they, too, had to evacuate. But the school quickly sent out a text saying everyone was safe. Aguilar rushed over to the campus for the youngest students "because that's where I thought there'd be more concern." About four students were spooked, with one crying. "Everybody else was pretty much just excited to be outside. It did shock a couple of our staff members. They might have past memories of bigger earthquakes." At an afternoon school assembly for students and parents part of the regular first-day events Montes de Oca reviewed earthquake safety, including what to do at home. As scary as things were for a few seconds, Aguilar noted that no one evacuated from the restaurant next store. Back at Aldama, Principal Gutierrez said about two-thirds of students were already outside either at recess or lunch. The students inside appeared to have followed safety rules. It helped that she'd chosen earthquake safety as the subject of her Monday school assembly. Like the charter school, Aldama has earthquake drills every month. Parent Lauren Quan-Madrid hadn't felt the earthquake where she was working in Whittier. But her husband, a teacher at Wilson High, alerted her in something of a panic to check on their daughter. The shaking had been strong at Wilson, leading to a schoolwide evacuation and a painstaking campus inspection that kept students outside for a while. Their second-grader, Valeria Madrid-Romo, said the earthquake scared her. She'd already been anxious about going into a new grade at school, wondering if she could handle harder material. By the end of the day, she felt reassured academically and had moved past the earthquake. When her mother arrived breathlessly and had her pulled momentarily from class, Valeria demanded to know: "What are you doing here?" Juvenal Rodriguez and his wife were jolted into alarm as well, but their son Mateo, also a second-grader, was unimpressed. It was much more interesting, he said, when hail fell at their house during the recent rainy season. Aldama third-grader Madison Alvarez thought the earthquake sounded like a tree falling so she did not get too concerned. What really stood out to her was that it was the first day of school. "We did a lot of art and coloring," she said. "And had the first day of recess, it was short, but it was really fun." Jorge Alvarado, a 12th-grader at Academia Avance, a different charter school, was sitting in class when he saw a mirror shake, then he felt the floors vibrate and then saw the walls move. "I was just in shock because, like, we were in class, and I didn't expect it to happen," Jorge said. But as at the other schools, he and his classmates knew what to do. Principal Gutierrez chose to embrace a positive spin: "We dance for any reason at Aldama." Times staff writer Kate Sequeira contributed to this report. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. By Marianna Parraga, Matt Spetalnick and Lisandra Paraguassu HOUSTON/WASHINGTON/BRASILIA (Reuters) - More than two weeks after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro claimed reelection victory, the U.S. and other Western countries are showing little sign of swift tough action over what many of them have condemned as voting fraud. Most governments have demanded that Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE) release a full set of voting tally sheets after both Maduro and opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez declared they won. Brazil and others are trying to secure talks between the two sides, irreconcilable in decades. Protests against Maduro following the vote were met with a crackdown, leaving 23 dead and about 2,400 people arrested, according to latest U.N. data. Western governments are trying to "take it slowly," with none wanting to move first, said one embassy official who was not authorized to speak publicly. "This isn't a race to see who can verbally go the furthest in their demands with zero effectiveness, but to be effective in our support for democracy in Venezuela," Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told a Senate hearing on Tuesday. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Monday urged the release of voting records, end of political persecution and dialogue between opponents. The bloc has not anticipated any action. Three officials from different countries said the measured response comes as they are mindful of what happened after Maduro's 2018 reelection. Then, the vote was quickly condemned as a sham and led to the most severe sanctions yet on the OPEC nation. An interim government led by the opposition was widely recognized overseas, but the effort ultimately evaporated, fortifying Maduro in power. In Washington, which under Republican President Donald Trump blocked Venezuela's critical oil exports, there seems little appetite for more severe sanctions. Democratic U.S. officials have threatened but so far held off on new punitive measures. The Biden administration has been keen not to complicate the way forward for the opposition, led by Maria Corina Machado and candidate Gonzalez, as Venezuelans seek "even small concessions" from Maduro, a person familiar with Washington's thinking said. Some of those concessions are related to open communication channels between the two sides that the opposition hopes could lead towards an impartial verdict on the election's results and a possible political transition. A review by Venezuela's Supreme Court is likely to take time and may not be impartial given that it is packed by Maduro allies. Another option that might help resolve the dispute, repeating the election, has been dismissed by Machado and advised against by observers, two of the sources said, due to lack of guarantees for doing it in a safe and trustworthy way. WALKING ON BROKEN GLASS U.S. officials have been reaching out to regional and international partners to organize a coordinated response, the three sources said. Cautiously, the U.S. has recognized Gonzalez as the winner, but not called him president-elect. "Now is the time for the Venezuelan parties to begin discussions on a respectful and peaceful transition," said U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel on Monday. A spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council told Reuters on Tuesday that Washington is evaluating what Maduro and his representatives do or do not do next and "will respond accordingly." However, the Biden government's remaining options appear to be limited. The U.S. in April reimposed some oil sanctions, accusing Maduro of reneging on electoral commitments, and it has enforced numerous individual sanctions in the last five years, including on CNE head Elvis Amoroso. U.S. officials have expressed concerns that post-election upheaval could spur more Venezuelans to leave and head for the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the Washington-based source. With immigration already a hot-button issue, that could create new problems for U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris in her campaign for president. Venezuela's foreign ministry did not reply to a request for comment. "We will not discuss the content of our private diplomatic discussions," a State Department spokesperson said. The Washington-based Organization of American States has failed to agree a joint response, even as the bloc's election observation body detailed "illegalities, flaws, and bad practices" during the election. "The official results are not trustworthy or deserving of democratic recognition," it concluded of the July 28 vote. The presidents of Brazil, Mexico and Colombia are coordinating action while calling for full access to voting records, while a coalition including the U.S., Canada, Panama and others are holding separate talks among each other and with Venezuela's opposition, people familiar with the matter said. Panama offered political asylum to Maduro - a controversial move since he is under investigation by the International Criminal Court for allegations of human rights violations - and called for a regional summit. Brazil will not recognize Maduro's victory without full disclosure and validation of tallies, a Brazilian government source said, adding that officials' worries about escalating violence and political arrests have increased. "Messages to Maduro have been sent making clear that arresting Gonzalez and Machado is a no-go," the source said, adding that Brazil's focus is on dealing with both sides. Brazil's Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira plans to stop in Bogota on Thursday to talk with his Colombian counterpart on Venezuela, Brazil's government said. Countries including China, Russia, Nicaragua and Cuba have recognized Maduro's victory and offered him support. (Reporting by Marianna Parraga in Houston, Matt Spetalnick in Washington and Lisandra Paraguassu in Brasilia; Additional reporting by Vivian Sequera in Caracas, Daphne Psaledakis in Washington and David Latona in Madrid; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien) Now is the perfect time for Ukraine to be experimenting with ways to catch Russia by surprise, war analysts say With Ukraine on defense on the front lines, it should experiment with catching Russia off guard, war experts say. Its ongoing incursion into the Kursk region of Russia has given Ukraine some newfound initiative. Ukraine has achieved repeated shock victories against Russia in scrappy, unexpected ways. Ukraine faces a challenging defensive fight on the front lines for the foreseeable future, but that doesn't mean it can't get in a few good hits of its own against Russia. While it waits to amass the ammunition, manpower, and resources to launch a large-scale, well-timed counteroffensive, Ukraine should experiment with ways to take the initiative and gain momentum, war analysts say. Conflict experts from the American Enterprise Institute and Institute for the Study of War, Washington DC-based think tanks that have closely monitored the conflict, wrote in a new report that Ukraine should focus on conducting unexpected, shock upsets against Russia while the battlefield situation remains largely unchanged. "Ukraine faces enormous challenges today and in the months to come," AEI's Frederick Kagan and ISW's Kimberly Kagan wrote with support from several other ISW conflict analysts. "Ukrainian forces," they argued, "are very unlikely to be able to initiate significant counteroffensive operations in 2024 and into 2025." "Their ability to do so at all still rests on the accelerated and sustained provision of Western security assistance and the lifting of restrictions on the use of that assistance as well as on their ability to sustain an improved mobilization and training system," the Kagans wrote. But that reality does not mean Ukrainian forces should, as the authors of the report noted, "plan simply to remain on the defensive for the indefinite future while trying to amass the resources needed for a counteroffensive." Russia released a video on Thursday showing it had launched a missile attack on Ukrainian equipment units entering Kursk. Russian Ministry of Defense / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images Rather, Ukraine should use this period as "a time of experimentation," they said, explaining that doing so "should increasingly let Ukraine challenge Russian forces for the initiative in parts of the theater while exploring opportunities for future, more substantial counteroffensive operations as conditions permit." Such a strategy isn't necessarily new for Ukraine, which has repeatedly found ways to deal unexpected blows to Russian forces despite a grueling ground fight. These actions include the Kharkiv counteroffensive, long-range drone strikes into Russia, and devastating naval drone operations in the Black Sea, among others, but perhaps the most prominent example is the ongoing Ukrainian surprise invasion of the Kursk region of Russia, a shockingly complex mechanized assault into enemy lands that has left Moscow scrambling. Ukraine's intentions in this assault appear unclear, although recent comments from Ukrainian officials, such as a post on X from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, suggest Ukraine hopes to hold the territory as a bargaining chip, something to trade for Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine. Although details on the Ukrainian invasion are still limited, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi told Zelenskyy on Monday that Ukraine's troops had seized just under 400 square miles of territory, about the same amount Russia has captured in Ukraine this year. A view shows a building on fire in the town of Sudzha following an incursion of Ukrainian troops into the Kursk region, Russia, in this still image from video. MIC Izvestia / IZ.RU via REUTERS Kyiv has played its cards close to the vest on this assault, keeping secret its plans, including from close partners like the US, suggesting that it can pull off surprise attacks that allow it to, at least temporarily, take the battlefield initiative. Ukraine has grappled with leaks, attributing some of the failures of the 2023 summer counteroffensive to this problem, as well as constant battlefield reconnaissance and surveillance that makes it difficult to maneuver. But the battlefield is not completely transparent, as some observers have argued, and surprises are still possible. The initiative can be retaken. The Kagans argued in their report that Ukraine cannot "resign itself to the supposed reality of permanent positional warfare" because doing so "will not liberate the strategically vital lands Ukraine must win back in order to be secure against future Russian aggression." "It will also protract the war and dramatically increase its costs to Ukraine and to Ukraine's supporters," they said. "Ukraine should thus seek every possible way of restoring maneuver to this war as soon as possible, daunting though that task appears." The Kursk invasion caught the Kremlin off guard, either because it didn't detect it or adequately respond to it initially. And it has notably left Russian President Vladimir Putin in a precarious situation yet again, raising questions on how he can prove to citizens that Russia can secure its border and maintain its costly war effort without bringing the conflict home any further. Read the original article on Business Insider AUSTIN (KXAN) As the demand for anesthesia services grows across Texas, theres a new program in Central Texas aiming to get more nurses specialized in that area. Fairfield University expanded its nurse anesthesia program to Austin. The university is based in Fairfield, Connecticut. However, it expanded to Austin to address the growing need for more certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) within the state. We really chose the right place in moving to Austin because we feel that theres a need that we can fulfill there. Meredith Kazer, Dean of Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing & Health Studies Nursing A group of 15 new graduate students in Austin recently started their three-year journey in this program. Fairfield University said the DNP Nurse Anesthesia concentration at Fairfield is ranked #29 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. (Photo: KXAN) Fairfield University said the DNP Nurse Anesthesia concentration at Fairfield is ranked #29 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. (Photo: KXAN) Fairfield University said the DNP Nurse Anesthesia concentration at Fairfield is ranked #29 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. (Photo: KXAN) First year they are mostly in the classroom, and they have skills and simulation labs. They will rotate to the community hospitals and get their real in the hospital, hands on training with real patients, said Dr. Carrie Cromwell, the Austin campus assistant program director. Cromwell said students will train in both the city and rural communities. She said a majority of people in the medical field end up staying where they train. They get to know the area, the providers, Cromwell said. If they really connect with the community, then they definitely tend to stick around. Upon completion, graduates are eligible to sit for the national certification exam to become CRNAs. University officials said it received more than 120 applications for only 15 available spots in the program at the Austin campus. Growing exponentially According to the Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies, demand for CRNAs is projected to grow by 30.9% by 2032. In the Central Texas area, we are growing exponentially, Dr. Cromwell said. Theres a big population boom in our area, and so the need for procedures and services is growing, and so is the need for anesthesia providers. A shortage in these positions can lead to delays for patients. Surgeries might have to be placed on hold, which can obviously become problematic, said Nurse Anesthesia Program Director Steven Belmont. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Texas currently has the highest nurse anesthetist employment level at 5,390. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin. Boeing (BA) will likely miss a key 737 MAX jet production target in 2024, analysts at rating agencies Moody's and S&P told Reuters, saying that the company faces challenges as it ramps up its strongest-selling plane. The US aerospace giant's goal is to produce 38 MAX jets a month by the end of 2024, up from 25 jets a month in July. But Moody's and S&P said that goal may not be reached until 2025 due to risks like possible labor disruptions at the planemaker's facilities in the Seattle area. Boeing, however, faces no immediate risk of a credit downgrade that would drop its rating to junk levels, the two rating agencies said on Friday. Jonathan Root, lead Boeing analyst at Moody's, assumes the planemaker will end 2024 producing 32 MAX jets per month, and reach the target of 38 in the second half of 2025. "We remain in a 'show me' state of mind," he said. MAX production and deliveries, which are closely watched by investors and airlines, mostly slowed following a Jan. 5 mid-air panel blowout on a new 737 MAX 9 that exposed longstanding quality-control problems at the jetmaker. Boeing slowed output so it could improve production quality, but the decline in output and deliveries has taken a toll on cash flow. It burned about $8.3 billion in cash in the first half of 2024 and expects free cash flow to be negative this year, burdening its balance sheet. "We see risks to reaching that number (38), including labor negotiations and the companys history of underdelivering relative to targets," said Ben Tsocanos, aerospace director at S&P Global Ratings. "We view increasing and stabilizing MAX production as necessary to generating free cash flow, which is ultimately what we care about to maintain the rating." Both S&P and Moody's rate Boeing one notch above junk status. In response to a request for comment, Boeing referred to its finance chief's recent remarks saying that output was expected to rise in the second half of 2024 to hit 38 planes per month by year-end. New CEO Kelly Ortberg has yet to publically discuss any production plans for the company. Analysts at William Blair said the new CEO may lower the production target to prioritize quality. Spirit AeroSystems (SPR), which is set to be acquired by Boeing, has the leading role in supporting increased output, Root said. The company produces the 737 fuselage that is used to make the finished planes at Boeing's facilities in Washington state. Spirit shipped 27 fuselages to Boeing in the June quarter, despite producing 31 a month. Since March, Boeing has been first inspecting the new fuselages at Spirit's factory in Wichita, Kansas, and the vetting process has taken longer than expected, an industry source familiar with the matter told Reuters. Story continues Meanwhile, lingering uncertainty about Boeing's aircraft deliveries has airlines more cautious in planning their schedules. Low-cost US carrier Allegiant, a Boeing customer, last month said it expects a "slower delivery cadence" from the planemaker in 2025 and 2026. When Allegiant placed an order for 50 737 MAX planes in 2022, rejecting offers from traditional supplier Airbus, it expected to take delivery of 10 of the jets in 2023, 24 in 2024 and 16 in 2025. However, it is still waiting for its first MAX aircraft. The plane is now expected in September, the airline said last month. (Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal and Rajesh Kumar Singh in Chicago; Editing by Matthew Lewis) NYC Mayor Adams heading to DNC to talk immigration an issue Harris is seen as vulnerable on NEW YORK Mayor Eric Adams is heading to Chicago next week for the Democratic National Convention and hopes the partys presumptive presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, will take time at the event to talk about the countrys migrant crisis despite ongoing sensitivity in the party around the issue. The migrant crisis, which has had a disproportionate impact on New York City over the past two years, is widely seen as a political vulnerability for the Democrats ahead of Novembers election battle against former President Donald Trump. To that end, Harris has largely avoided discussing the issue since she became the partys de facto White House nominee when President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race last month, though her campaign appeared to pivot a bit last week in releasing ads listing ways it believes Republicans are blocking progress on immigration reform. Against that backdrop, Adams, a centrist Democrat, said Tuesday he plans to highlight the migrant crisis while in Chicago next week for the DNC, where Harris is scheduled to formally accept the partys presidential nomination. Im excited about going there and speaking with the other Democrats, particularly those national leaders who came to the city and saw what we were doing around migrants and asylum seekers, and really applauded us to state that no one in the country is doing what were doing, and Im planning to meet with a few of them, Adams told reporters at his weekly City Hall news conference. He didnt elaborate on which leaders he plans to meet with. Asked specifically what he wants to hear from Harris during the DNC, Adams said he hopes she can broker a bipartisan, long-term agreement related to border security and migrant relocation efforts inside of the U.S. But in addition to that, you know my number one chant: We need to find ways to allow the migrants and asylum seekers to work, added Adams, who has long called on the federal government to expedite work permits for new arrivals. A spokesman for Harris campaign didnt immediately return a request for comment. The DNC is playing out in Chicago between Monday and Thursday. Adams spokesman Fabien Levy said the mayor expects to arrive in Chicago on Wednesday and stay through Friday. Adams plan to put the migrant crisis front and center at the DNC could anger some Democrats. The mayor landed on the Biden teams bad side last year after repeatedly criticizing the president in public for what he saw as a lacking White House response to the influx of migrants from the U.S. southern border. Amid the migrant-related friction, Bidens team last spring removed Adams from a group of high-profile U.S. politician who were expected to serve as official surrogates for the presidents reelection bid. The national migrant crisis and addressing the root causes thats driving it has been among a raft of issues in Harris portfolio as vice president. Republicans have blasted her for not taking a more aggressive stance on border security, but Democrats say the GOP is to blame, especially since its Trump-loyal congressional members killed a bipartisan deal last year that wouldve added hundreds of new border agents. In New York, the migrant crisis has had especially severe consequences, with tens of thousands of new arrivals, most of them from Latin American countries, still housed in city-run shelters to the tune of millions of dollars a month. Due to the ensuing fiscal pressure, the mayor enacted deep cuts to various city services last year, though he has since undone many of those spending reductions. At Tuesdays briefing, the mayor said he hopes the worst is behind us as it relates to the migrant crisis, though he told reporters a recent trend of asylum seekers carrying out gang-related crimes is concerning him. We are not out of the woods, we still have to deal with the small number of violent gang members that are in our city, he said. We have to make sure we are monitoring them. _____ NYC Mayor Adams slams critics of City of Yes zoning proposal that would allow construction of thousands of homes: Thats a problem Mayor Eric Adams rapped neighborhood activists for refusing to address the city's housing crunch -- including his "City of Yes" proposal that would overhaul zoning regulations and allow the construction of tens of thousands more dwellings. Mayor Eric Adams rapped neighborhood activists for refusing to address the citys housing crunch including his City of Yes proposal that would overhaul zoning regulations and allow the construction of tens of thousands more dwellings. During his 107.5 WBLS radio show, the mayor and Housing & Preservation Development Commissioner Adolfo Carrion said 49 of the 59 community boards have failed to produce an adequate supply of housing units. New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaks during a news conference on affordable housing on July 29, 2024. James Keivom Ten of the community boards have produced as much new housing as the other 49 combined, they said. If we are saying in 49 of those community boards that you dont want housing here, thats a problem, Adams said Sunday. We cant say on Monday housing is a right, and then on Tuesday we say we dont want it built on our block. Thirty-eight community boards have issued non-binding votes against the City Yes for Housing, projected to generate 100,000 new apartments and other dwellings over 15 years. Eighteen support the measure and the remainder are on the fence. The Council is expected to vote on the ambitious plan by years end. The Not In My Back Yard opposition is not unusual. Many community boards also opposed former Mayor Bill de Blasios mandatory inclusionary housing plan, which nonetheless was approved by the City Council. The city has a 1.4% housing vacancy rate, the lowest in some 60 years, Adams said. The mayor, who says more housing is needed for college graduates and the elderly, asked Carrion how many of the 59 community boards are producing affordable housing. Sadly, of the 59 community boards, only 10 are building affordable housing, he replied. The other 49 are refusing it. The other 49 are in the way, I like to say it, they live in the City of No and theres 10 that live in the City of Yes.We cannot be a City of No. The mayor and Housing & Preservation Development Commissioner Adolfo Carrion said 49 of the 59 community boards have failed to produce an adequate supply of housing units. Paul Martinka If we are saying in 49 of those community boards that you dont want housing here, thats a problem, Adams said Sunday. Paul Martinka Adams City of Yes for Economic Opportunity plan would provide a bonus to developers to build 20% higher, if the additional space is dedicated to lower-than-market rate apartments. It would allow more apartment construction around transit hubs and above buildings in commercial strips and permit homeowners to create apartments up to 800 square feet in their basements, garages and attics. In addition, the proposal would update zoning rules to make it easier to convert office towers into apartments. One of the proposals that has provoked resistance would eliminate parking requirements for developers, such as providing 25 or 50 parking spots for 100 apartments. Opponents typically object to denser housing development as altering the character of the neighborhood and inviting more congestion and straining infrastructure and other services. Carrion urged citizens who want more affordable housing options to turn up the heat on their elected representatives. If you hear your council member saying that this is not good for the future of the city, you got to challenge them on the spot unfortunately a good number of them have initially said no, and we need to tell them we dont we dont want to live in the City of No, we want to live in the City of Yes, he said on the radio program. Approval by the City Council is not a given. The city has a 1.4% housing vacancy rate, the lowest in some 60 years, Adams said. Robert Miller Last month, The Post reported that lawmakers expressed alarm for the Bronx Metro-North Neighborhood proposal, which will add 7,500 new homes alongside four new rail stops in Hunts Point, Parkchester/Van Nest, Morris Park and Co-Op City. The 46-block stretch along the Metro-North train line that the city hopes to revitalize has nowhere near enough schools, cops, firefighters and even sewers to handle the influx of new residents, critics said. Adams plan must be reviewed and approved by the Councils zoning panel and land use committees before a full vote by the body. Bronx Councilman Kevin Riley, who chairs the zoning and franchising subcommittee, has expressed misgivings about the Metro-North plan on his turf. But the Councils land use committee, Rafael Salamanca of The Bronx, said Monday he expects the plan to pass the chamber with changes following negotiations with lawmakers. He said the elimination of the parking requirements is a problem that has to be addressed. Its a good plan. Housing is needed in every community and every community should do its fair share, Salamanca said. City Planning Planning Director Dan Garodnick said Adams team is pushing to get the housing plan over the finish line. The status quo, he said, is unacceptable. The mayor is taking a bite out of a big problem. Inaction is simply not an option, Garodnick said. The blighted dining sheds that sprang up en masse during the COVID-19 pandemic could soon be a thing of the past due to strict new regulations with thousands shuttering across the city as restaurant owners say they arent worth the cash and hassle. Dubbed Dining Out NYC, the rules that went into effect Aug. 3 mandate restaurant owners to pay both a four-year $1,050 to $2,100 licensing fee and an annual fee based on the size of their sidewalk cafe and shell out even more if their establishment is below 125th Street in Manhattan. The blighted dining sheds that sprang up en masse during the COVID-19 pandemic could soon be a thing of the past due to strict new regulations. William Farrington Eateries must also be able to store the sheds elsewhere from December to April (sidewalk dining will still be permitted year-round); avoid sheds encroaching on trees; maintain sheds at least 15 feet from fire hydrants and ensure ADA-compliant setups, among a bevy of other provisions. To be able to take it down, put it up, store it unless you had a huge storefront, I dont think its worth it, said Maureen Donohue, owner of the 74-year-old Upper East Side mainstay Donohues Steakhouse, which tore its sheds down two weeks ago. The pandemic-era outdoor dining cabin saved Donohues business, she said. The dining cabin once accounted for 35% of revenue and its loss would make it hard to renew her lease. Its too costly [but] I miss it, she told The Post. Donohue isnt the only one drawing the same cost-benefit conclusion. Less than 2,600 restaurants applied for permits before last weeks deadline, according to the city Department of Transportation compared to the roughly 6,000 restaurants that touted COVID-era dining permits as recently as last month. Dubbed Dining Out NYC, the new rules went into effect Aug. 3, mandating restaurant owners to pay an annual fee based on the size of their curbside cafe. James Keivom Though eateries surveyed by The Post mourned the dining sheds as an additional source of revenue, most deemed the pandemic vestige an expensive headache as a result of this years additional regulations. There are too many specifications, so were going to get rid of this one and thats it, said Sam, the morning manager of the Qahwah House cafe on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I get why the city has put in the regulations. Honestly, these structures are big and in the way. He wasnt able to provide specifics on how much the demolition will set the cafe back, but did emphasize the cost of keeping it up wasnt worth it. Demolition of existing structures can cost thousands of dollars alone, according to Hell Gate. At its peak, 13,000 dining shed setups were erected during the similar albeit temporary Open Restaurants program during the pandemic. All of those restaurants self-certified under an emergency executive order without an application or approval process, the DOT said. The DOT noted the Aug. 3 deadline was only for those who have existing set-ups. Why take them down? Its healthy to sit outside, Thomas Grubb, 84, told The Post. I always prefer to sit outside. I love to watch people walk by. James Keivom Applications remain open and we expect the number to grow between now and the April 1st launch of the first Dining Out NYC season, the DOT said. Establishments that dont comply with the new rules or take down their existing sheds now face fines starting at $500. Its so New York when something works in New York they want to restrict it, Long Islander turned Upper West Sider Thomas Grubb, 84, said of the dining sheds Monday afternoon while he was enjoying his second gin martini with a twist in a dining shed outside Italian restaurant Arte Cafe on the Upper West Side. Why take them down? Its healthy to sit outside, he said. I always prefer to sit outside. I love to watch people walk by. View of an outdoor dining shed at Arte Cafe. James Keivom The revamped outdoor dining program draws on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, which saved 100,000 jobs in the Big Apple but led to quality-of-life issues as a subset of restaurant owners were unable to maintain loosely regulated outdoor dining setups, Mayor Eric Adams administration said during Dining Out NYCs announcement in February. The so-called quality of life issues ranged from rampant rats, noisy late-night patrons and slum-like shacks that blighted ritzy neighborhood streets, residents said at the time. Some outdoor dining structures turned into hovels for the homeless, public sex stages or storage sheds, The Post previously reported. My neighborhood was quiet until this program began. Now its a nightmare, one Manhattan Community Board 3 member said of the fast-and-loose dining shed program in 2021. There are people drunk, reveling in the streets, fighting each other, harassing women and even harassing any passerby until 4 in the morning. We cannot sleep. An abandoned dining shed for Barons on DeKalb Avenue in Clinton Hill. Gregory P. Mango The new rules were voted on last summer by the City Council as part of a bill slated to create a uniform program that considers the unique circumstances in each borough and neighborhood, according to the bills sponsor, then-Council Member Marjorie Velazquez of The Bronx. This was not a one-size-fits-all bill, and thats the beauty of it, Velazquez said at the time. I am proud to have advocated for our small businesses throughout this process and look forward to seeing them thrive. In order to comply with the new structural restrictions, some eateries such as Greenpoint Fish & Lobster Co. are even hiring architects to reopen their outdoor dining. General manager Naseem Mays told the Post that, for a seafood joint, having outdoor dining is worth the cost and that they plan to keep the option despite the new city regulations. We can fit up to an extra 75 seats outside The extra seats mean more diners, which brings in more money so definitely a profit [rather] than a loss, she explained. An outdoor dining shed at Bin 71 on the Upper West Side. James Keivom Mays said the cost to owners was about a 20% increase, but wasnt able to provide specific numbers but she did note that maintenance ate about 15% of those extra profits. Lawrence Bondulich, who owns Bin 71 wine bar on the Upper West Side, said he paid about $1,000 for each application for both the sidewalk and the street plus were going to have to pay an annual fee. By October 31 it all has to be completely gone, at our expense, he said. We then have to rebuild to their specifications , it is a lot of work, will it be worth it? Well see in two years from now. Donohue told The Post she isnt a fan of the new structural changes, and believes the new regulations are unsafe as it no longer allows an enclosed shed to cover patrons from all sides. When I had my structure a steel structure it was Plexiglas all the way up to the top, Donohue said. When cars flew down Lexington Avenue you didnt have to worry about a piece of tin flying through the air, maybe hurting someone. You had barriers around. It was 100% safe. In my district, you had some beautiful, amazing structures and you had ones that had not had any level of attention or care since they first were put up so we did have to tackle this issue, said Council Member Keith Powers. G.N.Miller/NYPost Council Member Keith Powers (D-4) who represents Midtown, Stuy Town and the Upper East Side, told The Post that outdoor dining was a savior for the restaurant industry during the pandemic era but now that the crisis is over, regulation is critical. In my district, you had some beautiful, amazing structures and you had ones that had not had any level of attention or care since they first were put up so we did have to tackle this issue, he said. It was a pandemic program that was set up very quickly. Now, were actually in the process of figuring it out. Its in its infancy. Powers said his father was in the restaurant business and he sees the benefits of expanding outdoor dining but wants to see an approval process that works. Im a huge proponent of outdoor dining. I think it was a lifeline. I think it is an expansion opportunity for a lot of businesses to expand there, he said. Neighbors have been complaining about the prior iterations of the program, and were trying to find the right balance between both sides of the equation. The Ohio Department of Transportation recently removed flashing signals at two Licking County intersections and replaced them with radar-based systems that it says will help prevent crashes and improve road safety in those areas. ODOT installed the systems along Ohio 16 at Marne and Licking Valley roads in Jacksontown. According to ODOT, the new devices help decrease red-light crashes and are more advanced than the prepare to stop when flashing signs, which it says were outdated. Some Licking County residents, however, expressed concerns about the change on social media. Some said they felt the signals are safer and helpful during winter while others opined removing them could lead to more crashes. The discourse prompted ODOT to outline its reasoning for the switch. Heres why ODOT made the change. ODOT has been removing the signs for years The change is nothing new for ODOT. In 2012, the agency said it would phase out the flashing signs across the state, citing data that show drivers speed up to make the light rather than slow down when the signals activate. That year, ODOT placed the radar traffic detectors at two Fairfield County intersections. ODOT data show that crashes decreased in 2012 compared to 2011 in both areas. At Ohio 32 and Dela Palma Road in Clermont County, another area where the signs were removed and the radar system added, crashes and ones that led to injury also decreased in recent years, according to ODOT. In its explanation, ODOT stated that drivers decisions to speed up rather than slow down when the signals activate lead to more high-speed, severe crashes. The agency reported seeing 23% fewer total crashes and 35% fewer serious crashes in Ohio areas where it implemented the radar system. It also reported a 50% decrease of red-light crashes and rear-end crashes with injuries in those locations. We've received questions about why we upgraded two signals in Licking County to newer and safer technology. To... Posted by Ohio Department of Transportation East Central Ohio District 5 on Thursday, August 8, 2024 ODOT cites crash data at Licking County intersections According to ODOT data, 37 crashes happened at Ohio 16 and Licking Valley Road between 2019 and 2023. Of those crashes, 14% led to injuries and 30 were rear-enders. During that same timeframe, 21 crashes happened at Ohio 16 and Marne Road, 38% of which resulted in injuries. Most of the crashes were rear-enders, and a person ran a red light in six of them. ODOT data show that the Marne Road intersection serves a similar amount of vehicles per day around 26,500 as Ohio 32 and Dela Palma Road in Clermont County. Both are also four-lane roadways, ODOT stated. Log in or sign up to view Radar system makes intersections safer, ODOT says The radars track a vehicles speed, range and estimated time of arrival at an intersection, according to Wavetronix, the company behind the devices. It can detect vehicles up to 900 feet away and those in the dilemma zone, which is when the traffic light turns yellow and the driver becomes indecisive about whether to stop or go. If the vehicles ETA places it in the dilemma zone, the green light is extended, regardless of its speed, according to the company. The radars reportedly are designed to withstand snow, rain and fog, among other weather conditions, and continue operating when road conditions affect drivability. Advocate reporter Josue Perez can be reached at jhperez@newarkadvocate.com. This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Why ODOT replaced traffic signals at two Licking County intersections Officer charged with murder in death of pregnant Black woman who was accused of shoplifting Officer charged with murder in death of pregnant Black woman who was accused of shoplifting A Franklin County, Ohio, grand jury handed down a 10-count indictment Tuesday for murder, assault and involuntary manslaughter against officer Connor Grubb for the shooting of TaKiya Young, a 21-year-old pregnant Black mother last August. The road to this point has been arduous and long, Young family attorney Sean Walton said in a statement to The Hill. Yet, we can assert that although delayed, the proper course was taken in securing an indictment against Officer Grubb. The actions that led to the death of TaKiya the unnecessary aggression, the chilling commands that amounted to comply or die were there for us all to witness in dreadful clarity. Grubb shot Young on Aug. 24, 2023, in the parking lot of a Kroger store. Young was suspected of stealing bottles of alcohol when Grubb, a Blendon Township police officer, and a fellow officer approached her car, according to the indictment. In the body camera footage, an officer is heard cursing at Young, saying get out of the fing car, and Young is heard protesting and asking are you going to shoot me? Young refused to get out and rolled the car forward, and Grubb fired a single bullet through her windshield, according to the body camera footage. Both Young and her daughter, who she was expecting in three months, died. Walton argued that the body camera footage shows that Grubb and the other officer did not allow for paramedics to approach the car for at least 10 minutes after she was shot. In the indictment, Grubb faces four charges for murder: two related to the death of Young and two tied to the death of Youngs unborn daughter. He also faces four charges of felonious assault in the second degree and two charges of involuntary manslaughter. Under Ohio law, a person can be charged with multiple counts tied to different theories on how a death occurred. Blendon Township Police Chief John Belford told The Hill that the department has now started a disciplinary review against Grubb. No one at Blendon Township has passed any judgment on whether Officer Grubb acted within the law, the police chief said in a statement. However, since people whove been indicted may not legally possess a firearm, the indictment against him leaves us with no choice but to begin the disciplinary process. Grubbs union, the Fraternal Order of Police Local 9, denounced the indictment, saying it was deeply disappointed with the decision. Local 9 President Brian Steel also accused prosecutors of being biased and politically driven. Prosecutors are free to present whichever evidence they deem fit, Steel wrote to The Hill. This discretion can sometimes be misused, leading to politically motivated indictments. Officer Grubb had to make a split-second decision, a reality all too familiar for those who serve to protect our communities, he added. According to The Columbus Dispatch, video surveillance from the parking lot shows Grubbs feet were not on the ground when he fired the shot into the car. Surveillance from inside the store does show Young placing bottles of alcohol in a bag. When the footage was released last September, Walton said the footage did not show Young attempting to run over Grubb. What is clear from the video is that she did not try and run him over, she turned the wheel as far away from him as possible before the vehicle began to slowly move forward and to the right, and Grubb had every opportunity to follow departmental policy and take evasive action instead of discharging his firearm into TaKiyas chest, he wrote. Youngs family members called for the officer to be charged shortly after the shooting last year. They called Grubbs actions a gross misuse of power and authority, especially since Young had been accused of shoplifting and not a violent crime. What is clear is that petty theft does not justify murder and comply or die is not the rule of law in this country, Walton told The Hill. The fact that an unarmed woman was shot unjustifiably, then dragged from her car and handcuffed after being shot should shake the conscience of everyone who watches the newly released video footage. Walton also hit back at Steels statement after Grubbs indictment on Tuesday. The statement underscores a cowardly, yet consistent, readiness to excuse the inexcusable, Walton wrote to The Hill. He upholds systems of oppression while holding back the good officers who also seek systemic change for our communities, he added. As we stand with TaKiyas family, we cannot overstate the bitter irony that Officer Connor Grubb is now the fourth member of Capital City Lodge #9 to be currently awaiting trial for murder. Since 2019, four members of Steels union have faced charges related to on-duty shootings, according to the Dispatch. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Officers chase fugitive through GA Walmart after allegedly trying to run off with stolen items A wanted fugitive had officers going in circles after he tried to run out on paying for his items at a Georgia Walmart. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Around 8:15 p.m. on Saturday, Valdosta officers were called to the Walmart on Perimeter Road. A loss prevention officer called dispatch to report a man, later identified as Sam Eric Haywood, 35, trying to steal a shopping cart full of items. When police arrived, they spotted Haywood in the parking lot pushing a shopping cart that had several items inside. Officials said as the officer tried to talk to Haywood, he ran from the officer. Other officers arrived and Haywood tried to escape by running back inside Walmart. Valdosta officials said officers and Haywood ran throughout Walmart, and as Haywood tried to leave the store again, he was Tased by an officer. Haywood fell to the ground and was arrested. The suspect was checked for injuries, but authorities said he was not hurt. TRENDING STORIES: VPD learned that Haywood had active arrest warrants from the Alachua County Sheriffs Office in Florida. Details were not released on what the arrest warrants were for. Haywood was arrested and taken to Lowndes County jail. Hes charged with theft by shoplifting, fugitive from justice and obstruction of a law enforcement officer. Anyone with more information regarding the incident is asked to call the Valdosta Police Department Bureau of Investigative Services at 229-293-3145, the crime tip line at 229-293-3091, or file a tip online. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: Warner Robins police shot and killed an armed 20-year-old man when he attempted to break into a house Monday, according to police and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Police were called regarding a man, later identified as Mikhal Anthony Concepcion, brandishing a firearm in a front yard on Young Avenue and North Sixth Street around 7 p.m., according to the GBI and Warner Robins Police Department. When the first police unit arrived, Concepcion reportedly fired shots toward police and the home, and attempted forced entry into the home, police said. The man was wounded when police fired back at him, according to the GBI. Concepcion fired at the officers and into a home and tried to forcefully enter the home, a GBI media release said. He was given first aid and emergency medical services took him to the Houston Healthcare-Watson Campus where he later died, the GBI said. Officers involved in the shooting were put on administrative leave while the incident is under investigation, according to the police department. This is standard practice by this agency for any officer involved shooting and again a practice of policy, police said in a news release. The Houston County Sheriffs Office and Georgia State Patrol helped secure the scene. The GBI will take the lead in this investigation. When the investigation is complete, the case file will be given to the Houston County District Attorneys Office for review, according to the GBI. Concepcions body was taken to the GBI Medical Examiners Office for an autopsy. The WRPD is committed to assisting GBI in their investigations and transparency to this incident, the police department said. Anyone with information related to the incident was urged by officers to call the GBI Region 13 office in Perry at 478-987-4545 or Macon Regional Crime Stoppers at 478-742-2330. NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (WPRI) A public presentation on the Revolution Wind construction project will be held on Thursday, Aug. 22 at 7 p.m. at the Wickford Senior Center in North Kingstown. The presentation will be hosted by the nonprofit Better Bay Alliance in collaboration with energy company rsted Marine Affairs to provide more detailed information on the ongoing wind farm construction. ALSO: Newport hosting panel on offshore wind development The presentation from rsted will offer information about the projects technical approach as construction continues, emphasizing its impact on marine ecosystems, renewable energy and local communities, according to the Better Bay Alliance. All community members are welcome and encouraged to join, according to the Better Bay Alliance. The event hopes to attract a diverse audience, including industry professionals, environmental advocates, and inquisitive citizens eager to gain deeper insights into the future of offshore wind energy, a press release said on Monday. The offshore wind farm will connect to shore via cabling through the west passage of Narragansett Bay, leading to a substation in Quonset. The BBA is not in any partnership with rsted and does not endorse or support them, Better Bay Alliance president Dave Lussier said. We are simply an interested party that wants the boating public to fully understand rsteds plans to ensure boating safety remains a priority for all waterway users. The Better Bay Alliance has also developed a live interactive map that illustrates schedules for the rsted projects. A separate community panel on wind development will take place in Newport next week. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Roundup Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WPRI.com. Family and friends mourn the loss of Ta'Kiya Young and her unborn daughter who died Aug. 24, 2023 after a Blendon Township police officer shot Young through the windshield of a car in the Kroger parking lot on Sunbury Road. A Franklin County grand jury's indictment Tuesday of Blendon Township police officer Connor Grubb marks the fifth time in the last five years that a Franklin County law enforcement officer faced criminal charges in an on-duty shooting. Grubb was indicted on four counts of murder in the Aug. 24, 2023, fatal shooting of 21-year-old Ta'Kiya Young, who was six months pregnant. Her unborn daughter also died as a result of the shooting. A Kroger employee identified Young as one of the people who stole liquor from the grocery store on Sunbury Road near Route 161. As another officer went to the driver's side window and repeatedly asked Young to shut off her car and get out of the vehicle, Young drove forward and struck Grubb, who fired one shot through the windshield of the car, striking Young, body camera video showed. There have been four other law enforcement officers in Franklin County indicted since 2019: Andrew Mitchell charged in Donna Dalton Castleberry's death Andrew Mitchell, a former Columbus police vice officer, had been charged with murder and voluntary manslaughter in the Aug. 23, 2018, death of 23-year-old Donna Dalton Castleberry. Mitchell was found not guilty of all charges at trial. In an unrelated case, Mitchell pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to charges of depriving two women of their civil rights and received an 11-year prison sentence. Jason Meade charged with murder in Casey Goodson Jr.'s death Jason Meade, a former Franklin County Sheriff's deputy, is currently charged with murder and reckless homicide in the Dec. 4, 2020, shooting death of 23-year-old Casey Goodson Jr. A jury in Meade's first trial was unable to reach a verdict. The case is scheduled for a second trial in late October. Adam Coy charged with murder and other charges in Andre Hill's death Adam Coy, a former Columbus police officer, is charged with murder, felonious assault and reckless homicide in the Dec. 20, 2020, death of 47-year-old Andre Hill, an unarmed Black man. Coy's trial is currently set for October but has been on hold indefinitely as Coy undergoes cancer treatment. Rickey Anderson charged with murder in Donovan Lewis' death Rickey Anderson, a former Columbus police officer, is charged with murder and reckless homicide in the Aug. 30, 2022, death of 20-year-old Donovan Lewis, an unarmed Black man. Anderson's case is currently scheduled to go to trial in February 2025. Grand juries have declined to file charges against officers in multiple other cases, including a shootout on Interstate 70 in which a Columbus police officer was injured and a bank robbery suspect died and the July 2023 shooting of 45-year-old Antwan Lindsey, who was armed at the time. bbruner@dispatch.com This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Cop indicted in Ta'Kiya Young death 1 of 5 local officers to face charges in recent years A grand jury has indicted the Ohio police officer who shot and killed 21-year-old TaKiya Young at a Kroger in Franklin County last August. >>RELATED: Officer faces murder charge in shooting of pregnant Black woman who was accused of shoplifting On Tuesday, Blendon Township Police Officer Connor Grubb was indicted on four counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault, and two counts of involuntary manslaughter, according to a spokesperson from the Montgomery County Prosecuting Attorneys office. Montgomery County Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys are handling the case at the request of the Franklin County Prosecutors Office, according to the spokesperson. A warrant has since been issued for Grubbs arrest. The shooting occurred on Aug. 24, 2023, in the parking lot of Kroger on Sunbury Road. Before the shooting, a Kroger employee told two officers multiple people were leaving the store with stolen items, according to our media partners WBNS-10 TV and the AP. Blendon Township Police Chief John Belford said one of those people was Young. >> Deputies ID 2 men killed after convertible overturns in Miami County Officers found Young inside a car in the parking lot. They told her to get out, but she refused, WBNS-10 reported. One of the officers was standing in front of the car when Young put it in gear and started to accelerate towards him. The officer then fired his weapon through the windshield. The gunfire struck Young. WBNS-10 reported that Young was 25 to 28 weeks pregnant at the time of the shooting. Her unborn child did not survive. Family members of Young called for the officer to be charged just after the shooting occurred, the AP reported. The department has started a disciplinary review following Grubbs indictment, according to Blendon Township Police Chief John Belford. No one at Blendon Township has passed any judgment on whether Officer Grubb acted within the law. However, since people whove been indicted may not legally possess a firearm, the indictment against him leaves us with no choice but to begin the disciplinary process, Belford said in a statement. (Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump and Elon Musk held a warm but glitch-delayed conversation on X that saw the tech mogul pitch a role for himself should the Republican nominee win a second White House term. Most Read from Bloomberg The highly anticipated discussion started roughly 40 minutes late, stretched more than two hours and largely rehashed the notes that the former president routinely strikes at his campaign rallies. The pushed-back start was an embarrassing blow to Musks social-media site and the latest hiccup for Trump, whose campaign has struggled to douse a burst of momentum from Vice President Kamala Harris in the weeks since she replaced President Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee. Subscribe to the Bloomberg Daybreak podcast on Apple, Spotify or anywhere you listen. The billionaire entrepreneur blamed the delay on a cyberattack, without providing any evidence, and when the event started, Musk suggested Trumps opponents were responsible. Trump sought to spin the delay as a sign of interest in the event. As many as 1.3 million listeners tuned in, according to X. Musk called for a government commission to ensure that taxpayer money is spent effectively and pitched himself for a role in that effort. Id be happy to help out on such a commission, Musk said. Id love if it were formed. Trump praised the idea, calling Musk the greatest cutter. But otherwise, the event in some ways resembled an online Trump rally with Musk, the worlds richest man, playing the role of moderator. The conversation came days after Trump held a more than one-hour press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort. One of his campaign strategies is to try and goad Harris into doing more unscripted media appearances. Musk endorsed Trump for president last month, part of a shift that has seen the Tesla Inc. and SpaceX chief executive officer publicly embrace right-leaning causes and candidates to make his mark on the political scene. He also created a super political action committee to support Trumps reelection effort. An already formidable Washington presence, with companies boasting sizable government contracts, Musk is poised to be an even bigger player if Trump returns to power. Hes grown closer to the GOP nominee, advising him on electric vehicles and cryptocurrency policy a reversal from a once-rocky relationship that saw the two trade insults. Story continues Highlighting Musks growing sway with Trump, long a critic of electric vehicles, praised the EV maker, saying Teslas cars are incredible. He also hailed Musks intelligence, saying You have definitely got a fertile mind. You and I can talk about rockets, tunnels and electric cars, referencing the entrepreneurs many business ventures. Trump taking a softer stance on EVs could have massive financial benefits for carmakers and Musks personal wealth, much of which is in Tesla stock. Trump has vowed to scrap some benefits intended to help grow the market if he returns to the White House. Those threats have intensified concerns over a slowdown in EV sales growth. Trump and Musks conversation comes at a critical point in the 2024 race less than three months to Election Day. Harris ascent to the top of the Democratic ticket has shaken up the race with polls showing she has erased the lead Trump held for much of the summer and pulled ahead in fundraising. The first 20 minutes of the event was spent on Trump recounting last months assassination attempt on his life at a Butler, Pennsylvania rally. He said that he would be returning to the town in October to resume the campaign event. Border Crackdown Musk, like Trump, has criticized illegal immigration across the US-Mexico border and promoted conspiracy theories that Democrats are encouraging migration to bring in people to vote fraudulently in the 2024 election. Musk suggested the Republican candidate was supportive of legal migration but said the US needs to shut down illegal immigration. I think most people who are illegal immigrants are actually good, but you cant tell a difference unless theres a solid vetting of who comes across the border, said Musk, who was born in South Africa and described himself as a legal immigrant. They have to come in legally. They have to be checked, Trump said. Republicans have seized on Harris having been given a portfolio that included addressing the root causes of migration earlier in the administration even though other officials such as Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas bore more direct responsibility for the situation at the border. Trumps entire campaign is in service of people like Elon Musk and himself self-obsessed rich guys who will sell out the middle class and who cannot run a livestream in the year 2024, Harris campaign spokesperson Joseph Costello said in a statement after the event concluded. Musk, who tops the Bloomberg Billionaires Index with a net worth of $227.3 billion, aims to use his vast fortune to swing the race for Trump. Musk served on White House advisory councils when Trump was president, but left after the Republican decided to withdraw from the landmark Paris climate accord. Musks stint on the councils was mired in controversy as supporters urged him to step down. Tech Glitch The technical mishap on X, which delayed the start of the event, drew comparisons to the glitches that foiled the launch of Florida Governor Ron DeSantiss ill-fated presidential campaign last year, as servers struggled to handle surging demand. X has faced technical problems and scrutiny since Musk purchased the platform in 2022. This massive attack illustrates theres a lot of opposition to people just hearing what President Trump has to say, Musk said when the event finally began. This is really aimed at kind of open-minded, independent voters who are trying to make up their mind. Trump was banned from X, then known as Twitter, after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, but had his account restored after Musk bought the company. Trump returned to X in August 2023, posting his mug shot after being indicted in Fulton County, Georgia on charges related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election result, but has preferred to use his own social-media site, Truth Social. On Monday, however, Trump posted several times to X, including a campaign video. (Recasts first two paragraphs.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Screen capture obtained from a body camera footage showing an officer fatally shooting a pregnant Black woman in the parking lot of a grocery store in Blendon By Jonathan Allen (Reuters) - A grand jury indicted an Ohio police officer on four counts of murder on Tuesday for his fatal shooting of a 21-year-old pregnant Black woman in a grocery-store parking lot. Blendon Township Police Officer Connor Grubb and another officer approached Ta'Kiya Young in her car on Aug. 24, 2023, suspecting her of shoplifting. Police released body-worn camera video that showed both officers ordering Young to get out of her car, which she refused, telling them she had not stolen anything. One of the officers, identified by county prosecutors as Grubb, stood in front of her car and aimed his gun at her through the windshield. "You gonna shoot me?" Young can be heard saying. She slowly drove forward, turning her wheels to the right and away from the officer. Grubb placed his left hand on the hood and fired one shot through the windshield as the car struck him in the leg. Young and her unborn daughter were declared dead at a hospital. The grand jury at the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas voted to indict Grubb on four counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault and two counts of involuntary manslaughter. The case is being handled by the prosecutors' office in neighboring Montgomery County. Grubb, who is due in court on Wednesday for his arraignment, could not immediately be reached for comment and it was not clear whether he had an attorney. His labor union, Capital City Lodge #9 of the Fraternal Order of Police, said it was disappointed by what it called a "politically motivated" indictment. "Like all law-enforcement officers, Officer Grubb had to make a split-second decision," Brian Steel, the union's president, said in a statement. "These decisions are made under extreme pressure and often in life-threatening situations, with the primary goal of safeguarding the general public's and their own lives." A lawyer for Young's family, Sean Walton, called the indictment a "solemn victory" in the family's pursuit of justice for what they called an act of brutality. U.S. police have been criticized for using excessive force and for killing unarmed Black people. "The actions that led to the death of Ta'Kiya the unnecessary aggression, the chilling commands that amounted to 'comply or die' were there for us all to witness in dreadful clarity," Walton said in a statement. Blendon Police Chief John Belford said in a statement that Grubb, who has been on administrative leave since the shooting, would now face disciplinary proceedings, noting that Ohio law forbids anyone under indictment from having a gun. Belford said his officer was presumed innocent until proven otherwise. "I want to be very clear, we're not passing any judgment on whether officer Grubb acted properly," the police chief said. "We haven't seen the evidence." (Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Rod Nickel) This article was originally published in The Conversation. This viewpoint was produced by The Conversation, an independent news organization dedicated to unlocking the knowledge of experts for the public good. Sign up for their newsletters to receive regular updates. Schools in Ohio, like other schools across the country, are struggling to reduce chronic absenteeism, which spiked during the pandemic. But Ohio may have a head start on dealing with the problem, thanks to a 2018 state law encouraging a positive approach to discipline. Six years ago, the Ohio Legislature passed House Bill 318. Known as the Supporting Alternatives for Fair Education Act, the law was a comprehensive approach to discipline. It set standards for school safety officers and limited the use of suspensions for children in the early grades. It also encouraged districts to use what are known as positive behavior interventions and supports. Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter This positive approach attempts to improve student behavior and a schools environment by emphasizing prevention over punishment. The idea is to stop problems before they happen, reward good behavior and give extra help to students who need it the most. At its most basic, an intervention could be a teacher using proximity to students to keep them on task or praising students who behave well. A small number of students may need more extensive support, such as counseling and outreach to the students family. Studies have shown that schoolwide use of these positive interventions can improve childrens concentration, boost student achievement and increase student engagement. Under the 2018 law, the Ohio Board of Education must set standards for putting the positive approach to discipline into action. These standards, in turn, must be included in grades K-5 as part of teacher preparation. The law also provides teachers and administrators training on how to use the positive approach as part of their professional development and continuing education. Districts that implement the positive disciplinary method receive extra points on their report card from the state. Positive approach, fewer absences According to an unpublished report by a team of scholars from Miami University, the states efforts to look on the bright side of discipline have had a happy side effect. Chronic absenteeism when students miss 10% or more of school days, regardless of the reason was more than 4 percentage points lower in schools that implemented the positive behavioral approach than in those that did not. A 4% difference can equal hundreds of thousands of kids statewide. Persistent absences can result in reduced academic achievement and graduation rates. As a professor and researcher who has studied the use of positive behavior interventions, I was co-leader of the Miami University research team whose efforts showed that policy changes, combined with nuts-and-bolts help on putting the new program into practice, can lead to better outcomes for students. Our analysis demonstrates that Ohios approach can also be a model for states having problems with attendance. Funded by a School Climate Transformation Grant from the U.S. Department of Education, our research sought to determine whether the positive approach reduced chronic absenteeism, one of eight areas in which the state expected improvements. To do this, we examined the impact of the grant from the academic years starting in 2018 through 2023, collecting data directly from school personnel who attended training sessions on positive behavior methods. We also reviewed data from Ohios Education Management Information System, a collection of statistics on primary and secondary education. Ohio schools that implemented a positive approach to discipline had lower rates of student absenteeism than those that did not for three out of the four academic years the exception being the 2021-22 academic year. According to data from the 2022-23 school year, schools that implemented positive discipline had an average chronic absenteeism rate of 27.93%. In the same year, schools that had not adopted the positive approach reported a rate of 33.33%. While 5.38% may not sound like much, this disparity equates to thousands of children, which has major repercussions for Ohio towns. Chronic absenteeism was an ongoing problem in Ohios K-12 student population before the pandemic. Months of online education and repeated disruptions to in-person classes sent rates through the roof. In academic year 2018-19, the baseline, schools that had implemented positive discipline had a chronic absenteeism rate of just 16.67%, the Miami University team reported. By 2022-23, that rate had increased to 27.93%, a jump of 68%. Schools that had not implemented the approach saw their rates of chronic absenteeism rise from an average of 19.52% in 2018-19 to 33.33% in 2022-23, an increase of 71%. Positive discipline is only part of the solution From the 2021-22 school year to the following school year, Ohios overall rate of chronic absenteeism went down slightly, to a statewide average of 26.8%. Still, it remains a critical issue. Recognizing the seriousness of the problem, Ohios Department of Education increased its efforts to reduce chronic absenteeism in schools and districts in 2022-23. The initiative, the Chronic Absenteeism Improvement Indicator, compares a districts rate of chronic absenteeism against benchmarks set for annual improvement. This is all part of the new star rating system. Ohios adoption of the SAFE Act and a positive approach to managing student behavior are first steps toward its goal of improving the learning environment and increasing student engagement in school. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. COLUMBUS, Ohio (WKBN) The Supreme Court of Ohio has agreed with the Mahoning County Bar Association to indefinitely suspend the license of a local attorney. The Board of Professional Conduct ruled earlier this month to indefinitely suspend the license of Robert Rohrbaugh. Rohrbaugh was sentenced last year in federal court to over four years in prison after he was convicted of stealing more than $1 million from the IRS. Rohrbaugh was accused of helping two other men, Brandon Mace and Terris Chanley Baker, with obtaining a tax refund check for a fictitious business in the amount of $1,352,779. Evidence at the trial showed Rohrbaugh knew they got the check from an illegitimate business based on false tax returns, according to the Department of Justice. As part of his sentence, Rohrbaugh also must pay back any of the money he was found guilty of taking from the IRS that hasnt already been returned. Rohrbaugh was tried in 2022 and jurors found him not guilty of one count but deadlocked on the remaining counts. The U.S. Attorneys Office decided to retry him on those charges. Mace pleaded guilty in September 2020 to his role in the scheme, and Baker was convicted by a jury for his role in April 2022. Joe Gorman and Gerry Ricciutti contributed to this report. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. This article was originally published in Oklahoma Voice. OKLAHOMA CITY A contract founding the nations first religious charter school is now void, but it could be reestablished if the U.S. Supreme Court were to rule in favor of the school. In its fourth time considering the measure, the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board finally agreed on Monday to rescind its contract with St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, effectively blocking the school from opening as a state-funded entity. St. Isidore, named for the patron saint of the internet, had already agreed not to attempt to open nor accept public funding in the 2024-25 school year. The Oklahoma Supreme Court decided on June 25 that the concept of a publicly funded, state-established school that endorses a religion is unlawful and unconstitutional. In doing so, the Court ordered the state board to invalidate St. Isidores founding charter contract. Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa, which created the school, pledged to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Advocates for St. Isidore say denying the school of public funds because it is Catholic violates the right to religious freedom. Related Up in the Air: Oklahoma Families in Limbo as Courts Decide on Religious Charter The boards unanimous vote on Monday included a provision to reinstate the contract if the U.S. Supreme Court reverses, vacates or otherwise nullifies the state Supreme Courts ruling. Father Stephen Hamilton, pastor of St. Monica Catholic Church in Edmond, prays before a meeting of the Statewide Charter School Board on Aug. 12 at the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice) The Statewide Charter School Board had declined multiple times to void the contract, instead voting July 30 to join Catholic officials in their appeal strategy. The boards cooperation with Catholic officials was evident again on Monday when it had Father Stephen Hamilton, of St. Monica Catholic Church in Edmond, pray at the beginning of its meeting. Chairperson Brian Shellem said the board was waiting for an appeals window to close and for further clarification from the Court on the ruling. He said last month that the board intended to follow the Court order but didnt want to short circuit the legal process. Our board is always going to be in compliance with a court order, Shellem said after Mondays meeting. Now, theres those who wanted to rush the process, but there was a process and this board will always respect the process. Related Choice Supporters to Catholic Charter School Backers: Proceed with Caution Shellem said an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court has not yet been filed. The odds are long that the nations highest court will take up the case. The U.S. Supreme Court receives more than 7,000 requests a year to review cases, of which it agrees to hear about 100 to 150. Meanwhile, pressure to rescind the contract mounted from Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who sued to strike down the school. Drummond asked the state Supreme Court to threaten a contempt citation against the board members if they again refused to follow the order in their meeting Monday. Anyone held in contempt of a court order could face a fine of up to $500 or imprisonment up to six months, or both, according to state law. While it is appalling that the board took so long to recognize the authority of the Oklahoma Supreme Court, I am pleased that board members finally fulfilled their duty, Drummond said in a statement after the meeting. The proposed state-sponsored religious charter school, funded by our tax dollars, represents a serious threat to the religious liberty of all four million Oklahomans. Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com. Follow Oklahoma Voice on Facebook and X. OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond confirmed on Tuesday a Tulsa-area contractor faces seventeen counts of felony embezzlement and one count of engaging in a pattern of criminal offenses following an investigation by the Attorney Generals Consumer Protection Unit. Charges were filed yesterday in Creek County against Todd Douglas Briggs, who operated T Briggs Construction and Oasis Pools and Outdoor Living. Briggs is accused of taking more than $1.2 million from 17 customers for home or pool construction that he never completed or for which he never paid subcontractors. Del City leaders submit petition for investigation into Myles Davidson I am committed to holding accountable anyone who engages in deceitful business practices to take advantage of hardworking Oklahomans. I appreciate the work of the attorneys, investigators and staff in the Consumer Protection Unit as we pursue justice for the families who were exploited. Attorney General Gentner Drummond Briggs informed customers in July 2023 that he was filing for bankruptcy, only days after receiving substantial payments from several of them. The AGs office says, in turn this action left many with unfinished projects and had liens placed against their homes by unpaid subcontractors. Consumers in Tulsa, Jenks, Broken Arrow, Owasso, Collinsville, Sapulpa, Bixby and Beggs were impacted, according to AG Gentner Drummonds latest release. Drummond encourages anyone who believes they may have been a victim of contractor fraud to contact the Consumer Protection Unit at 1-833-681-1895 or Oklahoma.gov/oag. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City. Old National Bank Foundation awards $200k for UE Mental Health and Wellness Clinic HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) The Old National Bank Foundation awarded a $200,000 grant to the University of Evansville to support UEs Mental Health and Wellness Clinic and Emily M. Young Assessment Center. Officials say the funding will ensure ongoing operational support for the community facility. Vice President for University Advancement, Abigail Werling says with this partnership, the university is well-positioned to address the mental health care shortage in the community and reach thousands of patients in the coming year. The Emily M. Young Assessment Center opened in March of 2024. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW). After more than a century, one of South Floridas oldest Jewish synagogues, Temple Israel of Greater Miami, is planning to move out by next summer. The reason: A congregation shrinking for years can no longer afford to keep up its landmark synagogue. Temple Israel of Greater Miami has a huge history were in our 103rd year, but it is almost impossible to operate a 64,000-square-foot building with a small congregation of our size, Shari Debowsky, the executive director of Temple Israel told The Miami Herald on Monday. In its official announcement, Temple Israel called the move a sunsetting a plan to gradually move operations from the current location by June 30, 2025. Temple leaders said the decision to transition out of the property at 137 NE 19th St. on the fringe of fast-upscaling neighborhoods south of Midtown was made mainly due to significant budgetary restrictions. Temple Israel, Miamis first Reform synagogue a strand of Judaism that merges Jewish traditions with more open and progressive values has a current membership of about 130 families. Thats a fraction of what the temple maintained in its heydays with as many as 1,800 families in the 1960s. As the current synagogue, originally built in 1927 with expansions in the 1950s and 1960s, continues to age, there have been challenges and costs to maintain it. Changing demographics, financial, and facility considerations necessitate a significant change in operations and the temples future, Temple Israel wrote on its website in a Sunday announcement. During the transition, temple services, including Shabbat service, High Holy Days and Jewish holiday celebrations, will continue to be held as usual in the current building. Saturday morning Shabbat Service and Torah Study at Josephs Table will continue as normal at the Center for Jewish Life at Beth David, according to the Temples website. All staff and clergy will remain in their current positions. This coming year, now until June 30, our congregation will be operating totally normally, said Debowsky. READ MORE: How a trailblazing 100-year-old Miami congregation has survived changes, and whats next The current building will be maintained and kept operational until July 2026, due to a lease agreement with BridgePrep, a charter school which rents a portion of the property. But by summer of 2025, Temple Israel will face a new future in terms of where services will be held. The fate of the property also remains undecided. The temples financial struggles arent unusual. Older churches in South Florida, particularly in cities with soaring real estate values and changing demographics, have been forced to close down and sell sites. Temple Israel of Greater Miami, Miamis oldest Reform synagogue, plans to close its current location by the summer of 2025. The congregation will remain operational. We will do everything we can to support our congregational community to find a place to stay as a congregation, we just know that it cannot be here long term, said Debowsky. The future of Temple Israel will be decided by a task force made up of congregants, which will begin meeting this month. The Transition Task Force will explore new options for a new location as well as what to do with the current building. Temple leaders say the decision to announce the closure a year in advance was made so that the synagogue has enough time to make really good decisions and to ensure we are not pushed up against a wall, Debowsky said. Cantor Rachelle Nelson said she has hope for the future of the congregation, but acknowledged that this is an emotional time for members and long term friends of the temple. For so many, this is a moment that marks a time of great sadness, said Nelson. . There is hope that Temple Israel will be able to reshape or remodel itself into some smaller venue. History of inclusion Formed in 1922, Temple Israel has been a cornerstone of the Reform Jewish community in Miami, providing a place for worship, education, social justice and community. Temple Israel has been long known as an inclusive temple, welcoming LGBTQ members and clergy, including Rabbi Amy Morrison, a lesbian, who was the senior rabbi from 2019 until 2023 for decades. Rabbi Jeffrey Kahn, who was a rabbi for the temple in 2000, declared the synagogue a warm and welcoming place for all people, regardless of their sexual orientation. At its highest membership, the synagogue was so popular that High Holy Day services had to be held off campus in the Miami Beach Convention Center to accommodate the number of attendees, according to the temples website. READ MORE: She is leading one of Miamis oldest temples, focusing on a more diverse congregation Social justice is also a tenant of Temple Israels congregation, described on its website as a unifying mandate of Reform Judaism, central to who we are and what we do in contributing to Tikkun Olam, repairing the world through direct service, Tzedakah (Righteous Giving), and advocacy. The synagogue is involved in an array of social justice actions including protecting reproductive rights for women, homelessness outreach, and Florida farm-worker rights, among others. Transitioning out of the current location is the most responsible decision for the temple from a financial standpoint, said Debowsky. But, temple leaders are adamant that the legacy of Temple Israel will continue regardless of the change in location. We are trying to leverage our future into something new, said Debowsky. This is not doom and gloom. This is an opportunity for us to create something amazing, just the next iteration of Temple Israel. This story was produced with financial support from Trish and Dan Bell and from donors comprising the South Florida Jewish and Muslim Communities, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work. TOKYO (AP) A Japanese business executive has returned home from Myanmar following his release from more than a month of detention after being convicted of violating rice pricing rules, his company said Wednesday. Hiroshi Kasamatsu, a director of the Myanmar supermarket Aeon Orange, was in custody in Myanmar since his June 30 arrest for selling rice at prices above the official regulations. Japans Foreign Ministry confirmed Monday that the Japanese national was convicted of violating law related to daily necessities and service. He was sentenced to one year in prison and fined 500,000 kyat (about $150). His parent company Aeon released a statement Wednesday confirming his return home after the conviction. The company said that retailers operating in Myanmar had no way of knowing the change of law in that country about the rice pricing, which caused Aeon Orange's rice prices to deviate from the controlled price in violation to the related law. The company apologized for causing trouble and thanked Japanese Foreign Ministry and others for their support that allowed Kasamatsu's safe return home. Kasamatsu was freed Monday afternoon, said Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, spokesperson for the Myanmars ruling military council. The Japanese Foreign Ministry said it was unclear if Kasamatsu would stay in Myanmar or return to Japan. He was released from custody and is in good health, it said, but declined to give further details. Rice is vital in Myanmar, a country struggling to stabilize its economy as civil war disrupts efforts to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, triggering nonviolent protests that have evolved into armed resistance. Aeon Orange is a part of Japans retail giant Aeon group, and operates several supermarkets in Myanmar. Aeon said it had no immediate comment. Kasamatsu was among a number of foreign executives arrested on similar allegations in Myanmar. The state-run Myanmar Alin newspaper reported in early July that the arrests for allegedly overpricing rice from 31% to 70% over official prices set by the Myanmar Rice Federation involved 62 suspects, 102 warehouses, 53 supermarkets and superstores, 25 mills and seven other shops in major cities. Japan has historically maintained friendly ties with Myanmar. Compared with many Western nations, it took a softer approach toward Myanmars military government over its poor human rights record and undermining of democracy. Tokyo has not imposed economic sanctions though it does not acknowledge the legitimacy of the current government and urges restoration of democracy, and limits Japanese aid to humanitarian purposes. Story continues ___ Associated Press writer Grant Peck contributed from Bangkok. CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) Tuesday marked the first day of school for 50,000 students in Charleston County, the second-largest school district in the state. News 2s Octavia Mitchell sat down with the districts superintendent Anita Huggins as she prepared to open schools for the first time as leader, with all classroom teacher positions covered, and a focused effort to give parents a voice. Its going to be a great year in CCSD! Im so excited! Its a great school district, with lots of diversity, said Huggins. CCSD has around 50,000 students in 86 schools and programs. Huggins says, Im committed to making sure kids have what they need in our classrooms first. The district has 10,000 employees, and 3,600 teachers, and this year, for the first time in decades, the district begins the year with all classroom teacher positions covered. Whats notable about that too, is this year we added over 225 positions due to our new initiative around the weighted student formula. So weve hired more teachers than ever before, and weve filled more classrooms than ever before. Its an exciting time to be in Charleston County, she said. The weighted student formula is focused on how to better serve students who need support the most. The Weighted Student Formula is unique to Charleston. Its the first in South Carolina, one of the few across the nation, whose budgets use a weighted formula to allocate resources to kids. Whats great about the WSF, all schools earned money, a wallet through the process to add support based on what they thought their students need. So, students from Wando High School in Mount Pleasant to Stall High School in North Charleston, to Jane Edwards out in District 23, all earned funding, so its uniform across the district, in that everyone earns, everyone just earns a different amount based on the number of students they have in those three categories, pupils in poverty, students with disabilities, and multilingual learners, Huggins explained. Huggins says shes excited the district is honoring teachers with the salaries they deserve. Very excited this year about teachers salaries. Our board of trustees back in June approved the second reading of the budget that added $8,000 to teacher salaries across the teacher salary scale. Last year, we also added $5,000. Some of that was in a bonus. So, teachers have seen an increase of $13,000 over the course of the last two years, which makes starting pay for a first-year teacher above $56,000. We attribute that to one of the reasons why we have been able to fill all our vacancies, so its really an exciting time here in Charleston, said Huggins. Superintendent Huggins is also excited about academic gains. Im excited to share that although the results are embargoed, this district continues to make remarkable strides with children, and its due to the commitment of great teachers. Its due to the commitment of great leaders, and families, and communities that wrap around and support children. District leaders say First Student, the districts bus service, is working to fill bus driver vacancies and cover existing routes. Be patient, she said. Give a little grace, and we promise to work out whatever issues you and your family have, as we work hard to serve kids. Huggins says the district is also working on giving parents a voice and direct access to district leaders. I would encourage parents if they have social media to engage in our new interactive Facebook page, the official CCSD parents page, where they get to hear directly from me, and from other chief-level officers around issues they are having. Superintendent Huggins says this year is a new opportunity for her to make a difference in the lives of students. She says, What an honor and privilege for me to serve in this role. Ive been in this district. Its my home. Its where my own children attend school. I love this district. I love the people in this district, and I am passionate and committed to ensuring that all children regardless of their zip code, regardless of their race are served and served well, so its a privilege for me to kick off this year as the leader, knowing what great things lie ahead for children. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCBD News 2. With one week until Sen. Menendez leaves the Senate, no word on his replacement Gov. Phil Murphy said Tuesday he is in the "final stages" of choosing an interim replacement for Sen. Bob Mendendez, who is resigning next week. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) Sen. Bob Menendez, convicted of bribery and acting as a foreign agent last month, is scheduled to resign in one week, and Gov. Phil Murphy has not divulged who he will name to take the senior senators place. In a CNN interview Tuesday morning, Murphy said hes in the final stages of selecting Menendezs interim successor, who would replace the senator until his term ends Jan. 3. Murphy said he will choose somebody whos got Jersey first in everything they do. I promise, folks, itll be someone who will stand up for New Jerseys values and interests, and do a heck of a job, he said. Menendez announced last month that he will resign from the Senate effective Aug. 20. The senator, who was found guilty of taking bribes in exchange for wielding his influence in foreign matters and domestic criminal cases, has maintained his innocence but said he does not want his legal battle to detract from the Senates work. Murphy noted Tuesday that first lady Tammy Murphy who waged a brief campaign to win election to the Senate earlier this year has said she does not want to be considered for the appointment. Beyond that, Im going to have to leave you hanging, the governor told CNN News Central host Kate Bolduan. U.S. Rep. Andy Kim (D-03) and Republican Curtis Bashaw will face off in November for the chance to represent New Jersey in the Senate starting next year. As of Tuesday, Menendez is also running in Novembers election as an independent candidate. The deadline for him to withdraw is Friday. Republicans have urged Murphy not to appoint Kim and instead pick a caretaker who is not interested in the job beyond the temporary appointment. Some Democrats are urging Murphy to choose Patricia Campos-Medina, a progressive labor leader who opposed Kim for the Democratic nomination for Senate in June. About four dozen people sent a letter to Murphy last week saying he should use his appointment power to recognize the importance of the Latino community. Menendez was revered by the community. Paterson Councilman Luis Velez is among those who signed the letter. He said Campos-Medina would bring the peace that the Democratic Party needs at this time. I think she deserves to be there. Shes a hard-working woman, and she will represent the community quite well, he said. Velez noted that Campos-Medina finished second in Junes primary behind Kim, garnering about 16% of the vote. If appointed to the seat, Campos-Medina would become the first woman, and the first Latina, to represent New Jersey in the U.S. Senate. Campos-Medina said shes honored by the groundswell of community leaders support for to be named to the Senate. This is the Governors choice to make, but of course, I am ready to serve if asked to give stability to this critical position at this critical time in our politics, she said in a statement. I ran for office to make sure women and New Jersey working families had a voice in this election. I will continue doing so as an active public servant and leader. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Operation in Kursk Oblast: Ukraine's Foreign Ministry says Ukraine not interested in taking Russian territory but wants to protect its citizens The approximate area of the combat zone based on partially confirmed information. A map of the Russian service of Radio Liberty Ukraines Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stressed that Ukraine is not interested in "taking" territory in Kursk Oblast of the Russian Federation, but wants to protect the lives of its own people. The operation does not allow the Russians to transfer additional units to Donetsk Oblast and complicates Russian logistics. Source: Heorhii Tykhyi, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman at a briefing on 13 August, as quoted by Interfax-Ukraine Quote: "Unlike the Russian Federation, Ukraine does not need other people's stuff. Ukraine is not interested in taking territory in Kursk Oblast; we want to protect the lives of our people... The Armed Forces of Ukraine is a civilised European military force that fully complies with the laws and customs of war and international humanitarian law. The Ukrainian Armed Forces only targets military infrastructure. The purpose of the operation is to save the lives of our people and protect the territory of Ukraine from Russian attacks... The sooner the Russian Federation agrees to restore a just peace, in particular on the basis of the Peace Formula, the sooner the raids of the Ukrainian Defence Forces on the territory of the Russian Federation will stop." Details: Tykhyi pointed out that since the beginning of summer alone, more than 2,000 Russian strikes have been launched from Kursk Oblast of the Russian Federation on Sumy Oblast of Ukraine, using 255 guided aerial bombs and more than 100 missiles. "Unfortunately, Ukraine does not have sufficient capabilities to carry out long-range strikes with the weapons it has to defend itself against this terror. We do not yet have the solutions we insist on. Therefore, there is a need to use the Ukrainian Armed Forces to liberate these border areas from Russian military contingents that are striking Ukraine," the spokesman said. The Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that Ukraine is achieving "relevant goals" in Kursk Oblast and will continue to do so as it is necessary for the security and defence of the country. In addition, Tykhyi stressed that the operation in Kursk Oblast does not allow Russia to deploy additional units to Donetsk Oblast and complicates Russian logistics. The ministry also said that there are reasonable suspicions that Russia may create incidents, including with Russian military disguised as Ukrainian soldiers, in order to fabricate violations of international humanitarian law by Ukrainian forces. "We warn our partners to be prepared for such developments, and if there are such attempts by the Russian Federation, to be vigilant and not to fall for Russian propaganda," the spokesman said. Support UP or become our patron! California is, by almost every measure, one of the United States most diverse and vibrant states. The countrys most populous state, it also has no majority racial or ethnic group. The combination of public investments in the University of California system and the states welcoming approach to immigration have created a dynamic, technology-infused economy that is the largest of any U.S. state. Its diverse public education system also reflects that dynamism, serving more English learners (ELs) than schools in any other state. In 2021, California enrolled more K12 ELs than Indiana enrolled students. And yet, from 1998 to 2016, the states schools belied its cosmopolitan reputation, enacting an English-only mandate for ELs amid a late-1990s surge in anxiety about immigration. Unsurprisingly, the policy did little to change the states demographic trajectory and even less to improve student learning. Thats why California voters passed Proposition 58 in 2016, a referendum that reopened the possibility of bilingual education for Californias ELs. Supporters sold the measure as an opportunity for the state to deliver a multilingual school system befitting its reputation as a plural and diverse society preparing students to succeed in the global economy. Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter This is the first in an LA School Report series on Californias effort to build a bilingual education system worthy of its culturally diverse reputation. Eight years after Prop. 58s passage, progress towards that vision has been uneven. Nearly two decades of actively subtracting languages from the states classrooms created myriad challenges. And yet, the states embrace of bilingualism has brought public narratives closer to the research consensus on the benefits of learning multiple languages. California launched the now-national Seal of Biliteracy, which provides public recognition for K12 graduates who demonstrate proficiency in more than one language. Efforts like these are changing Californias public discourse around languages and increasing demand for bilingual learning opportunities. Part 1: An 18- year ban on Bilingual Education in California begins When Proposition 227 made California an English-only state in 1998, some pollingsuggested that roughly half of Latino voters supported the move. Subsequent exit polls suggested a somewhat more complicated story, but the measure passed all the same. The number of ELs in bilingual education classrooms dropped by nearly 70 percent from 1998 to 2003. While the new English-only policy permitted communities to offer bilingual education if enough ELs parents opted out of English-only education, only a small fraction of schools were able to meet that threshold. Spanish, Korean, Japanese, Cantonese, and other non-English languages vanished from schools. But the states decision didnt erase many Californians desire to have their childrens emerging bilingual abilities recognized and cultivated at school. Persistent demand from Latino parents launched and/or maintained bilingual and DLI programs, such as Los Angeles Camino Nuevo Charter Academys Burlington campus. The school opened in 2000; community interest in bilingualism pushed leaders to prioritize students development in both English and Spanish. We were getting kids that were coming from programs that were all over the city, says former Camino Nuevo CEO Ana Ponce. And parents wanted their kids to keep their native language. We were not bound by Proposition 227s limitations because we were a charter, so we embarked on exploring different bilingual education models. The school settled on a DLI model that begins with a majority of instruction in Spanish and gradually increases English-language instruction until the languages are evenly balanced in later elementary grades. Decades later, the Central Los Angeles campus effervesces with chatter swinging from Spanish to English. Fourth-graders pair off to practice division problems in math class to decide who goes first by playing Rock, Paper, Scissors or Piedra, Papel, Tijeras. I hope that God keeps these schools from disappearing, because they really help our children, says 13-year Camino Nuevo parent Maribel Martinez in Spanish. I dont want to talk down the districts schools, they also teach well, but their big mistake was cutting bilingual educationtwo languages are worth so much. Some of that value is academic. Research suggests that dual language immersion programs are the best way to support young, non-native English speakers in U.S. schools. But Camino parents say that this is only one of the reasons they prize their childrens emerging Spanish and English skills. Gloribel Reyes first child started at the school twenty years ago and her youngest is enrolled in fourth grade. Its very important that the children learn both Spanish and English, she says in Spanish, because if they only learn English, they forget their own language, the language their parents speak. Some of their parents dont speak Englishhow can we speak with them? Martinez agreesand notes that the schools bilingualism makes it easier for Spanish-dominant families to engage with teachers and staff. That is, decades of hiring to staff Burlingtons DLI program have produced a fully bilingual staff. After years of serving as a bilingual outpost, Camino Nuevo has become a bilingual quarry for other schools to mine. Kylie Rector, Camino Nuevos Director of Biliteracy and English Learners, says that the buzz to invest more in bilingual education has brought administrators from districts from San Diego to Northern California to the school. Still, while bilingual and dual language immersion (DLI) programs are relaunching across the state, they are not growing anywhere fast enough to meet the states 2030 goal of building a system of at least 1,600 DLI programs to have half of all K12 studentsparticipate in programs leading to proficiency in two or more languages. Last year, the state devoted $10 million in new grant support for launching new DLI schools the state estimates it will produce 55 new programs. This is partly because Californias eighteen-year ban on most bilingual programs also flatlined the job market for bilingual teachers. This meant that K12 school systems produced more monolingual, English-dominant graduates, and it meant that the states bilingual teacher training programs largely shuttered. This presents California leaders with a chicken-and-egg problem. They cannot grow bilingual classrooms around the state without more bilingual teachers, but the states K12 system remains mostly English-only and is not producing enough bilingual graduates to rapidly grow the linguistic diversity of the states teaching force. As a result, Californias K12 teaching force is much whiter and more native English-speaking monolingual than Californias K12 student body. Just 27 percent of California teachers speak a non-English language at home, compared to 40 percent of California K12 students. The increased demand for bilingual educators has also made Camino Nuevo staff valuable across Californias public education sector. Some erstwhile Camino Nuevo employees have gone on to launch dual language schools of their own, like Yu Ming Public Charter School founder Sue Park. Others are working in schools across LAUSD and other Californiadistricts. Still others are working in education advocacy at non-profit organizations like Great Public Schools Now, TNTP, Communities in Schools of Los Angeles, NewSchools, and the Cesar Chavez Foundation. Cross-Pollinating Bilingualism in San Diego County Just a ten mile drive from the U.S.-Mexico San Ysidro border crossing, Chula Vista Learning Community Charter Schools (CVLCC) campus is another hotbed of bilingualism. The school was founded by the Chula Vista Unified School District in 1998 as a way to maintain bilingual options once the states English-only mandate arrived. Eddie Caballero joined CVLCC a year later as a 5th grade teacher. It was a rough start, he says, as the school struggled to focus its academic and linguistic instructional approaches. But by 2004, the school had coalesced around a vision putting extra campus emphasis on foundational early literacy skills in both languages simultaneously. In 2005, Caballero moved to San Diego Unified School District to work in administrative roles. In 2008, a number of families of ELs were organizing to sign waivers to start a bilingual education program at Sherman Elementary, on San Diegos east side. The school needed an experienced bilingual educator; Caballero was a natural fit. He was eager to use what hed learned at CVLCC to replicate high-quality bilingual education now in a district setting. Just as at CVLCC, We didnt see success immediately, Caballero says. He warns that just any bilingual education program wont automatically succeed just by virtue of being bilingual. Too often, he warns, district leaders think they can rebrand their schools by launching DLI programs, but no, you have to implement it carefully. This requires careful planning around curriculum, staffing, family engagement efforts, and much more. Thats why, in 2016, Caballero hired former CVLCC teacher Nicole Enriquez to be his assistant principal; she stepped in as principal when he left San Diego Unified. Now, in 2024, Caballero is back as CVLCCs CEO, which continues to serve as a flywheel for the local bilingual education ecosystem. He says that bilingual teachers often come to his school from nearby districts with the goal of developing their expertise teaching in bilingual or DLI settings. However, many leave after five years, because staying longer would cost them contractual seniority back in the districts where they began their careers. CVLCC is an exemplary dual language school that not only has a culturally and linguistically responsive curriculumbut also prepares students global critical consciousness through innovative and impactful approaches, says Cristina Alfaro. At its inceptionwe called it the Dream School. Building Back In the 26 years since California voters launched their states monolingual era and eight years since they ended it its clear that the ground of public opinion has shifted. Polling before the 2016 Proposition 58 referendum found that more than two-thirds of California Latino voters supported restoring bilingual education. Meanwhile, a 2023 Abriendo Puertas/Open Doors survey found that 65% of Latino families would enroll their children in a bilingual program if it were available. In a separate 2023 poll of mostly Spanish-dominant Californians, Keep Learning California found that 59% of respondents listed access to bilingual programs as an essential or high priority for their families. Bilingual strongholds like CVLCC and Camino Nuevo are essential resources for helping make that hope realistic for more of those families. Im second-generation Chicana, says Sherman principal Enriquez. And this generation of parents says things like, I never got this opportunity as a kid. I wish that I could speak more Spanish. I want my kids to be able to be bilingual, to get the opportunity that I never had. And Im that parent too! I brought my kids here, through Sherman, so they could be bilingual. Listen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher. Fearmongering over Joe Bidens economy and how it will eventually send America over the edge is a popular talking point for Republicansespecially former President Donald Trump, who, upon his return to X Monday, decried the shattered U.S. economy. But, it seems the country never reached that cliff. The CEO of Bank of America, Brian Moynihan, told CBS Face the Nation Sunday that his analysts are no longer predicting a recession. According to Danielle Moodie on this weeks episode of The New Abnormal: What is important for folks to understand here is that the predictions of Donald Trump and all of his sycophants that Joe Biden is terrible for the economy, that Democrats are terrible for the economy [fell flat]. Theyve just lost one of their major talking points. Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast. Plus! Josh, the publisher of the newsletter Ettingermentum, joins the show to discuss how the right wings attempt to discredit Tim Walz proves just how weird MAGA is. I dont know where that comes from, Josh said in response to suggestions Walz ingested horse semen. It doesnt map onto anything people were perceiving about him. They just came up with it in their head because theyre f-ing weird. It proves the whole point in and of itself. Josh Shapiro Shares Daily Beast Podcast in Response to Trump Attack Then, Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action, joins the show to talk about her organization and the origins of the White Women for Kamala Harris Zoom call. Listen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Recent reflections on the Russo-Ukrainian peace talks in Istanbul at the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022 offer new insights and perspectives. However, they often overlook a crucial factor: Moscows dismal history of honoring political and security agreements with former Soviet republics. Many analyses naively assume the Kremlin would adhere to any signed deal, ignoring Russias well-documented pattern of broken promises. Over the past 35 years, Russia has repeatedly demonstrated a disregard for legal agreements, often with tragic consequences. Key agreements between Moscow and Kyiv, central to post-Soviet international relations, have been breached time and again. One of the most significant was the 1991 Belovezha Agreement, which marked the end of the Soviet Union. Russian President Vladimir Putin later famously described the USSR's breakup as the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century. This treaty, ratified Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine, established the Commonwealth of Independent States, and delineated new state borders, including Ukraines sovereignty over Crimea and Donbas. Article 5 of the agreement pledged mutual respect for these borders and territorial integrity. Read also: Opinion: The Wests escalation strategy has failed. Let Ukraine strike Russia. Just three years later, the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances was signed, through which Russia, the U.S., and the U.K. promised to uphold Ukraines territorial integrity and sovereignty in exchange for Ukraine relinquishing its nuclear arsenal then the third largest in the world. Ukraine committed to dismantling its strategic rockets and transferring all weapons of mass destruction and delivery systems to Russia. Despite these assurances, Russia has systematically violated its commitments. Since 2014, Russia has not only set up so-called peoples republics on Ukrainian soil but also annexed Ukrainian regions in 2014 and 2022. Moscow has also violated most of the deals connected with its war against Ukraine, including the Minsk agreements, which Ukraine signed at gunpoint in 2014 and 2015. In the September 2014 Minsk Protocol (Minsk I), Russia committed to withdrawing illegal armed groups and military equipment from Ukraine. The February 2015 Minsk II Agreement (Minsk II) promised the removal of all foreign armed forces and mercenaries, under OSCE supervision, and the disarmament of illegal groups. The Kremlin never gave any sign of starting in earnest to fulfill these and other promises, and probably never intended to do so in the first place. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the media during a joint press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at Vahdettin Mansion in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 8, 2023. (Photo by Ozan Guzelce/dia images via Getty Images) To fully grasp the improbability of a successful peace deal in Istanbul in 2022, one must also consider Russias history of broken agreements with countries other than Ukraine, especially those signed before, or in between, Putins presidencies, including with Moldova and Georgia. These violations reveal a broader pattern in Russias approach to its so-called near abroad demonstrating that the issue extends beyond Ukraine and Putins personal influence. In October 1994, Moscow signed an agreement with Moldova, committing to withdraw its military forces within three years. That same year, Moldova enshrined its neutrality in its new constitution, explicitly prohibiting the stationing of foreign troops on its soil. Despite these commitments, Russian forces, now known as the so-called Operational Group of Russian Forces, remain in Moldova, defying both the treaty and Moldovas constitutional neutrality. Moscows disregard for these agreements parallels its current stance in the ongoing debate over a potential Russian-Ukrainian compromise, where similar issues of neutrality and foreign troop presence are at play. Read also: Opinion: Why Indias Modi wont play the peace negotiator Russias behavior in Georgia tells a similar story. The August 2008 ceasefire agreement required Russian troops to withdraw from Georgias Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions. Yet, Moscow not only kept a significant number of troops in Georgia but also recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia (the Tskhinvali region) as so-called independent states, further violating the agreement. Contrary to the optimism of some analysts, the prospect of a achieving a lasting settlement between Kyiv and Moscow in Istanbul in 2022 was slim from the outset. Russias history of using peace talks as a strategic tool in its hybrid warfare against post-Soviet states suggests that any agreement would have been heavily skewed in Moscows favor and likely ignored soon after signing. The pattern is clear: Russia invades, forces through a slanted agreement at gunpoint, and then selectively implements or outright ignores its provisions. Even if a deal had been reached in Istanbul, it would likely have been another example of Russias subversion of international law, leading not to peace, but to continued aggression and territorial expansion. Each new Russian invasion tends to be worse than the last, making any hopes for genuine peace through negotiations, in which Ukraine is forced to engage from a weaker position, increasingly unrealistic. Editors Note: The opinions expressed in the op-ed section are those of the author and do not purport to reflect the views of the Kyiv Independent. The article is based on a more detailed investigation by the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies. Submit an Opinion Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Iowas six-week abortion ban, House File 732, the Fetal Heartbeat Law, has been in effect for two weeks, and some in the medical community want to see some exceptions to the law. The law bans abortions once cardiac activity can be detected in a fetus, except if it endangers the life of the mother. Advocates worry the law is putting womens health at risk, and some doctors are trying to navigate the new restrictions. There are concerns about what qualifies as a medical emergency. Some doctors express concerns about a baseline definition and that all patients are different. Many hope the Iowa Board of Medicine will be able to provide more specifics on the definition, but there hasnt been any guidance yet. For more information, click here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com. PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) An Animal Control deputy with the Deschutes County Sheriffs Office jumped into a retaining pond to save a drowning fawn on Aug. 10 after multiple failed attempts to rescue the animal. The Deschutes County Sheriffs Office responded to a 911 call about two fawns stuck in the pond at approximately 5 p.m. One fawn managed to escape the pond before deputies arrived on scene. However, the second fawn continued to struggle in the water. The other fawn was struggling and beginning to panic, the DCSO said. When deputies arrived, they tried without success to guide the trapped fawn out of the pond. Plamondon poses with the rescued fawn. (Photos courtesy of the DCSO) Car ends up in ocean near Gearhart, 4 rescued Animal Control Deputy Treyton Plamondon arrived at the scene and the deputies tried to pull the baby deer to safety using catch poles. When rescue efforts continued to fail, Plamondon jumped into the water. The fawn appeared to be tiring itself out as it continued to evade rescue attempts, the DCSO said. Believing the only viable solution to saving the fawns life was to take a plunge. Farmers Almanac releases its 2024-2025 winter weather forecast for PNW Plamondon saved the dawn from drowning and the animal was eventually released back into area, away from the pond. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) The Oregon Supreme Court nixed a Clackamas County judges choice to prohibit West Linn residents from jury service for a trial between the city and a local school district. After the City of West Linn filed a motion to stay the decision Clackamas County Circuit Court Judge Susie Norby issued late last month, the Supreme Court reversed the judges ruling on Friday. Stats show violent crime down in Portland since 2022 On July 31, Norby sent a letter to the attorneys representing the city and West Linn-Wilsonville School District informing both parties that West Linn residents could not serve on the jury for an ongoing battle in which the district has accused the city of interfering with the sale of Oppenlander Field. The elevated status that people derive from being part of the West Linn community typically becomes part of their identities, and as such would predictably skew their discernment when evaluating accusations of misconduct by their chosen City, Norby wrote. The school district has owned the 10-acre field since the 1970s, but in 2021, leaders deemed it as surplus land they planned to sell. West Linn officials reported that locals feared a developer would acquire the property, urging the city to buy the land so it remained a community park. Farmers Almanac releases its 2024-2025 winter weather forecast for PNW Both parties agreed the city would purchase the field in January 2022. An appraiser determined the land was worth just $120,000 if it were only designated as a park. But the school district rejected that amount due to a prior appraisal that assessed the propertys value at $6.5 million. In the complaint filed against the city in February 2022, the district said the defendant failed to perform a fair, objective, good faith, and thorough appraisal of Oppenlander Field. The trial over the matter began on Monday. But before the Supreme Court issued its decision, West Linn officials argued the case wouldnt be reviewed fairly without any residents on the jury. ClackCo drug treatment plan approved with changes on second consideration The Court has deprived an entire community of the right to participate in jury service based on the assumption that living in West Linn is something to brag about, and inspires a level of loyalty in residents that becomes part of their identity, and therefore makes residents incapable of objectivity, a West Linn spokesperson said on their website. In a statement Norby sent to KOIN 6 prior to the Supreme Courts decision, Norby asserted that judges must ensure juries arent biased and being predictably aligned with one partys interest is the antithesis of fairness. I believe that my letter opinions are clear that the decision is driven by the Districts allegations of bad faith/misconduct of City officials, and the implicit risk that residents will instinctively lean toward defending the Citys good name, rather than approaching deliberations with the neutrality that the law requires, Norby said. But the Supreme Court referred to the judges ruling as a categorical assumption that West Linn residents cannot review an issue impartially. West Linn-Wilsonville School District said it does not comment on pending litigation. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. Nick Scali (ASX:NCK) Full Year 2024 Results Key Financial Results Revenue: AU$468.2m (down 7.8% from FY 2023). Net income: AU$80.6m (down 20% from FY 2023). Profit margin: 17% (down from 20% in FY 2023). The decrease in margin was driven by lower revenue. EPS: AU$0.99 (down from AU$1.25 in FY 2023). All figures shown in the chart above are for the trailing 12 month (TTM) period Nick Scali EPS Misses Expectations Revenue was in line with analyst estimates. Earnings per share (EPS) missed analyst estimates by 2.7%. The primary driver behind last 12 months revenue was the Australia and New Zealand segment contributing a total revenue of AU$459.9m (98% of total revenue). The largest operating expense was General & Administrative costs, amounting to AU$104.6m (46% of total expenses). Explore how NCK's revenue and expenses shape its earnings. Looking ahead, revenue is forecast to grow 9.5% p.a. on average during the next 3 years, compared to a 6.5% growth forecast for the Specialty Retail industry in Australia. Performance of the Australian Specialty Retail industry. The company's share price is broadly unchanged from a week ago. Risk Analysis You should always think about risks. Case in point, we've spotted 1 warning sign for Nick Scali you should be aware of. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Orlando police showed support to the children of a fallen officer on their first day of school. Officer Kevin Valencias former squad met with his children as they returned to the classroom. Valencia was shot in the line of duty while responding to a hostage situation in 2018. He died of his injuries in 2021. Read: Speed enforcement cameras are in effect across Central Florida school zones Law enforcement has made it a tradition to join Valencias family on the first day of school. A section of Kirkman Road was renamed earlier this year to honor his life and service to the community. The Orlando police are not the only first responders who stepped in to take a child to school on Monday. Members of the Orlando Fire Department also gave a warm send-off to the daughter of a firefighter who is battling cancer in the hospital. Read: Orange County Public School students return to class for 2024-2025 school year The children of fallen Officer Kevin Valencia were surprised on their first day of school by their father's former squad to help them get the year off on the right foot. Officer Valencia was shot in the line of duty in 2018 and succumbed to his injuries in 2021. pic.twitter.com/LRLYiTddQT Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) August 12, 2024 Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) The Orleans County Sheriffs Office is saying goodbye to a valued member of their K-9 unit. K9 Otto is retiring from the service after eight years. He has worked over 22,00 hours, was deployed 192 times, and patrolled over 175,000 miles. In addition to his work, Otto enjoyed taking part in community events and demonstrations ever since he was paired with Deputy Jeff Cole in 2016. Deputy Cole says he plans to buy Otto from the county so he can enjoy retirement at the home he grew up in. Words cannot begin to describe how much Otto means to me, my family, the Orleans County Sheriffs Office, and the community he has so faithfully served. He has been a great partner, said Deputy Cole in a statement. The Orleans County Sheriffs Office says they are looking for another dog to fill Ottos spot after his retirement. Deputies are asking for support from local businesses and community members. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to RochesterFirst. CARLISLE, Pa. (WHTM) The GIANT Company, in partnership with Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, announced the recipients of its 2024 Healing the Planet grant program. According to the GIANT Company, 32 recipients were awarded a total of $108,243 this year in support of tree-planting projects across Pennsylvania. The award was part of their 2024 Healing the Planet grant program. The following Pennsylvania organizations are the recipients of the 2024 Healing the Planet grant from The GIANT Company and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful: Antis Township Board of Supervisors of Derry Township, Lewistown Borough of East Stroudsburg Borough of Wyomissing Capital Area Greenbelt Association, Harrisburg Chesapeake Bay Foundation, City of Lancaster City of Allentown City of DuBois City of Reading Public Works Colonial Canopy Trees, Plymouth Meeting Concord Township, Glen Mills East Buffalo Township, Lewisburg Excel Events, Levittown Fairmount Park Conservancy, Philadelphia French & Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust, Glenmore Izaak Walton League of America York, Dallastown Juniata College, Huntingdon Manada Conservancy, Hummelstown Michaux Forest Association, Gardners Mountain Top Area Swimming Pool Association, Snow Shoe Newtown Square in Bloom, Newtown Square Open Land Conservancy, Malvern and Berwyn Pennsylvania Environmental Council, Pittston Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation, Reading, Mifflinburg and Quakertown Pennsylvania State University, Schuylkill Haven Red Lion Borough, Red Lion Snipes Farm and Education Center, Morrisville St. Paul Lutheran Church, Lititz Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership, Jenkintown Town of Bloomsburg Wildlands Conservancy, Hellertown Wild Ones Pennsylvania Ridge & Valley Chapter, Neenah When it comes to healing our planet, small change can make a big difference, including ensuring we have enough thriving trees throughout our communities, Courtney Hopcraft, the manager of community relations and charitable giving at the GIANT company said. Through the work of this years 32 Healing the Planet grant recipients, more than 3,000 new trees will be planted in the coming months to help absorb carbon pollution and improve the quality of the air we breathe. The GIANT Company says that since 2021, the Healing the Planet grant program has awarded more than $1.2 million to 142 recipients for projects that are either connecting communities to green spaces, improving or helping to protect local waterways and water resources, and supporting projects that address food waste prevention, reduction, and recovery. Community tree planting fosters shared responsibility and stewardship, strengthening social ties. Native trees provide food and shelter for local wildlife, improve water conservation, provide protection from soil erosion, and are more apt to survive with minimal care. Beautifying communities also tends to reduce littering and other illegal behaviors, making it a better place for all residents and providing a foundation for community and economic development. Heidi Pedicone, director of programs at Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful said. We are proud to provide the funds to Pennsylvania organizations to plant native trees and honored to continue our partnership with The GIANT Company. We also want to thank all of you who rounded up at the register. Your generosity will make a huge difference for these communities. abc27 news will keep you updated as more information becomes available. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27. Over 2,000 pounds of meth hidden in celery at farmers market The Drug Enforcement Agency in Atlanta seized 2,380 pounds of methamphetamine smuggled into the state. Its the largest-ever seizure of meth made by the DEA in Atlanta, and the third largest nationwide in 2024, according to our news partners at WSB-TV. WSB spoke to DEA agents who said a cartel recently smuggled the load across the border in a 16-wheeler. The agents got information that led them to a farmers market. >> Former area city manager charged after allegedly soliciting a minor This was contained in a cover load of celery, DEA Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Robert Murphy said. It was hiding in the celery. Obviously, we threw away the celery. That didnt make it to the store. The DEA has not traced the origin of the seizure. The wholesale value of this is over $3 million. The significance is that this is an unbelievable amount of drugs to be shipped at one time. It also shows the confidence of the cartel behind this, Murphy said. The DEA has not tested the meth yet to see if its been tainted with fentanyl, but Murphy said its unlikely. DRIPPING SPRING, Texas (KXAN) Over 30 families and dozens of people will be displaced from a mobile home community in Dripping Springs. Some of the families said they have been there for decades. According to families living in the neighborhood, they received a letter on July 29, saying they had 60 days to move their homes and their belongings or items remaining could be considered abandoned. Ive lived here since I was born so 19 years, said Irving Avila, who lives in the community with his mom, dad, and several brothers and sisters. Theres always speculation that at some point with trailer communities like this theres always talks about [being] moved out, he continued. However, this felt very unexpected. The letter provided to KXAN said Gateway Development LLC owns the land. KXAN has reached out to the company but has not heard back. We will update this story if we hear back. Copy of the letter that was sent to residents of a Dripping Springs mobile home community. Many in the community said 60 days felt rushed, especially considering how long some have lived there. Other families with school-aged children were worried it could jeopardize their enrollment status at Dripping Spring ISD schools, which start classes on Tuesday. My parents are trying to focus on finding a place here in Dripping [Springs] because we dont want to leave. Dripping is home, [and] my siblings love the schools here, Avila said. On Monday, at least three dozen of those living in the community gathered to voice their frustrations. Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra attended the demonstration to see how he could help. The community reached out to my office asking for help because they were told that they have 60 days to leave a place theyve lived in for decades, Becerra said. My best place is to try to help people. I promised them nothing but effort. Following the demonstration, Becerra said he met with a representative from Gateway Development LLC. Becerra said the company was willing to be patient with some in the community who could take longer than 60 days to be completely moved out. Becerra said he is helping other families being displaced find new mobile home neighborhoods within Dripping Springs so students dont need to transfer schools. I believe most completely that this has a peaceful solution thatll be most beneficial to everyone. It just takes more work and more time, Becerra said. I cant expect to stay here forever. What I am hoping is we get more time to find a place for everybody who is living here, Avila said. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin. OWENSBORO, Ky. (WEHT) In western Kentucky, the Owensboro Metropolitan Planning Commission has recommended the approval for medical marijuana dispensaries to be introduced in Daviess County. The recommendations come as Whitesville is requesting they not be included in the list of potential locations. Kentucky officials have given cities and counties the option to follow their own zoning regulations following the approval of a law that will legalize medical cannabis for Kentuckians in 2025. The decision deadline is Dec. 31. The Associate Director of Planning for the OMPC says they know where they stand on the issue. City of Island will have a wet/dry vote in November; Mayor confirms Weve been working with the city of Owensboro and Daviess County Fiscal Court for several months and researching other communities and what they are doing to develop regulations for our community. [Those regulations] have been heard at this point by the planning commission and recommended for approval, says Melissa Evans. A town board meeting and ordinance reading held last week revealed Whitesvilles Mayor Patsy Mayfield and city commissioners disagree. I mean, you know, [city commissioners] just feel for right now it would be better to just opt out[Whitesville residents] wont have to go very far, says Mayor Mayfield. Whitesville residents who qualify for the medical resource will only have to travel around 15 miles to reach Owensboro city limits. Evans says the recommended approval has been sent to the Daviess County Fiscal Court and Owensboro City Commission to be added to future meeting agendas. Only one dispensary will be allowed in each county, and state regulations wont allow a dispensary to exist in more than one rural city. Stanley or Maceo, Thruston all of those rural communities designated by the comprehensive plan land use map, says the Associate Director of Planning. Officials say the countys permit approval will be determined via a state lottery. If approved, the business zoning location cant fall within the downtown district overlay or within 1,000 feet of a school or daycare. The city of Owensboro and Daviess County Fiscal Court have also requested that no medical cannabis businesses be located within one mile of each other, says Evans. She says they looked to other cities like Bowling Green and northern Kentucky for guidance on navigating the new territory. She says they followed the cities lead pretty closely, but decided not to add other buffers. For instance, you could add in a 1,000 feet from parks or churches or things like that, but Owensboro and Daviess County decided not to do that, says Evans. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW). Following guidelines and being aware of dangerous food safety mistakes is crucial for keeping yourself and anyone for whom you cook healthy. Keeping an eye on food recalls can fall under that umbrella especially if you happen to be allergic to some ingredients. Undeclared milk and peanuts were among the most common reasons for food recalls in 2023, and also on that list were 12 instances where a product was recalled after being found to be contaminated with listeria, a bacteria that can be potentially deadly. There have been a number of major food recalls in 2024. In August, listeria monocytogenes was back in the headlines when the FDA updated an earlier alert involving walnuts to label it as a Class I recall. What exactly is the severity of a Class I recall? It's the most severe category and is issued when the products in question can cause serious illness or even death. This recall was for shelled walnuts packaged and sold by California's Stutz Packing Company, and the updated alert came about a month after the company issued its initial voluntary recall for its Shelled Walnuts one-pound packages. The bags are clear with a white box outlined in red and have the lot code 241711 or 241721 on the bag. Anyone possessing these bags has been advised to throw it away or return it. Read more: 12 Vegetables And Fruits That Used To Look Very Different Recalled Walnuts Were Sent To Food Bank Distribution Centers In Two States person eating walnuts - Westend61/Getty Images When the FDA issues food recalls, they aren't always immediately classified as I (the most severe), II, or III (the least severe). The Stutz recall came after listeria was detected in random and routine samples. Although there were no reported illnesses at the time of the initial recall, it's easy to see why this particular incident received the Class I designation. Listeria is a type of food poisoning that is most dangerous to groups, including young children and people with compromised immune systems. Notably, the products in question distributed in Texas and Arizona were sent to food bank warehouses. Those warehouses supplied distribution centers that work with organizations like schools and shelters, which serve some of those who are most vulnerable to the life-threatening consequences of listeria. The company stresses that listeria has not been found in any other products save the packages and lot numbers covered by the recall. At the time of the updated warning, customers with questions were instructed to contact Sasha Morales at Stutz via smorales@stutzpacking.com. Listeria Is An Inconvenience For Many And Deadly For Some person with stomach pain - Kmpzzz/Shutterstock Organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention consider listeria incredibly dangerous. When it comes to deaths from foodborne illnesses, it rounds out the top four causes (along with salmonella, norovirus, and toxoplasma gondii). In many people, falling ill with listeria feels like having the flu, which can pass in just a few days. However, when the infection spreads beyond the intestinal tract, it becomes classified as an invasive illness. That's when it can start to cause symptoms like headaches, confusion, a loss of balance, and even seizures. If an invasive version of listeria happens to someone pregnant, it can cause miscarriages, stillbirths, or a potentially deadly infection in the baby. Consequences are devastating in about 20% of the cases diagnosed alongside pregnancy, and it's serious for those who aren't pregnant, too. In those instances, it's deadly in one out of every six cases, results in hospitalization about 87% of the time, and is frequently associated with infections of the blood and brain. Listeria recalls should be taken seriously. At the same time the packaged walnut recall hit, another listeria recall showed just how dangerous this foodborne illness could be. After Boar's Head recalled more than 7.2 million pounds of deli meats, the media reported that as of the beginning of August 2024, 43 people were hospitalized, and three one person each in Illinois, New Jersey, and Virginia had died. If you feel you or someone you know are showing symptoms of listeria, contact your doctor immediately. Read the original article on The Daily Meal. The West Virginia Supreme Court ruled Monday that Paden City High School will remain open as Wetzel County's superintendent appeals a lower courts decision that it remain open. (Google Maps screenshot) Paden City High School students will report to their school next week after the state Supreme Court said Monday it will remain open as Wetzel school superintendent Cassie Porter appeals a lower courts decision that it remain open. The court denied Porters motion to stay Circuit Judge Richard Wilsons order. Porter had decided the school would close and its students would attend other area schools because of environmental concerns at the facility. The school site is located near a former dry cleaning business. It has soil and groundwater plumes contaminated with tetrachloroethylene, a likely carcinogen used for dry cleaning fabrics, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. An EPA site inspection that began in 2020 determined that the site poses a risk and would require long-term clean up. It was added to the National Priorities List in March 2022. Wilson ruled in favor of school faculty, staff, parents and community members who challenged the closure, saying that Porter was not justified in shuttering the school over environmental concerns and that it should remain open. Porters appeal of Wilsons decision is still pending before the high court. Aug. 19 is the first day of school for Wetzel County. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Rosa Pinto, community organizer for Heartland Workers Center, speaks during a news conference for supporters of paid sick leave for Nebraska workers Thursday, June 27, 2024, in Lincoln. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN Nebraska voters will decide this fall whether workers will be able to rely on their employers to provide paid sick time. Secretary of State Bob Evnen confirmed Tuesday that the Paid Sick Leave for Nebraskans petition collected enough signatures from registered voters to qualify for the November ballot. Organizers from local nonprofits, worker advocacy, civil rights organizations and political groups announced in June they had turned in 138,000 signatures in support of the ballot measure. First of several potential initiatives on ballot Election officials stopped counting after verifying 97,557 signatures. Thats 11,000 more than the 86,500 needed for the 7% threshold statewide to change state law. Nebraska also requires that its petition gatherers collect valid signatures from 5% of registered voters in at least 38 of the states 93 counties. The effort hit 5% or more in 47 counties, according to a release from the Secretary of States Office. Sick leave is the first of several petitions expected to qualify for what could be a crowded fall ballot. County and state election officials are still reviewing signatures on other issues, including petitions on abortion rights, abortion restrictions, medical marijuana and the future of the states new voucher program for private K-12 schools. The state has until Sept. 13 to certify the ballot. What the measure would do If voters pass the sick leave measure, businesses with 20 or fewer employees would be required to fund at least five paid sick days a year for full-time employees. Larger businesses would be required to fund at least seven sick days per year per full-time employee. Full- and part-time employees would earn an hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Workers would be able to use the time for personal and family illnesses. Supporters, including some small business owners, have testified that factory, farm and service workers would benefit the most from the change. Some said they lost jobs when their kids got sick. Morgan Spiehs, a local worker and advocate for the petition drive, said in a statement that she lived with a lot more stress and fear as a preschool teacher with no sick leave. When I felt unwell, I scrutinized my symptoms every hour, wondering how quickly I could return to work so I could stop losing money, she said. Critics of the proposal have said it unnecessarily complicates an issue where responsible businesses can compete by offering benefits when they cant compete as easily on pay. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Pair of NNY fire departments to get over $170,000 in federal funds WATERTOWN, N.Y. (WWTI) Two north country fire departments will be getting federal funding over $170,000. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer and fellow New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand announced on Monday that the Village of Lyons Falls and Louisville Volunteer Fire Department will be getting funding as part of an initiative that will get state fire departments $2.5 million. Red Cross assisting multiple people after flooding in NNY This federal funding will provide them with the necessary equipment, training, and resources to keep them safe as they respond to emergency situations. I will continue fighting for New York fire departments and working to ensure they are well-equipped for both their safety and that of our communities. New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand Louisville will be getting $160,000 and Lyons Falls will receive $10,000. The money will be used to get protective gear, provide training, and give supplies to emergency personnel. Over a dozen departments will be getting assistance Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWTI - InformNNY.com. Surprisingly, the last couple of months have been a touch harder than anticipated for Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO). While it's still raking in cash from sales of its medications for type 2 diabetes and weight loss, it also hit a trio of bumps in the road. Is its stock still a buy, or is its momentum finally starting to peter out? When it rains, it pours The company's earnings update for the first half of 2024 and a few of its recent filings mention three recent setbacks. These are related to Novo Nordisk's research and development (R&D) activities and to its regulatory submissions. First, it canceled a program in phase 1 clinical trials that sought to treat metabolic-associated steatohepatitis (MASH, formerly known as NASH). The candidate was formulated for administration once per month, and was designed to use two different mechanisms of action to deliver more therapeutic effects than would be possible with only one. As the trial was halted rather than finished, it's probable that investigators didn't see a tolerable safety profile, nor any preliminary efficacy data to write home about. The company still has a mix of other programs in clinical trials that could enable it to enter the market for MASH therapies, some of which are in late-stage testing. But those programs only use one mechanism of action, so they may not be as effective as the therapy produced by Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, the only competitor in the space thus far. Second, Novo Nordisk also received a rebuff from regulators at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after its commercialization application for the once-weekly type 1 diabetes therapy called insulin icodec. In short, the regulators need the company to address issues with the proposed manufacturing process for the drug before they'll allow it to be marketed. Such hiccups happen frequently enough, but management thinks it won't be able to respond to the FDA's comments this year, which will delay the medicine's launch for a good while. Last but not least, there was another regulatory issue with Novo Nordisk's hit weight loss medication Wegovy. In the second quarter, the drug brought in more than $1.7 billion in sales, up by 55% compared to a year prior, so it's a critical driver of growth. Though the company sought to get the medicine's approved set of indications expanded to treat heart failure, regulators felt that it needed to submit more data, as the clinical trials included in the application paperwork were on the smaller side. Now management's target for resubmitting its application will be sometime in 2025, when a different clinical trial investigating Wegovy will conclude. That means direct competitors like Eli Lilly could get an expanded indication for their competing medicine first. Story continues This company still has plenty of lucrative opportunities in play Don't lose sight of the big picture. Despite this smattering of bad news, there's little reason to believe that Novo Nordisk's stock is worth selling right now. In Q2, the company continued to grow quickly while remaining profitable. Demand for Wegovy is still so intense in the U.S. that the drug is in a state of shortage, despite considerable ongoing investments in expanding manufacturing output. Wegovy is still being investigated for a slew of additional indications, so the ultimate addressable market size is still likely to expand. Novo Nordisk's pipeline is packed with so many late-stage programs that an early-stage failure in MASH means little. Likewise, needing to gather more data about Wegovy to appease regulators won't prevent the stock from gaining value in the long term. Nor will regulators' concerns about the insulin icodec application derail the program's probable approval in the future. Thus, the company will almost certainly succeed in getting an approval to move insulin icodec to the market next year. The same is true for the Wegovy heart-failure indication. In other words, more growth is on the way. And that would remain true even if, against all odds, Novo Nordisk totally failed at both those objectives next year. It simply has too many different irons in the fire to struggle if a couple of them don't pan out. The investment thesis for buying Novo Nordisk stock is still strong -- and it's still worth buying today and holding over the long term. Should you invest $1,000 in Novo Nordisk right now? Before you buy stock in Novo Nordisk, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now and Novo Nordisk wasnt one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, youd have $641,864!* Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than quadrupled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of August 12, 2024 Alex Carchidi has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Novo Nordisk. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Novo Nordisk Just Hit 3 Snags in a Row. Is Its Stock Still a Buy? was originally published by The Motley Fool Faiz Hameed was appointed the chief of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence in 2019 - Anushree Fadnavis/REUTERS Pakistans former spy chief has been arrested in connection with a raid on a housing project in which gold and jewellery were seized allegedly on his orders. However, some critics believe the action against him is politically motivated and part of a purge of officers close to Imran Khan, the former prime minister. Faiz Hameed will be court-martialled, the countrys military announced on Monday, without disclosing charges against him. Disciplinary action against such a high-profile intelligence officer is rare in a country where the army ruled for 30 of its 77 years of independence and continues to dominate the country. The arrest was ordered by the Supreme Court, the military said in a statement, adding that multiple violations of the Pakistan Army Act after Mr Hameeds retirement had also been established. The process of Field General Court Martial has been initiated and Lt Gen Faiz Hameed (Retd) has been taken into military custody, the ISPR said. Acting on complaints The military said the arrest was made to ascertain the correctness of complaints against Mr Hameed, who was head of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), in relation to a land development case called Top City. Mr Hameed was considered to be close to Mr Khan, who served as prime minister from 2018 to 2022 before falling out with the powerful military and being ousted. Imran Khan (left) with Faiz Hameed (right). They were considered to be close When Mr Khan was premier he named Mr Hameed to head the ISI in 2019. After Mr Khan was pushed out of power in a no-confidence vote in 2022 Mr Hameed announced his retirement the same year. The military said it was acting on complaints brought by Top City, a housing project in Islamabad. On May 12 2017, Pakistans Rangers, a paramilitary force, and officials from the ISI raided the office of Top City and the home of its owner Moeez Khan. They said they took away valuables, including gold, diamond ornaments and money in connection with an alleged terrorism case. However, Top City has accused Mr Hameed of stealing 4kg of gold and other valuables during the raid. In April 2024, the military on the directions of the Supreme Court and ministry of defence formed an inquiry committee to investigate the allegations of misuse of authority against him. In November, the court said that allegations of an extremely serious nature against him cannot be left unattended as they would undermine the reputation of the countrys institutions if they were proven to be true. Adil Raja, the former Pakistan army major, who is currently in London in exile, said the military was using the Top City case as an excuse to take revenge against Mr Hameed for not testifying against Mr Khan since April last year. Faiz Hameed was arrested because he refused to give a statement against Imran Khan which the army could have used to keep the former prime minister in prison for a longer time, Mr Adil said. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday welcomed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to Moscow, saying that Russia is closely observing the situation in the Middle East. "What is happening in the Middle East, what is happening in Palestine, naturally has our attention," Putin said, according to Russian news agencies, despite Ukraine's ongoing incursion into the Kursk border region. Abbas stressed the Palestinian Authority's close relations with Russia, which he said has long supported its cause. "We believe in you, we trust you, we feel your support," he added. Putin, meanwhile, reiterated Moscow's support for a fully sovereign Palestinian state. "In order to create a lasting, reliable and stable peace in the region, all UN resolutions must be observed and above all a fully sovereign Palestine must be set up," he said. The 88-year-old Abbas, who heads the secular Fatah organization and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, has lost considerable popular support after proving unable to prevent violence from Israeli settlers against Palestinians. Fatah lost control of the Gaza Strip to the radical Islamist group Hamas in 2006 and was violently expelled from the coastal region. The two rival movements, along with other Palestinian groups, recently signed a declaration on Palestinian unity under Chinese auspices. The aim is to establish a unified government, according to Palestinian media. Russian media have argued that the country is one of the few world powers working towards Palestinian unity. Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Novo-Ogaryovo. -/Kremlin/dpa By Renee Maltezou and Stelios Misinas ATHENS (Reuters) - Vangelis Ilias was returning from holiday on Monday when friends called to tell him the unthinkable. A wildfire in forests north of Athens had suddenly descended on his suburb and was approaching his sculpture workshop. Minutes later, the 55-year-old's shop on a plot between warehouses, fields and a wood seller in Vrilissia, 10 km (6 miles) from the city centre, had been devoured by Greece's worst fire this year. Like many in Vrilissia, Ilias was shocked. When he started his business there two years ago, he never thought wildfires would reach so close. Standing at the workshop, whose sheet metal walls were buckled and blackened, the father-of-two described how the flames leapt from nearby plots to a neighbouring warehouse. "It jumped over to mine and burned it down. From here, it went next door and then to the house next to it," he said, suspecting someone was to blame. "A minor carelessness, negligence, arson and the bad is done." A plaster bust of a soldier lay cracked in the burned wreckage. Other blocks of stone appeared blown apart by the heat. Stoked by gale-force winds and despite the efforts of hundreds of firefighters, aircraft and trucks, the blaze moved quickly into the suburbs on Monday, torching homes and stirring panic in neighbourhoods that had never seen wildfires up close. Hundreds took to the streets, their faces covered by bandanas or t-shirts as smoke and ash descended. Many rushed to evacuate. 'FALL AND RISE AGAIN' The fire had been largely extinguished in the suburbs on Tuesday. But the unusual impact on more densely populated areas surrounding the capital was a stark reminder of the dangers of climate change, which has reduced rainfall and increased temperatures in Greece, leaving forests and scrubland bone-dry and ripe for fires come summer. Residents across the neighbourhood were caught unawares. One woman died in a wreath-making business in Vrilissia on Monday. One of her colleagues, 70-year-old Sakis Morfis, said they were all joking together earlier that day. In the early afternoon he drove to buy some dog food nearby and when he returned the whole area was swallowed by smoke. He put his dogs in the car and left. "Everything happened like lightning," said the man, whose home was also burned. "Worst of all, we lost a colleague a person you see everyday, whom you greet good morning." Authorities echoed the shock. "It's insane, not only unusual, what has happened, said Harris Mavroudis, deputy mayor responsible for civil protection. "This is a municipality where this has never happened." Ilias the sculptor is stoic and ready to rebuild. He is not afraid to stay in the area - he says that the fire will not return for years now that everything has burned. "Life has shown me many times that this is the way to go: I fall and then I rise again." (Writing by Edward McAllister; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne) Russia has unveiled a new gunless version of its Pantsir air defense system it says is ideally suited to protecting critical infrastructure from drones using small short-range interceptors. Russia has announced a new variant of its Pantsir short-range air defense system that can be loaded with as many as 48 small interceptors and that it says is specifically intended to help shield critical infrastructure from uncrewed aerial threats. For some time now, Ukrainian forces have been launching increasingly longer-range drone attacks on military bases and industrial facilities inside Russia. The newly unveiled Pantsir-SMD-E. Rostec The Pantsir-SMD-E made its debut at the Army 2024 exhibition, which opened at the Patriot Park in Kubinka outside of Moscow yesterday. The SMD-E variant was shown in a self-contained static configuration, but it is not hard to imagine that it could be integrated onto various tactical trucks or other platforms, including ships, like previous Pantsir types. A more typical truck-based version of Pantsir. Vitaly Kuzmin The new SMD-E variant of Pantsir has a turret that can be loaded with up to 12 57E6-series short-range command-guided surface-to-air missiles, as many as 48 TKB-1055 very-short-range interceptors, or a mix thereof. The TKB-1055 is a relatively recent development focused heavily on defeating drone threats and has a stated maximum range of just over 4 miles (7 kilometers) compared to the 57E6-Es nearly 12 and a half miles (20 kilometers), per a placard seen at Army 2024. The Pantsir-SMD-E air defense missile system for the defense of stationary objects was brought to the Army-2024 forum. This is a new stage in the development of Pantsir, designed primarily to combat drones in the context of an ongoing special military operation. The key pic.twitter.com/10U8mKgX8M Rybar Force (@rybar_force) August 12, 2024 Like previous versions of Pantsir, the SMD-Es turret also has two integrated radars, one for spotting and tracking targets and another fire control type for directing the command-guided missiles. Where the new variant notably differs from most of the preceding versions of the system is in its lack of gun armament. Most ground-based Pantsir variants have turrets armed with two twin-barrel 2A38M 30mm automatic cannons, as well as up to 12 57E6-series missiles. The navalized Pantsir-M developed for installation on ships substitutes the 2A38M cannons for six-barrel 30mm AO-18KDs. In 2022, a model of a missile-only Pantsir-SM-TBM version, able to be loaded with up to 24 57E6-series missiles at a time, emerged. The SM-TBM variant also lacked a search radar, relying instead on offboard sensors (including on other Pantsirs) for initial cueing. It is unclear how far the development of that variant has progressed. "Pantsir-SM TBM" SAM system. "TBM" is a transport and combat vehicle and will operate as part of other "Pantsir" SAM system. There are no cannon armament and no detection radar, which allowed to increase the ammunition of anti-aircraft missiles from 12 to 24; pic.twitter.com/iGYPVaeRja Massimo Frantarelli (@MrFrantarelli) June 29, 2022 The Pantsir family of systems is constantly being improved and expanded. The new Pantsir-SMD-E is designed to protect stationary objects from air attack weapons, including massive drone attacks, Bekkhan Ozdoyev, head of the arms cluster of Russias state-run Rostec defense conglomerate, said according to a machine translation of an official press release on the new Pantsir variant. To combat these targets, the system can carry 48 short-range missiles. These are effective and inexpensive ammunition that reliably protect against small drones, and allow, figuratively speaking, not to shoot sparrows with a cannon. If they work as advertised, using the smaller and lower-cost TKB-1055s would offer advantages over the 57E6 family in the point-defense role, especially in terms of magazine depth. They could be even more effective combined with newer radars already introduced onto previous versions of Pantsir that are said to increase the total number of targets the system can track and engage simultaneously. Deleting the cannons and their feed systems could also reduce the SMD-Es cost and time to manufacture compared to other versions of the system, at least to a degree. These latter points could be particularly important given the impacts of extensive U.S. and other Western sanctions on Russias defense industry. At the same time, the shift away from guns seems curious given that the Ukrainian military has been routinely demonstrating that traditional anti-aircraft artillery remains an effective and low-cost tool for shooting down subsonic drones and cruise missiles, as well as other lower-flying aerial threats. In more of a direct comparison with Pantsir, Ukraines air defense forces have been making especially good use of German-made Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, which are armed only with a pair of radar-directed 35mm automatic cannons. Ukraine has now begun receiving newer Skynex anti-aircraft guns from Germany, as well. Ukraine Air Force Command releases footage of German-made Gepard anti-aircraft gun taking down what it says is a Shahed drone in the Odesa region. Gepard has radar and optical target tracking with two guns providing combined firing rate of >1,000 rounds per minute. pic.twitter.com/P9g4Mem8fB Chris Partridge (@Chris1603) September 4, 2023 Ukraine: A German supplied 'Gepard' anti-aircraft gun shooting down a Russian cruise missile. Despite their detractors, these systems have proven highly effective in Ukrainian service. pic.twitter.com/z2dIPypI7P Jimmy Rushton (@JimmySecUK) December 5, 2022 The Pantsir family has already earned a very mixed reputation since its introduction in the early 2010s, especially due to reportedly poor performance in Syria and Libya. The upgraded radars found on more recent variants are said to have been developed as a direct result of lessons learned from use during operations in Syria. Regardless, variants of the Pantsir system remain in widespread use in the Russian armed forces, including in Syria, where one fired a missile at a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone in 2022. Pantsirs have also been important components of existing efforts to shield critical military, government, and industrial facilities from Ukrainian drone attacks. Last year, Pantsirs appeared on rooftops in Moscow and near one of President Vladimir Putins official residences just outside the capital as Ukraine stepped up its uncrewed aerial assault. These were part of a larger array of additional layered air defenses deployed in and around the Russian capital that also included extra S-400 long-range surface-to-air missile batteries. There's another Pantsir system that was being put up on a rooftop near the Taganaskaya station (and almost next door to Vystosky's old house)https://t.co/s4Ylc7rnoz pic.twitter.com/yoqCa3w574 Aric Toler (@AricToler) January 19, 2023 In Moscow, a Russian Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile system has been placed on the roof of a building of the Central District Department of Education on Teterinsky Lane, for the reasons so far unknown. 55.745352, 37.651179 pic.twitter.com/qMd1NVDYhW Status-6 (Military & Conflict News) (@Archer83Able) January 19, 2023 Another Pantsir S-1 air defence system was installed in Moscow. Only 10 km away from Putin's residence. pic.twitter.com/0BVbjfQs0a Clash Report (@clashreport) January 20, 2023 Furthermore, the explicit focus on using Pantsir-SMD-E for point defense of critical infrastructure against drones underscores how real a danger Ukraines uncrewed attackers have come to pose to highly prized facilities deeper and deeper inside Russia. Uncrewed aerial systems present serious threats to Russian forces in frontline fighting in Ukraine, as well. The routine use of uncrewed aerial systems, including multiple tiers of weaponized types, on both sides of the war in Ukraine has provided clear evidence that drone threats, which are not new, are still evolving in scale and scope. Long-range kamikaze drones look set to be a growing danger on a global level to military forces on the frontlines and critical infrastructure deeper within a countrys home territory. Russian media published a video from the "Shahed" UAV assembly shop pic.twitter.com/0KWH8aKpQ1 NEXTA (@nexta_tv) March 5, 2024 So, you know, the problem got complicated here in the last two and a half years, and the proliferation every country, you know, can afford these kinds of things and we have to go against them, U.S. Air Force Gen. James Hecker, his services top office in Europe and also NATOs Allied Air Command, said while speaking about drone threats last month. We can use them [as] well and put adversaries on the wrong side of the cost curve. So, in turn, there has been a surge of interest in counter-drone capabilities worldwide and not just to protect forces on land. As already noted, a navalized version of Pantsir already exists and ships are at ever-increasing risk of being attacked by drones, as has been highlighted by the ongoing crisis in and around the Red Sea. It is not hard to see a maritime role for Pantsir-SMD-E, or a further anti-drone-focused version thereof. There is a certain general precedent for this already with Israels adaptation of the land-based Iron Dome counter-rockets, artillery, and mortars system, which also has a point defense capability against drones and cruise missiles, for use on ships. The Russian Navy has also been observed adding Tor surface-to-air missile systems to ships in an improvised manner to help bolster point air defense capabilities. Interesante imagen de la INS Lahav (Sa'ar 5) cargando dos baterias Iron Dome a popa. Probablemente estara realizando pruebas para el C-Dome, la version navalizada de ese sistema que dispondra de sus propios VLS (silos verticales) en las nuevas corvetas Sa'ar 6. #Israel#Navypic.twitter.com/jmeb61TEpC Israel Defensa Gabriel Yerushalmi (@Defensa_Israel) January 17, 2021 All of this might also prompt export interest in a system like Pantsir-SMD-E in countries undaunted by the prospect of Western sanctions. A foreign partner could help further defray development and acquisition costs for Russia. It does remain to be seen how effective, or even widely fielded by Russia, Pantsir-SMD-E ends up being. Still, the new Pantsir variant reflects real and still growing concerns about the threats drones pose that extend well beyond the war in Ukraine and traditional battlefields, in general. Contact the author: joe@twz.com ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) The family of 11-year-old Veondre Hargrove said they are grateful 14-year-old Gavin Santos-Brown turned himself in. Police were looking for the teen accused of shooting and killing Hargrove Thursday night in St. Petersburg. Santos-Brown is being charged as an adult in the case. Police had been looking for him since Friday. On Monday, the department said Santos-Brown came to the station with his family, but hasnt given any additional information yet. They said detectives had been in contact with the family since the night of the shooting, saying they were going to turn him in. Its unclear why it took a few days to do so. Hargroves family held a candlelight vigil for him over the weekend. They shared pictures and videos showing an energetic and happy kid. 11-year-old child, a baby, gone too soon, said Darryl Walls, Hargroves great uncle. Im still in awe you know, its still shocking, my nephew. Come on, man, so sad. Walls remembers a good kid, who didnt have a chance to live. Kids all have their challenges, Walls said. You know, sometimes you get to hanging with the wrong crowd. You know, thats the only thing I say, hanging with the wrong people and got caught up in something that was bigger than life. According to an affidavit, Hargrove was visiting a mutual friend of his and Santos-Browns. The mutual friend, who is also a minor, wasnt there at first, but an adult woman was home. Santos-Brown arrived, and they were in the living room. They got into an argument. That is when the resident actually came home, and he did notice that our suspect had a gun in his hand, said Ashley Limardo, St. Petersburg Police Public Information Specialist. He did tell him to put the gun away, and next thing he knew, our victim was shot and killed. Limardo said there was an adult home at the time of the shooting. It is good to know whos in your house and if they are known or not known to be carrying weapons. Its always important to check, but theres only so much, at the same time, that parents can do as well, Limardo said. Hargroves family said the adult woman at the house was asleep at the time, didnt know Santos-Brown was in the house, woke up to a loud noise, and her son the mutual friend screaming. He ran out here and got my nephew, got my nephews, and they ran down there, along with his brother, and tried to revive him, Walls said. I already know my nephews, they aint going to be the same. I know they taking it hard, theyre men, but they still taking it hard. To see your little cousin just bleed out right there on the floor, in a senseless killing for what? A vape. Walls hopes people hear about what happened to his nephew and remember he died for no reason at all. This should be a wake up call for not Veondre, because he is already, you know, hes already gone. But other kids, please, and parents, get a grip, Walls said. We all had our challenges, but he didnt deserve that. Police are still looking into how Santos-Brown got the gun. More charges could be filed based on the findings of the investigation. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. MEMPHIS, Tenn. Class is in full swing across the MidSouth and parents are learning everything that comes with going back to school can get costly. A WREG investigation found the price parents pay adds up even more because of fees charged for school lunches that they may not even see. Ashanti Clark says establishing routines for her sons Daniel and Ethan, a sixth and third grader makes busy mornings much easier. In fact, she created what looks similar to a stop light system for her boys to start the day. We start out every morning on red, so I put all of them on red. As they complete the task, they push the button, explained Clark. Daniel and Ethan started school at the end of the first week in August, but Clark says the planning began more than a month ago. Clark said, Weve just been preparing, Ive got to prepare the house, Ive got to prepare the pantry for all the snacks and the lunch! Clark says the boys mainly take their lunch to school, but they also check out the menus to decide on days theyll buy instead. Paying for school lunches for parents like Clark has gotten much easier with electronic options. Gone are the days of having to write a check or send exact change to the school. I like to use those, the school account system because thats much more convenient for me, I can just transfer money onto the account and I know they have what they need, Clark told WREG. The Clarks school system uses a digital platform called LINQ Connect for families to make payments for school lunches. Clark can add funds to her boys lunch accounts, transfer money between the two, set low balance alerts and even see whats on the menu. Its instant like they immediately have the money when they need it, so I dont have to do anything else. Its really convenient, explained Clark. However, that convenience comes with a cost, according to research uncovered by the NewsChannel 3 Investigators. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently released a report raising concerns about what it calls junk fees charged by school lunch payment processors. When parents add money to their childs lunch accounts online, theyre typically charged a transaction or convenience fee every time they re-load funds. Austin Hinkle, the agencys Section Chief for the Office of Students and Young Consumers says whats most surprising is just how expensive the fees are. I think the first thing that families need to know is that these fees can add up, as they can be really expensive over the course of a year, especially compared to how much youre paying in food costs, Hinkle told WREG. The CFPB looked at the 300 largest, public school districts in the country and found additional school lunch fees can cost families upwards of $100 million. Their research also reveals families getting reduced lunch may be paying as much as $0.60 in fees for every dollar spent on food. Hinkle says it places the biggest burden on families who can least afford it. Families who deposit more frequently because theyre waiting for their paycheck and they cant, you know, pay for the entire year of school lunches all at the same time, pay a lot more in fees over the year, Hinkle told the NewsChannel 3 Investigators. The WREG Investigators reached out to local school districts and scoured their websites to find out which school lunch payment platforms are used, the costs of extra fees, and how parents can avoid them altogether. The highest transaction fee we found was $3.25 for Arlington Community Schools, the Germantown Municipal School District, and Millington Municipal Schools which all use My School Bucks. All Millington students get free breakfast and lunch but can be charged for a la carte or additional items they choose to buy, according to a district spokesperson. The district noted the fee is charged per family, so parents arent hit with multiple for each child. Germantown Schools says My School Bucks also offers an option for users to pay a yearly, one-time fee of $12.95 for one student. GMSD said the One Pay Membership is $26.95 for two or more students. Collierville Schools uses SchoolCafe which charges a $2.25 convenience fee. Bartlett City Schools uses LINQ Connect and the processing fee is $2.60. Some families pay a percentage per transaction instead of a dollar amount. The Lakeland School system contracts with RevTrak and the convenience fee for paying online with a credit card is 3.4% per transaction. Desoto County Schools also uses LINQ Connect and the convenience fee is 3.85% with a minimum fee of $2.85 per transaction for credit and debit cards. Its a price Hinkle says parents dont have to pay at all. The other thing families should know is that theyre entitled under the federal law to a fee-free option, and so they can go to their school and ask and make sure that they understand, said Hinkle. Hinkle also says while the fees are charged by the third parties, the districts have the power to negotiate their contracts. So school districts are really in a great position to do that when they negotiate with the vendors themselves, and to be able to cover as many of those costs as possible for families so that when youre paying for your school lunch, youre not also having to pay for these pay to pay junk fees, added Hinkle. One example of that is at Memphis Shelby County Schools. All MSCS students receive free lunch and the district absorbs the $2.49 transaction fee charged by My School Bucks for monies added when families purchase additional items. The strategy for Clark, who is an accountant by trade, is simple. She plans for those extra fees. I can go ahead and add up, you know, how much does breakfast and lunch cost every day, times the number of days, times the kid, and you get the number, so you just put that in your budget, explained Clark. How Can I Avoid the Additional Fees? Go old school and pay with cash or a check (**Note-MSCS is cashless.**) Ask your childs school how they accept the above forms of payments Look for the alternative methods on the school or districts website Consider making fewer transactions if possible, but watch for minimum payment requirements Inquire about annual, one-time flat fees The Marion County School District (Arkansas) did not return our request for information or comment. WREG reached out to all of the payment platforms mentioned in this story and none responded. At least two of them offered no way to speak to a live person at the corporate level. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com. The Park Fire burning in Northern California had not grown in 24 hours as of Tuesday morning as firefighters continued to work on containment of the wildfire, which had only slightly increased. The Park Fire, as of Tuesday morning, had burned a total of 429,259 acres (670 square miles) with containment at 39%; up by a percentage point Monday morning, according to Cal Fire. Most of the fire activity remained in the northeast portion of the fire in Tehama County. Fire behavior was subdued overnight due to higher humidity, according to a Tuesday morning Cal Fire situational summary. Flames are primarily burning in timber and dead and downed vegetation. Jan Smoots, a fire behavior analyst for Cal Fire, said calmer wind expected Tuesday will reduce the potential for spot fires and create shorter burn periods that should now only last from the early afternoon to the early evening. Overall, things are looking pretty favorable for mop-up operations and keeping the fire within the current footprint, Smoots told firefighters during a Tuesday morning operational briefing. Spot fires occur when floating embers drift in the air land on the unburned side of a fire containment line. Conducting mop-up involves removing or extinguishing all burning or smoldering material along containment lines. The wildfire has burned more than 376,000 acres in Tehama County. Flames burned nearly 53,000 acres in Butte County. The wildfire has also affected areas in Plumas and Shasta counties, where some evacuation warnings remained in placed Tuesday, according to Cal Fire. Evacuation orders remained in place in some areas of Tehama County, while other areas remained under evacuation warnings. All Park Fire evacuation orders and warnings in Butte County were lifted last week. The Park Fire as of Tuesday remained the fourth-largest wildfire in California recorded history. The third largest was the Mendocino Complex Fire that started in July 2018 and burned 459,123 acres. The August Complex Fire that burned 1.03 million acres in seven Northern California counties is the largest in state history; it killed one person and destroyed 935 structures. The Park Fire, burning into its 21st day on Tuesday, started July 24 in Butte County just east of Chico after a suspected act of arson. Ronnie Dean Stout II, 42, of Chico is accused of pushing a burning car into a gully in Upper Bidwell on July 24, igniting what would become the Park Fire before emerging from heavy vegetation along the hiking path and joining evacuees fleeing the area, prosecutors have said. Stout, who has been charged with felony arson, appeared in Butte Superior Court in late July and earlier this month for his arraignment but has not entered a plea. He is scheduled to return to court Aug. 22 for another arraignment hearing. The Park Fire is Californias largest wildfire caused by arson in recorded history. The wildfire has destroyed 641 structures and damaged 52 others in Butte and Tehama counties, according to Cal Fire. The total includes infrastructure. In Butte County, the fire destroyed 428 structures and damaged 47 others. Cal Fire said the fire destroyed 213 structures in Tehama County, damaging five others. No fatalities to civilians or firefighters have been reported in the Park Fire, according to its latest incident update. SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) Parkers Kitchen, a nationally acclaimed convenience store company and food service leader headquartered in Savannah, was included on the prestigious Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing private companies in America (Inc.) for the seventh time earlier today. The Inc. 5000 list recognizes the top private companies in the U.S. in terms of growth. Once again, Parkers Kitchen joins top U.S. companies like Microsoft, Patagonia, Facebook and Chobani on the Inc. 5000 list. WSAV News 3, iHeart Media and Parkers Kitchen to host donation drive for victims of Tropical Storm Debby To earn a spot on the highly competitive annual list, companies needed to demonstrate significant revenue and human resources growth between 2020 and 2023. Inc. will recognize the winners in the September 2024 issue of the magazine and at the Inc. 5000 Conference and Gala, which will be held October 16-18 in Palm Desert, Calif. Welcome to a very exclusive and extraordinary list of honorees, Inc. Editor-in-Chief Mike Hofman told the winners in a special video message. This achievement puts you among the ranks of the greatest businesses and entrepreneurs today. Making this unique list takes tremendous dedication, skill and innovative thinking. Parkers Kitchen founder and CEO Greg Parker, who opened the first Parkers store in Midway in 1976, is currently leading the company through expansion and plans to open 100 new stores over the next four years in new and existing markets, doubling the size of the company. What an incredible honor for Parkers Kitchen to be included on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing companies in America for 2024 for the seventh time, said Parker. This landmark achievement serves as a tribute to the hard work and dedication of every member of the Parkers Kitchen team and to the amazing loyalty of our customers. At Parkers Kitchen, we want to be the best company to work for in America and to deliver best-in-class experiences for our customers. Parkers Kitchen employs more than 1,600 professionals throughout Georgia and South Carolina and completes more than a million transactions weekly at stores throughout Georgia and South Carolina. The company was named the Convenience Store Chain of the Year by Convenience Store Decisions, which is the industrys highest honor, and has been honored by Food and Wine as one of Americas Best Convenience Stores and by Convenience Store News as the Convenience Foodservice Leader of the Year. Parkers Kitchen uses predictive analytics and machine learning to determine the most seamless, frictionless and time-efficient ways to complete transactions and to prepare the freshest possible food to meet customer demand. The company is also a pioneer in GPS-enabled mobile app technology, customer loyalty programs and high-quality foodservice. Parkers Kitchen was recently included on Inc. 5000s 2024 prestigious list of the fastest growing companies in America for the seventh year. The company is currently in the midst of a major expansion and is planning to build 100 stores over the next four years in new and existing markets from Myrtle Beach, S.C. to Jacksonville, Fla. Since its founding in 1976, Parkers Kitchen has become a nationally acclaimed company that was voted the #4 Best Gas Station for Food and the #6 Best Gas Station Brand in America by USA TODAY readers in 2023. The Parkers Rewards loyalty program, which includes more than 300,000 members, has saved customers more than $15 million to date. Our team shares a powerful commitment to delivering exceptional customer service and exceeding customer expectations, said Parkers Kitchen President Brandon Hofmann. Were focused on excellence, strategic growth and making a transformative impact in the communities where we do business through strategic, ongoing philanthropy. Known for its commitment to charitable giving, Parkers Kitchen stands apart as one of the most generous companies in the convenience store industry and in the Southeast. Over the past six years, the company has donated more than $30 million to support education, expand access to healthcare, fight childhood hunger and celebrate local heroes. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSAV-TV. The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and other warships cross the Strait of Hormuz into the Persian Gulf on Nov. 26, 2023 as part of a wider American deployment in the Middle East amid the Israel-Hamas war. Information Technician Second Class Ruskin Naval/US Navy via AP Oil prices spiked on Monday as tensions flared in the Middle East. Israel is preparing for an Iranian attack after killing a Hamas leader in Tehran two weeks ago. WTI crude oil and Brent crude were up over 3.6% and 2.86%, respectively. US and international oil prices are surging as tensions in the Middle East simmer ahead of a potential attack by Iran against Israel. West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose as much as 4% and was up by bout 3.6% to $79.62 a barrel at the end of the day on Monday, while Brent was u 3% to trade above $82. The rise in oil prices comes as Israel prepares for potential attacks from Iran, sources told the Wall Street Journal. Israel put its military on high alert for the first time this month as it observed Iran and Hezbollah preparing to attack, the source said. The Pentagon announced late on Sunday that the US has accelerated the deployment of an aircraft carrier to the Middle East. Tensions have risen sharply after the Israeli military killed senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran just hours after killing a senior Hezbollah official in Beirut late last month. Leaders in the US and other countries have feared an escalation of tensions between Iran and Israel for some time, and observed limited attacks between the two countries in April. A more open conflict could spill over into other parts other region, experts say. OPEC+, meanwhile, has lowered its global oil demand growth forecast for the year, and the latest rally in prices comes two weeks after US oil production hit a record high of 13.4 million barrels per day. Even before the latest production record, the Energy Information Administration announced in March that the US produces more crude oil than any other country. Read the original article on Business Insider While Mondays 4.4. magnitude earthquake rattled the nerves of millions of people in Southern California, damage was thankfully minimal. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake struck at 12:20 p.m. about 2.5 miles south of Highland Park and just west of Pasadena, where city officials said the historic city hall building sustained a broken pipe. Water was seen cascading off the City Halls roof as people evacuated the building. Employees were eventually allowed back into the building just over an hour after the quake initially struck, the City of Pasadena said. Pasadena Fire Department crews surveyed the city and found no additional damage other than the burst pipe. There were no reports of damage or injuries elsewhere in SoCal immediately following the earthquake. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) A pedestrian was seriously injured Tuesday, when she was hit by an airborne car that had struck a barrier near Strong Memorial Hospital. According to the Rochester Police Department, the man driving the car was headed to Strong Memorial Hospital for psychiatric treatment around 1:00 p.m. when he sped into a barrier in a parking lot along Kendrick Road at Lattimore Road. The vehicle went into the air, hit a woman on the sidewalk, and landed in the road. The woman was taken to the hospital up the street with what police said were serious, but not life-threatening injuries. The driver was not injured, but was taken to the hospital for psychiatric treatment. Police said they were considering potential criminal charges against the driver. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to RochesterFirst. (WHTM) Pennsylvania is investing over $9.9 million to purchase development rights for 2,654 acres on 30 farms in 14 counties, protecting them from any future residential or commercial development, the Shapiro Administration announced. The Shapiro Administration says these purchases will ensure that local farmers across the state will have the necessary quality land to continue supporting communities and jobs. Pennsylvania is a great place to do business, Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said. Our location near ports, interstates, railways, and 40 percent of the U.S. population means farmers face fierce competition from developers seeking to buy their land. Saving fertile farmland for producing food, rather than losing it to warehouses and suburban sprawl is a critical investment the Shapiro Administration is making along with farm families and county and local governments to feed our families, and our economy, and our future together. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now This Week in Pennsylvania These purchases multiply the impact of Pennsylvania dollars invested in conservation initiatives, according to the administration. These initiatives include the $154 million Agricultural Conservation Assistance Program (ACAP), the $13 million in Resource Enhancement and Protection tax credits, and Clean and Green tax incentives. Additionally, these purchases will multiply support for Pennsylvania farmers who are conserving and enhancing clean water and healthy soil. Pennsylvania leads the nation in preserved farmland. Since the creation of the 1988 Farmland Preservation Program, it has protected 6,422 farms and 641,908 acres across 58 counties for future development, says the Shapiro Administration. The state will purchase development rights to land, ensuring that land will never be sold to developers. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27. Pennsylvania man accused of shooting at people who asked him to turn his music down A Somerset County man is facing charges after allegedly shooting at people who confronted him about driving up and down the road while blaring music after midnight. NBC affiliate WJAC reports Joseph Paruch, 37, was driving back and forth down Hoffman Church Road and playing loud music between 1 and 3 a.m. Sunday morning in Jenner Township. At one point, he allegedly parked his vehicle at a nearby church and one of the neighbors confronted him about the music and asked him to leave. WJAC reports Paruch then blocked an intersection with his car, grabbed a rifle and fired shots at the house and the victims vehicle. Witnesses also said he appeared to be intoxicated and they found an empty beer can in the road. Paruch is in the Somerset County Prison on $250,000 bail. He is facing multiple charges, including attempted homicide. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW TRENDING NOW: Time is money: Government to make it easier to cancel memberships, recurring payments Teen boy killed, another hurt in Wilkinsburg car crash Plum community coming together Monday to remember neighbors killed in house explosion VIDEO: New protocol for area EMS service helps rural patients get life-saving heart attack treatment faster DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) A man faces federal charges that he voted in both Florida and in Pennsylvania for the 2020 presidential election, and twice in Pennsylvania during the November 2022 election. The U.S. attorneys office in Philadelphia said Friday it had filed five charges against 62-year-old Philip C. Pulley of Huntingdon Valley, alleging he violated federal election law by falsely registering to vote, double voting and engaging in election fraud. Its unclear how often double voting occurs or how often it is prosecuted. But a review published in December 2021 by The Associated Press found fewer than 475 potential cases of voter fraud in the six battleground states disputed by former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election. Those cases were too few to have made a difference in his reelection defeat. Pennsylvania food vendor accused of threatening workers, withholding overtime pay Pulley is accused of using a false Philadelphia address and Social Security number when in 2020 he registered in Philadelphia while already being registered to vote in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, and Broward County, Florida. That year he requested a mail-in ballot in Philadelphia and voted in both Montgomery and Broward, according to the criminal allegations. The charging document also claims that in November 2022, with a U.S. Senate seat on the ballot, he voted in both Philadelphia and Montgomery counties. Federal prosecutors say Pulley had a history of using his address in Huntingdon Valley, Montgomery County, to vote from 2005 through last year. In 2018, they claim, he registered in Broward County from an address in Lighthouse Point, Florida. Pennsylvania voting records indicate Pulley was registered as a Republican in Montgomery County from the 1990s until he changed it to the Democratic Party last year. A few years prior, in February 2020, he registered as a Democrat in Philadelphia where he voted in general elections in 2021, 2022 and 2023, the records show. Get the latest news, weather forecasts and sports stories delivered straight to your inbox! Sign up for our newsletters. Pulley did not have a lawyer listed in court records, and a phone number for him could not be located. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTAJ - www.wtaj.com. Escambia County is trying to find a partner to help sell workforce homes like this one in Southwest Pensacola built through the county's infill housing program. Some housing advocates question how the county is spending housing dollars after funding for a down payment assistance program ran dry. Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com Lenders in Escambia County are scrambling for alternative ways to help potential first-time homeowners with down payment and closing cost assistance after the sudden announcement that one of the main sources of assistance funding, the State Housing Initiatives Partnership Program (SHIP), has been halted for new applicants. Some community leaders say the lack of financial options to help people in the low- to moderate-range income bracket become homeowners is making it even harder to navigate the affordable housing crisis. The city of Pensacola received word from Escambia Countys Neighborhood Enterprise Division manager in mid-July that SHIP funding for the fiscal year 2024/2025 has been fully exhausted and they are out of money for the purchase assistance funding program for the next 12 to 18 months. The news came as a surprise to coordinators with the citys homebuyer program who say they had little warning SHIP funding was so low and would remain that way for so long. Historically, the city of Pensacola and Escambia County have jointly participated in the SHIP program under an interlocal agreement. The city administers the home buyer program county-wide; taking applications and working with lenders and buyers regardless of if the purchase is in the city limits or the county. The county manages the money that is designated to both Pensacola and Escambia County for the SHIP program. This really is unheard of, the fact that we just abruptly stopped and had all these files in our office. We weren't sure if those were going to be covered, said Meredith Reeves, Pensacola city housing administrator. We couldn't get a response. In the past, over the years, there have been times where we've had to stop due to lack of funding, but we had time to address it. I think the frustration now is not getting regular communication, or asking and not getting a response, like how much is the citys allocation of funding? Mayor D.C. Reeves also has questions about what happened to the funding and the equity of the interlocal agreement, which expires in June 2025. He said it has been difficult to get clear answers from Escambia County about how the money is being spent. The city is also getting a 10% administrative fee for managing the program, but the 10% is only for managing the citys portion of the funding, when Pensacola is managing the program for the entire county and not being compensated for it. Can you bring a financial breakdown of what has been spent in the city and county over the last three years as well as the accounting for when city funds are returned and how those are brought back to the city? Mayor D.C. Reeves wrote in an email obtained through a public records request and sent July 17 to Clara Long, Escambia County Community Redevelopment Agency director, and Garett Griffin, Escambia County Neighborhood Enterprise division manager. How are we presented with our funding each year? The impression I get is that there is a lot of ambiguity about who is entitled to what, and thats not typically how I do business. If there has been a financial audit of these funds lately, maybe thats the most concise way to get me up to speed. The city says a breakdown of the requested financial information still has not been received. Where did the down payment assistance money go? Escambia Neighborhood Enterprise Division Manager Garett Griffin told the News Journal the last allocation for state SHIP funding was for $3.2 million, which included both the city and countys portion of funding. He said the citys portion was around $500,000. The next round of SHIP dollars will be available Oct. 1, but the total amount dropped to $2.7 million. Griffin said the county wasnt expecting that much of a cut and there are fewer dollars to spread around to all SHIP funded programs, including money set aside for the down payment and closing costs assistance program. He said the amount spent on the program last year was more than double the amount the county usually sets aside for first-time homebuyer activities, which is typically about $450,000. The reason he said the costs went up so much, to $1.3 million, is because the city and county agreed to give first-time homebuyers more money toward down payment assistance and closing costs due to the high cost of housing, which has gone up significantly. As a result, the county has decided to put this years SHIP funding allocation for the down payment assistance program and use it to cover last years applications, which includes buyers who were already approved for the money even though that pot of money was running dry. Griffin said the program helped 54 homebuyers, last year. Basically, we have just exhausted, beyond exhausted, the funding that we had set aside for that strategy, Griffin said. It was a great thing for those people. It's just we can't use all of our money for just that when we have such a great need in other areas of the community. The issue was recently discussed at an Affordable Housing Advisory Committee (AHAC) meeting. The organization is made of representatives from the city and county, as well as nonprofits and others in the banking and lending community to help oversee and strategize the communitys approach to affordable housing, including the use of SHIP funds. AHAC members, including Chair Crystal Scott, expressed surprise, frustration and disappointment over the sudden news that SHIP funds for the down payment assistance program would no longer be available to new applicants for the time being. They also question how the county is spending all its SHIP funds. A lack of down payment assistance money really impacts everything, Scott said. The SHIP dollars are there to assist citizens of our county and our city to achieve ownership. They're there as a subsidy to help our most vulnerable folks try and find a place of their own. It's disheartening and kind of unbelievable that our SHIP dollars could be depleted. In case you missed it: An affordable housing summit brought leaders of Florida to Pensacola. What did they learn? How is Escambia County spending SHIP dollars? The News Journal requested a list of the programs Escambia County is funding with SHIP dollars and how much is being spent on each. In response, the county provided a Housing Delivery Goals Chart for 2024/2025 which is an annual report sent to the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, that shows how much the county intends to spend the money. Griffin said the county uses SHIP to fund, either wholly or in part, at least a handful of other, primarily construction programs including wheelchair ramps, septic to sewer conversions, emergency assistance, demolition and replacement, and rehabilitation. According to the Housing Delivery Goals Chart, the county intended to spend $497,500 on 18 "units" under the purchase assistance program; $800,000 on four units under the demo/reconstruction program; $675,000 on nine units under the owner occupied rehabilitation (OOR) program; $70,000 on ten units under the OOR accessibility program; $25,000 on disaster mitigation/assistance; and $150,000 on 6 units under the owner occupied emergency repair program. Griffin all those programs except for purchase assistance are still rolling full steam ahead because the county has essentially given them priority due to "need" and "waitlists." He said the waitlist for the rehabilitation is over 350 and there are close to 40 people on the waitlist for the demo and replacement program. How do these programs work? According to Griffin, the county is making repairs to keep some homes safe and inhabitable with projects ranging from roof replacements to termite infestations with the goal to get people "out of that dangerous living space and into a brand-new home. Griffin said the recipients of this type of county assistance often have no other option for help, unlike home buyers who can tap into other programs for purchase assistance. We have to look at our wait lists that we have, which, unfortunately, because of the mass need in the community, these wait lists are growing each year, Griffin said. We can't keep up with the demand in the community just because of funding limitations. According to the county, funds under this strategy are provided for the rehabilitation or reconstruction of severely substandard (more than 50% of value of home to repair) owneroccupied single-family units. These units are unable to be addressed through other consortium repair programs and will be brought up to code through this strategy and will be referred through the housing inspection process or code enforcement. "The size and specifications of the replacement house will be determined by County or, when applicable, City staff," said Griffin. Several of the programs use deferred loans or grant, depending on the proposed project. Escambia County has also used $600,000 in SHIP dollars to build three houses for its Infill/Workforce Housing program, at a cost of $200,000 each, according to the Housing Delivery Goals Chart. He said 14 houses have either been built or are in the process of being built through the program and all but the SHIP funded homes were built with a combination of federal and state funds. However, none of the houses that are finished have been sold or listed for sale, proceeds which would return some money to county coffers. The county has not yet provided the cost for building all the homes. Many of the houses built through the countys workforce housing program are in the city, on county-owned properties. The News Journal visited a handful that appeared to be complete or nearly complete. The county said its working to find a partner who can help the county sell them because by law the government entity cant sell them. We are going to be doing an (request for proposals) just to seek some interest from the community for builders and someone who has done income qualification type things, because all of the eligible buyers have to meet that income guideline, 80% (area median income) and below, said Clara Long, Escambia County Community Redevelopment Agency director. We will be putting information out there and seeing what organization will best fit the criteria that we're needing for them to not only sell the house, but also provide housing counseling, looking at their credit and just getting them ready to purchase a first-time home buyer. The county has no timeline for selecting a partner and selling the homes, but staff say they have weekly conversations about it. What happens now Both the county and city say they want to find better ways to communicate and work together to help provide people with affordable housing opportunities. In the meantime, the citys housing administrators are looking at alternative funding options to help some first-time homebuyers. We definitely have heard from lenders and realtors and buyers that are frustrated and would like to have some funding available in the upcoming 12 months, said Meredith Reeves. So, from our point of view we are looking at some alternate funding to make available so we can assist people, at least inside the city limits, with down payment and closing cost assistance. The mayor says hes also taking a closer look at the interlocal agreement Pensacola has with Escambia County on sharing the SHIP funding. He said it may be time for a change when the agreement expires next year. We are either renegotiating this or we're not doing it, Reeves said. It's one of the two. The lack of communication and the lack of understanding of priorities and the lack of a seat at the table for our money to be dictated by someone else isn't where it needs to be. This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Escambia, Pensacola SHIP funding for first-time home buyers depleted PEORIA HEIGHTS, Ill. (WMBD) Water in Peoria Heights will soon see a completely new look. On Monday, U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen spoke to business owners and Peoria Heights residents about the $960,000 in federal dollars that will completely restructure the villages water system. Peoria Heights comments on discolored water Ive had many conversations over the course of the past couple of years with parents who are nervous about turning on the faucet and giving a glass of water to their kids, the Rockford Democrat said. We have to be crystal clear about this to people here at home. That should not and it will not ever happen again. The water main and service lines along Illinois Route 29 will be replaced using the grant money, offering cleaner water. For years village residents have dealt with discolored water, at times, and also frequent checks by state officials who would test the waters safety. Its hoped, the congressman said, these improvements will alleviate those fears. So this money will go a long way in providing funding for the water main improvements, its a total of about $2.4 million down there, said Wayne Aldrich, the villages community development director. But this will get us certainly quite a ways down the road on that project. We appreciate [Sorensens] partnership on this and really want to get started on this project as soon as possible. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CIProud.com. PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) The Peoria Riverfront Museum held a special gathering Tuesday for Peoria public service members. The idea, said John Morris, the museums CEO, was to honor and thank those who give of their time to help others. It was also to thank them for their continued support to the museum. Morris spoke on how important the museum is to Peoria, and how it wouldnt be nearly what it was without the support from those in the audience. Those in attendance for Public Service Appreciation Day spanned all walks of public life. From schools to local government to state government, many were there for the event which offered them a tour of the museum as well. Some people in attendance at include: state Reps. Jehan Gordon-Booth and William Hauter, Washington Mayor Gary Minier, Peoria County Board Chair Jimmy Dillon, 4th District Peoria City Councilman Andre Allen, Peoria Public Schools Superintendent Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat, Peoria County Regional Superintendent Beth Crider, and many more. Peoria Riverfront Museum opens medical and waterfowl exhibits Many spoke about why the museum is special to them. Gordon-Booth spoke about the museums inclusiveness. When you come into this museum, you see everybody, she said. This is a space that everybody feels seen and heard. And when I think about what makes communities grow, what makes communities the most valuable, its that they have the ability to bring everybody in, make no one feel left out. Morris also used the occasion to announce a collaboration with the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, which used to live in the area but now resides in Oklahoma. The museum has been working with the tribe and has cultivated a good relationship. The tribes chief will be in Peoria in a few weeks to dedicate Center for American Decoys with 14 state-of-the-art decoy cases made by the tribe and will be delivered here from Oklahoma. The cases are going to be a dramatic improvement to what is in the museum now, Morris said. The museums next big exhibit is the Jim Henson: Imagination Unlimited exhibit. It will feature a multi-media, Muppet-filled experience to honor the great puppeteer, Jim Henson. That exhibit opens Sept. 28 and runs through Jan. 5. The Sharks Exhibit wraps up in just a few weeks on Sept. 2. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CIProud.com. AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) An online petition against the new Richmond County Board of Education cell phone policy has gathered over 4,000 signatures as of Aug. 12. In June, a new cell phone policy for schools in Richmond County received the vote of approval and was implemented for the 2024-2025 school year. The amended cell phone and electronic device policy states that, Cell phones, electronic communication devices, and/or accessories must be turned completely off (not on silent or vibrate mode) and put away out of view (as directed by school administration) during the instructional day Just days into the new school year, opinions have been voiced about the policy, so much so that a petition has been started on Change.org. The petition calls for the Richmond County Schools to review and reform their polices on mobile phone usage. School leaders have emphasized that the goal of the policy is to ensure students are learning without distraction. Per the policy, students needing to make emergency calls are able to do so in the main office of schools. Violation of the policy results in consequences for first, second, third and fourth offenses. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJBF. HUBBARD, Ohio (WKBN) A petition in Hubbard has collected almost double the necessary signatures to help a medical marijuana dispensary in the city sell recreational marijuana. Trumbull County Board of Elections Director Stephanie Penrose says 285 people signed the petition. One hundred ninety-four of those were valid. Only 100 signatures were needed. Those behind the petition want voters to decide if ACA Dispensary should be able to sell recreational marijuana. The petition heads to the Board of Elections next meeting, which is 9 a.m. Friday. If the petition is certified, itll be sent to the state for its official language. If approved by the state, itll be on Hubbard voters ballots this November. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. Question: My two sisters and I inherited our parents Maricopa County home several months ago, and we have been arguing constantly. One of my sisters wants to live in the house at reduced rent, and my other sister wants to rent the home to a tenant at full rental value because she needs the money. I want to sell the house, as my husband and I are retiring and moving to Mexico. Help! Answer: You should hire an attorney to file a partition lawsuit, which is no-fault like a divorce. Even if only one spouse wants a divorce, there will still be a divorce. Similarly, with a partition lawsuit, even if only one owner wants to sell a home or other jointly-owned real property, there will be a partition sale of the jointly-owned real property. After you file and serve the partition lawsuit, the court will appoint a special commissioner (probably a local real estate agent) to sell the home. After the house is sold, the net proceeds will be sent to the court to be distributed to the three of you, when the three of you reach an agreement on how to divide the sale proceeds. If you and your two sisters cannot reach an agreement, a jury will have to decide. Contact real estate attorney Christopher A. Combs at chris@combsandsaal.com. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Why a partition lawsuit could help with co-owned house issues ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) After more than a year of disruptions, the long-awaited completion of phase two of the Bridge Boulevard construction project is finally in sight. This extensive project, which has caused significant traffic delays and inconvenience for local businesses and residents, is expected to wrap up in November. Story continues below The stretch of Bridge Blvd. between the river crossing and Young Ave. has been particularly problematic, with what used to be a five-minute drive turning into a 20-minute ordeal during peak hours. According to county officials, the construction was initially scheduled to be completed by October of last year. However, unforeseen delays, including the replacement of old gas lines by New Mexico Gas Company and inclement weather, have pushed the project back by over a year. Bernalillo County Commissioner Steven Michael Quezada expressed frustration with the prolonged timeline, attributing the delays to the various entities involved in the infrastructure improvements. It just seems like these other entities that came in to improve the infrastructure there kind of just took their time, Quezada said. Local attorney David Idinopulos, whose law office is right at the intersection of Isleta and Bridge, highlighted the impact the construction has had on clients trying to come into his office. If you have a two oclock appointment, maybe you better leave at one oclock because theres a chance that youll be stuck in traffic on Bridge for sometimes as much as a half hour, Idinopulos said. The gas companys involvement in the area was completed at the beginning of August, clearing the way for the final phase of the roadwork. The next phase of improvements on Bridge Boulevard is slated to begin in 2026, with the public comment period closing and the design phase of the next leg of the project expected to take a year. This will include the reconstruction of the Five Points intersection. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. A recently surfaced photo of Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, dressed as a woman is causing a stir online, with quick to note the clash with his current anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric. The photo, which shows Vance in a blonde wig and dress, was first posted online Sunday by podcast host Matt Bernstein. The source of the photo was Yale assistant professor Travis Whitfall, though it was taken by one of his classmates. Its from a group chat of Vances fellow classmates and is from a friend of a friend. I believe it was grabbed from Facebook and was taken at a Halloween party, Whitfall told The Daily Beast. A spokesperson for Vance did not deny the photos authenticity to The Daily Beast, but they offered no further comment. The photo, one of two that have now been posted online, quickly trended with the hashtag "#SofaLoren," a reference to the popular joke that Vance had sex with a couch. Vance has a long history of support for anti-LGBTQ+ policies, prompting many to point out the Ohio Senators hypocrisy. Theres nothing wrong with dressing as a woman. Theres everything wrong with dressing as a woman and then taking the weird as fuck stance that drag performance, and by proxy LGBT people are deviants who deserve their rights limited, one user wrote on X When running for the U.S. Senate in 2022, Vance said he would have voted against he Respect for Marriage Act, which protects same-sex marriage from future Supreme Court decisions. He also introduced the Protect Childrens Innocence Act, which aims to criminalize gender-affirming medical care for minors. MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) An alligator was saved from a pipe on a beach on Tuesday, Myrtle Beach officials said on Facebook. It was spotted near 73rd Avenue N., the city said, calling the gator a little stubborn, but teamwork got the job done. Myrtle Beach City Government / Facebook Myrtle Beach City Government / Facebook The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources assisted and took the alligator to a more gator-friendly home, the city said. * * * Caleb is a digital producer at News13. Caleb joined the team in January 2023 after graduating from Liberty University. He is from Northern Virginia. Follow Caleb on X, formerly Twitter, and read more of his work here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW. Pilot Who Died After Unauthorized Helicopter Flight Crashed into Hotel Was at Party the Night Before The pilot worked for Nautilus Aviation and had been licensed to fly helicopters in New Zealand, but had never flown a helicopter in Australia, his company said Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)/AFP via Getty The scene of the helicopter's collision with a Hilton hotel in Cairns, Australia A Nautilus Aviation pilot, who died in a helicopter crash on the roof of a hotel in Cairns, Australia on Monday, Aug. 12., had reportedly attended a party with fellow Nautilus Aviation crew members hours prior. Nautilus Aviation told BBC and Sky News that the employee who died who has not yet been identified by authorities was celebrating at a send-off party with other company crew members hours before the crash. The company, which also noted that the party was coordinated by friends" and not a work event, said that the pilot later gained unauthorized access to our helicopter hangar. The pilot later died after the helicopter he was in collided with the roof of a hotel on the morning of Aug. 12, the Queensland Police Service said in a statement. Related: 1 Dead After Unauthorized Helicopter Flight Crashes onto Roof of Hotel Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)/AFP via Getty The scene of the helicopter's collision with a Hilton hotel in Cairns, Australia Emergency services were called to the intersection of The Esplanade and Florence Street around 1:50 am following reports of a twin-engine Helicopter colliding with the roof of a hotel, police said. Queensland Police continued to note that "The pilot and single occupant of the aircraft was located and declared deceased at the scene, and forensic investigations are underway to formally identify them." Nautilus Aviation also explained to BBC that the pilot had been licensed to fly helicopters in New Zealand, but had never flown a helicopter in Australia, and had recently been promoted to a "ground crew position" at one of the companys bases. Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. The company said it is cooperating with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) and the Queensland Police Service (QPS) on their investigation into the incident, per the outlet. It also noted that it offered its condolences to those involved. We offer our heartfelt condolences to the individuals family and all who have been affected by this tragedy and continue to offer our support to our employees during this very challenging period, their statement said. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)/AFP via Getty The scene of the helicopter's collision with a Hilton hotel in Cairns, Australia Related: 1 Dead, 2 Missing in Hawaii Tour Helicopter Crash: 'Incredibly Sad' Nautilus Aviation did not immediately respond to PEOPLEs request for comment. Queensland Police Service told PEOPLE that no further details are available beyond what has already been released. Queensland Police Service said in its statement that the collision of the helicopter with the hotel resulted in a fire on top of the hotel and the evacuation of guests inside. Shane Holmes, acting chief superintendent of the Queensland Police Service, previously told reporters, per 10 News First Queensland, that two hotel guests received treatment for minor injuries that were sustained from the impact of the collision. He also noted that no one else was harmed. Holmes confirmed to reporters that the aircraft had been taken from a general aviation hangar and was an unauthorized flight, echoing what Nautilus Aviation said. Queensland Police Service said the investigation into the incident remains ongoing, according to the outlet. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Pinellas teen threatened school shooting because he was nervous about new school: sheriff Pinellas teen threatened school shooting because he was nervous about new school: sheriff PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) A 14-year-old was arrested for threatening a mass shooting at a Richard O. Jacobson Technical High School on Monday. The threat comes as several schools in the Tampa Bay area welcomed students back to class. The Pinellas County Sheriffs Office said the teenager sent a Snapchat post stating, Let a single one of these mfs look at me the wrong way im shooting up the school (tears running down face emoji). A tragedy: Girl in critical condition after mom runs her over in Sarasota schools drop-off line When detectives contacted the teen, he admitted to making the post but claimed he did it as a joke because he was nervous about his new school. The 14-year-old was arrested and charged with one count of written threats to kill or conduct a mass shooting. A 15-year-old girl was also arrested on Monday after she made an Instagram post threatening to shoot up Gaither High School in Hillsborough County. The Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office said the girl is facing the following charges: written or electronic threat to conduct a mass shooing or act of terrorism and unlawful use of a two-way communications device. Suspect wanted in stabbing death of Brandon woman: HCSO Today, on the first day back to school, we faced a concerning situation where a student made a violent threat on social media. I am deeply disappointed that such behavior surfaced on what should have been a positive and safe start to the school year, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement. However, I want to express my sincere gratitude for our detectives swift and decisive actions. Their professionalism and vigilance ensured the situation was handled promptly, keeping our schools and community safe. As the 2024-25 school year gets underway, Pinellas deputies urge anyone with information on any threats to contact the sheriffs office at 727-582-6200. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. WINTERVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) Pitt Community College had their annual convocation for faculty and staff on Tuesday to kick off the new school year. The school also welcomed new President Dr. Maria Pharr, who became the sixth president in PCCs history. Pharr replaced Dr. Lawrence Rouse, who retired in June after six years with PCC. Tuesday was Pharrs first day of work. She is already feeling welcomed by the community and is excited to start the new year strong. Stepping into a presidents role is something that is an honor. Theres no doubt it is an honor because you are entrusted with leading the institution forward and to take in all of the needs of our community and help the team, the Pitt community, college team, figure out how to address those needs. said Dr. Pharr. Pharr was president of South Piedmont Community College for the past seven years and is an East Carolina University graduate. With more than 14 years of experience as a community college administrator, committee members said that she is a perfect fit to lead PCC. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WNCT. Poland beefs up military defences with purchase of 48 new Patriot launchers Poland beefs up military defences with purchase of 48 new Patriot launchers Representatives from Polish arms company Huta Stalowa Wola and US defence contractor Raytheon signed an agreement on Monday to produce 48 Patriot launchers for the Polish army. The agreement, guaranteeing the formation of six Patriot missile batteries, was signed between company representatives in the town of Sochaczew. The contract stipulates Huta Stalowa Wola will manufacture the weaponry scheduled to be delivered starting in 2027. Poland's Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz lauded the deal as proof of "our government betting so strongly on security," he said. "We are investing in the Polish defence industry, in the armed forces of the republic for the security of us and our allies". It comes as Warsaw politicians, such as Polands Foreign Minister Radosaw Sikorski, have repeatedly called for reinforced defences, as fears Russia's war in Ukraine could spill over into Europe's eastern countries like Poland, as well as Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. US Ambassador to Warsaw Mark Brzezinski said the production of these weapons is emblematic of the "intrinsic trust between Poland and America". "This defence system intercepts missile and drones, it protects cities and critical infrastructure," he said. "For Poland, the Patriot enhances not only our ability to protect the skies above NATO territory, but also our military interoperability". The weapons system is a "powerful deterrent" for NATO's 700-kilometre eastern flank, Brzezinski said. Of this stretch, Poland shares a 230-kilometre border with Russia. FILE PHOTO: An AH-64E Apache attack helicopter lands during 'Combat Readiness Week' drills in Hsinchu, WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland on Tuesday signed a contract with the U.S. to buy 96 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters as it bolsters its armed forces following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Under the deal with the U.S. government announced by Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, the helicopters will provide new combat capabilities in terms of target engagement and reconnaissance, and will replace Poland's post-Soviet Mi-24 helicopters. In August 2023 the U.S. approved the sale of 96 AH-64E Apaches and related equipment to Poland for about $12 billion. The deal provides a logistics package, including equipment for helicopter maintenance, airport and hangar equipment and technical support, a training package, and ammunition and spare parts. Earlier this month, Poland's defence ministry signed offset deals with Boeing and General Electric worth nearly 1 billion zlotys ($255 million) to compensate for the Apache deal. (Reporting by Barbara Erling; Editing by Giles Elgood) Poland signs $10 billion deal to purchase Apache helicopters from US Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz signed a $10 billion agreement with U.S. company Boeing for 96 Apache attack helicopters for the country's army, Polish media reported on Aug. 13. The contract, signed in the Polish city of Inowrocaw, incudes the delivery of 96 of the helicopters along with a logistics and training package. Poland's new Apaches will replace the Soviet-era Mi-24 helicopters in the Polish army aviation. Poland also has acquired the equipment needed to maintain these helicopters, which will allow the country's aircraft plants to overhaul or repair individual AH-64E components. Commenting on the deal, U.S. Ambassador to Poland Mark Brzezinski noted that Poland is becoming the largest operator of Apache helicopters outside the United States. Earlier this week, Poland signed another deal worth more than $1.2 billion for the production of 48 M903 launchers for Patriot missile defense systems. Both contracts are part of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusks package of investments designed to strengthen Polands military capacity and ability to prevent potential aggression from Russia and Belarus as Russia continues its full-scale war in Ukraine. Read also: Hundreds want to join new Ukrainian legion in Poland, Polish media reports Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. A national jewelry insurer is coming to Raleigh, as Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company announced Tuesday plans to create 200 jobs at a future North Carolina innovation hub. Headquartered in Wisconsin, Jewelers Mutual promises to add these positions between 2025 and 2029 and invest $5.85 million in the facility before the end of next year. The Raleigh location will focus on data solutions that advance a personalized customer experience online, Mark Poole, director of commerce finance at the North Carolina Department of Commerce, told the states Economic Investment Committee. Raleigh edged out 14 other cities for the site, which was nicknamed Project Diamond, with the last finalist being Dallas. The company says it was drawn by the Triangles technical and engineering talent. Jewelers Mutual pledged minimum average wages at the center will be $169,592 though a subsequent press release from Gov. Roy Coopers press office noted wages will vary depending on the position. North Carolina will support this new facility with economic incentives. On Tuesday, the state awarded the 111-year-old company a job development investment grant worth $2.47 million, which will be distributed after Jewelers Mutual meets annual hiring and spending targets. An additional $764,000 will be allocated to support workforce development. Combined, Wake County and Raleigh will offer the company incentives worth $150,000. Enjoy Triangle tech news? Subscribe to Open Source, The News & Observer's weekly newsletter, and look for it in your inbox every Friday morning. Sign up here. Police: 2 arrested after body found near SH 71 in Bastrop BASTROP, Texas (KXAN) Two men were arrested after another man was found dead on State Highway 71 in July, according to the Bastrop Police Department. In a Facebook post, BPD said officers were called to the 300 block of SH 71 West around 9 p.m. on July 25 and found a man with a significant amount of bodily injury. The man was identified by police as Robert Yarbrough, 42. Police arrested two men in connection with Yarbroughs death. Keith A. Pennington, 53, was charged with murder and Nicholas Ray, 37, was charged with tampering with evidence, the post said. Attorney information for Pennington and Ray wasnt listed in court records Monday. Once that information is available, KXAN will reach out for a statement on their clients behalf. Police are asking for anyone with information to call BPD at 512-332-8600. Tips can be sent to Blue Bonnet Crime Stoppers. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin. Police ask for help as investigation into deadly double shooting at Boston home continues Police are turning to the public for help as they continue to investigate who shot two people in Boston early Monday evening, killing one of them. The shooting happened inside a home at 5 Trent Street in the citys Dorchester section just after 6:30 p.m., according to Boston Police Deputy Superintendent Paul McLaughlin. When officers arrived at the home, they found two men suffering from gunshot wounds. Both were treated at the scene and rushed to a local hospital, where one of them died from their injuries. The other suffered non-life-threatening injuries. The names of the men who were shot havent been released. Investigators spent hours at the scene investigating and are now asking for help from the community. We know it was an indoor crime scene located at 5 Trent Street, McLaughlin said during a Monday night news conference. Were looking for assistance from anyone in the neighborhood who was out that saw something, who has video. Wed like them to contact the homicide unit. This latest shooting is now the ninth fatal in Boston this year. The police department recently released data for shootings from the beginning of the year to Aug. 11, and it shows deadly shootings are down this year compared to the same time last year, where there were 20. However, there have been more non-fatal shootings in the city so far. In last nights shooting, police would not give any details about how many suspects they thought were involved and also if they ran from the scene or got in a car and drove away. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Boston Police Homicide Unit at 617-343-4470. Community members wishing to assist in this investigation anonymously can do so by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS or by texting the word TIP to CRIME (27463). This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW The former Kansas police chief who last year led a raid on a local newspaper has been charged with felony obstruction of justice, for allegedly persuading a potential witness to withhold information from investigators who at the time were pursuing a probe into the ex-chief's own conduct. Gideon Cody resigned from his position at the Marion Police Department in September 2023, less than two months after he spearheaded the beginnings of a criminal inquiry into the staff of a weekly newspaper, the Marion County Record, accusing them of committing identity theft, or a similar computer crime, for how they obtained reporting for a story that was never ultimately written. He's faced a slew of of federal lawsuits since then over his conduct and the motivations behind it, which also sparked national criticism and conversations about journalistic rights and freedom of press in the U.S. The criminal charge for obstruction of justice was filed Monday in Marion County District Court, shortly after two special prosecutors released an exhaustive 124-page report scrutinizing the original police inquiry into the newspaper and the convoluted context in which it unfolded. That report, authored by Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennet and Riley County Attorney Barry Wilkerson at the request of the district attorney in Marion, found that there wasn't enough evidence to suggest that police, reporters or anyone else involved in the story or the raid had committed crimes under Kansas law. Front pages hang on a wall at the Marion County Record on Aug. 16, 2023, about a week after police served a search warrant on the newspaper in Marion, Kansas. / Credit: Luke Nozicka/The Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images But they did conclude that some of Cody's actions in the wake of the raid on the Marion County Record one of multiple search warrants executed last August in relation to how the paper acquired personal information about an area restaurant owner's driver's license illegally interfered with the state investigation that followed. Neither the special prosecutors' report nor the criminal complaint against Cody offered many details as to what exactly he's accused of doing, although the report mentioned that Cody allegedly instructed the business owner, Kari Newell, to delete text messages they'd exchanged after the raids were carried out. Special prosecutors said that Marion City Administrator Brogan Jones heard from several city attorneys on Sept. 29, 2023, who informed him that Cody had given the instruction to Newell, the restaurant owner, once he'd executed search warrants on the newspaper headquarters and the publisher's home in August. The mayor placed Cody on administrative leave from the Marion police force that same day, and on Oct. 2, Cody resigned. The report explicitly said it would not provide more information about the nature of the text messages or his alleged persuasion to delete them, which Newell herself corroborated in comments to the Associated Press, but prosecutors noted that there was probable cause to bring an obstruction of justice charge over the text messaging issue. In the criminal complaint, Marion County prosecutor Barry Wilkerson alleged that it stemmed from conduct between Aug. 11 and Aug. 17 of last year, where Cody "knowingly or intentionally ... induced a witness to withhold information" in the midst of a felony criminal investigation. CBS News contacted a team of attorneys representing Cody in one of the federal civil lawsuits against him for comment, or more information about his legal representation in the criminal case, but did not receive an immediate reply. Cody originally sought and carried out search warrants on the Marion County Record, the home of its publisher Eric Meyer and the home of Marion City Council Member Ruth Herbel, after learning that journalists at the newspaper had obtained Newell's driver's license records, while following a tip that suggested she did not have a valid one because of a DUI more than a decade earlier. Because she owned a local restaurant and was in the process of applying for a liquor license, efforts were made to verify the legitimacy of a driving record that appeared to show she hadn't driven with a valid license for all those years. They ultimately didn't pursue a story because a copy of the record was first shared with the newspaper by her estranged husband while divorce proceedings were underway, and involving the press in that situation didn't seem necessary, the journalists later told authorities. Cody went on to claim that he had evidence the publisher and a reporter had broken the law while trying to verify the driving record. The subsequent police raids, to seize materials that would supposedly support that claim, were heavily scrutinized. Body camera footage of the raid on Meyer's home, where his 98-year-old mother and newspaper co-owner Joan Meyer also lived, showed her visibly distressed by the ordeal that preceded her death one day later. Her son has blamed his mother's death on the raid and the stress that it caused her. Ex-Kansas police chief charged in newspaper raid Retired K-9 gets new assignment A look at a Catholic megachurch in California Images provided by the Dearborn Police Department show individuals and a vehicle police say were involved in a jewelry store armed robbery about 5:30 p.m. Aug. 7, 2024, in the 7000 block of Schaefer Road in Dearborn. Masked robbers held up a Dearborn jewelry store at gunpoint last week until an employee fired shots their way, police say. The incident took place about 5:30 p.m. Aug. 7 at a jewelry store in the 7000 block of Schaefer Road, according to a post from the Dearborn Police Department on Facebook. Two men in masks entered the store with a rifle and demanded employees and customers get on the ground, police said. One masked suspect then held everyone at gunpoint while the other ransacked the place, putting items in a bag. An employee ended up firing several shots at the robbers, and they fled, police said. No customers or employees were injured in the incident, but it was unknown if the robbers were injured, police said. Images provided by the Dearborn Police Department show individuals and a vehicle police say were involved in a jewelry store armed robbery about 5:30 p.m. Aug. 7, 2024, in the 7000 block of Schaefer Road in Dearborn. Police believe the pair left in a black sedan, possibly a 2011-2013 Mazda 3 with peeling paint on the hood and trunk of the car. Dearborn Police Chief Issa Shahin, in a statement in the release, called for the public to come forward with any information in the case. The Dearborn Police Department will aggressively investigate this crime and utilize all available resources to bring these suspects to justice, he said. Those who can help identify the individuals or the vehicle involved are asked to contact Dearborn Police Sgt. Jamison Carpenter at 313-943-2041 or jcarpenter@dearborn.gov. Anonymous tips can be submitted to CrimeStoppers at 1-800-SPEAK UP. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Police: Dearborn jewelry store worker fires shots at masked robbers A man charged in connection with Friday's fatal car crash on the Sagamore Bridge told police he had been smoking marijuana and was "impatient" to pass a car that he thought was going too slow, according to documents filed in Falmouth District Court. "I was being impatient and trying to get in front of the other car," Paul A. Myers told State Police Trooper Frederick J. Bohnenberger, according to an arrest report. "The car was moving slow." Shortly before 7 p.m. Friday, state police say, Myers was driving a white Nissan sedan in the left lane on Route 6 west when he tried to illegally pass another vehicle by shifting into the right lane. Myers' car crashed into a Toyota Corolla already in the right lane. Following the collision, the Corolla hit the curb, spun across the median and crashed into another car traveling in the opposite direction, state police said. "I caused it," he said of the crash, according to Bohnenberger's report. The crash claimed the life of 79-year-old Martha Sheldon of Plymouth, a passenger in the Corolla, and seriously injured her companion, according to Massachusetts State Police. Myers, 19, of Plymouth, was charged with OUI drugs; motor vehicle homicide OUI drugs and negligence; a passing violation; a marked lanes violation; speeding; and negligent driving. Authorities filed a request to suspend and revoke Myers' driver's license, saying he was an immediate threat, according to documents. Myers was also required to surrender his passport. Myers' home country, according to court documents, is Jamaica. In the arrest report, Bohnenberger said Myers' car reeked of burnt marijuana. Police found multiple burnt marijuana blunts on the driver's side floorboard, according to the report. While being questioned, Myers spoke slowly and moved lethargically, the trooper wrote. Myers told police that he smoked marijuana when he left work at 5:30 p.m., according to the report. Based on Myers' statement and drug paraphernalia found in the car, police alleged that Myers was driving under the influence of drugs and arrested him, according to state police. Included with court documents is an inventory of what police found in the car: blunts, multiple tools, an empty marijuana package and a green, leafy substance. Following the crash, Myers was taken to Falmouth Hospital where a section 12 was filed due to statements he made during booking. Section 12 of Chapter 123 of Massachusetts General Laws governs the admission of individuals to psychiatric or general hospitals for psychiatric evaluation and treatment. It also covers the emergency restraint and hospitalization of people who may pose a serious harm risk due to mental illness. Myers was later taken to the House of Correction. In Falmouth District Court on Monday, Myers was arraigned and released on $5,000 bail. Myers' next court date is Sept. 27. Rachael Devaney writes about community and culture. Reach her at rdevaney@capecodonline.com. Follow her on Twitter: @RachaelDevaney. Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Cape Cod Times subscription. Here are our subscription plans. This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Fatal Sagamore Bridge crash: Arrested driver said crash was his fault NEWARK, N.J. (PIX11) The Attorney Generals Office is investigating an officer-involved shooting that occurred Monday night near the intersection of Hawthorne Avenue and Clinton Place in Newark, N.J. Around 8:30 p.m., two uniformed Newark police officers spotted what they believed to be a stolen vehicle. As police were detaining a passenger in the car, a second suspect emerged from an adjacent convenience store and jumped behind the wheel. More New Jersey News Surveillance video shows the suspect accelerating backward and forwards. The vehicle crashed into a patrol car, veered onto the sidewalk, and hit Hawthorne Elementary School. During the incident, one of the officers fired his service weapon, striking the driver. Two police officers were treated for minor injuries at University Hospital and released. The driver remains in critical condition. According to Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, the stolen car was from Connecticut, and the two adult male suspects are from Queens. More Queens News In a statement to PIX11 News, Baraka wrote, in part: When an incident such as this happens, it is traumatic for all involved, and its effect ripples out through the community. Our focus will be on providing comfort, relief, and recovery to all those affected and to deter the kind of unlawful actions that lead to these kinds of incidents. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka Neighbors remain alert, concerned for their children and the students about to head back to Hawthorne Elementary School. I try to make sure my kids dont go to the window because I dont know whats gonna happen, to be very honest, said Newark mom Ifeona Okafor. My concerns are just when school is about to start again and the safety of the children, said South Ward District Leader Margaret Barnes-Williams. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. NEWARK, N.J. (PIX11) Shots were fired in Newark by police officers Monday night, according to multiple reports. Its believed a police pursuit ended in a crash. A banged-up Newark police cruiser was seen next to Hawthorne Avenue Elementary School, with damage to the passenger side door. More Local News A dark-colored SUV was also damaged and surrounded by police officers collecting evidence. At least two people are believed to be injured in the shooting, reports said. The New Jersey Attorney Generals Office is investigating. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. (Reuters) - Russia's central bank on Tuesday cancelled the banking licence of American Express Co's Russian subsidiary after the U.S. lender's unit filed a voluntary liquidation request. Russian President Vladimir Putin decreed in May that American Express could liquidate its Russian business, a little over two years after the company had suspended all its operation in Russia in response to what the bank called Russia's "unjustified attack on the people of Ukraine". The bank ranked 300th in Russia's banking system in terms of assets, the central bank said. Since mid-2022, foreign banks have required Putin's approval to exit the market or sell stakes in their Russian business. The bank's Russian unit filed a liquidation application in early July, Russia's corporate registry, SPARK, showed. American Express did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. In March 2022, shortly after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which Russia called a "special military operation", American Express said it had dozens of staff inside Russia. It was not immediately clear how many staff the bank still has in the country. (Reporting by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Mark Potter) With children headed back to school, the Los Angeles Police Department is celebrating the beginning of another year for hundreds of thousands of students. Police are also warning, however, of a danger that increases about this time each year: the threat posed to children on bike or foot by cars and other vehicles. The leading cause of death for children aged 14 and younger is vehicle accidents, whether they are passengers riding their bikes or getting struck by a vehicle while walking, police said in a news release. Capt. Raymond Lucas told KTLAs Ellina Abovian that one of the major danger points is the loading and unloading of school buses. Were asking parents to talk to their children about some traffic safety tips, Lucas said. Those tips include: Taking five giant steps away from the school bus onto the sidewalk after exiting Looking left, right and left again when crossing the street Being mindful of electric vehicles that are quieter than traditional cars, making them harder to detect Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. Police seek suspect after man fatally shot outside apartment complex in Phoenix Phoenix detectives were looking for a homicide suspect involved in a shooting just outside an apartment complex early Monday morning. Just after 1:30 a.m., officers were called to "an unknown trouble" at an apartment complex near 43rd Street and McDowell Road. When officers arrived, they found a man, later identified as 24-year-old Jacob Sierra, suffering from a gunshot wound. Fire crews rushed Sierra to the hospital, where he later died from his injuries. Law enforcement discovered that the suspect had fled the area in an unknown vehicle shortly after the shooting. Detectives continued to investigate the incident. Anyone with information is asked to call Phoenix police or Silent Witness to provide an anonymous tip. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Police seek suspect after man shot, killed outside apartment complex PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) Providence Police Col. Oscar Perez addressed an officers use of force during an arrest that was captured on camera while trying to disperse crowds at a local festival on Sunday night. Police said they seized suspected narcotics and a gun with a high-capacity magazine while trying to break up disorderly parties at the Dominican Festival, according to an incident report obtained by Target 12. Six people were arrested in one incident, but police say 10 arrests were made and two firearms were seized overall that day. Perez said there were unofficial events which included public drinking in the area of Miller Avenue and Broad Street just before 10 p.m. Police said Adonis Placencio, 27, of Providence, had an open bottle of alcohol which he was observed drinking in front of officers, according to the report. He was asked to leave the area but refused to do so, despite being warned he would be arrested for disorderly conduct. Officers also noticed Placencio was wearing a black satchel, which he was trying to conceal [] from police in a nervous manner, according to the incident report. While Placencio was trying to discard the satchel within a group of people and hand it off to someone else, he was maintaining constant eye contact with police while trying to take the satchel off and then putting it back on as police kept an eye on what he was doing, the report said. When police got to Placencio, officers felt a weighted object inside the satchel and realized it was the handle of a firearm of some kind. While trying to maintain positive control over the satchel, police said they struggled to take Placencio into custody as the large crowd began to close in behind officers. The portion of the report where police explained how they were able to regain control over Placencio was redacted. However, video quickly began circulating on social media. An officer, later identified as Sgt. Peter Salmons, can be seen punching Placencio in the stomach and head while people in the crowd yell and try to get him to stop. Police later determined a firearm was in Placencios satchel and identified it as a Smith & Wesson 9 mm. The incident report stated there were 13 live cartridges in the magazine and no live cartridges in the weapons chamber. Suspected narcotics were also found, according to police. Perez said the specific use of force that the 14-year veteran of the department used were hard, empty, hand-controlled punches. This incident was reviewed and documented properly, Perez said. It was reviewed by supervisors, it was reviewed by internal affairs and it was just a use of force that needed to be applied to compel the compliance from this individual. Perez called the incident a hectic, chaotic situation. While placing Placencio under arrest, police said a man identified as 40-year-old Edward Mclean began to throw alcoholic beverages at officers. Officers placed Mclean under arrest and charged him with simple assault and disorderly conduct. I want to commend the restraint and professionalism of our Providence Police officers, Perez added. Placencio was charged with two felonies related to possessing illegal firearms, plus disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. He did not enter a plea in court and was later presented as a violator, stemming from a 2021 felony firearms charge. Court records show Mclean pleaded no contest in court on Tuesday, but would be presented as a violator related to a 2010 second-degree robbery case out of Lincoln. Police say two other men, Denzel Rodriguez, 25, and Damian Reyes, 19, were also arrested for acting disorderly on Sunday. Court records show Rodriguez pleaded no contest to simple assault and resisting arrest. Reyes is scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday. As Rodriguez and Reyes were being taken into custody, police say a woman identified as Melissa Reynoso, 24, of Providence tried to keep officers from arresting the two men, but was then arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and obstructing an officer in execution of duty. Court records show Reynoso was released on personal recognizance, but is scheduled to be formally arraigned on Wednesday. Another man, Frank Villagran, 40, was also arrested for simple assault, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and obstructing an officer in the execution of duty. Villagran is scheduled to be arraigned on Friday. Police said a body-worn camera was activated during the incident. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Roundup Alexandra Leslie (aleslie@wpri.com) is a Target 12 investigative reporter covering Providence and more for 12 News. Connect with her on Twitter and on Facebook. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WPRI.com. Police trying to identify woman after assault at OKC motel Police trying to identify woman after assault at OKC motel The video above contains footage of the alleged assault, which may be disturbing to some viewers. OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) Oklahoma City Police say they are trying to identify a woman regarding an assault at a local motel. According to OKCPD, the incident happened around 11:30 p.m. at a motel in the 2200 block of S. Meridian on Sunday, August 4. LOCAL NEWS: Group chat got me a ticket: OHP reminding drivers not to text and drive In a video released by police, this person can be seen allegedly throwing things at a motel clerk. Police trying to identify woman after they say she assaulted a motel clerk. Police trying to identify woman after they say she assaulted a motel clerk. Anyone with information is asked to contact OKC Crime Stoppers by calling 405-235-7300 or submitting an anonymous tip online. Officials say a cash reward may be available. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City. Two Polish F-16 fighter jets intercepted a Russian Il-20M reconnaissance aircraft on a reconnaissance mission in international space over the Baltic Sea the day before. Source: Statement by the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces, reports European Pravda Details: The command noted that Polish F-16s intercepted and visually identified a Russian aircraft flying over the Baltic Sea on Monday, 12 August. Quote: "Polish fighter jets intercepted an Il-20 aircraft conducting a reconnaissance mission in international airspace without violating Polish territorial waters." The command added that airspace security is one of the priorities of the Polish Armed Forces. Background: The German Air Force, along with their Swedish counterparts, were scrambled the day before due to Russian jets approaching Latvia's borders in early August. After that, the Swedish and German air forces were again scrambled to intercept a Russian reconnaissance plane over the Baltic Sea. Support UP or become our patron! Polish Prime Minister says operation in Kursk Oblast is Ukraine's right to self-defence Donald Tusk, the Prime Minister of Poland, believes that Ukraine's operation in Russia's Kursk Oblast is an implementation of its internationally recognised right to self-defence. Source: Tusk at a press conference on 13 August; European Pravda, citing PAP news agency Details: While commenting on the Ukrainian attack on Kursk Oblast, Tusk stressed that "Ukraine's actions are defensive actions". "What Russian troops and Russian aviation are doing on Ukrainian territory has signs of genocide as well as inhuman crimes. Therefore, Ukraine has the right to wage war in such a way as to paralyse Russia in its aggressive intentions as effectively as possible," he added. The Prime Minister of Poland added that his government is in constant contact with the Ukrainian side, but "there are no consultations, such as someone in Kyiv coordinating with me on what day, where, and who will go". "We support Ukraine in this defensive war," Tusk stressed. Background: Recently, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, confirmed for the first time that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are conducting an offensive in Russia's Kursk Oblast. On Tuesday, Syrskyi reported that Ukraines defence forces gained control over 74 settlements in Russias Kursk Oblast. The media reported that Ukraine had not informed its partners in the West of any details of the operation until recently. Support UP or become our patron! (Getty Images illustration) For Roderick Givens, a radiation oncologist, the expansion of Medicaid isnt just a policy issue. He practices medicine in a rural area in the Mississippi Delta and he sees daily how Medicaid coverage could help his uninsured patients. I cant tell you the number of patients who I see who come in with advanced disease, who have full-time jobs, Givens said. They havent seen a physician in years. They cant afford it. They dont have coverage. This spring, the Mississippi Legislature considered but ultimately failed to expand Medicaid, which would have extended coverage to around 200,000 low-income residents. Mississippi is one of 10 states that havent expanded Medicaid, the state and federal health insurance program for people with low incomes or disabilities. Seven of those states are in the South. But as more conservative-leaning states like North Carolina adopt it, the drumbeat of support, as one Southern state lawmaker put it, grows louder. Advocates for expanding Medicaid say opposition is largely being driven by political polarization, rather than cost concerns. Givens, who is also chair of the board of trustees for the Mississippi State Medical Association, which supports Medicaid expansion, said the federal government would pay for the vast majority of it and that most Mississippians support it. Why does that not translate when it comes to policy? Givens asked. Its called the stupidity of politics. Period. Givens pointed to Arkansas as a potential model for Mississippi because the state has similar demographics and expansion has been in place there for a decade. Look at what has worked for them and what needs to be tweaked, he said. For me, thats just common sense. In states that have not expanded Medicaid, hundreds of thousands of people fall into the coverage gap, meaning they earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but are not eligible for subsidies to help pay for private insurance. Those in the coverage gap also cant afford premiums and other out-of-pocket expenses on employer-sponsored insurance even if they are eligible. The coverage gap is not an issue in states that have expanded Medicaid. In those states, a single person making up to 138% of the poverty level, or about $20,000 a year, can get on Medicaid. Someone making more than that can get subsidies for private health insurance. For the first time in Mississippi, both the state Senate and House of Representatives proposed expanding Medicaid during the legislative session that ended in May. In the end, the efforts fizzled at the last minute. Had the proposed bills succeeded, some 74,000 Mississippians who are stuck in the coverage gap would have gained access to Medicaid. The House speaker, Jason White, a Republican who supports expansion, acknowledged the political hurdles. Its President Obamas signature piece of legislation. Its known as Obamacare, White said. So, there are a lot of political dynamics centered around it that probably never allowed it to get off the ground. White said this year was different because of increased support from the business community. I kidded some of my fellow Republicans. I said, Come for the savings, if you will, and then you can stay for the salvation and the good things that it does to improve peoples lives, White said. If you cant get there because its the right or compassionate thing to do to help these individuals, get there because it makes sense from a business standpoint. In neighboring Alabama, politics also thwarted attempts to provide more health care this year. Although the state legislature didnt vote on any direct expansion bills, there was an attempt to include expansion language in a bill about casino gambling specifically, a provision to allocate some gambling profits to rural health systems. Ultimately, the Alabama bill was stripped down, and the funding for rural health was removed. If Alabama expanded Medicaid, at least 174,000 more people would be covered, according to KFF. But the connection to Obamacare remains a stumbling block in Alabamas Republican-dominated state legislature. Just the partisan nature of this is definitely a problem, said Regina Wagner, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Alabama. Wagner said that most Alabama voters support expansion and that other states have adopted the programs after mounting public pressure. A lot of rural voters are Republicans. And so your own constituents are being hit by this and youre not addressing it, she said. If the pressure gets high enough and sentiment shifts, maybe thats going to be enough to push them. The main disagreement in the Mississippi Legislature revolved around work requirements recipients would have to show they were working part-time or in school. White said many of his Republican colleagues view extending health coverage through Medicaid as some form of welfare, some form of giveaway, some form of expanding government. Opponents of Medicaid expansion in Alabama are also concerned about potential impacts on the workforce of what they call free health care. If you open up this federal subsidized program for hundreds of thousands of people, then it could actually hurt that labor participation rate, give them another reason not to go to work, to stay at home, said Justin Bogie, senior director of fiscal policy at the Alabama Policy Institute, a research group that says it is committed to limited government. The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, would have to issue a waiver to allow an expansion plan with a work requirement something the Biden administration hasnt done for any state. This spring, Mississippi came close to a compromise bill that included a work requirement, something that needs a CMS waiver. Had the bill passed and CMS denied the waiver, expansion still would not have taken effect, and the state would have had to apply for the waiver from CMS every year, hoping for approval under a future potentially more conservative presidential administration. Thats what happened in Georgia. In 2020, the Trump administration approved a waiver for a work requirement as part of a limited expansion effort. CMS later rescinded the waiver under the Biden administration, leading to a lawsuit. A federal judge ruled in favor of Georgia, reinstating the work requirement provisions. However, only about 2,300 people are enrolled which is fewer than half of 1% of the more than 430,000 uninsured Georgia adults who could gain access if Medicaid were fully expanded, according to KFF. The states alternative expansion plan has cost taxpayers at least $26 million, according to KFF, with nearly all of it going to administrative and consulting fees, not medical care for low-income residents. As public support for expansion continues to grow in holdout states, North Carolina, the most recent Southern state to pass Medicaid expansion, may offer a glimpse of the future. Since its adoption last year, more than 600,000 people have become eligible. But it still took a long time, said Robin Rudowitz, a vice president and director of the Program on Medicaid and the Uninsured at KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News. It took the governor who continually supported expansion, and the legislature finally came to endorse and pass the expansion. Rudowitz said the fiscal incentive under the American Rescue Plan Act played a role in moving the needle in North Carolina and could help ignite debate in other holdout states. But ultimately, she said, the reasons the Affordable Care Act was established continue to be the strongest motivators. Without expansion, there are more people who are uninsured. Hospitals and other providers are not able to get reimbursement because individuals are uninsured, Rudowitz said. Those are the underlying issues that existed pre-ACA and continue to exist, particularly in states that havent adopted expansion. This article is from a partnership that includes the Gulf States Newsroom, NPR, and KFF Health News. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFFan independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF. Porch pirate accused of stealing bike in Hanover Twp. HANOVER TWP., LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) Another porch pirate strikes again after allegedly stealing a bike in Hanover Township. The Hanover Township Police Department is investigating the theft of a bicycle from a house on Phillips Street. Hanover Township Police Hanover Township Police Two wanted for alleged assault at Montage Mountain concert Police say video surveillance caught the suspect walking onto the front porch, stealing the bike, and leaving towards West End Road. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Hanover Township Police Department at 570-825-1254. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PAhomepage.com. A terminal at Chinas Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan reopened Monday after an explosion on a container ship forced it to close over the weekend. The Yang Ming Mobility was berthed at Ningbos Beilun Phase 3 Terminal when a container exploded Friday, sending a vast plume of flames and smoke into the air. Immediate firefighting measures were taken, Yang Ming said in a Saturday statement. More from Sourcing Journal Initial investigations suggest the explosion came from lithium batteries and the organic compound tert-butyl peroxybenzoate, which must be stored in temperatures not exceeding 30 degrees Celsius. The items were reportedly held in a reefer container, which is designed for goods that need to be temperature controlled during shipping. All crew members and on-site personnel were safe, and no casualties have been reported. Once the incident is fully resolved, Yang Ming will assess the possibility and feasibility of vessel repairs, cargo transshipment and schedule adjustments, with the safety of personnel and the vessel as the top priority, the ocean carrier said. Luckily, the explosion did not severely affect vessel and container handling operations at the port, according to a Monday update from logistics services and freight forwarding giant Kuehne+Nagel. But berthing schedules will have to be adjusted as the terminal catches up from its nearly three-day closure, which may result in long-term delays and even congestion. Dwell times of up to nine days were already being reported prior to the explosion, according to Worldwide Logistics Group. Delays will affect other ports throughout the area including Shanghai, Xiaman, Hong Kong, Singapore and Port Kelang, said Willy Fong, president of Worldwide Logistics Groups APAC region, in a customer advisory. An alert from Freightos also reported that numerous ships scheduled for Ningbo were rerouted to ports like Shanghai and Qingdao, causing congestion and delays at these locations. Kuehne+Nagel expects delays of up to four days for containers loaded or booked on the YM Mobility. According to the firm, all containers onboard the vessel have remained on the ship and await further investigation. Ningbo-Zhoushan, the worlds third-busiest container port handling 35 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2023, had already been hit by Typhoon Gaemi in late July. This came as import demand from both the U.S. and Europe started to peak, exacerbating schedule disruptions already felt on Asias main export trade lanes. As of July 24, Ningbo-Zhoushan was the second-most congested port worldwide, with average combined anchor and berth time of 5.2 days, according to supply chain visibility platform Beacon. For container trading companies and those involved in container leasing, this incident presents some straightforward challenges worth accounting for. The disruption at the Ningbo Port, combined with pre-existing congestion at major Asian ports, will lead to a deterioration of ocean schedules and further delays in container availability, said Christian Roeloffs, co-founder and CEO of online container trading and leasing marketplace Container XChange. Roeloffs stressed that regular updates from shipping partners and port authorities will be crucial in adjusting operations in real time, and that companies should maintain open lines of communication to adjust operations. Additionally, he called to prioritize rigorous inspections and adherence to safety protocols, particularly for hazardous goods, to prevent similar incidents. Ningbo-Zhoushan is a hugely important and well-connected port in the Far East, second only to Shanghai in China and on par with Singapore. It is a critical hub for container shipping and this incident is deeply concerning from a safety perspective, said Peter Sand, chief analyst at ocean freight and air freight benchmarking platform Xeneta, in a Friday blog post. However, Sand said the incident was unlikely to have a significant impact on the wider container shipping market, and ocean freight rates. Port Orange resident Denise Sabino was enjoying her day off Monday afternoon when she suddenly heard "a whistling" coming from the back of her house near some bushes. "My birds started screaming, so I went and looked, and this thing just came from nowhere," Sabino said. "It scooped up to the sidewalk, swung back around and took my whole porch off ... it was scary." She first believed the "thing" she referred to was a tornado. A video shared on Facebook by Sabino and Nancy Bazin shows a carport aluminum structure that once stood on her front porch completely destroyed and blown off about a football field's distance from her home. The roof to Denise Sabino's home in Port Orange was damaged Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, by an afternoon storm that moved through the area. Sabino said "it was so nice" outside as she was cutting her rose bush, and the skies were clear. "It had to be stronger than (a wind gust)," she said. "It was a tornado I really feel like it was." Tornadoes in Florida: Though uncommon, some Florida tornadoes have proven deadly. Here are a few. Sabino's residence is near the La Costa Village mobile home park, which is where her aluminum carport structure landed after the wind come through. "My neighbor came out and said, 'What happened?' I was standing there in amazement like, 'Did I just see this?'" Sabino said, adding that some of her neighbors also said they heard a what sounded like "metal bending." She said she didn't see a funnel cloud during the incident, which she said was quick, lasting about five seconds. More damage can be seen in La Costa Village near Big Tree Road in Port Orange on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024. An afternoon storm moved through the area, causing some damage to the retirement community. "This thing was making a sound like a whistle," she said. "I've been in hurricanes but not tornadoes, so I don't really know. It sounded like a whistle, like a train. That's what I heard." NWS: 'No evidence' of tornado activity in the area According to the National Weather Service in Melbourne, the strongest wind gust registered in the Daytona Beach area Monday afternoon was 44 mph near the Daytona Beach International Airport. Brendan Schaper, meteorologist with the agency, said in an interview Monday that despite an afternoon of strong storms in the area, wind gusts are the probable culprit of the Port Orange damage. "That was in association with some storms that were developing there," Schaper said. "At this time, there is no evidence to say that anything more than wind gusts may have caused very minor damages at that localized point in Port Orange." What to know about tornados: What we know and what's the difference between a warning and a watch Schaper said the weakest tornado speeds on the Enhanced Fujita (or EF) scale would produce winds between 65 to 85 mph. Denise Sabino of La Costa Village near Big Tree Road in Port Orange said this part of her roof was found four streets away Monday, Aug. 12, 2024. An afternoon storm moved through the area causing some damage. He said it wouldn't be "uncommon" for wind gusts of 44 mph to knock out metal structures such as the one on Sabino's house "depending on the previous conditions that we see on (Sabino's Facebook video)." Schaper mentioned another video shared on "X," formerly known as Twitter, of what looked like a funnel cloud closer to the beach in Daytona Beach. But while conditions were "favorable for the development of weak, brief funnel clouds, which is common when we see these boundaries from different storms that form against the sea breeze collide," Schaper said that seemed to have happened far from where Sabino reported the damage in her Port Orange home. This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Port Orange tornado? Resident thought so, but NWS blames wind gusts China, ASEAN vow to work for shared future 08:37, August 13, 2024 By Zhao Jia and Zhu Xingxin ( China Daily Khambay Damlath (right), vice-president of the Lao National Assembly, learns about New Year woodblock painting, which is listed as a national-level intangible cultural heritage item, in Changzhi, Shanxi province, on Aug 11, 2024. Damlath is on a visit to Changzhi to attend the ASEAN-China Week 2024, which will run through Thursday. (ZHU XINGXIN/CHINA DAILY) Officials from China and the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations reaffirmed on Monday their commitment to exploring new areas and unlocking new opportunities for cooperation and innovation, in order to pave the way for a more prosperous and sustainable future. They made the pledge at the opening ceremony of the ASEAN-China Week 2024 held in Changzhi, a city in North China's Shanxi province, vowing to build a closer community with a shared future for China and ASEAN. In a congratulatory message sent to the event, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China and ASEAN, as friendly neighbors and vibrant markets, enjoy boundless potential in their relationship. Wang, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, expressed the hope that the countries could leverage complementary advantages, accelerate coordinated development, and jointly foster and strengthen new quality productive forces to inject fresh impetus into respective development and revitalization as well as boost regional stability and prosperity. The third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee held last month reaffirmed high-quality development as the primary task in seeking Chinese modernization, with fostering new quality productive forces being one of the key instruments toward that goal. The term "new quality productive forces" is also gaining attention from ASEAN countries in the context of pursuing quality economic growth and cooperation in the long run. "Innovation, as we all recognize, is the key to unlocking new avenues of growth and ensuring that our economies remain resilient and competitive in the global landscape," said Neth Pheaktra, Cambodia's minister of information. He said that new areas of collaboration in sectors such as the digital economy and green technologies are emerging, and the ongoing implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement and the progress of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement 3.0 would continue to bolster economic ties. According to statistics from ASEAN, the trade volume between the two sides reached a record of $702.3 billion last year, making China the group's largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years. The Cambodian minister also spoke highly of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, saying that over the past decade, the BRI has been "a key driver" of Cambodia's infrastructure, trade, and economic growth, and has brought significant infrastructure developments to the region. Moving forward, Pheaktra said he believed the innovation-driven and interconnected ASEAN-China cooperation will deliver benefits to all peoples in the region. Thet Thet Khine, Myanmar's union minister for hotels and tourism, said: "Innovation, in all its forms, is the cornerstone of sustainable development. I am particularly excited about the role that innovation can play in our industry. Tourism has been a vital component of the economies of both ASEAN and China." Noting that 2024 has been designated as the ASEAN-China Year of People-to-People Exchanges, she underscored the need to leverage innovative practices to create more resilient and sustainable tourism, and enhance cultural exchanges to build trust and strengthen bonds between ASEAN and China. Also at Monday's event, Shi Zhongjun, secretary-general of the ASEAN-China Center, announced the official launch of the ASEAN-China Import and Export Service Platform. The platform, which is already in operation, has received thousands of cooperation requests and is expected to generate an annual market demand of more than $10 billion in the future, Shi added. Jin Xiangjun, governor of Shanxi province, said the ASEAN-China Week serves as a bond to strengthen cooperation and exchanges between the province and ASEAN member states, and called for deepening cooperation in areas such as trade, education, culture and tourism. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) (Reuters) - Spirit AeroSystems CEO Patrick Shanahan will receive a payout of $28.5 million after the 737 MAX fuselage supplier completes its merger with Boeing, according to a regulatory filing on Monday. Shanahan will get a cash payment of $2.3 million, converted Spirit restricted stock units worth $26.1 million and perquisites and benefits worth $45,000 as part of a package known as a "golden parachute". Such payments are commonplace in corporate America and are intended to incentivize management to sell a company, even if it means ending their own employment. Boeing agreed in July to buy back Spirit AeroSystems for $4.7 billion in stock and Airbus moved to take on the supplier's loss-making Europe-focused activities. It was a transatlantic break-up of the world's largest standalone aerostructures company. Shanahan had been seen as a frontrunner to take over the reins at Boeing, which is now headed by former aerospace executive Kelly Ortberg. Boeing chair Steven Mollenkopf asked Shanahan in May if he would be interested in being considered as a candidate for the role of Boeing's president and chief executive officer, the filing showed. Shanahan responded that he would not rule out being in the running for the role, according to the filing. (Reporting By Allison Lampert in Montreal and Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai) PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) A caravan of 90 cars circled the Portland Building Monday afternoon in a protest by Portland-area Uber and Lyft drivers calling for fair pay and job protections, according to Drivers Union. The rideshare drivers say they are demanding action from the city after Portlands Driver Advisory Committee voted to recommend the city implement a minimum pay standard and basic job protections for the drivers. When you factor in all the costs that come out of my earnings things like fuel, maintenance, and insurance Im not even earning minimum wage when I drive in Portland, Lyft driver Craig Bethell said in a Drivers Union press release. Its time for rideshare platforms to understand that all workers deserve basic rights. A caravan of 90 vehicles drove around the Portland building Aug. 12, 2024, as Uber and Lyft drivers protested for fair wages and job protections with Drivers Union (Courtesy Kerry M Harwin.) A caravan of 90 vehicles drove around the Portland building Aug. 12, 2024, as Uber and Lyft drivers protested for fair wages and job protections with Drivers Union (Courtesy Kerry M Harwin.) A caravan of 90 vehicles drove around the Portland building Aug. 12, 2024, as Uber and Lyft drivers protested for fair wages and job protections with Drivers Union (Courtesy Kerry M Harwin.) A caravan of 90 vehicles drove around the Portland building Aug. 12, 2024, as Uber and Lyft drivers protested for fair wages and job protections with Drivers Union (Courtesy Kerry M Harwin.) A caravan of 90 vehicles drove around the Portland building Aug. 12, 2024, as Uber and Lyft drivers protested for fair wages and job protections with Drivers Union (Courtesy Kerry M Harwin.) Ive been driving for UBER & LYFT for over seven years, but I havent accrued a single paid sick day, said Nathaniel Hudson-Hartman, Drivers Union Oregon organizer. If I get injured on the job, I cant rely on Workers Compensation to make sure Im able to afford care. We want our city to understand that were only asking for the basic rights that most Portland workers take for granted. Citing a Georgetown University study, Drivers Union claimed that half of rideshare drivers live below the federal poverty line. The union added that until 2018, drivers earned 80% of rider fares, but now, rideshare companies take more than half of what a rider pays. Shattered glass in Tigards Washington Square Mall sparks rumors In a statement to KOIN 6 News, Lyft said, Improving the driver experience is essential to our purpose. Thats why weve been engaging with [the Portland Bureau of Transportations] Driver Advisory Committee and releasing a series of new offers and commitments aimed at increasing driver pay and transparency. This includes a new earnings commitment and an improved deactivation appeals process. Now, drivers will always make at least 70% of the weekly rider fares after external fees. According to Lyft, a national report found in the second half of 2023, the median U.S. driver who used their personal vehicle for Lyft earned $30.68 including tips and bonuses gross per hour. After expenses, the median driver earned $23.46 per engaged hour with tips and bonuses, Lyft said. KOIN 6 News reached out to the Portland Bureau of Transportation, and Uber for comment. This story will be updated if we receive a response. Farmers Almanac releases its 2024-2025 winter weather forecast for PNW Mondays protest comes after the death of 42-year-old Joshua Kelvin, who was shot and killed while driving for Uber in June. According to police, Kelvin was driving a 17-year-old passenger when the pair were shot in a cul-de-sac near SE 130th Place and Ramona Street. The teenage boy was left critically injured. Kelvins wife held a press conference July 31 calling for rideshare driver safety measures. During the press conference, Noah Ernst with the Radio Cab Company said even though their companies may be competitors, when something happens to anybody whos a private for hire driver, it really impacts all of us. VIDEO: Police track black Camaro speed racing, doing donuts in street takeover event The incident led to calls for several changes, including creating a thorough vetting process for passengers, prohibiting third party rides, no longer allowing unaccompanied minors, allowing drivers more time to accept rides, creating an emergency hotline, and mandating cameras inside cars. Cameras are already required for taxis in the city. Uber previously released a statement on Kelvins death, saying, The violence against hard-working drivers in our communities is heart-wrenching. Uber is deeply committed to the safety of drivers, and over the years we have taken serious steps to improve safety on the platform including building features like GPS tracking, the ability to chat with a live safety agent, and an in-app emergency button. Our efforts will never stop, and we are committed to continually raising the bar on safety to help protect our communities. The Portland Bureau of Transportation is expected to consider the changes before they are taken to city council to become a code. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. Hundreds of people rallied at the Alabama State House in Montgomery, Ala., in February in support of legislation to protect in vitro fertilization. Democrats are hoping that increased engagement on the issue of in vitro fertilization will translate into voter turnout at the polls in November. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) Marilyn Gomez was sitting at her kitchen table in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Feb. 16 when news alerts and friends texts began pinging her phone: The all-Republican Alabama Supreme Court had ruled that frozen embryos created through in vitro fertilization were children under state law. That meant providers could be held liable for discarding them, a common part of the IVF process. As Alabama clinics began suspending IVF services and public outrage mounted, politicians on both sides scrambled to distance themselves. In Gomezs quiet kitchen, it all felt deeply personal. I remember thinking, this is the only way I was able to become a mother, Gomez told Stateline. She and her husband went through years of fertility treatments and multiple rounds of IVF before the birth of their daughter in 2016. Without freezing her embryos and going through IVF, she said, I would not be a mom. My 8-year-old would not be here. Gomez owns a small business, called Infertile Tees, where she designs and sells shirts and accessories aimed at people experiencing infertility. Less than two hours after hearing about the Alabama court ruling, Gomez, who describes her political views as Democratic-leaning, had created a new set of T-shirt designs featuring the slogan Protect IVF. In the wake of the Alabama ruling, potential threats to IVF access have become an election-year issue, pushing many political novices toward involvement and activism. Reproductive rights groups say theyve seen unprecedented interest in protecting IVF access, and Democrats hope it will motivate voters in the swing states that will decide the election, including North Carolina. At least 19 states either through state law, criminal statutes or case law have declared that fetuses at some stage of pregnancy are people, according to a 2023 report by Pregnancy Justice, a nonprofit that conducts research and advocates for the rights of pregnant people, including the right to abortion. Such statutes could, in theory, be used to restrict or ban IVF by classifying the destruction of embryos as causing the death of a child. The Alabama high court cited so-called fetal personhood language in the state constitution when it issued its decision. North Carolina isnt one of those 19 states, but conservatives there have been testing the waters. A bill proposed last year by three Republican state representatives would have banned abortion from the moment of fertilization, and last year an appeals court judge terminated a womans parental rights for conduct during her pregnancy because life begins at conception, though the opinion was later withdrawn. Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, all swing states, do have laws that include references to unborn children. And in Georgia, another contested state, the states abortion ban defines a person as any human being including an unborn child. Democrats are eager to highlight the issue. The newly minted Democratic vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, has been outspoken about the seven years of fertility treatments he and his wife, Gwen, went through before conceiving. This is very personal for my wife and I, Walz told a crowd in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, last week. I remember each night praying that the call was going to come, and it was going to be good news. The phone would ring, tenseness in my stomach, and then the agony when you heard the treatments hadnt worked. Republicans say the idea that IVF is under threat is overblown, and dismiss Democratic warnings as scare tactics. There is no concerted Republican, conservative, pro-life effort mounting against IVF, said Cole Muzio, executive director of Frontline Policy Action, a Georgia organization that lobbies for abortion restrictions and other conservative policies. I think this is something the left largely has tried to use as a wedge issue, but I dont think most people are buying it as something thats a real threat, he said. But Muzio acknowledged that some anti-abortion advocates have asked his organization to talk more publicly about IVF. And he predicted that eventually, more conservative lawmakers will turn their attention to the issue. Long term, we believe in the value of human life, and thats my concern with IVF, that it results in the discarding of human life, he said. Now that Roe has been overturned and were able to have legislative conversations and think about where life begins, its an important conversation to have. Following public backlash over the Alabama court decision, lawmakers in a dozen states, including Alabama, introduced bills to protect IVF, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights. But so far, only Alabama has enacted a law. In March, Alabamas Republican-majority legislature hastily passed a measure shielding IVF providers from criminal and civil liability. The only other bill that gained traction was one in Louisiana, where both legislative chambers approved it. However, it was scuttled in May after the states powerful anti-abortion lobby opposed the removal of fetal personhood language that would have left IVF providers open to criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits. Far-reach consequences For many people, the IVF issue illustrates how fetal personhood laws can have consequences far beyond abortion. And it has energized them. The National Infertility Association, which goes by the name Resolve, has held a national advocacy day annually for more than two decades. This year, after the Alabama Supreme Court decision, more than a thousand people attended the event virtually, twice the number that attended last year, said Barbara Collura, CEO of Resolve. We ended up with our largest advocacy day ever, she said. More than half of the people attending were brand new to the event. We feel very much that what happened in Alabama motivated people to figure out a way for themselves to get involved. In North Carolina, Gomez sold out her Protect IVF T-shirts within 24 hours. She launched a new batch a week later, and sold out again. Since then, shes continued selling new Protect IVF designs, donating a portion of her proceeds to Resolve. Before getting involved in IVF advocacy, Gomez said she barely paid attention to politics. Now, shes been active in supporting pro-IVF legislation and contacting her state lawmakers. And she often fields Instagram messages from customers in other states who are scared, she said, and want to know what they can do. People are saying to me they didnt know IVF was on the line, that they were surprised it wasnt protected in every state, said Gomez, who sends them links to sites where they can learn more about the state of IVF access where they live. Customers are saying their parents and grandparents are having these conversations in their social circles, saying they wouldnt be grandparents without IVF. She added: I think we forget how much power we have. Regardless of what happens with the presidency, we have so much control over what happens in our state. New territory Less than two weeks after the Alabama court decision, Jamie and Dontez Heard stood at one end of a long hallway on the fourth floor of the Alabama State House, staring nervously at all the doors of state lawmakers offices. They considered turning around and going back home. It was intimidating, and it was scary, not knowing what to say, thinking, Im going to stumble over my words, Jamie said. What if I say the wrong thing? Neither one of us has ever been in any type of advocacy role, so this was new territory. The couple had driven down to Montgomery that morning from their home in Birmingham, anxious but determined to defend their chance at having another baby by convincing their legislators to save in vitro fertilization. The court decision had landed just two days after the couple met with a specialist in Birmingham to begin a new round of IVF. Theyd conceived their son, Legend, now 2, through IVF in 2022 after years of struggling through infertility. Theyd hoped to add another child to their family this year. It was devastating, said Jamie. We didnt understand what it meant for us and our family. But a few days after the ruling, she saw a social media post that her fertility clinic had shared about a gathering of IVF families and supporters at the state Capitol. I knew then that we needed to be there, she said. We couldnt afford to sit on the couch and wait and see how this plays out. Since speaking to Alabama lawmakers, Heard has testified before Congress and traveled to other states to advocate for federal and state laws that would protect access to IVF. Next door in the battleground state of Georgia, one of the biggest reproductive justice advocacy organizations in the Southeast recently launched its first-ever Black (in)Fertility Awareness Week. SisterSong, which is focused on reproductive rights for women of color, hosted a panel, documentary screening, online discussions and a raffle of $40,000 in fertility services for Black Georgia families. Leah Jones, director of maternal health and birth equity at SisterSong, said the new initiative had been in the works for a while, but the Alabama ruling highlighted for people how IVF access is connected to other reproductive health issues, from preconception through pregnancy to postpartum. What we realized when we started this conversation around infertility in Black communities and listening to their stories, these are the same people talking about maternal health, abortion, mental health, birth justice, said Jones. Once you make the connection that this is part of an attack on overall bodily autonomy, I think thats when it clicks for people. Even in Minnesota As Minnesotas governor, Walz in 2023 signed a law confirming the right to abortion and other reproductive health care in Minnesota. And yet Minnesotans like Miraya Gran felt the shockwaves from the Alabama court decision. Gran and her husband struggled for years with infertility before finally conceiving their daughter Isla, now 3, through IVF. Gran advocates for a Minnesota law that would require health insurers to cover fertility treatments. We saw some great momentum after the Alabama decision, said Gran. It didnt really matter which political party you were a part of. If you believed in access to IVF, you joined our group. Gran said she considers Minnesota a safe state for IVF access and other reproductive rights, at least for now. But we look to our neighbors in Iowa, where they introduced some personhood bills recently. Its terrifying. Its too close to home. Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org. Follow Stateline on Facebook and X. Hundreds of people rallied at the Alabama State House in Montgomery, Ala., in February in support of legislation to protect in vitro fertilization. Democrats are hoping that increased engagement on the issue of in vitro fertilization will translate into voter turnout at the polls in November. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) Marilyn Gomez was sitting at her kitchen table in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Feb. 16 when news alerts and friends texts began pinging her phone: The all-Republican Alabama Supreme Court had ruled that frozen embryos created through in vitro fertilization were children under state law. That meant providers could be held liable for discarding them, a common part of the IVF process. As Alabama clinics began suspending IVF services and public outrage mounted, politicians on both sides scrambled to distance themselves. In Gomezs quiet kitchen, it all felt deeply personal. I remember thinking, this is the only way I was able to become a mother, Gomez told Stateline. She and her husband went through years of fertility treatments and multiple rounds of IVF before the birth of their daughter in 2016. Without freezing her embryos and going through IVF, she said, I would not be a mom. My 8-year-old would not be here. Gomez owns a small business, called Infertile Tees, where she designs and sells shirts and accessories aimed at people experiencing infertility. Less than two hours after hearing about the Alabama court ruling, Gomez, who describes her political views as Democratic-leaning, had created a new set of T-shirt designs featuring the slogan Protect IVF. In the wake of the Alabama ruling, potential threats to IVF access have become an election-year issue, pushing many political novices toward involvement and activism. Reproductive rights groups say theyve seen unprecedented interest in protecting IVF access, and Democrats hope it will motivate voters in the swing states that will decide the election, including North Carolina. At least 19 states either through state law, criminal statutes or case law have declared that fetuses at some stage of pregnancy are people, according to a 2023 report by Pregnancy Justice, a nonprofit that conducts research and advocates for the rights of pregnant people, including the right to abortion. Such statutes could, in theory, be used to restrict or ban IVF by classifying the destruction of embryos as causing the death of a child. The Alabama high court cited so-called fetal personhood language in the state constitution when it issued its decision. North Carolina isnt one of those 19 states, but conservatives there have been testing the waters. A bill proposed last year by three Republican state representatives would have banned abortion from the moment of fertilization, and last year an appeals court judge terminated a womans parental rights for conduct during her pregnancy because life begins at conception, though the opinion was later withdrawn. Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, all swing states, do have laws that include references to unborn children. And in Georgia, another contested state, the states abortion ban defines a person as any human being including an unborn child. Democrats are eager to highlight the issue. The newly minted Democratic vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, has been outspoken about the seven years of fertility treatments he and his wife, Gwen, went through before conceiving. This is very personal for my wife and I, Walz told a crowd in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, last week. I remember each night praying that the call was going to come, and it was going to be good news. The phone would ring, tenseness in my stomach, and then the agony when you heard the treatments hadnt worked. Republicans say the idea that IVF is under threat is overblown, and dismiss Democratic warnings as scare tactics. There is no concerted Republican, conservative, pro-life effort mounting against IVF, said Cole Muzio, executive director of Frontline Policy Action, a Georgia organization that lobbies for abortion restrictions and other conservative policies. I think this is something the left largely has tried to use as a wedge issue, but I dont think most people are buying it as something thats a real threat, he said. But Muzio acknowledged that some anti-abortion advocates have asked his organization to talk more publicly about IVF. And he predicted that eventually, more conservative lawmakers will turn their attention to the issue. Long term, we believe in the value of human life, and thats my concern with IVF, that it results in the discarding of human life, he said. Now that Roe has been overturned and were able to have legislative conversations and think about where life begins, its an important conversation to have. Following public backlash over the Alabama court decision, lawmakers in a dozen states, including Alabama, introduced bills to protect IVF, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights. But so far, only Alabama has enacted a law. In March, Alabamas Republican-majority legislature hastily passed a measure shielding IVF providers from criminal and civil liability. The only other bill that gained traction was one in Louisiana, where both legislative chambers approved it. However, it was scuttled in May after the states powerful anti-abortion lobby opposed the removal of fetal personhood language that would have left IVF providers open to criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits. Far-reaching consequences For many people, the IVF issue illustrates how fetal personhood laws can have consequences far beyond abortion. And it has energized them. People are saying to me they didnt know IVF was on the line, that they were surprised it wasnt protected in every state. Marilyn Gomez, a small-business owner in North Carolina who went through multiple rounds of IVF The National Infertility Association, which goes by the name Resolve, has held a national advocacy day annually for more than two decades. This year, after the Alabama Supreme Court decision, more than a thousand people attended the event virtually, twice the number that attended last year, said Barbara Collura, CEO of Resolve. We ended up with our largest advocacy day ever, she said. More than half of the people attending were brand new to the event. We feel very much that what happened in Alabama motivated people to figure out a way for themselves to get involved. In North Carolina, Gomez sold out her Protect IVF T-shirts within 24 hours. She launched a new batch a week later, and sold out again. Since then, shes continued selling new Protect IVF designs, donating a portion of her proceeds to Resolve. Before getting involved in IVF advocacy, Gomez said she barely paid attention to politics. Now, shes been active in supporting pro-IVF legislation and contacting her state lawmakers. And she often fields Instagram messages from customers in other states who are scared, she said, and want to know what they can do. People are saying to me they didnt know IVF was on the line, that they were surprised it wasnt protected in every state, said Gomez, who sends them links to sites where they can learn more about the state of IVF access where they live. Customers are saying their parents and grandparents are having these conversations in their social circles, saying they wouldnt be grandparents without IVF. She added: I think we forget how much power we have. Regardless of what happens with the presidency, we have so much control over what happens in our state. New territory Less than two weeks after the Alabama court decision, Jamie and Dontez Heard stood at one end of a long hallway on the fourth floor of the Alabama State House, staring nervously at all the doors of state lawmakers offices. They considered turning around and going back home. It was intimidating, and it was scary, not knowing what to say, thinking, Im going to stumble over my words, Jamie said. What if I say the wrong thing? Neither one of us has ever been in any type of advocacy role, so this was new territory. The couple had driven down to Montgomery that morning from their home in Birmingham, anxious but determined to defend their chance at having another baby by convincing their legislators to save in vitro fertilization. The court decision had landed just two days after the couple met with a specialist in Birmingham to begin a new round of IVF. Theyd conceived their son, Legend, now 2, through IVF in 2022 after years of struggling through infertility. Theyd hoped to add another child to their family this year. It was devastating, said Jamie. We didnt understand what it meant for us and our family. But a few days after the ruling, she saw a social media post that her fertility clinic had shared about a gathering of IVF families and supporters at the state Capitol. I knew then that we needed to be there, she said. We couldnt afford to sit on the couch and wait and see how this plays out. Since speaking to Alabama lawmakers, Heard has testified before Congress and traveled to other states to advocate for federal and state laws that would protect access to IVF. Next door in the battleground state of Georgia, one of the biggest reproductive justice advocacy organizations in the Southeast recently launched its first-ever Black (in)Fertility Awareness Week. SisterSong, which is focused on reproductive rights for women of color, hosted a panel, documentary screening, online discussions and a raffle of $40,000 in fertility services for Black Georgia families. Leah Jones, director of maternal health and birth equity at SisterSong, said the new initiative had been in the works for a while, but the Alabama ruling highlighted for people how IVF access is connected to other reproductive health issues, from preconception through pregnancy to postpartum. What we realized when we started this conversation around infertility in Black communities and listening to their stories, these are the same people talking about maternal health, abortion, mental health, birth justice, said Jones. Once you make the connection that this is part of an attack on overall bodily autonomy, I think thats when it clicks for people. Even in Minnesota As Minnesotas governor, Walz in 2023 signed a law confirming the right to abortion and other reproductive health care in Minnesota. And yet Minnesotans like Miraya Gran felt the shockwaves from the Alabama court decision. Gran and her husband struggled for years with infertility before finally conceiving their daughter Isla, now 3, through IVF. Gran advocates for a Minnesota law that would require health insurers to cover fertility treatments. We saw some great momentum after the Alabama decision, said Gran. It didnt really matter which political party you were a part of. If you believed in access to IVF, you joined our group. Gran said she considers Minnesota a safe state for IVF access and other reproductive rights, at least for now. But we look to our neighbors in Iowa, where they introduced some personhood bills recently. Its terrifying. Its too close to home. Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org. Follow Stateline on Facebook and X. DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST Hundreds of people rallied at the Alabama State House in Montgomery, Ala., in February in support of legislation to protect in vitro fertilization. Democrats are hoping that increased engagement on the issue of in vitro fertilization will translate into voter turnout at the polls in November. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) Marilyn Gomez was sitting at her kitchen table in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Feb. 16 when news alerts and friends texts began pinging her phone: The all-Republican Alabama Supreme Court had ruled that frozen embryos created through in vitro fertilization were children under state law. That meant providers could be held liable for discarding them, a common part of the IVF process. As Alabama clinics began suspending IVF services and public outrage mounted, politicians on both sides scrambled to distance themselves. In Gomezs quiet kitchen, it all felt deeply personal. I remember thinking, this is the only way I was able to become a mother, Gomez told Stateline. She and her husband went through years of fertility treatments and multiple rounds of IVF before the birth of their daughter in 2016. Without freezing her embryos and going through IVF, she said, I would not be a mom. My 8-year-old would not be here. Gomez owns a small business, called Infertile Tees, where she designs and sells shirts and accessories aimed at people experiencing infertility. Less than two hours after hearing about the Alabama court ruling, Gomez, who describes her political views as Democratic-leaning, had created a new set of T-shirt designs featuring the slogan Protect IVF. In the wake of the Alabama ruling, potential threats to IVF access have become an election-year issue, pushing many political novices toward involvement and activism. Reproductive rights groups say theyve seen unprecedented interest in protecting IVF access, and Democrats hope it will motivate voters in the swing states that will decide the election, including North Carolina. At least 19 states either through state law, criminal statutes or case law have declared that fetuses at some stage of pregnancy are people, according to a 2023 report by Pregnancy Justice, a nonprofit that conducts research and advocates for the rights of pregnant people, including the right to abortion. Such statutes could, in theory, be used to restrict or ban IVF by classifying the destruction of embryos as causing the death of a child. The Alabama high court cited so-called fetal personhood language in the state constitution when it issued its decision. North Carolina isnt one of those 19 states, but conservatives there have been testing the waters. A bill proposed last year by three Republican state representatives would have banned abortion from the moment of fertilization, and last year an appeals court judge terminated a womans parental rights for conduct during her pregnancy because life begins at conception, though the opinion was later withdrawn. Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, all swing states, do have laws that include references to unborn children. And in Georgia, another contested state, the states abortion ban defines a person as any human being including an unborn child. Democrats are eager to highlight the issue. The newly minted Democratic vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, has been outspoken about the seven years of fertility treatments he and his wife, Gwen, went through before conceiving. This is very personal for my wife and I, Walz told a crowd in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, last week. I remember each night praying that the call was going to come, and it was going to be good news. The phone would ring, tenseness in my stomach, and then the agony when you heard the treatments hadnt worked. Republicans say the idea that IVF is under threat is overblown, and dismiss Democratic warnings as scare tactics. There is no concerted Republican, conservative, pro-life effort mounting against IVF, said Cole Muzio, executive director of Frontline Policy Action, a Georgia organization that lobbies for abortion restrictions and other conservative policies. I think this is something the left largely has tried to use as a wedge issue, but I dont think most people are buying it as something thats a real threat, he said. But Muzio acknowledged that some anti-abortion advocates have asked his organization to talk more publicly about IVF. And he predicted that eventually, more conservative lawmakers will turn their attention to the issue. Long term, we believe in the value of human life, and thats my concern with IVF, that it results in the discarding of human life, he said. Now that Roe has been overturned and were able to have legislative conversations and think about where life begins, its an important conversation to have. Following public backlash over the Alabama court decision, lawmakers in a dozen states, including Alabama, introduced bills to protect IVF, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights. But so far, only Alabama has enacted a law. In March, Alabamas Republican-majority legislature hastily passed a measure shielding IVF providers from criminal and civil liability. The only other bill that gained traction was one in Louisiana, where both legislative chambers approved it. However, it was scuttled in May after the states powerful anti-abortion lobby opposed the removal of fetal personhood language that would have left IVF providers open to criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits. Far-reaching consequences For many people, the IVF issue illustrates how fetal personhood laws can have consequences far beyond abortion. And it has energized them. The National Infertility Association, which goes by the name Resolve, has held a national advocacy day annually for more than two decades. This year, after the Alabama Supreme Court decision, more than a thousand people attended the event virtually, twice the number that attended last year, said Barbara Collura, CEO of Resolve. We ended up with our largest advocacy day ever, she said. More than half of the people attending were brand new to the event. We feel very much that what happened in Alabama motivated people to figure out a way for themselves to get involved. In North Carolina, Gomez sold out her Protect IVF T-shirts within 24 hours. She launched a new batch a week later, and sold out again. Since then, shes continued selling new Protect IVF designs, donating a portion of her proceeds to Resolve. Before getting involved in IVF advocacy, Gomez said she barely paid attention to politics. Now, shes been active in supporting pro-IVF legislation and contacting her state lawmakers. And she often fields Instagram messages from customers in other states who are scared, she said, and want to know what they can do. People are saying to me they didnt know IVF was on the line, that they were surprised it wasnt protected in every state, said Gomez, who sends them links to sites where they can learn more about the state of IVF access where they live. Customers are saying their parents and grandparents are having these conversations in their social circles, saying they wouldnt be grandparents without IVF. She added: I think we forget how much power we have. Regardless of what happens with the presidency, we have so much control over what happens in our state. New territory Less than two weeks after the Alabama court decision, Jamie and Dontez Heard stood at one end of a long hallway on the fourth floor of the Alabama State House, staring nervously at all the doors of state lawmakers offices. They considered turning around and going back home. It was intimidating, and it was scary, not knowing what to say, thinking, Im going to stumble over my words, Jamie said. What if I say the wrong thing? Neither one of us has ever been in any type of advocacy role, so this was new territory. The couple had driven down to Montgomery that morning from their home in Birmingham, anxious but determined to defend their chance at having another baby by convincing their legislators to save in vitro fertilization. The court decision had landed just two days after the couple met with a specialist in Birmingham to begin a new round of IVF. Theyd conceived their son, Legend, now 2, through IVF in 2022 after years of struggling through infertility. Theyd hoped to add another child to their family this year. It was devastating, said Jamie. We didnt understand what it meant for us and our family. But a few days after the ruling, she saw a social media post that her fertility clinic had shared about a gathering of IVF families and supporters at the state Capitol. I knew then that we needed to be there, she said. We couldnt afford to sit on the couch and wait and see how this plays out. Since speaking to Alabama lawmakers, Heard has testified before Congress and traveled to other states to advocate for federal and state laws that would protect access to IVF. Next door in the battleground state of Georgia, one of the biggest reproductive justice advocacy organizations in the Southeast recently launched its first-ever Black (in)Fertility Awareness Week. SisterSong, which is focused on reproductive rights for women of color, hosted a panel, documentary screening, online discussions and a raffle of $40,000 in fertility services for Black Georgia families. Leah Jones, director of maternal health and birth equity at SisterSong, said the new initiative had been in the works for a while, but the Alabama ruling highlighted for people how IVF access is connected to other reproductive health issues, from preconception through pregnancy to postpartum. What we realized when we started this conversation around infertility in Black communities and listening to their stories, these are the same people talking about maternal health, abortion, mental health, birth justice, said Jones. Once you make the connection that this is part of an attack on overall bodily autonomy, I think thats when it clicks for people. Even in Minnesota As Minnesotas governor, Walz in 2023 signed a law confirming the right to abortion and other reproductive health care in Minnesota. And yet Minnesotans like Miraya Gran felt the shockwaves from the Alabama court decision. Gran and her husband struggled for years with infertility before finally conceiving their daughter Isla, now 3, through IVF. Gran advocates for a Minnesota law that would require health insurers to cover fertility treatments. We saw some great momentum after the Alabama decision, said Gran. It didnt really matter which political party you were a part of. If you believed in access to IVF, you joined our group. Gran said she considers Minnesota a safe state for IVF access and other reproductive rights, at least for now. But we look to our neighbors in Iowa, where they introduced some personhood bills recently. Its terrifying. Its too close to home. Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org. Follow Stateline on Facebook and X. Hundreds of people rallied at the Alabama State House in Montgomery, Ala., in February in support of legislation to protect in vitro fertilization. Democrats are hoping that increased engagement on the issue of in vitro fertilization will translate into voter turnout at the polls in November. Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector Marilyn Gomez was sitting at her kitchen table in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Feb. 16 when news alerts and friends texts began pinging her phone: The all-Republican Alabama Supreme Court had ruled that frozen embryos created through in vitro fertilization were children under state law. That meant providers could be held liable for discarding them, a common part of the IVF process. As Alabama clinics began suspending IVF services and public outrage mounted, politicians on both sides scrambled to distance themselves. In Gomezs quiet kitchen, it all felt deeply personal. I remember thinking, this is the only way I was able to become a mother, Gomez told Stateline. She and her husband went through years of fertility treatments and multiple rounds of IVF before the birth of their daughter in 2016. Without freezing her embryos and going through IVF, she said, I would not be a mom. My 8-year-old would not be here. Gomez owns a small business, called Infertile Tees, where she designs and sells shirts and accessories aimed at people experiencing infertility. Less than two hours after hearing about the Alabama court ruling, Gomez, who describes her political views as Democratic-leaning, had created a new set of T-shirt designs featuring the slogan Protect IVF. In the wake of the Alabama ruling, potential threats to IVF access have become an election-year issue, pushing many political novices toward involvement and activism. Reproductive rights groups say theyve seen unprecedented interest in protecting IVF access, and Democrats hope it will motivate voters in the swing states that will decide the election, including North Carolina. At least 19 states including Georgia either through state law, criminal statutes or case law have declared that fetuses at some stage of pregnancy are people, according to a 2023 report by Pregnancy Justice, a nonprofit that conducts research and advocates for the rights of pregnant people, including the right to abortion. Such statutes could, in theory, be used to restrict or ban IVF by classifying the destruction of embryos as causing the death of a child. The Alabama high court cited so-called fetal personhood language in the state constitution when it issued its decision. North Carolina isnt one of those 19 states, but conservatives there have been testing the waters. A bill proposed last year by three Republican state representatives would have banned abortion from the moment of fertilization, and last year an appeals court judge terminated a womans parental rights for conduct during her pregnancy because life begins at conception, though the opinion was later withdrawn. Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, all swing states, do have laws that include references to unborn children. And in Georgia, another contested state, the states abortion ban defines a person as any human being including an unborn child. Democrats are eager to highlight the issue. The newly minted Democratic vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, has been outspoken about the seven years of fertility treatments he and his wife, Gwen, went through before conceiving. This is very personal for my wife and I, Walz told a crowd in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, last week. I remember each night praying that the call was going to come, and it was going to be good news. The phone would ring, tenseness in my stomach, and then the agony when you heard the treatments hadnt worked. Republicans say the idea that IVF is under threat is overblown, and dismiss Democratic warnings as scare tactics. There is no concerted Republican, conservative, pro-life effort mounting against IVF, said Cole Muzio, executive director of Frontline Policy Action, a Georgia organization that lobbies for abortion restrictions and other conservative policies. I think this is something the left largely has tried to use as a wedge issue, but I dont think most people are buying it as something thats a real threat, he said. But Muzio acknowledged that some anti-abortion advocates have asked his organization to talk more publicly about IVF. And he predicted that eventually, more conservative lawmakers will turn their attention to the issue. Long term, we believe in the value of human life, and thats my concern with IVF, that it results in the discarding of human life, he said. Now that Roe has been overturned and were able to have legislative conversations and think about where life begins, its an important conversation to have. Following public backlash over the Alabama court decision, lawmakers in a dozen states, including Alabama, introduced bills to protect IVF, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights. But so far, only Alabama has enacted a law. In March, Alabamas Republican-majority legislature hastily passed a measure shielding IVF providers from criminal and civil liability. The only other bill that gained traction was one in Louisiana, where both legislative chambers approved it. However, it was scuttled in May after the states powerful anti-abortion lobby opposed the removal of fetal personhood language that would have left IVF providers open to criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits. Far-reaching consequences For many people, the IVF issue illustrates how fetal personhood laws can have consequences far beyond abortion. And it has energized them. The National Infertility Association, which goes by the name Resolve, has held a national advocacy day annually for more than two decades. This year, after the Alabama Supreme Court decision, more than a thousand people attended the event virtually, twice the number that attended last year, said Barbara Collura, CEO of Resolve. We ended up with our largest advocacy day ever, she said. More than half of the people attending were brand new to the event. We feel very much that what happened in Alabama motivated people to figure out a way for themselves to get involved. In North Carolina, Gomez sold out her Protect IVF T-shirts within 24 hours. She launched a new batch a week later, and sold out again. Since then, shes continued selling new Protect IVF designs, donating a portion of her proceeds to Resolve. Before getting involved in IVF advocacy, Gomez said she barely paid attention to politics. Now, shes been active in supporting pro-IVF legislation and contacting her state lawmakers. And she often fields Instagram messages from customers in other states who are scared, she said, and want to know what they can do. People are saying to me they didnt know IVF was on the line, that they were surprised it wasnt protected in every state, said Gomez, who sends them links to sites where they can learn more about the state of IVF access where they live. Customers are saying their parents and grandparents are having these conversations in their social circles, saying they wouldnt be grandparents without IVF. She added: I think we forget how much power we have. Regardless of what happens with the presidency, we have so much control over what happens in our state. New territory Less than two weeks after the Alabama court decision, Jamie and Dontez Heard stood at one end of a long hallway on the fourth floor of the Alabama State House, staring nervously at all the doors of state lawmakers offices. They considered turning around and going back home. It was intimidating, and it was scary, not knowing what to say, thinking, Im going to stumble over my words, Jamie said. What if I say the wrong thing? Neither one of us has ever been in any type of advocacy role, so this was new territory. The couple had driven down to Montgomery that morning from their home in Birmingham, anxious but determined to defend their chance at having another baby by convincing their legislators to save in vitro fertilization. The court decision had landed just two days after the couple met with a specialist in Birmingham to begin a new round of IVF. Theyd conceived their son, Legend, now 2, through IVF in 2022 after years of struggling through infertility. Theyd hoped to add another child to their family this year. It was devastating, said Jamie. We didnt understand what it meant for us and our family. But a few days after the ruling, she saw a social media post that her fertility clinic had shared about a gathering of IVF families and supporters at the state Capitol. I knew then that we needed to be there, she said. We couldnt afford to sit on the couch and wait and see how this plays out. Since speaking to Alabama lawmakers, Heard has testified before Congress and traveled to other states to advocate for federal and state laws that would protect access to IVF. Next door in the battleground state of Georgia, one of the biggest reproductive justice advocacy organizations in the Southeast recently launched its first-ever Black (in)Fertility Awareness Week. SisterSong, which is focused on reproductive rights for women of color, hosted a panel, documentary screening, online discussions and a raffle of $40,000 in fertility services for Black Georgia families. Leah Jones, director of maternal health and birth equity at SisterSong, said the new initiative had been in the works for a while, but the Alabama ruling highlighted for people how IVF access is connected to other reproductive health issues, from preconception through pregnancy to postpartum. What we realized when we started this conversation around infertility in Black communities and listening to their stories, these are the same people talking about maternal health, abortion, mental health, birth justice, said Jones. Once you make the connection that this is part of an attack on overall bodily autonomy, I think thats when it clicks for people. Even in Minnesota As Minnesotas governor, Walz in 2023 signed a law confirming the right to abortion and other reproductive health care in Minnesota. And yet Minnesotans like Miraya Gran felt the shockwaves from the Alabama court decision. Gran and her husband struggled for years with infertility before finally conceiving their daughter Isla, now 3, through IVF. Gran advocates for a Minnesota law that would require health insurers to cover fertility treatments. We saw some great momentum after the Alabama decision, said Gran. It didnt really matter which political party you were a part of. If you believed in access to IVF, you joined our group. Gran said she considers Minnesota a safe state for IVF access and other reproductive rights, at least for now. But we look to our neighbors in Iowa, where they introduced some personhood bills recently. Its terrifying. Its too close to home. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Update 1:47 p.m.: Evergy is now reporting fewer than five customers impacted by power outages in Emporia. Across the state, there are currently 463 customers without power. EMPORIA (KSNT) More than 1,500 Kansans are waking up without power Tuesday morning. There are currently 126 active outages with Evergy customers in eastern Kansas, according to Evergys outage map. The company is reporting the City of Emporia has 11 active outages with 165 customers impacted. Evergy is saying restoration times are delayed and currently unavailable due to the storm activity. At 7 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 13 the Lyon County Sheriffs Office took to social media to warn residents that ALL ROADS ARE FLOODING IN LYON COUNTY AND EMPORIA. ALL ROADS ARE FLOODING: Lyon Co. Sheriff warns of road conditions The National Weather Service (NOAA) of Topeka issued flash flood warnings for Central Lyon County at 7:49 a.m. NOAA is warning of life-threatening flash flooding, flooding creeks, streams, urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses. For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News. Do No Harm, a nonprofit organization established in 2022 to combat what it calls wokeism in medicine, has quickly emerged as a formidable force in the anti- transgender movement. With substantial financial backing from a conservative network led by conservative legal operative Leonard Leo, the group has focused on opposing gender-affirming care, posing a significant threat to the LGBTQ + community. But what is the group really up to? Leo, a key figure in the conservative legal movement, is known for his instrumental role in shaping the U.S. Supreme Courts conservative supermajority. According to ProPublica, Leo built the machine that remade the American legal system, advising former President Donald Trump on the nominations of now-justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. He previously helped pick or confirm the courts three other conservative justices: Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, and Samuel Alito. Leos influence extends beyond the judiciary, as he now channels considerable resources into various conservative causes, including Do No Harm. Leos machine extended to influencing state-level judicial appointments and elections, utilizing groups like the Judicial Crisis Network to fund campaigns and advertisements supporting conservative candidates. This meticulous planning ensured a pipeline of conservative judges who shared Leos ideological commitments, significantly altering the judicial landscape in the United States, ProPublica reports. In its brief existence, Do No Harm has already crafted model legislation to restrict gender-affirming care, which has been enacted in at least two states. According to an Accountable for Equality report, Do No Harm established a political lobbying arm, registering to lobby in nine states. This rapid expansion and legislative impact underscore the groups potential to influence national policy on transgender rights. Do No Harm shares staff, contractors, and legal advisors with organizations controlled and funded by Leo. According to public records, the group has received $3 million from Leos network, which includes substantial contributions from Chicago billionaire Barre Seid, who donates to right-wing causes, Accountable for Equality reports. This funding has enabled Do No Harm to employ nearly two dozen employees and fellows, including influential anti-trans activist and detransitioner Chloe Cole. Cole, who identified as a boy, transitioned at age 12 and detransitioned at 17. The 20-year-old now advocates against gender-affirming care. The rise of Do No Harm represents a new chapter in the conservative movements ongoing efforts to influence American politics and policy. An Accountable for Equality staffer emphasized that Leos involvement in this anti-transgender agenda is particularly alarming, as it weaponizes health care decisions that should remain between patients and their doctors. Gender-affirming care, which includes medical and psychosocial interventions designed to affirm individuals gender identities, is well-documented to improve the mental health and overall well-being of transgender and nonbinary youth. Research from Columbia University and other institutions has shown that such care reduces rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation among transgender youth. However, Do No Harm and its legislative efforts threaten to undermine these benefits by restricting access to essential medical treatments. Do No Harm has put forward several documents that support its legislative and advocacy efforts, often prepared by affiliated law firms. One such document is the Justice for Adolescent and Child Transitioners Act (also known as the JUST FACTs Act). The white paper argues against gender-affirming care by claiming a lack of reliable scientific evidence and highlighting perceived risks associated with treatments like puberty blockers and hormone therapy. The document provides a framework for proposed legislation to prohibit these treatments and mandates transparency and reporting requirements for schools regarding students with gender discordance. According to Accountable for Equality, Cole has been critical in Do No Harms advocacy efforts. Cole has testified in numerous state legislatures, supporting legal restrictions on gender-affirming care for transgender youth. Her involvement highlights the organizations strategy of using personal narratives to advance its legislative goals. The influence of Do No Harm is expected to grow, particularly as it prepares for the 2025 legislative session. The groups connections to Leo and his network, combined with its aggressive lobbying efforts, make it a significant player in the ongoing national debate over transgender rights. Leos strategic brilliance in reshaping the judiciary was deeply intertwined with his leadership in the Federalist Society, a network of conservative and libertarian lawyers he helped build into a political juggernaut. According to ProPublica, Leo and his allies identified and nurtured young conservative legal talents, positioning them in crucial judicial roles. They utilized an extensive network of contacts to place Federalist Society proteges in clerkships, judgeships, and influential positions across the federal government. As Do No Harm expands its reach, the LGBTQ+ community and its allies must remain vigilant, Accountable for Equality warns. The organizations efforts to restrict gender-affirming care and undermine LGBTQ+ rights represent a broader strategy to reshape American society according to conservative principles. An Accountable for Equality representative said that the fight against such initiatives is critical to preserving the rights and dignity of all individuals, regardless of their gender identity. Pregnant Wife Tried to Save Husband Who'd Been Shot While Protecting Her & Kids. He Died in Her Arms: Family Osvaldo Casas, 37, died a day after his car was allegedly vandalized, police say GoFundMe Osvaldo G. Casas with his family Authorities in Texas are investigating the killing of a man who was fatally shot while trying to chase suspected vandals, and died in his wife's arms. Osvaldo Casas, 37, was declared dead by medical personnel after he reportedly tried to confront vandalism suspects near his Houston, Texas, home over the weekend, per ABC 13, FOX 26 and KHOU 11. Police did not release his name but the news outlets, along with a GoFundMe created by his family, identified him as the victim of the Saturday, Aug. 10, shooting. The victim's wife, who according to the fundraiser is due to give birth next month, tried to save his life and performed CPR before first responders arrived at the scene, the Houston Police Department said, per the outlets. GoFundMe Osvaldo G. Casas The previous night, someone had allegedly vandalized Casas car by throwing eggs and flour before escaping the scene in a black truck, the outlets reported, citing Houston police. Early Saturday morning, neighbors reportedly saw a similar car and notified Casas, police said, prompting him to go outside and look around. Shortly after he went down the street looking for the suspected vandals, his family and neighbors heard gunshots, police said, per the outlets. They saw Casas running back towards his home, bloodied, before he collapsed, per police. His wife was reportedly trying to save his life and performing CPR when police arrived at the scene, HPD said, per ABC 13. "She try to give him CPR, and he died in her hands," Casas mother Blanca Aguirre told KHOU 11. "I did it for maybe like 10 minutes until the police arrived, and they took over, the victim's wife Judith Molina told FOX 26. But by that time I already knew he was gone. I knew he was gone. GoFundMe Osvaldo G. Casas Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. In the fundraiser set up to help with his funeral expenses, Molina said he died while bravely protecting our family and that he leaves behind his 16-year-old and an 8-year-old daughter. Osvaldo was overjoyed at the thought of meeting his baby boy and becoming a father to a son, she wrote in the fundraiser, adding that he had a special passion for the Dallas Cowboys." An investigation is ongoing. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Progressives face an existential threat from AIPAC. And there's nothing to stop it. Progressive Democrats just watched pro-Israel super PACs spend jaw-dropping sums to wipe out two top liberals in Congress. And leaders fear they have no way to stop it from happening again in 2026. Those groups, chiefly the American Israel Public Affairs Committees super PAC, spent a combined $25 million on ads to defeat Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.) this summer in what became the two most expensive House primaries ever. As a result, two more mainstream Democrats, George Latimer in New York and Wesley Bell in Missouri, are advancing in safe blue districts rather than two stalwart progressive voices. After both Bowman and Bush crumbled under that avalanche of spending, prompted by their criticism of Israel in the countrys war with Hamas, progressive Democrats have awoken to a bleak new reality that could haunt them for years to come: They have no organized way to counter that kind of money. And they fear AIPAC and allied groups will be more empowered to take on even bigger targets next cycle and beyond because they know their strategy works. "I think they smell success," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said of AIPAC in an interview with POLITICO. "The point is not just them going after Jamaal and Cori, which is terrible. It is the intimidating presence they have over every member of Congress. ... It bothers me that there hasn't been more outrage." In the days after Bush's defeat last week, senior liberals in Congress, including Sanders, have begun to reckon with the size of the problem. Until then, progressives were not sure if AIPAC's success against Bowman, who had plenty of his own political flaws unrelated to the Middle East, could be replicated. Then Bush's loss rattled progressives even more. What Sanders and others have grimly surmised is that they have no way to match AIPAC's power, with no big-money fundraising machine and no powerful nationwide door-knocking operation. And while progressives boast large numbers and significant power in Congress, they fear that those pro-Israel super PACs will continue to target high-profile lawmakers one by one, as well as quash new liberal candidates in open seats who the PACs also see as overly critical of Israel. That could make it harder to grow their ranks and potentially silence those already elected, particularly on support for Palestine, a galvanizing issue for younger liberal voters especially. The movement is going to have to do some deep soul searching, said Nina Turner, a prominent progressive who lost her own House primary three years ago to an AIPAC-backed challenger. The progressive movement has to show up in a deeper way. It did not. Turner, along with other progressive Democrats, say the left has no choice but to start organizing their own counterweight specifically focused on combating the pro-Israel money, adding: "So the movement itself is going to have to adjust very quickly." United Democracy Project, AIPAC's super PAC, firmly pushed back on the idea that their spending is at odds with the left. "We have been proud to support progressive champions who are pro-Israel like Latimer and Bell," said Patrick Dorton, a spokesperson for the group. "These are candidates that will support the progressive agenda in Congress." The reckoning hasn't been universal. Some progressive operatives dismissed the losses as minor setbacks to a movement that has been on the rise since 2016, and privately argued that Bowman and Bush were weak politically and therefore more likely to draw challengers. They argue that some liberal incumbents need to do better at deepening relationships in their districts and raising their own funds as Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) have done to ward off serious opponents. But others worried that many on the left are not clear-eyed about the full scope of the problem. Some believe the way the war in Gaza has galvanized pro-Israel donors is a dire threat to the future of the movement. There's reason for them to be panicked, said Mark Mellman, the president of Democratic Majority for Israel, which joined AIPAC in opposing Bowman and Bush and also played in open-seat races. The Squad has been diminished. That's a fact, and we prevented more people who would have joined it from getting elected. Beyond Bowman and Bush The first truly powerful pro-Israel groups came on the scene in earnest in 2021 with a blockbuster special election in northeast Ohio. The front-runner was Turner, a former co-chair of Sanders presidential campaign who was known for her colorful language. She led in polls and fundraising for much of the race. But Mellmans group swooped in with a $1 million infusion of cash to boost her opponent, now-Rep. Shontel Brown, over the finish line. No question that the Brown-Turner race was a turning point, Mellman said. With a blueprint set, AIPAC joined Democratic Majority for Israel in earnest in the 2022 midterms. Both focused on primary races, where their money would go even further. They had the biggest success playing in open seats and electing members like now-Reps. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) and Don Davis (D-N.C.). This year, they turned their sights to incumbents. And the war in Gaza turbocharged their donor base, allowing them to drop historic amounts of money into congressional races. Dorton, the spokesperson for AIPACs super PAC, called the Oct. 7 attacks a turning point for pro-Israel donors and activists in America. Its not just the mega-successful takedowns against Bowman and Bush: The pro-Israel groups quickly realized they can choke off potential progressive additions by spending against them in safe-seat primaries. Those races dont always get national attention but thwart attempts to grow the liberal caucus. Pro-Israel donors boosted Sarah Elfreth in an open Maryland House district, and also spent in an open Arizona seat where the race is headed for a recount. It shapes who gets elected as Democrats in Congress. Its bigger than any one race, its about what does the Democratic caucus as a whole look like?" said a progressive campaign operative, granted anonymity to speak candidly. "The Democratic party as a whole needs to have a larger conversation about, Are we gonna call this out? AIPAC is gonna go after the wounded bear cub Even progressive Democrats admit that both Bowman and Bush had serious political liabilities. Bowmans was especially obvious: He pleaded guilty to setting off a false fire alarm in the Capitol complex last year. Bush, meanwhile, is under federal investigation after hiring her now-husband to provide her security and paying him out of a campaign account. Other high-profile progressives, including whats known as the Squad, have been careful to raise enough cash and build enough relationships back home to stave off challengers. AIPAC decided not to spend, for instance, against Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) in her primary on Tuesday after they failed to land a strong challenger against her. This cycle, Omar is facing the same challenger but is expected to easily win her race after shoring up her own political operation. After a near-miss in 2022, Omar strengthened ties in her district, hired a strong campaign team and raised serious cash a whopping $6.8 million as of late July. Another rising progressive, Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.), strategically avoided a well-funded challenge, in part, by working with Jewish communities in her district. She bowed out of an event with a Muslim group after backlash over antisemitic comments made by other speakers. But Omar, Tlaib and others are only safe because the pro-Israel groups couldnt land challengers they felt were worth backing. Theyll pick, and theyll choose, Sanders said, summarizing AIPACs strategy. And he warned it would have a chilling effect on Democrats willing to talk about sensitive issues particularly against Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. How many people do you think are prepared to get involved in that? Sanders said. Every politician in the world has liabilities and $10 million can accentuate those liabilities. One Democratic leadership aide, granted anonymity to speak frankly, summed it up like this: AIPAC is gonna go after the wounded bear cub. What's next? No progressive expects they can compete with the flood of AIPAC cash dollar for dollar. Some are playing the long game angling for campaign finance reform and trying to label AIPAC as a vehicle for Republicans to meddle in Democratic primaries. The goal is not to say: How can we scale up to $20 million so then we can have this disgusting, destructive effect on our democracy through these elections, said Usamah Andrabi, a spokesperson for the progressive PAC Justice Democrats. At a certain point someone needs to be an adult in the room and say: This is bad for our democracy. Some, like Sanders, have tried to get their party to completely ban super PACs in Democratic primaries. But a solution like that is years, if not decades, away from coming to fruition. And the pro-Israel groups are already gearing up for 2026. Other progressives have tried to get more organized and fight back with groups that already exist, like the Congressional Progressive Caucus own PAC. But theres a big and awkward constraint. The CPC is one of the largest member groups on the Hill, with nearly 100 lawmakers. But progressive can be a wide spectrum. The group includes members like Brown, the Ohio candidate who defeated Turner with help from pro-Israel donors. And it might just welcome the two Democrats who beat Bowman and Bush this fall: Latimer and Bell, respectively. We have a criteria. And if he meets the criteria, I don't see why not, Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) told POLITICO after Latimer beat Bowman earlier this summer. Obviously, anyone who wants to be a progressive in Congress is welcome in the caucus. Brakkton Booker and Nicholas Wu contributed to this report. Progressive national security professionals already are angling for positions in a possible Kamala Harris administration, hoping to steer the White House in a different direction on Israel and other issues after being largely shut out under President Joe Biden. Some progressive activists plan to draft lists of people Harris could hire at places such as the National Security Council and the Defense Department. Others are polishing their resumes, sketching out policy briefs and mapping their connections to Harris world. The progressives ultimate goal is to influence American foreign policy and national security from the inside. This proved hard to do under Biden, a Democratic moderate who came to the White House with a massive stable of longstanding aides many of whom could trace their careers back to the Clinton administration. It didnt help that progressives have relatively few people in their ranks with significant government experience in foreign policy roles. Their plans, however, are a sign that Harris will face pressure on both policy and personnel from her left flank if she wins. We havent had the opportunity to build as big of a bench of people with this high-level experience, said Matthew Duss, a progressive foreign policy thinker who has advised Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and is now with the Center for International Policy. What Im hoping is that the vice president and her team will commit to helping us build that bench, because these are going to be the people who eventually can develop and execute and implement a foreign policy that is actually fit for this moment. For years, the Democratic foreign policy and national security establishment was dominated by people connected to Bill and Hillary Clinton, many of whom then worked for Barack Obama (including Hillary Clinton herself). After the interlude of the Donald Trump years, Biden pulled in many people he knew from his time as vice president under Obama and decades in the Senate, where he was a foreign policy specialist. Biden and his team also believed that experienced people needed to lead places such as the State Department after the personnel upheavals under Trump. That limited the number of political appointee jobs available, including for progressives whod amassed lists of possible hires for the Biden team. A lot of people volunteered for the Biden campaign thinking theyd have the opportunity to serve. Then they saw Biden pick people who had the box checked for having served in the Obama administration, said one think tanker, who unsuccessfully sought a role on the Biden team and may seek a position with Harris. A second think tanker said he might try to make more media appearances and arrange private briefings for people connected to the Harris campaign as a way to raise his profile among job seekers. Both of these individuals and others were granted anonymity to be candid about issues that are sensitive and can affect their careers. Across the Democratic Party spectrum, many would-be job seekers now reason that Harris will need new people at an array of levels, from low-ranking special assistants to Cabinet members. Some of Bidens appointees are likely to leave, and Harris may want to signal that shes her own president, not merely an echo of her predecessor. Progressive activists say they know their odds of getting many positions are low given the intense competition for such jobs and the fact that it often comes down to luck and connections. At the same time, many progressives would be happy if Harris who so far has come across as a relatively middle-of-the-road Democrat on foreign policy would indulge some new ideas on challenges ranging from the Israel-Hamas war to the rivalry with Beijing. I favor a clean sweep we badly need some new thinking in U.S. foreign policy, said Lyle Goldstein, director of Asia engagement at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank, which advocates for a more restrained U.S. foreign policy. Spokespersons for the Harris campaign declined to comment. Progressives are not monolithic and are still, in many ways, trying to figure out their preferred approach to foreign policy. But, broadly speaking, many in this group want U.S. foreign policy to be less militarized, more invested in diplomacy and more consistent on human rights. At times, progressives have echoed concerns of people on the far right, whose leaders also have called for less U.S. military engagement abroad. Bidens actions have gotten a mixed reception from progressives. Some were happy to see the U.S. withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, despite the chaos involved. Many also were impressed with how the Biden team has rallied much of the world to support Ukraine as it battles a Russian invasion, while not deploying U.S. troops to the fight. But many have watched Bidens handling of the Israel-Hamas war with dismay given the humanitarian fallout in the Gaza Strip. Theyre also worried that widespread anti-China sentiment in Washington could lead to a violent conflict with Beijing. Harris appears to be a typical liberal internationalist like Biden, but some progressives hope that shell define herself more clearly once in the Oval Office and at least be more consistent on issues such as human rights, especially for Palestinians. A Defense Department official who identifies as a progressive said that while Harris public persona may not come across as overtly left-leaning, her links to many on that stretch of the political spectrum offer opportunities for her to be swayed. Shes friends with so many progressive people, and theres so many progressive people in that sphere that it changes the playing field, the official said. Harris will likely have plenty of foreign policy slots to fill. Several of Bidens top aides, such as Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, will have already served a full, exhausting term, and even if Biden was reelected they likely would have stepped aside anyway for personal, health and other reasons. That makes it easier for Harris to name her own people to such posts. But Harris also may keep some Biden appointees. For one thing, despite her time in the Senate and as Bidens vice president, she hasnt developed a large network of her own foreign policy hands. Some of her current top foreign policy aides worked for previous Democratic presidents. They include her current national security adviser, Philip Gordon, whom many expect will keep working for her if she steps into the presidency. Gordon, who has worked for the Biden, Obama and Clinton administrations, declined to comment. Many lower-ranking Biden appointees may also wish to stay on, partly in hopes of moving up. Besides, if Harris goes too far in pushing out Biden-era aides, it could seem shes implicitly criticizing her predecessor. Theres also the need for some continuity and stability. If she surrounds herself with newbies no matter how smart and passionate there will be overwhelming uncertainty, insecurities, blame-gaming and toxicity among the nat-sec team, predicted a former national security official in the Obama administration. During the run-up to the Biden presidency, progressive activists offered names to the president-elects team of people it should bring on board. The lists were not made public, but the people who pulled them together said relatively few of those named earned spots in the government. Still, the plan is to try again with Harris, said Yasmine Taeb, one of the progressive activists who regularly met with Biden aides during the transition. Were definitely hopeful she can bring in new blood, she said. A former U.S. official with links to the progressive community warned such groups to temper any expectations of landing high-profile posts precisely because there are relatively few known progressives with government experience. Having such a background matters when it comes to pushing through ideas in what can be a cumbersome bureaucracy and policymaking process. Its unlikely Harris will pick firebrand leftists who broadly oppose U.S. military intervention abroad for a Cabinet spot. Still, skeptics of such hard power might be able to land in lower levels at various agencies, the former U.S. official said, and then they can learn the system and work their way up into other political appointee roles. You need somebody to be a deputy assistant secretary before theyre an assistant secretary and an assistant secretary before theyre an undersecretary, or have some sort of a meaningful career path that gives them some judgment, the former official said. There may be many career government employees with progressive leanings. But unlike political appointees, career staffers are expected to implement the policies of whoever is in the White House and are discouraged from openly discussing their personal views. The Defense Department official attributed their ability to land a spot more to luck than to strategy because people didnt realize how left of center I am. A Harris ally said the vice president likes to hire people with a diversity of experience, and that its possible shell look well beyond Washington and its think tanks to fill national security slots. But the ally also argued that if people progressives included truly want to work for a President Harris, they need to hustle now and start working for her campaign. Even just volunteering to hand out pamphlets could show initiative that could pay off with a job offer later, especially because, unlike Biden, Harris doesnt have legions of longstanding aides she may feel compelled to hire. Dont sit there polishing your resume waiting for January 2025, the ally said. People should be knocking on doors and doing everything they can to get her elected. Laxman Narasimhan has stepped down less than two years after being appointed chief executive of the US coffee chain - Stephen Brashear/AP The boss of Starbucks has been ousted less than two years into the role amid falling sales and customer boycotts over Israel. The global coffee chain confirmed Laxman Narasimhans departure on Tuesday, as he stepped down with immediate effect. He has been replaced by Brian Niccol, the former boss of Chipotle who is credited with turning around the Mexican chains fortunes. The change in leadership comes after a turbulent year at Starbucks. Sales have fallen for two consecutive quarters, dropping 4pc in the first three months of the year and 3pc in the three that followed. Some consumers have cut back on the chains expensive coffee, while others have boycotted the business over its alleged ties to Israel. Brian Niccol is credited with turning around the fortunes of Mexican food chain Chipotle - Mark Lennihan/AP This has drawn the attention of activist investor Elliott, which has heaped pressure on the board after building up a stake in the business. Starbucks shares have fallen by around 25pc over the past 12 months, but it regained around 20pc on Tuesday after Mr Narasimhans departure was announced. The coffee company was hit by a boycott over the past year over its perceived support of Israel amid the conflict in Gaza. Tensions rose after it sued the Starbucks Workers United (SWU) union for trademark infringement in Iowa. This was in response to the union expressing solidarity with Palestine in a social media post following the attacks by Hamas terrorists on Oct 7. In March, the companys Middle Eastern franchisee announced plans to lay off thousands of workers because of a downturn in sales caused by boycotts linked to the war in Gaza. Starbucks has faced boycotts over its alleged ties to Israel - Vincent Alban/REUTERS The company has repeatedly argued that its alleged support of Israel has been driven by misinformation online, claiming it has never given money to the Israeli government or military. The outgoing Mr Narasimhan assumed the role of chief executive at Starbucks in March 2023, having formerly led the consumer goods giant Reckitt, the owner of Durex. He stepped down from Reckitt mid-way through a three-year turnaround project. Mr Niccol will start as chief executive at Starbucks on Sept 9, with Rachel Ruggeri, the companys chief financial officer, serving as interim until then. Mellody Hobson, Starbucks chairman, said: Our board believes he will be a transformative leader for our company, our people, and everyone we serve around the world. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. New public health study shows concerning gap in media coverage around mental health: 'We found that pretty surprising' A new study is urging mainstream media to focus more on the mental health impact of climate change, according to Medical Xpress. What's happening? A public health study from the University of Alberta, published in the journal Environmental Research: Health, reported on the gap in the media's reporting of the mental health impact of climate change. The study looked at more than 1,000 articles in Canada and the United States published in English or French between 2016 and 2020. It found that there was an increase in topics related to climate-mental health from 2016 to 2019 but a sharp decrease from 2019 to 2020, most likely because of coverage relating to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The study also found that, although 468 different news outlets published at least one story on mental health impacts from climate disasters, there was infrequent repeat coverage. There was an average of only 2.32 articles published on climate-mental health, per the study. Over half of all climate-mental health coverage was in newspapers (57.7% of all articles). This is despite the fact that only about 7% of U.S. adults read national newspapers each day, according to 2022 statistics from Redline. Of the articles that mentioned mental health, only about half included strategies to deal with its potential detrimental effects. According to Breanne Aylward of the School of Public Health, who is the author of the study: "We found that pretty surprising." Why is climate-mental health important? According to Aylward, climate disasters adversely affect numerous people. Weather disasters, such as wildfires, floods, and heat waves, can cause anxiety and depression among some people. Even those who are not directly affected can experience environmental anxiety known as "eco-anxiety" just by hearing about it through news sources. According to another report from Medical Xpress, 53% of U.S. adults polled said the ever-changing climate affected their mental health. "We know climate change is already impacting mental health," Aylward said. "Focusing on the protective factors, interventions, and coping strategies people use is really important for prompting action to reduce risks in the future." The reporting on climate-mental health was infrequent and not sustained enough, according to the findings of the study. "More news outlets were talking about mental health during climate events, but it wasn't a sustained conversation," Aylward said. "The volume of news coverage on climate-mental health issues starkly contrasts with overall climate change reporting." This is important to note since climate-related weather disasters are increasing. The 18 separate $1 billion climate events in 2022 tied for the third-highest number in recorded history. According to an international disaster database, deaths from climate-related events were up in 2023 compared to the previous year, with a 278% increase in deaths from wildfires and a 340% increase in deaths due to storms. What's being done about reporting on climate-mental health? In the study, Aylward outlines what communities could do better to increase discussions of mental health. "More sustained news coverage that highlights a diverse range of at-risk groups and effective coping strategies could help drive action towards preventing and reducing climate-mental health risks," the study's conclusion reads. Aylward said communities could establish spaces, such as climate cafes, as open forums. She also said that researchers focusing on the link between the climate and mental health should do better to share their findings with the media outside of just academic papers. For the press, Aylward suggested that a wider coverage of coping strategies and mental health interventions could create a wider awareness of the public health impact and help policymakers address the issue. The University of Alberta also established the Climate Change and Health Hub, a dedicated group of faculty, staff, and students whose aim is to address the health effects of Earth's overheating. On an individual level, everyone can do things to prioritize their self-care. This includes focusing on what you can control, spending more time outdoors, and sharing your feelings with someone, whether a loved one or in therapy. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. Putin should 'get the hell out of Ukraine' if concerned about Kursk Oblast, White House says Russian President Vladimir Putin should end his country's war against Ukraine if he is worried about the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk Oblast, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Aug. 12. The Ukrainian military launched a surprise incursion across the border into Kursk Oblast on Aug. 6, bringing regular Ukrainian forces into Russia for the first time. "I'm not going to talk about Ukrainian military operations, as I said earlier... We're in close touch with them, as you might expect we would be," Kirby said during a press briefing. "But make no mistake about it: This is Putin's war against Russia. And if he doesn't like it, if it's making him a little uncomfortable, then there's an easy solution: He can just get the hell out of Ukraine and call it a day." Washington previously said it was not informed in advance about the incursion but noted that Kyiv was taking action "to protect themselves from attacks" and operating "within the U.S. policy of where they can operate our weapons, our systems, our capabilities." The Kremlin's chief initially dismissed Ukraine's operation as a "large-scale provocation," but on Aug. 12, he pledged a "worthy riposte" to the incursion. Alexey Smirnov, the acting governor of Kursk Oblast, described the current situation as "difficult" and told Putin that Ukraine is in control of 28 settlements, adding the incursion was up to 12 kilometers deep along a 40-kilometer front. Although reinforcements sent by Moscow have begun to arrive on the battlefield, Ukraine has reportedly continued to advance farther into Kursk Oblast. Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi reported that Ukrainian forces control around 1,000 square kilometers in Kursk Oblast. The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify this claim. Russian authorities have been forced to announce widening civilian evacuation measures in a number of districts bordering Ukraine. Ukraine's head of state, President Volodymyr Zelensky, described the operation as a "catastrophe" for Putin. "We see how Russia under Putin is actually moving: 24 years ago, there was the Kursk (submarine) disaster, which was the symbolic beginning of his rule. Now we can see what is the end for him. And it's Kursk, too. The catastrophe of his war," Zelensky said on Aug. 12. Read also: Kursk incursion and Crimea strikes could ease pressure on Ukraines Donbas forces Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Russian leader Vladimir Putin is trying to show himself to be competent in dealing with the situation in Russias Kursk Oblast and to shift the responsibility for the invasion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to other Russian government officials and the military. Source: ISW Quote: "Russian leader Vladimir Putin continues to portray himself as an effective and knowledgeable manager of the situation along the Ukrainian-Russian border and to shift responsibility for ongoing challenges in responding to the Ukrainian incursion in the area to other Russian military and government officials." Details: On 12 August, Putin convened a high-level meeting with Russian military leaders, security officials, and representatives from both federal and regional authorities to address the ongoing developments in Belgorod, Bryansk, and Kursk oblasts. During the session, he assigned specific duties to the military and security forces in Kursk Oblast and shared his perspective on the political implications of Ukraine's actions within Russian territory. Putin censured Alexei Smirnov, the acting governor of Kursk Oblast, for overstepping his bounds by discussing matters that Putin deemed the exclusive responsibility of the Russian Ministry of Defence. He instructed Smirnov to concentrate solely on the socio-economic affairs of the region. Additionally, Putin responded to First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov's assertion that "all other issues are under control", by highlighting Manturov's omission of several important social concerns. Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of Belgorod Oblast, took the opportunity to request Putins intervention in implementing certain social policies aimed at supporting the civilian population in his region. Meanwhile, both Gladkov and Alexander Bogomaz, the governor of Bryansk Oblast, sidestepped any potential criticism from Putin by steering clear of military topics. Quote: "Putin's assertion that each official has only one responsibility contrasts with his attempt to frame himself as capable of overseeing and competently understanding the political, socio-economic and military situation along the international border." Details: The Kremlin has made public the video footage and transcripts of the reports presented by the governors of Bryansk, Belgorod and Kursk oblasts to Putin, showcasing the difficulties regional authorities are currently encountering. This appears to be an effort to depict these regional leaders as responsible for the ongoing issues and reliant on Putin's assistance. Notably, the Kremlin has chosen not to release the video or transcripts from the portion of the meeting where military and security officials delivered their reports to Putin. Quote: "The Kremlin's decision to publish footage showing Putin chastising senior Russian officials is likely a warning to other Russian officials to refrain from commenting about the Ukrainian incursion into Russia." More details: Putin has entrusted overlapping duties to the Russian Ministry of Defence, the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Russian Guard along the Ukrainian-Russian border. This decision once again underscores the attempt by Russian forces in Kursk Oblast to form integrated command and control structures vital for the coordination of their operations. Putin also made it clear that the foremost responsibility of the Russian Ministry of Defence is to drive Ukrainian forces out of Russian territory. To quote the ISWs Key Takeaways on 12 August: Russian leader Vladimir Putin continues to portray himself as an effective and knowledgeable manager of the situation along the Ukrainian-Russian border and to shift responsibility for ongoing challenges in responding to the Ukrainian incursion in the area to other Russian military and government officials. The Kremlin's decision to publish footage showing Putin chastising senior Russian officials is likely a warning to other Russian officials to refrain from commenting about the Ukrainian incursion into Russia. Putin delegated overlapping tasks to the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD), Federal Security Service (FSB) and Russian Guard (Rosgvardia) in the Ukrainian-Russian border area further highlighting how the Russian force grouping in Kursk Oblast is struggling to establish the joint command and control (C2) structures necessary to coordinate operations. Putin offered several assessments about Ukrainian operations in Kursk Oblast, including one that undermined a long-standing Kremlin information operation falsely portraying Ukraine as unwilling to engage in legitimate, good-faith negotiations and putting the onus for peace negotiations on Ukraine. Ukrainian forces appear to be advancing further within Kursk Oblast despite recent milblogger claims that Russian forces were stabilising the frontline in Kursk Oblast. Regional Russian officials appear to be offering notably frank assessments of the ongoing Ukrainian incursion. Senior Ukrainian officials provided updates about the ongoing Ukrainian incursion into Kursk Oblast and warned that Russian forces may stage war crimes in Kursk Oblast in order to discredit Ukraine and Western support for Ukraine. Ukrainian forces reportedly conducted a drone strike against a Russian airbase in Moscow Oblast on the night of 11-12 August. Russian forces recently advanced near Vovchansk, Chasiv Yar, Toretsk and Pokrovsk. Russian ruler Vladimir Putin and the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) emphasised Russia's international defence ties at the Army-2024 International Military-Technical Forum in Moscow, likely in an effort to expand international military-technical cooperation and posture strong defence relations with Russia-friendly states. Support UP or become our patron! MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin told visiting Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday that Moscow was pained by the plight of his people and backed their aspiration to create a fully fledged state. Putin said Moscow was paying attention to events in the Middle East despite the demands of its own war in Ukraine. He did not refer directly to Ukraine's week-old incursion into western Russia, an operation that has caught Russia's military off guard and forced more than 130,000 people to flee their homes. "Everyone is well aware that Russia today, unfortunately, must defend its interests and defend its people with arms in hand. But what is happening in the Middle East, what is happening in Palestine, of course, does not go unnoticed on our part," Putin said, according to a Kremlin transcript. "And of course, we are watching with great pain and anxiety the humanitarian catastrophe that has unfolded in Palestine," he added. Putin noted the death toll of almost 40,000 Palestinians in the course of the Gaza war since the Islamist militant group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking more than 250 into captivity in Gaza. Russia has longstanding ties to both Israel and the Palestinians. But since the war started, Moscow has upset Israel by hosting Hamas delegations and Putin has emphasised the plight of the Palestinians, saying at one point that the suffering of their children "makes tears come to your eyes". Veteran leader Abbas, 88, said Russia was "one of the dearest friends" of the Palestinian people. "We believe in you, we trust you and we feel your support," he told Putin. He said the United Nations Security Council - where Russia is one of five veto-holding powers - must act to "stop the actions that Israel is taking", after judges at the top U.N. court said in an advisory ruling last month that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and maintenance of Israeli settlements there are illegal. Russia has sought to cast itself as a peacemaker in the Middle East and blame the region's problems on longstanding failures of U.S. policy. But Putin, in the remarks published on the Kremlin website, did not present any new initiative beyond reaffirming his support for Palestinian statehood and Russia's commitment to provide humanitarian relief. Russia has also built closer ties to Iran since the start of the Ukraine war and Putin has urged Tehran to exercise restraint and avoid Israeli civilian casualties in its response to the assassination of a Hamas leader in Tehran last month, Iranian sources told Reuters last week. (Reporting by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Kevin Liffey) "Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." For the past 30 years, scientists have investigated whether the human brain might require quantum processes to achieve cognition. A new study from Shanghai University uses mathematical models to suggest that certain fatty structures (which sheath the nerve cells axon) could potentially produce quantum entangled biphoton pairs, potentially aiding in synchronization across neurons. However, scientists have long argued that the brain is too hot and messy for this type of phenomenon to occur, and detecting this phenomenon as it occurs in the brain would be an incredibly difficult task. It has long been argued that the human brain is similar to a computer. But in reality, thats selling the brain pretty short. While comparing neurons and transistors is a convenient metaphor (and not completely out of left field), the brain is ultra-efficient, its energy is renewable, and its capable of computational feats that even the most advanced computer cant pull off. In many ways, the inner workings of the human brain make up an unknown computational frontier. Although your brain is superior to your laptopor even the worlds most advanced supercomputerthese machines run on classical physics. But theres another kind of a computer out there: a quantum one. The idea that the human brain contains quantum properties isnt new. In fact, the British physicist Roger Penrose and the American anesthesiologist Stuart Hameroff first suggested the controversial concept back in the 90s, with their orchestrated objective reduction model of a consciousness. Since then, many pieces of evidence have at least hinted that, while the brain may not be a full-fledged quantum computer, some quantum properties may in fact help generate consciousness. Now, a new study from Shanghai University submits yet another piece of evidence to the neurological courtthat one particular process of the human brain exhibits behavior akin to quantum entanglement, a phenomenon when two particles (usually photons) become inextricably linked even across vast distances. This phenomenon confounded even the most brilliant of minds, including Albert Einstein, who called quantum entanglement spooky action at a distance. Liu et al., Physical Review E, 2024 The study, published this month in the journal Physics Review E, suggests that a fatty material called myelin that surrounding the nerve cells axonthe fiber that transmits electrical impulses to other nerves or body tissuesprovides an environment in which the entanglement of photons is possible. This could potentially explain the rise of cognition, and especially synchronization , which is essential for information processing and rapid response. Consciousness within the brain hinges on the synchronized activities of millions of neurons, but the mechanism responsible for orchestrating such synchronization remains elusive, the paper reads. The results indicate that the cylindrical cavity formed by a myelin sheath can facilitate spontaneous photon emission from the vibrational modes and generate a significant number of entangled photon pairs. The team built mathematical models detailing how infrared photons could impact the myelin sheath and impart energy to chemical bondsspecifically, carbon-hydrogen bonds embedded in this fatty tissue. This, in turn, could spur biphoton generation with many pairs exhibiting entanglement, and serve as a type of quantum communication resource within the nervous system . When a brain is active, millions of neurons fire simultaneously, Yong-Cong Chen, a co-author of the study, told New Scientist . If the power of evolution was looking for handy action over a distance, quantum entanglement would be [an] ideal candidate for this role. If youre sensing some woah, if true quality to this research, youre not alone. For one, this phenomenon would need to be seen in a biological setting (likely in the brain of a mouse) before scientists get too excited about the brains newfound quantum communication resource. And thats a process that the authors readily admit would be difficult. Additionally, the idea of quantum entanglement playing a role in consciousness isnt a mainstream oneHameroff, one the leading minds behind the idea that quantum phenomena could drive aspects of cognition, even told New Scientist months ago that it was very popular to bash us after the publication of their consciousness model. But science is in the business of hypothesis and rigorous testing to discern the true nature of existence. And, as history has shown, what once seemed liked spooky action a distance can quickly become the cornerstone of the quantum world. You Might Also Like Rhode Island Recycled Metals faces heat from state regulators and the city of Providence for repeated environmental violations and failure to address problems at its Allens Avenue scrapyard.(Michael Salerno/Rhode Island Current) Rhode Island Recycled Metals reopened Monday, having met the court-ordered conditions for fire mitigation, including installation of thermal detection cameras, Patrick Sweeney, a company spokesperson, confirmed. The South Providence scrapyard was forced to close for over a month following a July 10 fire that prompted renewed scrutiny over its safety and operations, alongside long-standing environmental problems. A Providence County Superior Court judge issued a temporary restraining order against the company days after the July fire, requiring additional fire safety measures be taken before it could reopen. On Monday, the company submitted the required certificate showing proof it had fulfilled the final requirement installation of infrared cameras that can offer early detection of heat and fire throughout the 12-acre property. Other fire and workplace safety measures, including employee training, a phone tree for emergency situations, and separating the scrap pile into two, smaller piles, had already been implemented when Rhode Island Associate Justice Brian Stern reviewed the company plan last week. Sterns permission to reopen is also conditioned upon the company retaining a fire prevention expert to ensure the written plan is followed, alongside regular check-ins with the court-appointed special master. However, the legal battle is not over. The Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, who have been in litigation with the company since 2015, sought to have the scrapyard transferred into receivership after the July fire. Stern has not yet addressed that petition, instead deferring a decision until after additional hearings, which have not yet been scheduled. Separately, the company is also going through the beginnings of an environmental cleanup to remediate potentially hazardous materials buried in the land, and to add a stormwater management system. The process was required by DEM, which issued a $20,000 fine against the company in December, ramping up enforcement in the 15-year fight over lack of environmental permits. The city of Providence also sued the company in April, days before the fire, arguing it has been illegally operating without a license since 2014, according to the complaint filed in Providence County Superior Court. Both fires that broke out at the plant this year remain under investigation by the Providence Fire Department. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Vintage Pet Rescue says one of its dogs consumed some of the poison before it was removed Vintage Pet Rescue Rat poison found at Vintage Pet Rescue in Foster, R.I., (left) and several of the rescue's senior dogs A senior dog rescue in Rhode Island is working to return to normal after a "weird and unnerving" incident. On July 29, Vintage Pet Rescue, a nonprofit in Foster, R.I., dedicated to finding loving homes for senior dogs, found at least seven chunks of rat poison scattered on the fences surrounding the rescue, according to the organization's founder Kristen Peralta. Peralta tells PEOPLE she found the first piece of bright red poison, which had a "Play-Doh-like texture," in the morning "on the way to bring four dogs to the vet" after the rescue had already let its 32 dogs outside for some time in the facility's fenced yards. "We have a volunteer who comes in the morning to let the dogs out in the backyard. I think it was right around 10:00 a.m. I saw this chunk outside the front door, just a weird red thing on our fence. And I was just like, 'What is that?'" the founder said of finding the first piece of rat poison. "I had no idea what it was, and I just threw it out," she adds. Vintage Pet Rescue Rat poison found at Vintage Pet Rescue Vintage Pet Rescue later learned what the mystery substance was after the organization found another chunk, which still had a piece of the wrapper attached. "Half an hour later, I went to the other gate to grab dogs to go to the vet, and that's when I noticed the second piece that actually had the label on it. At that point, I looked and saw it said right on it that it was rat poison," Peralta says. Related: Nevada Rescue Dog Looking for a Home Again After Family Returned Pet for Being 'Too Boring' After this horrifying discovery, Peralta started to scan the rescue's outdoor area and soon found "three other big chunks" of rat poison nearby, all placed right on top of the rescue's fences. Peralta brought the find to her husband, who helps her run the rescue, and he "freaked out" because he saw one of the rescue's dogs eating something earlier that looked the same shade of red. At the time, he thought the dog, one of the rescue's younger pups named Bug, was chewing on a toy, but now he feared it was rat poison. Vintage Pet Rescue Kristen Peralta, founder of Vintage Pet Rescue In response, Peralta's husband rushed five-year-old Bug to the vet while Peralta and a volunteer walked the whole perimeter of the rescue to look for more rat poison. "I think in total, we found seven big chunks. And again, all put on top of our fences. If they really wanted to hurt the dogs, they would've just thrown it over the fence into the grass because we never would've seen it. And who knows what would've happened? They would've eaten it without us knowing it was out there. But they put it on top of the fences, so it almost felt like a threat." Peralta shares. Thankfully, this strange and cruel act didn't kill any of Vintage Pet Rescue's furry residents. Bug reached the vet about 45 minutes after ingesting the poison. The veterinarian induced vomiting and Bug regurgitated the rat poison. The little dog is on medication for a few weeks to ensure he recovers fully and is "doing great." Vintage Pet Rescue Rat poison found at Vintage Pet Rescue "Luckily, he's one of our younger, healthier dogs. If this had happened to one of our dogs in kidney failure or liver failure, it could have killed them," Peralta says. After Bug's emergency vet visit, Vintage Pet Rescue reported the rat poison incident to the Foster Police Department. Peralta and her husband took photos of where they found the poison and provided witness statements. Unfortunately, the rescue did not have any footage to provide. "We did have Bcameras outside our gates. Unfortunately, they weren't set to record. They were just the live view," Peralta explains. Since finding the rat poison, Vintage Pet Rescue has added six outdoor recording cameras, motion sensors, and floodlights to keep something like this from happening again. The motivations of the unknown individual who did this are unclear, which is one of the hardest parts of this experience for Peralta. Vintage Pet Rescue Senior dogs at Vintage Pet Rescue "Everyone's horrified," she says. "I'd really love to know why it happened. I'd love to know if I pissed someone off online or if I was driving the Vintage Pet Rescue car and made someone mad while driving," Vintage Pet Rescue and the Foster Police Department have no leads on who left the poison behind and why. "Going forward, I just don't want it to happen again, and so that's why the cameras are out there, and we're making a big stink about it, basically," Peralta says. Related: Nevada Rescue Dog Looking for a Home Again After Family Returned Pet for Being 'Too Boring' The founder adds that she is "much more aware" of her surroundings at the rescue since the incident. "Before, I would let the dogs out whenever they wanted to go out, and I'd just watch them. But now, I'll go out and walk around first. I'm always watching. When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is check the cameras to see if there was any overnight activity. It's definitely spooked me," she says. But Peralta is clear that she will not let this unsettling event affect the quality of life of the senior dogs who call the rescue home. Vintage Pet Rescue One of Vintage Pet Rescue's canine residents "I'm not going to be terrified and change my whole everything and not let the dogs out because of this. Then they win," she says. With new precautions in place, Vintage Pet Rescue is looking toward the future, which includes its A Special Day for Special Dogs event. "It focuses on our special needs animals. It's an event to bring together all these special needs animals in the United States. We do wheelchair races. We do a three-legged race. It's super fun. That's always a great time. It's October 19," Peralta says. Peralta has three suggestions for those looking to help Vintage Pet Rescue after this alarming incident. The first, and perhaps the most important, is a request that anyone with information on who left the rat poison around the rescue speak with the Foster Police Department in Rhode Island. Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Peralta also suggests that animal lovers looking to help Vintage Pet Rescue's senior dogs should consider adopting one of their pupsPeralta is partial to senior Chihuahuasor donating to the rescue. "Every dog we're taking in this year needs two or three surgeries, so we're spending close to $50,000 a month on vet bills," Peralta says, adding, "Our biggest need right now is just monetary donations to pay for the surgeries." To learn more about Vintage Pet Rescue and its life-saving work, visit the rescue's website. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. BLANCHARD, Okla. (KFOR) Sunday rains soaked much of central Oklahoma which led to flooding for people like Paula Hess. Shes been dealing with flooding at her home in Blanchard since a private landowner across the street cleared land earlier this year. Like Niagara Falls coming out of the property here to the west and it was surrounding my house, said Hess. She said she has been trying to find a solution to her flooding nightmare ever since the land was turned. She said the city of Blanchard told her they would help with the issue. They were going to build a drainage ditch and perhaps put in a fence, said Hess. Blanchard city crews did turn dirt on the citys easement in front of the property and built a shallow ditch, in an effort to help with flooding. But after Sundays soaker it was completely filled with mud. Purcell residents demanding answers after muddy water floods neighborhood Ive been waiting on the city to do something before I even get a chance, because theres no way anything I can do will not hold that water back, said Hess. She said she cant build a ditch on her side of the road because of utility lines. The city said it has come back out to the property and carved the ditch out several times but the problem still persists. Blanchards city manager was not available for comment but KFOR did speak to the CFO, Daniel Ofsthun, who said the city cannot put a silt fence up because its private property and the owner has not been helpful. News 4 tried to reach out to the property owner but our calls went unanswered. Blanchard said it was looking into possible legal action to recoup costs for digging the ditch and clearing away mud from the road. Hess is also looking into her legal options but hoped a solution would come fast before her home is destroyed. Its just kind of like wearing me down, said Hess. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City. SPANISH FORK, Utah (ABC4) An outbuilding located on a ranch south of Spanish Fork is completely destroyed after a fire engulfed the structure Monday morning, according to Spanish Fork Fire & EMS. Around 7:40 a.m., employees of a ranch near 17000 South U.S. 89 Highway in Birdseye spotted a fire in an outbuilding and contacted authorities. Twenty-four firefighters arrived at the scene with four engines and three water tenders and immediately observed heavy smoke and fire in the outbuilding, according to a news release. While crews were able to control the flames within 40 minutes and keep the fire from spreading to other areas of the ranch or nearby wildland, the damages still amounted to an estimated $750,000 as the outbuilding was completely engulfed by the fire. The cause of the fire is being investigated by Utah County and the Utah State Fire Marshals Office. No one was injured in the incident. Authorities from 10 agencies assisted in containing and extinguishing the fire. Fires can occur throughout the year, however, Utahs wildfire season is from July to October as hot and dry conditions provide ideal conditions for fire growth. For information on how to protect your land during wildfire season, check out ABC4s previous article here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. For the first time in half a century, an ocelot has been spotted in the Atascosa Highlands region of southern Arizona. The endangered wild cat was caught on cameras installed by The Phoenix Zoos Atascosa Complex Wildlife Study in June. A multi-agency review of the 50 cameras in Arizonas Coronado National Forests Nogales Ranger District confirmed that it was a new cat and not one that has not been seen elsewhere in the state. The cameras were first installed back in April. In July, the Phoenix Zoos Field Research Project Manager, Kinley Ragan, and volunteer Ali Lofti went to the study area to ensure that the cameras were working. The team visited 23 of the 50 cameras, refreshing batteries and SD cards so that they would last through the sweltering desert summer. While on these checks, it is standard procedure to take a look through the video to see if the cameras need to be adjusted in any way. This scan resulted in a big burst of excitement. This particular location required a 40 minute hike to the site as the temperature was reaching 95 degrees, Ragan said in a statement. The ocelot video was one of the last videos I reviewed and sent full chills through my body at the excitement and pride in what we had recorded. I was in disbelief at first, watching the video over and over again, but soon a big smile spread across my face as the full impact of this discovery for the important region set in. Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) Regional Nongame Specialist, Tracy McCarthey, confirmed the finding. AZGFD has conducted a pelage spot analysis comparing this ocelot with the current known ocelot in the state, as well as previous ocelots and concludes that this is indeed a new ocelot, said McCarthey. [Related: Wildlife exits on Texas roads could help endangered ocelots.] Since 1972, ocelots have been listed as endangered in the United States. There are less than 100 left in the wild in the entire US These carnivores primarily eat birds, rabbits, rodents, and lizards. The primary threats to their survival include habitat loss and fragmentation. The spotted cats primarily depend on dense forest and grasslands for shelter and safe movement across the landscape. The cats are about two to three feet long and are only intermittently observed in Arizona. This particular ocelot was spotted in desert scrub and at lower elevation than most historical records of the cats in the Grand Canyon State. A separate ocelot has consistently been recorded in the last year on camera footage from southern Arizonas Huachuca mountain range, more than 50 miles away from the new sighting. [Related: Connecting national parks could help generations of wildlife thrive.] The Atascosa Highlands, where this new sighting was recorded, includes the Atascosa, Tumacacori, and Pajarito mountains. While it is a well-known wildlife corridor, it is relatively understudied. Using 30 field cameras, the Phoenix Zoos Field Conservation Research team conducted a pilot study in 2023. They recorded 21 species of mammals in the area, but did not see any ocelots or jaguars. They expanded the study the year to include more cameras and habitat types due to the large number and diversity of species recorded in the pilot study. Data from the University of Arizona Jaguar and Ocelot Monitoring Project also provided additional context to the significance of this new sighting. Later this month and in October, Phoenix Zoo staff and volunteers plan to return to the field to retrieve additional camera data. They also plan to collect environmental DNA samples from the waterways in the area to get a richer understanding of the mammal ecology in this understudied corridor. TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) The decades-long mystery surrounding the disappearance of a Florida mother and her 3-year-old child is believed to have been solved after skeletal remains were unearthed in a canal on Sunday, according to police. Sunshine State Sonar, an organization that conducts searches for missing person cases in South Florida, said the remains belonged to Doris Wurst, 35, and her 3-year-old daughter, Caren. The two vanished from their home at 13411 NW 2nd Street in Plantation on Nov. 12, 1974. The mothers 1961 Chevrolet Impala was also nowhere to be found, the Plantation Police Department said. Boaters reel in over half-million dollars worth of cocaine in Florida after storms According to police, the next of kin have been notified of the likelihood that the remains of their loved ones have been located. Police are still waiting for DNA and dental records. The mother and daughters disappearance became a cold case in 1975, with follow-up investigations occurring in 1977, 1988, 1992, 1994, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2017, and 2018; however, results came back negative and the two were never found. Then, in June 2023, the police department Sunshine State Sonar teamed up with the hopes of closing the case. On Sunday, the sonar team located a vehicle in a canal near the 10100 block of West Broward Boulevard. A dive search revealed the vehicle was a 60s model Chevrolet Impala. Skeletal remains consistent with an adult and small child were found inside the Impala, police said. Sunshine State Sonar said toys, clothes, and shoes were also found inside the vehicle. There was a hole in the roof on the vehicle and as I got right above the top of the vehicle I shined my flashlight in that hole and I saw what I didnt know what it was at the time, it looked like a purse or little briefcase, Michael Sullivan of Sunshine State Solar told NBC affiliate WTVJ. I grabbed it and when I got it up to the surface and saw what it was it was a Fisher Price kids toy. Me and my brother just looked at each other and it was a pretty emotional moment because, to us, it was Caren, it was Caren saying, Im here, you got me.' While the cold case has been solved, residents who live near the canal are on edge following the discovery. Piedad Caballero told WTVJ the Sunshine State Sonar team knocked on her door Saturday, asking for permission to access the canal from her property. A tragedy: Girl, 12, critical after mom runs her over in Sarasota schools drop-off line Weve been here 20 years and weve been sleeping with dead bodies there over 20 years, not knowing. Who knows how many more are in there, Caballero said. Its really scary. According to WTVJ, Sunshine State Sonar said a mans remains and a car were found submerged in a nearby lake in the area of 80 Wimbledon Drive. They laid his bones out. They had his dentures, resident Cookie Saccenti said. It was really sad. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. Heads up, parents: If you feed your little one formula, you might want to take a peek at the cans youve got in the house. Perrigo infant formula is issuing a voluntary recall of 16,500 formula cansthree lots within one batchdue to the discovery of vitamin D levels above the maximum level permitted. According to a release from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the companys store-brand Premium Infant Formula with Iron Milk-Based Powder was found to have elevated vitamin D levels through routine testing. So far, there have been no adverse events reported due to consumption of the impacted products, so the recall appears to be out of an abundance of caution. The recalled products were shipped in February 2024 to H-E-B grocery stores in Texas and CVS stores in the following states: Texas, Florida, California, South Carolina, Virginia, Indiana, Tennessee, New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Missouri. To date, no other products or retailers have been impacted by this recall, which includes cans with use-by dates of November 2025. The FDA notes that for the vast majority of infants, short-term consumption of the affected lot codes is unlikely to cause adverse health implications, adding, in a small subset of physiologically vulnerable infants (e.g., impaired renal function), there is the potential that consumption of the recalled product could result in health complications. In infants, vitamin D toxicity presents with nonspecific and subtle symptoms such as poor feeding, constipation, intolerance to food, polyuria, dehydration, lethargy, failure to thrive, emesis, and diarrhea, according to researchers from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Severe cases can lead to seizure and kidney failure, but the AAP notes that generally speaking, vitamin D intoxication is rare. Parents and caregivers are advised to check for the below lot codes with use by dates, which can be found on the bottom of the package: product shipped to CVS beginning February 6, 2024 with the lot code T11LMYC USE BY 11NOV2025, and product shipped to H-E-B Grocery Company, LP beginning February 2, 2024 with the lot codes: T11LMXC USE BY 11NOV2025 and T09LMXC USE BY 09NOV2025. Any questions or concerns regarding the recall or adverse events can be directed to Perrigo Consumer Affairs at 1-800-538-9543, M-F from 8:00am-5:00pm EST. Related symptoms should be reported to FDAs MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program online at www.fda.gov/medwatch/report.htm. Of course, reaching out to your childs pediatrician with any health questions or concerns is always crucial. But hopefully this recall was caught early enough so that there will be no cause for concern for parents, caregivers, and their babies. Tamika Johnson, one of the organizers of a recall effort against Milwaukee School Board members, speaks at a press conference at Gordon Park in Milwaukee on July 24. The group submitted petitions for each of the candidates Aug. 12, and the Milwaukee Election Commission is now reviewing the signatures on those petitions. A group seeking to recall four Milwaukee Public School Board members has submitted petitions in an attempt to trigger recall elections for them. Milwaukee Election Commission executive director Paulina Gutierrez said the petitions were received Monday seeking to recall board president Marva Herndon, vice president Jilly Gokalgandhi, and board members Erika Siemsen and Missy Zombor. Because of the Aug. 13 primary election, Gutierrez said her office will not have a chance to start verifying the signatures until Thursday. It's unclear how many signatures have been collected. Her office is expected to post the preliminary findings to the city website by the end of the day Thursday, if not sooner, she said. The recall effort follows the resignations of MPS superintendent Keith Posley, chief financial officer Martha Kreitzman and comptroller Alfredo Balmeseda. Those resignations came after state officials shared concerns about the district's financial reporting practices. The result is a loss of $43 million in state funding this year. Two organizers of the recall petitions, Tamika Johnson and Nicole Johnson, did not immediately respond to phone calls or emails from a reporter. During a July press conference, Tamika Johnson, a private school teacher, said the recall was an effort to remove "incompetent board members who allowed corruption to happen on the back of our Black and brown and white children." Herndon said Monday that, while the group had the right to pursue the recall effort, she did not agree with the group's accusations. Gokalgandhi was not available to talk when a reporter reached her by phone Monday evening. She did not respond to a follow-up phone message Tuesday morning. Siemsen said that, while any group is welcome to voice their opinion or attempt a recall, "there has been no wrongdoing by the board." "We've taken every action step possible to follow the corrective action plan, work with the Department of Public Instruction, proceed with new leadership both at the level of superintendent and in the office of board governance, as well as working to staff our finance department in a way that allows the work to be done," she said. "So I feel like the concerns that anybody would have had have all been addressed by the board." Zombor said she was waiting for the Milwaukee Election Commission's formal response on the number of signatures collected. She said that she would look through the signatures for anything that needed to be challenged. Zombor also said she has volunteers ready to assist with reviewing signatures. "Even if they do turn in the signatures, I expect that those signatures are going to be as messy as their finance reports. I'm ready to comb through them if they have enough. I'm skeptical based on how quiet everything's been that they actually turned in enough. I respect the democratic process, but at the end of the day, everyone has to follow the law," she said. The Milwaukee Election Commission has 31 days until Sept. 12 to review signatures. The last day for challenges to signatures is Aug. 22, with rebuttals to those challenges due Aug. 27. Successful petitions would lead to an election being called six weeks later on a Tuesday, Gutierrez said. How many signatures were needed for the MPS recall petitions? The MPS School Board Recall Collective was hoping to collect more than 60,000 signatures to trigger special elections for all four seats before the board members would normally be up for election. The Milwaukee School Board has nine members, but is currently at eight, as a replacement has not been named for Aisha Carr, who resigned May 1 and has been charged with fraud and misconduct in office. She was scheduled to be in court for a preliminary hearing Tuesday. Her replacement on the board will be chosen during the Nov. 5 election. The recall group had until Aug. 12 to collect signatures. It needed to collect 25% of the votes cast in a board member's district in the 2022 governor's election to trigger recall elections. For Herndon, the group needed 5,137 signatures. For Gokalgandhi, that number was 7,759; for Siemsen, 6,809; and for Zombor, who holds the board's only at-large seat, that number was 44,177. Who is financing the MPS recall effort? At the July press conference, the recall group said it did not know who had donated money to the effort. The group said volunteers and paid canvassers were collecting signatures. Members also said the canvassers had not been paid yet and that the anonymous donors would pay the canvassers upon the signatures' verification. Group members also did not reveal information about the number of paid canvassers working for them, nor how much money was available to pay them. The group's finance reports did not show fundraising or spending to pay for canvassers. Zombor filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission alleging that the recall group did not report all of the money it raised and spent. She also alleged that group members who reported paying expenses did not share their residential addresses as required by state law. The commission told her it had found there was enough in her complaint for a review, she said. In declining to provide an update on the status of that review, Wisconsin Ethics Commission administrator Daniel Carlton Jr. said "complaints are confidential by law" and additional information wouldn't be available "until it reaches a stage where records are available to the public" under state statutes. Zombor had raised $1,760 from 26 contributors as of July for her defense. Reporter Rory Linnane contributed to this report. Contact Alec Johnson at (262) 875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AlecJohnson12. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Group submits petitions to recall four MPS school board members EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) The El Paso Police Department has started a DWI Friday series where they post mugshots on their social media of individuals who were recently arrested for driving while intoxicated. Recent DWI arrests within El Paso: July 26-Aug. 1 The mugshots displayed below are those who were arrested from Thursday, Aug. 1 through Thursday, Aug. 8 for allegedly driving while intoxicated. Mauricio Reyes arrested on Aug. 1 for allegedly driving while intoxicated. Luis Ramirez arrested on Aug. 2 for allegedly driving while intoxicated. Arturo Fierro Cruz arrested on Aug. 2 for allegedly driving while intoxicated. Eric Moncayo arrested on Aug. 3 for allegedly driving while intoxicated. Cristian Rodriguez arrested on Aug. 3 for allegedly driving while intoxicated. Brayan Crespo Aguirre arrested on Aug. 4 for allegedly driving while intoxicated. Gabriel Garcia arrested on Aug. 4 for allegedly driving while intoxicated. Luis Martinez arrested on Aug. 4 for allegedly driving while intoxicated. Jorge Morales Rodriguez arrested on Aug. 5 for allegedly driving while intoxicated. Anthony Mach arrested on Aug. 5 for allegedly driving while intoxicated. Michael Rivera arrested on Aug. 5 for allegedly driving while intoxicated. Matthew Rulon arrested on Aug. 6 for allegedly driving while intoxicated. Francisco Marcial Olivas arrested on Aug. 6 for allegedly driving while intoxicated. Leonardo Aguirre arrested on Aug. 6 for allegedly driving while intoxicated. Jesus Yescas arrested on Aug. 7 for allegedly driving while intoxicated. Jorge Montes arrested on Aug. 7 for allegedly driving while intoxicated. Guillermo Huerta arrested on Aug. 7 for allegedly driving while intoxicated. Rebeca Romero arrested on Aug. 7 for allegedly driving while intoxicated. Antonino Mendoza arrested on Aug. 7 for allegedly driving while intoxicated. Sebastian Delgado arrested on Aug. 8 for allegedly driving while intoxicated. Cassandra Quintero arrested on Aug. 8 for allegedly driving while intoxicated. Gabriella Jimenez arrested on Aug. 8 for allegedly driving while intoxicated. Kevin Lopez arrested on Aug. 8 for allegedly driving while intoxicated. Stephan Martinez arrested on Aug. 8 for allegedly driving while intoxicated. The Police Department says those who go out and decide to drink should use a ride-share service or have a designated driver. DWIs are 100 percent preventable, the Police Department said. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. Signatures were solicited outside the Fargodome on June 7, 2024, for a petition to put legalized marijuana to a statewide vote. (Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor) North Dakota voters will decide the fate of recreational marijuana for the third time since 2018 after the Secretary of States Office approved the measure for the November ballot. The office announced Monday it has verified nearly 19,000 of the more than 22,000 signatures submitted to the office. A total of 15,582 signatures were needed to qualify for the ballot. Its just an exciting day for North Dakota economically, from a law enforcement perspective and a judicial perspective, said Steve Bakken, chair of the measures sponsoring committee. Measure 5 The recreational marijuana ballot initiative will be Measure 5 on the general election ballot. The statutory title will be: The initiated measure would create a new chapter of the North Dakota Century Code. It would allow for the production, processing, and sale of cannabis and the possession and use of various forms of cannabis by individuals who are 21 years of age and older; direct a state entity to regulate and register adult use cannabis production businesses, dispensaries, and their agents; provide protections for individuals who are 21 years of age or older who use cannabis; provide penalties for violations of the chapter; preserve certain employer rights regarding use of cannabis products by employees; supersede local ordinances that otherwise would prohibit the purchase, sale, use, delivery, or growing of cannabis by or to individuals 21 years of age or older; and provide that fees must be appropriated for administration of this chapter. Of the more than 3,000 signatures rejected by the office, more than 1,300 were rejected for inadequate signatures; more than 900 had an address omission; about 120 contained no date; and about 100 contained an out-of-state address. A big part of this is the educational piece, Bakken said. Getting the public, and elected officials and everyone educated on the real measure and what the real ramifications are, thats where the lift starts. Bakken said this recreational marijuana measure is more conservative than in years past, and encouraged voters to read the text. It fits into the fabric of North Dakota, and its not coming from out of state, its not going to be the wild, wild west, he said. The plants you can grow, its conservative. You cant fill your backyard up with plants. He added he believes possession limits will let law enforcement know who is growing for personal consumption and who may be trying to skirt the law to illegally deal marijuana. If passed by voters, North Dakotans 21 and older would be allowed to possess up to 1 ounce of cannabis flower, up to 4 grams of THC concentrate, up to 1,500 milligrams of various cannabis products and up to 300 milligrams of THC edible products, according to the ballot measure. The North Dakota Sheriffs and Deputies Association and the Chiefs of Police Association of North Dakota have opposed legalizing recreational marijuana in the past. The groups have yet to take a position on this measure. Some, including Burleigh County Sheriff Kelly Leben, have expressed opposition. Legalized marijuana increases crime, increases DUIs and increases illegal drug trafficking of harder drugs, Leben said. Adults also would be able to grow up to three marijuana plants in a private residence, or on private property, generally not accessible to the public, with the blessing of the property owner. The initiative prohibits cannabis use in all public places, indoor and outdoors. It also prohibits cannabis use while driving and while using public transit. The measure provides rights to people who may have faced punishment for cannabis use in the past in certain situations while protecting employers who may continue to enforce zero-tolerance policies at their businesses. This does not constrain the constrained workforce any further that we have in North Dakota, Bakken said. Thats kind of a misconception and thats what we need to work on. Thats the educational piece this isnt Reefer Madness from the 1960s. Pat Finken, chair of the Brighter Future Alliance, said the organization opposed both previous ballot initiated attempts for recreational marijuana in North Dakota. The people of North Dakota soundly rejected the idea of recreational marijuana in 2018 and 2022, but here they are again, Finken said in a Brighter Future Alliance news release. Dr. Joan Connell, a Bismarck-based pediatrician, also opposed the measure in a statement released by the Brighter Future Alliance, citing research about chronic marijuana use. I am not in favor of legalizing yet another substance that sabotages the brains normal development, Connell said. I am disappointed that some people would prioritize business and profits over what is best for North Dakotans. This article first appeared in the North Dakota Monitor, a sister site of the Nebraska Examiner in the States Newsroom network. REIDSVILLE, N.C. (WGHP) The owner of a Reidsville pawn shop has been arrested after police discovered counterfeit gold. Kathyes Pawn owner Jack Graham has been charged with three counts of obtaining property by false pretense after the fake gold was sold at his pawn shop. He turned himself in and received a $50,000 secured bond. According to Reidsville Police Department, officers investigated reports of counterfeit gold bars and coins being sold within the city. Police ask anyone who may have bought gold in Reidsville to have the gold tested by a reputable gold dealer. Anyone who bought fake gold should call Sergeant Payton Lingle at (336) 347-2338. Reidsville Police Department is working with Homeland Security, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the North Carolina Secretary of State regarding this investigation. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX8 WGHP. By Svea Herbst-Bayliss, Granth Vanaik and Waylon Cunningham (Reuters) -Starbucks on Tuesday named Chipotle Mexican Grill head Brian Niccol as its new CEO, poaching a successful fast-food executive known for reviving the burrito chain to lead a turnaround, in a shock move that sent the coffee chain's shares up 24%. Niccol replaces Laxman Narasimhan, whose tenure only lasted a year-and-a-half after he was originally brought in as CEO in March 2023 to engineer a "reinvention" of the world's biggest coffee chain. Since then, the stock has continued to falter, losing nearly one-quarter of its value. He inherits several challenges at the coffee giant, which has been under pressure from activist investor Elliott Investment Management to improve its business, and has suffered from increased competition and weakening demand in the United States and China. Niccol's appointment is a coup for Starbucks, as Chipotle's annual sales have surged since he joined in 2018, and the stock has more than tripled over the last five years. "This is a significant victory for Starbucks. Niccol has earned the respect and confidence of the investment community and will be given the much-needed leeway to make investments and time to turn around Starbucks," BTIG analyst Peter Saleh said. Starbucks had been under pressure from Elliott, which had built a $2 billion stake. The hedge fund had suggested Starbucks expand its board and make Elliott executive Jesse Cohn a director, though it was not demanding a CEO change. Sources familiar with Starbucks said former CEO Howard Schultz had been pressing board members to try and solve the company's issues without offering a board seat to the activist investor. Elliott on Tuesday said that Niccol's appointment was "a transformational step forward" for the company. "We look forward to continuing our engagement with the Board as it works toward the realization of Starbucks' full potential," Elliott said in statement. Starbucks recently tweaked its model to focus on mobile pickup and delivery orders rather than cafes set up for long visits. When asked on CNBC if activist Elliott was consulted about the shakeup, Starbucks Board Chair Mellody Hobson said it had not been. Trian Fund Management, another activist investment firm which tangled with Walt Disney this year, also owned Starbucks shares and had conversations with Hobson, according to sources. Happy with the appointment, the fund has now sold its position. Trian did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Story continues THE SIXTH CEO Starbucks shares had a record one-day percentage jump, hitting a more than five-month high. Chipotle stock closed down 7.5% on Tuesday. Craig Garthwaite, a professor at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management, said Niccol "has taken an upscale fast food restaurant chain and improved it before, and that is what Starbucks is today, a fast-food restaurant. For Niccol this could be the ultimate challenge in fixing the perception that's weighing on the company and the business problems." In May, days after Starbucks cut its annual sales forecast, Schultz wrote on his LinkedIn account that its U.S. operations were the "primary reason for its fall from grace," and that senior leaders need to spend more time with workers. Starbucks in late July reported a 6% decline in U.S. comparable transactions for its most recent quarter. Under Narasimhan, Starbucks moved away from Schultz's tough stance on Workers United, the union seeking to organize its U.S. workforce. In February, the chain announced talks that began a national contract negotiating process for the more than 400 unionized stores. Niccol, who will start on Sept. 9, will become only the sixth CEO at Starbucks over its 50-plus-year history, with founder Schultz leading the company for 23 years in three separate stints. CFO Rachel Ruggeri will serve as Starbucks' interim CEO until Niccol starts. Chipotle said its board had appointed Scott Boatwright, chief operating officer, as interim CEO. Niccol, who has an engineering major from Miami University, joined Chipotle in 2018 from Taco Bell and helped the company overcome salmonella and E.coli outbreaks at several outlets. "(Niccol) is a fixer and a doer and an executor," said Thomas Hayes, chairman at Great Hill Capital. (Reporting by Granth Vanaik and Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru and Svea Herbst-Bayliss in Boston Editing by Alan Barona, Sriraj Kalluvila and Nick Zieminski) Violent crime in the nation's major cities plummeted in the first six months of 2024 as the early COVID-era crime surge subsides, new data suggests. While the drop in violent crime warrants acknowledgement, experts also say it underscores the need for states and the federal government to remain invested in violence prevention efforts. An Axios analysis of preliminary data from the Major Cities Chiefs Association found that violent crime, which includes homicides, robberies, aggravated assault and rape, has dropped overall by 6 percent in 69 major cities between the first six months of 2024 and the same period in 2023. The MCCA data is one of five sets on violent crime in the U.S. to have recently been released, with each though with slightly varied estimates indicating a sharp decline in violent crime that rivals pre-pandemic levels, experts said. "This builds on news that we have about crime in 2023. If you look back further, you can see that this is a continuation of a downtrend that began a couple of years ago," said Ames Grawert, senior counsel for the Justice program at NYU Law's Brennan Center for Justice. "So it's not just that we're looking at a single year of decline so far in 2024, but it's that this is basically showing a continuation of a downtrend in violent crime nationally to the point that we might be in the process of reversing, or close to fully reversing, some of the increases we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic." Fifty-four of the 69 cities included in the MCCA data set saw drops in violent crime in the first half of the year, per the Axios review, with some communities seeing more than a 25 percent decline. Columbus, Ohio, saw the nation's largest dip at 41 percent so far, while Omaha, Nebraska, followed with a 30 percent decrease. Miami, Fla., and Washington, D.C. both had 29 percent declines in violent crime, and Austin, Texas and New Orleans, saw 28 percent and 26 percent decreases respectively. While the FBI Uniform Crime report points to a similarly significant drop in overall violent crime for the first quarter of the year showing a 15.2 percent decrease between January and March 2024 compared to the same period in 2023 other preliminary data sets from NORC at the University of Chicago, AHDatalytics and the Council of Criminal Justice released this summer released data instead outlining percentage decreases specific to different types of violent crime. John Roman, a senior fellow at NORC, told Salon that most criminologists home in on the homicide numbers to determine crime rates because local and state jurisdictions' reports of homicides are far more consistent and robust than with other types of violent crime. That focus is in part because of changes in the way cities report crime to the FBI that took effect in 2021, he explained, noting that cities report data voluntarily. Violent crime reporting compliance was at 95 percent before the FBI began requiring incident-level data, but dropped to less than 60 percent afterward, he said. While the percentage of compliance has risen back into the 80s, Roman said homicide data is more reliable. The MCCA data found that the number of homicides in the 69 reported cities dropped by more than 17 percent between the first six months of this year and the same period of 2023. Boston, Mass., saw a massive 78 percent drop in homicides, while Philadelphia experienced a 42 percent decrease in homicides. The homicide numbers from the other organizations followed a similar arc, with NORC reporting a 23 percent decrease in the homicide rate, AHDatalytics recording a 17.7 percent drop, and the CCJ noting a 13 percent decline. "It's a remarkable thing. The homicide rates from each of these groups shows a rate that is below the pre-pandemic levels that are below 2019 and they're approaching the lowest levels we've seen since 1960," Roman said. "That would suggest that, if you are under 50, you may well be living in the safest America you've ever lived in." Should that downtrend hold through the rest of the year, he added, it will amount to the "largest decline in violence that America has seen since we started tracking it." Violent crime in the U.S. rose just 5 percent between 2019 and 2020, but the nation's murder rate jumped 30 percent, marking its largest single-year increase since agencies began tracking the data. Still, the murder rate in 2020, which was 6.8 murders per 100,000 people, was far smaller than rates seen in during the last significant spike in the 1990s, which peaked at 9.8 in 1991, Grawert said. The exact reasons why crime skyrocketed with the onset of the pandemic are still unclear but researchers have a few prevailing theories, he said, one of the most accepted of which associates the uptick with the social and economic upheaval of early COVID-era isolation. Courts and government offices shutting down alongside a decrease in police staffing, widespread job loss and the rollback of social supports and community programs, like community violence interrupters (CVI), teachers and counselors, in the face of restrictions on in-person contact created an opportunity for violence to spike that crested in 2020 and 2021, Roman said. The 2020 murder of George Floyd and the resulting social unrest likely also compounded with those other factors, attributing to the associations with an increase in violent crime in most U.S. cities, added Alex Piquero, a professor of sociology at the University of Miami. "When you put all of that together, you have basically an M80 firecracker," said Piquero, who is also former director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Four years later, as the nation recovers from the detriment of the early pandemic era, those resources to curb crime have started to return. "Cops are back staffing. They're back doing the kind of work they're doing. CVI is back on the street. Kids are back in school. Prevention services are back," he said. All of the infrastructure "we know helps reduce crime and delinquency" that had been "basically turned off at the spout are now turned back on." Massive investments that the federal government made in state and local governments in 2022 and 2023 also gave those initiatives a boost, allowing for an "effective social safety net" to rebound by way of increasing the number of government workers, investments in anti-violence programs and violence reduction programs, and support for people after exiting COVID isolation, Roman said. President Joe Biden, in a statement to Axios, lauded the American Rescue Plan's police and gun violence legislation assistance in light of the MCCA preliminary data's release. "Americans are safer today than when Vice President Harris and I took office," Biden told Axios in a statement, adding: "I will continue to urge Congress to fund 100,000 additional police officers and crime prevention and community violence intervention programs, and make commonsense gun safety reforms such as a ban on assault weapons." Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course. Because violent crime appears to be on a downtrend toward pre-pandemic levels, which saw a 2018 and 2019 murder rate of 5.2 per 100,000 people, according to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program's 2022 estimations, Piquero argued local, state and federal efforts to prevent and reduce crime are more important now than before. Now is the time to "make sure that we continue doing and providing those services because crime, public safety is not just a short-term, today thing," he said. "It's also a next year thing, it's also a 10 years from now thing. We have to always think about the 15-year-old right now who might put a gun in his or her hands tonight. We got to think about a 10-year-old kid who might be seeing an older brother or sister doing that, and then the five-year-old kid who, in 10 years, might be doing that." "The question about why crime rose in 2020 is really important," Grawert added. "But I think it may be the even more important question is, 'Why did it come back down and what can we learn from it?'" In a contentious election year, in which violent crime and the lack thereof has become a major talking point for candidates, the preliminary data also swats away one of former President Donald Trump and his allies favored attack lines attaching the issue to Democrats. At the same time, it offers Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris a welcome rebuttal to such claims. Piquero and Grawert warned that Americans should avoid getting wrapped up in the partisan back-and-forth over the violent crime, instead paying attention to policies intended to address it and their impacts while fact-checking the politicians playing to fears around the numbers. "I hope people walk away saying, 'This is a lot more complicated than I thought, so we need to think about complicated, serious solutions, not rhetoric, not demagoguery, but what can we really do backed by evidence, backed by research, backed by solid policy thinking to reduce crime and violence," Grawert said. The plunge in violent crime "really shows a need for thoughtful work on crime and public safety, which are extremely important subjects, rather than rhetoric." Roman said that Americans should also take away from the decline is that focused investment in combatting violence and boosting the health and welfare of the public dramatically reducing violent crime incidence shows the nation has control over the issue and that the legal system doesn't have to be involved to wrangle it. "It doesn't necessarily have to be about police and courts, doesn't have to be about locking people up," he said. "It can be about supporting people and giving them alternatives to committing violent acts." "Crime is under our control," Roman added, noting that the government funding for a number of those violence prevention and reduction initiatives will soon run dry. "We do have the ability to move that dial, and it's a question of whether we're willing to do it or not that remains to be seen." CANFIELD, Ohio (WKBN) Police say a man and woman from New York were found with drugs prescribed to other people after they were caught trying to pick up a fraudulent prescription at a local Giant Eagle. Read next: Tropical Storm Ernesto forecast to become hurricane The two were picked up on July 21 after reports say an employee of the Giant Eagle pharmacy called police to report that they were trying to pick up the prescription. Police said in the days prior, they had received reports of someone posing as a doctor calling in prescriptions for a cough medicine often abused by opioid addicts at local pharmacies, and detectives urged those working at the pharmacies to report any similar incidents to them. Police stopped the vehicle as it was pulling out of the pharmacy drive-thru and questioned the occupants 25-year-old Leevonson McKnight and 26-year-old Teri Wallace. McKnight told investigators that he had been picking up a prescription for a friend he met online and said he agreed to drop the prescription off at a house in Youngstown in exchange for $200, according to the report. He said he and his girlfriend traveled from Rochester, NY to pick up the script but he was not forthcoming when asked about other pickups that he had made, the report stated. Police said a search of the couples car uncovered a pharmacy bag containing promethazine syrup in another womans name that had been purchased earlier that day at a pharmacy in Niles as well as another bottle of the syrup in another persons name that had been purchased at a pharmacy on Belmont Avenue. The report stated that police also found a pill bottle containing several different pills. Police also reported finding torn bills in various denominations, which they believe indicated involvement in drug trafficking, and said McKnight had two cell phones, which were seized as evidence. The vehicle was impounded after police found neither McKnight nor Wallace had a valid drivers license. Court records indicate that McKnight has since pleaded guilty to charges of possession of a dangerous drug and deception to obtain dangerous drugs, while a felony drug abuse charge against him was dismissed. He was sentenced to 12 months of probation and to pay fines and court costs. He was also ordered to stay away from the Canfield pharmacy where he had been arrested. Wallace is set to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Friday, facing drug charges. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. Request for Russian gas transit through Ukraine increased by 7% on Tuesday As of Tuesday, 13 August, the request for the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine increased by 7% compared to the nomination for 12 August. Source: data from the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSO), as reported by Interfax-Ukraine Details: It is noted that the volume of Russian gas transported through the Sudzha gas metering station (GMS) increased by 7%. As of 13 August, the volume of confirmed nomination through the GMS is 42.4 million cubic metres, compared to 39.6 million cubic metres a day earlier. It is added that the Sudzha GMS remains the only way to supply Russian gas to Europe through Ukraine. Serhii Makohon, the former head of the Ukrainian GTSO, says that Russian energy corporation Gazprom continues to supply gas because it is very important for it to maintain Ukrainian transit to Europe, where it earns US$5 billion a year. In his opinion, Gazprom may declare force majeure if there is physical damage to the equipment at the GMS, which will prevent it from continuing to measure gas volumes, but he did not rule out the possibility of the Russian side making such a decision earlier. Background: Russian energy corporation Gazprom claimed that it was continuing to supply Europe with gas via the Sudzha gas metering station, but at the same time, the transit flow of Russian gas through Ukraine had decreased by 12%. The transit of Russian gas through the Ukrainian gas transporting system decreased to 37.25 million cubic metres on 8 August. In comparison with 7 August, transit volumes fell by 6%. This is the lowest transit value since 1 May 2023. On 7 August, a number of Telegram channels reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine had captured the Sudzha gas metering station in Russias Kursk Oblast. Later, unconfirmed information emerged that Ukrainian forces were in control of the entire settlement of Sudzha. The Sudzha gas metering station is the key facility that supplies Europe with Russian gas through Ukraine. At the moment, Sudzha is the only point through which Russian gas is supplied to Ukraine for further transport to European consumers. Support UP or become our patron! LAWRENCEBURG, Ky. (FOX 56) Residents near Wild Turkey Distillery were evacuated on Monday evening, according to authorities. Around 5:20 p.m. on Monday, the Anderson County Department of Public Safety (ACDPS) issued a warning regarding a large gas leak in the area. LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS: According to ACDPS, Kentucky Highway 62 near the Anderson County line was closed to both incoming and outgoing traffic. As of 6 p.m., the scene has been cleared, and it is safe to travel in the area. Anderson County Fire Department Assistant Chief Chad Womack said crews were preparing to do some work for Tuesday when a pop-off valve of the main gas line into Wild Turkey came off. Womack said three homes and 2030 employees were evacuated. Officials shut off the valve, and Highway 62 was closed for about an hour. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 56 News. Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will not appear on New Yorks presidential ballot in November, a state judge ruled Monday, finding he falsely claimed residency in the state. Judge Christina Ryba said the room in the New York City suburbs that Kennedy used to claim residency wasnt a bona fide and legitimate residence, but merely a sham address that he assumed for the purpose of maintaining his voter registration. The challenge was filed by Clear Choice Action, a Democratic-aligned group that has filed challenges to Kennedy and other third-party candidates ballot access across the country. Ryba said photos submitted in evidence appeared to show that Kennedys supposed residence isnt legitimate. Given the size and appearance of the spare bedroom as shown in the photographs admitted into evidence, the Court finds Kennedys testimony that he may return to that bedroom to reside with his wife, family members, multiple pets, and all of his personal belongings to be highly improbable, if not preposterous, the judge wrote. She added that Kennedy has a long-standing pattern of using friends addresses and other locations to maintain a New York voter registration while actually residing in California. Using a friends address for political and voting purposes, while barely stepping foot on the premises, does not equate to residency under the Election Law, Ryba wrote. To hold otherwise would establish a dangerous precedent and open the door to the fraud and political mischief that the Election Law residency rules were designed to prevent. Kennedys listed address is a single room in a friends home in Katonah, about 40 miles from Manhattan. He said in a trial for the case that he has only slept in the room once since moving in due to a heavy travel schedule for his presidential campaign, The Associated Press reported. Barbara Moss, who owns the home, testified that he pays her $500 per month in rent, according to the AP. But she also noted that Kennedys first rent payment wasnt made until after a New York Post story questioned Kennedys claim of residency. The Kennedy campaign denounced the decision and committed to appeal it. Kennedy himself blamed the ruling on Democrats. The Democrats are showing contempt for democracy, Kennedy said in a statement. They arent confident they can win at the ballot box, so they are trying to stop voters from having a choice. We will appeal and we will win. This case is an assault on New York voters who signed in record numbers to place me on their ballot, he continued. The DNC has become a party that uses lawfare in place of the democratic election process. If upheld on appeal, the successful challenge could lead to similar challenges across the country. Kennedy used the New York address to file for candidacy in multiple states. Kennedy has claimed he will have ballot access in 46 states, which have a total of 329 electoral votes, though access has only been confirmed for 15 states. He is confirmed to be on the ballot in the key battlegrounds of Michigan, North Carolina and Nevada. His access in North Carolina was upheld earlier Monday, rejecting an appeal from the states Democratic Party challenging his eligibility. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. RFK Jr. kicked off New York ballot after judge says he lied about his residency A judge ruled Monday that independent candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. falsely claimed New York residency on his nominating petition, disqualifying him from appearing on the state's general election ballot, Axios reported. The ruling by Judge Christina Ryba, which may still be appealed, could spur a ripple of legal challenges to Kennedys ballot access in other states. The ruling is expected to be appealed by the Aug. 15 deadline In her decision, Judge Ryba wrote that Kennedy, who currently resides in California, claimed a Westchester, New York address as his place of residence." She concluded that the independent candidate had no intention of returning to the state but rather used the address for political gain, CBS News reported. "The overwhelming credible evidence introduced at trial established that Kennedy's connections with the [New York] address existed only on paper and were maintained for the sole purpose of maintaining his voter registration and political standing in the State of New York," Ryba wrote. The ruling comes after Kennedy testified in court last week that he considered New York his home since his childhood and planned to return, claiming he only temporarily moved to California in 2014, as he explained it, to live with his wife. He is currently renting a room from a woman, Barbara Moss, in her home in New York City, according to CBS News. Moss, who owns her home, testified that Kennedy paid her $500 a month for a room, adding that he has only spent one night at the residence since she first received a rental payment from him in May. Independent Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a campaign rally at Legends Event Center on Dec. 20, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Rebecca Noble | Getty Images) Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will, barring any challenges, officially be on the West Virginia ballot in Novembers general election, according to an official for the Secretary of States office. Kennedy, an heir to the famous political dynasty, needed 7,947 signatures to get his name on the West Virginia ballot, according to the Secretary of States election guidelines. For the last several months, petitioners for the Kennedy campaign have been stationed outside of grocery stores, on busy streets, at community events and even at the Legislature attempting to gain signatures. Mike Queen, deputy chief of staff and communications director for the Secretary of States office, said county clerks certified the signatures over the last few days by verifying that they belonged to registered voters in each of their counties. The signatures more than necessary, Queen said were then sent back to the Secretary of States office, where they were verified around 3:30 p.m. on Monday. Challenges, however, could remain for Kennedy regarding his ability to appear on ballots in all 50 states. On Sunday, he told Fox News that he has enough signatures to do so. Legal challenges are ongoing in several states that could potentially block his name from appearing on ballots. On Monday, a New York judge ruled that Kennedy was ineligible to appear on the states general election ballot because the address used on his nomination petition was not a legitimate residence. According to The Associated Press, the ruling from Judge Christina Ryba stated that the Katonah, New York address used on his petition was not an actual residence, but a room he rented from a friend to keep his New York voter registration active. Kennedy actually lives in California, according to the ruling. Kennedys campaign said it would challenge the New York decision and pursue an appeal. If the ruling is upheld, however, it may bring challenges in other states where the New York address was used. This could potentially include West Virginia where, according to the Secretary of States office, Kennedys residence is listed as in Katonah. While its incredibly unlikely that Kennedy will secure enough votes nationwide to become president, he could affect the outcome of the election by pulling votes away from the leading candidates, namely former President Donald Trump. Kennedy supporters who feel disenfranchised by the two-party system have told media outlets that his approach as an outsider has appeal for them. Recent polling from RealClearPolitics shows Kennedys polling average at about 5% among voters nationally, compared to 45.4% for Vice President Kamala Harris and 44.6% for Trump. Hes the highest polling third-party candidate, as the Green Partys Jill Stein sits at a .9% average in polls and Independent candidate Cornel West sits at .6%, according to RealClearPolitics. Kennedy started his presidential campaign as a Democrat. Last October, however, he opted to drop the Democratic Party of which his late uncle, President John F. Kennedy Jr., and father, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, belonged to to run as an independent. An environmental lawyer by trade, Kennedy is also an anti-vaccine activist, coming out strongly in recent years against the medically sound COVID-19 vaccinations as well as other safe and life-saving vaccines. His campaign has focused largely on what he describes as constitutional liberties. He regularly criticizes structures of government and the political system in general, condemning the two major political parties and offering himself as an alternative candidate. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will remain on the North Carolina ballot after a state judge rejected an appeal from the North Carolina Democratic Party. The North Carolina State Board of Elections ruled last month that Kennedys party, the We the People Party, did qualify for the states ballot. Wake County Superior Court Judge Keith Gregory rejected an appeal to that decision. The state Democratic Party claimed the 4-1 vote approving ballot access violated due process and that Kennedys party was set up only to avoid tougher qualification rules for individual candidates. You simply asked this court to look at the law, and you said the state board didnt violate it, Gregory said to conclude the hearing, according to The Associated Press. I agree. Democratic-affiliated group Clear Choice Action filed the initial complaint, arguing We the People should not be given ballot access. The group sent text messages to some voters who signed the parties petitions to question their motives and investigate the signature process, the Raleigh News & Observer reported. We the People Party was required to file 13,000 signatures to gain ballot access, while Kennedy would have needed over 80,000 on his own, Clear Choice Action argued. But attorneys for We the People argued that state law only requires a new political party to have a purpose, even if that purpose is to put a single candidate on the presidential ballot. Gregory agreed. The state board upheld a similar challenge against independent candidate Cornel Wests party, the Justice for All Party, last month. A group of his supporters sued the state over the ruling. Kennedy has claimed he will have ballot access in 46 states, which have a combined 329 electoral votes, though access has only been confirmed for 15 states. He is confirmed to be on the ballot in the key battlegrounds of Michigan, North Carolina and Nevada. His access in New York was rejected later Monday by a state judge who ruled that his claimed residency in a rented room near New York City was actually a sham residence. The Kennedy campaign said it will appeal that ruling. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Riding UVX may now cost you and other changes coming to UTA service Utah Transit Authority conducts a UVX test run on Aug. 10, 2018. Fare will be collected to ride the service beginning on Sunday, the first time since it debuted in 2018. | Steve Griffin, Deseret News This is the final week people can ride UVX for free before regular fares are implemented on the bus rapid transit for the first time since it debuted in 2018, but thats not the only change coming to Utah Transit Authoritys service. Sunday marks the agency's annual August change day, where adjustments to schedules and service begin. Adding fares to UVX service may be the most noticeable change this time around. It will cost riders $2.50 per trip or $1.25 for recipients of reduced fares once the schedule changes. UTA hadn't collected fares for the system when it debuted because of a federal grant it received to build the line between Orem and Provo. That stipulation was set to expire last year before the UTA board of trustees extended the zero-fare program into this month just before the deadline in December 2023. The agency then proposed to introduce fares to the service earlier this year. However, UTA fares director Monica Howe told KSL.com at the time that she believed it wouldn't impact most of its riders. About 85%-95% of UVX riders already used some sort of subsidized pass through school or their employer. The service will remain free for Utah Valley University and BYU students and staff with their school-issued IDs. There are no additional charges for riders with an Eco Pass or similar transit passes. Most of the other changes to be implemented on Sunday will also involve fares. UTA will also follow through on its plan to expand reduced fare eligibility from 150% to 200% of the federal poverty level, meaning that people earning less than $30,120 to $105,440 per year depending on household size will be able to qualify for reduced fare. Big changes to the FAREPAY card system will be implemented as well. Under a more simplified system, it would cost a maximum of $5 per day or $20 per week for people with a card for TRAX or buses only or $10 per day and $40 per week for people who tack on FrontRunner service. Those who qualify for reduced fares would pay $8 to $16 per week depending on the services included on their card. A 20% discount that card users could get beforehand will be removed. There aren't as many major service changes this time around. Bus Route 606 in Weber County will be eliminated, but the route was already suspended. New routes will be introduced to a handful of other routes, some to account for construction detours ending or needing to be added and others to improve the current route. UTAs ridership continues to increase after the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency reported 118,003 average weekday boardings in July, almost a 13% increase from July 2023 and the most in July since 2019. Ridership tends to increase in August and September as K-12 and higher education classes resume, which is typically why UTA changes its schedule every August. Update 7:32 a.m.: The Emporia Police Department is alerting the community that the Emporia Municipal Court will be closed today due to flooding. Mail notices will be sent with new court dates. LYON COUNTY (KSNT) The Lyon County Sheriffs Office is warning all residents not to drive in Lyon County and Emporia. At 7 a.m. on Monday, the Lyon County Sheriffs Office took to social media to warn residents that ALL ROADS ARE FLOODING IN LYON COUNTY AND EMPORIA. TURN AROUND DONT DROWN, the Sheriffs Office wrote. DO NOT DRIVE INTO STANDING WATER. Evergy records $207m earnings this quarter, cites warm weather as reason The National Weather Service (NOAA) of Topeka issued flash flood warnings for Central Lyon County at 7:49 a.m. The warning expires at 10:45 a.m. NOAA is warning of life-threatening flash flooding, flooding creeks, streams, urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses. NOAA warned of locations on the Kansas Turnpike between mile markers 123, 135 and Interstate 35 between mile markers 128 and 143. For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News. A New York judge ruled Monday that independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cannot appear on the state's November ballot, siding with a Democratic-backed political action committee that challenged Kennedy's candidacy over the residence he listed to qualify. The judge's decision could pave the way for similar residency challenges targeting Kennedy's candidacy in other states. New York Justice Christina Ryba, a judge in Albany, ruled that Kennedy falsely claimed on his nominating petition that his "place of residence" is an address in Katonah, N.Y., outside of New York City, where he rents a spare bedroom rather than his home in California, which he purchased in 2021 after marrying actress Cheryl Hines in 2014. Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr speaks at Bitcoin 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. July 26, 2024. Ryba ruled the nominating petition submitted by Kennedy and running-mate Nicole Shanahan is invalid because of the false residency claim and ordered the New York State Board of Elections not to place the Kennedy-Shanahan ticket on the 2024 ballot. The board meets in September to certify the general election ballot. In a 34-page decision following a short trial, Ryba wrote that "based on clear and convincing credible evidence," the New York address listed on the petition "was not Kennedy's bona fide and legitimate residence, but merely a 'sham' address that he assumed for the purpose of maintaining his voter registration and furthering his own political aspirations in this State." More: New York voters backed by DNC sue to keep Robert F. Kennedy Jr. off ballot More: RFK Jr. apologizes to women who accused him of sexual assault: reports Kennedy testified last week in court that his residency at the New York address began "sometime around May of 2023" but confirmed none of his pets or family members reside at that address. Kennedy told the court he has only slept in the New York home once, "a month ago, three weeks ago." A neighbor of the New York address for 35 years testified that he often walks his dog past the home but has never seen Kennedy. Kennedy remains a registered voter in New York and has not updated his voter registration since moving to California. "I did not want to change my voter registration to California because I'm a New Yorker," Kennedy told the court. The lawsuit, brought by three New York residents, was backed by the Democratic-aligned political action committee Clear Choice. Kennedy said he would appeal the decision, which the campaign called an "openly partisan ruling" by a Democratic judge. The Democrats are showing contempt for democracy, Kennedy state in a statement. They arent confident they can win at the ballot box, so they are trying to stop voters from having a choice. We will appeal and we will win. More: RFK Jr. posts video admitting to dumping dead bear in NYC's Central Park in 2014 Kennedy is polling in single-digits in most national polls. Democrats have attacked Kennedy as a "spoiler candidate" to help Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president. Although New York is considered solidly in the column of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, Kennedy's performance could swing closely contested battleground states. "The RFK Jr. running for president is the same RFK Jr. portrayed in this story: a deeply troubled, reckless, and dangerous man," Democratic National Committee spokesman Matt Corridoni said in a statement. "He doesnt think the rules apply to him and he refuses to consider the consequences of his actions. That is why he is willing to play the role of spoiler for Donald Trump in this election," Corridoni said. Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly Twitter, @joeygarrison. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. blocked from New York presidential ballot The Rock Hill regions next 1,500 homes may go somewhere new. Will they strain services? The next decade of new home growth in the city of Lancaster could surpass any before it, and action on Tuesday may be a major reason why. Three projects, two of them from the same developer, could combine for almost 1,500 new homes and town homes. Or, based on U.S. Census Bureau data, a total that wouldve been 38% of the citys entire residential structure count in 2020. Theres some concern in the city about how all those homes would impact public services, but that could be offset in part by also an influx of new tax revenue. The city can finalize one proposal and start the process to allow two more when its council meets Tuesday night. Heres the info on all three neighborhood plans: Forestar Group wants to develop 435 acres near Poovey Farms into a more than 1,000-home subdivision. It also includes a 15-acre commercial piece located off Airport Road. The property is just south of Great Falls Highway, with most of its frontage along Airport Road. Three parcels owned by Leroy Springs & Co. or the Elliott White Springs Foundation are up for annexation into the city. So is an almost 6-acre site on Lynwood Drive needed to bring the larger properties close enough for annexation. Combined, they would add 839 homes and 245 town homes. The property has been part of the Springs family businesses for decades. Springs Industries sold the largest parcel to Leroy Springs & Co. in 1999. Springs Mills owned it at least as far back as 1939, according to county land records. The site is across Airport Road from Lancaster Golf Club, a site Springs Cotton Mills sold to Leroy Springs in 1953. Council can pass the first of two votes needed to annex the property on Tuesday. Forestar also has a 321-home subdivision up for final vote, after the city gave initial approval to rezone almost 118 acres last month. The property is next to A.R. Rucker Middle School. Springland, Inc. owns the site and requested the rezoning. The Scarlet Grove subdivision would sit between U.S. 521 Bypass, Pageland Highway and Flat Creek Road. Its less than two miles from downtown Lancaster. Plans submitted to the city indicate homes would be priced in the $325,000 to $390,000 range, targeting first- and second-time homebuyers. All residences would be single-family homes. Plans show one entrance each off Old Dixie and Flat Creek roads, plus Camp Drive. One larger and three smaller amenity areas are shown, with three cul-de-sacs located on the school side of the property. Fort Mill-based real estate company Coulston Enterprises applied to annex almost 8 acres at Lynwood Drive, Lymon Reece and Reece roads. The property next to the citys vehicle maintenance shop would become 66 town homes. A sketch plan shows two entrances to the new subdivision off Reece Road and another off Lymon Reece Road. A road stub points toward Lynwood Drive, that could provide a future connection. The town homes are separated into 11 buildings, each with six town homes. County land records show Coulston Enterprises bought the property from a rental company in January for $250,000. Property off Lynwood Drive could become town homes in the city of Lancaster, which has several large residential projects proposed. New homes to change Lancaster City police and fire departments told city officials that so many new homes and town homes would put a strain on services. But the projects also would bring in revenue that could grow the citys capabilities. The 1,084-home project would add $7.3 million in tax revenue and $3.5 million in ongoing, annual tax money, according to the city. Those amounts dont include the commercial piece of the project. The smaller town home project near Lynwood Drive would generate about $155,000 in annual tax revenue, according to the city. The homes also wouldnt be immediate. The largest plan would take 10 years to build, starting in early 2027. The city had an almost 91% residential occupancy rate as of the 2020 Census. More homes were built in Lancaster during the 1960s and 70s than in the decades since combined, according to the census bureau. The median home value is $194,000. Even at a 10-year buildout, the more than 1,000 homes would be significant. Thats on par with some of the largest neighborhoods in fast-growing Fort Mill, Indian Land and Lake Wylie. The city of Lancaster hasnt had more than 840 homes built in any decade, according to census bureau data. For decades the growth hot spot in Lancaster County, and the entire Charlotte metro region, has been Indian Land. Now theres growth beyond it. The 1,800-home Roselyn neighborhood is closer to downtown Lancaster than it is to the North Carolina line. The Lynwood and Wellspring subdivisions south of Lancaster were proposed this spring at a combined 362 homes. Rolled over semi-truck on state Route 16 in Tacoma causes delays Tuesday morning A rolled over semi-truck on a Tacoma on state Route 16 near Interstate 5 is blocking traffic. The semi-truck driver was on state Route 16 to northbound 1-5 and was not properly able to drive through the curve. The driver struck a barrier and overturned on the passenger side,Washington State Patrol Trooper John Dattilo said on Tuesday. The right lane is blocked on state Route 16 eastbound near South Tacoma Way. The Washington State Department of Transportation reported the crash at 10:45 a.m. The driver, who was the only person in the semi, sustained minor injuries, Dattilo said on X. Drivers can expect delays in the area. 12:55 p.m. update: The two right lanes are blocked. Traffic is getting by on the left shoulder. Several tow trucks are at the scene. The semi-truck was carrying about 4,200 pounds of paper, which is getting unloaded. The tows will then attempt to get the semi upright. The Roswell City Council has approved a new project to build a parking deck and convert a historic building into an open-air pavilion. Channel 2 Action News has been following the debate surrounding the Historic Roswell Masonic Lodge along Hwy 9. The lodge has been considered a landmark of Roswell and historically significant for almost 100 years. Originally, it was a Methodist Church before the Masonic Lodge took it over and renovated it in 1952. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Earlier this year, the city announced plans to demolish the building. which is acquired through eminent domain, to make room for a parking deck. The city said the garage was crucial for more parking downtown, but it was met with opposition from the mayor and historical groups. At Mondays meeting, the Roswell City Council ended up voting to save the Masonic Lodge and instead convert it into an open-air pavilion. Tonight history was made. City of Roswell, Georgia Government motioned to save the Masonic Lodge in Roswell, GA. We want to sincerely thank Mayor and Council on this decision, the group Save Roswells History said in a statement. Thank you to all the volunteers for their dedication to this matter. We appreciate you beyond words. TRENDING STORIES: [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) Parents made the walk Tuesday morning toward the front doors of Berkman Elementary, flanked by their children dressed in new clothes and carrying nearly empty backpacks. Its the usual ritual for a first day of school, and families were welcomed by Round Rock Independent School District Superintendent Hafedh Azaiez. As these Bees the schools mascot begin their new school year journey, their future is being shaped by the Round Rock School Board. Later this week, board trustees will finalize a proposal bond package that will be worth nearly $1 billion. Its an eye-popping price tag that may worry taxpayers when they hear such a big number. The trustees know it will be a hard sell to taxpayers within the district, but they say in their meetings that everything listed on the proposed projects are necessary, and not just a luxury. Itll be a hard sell for our community to digest that we have a billion dollars worth of stuff, Amber Landrum, the school board president, said during the Aug. 8 meeting. So whats inside the bond currently? Things could change in the coming week as trustees debate making more cuts or adding more projects, but we know with certainty that a majority of the bond deals with deferred maintenance projects. Dr. Azaiez equated the situation to an aging home. Everything in your home has a life cycle and needs to be replaced before it becomes a bigger issue. Things like a new roof or HVAC. At Berkman Elementary, where the superintendent spent his morning welcoming families, the school would benefit from the bond by getting additional classrooms, according to Azaiez. Currently some classes at the school are taking place in portables. The last thing we want is during the middle of the school year is the HVAC to break down and taking us a month or two to fix it, Azaiez said. The proposed bond package currently has $803 million for those maintenance projects to update schools across the district and to increase security. Additional money in the bond would go toward new technology like buying new Chromebooks for every student. You cannot separate learning from technology, Azaiez explained. Another proposal is building a district-wide Career Technical Education building. This would be a campus strictly dedicated to CTE classes like automotive shop, cosmetology, and dental assistant classes. Azaiez said the current problem is space in the district. Take Round Rock High School for example. It has a very high demand automotive program and cannot accept everyone who applied due to a lack of space. But at Westwood High School there is no space to have any type of automotive program. A dedicated CTE building in the district would allow all kids throughout every high school to go to the campus during their regular school day to take advantage of a CTE program. The board will have to officially finalize the bond package at its upcoming board meeting on Thursday. It has until August 19 to call for a bond election on his years November ballot. As for the tax rate, if the bond were to be approved, Azaiez said it would not increase the property tax rate. In fact, he was happy to say the district had a plan to actually decrease the tax rate while also trying to get a billion dollar bond package passed. That tax rate decrease will be discussed at the board meeting this Thursday as trustees look to put the final touches on the bond package. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin. Motorcyclist dead after crashing into guard rail in New Hartford NEW HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) A motorcyclist succumbed to injuries sustained in a crash on Route 44 Monday, according to Connecticut State Police officials. Emergency crews responded to the intersection of Breezy Hill Road and Route 44 westbound around 5 p.m. Driver arrested after fleeing fatal crash in Hartford Upon arrival, they found a motorcycle driver suffering serious injuries. He was transported to a hospital, where he was later pronounced deceased. State police identified him as 31-year-old Robert Holcomb of Unionville. Preliminary investigation showed the driver lost control of the 2013 Harley-Davidson FLSTC for unknown reasons, leading him to collide into a metal beam guard rail. Anyone who witnessed the collision or may have dashcam footage of it is asked to contact TFC Vargas #1241 at Troop B. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTNH.com. Rowan County man accused of attacking woman with knife for the thrill of killing now out on parole: Records Rowan County man accused of attacking woman with knife for the thrill of killing now out on parole: Records ROWAN COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) A Rowan County man is out on parole following a conviction of second-degree attempted kidnapping, according to North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections records. On February 15, 2023, then-24-year-old Hunter Chase Nance met a woman at a gas station and exchanged numbers. Investigators say the woman went to Nances house on Peaceful Lane, where he locked the door and attacked her with a knife. The victim cut her hands escaping and concerned citizens called first responders, according to authorities. On February 20, warrants were issued for Nances arrest. Suspect sought after killing tobacco store owner: Sheriff Deputies say Nance told them that he chose the woman at random and wanted to kill her for the thrill. He reportedly expressed interest in other gruesome fantasies and said the victim spoiled the plan by fighting back. He was charged with attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon, and his bond was set at $1.2 million. However, it appears that he was not convicted of these charges. NCDAC records show that Nance was convicted of first-degree attempted kidnapping on August 1, 2024, his 26th birthday. He spent one week in prison, from August 18, and was released on parole. It is unclear if his time spent in jail was considered during sentencing. Sentencing for this offense is typically between one year, two months, and two years, two months. Nance will remain on parole until May 5, 2025. Queen City News has reached out for more information related to Nances August 1 court appearance and conviction. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) The Richmond County Sheriffs Office is looking to locate a missing woman who was last seen in Augusta. Reba Grant, 30, was last seen on Aug. 10 at approximately 3:30 p.m. leaving the 2000 block of Emery Hills Drive. According to RCSO, Grant was in an orange 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan with a Georgia tag of SFV9560. The Volkswagen vehicle was last seen on Aug. 11 at 7:18 p.m. in the Richmond Hill W. Road and Deans Bridge Road area. Grant is described as 5 feet 5 inches and 173 pounds. Those who have information about were Reba Grant might be are asked to call Augusta Dispatch at (706) 821-1080 or any investigator at the Richmond County Sheriffs Office. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJBF. By Laila Kearney NEW YORK (Reuters) -Talen Energy is focused on capturing surging demand from data center developers as the independent power company looks to pivot away from its crypto mining operation, company executives said on Tuesday. Talen is among a group of U.S. electric companies benefiting from the power needs of artificial intelligence and cloud computing data centers, with shares of Talen up nearly 100% since the start of the year. "It's not a strategic asset for us and we are looking at... other alternatives," Talen Energy Chief Executive Officer Mark McFarland said of the crypto mining business on a second-quarter earnings call. Reuters reported earlier this month that Talen was looking to sell its stake in a bitcoin mining center at the site of a Pennsylvania nuclear power plant Talen raised its earnings and free cash flow forecasts for the year as it benefits from higher power use and prices, bigger payments from regional grid operator PJM Interconnection and a payout for a data center sold to Amazon.com early this year. Talen revised up its adjusted EBITDA range for 2024 to $720 million to $780 million, from $600 million to $800 million previously. Its free cash flow estimate for the year was revised to $245 million to $285 million, from $160 million to $310 million previously. The company benefited from unseasonably warm weather in the three months ended on June 30, among other factors. Talen expects to receive $670 million from capacity revenues for the 2025/2026 planning year, or $470 million more than the previous year, following a capacity auction in the PJM market. Talen also plans on $300 million of Amazon data center campus escrow to be released in the third quarter. The data center is at the center of a battle between Talen and regulated electric utilities, American Electric Power and Exelon, which say the build-out to connect the center could raise costs for everyday power customers. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is reviewing the amended interconnection service agreement for the center, and will hold a technical conference this fall more broadly on what are known as co-located data centers, in which data centers are located at the power plant sites that fuel them. McFarland said he was optimistic that FERC would approve the amended agreement. (Reporting by Laila Kearney; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Leslie Adler) Cleanup efforts at the Isom IGA store in East Kentucky after the flooding of July 2022. (Photo by Malcolm Wilson) This story was produced through a collaboration between the Daily Yonder, which covers rural America, and Climate Central, a nonadvocacy science and news group. On the day he would become homeless, Wesley Bryant was awoken by his wife, Alexis. Get up, she told him. Theres a flood outside. It was 8 a.m. on a Thursday in late July, two years ago in rural Pike County, Kentucky, and rain had been pouring for days. Overnight, it got heavier. Homes and vehicles were being swept down the narrow valleys of Eastern Kentuckys mountainous terrain. Dozens of people died after more than a foot of rain fell from July 26 through July 30, 2022, flooding 13 rural counties in Eastern Kentucky. Yet as these communities attempt to rebuild, theyre being overlooked for federal spending thats protecting wealthier and more urbanized Americans from such weather disasters. Wesley, Alexis, their two daughters and Alexis sister evacuated, hiking the half-mile to Alexis mothers house via the mountains behind their own home to avoid flooded roads. Theyve been living there ever since. Wesley and Alexis Bryant with their three children. The two oldest escaped the July 2022 floods, and the youngest is the familys newest addition. (Photo provided by Wesley Bryant) Kentucky is a regular victim of flooding. During the past century, more than 100 people have died in storms across the state, including at least 44 two summers ago. Heat-trapping pollution is driving up rainfall rates and flood risks. Thousands of survivors were forced to move out of damaged homes, including Wesley and his family. Their house, which Wesleys grandfather built in the 1970s, is unlivable. Insulation peels from the ceiling and the floors bubble with water damage. Finding contractors to fix the house has been difficult because thousands of other flooded properties are also being repaired or replaced. Their furniture and appliances were destroyed, and Wesley estimates replacing them would cost around $20,000. The family was denied FEMA disaster assistance so theyve had to foot these costs themselves. We just need a little help from our government, he said. Despite histories of flooding, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) classifies Pike County and the 12 other counties that flooded two years ago as facing low risks in the event of a natural disaster like a flood. Thats largely because they have less to lose financially compared to more urbanized areas. Critics of FEMAs risk-determination tool, called the National Risk Index, say it doesnt include enough information about rural communities, especially when it comes to flooding, leading it to understate hazards. That suggests that as the federal government cranks up spending on infrastructure, including the allocation of more than $1 billion to help reduce future flood threats, families in East Kentucky and other rural regions are at risk of missing out on projects that could help them prepare better for the next disaster. What is the National Risk Index FEMA developed its National Risk Index to help local and state officials and residents plan for emergencies through an online tool. The agency sourced historic rainfall and other data to characterize these risks, allowing it to paint a national picture of threats from local disasters, findings that influence its spending decisions. FEMA began developing the risk index in 2016, though initial work dates to 2008. The first iteration of the risk index was released in October 2020, and the data has been updated twice since then, most recently in March 2023. Work to update how the risk index handles inland flooding is expected early next year. In a press release touting new requirements that forced the coming update, the Biden administration said that in recent years, communities have seen repeated flooding that threatens both lives and property but that the agencys approaches to measuring risks based on historical data have become outdated. The agency is also working on a climate-informed risk index looking at future hazards but, so far, inland flooding is not on the list of disasters planned to be included. FEMAs national and regional press offices declined to be interviewed or answer questions for this story. Theres a bias against, I think, rural communities, especially in the flood dataset, said Chad Berginnis, executive director of the Association of State Floodplain Managers, a nonprofit that certifies floodplain managers and educates policymakers about flood loss. He said this bias could profoundly confuse or affect emergency managers in those areas. Its giving false results, Berginnis said. I think weve got to be very thoughtful and very careful on how we use [the risk index] for the hazard of flood in particular. The building of homes and communities in vulnerable locations and the effects of heat-trapping pollution are converging to escalate the frequency of weather disasters across the U.S. One of the effects of climate change is an intensification in the amount of rainfall that can fall every hour. A federal report on the latest climate science showed the rainiest days across the Southeast are dumping more than a third more water on average now than was the case in the late 1950s. Ongoing emissions and warming threaten to continue to boost rainfall rates. If its gone up that much already, we might be wise to be concerned, said Scott Denning, an atmospheric sciences professor at Colorado State University who studies carbon dioxide, water, and energy cycles. You aint seen nothing yet. That rain often falls on ground where coal mining excavations removed mountaintops. Researchers overlaid data regarding fatalities from the floods with maps of mountaintop removal mining and found that many of the deaths were downstream from or adjacent to such sites. Neglecting rural Americans Todd DePriest doesnt believe in Facebook, but uses his mothers account to surf the websites digital marketplace. Thats what he was doing two summers ago when he saw alerts about severe floods in Letcher County, Kentucky, where he serves as the mayor of Jenkins, population 1,800. Public service announcements warning people to turn around, dont drown during floods were circulating on his mothers feed. DePriest got up from his computer to look out the window at the torrential rain and realized the threat his own town was about to face. DePriest jumped in his Jeep to check on the bridge at the lower end of Jenkins. When he got there, the road across the bridge had already flooded. I started calling people I knew down there and said, Hey, the waters up and if you want to get out of here, were going to have to do something pretty quick, DePriest said. His next calls were to the fire department to prepare them for the emergencies to which they were likely to respond, then to city workers to get essential maintenance vehicles like garbage trucks to higher ground. Letcher County was one of the hardest hit of the 13 counties declared federal disaster areas by FEMA. Five of those killed across the region were in Letcher County. Two years since the floods, the region is still rebuilding. They (FEMA) were telling us it was going to take four or five, six years to recover and get through this, DePriest said. And I thought, well, theres no way its going to take that long. Now, DePriest hopes it only takes five years. All the processes and dealing with FEMA and I think theyre fair in what they do but its just a process, DePriest said. The National Risk Index multiplies a communitys expected annual loss in dollars by their risk factor. Like most of the east Kentucky counties that flooded two summers ago, Letcher Countys risk level is scored very low by the risk index. Thats because it includes annual asset loss in its equations. Rural counties like Letcher, where the average home costs about $75,000 and median household income is half the national average, score lower on the risk scale because there are fewer dollars to lose when disaster strikes. The areas flood hazard threat is deemed relatively high but the potential consequences in financial losses are lower compared with denser areas. The urban-rural disparity can be examined by comparing how the National Risk Index judges Jackson, Kentucky, a small city about 80 miles southeast of Lexington, with Jackson, Mississippi, the Magnolia States populous capital. Both cities saw disastrous flooding during the summer of 2022. Unlike its namesake in Kentucky, Jackson, Mississippians suffered no flood deaths, though financial damage was far worse an estimated $1 billion. Hinds County home to Mississippis capital is assigned a relatively moderate risk level. Its social vulnerability is categorized as very high, with community resiliency categorized as relatively high, meaning the community is expected to bounce back more effortlessly after disaster. River flooding is deemed the second greatest natural disaster risk, with annual losses estimated at about $15 million. To compare, Breathitt County, where Jackson, Kentucky, is located, is given a very low risk level by the National Risk Index. Its social vulnerability is categorized as relatively high and community resiliency is categorized as very low, suggesting it would need more help after disasters. Although FEMA considers river flooding the greatest disaster risk to the community, its annual losses are rated at just $1.3 million. This urban-rural difference matters because FEMA uses the National Risk Index to determine how much money communities should receive to better prepare for natural disasters. For example, its being used to make decisions about spending $1.2 trillion available to lessen future flood risks under the U.S. Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The risk index is also used to determine which communities get money through FEMAs Community Disaster Resilience Zones program, which designated 483 community census tracts as Community Disaster Resilience Zones last year. This means the communities inside those tracts can receive extra money for disaster planning. Of those census tracts, a third are federally classified as rural. Disaster experts say relying solely on the risk index can disadvantage places that lack long-term weather records which are often missing from rural communities. Weather stations can be sparse in treacherous landscapes. Rural areas are among the last to have their flood hazards mapped by FEMA, with the agency prioritizing higher-density regions. And National Weather Service offices tend to be located in more urban areas, according to Melanie Gall, co-director of the Center for Emergency Management Homeland Security at Arizona State University. I think that we miss a lot, she said. Progress post-flood Immediately after the July 2022 floods, FEMA and Kentucky Emergency Management began temporarily providing trailers for hundreds of flood survivors. Both programs have since ended. FEMA gave trailer occupants the option to purchase their units as permanent housing. The trailer cost was determined by a formula that factored the type of unit, its size, and how many months it had been occupied by the interested buyer. In the middle of the most recent winter, 18 months after torrential rainfall on steep slopes left so many families homeless, federal trailers that hadnt been paid for were hauled away. Kentuckys program offered more flexibility: While the program has ended, three families still live in state-funded campers, according to Julia Stanganelli, flood recovery coordinator for the Housing Development Alliance. The Eastern Kentucky-based affordable housing developer has led the efforts to rehab and rebuild houses lost in the flood using state disaster money. The three families are living in the campers while they wait for a new housing development to be built above the floodplain in Knott County, Kentucky, Stanganelli said. East Kentuckys population was declining long before the floods. Shaping Our Appalachian Region, a nonprofit focused on population retention and growth, estimates Eastern Kentucky has lost nearly 55,000 residents since 2000. The floods accelerated the losses. During the 2022 floods, already sparse cell service went out entirely, and even the U.S. Weather Services on-duty warning meteorologist faced busy or disconnected phone lines, recalls Jane Marie Wix, a warning coordination meteorologist with the Weather Service. Wix said the creek near her house turned into a river, preventing her from reaching work. I dont think Ive ever felt so helpless before. Locals are working to better prepare for the next disaster, with or without federal government help. Todd DePriest, the mayor of Jenkins, worked with the nonprofit law firm Appalachian Citizens Law Center to pay for four stream monitors that can trigger flood warnings. Wesley Bryant, the Pike County resident whose home flooded two years ago, said hes called his state representatives hundreds of times to keep Eastern Kentuckys disaster recovery top of mind. Bryant said he recently felt pretty defeated after receiving another notification about failing to qualify for federal assistance. But he said he wont quit fighting. This is my home, this is my commonwealth, Wesley said. Im going to fight for it. This article first appeared on The Daily Yonder and is republished here under a Creative Commons license. FILE PHOTO: The sun shines behind the United Nations Secretariat Building at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia criticized Western allies of Ukraine at the United Nations on Tuesday for not condemning Kyiv's incursion into the Russian region of Kursk, accusing Ukrainian forces of killing civilians and questioning the goals of the cross-border assault. Ukraine's allies on the U.N. Security Council - including the United States, France and Britain - stood firm in their support for Kyiv during an informal council gathering convened by Russia. They did not mention the Kursk offensive. "We will not recognize the aggressor as the victim," said senior Slovenian diplomat Klemen Ponikvar, one of several members to accuse Russia of hypocrisy, double standards and wasting the Security Council's time. Thousands of Ukrainian soldiers began the surprise attack a week ago, a move that Russian President Vladimir Putin said was aimed at improving Kyiv's negotiating position ahead of possible talks and slowing the advance of Russian forces along the front. Ukraine's Western backers - keen to avoid an escalation of the war into a direct confrontation between Russia and the U.S.-led NATO - said they had no prior warning of the Ukrainian offensive that has carved out a slice of Russian territory. The Russian and Ukrainian militaries have barred journalists from the battlefield, making it impossible to verify claims such as those leveled by Russia on Tuesday. "We haven't heard a word of condemnation of these actions from the Western sponsors of the Kyiv regime who continue to cover up the abhorrent crimes of their puppet," Russia's Deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy told the council gathering. "I would be grateful for the explanation how intentionally targeting civilians serves the goal of disrupting attacks on Ukrainian territory, given the fact that there were no military objects or infrastructure in the area," he said. Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and controls just under one-fifth of territory internationally recognized as Ukraine. Kyiv and Moscow deny targeting civilians during the war, which has killed thousands of people and displaced millions of Ukrainians. During the informal council meeting, American, British and French diplomats listed accusations against Russia of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights in Ukraine. "There is no question as to which country has committed numerous well-documented atrocities, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, on Ukraine's sovereign territory," said U.S. diplomat Caleb Pine. "That country is Russia." France continues to support the independent sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, said French diplomat Clarisse Paolini. British diplomat Kate Jones said: "We will never falter in our support for Ukraine for as long as it takes to secure just and sustainable peace based on the principles of the U.N. Charter and international law." Diplomats from Syria, Belarus and North Korea spoke in support of Russia at the informal Security Council meeting. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; editing by Jonathan Oatis) The Russians have replicated the concept and implementation of the Shablia (Ukrainian for "sabre") robotic turret, which has been used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine since 2014. Source: Defence Express Details: The Russians have introduced a remote-controlled machine gun turret called Chapay, which resembles the Ukrainian-made robotic turret. The Chapay was reportedly demonstrated at the so-called Army 2024 defence forum in Moscow for the first time. The development was presented by the Era investment fund, which finances Russian arms developers, journalists write. As the photos from the exhibition show, the Russians have completely replicated both the concept and implementation of the Shablia turret. Since September 2023, it has been approved for use at the front by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, these turrets have been deployed on the line of contact since early into the war, i.e. at least since 2015. The Russian design, which uses wires, is remotely controlled and employs an optical sighting module. It is also adapted for different machine guns. At present, the Chapay is only an exhibition model. It is not known whether Russia has managed to establish mass production of it. Background: Ukraine's Ministry of Defence has codified and approved about 20 models of armoured combat vehicles with mine and ambush protection for use in the Armed Forces of Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian manufacturers will provide 70% of the value of arms supply contracts for the country's military in 2024. Support UP or become our patron! Russia to evacuate refugees from Kursk Oblast to Russian-occupied territory of Zaporizhzhia Oblast Refugees evacuated from Kursk Oblast will be resettled in the Russian-occupied territories in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Alexey Smirnov, the acting governor of the region, said on Aug. 13. The Ukrainian military launched a surprise incursion across the border into Kursk Oblast on Aug. 6, bringing regular Ukrainian forces into Russia for the first time. Although Moscow's reinforcements have begun to arrive on the battlefield, Ukraine has reportedly continued to advance farther into Kursk Oblast. Yevhen Balytskyi, a Russian proxy leader operating in occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast, suggested equipping "sanatoriums and boarding houses on the shores of the Azov Sea, located from Berdiansk to Kyrylivka," according to Smirnov. The first flights will be crewed to send people to temporary accommodation centers in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, and volunteers have arrived in Kursk Oblast to help residents, Smirnov added. As of mid-2024, around 75% of the territory of the southern Ukrainian region is occupied by Russia, including major cities like Melitopol and Berdiansk, but not including the regional capital, Zaporizhzhia. Russia's regional authorities said that Ukraine is in control of 28 settlements in Kursk Oblast as of Aug. 12, claiming that the incursion was up to 12 kilometers deep along a 40-kilometer front. Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Aug. 12 that around 1,000 square kilometers in Kursk Oblast was under Ukrainian control. Kyiv's forces have reportedly also entered Belgorod Oblast, supposedly displaying a Ukrainian flag in the village of Poroz in the Grayvoronsky border district, lying just south of the Krasnoyaruzhsky district. Some 11,000 residents of the Krasnoyaruzhsky district in Russia's Belgorod Oblast had left their homes, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Aug. 13 amid Ukrainian cross-border incursions. Read also: Kursk incursion aims to divert Russian troops, protect Ukrainian border regions, Kyiv says Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Russia has evacuated some 180,000 people from Kursk as President Vladimir Putin decried a Ukrainian offensive in the border region and accused Kyiv of seeking to create discord and instill fear in his country. Putin on Monday held a security meeting with the governors that oversee border regions with Ukraine and promised the Ukrainian troops marching miles across his country would be wiped out by a stiff Russian response. The acting governor of Kursk, Alexei Smirnov, said Ukraine has advanced more than 7 miles into the region in an area about 24 miles wide, taking about 28 settlements, according to independent Russian outlet Novaya Gazeta. In Kursk, 120,000 people have evacuated and another 60,000 are expected to leave soon. In remarks published by the Kremlin, Putin said Ukraine had invaded Kursk in order to grab territory for negotiations but that he refused to negotiate with people who attack civilians and civilian infrastructure, or pose threats to nuclear power facilities. The leaders of the Kiev regime are not only perpetrating crimes against the Russian people but are also, in effect, pursuing the destruction of their own citizens, the Ukrainian people, whom they evidently no longer view as their own, Putin said. The adversary will undoubtedly face a strong response, and all the objectives we have set will certainly be achieved. Ukrainian forces, who broke into Kursk in a surprise offensive on Aug. 6, now control more than 600 square miles of Russian territory, according to a Telegram post from Ukraines commander-in-chief, Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who acknowledged for the first time Sunday that his forces were operating in Russia, said Kyiv would continue to work to ensure peace. Russia brought war to others, and now it is coming home, Zelensky said in his nightly video address. Ukrainian troops are fighting to gain control of several major towns in Kursk, including Sudzha and another town just northwest, Korenevo. Russian forces are struggling to beat back the Ukrainian advance, even with Putin redeploying forces to push them out. Russian military bloggers also reported that Ukraine appears to have begun digging trenches and other defenses in Kursk, a sign that they are preparing to hold territory, at least for the time being. Kyivs surprise incursion comes as Russian forces are continuing to press forward across the 600-mile front in eastern Ukraine. Putin on Monday said Ukraines Kursk offensive was intended to distract from those efforts but claimed Russian troops were increasing their advances and would not be deterred. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Alexei Smirnov, acting Governor of Kursk Oblast in Russia, has said that civilians evacuated from Kursk Oblast will be relocated to the Russian-occupied territory of Ukraines Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Source: Alexei Smirnov, acting Governor of Kursk Oblast, on Telegram Details: Smirnov said that the Russian-appointed head of the Russian-occupied part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Yevhen Balytskyi has offered to set up "sanatoriums and boarding houses on the shores of the Azov Sea, between Berdiansk and Kyrylivka" as temporary accommodation for civilians evacuated from Russias Kursk Oblast. Quote from Smirnov: "The first groups of people will be transferred to temporary accommodation centres in Zaporizhzhia Oblast in the nearest future. Volunteers from Zaporizhzhia [Oblast] have arrived in Kursk Oblast to help local residents right here, on the ground." Background: On 12 August, Alexei Smirnov, acting Governor of Kursk Oblast in Russia, informed Russian leader Vladimir Putin that 28 towns and villages in Kursk Oblast were "under enemy control". As of 12 August, the Ukrainian army might be controlling up to 44 towns and villages in Russias Kursk Oblast, according to DeepState military analysts. During the meeting of the Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief on 12 August, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said that Ukrainian forces were conducting an offensive operation in Russias Kursk Oblast. "As of now about 1,000 sq km of Russian territory is under our control The situation is under our control," he said. Support UP or become our patron! Niger and Mali's decisions to cut diplomatic ties earlier in August "were not made by these countries alone," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi told a Kyiv Independent journalist at a press briefing on Aug. 13. Responding to the Kyiv Independent's question on the diplomatic work needed after the two West African nations cut ties, Tykhyi said that "it is clear that these decisions were not made by these countries alone." Mali broke diplomatic ties with Ukraine on Aug. 4 after it accused the country of backing Tuareg-led rebels that inflicted serious losses on Russian Wagner Group mercenaries and Malian soldiers in clashes in the north of Mali. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry described Mali's decision as "hasty" and "regrettable" and said Mali's transitional government has not provided evidence proving Ukraine's involvement in the incidents between Wagner mercenaries and Tuareg rebels. Niger severed diplomatic relations with Ukraine two days later, referring to "Ukrainian aggression." Ukraine's Foreign Ministry responded that Niger's accusations "do not withstand any criticism, are groundless and untrue." "Mali was the first, Niger was the second to follow Russia's lead," Tykhyi told a Kyiv Independent reporter at the press briefing. "We are all well aware of these countries' dependence on Russia and their overall ties with Russia," he added. Read also: Military: Egyptians recruited by Russia fight in Kharkiv Oblast According to Tykhyi, "this is part of Russian narrative and propaganda to create an image that Ukraine is allegedly involved in terrorism." "We regret that these two countries made a rash, short-sighted decision without studying the causes of the incident in northern Mali and without providing substantial evidence or grounds for such a step," Tykhyi said. Tykhyi emphasized that the decisions to cut ties "will not significantly impact the development of Ukraine's relations with African countries." The press briefing was held shortly after Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba returned from a tour of African countries, including Malawi and Zambia, as Ukraine aims to strengthen ties between Ukraine and the continent. Responding to another question from the Kyiv Independent on what Ukraine can offer African countries, Tykhyi said that developing diplomatic relations is "mutually beneficial." For example, Ukraine can assist both Malawi and Zambia with grain shipments, as "both countries are severely affected by drought and climate change," Tykhyi said. "Ukraine, unlike Russia, is not looking for ways to hook them" and offer goods or services in order to "control these countries," Tykhyi added. Ukraine also has experience in digitalization and developing digital public services, something that African countries are interested in, according to Tykhyi. Another sphere of cooperation is energy security. Droughts in Zambia, for example, have caused blackouts due to the impact on hydroelectric power plants. "We are ready to share our experience on how to develop the energy system and strengthen energy security," Tykhyi said. President Volodymyr Zelensky said in December 2023 that developing ties with African countries is one of Ukraine's foreign policy priorities for 2024. Read also: Ghana president says Africa greatest victim of Russian invasions consequences outside Europe Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Russia says it thwarted a Ukrainian charge to expand its incursion. Kyiv says it won't occupy land In this photo taken from video released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, marine assault team members ride motorcycles toward Ukrainian position at an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP) KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Russia said Tuesday that its forces checked an effort by Ukrainian troops to expand a stunning weeklong incursion into the Kursk region, as a Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Kyiv has no intention of occupying Russian territory. Russian army units, including fresh reserves, aircraft, drone teams and artillery forces, stopped Ukrainian armored mobile groups from moving deeper into Russia near the Kursk settlements of Obshchy Kolodez, Snagost, Kauchuk and Alexeyevsky, a Russian Defense Ministry statement said. Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said the cross-border operation was aimed at protecting Ukrainian land from long-range strikes launched from Kursk. Ukraine is not interested in taking the territory of the Kursk region, but we want to protect the lives of our people, Tykhyi was quoted as saying by local media. He said Russia had launched more than 2,000 strikes from the Kursk region in recent months using anti-aircraft missiles, artillery, mortars, drones, 255 glide bombs and more than 100 missiles. "The purpose of this operation is to preserve the lives of our children, to protect the territory of Ukraine from Russian strikes, he said. The commander of the Ukrainian military, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said in a video posted Tuesday to President Volodymyr Zelenskyys Telegram channel that Ukraine now controls 74 settlements in the Kursk region. Ukrainian troops have continued to advance, gaining control over 40 square kilometers (15 square miles) of territory in the past 24 hours, Syrskyi said. Fights are ongoing along the entire front line. The situation, despite the high intensity of combat, is under control, he added. Ukraines Western partners have said the country has the right to defend itself, including by attacking across the border. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Tuesday that he backed the Ukrainian operation, though he said Kyiv officials did not consult him about it beforehand. Russian military actions in Ukraine bear "the hallmarks of genocide, inhumane crimes, and Ukraine has every right to wage war in such a way as to paralyze Russia in its aggressive intentions as effectively as possible, Tusk said. Kremlin forces intensified their attacks in eastern Ukraine. Ukraines General Staff said Tuesday that over the previous 24 hours, Russian troops launched 52 assaults in the area of Pokrovsk, a town in Ukraines Donetsk region that is close to the front line. That's roughly double the number of daily attacks there a week ago. Ukraine's shorthanded army has struggled to hold back the bigger, better-equipped Russian forces in Donetsk. The Ukrainian military claims that its charge onto Russian soil that began Aug. 6 has already encompassed about 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of Russian territory. The goals of the swift advance into the Kursk region have been a closely guarded military secret. Analysts say a catalyst may also have been Ukraines desire to ease pressure on its front line by attempting to draw the Kremlins forces into defending Kursk and other border areas. If so, the increased pressure around Pokrovsk suggests Moscow did not take the bait. Ukraines ambitious operation the largest attack on Russia since World War II has rattled the Kremlin. It compelled Russian President Vladimir Putin to convene a meeting Monday with his top defense officials. Apparently, Ukraine assembled thousands of troops some Western analysts estimate up to 12,000 on the border in recent weeks without Russia noticing or acting. About 121,000 people have been evacuated from Kursk or have fled the areas affected by fighting on their own, Russian officials say. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said it has seen geolocated footage indicating that Ukrainian forces advanced as much as 24 kilometers (15 miles) from the border. The Russian Defense Ministry appeared to support that claim when it said Tuesday it had also blocked an attack by the units of Ukraine's 82nd Air Assault Brigade toward Maryinka, which is about that distance from Ukraine. Russian state television on Tuesday showed residents from evacuated areas lining up in buildings and on the street to receive food and water. Volunteers were pictured distributing bags of aid, while officials from the countrys Ministry of Emergency Situations helped people, including children and older people, off buses. There is no light, no connection, no water. There is nothing. Its as if everyone has flown to another planet, and you are left alone. And the birds stopped singing, an older man called Mikhail told Russian state television. "Helicopters and planes fly over the yard and shells were flying. What could we do? We left everything behind. A motive behind Ukraines bold dive into Russia was to stir up unrest, according to Putin, but he said that effort would fail. The successful border breach also was surprising because Ukraine has been short of people at the front as it waits for new brigades to complete training. Dara Massicot, an analyst at the Carnegie Endowment, said the Ukrainian breakthrough was a smart move because it exploited gaps between various Russian commands in Kursk: border guards, Ministry of Defense forces and Chechen units that have been fighting on Russia's side in the war. Russian command and control is fractured in Kursk, Massicot said on X late Monday. The Ukrainian Army's General Staff announced Tuesday that it was establishing a 20-kilometer (12-mile) restricted-access zone along Russian-Ukrainian border in the northeastern Sumy region, which borders Kursk. The measures were introduced because of the increasing intensity of combat in the area and the rising presence of Russian reconnaissance and sabotage units there, a statement said. ___ Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal. Associated Press writers Emma Burrows and Jim Heintz contributed to this report from Tallinn, Estonia. ___ Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine Russia might announce new mobilisation wave following large losses on the front Bloomberg Bloomberg has reported that the Russian army is seeing a deficit of manpower to continue fighting its war against Ukraine, which might prompt a new mobilisation wave in the Russian Federation. Source: Bloomberg, citing sources in Russia Details: Three sources close to the Kremlin and the Russian Defence Ministry told Bloomberg that the Russian military is not getting enough new soldiers to keep pace with frontline losses that are at their highest since the February 2022 invasion began. "Regional officials are leaving more than a third of their recruitment quotas unfilled on average," Bloomberg reported. This situation might force Russia to consider a new mobilisation. According to one source, officials might disguise this as "rotation" designed to allow the soldiers currently fighting on the front to take a break, while another source said that the new mobilisation might be called for as early as this year. Bloomberg also reported that Ukraines Kursk Oblast incursion, which was not met with great resistance, underscores the challenges the Kremlin faces in this war. "Russias failure to defeat the Ukrainian attack so far and restore control of its border has exposed a lack of defensive reserves. Moscow has hundreds of thousands of troops on the frontline in eastern and southern Ukraine where it faces mounting casualties with fighting largely at a stalemate," Bloomberg wrote. A source told Bloomberg that the scale of Russian losses and inadequate replacement levels make it increasingly difficult for Russia to sustain its current strategy in Ukraine. There is no longer talk of seizing Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities because Russia does not have the manpower, the source said. Background: On 12 August, Alexei Smirnov, acting Governor of Kursk Oblast in Russia, informed Russian leader Vladimir Putin that 28 towns and villages in Kursk Oblast were "under enemy control". As of 12 August, the Ukrainian army might be controlling up to 44 towns and villages in Russias Kursk Oblast, according to DeepState military analysts. During the meeting of the Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief on 12 August, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said that Ukrainian forces were conducting an offensive operation in Russias Kursk Oblast. "As of now about 1,000 sq km of Russian territory is under our control The situation is under our control," he said. Support UP or become our patron! Lithuanian Defence Minister Laurynas Kasciunas (on the right). Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine The Ukrainian offensive in Kursk Oblast is forcing the Russian Ministry of Defence to move troops from Kaliningrad to the area of hostilities. Source: Lithuanian Defence Minister Laurynas Kasciunas at a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on 13 August Quote: "We are now seeing them [the Russians ed.] redeploying their troops to Kursk. Ive been saying to the Lithuanian people: look at how Ukrainians are fighting for you, and because of their struggle, Russia needs to withdraw its troops from Kaliningrad. Were even calling it the demilitarisation of Kaliningrad, and its happening thanks to the bravery of your military, thanks to your decisions." Details: Kasciunas said he believes that allowing Ukraine to use long-range weapons to hit Russian targets deeper in their territory would be a good sign from Western partners. Background: Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, reported to Volodymyr Zelenskyy that as of 13 August, Ukraines defence forces have gained control over 74 settlements in Russias Kursk Oblast. Support UP or become our patron! Image source: Upsplash/The Motley Fool Is the membership fee keeping you from joining Sam's Club? I have some good news: The retailer now has discounts for eligible shoppers who invest in a new membership. If you qualify for one of these membership discounts, becoming a member could be more accessible, regardless of your budget. Plus, shopping member-exclusive deals could help you keep more money in your checking account. Find out if you qualify for a new member discount. 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We're firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers. The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Teachers, Healthcare Workers, Veterans, and More Can Save Up to 60% Off a New Sam's Club Membership was originally published by The Motley Fool Russia has been preparing its naval fleet for launching attacks on facilities deep in the territory of Europe using missiles with nuclear warheads in case a conflict with NATO started even before its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Source: European Pravda; classified documents studied by Financial Times received from Western sources Details: The maps of distant targets, such as coastal France and the town of Barrow-in-Furness in the UK, were described in detail in the presentation for officers that preceded the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Earlier, FT reported that the same storage with 29 classified Russian military files contained information that Moscow practised launching of tactical nuclear weapons in the early stages of a conflict with a big state. Latest reveals show how Russia envisaged the conflict with the West far beyond its direct border with NATO, planning a series of destructive strikes on the entire Western Europe. The files, created sometime in 2008-2014, include a list of targets for missiles which can carry both ordinary warheads and tactical nuclear weapons. Russian officers listed the advantages of carrying out nuclear strikes at an early stage of the conflict. The analysts who studied the documents state that they correspond to NATOs assessment of the threat of long-range nuclear strikes by the Russian Naval Fleet and of how fast Russia would resort to using nuclear weapons. The maps, which were made for illustrative purposes and not for operative use, describe 32 possible NATO targets in Europe for the Russian Naval Fleet. The targets of the Russian Baltic Fleet are mostly located in Norway and Germany, including a naval base in Bergen, as well as radar sites and special forces facilities. The leakeds documents indicate that Russia preserved its capability to carry tactical nuclear weapons on surface ships, despite the 1991 agreement between the Soviet Union and the US about its destruction. Among Russia tactical nuclear weapons carries "anti-ship missiles with nuclear warheads, located on surface ships and submarines" and "ship and shore based anti-aircraft guided missiles for striking air defence groups of the enemy". FT notes that the recent training with tactical nuclear weapons on Putins orders shows that the information mentioned in the secret documents obtained by FT correspond to the Russian military doctrine of today. In June, Russian Armed Forces trained to load the P-270 Soviet anti-ship cruise missiles onto a Tarantula class corvette in the city of Kaliningrad where, as stated by NATO representatives, an undeclared stock of tactical nuclear warheads is located. Background: In July, the US Department of State promised to track Russias actions amid the Kremlin regimes new threats of using nuclear weapons. It was revealed during the NATO Summit in Washington that the US and Germany agreed to deploy, among other things, the Tomahawk missiles in Germany in order to strengthen the deterrence and protection of its NATO partners. Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson of the Kremlin, claimed on 13 July that European capitals would become a "potential" victim in case European countries agree to deploy American long-range missiles on their territory. Support UP or become our patron! Russia has withdrawn some troops from Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts (Ukraine) to defend Kursk Oblast (Russia), Politico reports, citing Dmytro Lykhovii, spokesperson of the Tavriia Operative Strategic Group of Ukraine's defence forces. Source: Politico Quote from Lykhovii: "Russia has relocated some of its units from both Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions of Ukraines south." Details: The outlet was reportedly unable to independently ascertain how many Russian troops had been redeployed across the border. However, Lykhovii said it was a "relatively small" number of units. The publication notes that during the national joint 24/7 newscast, Lykhovii added that Russia was redeploying personnel to "other directions, including Kursk". At the same time, the spokesman noted that the Russians have accumulated a large number of personnel, particularly in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, and the number of units they are redeploying is relatively small. "We must still understand whether it is a smokescreen activity," the publication quotes Lykhovii. Politico also notes that the Ukrainian Armed Forces' operation in Kursk Oblast has lifted the spirits in Ukraine and raised hopes among its Western allies who want Kyiv to turn the tide on the battlefield in its favour. Background: Support UP or become our patron! Russian artist released in swap builds a new life in Germany, now free to marry her partner Russian artist Sasha Skochilenko, freed in a prisoner swap this month, relaxes on the grass in a park in Koblenz, Germany, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst) KOBLENZ, Germany (AP) Sasha Skochilenko and Sofya Subbotina are planning to get married. That wasn't an option in their native Russia, but it's possible now that they live in Germany, which recognizes same-sex weddings. We dont know how or in which city we will do it, but thats the plan, Skochilenko, 33, told The Associated Press, looking lovingly at Subbotina, who radiated happiness. They reunited earlier this month in Germany, shortly after Skochilenko and other Russian prisoners were exchanged in a historic East-West swap a happy if unlikely ending to an over two-year ordeal. Skochilenko, an artist and musician, was jailed for speaking out against Russias war in Ukraine. Subbotina campaigned for her partners release while also trying to make her life behind bars as tolerable as possible. They talked about marriage in Russia, too, but same-sex weddings have been effectively banned there. Laws restricting LGBTQ+ rights have been on the books for over a decade and intensified since the war began as part of the Kremlins campaign for traditional values, fueled by its anti-Western views and close ties to the Russian Orthodox Church. Now, I feel that Im in a really free country, Subbotina said, as they make plans for a life together in the quiet city of Koblenz in western Germany. An arrest and separation Skochilenko was arrested in her native St. Petersburg in 2022, just weeks after the invasion of Ukraine, for replacing price tags in a supermarket with anti-war messages like saying that Russia bombed civilian targets. She was charged with making false statements about the military, part of the massive crackdown on all dissent over the invasion. She struggled in pre-trial detention, suffering from chronic illness, including celiac disease, requiring gluten-free meals. Subbotina commuted to Skochilenkos jail at least twice a week, bringing food, medicine and other necessities. She and their friends made sure the case, which drew public outrage, stayed in the headlines. Last year, Subbotina was diagnosed with cancer. I just felt like I was giving up, and honestly, I was just ready to die, she said. The couple didnt see each other for a year. Since they werent married, investigators made Subbotina a witness in the case and refused to allow her visits or to receive phone calls from Skochilenko. It is not a small thing, when a person you love cant visit you, Skochilenko said. Subbotina added it was very painful, noting that she knows many women who married imprisoned men often with the wedding held in pre-trial detention facilities or in penal colonies. It gives them the right for long visits, it gives them the right to get phone calls, short visits, because they have a certain status in the eyes of the authorities, she said. "Weve never had this opportunity. Subbotina says she eventually was allowed short visits. They were always very open about their relationship, despite laws against any public endorsement of LGBTQ+ activities, driven by President Vladimir Putin's close ties with the Russian Orthodox Church. Skochilenko said it was clear in the early 2010s the Kremlin was headed in a homophobic direction, and some of the laws the authorities were adopting drove her to protest back then. In recent years, she said her openness was a form of activism. People often have distorted opinions about the LGBTQ+ community because they dont know anyone who loves someone of the same sex, and their views often change once they do, she said. Why dont you hope for a miracle? In November 2023, Skochilenko was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison an unusually harsh verdict. This summer, while awaiting an appeal hearing at a detention center in St. Petersburg, she said there was a point when she reached a particular point of desperation about her long sentence. She said she was traumatized by the lack of freedom and privacy, the constant body searches, and the persisting hunger from being unable to eat prison food. Subbotina visited her in July, and Skochilenko recalls bursting into tears for the first time in months. I told her, Sonya, Im tired of wanting to go home. Please tell me that I wont have to serve the entire sentence, that some miracle will happen. And she said, Yes, why dont you hope for a miracle? Skochilenko said. That same day, a prison official told Skochilenko to urgently apply for a presidential pardon, she said. The artist did not want to admit guilt, but the official said she could simply explain her health problems. She wrote the request and forgot about it, thinking that it would take a long time to even process. Several days later, she was transferred to Moscow without explanation. In the same van was Andrei Pivovarov, an imprisoned opposition politician that she knew from years earlier. There was hardly any reason for them both to be transferred at the same time, so it suggested that perhaps something good was happening. Skochilenko spent several long days in Moscows notorious Lefortovo Prison, where she was cold and hungry, unable to eat much of the food she was given. Subbotina learned of the transfer and rushed to Moscow with a care package, visiting every detention center she could think of, without success. A flight to freedom and a new life together The rest became what many Russians critical of the Kremlin describe as the first good news since the start of the war. On Aug. 1, Skochilenko and 15 others were put on a bus, driven to an airport and flown to Ankara, Turkey, where they were exchanged for eight Russians imprisoned in the West. From Ankara, the former prisoners were flown to Germany, where Chancellor Olaf Scholz greeted them on the tarmac. The next day, Skochilenko was finally able to embrace Subbotina, who flew to Germany when she heard the news. The days since then have been euphoric, Skochilenko said, filled with small pleasures like walking and buying the food she wants but also spending time with the woman she loves. Subbotina particularly enjoys being able to hold Skochilenkos hand and kiss her in public without worry. In Germany, she says, it is something that is just in the nature of things. They've settled for now in Koblenz but want to visit other cities in Germany before they decide where to live permanently. Theyre eager to learn German and begin their new lives. Skochilenko plans to return to making art, displaying sketches she drew about the prisoner swap - a moment in history in which she became an unlikely participant. She also said she intends to seek treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder from her time in prison. Subbotina, a nurse and a pharmacist whose cancer treatment was successful in Russia, hopes to work in the human rights field and help the hundreds of political prisoners in her former country. Both admit that they never expected to leave Russia in the way they did. I don't feel stressed about moving, because I'm very happy. I'm very happy that Sasha is with me," Subbotina said with a smile. Added Skochilenko: My relationship with Russia is over. I need to accept that. Im glad theres a new life. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. Aftermath of the attack. Photo: Serhii Lysak on Telegram Russian troops shelled the Chervonohryhorivka hromada in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast with artillery on the evening of 13 August. The injured man, 33, has died in a hospital. [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories ed.]. Source: Serhii Lysak, the Head of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram Quote: "The injured man died in the hospital as a result of the evening artillery shelling in the Nikopol district. He suffered a shrapnel wound to his chest. Unfortunately, it was impossible to save the man. [My] condolences to the family". Details: The Oblast Military Administration reported that the Russians attacked the oblast with Grad multiple-launch rocket systems and heavy artillery. They also used kamikaze drones. The Russians attacked Nikopol, Marhanets, Pokrovske, Myrove, and Chervonohryhorivka hromadas. Transport and private businesses were damaged. A fire broke out due to the attack on one of these businesses. A private house also caught fire. The Russians also attacked one of the hromadas of Kryvyi Rih district. In the evening, defenders of the Ukrainian skies shot down a Russian UAV over the oblast. Support UP or become our patron! Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day killed at least five civilians and injured at least 25, including children, regional authorities reported early on Aug. 13. In Donetsk Oblast, Russian attacks killed four civilians and injured four others, Governor Vadym Filashkin said. Two people were killed and one injured when Russia shelled Ukrainsk on Aug. 12. Two more were killed and one wounded during an attack against Kostiantynivka, while a strike against Toretsk killed one and injured two, according to the governor. Russian attacks against Kharkiv Oblast injured three people, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported. An attack against the Bohodukhiv town on Aug. 12 injured a 75-year-old woman. Four children aged between several months and 11 years suffered shock, the governor said. A 49-year-old woman was also injured the same day during an attack against the village of Zabrody, and a 72-year-old man was wounded during a drone attack against Vovchansk, Syniehubov reported. Russian attacks against Kherson Oblast killed one person and injured at least 17, including two children, according to Governor Oleksandr Prokudin. Seven high-rise buildings, 36 houses, a gas pipeline, and other buildings were damaged. One person had been injured after a Russian missile strike damaged a hospital building and energy infrastructure in the north-eastern city of Sumy, regional authorities said on Aug. 13. "Part of the population of the city of Sumy remained without electricity and gas supply," the administration added. Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Vinnytsia oblasts were also attacked, but no casualties were reported. Ukrainian air defense shot down 30 of the 38 Shahed-type attack drones launched by Russia overnight on Aug. 13, Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said. Russia launched the drones from the Russian port town of Primorsko-Akhtarsk, located on the coast of the Sea of Azov, and Russia's Kursk Oblast, while two ballistic missiles were launched from Voronezh Oblast, according to the Air Force. Read also: Ukraine controls around 1,000 square km in Russias Kursk Oblast, Syrskyi says Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Russian forces strike Shcherbynivka in Donetsk Oblast, injuring elderly woman and her grandson The Russian army has struck the village of Shcherbynivka in Donetsk Oblast from artillery, injuring a 72-year-old woman and her grandson. Source: Suspilne.Donbas, a local branch of Ukrainian public broadcaster, with reference to the Donetsk Oblast Prosecutors Office Quote: "On 13 August 2024, at 11:15, Russian troops attacked the village of Shcherbynivka in Bakhmut district with artillery. The projectiles struck a private sector where a 72-year-old woman and her 16-year-old grandson were injured on the porch of their house." Details: The Prosecutors Office added that the woman received multiple shrapnel wounds and leg fractures, while her grandson received an arm injury. They were taken to a hospital. A pre-trial investigation on the fact of violating the laws and customs of war (Article 438.1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) was initiated. Support UP or become our patron! Ukraine has taken control of 74 settlements in Russia, Kyiv says - REUTERS/Viacheslav Ratynskyi Russian media has described Ukrainian soldiers who invaded Russia last week as terrorists carrying out human rights abuses. Kremlin propaganda said the invasion was already failing and accused Ukrainian soldiers of fatally shooting unarmed people and using banned chemical weapons. Ukrainian soldiers arrived in Kursk to shoot civilians, read the headline on the ura.ru news website, above an interview with an allegedly captured Ukrainian soldier who claimed he had been ordered to shoot everybody on the spot. The unfounded allegation was reproduced across other Russian media and is part of an attempt by the Kremlin to regain control of the narrative after Ukraines surprise invasion of its territory began last week. Pro-Kremlin Telegram channels and websites have, without evidence, also accused Ukrainian forces of using banned chemical weapons. The Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper said: Ukrainian Nazis used chemical weapons in the Belovsky district of the Kursk region. These propaganda lines have been encouraged by Vladimir Putin, the Russian president. At a meeting with his security council on Monday, Putin said Ukrainian soldiers were indiscriminately attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure and threatening nuclear power facilities. On Russian TV, stone-faced propagandists have produced hours of footage designed to boost Russian morale. Their core messages are that Kyivs terrorising army is suffering massive casualties and that Russias brave troops have stabilised the line and pushed back Ukraines soldiers. Click here to view this content. Ukraine has denied accusations that its soldiers have broken the laws of war, and videos on social media showed Ukrainian soldiers celebrating their victories rather than killing civilians. In one video, a group of Ukrainian soldiers drove through a captured village in Russia. They saw a couple of elderly women and struck up a conversation. Are you in danger? one of the soldiers asked, before congratulating them for speaking Ukrainian, even though it is not unusual for people living in Russian villages along the border to speak the language. Glory to Ukraine! he said at the end of their conversation. Glory! the woman replied with a smile. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Russian troops attacked Bohodukhiv and nearby settlements in Kharkiv Oblast on Monday, 12 August, injuring four children. Source: Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor's Office Details: A large-scale missile attack took place on Bohodukhiv and nearby settlements from 18:20 to 18:35, as per updated information. At least five strikes were recorded. The results of the examination of the recovered wreckage have led to a preliminary conclusion about the type of missile used: a North Korean-made KN-23 (or KN-24), also commonly known as a Hwasong-11. The wreckage of a missile. Photo: Prosecutor's Office At least 30 residential buildings were damaged. Four children two boys, one aged 4 months and the other aged 5, and two girls, one aged 2 years 9 months and the other aged 10 were injured as a result of the missile attack. The children suffered an acute stress reaction. Three women also sought medical assistance. Support UP or become our patron! Russians hit critical infrastructure in Sumy: person wounded, part of city without power and gas The Russians attacked critical infrastructure in the city of Sumy on the night of 12-13 August. One person has been wounded, and all the relevant services are working at the scene. Source: Sumy Oblast Military Administration Quote: "On 13 August, the enemy launched an airstrike involving missiles on infrastructure facilities in the city of Sumy. All necessary services are working at the scene, and emergency repair work is ongoing." Details: Sumy Oblast Military Administration noted that the aftermath of the Russian attack is still being ascertained.| Update: Sumy Oblast Military Administration added a bit later that one person had been wounded in the Russian attack, and part of the city had been left without power and gas supply. In addition, a power transmission line, a gas pipeline, a hospital building and several cars had been damaged. Background: On the evening of 12 August, Russian troops launched attack UAVs at Ukraine from several directions. The air-raid warning was in place until 07:15 on 13 August. Later, Ukraines Air Force reported that the Russians attacked Ukraine with 2 Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles and 38 Shahed attack UAVs on the night of 12-13 August. Ukrainian air defence destroyed 30 Russian drones. Support UP or become our patron! SAC CITY, Iowa (KCAU) UPDATE ( 3:34 p.m.): The missing woman from Sac City has been reported found. According to a Sac City Police Department Facebook page, the Laurens Police Department was able to contact the woman and confirmed she is safe. The vehicle belonging to a missing Sac City woman was found. The Pocahontas Police Department said Amy Heitmans vehicle was found Tuesday on Highway 7 near Pomeroy. - The Sac City Police Department is asking for help locating a missing woman. According to a post on the Sac City Police Department Facebook page, officials are attempting to locate Amy Lyn Heitman, 44, of Sac City. Former Mike Durfee inmates speak on July violence at prison The post states that Heitmans loved ones requested a welfare check on August 12, with her last known contact occurring at 9:36 p.m. when she was having car troubles. She allegedly would not answer her phone or share her location. Law enforcement tried to contact Heitman but was unsuccessful. The post noted that further information has come to light, and she may be in the area of Laurens, Iowa, or Pocahontas County. Norfolk Police Division working to address a lack of space The post describes Heitman as being 52 with brown hair and blue eyes and weighing 150 pounds. She is known to drive a 1992 Chrysler Lebaron with Iowa plate OQV 268. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Sac City Police Department at 712-662-7772. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports. By Mike Scarcella (Reuters) - A federal judge in Texas assigned to hear a lawsuit by Elon Musk's social media platform X against a group of advertisers has removed himself from the case following reports that he owned shares of another Musk company, Tesla. U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor in Fort Worth, Texas did not give a reason in his one-paragraph recusal filing on Tuesday. The lawsuit, filed by X last week, accused the World Federation of Advertisers and others of conspiring to boycott the platform, causing it to lose revenue. The federation has not responded in court and declined to comment on Tuesday. O'Connor's office and spokespeople for X did not immediately respond to requests for comment. NPR reported on Friday that O'Connor owned Tesla shares, raising questions about whether he should oversee litigation involving Musk's companies. A judicial financial disclosure report for 2022, the most recent one available, showed O'Connor owned $15,001 to $50,000 in Tesla stock. Judges sometimes step aside from cases when they have a financial interest in one of the parties. O'Connor is presiding over another lawsuit X filed last year accusing media watchdog Media Matters of interfering with X's relationships with advertisers. Media Matters has denied any wrongdoing. Musk's case against the World Federation of Advertisers was filed in the Northern District of Texas and assigned to O'Connor, an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush. The district has become a favored destination for conservatives suing to block policies of the Democratic Biden administration. One of O'Connor's colleagues, U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade in Dallas, was assigned on Tuesday to hear X's advertising boycott case. (Reporting by Mike Scarcella; Editing by David Bario and Richard Chang) Sacramento cleared homeless camp in 2019. Four years later it wrote checks to 3 of the evicted Over four years after Sacramento County cleared a large tight-knit south Sacramento encampment, it wrote $18,500 in checks to three of the homeless people it evicted. The county wrote the checks to settle a May 2019 federal lawsuit after the Sheriffs deputies cleared the camp at a vacant lot owned by the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, near the intersection of Stockton Boulevard and Fruitridge Road. The $18,500 was divided between three homeless people who were cleared from the site Lucille Mendez, Palmer Overstreet, and Betty Bubbles Rios, according to an August 2023 settlement agreement, which The Sacramento Bee obtained from a California Public Records Act request. The publicly-owned lot had been vacant since 2010 when the San Juan Motel closed and was demolished. Rios had worked in the motel, and when it was demolished, so was her trailer, leaving her homeless. She was the unofficial mayor of the self-governed camp, where she lived for a decade, working with the other residents to come up with rules and building community. The model is similar to North Sacramentos Camp Resolution, which opened in 2022 and is slated to close this month. SHRA paid $186,000 to erect a fence around the site to prevent illegal dumping, Jones said. Crews installed the fence while residents were still living there. Then on May 1, 2019, dozens of deputies came to the site to evict the homeless, resulting in a dramatic standoff between homeless residents, their advocates and deputies. Eventually deputies arrested two people for unlawful assembly, cleared the site and put a padlock on the newly-constructed fence. The site has been sitting vacant ever since, though an apartment building is planned to open in summer 2026, said SHRA spokeswoman Angela Jones. Theres no one to protect us at night time, Rios said days before the sweep. We like staying in a group here because we feel safer in a group than on our own. After deputies evicted Rios, she spent time living in several other frequently-cleared camps along Morrison Creek and Roseville Road and then the states COVID Project Roomkey motels while she tried to find affordable housing. Sanchez estimates there were once a whopping 145 people living at the San Juan Motel camp, many of whom nestled in the trees. Many of the occupants of the camp are now living in tents on the sidewalks of Stockton Boulevard, a busy thoroughfare where pedestrians and bicyclists are hit by vehicles frequently. A man in March 2023 died after he was hit by a vehicle less than a mile from the site. In the six months leading up to the sweep, neighbors and businesses nearby made 69 calls for service to the encampment including several for ongoing fights including weapons, which have resulted in injuries, the Sheriffs Office told The Bee at the time. Sacramento police and Sheriffs deputies frequently clear homeless camps and might do so increasingly in light of a new Supreme Court ruling but lawsuits from the homeless residents dont typically follow. Legal Services of Northern California filed the lawsuit on behalf of Rios, Mendez and Overstreet. The new 113-unit affordable apartment building at the site is set to open in summer 2026, Jones said. (The project) achieves SHRAs goal to revitalize a distressed area and strengthen the neighborhood, Jones said in a statement. Nothing does this better than by creating quality affordable housing with access to services and enrichment programs that will help residents at The San Juan Apartments live stably and thrive. SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) After saving a classmates life on a class trip to Washington, D.C., a San Diego teenager was awarded the Girl Scouts most prestigious honor earlier this month. Angela King, a graduate of Rock Academy and Gold Award Girl Scout, received a rare Medal of Honor from Girl Scouts of San Diego and Imperial Counties, marking the fourth handed out by the local branch of the organization in the last decade. The award was bestowed to King for her heroic acts five years ago, when she was in eighth grade. UCSD-led study finds reservoir of water beneath Mars surface As King said in a conversation with FOX 5, she and her class were at the airport headed back to San Diego from Washington, when one of her peers began to display symptoms of choking. I noticed the girl next to me starts having signs of choking, so I jump up and I ask Are you choking? and she doesnt respond, which is a tell-tale sign someone is choking because they have no air, King recalled. With a sense of calm determination, she then used the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge the food from the classmates throat a first aid response the then-eighth grader learned as a Girl Scout. The maneuver removed a chunk of cheese from a pizza the girl had been eating. The Girl Scouts will prepare you for a lot of things, King said of how she was able to jump into action when she noticed something was wrong. Even if youre not a Girl Scout, she continued, its really important to know first aid skills and have these tools in your back pocket so if theres ever a situation, you can jump up and help people out. In the fall, King will be heading to Stanford University for her undergraduate studies. She is also one of 15 people this year to receive the Girl Scout Medal of Honor. Gordon Ramsays Hells Kitchen at Harrahs Resort SoCal wins award Now, King is encouraging others to find time to learn first aid skills like the Heimlich in case of an emergency whether or not youre eligible to join Girl Scouts. I think its just really important to know how to help people in times of need, King said. The signs are relatively easy to spot. As she explained, Usually people will put two hands over their neck and if youre choking, you want to put two hands over your neck because that is signaling to someone that someone needs to come help. If you see someone else doing that, youve got to jump on it quickly. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News. Demonstrators protesting the ongoing war in Gaza block southbound traffic on Interstate 880 in Oakland on April 15. Traffic in the San Francisco Bay Area was also snarled for hours as pro-Palestinian demonstrators shut down both directions of the Golden Gate Bridge and stalled a 17-mile stretch of I-880. (Bronte Wittpenn / Associated Press) Protesters blocked traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge in mid-April to call attention to the war in Gaza and the suffering of Palestinian civilians whose cities were being bombarded. Now, authorities in San Francisco are prosecuting them for trapping people in their cars on the bridge for hours. The San Francisco Public Defender countered that officials were "weaponizing the law" against protesters; he wants the charges dropped. The San Francisco district attorney's office announced in a news release Monday that arrest warrants were issued for the 26 people who participated in the April 15 protest. All 26 surrendered to law enforcement, according to the California Highway Patrol, but they have not appeared in court or been assigned legal representation. "While we must protect avenues for free speech, the exercise of free speech can not compromise public safety," Dist. Atty. Brooke Jenkins said in a statement. "The demonstration on the Golden Gate Bridge caused a level of safety risk, including extreme threats to the health and welfare of those trapped, that we as a society cannot ignore or allow." The group, dubbed the "Golden Gate 26" by their supporters, could be represented by the San Francisco Public Defender's Office, which blasted the charges and cited a higher moral authority for the protest. Read more: Stanford arrests 13 pro-Palestinian protesters, asks D.A. to file felony burglary charges Pedestrians and bicyclists wait outside the pedestrian gate on the south side of the Golden Gate Bridge while the bridge is closed because of protesters on April 15 in San Francisco. (Lea Suzuki / Associated Press ) The protestors are opposing American tax dollars being used to fund ongoing attacks on the people in Gaza, which the International Criminal Court has deemed crimes against humanity, San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju said in a statement. Our attorneys intend to vehemently defend any individuals we are appointed to represent. The district attorney's office charged the 26 with trespassing to interfere with a business, obstruction of a thoroughfare, unlawful assembly, refusal to disperse at a riot, failure to obey the orders of police and 38 counts of false imprisonment. Eight of the defendants also face a felony conspiracy charge, and the rest face a misdemeanor conspiracy charge. Protests in opposition to the war in Gaza have taken over highways, college campuses and city streets since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, in which militants killed 1,200 Israelis and took about 250 hostages, roughly 115 of whom are still missing. Since then, Israeli forces have killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to health officials in Gaza, who include both Hamas forces and civilians in their casualty counts. The protesters gathered shortly before 8 a.m. on April 15 on the Golden Gate Bridge, where they abandoned their vehicles and chained their bodies together while holding up signs. The group's members were warned repeatedly by police and other officials that they would be arrested if they did not move, but the group ignored them, according to the district attorney's office. Read more: Pro-Palestinian protesters shut down 405 Freeway in West L.A. A protester later identified as Sara Cantor told police that the protesters would not resist arrest, but the demonstrators who were interlocked between vehicles with a large metal tube would not voluntarily comply with authorities, the district attorneys office said. All of the protesters were arrested and removed from the bridge, and the traffic lanes were reopened by 12:20 p.m. Roughly 12,000 vehicles travel south and 8,000 vehicles travel north on the bridge from 8 a.m. to noon, according to the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District, which the office claims lost more than $162,000 in revenue due to the protest. Jenkins took to social media after the protest to ask anyone stuck on the Golden Gate Bridge to come forward, because they could be entitled to restitution and have other rights guaranteed under state's law. The office said several hundred people were held against their will at the mercy of the protest. According to court documents, people caught in the middle of stopped traffic missed work and important medical appointments, and a mother with her baby did not have water for the infant formula. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. San Jose PD looking for suspect involved in June shooting (KRON) The San Jose Police Department is searching for a suspect involved in a shooting in June. At 10:02 p.m. on June 7, San Jose police officers responded to a restaurant in the 5500 block of Cottle Road for a report of an assault with a deadly weapon. Responding officers learned that a group of men began an altercation with a man who was with his wife and infant child. According to police, a suspect shot his gun toward the family. There were also multiple bystanders, according to SJPD. Police were informed that the suspects fled before their arrival. 1 in critical condition following Monday Oakland shooting Fortunately, no one was hurt in the shooting. SJPD Gang Investigations Unit detectives and the Santa Clara County District Attorneys Office collaborated to find the circumstances of this shooting, which, they say, was gang-related. The suspects were identified as: David Salas, 19 Johnathan Hernandez, 19 A 17-year-old minor Brian Felix Rojas, 19 Brian Felix Rojas, 19. Image courtesy of the San Jose Police Department Police arrested Salas and Hernandez at their residences. Two firearms with high-capacity magazines and various clothing with gang indicia were seized in the search at one of the residences. Both were booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail. Image courtesy of the San Jose Police Department The minor involved was booked into Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall for assault with a deadly weapon, according to SJPD. San Jose PD is currently looking for Roja. He has an active arrest warrant. Anyone with information about this case or information regarding suspect Rojas whereabouts is asked to contact the San Jose Police Department Gang Investigations Unit at (408) 277-3835 or email 4669@sanjoseca.gov. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4. BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) A Sanborn teen pleaded guilty Tuesday for her role in a February crash that killed a passenger in the vehicle she was driving, the Niagara County District Attorneys Office announced. Ninaatikwe A. Hamby, 19, admitted to driving while under the influence of cannabis when she crashed a vehicle in the early morning hours of Feb. 25 at the intersection of Walmore and Upper Mountain Roads, officials said. The vehicle was traveling northbound on Walmore and failed to stop at a stop sign when it crashed, Lewiston Police said in February. The crash resulted in the death of a 20-year-old male, who was the backseat passenger of the vehicle and a family member of Hambys, officials said. A 27-year-old male, who was the front seat passenger, was airlifted to ECMC with serious injuries. All three occupants of the vehicle were residents of the Tuscarora Reservation, according to police. The outcome of Ms. Hambys decision to drive while under the influence of cannabis was the death of a family member, said Niagara County District Attorney Brian Seaman in a release. It just cant be understated how dangerous it is to drive while under the influence of marijuana. Here the results are the complete devastation of a family. Hamby pleaded guilty to second-degree vehicular manslaughter and faces up to seven years in prison when she is sentenced. Latest Local News Adam Gorski is a Buffalo native who joined the WIVB News 4 team in 2022. You can find more of his work here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to News 4 Buffalo. Sarasota-Manatee residents impacted by Debby now eligible for FEMA aid Representatives of state and local agencies are working from a Multiple-Agency Resource Center at Sarasota Christian Church to help people whose homes were damaged by Tropical Storm Debby, which made landfall Aug. 5 as a Category 1 hurricane in north Florida. The storm caused widespread flooding in Sarasota and Manatee counties, with more than 200 people rescued from flooded areas in Manatee County and more than 500 people from flooded areas in Sarasota County. Area residents can apply for assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency after an emergency declaration for 10 Florida counties Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Manatee, Sarasota, Suwannee and Taylor was signed Saturday night. FEMA can help with temporary lodging, basic home repair costs, personal property loss or other disaster-caused needs beyond what is provided by homeowners insurance. FEMA spokesman Nathan Custer said the agency is still establishing a physical presence in Sarasota and Manatee counties, though it typically partners with the Small Business Administration at a Disaster Recovery Center. For now, the best ways to start the application process for FEMA aid are online at DisasterAssistance.gov, use the FEMA App or call 800-621-3362 from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. ET daily. Multilingual operators are available. If you use a relay service, captioned telephone or other service, give FEMA your number for that service. FEMA Disaster Assistance Teams are also going door-to-door to assess and register community members for resources. Phillippi Creek in the center with Phillippi Creek Levee Trail, just to the right, in Pinecraft as it continued to crest on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, due to Tropical Storm Debby that dumped a record 9.52" according to the Sarasota Sheriff's Office. These teams will be wearing neon FEMA vests. When in doubt, ask for authentication. Small Business Administration information can be found at https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/disaster-assistance. Free rides available to Multiple-Agency Resource Center Many state and local representatives are now stationed at Sarasota Christian Church, 2923 Ashton Road, Sarasota. Those agencies include: SRQ Strong, American Red Cross, Bay Legal Services, Salvation Army, Career Source, Florida Licensing on Wheels, Florida Commerce, Florida Department of Health, Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Citizens Property Insurance, Agency for Persons with Disabilities, Area Agency on Aging, Hope Florida and Capacity Path Relief. The resource center will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., through Aug. 16. People needing transportation can call 311 for assistance. Free rides to the center from anywhere in Sarasota County to the resource center will be one way; wheelchair-accessible vehicles are available. Other online services include the Business Damage Assessment Survey with the Florida Department of Commerce, to gather data and assess the needs of businesses affected by the hurricane, helping to speed up recovery efforts. Property owners may also be entitled to a property tax break and should file through the Sarasota County Property Appraiser's web site. Debby brought more than 20 inches of rain to Sarasota-Manatee Debby brought as much as 20 inches of rainfall in portions of Sarasota and Manatee counties but an initial assessment found no loss of life, according to the National Weather Service initial impact report, released Saturday. However, Sarasota County sheriff's deputies were searching Monday for a man reported missing during the storm. A peak wind gust of 64 mph was reported Aug. 4 at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport. In Manatee County, 54 people stayed in evacuation centers, while more than 200 people were rescued as a result of flooding. Rainfall in Manatee County ranged from 10 to 20 inches, including 18.86 inches near Parrish. That rainfall pushed the Manatee River to a record crest of 20.12 feet at Rye Bridge. At Port Manatee, a peak water level of 2.42 feet above the mean higher high water level was reported. Elsewhere in Manatee County that varied from 2 to 4 feet above mean higher high water level. In Sarasota County, 30 people took shelter in an evacuation center, more than 500 people were rescued from flooded areas in Pinecraft, and neighborhoods in Sarasota County southeast of The Celery Fields in the Phillippi Creek watershed. Rainfall for Sarasota County ranged from 10 to 20 inches, with a maximum total of 17.78 inches recorded by the weather service near Sarasota. A peak water level of 3.81 feet above the mean higher high water level was measured at 5 p.m. Aug. 4 in North Port. Water levels elsewhere in Sarasota County ranged from 2 to 4 feet above the mean higher high water level. The Myakka River at Myakka State Park crested at 10.22 feet at 6 a.m. Aug. 9 and was at 9.33 feet as of 11 a.m. Monday. Express permitting for storm damage Permits from Sarasota County related to Debby storm damage will be expedited. Certain building permit fees have been temporarily suspended if the repair is for documented damage from Hurricane Debby. That temporary suspension will last through Sept. 13. Fees have also been temporarily suspended for the following activities: re-roofing or recovering, doors and windows (size for size replacement), interior repair from water intrusion, minor electrical repair, electrical service charge, tents, temporary-use permits, pool cage repair and AC change-outs. When applying for permits online, select storm related, in the project type. Call 311 or email building@scgov.net for more information. This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: FEMA now going door-to-door in Sarasota, Manatee areas hit by Debby An annual international conference that brought millions in revenue to Logan announced Tuesday it is moving to Salt Lake City. The Small Satellite Conference, or SmallSat, is an international gathering of academic, government and industry members, and has been held in Logan for the past 38 years. Starting in 2025, it will move to the Salt Palace Convention Center, which organizers say can better support the growing demand for attendees and presenters. The last SmallSat in Logan wrapped up in early August, and included presenters from Germany, Japan, Sweden, New Zealand and others. As small satellite technology and markets advance, more people are able to understand research that means nothing to a layperson equatorial plasma bubbles, extragalactic background light and stellar occultation hypertemporal imaging, for example. "SmallSat's purpose is, and always has been, to help the small satellite community advance technology by bringing people together to share ideas and lessons learned, build relationships, and together help chart the course for the future of the small satellite industry," Pat Patterson, chairman of SmallSat, said in a prepared statement. The big reasons for the move, appropriate for a satellite conference, are space and time. Organizers are hoping to compress the schedule and cut out weekend sessions, while maintaining the same amount of content. To do this, they chose to host the conference at a venue with "more space for technical sessions, side meetings and meals all in one centralized location," the release said. With more affordable hotels within walking distance, more potential attendees will be able to afford to make the trip. "As more people express interest in participating in SmallSat, conference organizers recognized the need for increased capacity to support the growing demand," Patterson said. "Moving to the Salt Palace Convention Center ensures that the conference can continue to deliver an exceptional experience for its attendees, exhibitors, and sponsors well into the future." Logan businesses will feel the loss of significant income they have enjoyed every August. Cache Valley Visitors Bureau Director Julie Hollist Terrill released revenue figures to SpaceNews earlier this week, showing an estimated $6.4 million was brought to the area from the 2024 conference, over two-thirds of that coming from lodging and restaurants. Savannah Chrisley's mom, Julie Chrisley, is finding her hopes dashed as her attempts to avoid a face-to-face encounter with the court have failed. The reality star, who had requested a virtual hearing for her comfort, must now appear in court as the crucial date approaches. This decision comes amid growing concerns within the Chrisley family, particularly from daughter Savannah, who had previously expressed fear for her father Todd's safety in prison. As the court date looms, Julie Chrisley must now prepare for a high-stakes courtroom appearance that could significantly impact her future. Savannah Chrisley's Mom Ordered To Make Long Trip To Resentencing Instagram | Savannah Chrisley A federal judge denied the 51-year-old's attempt to avoid a physically taxing journey from Kentucky to Georgia. Julie, currently held at FMC Lexington, had asked to participate remotely to prevent the "undue physical hardship" of a long and potentially grueling trip. Her attorney, Alex Little, highlighted concerns that the journey would involve either a transfer through Oklahoma City or a lengthy van ride, during which Julie would be shackled. WSBTV reports that despite her legal team's argument that a virtual appearance would be less taxing and allow for easier coordination with prison officials, the court has ruled in favor of an in-person hearing. The mother-of-three will now be required to travel across state lines for the proceedings, which is set to take place on September 25. Julie Chrisley Heads Back To Court For Resentencing MEGA Why does Julie need to go back to court? The Blast reported that the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit initially upheld the convictions of both Julie and her husband. ICYMI, the couple are serving lengthy prison sentences for bank fraud and tax evasionseven years for Julie and 12 years for Todd. However, in a partial victory for Julie, the court vacated her sentence, citing insufficient evidence connecting her to crimes committed before 2007. As a result, the appeals court ordered a resentencing, meaning the socialite would once again face a judge. Chrisley Family Speaks Out After Court Vacates Julie's Sentencing Instagram | Savannah Chrisley Despite the family's ongoing legal battles, this significant victory for the reality TV star brought a glimmer of hope. Kyle Chrisley shared his thoughts on the court's ruling. "I'm happy for Julie, but you know it's really unfortunate that the court found the previous ruling on everything else valid," he stated. Even though he is said to be estranged from his father, Kyle expressed hope that Todd might still pursue their case before the Supreme Court of Appeals. The 32-year-old's half-sister, Savannah, also voiced her relief that the "court recognized the mistakes" in Julie's sentencing. The 26-year-old shared her thoughts on her podcast, stating, "We've been fighting so hard for this, and it gives us hope for a fairer outcome moving forward." Savannah Slammed Legal System Amid Family Struggles MEGA The podcaster has been a steadfast supporter of her parents, Todd and Julie, as they navigate their legal troubles. The Blast previously highlighted Savannah's candid remarks about the harsh realities her parents have faced following their joint 19-year sentence. Despite her efforts to raise awareness of their plight, her outspoken stance may have exacerbated their difficulties. Savannah alleged that her father endured severe repercussions after speaking out about the poor conditions at Pensacola Federal Prison Camp, including a potential transfer to another facility. At the time, the reality TV star, in a virtual news appearance, shared the fallout from Todd's revelations. Savannah Chrisley Accused Prison Officials Of Retaliation Against Her Father MEGA Savannah claimed the warden of Pensacola Federal Prison Camp was attempting to transfer her father to another facility as retaliation for his recent interview. In an appearance on NewsNation's "Cuomo," the TV personality revealed the gravity of the situation, describing it as deeply distressing. She shared that prison staff provided her with alarming information about her father's condition, which she believed "should scare the warden and the BOP." Savannah asserted that despite the BOP's dismissive stance, she had substantial evidence. In her words, "The BOP has called me a liar numerous times, but I have all the information to back it up. And these letters, I mean, I even have recordings of them speaking about shipping my father." She also mentioned her suspicions that the prison officials were "going to the extent of planting cell phones, drugs, going through his lockers so that they can send him to a facility and truly behind bars." As Julie Chrisley gears up for her in-person resentencing hearing, scheduled for September 25, the family's legal saga continues to unfold with intense scrutiny. David O'Shields, right, chairman of the state Board of Education, delivers his report during a meeting of the board on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, while state Superintendent Ellen Weaver, center, looks on. (Abraham Kenmore/SC Daily Gazette) COLUMBIA A model policy requiring South Carolinas K-12 students to stash their cellphones during the entire school day received initial approval Tuesday from the State Board of Education, which wanted to get more feedback before finalizing minimum guidelines for school districts. The unanimous vote comes six weeks after the state budget mandated school districts to adopt a policy banning cellphones during the school day or risk state funding. But the State Board of Education must first adopt a model policy for them to follow. The goal is for all districts to have a policy in place before January, according to a memo the state agency sent school administrators over the summer. The board was considering a two-page draft proposal, which would require phones, smart watches and other devices to be turned off and stashed through the entire school day, not just during class time. It would allow exceptions for students with particular medical or educational needs, for specific educational purposes and for high schoolers who volunteer as local firefighters or other emergency responders. It allows for school districts to set more restrictive rules, but not less. It also gives school districts flexibility on setting rules outside the school day, such as whether to allow devices on bus rides. Districts could also decide where students would be required to keep their phones from the opening to closing bells whether in a locker, a backpack or somewhere else. Board Chairman David OShields said he wanted to take some additional time on such an important policy to gather feedback, including from parents. I do think without equivocation there needs to be a serious reigning in of cellphone use and proliferation because its negative consequences, especially for adolescents, can be quite harmful, said OShields, superintendent of Laurens County School District 56 (Clinton). While board members wanted more time, they were enthusiastic about the underlying idea. Its not just about the discipline in the schools, said Christian Hanley Jr. of Berkeley County. The discipline is important, but its ruining our kids. Hanley noted the board put a lot of work into another regulation passed earlier in the year that bars books in schools that describe sexual conduct. You can get a whole lot more porn on these phones than youre going to get in those library books, he said. Matthew Ferguson, deputy superintendent for the Department of Education, said the agency has already received a lot of feedback in creating the model rules. More than 9,000 teachers responded to a survey on banning phones. Teachers reported that phones were taking up hours of their teaching time, and they asked for support from school administrators so they dont have to be the phone police, he said. When we first sent the survey out our survey platform thought we had been hacked and spoofed because the responses were coming in so quickly, Ferguson told the board. State Superintendent Ellen Weaver said her agency can also help school officials educate parents on the policies. The districts are very hungry for us as the department to help create communication tools and resources, she said. A new indicator says there's a chance we're in a recession that started as early as March. iStock; Rebecca Zisser/BI A new indicator says there's a 40% chance the US is in a recession that started as early as March. The measure builds on the Sahm rule, using job-vacancy data in addition to unemployment data. The closely watched Sahm rule was triggered this month after a weak July jobs report. There's a new recession indicator that's making waves, and it says there's a 40% probability the US is already in a recession. The economists Pascal Michaillat and Emmanuel Saez recently released the details of a recession indicator that builds on the widely cited Sahm rule. The Sahm rule, named for its creator, the economist Claudia Sahm, uses the difference between the three-month moving average of the unemployment rate and the past-12-month low. If the difference is at least 0.5 percentage points, the US is in a recession. The rule was triggered this month when the July jobs report showed a 4.3% unemployment rate (though Sahm herself has said she doesn't think the US is in a recession). Michaillat and Saez's measure uses a similar methodology, but it's two-sided, using unemployment and the vacancy rate for jobs. The measure uses the Sahm rule's procedure for unemployment and pairs it with the difference between the three-month moving average of the vacancy rate and its past-12-month maximum. When the indicator shows a difference of 0.3 percentage points, a recession may have started. A difference of 0.8 points is a definite recession. Using data from July, the indicator is at 0.5 percentage points, nodding to a 40% probability of a recession that could have started as early as March, Michaillat and Saez said in a paper. The economists added that the indicator worked for recessions going back to 1930, while Sahm's worked only back to 1960. A new indicator could help economists and investors better understand if a downturn is imminent. Though the July jobs report triggered the rule she pioneered, Sahm said she wasn't sure it was accurate this time around. "This pandemic cycle has been different on so many dimensions and has laid waste to so many economic models and rules of them," Sahm said in an interview with Business Insider last week. "If the Sahm rule was going to fail, it's going to be this time." She added that having such a negative effect tied to one's name was a hefty burden and that she's been waiting for a more accurate rule to come along. "What I am so looking forward to is someone deciding it's great to have something like this and is motivated and goes off and does it better," Sahm said. Read the original article on Business Insider An inmate at the Sumter-Lee Regional Detention Center lost an eye after being attacked by another detainee who stabbed him in the eye, according to a lawsuit. The attackers cell door was unlocked and no guards were on the housing unit when James Bell allegedly attacked Roger Gooden with his fists, feet and an improvised knife in a beating that lasted for five minutes, according to the lawsuit filed Friday. The lawsuit was filed by Goodens lawyers at the Strom Law Firm against the Sumter County Sheriffs Office, which runs the jail. It accuses the sheriffs office of gross negligence in failing to prevent the attack. The detention center says its primary responsibility is to provide humane treatment and security to its detainees, wrote Ally Benevento, one of Goodens lawyers, in a news release. They failed to do either for Roger Gooden. When contacted Monday, a spokesperson for the Sumter County Sheriffs Office said the facility had not yet been served with the lawsuit so officials could not comment. Gooden is also represented by attorneys Bakari Sellers, Amy Willbanks and Mario Pacella, also of the Strom Law Firm, which has become a leader in litigation against county jails in South Carolina. The Strom Law Firm has filed eleven lawsuits against Richland County over conditions at the troubled Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center. Declining conditions and under staffing at the Richland County Jail have resulted in an explosion in the number of assaults and stabbings. In July alone, four inmates died inside of the jail. What were seeing beyond negligence is just systemic issues with our county jails, which not only erodes public trust but has real life implications, like death, Sellers told The State. My hope is that Sumter County doesnt end up like Alvin S. Glenn. A sudden attack Gooden was jailed on January 13, 2022, after being sought in connection with a shooting at an El Cheapo gas station in Sumter, South Carolina. He was charged with a slew of offenses, including attempted murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, kidnapping, two counts of armed armed robbery, criminal conspiracy and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. These charges remain pending against Gooden, who is now being represented by Sellers. But after four months inside of the detention center, Gooden was elevated to the position of trustee. In this role, Gooden was allowed to move freely inside of his assigned dorm and was responsible for assisting detention center officers, handing out mail and janitorial duties, among other assignments. Gooden was assigned to Bravo pod, the jails lockup unit that housed detainees with disciplinary infractions or other special accommodations, according to the lawsuit. On Nov. 29, 2023, a guard referred to in the lawsuit only as Detention Officer Johnson left the pod shortly after he started his shift, leaving Gooden alone in the dorm except for other inmates who were supposed to be locked in their cells. Bravo pod was regularly left unsupervised, according to the lawsuit, and on that day the jails staff failed to ensure that Detainee Bells cell was secure before leaving it unattended. As Gooden was returning a tablet to another inmate, Bell slipped out of his cell yelling for Gooden to go outside with him, according to the lawsuit. Bell then attacked Gooden, punching and kicking him in the head and body for five minutes before stabbing him in the eye socket with a jail-fashioned shank, according to the lawsuit. When Gooden tried to crawl away, Bell attempted to drag him back to continue the assault. While the lawsuit does not make clear how Bell got out of his cell, it states that the jails central control room receives an alert whenever a cell door is unlocked. SLRDC staff in central control did not respond to an alert from Detainee Bells cell after Detainee Bell opened the door when it was supposed to be locked, according to the lawsuit. Following the alleged attack, Bell was charged with first degree assault. Medical attention slow to arrive But Goodens ordeal wasnt over, according to the lawsuit. Despite suffering severe blood loss and catastrophic injuries to his eye, Gooden was left to wait an hour for an ambulance. Once EMTs arrived, they said that he should be airlifted to the hospital. But Gooden was instead driven by ambulance to the Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital before being transported to Prisma Health Richlands trauma center, the only Level 1 trauma center in Midlands, for surgery. But when it was discovered that no surgeon was available to perform the surgery he needed, Gooden was tranferred for a third time to Prisma Health Greenville before being returned to the Sumter-Lee Regional Detention Center, a roughly two and a half hour drive. Gooden then waited for four days without access to pain killers before returning to Greenville for a surgery to remove his eye and repair his eye socket and eyelid. The South Carolina Supreme Court is set to take up convicted double-murderer Alex Murdaughs appeal. The order released Tuesday means that the five justices who make up the states highest court will bypass the appeals court and directly take up the question of whether Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill prejudiced the jury during Murdaughs trial in the winter and spring of 2023. While a lower court ruled that Hill did have inappropriate conversations with jurors, they did not find any evidence of prejudice. But Tuesdays order sets up a clash of what legal standard is necessary to prove that a state official tampered with a jury. Prosecutors with the South Carolinas Attorney Generals Office have argued that a new trial is not necessary as there was no evidence that Hills actions prejudiced the jury while Murdaughs defense attorneys have said that the very fact that she inappropriate contact with the jury warrants a new trial. Murdaughs attorneys have argued that Hill violated Murdaughs right to a fair trial by, among other actions, telling jurors to disregard his testimony and denying them smoke breaks during deliberations. This was all in an effort to drive future sales of a book she planned to write, according to Murdaughs attorneys, Dick Harpootlian, Jim Griffin, Phil Barber and Maggie Fox. When reached, Harpootlian declined to comment about the appeal. The certification comes after former South Carolina Supreme Court Judge Jean H. Toal denied Murdaughs motion for a new trial on these grounds. Toal made her decision following a day-long examination of the jurors, as well as Hill and fellow clerk of court Rhonda McElveen. In endorsing the prosecutions argument, Toal relied on precedent drawn from a case known as South Carolina v. Green, which required the defense to prove that not did Hill have inappropriate contacts with the jurors but that those statements also influenced their verdict. A spokesperson for the South Carolina Attorney Generals Office declined to comment about the matter. For their part, the Murdaughs attorneys will the state supreme court to adopt the precedent outlined in a federal case, Remmer v. United States. In Remmer, the U.S. Supreme Court found that making inappropriate statements to the jury was presumed to be prejudicial and it was up to the state to prove they were not. Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill swears the oath before taking the stand during the Alex Murdaugh jury-tampering hearing at the Richland County Judicial Center on Monday, January 29, 2024 in Columbia, South Carolina. The hearing allegations against Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Becky Hill ruled by former S.C. Chief Justice Jean Toal. Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post and Courier/Pool Hill has since resigned from her position as clerk of court under a cloud of controversy. While on the stand, Hill adamantly denied tampering with the jury. She is currently facing a state ethics investigation for use of state funds and facilities and admitted to plagiarizing portions of her book, Behind the Doors of Justice, from an unpublished BBC article that was mistakenly emailed to her. Hills son, the former Colleton County IT director, was also charged with wiretapping. Murdaugh, the fourth generation heir to a powerful legal and political family in South Carolinas Lowcountry, was found guilty of murdering his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, at the familys sprawling 1,500 acre farm, Moselle. Prosecutors with the South Carolina Attorney Generals Office argued that Murdaugh, at the time a prominent personal injury attorney, committed the murders to stave off the looming discovery of the thefts of millions of dollars from his clients, family and law firm. The embezzlements stretched back more than a decade as Murdaugh attempted to pay off debts and fund an expensive opiate addiction, according to evidence that emerged at his trial. This is a breaking news story. Check back here for more details. SC Supreme Court to take up Murdaughs jury tampering appeal COLLETON COUNTY, S.C. (WSAV) The South Carolina Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal of Alex Murdaughs murder convictions. That means the case will bypass an appeals court and go directly to the high court. Murdaugh believes the jury was tainted by comments then Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill made to jurors. A lower court judge did rule that Hill had inappropriate conversations with the jury but did not find evidence they were prejudiced into finding the disbarred lawyer guilty of killing his wife and son. Attorney asks judge to dismiss Murdaugh federal financial crimes appeal News 3 contacted the South Carolina Attorney Generals Office but they refused to comment about the case. Murdaugh is headed to Virginia in October for an appeal of his federal sentence for a series of financial crimes. His attorney claims the 40-year prison sentence is too harsh. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSAV-TV. The day after Minnesota Governor Tim Walz was announced as Kamala Harriss choice for vice president, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told a crowd of lawmakers in Louisville, Kentucky, that a Harris administration would spell certain doom for the Republican Party. Lets assume our worst nightmarethe Democrats went to the White House, the House, the Senate, McConnell said during his keynote speech at the National Conference of State Legislators Legislative Summit last week, according to Spectrum News. The first thing theyll do is get rid of the [Senate] filibuster. Second, youll have two new states: D.C., Puerto Rico. Thats four new Democratic senators in perpetuity. Puerto Rico will vote on a nonbinding ballot measure in November to determine the territorys future political status, with voters being given three options, all of which would change its official status: statehood, independence, or independence with free association. It will be the seventh time that the islands 3.2 million people vote to define their political relationship with the United States. Harris has not yet taken an official stance on the vote. McConnell insisted that next on the historically moderate Democrats agenda would be to place as many liberal justices on the Supreme Court as possible, noting that doing so would be unconstitutionalwhile apparently ignoring the fact that thats exactly what Donald Trump did to achieve SCOTUSs current conservative supermajority. If they get those two new states and pack the Supreme Court, theyll get what they want, McConnell said. Ultimately, McConnell believes that the Harris-Walz ticket represents the far left of the Democratic Party. And by the way, thats most Democrats today, he added. Following the address, Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers broke down the Republican perspective on why Harris turned to Walz as her right hand. Theyre trying to appeal to a rural voter that they have not appealed to in years, Stivers said, reported Spectrum. Now, whether they can or they cant, that becomes a good question, and I think that will be based on the policies that they put forward. And hopefully, thats what we get into. SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) The school board of the Sioux City Community School District (SCCSD) will be appealing a ruling of a lawsuit in which a judge ruled the school board violated the Open Meetings Act. Members of the SCCSD Board of Education met before the school boards regular Monday night meeting for a closed session. The session was to discuss litigation, according to the agenda for the meeting. In a replay of the meeting after adjourning the closed session, the board voted whether to authorize legal counsel to file an appeal to all rulings by the district court that are adverse to the district and individual defendants in the lawsuit. The vote passed 6-1, with Earl Miller being the lone dissenter. The special meeting was adjourned after the vote. Sioux City Community School District board approves transportation agreement In early February, Woodbury County District Court Judge Jeffery Neary ruled that a closed session meeting on Jan. 24, 2022 violated the Iowa Open Meetings Act. The lawsuit was filed by former SCCSD superintendent Dr. Paul Gausman claiming that the meeting and another closed session on Nov. 30, 2022 were illegal because, instead of serving as yearly evaluations, they were held to discuss complaints against him. The judge ruled that the Open Meeting Act was not violated for the other meeting on Nov. 30, 2022. As part of the judgement, the judge said board members Jan George, Bob Michaelson, and Taylor Goodvin the latter of whom no longer serves on the board all acted in good faith in regards to calling the closed door session. However, the judge wrote that then-President and current board member Dan Greenwell was clouded by how he felt towards Dr. Gausman and thus did not act in good faith, but rather with vindictive purpose. Greenwell was ordered to pay $500 in damages and $52,704.86 in attorney fees. There were no court filings regarding an appeal in the case at the time of publishing. Gausman had filed another lawsuit with allegations that the board violated the Iowa Open Records Act. The judge ruled in favor to the school district in that case, finding it did not violate the Open Records Act. Gausman now serves as superintendent at Lincoln Public Schools in Lincoln, Nebraska. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports. (WKBN) Back in June, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered ACCEL Schools Ohio LLC to address lead paint concerns and asbestos at three of its local Valley Charter Schools. Now, as the start of the school year creeps closer, representatives say classes are expected to begin on time. Read next: 30F temperatures recorded in a nearby state Monday The EPA issued a notice of violation earlier this summer regarding asbestos and lead paint concerns Youngstown Academy of Excellence, Niles Preparatory Academy and STEAM Academy of Warren. The EPA said the violations may present hazards to students, faculty and staff. The investigation was conducted after the EPA received a complaint with concerns about asbestos at Youngstown Academy of Excellence in March. In a statement, ACCEL said despite regular maintenance and custodial service, these issues were never brought to their attention or reported to school staff. ACCEL said after learning about the issues in the three schools, it hired an environmental consulting firm to inspect each campus and take the necessary action needed to reopen. A spokesperson for ACCEL Schools says they are working closely with the EPA to reopen each school on time. The schools expect to host their annual back-to-school events for families and re-open the campuses to staff to prepare for students to return mid-month on schedule. Youngstown Academy of Excellence and Niles Preparatory Academy will begin classes on Aug. 14 while STEAM Academy of Warren will return on Aug. 19. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. Scientists release dozens of surrogate butterflies in attempt to revive ecosystem after species loss: 'This is a very powerful idea' A groundbreaking experiment is taking flight in San Francisco, bringing new life to coastal dunes that have been missing a key player for over 80 years. Scientists have successfully released dozens of butterflies closely related to the extinct Xerces blue, potentially restoring a vital link in the local ecosystem, according to the Washington Post. The Xerces blue butterfly, known for its stunning cobalt wings, vanished from San Francisco in the 1940s due to urban development. Now, researchers from the California Academy of Sciences and their partners are using innovative genetic analysis to introduce a similar species, the silvery blue butterfly, as a surrogate. This exciting project could have far-reaching impacts on both wildlife and human communities. Reintroducing a pollinator species may help restore the delicate balance of the coastal ecosystem. This, in turn, could lead to healthier plant life, improved soil stability, and even enhanced natural beauty in the area. For nature enthusiasts and local residents alike, the return of these butterflies offers a unique opportunity to witness ecological restoration in action. The project also serves as an inspiring example of how we can take positive steps to address biodiversity loss, even in urban areas. The success of this initiative could pave the way for similar efforts worldwide, potentially offering new hope for ecosystems affected by extinction. It demonstrates that with innovative thinking and collaborative action, we can heal some of the damage done to our natural world. Dr. Durrell Kapan, a senior research fellow at the California Academy of Sciences, expressed optimism about the project. "This is a very powerful idea the idea of a surrogate species for an extinct species," he told the Washington Post. Meanwhile, Lew Stringer, an ecologist with the Presidio Trust, highlighted the potential for ongoing evolution. "We might set it back on a trajectory that by natural selection would then enable it to evolve towards something that resembled the Xerces blue," he said. As we face global challenges like atmospheric pollution and habitat loss, this butterfly reintroduction reminds us that positive change is possible. By using our voices to support innovative conservation efforts, we can all play a part in creating a healthier, more vibrant world for future generations. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. SCOTUS Didnt Go Nuclear On Abortion In 2024. Itll Have Plenty Of Options To In 2025 The Supreme Court punted on the major abortion cases it heard during the term that ended last month. And while the Courts inaction was initially celebrated, it means we head into the 2024 election with some of the biggest threats to the procedure delayed, but not permanently denied. One case is all but certain to return; others have been steadily working their way up the federal judiciary in the meantime. The Terms Unexploded Landmines This terms Dobbs lite was the push to get mifepristone off the market across the country: FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. The case was lodged by a hastily organized group of anti-abortion doctors, none of whom could relay an episode where they were injured due to the availability of the medication, and for this reason teetered upon dubious standing. The doctors lawyers were left to concoct hypotheticals in which their clients might one day have to treat a woman suffering from (actually very rare) mifepristone complications. The standing deficiencies and the sheer tonnage of lawsuits that would be unleashed were the Court to greenlight such tenuous standing proved too much. The justices were unanimous in their disapproval. But anti-abortion attorney Erin Hawley told reporters that she expected the case to continue, with intervening red states as the plaintiffs swapped in for the injury-free doctors. Experts TPM spoke with were skeptical that the gambit would be any more successful than the first attempt. You need somebody harmed by the medication or the person who prescribed it I think theyll have a hard time bringing that case again, Jessie Hill, associate dean and reproductive rights scholar at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, told TPM. You might get Kacsmaryk to go along with some strategy for a while, Hill said, naming the infamous anti-abortion U.S. district judge in Texas, but I dont think its going anywhere. Those same abortion law experts were less sanguine about the terms other major and unsettled abortion case, Moyle v. United States, a battle between federal emergency room requirements and state abortion bans. There, the Biden administration insists that The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), which mandates that emergency rooms stabilize patients in crisis, includes abortions if thats the care needed, no matter state restrictions. Petitioner Idahos ban only includes an exception to avoid the death of the woman, which the government argues is a much narrower allowance. The situation on the ground backs up this reading of the conflict, as Idaho hospitals attest that theyve been airlifting pregnant patients to neighboring states to avoid prosecution. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, writing alone on the per curiam decision to boot that case back to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, warned that storm clouds loom ahead. Todays decision is not a victory for pregnant patients in Idaho, she wrote at the time. It is delay. The case is bound to return to the Supreme Court, where conservatives made clear during oral argument that they were seeking rhetorical cover to let the state bans supersede the federal requirements by pretending that there is no daylight between what the two demand. It would be an enormous blow to the women most at risk from abortion bans, those far enough along in their pregnancies to be facing death or lasting injury if they cant get emergency abortions. An Unprecedented Term Unlocks New Anti-Abortion Crusades Some seemingly unrelated decisions from the Courts term could also tentacle out into abortion cases bound for the same destination. The Supreme Court overturned Chevron deference in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, demolishing a pillar of federal agency power that conservative judges have been chipping away at for years. The Alliance Defending Freedom, a right-wing group behind many high-profile abortion challenges (including the one to mifepristone), giddily listed in a brief for that case the abortion rights and protections for women and LGBTQ Americans that may be open to attack in a Chevron-less world. They included the lifting of mifepristone restrictions, the governments reading of EMTALA, the expansion of bans on sex discrimination and protections of Title IX. Federal agencies routinely use unclear or inapposite statutory language to impose mandates and spend tax dollars that injure the right to life, devalue religious freedom, and contradict important biological distinctions based on sex, the brief said. In a separate case, Corner Post, Inc. v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Courts decision to drastically expand the statute of limitations in which someone can challenge agency actions could also be used to attack the availability of mifepristone in particular. Other Cases Bubbling Up Meanwhile, other cases are wending their way through the federal courts. One bucket of them, with active cases out of Idaho, Texas and Alabama, center on the legal liability of providers, clinics and abortion funds when they refer residents of states with a ban to out-of-state care. In Texas in particular, anti-abortion lawyer Jonathan Mitchell is trying to use his bounty hunter-style abortion ban so expansively that these referrals would count as aiding and abetting an abortion. Hes already going after women, at the behest of their ex-boyfriends, to depose them for their alleged out-of-state abortions. In a similar vein, red states have also challenged the Biden administrations guidance that Title X providers must offer patients abortion referrals upon request. I expect one of those to come before the Supreme Court thats definitely a Chevron question, Hill said of the Title X cases. There is also a percolating attempt to bankrupt Planned Parenthood that alleges Medicaid fraud. The anti-abortion movements white whale began, where else, in the amenable court of Judge Kacsmaryk, though it is currently at the Fifth Circuit on Planned Parenthoods appeal. Creative attempts to use the courts to fight against abortion restrictions are in the works as well. A doctor in North Carolina recently notched a partial victory in federal district court, where she successfully argued against some state mifepristone restrictions that go beyond what the Food and Drug Administration has imposed. That case is currently at the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. GenBioPro, a manufacturer of mifepristone, lodged a similar challenge in West Virginia; that case is also at the 4th Circuit. And in Idaho state court, the Center for Reproductive Justice is arguing that the states extremely narrow abortion ban exception deprives patients of their state constitutional right to life, happiness and safety, and deprives providers of their property rights, as it would strip them of their medical licenses without due process. This question was left open by Dobbs, Hill said. Individuals have some sort of basic fundamental right to not have the government kill you a right to not be harmed. Backdrop of the Election While there are inarguably major abortion cases headed to (or back to) the Supreme Court, the 2024 election is unfurling without major, new headlines about the Supreme Court restricting abortion (at least so far). While some think this was deliberate political calculation on the part of the right-wing justices, others think it wont matter. Two years out from Dobbs, they argue, the electorates anger about the restriction of abortion is simply baked in. Its an important election issue regardless of whether the Court punts or not. People who care have not forgotten, David Cohen, professor at Drexel Universitys Thomas R. Kline law school, told TPM. The stories of emergency pregnancy complications resulting in the need for emergency reproductive healthcare have sunk into the American conscience regardless of the Supreme Court. In fact, the three-week sea change in the election stemming from President Joe Bidens dropping out of the race and Vice President Kamala Harris becoming the Democratic nominee may actually bring abortion more aggressively to the fore. We now have someone running for president who says the word abortion, a true believer in abortion rights who can convincingly make them a central part of her campaign, Cohen said. The guidelines would have allowed far more PFAS in drinking water than what is allowed by the US Environmental Protection Agency. The guidelines would have allowed far more PFAS in drinking water than what is allowed by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Photograph: Catherine Falls Commercial/Getty Images The World Health Organization (WHO) is poised to scrap controversial drinking water guidelines proposed for two toxic PFAS forever chemicals. The move follows allegations that the process of developing the figures was corrupted by industry-linked researchers aiming to undercut strict new US PFAS limits and weaken standards in the developing world. Many independent scientists charged that the proposed WHO drinking water guidelines for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) were weak, did not fully protect human health, ignored credible research, and were far above limits set by regulators in the US and EU. The guidelines would have allowed far more PFAS in drinking water than what is allowed by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Though the earlier guidelines were drafts, and proposed rules all go through a revision process, the WHO is conducting an entirely new review of scientific literature and disbanded the panel of scientists who developed the draft guidelines. It established a new panel with fewer industry-linked scientists and more regulatory officials, moves that have not happened in other revisions, said Betsy Southerland, a former EPA manager in the agencys water division. Related: Almost 500 chemicals found in Englands rivers and groundwater This is unprecedented, but the WHO got unprecedented criticism, Southerland said. The WHO told the Guardian in a statement that the moves are part of an ongoing process and will include guidelines for other PFAS compounds. PFAS are a class of about 15,000 chemicals typically used to make products that resist water, stains and heat. They are called forever chemicals because they do not naturally break down; they accumulate and are linked to cancer, kidney disease, liver problems, immune disorders, birth defects and other serious health problems. The EPA found virtually no level of exposure to PFOA and PFOS in drinking water is safe, and this year set its legal limits for the compounds at four parts per trillion (ppt), which is the level at which testing technology can reliably measure and remove PFAS from water. The WHO in 2022 proposed guidelines of 100ppt for PFOA and PFOS in drinking water. Though the guidelines are non-binding, they are considered important because environmental officials in many nations around the world will use them to set legal limits, and they will be referenced as industry mounts legal challenges to the US limits. Scientists critical of the limits charged that the WHO ignored high-quality research to create a sense of doubt about the science around PFAS. EPA and EU regulators carried out an exhaustive literature review to find all human and animal studies, and used the best of those papers to establish their limits, Southerland said. Related: What are PFAs? Everything you need to know about the forever chemicals surrounding us every day The WHO, however, ignored all human studies and determined most animal studies were too flawed to use, Southerland said. The organization concluded there was not enough research to set health-based guidelines, which she called a shocking decision. There is far more health data for these chemicals than has ever been available for any pollutant in the history of the WHO, Southerland said. Instead, the WHO largely based its guidelines on its review of technological research, but ignored most of those studies as well, Southerland said. The body concluded filtration systems could reliably remove PFOA and PFOS at 100ppt, even though US water utilities remove it below four ppt. The decisions bear industrys prints, researchers say. They pointed to Michael Dourson, whom Donald Trump in 2017 nominated to oversee the EPAs chemical safety division, but was forced to withdraw his name after failing to get enough support in part over his alleged history of producing industry-friendly studies that backed chemical companies safety claims. Emails published by the New York Times show his close relationship with the American Chemistry Council, even while he served as an EPA adviser, including allowing the powerful industry group to edit a research paper. The WHO document cites Doursons work at least 17 times. Others involved in the process worked as consultants for or were paid by companies like chemical giant Chemours and the nations water utilities, which oppose strong PFAS limits. Dourson said his and other scientists position on the guidelines was not influenced by industry. He said there is a high level of uncertainty in the human and animal studies, and the WHOs approach was reasonable. They did a good survey of data and systematic review in their own way, and they said, We cannot make a specific call because there is too much uncertainty, Dourson said. This is a complex problem, any one person or, heck, any one group its tough for them to get their arms around the whole thing. But casting doubt on the science is part of a broader industry effort, said Linda Birnbaum, a former head of the EPAs toxics program. That is a tactic that some of the people who are protesting the EPAs new regulations use, she said. On the first day of classes, students and staff at Jordan High School in Watts were rattled by an explosion at a neighboring scrap metal recycler, according to officials. Around 8:20 a.m. Monday, about 10 minutes before first period, staff reported hearing a loud noise and then seeing a plume of smoke emanating from S&W Atlas Iron & Metal Co. Some students were gathered outside at the time of the blast, but no one was injured, according to Los Angeles Unified School District officials. Beyond the initial disruption, the school day went ahead as planned, said Alberto Carvalho, superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District. "There was a loud explosion recorded by a number of individuals on campus and some individuals reported seeing a fireball," Carvalho said. As of Monday afternoon, the school district and other authorities were still investigating whether metal shrapnel or debris had flown over the fence dividing the properties onto school grounds, which has been reported over the years. The incident joins a long line of unnerving episodes arising from operations at Atlas, one of Los Angeles' oldest metal recyclers. The facility, located near the intersection of South Alameda Street and Century Boulevard, has repeatedly been accused of environmental infractions. Community members expressed their disappointment that the situation marred the first day of school. "This is what back-to-school looks like in Watts, and its a product of decades of neglect by the same public officials who took an oath to protect the most vulnerable among us, said Tim Watkins, president and chief executive of the Watts Labor Community Action Committee and a member of the Healthy Families Coalition. Instead of being welcomed back to school with a safe and healthy environment, students were welcomed back to school with an explosion and perhaps poisonous gasses and projectiles. Its simply not possible to imagine this would happen in any other community." The fiery incident occurs amid a criminal court proceeding against Atlas and its owners, Gary and Matthew Weisenberg. Earlier this year, L.A. County Dist. Atty. George Gascon filed two dozen criminal charges against Atlas and its father-and-son owners. In recent years, Jordan students and staff have complained that school grounds have been pelted with metal projectiles and coated with metallic dust due to Atlas' operations. Read more: Some danced, some ducked and covered, others evacuated when quake jolted L.A. schools The district attorney's office said its environmental crimes team was dispatched to Atlas and was communicating with LAUSD. "We remain committed to pursuing justice and protecting the children at the school and the surrounding community," the district attorney's office said in statement. An attorney representing the Atlas owners did not immediately respond to a request to comment. The South Coast Air Quality Management District sent an inspector to Atlas following the reports of an explosion. A representative from the scrapyard told the inspector that a canister of compressed gas exploded and a small fire broke out, according to air district spokesperson Nahal Mogharabi. The canister should have been punctured and empty. Monday's explosion was not the first at Atlas. In December 2002, the facility was dismantling Navy ammunition when a large shell exploded and a chunk of metal traveled 1,500 feet onto Jordan High School's campus. No one was hurt, but the school was evacuated and authorities removed 200 other naval rounds. Months earlier, in May 2002, Atlas workers were cutting an oil drum, sparking an explosion that sent metal shards onto Jordan's campus. Although the facility's history of explosions has grabbed the most attention, residents and students say the threat from the facility's metallic dust and air pollution are constant. They argue that will continue to imperil the community's health for as long as Atlas is allowed to operate. "We should not have to fight so hard to be able to breathe air that doesn't cause cancer," said Genesis Cruz, a recent graduate of Jordan High School. "I'm not a lawyer, yet. But I know that the decision in front of the judge is simple. Stop this company or kids will continue to be exposed to toxic chemicals." Read more: Smiles, 'butterflies' and a little boy cries 'I want my mom.' It's LAUSD's first day of school This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. In a political world populated by multimillionaires, Tim Walz is a maverick. The Minnesota governor and now Democratic running mate of Vice President Kamala Harris doesn't hold a single stock. He owns no mutual funds, bonds, private equities, or other securities, according to his most recent financial disclosures from January. Theres not a complicated web of investments, trust funds or family business dealings, and the governor reported no consulting or speaking fees. It makes him relatable in a way other politicians arent. Walz is squarely middle class. I know people like him. I bet you do too. His smile even reminds me of my dad. My dad never owned a stock. The fact that most of Walzs wealth comes from his and his wifes years as teachers and his military and public service seems so normal. I know thats not the entire story, but its refreshing. Here are some observations and takeaways from what weve learned about Walzs financial profile: Minnesota Governor and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz gestures during a campaign rally in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Aug. 10, 2024. (RONDA CHURCHILL/AFP via Getty Images) (RONDA CHURCHILL via Getty Images) Throwback retirement plan: A traditional pension Walz, 60, has pensions from his decades in the public sector, whole life insurance, and college savings. His wife, Gwen, will have a teachers pension. Walz served 12 years in the House of Representatives, earning a federal pension that could be worth $800,000, according to an analysis from the Wall Street Journal. And while that sounds like a pile of dough, its not really: It would roll out to roughly $5,000 a month, or $60,000 a year. Hes fortunate, though. Pensions are a benefit few Americans have access to these days. In a traditional pension, employers contribute, invest, and manage retirement funds for their workers, who then receive guaranteed monthly checks for life after they retire. The workers most likely to still have a traditional pension like the Walzes are federal, state, and local government workers and teachers, union members, and active-duty military members with at least 20 years of service. Today, just 11% of private employers offer pensions, compared with 35% in the early '90s. More than half of private-sector employees now have a 401(k) plan, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Average finances in an above-average political field Walzs net worth? Also extremely average, estimated to be in the range of $112,000 to $330,000, per his 2019 financial disclosure. That puts Walz and his wife on par with the US median net worth of $192,900, according to the Federal Reserve. Walzs current salary as governor is about $127,000 per year. Real median household income was $74,580 in 2022, according to the Census Bureau. So Walzs income is relatively high in the big picture but far from making him someone you would call an ultra-high-earner. Story continues And unlike millions of middle-class American families, the Walzes are not homeowners. The couple bought a home in Mankato, Minnesota, in 1997 for $145,000 and sold it in 2019 for $315,000, reportedly below the asking price. Presumably, that home would be worth far more today. The median sale price of a home in Mankato was $350,000 last month, up 12.4% since last year, according to Redfin. For many Americans, home ownership is a key way to build wealth over time. In comparison, JD Vance, the Republican candidate for the same job, is a multimillionaire who owns residential real estate, and he invests in myriad assets, according to his most recent financial disclosures. Vance also earns royalties from his 2016 memoir, Hillbilly Elegy. He and his wife, Usha Chilukuri Vance, have a net worth of around $4 million to $10.4 million, plus real estate, an analysis by the Wall Street Journal found. Only a fraction of Americans own stocks directly The revelation that Walz was stock-free grabbed lots of attention, but he is not alone by any stretch. A huge swath of Americans dont own stocks. Only 21% of US families own stocks directly, according to the Federal Reserves Survey of Consumer Finances. When you add in those who also hold stocks in retirement plans that figure jumps to 58%, but there are millions of Americans like Walz out there. Race also plays a role. A recent study from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that 35% of white Americans' individual financial wealth is invested in stocks and mutual funds, versus 8% and 14% for Black and Hispanic Americans, respectively. Meanwhile, the stark reality is that people who earn the most money tend to own stocks. Last year, 84% of adults in households earning $100,000 or more owned stocks, but only 29% of those in households earning less than $40,000 did so, according to a Gallup report. Where Walz is more like his political brethren In several regards, of course, Walz is not like average folks. His finances are modest, but here's how he's potentially different. As vice president, he'd earn an estimated $284,000 salary, a big bump that would put him somewhere in the top 5% to 10% of US earners. And his cost of living would be pretty low given the perks of the position a free house to live in, travel, a car and driver, and plenty of other accoutrements of the office. Perhaps the biggest distinguishing factor: Following his potential time in the inner sanctum of the White House, Walz will likely have book deals, speaker circuits, and think tank posts on the table. These opportunities typically are paired with sweet six-figure fees. He'd be 64 or even 68 when he leaves the White House and would be stepping into what could be his highest-earning years. Thats quite a contrast to most 60-somethings who are more likely to be winding down their careers and sussing out how they'll live on what they've saved. Have a question about retirement? Personal finances? Anything career-related? Click here to drop Kerry Hannon a note. Not investing shouldnt be your default As a former public school teacher, National Guardsman, and member of Congress, Walz has had a career that has allowed him to steer clear of having to make many investment decisions on his own. But for the rest of us, saving for retirement and funding kids' college depends on taking on some risk by investing in stocks and bonds in the hopes of growing our wealth. And it works: In the past 20 years alone, the S&P 500 delivered annualized returns of 9.7%. So far this year, the S&P 500 is up 11.78% and up 20.34% from a year ago. So a bit of advice: Youre unlikely to end up in a job with a pension that will last your lifetime much less land cushy speaking gigs that pay $100,000 a pop. Walzs financial choices are not necessarily something to emulate. Most of us do need to invest. Kerry Hannon is a Senior Columnist at Yahoo Finance. She is a career and retirement strategist, and the author of 14 books, including "In Control at 50+: How to Succeed in The New World of Work" and "Never Too Old To Get Rich." Follow her on X @kerryhannon. Click here for the latest personal finance news to help you with investing, paying off debt, buying a home, retirement, and more Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance SUMMIT COUNTY, Utah (ABC4) Search and rescue crews safely rescued a 14-year-old on Sunday who had become separated from their group the day before near the Highline Trailhead in Summit County. On Saturday, Aug. 10, a 14-year-old was in the High Uintah Wilderness with a group when they became separated from the group around 8:45 a.m., according to Summit County Search and Rescue. The circumstances surrounding the teenagers separation from the group were not released to the public. Summit County Search and Rescue safely rescued a 14-year-old on Sunday who had become separated from their group near the Highline Trailhead. (Credit: Summit County Search and Rescue) Summit County Search and Rescue safely rescued a 14-year-old on Sunday who had become separated from their group near the Highline Trailhead. (Credit: Summit County Search and Rescue) Summit County Search and Rescue safely rescued a 14-year-old on Sunday who had become separated from their group near the Highline Trailhead. (Credit: Summit County Search and Rescue) Summit County Search and Rescue safely rescued a 14-year-old on Sunday who had become separated from their group near the Highline Trailhead. (Credit: Summit County Search and Rescue) Summit County Search and Rescue safely rescued a 14-year-old on Sunday who had become separated from their group near the Highline Trailhead. (Credit: Summit County Search and Rescue) Around 5 p.m., a family member called 911 for help locating the missing teenager. Crews from several agencies including several counties sheriffs offices and the Department of Public Safety responded to the Highline Trailhead and dispersed to look for the missing teen. Patrol units searched several trails on horseback until nightfall. READ NEXT: Utah man accused of running prostitution ring from West Valley massage parlor The search teams camped overnight to be ready at first light to resume searching, according to officials. On Sunday morning, authorities heard a whistle and yelling and made visual contact with the missing teenager. A DPS helicopter then flew the 14-year-old to the trailhead. Authorities say they were found in good condition. We would like to thank our neighboring partners for also assisting in the search, Summit County S&R said in a social media post. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. Second person arrested in SC Bojangles shooting that left one dead, another hurt Another person has been arrested after a deadly shooting near a Bojangles in Loris on Aug. 7, said Loris Police Chief Gary Buley. Lilly Stephens was arrested on Aug. 12 for murder and attempted murder. She is being held at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center without bail. Around 1:30 p.m. on Aug. 7, two people were shot near the Bojangles in downtown Loris, 4207 Main St., Buley said. Kenasia Martin, 22, of Greensboro, North Carolina, died from her injuries. A second person was injured and brought to the hospital. A North Carolina police agency arrested Feleshisa Goodman last week for her connection in the deadly shooting. She will be extradited to Horry County, Buley said. Mass. (WPRI) A man in his 70s has contracted West Nile virus (WNV) after being infected in Middlesex County. The Massachusetts Department of Health (DPH) said its the states second human case so far this season. BACKGROUND: Mass. sees first human case of West Nile virus this year Middlesex, Norfolk and Suffolk counties are considered to be at moderate risk, along with parts of Barnstable, Bristol, Essex, Hampden, Plymouth and Worcester counties. WNV is normally transmitted to people through mosquito bites. In 2023, there were six cases of people contracting the virus in Massachusetts. Dr. Robbie Goldstein, the states public health commissioner, said Massachusetts is currently experiencing an increase in WNV activity. We are in the peak time of the year when most people are exposed to West Nile virus in Massachusetts. Residents should continue to take precautions to avoid mosquito bites, Goldstein advised. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), WNV is the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the United States. There are no vaccines or medicines to treat the virus in people. Most people who develop WNV dont feel sick, but one in five who are infected develop a fever and other symptoms. The virus can be deadly in some cases. MORE: West Nile virus detected in New Bedford neighborhood You can protect yourself from mosquitoes by putting screens on windows and making sure there is no standing water on your property. Health officials also recommend using an EPA-approved bug spray and staying indoors from dusk until dawn during peak biting times. This embedded content is not available in your region. Locations are not exact and are meant to illustrate findings by community. Source: RI DEM/RI DOH, MA DPH Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Roundup Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WPRI.com. Second round of Somalia-Ethiopia talks in Turkey ends with no deal but progress made By Tuvan Gumrukcu, Huseyin Hayatsever and Giulia Paravicini ANKARA (Reuters) - A second round of Turkish-mediated talks between Somalia and Ethiopia over a port deal Addis Ababa signed with the breakaway Somaliland region ended without a deal on Tuesday, but Turkey and ministers from both countries sounded upbeat on progress. The negotiations held in Ankara have attempted to repair relations between the East African neighbours, whose relationship nosedived in January when Ethiopia agreed to lease 20 km (12 miles) of coastline from Somaliland in exchange for recognition of its independence. Mogadishu called the agreement illegal and retaliated by expelling the Ethiopian ambassador and threatening to kick out thousands of Ethiopian troops stationed in the country helping battle Islamist insurgents. The Ethiopian and Somali foreign ministers did not hold direct talks in Ankara, with Turkey's foreign minister shuttling between them instead. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told a news conference that the number of issues discussed in the second round of talks had increased significantly from the first round, and there was now "convergence on some major principles". "This constitutes notable progress," he said, adding a third round of talks was scheduled to start on Sept. 17 with the aim of reaching a "sustainable and viable" agreement between the countries. Somali Foreign Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi Ahmed confirmed progress had been made and said the government in Mogadishu was seeking an outcome in line with international law and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. "As we prepare for the third round of talks, we are hopeful that the momentum we have built will lead to a final solution," he said. Ethiopian Foreign Minister Taye Atske Selassie said his country looked forward to "continued engagement that will ultimately help us resolve current differences and restore normal relations". A spokesperson for Somaliland, which has struggled to gain international recognition despite governing itself and enjoying comparative peace and stability since declaring independence in 1991, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Expectations ahead of the first round of Ankara talks in July had been low, with Somalia and Ethiopia appearing to hold irreconcilable differences. Turkey has close ties with both Ethiopia and Somalia, training Somali security forces and supplying development assistance in return for a foothold on a key global shipping route. Its efforts to resolve the dispute began after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed visited Ankara in May and asked it to intervene, according to a Turkish diplomatic source. (Tuvan Gumrukcu and Huseyin Hayatsever reported from Ankara and Giulia Paravicini from Nairobi; Editing by Alexander Winning and Alison Williams) The secret report Beaufort County wont let you see wont be the last word on misdeeds, luckily | Opinion Show me a more secretive county council in South Carolina than Beaufort Countys. You cant. As if its refusal to release a report on an outside investigation into five years of financial shenanigans wasnt bad enough, there are new reasons to distrust Beaufort County: The cost of the completed! investigation is still climbing, and county attorneys are claiming that releasing the report would require a unanimous County Council vote. Spoiler alert: It doesnt. State law says an institutions financial or administrative records are not exempt from public disclosure, and media lawyer Jay Bender puts it more plainly, There is nothing that would justify the Beaufort County Council in withholding spending records. Period. Even if an argument is made that releasing the report requires waiving attorney-client privilege, nothing in state law or in slideshows, model rules of parliamentary procedures, freedom of information handbooks and freedom of information handbook supplements put out by the South Carolina Association of Counties says a vote must be unanimous. That notion was advanced in June without corroboration as public pressure mounted to make a public report on rampant purchasing abuses, you know, public. Yet only three of 11 County Council members David Bartholomew, Paula Brown and Tom Reitz want to make public the report by the Haynesworth Sinkler Boyd law firm the council solicited a year ago for $350,000 and first reviewed in private in late June. Bartholomew, Brown and Reitz voted to discuss this issue in public at the July 23 council meeting, but six colleagues Chair Joe Passiment and members York Glover, Alice Howard, Mark Lawson, Larry McElynn and Anna Maria Tab Tabernik blocked that. They and members Logan Cunningham and Gerald Dawson refuse to release a report the public has a right to see. At the meeting, Glover even had the audacity to explain his desire for secrecy by saying, I dont know what can come out of that report that will be damaging to this council. And Lawson had the gumption to explain his desire for secrecy by saying, Theres nothing in this report that Im afraid of being released to the public. Well, which is it? No wait, scratch that. Who cares? A) Public records being damaging isnt a reason to keep them secret. And b) If youre not afraid of anything in a report that is public by definition then dont keep it secret. While pushing to discuss the issue in public last month, Reitz revealed the cost of the law firms work was $350,000 and climbing, probably $400,000 now even though the council had capped the expense at $350,000 in August and never voted on it again. In a bit of pretzel-shaped logic, the council majority is citing attorney-client privilege as the reason it wont release a completed! report on the public! financial records because wait for it! lawyers wrote it. By that logic, any government body that wanted to keep misdeeds secret would just hire lawyers to investigate and bury them. Its twisted, alright. Especially seeing as the lawyers who wrote the report acknowledged verbally at a public meeting back in March that they had found excessive, personal, frivolous and not business driven purchases in violation of the countys p-card manual. You remember that meeting? It was the one where the council tried to get away with just getting an oral report for $350,000 (or more!) of taxpayer money. Talk about paying lip service to an investigation into county misconduct. The purchases, the lawyers said then but did not put in writing, included office decor, office holiday decorations, office furniture, an Apple watch, a Bible annotator, inappropriate books, earbuds, headsets, cellphone cases, office snacks, meals and flowers. It reeked of a coverup then. It stinks more like one with each passing day. Unbelievably, only council members Bartholomew, Brown, Reitz and Tabernik replied to questions about the issue in June from reporter Sebastian Lee even as the county sheriff blasted the council majority for secrecy and for accepting the consultants conclusion that there was no evidence of criminal activity. On Monday, Chair Passiment and County Administrator Michael Moore did not respond to questions I emailed them about the rationale for an unanimous vote and Moore did not respond to other questions about how much the consultants billed or received. Additional big questions remain. When will the full report emerge? (Its only a matter of time.) What cost will this secrecy have on the incumbent council members up for re-election next year Cunningham, Dawson and Glover? (Sadly, we cant vote out more.) And how much longer after the release of this report by consultants who are laughing all the way to the bank will we have to wait for the real one from the Attorney Generals Office, which is also investigating past abuses by Beaufort County? Thats one the County Council majority wont be able to control, try as it might. Send me 250-word letters to the editor here, 650-word guest essays here and email here. Say hi on X anytime. WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) One month since the attempted assassination of former president Donald Trump, theres been intense scrutiny of the U.S. Secret Service, and now, new legislation. New York Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres filed two bills he says to prevent future security failures. The fact that we were only inches or seconds away from a national catastrophe is itself a crisis, Torres said. Torres says the agency needs to be fundamentally reformed. His first bill would require the Secret Service expand its security perimeter to cover a radius of at least 500 yards. Thats about the firing range of guns likely to be used in an attempted assassination. It also requires the Secret Service secure all rooftops and elevated positions within that perimeter. There was absolutely no excuse for failing to secure them, Torres said about the July 13 rally shooting. Torress second bill would transfer the Secret Services responsibility to investigate financial crimes to the Treasury Department. The Services original mission was financial law enforcement, but Torres says right now, theyre overextended. Do you want the director of the Secret Service thinking about the protection of a president 100% of the time or only 50% of the time. I prefer 100% of the time, Torres said. Torres says shifting the priority to protecting presidents and presidential candidates is much needed reform. He says he expects to have bipartisan support, which Congress has shown in its investigations so far. Can you answer why the Secret Service didnt place a single agent on the roof? Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) asked during a hearing with former U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle. Torres says when Congress returns from recess next month, hes going to lobby his colleagues to support the legislation. He says he expects the new House bipartisan task force to discuss his proposals. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. Roman Kostenko, a member of the Voice faction, Secretary of the Security and Defence Committee of the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian parliament) and Colonel of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), notes that the Kursk campaign came as a surprise to Russia. He said it was crucial for Ukraine to engage in asymmetric actions and boost morale. Source: Kostenko in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda Quote: "This is a very sensible approach: we currently know little. There have been instances where we talked a lot but achieved only modest results. What I can share is that our Armed Forces have conducted a raid into enemy territory, capturing over 20 settlements, which they are now holding. Their advance is ongoing. Previously, we carried out smaller operations on Russian soil with the involvement of Russian volunteers. Now, our combat brigades are leading the raid. This is a highly complex task essentially a raid into enemy territory. Despite our partners' restrictions on firing into Russia, the Commander-in-Chief and the Supreme Commander decided to proceed with the invasion." Details: Kostenko emphasised that, first and foremost, the Kursk campaign involves asymmetric actions. "If we had simply sent our troops to where heavy battles were taking place, they would have been engaged in symmetric actions. Instead, we have captured 350 square kilometres of territory in just one day," the MP stressed. He said the Russians had been trying for months and had failed to capture such territories. They had some initial successes at the beginning of their offensive, but they lost tens of thousands of their soldiers and destroyed equipment. Quote: "In the long term, we will monitor how this progresses and whether it will succeed in diverting Russian forces from critical areas. However, we already see that the enemy is facing problems with their armed forces and reserves," the SSU colonel believes. Secondly, he noted that recently there has been a discrediting of the Ukrainian army, and morale had been declining due to a lack of victories. Quote: "But now, even without detailed information, it is evident how the Ukrainian spirit is rising. We have demonstrated that we are capable and will continue to carry out such operations. It is already a success that we have performed and are performing so well, but there may be other areas in the near future," Kostenko emphasised. He said the Kursk operation was a complete surprise to the Russians, and in warfare, achieving such surprises is a key factor that is almost impossible to achieve now because of technical means. Kostenko therefore highlighted the skill of the Ukrainian command in executing this manoeuvre. Read more about the importance of asymmetric actions, the element of surprise that played a crucial role in the success of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as well as the Russians' immediate plans and the generational conflict within the Ukrainian army in the interview with Ukrainska Pravda. (English translation to follow shortly.) Support UP or become our patron! See where in Columbus a former Jimmy Johns will become a global pizza chain See where in Columbus a former Jimmy Johns will become a global pizza chain COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) A pizza chain with thousands of locations across the globe is moving into the former home of a Jimmy Johns on the northern side of Columbus. Papa Johns will soon set up shop in the building at 4409 N. High St. in Clintonville, which was previously a Jimmy Johns. Last week, signs were put up outside the building saying that the pizzeria is coming soon. Signs outside of 4409 N. High St. in Clintonville indicate that a Papa Johns is moving into the building. (NBC4 Photo/Aaron Burd) A document submitted to the city also confirmed the chain would be coming to Clintonville. As far back as late February, a building permit had been issued by the City of Columbus calling for the space to be converted into a Papa Johns. Construction costs to turn the building into a Papa Johns are expected to total $200,000, the document showed. Its not clear yet whether construction has started or when the restaurant will be ready to open. Founded in 1984, with its first shop in Jeffersonville, Indiana, Papa Johns has since expanded to more than 5,000 locations in 45 countries and territories around the world, according to its website. Countries with at least one Papa Johns location include China, Mexico, Ireland, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV. See a wild turkey, report it: FWC asks residents to report any sighting TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are asking Floridians if they see wild turkeys between now and Aug. 31 to report it. This is apart of the FWC annual summer wild turkey survey to help understand the abundance and reproduction of wild turkeys. This survey is important for determining wild turkey nesting success, poult survival, and population distribution and abundance, and is used to manage Floridas wild turkey populations for future generations, said Juliana Ofalt, FWC wild turkey and furbearer management program coordinator. According to FWC, wild turkeys are a woodlands bird and prefer open forests and forest edges and openings. They do not require special food or vegetation to survive. Our goal is to reach 5,000 observations by the end of August, and we are about 80% of the way there, Ofalt said. FWC asks the community to report bearded turkeys and hens with or without their poults. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. Novartiss bid to block the launch of a biosimilar for its best-selling drug Entresto (sacubitril/valsartan) got off to a faltering start, as the drugmaker failed to convince a US court that MSN Pharmaceuticals (MSNPI) copycat infringed on a patent. Richard Andrews, district judge for the District of Delaware, ruled the likelihood that Novartis would win the lawsuit was not high enough, meaning a preliminary injunction was not granted. While Andrews stated that stopping MSNPIs generic launch was not justified, he did order a temporary 72-hour halt while Novartis goes to the US Court of Appeal to seek an injunction, as per a 12 August court document first released by Reuters. The hearing is part of a lawsuit initiated by Novartis to fend off MSNPI's generic which received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval last month to protect sales for its heart failure blockbuster. Novartiss reference drug was greenlit by the FDA just under a decade ago and has become the companys top-selling product. It generated sales of $6bn in 2023, with Novartis predicting strong sales for 2024 based on the assumption that no generics would enter the market this year. An analysis by GlobalDatas Pharma Intelligence Center predicted that Entresto sales will peak in 2025, after which it will drop due to generic competition. GlobalData is the parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology. In an email to Pharmaceutical Technology, a Novartis spokesperson said: [We] are considering all available options to vigorously defend our intellectual property rights. Novartis added that any launch at this time would be at risk of later litigation developments. MSNPI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The most recent case centred around the use of the drugs active compound called TVS, comprising sacubitril, valsartan, and sodium cations. TVS is present in an amorphous solid form in Entresto, which is protected by a patent until November 2026. Novartis sued MSNPI and others seeking to launch Entresto generics in 2022 for infringing on this patent. Novartis argued that MSNPIs asset uses solid forms of TVS, not the crystalline complex that MSNPI claims. MSNPI argued back, successfully, that spectra analysis of its candidate showed no evidence of amorphous TVS. Andrews also rejected Novartiss contention that it would experience irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction. The drugmaker had stated that MSNPIs launch could trigger at-risk launches by several other generic drugmakers, thereby destroying Entrestos market momentum and causing Novartis to suffer immediate irreparable harm in the form of lost sales, lost market share, loss of formulary position, and price erosion. Story continues During the proceedings, Novartis highlighted MSNPIs financial stature, suggesting that it would not be able to cover monetary damages in the event of losing the lawsuit. Judge Andrews rebuffed: I am confident that MSNPI, a large generic drugmaker with prior experience in conducting at-risk launches would be sufficiently prepared to launch its generic sacubitril/valsartan products without being driven to financial ruin by possible litigation losses. The Delaware court also shunned a motion in July 2023 brought by Novartis, which centred around a patent protecting the combination of sacubitril with valsartan it too will go to the US Court of Appeals. Novartis has separately filed a lawsuit with a federal court in Washington, D.C., claiming the FDAs approval of a generic version of Entresto is unlawful. Novartis stated it is maintaining its financial guidance for 2024, as well as its mid-term guidance of +5% sales CAGR for 2023-2028. Novartis is not the only pharma company fighting competition through court cases. Regeneron and Bayer have been locked in patent infringement lawsuits as the companies protect their $6bn revenue-generating biologic Eylea (aflibercept). Roche meanwhile has been fighting India-based Zydus Lifesciences from selling a copycat version of its breast cancer drug Perjeta (pertuzumab). "US judge denies initial attempt by Novartis to block generic Entresto launch" was originally created and published by Pharmaceutical Technology, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) Senate Democrats are reintroducing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, following the killing of Sonya Massey. The 36-year-old Black woman was gunned down by sheriff deputy in her Illinois home. The ACLU is applauding the effort. ACLU senior policy counsel, Nina Patel, says police misconduct is an ongoing crisis that needs to be addressed. Shes calling on both sides of the aisle to put partisan politics aside to pass federal reforms. The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act is a sweeping bill that would require implicit bias training for police and establish a national law enforcement registry to ensure bad actors are not re-hired. Bipartisan negotiations broke down four years ago over a controversial provision known as qualified immunity. Democrats argue the legal statute which protects law enforcement officers from civil lawsuits must be eliminated. Republicans and law enforcement groups, including the National Sheriffs Association. are fiercely opposed to stripping away the legal protection. Executive Director of the National Sheriffs Association Jonathan Thompson says doing so will make it impossible to recruit police officers and put public safety in jeopardy. Its pretty clear that some in the Congress are trying to take advantage of this moment says Thompson. The deputy who killed Massey is now facing murder charges. Amid public pressure the sheriff who hired the deputy says he will step down. The salient point is justice can work when theres transparency, says Thompson. Patel says the criminal charges dont erase systematic failures in policing. In order to change the actual policy that led to that hiring of an individual thats changed out so many times who is not qualified to be part of the police department, in order to effectuate that change you need civil remedies and qualified immunity is one particular civil remedy, says Patel. Without support from Republicans, the bill will go nowhere in both chambers. Sen Durbins office did not confirm if he plans to hold hearings on the legislation or Masseys death. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) Two U.S. senators visited Ukraine this week to discuss ongoing support for the embattled nation. In a meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal praised the recent Ukrainian raid of Russias Kursk region. Congratulations on Kursk. Good work, Blumenthal said. Bold and brilliant. Well done, Graham said. The lawmakers want to give Ukraine more than compliments. Theyre working to give further U.S. aid too. Im hoping that in 2024 youll get more military aid from the Congress, Graham said. The duo says they plan to introduce the Stand with Ukraine Act next month. The legislation would make the existing bilateral security agreement between the U.S. and Ukraine official law. We want the American people to appreciate the value of this alliance again, Blumenthal said. With an election just months away they say the agreement would strengthen Americas commitment to helping Ukraine, no matter who moves into the White House next. We want it to go beyond this President, Blumenthal said. Youre fighting our fight, the independence, freedom of people around the world, including the United States. Theyll have to rally their colleagues to pass the bill, including Republicans who are reluctant to spend more U.S. dollars on the conflict. I think theres a case to be made that it is in our national security interest, whether youre a Republican or Democrat, for Ukraine to survive and thrive, Graham said. The lawmakers are also calling on NATO to invite Ukraine to become a member this year. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. People with symptoms of long COVID attend a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing on long COVID in January. A group of senators is now urging the Social Security Administration to grant greater access to disability payments for people with long COVID symptoms. (Drew Angerer | Getty Images) Several U.S. senators have called on the Social Security Administration to take steps to make it easier for people with long COVID to access disability benefits, actions that disability rights advocates and patients say are desperately needed. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Tina Smith (D-MN), Angus King (I-ME), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) signed the letter released Aug. 5. They said the agency should make the process more transparent, track and publish data on long COVID applications, and consider expanding the listing of impairments the SSA considers in applications for benefits. In some situations, these symptoms can be debilitating and prevent an individual from being able to work, take care of their family, manage their household, or participate in social activities, the senators wrote to SSA Commissioner Martin OMalley. Long COVID is a chronic health condition, which often includes fatigue, brain fog and shortness of breath, following a COVID-19 infection. About three in 10 American adults have had long COVID at some point according to KFFs April analysis of long COVID data. About 17 million people had it in March 2024. In 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released guidance on long COVID as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Kaine has been outspoken about his own experience with long COVID and Sanders introduced legislation this month to provide $1 billion in funding each year for 10 years to support long COVID research by the National Institutes of Health. Lisa McCorkell, co-founder of the Patient Led Research Collaborative, a group of long COVID patients and patients with associated illnesses, told States Newsroom, Creating a ruling or listing would be a huge improvement having that specific guidance for how to document long COVID, its related diagnoses, and its associated impairment would assist physicians who may not be as knowledgeable about long COVID. The SSA administers disability benefits through Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income programs. The former program requires past employment payment into Social Security. The latter one does not have those restrictions and is based on financial need but to receive benefits, applicants have to prove they qualify as having a disability. The average monthly disability benefit for Social Security Disability Insurance is $1,538. Long COVIDs economic cost Researchers and economists are still trying to understand the full impact of COVID-19 infections and long COVID on the workforce. A 2023 study estimated that COVID-19 brought down the labor force by 500,000 people and that the average loss of labor is equivalent to $9,000 in earnings. More than 25% of people with long COVID said their condition had an impact on their employment or work hours, according to a 2022 Minneapolis Fed paper. Long COVID is not going to go away, particularly as government protections on the federal, state and local level to reduce the spread of COVID are severely lacking, said Marissa Ditkowsky, who serves as the disability economic justice counsel at the National Partnership for Women & Families, an organization focused on health, economic justice and reproductive rights for women and families. While COVID continues to be a reality, we know that COVID disproportionately impacts women, disabled folks and people of color, and the folks who are most impacted already have issues with access to appropriate health care, access to employment and access to equitable wages, said Ditkowsky, who has long COVID herself. A lot of folks might be working in low-wage jobs where theyre in the service industry and constantly out there and more likely to contract COVID. It starts not just with the programs for how to deal with folks with long COVID, but how to prevent people from getting long COVID. In the meantime, she said people with long COVID, as well as other people with disabilities, would benefit from the changes senators are advocating, such as restoring the treating physician rule, which was repealed in 2017. The rule allowed the agency to give greater weight to medical evidence from a physician who treated a patient for years compared to, say, a doctor who examines a patient once. Giving your own doctor the weight [they] deserve is huge, Ditkowsky said. Mia Ives-Rublee, senior director of the disability justice initiative at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, said there is an opportunity for the Biden administration or the next administration to revamp how the agency administers disability benefits. She said that given the aging population, there is more reason than ever for the agency to make significant improvements to the application process. Advocates for people with disabilities say its also imperative to boost funding for the agency. Not only are we seeing an increase in disability in younger folks, but were also looking at the big boomer generation getting older Were going to see a huge pressure on the [SSA] and we need to see real changes and funding and think of ways to manage the wide variety of experiences that people have in order to deal with differences in applying for these benefits, she said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Oklahoma state Superintendent Ryan Walters is facing calls from within his own Republican Party for an investigation into whether he committed impeachable offenses. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice) OKLAHOMA CITY Several House Republicans have signed a letter asking for an investigation into alarming actions from state Superintendent Ryan Walters and the Oklahoma State Board of Education and asked for an inquiry into whether the failures justify impeachment. Rep. Mark McBride, R-Moore, wrote the letter and sent it to House Speaker Charles McCall on Tuesday, along with 16 co-signing lawmakers. McBrides office said four more lawmakers have signed the letter since he submitted it to the speaker. The letter, which Oklahoma Voice obtained, marks the first time that public calls for an impeachment inquiry have come from within Walters own Republican Party. House Democrats have made similar requests since last year. Walters said the lawmakers who signed the letter are liberal Republicans who have joined the far-left Democrats to try to thwart the will of Oklahoma voters. Their calls are baseless and have no merit, Walters said in a statement. They reek of political desperation from those who are failing in their misguided attempts to stop the positive education reforms that parents and voters have demanded from their elected leaders. McCall said he would not consider the letters request until 51 or more Republicans sign it, according to a response he sent to his caucus. He said criminal investigations should be handled by the Attorney Generals Office, not the Legislature, and the financial concerns listed in the letter could be answered in public budgetary meetings with officials from the Oklahoma State Department of Education. I take elections very seriously, and anyone who was duly elected by the people of this state should not be removed from that office, given to them by the people unless absolutely required by the Constitution, McCall said. He said previously his chamber wouldnt initiate impeachment proceedings against Walters unless somebody puts forth an allegation of something criminal (in) nature. Many of the co-signers, like McBride, sit on education-related committees, including the Common Education Committee leader Rep. Rhonda Baker, R-Yukon, and the committees vice chair, Rep. Mark Vancuren, R-Owasso. McBride, who has long been an outspoken critic of Walters, listed six concerns that arose since the 2024 Legislative Session ended on May 30. First on the list is the state Board of Educations refusal to allow lawmakers to attend the boards executive session meetings. State law grants permission to legislators who sit on related committees to attend a boards closed-door executive sessions, which are kept private from the rest of the public. Multiple lawmakers have said in recent months they were blocked from attending the private meetings. McBride also cited a lack of responsiveness from Walters administration to lawmakers requests for information and to open records requests from the public. The education funding committee leader also referenced a failure to comply with the Legislatures budgetary directives on school security funds and funding for childrens asthma inhalers. The variety of complaints add up to a pattern of overreach, disregard for legislative oversight and policy making, and lack of concern for student safety and budgetary stability, McBride wrote. The letter calls for a special investigative committee on the state Department of Education. The committees responsibility would be to investigate internal and external failures to follow the law by Walters and the state Board of Education. It also would look into whether those failures amount to willful neglect of duty or incompetency, which the Oklahoma Constitution says are grounds for impeachment. It saddens me that I must make such a request of you, McBride wrote to the speaker. However, I believe that all other remedies have been exhausted. I hear daily from constituents from my district and taxpayers from across the state pleading for this body to take action and hold the superintendent and the state Board of Education accountable for their rogue behavior. The House speaker would have to agree to create such a committee. McCall will be in office until he is term-limited in November. The House is responsible for drawing up articles of impeachment and presenting the case to the Senate, which would act as a court of impeachment, according to the state Constitution. House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City, said her caucus has made five unheeded calls for impeachment proceedings against Walters. She said on Tuesday she is glad members of the Republican supermajority are now on board. Republicans hold the power in both legislative chambers and the Governors mansion, Munson said. It is time for them to use their power to hold the state superintendent accountable to the people of Oklahoma. We have all waited long enough. Vocal discontent from Republican lawmakers escalated this week, even among those who didnt sign McBrides letter. The next House speaker who will succeed McCall, Rep. Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, echoed other lawmakers objections to the Education Departments untimely responses and refusals to allow legislators into executive sessions. Hilbert did not sign the letter requesting an investigation. Instead, he issued a statement Tuesday urging the rhetoric toward educators to not only be toned down, but reversed. This past week my daughter started kindergarten in a public school where I know she is loved and supported by phenomenal teachers and support staff, Hilbert said. School districts across the state are back to school but instead of talking about the excitement of a new year, we are discussing these issues due to the statements being put out by (the state Education Department). Two of the lawmakers who signed the letter, Rep. Ty Burns, R-Pawnee, and Rep. Josh West, R-Grove, also voiced frustration over Walters disparaging comments about the superintendent of Bixby Public Schools. Burns and West joined Rep. Chris Banning, R-Bixby, in a statement Monday defending Bixby Superintendent Rob Miller, a former marine. The three lawmakers also are military veterans. Miller had complained the state Education Department has been slow to provide estimates for Oklahoma schools annual Title I funding. Walters responded by calling Miller a liar and a clown. Burns, West and Banning said the name-calling is unbecoming of any leader, especially the highest-ranking person in the Oklahoma public school system. As elected officials, paid with taxpayer dollars and entrusted with the future of our state, we must hold ourselves accountable to Oklahomans and have the integrity to admit when we are wrong, they wrote. We had hoped Walters would eventually grow into his role, but after two years of problematic leadership tactics, our patience is wearing thin. Editors note: This story has been updated to reflect additional lawmakers who signed McBrides letter after initial publication and responses from McCall, Walters and Hilbert. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST Residents of the building in Youngstown, Ohio that exploded in May are suing Enbridge Gas and the owners of the Realty Building PHOTOS: Downtown Youngstown building seriously damaged in explosion NBC affiliate WFMJ reports all of the lawsuits were filed on behalf of at least one resident of the Realty Tower apartments, who lived on the buildings upper levels. The suits say residents suffered from injuries, property damage and lost wages. A third lawsuit, filed on behalf of 22 residents, says the building owners, Yo Properties 47 LLC and LY Property Management, failed to secure the premises after regaining control of the property. Penn Hills native Akil Drake died in the explosion. His family is suing the property owners and Enbridge Gas for wrongful death. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW TRENDING NOW: Time is money: Government to make it easier to cancel memberships, recurring payments Teen boy killed, another hurt in Wilkinsburg car crash Plum community coming together Monday to remember neighbors killed in house explosion VIDEO: New protocol for area EMS service helps rural patients get life-saving heart attack treatment faster DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts Rep. James Comer is shifting the focus of his oversight duties from President Joe Biden to Vice President Kamala Harris, who has shot ahead of Donald Trump in polling just three weeks since the beginning of her White House candidacy. The chairman of the House Oversight Committee is seeking to probe Harris role in the immigration crisis on the southern border, requesting communications between Border Protection officials and the office of the vice president. Early in the Biden administration, Harris was tasked with pinpointing the causes of Central American migration to the United States. She failed miserably at the border, the Kentucky Republican said during an appearance on Fox News on Sunday night. Theres no evidence that she did anything other than invite more people to come across the border. When you make it clear that youre not going to prosecute anyone for violating the law for illegally crossing our border, thats an open invitation to cross our border. Thats whats happened under Kamala Harris, Comer added. Democrats have panned the timing of Comers probe just over 80 days from Election Day but the Harris campaign is taking the issue seriously and the candidate addressed it at a campaign stop in Arizona last week. We know our immigration system is broken and we know what it takes to fix it: comprehensive reform. That includes strong border security and an earned pathway to citizenship, Harris said in Glendale, Ariz. A Harris campaign ad, which debuted following the launch of Comers probe, frames her as a border state prosecutor from California and she has pledged to sign legislation that would make it easier to deport undocumented immigrants, regardless of their asylum claims. Illegal border crossings have been consistently dropping this year, according to Customs and Border Protection data. Agents apprehended 56,000 migrants on the southern border in July, the lowest number of the Biden presidency. But Comer is hoping to unearth how Harris handled the crisis at the advent of the Biden administration, when she was tasked with leading diplomatic efforts with El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to figure out the root causes of migration from those countries. Vice President Harris root causes approach to solving the border crisis has been an abject failure as encounters at the southwest border remain high, Comer wrote in his letter to Troy Miller, a senior official at U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Sign up for our Bluegrass Politics Newsletter A must-read newsletter for political junkies across the Bluegrass State with reporting and analysis from the Lexington Herald-Leader. Never miss a story! Sign up for our Bluegrass Politics newsletter to connect with our reporting team and get behind-the-scenes insights, plus previews of the biggest stories. On Fox, Comer said he wants a number to show how much the situation at the border has cost U.S. taxpayers. This has had a huge impact on Medicaid because many of these people when they cross the border, they get free health care. Thats what Medicaid is its free health care, Comer charged. It costs money on the public school systems for these kids to be stuck in public schools that are already behind when they get here. Steven A. Camarota, the director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies, testified before a House committee this summer that undocumented immigrants receive $42 billion in benefits from government programs, or about 4% of the total cash in Medicaid, housing and food programs analyzed. But a July report from the Congressional Budget Office found that immigration tends to be a net-positive for the overall economy, because even undocumented migrants typically pay more in income and payroll taxes than they receive in federal benefits. Its unclear what Comers request will yield and if it will produce any hearings when Congress returns from its August recess. Comers investigative effort to impeach Biden collapsed last spring when Republicans failed to unify around a smoking gun that implicated the president of wrongdoing. Victoria Rogers, vice president of arts at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, has spent nearly a decade overseeing investments in Miami and seven other cities where the foundation funds and fosters growth in media, tech, arts and community-building. Creating connection where there is none, and looking from a lens of What are the possibilities to change lives? Who doesnt want to do that? Rogers said in a Zoom interview with the Miami Herald. On Monday, Rogers and the Knight Foundation announced her upcoming retirement. Rogers will remain at the foundation, which averages $135 million annually in grants, until Dec. 31. But moving on and letting go is not a light decision for someone whos had a lifetime career in nonprofit management. Its an important role to play, she said. Im really grateful that I was given the opportunity here. I love these eight cities Ive been able to be in to see whats important to them, how theyre different, where theyre similar, and knowing that they have the capacity to address what comes their way. Victoria Rogers, vice president of arts at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation since 2015, has announced she will retire on Dec. 31, 2024. An arts ambassador In addition to its headquarters in Miamis Coconut Grove, the Knight Foundation, founded in 1950 by brothers John S. and James L. Knight, serves the cities where the Knights once published newspapers, including the Miami Herald: Akron, Charlotte, Detroit, Macon, Philadelphia, San Jose and St. Paul. Knights community-building work has always been strengthened by the arts, and Victoria has been an unwavering ambassador in this arena, said Maribel Perez Wadsworth, a Miami-born daughter of Cuban immigrants who became the foundations seventh president and first woman president and CEO in its 72-year history. She succeeded its president and former Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald publisher Alberto Ibarguen in January. Ive traveled with her to eight Knight cities and witnessed firsthand the transformative impact of her work on these communities. Her influence is evident not only in the physical landscapes of these cities but also in the faces of the artists shes inspired, Wadsworth said of Rogers. A youthful 73 Good genes! Rogers, a native of Louisville, Kentucky, cites with a smile has planned out her lifes next phase, which she says will include travel, living abroad in Europe, learning a new language, resuming the craft of making art and, eventually, consulting. A fateful business lunch Shes also reflecting on the last decade since accepting an offer to join Knight after a decisive lunch at La Strada in the Grove in 2015. Over Italian food in the once hippie enclave neighborhood, Rogers, then the executive vice president of the New World Symphony, entertained an enticing offer from two community leaders. On one side of the table sat Ibarguen. On the other, artist and filmmaker Dennis Scholl, who Rogers would succeed at Knight in the arts role he pioneered six years earlier. In this file photo from 2017, Alberto Ibarguen, then president and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and Victoria Rogers, right, vice president of arts at Knight, are photographed at Knight Foundations Miami office as it celebrated the 10th year of the Knights Art Challenge. Dennis was exactly the right person to start it and get people excited about it, Ibarguen recalls. And Victoria was exactly the right person to mold it, to shape it, to nurture it and to make it become an absolutely integral part of the way that Knight builds community in the places, cities and towns where it works. After Scholl had told Knights board he planned to step down, Ibarguen proposed that Scholl come up with a list of five people he thought could fit the arts vice president position at Knight. Ibarguen came up with his own list of five. Then they compared lists. Victoria Rogers was at the top of my list and she was at the top of his so I called her up, said Ibarguen. He was impressed with her work at New World Symphony, which had received a $5 million endowment from Knight, its first in digital and arts. Part of the reason the foundation felt confident in its grant was largely because of Rogers track record with the symphony in Miami Beach that began in 2005. Rogers orchestrated the $200 million capital campaign for New Worlds Frank Gehry-designed campus, and doubled that $5 million grant from Knight to $10 million to integrate digital technology in the presentation of symphonic music. Those wallcasts you may have enjoyed since 2008 while sitting outside on park grounds on 17th Street via a 7,000-square foot projection wall on the concert halls eastern side? They came from Rogers vision along with New World partners, conductor Michael Tilson Thomas and president and CEO Howard Herring. READ MORE: Knight Foundation provides the catalyst to the future of digital art in Miami | Opinion That application of something as new as using digital in the presentation and creation of symphonic music feels pretty normal now but it was pretty radical then, Ibarguen said. He hired Rogers after that lunch. Victoria Rogers achievements at Knight When Rogers contemplated retirement recently, one of the people she reached out to was Scholl, her old buddy, who co-directed the 2018 documentary The Last Resort about photographers who documented retirees living in 1970s Miami Beach. Art collector Dennis Scholl, right, and O Cinema co-founder Kareem Tabsch, photographed on South Beach on Feb. 7, 2019. The pair co-directed The Last Resort, a film documentary about the photographers Andy Sweet and Gary Monroe, who documented the community of Jewish retirees who lived in Miami Beach in the 1970s. So many of the significant gains that our arts nonprofits have made over the last decade came directly from Victorias leadership and understanding of what the community needed, which has led to Miami flourishing as a cultural destination, Scholl said. Her greatest achievement has been the championing of new works by the artists of our community. We are only beginning to see the result of those. She helped individual artists grow their practice and have the freedom to experiment with new media. The growth of the arts community is a key factor in attracting so many transplanted high-end businesses. In an email to her staff, Rogers, who previously worked at the University of Miami as an assistant vice president for central development where she was an architect of the schools billion-dollar capital campaign, alongside former UM President Donna Shalala in the early 2000s, enumerated some of the highlights of her decade with Knight. Among them: Knight Arts Challenge celebration events in Detroit and Miami that showcased to her how well the arts and sense of place unite; the foundations work at the intersection of art and technology that included Knight New Work and the Knight Art + Tech Expansion Fund open calls, as well as the forum CATALYST: Digital Transformation in the Arts. With this foundation, it is identifying people and institutions that can move things forward, said Rogers, a fine arts grad from Jacksonville University and a business communications master from Georgia State University. It is not like telling them what they should do. It is working in tandem about what what are the areas of interest in your community? What are you trying to accomplish? And how can we help you to move that agenda forward? Retirement plans Victoria Rogers, VP of Arts for the Knight Foundation at the New World Symphony Center on Miami Beach on Aug. 27, 2015. Rogers agenda in her near future will include plenty of forward movement. I love to travel, she said. Ive been lucky to be able to do it in this job and in others, but theres so many parts of the world that I have not seen. None of us know when our time on earth ends. I want to pack it as full as I possibly can. And so in March ... Im going to be in Bordeaux, and Im going to spend 45 days seeing what its like to live in Europe and Im going to study French. And Im going to do my own art again, which I havent done for a long time. Rogers has art in her blood. Weaves. Paints. Sings. Works in clay ceramics. Im going back to my own expressive forms, she said. She may also go into consulting. I dont think I will stop, she said. I just think it is time now for me to really focus more on me in this period of time and the things I would like to see and do and the people I would like to meet. Family and music background Victoria Rogers, vice president of arts at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, participates in day one of the Florida Priorities Summit at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida on Monday, Nov. 18, 2019. Rogers credits her success in career and life to listening and tuning in to those around her. She attributes some to luck. She grew up in a family that valued art and culture. She says she has clear memories of her mother and her mothers three sisters singing a capella in her childhood home. Shed weave her voice among the quartet. We grew up singing in that household, she said. At age 5, Rogers took piano lessons in a conservatory in Louisville. What I remember is sitting at a baby grand piano, probably my feet could barely touch the pedals. But there were these stained glass windows in there and I can remember the light coming through. And I had this wonderful teacher that was so excited about music and through that I was introduced to this world of possibility in a very different way, Rogers said. Music, for years, became my mode of expression. So I would sit at the piano in our home, and if I was angry, you knew it. I could be pounding something. I also was a kid that didnt have to be made to practice, she said. Then when I became an oboe player it just opened up a new vista, Rogers recalls. I think the beauty of having those experiences young, especially playing oboe in groups, you needed to know your part. If you didnt, you werent contributing to the whole. Watching what happened when people did that, you start almost breathing as though youre one amoeba. You know when to breathe, you know what the person next to you is going to do, and you can adjust to different things. But it was learning early on the real importance of collaboration and that understanding that everybody had a role to play and therefore you didnt want to let them down. You all wanted to achieve something. And it was just fun, Rogers said. Advice for her successor A crowd listens to a talk between Knight Foundation vice president of arts Victoria Rogers and artist Hank Willis Thomas at the unveiling of his sculpture Duality at The Underline on May 17. Through music, she learned to become a team player, and to listen, traits that will serve her Knight Foundation arts successor well, Rogers said. Sometimes it sounds strange, but listen for what youre not hearing. Listen to what people are saying and arent saying. Dig deeper in that. Dont be afraid to ask questions. And because each of us is hired for what we bring to the table, dont be afraid to use that, Rogers counseled. And be sure that youre talking to multiple voices, but also know that at some point in time a decision is made and so collect what you need to make those kinds of decisions. The Knight Foundation has partnered with Russell Reynolds Associates to search for Rogers successor; a development that instills confidence in its former leader about Knights commitment to the arts in Miami and to the other cities it serves. The fact that they would hire one of the big ticket search firms says to me that they intend to have arts continue to be an important part of the Knight program, Ibarguen said. Wadsworth, Knights president, concurs. We will be looking for someone who can build on Victorias considerable legacy, someone who appreciates the vital role that the arts play in creating a sense of place, connection and vibrancy in community. In Miami, you cant go far without passing a museum, art studio, performance space, or poetry workshop that hasnt been touched by Victoria, Wadsworth said. Its quite a legacy. Maribel Perez Wadsworth, born in Miami, became the new president and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in January 2024. Sheboygan man arrested after offering to post nude photos of juvenile family member on the internet SUN PRAIRIE, Wis. (WFRV) A Sheboygan man was taken into custody on Tuesday during a search warrant in connection to the sexual exploitation of a juvenile in southern Wisconsin. According to a release, the Sun Prairie Police Department conducted the search warrant at a residence in Sheboygan because of a tip that Peyton Mayer had solicited a juvenile family member to send him nude photos. It is extremely disappointing, Authorities searching for stolen train toy from local park The release says that Mayer allegedly offered to post the nude photos onto an internet website and share the proceeds of the photos with the juvenile. Mayer was taken into custody by the Oshkosh Police Department, where he was then turned over to the Sun Prairie Police Department and taken to the Dane County Jail for sexual exploitation of a child. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton. (Bloomberg) -- Shein has enlisted a former top European Union official to bolster its lobbying efforts across the region, taking a more active stance toward potential regulatory scrutiny as it plans a stock market debut in London. Most Read from Bloomberg The online fashion retailer hired former EU budget commissioner Gunther Oettinger as a consultant to help it navigate the blocs policy environment, a company representative told Bloomberg News. Shein faces a raft of issues including a debate whether to impose customs duties on cheap parcels a potential game-changer for Shein and other low-cost online retailers like PDD Holdings Inc.s Temu. The European Commission has kept the ultra-fast-fashion industry in its sights since about 2021, when President Ursula von der Leyen denounced it as poison due to the environmental impact of cheap, disposable clothes. That hasnt prevented Shein from a major European expansion, and its preparing an initial public offering that could value the company at about 50 billion ($64 billion). The EU is moving forward with plans to scrap a loophole that excludes items valued at below 150 ($164) from import duties as local retailers face growing competition from cheap Chinese goods shipped to the bloc. Oettinger, who is a senior member of Germanys conservative CDU party and sits on the advisory board of consultancy Kekst CNC, has faced criticism in the past for disparaging remarks about Chinese people. In 2016, he apologized for using comments that created bad feelings in a speech to business leaders. How Sheins US IPO Plans Got Derailed by China Rift: QuickTake Prior to joining the private sector, he held several senior roles in the EU between 2010 to 2019, including European Commissioner for energy, for digital economy and society, and finally for budget and human resources. Kekst CNC declined to make him available for comment. Spokespeople for German business school EBS Universitat, where Oettinger is president, and the CDU in his home region did not respond to a request for comment. Shein paid consultancy group Kekst CNC as much as 199,999 last year, according to the European Union Transparency Register. Founded in China and now headquartered in Singapore, Shein has become one of the worlds most valuable startups thanks to its model of high-volume, ultra-cheap fashion. Its phenomenal success has drawn competition from the likes of ByteDance Ltd.s TikTok and Temu, but also spurred criticism from multiple corners. Shein is now grappling with EU rules designed to clamp down on illegal and harmful content online, aimed at stopping the spread of counterfeit items on the platform, Bloomberg News reported in April. In 2022 Bloomberg reported some Shein garments were made with cotton from Chinas Xinjiang region that the US has banned due to its links to forced labor. The company has pledged to improve its record. After Shein joined the British Retail Consortium, the BRCs head Helen Dickinson told Reuters the company committed to engage on issues including sustainability and ethical labor policies. Shein spent about $2.5 million on lobbying in the US and the EU last year, and has pledged $70 million over the next five years to improve its supply chain. There is no record of rival Temu spending in the EU transparency register, and European Commission regulators have told Bloomberg News they liaise with Temus representatives directly. --With assistance from Mark Bergen, Samuel Stolton and Liau Y-Sing. (Updates with BRC membership in the 12th pargraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Rupert Murdoch is sending Donald Trump a hidden message through his editorial boards: Trump, you are looking like a loser. Through his media companies the New York Post and The Wall Street Journal, the billionaire business magnate seems to be trying to communicate to Trump that his 2024 campaign isnt looking so hot. Though Murdoch himself isnt penning any op-eds, his newspapers headlines highlight anxieties from inside the backrooms, The Daily Beast reported. Trump Meets Half the Moment in His RNC Speech, read a WSJ editorial published just hours after his speech at the Republican National Convention. Trump or Harris? Its a Tossup for Many CEOs, read an article at the top of the politics section on Tuesday. Does Donald Trump Still Have It? yet another WSJ opinion piece published Sunday asks. Trump Is Looking Like a Loser Again, editor-at-large Gerard Baker wrote in a column on Monday. The Trump of the past few weeks has looked and sounded more or less exactly like the Trump of nine years ago. This is the problem. It is this Mr. Trump who lost the presidency in 2020. It is this Mr. Trump who lost the House in 2018 and the Senate in the Georgia runoff election in January 2021. The relationship between Murdoch and Trump has been rocky for several years, especially after Murdoch personally greenlit the Fox News call that Trump lost Arizona in the 2020 race. When Murdoch said Trump went too far on his election conspiracies, as did some Fox hosts, Trump called the businessman a MAGA hating globalist who was abetting THE DESTRUCTION OF AMERICA. Even though Fox was later forced to pay up big time with a $787 million defamation for parroting Trumps false election claims, Trump continues to bash Fox News whenever he gets the chance. Trump and Murdoch had allegedly not been in touch since the 2020 election until a few months ago, when Murdoch reached out to suggest Trump select North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum for his vice president. Perhaps the businessman saw what is now becoming clear about J.D. Vance: Hes bad for the brand. As Murdoch showed face at the Republican National Convention last month, Donald Trump Jr. took the opportunity to slam him, telling Axios, There was a time where if you wanted to survive in the Republican Party, you had to bend the knee to him or to others. I dont think thats the case anymore. Gautam Adani, the founder of Adani Group founder, saw his wealth drop dramatically this week. Amit Dave/Reuters Short-seller Hindenburg Research made accusations against the head of India's market regulator. It said that the regulator had links to offshore funds also used by the Adani Group. Adani companies lost around $2.43 billion in market value during a share sell-off on Monday. Gautam Adani, one of the world's richest men and founder of Adani Group, has suffered yet another setback. This week, fresh accusations by activist short-seller Hindenburg Research led to a heavy share sell-off at Adani's group of companies, wiping off around $2.4 billion in their total market value, according to Reuters. It came after New York-based Hindenburg accused the head of India's capital markets regulator of having links to an offshore fund structure also used by the Adani Group. Hindenburg, whose business model is based on betting against a company's stock price, has a history of accusing Adani Group of misconduct. It isn't the first time it has tanked Adani Group's market value. The Adani Group's stock value fell by around $150 billion in 2023 after Hindenburg Research first leveled accusations at it in January. In a report titled "How The World's 3rd Richest Man Is Pulling The Largest Con In Corporate History," Hindenburg alleged that the company used tax havens improperly and was involved in stock manipulation and fraud "over decades." This led to an investigation into the sprawling multibillion-dollar empire headed by the Supreme Court of India in collaboration with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Citing whistleblower documents, Hindenburg's latest report claims that the head of the SEBI, Madhabi Puri Buch, has a conflict of interest in the Adani investigation due to stakes she and her husband held in offshore entities that Hindenburg said were used to artificially inflate shares of companies owned by the Adani Group. The couple released a statement saying that they "strongly deny the baseless allegations and insinuations made in the report." In a separate statement, the regulator said allegations made by Hindenburg Research against the Adani Group had been investigated, according to Reuters. The Adani Group categorically denied all accusations, with a statement on its website calling the report "malicious, mischievous and manipulative selections of publicly available information." The statement also accused Hindenburg of arriving at "pre-determined conclusions for personal profiteering with wanton disregard for facts and the law." Story continues Adani's wealth surged in 2022, making him the third richest person in the world at the start of 2023. However, following the allegations from Hindenburg Research, he fell to 22nd place on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The Index estimates his net worth to be $104 billion, which currently places him as the 12th richest person in the world, behind Mukesh Ambani, the richest man in Asia. The latest accusations come at a difficult time for Adani. His company is trying to expand internationally. Last week, Business Insider reported that Karan Adani, Gautam Adani's son, wants to loosen China's grip on seaports and transform India into a major trading hub. Hindenburg Research, Adani Group, SEBI, and Madhabi Puri Buch did not immediately respond to BI's request for comment. Read the original article on Business Insider SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) The Sioux City Community School District board of directors voted in favor of an agreement with the city to use seven bus routes for the 2024-25 school year. District officials say that without the agreement, they would need to add seven more buses and hire additional staff for those routes. Superintendent Dr. Rod Earleywine spoke to KCAU 9 about how the city and a local transportation company are helping out getting students to and from school while the district tries to hire more bus drivers. Norfolk Police Division working to address a lack of space It is a little frustrating, but its also a breath of fresh air when we know we have community partners like the city that are willing to help us out with those routes and D & Z [Transportation, LLC], theyve been around for a long time and theyre very reliable and very good, Earleywine said. So we look at the positives. Board members also voted yes to services from D & Z to take special needs students in the district to and from school. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports. SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) A man accused of stealing another persons dog earlier this month has pleaded not guilty. Waylon Frazier, 38, of Sioux City, submitted his plea on Friday, Aug. 9, and was arraigned on Monday, Aug. 12. He is charged with first-degree theft, a felony. Iowa man admitted to trying to kill wrong man, police say According to court documents, Frazier stole the dog on Thursday, Aug. 1 at about 3 p.m. He allegedly grabbed the leash around the collar, ripped it out of the victims hands, and left the area. The alleged incident was recorded and the footage was obtained by officials. They then found Frazier on Friday, Aug. 2 at about 7:45 p.m. Frazier allegedly told officials where the dog was. He also admitted to taking the leash, which he still had, court documents say. Fraziers trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 22, 2024, at 9:30 a.m. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports. The territories in green are controlled by Ukraine; those in red are occupied by Russia. Map: DeepState The situation around the town of Toretsk in Donetsk Oblast remains difficult, as the Russians continue to carry out assault operations and fighting is taking place on the outskirts of the town already. The Russians are also sending sabotage groups. Source: Oleksandr Bordiian, acting press officer of the 32nd Separate Mechanised Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on air of Radio Liberty Details: Bordiian noted that the fighting near the town of Toretsk is taking place in the urban area (the settlements of Pivnichne and Zalizne, which are adjacent to Toretsk itself). Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups sometimes infiltrate the city. Bordiian said that the number of Russian soldiers who surrendered had increased over the past week. Quote: "The fact is that now there are battles in the urban area: this is the Pivnichne-Zalizne agglomeration, and it is close to the town of Toretsk. Therefore, the fighting is taking place in the urban area, and, of course, some sabotage and reconnaissance groups can infiltrate our observation posts and try to carry out some sabotage activities in our closest rear. Such groups are detected and destroyed. As of the past week, we have the following statistics: a little more of these groups have begun to surrender. Not a significant number, but there is such a dynamic." Details: Bordiian stressed that the situation on the outskirts of Toretsk is difficult. He said that the Ukrainian operation in Russias Kursk Oblast had not yet impacted the fighting on the Toretsk front. Instead, Russian forces have increased the density of attacks with guided aerial bombs. "The situation on the outskirts of Toretsk is just as difficult and serious... We can even say that the density of attacks, even with guided aerial bombs, has increased. Shelling with artillery and drone attacks are roughly the same. As for the assaults, yes, the intensity has dropped a little bit, but it's not a very high delta. That is, it has not dropped significantly, but they [the Russians ed.] are trying to compensate for this shortfall with aerial bomb attacks," Bordiian explained. The DeepState analytical project reported the Russian occupation forces advance on the Toretsk front, namely in the settlements of Panteleimonivka, Pivnichne and New-York and its outskirts. In its report on the situation at the front on 13 August, the Ukrainian General Staff said that Russian troops attacked Ukrainian forces near Zalizne, Toretsk and New-York on the Toretsk sector 10 times over the past day. Support UP or become our patron! Six more children brought back to Ukraine from temporarily occupied territories photos Children under occupation were forced to attend Russian schools and celebrate Russian holidays. Photo: Dmytro Lubinets, Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) Commissioner for Human Rights, Telegram Ukrainian families, including six children, have managed to leave the territories of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts temporarily occupied by Russia. Source: Dmytro Lubinets, Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) Commissioner for Human Rights, on Telegram Details: The parents say that their children were forced to study in Russian schools during the occupation, where young Ukrainians were involved in celebrating Russian holidays. Ukrainians were also pressured to obtain Russian-issued documents, and armed Russians broke into their houses and conducted unreasonable searches. Quote from Dmytro Lubinets: "The feeling of disempowerment, limitation, and the realisation of what the future holds for the children was the impetus for leaving. Families with children from Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts are now in the safety they desperately needed." Photo: Dmytro Lubinets on Telegram One of the families managed to reach territory controlled by Ukraine, visited the Child Protection Centre and asked government officials for the help they needed. The other family received support from the regional office of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) Commissioner for Human Rights' office and social organisations. Quote from Dmytro Lubinets: "I emphasise once again that Ukraine is ready to bring back everyone and will provide basic humanitarian, medical, psychological and social assistance. And law enforcement officers will record all the crimes committed by the Russians that our children witnessed or suffered." Photo: Dmytro Lubinets on Telegram Lubinets recalls that the legal representatives of a child who is in the temporarily occupied territory or has been deported to Russia can contact the National Police of Ukraine for help by calling 102. Photo: Dmytro Lubinets on Telegram Relatives should also notify Dmytro Lubinets' office by calling the hotline 0 800 50 17 20 (within Ukraine), 044 299 74 08 (for calls from abroad), or emailing hotline@ombudsman.gov.ua. Background: Twenty-three Ukrainian children, including three orphans, were liberated in early August and brought back to Ukraine from the temporarily occupied territories. Support UP or become our patron! English learners' scores in a test designed to assess their handling of the language saw a sharp drop six years ago and have remained low. The drop coincided with the state's redesign of the test, which included the adoption of an automated system to score responses. Credit: Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vazquez for The Texas Tribune English-learning students scores on a state test designed to measure their mastery of the language fell sharply and have stayed low since 2018 a drop that bilingual educators say might have less to do with students skills and more with sweeping design changes and the automated computer scoring system that were introduced that year. English learners who used to speak to a teacher at their school as part of the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System now sit in front of a computer and respond to prompts through a microphone. The Texas Education Agency uses software programmed to recognize and evaluate students speech. Students scores dropped after the new test was introduced, a Texas Tribune analysis shows. In the previous four years, about half of all students in grades 4-12 who took the test got the highest score on the tests speaking portion, which was required to be considered fully fluent in English. Since 2018, only about 10% of test takers have gotten the top score in speaking each year. Passing TELPAS is not a graduation requirement, but the test scores can impact students. Bilingual educators say students who dont test out of TELPAS often have to remain longer in remedial English courses, which might limit their elective options and keep their teachers from recommending them for advanced courses that would help make them better candidates when they apply for college. The way the state education agency currently tests English learners skills frustrates some educators who say many of their students are already fully capable of communicating in English but might be getting low marks in the test because of the design changes. Youre putting [students] in an artificial environment, which already reduces the ability of students to give you natural language, said Jennifer Phillips, an educator with two decades of experience teaching bilingual students in Texas. Its a flawed system. [Judge blocks Texas from releasing this years school accountability ratings] TELPAS scores also account for 3% of the grades the TEA gives school districts and campuses in its A-F accountability rating system. Though they only represent a small portion of their rating, TELPAS scores might be more significant for school districts at a time when they have grown increasingly worried about how the state evaluates their performance. Several districts have sued TEA to block the release of the last two years of ratings, arguing that recent changes to the metrics made it harder to get a good rating and could make them more susceptible to state intervention. TEAs use of an automated scoring engine to score portions of TELPAS has also come under scrutiny after the agency used the same tool to evaluate short-answer and essay questions in this years State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, the states standardized test that all students in grades 4-12 take to measure their understanding of core subjects. Educators are weary of using an automated system to score STAAR and list it as one of their complaints in the districts latest lawsuit against the state. Testing English learners skills When students enter a public school in Texas, they are classified as emergent bilingual if they indicate they speak a language other than English at home and fail a preliminary English assessment. About a quarter of Texas students have that designation. Federal law requires Texas to assess English learners progress regularly. Texas is one of only a handful of states that developed its own test instead of using the exam used in other parts of the country. Each spring, about a million emergent bilingual students in Texas public schools take the TELPAS exam, which consists of four parts: listening, reading, writing and speaking. Before 2018, teachers with TELPAS training would administer the test at students schools. Listening and reading evaluations were, and still remain, multiple-choice sections measuring student comprehension. For writing, teachers would gather and assess a sample of students work in the classroom throughout the school year. For speaking, teachers would talk to students in one-on-one evaluations or fill out a rubric based on their observations of students English fluency throughout the year. When the TEA moved the test online, it changed the testing environment and scoring method. The change sought to standardize the test and make the results more reliable, an agency spokesperson said. The automated scoring technology helped deliver speaking assessment results more quickly. Last year, the automated scoring system started evaluating students written responses. In each of the four assessment categories, students get a score of beginner, intermediate, advanced or advanced high. Students have to continue taking the test each year until they score advanced high in at least three categories; they may score advanced in the other one and still pass. Before this year, students had to score advanced high in every domain. Several bilingual educators the Tribune spoke with for this story said the low test scores students have received since the test was changed do not reflect their actual performance in the classroom, adding that many English learners communicate better than their scores suggest. While English-learning students scores have improved on the STAAR test since 2021, the TELPAS scores particularly in speaking have remained low since the test was changed. It is a little disheartening, said Ericka Dillon, director of bilingual education and English as a Second Language courses at Northside ISD in the San Antonio area. The district has about 14,500 emergent bilingual students, a significant number of whom are proficient in English but struggle to reach advanced high on the TELPAS assessment, she said. Theyre doing the best that they can, but they still wont be able to meet that criteria, Dillon said. In response to a Tribune data analysis showing that the average number of passing TELPAS scores in speaking dropped after TEA redesigned the test and introduced the automated scoring system, an agency spokesperson said, Its not uncommon to see performance adjustments when student performance is evaluated in a standardized manner across the state. The spokesperson also noted that speaking and writing are by nature more challenging than listening and reading. [Texas will use computers to grade written answers on this years STAAR tests] The TEA has vigorously defended its automated scoring engine, rejecting comparisons of the technology to artificial intelligence. The agency has said humans oversee and train the system as well as monitor its results. The TEA said a technical advisory council has approved the technology, and when the program encounters a student response that its training does not know how to handle, it directs it to a human to score. This year, the TEA said that at least 25% of the TELPAS writing and speaking assessments were re-routed to a human scorer to check the programs work. That number oscillated between 17% and 23% in the previous six years, according to public records obtained by the Tribune. Score changes after human reviews One of the reasons educators are skeptical of TELPAS automated system is how scores sometimes change when they ask for a review. Humans rescore speaking and writing assessments. Last year, 9% of the TELPAS speaking assessments that TEA reviewed got a higher score; that number was 13% the year before. The automated system initially scored more than 95% of the assessments that improved after a second look, public records show. Spring Branch ISD officials said the percentage of assessments that improved after requesting a rescore was even higher at their district. They sent more than 800 speaking assessments for rescoring in 2022, and more than a third got a better score after they were reviewed. The next year, about half of their submissions improved after rescoring, officials said. If the evidence from our rescoring submissions is any indication, the system leaves a lot to be desired for its accuracy, said Keith Haffey, executive director of assessment and compliance at Spring Branch ISD. Its unclear how many assessments would lead to a better grade after a second look since most results go unchallenged. The number of rescored assessments each year is less than 1% of the total TELPAS tests administered. Educators say they have to weigh costs and time constraints when deciding whether to request a rescore. Reviews are free if they result in a better score; if they dont, schools have to pay $50 per rescoring request. In addition, educators say its not easy to decide which results to challenge because they haven't had access to students' audio responses. This contrasts with STAAR results: Written student responses are readily available online to districts. If we cant hear how they did on TELPAS, we cant say if this is where they really are or not, Dillon said. The TEA says district testing coordinators can request listening sessions, but some educators said the agency's director of student assessments told them only parents can request the files. A TEA spokesperson said that person misspoke. In response to district feedback, the TEA spokesperson said districts and parents will have easier access to all TELPAS responses starting in the 2024-25 school year. Not an accurate reflection Edith Trevino, known affectionately as Dr. ET, used to be the ESL specialist for the TEAs education service center in Edinburg. Now she runs a private consulting practice helping students pass TELPAS. Trevino said she worries that the automated scoring system penalizes students who are fluent in English but speak with an accent, mix in a few words from their native tongue or stray from using academic language. Children are not supposed to answer like regular people, according to TELPAS, she said. To score advanced high in the tests speaking portion, students must respond to each prompt with answers that last 45 to 90 seconds. They have two chances to record a response and they need to use academic language fitting their grade level. But Trevino said the prompts are often simple and do not require long answers. In a recent TikTok video, she said some questions were like asking students to identify an orange. Because passing TELPAS is not a graduation requirement and scores only account for a small portion of campus and district accountability ratings, some schools do not prioritize helping students prepare for the test. But the results can affect students educational journey. Many school districts enroll English-learning students in ESL courses, which can prevent them from taking certain electives and advanced courses because of scheduling conflicts. Teachers or staff might also hesitate to recommend a student to advanced courses if they are still taking ESL courses, Phillips said. Those advanced courses, especially at the high school level, are crucial to being competitive in college admissions. She said any school policies that keep English learners from participating in advanced courses would amount to language-based discrimination. Nevertheless, she said its a common practice shes observed in her career as an educator and while studying for her doctorate in education. Its not in the law, but its in practice, Phillips said. Not being able to test out of TELPAS can also impact students experience in school. Kids failing to pass the test could internalize the failure, which in turn makes them vulnerable to further academic struggles, Phillips said. What this does to children's self-esteem is horrible, Trevino said, particularly for students who can speak English well but have test results that tell them they are not proficient. Carlene Thomas, the former ESL coordinator for the TEA who now is the CEO of an education consulting company, said she would like to see the TEA use more sophisticated tools that enable more conversational student responses to ensure TELPAS is meaningful in how students interact socially and with content material. She added that educators should also help students by giving them more opportunities to practice speaking English during class, relying less on direct translation and ensuring they understand the stakes and structure of the test. But as of now, she said, TELPAS is not giving us an accurate reflection of where our students are. The full program is now LIVE for the 2024 Texas Tribune Festival, happening Sept. 57 in downtown Austin. Explore the program featuring more than 100 unforgettable conversations on topics covering education, the economy, Texas and national politics, criminal justice, the border, the 2024 elections and so much more. See the full program. SLED releases new details on officer-involved shooting that left man critically injured NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) The State Law Enforcement Division said Tuesday a suspect waving a handgun around in a gas station parking lot was actually holding an airsoft gun when a North Charleston Police officer shot him. The North Charleston officer, identified by the department as Pfc. Sineth Kong responded to the parking lot of Big Ts on Stall Road around 10 p.m. Friday. Witnesses told Pfc. Kong when he arrived that a belligerent man was waving a gun in front of the store, according to police. That gun was determined to be an all-black airsoft gun with GLOCK markings, according to state law enforcement. Pfc. Kong approached the suspect, and he began waving the gun in the air. The suspect was then shot by Pfc. Kong. NCPD said the officer fired his weapon an unknown number of times and struck the suspect. The suspect was taken to a local hospital for treatment. No law enforcement officers were injured. SLEDs investigation is ongoing. It is standard procedure for SLED to investigate officer-involved shootings in South Carolina. This is the 4th for North Charleston Police in 2024. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCBD News 2. People take a selfie before sunrise on Bali's Nusa Dua beach. "The hunt for the perfect selfie" is not only causing disruptions to residents and at holy sites, but is also harming animals and endangered plant species, new research suggests. Christoph Soeder/dpa Throngs of selfie-mad daytrippers have already prompted protests by residents and the introduction of tourism taxes by local authorities in regions from Austria to Greece and Indonesia. But it's not just Alpine village vistas or historic town plazas that are being overwhelmed by the growing number of phone-wielding posers seeking content for their social media feeds. "The hunt for the perfect selfie" is causing "disruptions to the breeding and feeding patterns of animals and the trampling of endangered plant species," according to a team of Australian scientists, whose research was published by Elsevier in the journal Science of The Total Environment. "Social media groups have made it easy for people to identify the location of endangered plant species or the breeding grounds of bird or wildlife species, with the information being disseminated quickly and causing a major influx of people into an area that would otherwise have remained untouched," said Rob Davis, senior lecturer at Edith Cowan University. "The Blue-crowned Laughingthrush is a critically endangered bird species which has shown altered nesting behaviours due to disturbances from photographers," said Bill Bateman, a professor at Curtin University. Even the mighty Whale Shark is affected, the team warned, with divers' use of flash photography "negatively affecting" the slow-moving and usually-approachable gentle giants. Orchids appear to be badly hit, with the flowers, which are "highly susceptible to trampling and habitat changes," proving to be "particularly popular content for social media posts." How do you solve a problem like Maduro? U.S. treads fine line on Venezuela Previous efforts to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro have failed. Now U.S. officials hope to try an untested tack, relying on three Latin powerhouses that are friendly to both Caracas and Washington: Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. (Ariana Cubillos / Associated Press) The Biden administration is treading a thin line as it attempts to usher Venezuelas dictator out of office without falling into the costly traps that vexed previous U.S. governments and angered Latin American allies. After a July 28 presidential election riddled with fraud, both Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia claimed victory. The U.S. sided with Gonzalez and declared him the winner but stopped short of actually recognizing him as president-elect. U.S. diplomats cited surveys of election ballots conducted by both the opposition and independent observers that gave Gonzalez a 2-to-1 margin of victory. Read more: A Palestinian leader sees new energy in U.S. particularly among young Americans to confront Mideast crisis Memories are fresh of the Trump administrations efforts to oust Maduro, including harsh sanctions and arrest warrants. After an attempted Venezuelan coup in 2019, the Trump administration embraced an alternative president, Juan Guaido, who led what became a government-in-exile. Nothing budged Maduro, a former bus driver and socialist who took office after the 2013 death of Latin American leftist Hugo Chavez. Now U.S. officials hope to try an untested tack while relying on the negotiating acumen of three Latin powerhouses that are friendly to both Caracas and Washington: Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. But they and other regional leaders have so far proved timid in their willingness to apply pressure to Maduro. Presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Gustavo Petro of Colombia and Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of Mexico, all left-leaning politicians, have urged Maduro to release a complete ballot count something the Venezuelan government has still refused to do two weeks after voting ended. None of the other leaders, however, has publicly declared him the loser. The Organization of American States, the region's largest multilateral organization, failed to muster majority approval of a mildly worded call for transparency. "We would hope to see all parties take the steps that we have done," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, referring to the U.S. declaration that Maduro lost. However, he added, fuller recognition of Gonzalez "is not a step that we are taking" now. At stake as Maduro clings to power are further political and economic chaos and international isolation. He has launched a deadly crackdown on protesters, with more than two dozen killed and at least 2,000 arrested, including opposition politicians and journalists. Read more: How not to be a terrible tourist: What Europeans want travelers to know Once South America's wealthiest country, Venezuela saw around 6 million of its citizens flee as refugees, with another wave possible in the coming months. Many have reached the U.S., fueling an intense and divisive debate here over immigration. It was extremely important for us to come out on the record: The most critical thing is for the results to be respected, and we are working with allies to make sure that is the case, a senior Biden administration official who works on the Venezuela issue said in an interview. The official was granted anonymity to discuss internal policy deliberations. The decision [to not accept a Maduro victory] is already a major form of diplomatic pressure, the official said. Maduro had agreed to hold the July election after months of negotiations involving regional officials and, unusually, the Persian Gulf state of Qatar, an OPEC partner of oil-rich Venezuela. U.S. officials were offering Maduro numerous benefits if he agreed to step down after losing, according to sources in the U.S. and Venezuela. Qatar has continued to participate in efforts to get Maduro to release election results, the White House said Monday. The incentives included lifting criminal indictments and offering Maduro safe passage to a third country. (A State Department spokesman said Monday that such offers of amnesty have not been repeated since the election.) The Venezuelan strongman was apparently worried that while Washington could drop its charges against him, the U.S. government was in no position to stop an investigation by the International Criminal Court into widespread human rights abuses attributed to the Maduro government. Maduro apparently thought he could use the election to cement his legitimacy, the senior administration official said, after a decade of ruling with an iron fist, crushing dissent and stacking the courts, legislature and other major institutions with loyalists. Ahead of the election, he frequently warned crowds that if he did not emerge the winner, Venezuelans faced a "bloodbath" and civil war. The ways in which the Biden administration approach to Maduro departed from that of the Trump era include emphasizing incentives over punishment more carrots than sticks, as several diplomats put it. Following a flawed election in 2019, the Trump administration swiftly recognized Juan Guaido, a little-known opposition politician who declared himself "interim president." Guaido was seen as legitimate enough because he headed the National Assembly, at the time one of Venezuela's last remaining democratic institutions. It was never clear how much domestic support he had, however, and many of the people who made up his shadow government resided in Washington. By the end of 2022, the Venezuelan opposition removed Guaido, who today is believed to be residing in exile in Florida. In addition to indicting Maduro on drug-trafficking and other charges, then-President Trump imposed harsh sanctions that targeted the Venezuelan economy, including its once-robust petroleum industry, in what was called a "maximum pressure campaign." Diplomatic ties between the two countries were essentially severed in 2019. But, starting in 2022, President Biden began to thaw the diplomatic freeze by secretly dispatching a team of emissaries to Caracas, where they launched talks that eventually led to prisoner swaps that freed more than a dozen Americans detained by Venezuela, including several executives from Houston-based Citgo Petroleum Corp. Last year, Biden eased a number of sanctions on Venezuela's oil, gas and gold sectors in exchange for Maduro's commitment to negotiate with the Venezuelan opposition to hold fair elections. That set the stage for the July vote, with an opposition more unified than ever, fighting an electoral battle at home rather than in Washington, and, according to polls, with a hefty lead over Maduro. But now U.S. officials are forced to reassess their strategy, and they will have to maneuver carefully. Restoring the tougher sanctions could backfire, by driving Maduro further from any negotiations while alienating the Latin American countries that are attempting to pressure him but also don't want to be seen as doing Washington's bidding. The administration "has to keep the allies on board," said Ryan Berg, who heads the Americas program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank in Washington. "They have to avoid giving [the presidents of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico] reason to care more about what the U.S. government is doing to Maduro than what Maduro did in stealing this election in such a brazen manner," he said. On Friday, Panama's president, Jose Raul Mulino, stepped in to offer a solution, saying he would facilitate Maduro's safe passage through Panama to a third country so that he could leave office peacefully. Maduro responded with disdain and a derogatory term for the U.S. officials he suspected were behind the offer. After warning those who "mess with Venezuela,'' Maduro said the president of Panama was "getting carried away by the gringos." Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. DENVER (KDVR) If you have ever heard the term squatters rights come up in conversation, you may have wondered what they are and what they mean. If you go looking through Colorado law, you wont find the term squatters rights there, because the legal term is instead adverse possession. How long do couples have to be together to be considered married in Colorado? All 50 states, including Colorado, have some sort of adverse possession law on the books, but not all of them work the same. What is adverse possession? Adverse possession is defined as possessing someones property in a way that is open, hostile, exclusive, continuous [and] adverse to the claim of the owner, according to Merriam-Webster. Essentially, it is a way for someone to claim legal ownership over someone elses property. What are the squatters rights laws in Colorado? In Colorado, there are two ways for someone to claim adverse possession. The first is by paying all the property taxes for the land and having what is known as a color of title, which is a title to property that is made in good faith but that isnt a true title for one reason or another. Under these circumstances, the person has to possess the property and pay the taxes for seven years before they can be considered the true owner. The second way takes much more time and is a bit more complex. Download the FOX31 App: Breaking news alerts & Pinpoint Weather Because adverse possession cases are decided on a case-by-case basis, many of the specific things required are dictated by precedent and not specified in the statutes. However, there are a few things that are: For one, a person has to be in adverse possession of the property for at least 18 years before they can claim anything and have to prove all of the elements of the claim with clear and convincing evidence. They also have to have a good faith belief that they were the true owners of the property. Even if someone successfully proves their adverse possession case in court, the judge may require them to pay the propertys actual value to the original owners as well as any property taxes the owners paid over the 18 years. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver. A Ventura County gang member has been found guilty of killing a man with a sawed-off shotgun in December 2022. Michael Ortega, 24, of Oxnard was convicted by a jury last week on charges of murder, felony possession of a gun and felony possession of a sawed-off shotgun. Ortega was one of two men charged in the Dec. 5, 2022, killing of John Paul Carrillo. Michael Ortega, 33, of Oxnard was convicted of killing a man with a sawed-off shotgun in December 2022. (Ventura County District Attorney's Office) According to the Ventura County District Attorneys Office, Ortega, his co-defendant Paul Ramos, and a third man, traveled to an apartment complex on Gonzalez Road in Oxnard just after midnight where they confronted a man in the parking lot. The man was able to convince the three that he was in good standing with their gang, and the men let him go. They then confronted Carrillo in a carport. Carrillo, who the D.A.s Office says was not affiliated with any local gangs, was punched and shot in the chest with the shotgun and pronounced dead at the scene. The three suspects fled the scene in Ramos vehicle, but were captured on security footage committing the crime. Ortega was arrested days later by Oxnard Police Department Officers. The murder weapon, the D.A.s Office said, fell out of his pants as they arrested him. He was also found to be in possession of methamphetamine at the time of his arrest. Ramos was arrested in March 2023 during a traffic stop and pleaded guilty to two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon. He was sentenced in June to 10 years in state prison. While Ortega was convicted on the most serious charge of murder, he was found not guilty of assault with a deadly weapon and mistrials were declared in some of the other gun charges. Ortega had previously been convicted of shooting a victim in the back with a shotgun in 2019 and was thus prohibited from possessing a firearm. A judge will decide later this week if additional special allegations for those previous convictions are needed. Ortega remains in custody without bail and could face up to 65 years to life in state prison. Hopefully, the verdict brings some form of solace to the family who lost their grandson to a group of men intent on enforcing territory claimed by a gang, said Senior Deputy District Attorney Theresa Pollara. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. The Revel camping van is manufactured by Winnebago Industries in Lake Mills. A new president will take the helm of one of Iowas most iconic brands in September. Chris West will assume the duties of leading the outdoor businesses of Winnebago Industries, overseeing the companys Winnebago-brand motorhomes, towed campers and specialty vehicles, effective Sept. 1. West, who currently is senior vice president of Winnebago Industries enterprise operations and Barletta Boats, has been with Iowa-founded Winnebago, now headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, since 2016, with responsibility for manufacturing, the supply chain and quality across the Winnebago Industries portfolio. West also led the integration of the companys Barletta Boats acquisition in 2021 and has provided executive oversight to the pontoon boat maker, which is now chasing double-digit market share growth, according to a news release from Winnebago. More: Visitors can take a firsthand look at how Winnebago RVs are built in Forest City He succeeds Huw Bower, who joined the company in 2020 and, according to the news release, helped guide the business through unprecedented times, brought several new industry-leading innovations to the market, and built a committed team across the brands motorized and towable RV businesses. Our company has gone through a significant transformation over the last several years, but we know the best is yet to come for our team and portfolio of premium brands as we continue to grow our influence, impact and share of the RV and marine industries, Winnebago Industries President and CEO Michael Happe said in a statement. Winnebago also has announced that Barletta Boats President Jeff Haradine will join the Winnebago Industries executive team,. reporting directly to Happe starting Sept. 1. Winnebago reported third quarter revenues of $786 million with gross profit of $118.2 million, a 15% gross margin, in June. A leading maker of recreational vehicles and boats, Winnebago Industries was founded in 1958 in Forest City as Modernistic Industries before changing its name in 1960. The corporate headquarters moved from Forest City to Eden Prairie, a Minneapolis suburb, in 2021, but Winnebago retains most of its RV manufacturing in Forest City, Lake Mills and Charles City, employing about 2,000 people. Kevin Baskins covers jobs and the economy for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at kbaskins@registermedia.com. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Winnebago appoints new president for its outdoor businesses When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The four astronauts of SpaceX's planned Fram2 mission, which will travel over Earth's poles for three to five days in late 2024. | Credit: SpaceX SpaceX plans to make spaceflight history later this year by launching the first crewed mission to explore Earth's polar regions. That four-person flight, which SpaceX announced today (Aug. 12), is called Fram2, in honor of the Norwegian ship that made pioneering voyages to the Arctic and Antarctic between 1893 and 1912. "Fram2 will be commanded by Chun Wang, an entrepreneur and adventurer from Malta," SpaceX wrote in a mission description today. "Wang aims to use the mission to highlight the crew's explorational spirit, bring a sense of wonder and curiosity to the larger public, and highlight how technology can help push the boundaries of exploration of Earth and through the mission's research." Joining Wang on Fram2 are Jannicke Mikkelsen from Norway, who will serve as vehicle commander; Eric Philips of Australia, the vehicle pilot; and Germany's Rabea Rogge, mission specialist. All four are spaceflight rookies, according to SpaceX. If all goes according to plan, Fram2 will launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida's Space Coast late this year, sending the quartet to orbit in a Crew Dragon capsule. The spacecraft will not hook up with the International Space Station (ISS) but rather will zoom around Earth solo. "Throughout the 3-to-5-day mission, the crew plans to observe Earths polar regions through Dragons cupola at an altitude of 425-450 km [249 to 264 miles], leveraging insight from space physicists and citizen scientists to study unusual light emissions resembling auroras," SpaceX wrote in the mission description. "The crew will study green fragments and mauve ribbons of continuous emissions comparable to the phenomenon known as STEVE (Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement), which has been measured at an altitude of approximately 400-500 km [249 to 311 miles] above Earth's atmosphere," the company added. The Fram2 crew will also study how spaceflight affects the human body; this work will include capturing the first-ever X-ray image of a human in space, according to SpaceX. Related: How SpaceX's private Polaris Dawn astronauts will attempt the 1st-ever 'all-civilian' spacewalk RELATED STORIES: 8 ways that SpaceX has transformed spaceflight How SpaceX's private Polaris Dawn astronauts will attempt the 1st-ever 'all-civilian' spacewalk Inspiration4: The first all-civilian spaceflight on SpaceX Dragon Fram2 will be SpaceX's sixth private astronaut mission. Previous missions include Inspiration4, a free flyer that launched in September 2021, Ax-1, Ax-2 and Ax-3, flights operated by Houston company Axiom Space that sent people to and from the ISS in April 2022, May 2023 and January to February of this year, respectively, and Polaris Dawn, another free flyer currently scheduled to launch on Aug. 26. Polaris Dawn is the first of three planned missions in the private Polaris Program. All three will be funded and commanded by billionaire tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, who did the same for Inspiration4. SpaceX has also launched nine astronaut missions to the ISS for NASA, starting with the Demo-2 test flight to the orbiting lab in 2020. By Juan Medina AT SEA OFF LAMPEDUSA, Italy (Reuters) - Volunteer lifeguards from Spanish charity Open Arms assisted 54 migrants stranded on a rubber dinghy in the Mediterranean Sea off the Italian island of Lampedusa on Tuesday, according to a Reuters witness. The group said it gave the passengers, who were mainly Syrian nationals, life jackets and water after alerting the Italian Coast Guard, which later took them to Lampedusa. The central Mediterranean is one of the most dangerous routes for refugees seeking asylum in Europe. Last year, more than 3,100 people died or went missing while attempting to cross the sea to Europe, according to data from the United Nations' refugee agency. Open Arms said it had rescued or assisted a total of 383 people in the past four days. On Monday, its search-and-rescue boat Astral assisted 110 people crammed into an overloaded wooden barge, including six women, four children, two elderly men and a person with disabilities. Speaking on board the Astral, the mission's coordinator, Esther Camps, said the charity had seen an uptick in the use of precarious iron boats, likely hand-welded in Tunisia, over the past year. She added this was possibly due to Tunisia's adoption of a hardline anti-immigration stance, which has prompted many migrants from sub-Saharan Africa to leave the country. A Reuters photograph showed a rusty iron vessel that appeared to be split in two, with the halves connected by hinges. Camps said it was the first time they had come across such a type of ship and initially thought it had broken in half and would sink. "Apparently it wasn't broken, but rather is a new form of manufacture. We suspect it's because it's much easier to transport undetected both on land and at sea," she added. (This story has been corrected to remove the extraneous word 'Proactiva' from paragraph 1, change the verb 'rescues' in the headline to 'assists' and, adjust paragraphs 1-2 to reflect that the migrants were not taken on board) (Reporting by Juan Medina; Writing by David Latona; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Christina Fincher) A team of paleontologists have uncovered a new species of extinct walrus that lived roughly 5.3 million years ago. Ontocetus posti bears some surprising similarities in feeding adaptations to the modern, living walrus Odobenus rosmarus. The new walrus is described in a study published August 13 in the open-access journal PeerJ Life & Environment and highlights an intriguing case of convergent evolution in these large marine mammals. Millions of years ago, there were several walrus species on Earth. Now, there is only one main species with two subspeciesthe Atlantic Walrus and Pacific Walrus. The fossilized remains of Ontocetus posti were discovered in Norwich, England and Antwerp, Belgium. The Belgian specimens were uncovered by study co-author Mathieu Boisville while working on his thesis in 2020. [Related: Abandoned Pacific walrus calf rescued in Alaska.] I noticed that some fossil walrus mandibles differed from what was previously known, Boisville, now a PhD and paleontologist at the University of Tsukuba in Japan, tells Popular Science. Furthermore, the holotype (i.e. the type fossil that takes the species as its reference) had never been described, although it had been mentioned by some researchers. In the study, the team conducted a detailed analysis of the mandible, since they initially thought it was the species Ontocetus emmonsi. They found that the new specimen had a unique combination of features. It has post-canine teeth, a larger lower canine, and a fused and short mandibular symphysis. According to the team, these anatomical characteristics suggest that Ontocetus posti well adapted to suction-feeding similar to its living relatives. The modern walrus wont arrive in the North Atlantic until the end of the Middle Pleistocene [about 200,000 years ago], yet a now-extinct walrus species (i.e. Ontocetus emmonsi) was already present in the North Atlantic at the beginning of the Pliocene (5.3 million years ago), says Boisville. Modern walruses live in the cold waters of the Arctic, and use a unique feeding technique (i.e. suction-feeding). However, this cold-temperature tolerance and suction-feeding technique was only developed late in the walrus lineage. Their migration was likely facilitated by the Central American Seaway. This crucial oceanic passage once separated the continents of North America and South America, but was eventually closed off by the Isthmus of Panama. The resulting global cooling during the Late Pliocene significantly impacted marine life, likely contributing to Ontocetus postis extinction allowing the cold-adapted modern walruses to emerge and eventually dominate the landscape. The findings emphasize how changes in the environment shaped the adaptations and survival of marine mammals. This convergence of feeding adaptations between Ontocetus posti and the modern walrus shows how constantly shifting evolutionary processes occur across different time periods and environments. [Related: Urban walrus and fighting frogs: 12 charming images from the British Wildlife Photography Awards.] The team hopes to find more fossils that belong to this species, so that they can learn more about past climate changes and adaptations. Walruses and cetaceanslike whales and dolphinsare some of the animal lineages that can tell us a great deal about how marine mammals adapted to changes in the past. Walruses used to be more diverse and covered a wide geographical area, but still remain key indicators of climate change. We believe it is important for the public to realize the impact of global climate change on marine mammals, as well as on fauna and flora in general, says Boisville. The modern walrus is strongly impacted by human activity, whether it be hunting or global warming, affecting its habitat and thus its prey. We hope that this discovery can reinforce the idea behind conservation of these beautiful but vulnerable animals. WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) A disagreement over who should provide Danny Lee Hills defense an audiotape recording, which was part of his 1985 murder trial, made its way to the Ohio Supreme Court. A complaint was filed Aug. 7 by the Federal Public Defender Northern District of Ohio against the Trumbull County prosecutor over a request for the tape dating back to 2022. The public defender, Calland Ferraro, said she requested the tape three times from the prosecutors office but was unsuccessful in obtaining it. She said she was told by a court clerk that she needed to file a motion in court for the tape or call Chuck Morrow, who is the chief of the criminal division for the Trumbull County Prosecutors Office, for his copy of the tape. Ferraro said Morrow told her she needed to get the tape from Hills former attorney, but she said that attempt was unsuccessful. Ferraro also added that Morrow told her he was sick of providing discovery to a murderer who should be dead, according to the complaint. Ferraro filed a motion in Trumbull County Court for the tape, but the court has yet to rule on her motion. Ferraro then filed her complaint with the Ohio Supreme Court to compel the Trumbull County Prosecutors Office to turn over the cassette tape so that a copy can be made and has asked for a $100 a day penalty up to $1,000 for any delays. The complaint said that Ferraro does have a transcription of the audiotape. The Ohio Supreme Court has turned the issue over to mediation and stayed all filing deadlines. Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins said Tuesday he was pleased that the issue is going to mediation. However, I firmly believe that the action was unnecessary and could have been resolved at the local level More importantly, our complete file, including a copy of this exhibit, was previously provided to the defendant as part of this offices discovery prior to Hills trial, going back to 1985. Furthermore, the Federal Public Defender acknowledges that they have a transcript of the nearly forty-year-old cassette tape, which exhibit is actually in the possession of the Trumbull County Clerk of Courts, not the Trumbull County Prosecutors Office, Watkins said in a prepared statement. Watkins added that he hopes the matter will be resolved soon. Danny Lee Hill was convicted in 1985 for the rape and murder of 12-year-old Raymond Fife. His conviction and death sentence have gone through multiple appeals. His execution date is set for July 22, 2026, however, Ohio has a moratorium on executions over the inability to obtain lethal injection drugs. Legislation is pending in Ohio to use nitrogen hypoxia as a method of execution. The bills sponsors say they believe the legislation would survive any kind of constitutional challenge and has the support of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association. Watkins testified during hearings for the bill highlighting the Hill case and other local death penalty convictions. Ohio currently has 120 inmates on death row. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. Concerned St. Charles County voters gathered Monday night to speak on suspected election interference and fraud. Jen Bahr won her seat as Cottleville Township Committeewoman last Tuesday by a remarkable single vote. While the total tally already opens the conversation of a recount, some are questioning the legitimacy of the outcome based on Jen Bahrs marriage to Kurt Bahr, the St. Charles County Director of Elections. Several election judges are stepping forward, willing to submit signed affidavits claiming that Mr. Bahr illegally electioneered within a polling place on behalf of his wife. Aldermen call for Civilian Oversight Board member to resign after Ferguson protest Another cause of concern is that the county election website wasnt updating with results during Tuesdays primary election, blaming the delay on a glitch in the websites software. Many constituents are calling to get rid of the vendor tabulation system altogether and revert to hand-counting votes. Many are also calling for a total forensic recount. At the end of public comments, Representative Joe Brazil played an impromptu video not on the agenda. In the video, a meeting and a phone call were shared. The meeting was between supposed election security officials, including the Director of Elections Kurt Bahr and Assistant Director Mark Parkison. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Bahr and Parkinson admit to tampering with St. Charles Countys electronic voting machines by breaking the security seals to physically access 100% of the machines in the county to disable their Ethernet connectivity. The two did not keep a log of any of this information. One of the experts in the meeting informed the officials that, due to failed requirements and a lack of documentation, the cut wires invalidated the certification of the voting machines set forth by the EAC and VVSG. In the next part of the video, a phone call between Brazil and Parkinson is played, where Parkinson says he lied about tampering with the Ethernet wire because he wanted to elicit a response from the experts. Many of the people who spoke demanded Mr. Bahrs resignation and an investigation into Tenex, the countys vendor. Councilman Timothy Baker from District 7 said he believes the best thing to do is to read through the charter with the newly elected officials and see what can be changed for more accountability to go into the election process in St. Charles County. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2. St. Johns County Sheriffs Office (SJSO) is actively searching for 78-year-old Graham McNamee, who has been reported missing. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< McNamee was reportedly last seen wearing black pants, an aqua-colored shirt featuring a Corvette logo, and is likely wearing glasses. He is believed to be driving a tan Chevrolet Equinox with a Florida license plate reading 80BHBI and is thought to be heading north toward Georgia. Authorities are urging anyone who sees McNamee or his vehicle to immediately contact SJSO at (904) 824-8304 or dial 911. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live. DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) A Miami University graduate is set to become the new chief executive officer at Starbucks. On Aug. 13, Chipotle announced the departure of its Chairman and CEO, Brian Niccol. The restaurant company announced he has accepted the same position with Starbucks. Niccol says since beginning his term at Chipotle, the company has accelerated. The strategic priorities this team has put in place have positioned Chipotle to win today and enable future growth, said Niccol. Its hard to leave such a great company and all of the talented people Ive had the pleasure to work with, but I depart knowing the business is in great shape and poised for growth with a strong, experienced leadership team. Wawa eyes location near Austin Landing According to Niccol, he is excited to join the cafe company. I have long-admired Starbucks iconic brand, unique culture and commitment to enhancing human connections around the globe, said Niccol. As I embark upon this journey, I am energized by the tremendous potential to drive growth and further enhance the Starbucks experience for our customers and partners, while staying true to our mission and values. Starbucks reports their current CEO is stepping down, effective immediately. In 1996, Niccol graduated from Miami University in Oxford. Niccol returned to the campus in May as a commencement speaker during graduation. Niccol will remain as Chipotle CEO until Aug. 31. He will assume the role at Starbucks on Sept. 9. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDTN.com. Startup backed by Vance had nightmare conditions with workers toiling in 128-degree heat, ex-employees say Startup backed by Vance had nightmare conditions with workers toiling in 128-degree heat, ex-employees say Former employees of an indoor farming startup, backed by Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance, have described appalling working conditions at the company, with staff toiling in triple-digit heat. Vance was a board member, early investor, and public advocate of AppHarvest, a tech-infused farming operation in eastern Kentucky, according to CNN. Founder Jonathan Webb wanted to create an indoor farming hub to grow fruits and vegetables, in a region with plenty of water and land available, within a days drive of most of the US population. Vance called the company a good investment on Fox Business when it went public in February 2021, and lauded it for making a big difference in the world. The company declared bankruptcy in 2023 as it faced debts of hundreds of millions of dollars. While Vance has portrayed himself as a champion of the working class, a dozen former AppHarvest workers told CNN that the company was an awful place to work at times. Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance at a campaign event on August 7 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Vance was an early investor and public advocate for AppHarvest (AP) They said that conditions inside the companys greenhouse were brutal, with temperatures soaring above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Complaints were filed with the Department of Labor and a state regulator between 2020 and 2023 stating that workers were not given sufficient water breaks or proper safety equipment. Documents reveal that state government inspectors visited the site on at least three occasions but issued no citations. However, some staff said they experienced heat exhaustion or injuries. Several former staffers told CNN that while the company made promises of creating local jobs, they soon started hiring migrant workers from Mexico and Guatemala. Crop care specialist Shelby Hester told CNN that when Kentuckys Republican Senator Mitch McConnell toured the greenhouse in November 2021, they sent every single Hispanic worker home before he got there. He then proceeded to have a speech about how we were taking the jobs from the Mexicans, she added. Anthony Morgan, who also picked vegetables, took a pay cut to join AppHarvest, after being attracted by its healthcare benefits and supposed commitment to Appalachia, he said. After a good start, there was a major shift in company culture, with longer hours, fewer breaks in the grueling heat, and benefits being cut back, he added. I think about the hottest that I experienced was around 128 degrees, Morgan told CNN. A couple days a week, youd have an ambulance show up and you seen people leaving on gurneys to go to the hospital. He added: It was a nightmare that should have never happened. As the conditions worsened, employees began to leave the company, Morgan added, saying that he was fired after taking medical leave for a workplace injury. Hester also told CNN: I had to bring in my own N95 masks because I was getting sick from the amount of mold and just nasty stuff that was in there. Hester said heat stroke was a common problem for workers. A doctors note was not enough to not show up for a shift, managers told staff. The Independent has contacted AppHarvests founder Jonathan Webb for comment. A Vance spokesperson, Luke Schroeder, told The Independent that JD was not aware of the operational decisions regarding hiring, employee benefits, or other workplace policies which were made after he departed AppHarvests board. He added: Like all early supporters, JD believed in AppHarvests mission and wishes the company would have succeeded. AppHarvests chief restructuring officer, Gary Broadbent, told CNN: AppHarvest has no continuing operations and is not in a position to respond. The Vance spokesperson shared a statement from a member of AppHarvests senior management team, who requested anonymity to discuss confidential exchanges. The senior manager said, The allegations made against AppHarvest do not reflect matters discussed at board meetings during JDs tenure for obvious reasons. AppHarvest implemented robust heat policies when temperatures rose in the summer, months after JDs departure, continued to cover 100 percent of employees health insurance premiums until mid-2022, and maintained a workforce dedicated to Appalachia throughout its existence. Vance left the AppHarvest board in 2021 to run for Senate in Ohio but remained an investor. In early 2023, the company was hit with lawsuits from shareholders who were furious at the decreasing stock price and fraud claims. Former staff told CNN that they think Vance and fellow board members should have recognized and responded to warning signs that the company was misleading investors as well as the public. Morgan said Vances promotion of the company was a familiar situation in Kentucky. Eastern Kentucky is well-known for people coming and going. They start up companies, then they disappear, Morgan said. They didnt care about us. Webb told Fox News in 2022 that he and Vance met after the senator joined the seed fund, Rise of the Rest, run by AOL co-founder Steve Case. Webb had drained his savings and maxed out his credit cards running the business but managed to convince Vance to invest $150,000, he said. Vance joined the board of directors in March 2017, according to his financial disclosure filings after he became a Senate candidate in 2022. AppHarvests security filings say Vance joined the board in 2020. Vance established his venture capitalist firm, Narya, in Ohio in early 2020 and made one of its first public investments in AppHarvest. Vance had helped the company attract millions of dollars within a few years, according to CNN. When AppHarvest went public in February 2021, its shares skyrocketed and it was valued at more than $1bn. But the firm lost more than three-quarters of its value in the first six months as a public entity. Vance left the board in April 2021 to focus on his Senate campaign. Disclosures show that he had more than $100,000 invested in the company at the time and Narya continued to publically back the company, CNN reported. AppHarvest filed for bankruptcy last year with more than $341m debt. DECATUR, Ill. (WCIA) The Illinois Housing Development Authority is giving financial support to repurpose the closed Garfield School into housing for independent seniors. The former school on West Grand Avenue has secured $20.7 million for development to convert the school building into 32 apartments, according to a news release from the city. Also planned is construction of the space for the old auditorium to make 31 more apartments. Decatur Dash cancelled due to insurance agreements The Decatur Housing Authority has also committed to subsidize 18 apartment units annually, which in 2024 would equate to $182,000 approximately. DHA officials expect the cost to go up as housing costs rise. The developers for the project, including Bywater Development Group, Simmons Development Group, and SOCAYR, will get federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) and other development financing from IHDA to build the project. The Decatur City Council recently approved a TIF district for the area including the former school to invest in the nearby community. City leaders plan to add a retail space and mixed income housing to the area in the future. City officials estimate construction on the project will start in mid-to-late 2025. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com. OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) With an 8-0 vote, the Statewide Charter School Board voted to comply with a June 25 order of the Oklahoma State Supreme Court to end its contract with St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. Our board is always going to be in compliance with the court order. There were those who wanted to rush the process, but there was a process and this board will always respect the process, said Brian Shellem, board chairman. The contract gave St. Isidore state sanctioning and the promise of taxpayer funding. The states highest court ruled the contract as unconstitutional because its a religious entity. Until Monday, the board opted not to cancel the contract in its meetings since the ruling. This this board is always going to stay in compliance with the law, said Shellem. Oklahoma Supreme Court denies effort to continue St. Isidore contract Attorney General Gentner Drummond responded to the boards decision on Monday, While it is appalling that the Board took so long to recognize the authority of the Oklahoma Supreme Court, I am pleased that board members finally fulfilled their duty. The proposed state-sponsored religious charter school, funded by our tax dollars, represents a serious threat to the religious liberty of all four million Oklahomans. Attorney General Gentner Drummond State Superintendent Ryan Walters did not attend the meeting, and instead voted by proxy. Walters reacted to the decision on social medial by attacking the State Supreme Court justices who handed down the ruling. The Supreme Court has failed Oklahomans in their latest dismal ruling against parents and kids. They have chosen the path of liberal extremism and Marxism by depriving parents of a choice. Its shameful, but predictable from a failed judicial system. They do not represent conservative Oklahoma values. Superintendent Ryan Walters via X The board also voted to immediately reinstate the contract if the U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of the charter in an appeal. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City. The Beckman Institute accelerates research programs with revolutionary ZEISS Xradia 630 Versa Micro-CT scanner, the first 630 model for life science applications in the U.S. WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Interdisciplinary researchers in Illinois, the U.S., and around the world are advancing their research projects with the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology's new ZEISS Xradia 630 Versa micro-CT scanner, the first of its kind with life science applications in the U.S. The Beckman Institute accelerates research programs with revolutionary ZEISS Xradia 630 Versa Micro-CT scanner, the first 630 model for life science applications in the U.S. Computed tomography, or CT, is an imaging technique that involves capturing a series of cross-sectional X-ray scans of an object or sample be it a material like concrete or a biological sample like an insect or human body. Stacked on top of one another, the images non-invasively reconstruct the subject in 3D from the inside out. Microscopic, computed tomography, or micro-CT, helps researchers reconstruct subjects as tiny and delicate as collagen or insect antennae. Most micro-CT scanners use only X-rays, which are invisible to the human eye, but Beckman's new model also incorporates visible through a process called scintillation. The 630 Versa can also scan small subsections of large materials while maintaining a maximum imaging resolution of 40 nanometers, 2,500 times narrower than the width of a human hair. "With building materials, hairline cracks are the start of where things go catastrophically wrong, and the micro-CT scanner at the Beckman Institute can see those cracks," said Beckman microscopist T. Josek. "We're providing the opportunity for researchers at the University of Illinois and beyond to start here and start small see how a material behaves and what it looks like, and then scale up." Researchers can use the compression/tensile stage to stretch, bend, and compress their samples while scrutinizing them up close a technique called in situ mechanical testing. The Versa 630 can also do diffraction contrast tomography, a technique wherein researchers can determine a material's grain orientation by tracking how X-rays bend as they pass through it. The scanner was installed in January 2024 and is the first 630 model for life science applications in the U.S. In addition to the Beckman Institute, the Illinois Materials Research Laboratory, The Grainger College of Engineering and the Office for the Vice Chancellor of Research and Innovation committed funds to support its purchase. In partnership with Carl Zeiss Microscopy, the Beckman Microscopy Suite team is focused on finding projects on campus and beyond that might benefit from the Versa 630 and is providing comprehensive training for new users. Story continues "We at ZEISS are thrilled to be partnering with the Beckman Institute Microscopy Suite to deliver this flexible and intuitive system for X-ray microscopy," said Aubrey Funke, Carl Zeiss Microscopy Product Marketing Manager for Life Science EM/XRM. "The ability to image your sample, be it organic or material, becomes a less intimidating process on the ZEISS Xradia Versa 630. With high powered-resolution and expanded ease-of-use for all skill levels, the Versa 630 is ideal for diverse research capabilities across various applications, including life science, electronics, materials research, and many more. We look forward to working with the Beckman Institute Microscopy Suite to support many diverse research projects. Researchers at the University of Illinois and beyond are encouraged to use the 630 Versa micro-CT scanner. For more information or to use the micro-CT scanner, please visit the Beckman Institute Microscopy Suite website at https://itg.beckman.illinois.edu/microscopy_suite. The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology is an interdisciplinary research institute on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus. It is home to nearly 200 faculty members, 400 grad students, and 90 postdocs. Its researchers tackle topics like intelligence, molecules, and imaging. The result: scientific advances that couldn't occur any other way. About ZEISS ZEISS is an internationally leading technology enterprise operating in the fields of optics and optoelectronics. In the previous fiscal year, the ZEISS Group generated annual revenue totaling 10 billion euros in its four segments Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology, Industrial Quality & Research, Medical Technology and Consumer Markets (status: 30 September 2023). For its customers, ZEISS develops, produces and distributes highly innovative solutions for industrial metrology and quality assurance, microscopy solutions for the life sciences and materials research, and medical technology solutions for diagnostics and treatment in ophthalmology and microsurgery. The name ZEISS is also synonymous with the world's leading lithography optics, which are used by the chip industry to manufacture semiconductor components. There is global demand for trendsetting ZEISS brand products such as eyeglass lenses, camera lenses and binoculars. With a portfolio aligned with future growth areas like digitalization, healthcare and Smart Production and a strong brand, ZEISS is shaping the future of technology and constantly advancing the world of optics and related fields with its solutions. The company's significant, sustainable investments in research and development lay the foundation for the success and continued expansion of ZEISS' technology and market leadership. ZEISS invests 15 percent of its revenue in research and development this high level of expenditure has a long tradition at ZEISS and is also an investment in the future. With around 43,000 employees, ZEISS is active globally in almost 50 countries with around 30 production sites, 60 sales and service companies and 27 research and development facilities (status: 30 September 2023). Founded in 1846 in Jena, the company is headquartered in Oberkochen, Germany. The Carl Zeiss Foundation, one of the largest foundations in Germany committed to the promotion of science, is the sole owner of the holding company, Carl Zeiss AG. Further information at www.zeiss.com ZEISS Research Microscopy Solutions ZEISS Research Microscopy Solutions is the leading provider of light, electron, X-ray microscope systems, correlative microscopy and software solutions leveraging AI technologies. The portfolio comprises of products and services for life sciences, materials and industrial research, as well as education and clinical routine applications. The unit is headquartered in Jena. Additional production and development sites are located in Germany, UK, USA and China. ZEISS Research Microscopy Solutions is part of the Industrial Quality & Research segment. Further information at www.zeiss.com/microscopy Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/zeiss-expands-micro-ct-research-pipeline-with-the-beckman-institute-for-advanced-science-and-technology-302220496.html SOURCE ZEISS Research Microscopy Solutions State lawmaker says he was threatened with gun over parking spot in Park Circle NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD)- A state lawmaker said he was involved in a deeply unsettling incident in North Charleston on Tuesday in which he was threatened with a gun during a parking dispute. The incident happened near E. Montague Avenue and Ohear Avenue around 1 p.m., according to the North Charleston Police Department. Rep. JA Moore (D-Charleston) reportedly told police that he was pulling into a parking spot to pick up his daughter from school when a vehicle approached and took the spot. He said the driver became hostile when confronted and went to his vehicle and brandished a handgun and pointed it at [Moore] before fleeing to a nearby bar, according to a report. The report further states that officers spoke with the suspect described as a 66-year-old white male who initially denied having an altercation. He later admitted to engaging in a verbal argument but denied pointing a gun. Moore said in a statement Tuesday afternoon that the incident left him profoundly concerned for his familys safety and the community. My thoughts immediately went to my daughter and how different this day could have been, he said. I was there to pick her up from her first day of school a day that should have been filled with excitement and pride, not fear. The safety of our children and our community is of utmost importance. He added that he was grateful for the police departments quick response and urged transparency throughout the investigation. First and foremost, I want to thank the officers who responded to this terrifying incident, Moore said. Their quick action is appreciated, and its a reminder of the difficult and dangerous situations they face every day in keeping our community safe. Moore, who represents District 15 in the South Carolina House, has long advocated for stricter gun control measures to combat gun violence an issue that has touched him personally. His sister was one of nine Black parishioners killed by a white supremacist in a 2015 shooting at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. He said Tuesdays incident serves as a stark reminder of the work still to be done. We must come together to ensure that every family feels safe in their homes and in their community, Moore said. I remain dedicated to his cause, now more than ever. No arrests have been made. The investigation is ongoing. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCBD News 2. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images) LOUISVILLE, Ky. Inside a white-walled conference room, a speaker surveyed hundreds of state lawmakers and policy influencers, asking whether artificial intelligence poses a threat to the elections in their states. The results were unambiguous: 80% of those who answered a live poll said yes. In a follow-up question, nearly 90% said their state laws werent adequate to deter those threats. It was among the many exchanges on artificial intelligence that dominated sessions at last weeks meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures, the largest annual gathering of lawmakers, in Louisville. Its the topic du jour, Kentucky state Sen. Whitney Westerfield, a Republican, told lawmakers as he kicked off one of many panels centering on AI. There are a lot of discussions happening in all of our state legislatures across the country. While some experts and lawmakers celebrated the promise of AI to advance services in health care and education, others lamented its potential to disrupt the democratic process with just months to go before Novembers elections. And lawmakers compared the many types of legislation theyre proposing to tackle the issue. This presidential election cycle is the first since generative AI a form of artificial intelligence that can create new images, audio and video became widely available. Thats raised alarms over deepfakes, remarkably convincing but fake videos or images that can portray anyone, including candidates, in situations that didnt occur or saying things they didnt. We need to do something to make sure the voters understand what theyre doing, said Kentucky state Sen. Amanda Mays Bledsoe. The Republican lawmaker, who chairs a special legislative task force on AI, co-sponsored a bipartisan bill this year aimed at limiting the use of deepfakes to influence elections. The bill would have allowed candidates whose appearance, action or speech was altered through synthetic media in an election communication to take its sponsor to court. The state Senate unanimously approved the proposal but it stalled in the House. While Bledsoe expects to bring the bill up again next session, she acknowledged how complex the issue is: Lawmakers are trying to balance the risks of the evolving technology against their desire to promote innovation and protect free speech. You dont want to go too fast, she said in an interview, but you also dont want to be too behind. Rhode Island state Sen. Dawn Euer, a Democrat, told Stateline shes concerned about AIs potential to amplify disinformation, particularly across social media. Election propaganda and disinformation has been part of the zeitgeist for the existence of humanity, said Euer, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee. Now, we have high-tech tools to do it. Connecticut state Sen. James Maroney, a Democrat, agreed that concerns about AIs effects on elections are legitimate. But he emphasized that most deepfakes target women with digitally generated nonconsensual intimate images or revenge porn. Research firm Sensity AI has tracked online deepfake videos for years, finding 90% of them are nonconsensual porn, mostly targeting women. Maroney sponsored legislation this year that would have regulated artificial intelligence and criminalized deepfake porn and false political messaging. That bill passed the state Senate, but not the House. Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont opposed the measure, saying it was premature and potentially harmful to the states technology industry. While Maroney has concerns about AI, he said the upsides far outweigh the risks. For example, AI can help lawmakers communicate with constituents through chatbots or translate messaging into other languages. Top election officials on AI During one session in Louisville, New Hampshire Republican Secretary of State David Scanlan said AI could improve election administration by making it easier to organize election statistics or get official messaging out to the public. Still, New Hampshire experienced firsthand some of the downside of the new technology earlier this year when voters received robocalls that used artificial intelligence to imitate President Joe Bidens voice to discourage participation in a January primary. Prosecutors charged the political operative who allegedly organized the fake calls with more than a dozen crimes, including voter suppression, and the Federal Communications Commission proposed a $6 million fine against him. While the technology may be new, Scanlan said election officials have always had to keep a close eye on misinformation about elections and extreme tactics by candidates or their supporters and opponents. You might call them dirty tricks, but it has always been in candidates arsenals, and this really was a form of that as well, he said. Its just more complex. The way state officials responded, by quickly identifying the calls as fake and investigating their origins, serves as a playbook for other states ahead of Novembers elections, said Cait Conley, a senior adviser at the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency focused on election security. What we saw New Hampshire do is best practice, she said during the presentation. They came out quickly and clearly and provided guidance, and they really just checked the disinformation that was out there. Kentucky Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams told Stateline that AI could prove challenging for swing states in the presidential election. But he said it may still be too new of a technology to cause widespread problems for most states. Of the 99 things that we chew our nails over, its not in the top 10 or 20, he said in an interview. I dont know that its at a maturity level that itll be utilized everywhere. Adams this year received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for championing the integrity of elections despite pushback from fellow Republicans. He said AI is yet another obstacle facing election officials who already must combat challenges including disinformation and foreign influence. More bills coming With an absence of congressional action, states have increasingly sought to regulate the quickly evolving world of AI on their own. NCSL this year tracked AI bills in at least 40 states, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Washington, D.C. Without a doubt, artificial intelligence is being used to sow disinformation and misinformation, and I think as we get closer to the election, well see a lot more cases of it being used. Texas Republican state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione As states examine the issue, many are looking at Colorado, which this year became the first state to create a sweeping regulatory framework for artificial intelligence. Technology companies opposed the measure, worried it will stifle innovation in a new industry. Colorado Senate Majority Leader Robert Rodriguez, a Democrat who sponsored the bill, said lawmakers modeled much of their language on European Union regulations to avoid creating mismatched rules for companies using AI. Still, the law will be examined by a legislative task force before going into effect in 2026. Its a first-in-the nation bill, and Im under no illusion that its perfect and ready to go, he said. Weve got two years. When Texas lawmakers reconvene next January, state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione expects to see many AI bills flying. A Republican and co-chair of a state artificial intelligence advisory council, Capriglione said hes worried about how generative AI may influence how people vote or even if they vote in both local and national elections. Without a doubt, artificial intelligence is being used to sow disinformation and misinformation, he said, and I think as we get closer to the election, well see a lot more cases of it being used. This report was first published by Stateline, which like NC Newsline, is part of the national States Newsroom network. MANSFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) A Massachusetts State Trooper has been relieved of duty after being arrested over the weekend by the Mansfield Police Department. Suspect arrested in deadly crash on Mass Pike over the weekend According to The Sun Chronicle, Trooper Richard Whelan, 37, was arraigned Monday for domestic assault charges after allegedly attacking his girlfriend. The charges allege he grabbed his girlfriend by the throat and shook her at his Mansfield home over the weekend. His girlfriend of two years denied an assault occurred. The Massachusetts State Police say Whelan is currently the subject of an internal affairs investigation. No further information has been released at this time. 22News will keep you up to date as we learn more. Latest Local News Headlines WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWLP. Carmen Lopez works at Berts Pharmacy in Elizabeth, N.J., in May. In recent years, all 50 states have enacted laws designed to lower prescription drug costs by curbing the power of pharmacy benefit managers, intermediaries in the drug supply chain that manage prescription drugs for health plans. But a federal law has limited such efforts. (Shelby Lum | The Associated Press) Oliver Lackey opened a pharmacy in his hometown of Fairview, Oklahoma, so he could provide the best patient care. He set up shop a decade ago in the local grocery store with zero prescriptions. Before long, business took off yet he was still struggling. I was getting more patients and was filling more prescriptions, Lackey told Stateline. But as I grew in revenues, my reimbursement from the insurance companies and PBMs every year was getting worse. PBMs are pharmacy benefit managers, the intermediaries in the drug supply chain that manage prescription drugs for health plans. PBMs determine which drugs are available under a persons insurance plan, set copayments and decide how much pharmacies must pay to acquire drugs. PBMs argue that they use their bargaining power to negotiate lower drug prices for consumers and pharmacists. But critics say PBMs, some of which are owned by the largest health care corporations in the nation, engage in anticompetitive practices that lead to higher prices and drive independent pharmacies like Lackeys out of business. In recent years, all 50 states have enacted laws designed to lower prescription drug costs by curbing the power of PBMs, according to the National Academy for State Health Policy, a nonpartisan research group. But thanks to a 50-year-old federal law called the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, better known as ERISA, almost none of those measures applies to the 65% of Americans who work for large employers that cover their workers through so-called self-funded health care plans. That could change if the U.S. Supreme Court upholds a PBM law enacted by Lackeys home state of Oklahoma. What is ERISA? The Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA, was signed into law in 1974. It is meant to protect participants in employer-sponsored retirement and health plans by setting uniform standards for how the plans operate. Five years ago, Oklahoma tried to rein in PBMs by approving a measure barring them from forcing pharmacies to pay certain fees or requiring patients to use PBM-owned or -affiliated pharmacies. The law also prohibited PBMs from giving more generous reimbursements to their own pharmacies or arbitrarily booting pharmacies from their preferred networks. It was the most aggressive, broadest PBM enforcement legislation in the country, Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready, a Republican, told Stateline. And it was immediately challenged. The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, a trade association representing PBMs, sued to invalidate the law. In August of last year, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that ERISA, the federal law, prevented Oklahoma from applying much of its law to self-funded health care plans. Greg Lopes, the trade groups vice president of public affairs, said the Oklahoma law would raise costs for health plans and consumers in the state. Oklahomas law would devastate employer, union, and Medicare plan sponsors as well as hundreds of thousands of their beneficiaries, who would experience higher costs and reduced benefits, Lopes said in an email. But in May, the state pushed back: Oklahoma appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the decision. In June, 32 state attorneys general and five pharmacist trade groups joined the lawsuit. The Supreme Court hasnt decided whether to take the case. If the high court eventually rules in favor of Oklahoma, legal experts say, it could establish an important precedent by allowing states to regulate the health plans that provide coverage to the majority of Americans, instead of being limited to regulating individual and group health plans and Medicaid programs. But if the high court declines to hear the case or rules against Oklahoma, states will continue to have a hard time applying any state regulations to self-funded plans. Whatever the outcome, it will come too late for Oliver Lackey. He was in business for six years but had to shutter his pharmacy in 2020, he said, because PBMs werent paying him enough for the drugs he was selling. He now works as the pharmacy director for the nonprofit Great Salt Plains Health Center, which serves patients in five Oklahoma locations. I had lots of patients who, when I announced that I was closing, came in crying, he said. It was a really tough time to go through that, because youre essentially telling your family or your patients that you cant afford to take care of them anymore. Origins of the law The goal of ERISA, which President Gerald Ford signed into law in 1974, is to protect participants in employer-sponsored retirement and health plans by setting uniform standards for how the plans operate. The rules are designed to ensure that plan administrators run them in the interest of participants and beneficiaries, solely to provide benefits and cover expenses. Congress approved ERISA in response to high-profile cases of underfunding and fraud in pension plans, said Elizabeth McCuskey, a professor of health law policy and management at the Boston University School of Public Health and School of Law. They made a lot of protections for employees, to make sure that the benefits promised to them by their employers were not being fraudulently reduced or squandered, McCuskey said. Under ERISA, large employers with thousands of employees in multiple states must abide by a single set of federal standards in their retirement and health benefits, rather than having to follow many different sets of state rules. Companies want to offer benefits, and they want to offer very good health plans for their employees, said James Gelfand, president of the ERISA Industry Committee, a trade group representing large employers covered by the law. However, it would not be possible to do that if they had to follow different rules in every state, every city or every municipality. Having to follow state-specific regulations such as the ones in the Oklahoma law likely would make it more expensive for large employers to provide health care coverage to their employees, Gelfand said. In response, he suggested, employers might stop offering certain benefits. Weve also said to states, you know, if you pass a law that violates federal law, we will consider legal action, because our companies are not going to be able to offer benefits if they have to have a different plan in California and Texas and Maryland and Massachusetts, he said. At the time ERISA was approved, McCuskey explained, the main concern was pensions, not health care plans. But it has this tradeoff, she added, because the thing that states want and need to regulate over the past 50 years has been their health care markets. Legal confusion ERISA can be triggered fairly easily, so states must be careful when they try to regulate their health care markets, according to Joanne Roskey, an attorney at Miller & Chevalier, where she specializes in ERISA cases. As a result, their legislative efforts typically dont apply to the nearly two-thirds of people enrolled in self-funded plans. In 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court opened the door to at least some state regulation of PBMs in self-funded plans when it upheld a more limited Arkansas law. But the constant threat of ERISA-related lawsuits makes it challenging for legislators to do more to curb prescription drug costs, an issue that ranks high on voters lists of concerns, experts said. Its so broad, and its so muddled, and theres billions of dollars at stake, Boston Universitys McCuskey said. McCuskey and other legal experts say a ruling on the Oklahoma case could clear the way for more action. Mulready, the states insurance commissioner, hopes they are right. We just need clarity on the issue, he said. Thats whats needed by lots of folks across the country as theyre watching this or have watched this play out. Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org. Follow Stateline on Facebook and X. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) Compared to the same point at this time last year, violent crime is down in Portland, the Department of Justice said. In the first six months of 2023, there were 41 homicides in Portland. This year, 34 and of those, 25 are gun-related deaths. The Portland Office of Violence Prevention held a meeting Monday night to talk about violence of all kind in the city. The biggest takeaway: Violent crimes, no matter how many there are, is not acceptable. Community members aim to reclaim Dawson Park after waves of gun violence The numbers are down, but each person who is impacted is still impacted, right?, said Elizabeth Perez, the Chief of Staff to Mike Myers, the Deputy City Administrator. We want to be involved in the process, and theres been no formal way of pulling the community together and figuring out where do we go as (the Office of Violence Prevention.) She said a big success the office has had is prevention and intervention, but she noted enforcement and communication both need to be improved. I think some of the things that we have heard from the community, that we need to improve upon, is our community engagement, is our communication, Perez said. Among those listening Monday night was Rev. Dr. J.W. Matt Hennessee with Vancouver First Baptist Church. Pastor J.W. Matt Hennessee shares his thoughts on solving Portlands gun violence epidemic on Eye on Northwest Politics (Credit: KOIN) We do a lot of work in the community, especially around the issues of gun violence, about issues of everything that we can do to work with bridging the gap between police and law enforcement, Hennessee said. The pastor said he hopes for constructive conversations. What I hear from people is they say We just have to stop this, this has to end, this cannot continue. How do we work together to try to figure out a way so that there is no issue regarding people thinking that the way to solve conflict is to get a gun, he said. Statistics provided to KOIN 6 News by the Portland Police Bureau shows the number of shootings has definitely dropped in the city since 2022, when 826 shootings were recorded by early August. So far this year, 522 shootings have been recorded. Video shows moments before, after NW 21st shooting The DOJ statistics reveal violent crime in most of the cities in the US and Canada is down year-to-year. Though the crime statistics are trending down, Perez said their work at OVP never stops. The overarching theme of the Monday work session is the community needs to work together on solutions. We have to keep listening to our community and doing what theyre asking of us, Perez said. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. Residents and vacationers in the Hilton Head Island area reported at least 17 car break-ins and stolen vehicles in the first 11 days of August, with several locations seeing multiple thefts in the same time frame. Beaufort County police investigate such break-ins year-round, although reports rise during the summer months when the area is more crowded and juveniles have more time on their hands due to breaks from school. In most cases, the victims of theft tell police they left their vehicles unlocked, although perpetrators are also known to smash car windows to nab purses and wallets. Break-ins appeared to be concentrated at three locations: Hilton Heads Island Links Resort by Palmera, the Emerson Isles apartments in eastern Bluffton and the nearby Wellstone community. The most commonly stolen items were handguns, wallets, purses and cash but hiding your valuables in your glove box isnt always enough to prevent theft, police say. Here is a sampling of reports received in the first 11 days of August. Hilton Head Aug. 2: $600 bike reported missing from the North Shore Place parking garage Aug. 5: Glock handgun and $60 stolen from vacationers car on Dune Lane in the Shipyard area of Hilton Head Aug. 8: Glock handgun and holster taken from truck parked at Island Links Resort; thieves left passenger door was slightly ajar and glove box open Aug. 8: .40 cal Smith and Wesson handgun, holster and $10 in cash stolen from unlocked vehicle at Island Links Resort Aug. 8: Two decals required for entry into local gated communities (Hilton Head Plantation and Wexford Plantation) were scraped off of commercial vehicle; neighborhoods were notified should someone attempt to gain access using them in the future Aug. 9: Thief used a Jeeps fabric rear window to enter the car parked at a rental near Islanders Beach Park; stole two pairs of sunglasses Bluffton/Okatie Aug. 10: SUVs window smashed overnight at Emerson Isles apartments in Bluffton; missing purse was later found in the nearby woods near a lagoon and swabbed for DNA evidence Aug. 10: Jeeps window smashed overnight at Emerson Isles; black Coach wallet reported stolen Aug. 10: 9mm handgun taken from unlocked vehicle in Oldfield community Aug. 11: After hearing of multiple car break-ins from her landlord, Emerson Isles resident discovered wallet and $100 cash had been taken from her glove box Aug. 11: Moped containing wallet stolen from parking lot of Okatie Hilton Head Hotel Bluffton police also saw a large number of similar thefts most notably in the Wellstone at Bluffton community, where two break-ins and two stolen vehicles were reported Aug. 9 and Aug. 10, all within two blocks of each other. Aug. 4: Vehicle break-in on Jason Street Aug. 4: Stolen vehicle on Estate Drive Aug. 9: Stolen vehicle on Marianna Way Aug. 9: Stolen vehicle on Fernbank Avenue (Wellstone at Bluffton) Aug. 10: Vehicle break-in on Fernbank Avenue (Wellstone at Bluffton) Aug. 10: Vehicle break-in on Plumgrass Way (Wellstone at Bluffton) Aug. 10: Stolen vehicle on Plumgrass Street (Wellstone at Bluffton) In the first 11 days of August, police in Hilton Head and Bluffton reported 17 cases of car break-ins (blue) or stolen vehicles (red). How to stay safe Tracking or predicting this type of theft can be difficult because it is primarily a crime of opportunity, said Master Sgt. Danny. Allen, a spokesperson for the Beaufort County Sheriffs Office. In most cases, perpetrators target neighborhoods and tourist-heavy areas, tugging on car doors ad nauseam in search of unlocked vehicles. By the time police respond, the thieves have usually moved on to a different area. Allen advised residents to always lock their car doors and to store valuables in a glove box or center console or remove those items from the vehicle entirely while leaving it parked for long periods. Those living in private communities should not develop a false sense of security, he said, as criminals can easily bypass the gates on foot. They might even live in the neighborhood themselves. Car robberies are rarely caught on camera, the sergeant added. If possible, he urged locals to buy surveillance systems for their homes, pointing at least one camera where vehicles are parked and left overnight. (FOX40.COM) A man is accused of animal cruelty after law enforcement seized 49 different types of animals from a unit operated by him, according to the Nevada County Sheriffs Office. Officials said the 35-year-old suspect from Grass Valley was arrested twice in a span of three days. The man was arrested on Aug. 6 after 47 animals were collectively seized. Two dogs were in the process of being seized but were given to a neighbor in good faith with that person agreeing to assume all care. When Animal Control did a follow up check two days later, they discovered that the same two dogs were back in the suspects care in cages with no access to food or water. Yuba County man pleads guilty to DUI crash that killed football coach, prosecutors say The dogs were seized and the suspect was arrested again and booked into Wayne Brown Correctional Facility. The first arrest happened after the sheriffs office said deputies responded to a report of several animals leaving a business unit within the Alta Sierra Business Park complex on Alta Sierra Drive. Deputies located the unit along with the suspect, who told authorities he had plans to open a reptile business, but it was not yet in operation and he didnt have a permit. Animals found inside included snakes, reptiles, rabbits, guinea peas, rats, ducks, chickens, birds, cats and dogs, the sheriffs office said. Most of the animals were locked in small cages or tubs that were contaminated with urine and feces and had no access to water or food, officials said. The sheriffs office said a lack of food, water and cleanliness were found with most of the animals. Massive bear wreaks havoc in Northern California town, kills nearly 50 farm chickens Upon entry into the unit, I was hit with a strong, pungent odor of ammonia, coupled with stagnant, humid, warm air, Nevada County Sheriffs Office Animal Control supervisor Stefanie Geckler said. There were no obvious sources of ventilation, no windows were open, no fans were running, and the air conditioner was not turned on. Geckler recalled going inside one small room where there were six plastic tubs with different types of birds in them. There was no water or food for the birds inside the tub and some of the tubs were covered with plastic lids, making it very difficult for birds to breathe, Geckler said. The ammonia stench grew the deeper we got into the room, Geckler said. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40. New student loan debt relief plan aims to provide relief for more borrowers New student loan debt relief plan aims to provide relief for more borrowers LAS VEGAS (KLAS) Nearly 25 million federal student loan borrowers are receiving emails from the Department of Education with information about potential student debt relief. President Bidens first plan to relieve student loan debt was nixed by the Supreme Court last year. This new plan is designed to provide relief to four groups of borrowers, according to Jack Wallace of Yrefy. Theyre borrowers who have been in repayment for decades, twenty-something years, theyre borrowers who are eligible for previous forgiveness programs but have not signed up yet, Wallace said. In addition to including former students of schools that were cut off from federal aid programs, and students who have experienced runaway interest accrual, The Department of Education expects the new student loan forgiveness plan to be automatic. This means that borrowers who want to be included do not need to take any action. However, there is an opt-out clause, which must be completed by August 30th. Why would someone opt out? Wallace said they possibly would if they were worried about state tax consequences associated with loan forgiveness. But if you opt-out, you cant opt back in. Biden has forgiven $150 billion already in student loans. There are several federal court cases attacking, and putting on hold, all of, or part of Bidens Save Program which began in October. The best way to stay informed is to watch your emails from the Department of Education, which expects to have more details this fall. You can also find out more by going to this website. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS. These students will be guaranteed admission to the University of Utah Heres what you should know SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) The University of Utah announced a new pilot program Monday that guarantees admission to students who meet certain criteria and the students dont even need to apply to the university to know that they would be accepted. The new program called Utah Direct is being tested in certain school districts in Utah and will apply to high school seniors with a GPA of at least 3.5. Later this year, students who qualify will be sent a letter that guarantees their admission, should they choose to apply to the university. READ NEXT: Taking back-to-school photos of your kids? Avoid these things Steve Robinson, vice provost for enrollment management at the U of U, told ABC4.com that the university started the program to increase college attendance rates and give students an overall confidence boost. Overall, we just want them to feel like college is an option, whether it be here at the U which, obviously, we hope it is but at any place, Robinson said. Starting this year, the program will be tested in the following school districts: Canyons, Davis, Granite, and Provo. What we do in this program is we begin by communicating with students from their freshman year of high school about college preparation, Robinson said. Throughout the program, students will receive letters in the fall: For all 9th graders, the letter will welcome them to high school and encourage exploring the course options. For 10th graders with a GPA of at least 3.0, the letter will encourage them to keep working hard. For 11th graders with a GPA of 3.5 or higher, the letter will offer advice on college preparation and maintaining good academic performance. For 12th graders with a GPA of 3.5 or higher and who satisfy course requirements the letter will guarantee their admission to the University of Utah. By being able to tell students this early that they have, like, a guarantee from the University of Utah, it lets them know kind of where they stand overall, Robinson said. Other letters will be sent to high school juniors and seniors with a GPA between 3.2 and 3.5, and juniors with qualifying GPAs will receive a letter in the spring regarding planning for college. The university said about 5,000 high school students in the Beehive State will be eligible for guaranteed admission. For Utah Direct students who complete early applications to the U of U, official acceptance will be granted mid-fall, according to the university. Utah Direct is a really powerful message to our most at-risk students, Granite School District Superintendent Ben Horsley said. The message is We see the great work that youre doing, you have incredible potential and wed love to see you become a member of this fine institution and brighten your future. The universitys admission application opened on Aug. 1, and the deadline for early action and merit scholarship consideration is Dec. 1. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. Students return to school, a man faces prison time for a deadly crash, and cows are on the loose in Mobile | Aug. 12, 2024 Editors Note: News 5 Now streams live Monday through Friday at 5:30 p.m. Watch the video above. MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) Welcome to WKRG.coms new streaming show, News 5 Now, where we discuss the days 5 big stories and interact with you, our viewers. Top 5 Stories Its time to count down the Big Stories were following for you. 5. Back to School for Catholics Today was the first day of the 2024-25 school year for the Archdiocese of Mobile, and nearly 5,000 students throughout Mobile returned to the classrooms. More than it being the first day of school, it was also a milestone year for Little Flower Catholic School, with this year marking 90 years. Other Catholic schools in Mobile County that welcomed back kids for the new school year included St. Pius X Catholic School, Little Flower Catholic School, St. Dominic, St. Ignatius Catholic School, McGill-Toolen Catholic School, St. Marys Catholic School, and Corpus Christi Catholic School. (News 5) 4. Northwest Florida Schools are Back in Session! It was not just back to school for students in the Archdiocese of Mobile, as some 37,000 students returned to Escambia County Public Schools on Monday. Included in Escambia County Public Schools is Ferry Pass Elementary School. Teachers at the school say they are excited to watch their students learn and take on leadership roles. Tyler Henderson (Photo courtesy of the Baldwin County Sheriffs Office) 3. Sentenced for a Deadly Crash An Orange Beach man was sentenced in the drunk driving crash that killed a Mount Vernon police officer in 2022. That man is 33-year-old Tyler Henderson. Henderson entered a guilty plea on Monday morning after prosecutors said his blood alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit when he ran a stop sign at the intersection of County Road 36 and Highway 59 in Summerdale and collided with Ivan Lopezs police cruiser. Henderson was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in the deadly crash. (News 5) 2. Cows on the Run! Cows are on the loose in Mobile, News 5 has learned. The cows were spotted roaming in the Glen Acres neighborhood near Tanner Williams and Hubert Pierce Roads. They have been on the run for days, according to reports. Paige Madden of the United States (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) 1. Olympian Paige Madden is Home Olympic swimmer Paige Madden is back in Mobile after the 2024 Paris Olympics. Madden, who attended UMS-Wright Preparatory School, won a silver medal as part of the U.S. Womens Four-by-200-Meter Freestyle Relay team, and a bronze medal in the Womens 800-meter freestyle. WKRG News 5s Simone Eli was at the airport to greet Madden on her arrival. Watch the exclusive interview here. Question of the Day Author Colleen Hoovers It Ends With Us was made into a major motion picture starring Blake Lively and now is in theatres nationwide. As this book turned into a movie, WKRG News 5 asked, Which book do you want made into a movie? Here are some of your responses: ACOTAR or the Throne of Glass series, Allison Moon said. It Starts with Us needs to be the next movie. Saw this last night and it was sooo Good!! said Brandy Michelle Hardin. Verity, said Porsche Helton. Among the hidden, said Stephanie Rhodes. The Giving Tree, said James DePaolo. To read more responses, visit the WKRG News 5 Facebook page. Poll of the Day TikTok has been the topic of some debate lately. WKRG News 5 asked, Do you think TikTok should be banned in the U.S.? Here are the responses. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5. With over 10,000 stores in 19 countries, Walmart is one the world's largest retailers and odds are, there's a location near you. As a one-stop shop for groceries, home goods, furniture, clothing, personal care items, and more, you may be spending a good chunk of your monthly budget in-store or online. However, you can limit the impact of your spending by using a rewards credit card for your Walmart transactions. Since these are purchases you plan on making anyway, it makes sense to earn cash back, points, or miles that can help offset your overall spending. For frequent Walmart shoppers, weve curated a list of the best credit cards for Walmart shopping. Some of our favorites include the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express, but we think theres something that can work for everyone. Lets compare the details of the best Walmart credit cards and find the right one for you. Best credit cards for Walmart shopping Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card Best for earning travel rewards Annual fee $95 Welcome offer Earn 75,000 miles after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months Card type(s) Travel Purchase APR 19.99% - 29.99% variable Recommended credit score Good, Excellent Rewards rate 5x miles on hotels, vacation rentals, and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel 2x miles on all other purchases Benefits Receive up to a $120 statement credit for Global Entry or TSA Precheck application fees Receive a $50 experience credit, room upgrades, and early check-in at eligible hotels Access Hertz's Five Star membership tier, offering free upgrades, a wider selection of vehicles, and more Learn more Why we like it: The Capital One Venture Rewards makes sense if you want to earn travel rewards on your everyday purchases. Its easy to use and provides a flexible rewards rate that works with any eligible purchase. Thats especially useful because Walmart stores arent typically categorized as a grocery store or supermarket for credit card purchases. Read our full Capital One Venture Rewards review Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express Best for online shopping Rates & fees , terms apply Annual fee $0 Welcome offer Earn a $200 statement credit after spending $2,000 within the first 6 months Card type(s) Cash-back Introductory Purchases APR 0% on purchases for 15 months Ongoing Purchases APR 18.74%-29.74% Variable Introductory Balance Transfer APR 0% on balance transfers for 15 months Ongoing Balance Transfer APR 18.74%-29.74% Variable Recommended credit score Excellent, Good Rewards rate 3% cash back at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $6,000 per year in purchases, then 1%) 3% cash back on U.S. online retail purchases (on up to $6,000 per year in purchases, then 1%) 3% cash back at U.S. gas stations (on up to $6,000 per year in purchases, then 1%) 1% cash back on all other purchases Cash back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit or on Amazon.com at checkout Benefits 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first 15 months Get a $7 monthly statement credit after spending $9.99 or more on a streaming subscription to the Disney Bundle, plus earn up to $15 in monthly statement credits after purchasing a Home Chef subscription Learn more Why we like it: The Blue Cash Everyday is an excellent gas and grocery card, but those types of purchases dont typically apply to Walmart. However, this card also offers 3% cash back on US online retail purchases of up to $6,000 per year, then 1%*. This category includes purchases on Walmart.com. Some reports say that using Walmart Pay in-store could also trigger this spending category. *Cash back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit or on Amazon.com at checkout Read our full Amex Blue Cash Everyday review Wells Fargo Active Cash Credit Card Best for unlimited cash rewards Annual fee $0 Welcome offer Earn a $200 cash rewards bonus after spending $500 within the first 3 months Card type(s) Cash-back Introductory APR 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first 12 months, after which the standard APR applies Purchase APR 20.24% - 29.99% variable Rewards rate 2% cash rewards on purchases Benefits Get up to $600 of cell phone protection against damage or theft 0% introductory APR is useful to finance large purchases or transfer a balance from another card Learn more Why we like it: The Wells Fargo Active Cash is easy to use because of its unlimited flat earning rate. You can use it at Walmart or any other retailer. The intro APR offer on purchases can be useful if you have large upcoming purchases at Walmart. Chase Freedom Flex Card Best for rotating categories Annual fee $0 Welcome offer Earn a $150 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months Card type(s) Rewards, Cash-back Introductory APR 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first 15 months, after which the standard APR applies Purchase APR 20.49% - 29.24% variable Rewards rate 5% cash back on up to $1,500 on combined purchases in bonus categories each quarter you activate 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel 3% on dining, including takeout and drug stores 1% on all other purchases Benefits Get 5% cash back on Lyft rides through March 31, 2025, plus select DoorDash discounts Enjoy perks like extended warranty protection, trip cancellation insurance, cell phone protection, and auto rental collision damage waiver Redeem your cash back rewards as a statement credit, direct deposit, gift card, on Amazon purchases, or to book travel through Chase Use the introductory 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first 15 months, after which the standard APR will apply Learn more Why we like it: The Chase Freedom Flex can provide up to 5% cash back on Walmart purchases if you activate the offer while Walmart is one of the current rotating categories. Walmart has been selected as a rotating category multiple times over the years. PayPal is another common Chase Freedom rotating category and an accepted payment method for Walmart.com purchases. Read our full Chase Freedom Unlimited vs. Freedom Flex comparison All information about Chase Freedom Flex has been collected independently by Yahoo Finance. Chase Freedom Flex is no longer available through Yahoo Finance. Citi Double Cash Card Best for unlimited cash back Annual fee $0 Welcome offer Earn $200 cash back after spending $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months (bonus offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back) Card type(s) Cash-back Introductory APR 0% intro APR on balance transfers for the first 18 months (19.24% - 29.24% variable APR after that) Purchase APR 19.24% - 29.24% variable Rewards rate 5% cash back on hotel, car rentals and attractions booked on the Citi Travel portal through 12/31/24 2% cash back on every purchase with unlimited 1% cash back when you buy Earn an additional 1% as you pay for your purchases (to earn cash back, pay at least the minimum due on time) Benefits Generous intro APR on balance transfers Learn more Why we like it: The Citi Double Cash is a straightforward cash-back credit card that you can easily use as the only card in your wallet. With its simple earning rate, you dont have to worry about different types of spending categories, which is helpful at stores like Walmart. Read our full Citi Double Cash review U.S. Bank Shopper Cash Rewards Visa Signature Card Best for high rewards rate Annual fee $0 for the first year, then $95 Welcome offer Earn a $250 bonus after spending $2,000 within the first 120 days Card type(s) Cash-back, Rewards Purchase APR 19.74% - 29.74% variable Recommended credit score Good, excellent Rewards rate 6% cash back on the first $1,500 in combined purchases each quarter with two retailers of your choice 5.5% cash back on hotel and car reservations booked directly in the Rewards Travel Center 3% cash back on the first $1,500 in purchases each quarter on one everyday category of your choice (like wholesale clubs, gas and EV charging stations, bills and utilities) 1.5% cash back on all other purchases Benefits Retailers eligible for 6% cash back include Target, Walmart, and Amazon.com Categories eligible for 3% cash back include bills and utilities, gas and EV charging stations, and wholesale clubs Access to ExtendPay Plans, which allow you to pay off balances in fixed monthly payments over time and avoid paying interest charges on eligible purchases Learn more More details: For the 6% category, you can choose from retailers like Apple, Amazon, Best Buy, Disney, Home Depot, IKEA, Kohls, Lowes, Macys, Target, Walmart, and more. Why we like it: If you choose Walmart as one of your selected retailers, you can earn 6% cash back on up to $1,500 each quarter. Thats potentially $90 in cash-back rewards per quarter or $360 per year, which isnt a bad return for frequent Walmart shoppers. You can also choose another retailer each quarter if you dont always shop at Walmart. Discover it Cash Back Best for rotating categories Annual fee $0 Welcome offer Discover will automatically match all the cash back youve earned at the end of your first year, with no minimum spending requirement or maximum rewards cap Card type(s) Cash-back Introductory APR 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first 15 months (18.24% to 28.24% variable APR after that; 3% intro balance transfer fee until until Dec. 10, 2024, then up to 5%) Purchase APR 18.24% - 28.24% variable Recommended credit score Good to Excellent Rewards rate 5% cash back on everyday purchases at different places each quarter including grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations, and more up to the quarterly maximum 1% unlimited cash back on all other purchases Benefits Redeem your rewards for cash at any time Generous intro APR for purchases and balance transfers Learn more Why we like it: The Discover it Cash Back Credit Card has provided multiple rotating categories in the past that could be helpful for Walmart purchases: Walmart in Q3 2024 Digital wallets in Q3 2023 Digital wallets in Q4 2022 PayPal in Q3 2022 Check out Discover's current categories for this quarter. Business credit cards to consider for Walmart purchases The Blue Business Plus Credit Card from American Express Rates & fees , terms apply Annual fee $0 Welcome offer 15,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $3,000 in first 3 months Card type(s) Business Introductory Purchases APR 0% on purchases for 12 months from date of account opening Ongoing Purchases APR 17.99% - 25.99% Variable Recommended credit score Excellent, Good Rewards rate 2x points on everyday business purchases such as office supplies or client dinners (applies to the first $50,000 in purchases per year, 1x after that). Terms and limitations apply. Learn more Why we like it: The Amex Blue Business Plus provides a flexible earning rate and an intro APR offer on purchases. This makes it an ideal choice for small business owners who dont want to worry about confusing spending categories and might have upcoming significant expenses at Walmart or other retailers. Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card Annual fee $0 Welcome offer Earn $900 bonus cash back after spending $6,000 in the first 3 months Card type(s) Business, Travel Ongoing Purchases APR 18.49% - 24.49% Variable Introductory Purchases APR 0% Intro APR on Purchases for 12 Months Recommended credit score Good, Excellent Rewards rate 1.5% unlimited cash back on every business purchase Benefits $0 annual fee 0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months (18.49% 24.49% variable APR after that) You won't be held responsible for unauthorized charges made with your card or account information Learn more Why we like it: The Ink Business Unlimited has a slightly lower earning rate than the Amex Blue Business Plus, but theres no spending cap and you get more redemption options, like flights and hotel stays through the Chase travel portal. This card also provides an intro APR offer on purchases. Read our full Chase Ink Business Unlimited review Capital One Spark Miles for Business Annual fee $0 for the first year, then $95 Welcome offer Earn 50,000 bonus miles after spending $4,500 within the first 3 months Card type(s) Business, Travel Purchase APR 25.74% variable Recommended credit score Good, Excellent Rewards rate 5x miles on hotels, vacation rentals, and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel 2x miles on all other purchases Learn more Why we like it: Earning at least 2x miles on every eligible purchase, with no spending cap, could be an excellent option for many high-spending businesses. Thats especially true if you prefer using your Capital One Spark Miles rewards for travel redemptions, including transfers to over 15 travel partners. Read our full Capital One Spark Miles review How to maximize your shopping at Walmart 1. Have a plan Going shopping without a strategy makes it easier to overspend. List everything your family needs, ordered by importance. So, for the necessities on your list, place those at the top and keep the nice-to-haves at the bottom. 2. Use a rewards credit card The average shopper visits Walmart 67 times each year and spends an average of $54 each time, according to the Capital One Shopping Research. That adds up to $3,618 spent annually at the retailer. Heres how much you could earn in rewards if you were to use a rewards credit card for that amount: Earning $100 or more is a nice savings that can act like a discount on future purchases, whether youre using the rewards for shopping, dining, travel, or something else. Even better, theres no real downside to using credit cards, as long as you only spend what you can afford and always make full and on-time payments. 3. Look for coupons and discounts Walmart doesnt have a coupon program, but you can use manufacturer coupons and offers. You can use paper manufacturer coupons while making in-store purchases at checkout or add offers to your account using the Walmart app or Walmart.com. After successfully using an offer, Walmart Cash is added to your account. You can redeem Walmart Cash to pay for purchases online or in store, or you can cash it out in store. For general savings deals at Walmart, we recommend looking for Rollback and Reduced price tags on Walmart.com. 4. Use Walmart+ Launched in 2020, Walmarts membership program has a lot to offer, including free shipping with no order minimum which can be extremely valuable depending on your situation. With free shipping, you can do all your Walmart shopping without leaving your home. Shopping online can also make it easier to compare prices and search for savings. This could be especially useful on big-ticket items such as laptops and other electronics, where a small (5% to 15%) discount might mean big savings for you. If youre interested in Walmart+, these credit cards can completely cover the subscription cost, including taxes, for you: Read more: Target Circle 360 vs. Walmart+ and Amazon Prime 5. Consider used or refurbished items Buying used or refurbished items, especially for large purchases such as electronics, can help you save money. The Walmart Restored program offers refurbished items from top brands that have been inspected, tested, and cleaned by experts all available at a lower price than what you would typically pay. 6. Track prices If possible, we suggest tracking costs to see if something youve purchased goes down in price. In some cases, you might be able to return an item and repurchase it at a lower price, saving you some cash. From our experience, Walmart has a decent return policy, typically giving you 90 days to return or replace an item. How to choose the best credit card for Walmart Eligibility requirements: The best rewards credit cards typically require a good to excellent credit score, which is at least a 670 FICO Score. Annual fee: Yearly fees immediately detract from a card's value, but depending on your desired rewards and benefits, cards with annual fees could be worth it. Rewards: Most rewards cards earn points, miles, or cash back, and different cards can have different spending categories, such as earning elevated rewards on dining and grocery purchases or earning a flat rate on all eligible purchases. Intro APR offer: A 0% introductory APR offer on purchases is an excellent way to avoid paying interest for a certain period of time. That could be especially helpful if you have upcoming large expenses, such as holiday shopping. Perks and benefits: Some of our favorite card benefits for Walmart purchases include a free Walmart+ membership, purchase protection, and extended warranty protection. This embedded content is not available in your region. Frequently asked questions (FAQs) for Walmart credit cards How do you get 5% cash back at Walmart? The Capital One Walmart Rewards Mastercard previously offered 5% cash back at Walmart.com, but Capital One and Walmart ended their exclusive agreement in May 2024 and the card is no longer accepting new applicants. Here are some other cards with high earning potential at Walmart or Walmart.com: Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express Chase Freedom Flex Credit Card Discover it Cash Back Credit Card U.S. Bank Shopper Cash Rewards Visa Signature Card Which credit card offers free Walmart+? The Platinum Card from American Express and American Express Business Gold Card offer statement credits for monthly Walmart+ memberships. With each card, you must pay for a monthly Walmart+ membership (subject to auto-renewal) to receive up to $12.95 plus applicable taxes as a monthly statement credit. What credit card company does Walmart use? Capital One was the exclusive issuer of Walmart credit cards until the partnership ended in May 2024. Existing Capital One Walmart cardholders can continue using their cards and earning rewards until Capital One makes changes. Our methodology We used existing rubrics for cash-back credit cards, travel credit cards, and business credit cards to compare over 100 products to find the best credit cards for Walmart. These rubrics measured various factors contributing to a final rating, including rewards, fees, and introductory APR offers. We selected the best cards from these rubrics and used our experience, research, and expert opinion to narrow the options. Our final list includes a variety of cards that make sense for different goals and preferences when it comes to shopping at Walmart. This article was edited by Alicia Hahn Editorial Disclosure: The information in this article has not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. All opinions belong solely to Yahoo Finance and are not those of any other entity. The details on financial products, including card rates and fees, are accurate as of the publish date. All products or services are presented without warranty. Check the banks website for the most current information. This site doesn't include all currently available offers. Credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product. Democratic presidential candidate, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally at the Georgia State Convocation Center on July 30, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Megan Varner |Getty Images) Ive been trying to think of the last time there was such a dramatic shift in a political race than the one we experienced in the past couple of weeks with Joe Biden stepping down. The closest thing I could think of, at least in my lifetime, was when Bobby Kennedy declared his candidacy in 1967, which is a bit ironic considering the unbearable presence of RFKs son in this years proceedings. In 1967, Lyndon Johnsons popularity had waned, trampled by his inability to come up with a solution to the Vietnam war. At that time, people were also still reveling in the very starry-eyed fantasies about what might have been if JFK had been able to complete a full term in office, much less a second term. The excitement generated by Bobbys decision to run had a profound effect on Johnson, of course, as he saw how much more popular Kennedy was, especially with younger voters. It must have been a bitter pill for him to swallow, knowing how much these two men despised each other. But much like Biden, Johnson was able to put the countrys interests ahead of his own very healthy ambitions, and declare that he wouldnt seek a second term. We all know how tragically that all played out, and Kennedys assassination seemed to throw the Democratic party into a state of chaos, as evidenced by what happened at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Aside from the riots and looting that was happening in the streets, there was also a floundering lack of consensus inside the building about who was the best choice for their next candidate that year, and they ended up settling on Johnsons solid but bland vice president, Hubert H. Humphreyoddly enough, a Minnesota guy. Even before Joe Biden had the disastrous debate with the former president, I was among the many who were feeling very uninspired about his decision to run again. Theres plenty of evidence to support the fact that Biden has been one of the most effective presidents in a very long time, but he has never had that wow factor that generates the kind of excitement that many other politicians seem to have. As smart and articulate as he can be, he was never a great speaker even as a younger man. So when he completely blundered that debate, the feeling that the country was doomed to another four years of Donald Trump was palpable among my friends. And even when people started suggesting that Biden step down, it felt as if it would just be applying a band aid to a gaping head wound. So I think many of us found it shocking that Bidens announcement generated a massive surge of hope and enthusiasm among legions of Democrats. And it wasnt anything Kamala Harris did, although the initial speeches she gave were impressive, not to mention bold. But it seemed as if the main reason there was such a massive influx of donations and excitement was the simple fact that everyone suddenly agreed on something. The circular firing squad that has defined the Democratic party for the past decade decided to put their rifles in their cases and lock arms in solidarity for once. And the impact that simple moment has had on Trump and his handlers has been a joy to behold. Trumps most recent tweet about the whole situation presented one of the most bizarre scenarios in his already bizarre repertoire when he suggested that Kamala and Obama, and a few of his other favorite enemies, stole the election from Joe Biden, and that he wouldnt be surprised if Sleepy Joe shows up at the convention to claim his title back. Trump basically showed his hand, making it more than obvious that he is scared to death of Harris. It is obviously impossible to know how everything will play out in November. But its almost impossible to overlook the possibility that this shift in energy and optimism among Democrats, which has just been reinforced once again with Harris choice for her running mate, is giving everyone some hope that we might not be hostages to Donald Trumps narcissistic hijacking of the American people at last. Its been an exhausting journey, wondering whether this man, who I believe is the worst human being in the history of America, will ever be held accountable for his behavior. Hope is important. Hope is vital. And it is especially rejuvenating when it comes in such an unexpected manner. An egregious and chronic failure to provide animals with basic care led to the deaths of multiple animals at Fort Worths SeaQuest aquarium, according to former employees who denounced the systemic neglect to the animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. PETA has requested that the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorneys Office conduct an investigation into the aquarium, which is inside Fort Worths Ridgmar Mall. A spokesperson for the Criminal District Attorney Phil Sorrells said the office has forwarded the information to the Fort Worth Police Department. SeaQuest did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Three former employees described a top-down organizational structure, where SeaQuest management consistently failed to address issues with animal enclosures that were negatively affecting animal health, PETA said in a letter given to Sorrells on Monday. The letter tells of two nurse sharks named Icarus and Achilles that likely starved to death after extreme stress from inappropriate environmental conditions impacted these animals so severely that they stopped eating. A PETA press release included a link to a video of Achilles convulsing in an overcrowded tank on the night he died. He was housed with four other sharks and seven eels in a tank suitable for one nurse shark, the press release states. PETAs letter to the District Attorneys Office also cites the deaths of dozens of marine animals in plastic bags, likely suffocating to death, while being shipped to Fort Worth in a U-Haul truck from a SeaQuest aquarium that recently shut down in Colorado earlier this year. The press release also linked to video of the animals that likely suffocated during transport. The level of chronic neglect and unnecessary suffering at SeaQuest Fort Worth is criminal, PETA said. A police department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. PETA said that it contacted Fort Worth Animal Control with the allegations in June, but that the office has refused to act, taking the absurd and patently false position that the states cruelty to animal laws do not apply to the animals at SeaQuest because those animals are owned by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA). Animal Control did not immediately respond to a request for comment. PETA said that state law applies to all the animals in the SeaQuest facility and that the aquarium is legally responsible for the wellbeing of its animals. Contrary to Animal Controls unfounded claim, the FDA is not running a roadside zoo in a shopping mall in Fort Worth Texas, PETA said. There is no legal basis for Animal Control to turn a blind eye to the animal suffering at SeaQuest Fort Worth. The allegations were not the first time SeaQuest found itself in hot water for failing to provide proper care for animals. The U.S. Department of Agriculture cited the aquarium in January for cramped and unsanitary conditions. Mass. (WWLP) Massachusetts has been helping families this summer by providing financial assistance to help feed children while they are out of school. Safety precautions to take when school starts back up this year Summer EBT is a federally funded program that provides families with $120 in grocery-buying benefits to help cover those school meals that kids normally do not have access to once the school year ends. The goal of the program is to help children and make sure they have food. Senior Program Manager Chloe Eberhardt says these funds will help nearly 21 million children nationwide. She adds that students need the proper nutrients to be able to function daily. The reality is if you dont have the food you need, said Eberhardt. You are not going to be able to thrive as a kid and do the kid things you need to do, enjoying the summer and being ready for school, and kind of being able to focus on your education path. Now even though some families will automatically get put into this summer meal program Eberhardt says it is not too late to apply and see if your family is eligible. The application deadline is September 7th, 2024. For more information on the Summer EBT program or to sign up head to the Massachusetts website. Latest Local News Headlines WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWLP. One person has been injured after a Russian missile strike damaged a hospital building and energy infrastructure in the north-eastern city of Sumy, regional authorities said on Aug. 13. Sumy Oblast Military Administration said earlier in the morning that Russian forces struck an infrastructure facility in the city, located some 30 kilometers west of the Russia-Ukraine border. A later post on Telegram said "a power line, gas pipeline, a hospital building, and several cars" had been damaged in the strike, adding that one person had been injured. "Part of the population of the city of Sumy remained without electricity and gas supply," it added. Sumy Oblast borders Russia's Kursk Oblast, where Ukraine last week launched a surprise incursion. A few days after the launch of the attack, Russian troops significantly increased the use of guided aerial bombs near the border areas of Sumy Oblast, Governor Volodymyr Artiukh said. About 20,000 people need to be evacuated from settlements in the Oblast, Ukraine's National Police said on Aug. 9. Ukrainian air defense shot down 30 of the 38 Shahed-type attack drones launched by Russia overnight on Aug. 13, Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said. Russia launched the drones from the Russian port town of Primorsko-Akhtarsk, located on the coast of the Sea of Azov, and Russia's Kursk Oblast, while two ballistic missiles were launched from Voronezh Oblast, according to the Air Force. Aircraft, missile and electronic warfare units, and mobile fire groups of the Ukrainian Air Force intercepted the drones over Mykolaiv, Vinnytsia, Sumy, Kirovohrad, Kherson, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Cherkasy oblasts. Read also: Kursk incursion and Crimea strikes could ease pressure on Ukraines Donbas forces Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Nayatt Point in Barrington. (Google Earth) If its not in writing, you cant enforce it. So ruled Rhode Island Associate Justice Kristen Rodgers in an Aug. 9 decision, affirming a Barrington couples argument that they should not have to maintain a public access walkway along a seawall at the edge of their property because the public access permit wasnt included in land records until years later. Rodgers 18-page order overturns a December decision by the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council, calling its decree to maintain public access to the seawall non-sensical and in no support of the law. Accepting CRMCs conclusion would mandate that every unrecorded interest in property will ultimately become enforceable against bona fide purchaser for value whenever that unrecorded interest surfaces, Rodgers wrote in the decision. The ruling is the latest twist in a three-year battle between state coastal regulators and Holly and Lance Sheffield, who purchased the six-bedroom home on Barringtons Nayatt Road in May 2021. The couple has insisted in oral and written testimony that they had no idea the 430-foot-long seawall separating their property from Narragansett Bay must include a 2-foot-wide public path to the adjacent public access point on Elm Lane. Daniel Procaccini, the attorney representing the Sheffields, said his clients were pleased with the decision. The Court recognized what they have said from the very beginningCRMC cannot enforce an unrecorded assent against unknowing, innocent homeowners, Procaccini said in an email Tuesday. It is disappointing that my clients had to spend the better part of 3 years litigating this issue through multiple appeals to obtain a ruling that was obvious from the outset. The Sheffields are now looking forward to putting this issue behind them and to enjoying the same level of privacy that any homeowner could expect. But the dispute may not be settled. The CRMC is reviewing the courts decision and is considering appealing it to the Supreme Court, Laura Dwyer, an agency spokesperson, said in an email Tuesday. The 1982 permit requiring the public access point was never entered into land records, because state law didnt require such recordings until 1988. Further obscuring access to the information were subdivisions of the land and multiple sales since the 1982 permit. But after the couple put up wire fencing, cameras, and later a security guard to block alleged trespassers, state coastal regulators intervened, issuing a pair of cease and desist orders in September 2021 and May 2022 based on the 1982 public access permit. The dispute landed in Providence County Superior Court in March 2023 because the council failed to respond to the Sheffields petition to administratively dismiss the public access requirement within the time frame set out by state law. A judge sent the issue back to the CRMC in November 2023 with a strict, 20-day deadline to make its decision. The council upheld public access to the path, maintaining that the Sheffields plea of ignorance did not let them flout state law enshrining shoreline access. Less than a week later, the Sheffields through their attorney appealed the decision back to Superior Court. The December complaint alleges the council was arbitrary, capricious and legally erroneous, pointing to the lack of case law or state statute cited by the council to back up its decision. Indeed, in CRMCs revisionist history, it appears no court had any occasion to comment on this unique exception to an otherwise well-understood and broadly applicable doctrine, the complaint states. The CRMC in response pointed to new evidence shared in the Sheffields court testimony but not previously included in its public decision process regarding Holly Sheffields familiarity with state coastal regulations; in other words, she should have known to investigate potential rules around the seawall. The CRMC argued the omitted information meant the decision should be sent back (again) to the state agency. But Rodgers disagreed, instead siding with the Sheffields based on state law allowing for judicial review when all other administrative options for contested cases were exhausted. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX When the Supreme Court begins its new term in the fall, it will hear arguments in U.S. v. Skrmetti, a federal government challenge of a Tennessee law restricting the use of puberty blockers and hormone therapy for treating gender dysphoria in minors. The court will decide whether the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment prohibits states from enacting such legislation. Many other states have enacted similar laws, and this case will determine in large part whether they remain on the books. Last March, the Tennessee Legislature enacted S.B. 1, which prohibits medical providers from providing puberty blockers and hormone therapy for minors using the treatments to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minors sex. The law also prohibits surgical procedures for that purpose, but that portion of the law was not challenged in this case. The law imposes a penalty of $25,000 per violation, professional discipline, and potential civil liability. What treatments are in question? According to KFF, a nonpartisan health policy nonprofit organization, 25 states have enacted legislation or policies limiting minors access to what KFF describes as gender-affirming carea spectrum of medical, surgical, mental health, and non-medical services for transgender and nonbinary people aimed at affirming and supporting an individuals gender identity. Treatments like puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgery are intended to align patients primary sex characteristics (sex organs) and secondary sex characteristics (such as voice, body and facial hair, and breast development) with their preferred gender identities. Puberty blockers are drugs that pause puberty by preventing the bodys natural production of sex hormones (testosterone in males and estrogen in females). Some people use the drugs to prevent undesired secondary sex characteristics such as facial hair growth in men and menstruation in women. They can also be used to treat precocious puberty (when puberty starts at a very early age) and prostate and breast cancer. If used long-term, these drugs can negatively affect bone density and fertility. Hormone therapy refers to treatments that affect the production of certain hormones, commonly used to treat menopause symptoms and certain cancers. In gender-transition treatment, patients use cross-sex hormones to induce desired secondary sex characteristics. Used in combinationwith or without surgerypuberty blockers and hormone therapy start to align a transgender persons physical characteristics and preferred gender identity. What is the relevant law? Two primary questions will determine the fate of the Tennessee law. First, the Supreme Court must decide what level of scrutiny applies. Second, it must determine whether the law meets that standard. When evaluating a statutes constitutionality, courts generally apply rational-basis review. That means the law is constitutional as long as a legislature had some rational basis for enacting the law. It doesnt need to be the bestor even a goodreason, and it doesnt matter if the legislature could have written a better law. This is a low bar, and Tennessees law likely clears it. (The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed.) But statutes that classify people based on certain characteristics are subject to heightened scrutiny, due to the 14th Amendments equal protection clause, which prohibits a state from deny[ing] to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. Laws that discriminate on the basis of race or religion are subject to strict scrutinythe most stringent standard. Courts apply intermediate scrutiny to laws that discriminate on the basis of sex. Under intermediate scrutiny, a law is constitutional if it furthers an important governmental interest and employs means that are substantially related to achieving those objectives. The federal district court that originally heard the complaint applied this standard and blocked the law. How did this case get to the Supreme Court? After the bill became law in March 2023, three transgender minors, their parents, and a doctor sued Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti to prevent the law from taking effect. They claimed the law discriminated on the basis of sex, violating the equal protection clause. The plaintiffs also claimed the law violated the due process clause of the 14th Amendment, but that question is not part of the Supreme Court case. The Biden administration intervened in (joined) the lawsuit, which federal law authorizes in 14th Amendment equal protection cases. Tennessee argued its legislature had a more than sufficient basis for enacting the law and that it acted to protect minors and the integrity of the medical profession. It cited controversy surrounding a transgender clinic at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), which had performed gender-transition treatments on minors. Tennessee asserted that VUMC doctors knew the procedures lacked data on short-term effectiveness and had unknown long-term effects. The state also claimed VUMC doctors pursued these treatments due to their profitability and changed patient diagnoses when insurance companies refused to pay large bills. The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee blocked S.B. 1 from taking effect last June. Because the law discriminates on the basis of sex and transgender status, the court reasoned, intermediate scrutiny applies. The judge weighed the parties evidence and expert testimony and determined that Tennessee had not established that the prohibited treatments posed a serious risk to the minors undergoing the treatments, and the categorical ban on treatments was not sufficiently related to the states interest in protecting minors. Tennessee, having failed to establish that the law served an important government interest by substantially related means, sought appellate review. In the fall, the 6th Circuit overturned the lower courts injunction by a 2-1 vote and allowed the law to take effect. The court rejected the notion that transgender status is a protected class under the equal protection clause or that the law discriminated on the basis of sex. It reasoned that the law regulates sex transition treatments for all minors, even if the particular treatments differ based on sex. Applying rational basis review, the court determined that the Tennessee Legislature had a rational basis for enacting the legislation. The Biden administration filed a certiorari petition in January, which the Supreme Court granted on June 24. How will the Supreme Court analyze the case? The applicable level of scrutiny will significantly influence the Supreme Courts analysis. The court will apply rational-basis review unless it determines that transgender status is a protected classit hasnt recognized a new protected class in more than 40 years, according to the 6th Circuit Appeals Courtor unless it determines that the law discriminates on the basis of sex. Its not a straightforward question. At a high level, the law does not treat males and females differentlyit prohibits all minors, regardless of sex, from receiving the specified treatments for gender-transition treatment. But the law does treat males and females differently in that it permits, for example, testosterone treatments for males and not females. A law triggers intermediate scrutiny only when it discriminates between similarly situated individuals. Tennessee claims that a biological female taking testosterone as part of gender-transition treatment and a biological male taking testosterone to supplement naturally low testosterone levels are not similarly situated, and, therefore, there is no sex-based discrimination. The question may appear at first glance similar to the issue the Supreme Court tackled in Bostock v. Clayton County in 2020. In that case, the court held that, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, an employer could not fire employees due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. But there are important differences between Skrmetti and Bostock. The text of Title VII prohibits employers from discriminat[ing] against any individual because of such individuals race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The courts decision, penned by Justice Neil Gorsuch, focused heavily on the ordinary public meaning of that statute. Constitutional interpretation is a little different than statutory interpretation. In Skrmetti, the court will interpret the much more vaguely worded equal protection clause. Rather than determining whether an action violated a statute, the court will have to determine how much authority the equal protection clause gives state governments to craft legislation. What are the broader implications? With so many states legislating in this area, the Supreme Courts decision in Skrmetti will have far-reaching consequences. A ruling affirming the law could relieve pressure on the 17 states that face legal challenges to their own similar legislation and could embolden other states to pass their own. Striking down the law could set a higher standard of scrutiny for laws affecting transgender individuals. It would send states back to the drawing board for finding ways to limit gender-transition treatment for minors in constitutionally acceptable ways. While some states might abandon or narrow their restrictions, others may consider broadening thembanning testosterone for both male and female minors, for exampleto avoid heightened scrutiny. The heightened scrutiny would also apply to other areas of law. According to the Map Movement Project, a progressive think tank, 25 states restrict transgender youth participation in sports, and those laws may not withstand heightened scrutiny. As states continue to grapple with these difficult issues, Skrmetti will influence state legislation and the legal challenges that follow. Read more at The Dispatch The Dispatch is a new digital media company providing engaged citizens with fact-based reporting and commentary, informed by conservative principles. Sign up for free. BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (WTNH) The lone survivor of a crash that killed five people from Connecticut and nine people total mostly children has been released from the hospital. A family member confirmed the update to News 8s sister station, WPBF in Florida. Community mourns Bridgeport family killed in Florida crash Four people were pronounced dead at the scene, while five died at the hospital. Authorities said driver Pamela Wiggins, who would have turned 57 on Tuesday, failed to negotiate the turn and went off the road. In addition to Wiggins, the dead were identified as Leiana Alyse Hall, 30; Anyia Monique Lee Tucker, 21; Michael Anthony Hall Jr., 14; Imani Andre Ajani Hall, 8; Kamdien Edwards, 5; Yasire Smith, 5; Ziaire Mack, 3; and Naleia Tucker, 1. Authorities with the Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office said a 2023 Ford Explorer carrying 10 people was traveling on a highway in Belle Glade when it hit a guardrail and flipped upside down into a canal, which runs parallel to the road. According to Ford dealership websites, 2023 Explorers have a maximum capacity of seven. The crash report said none of the occupants were wearing seat belts or using child restraints Family members told News 8 that they were in Florida for a birthday party and were going to the airport when the crash happened. The survivor is a 26-year-old man who is the son of a Bridgeport Board of Education custodian. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTNH.com. HARLEM, Manhattan (PIX11) A suspect has been arrested for allegedly shooting and killing a man outside a senior housing building in Harlem last month, police said Tuesday. Mohamed Sawaneh, 21, of the Bronx, is charged with murder in connection with the death of 37-year-old Jeremy Cummings on July 2, according to the NYPD. More Local News Cummings was fatally shot in his back outside Wyatt Tee Walker Senior Housing at West 118th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard, police said. Sawaneh was also charged with robbery, criminal possession of a firearm, and leaving the scene of an incident, police said. Finn Hoogensen is a digital journalist who has covered local news for more than five years. He has been with PIX11 News since 2022. See more of his work here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. Suspect in killing of Ukrainian at German refugee centre identified A blue light shines on the roof of a police car. A 26-year-old man has been identified as a suspect in the killing of a man at a refugee centre in the northern German city of Rostock, police said on Tuesday. Friso Gentsch/dpa A 26-year-old man has been identified as a suspect in the killing of a man at a refugee centre in the northern German city of Rostock, police said on Tuesday. Both the victim and the alleged perpetrator are from Ukraine. The suspect was briefly detained, but then later released. The public prosecutor's office said investigators have not yet been able to provide sufficient evidence to justify remanding him in custody, but that the 26-year-old remains a suspect. A 46-year-old Ukrainian man died in the Elbotel accommodation on Monday. Police and first responders who arrived at the scene found evidence of a homicide. Details about the nature of the injuries and a possible motive have not been shared by law enforcement. Suspect in killing of Ukrainian man at German refugee centre detained A police patrol car is parked on the street with its blue lights switched on. Suspect in killing of Ukrainian man at German refugee centre detained. Carsten Rehder/dpa A 26-year-old man has been taken into custody on suspicion of killing a man at a refugee centre in the northern German city of Rostock, police said on Tuesday. Both the victim and the alleged perpetrator are from Ukraine. The public prosecutor's office is examining an application for an arrest warrant, according to a spokeswoman for the authority. A 46-year-old Ukrainian man died in the Elbotel accommodation on Monday. Police and first responders who arrived at the scene found evidence of a homicide. Details about the nature of the injuries and a possible motive have not been shared by law enforcement. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) A Liberian-flagged oil tanker in the Red Sea came under attack three times on Tuesday, including in an assault using a bomb-carrying drone boat, likely the latest in a campaign by Yemen's Houthi rebels over the Israel-Hamas war, officials said. The attacks come as the rebels' main sponsor, Iran, weighs possible retaliation against Israel over the assassination of Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh last month in Tehran, Iran's capital, which has renewed fears of a wider regional war in the Middle East. Already, the Houthi assaults have disrupted the $1 trillion annual flow of goods through the maritime route crucial to trade among Asia, Europe and the Middle East, while also sparking the most intense combat for the U.S. Navy since World War II. The Greek-managed Delta Atlantica was first attacked when two explosives detonated near it, according to the Joint Maritime Information Center, a multinational force overseen by the U.S. Navy. A small ship flashing lights at the vessel had come close to the loaded tanker bound for Greece during the incident, the center said. A small ship later flashed lights at the Delta Atlantica before another explosion near it, the center said. The third attack happened hours later on Tuesday, some 180 kilometers (110 miles) northwest of the Houthi-held port city Hodeida, prompting an armed security force aboard the tanker to open fire. "The vessel was approached by an uncrewed surface vessel on the starboard side. The USV collided with the vessel but did not detonate," the center said. Subsequently, the armed security team disabled the USV via small arms fire. Another vessel, identified by the center as a Panama-flagged crude oil tanker called On Phoenix, also saw an explosion off its side on Tuesday, but similarly sustained no damage, the center said. The Houthis have so far not claimed responsibility for the assaults, though sometimes they wait days to do so, and other times they have claimed attacks that appear not to have happened. The Houthis have targeted more than 70 vessels with missiles and drones since the start of the war in Gaza in October. They have seized one vessel and sunk two in the campaign that has killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have been either intercepted by a U.S.-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets. The rebels maintain that they have targeted ships linked to Israel, the United States or the U.K. to force an end to Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran. The center said it has not find any link between the Delta Atlantica and the war in Gaza. The Houthis have also launched drones and missiles toward Israel, including an attack on July 19 that killed one person and wounded 10 others in Tel Aviv. Israel responded the next day with airstrikes on the Houthi-held port city of Hodeida that hit fuel depots and electrical stations, killing and wounding a number of people, the rebels say. After the strikes, the Houthis paused their attacks until Aug. 3, when they hit a Liberian-flagged container ship traveling through the Gulf of Aden. A Liberian-flagged oil tanker came under a particularly intense series of attacks beginning Aug. 8 likely carried out by the rebels. That tanker, the Delta Blue, is managed by the same firm as the Delta Atlantica. As Iran threatens to retaliate over Haniyeh's killing, the U.S. military has told the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to sail more quickly to the area. America also has ordered the the USS Georgia guided missile submarine into the Mideast, while the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier strike group had been in the Gulf of Oman. Additional F-22 fighter jets have flown into the region, while the USS Wasp, a large amphibious assault ship carrying F-35 fighter jets, is in the Mediterranean Sea. Kimberly Fritz, Lorraine Rodriguez and Velvet Sanchez were strangled to death allegedly by Warren Luther Alexander, police say Ventura County District Attorney's Office/Facebook Kimberly Fritz (left); Velvet Sanchez; and Lorraine Rodriguez Authorities in California have accused a former long-haul trucker of murdering three women in 1977. That year, across several months, Kimberly Fritz, 18, Lorraine Rodriguez, 21, and Velvet Sanchez, 31, were found strangled to death in different locations in Ventura County, Calif., the county sheriff's office said at a press conference on Thursday, Aug. 8. Warren Luther Alexander, 73, was arrested in connection with the deaths and transported to Ventura on Tuesday Aug. 7, from Surry County, N.C., where he was in custody on a separate murder charge, the sheriff's office said. All three California victims in Ventura were found with ligature marks around their necks, and the victims' autopsies determined they'd been strangled, authorities said at the briefing. Ventura County District Attorney's Office via AP; Ventura County Star Warren Luther Alexander Mugshot (left); and Composite Sketch Fritz was discovered dead in a motel in Port Hueneme in May 1997, when police responded to a call and found her lying on the floor in a room. The teenager was one of three sisters, police said. Sanchez, a mom of three, was found slain in Oxnard in September 1977, after witnesses reported seeing her go into a motel room with an adult man, Oxnard police said at the press conference. Rodriguez, a mom of one, was found after police were called to a bridge in Ventura County in December 1977 regarding a body that had been found, the sheriffs office said. Alexander was a long-haul truck driver at the time of the California killings, authorities said. Erik Nasarenko, the Ventura County District Attorney, told reporters they recovered forensic evidence collected from the womens bodies and clothing that eventually helped catch the suspect. The women were all sex-workers and police believe Alexander picked them up for commercial sex before the murders. Authorities did not comment on whether the victims had been sexually assaulted. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Nasarenko said that authorities at the time noticed a "pattern" in the killings, and suspected they were related. In 2022, unbeknownst to authorities in California, Alexander was arrested in North Carolina after allegedly being identified through his DNA as the suspect in the killing of 29-year-old Nona Cobb, who had also been strangled to death, authorities said at the press briefing. She was found along the highway. With Alexander's DNA in the system due to his 2022 arrest, police were allegedly able to connect him to the Ventura County murders last year. Alexander has been charged with three counts of murder, Nasarenko's office said in a press release. He being held in Ventura County without bond, per authorities. Nasarenko said authorities believe Alexander might have other victims across the state and country. It wasn't immediately clear if he has entered pleas for the murder charges in both states or retained attorneys. An investigation is ongoing. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) The two suspects in last weeks Panama City Beach murder case are now back in Bay County. 23-year-olds Andre Ranglin and Devaughn Jones were extradited from the Houston County jail in Dothan Friday. Panama City Beach Police said they fled to Dothan after Tuesday nights shooting at a beach apartment complex. Investigators believe Ranglin showed up at the 10x apartment at the Breakfast Point complex around 11:00 Tuesday night intending to shoot 23-year-old Oneil McDonald. The two were co-workers at a beach restaurant and had an ongoing conflict. Three arrested in connection to Panama City Beach murder After allegedly shooting McDonald and killing him. Officers said Ranglin then shot a 21-year-old woman through the door of her apartment. She is recovering. Ranglin then reportedly contacted Jones, who contacted 37-year-old Ricardo Golden. Investigators believe Golden picked up Ranglin and Jones and took them to Bonifay. The pair continued to Alabama on their own. All three men are in the Bay County Jail facing various charges. Ranglin is charged with murder and 3-counts of attempted murder. Jones and Golden are charged with accessory after the fact. Ranglin and Jones are held without bond. Goldens bond is $750,000. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to mypanhandle.com. Taco Truck owner allegedly faked his own robbery and burnt his $80K truck Taco Truck owner allegedly faked his own robbery and burnt his $80K truck VISALIA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) A taco truck owner was arrested after allegedly staging his own robbery and burning down his truck for insurance money on Aug. 12, deputies say. According to police, Pablo Serrano, owner of Sabor Latino in Visalia, told officers cash was stolen from his taco truck on Aug. 2. He also claimed the suspects stole his $80,000 pick-up truck. Serrano even provided deputies with surveillance footage to prove the incident. In the following days, officials say they found the truck fully engulfed in flames in an orchard near Woodlake. The orchard suffered more than $10,000 in damages. Serrano, who had made an insurance claim for his burned vehicle just one day after the robbery, was arrested on Monday for conspiracy to commit a crime, arson, and insurance fraud according to the Sheriffs Office. Alleged staged robbery Orchard where Serrano and partners allegedly set fire to his $80k truck Arrest outside the Sabor Latino taco truck His alleged accomplice Juan Mendez, was also arrested for conspiracy and arson. At least one additional suspect is still wanted for questioning. Anyone with information is encouraged to call the Tulare County Sheriffs Office at 1-800-808-0488, anonymously at tcso@tipnow.com, or by text or voicemail at 559-725-4194. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47. Tampa Bay veteran told to prove he didnt get $20,000 SBA loan he never borrowed Tampa Bay veteran told to prove he didnt get $20,000 SBA loan he never borrowed TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) Joseph Carpenter, 76, fought for our country in Vietnam, and now he is still battling the U.S. government over a loan that he said a crook must have taken out in his name during the pandemic. The Small Business Administration claimed he has a delinquent loan from 2021, which he said he was just notified about. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now 8 on Your Side Carpenter called Better Call Behnken for help two weeks ago, after the U.S. Treasury Department said if he didnt fork over the money by September, they would withhold up to 15% of his monthly Social Security benefits. After calls from Consumer Investigator Shannon Behnken, Carpenter said the SBA called him and said his Social Security will not be touched for now while they investigate. But he said they want him to prove he didnt get the money. There are all those loans out there, he said. Theyre going to make you do the work. Theyre not going to do the work. They put the burden of proof on the person theyre accusing of having the loan. He has a point. The U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General estimates more than $200 billion in fraud from SBA loans. It was the SBA who sent the $20,000 to someones bank account and is now holding Carpenter responsible for it. He said the SBA should verify who they sent the money to and go after that person. It was strictly a wire transfer, and it had to be to a business account, he said. Carpenter has filed complaint with the inspector general. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) A Tampa man pleaded guilty Monday in connection with a gas station robbery, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida. Brandale Swails, 29, showed up on Oct. 15, 2023, at a gas station along US 301 and demanded money from a clerk at gunpoint. His head was covered by a black shirt, but his face was still visible, according to a criminal complaint. When the clerk hid behind the counter, Swails jumped over and said he would shoot him if he didnt open the register. Swails then forced the clerk into a bathroom and then left the gas station on a bicycle, officials said. He was found two weeks later hiding in a bedroom closet. Swails was charged with Hobbs Act robbery and using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence. He faces a minimum of seven years in prison. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. (Bloomberg) -- Tanzania released 520 opposition members who were detained in a bid to prevent them from holding a youth rally that the authorities said could have triggered unrest. Most Read from Bloomberg Those freed late Monday without any charges include Chadema party Chairman Freeman Mbowe and his deputy Tundu Lissu, according to Commissioner of Police Awadh Haji. Authorities banned an International Youth Day gathering that had been planned for Monday in the central Mbeya region, alleging that Chademas leaders intended to incite violence. There are reports that some of our youth leaders are still in police custody in Mbeya, Chadema spokesman John Mrema said. Mbowe and Lissu were released after posting bail and were escorted back to the commercial capital of Dar es Salaam, he said. Sign up here for the twice-weekly Next Africa newsletter The clampdown came in the wake of violent anti-government protests in neighboring Kenya, where at least 61 people died, and in Nigeria, where more than 20 people have been killed. President Samia Hassan, who faces local elections this year and a presidential vote in 2025, appears intent on avoiding upheaval. Police would thwart any plots to replicate Kenya protests, Haji told reporters in Mbeya. The incident appeared to be discriminatory as youth from the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party were allowed to hold similar gatherings on Aug. 10, according to the Legal and Human rights Centre. While Hassan lifted a ban on rallies and some newspapers after succeeding the autocratic John Magufuli in 2021, opposition leaders have accused her of rowing back on democratic reforms. The mass arrests and arbitrary detention of figures from the Chadema party, as well as their supporters and journalists, is a deeply worrying sign in the run-up to elections, Amnesty International said in a statement. --With assistance from Mike Cohen. (Updates with opposition party comment in third paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Is Tarrant County planning to remove Cesar Chavez Day from its holiday calendar? The Cesar Chavez Committee of Tarrant County and two local LULAC groups are sounding the alarm over the possibility that the county will remove Cesar Chavez Day from its holiday calendar and replace it with Veterans Day. A letter posted on the Action Network, a website designed for activist groups, states County Commissioner - Precinct 4 Manny Ramirez and County Judge Tim OHare are attempting to erase Cesar Chavez Day from Tarrant County. The letter does not cite a source, and Ramirez on Tuesday said the information was false. Chavez was born in Arizona, served two years in the Navy and in 1962 founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers. He died in 1993 at 66. The letter also calls for members of the community to reach out to Ramirez the courts lone Latino member. A top aide for Ramirez told the Star-Telegram over text Tuesday that Commissioner Manny Ramirez is not attempting to erase Cesar Chavez Day. That is completely false. OHare did not respond to a request for comment. Richard Gonzales, who writes a history column for the Star-Telegram, said he was told by Gabe Rivas, community outreach coordinator for county Commissioner Alisa Simmons, during a breakfast over the weekend that Ramirez was leading the charge to scrap the holiday. Rivas said Tuesday that Simmons wants to see both recognized as holidays. Gonzales said he met with Simmons office Tuesday afternoon and said he expects the county commissioners will vote on the calendar change during their next meeting, Aug. 20. One of the concerns I have is that there has been no public discussion, Gonzales said, calling the proposed changes to the holiday calendar a sneaky way of making a a big change. Cesar Chavez Day has been a recognized holiday in Tarrant County since 2001. Rose Herrera, who has been involved with numerous community organizations, was also at that breakfast where the holiday change was discussed. She criticized OHare for his alleged support of the change and believes his past relationships with Latino constituents could be at play. We know of all the mess he made in Farmers Branch, Herrera said. I think hes got a problem with us because of our skin color, because of our surnames. We all get bunched up in the same category. And I think hes very much anti-immigrant. OHare drew national attention in 2006 as a Farmers Branch council member, when the city passed an ordinance that prohibited landlords from renting to undocumented immigrants and another that made English the citys official language. They were ultimately ruled unconstitutional by a federal court and cost the city millions in legal fees. Both observances [Veterans Day and Cesar Chavez Day] are important and deserve to be treated with respect. The true, poorly-hidden motivation here is racism. They are attempting to diminish the historical contributions of a great Latino labor leader. Ironically, David Cruz, LULAC national communications director, said in a statement to the Star-Telegram. His work is still helping the people who put food on the tables of those now trying to erase his memory. Taylor Swifts concert organizers for the London leg of her tour have announced additional safety measures at Wembley Stadium after the alleged terrorist plot at her Vienna concert last week. Fans were devastated when Swifts concerts, scheduled for August 8-10 at the Ernst Happel Stadium, were canceled after police arrested two people suspected of planning a major attack at one of the performances. Wembley Stadium has since put a guide online for fans attending the dates in London on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, the last gigs on the European leg of The Eras Tour. It says: Standing guests - please refer to the colour zone on your ticket to get you to the correct queuing ramp. Seated guests - please refer to the colour zone on your ticket to get you to the correct turnstile. The quickest route to your entry point is by following the signage for the colour zone. Note: Additional ticket checks will be in operation at points in and around the stadium prior to entry. Please have your tickets ready to show stewards when asked. Taylor Swift has yet to comment publicly on the alleged Vienna terrorist plot (Getty Images for TAS Rights Management) A merchandise megastore is located in the green car park and can be accessed on the five concert days, and on Wednesday and Sunday, when Swift is not performing. Wembley Stadium says: Overnight camping is not allowed. Wembley Stadium is situated in a residential area. We kindly ask that only those with tickets or those visiting our merchandise megastore turn up to the stadium to avoid disruption to the local residents and businesses. To support with the safe entry and exit of everyone within the stadium, no-one is allowed to stand outside any entrance or on the Olympic Steps at the front of the stadium. Non ticket holders will be moved on. There are also guidelines for having only an A4-sized bag; not having face coverings for non-religious or medical reasons; no chains, chain wallets, studded jewelery or spurs; and no hard plastic as well as not bringing metal carabiners for friendship bracelets. A plastic water bottle no larger than 500ml in capacity can be taken into the grounds, Wembley said. Referencing Swifts songs, the venue also said: Make sure you plan your visit to Wembley Stadium well in advance and give yourself plenty of opportunity to Breathe. Austrian police officers observe Taylor Swift fans gathering in the city center in Vienna on August 8 (AP) Check the weather before you go and dress accordingly. We could be in for a Cruel Summer. Leave plenty of time for your journey and plan ahead. The same for your return journey home. Read all the information provided and take note of what you can and cant do. Dont Shake It Off as not important. Youre definitely not On Your Own Kid. Large crowds are expected to attend each performance. Be aware of your surroundings and respectful to others Last week, events organizer Barracuda Music said we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyones safety as there had been confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack at Ernst Happel Stadium. A 19-year-old planned to target fans with knives or homemade explosives during the concert on Thursday or Friday, Austrian authorities said. There were a further two people arrested, a 17-year-old and an 18-year-old over the incident. Chemical substances, liquids and technical capabilities were found at the home of the 19-year-old, authorities said. They confirmed it did not ask organizers to cancel the concerts. London Mayor Sadiq Khan previously told Sky News that he is sure Vienna has got its own reasons for the cancellation but the capital was going to carry on, working closely with police (and) ensuring that the Taylor Swift concerts can take place in London safely. A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police previously said: London plays host to a significant number of very high-profile events each year with millions of visitors having a safe and enjoyable experience. The Met works closely with venue security teams and other partners to ensure there are appropriate security and policing plans in place. There is nothing to indicate that the matters being investigated by the Austrian authorities will have an impact on upcoming events here in London. As always, we will continue to keep any new information under careful review. On Tuesday, a lawyer for the main suspect in the alleged Vienna attack plot said the allegations were exaggerated. A 19-year-old Austrian man, whose name hasnt been released because of Austrian privacy rules, was arrested last Wednesday one of three people who were detained. He had neither the means nor the possibility and the explosives to carry this out, Defense lawyer Werner Tomanek said. He added that authorities allegations against the 19-year-old suspect were overacting at its best, and contended that they are presenting this exaggeratedly in order to get new surveillance powers. Additional reporting by the Press Association On August 7, 2024, my 35-year-old daughter, Briena, was viciously attacked by another human being in Cripple Creek, Colorado. She was left to die, unable to breathe and with a significant head injury. The attacker remains at large. Bries dog, Ida, was also viciously attacked while trying to protect Brie and is recovering well after having her eye removed and skull fracture stabilized. Bries condition is tenuous and if she survives, has many challenges ahead of her. At the moment, she is stable but in need of multiple surgeries and procedures to regain the health of her lungs, brain and broken bones. Each hour that passes brings about a new challenge. There is not a GoFundMe currently set up for Brie, as her prognosis is uncertain at the moment. She will need the support of her community once she is able to begin the healing process. In the meantime, please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. Those who know Brie know her economic status and personal challenges. Brie did not deserve the brutality that she experienced and may never recover from. No living being does. I beg that if you have any relevant information about this attack, please call the Teller County Sheriffs Office at (719) 687-9652 and give them at the least, an anonymous tip. Bries dog, Ida, is recovering. If you can find it in your heart to donate food, blankets, dog toys, etc., or provide a safe foster home for Ida, please call Teller County Animal Control at (719) 686-7707 to find out how you can help. [Editors Note: You can watch previous FOX 8 I-Team coverage as questions were raised over Cleveland police commission nominees.] CLEVELAND, Ohio (WJW) The FOX 8 I-TEAM has found more turmoil surrounding the Cleveland Community Police Commission, a group set up to oversee police policies and discipline. The Interim Executive Director has just filed a lawsuit against the mayor, the city and others claiming he has suffered discrimination because hes a white male. Meantime, yet another Commission member has resigned, and the city is now looking for a total of 9 new members. The city created the commission nearly two years ago, and it still has not heard a case. Instead, the group has been meeting to set up its systems and protocols while repeatedly making headlines for chaos and infighting. TownHall owner Bobby George turns self in after rape, attempted murder charge The lawsuit was filed in Cuyahoga County Court on behalf of Interim Executive Director Jason Goodrick. The suit said his job title has fluctuated between Executive Director and Interim Executive Director, but the complaint adds, he was not paid the rate of the interim executive director or the executive director during his tenure as interim executive director because of his race and gender. And, because he made complaints about discrimination. The suit also said that one commissioner said Goodrick should not lead the group because Goodrick was a white man and an abuser of Black women. In the lawsuit, theres a reference to employees filing complaints against Goodrick in 2018 accusing him of carrying out discrimination and harassment. But, the suit said the Ohio Civil Rights Commission found those claims to be unsubstantiated. Man wanted for murder in North Carolina arrested in Geauga County As for the Mayor, the lawsuit said Mayor Justin Bibb rejected Goodrick as permanent Executive Director even though he had been nominated by a majority of the commissioners. The city just learned of this lawsuit earlier today and are currently reviewing it. This comes as the Commission is in the midst of significant turnover. Former co-chair Jan Ridgeway became the latest to turn in her resignation. She told the I-TEAM, Its just a dysfunctional board. We all need to learn to work together better. Given resignations and expiring terms, the city is now seeking applications for 9 members to join the Community Police Commission in December. Last month, a dispute at a commission meeting led to a call to 9-1-1, and it tied up responding Cleveland Police officers for 45 minutes. Weve also seen Police Commission meetings get loud, and even wild, before. A protest even erupted at the moment the City introduced the Commission. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW. Vice President Kamala Harris has won the endorsement of the National Black Caucus of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters even as the larger union withholds its endorsement. Caucus members voted unanimously Tuesday to endorse Harris at a conference in Las Vegas. Publicly backing Harris risks pushback in a union with a history of retaliation. The caucus, known as TNBC, praised Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for their unwavering commitment to workers and their families in a statement released after the vote. Their records reflect a deep dedication to advancing labor rights and supporting working-class Americans, it said. Labor organizations rushed to support Harris after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race. But the Teamsters have been a notable hold out. President Sean OBrien said the union plans to endorse a presidential candidate after both conventions and has invited all the candidates to sit for interviews. Harris, who was invited last month when she became the presidential candidate, has not yet had her interview. TNBC Chair James Curbeam said in the statement that the caucus based its decision on former President Donald Trumps actions over both his career in politics and business. When people show you who they are, believe them and Trump showed us for 40 years who he really is: someone who is not for us, Curbeam said. Endorsing a candidate with his history would be a betrayal of the values that we have fought to uphold. The Teamsters typically dont endorse until after the both party conventions, but OBriens outreach efforts to Republicans and speaking at their convention in July has upset some members. OBrien had harsh words for Trump on Monday in a written response to his interview with Tesla CEO Elon Musk in which the former president advocated for firing striking employees. Firing workers for organizing, striking, and exercising their rights as Americans is economic terrorism, the Teamsters' president said. O'Brien told NBC 10 Boston that, as of Tuesday, he has not received an invitation to speak from the Democrats. A straw poll taken by the union this summer showed a plurality support for Biden. The Teamsters is surveying its membership for a second time with an online poll. In Chicago, there will be no shortage of organized labor support for Harris. In addition to the multiple unions that have already endorsed the Democratic nominee, union labor was used to help build and support the convention, according to convention organizers. "We are building a convention in Chicago that will tell our story to the American people, including the stories of labor and union leaders and workers across America supporting the Harris-Walz ticket and their pro-union record and vision, said Matt Hill, Senior Director of Communications for the DNC. Rachael Bade contributed. WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) Former president Donald Trump made a high-profile return to X, formerly known as Twitter, for a live, unscripted conversation with owner Elon Musk. Trump was banned from the platform under its previous ownership for his role in the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. The two-hour conversation was friendly with Musk largely supporting Trumps goals for another administration. But the event got off to a rocky start. Technical issues delayed the start of a rare live conversation on X. We unfortunately had a massive, distributed malware service attack against our servers, said Musk. Trump quickly made up for the lost time launching into a detailed account of his attempted assassination and vowing to return to the scene. Were going back to Butler. Were going to go back in October. Were all set up, said Trump. Trump also promised the largest deportation in U.S. history and used the platform to attack his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. We cannot have a Democrat. We cannot have her. Shes incompetent, said Trump. Musk endorsed Trump in this presidential election but supported President Joe Biden in 2020. On Tuesday, the president himself pushed back on their criticisms that Harris is too progressive. The issues weve worked on together have made big progress economically. No one calls what we did on infrastructure progressive. Its a good policy, said President Biden. Harriss running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, kicked off his first solo campaign swing in California. Harris is preparing for a big speech Friday to lay out her economic policy ahead of the Democratic National Convention next week in Chicago. Campaign officials tell us Harriss speech will focus on her plans to lower costs for middle-class families and take on corporate price-gouging. Trump and Sen. JD Vance will return to the trail tomorrow in Michigan and Wisconsin. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. A 15-year-old boy accused of fatally shooting a Tacoma teenager last month was being investigated by the King County Sheriffs Office in a human-trafficking case, according to charging documents, and investigators were tailing him the day of the shooting. The teenager and at least one other person identified as DK in court records were involved in the case, according to charging documents filed Monday in Pierce County Juvenile Court. A female described as the teenagers girlfriend reportedly was the victim. On July 31, investigators from the King County Sheriffs Office followed the 15-year-old throughout the day as he drove a red Chevy Tahoe, records state. The female was with him, who is referred to as X in court records. Investigators stopped their surveillance because of the teenagers reckless driving and excessive speed he reportedly drove over 100 mph on southbound Interstate 5. The News Tribune generally does not name people accused of a crime who are under age 18 and have not been charged as an adult. Investigators stopped following the teenager at about 6 p.m. Less than an hour later, hes alleged to have shot JaPree Marcus, 19, multiple times in an alleyway off of Pacific Avenue in Parkland. Marcus died at the scene. The human-trafficking case that the teenager was being investigated for in King County does not appear to be directly connected to the killing of Marcus. Charging documents show that sheriffs detectives from Pierce and King counties began communicating about the teenager after a Pierce County detective located an image of him leaving the scene of the fatal shooting in a red Chevy Tahoe that was reported stolen the same day. The detective sent the image to a crime analyst to learn about anyone associated with the stolen vehicle and soon learned that King County detectives had been surveiling the teenager for the trafficking case as he drove in the same Tahoe earlier in the day. Court records indicate that the fatal shooting might have stemmed from a confrontation between Marcus and the alleged shooter at a convenience store the week before. Marcus reportedly made a rap song about the incident. Detectives described both teens as members of rival gangs. The alleged gunman was arrested Saturday by police in Auburn, according to the Pierce County Sheriffs Department, which has been investigating the homicide. On Monday, the teenager was charged in juvenile court with first-degree murder, second-degree murder and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. He appeared in Remann Hall on Monday afternoon unrestrained and in a blue detention uniform. Prosecutors said they were there for first appearances in two cases the murder and a fourth-degree assault that allegedly occurred over the weekend while the teenager was held in detention. Prosecutors said they were seeking to charge the teenager as an adult in the murder case. Because of that, the teen did not enter a plea. A hearing to decide whether the case will be moved to adult court was set for Sept. 27. He did enter a plea of not guilty to the fourth-degree assault charge. After hearing from prosecutors, the defendants attorney from the Department of Assigned Counsel and probation services, Commissioner Mark Gelman ordered the teenager held in secure detention on both matters pending further proceedings. Marcus graduated in 2023 from GATES High School, an alternative school part of Franklin Pierce School District. Principal Val Jones told The News Tribune that Marcus was a wonderful human being, and his death had broken a lot of hearts. He was among a number of students selected to give a speech at his graduation ceremony. In it, he said he had struggled in school the past few years and as a sophomore was convinced he would give up on graduating, but he kept going. A spark came on inside me that was pushing me to want better not only for myself well being but for my family as well, Marcus said in the speech. Jones said GATES High School and its programming can have that kind of impact on a lot of kids, but they have to want it. And I know for a fact that JaPree was really wanting a good life for himself, Jones said. JaPree Marcus of Tacoma speaks at GATES High Schools 2023 graduation ceremony on June 10, 2023. Marcus, 19, was fatally shot on July 31, 2024 in Parkland. Shooting outside suspected illegal marijuana shop Pierce County sheriffs deputies were dispatched at 6:39 p.m. for reports of a shooting at 11814 Pacific Ave. S., where Marcus was found in the street with multiple gunshot wounds. According to the probable cause document, Marcus was shot in an alleyway between two buildings that housed multiple businesses at 11810 Pacific Ave. and 11814 Pacific Ave. Marcus then ran into the street where he collapsed. A Glock pistol with an extended magazine was found near him along with a phone and 9 mm ammunition. In and near the alley, which leads to a parking lot behind the businesses, 11 bullet casings were found that were .45-caliber. A door between a massage parlor and a motorcycle shop at 11810 Pacific Ave. had been under surveillance by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board and the King County Sheriffs Office because it was believed to be an illegal marijuana business, according to the probable cause document. Records indicate the alleged gunman was inside the weed shop before the shooting occurred. Marcus girlfriend was with him before the shooting. She reportedly told detectives that they stopped at a gas station at 119th Street South for gas. After Marcus pumped the fuel, she said he told her he would be right back. She said she didnt know where he was going but assumed it was to get weed, records state. A short time later, she heard gunshots. Further investigation led detectives to obtain a video Aug. 1 that captured a portion of the shooting. It allegedly showed Marcus on his phone and looking around while he stood on the sidewalk outside the weed shop. The video cuts out, and, when it begins again, Marcus is walking toward a bus stop on Pacific Avenue. While Marcus back is turned to the alley, the door to the weed shop opens and a shorter person wearing a blue shirt and white or gray pants walks out. Detectives identified that person as the 15-year-old suspected shooter. A female identified as the victim in the human trafficking case, X, also followed the teenager out of the shop, records state. The video shows the teenager walk toward Marcus, who turns to face him but reportedly doesnt appear to react. As the teenager gets closer, a puff of smoke comes from him that is consistent with gunfire. Marcus began to run toward Pacific Avenue and tripped on something next to the bus stop. The teenager allegedly continued to shoot as he backed down the alley. Three days after detectives obtained video of the shooting, X reportedly agreed to meet with detectives in Randle, a small town in eastern Lewis County. Detectives learned that she and the 15-year-old gunman went to the suspected illegal weed shop the day of the shooting and that while they were there Marcus came to the front door. According to the probable cause document, the teenager recognized Marcus on security cameras. X allegedly told detectives that the teenager could see Marcus was on his phone, and he thought that Marcus was calling his friends to confront him over an altercation they had the week before at a convenience store. The teenager allegedly pulled out his gun and told employees at the weed shop not to let him in. After the shooting, the suspected gunman allegedly picked up X and they drove away. Records state X said the teenager called his uncle and said he had killed a gang member. He was reportedly told to ditch the car. He reportedly did that, burned the blue shirt he was wearing and broke the vehicles ignition to make it look like it had been stolen. Records state X heard steps were being taken to move the teenager to Nevada, Arizona or St. Louis. Teen jumps in Utah reservoir to rescue woman during storm; dad drowns trying to save him Teen jumps in Utah reservoir to rescue woman during storm; dad drowns trying to save him SALT LAKE CITY (WJW) A father drowned in a Utah reservoir over the weekend while trying to rescue his teenage son who had jumped in to save someone else. The drowning happened around 4:20 p.m. at Willard Bay State Park. According to the Utah Division of State Parks, Andre Debose, 38, was boating and swimming near Eagle Beach with his 17-year-old son and others when storms started rolling in. Officials say a 19-year-old woman was struggling in the water, so the teen jumped in to help her. She was wearing a life vest and was able to get back on the boat, but the teen started struggling in the water as well. NWS confirms 5th tornado touched down in Northeast Ohio Thats when Debose got into the water to help his son. Officials say they were holding onto the same life vest, and although the 17-year-old was able to get back on the boat, Debose went underwater and didnt return to the surface. Park rangers and first responders were called out to search for the man, whose body was later recovered around 11:15 p.m. The Utah Division of State Parks extends our deepest condolences to Deboses family and friends during this difficult time, park officials said in a media release. We would also like to express our thanks to the agencies who assisted in the search and recovery efforts. Deeply disappointed: Officials wont reinstate Jordan Chiles bronze medal According to park officials, this was the second drowning at the park within a week. On Aug. 3, a 51-year-old mans body was recovered from the water. As the recreation season continues, we urge all outdoor recreators to prioritize safety, park officials said in the release. Always recreate with a buddy, wear a life jacket, and remain aware of weather conditions. Ensure someone knows your location and expected return time. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW. JOLIET, Ill. A teen has died after a rollover crash involving an ATV in Joliet. The Joliet Police Department said just before 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 4, officers went to the intersection of Howland Drive and Hadrian Drive to investigate a report of a crash involving an ATV. Officers determined that an ATV, driven by 18-year-old Violeta Lara with a 15-year-old boy sitting behind her, overturned while trying to turn at the intersection, causing both Lara and the boy to fall. Beautiful inside and out: Family wants answers after young journalist struck, killed at Hegewisch train station Lara was seriously injured and taken to Ascension St. Joseph Medical Center before being airlifted to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago later in the evening. Police said Lara died from her injuries at Northwestern Memorial Hospital on Saturday, Aug. 10. The 15-year-old boy was not injured, according to investigators. The crash remains under investigation and anyone with information is asked to call the Joliet Police Departments Traffic Unit at 815-724-3193. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV. Teller County reminds community of tornado safety as peak season rolls in (TELLER COUNTY, Colo.) The Teller County Office of Emergency Management, in collaboration with the National Weather Service (NWS), is reminding residents and visitors of all things tornado before peak season finishes. According to the National Weather Service, Teller Countys most recent tornado was on Friday, Aug. 9. Preliminary data rated the tornado an EF-1, which caused no injuries or deaths but damaged one home and about 20 acres. The tornado happened four miles northeast of Cripple Creek, off of Teller County Road 61, near West Beaver Creek. PREVIOUS STORY: Teller County tornado causes no injuries, minor damage While tornadoes are rare in mountainous regions, the possibility still exists, especially under specific atmospheric conditions. The highest tornado recorded in the region was 12,156 feet in the Rockwell Pass in July 2004. The Teller County Office of Emergency Management reminds individuals that it is crucial to stay vigilant during tornado season. Peak tornado season in Colorado spans from May through August, the Centennial state experiences an average of 53 tornadoes annually, with most along and east of Interstate 25 (I-25). Individuals should know that a Tornado Watch means conditions are favorable for a tornado formation, individuals should stay alert and be prepared to take action. A Tornado Warning means a tornado has been sighted or indicated by a weather radar. Immediate action is required to protect life and property. Unlike the movie Twisters, if you are caught in a tornado you should seek shelter in strong buildings, preferably on the lowest floor, not in a vehicle or under an overpass. Twisters: How does the movie compare to real life? If you are ever caught in a tornado, the Teller County Office recommends: Seek Shelter Indoors Move to the center of a sturdy building, preferably to the lowest floor. Basements, safe rooms, or storm shelters are the best options. Put as many walls between you and the outside Interior rooms without windows such as closets or bathrooms, offer the best protection Avoid Mobile and Manufactured Homes These structures are not safe during a tornado. If you live in one, evacuate to a nearby building. If caught outdoors: Lie down in a low-lying area like a ditch and cover your head. Avoid sheltering under highway overpasses as they can be deadly. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado. About a dozen anti-fracking activists held up signs in the back of the room during the Aug. 12 Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management meeting (Photo by Megan Henry). About a dozen anti-fracking activists held up signs in the back of the room during the Aug. 12 Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management meeting (Photo by Megan Henry, Ohio Capital Journal.) A Texas-based energy company has been selected as the highest and best bidder to lease Keen Wildlife Area for fracking during Mondays Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management meeting. Four other parts of the state in Belmont, Monroe and Harrison counties all Ohio Department of Natural Resources and Ohio Department of Transportation properties were also approved to be fracked by the highest and best bidders. These areas were approved for fracking during Mondays meeting: Gulfport Appalachia, LLC had the winning bid for five parcels in Flushing Township, Belmont County for $18,666 ($6,000/acre). Gulfport Appalachia, LLC had the winning bid for 1.370 acres in Fishers Grove Park in Summit Township in Monroe County for $5,480($4,000/acre). Gulfport Appalachia, LLC had the winning bid for 2.846 acres gross acres in Wayne Township in Belmont County for $17,076 ($6,000/acre). Texas-based Tiburon Oil and Gas Ohio, LLC had the highest bid for three parcels in Somerset Township in Belmont County for $6,545 ($5,500/acre). EOG Resources, Inc also based in Texas had the highest bid for 84.66 acres in Keen Wildlife Area in Washington Township, Harrison County for $211,650 ($2,500/acre). Fracking is the process of injecting liquid into the ground at a high pressure to extract oil or gas and it has been documented in over 30 states, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. The commissioners posted the nominated leasing parcels for bid on July 10 and Friday was the deadline to submit bids. Each lease agreement includes a 12.5% royalty paid to the state for production, per state law, with an additional financial incentive paid by the winning bidder to the state, according to ODNR. The lease bonuses for these nominations chosen by the committee is $47,767 for ODOT properties and $211,650 for ODNR properties, according to ODNR. Notably, 40 parcels of land in Salt Fork State Park and Salt Fork Wildlife Area were removed from the committees agenda last week by the nominator. These parcels were up for a vote to move forward in the bidding process. The commissioners disapproved less than an acre of land in Guernsey County from moving forward in the bidding process due to a condition in the nomination that could render the economic benefits too low to warrant approval pursuant to Ohio Revised Code, according to ODNR. Anti-fracking advocates About a dozen anti-fracking activists held up signs at the back of the room during the meeting that read Keep parks parks not oil and gas fields, Enjoy dont destroy Gods creation, and Hands off our parks. The activists shouted various phrases and questions at the commissioners during the meeting including rubber stampers, a place that is being fracked is no longer a wildlife area, and have you considered all the accidents that happen related to gas and oil? The commissioners continued with the meeting and didnt directly address any of the activists interjections. There were more than 1,400 fracking incidents associated with oil and gas wells in Ohio between 2018 and September 2023, according to FracTracker Alliance a nonprofit that collects data on fracking pipelines. About 10% of those incidents were reported as fires or explosions. 64 of those incidents happened in Belmont County, 59 happened in Monroe County and 26 happened in Harrison County. Jenny Morgan with Save Ohio Parks said after the meeting she is fearful for Ohios children. Our children need nature regularly, and they need it to be clean and healthy, she told the Capital Journal. I care about our environment that impacts our health and our childrens health, and we need these spaces to be clean. Follow OCJ Reporter Megan Henry on X. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST Texas man gave his 4-month-old son gasoline to drink hoping to kill the infant, cops say Edgar James Bridgemon, 24, is accused of giving his infant gasoline to drink hoping to kill the 4-month-old child (Paris police) A Texas man faces charges after he gave his newborn gasoline to drink hoping to kill the child, police said. Edgar James Bridgemon, 24, was arrested by police in Paris, Texas, on August 10 and was charged with attempted capital murder. Around noon Saturday, police responded to a home to help EMS medics. There, police were told that the infants father had given his 4-month-old son gasoline to drink, according to MyParisTexas.com. Officers saw Bridgemon trying to run away from the scene, and he was arrested about a block away. When officers spoke to the 24-year-old, he admitted that he gave the child gasoline trying to kill the infant, according to the report. Edgar James Bridgemon, 24, is accused of giving his infant gasoline to drink hoping to kill the 4-month-old child. (Paris police) Bridgemon was arrested and also charged with evading arrest. He was booked into jail and is being held on $255,000 bond. The child was taken to the hospital and transferred to a facility in Dallas for further care, according to the report. Sorcha Costigan holds up Jess Hamptons army jacket in the bedroom of her home on Aug. 10, 2024 in Rosevine. The goal is to get him out of jail, so he and I can both work on fighting this from the outside and get his name cleared, Costigan said. Credit: Hope Mora for The Texas Tribune Two Saturdays a month, Sorcha Costigan climbs into her Jeep and drives 100 miles from Sabine County into Louisiana, all the while worrying about another vehicle part malfunctioning and how much the gas is going to cost. Sorcha Costigan shows a photo of her husband, Jess Hampton, in his military uniform. Credit: Hope Mora for The Texas Tribune Its important to her, though, to see her husband as much as possible. Jess Hampton is being held at Louisiana Workforce, a private prison in DeQuincy, Louisiana, even though he is charged with child abuse in East Texas. Hampton adamantly claims hes innocent, but he cant afford the $250,000 bond to secure his release before his case is resolved. And the distance between where hes locked up and where his criminal proceedings are playing out has made it difficult to connect with his lawyers. Even after a Child Protective Services investigation found that the abuse Hampton is accused of committing never occurred, he couldnt get his bond reduced further. His attorney at the time, based in Nacogdoches County, didnt show up to the hearing. He never presented one scrap of evidence, nor did he ever respond to any of my requests for contact, said Costigan, who has been advocating for Hampton during the nearly eleven months he has been incarcerated far from home. Every day across Texas, counties as large as Harris and as small as Sabine struggle to properly house the people held in their jails. So they spend millions in tax dollars transporting inmates, many of whom have yet to stand trial and are legally considered innocent. Some are sent to neighboring counties; others are bused across state lines. A combination of factors is worsening the situation. Solutions prove elusive. And people like Hampton and Costigan are bearing the consequences. The number of Texas inmates who were housed outside of their county of arrest surged from 2,078 in June 2019 to 4,358 in June 2024, according to a Texas Tribune analysis. The number of counties relying on outsourcing has also risen. In June 2010, 31% of Texas county jails housed inmates elsewhere. In June 2024, 41% counties did so, according to data kept by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. Counties are having to think outside the box, said Ricky Armstrong, assistant director of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. We know there are some counties housing people out of state. Its not something we recommend or encourage, but we see that as a necessary evil. Several factors are worsening the situation. The number of new jail cells in Texas isnt keeping pace with the states explosive population growth. Several counties are still trying to dig themselves out of the caseload log jam the COVID-19 pandemic caused. A 2021 state law limiting who can be released while awaiting trial is increasing the number of people in jails and lengthening the amount of time they stay there. So, too, is the overburdened mental health system in the state, which essentially forces jails to take on psychiatric care even though they are ill-equipped to do so. And finding jailers is difficult which exacerbates the problem because under state jail standards, fewer jailers means lock-ups have to lower the number of inmates they hold, even if there are cells available. Meanwhile, violent crime rates did increase in recent years, but appear to have peaked in 2020 and have since gone down. Its very difficult to know exactly what is driving incarceration rates, but typically its not crime rates, said Jeff Asher, a crime analyst, who cautioned against drawing a direct connection between the amount of crime in a community and the size of its jail population. Its more about enforcement. Law enforcement officials say jail space must increase, though residents opposed to tax increases to fund expensive construction costs hamper those efforts. Civil rights advocates and defense lawyers argue that the state should invest more heavily in mental health support and alternatives to incarceration. They also say the state should adjust its bail policies so decisions about who is freed until trial are not effectively based on a persons wealth. We are addicted to carceral solutions, said Krish Gundu, co-founder of the Texas Jail Project, which advocates for people in Texas county jails. If we really cared about not having these people in jails, youd look at why they are ending up in jail and solve the problem at the root. But Texas Republican-controlled Legislature is unlikely to follow their advice. The state has a long history of relying heavily on incarceration to control crime and to maintain law and order. Texas locks up 751 per 100,000 of its residents, one of the higher rates in the United States, according to a recent report from the Prison Policy Initiative. Texas has been, and always will be a law and order state, and criminals must know that justice is awaiting them, Gov. Greg Abbotts press secretary, Andrew Mahaleris, told The Texas Tribune in an email. Gov. Abbott will continue to work with the legislature to end revolving door bail policies and keep dangerous criminals off our streets. Abbotts office did not answer questions about how the state will respond to jail overcrowding. The governor appoints the nine members of TCJS, which conducts regular inspections of all county jails. Some of the ones that do have available beds struggle with staffing issues, Brandon Wood, the agencys executive director, said at a TCJS meeting this month. We will continue to study the issue. Constables prepare to process suspects at the intake area of the Harris County Joint Processing Center on April 16, 2024, in Houston. Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune Staffing challenges On a Thursday morning in April, the processing center at Harris County Jail did not appear overcrowded. A cell block that could accommodate 70 people housed under 50, the infirmary was nearly empty, and everyone in intake had a place to sit. And yet about 2,000 of the countys roughly 9,300 inmates were being housed in facilities as far away as Tutwiler, Mississippi and Olla, Louisiana. This costs the county roughly $50 million per year and is in part due to a persistent staffing shortage. Harris County Jail is approved to hold up to 9,448 inmates but only if they have enough guards to monitor them. A staffing shortage is one of many reasons along with failures to provide medication and extended stays in holding cells that the jail has been out of compliance with state standards since September 2022. The states regulatory body mandates a minimum of one jailer per 48 inmates. Staffing has always been a challenge, said Jason Spencer, the chief of staff for the Harris County Sheriff's Office. But the issue worsened with the 2020 uptick in violent crime. That creates more tension in the jail, and makes it a tougher place to work, Spencer said. He added that a higher proportion of people in the jail are accused of murder and are more difficult to manage. About one-third of detention officers quit each year in Harris County. But the number of people awaiting trial in Harris County has grown at the same time, stemming from a backlog first created by Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Inmates are monitored at a security station at the Harris County Detention Center on April 16, 2024, in Houston. Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune Left: A room where the personal items of inmates are stored at the Harris County Joint Processing Center. Right: A sheriff drops off his belongings outside of the Harris County Detention Center in Houston. Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune In an effort to increase jailer recruitment and retention, Harris County increased the starting pay for detention officers from under $19.99 an hour to $22.39 an hour. County officials also approved a $2,000 retention bonus. Phillip Bosquez, who oversees the jail and is assistant chief at Harris County Sheriffs Office, told state jail officials in May that retention was improving. But this month the jail still had a shortfall of 139 jailers, Bosquez told state jail officials. Similar situations play out across the state. My big issue is that everybody is having this jailer issue, said Dustin Fawcett, the Ector County judge who is that countys chief executive. And so in order to compensate for that jailer issue, everybody is increasing salaries for jailers, which means they are going to increase their cost of housing an inmate. Ector County, which sits in the petroleum-rich Permian Basin in West Texas, also increased jailers salaries last year. But that didnt completely solve the staffing shortfall the county is still short 52 jailers, Fawcett said and officials have continued sending inmates to other counties for a fee ranging from $55 a day to $80 a day. The state awarded $125 million in grants to rural sheriffs departments and prosecutors earlier this year as part of Senate Bill 22. But Fawcett said the funding isnt enough. Its a fraction of our budget, and yet we are constitutionally required to have these facilities, Fawcett said. There is little help from the state. Inmates rest on their bunks on June 4, 2024 in the Trinity County jail in Groveton. Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune Costs to counties Trinity County Sheriff Woody Wallace cant help but feel like his department is wasting taxpayer money. Nearly $1 million or roughly 10% of the rural East Texas countys budget has been sent to other jurisdictions that house inmates who cant fit in the jail, which was built in the 1930s to accommodate up to seven inmates. Today, it can hold up to 16 inmates. And in June, Trinity sent 17 inmates to other lock-ups, costing the taxpayers up to $75 per inmate, per day. Then theres the cost to transport the inmates. We are driving as far as 3.5 hours away, Wallace said. I have a small jail staff, and we are having to scramble to find vehicles and people to take them. Most people in jail havent been convicted or sentenced, so they still have to return to their county of arrest for court hearings. In 2023, the county spent about $91,000 in inmate transportation costs, according to county records. Jailer Josh Crotts talks to an inmate through the cell door on June 4, 2024 at the Trinity County jail in Groveton. Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune Left: The van used for transferring prisoners at the Trinity County Sheriffs jail in Groveton. Right: Jail transporter Rocky Boyd and jail administrator Wes Cockrell look at a new jail transfer contract that will be a total of 424 miles roundtrip at the Trinity County jail in Groveton. Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune Sometimes figuring out where to house the overflow population is onerous, Wallace said, since those lock-ups also become overcrowded. Just because we have a contract doesnt mean theyll accept inmates that day, he said. Theyll say not today, maybe tomorrow. Since 2022, at least eight counties Sabine, Harris, Wilbarger, Newton, Chambers, Tyler, Loving and Liberty have sent their overflow jail population out of state to Louisiana, Oklahoma, Colorado and Mississippi, through contracts costing taxpayers millions of dollars. Outsourcing is the single most expensive thing we do as a county, Daniel Ramos, Harris County budget director said at a Feb. 1 TCJS meeting. Everything we can do to bring these folks home and have a safe jail is worth the money. Sheriff Woody Wallace talks to inmates on June 4, 2024 at the Trinity County jail in Groveton. Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune Disagreement on solutions Advocates for the criminal defendants say the state should arrest fewer people, especially for minor crimes such as possession of small amounts of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor in Texas. Jail space is a finite resource and we cant keep expanding it indefinitely, said Michele Deitch, a senior lecturer at University of Texas at Austins School of Law and LBJ School. The space needs to be for people who are too dangerous. But Wallace, the Trinity County sheriff, says people must be arrested for low-level offenses to deter them from committing more serious crimes. If someone spends a couple weeks or 30 days in jail, they might say I dont like this, and maybe they wont graduate to felonies, Wallace said. Thats a refrain state lawmakers echo. Republicans control both chambers of the Legislature and every statewide office. Their hardline stance on law and order has translated into policies that keep people in jail for longer. Those policies include Senate Bill 6, which passed in 2021 after Abbott, the governor, made bail-reform an emergency item on the legislative agenda. SB 6 prohibits judges from letting people accused of violent crimes out of jail unless they pay a cash bond or a portion of that amount to a bail bonds company. Proponents say it keeps dangerous people off the streets. Critics say the law disproportionately impacts poorer defendants who havent yet been convicted. Last year, Abbott pushed for a constitutional amendment to expand the circumstances in which a judge can deny bail. It failed in the House but is expected to be proposed again next year. Some people fear if that passes, overcrowding and understaffing will only worsen. Theres nothing inevitable about the size of a jail population, Deitch said. Thats a decision that is made and there are only two things that affect it: how many people are going in and how long they are staying there. Mental health clinicians wait to talk to inmates at the Harris County Detention Center in Houston. Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune As jails have filled up, theyve also become the largest mental health provider in the state. Inadequate or inaccessible community mental health care means that law enforcement officers are often the first to respond when a person faces a crisis. Instead of being treated by doctors, people end up arrested for criminal behavior, and their underlying mental health issues remain. They then often sit in jail for months until a state mental health bed becomes available. As of June 14, 1,173 people in jail were on the waitlist for a state mental health bed, which are used for people deemed incompetent to stand trial. The state has allocated money to build more state mental health facilities, but has struggled to adequately staff those facilities. Jail is not the place for someone with a mental health issue, Crockett Police Chief Clayton Smith said during the East Texas Mental Health Summit last year. Sometimes thats where that patient ends up because of a lack of beds, but ultimately, jail is not going to help the mental health patient at all. Sorcha Costigan returns to her home in Sabine County after visiting her husband Jess Hampton at Louisiana Workforce, a private prison 100 miles away in DeQuincy, Louisiana on Aug. 10, 2024. Credit: Hope Mora for The Texas Tribune Effects of outsourcing Before the child abuse accusations, Hampton lived a quiet life in Sabine Countys Rosevine community with his partner, Sorcha, and his son. Hampton worked as a farrier and blacksmith, trimming and balancing horses' hooves. He also sold firewood that he cut and split by hand. In his free time, he enjoyed hiking national forests and kayaking on the lake. My philosophy was work hard, play hard and live life, Hampton wrote in an electronic message from prison. After a dispute, a family member accused Hampton of sexually abusing a child. A Child Protective Services investigator who followed up on the accusation multiple times and interviewed the child found that the abuse did not occur, according to an August report that Costigan provided the Tribune. An agency spokesperson said the case had been closed and that its details are confidential. A military veteran, Hampton has fought wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. A few years ago, he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after his time in combat. Hampton said he learned how to regulate the effects of the disorder, but he's now noticing a regression. "Since I've been locked up I find it much harder to regulate," he wrote. Back home in Rosevine, Costigan does what she can to help with his defense, advocate for his release before a trial, visit him and keep their home running. But its not always easy. The stove is out, the refrigerator just died, my dryer doesnt work, Costigan said. Hampton could probably fix them. But nobody seems to know how long hell be behind bars. Sorcha Costigan stands in the kitchen of her home, which she has tried to keep running in her husband's absence. Credit: Hope Mora for The Texas Tribune After missing an arraignment hearing, Hamptons lawyer was one hour late to another court date. Costigan filed a grievance against the attorney, who did not respond to the Tribunes requests for comment but disputed Costigans accusations in a filing to the state bar association. Hampton is now represented by a court-appointed attorney, who vows to get Hamptons bond reduced and at least one of the charges against him dismissed. For now, its just a waiting game 100 miles from home. I just dont understand how they are shuttling pre-trial people to Louisiana, Hampton said. Do you know how hard it is to prove yourself innocent here? Editor's note: The first graphic in this story was changed from a line chart to a bar chart to better represent the data. The full program is now LIVE for the 2024 Texas Tribune Festival, happening Sept. 57 in downtown Austin. Explore the program featuring more than 100 unforgettable conversations on topics covering education, the economy, Texas and national politics, criminal justice, the border, the 2024 elections and so much more. See the full program. AUSTIN Two Texas women have filed federal complaints against hospitals that denied them abortions for ectopic pregnancies, saying they nearly died and suffered losses of fallopian tubes after they were repeatedly turned away for treatment. Texas law allows doctors to terminate ectopic pregnancies, in which a fertilized egg grows outside of the uterus where it cannot survive. They are the leading cause of maternal mortality during the first trimester and one of the most common complications, occurring in two of every 100 pregnancies. "For weeks, I was in and out of emergency rooms trying to get the abortion that I needed to save my future fertility and life," Kyleigh Thurman said in a statement Monday. "This should have been an open and shut case. Yet, I was left completely in the dark without any information or options for the care I deserved." The complaints, announced Monday, ask the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to investigate Ascension Seton Williamson and Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital in Arlington, Texas, for what they say are violations of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, a federal law that requires hospitals to provide "stabilizing care" to patients facing emergency medical conditions. Fourteen states have enacted abortion bans since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago, eliminating the constitutional right to abortions. While the bans have exceptions for when a pregnancy endangers the mother's life, doctors have said the complicated wording of the new laws and severe punishments for performing abortions including up to life imprisonment in Texas and elsewhere have stirred fear and confusion. "How many more people will nearly die before we see change?" said Beth Brinkmann, senior director of U.S. litigation at the Center for Reproductive Rights. "Its impossible to have the best interest of your patient in mind when youre staring down a life sentence. Texas officials have put doctors in an impossible situation." Lawsuit: Doctors' inaction threatened patients' lives After a month of cramps, dizziness, and nonstop bleeding, Thurman sought help from her OB-GYN, who suspected she had an ectopic pregnancy and recommended methotrexate to terminate it, according to the complaint filed last week. Her doctor didn't have the medication in her office and told her to go to an emergency room, which also appeared not to have it stocked. Thurman, who lives roughly 60 miles northwest of Austin in Burnet County, then drove an hour away for treatment to Ascension Seton Williamson in Round Rock, Texas. The complaint said doctors found signs of a tubal ectopic pregnancy but discharged her and instructed her to return in two days. After she returned, the hospital again saw signs of a possible ectopic pregnancy but did not offer treatment. It took Thurman's OB-GYN driving to the hospital to plead with medical staff for Thurman to be given methotrexate as treatment, according to the complaint. It was too late, her attorneys say. The ectopic pregnancy ruptured days later, leaving her bleeding heavily and in blinding pain. Doctors removed her right fallopian tube to save her life, the complaint said, effectively lowering her chances of having a successful pregnancy in the future. Ascension Seton Williamson, which is part of a nationwide network of Catholic hospitals, declined to specifically address Thurman's allegations. "While we cannot speak to specifics of this case, Ascension is committed to providing high-quality care to all who seek our services," a spokesperson for the hospital wrote in an email Monday to the Austin American-Statesman, part of the USA TODAY Network. Center for Reproductive Rights attorney Molly Duane, left, speaks with plaintiffs after the Texas Supreme Court heard oral arguments for Zurawski v. State of Texas Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. Duane is representing two women who filed federal complaints alleging that Texas hospitals' denial treatment for ectopic pregnancies led them to nearly die. Complaint: Woman denied care after diagnosis Nearly three hours away, Kelsie Norris-De La Cruz said she had a similarly harrowing experience at a hospital in Arlington a city of roughly 400,000 people that sits halfway between Dallas and Fort Worth. Norris-De La Cruz, a college student in her last year, began planning for her baby after a pregnancy test came back positive. But after suffering from cramps and other symptoms, Medical City Healthcare Center told her she may have miscarried or was carrying an ectopic pregnancy, per the complaint filed last week. After weeks of intense pain, Norris-De La Cruz went to Texas Health Arlington, where an ultrasound revealed a large mass near her uterus and other signs of ectopic pregnancy. An emergency room physician told her she could choose to receive a methotrexate injection, which would cause the mass to be absorbed by her body over several weeks, or surgery, according to the complaint. She opted for the surgery to prevent more bleeding. Then, per the complaint, two different on-call OB-GYNs "acknowledged that her pregnancy could rupture but still denied her medical care," telling Norris-De La Cruz to return in 48 hours. Records show they doubted her account of her sexual history and suspected she could be suffering a miscarriage from a new pregnancy as a result. Convinced that Texas Health Arlington would not provide her care, the 25-year-old and her mother called an abortion clinic in New Mexico, which told them the treatment of ectopic pregnancies was legal in Texas, the complaint said. They tried another OB-GYN that had been recommended to them by a friend, who then performed emergency surgery. The mass had grown so much that they had to remove most of Norris-De La Cruzs right fallopian tube and roughly three-fourths of her right ovary, according to the complaint. The doctors knew I needed an abortion, but these bans are making it nearly impossible to get basic emergency health care," she said. "So, Im filing this complaint because women like me deserve justice and accountability from those that hurt us. Texas state officials cant keep ignoring us. We cant let them. Texas Health Arlington did not respond to a request for comment Monday. Biden administration, Texas AG battle over abortion access Attorneys with the Center for Reproductive Rights, an abortion rights advocacy organization, filed the complaints on behalf of the two women. The group has represented Texas women in several major lawsuits, including Zurawski v. Texas, in which 22 patients and two OB-GYNs sued the state over what they said was a lack of clarity in the state's abortion laws. The plaintiffs in the case, which was decided in favor of the state in May, alleged that vague medical emergency exceptions led Texas OB-GYNs to delay or deny abortion care to women facing serious pregnancy complications. The Biden administration's guidance on emergency abortions under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) has been blocked in Texas since 2022 after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won an injunction in federal court against the order. Paxton argued that the federal rule which states that hospitals must terminate pregnancies when doing so is necessary to stabilize emergency patients would force hospitals to provide abortions in cases when Texas law would not permit them. The federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the injunction in January. Given the injunction, it's unclear how or whether EMTALA will apply in the women's cases. Their attorney, Molly Duane, argues that EMTALA still requires hospitals in Texas to provide emergency abortions when they are legal in the state, including when a woman has an ectopic pregnancy. "(EMTALA) is the most direct path towards getting this hospital in line and others in Texas in line as well," Duane told the Statesman in an interview Monday. She noted that the federal government can require noncompliant hospitals to prove their policies and procedures will prevent repeat incidents. Texas' near-total abortion ban prohibits doctors from performing the procedure except when a patient faces "a life-threatening condition" that places them at risk of death or "substantial impairment of a major bodily function." Physicians who are found guilty of violating the ban could face criminal penalties up to life in prison. In response to questions from the Statesman, state Sen. Bryan Hughes, who authored Texas' 2021 abortion ban, emphasized that termination of an ectopic pregnancy is excluded from the definition of an abortion under the Texas Health Code. "Moms in (these) situations ... should have received treatment because there is nothing in Texas law that prevents doctors from treating them," Hughes wrote in an email Monday. "Clearly, these moms' lives were in danger, so they are covered under the exceptions as well." Methotrexate is the most commonly used medication to treat ectopic pregnancy, according to the American College of Obstetrician-Gynecologists, and it is strictly regulated in Texas under Senate Bill 4, a 2021 law that restricts access to abortion-inducing drug(s)." The groups that advocated for the bans, however, maintain that medical exceptions to the ban protect women's lives and health while preserving the fetuses they carry. Texas Alliance for Life in monthly news releases has highlighted that between 1 in 10 "medical-necessity" abortions have been recorded in Texas each month since Roe v. Wade was overturned. Before the landmark Supreme Court decision, the Texas Tribune reported at least 50,000 abortions took place in the state each year between 2014 and 2021. Bayliss Wagner reports for the Austin American-Statesman and Minnah Arshad reports for USA TODAY. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas women denied abortions of ectopic pregnancies file complaints Two women filed federal complaints against Texas hospitals they allege refused to terminate their ectopic pregnancies, which led to both women losing a fallopian tube, compromising their future fertility. Abortion is banned in Texas, but terminating an ectopic pregnancy, where a fertilized egg implants in a fallopian tube instead of the uterus, is explicitly allowed under state law. An ectopic pregnancy is never a viable pregnancy and can be deadly for the pregnant patient if not treated quickly. Both women in the complaints recounted how they nearly died after two separate hospitals turned them away out of fear of violating the states anti-abortion law. In Texas, a physician who provides a prohibited abortion faces up to life in prison, loss of medical license, and at least $100,000 in fines. Thus, some clinicians have been reluctant to provide medical intervention for a suspected or presumed ectopic pregnancy, the complaints state. They are doing so out of concern that, if their diagnosis is incorrect, termination would be a prohibited abortion that could result in criminal and civil penalties. The two complaints were filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. They argue that the hospitals violated the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), a nearly 40-year-old law that requires hospitals receiving federal funds to provide stabilizing care, including abortions, to patients with emergency medical conditions or transfer them. Hospitals must provide the care regardless of patients insurance status, mental illness or other underlying issues that a hospital might use to turn them away. Patients for years have needed to file complaints with state health agencies, but the administration earlier this year streamlined the process so patients can file complaints directly to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The Biden administration invoked EMTALA in the wake of the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. The administration said state laws or mandates that employ a more restrictive definition of an emergency medical condition are preempted by the federal statute. That guidance has been challenged by red states, including Texas, that say the administrations interpretation runs counter to their own laws banning abortion. Even though Texas law explicitly allows doctors to terminate ectopic pregnancies, it doesnt require it, and doctors remain wary of treating patients with pregnancy complications. Its impossible to have the best interest of your patient in mind when youre staring down a life sentence, Beth Brinkmann, senior director of U.S. litigation at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement. Texas officials have put doctors in an impossible situation. It is clear that these exceptions are a farce, and that these laws are putting countless lives in jeopardy. The U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year declined to say that Idahos abortion ban trumps the EMTALA requirement, but a federal appeals court found that Texas hospitals cannot be required to provide life-saving abortions. The Biden administration has already appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court. The court will likely make a decision about whether to hear arguments in the fall, allowing it to rule after the November election. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) When the Tom Green County Detention Center said it was interested in hiring new employees, it probably didnt expect these applicants to come looking. The first unusual interviewee was a baby crane. In a social media post published on Aug. 12, the detention center said that the young bird flew into the facilitys recreation yard expressing interest in employment opportunities. A Tom Green County Detention Center employee holds a baby crane the flew into the facility on Aug. 12, 2024. A Tom Green County Detention Center employee holds a baby crane the flew into the facility on Aug. 12, 2024. Our recruitment efforts are yielding interesting results! The detention center said. Luckily for the jail, a crane operator was available to conduct an on-site interview. The center stated that the bird was not particularly pleased that he did not meet the age requirement for the Corrections Officer position. The animal applicants arent just of the avian variety, however. One day after the underaged crane was turned away, a dog came to the jailhouses back door seeking a job opportunity as a K-9 unit. While the dog was described as a handsome fellow, he would leave the facility empty-pawed, riding back home with Officer Rodriguez in hopes of being her Chief of Home Security. A photo of the handsome fellow who wandered to the back door of the Tom Green County Detention Center on Aug. 13, 2024. Another day, another unique job applicant the detention center said. While the crane and the dog were turned away from the job, the detention center is still interested in hiring more human candidates for the role of corrections officer. To apply, visit the jails job application portal. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ConchoValleyHomepage.com. (Bloomberg) -- Thailands state investment fund plans to raise up to 150 billion baht ($4.3 billion) to help support Asias worst-performing stock market. Most Read from Bloomberg The Vayupak Fund aims to complete the capital raising from the public in the third quarter, Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira told reporters Tuesday. The fund, which has assets of about 300 billion baht, will guarantee a minimum annual return and principal protection, he said. Prime Minister Srettha Thavisins government has stepped up efforts to boost investor confidence after corporate scandals, irregular market trading and heightened political risk fueled foreign fund outflows of $3.3 billion from local shares this year. The SET Index has slid more than 8% so far in 2024, making it the worst performer among Asian equity benchmark gauges. The Thai stock market has been very volatile with large outflows of foreign funds, said Pichai. We hope the new investments by Vayupak Fund will help restore some confidence of Thai and foreign investors in the stock market. The money will be invested in Thai companies with sound fundamentals, sustainable businesses and governance, according to Pichai. New subscriptions will have a 10-year investment period and the minimum annual return for holders will be set by a panel later, Pichai said, adding that the maximum return will be also be capped. Last month, the government approved measures aimed at supporting domestic equities by increasing tax breaks and reducing lockups for individuals investing in so-called sustainable funds. Vayupak Fund, which was set up in 2003, is managed by Krung Thai Asset Management Co. and MFC Asset Management Pcl. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Thank You for Your Service, Adam Erickson SPARTANBURG, S.C. (WSPA) From a young age, Adam Erickson says he knew what he wanted to do with his life and that was to follow in his dad and grandfathers footsteps. They were both in the Army, Erickson told 7NEWS. My dad was in Vietnam. My grandpa was in World War Two. Shortly after high school, Erickson enlisted in the Army. He said boot camp sent him to Fort Benning, Georgia in 2004 before his unit deployed to Iraq during the second surge. The only thing I remember is that we got, we got hit with an I.E.D. and I lost two of my friends, Erickson said. The vehicle flipped over. That was two months into his deployment. My next deployment was in 14, I went to Afghanistan and I was only there for like two months, shared Erickson. He worked with NATO, overseeing thousands of troops. But that deployment didnt last long either before he was seriously injured a second time. I went outside in the morning, and a suicide bomber took out part of, took out, a little bit of a wall and knocked me out, said Erickson. Erickson told 7NEWS he woke up in the hospital and was later medically discharged. I just knew it, Erickson explained. If I couldnt do my job anymore, I was done. Erickson said that was a tough pill to swallow but in hindsight, it may have been for the best. Im grateful for not remembering half the stuff, said Erickson. Now, hes a full-time student pursuing an Audio Engineering degree. I wanna make documentaries, historical stuff, he explained. Today, Erickson spends his time navigating a new life as a 100-percent disabled veteran which to the eye, might not be so apparent. I broke my back when I was in the military and I can walk but everything is day to day, he shared. One day, Im acting normal and the other day I cant even get out of bed. Erickson also shared that he battles with mental health struggles. One day I might not even get any sleep because of nightmares, Erickson told 7 NEWS. Ill be up all night for days on end and its just stuff thats not, not like, physically, you can see it but its more an internal. Erickson said he seeks out veteran resources to make sure he doesnt become a part of the statistics. I just go wherever I have to go myself, out outside the VA to get, get the help I need, Erickson said. Like through the Wounded Warrior Project. Theyve been helping me. He also makes connections as a member of the American Legion, where he just recently took on a new role as the Historian. They might have not been where I was, but they have different experiences, Erickson said. So we can kind of talk and its just like a, more of a feeling like youre back in the family again. Adam Erickson, Thank You for Your Service. To nominate a veteran like Erickson to be featured in our Thank You for Your Service series, click here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSPA 7NEWS. The Scene FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. The Kennedy for President office was closed on Thursday. Opened in May, it took over a stretch of suburban strip mall between a sandwich spot and a comic book shop. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.s books (American Values, The Real Anthony Fauci) and campaign merchandise were displayed in the window, along with ways to volunteer. One day after Vice President Kamala Harris rally near Detroit, Kennedys campaigners just didnt have a reason to be there. I never thought it was a big deal that we had an office, said Walter Kristy, 69, one of Kennedys Michigan organizers, who did his campaign work from the home he was renting nearby. The campaign could do its work anywhere, and it was still adjusting to a new Democratic ticket. I watched that rally last night, and she sounded pretty good, Kristy said. Kennedys Michigan campaign launched at a high point for his candidacy, and for interest in third parties. Three months ago, a majority of voters told pollsters they were unhappy with the Biden-Trump rematch. A deal with the Natural Law Party gave Kennedy instant ballot access in the state. Independent Cornel West and Green Party candidate Jill Stein were both speaking to Arab-American voters here, urging them to abandon a flagging Biden and cast a pro-Gaza protest ballot. Then Biden ended his candidacy, Harris took over, and everything changed. Polling for third party options has crumbled since the vice president began leading the Democratic ticket. So has overall voter dissatisfaction with the options, as both Harris and Trump her since the candidate switch, him since a failed assassination attempt have enjoyed their highest favorable ratings of the campaign. The biggest factor that was unique to this election cycle was a deep distaste of both candidates, which opened the door to elevated third-party voting even in a time of record polarization, said Lakshya Jain, an elections analyst at Split Ticket. Kamala Harris ascension seems to have completely changed this dynamic. Kennedys support took the hardest hit. Before Biden dropped out, he was polling as high as 22% in a three-candidate test. Post-switch polling has put him in the mid-single digits nationally and in swing states, at the same time that a Democratic campaign to remove him from state ballots was scoring wins. On Monday, a New York judge ordered Kennedy off the state ballot, ruling that he maintained a sham address in the state; Kennedy said hed appeal and file a separate federal lawsuit, which he hoped would preempt ballot challenges. But the Kennedy campaign had benefited from having Biden and Trump to run against. We have 341 million people in this country, and the two political parties produced two men who bickered over, really, irrelevancies, he told Fox News after the Biden-Trump debate in Atlanta. Democratic excitement about their new ticket took both Republicans and third party campaigners by surprise, though some Kennedy advocates said they hadnt seen it yet. (The methodological fraud that goes on in polling is truly astounding, Kennedy campaign manager Amaryllis Fox Kennedy told supporters in a call last week.) Weve seen a lot of buzz around her campaign, said Damian Younger, 38, a volunteer for Kennedy in Michigan. All of a sudden her numbers are going through the roof, which is a little surprising. But we havent had one on one conversations with people saying they actively support Harris. Kristy, the Michigan Kennedy organizer, said that some of Bidens detractors were worried about supporting a senile president. In the short term, they might at least look at Harris, but Kennedy could win them back. Im still for Kennedy, he said. Then he joked: I dont think theres anything that would change my mind, unless he took a bear cub, brought it to Central Park, and pretended it was hit by a bicycle. The View From Third Party Candidates The Biden-Harris swap affected each alternative candidate differently. West and Stein were polling lower than Kennedy before the change, and reaching out to voters frustrated by the Biden administrations support for Israels war, who they believe Harris will still struggle to win over. Even these few short weeks have shown that there is no change of direction on the genocide in Gaza, and no overall policy change regarding AIPAC or the general fealty of the Democrat Party to their corporate overlords, said Jason Call, Steins campaign manager. In a weekend TV interview, West called Walz a very decent man in a corrupt party, and suggested that the tickets debut and early rallies had been promising. But it hadnt changed his own plans. Its a beautiful thing to see people expressing a certain kind of joy. I like to see human joy wherever it is, said West. But what is the moral content of the joy? What is the spiritual substance of the joy? Democrats said they were still worried about losing Gaza-focused voters to the Stein and West campaigns, though neither was seeing the support that Stein enjoyed in 2016 while feeding on discontent from Bernie Sanders supporters upset over the partys primary process. Stein had raised just $1.5 million and West had raised $1.2 million, with new donations slowing down last quarter. Chase Oliver, the Libertarian Partys presidential nominee, said that Bidens exit removed the age issue, but nothing else about his strategy needed to change. Kamala Harris is certainly younger and a little bit more coherent, Oliver told Semafor. But as school gets back in session, were going to be reaching out to students all across the country and letting them know that they have more than two options on their ballots. Many of them are opposed to whats going on in Gaza. And as the only presidential candidate whos going to be on the ballot across the country and can speak out forcefully against this stuff, Im hoping they see me as an option. Stein was making her own play for that vote, vetting Palestinian-American candidates for vice president to raise the salience of the Gaza issue. Noura Erakat, a law professor whod been in touch with the Stein campaign about the second slot, said that a Harris-Trump choice meant voting for genocide with niceties or genocide without niceties. But Biden had no opening with Gaza-focused voters; Harris had one, she said, and seemed ready to close it. I believe, sincerely, that Harris had felt differently about the war since the beginning, and that shed been sidelined, Erakat said. But shes far too concerned with maintaining the legacy of her president. She pointed to how Harris handled a meeting with uncommitted delegates in Michigan, who said that they were pushing her to support an arms embargo against Israel. Later that day, Harris backed away with an advisor saying the embargo was off the table. Davids view The unprecedented Biden-Harris switch added a frisson of chaos to this race, while also making it far more normal. Every third party candidate expected to benefit from voter dread about the unpopular red and blue choices. And much of that dread is just gone. What the major parties see now is a small third party vote that hits differently in different swing states Stein/West as a Democratic problem in Michigan, Kennedy as a Republican problem in the rest. Thats where the moneys going. Wests gotten some GOP help in securing ballot access, and a new super PAC has been sending mail to Pennsylvania voters, warning them that Kennedy is a pro-choice, progressive Democrat who wants to raise taxes on the top 1%. Thats happening because Kennedy, who was embraced by conservative media during his brief Democratic primary campaign, is now mostly drawing voters whose second choice is Trump, not Biden. Notable For NBC News , Alex Seitz-Wald reports on Steins effort to find a Palestinian-American running mate, and how both Stein and West are scheduled to attend the National Arab-American Convention in Dearborn in September. In the Wall Street Journal, Natalie Andrews, Jimmy Vielkind, and Elizabeth Findell look at whether Kennedys window is closing now that Harris has replaced Biden. For the Pew Research Center, Drew Desilver looks at the polling swoon that often hits third party candidates as the election draws closer. Those trying to reach the Fresno County Sheriffs Office will be greeted by automated system Those trying to reach the Fresno County Sheriffs Office will be greeted by automated system FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) The Fresno County Sheriffs Office announced on Monday that they introduced a new automated system for its non-emergency dispatch line. The sheriffs office says the goal of the new automated system is to maximize the time spent by community members and dispatchers. They say that dispatchers have historically spent a considerable amount of valuable time transferring calls to other units for matters that dispatchers do not specialize in. According to the sheriffs office, the dispatchers are the same ones that handle 911 calls so their time may be needed for those with higher-priority calls for service. The automated system will say thank you to whoever is calling. It will then give the option to select a language to continue. If it is a life-or-death emergency or if a crime is in progress the person will be asked to call 911. Sheriffs officials say that the automated system helps staff handle critical calls as people listen to automated options before dispatchers even answering the calls. If someone needs to report a crime it will tell them to visit the Fresno County Sheriffs Office website. There are six touch-key options to get directly to the most common departments within the office that residents often call the dispatch center to try and reach. It will give callers the following options: Press 1 for the jail Press 2 for a warrant Press 3 for a copy of a report or vehicle release Press 4 for the Civil Unit Press 5 for the CCW Unit Press 6 for the release of property Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47. STROUD TWP., MONROE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) Three men have been arrested after police say they committed multiple retail thefts at Lowes. According to the Stroud Area Regional Police Department, on July 31, around 8:00 a.m. officers were called to Lowes in Stroud Township for a report of a retail theft in progress. The loss prevention employee told officers that three suspects were part of at least two other thefts that happened at Lowes stores in Rhode Island. Two wanted for alleged assault at Montage Mountain concert Police say they arrested three of the following men, all from New York City, for retail theft; Jonathan Lara-Alvarez, 28 Maikel Ruben Corros-Ramos, 27 Mayker Yohan Ortiz-Arias, 26 SARPD Through further investigation, officers said they learned all three coordinated to come to Monroe County specifically to steal merchandise and resell it. According to the release, the suspects removed 19 DeWalt batteries valued at $3,600 from the store. The men are being held at the Monroe County Correctional Facility on $75,000 secured bail. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PAhomepage.com. CLAYTON, N.Y. (WWTI) The Thousand Islands Land Trust is acquiring nearly 1,000 acres in Jefferson County to help in protecting the areas water quality. The deal was announced as New York Governor Kathy Hochul visited the area to take care of a number of things. A total of 17 projects will be focused on protecting the regions drinking water sources. NYS announces funding for three upstate airports The partnership, supported with more than $5.8 million in State grants through the successful Water Quality Improvement Project Program, will have lasting impacts on the water quality and habitats of the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario. Governor Hochul signed the agreement today while visiting the North Country. Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence River and their tributaries provide drinking water for hundreds of thousands of people across countless municipalities in the US and Canada. As shoreline development and habitat degradation continues at a record pace, these widely used surface water sources are becoming more susceptible to water contamination. To safeguard these waterbodies and the communities that rely on them, the Thousand Island Land Trust and its conservation partners have turned to New York States WQIP program to conserve some of the regions last remaining and most sensitive riparian habitats. Thousand Islands Land Trust Executive Director Jake Tibbles The Thousand Islands Land Trust received grants from 2017 through 2021 from Department of Environmental Conservations Water Quality Improvement Project program to help acquire 988 acres in Jefferson County. This will protect two drinking water sources in the region, the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario, that serve as a drinking water supply for a number of communities in the Thousand Islands region. The 988 acres consist of a mix of conservation easement and outright purchase of lands acting as great natural buffers for potential pollutants that could enter waterbodies through events such as stormwater runoff. In May, the state announced nearly $300 million in climate resiliency funding available that included at least $215 million for WQIP projects funded through the State Environmental Protection Fund, Clean Water Infrastructure Act, and the Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022, combined. Applications were accepted through July and DEC is reviewing submissions. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWTI - InformNNY.com. Tim Walz laced into his vice-presidential opponent JD Vance Tuesday over claims he lied about his military service in a full-throated defense of his record. Kamala Harris Democratic running mate has been accused by Vance and other Republicans of lying that he did not know he was about to be deployed to Iraq when he retired from the National Guard after 24 years in uniform, and of saying that he carried a gun in war. But in his first solo appearance on the campaign trail, at a union event in Los Angeles, Walz hit back, making clear that he is willing to make the issue a central part of his expected debate with Vance, which has still to be scheduled. These guys are even attacking me for my record of service, and I just want to say, Im proud to have served my country, and I always will be, Walz said. With my dads encouragement, a guy who served in the Army during the Korean War, I signed up for the Army National Guard two days after my seventeenth birthday. I served for the next 24 years for the same reason all my brothers and sisters in uniform do: We love this country. Speaking at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees convention, he recounted how his students inspired him to run for Congress in 2006 and how he championed service members on the Veterans Affairs committee. Im gonna say it again as clearly as I can, I am damn proud of my service to this country, Walz added. And I firmly believe you should never denigrate another persons service record. To anyone brave enough to put on that uniform for our great country, including my opponent, I just have a few simple words: Thank you for your service and sacrifice. JD Vance wasted no time jumping in the ring with his Democratic opponent reupping claims that Walz "lied" about his service record. Hi Tim, I thank you for your service. But you shouldn't have lied about it. You shouldn't have said you went to war when you didn't. Nor should you have said that you didn't know your unit was going to Iraq. Happy to discuss more in a debate.https://t.co/6vUlF9dBkJ JD Vance (@JDVance) August 13, 2024 Walz has faced criticism from former battalion members, some of whom have called him a traitor for retiring from the National Guard to run for Congress. They, along with his Republican opponents, have suggested he did not earn the rank of retired command sergeant major because he left the National Guard before completing all necessary requirements. The Harris-Walz campaign made a change to his biography last week that seemed to support that claim. The campaign also cleaned up comments Walz made about using weapons in war. Other veterans who served with Walz think he made the right choice and say his detractors may simply have an ax to grind. While Walz steered clear of Marine vet JD Vances military record on Tuesday, he had some other choice words for his Republican counterpart, suggesting he didnt know if Vance was a value add on the ticket. Hes one of four senators, four, that has never cast a vote on a pro-worker bill in his life, not once, Walz exclaimed. Walz also got in digs at Donald Trump, calling him a scab and saying the former president couldnt hack it at McDonalds, where Kamala Harris picked up shifts as a student. Can you simply picture Donald Trump working at a McDonalds trying to make a McFlurry or something? Walz asked as the crowd booed. He knows this. He couldnt run that damn McFlurry machine if it cost him anything. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz launched his first solo campaign stop as Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate Tuesday by leaning into his union background and championing workers in a speech to a labor group in Los Angeles. The event comes exactly one week since Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, named him as her running mate. In the whirlwind days since, Walz has catapulted from little-known Midwestern governor to national sensation. As a former union member himself, Walz greeted the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees convention by telling attendees, "When unions are strong, America's strong." He was a member of the National Education Assn. during his years as a high school teacher, and he frequently touted his background. "I happen to be the first union member on a presidential ticket since Ronald Reagan," Walz said. "But rest assured, I won't lose my way." Walz also called for more gun control and raises for teachers. He pointed to one of Harris' first jobs working at McDonald's as proof of her credibility growing up in a working-class family. "Can you simply picture Donald Trump working at a McDonald's?" Walz said. Read more: Trump, railing about crowd sizes, falsely claims a photo from a Harris rally was fake He directed several jabs at his opponents, at one point calling Republican presidential nominee and former President Trump a "scab" for supporting so-called right-to-work laws, which enable a person to work for a company without joining a union or paying dues. The governor also addressed comments by Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), Trump's running mate, that Walz had misled the public about his military history. In 2018, when speaking on gun control, Walz said he carried weapons in a war. A campaign spokesperson later said Walz misspoke, as he did not serve in combat though he did have a tour overseas in Italy. Vance, a Marine veteran, accused Walz of abandoning his unit, which deployed to Iraq a few months after Walz retired in order to run for Congress. "I am damn proud of my service to this country," Walz said, "and I firmly believe that you should never denigrate another person's service record. For anyone who put on that uniform for our great country, including my opponent, I just have a few simple words: Thank you for your service and sacrifice." The Minnesota governor implored the audience to have hope, but also to organize, volunteer and vote. "I will cop to being an eternal optimist. That's me. But I come by it honestly. I supervised the damn high school lunchroom for 20 years. You do not survive that without being an optimist," he said, laughing. "Tim is more than an ally. He understands us because he is one of us, a union brother who spent years as a public service worker in his community," AFSCME President Lee Saunders said. "He embodies the very best of public service, leading with empathy, looking after every one and leaving behind no one." Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz speaks at the AFSCME convention in downtown Los Angeles. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) The convention Tuesday morning had a rocky start, with lines stretching down halls throughout the Los Angeles Convention Center as people waited to get through a chaotic security apparatus. But a festive atmosphere pervaded the hall before Walz arrived, as attendees sang and danced to "Under the Bridge" performed by the Freedom Singers, a choir from Skid Row. Nearly 4,000 people sat under state delegation signs in a large, darkened convention hall but leaped to their feet to cheer loudly and wave green AFSCME-for-Harris-Walz signs when the governor walked onstage as "Small Town" by John Mellencamp played. "Probably should be a few more union members in elected office," Walz said, turning to Saunders. "You might want to work on that." The campaign stop underlines the importance of labor to the Harris-Walz campaign, which has enjoyed widespread support from unions such as the Culinary Workers Union of Nevada, which endorsed Harris over the weekend. Harris told supporters in Las Vegas that she backed a policy to end taxes on tips a proposal frequently touted by Trump in recent weeks. The Trump campaign called Harris "desperate" for copying his proposal. Read more: Column: Trump says Harris stole his idea for exempting tips from tax, but her version beats his Tim Walz is likely arriving in California today hoping to find a sympathetic voter base that is enthusiastic about his and Kamala Harris radical agenda," California Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson said in a statement. "Unfortunately for him, Californians are all too familiar with the ramifications of far-left policies championed by Harris and are leaving Californias Democrat Party by the tens of thousands as a result." After Los Angeles, Walz was scheduled to headline a fundraiser in Newport Beach. Later this week, the governor will travel to a fundraiser in Denver, then on to the East Coast for stops in New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He and Harris spent the last week in a battleground blitz with stops in Pennsylvania and Michigan. They spent the weekend on a Western tour, headlining rallies in Nevada and Arizona. After Las Vegas, Harris went to San Francisco for a homecoming fundraiser, where she brought in $13 million. Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter. Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond, in your inbox three times per week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Tim Walz in Massachusetts: Harris' running mate will be in the state this week. Here's why Kamala Harris and running mate Tim Walz are continuing their campaign for the White House, and this week it's coming to New England. Walz, the vice presidential hopeful, is set to make campaigning stops in multiple states this week, including one in Massachusetts. The Gov. of Minnesota kicked off his first solo-campaign events for the Harris-Walz ticket on Tuesday in Los Angeles. "He will later kick-off his first fundraising blitz for the Harris-Walz campaign with five events in five different states over just three days," a campaign release said. Here's what to know about Tim Walz's trip to Massachusetts this week. U.S. Democratic vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speaks during a campaign rally U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, in Glendale, Arizona, U.S., August 9, 2024. REUTERS/Go Nakamura When will Tim Walz be in Massachusetts? Vice presidential candidate Tim Walz is setting off on a "fundraising blitz" for the Harris-Walz campaign this week, with a planned stop in Massachusetts. On Wednesday, Aug. 14, Walz will be in Boston, where he's set to "deliver remarks at a Harris-Walz campaign reception," according to a release. The campaign hasn't released any more details about exactly where and when Walz's appearance will take place, but a report from State House News Service says the reception will be at a hotel in the Back Bay. Why is Tim Walz coming to Massachusetts? Minnesota Governor and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz arrives gestures during a campaign rally at the Thomas and Mack Center, University of Nevada in Las Vegas, Nevada, on August 10, 2024. Tim Walz is setting off on a tour around the country Tuesday to raise money for the Harris-Walz campaign, with a scheduled stop in Massachusetts. The Minnesota governor first stopped in Los Angeles, California, on Tuesday before heading to the East Coast on Wednesday. In addition to stopping in Massachusetts, Walz will also visit another New England state: he has a planned stop in Newport, Rhode Island, on Thursday. This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: VP candidate Tim Walz will be in Massachusetts this week. Here's why In just a few days, VP-candidate Tim Walz has thrown himself into the center of the ring on reproductive rights, spotlighting the fact that he and his wife used in vitro fertilization (IVF) to conceive their children. In his first public appearance since he was chosen as Kamala Harriss running mate, the Minnesota governor told the world the deeply personal story about how he and his wife, Gwen, conceived their two children, Gus and Hope. He talked about the fear and agony he felt while waiting to see if the procedure worked, the pit in his stomach that formed, something thats so hard to understand unless youve been through that dreaded wait. On World Fertility Day, Tim Walz even posted that when he and Gwen were having trouble getting pregnant, the anxiety and frustration seemed to blot out the sun. I know exactly what this feels like because I felt that darkness for so many years. When I was going through IVF starting in 2017, I felt isolated, frustrated, and like a family-building-obsessed warrior in a wildly lonely battle. It was hard to think about anything but how badly I wanted to be a mother. My first pregnancy was bad luck, an ectopic that ultimately stretched my left fallopian tube until it burst. The fetus couldnt survive. I experienced near-death internal bleeding and needed an emergency blood transfusion. This was my devastating introduction to loss and infertility. I was left with one fallopian tube and instructions from my doctor to keep trying to get pregnant. What he didnt warn me about was that I would go through multiple miscarriages and an unhelpful diagnosis of unexplained infertility before I met with a reproductive endocrinologist who recommended I pursue IVF. After seven pregnancies and a whole lot of loss, Ive come out the other side with two living children. Since my family-building journey started, Ive increasingly seen public figuresfrom Amy Schumer to Megan Markle, Beyonce to Jennifer Aniston and even Chrissy Teigenopen up about loss and assisted fertility. Every time a celebrity shares their family building story, it normalizes this experience for the 1 in 8 couples in the United States who have trouble getting pregnant or sustaining a pregnancy. Hearing Tim Walz speak so honestly and emotionally to the masses about IVF is the first time that I can recall a political figure doing so. I was recently reminded that in Michelle Obamas memoir, Becoming, she reveals that she and Barack went through the desperate rollercoaster of IVF too. When the Obamas were campaigning, assisted reproductive technology wasnt under attack the way it is now, and I can only imagine that they didnt feel the need to share their private family planning journey with the world on the campaign trail. But just seven years later, the landscape in America is vastly different. We are now two years out from a post-Roe V. Wade world. With Alabamas recent ruling that frozen embryos have the legal rights of children, reproductive healthcare is in jeopardy. According to a Pew Research Center survey done in April, 7 in 10 adults believe that IVF access is a good thing. Polling continues to show that the majority of U.S. adults support protecting access to IVF. And although they publicly say they support it, Republicans, including JD Vance, voted against advancing a bill to establish a nationwide right to IVF and other fertility treatments. With fertility so fraught, reproductive rights are on the ballot once more and rightfully so. What feels different this election cycle is hearing these topics at the forefront of a male candidates stump speech. Weve always said that representation matters and representation means that we see people like us in aspirational roles. Historically, when we talk about infertility and IVF, these subjects are narrowly pegged as womens issues. So its critical to hear Tim Walzs plea for assisted fertility. Through him, we can see that access to reproductive rights should be gender-inclusive and bipartisan. I felt tears well in my eyes as he told his story. I listened to his speech, looked at my own children, and felt a connection with a politician that I had heard little of just 24 hours before. I felt assurance that this issue means the world to himand that means the world to me. Watching Tim Walz talk about his journey gives me hope that all of usno matter how we started our families and even for those who choose not tofeel less alone. When we see our elected officials fight for our rights, it hits differently to know how deeply meaningful a cause is to their own lives. For Tim Walz, the cause is personal. My hope is that Walzs inclusion of IVF in his campaign will help normalize assisted reproductive technology for all of us and ensure that the much-needed procedure remains legal not only today but in the years to come. We all benefit from this conversation in the spotlight on the countrys biggest stage. Tim Walz is riding high on some stolen valor. By that, I don't mean to refer to the false or otherwise deliberately misleading statements the Democratic vice presidential candidate made about his war record (or lack thereof) over the years. Rather, I'm referring to the unearned enthusiasm he's receiving from housing activists, lawmakers, and the media who somehow have concluded that Walz is a sterling champion of YIMBY (yes in my backyard) zoning reforms. Business Insider called him a "YIMBY" in a recent headline. California Sen. Scott Wiener (DSan Francisco), a prolific author of state-level zoning reform legislation, applied the label to him as well. YIMBYs for Harris is happy to claim him as one of their own. What exactly has Walz done to earn this reputation as a YIMBY housing champion? As best I can tell, as governor of Minnesota, he signed a 1,400-page Democratic-passed omnibus bill that contained two policies of interest to zoning reformers in the state. One requires state officials to study and recommend code changes that would allow apartment buildings up to 75 feet tall to be built with one staircase. The other exempts local comprehensive plan updates from the state's environmental review laws. Single-stair reform supporters say allowing more apartment buildings to be built with a single staircase (as opposed to the current two-staircase standard) will lower building costs, make more small apartment buildings feasible, and allow for more flexible floor plansall good things. The study bill in Minnesota's omnibus package is a first step toward making that happen. The other bill exempting comprehensive plan updates from state environmental review law is a big win for the Minneapolis city government and zoning reformers in the city. Back in late 2018, the city passed a comprehensive plan update that made a number of zoning changes, including allowing triplexes in single-family neighborhoods, apartments on commercial corridors, and a citywide elimination of parking minimums. In response, local environmental groups sued, saying the city failed to properly study the environmental impacts of that comprehensive plan update. Last year, a judge ruled in their favor and halted Minneapolis' reforms. By exempting comprehensive plans from environmental requirements, the Minnesota Legislature is now allowing Minneapolis' local reforms to go back into effect. So in short, those are two pretty wonky but not insignificant reforms. But Walz has really nothing to do with either policy. He didn't make any public statements about them. He merely signed a giant bill of Democratic policy priorities into law. What else would one expect of a Democratic governor? Indeed, the Center for Building in North America, which helped write Minnesota's single-stair bill, mentions a local architect and lawmaker who worked on the bill. Walz's name doesn't come up. When The New York Times' Ezra Klein asked Walz earlier this month about the environmentalists' lawsuit that halted Minneapolis' zoning reforms, Walz gave a pretty milquetoast, middle-of-the-road answer that gives no real indication of what he thinks about housing: We have good environmental laws in Minnesota, and that's the way it should be. We're protectors of 20 percent of the world's fresh water. But we also have permitting that takes too long and makes more expensive doing renewable energy projects, things that we want to get done. I think that same thing applies on housing, that we put up barriers to making it more affordable. So, basically, Walz said strong environmental laws are good, as is faster permitting of housing, but he had no particular comment on how this was affecting his home state where strong environmental laws had been used to slow down housing permitting. Got it, thanks. As it happens, this year the Minnesota Legislature considered a range of other bipartisan-backed state-level zoning reforms that would have eliminated parking minimums, allowed smaller multi-unit housing and accessory dwelling units in single-family areas, and permitted residential developments in commercial zones. They all ended up failing largely because of opposition from Democratic legislative leaders and local government lobbying. By all accounts, Walz was totally absent from debates on those bills as well. Compare that to other governors who have made state-level zoning reform a priority and spent a considerable amount of energy getting bills to their desks. In Colorado, Gov. Jared Polis spent a lot of time and effort writing zoning reform legislation, talking about the need for zoning reform, endorsing individual zoning reform bills, and encouraging the Legislature to pass them. That paid off this year, when the Colorado Legislature passed a series of bills allowing accessory dwelling units in single-family-only areas and apartments near transit lines. Montana's blockbuster year for zoning reform in 2023 largely grew out of a housing task force assembled by Gov. Greg Gianforte. Zoning reform supporters in the state also credit the governor for being involved in the legislative process and doing what he could to encourage lawmakers to pass the zoning reforms on the table. Walz did none of that stuff. Some media write-ups of his YIMBY credentials mention that he signed into law more affordable housing funding and tenant protections that require landlords to give tenants longer notice before filing for eviction. Whatever one thinks of those policies, they don't have anything to do with the distinctively YIMBY policy agenda of reducing regulatory barriers to new housing construction. Giving Walz unearned credit for being a YIMBY isn't just unseemly; it's also a bad habit that YIMBY advocates would do well to break. When politicians can earn plaudits for doing nothing, their incentive to do something worthwhile is minimal. That's particularly true on an issue like housing policy, where meaningful reform is hard and provokes a lot of heated opposition. Why catch all that flak fighting for zoning reform when the people who really want zoning reform will pat you on the back for doing nothing at all? Politicians should be held accountable for their actions. Sometimes that means shouting at them when they do bad things. Other times it means not cheering them on when they do nothing at all. The post Tim Walz's Other Stolen Valor Scandal appeared first on Reason.com. Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, center, leaves the courtroom after her trial in Grand Junction on Aug. 12, 2024. A jury found her guilty on 7 of 10 criminal charges. (Sharon Sullivan for Colorado Newsline) A Mesa County jury found Tina Peters guilty Monday on 7 of 10 criminal charges related to a security breach that occurred in the spring of 2021 in the elections office she oversaw as the Mesa County clerk and recorder. The jury returned the verdict just hours after closing arguments. Peters was found guilty on three felony counts of attempting to influence a public servant, one felony count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, one misdemeanor count of official misconduct, one misdemeanor count of violation of duty in elections, and one misdemeanor count of failure to comply with the secretary of state. She was acquitted on two felony counts of criminal impersonation and one felony count of identity theft. Tina Peters willfully compromised her own election equipment trying to prove Trumps Big Lie, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said in a statement after the verdict was announced in the Mesa County District Court of Judge Matthew Barrett. She has been found guilty by a jury of her peers and will now face the consequences of her actions. Todays verdict sends a clear message: we will not tolerate any effort to threaten the security of our gold standard elections. I am proud that justice for Colorado voters has been served today. Griswolds office opened an investigation into Peters in August 2021 after it learned sensitive Mesa County election system data had been posted online. In 2022, a Mesa County grand jury charged Peters for her role in a scheme to allow an unauthorized person to enter Mesa Countys elections department to make copies of election system software and capture images of passwords and other sensitive data in May 2021, during the time of an election equipment software update, also known as a trusted build. The scheme represented an instance in which election deniers aligned with former President Donald Trump found a willing county clerk in Colorado to deceive other public servants in an attempt to prove election equipment in Mesa County was somehow corruptible. Peters declined to comment after the verdict and told reporters she would do so at a later time. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX In his closing statements following the eight-day trial, the prosecutions Robert Shapiro, first assistant Colorado attorney general for special prosecutions, said Peters opened up her office and herself to outside people to allow a security breach of Mesa Countys election equipment. Find our previous coverage of the Tina Peters trial here. The case involves layers upon layers of deceit, with a lot of people working with Peters to accomplish the fraud, Shapiro said. One of those people was Kurt Olsen, an associate of MyPillow CEO and prominent Trump ally Mike Lindell, an election denier. Shapiro reminded jurors that Peters told Olsen that she was at his disposal and was there to help in their endeavors. Others, according to prosecutors, included Ohio mathematician Douglas Frank, an election conspiracy theorist on Lindells payroll; Conan Hayes, a former professional surfer-turned conspiracy theorist from California; and Sherronna Bishop, a friend of Peters who did not reside in or work for Mesa County yet had an integral role in orchestrating a scheme to allow Hayes into the secure elections area where the breach occurred. Shapiro said Peters duped a Dominion Voting Systems employee and secretary of state staff members when she allowed an unauthorized person Hayes to be part of the trusted build on May 25 and 26, 2021, under the pretense that he was a Mesa County employee. According to prosecutors, Hayes entered the elections room on May 23, when offices were closed and cameras had been turned off, to make a copy of the software of the elections system hard drive. On May 25, he returned to the room for the trusted build attended by Peters, plus representatives from the secretary of state and Dominion Voting Systems. Surveillance cameras had previously been shut off on May 17, despite a longtime policy in Mesa County to leave cameras on 24/7. Contradicting testimonies Shapiro described how Peters hired Gerald Wood, a Fruita resident, for the purpose of using his identity to obtain security clearance for Hayes so he could enter secure election areas posing as Wood. Wood went through a background check and received a security access badge only to be asked by one of Peters staff members to give it back a few days later. During the trial and closing statements, defense attorneys tried to paint Wood as a willing participant in the scheme. Shapiro said the only witness who testified that Wood was in on the plan was Bishop, who according to prosecutors helped orchestrate the breach. Bishop is considered by prosecutors an unindicted co-conspirator. Bishops testimony contradicted Woods sworn statements that he knew nothing of the plan and that he did not grant permission to give his identity to a third party. Shapiro said Bishop was not a credible witness. No other witness supported Sherronna Bishops account, Shapiro said. Hayes was an outside imposter who used Woods identity to copy sensitive data, Shapiro said. Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters enters the courtroom during her trial in Grand Junction on the morning of Aug. 12, 2024, when her defense team and prosecutors delivered closing arguments. (Sharon Sullivan for Colorado Newsline) Other evidence offered by the prosecution included Peters telling staff members to purchase disposable phones with cash, and to use the encrypted texting platform Signal, as well as a non-county email address. Shapiro reminded jurors how Bishop, while attending a cyber security symposium in South Dakota in August 2021, around the time that Griswold launched her investigation into the elections security breach, called Peters then-Chief Deputy Belinda Knisley in Grand Junction asking her to go to the elections office and remove the election computer server. Knisley refused. When Peters learned election system data and passwords had been posted to an online conspiracy site, she repeatedly told Knisley Im f***ed, Im going to jail, Shapiro said. Does that sound like someone who is doing right, doing something noble? Shapiro said to the jurors. Questions around Hayes Defense attorney John Case began his closing statement with an exhibit a photo of Peters with her son, who died in 2017 as the result of an air show accident while he was serving with the U.S. Navy SEALs. When Tina Peters son died she was forced to find a purpose in life, and she ran for Mesa County clerk and recorder, Case said. Case, as did all the defense attorneys throughout the trial, consistently referred to Peters as Clerk Peters though her tenure ended at the beginning of 2023. Shapiro objected several times during Cases closing statements, saying either he was misstating facts or was bringing up topics that had not been admitted as evidence. Case told jurors that Bishop wanted to conceal Hayes identity and that one decision to protect one person led the government to charge Peters with 10 crimes. The defense claimed that Peters believed Hayes was a confidential government agent. At one point during his statements, Case likened the access badge to a hotel key card that you would share with a husband, wife or friend. Case said Peters became a target of the government after the video she took during the trusted build appeared on the internet. He said she did not consent to its release online and that its not a crime to post videos on the internet. We still value free speech, unless youre a target of the government, Case said. Then your speech has no value. Case questioned why Hayes was not asked to testify. Hes key to the whole case, he said. They didnt have the guts to call him as a witness. In her rebuttal to Cases closing arguments, Deputy Attorney General Janet Drake explained why they hadnt heard from Hayes. Its Tina Peters trial, she said. Were here because she deceived a public servant to sneak a person into the office. Drake told jurors there is a lot of evidence that Peters had criminal intent in her actions, starting with an April 23, 2021, meeting with out-of-state co-conspirators, surveillance cameras being turned off on May 17 of that year, the use of disposable phones, and the use of the encrypted Signal platform and non-county emails. Drake also reiterated how after learning an investigation had been launched, Peters dropped the F-bomb, and said many times that she was going to jail. The defense argued Peters acted merely to protect election records, but Drake said her actions were a deep dive into disclosing publicly confidential information. It was all so she could be the hero, to be on a stage at the symposium and get famous because of this breach, Drake said. (Tina Peters) was in charge of protecting election integrity and she didnt do it, Drake said. Peters was the fox guarding the henhouse, she said. Attorney general: A warning Matt Crane, executive director of the Colorado County Clerks Association, said in a statement, Clerks across the state are pleased to see justice done today. We take seriously our role as guardians of the best election process in the nation and are grateful to see the justice system hold those who would harm our elections accountable. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser also weighed in on Mondays verdict: I want to thank the prosecutors from my team who worked side-by-side with Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein to bring justice in this case. They have worked for several years under difficult circumstances including abhorrent threats. I am grateful for their commitment to the rule of law and sense of duty. Weiser continued, Todays verdict is a warning to others that they will face serious consequences if they attempt to illegally tamper with our voting processes or election systems. I want to be clear our elections are safe and fair. In fact, Colorados election system is the gold standard of the nation. And make no mistake: my office will continue to protect it. Sentencing for Peters has been set for Oct. 3. Editors note: This story was updated at 6:04 p.m., Aug. 13, 2024, to clarify the nature of the count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation as it was recited by the judge during the verdict announcement. DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, center, leaves the courtroom after her trial in Grand Junction on Aug. 12, 2024. A jury found her guilty on seven of 10 criminal charges. (Sharon Sullivan for Colorado Newsline) A Mesa County jury found Tina Peters guilty Monday on seven of 10 criminal charges related to a security breach that occurred in the spring of 2021 in the elections office she oversaw as the Mesa County clerk and recorder. The jury returned the verdict just hours after closing arguments. Peters was found guilty on three felony counts of attempting to influence a public servant, one felony count of criminal impersonation, one misdemeanor count of official misconduct, one misdemeanor count of violation of duty in elections, and one misdemeanor count of failure to comply with the secretary of state. She was acquitted on two felony counts of criminal impersonation and one felony count of identity theft. Tina Peters willfully compromised her own election equipment trying to prove Trumps Big Lie, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said in a statement after the verdict was announced in the Mesa County District Court of Judge Matthew Barrett. She has been found guilty by a jury of her peers and will now face the consequences of her actions. Todays verdict sends a clear message: we will not tolerate any effort to threaten the security of our gold standard elections. I am proud that justice for Colorado voters has been served today. Griswolds office opened an investigation into Peters in August 2021 after it learned that sensitive Mesa County election system data had been posted online. In 2022, a Mesa County grand jury charged Peters for her role in a scheme to allow an unauthorized person to enter Mesa Countys elections department to make copies of election system software and capture images of passwords and other sensitive data in May 2021, during the time of an election equipment software update, also known as a trusted build. The scheme represented an instance in which election deniers aligned with former President Donald Trump found a willing county clerk in Colorado to deceive other public servants in an attempt to prove election equipment in Mesa County was somehow corruptible. Peters declined to comment after the verdict and told reporters she would do so at a later time. In his closing statements following the eight-day trial, the prosecutions Robert Shapiro, first assistant Colorado attorney general for special prosecutions, said Peters opened up her office and herself to outside people to allow a security breach of Mesa Countys election equipment. The case involves layers upon layers of deceit, with a lot of people working with Peters to accomplish the fraud, Shapiro said. One of those people was Kurt Olsen, an associate of MyPillow CEO and prominent Trump ally Mike Lindell, an election denier. Shapiro reminded jurors that Peters told Olsen that she was at his disposal and was there to help in their endeavors. Others, according to prosecutors, included Ohio mathematician Douglas Frank, an election conspiracy theorist on Lindells payroll; Conan Hayes, a former professional surfer-turned conspiracy theorist from California; and Sherronna Bishop, a friend of Peters who did not reside in or work for Mesa County yet had an integral role in orchestrating a scheme to allow Hayes into the secure elections area where the breach occurred. Shapiro said Peters duped a Dominion Voting Systems employee and secretary of state staff members when she allowed an unauthorized person Hayes to be part of the trusted build on May 25 and 26, 2021, under the pretense that he was a Mesa County employee. According to prosecutors, Hayes entered the elections room on May 23, when offices were closed and cameras had been turned off, to make a copy of the software of the elections system hard drive. On May 25, he returned to the room for the trusted build attended by Peters, plus representatives from the secretary of state and Dominion Voting Systems. Surveillance cameras had previously been shut off on May 17, despite a longtime policy in Mesa County to leave cameras on 24/7. Contradicting testimonies Shapiro described how Peters hired Gerald Wood, a Fruita resident, for the purpose of using his identity to obtain security clearance for Hayes so he could enter secure election areas posing as Wood. Wood went through a background check and received a security access badge only to be asked by one of Peters staff members to give it back a few days later. During the trial and closing statements, defense attorneys tried to paint Wood as a willing participant in the scheme. Shapiro said the only witness who testified that Wood was in on the plan was Bishop, who according to prosecutors helped orchestrate the breach. Bishop is considered by prosecutors an unindicted co-conspirator. Bishops testimony contradicted Woods sworn statements that he knew nothing of the plan and that he did not grant permission to give his identity to a third party. Shapiro said Bishop was not a credible witness. No other witness supported Sherronna Bishops account, Shapiro said. Hayes was an outside imposter who used Woods identity to copy sensitive data, Shapiro said. Other evidence offered by the prosecution included Peters telling staff members to purchase disposable phones with cash and to use the encrypted texting platform Signal, as well as a non-county email address. Shapiro reminded jurors how Bishop, while attending a cyber security symposium in South Dakota in August 2021, around the time that Griswold launched her investigation into the elections security breach, called Peters then-Chief Deputy Belinda Knisley in Grand Junction asking her to go to the elections office and remove the election computer server. Knisley refused. When Peters learned election system data and passwords had been posted to an online conspiracy site, she repeatedly told Knisley Im (expletive deleted) Im going to jail, Shapiro said. Does that sound like someone who is doing right, doing something noble? Shapiro said to the jurors. Questions around Hayes Defense attorney John Case began his closing statement with an exhibit a photo of Peters with her son, who died in 2017 as the result of an air show accident while he was serving with the U.S. Navy SEALs. When Tina Peters son died she was forced to find a purpose in life, and she ran for Mesa County clerk and recorder, Case said. Case, as did all the defense attorneys throughout the trial, consistently referred to Peters as Clerk Peters though her tenure ended at the beginning of 2023. Shapiro objected several times during Cases closing statements, saying either he was misstating facts or was bringing up topics that had not been admitted as evidence. Case told jurors that Bishop wanted to conceal Hayes identity and that one decision to protect one person led the government to charge Peters with 10 crimes. The defense claimed that Peters believed Hayes was a confidential government agent. At one point during his statements, Case likened the access badge to a hotel key card that you would share with a husband, wife or friend. Case said Peters became a target of the government after the video she took during the trusted build appeared on the internet. He said she did not consent to its release online and that its not a crime to post videos on the internet. We still value free speech, unless youre a target of the government, Case said. Then your speech has no value. Case questioned why Hayes was not asked to testify. Hes key to the whole case, he said. They didnt have the guts to call him as a witness. In her rebuttal to Cases closing arguments, Deputy Attorney General Janet Drake explained why they hadnt heard from Hayes. Its Tina Peters trial, she said. Were here because she deceived a public servant to sneak a person into the office. Drake told jurors there is a lot of evidence that Peters had criminal intent in her actions, starting with an April 23, 2021, meeting with out-of-state co-conspirators, surveillance cameras being turned off on May 17 of that year, the use of disposable phones, and the use of the encrypted Signal platform and non-county emails. Drake also reiterated how after learning an investigation had been launched, Peters dropped the F-bomb, and said many times that she was going to jail. The defense argued Peters acted merely to protect election records, but Drake said her actions were a deep dive into disclosing publicly confidential information. It was all so she could be the hero, to be on a stage at the symposium and get famous because of this breach, Drake said. (Tina Peters) was in charge of protecting election integrity and she didnt do it, Drake said. Peters was the fox guarding the henhouse, she said. Attorney general: A warning Matt Crane, executive director of the Colorado County Clerks Association, said in a statement, Clerks across the state are pleased to see justice done today. We take seriously our role as guardians of the best election process in the nation and are grateful to see the justice system hold those who would harm our elections accountable. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser also weighed in on Mondays verdict: I want to thank the prosecutors from my team who worked side-by-side with Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein to bring justice in this case. They have worked for several years under difficult circumstances including abhorrent threats. I am grateful for their commitment to the rule of law and sense of duty. Weiser continued, Todays verdict is a warning to others that they will face serious consequences if they attempt to illegally tamper with our voting processes or election systems. I want to be clear our elections are safe and fair. In fact, Colorados election system is the gold standard of the nation. And make no mistake: my office will continue to protect it. Sentencing for Peters has been set for Oct. 3. This article first appeared in the Colorado Newsline, a sister site of the Nebraska Examiner in the States Newsroom network. The heat is continuing to rise across West Texas as your kiddos head on back hydration will still be key to battle this West Texas heat. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Yourbasin. What if I told you Kamala Harris' best idea is actually Donald Trump's? Lean in close, and I'll tell you a secret: Kamala Harris' best idea is actually Donald Trump's. As a Republican who can't stand Trump, I'm loath to say that, but it's true. It's routine for politicians running for president to lay out a policy agenda and to make promises. Heck, we're even used to how often they break those promises once they're in office. But rip off your opponent and pass his idea as your own? It's a bold strategy. At a campaign stop Saturday in Las Vegas, Harris championed a proposal to eliminate federal income taxes on tips. Good idea. I wonder who thought of it first? It's a plan that Trump has been talking about for months. In fact, Trump talked about eliminating the tax at his own campaign rally in Nevada in early June. When CBS News reported on Harris suddenly touting a Trumpian tax cut, they said she was merely "echoing" her rival. Of course, Trump doesn't own the idea of ending taxes on tips. But neither President Joe Biden nor Vice President Harris has taken action on eliminating the tax while in office the past four years. Biden cutting taxes? It's laughable. In fact, he's proposed the opposite. Trump's idea to eliminate taxes on tips is popular because it appeals to everyday voters struggling to make ends meet, in large part because of an inflation rate that soared under Biden's stewardship of the economy. Now, Harris has ripped off Trump without so much as a nod in his direction. And to make it worse, much of the news media hasn't called her on it. If Trump did that, he'd be called a thief. I know Trump is awful. But he's still better for America than Harris. Did Harris forget she's the incumbent vice president? Vice President Kamala Harris campaigns for president in Las Vegas on Aug. 10, 2024. But Harris didn't just steal a proposal from Trump. She's also on the campaign trail promising to do things she could have done in the past four years. At the same campaign stop in Las Vegas, the Democratic presidential nominee rattled off a list of things she would accomplish if elected in November. "When I was a United States senator, we fought together for paid family leave and medical leave," she said. "And it is my promise to everyone here, when I am president, we will continue our fight for working families of America. Including to raise the minimum wage and eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers." Later, Harris touted a future focused on "affordable health care, affordable child care and paid leave." "When I am president, I will continue that work to bring down prices," she said. "I will take on big corporations that engage in illegal price gouging, corporate landlords that unfairly raise rents on working families, and take on big pharma and cap the cost of prescription drugs for all Americans." All of that sounds like a social utopia. But if these are such good ideas, why haven't she and Biden implemented them already? It's like she's forgotten she is the incumbent vice president. How liberal is Tim Walz? Harris doubles down on her far-left plans with VP pick. Republicans must use this. Harris' claims about the border are laughable For most politicians, their record is a boon, not kryptonite. As soon as they compile a reasonable list of accomplishments, they tout it wherever they go. But not Harris. As we say in Texas, she's acting like this is her first rodeo while also saying she's a seasoned rider. I was attorney general of a border state," Harris said at a rally on Friday in Arizona. "I went after the transnational gangs, the drug cartels and human traffickers. We know our immigration system is broken, and we know what it takes to fix it. As a Texan who has seen and reported on conditions at the border firsthand, Harris' claim is a joke. The chaos at the border is largely due to policies Biden implemented immediately after moving into the White House. He should have reversed those decisions as soon as the data showed that migrant crossings had surged to a record level. For Harris to speak like she had nothing to do with our "broken" immigration system and border security is to absolve herself of the responsibility for issues she and Biden actually made worse. Opinion newsletter: Sign up for our newsletter on conservative values, family and religion from columnist Nicole Russell. Get it delievered to your inbox. The question for Harris isn't what will she do for America. It's what has the vice president done? Harris is crisscrossing the country acting like she's not had the past four years to push her ideas as Biden's No. 2. Then she lifts Trump's tax cut proposal and claims it as her own. It's such a bold strategy that I almost give her kudos for trying. But voters should ask why Kamala Harris' promises and her record as vice president don't add up. Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with USA TODAY. She lives in Texas with her four kids. Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track, and get it delivered to your inbox. You can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page, on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Harris steals plan to end taxes on tips from unusual source: Trump TOPEKA (KSNT) A local family has new hope after receiving help from one of the citys social service centers. Melissa Kern is a single mother whose children have greatly benefited from Family Service and Guidance Center (FSGC) services provided by their school. Kern herself was first introduced to FSGC as a child, and the positive experience led her to involve her own family after her oldest son started showing some concerning behavior in school. 27 News spoke with Kern on Monday, Aug. 12, and asked her what advice she may have for families who are unsure about asking for help. Things wont get better if you dont ask for help, Kern said. Ive been a single parent since my oldest was two, so its been almost eight years now. So, doing everything on my own and raising them and just trying to teach them what they need to do and what behaviors are appropriate, it was hard. Help Topeka kids fight mental health issues through the Works of Heart Fundraiser A spokesman for the FSGC, Jim Williamson, told 27 News in an email that Melissa and her boys have come so far, and theyre a great example of how Family Service and Guidance Center can help families. The FSGCs 18th annual Works of the Heart gala will be held on Saturday, Aug. 17, at the Townsite Avenue Ballroom, 534 S. Kansas Ave. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the formal program will begin at 7 p.m., including a live auction of art pieces created by youth ages six through 18served at FSGC. Williamson also provided us with a few statistics about the school-based Mental Health Innovation Team: As of the start of the new school year, Mental Health Intervention Team therapists and case managers will be on-site in 26 schools across three school districts. Last school year, the program served 652 students in 26 schools across three districts. 73 percent of students in the program who struggled with behaviors like hyperactivity, impulsivity, aggression and bullying showed improvement during the 2023-24 school year. 80 percent of students in the program who experienced behaviors like anxiety, depression and social withdrawal showed improvement during the 2023-24 school year. Norsemen Lakeheim shutting down at Lake Shawnee If you or someone you may know would like to learn more about the program, call the Family Service and Guidance Center at 785-232-5005. For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News. TOPEKA (KSNT) Topeka firefighters tackled a house fire Monday that sent one person to a local hospital. The Topeka Fire Department (TFD) was called just after 4:30 a.m. on Aug. 12 to the 1500 block of SW Topeka Boulevard on reports of a house on fire. Fire crews arriving in the area found a two-story house on fire. This embedded content is not available in your region. Rosie Nichols with the City of Topeka said firefighters were able to keep the fire contained to the house. Two people escaped from the burning home before firefighters arrived, taking one to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. A TFD investigation found the total losses associated with this fire are $5,500 with $5,000 being attributed with structure damage and $500 with content losses. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Norsemen Lakeheim shutting down at Lake Shawnee For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here. Follow Matthew Self on X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MatthewLeoSelf Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News. TOPEKA (KSNT) On Monday, a 22-year-old Topeka man was seriously injured after a two-vehicle crash on I-70 in Topeka. At 4:25 a.m., a 31-year-old man was driving a 2020 Ford van westbound on I-70 in congested traffic. A 38-year-old man from Waterloo, IA was driving a 2022 International truck westbound on I-70, according to a Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP) crash log. The 38-year-old approached from the back and hit the 2020 Ford van. The Ford van went off the road to the south and flipped over, according to the crash log. The 22-year-old was taken to an area hospital for treatment of serious injuries. He wasnt wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, according to the KHP. Evergy records $207m earnings this quarter, cites warm weather as reason The driver of the Ford van and another passenger were taken to an area hospital for treatment of minor injuries and a complaint of pain. For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News. TOPEKA (KSNT) The City of Topeka will be collecting input from the public for its 2016 Pedestrian Plan; a project to improve the citys walkability. The city will be updating the 2016 Pedestrian Plan with the goal of creating safe walkways between schools, parks, shopping districts, workplaces and other popular destinations. Topeka was awarded $25 million in grant funds as part of Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) under Pathways for Progress. As part of the project, the City of Topeka will build around 50 miles of new or improved sidewalks in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. This plan is just one piece of a more considerable effort to improve the quality of life through of vibrant neighborhoods and better transportation choices for pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users, and motorists, the city wrote in a press release. ALL ROADS ARE FLOODING: Lyon Co. Sheriff warns of road conditions A survey will be conducted with responses weighed alongside other socioeconomic and trip data. An open house will be held from 4 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 21 at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library at 1515 SW 10th Avenue. If you cannot attend, you can view the online survey and mapping tools by clicking here. The online survey will be open until Sept. 4. Another meeting will be held later in 2024 to discuss the plan with the community. For more information, you can call the City of Topeka Planning Department at 785-368-3728. For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News. Toss & Fire announces new pizzas for the 2024 New York State Fair NEW YORK STATE FAIRGROUNDS (WSYR-TV) As Toss & Fire Wood-Fired Pizza is set to move into Chevy Court for the 2024 New York State Fair, they have announced four new pizza creations, along with the return of some Fair classics. The new pizzas will be: Chicken Potsticker Pizza: Chicken potstickers with pecorino, mozzarella, scallions, sesame seeds, and Thai chili sauce. Chicago Beef Pizza: Olive oil with fresh garlic, pecorino, mozzarella, cheddar, provolone, thinly sliced slow-roasted sirloin, mild giardiniera, and banana peppers. Served with a side of au jus for dipping. Bold Coast Lobster Mac Pizza: Beer-cheese mac & cheese with pecorino, mozzarella, and fresh Maine lobster from our friends at Bold Coast Lobster. Key Lime Cannoli Pizza: House-made key lime cannoli filling topped with toasted graham cracker, cannoli shell, and finished with raspberry sauce. The returning pizzas include: Bit of a Pickle Pizza: Olive oil with fresh garlic, pecorino, cheddar, mozzarella, dill pickle chips, applewood smoked bacon, and ranch drizzle. SummerCuse: Smashed salt potatoes with pecorino, cheddar, mozzarella, applewood smoked bacon, pulled pork, Dinosaur BBQ sauce, and sour cream. Poutine Pizza: Olive oil with fresh garlic, pecorino, and mozzarella topped with crispy french fries, cheese curds, and beef gravy. Mamacitas Birria Pizza: Mamacitas rich, flavorful stewed beef topped with pecorino and mozzarella, finished with fresh cilantro, white onions, cotija cheese, and a fresh lime wedge. Served with a side of consomme for dipping. This marks the eighth that Toss & Fire has been at the Fair, and this year, they will be in the space formerly occupied by Dinosaur BBQ and Gianelli Sausage. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSYR. Total of 134 combat clashes occur over past day, Pokrovsk front being most intense Ukraine's General Staff Over the past 24 hours, 134 combat clashes have occurred, with the Russians most active on the Pokrovsk front. Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, information as of 08:00 on 13 August Details: According to updated information, the Russians launched two missile attacks on 12 August on the positions of Ukrainian units and populated areas using seven missiles, as well as 67 airstrikes with 96 aerial bombs. In addition, Russian forces carried out more than 4,400 attacks, including firing 123 times from multiple-launch rocket systems. Nevertheless, Ukraines Air Force and Rocket Forces and Artillery units conducted 11 strikes on the areas where Russian military personnel and weapons were concentrated; they also struck a command post and an artillery system. The Russians are maintaining a military presence on the border with Chernihiv and Sumy oblasts, conducting mortar attacks and artillery shelling of settlements from the territory of the Russian Federation. At the same time, Ukrainian defenders continue to inflict significant losses in manpower and equipment on the Russian occupation forces, exhausting them along the entire line of contact. In total, Russian troops lost 1,160 soldiers both killed and wounded over the last day. Support UP or become our patron! [CONTENT WARNING: This article includes depictions of abuse and sexual assault. Discretion is advised.] CLEVELAND (WJW) Cleveland restaurateur Bobby George turned himself in Tuesday morning as he faces nine felony counts, court records show. Cleveland Municipal Court records show Robert T. George, 43, is facing charges including attempted murder, rape, kidnapping, felonious assault and strangulation. Huntington to reopen Buckeye Road branch that closed due to surging crime George was given a $200,000 bond in a court hearing Tuesday morning. Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court records show George posted 10% of that bond later Tuesday. Prosecutors in the case had asked for a high bond, according to court records. George was ordered to turn in his passport in court Tuesday. A temporary protection order is in place for the alleged victim. The judge Tuesday questioned George about whether he understood the terms of the protection order. Robert Bobby George, FOX 8 photo Robert Bobby George, FOX 8 photo Robert Bobby George, FOX 8 photo Robert Bobby George, FOX 8 photo Robert Bobby George, FOX 8 photo Robert Bobby George Bobby George is the owner of several Cleveland eateries and businesses, including Barley House, REBoL, TownHall, LYV The Wellness Space and Green Goat Cafe Bar. The Detroit Avenue, Lakewood, address listed for George in city court records correlates with the business address for TownHall in business filings kept with the Ohio Secretary of States office. The charges were filed on Friday, Aug. 9, and involve incidents alleged to have happened between November 2023 and June 2024, court records show. George is accused of strangling a woman and throwing her around their shared residence over the course of hours between June 8 and June 10, and keeping her from escaping, according to the arrest warrant obtained by the FOX 8 I-Team. After the woman hid in a closet and began praying for her life, George is accused of shoving a towel down her throat, the warrant states, which is the basis of the attempted murder charge. You think God is going to help you? George said, according to the warrant. The rape charge stems from an alleged incident between May and July in which George is accused of throwing the woman to the ground and sexually assaulting her while holding her down. In a later incident on July 27, George is accused of throwing the woman into a closet while she was attempting to leave, the force of which knocked over belongings inside the closet, the warrant states. George is also accused of pinning the woman down and holding his hands around her neck on Nov. 14, 2023, making her unable to breathe or move, reads the warrant. He then picked her up and slammed her head down multiple times, including into a living room table, it shows. The alleged attack left her with blurred vision and caused her ears to ring and bleed. His business nurse practitioner diagnosed the woman with post-concussion syndrome, the warrant states. Fired MetroHealth CEO stunned by termination At some point between November 2023 and May 2024, George stopped the woman from fleeing the residence, following her out to her car and holding a gun to the window, demanding she get out, the warrant states. He then escorted her back into the residence with the gun to her stomach. The attorney representing Bobby George said the charges should have never been filed. Attorney Kevin Spellacy said his client denies the charges 100 percent. This did not happen, Spellacy said. We deny any and all accusations. They charged him without even interviewing him or getting his version of events. He said he is hoping to get the charges dismissed. City of Cleveland Law Director Mark Griffin said in a statement Monday the investigation was handled by the city police Domestic Violence Unit and that it was handled the same way that similar cases are handled every single day. Information is gathered, evidence is presented to the prosecutor, and an objective decision is made solely based on the facts. This is a case that involves multiple incidents and, in this instance, several pieces of evidence were obtained before a charging decision was made, he wrote. Its imperative for the public to know that this case was treated according to standard protocols like any other case regardless of the defendants name, title or occupation. The investigation remains ongoing. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW. Traffic signals, power knocked out in eastern end of downtown Boise. Heres the latest A commercial vehicle hit a utility pole in downtown Boise on Tuesday afternoon, knocking out 12 traffic signals in the area for one-and-a-half hours, according to the Ada County Highway District. The signals were all working again as of around 2:30 p.m., Ada County Highway District spokesperson Rachel Bjornestad told the Idaho Statesman in an email. The signals at 3rd and Main and 3rd and Idaho were running on generators until Idaho Power restores the electricity, Bjornestad said. Boise police also blocked off roads in the area, ACHD said. The pole that was struck was located at 3rd and Bannock. Please avoid the area if possible while crews work on repairs, ACHD said. As a reminder, if you come across a dark or flashing traffic signal, the intersection should be treated as an all-way stop. At all-way stops, the vehicle that arrives first has the right of way, according to Idaho Law. Idaho Powers outage map showed an outage downtown impacting 97 customers that started a little after 11 a.m.. The probable cause listed was vehicle accident. The Boise Police Department did not immediately return requests for further comment. Idaho Power said the estimated repair time was 6 p.m. U.S. Forest Service Special Agent Travis Lunders appeared unannounced, armed and in full tactical gear at the home of Charles and Heather Maud AUSTIN (KXAN) Tuesday, Travis County Commissioners unanimously voted to send a property tax rate hike to your ballot this November. The proposed 2.5-cent property tax rate increase will go toward creating new affordable child care. According to county staff, the tax rate increase would generate roughly $75 million in the first year. It would cost the average homeowner roughly $125 in the same time period. In return, Travis County thinks it can stimulate an industry that was hit hard by the pandemic and that keeps some Austinites from the workforce. Travis County to discuss how taxpayers can help low-income families access child care A year of child care in Travis County now cost roughly $13,000 which is more than a year of tuition at the University of Texas at Austin, Travis County Judge Andy Brown said in a press conference Tuesday. If passed by voters in November, the money would go toward the following: Creating roughly 1,900 child care slots for babies and toddlers of low-income households Creating nearly 3,900 after school and summer school slots for elementary-age students Working through incentives for businesses to create or grow their child care options for employees According to county documents, those will be rolled out in a phased approach. The first services may be available as early as fall 2025 and other services could start in 2026. County staff will provide updates upon the creation of a more detailed implementation timeline, county documents said. The County will require regular evaluation of program performance. I congratulate my colleagues who have stepped up and asked the right questions so we can offer this to the people to say yes in November, Travis County Commissioner Ann Howard said Tuesday. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin. The prosecutor and defense attorney delivered opening remarks Tuesday in the trial of Susan Lorincz the Florida woman charged in the fatal shooting of her neighbor Ajike AJ Owens through a closed door after a six-person jury was seated on Monday afternoon. According to a June 6, 2023, statement from the Marion County Sheriff's Office (MCSO), Lorincz shot Owens, a Black mother of four, through a closed door in the presence of her now 10-year-old son after Owens went to speak with Lorincz about a dispute over Owens' children playing near her home. Lorincz called 911 after fatally shooting Owens and admitted to the shooting. Lorincz, who is white, was arrested on June 6, 2023, and charged with first-degree felony manslaughter for fatally shooting Owens on June 2, 2023, in Ocala, Florida. She pleaded not guilty on July 10, 2023, and was held on a $150,000 bond. If convicted, Lorincz faces up to 30 years in prison, according to the Marion County Sheriff's Office. Ajike Owens' mother, 10-year-old son share their grief journey on The View PHOTO: Video released by the Marion County Sheriff's Office shows detectives interrogating Susan Lorincz on June 6, 2023, moments before she is arrested for the fatal shooting of her neighbor, Ajike 'AJ' Owens. (Marion County Sheriff's Office ) Anthony Thomas, attorney for the family of Ajike Owens, told ABC News in a statement Tuesday that the family is disappointed in the all-white jury that was selected to determine the outcome of this case. We would have wanted the jury to be more diverse. But we believe in equal justice, so we are going to see what happens, added family attorney Ben Crump in a statement to ABC News. I am keeping faith that justice will be served for my daughter, Ajike, that the jurors will not let Susan Lorincz get away with this, Owens mother, Pamela Dias, told ABC News. During opening arguments, public defender Morris Carranza argued that Lorincz was acting in self-defense because she feared for her life, while Assistant State Attorney Adam Smith stressed that Owens was unarmed and fatally shot through a locked door. Carranza claimed that Owens told Lorincz that she was going to kill her, while Smith told jurors that they will be hearing from witnesses who were present during the confrontation who will deny this claim. The death of AJ Owens is a tragedy. There is no doubt about that, but what the evidence will show is that in her mind, in her soul, in her core, Susan Lorincz felt she had no choice, Lorinczs defense attorney said. It was either Susan or AJ. Susan chose to defend herself. Lorinczs attorney focused on the age difference between the 59-year-old Lorincz and the 35-year-old Owens, highlighted Lorinczs health issues and also played for jurors Lorinczs distressed 911 call on June 2, 2023, where she claimed that Owens tried to break down her door and admitted to shooting at the door. You can hear the absolute terror that she had, Lorinczs attorney said, referring to the 911 call. New video shows interrogation of Florida woman accused of fatally shooting neighbor PHOTO: Booking photo provided by the Marion County, Fla., Sheriff's Office shows Susan Louise Lorincz. (Marion County Sheriff's Office via AP) Meanwhile, Smith disputed the claim that Owens was trying to break into Lorinczs home and stressed that Owens, who approached Lorinczs home to talk to her about the dispute with her children, was unarmed and was fatally shot through a locked front door after Lorincz called police to come to her home. Smith argued that Owens "doesn't try to break into" Lorincz's home and was shot while she was "unarmed." At the end of this case, youre going to hear that the defendant Susan Lorincz, knowing the police would come, was in her apartment with her door locked and shot through that locked front door and killed Ajike Owens, who was unarmed, Smith said. "After the evidence is presented, we're going to come back to you and ask that you find the defendant guilty, he added. Lorincz claimed in her June 6, 2023, interrogation interview with detectives video of which was released by MCSO that she was acting in self-defense when she shot Owens. "She was saying, 'I'm going to kill you,'" Lorincz claimed in the video. "No one that we've interviewed so far has made any statements about her saying that she wanted to kill you," one of the detectives told Lorincz. Family of Ajike Owens calls for murder charges after suspect charged with manslaughter PHOTO: Photo released by attorney Anthony D. Thomas shows Ajike Owens, a 35-year-old mother of four from Ocala, Fla. (Anthony D. Thomas via AP) Anthony Thomas, an attorney representing the family of Ajike Owens, told ABC News in a statement on Monday that two of Owens four children will be called to testify during the trial and are "determined to testify" on their mother's behalf "despite their grief." Unfortunately, yes, we have confirmed that they will be called to testify. This is an unimaginably painful experience for them, as they continue to grapple with the deep emotional wounds caused by losing their mother in such a violent way, Thomas said. According to Thomas, Isaac, 13, and Izzy (Israel), 10, who witnessed the shooting, could be called by prosecutors and the defense to testify this week. They do this out of profound love and respect for her, knowing that their voices are crucial in the pursuit of justice," Thomas said. "They understand the gravity of this moment and want to ensure that their mother's death is not in vain. Judge Robert W. Hodges of Florida 5th Judicial Circuit, who is presiding over the case, said that the trial is expected to conclude by Friday. Trial begins in case of Florida woman charged in fatal shooting of neighbor Ajike Owens originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Trial begins for former Williamson County sheriff, prosecutor in connection with 2019 in-custody death WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) The trial for a former Williamson County sheriff and a former county prosecutor who are charged in connection with a 2019 in-custody death began Tuesday morning. A jury panel was selected Monday. Former Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody and Jason Nassour, a former prosecutor with the county, were charged with tampering with evidence related to the in-custody death of Javier Ambler back in 2019. BACKGROUND | Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody indicted, arrested on felony tampering with evidence charge in Javier Ambler death case The incident was captured by a Live P.D. camera crew. The chase that ended in Javier Amblers death was never aired on television and all footage from the scene was destroyed. Trial begins for former Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody and former prosecutor Jason Nassour in connection with 2019 in-custody death (KXAN Photo/Barrett Tryon) Trial begins for former Williamson County sheriff, prosecutor in connection to 2019 in-custody death (KXAN Photo/Barrett Tryon) An indictment claimed Chody acted to destroy, or conceal a record, document, or thing; namely, video recordings and audio recordings, with intent to impair their availability as evidence in the investigation. Related | More time needed before trial of former Williamson County Sheriff, counsel related to in-custody death Ambler died after a chase with Williamson County sheriffs deputies ended in north Austin after Ambler reportedly failed to dim his headlights for oncoming traffic. Deputies James Johnson and Zach Camden faced manslaughter charges related to Amblers death, but both were found not guilty on March 7. Chody and Nassour will be tried together, according to the court. Trial day one An absent juror combined with deliberations between the attorneys and judge about what evidence prosecutors could be mentioned during opening statements led to more than a two-hour delay before the court could swear in the jury. After opening statements concluded and a brief recess for lunch, the state was ready to call Nicholas Coleman to the stand, a California-based attorney who previously worked for the law firm that represented Big Fish Entertainment, the production company behind Live P.D. According to the states opening statements, Coleman is one of 38 witnesses it plans to present before the jury. As legal representation for Big Fish at the time, Coleman was responsible for the contract between WCSO and the Live P.D. production company, according to testimony. The states questioning of Coleman focused on the amendments made to the contract prior to filming to address WCSO concerns about what happened to raw unaired content recorded during production. The first redlined version of the contract to address WCSOs concern provided that raw unused content would be deleted by production no later than the 90th day after filming unless a valid court order requiring the preservation of the content. The final version signed and approved by Williamson County officials changed from 90 days to 30 days, and further clarified that the content would also be preserved in accordance with valid state and federal law. The state argued that the contract didnt specify a retention period for the records thus leaving it open for production to delete content anytime within the 30-day window. Defense attorneys countered by arguing that the 30-day provision was in essence a retention period and further highlighted the fact Coleman had contract communications with county officials beyond Nassour as approval had to come from the countys commissioner court before production could start. Trial for deputies connected to the case Two former Williamson County Sheriffs deputies who were tried in connection to Amblers death were found not guilty back in March. The deputies trial was a separate case and will not have an impact on the outcome of the current trial for Chody and Nassour. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin. Hurricane Ernesto batters Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, leaving nearly 800,000 without power Hurricane Ernesto batters Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, leaving nearly 800,000 without power Ernesto strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane on Wednesday as it pummeled Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands before blowing toward Bermuda. Hurricane Ernesto, which strengthened from a tropical storm overnight, battered Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands on Tuesday. The storm brought 75 mph winds and up to 10 inches of rain in some areas. Even as the storm passes, flash flooding and heavy rain continue to threaten Puerto Rico, the National Weather Service said on Wednesday. Now, 49,000 energy customers in the Virgin Islands and more than 700,000 customers in Puerto Rico were without power as of Wednesday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.us. More than 20 hospitals in Puerto Rico are now operating with generators, according to the Associated Press. St. John and St. Croix also saw island-wide blackouts with at least six cell towers knocked out, according to Daryl Jaschen, emergency management director. A man stands in floodwaters while unclogging a drain in Fajardo, Puerto Rico on Wednesday. More than half the island is without power in the wake of Hurricane Ernesto (REUTERS) It is unclear if there have been any storm-related deaths or injuries reported. Widespread outages in Puerto Rico were expected due to an already-weak power grid that crews are still repairing from the devastating Hurricane Maria in 2017. Now, Ernesto is expected to strengthen into a major hurricane over the next two days, the National Hurricane Center said on Wednesday morning. The storm will pass over open water before hitting Bermuda late this week. Hurricane Ernestos predicted path as of Wednesday afternoon. The storm is threatening to grow into a major hurricane, the National Weather Service said (National Weather Service) Afterward, Ernestos path is still unclear however, it has the potential to hit as far north as Nova Scotia by Monday. Ernesto battered Guadeloupe overnight Monday into Tuesday. There, officials closed roads, urged residents to shelter and warned about the quality of drinking water following the storm, according to the AP. Puerto Rican officials closed schools and government offices in preparation for the storm on Tuesday. Residents also rushed to local grocery stores on Tuesday morning to stock up ahead of the storm. Puerto Rico residents rushed to grocery stores on Tuesday ahead of Tropical Storm Ernesto. (AFP via Getty Images) San Juans airport, Luis Munoz Marin International, saw 33 flight cancellations and 46 delays on Tuesday, the most out of any airport tracked by FlightAware that day. The airport was still facing service interruptions as of Wednesday afternoon, with 49 cancellations and 49 delays. Puerto Ricos Department of Natural and Environmental Resources rescued several parrots from across the island early Tuesday, transporting them to their hurricane room for safe-keeping, local outlet WAPA TV reports. The Humane Society of Puerto Rico also asked residents to consider temporarily caring for dogs and cats during the storm, as their shelters could be susceptible to flooding from the heavy rain, according to WAPA TV. An overturned tractor trailer in Fajardo, Puerto Rico as Hurricane Ernesto brought 75 mph winds and heavy rain to the region (AFP via Getty Images) As Ernesto travels, its likely to cause dangerous rip currents along the US east coast, AccuWeather forecasts. The storm may be hundreds of miles out to sea and the weather could look great at beaches along Florida, the Carolinas, even up to New England, but everyone needs to be aware of the risks and dangers at the beach, Alex DaSilva, AccuWeathers lead hurricane expert, said in a statement. Ernesto is the fifth named storm this year, during what is predicted to be an extremely active Atlantic season. This spike is being driven by record-high ocean temperatures linked to the climate crisis. Last year was the hottest on record, and 2024 is expected to once again beat that record. Will the new Tropical Storm Ernesto head to SC? Heres the latest forecast Tropical Storm Ernesto officially formed in the Atlantic Monday afternoon, but so far, it should not pose a problem for South Carolina, forecasters say. The National Hurricane Center forecast from late Monday afternoon shows Ernesto in the central tropical Atlantic Ocean and moving west toward the Caribbean. The fast-moving system is bringing with it heavy rain that may cause significant flooding in Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands by late Tuesday. Tropical Storm Warnings are in effect for that entire area. Currently, the storm is not expected to come to South Carolina. According to the NHC, the storm will turn northward once it reaches Puerto Rico and will continue on into the Atlantic, missing the U.S. mainland completely. A map showing the projected path of Tropical Storm Ernesto. The forecast comes as welcome news for the Palmetto State, parts of which are still drying out from the flooding caused by Tropical Storm Debby last week. Unlike Ernesto, Debby reached the Gulf, then turned northward and crossed through Florida, Georgia and into South Carolina. The slow-moving storm dropped several inches of rain across large parts of the state, flooding roads, rivers and yards from Charleston to the Pee Dee region. Last week, Donald Trump launched a strange attack on Vice President Kamala Harris through an even weirder lie: that he had survived a helicopter crash in 2018 with Harriss old beau, former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, who Trump claimed was no longer a fan of hers by that point. Moments after the presser ended, the truth came to light: Trump had fabricated the entire story, with Brown denying having ever ridden in a helicopter with Trump. The copters actual passengers at the timeformer California Governor Jerry Brown and current California Governor Gavin Newsom (both of whom are white)called the whole thing complete B.S. But Trump did survive a near-death helicopter experience sometime in 1990 alongside another Black California politician: the former California state senator from Los Angeles Nate Holden. If he were confused, which Im not sure he was, then he could be giving misleading information intentionally, Holden told CNN Monday night. But if he were confused, Willie Brown is theI shared with him four years in the legislature, he was in the assembly, I was in the state Senate. There was never any misidentification of us during that time period. Willie Brown was a short, intelligent, sharp guy [from the] San Francisco area, and Im the taller guy from Los Angeles, Holden continued. Maybe to Donald, we all look alike. Holden: Maybe to Trump, we all look alike pic.twitter.com/BxEPvOkCtG Acyn (@Acyn) August 13, 2024 Trumps former executive vice president of construction and development Barbara Res was also on the terrifying flight, and recalled the white-knuckle encounter in her 2013 book, All Alone on the 68th Floor. She confirmed that Trump, his brother Robert, and Holden were all on board the aircraft as it lost control of some of its instruments and was forced to make an emergency landing in a New Jersey airport. We may not have gotten much business done, but it sure as hell was memorable, Res wrote. But regardless of whomever Trump had misremembered on the flight, Holden affirmed to Politico on Sunday that no one had criticized Harris like Trump claimed. He either mixed it up, Holden told Politico. Or, he made it up. This was just too big to overlook. This is a big one. A search was underway in Virginia on Tuesday for a man police said burglarized the Trump for President 2024 campaign office in Ashburn over the weekend. The Loudoun County Sheriffs Office said it was alerted to the break-in on Sunday around 9 p.m. When deputies arrived on the scene, some 30 miles northwest of Washington, the suspect had already fled, according to a press release shared by authorities. Surveillance video provided by officials shows an adult male wearing dark clothing, a dark cap and a backpack. On Monday, they released stills from the footage, which sees the suspect inside the Trump campaign office. It is not clear what, if anything, was taken from the office building, which is being leased by the Trump campaign and also serves as the headquarters of the Virginia 10th District Republican Committee. Its the same district where Republican Mike Clancy is currently competing against Democrat Suhas Subramanyam for Rep. Jennifer Wextons House seat. Wexton, who was previously diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder, announced last year she would not be seeking re-election. It is rare to have the office of any political campaign or party broken into, Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman said in a statement on Monday. We are determined to identify the suspect, investigate why it happened, and determine what may have been taken as well as what may have been left behind. Chapman called on members of the community who may have information about the suspect to come forward. The reported break-in comes after the Trump campaign on Saturday said it was hacked by Iran. The digital infiltration allegedly occurred back in June, around the same time former President Donald Trump was mulling his vice presidential pick. Politico was first to report the hack, after it said it began receiving emails in July from an anonymous account sharing internal documents from the Trump campaign. They included research papers on at least two of the contenders to be Trumps running mate, including the eventual GOP vice presidential nominee, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio. On Monday, the FBI confirmed to the Washington Post that it is investigating the alleged incident in addition to attempted hacks of three Biden-Harris campaign staffers as well as former Trump adviser Roger Stone. _____ Jimmy Sengenberger is an investigative journalist, public speaker, and longtime local talk-radio host. Reach Jimmy online at Jimmysengenberger.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @SengCenter. A man broke into and burglarized a Trump campaign office in a suburb near Washington, D.C., on Sunday, the Loudoun County (Va.) sheriffs office said Monday. Police published photos of a man, his face visible, walking around the office and appearing to stuff items into a backpack. The sheriffs office said it was notified of a break-in at about 9 p.m. Sunday. It is rare to have the office of any political campaign or party broken into, Sheriff Mike Chapman said in a statement. We are determined to identify the suspect, investigate why it happened, and determine what may have been taken as well as what may have been left behind. The Ashburn office is also the headquarters of the Virginia 10th District Republican Committee, police said. The sheriffs office will continue investigating the incident and is seeking additional information about the suspect. The announcement of the break-in comes the same day the FBI announced it will investigate an alleged hack of the Trump campaigns files. The campaign claims hackers backed by the Iranian government breached its data. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. In July 2016, then-candidate Donald Trump called on the Russian government to hack the emails of his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. It wouldnt be long before the scandal of Russian election interference would dominate headlines for much of the campaign and Trumps presidency. And Trump has since claimed that his public call for Russians to find the 30,000 emails so that our press could have a field day was somehow a joke. But in the intervening years, the former and perhaps future leader of the free world has provided ample evidence that he wasnt, well, joking at all. In a 2019 interview with ABC, the then-sitting president explicitly stated that I think Id take it, when asked if he would accept dirt on a political opponent that was offered up to him by a foreign power. Trump only added hed go maybe to the FBI if he thought there was something wrong. Today, the shoe is entirely on the other foot, with Trump and his campaign now the victims of an alleged foreign hacking and leaking operation during the most crucial months of a close American presidential contest. This time, it doesnt seem to be Russia. Team Trump is pointing the finger at Iran; Rolling Stone has yet to independently verify that claim. The FBI is investigating the alleged hack. According to two sources familiar with the matter, the Trump team has been scrambling to assess the extent of the damage, and how, exactly, the apparent hacking may affect different facets of the Trumpworld elite, not just the presidential campaigns staff. Its very scary stuff, one source close to Trump, who has been communicating with campaign officials in recent days about the alleged hacking operation, succinctly notes to Rolling Stone. Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung claimed in a statement that Iran was responsible for the apparent hack of a senior campaign staffers internal communications. No outlet has published any leaked documents yet. Cheung preemptively criticized any journalists who dare to report on them. Any media or news outlet reprinting documents or internal communications are doing the bidding of Americas enemies and doing exactly what they want, he said. Thats a radical departure from 2016, when Trump openly called on Russia to hack and release Clintons emails. Russia, if youre listening, I hope youre able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing, Trump said at a press conference. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. Russian actors reportedly targeted Clintons campaign and personal office on or around that same day. Trump argued the source of the Clinton campaign materials shouldnt matter the content was more important. In October 2016, Trump complained that the hacked emails released by WikiLeaks were not getting enough coverage from reporters. Very little pick-up by the dishonest media of incredible information provided by WikiLeaks, he posted on X (formerly Twitter). The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Monday asking whether the former president still believes that it is acceptable for media outlets and political candidates to cover and highlight a campaigns internal documents or communications if they were hacked. News of the hack comes at a time when Trump is mired in the final two-and-a-half-month blitz of his 2024 crusade to retake the White House. Its an election with remarkably high stakes for the American public and for Trump personally. The outcome of the race between him and Vice President Kamala Harris wont merely decide whether Trump gets a chance at implementing his increasingly authoritarian vision for the nation. Election Day in November could very well determine whether or not Trump ever faces actual prison time. And its in this environment in which a foreign actor, allegedly the Iranian government, is trying to mess with Trumps electoral chances at returning to power. Iranian officials are still furious with Trump for, among other things, blowing up Qasem Soleimani, and have wanted vengeance for years. However this alleged attack by Iran on the Trump teams private communications shakes out, it will be done in the shadow of years of MAGAland openly gloating and mocking elite Democrats for getting breached by Russian hackers. For instance, in December 2016, senior veterans of the Trump and Hillary Clinton campaigns gathered at Harvard University, to make first-draft-of-history-style presentations for the assembled crowd and journalists. With the wounds of 2016 still fresh, the event quickly devolved into chaotic sniping, insults, and hurt feelings. At one point, when the issue of Russian election interference, which was designed to help Trump win, came out, Trump lieutenant Brad Parscale told the lineup of Clinton officials that there was such a thing as two-step verification for email accounts and that maybe Democrats should try it. Years later, in the lobby of what was, at the time, Washington, D.C.s Trump International Hotel just walking distance from the Trump White House this reporter caught up with Parscale about what he said to the Clinton senior staff. He smiled, recalled that it was a funny line that he trotted out, and reveled briefly in his trolling of Trumps political nemeses. Things are different now. More from Rolling Stone Best of Rolling Stone US presidential candidate Donald Trump has criticised the current president, Joe Biden, for his comments regarding Ukraine's potential NATO membership and reiterated that if he had been president, Russia's war against Ukraine would have had "zero chance" of starting. Source: Suspilne, citing Trump during a conversation with Elon Musk on Twitter () Details: Trump claimed that Biden's statements about Ukraine joining NATO had supposedly provoked Putin to invade Ukraine. Trump stated that Biden started saying foolish things. For example, he suggested Ukraine could become a NATO country. However, Trump noted that Russia would never agree to that, adding that the war would not have started if he were president. Details: Trump also said "Ukraine now doesn't have enough men" to fight and is therefore using "young men and very old" individuals. He mentioned that if he becomes president, he will start talks with Putin. Trump emphasised that he got along with Putin for a long time and that he hopes they can get along again. Background: US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has often boasted that if elected president, he could negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine within 24 hours. However, he has repeatedly refused to publicly elaborate on how he would make that happen. The Washington Post, citing sources, claimed that Trump seems to be seeking to push Ukraine to make concessions to Russia and transfer Ukrainian territories, in particular Crimea and Donbas, under its control. Trump's campaign adviser, Jason Miller, dismissed these details as fake. In April, CNN said Trump hopes to force Russia and Ukraine to start negotiations on a cessation of hostilities by pressuring them with the argument of further US military assistance. Trump's former adviser, Fiona Hill, said that while he was president of the United States, he made it clear that he believed Ukraine should be part of Russia. Trump himself has said that if he wins the election, he will try to help Ukraine but will simultaneously demand the same efforts from Europe. Support UP or become our patron! News flash: Donald Trump and his presidential campaign firmly oppose foreign governments interfering in our elections via hacking, warning that any media that amplifies such ill-gotten documents would be doing the bidding of Americas enemies. Such an anodyne sentiment would not ordinarily qualify as news but for the fact that a mere two presidential election cycles ago, Trump and his campaign happily did the bidding of Americas enemies by leveraging foreign leaks of hacked documents. But this is the Trumpand Republican Partywe have grown accustomed to: They demand that Americans disbelieve their eyes and memories and swallow whatever situationally convenient bullshit suits the MAGA movement, facts and context be damned. And yet, some Americans who are supposed to be professionally immune to bullshit are among the first to fall for it: Arguably the only thing more jaw-dropping than Trumps shameless intellectual dishonesty (which is always shocking, never surprising) is the medias willingness to downplay if not flat-out accommodate it, as it has done with the recent Trump campaign hack. Microsoft reported Friday that an intelligence unit of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had successfully spear-phished a former senior adviser to a presidential campaign, which by weekends end proved to be Trumps. (The former adviser is reportedly Roger Stone, who should have known better, having trafficked in hacked emails for Trump and Russia in 2016.) Politico reported Saturday that someone identifying themself as Robertnot me!and using an AOL account had for weeks relayed what appeared to be internal communications from a senior Trump campaign official. This Robert had reportedly also been in touch with The Washington Post. (The Post also reported Monday that Iranian hackers have targeted the Harris campaign, noting that thus far, investigators have not found evidence that those hacking attempts were successful.) All of this prompted Trumps campaignpresumably with a collective straight faceto issue a statement from spokesman Steven Cheung denouncing the hack as having been obtained illegally from foreign sources hostile to the United States, intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our Democratic process, adding: Any media or news outlet reprinting documents or internal communications are doing the bidding of Americas enemies and doing exactly what they want. All Americans, I should think, would agree that we dont want to do the bidding of Americas enemiesall Americans, that is, except the ones who worked on Trumps first presidential campaign. I know 2016 was an awfully long time agoalmost a decade, which in Trump years feels like several lifetimesbut one doesnt have to dig too deeply in the memory hole to recall that Trump then took a more sanguine view of foreign interference. Russia, if youre listening, I hope youre able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing [from Hillary Clintons personal server], I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press, he said in a news conference that July. He later tried to dismiss the comment as a joke, but you know who took it seriously? Russia. On or around that day, according to a subsequent indictment from special counsel Robert Mueller, Russia started trying to find those emails. When Russias hacking efforts hit pay dirtDemocratic National Committee computers, specificallyTrump and his campaign had no compunction with doing the bidding of Americas enemies by leveraging the stolen files, via Russias WikiLeaks cutout. They even incorporated the attempts to sow chaos throughout our Democratic process into their very campaign planning. As NBC reported in April 2019, when Mueller released his report: Members of the 2016 Trump campaign had a series of contacts with WikiLeaks and people close to its operation regarding leaked Clinton campaign emails, even preparing a press strategy ahead of their release, according to special counsel Robert Muellers report. The report also details direct communications between the presidents son Donald Trump Jr. and WikiLeaks before the election. So no, neither the media nor the Kamala HarrisTim Walz campaign ought to amplify hacked Trump documents (if for no other reason than the very practical impossibility of verifying whether anything in large dumps has been altered to sow even more chaos). But please spare us the unironic repetition of Trump campaign whining about being victimized by foreign hackers and how airing what they find would be doing the bidding of Americas enemies. (Did I say unironic? My bad: Ironys corpse lies in the middle of Fifth Avenue, next to Truthswhere Trump shot them both and didnt lose any votes.) As a former daily reporter I tend to shy away from much media criticism, but skimming the press accounts of the Iran hack makes me wonder whether such context shouldnt play more of a role in informing readers? The allegedly hyperliberal New York Times, for example, largely left the Trump campaigns own history with foreign hackers to the last two paragraphs, understating what Team Trump did. The 2016 election that Mr. Trump won was marked by similar hack and leak efforts after Russian hackers broke into the email accounts of top Democratic officials. Leaked emails showed the internal workings of the party and of Hillary Clintons campaign, and also revealed criticisms of Mrs. Clinton by aides, and a trove of them was published by WikiLeaks in the final weeks of the presidential race. Seeking an edge then, Mr. Trumps campaign seized on the emailsmany of them from Mrs. Clintons campaign chair, John Podesta. We love WikiLeaks, Mr. Trump declared at the time. Again, much of the media is treating the Iran hack as just an unfortunate component of modern campaigns, but if it is, then Trump has direct culpability: When Russia did it first, a mere eight years ago, it was novel. Had the U.S. political system (government and campaigns) reacted with unity and disgust, it might have become footnote and example of clumsy Russian overreach. But Trump and the GOP establishment (including Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who refused to denounce Russian interference at the time, lest doing so hurt his party) embraced it. Trumps campaign encouraged it (If its what you say I love it, were Don Jr.s exact words) and planned around itto their and Russias benefit. Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin won in 2016, inspiring the subsequent attempts. This isnt last-paragraph, throwaway stuff. Such context matters, which is why Trump and the GOP so often elide itbecause it can get in the way of scoring political points in the moment. And more ominously because a central, authoritarian message of Trumpism is: Who are you going to believe? Trump or your lying eyes and memories? For Trump and the GOP, the answer is Orwellian: Big Donald speaks the truth, and if reality doesnt accord thats realitys problem, not Trumpsand not yours. Its that instinct that underlies most of the genuinely weird and unhinged things Trump spouts. Take this message over the weekend from, again, an actual major-party nominee for president, regarding an airport rally his opponent had: Has anyone noticed that Kamala CHEATED at the airport? There was nobody at the plane, and she A.I.d it, and showed a massive crowd of so-called followers, BUT THEY DIDNT EXIST! The only thing here that doesnt exist is a scintilla of sanity. The Republican nominee for president is manifesting his own massive insecurities (much more massive than his rally crowds these days) on social media and demanding that his followers believe them over reality. He would declare the moon landing false if he thought it might give him an edge. Trump (and, it bears repeating, the rest of the GOP) is still taking advantage of the same media blind spot: a need for objectivity ad absurdum. The differenceand its important!from eight years ago is that the media is no longer hesitant to call bullshit (Former President Donald Trump falsely claimed on social media Sunday that a crowd at a Michigan rally was The Washington Posts lead), but it still relays his fever swamp insanity as something akin to a both-sides policy difference. It normalizes Trumpisms post-truth world. I get that its hard to characterize this stuff without seeming to inappropriately favor one partisan side over the other. (And kudos to the reporters who try to manage it, like The Washington Posts Aaron Blake, who characterized Trumps airport delusion thus: This is bonkers, even by Trumps own conspiratorial and falsehood-laden standards.) Trump says such insane shit so often we become inured to it, but maybe the guy who thinks Joe Biden both is semi-comatose and is going to storm the Democratic National Convention to seize back the nomination from his vice president should not himself be let anywhere near the levers of power, let alone the nuclear codes? Sometimes the duty to truth must outweigh the desire for a sense of objectivity. I am reminded of what Hunter S. Thompson wrote after Richard Nixons death: Some people will say that words like scum and rotten are wrong for Objective Journalismwhich is true, but they miss the point. It was the built-in blind spots of the Objective rules and dogma that allowed Nixon to slither into the White House in the first place. He looked so good on paper that you could almost vote for him sight unseen. He seemed so all-American, so much like Horatio Alger, that he was able to slip through the cracks of Objective Journalism. You had to get Subjective to see Nixon clearly, and the shock of recognition was often painful. Trump never looked nearly as good on paper but still found the same blind spots, augmented over time by conservative carping over media bias, and himself slithered into the White House, doing more damage than Tricky Dick. And the Supreme Court rewarded him for his efforts by codifying Nixons old declaration that when the president does it, that means it is not illegal. Even thats not enough for Trump, our once and possibly future president, who seems to believe that when he says it, that means its not untrue. Karma is a botched interview plagued with technical problems. Donald Trumps livestream with Elon Musk on X Spaces failed before it even began. On Monday evening, a major glitch on the Musk-owned platform delayed the event by over 40 minutes. The service troubles echoed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis bumpy campaign rollout on X (formerly Twitter) last year, which Trump mocked at the time, writing on Truth Social: Wow! The DeSanctus TWITTER launch is a DISASTER! As the tables turned on Monday, Musk assured listeners that worst case, we will proceed with a smaller number of live listeners and post the conversation later. The interview with Trump eventually began around 8:40 p.m. ET, and the former president proceeded to roll out his usual laundry list of bigotry and rambled about immigration, crowd sizes, and his chummy relationships with dictators. During the bumbling interview, Trump bizarrely cheered the Tesla CEO for firing striking workers. Youre the greatest cutter, praised the former president as Musk chuckled. You just walk in and you just say, You wanna quit? They go on strike, I wont mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, Thats OK, youre all gone Every one of you is gone.' Trump praises billionaire Elon Musk for firing workers who were striking for better pay and working conditions pic.twitter.com/4ZGWHV49Mw Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) August 13, 2024 As Trump rambled about his crowd sizes and desperately attempted to attack Vice President Kamala Harris, Musk proved to be an unskilled interviewer and struggled to get a word in making for a weird, meandering conversation that lasted over two hours. Shortly after the interview ended, the vice president issued a statement on whatever that was. Donald Trumps extremism and dangerous Project 2025 agenda is a feature not a glitch of his campaign, which was on full display for those unlucky enough to listen in, read the statement. Trumps entire campaign is in service of people like Elon Musk and himself self-obsessed rich guys who will sell out the middle class and who cannot run a livestream in the year 2024. Our statement on whatever that was pic.twitter.com/bOZfUu8rbk Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) August 13, 2024 The high-profile interview which Musk advertised as unscripted with no limits on subject matter comes at a delicate moment for Trumps presidential campaign, which seemed like a juggernaut before President Joe Biden ceded the Democratic nomination to Vice President Harris last month. Trump now finds himself trailing in several key polls, and on the defensive as the insurgent Harris with the help of running mate Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota have taken control of the narrative around the race. Musk is one of Trumps most vocal public allies, but the former president and the X owner havent always gotten along. Musk said in 2022 that Trump needed to sail into the sunset, to which Trump responded by taunting Musk over his electric cars that dont drive long enough, driverless cars that crash, or rocketships to nowhere, without which subsidies hed be worthless. A few months later, Musk said he would support Florida Gov. DeSantis in the Republican primary. DeSantis primary campaign went down in flames, and Musk has now been cozying up to Trump for months, at least. The New York Times reported in March that the billionaire met with Trump and other prospective donors in Florida. Musk responded by writing that he would not be donating to either presidential candidate, but in early July, Bloomberg reported that he had donated a sizable amount to a pro-Trump super PAC. Musk stopped playing coy following the assassination attempt against Trump in July, writing on X that he endorses Trump fully. Soon after the endorsement, The Wall Street Journal reported that he was donating a whopping $45 million per month to a pro-Trump super PAC, a report Musk later denied. Musk who has long been spread right-wing propaganda and misinformation on X has since been praising Trump and attacking the Democratic ticket. Trump, meanwhile, has been speaking fondly of Musk. We have to make life good for our smart people, he said at a rally on July 20, referring to Musk, the worlds richest person. I love Elon Musk, he added, touting the report about how much money Musk was supposedly planning to give him. It isnt surprising, then, that Trump gave Musk an interview, or that in anticipation of the interview, hes resumed posting on X, posting some campaign videos and a missive lamenting how America is in decline. Trumps only other X post since he was banned from the platform following the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol was his mug shot after he was indicted in Georgia last August. Trump regularly posts on Truth Social, of course, and the stock price of TMTG, the company that owns the social network, started to tank after Trump dusted off his X account on Monday. Trump has a massive stake in TMTG, so posting on a competing social network and hurting the share price is notable. More from Rolling Stone Best of Rolling Stone (Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are in a tax policy arms race, copying and one-upping each others proposals in a bid to court key battleground state voting blocs ahead of a looming battle in Washington to rewrite the tax code. Most Read from Bloomberg The duel highlights the central place of the economy in Novembers vote, with American households battered by high costs and the campaigns seeking to emphasize pocketbook issues. The back-and-forth over taxes has escalated in recent days. In an interview with CBS News over the weekend, Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance tried to outflank Democrats by floating a $5,000-per-child tax credit $3,000 more than the size of the current credit and even larger than President Joe Biden has proposed. Harris, rallying supporters in Nevada, endorsed a version of Trumps own promise to exempt tipped wages from taxes. Her pitch, in the same battleground state where Trump made his proposal two months ago, drew the ire of the Republican presidential nominee, who accused his Democratic rival of stealing his idea. The tit-for-tat here is amazing, said Marc Goldwein of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget in an interview with Bloombergs Balance of Power. Joe Biden wants a child tax credit, so JD Vance wants a bigger child tax credit. Donald Trump says, No tax on tips, so Kamala Harris says, no taxes on tips, he said. Goldwein, though, raised a critical question: Whos going to pay for all this? The scope of the tax changes being floated by the candidates could be budget-busting. While the Trump campaign has not released key details of its proposals, increasing the child tax credit could cost $2 trillion over the next decade. If the tax credits are refundable meaning taxpayers would get money back even if they dont owe taxes it could be closer to $3 trillion. Detached From Reality Trump has also proposed ending the tax on Social Security benefits entirely, replacing current policy that gives targeted tax breaks to lower-income seniors. His proposal could cost as much as $1.8 trillion and ultimately endanger the Social Security trust fund itself, according to nonpartisan budget watchers. Largely absent from the discussion, for now, are the tax cuts from Trumps 2017 tax law that will expire at the end of 2025. Extending those cuts carries a $4.6 trillion price tag. Were not dealing with the elephant in the room, which is the expiration of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, said Erica York of the nonpartisan Tax Foundation. Its scattershot, and its really detached from reality. None of the proposals being floated give any consideration to how the tax cuts will shift the tax burden from older taxpayers to younger ones, from parents to people without dependent children, and from tipped workers to salaried ones. I wish we were in a situation where they were trying to one-up each other on serious tax proposals, York said. But instead the entire discussion is on the silly side of things. Election-year politics is driving the frenzy of proposals. Trump won voters 65 and older by 5 percentage points in 2020, according to network exit polls. A recent New York Times/Siena College poll showed him in a dead heat with that demographic against Harris. Vances child tax credit proposal came during a round of weekend interviews in which he tried to deflect a barrage of attacks over past comments that the US was run by childless cat ladies. Saying the tax code should support pro-family policies, Vance proposed a massive expansion of the child tax credit, with no income limits. That means middle- and upper-income families will get a bigger benefit from a tax provision that was originally designed as an anti-poverty program. And its no coincidence that Trump first made his no-tax-on-tips pledge at a rally in the critical battleground of Nevada, a state with the largest proportion of food service and accommodations workers in its workforce. Those employees have historically relied on tips. Guerrilla Marketing Trump has made no tax on tips a centerpiece of his stump speech, and his campaign is employing guerrilla marketing tactics to promote the policy. Donors to his campaign can receive stickers that read VOTE TRUMP FOR NO TAX ON TIPS to put on their restaurant checks. Harris, too, chose Las Vegas to make a similar campaign promise to cut taxes on tips although her proposal would apply only to federal income taxes and leave payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare intact. That largely accounts for the difference in price tags: about $250 billion over 10 years for the Trump plan, perhaps half that for Harris. The Trump campaign responded by giving Harris a new nickname: Copy Cat Kamala Harris. But the proposal was already generating bipartisan support in Congress, especially among Democratic members of the Nevada delegation. Vances proposal to increase the child tax credit marked an abrupt departure from his partys orthodoxy. In a Senate vote this month, only three Republicans voted to increase the amount of the refundable credit. Vance, who was campaigning in Arizona, skipped the vote. He blamed Harris for the measure failing, telling CBS Face the Nation that she failed to show fundamental leadership. --With assistance from Joe Mathieu. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Over the weekend, Donald Trump traveled to campaign events on a private jet plane previously owned by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Air Current, an aviation publication, reported the news on Sunday, and The Miami Herald later confirmed it. The former president had been on board his own private plane while on the way to a campaign event in in Bozeman, Montana, when the jet landed in Billings (two hours east of Bozeman) due to mechanical issues, a spokeswoman for Trumps campaign told the Herald. After Trump and some of his staff took a charter to a Friday rally, the following day, the former president hopped on a Gulfstream with a serial number matching a plane previously owned by the late Epstein. Trump used the plane to travel to a fundraiser in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and then Aspen and Denver. The Aspen Daily News reported that Trump, who was scheduled to appear at a fundraiser hosted by the Trump 47 Committee, was on board the Gulfstream that landed at the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport on Saturday. The local paper noted that the charters tail number, G-550, matched a plane with the same serial number as Epsteins former Gulfstream jet. According to the Herald, the plane was registered in 2018 to one of Epsteins companies based in the U.S. Virgin Islands, per Flight Aware. Trumps spokeswoman said that a vendor often used by the campaign had commissioned the charter. The campaign had no awareness that the charter plane had been owned by Mr. Epstein, she said. We heard about the former owner through the media. Trumps rep also confirmed that Epsteins old jet was plastered with a Trump 2024 decal for the trip, and that Epsteins former plane was only used for one day. The former president is among the most notable people associated with Epstein and was photographed with Epstein at Mar-a-Lago in 1997 and again in 2000 with wife Melania and Epsteins partner, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell (who was found guilty in 2021 of child sex trafficking and sentenced to 20 years in prison). After Epstein was convicted of sex trafficking in 2008, Trump has attempted to distance himself from the disgraced financier. However, Trump praised Epstein in the past. Ive known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy, Trump told New York magazine in 2002. Hes a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it Jeffrey enjoys his social life. More from Rolling Stone Best of Rolling Stone Former President Donald Trump is set to sue the Department of Justice for the 2022 raid of his Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Florida. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< According to Fox News, Trump is suing the DOJ for $100 million in damages, arguing the raid was done with clear intent to engage in political persecution. Fox News obtained Trumps memo claiming tortious conduct by the United States against President Trump. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] Trumps Mar-a-Lago property was raided by the FBI in 2022 as part of a federal investigation into his alleged improper retention of classified documents. After the raid, Special Council Jack Smith was appointed to investigate and brought 37 felony counts against Trump, including retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements. Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts. But last month, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case, ruling Smith was unlawfully appointed and funded. Read: Atlanta DEA seizes 2,380 pounds of meth hidden in celery at farmers market Fox News reports that Trumps attorney Daniel Epstein filed a notice to sue the DOJ. The department now has 180 days to respond to the notice and come to a resolution. If not, the case will move to federal court in the Southern District of Florida. In the notice, Epstein argues that decisions made by Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray were not based on social, economic or political policy. Instead, their decisions were based on the clear dereliction of constitutional principals, inconsistent standards as applied to [Trump and a ] clear intent to engage in political persecution, not to advance good law enforcement practices. Epstein also argued that the department broke Florida law, intrusion upon seclusion, considered an invasion of privacy, and argued malicious prosecution. He said the special councils office brought a lawless criminal indictment against Trump and pointed to the Supreme Court ruling on a presidents immunity for official acts. The Justice Department has yet to comment on the coming lawsuit. NOTE: This article was written with the help of Fox News. Click here to read more from the original article. Read: JSO: Woman attacked, shot by unknown man in her Durkeeville home [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live. After Trump made more claims of fraud, metro elections director invites him to visit office More than a week after former President Donald Trump repeated false claims of voter fraud during a rally, Paulding County Elections Director Deidra Holden has invited him to visit her office to see the processes firsthand. The move aims to dispel misinformation and assure voters about the integrity of Georgias elections. I think that people like President Trump, he needs to come to an elections office and see whats going on and see whats happening, Holden said. The Secretary of States office conducted a routine check on Paulding Countys voting systems Tuesday. The health checks are standard procedure in all 159 Georgia counties. Channel 2s Richard Elliot was there as Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger joined the inspections to affirm to voters that their ballots are securely counted despite ongoing conspiracy theories. RELATED STORIES: Theres so much misinformation and disinformation out there that this is an opportunity for us to show the people we are doing everything we can to make sure that this equipment is working properly, Holden said. She stressed the importance of trust in the election process and how misinformation can undermine voter confidence. Their vote is all that matters to us. Thats all of our goals at the end is that we have those secure elections that have been conducted with integrity and people can trust what were doing, Holden said. Raffensperger echoed Holdens sentiments, emphasizing the need to rebuild trust in the electoral system. I dont want anyone out there not showing up because they somehow think that its not a level playing field. It is a level playing field, he said. Raffensperger encouraged any critics of Georgias voting system to volunteer as a poll worker so they can actually learn how the system works. RELATED NEWS: Donald Trump is already receiving pushback after threatening striking workers in his trainwreck interview with Elon Musk on Monday night. I mean, I look at what you do, Trump told Musk. You walk in, you say, You want to quit? They go on strike, I wont mention the name of the company, but they go on strike, and you say, Thats OK, youre all gone. Youre all gone. So, every one of you is gone. In response, the United Auto Workers on Tuesday morning filed federal labor charges against Trump and Musk, calling the two disgraced billionaires. The UAW accused the men of illegal attempts to threaten and intimidate workers who stand up for themselves by engaging in protected concerted activity, such as strikes. When we say Donald Trump is a scab, this is what we mean. When we say Trump stands against everything our union stands for, this is what we mean, said UAW President Shawn Fain. Under federal law, workers cannot be fired for going on strike. Threatening to do so is illegal under the National Labor Relations Act. Its unclear which incident Trump was referring to when he praised Musk for threatening organizing workers on Monday. At Tesla, the billionaire Musk has been accused of violating labor law by tweeting that employees would lose stock options if they unionized. A National Labor Relations Board judge ruled that Tesla violated labor laws when it prevented Florida employees from discussing pay and working conditions. In California, Tesla violated labor laws by failing to provide meal and rest breaks and skirting overtime pay. Tesla has also faced multiple lawsuits brought forward by Black workers alleging a culture of racism on the shop floor. In 2023, the NLRB charged Musk with violating federal labor law after he fired SpaceX workers for circulating a letter describing Musk as a distraction and embarrassment. At Twitter, Musk fired workers en masse after his takeover in 2022, including unionized janitors who walked off the job for pay, benefits, and job protections. Donald Trump will always side against workers standing up for themselves, and he will always side with billionaires like Elon Musk, who is contributing $45 million a month to a Super PAC to get him elected, said Fain. Both Trump and Musk want working-class people to sit down and shut up, and they laugh about it openly. Its disgusting, illegal, and totally predictable from these two clowns. Meanwhile, Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz will speak to AFSCME union members in Los Angeles in his first solo campaign stop on Tuesday. The News Donald Trump expressed admiration for the leaders of China, Russia, and North Korea during his interview with Tesla CEO Elon Musk on X. Theyre at the top of their game, theyre tough, theyre smart, theyre vicious, and theyre going to protect their country, the former US president said, referring to Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, adding that he hopes to get along with them again. Both Russia and North Korea would likely welcome a second Trump presidency, but an economically vulnerable China will feel the blow of his proposed tariffs much more this time around, The Wall Street Journal wrote. Trump will be putting his elbow into the Chinese economy as it deflates, said one geopolitical strategist. Flattery was not a strategy Kamala Harris team might have expected from Donald Trump when the vice president took the Democratic mantle from Joe Biden. Trump has never shied away from getting personal in his attacks on his political opponents. He called Hillary Clinton the devil with hate in her heart during the 2016 campaign, he insulted sleepy Joe Biden as stupid and a low-IQ individual and compared Nancy Pelosi to a dog and a bed bug. His initial attempts to label Harris as crazy did little to derail the momentum the Democratic campaign has gained since the vice president took control. Kamalas Campaign Is Really Enjoying Trumps Technical Difficulties on X So, maybe Trumps characteristically bizarre interview with Elon Musk on Monday evening marked a turning point in his campaign. Is Trump, the king of the put downs, going to try being nice? Or was the complement intended as some kind of sleight against TIMEs impartiality? Melania Trump has kept a distance from her husbands campaign, as she has for most of his political career. But she found herself being compared with Trumps arch-nemesis in his discussion with Musk. For Trump to compare Harris favorably with Melania one must assume that he was sincere even if he did call her a terrible leader. After saying it was hard for him to imagine Harris meeting with Chinas leader Xi Jinpingand Musk agreeing that it would be silly Trump changed tack, saying he saw the TIME magazine cover of his opponent. I saw a picture of her on TIME Magazine today. She looks like the most beautiful actress ever to live, he told Musk. She looked very much like our great first lady, Melania. Trump says he saw Kamala Harris today on Time Magazine. He says she looked beautiful but then says it was drawing. He then says she looked like Melania Trump. pic.twitter.com/pW9ctsCt0r Acyn (@Acyn) August 13, 2024 Maybe he had second thoughts about introducing his notoriously private wife into the debate and went on to misspeak Harris name as Camilla, an addition to his extensive mispronunciations of Kamala. Of course, shes a beautiful woman and well leave it at that, Trump added, and Musk appeared happy to do exactly that. Its possible, of course, that the Trump-Vance ticket is taking note of the joyous nature of the Harris-Walz honeymoon campaign and intends to continue showering their rivals with compliments. Or perhaps Melania will inform her husband that the 2024 presidential election contest is between him and Harris and to keep any other comparisons to himself. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung lashed out the Harris-Walz campaign Monday with an obscene public statement accusing staffers of being fing cowards. Cheung posted his foul-mouthed message on X in response to a statement from the Democratic campaign trashing Trumps softball interview with Elon Musk. All these statements, yet nobody ever puts their name on them, Cheung wrote. Fing cowards. Elons Trump Spaces Chat Is a Total Disaster The statement in question was shared on the Kamala HQ X account and was posted with the comment: Our statement on whatever that was. It came after Trumps lengthy conversation with Musk in which a lisping Trump rehashed many of his favorite campaign talking points, including his desire to shut down the Department of Education to claiming that President Joe Biden cant lift a chair. The event was dogged by technical glitches that Musk blamed on a massive cyberattack (which a source at X claimed was not the case, according to The Verge). Donald Trumps extremism and dangerous Project 2025 agenda is a feature not a glitch of his campaign, which was on full display for those unlucky enough to listen in tonight during whatever that was on X.com, the Harris-Walz campaign statement read. Trumps entire campaign is in service of people like Elon Musk and himselfself-obsessed rich guys who will sell out the middle class and who cannot run a livestream in the year 2024, it added. The statement was attributed simply to Harris Walz rather than any particular spokesman. The conversation between the Tesla chief and the Republican nominee came after Musk endorsed Trumps campaign last month following his attempted assassination at a rally in Pennsylvania. Musk had previously opposed Trumps bids for the White House, saying in November 2022 that hed reluctantly voted for Biden over Trump and would support Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2024. In May 2023, DeSantis launched his ill-fated bid for president in a Twitter Space with Musk that also went awry thanks to technical hitchesan unmitigated disaster the Harris campaign recalled while trolling Trump on Monday night. On Truth Social, Trumps social media platform, the account for the Harris campaign ReTruthed a post Trump wrote last year mocking DeSantis. Wow! The DeSanctus TWITTER launch is a DISASTER! Trump wrote at the time. His whole campaign will be a disaster. WATCH! Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Former President Donald Trump is planning to sue the federal government for $115 million over the 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago estate, accusing the Department of Justice of unconstitutional political persecution. Even though the search turned up hundreds of classified documents and led to his indictment on federal charges, Trump says prosecutors improperly targeted him in hopes of damaging his campaign to win back the White House. The subsequent malicious prosecution are particularly egregious, showing willful, wanton, oppressive, and malicious intent by the Department of Justice and FBI, Daniel Epstein, a lawyer for Trump, wrote in a notice of claim filed with the government. Trump is demanding $15 million in compensation for his legal costs, plus $100 million in punitive damages. Trump accuses Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray of failing to implement normal procedures for getting back the documents in order to carry out the search and humiliate the Republican ex-president. Garland and Wray decided to stray from established protocol to injure President Trump, Epstein wrote. The filing sets the clock ticking on a 180-day period during which Trump and the government can seek to work out a settlement. If no deal is reached, a federal judge will hear the case in south Florida. Trump admits taking the documents with him to his Florida estate after leaving the White House in January 2021, but claims he had the legal right to do so. He returned some of the documents when hit with a subpoena to give them back. Suspecting Trump was hiding more documents, the feds asked a judge to approve a search warrant for Mar-a-Lago, which was carried out on Aug. 22, 2022. Garland appointed special counsel Jack Smith to investigate the case after Trump announced he would run for president again in 2024. Trump was indicted on a string of charges accusing him of improperly retaining the documents and obstructing justice. Two Mar-a-Lago workers were also charged with moving boxes of sensitive documents to hide them from investigators and even Trumps own defense attorney. Judge Aileen Cannon recently dismissed the case on the grounds that Smiths appointment was unconstitutional. The prosecution is appealing that decision to a higher court but it will likely wind up being decided by the Supreme Court. Updated Aug 13, 2024, 12:44pm EDT The News Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump talked with X CEO Elon Musk live on the platform Monday, speaking at length about the economy and immigration. The conversation, which was beset with technical issues at the start of the broadcast, sparked immediate backlash from some groups, with the United Auto Workers labor union filing a complaint on Tuesday alleging Musk and Trump had intimidated and threatened workers engaging in protected activities, including strikes. As CEO of electric vehicle company Tesla, Musk is avowedly against unionized labor. Meanwhile, reports suggest Musks foray into right-wing politics could hurt his businesses, particularly Tesla sales. And before the conversation aired, the European Commissions digital regulator issued a warning to Musk not to disregard the blocs hate speech laws and their application to X. SIGNALS Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories. Musk working closely with Trumps campaign Source: The Wall Street Journal For months, Musk has dedicated time to working with the Republican campaign, with the goal of delivering more than 800,000 voters to Trump in swing states ahead of the election, The Wall Street Journal reported. Musk seemingly wanted to keep his involvement with a super political-action committee AmericaPAC, that he helped found quiet, but decided to go public after the failed assassination attempt against Trump in July. AmericaPAC has suffered multiple setbacks since its founding in May: Musk reportedly signed off on the firing of several contractors initially involved in the PAC, and is starting much of its work again with less than 100 days to go. X offers perfect venue for Trumps campaign Source: CNN Twitter the social media platform purchased by Musk and rebranded to X was a vital platform for Trump heading into the 2016 presidential election. Musk, a self-described free speech absolutist, has dismantled many of the checks Twitter once had that limited the proliferation of conspiracy theories on the platform, or its use to promote misinformation. In doing so, X now offers a perfect venue for the ex-president to escape the constraints of traditional media and to spin his web of alternative reality which is hugely popular among his millions of supporters, CNNs Stephen Collinson wrote. Musks support for Trump is hurting his businesses Sources: Fortune, The Washington Post In Europe, a pharmacy chain has announced that it will no longer purchase Teslas, with a spokesperson explaining the decision was made after Musk voiced support for the former president. Trump has repeatedly described climate change as a hoaxthis attitude is in stark contrast to Teslas mission to contribute to environmental protection through the production of electric cars, the spokesperson said. In the US, former Tesla fans are turning away from the company because they do not want to be associated with Musk and his politics, The Washington Post reported. Industry analyses suggest that Elon Musks increasingly right-wing politics do alienate a significant number of shoppers, one consultant told the Post. Donald Trump told Elon Musk during their livestreamed conversation on X Monday night that if the election goes poorly, well meet the next time in Venezuela because it will be a far safer place to meet than our country. Trump made the statement after mentioning that crime rates all over the world are going way down, an odd statement to make before bringing up Venezuela, where postelection protests have left 23 dead and more than 2,000 people arrested, according to the United Nations. Trump says he'll flee to Venezuela if he loses the election and invites Elon to visit him pic.twitter.com/z0gvN6ugI7 Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 13, 2024 It seems that Trump is claiming that crime rates would be so high if he isnt elected president that authoritarian Venezuela would seem safer by comparison. As president, Trump did not have positive ties with the country or its leader, Nicolas Maduro, casting doubt that Trump is actually serious about planning to flee to Venezuela. Either the convicted felon and former president perhaps was being facetious, or its another sign of his cognitive decline. Unlike North Korea, where Trump and its leader Kim Jong Un infamously exchanged gushing letters, Trump and Venezuela were on bad terms from the start of his presidency. He refused to rule out a military intervention to confront Maduro in 2017, and two years later, Trump recognized Juan Guaido, the leader of Venezuelas National Assembly, as the interim president of Venezuela, causing Maduro to cut ties with the United States. Musk doesnt have any favorable ties with Venezuela either, with Maduro banning X last week and accusing Musk of promoting hatred in the country after its recent election. Musk, in turn, accused the self-proclaimed socialist of major election fraud. In short, Trump probably isnt going to flee to Venezuela if he loses in November, especially since hes now a convicted felon and barred from leaving the country at least until hes sentenced for his hush-money crimes. Venezuela probably wouldnt take him unless there was some kind of revolution or coup in the country. But stranger things have happened, especially since Musk has remarked in the past that we will coup whoever we want! Deal with it, regarding a 2020 coup detat in nearby Bolivia. But surely Trump isnt dumb enough to bank on something like that, right? Former President Donald Trump is reviving his promise to build "the best Iron Dome in the world," a version of the air defense system built by Israel that experts say probably wouldn't make much sense for a country with friendly neighbors like Canada and Mexico. In a conversation Monday night with Elon Musk on his social media platform X, Trump defended his idea by saying "it just takes one maniac to, you know, start something." "Israel has it. We're gonna have the best Iron Dome in the world. We need it, and we're gonna make it all," he told Musk. Here's a look at what Iron Dome is, why experts question its utility for the U.S. and how Trump might actually be talking about something else: PHOTO: Republican presidential candidate former president Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally held at his golf club Trump National Doral Miami in Doral, Fla., July 9, 2024. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images) What is an 'Iron Dome'? Iron Dome was developed by Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems to knock down short-range rockets, such as the ones lobbed from the border of Lebanon by the Iran-backed group Hezbollah. Together with other systems like David's Sling, which is designed to intercept ballistic and cruise missiles, Israel's Iron Dome is part of a nationwide missile-defense shield over the country, whose residents live under the near-constant threat of attack from its neighbors. The multi-billion dollar system was credited with helping to knock down hundreds of missiles and drones last April when Iran launched an attack. Israel's Iron Dome could play a major role in coming days if Iran follows through on its threat to attack Israel again, this time in retaliation for the recent killing of a Hamas leader visiting Tehran. MORE: What to know about Walz's military record and Vance's accusations of 'stolen valor' As part of a broader policy to help defend Israel, the U.S. has paid some $3 billion to Israel to date for Iron Dome batteries, interceptors and maintenance costs, according to a recent analysis by the Congressional Research Service. PHOTO: Rockets fired from southern Lebanon are intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome air defense system over the Upper Galilee region in northern Israel, July 8, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Lebanon's Hezbollah fighters. (Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty Images) Could the US benefit from its own 'Iron Dome'? The short answer from experts is probably not. With allies north and south of the U.S., and oceans on either side, the U.S. doesn't face the same kind of short-range missile threat as Israel. That reality probably explains why the military hasn't asked Congress to pay to build one. A U.S. defense official told ABC News last month that U.S. Northern Command -- -- the military combatant command charged with defending the homeland from foreign missiles -- has not expressed interest in a larger, nationwide missile defense system either. The military already employs multiple systems "that together provide agility in responding to potential threats, which increases available options for the nation's leaders," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said in July. MORE: Election 2024 updates: Biden says he would attend Trump's inauguration if he were elected Among those systems already in place in the U.S. is the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense program, which was designed to knock down rogue long-range missiles from a country like North Korea. It's possible the U.S. could try to bolster the capability of this existing system to wipe out any threat of a large-scale attack from a country with a hefty arsenal like Russia. But expanding that system to cover every inch of the U.S. though would likely cost billions of dollars at a time when the country also is trying to protect against attacks in cyber and space. China and Russia are now pursing hypersonic weapons, while administration officials this spring acknowledged Russia's pursuit of nuclear capabilities in space, greatly complicating what it means for any one system to keep the U.S. safe. So why does Trump keep talking about building an Iron Dome? Trump often latches on to the idea of building things for the country because it's a tangible example of a policy idea. In the case of 2016, Trump talked about building a border wall as a way of saying he would take illegal immigration seriously, even as experts warned the idea wasn't practical. By the time Trump left office, only about a quarter of the U.S. border with Mexico had new fencing -- most of which replaced smaller existing structures. In the case of an Iron Dome, Trump seems to be signaling another shift in U.S. policy -- away from diplomatic engagements with other countries in favor of isolationist policies that rely on heavy military spending to deter adversaries. For its part, the GOP endorsed the idea as part of its official policy platform at the Republican convention in July. Elbridge Colby, who served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development during the Trump administration, said last July that he saw the new GOP platform as an intentional shift. The GOP focuses on protecting the homeland, "not looking for monsters to destroy," Colby said. Trump wants a US 'Iron Dome' the military hasn't asked for originally appeared on abcnews.go.com ANKARA (Reuters) - A Turkish court on Monday ordered the arrest of a woman on charges of inciting hatred and insulting the president after she criticised a ban on social media platform Instagram, broadcaster Haberturk and other media said. Turkey blocked access to Instagram on Aug 2 for failing to comply with its "laws and rules" and public sensitivities. It removed the ban on Saturday, after it said the Meta Platforms-owned app agreed to cooperate with the authorities to address the government's concerns. In an interview posted on YouTube channel last week, when the app was still blocked, the woman was one of several passers-by who were asked what they thought about the ban. "This is wrong. The president cannot ban Instagram as he wishes," the woman said. She also criticised President Tayyip Erdogan and those who supported the ban. Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the arrest. Monday's arrest, ordered by a local court in the western city of Izmir, came after the head of Turkey's broadcasting watchdog RTUK criticised street interviews aired on social media, saying they "manipulate public opinion". The Instagram access ban came after a top Turkish official accused the social media platform of blocking posts expressing condolences over the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, a leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas. (Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever; Editing by Daren Butler and Miral Fahmy) In the modern imagination, Professor Lewis Gordon wrote in 2023, paraphrasing philosopher Frantz Fanon, reason takes flight whenever the Black enters the scene. Indeed, from the moment the Democratic Party coalesced around Vice President Kamala Harris as its nominee, ushering in the prospect of Americas first Black Madam President, reason has taken flight. Apparently, they feel, or a lot of Democrats feel, they have to stick with her because of her ethnic background, Republican Representative Glenn Grothman said on the day President Biden ended his reelection campaign. Two of his House GOP colleagues, Tim Burchett and Harriett Hageman, both denigrated Harris as a DEI hire. And then, of course, theres Harriss opponent, Donald Trump, who has questioned whether Harris, whose father is Jamaican and mother is Indian, is even Black. Harris was only promoting Indian heritage and now she wants to be known as Black, so I dont know, Donald Trump said during a panel hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists. Is she Indian or is she Black? She was Indian all the way and all of a sudden she made a turn and she became a Black person and I think someone should look into that. And in his train wreck of a press conference on August 8, he claimed Harris was being very disrespectful to both identities. Whether its Indian or Black, I think its very disrespectful to both, he said. To me it doesnt matter. So a white man who only won the presidency thanks to an electoral institution that was designed by enslavers to seize disproportionate voting powerwhat law professor Wilfred Codrington III describes as the nations oldest structural racial entitlement programis demanding that a Black woman prove that she is indeed Black. Meanwhile, his fellow Republicans are suggesting that she has somehow exploited her Blacknesswhich, to state the obvious, is only possible if youre actually Blackto rise to the undeserved position of presidential nominee, despite her having served as a district attorney, attorney general, U.S. senator, and vice president. Such is the predicament of Black Americans. You can never just be Black; instead, others perceptions and projections of Blackness are forced upon you, and you are forbidden to exist outside someone elses fantasies of Blackness. And yet, the authenticity of your Blackness will be questioned if you do not embody stereotypes of Black behavior with every breath, lest you be accused of being a chameleonas J.D. Vance said of Harris on Sunday. America has had to endure senseless discourse about Harriss ethnicity because the political media tend only to understand Blackness through the prism of anti-Blacknessor perhaps, to be slightly more generous, the media treats the everyday, run-of-the-mill behavior of white people as normal, while treating the same behavior among Black Americans as a phenomenon. A white politician can claim to be white and do so without question. A Black politician that claims their race must prove the legitimacy of their inheritance. Multiethnic politicians are not new. Trump is one. He is Scottish and German. He just isnt Black. Because Trump is white, just like most of his supporters and most journalists, he will not be scrutinized over his race in the way Harris and other Black politicians always have been. Being white, Trump is presumed to be authentically so. Further, Trumps abilities (or lack thereof) are not subjected to a racialized litmus test; his failings are not seen as broadly representative of his race. His crude and increasingly incoherent speech is not indicative of the educational failure of whites. His lasciviousness and abuse of women are not indicative of pervasive misogyny among white men. His felony criminal conviction and myriad civil defeats (including fraud and sexual abuse) are not indicative of whites lawlessness and recidivism. Even his racism is sometimes treated as sui generis, or at least localized among his followers. It must be a relief to be Donald Trump, just as it is to be white. He need not speak, eat, walk, or dress in a white way to prove his whiteness. He just is: white. Such liberty of being is not granted to Harris. Her Blackness is under constant surveillance and policing; thus, it is always in violation. In an act of racialized cartography, Harriss opponents and critics have charted fictional constellations of Black behavior to both affirm or delegitimize her lived experience as a Black woman. Her graduation from Howard University does not confirm her Blackness any more than her secondary studies in Canada refute it. Harris has said she does not spend a lot of time focusing on how to categorize herself, telling The Washington Post that 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. This was in February 2019, during Harriss first campaign for president, when the political and media classes were engaged in asinine inquisitions of Harriss Blackness. That same month, in an interview on The Breakfast Club podcast, host Charlamagne tha God asked Harris to comment on social media memes that denied her Blacknesssuch as, in his words, Kamala Harris is not African American. Her parents were immigrants from India and Jamaica. This is the same thing they did to Barack, Harris said, truthfully. This is not new to us. When Charlamagne, who is Black, asked Harris to respond to those who cast doubts about the legitimacy of her Blackness, she said , I think they dont understand who Black people are. Toward the end of the interview, she avowed her Blackness: Im Black, I am Black, and I am proud of it. I was born Black, and Ill die Black, and I am proud of it. And I am not going to make any excuses for it, for anybody. And yet, excuses were demanded nonetheless. Months later, Donald Trump Jr. quote-tweeted a post that said, Kamala Harris is implying she is descended from American Black Slaves. Shes not. She comes from Jamaican Slave Owners. Thats fine. Shes not an American Black. Period. Is this true? Trump Jr. asked. Wow. The intent, of course, was to foment speculation about Harriss self-proclaimed identity as a Black woman and disqualify her from associating her experience with the plight of Black Americans. If Harris was not truly Black, she could not speak with authority on Black issuesindeed, doing so would be therefore fraudulent. Or so the obtuse reasoning goes. Fast-forward a half-decade. Nothing has changed. Trump Jr.s father is again running for president, raising these same questions about Harriss race. If ever there was proof that white America wont let you define your Blackness on your own terms, this is it. Just hours before a special commission on property tax convenes today, a bipartisan coalition has submitted a letter that raises concerns about the potential impact of Advance Colorados Initiatives 50 and 108 on the states financial health. More than 40 state and local organizations signed the letter obtained by Colorado Politics, dated Aug. 12, supporting a compromise and a limited-scope special session. The letter states, We write to address the urgent matter of Initiatives 50 and 108. These Initiatives present a very significant and real threat to all communities in Colorado, and it will impact services provided by the state and local governments. These measures would lead to cuts in education and higher education funding, fire, EMS, libraries, and other important community services. For those reasons we are supportive of a compromise and a special session to codify this deal and believe this is the best way to work together. Should a special session be called, we urge the scope to be very narrow, limited to one bill that would implement one agreed-upon deal. This focused approach will ensure the session remains productive and avoids unnecessary complications." Lawmakers and political advocates hinted at discussions to halt Proposition 108 and its companion measure, Proposition 50, in exchange for a special session on property taxes and local government revenue. Proposition 50 already qualified for the ballot, while election officials have yet to conclude whether Proposition 108 also turned in enough signatures. Proponents are confident it would make the ballot. Although the Colorado Constitution grants the governor authority to convene a special session, the General Assembly may call one if two-thirds of each chamber requests it in writing. This means that at least 44 of the 65 representatives and 24 of 35 senators must agree on the subject to be addressed and notify the House speaker and Senate president. That special session would have to happen quickly, as the deadline to remove the propositions from the ballot is Sept. 6. Organizations signing on to the letter include: 9to5 Colorado Action Colorado Adams 12 Five Star Schools Adams County Regional Economic Partnership Adams State University Advent Health Childrens Hospital Club 20 Colorado Alliance of YMCA Colorado Association of Health Plans Colorado Association of REALTORS Colorado Association of School Boards Colorado Association of School Executives Colorado Community College System Colorado Competitive Council Colorado Contractors Association Colorado Education Association Colorado Hospital Association Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition Colorado League of Charter Schools Featured Local Savings Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR) Action Fund Colorado Rural Schools Alliance Common Spirit Heath Colorado State University Community Economic Defense Project Denver Health Elevation Community Land Trust Fort Lewis College Metropolitan State University of Denver Movimiento Poder NAIOP Colorado Nourish Colorado Pikes Peak Alliance of School Districts Progressive 15 Ready Colorado Rocky Mountain Equality (formerly Out Boulder County) SEIU Local 105 The Colorado Association of Home Builders The Denver Foundation Together Colorado United for a New Economy University of Colorado University of Northern Colorado Western Colorado University Working Families Party Update: Investigators believe the pair punched and choked 22-year-old Jamaican national Kurt Williams to death around August 5th. Officers found Williams body in a unit at the Pelican Bay apartment complex off Florida Avenue on Monday. During the investigative process, we located a person of interest and then an investigation into their whereabouts, identified some witnesses that this individual had confessed to their crimes to. After obtaining those statements, we located the suspect where he was brought into the station for questioning and subsequently arrested, Panama City Police Department Captain Kris Shaw said. They said someone requested a welfare check on Williams. One of the suspects in this case has the same last name as the victim in the Lynn Haven death investigation. Both are named gray. Police said its a coincidence, they are not related and the two deaths are not related. PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) The Panama City Police Department has announced the arrest of two individuals in connection to a recent murder on August 12th. Ahshya Knight, 20, and Jaheim Gray, 15, were taken into custody and charged with an open count of murder, principal to murder, and tampering with physical evidence. On Monday, PCPD responded to an apartment complex located in the 900 block of Florida Avenue in reference to a welfare check. Officials said upon arrival they found Kurt Williams, a 22-year-old Jamaican national dead inside his home. Authorities said foul play was suspected and began an investigation. Investigators said the suspects fatally injured the victim after punching and choking him repeatedly. They said he was there for a week. Both suspects are currently in custody at the Bay County Jail. Panama City Police Department urges anyone with information to contact the department directly at 850-872-3100. Those who wish to remain anonymous can report their tips to Crime Stoppers at 850-785-TIPS. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to mypanhandle.com. Two arrested in Springfield on drug and firearm charges SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) Two people were arrested Monday night in Springfield after reports of shots fired on Central Street. Springfield police investigating deadly stabbing According to Springfield Police Spokesperson Ryan Walsh, just around 10 p.m., officers were called to the 100 block of Central Street following a report of gunshots. Upon entering the apartment, police identified two individuals, Misael Cruz, 21, and Brianna Pagan, 28, both of Springfield. A search of the premises revealed a shell casing, a loaded firearm, and heroin in the bathroom. Courtesy of Springfield Police Department Further investigation, assisted by Springfield Police K-9 Walker, led officers to a safe inside the apartment containing additional heroin. The firearm was later identified as stolen from Florida. In total, officers seized approximately 1,150 bags of heroin, $1,403 in cash, 28 Gabapentin pills, and 10 Buspirone Hydrochloride pills. Misael Cruz (Courtesy of Springfield Police Department) 21-year-old Misael Cruz of Springfield is charged with: Discharging a Firearm within 500 Feet of a Building Possession of a Firearm without an FID Card Possession of Ammunition without an FID Card Possession of a High-Capacity Magazine/Feeding Device Tampering with Evidence (Two Counts) Trafficking Heroin/Fentanyl More than 200 Grams Possession with the Intent to Distribute a Class E Drug (Two Counts) Receiving Stolen Property Less than $1200 Brianna Pagan (Courtesy of Springfield Police Department) 28-year-old Brianna Pagan of Springfield is charged with: Possession of a Firearm without an FID Card Possession of Ammunition without an FID Card Possession of a High-Capacity Magazine/Feeding Device Trafficking Heroin/Fentanyl More than 200 Grams Possession with the Intent to Distribute a Class E Drug (Two Counts) Receiving Stolen Property Less than $1200 Fugitive from Justice on a Court Warrant (Vermont) Trafficking Fentanyl Trafficking Fentanyl Conspiracy Fentanyl Transportation into the State, more than 20 Milligrams Cocaine Trafficking Possession of Cocaine One Ounce or More Committing Crime with Weapons The investigation continues as officers work to understand the full scope of criminal activity involved. The Springfield Police Department encourages anyone with information related to the case to contact the SPD Detective Bureau. Latest Local News Headlines WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWLP. WAYNE, Neb. (KCAU) Two men are facing charges of sexual assault that allegedly took place at the Wayne State College campus. Katlego Colin Nqandela, 21, is charged with first degree sexual assault and procuring alcohol for a minor. Nokutendaishe Joel Methembe, 21, is charged with first-degree sexual assault. Both are foreign exchange students from South Africa. Methembe was a WSC student at the time of the alleged crime. Nqandela was a student of WSC but had withdrawn. According to court documents, the Wayne Police Department received a call from a local medical center on April 8 for a now 20-year-old female who was in the emergency room for a report of sexual assault. The 20-year-old told police that during the overnight hours of April 6 and 7, she and a 19-year-old female friend went to a small gathering in Anderson Hall on the Wayne State College campus. There were seven people at the gathering, including the 20-year-old, the 19-year-old, Methembe, and Nqandela. Man pleads not guilty to vehicular homicide charges in Sioux City deadly crash The 20-year-old admitted to drinking a small amount of alcohol while riding to the gathering, but was not intoxicated. When the two arrived, others were already drinking. At one point, The 20-year-old said Nqandela left the group and came back with two shots of vodka, handing them to the 20-year-old and 19-year-old. About 10 minutes after taking the shots, the two women felt sick and ran to the bathroom. The 19-year-old was able to vomit but the 20-year-old was unable to. The two said that going to the bathroom was the last thing they remember until waking up the next morning. The 20-year-old woke up the next morning completely undressed and with bruises all over her body. She also found a hat in her room that Nqandela wore the night before. She reached out to another friend, and based on that information, she feared she had been sexually assaulted . The 20-year-old then reached out to Methembe who allegedly admitting to having sex with her in the sink room. She then went to the medical center to get checked. The 20-year-old said that she became afraid of leaving her room and suffered panic attacks. Law enforcement interviewed a third woman who was at the gathering. The woman didnt konw the two women, but noted that their behavior seemed abnormal after taking the shot from Nqandela. The witness noted that the victim was not in a normal state of mind and would not have been able to consent to any sexual contact or interaction. The witness said that during the gathering she noticed Methembe and the victim were missing around 1 a.m. She noticed the door to a sink room was closed and started to open and then saw the victim before the door was forecebly shut. She then started banging on the door and the two later rejoined the group. About 40 minutes later, the 20-year-old and 19-year-old became sick and ran to the bathroom. The witness tried to talk to the victim about what hapened in the sink room but the victim couldnt give a clear answer noting she struggle to make complete sentences without trialing off. Clay County Fair announces Flood Recovery Fundraiser After the two women became sick, the witness started to wrap up the gathering. The two women left to go to another residence hall with Methembe and another man. Nqandela told the witness that he was concerned about the two women being with Methembe and the other man, so the witness decided the two should walk with the group. After the 20-year-old and 19-year-old women went to their rooms, the witness stated that Nqandela was hanging back. The witness argued with him about him wanting to stay, became tired of arguing and then left to catch up with the rest of the group. The next morning the witness recalled seeing Nqandela the following morning wearing the same shirt as the night before. The witness also noted that he had what she believed to have blood drops on his shirt which he refused to answer when asked about it. During a review of security footage, Nqandela is seen wearing a hat and entering the building where the victim lived on April 7 around 2:40 a.m. He is then seen leaving the building around 9:19 a.m. without the hat. Law enforcement interviewed Nqandela on April 14 where he allegedly admitting to buying alcohol for the gathering and that the 20-year-old and 19-year-old women were underage. He said that he has no memory after leaving the building where the gathering was held. During an interview, Methembe allegedly said that he felt the victim had gotten too sick and he wanted to take her back to her room. After initially denying to having any sexual contact, he allegedly admitted to trying but was told no. After questioning specifics, he then allegedly admitted to having sexual contact. Custom-built wooden raft on 1,000-mile adventure down Missouri River Nqandela was arrested on April 29. The Case was then bound over to District Court on June 18. He pleaded not guilty to the charges on July 3. A hearing was held on Aug. 7. A pre-trial conference is scheduled for Sep. 4 and a trial for Sep. 10. Methembe was arrested on May 17. with his case being bound over to district court on July 26. As part of the case, he filed a Plea in Abatement on Aug. 8, arguing that there is lack of sufficient evidence that a crime has been committed and there is lack of probable cause to believe [Methembe] committed that crime. A hearing on the plea in abatement will be held on Sep. 4. KCAU 9 reached out to Wayne State College for comment about the alleged incident. They provided the below statement. Wayne State College is deeply committed to the safety and well-being of our students. Due to federal confidentiality regulations, Wayne State College is unable to comment on the specifics of any Title IX case. Title IX is a federal law intended to protect students from sexual discrimination and requires the College to adhere to specific procedures in response to reports of sex harassment, including sexual assault. It is important to understand that Title IX is distinct from the criminal justice system, and it governs the actions the College must take to ensure that rights are afforded to both those who accuse others of violating its provisions and those who are accused. We are fully committed to upholding our established procedures for responding to Title IX reports and providing support services to our students and we take this responsibility very seriously. Statement from Wayne State College Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports. Two Clive daycares target of bomb threat, police say no danger found CLIVE, Iowa The Clive Police Department is investigating after two daycares received bomb threats on Monday. At about 3:38 p.m. the Clive Police Department responded to a report of an emailed bomb threat at Cadence Academy in the 14,300 block of Hickman Road. According to police, staff at the daycare reported receiving an email claiming a bomb had been placed inside the facility. Personnel with the Clive Police and Fire Department responded to the scene and searched the building. No bomb or other threat was located. According to police, the KinderCare facility in the 15,200 block of Hickman Road also received a similar threat. After a thorough search no threat was located at this facility. Georgia man charged in Winneshiek County cold case murder Due to the robust security procedures in place at both centers, it is unlikely that anyone would be able to access them without the knowledge of staff, Chief Mark Rehberg said. The policies both centers had in place were followed by staff and ensured that all of the children in their care were safe and well protected. Police said no injuries occurred during the incident and the daycare centers will reopen on Tuesday as normal. An investigation into the threats is ongoing. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to who13.com. Two election deniers are under indictment. Theyll join dozens of others back on election boards for 2024 After Donald Trump lost the state of Arizona in 2020, Cochise County Board of Supervisors members Tom Crosby and Peggy Judd repeatedly tried to delay certifying the results, citing debunked reports that voting machines were corrupted. On November 27, 2023, a grand jury indicted Judd and Crosby on felony charges of conspiracy and interference with an election officer. Theyll scheduled to be back on the board when it meets to certify 2024s results. Judd and Crosby are among more than 30 officials in eight states who refused to certify 2020 results but who are set to return to their positions to potentially do it again in 2024, according to a report from democracy watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Election interference threats have only continued to escalate in the years since the turbulent aftermath of the 2020 election, when local-level attempts to block results were in parallel with the Trump campaigns spurious legal efforts to reject them in courts. The report identified at least five election-denying county-level officials in Arizona, eight in Georgia, five in Nevada and nine in Pennsylvania swing states where election results could be decided on extremely narrow margins where every vote counts. Donald Trump takes the stage with JD Vance during an August 3 rally in Georgia, where the former president praised election officials who approved rules that could make it easier for him to challenge 2024 results if he loses. A new report finds dozens of local officials who tried to reverse his loss in 2020 are still in power in 2024. (Getty Images) The report also identified four such officials in North Carolina, three in Colorado and three in New Mexico. All of them refused to certify results in 2020. Free and fair elections are the bedrock of American democracy, and they are currently under serious threat, the watchdogs president Noah Bookbinder said in a statement accompanying the report. It is imperative that those with the power to ensure that election results are certified take preventative actions and remedial actions if necessary to protect and validate the votes of the American public, he added. None of these officials attempts were successful. Blocking election results from being certified cannot be held up in court, and state authorities have mechanisms in place to protect them. The role that local officials play in the process is largely ministerial and not intended for individual officials to unilaterally throw into doubt, but pro-Trump officials in several states are trying to change the rules to make vote certification discretionary. In Georgia, the states Republican-controlled state election board recently approved a measure that allows local officials to conduct a reasonable inquiry that the results are a true and accurate accounting of all votes cast in that election. The role that local officials play in the process is largely ministerial and not intended for individual officials to unilaterally throw into doubt, but pro-Trump officials in several states are trying to change the rules to make vote certification discretionary. (AP) That language, which is expected to face imminent legal challenges, could give Trump a powerful tool to challenge results and disenfranchise millions of voters in the process. Right-wing legal groups across the country are endorsing proposed legislation and launching legal battles to try to assert authority over certification processes, underscoring how far the former presidents allies will go, down to the local level, to contest the results of an election he could lose. In Arizona, right-wing groups are suing to change the states election manual, and in Nevada, an official in the states second-largest county refused to certify a recent election, teeing up a legal battle at the state Supreme Court. More than 200 state lawmakers who denied 2020 results are also still serving in seven swing states, presenting a threat to current and future elections, either by their actions as legislators, by promoting disinformation and conspiracy theories, or by their demonstrated failure to respect legitimate election results, according to a separate review from democratic advocacy group States United Action. States have comprehensive processes to resolve legitimate disputes about vote counts or fraud, but county certification is not part of that process, Bookbinder said in a statement. County certification is not an opportunity for county officials to politically grandstand, lodge protest votes against election practices they dislike or investigate suspected voter fraud, he added. Officials across the country need to take the threats to election certification seriously and act now to ensure that they arent realized. Dave Almeida of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, NC DHHS Secretary Kody Kinsley and Gov. Roy Cooper at a July 2024 press conference on medical debt forgiveness. (Photo: Lynn Bonner) Gov. Roy Cooper announced Monday that 2 million North Carolinians will have their medical debt forgiven after all the states 99 acute hospitals signed up for a landmark program designed to wipe out debt for low- and middle-income patients. The announcement comes after last months federal approval of the Cooper administrations plan to forgive up to $4 billion in hospital debt for millions of people in the state. Under the plan, federal payments to hospitals from the Health Access and Stabilization Program (HASP) would increase in exchange for the hospitals eliminating old debt and helping patients avoid new ones. This is a win, win, win, said Cooper. Itll help our hospitals, our people, and our economy thrive. The participating hospitals, including North Carolinas largest hospital systems, account for most of the medical debts in the state. By signing on to the plan, hospitals have committed to eliminating medical debt dating back to January 2014, for all Medicaid beneficiaries, as well as uncollectible medical debt for all patients with incomes at or below 350% of the federal poverty level. Past medical debt exceeding 5% of a persons annual income will also be forgiven. Medical debt is a disease, plain and simple, said state Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley. Its a debt that no one wants, no one chooses to have cancer, to get in a car accident or have a heart attack. Its debt that, even after hospitals spend millions of dollars and years trying to collect, is rarely collected. Kinsley also highlighted another policy change during his speech: shifting the responsibility of enrolling patients in charity care programs to hospitals. He said this change will make a huge difference by eliminating the need for patients to navigate complex paperwork. It is transformational, he said. We know that so many more people are currently eligible for charity care programs today, but often struggle navigating paperwork or signing up, because often when youre recovering from a heart attack or a stroke, that is not the best moment for you to figure out how to get into the charity care program. Patients enrolled in public benefit programs like WIC, SNAP, or Medicaid, and those experiencing homelessness, will automatically qualify for charity care by January 2025. By July 2025, participating hospitals must forgive past Medicaid debt, implement policies to protect credit ratings, and prevent aggressive debt collection as well as publicly post debt relief policies. This is an exciting step forward in alleviating the burden of medical debt for North Carolina families, said Reggie Shuford, Executive Director of the anti-poverty advocacy organization, the NC Justice Center, in a statement. Hospital support for medical debt protections is crucial to making health care more affordable in North Carolina, particularly for communities of color, who we know experience an inequitable share of medical debt and poor health outcomes. Officials are touting the program as a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country. This is, by and large, one of the largest medical debt forgiveness programs we have seen in the country, and also one of the most ambitious policies that we have seen to prevent medical debt from accruing in the first place, said Kinsley. Hospitals participating in the program will receive HASP payments that will bring an estimated $4 billion into the state this fiscal year and a projected $6.3 billion in the next year. DHHS is collaborating with the nonprofit organization Undue Medical Debt and other nonprofits to work with hospitals over the next two years to implement the program. Patients do not need to take any action to benefit from the new initiative. Two NYPD detectives and two others orchestrated a COVID fraud scheme that helped more than 65 people illegally apply for small-business pandemic relief funds, federal prosecutors allege. Detectives John Bolden, 46, of Valley Stream, L.I., and Anthony Carreira, 42, of Staten Island, were charged alongside Boldens mother and cousin with running the scheme, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn announced Monday. Bolden, a 19-year NYPD veteran, is suspended without pay, according to an NYPD spokesman. Carreira is now retired from the department, the spokesman said. Bolden and Carreira owned partnership interests in a tax preparation franchise, and their scheme started in May 2020 at the height of the COVID pandemic, when the federal government started offering the Paycheck Protection Program and other loans to small businesses that had to close their doors. PPP loans would be forgiven if they were spent on job retention efforts and payroll costs. Bolden happened to hear an audio recording by a fraudster who was giving other tax preparers advice on how to prepare fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loan applications, the feds allege. We all want the bread, but we also want the loan forgiveness. Thats the big win, the fraudster said on the 30-minute recording, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday. Bolden apparently took that advice to heart, preparing fake applications for himself, Carreira, his mother, Jacqueline Johnson, 78, and his cousin, Christian McKenzie, 46, according to the complaint. Johnson and McKensie also acted as intermediaries to find more people to apply for bogus loans, and court documents show one instance where Johnson was given a $4,000 cut for her efforts, and another where she demanded a cut from one of their clients. Bolden and Carreira each got more than $40,000 for inventing Security Services and Armed Security businesses, while Johnson created a company called Hair by Jacqueline, and McKenzie concocted a sneaker business called Chris Kicks, the complaint alleges. As alleged, the defendants, including members of law enforcement responsible for upholding the law, defrauded the United States government out of relief funds meant for businesses struggling to survive the pandemic, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said Monday. These arrests are a powerful reminder of this offices resolve to prosecute anyone who violated the public trust and took advantage of the COVID crisis by stealing from relief programs. Bolden, Johnson and McKenzie were all arraigned Monday in Brooklyn Federal Court and ordered released on $25,000 bail. Carreira has agreed to surrender at a later date, the feds said. He made headlines in 2019 when he and five other cops were transferred out of the 66th Precinct after the department received federal civil rights complaints accusing them of creating a frat house culture of persistent racist bullying in their unit. SOUTH SALT LAKE (ABC4) Two suspects have been arrested in connection to a deadly shooting that claimed the life of Naod Welday, 18, at the Mt. Olympus trailhead earlier this month. One suspect has been identified as Mateo Martinez, 20. The other has been only identified as a 15-year-old male juvenile due to his age. According to the Salt Lake County Sheriffs Office, both men are documented gang members and are facing homicide charges. This tragic event serves as a stark reminder of the devasting impact of gang violence, said Sheriff Rosie Rivera. We are committed to ensuring that those responsible for this senseless act are brought to justice. I want to commend the dedicated efforts of our deputies and detectives for their tireless work in leading to these arrests. PREVIOUS: 18-year-old killed in deadly shooting at Mt. Olympus trailhead Welday was found early Saturday morning, Aug. 3, after police received reports of gunfire at the Mt. Olympus trailhead. First responders said Welday suffered multiple fatal gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead on the scene. Detectives say Welday was with two friends at the time, one of whom was also assaulted by the two suspects. The Sheriffs Office said none of the victims were associated with or suspected of any gang activity. Our top priority is the safety of our residents, said Rivera. The Sheriffs Office, including the Metro Gang Unit, will continue to work tirelessly to combat gang violence and protect our community. An investigation into the deadly Mt. Olympus trailhead shooting remains active and is ongoing. The Salt Lake County Sheriffs Office is asking anyone who may have additional information to come forward by calling 801-840-4000. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. A drawing of a woman's reproductive system, with a stethoscope on the left and a gavel on the right Two women filed complaints with the federal government on Aug. 6 alleging that Texas hospitals denied them abortion care necessary to treat their ectopic pregnancies. (Getty Images) This story originally appeared on The 19th. Two women have filed complaints with the federal government alleging that Texas hospitals denied them abortion care necessary to treat their ectopic pregnancies. The complaints were filed August 6 by Kelsie Norris-De La Cruz and Kyleigh Thurman against Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital and Round Rock-based Ascension Seton Williamson Hospital, respectively. Both women are represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights. Both say the hospitals denied them appropriate stabilizing medical care, which hospitals that accept federal Medicare funding are required to do under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, also known as EMTALA. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Ectopic pregnancies, which happen when a fertilized egg implants outside the pregnant persons uterus, can be fatal to them and cannot result in birth. Both women had ectopic pregnancies that implanted in their fallopian tubes, which connect ovaries to the uterus. The women say that they were initially sent home without receiving appropriate care, which in this case should have been terminating the pregnancy. The women say they continued to seek follow-up care: Norris-De LaCruz sought a second opinion hours later with a different doctor who diagnosed her ectopic pregnancy and had her brought in for surgery. Thurman returned days later after experiencing continued vaginal bleeding. But by the time both could receive abortions, their pregnancies had ruptured. Both women had to have their affected fallopian tube removed. A spokesperson for Ascension wrote that, while we cannot speak to specifics of this case, Ascension is committed to providing high-quality care to all who seek our services. Texas Health did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. In theory, Texas law, which bans almost all abortions, allows termination for patients with ectopic pregnancies. But the physicians still have to prove in court that any abortion they provide is protected by law. As a result, doctors in the state have said offering abortions still carries immense legal risks, even for ectopic pregnancies. Texas law clearly allows for abortions to treat ectopic pregnancies, and federal law requires it. Yet, Kelsie and Kyleigh were denied absolutely urgent care, Beth Brinkmann, Senior Director of U.S. Litigation at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement. As long as these bans are in place, doctors will be terrified to provide abortions of any kind, she continued, referring to the states near-total abortion ban. Pregnancy is not straightforward, and I now have to live with the consequences of these extreme laws every day, Thurman said in a statement. None of this should have happened to me, and I want to make sure this doesnt happen to anyone else. These complaints mark the second round of legal action by the Center for Reproductive Rights regarding Texas abortion laws. In 2023, the organization filed suit on behalf of a group of women who were denied abortions for medically complex pregnancies, arguing that those patients were unable to get health care because of confusion over the states narrow medical emergency exception, which allows abortions to save the life of the pregnant person or to prevent substantial impairment of major bodily function. The women lost that case, Zurawski v. State of Texas, in a decision issued May 31. Typically, EMTALA complaints are investigated by the state. But in this case, the womens attorneys are asking the federal Department of Health and Human Services Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services to handle these complaints instead. The federal government has argued that EMTALA protects abortions under emergency circumstances, trumping state bans. Idaho, another state with strict abortion laws, has challenged the federal governments enforcement of EMTALA, arguing that the state cannot protect the right to an abortion that is in conflict with its own near-total ban. This June, the Supreme Court sent that case back to lower courts for continued litigation. Texas has also challenged the federal government; an appeals court has said that while this question is litigated, emergency rooms in the state are not required to give abortions in medical emergencies. Molly Duane, a senior staff attorney at Center for Reproductive Rights, argued that even in that context, the federal law should protect care for ectopic pregnancies, given Texas explicit carveout for this medical situation. The State agrees that terminating ectopic pregnancies is not an abortion under Texass legal definition of the term. So the 5th Circuits ruling is irrelevant because that case only addresses places where Texass abortion ban and EMTALA potentially conflict, Duane said. Here there is no conflict, so it is clear that the federal government can and should enforce EMTALA. DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST Colorado lawmakers on Monday began to digest the framework for a potential compromise that could lead to deeper property tax relief and halt two initiatives that, if approved, would significantly decrease local governments' revenue. The threat of significantly more tax cuts than what lawmakers enacted earlier in the year and the corresponding loss in government revenue has compelled the parties to try to negotiate and head off Propositions 50 and 108. The parties must act quickly, as the deadline to remove measures from the ballot is Sept. 6. The meeting by the Commission on Property Tax suggested that a compromise remains on the table and that lawmakers might be on track to hold a special session to tackle the deal. Analysts briefed members of the Commission on Property Tax on what the current tax regime looks like under Senate Bill 24-233, which Republicans and Democrats passed, the fiscal effects if voters approved Propositions 108 and 50, and the parameters of the potential compromise that, assuming a deal is reached, lawmakers would then approve in the special session. The compromise borrows from familiar points. It would cut both residential and commercial property tax rates. The cuts won't be as deep for property taxes collected for the purposes of funding school operations. It would decrease the commercial assessment rate over three years. It would cap revenue growth. All told, the compromise would reduce property taxes by $255 million in tax year 2025, and by $295 million by 2025 compared to the base as modified by SB 233. Analysts said the fiscal impact would be greater in the out years. Finally, the plan would require a smaller increase in state aid $83 million more in fiscal year 2025-26 and $105 million the year after compared to the figures under the tax initiatives. Just before the special meeting, more than 40 bipartisan organizations and the mayors of Aurora, Denver, and Colorado Springs Mike Coffman, Mike Johnston, and Yemi Mobolade, respectively submitted letters to the commission, expressing concerns about the potential impact of Propositions 108 and 50. Most of the 19-member committee seemed agreeable to the frameworks core elements, which include changes to residential assessment rates, non-residential assessment rates, and a revenue cap for both schools and local government rates. The residential assessment rate for local governments would drop from 6.7% to 6.25% for the 2025 tax year. Assessment rates for commercial and agricultural properties would decrease to 25% in the 2027 tax year. The change won't apply to the oil and gas industry. Local government revenue growth would be capped at 5.25% annually, and school districts will see a new limit of 6%. Featured Local Savings Many remained skeptical that the deal would prevent future ballot initiatives seeking further tax cuts. Most of us dont dont object to the policy, most of us dont even object to a special session, Summit County Commissioner Tamara Pogue said. "But I think what a lot of us do object to is being here over and over again and having no assurances whatsoever that we won't be back here next June having the same conversation. Mark Ferrandino, director of the governor's Office of State Planning and Budgeting, hailed the framework as a good path forward to end the property tax battle and de-risk the budget. The committee members discussed several issues, but at the conclusion of the three-and-a-half-hour meeting, they seemed amenable to the compromise framework, although no formal decision or vote was made. The Colorado Constitution grants the governor authority to convene a special session, though the General Assembly may call one if two-thirds of each chamber requests it in writing. This means that at least 44 of the 65 representatives and 24 of 35 senators must agree on the subject to be addressed and notify the House Speaker and Senate president. Any deal likely needs the governor's blessing. Sources close to the negotiation said the compromise stems from fears that passing the ballot initiatives would be devastating to the state and even more so to local government. Proponents of the two initiatives have argued that the solutions adopted by lawmakers and the governor offer insufficient relief to residents and that a more meaningful fix is warranted. Also backed by Colorado Concern, Proposition 108 seeks to reduce assessment rates to 5.7% for residential properties and 24% for commercial properties. Proposition 50, a constitutional amendment, would cap tax revenue growth at 4% and require voter approval for local government to retain dollars above the limit. In Colorado, there is no state property tax. Only local governments such as counties, school districts, cities, towns, and special districts may impose and collect property taxes. The revenue funds school operations and local services, such as road maintenance, police departments, fire protection, water and sewer infrastructure, parks and libraries. In the last days of the legislative session that ended in May, we had the unprecedented passage of SB24-233, which was a bipartisan agreement to lower property taxes while at the same time, protect the state budget, Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Larimer, earlier said. Over the last several weeks, we have managed to find a way to expand on that historic compromise and further lower property taxes for both homeowners and businesses, while preserving local government services and ensuring services we care about at the state level will continue. MIDLAND, Texas (KMID/KPEJ) The Texas Department of Transportation will be installing new pavement, culverts, rail, sidewalks, pavement markings, and signage on Scharbauer Drive next week, as part of a nearly $4 million dollar reconstruction project. TxDOT said Main Street at Scharbauer Draw and Scharbauer Drive, from Lamesa Street to Carver Street, will be closed as a result. The project is expected to be complete in Summer 2025. The reconstruction of existing bridge class culverts and adjacent roadways and intersections along Scharbauer Draw is expected to begin on Monday, August 19. The City of Midland is recommending drivers to use the Lamesa Road bridge at Scharbauer Draw as an alternate route to Main Street. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Yourbasin. The Ohio-class, guided-missile submarine USS Georgia (SSGN 729) transits with the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Port Royal (CG 73) and the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG 58), not shown, on the Strait of Hormuz, Dec. 21. Philippine Sea is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of naval operations to ensure maritime stability and security in the Central Region, connecting the Mediterranean and Pacific through the Western Indian Ocean and three critical chokepoints to the free flow of global commerce. The U.S. Navy has publicly announced the transit of USS Georgia, one of its four Ohio class guided-missile submarines, or SSGNs, to the Middle East, amid mounting concerns that Iran and its proxies are poised to retaliate for Israels assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran. The movement of the submarine comes at the same time as the U.S. Navy accelerates the movement of the supercarrier USS Abraham Lincoln to the region, with plans now for two carrier strike groups to be present there soon. An F-35C aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. The embarked Carrier Air Wing 9 consists of eight squadrons including U.S. Marine Corps F-35Cs assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 314. U.S. Navy Secretary Austin reiterated the United States commitment to take every possible step to defend Israel and noted the strengthening of U.S. military force posture and capabilities throughout the Middle East in light of escalating regional tensions, the U.S. Department of Defense said in a statement. That statement followed a conversation yesterday between U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant. During that call, Gallant reportedly told Austin that Iran was preparing for a large-scale military attack on Israel within days. I called Israeli Minister of Defense Gallant on Sunday to reiterate our commitment to take every possible step to defend Israel and noted the strengthening of U.S. military force posture and capabilities throughout the Middle East. Reinforcing this commitment, I have ordered the Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) August 12, 2024 Following the meeting, the Israeli Ministry of Defense issued a statement confirming the call took place and that Gallant and Austin had discussed operational and strategic coordination as well as the Israeli militarys readiness to respond to Iranian threats. The United States was already actively building up its military presence in the region to help defend Israel against any potential Iranian attack. As well as additional combat aircraft and warships headed to the Middle East, the Pentagon confirmed today that the deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln and its carrier strike group to the region was now being accelerated on Austins orders. Earlier this month, the Department of Defense had said that the USS Abraham Lincoln was headed from the Pacific to the Middle East for a scheduled deployment to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt. The Pentagon now says that the Abraham Lincoln will provide additional capability, with the Theodore Roosevelt remaining in the Middle East. The air wing of the Abraham Lincoln includes F-35C stealth fighters and EA-18G Growlers carrying a new generation of electronic warfare pods, making the most capable to ever deploy. You can read more about this in our previous feature linked here. On Aug. 2, USS Abraham Lincoln has been ordered to *replace* USS Theodore Roosevelt. On Aug. 11, USS Abraham Lincoln has been ordered to *add* to capabilities already provided by USS Theodore Roosevelt.https://t.co/LK5WKLopMI pic.twitter.com/EZe2pdBS4z Ryan Chan (@ryankakiuchan) August 12, 2024 The deployment of USS Georgia, meanwhile, had not previously been announced. The presence of the SSGN in the region sends a powerful signal to Tehran, as well as significantly boosting long-range conventional strike capabilities there. The SSGN has the ability to carry up to 154 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles, although typically only around 100 of these weapons will be carried. At the same time, the SSGN is a multi-mission platform that can also clandestinely deploy dozens of special operations forces and other highly specialized equipment, including various unmanned platforms, as well as serving as discreet underwater intelligence fusion nodes and command centers. Other U.S. Navy warships are headed to the Middle East, including the Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Laboon, which has moved into the eastern Mediterranean Sea after transiting the Suez Canal from the Red Sea. As well as the aforementioned USS Theodore Roosevelt, it joins another Arleigh Burke class destroyer, USS Bulkeley, and an amphibious task force headed up by the assault ship USS Wasp. Another U.S. destroyer, the USS Laboon, has moved into the eastern Mediterranean Sea after transiting the Suez Canal from the Red Sea, defense official says. It joins the nearby destroyers USS Bulkeley, USS Roosevelt and the three-ship amphib TF in region led by USS Wasp. Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) August 12, 2024 Preparations for a retaliatory attack by Iran have, of course, also been underway in Israel. The Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Herzl Halevi today emphasized the continuation of a high level of readiness and efforts to prepare for offense and defense in a situational assessment and approval of plans in the various arenas, with commanders from the General Staff Forum, the service said on X. The Chief of the General Staff, LTG Herzi Halevi, emphasized the continuation of a high level of readiness and efforts to prepare for offense and defense in a situational assessment and approval of plans in the various arenas, with commanders from the General Staff Forum. pic.twitter.com/WPL8cN8xTH Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) August 12, 2024 Meanwhile, there are reports that the IDF is now at its highest alert level, a response to apparent intelligence indicating that Iran is poised to make a move, either by itself and/or via one or more of its regional proxies. We appear to be headed towards 'zero hour' in the #MiddleEast.#Israel just placed its entire military on the highest level of alert, as intel detects significant #Iran & #Hezbollah movements indicative of an imminent large-scale attack. Charles Lister (@Charles_Lister) August 12, 2024 While tensions have been raised since the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, there remains much speculation over what kind of form Irans retaliation might take. Irans acting foreign minister, Ali Bagheri Kani has insisted on the countrys right to an appropriate and deterrent response. This followed a statement last Friday from Iranian Revolutionary Guards deputy commander Ali Fadavi, who told local news agencies the country was set to carry out an order by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to harshly punish Israel over the assassination. With mounting concerns about potential military action, several airlines have suspended flights to destinations in the region. Today, the German airline Lufthansa said it was extending its suspension of flights to Tel Aviv, Tehran, Beirut, Amman, and Erbil until August 21, and said it would also avoid using Iranian and Iraqi airspace. Lufthansa extends suspension of Middle East flights https://t.co/HZkACkbDM5 The Local Germany (@TheLocalGermany) August 12, 2024 International powers have called for restraint, with a joint statement from the leaders of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom calling on Tehran to refrain from any retaliatory attacks that would further escalate regional tensions. A joint statement signed by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, also backed calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, the return of hostages still held by Hamas and the unfettered delivery of humanitarian aid. The fighting must end now, and all hostages still detained by Hamas must be released. The people of Gaza need urgent and unfettered delivery and distribution of aid, the statement said. Joint statement on Gaza by French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Keit Starmer appreciating efforts of Qatar, Egypt and USA for a ceasefire agreement and release of hostages by Hamas. Leaders ask Iran to refrain from attacks. pic.twitter.com/uQLbFEmDV0 Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) August 12, 2024 While fears of an Iranian military operation continue to grow, as long as Tehran holds off on retaliating, the United States will have more time to send additional assets to the Middle East that would help respond to any large-scale attack by Iran and its proxies against Israel. Whether the combined assets of Israel and the United States will be enough to deal with a much larger attack than the one launched by Iran against Israel in April, remains to be seen. On that occasion, Iran sent more than 300 drones and missiles toward Israel, although a follow-on attack may well also involve Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen, and could be far more complex. On the other hand, a Tehran may choose a more limited, focused response. What will Iran do is the question of the week for my inbox. Simple answer, I don't know. But here are some thoughts. We have seen what they did last time launching hundreds of drones and missiles at targets in Israel. Assuming they are going to try to walk a fine line Tyler Rogoway (@Aviation_Intel) August 9, 2024 For the time being, the United States continues to prepare for a major Iranian-led operation against Israel and, as the U.S. military presence in the region grows. Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com Federal maritime officials waited nearly a year to launch a review of how California State Universitys Maritime Academy handled sexual misconduct cases after the agencys top leader received an email that described cadets allegations of misconduct on the campus and during training cruises, which typically occur on the federal Maritime Administration's ships. Records reviewed by The Times show that in August 2022, a former Cal Maritime student emailed the head of the agency with concerns over "an epidemic of sexual assaults" and discrimination on campus and at sea that university officials allegedly mishandled or outright ignored. The email did not provide specifics of the alleged misconduct but described the experiences of students who had detailed their accounts on a website, which was also included in the email. On cruise and on campus students reported being ignored by academy administrators, the email states. One cadet who was touched inappropriately by a corps officer wrote: Two days later, when I was in the commandants office literally begging them to acknowledge what had happened, I was stonewalled, silenced and asked if I want to just go home (meaning failing cruise) be a quitter. I said no. The message also described expressions of hate and slurs that transgender cadets allegedly experienced on the campus. Without some sort of intervention the situation will likely stagnate, the email said. I hope you can find some way to increase the pressure on the campus administration. Read more: On a ship where future mariners train, CSU women say they faced sexual abuse and harassment Top officials at the Maritime Administration discussed the email. Roughly five hours after receiving the email, records show that Administrator Ann Phillips forwarded the message to six higher-ups at MARAD. Deputy administrator Lucinda Lessley looped in the agencys director of civil rights, Daryl Hart, and asked whether follow up was required to assess whether we have any duties under Title IX the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination. Hart forwarded the email to another official the next day before the email exchange ended. MARAD said it did not have any further records to provide. MARAD initiated a compliance review of the campus 11 months later, after a 2023 Times investigation revealed that the university had not reported allegations of rape and sexual assault aboard the Golden Bear training ship, a 500-foot vessel owned by the federal maritime authority and used to train future mariners. MARAD, a Department of Transportation agency, does not oversee the campus. But it provides some federal funding and, as part of a longstanding agreement for use of its training ship, requires the campus to report complaints of sexual misconduct aboard the vessel. The agency said it was concerned about the claims raised in The Times report and would assess during a compliance review whether the university followed federal nondiscrimination laws. The agency also said it would review whether the campus followed required policies in reporting complaints. That review is still underway. The university had completed a review of training cruise culture in early 2022, months before the email. University officials had announced changes to improve the culture and complaint reporting process. But students and faculty members told The Times that problems persisted. Two recent state laws intend to hold the maritime university and others within California State University's 23-campus network accountable to the legislature when it comes to strengthening sexual misconduct and harassment policies. The alum who sent the email told The Times that MARAD did not contact him until September 2023 more than a year after hed sent the email. Cal Maritime said it was unable to respond to questions about whether MARAD contacted the campus about the email. The campus president at the time retired before the review began. Read more: Always have a knife with you: Women and trans students fear harassment, hate at CSU campus MARAD does not own, govern, or operate state maritime academies, the agency said. As previously reported, pursuant to our obligations under Title IX and Title VI, MARADs Office of Civil Rights had already planned to initiate periodic reviews of [state maritime academy] policies and procedures for addressing complaints to ensure that they are handled in a manner consistent with applicable law. Cal Maritime was selected as the first [state maritime academy] to receive one of these reviews. By comparison, records show that MARAD promptly launched an investigation which it said is different than a campus compliance review into another state maritime academy, Texas A&M Maritime Academy, after receiving an anonymous complaint of sexual assault and discrimination aboard its training ship during a summer cruise. MARAD funds and operates the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y., and provides federal assistance and training vessels to six state academies, including Cal State Maritime, which has faced an enrollment decline and financial strain that recently prompted a proposal to consolidate the campus with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. The United Automobile Workers union on Tuesday accused former President Donald Trump of intimidating workers who might go on strike during a two-hour interview with Elon Musk on X Monday evening. File Photo by Joe Marino/UPI Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Officials for the United Automobile Workers union say former President Donald Trump and Tesla founder Elon Musk illegally threatened union workers who might go on strike Monday night. Trump and Musk conducted a two-hour interview on Musk's X social media platform Monday evening that UAW officials said was viewed by a million people. Trump already has endorsed the former president in his efforts to return to the White House after this fall's general elections. On Tuesday morning, the UAW filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board and accused Trump and Musk of illegally intimidating union workers. UAW officials in a news release Tuesday accused Trump and Musk of "illegal attempts to threaten and intimidate workers who stand up for themselves by engaging in protected concerted activity, such as strikes." During the X conversation, Trump suggested an auto company like Tesla might fire workers who threaten to go on strike. Elon Musk interviewed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump Monday night and is named in a complaint filed by the United Automobiles Workers union accusing the pair of illegally intimidating workers. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI "I won't mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, 'That's OK, you're all gone,'" Trump told Musk. Tesla does not have a collective bargaining agreement with labor and in October endured a workers' strike in Sweden due to the electric-vehicle manufacturer not agreeing to workers' collective bargaining demands. Musk also fired many Twitter staffers after buying the popular social media platform in 2022. "Workers cannot be fired for going on strike and threatening to do so is illegal under the National Labor Relations Act," the UAW said. "When we say Trump stands against everything our union stands for, this is what we mean," UAW President Shawn Fain said in the UAW news release. "Donald Trump will always side against workers standing up for themselves and he will always side with billionaires like Elon Musk." Trump campaign senior adviser Brian Hughes called the complaint "frivolous" and a "shameless political stunt intended to erode President Trump's overwhelming support among America's workers." "While Kamala Harris pushes a job-crushing electric vehicle mandate that is crippling our manufacturing industry, raising costs, and sending even more jobs to China, President Trump has pledged to slap a 100 percent tariff on Chinese imports to make sure that the future of the auto industry will be made in America," Hughes said. "Democrat special interest bosses may lie and stoke fear to try and stop President Trump from creating the broadest coalition of any candidate in history," Hughes said, "but rank-and-file workers and their families know the truth." Tesla officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Drake Enterprises, a non-union automotive parts manufacturer, on September 27, 2023 in Clinton Township, Michigan. | Scott Olson/Getty Images The United Auto Workers Union (UAW) announced Tuesday that it has filed federal charges against former President Donald Trump and Tesla Founder Elon Musk saying the pair illegally threatened and intimidated workers. The remarks the UAW is concerned with stem from a Monday night discussion where Musk, a vocal supporter of Trump, held a two-hour discussion on his platform X with the presidential candidate where the pair praised each other, talking about foreign policy, immigration, plans for Trumps reelection and the possibility of Musk to serve on a government efficiency commission in a potential second Trump administration. Trump said he would love to have Musk on such a commission, telling him, Youre the greatest cutter. I mean, I look at what you do. You walk in and you just say, you want to quit? They go on strike. I wont mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, thats okay. Youre all gone. Workers cant be fired for engaging in a legal strike under the National Labor Relations Act and the UAW said in a statement Tuesday that the pair of disgraced billionaires advocated for the illegal firing of workers standing up for themselves. When we say Donald Trump is a scab, this is what we mean, UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement Tuesday. Fain has for months spoken in Michigan, supporting president Joe Bidens campaign and now Vice President Kamala Harris campaign, praising both Democrats for walking picket lines with striking UAW workers. A request for comment was made to the Trump/Vance campaign, but has yet to be returned. Kayla Blado, press secretary for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), told Michigan Advance that the NLRBs Region 5-Baltimore office received an unfair labor practice charge against Donald J. Trump for President, Inc., which is located in Arlington, Virginia, and another complaint filed in Region 32-Oakland against Tesla, which maintains its North American manufacturing facility nearby. Fain spoke during Harris campaign visit to Detroit last week, reminding Michigan voters that while Biden became the first sitting president of the United States to walk a picket line with striking workers, Trump came to Michigan to speak at a non-union plant as the UAW was in the middle of its successful historic strike against Detroits Big Three automakers. Donald Trump will always side against workers standing up for themselves, and he will always side with billionaires like Elon Musk, who is contributing $45 million a month to a Super PAC to get him elected, Fain said. Both Trump and Musk want working class people to sit down and shut up, and they laugh about it openly. Its disgusting, illegal, and totally predictable from these two clowns. Trump and Musks conversation was marked by technical problems. Musk said the 40 minute delay on the conversation was caused by a distributed denial of service attack of listeners flooding the server to shut it down. The UAW says it has filed federal labor charges against Donald Trump and Elon Musk, referring to them as disgraced billionaires and accusing them of illegally attempting to threaten and intimidate workers engaged in protected concerted activity. The union said the two on Monday held a "rambling, disorganized conversation" following significant technical delays on X, the Musk-owned social media platform formerly known as Twitter, in front of more than 1 million listeners in which they advocated for the illegal firing of striking workers. According to the UAW, Trump, the Republican nominee for president, told Musk, I mean, I look at what you do. You walk in, you say, 'You want to quit?' They go on strike, I wont mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, 'Thats OK, youre all gone. Youre all gone. So, every one of you is gone.' Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and X owner Elon Musk had a live conversation Monday evening on Musk's X social media platform. The union, in a news release, noted that under federal law, workers cannot be fired for going on strike, and threatening to do so is illegal under the National Labor Relations Act. The UAW has long sought to organize nonunion Tesla, where Musk is CEO, and the union has endorsed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in this year's presidential contest. UAW President Shawn Fain blasted both Trump and Musk. Fain and Trump have traded jabs in their public comments on numerous occasions. When we say Donald Trump is a scab, this is what we mean. When we say Trump stands against everything our union stands for, this is what we mean, Fain said in the release. Donald Trump will always side against workers standing up for themselves, and he will always side with billionaires like Elon Musk, who is contributing $45 million a month to a Super PAC to get him elected. Both Trump and Musk want working-class people to sit down and shut up, and they laugh about it openly. Its disgusting, illegal and totally predictable from these two clowns. A message seeking comment was sent to a spokesperson for the National Labor Relations Board. The Free Press attempted to reach Musk through a post on X and sent a request for comment to a spokesperson for the Trump campaign in Michigan. Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Become a subscriber. Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: UAW files charges against Trump, Musk over alleged threats to workers SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) A new analysis of data gathered from a retired NASA mission suggests Mars may indeed have liquid water on the planet. However, the water is stored so deep within Mars crust, it may be difficult for astronauts to access. The study, which was published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was led by Vashan Wright, a geophysicist at UC San Diegos Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Wright and his team looked at data collected by NASAs InSight lander. There was enough data to suggest the planet may have had more than enough water to fill its ancient oceans. 4.4 magnitude earthquake rattles Los Angeles and beyond InSight launched in May of 2018 and culminated its four-year mission in December of 2022 after gathering information on Mars crust, mantle and core, including seismic activity. The analysis conducted by Wright and his team of researchers looked at seismic data which found more than 1,300 quakes on Mars, according to a report by the Associated Press. Scientists believe much of the water that used to exist on the planets surface more than three billion years ago was either lost to space or trapped below the crust, according to the study. A look at rainfall totals after thunderstorms hit San Diegos mountains After looking at a mid-crust of rocks saturated with water, Wright and his team of researchers hypothesized water may be stored deep underground between seven to 12 miles below the surface, to be exact. The new findings may further support the longtime search for potential life outside of Earth, if water in the deep subsurface could be accessed in future missions. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been pressing the United Kingdom to allow strikes deeper into Russia with its weapons amid the offensive in Kursk Oblast, but so far, the UK government's position has not changed. Source: European Pravda, citing The Telegraph Details: Zelenskyy has reiterated his request for Western allies to allow the Ukrainian Armed Forces to use long-range missiles within Russia. He added that he has instructed defence officials and diplomats to "present a list of necessary actions on our part to obtain permission from our partners to use long-range weapons to defend our territory." However, The Telegraphs sources indicated that the UK government has not changed its decision regarding the Storm Shadow missiles. There is no permission to use them in the Kursk offensive operation. Quote from a UK government source: "There has been no change in the UKs position. We have been providing military aid to support Ukraines clear right of self-defence against Russias illegal attacks in accordance with international humanitarian law. We are clear that equipment provided by the UK is intended for the defence of Ukraine." Details: Last month, during his visit to the United Kingdom, Zelenskyy lobbied UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to lift restrictions on the use of munitions with a range of approximately 250 kilometres. Ukraine wants to strike airfields and logistics centres far behind the front lines that Moscow uses to bolster its positions in Kursk Oblast. Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former British tank commander, said Storm Shadow missiles would be able to strike "rail heads and key roads coming into Kursk, plus any airfields within 100 miles". Quote: "Putin is rattled and this would show the West is fully committed to Ukraine, which has not been apparent hitherto," he added. The decision on the use of Storm Shadow missiles depends not only on the UK government, as the missiles are produced jointly with France, meaning Paris also has a say in the conditions. Kyiv has also sought permission from Washington to use its long-range ATACMS missiles during the Kursk offensive operation, but has so far also been denied. Background: A bipartisan delegation from the United States has supported the actions of the Ukrainian defence forces in Russias Kursk Oblast and called the operation "historic" and hopeful during an official visit to Kyiv. Recently, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, confirmed for the first time that the Armed Forces of Ukraine were conducting an offensive in Russia's Kursk Oblast. Oleksandr Syrskyi reported at a meeting of the Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief that the Armed Forces of Ukraine had taken control of about 1,000 square kilometres of Russian territory. The Pentagon previously said that Ukraine's advance in Kursk Oblast aligns with US policy and that it is not concerned about a possible increase in tensions with Russia. Support UP or become our patron! Until recently, the ground war in Ukraine seemed to have turned in Vladimir Putins favor. Despite some real Ukrainian success storiestheir use of drones, for example, to threaten the Russian navy or oil industryon the front lines Russia has launched a series of offensives to push the defenders back. While not catastrophic for Ukraine, they made the prospect of recapturing occupied territory any time soon that much slimmer. Then, in early August, Kyivs forces broke through Russian defensive lines in a completely unexpected direction: over the border with Russias Kursk region. Ukrainian forces rapidly moved into Kursk, seizing several towns and key roads. Initially, observers thought it might be a small or temporary raid, like those conducted by Ukraine-aligned paramilitary groups last year. Now, however, Ukrainian forces likely hold more than a thousand square kilometers of Russian territory, have taken large numbers of prisoners, and seem more interested in consolidating their gains than disappearing back into Ukraine. Why would Ukraine launch an offensive into Russia itself? After all, Kyivs main goals are to ward off Russias offensives and try to reclaim as much Ukrainian territory as possible. But the offensive into Kursk offers several clear opportunities for Ukraine and headaches for a shocked Putin and his commanders. One immediate benefit for Ukraine is that attacking Russia itself shifts the narrative in Kyivs favor. Instead of losing territory, the Ukrainians are now gaining it. The wider narrative about the direction of the war influences how much Ukraines partners are willing to send arms and financial support, so this matters a great deal. It undercuts Russias narrative that Ukraine cannot win the war, so the international community should pressure President Volodymyr Zelensky to just cut a deal. The longer Ukraines incursion continues, the more pressure Russian commanders face to prioritize it over their own offensives in Ukraine. Some 200,000 Russians have reportedly fled the Ukrainian advance and more Russian forces have moved into the area, though these are not the same units involved in Russias offensives. Should they fail to contain or reverse Ukraines gains, Russian commanders may have to divert troops from Eastern Ukraine to stabilize things in Kursk. The attack also sends a political message to the U.S. and other Western partners. For a long time, American officials have been concerned about escalation, whether that be sending advanced weapons or allowing them to be used in Russian territory. Zelensky is constantly wrestling with his partners to gain better weapons and permission to use them. Putin and his foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, have known exactly what buttons to press to ramp up talk of escalation: Russia is after a nuclear-armed power. So, the biggest point of contention has been whether Ukraine can use externally provided weapons against targets in Russia, such as airbases. Ukraines position is that military targets in Russia are legitimate since they are used for attacks on Ukraine. By attacking Kursk, Ukraine is showing that that fighting on Russian territory does not necessarily lead to the type of escalation the Biden administration fearsalthough, according to the Wall Street Journal, some administration officials still fear an unspecified fierce retribution against targets in Ukraine. The last major benefit for Ukraine is diplomatic. While the amount of Russian territory the Ukrainian military holds is small, it gives Kyiv some political leverage. Should Ukraine seek peace terms in the future, trading the territory they occupy for Russian concessions is an easy win. While peace negotiations are unlikely in the short term, big events like the U.S. presidential election have encouraged Zelensky to hedge his bets. However, Ukraines attack also carries a good deal of risk. The further into Russia they go, the harder it is to maintain supply lines and send reinforcements in a timely manner. Ukraine could quickly run into issues maintaining their grip on the area as Russian reinforcements begin to file in. Like Russia, Ukraine still needs to priorities the front lines of Eastern Ukraine. If Russian forces in Kursk can push back in the coming weeks, Ukraines generals may find themselves having to make the same choice as Russia: strip troops from other parts of the front to shore up defenses or cut their losses and keep those forces in place. Should Ukrainian forces pull back to the border, theyd also be giving up the diplomatic leverage and new narrative that the balance of power now favors Kyiv. On Tuesday, Reuters reported intense battles as Ukraines advance came up against newly arrived Russian reserves and heavy weaponry. The Russian defence ministry posted clips of Sukhoi Su-34 bombers striking at what were said to be Ukrainian positions. The uncontrolled ride of the enemy has already been halted, said Major General Apti Alaudinov, the commander of the Chechen Akhmat special forces unit. The enemy is already aware that the blitzkrieg that it planned did not work out. For the moment, Zelensky appears to be holding his nerve, despite renewed nuclear threats from Moscow. Russia brought war to others, now its coming home. Ukraine has always wanted only peace, and we will certainly ensure peace, he said in his nightly address on Monday. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. When Ukrainian forces crossed the Russian border in the early hours of Aug 6, they sliced through Moscows defences like a knife through butter. Strict operational security obviously helped. Ukrainian commanders learnt of the operation only three days in advance; ordinary troops on the day it took place. But the Ukranianians were also pushing on a Russian weak spot, where a shortage of decent manpower was exacerbated by the absence of a clear Russian chain of command. It is in stark contrast to last years failed counter-offensive. One veteran of that operation in Zaporizhzhya said: I wish I was there [taking part in the Kursk raid] and all my mates, still serving or decommissioned, too. Click here to view this content. In the initial chaos of the thrust, Moscows military response was hampered by a lack of clarity on who was in charge. This AFU (Armed Forces of Ukraine) operation has successfully exploited seams of responsibility between the FSB (Federal Security Service), Rosgvardia (National Guard) and MoD (Ministry of Defence), said Dara Massicot, a Russian defence scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. I suspect targeted leaks will emerge between the MoD/GRU (General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation) and the FSB over who is responsible for intel and defence failures, she added. Command and control the exercise of authority by a commander over designated units, and what Nato militaries call C2 is crucial to operations, and has plagued the Russian army throughout the war. Click here to view this content. This part of the border was particularly chaotic. Unlike in the war zone inside Ukraine, the Russian chain of command on the border is hopelessly muddled. The FSBs border guard service has responsibility for the frontier. Internal defence is overseen by the Rosgvardia, who are meant to back them up. They are separate agencies, and neither answers to the army or MoD. For the army, Kursk is in the area of responsibility of the Moscow military district (MMD) commanded by Colonel General Sergey Kuzovlev. Most of its regular troops are now engaged in Ukraine. The MMD, one of five military-administrative districts in Russia, is a new formation: it only came into being earlier this year when Vladimir Putin split the former Western military district in two in response to Nato expansion. Alexei Smirnov, Kursks regional governor, is in charge of civilian evacuations, with the ministry of emergency situations chipping in. No one has built a Surovikin line, or anything like the lines of trenches and minefields that defeated the Ukrainians in Zaporizhzhya last year. Click here to view this content. Nor did anyone apparently notice that Ukraine began planning for the operation in March, with cross-border raids by Ukrainian-backed Russian rebel units. We did the same thing back in the day. We went in, observed the reaction how quickly they respond to your arrival, how many forces are there, where, what, how and then we left. Then again and again, an ex-Russian officer who previously fought against Ukraine told the Russian outlet Important Stories. So, eventually, [the AFU] already had a plan, gradually pulled in troops in small groups so as not to make a large movement noticeable, and then just broke through. Despite six months of such warning signs, nothing was done to reinforce the border, he added. When the textbook Ukrainian attack came on Tuesday last week, outnumbered FSB border guards and conscripted troops had to fight tanks and armoured vehicles with rifles. It is no wonder so many surrendered. The AFU planned everything smartly, like straight out of a textbook: conduct additional reconnaissance, chart the route, and most importantly, do it quickly, the Russian rebel officer added. So they just push forward as fast as possible, while ours are talking s, arguing, showing up, and filming reports. As they say in the army: If you want to defeat Russia, declare war, and it will f itself up with inspections. Ukrainian troops who have returned from the fighting, as well as Russian war bloggers, have described conscripts caught unawares and being killed or captured in large numbers. The units rushed in to respond to the invasion were also a mixed bag. On the border were the FSB troops, many of whom were quickly captured. The 810th separate marine brigade, part of the Black Sea fleet, was redeployed either from the Kharkiv region, or the Pokrovsk front in Donbas, according to different military think tanks. The Akhmat special forces, commanded by Apti Alaudinov, Ramzan Kadyrovs right hand man, is technically under the control of the Rosgvardia. The 128th Separate Motorised Rifle Brigade and the 15th Separate Motorised Rifle Brigade were both hit by Ukrainian Himars rockets while moving from different directions into Kursk. The Centre for Defence Strategies, a Ukrainian think tank, named four more rifle brigades and regiments drawn from the Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhya fronts and two airborne battalions from the strategic reserves who were being rushed to Kursk. Whats worse is that the main Russian formation facing Ukraine in this area is bogged down in an assault in the Kharkiv region that began three months ago. The Operational Group of Forces North received a name change and upgrade about one to two weeks before it attacked Kharkiv in May. Prior to May it was a territorial defence group. So for the past three months its been transitioning from a defensive to offensive orientation, meaning that this Russian op group was much weaker than the others, said Ms Massicot. From May to August it had a major reorganisation, a new commander, and attacked Kharkiv early. Its ministry of defence units are now bogged down in Kharkiv and that offensive is not making progress. Click here to view this content. The disaster has triggered open infighting. Russian military bloggers accused the Chechen Akhmat troops of fleeing at the first sign of trouble, leaving poorly equipped and trained conscripts to bear the brunt of the assault. Gen Alaudinov, the Akhmat commander, in turn told Semyon Pegov, the Russian war blogger, that incompetent generals from the regular army were to blame for allowing the Ukrainians to calmly withdraw units from other parts of the line and concentrate them for the assault on Kursk. He went on to take a swipe at someone from the ministry of defence, who he said deceived, deceived, deceived so much they ended up deceiving themselves. He did not name the military official or officials he was referring to, or expand on the nature of the deception. But a number of top Russian generals, including army chief Gen Valeriy Gerasimov, will be trying to convince Putin it is not their fault. For the Ukrainians, a dilemma presents itself. So far, Russia does not seem to have eased the tempo of its offensive in Donbas. That suggests one of the key goals of the Kursk offensive drawing off Russian forces from that front is yet to be achieved. But keep pressing on into Russia, and they risk blinding success turning into devastating encirclement and defeat. Dig in and hold ground, and they could be drawn into the kind of attritional trench warfare that favours Russias dominance in men and equipment. Retreat, and they will relinquish the advantage of occupying Russian territory. But they could claim a victory, take vast numbers of prisoners for exchange, and preserve the lives of their own troops. Ukraine has kept the objectives of the offensive under wraps. But there are already signs of a plan emerging. Ukrainian Telegram channels on Tuesday released videos of prisoners from Russian marine and army units who all asked, clearly under duress, to be exchanged for Azov regiment prisoners captured by Russia in Mariupol. Bringing the Azov veterans home would be a major propaganda coup for Ukraine and it is possibly one of the goals president Volodymyr Zelensky set for the operation. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. A man suing a Colorado Springs police officer said the officer used excessive force against him, fracturing several bones and causing one of his lungs to collapse while he experienced a mental health crisis in the summer of 2022, and then tried to cover it up. Matthew Siron claims in a lawsuit filed in El Paso County District Court that officer Douglas Wolfe "forcibly" dropped Siron to the ground while he was restrained in handcuffs, though Siron "did not present an imminent safety threat" to responding officers or other people. Wolfe's actions fractured three of Siron's ribs, fractured one of his fingers and caused one of his lungs to collapse, the lawsuit states. Wolfe denied the allegations, stating in a counterclaim filed Friday that Siron resisted the officer's efforts to detain him and that Siron kicked Wolfe hard enough in the knee to cause bodily injury. Siron's injuries were a result of his own actions or negligence, Wolfe said. Court documents state Colorado Springs police responded to Siron's apartment building at 3009 Illinois Ave. around 8:45 p.m., July 18, 2022. Siron's wife reported her husband had been drinking and was damaging property in their apartment. Siron said in his complaint he was mourning the anniversary of his ex-wife's suicide that day and was "observably suffering an acute mental health crisis." When Wolfe and fellow officer Levi Braun arrived on scene, Siron complied as the officers placed him in handcuffs and brought him into the hallway outside his apartment. When Siron later attempted to speak to his wife, who was standing in the doorway to their apartment, Siron claims Wolfe "immediately executed an aggressive takedown, forcefully dropping" Siron onto his back, fracturing several of his bones and causing his lung to collapse. Siron said Wolfe then placed his hand around Siron's neck while the man was handcuffed on the ground. A few minutes later, Wolfe "forcefully" grabbed Siron's neck "before appearing to realize what he was doing and releasing his grip," Siron said in his lawsuit. Wolfe denied grabbing Siron's throat, stating in his counterclaim he was "attempting a pain compliance technique during the incident with Siron." A screenshot Denver-based attorney Benjamin DeGolia shared with The Gazette, allegedly taken from Wolfe's body-worn camera, depicts his client, a shirtless Siron, lying on the ground with his mouth open. Another person's left hand belonging to Wolfe, DeGolia said can be seen grabbing Siron's throat, while Wolfe's right hand grips Siron's upper left arm. Wolfe said in his countersuit that Siron "resisted Wolfe's efforts to restrain" him. While he was detained, Siron "became agitated" and "aggressively attempted to pull away" from Wolfe when he could not return to the apartment, Wolfe said. Featured Local Savings Siron tried to grab Wolfe's duty belt where his gun was holstered; to prevent this, Wolfe said he grabbed Siron's left arm and shoulder, leaning his weight into him and causing Siron to fall backward. Both men fell on the ground, Wolfe said. Moments later, Siron kicked Wolfe in the left knee, the officer's countersuit said. An MRI conducted after the incident showed a tear in Wolfe's patellar tendon. Siron alleges Wolfe and Braun lied about his attempt to grab Wolfe's gun from its holster, lied about him kicking Wolfe in the knee and "mischaracterized" Wolfe's takedown of Siron to "try to cover up" Wolfe's use of excessive force against Siron. "We are confident an El Paso County jury will see through this clear falsehood and hold Officer Wolfe responsible for his grossly unconstitutional conduct," DeGolia said in a written statement Monday. Wolfe also denies allegations he attempted to cover up his actions that day. The Colorado Springs City Council on Monday informally agreed the city will represent Wolfe in the case, as required by the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act and the Liability of Peace Officers Act. Wolfe "was acting in the course and scope of his employment, and in good faith during the incident," City Attorney Ben Bolinger told the council. Wolfe remains employed by the Colorado Springs Police Department, spokeswoman Caitlin Ford said. Both the Police Department and the city declined to comment Monday on the pending litigation. In a memo to the City Council about the case, the City Attorney's Office said Siron pleaded guilty to second-degree assault on a peace officer, a felony, and received a deferred sentence. Attorneys said Siron also pleaded guilty to criminal mischief, for which he received probation. Susan Chatterdon, a Colorado Springs-based attorney for Siron, told The Gazette on Monday that Siron withdrew his guilty plea and the charge for second-degree assault was dismissed. Siron has not been convicted of second-degree assault or any charge related to Wolfe, she said. Siron pleaded guilty to criminal mischief related to items broken in his apartment before police arrived, and he is on probation for this petty offense, Chatterdon said. Though the Fourth Judicial District Attorney's Office did not charge Wolfe for any crime against Siron, "Chief Deputy District Attorney Rachael Powell wrote in a memorandum that Officer Wolfe's 'use of force was unreasonable and excessive,'" Siron's lawsuit said. Siron seeks compensatory, economic and punitive damages, attorneys' fees and other costs. In his countersuit, Wolfe seeks general, special and economic damages, and other costs. The Ukrainian military currently controls 74 settlements in Russia's Kursk Oblast, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Aug. 13. Ukraine's cross-border incursion into neighboring Kursk Oblast began on Aug. 6, and by Aug. 12, Ukraine said it had control over 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory. Kursk Oblast covers just under 30,000 square kilometers, a similar size to the U.S. state of Maryland or the German state of Brandenburg. Russia's regional authorities claimed on Aug. 12 that Ukraine is in control of 28 settlements in Kursk Oblast, and alleged that the incursion was up to 12 kilometers deep along a 40-kilometer front. Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Aug. 13 that Ukraine's Armed Forces advanced 3 kilometers and took control over another 40 square kilometers of Russian territory. Zelensky said he is "constantly in touch" with Syrskyi about the situation in Kursk. "Despite the difficult, intense battles, the advance of our forces in Kursk Oblast continues," Zelensky said. Read also: Kursk incursion and Crimea strikes could ease pressure on Ukraines Donbas forces "Humanitarian solutions for these territories" are being established, Zelensky added. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi told reporters on Aug. 13 that "unlike Russia, Ukraine does not seek to seize territory," but wants to "protect the lives of our people." Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast aims to prevent Moscow from sending additional reinforcements to the front in Donbas and stop Russian cross-border strikes, Tykhyi said. "Since the beginning of this summer, Ukraine's Sumy Oblast has been targeted with over 2,000 strikes using multiple launch rocket systems, mortars, drones, 255 guided bombs, and more than a hundred missiles, launched from Kursk Oblast," Tykhyi said. "Unfortunately, Ukraine does not have sufficient capabilities to carry out long-range strikes with the weapons it has to defend itself against this terror," Tykhyi said. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Ukrainian air defense shot down 30 of the 38 Shahed-type attack drones launched by Russia overnight on Aug. 13, Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said. Russia launched the drones from the Russian port town of Primorsko-Akhtarsk, located on the coast of the Sea of Azov, and Russia's Kursk Oblast, while two ballistic missiles were launched from Voronezh Oblast, according to the Air Force. Aircraft, missile and electronic warfare units, and mobile fire groups of the Ukrainian Air Force intercepted the drones over Mykolaiv, Vinnytsia, Sumy, Kirovohrad, Kherson, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Cherkasy oblasts. Sumy Oblast Military Administration said early on Aug. 13 that the Russian forces launched a missile and air strike on infrastructure facility of Sumy, located some 30 kilometers west of the Russia-Ukraine border. First responders have been dispatched to the site of the attack. There was no information on casualties at the time of the publication. Sumy Oblast suffers Russian cross-border strikes on a daily basis since Russian troops were pushed out of the oblast and back across the border in April 2022. The attacks have only intensified following Ukraine's incursion from there into Russia's Kursk Oblast. Sumy Oblast and the Kursk region share a 245-kilometer (152-mile) border. Read also: Kursk incursion and Crimea strikes could ease pressure on Ukraines Donbas forces Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Ukraine for the first time provided details of its invasion of Russias Kursk Oblast, with Gen. Oleksandr Syrskiy telling President Volodymyr Zelensky that his troops have captured about 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of territory so far in the seven-day-old operation. Syrskiy delivered those remarks in a video posted Monday afternoon Eastern time on Zelenskys Telegram channel. We are grateful to all soldiers and commanders for their steadfastness and decisive actions, Zelensky said. Zelensky for the first time officially confirmed that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are conducting an operation in the Kursk region. Rate. The most important thing is the report of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Sirsky regarding our defensive actions at pic.twitter.com/PSQo9TZY0V MilitaryNewsUA (@front_ukrainian) August 12, 2024 Though Ukrainian forces are continuing to expand the territory they are fighting over, the toll on troops and equipment is increasing as Russia continues to pour reinforcements into the region and block several Ukrainian attempts to advance deeper. Ukraine has also launched an incursion into Belgorod Oblast, immediately abutting Kursk, however, it appears to be far less expansive or intense. Meanwhile, as Ukraine creeps toward the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant, a fire broke out at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. Zelensky said Russian forces had started a fire at the plant, which has been occupied by Moscows forces for more than two years. Zaporizhzhias Kremlin-installed governor said Ukrainian shelling caused the blaze, BBC reported. Russian Telegram channels showed new footage of the fire at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. What is known so far about the incident at the nuclear power plant: Last night, the Nikopol regional military administration reported that the occupiers set fire to a huge https://t.co/C8tgLaNDfppic.twitter.com/l83hrGVDrX Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) August 12, 2024 In the wake of Kyivs invasion, Russian President Vladimir Putin said there would be no peace negotiations and that Ukraine will receive a worthy response, all the goals facing Russia will be achieved. He did not elaborate. He also vowed to push Ukrainian forces out of Russia. JUST IN: Russian President Putin says there will be no more peace talks with Ukraine. "What is there to even talk about with those who attack civilians and nuclear facilities?" pic.twitter.com/uugF3zQO9b BRICS News (@BRICSinfo) August 12, 2024 Putin insisted that Russia is being attacked by Western forces Kyiv is fulfilling the will of its Western masters; the West is fighting Russia with the hands of Ukrainians, Putin said, TASS reported on Telegram. An Akhmat commander expressed a similar view, claiming without proof that there are French and Polish troops fighting on behalf of Ukraine. The commander of Russia's Akhmat special forces Alaudinov says "NATO is leading the Ukrainian Armed Forces operation in Kursk direction." "Now from all directions we are recording that there are a lot of French, a lot of Poles, that is, a lot of foreigners" pic.twitter.com/0sWrM5hxUP Clash Report (@clashreport) August 10, 2024 The initial attacks were swift, catching Russians by surprise. "We entered Russian territory for the first time at 1pm on Tuesday," Volodymyr said. "We were among the first to enter." They encountered a Russian unit "sitting in the forest, drinking coffee at a table." "Then our Stryker drives right into their table."https://t.co/h9xObOxPXs Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) August 12, 2024 The poorly equipped Russian border guards initially defending the oblast took heavy casualties. Kursk region of Russia. Borders are wide open, both border guards & the Russian National Guard have fled from all checkpoints. Everything is abandoned and smoking. Nevzorov How regimes fall apart. pic.twitter.com/ysTl1YFLAE Jason Jay Smart (@officejjsmart) August 11, 2024 By contrast, the Russian Defense Ministry (MoD) stated that the Akhmat forces belonging to Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov managed a strategic withdrawal, avoiding deaths, injuries, or capture. Konashenkov about Kadyrovites in Kursk region: "Over the last three days, the Kyiv regime's terrorist group has broken through into the territory of Kursk region despite the fact that the border was under reliable protection of the Akhmat special forces. Nevertheless, during pic.twitter.com/tDdten7bAR Albina Fella (@albafella1) August 10, 2024 Despite Syrskiys comments, the Russian MoD has repeatedly claimed theyve thwarted Ukraines invasion every day since it began. However, the area being contested has actually expanded, according to an analysis of Russian MoD statements by the independent Russian Agentsvo news outlet. Ukraine is fighting with troops backed by armor as well as in much smaller sabotage and reconnaissance units. Agentsvo offered a smaller Ukrainian footprint in Kurs than Syrskiy, saying Kyivs forces are fighting in about 720 square kilometers there. The furthest point of the Ukrainian advance reached the town of Obshchy Kolodez about 18 miles north of the border, Agentsvo stated. The westernmost area of fighting has taken place in Tolpino, 10 miles southwest, and the easternmost point in the village of Martynovka, about 20 miles southwest. - , . - pic.twitter.com/9LoplRsxZu (@agents_media) August 12, 2024 Aside from ground attacks, Ukrainian Defense Forces launched a combined missile and air strike on the Kursk-Vostochny airbase, where the 14th Fighter Aviation Regiment and the 332nd Helicopter Regiment are based, according to the Ukrainian Center for Defense Strategies. Another missile strike targeted a forward concentration area of the 155th Separate Marines Brigade of the Pacific Fleet. Drones, as they have throughout this war, are playing a big role in Ukraines advances. Russian truck carrying troops in Kursk gets attacked by a Ukrainian drone, to The amusement of a local Blyat!!!!! pic.twitter.com/05eKtba5C8 Sytheruk (@SythUK) August 11, 2024 A Ukrainian heavy drone of the "Baba Yaga" type destroys a Russian checkpoint in the Kursk region with drops pic.twitter.com/2wNfBjhSIu MilitaryNewsUA (@front_ukrainian) August 11, 2024 Some Russian troops were more fortunate, able to shoot down an approaching Ukrainian first-person view (FPV) drone before it could cause any damage. Russian soldier shoots down Ukrainian FPV drone flying right over the car with a well-aimed burst. pic.twitter.com/YYZjf1QHdc Clash Report (@clashreport) August 11, 2024 Russia has blunted several Ukrainian attempts to advance, but Ukraine is pushing around obstacles, the Finland-based Black Bird Group open-source investigation organization told The War Zone on Monday. In Kursk, Russia has been able to reinforce the most crucial points and halt Ukrainian operations, Black Bird Group analyst Emil Kastehelmi told us. However, despite Russian reinforcements, they havent been able to block all areas of advance yet, Kastehelmi added. For example, weve seen a Ukrainian APC detachment fighting near Belitsa, inside the village of Giri. The Russians are still in a situation where they have to prioritize some of the most central areas, and there isnt a clear frontline yet, at least in all directions. In example of how difficult it is to assess whats going on, Russian sources claimed that a BTR-4 seen in GIri was actually Akhmat forces joy riding in the vehicle they captured. The armored vehicle is one of many Ukraine used to invade Kursk. Wooaah, so you're telling me that one lone BTR-4 spotted in Giri that's causing the entire pro-UA blogosphere to claim AFU controls the whole region was actually Akhmat joy-riding on their captured BTR-4? That makes a lot more sense (video with all clips combined for proof). https://t.co/DPEg1CbONkpic.twitter.com/fwePFr0OAD SIMPLICIUS (@simpatico771) August 12, 2024 At the moment Ukrainian units are operating east of Korenevo, with the possible goal of creating a flank threat, Kastehelmi explained. There is a lot of so-called gray area Ukraine likely doesnt have a solid control of the Olgovka-Gavrilovka-area, but neither does Russia. There are a lot of uncertainties, as Ukraine tries to keep up the momentum and element of surprise before more Russian reserves arrive. Ukraine also claimed to have entered the town of Sverdilkovo and took down a Russian flag there. Ukraine still has some momentum, even though some operationally important towns, mainly Korenevo and Sudzha (and Mirnyi) werent taken as quickly as would have been desirable for a swift continuation of the offensive, Kastehelmi expounded. A lot depends on how many units Ukraine is ready to commit to the operation and if they want to try, for example, to open up other directions to support the current effort. One such direction could be an attack towards Rylsk from Hlukhiv. We are going deeper, one Ukrainian soldier told Financial Times, adding that despite Russian reinforcements, Kyivs forces still had the upper hand. His unit, which the FT is not identifying at the request of Denys and his senior officers, had been rotated to the area from the eastern Donetsk region more than a week ago to take part in the offensive. https://t.co/gqqv8heRIe pic.twitter.com/WORKDURRDz Rob Lee (@RALee85) August 11, 2024 Visual evidence emerged of damage to Gazproms transfer station in Sudzha. The station is the last operational trans-shipping point for Russian gas exports to Europe via Ukraine, according to Reuters. About half of Russias natural gas exports to Europe go through Ukraine, the outlet reported. In December 2019, Moscow and Kyiv signed a long-term five-year agreement for the transit of Russian gas via Ukraine: 45 bcm in 2020 and 40 bcm per year in 2021-2024, according to Reuters. The agreement on Russian gas transit to Europe through Ukraine expires in 2024, and Kyiv has said it has no intention of extending it or concluding a new deal. 1/3 Satellite images by @planet, taken on Aug. 11th, show damage to the 'Sudzha' gas metering station in Kursk oblast. The damage to the admin. building was inflicted on the night of August 11th, while the damage to the metering unit occurred earlier, between Aug. 9th and 10th. pic.twitter.com/bhzPLJbtFH Mark Krutov (@kromark) August 12, 2024 Ukraine claims control over the town, which was one of the first targets of the invasion, though fighting there continued for days. Sudzha under the control of AFU, BRAVO Team pic.twitter.com/i6qXZTc3JR MAKS 24 (@Maks_NAFO_FELLA) August 12, 2024 Despite the damage though, gas is still flowing. Still, Gazprom spokesman Sergey Kupriyanov said that the fighting that broke out has already drastically affected the prices of natural and liquefied gas, which have risen sharply, according to the official Russian TASS news agency. Ukraine reportedly turned the tables on a Russian ambush attempt. Instead of being destroyed, the Ukrainian troops instead fired on the Russian troops, destroying their equipment. Russian forces set up a tank ambush in Kursk region, but Ukrainian forces ambushed them and destroyed the equipment. pic.twitter.com/AcpqW26zCV Clash Report (@clashreport) August 10, 2024 All this comes at an increasing price for Ukraine. Firm numbers on casualties and equipment losses are impossible to come by. However, a recent visit by The Economist to a hospital in Ukraines Sumy Oblast across the border from the fighting suggests the toll on troops is increasing. accounts from Ukraines wounded suggest [the invasion] has not been a walk in the park, and remains risky, the publication reported after interviewing several wounded troops. There is also increasing visual evidence of equipment losses in this operation. Russian Lancet strike leads to catastrophic explosion of Ukrainian tank in #Kursk oblast. Lack of air / drone defense remains main vulnerability of the Ukrainian army push in western Russia. pic.twitter.com/BmohnfcfDm Julian Ropcke (@JulianRoepcke) August 10, 2024 Ukrainian BTR-4 IFV heavily hit by 30mm cannon of Russian vehicle in the village of Giri of Kursk region. pic.twitter.com/zYegzVN9TB Clash Report (@clashreport) August 12, 2024 In a sign of its logistic abilities inside Russia, Ukraine has also recovered vehicles damaged in the fighting. Evacuation of damaged Ukrainian Stryker APC from Russia's Kursk region. pic.twitter.com/iuNWj69Zsu Clash Report (@clashreport) August 10, 2024 This US-provided Stryker was hit by a Russian RPG in Kursk region. The driver suffered a concussion but everyone survived, thanks to a thick layer of armor. Ukrainian troops were using parts to patch up others and the rest of it will be sent back to Germany for repairs. pic.twitter.com/yWMUvLqf3u Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) August 12, 2024 Russia too is paying a heavy price for this invasion. As of today, 28 settlements are under enemy control, the depth of penetration into the territory of the Kursk region is 12 kilometers, and the fronts width is 40 kilometers, acting Kursk governor Alexei Smirnov told Putin on Monday. So far, 12 civilians have been killed and 121 others, including 10 children, have been wounded, Smirnov claimed. About 121,000 people have been evacuated or left the areas affected by fighting on their own, he added. For Russians, tracking down all the Ukrainian diversionary units roaming the region is difficult, Smirnov suggested, because some are using fake Russian IDs. Kursk Governor told Putin how many settlemets were under Ukrainian control. Putin wasn't happy & he quickly interupted. pic.twitter.com/3oo6ZcfEM6 Clash Report (@clashreport) August 12, 2024 Not all the losses have been inflicted by Ukraine. A Russian Ka-52M helicopter attacked a Russian column of troops, as a result of which self-propelled gun 2S19M2 Msta-S was destroyed, the Russia No Context Telegram channel reported. Reported incident of friendly fire among Russian army on the Kursk front. Russians mistakenly took the Russian column for a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group: Russian helicopter Ka-52M attacked Russian military column, as a result of which 2S19M2 Msta-S was destroyed. pic.twitter.com/2vXbD3Y1bb Special Kherson Cat (@bayraktar_1love) August 12, 2024 While Black Bird Groups Kastehelmi told us that the Ukrainian push into Belgorod had a far lighter presence, video emerged showing an initial Ukrainian thrust into Belgorod was backed up by armor. Footage showing Ukrainian attacks at the border checkpoints near Kolotilovka and Bezymeno, Belgorod Oblast. At the Kolotilovka checkpoint, a Ukrainian MaxxPro MRAP is struck (reportedly by ATMG, but looks more like a mine) while approaching, and FPV drone strike targets pic.twitter.com/oLFlv0jAbt John Hardie (@JohnH105) August 12, 2024 Regardless, Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Belgorod Oblast, also announced the evacuation of people from a district near the Ukrainian border, describing Monday morning as alarming but giving no detail. Residents there are also being evacuated. Because of Putin's war, the governor of the Belgorod Zone is forced to personally travel around the villages and persuade residents, including very old people, to leave their homes. Whole villages are being evacuated. Krasnaya Yaruga district. pic.twitter.com/LS3LPC1n08 WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated) August 12, 2024 As the advance continues, more video and images are emerging showing Ukrainian troops in donated vehicles. The video below gives a view of Ukrainian troops driving a U.S.-supplied HMMWV through the center of Sudzha. Sudzha, Kursk Oblast, a group of Ukrainian soldiers drive their US-supplied HMMWV through the center of town. Ukrainian forces have captured the center of Sudzha, the administrative capital of Sudzhansky District. pic.twitter.com/2oCj5Suxwm OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) August 12, 2024 French and German vehicles were also spotted. French-supplied VAB APC in Ukrainian service, moving into Russias Kursk Oblast. A German-supplied MAN HX-81 transporter can be seen behind it. pic.twitter.com/IadFo4JvOW OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) August 12, 2024 So too was a Polish-provided PT-91 Twardy main battle tank. Polish-supplied PT-91 Twardy MBT in Ukrainian service, advancing through Russian territory in Kursk Oblast. pic.twitter.com/1FcywO2Pc5 OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) August 11, 2024 Germanys Defense Ministry (MoD) gave its approval for Ukraine to use equipment donated by Berlin as they saw fit. After the weapons from Germany were handed over to Ukraine, they already belong to Ukraine, they are Ukrainian weapons There are no obstacles, so Ukraine is free to choose opportunities, a German MoD spokesman told Ukrainian news outlet Ukrinform on Monday. BREAKING Germany Allows use not only tanks but all German Weapons transferred to Ukraine on russian Territory pic.twitter.com/RPEV0xQfh6 Intermarium 24 (@intermarium24) August 12, 2024 During a visit to Kyiv on Monday, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called Ukraines shock cross-border operation into Russias Kursk region brilliant and bold and urged the Biden administration to provide Ukraine with the weapons it needs. U.S. Senator Graham: Ukrainian operation in Kursk region is bold, brilliant and beautiful. Keep it up. Putin started this, so kick his ass! Let them fight, give them weapons. pic.twitter.com/FdTMz884wt Clash Report (@clashreport) August 12, 2024 If nothing else, as one retired Ukrainian general told us, this invasion has drastically boosted his countrys morale. The coming days will give us a better indication of what actual strategic gains, if any, it actually delivers. Update: 7:16 PM Eastern Ukrainian Member of Parliament Roman Kostenko said he will be missing some future votes, but offered a good excuse. He said he joined his nations offensive into Russia. Ukrainian MP Roman Kostenko posted a video earlier today explaining to his fellow parliament members that he will be unavailable for votes in the near future. He proceeds to cross into Kursk Oblast, joining the Ukrainian offensive into Russia. pic.twitter.com/24uqwjHLq4 OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) August 12, 2024 Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com Despite Russia pouring in reinforcements to counter the now eight-day-old invasion of Kursk, Ukraine is continuing to try and expand its footprint there, pushing to the north and west. Ukrainian forces have opened new fronts in the western part of Kursk Oblast near Slobodka-Ivanovka, Tetkino, Gordeevka, Uspenka, and Viktorovka, taking control of Slobodka-Ivanovka, Uspenovka, Viktorovka, and Spalnoe, the Ukrainian Center for Defense Strategies think tank stated on Tuesday. In anticipation of this effort, however, Ukraine tried to blow up a bridge over the Seim River to halt Russias logistics to that area, according to the Russian Two Majors Telegram channel. -missile? attack on bridge of Seim river near Glushkovo #Kursk region to cut supply lines pic.twitter.com/zkR7WxbGvS C4H10FO2P (@markito0171) August 12, 2024 While these claims are unconfirmed, Russian milbloggers concur that Ukrainian forces continue to push toward those areas. In the border area of Kursk Oblast, Ukrainian troops continue their attempts to advance northward toward Kurchatov, the Kremlin-connected Rybar Telegram channel stated. It also suggested Ukraine was eyeing a Western expansion of its operation. In the afternoon, information appeared about a massive shelling of Tetkino by artillery, Rybar stated in an earlier post. Given the pattern of enemy actions, the probability of opening another section of the front is still not zero. The Institute for the Study of War suggests that the invasion is proceeding further and faster than many Russian milbloggers have claimed. NEW: Ukrainian forces appear to be advancing further within Kursk Oblast despite recent milblogger claims that Russian forces were stabilizing the frontline in Kursk Oblast. Kursk Tactical Update (1/12) pic.twitter.com/3cVRXOw3oG Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar) August 13, 2024 Visual evidence is emerging that Ukraine is flying around the Sumy-Kursk border and has launched airstrikes in Kursk, a sign that its air force feels comfortable that Russian air defenses are well suppressed in the general area. Ukrainian Su-27 jet flying at low altitude in the border area of Sumy and Kursk regions. Su-27 is used as a carrier for American JDAM-ER, GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs (SDB), French AASM-250 Hammer guided bombs & AGM-88 HARM missiles. pic.twitter.com/RMv9MvV4oj Clash Report (@clashreport) August 13, 2024 The first footage of Ukrainian Air Force airstrikes in support of the Kursk offensive has emerged. Seen here, a Ukrainian fighter drops a pair of US-supplied JDAM-ERs on Russian positions in Tetkino, conducting an effective tactical strike into Russia. pic.twitter.com/qLQrbVypRq OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) August 13, 2024 Ukrainian formations are using aircraft to strike the border area, Rybar said, claiming that the use of JDAM-ER guided bombs against a local grain storage facility in Tetkino has been noted. The War Zone cannot independently verify that claim. Adding to Ukraines aviation strike capabilities, it appears that the U.K. has not permitted Kyiv to use donated Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles in its Kursk invasion. The weapons that can reach out over hundreds of miles, would greatly enhance Ukraines ability to strike deeper into Kursk from standoff distances. You can read more about the Storm Shadow in our deep dive here. "The Telegraph understands that the UK Government has not given Ukraine approval to use Storm Shadow missiles as part of its Kursk offensive. 'There has been no change,' a government source said."https://t.co/7jDUtEQye5 https://t.co/boUjILMMyE pic.twitter.com/0qtzm4QPST Rob Lee (@RALee85) August 13, 2024 Meanwhile, a day after Ukraine finally opened up the informational spigot by proclaiming his troops captured nearly 400 square miles of Russian territory, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky showcased another conversation about the situation with his top commander, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi. Despite the difficult and intense battles, our forces continue to advance in the Kursk region, and our states exchange fund is growing,' he said, a reference to the increasing flow of Russian prisoners of war who could be traded for Ukrainian ones. So far, 74 communities are under Ukrainian control, where inspections and stabilization measures are being carried out. The development of humanitarian solutions for these territories continues. I am constantly in touch with Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, receiving reports on the frontline situation and our operations in the Kursk region. Despite the difficult and intense battles, our forces continue to advance in the Kursk region, and our states exchange fund pic.twitter.com/5BUdEJWbcr Volodymyr Zelenskyy / (@ZelenskyyUa) August 13, 2024 As it has every day since the invasion began on Aug. 6, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed it has the situation under control. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue to repel the [Armed Forces of Ukraine] AFU attempt to invade the territory of the Russian Federation, the Russian MoD claimed on Telegram. Over the past 24 hours, active actions of the Sever Group of Forces and arrived reserves, army aviation and unmanned aerial vehicles, and artillery fire prevented enemy mobile armored groups from forging deep into the Russian territory close to Obshchiy Kolodez, Snagost, Kauchuk, and Alekseyevsky, the Russian MoD claimed. An attack launched by the 82nd Airborne Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the direction of Martynovka has been repelled. Up to 15 AFU personnel, two armored fighting vehicles, and two motor vehicles were neutralized, the Russian MoD stated. In addition, aviation and artillery strikes hit manpower and hardware of 22nd, 61st, 115th Mechanized brigades, and 80th Airborne Assault Brigade close to Mikhailovka, Korenevo, Nikolayevo-Daryino, Oleshni, Sudzha, and Nikolayevka. With confidence and courage: Russian troops assault AFU position in border area of Kursk region In cooperation with reconnaissance, a Sever Group's assault group detected AFU militants positioned in a forest belt. The command decided to assault the position; four AFU servicemen pic.twitter.com/jfPmPpCLs2 Russia Truth (autonomous pro-Kremlin infowarrior) (@Russia_Truth) August 13, 2024 RU POV A Destroyed Ukrainian PT-91 Twardy & T-72AV Kursk Region 12th August #Ukraine #UkraineRussiaWar pic.twitter.com/23K3Y8eWM4 war clips (@geniune900) August 13, 2024 Footage from another angle of the destroyed armored vehicles of the Ukrainian armed forces in the Kursk region by the Fighters of the Akhmat unit. pic.twitter.com/FlZMmmpkmg King Chelsea Ug (@ug_chelsea) August 12, 2024 Despite that rosy outlook, authorities have evacuated more than 100,000 Kursk residents. A Russian resident of Kursk region tells how Russians authorities organized the evacuation of civilians: "We were told there would be a train at 5 o'clock. A lot of people gathered. We arrived at the train station there was no train. It had left. We've all been abandoned! Our pic.twitter.com/lQLABDzNJh Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) August 13, 2024 Russia decided to evacuate residents from Belovsky district of Kursk region now. pic.twitter.com/MO7cR2D2dj Clash Report (@clashreport) August 12, 2024 Russia failed to stop the Ukrainian invasion despite being warned months ahead of time that it was likely, a former Russian reconnaissance group commander claimed in a recent interview with the Russian Interesting Stories publication. After months of small-scale incursions by groups like the Freedom of Russia Legion designed largely to gather intelligence about Russian defenses, Ukraine launched a major invasion at a vulnerable location, striking as quickly and deeply as possible, the group commander said. 6/ Those on the border knew something was up, he says, but were brushed off by the general command. "As usual, all requests up the chain were met with: We have everything under control; intelligence reports that nothing has been noticed." ChrisO_wiki (@ChrisO_wiki) August 13, 2024 The situation in Kursk forced Russia to make a significant change in the leadership of its defense of the region, placing former Putin bodyguard and current Colonel-General Alexei Dyumin as the new head of operations there. The move was warmly received by prominent Russian milbloggers, who suggested that the appointment was a sign that Putin finally realized how disastrous Kusk had become. Alexei Dyumin as a senior official with a full range of powers to resolve the operational crisis in the Kursk region is a sign that the security forces have been unable to resolve the coordination problems on their own and without intervention from Moscow, the Two Majors Telegram channel stated on Tuesday. Dyumins appointment is Putins team taking full control of the situation in order to stop the window dressing and also to start solving the problem, rather than trying to freeze it. Alexander Sladkov, a military correspondent with Russias official Izvestia news outlet, also lauded the pick. This is great, he exclaimed on Telegram. And I categorically welcome this. Dyumin is a military man, respected in the army and in the special services. He will quickly get into the subject and begin making important decisions, Gladkov posited. He is Putins man, he will not allow the president to be deceived in reports to himself or others, Gladkov added. Dyumin was recently a brilliant governor, he will take into account in his actions the needs of not only the military but also civilians of the Kursk region. Dyumin will certainly arrive in Kursk with extraordinary plenipotentiary powers, said Gladkov. And this is excellent, the situation is extraordinary. Putin's aide, Colonel-General Alexei Dyumin, has been appointed coordinator of the "counter-terrorist operation in Kursk Region", the Kremlin media reported. pic.twitter.com/3NnKtgx4J1 NEXTA (@nexta_tv) August 13, 2024 In an effort to avoid Ukrainian jamming, Russia began using fiber optic cables to control its first-person view (FPV) drones in the Kursk region. Images of downed Russian kamikaze drones with those cables began to emerge in March. You can read much more about this technique in our deep dive here. Russian forces are now using fiber-optic cable control FPV drones in Kursk region. This allows drones to operate without reliance on radio signals, making them immune to electronic warfare (EW) interference. But there is a a risk of the fiber breaking, resulting in loss. pic.twitter.com/s7Mj16JTrP Clash Report (@clashreport) August 13, 2024 Though Russia continues to face struggles in Kursk and Belgorod, the citizens of Ukraines neighboring Sumy Oblast are feeling increased effects from the effort. Sumy, which has been a staging ground for the invasion, is facing increased attacks from Russia. As a result, there have been evacuations and Ukrainian authorities have declared a level of martial law on the oblast. Due to the increase in the intensity of combat, the activation of diversion intelligence groups, the special operations forces of the enemy, and with the purpose of preserving the lives of the civilian population and military personnel, the military command has introduced restrictions on the movement of all categories of citizens in the 20-kilometer border zone of Sumy region, the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff announced Tuesday on Facebook. Evacuations are being carried out on both sides of the #Russia#Ukraine border, after Ukrainian troops conducted a surprise incursion into Russia's #Kursk region on August 6. FRANCE 24's @EmmanuelleChaze brings you an update from Ukraine's #Sumy region pic.twitter.com/EPqj0wXZpi FRANCE 24 English (@France24_en) August 13, 2024 Every day Ukraine remains in Russia adds pressure on Putin to take more drastic actions. Hes already had his government declare martial law in Kursk, as well as neighboring Belgorod and Bryansk oblasts. Yesterday, he promised that Ukraine will receive a worthy response, all the goals facing Russia will be achieved. Whatever that is, or if it will materialize at all, only time will tell. Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com KYIVThe surprise was complete, thanks to its meticulous planning. On August 6, despite facing significant challenges in the Donbas, where Russian forces have been steadily gaining ground, the Ukrainian army opened a new front, directly targeting the Kursk oblastRussian Federation territoryfor the first time since the war began in 2022. This also marks the first time since World War II that a foreign army has launched an attack on Russian soil. In just a few days of fighting, Ukrainian forces, comprising four of its best brigades with several thousand troops and hundreds of vehicles, reportedly captured territory equivalent to what Russia had conquered in Ukraine over the span of a year. Ukraine, for its part, has imposed operational silence and managed to catch Russian President Vladimir Putin off-guard. The Russians have reportedly evacuated more than 76,000 people. Putin, meanwhile, is trying to downplay the significance of the incursion, which he called a large-scale provocation. On Friday he declared a counterterrorism operation in the three Ukrainian-bordering oblasts of Kursk, Belgorod, and Bryansk, and announced the deployment of reinforcements to counter the Ukrainian advance. Most of the information we have received comes via Russian Telegram channels from military bloggers, who, without hiding their anger toward Putins regime, describe a significant Ukrainian breakthrough and a Russian army in disarray. One of the most influential pro-war bloggers, Rybar, who has more than 1 million followers on Telegram, wrote on Thursday: Despite the attempts of the Russian forces to stop the advance of the Ukrainian mobile groups, the scale of the crisis is growing. Points of resistance of the Russian army are being cut off and bypassed along the rockade roads. However, these same sources have since tempered their discourse, claiming that the situation, despite some difficulties here and there, has been stabilized. Ukraines allies, without whom it could not continue to defend itself, have unanimously supported the operation. Washington hasnt changed its policy of allowing Ukraine to use American-supplied weapons to target imminent threats just across the border, said John Kirby, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson. Ukraines objectives remain unclear. At this stage, it remains difficult to gauge the full scope and objectives of the Ukrainian counteroffensive in Kursk oblast, though analysts suggest that Ukraines goals are both military and political, as well as an attempt to shift the initiative to their side. Since the beginning of 2023, Russian forces have captured 740 square kilometers, including 150 square kilometers in Kharkiv oblast at the beginning of their counteroffensive in early May before stalling at the Ukrainian defense line. However, despite being a slow grind, Russian forces in Donbas have been able to ramp up their offensive over the past month, capturing about 177 square kilometers of Donetsk oblast. On Saturday, the Institute for the Study of War, an American think tank, noted that Ukrainian forces might occupy part of Sudzha, an important hub for gas transit to Europe that sits about six miles over the Ukraine border, and have advanced westward and northwestward in Kursk oblast. War Mapper, a group that relies on open-source intelligence (OSINT) for its analysis, announced that Ukraine could have seized 320 square kilometers of Kursk oblast. Analyst and journalist Sebastien Gobert reported that this incursion may aim to seize the Kurchatov nuclear power plant and control key logistical routes in the region to undermine the Kharkiv front. While these factors are worth considering, it is still too early to confirm them with certainty. Touman, a Ukrainian battalion commander in the Sumy region who provided only his call sign as has been standard for Ukrainian soldiers, remained vague about the progress of Ukrainian troops but suggested that the primary objective might be to force the Russians to thin out their forces on the Donbas front, where Ukraine is facing challenges. Our strategy is to force the Russians to ease pressure on certain points of the front, particularly Toretsk [in Donetsk oblast], Touman explained. Perhaps also to capture a portion of Russian territory to negotiate in exchange for part of the territory captured by Russia. This hypothesis was confirmed by Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak, who said on August 7, Any possible Ukrainian operations in Russian border regions will have an impact on Russian society and improve Kyivs position in future peace talks with Moscow. Viktor Kevlyuk, a former Ukrainian army colonel and analyst at a defense and strategy center in Kyiv, argued that Ukraines objectives are more comprehensive than merely relieving pressure on the Donbas front. In an interview with The Dispatch, the former officer explained that Ukraines main military goals are to curb Russian attacks in the Kharkiv direction and weaken reserve forces. But most importantly, he stated, The military-political goal is to show the world the weakness and internal unpreparedness of the Russian Federation to transfer the war to its sovereign territory. This analysis is echoed by international risk consultant Stephane Audran, who views the operation as more political than military. In a note dated August 10, he wrote, Seizing territory, bringing destruction to the aggressor, making its population flee before an invasionthis represents a significant political cost for the Kremlin. He also emphasized that, besides boosting the morale of Ukrainian troops and civilians, it was crucial for Ukraine to restore a narrative of victory and shift the defeatist sentiment to the opposing camp. Challenges ahead for the Ukrainian army. Nevertheless, several analysts suggest that, given the political nature of the mission and the Ukrainian armys lack of manpower and ammunition, this operation may not be sustainable. In an interview with The Dispatch, OSINT analyst Emil Kastehelmi of the Black Bird Group said, It all depends on how much power Ukraine wants to commit to the Kursk offensive. Moreover, as the analysis points out, Ukraine cant commit too many brigades to this, as they must simultaneously keep a strong reserve to respond to potential Russian threats elsewhere on the frontline. However, Ronin, a soldier from the Foreign Legion, while not denying the political impact of the operation, claims that the Ukrainians plan is to establish a long-term presence in the region. I cant reveal everything, but theyve taken vehicles and materials meant for holding positions and maintaining a new front for the long term. Ronin asserts that Ukraines ability to create a front in Kursk will depend on the speed of the Russian forces response. He also pointed out that much will depend on how quickly Ukrainian forces can use their artillery systems to strike at the Russian reinforcement columns. If the Ukrainians do their job well, it will create breaches in the front lines in Kursk while relieving pressure on the eastern and southern fronts. Thus, while it is still difficult to predict the operational success of Ukraine and its ability to sustain such an effort in the long term, the offensive is seen in Ukraine as a form of resurgence against the Russian advance in the Donbas and a massive blow to the security apparatus of Russian territory, as well as a failure of its secret service. According to Konrad Muzyka, a military analyst at the Polish think tank Rochan Consulting, the operation can be considered successful only if it reduces Russian attacks in the Donetsk region, creates strategic dilemmas for Moscow, allows Kyiv to maintain a presence in Kursk oblast, and strengthens Ukraines position in future negotiations. Conversely, it would be deemed a failure if Ukrainian troops are driven out of Russian territory while suffering heavy losses without achieving tangible results, allowing Russian forces to continue their advance in the Donbas. Touman, on the other hand, suggests that this could be a turning point in the war. The Kremlin is weakened, their army is occupied along the entire front line, he insisted. Sometimes all it takes is one event to regain the advantage. Read more at The Dispatch The Dispatch is a new digital media company providing engaged citizens with fact-based reporting and commentary, informed by conservative principles. Sign up for free. By Guy Faulconbridge and Lidia Kelly MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian forces on Tuesday struck back at Ukrainian troops with missiles, drones and airstrikes in actions that one senior commander said had halted Ukraine's advance after the biggest attack on sovereign Russian territory since the war began. Thousands of Ukrainian soldiers smashed through the Russian border a week ago in a surprise attack that Russian President Vladimir Putin said was aimed at improving Kyiv's negotiating position ahead of possible talks and slowing the advance of Russian forces along the front. The Ukrainian forces carved out a slice of Russian territory, prompting Moscow to evacuate almost 200,000 people while it rushed in reserves. Russian war bloggers reported intense battles across the Kursk front as the Ukrainians tried to expand their control, though they said Russia was bringing in soldiers and heavy weaponry and had repelled many Ukrainian attacks. Russia's defence ministry published images of Sukhoi Su-34 bombers striking at what it said were Ukrainian troops in the Kursk border region and said it had repelled attacks at villages about 26-28 km (16-17 miles) from the border. Russian forces had destroyed a total of 35 Ukrainian tanks, 31 armoured personnel carriers, 18 infantry fighting vehicles, and 179 other armoured vehicles during in the week-long battle, it said. "The uncontrolled ride of the enemy has already been halted," said Major General Apti Alaudinov, the commander of the Chechen Akhmat special forces unit. "The enemy is already aware that the blitzkrieg that it planned did not work out." It was not clear which side was in control of the Russian town of Sudzha, through which Russia delivers gas from Western Siberia through Ukraine and on to Slovakia and other European Union countries. Gazprom said Tuesday it was still pumping gas to Ukraine through Sudzha. Kursk's acting governor, Alexei Smirnov, said on Monday that Ukraine controlled 28 settlements in the region, and the incursion was about 12 km deep and 40 km wide. Ukraine claimed it controlled 1,000 square km (386 square miles) of Russian, more than double what the Russian figures indicate. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Western leaders said they would help Ukraine defeat Russian troops on the battlefield and drive them out. Ukraine recaptured large swathes of territory in 2022. But its counteroffensive in 2023 failed to pierce heavily dug-in Russian lines, and Russian forces have been advancing this year deeper into Ukrainian territory. Russia controls just under one fifth of territory internationally recognised as Ukraine. PUTIN PLEDGE At his Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Putin told officials that Russia would force out the Ukrainian troops, saying Russian forces were speeding up their advance along other parts of the front. Still, the foreign occupation of Russian land was an embarrassment for the army and for Putin. The Ukrainian incursion is the most serious into Russia since the June 1941 invasion by Nazi Germany, which turned on the 1943 Battle of Kursk. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Ukrainians in his nightly address that the operation in Russia was a matter of Ukrainian security and the Kursk region had been used by Russia to launch many strikes against Ukraine. But by dedicating forces to Kursk, Ukraine may leave other parts of the front exposed just as Russia has been advancing. Russia which has a far larger army, could try to encircle Ukrainian forces. Ukraine's Western backers, which have been keen to avoid an escalation of the war into a direct confrontation between Russia and the U.S.-led NATO, said they had no prior warning of the Ukrainian offensive. Putin said the West was using Ukraine to fight a proxy war with Russia and the border incursion was an attempt to undermine Russian domestic stability. Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said Zelenskiy was taking crazy steps that risked an escalation far beyond Ukraine's borders. In Kursk, 121,000 people had already left or have been evacuated and another 59,000 were in the process of being evacuated, local officials said. In Russia's Belgorod region, which borders Kursk, 11,000 civilians were also evacuated, the region's governor said. (Writing by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne and Guy Faulconbridge in Moscow; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Angus MacSwan) Ukraine kept details of Kursk operation from West until last moment Bloomberg Bloomberg has found out that Ukraine did not share any details of the operation in Kursk Oblast with its Western partners until it was in full swing. Source: European Pravda citing Bloomberg Details: A Western official who spoke to Bloomberg on condition of anonymity said Ukraine was considering several options for an attack that would have caught Russia off guard. The unnamed Western intelligence official said that the Ukrainian leadership did not share specific information about the operation in Kursk until it was in full swing. Currently, the West is refraining from making any specific assessments of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' operation, but considers it unlikely that Ukrainian troops will be able to hold Russian territory, Bloomberg writes. Meanwhile, a NATO official familiar with the intelligence data says the operation is important to show that Kyiv is capable of challenging the Kremlin. Background: Recently, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, confirmed for the first time that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are conducting an offensive in Russia's Kursk Oblast. Syrskyi reported at a meeting of the Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have taken control of about 1,000 square kilometres of Russian territory. The Pentagon said that Ukraine's advance in Kursk Oblast aligned with US policy and that it was not concerned about a possible increase in tensions with Russia. On 13 August, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, informed Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, that Ukraines defence forces were in control of 74 settlements in Russias Kursk Oblast. Support UP or become our patron! Ukraine says it is still advancing in Russia's Kursk region, hints at 'next steps' Ukrainian service members ride an Armoured Personnel Carrier near the Russian border in Sumy region By Anastasiia Malenko, Tom Balmforth and Yuliia Dysa KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine said on Tuesday its biggest cross-border assault of the war to date had taken control of 74 settlements in Russia's region of Kursk and was still advancing, making gains of one to three km in the last 24 hours. Ukraine blindsided Moscow by pouring thousands of troops into the western Russian region of Kursk last week. The surprise operation has given Ukraine its biggest battlefield gains since 2022 after months on the backfoot. Kyiv's account jarred with the picture painted by Russia where Major General Apti Alaudinov said Ukraine's troops had been halted, while the defence ministry said attacks had been repelled at villages about 26 to 28 km (16 to 17 miles) from the border. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Kyiv's forces had rounded up Russian prisoners of war who could be swapped for captured Ukrainian fighters, touting what he described as an expanding "exchange fund". "Despite difficult and intense battles, our forces continue to advance in the Kursk region, and our state's 'exchange fund' is growing. Seventy-four settlements are under Ukrainian control," Zelenskiy said. Shown speaking by video link, the Ukrainian leader asked his top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, to develop the next "key steps" in the operation. "Everything is being executed according to the plan," Syrskyi replied, without elaborating. Kyiv has disclosed few details about its plans, in stark contrast with last year's counteroffensive that was vaunted for months in advance and which ended up failing to breach well-prepared Russian defensive lines. A week after the start of the shock offensive, Kursk regional governor Alexei Smirnov called on residents to show patience and character. "I'll say it straight: the crisis has not yet been overcome," he wrote on social media. Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to hit back at Ukraine with a "worthy response" and accused Kyiv's "Western masters" of helping Ukraine. At the United Nations, Russia called out Kyiv's allies for not condemning the incursion. U.S. President Joe Biden, in his first substantive comments, said Washington is in constant contact with Kyiv about the operation, although the White House said earlier it was not engaged in any aspect of planning or preparation. "It's creating a real dilemma for Putin," Biden said. Ukraine has cast the operation as defensive, saying its troops have taken control of areas Russia has used to launch more than 2,000 cross-border strikes since June. "Ukraine is not interested in taking the territory of the Kursk region, but we want to protect the lives of our people," foreign ministry's spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said. NO LETUP FOR NOW Russian forces have been trying to advance for months on multiple fronts in the eastern Donetsk region, taking advantage of their greater troop numbers to inch towards cities like the Kyiv-held logistics hub of Pokrovsk. Tykhyi said: "It should be emphasized that the (Kursk) operation ... helps the front line because it does not allow Russia to transfer additional units to the Donetsk region, complicates its military logistics." For now, there is no sign of a letup for Ukraine in the east where Kyiv's military said earlier it had recorded the largest number of battles with Russian forces on the Pokrovsk front in a single day since before the Kursk incursion. Ukraine has noted Russian troops moving from the south to other areas, likely including Kursk, this week, military spokesman Dmytro Lykhoviy told Reuters. He said the number of attacks had not decreased as a result and it was too early to draw conclusions. On a trip to Kyiv on Tuesday, Lithuanian Defence Minister Laurynas Kasciunas said Russia was moving troops from its Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad to reinforce Kursk. Pasi Paroinen, an analyst with the Black Bird Group, said on Monday that Russia had mostly relied on nearby military units to try to push back Ukrainian forces. "Russians should have enough reserves, so that they should not be forced to weaken the 'Centre' group of forces which is currently pressuring the Ukrainian lines near Toretsk and Pokrovsk," he said. Serhii Kuzan, chairman of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center, a non-governmental research group, said the Ukrainian assault was an "asymmetrical" response to a positional war of attrition Russia was trying to impose to exhaust Ukraine's troops and resources. The military on Tuesday restricted movement of civilians within a 20-km (12-mile) zone of the northeastern border area due to an "increase in the intensity of hostilities" and the activation of Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups. On Monday, Russia's regional governor in Kursk said Ukraine's forces had taken control of 28 settlements in an incursion that was about 12 km deep and 40 km wide. Though less than half Ukraine's estimate of its gains, the Russian assessment was a striking public admission of a major setback more than 29 months since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbour. Reuters was not able to independently verify the battlefield developments. In his nightly address to Ukrainians, Zelenskiy said Ukraine had shown it could seize the initiative as it did in 2022, the first year of the invasion when it recovered swathes of land. "Now we have done the exact same thing we have proven once again that we, Ukrainians, are capable of achieving our goals in any situation capable of defending our interests and our independence," he said. (Reporting by Anastasiia Malenko and Yuliia Dysa; Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal and Steve Holland in Washington; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Sharon Singleton, Ros Russell, Jonathan Oatis and David Gregorio) Ukraine not allowed to use British Storm Shadow as part of Kursk Oblast incursion, Telegraph reports The U.K. government did not give Ukraine permission to use British Storm Shadow long-range missiles in Kyiv's incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast, The Telegraph reported on Aug. 13, citing an undisclosed British government source. "There has been no change," the source reportedly told The Telegraph. Despite earlier declarations by former and current British officials, London has not yet allowed Ukraine to use its missiles with a range of up to 250 kilometers (150 miles) to strike targets inside Russia. Kyiv has reportedly used Storm Shadow missiles against Russian positions in occupied Ukrainian territories, such as Crimea. The news comes shortly after President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Aug. 12 that he had tasked officials and diplomats to present a list of necessary actions to obtain permission from its partners to use long-range weapons to protect Ukraine's territory. Such permission could play a key role in the unprecedented incursion of Ukrainian troops launched into Kursk Oblast on Aug. 6. Kyiv has said its forces control around 1,000 square kilometers of the Russian region but refrained from providing other details, such as a possible use of Western arms in the operation. Russian media claimed that Ukraine has deployed U.S.-supplied Bradley and German-supplied Marder armored vehicles. The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims. Read also: Kursk incursion and Crimea strikes could ease pressure on Ukraines Donbas forces Both Washington and Berlin previously allowed Ukraine to use certain weaponry "just across the border" as self-defense but prohibited long-range strikes deep inside Russia. Kursk Oblast shares a 245-kilometer (152-mile) border with Ukraine's Sumy Oblast, which has been experiencing daily Russian attacks since the liberation of its parts in April 2022. According to the Bundestag's Defense Committee Chair Marcus Faber, it would be "completely legitimate" if Ukraine deployed German-supplied hardware in Kursk Oblast, such as Leopard 2 tanks. In a statement issued to Politico on Aug. 9, Germany's Foreign Ministry said that "Ukraine has the right to self-defense enshrined in international law," adding that the principle of self-defense "is not limited to its own territory." The U.S. said it has not changed its stance regarding Ukraine's use of American arms but added that the incursion into Kursk Oblast is "consistent with (their) policy." Responding to a question on the incursion and whether Ukraine can use U.S.-supplied weapons, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh replied that the U.S. has "supported Ukraine from the beginning to defend themselves against attacks that are coming across the border." Ukraine is taking action "to protect themselves from attacks" and operating "within the U.S. policy of where they can operate our weapons, our systems, our capabilities," Singh said. Russian Telegram channels claimed on Aug. 9 that a column of Russian military vehicles and personnel were destroyed in the Kursk Oblast village of Oktyabrskoe in a HIMARS strike. The claim could not be independently verified. Ukraine allegedly used HIMARS against Russian territory for the first time in early June amid a Russian invasion of Kharkiv Oblast. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Ukrainian service members ride an Armoured Personnel Carrier near the Russian border in Sumy region KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine is restricting the movement of civilians within a 20 km (12 mile) zone in a northeastern region bordering Russia, Kyiv's general staff said on Tuesday, as its troops push further into Russian territory amid a week-old surprise offensive. The measure, applying to parts of the Sumy region bordering Russia's Kursk, was needed due to an "increase in the intensity of hostilities" and the activation of Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups in the area, it said. "The military command imposed restrictions on the movement of all categories of citizens in the twenty-kilometre border zone of the Sumy region," it said in a statement on social media. The general staff added that the measure was temporary and that residents of the newly restricted area could still access their homes by showing proof of registration. Ukrainian troops pierced the Russian border, about 530 km (330 miles) southwest of Moscow, last week in an attack that has resulted in the capture of swathes of Russian territory and mass evacuation of civilians on both sides of the border. (Reporting by Dan Peleschuk; Editing by Alex Richardson and Andrew Cawthorne) A sentencing that took four and a half hours in federal district court in Washington, D.C., Monday afternoon left 72-year-old great-grandmother Rebecca Lavrenz of Falcon with no prison time for her participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach. What a magistrate judge did levy for her April 4 conviction on four misdemeanor counts: one year of probation, six months of house arrest with an ankle monitor as soon as she returns to her residence located about 14 miles northeast of Colorado Springs and a $103,000 fine for funds shes raised from the public. I think it was a miracle that I dont have to go to prison that I am grateful for, Lavrenz said by phone after the sentencing. Lavrenz said she was called by God to go to the Capitol to pray at the Stop the Steal rally supporters of former President Donald Trump held as Congress met in a joint session to count Electoral College votes for the 2020 presidential election. God led me to go there and into the building to stand up for my First Amendment rights to petition the government for a redress of grievances, she previously told The Gazette. Video footage shows Lavrenz entered the Capitol with a crowd of other demonstrators and left after 10 minutes because she said protesters learned that congressional leaders had left the building. Cessation of internet use is immediate and will be monitored. Shes prevented from viewing and posting on social media, emailing people, paying bills online and other digital activities. A 34-page memo the prosecution submitted to the judge called for Lavrenz to receive 10 months in prison because shes been outspoken about what she sees as unfairness in the federal judicial system. Ive been exposing truths about the court system I have a website, Ive been doing interviews. Ive seen corruption and am being transparent about that, and they think Im being too critical, she said. They think Im a danger and could cause political problems. Lavrenz has been on probation since Dec. 19, 2022, when she was arrested, and now will have another year to serve. In levying the fine of $103,000, Lavrenz said the judge spoke against her using what he called her celebrity status to raise funds. Donations to an online fundraiser kept up a steady stream on Monday, with the total rising to about $166,000 for assistance with her fines and fees. Featured Local Savings I told the judge I didnt solicit it; these are people who just love our country, she said. She could have been sentenced to $200,000 or more in fines, excluding attorneys fees. Attorneys fees have cost the retired nurse and bed-and-breakfast owner about $130,000 so far, and Lavrenz said she wants to appeal the jurys decision to a higher court, which could run another $100,000 or more. About 25 supporters attended the courtroom sentencing Monday, she said, but the only person who addressed the judge was one of her daughters, who works for Trump. Im just proud to be an American, Lavrenz said. I love this country and want it to be saved. Now that Im silenced in a way, I hope Ive inspired enough people to stand up and take up the ball and fight. On Colorado Springs Christian radio station KGFT FM 100.7, Lavrenz told host Chaim Goldman after the sentencing that she wants people to do whatever God has called you to do, know that Gods got you, and he will fulfill your destiny and the destiny God has for our country. Lavrenz, who became known nationally on social media as the J6 Praying Grandma, was one of more than 1,400 people arrested and charged with crimes related to the protest, Department of Justice records show. Lavrenz testified that she had no part in the violence that erupted at the Capitol that day, and didnt yell or touch anything inside the Capitol or act unruly. At least seven deaths have been attributed to the demonstration, with some from natural causes such as heart attack or stroke. A California woman was fatally shot as she tried to climb through shattered glass near the Speakers Lobby, which leads to the chamber of the House of Representatives, according to the Department of Justice. No criminal charges were filed against Capitol police. Dont be afraid to use your voice, Lavrenz said. I may be silenced more than I want to be, so now its up to all of you. Contact the writer: 719-476-1656. It is another coin-flip in a conflict punctuated with at least annual reminders of how frail Vladimir Putins Russia truly is. Two months ago, as Russian troops poured into Kharkiv region, Kyiv was eyeing its borders, concerned at where else Russia might find vulnerabilities. Yet instead, Ukraine appears to have looked at the map, decided Russia was equally exposed, and turned Moscows gambit on its head. A week in, and whatever the final outcome of Ukraines invasion of Russia, Kyivs initially perplexing, perhaps even rash, decision to send thousands of troops into the Kursk region and beyond is paying stark dividends. For the second time in just over a year, the Kremlin has a hostile force marching in its south, and very little it can do about it. Last June, it was the homegrown rogue mercenaries of Wagner, headed to Rostov and on, to decapitate Russias top brass. Now, it is Ukraines own military, scything off what they claim is 1,000 square kilometers of border territory. Some analysis at the weekend put the figure at about a third of that. Nevertheless, the ability of Ukraines commander Oleksandr Syrskyi to even float this claim is a remarkable win in the information war for Kyiv, even if Moscow severely limits what information Russians are exposed to. Bold, brilliant, beautiful, was what veteran US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham called Ukraines cross-border operation during a visit to Kyiv Monday. Meanwhile, US Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal called it historic and a seismic breakthrough. The events are remarkably similar in how they expose the gulf between the veneer of impregnability the Kremlin tries to portray, and the ramshackle reality of its power. And while Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhins march on Moscow fell apart when the former chef finally seemed to realize he was on his own and had enraged Putin, rather than gaining his approval for tackling the failing top brass head-on Ukraines forces seem to have little but their own supply lines and ambition holding them back. Ukraines lightning advance is another example of their forces dexterity and mobility in warfare, over Moscows preference for slow, months-long grinding attacks on the same place. It is purposefully unclear exactly where Ukraines forces are. Videos pop up from towns far inside Russia, but without context. One overnight emerged from Lgov, about 26 miles from the border, with a soldier saying he promised his mother he would not go far. It is also unclear where Ukrainian forces are digging in and where they are just racing through. The lack of transparency in the Russian system where mistakes and problems are hidden rather than addressed head-on works in Kyivs favor. It is unlikely Moscow, or even Kursks governor, knows the full picture of the mess they are in. Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. - Andrew Kravchenko/Bloomberg/Getty Images And the news the Kremlin is getting is uncharacteristically dire. When Kursk acting governor Alexei Smirnov told Putin on state TV on Monday that 28 settlements were under Ukrainian control, with 2,000 peoples fate unclear, and 121,000 residents evacuated, its likely the moment was staged and pre-recorded, like most of Putins televised meetings. But to what avail? Putin turned the question towards his military chiefs, who hes slowly decimated over the 30 months of this wars ebb and flow. They clearly do not have the solution yet. But still Putin tries to play the role of the tsar adjudicating between chaotic and failing departments, despite on Wednesday being assured by his chief of staff, Valery Gerasimov, that the Ukrainian advance had been halted. The last time this sort of invasion of Russia happened, Joseph Stalin was in charge, and he did something other than televise his failing leadership. Two questions remain. The first regards the ultimate fate of Ukraines incursion. Do they intend to try and hold even the smallest amount of terrain? Do they intend to keep raging across undefended spaces? And how much firepower, manpower, and precious Western-supplied equipment is Ukraine happy to indulge this effort with? The merits of the assault are less in doubt than a week ago when it was first launched. Putin has a bloody nose. But the Ukrainian endgame needs to be as carefully engineered as the invasion to capitalize on Kyivs success. The second is what impact does this have on Ukraines more challenged frontline in Donbas? During the past week, the successes of Kursk region have been peppered with worse news from Toretsk, or near Pokrovsk, as Russian forces continue their costly, bloody, yet inexorable advance. No matter how small the village, Moscow just keeps attacking. So far, Ukraines hope the Kursk operation would lead better units to be withdrawn from Donbas to support Russias borders has yet to bear major fruit. As images continue to pour in of poorly trained Chechen troops being taken prisoner en masse by advancing Ukrainians in Kursk, it is clear Russia has sent its less effective units into the fight. They may choose to change that approach. Putin has also entrusted the operation to the FSB, the internal security service that also controls the border guard, which has instituted a counter-terror operation. This has previously been used to tackle Islamist insurgencies, not columns of Ukrainian armor. That, too, may have been very short-sighted. Manpower crunch But soon the crunch for Kyiv emerges. Where does this leave its forces a month from now? Has the talk of a manpower crunch over the past months been because they were secretly holding forces in reserve for this assault? Do they extract a strategic advantage great enough from these advances that Moscows view of them as a defeated adversary changes? Does the advance make their Western supporters decide the support is truly paying off? Regardless of how efficiently Ukraine answers these questions, Russia has for the second time in 15 months been rudely humiliated. Firstly it was by Putins own loyalists, egotistically turning on corruption and mismanagement. This time it is Putins own FSB, who couldnt keep control of the borders, in Putins war of choice. This falling tree may not make a sound in the heavily managed forest of Russias political space. Yet it probably hit others as it fell. One fact endures however. Both Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russias Putin have referenced the incursion in terms of its role in talks. Putin said Ukraine was trying to improve its position ahead of talks talks that still appear to lack an agenda, or a date, or any sense of trust between parties. Residents of an apartment building damaged after shelling by the Ukrainian side stand near the building in Kursk, Russia, on Sunday. (AP Photo) - AP For his part, Zelensky said on Monday: How useful this [incursion] can be for bringing peace closer. He added: Russia must be forced into peace if Putin wants to continue waging war so badly. Kyiv knows it cannot enter talks with Russia without a strong hand, as the wildly deceptive negotiating style of the Kremlin has proven they simply stall for time unless they urgently need something from their interlocutor. Still, even if Syrskyi only has half of the 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) he claims, a change in season to fall is no more than six weeks away, and with it the sludgy slowing of motion on the battlefield. Ukraines failed counteroffensive last summer has been eclipsed by the sudden success of this August incursion. The dismal fortunes of last winter are not behind them yet, but they may approach the next with a better hand, and at the very least the idea of the Kremlins invulnerability - first broken in their failed initial invasion - shattered for at least the third time in this war. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Ukraine, Russia have no intention of halting gas flows to Europe amid fighting in Kursk Oblast, Bloomberg reports Kyiv and Moscow plan to continue transmitting gas to Europe despite Ukraine's incursion in Kursk Oblast near a key cross-border transit point for the fuel, Bloomberg reported on Aug. 12, citing its undisclosed sources. Ukrainian forces reportedly entered on Aug. 9 the town of Sudzha in Kursk Oblast, where a gas-intake station is located, which transfers gas from Russia to Ukraine and then to Europe. The Ukrainian military launched a surprise incursion across the border into Kursk Oblast on Aug. 6, bringing regular Ukrainian forces into Russia for the first time. Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, reported that Ukrainian forces control around 1,000 square kilometers in Kursk Oblast. The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify this claim. The cross-border point has been under the control of Ukrainian troops following the incursion, two undisclosed sources told the media outlet. Any accidental damage to the facility could lead to halting supplies, another undisclosed source said. Russian gas giant Gazprom continues to supply gas through Sudzha, with daily flows stable within a range of 37 million cubic meters to around 42 million cubic meters, according to the Russian company's calculations. On Aug. 13, flows were back to a level seen last week, a day before the first reports of Ukraine taking control over the intake point appeared. Gas shipments via Sudzha are set at 42.4 million cubic meters, according to Gazprom's statement. The Kursk region lies on the border with Ukraine's Sumy Oblast, which has been experiencing daily attacks since Russian troops were pushed out of the oblast and back across the border in April 2022. Russian authorities have been forced to announce widening civilian evacuation measures in a number of districts bordering Ukraine. Ukraine's head of state, Volodymyr Zelensky, described the operation as a "catastrophe" for Russia's president Vladimir Putin. Read also: Kursk incursion aims to divert Russian troops, protect Ukrainian border regions, Kyiv says Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. (Bloomberg) -- Russia and Ukraine intend to keep pipeline gas flowing to Europe even as fighting continues near a key cross-border transit point for the fuel. Most Read from Bloomberg Both sides have no intention of halting flows via the Sudzha gas-intake station in Russias Kursk region, people with knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the information. Ukraines biggest incursion into Russian territory since the Kremlin invaded its neighbor in 2022 has pushed European gas prices to the highest this year amid fears supplies will be disrupted. Yet both sides have a financial incentive to keep fuel flowing. For Kyiv, gas transit provides crucial funds for its war-torn economy amounting to about $1 billion in 2021 while Europe remains one of Russias largest customers for pipeline gas. Ukraine is keen to be seen as a reliable partner to Europe in the hope the regions traders will make more use of its vast gas storage facilities. And it has good reason to protect infrastructure since unused pipelines could become targets of military attacks or fall into disrepair, which would be costly to fix. Yet any accidental damage to key infrastructure at the gas-intake station could halt supplies, one of the people said. The cross-border point has been under control of Ukrainian troops following the incursion, two people said. Russian supplier Gazprom PJSC didnt respond to requests for comment on plans on future flows. Ukraines Energy Ministry declined to comment. We intend to continue to provide gas transportation services within the framework of the agreement, Ukraines Naftogaz said in a statement, referring to a gas transit deal that expires in December. While most of Europe has sought alternatives to Russian pipeline gas since the invasion of Ukraine, nations such as Austria, Slovakia and Moldova continue to import supplies from Gazprom via Ukraine. Gazprom continues to send gas to the Sudzha point, with daily flows stable within a range of 37 million cubic meters to around 42 million cubic meters. In the first few days after Ukraines incursion there was a small drop in daily flows, reflecting lower requests from European customers. On Tuesday, gas shipments via Sudzha are set at 42.4 million cubic meters, Gazprom said in a statement. Tuesdays flows are back to a level last seen on Aug. 6, a day before the first reports of Ukraine seizing the intake point appeared. (Updates with Tuesdays gas flows in the last two paragraphs.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Ukraine says it seized as much land in a week as Russia has so far this year. Heres what we know A week into Ukraines surprise cross-border incursion into Russia, its becoming increasingly clear that Moscow does not have the situation under control. Tens of thousands of Russians have been forced to flee their homes as Ukrainian troops continued to encroach onto Russian territory over the weekend and on Monday. The incursion the first time foreign troops entered Russian territory since World War II is a major embarrassment for the Kremlin. Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to kick the enemy out or Russia, but his troops are yet to stop the Ukrainian advance. Heres what we know. What happened? The first reports of Ukrainian troops crossing into Russias Kursk region, just north of the Ukrainian border, started to emerge late last Tuesday. But it wasnt until several days later that Kyiv officially acknowledged its military was operating inside Russia. The incursion marked a notable change of tactics from Kyiv. The Ukrainian military has in the past regularly attacked targets inside Russia with drones and missiles, and there have been limited cross-border attacks by Ukraine-aligned Russian saboteurs, but until last week it had not launched any official ground incursions across the border. By Monday, Kyiv claimed to have control over some 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of Russian territory. In terms of its size, its similar to the amount of Ukrainian land Russia managed to seize so far this year, estimated by the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) at 1,175 square kilometers (453 square miles). Still, the area is dwarfed by the more than 100,000 square kilometers, or 18% of Ukraines total territory, taken by Russia since the conflict started in 2014. Why is Kyiv doing this? The objective of the incursion remains a mystery. Kyiv is likely trying to achieve several goals: reclaim the initiative and boost the morale of its soldiers while diverting Russias attention and embarrassing Putin. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said over the weekend that the incursion was a way to put pressure on the aggressor. On Monday, he added that it was only fair and beneficial to destroy the Russian positions that are used to launch strikes against Ukraine, saying thousands have been launched from the Kursk region since the beginning of June. Russia must be forced into peace if Putin wants to continue waging war so badly, he said. The Ukrainian government said it didnt intend to annex Russias territory in the same way Moscow has annexed Crimea and other areas seized from Ukraine. Unlike Russia, Ukraine does not need (foreign territories). Ukraine is not interested in taking the territory of the Kursk region. But we want to protect our peoples lives, spokesperson for the foreign ministry Heorhii Tykhyi said on Tuesday. Ukraine has been under increased pressure along the 600-mile front line as Moscow in recent months, even as the long-awaited US military aid started to arrive to the front. Moscows slow, grinding offensive along the entire frontline has been forcing Ukraine to commit to defensive operations rather than gear up for a counteroffensive. While Russias advances have been mostly incremental, it has recently managed to inch towards several strategically important towns and roads in eastern Ukraine. How has Putin reacted? With fury. The scale of the crisis became clear on Monday, when Putin held a tense meeting with top security and government officials and the heads of the border regions, vowing to kick the enemy out. A video of the meeting published by the Kremlin shows Putin scolding his subordinates, at one point shutting down the Kursk regions acting governor Alexei Smirnov as he attempts to outline the scale of the invasion. Smirnov was telling Putin that the Ukrainians were some 11 kilometers deep into Russian territory when Putin cut him off saying he can get that information from the military and ordered him to focus on social and economic issues instead. Putin is not used to having his authority and power challenged and the incursion is the second major humiliation for the president in just over a year, after the Wagner mutiny last June. While the private mercenary groups boss Yevgeny Prigozhin ultimately failed and ended up dead after trying to challenge Putin, the episode caused a major crack in the image the president has been cultivating for decades. What does it mean for Russia? The magnitude of the crisis cannot be underestimated. For more than a decade, since Russia sparked the conflict in eastern Ukraine and annexed Crimea in 2014, the war Moscow has been waging on Ukraine barely touched the Russian people. Widespread sanctions imposed by the West on Russia made international travel difficult and foreign goods expensive or innacessible, but the sense of safety from foreign attack has remained more or less intact. That changed once Ukraine began using drones and missiles to regularly strike deeper inside Russia earlier this year, especially after Kyiv got permission from some of its allies to use their weapons for cross-border strikes. The ground incursion makes it even more apparent. Moscow has been scrambling to contain the attack. Russian authorities imposed a sweeping counter-terror operation in three border regions Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk but stopped short of declaring the incursion an act of war. The ISW said this was likely an attempt by the Kremlin to deliberately downplay the assault to prevent domestic panic or backlash over the fact that Russia was unable to defend its own borders. Ukrainian servicemen operate in the Sumy region near the border with Russia, on August 12, 2024. - Roman Pilipey/AFP/Getty Images What are Ukraines allies saying? Putin has lashed out against Ukraines allies on Monday, claiming the the West is fighting us with the hands of the Ukrainians. Yet everything seems to suggest that the incursion took by surprise not just Russia, but also some of Ukraines closest allies. The Biden administration said last week it wasnt made aware of Kyivs plans in advance, but it reiterated its support for Ukraine. Speaking to reporters on Monday, the White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said: Make no mistake about it: This is Putins war against Russia. And if he doesnt like it, if its making him a little uncomfortable, then theres an easy solution: He can just get the hell out of Ukraine and call it a day. Similarly, the European Union, Germany, the UK and other Western countries expressed support for Ukraine. What happens next? Analysts are not expecting Ukraine to attempt to advance much further into Russian territory. The success of the incursion was largely down to the surprise factor, with Moscow scrambling resources to try to defend its borders. Once Russian reinforcements are in place, it is unlikely Ukraine would be able to hold onto the territory it managed to seize. Russia has already relocated some of its troops stationed in occupied southern Ukraine to the Kursk region, according to Ukrainian military officials. Ukrainian Ground Forces Spokesperson Dmytro Lykhovii told Ukrainian media Tuesday that some Russian military units were moved to Kursk from the Pridniprovsky frontline and the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine. He caveated, however, that Russia had already amassed a large number of personnel in the Zaporizhzhia region. The number of units they are redeploying is relatively small to talk about any weakening or removal of the barrier to continue the offensive in the southern direction, Lykhovii told Ukrainian TV outlet EspresoTV. We want to avoid the impression that we are already winning and that Kursk is ours. This is not the case at all. We emphasize that every segment and every area is important. Ukraine has spent the past few months trying to hold off further Russian advances, first while waiting for the long-delayed deliveries of US weapons and now as it awaits the newly recruited troops to get trained up and arrive to the front lines. The incursion might have given it the boost it so desperately needed. CNNs Olga Voitovych and Sugam Pokharel contributed reporting. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Ukraine seizes more land in a week than Russia managed in eight months Ukrainian servicemen near the Russian border. It is thought the seized territory could be used as a bargaining chip in any peace talks - Viacheslav Ratynskyi/Reuters Ukraine has captured more Russian land in a week than the Kremlins forces have managed in more than eight months of cross-border warfare. Kyiv said on Tuesday it had taken control of 74 settlements in Kursk, a border region in southern Russia. By Monday evening, Ukrainian forces were in control of around 1,000 sq km (386 sq miles) of Kursk, according to Oleksander Syrsky, Kyivs top general. The Telegraph was not able to verify that figure and independent analysts put the total lower. The operation has drawn Moscows attention away from eastern Ukraine, where Russia has been slowly advancing for months. Before Kyivs cross-border attack, the Russian army had reached within a short distance of Pokrovsk, a key garrison city in the Donetsk region, and was close to capturing the towns Chasiv Yar, Toretsk and Niu-York. Click here to view this content. However, a Telegraph analysis of Russian gains found that it has taken more than eight months to capture 994 sq km of territory. Moscow has not been able to capture a 1,000 sq km swath of land in any month from Dec 1 2023 to the present day. During that time, Moscow has lost around 300,000 troops, killed or wounded, according to estimates published by the Ukrainian military. It has fought through heavily fortified Ukrainian positions, using slow-moving infantry advances and destructive artillery barrages. Those grinding advances sped up with the February 2024 capture of Avdiivka, an industrial city in Donetsk. That paved the way for the capture of more territory, as Ukrainian forces suffered from ammunition shortages amid a stalled US aid package. Despite supplies starting to reach Kyivs front-line positions, its outgunned and outnumbered troops have been unable to put a stop to the Russian offensive. Russias most successful month on the battlefield came in May 2024 when its forces opened up a new front, launching a cross-border invasion into Ukraines north-eastern Kharkiv region. However, Moscow only managed to capture around 250 sq km, which at the time was its biggest gain in 17 months. Ukrainian servicemen operate a tank in the Sumy region near the border with Russia on Aug 12 2024 - Roman Pilpey/AFP via Getty Images Putins troops were able to advance six miles into the region before Kyiv managed to stabilise the situation. The Kursk operation has boosted morale in the Ukrainian army after months of battlefield losses. It is not clear how long Ukraine will seek to hold onto its newly seized land over the border in Russia, which could become a bargaining chip in future peace talks. Russia has begun rushing reinforcements into the region, with Putin vowing to drive his Ukrainian enemy from Russian soil. On Tuesday Apti Alaudino, who commands the Chechen Akhmat special forces unit, said Russia had started to retake some of its territory. Click here to view this content. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Ukraine sentenced in absentia Kremlin propagandist and former top director at RT, Anton Krasovsky, to five years in prison for his calls to murder Ukrainian children, the Prosecutor General's Office said on Aug. 13. The statement did not mention Krasovsky by name, but details of the case indicate that Krasovsky is the person in question. Krasovsky was convicted for his calls to "burn and drown Ukrainian children" on air on one of his shows on the Russian state-run channel RT, formerly known as Russia Today. He also said that Ukraine "should not exist at all." The propagandist was sentenced under the charges of public calls for genocide and calls for a violent overthrow of Ukraine's constitutional order. The verdict comes on top of an earlier 5-year sentence issued against Krasovsky in February 2023 for supporting the Russian invasion and public calls for genocide. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) pressed fresh charges against Krasovsky in August 2023 due to his comments about killing Ukrainian children, adding that the propagandist was hiding from Ukrainian justice abroad. The SBU said it was aware of Krasovsky's whereabouts and intended to bring him to justice. Krasovsky was suspended from his position as RT's director of Russian-language content following the backlash sparked by his comments about Ukrainian children. Despite issuing a public apology at first, Krasovsky said later in May 2023 that he did not change his views regarding the drowning and burning of Ukrainian children while on the pro-Russian program "Ordinary Tsarism." Read also: Prominent Russian war propagandist severely injured in Kursk Oblast Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Ukraine has taken 74 settlements in Kursk, says Zelensky Ukrainian servicemen operate a Soviet-made T-72 tank in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia - AFP Ukraine has taken control of 74 settlements in Russias Kursk border region, Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, said on Tuesday. President Zelenskys comments came as part of his evening address after Moscow previously said that Ukraine had control of 28 settlements. Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander-in-chief of Ukraines army, told Mr Zelensky that Ukraines Kursk offensive had advanced 1-3 kilometres over the last 24 hours. Mr Zelensly said the invasion would mark the end of Vladimir Putins rule. Click here to view this content. Earlier on Tuesday, Kyiv said it had no interest in permanently seizing parts of the southern Russian region. Heorhii Tykhyi, the Ukrainian foreign ministrys spokesman, insisted it launched the cross-border incursion to protect the lives of our people. Instead, he argued Kyiv, which had revealed little of its operational objectives until now, was working to rid Russias borderlands of military assets used to strike Ukraine and draw enemy troops away from eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian troops crossed the Russian border a week ago, in an operation that Western analysts believe was aimed at improving Kyivs negotiating position and diverting Russian resources away from front lines elsewhere. By Monday evening, Ukrainian forces were in control of around 1,000 square kilometres of Kursk, according to Oleksander Syrsky, Kyivs top general. The Telegraph was not able to verify that figure and independent analysts put the total lower. But Russia has not been able to capture 1,000 sq km of Ukrainian land in eight months of heavy fighting, Telegraph analysis found. Click here to view this content. Russian war bloggers reported on Tuesday that there were battles across a widening front as Ukraine tried to expand its area of control near Lgov, more than 32 miles north of the Ukrainian-Russian border. According to Ukrainian officials, Russia has pulled troops back from Ukraine to help defend the escalating invasion of its own land. Putin has ordered his military to drive out the Ukrainian forces and appointed his former bodyguard, Alexei Dyumin, as the commander in charge of the operation on Tuesday. Mr Dyumin gained favour by once protecting Putin from a bear and is seen as a potential successor to him in the Kremlin. 05:31 PM BST Thanks for following todays live blog Thank you for following todays live coverage of the war in Ukraine. Well be back soon with more updates and analysis from the conflict. 05:12 PM BST Ukraine controls 74 settlements in Russia, says Zelensky Ukraine controls 74 settlements inside Russia, Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian President said on Tuesday. There are 74 settlements under the control of Ukraine, Zelensky said in his evening address, after Russia previously said that Ukraine controls 28. President Zelenskys comments came as part of his evening address after Moscow previously said that Ukraine had control of 28 settlements. Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander-in-chief of Ukraines army, told Mr Zelensky that Ukraines Kursk offensive had advanced 1-3 kilometres over the last 24 hours. 05:01 PM BST Latvia prepares to send hundreds of new drones to Ukrainian army Latvia is preparing to send 500 new drones to Ukraine, the countrys defence minister announced on Tuesday. The next drone pack is ready! Andris Spruds proclaimed on X, formerly Twitter. Around 500 drones manufactured in Latvia will provide support for Ukrainians in various combat missions. Gatava nakama dronu pakotne! Ap 500 Latvija razotu dronu sniegs atbalstu ukrainiem dazadu kaujas uzdevumu veiksana. #DroneCoalition #StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/QLPxMkKugn Andris Spruds (@AndrisSpruds) August 13, 2024 04:35 PM BST Civilians evacuated from Kursk to be relocated to Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine Russian civilians who have been evacuated from Kursk will be relocated to Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine, local authorities have said. Alexei Smirnov, the acting governor of Kursk, said on Tuesday that temporary accommodation will be set up in Zaporizhzhia, south eastern Ukraine. The first groups of people will be transferred to temporary accommodation centres in Zaporizhzhia Oblast in the nearest future. Volunteers from Zaporizhzhia [Oblast] have arrived in Kursk Oblast to help local residents right here, on the ground, Smirnov said on Telegram. 04:24 PM BST Moscow watching Gaza conflict with great pain, says Putin Moscow is monitoring the war in Gaza with great pain and anxiety, Vladimir Putin told the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas at a meeting on Tuesday. Everyone is well aware that Russia today, unfortunately, must defend its interests and defend its people with arms in hand, Putin told Abbas, according to a Kremlin transcript. And of course, we are watching with great pain and anxiety the humanitarian catastrophe that has unfolded in Palestine, the Russian President added. Russia has ties to both Israel and Palestine, though Putin has hosted Hamas delegations since the conflict broke out on October 7. Russia's President Vladimir Putin receiving Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Moscow on Tuesday - AFP 04:04 PM BST No plans to host F-16 fighter jets given to Ukraine by the West, says Moldova Moldovas foreign ministry has denied Russian claims it has plans to host F-16 fighter jets given to Ukraine by the West. Moscow has summoned a senior Moldovan diplomat to express concern over speculation that the fighter jets could be based at the countrys airfields before being used to attack Russian territory. Moldova does not and will not host weapons and military equipment, including aircraft destined for Ukraine, Moldovas foreign ministry said in a statement. The Ukrainian Air Force's F-16 fighter jet flies in an undisclosed location in Ukraine on August 4 - AP 03:52 PM BST Putin orders troops out of Ukraine to defend Russia amid incursion Vladimir Putin has ordered a number of troops to move out of southern Ukraine to defend Russian territory amid the ongoing cross-border assault in Kursk, a Kyiv official has said. Russia has relocated some of its units from both Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions of Ukraines south, Dmytro Lykhoviy, a Ukrainian army spokesman, told POLITICO. It is not clear exactly how many troops have been relocated, though Mr Lykhoviy said it was a relatively small number. Russia's President Vladimir Putin looks on during a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas - AFP 03:37 PM BST Russia strikes back at Ukrainian forces in Kursk region Russian forces on Tuesday struck back at Ukrainian troops with missiles, drones and airstrikes in actions that one senior commander said had halted Ukraines advance. Russian war bloggers reported intense battles across the Kursk front as the Ukrainians tried to expand their control, though they said Russia was bringing in soldiers and heavy weaponry and had repelled many Ukrainian attacks. Russias defence ministry published images of Sukhoi Su-34 bombers striking at what it said were Ukrainian troops in the Kursk border region and said it had repelled attacks at villages about 26-28 km (16-17 miles) from the border. Their claims cannot be independently verified. The destroyed border crossing point with Russia in the Sumy region, where Ukraine launched its week-long incursion - AFP Ukrainian troops wait to head for a combat mission near the border with Russia's Kursk region - AFP 03:23 PM BST Russia opens 400 shelters to deal with mass evacuations Russias emergency ministry said it had opened 400 temporary shelters across the country to deal with 200,000 people forced to flee Ukraines offensive which began last week. The move comes as Russia claims to have stalled Ukraines advance into the Kursk region, while Russian military bloggers reported on Tuesday that fierce fighting continues. 02:46 PM BST Pictured: Blindfolded Russian troops driven away from border in Ukrainian vehicle Ukrainian military vehicle drives from the direction of the border with Russia carrying blindfolded men in Russian military uniforms, in the Sumy region - AFP via Getty Images 02:37 PM BST Putin appoints former bodyguard who fought off bear to lead Kursk defence Vladimir Putin has appointed one of his former bodyguards to lead his personal effort to end Ukraines invasion of Russia. Alexei Dyumin, who guarded Putin in his first two terms and is considered a potential successor for the Kremlin leader, was named Kurator of the operation to liberate the Kursk region, Russian military bloggers reported on Tuesday. He rose to prominence after scaring off a bear that approached one of Putins private residences in the 2000s. The move comes after Putin vowed to drive Ukraine off Russian land during a tense meeting with security chiefs on Monday, as Kyivs daring cross-border raid entered its seventh day of fighting. Read more here. Russian President Vladimir Putin talks to Tula oblast Governor Alexei Dyumin during an ice hockey match - Getty 02:26 PM BST Pictured: Russian forces advance toward Ukrainian soldiers Russia's marine assault team ride motorcycles toward Ukrainian troops - AP 02:11 PM BST Watch: Russian FPV drone hits Ukrainian armoured vehicle in Kursk region This is the moment a Russian FPV drone hits a Ukrainian armoured vehicle in Kursk. Footage shows troops struggling to get out of the vehicle after the strike. The soldiers then run away from the vehicle into a nearby forest. Click here to view this content. 01:36 PM BST Ukraine receives crucial 3.6bn in financial aid from EU Ukraine has received 3.6bn (4.2 billion) in crucial financial aid from the European Union (EU), taking the blocs total support for Kyiv above 10bn. Denys Shmhyal, the Ukrainian prime minister, expressed gratitude to the EU and Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commissions president, for the support package. This assistance is crucial to maintain our macro-financial stability, advance recovery and drive key reforms, Mr Shmhyal wrote on X. Together we are building a stronger future. Ukraine received 4.2 billion, bringing the total EU support under the Ukraine Facility to 12 billion. This assistance is crucial to maintain our macro-financial stability, advance recovery and drive key reforms. We are grateful to the @EU_Commission and President @vonderleyen Denys Shmyhal (@Denys_Shmyhal) August 13, 2024 01:25 PM BST Zelensky tells Russia war is coming home as Ukraine makes new gains in Kursk Volodymyr Zelensky told Russia the war is coming home as Ukrainian troops made fresh advances as part of its week-long invasion of the Kursk region. Russia brought war to others, and now it is coming homeUkraine has always wanted peace and we will undoubtedly ensure peace, the Ukrainian leader said in his nightly address soon after his military claimed to have captured 1,000 square miles of territory. Despite Moscows claims that it had stalled Kyivs advance, the Institute for the Study of War said Ukraine was still piercing further into Russia in several areas. Ukrainian forces reportedly launched new incursions into western Kursk Oblast near Slobodka-Ivanovka, Tetkino, Gordeevka, Uspenka, and Viktorovka, the US-based think tank said. Vladimir Putin earlier on Monday vowed to drive out the enemy as he accused the West of fighting us with the hands of Ukrainians in his first public remarks on the assault. Click here to view this content. 12:53 PM BST Ukraine locks down civilians near to Russian border over sabotage fears Ukrainian forces have announced the restriction of civilian movement in the region of Sumy which borders Russia over fears that Russian sabotage groups could try to jeopardise Kyivs cross-border incursion into Kursk. The military command has introduced restrictions on the movement of all categories of citizens in the 12 mile (20-kilometre) border zone of Sumy region, Ukraines general staff said on Tuesday. The temporary measure was needed due to an increase in the intensity of hostilities and the activation of Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups in the area, it said. 12:36 PM BST Zelensky thanks Ukraines sky defenders for downing 30 Shahed drones Volodymyr Zelensky has thanked our sky defenders for protecting Ukrainian lives and infrastructure after the latest Russian aerial attacks. Last night, Russian terror once again received a worthy rebuff. Thirty Shahed drones used by Russian terrorists against Ukraine were destroyed, he wrote on X. I thank all our warriors who ensure the safety of our skies for their precision. Every success of our sky defenders, every enemy target destroyed, results in defended lives and protected infrastructure. Last night, Russian terror once again received a worthy rebuff. Thirty 'Shahed' drones used by Russian terrorists against Ukraine were destroyed. I thank all pic.twitter.com/WpLYGxHDKO Volodymyr Zelenskyy / (@ZelenskyyUa) August 13, 2024 11:59 AM BST Trump praises Zelensky and slams Biden in Musk interview Donald Trump praised Volodymyr Zelensky as honourable and blamed Joe Biden for Russias invasion of Ukraine in his interview with Elon Musk on Monday. Trump argued that his strong relationship with Putin could have prevented the conflict if he had been in office, an argument he has made before. I got along with Putin very well, and he respected me, Trump told Mr Musk. We would talk about Ukraine. It was the apple of his eye. But I told him, dont do it. The Republican presidential candidate added: Im not going to blame, exclusively, but I can tell you, I could have stopped that. 11:44 AM BST US warns of severe response if Iran transfers missiles to Russia The US warned Iran on Monday against sending ballistic missiles to Russia, saying it would invoke a severe response and would counter efforts by Tehran to improve relations. The United States has been in touch with European allies on reports that Iran is planning to deliver hundreds of ballistic missiles to Russia, Vedant Patel, a state department spokesman, said. We are prepared to deliver a swift and severe response if Iran were to move forward with the transfer of ballistic missiles, which would, in our view, represent a dramatic escalation in Irans support for Russias war of aggression against Ukraine, he said. 11:27 AM BST Pictured: Russian rocket launcher fires at Ukrainian positions Russia's 'Grad' self-propelled 122mm multiple rocket launcher fires rockets toward Ukrainian position at an undisclosed location - Russian Defense Ministry Press Service 11:18 AM BST Russia attacks Kharkiv using North Korean missiles North Korean missiles were used in a Russian attack on settlements in the Kharkiv region that injured four children, local authorities said. At least five strikes were recorded in the large-scale missile attack on Monday evening, they added. The results of the inspection of the recovered debris allow us to draw a preliminary conclusion about the type of one of the missiles used: it is the KN-23 (or KN-24), also commonly known as the Hwasong-11, Kharkivs Prosecutors Office said in a statement. Inspectors from Kharkiv's Prosecutor's Office examine fragments of what they say is a North Korean missile - Telegram: Kharkiv Prosecutor Office The missile attack on Monday night injured four children - Telegram: Kharkiv Prosecutor Office 10:56 AM BST Russian troops forced to drink from dirty puddles, says MoD Russian military units are facing drinking water shortages in Ukraine due to its own strikes against critical infrastructure, the UK Ministry of Defence has said. It cited a report from a pro-Russian military blogger which highlighted how Russian pilots had been restricted to one litre of water per day, a quarter of the minimum required. As a result, Russian servicemen have been forced to approach local citizens for water or improvise filtration systems, using stagnant puddles for their daily requirements. Water supply issues faced by Russian pilots will have been exacerbated by record-breaking temperatures in Ukraine, the MoD added. Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 13 August 2024. Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/Bs1ytlZr0C#StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/NlXLXajwwu Ministry of Defence (@DefenceHQ) August 13, 2024 10:39 AM BST Pictured: Russian motorcycle assault in Ukraine Russian marine assault teams ride motorcycles towards a Ukrainian position at an undisclosed location in Ukraine on Aug 12 - Russian Defense Ministry Press Service 10:27 AM BST Ukraine not allowed to use British Storm Shadows in Kursk incursion Volodymyr Zelensky has piled pressure on Britain to allow missile strikes deep inside Russia as he claimed his armys cross-border attack could oust Vladimir Putin. However, The Telegraph understands that the UK Government has not given Ukraine approval to use Storm Shadow missiles as part of its Kursk offensive. There has been no change, a government source said. During a UK visit last month, Mr Zelensky lobbied Sir Keir Starmer to lift restrictions on how the munition, which has a range of about 250 kilometres, is used. Kyiv has also asked Washington for permission to use its Atacms long-range missile during the Kursk offensive, but that has so far also been refused. Read more here. Click here to view this content. 10:13 AM BST Iran shows off new long-range drone at Russian arms fair Iran has showcased one of its newest long-range attack drones at a defence exhibit in Russia, Irans state news agency reported. Western officials have accused Iran of sending drones to Russia including Mohajer-10s predecessor, the Mohajer-6 to be used against Ukraine. Iran released details of the Mohajer-10 system in August last year, saying it had an enhanced flight range, duration and could carry a greater payload. It was accompanied by text saying prepare your shelters in both Hebrew and Persian. According to Iranian media reports, the drone has an operational range of 2,000 km, can fly for 24 hours and carries a payload of 300kg, double the capacity of the Mohajer-6. Iran's 'Mohajer 10' was first unveiled in Tehran in Aug 2023 - AFP 09:57 AM BST Russia steps up assaults in Ukraines east Russian forces stepped up their attacks on the Pokrovsk front in eastern Ukraine over the last 24 hours, the Ukrainian military has said, reporting the largest number of battles in the area in a single day in a week. The increase in fighting comes after Ukraine mounted a surprise cross-border incursion into Russias Kursk region in what some military analysts see as an attempt to divert Russian forces from their main offensives in the east. Russian forces have been trying to advance towards the Kyiv-held logistics hub of Pokrovsk for months, inching forward incrementally and taking advantage of greater troop numbers. Ukraine's 43rd Artillery Brigade fire self-propelled artillery 2S7 Pion towards Russian positions in Pokrovsk, eastern Donetsk - AFP People walk past a heavily damaged university building following an attack in Pokrovsk earlier in August - AFP 09:31 AM BST Belarus sends troops to Russia for training exercises Belarusian troops were sent to Russia this week to take part in training exercises. Crews of missile troops and artillery units of the armed forces of the Republic of Belarus are leaving for the Russian Federation training ground to practice combat use issues, the Belarusian ministry of defence said. During the field exercise, units will undergo a control exercise on managing missile strikes with combat launches from missile systems and multiple launch rocket systems, it added. It follows an announcement last week that Belarus, one of Russias closest allies, would be increasing its military presence near the Ukraine border. Vladimir Putin and Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko met in July - Shutterstock 09:13 AM BST US Senator: Ukraines invasion into Russia is bold, brilliant, beautiful Lindsey Graham, a US Republican senator, called Ukraines surprise cross-border operation into Russias Kursk region bold and beautiful during a visit to Kyiv. What do I think about Kursk? Bold, brilliant, beautiful. Keep it up, he told reporters, while urging the Biden administration to provide Ukraine with the weapons it needs. Bottom line is to the administration... Give them weapons they need to win the war they cant afford to lose, he added. 09:05 AM BST Russian sources claim Ukraine attempting to attack second region Russian military bloggers have reported an attempt on Monday by Ukraines forces to attack a border crossing in Belgorod region. Belgorod neighbours the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces began their cross-border raid on Aug 6. Russias state news said that authorities had completely closed entry to the Krasnoyarsk district in western Belgorod, where 11,000 were evacuated from on Monday. Ukraine has not commented on the reports. 08:44 AM BST Zelensky making insane steps, says Russias spy service Volodymyr Zelensky is taking insane steps that threaten escalation far beyond Ukraine, Russias RIA state news agency reported on Tuesday, citing the press office of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service. 08:29 AM BST Watch: Ukraines answer to Russias Z The first foreign invasion of Russian soil since the Second World War has been branded Operation Triangle after the white marks appeared emblazoned on the sides of Ukraines tanks, trucks and Nato military equipment. Ukrainian sources have said the tactical marking of a triangle is no more than a way for Kyivs forces to avoid friendly fire as they operate behind enemy lines as part of their week-long incursion into Russias Kursk region. When Russian tanks and fight vehicles invaded Ukraine in February 2022, many were daubed with Z symbols in white paint a marking that quickly became synonymous with support for Vladimir Putins war. Click here to view this content. Click here to view this content. Click here to view this content. 08:15 AM BST End Ukraine war if you are worried about being invaded, US tells Putin John Kirby, the White Houses National Security spokesman, has told Vladimir Putin to end the war against Ukraine if he is so concerned about the situation in Kursk Oblast. The only ones who are in a state of war in Ukraine are the Russians themselves. They are the ones invading Ukraine, and Ukraine is defending itself from aggression, he said. This is Russias war against Ukraine, nothing more and nothing less, and it has been like that from the very beginning. John Kirby, spokesman for the US National Security Council, told Russia to end the war that it started - AFP 08:06 AM BST Ukraine pummels two Russian regions in bid to carve out more territory Ukraine pummelled two Russian regions with drones on Tuesday as its ground forces tried to smash through defensive lines in a bid to carve out even more territory in its biggest attack on Russian territory since the war began. Russias defence ministry said its air defence units destroyed 12 drones over the Kursk region, one over the Belgorod region and one over Voronezh. Russian officials in Kursk and Belgorod put out warnings of missile attacks. Russian war bloggers reported intense battles across the Kursk front as Ukrainian forces tried to expand their control near Lgov, Bolshoy Soldatskoye and Korenevo though they said Russia was bringing in both soldiers and heavy weaponry and repelled some of the Ukrainian attacks. 07:53 AM BST How Ukraines white triangle invasion stunned Putin As Ukrainian armoured vehicles maraud around the Russian countryside, they all sport the same symbol a white triangle. Tanks, trucks and Nato military equipment bearing the marking, daubed in paint or stuck on with tape, have forced the evacuation of some 180,000 Russian citizens from their homes. It has been enough for some to brand the first invasion of Russian soil since the Second World War operation triangle. In Ukraines Sumy region, a T64 tank with a triangle on its frontal armour was seen edging down a dirt road near the border. Read the full story here. Click here to view this content. 07:43 AM BST Ukraine says it downed Putins missile and drone blitz Russia launched 38 attack drones and two Iskander-M ballistic missiles at Ukraine overnight, Ukraines air force said. Thirty of the drones were destroyed over eight Ukrainian regions, the air force said on Tuesday. It was not clear what happened to the weapons that were not destroyed. Sumy regional authorities said the attack injured one person and damaged a power line and a gas pipeline, leaving some residents of the city of Sumy without electricity and gas supplies. The attack also damaged a hospital building and several cars in the region, the authorities said. Russia has stepped up its attacks on the northern region since Ukraine launched its incursion into the bordering Russian Kursk region. 07:41 AM BST Hello and welcome to our live coverage Were bringing you all the latest on the war in Ukraine and Kyivs ongoing invasion of Russias Kursk region. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Ukraine trying to push deeper into Russia, as advance appears slowed by Russian reinforcements Ukrainian forces are still seeking to advance deeper into Russia's Kursk region, but appear to be coming up against increased Russian resistance more than a week since Ukraine launched its unprecedented incursion across the border. Russia's Defense Ministry and pro-Kremlin military bloggers reported Tuesday that Ukrainian forces again launched multiple attempts overnight to break through Russian defensive lines roughly 20 km, or about 12 miles, inside the Kursk region, seeking to further expand a bridgehead captured there in the first days of the Ukrainian offensive operation. Those reports claimed the Ukrainian attacks were largely rebuffed, but that Russian positions remained under pressure. More Russian forces continue to also arrive to counterattack Ukraine's surprise attack, which is the first foreign incursion into Russia since World War II. PHOTO: This photograph shows the destroyed border crossing point with Russia, in the Sumy region, on August 13, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Roman Pilipey/AFP via Getty Images) MORE: Ukraine continues major incursion into Russia, with reports of advances amid heavy fighting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that "[d]espite the difficult and intense battles, our forces continue to advance in the Kursk region." He said 74 communities -- which are largely small villages and hamlets -- are under Ukrainian control in the region and that "inspections and stabilization measures are being carried out." On the border of Ukraine's Sumy region, foreign journalists, including The New York Times, reported seeing columns of Ukrainian troops and armored vehicles continuing to cross over into Russia, passing unhindered through the border crossing. Ukrainian troops are trying to expand their area of control from the border town of Sudzha in multiple directions. They have been attempting for several days to capture the village of Korenevo, which is about 40 km northwesterly, which would allow them to move toward a key highway, but so far have been unable to dislodge Russian units, according to Russian military bloggers. PHOTO: In this photo taken from video released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, marine assault team members ride motorcycles toward Ukrainian position at an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP) Ukraine's top commander, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskiy, told Zelenskyy on Monday that Ukraine controlled roughly 1,000 square km, or about 386 square miles, of Russian territory in Kursk. The governor of the Kursk region, Alexey Smirnov, on Monday told President Vladimir Putin in a televised briefing that Ukraine now controlled 28 settlements after piercing 12 km into the region over a 40 km-wide front. Putin abruptly cut Smirnov off, telling him to stick to the "social and economic situation." MORE: Ukrainian troops have captured 28 settlements amid Kursk incursion, Russia says Ukrainian forces have not moved significantly forward in the past several days, suggesting that advancing has become more difficult as Russia recovers from the initial surprise and rushes more reinforcements to the region. Russia has been using aircraft and drones to target Ukrainian units. PHOTO: Ukrainian tank crew take a break while operating a Soviet-made T-72 tank in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia, on August 12, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Roman Pilipey/AFP via Getty Images) An increased number of videos appearing to show destroyed Ukrainian vehicles have been appearing on pro-Russian social media accounts, including some associated with Russia's military. Russian analysts have also warned Ukraine could attempt to launch new incursions at other points along the border. Ukraine trying to push deeper into Russia, as advance appears slowed by Russian reinforcements originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Key developments on Aug. 13: Ukraine controls 74 settlements in Russia's Kursk Oblast, Zelensky says Ukraine not allowed to use British Storm Shadow as part of Kursk Oblast incursion, Telegraph reports Kursk incursion has not yet influenced situation near Toretsk, military says Ukraine's incursion brings Russia closer to new mobilization, Bloomberg says Latvia transfers another 500 drones to Ukraine The Ukrainian military currently controls 74 settlements in Russia's Kursk Oblast, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Aug. 13. Ukraine's cross-border incursion into neighboring Kursk Oblast began on Aug. 6, and by Aug. 12, Ukraine said it had control over 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory. Kursk Oblast covers just under 30,000 square kilometers, which is similar to the size of the U.S. state of Maryland or the German state of Brandenburg. Russia's regional authorities claimed on Aug. 12 that Ukraine is in control of 28 settlements in Kursk Oblast and alleged that the incursion was up to 12 kilometers deep along a 40-kilometer front. Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Aug. 13 that Ukraine's Armed Forces advanced 3 kilometers and took control over another 40 square kilometers of Russian territory. Zelensky said he is "constantly in touch" with Syrskyi about the situation in Kursk. "Despite the difficult, intense battles, the advance of our forces in Kursk Oblast continues," Zelensky said. "Humanitarian solutions for these territories" are being established, Zelensky added. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi told reporters on Aug. 13 that "unlike Russia, Ukraine does not seek to seize territory" but wants to "protect the lives of our people." Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast aims to prevent Moscow from sending additional reinforcements to the front in Donbas and stop Russian cross-border strikes, Tykhyi said. "Since the beginning of this summer, Ukraine's Sumy Oblast has been targeted with over 2,000 strikes using multiple launch rocket systems, mortars, drones, 255 guided bombs, and more than a hundred missiles, launched from Kursk Oblast," Tykhyi said. "Unfortunately, Ukraine does not have sufficient capabilities to carry out long-range strikes with the weapons it has to defend itself against this terror." Read also: Ukraine, Russia have no intention of halting gas flows to Europe amid fighting in Kursk Oblast, Bloomberg reports Ukraine not allowed to use British Storm Shadow as part of Kursk Oblast incursion, Telegraph reports The U.K. government did not give Ukraine permission to use British Storm Shadow long-range missiles in Kyiv's incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast, The Telegraph reported on Aug. 13, citing an undisclosed British government source. "There has been no change," the source reportedly told The Telegraph. Despite earlier declarations by former and current British officials, London has not yet allowed Ukraine to use its missiles with a range of up to 250 kilometers (150 miles) to strike targets inside Russia. Kyiv has reportedly used Storm Shadow missiles against Russian positions in occupied Ukrainian territories, such as Crimea. The news comes shortly after President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Aug. 12 that he had tasked officials and diplomats to present a list of necessary actions to obtain permission from its partners to use long-range weapons to protect Ukraine's territory. Such permission could play a key role in the unprecedented incursion of Ukrainian troops launched into Kursk Oblast on Aug. 6. Kyiv has refrained from providing details of the operation, such as a possible use of Western arms in the operation. A Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Aug 13 at a press conference attended by a Kyiv Independent reporter that the incursion itself would be "less necessary" if Kyiv were allowed to "fully utilize (its) long-range capabilities" against Russia. "If Ukraine could strike the enemy troops on their territory, from where they threaten Ukraine, then Ukraine would be in a much better position to protect itself," spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said. "In particular, it would be less necessary to use the Ukrainian defense forces outside of the Ukrainian borders, including Kursk Oblast." Russian media claimed that Ukraine has deployed U.S.-supplied Bradley and German-supplied Marder armored vehicles. The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims. According to the Bundestag's Defense Committee Chair Marcus Faber, it would be "completely legitimate" if Ukraine deployed German-supplied hardware in Kursk Oblast, such as Leopard 2 tanks. In a statement issued to Politico on Aug. 9, Germany's Foreign Ministry said that "Ukraine has the right to self-defense enshrined in international law," adding that the principle of self-defense "is not limited to its own territory." The U.S. said it has not changed its stance regarding Ukraine's use of American arms but added that the incursion into Kursk Oblast is "consistent with (their) policy." Responding to a question on the incursion and whether Ukraine can use U.S.-supplied weapons, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh replied that the U.S. has "supported Ukraine from the beginning to defend themselves against attacks that are coming across the border." Read also: Putin should get the hell out of Ukraine if concerned about Kursk Oblast, White House says Kursk incursion has not yet influenced situation near Toretsk, military says Ukraine's operation in Russia's Kursk Oblast is yet to have an impact on the fighting in the direction of Toretsk in Donetsk Oblast, a spokesperson of the 32nd Separate Mechanized Brigade said on air on Aug. 13. Russian forces continue to attack Toretsk, and battles have now reached the outskirts of the town, military spokesperson Oleksandr Bordiian told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Russia continues to send sabotage groups and increased the frequency of airstrikes, he added. The statement comes the same day as Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said the cross-border operation in Kursk Oblast aims to divert Russian troops from Donetsk Oblast, among other goals. "As for the ground attacks, yes, the intensity has dropped a bit... They did not decrease significantly, but they (Russian forces) are trying to compensate for this by increased strikes with guided aerial bombs," Bordiian said. The spokesperson also reported battles in the immediate proximity of Toretsk, specifically in the urban area of the Pivnichne-Zalizne agglomeration. Russia deploys small sabotage groups to infiltrate the Ukrainian army's rear, he said. Read also: Russia moves some units from Ukraines south to Kursk, Kyiv says Ukraine's incursion brings Russia closer to new mobilization, Bloomberg says The Russian army is not receiving enough new soldiers to keep up with losses at the front, which are the heaviest since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, Bloomberg reported on Aug. 13, citing undisclosed sources "close to the Kremlin and Russian Defense Ministry." The need to replenish the military reserve became more acute amid Ukraine's incursion into Russia, and the situation may force Russia to consider a new mobilization, Bloomberg reported, citing two sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Officials may present it as a rotation to give the military on the front line a rest, and the draft could be announced by the end of this year, according to the sources. Regional officials are currently unable to meet more than a third of their conscription quotas on average, a person familiar with the situation told the media outlet. Moscow's inability to quickly repel the Ukrainian cross-border attack and regain control of its border revealed a lack of available reserves, part of broader manpower strains felt across the military. The deepening shortage of soldiers for the war in Ukraine is prompting Russia to raise conscripts' pay. Read also: Russian attacks against Ukraine kill 5, injure 25 over past day Latvia transfers another 500 drones to Ukraine Latvia is transferring another 500 Latvian-made combat drones to Ukraine, the country's Defense Minister Andris Spruds said on Aug. 13. The drones, provided in the framework of the international drone coalition, will "provide support for Ukrainians in various combat missions," the minister said in his post on X. In early July, the defense ministry announced that Riga will send more than 2,500 combat drones of different types, worth 4 million euros ($4.3 million), to Ukraine over the month. Spruds announced back in May that the Latvian government would invest around 20 million euros ($22 million) in the drone coalition this year, and a similar sum to the development of Latvia's own drone capabilities. Along with the U.K., Latvia is the leader of the drone coalition, an allied initiative established to supply Ukrainian forces with this crucial capability. The coalition was established in January to bolster Ukraine's arsenal of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Seven countries, in addition to the founding states, have joined the alliance, including Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Sweden, Estonia, and Denmark. Read also: Iran shows off new Mohajer-10 drone at Russian arms fair Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. The woman found dead at an east-side Colorado Springs residence Wednesday has been identified by the El Paso County Coroners Office as Haleh Abghari, a University of Colorado Colorado Springs professor, according to a news release. Abghari, 54, was found with one stab wound at a residence in the 6400 block of Caddy Point, near the intersection of North Powers Boulevard and North Carefree Circle, after Colorado Springs police responded to a call around 7 a.m., according to the Monday release. Abghari was a professor in the visual and performing arts department at UCCS, according to a university email Monday. Haleh was an integral part of the music program in VAPA for nearly 10 years, teaching voice, music ensembles, ethnomusicology, the interdisciplinary VAPA curriculum, and collaborations with theater, according to the email from the office of UCCS Chancellor Jennifer Sobanet. The thought of her suddenly not at our side is incomprehensible, said Glen Whitehead, chair of the visual and performing arts department, in the UCCS email. She was an extension of our families, and, as a major talent, is simply irreplaceable. Featured Local Savings Police said the death of Abghari was the 26th homicide to be investigated this year. There were 18 homicides at this time in 2023. The Coroners Office is still determining the cause of death. Police ask that anyone with information call 719-444-7000 or Pikes Peak Crime Stoppers at 719-634-7867 to remain anonymous. Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has informed Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, that Ukraines defence forces control 74 settlements in Russias Kursk Oblast. Source: Zelenskyy on social media Details: Zelenskyy stated that inspections and stabilisation measures were being carried out in Kursk Oblast. Despite the difficult and intense battles, our forces continue to advance in the Kursk region, and Ukraines "exchange fund" is growing. The development of humanitarian solutions for these territories continues. Quote by Syrskyi: "The grouping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine keeps conducting the operation in the territory of Kursk Oblast. Today our troops advanced from one to three kilometres in some areas. 40 square kilometres were taken under control, and, as of today, 74 settlements remain under our control. The fighting is ongoing all along the frontline. The situation is under control despite the high intensity of combat action." Details: Zelenskyy asked Syrskyi to "keep training and developing next key steps". Background: On the morning of 6 August, the Russians claimed that Ukrainian forces had mounted an attempt to infiltrate Kursk Oblast, Russia. Russian propagandists and military bloggers are claiming that Ukrainian forces have secured a foothold in the border area. Russian ruler Vladimir Putin called the situation a "provocation". On 9 August, Russias Ministry of Defence issued a statement on the situation in Kursk Oblast, acknowledging that Ukrainian forces were on the outskirts of the town of Sudzha. On 10 August, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations said that 76,000 civilians have been evacuated from areas near the Russian-Ukrainian border in Kursk Oblast On 12 August, Alexei Smirnov, acting Governor of Kursk Oblast in Russia, informed Russian leader Vladimir Putin that 28 towns and villages in Kursk Oblast were "under enemy control". Support UP or become our patron! Ukraine's Foreign Minister tells Borrell details of Ukraine's military operation in Kursk Oblast of Russia Ukraines Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has discussed arms production and the details of Ukraine's operation in Russia's Kursk Oblast with Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Source: Kuleba's post in X (Twitter), as reported by European Pravda Details: The minister said that in his conversation with Borrell, he focused on steps "to scale up Ukraine-EU cooperation in weapon manufacturing and delivery." "I also informed Josep about the details of Ukraines operation in the Kursk region," the minister added without elaborating. Background: Recently, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, confirmed for the first time that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are conducting an offensive in Russia's Kursk Oblast. Syrskyi reported at a meeting of the Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have taken control of about 1,000 square kilometres of Russian territory. The Pentagon said that Ukraine's advance in Kursk Oblast aligns with US policy and that it is not concerned about a possible increase in tensions with Russia. On 13 August, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, informed Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, that Ukraines defence forces were in control of 74 settlements in Russias Kursk Oblast. Support UP or become our patron Ukraine's Foreign Ministry says severance of diplomatic relations with Mali and Niger won't affect relations with other African countries Mali and Nigers decision to sever diplomatic relations with Ukraine will not significantly affect Ukraines relations with other African countries. Source: Heorhii Tykhyi, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, during a briefing on 13 August, as reported by Interfax-Ukraine Quote from Tykhyi: "I would like to stress that these two decisions [concerning the severing of diplomatic ties with Ukraine by Mali and Niger ed.] will not significantly affect Ukraines relations with African countries. Its a separate group of countries that have acted the way they had chosen to act. Despite their actions, Ukraine is continuing to actively pursue its strategy in Africa." Details: Tykhyi said that Mali and Nigers decisions have not affected Ukraines talks with Malawi, Zambia and Mauritius, which Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba visited during his fourth trip to Africa in his post. According to Tykhyi, Russias influences can be seen in statements issued by Mali and Niger. "We all understand perfectly well that these countries have ties to Russia and depend on Russia. Of course, we understand that these decisions werent taken by these countries entirely on their own." Background: On 6 August, Niger announced that it has severed diplomatic relations with Ukraine, following Malis decision. On 5 August, the Republic of Mali announced that it was severing diplomatic relations with Ukraine, citing Kyivs alleged support for Tuareg rebels who recently destroyed a convoy of Malian military and Russian Wagner Private Military Company mercenaries. Support UP or become our patron! The Russian army is not receiving enough new soldiers to keep up with losses at the front, which are the heaviest since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, Bloomberg reported on Aug. 13, citing undisclosed sources "close to the Kremlin and Russian Defense Ministry." The need to replenish the military reserve became more acute amid Ukraine's incursion in the border areas of Russia's Kursk and Belgorod oblasts. The situation may force Russia to consider a new mobilization, Bloomberg reported, citing two sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Officials may present it as a rotation to give the military on the front line a rest, and the draft could be announced by the end of this year, according to the sources. Regional officials are currently unable to meet more a third of their conscription quotas on average, a person familiar with the situation told the media outlet. The Ukrainian military launched a surprise incursion across the border into Kursk Oblast on Aug. 6, bringing regular Ukrainian forces into Russia for the first time. Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, reported that Ukrainian forces control around 1,000 square kilometers in Kursk Oblast. The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify this claim. Moscow's inability to quickly repel the Ukrainian attack and regain control of its border revealed a lack of available reserves, part of broader manpower strains felt accross the military. The deepening shortage of soldiers for the war in Ukraine is prompting Russia to raise conscripts' pay. Subscribe to newsletter War Notes Subscribe Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on July 31 ordered an increase in the sign-on bonus for new military recruits to serve in Ukraine to 400,000 rubles (over $4,600). The presidential decree effectively doubled the lump-sum payment of 195,000 ($2,260) rubles initially promised to recruits in September 2022. The increased bonus will be eligible for all Russian citizens and foreigners who signed up for one-year service between Aug. 1 and the end of 2024. The document says the payment is intended to provide "additional means of social support" for soldiers and their families. It also recommends that Russian occupation authorities in Ukraine offer an additional sum of 400,000 rubles. Regional authorities across Russia have already begun offering other financial incentives for potential recruits. The pressure to fill recruitment quotas is so intense that rich regions are luring people from poorer regions to sign contracts with them so they can claim more significant bonuses, one of the sources said. Some regions are seeking subsidies from the government to help them fulfil Putin's demand because they cannot raise money locally, an official familiar with the situation said. The scale of Russian losses and insufficient replacement rates are making it increasingly difficult to maintain the current strategy of slowly reversing gains in Ukraine. Seizing Kyiv and other cities is no longer in discussion, as Russia does not have enough troops, the source told Bloomberg. The military's demand for men has also led to an accelerating wage race with businesses as the labor shortage in the Russian economy worsens. Read also: Media: More than 10,000 Russian soldiers prosecuted for refusing to fight in Ukraine Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Ukraine's offensive in Russia's Kursk Oblast has created "a real dilemma" for Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters in New Orleans on Aug. 13. Ukraine's surprise cross-border incursion into neighboring Kursk Oblast began on Aug. 6, and by Aug. 13, Ukraine said it controlled 74 settlements in the region. "It's creating a real dilemma for Putin, and we've been in direct contact, constant contact, with the Ukrainians," Biden said in his first public comments since Kyiv launched its offensive. "That's all I'm going to say about it while it's active." U.S. officials acknowledged that Washington did not know about Ukraine's incursion until after it happened, but said it was consistent with U.S. policy. According to U.S. Defense Department Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh, Ukraine is taking action "to protect themselves from attacks" and operating "within the U.S. policy of where they can operate our weapons, our systems, our capabilities." U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R) and Richard Blumenthal (D) expressed even stronger support for Ukraine's offensive, calling it "bold" and "brilliant" and urging Washington to lift all restrictions governing the Ukrainian military's use of U.S.-supplied weapons. Current U.S. policy grants Kyiv limited permission to use certain American arms to strike Russian targets near the country's border. Read also: Kursk incursion deals blow to Putins prestige marking first ground invasion of Russia since World War II Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. FILE PHOTO: Political advisor of Ukrainian President Podolyak speaks during an interview in Kyiv (Reuters) - Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Tuesday that Russia needs to be forced to participate in a summit on peace as it would not do so willingly. Podolyak told national TV that one of the methods of coercion is actions on the battlefield, referring to Ukraine's unprecedented cross-border incursion into Russia's Kursk region. "Simple calls to Russia do not work, only a set of coercive tools works," he said, meaning economic and diplomatic pressure as well. He added that by actions in Russia's border regions Ukraine was resolving the key issue of its own security. "This is destruction of war infrastructure and formation of so-called sanitary zones so that Russia cannot use there ... equipment that strikes deep into the territory of Ukraine," he said. A week after the launch of the incursion, Ukraine said it controls 74 Russian settlements and continues its advance. (Reporting by Yuliia Dysa; Editing by Sandra Maler) Ukrainian and Russian forces clashed 80 times today, nearly half of the clashes took place on Pokrovsk front Ukraine's General Staff Ukrainian and Russian forces clashed 80 times since the beginning of the day, as of 16:00 on 13 August, with nearly half of the clashes taking place on the Pokrovsk front in Donetsk Oblast Source: a report by General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as of 16:00 on 13 August Quote from the General Staff: "Russian occupiers are continuing to assault the positions of Ukrainian defenders. A total of 80 combat clashes took place since the beginning of the day. Nearly half of them occurred on the Pokrovsk front." Details: The General Staff reported that Russian forces shelled villages near the Ukrainian-Russian border in Sumy and Chernihiv Oblast. The majority of Russian assaults are taking place on the Pokrovsk front in the east of Ukraine. "The Russians undertook assault operations in the vicinity of Sukha Balka, Vozdvyzhenka, Novooleksandrivka, Yelyzavetivka, Zelene Pole, Malynivka, Hrodivka, Zhelanne and Skuchne. [Ukraines] defence forces are holding the Russian forces back and have repelled 22 assaults; 14 combat clashes are still ongoing. [Russias] losses on this front are still being confirmed. [Russian forces] also carried out four airstrikes on Oleksandropil and Hrodivka," the General Staff report reads. Support UP or become our patron! Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks at a press conference in the Miraflores presidential palace three days after his controversial re-election. Jeampier Arguinzones/dpa At least 1,260 people, including more than 100 minors, have been detained in Venezuela's post-election turmoil, while 23 deaths have been recorded, the UN Human Rights Council has reported. The figures come from an UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission to Venezuela and cover the period from July 28, when the South American country held its disputed election, to August 8. "Street protests, as well as criticism on social media, in the weeks following the election have been met with fierce repression by the State, as directed by its highest authorities, inducing a climate of widespread fear," a statement from the council said on Monday. The council described the detentions as "arbitrary" and noted that parents have not been allowed to accompany their children at court proceedings. Of the 23 people who, according to the UN, died in connection with the protests, 18 were young men under 30 years old. The vast majority of them were killed by gunfire. President Nicolas Maduro, who has been in power since 2013, was declared the winner of last month's poll by the country's election authority, which is seen as loyal to Maduro. The opposition accuses the government of election fraud and claims victory for their candidate Edmundo Gonzalez. Several countries, including the United States, have recognized Gonzalez as the rightful winner of the election. Lawmaker Diosdado Cabello stands next to an image of late President Hugo Chavez in Congress as the National Assembly debates a bill that controls and regulates NGOs, in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) MIAMI (AP) A panel of experts from the United Nations said Venezuela's recent presidential elections lacked basic transparency and integrity, adding an important voice to those who have cast doubt on President Nicolas Maduro's claim he won the contest. A four-member team sent by U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres was in Caracas for over a month in the run up to the July 28 election, one of the few independent outside observers invited by Maduro's government. While the U.N. group praised the logistic organization of the voting, it harshly criticized the National Electoral Council, or CNE, for flouting local rules and announcing Maduro the winner without tabulated results from each of the 30,000 polling booths nationwide, something it said had no precedent in contemporary democratic elections. This had a negative impact on confidence in the outcome announced by the CNE among a large part of the Venezuelan electorate, the U.N. experts said in a statement late Tuesday. The U.N. statement follows criticism by another invited observer, the Atlanta-based Carter Center, which said it could not verify the CNE's results. Venezuela's foreign minister has blasted the Carter Center, accusing it of lying and servings as a tool of U.S. imperialism. While the U.N. team stopped short of validating claims by the opposition that its candidate, former diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez, trounced Maduro by a more than 2-to-1 margin, it said that the voting records the anti-Maduro coalition published online appeared to exhibit all of the original security features. This suggests a key transparency safeguard may be available, as intended, with respect to any officially released results, the experts added, noting that electoral authorities failed to meet with the group prior to the mission's departure from Venezuela five days after voting. Since the election, security forces have arrested more than 2,000 people for demonstrating against Maduro or casting doubt on his claims that he won a third term. Separately on Tuesday, the U.N.'s top human rights official expressed concern over the arbitrary detentions and disproportionate use of force in Venezuela as part of the crackdown. It is especially troubling that so many people are being detained, accused or charged either with incitement to hatred or under counterterrorism legislation," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a statement. Criminal law must never be used to limit unduly the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association. Turk's comments come as Venezuela's opposition gears up for a demonstration Saturday that it hopes will increase pressure on Maduro to recognize defeat and negotiate a political transition. If Maduro makes a realistic evaluation of his options, he'll understand that digging in is not sustainable, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado told journalists Tuesday. Machado, who anointed previously unknown retired diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez as her stand-in once she was banned from running in the presidential campaign, spoke to journalists at a virtual press conference from an undisclosed location due to safety concerns. In her comments, she tried to temper expectations for a quick resolution of the political crisis. Nobody knows how long it will take, but without a doubt there are painful days that await us, Machado said. The U.N. human rights office said that in most of the cases it has documented, detainees haven't been allowed to appoint lawyers of their choice or have contact with their families. Some of these cases would amount to enforced disappearances, it said. Turk called for "the immediate release of everyone who has been arbitrarily detained, and for fair trial guarantees for all detainees. He added that the disproportionate use of force by law enforcement officials and the attacks on demonstrators by armed individuals supporting the government, some resulting in deaths, must not be repeated. Turk also noted there have been reports of violence against public officials and public buildings by some demonstrators and said violence is never the answer. On Monday, International Criminal Court prosecutors said they are actively monitoring events in Venezuela. ___ AP Writer Astrid Suarez in Bogota, Colombia, contributed to this report. Follow APs coverage of Venezuela at https://apnews.com/hub/venezuela UNC Charlotte closes three offices related to DEI programs following new system-wide policy UNC Charlotte closes three offices related to DEI programs following new system-wide policy CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) A vote to replace the UNC Systems Policy on Diversity and Inclusion has led to employee changes on the UNC Charlotte campus. The university revealed this month that three Diversity and Inclusion-related offices closed, leading to11 employees being reassigned following the May 23 vote. None of them lost their employment at UNC Charlotte. In a letter to the campus community on Aug. 8, school officials said the offices affected were the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the Office of Identity, Equity and Engagement, and the Office of Academic Diversity and Inclusion. And faculty members who held additional duties within these offices no longer have those responsibilities. Charlotte IHOP ordered to pay $40,000 from EEOC lawsuit over employees religious beliefs UNC Charlotte remains committed to upholding its core values of fairness, academic excellence and student success, the letter says. Our goal is to create an environment where every individual, no matter their background, is welcomed and supported. We take great pride in all who make UNC Charlotte their home, and we are committed to ensuring our campus is a place where everyone can thrive and feel valued. The new UNC System policy takes the following current legal and policy requirements and applies them to offices and roles. Those three requirements are: Institutional Neutrality: No office or role within UNC institutions may be organized or operated on matters of contemporary political debate or social action. Prohibition of Compelled Speech: No office or role may endorse or express opinions about beliefs, affiliations, ideals or principles regarding contemporary political debate or social action. Prohibition of Promoting Certain Concepts: No office or role within system institutions may be organized or operated to promote a list of concepts. Additionally, individuals are not permitted to speak on behalf of the university, or contract with third parties to provide training or consulting services, in a manner that violates any of these three requirements. However, students who are not employees and student organizations are not subject to the policy. During the vote to change the policy, two board members from Charlotte, Joel Ford and Sonja Philipps Nichols, were the only ones to dissent. All institutions must certify their compliance with this new policy by Sept. 1. The first day of classes at UNC Charlotte is Aug. 19. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. VILLA GROVE, Ill. (WCIA) One of the most famous train engines in the United States will pass through Central Illinois next month. Union Pacific is sending its Big Boy engine the worlds largest operational steam locomotive on a tour across 10 states, including Illinois. The best chance to see the Big Boy up close will be in the Northern Illinois town of Rochelle on Sept. 8, but there will be whistle stops and other viewing opportunities in East-Central Illinois. Crumbl Cookies opening Champaign location The Big Boy will arrive in the area on Sept. 9. A schedule Union Pacific posted online shows the locomotive is expected leave Rochelle that day, arrive in Watseka at 5 p.m. and leave 30 minutes later. Traveling south, the Big Boy will make an overnight stop in Villa Grove, with village officials saying it should arrive around 7 p.m. Were excited to have this piece of history stopping in our community, Villa Grove Fire and Rescue said on their Facebook page. The train is expected to leave Villa Grove the following morning at 9 a.m., stopping in Nokomis around 12:15 p.m. on its way to St. Louis. Central Illinois drivers reminded to travel safely in school zones Union Pacific said the overnight stop in Villa Grove will not be open to the public, and anyone who is caught accessing the Big Boys overnight location will be treated as a trespasser. Union Pacific also reminded that whenever the Big Boy is in motion, people should stay at least 25 feet away from the tracks. Live tracking of the Big Boy can be found by clicking here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com. The United Auto Workers announced Tuesday that it filed federal labor charges against former President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk over remarks they made about intimidating workers attempting to strike or organize during a livestream on X the previous night. When we say Donald Trump is a scab, this is what we mean, UAW President Shawn Fain said in a press release. When we say Trump stands against everything our union stands for, this is what we mean. Fain added that Trump will always side against workers standing up for themselves, and he will always side with billionaires like Elon Musk. Both men, he charged, want working-class people to sit down and shut up, and they laugh about it openly. Its disgusting, illegal and totally predictable from these two clowns. The unions unfair labor complaints against the Trump campaign and Tesla Inc. were filed with the National Labor Relations Board after Trump appeared to praise Musk for his union busting tactics. Well, youre the greatest cutter, Trump told Musk, who chuckled as he spoke. I mean, I look at what you do. You walk in and you just say, You want to quit? They go on strike. I wont mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, That's okay. You're all gone. Youre all gone. Musk Claims Hackers Turned Trumps X Interview Into Disaster Firing or threatening to fire striking workers is a violation of the National Labor Relations Act. It wasnt immediately clear which workers Trump was referring to; Musk owns X and is the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla. The NLRB said it would investigate the allegations, according to the Associated Press. In a statement to the wire, Trump campaign senior advisor Brian Hughes called the complaints frivolous and a shameless political stunt. Musk, who has endorsed Trump and has said he will donate to his campaign, interviewed the former president for two meandering hours on X Spaces on Monday. After troubleshooting a number of technical issues he later baselessly attributed to hackers, Musks interview reached an audience of more than one million people. The UAW has encouraged its nearly 400,000 automobile, aerospace, and agriculture workers to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris for president, offering her its endorsement late last month. Fain joined Harris and running mate Gov. Tim Walz at a Michigan rally last week, and released a video on Monday accusing Trump of being all talk and no action on labor issues. But Kamala Harris has delivered for autoworkers, he said. Trump, who blasted Fain for the unions prior endorsement of President Joe Biden, called the union leader a stupid person for his support of Harris over the weekend. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. By Daren Butler ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The United States is asking Turkey and other allies that have ties with Iran to persuade it to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey said. Ambassador Jeff Flake made the comments as the region braces for possible attacks by Iran and its allies after the killing of senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah. Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Iran-backed Hamas, was assassinated in the Iranian capital Tehran on July 31, triggering threats of revenge by Iran against Israel, which is fighting the Palestinian Islamist group in Gaza. Iran blamed Israel for the killing. Israel has not claimed responsibility. "We ask all of our allies that have any relations with Iran to prevail on them to de-escalate, and that includes Turkey," Flake said at a round-table with journalists in Istanbul as he comes to the end of his posting in Turkey. "They're doing what they can to make sure that it doesn't escalate," he said of Washington's Turkish interlocutors, adding that they "seem more confident than we are that it won't escalate". U.S.-Turkey ties have been strained in recent years by the U.S. alliance with Syrian Kurds that Turkey deems terrorists, and over Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 defences that prompted U.S. sanctions and removal from a F-35 jet programme. However, Flake said that he thought U.S.-Turkey relations are now "in a better place than we've been in a while." He noted the "useful role" that Turkey had played in what was the biggest prisoner exchange between the United States and Russia since the Cold War in Ankara at the start of August. "They weren't involved in the negotiation side, but on the logistics side, they played a significant role," he said. In an interview with Reuters in June, Flake had said that Turkey remained firmly anchored in the West and its partnership with the United States has never been stronger. But Flake said on Monday that the Gaza situation had been "very difficult", with President Tayyip Erdogan's rhetoric against Israel making it difficult for Turkey to play a role as an interlocutor. He said the divide between Ankara and Washington on Gaza had narrowed after Washington started "actively calling" for a ceasefire, but friction remained. Separately, Flake said the United States was still concerned about military-linked hardware going to Russia from Turkey, calling on Ankara to step up cooperation to prevent the exports. "It remains a concern of ours, and we raise it frequently and consistently," he said. "When we talk to our contacts here, what we'll stress is that our goal is to ensure that Russia is denied the ability to wage war." "We still see significant items coming through Turkey," he said. "So we're looking for better cooperation there and in many ways we're getting it. I know that Russia is complaining, which is a good sign." (Reporting by Daren Butler; Editing by Ros Russell) JONESBOROUGH, Tenn. (WJHL) Staff from several regional United Way non-profit branches gathered on Tuesday to kick off the organizations annual fundraising campaign. Workers from the United Ways of Kingsport, Bristol TN/VA, Greene County, the East Tenn. Highlands and Hawkins County all gathered at Grace Meadows Farm in Jonesborough for the event. A news release from United Way said this years theme is United We Thrive. News Channel 11s Sara Diamond served as the emcee for the kickoff. Leslie Dalton, CEO of the United Way of the East Tennessee Highlands, said six total United Way groups in the region serve area residents in need of a hand. Golf cart maker to add 150 jobs in Johnson City Were individualized in the communities, she said. Thats why you have six representing the region because our communities have different needs, they have different non-profits that meet those needs, and so we want to make sure that were specifically meeting the needs of that community. Dalton said the collective goal for this years United Way campaign is to raise $5.5 million, which will all be used to provide outreach and resources to local families. Our collective goal is $5.5 million, thats six United Ways in Northeast Tennessee. Our local goal is a million [for East Tenn. Highlands branch], and so if we can hit the $5.5 million that we did last year, well be able to serve 175,000 people in our community. Dalton noted that most people arent able to live comfortably with the state of the economy and other factors, so help from non-profits is vital to our communities. Especially with the economy and things, a lot of people are just surviving, and we dont feel like thats fair. We want everybody to have that opportunity to thrive, and so we do that through programs supported by United Way. The local United Ways run on donations and volunteer time. They provide funding and numerous resources to other non-profit programs with boots on the ground in local communities. So if somebody wants to help with that, and really give to the community in a holistic way in multiple areas, not just one single area, they can give to the United Way; they can get involved with their business or they can get involved as an individual whatever works best for them, Dalton said. For more information on how to donate or get involved with your local United Way organization, visit UnitedWay.org. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather. The University of Florida board of trustees on Monday unanimously approved the use of $25 million in overhead cost savings to create a pool of funds for faculty and staff raises. According to a news release from the university, the funds will go toward a 4% merit raise pool for out-of-unit faculty and a 3.75% merit raise pool for staff. I asked the university to find savings of $25 million that we would then invest in our faculty, board Chairman Mori Hosseini said, according to the release. As a result of our $25 million in overhead savings, our states generous investment in the University of Florida, and our continued focus on making sure our faculty and staff are taken care of, we approved historic merit raise pools for our faculty and staff. This is the largest raise pool in at least the past 20 years. More: LEGO-loving University of Florida researcher helps fuel Mars mission Interim President Kent Fuchs said it's important that the faculty and staff "know that we care about their hard work and what they do each day for our university." "As we look forward to the fall semester, there is a sense of excitement about our work to make sure that we elevate this great university," Fuchs said in the release. In addition to the raises, the board approved a one-time $10,000 bonus to faculty who receive an exceeds expectations rating in their post-tenure review evaluations. We always want to recognize those that go over and above, Hosseini said. "... We are very proud of our faculty and thrilled to be able to provide these bonuses. We truly prioritize our people. The raise pools will become effective Oct. 1; raises for union faculty will need to be bargained. The faculty bonuses also will begin Oct. 1. This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: UF board of trustees approves raises for faculty and staff The University of Floridas student newspaper reported this week that former university President Ben Sasse spent millions of the schools money to hire GOP political allies. Sasse, a former Republican U.S. Senator from Nebraska, gave several one-time Senate staff members and other GOP officials lucrative remote positions at UF, according to records obtained by the Independent Florida Alligator. Among the Senate staffers who joined him at UF are his former chief of staff, Raymond Sass; his former communications director, James Wegmann; his former press secretary, Taylor Silva; and three other former staffers. Both Sass and Wegmann worked remotely from the Washington D.C. area. Sass salary, at $396,000, was more than double his Senate salary. Wegmanns new position at UF earned him $432,000, while his predecessor in the position had made $270,000. The hirings contributed to a $4.3 million increase in presidential salary expenses, part of a tripling of his offices spending compared to what his predecessor, Kent Fuchs, spent during his last year in office, the Alligator reported. Sasses office employed more than 30 staff members, while Fuchs had fewer than 10. Sasse also hired former Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn, who worked remotely from Nashville, in a newly-created position that paid a starting salary of $367,500 and U.S. Senator Lindsey Grahams former scheduler, Alice James Burns, who also worked remotely and was paid $205,000. A report obtained by the Alligator says Sasse spent over $20,000 flying his employees to UF between April 29 and July 29. The only hire who lives in Florida received a $15,000 stipend to relocate to Gainesville. UF hasnt responded to requests from the Alligator for a complete log of Sasses travel expenses. His travel expenses rose to $633,000 over his first full fiscal year, more than Fuchs spent on travel in eight years. He also spent $7.2 million on consulting contracts, nearly two-thirds of which went to consulting giant McKinsey and Company, where he used to work as an advisor on an hourly contract. This amounts to more than 40 times what Fuchs spent on consulting in eight years. Sasse abruptly resigned at the end of July, citing his wifes failing health. The Alligator says the university did not respond to questions about what would happen to the hires now that Sasse is gone. Fuchs has returned as interim president until the UF Board of Trustees can hire a permanent replacement for Sasse. Sasses hiring by the Board in 2022 resulted in the UF Faculty Senate passing a no confidence resolution in Sasses presidential search process due to transparency issues. Legislation passed by Floridas GOP-controlled legislature earlier in 2022 made records relating to public university presidential searches exempt from Floridas open public meetings and public records requirements. His appointment by the board of trustees also generated controversy among parts of the student body, especially the LGBTQ+ community, for political positions Sasse had taken while in the Senate. _____ UNLV reopens Beam Hall with $38M security upgrades after shooting LAS VEGAS (KLAS) The site of a tragic shooting at UNLV last year reopened to the public Tuesday morning with new security features. It comes eight months after a shooter disgruntled over being rejected for a job killed three faculty members and left a fourth injured in Frank and Estella Beam Hall during a campus shooting on Dec. 6, 2023. The building houses faculty offices and the business school. In a Tuesday morning tour, Musa Pam associate vice president of facilities management called the upgrade efforts herculean as they spanned damages mostly found inside Beam Hall and those in other buildings caused by police response. What could have been a trigger for people to be able to see damage and what have you, those fears have been allayed, Pam said Tuesday morning, standing in the buildings lobby. The building was closed while it underwent the following repairs and security enhancements. More than 130 damaged doors in Beam Hall and 350 doors in other buildings were replaced Damaged fire alarms were replaced Five 360-degree surveillance cameras were installed in elevator lobbies on all five floors as part of a pilot program. More could be added to other buildings in the future Access to the third, fourth, and fifth floors where faculty offices are located via stairwells and elevators will require a card or key A security desk was added to the first-floor atrium and will be staffed by an armed security guard throughout the fall semester. Another armed security guard will patrol the other floors and building perimeter New telephones were installed in every Beam Hall classroom with enhanced emergency notification capabilities When students step back onto campus at the end of August, Arnold Vasquez interim director of university police services said to expect an increase in patrol as well. We have built out the ability to respond in a situation like that with additional training and additional training instructors from our own department, Vasquez said Tuesday morning, standing in the buildings lobby. President Dr. Keith Whitfield hopes the $38 million worth of upgrades creates the perception of safety, adding that these improvements are a test case for the implication to other campus buildings. Lets make sure that were not spending a bunch of money on things that may not be as effective as we think they are, Whitfield said Tuesday morning, standing inside the buildings lobby. There are a couple of committees talking about different things we can do in terms of different buildings feeling safe. Its just, we have a lot of buildings on this campus. UNLV will host 160 classes in Beam Hall, about half of what it would typically offer in the fall semester. Additional sections of each class offered in Beam Hall will also be offered in other campus locations. Classes begin on Aug. 26. Using a proximity card or key to access the elevators or stairwells is among the new safety measures implemented in Beam Hall. (Credit: UNLV) | August 6, 2024 (Becca Schwartz\UNLV) The interior of the building was repainted and the landscaping was refreshed. The improvements are all part of the Rebel Recovery effort which was designed to help the campus community cope with the tragic shooting and aftermath. Pam pointed out that UNLV applied lessons learned from campus shootings at Michigan State and Virginia Tech. Students are encouraged to download the RebelSAFE mobile app which is an emergency notification system. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS. UPDATED: Sunnyland man suffered serious injuries in Sunday beating; one in custody WASHINGTON, Ill. (WMBD) A 33-year-old Washington man has been arrested in connection with an aggravated battery that took place Sunday in Sunnyland, police there say. Kyle S. Peterson was arrested and taken to the Tazewell County Jail Monday on the single charge of aggravated battery in connection with the incident in the 2200 block of Northridge Lane. Man in hours-long standoff now at County Jail According to Washington police, members of the Central Illinois Emergency Response Team a SWAT unit staffed by members from several area departments raided the home at about 9 a.m. Monday. The unit and others were called out there to execute a search warrant in connection with an alleged incident that occurred a day before, on Sunday. Police Chief Mike McCoy said the victim, an adult male, was beat up. He declined to give more details but did say that victim was hospitalized Tuesday afternoon with serious injuries. The department declined to release more information, referring all calls to the Tazewell County States Attorneys office. This story will be updated. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CIProud.com. WASHINGTON (AP) The U.S. has approved $20 billion in arms sales to Israel, including scores of fighter jets and advanced air-to-air missiles, the State Department announced Tuesday. Congress was notified of the impending sale, which includes more than 50 F-15 fighter jets, Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles, or AMRAAMs, 120 mm tank ammunition and high explosive mortars and tactical vehicles and comes at a time of intense concern that Israel may become involved in a wider Middle East war. However, the weapons are not expected to get to Israel anytime soon, they are contracts that will take years to fulfill. Much of what is being sold is to help Israel increase its military capability in the long term, the earliest systems being delivered under the contract aren't expected until the 2026 timeframe. The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to U.S. national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability. This proposed sale is consistent with those objectives, the State Department said in a release on the sale. The Biden administration has had to balance its continued support for Israel with a growing number of calls from lawmakers and the U.S. public to curb military support there due to the high number of civilian deaths in Gaza. It has curbed one delivery of 2,000-pound weapons amid continued airstrikes by Israel in densely populated civilian areas in Gaza. The contracts will cover not only the sale of new 50 aircraft to be produced by Boeing. It will also include upgrade kits for Israel to modify its existing fleet of two dozen F-15 fighter jets with new engines and radars, among other upgrades. The jets comprise the biggest portion of the $20 billion in sales with the first deliveries expected in 2029. FILE PHOTO: The U.S. Department of Justice Building is pictured By Jasper Ward WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Army intelligence analyst on Tuesday pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to sell military secrets to China, the Department of Justice said. Korbein Schultz was charged in March with conspiracy to disclose national defense information, exporting defense articles and technical data without a license, and bribery of a public official. Schultz, who held top secret clearance, conspired with an individual who lived in Hong Kong, whom he suspected of being associated with the Chinese government, to collect national defense information, including classified information and export-controlled technical data related to U.S. military weapons systems, in exchange for money, according to charging and plea documents. "Governments like China are aggressively targeting our military personnel and national security information and we will do everything in our power to ensure that information is safeguarded from hostile foreign governments," FBI Executive Assistant Director Robert Wells said in a statement. Before he was arrested, he sent dozens of sensitive and restricted - but unclassified - military documents, the Department of Justice said. A document discussing the lessons learned by the Army from the Russia-Ukraine war that it would apply in a defense of Taiwan, documents relating to Chinese military tactics, and a document relating to U.S. military satellites were among the items collected and sent by Schultz. Schultz was paid approximately $42,000 for the information, according to the department. "By conspiring to transmit national defense information to a person living outside the United States, this defendant callously put our national security at risk to cash in on the trust our military placed in him," Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen said. Schultz is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 23, 2025. (Reporting by Jasper Ward; Editing by Sandra Maler) Oh, to be a fly on the wall. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, appointed by President Joe Biden, was in Boise on Tuesday and met with the four police chiefs of the Treasure Valley, Ada and Canyon County sheriffs and two Idaho State Police leaders. Garland, introduced by Idahos U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit, was accompanied by U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, an Idaho native, along with representatives of an alphabet soup of federal agencies: ATF, DEA, FBI, IRS, etc. Notably absent was Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador or anyone from Gov. Brad Littles office. Also notably absent was diversity. Other than Prelogar and FBI special agent Kathryn Miller, the table was populated by white men. A gaggle of journalists, myself included, waited for more than an hour in the conference room of the U.S. Attorneys Office, waiting to hear eight minutes of talking points by Garland before being escorted out of the room, like a bunch of kids sent to their rooms while the adults did some grown-up talk. No questions. I would have loved to have stuck around to hear the conversation after we left the room. Canyon County Sheriff Kieran Donahue, for one, has never been complimentary about this administration and has been critical of what he sees as a lack of effort to stem the flow of fentanyl from the southern border. As it was, the group met with Garland for only about 45 minutes before Garland went into meetings with senior leadership and employees in the U.S. Attorneys Office. Ada County Sheriff Matt Clifford told me after the meeting that the discussion did, indeed, focus on fentanyl and that Garland was receptive and understanding. I was pleasantly surprised that he was very receptive to our concerns, Clifford told me in a phone interview. His response was very agreeable. He recognized, Yep, this is a problem, this is a scourge in our communities, this is a big deal in our entire country. And he recognized the problem is coming up from Mexico and the southern border. He seemed to have a grasp on the scope of the problem. Clifford said Garland shared that hes been to the border many times and acknowledged that the cartels in Mexico smuggling drugs into the U.S. are out of control and the root of the problem. U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland meets with federal, state and local law enforcement leaders Tuesday during a visit to Boise. Even though reporters werent allowed to listen in on the discussion with law enforcement, its not every day you have the U.S. attorney general visit Boise, so heres what he said to the press. The Justice Department is working in Idaho and across the country to arrest violent felons, to seize and trace guns used in violent crime, to disrupt violent drug trafficking, and to prosecute the individuals and the gangs most responsible for the highest degree of violence, Garland said in his brief remarks for the benefit of the media. That includes confronting the fentanyl epidemic, which, in my view, is the deadliest threat from a drug that we have ever faced in this country. Garland went on to cite the decline in crime rates: a 15% drop in murders in Idaho, one of the lowest violent crime rates nationally in 50 years, and the largest decline in homicides nationally in 50 years. But I know that progress is not even and, in many communities, its still not been reached, Garland said. And in any event, there is no acceptable level of violent crime. Garland also highlighted some recent arrests and prison terms secured by the Attorneys Office, in partnership with various law enforcement agencies: a 10-year sentence for the fifth defendant involved in a drug trafficking conspiracy to distribute over 7,000 fentanyl pills in the Magic Valley; a seven-year sentence for a defendant who sold lethal fentanyl pills to his coworker who died as a result; prosecution of two traffickers responsible for distributing methamphetamine and fentanyl in East Idaho; an 87-month sentence for a convicted domestic abuser who unlawfully possessed five firearms, including an untraceable ghost gun; a seven-year sentence against a man who unlawfully trafficked in firearms, including a loaded Glock pistol with an illegal machine gun conversion device called a Glock switch, which is capable of firing more than 1,000 rounds per minute, making it highly lethal, not only to civilian victims, but to law enforcement, Garland said; the arrest of a man on charges of providing material support to the terrorist organization ISIS in a planned attack on churches in Coeur dAlene. These examples are just a snapshot of the work that this office is doing every single day on behalf of the people of Idaho, to fulfill the Justice Departments mission to keep our communities safe, to protect civil rights and to uphold the rule of law, Garland said. Im very proud of U.S. Attorney Hurwit and of all the men and women of the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Idaho, and Im equally proud of the partnerships that they have nurtured with the law enforcement agencies represented around this table who work every single day to keep the people of Idaho safe. Editors note: This column has been updated with comments from Ada County Sheriff Matt Clifford after the meeting. [Source] The U.S. has expanded its blacklist under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, banning imports from five additional Chinese companies accused of exploiting Uyghur forced labor in Xinjiang. The companies include (1) Hong Kong-based Rare Earth Magnesium Technology Group Holdings, (2) its parent Century Sunshine Group Holdings, (3) Xinjiang Habahe Ashele Copper Co., (4) Xinjiang Tengxiang Magnesium Products Co. and (5) Kashgar Construction Engineering (Group) Co. This move, targeting firms involved in industries such as magnesium production and nonferrous metal mining, is part of Washingtons broader effort to eliminate forced labor from its supply chain. China, meanwhile, denied the allegations. The so-called forced labor in Xinjiang is nothing but an egregious lie propagated by anti-China forces and a tool for U.S. politicians to destabilize Xinjiang and contain Chinas development, the Chinese Embassy in Washington said on Thursday. Download the NextShark App: Want to keep up to date on Asian American News? Download the NextShark App today! Updated Aug 13, 2024, 11:43am EDT North America The News Some Jewish organizations at US universities have voiced concern about the potential resumption of campus protests against Israels war in Gaza as the start of the academic year nears. Unless things change quickly I have zero doubt that things will go back to where they were last year, the director of the American Jewish Committees Center for Education Advocacy told The Times of Israel, which cited advocacy groups and activists to argue that many US universities are ill-prepared for more demonstrations and encampments. The end of the last academic year was marked by pro-Palestinian students opposition to the Gaza war, leading in some cases to mass arrests and police action, as well as the disruption of exams and commencement ceremonies. SIGNALS Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories. Universities are trying to prepare so are protestors Sources: The Harvard Crimson, CBS News, NPR Universities are preparing to deter would-be protesters: Harvard reportedly plans to ban overnight camping and unapproved signage, according to student newspaper The Harvard Crimson, and Columbia will restrict campus access to prevent disruptions. But pro-Palestinian students have also spent the summer strategizing to keep the momentum alive, employing organizing tactics such as holding remote meetings with activists. Were not just going to be copying encampment, encampment, encampment We will be doing whatever actions we choose, escalations if thats necessary, one organizer from Barnard College and Columbia told NPR. Other protesters plan to pursue a more diplomatic approach, and have practiced role-playing negotiations with campus administrators, the outlet reported. Most administrations deterrence policies are still unclear and vague Sources: Texas Tribune, Houston Chronicle, The New York Times Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order forcing publicly funded schools to penalize students perceived to have behaved in antisemitic ways. Pro-Palestinian groups criticized the order as an attack on freedom of speech, but many wont want to risk the possibility of being punished, a law professor told the Houston Chronicle. Most administrations however still have unclear, vague policies about what [students] can and cant say, a director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations argued. Last semester, campus administrators across the country failed to take decisive action early in the hope that the problem would go away, but it didnt, and wont, a lawyer wrote in The New York Times. The US and Cuba are at an impasse over expanding relations Months after the U.S. extended a series of olive branches to Cuba, Washington and Havana are saying the other needs to do more before additional progress can be made on repairing diplomatic ties. In May, the Biden administration allowed Cuban officials to visit Miami International Airport and tour the airports security facilities and removed Cuba from a list of countries that are not fully cooperating with U.S. antiterrorism efforts. The Treasury also implemented a 2022 rule granting Cuban entrepreneurs access to American banking services and financial platforms. These moves were some of the most significant overtures to Havana since the Obama administration but the White House says its not ready to go further. A senior administration official, granted anonymity to speak freely about U.S. policy, emphasized that a wide gap still exists between Washington and Havana on the Cuban governments human rights record that needs to be addressed before more happens. We haven't seen a willingness by the Cuban government to make a grander gesture that would result in a significant thaw in relations, the official said. Havana says that the ball is in Washingtons court. Cuban diplomats in Washington argue the Biden administration is capriciously relaxing restrictions that only impact a limited section of Cuban society. They have also voiced frustration that Washington is ignoring bigger sticking points in the bilateral relationship, namely Cubas designation as a state sponsor of terrorism. Cuba has relayed to the United States government via public and private channels that we are ready to sit down and discuss issues of bilateral importance that are priorities for both peoples, Lianys Torres Rivera, charge daffaires at Cubas embassy in Washington, said in an audio statement. And what we ask for is respect and non-interference in our domestic affairs. The impasse might squander one of the best windows to mend fences with Havana, as Democrats no longer seem worried that improving relations with Havana will carry a political cost for them in Florida. Historically, Democratic administrations avoided offering olive branches to Havana during a first term, wary of alienating the over one million Cuban exiles who live in electoral juggernaut Florida. But Cuban American voters have seen their influence on national conversations around policy towards the island diminish as Florida has increasingly supported Republican candidates and Democrats have prioritized pathways to victory running through Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina. Democrats have admitted as much. Harris campaign chair Jen OMalley Dillon said in an interview with Puck in June that the campaign does not see Florida as a battleground state, though campaign officials at the time quickly clarified that Florida was in play for President Biden and Democrats up and down the ballot and that the campaign continues to scale up our presence and investments into the state. And though some polling suggests Florida could be in play for Democrats, the Harris campaign excluded Florida from a list of target battleground states. I don't think the Democrats think that Florida is actually in play in 2024, said Fernand Amandi, a Cuban American pollster and strategist who worked on Obamas successful 2008 and 2012 campaigns in the state. They can act in what they think is the best interest of United States policy as opposed to political consequences in Florida or political considerations in Florida. Cuba also faces an unprecedented economic crisis that has driven hundreds of thousands to flee the island in recent years, exacerbating the White Houses migration woes as many Cuban migrants have opted in recent years to enter via the U.S. border with Mexico. Institutional headwinds have eased after Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) stepped down from his perch as Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair. But any expansion in cooperation with Cuba is considered a political minefield and fully mending fences with Havana would stir sharp outrage from Republicans, especially South Floridas Cuban American lawmakers who argue relaxing sanctions against Havana will allow it to continue its destabilizing activities in the region. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the son of Cuban immigrants and one of the Biden administrations sharpest critics on policy towards the island, said the administration was trying to lay the groundwork so that in the second term, they can align us closer to that regime, which is desperate for any sign of a lifeline. Still, progressives want President Joe Biden to go further, arguing the current policy isnt pushing Cuba closer to being a democracy that respects human rights. The status quo is not working, said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.). We're locked into this old Cold War type of approach that didn't work during the Cold War and we're still stuck with it because nobody wants to just rip the band aid off and say, you know, let's try something different here. Nahal Toosi contributed to this report. A version of this article previously appeared in POLITICO's National Security Daily newsletter. Like this content? Consider signing up! (Bloomberg) -- The US and Japan are very interested to help fund at least $15 billion worth of projects on the Philippines main island, in signs that enhanced security ties are leading to greater economic benefits, according to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.s investment czar. Most Read from Bloomberg The three nations will prioritize five major projects in the Luzon Economic Corridor plan which may well turn out to be Marcos flagship investment program, said Secretary Frederick Go who advises the president on the economy. The list includes a cargo rail linking Luzons major ports estimated at $11 billion and a renewable energy project, he said. We are reaping the benefits of closer defense ties with the US and other allies in terms of promoting investments, Go said in an interview Monday. The UK is also interested to help fund projects in the corridor, he added. The Philippines, which lags neighbors in attracting overseas investments due to infrastructure gaps and friction costs, is seeking to leverage stronger ties with the US and its allies under Marcos to help unlock economic benefits. The push comes as competition in the region intensifies, with Washington and other Western nations aiming to diversify supply chain sources and reduce their exposure to China. The plan to reinvigorate Luzon, the countrys main economic engine where the capital sits, was unveiled after US President Joe Biden met with leaders from Japan and the Philippines in April. The three allies are bolstering economic ties as their defense relations grow in the face of Beijings assertiveness in the region. The Philippines alliance with the US is expected to remain strong whoever wins the presidential race in November, Go said. The goal is to start the five Luzon corridor projects during Marcos term which ends in 2028, he added. Faster gross domestic product growth, possibly exceeding 7% annually is achievable in the next four years, said Go, as Marcos aspires to shift the economy from being consumption-led to one thats driven by investment. Catching up with neighbors in terms of investments has eluded many Philippine presidents. Whats different this time around, according to Go, is that the administration is capitalizing on Marcos foreign policy agenda to benefit the economy. Part of Gos task is to provide the follow-through thats needed to ensure that investment pledges actually materialize. This is why Im focusing on improving ease of doing business and reducing the cost of doing business because they are the key pillars to realizing an investment-led growth, said Go, who was president of Robinsons Land Corp. before taking on the government post. Some early signs are promising. Theres $1 billion in investment commitments from American businesses during a Biden-initiated trade mission in March. The nation also recently opened up more sectors for foreigners, including renewable energy. GDP expanded 6.3% last quarter, among the highest in Southeast Asia, as investments grew by double digits. Yet other growth drivers have been shaky, with consumption posting the slowest post-pandemic growth in the first two quarters and government spending hampered by limited fiscal space. Signs of strain in the economy are putting the onus on Marcos to lure more investments. One bright spot for investments is the Create More bill which seeks to reduce corporate income taxes and put policies including incentives at par with neighbors. Go is paying special attention to the electronics and semiconductor sector as it accounts for the countrys biggest goods exports. Hes hoping that Create More will usher in more investments in that area. We have to play in a field where we are good at, he said. At the same time, we should benchmark ourselves with the best in the world to become more competitive, he said. --With assistance from Manolo Serapio Jr., Cecilia Yap, Cliff Venzon and Ditas Lopez. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. The US naval presence around the Middle East is getting a firepower boost. Here are the warships already there and what's on the way. The US Navy has an assortment of warships in the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean. These assets were deployed to respond to various conflicts and crises and more are coming. Here are the warships in the area and what's coming, according to a US defense official. The US Navy is rapidly moving additional forces to the Middle East as the region remains on high alert, bracing for a potential attack on Israel by Iran and its proxies. Iranian officials have vowed to take revenge over the recent assassinations of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders both of which have been blamed on Israel and fears continue to grow that any retaliation from Tehran and its proxies could plunge the Middle East into more violence. Facing this possibility, the Pentagon has deployed several military assets to the Middle East this month to defend Israel and US troops in the region. Most recently, on Sunday, the secretary of defense, Lloyd Austin, directed a submarine to the Middle East and ordered a carrier strike group to accelerate its transit to the region. When these forces arrive on station, they're set to join a wide range of existing naval capabilities in the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean that were already deployed in response to various conflicts and crises. The following are the American warships already in the area and those on their way, a US defense official who spoke to Business Insider on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive force posture changes said Tuesday, adding that the Navy was "ready to respond to anything." Eastern Mediterranean An AH-1Z Viper and an MH-60S Sea Hawk near the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp as it transited the Strait of Gibraltar on June 26. US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Sydney Milligan The Wasp Amphibious Ready Group deployed in June and is operating in the Eastern Mediterranean, which falls under US European Command. Its arrival in the region came amid concerns over increasing hostilities between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah. The ARG consists of the multipurpose amphibious assault ship USS Wasp and its embarked 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, the dock landing ship USS Oak Hill, and the amphibious transport dock USS New York. Additionally, two destroyers the USS Bulkeley and the USS Roosevelt have been in the area for several weeks. A third destroyer, the USS Laboon, is in port at Souda Bay, a decades-old forward-operating station on the Greek island of Crete. Laboon spent months deployed off the coast of Yemen as part of the US response to Houthi attacks on merchant shipping lanes. Red Sea The Mk 45 gun system firing during a live-fire exercise aboard the destroyer USS Cole on July 19. US Navy photo The destroyer USS Cole is operating in the Red Sea, where the Navy has seen continuous conflict for months. Like the Laboon and a number of other American warships, the Cole has been involved in the Navy's ongoing counter-Houthi mission for several weeks. As part of this mission, this warship is tasked with defending commercial shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden both of which fall under US Central Command, or Centcom from missiles and drones launched by the Yemeni rebels. Gulf of Oman Sailors moving an F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet on the flight deck aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt on July 16. US Navy photo The Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group arrived in the Centcom region last month to replace the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, which spent months battling the Houthis but has since returned to the US. The strike group consists of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and four destroyers specifically the USS Michael Murphy, USS John S. McCain, USS Daniel Inouye, and USS Russell and is operating around the Gulf of Oman. Warships in transit A MH-60S Seahawk helicopter next to the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on August 2. US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Daniel Kimmelman Shortly after the back-to-back killings of a top Hezbollah commander in Beirut and Hamas' politician chief in Tehran two weeks ago that prompted calls for revenge in Iran, the US announced sweeping force posture changes in the Middle East. The Pentagon directed the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to replace the Roosevelt and its escort ships in the Centcom area of responsibility. The coming Lincoln strike group consists of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and the destroyers USS Spruance, USS Stockdale, USS Frank E. Petersen, and USS O'Kane. The strike group is still in the Philippine Sea, so it still has a ways to go before arriving in the Middle East. But Austin has ordered the Lincoln strike group to accelerate its transit to the region, where it'll add "to the capabilities already provided" by the Roosevelt strike group, the Pentagon has said. The defense secretary has also directed the guided-missile submarine USS Georgia to the Centcom area. The Ohio-class vessel is armed with more than 150 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles and was in the Mediterranean Sea as of July 31. The Pentagon press secretary, Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, told reporters at a briefing that as of Tuesday, the missile submarine had not yet arrived in the Centcom region. Read the original article on Business Insider US officials say its critical to reach ceasefire deal with Hamas WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) Time is running out, as President Joe Biden and U.S. officials warn Iran could attack Israel soon. Well see what Iran does and well see what happens if theres any attack, Biden said. They say its critical to reach a ceasefire deal with Hamas. It is time for the remaining hostages to be returned home. And that includes, of course, American citizens. It also has the potential to bring about much needed relief to the people of Gaza, State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said. The State Department says talks will resume Thursday, with the United States, Qatar, and Egypt acting as mediators to reach a deal between Israel and Hamas. So that hostages can be released, that we can use so we can see, an increase in humanitarian aid and, more broadly, create conditions for diplomacy to get the region out of this endless cycle of violence, Patel said. Iran rejected a request from European leaders to refrain from any form of retaliation, after the killing of Hamas political leader. The central conflict in the Middle East is not the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Its the conflict between Israel and Iran, Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) said. Torres worries the new Hamas leader will be less cooperative toward a ceasefire deal. Prospects for a ceasefire strike me as deeply pessimistic, Torres said. The Pentagon says the U.S. is doing everything possible to protect Israel and prevent any escalation. But our focus is on de-escalating tensions, working on enabling that ceasefire and getting these hostages returned home, Department of Defense Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said. Israel confirmed it will attend these negotiations on Thursday. Hamas participation is still in question. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJBF. US says it had no role in ousting of Bangladesh's Hasina By Kanishka Singh and Costas Pitas WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States had no role in ousting Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who recently quit her position and fled the South Asian nation, the White House said on Monday, calling allegations of U.S. interference "simply false." "We have had no involvement at all. Any reports or rumors that the United States government was involved in these events is simply false," White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said at a press briefing when asked about reported claims of U.S. involvement. A report in the Economic Times newspaper in India on Sunday had cited Hasina as accusing the U.S. of playing a role in ousting her because it wanted control over Bangladesh's Saint Martin island in the Bay of Bengal. The newspaper said Hasina had conveyed that message to it through her close associates. Hasina's son, Sajeeb Wazed, in a post on X on Sunday, said she never made any such statement. "We believe that the Bangladeshi people should determine the future of the Bangladeshi government and that's where we stand," the White House added. An interim government in Bangladesh, led by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, was sworn in on Thursday with the aim of holding elections in the Asian nation. Bangladesh was engulfed by demonstrations and violence after student protests last month against quotas that reserved a high portion of government jobs for certain groups escalated into a campaign to oust Hasina. She had won a fourth straight term in January in an election that the opposition boycotted and which the U.S. State Department said was not free and fair. Hasina went to New Delhi after leaving Bangladesh, ending her uninterrupted rule of 15 years. (Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Leslie Adler) US says it's preparing for 'significant' Iran attack on Israel as early as 'this week' The White House is warning that the United States assesses Iran could launch a retaliatory attack on Israel as early as "this week," and that the U.S. has to be prepared for an attack that could be "significant." The warning comes as the U.S. has bolstered its force posture in the Middle East and has been very public in announcing its military moves -- something U.S. officials say is intended to deter Iran from possibly attacking and de-escalate tensions in the region. That includes the Pentagon's announcement Sunday that the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln's arrival to the region was being "accelerated," as well as the rare public announcement that the guided missile submarine USS Georgia was being sent to the Middle East from its current deployment. PHOTO: The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln is underway conducting a composite training unit exercise, March 6, 2012. (Petty Officer 3rd Class Jerine Lee/U.S. Navy, FILE) US mounts pressure campaign aimed at limiting Iranian retaliation The U.S. assessment is in line with a reported Israeli assessment of a possible Iranian retaliatory attack as soon as this week, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Monday. "We share the same concerns and expectations that our Israeli counterparts have with respect to potential timing here, could be this week," Kirby said. "We have to be prepared for what could be a significant set of attacks," he added. A Hezbollah commander, Fouad Shukr, and a top Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, were killed in separate incidents last month. Israel took responsibility for the strike that killed Shukr but has not said if it was also behind the attack that killed Haniyeh in Tehran, which Iran has blamed on Israel. The recent assassinations of Shukr in Beirut and Haniyeh in Tehran have the Middle East on edge that Iran could retaliate against Israel by once again launching a strike toward Israel, as it did in mid-April. On Monday, President Joe Biden spoke with the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom to discuss the escalating tensions in the Middle East, and the increased force posture by the U.S. in the region. "The president is confident that we have the capability available to us to help defend Israel, should it come to that," Kirby said. PHOTO: White House national security communications adviser John Kirby speaks during a news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on July 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) "Nobody wants to see it come to that, which is why we continue to have these diplomatic conversations in earnest over the last few days to see what can be done to de-escalate this situation," he continued. U.S. officials told ABC News that the announcement about the USS Georgia's deployment was intended as a message of deterrence to Iran about the continued presence of the U.S. military in the region, and that the United States is capable of surging military resources as needed. In April, hundreds of Iranian drones and ballistic missiles were brought down by a combination of U.S. and Israeli aircraft, as well as Israeli and U.S. air defense systems, officials have said. Israel and the US prepare for 'series of scenarios,' including a potential Hezbollah attack Ahead of that attack, the U.S. had quietly moved in additional aircraft and vessels to the region to assist Israel. This time, the United States has been public in announcing it was sending an additional squadron of Air Force F-22 aircraft, carrier-based Navy F/A-18s to a base on land, and deploying additional destroyers and the Lincoln to the region. U.S. officials said the public announcements are intended to send a message to Iran that American military capabilities could be used against an Iranian attack. One U.S. official indicated the deployment of the USS Georgia -- and the 154 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles aboard -- also sends a strong message of significant offensive capability. PHOTO: Submarine USS Georgia is underway after a port visit to Naples, Italy, Aug. 22, 2009. (Petty Officer 1st Class John Parker/U.S. Navy, FILE) The Lincoln strike group is currently in the South China Sea and may take some time to arrive in the Middle East to replace the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, currently off the coast of Oman. One U.S. official said its arrival will give U.S. military planners more options for carrier operations as the situation develops in the coming weeks, which could impact whether there is a simple handoff or if both carriers end up operating in the region. "We obviously don't want to see Israel have to defend itself against another onslaught, like they did in April. But if that's what comes at them, we will continue to help them defend themselves," Kirby said. Israel-Gaza live updates: Netanyahu accuses official of 'anti-Israel narrative' On Monday, the State Department said it would continue its diplomatic push to encourage Iran to scale down any retaliation. "We continue to work diplomatically to prevent any major escalation in this conflict," deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said. "We obviously don't want to see any kind of attack or response happen in the first place." Multiple officials within the department say they are still cautiously optimistic Iran will limit the scope of its retaliation and hope it will avoid significant escalation out of concern it would disrupt cease-fire deal talks the U.S., Egypt and Qatar aim to relaunch on Thursday. A joint statement issued by the mediators last week urging both sides to return to the table was designed not only to pressure the parties involved but as a message to Iran that an agreement was in the offing and meant to persuade the country against military action that could scuttle a deal, according to an official. However, Hamas issued an announcement on Sunday saying it would not participate in the upcoming round of negotiations, casting significant doubt over whether talks would indeed resume. A public spat playing out between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over support for a hostage release and cease-fire deal also threatens to undercut messaging to Iran signaling that a deal was in reach. Despite the uncertainty, Patel said mediators "fully expect talks to move forward as they should" in order to "bring this deal to conclusion." US says it's preparing for 'significant' Iran attack on Israel as early as 'this week' originally appeared on abcnews.go.com US senator calls on retired F-16 pilots to come 'fight for freedom' in Ukraine after meeting with Zelenskyy US senator calls on retired F-16 pilots to come 'fight for freedom' in Ukraine after meeting with Zelenskyy Ukraine is finally operating F-16s, but President Zelenskyy said Kyiv lacks trained pilots. With this in mind, a US lawmaker is urging retired F-16 pilots from the West to go to Ukraine. "They will hire you here," Sen. Lindsey Graham said during a visit to Ukraine this week. A US senator who recently visited Ukraine has issued a call for retired F-16 pilots to join Kyiv's air force, where they can fly the American-made aircraft in a "fight for freedom" against Russia. Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal met on Monday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who told the lawmakers that he wants to establish a program to enlist retired F-16 pilots from NATO countries to help strengthen his country's air force. "We support this effort," the senators said in a joint statement on their trip published on Monday. "Ukraine is already fielding units of freedom fighters on the ground, and this volunteer force should be replicated in the air." After a long wait, Ukraine finally received its first F-16s a few weeks ago. Zelenskyy unveiled the fighter jets at a public event at the start of August, calling the much-celebrated arrival of the aircraft a "new phase of development" for Kyiv's air force. A Ukrainian F-16 is seen on the ground at an undisclosed location in Ukraine on August 4. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko But Ukraine didn't receive many F-16s in the initial delivery, and Zelenskyy has cautioned that the country lacks enough trained pilots to fly the aircraft. With this in mind, Graham, who served for years in the US Air Force, put out a call to Western pilots who have already received training on the fighter jet. "If you're a retired F-16 pilot and you're looking to fight for freedom, they will hire you here," the South Carolina senator said at a press conference during his visit to Ukraine. "They're going to look throughout NATO nations for willing fighter pilots who retired to come help them until they can get their pilots trained." "We're going to get these jets in the air sooner rather than later, and we are looking for pilots who are willing fight for freedom as the Ukrainians train their own pilots," he said. Western fighters, including veterans, have traveled to Ukraine to help support its efforts against Russia throughout the war, helping in training roles and front-line combat operations. Graham and Blumenthal are seeking to expand this aspect of the war into the skies now that Kyiv is finally operating Western aircraft. A Ukrainian F-16 takes off from an undisclosed location. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy via X Meanwhile, the two senators also called on the Biden administration to lift restrictions on Kyiv using US-provided weapons to strike inside Russian territory, especially long-range missiles. Ukrainian officials have long pressed Washington to drop these restrictions, which Kyiv argues have prevented its military from effectively battling back Moscow's forces. During his nightly address to the nation on Monday, Zelenskyy shared that he had discussed these efforts with the US senators. "I expressed my gratitude to America for its support in our defense," Zelenskyy said of his meeting with Graham and Blumenthal. "It is crucial that both Ukrainians and Americans emerge truly victorious in this shared defense of a normal life and people's freedom." "We discussed what is specifically needed to bring this war to a just end," he added, saying he "thoroughly explained our need for long-range capabilities." Read the original article on Business Insider A bipartisan delegation from the United States has supported the actions of the Ukrainian defence forces in Russias Kursk Oblast and called the operation "historic" and hopeful during an official visit to Kyiv. Source: European Pravda, citing Radio Svoboda Quote from Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal: "Today is one of hope more hope than Ive seen in any of the trips Ive been here. The breakthrough in Kursk on that front is historic. It is a seismic breakthrough. Good news, big news, promising even more potential breakthroughs" He went on to say that the main news is that Ukraine is in Russia and is moving the fight to the territory of Russia. Details: He is convinced that such actions by the Armed Forces of Ukraine will force Russia to move troops to Kursk from other parts of the line of contact. Quote from Republican Senator Lindsey Graham: "What do I think about [the situation in] Kursk? Bold, brilliant, beautiful. Keep it up! Putin started this; kick his ass." Details: The two senators called on the Joe Biden administration to cancel restrictions on the use of US weapons provided to Ukraine. Quote from Lindsey Graham: "Let these people fight. Give them the weapons they need to win the war they cant afford to lose." Graham also spoke about the F-16s, saying theyve been a long time coming and now that they're in Ukraine, they should be used and that Ukrainian pilots should be trained in their use. Background: Recently, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, confirmed for the first time that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are conducting an offensive in Russia's Kursk Oblast. Oleksandr Syrskyi reported at a meeting of the Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have taken control of about 1,000 square kilometres of Russian territory. The Pentagon has previously said that Ukraine's advance in Kursk Oblast aligns with US policy and that it is not concerned about a possible increase in tensions with Russia. Support UP or become our patron! The US State Department approved potential weapons sales to Israel totaling roughly $20 billion on Tuesday, including an anticipated sale of up to 50 F-15 fighter jets valued at more than $18 billion. The F-15 sale is believed to be the biggest weapons package for Israel and was announced alongside approved potential sales of medium tactical vehicles, medium-range air-to-air missiles, high-explosive mortar cartridges and tank cartridges. The notification of the State Department approval of those sales went to Congress on Tuesday, news releases from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said. Weapons sales must be approved by Congress. In most circumstances, the administration formally informs Congress of the intended arms sales after informal discussions with the heads of the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations committees. Once the sales are formally notified, as they were on Tuesday, lawmakers have 30 days to block them. They can do that by passing a joint resolution of disapproval. Deliveries of the equipment will not begin for years. The aircraft, for example, are not expected to be delivered until 2029. Two key congressional Democrats gave their approval for the significant F-15 sale in June. CNN reported Friday that the State Department notified lawmakers it was providing $3.5 billion to Israel for the use of purchasing US weapons and military equipment. Although the weapons will not be delivered for years, the sale is nonetheless likely to provoke an outcry from critics of the Biden administrations policies toward the war in Gaza. The US government has come under sharp scrutiny for what some say is a failure to pressure Israel on its prosecution of the war, which has killed tens of thousands in the Palestinian enclave. The announcement of the sales comes amid significantly heightened tensions in the Middle East as the region braces for possible Iranian retaliation against Israel after the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month. Israel has not commented on the killing. It also comes ahead of the expected resumption of ceasefire talks later this week, and just days after an Israeli strike on a mosque and school in Gaza killed at least 93 people. Gazas Ministry of Health estimates nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war between Israel and Hamas. The United Nations estimates nearly 2 million people have been displaced. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant thanked Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a post on X on Tuesday for advancing critical force buildup initiatives that assist Israel in developing and maintaining its qualitative military edge in the region. As we fight to defend Israel on 7 different fronts, your message of support and commitment to Israels security, are clear, he said. In total, the approved sales announced Tuesday included up to 50 F-15IA multi-role fighter aircraft, and mid-life update modification kits of fighter jets and other related equipment, valued at $18.82 billion; 30 AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs) and one AMRAAM guidance section for an estimated $102.5 million; 32,739 120mm tank cartridges and other equipment for an estimated $774.1 million; 50,000 High Explosive mortar cartridges and related equipment for an estimated $61.1 million; and an unclear number of modified Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles 8-ton cargo trucks and related equipment for an estimated $583.1 million. The DSCA releases about the equipment say it will aid Israels ability to meet current and future enemy threats and serve as a deterrent to regional threats. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com The State Department warned that there would be a swift and severe response if Iran were to send ballistic missiles to Russia, following reports that the country plans to send hundreds of the satellite-guided weapons to Moscow soon. Reuters reported Friday that Iran is planning to ship ballistic missiles to Russia soon, citing multiple European intelligence sources, adding that Iran is already training Russian forces on how to use the Fath-360 close-range ballistic missile system. Responding to that report, State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said Monday that the U.S. would quickly respond to any such transfer. Weve been warning of the deepening security partnership between Russia and Iran since the onset of Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine, this partnership threatens European security and illustrates how Irans destabilizing influence reaches beyond the Middle East and around the world, he said. As our partners have made clear we are prepared to deliver together a swift and severe response if Iran were to move forward of the transfer of ballistic missiles, which would in our view represent a dramatic escalation in Irans support for Russias war of aggression against Ukraine, he continued. Iran has supported the Russian military in Ukraine with attack drones, which were used to attack Kyiv in late 2022. Iran also launched a mass drone assault on Israel in April, sending about 170 drones and 120 ballistic missiles toward the country. Nearly all were intercepted or shot down by a coalition of Israeli, U.S. and Jordanian forces. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. USDA to take additional step in testing beef from former dairy cattle for bird flu Dairy cows, which consume a significant amount of water, gather at a farm on July 5, 2022 in Visalia, California. According to a new report by the U.S. Drought Monitor, more than 97% of the state of California's land area is in at least severe drought status, with 60% in at least extreme drought and the driest 12% in exceptional drought. The drought conditions are stressing the water needs of both farms and residents and leading to a surge in fires throughout the state, Americas largest state in population. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) WASHINGTON The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to embark on a year-long study beginning next month that will test samples for evidence of highly pathogenic avian influenza from former dairy cattle moved into meat production. Emilio Esteban, the under secretary for food safety at the USDA, told reporters on a call Tuesday the new testing program follows three studies undertaken during the spring and summer that all found beef in the nations food supply is safe to eat. However, we want to move forward with an additional step, Esteban said. And what this means is that when those carcasses are tested, they are held and are not going to go into commerce until we get the results back. The virus, also referred to as bird flu or H5N1, has been found in wild bird and domestic poultry flocks within the United States for years. But the ongoing outbreak in dairy cattle has forced animal and human health experts to establish testing for a new community of agriculture workers and livestock. The news of additional testing for the countrys meat supply came alongside the results of a study from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that reinforced the safety of pasteurized dairy products. Steve Grube, chief medical officer for the FDAs Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said that the most recent round of dairy product testing included 167 foods that were processed in 27 states in June and July. None of the product samples contained viable H5N1, reaffirming that pasteurization is effective, he said. The second survey was intended to address geographic and product gaps from the initial sampling of the commercial milk and dairy product supply that the FDA conducted during April and May. Testing milk in bulk tanks Federal officials have also launched a voluntary program for farmers to test the milk in bulk tanks for H5N1, a step thats intended to make it easier for them to move their cows between states without having to individually test each one. Eric Deeble, deputy under secretary for marketing and regulatory programs at USDA, said the departments Farm Service Agency has approved 23 of the 35 applications it has received so far to help ease the financial burden on dairy farmers who take their herds out of production after testing positive. The program known as Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-raised Fish has approved more than $1 million in payments. The price paid to farmers is based on a formula that includes the price of milk from the preceding month as well as the number of dairy cattle that contract H5N1. Deeble said on the call with reporters that of the approved applications, a dozen are from Colorado, which has seen a sharp increase in the number of positive H5N1 tests within its dairy industry. Deeble arg0ued the uptick is due to certain factors within the state and cautioned people against assuming that if testing was increased in other areas of the country, the number of positive H5N1 tests for dairy cattle would spike. I dont think that it is accurate necessarily to extrapolate from the situation in Weld County, Colorado, Deeble said. Weld County and Colorado dairy in particular is rather unique in the degree to which the dairies are all closely associated with one another; both spatially and the way in which there is a lot of movement between the facilities. It is a tightly integrated dairy community thats isolated from much of the rest of the state, and there is a lot of connectivity between the premises in the way in which they use vehicles, support services, milk trucks, Deeble added. During the last 30 days, five states have had dairy cattle test positive for H5N1, including Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, South Dakota and Texas. Colorado holds a disproportionate number of cases with 26 of the dairy herds to test positive, while the other four states combined hold a total of six herds. Other mammals diagnosed with H5N1 during the last six weeks are overwhelmingly in Colorado, which has found the virus in house mice, deer mice, domestic cats, a desert cottontail and a prairie vole. Effect on cats Public health officials said during the call Tuesday they are beginning to look more closely at when and why cats are being affected by the spread of H5N1. Barn cats as well as those that hunt outside, coming into regular contact with wild birds that hold a reservoir of H5N1, have tested positive for the virus before. But a report from the Colorado Veterinary Medical Association earlier this month noted that two of the six cats diagnosed with H5N1 in that state this year were indoor only cats with no direct exposures to the virus. Public health officials on the call were unable to answer a question about how indoor-only cats would have come into contact with H5N1. Experts on the call cautioned that as fall approaches, wild birds will begin migrating and dairy farmers will likely ship their cattle at higher rates, both of which could lead to an uptick in the number of positive cases of H5N1 being reported in dairy cattle as well as other animals. Lia Chien contributed to this report. HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WHLT) Students at the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) in Hattiesburg moved into their dorms on Tuesday, August 13 ahead of the 2024-25 school year. Student organizations and Greek life assisted the new students as they carried their belongings into their new homes. Jackson State welcomes students for 2024 Move-in Day This year marks the second consecutive increase in freshman class numbers at USM. Overall, officials with the university said theyre welcoming 3,300 students into residence halls this fall. It was really exciting moving on campus to get to decorate my dorm and everything. Just everything. Making it, like, personal. And its been really fun so far, said Kelby Wingo, a freshman. The first day of class for Southern Miss is on August 21. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJTV. A University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee logo on a campus sign. (Wisconsin Examiner photo) The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is going ahead with a proposal that will lead to the layoffs of 35 tenured faculty, despite the plans rejection last week by the universitys faculty senate. In a memo submitted Monday to Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman, UWM Chancellor Mark Mone wrote that he was recommending the Board of Regents approve the program discontinuance of UWMs College of General Studies and its three academic departments: Arts & Humanities, Math & Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences & Business. The regents are scheduled to hold their next regular meeting Aug. 22 and 23. The meeting agenda has not yet been posted. The proposal to end the college and the departments includes a plan to lay off 35 tenured faculty. The proposal cites Regent Policy 20-24, adopted in 2016, which allows for faculty layoffs for reasons of program discontinuance. Under that policy, faculty layoff will be invoked only in extraordinary circumstances and after all feasible alternatives have been considered. The regents adopted the policy after the Legislature and then-Gov. Scott Walker enacted changes that deleted tenure-related guarantees from state law and allowed tenured faculty to be laid off due to changes in university programming. The College of General Studies (CGS) and its three academic departments were created when suburban two-year UW branch campuses in Waukesha and Washington counties were merged with UWM in 2018. The interest in two-year liberal arts associate degrees has declined so sharply that the continued operation of CGS and its academic departments is not supported by market demand, actual and projected enrollments, or cost effectiveness, Mone wrote in his letter to Rothman. The UWM faculty senate discussed the administrations proposal August 7 and voted 24-11 against it, although the action was advisory. Mone acknowledged the faculty rejection of the plan and offered rebuttals to arguments that faculty critics have made. In a statement posted last week after the UWM faculty vote but before Mones letter, Nick Fleisher, president of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) Wisconsin conference and an executive committee member of the AAUPs UW-Milwaukee chapter, urged the university administration to change course. Closing the branch campuses, as mandated by the Universities of Wisconsin president, does not require the shuttering of CGS, and closing CGS would not require laying off its tenured faculty, Fleisher wrote. The statement is posted on the website of the AAUP UWM chapter. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Note: This piece contains discussion of suicide. As soon as my mother picked up the call, I could tell something wasnt right. Instead of her normal, easy-going self, she sounded awkward, like there was something she needed to share. Im sorry to tell you this, she said, but Christopher took his life last night. Tears instantly welled up in my eyes. Christopher was my cousin Teresas son her first child. Teresa had always been more like a sister to me. Shed named him after me. Why? I asked, almost reflexively, knowing my mom wouldnt have an answer. Often, there is no single why after a suicide. As I began to process the news, my heart ached at the thought of Teresa having to grieve such a tragedy. I had to call her. If she ever needed her big cousin, it was now. When I got hold of Teresa, she sounded broken, her words barely audible through uncontrollable sobbing. I wanted to console her, but what is there to say to someone whos lost a child to suicide? What worried me most was that she was in recovery from addiction. I feared this would throw her into a tailspin. Being incarcerated makes it uniquely difficult to process loss or offer support to your loved ones during difficult times. In prison, there is no space to grieve. Were surrounded by people who reject and exploit signs of weakness. Reluctant to burden our loved ones, we often cope by compartmentalizing our emotions. There is a feeling of powerlessness, too, knowing that we couldnt be there and can offer little more than a phone call and some words of consolation. As I spoke to Teresa, I fought the instinct developed through years in prison to build a wall around the pain I was feeling. It would be the easiest way to prevent a sense of helplessness and despair. But I knew I needed to do whatever I could to support my family. After talking for a bit, Teresa confessed that she had relapsed. She seemed ashamed to admit it to me, but I resisted the lecture that rested on the tip of my tongue. Wed been down this road many times over the years, and I knew it would only push her further away just as she needed me most. Teresa said she was scared to be using. She knew she was risking her life and that Christopher wouldnt have approved. I asked how I could help. She told me she needed to be surrounded by family and loved ones to be removed from her current environment, which was only compounding her suffering. She said she needed me. But I was in prison. I fought back tears. I tried to keep my voice steady, but it trembled as I suggested we move her in with my mom in Washington State. I wanted her to believe I was strong, that I could be there for her, even if not in person. Over the next week, our family cobbled together the money to pay Teresas court fines so she could leave home without risking more trouble. We bought her a plane ticket and she was off. Barely a week after Teresa arrived, my mom found her high. She promised to give recovery another shot, but addiction refused to release her. Not long after that first incident, Teresa walked out of the house and started down a remote country road. When my mom chased after her, Teresa said she couldnt do it. My mom pleaded with her to come back. What about her clothes, all of Christophers belongings, and her four kids who needed her, my mom asked. But Teresa kept walking. Somehow, Teresa made her way back home, and quickly fell back into the lifestyle shed sought to escape. I tried to keep in touch, but she was too ashamed to stay connected. As the one-year anniversary of Christophers death approached, a family member messaged me, asking if Id spoken to my mom that day. I rushed to call my mom, fearing this would be the news I had thought constantly about but hoped never to receive. I hate to add this to your plate right now, she said, but Teresa just overdosed on fentanyl, and she is gone. I let go of my emotions and cried. I felt guilty for not doing more. I felt angry with myself for being in prison and infuriated that I didnt somehow fight harder for her. I kept thinking that if only I was home, I could have given her the support she needed. During my 21 years in prison, several of my close friends and family members have died by suicide. Others have died from overdose. Anyone who has lost a loved one like this knows the sinking, desperate feeling of wondering what you could have done to prevent it. The answer may be nothing, but having to ask yourself that question from prison is particularly painful because you will always wonder how things might have been different if you were there. I will sit with the guilt I know I shouldnt hold, but cant seem to shake. Today, I wish I could hug my little cousin and her son just one more time. To let them know their value, and that I love them with my whole heart. If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, help is available. The 988 Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals in the United States. Christopher Blackwell is an incarcerated journalist and the executive director of Look2justice.org , an organization centered on empowering incarcerated voices through civic engagement. Blackwell grew up in Tacoma and has been in prison since he was 22; he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 45 years in prison for taking the life of another person during a 2003 drug robbery. His work has been featured in the New York Times, The Washington Post and the Boston Globe. Blackwell writes a monthly column with The Appeal centered on aspects of the carceral system. The column also appears in The News Tribune and McClatchys other Washington papers. Members of a Las Vegas neighborhood are asking the court to step in and stop construction of a massive Mormon temple in their area. (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) A group of Las Vegas homeowners has asked a court to stop construction of a massive Mormon temple in their backyards. Recently, the Las Vegas City Council approved the construction of the temple, which stands 216 feet high and covers 87,000 square feet. However, residents of the neighborhood where it was supposed to sit objected, saying it would tower over other buildings. Still, the council approved the plans. Residents have now asked a Nevada court to step in and say the council made an error in approving the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints temple, according to 8 News Now. The neighborhood argued that the council misinterpreted readings on building restrictions in the area. Las Vegas City Council abused its discretion and the findings/rulings, attorney Evan Schwab wrote, according to the outlet. The City of Las Vegas were not supported by substantial evidence. The lawyer also alleged there were donations from the churchs law firm to council members ahead of the votes, according to the report. Members of a Las Vegas neighborhood are asking the court to step in and stop construction of a massive Mormon temple in their area. (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) As neighbors protested the city ahead of the vote they took drastic measures to highlight their concerns. They even flew a balloon at the temples height over the neighborhood to show how it would stick out. Were talking about a three-story office building thats going to be lit up 24/7, Longtime resident Brinton Marsden told 8 News Now in March. Its going to stick out like a sore thumb in the middle of a rural setting. Fellow homeowner Erin DeLoe said at the time she was worried their dark skies would disappear with the new temple. We have no streetlights, no curbs, no gutters, and no sidewalks, and thats what we like, she said. This structure will be as tall as the Durango Casino. However, not everybody was against the new temple. Church member Lindsay Nielson lives near the site and backed the construction. We are totally aware of the opposition but there are so many more people who have come here in support and so many people who have seen the plans and are all about. The church is so good about following the laws and regulations and the church is absolutely will follow the conditions, she said in July. The Independent has reached out to the LDS church for comment. LIMA (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said on Tuesday that President Nicolas Maduro had "entrenched himself" with the nation's top military leaders in order to stay in power after last month's disputed election. The electoral authority, the CNE, which the opposition says is loyal to Maduro, declared that he had won reelection in the July 28 vote, while the opposition argues it was won by its candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez. The CNE has not released a detailed vote count and its website has been down since the early hours of July 29. The opposition has posted its ballot count online, which shows Gonzalez receiving double the number of votes as Maduro. Machado, speaking at a virtual press conference with media from Colombia, Ecuador and Peru on Tuesday, called on Venezuelans at home and abroad to protest on Saturday to force Maduro to "respect" the election result. "What Maduro has chosen to do is entrench himself with the top military command, that's all he has left," Machado said. Venezuela's military has long supported Maduro, in power since 2013, and there have been no public signs since the election that leaders of the armed forces are breaking from the government. Machado is under criminal investigation for allegedly inciting police and military to civil disobedience after she published a letter calling for them to abandon Maduro. Security forces have also launched a crackdown on people they say were perpetrators of violent crimes during post-election protests. They have made more than 2,400 arrests, which advocacy groups say has left people fearful to take to the streets. "Maduro has incorrectly weighed his options," Machado said. "Pressure needs to be put on him so he understands that the best option for him is to accept the terms of a negotiated transition." A power-sharing scheme between the ruling party and the opposition is not on the table, she said at the weekend in an interview with El Pais. Western countries have generally condemned Maduro's actions as fraud but are moving cautiously in their reaction, mindful of previous diplomatic failures. (Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien) Esther Charlestin has won the Democratic nomination for governor in the Vermont Primary election. Charlestin defeated Peter Duval from Underhill with more than 72% of the vote. Shell challenge incumbent Republican Gov. Phill Scott, who was unopposed in the primary, in November. Duval described himself as a fusion candidate in hopes of getting write-in votes on progressive and republican ballots. I think I have enough experience in local politics and regional politics and even at the State House, he said. The Progressive Party ballot is the one where I have the best chance of getting the write-in vote to matter. Still, Vermonts Democratic party seemed to be more fond of his opponent Esther Charlestin. We dont typically take positions in contested primaries, but Esther is a phenomenal candidate, Jim Dandeneau, Executive Director of the Vermont Democratic Party, said. Duval has run as a Republican in the past, which has made the party wary of him, according to Dandeneau. Esther did a lot of really important work around equity and diversity in the Middlebury school system, Dandeneau said. She served on the Middlebury Select board with a lot of integrity. Battling an incumbent is always difficult. Vermont really likes its incumbents, and Phil Scott has staked out a reputation of being a moderate, Dandeneau told us. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC22 & FOX44. A promising new treatment for heart disease was discovered by scientists at the University of Vermonts Larner College of Medicine and the University of Pennsylvanias Perelman School of Medicine. Dr. Matthew Caporizzo from the Larner College of Medicine says nearly fifty percent of those diagnosed with heart disease suffer from a condition which causes heart muscles to become plugged up. The new treatment is a vasohibin inhibitor, or VASHi, that allows those muscles to relax and get the heart to pump blood properly again. So, the primary symptom of this disease is exercise intolerance. So, people, when they go to raise their heart rate, their heart cant keep up because it cant relax and fill fast enough. This drug makes it so that relaxation helps the heart relax faster, said Caporizzo. Dr. Caporizzo explained that VASHi works by blocking a process where tubes in the heart become stiff. This in turn allows the heart to repair its internal system and work normally. No human trials have been done yet, however studies on obese animals and human heart cells have shown an improvement in heart function. Now the process is to demonstrate the safety profile, and then the next step would be to go to clinical trials, and everything right now looks very promising, like that is something that would happen in the future. Im not a clinician, I cant give you a timeline but the reality of it is, this is a really exciting thing because it does appear to work and it doesnt appear to have a lot of harmful effects so far, said Caporizzo. While testing and trials for the treatment still have a long way to go, VASHis success could be the key to eventually helping millions recover from heart disease. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC22 & FOX44. MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday appointed security veteran Nikolai Patrushev to head a new body in charge of Russia's naval policy. The new Maritime Board will include councils responsible for developing Russian naval activity and its military fleet, and defending Russian interests in the Arctic, according to a decree issued by Putin. Russia has a massively more powerful navy than Ukraine but has suffered a number of embarrassing setbacks at sea in the course of the two-and-a-half-year war, starting with the loss in April 2022 of its Moskva missile cruiser, the flagship of its Black Sea Fleet. Patrushev, 73, is a former head of the FSB security service who has been close to Putin since they worked together in the Soviet KGB in Leningrad (now St Petersburg) in the 1970s. The Kremlin said in May that he would take up new responsibilities related to shipbuilding after he was removed as head of Russia's Security Council in a reshuffle at the start of Putin's fifth term as president. (Reporting by Mark Trevelyan; editing by Jonathan Oatis) WASHINGTON More than 1,000 veterans and military family members have signed an open letter saying they are "appalled at Donald Trump and JD Vances politically motivated attacks" on the military service of Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz. The letter, circulated with help from the left-leaning veterans advocacy group VoteVets, comes as Walz's 24-year record in the Army National Guard has become a target of the Trump campaign. Vance, Trump's running-mate, a U.S. senator from Ohio and also a fellow veteran, has attacked Walz's 2005 retirement from the military prior to his battalion's deployment to Iraq. "JD Vances recent comments attacking Governor Walzs service record are disrespectful and deeply disappointing, especially given Vances own service which we are also profoundly grateful for," the letter, obtained by USA TODAY, reads. "But given Donald Trumps long record of expressing disdain for service members, veterans, and their families, its unsurprising that his running mate has stooped to such lows." More: The new 'Swift Boat?' Tim Walz's military service targeted by Trump campaign Walz, the governor of Minnesota who Democratic nominee Kamala Harris picked as her running-mate last week, joined the National Guard out of high school at 17 years old on April 8, 1981 and served until May 16, 2005. Walz has said he retired from the guard to run for Congress, which he did successfully in 2006. The alert order for Walz's unit to mobilize for Iraq was received on July 14, 2005 almost two months after Walz had retired and the unit mobilized Oct. 12, 2005, according to the Minnesota National Guard. But Walz appeared to know as early as March 2005 that his battalion could be sent to Iraq based on a press release from his first run for Congress. "When the United States of America asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did. I did what they asked me to do, and I did it honorably, and I'm very proud of that service," Vance said last week. "When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did? He dropped out of the army and allowed his unit to go without him." "What bothers me about Tim Walz is the 'stolen valor' garbage. Do not to pretend to be something you're not," Vance said. All the news to start your day informed: Sign up for USA TODAY's Daily Briefing newsletter. Minnesota Governor and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz arrives gestures during a campaign rally at the Thomas and Mack Center, University of Nevada in Las Vegas, Nevada, on August 10, 2024. Veteran supporters calls Walz a 'beacon of respect and support' The letter is signed by 1,048 veterans, veteran families, military families, caregivers and survivors who support the Harris-Walz ticket. They praise Walz's military service, writing that "as individuals who have served and sacrificed for this nation, we are thrilled to see someone who served our country in uniform for decades on the ticket." Among the veterans who signed the letter are retired Maj. Gen. Randy Manner, who held top positions with the National Guard Bureau, and Brenda Sue Fulton, a former military officer and assistant secretary of Veterans Affairs in the Biden administration. The veterans organization Common Defense also helped organize the letter. "Governor Walz, a 24-year veteran of the U.S. Army National Guard, has demonstrated throughout his career a profound respect for those who serve, as well as their families," the letter reads. "His service, both in uniform and as a public servant, embodies the values of duty, honor, and commitment." "Where Trump and Vance seek to diminish the sacrifices of our military community and renege on our obligation to veterans," it continues, "Governor Walz has always stood as a beacon of respect and support." More: Tim Walz's working-class cred: no stocks, no bonds, and he doesn't own a home Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) delivers remarks during a campaign rally at 2300 Arena on August 6, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Harris campaign says Walz 'misspoke' about carrying weapon into war Vance and the Trump campaign have also accused Walz of embellishing his military record, seizing on past comments he made in support of gun control when the governor falsely said, "We can make sure that those weapons of war that I carried in war is the only place where those weapons are at." Walz was never deployed for combat. Harris campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt told USA Today that Walz "misspoke." "He did handle weapons of war and believes strongly that only military members trained to carry those deadly weapons should have access to them, unlike Donald Trump and JD Vance who prioritize the gun lobby over our children," Hitt said in a statement. Walz rose to the rank of command sergeant major in the Minnesota National Guard, but because he did not complete additional course work at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy before leaving the National Guard in 2005, he retired as a master sergeant. Vance's attacks have drawn comparisons to the unsubstantiated "Swift Boat" claims against Democrat John Kerry in the 2004 presidential race against President George W. Bush. The group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth challenged Kerry's decorated Vietnam War record. Chris LaCivita, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, led the Swift Boat campaign attacking Kerry in 2004. The Minnesota National Guard released additional detail Tuesday about Walzs service, showing that he was eligible to retire three years before he ultimately ended his career as an enlisted soldier. In a statement on Tuesday, the Guard announced that Walz received notice that he was eligible to retire Aug. 3, 2002. Walz would serve another three years, including a deployment to Europe. Its unclear when Walz filed his paperwork for retirement. Manner, who held top positions with the National Guard Bureau, told USA TODAY that it typically takes months to approve a retirement after papers are filed. Contributed: Tom Vanden Brook. Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly Twitter, @joeygarrison. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: After Tim Walz military service comes under fire, veterans speak out BALTIMORE The homeowner and worker who were killed in the Bel Air home explosion Sunday morning were identified Monday as investigators continued to dig into what happened in the suburban neighborhood. Homeowner Ray Corkran Jr., 73, and BGE contracted utility worker Jose Rodriguez-Alvarado, 35, were identified as those who died in the blast, according to a Monday news release from Office of the Maryland State Fire Marshal. Shortly after the blast, first responders discovered the body of Rodriguez-Alvarado, one of the two BGE contracted utility workers addressing an electrical problem at the home. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Search-and-rescue crews worked throughout the day Sunday, clearing debris and searching for additional victims. Hours after the blast, crews recovered the body of Corkran. Corkran was believed to be the only resident of the home that he formerly owned with his wife, Phyllis Corkran, who died in September 2018, according to the Office of Register of Wills. A next-door neighbor was also treated at the scene for minor injuries, according to emergency officials. The National Transportation Safety Board announced Monday that it will be investigating the blast. The board investigates pipeline accidents that occur during the transport of natural gas and other hazardous liquids like gasoline or propane. According to NTSB, its investigators arrived on the scene Monday to begin its examination of the pipeline and equipment that serviced the home. Investigators said they will focus on three primary areas human factors that could have played into the blast, the pipeline system and the operating environment. The investigation will analyze human performance data relevant to the accident; operator qualification; training records; pipeline operating practices, maintenance records and safety management plans; environmental conditions, including soil conditions for buried pipelines; and the extent and path of released gas or hazardous liquid migration. The fire marshal and the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Task Force have concluded their on-scene investigation, according to the release, and the scene has been turned over to insurance representatives. Neighbors said they noticed the smell of gas in the area of the home the night before the blast. However, according to Oliver Alkire of the states fire marshal office, call logs show no reports were made to BGE or local fire departments. On Sunday morning, local fire crews were called for the odor of gas. Fire marshal officials stated during a news conference Sunday that the two BGE contractors working on the home were aware of the gas odor. While first responders were en route, the call was changed from an odor of gas to an apparent house explosion. The blast leveled the house, which had an active for-sale listing on Realtor.com for $824,900, and partially destroyed a neighboring home. County officials stated that at least 16 homes suffered structure and foundation damages and that at least 12 families have been displaced. Crews have started clearing debris, and restoration efforts have begun on neighboring homes that were damaged in the explosion, according to the fire marshals office. Investigators are moving to review evidence and data collected from their on-scene investigation, according to the release. Investigators will review items such as gas and electrical piping of the home, video surveillance and data from BGE, according to the release. The fire marshals office said there is no evidence of criminal activity and that investigators will continue to focus on accidental causes. _____ LISBON, Ohio (WKBN) Lisbon residents have seen a surge in their electric bills and its gotten some of them charged up, asking questions about the rate hike. Getting a bill youre not expecting is never a fun surprise but thats exactly the case for some residents in Lisbon. Some residents, their aggregation programs expired and they noticed a big change in their power rates, said Mayor Peter Wilson. In January, the village began an aggregation program with Archer Energy, offering a reduced rate on electricity and giving residents the option to opt in to help lower their utility bills. Right now, its 27 percent lower. So if youre enrolled in the village program, youre paying substantially less, Mayor Wilson said. However, residents who havent opted in may be shocked by a higher electric bill. Many village residents were enrolled in different programs. Those programs are now expiring or have expired and those residents have gone back to the old Ohio Edison rates, Wison said. Its strictly because their aggregation program expired and they were kicked back to Ohio Edisons. Fortunately, its not a permanent jolt. Residents still have the option to opt into the villages program and continue at a reduced rate. They just have to call 844-795-7491 to opt in. Its 0.06975 cents per kilowatt hour. Right now Ohio Edisons is about 9.2, so its a substantial savings, Wilson said. The mayor says the village is enrolled in similar programs with natural gas rates to continuously save residents money. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com. EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) The Village of Vinton City Council appointed a new municipal court judge during its regular meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 6, the Village of Vinton announced in a press release. The Village of Vinton says Sergio M. Estrada was selected as the new municipal court judge . He is an El Paso native, the Village said in its news release. Village of Vinton Judge Sergio M. Estrada. Photo: Village of Vinton Estrada is an El Paso High School graduate and partner at Kemp Smith. Before joining the law firm, Estrada was an assistant city attorney in El Paso for over six years and represented the City in numerous civil lawsuits, according to the Village of Vinton. In addition to serving as the Village of Vintons judge, Estrada will also continue in private practice, focusing on commercial litigation including both trials and appeals. I am pleased and honored to have been selected by the Village of Vinton Council to serve as the next Municipal Judge, said Estrada. I promise to work hand in hand with the Village Council and staff to resume the operations of the Municipal Court as soon as practicable, and, above all else, I promise to ensure that parties who appear before the Municipal Court will be treated in a fair and just manner. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. NANTUCKET, Mass. (WPRI) Its been almost a month since Vineyard Wind was ordered to halt operations after a blade failure incident, and clean-up efforts are still underway. Debris from the damaged turbine first washed ashore on Nantucket, then later showed up at other beaches in Southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island too. Brooke Mohr, the chair of the Nantucket Select Board, said at first, people were scared about the possible impacts the debris could have on the environment. Nantuckets reputation and our attraction as a tourist community is based on the pristine nature of our environment, she said. BACKGROUND: Vineyard Wind blade failure due to manufacturing deviation According to Mohr, the blade removal plan for the damaged equipment involves rotating the turbine, removing debris from the platform, removing the root of the blade and cleaning up any pieces that have fallen into the ocean. The two times they have done that exercise of the slow rotation, the planned slow rotation, they have seen additional debris fall, Mohr explained. The Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs said state experts are monitoring the situation closely. A spokesperson told 12 News in a statement, Based on current information, there is no significant near-term risk to the environment, marine life, or public health. The offshore wind industry is critical to our ability to combat climate change. We look forward to seeing this project safely delivering clean, affordable energy to Massachusetts residents and businesses, the statement concluded. RELATED: Revised suspension order issued for Vineyard Wind facility Mohr said she wants more work to be done to make sure no more debris ends in the water. Our experience really needs to be brought to the table as the policymakers and enforcement folks in D.C. look to the future of offshore wind, she said. 12 News reached out to Vineyard Wind for comment but has yet to hear back. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Roundup Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WPRI.com. Virginia Democrats do not support infanticide, but heres why Trump keeps saying they do Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump is questioned by journalists at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. The event was moderated by, from left, Rachel Scott, senior congressional correspondent for ABC News; Kadia Goba, politics reporter at Semafor; and Harris Faulkner, anchor of The Faulkner Focus and co-host of Outnumbered on Fox News. (Photo by William J. Ford/Maryland Matters) Former president Donald Trump keeps saying that Virginia Democrats support killing babies. Though the false allegation has been fact-checked numerous times, hes made the claim multiple times this summer. He said it in the June presidential debate, on a panel at the National Association of Black Journalists conference in July, and more recently during an Aug. 8 press conference at his Mar-A-Lago estate in Florida. Based on the [former] governor of Virginia, theyre allowing the death of the baby after its born, Trump said of Democrat Ralph Northam, who was governor from 2018 to 2022. But infanticide is illegal in all U.S. states. Abortion, which terminates a fetus before it is born, is legal for any reason up until around 26 weeks of gestation in Virginia with limited exceptions for later abortions. The infanticide allegation stems from a WTOP interview with Northam in which he described palliative care for babies born with severe complications and low survival rates not abortion. Palliative care is a type of care to keep dying patients comfortable. Its typically applied to those dying of old age or terminal illness, but can be used for babies born with severe fetal anomalies. Clips from Northams interview fed into the popular no limits or moment of birth narrative that abortion opponents have pushed over the years in Virginia and beyond. Because [Northam] never provided the full context of the issue, his comments were interpreted that way and one could see why they were interpreted that way, said political analyst Bob Holsworth. How the national allegation took hold in Virginia Flash back to the winter of 2019. Del. Kathy Tran, D-Fairfax had a bill that would have lowered the three-physician threshold of approval for abortions that occur later in pregnancy. Abortions at or after 21 weeks of gestation are rare, making up 1% of abortions nationally. These types of abortions tend to happen later in pregnancy because severe fetal anomalies arent usually detected earlier through tests or ultrasound. They may also happen because a life-threatening emergency arises later in pregnancy. Virginia law then and now also allows for instances where continuing a pregnancy would irremediably impair a persons mental health too. During a committee hearing on Trans bill, Del. Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, asked if the bill would allow for an abortion to occur if a woman were already in labor. Tran answered yes, though she later said that she misspoke. Tran told The Washington Post I should have said: Clearly, no, because infanticide is not allowed in Virginia, and what would have happened in that moment would be a live birth. Holsworth thinks Tran botched the answer. When Northam attempted to rectify the situation, he made it worse. Status of abortion rights in Virginia Abortion remains legal in Virginia and next year Democrats will begin a process to enshrine protections in the states constitution. The measure will need to pass two years in a row with a House of Delegates election in between before it could appear on statewide ballots in 2026. From there, voters will give final approval or rejection. Trump has repeatedly claimed that he thinks the matter should be settled on a state by state basis while Vice President Kamala Harris has made restoring federal protections a platform of her campaign. Democrats are skeptical if Trump is being truthful in his states purview stance. Project 2025, a policy guideline published by conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, points to federal mechanisms to further restrict abortion and ban abortion pills nationally. Trump has said he doesnt know who is behind the blueprint, though members of his previous administration authored portions of it. In a recent press conference, he did not rule out having the Food and Drug Administration revoke access to abortion pills. Northam had explained how later abortions typically occur because of fetal survivability issues. He added that if a person were in active labor, a birth would occur. If a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen. The infant would be delivered, he said. Then he added what has since percolated in messaging from abortion opponents in the years since: The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if thats what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother. Though the allegation has been debunked multiple times over the years, it has taken a mythic and persistent root in political arguments. Democratic Party of Virginia chairwoman Susan Swecker declined to comment when asked about Trumps rhetoric of Virginia to national audiences and Republican Party of Virginia chairman Rich Anderson did not respond. Abortions and palliative care needs will continue Virginia abortion providers have reported a spike in out-of-state patients. And sometimes patients have had to travel up to Maryland. Diane Horvath, an OB GYN, said her Maryland-based clinic is seeing more patients in need of later abortions. Her clinic provides the procedure regardless of how early or late in gestation patients are. As surrounding states have near total bans or restrictions as deep as six weeks, patients are sometimes needing to travel to areas that can legally give them abortions. While some people may not know they are pregnant earlier in gestation, for others it may take time to arrange appointments, leave work, or find childcare. Then in the cases of fetal anomalies that might inspire someone to seek an abortion, patients may not find out until after their states abortion limit. Some testing that reveals anomalies doesnt occur until after 15 weeks of gestation and can take about two weeks to reveal results. Horvath said that when parents are faced with severe fetal anomalies sometimes aborting the fetus can be the easier choice, while for others that might be birthing, then burying their child, who has died from natural causes after palliative care. Horvath said to insinuate infanticide is willfully misrepresenting an incredibly difficult circumstance that happens to some families when their baby has a lethal diagnosis. As abortion continues to be a political talking point, its the patient experiences she hopes lawmakers can reflect on. When you ban abortion at a certain point in pregnancy, it just pushes people further into pregnancy. Some people still need an abortion, they just have to work a lot harder to get it, Horvath said. That takes a lot of time and a lot of resources, and its just hard on people nobody would do this unless they absolutely needed it. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) During hurricane season, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) is urging residents with a private well to check it out for signs of water contamination. Prepare for hurricane season: What food and tools to have ready According to the VDH, a well should be considered contaminated if it was submerged, or if it is believed that the well became submerged at any point during the hurricane. People with a submerged well are urged to not turn on the pump until the electrical system is completely dried out. Steps on disinfecting a contaminated well once the electrical system is safe can be found here. Water from a contaminated well should not be consumed until two separate bacteriological testing 24-hours apart indicates the water is no longer contaminated. Certified labs to test drinking water can be found here. VDH states if you are unsure if your well was flooded during a hurricane, to assume it has been contaminated and to use another source of water until the well has been disinfected. More information about contaminated wells can be found on VDHs website here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com. GROTON, Conn. (WTNH) A man was arrested in Groton on Saturday for an alleged domestic violence assault. CT officer facing family violence charges after string of abuse allegations Bobbie Morman, Jr., 50, from Norfolk, Virginia allegedly assaulted, strangled and threatened the victim with a handgun. Police say he was intoxicated at the time. Morman already has a felony conviction on his record. He faces 11 charges in relation to the incident, including strangulation, assault and reckless endangerment. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTNH.com. Volunteers leave water at border for migrants as 90 have died in Arizona desert so far this year Volunteers leave water at border for migrants as 90 have died in Arizona desert so far this year Volunteers in Arizona have been leaving water and other life-saving supplies throughout the desert along the US-Mexico border, where at least 90 have died in the state alone this year. We have water, cans of food, hats for the sun, said Luis Osuna, a volunteer. Luis Osuna, a volunteer with Border Kindness told state local site AZFamily. Everything we do out here is to try and prevent one death. Because one death means the world to someones family members, to someones kids. Scores of migrants have died crossing the US-Mexico border this year, even as crossings continue to plunge in recent months in the wake of an executive order from the Biden administration temporarily suspending asylum in times of high entry. In addition to the at least 90 deaths in the Arizona desert, the remains of 140 people have been found in the El Paso border sector, more than all those found in the region during fiscal year 2023. Border crossings are down after Biden order, but migrant heat deaths have persisted (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) Border agents have been filmed destroying water caches left for migrants, seeking to prevent the epidemic of heat-related deaths at the border each year. The practice, which is ostensibly against Border Patrol rules, has reportedly continued through at least 2023. Human rights advocates argue that the bipartisan strategy of deterrence using measures like border walls, asylum crackdowns, and militarized security to dissuade migrants from attempting to cross often has the effect of pushing desperate border crossers to remote areas of the desert where they can fall victim to dangerous conditions like triple-degree temperatures. The number of deaths is shocking, but each death represents a human being, a family, a community, Ari Sawyer, US border researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a recent report. The US government should end deadly border deterrence policies and enact policies that protect human life. As The Independent has reported, the US government has formally adopted a prevention through deterrence approach since at least the mid-1990s. Since then, at least 10,000 have died at the border, according to Human Rights Watch, though the true figure could be as many as eight times higher given the difficulties of accurately studying the issue across the sprawling US-Mexico frontier. Individual states like Texas, which has installed floating barriers and razor wire along popular border crossings, have pursued similar strategies. In 2022, the US-Mexico border was the most dangerous land border route in the world, according to the International Organization for Migration. In recent days, the Harris campaign has put out ads touting Harriss credentials as a border-state prosecutor and backer of the Biden immigration agenda, including a border security bill. "I voted" stickers are seen at the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library polling location in Denver on Jan. 25, 2024. (Quentin Young/Colorado Newsline) People with a felony conviction can vote in Colorado once they have completed their sentence in custody. This story is part of a series on voting basics in Colorado. While someone confined and serving a felony sentence loses the right to vote, they are able to re-register and vote once they make parole. A 2019 Colorado law returned the right to vote to parolees. As long as youre not sitting in a prison or a jail serving a felony sentence, you are eligible to vote, said Kyle Giddings, civic engagement coordinator at the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition. The only exception, Giddings said, is for someone on inmate status at a halfway house. He said this is an administrative distinction used by the Colorado Department of Corrections when someones parole plan isnt finalized yet, but theyre already released and living in a halfway house. The individual is able to go to work, go home on the weekends has all the rights of someone thats on parole, but isnt able to vote, which were working on changing this next legislative session, Giddings said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Anyone in jail awaiting trial or serving a sentence for a misdemeanor conviction also retains the right to vote, according to the Colorado secretary of states office. The Colorado Legislature passed a law this year requiring counties to hold a day of in-person voting in jails. The right to vote is determined based on ones state of residence, so if someone was convicted of a felony in another state and lives in Colorado, they are eligible to vote. In some states, someone who has a felony conviction doesnt get to vote until they complete parole and probation. Other states require additional steps after someone is released to regain eligibility, or permanently bar someone with a felony conviction from voting. Its really important that once they do go home, that they know that their voice does matter and that they can contribute to their community and the decisions being made about them and their families by being able to cast a ballot. Kyle Giddings, of the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition Giddings said the CCJRC has worked with the Arapahoe County parole office to make sure registering to vote is included as a part of peoples reentry. While someone wont get an official notice that they are eligible to vote again, at their first parole meeting they should receive information about their voting rights, how to register, how to obtain voter information material, and how to obtain and cast a ballot. Its really important that once they do go home, that they know that their voice does matter and that they can contribute to their community and the decisions being made about them and their families by being able to cast a ballot, Giddings said. When we look at the ballot coming up in 2024, theres several criminal justice reform ballot initiatives and individuals that have dealt with the criminal justice system should have a voice. Two initiatives awaiting signature review from the secretary of states office for inclusion on the November ballot relate to criminal justice and law enforcement. Initiative 112, a truth in sentencing measure, would make people convicted of certain violent crimes ineligible for parole until they have served at least 85% of their sentence. Initiative 157 would make a one-time appropriation of $350 million to a new police officer training fund under the Colorado Department of Public Safety. The Sentencing Project, a nonprofit that advocates for minimizing imprisonment and criminalization, released a report last week that says the voting ban for people serving felony sentences in Colorado disproportionately affects people of color. It says Black Coloradans are more than six times as likely as white residents to be in prison, and Latino Coloradans are more than twice as likely to be in prison. The law restricting Colorados citizens from voting while incarcerated for a felony conviction undermines Colorados democracy and extends the racial injustice embedded in the criminal legal system to its electoral system, the report reads. Maine, Vermont, Puerto Rico and Washington D.C. never remove the right to vote for someone serving a felony sentence, according to the report. DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST Voucher program is supposed to help poor families rent a home. Nearly half the time, it fails. By the time Kimberly Loper, 28, got the news that she would receive a Section 8 voucher a coveted federal rental subsidy for low-income families she had been on the waitlist for three years. Now, she was homeless with her partner and their two sons, a 7-year-old and a baby whose first address was a shelter in Brooklyn, New York. The voucher was their golden ticket. It promised stability after years of scraping by. But there was a catch: In two months, if they could not find a home, the voucher would expire and go to the next name on the list. In June, after months of applications and rejections, they lost it. When we finally got the voucher, it was a celebration, Loper said. We didnt know how hard the process was of getting an apartment to accept you. I just feel really stuck, like Im never going to get out of here. Loper is among thousands of people across the country who are losing their federal housing vouchers before they can ever use them. Until recently, the true scale of this problem was unknown. But a groundbreaking analysis by the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy at New York University found that in 2022, nearly half of households awarded housing vouchers were unable to use them. The problem has been rapidly worsening. From 2018 to 2022, the share of households unable to use their voucher increased from 35% to 45%. Its a dire situation, said Ingrid Gould Ellen, director of the Furman Center and one of the authors of the study. That after winning the lottery, essentially, and getting this voucher, many of them may be searching and searching and unsuccessful. That is tragic for that individual family. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development doesn't hold local housing authorities accountable when large numbers of housing voucher recipients are unable to find homes. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which oversees the voucher program, does not require that the thousands of local authorities around the country who administer the vouchers track or improve these high failure rates. Instead, the federal government incentivizes housing agencies above all to use all their funding. So, like airlines overselling seats to ensure a full flight, the agencies often hand out more vouchers than they have funding for to compensate for the many families they know won't be able to use them. Douglas Rice, a program advisor in HUDs Office of Public Housing Voucher Programs, said HUD sees these high failure rates as a reason for great concern and acknowledged that local housing agencies have no direct incentive to improve them. But he said HUD has made some recent changes to help address the problem, such as increasing the cash value of the vouchers to better keep pace with soaring rents. Were very focused on this, Rice said. To be honest, the market has been very bad in recent years. But success rates being lower than wed like them to be is really a longer-standing problem in the voucher program. This is an issue that has been around for a while, and its past time for HUD and housing authorities to figure out how to address it. USA TODAY spoke with members of six households whose vouchers expired or were revoked before they could find a home. They were left in desperate situations in homeless shelters, public parks, budget motel rooms, couch surfing or in overcrowded homes made all the more difficult by the emotional whiplash of winning a voucher only to have it taken away. In New York City, Samantha Brown, 35, got a voucher after leaving an abusive relationship. She was studying to be a nurse, but ever since her voucher expired in December, she has been sleeping on relatives couches or on a public park bench, her future on hold. In Coeur dAlene, Idaho, Jessica Hicks, 41, lost her voucher in 2015 and has been homeless ever since. The experience was too devastating for her to apply a second time. I cant emotionally go through that again, she said. Whats the point of getting a voucher if I cant find a place to live? East River Park, across from the Lillian Wald Projects, is where Samantha Brown (not photographed) sometimes stays when unable to couch surf with relatives or friends in Manhattan. Brown received a housing voucher after leaving an abusive relationship and struggled to find an apartment with her voucher for several months, without help, eventually losing it. In New York City, Tiffany De Hoyos, 39, was crowded into a two-bedroom apartment with her mother, father and three daughters when she was awarded a voucher. It was her chance to give her children their own space. But in May, after months of searching, the voucher expired. To wait two years to get it, and then get it and lose it, its a disappointment, De Hoyos said. If youre given this voucher, where are the resources? Where are the landlords? Where are the properties? Why are Section 8 vouchers so hard to use? The voucher program emerged in the 1970s, when the government was demolishing public housing complexes that had suffered decades of neglect and mismanagement under its watch. In their place, it offered a new vision for government-subsidized housing: the tenant-based housing voucher. Instead of living in a public housing project, a tenant could now use a voucher to rent a modest home from a private landlord anywhere in their city. Their rent would be capped at about 30% of their income, and the federal government would cover the rest, up to a local limit. The program came to be seen as a tool for reversing the harms of concentrated poverty and racial segregation by giving poor families more choice in where they lived. It has since become the largest rental assistance program in the United States and is a lifeline for more than 2.3 million households. But shifting public housing into the private market has come with its own set of problems. For one, the program relies on private landlords to rent to people with vouchers, which many simply refuse to do. Some of that can be attributed to outright discrimination, but landlords also say they are put off by the programs red tape, like the quality inspection required before a tenant can move in a delay that can cost them in lost rent while their unit sits empty. On the other end, tenants, many of them elderly, disabled or homeless, are usually left to search for a home with no help. After years of languishing on a waitlist to get the voucher, they can have as few as 60 days before it expires, a time frame in which less than a third of tenants are successful, according to the Furman Centers analysis. Vouchers do not come with money to pay for security deposits, broker fees, application fees or other move-in costs. On GoFundMe, the online fund-raising platform, dozens of families with vouchers are asking for money because they found a home but cant afford the security deposit. This notion that I can just give an individual a voucher and they can go navigate the rental market and negotiate with a landlord and get a unit what were seeing is thats just not the case en masse anymore, said Mandy Chapman Semple, a national homelessness consultant. Aside from three previous smaller-scale studies, the most recent in 2001, nobody researched voucher success rates until the Furman Centers recent analysis. The researchers examined data from more than 1,300 public housing authorities for the years 2018 and 2019, and more recently released a national-level estimate for the year 2022. They found that in every corner of the country, from rural Nevada to small-town North Carolina to the nations largest cities, people are losing their vouchers before they can use them at staggering rates. In 2022 alone, they identified about 90,000 households that received vouchers but were unable to use them. Because their research included only about three-quarters of the vouchers awarded that year because of a lack of reliable data and the exclusion of some housing authorities with different rules, this figure is a significant undercount. My perspective is still that the voucher program is a highly effective program and has accomplished a lot of what its designers hoped it would, said Gould Ellen of the Furman Center. The lesson from these low success rates is not that we should give up on the voucher program, its that we really need to scrutinize it and find ways to make it easier to use for tenants and landlords. Why do housing authorities issue too many vouchers? Housing authorities often give out more vouchers than they can afford at any given time because they know that some families will be unable to use them. They do this as part of a complex calculation meant to ensure that voucher funding does not go unspent when so many families need the help. The way the housing authority looks at it is: I have a list that is endless. If one person cant use their voucher, the next can, said Chapman Semple, the homelessness consultant. Would they prefer the person they issued the voucher to get it used? They would absolutely prefer that. But theyre a volume business. This means that in 2022, when nearly half of families were unsuccessful at finding a home, housing authorities likely issued about two vouchers for every slot for which they had funding, said Rice, the HUD representative. But the math is not always perfect. In February 2022, Austin Wardell and his parents were evicted from their home of 14 years in Fontana, California. Austin Wardell, 34, left, and his parents, Frank Wardell, 64, and Crystal Hammond, 61, have been searching for permanent housing for over two years. After waiting for nearly a year, the Wardells received a housing voucher, but the program ran out of money before they could use it. They currently live in a motel in Claremont, Calif. Crystal Hammond, 61, Frank Wardell, 64, and Austin, 34, had been renting the home from a relative who died, leaving behind an expensive reverse mortgage they couldn't afford. The bank soon foreclosed. With nowhere else to go, they applied for a housing voucher, put their belongings in storage and moved into a room at a Motel 6 with their dog and cat. While they waited for news of their voucher, Crystal continued to spend her mornings working at an elementary school as a library aide, as she has for the past 25 years. Austin cared full-time for his father, who suffered seizures in 2018 that left him with brain damage and a broken back, and he relied on supplemental oxygen. In May 2023, after more than a year on the waitlist, they got the news that a voucher was finally theirs. We were exuberant, Austin said. They immediately began applying for apartments. But just a month later, a letter arrived: All the voucher slots had been filled. Though they still had 79 days before their voucher expired, their case had been closed. Crystal Hammond, 61, and Austin Wardell, 34, hold the oxygen tube for Frank Wardell, 64, as he gets back into the bed at a motel in Claremont, Calif., on July 18, 2024. The three have been searching for permanent housing for over two years. Austin Wardell serves as a full-time caregiver for his father, who suffered seizures in 2018 that left him with brain damage, a broken back, and relying on supplemental oxygen. It was a kick in the pants to us all, Austin said. It just stripped all of the hope we had away. And ever since, weve been struggling. In the year since, they have remained in the Motel 6 off Interstate-10. They get by on Franks disability benefits, Crystals part-time income, and unpredictable donations that come in through a GoFundMe page. If they run out of money, Crystal and Austin plan to admit Frank to a nursing home while they live in their car. Officials at the Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino said the Wardell familys voucher was part of a limited infusion of emergency vouchers issued during the pandemic. All the vouchers had to be used by a certain date, or else the federal government would take them back. So, the housing authority gave out vouchers to more families than there were slots. When the program filled up, 33 families that were still searching for homes, including the Wardells, had their vouchers revoked. Crystal Hammond, 61, has been searching for permanent housing for over two years with her son and her son's father. They currently live in a motel in Claremont, California. Our mission is we need to utilize every voucher we can afford, because thats really our purpose, said Rishad Mitha, the housing authoritys deputy executive director. Housing authorities can usually dip into some of their reserve funding if more people are able to use their vouchers than expected, said Will Fischer, a researcher at the Center on Budget and Policy priorities, a research and policy institute, making what happened to the Wardells relatively rare. More often, families lose their vouchers because they cannot navigate a competitive housing market alone, and they run out of time. As long as every voucher gets used, housing authorities have little incentive to help them. "Housing authorities are not funded to hold the clients hand in the search process, Mitha said. Thats not how the program is structured. But some places have found a way around this. The Wardell family had been renting a home from a relative who died, leaving behind an expensive reverse mortgage they couldn't afford. The bank soon foreclosed, forcing them to look for other housing options. They now live in a motel in Claremont, California. What's the secret to Boston's housing success? When the Boston Housing Authority opened its housing voucher waitlist in the early 2000s, David Gleich remembers a line of applicants that seemed to stretch a mile down the road. Gleich, who oversees Bostons voucher program, knew then that only a lucky minority would qualify for a voucher. Of those, many would be unable to use it. But that is no longer the case. Last year, according to the housing authoritys data, 88% of families who received vouchers were able to use them a success rate more than 30 percentage points above the 2022 national average. Boston has achieved this despite having one of the most expensive and competitive rental markets in the country. In 2022, its vacancy rate was the lowest of the nation's 10 largest metro areas. Gleich attributes much of that success to a simple tweak in the authority's approach. Rather than giving people a voucher and leaving them to their own devices, every tenant is connected with someone who helps them search for a home, Gleich said. They work extremely hard to find folks housing and leave no stone unturned, he said. They don't stop until the voucher is utilized because they recognize what a tremendous opportunity it is. In general, housing authorities do not receive HUD funding for this service. Boston has found a way around that by partnering with the local school district, homeless shelters and other service providers that can fill the gap. Instead of opening their waitlist to a flood of people every few years like they used to, the housing authority now relies on these organizations to refer them to families in need, and to support them in finding and keeping a home for years to come. This has streamlined our entire process, Gleich said. And, we also knew this would dramatically increase our success rates. Boston has made other changes, including extending the initial search window for voucher holders to find a home to 120 days. And, to make sure renters have the chance to live in more expensive neighborhoods, the vouchers worth now varies by ZIP code rather than setting a single rate for the entire city. Other cities have also seen drastic improvements when pairing voucher holders with "navigators. A recent study in Seattle found that help navigating the housing search not only increased how often families were able to use their vouchers but also increased the share of families who moved to more affluent neighborhoods from 15% to 53%. Like Boston, Seattle also relied on outside organizations to fill that need. "This says to me, Nationally, were not doing as well as we could,'" said Stefanie DeLuca, a sociologist at Johns Hopkins University who co-wrote the Seattle study. Because weve seen in competitive housing markets, with assistance to families for their housing searches, with landlord outreach, we can do much better than that. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why this affordable housing program is failing many poor families Vice President Kamala Harris has announced a sweeping set of economic proposals meant to cut taxes and lower the cost of groceries, housing and other essentials for many Americans. Report: VP Harris postpones visit to NC due to Debby Shes aiming to address the financial concerns that are at the top of the minds of voters. During a speech Friday in the battleground state of North Carolina, Harris said that building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency. Every day across our nation, families talk about their plans for the future, their ambitions, their aspirations for themselves, for their children. And they talk about how theyre going to be able to actually achieve them financially, because, look, the bills add up, Harris said in Raleigh. Food, rent, gas, back-to-school clothes, prescription medications. After all that, for many families, theres not much left at the end of the month. She stressed tax breaks for families, as well as middle- and lower-income people, promising to expand the child tax credit to up to $3,600 and $6,000 for children in their first year of life. The vice president also wants to enlarge the earned income tax credit to cover people in lower-income jobs without children which the campaign estimates would cut their effective tax rate by $1,500 and lower health insurance premiums through the Affordable Care Act. Overall, the plans represent a continuation of many Biden administration priorities. Harris isnt looking for any radical departures from President Joe Biden, who stepped down from the race last month and endorsed her. Still, the vice president has embraced a dash of economic populism, shifting away from Bidens emphasis on job creation and infrastructure to matters more closely tied to easing the cost of living - food prices, housing costs and tax breaks for families. Much of what shes proposing would require congressional approval, which is far from assured in the current political environment, though, and Harris campaign has offered scant details on how to pay for the ideas. Former President Donald Trump responded to her speech by posting on his social media account, Kamala will implement SOVIET style price controls. He gave his own speech Thursday, during which he displayed popular grocery store items meant to represent the high cost of food. Some of Trumps economic advisers offered further rebuttals to Harris plans before she spoke on Friday, with Brian Hughes, a spokesman for the former presidents campaign, calling them representative of a socialist and authoritarian model. Kevin Hassett, a former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers during the Trump administration, called it completely preposterous for the government to play a role in setting food prices, a reference to Harris proposed federal ban on corporate price-gouging on food. In her speech, Harris offered stark contrasts with Trumps economic proposals, including his call for tariffs on foreign goods. She said that her opponent wants to impose what is, in effect, a national sales tax on everyday products and basic necessities that we import from other countries. It will mean higher prices on just about every one of your daily needs, Harris said. A Trump tax on gas, a Trump tax on food, a Trump tax on clothing, a Trump tax on over-the-counter medication. She added, At this moment, when everyday prices are too high, he will make them even higher. Year-over-year inflation has reached its lowest level in more than three years, but food prices are still 21% above where they were three years ago. A Labor Department report this week showed that nearly all of Julys inflation reflected higher rental prices and other housing costs, a trend that, according to real-time data, is easing. As a result, housing costs should rise more slowly in the coming months, contributing to lower inflation. Harris grocery pricing proposal would instruct the Federal Trade Commission to penalize big corporations that engage in price spikes and it singles out a lack of competition in the meat-packing industry for driving up meat prices. Monica Wallace, a county clerk who attended Harris speech, called the vice presidents economic plans what we need. I have a mother who is receiving services, and just in food stamps alone, shes still not able to afford food that will last her, Wallace said. Comparing Harris to Trump, Wallace said she sees the vice president as someone definitely for the middle and lower class, whereas the former president is for the people who make the money to do any and everything that they want. Polls nonetheless show that Americans are more likely to trust Trump over Harris when it comes to handling the economy: Some 45% say Trump is better positioned to handle the economy, while 38% say that about Harris. About 1 in 10 trust neither Harris nor Trump to better handle the economy, according to the latest Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll. Riding a resurgence of enthusiasm since the Democrats campaign reboot, Harris has embarked on a battleground state blitz in recent weeks that has broadened the number of races viewed as competitive by strategists. In North Carolina, Democrats are navigating renewed energy with caution in an economically dynamic state that hasnt been won by a Democratic presidential candidate since Barack Obama in 2008. Gov. Roy Cooper told Fridays crowd, I have that 2008 feeling. Thats the last time we voted for a Democratic nominee for president, Barack Obama, Cooper said. North Carolina State University political science professor Steven Greene said that the state went from a situation where Joe Biden was almost surely going down in defeat here, whereas Kamala Harris has a very real chance of winning, Deborah Holder, a 68-year-old Raleigh resident who runs six McDonalds restaurants, said of the vice president, Her culture is something that is going to be a huge strength for her, because shell be able to look at the rest of us not just as her constituents, but as people that she has dealt with in all walks of life, Harris is trying to strike a balance in defining her own image and economic agenda while still giving credit for the Biden administrations track record. Her speech in North Carolina came a day after the president was asked if Harris might distance herself from his economic record and responded, Shes not going to. In their first joint speaking event since Biden dropped out, he and Harris were in Maryland on Thursday where they showcased successful negotiations to lower prices for Medicare recipients on 10 prescription drugs. But Harris spent far more time talking about Trump than Biden in North Carolina, promising to build an America where everyones work is rewarded and talents are valued, where we work with labor and business to strengthen the American economy. And where everyone has the opportunity, not just to get by, but to get ahead, she said. __ Associated Press writers Meg Kinnard in Chapin, South Carolina, and Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report. (WATCH BELOW: Democratic state house candidate to stay in race after being jailed) APPOMATTOX, COUNTY, Va. (WFXR) As colleges, universities, and other local schools begin their fall semesters for the upcoming year, Virginia State Police have announced a new initiative and are increasing patrols on Route 460 with Operation College Safe Return. Operation College SAFE RETURN is a proactive measure to protect our young people as they return to campus, said First Sergeant Eric King of the Virginia State Police Appomattox Division. By increasing our presence on U.S. 460, we aim to deter reckless driving and create a safer environment for all motorists. RELATED STORY: VSP says nearly 100 drivers cited for speeding during safety initiative along Route 58 The initiative will take place on Friday, August 16, and Saturday, August 17 on Route 460 from Petersburg near Virginia State University to Christiansburg, near Virginia Tech. Other schools located near or on Route 460 include Liberty University, Longwood University, Lynchburg University, Radford College, and Roanoke College. During a similar traffic initiative on U.S. 58 in May, law enforcement cited 96 drivers for speeding and made one DWI arrest. VSP says they are hoping to have zero fatal crashes on Route 460 during the enforcement period and will be looking for reckless and aggressive drivers Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFXRtv. SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) The worst of the worst riders may end up on a list of people who are banned from riding any Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority bus or train. The VTA, which provides bus and light rail service in San Jose and across Silicon Valley, was given a green light from the state to ban riders who assault employees, fellow riders, or other members of the public, transit officials announced on Tuesday. A rider can also be banned from entering VTA property if they commit a code of conduct violation, officials said. The VTA was recently added to a small number of California transit agencies that are permitted to ban people by utilizing Assembly Bill 1735. The VTAs largest union, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265, strongly advocated to be included under AB 1735. Aston T. Greene, VTA chief of system safety and security, explained, It allows VTA to give prohibition orders. Basically someone could be suspended for bad or unwanted behavior. This week, VTA officials are asking well-behaved riders to join its Transit Safety Advisory Committee to help keep troublesome people away from the transit system, officials wrote. The committee of volunteers will oversee and advise on how the law is implemented. We are looking for individuals who regularly ride VTAs system and are committed to ensuring that VTA follows smart practices for providing a service that our customers and employees feel safe, transit officials wrote. Riders in Santa Clara County who have knowledge and expertise in the areas of social justice, public safety reform, mental health, unhoused populations, and social services are encouraged to apply to serve on the committee. The new list of banned riders was announced three months after one rider, Christian Chenoweth, was brutally assaulted by a stranger on a VTA train stations platform in San Jose. VTA security cameras recorded a man brutally punching Chenoweth in broad daylight on May 29. Chenoweth said the attack was completely unprovoked. A man punches and kicks Christian Chenoweth on a VTA platform in May 2024. The assailant, identified by San Jose police as 26-year-old Andrew Perez, was arrested. Unhoused people told KRON4 that they frequently suffer from violence while riding on public transit. You can see whats going on. On the bus you get threatened and you get things thrown at you, one homeless man said. The Sacramento Regional Transit District, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Fresno Area Express, and the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District are also permitted under state law to issue prohibition orders. Members of the public can apply online to join the new Transit Safety Advisory Committee now through August 22. All VTA passengers are encouraged to call 911 to report an emergency. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4. WA Democratic Party pushing to keep Robert Kennedy Jr. off the ballot Independent Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a campaign rally at Legends Event Center on Dec. 20, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images) The state Democratic Party wants presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. kept off ballots in Washington this November. It contends the 4,181 signatures submitted by We the People in support of Kennedys nomination were not collected at a party convention as required by state law, making him ineligible to be one of voters choices. Kennedys campaign website listed various events and locations, like the Olympia Farmers Market, where registered voters could sign nomination petitions but that doesnt comport with the laws requirement, Democratic Party lawyers argued in an Aug. 9 letter to Secretary of State Steve Hobbs. Who might make the ballot Washington voters may have up to 11 presidential tickets to consider this fall. In addition to Democrats Kamala Harris and Tim Walz and Republicans Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, here are the minor party tickets under review by the secretary of states office. We The People Party: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Nicole Shanahan Green Party: Jill Stein and Samson LeBeau Kpadenou Socialism and Liberation Party: Claudia De la Cruz and Karina Garcia Socialist Workers Party: Rachele Fruit and Dennis Richter Socialist Equality Party: Joseph Kishore and Jerry White Libertarian Party: Chase Oliver and Mike ter Maat Cascade Party: Krist Novoselic and James Carroll Justice For All Party: Cornel West and Melina Abdullah Independent Candidate: Shiva Ayyadurai and Crystal Ellis Simply gathering signatures does not constitute a convention, they wrote. A spokesman for the secretary of states office on Monday did not say when a decision on Kennedys status will be made. Democratic Party lawyers expect it this week and state officials previously said Aug. 23 was the deadline to get names of all presidential candidates certified. The letter is under review, as are materials from the We The People party and others seeking to place nominees for president and vice president on Washingtons November ballot, Derrick Nunnally, deputy director of external affairs, wrote in an email. There are nine minor parties that have filed to be on the ballot, he said. Attempts to reach the Kennedy campaign and We the People were unsuccessful Monday. Coast-to-coast battles Democrats are challenging Kennedys ballot access in several states. On Monday, a state judge in North Carolina repelled an attempt by the North Carolina Democratic Party to keep him off ballots in that state. A lawsuit filed by the party challenged a decision of the state Board of Elections to grant We the People status as a political party. Meanwhile, in New York, a judge ruled Monday that Kennedy cannot appear on the states ballot. He has three days to appeal that ruling, The New York Times reported. Clear Choice Action, a Democrat-aligned super PAC, has also filed challenges in Pennsylvania and Illinois, according to press accounts. In an Aug. 8 press release, the Kennedy campaign said it has won ballot access legal challenges, including in Hawaii, Idaho, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Utah. In Washington, Kennedy turned in paperwork plus signatures of registered voters on June 14. He was the first minor party candidate to do so. Under state law, minor party candidates can qualify by collecting signatures of at least 1,000 registered voters at one or more conventions. Those conventions must be held between the first Saturday in May and the fourth Saturday in July. At least 10 days before a convention, the minor party must publish a notice in a newspaper of general circulation of when and where it will be conducted. Washington law says a convention can be a meeting of as few as 100 registered voters. If there are multiple conventions, each must have its own notice. In addition, a registered voter can sign a petition for only one minor party candidate. State election officials will not count signatures of voters who sign more than one petition. While We the People submitted affidavits showing public notices for conventions, it did not hold any, Democratic Party lawyers argue in their letter. They contend those affidavits identify seven locations for signature gathering: Riverfront Spokane, Lilac Marketplace Spokane, Olympia Farmers Market, Thriftapalooza in Puyallup, the Puyallup Meeker Days Festival, Greenlake Seattle, and the public area outside all U.S. Post Offices in King County. Lawyers also noted the party sent out appeals on X, formerly Twitter, of where people could go to sign a petition. Again, these instructions demonstrate that We the People did not intend to hold an organized assemblage of voters in order to gather signatures, they wrote. Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz acknowledges the cheering crowd after speaking at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Convention in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) LOS ANGELES (AP) In his first solo appearance as the Democratic vice presidential nominee, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz warned cheering union members Tuesday that Donald Trump would wage war on working people and threaten Medicare and Social Security as he kicked off a five-state fundraising swing. Speaking in a cavernous, dimly lit ballroom to thousands of members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees many dressed in green union T-shirts, and waving Harris-Walz placards Walz said he and Vice President Kamala Harris want to spread collective bargaining and other worker protections to every state in the union. The 1.4-million-member union has endorsed Harris. "When unions are strong, America is strong," Walz, a former school teacher and union member, said. He warned of a grim future for unions if Trump and Ohio Sen. JD Vance are elected, describing a nation where bargaining rights, overtime pay and other protections would be scuttled. He said Trump and Vance have waged war on working people. The only thing those two guys know about working people is how to work to take advantage of them, Walz said. However, Trump also has courted union support. When he accepted the Republican nomination, he said that he would rescue the auto industry from what he called complete obliteration. The Democratic campaign chose to kick off Walz's national swing on the safest of political terrain heavily Democratic California, home to Vice President Kamala Harris and where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans about 2-1. The last Republican to win a presidential contest in the state was in 1988, George H.W. Bush, and Republican nominees haven't bothered to seriously contest the state that delivers the largest trove of electoral votes since 2000. Walz was scheduled to head to a fundraiser in Newport Beach later Tuesday. On Wednesday, he will address fundraisers in Denver and Boston, and then wrap up his trip on Thursday in Newport, Rhode Island, and Southampton, New York. Walzs focus on fundraising this week comes after he stormed through a series of battleground states with Harris last week to introduce himself to voters nationally. The two held rallies in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona and Nevada. The string of events will showcase Walz in a typical role for a vice presidential nominee, a combination fundraiser and partisan flamethrower. Introducing himself to voters who probably know little if anything about the plainspoken, avuncular governor, Walz echoed remarks he delivered in earlier appearances in Nevada and Arizona following Harris announcement that he would join her on the ticket. Those speeches were built around key themes for Democrats in 2024: support for abortion rights, lifting the middle class and characterizing Trump as weird an attack line Walz has been credited with authoring. Appearing in front of a union convention, he laced the speech with tributes to working Americans, saying at one point that he's the first union member to appear on a presidential ticket since Republican Ronald Reagan. But unlike the former Democrat Reagan, he promised, I won't lose my way. Walz apparently was unaware Trump also was a member of the Screen Actors Guild before resigning in 2021. But during a discussion about government spending, Trump on Monday praised Tesla CEO Elon Musk for firing workers who went on strike, telling him, Youre the greatest cutter. Walz also defended his military record, which has come under criticism from Republicans. "I am damn proud of my service to this country, he said, and credited Vance for his time in the military. Though appearing in California, Walz avoided any mention of the states long-running problems, which include a homeless crisis, some of the nations steepest taxes and lofty housing prices that have been blamed for sending residents to other states looking for more affordable living. In a statement, California Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson said residents are all too familiar with the ramifications of far-left policies championed by Harris. Walz closed by urging union members to make phone calls and knock on doors on behalf of the Democratic ticket, spotlighting the importance organized labor can have on the expected close contest. Union member Joseph Moore, a Republican from Salem, Oregon, said the speech left him encouraged that Harris and Waltz could stop Trump, whom he blamed for dismantling the Republican Party he once knew while leaving the nation and Congress bitterly divided. With Harris and Walz on the ballot, he said: It's the first time that I felt hope we can keep Trump out of office. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz once praised a cleric and leader in the Muslim community who has spread antisemitic content on Facebook, according to video newly revealed by the Washington Examiner. The video features Walz, who was chosen last week to be Vice President Kamala Harris running mate, speaking at an event hosted by the Muslim American Society of Minnesota during his first gubernatorial campaign in 2018, according to the Examiner. In the video, Walz praises Imam Asad Zaman, executive director of the organization hosting the event, as a master teacher and briefly touches on their shared history. I would like to first of all say thank you to Imam. I am a teacher, so when I see a master teacher, I know it, Walz says in the video. Over the time weve spent together, one of the things Ive had the privilege of is seeing the things in life through the eye of a master teacher to try and get the understanding, listening today to the stories and what it means. Walzs appearance alongside the Muslim cleric, one of several in recent years, came after Zaman had shared a link in 2015 to a neo-Nazi propaganda film that portrayed Adolf Hitler in a positive light. Zaman had also shared a Hamas press release in 2016 mourning the death of a Bangladeshi Muslim politician, who was executed after being found guilty of war crimes. In the wake of the October 7 attacks by Hamas inside Israel, Zaman has shared anti-Israel posts on social media. On October 7, he expressed solidarity with Palestinians against Israeli attacks while sharing a statement from the Muslim American Society of Minnesota condemning Israels recent unprovoked attacks. Earlier that day, Zaman shared a post arguing, Palestine has the right to defend itself. In a statement to CNN, Harris campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said that Walz and Zaman do not have a personal relationship. The Governor and he do not have a personal relationship. Governor Walz strongly condemns Hamas terrorism, Hitt told CNN. Zaman also told CNN on Tuesday that he does not have a personal relationship with Walz. When asked about the antisemitic Facebook posts, Zaman said in an email that he sometimes shares links on social media without fully looking at them. People, myself included, will sometimes pass along social media items without fully looking at them. I support organizations, leaders and efforts to bring greater justice, equality and wellbeing to all people whether Muslim or Jewish, Christian or Hindu, believer or atheist. Desiring harm to people is against my faith and my personal convictions, he said. Asked about his opinion of the Harris-Walz campaigns stance on the Israel-Hamas war, Zaman said he was unclear on what their stance is but added that he hopes to see an immediate end to the enormous human suffering and devastation this war is causing. As governor, Walz and members of his staff have hosted and appeared alongside Zaman on multiple occasions, including a meeting as recently as last year about a spike in security concerns at local mosques. Zaman joined Walz and other Minnesota elected officials at a news conference calling for the end of the federal government shutdown in January 2019. He delivered an invocation along with other faith leaders ahead of Walzs annual State of the State address later that year. Walz and Zaman both spoke at a news conference featuring Minnesota elected officials and community faith leaders calling for protesters to act peacefully following the killing of George Floyd in May 2020. In the 2018 video, Walz says he spoke to Zaman after a 2017 bombing of a mosque in Bloomington, Minnesota, and separately discussed with Zaman US policy toward Syrian refugees under the Trump administration and growing instances of Islamophobia at that time. To be very honest, in this space, Imam Zaman is right on this. There is Islamophobia. There is a hatred that is being stirred. There are people in leadership positions that are making this situation worse, Walz says in the video. This story has been updated with a response from Imam Asad Zaman. CLARIFICATION: This story has also been updated to reflect that Zamans meeting last year was with a member of Gov. Tim Walzs office. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Ghost, a Department of Corrections K-9, watches visitors come in to Washington Corrections Center in Shelton, Wash. (Grace Deng/Washington State Standard) In a prison north of Olympia, a deaf, all-white pit bull mix named Ghost searches visitors for drugs. Its incredible to watch him work, marvels a Washington State Department of Corrections staff member. Ghost, a rescue whos totally unadoptable due to his intensity his handler, Erik Prange, calls him insane moves from each visitor and their belongings with practiced discipline. Ghost is one of just a handful of working K-9s in Washington who can sniff out fentanyl. Like many of these dogs in the state, he was trained by the Department of Corrections. The agency only keeps eight dogs for its prisons but trains around 12 a year, many of whom go to local courts, jails and law enforcement agencies. Usually, only K-9s assigned to prisons are trained to detect fentanyl, but thats about to change due to bipartisan state legislation passed this year that will allow Washington to create a model program for training and certifying dogs to detect fentanyl. I probably talk to three or four agencies a week that would like to get dogs to find fentanyl. They believe its the biggest thing they need to combat right now more than anything else, said Terry Hartman, the Department of Corrections statewide K-9 program manager. But criminal justice advocates and prisoners who interact with the K-9s dont think their use should be expanded, arguing that the trauma of being searched by a dog isnt worth the benefit, especially given mixed research on whether K-9s are effective. While visitors gather with their loved ones at the prisons annual powwow, Ghost begins searching peoples cars. As people are pulled out of the festivities, the mood becomes more tense. One older woman is told that Ghost has detected drugs in her car, and the handler thinks a small item in her purse is a marijuana cartridge. Thats bullsh*t, she scoffs, adding that its a propane piece for her fire pit she needs to get replaced. Thats the craziest thing Ive ever heard. Dogs against the opioid epidemic Training dogs to find fentanyl is nearly the exact same process as training a dog to seek out any other drug, Hartman said, but with a few additional safety protocols, as fentanyl can be more dangerous to both dogs and humans. All of the Department of Corrections handlers carry Narcan and Hartman said hes proud that no dogs have had harmful exposure to fentanyl since the Department of Corrections first started training dogs to detect the drug about a year and a half ago. Before House Bill 1635 passed, only one police dog in Washington was certified to detect fentanyl and the dog was trained in California. HB 1635 will allow the Criminal Justice Training Commission to develop model standards and proper certification in-state, said Rep. Gina Mosbrucker, R-Goldendale, the legislations lead sponsor. Wed like to have as many [K-9s] as possible, Mosbrucker said. I think the fentanyl crisis is all hands on deck. Fentanyl is legal in some circumstances, and HB 1635 will also give K-9 handlers immunity from lawsuits in certain situations, like if a dog alerts its handler to a cancer patient wearing a prescribed fentanyl patch. The idea for a wider K-9 fentanyl detection program outside of prisons came from former state representative David Hayes, who works for the Washington State Narcotics Investigators Association, Mosbrucker said. He called and said, Weve got to figure out a way to get a training program for our dogs for fentanyl with a trainer from Washington, Mosbrucker said. Her bipartisan legislation passed unanimously. The bill sets aside $150,000 so the Criminal Justice Training Commission can create a K-9 fentanyl detection certification program by the end of this year. Hartman said the Department of Corrections is seeking additional funds to boost its K-9 program, especially with the new interest in fentanyl-trained dogs. Our waiting list is about 2 years out, Hartman said. Law enforcement agencies want dogs. Mosbrucker is retiring from the Legislature this year but said she plans on handing off legislation that would expand the K-9 fentanyl detection program to another lawmaker before she leaves. But do the dogs work? Mosbrucker and Hartman emphasized that the dogs are meant to make the public more safe. However, theres very little research about whether thats the case: In one 2023 study led by Ian Adams, a former canine officer who now studies criminal justice, the authors say there is precious little empirical evidence to support any claims, whether by proponents or critics of police K-9 programs. There is research indicating drug dogs are prone to false alerts although accuracy rates vary widely based on training. Records of one Washington school districts attempt at introducing drug-sniffing dogs found the dogs were incorrect 85% of the time, leading the district to abandon the program. Hartman, the K-9 program manager, said Washington dogs must detect at least 9 out of 10 drugs to pass certification after 240 hours of training. All of the dogs hes trained detected 10 out of 10 drugs in their final test. You can pass college with 70%, Hartman said. Ghosts handler, Prange, believes the idea of an accuracy rate is flawed. Dogs key in on the odor of the drugs, Prange points out. This means the dogs may pick up a lingering scent, even if drugs arent there. He thinks thats what happened in the case of the woman with the fire pit part. Out of the 150 or so people who attended the prison event, Ghost flagged six cars and three people were asked to leave, Prange said. It disrupted our ceremony, it disrespected some of our elders, said an Indigenous incarcerated person who did not want to be named for fear of retaliation. He added that the dog searched cultural regalia and sacred items. The damage to guests doesnt balance out. K-9s were first introduced to police units during the civil rights era of the 1960s and have a history of violence against Black people and people of color. The Department of Corrections handlers are quick to make the distinction between drug dogs and attack dogs. All of our dogs are friendly, Hartman said, adding that he feels that some of the criticism comes from prisoners who want to more freely sell and use drugs. Still, theres some research suggesting dogs pick up on human biases through their handlers behavior, contributing to racial disparities in traffic stops and other searches. People in prison are frequently described as being treated as animals or worse than animals, said Wanda Bertram, an advocate with Prison Policy Initiative, a criminal justice reform group. Theres something about being searched by dogs that enhances that feeling. When you introduce new forms of surveillance, its really hard to put it back in the bag, Bertram said. I think communities in Washington state need to be mindful when they consider bringing this in. ST. LANDRY PARISH, La. (KLFY) A 38-year-old Washington man who was arrested over the weekend after a juvenile was shot in the leg claims the injury was an accident, according to the St. Landry Parish Sheriffs Office. Carroll Soileau, 38, of Washington, was arrested Sunday and charged with three counts of aggravated assault with a firearm and one count of aggravated second-degree battery, the sheriffs office said in a news release. Soileaus bond was set at $30,000. Police said they were notified of a shooting Sunday that occurred during the early morning hours near pointe Verte Road and the Grand Prairie Highway in the Washington area. A parent told police that their son and three other juveniles were riding around in the area in a truck when someone shot in their direction, the sheriffs office said. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now KLFY Daily Digest It was learned that the four juveniles were riding in the truck down a gravel road and drove into a field. Once in the field, the driver of the truck began spinning donuts,' the sheriffs office said in the news release. Once leaving the field, the juveniles then drove past Soileaus residence. Police said Soileau allegedly shined a light at the truck when it was speeding by his home. During the early morning hours, he noticed a vehicle speeding up once it was close to his residence and he shined a light at the truck to slow them down. When the truck sped up at the residence again, Soileau stated that he fired a shot at the ground, not intending to hit the vehicle and injure someone, police said. Latest News Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLFY.com. He wasnt trying to be a drug dealer. Former Biloxi councilman, CBD store owner sentenced Former Biloxi Councilman Robert Leon Deming III is headed to prison for six years for selling products containing synthetic cannabinoids at his CBD and kratom stores in Mississippi and North Carolina. U.S. District Judge Taylor McNeel handed down the sentence Tuesday, also ordering Deming to serve three years of unsupervised release and to pay a $5,000 fine. His attorney, W. Fred Dub Hornsby, acknowledged that Deming made a mistake. Things just evolved to where these drugs were placed in consumer products, Hornsby said. He wasnt trying to be a drug dealer. Former Biloxi city councilman Robert Deming III and his partner leave Dan M. Russell Federal Courthouse in Gulfport on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, after Demings sentencing in a federal drug case. When explaining his determination in sentencing, the judge noted that the illegal additive Deming bought and sold in some of the products at his stores was a controlled substance analogue that was not specifically identified as an Schedule I controlled substance until 2023. As a result, the judge said he saw somewhat of a gray area regarding the legality of the additive. Often referred to as designer drugs, analogue or analog drugs are those additives which are similar in chemical structure to controlled substances. The addictive in question produces the same or similar effects as illicit drugs such as marijuana or other drugs. McNeel said it became clear at a certain point in the criminal investigation that Deming knew he was buying and selling products infused with an illegal additive. That was evident, investigators said, by group chats in which Demings employees complained about how the additives were too strong and could harm customers. In May, Deming pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance in a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. Specifically, he admitted selling the products at his Candy Shop stores on U.S. 90 in Ocean Springs. The sale of the products culminated in over $2 million in sales at Demings nine stores. One of the Candy Shop kratom stores owned by Biloxi Councilman Robert Deming III on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023. The shop was raided by the DEA due to an ongoing investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Buckner said investigators also found proof that Deming had personally sent a $2,200 check to an unindicted co-conspirator to buy a kilo of the illicit drugs added to his products.. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dismissed two additional charges, one for drug conspiracy and another for the destruction, alteration or falsification of records in a federal investigation. Deming arrived at the federal courthouse early for sentencing Tuesday along with his supporters who followed him into the courthouse for sentencing. U.S. Attorney Todd Gee weighed in on the crimes after Deming pleaded guilty. A public officials side job should not be running a business that distributes millions of dollars in illegal controlled substances and endangers the health and safety of its customers, Gee said. We appreciate the hard work of investigators with the DEA, FDA, and MBN to put a stop to the distribution of these dangerous vape additives. As part of the plea agreement in the criminal case, Deming agreed to forfeit a yellow Monster Truck, a lift kit, over $1.9 million dollars in cash and more.. The criminal investigation The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics began a criminal investigation after reports of customers getting sick after using some of the products, mostly vape pens, that were sold at the stores. During the undercover probe, authorities obtained some of the products from the stores and subsequent testing showed mostly vape pens sold at the stores contained a Schedule I controlled substance known as 5F-AB-PINACA. The investigation culminated in a Jan. 26, 2023, raid at Demings stores and offices, resulting in the seizure of over $1.8 million in cash from Demings home and vehicles along with other cash from the stores. In addition, federal agents seized other drugs at Demings home, the prosecutors said. Drug Enforcement Administration agents and other law enforcement officers search two cars as a part of raids conducted on the home of Biloxi Councilman Robert Deming III on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023. Agents would not say specifically what they were looking for or what they found, but agents also conducted raids on several locations of The Candy Shop & Kratom, a kratom store chain owned by Deming. As part of the investigation, federal authorities ran a financial records check on financial gains at Demings stores and found he was bringing in significantly larger profits from sales at his stores compared to businesses that sold the same products. During the financial analysis, investigators noticed that Deming had made high-end purchases with cash, such as the $500,000 he paid in cash for a Biloxi home and other items, such as a Monster truck. Deming resigned from public office a short time after he pleaded guilty in May. After his release under house arrest in May, federal investigators also found that Deming had closed his personal bank accounts and his attorney trust account. Robert Deming III resigns from his Biloxi City Council seat during a press conference in front of Biloxi City Hall in Biloxi on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. Deming pleaded guilty to a federal drug conspiracy charge on May 1. Five days later, he opened new accounts at other banks and shuffled the money around, resulting in some of the money from his attorney practice being co-mingled with proceeds from illicit drug sales. Former Biloxi city councilman Robert Demings attorney W. Fred Dub Hornsby arrives at Dan M. Russell Federal Courthouse in Gulfport on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, for Demings sentencing. As part of his plea deal, authorities cash seized at Demings home and other items listed below: $73,328.24 in cash from the Candy Shop store in Ocean Springs. $21,597 in cash from a Wells Fargo bank account in the name of Robert L. Deming. $56,214 in cash from a Wells Fargo bank account in the name of Robert Deming Attorneys at Law. $26,667 in cash from a Woodforest National bank account in the name of DK Marine LLC, a business for which Deming is listed as the registered agent and owner. The DEA, MBN and the officers with U.S. Food and Drug Administration Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. attorneys Buckner and Lee Smith prosecuted the case. Biloxi councilman indicted on drug conspiracy, records destruction charges after raids Bond granted for Biloxi councilman accused of drug trafficking after raids of CBD stores MS official pleads guilty, admits buying kilo of drugs for CBD and kratom sales in MS, NC Feds outline plans to seize $2M in cash & more from MS Coast councilman in drug case Days after his drug arrest, a Biloxi councilman started moving money around, feds say Deming employee arrested, facing federal charge connected to Biloxi councilmans drug case Watch: Arsonist sets himself on fire trying to burn down barber shop An arsonist set himself on fire after pouring petrol over a barber shop he had broken into, CCTV footage released by Australian police shows. The footage, taken just before midnight on July 6, shows two individuals pulling up to the Gold Blade barber shop in Gungahlin, Canberra, on pushbikes. One of the men uses a hammer to smash through the glass front door, allowing their accomplice to climb into the shop, armed with a red jerry can. The individual douses the shop with accelerant, using a lighter to set fire to it. Flames engulf the store and the arsonist is set on fire, forcing him to make a hasty exit. The CCTV footage shows the man diving through the smashed front door and onto the pavement, rolling over several times in an attempt to put out the flames. Once he does, the pair flee, leaving the shop to burn. Police have struggled to identify the two individuals, who were wearing motorcycle helmets to cover their faces. Community police are appealing for help in locating them and have urged anyone with information about the incident to get in touch. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Aug. 13 (UPI) -- A Florida woman cleaning up debris washed ashore by Hurricane Debby made an unexpected discovery -- a message in a bottle dating back to World War II. Suzanne Flament-Smith, 46, of Tampa, said she was picking up trash on Bayshore Boulevard in Safety Harbor when the bottle caught her eye. "There was sand in it, but you could clearly see the writing," she told People. "You could see the beautiful penmanship, The letter was almost rolled outside, so you could see the writing. It stood out." Flament-Smith opened the bottle and discovered the letter was accompanied by sand, a coffee stick, a bullet casing and a miniature cannonball. "We opened the letter and you could see it was really faded. So some of it you can make out and you could see the letterhead on it," she said. The letter, dated March 4, 1945, has a letterhead marked "United States Navy, Amphibious Training Base in Little Creek, Virginia." "Dear Lee, Received your letter yesterday, was glad to hear from you," the letter opens. Flament-Smith said much of the letter is too faded to read, but the writer, who may have been named Chris or Jim, details starting at "radio school" and promises to write again the next day. Flament-Smith said the letter presents an intriguing mystery. "My husband and I had so much fun trying to think, 'OK, did they throw it from the ship?' But it's like, 'No, there's sand in it.' If they threw it from Virginia Beach, how did the current not bring it back into shore? What's the purpose of the letter? It sounds like they're friends. You kind of come up with all these scenarios in your head." April Phillips, a Navy public affairs officer, said officials at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, more than 800 miles from Safety Harbor, are investigating to see if they can identify the sender or recipient of the letter. President Biden and first lady Jill Biden appeared at Tulane University in New Orleans Tuesday afternoon for the announcement of up to $150 million in federal funds for cancer surgery research. The eight recipient institutions which include Tulane, Rice University, Johns Hopkins and the imaging company Cision Vision are participants in the Precision Surgical Interventions program of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). Together, their goal is to improve accuracy and precision in cancer surgery to reduce the need for repeated procedures when treating patients. Watch the video replay above. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Watch: Walz gives remarks at labor union convention in Los Angeles Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz addressed members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union at their convention in Los Angeles Tuesday afternoon. The visit by the Democratic vice presidential candidate came as the Harris-Walz ticket looks to solidify its base, including with organized labor. AFSCME is one of several major labor organizations, including other constituent unions within the AFL-CIO, that have given strong support to the Democratic Party ticket. Some were already on board for President Biden. Others, such as the United Auto Workers, have offered enthusiastic support in the weeks since Vice President Harris replaced him in the top spot. Walz has also drawn praise from unions since becoming Harriss running mate. Teamsters President Sean OBrien, on the other hand, spoke at the Republican National Convention. The Teamsters union has yet to formally offer an endorsement to a presidential candidate. Watch the video replay above. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (WETM) Representatives from Schuyler Hospital and the Village of Watkins Glen gathered at the Watkins Glen Elks Lodge Tuesday afternoon to accept grant money donated from the lodge. A check for $5,000 was presented to Schuyler Hospital in front of the lodge on Tuesday, Aug. 13, at noon right next to the main sign for the Elks Lodge. In a release from the Watkins Glen Elks Lodge, of the $5,000 donated to Schuyler Hospital, $4,000 will go to the physical therapy department and $1,000 to Gorges Giver, a group dedicated to helping women battling cancer. An additional $1,000 was donated, $500 of which was presented to the Village of Watkins Glen, and the other $500 will go to the Camp STAR program for needs associated with the program. Strong Kids Safe Kids returns to celebrate 38 years For the 5th year, the Watkins Glen Elks Lodge has applied for and received grant funding from the Beacon and Spotlight Grant from the Elks National Foundation. The grants allow the lodge to support community-based organizations with financial gifts. Recipients focus on increasing the quality of the community and spirit of Watkins Glen and greater Schuyler County. According to Chuck Franzese, past exalted ruler and secretary for the Watkins Glen Elks, even though Watkins Glen has a thriving tourism industry, local organizations still struggle to get valuable funding throughout the year. Watkins Glen has a lot going for it with tourism and visitors year-round with the wineries and the race track, but still we struggle to raise funds to keep these necessary community activities going and so places like the Elks can help with that as best they can, Franzese said. The release said that the Watkins Glen Elks Lodge has helped donate $29,500 to community-based organizations over the last five years. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WETM - MyTwinTiers.com. Ways to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Allegheny Trail GREEN BANK, W.Va. (WBOY) West Virginias crown jewel of long distance hiking turns 50 years old next month, and a celebration is taking place in Pocahontas County. The Allegheny Trail is longest hiking trail in West Virginia and goes 311 miles from the Mason-Dixon Line at the Pennsylvania border in Preston County to Peters Mountain at the Virginia border in Monroe County. More than 27% of the trailabout 86 milesis located in Pocahontas County. West Virginia Scenic Trails Association is holding a three-day festival in the county to celebrate the trails anniversary. The Green Bank Observatory, home of the largest steerable radio telescope, will host the event on Sept. 6-8. Attendees can enjoy organized hikes, live music, outdoor workshops, delicious food and camping. Farm-to-table dinners returning to West Virginia State Parks this month Tickets for the events are $115.50 for the weekend with overnight camping and $55.50 for a day pass. A limited number of camping spots and tickets can be purchased online here. Keep in mind that the event is cash-only and cellphones will not work in the National Radio Quiet Zone where the Green Bank Observatory is located. If you want to celebrate the Allegheny Trail on your own, you can take on the 50 on 50 Challenge which gives SWAG items to participants who complete a total of 50 miles hiked and hours volunteered on the trail. You can register online here and must complete your 50 by Sept. 1. For more trail information, visit the Hike the Allegheny Trail website. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBOY.com. WCBS 880 to end all-news format, ESPN to take over airwaves WCBS 880 to end all-news format, ESPN to take over airwaves NEW YORK (PIX11) WCBS 880, the AM radio station in New York City, is ending its all-news format after nearly 60 years of broadcasting. The stations owner is licensing its 880 AM signal to ESPN. WCBSs parent company cited headwinds facing local journalism as the reason for the change. More Local News The Writers Guild of America condemned the move, saying it deprives the public of local news stories with different perspectives. The switch to an all-sports format happens on Aug. 26. The change leaves 1010 WINS as the only all-news radio station in the nations largest media market. Jonathan Rizk is a digital journalist who has covered local news in New York City and Washington, D.C. He has been with PIX11 since August 2022. See more of his work here, and follow him on X and Facebook @OfficialRizk. Get in touch at jonathan.rizk@pix11.com. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. STATESBORO, Ga. (WSAV) A fund created to help residents in Bulloch and Bryan counties who are affected by Hyundai Plants use of four Floridan aquifer wells has reached $1 million. The Development Authority of Bryan County Board of Directors approved $250,000 to go toward the Well Mitigation Fund, which is meant to help residents affected by the wells that have been approved for use by the Hyundai Motor Group. The Development Authority of Bulloch County and the Savannah Harbor-Interstate 16 Corridor Joint Development Authority (Savannah JDA) also approved $250,000 each previously. The Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA) also announced they will be contributing $250,000. When combined, the total contributions equal $1 million. The fund was created to address any impacts to existing Floridan aquifer wells within the five-mile radius of the planned well sites, a press release sent by Savannah JDA said. The fund is expected to have ample resources to provide remediation to anyone that may be affected by the wells. Hyundai Metaplant could see hybrid vehicle manufacturing The fund is meant to cover costs for those who need to lower pumps on their private wells if they drop, following the Floridian aquifer wells usage. The Georgia Environmental Protection Division said that they worked on a study on water supply impacts back in February and found that wells in the area might drop up to 19 feet, meaning shallower wells will have to be dug again, WSAV Eden Hodges reported previously. The four wells in Bulloch County could pump around 6 million gallons of water per day, which would be sent to Bryan County. Bryan County then will send it to the Hyundia Metaplant. Bryan County, who will manage the fund on behalf of both counties, will hire a consultant with experience developing well mitigation plans to prepare policies, eligibility guidelines, processes and public information documents, the Savannah JDA press release said. This process and the mitigation policy enacted by both counties should be completed by the end of this year. The Bulloch Action Coalition, a group that opposes the use of the Hyundai Metaplant usage of the aquifers, said in a livestreamed meeting on Monday that they would be creating a petition to nullify the agreements between Bulloch and Bryan counties which could stop the drilling and operation of the aquifers and the use or creation of the Well Mitigation Fund. The Georgia Environmental Protection Division will have another meeting to discuss the proposed permits with the public Tuesday from 6-9 p.m. at Southeast Bulloch High School. WSAVs Nakya Harris will be in attendance and WSAV will provide more information following the meeting. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSAV-TV. BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) A West Seneca man was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with possession of child pornography, which carries a maximum of 20 years in prison, the United States District Attorneys Office announced. Officials said the West Seneca Police Department was advised by members of the Finger Lakes Pred Catchers, a group of volunteers who work to expose online child predators, about 29-year-old Joseph Buelow. They claimed to have information about him contacting minors. The operator of Pred Catchers, Dakota Liddiard, said Buelow reached out to him on the dating application Meet24 and believed that he was messaging with a 13-year-old girl named Amanda, the attorneys office said. Liddiard said Buelow started to communicate in sexual terms almost immediately and made plans to meet Amanda, but didnt show up at the meeting location. Buelow also allegedly reached out to a 14-year-old girl named Caitlyn, who was another member of the Pred Catchers. Their conversations were also sexual in nature and Buelow requested to meet with Caitlyn on two occasions, but did not show up either time, officials said. In April 2024, West Seneca police contacted the FBI and provided pictures of the conversations between Pred Catchers and Buelow. Officials said during some of these conversations, Buelow sent nude pictures of himself and tried to get the minors to send nude images of themselves. Investigators say they recovered multiple communications between Buelow and individuals he believed were minors during a search warrant of his cell phone. They also recovered sexually explicit images of child pornography, officials said. Investigators identified at least one minor victim that Buelow allegedly sexually abused. Buelow made an appearance before a judge and was detained. Latest Local News Katie Skoog joined the News 4 team in April 2024. She is a graduate from the University at Buffalo. You can view more of her work here. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to News 4 Buffalo. CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) West Virginia Tuesday announced it was marking a milestone in its rollout of digital vehicle titles. With fully transactable titles, the titles of the vehicles on dealer lots can be updated in real-time when a lien is filed, a brand is added or a new owner is listed, even in the states system of record. The next phase of the rollout, according to a press release from the West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV), is to encourage jurisdictions nationwide to recognize and accept digital title transactions. The DMV is joining with automotive title management firm DDI Technology to begin a nationwide pilot of the digital title technology. Improper Social Security payments surpass $1B amid record-breaking backlog: report This was a hypercare pilot, where we engaged with our partners to guide the Digital Title transactions through the entire process. We demonstrated usability, proved the verification tools, and validated the end-to-end security of the program, DDI Government Affairs and Industry Relations Manager of Insurance Auto Auctions Kevin Park said in the press release. The printed version of West Virginia digital titles are currently listed in the most current version of the J.D. Power Title and Registration Textbook for cases where a physical copy is preferred. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBOY.com. Fears are mounting over prospects of a significant escalation of the war in Gaza, with the White House warning Tehran could attack Israel in a matter of days. For now, its not entirely clear what kind of assault Iran might be looking to mount in retaliation for the bombing that killed Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh at a guest house in the Iranian capital two weeks ago. But John Kirby, White House national security spokesman, said the Biden administration shared Israels concerns on the timing of any Iranian action. Could be this week, Kirby told reporters on Monday. We have to be prepared for what could be a significant set of attacks. Iran Vows to Attack Israel in Retaliatory Strikes Following Hamas Leaders Death Kirby added that the U.S. had greatly increased its force posture and capabilities in the region over the past few days. This has seen the deployment of further fighter jets, naval warships and even a nuclear-powered submarine to the Middle East, as Iranian commanders prepare to carry out Ayatollah Ali Khameneis orders to harshly punish Israel for Haniyehs assassination. It wouldnt mark the first time Iran has directly attacked Israel since Hamas swept into Israel, killing more than 1,100 people, on Oct. 7. In April, this year after Israeli forces had bombed the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Iran responded by firing several hundred rockets toward Israeli territory. Though the bombardment appeared to have drawn the crisis in the Middle East to a razors edge, most of the missiles were intercepted, with those that made it through resulting in only a small number of injuries and minor damage to a handful of air bases. The attack was therefore largely seen as a show of force, with Iran telling the U.N. that matters could be deemed concluded in its aftermath. This time, however, is different. While Israel has not claimed responsibility for Haniyehs assassination in the Iranian capital, the Netanyahu government hasnt denied it either. Officials had previously vowed to kill Haniyeh and other senior Hamas leaders, and the killing came just hours after Israel successfully targeted a top Hezbollah commander in Beirut. Americans Warned to Leave Lebanon ASAP as Iran Vows Revenge Conflicting reports have emerged over how Haniyehs execution was carried outsome suggested it may have been an airstrike, others that a remotely detonated bomb had been placed under the leaders bed at the guest house in Tehran months in advance. Whatever the exact method, the property was under the management of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. His assassination was therefore widely seen as a deeply humiliating security failure on the part of Iranian intelligence, with an investigation having since seen more than 20 individuals arrested, including senior officials and staff from the guest house. Israels other Western partners are now engaged in a frantic scramble to keep ceasefire negotiations on the table, with France, Germany and the U.K. issuing a joint statement yesterday calling for the fighting to end now, urging the return of Israeli hostages still held by Hamas and the unfettered delivery and distribution of aid in Gaza. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. HONOLULU (KHON2) Sadie Yu, an 11-year-old from Hilo, founded Sweetheart Farm to support her family. Her homemade lilikoi butter, produced to help with little brother Kaohes medical expenses, recently garnered attention from Hawaiian Airlines (HAL). Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You When my brother was little. He started having seizures, Yu said. He ended up going to the hospital more often. Medical bills are expensive, so I wanted to help out, After learning about Yus story and her efforts to alleviate the financial burden of her brothers rare medical condition, HAL decided to feature Sweetheart Farm on a flight from Kona, Hawaii to Los Angeles, California. We watched your [KHON2 News] segment. And we were just touched by her story, you know, just her care for her brother. Her determination and just how hard she was working to help support his medical bills, we just felt like the least we could do was start to get the product on board, which was, you know, her dream, HAL Spokesperson Alex Da Silva said. Hawaiian Airlines invited Sweetheart Farm to sell jars of their buttery, tangy passion fruit spread to passengers. Whiz Kids: Damien Memorial School students hard work earns him title of Eagle Scout For anyone interested in purchasing Sadies lilikoi butter, youre helping her and her brother Kaohe as all proceeds will go directly to Sweetheart Farm, HAL Flight Attendant Robert Kosko said. Within minutes, Yu sold out 100 jars. When I heard her story I thought, Wow. Thats amazing,' Linda Lee said. Lee bought six jars from Sweetheart Farm. Shes like, such a young age. Shes able to do this, and not be frustrated about it. Or be ashamed because some families, especially Asian culture we try to hide, you know. Touched by her story, Sweetheart Farms lilikoi butter will be sold on select Hawaiian Airlines flights for a limited time. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news My dream was to get my product on Hawaiian Airlines. And now that it came to reality, I need to find a new dream, Yu said. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KHON2. In the United States, winning the most votes nationwide isnt enough to win you the presidency. Just ask Hillary Clinton, who bested Donald Trump by nearly 2.9 million votes in 2016 and still lost the election. The real trick is to rack up the most votes in the right places. So which states will be this years battlegrounds? And which forces local or otherwise will determine whether each battleground state ultimately sides with Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee? Heres a handy Yahoo News guide to the 2024 map. Why do battleground states matter? To win a U.S. presidential election, you dont necessarily need to win the popular vote (i.e., the combined tally across all 50 states). You need to stockpile electoral votes by finishing first in individual states. With minor exceptions, the candidate who gets the most votes in a particular state on Election Day is awarded all of that states electoral votes, which are proportional to its population. Whoever finishes first in enough states to secure at least 270 electoral votes a majority wins the Oval Office. Because of these winner-take-all rules, candidates tend not to campaign in states that consistently vote Democratic (blue states) or Republican (red states). Instead, they focus on the small number of states (known as swing states, battleground states, toss-up states or purple states) that could go one way or the other. How do we know which states will be battlegrounds in November? History helps. Certain demographic groups tend to vote Democratic or Republican, and certain states tend to have a 50/50 mix of Democratic- and Republican-leaning groups. The vote in those states tends to be close. But state demographics can change over time. The political preferences within each demographic group can change too. As a result, a former battleground state might start to lean red or blue. Ohio is a good example. From 1900 to 2012, the Buckeye State accurately chose the winning presidential candidate 93% of the time (including in every election from 1964 to 2016). But as white, working-class voters increasingly gravitated toward Republicans, so did Ohio. In 2020, Trump won there by a comfortable 8-point margin even though Joe Biden won the election. Missouri followed the same trajectory; Florida has been trending rightward as well. New Mexico, Colorado and Virginia, on the other hand, have veered to the left. So to figure out this years battlegrounds, you cant just cut and paste the previous list. You need to look at which states are too close to call right now. And to do that, you need to consult the latest polls. Can we trust state polls? To a degree. National polls tend to be more reliable; on the state level, its hard for pollsters to drill down on the most representative mix of respondents (i.e., one that will have the same demographic characteristics as the eventual electorate). But you can still get a fairly accurate sense of where things stand by averaging together the most trustworthy state polls and you can further improve that average by incorporating it into a statistical model that includes campaign fundamentals as well (such as how the economy is performing and how the state has voted in the past). Data journalist Nate Silver, formerly of the New York Times and FiveThirtyEight, does just that with the latest version of his Silver Bulletin election forecast. Its the most comprehensive ranking of 2024s battleground states to date. Former President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally in Bozeman, Mont., on Aug. 9. (Rick Bowmer/AP) So what are the numbers saying right now? The Silver Bulletin model currently projects that Harris and Trump could finish within 3 points of each other in seven states. Heres how those states rank in terms of closeness, along with how they voted in 2020: 1. Arizona (Trump +0.6% in 2024; Biden +0.3% in 2020) 2. Georgia (Trump +0.9% in 2024; Biden +0.2% in 2020) 3. Pennsylvania (Harris +1.0% in 2024; Biden +1.2% in 2020) 4. Nevada (Harris +1.1% in 2024; Biden +2.4% in 2020) 5. Wisconsin (Harris +1.9% in 2024; Biden +0.6% in 2020) 6. North Carolina (Trump +2.0% in 2024; Trump +1.4% in 2020) 7. Michigan (Harris +2.6% in 2024; Biden +2.8% in 2020) These were the seven closest states in 2020 as well. But under the surface, key dynamics seem to be shifting. Before Biden dropped out in July, polls showed Trump cutting into the presidents 2020 margins among several traditionally Democratic groups: Latino voters, Black voters (especially Black men) and younger voters. Previously, Biden had been outpacing his Democratic predecessors with some groups that usually favor Republicans, including college-educated white voters and senior citizens (especially white seniors). That kept him in the hunt. But the presidents swing-state numbers started to crater after his worrisome debate performance on June 27, and Trump pulled ahead nearly everywhere. Lacking a clear path to victory, Biden was finally forced to step aside. Since entering the race, Harris has largely reversed the damage, taking narrow (forecasted) leads in the Rust Belt states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Yet Trump remains relatively strong compared to 2020 in the younger, more diverse Sun Belt states. The big question going forward is whether Harris a younger, more diverse candidate than Biden can surpass Trump in the Sun Belt as well. Unlike Biden, Harris now leads Trump in the Nevada forecast, and shes partially closed the gap in Georgia, Arizona and North Carolina. Who would win if the election were held today? The national polls now show Harris edging Trump by an average of about 2 to 3 percentage points. She was trailing when she entered the race. In 2020, Biden beat Trump with electoral votes to spare: 306 to 232. If 2024s eventual results match todays Silver Bulletin forecast with Arizona and Georgia flipping to Trump; with North Carolina remaining red; and with Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania staying blue Harris would win with 279 electoral votes. But thats a big if. Another way to think about the election is in terms of probabilities. The Silver Bulletin model currently thinks Harris would win the Electoral College 55 times out of 100; Trump would win the other 45 times. Its hard to get much closer than that. What might change between now and Election Day? In general, voter demographics and distribution determine the vast majority of each states eventual outcome. College-educated white Pennsylvanians, for instance, dont vote in a wildly different way than college-educated white Arizonans. The question is how many of them live and vote in each state. But when the winning margins are narrow like they were in 2020 local dynamics can make a difference. A few to watch between now and November: Could Harris or Trump expand the battleground map by putting other states in play? Thats unlikely. If some big event or force such as an economic collapse or a federal Trump conviction were to alter the fundamental dynamics of the race in favor of one candidate or the other, then yes, the next tier of states could become battlegrounds. These include Florida (Trump +4.7%, according to Silver Bulletin), Virginia (Harris +5.5%), New Hampshire (Harris +5.8%), Texas (Trump +6.8%), Maine (Harris +7.6%), New Mexico (Harris +8.0%) and Ohio (Trump +8.1%). But even then, the current, core group of seven battleground states would still prove decisive, because the margins there are closer so they would break for Trump or Harris first. Piling up extra electoral votes elsewhere would just be icing on the proverbial cake. With the academic year just a few short weeks away at college and university campuses nationwide, many are bracing for a reprise of last springs ugly protests, encampments and violent clashes among faculty, staff and students. Many administrators seemed like deer caught in headlights, unable or unwilling to acknowledge how serious the problem was at their institutions. Their feeble public responses made matters worse. This led some college and university presidents to rehearse their testimonies when called before congressional subcommittees. Still, others assumed the controversial role of mediators as they worked to reach settlements with those who had established illegal encampments and refused to vacate when requested. Stuart N. Brotman In short, what seemed lost in the moment was the primary and arguably most important role that college and university presidents should play that of educators. In an era where the notion of a teachable moment is celebrated as a positive social good, the glaring lack of teachable moments here has been glaringly apparent. That needs to change. Its high time for college and university presidents to reclaim their responsibilities as educators regarding the boundaries of freedom of speech particularly when trespassing, property destruction, specific threats of violence and outright violence are involved. Alas, too little attention has been devoted to articulating how the exercise of free speech a cherished constitutional value includes peaceful civil disobedience but excludes much of the destructive campus behavior that took place. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression is a leading national nonprofit organization involved in First Amendment advocacy and research. In a FIRE survey conducted in conjunction with College Pulse last year, only 37% of students think it is never acceptable to shout down a speaker. Only 55% think blocking other students from hearing the speaker is unacceptable. And a growing number 27% in that survey think violence can be an acceptable way to stop a campus speech. These are alarming numbers. Heres a practical and impactful step that can be implemented at various higher education institutions right before classes begin. Remember teach-ins? This educational format became popular in the 1960s, as campuses brought all students together to learn about threats to the environment on what became known as Earth Day. Other teach-ins soon became popular, including those regarding the Vietnam War. According to Yales Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning, Teach-ins empower students to learn about a specific topic or issue through multidisciplinary lenses and develop/evolve their perspectives by the end of the forum. Teach-ins allow us to connect and discuss important issues as a campus community. Organizing a successful teach-in on freedom of speech needs to be approached thoughtfully and supported by necessary resources from various academic units. It will require organizing a range of speakers and a defined agenda. Community outreach will also be necessary. One critical element should be considered. The college or university president should marshal all required support for a freedom of speech teach-in and have all activities coordinated directly from his/her office. That will send a strong signal about its importance. The president (or the provost serving as the chief academic officer), as a well-informed moderator and visible institutional leader, should preside over the teach-in. The teach-in can be livestreamed and archived online to be viewed throughout the year, including by alumni and others unable to attend. Ideally, a freedom of speech teach-in should be held on the same grounds where the prior campus demonstrations or encampments took place. Using these open campus spaces for a truly educational purpose may strike some as ironic. However, in the long run, it can help reassert the vital role of teaching in higher education that many have forgotten. This essential mission needs to be reasserted forthrightly since widespread lessons about the First Amendment are timely and necessary. Stuart N. Brotman is the author of The First Amendment Lives On. He is an endowed professor of journalism and electronic media at the University of Tennessee. He wrote this for InsideSources.com. This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Why campus teach-ins on freedom of speech are so important Why this Nashville neighborhood was just named one of the 'most up-and-coming neighborhoods' in the U.S. One Music City neighborhood has just been named among the most "up-and-coming" neighborhoods in the United States by TravelMag. Nashville's vibrant Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood, located just two miles from downtown, was highlighted for its abundance of music studios, breweries, coffee houses, and art galleries. The Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. describes the Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood, often shortened to WeHo, as a "creative hub on the cultural rise." The area is home to multiple breweries, as well as redesigned factories and warehouses, making WeHo a standout amongst Music City's vast dining and cocktail scene. Adding to WeHo's appeal is the diversity of things to do, said TravelMag. For example cheering on Nashville SC at Geodis Park, sipping on local spirits at Nashville Craft Distillery, visiting the farmer's market, or attending the monthly WeHo art crawl. "Some of these areas have witnessed a flurry of new development, and rents have risen more substantially than in other neighborhoods in the same city," said TravelMag. "Likewise, the demographic in these districts is shifting towards young professionals, leading to more demand for studio flats and one-bedroom apartments." Most up-and-coming neighborhoods in the United States, according to TravelMag Buckman, Portland Butchertown, Louisville Bywater, New Orleans Corktown, Detroit Deep Ellum, Dallas Edgewood, Washington D.C. Frogtown, Los Angeles Govalle, Austin Gowanus, Brooklyn Greenwood, Seattle Little River, Miami North Park, San Diego Outer Sunset, San Francisco Pilsen, Chicago Wedgewood-Houston, Nashville Methodology In order to determine the most up-and-coming neighborhoods, TravelMag curated a list of 16 major cities using specific criteria, for example the number of "cool cocktail bars, fancy coffee houses and trendy eateries" which have sprouted recently. TravelMag also took into consideration eclectic boutiques, vegan restaurants and LGBTQ friendly spots. Coming soon: Four new restaurants slated for Nashville's dynamic Wedgewood Houston neighborhood Diana Leyva covers trending news and service journalism for The Tennessean. Contact her at Dleyva@gannett.com or follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @_leyvadiana This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville's Wedgewood-Houston among 'most up-and-coming' neighborhoods Why are people boycotting Dunkin' Donuts? Here's what we know A boycott against Dunkin Donuts by MAGA supporters and other conservatives circulated through online platforms as one influencer has accused the nationwide coffee chain of refusing to work with him due to his right-wing connections. What led to the Dunkin boycott? The CEO of Rumble Chris Pavlovski tweeted last Wednesday that Dunkin wanted his company to drop Steven Crowder, a conservative talk show host, and steer away from "right wing culture." Rumble is a video sharing platform that has a more conservative audience. The alleged emails that Pavolvski sent out in his tweet show messages from Dunkin, Inspire Brands and Diageo North America that expressed that they were opposed to showing up on the site because it is "too polarizing from a brand sustainability standpoint." In the same tweet, Pavolvski said his response was "no, we don't discriminate. All cultures are welcome on Rumble." Dunkin has not sent out a response on any of their social media accounts or on any press release on its website. Many Rumble supporters expressed how they are ready to boycott the coffee chain because of their alleged refusal to appear on the platform. A Twitter user with over two million followers tweeted out an image that showed #boycottDunkin reached up to two on trending on X, formerly Twitter, at one point last Wednesday. The post accumulated 11,000 retweets and 41,000 likes. Many responses under Pavlovski's original post supported the idea of a boycott against Dunkin. The boycott's trending topic has died down, at least on social media. As of Monday afternoon, #boycottDunkin is no longer trending on X, and the hashtag is not among the Top 100 trends on Tiktok. Dunkin locations in New Jersey Dunkin Donuts has 866 shops located in New Jersey, according to World Population Review. Many North Jersey towns are multiple shops in their district according to the Dunkin website, such as seven in Paramus, four in Hackensack and three in Englewood. This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Why are people boycotting Dunkin' Donuts? Here's the reason Vladlen Koval, Ukrainian military member of the unmanned systems unit of the 148th Separate Artillery Brigade, launches the RQ-20 Puma UAV on Pokrovsk direction on June 17, 2024 in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. Credit - Viktor FridshonGlobal Images Ukraine/Getty Images Imagine it is 2028 and there is a coordinated parallel attack executed by Russia on one of the Baltic states and by China on Taiwan. Under such a scenario, Russia would attempt to seize NATO territory and China would blockade Taiwan as a fait accompli to undermine alliance cohesion. As things stand, NATOs conventional forces would struggle to withstand such a Russian assault. And it would take weeks, if not months, to deploy American troops to the Indo-Pacific region. The Cold War solution to this kind of problem involved the threat of using tactical nuclear weapons. Small tactical nuclear weapons made it highly risky to mass mechanized formations for a large-scale assault, as they would become a perfect target for such nukes. They were crucial to the official NATO plan to defend against a Soviet onslaught through the so-called Fulda Gap in western Germany. Such an onslaught from the East is once again possible. Russia is now building up two new armies larger than the armies of half of NATO combined. Soon, armchair strategists will have to learn about the Suwalki Gapthe area around the Lithuanian-Polish border, which would be the shortest route from Belarus to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. Meanwhile, China is building roll-on, roll-off ferries that are nominally civilian, but have started to take part in military exercises. They are part of a sustained effort to amass the naval assets necessary for a prolonged blockade of Taiwanand if necessary a war at sea. But would whoever is U.S. President in 2028 be willing to meet such challenges with tactical nuclear weapons and all the associated risks of escalation to World War III? Have we no better deterrent than the old threat of Armageddon? The good news is that we do now. In contrast to nearly all predictions, when Russias offensive was launched in February 2022, Ukraine not only thwarted the initial assault, but drove back and then held what was once considered the number two army in the world. It has stemmed the Russian tide not only through the heroism of its own troops but also by employing drones in the hundreds of thousands. Ukraine is the first nation to have created a new military branch, the Unmanned Systems Forces of Ukraine. This is a pivotal moment akin to the creation of the worlds first air force, the Royal Air Force, formed on April 1, 1918, seven months before Britains victory in World War I. Ukraines use of drones is transforming warfare as fundamentally as airplanes once did. NATO forces have, in comparison, small drone arsenals in the hundreds or low thousands. But that is changing. Earlier this summer, U.S. Indo-pacific Command revealed its hellscape strategy to fill the waters around Taiwan with tens of thousands of unmanned boats, submarines and drones in the event of a Chinese move against the island. The Replicator Initiative, announced by Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks a year ago, is intended to provide the manufacturing base that will enable hellscape. Six NATO countries recently announced their own version of hellscape to deter Russia: the European drone wall. Unlike large standing armies, drones that are being held in reserve do not take up a lot of space, do not need to be fed, and are not drawing salaries. Unlike tactical nukes, drones do not produce fallout. But they can provide a comparable level of tactical deterrence. An arsenal of millions of autonomous drones is a credible threat to a mechanized assault or a flotilla of ships. A state-of-the-art drone swarm could halt a Russian invasion or a Chinese blockade. Ukraine has proven this by blunting large-scale Russian mechanized attacks and crippling Russias Black Sea fleet. Kyivs expert use of drones is the reason it has been able to launch a surprise offensive deep into the Russian region of Kursk. More from TIME The implications for legacy military hardware are profound. Interestingly, the debate on tanks versus drones today echoes the one on battleships versus airplanes a century ago. Todays drones are the equivalent of the barn-built biplanes of World War I, which barely resemble their modern jet-powered counterparts. Far more formidable unmanned munitions are coming. We are already seeing so-called deep-strike drones: Iranian Shahed drones used by Russia and the long-range drones built by Ukrainian startups. En masse, such drones can overwhelm even advanced air defenses. It remains to be seen if Iran and its proxies have enough such weapons to overwhelm Israels defenses in the coming days. If not, their recent threats will prove empty. A similar revolution is underway in naval warfare. As Elliot Ackerman and James Stavridis have argued, and as Ukraine has shown in the Black Sea, deep-strike drones can also be used against naval targets. Like tanks, large surface ships, including aircraft carriers, are at risk of obsolescence. This year, for the first time in history, Ukraine and Russia are building drones on an industrial scale. The evolution is from one operator directing a single drone to one operator directing whole flocks. By the end of 2024, we shall see for the first time what we call autonomous massswarms of drones in the thousands being directed by a handful of operators, relying less and less on ground control. The shift to unmanned warfare is unstoppable. That is the lesson we have learned from Ukraine. For the United States, however, the Replicator Initiative and hellscape plan are just a start. What we need now is to build the Unmanned Systems of America. The alternative could be a catastrophic failure of deterrence on the watch of the next President. Contact us at letters@time.com. WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) The Wichita City Council was about to approve a federal grant for the Wichita Police Department Tuesday morning when Wichita Mayor Lily Wu pulled the item and asked for a WPD explanation first. Captain Aaron Moses, accompanied by Police Chief Joe Sullivan, came to the podium, gave the council the latest crime statistics and explained how the department has used previous Project Safe Neighborhoods grants. The overall crime picture is overall encouraging related to violent crime, Moses said. For this year, year-to-date, homicides are currently down 20% compared to 2023 and down 15% compared to the five-year average. Kansas police warn about fake missing person, pet scams There have been 20 murders so far this year, compared to 25 in 2023. The big thing were seeing is a large decrease in shootings, he said. Fatal shootings are down 41.2% compared to 2023 and down 12.7% compared to the five-year average. And non-fatal shootings are down 31.25% compared to 2023 and down 33.1% compared to the five-year average. Chart of year-to-date shootings in Wichita for 2019 through 2024. (Courtesy Wichita Police Department) The WPD credits some of the decrease to its previous Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) grants from the Department of Justice. The WPD got $75,545 from a 2021 grant and $75,509 from a 2022 grant. The objective of PSN is to reduce violent crime and enhance public safety through a comprehensive approach that involves law enforcement, community organizations and other stakeholders, Moses said. PSN employs a data-driven problem-solving approach, and its used by over 90 different U.S. attorneys office districts in the country, so were not the only one who used this, this strategy. Moses acknowledged that other violent crimes are up in the city. Part One violent crime comparison for year-to-date 2023, 2024, and the five-year-average. (Courtesy Wichita Pollice Department) He said the WPD uses PSN funds to address increases in crime in high-profile areas. Think Naftzger Park, where weve had some incidents, he said. We immediately put together an overtime project for that area to address the crime we saw, and we utilized PSN funds to support that, so there wasnt an impact to the operating budget of the city. Local business owners oppose downtown parking changes The police department partners with Wichita State University and the U.S. attorneys office. PSNs key components include community engagement, data analysis, coordination and prevention and intervention. Mayor Wu pointed out that 30% of PSN funds must be used to reduce gang violence. Moses said the WPD puts that 30% toward the Youth Citizens Police Academy. We see youth engagement as a great way to deter involvement in gang activity, he said. Some people see that 30% targeted towards gang violence and think enforcement, but we actually think of it through intervention and engagement on the front end, which is where we like to use those funds. Wu said she attended the Youth Citizens Police Academy graduation recently. I know the young kiddos that were participating in the program enjoyed their time and got to understand the complexity of not just your role but also how they can be part of the solution in encouraging and leading with their peers, she said. After Moses gave his presentation, Wu moved that the city council approve the 2023 PSN grant award of $79,340. The city is not required to match the funding. The motion was seconded, and the council voted 7-0 to approve the grant. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV. WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) A man released on his second parole term last February is back in jail after a deputy says he found a handgun hidden in the mans vehicle. Austin Kimbro, 28, has almost 20 arrests since 2013 and arrests every year since then except when he was serving time in prison. His new arrest for unlawful possession of a handgun and parole violation came Sunday afternoon, Aug. 11, at Broad and Sixth after being stopped for no vehicle registration. The Wichita County deputy says that Kimbro appeared to be hiding something inside the vehicle while coming to a slow stop. The deputy, who recognized Kimbro from previous arrests, says the center dashboard appeared to have been tampered with, and he found a .45 caliber handgun inside. Grandmother charged with assaulting grandson after argument over alcohol Kimbro was sentenced to six years in prison in July 2022 for evading arrest. Most of his prior arrests have been for thefts and burglaries. One year, he was charged with stealing doors from his apartment complex. Other charges in past years include driving a stolen motorcycle, which he said someone had loaned him, but officers noticed the paint was barely dry from being repainted. In a 2016 case, police said he and a woman rode off on a stolen riding mower from Iowa Park Road and were found near the running mower and a pickup ready to load it up. His theft charges include stealing a package off a porch. After his first release on parole in November 2020, he was rearrested the next year. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Texomashomepage.com. A 16-year-old Wichita teen has died after being electrocuted Tuesday morning while working at an airport in central Kansas. The teen was identified as Ivan Joel Mollins. A second person, 24-year-old Allistar Jose Sanchez of Wichita, was taken to a hospital with serious injuries, the Barton County Sheriffs Office said. First responders were sent to an accidental electrocution call at 8:15 a.m. at the Great Bend Municipal Airport. A roofing company was working on the main hangar near the terminal building. Mollins and Sanchez had been in a bucket on an aerial boom when they touched high-voltage power lines, according to a news release from the sheriffs office. Sanchez was able to get onto the roof of the hangar and then get down to the ground. Mollins was unresponsive in the bucket by 8:48 a.m., when authorities were able to get the power shut off and reach him. Both men were taken to the Great Bend Regional Hospital. Mollins died at the hospital. Sanchez, who received serious burns, was then flown to a Wichita-area hospital, the sheriffs office said. Because the accident occurred on city property and involved a city building, the Great Bend Police Department requested that the Sheriffs Office handle the investigation, a news release said. Agencies that responded to the scene included the Barton County Sheriffs Office, Great Bend Police Department, Great Bend Fire Department and Midwest Energy. Great Bend, a city of just under 15,000 in Barton County, is roughly a two-hour drive northwest of Wichita. Weekend thunderstorms in the North Cascade of Whatcom County sparked several new fires, but only one appears to be spreading with fire crews assigned to control it, according to national and statewide fire information centers. What fire managers are calling the Ruby Fire is on Ruby Mountain at the south end of Ross Lake in the Ross Lake National Recreation Area of southeastern Whatcom County. Sparked by lightning on Friday, the Ruby Fire has grown to 739 acres and is burning in the understory and brush of mountain timber. It was 0% contained Tuesday. Fire was moving downhill and could threaten Highway 20, the North Cascades Highway, according to Monday morning updates on Inciweb and the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center. Highway 20 is already closed by the Easy Fire and a mudslide from that fires burn scar from milepost 148 to 157, just over the Whatcom County border. Flames from the Ruby Fire are running downhill and sending firebrands ahead of the main fire. Wildland fire crews and firefighting aircraft have been requested. One Tuesday, it was expected that the Ruby Fire would be spreading in all directions with up to 500 acres of new growth over the next three days. Mount Baker fire No updated information was available Monday on three fires burning in the Mount Baker wilderness. Those fires started Friday north of the mountain village of Glacier. The Mount Baker Ranger District offices were closed on Monday. According to the wildland firefighting app Watch Duty, only the Canyon Creek Fire remained active Monday. It was reported at less than 1 acre early Monday. Mud, rocks and debris from the Easy Fire cover Highway 20 at mile marker 152 west of Mazama, Wash., on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024. Nearly 2 inches of overnight rain caused the slide in the fires burn scar. Easy Fire Despite nearly 2 inches of rain on Sunday and cooler weather, the Easy Fire has grown to 2,120 acres, according to an Inciweb update posted at 1:30 p.m. Monday. Rainfall caused a mudslide in the fire burn scar, sending mud, rocks, trees and other debris across Highway 20 at mile marker 152. Because of recent and expected forecasted rainfall, crews will be assessing ways to safely engage with fire suppression activities. The team will also continue to evaluate suppression options that account for moderated weather conditions. The plan continues to hold the fire at the ridge top between Okanogan and Skagit county, the Inciweb update said. Highway 20 will remain closed until at least Wednesday, the Washington State Department of Transportation tweeted Monday. The Easy Fire was started by a lightning strike on July 17, on the Skagit-Okanogan county border just south of Whatcom County. More than 200 firefighters are assigned to the fire. It was 0% contained and expected to burn until Oct. 1 or whenever the fall rainy season begins. SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WMBD) The double-brood of cicadas that swarmed Illinois inspired local artists to commemorate the summer of a billion bugs. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources held a cicada art contest back in May. According to an IDNR news release, nearly 350 artists submitted entries. The response to this contest far exceeded our expectations for how much interest there would be. I think the double cicada emergence really captured a lot of peoples imaginations, IDNR Director Natalie Phelps Finnie said. UPDATED: Sunnyland man suffered serious injuries in Sunday beating; one in custody Not only were we thrilled by the volume of entries, we also were elated by the impressive quality of the artwork that talented and creative Illinoisans shared with us. Judges included art experts and educators from the Illinois State Museum and the IDNR. Winning pieces are currently on display at the Illinois State Fair through Aug. 18. All entries can be viewed online. A local East Peoria student received an honorable mention in the Age 14-17 group. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CIProud.com. Wisconsin Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde has launched a lawsuit against several Wisconsin television stations and a Democratic Party aligned PAC for running ads that he claims defamed him. The ad states that Hovde, the CEO and chairman of the board for Sunwest Bank, and his family rigged the system to rake in $30 million in government subsidies and loans, and now hes sheltering his wealth in shady tax havens around the world. It also claims at one point that Hovde is a California banker. The ad was cut by WinSenate PAC. The outfit is one of the defendants named in the suit, along with Gray Media Group, Nexstar Media, Inc., The Evening Telegram Company, Sinclair Communications, LLC, Fox Television Stations, LLC, ION Media Networks, Inc. and Scripps Media, Inc., according to an Aug. 9 filing. This GOP Candidate Is Anti-China. His Family Tried to Build Water Parks There. Attorneys for Hovde sent letters to the defendants on June 14, to immediately remove this false advertisement from your network in accordance with your obligations and duties as an FCC licensee, according to one letter obtained by Wisconsin Public Radio. The advertisement opens with the false claim that Mr. Hovde is a California banker. This is not true, the letter went on. Hovdes Sunwest Bank is a subsidiary of the Irvine, California-based H Bancorp, although he resides in Madison, Wisconsin, according to the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal. Attorneys for Hovde also took issue with the claim that Hovde now is sheltering his wealth in shady tax havens around the world, writing in the letter that the claim is both false and defamatory in that it accuses Mr. Hovde of tax evasion with no evidence to support the allegations made. We request that you comply with the requirements imposed on your station under the law and decline to further air the WinSenate advertisement on the grounds that it contains false and misleading claims. Any future airings would be done so with reckless disregard of the advertisements falsity, the letter concludes. GOP Candidate Eric Hovde Wanted to Raise Health Care Prices for People With Obesity Attorneys representing WinSenate sent a follow-up letter on June 17 stating, there is absolutely nothing false about the claims in this advertisement. The Campaign has no right to silence WinSenate. Your decision to accept the advertisement should remain undisturbed. Senior Director for Campaign Finance at the Campaign Legal Center Erin Chlopak told WPR that Hovdes suit had few legs to stand on as a general matter, false statements in campaign ads are protected, due to Susan B. Anthony List v. Driehaus 2014. Representatives for the Hovde campaign and WinSenate did not respond to the Daily Beasts request for comment at the time of publishing. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. There's an election in Wisconsin Tuesday the August partisan primary, which is held to narrow down candidates for offices like U.S. Congress, the state Legislature and county-level positions. For the first time on an August ballot in Wisconsin, voters will also respond to two referendum questions about the governor's power to distribute federal funds. Turnout is expected to be somewhat low in this election it's usually in the mid-teens or upper-20s percentage range. Areas with competitive primaries for Congress, especially northeastern and western Wisconsin, may see higher turnout. This is the last election before the Nov. 5 general election, which includes the candidates who advance from the Aug. 13 election and the presidential race. Here's what to know about voting in today's election, including what you'll see on the ballot and what you need to go to the polls. Where do I vote in Wisconsin today? Polls are open between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. across Wisconsin. As long as you're in line by 8 p.m., you'll be allowed to vote. You can find your polling place by typing in your address at myvote.wi.gov. What do I need to bring to vote in Wisconsin? How do I register to vote? To vote in Wisconsin, you need to bring a current photo ID that has your name on it. The Wisconsin Elections Commission's website has a list of accepted forms of identification. You also can register to vote at your polling place, or re-register if you've changed addresses since the last time you voted or if you haven't voted in the last four years. In that case, you'll need to bring a document that shows proof of residence. A driver's license or ID card issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles counts as proof as residence, if it shows your current address. Or, you can bring documents like a lease, utility bill or bank statement that has your new address. Where should I return my absentee ballot? If you still have an absentee ballot, you should return it as soon as possible. It's too late to put it in the mail: The U.S. Postal Service recommends mailing absentee ballots at least a week before Election Day. Other ways of returning your ballot depend on where you live. Those options may include bringing your ballot to your clerk's office or dropping it off at your assigned polling place or central count location by 8 p.m. You can call your local clerk to check what the options are in your community. If you live and vote in Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Election Commission recommends dropping your absentee ballot in one of the city's 13 drop boxes by 6 p.m. Or, you can drop off your ballot at the city's central count processing center located at 1901 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. until 8 p.m. More: Where are the 13 drop box locations in Milwaukee? In most cases, voters can only return their own absentee ballot meaning they can't take a spouse's or neighbor's ballot with them to drop off, for example. Voters can return another person's ballot if they are "lawfully assisting" a person with a disability or a hospitalized voter. As of Monday morning, over 308,000 absentee ballots were requested for the election, and about 288,000 have been returned, Wisconsin Elections Commission administrator Meagan Wolfe told reporters. What's on my ballot today? There are races for Congress, state Legislature and county-level positions on the ballot today. All voters will see the statewide race for U.S. Senate, where three Republicans, including Madison businessman Eric Hovde, compete to face off against Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin. All U.S. House seats are on the ballot. Closely watched races include the Republican primary in the northeastern 8th Congressional District, which is expected to show the weight of an endorsement from former President Donald Trump. Three Democrats have also had a contentious primary in the western 3rd Congressional District. All state representatives and half of state senators are also on the ballot. Lawmakers are running under new legislative districts some have retired, others are running in new districts, and many new faces are campaigning. Here's a list of the Milwaukee-area legislative candidates, and links to our candidate guides. A (D) denotes a Democrat, an (R) denotes a Republican, and an (i) denotes an incumbent the person who most recently held the seat. Current lawmakers who are running in new districts are denoted with an (i*). You can find what district you're in using this map: 4th Senate District Includes northern portions of Milwaukee, plus Shorewood and Glendale. A special election is also being held this summer for the seat, though that election is to fill the remainder of outgoing Sen. Lena Taylor's term. This election is for the full, four-year Senate term. Dora Drake (D, i*) LaKeshia N. Myers (D, i*) 4th Senate District: Meet the 4th Senate District candidates in the Democratic primary in Tuesday's election 6th Senate District Includes much of the central part of the City of Milwaukee, running from the border of Wauwatosa to the Milwaukee River. LaTonya Johnson (D, i) 8th Senate District Includes communities north of Milwaukee, such as Whitefish Bay, Fox Point, Brown Deer, Menomonee Falls, Germantown, Mequon, Cedarburg, Grafton and Port Washington. Jodi Habush Sinykin (D) Duey Stroebel (R, i*) 20th Senate District Includes northern parts of Ozaukee and Washington counties, including Saukville, Slinger, West Bend, Fredonia and Belgium. Michael Rapp (D) Daniel Feyen (R, i*) Timothy Ramthun (R) 20th Senate District: Meet the 20th Senate District candidates in the Republican primary in Tuesday's election 28th Senate District Includes communities southwest of Milwaukee, such as Waukesha, New Berlin, Muskego and Mukwonago. Megan Lach (D) Julian Bradley (R, i) 7th Assembly District Includes part of West Allis to the north, and portions of Greenfield to the south. Karen Kirsch (D) Lee Whiting (R) 8th Assembly District Includes neighborhoods south of downtown Milwaukee, with the Menomonee River as the northern boundary. Enrique Murguia (D) Sylvia Ortiz-Velez (D, i) 8th Assembly District: Meet the 8th Assembly District candidates in the Democratic primary in Tuesday's election 9th Assembly District Includes areas between the 7th and 8th Assembly Districts, such as Mitchell Park and West Milwaukee to the north and West Layton Avenue to the south. Priscilla A. Prado (D) Deisy Espana (D) Ryan Antczak (R) 9th Assembly District: Meet the 9th Assembly District candidates in the Democratic primary in Tuesday's election 10th Assembly District Includes parts of northern Milwaukee, plus Shorewood and Glendale further east and north. Darrin Madison (D, i) 11th Assembly District Includes parts of Milwaukee further north and west of the 10th Assembly District, with Havenwoods State Forest as the center point. Sequanna Taylor (D) Amillia Heredia (D) 11th Assembly District: Meet the 11th Assembly District candidates in the Democratic primary in Tuesday's election 12th Assembly District Includes the northwest corner of Milwaukee County. Russell Antonio Goodwin Sr. (D) Katrina Blossom Morrison (D) Decorah Gordon (D) Brandon Williford (D) 12th Assembly District: Meet the 12th Assembly District candidates in the Democratic primary in Tuesday's election 13th Assembly District Includes Wauwatosa, Elm Grove and part of Brookfield. Robyn Vining (D, i*) Patti Granger (R) Tom Michalski (R, i) 13th Assembly District: Meet the 13th Assembly District candidates in the Republican primary in Tuesday's election 14th Assembly District Includes more of West Allis, with the Milwaukee County line as the western border. Angelito Tenorio (D) Nathan R. Kieso (D) Brady Coulthard (D) Jim Engstrand (R) 14th Assembly District: Meet the 14th Assembly District candidates in the Democratic primary in Tuesday's election 15th Assembly District Includes more of Brookfield to the east, plus Pewaukee to the west. Sarah Harrison (D) Adam Neylon (R, i*) 16th Assembly District Includes much of central Milwaukee west of the Milwaukee River, with Marquette University to the south. Kalan Haywood (D, i) 17th Assembly District Includes portions of Milwaukee immediately north of Wauwatosa. Supreme Moore Omokunde (D, i) 18th Assembly District Includes many portions of Milwaukee west of the 16th Assembly District, with Washington Park near the center. Margaret Arney (D) Angela Kennedy (D) Kevin Anderson (R) 18th Assembly District: Meet the 18th Assembly District candidates in the Democratic primary in Tuesday's election 19th Assembly District Includes downtown Milwaukee and the lakefront, up to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to the north. Jarrod Anderson (D) Ryan Clancy (D, i) 20th Assembly District Includes many areas south of Milwaukee, like St. Francis, Cudahy and South Milwaukee. Christine M. Sinicki (D, i) Mike Moeller (R) 21st Assembly District Includes areas further west and south of the 20th Assembly District, like Oak Creek, and down to the Milwaukee County line. David L. Marstellar Jr. (D) Jessie Rodriguez (R, i) 22nd Assembly District Includes many suburbs north of Milwaukee, like Cedarburg, Port Washington, part of Mequon and a sliver of Washington County. Dana Glasstein (D) Paul Melotik (R, i*) 23rd Assembly District Includes northern suburbs like Whitefish Bay, Fox Point, Bayside, Brown Deer, part of Mequon and Thiensville. Also includes Concordia University. Deb Andraca (D, i) Laurie O'Brien Wolf (R) 24th Assembly District Includes western suburbs like Germantown and Menomonee Falls. William Walter (D) Dan Knodl (R, i*) Janel Brandtjen (R, i*) 24th Assembly District: Meet the 24th Assembly District candidates in the Republican primary in Tuesday's election 58th Assembly District Includes parts of Washington County, like West Bend and Slinger. Deb Anderson (D) Rick Gundrum (R, i) 59th Assembly District Includes parts of Ozaukee and Washington counties, like Saukville, Fredonia, Belgium and Random Lake. Includes Campbellsport further north. Jack Holzman (D) Robert Brooks (R, i*) 61st Assembly District Includes areas in the western part of Milwaukee County, like Greendale, Hales Corners and parts of Greenfield. LuAnn Bird (D) Martin Tontoe Gomez (R) Bob Donovan (R, i*) 61st Assembly District: Meet the 61st Assembly District candidates in the Republican primary in Tuesday's election 63rd Assembly District Includes the southwest corner of Milwaukee County, with Franklin to the north, and runs into parts of Racine County like Caledonia. Robert Wittke (R, i*) 82nd Assembly District Includes most of Waukesha and areas slightly south, plus Carroll University. Samuel N. D'Amico (D) Kevin Reilly (D) Scott Allen (R, i*) 82nd Assembly District: Meet the 82nd Assembly District candidates in the Democratic primary in Tuesday's election 83rd Assembly District Includes areas to the east of the 82nd Assembly District, like New Berlin. Jill Schindler (D) Dave Maxey (R, i*) 84th Assembly District Includes southern parts of Waukesha County, like Muskego and Mukwonago, and runs south into Racine County to Waterford. Zach Roper (D) Chuck Wichgers (R, i*) 97th Assembly District Includes suburbs farther west into Waukesha County and part of Jefferson County, like Delafield, Wales, Dousman and Oconomowoc Lake. Beth Leonard (D) Cindi Duchow (R, i*) 98th Assembly District Includes parts of Waukesha and Washington counties, like Richfield, Hubertus and Hartford. Del A. Schmechel (D) Don Pridemore (R) Jim Piwowarczyk (R) 98th Assembly District: Meet the 98th Assembly District candidates in the Republican primary in Tuesday's election 99th Assembly District Includes suburban areas north of Assembly District 97, like Hartland, Chenequa, Oconomowoc, Lac La Belle and Ixonia. It also stretches into Dodge County to include areas like Neosho and Rubicon. Jeffrey Pfannerstill (R) Barbara Dittrich (R, i*) 99th Assembly District: Meet the 99th Assembly District candidates in the Republican primary in Tuesday's election You may also see county-level races on the ballot, like the Democratic primary for Milwaukee County treasurer. Longtime treasurer David Cullen, 63, is fending off a political newcomer with a well-known name: Ted Chisholm, 26, son of Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm. More: What to know about the Milwaukee County Treasurer race between David Cullen and Ted Chisholm There's also a Republican primary for Waukesha County district attorney, just one of four competitive district attorney races out of 71 in the state this year. Lesli Boese and Mike Thurston, both longtime prosecutors who serve as deputy district attorneys, are competing in the primary. More: Waukesha DA candidates say crime from Milwaukee is their biggest problem. What the data shows What do the August referendum questions mean in Wisconsin? There are also two referendum questions on the ballot that all voters will see. The questions are written as follows: QUESTION 1: Delegation of appropriation power. Shall section 35 (1) of article IV of the constitution be created to provide that the legislature may not delegate its sole power to determine how moneys shall be appropriated? QUESTION 2: Allocation of federal moneys. Shall section 35 (2) of article IV of the constitution be created to prohibit the governor from allocating any federal moneys the governor accepts on behalf of the state without the approval of the legislature by joint resolution or as provided by legislative rule? The questions stem from debates between Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and the Republican-led state Legislature over distributing federal pandemic relief funds. If the referendums pass, they would require the governor to get legislative approval to spend federal money. Republicans and conservative groups support voting "yes" on the two questions because they see the amendments as an important check on the governor's power. Democrats and liberal groups support voting "no" because they believe the Legislature would slow down how the state government responds to emergencies. More: What to know about constitutional amendment questions going to Wisconsin voters in August More: How Wisconsin groups are mobilizing voters on Aug. 13 constitutional referendum questions Remember to select a party at the top of the ballot The August election is a partisan primary, and voters will see bubbles at the top of their ballot to vote in either the Democratic, Republican, Constitution, Libertarian or Wisconsin Green party. "It's very important to remember that you can only vote for candidates of one party in this election," Wolfe said. If you choose a party at the top of the ballot and accidentally vote in more than one party's primary, only the votes within the party you chose will count. If you accidentally vote for candidates in more than one party without making a party selection at the top, then no votes will be counted for those races, Wolfe explained. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin 2024 primary election today; what's on ballot, voting, hours Wisconsin referendums on Tuesday's ballot. Why casting your vote is so important. One of the letters encouraging citizens to vote prompts me to write (Its true: The consequences of not voting can be far reaching, Aug. 4). Despite the fact that so much in this country flies in the face of what we say we stand for, we can never hope to get one inch closer to that goal by choosing to give up our right to vote in every election we can. We are a participatory government. Our founding fathers ultimately saw the power in that and, if not convinced of it, were willing to compromise. Perspectives on the constitutional referendum questions on today's ballot: Vote Yes: Wisconsin primary election referendum questions can help stop gravy train of spending Vote No: Why fix a system that is not broken in the first place? More confusing referendums on ballot. If they pass, expect more gridlock in Madison. As the years have unfolded, we, the voters, have become increasingly tangled in technology, the loss of local news sources and the desire to put party above public service. More is required of us to make good choices. Ask yourself, have I come to understand what I consider the most pressing issues in our country, state, city? Have I searched out a variety of perspectives from a number of sources on the issues and tried to relate these positions to my family and community, my principles, my future? This is what makes voting so powerful. Without this sort of searching and reflection we still are at the mercy of that mentality that refuses to recognize the freedoms and rights this country was founded upon and the progress we have made. We not only feel disenfranchised by the system but actually believe the privilege is a sham and thereby risk losing this privilege. Pamela Penn, Milwaukee Its true: The consequences of not voting can be far reaching This is regarding Kristin Breys opinion column on July 21, Not voting could have consequences you hate worse than the candidates. I have worked door-to-door campaigns for candidates and met residents who state that they dont vote. I have also met residents who state they are not allowed to vote. Consequences of not voting can be far reaching. If you dont vote for yourself, perhaps you can vote for those who do not have a voice. Nancy Gregory, Milwaukee Tips for getting your letter to the editor published Here are some tips to get your views shared with your friends, family, neighbors and across our state: Please include your name, street address and daytime phone. Generally, we limit letters to 200 words. Cite sources of where you found information or the article that prompted your letter. Be civil and constructive, especially when criticizing. Avoid ad hominem attacks, take issue with a position, not a person. We cannot acknowledge receipt of submissions. We don't publish poetry, anonymous or open letters. Each writer is limited to one published letter every two months. All letters are subject to editing. Write: Letters to the editor, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 330 E. Kilbourn Avenue, Suite 500, Milwaukee, WI, 53202. Fax: (414)-223-5444. E-mail: jsedit@jrn.com or submit using the form that can be found on the on the bottom of this page. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: We should never give up our right to vote in elections As Wisconsin votes in today's primary, you can have faith system is fair and square As voters head to the polls today, Wisconsinites can trust their elections are safe and secure. The American freedom to vote is something this country takes seriously. During the primary elections, eligible Americans will engage in one of the most important features of our democracy by casting their ballots and helping to inform our countrys path forward. As a group of business leaders, election workers, engaged community members and decision makers we have faith in Wisconsins election system. You should, too. Here's why: Wisconsin elections safeguarded to ensure accuracy, uphold democracy Wisconsins elections work because we have tried-and-tested systems in place to ensure votes are cast fairly and counted correctly. Checks and balances are carried out in Wisconsin and every other state across America to ensure that the final vote count is accurate, and the voting process is fair from start to finish. Election equipment is secure and audited following elections Among the many checks and balances in place are inspections of voting machines before and after elections inspections that are open to the public. In Wisconsin, state statutes require a post-election audit of voting systems after each general election to assess the accuracy and performance of all systems approved for use. Voter eligibility is the law and is taken seriously Wisconsin election officials follow state law to verify an individuals eligibility before they can register to vote. As a result of these efforts, Wisconsinites can trust that our elections are safe and secure. All voter registration applicants in Wisconsin are required to affirm or verify their citizenship status under penalty of perjurywhich carries criminal penalties and the risk of deportation for noncitizenswhen registering to vote in federal elections. We've been political foes. We're uniting to build trust in Wisconsin elections. Eligibility measures apply to absentee ballots, too. Election inspectors verify the absentee ballot envelope meets all requirements before tabulating those ballots. Your neighbors help oversee Wisconsin's election process Election officials and poll workers in Wisconsin our friends, neighbors and coworkers play an integral role in facilitating safe and fair elections. These everyday Americans receive thorough training to learn the states election process, rules and laws. These workers put in long hours before, during and after Election Day, and they take their responsibilities seriously. To further ensure accountability, people from all political parties are brought in to observe the voting, tabulation and canvassing process. These safeguards, among many others, help keep our elections honest and fair so we can trust the system and election outcomes. There are protocols for counting votes that are independently monitored All votes are counted by your local, impartial election officials from all political parties beginning on Election Day. These officials are trained to ensure exactly one vote per one eligible voter is counted and counted accurately. All ballots, including mail-in ballots, are counted beginning on Election Day. Every ballot stays at the polling place until the polls close, and election observers keep an eye on this process and the ballots to ensure proper measures are being taken. A team of trained election officials never lets the ballots leave their sight as they are transported to a secure counting location. The vote count is checked and rechecked until all officials agree the final results are accurate. At every step of the way, trusted Americans dedicated to upholding election integrity are following tried-and-true protocols and verifying election accuracy. The system works so lets use it. Vote and serve as a poll worker. A final message to Wisconsins invaluable voters: The best way to ensure our elections reflect the will of the people is to cast a ballot. Trust the systems in place and the hardworking Americans making it happen. Even better, get involved yourself and serve as a poll worker. Elections are the cornerstone of our democracy and one of the most important things we can do as Americans. Our election processes are designed to ensure we can vote with confidence. This op-ed was submitted by the leaders of several organizations and elected officials across Wisconsin, including: David Haynes, WisAct Co-Lead, former Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Ideas Lab Editor; Scott McCallum, WisAct Co-Lead, former governor of Wisconsin; Marge Bostelmann, Wisconsin Elections Commission, Keep Our Republic Advisory Board Member; Reid Ribble, former U.S. Congressman, Keep Our Republic Advisory Board Member; Kim Pytleski, Oconto County Clerk; Lisa Tollefson, Rock County Clerk; Meg Wartman, Waukesha County Clerk; Diana Dykstra, Village Clerk-Treasurer of Mukwonago; Kathy Bernier, former Member of the Wisconsin State Senate, former Chippewa County Clerk; Tom Florsheim, Weyco Group CEO, Principal of Wisconsin Business Leaders for Democracy; David Irwin, gThankYou CEO, Principal of Wisconsin Business Leaders for Democracy; and Anoop Prakash, EVP Americas, AriensCo, Principal of Wisconsin Business Leaders for Democracy. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Election systems have safeguards to ensure votes counted accurately Woman accused of hitting and killing Fort Worth police sergeant was on probation The woman accused of driving drunk and hitting and killing a Fort Worth police officer on Interstate 35W Monday morning was on probation, according to Tarrant County court records. DeAujalae Evans, 25, was charged in 2023 with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, court documents show. Evans pleaded guilty in April and was sentenced to 72 months of probation. The original document submitted to file the aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge said Evans shot another woman on March 1, 2023. Other court documents indicate the woman was a romantic partner. Evans now faces a charge of intoxicated manslaughter of a peace officer. Fort Worth police said she drove the wrong way on an off ramp on southbound I-35W at Sycamore School Road and hit Sgt. Billy Randolph with her vehicle. Investigators believe Evans was drunk when she hit Randolph. Evans attempted to flee the scene, with some officers pursuing her while others got Randolph into a police Tahoe and took him to JPS Hospital, where he died, police said. Evans got about a quarter-mile away before she got out of her car and tried to flee on foot. She was arrested shortly after. A police spokesperson did not say Monday night whether authorities have started the process of revoking Evans probation. More top stories from our newsroom: 2 kids, 2 adults killed by racing driver, police say Officer killed by vehicle at Fort Worth I-35W crash scene $270M high school opens on edge of Fort Worth [Get our breaking news alerts.] A judge in Tarrant County amended Evans probation conditions to include mandatory attendance to a batterer intervention program. The original terms of Evans probation included not committing any other crimes in Texas, allowing unscheduled visits by a probation officer, submitting to regular drug tests, completing 240 hours of community service and paying fines totaling nearly $1,000. Evans was also not allowed to have any harassing or threatening contact with the woman she assaulted or possess a firearm or ammunition and had to abstain from alcohol and drugs, according to court documents. WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) A woman who fired shots and struck one man in the leg during a drug deal in a Walmart parking lot pleaded guilty to that case and to another case for having drugs close to her 7-year-old daughter in her car. Wichita Falls man on parole could face another prison term Wilma Rosario-Santos, 27, made a plea deal in 89th District Court for four years in prison for aggravated assault, escape charges, and 12 months in state jail for child endangerment and possession of a controlled substance. Another count of possession was dismissed in the deal. Rosario-Santos has six prior local drug arrests, one for evading arrest, two burglary charges, and three arrests in another county for smuggling. In the shooting at the Walmart on Greenbriar in May 2023, two men said she began shooting at them as they tried to drive away, and one was hit in the thigh. Police said the people involved had agreed to meet for the purchase of either Xanax or Fentanyl. Police said surveillance video shows the mens car arriving and Rosario-Santos exiting a car, walking up to the other car, talking to the passenger, then pulling out a handgun and began shooting. Rosario-Santos was arrested two weeks later and then released on a personal recognizance bond. She ended up back in jail in March 2024 after police found her in a motel parking lot with a car full of drugs and her daughter in the back seat. Grandmother charged with assaulting grandson after argument over alcohol A Wichita Falls police officer said she was slumped over the steering wheel in a car in the parking lot of the Oyo Hotel on Wolcott Lane while there was a seven-year-old girl asleep in the back seat. The officer saw drug paraphernalia in the car, including burnt tin foil and a cut straw with a brown residue and found crack cocaine rocks on the passenger seat and under the drivers seat and loose marijuana on the console. A search of Rosario-Santos uncovered a bottle of counterfeit M-30 pills containing Fentanyl and a Xanax bar in her underwear. While searching her, police said Rosario-Santos slipped one hand from the handcuffs and ran, but she was tackled within 30 yards. This is a developing story. Stick with Texomas Homepage for updates as more information becomes available. All individuals charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Texomashomepage.com. ST. LOUIS An arrest has been issued for a St. Louis man accused of attacking and robbing a woman over the age of 60 at a Walgreens store late last year. According to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Departments probable cause statement, the robbery took place on Dec. 19, 2023, at the intersection of South Kingshighway Boulevard and Chippewa Street in the citys Tower Grove South neighborhood. Police said the victim was leaving Walgreens when Jahlil C. Finnie, 22, came up to her and demanded money. Finnie allegedly pointed a handgun at the side of her head when she was taking too long to hand over her money. New A&E series exposes Greek life, starting with Mizzou hazing case Police said Finnie pistol whipped the woman on the head and took her purse. Finnie was later arrested and charged with a different robbery near the same Walgreens. A witness helped police identify Finnie as the suspect. The St. Louis Circuit Attorneys Office charged Finnie with first-degree robbery, second-degree assault, and two counts of armed criminal action. Finnie already has pending cases in St. Louis Circuit Court. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2. Leadership Pikes Peak, the regions oldest leadership training program for professional adults in the community, is in the process of dissolving its 501(3) nonprofit status as it melds the organization into the College of Education at the Colorado Springs campus of the University of Colorado. The remaining assets of $35,000 are being spent on closeout costs, program activities and scholarships, said Melanie Hicks, program director and sole employee of the renamed Leadership Pikes Peak Powered by UCCS. The college is retaining Leadership Pikes Peaks original Signature Program, which was created in 1980, along with the branding, website and name, she said. We are officially being housed as a program in the College of Education, but the format and curriculum will remain exactly the same, Hicks said. The deadline to apply for the nine-month flagship fall training program is Thursday at leadershippikespeak.org. As part of the inaugural course under UCCS, tuition is $2,950, which represents a $1,000 decrease from recent years fee of $3,950. Also, the application fee is being waived, and $750 scholarships are available for qualified applications, Hicks said. Reduced fees and additional scholarship money will allow broader access to nonprofit employees, civil servants and small business owners who might otherwise struggle with tuition funding, she said. The class will be capped at 25 participants. Orientation begins Aug. 29; participants learn about different aspects of the community and leadership, including human services, education, health, military and other areas of personal and professional development. The two entities struck a deal earlier this year, and the partnership took effect July 1. It was a case of perfect time, perfect fit, Hicks said. In danger of folding for good due to financial problems, the 48-year-old Leadership Pikes Peak sounded a community appeal in June of 2023 to help save the organization. Featured Local Savings The board had laid off staff and resorted to a skeleton crew of volunteers, closed its office and reduced programming to just the Signature course. The community came through, Hicks said. More than enough students enrolled for the Signature Program to be held last year, so there was no interruption of service. And UCCS came to the table with an offer. The board considered several options of what to do next, which were narrowed to two: keep operating independently on a shoestring budget with a contracted program director and regain financial stability, or accept the partnership deal. The UCCS College of Education was in the process of looking for a community-based program, Hicks said. They wanted to amplify their connection with the community. Leadership Pikes Peak Powered by UCCS is led by Dr. Joe Wehrman, interim dean of the College of Education. In addition to Hicks directing the program, two UCCS professors, Markus Moeder-Chandler, assistant teaching professor in the Counseling and Leadership Program; and Phillip Morris, professor of leadership, research and foundations in the College of Education, will help teach elements of the course. We intend to build on the high-quality work and longstanding partnerships already established by Leadership Pikes Peak while helping expand the organizations reach by integrating current research in leader development, continuous improvement through program evaluation and leveraging the resources available at a teaching and research university committed to community support and integration, Wehrman said in a statement. The new setup also brings micro credentialing for students, a higher-education trend thats gaining recognition nationally, Hicks said. Micro credentials are digital badges proving new skills learned from an academic course. Having micro credentials on your resume is a growing movement in the workforce, Hicks said. Were excited to be able to maintain this unique program that has a legacy of excellence and keep it from being lost in the community because its such an asset that now will have added benefits. Contact the writer: 719-476-1656. URBANA, Ill. (WMBD) An Indianapolis woman was sentenced on Tuesday for her part in illegally purchasing a gun that was later used to kill a Champaign police officer. According to a Justice Department news release, 30-year-old Ashantae Corruthers was sentenced to four years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to illegally purchase and transfer a firearm and conspiracy to engage in misleading conduct. Corruthers admitted that she had purchased a gun with the intent to transfer it to Darion Lafayette, now deceased, who was unable to legally purchase a gun due to his status as a convicted felon. The transfer, known as a straw purchase, occurred back on Nov. 17, 2020 when Corruthers bought a Glock 48, nine-millimeter, semi-automatic pistol in Indianapolis and gave it to Lafayette. In addition, Corruthers admitted to authorities she further deceived police by falsely reporting the gun stolen to Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department on April 26, 2021. It was 23 days later when Lafayette used the Glock to shoot Champaign Police Officers Christopher Oberheim and Jeffrey Creel in Champaign. Oberheim died from his injuries. Afterwards, Corruthers lied to an ATF Special Agent investigating the shooting by saying she bought the gun for herself, that it was stolen, and she didnt know Lafayette. At her sentencing, U.S. sentencing guidelines recommended 21 to 27 months but prosecutors argued for 97 to 121 months, due to the nature and circumstances of the crime. Oberheims widow and four daughters wrote letters in support of the higher sentence and Officer Creel personally addressed the court. Her co-defendant, Regina Lewis, was sentenced to 8 1/2 years in for her role in the case. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CIProud.com. The Joint Crafts Council (JCC) Coalition of Unions, representing approximately 200 Woodland Park Zoo employees, has reached a tentative agreement with zoo management on a new contract, according to a statement released by the union on Monday. The agreement, which is fully recommended by the unions negotiations committee, is now subject to ratification by the union members. The proposed contract follows months of negotiations centered on key issues, including affordable healthcare, equitable wages, and the long-term well-being of the animals. The union had previously signaled the possibility of a strike if their demands were not met, citing concerns over low wages, high turnover, and the impact on animal care standards. We are excited to present this fully-recommended contract proposal to our members for their consideration, said Paul Dascher, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 117. He praised the leadership and solidarity shown by the union coalition throughout the bargaining process, highlighting the dedication of the zoo workers who play a crucial role in the zoos operations. The JCC Coalition of Unions represents 34 different classifications of zoo workers, including animal keepers, veterinary technicians, carpenters, and laborers. The coalition includes unions such as Teamsters Local 117, IATSE Local 15, and IBEW 46, among others. Union members will have the opportunity to review and vote on the proposed contract in the coming weeks. If ratified, the agreement would resolve the potential for a strike that could have closed the zoo and significantly disrupted animal care. The zoo and the unions have been in negotiations for the past ten months, with tensions rising as workers expressed frustration over the zoos failure to value and retain experienced staff. The next steps will be determined by the outcome of the union members vote on the tentative agreement. As a venture capitalist, JD Vance repeatedly touted his guiding principles for investing in a company: A business should not only turn a profit, it should also help American communities. Thats why, he said, he invested in AppHarvest, a startup that promised a high-tech future for farming and for the workers of Eastern Kentucky. Over a four-year span, Vance was an early investor, board member and public pitchman for the indoor-agriculture company. Its not just a good investment opportunity, its a great business thats making a big difference in the world, Vance proclaimed in a Fox Business interview on the day the company went public in February 2021. Last year, facing hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, AppHarvest declared bankruptcy. The rise and fall of the company, and Vances role in it, cuts against his image as a champion for the working class an image that helped catapult him to the top of the Republican ticket as Donald Trumps running mate. A CNN review of public documents, and interviews with a dozen former workers, shows that AppHarvest not only failed as a business after pursuing rapid growth, but also provided a grim job experience for many of the working-class Kentuckians Vance has vowed to help. AppHarvest employees said they were forced to work in grueling conditions inside the companys greenhouse, where temperatures often soared into the triple digits. Complaints filed with the US Department of Labor and a Kentucky regulator between 2020 and 2023 show that workers alleged they were given insufficient water breaks and werent provided adequate safety gear. Some workers said they suffered heat exhaustion or injuries, though state inspectors did not find violations. Despite promising local jobs, the company eventually began contracting migrant workers from Mexico, Guatemala and other countries, numerous former employees told CNN. While Vance stepped down from AppHarvests board and launched his political career in 2021, he remained an investor and supporter of the company. By the time he was sworn in to office last year, the company hed hailed as a great opportunity was mired in lawsuits filed by shareholders angry over its plummeting stock price and allegations of fraud. Several former employees told CNN they thought Vance and other board members should have recognized and responded to warning signs that company officials were misleading the public and their own investors. To some, Vances enthusiastic promotion of the company followed an all-too-familiar story line in the region. Eastern Kentucky is well-known for people coming and going. They start up companies, then they disappear, said former AppHarvest worker Anthony Morgan. They didnt care about us. A spokesperson for Vance, Luke Schroeder, said in a statement that the Ohio senator was not aware of the operational decisions regarding hiring, employee benefits, or other workplace policies which were made after he departed AppHarvests board. Like all early supporters, JD believed in AppHarvests mission and wishes the company would have succeeded. Early investor This photo posted to LinkedIn by AppHarvest founder Jonathan Webb shows JD Vance, middle, and Webb, right. - From Jonathan Webb/LinkedIn With the blockbuster success of his 2016 memoir Hillbilly Elegy, Vance was riding high. He had learned how to invest in startups in Silicon Valley, where he worked at PayPal co-founder Peter Thiels firm. Thiel would later bankroll Vances own VC fund and Ohio senatorial run. AOL co-founder Steve Case hired Vance in 2017 to expand his seed fund Rise of the Rest, which sought to invest in underserved markets. Vance, whose book aimed to explain the plight of Americas forgotten heartland, seemed like the perfect fit. After about a week on the job, Vance took a meeting with AppHarvest founder Jonathan Webb, as Webb later recounted in a Fox News podcast interview. Webb, a Kentucky native, had created the company because he saw in his state the potential to build an indoor vertical farming hub growing fruits and vegetables, one that was within a days drive of most of the US population, and where water and land were abundant. But he needed money and was running out of time. Webb had drained his savings and maxed out his credit cards running AppHarvest. As he told Fox News, Webb convinced Vance to write a $150,000 check to invest in AppHarvest, alongside a few other investors, who invested $50,000 each. Vance was named to the board of directors in March 2017, according to his Senate disclosures, though company security filings stated that he joined in 2020. When Vance opened his own Ohio-based VC firm, Narya, with $93 million in funds, one of its earliest publicly disclosed investments was in AppHarvest. In just a few years, Vance helped steer millions of dollars in capital to the company and proved himself an invaluable asset to Webb as a pitchman. Talk of the town Back in Kentucky, Anthony Morgan left his job at a local automobile parts plant in October 2020 to join AppHarvest as a crop care specialist, pruning tomatoes at the companys new 60-acre mega greenhouse in the Eastern Kentucky city of Morehead. The companys health care benefits attracted Morgan, a single father, who told CNN he took a pay cut to join the startup. He was also drawn to the larger promise that Webb sold in frequent interviews in the media: a company committed to Appalachia. AppHarvest was the talk of the town, Morgan said. A major emphasis with them was we want to bring work to Eastern Kentucky. This is why we are here. Anthony Morgan, a former crop care specialist at AppHarvest. - CNN The company had pledged thousands of jobs for high unemployment areas, according to a 2020 investor presentation. Much of Eastern Kentucky at the time had been designated as economically distressed. Things started out well, Morgan said. The hours were manageable, and the benefits were better than anything he could hope to get from other employers in the area. Then, a few months in, Morgan recounted a noticeable shift in the companys culture. Production fell behind and workers got the message that they needed to pick up the pace, Morgan said. The company cut costs, including the employer-paid health care benefits, and managers were tasked with meeting far higher production quotas. That meant longer hours for workers and fewer breaks in the brutal heat of the greenhouse. I think about the hottest that I experienced was around 128 degrees, Morgan said. A couple days a week, youd have an ambulance show up and you seen people leaving on gurneys to go to the hospital. The conditions became intolerable, and employees began to leave the company in droves, several workers told CNN. Morgan helped organize an employee sit-in to demand fairer working conditions, and said that he was fired after he took time off for medical care for an injury he said he suffered on the job. It was a nightmare that should have never happened, Morgan said of his experience overall. Brutal working conditions Shelby Hester, another crop care specialist, started at AppHarvest in 2021. A recent graduate of nearby Morehead State University, she had been working at a liquor store. Like Morgan, AppHarvests lofty and progressive messaging appealed to Hester. She believed the company could take me somewhere in life. A CNN story that year suggested the company offered a vision for the future of sustainable farming. Hesters main responsibility was harvesting the tomatoes right off the vine. She excelled, despite the excessive heat and demanding quotas. Workers, she said, were not provided adequate protection. I had to bring in my own N95 masks, because I was getting sick from the amount of mold and just nasty stuff that was in there, Hester told CNN. It was the heat, though, that took a toll. Hester echoed Morgans account that workers were routinely taken out of the greenhouse by medical personnel because they were suffering from heat stroke symptoms. Those who went to the doctor, she said, were told by managers that a doctors note was not a sufficient reason to miss a shift. On at least three occasions, state government inspectors visited AppHarvest facilities but issued no citations, documents show. Inspectors noted that they observed or heard about safety precautions during their visits, such as mandatory heat breaks and drinks offered to employees. A spokesperson for Kentuckys Education and Labor Cabinet said inspections revealed no violations of national guidelines recommended to protect employees from heat-related illnesses, including regular access to fresh drinking water, rest breaks and opportunities to escape high temperatures. Still, some former workers argue the conditions were at times unsafe. Allegations of harsh working environments were detailed in a report published last year by Grist and the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting. The company also struggled with what multiple workers described as mismanagement. There was really no direction, said Andrew Miller, another former crop care specialist at AppHarvest, who described the company training as just figure it out as you go. Another worker described the training as more ideologically driven than focused on the practical day-to-day tasks of doing the job. We watched a movie narrated by David Attenborough, the famous, older environmentalist, said one former worker named Bethany, who asked that CNN use only her first name. But we didnt talk about how to use the scissor lifts or what was happening our first day. Asked for comment, the companys chief restructuring officer, Gary Broadbent, wrote to CNN, AppHarvest has no continuing operations and is not in a position to respond. Contract laborers As workers left, AppHarvest replaced them with migrant workers, numerous former employees told CNN. By the early fall of 2021, Hester described a workforce that was made up of many workers from countries such as Mexico and Guatemala. That juxtaposition with the companys public messaging on jobs was on full display when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, toured the greenhouse that November. They brought Mitch McConnell into the greenhouse, and they sent every single Hispanic worker home before he got there, Hester said. He then proceeded to have a speech about how we were taking the jobs from the Mexicans. At least five workers confirmed Hesters account of McConnells visit to CNN. Supporting other worker accounts, Hesters husband, Mitch Smith, who also worked at AppHarvest, told CNN that the migrants were kept in separate bays from other workers and were sent away when bigwigs came through the warehouse. An AppHarvest greenhouse. - CNN AppHarvest acknowledged the hiring of contract laborers in its 2021 annual report to the Securities and Exchange Commission. In order to forestall any potential labor shortfall, we have hired contract laborers from outside of the region to help complete our next harvest, the filing stated. A filing for the following year stated the company had about 500 full-time employees and 414 independent contractors. A campaign representative for Vance forwarded a statement from a member of AppHarvests senior management team who participated in meetings of the companys board of directors. The senior manager, who requested anonymity to discuss confidential exchanges, said, The allegations made against AppHarvest do not reflect matters discussed at board meetings during JDs tenure for obvious reasons. AppHarvest implemented robust heat policies when temperatures rose in the summer, months after JDs departure, continued to cover 100% of employees health insurance premiums until mid-2022, and maintained a workforce dedicated to Appalachia throughout its existence. The downfall On the day AppHarvest went public in February 2021, its shares jumped so high that trading in the stock was briefly halted due to volatility. With a total valuation of more than $1 billion, the companys growth had been meteoric, propelled by millions of venture capital cash, some star power Martha Stewart was on the board and a compelling story. But it would all soon fall apart. That August, AppHarvest reported a $32 million loss in its second quarter, citing lower market costs for tomatoes and worker training issues. AppHarvest lost more than three-quarters of its value in its first six months as a public company. The next month came the first shareholder lawsuit. By August 2022, the company was fighting multiple lawsuits. Some alleged executives, including Webb, had misled regulators and investors by overstating the companys hiring and retention figures. One suit filed by the Plymouth County Retirement Association, a pension fund for employees like firefighters, bus drivers and custodians in Massachusetts, alleged AppHarvest made false and/or misleading statements to artificially boost its share price. AppHarvest executives denied the claims and reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with investors this year. Vance was not named in any of the lawsuits. He left the companys board in April 2021 and ran for the Senate, though at that time he still had more than $100,000 invested in the company, according to disclosures. His VC firm, Narya, also continued to express public support for the company. AppHarvest filed for bankruptcy last year, weighed down by more than $341 million in debt. In a court filing, Broadbent stated the company had experienced a significant liquidity crisis due to lower-than-expected crop yields, higher-than-expected costs, and tightening of the equity markets and declining stock prices. A Canada-based company bought or acquired leases for some of AppHarvests greenhouses. On the campaign trail this summer, Vance has promoted an agenda of economic prosperity. During his speech at the Republican National Convention, he talked about his personal record of starting businesses to create jobs in the kinds of places that I grew up in and what he called the need to stand up for American businesses. Such comments ring hollow to some former AppHarvest workers, who argue Vances rhetoric as a candidate for vice president doesnt align with the reality they experienced. Making the decision to go to work at AppHarvest, like many of us made, the livelihood just went right down the drain, Morgan said. I blame all of the original investors. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com World's largest steam engine 'Big Boy' to visit Oklahoma on US tour: See the schedule This fall one of the largest and most historic steam engines in the world will speed through the Sooner State as part of a tour across America. Union Pacific No. 4014, better known as "Big Boy," will start its 2024 tour on Aug. 28 in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and will work its way across nine states, including Oklahoma in October. According to a press release, 25 Big Boys were built during World War II, but only 8 survived. No. 4014 is the only one still in operation and remains the worlds largest operating steam locomotive. It was retired in 1961, having traveled more than 1 million miles. Union Pacific No. 4014, better known as "Big Boy," will tour the U.S. this fall. Big Boy was put in a museum after retirement and, in 2013, the railroad bought back the unit to restore it. It toured the country for months starting in May 2019 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroads completion. Though first derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Big Boy took a second tour in 2021. Big Boy train schedule: Whislestops in Oklahoma According to Union Pacific's train schedule, Big Boy will reach Oklahoma in October. It will leave Fort Worth, Texas, and arrive in Oklahoma on Oct. 13 for a stop in Durant, then the train will stop in Muskogee and Claremore on Oct. 14 before departing for Kansas. Sunday, Oct. 13 8 a.m.: Depart Fort Worth, Texas 1:15 p.m.: Arrive Durant, Oklahoma 1:45 p.m.: Depart from Durant at Louisiana St. Crossing Monday, Oct. 14 11 a.m.: Arrive at Muskogee, Oklahoma 11:30 a.m.: Depart from Okmulgee St. Crossing 1:15 p.m.: Arrive at Claremore, Oklahoma 1:45 p.m.: Depart from Florence Ave. Crossing Union Pacific officials remind spectators to stand at least 25 feet back from the tracks at all times, and they urge viewers never to trespass on railroad property, including tracks and train yards. For more information about Big Boy and the steam tour, visit www.up.com. The "4014" the only operating "Big Boy," the biggest steam engines ever built. Only one of these 1930s locomotives runs actively on tracks. When it roared through Texas recently on a Union Pacific public tour, crowds of train fans met it at every stop. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: 'Big Boy' train schedule: Oklahoma whistlestops on steam engine tour WV dentist turns self in after water bottle with hidden camera allegedly found in bathroom WEIRTON, W.Va. (WTRF) A West Virginia dentist turned himself in after employees said they found a water bottle containing a hidden surveillance camera in a bathroom. An arrest warrant was issued for Dr. Jeremy Michael Crow, 45, of Washington, Pennsylvania, after Weirton police said an employee with Crow Dental Associates reported that she had found a water bottle containing a hidden surveillance camera in the staff-only bathroom on May 14. Our detectives conducted a thorough investigation, working very closely with the Brook County prosecutors office, because this is where the crime would have occurred, said Chief Charlie Kush of the Weirton Police Department. They had to go through a lot of evidence and talk to a lot of people. So, it did take time. But we feel very confident in the warrants that were obtained. During the nearly three-month investigation by Weirton police detectives, at least 10 female employees said they saw the same water bottle device in the bathroom. Kush said he understands this may come as a shock to the community and the patients under the care of Crow Dental Associates. We dont have any current evidence that there were any surveillance cameras or anything of that nature placed into the bathroom for the patients, for the public, Kush said. West Virginia jail officers plead guilty to watching inmate get beaten to death On Monday, Crow turned himself in to the Weirton Police Department and was charged with 39 misdemeanor counts of criminal invasion of privacy. If found guilty, he faces up to one year in jail and a $5,000 fine for each count. Crow was released on a $20,000 bond, and a pre-trial hearing is expected to be scheduled within the next two weeks. Kush told Nexstars WTRF that many community members are concerned about the charges only being misdemeanors and not felonies. He said its West Virginia law and that this is the harshest punishment for the crimes Crow is accused of committing. On Monday afternoon, WTRF received a statement from Robert McCoid, Crows lawyer, who called the case thin soup. Upon reviewing the criminal complaints charging Dr. Crow with misdemeanor offenses, we have concluded that the governments case is thin soup at best, said McCoid. We are eager to test the prosecutions evidence in the courtroom and look forward to his acquittal before a jury of his peers. In the meantime, Dr. Crow will continue as usual to provide the top-flight dental care to his patients that they have grown to expect and appreciate. Crows office was expected to be open Tuesday. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. FILE - Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk speaks at the SATELLITE Conference and Exhibition in Washington, March 9, 2020. The British government on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, has called on Musk to act responsibly after one of the worlds richest men used his social media platform to unleash a barrage of posts that risked inflaming the violent unrest gripping the country. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) As Xs owner and most followed user, Elon Musk has increasingly used the social media platform as a megaphone to amplify his political views and, lately, those of right-wing figures hes aligned with. There are few modern parallels to his antics, but then again there are few modern parallels to Elon Musk himself. Of course, none of this should come as a surprise. Back in 2022 when he was trying to buy Twitter, Musk said he was doing so because it wasn't living up to its potential as a platform for free speech." Protecting free speech not money was his motivation because, as he put it, having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization. Musk often ruminates on the future of civilization. For one, he appears fixated on a coming population collapse, threatening to wipe out humanity. And he joined prominent scientists and tech leaders last year in warning the world about artificial intelligence doing the same. Musk has framed threats to free speech as yet another existential crisis looming over the world. And he is going to try his best to save it. Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated, Musk said in an April 2022 post, adding hearts, stars and rocket emojis to highlight the statement. Two years on, the platform now called X has indeed become a haven for the type of free speech Musk has come to champion. In the U.S., hes spread memes and sometimes misinformation about illegal immigration, alleged election fraud and transgender policies, and he formally endorsed former President Donald Trumps presidential bid this summer. In May 2023, he co-hosted Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' official presidential bid announcement. That turned out to be a disastrous rollout marred by technical glitches but it underscored Musk's desire to turn X into a digital town square. After the event was marred by technical difficulties, Musk extended an open invitation to any other presidential candidate who wants to do one. Trump took him up on it, agreeing to an interview with the billionaire Tesla CEO on Monday evening. The conversation started with technical glitches with people unable to join in and began some 42 minutes late. Ive not been very political before, Musk said during his conversation with Trump. Overseas where most X users live he's feuded with top officials in Australia, Brazil, the European Union and the U.K. over the balance between free speech and the spread of harmful misinformation. And he accused a political party in his native South Africa of openly pushing for genocide of white people. Elon Musk is a master of the media and controls one of the worlds largest microphones. Musk understands the power of social media in shaping a political narrative, said Emarketer analyst Jasmine Enberg. The concern is that as he pushes his own political agenda, X could suppress viewpoints that oppose Musks own, either intentionally or by nature of the platform becoming more partisan. That could turn off users who feel marginalized on the platform, and disillusion some who may have earlier bought into his free speech mantra. Musks political shift playing out on X comes as other social media platforms, notably Metas Facebook and Instagram, are shying away from politics. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has never endorsed a presidential candidate and in February, the worlds largest social media company announced it would avoid recommending political content to people who dont already follow such accounts. Lately, Zuckerberg appears to contrast Musk in other ways too. While as recently as January, the Facebook founder was testifying before Congress about the harm his platforms have caused children, he seemed to have embraced a more stylish look that includes gold chains, longer curls and a beaming confidence coupled with slightly self-deprecating humor that seems to embrace his eccentricities. On July 4th, for instance, he posted a video of himself riding an electric surfboard, wearing a tuxedo and holding a can of beer in one hand and an American flag in the other. The online response was far more positive than to a 2021 surfing photo, where he's seen slathered in so much sunscreen it looks like he is wearing a white mask. Musk, meanwhile, is veering from cool nerd territory into what Kara Swisher, the elder stateswoman of tech journalism, recently called the Howard Hughes portion of an inevitable decline. He's sparring with those who disagree with him be they foreign governments or people infected by what he calls the woke mind virus. Last week, the British government called on Elon Musk to act more responsibly after the tech billionaire used X to unleash a barrage of posts that risk inflaming violent unrest gripping the country. Justice Minister Heidi Alexander made the comments after Musk posted a comment saying that Civil war is inevitable in the U.K. Musk later doubled down, highlighting complaints that the British criminal justice system treats Muslims more leniently than far-right activists and comparing Britains crackdown on social media users to the Soviet Union. Officials at X did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Of course, some of Musk's current battles over free speech are similar to those that the previous Twitter administration was fighting in repressive regimes that have, at times, restricted or blocked access to the platform to suppress dissent. In Venezuela, for instance, President Nicolas Maduro ordered a 10-day block on access to X in the country last week the latest in a series of efforts by his government to try to suppress information sharing among people voicing doubts about his claim to victory in the July 28 presidential election. Maduro accused X of being used by his opponents to create political unrest, and gave the company 10 days to present their documents, but he gave no additional details. Musk's antics are unlike any other Big Tech leader, and while it may be off-putting to a segment of his X user base, it could also attract eyeballs to his platform. Could this all be part of a broader plan? After all, despite publicly criticizing Musk's antics, those on the left continue to use his platform. X has remained surprisingly resilient throughout the recent controversy, Enberg said. "Thats in no small part due to consumer fascination with conspiracy theories and Elon Musk himself. AP Technology Writer Matt O'Brien contributed to this story. CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) The city of Chicopee is bringing the community together through one very interesting art medium: yarn! Residents are making a statement one stitch at a time through their yarn bombing art display. The creative activity is an ever-growing street art movement that combines the love of street art and fiber arts. In November of 2022, Massachusetts banned textiles from disposal creating a movement to recycle them. Fabric artist and CEO of First Byte, Rosann Fleischauer decided to put these leftover textiles to good use. Over the last several months, Fleischauer has collected knitted and crocheted pieces from eight different communities in the hopes of creating a public art display and bringing people closer together. We are painting with fiber and its a nice opportunity for folks to use little bits that they may have, that they may want to be able to put to use, and to also just make a little social statement that everybody gets a little hug even a tree, said Fleischauer. Yarn bombing consists of covering, wrapping, or decorating objects in pieces of knit or crochet. These yarn bombers wrapped the trees in front of Chicopee city hall and they will remain this way all week. The installation will then come down the following Monday. Residents are encouraged to come have a peek, take a selfie, and share it on social media. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWLP. Now returning to a landmark Dresden museum, stolen loot is going on display to the public from Wednesday onwards with limited tickets initially being handed out in a lottery. Robert Michael/dpa Almost five years after one of the most spectacular art heists in German history, various priceless jewels have been returned to Dresden's Green Vault following a lengthy police investigation involving midnight raids and a canal being dredged. During a break-in at the renowned Royal Palace museum in November 2019, assailants stole 21 pieces of opulent jewellery from the display case at the palace, which is one of the oldest buildings in Dresden and home to one of Europe's largest collections of treasures. The jewels sustained significant damage during and after their theft, but this is only visible on close inspection. The Green Vault is now displaying the items - still evidence in ongoing criminal proceedings - unrestored and in exactly the condition in which they were returned by the thieves in December 2022 following a years-long police investigation and ensuing trial. "We are currently working on the assumption that all the jewellery can be restored," says Marion Ackermann, head of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden body responsible for the museum. The loot is on display to the public from Wednesday onwards with limited tickets initially being handed out via a lottery on the museum website. The thieves caused more than $1 million worth of damage when they set fire to an electricity distribution box in Dresden's tourist-filled centre before fleeing to Berlin in a getaway car disguised as a taxi. In May 2023, the Dresden District Court sentenced five young men from a criminal organization to several years in prison. At the height of investigation, police carried out several raids on homes in Berlin and searched a canal in their hunt for the missing jewels. The sentencing was preceded by an agreement between the parties involved in the trial, which involved the return of a large part of the loot, but there is still no trace of some of the most valuable items. At dawn on November 25, 2019, two thieves broke into the Green Vault via a window and smashed a display case with an axe. Within minutes they had made off with treasures dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries. They had scoped the premises several times and had already taken apart a section of cast-iron guttering in order to be able to break in more easily later, prosecutors said. Around 4,300 diamonds and other precious stones were stolen from 21 pieces of opulent jewellery stored at the palace, which is one of the oldest buildings in Dresden and home to one of Europe's largest collections of treasures. Their value has been put at 113 million ($122 million), but they are seen by the museum as priceless. The notorious organized crime gang was also held responsible for the theft of a gold coin weighing 100 kilograms from Berlin's Bode Museum in 2017. During a break-in at the renowned Royal Palace museum in November 2019, assailants stole 21 pieces of opulent jewellery from the display case at the palace, which is one of the oldest buildings in Dresden and home to one of Europe's largest collections of treasures. Oliver Killig/dpa The stolen jewels sustained significant damage during and after their theft, but this is only visible on close inspection. Robert Michael/dpa The display case of the Green Vault in the Royal Palace in Dresden remained emptied of its priceless jewels for years. Oliver Killig/dpa President Joe Biden is facing calls to end his reelection bid from a growing number of prominent Democrats after his debate performance raised serious questions about the 81-year-olds mental fitness. The president and his campaign remain defiant and are pressing ahead, but an avalanche of calls to step aside and let someone such as Vice [] The day after he officially won his seat on the Metro Nashville Public Schools board, Zach Young was scrolling through a rash of hateful comments on social media. As someone who's held public office for more than a decade, he's grown used to it. "That's just part of being an LGBT person in elected office in the world we live in, unfortunately," Young said as he settled in with an iced mocha during the bustling lunch hour at Fido on 21st Avenue South. "You get a lot of hate, but you also get a lot of love." The Aug. 1 election made Young, who is gay, the first openly LGBTQ+ person elected to a school board in Tennessee. But there's a small caveat, he said: Mauricio Calvo, who told Chalkbeat he is part of the LGBTQ+ community, was appointed by city officials to the Memphis-Shelby County Schools board to serve after a board member abruptly resigned last summer. However, Calvo did not win the election this month. "It was never my mission to set out to make history," Young said. "I'm happy to serve my community but also happy to be an example for children so that they can see that it's OK to live their authentic life." Zach Young, the first openly LGBTQ+ member of the Metro Nashville Public Schools Board of Education, is photographed at his home in Goodlettsville, Tenn., Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. A long history of public service Running for office again was the last thing on Young's mind when he got the call last year from outgoing MNPS board member Emily Masters to consider taking her spot. At that moment, Young was fresh off four years on the Metro Nashville Council that ended with a difficult campaign and lost re-election bid. While he held onto his longtime role on the city commission in Goodlettsville, where he was born and raised and lives to this day, Young was burnt out on campaigning. All that changed when he traveled to Washington, D.C., for a conference with an advocacy organization called LGBTQ+ Victory Fund. He said he listened to "horror stories" from school board members across the country, especially when it came to their fight with conservative parental rights group Moms For Liberty. The group was formed in 2021 and has led charges to end mask mandates during the pandemic and ban library books. It has also dominated school board discussions across the nation and launched a super PAC to support political candidates. The group was labeled as "extremist" and "anti-government" by the Southern Poverty Law Center last year. The group has a chapter in Davidson County, along with several other Middle Tennessee counties. "They're on our doorstep," Young said. "We can't let our school board meetings and our schools get distracted by these social wars. We need to be focused on providing our students with everything that they need to succeed." After the conference, Young only had a few weeks to file to run. He got his papers together and ran unopposed, sailing through the March primaries and August election to secure the District 3 seat. A realtor by trade, Young will take up his new spot on the MNPS board Sept. 10. He does not plan to run in November for re-election to the city commission in Goodlettsville, where he has served for 12 years. Moms for Liberty: How an army of education activists has become a national political force What Young brings to the MNPS board Young plans to bring his know-how from his years on council to his new role on the MNPS board. As someone who sat on the other side of yearly budget conversations, he hopes to contribute his expertise in the process to the district. He also wants to help rebuild trust between the district and city leaders, who have had a fractious relationship at times. Young also draws inspiration from growing up in public schools and in a family full of public servants. He especially credits his mother with instilling an interest in public service in him. "From a young age, she would have me watch the nightly news with her," he said. That formed his worldview, helping him understand the society around him and the part he could play. The idea of local government has always appealed to Young, even if it involves seemingly mundane things like traffic lights and trash collection. "Even though it's not as sexy as, like, Congress it's the level of government that touches your life more than any other," he said. "It's all these things that we take for granted and that we just assume and trust are going to happen the way they're supposed to." With the latest election, the board will officially be all Democrats after a new Tennessee law allowed school board races to be partisan. Young said he's especially excited to join a board that is more cohesive and united after previous years saw bitter division over things like district leadership, the pandemic and charter schools. "Theyve got a really great group that really works together really well," Young said. "The attitude that they project to the administration and the teachers is so important." He joked that he and Robert Taylor, a Democrat who defeated Republican opponent Demytris Savage-Short in a landslide, are breaking up the all-female board. "I can still go get my nails done with the girls afterwards," Young joked. Don't worry, he said. Taylor is invited, too. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville school board: Zach Young makes history as first LGBTQ member Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky inspecting the construction of fortifications at an undisclosed location in Volyn region. -/Ukraine Presidency/dpa Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday said his country's forces have seized dozens of Russian localities in the southern region of Kursk, one week into its surprise cross-border offensive. "Ukraine controls 74 communities," Zelensky said on the social media platform X. The figure is far higher than Russian authorities have publicized. The acting governor of Kursk, Alexei Smirnov, stated on Monday that 28 localities were under Ukrainian control. The Ukrainian DeepState mapping project estimates that 44 settlements have been seized, while independent Russian media have put the figure at around 30. Zelensky said that he is constantly being briefed on the situation by the Ukrainian commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi. "Despite the difficult and intense battles, our forces continue to advance in the Kursk region," Zelensky added, noting that more and more Russian soldiers are being captured to use them as bargaining chips for the next prisoner exchange with Russia. "I am grateful to our warriors for their heroic service," Zelensky said. In the areas controlled by Ukraine, inspections and stabilization measures are now under way, Zelensky said. "The development of humanitarian solutions for these territories continues," he stated. Kiev previously said that civilians should not be harmed in its offensive, which began last Tuesday. Next steps are being prepared, the president said, without providing details. The goal of the offensive, he added, is to achieve a just peace as quickly as possible. The Ukrainian leadership has made it clear that it intends to use the areas in the Kursk region as leverage in peace negotiations. The aim is not to permanently occupy the territory. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraines leader, has called on fellow Ukrainians to act effectively and in a united manner, as was the case in the first weeks and months of this war when Ukraine "took the initiative and began to turn the tide [on the battlefield] to the benefit of our state." Source: Zelenskyy's address on August 13 Quote: "And now all of us in Ukraine should act as unitedly and efficiently as we did in the first weeks and months of this war, when Ukraine took the initiative and began to turn the situation to the benefit of our state. Now we have done the exact same thing we have proven once again that we, Ukrainians, are capable of achieving our goals in any situation capable of defending our interests and our independence. And we must make full use of our achievements. And we will. We are paying attention to every direction of our state's defence to all frontline directions. Donetsk region Pokrovsk, Toretsk, Kramatorsk directions. Kharkiv region. The South. Special attention is paid to the Kursk region, and thus to the protection of all our border communities nearby." Details: Separately, Zelenskyy discussed with the Minister of Defence Rustem Umierov, representatives of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) and the President's office that all payments, bonuses and other things provided for the front are guaranteed and quickly provided for the soldiers who perform combat tasks on the territory of Russia. The president also thanked the military for replenishing the exchange fund for further swaps with Russia. Quote: "Once again, I thank all our guys who are replenishing the exchange fund this is very important for our state. Hundreds of Russian servicemen have already surrendered, and all of them will receive humane treatment they did not experience such treatment even in their own Russian army". Background: Support UP or become our patron! China constructs world's first dual-tower solar thermal plant and it will help generate nearly 2 billion kWh annually An incredible sight has overtaken a field near Guazhou County in China's Gansu Province: almost 30,000 moving mirrors pointed at two huge central towers. This is China's new dual-tower solar thermal plant, Interesting Engineering reports. Solar panels that convert sunlight into electricity are becoming a familiar sight all over the world. Solar thermal energy is a little different. Instead of using solar panels, this new plant uses its thousands of mirrors each reflecting up to 94% of the light that hits them to focus a huge amount of sunlight onto the relatively small area of the towers, Interesting Engineering explains. That produces an incredible amount of heat so much that similar solar-gathering methods can be used for smelting. Like coal-fired and nuclear power plants, the solar thermal power plant uses the heat to turn water into steam. The rising steam then turns turbines, which generate electricity. The solar thermal plant also contains a huge amount of molten salt, which stores heat like a battery stores electricity. When the sun is no longer out, the heat from the salt continues to make steam meaning this is solar power that can run 24/7. To maximize the amount of sunlight gathered, the mirrors around the towers move, tracking the sun across the sky. In the morning, most of the mirrors point at the eastern tower; in the afternoon, some switch to the western tower. "The mirrors in the overlapping area can be utilized by either tower. This configuration is expected to enhance efficiency by 24%," plant project manager Wen Jianghong told China Global Television Network, per Interesting Engineering. The design could even be expanded to add more towers and further improve efficiency, China claims. According to CGTN, the Guazhou towers will be part of a complex of several clean energy plants, including wind, solar, and thermal, Interesting Engineering reports. Together, they're expected to produce 1.8 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year. These methods of generating energy aren't just efficient and affordable; they also avoid polluting the air with toxic and heat-trapping chemicals. The complex will prevent about 1.7 million tons of carbon pollution, Interesting Engineering reports. This is in support of the Chinese government's stated goal to construct 1,200 gigawatts of less polluting energy capacity by 2030. This isn't China's only solar tower, as it also recently broke ground on what is expected to be the world's largest solar tower by capacity. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. Virtually everyone agrees that social media is broken. On Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok, people fear out-of-control algorithms, fake news, state actor censorship, and propaganda. Google and Meta collect vast troves of personal information on their users and receive hundreds of thousands of requests every year from governments around the world to access that data. YouTube has become arguably "the most powerful media platform in the history of humanity," yet its algorithm is an ever-changing black box to the creators that populate the platform with videos. During the pandemic, federal officials were in contact with every major social media platform, coercing them to remove content. The problem is centralized control. We can't trust companies to run our primary communications infrastructure. Government regulation only makes matters worse because it creates new legal barriers to entering the industry, which protects incumbent players and stifles innovation. What if there were an alternative, not owned by Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, or the Chinese Communist Party? What if there were a way to control your own data to prevent companies from harvesting and monetizing it? What if you had granular control over what you see in your feed, with the freedom to choose your own algorithms? What if you owned your identity, which could be accessed seamlessly across different clients? That way, if you disapprove of the changes that Elon Musk brought to X, instead of closing your account you could take your handle and followers elsewhere. That alternative exists. It's called "Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays"or Nostr. The Decentralized Solution Invented by a pseudonymous programmer and overwhelmingly funded by grants from non-profit foundations, this decentralized, free, and open-source protocol has been quietly evolving for the past three years. Like bitcoin, Nostr is a community-run digital network highly resistant to censorship and corruption. It has 40,000 weekly active users and a growing ecosystem of clients and applications ranging from social media to long-form publishing to payments. Nostr is only necessary because our existing internet is so broken. Fifteen years ago, social media seemed destined to decentralize the world and give power back to the people. In 2009, we watched as Arab Spring activists used Twitter and Facebook to organize, coordinate, and help topple several long-standing dictatorships. The promise was that these new social platforms, designed by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, could help liberate the masses. It was intoxicatingbut turned out to be a mirage. The Arab revolutions stalled out when brutal military regimes cracked down. These platforms became tools for spying and censoring their users. X and Facebook have helped journalists and human rights activists reach bigger audiences, but they haven't fulfilled their revolutionary promise. Jack Dorsey's Shift from Bluesky to Nostr This was a major theme at the 2024 Oslo Freedom Forum, which is put on annually by the Human Rights Foundation, where I serve as chief strategy officer. At this conference for democracy and human rights, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey told the audience that the problem was, actually, guys like him: The very fact that Twitter, now X, has a CEO makes it a single point of failure. Governments routinely pressured Dorsey to censor content; once the company's offices in India were raided. Dorsey says that under the new Musk regime X complies with whatever governments want. The X network is proprietary. Known as a "silo," this construct traps a user's identity, followers, and data. X also has the power to evict anyone from the platform and delete what they've written. Several years ago, when he was still running the company, Dorsey became convinced that Twitter should become an application instead, where users could post content to an open, ownerless network. This would make it similar to how bitcoin works, where you use an application called a wallet to interact with the network, but the network itself is neutral and open. Building a non-proprietary architecture was Dorsey's original vision for Twitter, but over time the need to maximize revenue to build a business and serve shareholders undermined that goal. Nevertheless, in 2021, Dorsey encouraged the creation of Blueskyan initiative bootstrapped in-house to create that open neutral base layer. But after Musk bought the company, the managers of Bluesky were afraid they would run out of money and started raising funds from venture capitalists, which undermined the vision of building an open platform. Dorsey grew disenchanted and left the Bluesky board. At the conference in Oslo, Dorsey explained what happened next: I asked a question: What open source initiatives should I be funding that would be helpful to the public internet? And people kept tweeting at me that I should be looking at Nostr. I found the GitHub that described it and it was 100 percent what we wanted from Bluesky, but it wasn't developed from a company. It was completely independent. Its paper diagnosed every single problem we saw and had. But did it in a grassroots and dead simple way, that felt like the early Twitter where any developer could get on and really feel it. Escaping the 'Golden Prisons' Nostr was created in 2020 by the pseudonymous Brazilian programmer fiatjaf, who describes it as "the simplest open protocol that is able to create a censorship-resistant global 'social' network once and for all." Though nobody is in charge, Nostr works as promised and is thriving. "It is the solution we've all been looking for," says Miljan Braticevic, founder of Primal, one of the two dozen plus clients now available for the Nostr protocol. "Nostr is not a Twitter competitor or a Mastodon competitor. This is the biggest misconception at the moment. That's just the tip of the iceberg. Nostr is nothing less than the foundation for the new internet. Meaning almost every conceivable app we have today will be built on Nostr." Braticevic's prediction is echoed by at least a dozen other prominent developers. Martti Malmi, the first coder to work on bitcoin alongside Satoshi Nakamoto, is now a Nostr developer. In a recent talk, he said he had started to work on similar ideas around decentralized identity in 2019, only to come close to giving up. But then he found fiatjaf's invention, which he called a "godsend." "Bitcoin is freedom of money, and Nostr is freedom of everything else," Malmi said. "I was there" in the earliest days of bitcoin, "and Nostr is even more intense." For something that could be world-changing, Nostr is quite simple. To join, you sign up with a mobile or desktop client, which helps you to create a public and private key pair. The public key (or "npub") is used as your identifier, and you share it with clients and other users so that people can find your posts or pay you for your content. The private key ("nsec") is hidden by the user, stored safely (just like a bitcoin seed phrase), and is your way to log in to different services. Unlike platforms like X or Facebook, no other information is required to set up and use Nostr. This gives users a powerful range of sovereignty. You can use a client, for example, that has strong hate speech controls. Or you can choose one that doesn't have any at all. You can use a client with aggressive algorithms, just like the ones X uses today. Or you can use one without any algorithm at all. Today, when you log in to an app like Primal, you can sort your feed by what's the latest, by what's most popular, by what's most zapped, or by customized keywords. It's up to you. Last month, the macroeconomist Lyn Alden, author of one of the best books on bitcoin, published a long essay about Nostr's potential: [Nostr] is a simple set of foundational building blocks that, if widely adopted, could gradually reshape "the Web" as we know it. Instead of a separate set of siloed social ecosystems, we could gravitate toward a more interoperable set of ecosystems, with more of the power dispersed to the content creators and to the audience, and away from the middlemen corporations. The Nostr network is constructed like a spiderweb that can morph and regenerate, making it almost impossible to censor. When you set up a client on Nostr (perhaps Primal or Damus on iOS, Amethyst on Android, or Coracle on the web), you choose from a variety of relays to connect to. This architecture ensures no single point of failure: If you are connected to seven or eight relays, and half of them choose to censor posts, your feed remains censorship-free, as your app will display the net sum of everything broadcast from each relay. If the Chinese government decides to attack your relaysas it did in 2023 when Damus launched on the Hong Kong and mainland app storethen more can be spun up. "The enemy," said Damus creator Will Casarin, "is too numerous." Prominent bitcoin developer and educator Gigiwho switched to Nostr and deleted his X accountsays that what helped it become so resilient is that it has zero exit cost. If the Chinese Communist Party bans YouTube, its domestic users lose everything. There's no way to get back their profiles and followers. The same is true if a user voluntarily closes an account. Gigi calls these corporate silos "golden prisons" with no escape. Nostr's spider-like architecture makes escaping easy. If one client goes down, or you fail to connect to one relay, you just find another client or connect to another relay. You keep your posts, photos, preferences, contacts, and even algorithms of choice. If you use X, you are an X creator. But if you use Primal, you aren't a Primal creator, you are a Nostr creator. Nostr's Rise and Potential Nostr had only a small handful of users until Dorsey joined and started promoting it at the end of 2022. Since then, the protocol has been on a slow but upward trajectory in terms of activity. Alongside Dorsey, Naval Ravikant and Edward Snowden have been some of the protocol's biggest boosters. A lot of infrastructure is still raw, and there are weak points in the areas of privacy and security, but the pace of progress is dizzying. Social clients like Primal already look and feel nearly as good as X, but have completely different features. "Bitcoin and Nostr combined together work like an international decentralized open-source Venmo," Alden writes. Thanks to a "Nostr improvement protocol" (NIP-57) that developer Will Casarin helped invent, Nostr integrates seamlessly with bitcoin. Users can follow content creators and send them payments called "zaps." They tend to be a few cents or dollars at most but have been as much as $10,000. Unlike X, users of Nostr clients don't have to live in a particular country, fill out paperwork, or have a particular type of ID to send and receive money. They could be in Iran, Cuba, or the U.S.the system doesn't discriminate. Zaps might be tips for authors or podcasters, support for development projects, funds for campaigns, or just a sign of admiration or respect. These "tips" never really took off on X, but on Nostr, they are a way of life. There are, of course, many other decentralized social network models besides Nostr, primarily coming in "federated" or "Web3" blockchain-based flavors. Mastodon is the most popular platform of the federated varietythe crown jewel of what people are now calling "The Fediverse"but it is deeply flawed, according to developers like Gigi. "Switching to Mastodon or another federated service doesn't remove King Elon," he explains. "It just creates thousands of King Elons. You need their permission, and you can be deplatformed at any time." The largest Web3 platform is Ethereum, and its community created an app called Farcaster, which is the most popular "decentralized social network" by a long shot. It's built on cryptocurrency and funded by tens of millions of dollars of Silicon Valley venture capital. But the protocol only has one popular app, and it might not survive if the creators quit or their business model fails. Farcaster has a very different feel than Nostr; its users are heavily focused on getting wealthy by chasing the next crypto token. Although it interacts with bitcoin, Nostr isn't built on bitcoin or any other blockchain. Unlike Farcaster or other Web3 social projects, its users never have to use or support a digital currency, though many do. "Bitcoiners are very good at identifying technology that is complementary to bitcoin," according to the programmer Rockstar Developer. "Nostr is synergistic with bitcoin, but Farcaster is a silo that traps you into a dependency on crypto tokens. And we have a saying in Nostr: all your silos will be destroyed." Decentralized computing networks depend on multiple parties being able to trust each other without the oversight of a central authority, which makes them notoriously difficult to scale. In its early years, bitcoin lacked the capacity to process more than a handful of transactions a second, and it has taken years of engineering work to add a decentralized payment network to bitcoin that could begin to scale the network to serve the entire world. Nostr's developers had these challenges in mind, and came up with a simple and elegant design that will make scaling easier. As a monetary network, bitcoin needs to maintain a decentralized central ledger that everyone in the network agrees is correct so users don't try and spend the same money twice; but Nostr doesn't need system-wide agreement about what its users are doing all the time everywhere on its network. Users just need to be up to date on the people and accounts they follow. Today, some Nostr users in China use VPNs to reach international posts; others, Casarin speculates, use Nostr networks that are entirely enclosed within the Great Firewall, which is China's internet censorship system. In Japan, he points out, there are similar self-enclosed Nostr networks, intentionally isolated for cultural and language reasons. A fully synchronized global state is not possible, or even perhaps desirable, to achieve in Nostr. Its communities can sprout up anywhere and don't rely on each other. Nostr, like the web, will rely on caching and indexing services to make it searchable and faster to access, which in theory brings some centralization risk. But Braticevic, the founder of Primal, has pointed out that Nostr is likely to end up with dozens or even hundreds of them, which will make the protocol sufficiently decentralized. A Free Will Revolution Earlier this year, I attended a small meeting with Dorsey and a dozen of the world's top human rights activists on the sidelines of the 2024 Oslo Freedom Forum. Participants ranged from Hotel Rwanda hero Paul Rusesabagina to the Iranian women's rights advocate Masih Alinejad to Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy. There were dissidents and humanitarians from Tibet, Gaza, Lebanon, Bolivia, Uzbekistan, India, Uganda, Azerbaijan, and Iraq. Added up, the social media followers of all the people in the room exceeded 20 million. After brief intros, Dorsey started to tell his story and explained the opportunity at hand. He began by talking about the original promise of Twitter, and how at the beginning, activists helped the platform go from a niche Silicon Valley audience to something truly global. "You're going to do the same thing for Nostr," he told them. He talked about how X had failed and introduced the concept of Nostr. The activists were intrigued. Dorsey cautioned patience: Create a profile on a Nostr client like Primal, and then go to your big traditional account on X or Facebook or Instagram. Make a post there, saying you'll continue to post there, but that you're also going to be over here on this new network. Maybe, he said, you can tell them you'll put out some special content there. "Only a small percentage of your following will come," he said, "but those are the most important. They will be committed. And the more you post, the more will come." I see this as a revolution. In Oslo, Dorsey said that the "free speech debate is a complete distraction. I think the debate should be about free will. We feel it right now because we are being programmed." The algorithms used by platforms like X "know us better than we know ourselves," Dorsey said. In June, Dorsey gave a talk in Italy, where he distinguished today's social networks as those "diminishing" us vs. those "enabling" us, such as Nostr. Nostr, he suggests, allows you to better control what you see. You decide what to consume. And you can connect directly with your following, both in terms of engagement and payments. 'It is coming.' Gigi, the bitcoin developer, reminds us that the currency of the modern internet is attention. Today's big apps are harvesting our attention, so the outcome is all the platforms produce car crashes that we can't look away from. But Nostr is integrated with a different currencybitcoinso we can build in a different way. "I don't post very much on Nostr," Gigi says. "I keep it simple, usually just posting a good morning and good night message. But people send me bitcoin, and it pays for my breakfast every day." This may seem far-fetchedconnecting to and earning material sums from your followers without dealing with any corporations or banks whatsoeverbut Dorsey has said that the visceral experience that Gigi and thousands of others are beginning to have is more or less inevitable. "It is coming. It's just a matter of time and when we all decide to do it. When we all decide to remove these dependencies. Because," Dorsey told the crowd in Italy, "we believe more in humanity than these companies and corrupt governments." Social media is how we speak, transact, and shape our identities. We can't entrust our primary communication protocol to a handful of corruptible humans. And now we don't have to. The post Can Nostr Make Twitter's Dreams Come True? appeared first on Reason.com. At first, Peugeot made saws. Its novel manufacturing method produced some of the worlds finest and sturdiest blades, which earned it a reputation for industrial excellence despite its relatively modest size. As it grew, the company began to build coffee grinders, followed by pepper mills, and then the slender steel wires that gave crinoline petticoats their shape. These thin spokes led the company to make bicycle wheels, then an entire penny farthing, followed by a crude steam-powered automobile and eventually about 150 years later the E-3008 electric SUV. Xiaomi, by contrast, only took about a decade to evolve from a maker of household products to building its first electric car (EV). The Beijing-based gadget manufacturer, founded in 2010, began making mid-range Android handsets in 2011 and is now worth some $53.49bn; business has been good, enabling it to fund forays into virtually every consumer electronics segment. That includes shavers, headphones, robot vacuum cleaners, solar-powered security cameras, a smart blender, e-scooters and, now, inevitably, a car. The SU7 sold out within around a day of its launch, receiving about 90,000 orders in the first 24 hours following its official unveiling. Xiaomis reputation for quality products has obviously given it a bit of a head start in its new venture, just as Peugeots did over a century ago. An astonishing success at home, the SU7 has been nicknamed 'China's Apple Car' The specifications of the new model are impressive, too a range of between 435 and 500 miles, depending on trim level, and prices from 215,900 yuan (23,000) make this large and affordable saloon an extremely compelling offering for domestic and international buyers. Reviews have been overwhelmingly positive and used versions are changing hands for more than new ones thanks to a seven-month queue. Its already an astonishing success at home, and has been dubbed Chinas Apple Car. The rapidity with which Chinese manufacturers can expand their portfolios from mobile phones to five-star EVs is both impressive and alarming especially considering the failure of Apple to bring its car to production, and the widespread difficulties faced by legacy brands in the transition to zero-emission vehicles. Ten years ago, when Xiaomi was in its infancy, Chinese cars could barely compete with even the naffest European rivals. Now, though, Xiaomi is just one of many Chinese manufacturers that has seemingly emerged from the depths of Beijing, Shenzhen, Chongqing or Baoding, with products at least on a par with established rivals. Some, like Xiaomi, are genuinely new-ish entities; others are just invented stage names for existing brands, which are already established in their domestic market but which need a West-facing identity for Europe. (Jaecoo is a good example of this; I recently drove its J7, which would have been a staggeringly accomplished debut considering the brand only launched last April, but it is in fact a rebadged Chery Tansuo 06.) The SU7 has a range of between 435 and 500 miles, with prices starting from 215,900 yuan (23,000) Somehow, Xiaomis ambitions are palpably more audacious than those of the other Chinese brands, which have largely arrived in Europe (or plan to) with middle-of-the-road electric SUVs. The SU7 is clearly a far more polished and progressive product, with class-leading specifications and an attractive design that, candidly, sets it apart from most of its East Asian peers. Its good-looking, its affordable, and its aimed squarely at the heart of Europes car building industry. Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun euphemistically refers to Volkswagen as Competitor A, and has drawn barely-veiled comparisons between the SU7 and the Groups key models on more than one occasion. The recent announcement of the souped-up SU7 Ultra, however, was a shot specifically across Porsches bow Jun mentioned his ambition to be the fastest four-door electric car around the famed challenge of the Nurburgring racing circuit in Germany in the next 10 years, which would involve knocking the Porsche Taycan off the top spot. Xiaomi will send the SU7 Ultra around the track for the first time this October, and while victory seems unlikely, Chinas eventual domination of the revered Nordschleife and by extension Europes performance car market seems somewhat inevitable. There are some queries about the quality of Chinese cars, whether their handling is quite up to modern European tastes and standards, as well as about data privacy. Its true that building an efficient, fast car seems to be easier than making one thats enjoyable to drive. To date, European buyers of Chinese models have simply wanted inexpensive A-to-B runabout EVs and this market has been largely satisfied with Chinas first few generations of electric family cars; as the models get more expensive and sophisticated, so too will the tastes of their new owners. The SU7 is a more polished and progressive product than other Chinese vehicles that have made it to the UK Chinese cars present additional, background concerns about both safety and data privacy, but its unclear how well-founded they are. All the Chinese cars tested by Euro NCAP in 2023 and 2024 so far have scored the full five stars suggesting that, on paper at least, these models compare favourably against European rivals. Widespread worry about Chinese technology hasnt stopped it from finding its way into Britains critical national infrastructure and while the (probably fanciful) idea of our car periodically reporting our whereabouts to the CCP sounds unpalatable, were perfectly happy to conduct our entire lives through other Chinese products; Xiaomi is among the most popular mobile phone brands in Britain, suggesting that as a nation were happy to trust it with our bank details. Chinese cars are already chipping away at the lower edges of Britains car market (the bits that most legacy manufacturers have neglected) and it could be a while before any make significant inroads in more premium segments. The SU7 has impressed audiences in Asia, and while there are no overt plans to bring it to the UK, its evident from its positioning that a European offensive is next. French and German car brands have enjoyed decades of dominance, but China is proving the playing field to be rather more level than legacy brands believed. Peugeot took 42 years to grow from coffee grinders to bicycles Xiaomi has transitioned from smart blenders to four-door supercars in about five. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. A new mural in Sunnyside celebrates the Yellowstone Trail, a historic highway route that passes through Yakima County. Miguel Cuevas, of Toppenish, started the mural in May using spray paint. He's been an artist for 30 years and did his first murals in the Lower Valley 18 years ago, by his estimate. Residents gathered for a barbecue and to watch Cuevas make the finishing touches Saturday. Ignacio Ramos, owner of Residential Design and Printing, wanted to do something to promote the highway. "It's part of the heritage of Sunnyside," Ramos said. Ramos worked to restore the building at 426 S. Sixth Street, and decided to move his business there in the past year. The side of the building was a prime spot for a mural, and the Ramos and Cuevas families have known each other a long time, Ramos said. His initial idea was for a simpler, silhouette-style mural, but Cuevas wanted to go bigger and bolder, Ramos said. "I'm very proud of it," Cuevas said. At 60 feet wide and 16 feet tall, it's his largest mural to date. Cuevas said he is grateful to his family for allowing him to spend many hours away from home to work on it. He also thanked Laura Wise, his art teacher from Toppenish High School. "I hope it inspires other artists," he said. The Yellowstone Trail The Yellowstone Trail was the first interstate highway system, envisioned by Joseph Parmley, a South Dakota businessman, at a time when the automobile was only just beginning to replace horses as the primary mode of transportation. His idea grew into the Yellowstone Trail Association, which advocated for an automobile-friendly route spanning from coast to coast. Rather than building the highway, it identified preexisting roads and encouraged communities to pave and maintain them as a way to increase travelers and the business that comes with them. The "trail" was complete by 1917, running 3,719 miles from Seattle to Plymouth, Mass. In Yakima County, portions of the route are marked with signs in Zillah, Granger and Grandview. The Yellowstone Trail can still be followed today. More details can be found at www.yellowstonetrail.org. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. A multifaceted experience Her roles prior to Deloitte involved broad exposure to various functions, including sales, marketing, manufacturing, procurement, and product development. Chutian recalled, learning about the classic supply chain tension between manufacturing and marketing was interesting; but living the real-world issue was mind-blowing. She recalled it as a fascinating experience, observing how different functions' priorities intersect or compete within the business. For example, changing the graphic on a product package based on market research led to massive breakdowns in the production line, said Chutian. This immersive experience prepared her for the next chapter in her career. Chutian's desire to integrate her diverse skillset into various roles led her to consulting and Deloitte. The prospect of solving different, complex puzzles across diverse work locations was a compelling reason to join Deloitte. Transitioning to Deloitte The initial transition to consulting from the industry was challenging for Chutian as she adapted to working with colleagues in a hybrid co-location arrangement. She devised a systematic approach to help the transition by growing her network and initiating coffee chats with at least one professional at each level every month. Her turning point came when she landed a project for a life sciences client with a supportive team in her interest area: digital manufacturing. Chutian explained, I have a lot of great mentors at Deloitte that have helped me grow and gain confidencewith all the support and guidance from across the organization, I am given opportunities to take on challenging and fun projects. Since then, she has worked on several projects with her network in the life sciences and automotive sectors. The contrast between the academic nature of healthcare and the more direct, result-oriented auto industry has been an exciting experience that offers varying types of collaboration. From industry to consulting: a different ballgame Transitioning from industry to consulting can take adjusting to new ways of working. Chutian noted a career in consulting takes balancing priorities and stakeholders, which can be trickier than in industry since the way you spend your time contributes to defining your personal brand. The roles you get staffed in can vary based on the personal brand you created for yourself and your experience. Once Chutian learned how to best prioritize her time in a way that communicated her personal brand, she thrived in consulting. Another adjustment Li noted when moving from industry to consulting is that the professional services culture at Deloitte necessitates consistent value creation and high performance. Li adjusted by stepping out of her comfort zone and driving her teams toward results above an individual contributor role. Now, she is sought out by leaders and her network due to her ability to balance a full and diverse workload, create client value, and manage cross-functional teams. Overcoming challenges as a woman in supply chain Being a woman in supply chain, especially of Asian descent, has not been without its challenges for Chutian. For example, early in her career, she received comments like go back to where you came from and implications that her entry-level position made her involvement less valuable. Being told these things made her feel inadequate. Chutian is grateful to her mentors at Deloitte for showing her that she has earned her seat at the table, her insights are valuable, and her diverse experiences are welcome in any client conversation. With support, Chutian has learned to overcome challenges by bringing her authentic self to work, fostering personal connections, and encouraging an inclusive culture within every team she leads and is a part of. Lastly, she always works her hardest to show she has the best intentions to help the organization and her colleagues within it. Words of wisdom Chutian's unique career journey illustrates the potential for a fulfilling career in Supply Chain & Network Operations. Her advice to women in the field is simple yet powerful: Be authentic, get to know your colleagues personally, and work hard to not only advance your own career but also support others in their professional growth. Above all, don't be afraid to forge your own path and follow your interests. Ukrainian children who have fled to Hungary from the war need material aid and social support to start the upcoming school year, the UNs childrens fund UNICEF has said in a press release coinciding with the opening of an exhibition of photomontages in City Hall park in Budapest. Thousands of children who cannot attend school in their home country will soon start the school year in Hungary, it said. Two years into the war, around half of Ukrainian children have either fled the country or are internally displaced, UNICEF said. Hungary currently hosts more than 60,000 Ukrainian refugees, mostly women and children, it said. Hungarian Reformed Church Aid, a charity, has been working in partnership with UNICEF to smooth access to education, health care, child protection services and psychological healing for Ukrainian refugees, the statement said. The exhibition, entitled Flowers and Tanks Artwork in the Shadow of the War in Ukraine, featuring photomontages of war-torn Ukraine and drawings by child refugees, runs through to Aug 21. Donations to UNICEF for its work with Ukrainian children can be made at unicef.hu/ukrajnai-menekult-gyerekekert ********************************* You're very welcome to comment, discuss and enjoy more stories via our Facebook page: Facebook.com/XpatLoopNews + via XpatLoops groups: Budapest Expats / Expats Hungary You can subscribe to our newsletter here: XpatLoop.com/Newsletters Do you want your business to reach tens of thousands of potential high-value expat customers? Then just contact us here! New Delhi: Former finance ministry secretary EAS Sarma, in an exclusive chat with WION said that there should be a probe by an independent judicial panel that will examine the alleged links between Adani group and Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch. Sarma had written to the finance minister after fresh allegations were made by Hindenburg Research in which the US Short seller has accused Sebi Chief of remaining 'personally invested in the same funds by the sponsor she was tasked with investing'. "The Sebi chairman, or any member, if they make any disclosure, that should be to the ministry of finance...and cabinet committee on appointments which appoints them. She cannot give a clean chit to herself," Sarma told WION. "This is a matter that requires further enquiry". "Did she make a disclosure to Ministry of Finance? Was the cabinet committee on appointments and the cabinet made aware of all this? This is much more important," he asserted. Sarma has also suggested for an independent judicial commission, whose head should be nominated by the Chief Justice of India, to conduct the probe in a time-bound manner and submit the report to parliament. Sarma's in his exclusive comments to WION after he wrote a letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman, seeking a judicial probe into allegations levelled by Hindenburg Research against Sebi chief Madhabi Buch. "If the accusations made by Hindenburg are factually found to be correct, all investigations conducted during the last few years by the stock market regulator on external manipulation of stock market indices by a few corporate entities through their benami agencies need to be subject to a re-investigation," said Sarma in the letter to Finance Ministry. Late on Sunday night, Hindenburg posted a series of tweets asking her to reveal the client lists. Hindenburg, responding to Sebi chief's rebuttal on its research report published on 10 August said, "SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Buchs response to our report includes several important admissions and raises numerous new critical questions. Buchs response now publicly confirms her investment in an obscure Bermuda/Mauritius fund structure, alongside money allegedly siphoned by Vinod Adani. She also confirmed the fund was run by a childhood friend of her husband, who at the time was an Adani director." Further, charging Buch with 'massive conflict of interest' allegations, Hindenburg wrote, ""SEBI was tasked with investigating investment funds relating to the Adani matter, which would include funds Ms. Buch WAS PERSONALLY INVESTED IN and funds by the same sponsor which were specifically highlighted in our original report. This is obviously a massive conflict of interest." New Delhi: The State Bank of India (SBI) plans to finalize a deal by the end of March to sell its 24% stake in Yes Bank, valued at 184.2 billion rupees ($2.2 billion), according to four sources with direct knowledge. Furthermore, sources reveal that Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, a Japanese lender, and Dubai-based Emirates NBD are in advanced talks to acquire a majority stake in Yes Bank. Sumitomo Mitsui is affiliated with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Japan's second-largest bank. It is important to note that the RBI restructured Yes Bank in March 2020 with the help of a consortium of local banks due to its worsening financial condition. However, according to one source, SBI has received verbal approval from the RBI to sell its entire stake in Yes Bank and expects to earn a profit of around 100 billion rupees. "Both the bidders are interested in acquiring a majority 51% stake in Yes Bank to get sizeable control of the bank's business," one of the sources said. "The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has verbally okayed the proposal and due diligence is on." SBI currently owns about 24% of Yes Bank, while 11 other lenders, including ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank, who were also part of Yes Bank's rescue, collectively hold 9.74%. "Bidders are seeking relaxation on the regulatory requirement that promoter shareholding be brought down to 26% within 15 years of the investment, and talks are on," said one of the sources, referring to the stake by controlling shareholders. Notably, SBI clearly stated that there has been no progress in this matter. (With Inputs From Reuters) New Delhi: Starbucks has named Brian Niccol, the chairman and CEO of Chipotle, as its new CEO. He will take over the coffee giant starting on September 9, replacing Laxman Narasimhan, who has been with the company since March 2023. Notably, the coffee giant is struggling with weak demand and disgruntled investors and made this decision to revive flagging sales and appease outside investors. Starbucks Share Starbucks shares jumped more than 13 per cent before the market opened. Narasimhan, a longtime PepsiCo executive who has also served as the CEO of Reckitt, a UK-based consumer health company, became Starbucks' CEO in March 2023. He succeeded Howard Schultz, the longtime Starbucks leader and chairman emeritus who came out of retirement in 2022 to serve as the company's interim CEO. But investors quickly soured on Narasimhan as the company's sales weakened and it dealt with multiple issues, including competition from lower-cost competitors in China and boycotts in the Middle East and elsewhere because of its perceived support for Israel. Mellody Hobson, the chair of Starbucks' board of directors, said Niccol has transformed Chipotle since becoming its CEO in 2018 by focusing on menu innovation, operational excellence and digital transformation. Brian is a culture carrier who brings a wealth of experience and a proven track record of driving innovation and growth, Hobson said in a statement. Like all of us at Starbucks, he understands that a remarkable customer experience is rooted in an exceptional partner experience, Schultz said he has long admired Niccol. He further said, I believe he is the leader Starbucks needs at a pivotal moment in its history". (With Inputs From AP) New Delhi, Aug 13 (PTI) Lt. Governor VK Saxena on Tuesday nominated Delhi Home Minister Kailash Gahlot to hoist the national flag at the state-level Independence Day event, bypassing the AAP government's request to allow Education Minister Atishi to do so. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party, however, welcomed the LG's decision, saying it honoured the principle of democracy by "choosing an elected representative over an appointed one". Earlier in the day, a row brewed over the issue with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) lashing out at Saxena after the general administration department refused to implement Minister Gopal Rai's direction to let Atishi hoist the tricolour in place of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, saying it was legally "invalid". Kejriwal, currently in Tihar Jail in the Delhi excise police case, wrote to LG on August 6, seeking the flag hoisting by Atishi, considered close to him, in his absence at the Delhi government's annual event on August 15. His letter, however, was held back by jail authorities on the ground that the chief minister's communication was not "permissible". The LG nominated Gahlot for hoisting of the national flag after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Tuesday authorised him to nominate any minister of the Delhi government for the same. On Friday, the LG Secretariat sought MHA's clarification over the impasse due to the "peculiar circumstances of absence of the Chief Minister". The MHA has the remit to issue guidelines regarding the celebration of Independence Day at the Centre and the states, according to officials at the Raj Niwas. Ashish Kundra, principal secretary to LG, in a note to Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar, said: "Lieutenant Governor is pleased to nominate Minister (Home), GNCTD, Kailash Gahlot to unfurl the National Flag at the State level Independence day celebrations at Chhatrasal Stadium. Necessary arrangements may be made accordingly." Explaining the nomination of Gahlot by the LG, the note said that the Home Department and the Delhi Police play a primary role vis-a-vis the state-level Independence Day function. "The Lieutenant Governor has also noted that matters related to the police have been assigned to the Home department under the Allocation of Business Rules, 1993," it said. As per practice, Delhi Police is responsible for the ceremonial march-past parade after the unfurling of the national flag. The programme of the state-level function of Independence Day is finalised by the Delhi Police and the Home Department, it stated. It also said that the General Administration Department (GAD) had earlier referred the matter to the CMO seeking the convenience of the chief minister for the function. However, the Chief Minister's office (CMO) returned the file, saying he "is in judicial custody" and, therefore, it was not possible to seek his convenience. AAP, which earlier vociferously demanded flag hoisting by Atishi, accepted the LG's decision and also took a dig at him. "We welcome the decision to have Delhi's Home Minister, Kailash Gahlot, hoist the national flag on August 15. "This move honours the principle of democracy by choosing an elected representative over an appointed one, reinforcing the importance of the people's mandate in our governance," said the party. Earlier, AAP leader and minister Saurabh Bharadwaj trained his guns at the LG without naming him, saying he should contest the elections in Delhi or Gujarat to have a chance of hoisting the tricolour. Former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also alleged "petty politics" over the issue and assailed the LG. "I read in the papers that when a conman Sukesh writes a letter, the Tihar administration duly submits it to the LG office. The LG too promptly takes action on it. But, when the Delhi chief minister writes a letter, the LG asks Tihar officials not to send it to him," said Kejriwal's former deputy. Any minister of the elected government only should hoist the national flag at the state Independence Day function, Sisodia said and added he did not see any difficulty in it. The Delhi BJP supported LG's decision to nominate Gahlot for flag hoisting. "We have been constantly saying that as CM Arvind Kejriwal is in jail, he is not authorised to decide as to who will hoist the national flag in his absence," said Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva. Since the Delhi chief minister is in jail and not authorised to take a decision then obviously the Lt Governor has the authority to decide and he has "rightfully" nominated one of the senior-most ministers of the government to hoist the national flag, Sachdeva said. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2024 on July 23. The Narendra Modi government has reiterated that the budget is aimed towards achieving Viksit Bharat by 20247. The same sentiment has been echoed by the World Hindu Economic Forum (WHEF). The WHEF said that its focus areas - Viksit Bharat, Industry 4.0, Technologies and Regional Economic Expansion - got adequate attention in the Union Budget 2024-25 The Union Budget 2024-25 has listed nine priorities for generating opportunities for all. "The vision of the World Hindu Economic Forum aligns seamlessly with the Government's priorities as outlined in the Budget. Our mission to 'Make Society Prosperous' reflects in our commitment to productivity and resilience in agriculture, employment and skilling, inclusive human resource development, and social justice. Moreover, our focus on innovation, research, and next-generation reforms positions WHEF at the forefront of economic empowerment and societal advancement," said Swami Vigyananand, Founder of WHEF. To push the agenda of Vikshit Bharat, the Forum is set to host the Conference and Expo (WHEF 2024) in Mumbai from December 13th to 15th, 2024. Under the theme "Think in Future, for the Future and Viksit Bharat" the forum aims to cultivate forward-thinking and sustainable economic strategies. The WHEF also hailed the abolition of the angel tax that would give new momentum to startups in India, dominated by young and innovative entrepreneurs in the country. Indore: After nearly a decade of 'serious' legal battle, the Madhya Pradesh High Courts Indore Bench has delivered a decisive verdict on a pressing agricultural issue: Is garlic a vegetable or a spice? The case sees the humble garlic bulb at the center of a heated debate where the court ruled in favor of classifying garlic as a vegetable. Although, this decision upholds a previous 2017 ruling that had reclassified garlic, citing its perishable nature as a key factor in the judgment. How Did Garlic Become A Burning Issue? The controversy had begun in 2015 when a farmers' organization successfully lobbied the Madhya Pradesh Mandi Board to classify garlic as a vegetable. However, the Agriculture Department swiftly countered the decision, reclassifying garlic as a spice under the Agricultural Produce Market Committee Act of 1972. This back-and-forth ignited a legal battle that eventually culminated in the recent High Court ruling. Why Is Garlic's Identity Important? Farmers and traders have been closely following the case as it has significant implications for garlic's marketability and the regulations surrounding its sale. The ruling is expected to lift restrictions that previously limited where garlic could be sold, offering new opportunities for both producers and sellers. This change is anticipated to affect thousands of commission agents across Madhya Pradesh, who had been caught in the crossfire of the prolonged legal dispute. Court Upholds Garlics Vegetable Status The High Courts latest decision reinforces its 2017 stance, where it classified garlic as a vegetable due to its tendency to spoil quickly. The division bench, comprising Justices S.A. Dharmadhikari and D. Venkataraman, noted that this classification would allow garlic to be sold in both vegetable and spice markets, thus benefiting farmers and traders by expanding their sales options. A Protracted Legal Struggle The case first reached the Indore Bench in 2016 when the Potato-Onion-Garlic Commission Agents Association challenged an earlier decision by the principal secretary. A 2017 ruling initially sided with the association, but subsequent legal challenges kept the case in limbo for several more years. In a notable development, a review petition filed in July 2017 led to garlic being temporarily reclassified as a spice. However, the decision was met with resistance, particularly from traders who argued that the ruling would unfairly benefit commission agents rather than the farmers themselves. Final Resolution and Regulatory Changes The courts final decision in July 2024 not only reinstated garlics status as a vegetable but also authorized the Mandi Boards Managing Director to make necessary adjustments to market regulations. This move is seen as a step towards ensuring that market rules align with the interests of both farmers and traders, ultimately aiming to secure better prices for agricultural produce. Conclusion: Garlics Dual Market Presence The court concluded that garlic could be sold in both vegetable and spice markets, offering flexibility and potentially higher earnings for those involved in its production and sale. With this verdict, garlics identity crisis appears to have been resolved, allowing it to take its place in the markets of Madhya Pradesh with dual recognition as both a vegetable and a spice. Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered a CBI investigation into the sexual assault and murder of a woman post-graduate trainee (PGT) doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, on August 9. The Court has asked the Kolkata Police to hand over all documents to the CBI immediately. A protesting doctor reacted to the news, "We are very happy and relieved that the case has been transferred to CBI. The accused will be arrested soon now..." Earlier today, doctors and medical students held a protest at AIIMS Delhi on Tuesday after the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) called for a nationwide shutdown of OPD services from Tuesday in solidarity against the sexual assault and murder of a woman doctor. Earlier, The Calcutta High Court asked the former principal of RG Kar Medical College Sandip Ghosh to submit a leave application. This comes after Ghosh's appointment as principal of Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata immediately after his resignation from RG Kar College triggered protests. Sandip Ghosh resigned from the position of principal at RG Kar Medical College on Monday alleging that he was being defamed on social media platforms following the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the hospital premises. The Chief Justice division bench of the Calcutta HC was considering several PILs in the matter on Tuesday. During the hearing, the Chief Justice questioned the appointment of the former principal."How can the principal - who resigned by taking moral responsibility, be appointed as the principal of another government college? The court has asked him to submit a leave application by 3 pm today or the court will pass an order for him to leave the position," the court observed. A post-graduate trainee doctor was found dead inside the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9. An investigation has established rape and murder. Reportedly, the body of the deceased bore scratch marks, indicating that there was some struggle at the time of the incident. The family has reportedly alleged that the victim was raped and murdered. Meanwhile, Union Health Minister JP Nadda held a meeting with a delegation of the Indian Medical Association on Tuesday. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) demanded an impartial and thorough investigation of the case and punishment of the culprits from the West Bengal government. IMA had written to the health minister demanding a detailed inquiry into the conditions enabling the crime as well as the steps to improve the safety of doctors especially women in the workplace. A special PMLA court in Gujarats Ahmedabad filed criminal charges against Saket Gokhale, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP and national spokesperson, under the anti-money laundering law, reported PTI. The money laundering case against Gokhale originates from a Gujarat Police FIR related to the alleged misuse of funds he collected through crowdfunding. In a social media post on X Enforcement Directorate (ED) said, The Honble Principal District and Sessions Judge, Ahmedabad (Rural) and Designated Special Court (PMLA), Ahmedabad, today i.e. 13.08.2024 framed the Criminal Charges against Saket Gokhale, M.P., Rajya Sabha and National Spokespersons of All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) under the provisions of PMLA, 2002 in Prosecution Complaint filed by ED. Charges against him for Scheduled offence in Police case had also been framed. The special court further dismissed Gokhales plea under that sought to halt proceedings under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) of 2002 until the court rules on the scheduled offense case against him ED said. Money Laundering Case Against Gokhale In December 2022, Saket Gokhale was arrested by the state police in Delhi for allegedly misusing funds raised through crowdfunding. ED said, "The crowdfunded amount was utilised by him for his personal expenses such as intraday trading in shares, payment of his credit card dues, shopping through online apps such as Paytm, Swiggy, Zomato, crypto currency trading and other miscellaneous (transactions). Gokhale has denied any wrongdoing with the funds. Despite these allegations, a special court granted Gokhale regular bail in May of the previous year in connection with the money laundering case involving alleged irregularities. Defamation Case In July, the Delhi High Court ordered Saket Gokhale to pay Rs 50 lakhs in damages to Lakshmi Puri, wife of Union Minister Hardeep Puri, following a defamation case. The suit was filed by Lakshmi Puri over damaging statements made by Gokhale on social media. The 78th Independence Day of India is being celebrated, and the country is filled with pride and happiness. Celebrated on August 15th, this unique day is a great chance to show your patriotism to loved ones, family, and friends by wishing them and show their love for your country. Here are some sincere thoughts, wishes, and motivational quotations for Independence Day 2024 that you may use to commemorate this momentous day. Heartfelt Wishes for Independence Day 2024 Happy Independence Day 2024! Let us cherish and protect this invaluable gift of freedom. This Independence Day, lets commit to a brighter future for our country. In honor of the tricolor, and the spirit of freedom, lets uplift our loved ones and bring pride to our nation. Happy Independence Day 2024! Our nation is uniquely vibrant, adorned with the colors of red, green, and saffron. Wishing you a colorful Independence Day! May the spirit of freedom never fade and may the tricolor always fly high. Happy Independence Day 2024 greetings! Hail Mother India, let the tricolor wave in every heart. Warm Independence Day wishes to you! Celebrate our countrys freedom with pride and pay homage to the tricolor. Heartfelt Independence Day greetings! Like the tricolor soaring in the wind, may our dreams reach new heights. Happy Independence Day! Lets fulfill the dream of One India, Great India. Independence Day wishes to you! Celebrate the pride of our nation with the tricolor. Wishing you a wonderful 15th August! Patriotic Messages for Independence Day 2024 "Better than the entire world is our Hindustan" - Cherish this sentiment on Independence Day! Let us bow in respect to those who have earned this honor. Their sacrifice serves our nation. With the tricolor in my heart, dedicated to the nation, I salute the heroes who gave their lives for our freedom. Our identity as Indians defines us, irrespective of what the world may say. The country where the Ganges flows and gold grows in the soil is truly my homeland. Weve navigated through storms to safeguard this nation. Let us ensure its safety for future generations. Reflect on the valor of past heroes, reignite the flames of their sacrifice. Ask not what the country has given you, but what you have contributed to it. Love for our country connects us, fosters friendships, and guides us on the path of virtue. Weve paid for our freedom with sacrifices; now its our duty to protect it. Inspirational Quotes for Independence Day 2024 "Freedom is my birthright; I will have it or die for it." - Mahatma Gandhi "The true joy of life comes from living for a cause greater than oneself." - Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel "Freedom is never given; it is always taken." - Subhas Chandra Bose "If blood is the price of freedom, then we will pay it." - Bhagat Singh "A countrys strength lies in the unity of its people." - Indira Gandhi "Freedom is my birthright, and I will have it." - Lokmanya Tilak "As long as you have a dream, you are free." - A.P.J. Abdul Kalam "We must create a nation where even the poor feel it is their own." - Jawaharlal Nehru "I want Indias soul to awaken." - Swami Vivekananda "We are united by our culture, heritage, and values." - Atal Bihari Vajpayee Motivational Messages for Modern India (Independence Day 2024) Digital India, Skill India, Make in India - Lets build a new India together. Clean India, Healthy India - Make this pledge on Independence Day. Save the Girl Child, Educate the Girl Child - Equal opportunities lead to a prosperous India. One India, Great India - Unity in diversity is our strength. Green Energy, Clean Energy - Protecting the environment will build a new India. Innovate for India, Innovate from India - Youth power will shape our future. Fit India, Hit India - Healthy citizens contribute to a strong nation. Vocal for Local - Steps towards a self-reliant India. Togetherness, Development, Trust - Mantra for inclusive growth. Digital Literacy, Economic Prosperity - Technology is transforming India. Personal Messages and Wishes May this festival of freedom bring joy and prosperity to your life. Happy Independence Day! On this Independence Day, I wish you a bright and promising future. Jai Hind! Your dedication to the country is admirable. Warm Independence Day wishes to you and your family. Your patriotism and hard work are taking our nation to new heights. Independence Day greetings! Under the tricolors shade, on this festival of freedom, my best wishes to you and your loved ones. Inspired by your courage and love for the country, I too pledge to serve the nation. Happy Independence Day! On this sacred occasion, lets commit to building a better India. Your hard work and dedication are advancing our nation. Independence Day wishes! Your contribution to upholding the honor of the tricolor is invaluable. 15th August greetings to you! At this golden moment of freedom, I wish you a bright future. Jai Hind, Jai Bharat! With these 50 diverse messages, wishes, and quotes, you can celebrate Independence Day with your loved ones. Remember, freedom is not just a word; its a responsibility. Lets work together to build a stronger and better India. On Independence Day 2024, lets honor the sacrifices of our freedom fighters and strive to fulfill their vision for India. Our diversity is our strength, and our unity is the key to success. Lets all work towards making India a global leader. Jai Hind! Jai Bharat! Kerala Lottery Results Tuesday 13-08-2024: The Kerala Lottery Department, on behalf of the Keralan government, announces the "STHREE SAKTHI SS-428" Lucky Draw Result today, August 13, 2024. The draw is held at Gorky Bhavan near Bakery Junction in Thiruvananthapuram. The Kerala Lottery Result 2024 for "STHREE SAKTHI SS-428" features 12 series, with changes in series possible each week. A total of 108 lakh tickets are available for purchase weekly. The ticket prices may vary. Check the Sthree Sakthi SS-428 results right here to see if youre the first-place winner of 75 Lakhs. Kerala Lottery Result 13-08-2024 Aug: FULL LIST OF WINNING NUMBERS FOR STHREE SAKTHI SS-428 Draw LUCKY TICKET NUMBER FOR 1ST PRIZE OF RS 75 LAKHS IS: SW 853246 LUCKY TICKET NUMBER FOR 2ND PRIZE OF RS 10 LAKHS IS: SS 307555 LUCKY TICKET NUMBERS FOR 3RD PRIZE OF RS 5,000 ARE: 0592 0665 0951 0960 2831 3050 3352 3471 3951 5310 5409 5420 6006 7023 7059 8492 8693 9580 LUCKY TICKET NUMBERS FOR CONSOLATION PRIZE OF RS 8,000 ARE: SN 853246 SO 853246 SP 853246 SR 853246 SS 853246 ST 853246 SU 853246 SV 853246 SX 853246 SY 853246 SZ 853246 (For The Tickets Ending with The Following Numbers below) LUCKY TICKET NUMBERS FOR 4TH PRIZE OF RS 2,000 ARE: 2172 3656 4226 4910 5391 7055 7915 8155 8936 9765 LUCKY TICKET NUMBERS FOR 5TH PRIZE OF RS 1,000 ARE: 6850 0974 8075 3559 5586 1622 7641 2318 0002 3041 5902 2720 4123 3451 6515 3406 0753 LUCKY TICKET NUMBERS FOR 6TH PRIZE OF RS 500 ARE: 0469 0567 0663 1830 2032 2082 2110 2126 2216 2305 2314 2451 2947 3341 3476 3531 3588 3659 3995 4750 4773 5013 5051 5259 5443 5621 5656 6022 6100 6368 6435 6497 6742 6829 7167 7179 7346 7587 7681 8030 8098 8195 8325 8600 8829 8997 9067 9186 9218 9338 9549 9882 LUCKY TICKET NUMBERS FOR 7TH PRIZE OF RS 200 ARE: 0227 0246 0336 0878 1345 1403 1565 1802 1897 2027 2241 2564 3068 3081 3185 3565 3736 3862 4154 4284 4383 4496 4958 5150 5184 5954 6098 6686 6955 7410 7650 7723 7803 7903 8170 8299 8403 8609 9235 9303 9477 9519 9640 9905 9950 LUCKY TICKET NUMBERS FOR 8TH PRIZE OF RS 100 ARE: 1393 0655 6845 4889 9496 9499 6838 9514 9110 9409 0364 9436 1711 0630 7711 8848 7119 9754 8360 8597 5539 0512 1289 8183 4667 5070 2115 9847 9107 2445 9619 6488 2465 9591 4578 0942 6607 2392 3323 7656 3070 3425 8070 1566 6961 4897 1189 9621 9027 1261 8786 7353 5763 3625 2150 8196 7730 3729 9412 0558 7770 8296 0375 2959 8372 9855 9933 4463 6481 2196 3608 0079 8451 6084 1820 4658 4402 4209 4867 8373 2698 4175 5485 2796 6061 8102 8924 9907 (NOTE: Lottery can be addictive and should be played responsibly. The data provided on this page is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as advice or encouragement. Zee News does not promote lottery in anyway.) Kolkata Doctor Rape Murder Case: The Calcutta high court on Tuesday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the horrific rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital must be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Following several Public Interest Litigations filed at the Chief Justice division bench of the Calcutta High Court concerning the rape-murder incident at Kolkata Hospital, the court has raised questions regarding the appointment of the principal post-resignation. The Chief Justice said on Tuesday that it is questionable for a principal, who resigned taking moral responsibility, to be appointed as the principal of another government college. The court has directed him to submit a leave application by 3 pm today, or it will issue an order for his removal from the position. The court also noted that while he may hold an administrative post, he ought to have been the first one interrogated. The court further inquired of the state counsel as to why there seems to be a protective stance towards him. It has been ordered to record his statement and allow him to disclose all that he knows. Indian doctors have called for a nationwide shutdown of outpatient departments (OPD) in hospitals, staging protests on Tuesday, August 13th, following the tragic rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata. The victims body was discovered by police in a seminar hall at R.G. Kar Medical College on Friday, August 9th, after she was assaulted and murdered the previous night, according to local reports. The deceased was a student in the Department of Medicine at R.G. Kar Medical College. After completing her duty on Thursday, she went out for dinner with friends and was not heard from afterward. Her semi-nude body was found in a seminar hall on the fourth floor of the college. The victim's mobile phone and laptop were recovered from the scene. The postmortem report revealed injuries to her mouth, eyes, private parts, as well as bruises on her lips, neck, abdomen, and other parts of her body. Protests Across India Doctors across several states, including West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh, participated in the protests, demanding justice for the victim and improved safety measures in hospitals. In Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, junior doctors at King George's Medical University (KGMU) began a strike at around 9 a.m. on Tuesday, causing significant difficulties for patients. The doctors halted work in OPDs and did not attend to patients admitted to the wards. In response, the KGMU administration immediately assigned senior doctors to cover the duties. Doctors at Nair Hospital in Mumbai also initiated a protest, shouting slogans such as "No safety, no duty" and "Fulfill our demands." In Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) announced their intention to go on strike, ensuring that only emergency services would be available. In Kolkata, doctors at a hospital in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar joined the protests, with a large number of doctors participating in the demonstration. Members of the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) made it clear that such atrocities would no longer be tolerated and vowed to continue their strike until their demands were met. They announced that all services except emergency ones would remain suspended. Demands and Government Response The protesting doctors are demanding the arrest of those responsible for the rape and murder of the female trainee doctor. They are also calling for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the case to ensure a thorough and unbiased investigation. Demonstrators were seen marching, chanting slogans, and holding sit-in protests outside university hospitals. West Bengal State Minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Monday, August 12th, that the principal of R.G. Kar Medical College had resigned in light of the incident. She set a deadline of Sunday, August 18th, for the police to arrest the suspect, promising to hand over the case to the CBI if the suspect was not apprehended by then. Impact on Healthcare Services While emergency services continued to operate, the protests significantly impacted outpatient traffic in several hospitals. Hundreds of doctors in cities like New Delhi, Patna, and Lucknow participated in rallies, expressing their outrage and frustration. The ongoing strike and suspension of services have caused considerable difficulties for patients, with many being unable to access routine medical care. The nationwide protests by doctors highlight the urgent need for improved safety measures in hospitals and the demand for justice in the wake of the horrific crime. The medical communitys unified stand against such violence underscores the importance of creating a safe and secure environment for healthcare professionals across the country. Hours after resigning as the principal of the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata on Monday, Sandip Ghosh was appointed as the principal of the National Medical College & Hospital (NMCH) by a notification from the West Bengal Health Department. Ghosh tendered his resignation on Monday morning, citing "moral responsibility," three days following the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital, which sparked widespread protests across the state. The recent appointment has surprised many, as Ghosh had announced earlier that day his resignation not only as the principal of R.G. Kar MCH but also from the state medical services. He said that his resignation was in response to the wishes of the medical students, junior doctors at R.G. Kar, and the general public, following the rape and murder of a second-year postgraduate student at the college the previous week. Health Department sources indicated that while Ghosh's resignation as principal of R.G. Kar was accepted, his resignation from state medical services was not. Consequently, he has been appointed as the principal of NMCH with immediate effect. Ajay Ray, the former principal of NMCH, has been reassigned as an officer on special duty (OSD) in the state Health Department. Surhrita Pal, the current OSD in the Health Department, has been appointed as the new principal of R.G. Kar MCH. Upon announcing his resignation, Ghosh expressed that he and his family had faced several adverse comments in recent days, leading to his decision to step down. Additionally, Ghosh alleged that he was the target of a 'political conspiracy' orchestrated by a rival group. He affirmed, "I have never engaged in any political games." The postgraduate trainee from the chest department of RG Kar Medical College & Hospital was discovered deceased with multiple injuries on Friday morning, shortly after attending a seminar hall in the facility. A doctor at SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, Odisha, has been arrested for allegedly raping two women patients, police reported on Tuesday. The incident reportedly occurred on Sunday when the women visited the hospitals cardiology department for an echocardiogram test. Cuttack DCP Prakash R informed PTI that the resident doctor was taken into custody following complaints from the two victims, who accused him of rape. After the brutal rape and murder of a 31-year old Kolkata doctor jolted the country, in another shocking incident two patients have reportedly been sexually assaulted by a doctor within the Cardiology department at the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Odishas Cuttack district. A formal complaint has been lodged with the Mangalabag police station, Odisha TV reported. The situation intensified when the doctor, accused of the crime, was reportedly assaulted by the victims' family members and later admitted to the hospital's Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Authorities have launched an investigation, as the incident has sparked widespread anger among both the medical community and the local populace. Dhaka: Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, chief advisor of the interim government of Bangladesh, visited the historic Dhakeshwari Temple in Dhaka on Tuesday, where he assured the minorities in Bangladesh of their safety and security in the country. ". We are all one people with one right. Do not make any distinctions among us. Please, assist us. Exercise patience, and later judge -- what we were able to do and not. If we fail, then criticise us," Prof Yunus was quoted as saying by Bangladesh newspaper Daily Star. "In our democratic aspirations, we should not be seen as Muslims, Hindus, or Buddhists, but as human beings. Our rights should be ensured. The root of all problems lies in the decay of institutional arrangements. That is why, such issues arise. institutional arrangements need to be fixed," he added. According to the Daily Star, Yunus met with representatives of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad and Mahanagar Sarbajanin Puja Committee, as well as officials from the temple management board. Prof Yunus was accompanied by Law Adviser Asif Nazrul and Religious Affairs Adviser AFM Khalid Hossain. The Dhaka Tribune reported that Yunus also urged the Hindu community people to consider themselves children of the soil."You simply say that you are human, a citizen of Bangladesh, and this is your constitutional right that must be ensured. Just demand this, nothing more," Prof Yunus was quoted as saying. Following Yunus' visit, a significant meeting was held between representatives of the Muslim community and the Hindu minority at the temple. This gathering served as a platform for open dialogue, where both communities discussed various issues and worked towards strengthening communal harmony. Participants of the meeting expressed their mutual understanding and emphasized the importance of unity in fostering a peaceful society. Further, they assured each other that the minority Hindu community was not in danger and that any attempts to harass or attack them would be met with legal repercussions. Many of the Hindu community members in the temple spoke with ANI, and one of the members said, "There would be no caste difference between Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Christians. We are one people, one life. We all have come together in one Bangladesh. We will live together." Following this, a priest named Romen Mandal from the temple highlighted the riots and violence against Hindus and stated. "You know, we are minorities. We don't understand why this is happening to us. Everyone says that they are with us. But to date, no one has ever thought about crime." Prof Muhammad Yunus's outreach could be seen as an effort to calm frayed nerves in the minority community. Recently, several Hindu groups protested the violence against their community. Protests were reported from Bangladesh and cities like Toronto and London. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued rain warnings for several states this week, including Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Odisha, and more. These alerts range from yellow to orange, indicating varying levels of expected rainfall and weather conditions. Orange Alert In Kerala In Kerala, an orange alert has been issued for multiple districts, including Ernakulam, Thrissur, and Idukki, which is expected to last until Thursday. The IMD has also forecast isolated heavy rainfall, accompanied by thunderstorms and strong winds of up to 40 kmph, particularly in the districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, and Pathanamthitta. Yellow Alert In Delhi For the next two days, Delhi is under a yellow alert as the IMD predicts light to moderate rainfall across the national capital until Thursday. On Tuesday, Delhi experienced intermittent showers, with the maximum temperature recorded at 33.6 degrees Celsius, slightly below the normal. The Safdarjung observatory, a key weather station in the city, noted 20.2 mm of rainfall by Tuesday morning. Orange Alert In Kerala In Kerala, an orange alert has been issued for multiple districts, including Ernakulam, Thrissur, and Idukki, which is expected to last until Thursday. The IMD has also forecast isolated heavy rainfall, accompanied by thunderstorms and strong winds of up to 40 kmph, particularly in the districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, and Pathanamthitta. Severe Weather In Rajasthan Parts of Rajasthan, especially Jaipur, have been heavily impacted by extreme rainfall on Monday and Tuesday, leading to significant waterlogging and traffic disruptions. Local weather agencies predict that intermittent rains will persist in the region over the next two to three days. Rain Forecast in Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh has experienced heavy rainfall and thunderstorms over the weekend, with the water level in the Markhanda river reaching dangerous heights. The IMD has forecast additional rainfall in several districts, including Chamba, Kangra, Mandi, Solan, Sirmaur, Shimla, Una, Bilaspur, and Hamirpur, over the next five days. A yellow alert has been issued by the weather center in Shimla. Additional Rainfall Warnings The IMD's recent press release highlights the likelihood of widespread light to moderate rainfall with isolated heavy rainfall across Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, and East Uttar Pradesh between August 10th and 16th. Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan, Muzaffarabad, and West Uttar Pradesh are also expected to experience similar conditions on the 10th, 11th, and 14th to 16th of August. Meanwhile, Punjab and Haryana, including Chandigarh, are on alert for rain on August 10th, 11th, and 14th. Delhi Metro services will commence at 4 am on August 15, 2024, to facilitate public attendance at the Independence Day celebrations. The early start is intended to ensure that attendees can reach the ceremony on time. On regular days, the Delhi Metro operates from 5 am to 11:30 pm, though timings may vary slightly depending on the line and station. Special Timings and Frequency The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has announced that trains will operate from terminal stations across all lines starting at 4 am. Initially, the trains will run at a frequency of 15 minutes until 6 am. After that, the regular timetable will be in effect for the remainder of the day. Travel Privileges For Invitation Card Holders To accommodate those attending the Independence Day ceremony, special travel privileges will be available. Individuals holding an official invitation card issued by the Ministry of Defence can enter and travel on the Delhi Metro by presenting a valid government-issued photo ID at the stations. This arrangement will allow exit and subsequent return journeys from three specific stations: Lal Quila, Jama Masjid, and Chandni Chowk. Special Announcements and Reimbursement Throughout the day, regular announcements will be made inside the trains to keep passengers informed about these arrangements. The Ministry of Defence will reimburse the cost of travel for those using the metro with an invitation card. At 7:30 am, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will deliver his 11th consecutive Independence Day address from the ramparts of the Red Fort. Mumbai: Ranvir Shorey's past life once again grabbed all the spotlights after his stint in Bigg Boss OTT 3. His past relationship with Bollywood's 90s actress Pooja Bhatt once again became the talk of the town. After the exit from the show, Ranvir reacted with extreme hatred when quizzed about physically abusing Pooja as was accused by the actress herself. Now in his defence, the Tiger 3 actor spoke to Siddharth Kanan who recalled that his Pooja Bhatt's brother had assaulted him and how Mahesh Bhatt painted him as an abuser and alcoholic. Before their ugly breakup Ranvir Shorey and Pooja Bhatt were good friends and dated for few years. Speaking to Siddharth Kanan, Ranvir Shorey very irritatingly said," At the time we had a conflict, I felt that the respect I had for him, he used that manipulatively. When the fight happened, he told my father, Ok, we will rest the matter here, whatever the fight happened between the kids. Next day, he proceeded to print utter lies about me, planted false stories in the media against me, painting me as an alcoholic abusive person. All lies!" Ranvir further claimed, "Her brother was the one, who assaulted me. He (Mahesh Bhatt) could have told these guys not to talk like that. In that sense I felt he was manipulative towards me. These are all 25-year-old stories, I dont want to get into them now". Pooja Bhatt had earlier alleged physical violence against him and had claimed he would beat her after getting drunk. Ranvir Shorey received a criticism and hate for his behaviour in the Bigg Boss OTT 3 house against Sana Makbul and Kritika Malik. New Delhi: After multiple allegations by actress Dalljiet Kaur on her second husband Nikhil Patel within one year of their marriage, the man finally speaks up. Dalljiet accused Nikhil of having an extramarital affair and not legalising their marriage. Now Nikhil Patel has reportedly issued a long statement in which he accused of verbal abuse by the actress and even claimed that he tried to reconcile. Nikhil claimed that he set up a work order for Dalljiet in Kenya and tried to reconcile, but the actress wasn't ready to give up her celebrity status. He even accused of verbal abuse by her and alleged that she cyberbullied his daughter. In his latest Nikhil even mentioned that they were not legally bounded, and it was the Hindu ceremony only for her parents and family as he was still legally married to his first wife. "This is something that Dalljiet is deliberately omitting in her chosen narrative; she was in no way misled about my status as a still-married man." He further claimed how his teenage daughter is mentally affected by Kaur's actions, "My teenage daughter is a young woman, and Dalljiet's actions continue to place her under immense mental, social, and psychological pressure." The statement by Nikhil further reads, "As I do take responsibility for my own actions in this scenario, it is important that Dalljiet recognise that labelling me a cheater and claiming that I had extra marital affairs is hypocritical given her level of comfort in moving to Kenya to live with me knowing full well that I was still legally married. In the past eight months since Dalljiet and Jaydon left Kenya, I have found myself subjected to intense scrutiny on social media. Dalljiet decided to withdraw Jaydon from his prestigious British international school in Nairobi after just four days of the new term. She then informed my oldest daughter through a voice note and messaged my friends, stating her intention to leave Kenya permanently and return to India. For several weeks after Dalljiet left Kenya, I continued to keep in touch with her and we communicated on a daily basis, where I was verbally abused several times on video and phone calls in the middle of the night. I truly tried my best to ask her to work on our relationship and kept matters private. I asked her to return to Kenya so we could be a family again and work through our differences". Dalljiet has now lashed out at Nikhil and called out all his false claims," Calling our wedding an event is shameful... In India, it is called marriage. I have given nothing but love to Aari and I will love her till the very end of my life. What you did with Jaydon is a story untold but not for long." Indeed, the mudslinging will only worsen the current situation between Nikhil and Dalljiet. Mumbai: Now this is quite bizarre. As Naga Chaitanya and Sobhita Dhulipala dropped their engagement pictures, they received immense criticism online and Samantha's fans lashed out at the actor for cheating the Citadel: Honey Bunny actress and moving on so fast. And now the hatred for Sobhita and Chay has gone a tad bit extra on the internet after an astrologer named Venu Swamy predicted that Sobhita and Naga Chaitanya will get separated because of another woman. The astrologer landed himself in legal trouble after he claimed that Sobhita and Naga Chaitanya's marriage wouldn't last, and they would be separated in 2027 due to another woman. The Telegu Film Association has reportedly filed an official complaint against him over his prediction and the remark that he made for Sobhita and Naga Chaitanya. In his clarification Venu Swamy dropped his video on his social media account stating that he won't make any prediction based on star's personal lives," I had vowed to never predict film stars and politicians futures, and I will stick to my word. MAA President Manchu Vishnu has spoken to me, and I assured him that I will never predict film stars future." Nagarjuna Akkineni first shared the engagement news along with pictures on his social media of his son Chay with Sobhita on August 8, 2024," We are delighted to announce the engagement of our son, Naga Chaitanya, to Sobhita Dhulipala, which took place this morning at 9:42 a.m.!! We are overjoyed to welcome her into our family. Congratulations to the happy couple! Wishing them a lifetime of love and happiness. God bless! 8.8.8 A beginning of infinite love". In his latest interview, Nagarjuna mentioned that the marriage will not happen anytime soon. Mumbai: Actor Priyanka Chopra has wrapped her shooting of his upcoming film 'The Bluff'. She treated her fans with a glimpse of the wrap up featuring her family including Nick Jonas, Malti Marie and her mother Madhu Chopra and the cast of the film. The 'Desi Girl' dropped her Wrap up album on Instagram and wrote a long note that read, "It's a picture wrap on The Bluff!!! ... and to do it with my family by my side and the incredible people that made this movie possible is such a privilege. This one truly has been a labour of love and couldn't have come together without the faith of @agbofilms and @amazonmgmstudios in our fearless leader Frankie E Flowers. "To be able to work with this remarkable crew in gorgeous @australia with a cast that's so talented was so much fun! Also I really lucked out on the locations lottery this year. NICE-GOLDCOAST-LONDON. here's to the next stop... but in the meantime.. a quick back home. As much as I loved making this movie here I'm sooooo happy to be going home," she concluded. In the pictures, Priyanka can be seen posing with the cast and crew of 'The Bluff'. One of the pictures also showcases her family posing with posing with a cap which has an image of a skull on it. Her mother, Madhu Chopra also wore it and posed for the camera. Priyanka also dropped a video where Malti can be seen massaging Nick's back. Nick also added some other snaps on his Instagram where Malti can be seen cutting his father's hair with a toy scissor. Another video features Malti where she is saying 'Oh my God' on prompt before turning away from the camera. A video also showcases Priyanka hugging the crew members of 'The Bluff' and also a picture of little Malti sleeping during a flight. Along with the post, Nick wrote, "Lately". 'The Bluff' which is directed by Frank E Flowers also features actor Karl Urban. 'The Bluff' is set in the 19th-century Caribbean and follows the story of a former female pirate, played by Priyanka, who must protect her family when the sins of her past catch up to her. Produced by Russo Brothers' banner AGBO Studios and Amazon MGM Studios, the film promises to be a thrilling adventure. Meanwhile, on the work front, Priyanka is also set to star in 'Heads of State' alongside John Cena and Idris Elba. New Delhi: Sridevi, an acclaimed actress who dominated Bollywood and delivered unforgettable performances in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada cinema, began her career at a young age. Just four years after her birth on August 13, 1963, she made her debut in Tamil cinema with 'Kandhan Karunai'. She ventured into Hindi films with 'Solva Sawan' in 1979 and quickly became a prominent figure in Bollywood. During this period, she met filmmaker Boney Kapoor, and the two married in Shirdi in 1996. Boney Kapoor was previously married to Mona Shourie and had two children, Arjun Kapoor and Anshula Kapoor. Despite being their stepmother, Sridevi treated them with equal love and care as her own daughters, Janhvi and Khushi Kapoor. In an interview with Filmfare, Boney Kapoor revealed how Sridevi maintained a close connection with all four children, frequently checking on Arjun and Anshula, he said, Her priority is our children. She constantly checks with me about Arjun and Anshula. Even after late nights, she would wake up early to ensure the girls had breakfast and would walk them to the gate as they left for school. Boney Kapoor described his wife as a devoted family person, noting her commitment extended not only to their children but also to his parents. He recalled celebrating his 50th birthday with all his children present, a testament to Sridevi's efforts to keep the family united. She always went the extra mile to keep the family together, he said. Known as the 'first female superstar' of Indian cinema, Sridevi's career spanned over five decades, making her one of the most popular and highest-paid actresses of her time with nearly 300 films to her name. Boney Kapoor was first struck by her beauty and talent in the 1970s while watching her in Tamil films. Boney said that their initial meeting on set was a dream come true for him. At the India Today Woman Summit in 2013, Boney shared that Sridevi was an introvert who initially shied away from strangers. Despite her reserved nature, the few words she spoke to him left a deep impression. As he continued to work with her, he fell deeply in love, and eventually, so did she. Despite being married to Mona at the time, Boney did not hide his feelings. He confessed his love to his ex-wife and, once their relationship was open, he and Sridevi remained inseparable, marrying in 1996. Mumbai: Gurcharan Singh aka Sodhi who has been a significant part of Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah spoke about the fight between Jennifer Mistry and Asit Modi over sexual harassment. Guru claimed that how he gave his best efforts to sort things between them. Jennifer had alleged that Asit Modi flirted with her and demanded sexual advances while she was a part of the show. In an interview with Siddharth Kanan, Guru mentioned how he met both parties and tried to solve. I will say two things about this. I met Jennifer and talked to her. I met Asit also for some things. I had tried to set up a meeting between them. It came to a point where I felt that what if I am dragged into the mud in their matter? I wanted them to sort out the matter. Jennifer Mistry had filed an FIR against Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah producer Asit Modi alleging sexual abuse which he had strongly denied. In 2023, the verdict came in favour of Jennifer where Asit Modi was asked to pay 5 lakh rupees compensation to the actress reportedly. Earlier there have been many actors who left the show over inappropriate behaviour of the producer towards them. New Delhi: Google Chrome users in India have received a high-security warning from the Cybersecurity watchdog Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (Cert-In). Amid multiple vulnerabilities discovered in Google Chrome. the government has ordered Indian users to update their browsers with the latest security update that Google rolled out earlier this month. Notably, Google Chrome users can update their browsers to version 127.0.6533.99/.100 (for Windows and Mac) and 127.0.6533.99 (for Linux) to prevent themselves from being affected by this security flaw. As per the latest security warning, Chrome users on desktops or PCs should exercise extreme caution when clicking on suspicious emails or downloading files from untrustworthy links. Recently, the cybersecurity agency also issued a warning for users using Android smartphones powered by Qualcomm and MediaTek chipsets. It noted that the impacted smartphones are operating on Android versions 12, 12L, 13, and 14. Moreover, a severe warning was also issued to Apple users who own iPhones, iPads, Macs, and more regarding multiple vulnerabilities by the cybersecurity agency. Google has confirmed that the security update has already been released to stable users on Windows and Mac, while Linux users can expect to receive the update in the coming days or weeks. New Delhi: Sector regulator TRAI on Tuesday directed telcos to disconnect all telecom resources of unregistered telemarketers found making spam calls, and to blacklist them for up to two years. Further, TRAI has asked telcos to comply immediately with its latest directive and submit regular updates on action taken in this regard on a fortnightly basis. Issuing its directive to telcos, TRAI said this "decisive action" is expected to significantly reduce spam calls and provide relief to consumers. TRAI in a release said it has issued "directives to access providers to disconnect all telecom resources of unregistered senders for making spam calls and to blacklist such senders under the Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulations, 2018" regulations. Towards this, TRAI has mandated all access service providers to stop voice promotional calls whether pre-recorded or computer generated or otherwise from all unregistered senders or telemarketers (UTMs) using bulk connections or other telecom resources. "... All promotional voice calls from the unregistered Senders/ Unregistered Telemarketer (UTMs) using Telecom Resources (SIP/ PRI/ other telecom resources) shall be stopped immediately," TRAI said. If any unregistered telemarketer or sender is found to be misusing telecom resources for making commercial voice calls in violation of the regulations resulting in consumer complaints, all its telecom resources will be disconnected by the primary telecom service provider for a period up to two years. Further, such unregistered entities will be blacklisted for a period up to two years. "...Information regarding blacklisting of the sender shall be shared by the OAP (Originating Access Provider) with all other access providers on DLT platform, within 24 hours, who will, in turn, disconnect all the telecom resources given by them to that sender within the next 24 hours," TRAI said. New telecom resources would not be allocated to them by any access provider during the period of blacklisting. "All the unregistered Senders/ Unregistered Telemarketers (UTMs) using SIP/PRI/ other telecom resources to make commercial voice calls to the citizen shall be migrated to the DLT platform within one month of the issue of this direction and submit compliance report within seven days thereafter," TRAI said. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has directed all telcos to comply with its latest directive and submit regular updates on the actions taken on the first and sixteenth of every month. The regulator has declared an all-out war against the rising menace of spam calls - last week TRAI had had warned that telcos will disconnect the telecom resources of entities that are found misusing bulk connections for making spam calls, and such entities would face blacklisting by all operators for up to two years. TRAI held a meeting with regulatory heads of all the Telecom Service Providers last Thursday. The meeting, Chaired by TRAI Chief, was attended by the Chief Regulatory Officers of Airtel, BSNL, Quadrant Televentures Limited (QTL), Reliance Jio, Tata Teleservices Limited, Vodafone Idea Limited and V-CON Mobile & Infra Private Limited. New Delhi: As India prepares to celebrate its 78th Independence Day, the spirit of patriotism and unity is felt across the nation. Brinda Dahal, who portrays Vaishnavi in Sun Neos popular show 'Chhathi Maiyya Ki Bitiya,' shares her heartfelt thoughts on the significance of this day and her own journey of embracing India as her home. Brinda, originally from Nepal, expresses a deep connection to India and its culture. She says, "Actually, I am from Nepal but by heart I am Indian. Independence means freedom, and when India got independence from the British, everyone understood the true essence of freedom and how it can transform a country. The upcoming Independence Day is the first one I will celebrate in India, and I am so excited for this celebration. My favorite patriotic movie is 'Swades'; the storyline and Shah Rukh Khans acting are fabulous. I also love the song 'Teri Mitti' from 'Kesari.' Whenever I hear this song, my eyes fill with tears. If I ever get a chance to play a patriotic character, I would love to portray Indira Gandhi." She added, "I think Indias pride is the people of the country. I am Nepali, but they accept me in my character and praise me for my skills. Now I am Indian, and I feel so proud to be an Indian. From my side, Happy Independence Day to everyone. Like our country, stay independent, believe in yourself, and always look forward. My Massis birthday comes on the 15th of August, on Independence Day. Both are precious events for me on the same day. I am so excited." Chhathi Maiyya Ki Bitiya tells the story of Vaishnavi (played by Brinda Dahal), an orphan who holds a deep reverence for Chhathi Maiyya, whom she regards as her mother. Devoleena Bhattacharjee portrays Chhathi Maiyya, the divine figure who offers protection and guidance to her devotees. The show beautifully captures the essence of devotion to Chhathi Maiyya, highlighting her role in leading her worshippers through life's challenges and celebrating the victory of good over evil. Tune in to Sun Neo to watch Chhathi Maiyya Ki Bitiya, airing every Monday to Saturday at 7 PM QUETTA: Days after the Baloch Yakhjetic Committee gave up its sit-in protest at Gwadar against alleged forced disappearances of Baloch people they continue their protest rallies across the province. On Monday, BYC organized a large public gathering in memory of the martyrs of Baloch National Gathering at Shahwani Stadium, Sariab Road, Quetta, which was attended by thousands of people. The gathering began with the Baloch National Anthem, followed by a national oath administered by BYC organizer Mahrang Baloch. BYC leaders highlighted the struggles, state repression, and successes of the Baloch National Gathering. The BYC said that this gathering in Quetta was an important milestone for the Baloch national movement and will play an important role in Baloch national unity. On the call of the Baloch Yakjetii Committee (BYC), a historic Jalsa was once again witnessed at Shahwani Stadium in Quetta.#BalochNationalGathering pic.twitter.com/fBWvHt41o7 Sayad Hasil (@Sayad_hasill) August 12, 2024 "We have been saying since the beginning that this is a people's movement, its roots are rooted in the people, its strength is the people. But the state is in denial about this, sometimes it tries to end it by force and violence and sometimes it tries to create a false narrative by calling it external funds and external proxy. But this people's movement is proving at every step that it is the movement of the Baloch people, suppressing the people's voice with violence and false narrative is a crude illusion. The conscious people of Kech have proved today that the Baloch nation cannot be suppressed by force and violence," Mahrang Baloch said in her address. Earlier on August 11, thousands of people, including women, participated in the meeting of the Baloch Yakhjeti Committee in Nushki. The participants took an oath to stand together against the oppression of the state. In the meeting, homage was paid to all the martyrs. "We have to maintain this national unity and unity in every step of our life. The biggest damage to our national strength is personal, family and Tribal fights have killed thousands of our people, thousands of our houses have been destroyed, and now it is time for us to get out of these mutual fights. These tribal fights do not happen naturally and neither do we People love to fight and die among themselves, but in the mutual problems of our house, there is the influence of outsiders, they take advantage of our small problems and differences and make us fight each other, this is the policy of the British era to make us fight each other. They can easily rule over us by dividing us and today they are doing this work comfortably we do not understand this policy, we are just killing our brothers with our own hands There is no fighting, and now is the time to end internecine wars," Mahrang Baloch said while addressing the gathering in Nushki. The rallies follow the Baloch National Gathering that was held in Gwadar on July 28. Baloch activists had alleged that the Pakistan government had not allowed them to conduct the national rally and had fired at activists leading to several deaths. After several days of sit-in protests, the BYC agreed to leave Gwadar but said they would conduct rallies across the province to make their point heard. A murder case has been filed against Bangladesh's ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and six others in connection with the death of a grocery store owner during violent clashes last month, media reports said on Tuesday. This is the first case filed against Hasina, 76, who resigned and fled to India last week following widespread protests against her government's controversial quota system. According to the Dhaka Tribune, the case was filed by the well-wishers of Abu Sayed, the grocery store owner who died in police firing during a rally in support of the quota movement on July 19 in Mohammadpur. The other accused include Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, and former Police Inspector General Chaudhary Abdullah Al Mamun. Several high-ranking police officers and government officials have also been named in the case. The violence that erupted across Bangladesh after Hasina's government fell on August 5 has claimed over 230 lives, taking the total death toll in the quota protests since mid-July to 560. An interim government has been formed in Bangladesh, with 84-year-old Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus as its chief advisor. Yunus announced his 16-member advisory council last week. Seven political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), met Yunus separately on Monday and said the interim government could take necessary time to create a conducive environment for free and fair elections, the Daily Star reported. BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said, "We have given this interim government the necessary time to create a conducive environment for elections." Alamgir added that they did not discuss elections and did not mention any specific timeframe for holding the next polls. He said the BNP is fully supporting all activities of the interim government. Sources said the party requested Yunus to withdraw all cases filed against its leaders, including party chief Khaleda Zia and acting chairman Tarique Rahman. Hasina's ouster led to the release of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, 79, who was sentenced to 17 years in prison in 2018 for corruption. The United States has dismissed claims of its involvement in the political turmoil in Bangladesh, including the protests that resulted in numerous fatalities. Denying all reports and speculations, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre stated in a press briefing on Monday, "We have had no involvement whatsoever. Any reports or rumors suggesting that the United States government was involved in these events are simply false. That is not the case." Jean Pierre further added that the future of Bangladesh's government should be decided by its citizens. "The decision lies with the Bangladeshi people. We hold the view that the Bangladeshi people should decide the future of their government. That is our stance. Any allegations to the contrary are, as I have stated, simply not true," she remarked. Addressing the demonstrations outside the White House concerning recent attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, the Press Secretary affirmed that the US will keep a close watch on the developments. "We will definitely continue to monitor the situation closely. Beyond that, I have no further comments at this time," Jean Pierre mentioned. She also noted the President's consistent approach to human rights issues, saying, "The President has consistently voiced his stance on human rights issues, both publicly and in private, and he will persist in doing so. However, at this moment, there are no specific engagements to report." Bangladesh is currently navigating a volatile political climate, with the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on August 5 following escalating protests. The demonstrations, initially spearheaded by students opposing a government job quota system, grew into broader anti-government unrest. Last Friday, a significant crowd gathered outside the White House in Washington to protest the purported violence against minority Hindus and others in Bangladesh since the former Prime Minister's departure. A senior adviser to Bangladesh's interim government stated on Monday that the prolonged stay of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in India will not adversely affect the bilateral relations, and Dhaka will persistently strive to maintain amicable relations with New Delhi. Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain expressed these views in response to inquiries about the potential impact on bilateral ties if Hasina's stay in India were to extend, as reported by the news agency PTI. Addressing the hypothetical nature of the question, Hossain said, "If someone resides in a country, why should that affect the relations with that country? There's no basis for that," as quoted by PTI, underscoring the significance of bilateral relations. Following extensive protests against her administration over a disputed job quota system, Hasina, 76, resigned and sought refuge in India the previous week. Hossain commented that bilateral relations hinge on mutual interests and that friendship. "Friendship does not exist if the interest is hurt, he added. He added that both nations, Bangladesh and India, have their respective interests which they intend to pursue. According to Hossain, the bilateral relationship "is not influenced by the presence of any single individual within a nation," while "India has its interests, and Bangladesh has its interests." Hossain reiterated they will "always try to maintain good relations" with India. Previously, he updated diplomats in Dhaka, including the Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma, about the current situation in Bangladesh and requested their support. Hossain assured the diplomats, "We are confident that all our friends and partners in the international community will continue to support the interim government and our people as we navigate towards a new future for Bangladesh." As a seasoned diplomat and ex-foreign secretary, Hossain reaffirmed Bangladesh's dedication to honoring all existing agreements with other nations. He accused the former Awami League government of severe human rights violations in their attempt to quell a widespread movement, which ultimately led to their removal from power. "The undeniable strength of the populace has historically precipitated the downfall of authoritarian regimes," Hossain remarked, noting that Bangladesh had undergone a "second liberation" the previous week, sparked by a mass movement spearheaded by "our valiant students." The advisor affirmed the interim government's dedication to fulfilling the people's renewed aspirations and voiced confidence that the international community would persist in backing the interim government and the Bangladeshi populace as they strive for a fresh start. "Bangladesh stands at the threshold of a new dawn," he added. The advisor updated diplomats on the government's swift and decisive actions to reestablish law and order and return normalcy throughout the nation. Delegates from all diplomatic missions in Dhaka, including those from UN agencies, were present at the briefing and raised questions regarding security protocols, the Rohingya situation, and the prevailing conditions. "We guarantee that the well-being and protection of diplomatic and consular facilities and personnel will continue to be a top concern," Hossain assured, emphasizing the interim government's awareness of the importance of safeguarding all foreign nationals. Hossain declared the government's commitment to ensuring a seamless shift to "an inclusive and diverse electoral democracy at the earliest opportunity." At his inaugural media briefing at the foreign ministry on Sunday, when queried about the potential repatriation of Hasina, Hossain responded that such matters are under the purview of the law ministry, and his department would only react upon such a request from them. "Our strategy is to uphold amicable relations with all nations while safeguarding our sovereign interests," stated Hossain, who holds a position equivalent to that of a minister. The United States must be ready for potential 'significant' attacks on Israel, which could occur this week, White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said on Monday amid rising Middle East tensions. Following discussions between President Joe Biden and leaders from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy, the US is working to reduce regional tensions. "We share the same concerns and expectations as our Israeli counterparts regarding the possible timing of these events. It could be this week," Kirby informed reporters, as reported by The Times of Israel. "We must be prepared for what might be a significant series of attacks," he added. In response, the US has expedited the deployment of another carrier strike group, the USS Abraham Lincoln with F-35C fighters, and the guided missile submarine USS Georgia to the Middle East, joining the already stationed CSG USS Theodore Roosevelt. Kirby indicated that the call was primarily for leaders to reaffirm Israel's defense and to convey a strong message against any escalation of violence or attacks by Iran or its proxies. On Monday, a joint statement by US President Biden and the leaders of the UK, France, Germany, and Italy urged Iran to cease its ongoing threats of a military attack against Israel. According to the White House, the joint statement declared, "We called on Iran to stand down its ongoing threats of a military attack against Israel and discussed the serious consequences for regional security should such an attack occur." It also highlighted the urgent need for aid delivery and distribution. The leaders expressed unanimous support for efforts to de-escalate tensions and achieve a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza. They backed the joint initiative by President Biden, President Sisi of Egypt, and Amir Tamim of Qatar to resume talks later this week. "All parties must live up to their responsibilities. In addition, unfettered delivery and distribution of aid is needed. We expressed our support for the defence of Israel against Iranian aggression and against attacks by Iran-backed terrorist groups," it added. After the Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran last month, which resulted in promises of "punishment" from Iran, Israel is preparing for a strong retaliation. However, Israel has not denied or confirmed that it was responsible for Haniyeh's death, but it had previously threatened to execute him and other senior Hamas figures for their involvement in the terrorist attacks on October 7. Tensions in West Asia have escalated after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced on July 31 that Ismail Haniyeh had been killed in an attack in Iran's capital, Tehran. In a statement, the IRGC said that Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were killed when their house was hit in Tehran. A projectile hit a residence allocated to war veterans in Tehran at 2 am (local time) on Wednesday, according to a Press TV report. The IDF had also announced that top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr was killed in the Israeli strike in southern Lebanon on July 30, which came in retaliation to the rocket attack at Golan Heights that killed 12 children. Fuad Shukr, the "most senior Hezbollah military commander," was killed in the Israeli strike, the IDF had said in a statement. Shukr sat on the Jihad Council, Hezbollah's top military body, and was considered to be the head of its strategic division. Since the October 7 attack by Hamas, he has been managing Hezbollah's attacks against Israel, including the deadly strike in Majdal Shams over the weekend that killed 12 children, according to the military. The Pakistan Army on Monday announced that it has arrested former ISI chief Lt Gen (retd.) Faiz Hameed and initiated court martial proceedings against him in connection with a housing scheme scandal, news agency PTI reported. "Complying with the orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, a detailed court of inquiry was undertaken by Pakistan Army, to ascertain correctness of complaints in Top City Case made against Lt Gen Faiz Hameed (Retd), the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) - the media wing of the army- said in a statement. "Consequently, appropriate disciplinary action has been initiated against Lt Gen Faiz Hameed (Retd.), under provisions of the Pakistan Army Act," it said. "In addition, multiple instances of violation of the Pakistan Army Act post-retirement have also been established. The process of Field General Court Martial has been initiated and Lt Gen Faiz Hameed (Retd) has been taken into military custody," it added. Who Is Faiz Hameed? Lt Gen (retd.) Hameed was regarded as extremely influential during his tenure as the head of the spy agency from 2019 to 2021. He was appointed to this prestigious position after the then ISI chief and now Army chief, Lt Gen Asim Munir, was removed prematurely. Reports suggested that the then Prime Minister Imran Khan was dissatisfied with Munir. Subsequently, the army's decision to replace Hameed was strongly opposed by Imran Khan, marking what is believed to be the start of the deterioration of his relationship with the powerful military. Hameed, a known critic of India, was deemed very close to the then Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, who had intentions of naming him the next Army chief. He has masterminded many attacks on India during his tenure as the ISI chief, sources said. Faiz Hameed rose to fame for facilitating a truce between Sirajuddin Haqqani of the Haqqani network and the Taliban, led by Mullah Yakub. Most notably, during his time as the chief spymaster, he witnessed the Taliban's ascension in Afghanistan and the strategic withdrawal of the United States on August 15, 2021. It is widely believed that the ISI, under his leadership, supported the Taliban's advance to Kabul and their eventual seizure of power. Hameed opted for early retirement in November 2022, four months before his scheduled retirement, following the appointment of the new army chief. He was known to be close to the then Army Chief Gen Qamar Bajwa. The role of ISI chief is one of the most significant within the Pakistan Army, which has governed the country for over half of its more than 76 years of existence and has traditionally exercised significant influence over security and foreign policy matters. Why Ex-ISIS Chief Is Facing Court Martial? The Top City case garnered media attention when Moeez Ahmed Khan, owner of Top City, lodged a petition in the Supreme Court on November 8, 2023, alleging misuse of power by Hameed. In his petition, Khan detailed that on May 12, 2017, ISI officials, purportedly under Gen Hameed's orders, raided the Top City office and his residence, confiscating valuables such as gold, diamonds, and cash. He further claimed that Sardar Najaf, Hameed's brother, later approached him for a resolution. Additionally, the petition included an encounter where Gen Hameed personally met with him regarding the matter. Khan accused the ISI officials of coercing him into handing over Rs 4 crore in cash. The Supreme Court's three-judge bench, comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Qazi Faiz Isa, Justice Attar Minullah, and Justice Aminuddin, reviewed the case and referred it to the Ministry of Defence for further investigation. Subsequently, in April of the same year, the army formed a high-level inquiry committee, led by a major general, to examine the allegations. "It Ends with Us" (PG-13) At the Cinemark Grade: B We all have our guilty pleasures. A dish of decadent chocolate ice cream, with an extra scoop. Disco music on our personal playlist. Or a bodice-ripping romance novel tucked in our briefcase on a business trip. Ill admit to being in the mood for just such an unabashed Hallmark journey as I headed out to see It Ends with Us, based on the popular novel by Colleen Hoover. Part romance, part thriller, It Ends with Us is a romantic tale that religiously follows the formula, from meet cute, to hot passion, to tears and, finally, the happy ending we depend on. The story goes deeper than many such stories because of its exploration of abuse, starting in childhood and following our heroine through her life. The film is saved by a sensitive interior performance by Blake Lively. The story begins after Lilys dads death, as she moves to Boston to open a flower shop. When a handsome doctor who lives in her apartment building suggests they get together, she pauses. She clearly is hesitant about relationships, and we shall eventually learn why. Justin Baldoni drowns his portrayal of the hot doc in soap suds, but Lilys girlfriend Alyssa, played by Jenny Slate, is terrific. Everyone in crisis needs a best friend at her side. Alyssa is Jennys soulmate and conscience. The movies last act isnt as satisfying as the buildup. We didnt need a boy fight, and we did need more time for Alyssa to sort out her post-doc life plans. Still, I enjoyed It Ends with Us both because of Blake and because a good cry was welcome and therapeutic. Apparently, Im not alone: The film grossed $50 million on opening weekend, with women buying 84% of the tickets. Please, sir, may I have some more money? "Coup!" (R) At the Myrna Loy Grade: B The PBS series Upstairs Downstairs was part of a genre of class dramedies in which the maids and butlers politely pleased their masters and mistresses. But beyond the polished silverware and polite bowing lay delicious gossip. Coup! falls into the revolt-of-the-servants genre, with the added spice of political satire. Floyd, a mustachioed stranger, arrives to become a cook at an island mansion. Hes vague about where he worked before, and the master Jay is suspicious from the start. A class uprising, of sorts, begins with a request for higher wages and accelerates with demands for better lodging. The lady of the house smiles coyly at the cook, suggesting a tasty dessert may soon be served. The story is set near New York in 1918 during the Spanish Flu outbreak. The script cant resist drawing parallels to the pandemic, and poking the privileged. Coup! is a concept film, designing an allegory to hammer home a political message. The story suggests we are still a country where the wealthy enjoy different lives from the commoners. Shocking, I know. There are Marxist layers to this script, and also a thinly camouflaged critique of American elections and politics. Whats missing are authentic characters we can care about. I loved the two children who ate at the long table of their wealthy parents. They had spice and honesty, and their black nanny was delightful. But the cook never served a meal I enjoyed, and the master was a caricature of a wimpy rich man who is an easy target for his uppity servants. In the end, of course, the master will be served. For those who wish to move about a mansion, in the style of landed gentry, I would recommend seeking out Upstairs Downstairs and Downton Abbey. At night, after the lights dim, we could plot our overthrow. The Black Canyon fire northeast of Helena was listed at 270 acres Tuesday, down from Mondays estimate of 351 acres due to more accurate mapping from an infrared flight, state officials said. The fire, reported Saturday, is now 5% contained. It is believed it started due to lightning or another natural cause, the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) said. There are 236 people, 10 engines, six helicopters, seven hand crews and six pieces of heavy equipment assigned to the blaze. The estimated cost of fighting the fire as of early Tuesday is $958,500, according to www.mtfireinfo.org. Working in cooperation with landowners and Meagher County officials, fire managers have identified and prioritized critical values at risk, focusing on keeping the fire west of the Smith River and protecting private structures in the area, the DNRC said. Six helicopters dropped water to cool hot spots Monday, and slowed the fires spread primarily in the upper northeast and lower southeast corners of the blaze, where it was most active, the DNRC said. Hand crews built hand lines along the fires perimeter. Dozer operators worked on building contingency line in the northwest area of the fires perimeter toward the rock face while a skidgen focused on improving the South Access Road for contingency on the southern border of the fire, officials said. Hand crews will improve the northern contingency dozer line and the skigden will improve the south access road until they reach the Smith River. The fire is described as being about 31miles southeast of Cascade and 30 miles northwest of White Sulphur Springs, according to inciweb.wildfire.gov. Elsewhere, the Black Mountain fire northwest of Lincoln was listed in its latest update Friday as being at 182 acres and 87% contained. The fire was reported July 29. Its cause remains unknown. The estimated cost of fighting the fire is $3.5 million. A woman was charged Aug. 9 with her fourth driving under the influence charge, a felony, and made threats to officers saying she would kill them, documents state. Anne Marie George, 41, was charged in Lewis and Clark County Justice Court with felony DUI, felony threats and other improper influence in official and political matters, misdemeanor obstructing a peace officer and misdemeanor resisting arrest. On Aug. 8, an officer was dispatched to a gas station on the 2900 block of north Montana Avenue for a reported vehicle that backed up through a fenced-off construction area. Documents state an officer saw the driver's side front wheel was spinning and the engine was revving. The vehicle was sitting on top of a bush after it went through the fence. The officer saw the defendant slumped over with her foot on the gas pedal, documents state. Once the officer got her to exit the vehicle, she held onto the doorframe of the car, so the officer asked her to walk over to the officer's vehicle. She declined, documents state, so the officer tried to handcuff George, but she pulled her arms away, causing law enforcement to use force to handcuff her. Once her hand was removed from the door, she fell down and later she told law enforcement she was "loaded." It was determined by law enforcement she was too intoxicated to attempt the walk and turn or one-leg stand tests. Court documents state she provided a preliminary breathe test with the result of .294. George was transported to the hospital for medical clearance before being taken to jail. Officials were granted for a blood sample, but she had to be held down when she told officers she would bite them while making biting motions, documents state. She then said she would kill them if they did not let her go. George was not listed in the Lewis and Clark County inmate roster as of Aug. 12. Her city of residence was not immediately known. After city employees spelled salary disappointment in a 2022 review, the city is exploring an updated wage system to stay competitive. The review was ordered in 2022 after Helenas local government suffered a 9.5% vacancy rate, meaning a tenth of jobs werent being filled. That's higher than Montana's average of 7.5% and the nationwide 6.6%. Combined with a 2021 survey that showed local employees didnt see Helena providing much career growth, the reviewer recommended Helena make some changes. Jim Kerins, a managing consultant for Communications and Management Services, and Caleb Lewis, a human resources consultant also with CMS, proposed four big ideas for that change at an Aug. 7 city administrative meeting. The first is to increase the entry rate to 90% instead of the previous 80%, giving higher wages to newcomers. Another idea is to change how wage growth works by staggering salary boosts. Instead of four steps of 5% increase, it may be nine years of 2.5% increase. The staggered boosts would be accompanied by job training to help people move up the ladder faster, slowly being given more duties to market themselves with. Hopefully, Kerins said, this would incentivize people to stay for 10-12 years. A third idea is to decrease the number of pay grades from 73 to 24, bunching grades together and giving the grades a difference of 7.7% instead of 2.5%. This way, promotions have a greater financial impact. The goal is to be in this new system by fiscal year 26, or July 1, 2025. To get there, Kerins proposed updating all job descriptions and organization charts to match the changed pay systems, which would group employees together based on market value and job content. These groups and classifications should be transparent to current and prospective employees, Kerins said. While people can generally predict where theyll be in five years, having clear benchmarks or an understanding of why theyre paid a certain amount may incentivize employees to stay. Ideally, this would be available to the public, he said, but the current plan lists it as only for internal eyes, like managers. Kerins also encouraged city commissioners to advocate for yearly raises that match the cost-of-living hikes, emphasizing that being competitive means chasing a moving target. This year, the City Commission tentatively passed a 3.5% cost-of-living adjustment for city employees, with City Commissioner Emily Dean strongly pushing for a 4% rate. Dean said she'd likely return to the COLA discussion before the end of the summer when the budget is reviewed again and seek a 4% COLA. The wage changes will be voted on in a future City Commission meeting. DECATUR The drug dealer who tried to have 7 pounds of cocaine sent by Priority Express Mail to his Decatur home is now facing a prison sentence with a cap of 30 years. Coryell S. Henz, 43, took a plea deal that saw him admit to unlawful possession of the drug with intent to deliver. He is due to be sentenced in Macon County Circuit Court Oct. 3, and it will be up to Judge Jeffrey Geisler to decide how long the sentence will be. Any term imposed will have to be served at 75%. A sworn affidavit said Henz showed up on law enforcement radar in March 2022 following a joint investigation by the Decatur Police Department, the Macon County Sheriffs Office and the United States Postal Inspection Service. They were trying to trace large quantities of drugs being shipped via the mail to drug dealers, the affidavit said. During the investigation, detectives identified numerous packages which were being mailed from the San Benito, Texas area" to Henz's Decatur address, said Detective James Callaway, a city officer who signed the affidavit. Coryell Henz was identified as being a suspect. After Henz's latest mail order drug shipment was intercepted by postal inspectors in Springfield, Callaway said all but 5 ounces of the drug were removed from the package before it was re-packed with other materials to bring it back to the original weight. The resealed package was then delivered to Henz's home on March 28. Callaway said Henz retrieved it and drove to an address on North Haven Court, where he fled from officers as they tried to close in on him. Callaway said police broke off the pursuit because of heavy traffic conditions but maintained surveillance on the defendant. When Henz finally parked on East Wood Street, police were ready for him and took him into custody after a short foot chase. Henz appeared in court July 26 to enter his guilty plea. Two additional charges accusing him of controlled substance trafficking and being a felon in possession of a weapon were dismissed as part of the plea deal. The defendant remains free under the old bond system until his sentencing. Photos: Drug cartels vex Europe Europe Cocaine Europe Cocaine Europe Cocaine MONTICELLO Illinois State Police investigators said Tuesday they had arrested a Monticello Police Department officer on a charge of disseminating images of child sexual abuse. William C. Griswold, 39, was taken into custody before state police officers conducted a residential search warrant at an address in Monticello, according to a news release. The warrant was served after tips containing information about Griswold regarding child pornography were passed on from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, authorities said. He was taken to the Piatt County Jail. State police said the investigation was a collaborative effort between their agency and those of the Illinois Attorney Generals Office Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Piatt County States Attorneys Office and the Monticello Police Department. In a statement, Monticello Police Chief Rob Bross confirmed that Griswold, one of his officers, had been arrested. Once the department was advised of the investigation and arrest, Mr. Griswold was immediately placed on unpaid leave, pursuant to is bargaining agreement negotiated by the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council. Pending further investigation, other action may be taken, up to and including termination, Bross said. He said he would have no further comment and referred additional questions to state police. A check of state records shows that Griswold, who also goes by his middle name Craig Griswold, has served with the Monticello Police Department since June 2010. States are required to background check child care workers, but many are falling short States are required to background check child care workers, but many are falling short DECATUR The first day of school is a little chaotic, even with the best-laid plans, and Dena Flanigan's fourth grade classroom was still missing about half the students when the day began Monday morning, thanks to a late bus. But she had marked their seats with their names and piled their textbooks on their desks, and the ones already there were having breakfast and getting settled. When one boy she knew well arrived, Flanigan pretended she wasn't going to let him in. Oh, you are definitely in the wrong room, she said, playfully turning him around and sending him out again. He knew it was a joke and laughingly left but came right back. This year is the Last Flight of the Falcons at American Dreamer STEM Academy, as the new Dansby Magnet School building is nearing completion and plans are to begin the 2025-26 school year in the new building. Next year, the Dansby mascot will be an airplane, designed by social studies teacher David Harding, and the mascot name is the Flyers, in honor of Decatur native Ellsworth Dansby Jr., for whom the building is named. He was a pilot and the first Black master sergeant in the World War II squadron known as the Tuskegee Airmen. We did things a little different this year by letting students come in and enter the building on their own, all the way down to our kindergartners, so we can avoid the separation anxiety that may come along with the first day of school, said Principal Rida Ellis. Parents were instructed to say their goodbyes as their children got out of the car, and plenty of staff members were on hand to help carry supplies, if necessary, and to show the youngsters how to find their classrooms. American Dreamer has about 60 new families this year, Ellis said, and held a kindergarten signing on Friday and Popcorn with the Principal to help those new families meet the staff and get acclimated ahead of time. We want (the children) to gain independence from the very first day of school, she said. And plus with 400 kids, we can't accommodate 400 bonus adults. Most of the children were fine with coming in on their own and the ones who were uncertain and nervous were immediately taken under the wings of understanding staff, who escorted them to class, admired their shiny new backpacks and did their best to make them feel at home. It went really well, said Superintendent Rochelle Clark, who had a busy morning visiting South Shores School, Stephen Decatur Middle School and American Dreamer to welcome new families and students. I didn't see any real issues. We always debrief over lunch, and we'll do the same thing for evening pickups. The new cell phone policy, which is in effect as of the first day, didn't seem to be causing any issues, she said. She was watching as students entered Stephen Decatur and went through the metal detector and had their bags checked, and she reminded a few who were carrying phones that they had to put them in their lockers. One little girl said, 'I don't have a locker yet. Will they give me one?' Clark said. I told her they definitely will. No one said anything negative (about the cell phone policy). She did see one parent get a little misty-eyed dropping off a kindergartner at South Shores, but the little boy was fine; it was the parent who had trouble letting go. And, in spite of the district's constant reminders to register kids online by July 31, 12 percent of students were not registered as of the first day. That's the lowest number of unregistered students since the district began online registration, but the number is still too high, Clark said. She also encouraged parents to download the Edulog app, which helps them track their children's bus. It's especially helpful in winter, she said, so that parents can keep kids indoors to wait for the bus until it's getting close. Instructions and a link to the app are available on the district website, dps61.org. American Dreamer eighth grader Marya Bradford is looking forward to learning Spanish this year, she said, though she's a little disappointed she will be in high school at MacArthur next year and won't get to attend school in the new Dansby building. As for the new cell phone policy, she's not a fan. (Students) won't like that, she said. People want their phones. Close Joe Morton NEW YORK (AP) Fresh pencils and the perfect lunchbox, new clothes and the hottest notebooks. In the wind down of summer as we head into fall, a variety of celebrities time-tripped back to childhood, sharing favorite moments preparing for the first day of school. "I went to a military school. Oddly enough, every fall when it came up, the idea of putting on the uniform and going back to school was very exciting," recalled Joe Morton of ABC's "Scandal." Katy Mixon For Katy Mixon, who stars in ABC's "American Housewife," it was all about the duds. "Going clothes shopping. I grew up in a family of seven six girls and one boy. My mama used to always take us to go get those back-to-school clothes, and I loved it." Kelly McCreary Kelly McCreary of ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" was all about the paper products. "I still love a great new notebook. Super nerd," she said. Jason Winston George "Grey's Anatomy" cast member Jason Winston George had other favorite gear. "Lunchboxes. It was all about the new lunchboxes and the backpack. Lunchbox and backpack, that was my joint," he said. Ian Ziering Ian Ziering, who stars in Syfy's "Sharknado 5: Global Swarming," has passed down one of his parents' back-to-school traditions to his two kids. "It's taking a picture in front of the house, in front of the front door. We do it every year with my kids with a little sign: Kindergarten, first day of kindergarten, first day of first grade. It's great. I have that from my childhood and now my kids have that," he said. "It's just a great picture to look back on." Kaitlyn Dever Kaitlyn Dever, in the summer film "Detroit," said it was all about first-day fashion. "You gotta bring it first day, and my mom would always get me something so rad and so cool," she said. "I would always be coordinated with my sister, who's two years younger than me." Salma Hayek "The Hitman's Bodyguard" actor Salma Hayek's favorite back-to-school activity growing up in Mexico was wrapping her books and adorning her homemade covers. "They don't do it anymore," she said. "Finding the paper to wrap it and the decorations. Now it's all in the computer. Nobody wraps their books anymore. I remember how exciting it was, to do it all neatly. It was a lovely ritual." Samuel L. Jackson "The Hitman's Bodyguard" actor Samuel L. Jackson said he remembers hunting down the "perfect notebook that didn't fall apart after two weeks." Ryan Reynolds "The Hitman's Bodyguard" actor Ryan Reynolds had no specific back-to-school rituals growing up, but his oldest daughter is heading to preschool. "I'm sure I'm the one who needs help, not her," he said. "She'll be fine." Max Greenfield Max Greenfield, who appears in the film "The Glass Castle," said backpacks stand out for him and his daughter, one of his two kids. "She had a good backpack this year. She had a Vans backpack, which was pretty cool," he said. "This year we're growing out of the Hello Kitty backpack and now you have a Vans backpack. I think later on it's going to get terrifying when she's like, I'm wearing this to school, and you're like, no you're not." Kate Beckinsale Kate Beckinsale, who's in the new film, "The Only Living Boy in New York," loved the idea of marking time as the school years passed. "You could completely reinvent yourself every year, if you wanted to, defined by your backpack and your pencil case. I still like that, the smell of sharpening pencils and all new erasers," she said. Kiersey Clemons "The Only Living Boy in New York" actor Kiersey Clemons has three little sisters. "Taking them school shopping for the supplies and the backpacks and everything, that is my favorite thing," she smiled. "I love the fresh pencils and pens and binders. I love that. I love organization." Associated Press writers Brooke Lefferts in New York and Marcela Isaza, Lee Patrick Sullivan and Joseph Longo in Los Angeles contributed to this report. Pencils, paper, backpacks, oh my! Stars reveal their favorite back to school memories In the wind down of summer as we head into fall, a variety of celebrities time-tripped back to childhood, sharing favorite moments preparing for the first day of school. Joe Morton NEW YORK (AP) Fresh pencils and the perfect lunchbox, new clothes and the hottest notebooks. In the wind down of summer as we head into fall, a variety of celebrities time-tripped back to childhood, sharing favorite moments preparing for the first day of school. "I went to a military school. Oddly enough, every fall when it came up, the idea of putting on the uniform and going back to school was very exciting," recalled Joe Morton of ABC's "Scandal." Katy Mixon For Katy Mixon, who stars in ABC's "American Housewife," it was all about the duds. "Going clothes shopping. I grew up in a family of seven six girls and one boy. My mama used to always take us to go get those back-to-school clothes, and I loved it." Kelly McCreary Kelly McCreary of ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" was all about the paper products. "I still love a great new notebook. Super nerd," she said. Jason Winston George "Grey's Anatomy" cast member Jason Winston George had other favorite gear. "Lunchboxes. It was all about the new lunchboxes and the backpack. Lunchbox and backpack, that was my joint," he said. Ian Ziering Ian Ziering, who stars in Syfy's "Sharknado 5: Global Swarming," has passed down one of his parents' back-to-school traditions to his two kids. "It's taking a picture in front of the house, in front of the front door. We do it every year with my kids with a little sign: Kindergarten, first day of kindergarten, first day of first grade. It's great. I have that from my childhood and now my kids have that," he said. "It's just a great picture to look back on." Kaitlyn Dever Kaitlyn Dever, in the summer film "Detroit," said it was all about first-day fashion. "You gotta bring it first day, and my mom would always get me something so rad and so cool," she said. "I would always be coordinated with my sister, who's two years younger than me." Salma Hayek "The Hitman's Bodyguard" actor Salma Hayek's favorite back-to-school activity growing up in Mexico was wrapping her books and adorning her homemade covers. "They don't do it anymore," she said. "Finding the paper to wrap it and the decorations. Now it's all in the computer. Nobody wraps their books anymore. I remember how exciting it was, to do it all neatly. It was a lovely ritual." Samuel L. Jackson "The Hitman's Bodyguard" actor Samuel L. Jackson said he remembers hunting down the "perfect notebook that didn't fall apart after two weeks." Ryan Reynolds "The Hitman's Bodyguard" actor Ryan Reynolds had no specific back-to-school rituals growing up, but his oldest daughter is heading to preschool. "I'm sure I'm the one who needs help, not her," he said. "She'll be fine." Max Greenfield Max Greenfield, who appears in the film "The Glass Castle," said backpacks stand out for him and his daughter, one of his two kids. "She had a good backpack this year. She had a Vans backpack, which was pretty cool," he said. "This year we're growing out of the Hello Kitty backpack and now you have a Vans backpack. I think later on it's going to get terrifying when she's like, I'm wearing this to school, and you're like, no you're not." Kate Beckinsale Kate Beckinsale, who's in the new film, "The Only Living Boy in New York," loved the idea of marking time as the school years passed. "You could completely reinvent yourself every year, if you wanted to, defined by your backpack and your pencil case. I still like that, the smell of sharpening pencils and all new erasers," she said. Kiersey Clemons "The Only Living Boy in New York" actor Kiersey Clemons has three little sisters. "Taking them school shopping for the supplies and the backpacks and everything, that is my favorite thing," she smiled. "I love the fresh pencils and pens and binders. I love that. I love organization." Associated Press writers Brooke Lefferts in New York and Marcela Isaza, Lee Patrick Sullivan and Joseph Longo in Los Angeles contributed to this report. Cardinal Sako Urges Unity on Tenth Anniversary of ISIS Invasion Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans and President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Iraq. Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, the Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans, has issued a plea for unity among religious leaders on the tenth anniversary of the mass Christian exodus due to the advance of ISIS from Mosul and the Nineveh Plain. Cardinal Sako's appeal comes as northern Iraq continues to recover from the crisis that began in August 2014 when over 120,000 Christians were forced to flee their homes in the face of advancing ISIS forces, leaving behind centuries-old communities and religious sites that were subsequently destroyed or desecrated by ISIS. In a message published by AsiaNews, Cardinal Sako, who has been the Patriarch of Baghdad since 2013, reflected on the continuing struggles in the region, noting that despite slow progress in rebuilding efforts, only 60% of displaced Christians have been able to return to their homes. The Cardinal highlighted the broader context of ongoing violence and instability, noting the recent escalation of conflict in Gaza and the persistent war in Ukraine, which has now entered its third year. He stressed that the global community must cease supporting conflicts "by proxy" and instead focus on creating stability. Cardinal Sako emphasized that real peace requires "absolute commitment", and quoted Pope Francis's message that all those involved in warfare are ultimately the "losers." "Christian, Islamic and Jewish religious authorities must raise their voices loudly and stand together against those who call for hatred and extremism and beat the drums of war," the Cardinal stated. Cardinal Sako is also President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Iraq. The Cardinal called for a collective effort to address the underlying issues of fear and despair, advocating for a shift from conflict to dialogue, and from exclusion to respect for human rights and international law. Cardinal Sako suggested the organization of prayers "between Churches and Mosques" for the intention of peace in their regions. "I call upon our Churches in the Middle East to bear hope, as Pope Francis asked us to be 'pilgrims of hope' for the Holy Year 2025," the Cardinal concluded. In the 1920s, Morganton First National Bank was designated as the recipient of the towns one and only McClintock clock. The bank stood at the corner of West Union and South Sterling streets, and the clock set the time for Morganton and most of Burke County. Clockmaker Scott Andrews said people who lived around the area would use that clock as the standard for setting their watches and clocks at home. As technology progressed, the old clock fell to the wayside. Each of the clocks four faces display a different time, the hands stuck in moments that passed years ago. Andrews and his business partner, Eric AC Storey, want that to change. The pair, who operate Valdese Watch & Clock, have started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to replace the aged innards of the clock, looking to bring its antique charm back to downtown. Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to do it, Andrews said. That was the clock that was my first love. It made me want to be a clockmaker. Storey said hes tried several times through the years to get necessary permissions to update the clock, but he kept hitting brick walls until now. Permission granted When Storey reached out to Wells Fargo bank, the owner of the building and the clock, he got the OK to move ahead with the project. Its just a landmark Id like to see work again for the town, Storey said. I know most everybody these days, their cars got a clock theyre sitting there staring at when theyre driving theyre staring at their cellphone or something. But were going to put the clock back to where its working and all four sides has the time on it and it chimes and everything. When the clock was installed in 1923, it was a status statement. Andrews said only one bank per town would receive one of the O.B. McClintock clocks. The bronze clock, now with a green patina, had a light inside that caused the green stained glass around the clock to glow. Once popular, there are now only about 50 surviving clocks around the country, Andrews said. Through the years as the city modernized and tastes changed, so did the clock. The bronze finish was painted over at least once, and at some point the stained glass on the bottom that once spelled First National Bank was replaced, Andrews said. Someone made some repairs to the clock at one point in the 1950s. For the citys bicentennial in 1984, coins with one side showing the citys seal and another showing the clock were sold as a fundraiser to modernize some of the technology in the clock. Andrews said it appears the clock has not been updated since at least the 1990s. All of the motors have jammed, causing the clocks hands to become stuck. Andrews estimates the new parts will cost about $10,000. Labor typically would be an additional cost, but Andrews and Storey have volunteered their labor for free. The parts will be purchased from Electric Time Company, the modern equivalent of McClintock, Andrews said. 'Are you interested?' Also donating time is Amy Brooks, the owner of Paradise Stained Glass at 123 W. Union St. When Scott called me and said, Are you interested in doing this job? I said, Ninety-nine percent of the time I do not do repairs, Brooks said. Theyre not my favorite. Its one of those things that people ask about all the time, but I usually just refer them to somebody else. This would probably be one of the only cases that Im interested in doing it just because its such a piece of history. Thats exciting to me, being able to be part of this. This is such an exciting opportunity for the town to have. Andrews said the clock will retain its historic, antiqued look. He said there are no plans to remove any of the patina. At most, he said, they may use paint to touch up the clocks hands and numbers. The green of the stained glass? They obviously chose that shade of green knowing the patina was going to fall in and make it perfect, Andrews said. Andrews said hes eager for his childhood dream to become a reality. Im 59, and I am just excited like you wouldnt believe, Andrews said. Im like a child at Christmas just wanting to get this done. Tuesday, August 13 TOPS #437 (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) meets every Tuesday at 10 a.m. (weigh-in begins at 9:30 a.m.) at Lakeview Baptist Church, 2532 Lane St., Kannapolis. Visitors are welcome. If you need help and encouragement after the death of a spouse, child, family member or friend, you are invited to join us for: A GriefShare Support Group at Pitts Baptist Church, 140 Pitts School Rd., NW, Concord, weekly on Tuesdays, Aug. 6 through Oct. 29 9:30-11:30 a.m. Note: Pre-Registration is required. For more information contact Linda Bounds at 704-793-8155. Wednesday, August 14 The weekly bible study group meets at 11:30 a.m. in the Parlor at Calvary Lutheran Church 950 Bradley St., Concord, NC 28025 Food Truck Wednesday will feature a variety of food trucks from 3 to 8 p.m. at the Cabarrus Arena and Events Center on N.C. 49, Concord. Thursday, August 15 The Kannapolis Farmers Market is held from 4-7 p.m. in the Oak Avenue mall parking lot at the corner of Vance Street and Dale Earnhardt Boulevard. Vendors offer a wide variety of fresh, local produce, as well as meat, eggs, baked goods, crafts, and prepared foods. Friday, August 16 The Concord Duplicate Bridge Club hosts face-to-face games through Concord Parks and Recreation at the Hartsell Recreation Center, 60 Hartsell School Road, at noon. The cost is $5 per game. Details at www.bridgewebs.com/concord. If you dont have a partner, the website has some information on Find a Partner. Hot dogs at McGill Baptist Church, 5300 Poplar Tent Road, will be sold along with fried bologna and barbecue sandwiches and desserts from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. "Steel Magnolias" will be performed at Old Courthouse Theatre, 49 Spring St. NW, Concord at 7:30 p.m. For ticket information visit https://octconcord.com or call 704-788-2405. NC MedAssist is hosting a local mobile free pharmacy event, in partnership with Atrium Health, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at St. Josephs Catholic Church, 108 Saint Joseph St., Kannapolis. This free medicine giveaway is open to any individual or family in need of over-the-counter (OTC) medication items. Saturday, August 17 The Piedmont Farmers Market is open from 8 a.m. to noon at 518 Winecoff School Road. It features lots of local produce, meat, flowers and other products. Hot dogs at Center United Methodist Church at 1119 Union St. S., are offered on the second and fourth Saturday of each month from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dine in and takeout. Call-in orders are welcomed at 704-782-1785. "Steel Magnolias" will be performed at Old Courthouse Theatre, 49 Spring St. NW, Concord at 7:30 p.m. For ticket information visit https://octconcord.com or call 704-788-2405. Sunday, August 18 A Griefshare program will be held at Cold Springs Global Methodist starting Sunday,Aug. 18 and running for 14 weeks, It will be from 3:30 to 5 p.m. For questions, call the Church office at 704-782-1811. To register visit www.griefshare.org "Steel Magnolias" will be performed at Old Courthouse Theatre, 49 Spring St. NW, Concord at 2:30 p.m. For ticket information visit https://octconcord.com or call 704-788-2405. Monday, August 19 The Concord Duplicate Bridge Club hosts face-to-face games through Concord Parks and Recreation at the Hartsell Recreation Center, 60 Hartsell School Road, at noon. The cost is $5 per game. Details at www.bridgewebs.com/concord. If you dont have a partner, the website has some information on Find a Partner. Tuesday, August 20 TOPS #437 (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) meets every Tuesday at 10 a.m. (weigh-in begins at 9:30 a.m.) at Lakeview Baptist Church, 2532 Lane St., Kannapolis. Visitors are welcome. If you need help and encouragement after the death of a spouse, child, family member or friend, you are invited to join us for: A GriefShare Support Group at Pitts Baptist Church, 140 Pitts School Rd., NW, Concord, weekly on Tuesdays, through Oct. 29 9:30-11:30 a.m. Note: Pre-Registration is required. For more information contact Linda Bounds at 704-793-8155. Wednesday, August 21 The Cabarrus Senior Center Photo Club is alive and clicking away. If you like taking photos, come join the members on the first and third Wednesdays of the month from 1:30-3 p.m. at the Cabarrus Senior Center, 331 Corban Ave. SE, Concord, and share your photographic creativity. Whether you are a seasoned photographer or strictly amateur, all are welcome. The weekly bible study group meets at 11:30 a.m. in the Parlor at Calvary Lutheran Church 950 Bradley St., Concord, NC 28025 Food Truck Wednesday will feature a variety of food trucks from 3 to 8 p.m. at the Cabarrus Arena and Events Center on N.C. 49, Concord. Thursday, August 22 The Kannapolis Farmers Market is held from 4-7 p.m. in the Oak Avenue mall parking lot at the corner of Vance Street and Dale Earnhardt Boulevard. Vendors offer a wide variety of fresh, local produce, as well as meat, eggs, baked goods, crafts, and prepared foods. Friday, August 23 The Concord Duplicate Bridge Club hosts face-to-face games through Concord Parks and Recreation at the Hartsell Recreation Center, 60 Hartsell School Road, at noon. The cost is $5 per game. Details at www.bridgewebs.com/concord. If you dont have a partner, the website has some information on Find a Partner. Hot dogs at McGill Baptist Church, 5300 Poplar Tent Road, will be sold along with fried bologna and barbecue sandwiches and desserts from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, August 24 The Piedmont Farmers Market is open from 8 a.m. to noon at 518 Winecoff School Road. It features lots of local produce, meat, flowers and other products. Hot dogs at Center United Methodist Church at 1119 Union St. S., are offered on the second and fourth Saturday of each month from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dine in and takeout. Call-in orders are welcomed at 704-782-1785. Sunday, August 25 A Griefshare program will be held at Cold Springs Global Methodist starting Sunday,Aug. 18 and running for 14 weeks, It will be from 3:30 to 5 p.m. For questions, call the Church office at 704-782-1811. To register visit www.griefshare.org Monday, August 26 The Concord Duplicate Bridge Club hosts face-to-face games through Concord Parks and Recreation at the Hartsell Recreation Center, 60 Hartsell School Road, at noon. The cost is $5 per game. Details at www.bridgewebs.com/concord. If you dont have a partner, the website has some information on Find a Partner. Tuesday, August 27 TOPS #437 (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) meets every Tuesday at 10 a.m. (weigh-in begins at 9:30 a.m.) at Lakeview Baptist Church, 2532 Lane St., Kannapolis. Visitors are welcome. If you need help and encouragement after the death of a spouse, child, family member or friend, you are invited to join us for: A GriefShare Support Group at Pitts Baptist Church, 140 Pitts School Rd., NW, Concord, weekly on Tuesdays, through Oct. 29 9:30-11:30 a.m. Note: Pre-Registration is required. For more information contact Linda Bounds at 704-793-8155. Wednesday, August 28 The weekly bible study group meets at 11:30 a.m. in the Parlor at Calvary Lutheran Church 950 Bradley St., Concord, NC 28025 Food Truck Wednesday will feature a variety of food trucks from 3 to 8 p.m. at the Cabarrus Arena and Events Center on N.C. 49, Concord. Thursday, August 29 The Kannapolis Farmers Market is held from 4-7 p.m. in the Oak Avenue mall parking lot at the corner of Vance Street and Dale Earnhardt Boulevard. Vendors offer a wide variety of fresh, local produce, as well as meat, eggs, baked goods, crafts, and prepared foods. Friday, August 30 The Concord Duplicate Bridge Club hosts face-to-face games through Concord Parks and Recreation at the Hartsell Recreation Center, 60 Hartsell School Road, at noon. The cost is $5 per game. Details at www.bridgewebs.com/concord. If you dont have a partner, the website has some information on Find a Partner. Hot dogs at McGill Baptist Church, 5300 Poplar Tent Road, will be sold along with fried bologna and barbecue sandwiches and desserts from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, August 31 The Piedmont Farmers Market is open from 8 a.m. to noon at 518 Winecoff School Road. It features lots of local produce, meat, flowers and other products. Hot dogs at Center United Methodist Church at 1119 Union St. S., are offered on the second and fourth Saturday of each month from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dine in and takeout. Call-in orders are welcomed at 704-782-1785. Sunday, September 1 A Griefshare program will be held at Cold Springs Global Methodist starting Sunday,Aug. 18 and running for 14 weeks, It will be from 3:30 to 5 p.m. For questions, call the Church office at 704-782-1811. To register visit www.griefshare.org Monday, September 2 The Concord Duplicate Bridge Club hosts face-to-face games through Concord Parks and Recreation at the Hartsell Recreation Center, 60 Hartsell School Road, at noon. The cost is $5 per game. Details at www.bridgewebs.com/concord. If you dont have a partner, the website has some information on Find a Partner. Tuesday, September 3 TOPS #437 (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) meets every Tuesday at 10 a.m. (weigh-in begins at 9:30 a.m.) at Lakeview Baptist Church, 2532 Lane St., Kannapolis. Visitors are welcome. If you need help and encouragement after the death of a spouse, child, family member or friend, you are invited to join us for: A GriefShare Support Group at Pitts Baptist Church, 140 Pitts School Rd., NW, Concord, weekly on Tuesdays, through Oct. 29 9:30-11:30 a.m. Note: Pre-Registration is required. For more information contact Linda Bounds at 704-793-8155. Wednesday, September 4 The weekly bible study group meets at 11:30 a.m. in the Parlor at Calvary Lutheran Church 950 Bradley St., Concord, NC 28025 Food Truck Wednesday will feature a variety of food trucks from 3 to 8 p.m. at the Cabarrus Arena and Events Center on N.C. 49, Concord. The Cabarrus Senior Center Photo Club is alive and clicking away. If you like taking photos, come join the members on the first and third Wednesdays of the month from 1:30-3 p.m. at the Cabarrus Senior Center, 331 Corban Ave. SE, Concord, and share your photographic creativity. Whether you are a seasoned photographer or strictly amateur, all are welcome. Thursday, September 5 Epworth United Methodist Church will have a hot dog sale from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Epworth is at 1030 Burrage Road, NE, Concord. Credit cards accepted. For deliveries, call 704-786-5500. The Kannapolis Farmers Market is held from 4-7 p.m. in the Oak Avenue mall parking lot at the corner of Vance Street and Dale Earnhardt Boulevard. Vendors offer a wide variety of fresh, local produce, as well as meat, eggs, baked goods, crafts, and prepared foods. Friday, September 6 The Concord Duplicate Bridge Club hosts face-to-face games through Concord Parks and Recreation at the Hartsell Recreation Center, 60 Hartsell School Road, at noon. The cost is $5 per game. Details at www.bridgewebs.com/concord. If you dont have a partner, the website has some information on Find a Partner. Hot dogs at McGill Baptist Church, 5300 Poplar Tent Road, will be sold along with fried bologna and barbecue sandwiches and desserts from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, September 7 The Piedmont Farmers Market is open from 8 a.m. to noon at 518 Winecoff School Road. It features lots of local produce, meat, flowers and other products. Hot dogs at Center United Methodist Church at 1119 Union St. S., are offered on the second and fourth Saturday of each month from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dine in and takeout. Call-in orders are welcomed at 704-782-1785. Sunday, September 8 A Griefshare program will be held at Cold Springs Global Methodist starting Sunday,Aug. 18 and running for 14 weeks, It will be from 3:30 to 5 p.m. For questions, call the Church office at 704-782-1811. To register visit www.griefshare.org Does your community group or nonprofit agency have an upcoming event that would be of interest to the public? Email it to mplemmons@independenttribune.com. Nokia claimed it is the first technology vendor to have self-certified its fibre products manufactured in the US for a government broadband accessibility program designed to accelerate domestic production of equipment. Mobile World Live reported the self-certification process is part of the US$42.5 billion Broadband Equity and Deployment (Bead) initiative to narrow connectivity gaps across the country. The program funds projects that help expand high-speed Internet access and use. It supports infrastructure deployment, mapping, and adoption. It aims to expand Internet access to unserved and underserved locations. As part of the certification process, vendors must meet requirements outlined in the National Telecommunications and Information Administrations (NTIA) Build America, Buy America (Baba) program, which requires products to be manufactured in the US. The NTIA created the process and compliance framework as a guide for manufacturers to showcase their products and comply with Bead. Once vendors complete the process, they are added to a list managed by the US Department of Commerce. The list requires vendors to have an officer of the company certify that the products are Buy America-compliant to reduce the number of fraudulent claims of Baba compliance. Nokia provides Bead applicants with letters of certification required by the NTIA. The list of certified products includes: Nokia FX and MF OLT modular product lines Nokia SF-8M sealed OLT XS-220X-A ONT As a certified vendor, we can now provide Bead applicants with a certification letter thats become essential for applications and Baba reporting requirements, says Nokia president of fixed networks Sandy Motley. NBN Co rreports that both revenue and EBITDA were in line with guidance and the revenue result was based on the growth in telecommunications revenue driven by increased activations and growth in business customer revenue, including Business Fibre and Enterprise Ethernet services. And, other revenue significantly increased, which NBN Co says follows the roll out of fibre to newly developed communities and network deployment and upgrade activity under state and territory co-investment projects. The results in FY24, residential Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) remained stable at $47 as previously signalled to the industry post acceptance and implementation of the SAU Variation during the year. NBN Co reports that it closed the full year with more than 8.6 million homes and businesses connected to the nbn network, and the companys network investment strategy is designed to keep ahead of national data demand by rolling out new fibre deeper into communities and providing availability to increased speeds, while replacing and ultimately retiring copper infrastructure.Capital expenditure in the 12 months to 30 June 2024 was $3.76 billion. The company received $771 million as an equity injection from the Commonwealth Government as part of its commitment to provide additional funding of up to $2.4 billion towards full fibre upgrades.In FY24, NBN Co raised just under $6.5 billion from debt capital markets and bank facilities.The company also refinanced the remaining balance of $5.5 billion relating to the $19.5 billion Commonwealth Government loan in full by 30 June 2024, and NBN Cos capital strategy remains focused on funding network investments and maintaining a strong liquidity position.Heres further information reported by NBN Co: NBN Cos network upgrade program continues to unlock social and economic benefits for the nation. The company is on target with its commitment to enable over 10 million premises, or up to 90 per cent of the nbn Fixed Line network, to access the nbn Home Ultrafast wholesale speed tier2,3 by the end of 2025. To date, more than 70,000 kilometres of new fibre has been rolled out, which will ultimately extend full fibre access to 3.5 million premises served by Fibre to the Node (FTTN) and 1.5 million premises originally served by Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) technology. Around 78 per cent of the total nbn Fixed Line network can now access the nbn Home Ultrafast wholesale speed tier. In FY24, the company reached a milestone by enabling more than 2 million premises across Victoria and New South Wales, combined, to be eligible for full fibre upgrades on the nbn network. As at 30 June 2024, around 375,000 premises nationwide had upgraded from FTTN or FTTC to a full fibre service. In March 2024, the company launched a consultation with Retail Service Providers on a proposal to accelerate speeds to customers connected to the nbn network via Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) and Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) technologies. In May 2024, the company also announced a proposal to develop three new hyper-fast wholesale products for residential and business customers connected to the nbn network via FTTP or HFC technology. This initiative supports Retail Service Providers to prepare their products and customer services to help meet the growing desire for speed amongst residential, business and enterprise customers. NBN Co has also significantly invested in its Fixed Wireless network to improve customer experience, speeds and meet evolving data capacity requirements. During FY24, NBN Co boosted speed capability on the popular Fixed Wireless Plus plan4,5. The company also introduced two new Fixed Wireless higher speed tier wholesale products4,5 to Retail Service Providers intended to enable more homes and businesses in regional Australia to access higher nbn network speeds on their nbn Fixed Wireless connection. The upgrades aimed at supporting more homes and businesses in regional Australia are part of a $750 million investment made up of $480 million from the Commonwealth Government and an additional $270 million from NBN Co. By the end of the Fixed Wireless and Satellite Upgrade Program, approximately 120,000 premises within the companys Satellite areas will be eligible to access nbn Fixed Wireless. As at 30 June 2024, more than 50,000 premises previously served by satellite technology could access nbn Fixed Wireless for the first time. The company also now provides customers in regional and remote Australia access to uncapped internet data use6 via the new nbn Sky Muster Plus Premium satellite plans7. This includes entry, mid and high tier levels. Sky Muster Plus Premium was the first nbn Satellite plan to offer residential and small business customers uncapped data use to cover all their internet activities6. Measures to support digital inclusion The company remains committed to helping drive digital inclusion across the nation and is collaborating with communities and government with the aim of improving digital inclusion and availability of high-speed broadband to areas of society most in need. Following $20 million grant funding from the Australian Government, announced in February 2024, the company is expanding its existing Community Wi-Fi program to a further 23 remote First Nations communities. Central to this initiative is the use of NBN Cos Sky Muster Plus Premium services to provide internet access, which will be supported by the installation of wireless access equipment throughout each community. The company is also proud to be supporting the delivery of the Australian Governments School Student Broadband Initiative (SSBI). The program has been established to provide free home internet over the nbn network via a participating internet provider until 31 December 2025 for unconnected families with school-aged students. The company continues to work with numerous organisations across Australia to raise awareness and reach even more eligible families who stand to benefit from the SSBI program. Approximately 15,000 families have now connected to the nbn network through the initiative. NBN Co has achieved the key performance targets and full year guidance as set out in the Corporate Plan 2024, said Philip Knox, Interim Chief Executive Officer at NBN Co. The investments we continue to make in fibre, higher speeds and greater network operational capacity is making a difference by helping more people reap the benefits of a more connected and productive Australia. Looking ahead, our proposed acceleration of nbn speed tiers and the nations multi-gigabit future is aimed at ensuring Australia is equipped with the critical infrastructure it will need to support the explosion of data thats coming in the years ahead. Economic research from Accenture8 estimates that a faster, higher capacity nbn network will increase Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by about $400 billion over the eight years from 2023 to 2030. These benefits are expected to be even more profound in regional and rural parts of Australia. The work we do today to advance the responsible and sustainable financial growth of the company, alongside our prudent and well-considered investments, will help to generate more jobs and educational opportunities, promote community connectedness and social inclusion, and give Australia an economic boost. From Baghdad to the Holy Land, Christians Pray for Peace Baghdad -- From Baghdad to the Holy Land, the Churches of the Middle East are holding various prayers for peace on the feast of the Assumption on 15 August, following repeated appeals by Pope Francis, the latest being yesterday's at the Angelus, when he also spoke about atomic bombs. The violence linked to the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, which has caused the death of 1.8 per cent of the population of the Palestinian territory, and the tensions with Iran and its allies, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthis in Yemen, risk plunging the region into a global conflict. In light of this, the Chaldean Patriarch, the Latin Primate of Jerusalem, and the Custos of the Holy Land have issued calls for prayers. In a message sent to AsiaNews, the Chaldean primate, Card Louis Raphael Sako, points out that "due to the worrying situation" in the Middle East, the patriarchate "is organising a prayer for peace and stability". "Since the achievement of peace is the responsibility of every person and every country, everyone is cordially invited to join us in a prayer to Almighty God." Hopefully, "these conflicts will not turn into a regional war," which will end up being "disastrous for everyone". The service will be held on the evening of 14 August at the Chaldean Cathedral of St Joseph in Karrada, inspired by the Gospel of Matthew (5:9): "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." This weekend, Card Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, also called for prayers. In his message to the faithful of the Holy Land, he highlighted how hatred, resentment and contempt fuel violence and undermine possible solutions to the conflict. The cardinal expressed deep sorrow for the "terrible war" in Gaza, which has already caused huge suffering. In his view, "it is becoming increasingly difficult to envision a conclusion to this conflict, whose impact on the lives of our people is greater and more painful than ever before." Furthermore, it is "increasingly difficult to find people and institutions with whom a dialog about the future and peaceful relations is possible" at a time "characterized by so much violence and, admittedly, anger" as to overwhelm even the faintest hope for dialogue. This explains why 15 August, the solemnity of the Assumption, becomes one of those important days that can "turn the tide of the conflict" by turning to Our Lady for "a moment of intercession". This should be shared. "[P]arishes, the contemplative and apostolic religious communities and even the few pilgrims who are among us will unite in the common desire for peace that we entrust to the Blessed Virgin." "After having spent so many words and after having done what we can to help and be close to everyone, especially those who are most affected, all that remains is for us to pray" so that the world may see "a glimpse of light". The Custos of the Holy Land, Br Francesco Patton, has also called for prayers. Recently, he spoke to AsiaNews expressing his concern about the tense situation in the region and its "surreal" atmosphere. He asks the friars of the Custody to recite a " Supplication for peace to Our Lady assumed into Heaven" during celebrations on 14 and 15 August as a sign of hope, so that the parties involved might resume talks for a truce in Gaza. "We are living in very difficult times, in which it is particularly important to pray for peace," said the Custos, who cites the Book of the Apocalypse. "We know that when the sign of the Woman who is about to give birth appears in Heaven, the infernal dragon also appears and is unleashed against her children (Rev 12:1 ff.) but is opposed by the celestial militias led by St. Michael the Archangel." "For this reason," he notes, "we believe it is even more important that this day be one of intense prayer." To this end, Card Pizzaballa granted ecclesiastical approval for the prayer, which will also be used by the patriarchate. Finally, for the first time, Iraq's top Shia authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has spoken about the war in Gaza, where almost 40,000 people have died (about 1.8 per cent of the population) since 7 October, warning of "catastrophic consequences" in case of escalation. Referring to yet another attack on a Gaza school last weekend, the religious leader denounces how "Once again, the Israeli occupation army has committed a huge massacre... adding to its series of ongoing crimes" He notes that the recent high-profile killings of a Hamas and a Hezbollah have increased the danger of "major clashes," which could have "catastrophic consequences" for the region. "We once again call on the world to stand against this terrible brutality," Sistani said, urging Muslims "to unite in order to press for an end to the genocidal war" in Gaza. 100 years ago, Aug 13, 1924 EFFINGHAM Mrs. Steve Hagensee of Chicago, formerly of Kinmundy, was instantly killed Tuesday morning a mile east of Teutopolis when the sedan which her husband was driving turned turtle and pinned her under the car. Mrs. Hagensee was terribly lacerated and is supposed to have died instantly. She was holding her few months' old baby in her arms at the time. It escaped death, although it was terribly scraped and cut on one side of its body. Hagensee, who has a restaurant in Chicago, had been with his family, including his wife and four small children and his nephew, Raymond Hammers, at Kinmundy on a visit to relatives. Tuesday morning they started on the way back home and reached a point about a mile east of Teutopolis when Hagensee got off the slab about a foot at a place where some grading was being done. When he went to turn back onto the cement pavement he must have turned too short for his car started to turn over. When Mrs. Hagensee saw the car was going to turn over she held her baby as close to her as possible and tried to jump through a window. However she did not get clear of the car. 50 years ago, 1974 MATTOON The city may have to go to court to break the Humboldt water contract. The 1963 agreement forces Mattoon to sell treated water to Humboldt at roughly half the production cost. The contract was signed Nov. 5, 1963, by Carus Icenogle, who was mayor at the time. Icenogle is a lawyer. The 40-year contract does not contain any provisions which take into account increases in the cost of production to Mattoon. The result is that Humboldt has been making a financial killing at the expense of the residents of Mattoon...CHARLESTON Charles Keller is lucky that a local bank officer didn't insist on butchering his champion hog. Thanks to James Stewart, Keller's crossbred barrow was able to compete at the Illinois State Fair. The 236-pound barrow was named grand champion barrow in junior livestock competition Monday at the fair. Keller, 12, is the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Keller of rural Mattoon. The family resides on a farm located about five miles north of Mattoon on 33rd Street road. Stewart is farm manager at the Central National Bank of Mattoon. Stewart purchased the hog for the bank during the Coles County Fair 4-H Livestock Auction. Keller said the bank gave the hog back to the son...PARIS Authorities suspect "foul play" in the disappearance of an Edgar County deputy sheriff Monday. Missing is George Redman, 34 of Chrisman. Redman had been with the sheriff's office for about three weeks. He is not married. A spokesman for the sheriff's office said Redman's car was found abandoned near a "little creek" in Edgar County. He would not state exactly where the vehicle was found. The spokesman would not say why foul play was suspected. 25 years ago, 1999 CHARLESTON Coles County Board member Brian Nordin announced his resignation from the board Thursday saying his main reason was that his work schedule often prevents him from attending meetings. Including the board's monthly meeting earlier this week, Nordin missed three consecutive meetings and five of the last six. He did attend a specially scheduled meeting in June, but not that month's regular meeting. He announced his resignation shortly after being confronted Thursday with a reporter's questions about his absences...MATTOON Every night was an extra inning affair for some Babe Ruth World Series viewers. Thirty years later, Dave Kidwell, who was a college kid then, remembers those all-nighters that had nothing to do with the usual studying or partying. Instead, he helped the Journal Gazette cover the 1969 Babe Ruth Baseball World World Series played at Mattoon, once again host of the Bambino World Series starting this weekend. Jim Kimball, a baseball lover and coach of a youth league team, was the JG's sports editor when the Babe Ruth World Series for ages 13-15 came to Mattoon in 1969. As much as he might have wanted, Kimball knew he could not cover this event all by himself. So he enlisted part-time help from the likes of Kidwell, an EIU journalism student, who went on to become the school's sports information director, and Bill Hollada, a journalism instructor and a former sports information director at Southern Illinois University. Food and drink items that are highly restricted or banned in the US Snacks and other food items banned in the US Silver dragees Foie gras Flamin' Hot Cheetos Swan Sassafras oil Junk food Sea turtles Bushmeat Lazy Cakes Horse meat Raw milk Ortolan Redfish Black pudding Mirabelle plums Japanese pufferfish Authentic brie Casu marzu Shark fins Absinthe Haggis Four Loko Kinder Eggs Food and drink items that are highly restricted or banned in the US Epoisses cheese Silver dragees Foie gras Flamin' Hot Cheetos Konjac jelly candies Tonka beans Wild abalone Soda with brominated vegetable oil Kangaroo meat Swan Sassafras oil Queen conch Sea turtle Mont d'Or Bushmeat Lazy Cakes Horse meat Raw milk Ortolan Redfish Mirabelle plums Bird's nest soup Camembert Japanese pufferfish Brie de Meaux Fresh ackee Casu marzu Shark fins Absinthe Haggis Stornoway Black Pudding Beluga caviar The original Four Loko Kinder Surprise Eggs Junk food Entitlement This letter responds to Tim Hollands thoughtful column on school choice (Aug.11). What is usually missing in these discussions is the notion of personal responsibility for ones choices. My parents supported public schools but sent us six kids to parochial school for religious reasons. They paid our school fees with difficulty, but without complaining, as the cost of their personal choice and so their own responsibility. They never expected others to pay for what they wanted. I have no business dictating to other parents about their choice of their childrens schools, and they have no business expecting me to pay for fee-based choices they make. I pay taxes to help make good, free education available to all. Why my taxes should go to fee-based schools that can refuse to accept my own or others children, provide whatever teachers and whatever curriculum they want, or preach religious beliefs, is not apparent to me. If school vouchers were designed to make adequate education possible for those students who dont have it due to low incomes and poor public schools, that could make sense. Expecting voucher-money giveaways to all and with no checks on the recipient schools for educational adequacy reflects a sense of entitlement and program irresponsibility that would surely shock my mom and dad. But its what the Opportunity Scholarship program now does, besides siphoning away yet more money from North Carolinas public education, already one of the most dismally funded systems in the country. Shocks me, too. Shirlie C. Pinkham Winston-Salem School choice is a travesty I am sure that Dr. Tim Holland heads a fine school in Greensboro. However, his column, The Case for School Choice (Journal, Aug. 11), fails miserably to make the case for public funding of private schools (whether they are Christian, Jewish, Hindu, etc.). As a taxpayer (who happens to be a Christian), I find it extremely offensive for my tax dollars to be given to any private school, whether through vouchers or any other means. Public schools continue to pay the price, especially in North Carolina, of increased dollars going to fund private academies and schools. Public dollars should support our public schools, whose mission is to serve all students, including all those with learning difficulties and untold numbers of special-needs students who are seldom served by private schools. Our public schools are valuable community resources that need to be fully supported and funded for the important work they do in educating our children (and, in my case, grandchildren). School choice is a huge travesty for the taxpayers in North Carolina. Our public schools are severely underfunded while private schools are riding high with public funds given to them each year by our legislators, who seem to have disregarded their responsibilities to adequately fund public education. Dr. David Wright Winston-Salem The city of Lincoln paid $780,000 to settle a lawsuit with a couple injured in a crash involving a police cruiser that hit their car as it pulled out of a fire station at 66th Street and Pine Lake Road. The City Council on Monday approved the settlement with Jarod and Jamie Velte, who filed the lawsuit in Lancaster County District Court against the city and the Lincoln Police Department. The couple alleged that they were driving east on Pine Lake Road about 6 a.m. on Feb. 26, 2022, when Officer Phillip Rutz pulled out of the fire station at 66th Street and Pine Lake Road and hit them. The Veltes were driving in front of another police cruiser that turned into the fire station as Rutz was turning left out of it, the lawsuit says. Jamie Velte, who was a passenger in the car, suffered a cut on her head, and neck and back injuries that resulted in chronic pain and migraine headaches and she also had post-traumatic stress disorder from the crash, the lawsuit said. She has received a number of epidural steroid injections to help with the pain, and future surgery is likely, according to the lawsuit. Jarod Velte suffered a concussion and a traumatic brain injury, back disc herniation and had spine surgery. The lawsuit sought $151,843 in medical expenses, lost wages and property damage and an unspecified amount of general damages. The couple had filed claims with the city seeking $1 million each. Those claims were withdrawn when the couple filed the lawsuit in December. Top Journal Star photos for August 2024 MOUNT PLEASANT The village will begin work to reconstruct the Lake Park bluff revetment this fall using grant funding awarded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. This comes after the village board awarded the contract for the Lake Park Bluff Mitigation Project to Veit & Company, Inc. at the boards July 22 meeting. Veit & Company, Inc. submitted the lowest bid for the project contract, at about $1.7 million, according to village documents. FEMA, via Wisconsin Emergency Management, awarded the village a $1.66 million grant in 2022, which was 75% of the estimated project cost, according to the village. The village will fund the remaining 25% of project costs. Securing funding for the project has been in the works for four years, according to Village Deputy Director of Public Works Linsey Weber. Weber said she originally applied for government funding for the project in 2020. We werent picked for the first round (of funding), but additional funds became available, so I got to reapply, Weber said. Then we went back and forth a little bit, just because there was such a fluctuation in the market pricing for just general construction. The project will reconstruct about 700 feet of the Lake Michigan bluff revetment in Lake Park, 3811 Sheridan Road, north of Pratt Avenue, according to village documents. Weber said construction workers will establish a stable slope from the top of the bluff down to the lake; the bottom of the bluff will be armored with large stones, which will work as a wave break to prevent further erosion. Village Director of Public Works Anthony Beyer said the revetment was originally constructed in the 1980s by the Army Corps of Engineers. The latest rise in lake levels further deteriorated it to the point where its in need of repair, Beyer said. This area in question is also within 40 to 100 feet of Sheridan Road, which is the major collector road for the Lake Park neighborhood. The village anticipates reconstruction work to begin in the late summer or early fall and finish by the end of the year, with some cleanup and restoration work in the first half of 2025, Beyer said. Weber said the revetment reconstruction is a longer-lasting solution to bluff erosion than previous efforts. This is because the last project, in 2019, was an emergency repair, so the village didnt have time to conduct on-site investigations and properly plan for a stronger revetment. Weve got a little bit more time for this one, so it will be a more robust revetment, she said. The village also designed the reconstruction project to withstand the 100-year storm event, according to Beyer. Its about as robust as these designs get, and this project will actually tie in to (the 2019) emergency revetment project we built immediately to the north, he said. Weber added that no revetment structure is permanent, however. Its not a permanent solution, but it is a very good solution for the time being, she said. The revetment reconstruction will increase safety and allow for increased use of Lake Park, according to Weber. It is a really cool project, and it is a park that will get much better use out of it (and) will be much safer with the revetment in place, Weber said. Xinjiang starts water diversion for China's longest inland river Xinhua) 08:52, August 13, 2024 Staff members check devices at the Daxihaizi Reservoir before water diversion in Yuli County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on Aug. 11, 2024. Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Monday began discharging water from a reservoir into the Tarim River, China's longest inland river, as part of an ongoing ecological conservation project in the region. The gates at the Daxihaizi Reservoir were opened, releasing a torrent of water into the Tarim River, which marked the second round of the 25th water diversion since the project started in 2000. Xinjiang has planned to divert 510 million cubic meters of floodwater this year to replenish the water supply of the populus euphratica forests in the Tarim River Basin, with 346 million cubic meters finished as of Aug. 8. (Xinhua/Chen Shuo) A drone photo taken on Aug. 12, 2024 shows water flowing from the Daxihaizi Reservoir into the river course in Yuli County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Monday began discharging water from a reservoir into the Tarim River, China's longest inland river, as part of an ongoing ecological conservation project in the region. The gates at the Daxihaizi Reservoir were opened, releasing a torrent of water into the Tarim River, which marked the second round of the 25th water diversion since the project started in 2000. Xinjiang has planned to divert 510 million cubic meters of floodwater this year to replenish the water supply of the populus euphratica forests in the Tarim River Basin, with 346 million cubic meters finished as of Aug. 8. (Xinhua/Ding Lei) Water flows through the populus euphratica forests in the lower reaches of Tarim River after being released from the Daxihaizi Reservoir in Yuli County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Aug. 12, 2024. Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Monday began discharging water from a reservoir into the Tarim River, China's longest inland river, as part of an ongoing ecological conservation project in the region. The gates at the Daxihaizi Reservoir were opened, releasing a torrent of water into the Tarim River, which marked the second round of the 25th water diversion since the project started in 2000. Xinjiang has planned to divert 510 million cubic meters of floodwater this year to replenish the water supply of the populus euphratica forests in the Tarim River Basin, with 346 million cubic meters finished as of Aug. 8. (Xinhua/Ding Lei) Water flows from the Daxihaizi Reservoir into the river course in Yuli County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Aug. 12, 2024. Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Monday began discharging water from a reservoir into the Tarim River, China's longest inland river, as part of an ongoing ecological conservation project in the region. The gates at the Daxihaizi Reservoir were opened, releasing a torrent of water into the Tarim River, which marked the second round of the 25th water diversion since the project started in 2000. Xinjiang has planned to divert 510 million cubic meters of floodwater this year to replenish the water supply of the populus euphratica forests in the Tarim River Basin, with 346 million cubic meters finished as of Aug. 8. (Xinhua/Chen Shuo) Staff members check the gate hoists at the Daxihaizi Reservoir before water diversion in Yuli County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on Aug. 11, 2024. Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Monday began discharging water from a reservoir into the Tarim River, China's longest inland river, as part of an ongoing ecological conservation project in the region. The gates at the Daxihaizi Reservoir were opened, releasing a torrent of water into the Tarim River, which marked the second round of the 25th water diversion since the project started in 2000. Xinjiang has planned to divert 510 million cubic meters of floodwater this year to replenish the water supply of the populus euphratica forests in the Tarim River Basin, with 346 million cubic meters finished as of Aug. 8. (Xinhua/Chen Shuo) An aerial drone photo taken on Aug. 12, 2024 shows water flowing from the Daxihaizi Reservoir into the river course in Yuli County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Monday began discharging water from a reservoir into the Tarim River, China's longest inland river, as part of an ongoing ecological conservation project in the region. The gates at the Daxihaizi Reservoir were opened, releasing a torrent of water into the Tarim River, which marked the second round of the 25th water diversion since the project started in 2000. Xinjiang has planned to divert 510 million cubic meters of floodwater this year to replenish the water supply of the populus euphratica forests in the Tarim River Basin, with 346 million cubic meters finished as of Aug. 8. (Xinhua/Ding Lei) This photo taken on Aug. 11, 2024 shows a view of the Daxihaizi Reservoir in Yuli County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Monday began discharging water from a reservoir into the Tarim River, China's longest inland river, as part of an ongoing ecological conservation project in the region. The gates at the Daxihaizi Reservoir were opened, releasing a torrent of water into the Tarim River, which marked the second round of the 25th water diversion since the project started in 2000. Xinjiang has planned to divert 510 million cubic meters of floodwater this year to replenish the water supply of the populus euphratica forests in the Tarim River Basin, with 346 million cubic meters finished as of Aug. 8. (Xinhua/Chen Shuo) An aerial drone photo taken on Aug. 12, 2024 shows water flowing from the Daxihaizi Reservoir into the river course in Yuli County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Monday began discharging water from a reservoir into the Tarim River, China's longest inland river, as part of an ongoing ecological conservation project in the region. The gates at the Daxihaizi Reservoir were opened, releasing a torrent of water into the Tarim River, which marked the second round of the 25th water diversion since the project started in 2000. Xinjiang has planned to divert 510 million cubic meters of floodwater this year to replenish the water supply of the populus euphratica forests in the Tarim River Basin, with 346 million cubic meters finished as of Aug. 8. (Xinhua/Ding Lei) A drone photo taken on Aug. 11, 2024 shows staff members monitoring the inflow of water at the Daxihaizi Reservoir in Yuli County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Monday began discharging water from a reservoir into the Tarim River, China's longest inland river, as part of an ongoing ecological conservation project in the region. The gates at the Daxihaizi Reservoir were opened, releasing a torrent of water into the Tarim River, which marked the second round of the 25th water diversion since the project started in 2000. Xinjiang has planned to divert 510 million cubic meters of floodwater this year to replenish the water supply of the populus euphratica forests in the Tarim River Basin, with 346 million cubic meters finished as of Aug. 8. (Xinhua/Chen Shuo) An aerial drone photo taken on Aug. 12, 2024 shows water flowing through the populus euphratica forests in the lower reaches of Tarim River after being released from the Daxihaizi Reservoir in Yuli County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Monday began discharging water from a reservoir into the Tarim River, China's longest inland river, as part of an ongoing ecological conservation project in the region. The gates at the Daxihaizi Reservoir were opened, releasing a torrent of water into the Tarim River, which marked the second round of the 25th water diversion since the project started in 2000. Xinjiang has planned to divert 510 million cubic meters of floodwater this year to replenish the water supply of the populus euphratica forests in the Tarim River Basin, with 346 million cubic meters finished as of Aug. 8. (Xinhua/Ding Lei) Staff members patrol after the water diversion began at the Daxihaizi Reservoir in Yuli County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on Aug. 12, 2024. Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Monday began discharging water from a reservoir into the Tarim River, China's longest inland river, as part of an ongoing ecological conservation project in the region. The gates at the Daxihaizi Reservoir were opened, releasing a torrent of water into the Tarim River, which marked the second round of the 25th water diversion since the project started in 2000. Xinjiang has planned to divert 510 million cubic meters of floodwater this year to replenish the water supply of the populus euphratica forests in the Tarim River Basin, with 346 million cubic meters finished as of Aug. 8. (Xinhua/Chen Shuo) Staff members patrol the reservoir with a drone at the Daxihaizi Reservoir in Yuli County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on Aug. 11, 2024. Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Monday began discharging water from a reservoir into the Tarim River, China's longest inland river, as part of an ongoing ecological conservation project in the region. The gates at the Daxihaizi Reservoir were opened, releasing a torrent of water into the Tarim River, which marked the second round of the 25th water diversion since the project started in 2000. Xinjiang has planned to divert 510 million cubic meters of floodwater this year to replenish the water supply of the populus euphratica forests in the Tarim River Basin, with 346 million cubic meters finished as of Aug. 8. (Xinhua/Chen Shuo) A staff member checks the dam seepage monitoring device before water diversion in Yuli County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Aug. 11, 2024. Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Monday began discharging water from a reservoir into the Tarim River, China's longest inland river, as part of an ongoing ecological conservation project in the region. The gates at the Daxihaizi Reservoir were opened, releasing a torrent of water into the Tarim River, which marked the second round of the 25th water diversion since the project started in 2000. Xinjiang has planned to divert 510 million cubic meters of floodwater this year to replenish the water supply of the populus euphratica forests in the Tarim River Basin, with 346 million cubic meters finished as of Aug. 8. (Xinhua/Chen Shuo) Staff members check devices at the Daxihaizi Reservoir before water diversion in Yuli County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on Aug. 11, 2024. Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Monday began discharging water from a reservoir into the Tarim River, China's longest inland river, as part of an ongoing ecological conservation project in the region. The gates at the Daxihaizi Reservoir were opened, releasing a torrent of water into the Tarim River, which marked the second round of the 25th water diversion since the project started in 2000. Xinjiang has planned to divert 510 million cubic meters of floodwater this year to replenish the water supply of the populus euphratica forests in the Tarim River Basin, with 346 million cubic meters finished as of Aug. 8. (Xinhua/Chen Shuo) A staff member checks the water level before water diversion at the Daxihaizi Reservoir in Yuli County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on Aug. 11, 2024. Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Monday began discharging water from a reservoir into the Tarim River, China's longest inland river, as part of an ongoing ecological conservation project in the region. The gates at the Daxihaizi Reservoir were opened, releasing a torrent of water into the Tarim River, which marked the second round of the 25th water diversion since the project started in 2000. Xinjiang has planned to divert 510 million cubic meters of floodwater this year to replenish the water supply of the populus euphratica forests in the Tarim River Basin, with 346 million cubic meters finished as of Aug. 8. (Xinhua/Chen Shuo) (Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun) On 12 August Panamas Presidentmet with members of Panamas chamber of commerce, industry, and agriculture (CCIAP), a leading business lobby, to discuss plans to reform the countrys social security fund (CSS). End of preview - This article contains approximately 392 words. Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article Not a Subscriber? Choose from one of the following options Scientists say new examinations of soil collected on the moon suggest its atmosphere might have been created by repeated meteorite strikes. Researchers studying the moon first used instruments to confirm it had an atmosphere in the early 1970s. The American space agency NASA explains the moons atmosphere is very thin and weak. It is technically considered an exosphere. The newly examined soil was collected by NASA astronauts during Americas Apollo program from 1969 to 1972. The trips resulted in astronauts capturing about 382 kilograms of rocks and soil, called samples. Instead of attempting to measure the moons atmosphere in a direct way, investigators looked to the old soil material. They theorized that the soil should contain residue material from atoms released into the lunar atmosphere over billions of years. The research was led by scientists at the University of Chicago and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Their results recently appeared in a study in the publication Science Advances. Nicole Nie was the lead writer of the study. She is a planetary scientist at MIT. Meteorite impacts Nie said that when meteorites impact, or hit, an object like the moon, they create very high temperatures. Such strikes can heat up the surface by 2,000 to 6,000 degrees Celsius. These extreme temperatures melt and vaporize rocks at the surface and release atoms contained in dust and soil into the atmosphere. Some of the atoms end up being pushed into space, while others remain just above the surface. The researchers said the soil examinations led to the discovery that the moons atmosphere was formed through a process known as impact vaporization. Nie and her team centered their examinations on two main elements potassium and rubidium. These substances were chosen because they can easily be vaporized by meteorite hits. The process involved studying the behaviors of different kinds of isotopes found in potassium and rubidium. That study persuaded the team that repeated meteorite strikes formed the atmosphere. In the past, studies have shown the moons atmosphere might have been created by either meteor activity or the solar wind. Solar wind describes a continuous flow of charged particles from the sun that spreads across the solar system. The researchers said the latest study provides new evidence that most of the lunar atmosphere was likely formed by repeated meteorite hits over billions of years. After testing 10 samples of lunar soil, the team concluded that much more of the atmosphere is due to meteor activity than to the solar wind. At least 70 percent of the lunar atmosphere is created by these meteorite impacts, Nie said in a statement. A much smaller percentage is created by the solar wind abrasion of the surface, she added. Nicolas Dauphas is a professor of geophysical sciences at the University of Chicago. He helped lead the research. Dauphas said, It turns out the answer to this longstanding question was right in front of us preserved in lunar soil brought back to Earth by the Apollo missions. Nie said understanding such processes can be extremely valuable to planning future missions to the moon, Mars and beyond. If humans want to move to different planetary bodies someday, we will have to understand whats going on at the surface to be able to prepare. She added, Each planetary body is different, and the more we understand about these processes, the more complete picture well have. Im Bryan Lynn. Reuters, the University of Chicago and MIT reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for VOA Learning English. __________________________________________ Words in This Story meteorite n. a piece of rock from outer space that has fallen to a planets surface exosphere n. the outermost layer of a planets atmosphere residue n. something that remains after most of a substance has disappeared or been removed vaporize v. to turn, or cause something to turn, from a solid or liquid state into a gas abrasion n. the process of rubbing away the surface of something preserve v. to keep something the same or prevent it from being damaged or destroyed From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report. Working from home in a small apartment is fine during the day. But when nighttime comes, it may be more difficult to turn off work and get a good nights sleep. This can be especially difficult in a studio apartment. In a studio apartment, the living room, kitchen and sleeping area are all in one room. These kinds of apartments are common in large cities with a high cost of living. With electronics, kitchen items, clothes and books all in one space, it can be hard to create a restful place for sleep. Kim Cook, a reporter for the Associated Press, asked sleep experts and interior design experts for advice on how to work productively and sleep well in a small one-room area. Be honest about how you live Everyone needs good sleep to stay healthy. The primary rule, maybe the only rule of small space design, is people have to be honest about how they really live, says Olivia Hosken. She is deputy managing editor of House Beautiful. She adds that when you have limited space, you need furniture that works well in the room. A good bed is important for good sleep She suggests spending money on a high-quality bed. Even better is a high-quality sleep sofa that can double as a bed and couch. She does not suggest big tables or chairs that you may not use. Andrea Morris is an interior designer with Lancaster Place Interiors in Wilmington, North Carolina. For studio apartments, she likes wall beds. These can be folded up next to a wall when not in use. They are better known as Murphy beds, named after William Murphy. He came up with this idea in 1900 while living in his own studio apartment in San Francisco, California. Create a sleep area To separate your sleep area from the rest of the apartment, you can purchase a freestanding screen or room divider. And as much as you can, keep your sleep area strictly for sleeping, experts say. Jeff Kahn is co-founder of the Chicago-based sleep-research company Rise Science. His company developed a sleep-tracking app called Rise. His suggestion is to avoid doing work or anything stressful from your bed. He said that this helps the brain connect your bed with only sleep rather than wakefulness and work. However, that is not always possible. If you use your bed during the daytime, you can do small things to keep daytime tasks and sleep separate. Lisa Strauss is a psychologist and expert in sleep disorders. She suggests using one side of the bed for reading and the other for sleeping. You can also bring out special blankets and pillows used only for sleeping. Freshen the air. Lower the lights. Cut the noise. Kahn also suggests keeping a clean, peaceful environment. For starters, he says to make sure the air flow is good. Make sure your space is well ventilated, and consider an air purifier, says Kahn. He adds that this is especially important if you cook and sleep in the same place. Another interior expert is Mia Ingui. She is editor at Spruce, a home design website. She suggests using calming smells like lavender or chamomile at bedtime, to set the tone for restful sleep. Also, be sure that computer, TV, and other electronic screens are turned off. In a small room, these devices are probably a short distance from the bed. Their light at night can affect our internal clocks, or circadian rhythm. Do not forget about the sounds these devices make. If the buzz of nearby devices, appliances, or street sounds keep you awake, consider a noise machine. Ingui likes the Hatch Restore, a sunrise lamp that provides soothing sounds and lights up slowly in the morning. You can also buy noise cancelling curtains. These cut down on outside noises. Keep things clean and organized Andrea Morris, the home designer, says one thing to avoid when it comes to studio living is leaving beds unmade. Its amazing how much better you feel after a hard day entering a space with a made bed, she said. At night, she suggests putting away electronics. Side tables with plugs and ports for electronics help you store devices and keep things tidy or organized and clean. This is another example of choosing furniture that has multiple uses. Choose multi-use, storable bedding If it is difficult to control your studio apartments heating and cooling, Ingui recommends choosing materials for bedding that let the skin breathe. Such materials can keep you cool in warm weather and warm in cooler temperatures. She also suggests buying several pieces of bedding that are easy to store rather than big, bulky blankets. Studio apartments often do not have a lot of storage. With some thoughtful choices, your small space can have the feeling we all want from home life: calm, clean and good for both working and sleeping. And thats the Health & Lifestyle report. Im Anna Matteo. And Im Mario Ritter Jr. Kim Cook reported this story for The Associated Press from New York City. Anna Matteo adapted it for VOA Learning English. ______________________________________________ Words in This Story studio apartment n. a small apartment consisting typically of a main room, kitchenette, and bathroom interior design n. the art of decorating and furnishing the interior of a building primary adj. of first rank, importance, or value psychologist n. a person who specializes in the study of mind and behavior or in the treatment of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders ventilated v. to expose to air and especially to a current of fresh air air purifier n. a device that removes contaminating particles (such as dust and pollen) from the air tone n. general character or quality circadian rhythm n. the natural patterns that take place in your body over the course of each 24-hour cycle. bulky adj. large in size or mass We want to hear from you. What your thoughts on this topic? In the Comments section, you can also practice using any of the expressions from the story. Our comment policy is here. Like other 3D printers, the Vulcan printer puts down layer by layer of materials to build an object. However, this printer is more than 13.7 meters wide and prints homes for people to live in. This summer, the robotic printer from the homebuilder ICON will complete the last of the 100 3D-printed houses in Wolf Ranch, a community about 48 kilometers from Austin, Texas. ICON began printing the walls of what it says is the world's largest 3D-printed community in November 2022. Compared to traditional homebuilding, the company says 3D printing is faster, less costly, requires fewer workers, and reduces waste. Conner Jenkins, a project leader, said, "It brings a lot of efficiency to the trade market... So, when there were maybe five different crews coming in to build a wall system, we now have one crew and one robot." After concrete powder, water, sand and other additives are mixed together and put into the printer, a device called a nozzle releases the concrete mixture. The process looks like toothpaste being put onto a toothbrush, as the printer builds up the house layer by layer along an exact path. The three- to four-bedroom homes take about three weeks to finish printing, with the foundation and metal roofs put in place with traditional building methods. Jenkins said the concrete walls are designed to be resistant to water, mold, insects and extreme weather. Lawrence Nourzad, 32, and his girlfriend Angela Hontas, 29, purchased a Wolf Ranch home earlier this summer. "It feels like a fortress," Nourzad said, adding that he was confident the home would hold up to severe weather conditions. The walls also provide strong insulation from the Texas heat, the couple said. The materials keep the inside temperature cool even when the air conditioner is not put on high levels. There was one other thing the 3D-printed walls seemed to protect against, however: a solid wireless internet connection. Nourzad said, "Obviously these are really strong, thick walls. And that's what provides a lot of value for us as homeowners and keeps this thing really well-insulated in a Texas summer, but signal doesn't transfer through these walls very well." To deal with this issue, an ICON spokeswoman said most Wolf Ranch homeowners use mesh internet routers. These routers broadcast a signal from several units placed throughout a home, whereas a traditional router sends a signal from one device. The 3D-printed homes at Wolf Ranch cost from $450,000 to nearly $600,000. Developers said a little more than one quarter of the 100 homes have been sold. ICON, which 3D-printed its first home in Austin in 2018, hopes to one day take its technology to the Moon. NASA, as part of its Artemis Moon exploration program, has an agreement for ICON to develop a system capable of building landing pads, shelters, and other structures on the moon's surface. Im Ashley Thompson. Evan Garcia reported on this story for Reuters. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. _______________________________________________ Words in This Story 3D printer n. a device used to manufacture objects by depositing material in layers according to a pattern or model layer n. a quantity of material covering a surface efficiency n. the capability of producing desired results with little or no waste foundation -- n. a body or ground upon which something is built up mold n. a growth produced especially on damp or decaying organic matter fortress n. a large and permanent fortification insulation n. special material that prevents transfer of electricity, heat, or sound transfer -- v. to move or convey from one place or situation to another If you hear about a dessert with 60 years of experience, you know that it is Kyiv Cake. Whether it was a mistake by a reckless cook or the idea of a famous confectionery company is not known for certain. But in any case, we should be grateful to the person who came up with this cake and a real business card of the Ukrainian capital. ADVERTISIMENT The FoodOboz editorial team, based on the expert's advice, will share the history and recipe of the Kyiv Cake. It is said that the famous dessert was born at the Karl Marx Corporation today it is a Roshen-branded factory thanks to one reckless confectioner. He allegedly simply forgot to put the whipped whites in the refrigerator. To avoid being reprimanded by the management, he whipped the whites again in the morning, prepared the dough, baked the cakes, and spread the cream over them. The cake turned out to taste impeccable. Back in the Soviet era, this Kyiv Cake was available only in Kyiv. There were long lines of people lining the streets outside one of the grocery stores - everyone wanted to try the much-lauded dessert. It was a real disgrace not to come to a visit without a cake or not to bring it home from a business trip. ADVERTISIMENT Kyiv Cake according to the recipe by recepty_przepisy, which the food blogger shared on her Instagram page Ingredients: Proteins - 6 pcs. Sugar - 250 g Starch - 3 tbsp Vanilla sugar - 10 g Roasted peanuts - 150 g Charlotte cream: Egg yolks - 6 pcs. Sugar - 125 g Milk - 150 ml Vanilla sugar - 10 g Butter - 240 g Cocoa - 30 g Cognac - 1 tbsp. Method of preparation: 1. Separate the whites from the yolks. Cover and leave for 24 hours at room temperature. 2. For the cakes, mix 1/2 sugar, starch, vanilla sugar and nuts. ADVERTISIMENT 3. Whisk the whites with the rest of the sugar until stiff peaks, then stir in the dry mixture in several stages. 4. Put the dough into two baking molds, and cover with parchment. Bake at 150 degrees for 2 hours, and then at 100 degrees for 1.5-2 hours. Remove the finished cakes from the oven only when they are completely cool. Leave them for at least 8 hours. 5. For the cream, mix the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla sugar, and milk in a saucepan. Cook for 4-5 minutes until slightly thickened, cool. 6. Beat the soft butter until fluffy, and gradually add the custard mass. Add cognac at the end. 7. Divide the cream into 2 parts add cocoa to one. 8. Assemble the cake: spread the cakes with white cream, grease the sides, and top with cocoa cream. Decorate as desired. A three-year-old boy from Dublin has become the worlds youngest heart and lung transplant patient. Jamie Gavin had the four-hour operation at Harefield Hospital in Middlesex, west of London. His condition is described as satisfactory. The young patient and his parents were flown from Ireland to London on Monday. He had been waiting for a donor since May, when doctors told his parents he had a congenital heart disease which was progressively weakening his heart and lungs. Jamies parents, Tom and Marian Gavin, have spoken of the pressure of their wait. They said that before the operation Jamie had hardly any energy. Mrs Gavin said: He was very tiny for his age, he didnt grow and was very thin. He didnt have a future without this operation. Before Jamie, the youngest heart-lung patient was five-year old Brook Matthews from Australia who also underwent surgery at Harefield. Jamies operation was performed by Britains leading transplant specialist, Egyptian-born Magdi Yacoub. It was the 20th time Mr Yacoub has carried out this procedure at Harefield so far 14 of those who have had the operation are still alive. Mr Yacoub used a new device a miniature support machine which allowed the donors heart and lungs to be brought to Harefield. Until recently the donors body had to be transported to Harefield because the organs could be damaged if moved separately. This meant that some chances for transplants were lost as moving the body was deemed too impractical or was too upsetting for relatives. Courtesy BBC News In context Jamies new heart and lungs came from three-year-old Tina Bran. She had died after a fall from a third-floor window while visiting a friends flat with her mother in Southampton. In 1986 a 30-month-old boy succeeded Jamie Gavin as the youngest heart-lung transplant recipient. The same year Jamie had recovered sufficiently to take part in a fun run to raise funds for Harefield Hospital. But in July 1992 he died at Great Ormond Street Childrens Hospital in London. At the time of his death he was believed to be the worlds longest-surviving heart and lung transplant recipient. The Ban Korea social media campaign seems to be influencing Thai travelers to choose Japan and China over South Korea. This grassroots movement, which began gaining traction late last year, highlights growing frustration among Thais over stringent South Korean immigration policies, Nikkei Asia has reported. Recent reports indicate a significant drop in Thai tourists visiting South Korea. Between January and April of this year, the number of Thai visitors to South Korea plummeted by 21% compared to the same period last year, according to data from the Korea Tourism Organization. In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, South Korea welcomed 572,000 Thai tourists. According to Nikkei Asia, the decline follows numerous reports of Thai travelers facing issues with South Korean immigration. Many Thais who had obtained electronic preapproval were turned away upon arrival, resulting in significant financial losses for those affected. The Ban Korea movement began circulating on social media platforms like X, reflecting growing dissatisfaction with South Koreas immigration practices. The movement is not a cultural condemnation but rather a reaction to what many see as unfair treatment by South Korean authorities, the Japanese outlet explains. In comments to Nikkei Asia, Yuttachai Suntornrattanavert, Vice President of the Thai Travel Agents Association (TTAA), noted that while the hashtag has been around for some time, its impact on travel trends is becoming more apparent. He pointed out that South Koreas attempt to ease travel restrictions by allowing extended stays for preapproved visitors inadvertently encouraged some Thais to overstay their visas and engage in illegal work, leading to stricter scrutiny and secondary inspections for all Thai travelers. As of September 2023, South Korean government data shows that there were 157,000 Thai nationals residing illegally in the country, a significant increase from previous years. This situation has contributed to the perception of South Korea as a less welcoming destination for Thai tourists. In response to these issues, many Thais have shifted their travel preferences to China and Japan. China, having waived entry visas for Thai citizens in March 2024, is expected to see a considerable rise in Thai visitors. The TTAA estimates that 1.2 million Thais will visit China this year, nearly double the number recorded in 2019. Chinas appeal lies in its diverse attractions and affordability, with travel costs significantly lower than those to South Korea. Japan is also becoming a favored destination due to the weak yen, which makes travel there more economical. The countrys vibrant cities, scenic landscapes, and unique culture are additional attractions for Thai tourists. Despite these shifts, the agency said in its report, South Korean tourism officials claim they have yet to see a substantial impact from the boycott. A manager at the Korea Association of Travel Agencies admitted limited awareness of the trends effects. MDT/Agencies The government has suspended its plan to reassign part of the Taipa Ferry Terminal facilities at Pac On for use by the Macau International Airport (MIA) as a second terminal facility due to a slower than expected passenger growth at the MIA, the Follow-up Committee for Public Finance Affairs of the Legislative Assembly (AL) learned from government officials. The information was shared yesterday in a media briefing after a meeting from the AL Committee that served for the approval and signing of the final report on the inspection of the governments Investment and Development Expenditure Plan (PIDDA) for the last quarter (Q4) of 2023 and first quarter (Q1) of this year. The Committee had noticed that the government had previously suspended the budget execution for the proposed plan and so questioned the executive on the reasons justifying the decision. In response, the government defended the decision with a slow recovery of airport passenger traffic after the epidemic [which] in 2023 was only about 5.15 million passengers, the report notes. The executive also noticed that the airports passenger traffic volume in Q1 of this year reached 1.8 million passengers and has recovered to around 77% of the peak in the same period of 2019. Even so, it is understood that the current capacity of the airports passenger terminal is still is sufficient to meet the needs of the current development of air traffic, as the terminals capacity is 10 million passengers per year. Therefore, at this moment, the construction of the airports second terminal is suspended. The government observed that the decision also considered the fact that the current terminal underwent expansion works, on the south side of the passenger terminal, that were completed in 2022, reaffirming that this expansion is sufficient to meet the needs of current development. In the future, taking into account the forecast for the development of Macaus air traffic and the development plan for airport facilities, the need to reopen the airports Second Terminal project will be studied in due time, the report concluded. Taipa heliport ready in 2H of 2025 The same committee also addressed the progress on work related to the construction of the heliport of the Taipa Ferry Terminal. The executive said that works are being prepared so that the existing heliport facilities can be modified to meet the operation requirements, pointing out that the new heliport facility should be ready to enter into operation in the second half of 2025. Officials also noted that, by changing the operating and management model of the heliport, it is expected that a more open environment will be provided, attracting more helicopter airlines to provide their services. Currently, the only helicopter flight operator in Macau is Sky Shuttle, offering some 30 weekly flights (in each direction) between Macau and Hong Kong as well as five weekly flights (in each direction) connecting Macau to the city of Shenzhen. The resumption of the helicopter service only took place in late January this year after being interrupted for four full years due to the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020. PIDDA execution rate increasing According to the president of the AL Committee, lawmaker Wong Kit Cheng, the PIDDA execution rate has been showing some improvement already in Q4 of 2023, improvements that continued in Q1 of 2024 when compared to the same period last year. Regarding the PIDDA of 2023, the execution rate was 85.4%, while the rate of budget usage reached 90%. Wong noted that these rates have recorded slight increases, respectively by 1.3% and 5.2% when compared to 2022. The execution rate of the PIDDA in Q1 this year has reached 29.8% with a budget execution rate of 79.4%. Such figures represent an increase in both rates, respectively by 8% and 10.4% when compared year-on-year with the Q1 of 2023. Wong noted that for the Committee this means that the works developed on the promotion of the increase of execution rates were satisfactory, she said, recognizing the effort of the government to present more accurate information and keep the Committee up-to-date with changes. Jannatul Prome hopes to leave Bangladesh to study more or possibly find a job after she finishes her university degree, frustrated by a system that she says doesnt reward merit and offers little opportunity for young people. We have very limited scope here, said the 21-year-old, who would have left sooner if her family had enough money to pay tuition at foreign universities for both her and her older brother at the same time. But recent events have given her hope that one day she might be able to return to a transformed Bangladesh. After 15 years in power, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country last week chased out by young protesters, Prome among them, who say they are fed up with the way her increasingly autocratic rule has stifled dissent, favored the elite and widened inequalities. Students initially poured into Bangladeshs streets in June, demanding an end to rules that set aside up to 30% of government jobs for the descendants of veterans who fought the countrys 1971 war of independence from Pakistan. Protesters said that benefitted supporters of Hasinas Awami League, which led that struggle and who already were part of the elite. The quota and others for marginalized groups meant only 44% of civil service jobs were awarded based on merit. That such jobs lay at the center of the movement was no coincidence: They are some of the most stable and best paying in a country where the economy has boomed in recent years but not created enough solid, professional jobs for its well-educated middle class. And that Generation Z led this uprising was also not surprising: Young people like Prome are among the most frustrated with and affected by the lack of opportunity in Bangladesh and at the same time, they are not beholden to the old taboos and narratives that the quota system reflected. Their willingness to break with the past was clear when Hasina belittled their demands in mid-July, asking who, if not the freedom fighters, should be awarded government jobs. Who will? The grandchildren of Razakars? Hasina retorted, using a deeply offensive word that refers to those who collaborated with Pakistan to quell Bangladeshs independence struggle. But the student protesters wore the word as a badge of honor. They marched on Dhaka Universitys campus, chanting: Who are you? Who am I? Razakar. Who said this? The dictator. The following day, protesters were killed during clashes with security forces only galvanizing the demonstrations, which widened into a broader uprising against Hasinas rule. Sabrina Karim, a professor at Cornell University who studies political violence and Bangladeshs military history, said that many of the protesters are so young they cannot remember a time before Hasina was prime minister. They were raised, like the generations before them, on stories of the independence struggle with Hasinas family at the center. Her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was the first leader of independent Bangladesh and was later assassinated in a military coup. But Karim said this narrative had much less meaning for the young protesters than it did for their grandparents. It doesnt resonate with them anymore as much as it did (before). And they want something new, she said. For Nourin Sultana Toma, a 22-year-old student at Dhaka University, Hasinas equating of the student protesters with traitors made her realize the gulf between what the youth wanted and what the government could provide. She said that she had watched as Bangladesh was slowly lulled into becoming immune to inequities and people lost hope that things would ever get better. The countrys longest-serving prime minister prided herself on boosting per capita income and transforming Bangladeshs economy into a global competitor fields turned into garment factories and bumpy roads became winding highways. But Toma said she saw the daily struggle of people trying to buy essentials or find work and her demand for basic rights met with insults and violence. It could no longer be tolerated, Toma said. This economic distress was keenly felt by Bangladeshs youth. Eighteen million young people in a country of 170 million are not working or in school, according to Chietigj Bajpaee, who researches South Asia at the Chatham House think tank. And after the pandemic, private sector jobs became even more scarce. Many young people try to study abroad or move overseas upon graduation in the hopes of finding decent work, decimating the middle class and resulting in brain drain. The class differences have widened, said Jannatun Nahar Ankan, a 28-year-old who works with a nonprofit in Dhaka and who joined the protests. Despite these problems, none of the protesters seems to have truly believed that their movement would be able to dethrone Hasina. Rafij Khan, 24, was on the streets preparing to join a protest when he heard Hasina had resigned and fled the country. He called home repeatedly to see if he could verify the news. He said that in the last days of the demonstrations, people from all classes, religions and professions had joined the students on the streets. Now they hugged one another, while others just sat on the ground in disbelief. I cant describe the joy that people felt that day, he said. Some of that euphoria is wearing off now as the enormity of the task ahead sinks in. Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus became the interim leader Thursday and he, along with a Cabinet that includes two student protest leaders, will have to restore peace, build institutions and prepare the country for fresh elections. The hope for most students is that the interim government gets time to repair Bangladeshs institutions while a new political party not led by the old political dynasties is formed. If you asked me to vote in elections right now, I dont know who Id vote for, said Khan. We dont want to replace one dictatorship with another. The young people who took to the streets have often been described as the I hate politics generation. But Azaher Uddin Anik, a 26-year-old digital security specialist and recent graduate of Dhaka University, said that is a misnomer. They dont hate all politics just the divisive politics in Bangladesh. And although he admits that the structural reforms that the country now needs may be more difficult than removing the prime minister, he is hopeful for the first time in a while. My last experience is telling me that the impossible can happen, he said. And maybe it isnt too late. ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL, MDT/AP The Legislative Assembly of Macau discussed the upcoming Macao Outdoor Performance Area during a question session on August 8. Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Ouyang Yu acknowledged concerns about the venues distance from the community and limited stalls, labeling it a pain point. Plans are in place to connect with local communities for large events to enhance economic activity. The performance area, set to open in 2025, will feature essential facilities for major events and a cross-departmental coordination group to ensure safety. The government aims to attract international performers and stimulate local small and medium-sized enterprises through community engagement initiatives. Related Police in Central District are investigating a theft involving HK$4.9 million from a luxury stores safe as reported by the store owner on Saturday, August 10. The incident has taken a tragic turn as authorities believe one suspect may have jumped into the sea after losing money at a local casino. On Sunday, August 11, police received a call at 1:33 p.m. regarding a floating body discovered near the No. 20 buoy, close to the tourist tower. The body was later retrieved and transported for further examination. Investigators identified the deceased as a 30-year-old male found wearing only gray underwear and lacking any identification. No signs of criminal activity were evident on the body. Following inquiries, it was confirmed yesterday that the man had jumped off the Amizade Bridge the previous day. This incident is an example of the ongoing challenges faced by law enforcement in addressing crime and the potential consequences of gambling-related stress. As the investigation continues, police urge anyone with information to come forward to aid in resolving the case. NS Authorities arrested a man in his thirties on August 9 for suspected drunk driving after he was stopped for riding a motorcycle without a helmet. The incident occurred around 5 a.m. on Avenida do Almirante Lacerda. Officers noticed the man was not wearing a helmet and, upon stopping him, officers detected the smell of alcohol. A breathalyzer test revealed a blood alcohol content of 1.44 grams per liter well above the legal limit (0.05 grams per liter). The man, who identified himself as a dealer, admitted to consuming alcohol two hours prior to the incident. He was subsequently transferred to the authorities for further legal action. NS Starting today, new parking regulations will take effect at the elderly apartment complex located on Av. do Nordestes Lot P, which is the newly developed area of Areia Preta. These regulations aim to streamline parking operations for both residents and visitors. The facility comprises of a three-level basement parking lot, offering a total of 345 spaces for private cars and 134 for motorcycles. Parking fees are structured to accommodate both daytime and nighttime usage. From 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., the cost for private car parking is MOP8 per hour, while nighttime rates are MOP4. For motorcycles, the daytime fee is MOP3 per hour, and MOP1.5 at night. Residents and visitors should be aware that parking is permitted for a maximum of eight consecutive days, which provides flexibility for those with long-term visitors or longer parking needs. The introduction of these fees is part of a broader initiative to manage parking resources effectively. This approach ensures efficient utilization of spaces while generating revenue to maintain the facilities. The government notes an increase in demand for parking spaces and aims to ensure fair access for the elderly community. To simplify the payment process, parking vouchers will be introduced, which allows for both daytime and nighttime tickets. This initiative is designed to enhance the overall parking experience for users. Local residents have expressed mixed feelings about the new charges to Chinese media. Some appreciate the effort to regulate parking, while others are concerned about the financial burden it may impose on elderly residents. As the implementation date approaches, management encourages residents to familiarize themselves with the new policies and prepare for the changes. Nadia Shaw Arianne Risso worked every day to help her patients battle cancer. That made it all the more heart wrenching when her life along with that of seven other doctors ended abruptly after a plane tumbled from the sky in Brazil. She boarded the ill-fated flight Friday in the city of Cascavel, in Parana state, bound for Sao Paulos Guarulhos international airport. It crashed in the city of Vinhedo, and footage of the ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop plunging while in a flat spin horrified people across Brazil. It smashed into the backyard of a home inside a gated community and transformed into a fiery wreck. All 62 people aboard were killed, among them the eight doctors, according to a statement from Paranas Medical Council. Risso and at least one colleague were headed for an oncology conference to sharpen their knowledge about a disease that kills tens of thousands of Brazilians every year. They were people used to saving lives, and now they lost theirs in such tragic circumstances, Parana Gov. Ratinho Junior told journalists in Vinhedo on Friday, adding that he had friends on the doomed plane. It is a sad day. Rissos cousin, Stephany Albuquerque, recalled in a phone interview that the two often played together when she was young. Even then, Risso wanted to become a doctor and, as she grew older, applied herself so intensively to her studies that she rarely went out on the town. Medicine was her calling. Arianne treated people who were terminally ill at a time in their lives when they were struggling. But Arianne was always available and did everything with a lot of love, Albuquerque told The Associated Press by phone from Florida, where she now lives. She wasnt the kind of doctor who would the tell the patient, This is your illness, take this. No, Arianne took care of people. She would give out her personal phone number to patients. Risso, 34, was flying with her colleague Mariana Belim, 31. The two had been in residencies at Cascavels cancer hospital, and a statement from the institution praised them for the conscientiousness, care and respect with which they treated their patients. Its no wonder that praise for them both would often reach us. Their love of the profession was very clear, the hospital said. Willian Rodrigo Feistler, a general practitioner who grew up in Cascavel, knew six people who died in the crash and was particularly close to Belim, with whom he studied and had maintained a 15-year friendship. Mariana was serene with a melancholic temperament, but very intelligent, empathetic and devoted to her profession, Feistler said by phone from Cascavel. She dedicated much of her life to studies and medical training. She had already specialized in clinical medicine and was completing her specialization in clinical oncology. Jose Roberto Leonel Ferreira, a recently retired doctor who also died in the fiery wreck, was one of Feistlers teachers during his undergraduate studies. He had a radiology clinic in Cascavel. I went over cases with him on several occasions. He was a receptive person who helped other doctors in the discussion of cases to reach diagnoses, Feistler said. Brazils Federal Council of Medicine said the loss of the doctors left Brazils medical world in mourning, and expressed its solidarity for the victims friends and relatives. They were venturing forth from Cascavel in search of knowledge as a means to better treat their patients, its statement said. For now, there are more questions about the crash than answers. Metsul, one of Brazils most respected meteorological companies, said Friday that there were reports of severe icing in Sao Paulo state around the time of the crash. Local media cited experts pointing to that as a potential cause, although others cautioned against jumping to a conclusion. Both the planes black boxes one with flight data and the other with cockpit audio were recovered. The air forces center for the investigation and prevention of air accidents began analyzing them at its laboratory in the nations capital, Brasilia. Airports Minister Silvio Costa Filho said the center was also opening a criminal probe. The airline Voepass and the French-Italian ATR manufacturer are assisting investigations, they said in statements. All of Brazil but in particular victims loved ones are eager to learn why these people were ripped from this world. It wasnt God who took my daughter; it wasnt God, because he chose her to save lives, Rissos mother, Fatima Albuquerque, told reporters yesterday [Macau time]. She said she blamed the crash on profit-hungry capitalists and authorities neglect. Stephany Albuquerque echoed her indignation. I only hope that the prosecutors will investigate, she said. I hope justice is done, because thats the least my cousin and the other 61 people deserve. ELEONORE HUGHES, RIO DE JANEIRO, MDT/AP Hong Kongs top court yesterday upheld the convictions of seven of Hong Kongs most prominent pro-democracy activists over their roles in one of the biggest anti-government protests in 2019. Jimmy Lai, founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper; Martin Lee, the founding chairman of the citys Democratic Party; and five former pro-democracy lawmakers were found guilty in 2021 of organizing and participating in an unauthorized assembly. Their convictions dealt a blow to the citys flagging pro-democracy movement during a political crackdown on dissidents following the protests. Last year, the activists partially won their appeal at a lower court, with their convictions quashed over the charge of organizing an unauthorized assembly. But their convictions over taking part in the assembly were upheld and they continued their legal battle at the citys top court. Yesterday, judges at the Court of Final Appeal unanimously ruled against their appeal over the remaining convictions. The defendants previously argued that the trial judge had failed to conduct an operational proportionality assessment when convicting them and quoted two non-binding decisions set out by the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. The defense also suggested the judge should have taken into account that the procession did not become violent. But Chief Justice Andrew Cheung and Justice Roberto Ribeiro said in their written judgment that the two British cases should not be adopted in the citys courts because the frameworks for human rights challenges in the two jurisdictions are different. They ruled that the defendants proposition was unsustainable and is contrary to all established principles governing constitutional challenges in Hong Kong. A separate proportionality inquiry in relation to arrest, prosecution, conviction and sentence is inappropriate and un-called for, they wrote. After the court handed down its decision, barrister Margaret Ng, one of the defendants, declined to comment before reading the judgment. We just want to take this occasion to thank our legal teams, and all the people who have been supporting us all the time, she said. The convictions were linked to their involvement in a rally in August 2019 that drew an estimated 1.7 million people onto Hong Kongs streets to call for greater police accountability and democracy. The march was relatively peaceful compared to other protests that often morphed into violent clashes between police and protesters that year. Hong Kong returned to China in 1997. Its mini-constitution, the Basic Law, guarantees its people freedom of assembly. When sentencing the seven activists in 2021, the trial judge at the District Court ruled that the right to such freedom is not absolute and is subject to restrictions ruled constitutional. She ordered Lai, Lee Cheuk-yan, Leung Kwok-hung and Cyd Ho to be jailed between eight and 18 months. Martin Lee, Ng and Albert Ho were given suspended jail sentences. When the appellate court partially overturned their convictions in 2023, it quashed part of the sentences for the four who were given jail terms on the record. The decision was made after they already served out their sentences. Lai, Lee Cheuk-yan, Leung and Albert Ho still remained in custody as they were also prosecuted or convicted under the national security law, which critics said has all but wiped out public dissent. Lai was also serving a prison term for a separate fraud case. The Beijing and Hong Kong governments said the security law was necessary to bring back stability to the city following the protests. KANIS LEUNG, HONG KONG, MDT/AP The search continues after a man, 44, was reported missing Monday afternoon after going kayaking on Big Green Lake on Sunday and not returning home that night, according to the Green Lake County Sheriff's Office. Chief Deputy Matthew Vande Kolk said the Dodge County Sheriff's Office initially notified the Green Lake County Sheriff's Office about the kayaker. Authorities subsequently checked the area and located an overturned, unoccupied kayak with a life jacket attached, he said. Public safety officials, including the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, conducted a search beginning at 5:34 a.m. Monday. The man's vehicle was located near Dodge Memorial Park, Vande Kolk said. The search was suspended at 8 p.m. and resumed Tuesday. Meanwhile, Facebook post from Lakeside Lutheran High School in Lake Mills Monday said "Ryan Borgwardt went for a kayak ride last night on Green Lake near Princeton and never returned. His kayak was found and a rescue team is searching for him." Vande Kolk said more information will be provided when it becomes available. Find up-to-the-minute results for every contested race in Wisconsins primary election below: U.S. Senate and House, state legislature and more. App users: Tap here to see the results. Closely watched races include choosing a Republican challenger to U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who is seeking a third term. There are also primaries in two U.S. House districts that could be important for control of Congress. The Republican-controlled state Legislature will probably be reshaped after Democratic Gov. Tony Evers signed new legislative maps into law earlier this year. Almost two-thirds of the seats in the 99-member Assembly are open. Los Angeles, United StatesElon Musks much-trailed interview with Donald Trump got off to a rocky start on Monday after what the controversial entrepreneur said was a cyber attack on his social media platform. What was billed as a no limits conversation started more than half an hour late, with many people unable to listen in live, in an embarrassing setback for both men. - Advertisement - There appears to be a massive DDOS attack on X. Working on shutting it down, Musk, the worlds richest man, wrote on the platform formerly known as Twitter. The conversation between the two men was intended to help reinvigorate Trumps stuttering campaign, which has flagged since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. Musk, who has said he previously voted Democrat, has thrown his weightand his wealthbehind Trump since a gunman tried to assassinate the Republican at a rally last month. But apparent technical difficulties, which come after Musk fired swathes of staff, also served as a reminder that the Tesla boss had once backed Trump rival Ron DeSantis, whose campaign launch on the platform was also beset by problems. We tested the system with 8 million concurrent listeners earlier today, Musk wrote. Trump was banned from Twitter after a mob of his supporters stormed the US Capitol in January 2021, but Musk reinstated him when he took the platform over and renamed it. The Republican posted multiple campaign ads under his @realDonaldTrump handle on Monday, as well as links to his website. Musk, the worlds richest person according to Forbes, has emerged as a major voice in US politics, but is accused of turning X into a megaphone for right-wing conspiracy theories. He is one of the Democrats fiercest critics, leveraging his 194 million-strong following on X to assail liberal efforts to boost diversity and inclusionwhat he calls the woke mind virusand the White Houses handling of the southern border. He frequently spreads far-right misinformation about undocumented immigrants and voter fraud. Trump, meanwhile, is struggling to pivot in the face of surging enthusiasm and strong polls for Kamala Harris since she took over from Biden as the Democratic candidate. The conversation was never expected to be challenging; the previously rocky relationship between the tech tycoon and the Republican nominee has been transformed, tracking Musks rise to hero status among young men aligned with Trumps views. It is this audience, which does not watch rallies or tune in to conservative cable news, that Trump hopes to woo. Trump, 78, also took part in an interview last week with internet influencer Adin Ross who has been repeatedly banned from streaming site Twitch for policy violations. Greater responsibility X is juggling multiple federal investigations, giving Musk common cause with Trump, who faces more than a dozen felony charges over his efforts to overturn the result of the 2020 election. Musk has become increasingly focused on priorities shared with the Republican hard-right, voicing anger over supposed censorship of conservatives and spreading inflammatory and false news stories about immigration. New analysis from the Center for Countering Digital Hate shows that Musks false or misleading claims about the US elections have been viewed nearly 1.2 billion times on X. The European Union, which is investigating X under laws requiring digital firms to properly police online content, wrote to Musk Monday to remind him of his legal duty to stop harmful material from spreading on the platform. With great audience comes greater responsibility, the blocs top digital official Thierry Breton posted on the platform, along with the letter laying out Musks obligations to combat illegal content and disinformation under EU law. Musk mocked Breton, saying the official reminded him of a French character from 1975 British comedy movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail. He then responded again, this time with a meme based on the 2008 US comedy movie Tropic Thunder that carried an obscene message. Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung accused the EU of election interference and told it to mind their own business. Let us be very clear: the European Union is an enemy of free speech and has no authority of any kind to dictate how we campaign, he said. Editors Note: This story has been updated. Originally posted with the headline Trump to be interviewed by supporter Elon Musk on X. President Ferdinand Marcos approved in the principle the proposed creation of a cabinet cluster for education to address systemic issues in the Philippine education sector. In a Palace briefing yesterday, Department of Education chief Sonny Angara said the proposal aims to streamline and integrate efforts across various agencies to improve the education system, which has faced criticism for its lack of coordination and effectiveness. - Advertisement - We are very thankful to the President for his swift action. Actually, its our first presentation on this. The presentation was made by Director (Karol) Yee of the EDCOM 2, Angara said. President basically toward the end of the meeting, he said, in principle, he approves of it and hed like us to fast-track some of the actions because he sees the urgency, and its a very deep-seated problem, he added, During a recent sectoral meeting with Mr. Marcos, Yee presented the proposal, highlighting the need for a unified approach to tackle educational challenges. The proposed Cabinet Cluster will develop a ten-year integrated national education and workforce development plan. This plan aims to ensure that all educational levels, from early childhood to higher education and technical-vocational training, receive positive interventions and support. Yee said the countrys education system is currently facing a significant learning gap, with Philippine graduates reportedly lacking 5.5 years of education compared to global standards. The proposal also addresses deficiencies in high school science education and guidance counseling. According to Yee, many science teachers lack relevant qualifications, and there are significant shortages of guidance counselors, exacerbating issues like bullying and loneliness among students. Angara, moreover, noted that the proposed cluster will include the DepEd, Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). Editors Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline Marcos OKs proposed Cabinet Cluster for Education WE ARE holding our breath behind the blinds as the National Maritime Council convenes this week to discuss the national governments response to Chinasharrasing behavior in the West Philippine Sea. The Council, chaired by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, will convene any day to discuss the national governments response to the dangerous maneuvers and dropping of flares by two Peoples Liberation Army Air Force aircraft against a Philippine Air Force propeller aircraft during a routine maritime patrol over Bajo de Masinloc, a ring-shaped coral reef also known as Panatag Shoal or Scarborough Shoal. - Advertisement - The Philippines claims the northeastern section of the Spratly Islands as the Kalayaan Island Group, in addition to the Scarborough Shoal it calls Bajo de Masinloc, 120 nautical miles from the Luzon shoreline and is clearly within the Philippines 200-mile exclusive economic zone, and is 594 nautical miles from Chinas Hainan island. Malaysia claims part of the Kalayaan Island, while China and Taiwan claim the entirety of the island group. On Sunday, President Ferdinand Marcos called Chinas actions unjustified, illegal and reckless. Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said he expects Chinas harassment of aerial patrols by the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea to be a continuous pattern. Teodoro said the National Maritime Council will consider these thingsthis continuous pattern that China will do against usthis continuous struggle for presence and for assertion of sovereign rights in the area so you will have to expect these things to happen. He said the national government cannot afford to do nothing, even if it means another diplomatic protest should be filed against China, lest the public see this as the administrations acquiescence to China, adding the latest incursion by China in the airspace of the Philippines can be considered a violation of the Filipino peoples rights. We agree with Teodoro when he admitted such incursion is a violation of the rights of the Filipino fisherfolk to earn a livelihood and a violation of the future generation of Filipinos to the sovereign right under the exclusive economic zone, and perhaps the extended continental shelf. But Teodoro hoped China would comply with international law and on the need to de-escalate tensions. While the latest agreement between the Philippines and China only covers de-escalating tensions during resupply missions to BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Teresita Daza said the Philippines adopts a de-escalatory approach to tensions in the WPS. The Philippines remains committed to diplomacy and peaceful means of resolving disputes, Daza said in a statement. Mozambican and Chinese military doctors are exchanging experiences on the Chinese navys Peace Ark hospital ship, moored in Maputo Port, which has the capacity to treat 700 people a day, a Mozambican military source said. We as the armed forces, civil health and the Chinese navy team will be [on the ship]. As doctors, the fact that they are interacting with other colleagues from another region () is a moment that we believe is an opportunity for the exchange of experience and mutual learning, said Sidonia Massangaie, director of the health department at the General Staff of the Armed Defense Forces of Mozambique (FADM). Chinas Peace Ark ship will be docked in Maputo Port until the 15th of this August 2024 to provide medical and medication support and assistance to Mozambican military personnel, their dependents and the general population. This is the second time that Chinas Peace Ark has docked in Mozambique, as part of the cooperation between the two countries, after having been in the African country in 2017, when at least 16,000 patients were treated. Turkey has hosted a second round of talks between Ethiopia and Somalia, addressing tensions sparked by Ethiopias agreement with Somaliland. The deal, which would grant Ethiopia sea access in exchange for recognizing Somalilands independence, has been condemned by Somalia as a violation of its sovereignty. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held separate meetings with Ethiopian and Somali counterparts in Ankara, facilitating indirect negotiations. Turkey has proposed an arrangement ensuring Ethiopias sea access via Somalia while respecting Somalias territorial integrity. The dispute has raised concerns of potential conflict, with Somalia threatening to wage war over the issue. Turkeys involvement reflects its growing African influence. Turkish President Erdogan has personally engaged with both countries leaders, encouraging a peaceful resolution. Turkeys role is significant, given its close ties with Somalia and economic relations with Ethiopia. The talks, initially scheduled for September, were brought forward following Fidans recent visit to Ethiopia. This urgency underscores the situations gravity and the international communitys desire for a swift, peaceful resolution. As negotiations continue, the outcome could have far-reaching implications for regional stability and economic development in East Africa. The delicate balance between Ethiopias need for sea access and Somalias territorial concerns remains a critical challenge in these ongoing diplomatic efforts. The workers at one of the busiest airports in Africa, the international airport in Nairobi, Kenyas capital, announced a strike on Monday, August 19, to protest a deal with the Indian company Adani to modernization and extend the facility. Moss Ndiema, the General Secretary of the Kenya Aviation Workers Union (KAWU), declared that his 10,000 members will join the protest. We are opposed to the agreement with Adani, which we believe has not followed the legal procedure. Documents state that in return for a 30-year operating right, the Adani Group will invest $1.85 billion (about 1.7 billion) to expand Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA). The Kenya Aviation Authority (KAA) reports that the Indian company also plans to renovate the passenger terminal and construct a second runway. According to Moss Ndiema, we suspect this public-private partnership idea is tinged with corrupt intentions, and people want to rip off KAA. Put simply, they aim to seize control of JKIA and privatize it without adhering to the proper procedures. The Kenyan government, which is facing a significant public debt, is defending the agreement to renovate one of the busiest airport hubs on the continent, frequently plagued by power outages and leaks. The Adani Group, which is involved in a number of industries including media, food, coal mining, power generation, and cement, saw a significant decline in value on the stock market last year after being charged with shameless share manipulation and accounting fraud over several decades by US investment group Hindenburg Research. The family-owned conglomerates founder, Gautam Adani, who is ranked as the 12th richest person in the world by Bloomberg, had called Hindenburgs charges a deliberate attempt to harm his reputation in order to help short sellers. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: CC0 Public Domain In recent weeks, Dallas has seen an increase in reported cases of COVID-19 and increased levels of the virus in wastewater. The spread is part of an annual summer wave, according to doctors and officials, and there are many ways to protect against infection amid the uptick in cases. Dallas County had 78 positive COVID-19 cases reported daily on a seven-day rolling average last week, according to the Dallas County Health and Human Services website, which was last updated Aug. 9. But this number doesn't tell the full story. In March, the government stopped requiring providers to report test results for COVID-19. Reporting cases is now voluntary, and most home tests go unreported. "One could certainly surmise that people are testing positive at home," said Steve Love, president of the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council. "Probably there are a few more cases out there than people know." Answers in wastewater After reporting requirement changes, wastewater surveillance is an important resource for understanding infection. Wastewater surveillance involves testing sewage for a virus to track its presence in a community. Wastewater data collected from Dallas' central water treatment plant showed levels of coronavirus increased by nearly tenfold from May to August, according to data from WastewaterSCAN. Increasing levels of the virus in wastewater were higher in Texas than in the region and the country in the last 45 days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Wastewater Surveillance System. Dr. Trish Perl, professor at the school of public health at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, said wastewater data is a "canary in the coal mine" for understanding how COVID-19 cases are trending. "Generally we see that go up about two to three weeks before we start seeing a lot of human cases," Perl said. National positivity rates are also increasing. The CDC estimated in July that COVID-19 infections are growing or likely growing in 35 states and territories, including Texas. National trends for test positivity, emergency department visits, hospitalizations and deaths due to COVID-19 all increased this summer, according to CDC data. A summer wave While an increase in cases has been observed in Dallas, it's not necessarily a spike, said Dr. Philip Huang, director of the county's health department. "We know it's been going up, but it's certainly not at the levels of what we've seen in the past," Huang said. Love said the increase seen last summer will likely come next summer, too. With more travel and hotter weather that encourages staying indoors, transmission of COVID-19 tends to increase in the summer months. "It's nothing to panic about," Love said. While cases are increasing, the COVID-19 hospital admission level is still low for Dallas County, according to the CDC. But hospitalizations and even deaths are still reported from the virus. "We aren't seeing a lot of hospitalized cases, but we are seeing some," Perl said. "I think there's this sense that people aren't getting really sick anymore. It's true that we're not seeing as much severe disease, but it is affecting some people very seriously." What to know about vaccines The summer increase in COVID-19 cases may also be due to waning protection from the vaccine as more time passes between shots, Huang said. This makes it especially important to get an updated vaccine when it becomes available. The new vaccine should be coming out later this month or in September, Perl said, and the CDC recommends everyone ages 6 months and older receive it. Perl said it's especially important to get vaccinated if you're immunocompromised or have a high-risk condition, or if you are often in contact with people in those groups. Huang advises getting caught up on all recommended vaccines ahead of a new school semester. The county has several community vaccination clinics, and other vaccine options can be found at vaccines.gov. Updated vaccines can also protect against specific circulating variants. The current circulating strains are all descendants of omicron, Perl said. In the national data, the KP.3 variant is most prominent, according to Perl, and in Dallas County, JN.1 and LB.1 strains are also circulating. Local data showed KP strains were most prominent in the county, she said. "The new vaccine that will be coming out has been reformulated to target these KP strains," Perl said. "The initial data from animals really suggests that it's much more effective against what's circulating." What to know about long COVID Perl said clinics treating patients with long COVID, an illness where symptoms persist for an extended period past an initial COVID infection, have been busy. She doesn't have data on long COVID diagnoses in Dallas, and researchers don't always agree on a definition of the illness. But she said the best estimates are that about 10% of COVID infections are associated with long COVID. Even people who are asymptomatic when infected by the coronavirus can get long COVID, Perl said, but people who are vaccinated are much less likely to develop the illness. Scientists are still seeking to understand the long-term impacts of the virus. "Many [doctors] tell me we need to be cautious of what are the long-term effects of COVID, because we're still learning," Love said. Take steps to protect yourself As schools go back into session and the flu season approaches, Perl recommends taking extra precautions to protect against respiratory viruses. "When you start seeing an increase in COVID, commonly you're also seeing an increase in other respiratory viruses," Perl said. "They kind of all work together." Perl recommends keeping good hand hygiene, coughing and sneezing into your arm, encouraging kids to wash their hands and staying home if you have respiratory symptoms. If a child has a fever, they should stay home and not return to school until they've gone 24 hours without one, Perl said. Huang recommends considering wearing a mask in crowded, indoor or poorly ventilated areas if you're at a high risk of getting sick from COVID-19. Look out for symptoms of the virus, like a sore throat, shortness of breath, cough, new loss of taste or smell, fatigue, runny nose or a slight fever. Get tested if you have symptoms, Huang said. If you get COVID-19, Huang recommends taking advantage of treatments that are available. While COVID-19s presence in our lives looks different from four years ago, the summer uptick in cases is still a good reminder to practice healthy habits. "With the COVID pandemic, we've really gotten a very important appreciation for the impact that respiratory viruses can have on human health," Perl said. 2024 The Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Researchers from the Center for Injury Research and Policy and Central Ohio Poison Center at Nationwide Children's Hospital have found more than an estimated 8,000 visits to U.S. emergency departments (EDs) associated with water beads from 2007 through 2022, and the number of these visits increased rapidly by more than 130% from 2021 to 2022. In a study published in American Journal of Emergency Medicine, researchers analyzed 16 years of data and call for a more comprehensive regulatory approach to prevent water bead-associated injuries. The increase in ED visits occurred despite product recalls and the current ASTM F963-23 voluntary toy safety standard, indicating that current prevention strategies are not sufficient. Water beads are made from superabsorbent material that can swell to hundreds of times their original size when exposed to fluids. They are commonly sold as child sensory products, gel projectiles for toy "gel blaster" guns, and decorations. If swallowed, they can expand in the gastrointestinal tract and cause intestinal blockage and even death. They can also cause injury if placed in the ear canal or nose. According to the study, there were an estimated 8,159 visits to U.S. emergency departments from 2007 through 2022 involving water beads among people younger than 20 years. More than half (55%) of cases involved children younger than 5 years. Most emergency department visits in this study involved children swallowing water beads (46%), followed by putting water beads in the ear (33%) or nose (12%). Eye injuries made up 9% of cases in this study. Most patients were treated and released (92%). The proportion of cases admitted was highest among children younger than 5 years (10%), and this age group accounted for most (90%) of admissions in this study. All admissions among children younger than 5 years involved swallowing water beads. "The number of pediatric water bead-related emergency department visits is increasing rapidly," said Gary Smith, MD, DrPH, senior author of the study and director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's. "Although swallowing objects and putting them into an ear or the nose are common among children, water beads pose a unique increased risk of harm because of their expanding properties, and they're hard to detect with X-rays." Water beads in dehydrated form are often sold in sets of tens of thousands, which makes it more likely that misplaced water beads in the home will not be noticed until found by a young child, a group known for exploring their environment by placing objects in their mouthespecially objects like water beads that look like candy. Water bead toy safety is covered in the ASTM toy safety standard, ASTM F963. The standard addresses bowel obstruction by limiting the size of water beads to the narrowest part of the gastrointestinal tract of a small 18-month-old child. "The current safety standard is inadequate," said Dr. Smith. "Serious outcomes have occurred to children younger than 18 months, and one-fifth of the water beads swallowed in this study were among children younger than 18 months with the youngest child being 7 months old. Therefore, using intestinal measurements for 18-month-olds is not adequate." The ASTM F963 toy safety standard also does not address water beads marketed to individuals 14 years or older as gel blasters or used for home decoration or other purposes. "Regardless of the intended user or marketing strategy used, a water bead that becomes accessible to a child has the same high-risk characteristics and potential harms. This underscores the need for a more comprehensive regulatory approach," said Dr. Smith. "To be successful, revisions of the ASTM F693 standard and other policy efforts should focus on the primary characteristic of water beads that makes them hazardous, which is their expanding nature." Legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate (S.4298, Esther's Law) in May 2024 would ban water beads that expand by 50% or more with hydration or expand to a size of 3 millimeters or larger. This legislation followed a similar bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R.6468) in November 2023, titled the "Ban Water Beads Act," and applies to water beads marketed not only as toys, but as educational materials, art materials or art material products, or sensory stimulation materials or sensory tools. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is also considering regulation of water bead safety. Major U.S. retailers have stopped selling water bead toys in stores and online. "Many parents are not aware that water beads can be harmful to children," said Marcel Casavant, MD, co-author of this study and physician at Nationwide Children's Hospital. "If children younger than six years or with developmental delays live in or visit your home, keep water beads out of your home and talk with your childcare directors, preschool teachers, therapists, and others who may be using water beads with young children." Data for this study were obtained from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) database, which is maintained by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The NEISS database provides information on consumer product-related and sports- and recreation-related injuries treated in hospital emergency departments across the country. More information: Holden J. Joynes et al, Pediatric water bead-related visits to United States emergency departments, The American Journal of Emergency Medicine (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.ajem.2024.07.048 Journal information: American Journal of Emergency Medicine 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: Origami-inspired soft robotic electrode array that can be deployed on the brain surface for minimally invasive surgical neural mapping. Credit: Lawrence Coles (University of Cambridge) A research team led by the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge have created new 'origami-inspired' brain electrodes that can fold up to a fraction of their full size. This advance could significantly reduce the amount of surgery needed to treat conditions such as epilepsy, or to install brain-computer interfaces. Measuring brain electrical activity is essential to accurately diagnose and treat conditions such as epilepsy. However, this often requires surgeons to cut out a large window in the skull (a craniotomy) to place electrodes directly onto the brain surface. This highly invasive procedure typically entails a prolonged recovery period, and poses severe infection risks. The study, "Origami-inspired soft fluidic actuation for minimally invasive large-area electrocorticography" published in Nature Communications, demonstrated that using a folding design for brain electrodes could reduce the incision area needed by about five times, without affecting functionality. Senior author Associate Professor Christopher Proctor (Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford) said, "This study presents a new approach to directly interfacing with large areas of the brain through a key-hole like surgery. The potential significance of this work is two-fold. First, there is the promise of a less invasive diagnostic tool for epilepsy patients. Second, we envision the minimally invasive nature will enable new applications in brain machine interfaces." Illustration of the origami-inspired electrode array unfolding on the surface of the brain after minimally invasive surgical implantation. Credit: Massimo Mariello (University of Oxford) When fully expanded, the device resembles a flat, rectangular silicone wafer with 32 embedded electrodes, attached to a cable. The waferaround 70 microns thick (about the width of a human hair)is then folded up, accordion-like, enabling it to fit through a slit just 6 mm across. Once in position on the brain surface, a pressurized fluid-filled chamber in the wafer inflates and unfolds the device to cover an area five times larger, up to 600 mm2. In comparison, applying a non-folding device of the same size would typically require cutting out an area of at least 600 mm2 from the skull. The researchers confirmed the device's functionality by testing it on anesthetized pigs, using facilities at the Universities of Cambridge and Bologna. This demonstrated that the unfolded electrodes were able to accurately detect and record brain activity. According to the team, the device could potentially start to be used to treat human patients within a few years. Around 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, which carries a risk of premature death up to three times higher than for the general population (World Health Organization). Thin-film soft robotic electrode array designed for safer and less invasive epilepsy surgical mapping. Credit: Lawrence Coles (University of Cambridge) Lead-author Dr. Lawrence Coles (Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge) said, "We are now working with clinical partners to refine the design with the aim of starting trials in human patients within two years. Besides epilepsy, this approach could be used to diagnose and treat other conditions that result in brain seizures, such as certain brain tumors." According to the researchers, the fold-up design could also reduce the amount of surgery needed to install brain-computer interfaces, which could benefit people with disabilities as well as optimize human-computer interactions. "Brain-computer interfaces are an incredibly fast-moving and promising area of development," Dr. Coles added. "A particularly exciting area is direct speech decoding, where electrodes measure signals directly off the brain surface itself to translate what the person is trying to say." Ley Sander, medical director at the Epilepsy Society and Professor of Neurology at UCL (who was not involved with the study) said, "This is an exciting new approach to brain surgery, but it is very much in its infancy. Anything that reduces the invasive nature of brain surgery and the risk of infection has to be welcomed, particularly if it promises a shorter recovery time. "Brain surgery is only possible for people for whom we are able to pinpoint the area of the brain where their seizures occur, but in these cases, it offers real hope of seizure freedom." More information: Lawrence Coles et al, Origami-inspired soft fluidic actuation for minimally invasive large-area electrocorticography, Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50597-2 Journal information: Nature Communications 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: Graphical abstract. Credit: Cell Reports (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114498 Researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Immunotherapy (LIT) studied hundreds of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). They discovered that specific mutations in the STAG2 protein cause altered DNA folding in the cell nucleus, thereby contributing to the development of AML. The research is published in the journal Cell Reports. The three-dimensional structure of DNA in the nucleus is stabilized by the cohesin protein complex. It helps to properly fold the DNA and thus regulate gene activity. Cohesin contains two very similar subunits, STAG1 or STAG2. In myeloid leukemias, mutations in the cohesin subunit STAG2 are particularly common, while those in STAG1 are almost never observed. "We wanted to find out why the STAG2 subunit is so often affected and how a mutation leading to the loss of cohesin complex function could contribute to the development of leukemia," explains Prof. Michael Rehli, the head of the LIT research group. In collaboration with Prof. Ruud Delwel of the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the researchers examined changes in the spatial DNA structure in AML patient samples with and without cohesin mutations. They found that mutations in STAG2 lead to alterations in the DNA structure in AML cells. These changes impair normal gene regulation, resulting in certain genes being either overly activated or not activated at all. What is particularly remarkable about this discovery is that these disturbances cannot be compensated for by the STAG1 protein, highlighting the role of STAG2 in AML. In a further step, the researchers examined hematopoietic stem cells from the umbilical cord blood of newborns. These stem cells are precursor cells that can develop into blood and immune cells. "We deactivated STAG2 in these cells, after which they struggled to develop normally and remained in an immature statea characteristic typical of AML. Interestingly, this problem did not occur when STAG1 was deactivated instead. This shows how important STAG2 is for the normal development of these cells," explains lead author Dr. Alexander Fischer. The results illustrate that STAG2 plays a central role in the organization of DNA, the regulation of gene activity, and the differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells into blood and immune cells. Mutations in the STAG2 gene can therefore lead to the development of AML. "This innovative research provides valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms of AML and could open up new approaches for diagnosis and therapy," says project leader Dr. Claudia Gebhard. More information: Alexander Fischer et al, STAG2 mutations reshape the cohesin-structured spatial chromatin architecture to drive gene regulation in acute myeloid leukemia, Cell Reports (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114498 Journal information: Cell Reports Provided by Leibniz Institute for Immunotherapy Anthony D. Martinez, MD, is the director of the La Bodega hepatology clinic at the Erie County Medical Center. Martinez Receives Global Honor for Hepatitis Work By Dirk Hoffman The accolades for the work being done at the La Bodega hepatology clinic at the Erie County Medical Center continue to roll in. Our mission at La Bodega is rooted in love, and all that defines love: passion, awe, allegiance, respect, justice and compassion. Anthony D. Martinez, MD Associate professor of medicine and director of clinic Anthony D. Martinez, MD, associate professor of medicine at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and director of the clinic, has been named a 2024 Elimination Champion by the Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination. Martinez was one of eight people recognized and the only U.S. representative. Other Elimination Champion awardees included two from Uruguay, and one each from Nigeria, Australia and Thailand. Two other individuals were given special recognition as Legacy Award winners. The award recognizes outstanding individuals in acknowledgment of their contributions to health equity in the fight for global hepatitis elimination, according to the website of the coalition, which is part of The Task Force for Global Health. Worldwide Recognition for Novel Co-Localized Model The honor is a continuation of the recognition La Bodega has received nationally and globally as a novel co-localized model for managing viral hepatitis and addiction disorders. Were deeply honored to be the only U.S. representative this year. Im also incredibly proud to represent the Mexican-American and Latino community, Martinez says. Most importantly, this award honors the team and all of the patients. None of this works without the people that comprise the Bodega. Its a testament to the teams commitment, tireless efforts and dedication to the community, he adds. Its also a great tribute to our patients. These folks have no idea how they have changed the world. They are the foundation for every single thing that we do. Martinez, who works in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at the Jacobs School and sees patients through UBMD Internal Medicine, notes that in his award acceptance interview with the coalition he mentioned our work may not fix most of what is broken in the world, but our hope is to make some progress in equity in our society. Our mission at La Bodega is rooted in love, and all that defines love: passion, awe, allegiance, respect, justice and compassion. More Than 5,000 Patients Treated Since the program began in 2013, Martinez and his team have treated more than 5,000 people with the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Martinez says one of the best aspects of the Bodega is the thousands of names and messages inscribed on its walls, left behind by those who have been cured of HCV. Those names urge us on, a constant reminder of who we are fighting for, he says. I think thats what this award is about: the people who have made us. Martinez structured La Bodega as a comprehensive hepatology clinic which has a built-in addiction medicine program because liver disease and addiction disorders are often connected. The model is a co-localized approach, which utilizes an outreach team of social workers who partner with a number of addiction facilities. Involved in U.S. Effort to Eliminate Hepatitis In 2024, the clinic started a new same-day rapid start model for HCV treatment and has treated almost 300 patients, including high-risk pregnant women, Martinez says. We are currently one of the only models implementing a rapid approach start in the country (and globally) at this volume, he says. The program was also awarded a New York State Department of Health Commissioners Special Recognition Award in honor of World AIDS Day for the second time in 2023. It first received the honor in 2018. Martinezs team has been involved with the national elimination plan for hepatitis C; Rachael Fleurence, PhD, a senior adviser at the National Institutes of Health and to the White House, visited La Bodega last December. She came to see how our program works and how it could be a model for national HCV elimination. We continue to work on this initiative, Martinez says. Earlier this year it was also announced that a new point-of-care testing machine was FDA-approved, which will contribute to the rapid diagnosis of HCV and could accelerate elimination efforts, he adds. We are in the final stages of acquiring two machines and implementing an outreach program in the addiction, incarceration and post-incarceration settings, Martinez says. Great Ambassador for UB on Global Scale Under the baton of its music director, Russian-born conductor Vasily Petrenko, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra launched a tour of China on Thursday with nine concerts in seven cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Xiamen, Fujian province. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's violinist Ray Chen and conductor Vasily Petrenko perform at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing on Thursday. CHINA DAILY The tour, which concludes on Sunday, marks the orchestra's first visit to China with Petrenko and its first tour of the country since the COVID-19 pandemic. The orchestra and Petrenko are performing a repertoire comprising a rich blend of British, Chinese and Russian music, including works by Benjamin Britten, Tan Dun, Guan Xia, Dmitri Shostakovich and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. "All the programs are designed to show how music bridges and connects cultures and people, to show that classical music is one of the most unique forms of art, which allows people in any nation, background or religion to enjoy and experience the same emotions," the conductor said in Beijing on Wednesday, a day before the orchestra's two concerts at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing on Thursday and Friday. "Nowadays, when the world is in turbulence, it is important to show the world how it is possible to deliver harmony and peace." One of the highlights on the program is a specially arranged orchestral suite from the Chinese opera Mulan by composer Guan. Having premiered 20 years ago, the Chinese opera was based on the legendary story about a young girl named Hua Mulan in ancient China who takes on a male identity to replace her ailing father to join the army and save her country from the intruder. "The suite that we are playing combines all the themes from the opera, such as the wedding music, the war music, and the march music. It's very special for me and it's the first time for me to perform it," says Petrenko. Asked about his approach to a new music piece, the conductor says that, "It's like reading a book, but there is difference. "When you are reading a book, you read it line by line. When you read the music, you need to see the whole picture. It feels like there are 10 people in the books who are talking at the same time. That's what a conductor hears in an orchestra," he says. "By reading the score, you just hear it in your mind." Violinist Ray Chen, who was born in Taiwan and raised in Australia, will join the orchestra and Petrenko on the tour, performing Austrian-American composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold's Violin Concerto in D Major, Op 35, which will coincide with the release on the Deutsche Grammophon label of his new recording of the concerto, also with the orchestra. Other music works on the program will be excerpts from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Cello Concerto by Tan, Shostakovich's Symphony No 5 and Scheherazade, Op 35, an orchestral suite by Russian composer Rimsky-Korsakov that was inspired by the collection of largely Middle Eastern and Indian tales known as The Thousand and One Nights (or The Arabian Nights). British composer Benjamin Britten's Four Sea Interludes from the composer's first successful opera Peter Grimes will also be performed during the tour. "I've been to China many times with different orchestras from around the world. I have seen new concert halls built in China over the last 20 years and I feel that people are coming to the concerts because they have a habit for it. They want to come to the concerts because classical music is part of their lives," says Petrenko. "China, in terms of audience, is picking up strongly in all aspects, like understanding and youth the country has one of the youngest audiences in the world. "I learned that the concert (Thursday's at the NCPA) is completely sold out. For other concerts, 80 or 90 percent of the tickets are sold," he adds. According to Huw Davies, acting managing director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, since Petrenko became the music director of the orchestra in 2021, he has been expanding repertories and working with the musicians to show the orchestra's quality. "He is a true collaborator, encouraging and inspiring our musicians," says Davies. It's been about seven years since the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra made its last tour in China, Davies notes. "It is a tremendous honor for the orchestra to return to China after a long absence. Throughout its history, the orchestra has toured China and the seeds of partnerships have been planted with many of China's most prestigious and influential cultural institutions. We are excited by the possibilities that these partnerships present and look forward to establishing new ones, strengthening our cultural connections and bringing the joy of orchestral music to audiences across China," he says. Last year, a new memorandum of understanding forging a closer partnership was signed between the orchestra and the NCPA. This collaboration will see Royal Philharmonic Orchestra musicians and staff members working in partnership with musicians from the NCPA's resident orchestra the China NCPA Orchestra. In 2004, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra performed in Shanghai to mark the reopening of the Shanghai Concert Hall. During the latest tour, the orchestra returned to mark the 20th anniversary of the Shanghai Concert Hall with two concerts on Saturday and Sunday. "As audiences eagerly anticipate the resonant strains of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Petrenko's direction, this tour promises not just performances but an immersive journey of cultural fusion and artistic renewal, affirming music's timeless power to unite and inspire across borders," says Wray Armstrong, general manager of Poly Armstrong International Arts and Communication Co, also the founder and chairman of Armstrong Music and Arts, which Armstrong founded in 2009 in Beijing, bringing a number of the world's leading classical music artists to China and introducing top Chinese classical musicians to an international audience. Following a partnership signing attended by the British Ambassador to China Caroline Wilson DCMG in Beijing in March last year, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's visit to Beijing will mark the start of a multiyear collaboration with Beijing Poly Theatre Management Co designed to widen access to great orchestral music across China. " " The youngest person on the Forbes World's Billionaires List is 19 years old at the time of publishing. VladSt / Getty Images While the average billionaire is 66 years old, theres a dramatic shift taking place in the world of wealth. A new generation of billionaires is making headlines with their impressive fortunes. Around the globe, 14 individuals have reached a net worth of over $1 billion despite being 30 years old or younger and the youngest billionaire is still in her teens. Among these rising stars, Clemente Del Vecchio and Kim Jung-youn stand out as two of the youngest, each under 20 years old. Their fortunes are largely inherited, coming from their successful fathers: Leonardo Del Vecchio, the patriarch behind a global eyewear empire, and Kim Jung-ju, the founder of a prominent gaming company. Advertisement The world's youngest billionaire is only 19, hailing from Brazil and receiving her wealth from her father's and grandfather's personal finance prowess. SkyWest Airlines would resume daily commercial flights to both Salt Lake City and Denver under a proposal seeking millions of dollars in federal subsidies to provide the service. It is the only proposal the U.S. Department of Transportation received for this round of Essential Air Service subsidies, and SkyWest wants more than $6.3 million annually at least 5 times the amount it gets now. The airline said the requested increase is due to higher operating costs, including fuel, wages and maintenance. Butte-Silver Bow and Bert Mooney Airport officials would love see the deal go through, since it would mean flights to Denver again in addition to Salt Lake. Butte had sought two major destination cities for years, and SkyWest added Denver under an EAS agreement in January 2022. But those flights were suspended six months later, in large part because of a pilot shortage, and never resumed. SkyWests current EAS arrangement ends on Dec. 31 and under a new proposal, it would provide at least seven round-trip flights to Salt Lake each week and at least six to Denver. But its price tag is much higher now. SkyWest received $997,186 in annual subsidies under its previous deal but now wants $6.3 million in year one, $6.8 million in year two and nearly $7.3 million in year three. The airline told The Montana Standard that operating costs have increased over the past few years. Pam Chamberlin, manager at Bert Mooney Airport, said the U.S. Department of Transportation told her it would decide whether to accept the SkyWest proposal in October or November. It was the lone proposal submitted by a June deadline, so if it is rejected, Chamberlin said, the agency would issue another request-for-proposals seeking new bids. The U.S. DOT agreed in May to pay SkyWest $3.46 million in subsidies for twice-daily flights between Cody, Wyoming and Denver from October through May 2025, with higher amounts the next two years, according to the Wyoming News Exchange. Thats more than triple what it was paying. If the proposal goes through it would be great news because it would mean flights to Salt Lake and Denver again, Chamberlin said. After the Denver flights were added in January 2022, she said, the boarding count was climbing every month before they were suspended because of the pilot shortage and lingering fallout from the COVID pandemic. Like the previous arrangement, SkyWest would provide one daily flight to and from Salt Lake City through Delta Airlines and a daily flight at least six days a week to and from Denver through United Airlines. SkyWest was providing daily flights to Denver seven days a week previously and hopes that would be the case again, Chamberlin said. Six days a week is only a minimum requirement, she said. SkyWest said in a statement to The Standard that it was pleased to offer increased service to Butte. Our ability to provide access to two major airline hubs makes it simple and convenient for Butte passengers to get anywhere they want to go, it said. The Bert Mooney Airport Authority, the Montana Department of Transportation and J.P. Gallager, Butte-Silver Bows chief executive, all submitted letters to the U.S. DOT backing SkyWests proposal. SkyWest has had a partnership with Bert Mooney Airport for 30 years, Gallagher said, and its recent proposal provides access to two major markets again. Jim Beauchamp, chairman of the Bert Mooney Airport Authority Board, said it strongly favors the plan. We feel their proposal to offer service to both Salt Lake City International Airport and to Denver International Airport will greatly benefit our passengers and strengthen air travel out of Butte, Beauchamp said in his letter. Cabinet Secretary for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Wycliffe Oparanya has pledged to resign if President William Rutos government fails to implement his proposed strategies for the sector. Speaking during a church service in Western Kenya, Oparanya reaffirmed his commitment to advancing MSMEs and enhancing the broader economic landscape. He drew on his successful tenure as Governor of Kakamega County to highlight his capabilities. Oparanya underscored his achievements in Kakamega, where he led several developmental projects. You saw the work I accomplished in Kakamega, which is why people recognized my ability to contribute effectively, he said. His administration in Kakamega received praise for focusing on infrastructure development, healthcare improvements, and boosting local economies through support for small businesses. Oparanya made it clear that his continued service in the Cabinet depends on the governments willingness to heed his advice and implement the strategies he deems crucial for MSME growth. I will offer my support, but if they fail to take my advice, I will resign and return home. If you want assistance, you must be willing to accept it, he stated. During his vetting by the National Assembly Committee on Appointments, Oparanya outlined his immediate priorities, including reforming the hustler fund. If you approve my nomination, my first action will be to establish a solid legal framework and ensure the fund has a dedicated board and staff for effective management, he told the committee members. A new book on institutional governance by national political advisor Wang Jing has been published on Aug. 13. "Human Destiny: Institutional Governance" by Wang Jing. [Image courtesy of the National Academy of Governance Press] Wang, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and CEO of Newland Group, delves into the deep-rooted causes behind the rise and fall of human societies, following on from her last book "Human Destiny: A Brief History of Governance." The new book, "Human Destiny: Institutional Governance," focuses on the profound topic of human governance. It navigates thousands of years of human civilization, systematically exploring the origins and transformations of Eastern and Western systems. It examines the paths of various countries across different stages, highlighting the crucial link between the evolution of national institutional governance and the rise and fall of nations, while constructing a systematic logic from segmented, fragmented and superficial historical observations. "Human Destiny: Institutional Governance" is divided into five chapters: The opening chapter, "The Dark Medieval Period," explores the origins and historical impacts of Western civilization, while "The Capitalist Era" analyzes the rise and fall of Western nations, focusing on systemic causes and America's rise to superpower status. Chapter three, "The Historical Shadows from Prosperity to Decline of the Nation," examines China's dynastic cycles and their declines due to institutional decay. Chapter four "A Monumental Event: The Birth of an Advanced Political Party" discusses the transformative role of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in shaping the nation's development direction and future. The final chapter, "Governance Innovation in Chinese Modernization," then outlines the evolution of governance in China from traditional "technique-based governance" to "rule of law" to "joint governance by virtue and law." Wang argues that this allows for the creation of a new form of human civilization through Chinese modernization and ultimately stepping into a new era of governance in the digital age. She pointed out that the country that takes the lead in governance reform and whose governance aligns with the direction of advanced productive forces will be the first to rise as a nation and lead human civilization toward the future. She emphasized that the blueprint of digital civilization is unfolding, which will transform traditional governance shortcomings such as fragmentation and localization. In the digital age, the relations of production will change with digital governance. Guided by digital governance thinking and supported by new paradigms, technologies, applications and methods that are both digital and intelligent, these new quality productive forces will propel society into the next era. "Human Destiny: Institutional Governance" is published by the National Academy of Governance Press. Over the weekend, officers from the Anti-Narcotics and Transnational Organized Crime units arrested businesswoman Nancy Kigunzu, known as Mathee wa Ngara. This arrest follows a previous charge less than a year ago when DCI detectives recovered over 100 kilograms of marijuana from a closed yard in Ngara, Nairobi County. This time, Kigunzu was allegedly found with an unspecified quantity of cannabis at an apartment in Juja. Police suspect that the Georgina Apartment, where Kigunzu was apprehended, is her property. They believe she moved from Ngara to Juja and has been running a drug trafficking operation from two units in the building. During a search that lasted over 12 hours, officers seized six sacks of marijuana, four vehicles, and a motorbike. The police towed the vehicles to Juja Police Station for further investigation. Additionally, the operation led to the arrest of two other suspects, David Ochieng Okoth and Christopher Odipo. On Monday, Kigunzu, Okoth, and Odipo faced charges in court. All three pleaded not guilty to trafficking 189,300 grams of cannabis, valued at over Kes.5.6 million. They also face a second count of conspiracy to traffic narcotic drugs. The prosecution argued against their release on bail, citing flight risk and lack of a fixed residence. The court was also informed of Kigunzus previous similar offenses. However, Kigunzu, through her lawyer Danstan Omari, challenged the prosecutions stance, asserting that the offense was bailable and that she posed no flight risk. The court has instructed the probation officer to prepare a report, with the case scheduled for mention on August 19, 2024, for the reports presentation. Kigunzus most recent arrest followed an August 2023 incident when police seized a 100 kg haul of bhang from her base in Ngara. During that raid, authorities also confiscated Kes.13.4 million, which the court later ordered to be forfeited to the State. Kigunzu was subsequently released on a Kes.1 million cash bail in December 2023. Napa County supervisors will decide in the coming weeks whether they should substantially boost their annual base salaries of about $112,300. This would be beyond the raises they typically receive each year. Those are usually modest increases and, under county code, are basically on automatic pilot. A Napa County supervisor's salary since 2005 has been 47.09% of the salary of superior court judges. When California grants judges a raise, the supervisors also receive a raise under this formula. County Executive Officer Ryan Alsop brought up a larger question at the Aug. 6 Board of Supervisors meeting whether the salary formula needs adjusting to put supervisors in the same pay class as their peers. Sonoma County supervisors make about $174,000 annually, Contra Costa County supervisors $155,000, Solano County supervisors $150,000, Santa Cruz County supervisors $143,000 and Marin County supervisors $142,000, according to a county report. At $112,300 annually, the Napa County supervisors salary is 33% below the market median of $150,000, the report said. The question is whether the salary should be the market median, or perhaps something else. I will say, I think it is due time to have a review, Supervisor Belia Ramos said. Ramos added she would like the board to look at the compensation formula every four or five years, not every two decades. Other supervisors said nothing on the topic, which was only an informational report. They are scheduled to revisit the issue and perhaps act in September. They will then look at county management compensation. Should supervisors give themselves a raise, Supervisors Alfredo Pedroza and Ryan Gregory couldn't benefit for more than a few months at the longest. Both are leaving the Board of Supervisors in December. This same discussion was recently held in neighboring Solano County. The Solano County Board of Supervisors on Dec. 6, 2023 voted 3-2 to raise its salary. Supervisors changed the formula there from 53% of a judge's salary to 63% an increase from about $123,000 to $150,000 per year. Several public speakers at the meeting urged supervisors not to approve the raise. Solano County Supervisor Erin Hannigan responded by saying supervisors work Monday through Sunday. What is a day off for county employees is typically another day for supervisors to work in the community. "I think one of the things we need to really acknowledge is, that this is a hard job. This is a very difficult job," Hannigan said. Solano County supervisors changed their salary formula for the first time since 2001. Linking supervisors' salaries to a percentage of judge's salaries is fairly common practice in the Bay Area. The Napa County Board of Supervisors began talking about the practice in 1989. Supervisors at the time earned $26,000 annually. They voted to earn 40% of a judges salary, or $35,000 a year. But some supervisors balked at making that raise take effect immediately because of public opinion. Rather, supervisors delayed the raise until 1993, meaning they would have to be reelected to personally benefit from it. In 2005, the Napa County Board of Supervisors changed the formula to todays 47.09%, or about $70,000 at the time. The $112,296 that supervisors earn annually today is the base salary, not total compensation, as is true for the comparison counties. Total compensation can include medical insurance, dental insurance, car and cellphone allowances, and various other forms of pay. In 2023, Ramos earned total compensation of $174,518, Pedroza $173,880, Gregory $172,700, Anne Cottrell $165,593 and Joelle Gallagher $144,892, according to the state controller's office and Transparent California. Photos: Napa Costco rises at RiverSound south of the city Costco 5 Costco 1 Costco 2 Costco 3 Costco 4 Costco in Napa asks for extra parking Costco Costco 6 Costco 7 Costco 8 Costco 1 Costco 2 Costco 3 Costco 4 Costco 5 Costco construction in Napa New roundabout at Napa Pipe/Riversound A sign for the coming Napa Costco Napa Pipe Costco/Napa Pipe Costco/Napa Pipe EIFD The site and landscape plan for Napa's future Costco. The site and parking plan for Napa's future Costco. Napa Pipe Napa Pipe Napa Pipe Napa Pipe Napa Pipe Napa Pipe Dimapur: The NSCN (IM) took strong exception to the Government of India not handling the Amsterdam Joint Communique of July 11, 2002, and the Framework Agreement of August 3, 2015, in the manner desired by the Naga people. Extending revolutionary greetings to the Naga people wherever they are and to the other struggling nations on the eve of the Naga independence day on Tuesday, the NSCN, in a press statement, said in the ongoing political negotiation with the Government of India, the Nagalims unique history and sovereignty had been officially recognised by the Amsterdam Joint Communique of July 11, 2002, and the Framework Agreement of August, 3, 2015. "Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!" It asserted that it is an official recognition and acknowledgement that the Indo-Naga issue is a political conflict and Nagalim is never a part of India and Myanmar (erstwhile Burma) as the case may be. The NSCN affirmed that it will leave no stone unturned to protect and defend the unique history and sovereignty of Nagalim. We Nagas have had enough of being betrayed time and again. It is high time for India and Myanmar to stop betraying and colonizing Nagalim and conclude an honourable political agreement with NSCN and the Nagalim, the statement said. As the Nagalim celebrates August 14 as its independence day, the NSCN reaffirmed its commitment to this national decision when the Naga plebiscite was held on May 16, 1951, boycotted the Indian sponsored election two times and rejected the Indian and the Myanmar (erstwhile Burma) constitution. We celebrate the Naga Independence Day signifying our rejection of Indias independence of August 15, 1947. It is a symbol of our rejection of the colonial rule over Nagalim. The celebration is Naga peoples political message that our struggle for independence from the post-colonial powers shall continue, until victory is won, the NSCN added. Chinese automakers have a strong presence in Fortune Magazine's list of the top 500 global companies with several rapidly ascending in the rankings, showcasing the influence of domestic brands. The annual Fortune 500 assesses companies based on revenue. The latest rankings released last week show that State-owned SAIC was the highest Chinese automaker, at 93rd in the list. Its revenue reached $105.2 billion in 2023. It debuted on the Fortune 500 in 2004 and has been among the top 100 for 11 years in a row. New energy vehicle giant BYD surged 69 spots on the list, the largest leap among global automakers, to secure the 143rd position. Its revenue saw a substantial increase of $22.1 billion, reaching $85.1 billion in 2023. BYD's NEV sales hit 3.02 million units sold in 2023, when it entered the top 10 of best-selling global car brands for the first time. BYD's NEVs are sold in 88 countries and regions worldwide, spanning more than 400 cities. Geely saw its ranking rocket to 185th this year, a 40-spot rise from 2023. Its revenue totaled $70.4 billion in 2023. The auto group, which owns brands including Volvo, Polestar and Lotus, has been on the Fortune 500 list for 13 years. In 2023, Geely Auto exceeded its sales target, selling 1.69 million vehicles, including 487,000 NEVs. It exported 274,000 vehicles in the year, up 38 percent year-on-year. Chery made its debut on the list with a revenue of $39.1 billion, ranking 385th. The automaker's sales reached 1.88 million units in 2023, doubling the figure from 2021. The Anhui province-based company has exported a total of 3.9 million vehicles, staying at the top among Chinese passenger car brands for 21 consecutive years. In 2023, one out of every three passenger cars exported from China was from Chery. In contrast, Dongfeng Motor dropped 52 places to 240th on the latest list, the largest decline among global automakers. The company's weakening performance is linked to challenges stemming from its joint ventures with Nissan, Honda and Citroen. In response to this, Dongfeng is accelerating its NEV transformation and focusing on brands such as Voyah, M-Hero and Nammi. Voyah's sales soared 97 percent year-on-year in the first seven months of this year to 36,400 units. Among its peers, FAW Group moved up two positions to 129th place and BAIC Group climbed one spot to 192nd. Meanwhile, GAC Group dropped 16 places to 181st. Besides Chinese automakers, it is the second year CATL made it onto the list. The electric vehicle battery provider rose 42 spots to 250th place with revenue of $56.6 billion in 2023. It has been the world's largest EV battery provider for seven consecutive years and is the only Chinese auto parts supplier ranked on the Fortune 500. In the first five months of this year, its global market share reached 37.5 percent. China's burgeoning NEV sector has driven the ranking of Chinese automakers in the Fortune 500 list. The improved ranking also reflects the competitiveness of Chinese brands in the global market, industry analysts said. With increasing global demand for reduced carbon emissions and green transportation, NEVs provide significant market opportunities for Chinese auto companies, they added. Emorys Atlanta campus was alive with thought-provoking discussion, inquisitive questions and displays of intellectual curiosity during the Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium at the Emory Student Center and Performing Arts Studio on Wednesday, July 31. More than 111 undergraduate students from Emory and other institutions across the country spent 10 weeks in the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) program conducting independent research, connecting with distinguished researchers and forging bonds with fellow students. The SURE program, housed in Undergraduate Research Programs (URP), an office within the Pathways Center, provides housing and a stipend to support students research and professional development efforts. Research projects this summer encompassed a variety of fields, including arts, humanities and sciences. In addition to conducting full-time research under a faculty members supervision, students participated in professional development exercises and seminars. Keira Davis, associate director for undergraduate research in URP, expressed pride in the variety of disciplines represented at the symposium. We need an interdisciplinary approach to move forward in the world. Its critical to have multiple perspectives from different backgrounds, said Davis. Sometimes, for example, a science major would interpret something different than a history major. Having all these different projects in one room is valuable beyond measure. Davis also noted her excitement about the future of undergraduate research at Emory. I'm enthusiastic about the future of undergraduate research on campus, especially as we expand into interdisciplinary approaches. It will be fascinating to see how collaboration across various fields and departments enhances the depth and breadth of research opportunities, said Davis. Ten weeks of dedication to research The symposium opened in the morning with two stirring piano performances in the Performing Arts Studio by Satvik Elayavalli and Peiming Yang, both supervised by Elena Cholakova, professor of piano studies and associate music professor. Yang, a rising senior double majoring in music composition and psychology, spent 10 weeks studying and practicing Chopins Ballade No. 2 and No. 3. He noted how SURE allowed him to explore his passions in piano. During the regular semester, its really hard for me to devote time to practicing because of academics, so summer is a great opportunity to concentrate and focus on piano, Yang said. SURE has enabled me to do that. Following the piano performances, students, mentors and supporters moved into the Emory Student Center for an afternoon of oral and poster presentations. Max Coplin, a rising senior from Brooklyn, New York, focused on a topic within her classics major and ethics minor. Her oral presentation, Rational Hippocratic magic: Is there a place for magic in the healing traditions of Classical and Hellenistic Greece? was supervised by Sandra Blakely, chair and associate professor of classics. Coplins project had surprising findings. She discovered that folk, magical and Hippocratic healing existed in the same space at the same time in ancient Greece, a conclusion that goes directly against many scholarly perspectives. The research has implications in the usage of cases from the ancient world in modern medicine and anthropological studies, said Coplin. Its important work to further the field concerning the relations between traditions of magic and medicine. Blakely said the project was a natural extension of discussions theyd held in a class Coplin took last spring. Max is such a self-starter. She came into the project with fully formed questions and it was wonderful to see her set parameters of how much she was going to read and then really digest it and create the webwork of meaning between current scholarship and old scholarship, said Blakely. The summer research experience is one in which the student has a chance to let the sources themselves speak a little more clearly than during the semester when theyre just barreling toward the next exam or paper. Theres an organic quality about it that really maps onto what it means to do professional research in the field, continued Blakely. Toluwanimi Olaleye, an Oxford College and rising third-year student studying psychology from Philadelphia, also delivered an oral presentation, titled Gun violence as a public health crisis: Exploring its impact on the mental health of children and adolescents. Olaleye was mentored this summer by Leyla Eghbalzad, assistant professor of psychology at Oxford College. Olaleye conducted a literature review and interviewed professionals in health care, public policy and gun violence advocacy. She found both legislative and community-based factors that influence gun violence. After being personally affected by gun violence, it was something I wanted to research. Coming to Oxford and hearing about the SURE program, I knew it was a way to pursue this further, said Olaleye. After this research, Im considering taking it a step further and getting a masters degree in public health. In the poster presentation hall, students displayed charts, graphs, research questions, suggestions for further research and more. They proudly stood by their posters many alongside their project mentors engaging visitors and explaining what they spent their time researching this summer. Bella Parker, a rising fourth-year student from Newnan, Georgia, spent her summer at Emory, away from her home institution of Stetson University in Florida. The molecular and cellular biology major worked on a project titled Investigating the effects of antibiotics on e. coli K-12 outer membrane permeability in response to O antigen re-introduction, mentored by Marcin Grabowicz, associate professor of microbiology in the School of Medicine. Parker was eager to gain more experience in a new lab and in a field related to previous lab work shed completed. Marcin has taught me so much. Last summer, I worked in a cell culture lab at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and this summer was a transition from cell culture to more bacterial physiology, said Parker. Being able to learn different techniques and expose myself to different biological fields has been great. I also loved participating in a program that invests in undergraduate endeavors and their futures. Grabowicz expressed his excitement about having new, eager students in the lab to tackle intense scientific endeavors. Its easy to lose sight of how exciting working in a lab is for students because Ive done it for so long, said Grabowicz. Its nice to see them come in and learn the techniques that we take for granted every day, and to get a sense of that enthusiasm and motivation to get experience. Cormack Ye, a rising fourth-year student majoring in interdisciplinary studies, used his time in SURE to conduct research for what will become his senior thesis. The research, titled Development and application of AI curricula in Emory Universitys Goizueta Business School: Strategies for addressing labor market changes, was advised by Mark Risjord, director of the Institute for the Liberal Arts at Emory. Dr. Risjord is a great professor who knows so much about interdisciplinary study, which is a critical component if you really want to understand AI, said Ye. Its been great for this to be my main focus this summer and to talk with Dr. Risjord weekly. 09:19 The team of 24 researchers from India, Sweden, the US and the UK said that more than 140 mm of rainfall fell in a single day on soils highly saturated by two months of monsoon precipitation, triggering catastrophic landslides and floods that killed at least 231 people in Wayanad. "The rainfall that triggered the landslides occurred in a region of Wayanad that has the highest landslide risk in the state. Even heavier downpours are expected as the climate warms, which underscores the urgency to prepare for similar landslides in northern Kerala," Maja Vahlberg, a climate risk consultant at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, said. To measure the impact of human-caused climate change, the scientists from the World Weather Attribution (WWA) group analysed climate models with high enough resolution to accurately reflect rainfall in the relatively small study area. The models indicated that the intensity of rainfall has increased by 10 per cent due to climate change, they said. The models also predict a further four per cent increase in rainfall intensity if the average global temperature rises by two degrees Celsius compared to the 1850-1900 average. The scientists, however, said there is a "high level of uncertainty" in the model results as the study area is small and mountainous with complex rainfall-climate dynamics. Having said that, the increase in heavy one-day rainfall events aligns with a growing body of scientific evidence on extreme rainfall in a warming world, including in India, and the understanding that a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, leading to heavier downpours. According to scientists, the atmosphere's capacity to hold moisture increases by about 7 per cent for every one-degree Celsius rise in global temperature. The earth's global surface temperature has already increased by around 1.3 degrees Celsius due to the rapidly rising concentration of greenhouse gases, primarily Carbon Dioxide and Methane. Scientists say this is the reason behind worsening extreme weather events, such as droughts, heatwaves and floods worldwide. The WWA scientists said that while the relationship between land cover, land use changes and landslide risk in Wayanad is not fully clear from existing studies, factors, such as quarrying for building materials and a 62 per cent reduction in forest cover may have increased the slopes' susceptibility to landslides during heavy rainfall. Other researchers have also linked the Wayanad landslides to a combination of forest cover loss, mining in fragile terrain and prolonged rain followed by heavy precipitation. The deadly landslides in Kerala's ecologically fragile Wayanad district were triggered by a heavy burst of rainfall, made 10 per cent heavier by climate change, according to a new rapid attribution study by a global team of scientists. PNN Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], August 13: Kaushalya Logistics Limited (NSE: KLL), a diversified conglomerate specializing in logistic support to the cement players is pleased to announce that it has received a LOI from Adani Cement to establish its second depot for Adani Cement, in Binagudi, West Bengal. The company will oversee rake operations, depot management, and secondary transportation at this new location. This new facility is expected to handle approximately 50,000 tons per Annum. This development is a strategic milestone for KLL, as it strengthens the company's role as a key logistics partner for Adani Cement. The company is in advanced negotiations to establish additional depots with Adani Cement, JK Cement, and Dalmia Cement, reinforcing its reputation as a trusted logistics provider in the cement sector. The planned expansion into West Bengal aligns with the company's strategy to broaden its national footprint and enhance operational capacity, supporting growth and improving service delivery. These ongoing discussions indicate promising future growth opportunities for KLL. Commenting on the performance Uddhav Poddar, Managing Director, Kaushalya Logistics Limited said, "We are happy to announce the launch of our new depot in Binaguri, West Bengal, marking a significant step in our expansion strategy. This new facility and our second in collaboration with Adani Cement, underscores our commitment to enhancing our logistics infrastructure and meeting the growing demands of the cement industry. Our strategic expansion into West Bengal not only strengthens our national presence but also aligns with our vision for sustained growth, regional diversity and operational excellence. As we continue to negotiate additional depots with other leading cement manufacturers, we are confident that KLL will play an increasingly vital role in supporting the industry's growth across India. Our focus remains on enhancing efficiency, reliability, and service excellence in every new market we enter. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) PNN New Delhi [India], August 13: FlowerAura, a leading online gifting platform with India's largest online Rakhi collection is thrilled to announce the launch of its exclusive Rakhi collection (https://www.floweraura.com/send-rakhi/gurmeets-favourite), endorsed by celebrated celebrities like Gurmeet Choudhary, Ashnoor Kaur, Ashi Khanna and Ruhaanika Dhawann. This collaboration marks a significant evolution in the e-commerce industry, showcasing the recent trend of celebrities not just endorsing campaigns but actively endorsing product lines. Their involvement brings a personal and authentic touch to FlowerAura's Rakhi collection. (https://www.floweraura.com/send-rakhi). In the current landscape, consumers seek more than just products; they desire connections and authenticity. Occasions where a celebrity's involvement goes beyond traditional endorsement reflect a hands-on approach where their personal preferences and cultural insights shape an entire collection. This shift in celebrity endorsements signifies a deeper, more meaningful connection with the audience, enhancing trust and engagement. "Gurmeet's Favourite Rakhi Picks (https://www.floweraura.com/send-rakhi/gurmeets-favourite)" features a diverse range of Rakhis, which is a testament to the evolving role of celebrities in the e-commerce space. By actively participating in the product selection process, celebrities like Gurmeet bring authenticity and a personal touch that resonates with consumers. Shrey Sehgal, CEO of FlowerAura, shares, "Embracing the trend of celebrity collaborations, we are excited to partner with such great actors for our Rakhi collection. This strategic move not only aligns us with the latest market trends but also sets us ahead by adding an element of authenticity and personal connection to our products. This collection is not just about Rakhis but about celebrating the bonds that make these occasions special." The market response to this collaboration with some of the biggest social media stars and celebrities has been overwhelmingly positive, with a surge in pre-launch buzz and social media engagement. Early customers have expressed their excitement and appreciation for the carefully curated Rakhis, reflecting the anticipated impact on sales. Explore the collection at www.floweraura.com. FlowerAura is a premier online gifting platform delivering Rakhi, flowers, cakes, gifts, and hampers to over 800+ cities in India and 30+ countries worldwide. With an extensive network of fulfilment centres, channel stores, and 75+ dark stores, FlowerAura ensures extraordinary celebrations. Accessible through its website, mobile app, retail stores, and popular e-commerce platforms, FlowerAura boasts a customer base of over 10 million, promising to exceed customer expectations with a vast collection of gifts. Media Contact : Suman Patra suman.patra@FlowerAura.com +91 96500 62220 Head - Product and Marketing FA Gifts Pvt. Ltd. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) VMPL New Delhi [India], August 13: JK Paper, a leading name in the paper manufacturing industry, is thrilled to unveil the 'Sandese Aate Hai' campaign, a nationwide effort dedicated to honouring and expressing gratitude to the courageous soldiers safeguarding our borders. This year-long initiative -- in partnership with Curly Tales features acclaimed digital content creator Kamiya Jani -- will revitalise the tradition of handwritten letters, allowing citizens to send personal messages to our Jawans at the border. The 'Sandese Aate Hai' campaign, will roll out in multiple phases, is aimed at celebrating patriotism and enhancing community engagement during important national days and events. The campaign will feature on-ground activations such as school programs and Vox-Pop interviews. These activities will invite students and teachers from 100 schools, as well as people from various backgrounds, to write heartfelt messages of gratitude and appreciation for our soldiers, reviving the cherished tradition of handwritten letters in the digital era. These letters, penned on JK Paper, will be personally handed over by Kamiya to the soldiers stationed at the military bases across five different borders. Partha Biswas, Chief of Sales & Marketing at JK Paper, expressed his enthusiasm for the campaign, stating, "We are incredibly excited about 'Sandese Aate Hai' which aims to revive the cherished tradition of handwritten letters and strengthen the bond between our citizens and soldiers. Just as our Jawans are dedicated to securing our borders, JK Paper is committed to environmental stewardship. Our paper is sourced from 9.50 lakh acres of Agro Social Farm Forestry Program, which not only supports sustainable practices but also provides livelihoods for close to 1,30,000 farmer families. Through this initiative, we hope to make our soldiers feel valued and supported, reaffirming our nation's deep appreciation for their service to the nation." Kamiya Jani, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Curly Tales Digital Media Pvt. Ltd., said, "It is a privilege to collaborate with JK Paper on this impactful campaign. 'Sandese Aate Hai' celebrates patriotism and brings back the personal touch of handwritten letters in today's digital world. I am excited to be part of this initiative and to deliver these heartfelt messages to our heroes." The campaign includes an offline school activation phase, engaging with students and teachers in over 100 schools in more than 17 cities, including Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Pune. Additionally, Vox-Pop activities are taking place in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Raipur, and Amritsar at historical sites and public spaces, gathering messages from people from all walks of life. These letters will be personally delivered by Kamiya to military bases before August 15, 2024, using JK Paper -- truly 'The Paper of the Nation'. Through 'Sandese Aate Hai' JK Paper and Curly Tales aspire to create a meaningful impact, making our soldiers feel appreciated and recognised by the nation they protect. JK Paper is also committed to changing perceptions about paper by promoting eco-friendly practices, offering sustainable alternatives to plastic, and contributing to a greener future. Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbfBuP3rC2U&t=4shttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b1ys7cWmqc JK Paper's legacy dates back to 1938 with the establishment of Straw Products Ltd. in Bhopal. Today, JK Paper is a leading Indian player in Office Papers, Coated Papers, Writing and Printing Papers, and High-end Packaging Boards. The company operates three integrated Pulp and Paper Mills: Unit JKPM in Rayagada, Odisha, near the Eastern coast of India; Unit CPM in Songadh, Gujarat, on the Western coast; and The Sirpur Paper Mills (SPM), a subsidiary in Kagaznagar, Telangana. With a recently completed 170,000 TPA capacity expansion in Packaging Board at Unit CPM, JK Paper's present installed capacity stands at 761,000 TPA. The company has also ventured into the Corrugation business through the acquisition of Horizon Packs Pvt. Ltd. and Securipax Packaging Pvt. Ltd. In FY 23-24, JK Paper acquired a 100 per cent stake in Manipal Utilities Packaging Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Moving forward, the company will focus on improving the efficiency of these plants for better cost advantages. JK Paper has embarked on a digital transformation journey in key manufacturing processes to reduce variations, improve quality, enhance cost efficiency, deliver better and faster service, and create a direct connection with end customers. RSVP Yasin Hamidani | 9773438744 | yasin@mediacare.co.in (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by VMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) PRNewswire Solan (Himachal Pradesh) [India], August 13: Shoolini University has once again shown its upward trajectory in higher education, reflected in the latest National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) results released by the Union Education Ministry. The Himachal Pradesh-based university has improved its standing, securing the 70th position among all universities in India, up from 73rd last year. In the overall category, which includes prestigious institutions like IITs and IIMs, Shoolini University has achieved an impressive leap, ranking 89th -- an improvement from its previous placement in the 101-150 band. The university's Pharmacy department continues to excel, securing the 30th rank, while the Engineering faculty has risen to the 92nd spot. The Faculty of Management has also maintained a strong presence, being placed in the 101-125 band. Shoolini University remains the only institution from Himachal Pradesh to be featured in the top 100 universities in the country, indicating its growing reputation in the academic landscape. The university ranked 96th in the 2022 NIRF rankings. Founder and Chancellor Prof. PK Khosla highlighted the significance of this achievement, noting that the 15-year-old university has consistently improved its rankings over the years. "Our university has been among the top 150 institutions for six consecutive years, and we continue to advance," he said. Pro Chancellor Vishal Anand congratulated the faculty, staff, and students, emphasising that the latest rankings reflect Shoolini University's unwavering commitment to providing world-class education and advancing research excellence. Vice Chancellor Prof. Atul Khosla described the university's latest rankings as "truly remarkable", reaffirming the institution's commitment to excellence. "These rankings highlight the hard work and dedication of our faculty and students, as we continue to establish Shoolini University as a world-class institution," he added. Nishtha Shukla Anand, Trustee and Director of the School of Media & Communications at Shoolini University, remarked, "Our consistent rise in the rankings highlights our focus on creating a dynamic learning environment that prioritises both innovation and academic integrity. This recognition affirms our mission to equip students with the tools they need to excel in their chosen fields." About Shoolini University Set up in 2009, Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences is a research-driven private university with full recognition from the UGC. As the No.1 Private University in India (QS and Times Higher Education), it is acclaimed for its focus on innovation, quality placements, and world-class faculty. Nestled in the lower Himalayas, the university is NAAC accredited and ranked Top 100 by NIRF. Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/792680/4538720/Shoolini_University_Logo.jpg (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) AS700 airship conducts a low-altitude demo flight in Jingmen, central China's Hubei Province, Aug. 1, 2024. [Aviation Industry Corporation of China/Handout via Xinhua] China's low-altitude economy is entering a phase of rapid growth, offering people more excitement in the skies and bringing convenience through innovative aerial vehicle applications. Various aerial vehicles, such as large airships for low-altitude tourism, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for express delivery and urban transportation, as well as aerial photography and emergency rescue, are increasingly employed in China across various scenarios, proving to be effective tools for a range of activities and operations. The Chinese leadership has recently reiterated its determination to improve the institutions and mechanisms for modernizing infrastructure, according to a resolution adopted at the third plenum of the 20th Communist Party of China Central Committee. The resolution noted that China will develop general aviation and the low-altitude economy. Multiple application scenarios China's independently developed AS700 airship successfully conducted its demonstration flight on Aug. 1 in Jingmen City in central China's Hubei Province, showcasing a new mode of low-altitude tourism. During its demonstration flight over local tourist destinations, the large AS700 airship flew at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour at an altitude of 500 meters. "Passengers can enjoy a uniquely relaxing air journey at a moderate speed and an ideal altitude for low-altitude sightseeing," said Zhou Lei, chief designer of the AS700 airship project. Developed by AVIC Special Vehicle Research Institute, AS700 is a type of single-capsule manned airship with a maximum capacity of 10 people, including a pilot. "The AS700 airship has obtained the type certificate. We are exploring more pilot applications of low-altitude scenarios, and plan to build China's first low-altitude airship tourism demonstration route," Zhou added. Exciting developments continue in this sector. Wang Yunyi, a high school graduate, recently received her university admission letter delivered by a UAV. Taking off from South China University of Technology, the UAV traveled 25 kilometers in 30 minutes, delivering four admission letters to students, including Wang, in Huangpu District in south China's Guangzhou city. "I was stunned to see my admission letter arrive by drone. What an immersive experience, like something out of a sci-fi movie," Wang said. Guangzhou Post, which has been handling admission deliveries for over 40 years, processes around 550,000 admission letters annually. "More students will experience this technological advancement in the future, with drones delivering their admission letters," said Zou Liwen, a Guangzhou Post manager. Vast potential The low-altitude economy is benefiting the Chinese people, enhancing logistics, agriculture, mapping and other emerging industries. An unmanned food delivery drone is pictured in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, Nov. 24, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua] A newly launched urban UAV express delivery service in Wuxi City in east China's Jiangsu Province is introducing a new mode of parcel delivery to residents. This new delivery mode can ease people's anxiety, especially when immediate needs arise. Small UAVs, transporting light items like documents, keys and medicines, deliver these necessities faster than one might imagine. Compared to traditional express delivery methods, UAV delivery can cut the time required by approximately half, according to Phoenix Wings, a cargo UAV company under China's express delivery giant SF Group. Wuxi will actively expand UAV delivery scenarios, accelerate the development of its air express network, and support low-altitude logistics for express parcels and local fresh products, according to Cai Yu, an official of the city's transportation bureau. Nearly 608,000 UAVs were newly registered in the first half of this year, a 48 percent increase from the end of last year. The cumulative flight hours of UAVs reached 9.816 million hours, an increase of 134,000 hours over the same period last year, according to statistics from the Civil Aviation Administration of China. Innovative applications of UAVs and other aerial vehicles are expected to spur the development of new materials, finance, communication technology, artificial intelligence and more. These advancements are anticipated to continuously generate new industries, occupations and momentum for economic growth and improved livelihoods. "The low-altitude economy is driving the deep integration of the real economy with the digital economy, serving the agriculture industry and service sector," said Wu Qihui, vice president of Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. NewsVoir Noida (Uttar Pradesh) [India], August 13: Antara Senior Care is pleased to announce the opening of its latest care home in Noida, adding to the two existing facilities in Gurgaon. This expansion underscores Antara's dedication to providing premium, specialised care for seniors across the National Capital Region (NCR). India's senior care market is experiencing rapid expansion due to demographic changes. With the median age increasing from 29 to 38 and one in four individuals expected to be a senior by 2050, the need for specialized senior care is escalating. This growth is fuelled by rising life expectancy, evolving family structures, and urbanization, highlighting a significant gap between the current supply and the growing demand for senior care services. Antara's new care home at Noida responds to this rising demand. In the present times, the need for assisted care facilities is undeniable. With more people settling away from their hometown, the number of seniors living alone has increased significantly. And with ageing and mobility issues, seniors need continuous assistance for daily living, health monitoring and intensive care that at times is not met at their home environment. Specialised facilities such as Antara Care Homes help in such situations. These specialised short- and long-term assisted-living facilities provide primary health care, emergency response services, medicine management, senior-friendly infrastructure along with compassionate caregivers for seniors, making their stay worthwhile. Care Homes also serve as a transition care facility which help patients out of surgery to recover much faster. The new care home at Noida is a 48-bedded facility which adds to the increasing portfolio of care homes by Antara. Looking ahead, Antara is excited to announce the imminent opening of its new care home in Bangalore, further extending its high standards of senior care across India. Incidentally, specialised care and dedicated caregivers are required for people with Dementia, too, and realising this need, Antara also operates its Memory Care Home in Gurgaon. On the special occasion, Ishaan Khanna, CEO, Antara Assisted Care Services, said, "Opening our care home in Noida is a significant step in our mission to provide quality care for India's seniors. With the elderly population growing rapidly, it's crucial that we offer them the care and dignity they deserve. Our new facility in Noida, along with our planned expansion in Bangalore, are steps towards our commitment to setting new standards in senior care across India." For more information and updates on our expansions, visit www.antaraseniorcare.com or contact us at contact@antaraseniorcare.com. Launched in 2013, Antara is the senior-care business of the reputed 40-year-old Max Group. It is an integrated eco-system for senior care, operating two main lines of businesses - Residences for Seniors and Assisted Care Services. Antara's first senior residential community in Dehradun comprising nearly 200 families, caters to their social, recreational, educational, wellness, and health-related needs. In 2024, it will open its second senior living community in Noida's Sector-150 with families moving into the 340 apartments built in the first phase. Antara's Assisted Care Services include 'Care Homes', 'Care at Home' and 'AGEasy by Antara'. This line of business caters to seniors above the age of 55, who need more immersive interventions in their daily lives due to medical or age-related issues. With facilities across Gurgaon, Noida and Bengaluru, the Care Homes provide long-term care to seniors who require constant medical and nursing supervision, and short-term care services for the recuperation of seniors. Its Care at Home services, offered in Delhi NCR, Bengaluru and Chennai, provides well-equipped, trained professionals offering care to seniors inside their home's comfort. AGEasy by Antara is a holistic D2C product and devices platform that helps seniors manage common chronic conditions, along with expert-assisted advice. Recently, Antara conducted a first-of-its-kind survey 'State of Seniors' to understand the elderly population better with a special focus on their aspirations, preferences, challenges and opinions on today's socio-cultural and economic issues. Conducted in North, South and West regions, it covered ~2,000 middle and upper-class elders aged 55 years and above. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) VMPL New Delhi [India], August 13: Spell Well India has adopted an approach that connects schools across the country to conduct competitions in both online and offline modes. The primary aim of this approach is to honor students who excel in English and Sanskrit, fostering a love for these languages and encouraging academic excellence. In the second National Level Competition organized by SWI, students from over 700 schools across India participated. Eight students were declared champions in five age groups for English and three age groups for Sanskrit. Winners of the English Spell Well Contest: Group 1: Omkar Borakar from Podar Jumbo Kids, Mumbai, Maharashtra Group 2: Trishan Singh from Shri Shri Academy, Kolkata, West Bengal Group 3: Ayaan Jain from The Earth School, Bangalore, Karnataka Group 4: Pratibha Saroj Reddy from Pratibha EM High School, West Godavari, Andhra Pradesh Group 5: Dimple Sai Sarala from Pratibha EM High School and Khank Patel from Vidyamandir Trust, Palanpur, Banaskantha, Gujarat (tie) Winners of the Sanskrit Shabdamanthan Contest: Group 4: Swasthika S from Delhi Public School, Nagpur, Maharashtra Group 5: Nagar Shaurya from Zebar Public School for Children, Ahmedabad, Gujarat Each of the above winners received a trophy, certificates, and cash prizes totaling Rs1,40,000. Additionally, other title winners were also awarded trophies, certificates, and cash prizes. For their excellent performance, the schools and their coordinators were awarded titles such as Best Coordinator, Best Emerging School, and outstanding performance ranks of first, second, and third. The rankings are as follows: English - Spell Well Contest: First Rank: Pratibha EM High School, West Godavari, Andhra Pradesh Second Rank: Vidyamandir Trust, Palanpur, Banaskantha, Gujarat Third Rank: Mother's Pride School, Ambala, Haryana Sanskrit - Shabdamanthan Spardha: First Rank: Delhi Public School, Nagpur, Maharashtra Second Rank: Zebar Public School for Children, Ahmedabad, Gujarat Gratitude: Schools and students have embraced Spell Well India's AI-powered online/offline competition, encouraging students to prepare and experience the competition in a new way. This participation highlights the schools' commitment to integrating innovative methods and approaches in education, adapting to changing times. Several government schools from Delhi and Jamnagar also participated in Spell Well India's second National Level Competition, preparing students for linguistic knowledge and competition. The award ceremony for the national winners took place in various schools across India. Notably, SAINIK SCHOOL PUNGLWA, Dimapur, NAGALAND, honored national participants and winners in the presence of COL ARVIND NAUTIYAL. Similar ceremonies were held in other schools, including DELHI PUBLIC SCHOOL, MIHAN NAGPUR, Maharashtra, Zebar School for Children, School of Scholar's, Wardha, Pratibha EM High School, Vidyamandir Trust, Palanpur, Pathania Public School, P V Modi School, AGASTYA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL, Mothers Pride School, EAST POINT SCHOOL, BCM ARYA SCHOOL, and Doon Public School. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by VMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) VMPL New Delhi [India], August 13: In the constantly evolving world of digital beauty, influencers are leveraging social media platforms to set new trends and challenge traditional beauty standards. This dynamic sector is becoming a powerful platform for advocacy and representation, reaching global audiences with diverse and inclusive content. In recent years, influencers like Aksho Pathak, known by her Instagram handle @goldenaster, have gained significant traction. With over 80,000 followers, Pathak has built a platform that not only showcases skincare routines and beauty tutorials but also promotes the beauty of brown skin and advocates for inclusivity. Her content addresses a wide range of skin concerns and lifestyle needs, creating a space for diverse beauty narratives to thrive. The digital beauty landscape thrives on innovation and connectivity, allowing influencers to create content that resonates deeply with their audiences. These influencers are not just trendsetters; they are also advocates for diversity and authenticity. Their followers seek practical advice and inspiration, drawn to influencers who genuinely celebrate all skin tones and types. As social media continues to evolve, the role of influencers in shaping beauty standards and consumer behavior is becoming more significant. Platforms like Instagram provide a space where influencers can foster communities built on self-expression and empowerment. The commitment to authenticity and inclusivity seen in influencers like Pathak is creating supportive environments where users feel encouraged to embrace their natural beauty. The impact of these digital beauty influencers extends beyond setting trends. They are sparking broader conversations about diversity and representation within the industry. By highlighting underrepresented communities and promoting self-acceptance, influencers are driving meaningful change. This shift is influencing both consumer preferences and industry practices, with brands increasingly recognizing the importance of diverse beauty narratives. Looking ahead, the digital beauty sector is poised for continued growth and evolution. As consumer preferences increasingly favor authenticity and diversity, influencers will play a pivotal role in redefining beauty standards. The journey of influencers like Aksho Pathak underscores the transformative power of social media in promoting a more inclusive and representative beauty industry. In this new era of digital beauty, influencers are not just shaping trends; they are redefining the very standards of beauty, fostering a more inclusive and authentic landscape that celebrates the uniqueness of every individual. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by VMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) PRNewswire Chandigarh [India], August 13: Improving its performance in the National Rankings which were released by Ministry of Education yesterday in New Delhi, Chandigarh University (CU) emerged amongst India's top 20 universities. In NIRF Rankings 2024, Chandigarh University saw a jump of 7 spots in the University category from last year's rankings. By clinching the 20th position among both Private and Government Universities in India in the NIRF Ranking 2024, Chandigarh University has again demonstrated its excellence in academics, placements, research and innovation. It has placed Chandigarh University, established in 2012, among India's elite educational institutions like IITs and IIMs in short span of 12 years. In 2023, Chandigarh University had secured the 27th spot in the NIRF Rankings among all the government and private universities in the country. Banking on significant improvement in the parameters score in Education Outcomes, Outreach & Inclusivity, Chandigarh University has emerged 1st in Punjab, 7th in North India in the Universities category of NIRF Rankings 2024. The university has improved its ranking significantly across various academic disciplines, as per the education ministry's annual ranking (NIRF-2024) and has emerged as one of the best universities in the North India. In the domain of Engineering, Chandigarh soared to new heights by securing a rank of 32nd this year in comparison to last year's 38th rank. The Engineering domain saw a tough competition this year and CU managed to bag 13th Rank in North India while it secured 2nd position in Punjab. Chandigarh University retained its position as last year among the management institutes securing the 36th position this year as well. The B-School of Chandigarh University secured the 11th position in India's private Management Institutions this year while it secured top position in Punjab. While taking a giant leap, Chandigarh University has secured 20th rank in Pharmacy in this year's edition of NIRF while last year its rank was 34th. Notching up 2 places, CU has emerged as the best university in Architecture and Planning in India with 13th rank this year as per NIRF 2024, compared to the previous year's 15th rank. With this stellar performance, Chandigarh University has emerged as top institution for Architecture and Planning. Elated over the outstanding performance of Chandigarh University in NIRF 2024 Ranking, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and Chandigarh University (CU) Chancellor Satnam Singh Sandhu said, "It's a matter of great pride that we have secured 20th rank among India's top universities and that too in a short span of 12 years given the fact the Chandigarh University was established in 2012. The NIRF Ranking is a testament of state-of-the-art resources, infrastructure, and facilities being provided to our students. The 20th Rank is endorsement of our higher standards in academics, placements, research and innovation. It has placed Chandigarh University among India's elite educational institutions like IITs and IIMs." "NIRF rankings prepares Indian Universities and Higher Educational Institutions for global competencies and rankings. As a result, we have seen a massive jump of Indian educational institutions in global rankings in last 3 to 4 years. NIRF Rankings over the years has helped and guided students in choosing the Best of Academic Institutions for Higher Education as it categorises the Nation's Universities and HEI's based upon stringent quality parameters such as research and professional practice, perception, campus placements, learning outcomes, outreach and inclusivity. We at Chandigarh University have been adopting a systematic industry-oriented approach to ensure top-class education for our students and prepare a future-ready talent pool who can contribute towards nation-building," added the Chancellor. Sandhu said, "Chandigarh University is committed to providing a world-class education that is affordable to students of all backgrounds, and these rankings recognize that our outcomes are true to our values. These rankings illustrate the result of the teaching-learning pedagogy and norms adopted by an institution and Chandigarh University follows a systematic industry-oriented approach to ensure top-class education to its students and prepare a future-ready talent that contributes to the nation-building." The Chancellor said the performance of Chandigarh University in the NIRF Rankings 2024 is a testimonial that the university has worked on improving its academic delivery along with providing state-of-the-art resources, infrastructure, and facilities to the students. A total of 10,885 higher education institutions participated this year, a significant increase from last year's 5,543 institutions. This year's ninth edition introduces three new categories: open universities, skill universities, and state-funded government universities. Institutions are ranked across 16 categories: overall, universities, medical, engineering, management, law, architecture and planning, colleges, research institutions, pharmacy, dental, agriculture and allied sectors, state-funded government universities, skill universities, open universities, and innovation. About Chandigarh University Chandigarh University is a NAAC A+ Grade University and QS World Ranked University. This autonomous educational institution is approved by UGC and is located near Chandigarh in the state of Punjab. It is the youngest university in India and the only private university in Punjab to be honoured with A+ Grade by NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council). CU offers more than 109 UG and PG programs in the field of engineering, management, pharmacy, law, architecture, journalism, animation, hotel management, commerce, and others. It has been awarded as The University with Best Placements by WCRC. Website address: https://www.cuchd.in/ Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2480878/Chandigarh_University__NIRF_Rankings_2024.jpg (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) VMPL New Delhi [India], August 13: Convin, a leading AI-powered conversation intelligence platform for call center setups, recently launched its advanced Large Language Model (LLM), with 7 billion parameters. This model is specifically designed to improve the business output and resolve the unique challenges of customer-facing teams such as sales, support, and collections. The contact center sector has consistently faced challenges with agent inefficiencies, such as extended after-call work, repetitive data entry, and conversation misunderstanding. Managers also face the risk of losing potential leads and the burden of manually processing vast amounts of data to derive customer insights. These inefficiencies have resulted in longer response times, poor first-call resolutions, unsatisfactory multilingual interactions, and lower customer satisfaction. Convin's new LLM addresses these gaps and significantly outperforms leading models like GPT-3.5 by 40% and GPT-4 Turbo by 20% in accuracy. Trained on over 200 billion tokens and supporting 35+ Indian and South Asian languages, including codemixed variations, the model ensures precise transcriptions, zero to low hallucinations, and contextual understanding, making it ideal for diverse and global environments. It reassures businesses of a critical advantage in delivering high-quality, culturally sensitive customer interactions. "Convin's domain-specific model is a game-changer for enterprise contact centers. Traditional language models often fail to deliver accurate results, but purpose-built models such as Convin LLM produces better results and are more accurate. Our goal is to empower customer-facing teams with actionable insights and real-time guidance, transforming how businesses manage customer interactions," said Atul Shree, CTO of Convin. "By addressing major challenges such as agent inefficiencies, call centers can improve handle time, response time, and inconsistent customer experience. This streamlines processes, and enhances customer satisfaction by providing precise, data-driven insights and predictive analytics. As a result, call centers realize a substantial cost reduction and new revenue generation." The process begins by identifying specific objectives related to inefficiencies in the contact center setup and selecting relevant data sources. Data is then collected and preprocessed to ensure high quality, including filtering, deduplication, and tokenization. Pre-training on this cleaned dataset helps the model understand linguistic patterns and adapt to different languages. Finally, the model undergoes fine-tuning with task-specific labeled data, refining its parameters to predict labels accurately and deliver optimal performance. Leveraging LLM and Gen AI product suite, Convin's customers automate and optimize tasks, reducing manual intervention and allowing agents to focus on revenue-generating activities. This comprehensive solution enhances communication, operational efficiency, and customer satisfaction by providing automatic, quick, and accurate responses, concise summaries, predictive analytics, and real-time insights into customer sentiments, ensuring consistent and timely communication. Convin sets a new standard for data security and privacy. With stringent data privacy practices, it ensures all customer data is secure and compliant with regulatory standards. The company maintains total control over sensitive information through a robust internal infrastructure, employing strict access controls, industry-standard encryption, and regular security audits. By addressing critical industry challenges and providing a cost-effective, multilingual, and highly accurate solution, Convin attracts a broader customer base and drives significant revenue growth. As a leader in AI-powered conversation intelligence solutions, Convin currently serves over 80 clients across various industries, including notable brands such as Reliance Nippon, Purvankara, Titan, Thyrocare, and Lazypay. Convin is rapidly expanding its market presence across India, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. With the enhanced capabilities and efficiencies introduced by this model, Convin anticipates a 200% increase in customer acquisition and a 3X boost in overall revenue for 2024-25. For more information about Convin LLM, visit https://convin.ai/product/convin-call-center-ai-llm-generative-ai About Convin: Convin is an AI-powered conversation intelligence platform that analyzes customer-facing conversations into actionable insights, enhancing business outcomes and customer satisfaction. Founded in 2021 by four IIT-Delhi alumni--Ashish Santhalia (CEO), Bharat Patidar (COO), Atul Shree (CTO), and Durgesh Choudary (CPO)--Convin addresses the underutilization of client conversation data. Through strategic partnerships with global companies across industries, Convin optimizes conversation efficiency by leveraging interaction data and their proprietary Large Language Model (LLM). Convin has over 80+ clients across edutech, fintech, real estate, hospitality, BPOs, Insurtech, etc. To date, the company has raised a total of $2.5 million from Titan Capital, Kalaari Capital, and others via seed funding rounding. For more information, visit https://convin.ai (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by VMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) According to data made available by S&P Global Commodities at Sea, the total number of bunkering and ship-to-ship calls to Indian ports surpassed 6,765 compared with just 4,113 during the same period in 2023. As per definition, refueling of cargo vessels is known as bunkering - an activity that is performed daily at ports all around the world. This time, the monsoon has had little effect in Mumbai, said S&P Global Commodity Insights, citing market participants' views. Mumbai, which is one of the major bunkering hubs in the country, saw a 53 per cent rise in total bunkering and ship-to-ship calls, data showed. "Attacks on shipping in the Red Sea have prompted shipowners to take longer voyages around Africa. This disruption caused a substantial increase in monsoon bunker demand at Indian ports, which is typically lower due to weather disruptions," said S&P Global Commodity Insights commentary on bunker activity in India. It said the growth was further fueled by favorable pricing and consistent supply from domestic refineries since the second quarter of 2024. "During the Southwest monsoon period from June to September, certain port authorities impose restrictions on barge movement due to unfavorable weather conditions impacting anchorage supplies." Total Bunkering and ship-to-ship calls fell to 26 per cent month-over-month to 357 in July 2024 for Gujrat-based ports, data showed. Gujarat ports include Kandla, Sikka, Vadinar Terminal, Port Okha, Bedi Bunder, Navlakhi, and Mundra, Dahej, Hazira, Jafrabad, Magdalla, and Pipavav. Among those ports, Haldia market demand remained stable, with consistent supply maintaining market stability. Demand at Kochi port remained stable. Market sentiment in Kochi has remained stable, but some suppliers experienced product shortages in July, leading to a decrease in their monthly volumes. However, suppliers who had the product saw increased volumes as customers shifted to them, the commentary noted. An increase in bunker demand at Colombo led to a decline in Kochi, S&P Global Commodity Insights asserted. Increased demand led to supply tightness in Sri Lanka, mainly impacting Colombo and Hambantota, while Trincomalee remained unaffected. (ANI) HT Syndication Gurugram (Haryana) [India], August 13: In a bid to raise awareness around claims process in insurance, Policybazaar organised the third edition of its exclusive event 'Insurance Ka Superhero' in Gurgaon. The event saw Policybazaar's customers in attendance who narrated first-hand experience of their disputed or rejected claims and how Policybazaar's team helped them get approved. These customers felicitated the advisors who came to their rescue in the hour of need. Not just this, the event also highlighted a few instances where Policybazaar helped people who were not even the brand's customers and got their claims approved. Sarbvir Singh, CEO, Policybazaar, addressed the audience and shed some light on the importance of quick and effective claims assistance during the moment of distress. He said, "Behind every claim lies a story of a family battling an unfortunate situation, hospitalisation and huge medical bills. Insurance can at least take care of the financial part during this moment and that can only happen if the claim process is smooth and quick. We understand this pain point and look at every claim from the consumer's lens." Policybazaar's industry-first initiatives like the 'Claim Samadhan Diwas' for face-to-face interaction between insurers and customers, help facilitate instant claim approvals. The company has conducted 15 such events, where customers have got their initially rejected claims cleared. The brand's 24*7 claims support system is equipped to handle over 1000 calls on a daily basis and provide on-ground support in over 170 cities. Sai Narayan, CMO of Policybazaar, also addressed the audience, highlighting how Policybazaar has transformed health insurance claims since its inception by taking end-to-end ownership of the process. This was followed by Jitin Jain, Head of renewals and customer service at Policybazaar speaking about claims being the most critical point in a policyholder's journey and also the reason to invest in insurance in the first place. Policybazaar is not only proud to have successfully processed claims amounting to over Rs 400 crores, but also helped restore customer's faith in insurance by helping get rejected claims reviewed and processed. The company's commitment to ensuring fair settlements is quite visible through its review or reopening of over 4000 disputed claims, which has resulted in Rs 24 crores of additional settlements. Prathap Sutan, a policyholder who was not a Policybazaar customer, shared his experience of the team's dedication in helping get his claim approved simply because he reached out to them through acquaintances. Policybazaar's customers who had a similar experience echoed this sentiment and thanked the advisors who went beyond the line of duty to help them. Customers get real-time updates on their policy issuance status via the app, WhatsApp or email. Starting from initial call to the final settlement, Policybazaar assists customers with document collection, on-ground support at hospitals and much more. Not just technology, the company also understands the significance of human connection in something as personal as an insurance claim. Customers get round the clock support with a team of 800 advisors available to address any queries or concerns effectively. The advisors actively seek customer feedback through various channels, including social media and post-call surveys, to drive improvements and ensure a streamlined approach. They also conduct pre-renewal check-ins to ensure customer satisfaction and address any potential issues. As India's financial services market expands rapidly with insurance becoming a key component of financial planning, Policybazaar is committed to staying ahead of the curve and empower customers in making well-informed insurance decisions. Policybazaar (www.policybazaar.com) Policybazaar.com is one of India's leading online insurance platforms. It is the flagship platform of PB Fintech, which owns the fintech brand, Paisabazaar.com, and the lending & insurance marketplace in the UAE region, Policybazaar.ae. The Policybazaar.com group has backing from a host of investors including the likes of PE funds and other family offices. Policybazaar.com started with the purpose to educate people on insurance products and with its offerings has addressed the large and highly underpenetrated online insurance markets. For media queries, please contact: Corporate Communications Simran Bhatia simranbhatia@policybazaar.com +91-8585984969 (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by HT Syndication. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) Health Presso New Delhi [India], August 13: The American Association of Cardiologists of Indian Origin (AACIO) USA, International Society of Cardiovascular Ultrasound (ISCU) USA, World Heart Academy, and World Wellness Foundation, in academic partnership with JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd., hosted a groundbreaking multispeciality national consensus on hypertension in women at the Taj Mansingh Hotel, New Delhi. The conference addressed the urgent issue of hypertension among women, particularly focusing on the cardio-renal metabolic approach. Dr H.K. Chopra, preventive & clinical cardiologist, Medanta Moolchand Heart Institute, organizing chairman and national president of CSI, emphasized the alarming rise of hypertension, especially among young adults in India. "Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular events and a leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally. India is the world capital of hypertension, diabetes, heart attack, obesity, metabolic syndrome, heart failure, and CKD. The prevalence of hypertension in India is 35-40% in young adults in urban areas and 15-20% in rural areas. It is 50% at the age of 50, 60% at the age of 60, 70% at the age of 70, and 80% at the age of 80," he stated. He added, "Uncontrolled hypertension today is like a global tsunami, leading to premature cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events. The prevalence in India is alarming, with 90% of Indians suffering from uncontrolled hypertension, a matter of great concern." Deliberating at the conference, Dr Tiny Nair, Chief Cardiologist, PRS Hospital Trivandrum, pointed out recent developments in the management of hypertension in women, particularly focusing on hypertensive disease of pregnancy (HDP), saying, "Recent studies indicate that women with a history of hypertensive disease of pregnancy (HDP) are at a higher risk of developing heart disease later in life. It is crucial to recognize past HDP as a significant risk factor in women, beyond standard risk management." New data suggests that even in the absence of hypertension, these women are more prone to heart diseases such as coronary artery disease (CAD), heart failure, and aortic and mitral valve diseases. Recognizing a history of HDP as a key risk factor beyond the usual risk factors could greatly improve heart disease management in women, he further added. Addressing the issue of resistant hypertension, Dr Viveka Kumar, Vice Chairman & Chief of Cath Labs & Cardiac Sciences from Max Super Speciality Hospital, Delhi, noted, "Resistant hypertension is difficult to control and increases the risk of serious health complications. Managing this condition requires a combination of lifestyle changes and proper medication. Early detection and personalized care are vital for improving the quality of life in affected individuals." Vikas Khare, Vice President of JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd., emphasized the need for a gender-centric approach in hypertension care, particularly for women, stating, "Educating women on risk factor reduction and promoting a healthy lifestyle is paramount for improving hypertension care and managing comorbidities in women." The conference provided actionable insights into hypertension management, with a particular focus on women. One of the key outcomes was the development of guidelines aimed at improving hypertension care across various levels, emphasizing a shift from treating illness to promoting overall wellness. These guidelines are expected to enhance the approach to managing hypertension, ensuring more effective prevention and treatment strategies. The event also included an Annual Accolades Ceremony, honouring over 100 eminent female doctors for their contributions to advanced medical care, reinforcing the theme of women empowerment. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by Health Presso. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) NewsVoir Panchkula (Haryana) [India], August 13: Experts today stressed that having entrepreneurial skills in any career is the key to success in life. They were speaking at the 6th Satluj Career Fest, here at the Satluj Public School in Sector 4 today. The event was held in both virtual and offline mode. The participants got an opportunity to discover opportunities with over 300+ top universities from around the globe, including the USA, Canada, Europe, UK, Australia, New Zealand, and India. The fest was for students of grades 9th to 12th, which included panel discussions by thought leaders from top industries and the education space, besides counselling sessions. Over 10,000 students took part in hybrid mode from different schools across India, including the tricity. Reekrit Serai, Managing Director, Satluj Group of Schools while welcoming the students and the speakers said career fest was a good opportunity for young minds and was aimed to shape the future of students from different parts of the country. He also stressed on the fact that the majority of jobs will now require skills. He said that career choice is a journey of exploration, learning and self-discovery. "Over 10,000 students and 500 schools took part last year virtually, and this year we are sure to surpass this number, making it one of India's largest career fests for school students," he added. The inaugural session took off with a talk by Special Guest Dr. Joseph Emmanuel, CEO and Secretary of CISCE and former Director (Academics), CBSE, who said it was important to guide the young minds about their careers. He added the better you are equipped with technology, the better you can meet the challenges. The best time to guide children is at the age of 15, and since teachers know their students well, they should guide them for choosing their careers. He emphasized the importance of having entrepreneurial skills and expressed gratitude to Satluj Public School for organizing the career fest. Special Guest Dr. Biswajit Saha, Director (Skills & Training), Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), mentioned that times have changed, making career decisions increasingly challenging for both parents and their children. He emphasized the crucial role of a career counsellor in identifying a child's strengths. Saha also highlighted the importance of thoroughly verifying whether universities meet all necessary criteria when making a choice. Additionally, he stressed the significance of allowing children the freedom to select their preferred career paths. Special Guest Dr. Parmod Kumar, State Programme Officer with the Department of School Education, Government of Haryana, emphasized the importance of considering future opportunities in fields such as Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, and 3D Printing when making career decisions. "It's crucial to anticipate developments over the next decade before choosing a career path," he noted. Dr. Kumar identified the armed forces, ISRO, and agriculture-related fields as three top career options in India and recommended that every parent have their child undergo an aptitude test by the 9th grade. In the first panel discussion, Raaja Kanwar, Chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Haryana and Chairman and Managing Director of Apollo International Group, spoke on the occasion, emphasizing the importance of entrepreneurial skills even within traditional job roles. He also highlighted the need to remain curious about emerging technologies and to embrace the courage to forge one's own path. "While technology is reshaping the world, the human connection will always remain crucial," he added. Dr. Rupesh Kumar Singh, Associate Vice President at Adani Group, emphasized that resilience is the ability to bounce back from challenges. "We must embrace uncertainty, as it can be a catalyst for growth," he said. He highlighted the importance of staying curious, taking calculated risks, learning from failures, and building a strong support network. Man Mohan Singh Kohli, former Chairman of CII Chandigarh and CEO of Kalyan Singh Darshan (Aroma Group), also addressed the students, emphasizing the importance of entrepreneurship. He suggested replacing the motto "Think Big" with "Think Real," given the current scenario. "Ask yourself what lies beyond the ordinary, and remember that you now have the advantage of readily available information," he added. Satish Kumar Arora, President of TiE Chandigarh, remarked, "We are witnessing significant changes, and it's essential that our education system evolves to keep pace with the future. Even as someone immersed in the technology field, I learn a great deal from my son. Entrepreneurial skills are crucial, as they nurture future leaders." In a special session, Krishna Mohan, IAS (retd.) and former Additional Chief Chief Secretary of Haryana & Financial Commissioner, highlighted the unique aspects of civil services. "In civil services, you have the opportunity for leadership through significant postings at a young age. The role offers job diversity, creativity, and innovation. You face daily challenges and engage in the public process, enabling you to impact the lives of disadvantaged individuals. It is not merely a job but a service to the citizens of the country." Krit Serai, Co-chairman of Satluj Group of Schools, said, a lot of hard work went into the planning of Career Fest, which is one of the biggest career shows. He said, 20 plus panellists deliberated on various aspects which helped the youth to choose proper careers. "Career planning is very important in our lives and for a proper career choice planning must start at plus two stages or even Class X. We have a variety of jobs for the youth available now," he added. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) NewsVoir Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], August 13: Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (SIMATS), a Deemed University, has achieved a significant milestone in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) India Rankings 2024 under Ministry of Education by securing a position in each of the nine categories it applied for. This remarkable accomplishment distinguishes SIMATS as the only institution to achieve this level of recognition in the current rankings, underscoring its commitment to excellence in education and research. The institute has excelled in the NIRF India Rankings 2024, earning top distinctions across multiple categories. Competing against 10,885 higher education institutions - almost twice as many as last year's 5,543 participants - the institute achieved remarkable success. It claimed the first rank in dentistry for the third consecutive year, solidifying its leadership in this domain. Furthermore, SIMATS secured impressive positions in other categories: 11th in the University category, 12th in Medical, 13th in Law, 20th in Research, 22nd Overall, 53rd in Engineering, 74th in Management, and 11 /50 in Innovation among institutions. On a global scale, SIMATS distinguished itself as one of the top 25 institutions worldwide in dentistry, a testament to its unwavering commitment to excellence in education and research. "We are immensely proud of our students, faculty, and staff, whose unwavering dedication and hard work have been instrumental in earning this prestigious recognition," said Dr N.M. Veeraiyan, Chancellor, and Dr Deepak Nallaswamy, Pro Chancellor of SIMATS. "We are steadfast in our commitment to maintaining these high standards of excellence and pushing the boundaries of education and research across all disciplines." They further added, "Saveetha has always been a platform of innovation in teaching methods. The institute is way ahead in implementing many of the provisions of the NEP 2020. Our advanced curriculum with innovative systems and a dedicated management policy to reinvest all the funds into the development of the university have enabled us to offer research and academic output that far surpasses global standards. These are the reasons why the university is ranked in the top 25 QS global subject rankings for three consecutive years. Our next ambition is to improve awareness about our innovative processes that will enhance our perception in the future." For more information about Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences and its various programs, please visit www.saveetha.com. Table: SIMATS NIRF India Rankings 2024: Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (SIMATS), a distinguished Deemed University in Chennai, India, is celebrated for its diverse offering of 177 unique educational programs. Serving over 10,000 students, the university's expansive 184-acre campus boasts more than 7 million square feet of state-of-the-art facilities. SIMATS stands out with its cutting-edge research infrastructure, including India's only NANO CT, NANO SEM/TEM, and Anatomy Cadaver Printer, Robotic Surgical System, Advanced simulators, ICMMS and advanced spectrometers. The institution is highly ranked in numerous global metrics making it one of the best private universities in India. Through its unwavering commitment to academic excellence and innovation, SIMATS has firmly established itself as a leader in education and research. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) Chinese and Pakistani engineers celebrate the connecting of the first unit of the Chinese-built Suki Kinari Hydropower project to the grid for power generation in northwest Pakistan's Mansehra on Aug. 12, 2024. [China Energy Construction Overseas Investment Co., Ltd./Handout via Xinhua] The first unit of the Chinese-built Suki Kinari Hydropower project in northwest Pakistan was connected to the grid for power generation on Monday. It marks that the project under the framework of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has taken the most critical step towards commercial operation. He Xiongfei, deputy general manager of China Energy Construction Overseas Investment Company Ltd., which invests in and implements the project, told Xinhua that the hydropower station began transmitting clean electricity to the locals after the first unit was connected to Pakistan's national grid. The project is expected to provide more than 1 million Pakistani households with affordable clean electricity each year in the future, the Chinese manager said. It will contribute to Pakistan's adjustment of national power energy structure, reducing the gap between electricity supply and demand, and helping promote infrastructure and economic development in the South Asian country, he added. Engineers work at Suki Kinari Hydropower Project in Mansehra district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, June 16, 2024. [China Energy Construction Overseas Investment Co., Ltd./Handout via Xinhua] Located in the Mansehra district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the 884-megawatt hydropower project, which has installed four impulse units, started construction in January 2017. Once becoming functional later this year, it will generate some 3.21 billion kilowatt-hours of clean electricity annually, replacing 1.28 million tons of coal and reducing 2.52 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, according to the Chinese manager. Launched in 2013, the CPEC is a flagship project of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative. It is a corridor linking the Gwadar Port in southwest Pakistan's Balochistan province with Kashgar in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The project highlights energy, transport, and industrial cooperation in the first phase, and in the second phase expands to the fields of agriculture and livelihood, among others. NewsVoir New Delhi [India], August 13: Ramdas Athawale, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India set the tone by underscoring the importance of rejuvenating soil health through the integration of organic manure and fertilizers. He emphasized the government's ongoing commitment, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, to enhance the well-being of farmers and prioritize sustainable agricultural practices. Sanjay Kumar Jha, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), pointed out that agriculture is key to societal transformation and highlighted Bihar's initiatives like the Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali campaign and the Krishi Roadmap as blueprints for sustainable development. International perspectives were also shared, with Brazilian Ambassador to India Kenneth Felix Haczynski da Nobrega calling for global collaboration to tackle declining agricultural productivity. He emphasized that Brazil and India could partner to overcome climatic challenges through innovative solutions. The day-long deliberation saw varied solutions being put forth by experts. Dr U Saravanan, Chairman & Managing Director, National Fertilizers Limited (NFL), said, "Adequate fertilization can significantly boost crop yields, helping to meet the growing global food demand while reducing the need for additional land conversion. A robust domestic fertilizer industry is key to reducing India's reliance on imports, ensuring food security for the 1.4 billion population, and stabilizing prices for farmers." Dr Jayadev Sarangi, IAS (Retd), Former Secretary, Govt of Delhi and Govt of Goa, said, "Small and marginal farmers are the backbone of agriculture in India. They face numerous challenges, including limited landholdings, lack of access to technology, and vulnerability to climate change. Sustainable agricultural practices offer a crucial pathway to address these challenges and improve their livelihoods." Highlighting the vital role of biological inputs for soil health, Dr Vimala Prakash, Head-Technology Innovation Center at IPL Biologicals Limited said, "The excessive application of chemical fertilizers has degraded soil organic carbon from 1% to 0.3% over the past 70 years. This alarming decline poses a significant threat to soil health. To rejuvenate the soil, it is imperative to use biological solutions and organic manure. While chemical fertilizers have played a crucial role in ensuring the nation's food security, biological inputs are essential for improving soil health. Therefore, both segments can complement each other, fostering sustainable agricultural growth in India." Elaborating on the need for a paradigm shift in the agricultural practices, Rajavelu NK, CEO - Crop Protection Business - Godrej Agrovet Ltd, said, "To promote sustainable agricultural practices, we have evolved from a crop protection chemical business to a crop protection solution business with the introduction of biological agri-inputs. By 2070, India's population is projected to reach 1.7 billion, necessitating increased food production to meet the growing demand. Therefore, we focus on innovation, encompassing both product development and the training and awareness of farmers on sustainable farming practices." Addressing the need for innovative solutions in agriculture, the focus was placed on integrated, technology-driven approaches to counter the challenges posed by climate change, rising labor costs, and water scarcity. A prime example of this commitment is the introduction of FullPage, a new rice cropping solution designed to conserve water and combat the problem of wild rice, particularly in regions like Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. By integrating direct seeding of rice with hybrid seeds tolerant to Vezir imazethapyr herbicide, this approach not only enhances productivity but also reinforces sustainability in farming practices, Ajai Rana, CEO & MD of Savannah Seeds and Chairman of FSII, highlighted. Siba P Mohanty, Managing Director of Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Limited (HURL), highlighted the vital role played by the company's plants in bolstering India's agricultural and economic framework. He noted, "HURL's Gorakhpur, Sindri, and Barauni plants are pivotal in bolstering India's agricultural and economic landscape. By ensuring a steady supply of fertilizers to farmers, these units contribute significantly to food security and stimulate regional development through infrastructure growth. Moreover, they are instrumental in achieving self-reliance in urea production, conserving foreign exchange, and propelling India towards fertilizer independence, a cornerstone of the 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' mission." Rajendra Jog, Executive Director of Syngenta Foundation India (SFI), emphasized the importance of agricultural sustainability, which has long been the foundation of their work. He stated, "We have developed a robust network of agri-entrepreneurs who are highly trained in modern, sustainable farming techniques. These professionals play a crucial role in disseminating their knowledge and expertise to millions of farmers across the country. At SFI, our unwavering focus remains on promoting agricultural sustainability." Supported by leading industry players and organizations such as National Fertilizers Limited, Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Limited (HURL), IPL Biologicals Limited, Godrej Agrovet Limited, Savannah Seeds, National Seeds Corporation Limited (NSC) and Small Farmers Agri-Business Consortium (SFAC), the Summit brought together policymakers, industry experts, researchers, farmers, and other key stakeholders to discuss and implement sustainable farming practices across the country. Over 50 awards were conferred to farmers, agriculture universities, researchers, think tanks, startups, and agri business companies at the Sustainable Agriculture Awards in across 20 categories. Some of the notable awardees included, National Fertilizer Limited (NFL); IPL Biologicals Ltd; Savannah Seeds; Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Limited (HURL); Godrej Agrovet Ltd; ITC Limited; PepsiCo India; Syngenta Foundation India; RASI Seeds; Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur; Palladium Consulting India; Sarvathobhadram Organics, Peringottukara, Thrissur, Kerala; Naveed Hamid, CEO, SK Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship Centre, SKUAST-Kashmir; Ganesh Nanote, Progressive Farmer, Akola, Maharashtra; Prakash Bapurao Puppalwar, Progressive farmer, Yavatmal, Maharashtra, and more. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) ATK New Delhi [India], August 13: Despite the best measures taken, it's not uncommon to hear about fire incidents being reported from different parts of India time and again. While some of them aren't major, a few have been deadly. Fires can cause widespread damage to life and property. Though installing fire safety features can reduce the chances of fire, it is equally important to have fire insurance in place. What is fire insurance? Fire insurance is a type of property insurance that covers losses due to fire. In other words, it compensates for repairing or replacing property damaged by fire. Benefits of fire insurance Here's how fire insurance comes to your rescue if your property gets damaged due to fire: * Financial protection Damages caused by fire can drain your finances significantly. Without fire insurance, you might need to break your savings or take expensive loans to repair your damaged property. This could further dent your finances. However, fire insurance can provide the necessary cushion in such situations by helping you cover the expenses to get things back on track. * Coverage for additional expenses A fire insurance policy may cover additional expenses depending on its terms and conditions. For instance, if your property is damaged by fire and you need to temporarily move elsewhere, the insurance policy can help offset this cost. In other words, it allows you to stay in a safe place until your property is back in shape. * Coverage for various types of properties One of the hallmarks of fire insurance is that it provides coverage for a range of properties, such as residential buildings, commercial spaces, and industrial premises. The scope of coverage can also extend to machinery, equipment, furniture, etc. Therefore, with this insurance, you can protect not only your home but also other properties. * Aids in business continuity A fire insurance policy can aid in business continuity if your business suffers damage from a fire. Helping cover the cost of repairs and potential loss of income during the interruption period keeps your business afloat during trying times. * Peace of mind Having fire insurance offers you peace of mind. You don't need to worry about fire wreaking havoc on your property and finances. This allows you to focus on daily activities hassle-free. Also, in many cases, fire insurance is a legal requisite for businesses. In conclusion Fires can be devastating. While time can heal emotional scars, fire insurance can help you overcome financial losses. Ensure adequate coverage and compare various policies before buying one. ICICI Lombard offers two fire insurance plans, namely ICICI Bharat Sookshma Udyam Suraksha and ICICI Bharat Laghu Udyam Suraksha Policy. With a high sum assured, both these plans help you easily cover damages caused by fire. You can choose the one that best fits in your needs. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by ATK. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) The Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) is contemplating commencing an offshore campus in Dubai with active support from the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, according to a statement from the ministry. From 27th rank in 2023 to 15th this year, the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India has made a steep jump of 12 spots in its NIRF (National Institutional Ranking Framework) ranking released by Ministry of Education. This has been a record improvement in the institute's ranking since beginning of NIRF ranking in 2016. Congratulating IIFT on this remarkable feat Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal expressed his confidence that the institute would soon transform into a world class institute that would greatly contribute to India's impressive growth in trade and investments. From 27th rank in 2023 to 15th rank this year, the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) Delhi has made a remarkable progress. With India's growing influence in global trade this achievement highlights IIFT's crucial role in nurturing future leaders in international business, he said. Sunil Barthwal, Secretary, Department of Commerce and Chancellor, IIFT, also congratulated on this remarkable achievement and expressed full support from Department of Commerce to conduct cutting-edge research on contemporary issues in international trade including bilateral and multilateral trade engagements, exports promotion and institutional development. In the recent months, various measures of the institute have been recognised. The institute has taken a host of holistic initiatives to improve its teaching, learning and resources, research and professional practices, graduation outcomes, outreach and inclusivity and perception. IIFT is on the path of rapid transformation into a world class B-School of global repute with special focus on international trade and business making it a unique institute that conducts highly sought after educational programmes such as Ph.D., MBA (International Business), MBA (Business Analytics) and MA Economics specialising in International Trade and Finance. As a part of new initiatives, the institute is in the process of establishing a state of art Centre for International Negotiations (CIN) to provide training to corporates and policy makers on international negotiations. Besides, IIFT is also establishing Foreign Trade Case Study Centre (FTCSC) to work closely with exporters, governments and businesses and develop world class case studies on the lines of Harvard and share Indian experiences on International Trade with the rest of the world. The institute plans to work closely with the governments, central and states and carry out insightful research on issues of contemporary importance besides high-end capacity building programmes. Various export promotion organisations such as APEDA have evinced keen interest to sponsor PhD students on the area of contemporary research interest. (ANI) As legendary actor Vyjayanthimala is celebrating her 91st birthday today she received a special wish from veteran actor Saira Banu. Taking to Instagram, Saira Banu shared throwback pictures featuring herself, her husband- late actor Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala along with a long note. The note read, "Wishing my favourite, Padma Vibhushan, Vyjayantimalaji (Akka Elder Sister) a very happy birthday! As I write about her, you will come to know how she became Akka to me. My first memory of her is when I was visiting Mehboob Studios, with my mother, who was visiting her friend Mrs. Akhtar Mehboob Khan. I was thrilled to see such a spectacular song number of "Radha Krishna," where Vyjayantimalaji was swirling in a beautiful Ghagra Choli." Saira Banu recalled meeting Vyjayanthimala while working in 'Junglee'. https://www.instagram.com/p/C-ma_DCIWEW/?img_index=1 "Next, we met when I started working in "Junglee." She saw me at a film premiere and fondly touched my cheek, saying 'beautiful.' I think I did not wash my face that week! I always loved the pairing of Sahib with Vyjayantimalaji; the pair has given the maximum number of hits together, and my all-time favourite is the classic "Gunga Jumna." She did a fabulous job as Dhanno, and Sahib worked very hard on her diction to record the Purbi dialogues on tape with the correct pronunciations and dialect, she stated. Banu also talked about the bond of legendary actor Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala. She added, "There was a certain understanding between Sahib and Akka, and the onscreen chemistry worked in their favour. Akka once quoted that she learned a lot working with Sahib; it was amazing watching him sink into a character and become oblivious of all else. However, once there came an unfortunate misunderstanding between them, and somehow, after shooting for "Ram Aur Shyam" for a few days, she was replaced. Sahib and Akka, along with her husband Dr. Bali, would keep running into each other in Delhi at functions and celebration dinners. During one such meeting, the four of us met. Sahib and Dr. Bali sat together and chatted merrily, whereas Akka and I huddled and talked. This went on for a while, and each of them would avoid meeting the other's gaze until I got fed up and brought the two of them together to patch up as friends again. That was quite a feat!" Concluding the post, Banu wrote, "After this smooth sailing, Akka and her son Suchendra would always visit us at home whenever travelling from Madras. Once, there was a complicated issue troubling both of them for a long time, and Sahib and I, with sheer good luck, managed to solve that complex situation completely. Ever since, Vyjayantimala labelled me as her 'angel,' and as for me, Vyjayantimala turned into Akka." Vyjayanthimala and Dilip Kumar worked together in classics like 'Madhumati', 'Naya Daur', 'Devdas among others. Recently, Vyjayanthimala Bali was conferred with the Padma Vibhushan award. In May, Vyjayanthimala received the award in the field of art from President Droupadi Murmu during the Civil Investiture Ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi. Vyjayanthimala made her screen debut at the age of 16 with the Tamil film Vaazhkai (1949). 'Devdas', 'Sangam', 'Madhumanti' and 'Naya Daur' are some of her iconic films. (ANI) Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said that the Tricolour is our pride and identity, and it is our collective duty to uphold its respect. CM Saini urged people to participate in the 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi by hoisting the Tricolour at their homes and establishments, contributing to realising the dream of a new India envisioned by the brave martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the nation. CM Saini was addressing the gathering at a programme organised in Kalka, district Panchkula, on Monday. On this occasion, he flagged off the Tiranga Yatra with slogans of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'. He concluded the yatra at the Shri Kali Mata Temple in Kalka. Earlier, the Chief Minister visited the historic Kali Mata Temple in Kalka and the Gurudwara Sahib to seek blessings. The Chief Minister said that Independence Day is dedicated to remembering those brave martyrs who sacrificed their lives to protect our Bharat Mata. He further added that PM Modi has called upon the citizens to hoist the National Flag at every home so that we can honour the sacrifice of the countless heroes who fought for our freedom. CM Saini said that PM Modi has committed to transforming India into a developed nation by 2047, and about 140 crore citizens are playing their part in this mission. He said that Haryana is also fully committed to achieve this goal, with every citizen actively contributing to the effort. CM mentioned that PM Modi has implemented numerous schemes for the welfare of all sections of the society. In a significant move towards environmental conservation, he has launched a 'Ek Pedh Maa Ke Naam' campaign. Under this campaign, he has urged people to plant at least one sapling on birthdays, anniversaries, or other joyful occasions and to ensure their protection. He also highlighted that the Prime Minister has given international recognition to the country's ancient yoga practices. On this occasion, former MLA Latika Sharma, senior leader Banto Kataria, Deputy Commissioner, Dr. Yash Garg, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Himadree Kaushik and other dignitaries were present. (ANI) Assam DGP GP Singh said that police recovered six automatic rifles, four single-shot rifles, three pistols with magazines, five No 36 HE grenades, 54 rounds of AK rifle ammunition, and nine rounds of pistol ammunition. "In Kokrajhar-Chirang forests, we have been able to intercept and bring out a group of 20 youths who had been trying to form a new militant group for the last three/four months. They have listened to reason and come out and handed over the weapons held by them," GP Singh wrote on X. He further said, "We strive to keep our state free of weapons & violence." Further investigation is underway. More details into the matter are awaited. (ANI) The appointment of former Principal of RG Kar Medical College & Hospital, Prof. (Dr.) Sandip Ghosh at Calcutta National Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata triggered massive protest on Tuesday as the students protested against the Principal when West Bengal minister Javed Ahmed Khan and TMC MLA Swarna Kamal arrived here on Tuesday morning. Dr Sandip Ghosh who resigned from his post yesterday, was reassigned to Calcutta National Medical College & Hospital shortly after. Students alleged that it was extremely sad and unethical to reinstate the Principal at Calcutta National Medical College & Hospital. Students with folded hands demanded justice from the minister Javed Ahmed Khan and raised 'Go Back' slogans for Dr Sandip Ghosh. The students said that they did not want a similar incident like RG Kar Medical College & Hospital to be repeated here. The Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) has called for a nationwide shutdown of OPD services from Tuesday as a protest against the sexual assault and murder of a woman post-graduate trainee (PGT) doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, on August 9. The Outpatient Department (OPD) at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata was shut as patients arrived for medical and health services and stood in a queue amid uncertainty over services. Patients standing in the queue said that he had been standing there for over 2 hours. The patient said, "have been standing here for 2 hours. We don't know if the hospital is open. Nobody has told us anything." Earlier on Monday, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) demanded an impartial thorough investigation of the case and punishment of the culprits from the West Bengal government. IMA has written to Union Minister JP Nadda demanding a detailed inquiry into the conditions enabling the crime as well as the steps to improve the safety of doctors especially women in the workplace. IMA had given an ultimatum of two days on the above demands. "We submit to you our demand for the safe zone, defined security measures and Central Law on violence as deterrent measures. We hope you would consider our demands favourably in the light of the deteriorating ground situation," the IMA letter reads. The post-graduate trainee doctor was found raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9. (ANI) The Rohini Sessions Court of Delhi has denied bail to an accused who is the sister-in-law of the acid attack victim. Earlier, she was declared an absconder by the court for her absence for six years from the process of law. The Court of Additional Sessions Judge Dhirendra Rana, while passing the order recently, noted that the complainant had received severe injuries during the incident and that there is permanent privation of one eye. She has also become incapacitated in speaking partially due to the incident. The matter was reported to the police without any delay and she was examined in a hospital after an hour or so of the incident. Her statement was recorded on June 27, 2018, wherein she categorically made allegations against the present accused and described her role. It is also a matter of record that she was declared a proclaimed offender and was arrested only on February 21, 2024. The charge sheet, though filed by the investigating officer, has yet to be received by this court. The family of the complainant has contemplated threat perception and it is argued that it would be difficult to secure the presence of the applicant during trial considering her previous conduct, as noted by the Court. Considering the facts and circumstances of this case, the previous conduct of the accused, and the injuries suffered by the complainant, the court said it was not inclined to release the accused/applicant on bail. Hence, the application for a grant of bail moved on behalf of accused Ruby is hereby dismissed. The court further noted that the accused was never arrested by police and she has been absconding from the process since 2018. Advocate Aditi Drall appeared for the complainant, opposed the bail plea, and argued that, as per the MLC, during the incident, the injured person was seriously injured and lost one eye forever. Due to the incident, she has also become partially speech impaired. Advocate Aditi Drall further argued that accused Ruby was earlier declared a proclaimed offender and the possibility of her fleeing away from the trial cannot be ruled out further her HIV condition is not a licence to commit crime. Moreover, co-accused are still absconding. The counsel for the accused argued that the accused, Ruby, was not aware of the proceedings against her and she was arrested from her sister's house on February 21, 2024. It is further submitted that in order to falsely implicate the accused persons in the present case, the complainant herself poured acid on her, and in order to take revenge on the family members, she made false allegations against the accused persons. The investigation of the present case has been completely evaded and he has been sent to jail on February 21, 2024. Moreover, the applicant is an HIV patient and is undergoing treatment for it. According to the prosecution, on June 17, 2018, at about 9 a.m., when the victim was present at home, her mother-in-law, sister-in-law, with the help of other accused persons, started to strangle her. Further, her uncle captured her hair and her husband poured some acidic substance into her mouth. The victim made a phone call to her brother and called the police. Thereafter, a FIR was lodged by police against the accused persons at Shahbad Dairy Police Station. (ANI) . Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, and Union Ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, Kiren Rijiju, and Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday flagged off a bike rally under 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign from Bharat Mandapam in the national capital. The rally will conclude at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said that 'Har Ghar Tiranga' reflects our independence, pride and commitment to Viksit Bharat. "This is a very important day for us. Har Ghar Tiranga is a campaign that is a part of 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav'. In 2021, this was started to encourage people to bring Tiranga home and hoist it on Independence Day. Now, this has become a movement, now crores of people hoist the Tiranga at their houses. I have no doubts that a new record will be made in the coming Independence Day...'Har Ghar Tiranga' reflects our independence, pride, and commitment to Viksit Bharat. This signifies that this century belongs to India...A few years ago, India was a matter of concern for the world in terms of economy. Today, we are swiftly going ahead towards becoming the 3rd global superpower, we are the 5th today..." said Vice President Dhankhar. Meanwhile, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said that Tiranga ties the country together as one. "Tiranga is the pride of the country...Tiranga ties the country together as one...we have taken the resolution that we will always keep increasing the pride of our country," said Shekhawat. Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign is to strengthen the country. "By creating an atmosphere for 'Har Ghar Tiranga', across the corners of the country, today people are participating in it...to wake up the nation 'Har Ghar Tiranga' journey has started and this has become a movement...this movement is to strengthen the country..." said Rijiju. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has launched the 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign across the nation. During this period, the central government urged the citizens to hoist the tricolour on every house, shop, and office. In the 112th 'Mann Ki Baat' on July 28, Prime Minister Modi called upon all Indians to take part in the 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign to celebrate Independence Day. 'Har Ghar Tiranga' is a campaign that forms part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. It was started in 2021 to encourage people to bring the Tiranga home and to hoist it to mark the 75th year of India's independence. The idea behind the initiative is to invoke the feeling of patriotism in the hearts of the people and promote awareness about the Indian National Flag. (ANI) Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong held a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday to discuss the overall situation at the international border area amid the political unrest in neighbouring country Bangladesh. CM Sangma said that Meghalaya police are on high alert and a night curfew has been imposed along the international border to further strengthen the overall security. Conrad K Sangma said, "The Deputy Chief Minister of Meghalaya and myself had a review meeting along with Home Minister of India, Amit Shah to review the overall situation at the border area keeping in mind the current situation that the country of Bangladesh is going through. In the review meeting, we briefed the Home Minister that there was good work that was going on by the BSF and the Army and very strict monitoring is being done currently by these two forces. At the same time, Meghalaya police also is on high alert." He further said, "We also informed him that we have put a night curfew all along the international border to further strengthen the overall security. We reiterated to the HM that we should not allow this point in time any individuals to cross the border as the matter is very, very sensitive" He further informed that the Home Minister informed that the Government of India would not allow any individual to cross the border and all steps were being taken to ensure that the border was secured. "Apart from that, we have urged the government to provide more manpower along the borders if necessary so that security can be further emboldened and to which the Home Minister assured that the situation would be examined and necessary action would be taken," Sangma added. Meanwhile, the Border Security forces have also tightened security along the Indo-Bangladesh international border in response to the ongoing crisis in Bangladesh. Deployment at border outposts has also been increased, and all surveillance equipment is being utilized to ensure effective monitoring. The Ministry of Home Affairs has formed a committee, led by the Additional Director General (ADG) of the BSF Eastern Command, to monitor the situation at the Indo-Bangladesh Border (IBB). The Ministry of Home Affairs has formed a committee, led by the Additional Director General (ADG) of the BSF Eastern Command, to monitor the situation at the Indo-Bangladesh Border (IBB). In a letter dated August 9, Under Secretary to the Govt of India Smitha Viju said, "It has been decided to constitute a Committee consisting of the following members for the above-mentioned subject a. ADG, BSF, Eastern Command as the Chairman, b. IG, BSF Frontier HQ South Bengal, c. IG, BSF Frontier HQ Tripura, d. Member (Planning and Development), LPAI and e. Secretary, LPAI." Bangladesh is facing a fluid political situation following the ouster of former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, from the position of Prime Minister on August 5 in the wake of mounting protests. (ANI) The aquatic biological resources in China's Yangtze River Basin have registered improved recovery momentum in recent years, a communique said on Monday. The communique, jointly released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and three relevant departments, said that the protection measures of the Yangtze River featuring the fishing ban have achieved solid progress. While the aquatic resources have continued to recover, the bio-diversity of aquatic beings has also seen improvements, and the habitat conditions of the creatures have been generally stable, the communique said. However, the variety of aquatic wildlife species under state key protection is still relatively low, it said, adding that the protection of endangered species remains a tough task. The ministry pledged efforts in law enforcement on the fishing ban, the protection of endangered species, the restoration of key habitats, and the prevention and control of invasive exotic species. In 2021, a 10-year fishing ban was launched in pivotal waters of the Yangtze River to increase the populations of aquatic creatures. Mumbai Crime Branch, on Tuesday, arrested a 29-year-old man from Mumbai's Kalyan railway station, allegedly involved in the killing of his friend over the auto-rickshaw fare of a mere 30 rupees. According to the Crime Branch, the accused who has been identified as Saif Zahid Ali and victim Chakkan Ali were friends and belong to the Gonda district of Uttar Pradesh. The crime branch said both of them recently moved to Mumbai and used to work in a garment factory here. The accused allegedly killed his friend Chakkan Ali over the payment of auto rickshaw fare in Mumbai's Kurla area. The incident happened when a dispute arose between the two for a mere rupees 30 over paying the auto-rickshaw fare. The dispute later turned violent and escalated into a murder, informed the Mumbai Crime Branch. Mumbai Crime Branch nabbed Sahid Ali from Kalyan Railway Station and handed him over to Kurla Police. Earlier on late night of July 25, the Mumbai Police arrested a man in connection with the brutal murder of a history-sheeter inside a spa located in the Worli area. The arrest was made by the Mumbai Crime Branch, who apprehended the 26-year-old suspect from the Palghar district on July 24. According to the details provided by the Mumbai Crime Branch, the victim was found with his throat slit inside the spa. Earlier, on Wednesday, six people were arrested for killing a man following a fight between two groups in the Chembur area of Mumbai. The fight was over an old rivalry, said the Mumbai RCF Police Station, adding that the accused were drunk and two of them had a criminal record. The deceased has been identified as Siddharth Kamble (32). Kamble was attacked with a sharp weapon and was taken to the nearby Rajawadi Hospital, where doctors declared him dead, police said. (ANI) The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday took a suo motu cognizance of the alleged sexual assault of a second-year PG student of RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata. The Commission has observed that the contents of the media report, if true, raise a serious issue of violation of human rights of the victim. Accordingly, it has issued notices to the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police, in West Bengal calling for a detailed report on the matter within two weeks, said NHRC. The report is expected to include the present status of the investigation being conducted by the police and action taken against the responsible persons as well as compensation if any, paid to the next of kin of the deceased. The Commission would also like to know about the steps taken/ proposed by the authorities to ensure that such incidents do not recur, the NHRC statement added further. Meanwhile, The Calcutta High Court has asked the former principal of RG Kar Medical College Sandip Ghosh to submit a leave application by 3 pm. This comes after Ghosh's appointment as principal of Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata immediately after his resignation triggered protests. Sandip Ghosh resigned from the position of principal at RG Kar Medical College on Monday alleging that he was being defamed on social media platforms following the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the hospital premises. The Chief Justice division bench of the Calcutta HC was considering several PILs in the matter on Tuesday. During the hearing, the Chief Justice questioned the appointment of the former principal. "How can the principal - who resigned by taking moral responsibility, be appointed as the principal of another government college? The court has asked him to submit a leave application by 3 pm today or the court will pass an order for him to leave the position," the court observed. A post-graduate trainee doctor was found dead inside the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9. An investigation has established rape and murder. Reportedly, the body of the deceased bore scratch marks, indicating that there was some struggle at the time of the incident. The family has reportedly alleged that the victim was raped and murdered. (ANI) Doctors and medical students of Sawai Man Singh Medical College in Jaipur held a protest against the sexual assault and murder of a woman post-graduate trainee (PGT) doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. AIMA (Federation of All India Medical Association) has called for a nationwide shutdown of OPD services from Tuesday over the rape-murder incident. Dr Saket of Sawai Man Singh Medical College said, "Common people might feel that since doctors are protesting, patients could be suffering and we are being cruel but this incident happened on August 8 and this protest did not start before August 12. 4 days are enough for any govt to capture culprits in such a big incident." He further said that reports suggest that there is involvement of the ruling government and real culprits are being protected. "One person has been arrested and he is being used as a pawn though the post-mortem has clearly indicated that one person alone couldn't have committed the crime. That's why we are demanding a CBI probe. For the Principal of the college, we demanded his suspension but he was transferred to another college. The probe is happening just for the sake of it." He further said that several incidents in the past have shown that the on-duty doctors are treated very badly by patient attendants. "We are demanding that the government enforce the Central Protection Act that was introduced during COVID but the law was cancelled after the removal of the Epidemic Act. If there is a non-bailable offence when a lawyer or police or IPS officer is hit then why no action is taken when a doctor is attacked?" he added. Doctors and medical students held a protest at AIIMS Delhi on Tuesday after the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) called for a nationwide shutdown of OPD services from Tuesday. Dr Indra Shekhar Prasad, President, Resident Doctors Association AIIMS Delhi, said, "This is such a serious incident. A woman who was on duty was sexually assaulted and murdered brutally. If such incidents happen at workplaces, how will the women work? We have several demands regarding safety concerns. We want a CBI probe into this, till then we will continue our protest." IMA has written to Union Minister JP Nadda demanding a detailed inquiry into the conditions enabling the crime as well as the steps to improve the safety of doctors especially women in the workplace. The post-graduate trainee doctor was found raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9. (ANI) The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the Centre to clarify its position on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) which stated that the new criminal laws Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) lacks a provision equivalent to Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Section 377 had previously criminalized "sodomy" and "unnatural sex," but was partially decriminalized by the Supreme Court in 2018, stated the plea. The bench, led by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and including Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, has given the Union of India's counsel ten days to take instructions on the grievance raised in the PIL and fixed the matter for further hearing on August 27, 2024. During the hearing, the bench inquired whether the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) addresses non-consensual unnatural sex and questioned if its omission from the BNS implies that such acts are no longer considered offences. The Centre's counsel, Anurag Ahluwalia, sought time to obtain instructions, stressing that the issue has been escalated and requires careful consideration. The PIL moved by Gantavya Gulati stated that the BNS does not include a provision equivalent to Section 377 of the IPC, which previously criminalized "sodomy" and "unnatural sex." Section 377 was decriminalized for consensual same-sex relations in 2018 by the Supreme Court of India in the landmark case of Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India. The PIL raises concerns about whether the new code adequately addresses or maintains protections related to sexual offences, and whether it continues to safeguard individual rights and freedoms in light of the Supreme Court's ruling. The petitioner argued that the BNS's absence of similar provisions creates a legal gap, negatively impacting vulnerable communities by removing protections against non-consensual sexual acts. The PIL seeks a directive to temporarily reinstate protections against non-consensual sexual acts as previously under Section 377 IPC, and orders for law enforcement to ensure protection against such acts. PIL also seeks a declaration that the BNS's repeal of Section 377 IPC without equivalent provisions is unconstitutional and a mandate for the Union of India to amend the BNS to include clear provisions criminalizing non-consensual sexual acts. The petition asserts that this legislative omission violates fundamental rights under Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution and could cause irreparable harm to individuals and communities. (ANI) The Mysuru royal family has called on the Sidddaramiah-led Congress government in the state to respect tradition after it obtained a stay on the established the Sri Chamundeshwari Kshetra Development Authority. Yeduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, MP and scion of the Mysore Royal Family, told ANI, "The authority that the state government of Karnataka was going to form to take control of the Chamundeshwari hills has been put on hold by the honourable Court...The practices that have been followed...have to be followed without any break in them...In respect to tradition, the Court has given a stay on this matter until further notice." "The matter being sub-judice also, we would not be able to comment much more than that," he said. In a swift response, Karnataka Minister for Cooperation, KN Rajanna, said, "Royal family, no prince, no queen now. The same thing, the same quarrel, is also there in the Supreme Court regarding Bengaluru Palace. So this property distribution of this royal family with the government here is also there and in some other states as well. The same dispute is still there." Karnataka BJP leader CT Ravi, speaking to ANI, said that the party will release a statement after studying the matter in detail. "Today, I saw it in the newspaper. I do not have full details. We will release a statement after having an internal discussion within the party. I want to make one request to the Royal Family...We respect the Royal family. We will try to protect the emotions of the public," he said Earlier on Monday, Pramoda Devi Wodeyar, the queen mother of the Mysore royal family lashed out at the state government on the issue. "Chamundeshwari Devi is the presiding deity of the royal family, and the Sri Chamundeshwari temple on Chamundi Hill and other temples are private properties of the family. However, the government enacted the Chamundeshwari Land Development Authority Act 2024 to take over the ownership, control and management of the temples under the guise of development and management of the Chamundeshwari field. We have gone to court against this act and the High Court has stayed the formation of the authority. Therefore, this act is said to be unconstitutional," a statement from her said. "In the 26th Amendment to the Constitution in 1971, the then-central government said that the royal families should submit a list of their assets. Accordingly, the Mysore royal family had listed several properties, including a temple on Chamundi Hill, as belonging to them. It was signed and approved by the then Chief Secretary to the State Government in 1972," she added. The legislation establishing the Sri Chamundeshwari Kshetra Development Authority was enacted in February. According to the Act, the state government assumed ownership, administration, and management of all movable and immovable properties associated with the Sri Chamundeshwari Temple. Pramoda Devi Wodeyar says that various suits regarding the properties are in court. "All the governments since independence till date have given us trouble. In 2001, the Srikanthadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar filed a lawsuit in court alleging that the Chamundeshwari temple in Chamundibetta and other temples and other properties belonged to the royal family of Mysore. It is still under trial in the Division Bench of the High Court," her statement said. "The government is not allowed to commercially exploit the divinity and religious sanctity of the temples. Some people ask for land because they have lost their land. So what we have lost is not the land? Shouldn't we also be given land to land? He assured me that. Why don't those who give when others ask and cannot give when we ask?" she added. (ANI) The Madras High Court has directed the state of Tamil Nadu to consider the demand to set up at least one open-air jail exclusively for women. The court has also directed to take a suitable decision based on opinions of experts in the matter. A Public Interest Litigation filed by one Raja from Madurai district came up for hearing on Monday. The petition sought to declare Rule No. 797(9) of the Tamil Nadu Jail Rules, 1983, which disqualifies women prisoners in open-air jails, as illegal. The petitioner also asked for an order to set up at least one open-air jail for women in the state. The PIL stated that Tamil Nadu has nine central jails, three special women's jails, nine district jails, 95 sub-jails, three open-air jails, three sub-jails for women and 12 juvenile jails. Out of these, 4966 convicts and 9156 trial prisoners are incarcerated. He pointed out that three open-air jails have been established for male prisoners. Disciplined and well-behaved prisoners are transferred to open-air prisons. "Prisoners here make mental progress. Jobs are provided there, which gives them a chance to build a better future when they come out after their sentence. Additional DGP Prisons said that this facility should be an open-air jail for women prisoners. They sent a petition to the Home Secretary. No response yet. Therefore the concerned authorities should be directed to set up an open-air jail for women prisoners," the petitioner said. In a 2018 order, the court directed the government to review eligibility rules for open-air jails under the Tamil Nadu Jail Rules. Following this, the government amended rules 794 and 797 in 2021 based on the court's observations. A first bench comprising Acting Chief Justice D Krishnakumar and Justice R Vijayakumar observed that there is no longer any bar preventing women prisoners from being eligible for open-air jails and hence the said prayer has now become futile. The judges said that the decree cannot be issued at this time as it needs to be evaluated. The court then directed the Home Secretary to consider the petitioner's plea and make an informed decision based on expert opinions. The petition was subsequently dismissed. (ANI) Condemning the alleged sexual assault of a second-year PG student of RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) MP Supriya Sule on Tuesday said that she believes that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will initiate quick action and the victim's family will be delivered justice. "A lot of such incidents happen across the country and we condemn all of them. We believe that Mamata Banerjee will take action quickly and the family must get justice through fast-track court. We couldn't save our daughter from this incident but such incidents must not happen again..." said Supriya Sule. Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Sudhanshu Trivedi launched a scathing attack and said the way protection has been given to the criminals in the Kolkata incident is more tragic than the incident itself. "The way protection has been given to the criminals in the Kolkata incident is more tragic than the incident itself. The way (RG Kar's) Principal has been reappointed as a principal of some other college within 24 hours, shows the protection of the Bengal government. It raises suspicions about the investigation done by the Bengal government," said BJP MP Trivedi. Questioning the Bengal government further, the BJP MP said, "Today, I want to ask why the West Bengal CM has sympathy for that Principal... My straight question to the TMC government is why these many days are being given. Is it for manipulation? We have seen this in the Sandeshkhali incident. Why the investigation is not being transferred to the highest investigating agency in the country (CBI)?... The parties of the INDI alliance are providing crime cover to the mutual criminal elements." Earlier today, doctors and medical students held a protest at AIIMS Delhi on Tuesday after the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) called for a nationwide shutdown of OPD services from Tuesday in solidarity against the sexual assault and murder of a woman post-graduate trainee (PGT) doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, on August 9. Notably, IMA has written to Union Minister JP Nadda demanding a detailed inquiry into the conditions enabling the crime as well as the steps to improve the safety of doctors especially women in the workplace. The post-graduate trainee doctor was found raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9. (ANI) Targeting the Centre over the US-based short seller Hindenburg's report and its allegations against SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Buch, Congress on Tuesday asserted for a Joint Parliamentary Committee inquiry into the matter. Congress MP KC Venugopal said, "Today, we convened a meeting of AICC General Secretaries, Incharges and PCC presidents under the leadership of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. We discussed one of the biggest scams happening in the country right now- the Hindenburg revelations, the scam related to Adani and SEBI..... We have made the demand for a JPC." He further said that if any Congressman is involved in this, then that should also be investigated. "We are requesting the government that if any Congressman is involved in this, then that should also be investigated. We are ready to face that investigation. If there is a conspiracy from INDIA parties, then that should also be investigated. Why are they (Central Government) running away from the investigation? Do not threaten us by sending ED again. These ED people have to understand they are not the tool of the government," Venugopal added. KC Venugopal also mentioned that in the meeting, they also discussed the Bangladesh protest issue. "We had again reiterated our demand of a nationwide caste census from the Government of India without any delay at all...We already demanded Wayanad disaster be announced as a national disaster...We discussed the natural calamities that happened in other parts of Uttarakhand, Himachal and Northeastern states. Regarding the Bangladesh issue, a meeting was called by the Government of India to take all possible steps to ensure that targeted attacks on religious minorities and their places of worship are stopped and to ensure that they are enabled to live a life of security, dignity and harmony," the Congress MP said. Congress Rajya Sabha MP, Jairam Ramesh said that the way new revelations have come out, it is even more important that a JPC be formed. "We have reiterated the demand for a JPC in the context of the Adani mega scam. The central government must conduct a caste census at the national level. According to the Constitution, the responsibility for caste census lies with the central government. Compliance and respect for the provisions of the Constitution related to social, economic and political justice," he said. (ANI) The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Tuesday assured the Delhi High Court that it will halt demolitions of illegal structures in Bhalswa Dairy colony until August 16. The statement was made by MCD Counsel following concerns raised by a lawyer representing the colony's residents about the civic body's plans to proceed with the demolition of their structures. The court had previously directed the MCD and other authorities to ensure the removal of unauthorised construction in all dairy colonies across the national capital. The bench of Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, taking note of the MCD's counsel's verbal statement, decided to address the matter on August 16. On that date, the court will also consider a petition concerning the condition of dairies in Delhi. The matter was mentioned before the bench led by the acting Chief Justice. Earlier, the Delhi HC had directed all statutory authorities including MCD, DUSIB, GNCTD, and MoHUA to the extent their sanctions are required to take immediate steps for shifting all the dairies from Bhalaswa to Ghogha Dairy colony within four weeks. Delhi HC further said that the dairy plot allottees in all these colonies have illegally converted the use of these dairy plots into commercial and residential uses. The said change in land use is without any sanction of law. The construction of the superstructure on these dairy plots is also without any sanction of law. These dairy plots were exclusively to be used as cattle sheds with a prohibition on converting the shed into a dwelling unit. Therefore, no equities can be claimed by the occupants of these superstructures, clarified the Delhi High Court. While passing the direction, Delhi HC had stated that, in view of the inability of the statutory authorities including MCD and GNCTD to take action to stop the milch cattle from feeding on garbage from the sanitary landfills near Bhalaswa and Ghazipur, having considered the submissions of the counsel and having perused the correspondence of MoHUA, we find merit in the submission that since the estimate of land required for shifting of Bhalaswa Dairy Colony is 30 acres and admittedly, unutilized land to the extent of 83 acres is available in Ghogha Dairy colony. Earlier, the Court had issued several directions in regards to maintaining hygiene in dairy colonies to ensure medical care of cattle kept therein and for use of spurious oxytocin and directed the Chief Secretary of Delhi to file a detailed affidavit indicating the road map for the future of the nine dairy colonies. Earlier, the Delhi HC appointed Court Commissioner for the inspection of designated Dairy colonies of Delhi, where approximately one lakh buffaloes and cows are used for commercial milk production. The court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation moved by the 3 Petitioners - Sunayana Sibal, Dr. Asher Jessudoss and Akshita Kukreja are alumni of the Ahimsa Fellowship. They are represented by senior advocate Vivek Sibal. Petitioners highlighted alleged violations include gruesome animal cruelty such as tethering with extremely short ropes, intense overcrowding, animals made to lie on their own excreta, unattended and festering injuries and diseases, starving of male calves, mutilation of animals, etc. The Petition also points towards heaps of rotting carcasses and excreta at several spots in the colonies and carcasses of calves dumped on public streets, leading to fly infestation and mosquito breeding. The non-therapeutic administration of antibiotics and the administration of injections of a spurious drug suspected to be Oxytocin was also highlighted. Oxytocin is a hormone used to induce labour pain in women and causes painful contractions in the buffaloes to increase milk letdown. The Petitioners stated that maimed, mutilated as well as injured animals can be seen in unfathomable numbers. The gross environmental pollution and grave public nuisance due to poor waste disposal practices and endangerment of public health as a result of flouting several food safety norms is also highlighted. (ANI) A man was arrested for allegedly jostling with a traffic policeman while being stopped during checking of vehicles in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior district, a police official said on Tuesday. The incident occurred during the regular vehicle checking under the jurisdiction of Padav police station in the district on Monday evening. City Superintendent of Police (CSP) Kiran told ANI, "On Monday evening, during the regular vehicle checking in the Padav police station area, when a traffic constable stopped a car, the concerned driver did not stop the vehicle and drove away recklessly at a high speed. Later, a blockade was made and the vehicle was stopped. The police caught the vehicle and arrested the car driver. The car driver also jostled with the policeman." An FIR was registered against the car driver for obstruction in government work, negligent driving at high speed and under relevant sections of Motor Vehicle Act, she said. Additionally, the medical examination of the policeman was being done and if suffered any serious injury, then the sections would be increased in this regard as well, the officer added. When asked about the police protection measures during checking, the officer said, "At the time of vehicle checking, proper barricading is made so that no one can pass at high speed. During the night hours, a jacket with radium, lighting and button light are used so that if a vehicle is arriving from far away, it can see the police man standing from far." According to reports, the car was stopped during the checking and the car driver was asked to remove the black film applied over the glasses of the car. Following which, he started jostling with the traffic policeman and tried to escape from the spot. Later the police managed to catch him and took the accused into custody. (ANI) Former member of Japanese germ-warfare unit returns China to expose war crimes Xinhua) 09:11, August 13, 2024 Hideo Shimizu waits for a flight to China at the Kansai International Airport in Osaka, Japan, Aug. 12, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu) HARBIN, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Hideo Shimizu, a former member of Unit 731, the notorious Japanese germ-warfare detachment during World War II, arrived by plane in the city of Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, on Monday evening, expecting to testify and expose the crimes committed by the unit during the Japanese invasion of China during the war. He is expected to visit the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army and the former site of Unit 731 on Tuesday. Shimizu, 94, was among the last batch of Unit 731 Youth Corps members sent by Japan to Harbin, China, where he spent more than four months witnessing the war crimes committed by the unit, including the cultivation of pathogens, human dissections and human experiments. He fled China with the retreating Japanese forces on August 14, 1945. In 2016, Shimizu revealed his identity as a former Unit 731 member and began to expose the atrocities of the Japanese Imperial Army through public speeches and interviews, aiming to tell historical truths. This visit is Shimizu's first return to Chinese soil in 79 years. He has previously expressed a strong desire to return to China to pray for the deceased and apologize to their families. The trip was made possible by donations from various Japanese civilian groups. "The war ended 79 years ago, and most members of Unit 731 have passed away. Shimizu is currently the only surviving member who is willing to expose the Unit's crimes publicly, and he is likely to be the last Unit 731 member to return to Harbin," said Jin Chengmin, curator of the exhibition hall. Unit 731 was a top-secret biological and chemical warfare research base established in Harbin as the nerve center for Japanese biological warfare in China and Southeast Asia during World War II. At least 3,000 people were used in human experiments by Unit 731, while more than 300,000 people in China were killed by Japan's biological weapons. Hideo Shimizu is pictured during an interview with Xinhua at his home in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, Aug. 10, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu) Hideo Shimizu leaves his home for Osaka to take a flight to China, in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, Aug. 11, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu) An aerial drone photo taken on Aug. 11, 2024 shows the former site of Unit 731 in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. (Xinhua/Zhang Tao) This photo taken on Aug. 11, 2024 shows the former site of Unit 731 in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei) (Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun) An aerial drone photo taken on Aug. 8, 2024 shows elephants playing in a mud puddle in Dadugang Township in the city of Jinghong, southwest China's Yunnan Province. [Photo/Xinhua] The elephant herd that gained widespread recognition for its epic journey through southwest China's Yunnan Province has welcomed four new babies over the past three years, indicating a healthy and thriving wild Asian elephant population, said local authorities on Monday. In March 2020, the elephant herd, also dubbed China's "wandering elephants," left a forest nature reserve in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan, and trekked about 500 km northwards to the provincial capital Kunming, arriving in June 2021. The herd then headed south again and finally returned to their original habitat in the Mengyang area of Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve on Dec. 9, 2021. Since returning to their homeland, the elephants have been in good health and their population continues to grow. The baby elephants are gradually maturing, learning survival skills such as foraging and sand bathing from their family members, said Wang Bin, head of the Asian elephant protection and management center in Xishuangbanna. Currently, the wild elephant family has split into two groups. One group of 13 elephants still roams the Mengyang area, while the other group of seven elephants co-exists with 28 wild elephants from another family in Dadugang Township in the city of Jinghong. "Taking the wandering family as representative, the frequent births of new babies and the splitting and merging of herds fully demonstrate that there is frequent communication between the local elephant groups, and they are reproducing healthily," said Chen Fei, director of the Asian elephant research center under the National Forestry and Grassland Administration. Asian elephants, a pivotal species in the rainforest ecosystem, are under first-class national protection in China. The elephants are mostly found across Yunnan. The Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) performed special prayers in all the subordinate temples including the Badrinath and Kedarnath Dham for the safety of Hindus amidst the Bangladesh unrest. According to an official release from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), "Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) prayed for the safety of lives of Hindus and temples in Bangladesh. Under this, Puja-archana was performed in all the subordinate temples including Badrinath Dham and Shri Kedarnath Dham." BKTC Media Incharge Dr Harish Gaur said that Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee President Ajendra Ajay expressed concern over the demolition of temples in Bangladesh and the atrocities being committed by some elements on Hindus and other minorities. "To pray for the safety of the lives of Hindus of Bangladesh and to give them the strength to deal with this situation, a special Puja-Archana was organized in all the major temples under the temple committee today," he said. Additionally, he said, "Prayers were also offered at the second Kedarnath Madmaheshwar, Vishwanath Temple Guptkashi, Nrusinha Temple Joshimath, Sita Mata Temple Chaani Joshimath, Gopal Temple Nandprayag and the Maa Chandrabadni Temple Dehradun to seek relief from the atrocities being committed on Hindus in Bangladesh." Meanwhile, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, chief advisor of the interim government of Bangladesh, visited the historic Dhakeshwari Temple in Dhaka in Dhaka on Tuesday, where he assured the minorities in Bangladesh of their safety and security in the country. "Rights are equal for everyone. We are all one people with one right. Do not make any distinctions among us. Please, assist us. Exercise patience, and later judge -- what we were able to do and not. If we fail, then criticise us," Prof Yunus was quoted as saying by Bangladesh newspaper Daily Star. "In our democratic aspirations, we should not be seen as Muslims, Hindus, or Buddhists, but as human beings. Our rights should be ensured. The root of all problems lies in the decay of institutional arrangements. That is why, such issues arise. institutional arrangements need to be fixed," he added. According to the Daily Star, Yunus met with representatives of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad and Mahanagar Sarbajanin Puja Committee, as well as officials from the temple management board. The Dhaka Tribune reported that Yunus also urged the Hindu community people to consider themselves children of the soil. "You simply say that you are human, a citizen of Bangladesh, and this is your constitutional right that must be ensured. Just demand this, nothing more," Prof Yunus was quoted as saying. Following Younus' visit, a significant meeting was held between representatives of the Muslim community and the Hindu minority at the temple. This gathering served as a platform for open dialogue, where both communities discussed various issues and worked towards strengthening communal harmony. Participants of the meeting expressed their mutual understanding and emphasized the importance of unity in fostering a peaceful society. Further, they assured each other that the minority Hindu community was not in danger and that any attempts to harass or attack them would be met with legal repercussions. Prof Muhammad Yunus's outreach could be seen as an effort to calm frayed nerves in the minority community. Recently several Hindu groups protested the violence against their community. Protests were reported from Bangladesh and cities like Toronto and London. (ANI) Delhi Police have arrested three accused who were trying to rob a collection agent in the Trans Yamuna area. Police said the robbers were hatching a conspiracy to rob cash of around Rs 80 lakh in Krishna Nagar from a cash collection agent of a businessman. The arrested accused were identified was Mohd Shareef (32 years) resident of Old Seema Puri; Kishan (30 years) resident of Budh Vihar Phase-2; and Sameer (27 years) resident of Old Seema Puri. On checking the particulars of the scooty on which they were riding, it was found to have a fake number plate and on further verification of details of the scooty, the same was found to have been stolen. "On a tip-off, a raid was conducted in the area of Krishna Nagar, Delhi where all the three accused had gathered for the execution of their plan. One country-made pistol along with 8 live cartridges and one stolen scooty was recovered from them," Delhi Police said. A secret information was received by the team that three robbers may commit a daylight-armed robbery in the area of Krishna Nagar. On this, a team was tasked to gather more information and to arrest them. The team developed the information and laid a trap near Anandpur Sahib Charitable Diagnostic Centre, Krishna Nagar, Delhi. Soon three persons were seen riding on a scooty. On the tip-off by an informer, they were stopped. They tried to run away but the alert police team apprehended them. On their search, one country-made pistol, and eight live cartridges were recovered from their possession. In this matter, a case U/s 25 Arms Act was registered and further investigation is in progress. During interrogation, accused Mohd. Shareef disclosed that he was in need of money due to the pregnancy of his wife, hence he contacted Kishan, a desperate robber whom he was known as they were sharing the same ward in Mandoli Jail and hatched up a conspiracy to commit cash robbery in the area of Krishna Nagar. For committing the robbery, they were in need of a stolen vehicle, for which they contacted Sameer who had a stolen scooter that he had stolen from the area of Dilshad Colony about 3-4 months back. Delhi Police said that they arranged arms for the robbery and met at Shaheed Nagar Metro Station, fixed the fake number plate on the scooty to hide their identity and to mislead the police and in furtherance of conspiracy reached Krishan Nagar to commit cash robbery. The police team showing their alacrity trapped them. All the accused were previously involved in criminal activities. (ANI) After the Calcutta High Court ordered a CBI investigation into the sexual assault and murder of a woman doctor, the BJP said it welcomed the decision and the CM should now resign. West Bengal LoP Suvendu Adhikari said, "I welcome this. I have said from day one that there should be a court-monitored CBI probe... Now we demand that the health minister and the chief minister resign. The CM is involved and her personal physician and very close aide Dr SP Das, is the main person, he is controlling the health department in West Bengal." Meanwhile, as the verdict was read out one of the counsels Advocate Billwadal Bhattacharyya said that the police were casual enough to register a suicide case and took a long time even to file an FIR. He also mentioned that they always wanted the investigation to be monitored by the Court. "There were statements made by the Chief Minister that they have no objection to transferring the case to the CBI but it was made time-bound that we will transfer it to the CBI after the expiry of this particular period. But we say this delay will be fatal because evidence will be destroyed. So the court has heard the arguments of the parties. Today the parents of the victim girl, also were there before the Court by way of a petition. And I contended on behalf of my clients, that despite this gruesome murder, despite the body being in such a bloodied state and half naked, the police were casual enough to register a suicide case and it took quite a lot of time for the police to basically register an FIR and thereafter arrest someone," Advocate Billwadal said. "So this was enough to indicate how casual the attitude of the police was. We are rather thankful to the Court that the case has been now handed over to CBI. We also wanted the investigation to be monitored by the Court. Now the Court has also directed the CBI to file periodic reports. In the event the parents of the deceased girl feel threatened, the CBI should always take all the necessary steps to give them protection under the witness protection scheme," he added. Another Advocate, Koustav Bagchi said that the investigation has been handed over to the CBI to instill confidence in the minds of the public. "We are very much happy. We had prayed to the court that there should be a CBI investigation and it should be monitored by the court. The court has handed over the investigation to the CBI and the court will monitor it. To instil confidence in the minds of the public at large as well as the family of the victim, the investigation has been handed over to the CBI," he said. On the court's decision, a protesting doctor said that they were very happy and relieved that the case had been transferred to CBI. The accused will be arrested soon now. Meanwhile, the Court has asked the Kolkata Police to hand over all documents to the CBI immediately. Earlier, The Calcutta High Court asked the former principal of RG Kar Medical College Sandip Ghosh to submit a leave application. This comes after Ghosh's appointment as principal of Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata immediately after his resignation from RG Kar College triggered protests. The Chief Justice division bench of the Calcutta HC was considering several PILs in the matter on Tuesday. A post-graduate trainee doctor was found dead inside the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9. An investigation has established rape and murder. Reportedly, the body of the deceased bore scratch marks, indicating that there was some struggle at the time of the incident. The family has reportedly alleged that the victim was raped and murdered. Union Health Minister JP Nadda held a meeting with a delegation of the Indian Medical Association on Tuesday. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) demanded an impartial and thorough investigation of the case and punishment of the culprits from the West Bengal government. IMA had written to the health minister demanding a detailed inquiry into the conditions enabling the crime as well as the steps to improve the safety of doctors especially women in the workplace. (ANI) India and Australia have strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and emphasised the need for strengthening international cooperation to combat terrorism in a comprehensive and sustained manner, an MEA release said. They also condemned the use of terrorist proxies for cross-border terrorism, the MEA release said. This was discussed at the 14th meeting of the India-Australia Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism in Delhi on August 12. KD Dewal, Joint Secretary for Counter-Terrorism at the Ministry of External Affairs of India, and Richard Feakes, Ambassador for Counter-Terrorism, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia, led the respective delegations of experts to discuss the global counter-terrorism challenges and the ongoing counter-terrorism cooperation between the two countries, as per the Ministry of External Affairs. During the meeting, the two sides exchanged views on the domestic, regional and global terrorism threat assessment. They discussed counter-terrorism challenges related to the use of new and emerging technologies by terrorists, misuse of internet for terrorist purposes, radicalisation and terror financing, and the nexus between organised crime and terrorism, among other issues. Both sides also discussed cooperation in regional, global and multilateral fora such as UN, GCTF, FATF, ARF, IORA and with QUAD partners to combat global terrorism. The ongoing co-operation in counter-terrorism is an important element of the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the Ministry of External Affairs said. The two sides agreed to hold the 15th Meeting of JWG on counterterrorism in Canberra on a mutually convenient date, the Ministry of External Affairs said. Earlier today, the sixth India-Maritime Security Dialogue was held in Canberra, an MEA release said. In the meeting, the two sides conferred on ways to sustain a safe and secure maritime environment conducive to inclusive growth and global well-being, MEA said. (ANI) Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday hit out at the BJP for levelling corruption allegations against the government and termed their claims as "bogus". He said that they are doing so because Karnataka's Congress government is trying to unveil BJP's previous government corruption in the state. On BJP's allegations of corruption in Karnataka, Karnataka Congress President and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said, "There is nothing like that. It is all bogus. We are exposing their corruption that's why they are speaking." Earlier, on August 9, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar claimed that he was informed by officials regarding de-notification cases against Union Minister and Janata Dal-Secular leader HD Kumaraswamy. Speaking at the Janandolana event in Karnataka's Mysuru on Friday, Shivakumar said, "Kumaraswamy claims himself to be 'Clean Swamy' but officials have told me that he has 50 cases of de-notification against him. I will expose his corruption." The Deputy CM said that Lokayukta has written to the Governor regarding the matter and alleged that Kumaraswamy "has taken refuge in the BJP" because of this. "Kumaraswamy initially accused me of releasing Prajwal Revanna's pen drive and then he accused Preetham Gowda. Kumaraswamy doesn't allow anyone else to grow in JDS. He did not even let Siddaramaiah grow. None of the 17 MPs of JD-S during Deve Gowda's tenure as PM are with the party today. It was Kumaraswamy who backstabbed Yediyurappa without transferring power as agreed. He did not even spare his own brother's son for the sake of his son's political future, then how will he spare me and Siddaramaiah? He is not able to digest the fact that an OBC leader has become a CM for the second term," Shivakumar said."The BJP has tried to destabilize many governments in the past through Operation Lotus. The British could not destabilize Congress for 200 years, how can you dethrone the Congress party today? Congress will rule for 10 years," he added. Further highlighting the 2023 state assembly election results, Shivakumar said that the people of Karnataka gave us 43 per cent votes in 2023 and 45 per cent in 2024. "If Kumaraswamy thinks that he can destabilize the government, he is under an illusion. Not just for 10 months, Congress will rule Karnataka for another 10 years," he said. "There is no irregularity in the MUDA case. CM's wife has obtained compensation from Muda for the land she lost. It is Muda's mistake that it encroached on her land. Why is BJP and JDS trying to call it a scam? Moreover, the sites were allotted during the BJP's tenure. BJP and JDS have 25 scams under their belt, but they are unsuccessfully trying to manufacture a scam in Muda," he said. "In 2010, we carried out a padayatra against Bellary mining scams and now we are fighting against the anti-constitutional BJP. The BJP and JDS are carrying out a paapayatra and not a padayatra. This is the fight between good and evil and good will win eventually. The Congress party under the leadership of Mallikarjun Kharge is fully behind CM Siddaramaiah. The Opposition can't do anything to him," he added. (ANI) Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita (MoS) will embark on an official foreign visit to five countries from August 15 to 24. During his visit, he will travel to the Dominican Republic (15-16 August 2024), Guatemala (17-19 August 2024), El Salvador (19 August 2024), Panama (20-22 August 2024), and Trinidad & Tobago (23-24 August 2024). This will be his first foreign visit as Minister of State. "Minister of State for External Affairs and Textiles, Pabitra Margherita (MoS) will pay an official visit to Dominican Republic (15-16 August 2024), Guatemala (17-19 August 2024), El Salvador (19 August 2024), Panama (20-22 August 2024) and Trinidad & Tobago (23-24 August 2024). This will be his first foreign visit as Minister of State," as per a release from the MEA. In the Dominican Republic, MoS will attend the formal swearing-in-ceremony of H.E. Luis Abinader, President-elect of the Dominican Republic. MoS will interact with members of the Indian diaspora. In Guatemala, MoS will call on H.E. Mr. Cesar Bernardo Arevalo de Leon, President of the Republic of Guatemala. He will have a bilateral meeting with H.E. Mr. Carlos Ramiro Martinez, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Guatemala to discuss bilateral ties. During the visit, MoS will meet members of the Chamber of Industry of Guatemala, Committee of Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial and Financial Associations (CACIF). He will also visit Antigua, the UNESCO Heritage city, MEA stated in the release. "In El Salvador, MoS will call on H.E. Mr. Nayib Bukele, President of the Republic of El Salvador, have a bilateral meeting with H.E. Ms. Alexandra Hill T, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of El Salvador, hold a series of other ministerial interactions and engagements, and also interact with Indian Diaspora," MEA said in the release. In Panama, MoS will have delegation level talks with H.E. Javier Martinez, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Panama. He will call on H.E. Jose Raul Mulino, President of the Republic of Panama. He will visit the University of Panama to pay floral tributes at the Bust of Mahatma Gandhi and plant a sapling as a symbolic gesture. He will also visit Panama Canal and Panama Pacifico Free Trade/ Industrial Zone facilities and interact with the Diplomatic Community and prominent members of the Indian Diaspora during a reception hosted in the honour of MoS, MEA stated in the release. In Trinidad and Tobago, MoS will have a meeting with H.E. Dr. Amery Browne, Minister for Foreign & CARICOM Affairs. He will call on H.E. Dr Keith Rowley, Prime Minister of Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. He will also interact with members of the Indian community. "Visit of MoS to these five countries reaffirms India's commitment to further strengthen our ties with the countries in Latin America and Caribbean region. It provides an opportunity to explore and advance our partnership in newer areas of mutual interest," MEA said in the release. (ANI) In an intelligence-based operation, the Punjab Police's State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) of Amritsar has busted a cross-border smuggling module by apprehending two suspects from Chabal, Tarn Taran, and recovering sophisticated illegal weapons from them. During preliminary investigations, it has been found that both accused have been receiving consignments of illegal weapons sent through drones by their cross-border handlers. The accused have been in contact with a Pakistan-based smuggler, who has been pushing huge consignments of weapons and drugs into Indian territory through drones and other means. The State Special Operation Cell (SSOC), Amritsar, has also recovered 4 pistols along with 4 magazines from the apprehended accused. An FIR has been registered at the Police Station of SSOC, Amritsar. Further investigations are underway to determine the previous smuggling activities carried out by the accused. https://x.com/DGPPunjabPolice/status/1823313645352415360 Earlier on July 28, Counter Intelligence Amritsar seized over Rs 1.07 crore of drug money and apprehended two operatives of foreign-based top drug smugglers Gurjant Singh alias Bholu and Kinderbir Singh alias Sunny Dyal, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Sunday. Those arrested have been identified as Dilbag Singh, a resident of village Lohka in Tarn Taran and Kamaldeep Singh, a resident of Patti in Tarn Taran. Apart from seizing drug money, Police teams have also recovered one money counting machine and two mobile phones from the possession, besides, impounding their Maruti Swift car. DGP Gaurav Yadav said that the Counter Intelligence Amritsar has received intel-inputs that foreign-based drug smugglers Gurjant Bholu and Sunny Dyal are running an organised crime syndicate involved in drug trafficking and illegal weapons distribution across the state and have tasked their operatives to collect the drug money and send them using Hawala route. He said that in an intelligence-based operation, Police teams from Counter Intelligence Amritsar have arrested two of their operatives identified as Dilbag Singh and Kamaldeep Singh from a rented accommodation at Fatehgarh Churian Road, Amritsar. The DGP said preliminary investigations have revealed that both the arrested persons were in constant touch with both Gurjant Bholu and Sunny Dyal via encrypted social media platforms and were to send the recovered drug money worth over Rs 1 crore to them using Hawala route. Both Gurjant Bholu and Sunny Dyal have been facing several criminal cases due to their involvement in criminal activities, he said, while adding that further investigations are on to establish backward and forward linkages in this case. (ANI) As the nation gears up for the celebration of Independence Day, a Tiranga Rally was taken out with a 750-metre-long tricolour on the world's highest railway bridge on the Chenab River in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday. Providing details of the event, Reasi Deputy Commissioner Vishesh Paul Mahajan, said, "We wanted to present the pride and respect we have for our country. This tricolor flag is made by the locals in just 2 days. We wanted to display the tricolour as the pride of the country on the world's highest railway bridge to show the world our love for the nation. A tricolour of almost 750 metres has been displayed at the railway bridge on the Chenab River." Earlier in the day, it was reported that authorities have tightened security, including checking of vehicles on the Jammu-Srinagar Highway, ahead of the 78th Independence Day. Security personnel were seen carrying out security checks for the safe and smooth conduct of the celebrations. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Udhampur Prehlad Kumar appealed to the public to report any suspicious activity to the police. "The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and other security forces are conducting the security checks apart from the normal security checks conducted by the Jammu and Kashmir police," DSP Kumar told ANI. He added, "We are checking different vehicles commuting on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. We advise everyone to inform the police if they witness anything suspicious...." Meanwhile, the Head Post Office in Udhampur took out a 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign on Tuesday. The post office staff and its customers participated in the campaign. Assistant Superintendent of Post, Udhampur Postal Division, Mahesh Singh Jasrotia, told ANI, "The postal department has participated in the 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign. The national flag, 'Tiranga', is available at all the post offices. Anyone who wishes to put up a 'Tiranga' at their house can get it from our counters... I request everyone to be a part of this campaign..." (ANI) Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Tuesday participated in the Tiranga Bike Rally organized by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) in Roorkee. The Chief Minister himself started the rally by riding a bike. Hundreds of people participated in this Tiranga Yatra on bikes. The Chief Minister said that the pride of the nation, the tricolor, is a symbol of patriotism and dedication to the country. He also described the Tiranga Yatra as a campaign to take a pledge towards the unity and integrity of the country. The Chief Minister also appealed to everyone to cooperate in making the Har Ghar Tiranga Abhiyan a success. Earlier, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday inaugurated the stalls set up by women's groups under the Chief Minister's Empowered Bahana Utsav Yojana and Chief Minister's Women Self Help Group Empowerment Scheme at the Secretariat. On this occasion, the Chief Minister also purchased local products (ghee and others) while observing these stalls. The Chief Minister said that the state government is working to advance women self-help groups in the state through various schemes. The women of the state are making very good products through groups. Local products are getting new identity through groups and new employment opportunities are being provided. The Chief Minister said that Rakhis are being made by self-help groups before Raksha Bandhan. The government is providing a platform to women as per their convenience to sell their products. He urged all the people of the state to buy locally made rakhis and other products for the upcoming Raksha Bandhan. At the Secretariat, Devbhoomi Self Help Group from Barowala, Vaibhav Laxmi Self Help Group from Dakpathar, Milan Self Help Group from Raipur, Aastha Cluster Level Federation from Sahaspur, Vikas Cluster Level Federation from Haldwani Almora, Aastha Cluster Level Federation, Virangana Cluster Level Federation, and other self help groups are selling their products. (ANI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said that the 'Har ghar Tiranga' campaign initiated by PM Narendra Modi is not just a display of patriotism, but also a resolution to build a developed India by 2047. "The 'Har ghar Tiranga' campaign started by PM Modi is not just an expression of patriotism, but it is a resolution to make a Viksit Bharat by 2047. We will enter the 78th year of Independence on August 15. Make sure that no house, building, office or vehicle remains without the tricolour," Shah said. He said this while addressing the people at the 'Har Ghar Tiranga' rally in Gujarat's Ahmedabad. Meanwhile, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel emphasized the need to instill the emotion of patriotism in every citizen through the 'Har Ghar Tiranga' rallies. "Through the 'Har Ghar Tiranga' rallies, we have to instil the emotion of patriotism in every citizen and take the country further on the path of development," Gujarat CM said. Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghvi said that on Prime Minister Modi's request, citizens from every corner of the country, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, are participating in the Har Ghar Tiranga Abhiyan. "On the call of Prime Minister Modi, every citizen of the country from Kashmir to Kanyakumari is associated with the Har Ghar Tiranga Abhiyan... Today the city of Ahmedabad has created a new history under the leadership of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and in the presence of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel... Today lakhs of people welcomed the Tiranga Yatra," Gujarat Home Minister said. 'Har Ghar Tiranga' rally was flagged off by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel participated in the 'Har Ghar Tiranga' rally as a part of the celebrations of Independence Day. The third edition of the "Har Ghar Tiranga" (HGT) campaign is being celebrated from August 9th to 15th, as part of the Independence Day celebrations. The Har Ghar Tiranga campaign, launched by the Ministry of Culture, encourages citizens to display the National Flag at their homes and participate in activities that celebrate the country's heritage, Ministry of Culture stated. (ANI) A memorial service for Tsung-Dao Lee was held in Beijing on Sunday, at the Institute of High Energy Physics, under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). About 330 academicians, experts, representatives of teachers and students, and people from all walks of life gathered to remember the Nobel laureate and Chinese-American physicist, who died at his home on Aug. 4 in San Francisco, California. Lee, a foreign member of the CAS, was born in Shanghai on Nov. 24, 1926, with ancestral roots in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province. In 1946, he went to the United States to study and later engaged in research at various universities and research institutions in the country. In 1956, Lee, together with Yang Zhenning, proposed the assertion that parity is not conserved in weak interactions. After experimental verification the following year, they were jointly awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics. Zhang Huanqiao, who is over 90 years old and a CAS academician, still remembered the time when they won the Nobel Prize in Physics. "At that time, I had just started my career, and the explosive news greatly inspired me," he said. From that moment on, he became even more steadfast in his conviction to contribute to China's scientific endeavors. Since 1972, Lee has returned to China on many occasions to give lectures and offer advice for universities and research institutions. After the reform and opening up, he spared no effort in promoting the advancement of science education in China, such as the contribution to establishment of the "Special Class for the Gifted Young" at the University of Science and Technology of China, the promotion of the China-U.S. Physics Examination and Application program, and the proposal to set up the postdoctoral mobile station system in China. Gao Yuanning, dean of the School of Physics, Peking University, and a CAS academician, remembered Lee's great contribution to the promotion of academic research at the university. Lee proposed the establishment of the Beijing Institute of Modern Physics and the Center for High Energy Physics at Peking University, and served as the directors of the two institutions himself, which have facilitated the cultivation of young talent and international research cooperation in fields like particle physics, nuclear physics, astrophysics and cosmology. Lee also made significant contributions to the cultivation of academic research and talent in Chinese universities such as Tsinghua University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Fudan University and Zhejiang University. In April 1983, the Beijing Electron-Positron Collider (BEPC) program was officially approved, and in October 1988, it achieved the first electron-positron collision. This marked another major breakthrough in China's high-tech sector following the successful detonation of atomic and hydrogen bombs and the launch of artificial satellites. From the selection of physics research objectives to the finalization of the accelerator design, and from talent cultivation to engineering management, Lee played a crucial role in BEPC construction. "At that time, it started from scratch, and many people thought it was impossible to make it," said Wang Yifang, director of the Institute of High Energy Physics. Lee leveraged his international influence and assisted in solving numerous challenges through various channels, playing a vital role, added Wang, who is also a CAS academician. The Central Bureau of Investigation will send a medical and forensic team from Delhi to Kolkata tomorrow after the Calcutta High Court ordered a CBI investigation in the sexual assault and death of a female trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The Court has asked the Kolkata Police to hand over all documents to the CBI immediately. A protesting doctor reacted to the news, "We are very happy and relieved that the case has been transferred to CBI. The accused will be arrested soon now." After the High Court's decision, the opposition parties targeted Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led state government and demanded her resignation along with other officials. West Bengal LoP Suvendu Adhikari said, "I welcome this. I have said from day one that there should be a court-monitored CBI probe... Now we demand that the health minister and the chief minister should resign. The CM is involved and her personal physician and very close aide Dr SP Das is the main person. He is controlling the health department in West Bengal." Union Health Minister JP Nadda slammed the Trinamool government in West Bengal on Tuesday over the sexual assault and murder of a female doctor. He expressed concern, saying that it is worrying that atrocities against women are increasing daily in the state, despite having a woman Chief Minister. Nadda welcomed the Calcutta High Court's decision to order a CBI investigation into the case, stating, "The incident involving a young PG student in West Bengal is deeply distressing and has shocked the nation. I condemn it and express my profound sorrow that such an inhumane act has occurred. The way the incident was handled and the government's attempts to hide it are inexcusable. Bengal has become a state where there is no law and order; lawlessness is rampant. The sad reality is that atrocities against women are increasing daily, despite having a female Chief Minister. This is even more worrying." Earlier in the day, Nadda met with a delegation from the Indian Medical Association (IMA). The IMA had requested a thorough inquiry into the circumstances leading to the crime and measures to enhance the safety of doctors, particularly women, in the workplace. BJP leader Locket Chatterjee said on Tuesday that it will reveal who is involved in this. She also alleged that this heinous crime was not a one-person job. Chatterjee targeted Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, stating, "A CBI inquiry has been ordered. We welcome this because we know that in all such incidents that have happened in West Bengal, no action has been taken by Mamata Banerjee. A daughter has been murdered in the RG Kar Hospital. A CBI investigation will tell us who is involved in this. Kolkata Police and the CID cannot do this. Because it is the police who lied in the beginning." "The police called her parents and said that it was a suicide. The CBI should acquire all the evidence immediately because they might tamper with it. This heinous crime was not a one-person job. Names of all the influential people involved should be out in the open," the BJP leader added. Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury criticized the state administration for its handling of the case. He said, "It is condemnable. The state government should take action but remains in a dilemma. The law and order situation is worsening. The state government is not capable and seems intent on helping the accused." However, the doctors announced today that they will continue their protest till their demands are met. Protesting doctors and medical students also conveyed that their protests will be carried on until their demands of installing CCTV cameras, establishing proper security measures, and providing compensation to the victim's parents are met. Addressing media persons, Dr Lahari Sarkar, Resident Doctor, on behalf of all protestors, said, "We have just received the update about the case being transferred to the CBI. We welcome this decision with all our support. We support this decision. However, just handing over the case doesn't mean justice is served, so we will continue the protests until the culprits are identified and proper punishment is given." She clarified that emergency services at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital will continue; however, OPD services will not function any time soon. Protests were seen across different regions across the country from Delhi, Mumbai, Patna, and Rajasthan to West Bengal. Earlier, the Calcutta High Court asked the former principal of RG Kar Medical College Sandip Ghosh to submit a leave application. This comes after Ghosh's appointment as principal of Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata immediately after his resignation from RG Kar College triggered protests. Sandip Ghosh resigned from the position of principal at RG Kar Medical College on Monday alleging that he was being defamed on social media platforms following the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the hospital premises. The post-graduate trainee doctor was found dead in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9. The family has alleged that the victim was raped and murdered. (ANI) Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan attended a meeting at the Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj on Tuesday and remarked that a glorious, prosperous and rich India is being built under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi. Speaking to the media here, the Union Minister said, "Today I got the opportunity to attend a meeting at the Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj. This institute has a very important role in rural development. A glorious, prosperous and rich India is being built under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi and his resolve is to build a developed India by 2047." The Union Minister also said that the idea of a developed India will only be possible when the villages of the country are developed. Addressing a MoUs signing event at the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR) in Rangareddy on Tuesday, "Development is incomplete without the development of the villages. Rural development is ours and PM Modi's priority. On one side. rural development means infrastructural development." "Rural Development Ministry is working in this direction. Rural development also means that no one is poor in the village. Everyone should have employment. India cannot be a developed nation without the development of the villages. In this era of urbanisation, 70 per cent of the population still lives in rural areas," he said. "The courses here, are teaching rural development management. But what you learn is not just for you, you have to work for your village so that the nation also benefits from it. An MoU has been signed with the Indian Institute of Public Administration, it would also be useful," he added. Earlier last week, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, said that the Indian Council of Agricultural Research has developed 109 seed varieties that are adaptable to the changing climate and can yield well even in increasing temperatures and the government aims to ensure benefits of science and research directly reach farmers. The release will encompass 109 varieties spanning 61 crops, including 34 field crops and 27 horticultural crops. According to PMO's statement, these efforts not only aim to improve nutrition but also to secure better income for farmers and create new entrepreneurial opportunities. (ANI) The project, constructed for Rs 10 crore, aims to encourage mushroom cultivation. Through this intervention, close to 1000 farmers will benefit in the first phase. The project is being implemented by the Mendipathar Multipurpose Cooperative Society, led by Sister Rose, and is funded by the SFRUTI scheme from MSME, with viability gap funding of Rs 3 crore from the state government. Speaking on the occasion, the CM said that the demand for mushrooms is increasing worldwide, and the establishment of such a unit will be rewarding for farmers. He stated that the government has been initiating various programs to support farmers. Encouraging farmers to take up mushroom cultivation, he said the government will provide training and support to interested individuals and organizations. During the program, he also flagged off pickup vehicles and barrels that would be used to collect rubber. He noted that the North and East Garo Hills region is engaged in large-scale rubber production, and the government will support value addition, enabling farmers to earn higher incomes. A rubber Cinx Unit was also allocated to the Mendipathar Multipurpose Cooperative Society. Earlier, Conrad K Sangma and Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong held a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday to discuss the overall situation at the international border area amid the political unrest in neighbouring country Bangladesh. CM Sangma said that Meghalaya police are on high alert and a night curfew has been imposed along the international border to further strengthen the overall security. He further informed that the Home Minister informed that the Government of India would not allow any individual to cross the border and all steps were being taken to ensure that the border was secured. (ANI) The doctors of Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College Hospital (ANMMC), the largest government hospital of South Bihar held a protest on Tuesday against the sexual assault and murder of a wo man post-graduate trainee (PGT) doctor in Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The doctors also sat on strike in front of the ANMMC hospital's superintendent with a placard in their hands. Visuals emerged where the doctors were seen holding placards in their hands and demanded justice. "We are protesting here for the justice of the doctor who was sexually assaulted. We demand a safe environment for the doctors. We also demand that the Central Protection Act for Doctors should be taken seriously. At our hospital itself, there are no proper security arrangements for the doctors," said one of the protesting doctors. Swati Singh, another protesting doctor demanded justice for the doctor. "Why is the issue of the protection of doctors only being raised after the incident has occurred? Was the government waiting for something like this to occur? We will not be stopping the treatment of our doctors but we demand justice," she said. Meanwhile, a patient who had come for her treatment said that she was not given treatment because of the ongoing protests. "I was not given treatment because the doctors are on strike," she said. Meanwhile, the Calcutta High Court ordered a CBI investigation into the sexual assault and murder of a woman post-graduate trainee (PGT) doctor. The Court has asked the Kolkata Police to hand over all documents to the CBI immediately. Earlier today, protesting doctors and medical students conveyed that their protests will be carried on until their demands of installing CCTV cameras, establishing proper security measures, and providing compensation to the victim's parents are met. (ANI) In a shocking incident, a 67-year-old man had to undergo surgery at a private hospital in Delhi to remove an artificial denture he had accidentally swallowed while eating. A team of doctors led by Dr Shubham Vatsya, Director - Gastroenterology and Hepatobiliary Sciences, Fortis Hospital Vasant Kunj, assessed the case and removed the denture via multiple endoscopy procedures, where the denture was pushed inside the stomach and retrieved outside the body with the help of a Roth net, a device used to remove foreign objects from the body. This entire procedure took 15 minutes, and the patient was discharged the same day in a stable condition. Upon admission to the hospital, the patient had immense pain in his throat and the middle of his chest. During examination, it was found that the denture was stuck in the patient's stomach, with injuries and bleeding in his food pipe and stomach area. The team of doctors meticulously removed the denture and saved the patient's life. Any delay in diagnosis and removal of the denture could have led to multiple life-threatening situations and could also have proved fatal. Dr Shubham Vatsya said, "The denture was 15 cm in circumference and due to its size, it was difficult to remove it. However, the procedure was conducted under intravenous sedation, and we removed the denture via multiple gastrointestinal endoscopy (a procedure to diagnose and treat problems in the upper gastrointestinal tract), wherein the denture was pushed inside the stomach and retrieved outside the body with the help of Roth net (a device used to remove foreign objects from the body)." "The patient was discharged the very same day and is currently doing well. Had the denture been not removed on time, it could have led to multiple life-threatening situations - such as stomach or intestinal perforation which could have been fatal," Vatsya said. Dr Gurvinder Kaur, Facility Director, Fortis Hospital Vasant Kunj explained the challenges, "This was a challenging case, considering a serious accident involving an elderly man. However, the timely intervention and clinical expertise of Dr Shubham Vatsya and his team saved the man's life. Our doctors at Fortis Hospital Vasant Kunj have the best of experience and expertise to handle challenging cases. The hospital is well-equipped with experienced clinicians and advanced technologies for accuracy in diagnosis and treatment, leading to quality patient outcomes." (ANI) Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Tuesday paid homage to the selfless sacrifices of countless freedom fighters and fearless soldiers who protected India's sovereignty to fetch freedom to our country at the Albert Ekka War Memorial. Bharatiya Janata Party state president and other political leaders were present at the event. Addressing the event, Tripura CM Manik Saha said, "Their bravery and patriotism will forever be etched in our hearts." Taking it to social media post on X, Saha wrote, "Tribute to the unsung heroes! Today, I honored the selfless sacrifices of countless freedom fighters & fearless soldiers who protected India's sovereignty at the Albert Ekka War Memorial. Their bravery & patriotism will forever be etched in our hearts." Meanwhile, CM Saha also hoisted the national flag at his official residence under the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign. In another social media post on X, he wrote, "On the occasion of 78th Independence Day, the tricolor national flag will be hoisted at every house from today as part of 'Har Ghar Tiranga' program called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji. Today I hoist the national flag at my official residence along with my fellow countrymen. I invite you and your family to participate in this holy festival of patriotism. #HarGharTiranga #TripuraFliesTiranga" He also participated in the Har Ghar Tiranga rally and took selfies with the students and said that their beaming smiles were the greatest reward for him. Har Ghar Tiranga' is a campaign that forms part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. It was started in 2021 to encourage people to bring the Tiranga home and to hoist it to mark the 75th year of India's independence. The idea behind the initiative is to invoke the feeling of patriotism in the hearts of the people and promote awareness about the Indian National Flag. On August 9, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also urged the citizens to make the 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign a mass movement by hoisting the national flag at their homes. Changing his profile picture on social media to 'Tricolour', PM Modi further urged everyone to change their profile picture to the same. (ANI) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday replied to Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari's letter over alleged attacks on engineers and contractors in Jalandhar and Ludhiana and said that the local police have arrested the accused in both cases. He further conveyed the reasons behind the attacks and said that the first incident was the outcome of the over-excavation of land by the NHAI contractor, while the second incident was the outcome of the non-payment of financial dues by the contractor to its sub-contractor. The letter written by the Punjab CM Mann reads, "In both the cases referred to by you, the local Police promptly registered the FIRs under relevant provisions of law. Further, in both these cases, arrests have been made. However, on the investigation, it has been found that one incident was the outcome of the over-excavation of land by the NHAI concessionaire/contractor. The second incident was the outcome of non-payment of financial dues by the concessionaire/contractor to its sub- contractor. Thus, both cases stemmed from causes attributable to the concessionaire/contractor." It further added, "A detailed report of special DGP (Law & Order) is enclosed herewith. Irrespective of all this, the Punjab Police, being one of the finest forces is committed to taking care of the safety concerns of NHAI. Local Police have been directed to deploy patrolling teams in the area to maintain law and order." Earlier on August 10, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, on Saturday wrote a letter to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann over alleged attacks on engineers and contractors in Jalandhar and Ludhiana. Gadkari wrote in his letter, "I have been informed about two untoward incidents that occurred recently on the Delhi-Katra expressway projects. In one incident in Jalandhar District, the Engineer of the Contractor was brutally assaulted. Although FIR has been registered in this regard, strong action is required to be taken against the perpetrators. In another incident in Ludhiana District, the Project camp of the Contractor of the Delhi-Katra Expressway was attacked by miscreants who also threatened the Engineers to burn the project camp and their staff alive. However, an FIR has still not been filed and the miscreants have not been arrested despite written requests by NHAI officers." He further requested that the state government should take corrective measures immediately. File FIRs and take strong action against the perpetrators in order to prevent such incidents in the future and to restore the confidence of NHAI officers and staff of the concessionaires. "It is pertinent to note that due to pending issues related to land acquisition and the prevailing law and order conditions, concessionaires have requested to foreclose contracts and have raised claims against NHAI. If the situation does not improve, NHAI will have no other option but to cancel/ terminate eight other severely affected projects with a total length of 293 km costing 14,288 crore," Gadkari added in his letter to CM Mann. (ANI) The Election Commission of India is gearing up to conduct assembly elections in Haryana and the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, along with Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and SS Sandhu on Tuesday held a detailed and comprehensive review of the poll preparedness for the forthcoming Assembly Elections in Haryana at Chandigarh, said an official press release from Election Commission. The term of the State Assembly in Haryana is due to expire on November 3, 2024, and elections are scheduled on 90 legislative assembly constituencies in the state. During the two-day review visit of the Commission, representatives of national and state political parties including Aam Aadmi Party, Bharatiya Janata Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Indian National Congress, Indian National Lok Dal, and Jannayak Janta Party came to meet the Commission. During the meeting, these political parties raised several issues such as the conduct of free and fair elections with strict action against misuse of government machinery, and deployment of adequate central forces in sensitive polling stations while some parties also highlighted the requirement of updating the electoral roll with the removal of dead and shifted voters in Panchkula. Regarding polling stations, there was a request to reduce the distance between polling stations and improve facilities for elderly and women voters while some parties advocated for changing the location of party polling desks from 200 meters to 50 meters from the polling station entrance in urban areas. Concerns were also raised about the inaccessibility of election Observers for timely grievance redressal. Other demands included the timely sharing of voter lists with candidates immediately after the nomination deadline. The Commission assured the representatives that it has taken cognizance of the suggestions and concerns of the political parties and ECI is committed to conducting free, fair, participative, inclusive, peaceful, and inducement-free elections in the state. Political parties were encouraged to actively engage in the ongoing second Special Summary Revision process to update the electoral rolls ahead of the elections. The Commission also discussed the administrative, logistics, law and order, and election-related arrangements with the Chief Electoral Officer and State Police Nodal Officer. Prior to the detailed review with DEOs and SPs, CEO Haryana gave an overview of all aspects of election management including the ongoing 2nd Special Summary revision of Electoral Rolls in the state with respect to July 1, 2024 as the qualifying date. The final electoral roll will be published on August 27, 2024, a copy of which will be provided to all recognized parties free of cost. The Commission also held a meeting with the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police to review the overall poll preparedness and law and order matters. The Haryana Assembly Elections 2024 are expected to take place on or before October 2024, as the current Assembly's tenure is set to end on November 3 this year. However, the election schedule is yet to be announced. Regarding Jammu and Kashmir, it was reported that the Election Commission will hold a meeting with Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on Wednesday to review the security situation in the union territory, sources said. In December last year, the Supreme Court directed the central government to conclude the election process in the Union territory by September 30, 2024. If it happens before September, Jammu and Kashmir will witness elections after a gap of 10 years as the last assembly election was held in 2014. The PDP-BJP coalition government fell in June 2018 when the latter withdrew support to the then-Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti. Recently, a poll body delegation led by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar reviewed the poll preparations in J&K. During a press conference in Jammu during the visit, Kumar had emphasized that the commission is committed to holding elections there "at the earliest". No outside or internal forces can derail the electoral process, he had said, adding that the people of J-K will give a befitting response to "disruptive forces. CEC further said that all parties in Jammu and Kashmir are "batting strongly" for holding assembly elections. There are a total of 90 assembly constituencies, of which 74 are General, nine are ST and seven are SC. Notably, along with Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand is also among the states that will undergo assembly polls by the end of the year. (ANI) Resident doctors of the Agartala Government Medical College (AGMC) staged a protest on Tuesday against the rape and murder of a resident doctor in RH Kar Medical College in Kolkata. Speaking to ANI, Dr Himanshu of the psychiatric department said that the doctors had only three demands. He further added that all OPDs in the hospitals were closed in the protest, however, the emergency services were open for the patients. "We have only three demands. The culprit should be immediately punished..there should be a central Act for all the residents' doctors and their protection inside the hospital," he said. Dr Basav Ghosh, State Secretary of the Indian Medical Association, Tripura, said that the protest rally of the doctors was supported by the IMA state branch and the Agartala Government Medical College. "The protest is not only in Tripura but all over India. We need security and a fearless atmosphere for our doctors to work. These doctors who are protesting here have been fighting for their justice since the morning," Ghosh said. He further added "CCTV cameras need to be installed in the hospitals... These incidents should be stopped. We do not want to take out such rallies." Shivani Kambuj, a resident doctor of the AGMC hospital said that the incident that occurred was a very shameful one and that the resident doctors and students have decided to go for the protest to seek justice. "Whatever happened on August 9 was a very shameful incident and we are doing this protest here at the AGMC hospital to seek justice from the incident," said Kambuj. (ANI) The Delhi High Court has recently granted bail to a person accused in a case of fraudulent transfer of Rs 344 crores of mutual funds and securities held by Dalmia Cements Bharat Ltd. Justice Amit Mahajan has recently granted bail to V Hans Prakash. Justice Mahajan said that notably, the investigation is now complete and the charge-sheet as.well as a supplementary charge-sheet stands filed. He further said that the present case is otherwise based on documents and all incriminating documents have already been recovered by the investigating agency and made part of the charge sheet. "Evidently, the custody of the petitioner is no longer required. In the given circumstances, no useful purpose will be served in keeping the petitioner behind bars," Justice Mahajan held in the judgement passed on August 7. The bench noted that it is also not the case of the prosecution that the petitioner has acriminal record. Further, the petitioner was never arrested during the investigation till the filing of the charge sheet nor he misused his interim bail, therefore, he does not seem to be a flight risk. "In view of the circumstances discussed above, this court is of the view that the petitioner is entitled to grant of regular bail pending trial, Justice Mahajan said. The High Court also noted that the main accused namely, Awanish Kumar against whom serious allegations had been made has already been granted regular bail on 25.10.2021 by the High Court. The petitioner had moved a petition through Advocate Akshay Bhandari seeking regular bail in a case lodged under Sections 420/409/467/468/471/120-B/34 IPC by the EOW. He was taken into custody after filing of a charge sheet on March 14, 2019. M/s Dalmia Cements Bharat Ltd filed a complaint against M/s Allied Financial Service Pvt. Ltd and others regarding the fraudulent transfer of mutual funds units/securities worth Rs 344.07 crores of the complainant. It is alleged that subsidiaries of the complainant company viz. OCL India Limited [OCL] and Dalmia Cement East Limited [DCEL] were interested in making mutual fund investments in May 2017 and thus, they opened Demat accounts with National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) through its participant Allied Financial Services Pvt. Ltd (AFSPL). Accordingly, Demat accounts in the name of OCL India Limited [OCL] and Dalmia Cement East Ltd (DCEL) were opened. After making an initial investment, several further investments and redemptions were made in the said accounts from time to time and the complainants were holding securities worth Rs.344.07 crores in the above accounts as of 28.12.2018. Later on, the two companies were merged into Dalmia Cements Bharat Ltd (DCBL) and DCBL became the owner of securities. It is alleged that the complainant submitted redemption on 27.12.2018 but despite various requests, the redemption amount was not credited in the accounts. On 17.09.2019, the complainants reported the matter to NSDL and the NSDL through its reply of 25.01.2019 informed that there were no securities available in the DEMAT accounts of the complainants. At the same time, accused Awanish Kumar Mishra, director of AFSPL vide his email dated 31.01.2019 confirmed to the complainants the holdings in the above DEMAT Accounts and regretted the delay in processing of redemption request and assured that the same would be processed by 06.02.2019. It is alleged that Awanish Kumar Mishra fraudulently transferred the credentials of the complainant in the account opening form and fed wrong credentials on NSDL server to deprive the complainant from getting an alert message for each transaction and that the accused Awanish Kumar Mishra further fraudulently transferred the mutual fund units of the complainant worth Rs 344.07 crores by using delivery instruction slips bearing forged signatures of authorized signatories of the complainant companies. It is further alleged that during the investigation, it was found that the accused V Hans Prakash the head of the business department and chief business strategy officer of the IL&FS Securities Services Ltd. malafidely facilitated the main accused in using the said fraudulently transferred mutual fund units for margin. (ANI) Beijing has greatly enhanced payment convenience for foreign tourists, making it easier to use foreign bank cards and cash, exchange currency, use mobile pay, and open local accounts, according to the Beijing branch of the People's Bank of China (PBC). In February, the city launched payment service demonstration zones and centers at its two major international airports, Beijing Capital International Airport and Beijing Daxing International Airport. At the China Bank branch in the capital international airport, numerous foreign visitors have opened bank accounts and exchanged currencies. The branch's self-service exchange machines can process 20 different foreign currencies for conversion into RMB, with the process taking just three minutes. Beijing has taken the lead in establishing airport payment service demonstration zones and centers, ensuring that all merchants at the airports accept payment through international bank cards, and that all ATMs provide small-denomination currency withdrawals. Moreover, international departure and arrival areas have been equipped with 24-hour manned counters for foreign currency exchange, allowing exchanges of over 40 currencies. To further increase payment convenience for international visitors throughout the capital city, local authorities have identified and prioritized around 18,000 key merchants based on the preferences of foreign tourists. Efforts have been made to promote the installation and upgrading of POS terminals to support international bank cards. Currently, 98% of merchants on the priority list accept major international cards, a significant increase from the 30% acceptance rate among the first batch of 11,000 merchants at the end of February. The PBC has also underscored the importance of maintaining cash availability as a critical backup to payment needs of foreign visitors. In the second quarter of this year, approximately 510,000 "Change Wallets," which are small packets containing petty cash, were distributed across Beijing. As of July 28, a total of 692,000 Change Wallets had been distributed, representing an increase of 640,000 since the end of February. Additionally, the number of ATMs in the city that support international card withdrawals has reached 11,500, with 1,978 ATMs now supporting small-denomination currency withdrawals. The incident took place on Tuesday evening. Among those arrested, three individuals have been identified as Bangladeshi touts involved in illegal activities. The individuals were detained by local authorities, and a case has been registered at the Agartala Government Railway Police Station (GRPS) under various sections of the law. The arrested individuals are scheduled to be produced before the Court tomorrow. The arrested Individuals have been identified as Mijanur Rahaman (26), Safikul Islam (30), Md. Alamin Ali (23), Md. Milan (38), Sahabul (30) Sariful Shek (30), Kabir Shek (34), Lija Khatun (26), Tania Khan (24), Ethi Shek (39), Brindaban Mandal (21), Abdul Hakim (25), Md. Idul (27), Md. Abdur Rahaman (20), Md. Ayub Ali (30) and Md. Jiarul (20). The authorities continue to investigate the matter to determine the extent of illegal activities carried out by these individuals and any possible connections to broader networks. Further details on the matter are awaited. (ANI) Lauding the US-India ties, the White House on Monday (local time) said that President Joe Biden views the United States' relationship with India as one of the most consequential in the world, adding that both countries "work closely" on vital priorities. In a press briefing on Monday (local time), White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre said that the US works with India on key priorities, including the QUAD (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue). "So look, the president views our relationship, the United States' relationship with India, as one of the most consequential in the world. And so we work closely with India on our most vital priorities, including through the Quad and the US-India initiative on this critical and emerging technology," Jean Pierre said. She further emphasised how the US wants to expand its "critically important partnership" with India, moving forward. "And so we look forward to continuing to expand our critical and critically important partnership and how it's going to benefit the American people. And we want to create a more prosperous and secure Indo-Pacific and the world. And so that is going to continue to be our focus as we move forward," she added. The US has a diplomatic partnership with India, Australia and Japan, through QUAD, which is committed to supporting an open, stable, and prosperous Indo-Pacific that is inclusive and resilient. Notably, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, along with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Foreign Minister of Japan Yoko Kamikawa, and Australia's Penny Wong participated in the Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting held on July 29 in Tokyo. The leaders reaffirmed their commitment, common principles, and capacities to preserve and strengthen the international order for the global good. "We look forward to India hosting the next Quad Leaders' Summit later this year, and to the United States hosting the next Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting in 2025," a joint statement after the meeting held in Tokyo read. The Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting joint statement said that the countries of the bloc were collectively advancing a positive and practical agenda to support the Indo-Pacific region's sustainable development, stability, and prosperity, responding to the region's needs. The statement said that they contribute to a region in which all countries and people can exercise free choice in how they cooperate, and trade based on partnership, equality and mutual respect. (ANI) The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres has called for a permanent seat for Africa at the UN Security Council, adding that the UNSC needs reforms, reported Al Jazeera. During a high-level debate on Monday, the UN Chief, addressing the Security Council said that the composition of the UNSC has failed to keep pace with a changing world. "We cannot accept that the world's preeminent peace and security body lacks a permanent voice for a continent of well over a billion people ... nor can we accept that Africa's views are undervalued on questions of peace and security, both on the continent and around the world," Guterres said, according to Al Jazeera. The five permanent members of the 15-member UNSC--China, France, Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom--each have the ability to veto a vote. The remaining 10 non-permanent seats are distributed regionally. Among the ten seats are three for African states, two for Latin America and the Caribbean, two for Asia-Pacific, two for Western Europe and other states, and one for Eastern Europe, Al Jazeera reported. The UNSC demanded in May that African nations play a bigger role in tackling issues related to global security and development. Meanwhile, the UN General Assembly President Dennis Francis said at the debate that the UN must reflect the world as it is. "The fact that Africa continues to be manifestly underrepresented on the Security Council is simply wrong, offending as it does both the principles of equity and inclusion," he said. "It runs counter to the principle of sovereign equality of states and calls for the urgency to reform this institution to reflect the world as it is now, rather than what it was nearly 80 years ago," Francis added. (ANI) In a conversation with the billionaire CEO and entrepreneur Elon Musk, former US President Donald Trump opened up on the recent 'assassination attempt', which he described as a 'hard hit', and said that it was a surreal situation. During the interview, after X owner asked, "how was the shooting like for you like?", Trump responded to it, saying that the shooting was "not pleasant" and it was a very hard hit. "It was a hard hit. It was very, I guess you would say, surreal, but it wasn't surreal. You know, I was telling somebody, you have instances like this ... where you feel it's a surreal situation. And I never felt that way. I knew immediately that it was a bullet," Trump said of the moment when he said the bullet hit his ear," the former US President told Musk in a conversation on X. Trump further stated that the moment he went down after being hit by a bullet, the only question which was in his mind was "How many were killed?" "Because we had a massive crowd there -- a tremendous thousands and thousands of people. ... So I said, 'How many people have been killed?' Because I knew there were other shots being fired," he went on to say. Meanwhile, Musk said that the reason he endorsed Trump's presidential campaign was because of his reaction to the assassination attempt campaign rally in Pennsylvania last month, calling Trump pumping his fists "just incredibly inspiring," reported CNN. Trump was on stage at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on July 13 when gunshots rang out and Secret Service agents stormed the stage. Hours after the shooting, Trump said that the bullet pierced the upper part of his right ear. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. It is pertinent to note that Musk started the live stream conversation on X with Trump at 8:42 p.m. ET Monday as it got delayed due to a technical glitch. The event was initially scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. earlier. Musk went on to say that the conversation got delayed due to a cyberattack, and added that a distributed denial-of-service attack "saturated ... hundreds of gigabits of data," overwhelming X's servers, as per CNN. "As this massive attack illustrates, there's a lot of opposition to people just hearing what President Trump has to say," he said. Earlier, Elon Musk announced that a massive DDoS attack hit his livestream with former US President Donald Trump, forcing X owner to scale down the live audience. The users on social media platform X faced numerous issues while looking for access to the livestream conversation of Elon Musk with Trump on the platform Monday night. Within minutes of the event's expected 8 p.m. ET start time, "crashed," "unable" and "#TwitterBlackout" were trending on the site, reported CNN. A pop-up stating "this space is not available" with a monkey emoji appeared on the screen of desktop users as well who attempted to attend the "Spaces" event. Whereas, several others who tried to connect via the mobile app were met with a motionless, greyed-out screen and were unable to participate in the event. (ANI) US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti congratulated Vinay Mohan Kwatra on assuming charge as India's Ambassador to the United States on Tuesday. In a post on X, Eric Garcetti said, "Congratulations to my friend Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra on your appointment as the Ambassador of India to the United States! Looking forward to working closely with you and taking our partnership to new heights. Wishing you all the best #USIndiaFWD" Kwatra, who was former Foreign Secretary, assumed charge as India's Ambassador to US on Tuesday. Kwatra succeeds India's former envoy to the United States and BJP leader, Taranjit Singh Sandhu. "Privileged to assume charge as the Ambassador of India to the United States of America. Team @IndianEmbassyUS will continue to work intensely to strengthen this crucial partnership," Kwatra said in a post on X. The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum welcomed India's new Ambassador to the US, "USISPF warmly welcomes @AmbVMKwatra as he begins his tenure as the Indian Ambassador to the U.S. We wish him a successful and productive tenure and look forward to working closely with him and @IndianEmbassyUS to elevate the US-India partnership." Kwatra takes charge as India's Ambassador to the US at a time when the relations between the two countries are at a high point. On Monday (local time), the White House said that President Joe Biden views the United States' relationship with India as one of the most consequential in the world, adding that both countries "work closely" on vital priorities. In a press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre said that the US works with India on key priorities, including the QUAD (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue). She further emphasised how the US wants to expand its "critically important partnership" with India, moving forward. "So look, the president views our relationship, the United States' relationship with India, as one of the most consequential in the world. And so we work closely with India on our most vital priorities, including through the Quad and the US-India initiative on this critical and emerging technology," Jean Pierre said. (ANI) Former Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra assumed charge as the Ambassador of India to the United States on Tuesday. Kwatra succeeds India's former envoy to the United States and BJP leader, Taranjit Singh Sandhu. "Privileged to assume charge as the Ambassador of India to the United States of America. Team @IndianEmbassyUS will continue to work intensely to strengthen this crucial partnership," Kwatra said in a post on X. Sripriya Ranganathan, Deputy Ambassador at the Embassy of India in Washington DC welcomed the new Ambassador to the US, " Delighted to welcome Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra as the new Ambassador of India to the United States of America. All of us @IndiainUSA are excited to work under his leadership! The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum welcomed India's new Ambassador to the US, "USISPF warmly welcomes @AmbVMKwatra as he begins his tenure as the Indian Ambassador to the U.S. We wish him a successful and productive tenure and look forward to working closely with him and @IndianEmbassyUSto elevate the US-India partnership." On July 14, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar bid farewell to outgoing Foreign Secretary Kwatra, acknowledging his profound contributions to India's foreign policy and national security over the past decade. Jaishankar praised Kwatra for his strategic acumen in shaping and executing crucial policies during his tenure. Kwatra has previously served at the Ministry of External Affairs, and Prime Minister's Office as Joint Secretary. Kwatra has also served as Minister (Commerce) at the Embassy of India in Washington D.C. from May 2010 to July 2013. Between July 2013 and October 2015, Kwatra headed the Policy Planning & Research Division of the Ministry of External Affairs and later served as the head of the Americas Division in the Foreign Ministry where he dealt with India's relations with the United States and Canada. Kwatra has served in different positions in many of India's missions abroad and in India. Kwatra holds an experience of nearly 32 years in a range of assignments. Kwatra takes charge as India's Ambassador to the US at a time when the relations between the two countries are at a high point. On Monday (local time) the White House said that President Joe Biden views the United States' relationship with India as one of the most consequential in the world, adding that both countries "work closely" on vital priorities. In a press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre said that the US works with India on key priorities, including the QUAD (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue). "So look, the president views our relationship, the United States' relationship with India, as one of the most consequential in the world. And so we work closely with India on our most vital priorities, including through the Quad and the US-India initiative on this critical and emerging technology," Jean Pierre said. She further emphasised how the US wants to expand its "critically important partnership" with India, moving forward. (ANI) Officials at Bangaldesh's Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges, which is housed in the Setu Bhaban in Dhaka's Mohakhali are fearful of entering the building that was targetted and suffered severe damages during the recent student-led protests in the country. This ministry, led by an Awami League minister, has been at the centre of controversy, facing intense backlash during the quota demonstrations. During the protests, angry students set fire to the ministry building and vandalised government property and vehicles parked inside its premises. An estimated Taka 65 crore worth vehicles were reduced to ashes, including 57 cars ranging from SUVs and pickup trucks to minibuses and motorcycles, all of which were used for ministry operations and official engagements. The incident has left the Setu Bhavan building a charred and uninhabitable structure. Ministry officials that ANI spoke to say they are now fearful of entering the building due to its damaged state. They have been forced to carry out their duties outside, operating from makeshift setups. The protest, which began as a demonstration against the government's quota system, quickly escalated into a larger movement, raising serious concerns about the safety and stability of government institutions in the capital. Leading Bangladesh publication Prothom Alo had in a July 27 report stated that "several hundred of miscreants stormed into the Setu Bhaban on July 18 and vandalized it badly, set it on fire, and looted government property from the bhaban." "They also vandalized many vehicles, motorbikes, ransacked different sheds and rooms and later set those on fire and beat many employees of the Setu Bhaban black and blue" the publication reported. The vandalism was part of protests led by students who were demonstrating certain quotas in government jobs. Sheikh Hasina left the country for New Delhi on August 5 after stepping down as Prime Minister, An interim government in Bangladesh, led by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, was sworn in on Thursday. (ANI) The streets of Dhaka are witnessing a peculiar sight. Dozens of students have taken to manage traffic in the capital city of Bangladesh, which witnessed a violent uprising that led to Shiekh Hasina resigning her position as Prime Minister and the formation of an interim government led by Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus. The protests, originally sparked by demands for a revised quota system, saw thousands of students from various universities and educational institutions pour onto the streets, demanding changes from the previous Awami League government, led by Hasina. The violent protests lasted for months and in the last few weeks several deaths were reported by local media reports. With the formation of an interim government in Dhaka, led by Yunus, the students have now stepped up to manage the traffic outside the Parliament of Bangladesh, where heavy traffic has been reported. Students from diverse backgrounds, including engineering, medical, and other fields, are volunteering to manage the traffic. Bashir, a student volunteer manning traffic near the Bangladesh Parliament building, said since universities and schools are closed for now, students have stepped in to manage the traffic. "We are more than 50 students, managing traffic here...Police will also come and manage it as we also have to return to our studies. At the moment, the schools and colleges are closed...but, police will come soon," he said. Bashir also said that elections in Bangladesh should be held. "For now, to run the country only we are availaible. (Abhi filhaal desh chalane ke liye hum log hi hain). The movement was absolutely right. Elections should be held...," he said. Protesters believe that their protests, which initially appeared to be ignored, may now receive the attention they deserve from the new interim government. Students expect that authorities should not only address their demands but also work towards making Bangladesh a democratic nation. Sheikh Hasina left Bangladesh on August 5 after submitting her resignation amid escalating protests. The protests, initially driven by students against the government job quota system, evolved into broader anti-government demonstrations. The protests erupted in early July due to demands for reforming the quota system that reserves civil service jobs for specific groups, including descendants of 1971 war veterans. Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel laureate economist, was sworn in as head of Bangladesh's interim government on August 8, just three days after Hasina's resignation. (ANI) Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, chief advisor of the interim government of Bangladesh, visited the historic Dhakeshwari Temple in Dhaka in Dhaka on Tuesday, where he assured the minorities in Bangladesh of their safety and security in the country. "Rights are equal for everyone. We are all one people with one right. Do not make any distinctions among us. Please, assist us. Exercise patience, and later judge -- what we were able to do and not. If we fail, then criticise us," Prof Yunus was quoted as saying by Bangladesh newspaper Daily Star. "In our democratic aspirations, we should not be seen as Muslims, Hindus, or Buddhists, but as human beings. Our rights should be ensured. The root of all problems lies in the decay of institutional arrangements. That is why, such issues arise. institutional arrangements need to be fixed," he added. According to the Daily Star, Yunus met with representatives of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad and Mahanagar Sarbajanin Puja Committee, as well as officials from the temple management board. Prof Yunus was accompanied by Law Adviser Asif Nazrul and Religious Affairs Adviser AFM Khalid Hossain. The Dhaka Tribune reported that Yunus also urged the Hindu community people to consider themselves children of the soil. "You simply say that you are human, a citizen of Bangladesh, and this is your constitutional right that must be ensured. Just demand this, nothing more," Prof Yunus was quoted as saying. Following Younus' visit, a significant meeting was held between representatives of the Muslim community and the Hindu minority at the temple. This gathering served as a platform for open dialogue, where both communities discussed various issues and worked towards strengthening communal harmony. Participants of the meeting expressed their mutual understanding and emphasized the importance of unity in fostering a peaceful society. Further, they assured each other that the minority Hindu community was not in danger and that any attempts to harass or attack them would be met with legal repercussions. Many of the Hindu community members in the temple spoke with ANI, and one of the members said, "There would be no caste difference between Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Christians. We are one people, one life. We all have come together in one Bangladesh. We will live together." Following this, a priest named Romen Mandal from the temple highlighted the riots and violence against Hindus and stated. "You know, we are minorities. We don't understand why this is happening to us. Everyone says that they are with us. But to date, no one has ever thought about crime." Prof Muhammad Yunus's outreach could be seen as an effort to calm frayed nerves in the minority community. Recently several Hindu groups protested the violence against their community. Protests were reported from Bangladesh and cities like Toronto and London. (ANI) On National Minorities Day, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) urged the government to promptly tackle the increasing hate and violence against minorities through several key measures. Further, it called for the enforcement of the 2014 Supreme Court ruling by creating an independent commission for minorities and protecting religious sites. The Commission further announced the establishment of a National Interfaith Working Group, which includes leaders from various faiths, legal professionals, journalists, and human rights advocates. The group also demanded a ban on hate speech and mob violence, with strict accountability for offenders and compensation for victims. Additionally, they emphasized the need to regulate seminaries to prevent intolerance and to address the misuse of blasphemy laws in Parliament. The demands included promoting equal citizenship through awareness campaigns, inclusive education, and the removal of discriminatory material from curricula; enforcing affirmative action in employment and political roles for minorities; criminalizing early marriages and forced conversions; and ensuring accurate census data with formal recognition of Buddhism. The group urged the government to demonstrate a firm commitment to protecting minority rights https://x.com/HRCP87/status/1822608562486419744?t=QrbgExj6mnWrdZlQp_1Mww&s=08 HRCP highlights that religious minorities, including Christians, Hindus, and Ahmadis, often encounter marginalization in employment and education, limiting their chances for advancement. Similarly, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) reports widespread religious intolerance, marked by derogatory remarks and exclusionary practices. The severe risks faced by these communities are underscored by targeted attacks that result in significant casualties. Mob violence, frequently provoked by false blasphemy accusations, exacerbates these dangers. The case of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who faced threats and legal struggles due to blasphemy charges, illustrates the severity of these issues. The misuse of blasphemy laws is a major concern, with these laws often being used to target minorities or resolve personal disputes, as noted by the International Crisis Group, which highlights the frequent abuse of these laws leading to wrongful accusations. (ANI) Flash Hezbollah launched multiple Katyusha rocket barrages at a military base in northern Israel on Monday morning, in retaliation for Israeli strikes on villages in southern Lebanon the previous day. Hezbollah media reported that the rockets targeted the "newly established headquarters" of the Israel Defense Forces' 146th Division in Gaaton, a town located in Western Galilee, northern Israel. The IDF confirmed that Hezbollah fired around 30 rockets from Lebanon into the Western Galilee on Monday, with many landing in open areas near Kibbutz Kabri. There were no reported injuries. Lebanese military sources, speaking anonymously, said an Israeli airstrike on the village of Maaroub in southern Lebanon late Sunday injured 12 civilians and destroyed several homes. The Lebanese Ministry of Health's Public Health Emergency Operations Center confirmed the injuries, including 11 Syrians and one Lebanese, with two critical cases -- a woman and a 5-month-old girl. Tensions remain high in Lebanon following Israel's attack on Beirut's southern suburbs on July 30, which killed Hezbollah senior military commander Fouad Shokor and seven others. Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah has vowed a decisive and painful response to the Israeli raid. The report states that Pakistani forces, along with intelligence agencies, conducted a house search operation in Askani Bazaar of Turbat City and "forcibly disappeared" two youths identified as Zakir Ali and Faqir. Another person, Javed Ali, a resident of the Mehnaz area of Buleda, went missing while travelling from Buleda to Turbat on July 31, 2024. The victim's family has accused Pakistani security forces of forcibly disappearing the youth. Enforced disappearances in Balochistan have been a significant issue for the past twenty years, with the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), Baloch activists, and human rights groups accusing Pakistani security forces of carrying out extrajudicial killings and abductions. Earlier, 18 people were reported missing in the past month, with five dead bodies also found, as noted in The Balochistan Post's bi-weekly report. Despite substantial evidence and major reports from various organizations, Pakistani security forces continue to deny any involvement. According to another report by The Balochistan Post, the regions where enforced disappearances are prevalent include Quetta, Kech, Maskay, and Awaran. Enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan are part of a troubling trend known as the "kill and dump" policy. This tactic--reportedly used by state actors such as Pakistani intelligence agencies and security forces--involves abducting individuals, often activists or nationalists, and then executing them, The Balochistan Post reported. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has previously reported a fresh wave of disappearances in Balochistan. For instance, in March 2024, Hafeez Baloch, a postgraduate student from a Pakistani university, disappeared to protest against atrocities committed by Pakistani security forces. (ANI) The Jeay Sindh Freedom Movement (JSFM) has announced plans to observe August 14, 2024, as Black Day across Sindh in protest against the creation of Pakistan on this day in 1947. The organisation has called on its workers to wear black armbands, hoist black flags at intersections, and display the national flag in an act of protest. JSFM's Chairman Sohail Abro, along with key members Zubair Sindhi, Amar Azadi, Sodho Sindhi, Hafeez Deshi, and Pireeh Sindhu, issued a statement condemning the formation of Pakistan, describing it as a "mistake of history" and a "dark day for humanity." They argue that the creation of Pakistan based on the two-nation theory, which they believe was proven invalid with the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, has led to the subjugation of historical nations such as the Sindhi, Baloch, Saraiki, Gilgiti, Kashmiri, and Pashtun by what they describe as a "terrorist state" dominated by the Punjabi military establishment. According to the JSFM leadership, the people of Sindh and other regions are being oppressed economically, politically, and geographically, with their lands and resources being occupied by force. The movement asserts that the right to self-determination and freedom is their birthright, and they vow to continue their struggle until they achieve independence from Pakistan. As August 14 approaches, the JSFM has also raised concerns about the ongoing raids, abductions, and disappearances of pro-independence political workers in Sindh, allegedly carried out by state agencies. The movement has appealed to international organisations, including the United Nations, Amnesty International, and various human rights groups, to support their cause for freedom and human rights. JSFM's planned observance of Black Day on August 14 is expected to be a significant demonstration of their continued resistance against the state of Pakistan. (ANI) The US-based East Turkistan National Movement, a platform dedicated to highlighting the human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims in China's Xinjiang, has urged global authorities on International Youth Day to address the plight of millions of Uyghur, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic youths, who are forcibly separated from their families and subjected to enslavement through forced labour in Chinese camps and factories. "On this #InternationalYouthDay, we demand urgent global action to address the crisis in Occupied #EastTurkistan. Millions of #Uyghur, #Kazakh, #Kyrgyz, and other Turkic youth are forcibly separated from their families and subjected to enslavement through forced labour in Chinese camps and factories." East Turkistan National Movement said in a post on X. "The world must urgently act against China's ongoing genocide, colonization, and occupation in East Turkistan to ensure these youths can live with dignity, freedom, and the right to their heritage," the post added. Further, the East Turkistan National Movement urges immediate action to protect the lives and freedom of young people in East Turkistan. "Silence is not an option. We must act now to protect these young lives, restore their freedom, and preserve their identity from being erased forever. The future of an entire people hangs in the balance. Restoring East Turkistan's independence is the only way to secure the freedom, dignity, and future of our youth," said East Turkistan National Movement Activists blame many Uyghur youths who are coerced into forced labour, working under harsh conditions in various industries. They are also made to work in factories, often under conditions akin to modern slavery. Earlier, the US government extended its import ban to additional Chinese companies over alleged human rights abuses related to Uyghur citizens. The Department of Homeland Security revealed that five new companies have been added to its blacklist as part of its ongoing efforts to eliminate goods made with forced labour from the U.S. supply chain. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List is a designation created under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), a piece of US legislation aimed at addressing and curbing the use of forced labour involving Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic minorities in China's Xinjiang region. The Uyghur people, a largely Muslim ethnic group, have historically sought either independence or increased autonomy from China. The region, officially called the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, has attracted significant international attention due to allegations of human rights violations, including widespread detentions in what are termed as "re-education camps" and instances of forced labour. (ANI) Members of the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh held a protest, over recent violence against them, outside Jamuna State Guest House in Dhaka where the country's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus is staying. The protestors held posters of their family members who went missing during the incidents of violence in the country. Prof Yunus, who has reached out to the Hindu community following the violence, convened a meeting at Jamuna state guest house. The meeting, which was attended by all the advisors, was like a cabinet meeting, and discussions focused on the recent violence including attacks on minority Hindu, future direction of Bangladesh and restoring peace in the country, officials said. They said it was like the first cabinet meeting of the interim government, which assumed office after Sheikh Hasina apparently resigned as Prime Minister earlier this month. There was heightened security outside the Jamuna State Guest House. A minor clash occurred between the Army personnel and the members of the minority Hindu community protesting with posters of their family members who went missing during the incidents of violence in the country. Apart from members of Hindu community, residents of Bangladesh whose family members are missing, staged a demonstration outside the Jamuna guest house in Dhaka. They demanded that Prof Yunus meet them and provide assurances that the atrocities against their community would cease. Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Laureate, visited the historic Dhakeshwari Temple in Dhaka in Dhaka on Tuesday, where he assured the minorities in Bangladesh of their safety and security in the country. "Rights are equal for everyone. We are all one people with one right. Do not make any distinctions among us. Please, assist us. Exercise patience, and later judge -- what we were able to do and not. If we fail, then criticise us," Prof Yunus was quoted as saying by Bangladesh newspaper Daily Star. "In our democratic aspirations, we should not be seen as Muslims, Hindus, or Buddhists, but as human beings. Our rights should be ensured. The root of all problems lies in the decay of institutional arrangements. That is why, such issues arise. institutional arrangements need to be fixed," he added. According to the Daily Star, Prof Yunus met with representatives of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad and Mahanagar Sarbajanin Puja Committee, as well as officials from the temple management board. Prof Yunus was accompanied by Law Adviser Asif Nazrul and Religious Affairs Adviser AFM Khalid Hossain. Following Prof Younus' visit, a significant meeting was held between representatives of the Muslim community and the Hindu minority at the temple. This gathering served as a platform for open dialogue, where both communities discussed various issues and worked towards strengthening communal harmony. Bangladesh is experiencing a volatile political situation with Sheikh Hasina apparently resigning from the post of Prime Minister on August 5 and leaving the country amid mounting protests. The protests, led mainly by students demanding an end to a quota system for government jobs, evolved into anti-government demonstrations. Prof Muhammad Yunus's outreach is being seen as an effort to calm frayed nerves in the Bangladesh's minority community. Recently several Hindu groups protested the violence against their community. Protests were reported from Bangladesh and cities like Toronto and London. (ANI) A day after some Western countries called on Iran to stand down its ongoing threats of a military attack against Israel and hinted at serious consequences should such an attack take place, Iran has hit back stating that "no practical and effective measures" have been taken by the Western countries to deal with the ongoing crisis in the Middle East. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani has put out a statement on developments in the region. On August 12, leaders of France, Germany, and the UK called on Iran to stand down its ongoing threats of a military attack against Israel and discussed the serious consequences for regional security should such an attack take place. Reacting to leaders of the Western countries, Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson said, such a statement was published at a time when Israel is continuing to commit "all kinds of international crimes, including genocide and war crimes against the defenseless Palestinian nation, due to the indifference of the Western countries supporting the regime." The impunity of the Israeli authorities has added to their "shamelessness" in committing the most "wicked offenses and international crimes," the Iran foreign ministry spokesperson added. Kanaani also pointed to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and blasted the United Nations and the UN Security Council for their "failure to adopt a deterrent move" against Israel for more than ten months. He also warned that Israel's inhumane crimes against Palestine and its assassinations overseas are taking new dimensions every day. The Iranian diplomat added, "surprisingly, no practical and effective measures have been taken by Western countries to stop or deal with the geopolitical crisis. The Iran foreign ministry spokesperson particularly took names of Germany, France, and the UK. Kanaani further noted the statement by these three countries, without making any objection against the Israel's offenses and international crimes, "shamelessly demands" the Islamic Republic of Iran not take any deterrent measures against Israel, that "violated its sovereignty and territorial integrity." The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson stressed, "Such demands are void of political logic, in complete contradiction to the principles and rules of international law, and excessive." He added that these three countries' request is regarded as a "public and practical support for the origin of international crimes and terrorism in the region, and as an encouragement and reward to those who order and commit genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and terrorism." Meanwhile, Kanaani said, "If the mentioned countries are really looking for peace and stability in the region, they should once and for all stand against the belligerence and adventurism" of Israeli regime, and immediately stop the war against Gaza and the violence against Palestinian citizens. "The Islamic Republic of Iran is firm and resolute in defending its sovereignty and national security, as well as helping to establish lasting stability in the region and creating deterrence against the real origin and main source of insecurity and terrorism in the region," Kanaani stated and emphasized, "it won't ask for permission from anyone to use its established rights." The spokesperson for the Iranian diplomatic service reiterated that the inaction of the states and the UN Security Council towards Israel, and also the large-scale political and military support by the Western governments to the regime, is the main factor in the spread of the crisis in the region. He held the supporters of the Israeli regime responsible for its ongoing and unrestricted crimes in Gaza and West Asia. (ANI) The Australian envoy, taking to X, said this Dialogue will present an opportunity for its foreign and defence ministry to discuss the shared priorities. The 6th India-Australia Maritime Security Dialogue was held today in Canberra. The Indian delegation was led by Muanpuii Saiawi, Joint Secretary, Disarmament and International Security Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs and the Australian delegation was led by Sarah Storey, First Assistant Secretary, South Asia and Central Asia Division, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Bernard Philip, First Assistant Secretary, International Policy, Department of Defence. As per a Ministry of External Affairs statement, the two sides conferred on ways to sustain a safe and secure maritime environment conducive for inclusive growth and global well-being. They exchanged views on various topics of mutual interest, including the maritime security environment in the Indo-Pacific region, maritime domain awareness, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) coordination, regional and multilateral engagements and sustainable use of marine resources. This included cooperation in Search and Rescue (SAR), pollution response, blue economy and Port State control. They discussed ways and means of further strengthening their bilateral cooperation in these areas. They also conferred on the way ahead for collaboration in the maritime ecology pillar of the Indo-Pacific Ocean Initiative (IPOI). During today's dialogue, it was agreed to hold the next round of the dialogue on a mutually convenient date in New Delhi. (ANI) A clash occurred on Tuesday between Bangladesh Army personnel and members of the minority Hindu community protesting with posters of their family members who went missing during the violence in the country. The members were protesting outside Jamuna State Guest House in Dhaka, where Bangladesh interim govt chief Muhammad Yunus is residing. Following this, a member of the minority Hindu community protested with a poster of his missing son and stated, "I will give my life but I want justice for my child. Where is my child? I have been going from door to door to inquire about my child but no one is listening to me." Bangladesh is experiencing a volatile political situation, with Sheikh Hasina resigning from the post of Prime Minister on August 5 amid mounting protests. The protests, led mainly by students demanding an end to a quota system for government jobs, evolved into anti-government demonstrations. Earlier in the day, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, chief advisor of the interim government of Bangladesh, visited the historic Dhakeshwari Temple in Dhaka in Dhaka on Tuesday, where he assured the minorities in Bangladesh of their safety and security in the country. "Rights are equal for everyone. We are all one people with one right. Do not make any distinctions among us. Please, assist us. Exercise patience, and later judge -- what we were able to do and not. If we fail, then criticise us," Prof Yunus was quoted as saying by Bangladesh newspaper Daily Star." In our democratic aspirations, we should not be seen as Muslims, Hindus, or Buddhists, but as human beings. Our rights should be ensured. The root of all problems lies in the decay of institutional arrangements. That is why such issues arise. institutional arrangements need to be fixed," he added. The Dhaka Tribune reported that Yunus also urged the Hindu community people to consider themselves children of the soil. Following Younus' visit, a significant meeting was held between representatives of the Muslim community and the Hindu minority at the temple. This gathering served as a platform for open dialogue, where both communities discussed various issues and worked towards strengthening communal harmony. (ANI) General Secretary of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Mirza Islam Alamgir, has expressed his party's desire to strengthen ties with India and emphasized that India is considered a neighbour and friend, but also called for a resolution of several key issues. While speaking to ANI, Alamgir said that the BNP wants a friendly relationship with India, and is seeking solutions to these issues to move forward. "It will be definitely strengthened further because we as a political party, always consider India to be our neighbour and friend. But we also invite India to come to a solution on certain issues," said Alamgir "We want a good friendly relationship with India," he added. Further, Alamgir has denied reports of communal atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh. Alamgir claimed that the issues are "totally political" and not communal or religious. He invited Indian media to visit Dhaka to assess the situation themselves. "There is a sort of misunderstanding and very unfortunate propaganda being made by different media nationally and globally and especially from your country. The media is peddling that communal atrocities are going on in Bangladesh which is not true at all. This is not communal, not religious, this is totally political to some extent. I invite you, the media of India to come to Dhaka and see themselves, what has happened in Bangladesh," said Alamgir while referring to the attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh. Further, Alamgir accused the government of perpetuating a "political conspiracy" against the interim government and the people. "Some people say that the people of Bangladesh are creating some communal problems. No not at all. They are safe in the hands of the Bangladeshi government, Bangladeshi people, they're always safe. This is again a political conspiracy going on against the interim government and the people because the people do not want anymore the government of Sheikh Hasina who has killed so many people in these few years and destroyed the constitution. They have violated human rights and corruption was rampant and unprecedented," the General Secretary of BNP said to ANI. Alamgir also spoke about the situation when Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled from the country and stated that she fled to Delhi, India, under "special circumstances" following a student and citizen uprising. "Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has resigned and fled from the country abandoning her party and the people. She was supposed to be with the people always but she left the country. As far as our knowledge goes, she has landed in Delhi. She had to leave under special circumstances," he said. "There was a student and citizen uprising. It was a revolution and before that, almost 1,000 students were killed by Sheikh Hasina's police and almost 12,000 people were arrested... Millions of people were on the streets and they were heading towards the official residence of the Prime Minister and then she left the country with her helicopter," he added. Bangladesh is experiencing a volatile political situation, with Sheikh Hasina resigning from the post of Prime Minister on August 5 amid mounting protests. The protests, led mainly by students demanding an end to a quota system for government jobs, evolved into anti-government demonstrations. (ANI) After the privatisation of power projects in Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan, leaders of the Awami Workers Party expressed concern over the decision to transfer four power plants and all future electricity projects, and all water resources in the district, to a multinational corporation. The privatization of power projects has become a contentious issue, giving rise to concern among local leaders and communities. According to a press release, the Awami Workers Party Gilgit-Baltistan District Hunza chapter declared, "We believe this move jeopardizes the people of Hunza by potentially depriving them of their natural water resources, jobs, and land, and could entrap them in global corporate capitalism." A controversial and opaque agreement set for August 14 will transfer four public sector power plants in Hunza--Mayoon, Hassanabad, Khyber, and Misgar--to Industrial Promotion Services (IPS), a multinational company funded by the World Bank and EU under the guise of a public-private partnership. The statement further criticized the agreement, asserting, "We contend that this deal lacks legal legitimacy as Hunza remains a disputed and unsettled district. The local population, who are the rightful stewards of the land and water resources according to international agreements, were neither consulted nor gave their consent. Additionally, the elected representatives and political leadership of the area were also excluded from this process." There are fears that privatization could lead to the exploitation of local resources and negatively impact the livelihoods of residents. The potential for increased utility costs and reduced access to essential services are major concerns for local communities. Overall, the privatization of power projects in Gilgit-Baltistan is seen by many as a controversial move. Communities in Gilgit-Baltistan are worried that decisions made by multinational corporations or distant authorities may not align with their needs or interests. Moreover, the management and development of power projects in Gilgit-Baltistan have been marred by concerns about corruption, which has heightened local frustrations. There have been allegations of a lack of transparency in the decision-making processes for power projects. The details of agreements, contracts, and project management are often not made publicly available, leading to suspicions of corrupt practices and misuse of authority. Reports suggest that funds allocated for power projects may be misappropriated or mismanaged. Corruption can lead to the diversion of financial resources away from project development and maintenance, impacting the quality and efficiency of power infrastructure. (ANI) https://x.com/IndiaInNepal/status/1823385483579371726 Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said on X, "The event was graced by Hon. Mr Badri Prasad Pandey, Minister for Culture, Tourism & Civil Aviation of Nepal, as the Chief Guest. The audience included distinguished members of the Government of Nepal, the Nepali Army, the diplomatic community, cultural fraternity, media and civil society," the tweet added along with the photos of the dignitaries as well as the artists. The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu has been organizing various programs on the occasion of Independence Day on an annual basis. The Kathak performance which comes as a part of the celebration will also be presented in 4 major cities of the Himalayan Nation. "The recital mesmerized the audience. The dance troupe will continue their Nepal tour with performances scheduled in Birgunj, Hetauda, Biratnagar, and Pokhara over the coming days," the embassy added. (ANI) You are here: World Flash People bury victims killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, on Aug. 12, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua] At least 14 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks on the Khan Younis city in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical sources said Monday. Ten people, including women, were killed in an airstrike targeting the home of the al-Najjar family in Khan Younis, medical sources told Xinhua. Three Palestinian youths were killed in a second airstrike targeting a civilian vehicle traveling on Salah al-Din Street in the east of Khan Younis, the sources reported. In addition, a Palestinian woman was killed and her child critically injured in an Israeli drone attack on an intersection in the city, according to the sources. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army on these incidents. Israel has been launching a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023. The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 39,897, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Monday. The incident took place when the vehicle of Doctor Samnreen, PPP leader Doctor Asim's spouse, became the latest target of the attack. According to ARY News, the PPP leader's wife was returning from an event at a girls' college in Orangi Town's No. 11 area. She, however, remained unharmed in the incident. Citing the police officials, ARY News reported that an investigation has been initiated in the incident.The shooting appeared to have been an attempted robbery, the police added. Over 5000 crimes were reported in Karachi in the month of June this year, a report revealed, according to Geo News, as the law and order across Pakistan continue to deteriorate. The appalling figures were reported by Sindh's Citizens Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) about the state of crime in the port city. Karachi, which is the financial hub of Pakistan, is festering with street crimes, as the worrying statistics in the CPLC report for June suggest. Despite almost 6,000 criminals being transferred to Karachi Central Jail in the first five months of the ongoing year, the law and order situation in the metropolis continues to deteriorate, with citizens being looted and killed by street criminals. (ANI) Amid the ongoing violence in Bangladesh, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said that it is difficult for people in India to be indifferent when every symbol of the country's friendship with Bangladesh is being attacked there. Pointing to the turmoil in Bangladesh, Tharoor said it is tragic to see what was hailed as a democratic revolution degenerating into anarchy, and violence targeting the minorities and the Hindu minority. "It's extremely tragic that what was hailed as a democratic, popular revolution has degenerated into anarchy, and violence targeting the minorities and the Hindu minority... We in India must stand with the people of Bangladesh. But it's difficult for us to be indifferent when every symbol of India's friendship with Bangladesh is being attacked," Tharoor told ANI. He highlighted how several institutions were vandalised during the ongoing violence, making it a "very negative" sign for people in India. Tharoor said, "The statue of the surrender of the Pakistani forces to Indian soldiers has been smashed to bits. The Indian Cultural Centre is destroyed, and a number of institutions are vandalised, including the ISKCON temple. All of these things are very negative signs for people in India. It is not in Bangladesh's interest either to come across in this way." "They should be saying that this is about the restoration of their democracy, but in the process, you turn against the minorities and in particular one minority, inevitably, that will be noticed and resented in our country and elsewhere..." he added. Bangladesh is experiencing a volatile political situation, after Sheikh Hasina resigned from the post of Prime Minister on August 5 amid mounting protests. The protests, led mainly by students demanding an end to a quota system for government jobs, evolved into anti-government demonstrations. A clash occurred on Tuesday between Bangladesh Army personnel and members of the minority Hindu community protesting with posters of their family members who went missing during the violence in the country. The members were protesting outside Jamuna State Guest House in Dhaka, where Bangladesh interim govt chief Muhammad Yunus is residing. In the early hours on Tuesday, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, chief advisor of the interim government of Bangladesh, visited the historic Dhakeshwari Temple in Dhaka, where he assured the minorities in Bangladesh of their safety and security in the country. "Rights are equal for everyone. We are all one people with one right. Do not make any distinctions among us. Please, assist us. Exercise patience, and later judge -- what we were able to do and not. If we fail, then criticise us," Prof Yunus was quoted as saying by Bangladesh newspaper Daily Star." "In our democratic aspirations, we should not be seen as Muslims, Hindus, or Buddhists, but as human beings. Our rights should be ensured. The root of all problems lies in the decay of institutional arrangements. That is why such issues arise. Institutional arrangements need to be fixed," he added. Following Younus' visit, a significant meeting was held between representatives of the Muslim community and the Hindu minority at the temple. This gathering served as a platform for open dialogue, where both communities discussed various issues and worked towards strengthening communal harmony. (ANI) A prominent activist from Balochistan, Sadia Baloch, was suspended from Punjab University for her criticism of Pakistan's armed forces. Following this, Sadio Baloch, who is also a member of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), a group advocating for Baloch people's rights, wrote on X that the university alleged that she was suspended for using the university platform to corrupt students' minds against state institutions and that her conduct severely damaged the reputation and integrity of the educational institution. In a post on X, Sadia Baloch stated, "Punjab University, Lahore, has issued my suspension orders, alleging that I, as a so-called miscreant student, have used the university platform to corrupt students' minds against state institutions and that my conduct has severely damaged the reputation and integrity of the educational institution. It is worth noting that this notice refers to a protest held two months ago and is dated June 14. However, I only received this letter on August 12, 2024, when I went to check for it. I had not been issued a charge sheet before this, making it clear that the notice was issued after Raaji Muchi's participation, with backdated timestamps." https://twitter.com/sadiabalochssb/status/1822927927513596381 She also highlighted that, as a female Baloch student, the derogatory language used against her raises questions about the institution's claimed discipline and values. The activist believes this deliberate action, occurring just a week before her annual exams, is intended to undermine her academic career and constitutes a serious assault on her personal and moral character. She urged the institution to honour the agreements made with the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) and called for Punjab University to revoke the suspension letter and retract its baseless allegations. Commenting on this issue, Baloch Siddique Azad, Secretary General of the Baloch People's Congress, said, "It is highly regrettable and condemnable that Punjab University has expelled a talented student from Dera Ghazi Khan, Sadia Baloch, and deprived her of her right to education for attending and speaking at meetings of the Baloch Solidarity Committee in Balochistan. Such narrow-minded and biased actions by an educational institution like Punjab University reflect a colonial mentality and biased attitude that should be a source of shame for an educational institution. The Baloch People's Congress strongly condemns this biased and anti-educational decision by Punjab University and demands a review of this unjust move." (ANI) ASHEVILLE - As Donald Trump heads for Asheville, where the former president will speak Aug. 14 at the Harrah's Cherokee Center's Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, the question on some people's lips is: Why here? Buncombe County voters have picked Democrats in presidential elections since 2008, often against the red tide of the surrounding region. Buncombe County currently has an all-Democrat commission, and for some, Asheville represents something of a "liberal Shangri-La," as one political scientist put it. Asheville may not seem the most natural place for Trump. At the same time, Asheville is in a battleground state, it hits multiple media markets in multiple states and clearly Asheville is going to draw from Western North Carolina in general," said Chris Cooper, a professor of political science and public affairs at Western Carolina University. "I think a lot of people are scratching their heads, theyre saying, well, Asheville is liberal. Trump is not. Why Asheville? And part of it may just be simple logistics. If you want to hit Western North Carolina, you need a venue that holds thousands of people, and after the assassination attempt, you prefer to be indoors, then you pretty much have one option and one option only, and its Harrahs Cherokee in the center of the city of Asheville." Trump also visited in 2016 when he was campaigning against Hillary Clinton, also at the civic center, but in another much larger venue within it, where people were asking similar questions. The event was tumultuous. A 69-year-old woman was punched by a South Carolina man, according to police. Various libel suits followed. Viral videos circulated in the aftermath capturing boiling tensions and confrontations with protestors. There were several arrests. A Trump billboard along Brevard Road Aug. 11, 2024. A 'critical' battleground That's not to say the location isn't strategic, too. North Carolina will play a "critical role" in the presidential election, representing a "must win" for Trump, which Cooper called the "definition of a purple state." Of all the states that went for Trump in 2020, North Carolina was his narrowest victory a margin of 1.34%. While Buncombe will almost certainly go to Vice President Kamala Harris, who is leading the Democratic presidential ticket, the rest of WNC is likely to "overwhelmingly" go for Trump, Cooper said. It's rare for presidential candidates to come to North Carolina west of Charlotte. For someone in Swain County, for example, this is the closest in the state Trump is likely to get. Its about the region, its about the state, more than its about the city of Asheville and Buncombe County in terms of strategy. In terms of logistics, its clearly all about Buncombe and Asheville," Cooper said. On a local politics Facebook thread, when considering the "why," some commenters have pointed perhaps jokingly to Stormy Daniels' Asheville performance schedule for Aug. 16 at the Diana Wortham Theatre. "He wants to upstage her," one commenter quipped. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a Sept. 12, 2016 rally at the U.S. Cellular Center in Asheville. Trump would defeat Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton to win the presidency. Ashley Moraguez, UNC Asheville associate professor and co-chair of the political science department, said, similar to Cooper, that while it may be something of a surprise to find Trump headed for the "blue stronghold" of WNC, the move makes strategic sense. Asheville is the population center of WNC, a region where Trump generally fares well, she pointed out, so it could be a way to attract voters from surrounding counties. At the same time, from 2016 to 2020, the margin for Democratic victory in Buncombe County grew. Because the Democrats have grown their support here, or grown their turnout here, I think it makes sense for Trump to come here to try to counter that," Moraguez said. "And I think thats especially the case because now that Kamala Harris is the candidate the gap in the polls is closing (in North Carolina). Shes making the state a little bit more competitive. NPR reported last week that Trump's leads in the "Sun Belt" states of North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada have been sliced in half since Harris got into the race, both "because of the increased Democratic enthusiasm and her appeal to younger and nonwhite voters." 'Preach to the converted' In Trump's announcement of his Asheville visit, it said he would "deliver remarks on the economic hardships created by the Harris-Biden Administration." But as far as the actual contents of his address, Cooper said "Trump's not exactly known for staying on message." What he does expect is that Trump will "preach to the converted." He's a "mobilizing candidate" rather than a "persuasion" one, Cooper said. Rather than coax swing voters to his side, Trump is more likely to double down, and try to light a fire under his supporters to not just wear the MAGA hat, but to show up at the polls and bring their friends. I expect to see very much mobilization, not any sort of moderation," Cooper said. Supporters of President Donald Trump greet him at the Asheville Regional Airport Aug. 24 for a visit to Mills River. A case could be made for Trump courting unaffiliated voters, Moraguez said, but as far as messaging goes, at the end of the day, this election will probably be decided less by persuading unaffiliated or undecided voters and more by a turnout game ... He can do both. He can try to appeal to those undecided and unaffiliated voters, while also exciting and mobilizing his base." She said the focus on economic issues also "makes strategic sense for either candidate in this context." "We know that voters are saying, based on national polls, that the economy is the No. 1 issue, or at least one of the top issues for most voters, and there is a really high cost of living in Asheville and Buncombe County I think that could resonate with a lot of voters," she said. Michael Bitzer, a professor of politics and history at Catawba College in Salisbury, said that in North Carolina, it is a "battle of turnout and mobilization." "It sounds like his campaign strategy and his campaign messaging is still very much tied to the past," Bitzer said. "Making the argument that that he actually won in 2020, that all these prosecutions against him are really against you, my supporters. If you kind of listen to the new ad that has come out from him ... it is still very much a campaign focused on anger, focused on grievance, and if he does continue down this pathway, I think that thats probably going to be the major message, yet again. Local party heads weigh in Leslie Carey, chair of the Henderson County Democratic Party, said she didn't have much reaction to the announcement of Trump's visit. I think hes old news," she said. "I think Harris and Walz is the way forward and thats what Im putting my energy and focus on. Since Harris was tapped by President Joe Biden for the 2024 presidential race Carey said there's been a surge of excitement and enthusiasm from within the WNC democratic party. The people of Western North Carolina have been carrying the burden (of Trumps policies)," Carey said. That is the Republican stronghold that caused that. Not Trump alone, but also our local representatives. Doug Brown. Doug Brown, Buncombe County GOP chair, said, "I expect respect and peace for the freedom of speech and the right to assemble." "The Buncombe GOP focuses on local solutions for local issues for local people," he said. "I am grateful that the Republican presidential candidate will take the time to visit Buncombe County." Buncombe County Democratic Party Chair Kathie Kline also briefly weighed in. "We welcome everyone to Asheville, even people with whom we vehemently disagree and believe could destroy the democracy we enjoy today," she said. Kathie Kline More: Biden exit: Western NC Democrats back Harris and Gov. Cooper or Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly More: Harris picks Walz for VP over Shapiro, Kelly, others; Why did NC Gov. Roy Cooper bow out? Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com or message on X, formerly Twitter, at @slhonosky. Please support local, daily journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times. This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Why is Donald Trump campaigning in Asheville? Israel is preparing for a large-scale military attack from Iran, defence minister Yoav Gallant, has told his US counterpart. It comes as the US defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, has ordered a nuclear-powered guided-missile submarine to the Middle East and is telling the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to sail more quickly to the area, as well The US and other allies continue to push for Israel and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire agreement over the war in Gaza that could help calm soaring tensions in the region. Israel has been braced for a major attack since last month when a missile killed 12 in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Israel responded by killing a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut. A day after that operation, Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, was assassinated in Tehran, drawing Iranian vows of retaliation against Israel. The US has been beefing up its presence in the region. On Monday, Israels air force suspended travel abroad for its service personnel, a military spokesperson said, adding that safety instructions from the military for the general public remained unchanged. Meanwhile, Tehrans acting foreign minister Ali Bagheri Kani has said Iran has the right to an appropriate and deterrent response against Israel to ensure regional stability, in discussions with his Chinese counterpart, according to state media. Earlier, the leaders of France, Germany and Britain called on Iran and its allies to refrain from any retaliatory attacks that would further escalate regional tensions. In a joint statement released Monday, they endorsed the latest push by the United States, Qatar and Egypt to broker an agreement to end the 10-month-old Israel-Hamas war. The mediators have spent months trying to get the sides to agree to a three-phase plan in which Hamas would release the remaining hostages captured in a 7 October attack in exchange for the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, as well as Israels withdrawal from Gaza. The Hamas attack killed some 1,200 people, with more than 250 taken into captivity in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. In response, Israeli forces have extensively Gaza and displaced most of the population with around 40,000 people killed according to the Palestinian health ministry in the Hamas-run strip. The fighting must end now, and all hostages still detained by Hamas must be released. The people of Gaza need urgent and unfettered delivery and distribution of aid, the statement, signed by French president Emmanuel Macron, German chancellor Olaf Scholz and British prime minister Keir Starmer, said. Axios reported that Mr Gallant had told Mr Austin, in a conversation late on Sunday that Iran was preparing for a large-scale military attack on Israel within days. US Major General Patrick Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement that Austin spoke with Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant earlier in the day, and reiterated America's commitment to take every possible step to defend Israel and noted the strengthening of US military force posture and capabilities throughout the Middle East in light of escalating regional tensions. The Lincoln, which has been in the Asia Pacific, had already been ordered to the region to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier strike group, which is scheduled to begin heading home from the Middle East. Last week, Mr Austin said the Lincoln would arrive in the central command area by the end of the month. It wasn't clear how much more quickly the Lincoln will head to the Middle East. The carrier has F-35 fighter jets aboard, along with the F/A-18 fighter aircraft that are also on carriers. Maj Gen Ryder also did not say how quickly the USS Georgia guided missile submarine would get to the region. Maj Gen Ryder said Mr Austin and Mr Gallant also discussed Israels military operations in Gaza and the importance of mitigating civilian harm. The call comes after an Israeli airstrike hit a school-turned-shelter in Gaza early Saturday, killing at least 80 people and wounding nearly 50 others, Palestinian health authorities said, in one of the deadliest attacks of the Gaza war. On Monday, Israeli forces pressed on with operations near the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. Palestinian medics said Israeli military strikes on Khan Younis on Monday killed at least 18 people and wounded several. Meanwhile more families and displaced persons streamed out of areas threatened by new evacuation orders telling people to clear the area. Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report A look at the week ahead in our SD state government NOTE: This has been updated regarding locations of Investment Council and Podiatry Examiners meetings. PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) Heres a first look at meetings of our South Dakota state governments boards and commissions, including six committees of the Legislature, that are open to the public during the new week starting Monday, August 12, 2024. Click on the name (highlighted in blue) for meeting details. Please note that any could be postponed because of adverse weather or other reasons. Monday, August 12 Legislature, Study Committee on Legislative Relationships with Ellsworth Air Force Base, 9:45 a.m. MT / 10:45 am CT, David Lust Accelerator Building, 18 E. Main Street, Rapid City. Tuesday, August 13 Legislature, Study Committee on Property Tax Methodology, 9 a.m. CT, room 362, Capitol. Brand Board, 9:30 a.m. CT, teleconference. Public Utilities Commission, 9:30 a.m. CT, room 413, Capitol. Housing Development Authority, 11 a.m. CT, teleconference and 3060 E. Elizabeth Street, Pierre. Legislature, One Hundredth Session Planning Committee, 3 p.m. CT, room 412, Capitol. Wednesday, August 14 Legislature, Study Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Regulation of Internet Access by Minors, 8:30 a.m. CT, room 414, Capitol. Pardons and Paroles Board, 8:30 a.m. CT, hearings on inmate applications, teleconference and 1600 North Drive, Sioux Falls. Economic Development Finance Authority, public hearing on $20 million livestock nutrient-management bond for Five Shot RNG, 9 a.m. CT, teleconference and 711 E. Wells Avenue, Pierre. Economic Development Finance Authority, public hearing on $20 million livestock nutrient-management bond for Moccasin Creek RNG, 9:15 a.m. CT, teleconference and 711 E. Wells Avenue, Pierre. Economic Development Finance Authority, business meeting, decisions on Five Shot RNG and Moccasin Creek RNG applications, 9:30 a.m. CT, teleconference and 711 E. Wells Avenue, Pierre. Economic Development Board, 10 a.m. CT, teleconference and 711 E. Wells Avenue, Pierre. Developmental Disabilities Council, 1 p.m. CT, teleconference. Thursday, August 15 Investment Council, 8 a.m. CT, room 412, and room 414 to deliver report to Legislatures Executive Board, Capitol. Pardons and Paroles Board, 8:30 a.m. CT, business meeting and hearing decisions, teleconference and 1600 North Drive, Sioux Falls. Legislature, Executive Board, 9 a.m. CT, room 414, Capitol. Transportation Commission, 9 a.m. CT, teleconference and 700 E. Broadway Avenue, Pierre. Veterinary Medical Examiners Board, 8 a.m. MT / 9 a.m. CT, 2111 N. Lacrosse Street, Rapid City. Aeronautics Commission, 2 p.m. CT, teleconference and 700 E. Broadway Avenue, Pierre. Friday, August 16 Indigent Legal Services Commission, 11 a.m. CT, teleconference. One Call Board, noon CT, teleconference. Podiatry Examiners Board, 11 a.m. CT, public hearing on proposed renewal-fee increase, teleconference and 521 S. 32nd Street, suite B, Spearfish. Monday, August 19 Optometry Examiners Board, 8 a.m. CT, 312 Island Drive, Fort Pierre. Legislature, Medical Marijuana Oversight Committee, 9 a.m. CT, room 413, Capitol. KELOLAND Capitol Bureau Reporter Bob Mercer in Pierre assembled this information on Saturday, August 10, 2024 and updated it Sunday, August 11 2024. State law requires state government boards and commissions to post public-meeting notices 72 hours in advance, not counting Saturdays, Sundays and official state holidays. The Legislature isnt subject to that public-notice law. *Please check boardsandcommissions.sd.gov and sdlegislature.gov for any meetings of state boards and commissions and legislative meetings that were posted after this weekly listing was assembled. Livecasts of some meetings are available at sd.net. Many meetings are available by teleconference. Check agendas and sd.net for audio availability. Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KELOLAND.com. Law enforcement officers are investigating a break-in late Sunday at former President Donald Trumps campaign office in Ashburn, Virginia. The Loudoun County Sheriffs Office said it was called around 9 p.m. Sunday for a burglary at the office, which is being leased by the Trump campaign and also operates as the headquarters of the Virginia 10th District Republican Committee. Investigators say they have surveillance video that shows the burglary suspect inside the campaign office wearing dark clothing, a dark cap and a backpack. Investigators released images from surveillance video showing a burglary suspect inside the Trump campaign office wearing dark clothing, a dark cap and a backpack. - The Loudoun County Sheriffs Office CNN has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment. It is rare to have the office of any political campaign or party broken into, Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman said in a statement. We are determined to identify the suspect, investigate why it happened, and determine what may have been taken as well as what may have been left behind. Investigators are seeking information about the suspects identity from the public. Its not clear what, if anything, was taken from the campaign office in the incident. Ashburn is about 30 miles northwest of Washington, DC. The reported break-in comes after the Trump campaign said Saturday that it had been hacked. The FBI and other investigators are probing the apparent hack-and-leak of Trump campaign documents, which Trump has blamed on Iran. The hacking incident occurred in June. Investigators suspect the hackers were able to compromise the personal email account of longtime Republican and Trump operative Roger Stone, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CNN. The FBI also briefed the Biden-Harris campaign in July about Iranian hackers targeting that campaign, one of the sources said. This story has been updated with additional details. CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct when the Biden-Harris campaign was told it had been targeted by Iranian hackers. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com RIPTA wants to know how to create safer streets An R-Line bus turns on to North Main Street in Providence on April 15, 2024. Since last February, four pedestrians have died after being struck by a vehicle on that stretch of road. (Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current). The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) wants to hear from you how the state can create safer roadways. An online survey, available in English and 10 other languages including Portuguese and Spanish, will be available through Monday, Sept. 30. It asks respondents if they own a personal vehicle and why they use mass transit, along with providing space to comment on transit safety. The survey is part of RIPTAs Safe Streets for All project, which is funded by the Federal Highway Administration. The program aims to improve infrastructure and reduce roadway fatalities. Safety is a top priority for everyone traveling in Rhode Island, and this initiative will help make walking, biking and taking transit safer for Rhode Islanders, Interim CEO Christopher Durand said in a statement. I encourage everyone to participate in this survey and share their valuable feedback to help us build safer streets. Providence Streets Coalition Organizer Liza Burkin told Rhode Island Current shes happy to see RIPTA embark on this initiative, but said she would prefer to see state leaders start to create safer roadways. I dont think we really need more plans to know where the problems are, Burkin said Tuesday. The coalition has been especially outspoken about the need for Providence and state officials to make upgrades to problematic roads and intersections across Rhode Islands capital city namely North Main Street. our fatal pedestrian crashes have occurred on North Main Street in the last 15 months. In May, 63-year-old David Lynch was killed after he was struck by an alleged drunk driver at the intersection of North Main and Randall streets. On New Years Eve, 57-year-old Marine Corps veteran Edwin English was killed in a hit-and-run at North Main Street and Rochambeau Avenue. Vanda Makovetskiy, 85, was killed in a hit-and-run on North Main last October and 38-year-old Zacory Richardson died after he was struck by a vehicle last February. In the wake of Makovetskiys death, the Providence City Council created a task force to weigh potential safety improvements for the street. The Providence Streets Coalition plans to hold a vigil and rally for pedestrian safety at 5 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 15, at the main entrance of the North Burial Ground in Providence. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Flash People stand among the rubble after an Israeli airstrike in the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on Aug. 12, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua] UN humanitarians said on Monday their partners are providing relief to families returning to the Al Taba'een school in Gaza City, bombed by the Israeli military over the weekend. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the school-turned-shelter was reportedly hosting hundreds of displaced families and people were performing the dawn prayer at the school's prayer hall when the attack occurred on Saturday. OCHA said its partners in Gaza City helped families who returned to the school with drinking water, food parcels, hot meals, hygiene kits, and clothing. They also provided children and their parents with psychological first aid and psychosocial support. "Casualties (from the attack) were brought to Al Ahli hospital, which is one of the 16 hospitals that remain only partially functional in the Gaza Strip," OCHA said. "The hospital is overwhelmed by this mass casualty incident amid shortage of medications, clean water and beds." The humanitarians said bombardment and hostilities continued to kill, injure and displace Palestinians in Gaza, and damage and destroy the homes and infrastructure they rely on, such as the school. The UN Human Rights Office said the attack was at least the 21st strike on a school since July 4, each one of the schools serving as a shelter, resulting in at least 274 fatalities, including women and children. OCHA said two evacuation orders were issued by the Israeli military over the weekend for Khan Younis, mostly for areas previously placed under evacuation. "Initial mapping indicates that the areas affected by these orders encompass about 23 displacement sites, 14 water, sanitation and hygiene facilities and four educational facilities," OCHA said. "In total, about 305 square kilometers, or nearly 84 percent of the Gaza Strip, have been placed under evacuation orders by the Israeli military." The office said that the United Nations called for all parties to the conflict to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law, including by taking constant care to spare civilians and civilian objects. This included allowing civilians to leave for safer areas and allowing their return as soon as circumstances permit. People must be able to receive humanitarian assistance, whether they move or stay. Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said the UN chief condemned the continued loss of life in Gaza, including women and children, and underscored the need to ensure the protection of civilians and for unimpeded and safe humanitarian access into and across Gaza. "The secretary-general reiterates his urgent appeal for an immediate ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages," the spokesman said. The South Carolina Department of Education officially cut the ribbon on a new headquarters in rural Lexington County Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, moving out of its downtown Columbia location. (Jessica Holdman/SC Daily Gazette) COLUMBIA The South Carolina Department of Education officially marked the move of its 940 employees out of the agencys long-time downtown Columbia office building, cutting the ribbon Monday on a new, 150,000-square-foot headquarters built by a politically connected developer. For six decades that building stood sentry over South Carolinas education struggles and triumphs as the home of the Palmetto States education mission and thousands of committed South Carolina Department of Education employees, state Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver said of the agencys former building on Senate Street, two blocks east of the Statehouse. Now, exactly 60 years later, we celebrate the turning of another page and the opening of a new, hope-filled chapter in South Carolinas education story, Weaver continued. The education agencys move was part of a larger $133 million contract over 20 years, signed in 2022, with Columbia developer Bill Stern. Stern, who chairs the state Ports Authoritys governing board and makes regular campaign donations mostly to the states ruling Republicans but also to Democratic incumbents agreed to build two new office facilities at the State Farmers Market in rural Lexington County. He will lease them to the state Education and Natural Resources agencies for 20 years. Stern was not among dignitaries in attendance at the ribbon cutting. Four of South Carolinas former state superintendents attended the Aug. 12, 2024 ceremony: (L-R) Republicans Mick Zais and Molly Spearman, current GOP Superintendent Ellen Weaver, and Democrats Inez Tenenbaum and Jim Rex. (Provided by SC Department of Education) The state Education Department is the first of the two agencies to move in, joining the previously relocated state Department of Agriculture on the Farmers Market grounds. The agriculture agency paid Stern $7 million in 2013 for two pieces of property to expand the State Farmers Market, according to a 2015 audit requested by legislators. Auditors found the market was running a deficit and suggested the state find new ways to support the site, The Associated Press reported at the time. The education agencys move to the building 10 miles away from its downtown home is not yet complete. Some employees are still moving in. The process started in June. The three-story structure, which Weaver called a visible token of the Palmetto States investment in and commitment to the educational future of all of our students, boasts a cafeteria, exercise room, an atrium for employee gatherings and a wide variety of conference rooms and meeting spaces to host trainings for teachers and administrators from school districts around the state. Construction continues on the Department of Natural Resources building. Two miles north, Stern is also taking ownership of another major office property that will house state agencies. Dominion Energy named Stern the grantee for the utility companys 100-acre South Carolina campus, according to filings on the Lexington County Register of Deeds website. A new deed has yet to be filed, and the purchase price has yet to be made public record. The massive headquarters, which Dominion inherited when it took over SCANA Corp. in a 2019 buyout, will be the new home of the state agencies that provide services for people with disabilities, mental health issues, and alcohol and drug addictions, as well as the state public health agency after its recent split with the state environmental department. That state is expected to spend nearly $500 million relocating those agencies from the redeveloped BullStreet District in downtown Columbia. Similar to the new education and natural resources locations, the lease with Stern for the former Dominion campus is a 20-year deal. Meanwhile, the University of South Carolina spent $2.2 million in December to purchase the education agencys downtown office building. The states largest university system is still exploring its options for the property, spokesman Jeff Stensland. USC is in talks with private developers about the potential of converting the 14-story office tower, located just off the colleges historic Horseshoe, into a housing development. Stensland said that could potentially include housing for graduate students. It would not be geared to undergraduates. Previous plans by a private developer to turn the building into apartments in 2022 never materialized. The building, constructed in the 1960s, has been on the market since at least 2017. In 2015, then-Gov. Nikki Haley included the tower among properties she called money pits that should be sold. The South Carolina Department of Education headquarters in Lexington County (Provided by the S.C. Department of Education) Roger Pinate, the Venezuelan-American founder of the voting-machine company Smartmatic, surrendered to authorities and faced charges Monday in Miami federal court of committing foreign corruption and money laundering to secure elections contracts in the Philippines. Pinate, 49, president of Boca Raton-based Smartmartic, was charged along with Jorge Miguel Vasquez, 62, of Davie, the companys former vice president of hardware development, who also surrendered on Monday. Pinate was granted a $8.5 million dollar bond and later released, but he did not enter a plea to an indictment because his defense attorney, Curt Miner, has yet to become his permanent lawyer. He could not be reached for comment. Vasquez was given a $1 million bond and also released. He pleaded not guilty to the foreign corruption and money laundering charges in the indictment. His defense attorney, Frank Rubino, said it was premature to comment on the indictment, which was returned by a federal grand jury on Thursday. Its so early in the case, Rubino told the Miami Herald. But we have been aware of this investigation since 2019. Both Pinate and Vasquez are accused of paying $1 million in bribes to the former chairman of the Philippines Commission on Elections, Juan Andres Donato Bautista, 60, who is also named in the indictment. Court records, including a Homeland Security Investigations criminal complaint, indicate that Smartmatics contracts with the Philippines were worth $199 million for providing voting machines and other services for the May 2016 election for president, vice president and other official positions. Federal authorities said the alleged co-conspirators financed the bribes by overbilling the cost per voting machine for the elections. To conceal the operation, the co-conspirators used coded language in referring to a slush fund that was used to make the illicit payments, and they created fraudulent contracts and sham loan agreements to justify the transfers, the Justice Department said, citing the indictment filed by prosecutor Robert Emery. The co-conspirators then allegedly laundered bribery payments through bank accounts located in Asia, Europe, and the United States, including in the Southern District of Florida, according to the indictment. Pinate, Vasquez, Bautista and Elie Moreno, 44, a dual citizen of Venezuela and Israel who oversaw Smartmatics contracts in the Philippines, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and three counts of international laundering of monetary instruments. Pinate, Vasquez, Bautista and Moreno each face a maximum penalty of 20 years if convicted of those charges. If convicted, Pinate and Vasquez each also face a maximum penalty of five years in prison for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and conspiracy to violate the FCPA. Probe began with wife The federal probe in South Florida was launched after Bautistas wife in August 2017 informed the Philippine National Bureau of lnvestigation that her husband had large amounts of unexplained wealth, according to the HSI criminal complaint filed last year. She informed the Bureaus Anti-Fraud Division that her husband had approximately one billion Philippine Pesos, or approximately $20 million of ill-gotten wealth. According to published reports, they were going through a divorce at the time. Pinate, alongside Venezuelans Antonio Mugica and Alfredo Jose Anzola, founded Smartmatic in 2000, and gained notoriety after the company was chosen by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez to replace the countrys voting machines in 2004. The company grew by acquiring the much larger Sequoia Voting Systems in 2006, though the company later announced that it had divested its stake in that company. A Smartmatic spokesman said in a statement Monday that two company executives, including Pinate, have been placed on a leave of absence, though he noted that our accused employees remain innocent until proven guilty. No voter fraud has been alleged, and Smartmatic is not indicted, the spokesman said. Still, voters worldwide must be assured that the elections they participate in are conducted with the utmost integrity and transparency. Smartmatic became a household name after false claims were made about the company being involved in vote rigging during the U.S. presidential election in 2020. Smartmatic filed a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News in 2021. The case is expected to go to trial in New York next year. A similar defamation case against the conservative network Newsmax is scheduled to go to trial in Delaware in September. After a summer of adventures at space and surf camps and in the Dominican Republic, siblings Kaden and Mackenzie Beskow hugged their parents goodbye in the muggy August morning before heading inside Roosevelt Elementary for the first day of school. "They are both very excited," said mom Cathie Beskow of the sixth and fifth graders. "They're both social butterflies, so getting back to the norm is a good thing for them." All around the Space Coast, most of the county's 74,300 students headed back to class on Monday, with kindergarteners set to go back on Thursday. The year will last through May, with winter break scheduled for late December through early January, and next summer break set to start in June. The new year comes with a variety of changes, from the hotly contested expansion of the guardian program to the addition of new career and technical education programs at more high schools to a new early learning curriculum based in the science of reading. There's something new for almost everyone. All the same, Monday was the same routine as usual for long-time teachers, principals and other BPS employees a chance to reunite with students they haven't seen over break, help new kids find their way to class and ease the minds of anxious parents. At Emma Jewel Charter School in Cocoa, fathers and other men from the community gathered to make a high-five line. Kids passed through it on their way to the cafeteria a yearly tradition on the school's first day back from summer break. At Roosevelt, members of The Pointe church lined up on the sidewalk to greet students. Earlier in the morning, just after the sun rose, staff and adminstators were outside setting up to welcome kids, with Principal Elizabeth Brodigan helping to tie up balloons along the sidewalk. "I just look forward to all the smiling faces of the parents, of the kids," Brodigan said. "Everyone's so excited to start day one, and I want to make sure we continue that excitement all year long." She was also looking forward to the addition of a STEM teacher at the school. All elementary schools around the county will have one this year, said Superintendent Mark Rendell, along with a new STEM unit. "(We) want to see how that can kind of help spur that interest in the space industry or any kind of STEM career," he said outside Roosevelt Elementary, one of the schools he visited Monday with school board member Gene Trent. Rendell was set to also visit Cocoa Beach Jr./Sr. High School. Teachers welcome kids back Art and gifted teacher Maria Tomacari stood outside, fanning mosquitos away from students with a paper STOP sign as they arrived at Roosevelt. The teacher of 12 years was looking forward to another year of watching her students grow. "The students are everything ... how you can encourage them and bring out talents they didn't even know they had," she said. "Students who never thought that they could win an art show go up and win a first place award? There's nothing like it." At the front door, media specialist Kathryn Parker ushered students inside. She's been at the school since 2002 and was excited for another year of helping get kids interested in reading. "I love the excitement of kids when they get engaged in the story and things like that," she said. Hopes to 'bottle' first-day excitement Second grader Melissa rocked up to school in new pink and purple sneakers with her dad, Vane Byrne. After a summer spent hanging out with her family, she was excited to be back in class. Her favorite subject? "Math," she said. As kids scrambled to get to class and reconnect with old friends, a sentiment shared by many was the hope that the first-day fever wouldn't abate. "I just wish (we could) bottle that excitement throughout the year," Tomacari said. "They're excited to see their friends, they're happy to see their teachers and ... kids like routine. This is a safe space, this a place that they can be themselves." Rendell echoed that hope. "We know the teachers are excited to have kids back to in the classroom, we know kids are excited to be back in school and we know parents are very excited for the kids to be back in school," he said. "We just want to carry this excitement and momentum throughout the year." Finch Walker is the education reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at fwalker@floridatoday.com. X: @_finchwalker. This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Hugs, high-fives all around as Brevard's 2024-2025 school year opens On Aug. 12, 1898, the Spanish-American War ended in armistice. The Spanish-American War started after the USS Maine suddenly exploded in Havana Harbor in February 1898, an incident that was later found to be caused by faulty ship design but was blamed, at the time, on a Spanish mine. The resulting war was focused on Cuba, but the growing American military contested Spain across its empire, resulting in combat from the Atlantic to Pacific. The conflict officially only lasted a few months, though its origins began three years before with Cubas rebellion from Spain. American sympathy for Cuba grew and U.S. intervention became inevitable after the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana harbor. The battleship had been in Cuba to protect U.S. citizens and assets during anti-Spanish riots, and though Spain and Cuba soon after reached their own armistice, the U.S. Congress demanded more, including Cubas right to independence. Some of the Spanish-American War Veterans, Tenth Cavalry. Wikimedia Commons The Spanish-American War began in late April, and in the following three months, the U.S. Navy would serve Spain a staunch defeat. Spain surrendered on July 17 and then on August 12, an armistice was signed. Finally, in December, the Treaty of Paris officially ended the three-month war, ceding Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines to the United States. Aug 14 (NHK) - The benchmark index on the Tokyo Stock Exchange recovered to the 36,000 mark on Tuesday, rising more than 1,200 points from the previous close. Investors placed buy orders for semiconductor, auto and other issues into the afternoon as the currency exchange rates were moving back toward a weaker yen. The Nikkei Stock Average ended the day at 36,232, up 1,207 points from Friday's close. That is its second-biggest gain as a closing price this year. The index finished at above the 36,000 mark for the first time in seven trading days since August 1. The Nikkei 225 posted its biggest-ever single-day drop on August 5. The broader TOPIX index gained 70 points to end the day at 2,553. Market watchers say concerns among investors over a slowdown in the US economy have eased to some extent, prompting investors to buy semiconductor and export-related issues. They say investors are paying attention to key economic indicators, such as the US Consumer Price Index that will be released Wednesday. YANGON, Aug 14 (News On Japan) - A Japanese employee of the Aeon Group, who had been detained in Myanmar for over 40 days after being convicted of violating rice price controls, has been released. Hiroshi Kasamatsu, 53, the head of the product division at Aeon's local subsidiary, was detained in June after selling rice at a price higher than that set by the military. He was later prosecuted. On August 12th, a Myanmar court sentenced Kasamatsu to one year in prison and fined him. Meanwhile, the ruling military government announced after the verdict, that Kasamatsu had been released that night, on August 12th. According to diplomatic sources, the Japanese government has also confirmed his release. There are no significant concerns regarding his health. Source: ANN President Bola Tinubu has approved the National Policy on Health Workforce Migration, a significant initiative aimed at addressing the critical challenges facing Nigerias health sector. The policy, which seeks to manage, harness, and ultimately reverse the migration of healthcare professionals from Nigeria, was announced by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, on Monday via his X handle. In his announcement, Prof Pate emphasised that the policy is more than just a reaction to the ongoing exodus of healthcare professionals, but a comprehensive strategy designed to transform healthcare human resource management in Nigeria. This afternoon, HE President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, in-Council, approved a landmark policy set to transform healthcare human resource management in Nigeria, Pate said. He noted that the policy reflects President Tinubus commitment to building a resilient and robust healthcare system. The National Policy on Health Workforce Migration addresses the critical challenges facing Nigerias health human resources. As the AU Champion for Human Resources for Health and Community Health Delivery Partnership, Mr. Presidents commitment to a resilient and robust healthcare system is powerfully reflected in this forward-looking policy. The policy arrived at a critical time as Nigeria faces a significant brain drain (colloquially referred to as Japa) in its health sector, with many healthcare workers seeking better opportunities abroad. This migration has left the remaining health professionals in Nigeria to manage increased workloads, often under challenging conditions due to inadequate equipment, worsening insecurity, poor working conditions, and a deficient salary structure. Central to the new policy is the Nigeria Human Health Resource Programme, which establishes a framework for regularly reviewing the working conditions of health workers. This initiative is particularly focused on ensuring that those in rural and underserved areas receive appropriate recognition and rewards. In an increasingly digital world, integrating advanced health technologies is essential, Pate explained, highlighting the policys emphasis on digital health infrastructure. The policys focus on digital health infrastructureincluding Electronic Medical Records, telehealth, and a comprehensive Health Workforce Registrymarks a significant step towards a more efficient, data-driven health system. These innovations will streamline healthcare delivery and enhance the equitable distribution of health workers, ensuring access to quality care for all Nigerians. The policy also prioritizes capacity building, recognizing the need for continuous professional development and international training opportunities for Nigerian healthcare professionals. This investment in human capital underscores our commitment to retaining and empowering our healthcare workforce, Pate stated. Furthermore, the policy addresses the return and reintegration of Nigerian health professionals from the diaspora. By offering streamlined registration processes and attractive incentives, the government aims to encourage the return of skilled professionals and reintegrate them into the national health system. This approach leverages the expertise of our diaspora to bridge gaps within the health sector, Pate noted. The policy also advocates for reciprocal agreements with other nations, ensuring that the exchange of health workers benefits Nigeria. We call on recipient countries to implement a 1:1 matchtraining one worker to replace every publicly trained Nigerian worker they receive, he added. Recognising the importance of work-life balance, the policy includes provisions for routine health checks, mental well-being support, and reasonable working hours, particularly for younger doctors. These measures are designed to create a supportive work environment, reduce burnout, and enhance job satisfaction. The governance of this policy will be overseen by the National Human Resources for Health Programme within the Federal Ministry of Health, in collaboration with state governments. This governance structure ensures that the policy is implemented responsibly and aligns with broader sector-wide health objectives. With this decisive action, the National Policy on Health Workforce Migration is set to secure the future of Nigerias healthcare system, Pate concluded. Under Mr. Presidents leadership, this policy will further catalyze the transformation of our health sector, ensuring access to quality healthcare for all Nigerians. As we embark on this journey, all stakeholders are invited to contribute to building a healthcare system that reflects our nations potential and promise. The University of Ibadan has received N201m institutional fees remitted by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund for the payment of fees of students who forwarded their applications to the Fund. This was made known in a circular by the Registrar, G.O Salisu, dated August 9, 2024, and addressed to the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs. The circular revealed that students who applied for the loans but had earlier paid their fees can now apply for a refund. It reads, The Nigerian Education Loan Fund has remitted the sum of N201m only to the university account for the 2023/2024 academic session. This amount is to cover the fees of 1,370 students of our university who applied for the NELFUND loan. The Bursary Department is currently processing the fund to enable the concerned students to obtain smart receipt. Any student who is a beneficiary of the NELFUND loan and has already paid levies for the session fee is entitled to a refund. To apply for a refund, the student must write through the Dean of Students to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academic, providing their account details for the refund. A photocopy of the original payment receipt must be attached to each application. The student loan scheme is President Bola Tinubus flagship project in the education sector. President Bola Tinubu has signed the Judicial Office Holders Salaries and Allowances Bill into law. Senator Basheer Lado, the Special Adviser to the President on Senate Matters, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday. Recall that in March, Present Tinubu sent a bill titled: A Bill for an Act to prescribe the salaries, allowances and fringe benefits of judicial office holders in Nigeria and for related matters seeking to amend the salaries of judicial officers to the House of Representatives for consideration. Vanguard reports that in June, the National Assembly approved a bill that grants a 300 per cent salary increase for judicial officers at the federal and state levels. According to Lado, This extraordinary move underscores Mr Presidents absolute prioritization of the welfare of Nigerian workers above all else just like he did when he recently put on hold an ongoing Federal Executive Council meeting to assent to the new National Minimum Wage Bill of N70,000. The new Act prescribes salaries, allowances, etc., for Judicial Officers to reflect the changing realities and consequentially amend the provisions of the Certain Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders (Salaries and Allowances, etc.), Act, No.6, 2002 (as amended) to delete the provisions relating to Judicial Office Holders. The prescription of salaries, allowances, and other benefits for Judicial Officers. The amendment of Certain Political, Public, and Judicial Office Holders (Salaries and Allowances, etc.) Act, No.6, 2002 (as amended) which provides for the deletion of provisions relating to Judicial Office Holders from the aforementioned Act. Lado hailed the presidents signing of the bill as a landmark achievement and a testament to his unwavering dedication to improving conditions for Nigerias workforce. In a demonstration of his visionary leadership and deep compassion for the Nigerian people, His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCON has once again affirmed his unwavering commitment to the welfare of the nations workforce by assenting to the revised Salaries and Allowances for Judicial Office Holders, he said. This landmark decision reflects Mr Presidents profound dedication to ensuring that every salary earner in Nigeria, especially those serving in vital and strategic roles, receives the recognition and compensation they deserve. By prioritizing the financial well-being of our judicial officers, Mr President is not only reinforcing the integrity of our justice system but also setting a new standard for leadership that truly values the hard work and sacrifices of all Nigerian workers. Under President Tinubus administration, the welfare of our workers has become a central pillar of national progress. His visionary policies continue to uplift the lives of millions, ensuring that the dignity of labour is upheld and that those who serve our nation are justly rewarded. This assent is a clear testament to Mr. Presidents tireless efforts to build a more prosperous and equitable Nigeria, where every worker is empowered to contribute to the nations greatness. As we look to the future with hope and determination, Mr President remains steadfast in his mission to champion initiatives that deliver fair compensation, improved working conditions, and a brighter future for all Nigerians. Lado praised Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Speaker Rt. Hon. Abass Tajudeen, and the 10th National Assembly for their role in passing the bill, which the President has signed, and urged Judicial Office Holders to strengthen their efforts in delivering swift justice. The judiciary remains the hope of the common man and it is hoped that Nigerians seeking justice get it irrespective of their status in life, he added. Independence can make a big difference when it comes to providing local service to real estate customers, especially when it's supported by a fast-growing company. Thats how an area official in that field described the focus of a new Council Bluffs company called Embarc Realty. We live here, we work here, the decisions are made locally here, said Andy Alloway, CEO and owner of Nebraska Realty. The decisions arent made by a franchise or a national brand that might be made a long distance away. Embarc was launched this year as a rebrand of Nebraska Realty, which has steadily grown since its establishment in 1993, he said. Speaking to local dignitaries at a recent office ribbon-cutting ceremony downtown, Alloway admitted it was becoming somewhat more difficult to sell in Iowa with the Nebraska name. We decided to go more national and create a national brand, which is Embarc, he said. Embarc is supported by the achievements of Nebraska Realty. Our company has grown to have over 1,000 agents and weve been ranked in the top 30 in the nation in terms of independent-sized brokers, Alloway said. Since 2020, his companys achievements included more than $5.7 billion in real estate sold with more than 30,000 families served. There are some 80 real estate agents who already work for Embarc on this side of the river, Alloway said. We invest in our communities, we give back to our communities here locally, so our people and the fact were local is something that can set us apart from other brokers, he said. Speaking at the ceremony to Alloway and other company officials, Mayor Matt Walsh said, We look forward to the commerce youll bring to the city. Thank you for your investment in the city. Embarcs office at 511 S Main St. "Council Bluffs is just the beginning, and the plan is to bring this innovative approach to more communities across the country," Alloway said. Flash People mourn victims killed in an Israeli airstrike at a school serving as shelters for displaced people in Al-Daraj neighborhood in Gaza City, Aug. 10, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua] China is gravely concerned over the large number of civilian casualties caused by Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday, calling on Israel to cease fire immediately. Spokesperson Lin Jian made the remarks when answering a relevant question. More than 100 Palestinians were killed and dozens of others injured in an Israeli bombing of a school in the Gaza City in the early hours of Saturday, the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said. Lin said that China condemns any harm done to civilians; opposes any violation of international humanitarian law; and urges Israel to heed the call of the international community, immediately cease fire, and spare no effort to protect civilians and avoid the further escalation of regional tensions. The international community should work together to make further efforts to alleviate and end the humanitarian disaster in Gaza, Lin added. Whether the luck of the Irish was with them or if a divine power intervened, emergency personnel are thankful that no injuries were reported in an explosion that rocked ONeill before sunrise on Monday. PALM DESERT, Calif. (AP) LeBron James grew up without a father, and the top scorer in NBA history has often said he savors every moment and milestone he can experience with his own three children. Ethiopia plans to build what would be the largest airport on the continent, with four-runways at an estimated cost of $6 billion. The airport will be located near the resort town of Bishoftu (Oromia region), 45 km from the countrys capital and will span over an area of 35 sq.km, Mesfin Taseu, CEO of the Ethiopian Airlines group said. Ethiopian Airlines expects the airport to be ready in five years, following the approval of its design. With a capacity to handle 60 million passengers, the new infrastructure will strengthen Ethiopian Airlines role as East Africas main carrier. Dubai-based engineering and consulting firm Sidara will design the airport. Ethiopian Airlines carried 17 million passengers in the 2023/2024 financial year, and expects to carry 20 million passengers in the financial year that started in July. Morocco, which is already operating the Mediterraneans largest container Port, Tanger Med, is poised to inaugurate another deepwater port dubbed Nador West Med, which would further strengthen the countrys role at the heart of global maritime traffic. While Tanger Med has a nominal capacity of 9 million containers, Nador will start with a capacity of 3 million containers and will be home to Moroccos first natural gas terminal. The port and the industrial zones linked to it will add momentum to economic development in eastern Morocco, a region with untapped potential so far. The port and the activities linked to it would further diversify the eastern regions economy away from agriculture and tourism by attracting industrial and logistics operators. Through this port, together with Dakhla port in the Sahara, Morocco seeks to emulate the success of Tanger Med, which helped attract investment by car industry giants seeking world-class infrastructure and proximity to key markets. Nador West Med container terminal will be operated by Moroccos Marsa Maroc, already active in many Moroccan ports, including Tanger Med. Nador West Med is expected to be ready this year with Marsa Maroc expecting to invest 200 mln. Tripoli has decided to expel two Egyptian diplomats, giving them three days to evacuate Libyan territory, triggering a diplomatic crisis between Tripoli and Cairo. The decision was made following Mohamad Hamads first trip to Egypt as Prime minister of the Benghazi-installed parallel government. The Prime minister of eastern Libya, whose government is chosen by Parliament and not recognized by the international community, met with Egypts PM Moustafa Madbouli. The Tripoli government expressed dissatisfaction over the meeting in a message posted on X network (formerly known as Twitter) on Sunday August 11. The message challenged Egypts posture in Libya and denounced Cairos unilateralism. The visit to Egypt of a parallel body that enjoys no international recognition is viewed by the Abdelhamid Dbeibah-led government of Libya as a break with the unity of the international position, which rejects the countrys return to a state of division and war. The Tripoli government condemned the Egyptian stance, saying it threatens the unity and stability of the country and clearly contradicts Egypts expected supportive role in the Libyan crisis. While Cairo remained silent about this development, the camp in eastern Libya deemed Tripolis stance as irresponsible and said the visit is part of the two nations collaboration to reconstruct Libya. Egyptian businesses are heavily involved in building infrastructure in eastern Libya, particularly in Derna and Benghazi. There is a lot of friction between eastern and western Libya at the moment, The Libyan National Army (LNA) having made the decision last week to push southwest of Libya, toward the Algerian border, a move viewed in Tripoli as a violation of the ceasefire deal of 2021. Tripolis soldiers who presently control this territory were put on high alert. United Nations officials and African leaders are intensifying calls for reform of the UN Security Council (UNSC), demanding permanent representation for Africa. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres emphasized the injustice of Africas underrepresentation, given its population of over a billion people. The current UNSC structure, with five permanent members holding veto power, is increasingly seen as outdated. African nations are pushing for two permanent seats and two additional non-permanent seats, with the African Union selecting the permanent members. Sierra Leones President Julius Maada Bio voiced Africas demand for equal status, including veto power if retained for other permanent members. The push for reform reflects growing frustration with the councils composition, unchanged for nearly 80 years. Experts note that current geopolitical dynamics, including increased competition for African support, have created a favorable moment for these demands. Recent successes, such as the African Unions inclusion in the G20, have emboldened African nations to press for greater representation in global governance structures. UN General Assembly President Dennis Francis stressed that the UN must reflect the current world, not that of 80 years ago. As discussions continue, the push for African representation highlights broader debates about global power structures and the need for more inclusive international decision-making processes. Russia has accused Ukraine of opening a second front in the war between them in Africa, as information emerges that Kyiv may be participating in the war in Sudan, where it supports the government forces against Russia-aided paramilitaries, and most recently in Mali, where Ukraine aids anti-government rebels fighting against the Wagner-backed junta. The ambush at Malis Tinzaouten commune last month, which reportedly killed 47 Malian soldiers and 84 Wagner fighters, was a painful military blow for the mercenary outfit. Just two days later Andriy Yusov, spokesman for Kyivs military intelligence service (GUR), publicly admitted that his organization had aided ethnic Tuareg rebels in their fight against the government. Subsequent reports suggested that Ukrainian special forces had also trained the Tuareg separatists in the use of attack drones. Mali and Niger then broke off diplomatic relations with Kyiv, accusing it of supporting terrorist groups, while Russia has accused Ukraine of being unable to defeat Russia on the battlefield to have opened a second front in Africa. Meanwhile, Ukraine has also reportedly been helping anti-Wagner battles in Sudan, where Ukrainian operatives provided intelligence and support to the Sudanese Armed Forces, conducted precision strikes and other military actions against Wagner units, including disrupting logistics and supply lines. Some reports also point to activities by Ukrainian intelligence aimed at dismantling Wagners economic operations, particularly in gold mining. According to Euromaidan Press, empowered by the years of battling Wagner in Europe, the Ukrainian army is uniquely positioned to defeat one of Russias most feared private military companies in Africa, where it helps the Kremlin prop up authoritarian regimes in exchange for resources and influence. Highlighting the possible strategic shift, security expert Omar Ashour notes that the fight is global now. You cannot limit it to one theater. Ukraine may now be set to flip Russias playbook, disrupting Wagners African gold operations and emerging as a surprise regional power broker. ARTICLE 19 has decried the Algerian authorities tactics of deliberately targeting and silencing opposition and critical voices ahead of the presidential election on 7 September 2024. In a press release issued Monday, the international NGO has denounced the amendments to the Algerian Penal Code, which mark a significant escalation in the Algerian governments crackdown on dissent. By introducing new speech offences and increasing the penalties for existing ones, Algeria is expanding its legal tools to silence the opposition and critical voices, said Article 19, calling on the Algerian regime to repeal the amendments and respect the freedom of expression, part of universal human rights. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers We remind the Algerian government that any restrictions on freedom of expression must meet the principles of legality, legitimacy, necessity and proportionality, underlined the NGO. The penal code amendments introduce life imprisonment for treason, defined as disclosing information deemed sensitive to national security, defence, or the economy when shared via social media platforms for the benefit of a foreign country or one of its agents. The new rules spark fear among journalists, activists, and ordinary citizens, causing them to hesitate to share or discuss information related to government actions or policies, even if such information is crucial for public debate and accountability. Human rights activists say the amendments violate the right to free speech by using vague and broad language to criminalize the dissemination of materials deemed harmful to the national interest. Article 19 NGO says the recent amendments to the Algerian Penal Code impose severe penalties including doubled sentences for materials of foreign origin, deter information sharing, promote self-censorship, and isolate further Algerian society. Photo: Jon Cherry/Getty Images Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s long-shot path to the presidency just became even more difficult after he was thrown off the ballot in New York, which may be the start of a larger trend. On Monday, a New York judge ruled that the independent candidate cannot appear on the states presidential ballot in the fall because Kennedy had falsely claimed residency in the state while living primarily in California. In her ruling, Justice Christina Ryba wrote that the Westchester County address Kennedy listed in his nominating petitions is merely a sham address that he assumed for the purpose of maintaining his voter registration and furthering his own political aspirations in this State. The lawsuit was backed by Clear Choice, a Democratic Partyaligned super-PAC aimed at challenging third-party candidates. The ruling could potentially spark lawsuits in other states where Kennedy listed the same New York address in paperwork seeking ballot access. He indicated his intent to appeal the ruling, alleging that the decision was a political attempt to suppress his campaigns chances in November. The Democrats are showing contempt for democracy, Kennedy said in a statement. They arent confident they can win at the ballot box, so they are trying to stop voters from having a choice. We will appeal and we will win. In May, the New York Post reported that Kennedy listed 84 Croton Lake Road in Katonah as his primary residence on his nominating petitions as well as his voting address, but that he was not listed as the property owner or known to residents of the area. According to the New York Times, Barbara Moss, the homes owner, testified during the civil hearing that Kennedy rents a room from her and her husband for $500 a month and that theres no written lease. One day after the Posts story initially ran, Kennedy made his first payment and paid a years worth of back rent. Another Westchester address that Kennedy previously listed was also challenged in court. He claimed in a sworn affidavit that he rented a room in a house owned by a couple hes friends with until he launched his presidential bid in 2023, a claim they denied. The Albany Times-Union reports that David Michaelis testified that he and his wife Nancy Steiner had offered Kennedy a place to stay as needed when he was working at the environmental group Riverkeeper and Pace University, but that he hadnt stayed there since 2017 and the three have since fallen out. Michaelis said he was by no means Kennedys landlord as has been reported in the news and did not charge him rent. I categorically wouldnt make such a request of a friend, Michaelis told the Times-Union. This is a fiction of something that is not even going on. Kennedy moved to California in 2014, a move that he states was temporary to support his wife Cheryl Hiness acting career. But he still claims New York as his primary residence, citing the fact that he pays taxes in the state and maintains his drivers license, law license, and falconry license there. If Kennedys residency is deemed to be in California, it could potentially put the state and its 54 electoral votes out of play for his campaign. His running mate, Nicole Shanahan, is a California native, and the 12th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution bars two candidates on the same ticket from being residents of the same state, which could prevent Californias electors from casting their votes in their campaigns favor if placed in the unlikely scenario. Flash Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chinese Foreign Minister, will visit Myanmar and travel to Thailand to co-chair the ninth Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Foreign Ministers' Meeting and attend the Informal Discussion Between the Foreign Ministers of China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand from August 14 to 17. On Wang's upcoming visit to Myanmar, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said it is aimed at deepening bilateral mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields, cementing the close bond of friendship between the two peoples, and advancing the building of the China-Myanmar community with a shared future. As a friend and neighbor of Myanmar, China strictly follows the principle of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs, supports Myanmar's effort to uphold stability, grow the economy and improve people's livelihood, and provides constructive help for parties in Myanmar to properly address differences through political consultation within the framework of the constitution and other laws, the spokesperson added. About the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC), the spokesperson said it is an innovative type of regional cooperation mechanism among China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam featuring collaboration, consultation and shared benefit. Since its launch in 2016, the mechanism has delivered fruitful results, contributing effectively to the economic and social development of the six Lancang-Mekong countries, and bringing tangible benefits to their peoples. The spokesperson said that in recent years, under the strategic guidance of leaders of China and the Mekong countries, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam have each announced jointly with China the building of a community with a shared future. All countries in the Mekong region are engaged in building a community with a shared future both bilaterally with China and multilaterally under the LMC mechanism. China hopes to work with the Mekong countries at the LMC Foreign Ministers' Meeting to review the progress of cooperation, take stock of past experience, and plan for next steps to advance LMC, to build the Lancang-Mekong region into an exemplar for high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, a pacesetter for implementing the Global Development Initiative, a pioneer for implementing the Global Security Initiative and a frontrunner for implementing the Global Civilization Initiative, and form an even closer community with a shared future for Lancang-Mekong countries, the spokesperson added. On the sidelines of the LMC meeting, at the invitation of Thailand, Wang will attend the Informal Discussion Between the Foreign Ministers of China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand to exchange views on the regional situation, jointly combating cross-border crimes and other issues, said the spokesperson. Photo: TIME/X Sometimes when Donald Trump says something bizarre, its pretty easy to figure out where hes coming from. For instance, why does he keep talking about dying in a shark attack? Because he has a sharkphobia and lives every week like its Shark Week. Other times, you can drive yourself crazy trying to figure out what the heck hes even talking about. His remarks about Kamala Harriss new Time magazine cover seem to fall into the second category. During his glitchy and rambling conversation with Elon Musk on Monday night, he complained that the cover makes the vice-president look like his wife, Melania: But shes getting a free ride. I saw a picture of her on Time magazine today. She looks like the most beautiful actress ever to live. It was a drawing, and actually, she looked very much like our great First Lady Melania. She didnt look like Camilla [Kamala], thats right. But of course, shes a beautiful woman, so well leave it at that, right? Trump says he saw Kamala Harris today on Time Magazine. He says she looked beautiful but then says it was drawing. He then says she looked like Melania Trump. pic.twitter.com/pW9ctsCt0r Acyn (@Acyn) August 13, 2024 Lets break this down. Trump complains that the media is giving Harris a free ride. The evidence he cites is that she looks too good on the cover of Time magazine. This probably isnt the first example most people would come up with, but it makes sense that this cover has gotten under Trumps skin. Hes famously obsessed with the magazine, to the point that he has fake Time covers featuring himself hanging up in his clubs. But the Time cover is a pretty accurate representation of Harris. The proof: while it looks like it might be a freehand drawing, as Trump put it, the photo credit says, Photo-illustration by Neil Jamieson for TIME (Source Photos: Harris: Andrew Harnik Getty Images; Getty Images (2)). It appears to be an actual photograph of Harris from July 22, 2024, layered over another photo of her supporters. The color and style were digitally altered, but the shape of Harriss face looks exactly the same on the cover; the supposedly biased Time editors didnt even remove her wrinkles. Vice-President Kamala Harris attends an NCAA championship celebration at the the White House on July 22, 2024. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images Next, Trump claims Harris looks like Melania on the cover. Heres the former First Lady in a similar pose: Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Maybe Trump said most beautiful actress and that made him think of his former model wife. But aside from the fact that they are both human women in their 50s, Harris and Trumps features arent very similar. And why did Trump very clearly say Camilla, not Kamala? Some social media users suggested he was referring to Britains queen consort, Camilla. Trumps remark could be read as [Kamala] looked very much like our great first lady, Melania. She didnt look like [Queen] Camilla. But while its true that Harris doesnt look anything like King Charless wife, this is a stretch. The likelier explanation is that Trump is exploring new ways to mispronounce Harriss first name. Photo: Toby Melville/Getty Images Trump complimented Harris, saying, Shes a beautiful woman, so well leave it at that, right? But it seems like this was a backhanded remark he threw in because he realized he was going to get flak for implying that Harris isnt really as attractive as she looked on the Time cover. So after further analysis, parts of Trumps comments about the magazine cover make a bit more sense. But the broader question here remains unanswered: If Trump is trying to fight the perception that hes weird and incoherent, why say Harris looks like his wife on her Time cover when she clearly doesnt? Photo: Getty Images At 8 p.m. Monday, Donald Trump and Elon Musk were supposed to have a conversation on Spaces, the audio-only stream supported by X, formerly known as Twitter. But the stream ended up being a total disaster. Thirty minutes after the chat was supposed to begin, so many users were not able to access it that Musk was forced to address the delay: There appears to be a massive DDOS attack on . Working on shutting it down. Worst case, we will proceed with a smaller number of live listeners and post the conversation later. Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 13, 2024 It is quite possible that such an act, which floods a website with so much traffic that it is not able to operate, screwed up the stream. In an election year already rife with cyber interference, a conversation between these two conservative billionaires would be a likely target. But many X users were suspicious of such a reason. Last year, when Florida governor Ron DeSantis formally announced his campaign for the Republican nomination on X, the stream crashed, with follow-up reporting showing that X had slashed its number of servers and a smaller team of engineers could not handle the demand. As Mondays delay wore on, a source at X confirmed to The Verge there was no DDoS attack and another staffer said that there was a 99 percent chance Musk was lying. Either way, the demand was too high on Monday night, leading to some rather funny moments even without knowing what Trumps private reaction was to such a screw-up. Please let Elon know we cant join. Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) August 13, 2024 Trump played the professional when the stream began. He did not sound frustrated by the delay and applauded Musk for breaking every record with the stream. Musk began by asking Trump about the assassination attempt, leading the former president who said at the Republican National Convention that he would never talk about it again to talk about it for 10 straight minutes. (Illegal immigration saved my life, Trump joked, referring to the sign he turned toward on the podium as the bullet hit his ear.) He then went off on his plan to stop undocumented migration and Democratic weakness on border policy and foreign policy. Musk billed the stream as a conversation, but most of his interjections were limited to yeah and sure as Trump made up numbers about immigration. Trump then said that Bidens decision to step down as the nominee was a coup on behalf of the Democratic party. No youre yeah, said Musk, as Trump kept going. Eventually, Trump said that Biden had a stupid face. The conversation was a highly anticipated event, considering the rollercoaster relationship between the Republican nominee and the worlds richest man. Musk and Trump had been in an online spat for years, with the most tense moments coming last year, after Musk endorsed DeSantis and Trump said he was a bullshit artist whose whole thing was making rocketships to nowhere. But this year, the feud has cooled, with Musk endorsing Trump. (I love Elon. Hes great, Trump said at a Bitcoin conference last month. He endorsed me, and great endorsement and everything else. But not everybody has to have an electric car.) Aside from a tweet of his mugshot last year, Trump did not return to X from his self-exile on his app Truth Social until Monday. Two 18-year-olds have been arrested in connection with the Thursday night shooting in Notasulga that killed a Loachapoka High student and injured another student, according to complaints filed in the District Court of Macon County. Both Barthonia Zy'on Howard of Opelika and Elijah Xavier Rogers of Notasulga were apprehended on Monday on murder and attempted murder charges. Officers with the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit apprehended Howard and Rogers, who are being held in the Tuscaloosa County jail with a hold for Macon County with no bond, according to a news release from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. Authorities said Rogers and Howard will be tried as adults. Officials said 16-year-old Javion Gary was killed and a 17-year-old student was wounded in the shooting that broke out around 7 p.m. Thursday in the 100 block of Union Camp Road, according to the complaints. The 17-year-old's current condition has yet to be released, but Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones said he's expected to survive. According to the complaint, Howard and Rogers were accused of shooting the 17-year-old victim in the foot "during the commission of the murder of Javion." The arrests were made as part of an ongoing homicide investigation led by ALEA's State Bureau of Investigation, according to the agency. No additional details about the incident were immediately released as the investigation is ongoing, officials said. Authorities said that once the investigation is complete, the findings will be turned over to the Macon County District Attorneys Office. This is a developing story. The Opelika-Auburn News will update this news article as soon as we learn more. An Opelika man was convicted of killing the mother of his children in 2021, the Lee County District Attorney's Office said on Friday. Raphael Maurice Browning, 39, was convicted of murder by a Lee County Jury during the second week of August. Browning's sentencing hearing is scheduled for Sept. 25. Browning was arrested and charged with murder in March of 2021 after a 40-year-old woman was found dead by police in the 500 block of Maple Avenue. The children are safe and in the family's custody. On March 2, 2021, Browning called 911 and reported the mother of his children had been stabbed. When officers from the Opelika Police Department arrived at the scene, they found Browning covered in dried blood and the victim dead from a single puncture wound to her chest. Two children, ages 2 and 4, were found sleeping in another bedroom according to the DA's office. Officials said that Brownings story changed multiple times during the investigation, and he said the victim stabbed herself during a physical altercation. Prior to her death, the victim was nearly immobile and needed a walker, authorities said. Dr. Edward Reedy, the chief medical examiner at the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, testified that in addition to the stab wound, the victim suffered a significant blow to the head that would have stunned her. "Investigator Michael Smith led the investigation. The trial lasted one week. Chief Assistant District Attorney Clay Thomas led the prosecution and was assisted by Assistant District Attorney Courtney Davis," the District Attorney's Office said. "Jurors heard witness testimony, watched body cam footage from responding officers, and heard evidence of a history of domestic violence between Browning and the victim." The District Attorney's office said anyone who is a victim of domestic violence should contact the Domestic Violence Intervention Center for assistance. The center can be contacted through its website dviceastal.org or by phone at 1-800-650-6522 or 334-749-1515. I mean yeah, he should deal with the consequences such a bad decision. But lbr he won't go to jail, he'll just pay the highest fine and disappear into his military service. And it's a bit frustrating that, no matter what happens, HYBE won't ever be affected by stuff like this, or will it? I just saw the Burning Sun BBC doc (I know, can't compare) and the law in SK is such a joke, especially with powerful people involved. Reply Thread Link seungri is doing "burning sun" events in SEA rn allegedly Edited at 2024-08-13 02:05 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link There you go Reply Parent Thread Link I was thinking about making a post for that but I didn't have the stomach this evening to sift through the articles (he denied attending). Maybe tomorrow. :( Reply Parent Thread Expand Link https://www.koreaboo.com/news/indonesia-club-burning-sun-event-seungri-attend/ I cannot even, I am so angry right now I cannot even, I am so angry right now Reply Parent Thread Link He currently IS in the military Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I dunno things are pretty rocky with hybe lately esp after the new jeans fiasco and bang pd was recorded walking with those bj jockeys girls. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link 0.227% is also what he blew after being found passed out so it was probably closer to a 0.3 while he was driving to right before he collapsed Reply Thread Link hybe definitely tried to downplay it at first as did yoongi didnt he tell the cop he only had one beer? its honestly unbelievable that he could even operate the scooter while he was that drunk thats like black out level drunk. Reply Thread Link i think they were actively lying because it worked for them before, now that army are going around harassing everyone including making fun of moonbin's death and attacking and k-celeb that drinks, it just makes the whole thing look like a spectacle instead of a serious crime. plus the amount of disinformation they're spreading is nuts. Reply Parent Thread Link this company is always lying. but the fans work like a cult so they believe everything they say (even if the lies are exposed later) but from what i read it seems korean fans are pretty upset about this whole thing, its just international fans embarrassing themselves Reply Parent Thread Expand Link no fr the amount of memes I saw plastered on twitter in just the hours after this news broke was insane. operating anything with a motor while drunk is extremely serious, but because its their precious , its no big deal! making fun of moonbins death is such a new low that I didnt think that nasty fanbase could get to. I shouldnt be shocked! Reply Parent Thread Link That shit with Seungkwans post for Moonbin is so low, its physically impossible. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link moonbin was soo loved and seungkwan is soooo loved, like no one has anything bad to say about him i can't believe they honestly think they're doing anything to make it better. these guys all run in the same circles. eunwoo and jk are really close, no? honestly i hope their behavior starts making international news, not just news outlets in korea. they have zero shame and bts aren't calling off their dogs any time soon. Reply Parent Thread Link I know she isn't popular even outside her current beef with HYBE, but this is pretty much what is happening to MHJ/NewJeans. It doesn't matter if she is a shitty person when the case HYBE has brought against her is one regarding embezzlement and breach of trust, yet they keep leaking info to make her look even worse on a personal level and BTS fans just eat it up and go on the attack even though her being a terrible person is not a legal issue. HYBE is just constantly manipulating BTS' fans and to what end? There are a lot of them, but not enough to *really* sway public opinion in SK. I know they do all the dirty work of constantly reporting social media posts as spam or whatever, but all that does is make the fans look worse. Reply Parent Thread Link He told the cop he'd had one beer, which is impossible given his BAC. Also, the word Suga used in his initial apology was a transliteration of "kickboard" (which, to my understanding, refers solely to scooters that look and function similarly to Razor scooters) rather than a generic term for scooter. He absolutely lied, we just don't know whether HYBE knew the truth before issuing their own false statement or whether they took him at his word before later uncovering the truth. Knowing HYBE, they knew he was on an electric scooter and thought if they presented a united front, it would go away. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Some people can drink A LOT and still look/act reasonably sober. It's usually people who have been Drinkers for a loooong time. I'm not saying it's ok to drive in that state, just that it's possible. Reply Parent Thread Link Rich people have absolutely no excuse for this. Pay someone to drive your drunk ass around. Reply Thread Link Especially in South Korea. They have literal services to pick up/drive drunk people Reply Parent Thread Link What pisses me off the most about DUIs in SK is the amount of infrastructure available to avoid drunk driving. And yet when you have a the money in the world, you still don't make the right decision. Fines should be proportional to income. 14k USD is nothing to this man. Make it millions idc. Slap an additional fine on there for lying. Drunk driving makes me livid Reply Thread Link Genuine question: since he's in the military, would his income change since he's serving and is a "regular" citizen? Reply Parent Thread Link Kind of? He is still actively making money as a member of BTS. Idk when this changed, but idols are able to pre-record stuff and sell them while in their service. He has done at least one release. [I dont follow them closely enough but I do remember fans salivating over it] his income is likely less that when he was out but he is still definitely making millions. Edited at 2024-08-13 05:38 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in Hello! Your entry got to top-25 of the most popular entries in LiveJournal!Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in FAQ Reply Thread Link Thats so fucking high, I wouldnt be surprised if he had blacked out at that level. Im not even trying to be a bitch, my mom used to drink herself into the ER when she was younger, but I hope he seeks treatment. Binge drinking is deadly. Drunk driving is deadly. Its not too late to course correct. Reply Thread Link DUI caught 3 times : License revocation for indefinite period and imprisonment for up to 5 years and fine up to KRW 20,000,000(about USD $20,000). For some reason I thought California has three strikes rule, I've heard of people in other states with 15+ DUI arrests. Reply Thread Link texas definitely does. a 3rd strike DUI is a felony. we also have a 3rd strike felony law so if someone has 2 prior felonies and gets a 3rd strike DUI (that becomes a felony) they can get a life sentence. Reply Parent Thread Link the armys trying to wave this off with "but he apologized and he won't do it again, what else do you want him to do" like...he LIED. he fucking lied about the entire story, how is that not a problem. between this + the jim jones producer story, has he ever taken accountability for anything ever? i did see a tweet from an army listing out groups that they're going to attack unprovoked from now on because their fans..dared to say DUI was bad which, ijbol they truly move like anime villains Reply Thread Link they also lied about him already being fined and payed so ppl should leave him alone when the whole situation is still under investigation Reply Parent Thread Link I saw some Armys saying the CCTV wasn't actually Suga. To be so far gone is tragic. Some brought up Seungri and Burning Sun. Like, babes, you're a scandal away from being just like Seungri stans. If a BTS member did what Seungri did, they'd be defending the member just the same and making up lies for them. Reply Thread Link latest update regarding the civil complaint is an anonymous public service worker who was in basic training with suga (and dawn??) said that despite being squad leader, suga neglected his duties and would just sleep. due to his behavior, the whole squad suffered. (as an aside, dawn is said to have given autographs while suga refused lolol) https://sports.khan.co.kr/entertainment/sk_index.html?art_id=202408131203003&sec_id=540101 Reply Thread Link nnnnnn they finna tear his ass UP Reply Parent Thread Link i always knew he was arrogant af, but watch army twist this and just say "little mew mew is lazy, he likes to sleep" sadly, with international armys you know they will treat him like a baby Reply Parent Thread Link Yikes. This whole thing is an onion. Reply Parent Thread Link If this isn't posted by tomorrow, I'll throw it up. Maybe something else will have come out by then. Reply Parent Thread Link ohhh he's cooked Reply Parent Thread Link Oh damn Reply Parent Thread Link omg fucking up during military service?? okay let's see how he tries to get out of this one Reply Parent Thread Link theyre cooking himmm im so here for it lol Reply Parent Thread Link Considering the current government, he's probabl- /shot down by a defamation lawsuit x2 Reply Thread Link it would be nice to see a well-protected man face repercussions for once Reply Thread Link Everyone makes mistake and I don't agree with Pilling on someone, won't do that however it is obviously he lied like he did with jim jones thing and doesn't take consequences for his acts. His fans and company are worsing the situation... Anyways get your sentence,this is not the end if the world, learn from this. Regarding him leaving the group - isn't that a bid too much? Lol Reply Thread Link other have left their groups for waayyy less Reply Parent Thread Link It still doesn't make it right . Reply Parent Thread Link James Cameron Talks 'Avatar,' 'Alien: Romulus' and Whales in Spicy Chat: "Damn Right I'm Overbearing" https://t.co/i3r5tnFjxX The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) August 12, 2024 The Hollywood Reporter interviewed James Cameron about his upcoming National Geographic documentary, OceanXplorers, about ocean exploration (which he's very excited about but which will not be found excerpted below) which then branched into his thoughts on other properties.Can't talk aboutexcept that it's "fucking cool", and we're "going to love it." And he still plans to direct the fourth and fifth movies (unless he gets hit by a bus) which are written.Mentioned he's working on his own Terminator stuff but wouldn't elaborate.Cameron: When people start reviewing your grain structure, they need to move out of moms basement and meet somebody. Right? Im serious. I mean, are you fucking kidding me? Ive got a great team that does the transfers. I do all the color and density work. I look at every shot, every frame, and then the final transfer is done by a guy who has been with me [for years]. All thefilms are done that way. Everything is done that way. Get a life, people, seriously.Cameron: I saw a rough cut six months ago, so Im sure its changed a lot. And I viewed it once. I gave some notes to [director Fede Alvarez]. He and I arent close pals. I mean, I wish him the best with it, but I think its been overstated that I had some big creative input to that film. I think Ridley [Scott] did because Ridley was an actual producer on the film. So Im just putting it in perspective.Cameron: It looks interesting. My relationship to that is very much like The Sarah Connor Chronicles -- other people spinning stories in a world I set in motion is interesting to me. What's their takeaway? What intrigued them about it? Where are they going with it? [...] I'd be curious to see what they've come up with. I'm working on my own Terminator stuff right now. It's got nothing to do with that. Like with The Sarah Connor Chronicles, they occasionally touched on things I had been playing with completely independently. So there's some curiosity there. It's not a burning curiousity, but, obviously, it'd be nice to see it succeed.Cameron: How is this a headline?THR: Well, he called you 'overbearing.'Cameron: Ive never said anything negative about Roland. But anyway: Yes, Im overbearing. Damn right. When its a project where Ive contributed to the writing, I might actually have an opinion on it. I actually dont even remember talking to Roland Emmerich about Fantastic. I remember the other directors that we worked with for months on end trying to develop that project. If I talked to Roland, it was for two minutes. I have a pretty good memory and I dont remember that at all.THR: Is that project still in the works?Cameron: Move on, that's a non-story. that dead nun's IMPACT!!!! Reply Thread Link They definitely put a hex on her on their death beds! Reply Parent Thread Link the nun was like: Reply Parent Thread Link I was gonna ask if someone cursed this album or something. Reply Parent Thread Link Your gif is how I imagine Katy watching her career rn. Reply Parent Thread Link ok one of the nuns she was beefing with definitely put a curse on her Reply Thread Link HAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Reply Thread Link Yes, thank you! Reply Parent Thread Link Mess Reply Thread Link SKSKSKSKSKS.... This era of hers can't catch a break, don't it? Girl, just drop this altogether and move away from Dr. Puke for the love of anything that's holy... Reply Thread Link Fine ha, lock her up! No but seriously nothing will come of this I'm sure, she's rich, she'll maybe pay a fine. Her team probably didn't have time to ask for a permit because this video was made on a whim once WW tanked. She was basically on vacation in Ibiza and said, "fuck it let's film the video here." No way this was the original concept/idea, I don't think. Reply Thread Link I doubt it was the follow-up single they had in mind either. Katy shared some snippets on social media and that one was the one that got the best response. I'd pay money to be a fly on the wall at her label, now that her second single is flopping worse than the first one. Reply Parent Thread Link hasn't she had like 5.... Reply Parent Thread Link She saw everyone saying that Witness was a genre-defining flop era that couldn't be replicated, took it as a challenge, and somehow is managing to outdo herself. Honestly kind of impressive. Reply Thread Link it was literally one guy with a camcorder chasing her around the beach how do you still manage to fuck that up Reply Thread Link it's like those dumbasses who went out to the wildflower superbloom and did their level best to damage california's ecosystem. it all started with one or two influencers, right? so imagine the damage that could happen if the katycats that sadly still remain try to recreate this flop video Reply Parent Thread Link Well I doubt the 12 living katycats are all going to be flying to Ibiza to recreate a music video or that it would have an impact on the environment if they did but it makes sense that they require permits for commercial shoots. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Hang it up. Flat screen. Reply Thread Link IJBOL Reply Thread Link Sister Michael would 100% hex her. Reply Parent Thread Link Sister Michael! Reply Parent Thread Link Did she make a wish on a monkey's paw or something? Reply Thread Link Safety 2024 Sets a Record and Drives Home Value OH&S editors Robert Yaniz, Jr. and David Kopf discuss some of the key highlights at last weeks historic Safety 2024 event, hosted by the ASSP. The American Society of Safety Professionals held its 63rd annual Safety conference and expo August 7-9 in Denver last week, and Occupational Health & Safetys Robert Yaniz, Jr. and David Kopf discuss Safety 2024s highlights, including its record-breaking attendance, the offerings on the expo floor, the conference, and the compelling opening keynote address. For anyone who couldnt make the show, this episode is jam-packed with details on what made Safety 2024 event so compelling. Download or stream this episode today from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and more. Sponsored by the National Fire Protection Association Empower Your Business with Global Safety Solutions from the Experts Developed by leading experts, NFPA products and solutions help your business improve performance to complete more projects, retain top talent, increase profits, and help reduce loss or damage to people and property. Contact an NFPA Enterprise Specialist today for a customized recommendation of the best NFPA products and services to help meet your business goals. To learn more, visit www.nfpa.org/enterprisesales. The world should stop vilifying the oil and gas industry, Elon Musk told Donald Trump in an interview on X, reiterating previous similar calls. My views on climate change and oil gas [] are pretty moderate, Musk told Trump during the conversation. I dont think we should vilify the oil and gas industry and the people that have worked very hard in those industries to provide the necessary energy to support the economy, added the Tesla CEO billionaire, who has endorsed Trump for president. Musk also said that realistically the world could transition to a sustainable economy in 50 to 100 yearsa timeframe which Trump extended to 100 to 500 years later on in the interview, without Musk correcting him. Teslas boss and the face of the energy transition for many enthusiasts also said that regarding oil and gas it's not like the house is on fire immediately. It's probably better to move there faster than slower. But like without vilifying the oil and gas industry and without causing hardship in the short term, Musk added. Thats not the first time the billionaire has called on the public to stop demonizing fossil fuels. He did that at the end of last year when he told an Italian right-wing summit that it was time to be pragmatic and sensible, instead of demonizing oil and gasat least in the medium term. Donald Trump, for his part, has been a staunch supporter of the U.S. oil and gas industry and has claimed for years that the Biden Administrations EV mandate will wreck good-paying American auto industry jobs. But Trump has expressed favorable opinions of electric vehicles (EVs) at some rallies since Musk endorsed him. Trump hasnt flip-flopped on support for oil and gas. The Republican presidential candidate has pledged to ramp up U.S. domestic oil production and undo some regulations to make that happen. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com Oil prices are under pressure from continued demand concerns but geopolitical risks and the recent rally from last week's crash means Brent is still sitting comfortably above the psychologically-important $80 mark. - Ukraines incursion into Russian territory, occupying parts of the Kursk region in and around the key pipeline station in Sudzha, have sent European natural gas prices soaring to their highest this year to date. - Whilst pipeline flows to Europe via Ukraine continue largely uninterrupted, fears of a potential cut-off lifted TTF prices above 40 per MWh ($14 per mmBtu), despite EU gas inventories being 87.6% full and demand generally lagging pre-COVID levels. - TTF futures have dropped back below 40 per MWh on Tuesday, seeing there is no immediate disruption as both Austria and Hungary confirmed there have been no pressure fluctuations so far. - With European prices trending higher and Asia-bound arbitrage being the weakest in two months, US LNG exporters will need to decide whether they prioritize higher prices in the short term or healthier demand in Asia. Market Movers - Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD), the worlds second-largest producer of gold, declared itself ready to partner with the Panamanian government for First Quantums Cobre Panama copper mine, closed since November 2023. - Canadas upstream firm Tourmaline Oil (TSO:TOU) agreed to purchase peer Canadian producer Crew Energy (TSO:CR) for $950 million in an all-stock deal, boosting its presence in Albertas Montney shale play. - French energy major TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE) has delivered the first-ever fully biofuels-origin cargo of marine fuel to the Singaporean market, sourced from used cooking oil and sold to a Hyundai car carrier ship. Tuesday, August 13, 2024 As the global markets bounced back from the all-encompassing panic seen a week ago, oil prices were ideally set for a technical recovery, with both Brent and WTI pulling off a string of five straight days of price gains. OPECs belated acknowledgment that 2024 demand growth will not be as stellar as theyve signaled for months has sapped some of that upward momentum, but Brent futures still sit comfortably above $81 per barrel. OPEC Finally Cuts 2024 Demand Outlook. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries cut its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2024 on the back of weaker-than-expected H1 data and a slacker outlook for China, predicting 2.11 million b/d year-over-year growth, down 140,000 b/d from the previous forecast. Oil Investors Lose Hope in Bullish Future. Investors have cut their market positions in crude oil futures and options to the lowest level for at least a decade, selling a whopping 110 million barrels in the six most important contracts in the week ending August 06. Shell Commits to Joint Gas Project with Venezuela. UK-based energy major Shell (LON:SHEL) has taken an FID on the 2.7 TCf Manatee offshore gas field straddling the border between Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago, slated to start production in 2027 and feed gas to the 15 mtpa Atlantic LNG plant. Chevron Starts First Ultra-High-Pressure Oil Field. US oil major Chevron (NYSE:CVX) has reported first oil in the Gulf of Mexicos first-ever field under extreme subsea pressures, as strong as 20,000 pounds per square inch, with the $5.7 billion Anchor project expected to reach output of 75,000 b/d. Libya Buoys Oil Bulls with Pipeline Fire. A week after Libyas largest field El Sharara was forced to shut down amidst military protests, the countrys second-largest crude stream Es Sider is set to be disrupted after a fire along the pipeline connecting the port's storage tanks with oil fields. Major Chile Strike Lift Copper Sentiment. Workers at BHPs (NYSE:BHP) Escondida copper mine, the worlds largest producing unit, have rejected the Australian mining giants collective offer and after the governments mediation failed to reach any substantive advances, declared industrial action on Tuesday. Carlos Slim Sets Sight Firmly on Mexican Gulf. Having already farmed into Mexicos largest upcoming oil project, the Zama offshore field, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim is now buying up stocks of Talos Energy (NYSE:TALO), purchasing 1.26 million shares in the first week of August and now owning 21.3% of the firm. Belgrade Pours Cold Water on Rio Tintos Lithium Mine. Less than a month after the Serbian government reinstated Rio Tintos (ASX:RIO) license to develop Europes largest lithium mine in Serbia, the countrys Energy Minister said permits and approvals could take two years to secure. US to Restrict Future Leases in North Dakota. The Biden administration is set to restrict oil and coal leasing in more than 210,000 acres of federal land in North Dakota, classifying the territories as low potential as only 2% is currently under lease and there is no active production there. Electric Cars Gradually Take Over the Chinese Market. For the first time on record, Chinese consumers bought more new energy vehicles (NEVs) than gasoline ones, tallying 878,000 units vs 840,000 units, as buyers benefit from generous government subsidies and traction in the car-hailing market. Iran President Names Industry Veteran as Oil Minister. Irans recently elected President Masoud Pezeshkian nominated Mohsan Paknezhad as his oil minister, formerly deputy minister for the supervision of hydrocarbon resources, in what is seen as a sign of Tehrans policy continuity. LME Stocks Abound with Russian Aluminium. Defying the April ban of the London Metal Exchange on Russian-origin metals, the share of available aluminum stocks in warehouses approved by the LME rose to 65% in July compared to 50% in June, as Indian supplies have seen a dip to 33%. Chinese Demand for Saudi Oil Recovers. Chinese term buyers of Saudi Arabian crude oil have nominated 43 million barrels from the September-loading program, slightly lower than the 46 million barrels this month, despite Saudi Aramco raising the OSP of Arab Light to $2 per barrel above the Oman/Dubai benchmark. By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Hungary, along with Slovakia, is also seeking increased Russian oil imports, despite Ukrainian sanctions on Russian oil firm LUKoil, leading to further tensions with the EU. Many may have thought that Hungary, which currently holds the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union until the end of the year, would lay low in August. It's vacation season and, essentially, the Brussels machinery grinds to a halt. But then, at the end of July, Budapest announced that it would expand its "national card" immigration program to include Belarusians and Russians, as well as citizens from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, and North Macedonia. (Serbians and Ukrainians were already on the list.) The card allows holders to work in Hungary for two years and be joined by their immediate family. It is simpler to get hold of than a regular work permit or a business visa. After three years, it can even lead to permanent residency. The inclusion of Russians and Belarusians has irked Brussels and several member states alike, as it appears to contradict the EU policy toward the two countries. The bloc has imposed visa bans and asset freezes on well over 2,000 citizens from both countries over the ongoing war in Ukraine. It has frozen visa-facilitation agreements and made it harder to travel from Belarus and Russia to the EU's borderless Schengen zone via flight bans and limits on other modes of transport. On top of that, hundreds of Russian diplomats have been expelled from EU member states, many over accusations of espionage. Deep Background: The main criticism of Hungary's expansion of its "national card" program is that it could lead to undermining security in the Schengen zone and increasing the possibility of Russian spying, as cardholders -- in both theory and practice -- can move freely across most of the bloc. That critique was the gist of EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johannsson's August 1 letter to the Hungarian authorities, in which she noted that "there are increasing reports of sabotage and attacks on our critical infrastructure and other hostile acts." In the letter, seen by RFE/RL, she also said that "while the EU member states have the competence of issuing long-stay visas and residence permits, such schemes need to be carefully balanced not to put at risk the integrity of our common area without internal border controls and to duly consider potential security implications." She also asked Budapest to get back to her on 13 questions, included in an annex to the letter, by August 19. Perhaps the hardest of those questions will concern Hungary's justification for granting "national cards" to citizens of Belarus and Russia, as well as whether or not Budapest conducted a security analysis prior to making the decision. Johannsson also pressed Budapest on whether it will systematically carry out a search in the Schengen Information System, a database used by member countries to share security and border data, on Belarusians and Russians applying for the "national card." And, more importantly, she asked what would happen in case someone applying for the card was red-flagged in the SIS. Other questions relate to how Hungary is ensuring that sanctioned people aren't entering Schengen, and if border checks on Russian and Belarusian travelers are more stringent when compared to other third-country nationals. In the letter, Brussels also asked the Hungarian authorities how many applicants were expected from the two countries and the status (approved, refused, or pending) of those who have already applied. Drilling Down: Despite Brussels' indignation on this issue, there is precious little the EU can do. EU officials I have spoken to on background say that Hungary has once again found a loophole in the EU's legal framework. "I am afraid they have the legal arguments on their side," one diplomat with knowledge of the situation told me, adding that on national visas they don't really need to consult with anyone else in the bloc. In an internal note, seen by RFE/RL, Hungary tried to reassure the EU member states by noting that "Russian and Belarusian citizens may enter Hungary, and thus the Schengen area, only in possession of a valid visa and may obtain a residence permit only after the procedure laid down by law." But if the other member states and the European Commission are still concerned, is there really nothing they can do? First of all, nothing will happen in August; Brussels is simply not up to speed yet on the issue and will want to assess the situation properly when its diplomats and bureaucrats are back from their vacations. Second, while some are calling for Hungary to be kicked out or suspended from the Schengen zone, that is very unlikely to happen. First of all, ejecting Hungary would have to be a unanimous decision, which would be almost impossible to get. After all, Hungary's neighbors in the EU are benefiting from the free movement of people, services, and goods, thus any proposed restrictions would have a negative economic impact if they were implemented. It is also worth noting that it would be unprecedented, as no country has been kicked out of Schengen since it was introduced back in 1985. Alternatively, heightened security measures may be implemented at the borders of Hungary's neighboring countries and at airports for flights arriving from Hungary. Given that home-affairs issues, such as this one, are a national competence, it is up to each and every member state to introduce more stringent measures. But they do need to notify Brussels of their moves. Such temporary restrictions were, for example, dusted off during the COVID-19 pandemic, the migration crisis of 2015-16, or with increased terror alerts. While Hungary may very well get away with it, there is increased frustration in the bloc about Budapest's behavior. "Momentum for some kind of pushback is growing," one EU official, who preferred to remain anonymous because they do not have the authority to speak on the record, told me, adding that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's trips to Moscow and Beijing earlier in the summer, ostensibly to pursue peace in Ukraine, still rankle. The nuclear option -- suspending Hungarian voting rights in the Council of the European Union -- is not off the table. The threat is there and has been for years, but is it realistic? So far, there is no appetite, but if France and Germany, the drivers of EU policy, get fed up with Hungary, things could start moving. Unanimity is needed here as well, but Berlin and Paris could cajole others into going ahead. "Until now, they were thinking that they had leverage over Budapest, and that they would act constructively during its presidency," one ambassador told me. It will be interesting to see how much patience diplomats will have with Hungary once they return from the beach. Briefing #2: Budapest Wants To Import More Russian Oil What You Need to Know: Although Hungary (and to a lesser extent Slovakia) have been a thorn in Brussels' side on a number of issues and have been frequently criticized, particularly by Ursula von der Leyen's European Commission, this hasn't stopped Budapest and Bratislava from recently asking for the EU executive's assistance in getting Russian oil flowing in larger volumes to the two landlocked Central European countries. Both countries have since mid-July complained that the recently imposed Ukrainian sanctions on the Russian oil firm LUKoil have resulted in stopping the flow of pipeline crude sold by the Moscow company. They sent a joint letter to the commission, asking for emergency consultations with Kyiv, saying that Ukraine had breached both the spirit and the letter of the Association Agreement it had signed with the EU in 2014. Yet, it appears that Hungary and Slovakia haven't managed to get their way. In a letter to their foreign ministers, sent by Valdis Dombrovskis, vice president of the European Commission and Brussels' trade supremo, it was noted that "the commission services have preliminary concluded that urgent consultation does not appear to be warranted as there is no current indication of an immediate risk to the security of supply." The August 1 letter, seen by RFE/RL, also states that "according to the information at our disposal and in line with commission analysis, it appears that the sanctions imposed by Ukraine on LUKoil do not affect the ongoing oil transit operations via [the] Druzhba [pipeline from Russia to Central and Eastern Europe] carried out by trading companies as long as LUKoil is not the formal trader of the oil." Deep Background: Some 5.5 million metric tons of oil were shipped via the Druzhba pipeline in the first half of 2024, of which half was sold by LUKoil. The remaining oil was transited by smaller Russian producers that aren't yet sanctioned by Ukraine. It is worth pointing out that Hungary and Slovakia are still allowed to import crude oil from Russia. They, along with Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and Poland, got exemptions from EU-imposed sanctions on pipelined Russian oil imports into the bloc that were agreed in 2022 and entered into force a year later. There is a difference with Hungary and Slovakia, though. Both Bulgaria and Poland have now completely cut Russian pipeline imports, and the Czech Republic is working hard to do the same in the near future. When these exemptions were granted, there was an understanding that the member states should actively work to find alternative supplies in order to minimize dependence on Russian energy imports. Drilling Down: Hungary has actually increased its reliance on Russia, with the country importing 56 percent more Russian crude in 2024 than it did before the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. Slovakia's oil imports from Russia have decreased somewhat since 2022 but still amount to over 50 percent of its total imports. The need for Hungary and Slovakia to diversify was also hammered home by Dombrovskis in his letter: "A significant number of member state representatives asked about the availability of alternative supply routes in addition to the Druzhba pipeline for the import of crude oil and questioned why Hungary and Slovakia had apparently not yet explored alternatives so far." One of those member-state representatives was Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, who wrote a letter to European Commission President von der Leyen on July 31, a day before Dombrovskis' missive to Bratislava and Budapest. The letter, seen by RFE/RL, notes that "the alternative options that Croatia can offer...have so far been underutilized." Plenkovic is a close ally of von der Leyen and a stalwart of the center-right European People's Party (EPP), the largest group in the European Parliament, which the Hungarian ruling party Fidesz belonged to before quitting under pressure in 2021. The EPP also recently admitted Hungary's main opposition challenger, Peter Magyar and his newly formed Tisza party, to its ranks. Needless to say, the Croatian premier is also sensing a potential business opportunity. His letter points out that "Croatia, with its robust oil infrastructure -- including the Omisalj terminal, the Sisak storage tanks, the Urinj refinery near the port of Rijeka, and the JANAF Adriatic pipeline --possesses capacities that far exceed national needs." According to Plenkovic, the JANAF pipeline could be the solution for both Hungary and Slovakia, as it can "guarantee the transport of 14.3 mtpa (million tons of crude oil per annum) from the Omisalj terminal, on the island of Krk, to Hungary and Slovakia, and beyond." He noted that JANAF had already struck a deal earlier this year with the Hungarian oil company MOL for 2.2 mtpa for the rest of 2024, but this only represents some 15 percent of the transport capacity available. The letter concludes by stating that "in light of the recent circumstances and in the spirit of European solidarity, JANAF is willing to negotiate long-term contracts involving larger volumes to ensure energy supply security and reduce dependence." The question is whether Hungary is interested. Its foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, brushed away Zagreb's offer by noting that "Croatia is simply not a reliable country for transit" and adding that Croatia had increased oil transit prices fivefold since the outbreak of the Ukraine war. This prompted JANAF to respond, noting that "the statement regarding JANAF raising fees over the last three years is completely untrue. The methodology applied to calculate the fees takes into consideration the distance and the level of capacity utilization for a specific pipeline section, as well as the negotiation process, and is not related to the legal entity [of JANAF] ." This issue is likely to come up when EU foreign ministers gather for the first time after the summer break on August 29 -- a meeting that was originally supposed to be hosted by Budapest but was moved after several EU member states complained about Orban's trips to Moscow and Beijing. Looking Ahead While the EU and NATO are still mostly hibernating for the holidays, Eurostat, the bloc's official statistical office, is up and running. On August 14, it will publish its estimate of gross domestic product (GDP) growth and unemployment rates across the eurozone -- the countries that have adopted the euro -- and the EU. The statistics release is expected to show that an estimated 6 percent of the bloc's workforce is unemployed and there has only been 1 percent of GDP growth. By RFE/RL More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Canadas Tourmaline Oil Corp. has announced the acquisition of Crew Energy for some C$1.3 billion, or $950 million, as part of expansion plans ahead of an expected uptick in natural gas prices. Like Tourmaline itself, Crew Energy operates in the Montney Formation and the Alberta Deep Basin, which, the acquiring company noted in its release, are the biggest natural gas reservoirs in Canada. Generally, the right time (for deals) is at the bottom of cycles, and we think we are near, or at, or past the bottom in the natural gas pricing cycle, Tourmaline chief executive Mike Rose told the Calgary Herald in an interview. The future looks bright for Canadian and North American gas with the doubling of the LNG capacity in the U.S. and the startup of Canadian LNG on the West Coast, Rose added. Tourmaline Oil is already the largest producer of natural gas in Canada but is willing to grow further and is sparing no coststhe price tag of the deal represented a 72% premium over Crew Energys last closing price before the deal was sealed. This is one of the largest takeout premiums weve seen in a long time in Canadian oil and gas, BMO Capital Markets analyst Jeremy McCrea told the Calgary Herald. There are fewer and fewer options for LNG operators to secure cheap gas molecules, and as we start to see many of these LNG projects come on stream over the next decade, B.C. natural gas production will need to be meaningfully higher, McCrea noted. The Canadian federal government is not a big fan of liquefied natural gas. Earlier this year, resource minister Jeremy Wilkinson made that clear, saying Ottawa was not interested in investing in any LNG projects or supporting them financially through subsidies. Yet demand trends for LNG globally have been rather bullish and energy companies in Canada have decided to take advantage of the opportunity despite the governments exclusive focus on emissions. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Es Sider oil export terminal in eastern Libya has seen crude flows disrupted due to a fire along a pipeline from the oilfields in the Sirte basin, Argus reported on Tuesday, citing shipping agents and traders. The latest disruptions to Libyas oil output and exports come a week after production at the largest oilfield in the country, Sharara, was halted by protests. A fire at the pipeline to Es Sider has been extinguished, operator Waha Oil said on Tuesday, but sources and operational reports cited by Argus pointed to reduced flows via the pipeline and reduced production at the oilfields. On Tuesday, Waha Oil produced 261,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil, while 271,000 bpd flowed through its pipeline system to the Es Sider oil export terminal, per an operational report Argus has seen. Flows to Es Sider have now dropped to about 125,000 bpd, a source told Argus. Two other sources noted that Waha Oil had to cut is crude production rate by around 100,000 bpd. Libya has seen renewed political unrest in recent weeks, which has affected crude oil production in the African OPEC member exempted from the OPEC+ cuts due to its fragile security and political situation. Libyas National Oil Corporation (NOC) declared force majeure at the Sharara oilfield last week, after protests halted production at the countrys largest field earlier in the week. Sharara fully halted oil production in early August after output was curbed during the August 3-4 weekend due to protests. Libyas internationally recognized government has accused its rival government in the east of political blackmail following protests that led to operational curbs at Sharara. The Sharara field is a regular target for warring political and military factions in Libya, which boasts the biggest oil reserves in Africa but is having difficulty exploiting them fully due to the complicated political situation in the country. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com European benchmark natural gas prices have dropped from their highest level this year as concerns about a possible halt to Russian pipeline supplies via Ukraine have eased. The Dutch TTF Natural Gas Futures, the benchmark for Europes gas trading, were up by 0.3% as of 11 a.m. local time in Amsterdam on Tuesday, recovering from a 2% drop earlier in the trading session. However, the front-month price has dropped below $43.70 (40 euros) per megawatt-hour (MWh) this week, after soaring at the end of last week above this threshold and to a 2024 high on concerns about additional disruptions to the remaining Russian gas supply transiting Ukraine. At the end of last week, natural gas flows from Russia to Europe via Ukraine continued despite clashes at the Russia-Ukraine border near the only gas metering station that still sends Russian gas west to Europe. Unconfirmed reports emerged on Wednesday that Ukraine had seized Sudzha gas metering station in the Russian region of Kursk, a theater of heavy clashes in recent days after Ukrainian troops crossed into Russian territory with tanks and armored vehicles last week. After the Sokhranivka entry point for Russian gas transit via Ukraine was closed, Gazprom had to divert all the gas it can send to the Sudzha entry point. Even as the Ukraine-Russia tension escalated with the Ukrainian incursion into Russias Kursk region, both sides have signaled they have no intention of interrupting the pipeline gas supply to Europe via Ukraine. On Monday, European gas prices snapped back after four straight days of rallying, with the TTF front-month futures falling by nearly 2%. Maintenance on Norways gas supply infrastructure and higher Asian spot LNG prices have slowed seasonal builds of natural gas in EU storage in recent weeks. But with inventories at 86.7% full, there is limited risk of not reaching desired levels before demand eventually exceeds supply, Ole Hansen, Head of Commodity Strategy at Saxo Bank, wrote in a note at the end of last week. However, any major disruption in the coming months would heighten the need for alternative supplies, primarily via LNG, driving up prices as Europe competes with Asia and South America, Hansen added. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Harold Hamm, the founder of Continental Holdings, is rallying Big Oil executives to support former President Donald Trump's reelection bid, according to a report from The Washington Post. Hamm, a notable billionaire in the energy sector, has stressed the importance of this election to his oil peers, urging them to contribute to Trump's campaign in hopes of receiving regulatory benefits should Trump return to the White House. "We've got to do this because it's the most important election in our lifetime," Hamm told the executives. His mobilization has already resulted in significant financial support for Trump's campaign and associated Political Action Committees (PACs). To date, the industry has contributed $20.3 million, with some executives making donations for the first time. A Trump campaign aide noted the influx of maximum-amount checks from new donors, highlighting the strategic importance of these contributions. This, despite some arguing that former President Trump is no friend of the oil industry, pointing to the fact that he has boasted about the lower gasoline prices during his term while criticizing the current Biden/Harris Administration for the current high price at the pump and the resulting burden on U.S. consumers. The oil industry is currently enjoying near record-high production levelseven surpassing the output during Trump's previous term if weekly estimates from the EIA are accurate, which analysts have argued is not the case. However, Hamm and other fossil fuel executives have expressed more significant concerns over potential policy changes under a different administration, particularly if Kamala Harris were to become president. Harris's track record as California's attorney general includes prosecuting oil companies for pipeline and storage tank leaks and suing the Obama administration over offshore fracking, actions that have prompted fears among industry leaders. Hamm's agenda for a potential second Trump term includes specific requests: new oil leases on currently protected federal lands, easing of the Endangered Species Act restrictions, and the repeal of several Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations. These proposed changes aim to enhance the oil and gas industry's operational latitude and profitability. By Julianne Geiger More Top Reads From Oilprice.com The United States is calling on its allies that also maintain relations with Iran to persuade them not to escalate further the tensions in the Middle East, the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, Jeff Flake, said. We ask all of our allies that have any relations with Iran to prevail on them to de-escalate, and that includes Turkey, Flake told reporters in Istanbul, as carried by Reuters. Turkey officials with whom the U.S. is talking seem more confident than we are that it won't escalate, the ambassador said of the current situation in the region. The recent escalation of tensions in the Middle East has rekindled concerns about a direct conflict between Israel and Iran after Israel killed Hamass political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and a senior Hezbollah official in Lebanon. The region and Israels allies are bracing for some kind of retaliatory attack from Iran on Israel. Fears of an escalating conflict have increased the geopolitical premium in crude oil prices. After the market meltdown over concerns about a possible U.S. recession early last week, prices jumped at the end of the week and on Monday, amid anxiety over what Irans response to the Israeli assassinations would be and when it would come. Brent Crude prices returned to above $80 per barrel on Monday as tensions in the Middle East continue to run high and as some analysts expressed views that the U.S. Fed has managed a soft landing of the economy and no recession is in the cards. After the spike on Monday, oil prices were down by 0.4% in Asian trade on Tuesday amid renewed concerns about global oil demand. OPEC on Monday cut its forecasts of global oil demand growth this year and next, in the first downward revision since the organization issued its initial estimate for 2024 a year ago. Underwhelming data so far this year and expectations of softening Chinese demand growth weighed on OPECs latest demand forecast. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com The mine's reopening comes as Azerbaijan prepares to host the UN environmental summit COP29, raising questions about the country's environmental record. The decision has sparked renewed public anger and protests, with many criticizing the government for prioritizing economic interests over environmental and public health. After a year-long suspension due to environmental protests and concerns over toxic waste pollution, Azerbaijan has allowed a controversial gold mine to resume operations. Azerbaijani officials have green-lighted the resumption of operations at a controversial gold mine following a more than year-long hiatus due to public protests over pollution concerns. Trouble at the mine near the village of Soyudlu in western Azerbaijans Gadabay District began in mid-2023, when its operator, Anglo Asian Mining, sought to build a second artificial lake to handle mine tailings. The announcement at that time provoked a fierce backlash from local residents. Security forces, in turn, used force to quash protests, including the widespread use of pepper spray-like substances against elderly demonstrators. Multiple arrests were also reported. Local residents opposed the planned expansion, saying lax standards in the storage of toxic waste created by mining operations was causing serious health problems and poisoning surrounding agricultural lands. In addition to cracking down on local protesters, authorities locked down the area, hindering media coverage of the protests and their aftermath. At the same time, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev criticized the mine operators practices and vowed that environmental standards would be upheld. Operations at the mine were put on hold. That pause lasted just over a year. On August 5, Anglo Asian Mining announced that it had received an authorization to restart operations, including the expansion of an existing pond containing toxic waste. We have also started mobilizing resources to restart flotation and agitation leaching processing and expect to recommence full production in approximately one week. This marks the end of a year-long disruption, and we look forward to normalizing production, the company statement quotes CEO Reza Vaziri as saying. Anglo Asian Mining is the countrys largest gold and copper producer and holds the rights to eight deposits across the country. Azerbaijan generated about $162 million in gold exports in 2023, down roughly 14 percent over the previous years total of $188 million. An investigative report published by OCCRP in 2016 revealed that Aliyevs daughters, Arzu and Leyla, had extensive interests at that time in Azerbaijans gold mining industry. The renewed operations at the mine come as Aliyevs administration is preparing to host the annual UN environmental summit, or COP29, in Baku. The mine near Soyudlu now threatens to become a focal point of undesired attention, at least from officials viewpoint, on the governments environmental record, along with other contentious issues, including Bakus vanishing green space and a growing water shortage in central Azerbaijan. The announcement generated lots of heat on social media. One Facebook user commented on the news: The health of the people is of no importance to the oppressive government. This is why the ordinary citizens were put in jail [in Soyudlu], so that when the construction works resume, people should remain in fear. Visitors to COP29 should be taken to see the toxic waste lake too, another wrote. By Eurasianet.org More Top Reads From Oilprice.com The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says most of the ministerial nominees by President Muhammadu Buhari have corruption charges on them, advising the senate to send their names to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). In a statement signed by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party said the screening exercise would enabled the Senate to further confirm that many of the nominees include individuals, who as former governors and ministers, wrecked their states and ministries and have serious allegations of corruption, abuse of office and stealing of public funds hanging on their necks. The party added: This is particularly as President Buhari had asserted that he would only nominate persons he knows personally. It therefore speaks volumes that the persons Mr. President personally knows and has nominated as ministers include such individuals that have been publicly indicted and known to be answering questions as accomplices in on-going corruption cases in various courts. The Senate to note that some of the nominees have failed to defend their corruption allegations. This includes a particular former minister from the North Central, who had admitted to the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) of complicity in the N2.5 billion National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) fraud case, still pending in court. This is in addition to certain nominees who, as state governors, swindled their states, fleeced workers and committed several financial crimes for which they should rather be standing trial, instead of being rewarded with official protection as ministers. Our party notes that the gathering of corrupt persons as cabinet ministers is a clear pointer to a scheme by the cabal in the Presidency to further entrench corruption in our nation. Urging the Senate to take a cursory look into the allegations of bribe-for-ministerial-slot, making the rounds in the public space, the PDP said the Senate must rise to the occasion and ensure that Nigerians are not totally let down. PDP also enjoined the Senate to note that President Buhari has not demonstrated any commitment to the fight against corruption and for that reason, Nigerians now look up to the National Assembly to protect the nation from the excesses of the Buhari Presidency. The Senate is therefore urged to stand with the people in resisting the manipulations of the Buhari Presidency to ensure that only persons with clean records are cleared as ministers. The Chief Executive Officer of the multinational agribusiness firm, Agri-Impact Limited, Daniel Fahene Acquaye, has called for increased investment in the youth of Ghana to help them realize their potential. According to him, such investments will enable the youth to make a significant impact on the country's development. Mr. Acquaye made this call at an event held at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to celebrate International Youth Day on Monday, August 12, 2024. The Agri-Impact Group CEO spoke on the theme: "Revolutionizing agriculture through digital Innovations to create jobs for youth." Let us remember that the power of youth is unparalleled. They are not just the leaders of tomorrow; they are the change-makers of today, and we must make the necessary investments to fully unearth their potential. Whether through advocacy, innovation or simply by sharing unique perspectives, they are already making a significant impact, he said. While celebrating the youth, Mr. Acquaye urged them to take up opportunities in the agricultural space to improve their prospects, as he believes the greatest resource Ghana currently has is its youth. Investment in their creative minds, innovation, energy, boldness, determination and resilience will undoubtedly lead to economic transformation. To all the young people, this day is for you. It is an opportunity to celebrate your achievements, share your stories, ideas and connect with one another. Be inspired by todays event, pursue your passion, use your talents to build a better world. We will urge you to drive technology and innovation to de-risk agriculture, transform the industry not only to provide food and jobs but to cause continental economic development, Mr. Acquaye added. HAPPY Program The Mastercard Foundation in partnership with Agri-Impact Limited has rolled out a revolutionary initiative to secure dignified jobs for 326,000 youth within Ghana's agricultural sector. This initiative is dubbed Harnessing Agricultural Productivity and Prosperity for Youth (HAPPY). The programme is being implemented by eight partners: NewAge Agric Solutions, National Service Scheme (NSS), Catholic Relief Services (CRS), TechnoServe, Ghana Cares (MiDA), Ghana Enterprise Agency (GEA), Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), and Jobberman. Started in December 2023, the HAPPY Program has already created 50,000 dignified jobs for the youth and has contributed to the sale of over GHS 100 million worth of food (import substitution). It has also helped to produce and supply 1.2 million broilers to the Ghanaian market including KFC. Launch of Young Agri-Innovators Challenge The International Youth Day was attended by over 700 youth from Senior High Schools, youth groups, farm institutes, and tertiary institutions. At the event, a $20,000 Young Agri-Innovators Challenge was launched, giving young people between the ages of 15 and 25 the opportunity to secure varied start-up funds to launch their business or idea aimed at creating jobs or offering solutions in Ghanas agricultural sector, with the first prize being $10,000. The keynote speaker at the International Youth Day event, Nana Owusu-Achau, Chief Farmer at AgroKings, producers of the popular local rice, Nanas Rice, used the opportunity to stir up the youth's interest in agricultural solutions. Food systems controlled by foreigners We have a real issue at hand. In this country, our food systems are controlled by foreigners, and that is a problem. There's a foreign company that sells 50 tons of tilapia a day. That's almost 2 million cedis worth of sales daily. Another foreign company has a 13,000-acre farm producing banana in Ghana and exporting 40 containers of banana every day to Europe. Where are the Ghanaians? Where are the youth? If any of these foreign companies decide to stop doing business in Ghana, what will happen to the tilapia that we've developed such a taste for? What would happen to the tilapia we cherish? Our food systems need to be controlled by Ghanaians. Even the fufu-pounding machines are made by the Chinese. We could be producing our own fufu-pounding machines. Remarks by Nana Yaw Sarpong Otuo Siriboe The Akyempimhene of the Juaben Traditional Area and 2022 National Best Farmer, Nana Yaw Sarpong Otuo Siriboe I, who served as the chairman of the occasion, also urged the youth to move into the agricultural space to make a sustainable living. The Siriboe Farms CEO recounted the factors that drove him into the sector, saying, I entered agriculture as a means to make a sustainable living. The Gen-Zs these days don't look at sustainability in anything; they only think about living. That's why most of them spend time on betting. Those are transient. If you are making a living that is not sustainable, then you are not making a living. I entered into the agricultural space when I realized that everybody eats. So what is more sustainable than that? We have a lot of opportunities in the agricultural space. I didn't get into farming because of awards. All these awards just came along as a means of trying to have a sustainable living, the Akyempimhene noted. While urging the youth to dream big, he also admonished them to start on a small scale. Everything that I have done, I did it through agriculture. I bought my house through agriculture, and my car too. If you don't think big, you will lose opportunities when they come your way. Everything is possible; you have to think big, but you have to start small. One idea at a time, Nana Otuo Siriboe urged. Remarks by KNUST Vice Chancellor For her part, Vice Chancellor of KNUST, Prof. Rita Akosua Dickson, commended Agri-Impact and the Mastercard Foundation for the numerous youth-focused initiatives championed by both firms. While highlighting the worrying unemployment levels in Ghana, especially among the youth, Prof. Akosua Dickson said it is imperative to focus on sectors within the agricultural value chain while adopting innovative ways to help bridge this gap. Unemployment remains a challenge across the globe. It therefore calls for an all-hands-on-deck approach to solving the problem. In addressing this issue, it is crucial to focus on sectors such as agriculture and agribusiness while integrating appropriate digital technologies for the creation of jobs for our youth. Agriculture, as we know, is the backbone of our economy, providing livelihoods for millions. However, it has long been perceived as offering limited opportunities for the youth. This perception stems from a lack of innovation and modernization. Prof. Akosua Dickson said Ghana currently has an excellent opportunity to change this narrative by leveraging digital innovation to revitalize agriculture, making it not only profitable but also attractive to the youth. On this note, let me say that nurturing the school farms in our Senior High Schools must no longer be seen as a form of punishment to inject discipline into students when they go wrong, but must be an opportunity to guide and train students to enjoy and love exploring their creativity to improve productivity on our land, leading to future startups. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Director of Strategy, Research, and Communication Division at the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), Samuel Appiah Darko, has reiterated that the Special Prosecutor, who heads the OSP, cannot be removed from office whimsically or without due cause and procedure. He explained that the OSP is an independent agency accountable to Parliament and that its head, who serves a non-renewable term of seven years, can only be impeached by Parliament for stated offenses. The OSP is an independent agency accountable to Parliament. The head enjoys a 7-year non-renewable tenure. They may only be removed through impeachment based on stated offenses, similar to justices of the superior courts, Mr. Appiah Darko, a lawyer and journalist, asserted. It is unclear why the Director made comments about the independence of the OSP and the security of tenure of its head. However, the OSPs Special Report on the Airbus Scandal has caused unrest within the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), sparking rumors of attempts to trigger the dismissal of Mr. Kissi Agyebeng, the Special Prosecutor. In 2020, President Akufo-Addo referred the Airbus Scandal to the Special Prosecutor following Deferred Prosecution Agreements in the US, the UK, and France, which alleged that some individuals, including a Government Official (John Mahama) and an intermediary (Samuel Adam Forster), were implicated in alleged wrongdoing. However, the Special Report of the OSP on the Airbus Scandal exonerated former President John Mahama and his brother, Samuel Adam Forster, of any wrongdoing related to corruption and corruption-related offenses, much to the disappointment of some New Patriotic Party (NPP) stalwarts who had expected otherwise. Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has pledged to allocate at least GH10 million annually to the Geological Survey Authority as part of the party's strategy to optimise the exploration of Ghanas mineral resources. Speaking during his campaign in the Akwatia constituency, Dr. Bawumia expressed concerns about the current mineral exploration practices, where companies are granted prospecting licenses and engage in a trial and error approach. This method, he argued, often leads to significant environmental degradation. To prevent the trial-and-error process of exploring minerals, which destroys the environment, we intend to resource the Geological Survey Department with at least GH10 million every year, to accurately locate the minerals, citinewsroom.com quoted Dr. Bawumia. He emphasised that the Geological Survey Authority has already identified specific locations of mineral deposits, which will help streamline the operations of mining companies and reduce environmental impact. Building on this foundation, Dr. Bawumia outlined plans to initiate a community mining scheme supported by a common user facility, enabling local communities to engage in sustainable mining practices. We will initiate the community mining scheme and provide them with a common user facility for them to mine, he said. In addition to funding and community support, Dr. Bawumia underscored the importance of involving traditional leaders in the mineral licensing process. He believes that granting chiefs an equity stake in small-scale mining operations will ensure that the benefits of mining are shared more equitably and help safeguard the countrys interests. In the mining licensing process, we have to involve the chiefs; otherwise, it will not end well for the country. We also have to provide for an equity stake of the chiefs in the concessions, Dr. Bawumia added. Source: ghanaweb.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Nigeria Immigration Service has summoned a woman for questioning after she was filmed apparently tearing up her husband's passport at Lagos airport in a video which has been widely shared on social media. The woman, identified as Favour Igiebor, was seen shouting at her husband in the video while pieces of the Nigerian passport lay on the floor. She had returned from Europe alongside her husband and children and landed at the Murtala Mohammed airport where the incident happened in front of dozens of other travellers. "I tore it," she was heard admitting. The authorities said in a statement they were looking into the issue. The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has launched a formal investigation, following the circulation of a video on social media, showing a female traveler [sic] destroying a Nigerian Standard Passport at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos. The individual involved has been identified as Mrs. Favour Igiebor, the statement read. It noted that destroying the countrys passport was a criminal offence, which could be punished by up to a year in prison. After the video went viral, eliciting numerous comments, Mrs Igiebor released her own video. She did not go into details but said she was suffering. Look at my eyes - I do cry a lot. Many people commenting on social media dont understand what I am going through. You have to ask what happened - dont just look at the action alone. I have my reasons. I have gone through a lot of family issues. I cannot be suffering. I suffered with him. She said she had thought of tearing up the passport in Europe but decided that would have caused her husband too many problems. In the video at the airport, one traveller was heard saying the couple had been having issues throughout the flight. Some people were also seen consoling the husband and telling him to be calm. If she were to be charged, she would be the first person to be taken to court for destroying the Nigerian passport. But in recent months, the country has been getting tough on protecting its national symbols, including a clampdown on the common practice of throwing around the national currency, the naira, at social events. 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. Featured Video Some police officers expressed anger at the Interior Minister Henry Quartey for describing them as dirty people. It comes after the Minister during the commissioning of the new housing facility for the Police publicly warned the officers not to extend their untidy behaviour to the new facility. Reacting to the comments, Chief Inspector Collins Kwaku Amankwah (rtd) told Dailymail.com.gh that the ministers comment is disrespectful and shameful. He speaks with no respect for the men and women of the service. How he chose to say a thing like that on such a platform says a lot about him. He should know that we police officers do not have the kind of privileges he has as a minister, we do not have ways and means to make money as he does so he should show us some respect. It is shocking that we put our lives on the line to protect citizens and yet have our sector minister speak to us in such a degrading manner, the retired officer said. The Interior Minister, at a ceremony to hand over newly constructed housing units to the Police, criticized the unkempt nature of the police and tasked the IGP to ensure that these buildings do not see those type of things we see in police barracks. Sources say other serving officers are equally incensed over the matter with some contemplating petitioning the Police Management Board (POMAB) over the remarks by the minister. President Akufo-Addo a fortnight ago commissioned 320 housing units for Officers of the Ghana Police Service at the Police Training School, Tesano in Accra. The housing units, which are part of the Security Services Housing Project Phase Three, comprise 112 two-bedroom and 208 three-bedroom units. Additional facilities include an officers mess, a social centre, two multipurpose playing courts, and a kindergarten. The project is expected to impact the lives of Police Officers and their families positively. It is a testament to the Governments dedication to supporting the security services. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Dope Concept and Big Vibes Only (BVO), Nana Dope in a significant move to enhance educational resources in the Eastern Region of Ghana has collaborated with his BVO team to donate school items, including desks, books, pens and pencils to the Abenabo Presbyterian School in the Abuakwa South Municipality. According to him, this initiative aims to improve the learning environment for students and support the local community's educational needs. The donation presented on Tuesday, August 13, 2024, at the schools premises was witnessed by the schools officials and students. He expressed his dedication to empowering education in underprivileged areas. "Every child deserves a conducive environment to learn, these basic supplies can make a world of difference in their educational journey. These desks and school items will not only provide comfort but also encourage our children to focus on their studies and achieve their dreams." "We hope this gesture inspires others to contribute to education in underserved communities," said Nana Dope. The school, which serves over 200 pupils from the surrounding communities, has seen a steady increase in enrolment but struggled to match this growth with necessary resources. The Abenabo Presbyterian School, like many others in the region, has faced challenges related to inadequate furniture and resources. This donation is a crucial step toward addressing these issues, allowing students to engage more effectively in their classes. The schools officials, expressed gratitude for the support, stating, "This donation comes at a critical time for our school. With these new desks, our students will have a better learning experience, and we are thankful to Nana Dope and the BVO team for their generosity." As part of their ongoing commitment to education, Nana Dope and his BVO team plan to implement further initiatives aimed at enhancing learning opportunities for students in the Eastern Region. This includes potential scholarships, educational materials, and additional infrastructure improvements. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Xinjiangs agriculture develops well via advanced technologies: Turkish journalists People's Daily Online) 09:26, August 13, 2024 Photo taken on August 10, 2024, shows Turkish journalists visiting a modern agricultural technologies industrial park in Horgos, northwest China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region. (Photo by Zhang Zhou/Guangming Online) A media team of eleven journalists from eight major Turkish media outlets visited a modern agricultural technologies industrial park Saturday in Horgos, northwest China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region. They tasted tomatoes produced here and showed interest in the advanced agricultural technologies applied in the production process. A Turkish journalist named Erdal Emre said that he didn't expect there to be such advanced agricultural technologies in Xinjiang. In the agricultural technologies industrial park, he realized Xinjiang's fast development in agriculture due to the application of Artificial Intelligence and its investment. Another journalist Ercan Kucuk also highlighted the effect of advanced agricultural technologies' application in Xinjiang. They both praised the taste of the tomatoes here. Source: GMW.cn Photo taken on August 10, 2024, shows Turkish journalists tasting tomatoes at a modern agricultural technologies industrial park in Horgos, northwest China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region. (Photo by Zhang Zhou/ Guangming Online) Photo taken on August 10, 2024, shows Turkish journalists visiting a modern agricultural technologies industrial park in Horgos, northwest China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region. (Photo by Zhang Zhou/Guangming Online) Photo taken on August 10, 2024, shows a Turkish journalist taking photos at a modern agricultural technologies industrial park in Horgos, northwest China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region. (Photo by Zhang Zhou/Guangming Online) Photo taken on August 10, 2024, shows two Turkish journalists shooting videos at a modern agricultural technologies industrial park in Horgos, northwest China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region. (Photo by Zhang Zhou/Guangming Online) Photo taken on August 10, 2024, shows Turkish journalist Erdal Emre sharing his view on Xinjiang's agricultural development at a modern agricultural technologies industrial park in Horgos, northwest China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region. (Photo by Zhang Zhou/Guangming Online) Photo taken on August 10, 2024, shows Turkish journalist Ercan Kucuk sharing his view on Xinjiang's agricultural development at a modern agricultural technologies industrial park in Horgos, northwest China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region. (Photo by Zhang Zhou/Guangming Online) (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) Dr. Gideon Boako has jabbed Ex-President and presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress, John Dramani Mahama, over Special Prosecutor's identification of him as the "Government Official 1" in the Airbus scandal. He believes the former President must not be allowed near the seat of power with his image having been incurably tinted with the Government Official One tag. One person, when you became vice president, there was information that your president, Atta Mills, set up a committee to investigate you on corruption related matters on the Embraer Airplane. This same person was reported to have been bribed by a Burkinabe contractor with a Ford Expedition vehicle. Just one person was surrounded by all these issues when you had the opportunity to serve as president and vice president, but you couldnt be more careful. What even angered Ghanaians was when he was interviewed by the BBC and you were asked, Mr President, are you corrupt, and you replied, me, as a human being?. Then it means you yourself; when you are alone, you know in your thoughts that you cant separate yourself from corruption and bribery." Dr. Gideon Boako, who is the Spokesperson for Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia was contributing to a panel discussion on PeaceFM's "Kokrokoo". His comments were in relation to the Airbus corruption scandal that was under investigations by US, UK and France authorities. Airbus was found guilty and fined over $3 billion but "Government Official 1", a high-profile dignitary cited in the documents wasn't identified until the recent report from the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) naming John Mahama as the person under the pseudonym. The OSP found no evidentiary basis that suggests that former President John Dramani Mahama or any other public official was induced to improperly favour or did improperly favour Airbus in respect of the purchase by the Government of Ghana of military transport aircraft from Airbus. The Special Prosecutor has directed the closure of the OSP investigation into alleged bribery of high-ranking Ghanaian officials by Airbus SE, through intermediaries, in respect of the sale of military transport aircraft by Airbus SE to the Republic of Ghana between 2009 and 2015, a statement from the office of Kissi Agyebeng indicated. But reacting to the report in a panel discussion on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" show, Dr. Gideon Boako was convinced that Mahama being identified as "Government Official 1" tells he was directly involved in the bribery corruption. He further noted that the seeming vindication of Mr. Mahama doesn't suffice and found it difficult how he wants Ghanaians to vote him back into government. There are so many people in this country who can lead Ghana, and not because we do not have competent individuals, so someone who was once given the chance to rule over us, mess up the country, and also etch his name in the minds of Ghanaians with evidence as corrupt, should not be given the chance once more when there are righteous candidates who have served for 8 years without a single allegation of being involved in corruption. "The moral conscience and the integrity issues are quite key to government officials and our leaders. If you want to be President or have been President before, when it comes to the management of the economy for Ghanaians to have confidence in you not to mismanaged the national purse, Mr. Mahama has failed that test because there has been court judgement which indicts him....As for this election, I think Mahama should step aside because he has failed the corruption test. He was given the opportunity, and he has proven that he is one of the presidents who cant fight corruption. We have other competent people like Mahamudu Bawumia. For 7 years to 8 years, not a single case of corruption can be attributed to him," he exclaimed. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Political Science Professor of the University of Ghana, Legon, Professor Ransford Gyampoh, has advised young people to brace themselves up for tougher times ahead, however, assuring them that situations will turn out for the better. Posting on his Official Facebook page on Tuesday, August 13, the academician acknowleged the difficulty that the next government would face in light of the economic situation being faced in all facets of life for the ordinary Ghanaian, especially the youth. Professor Gyampo wrote, Politics in Ghana, has essentially been politics of the youth. Apart from the Kufuor regime that was understandably gerontocratic, relatively younger people have generally been dominant in everything governance, politics and leadership in Ghana. According to him, since the youth makes up the majority in Ghanas electoral landscape, it will be prudent for flagberars of all parties to engage the youth in meaningful dialogues where the youth could get first-hand information and understanding on whichever policy the political leaders are pitching to them. Therefore any deliberate effort to dialogue with them before an election via the decent platform of Town Hall, is commendable, as it would help erase the derogatory perception of young people as immature, danger to themselves and agents used to foment conflict. This would in turn seize them with the information with which they can demand accountability from governments." "The age cohort of 18 to 35 years is almost 70 percent of Ghanas voting population, he said. He added that, any serious effort at winning an election must therefore target the youth for the purposes of engaging them in a civil dialogue on matters germane to their welfare and what can be done about them. Virtually all the problems confronting Ghana would be solved if the problems of young people are clearly articulated, properly grasped and addressed. Expressing worry over some statements some political actors make which raises the hopes of the youth, Professor Gyampo urged politicians not to promise on mandates they cannot deliver on. Professor Gyampo said, The worry however is about the creation of impression that there are solutions to all the problems of the youth. This, if not managed well, may create more disappointments. Around this time, every cohort in the voting population would want to hear something about what can be done to help them." But realistically, it would take a lot of strenuous effort to properly rebuild what has been destroyed and regain what is lost. In this regard, young people must be made to know quite frankly that, given the challenges that lie ahead of us as a people, it would have to be tough before it becomes easier. We would all have to tighten our belts a little more, from whoever heads the country to the lowest rated citizen. From the topmost politician to the party footsoldier, all must brace themselves to endure a little more suffering, after which things would begin to ease up. "This should be the message to the youth. Jerry Rawlings in his second bid to win power in the 1996 General Elections, articulated this type of message cleverly and in a manner that should be emulated. He said he wont promise anyone anything and that all he could promise was hardwork which would in turn pay off to meet the needs of all. He concluded, I therefore urge all to be measured in the expectations they create, even if it is still true that 'y3 te sika so, nanso 3k)m de y3n', in order to avoid further disappointments that can threaten the very survival of our democracy and peace" 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. Featured Video A number of Ghanaians have expressed shock at the double standards of former President John Mahama over his latest promise to create jobs through the NPP's ambitious construction of hospitals in all districts and Regional capitals without hospitals dubbed Agenda 111. In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic which exposed the inadequate health needs of the country, especially in many districts, the Akufo-Addo government announced immediate plans to construct hospitals in about 80 districts without district hospitals as well as Regional and specialist hospitals totaling 111 facilities, hence the name Agenda 111. However, the NDC led by former President Mahama pooh poohed the idea and described it as overly ambitious and unrealistic when the NPP announced the plan in 2021. In fact as recent as March 2024, former President Mahama condemned the projects in multiple reports by the nation's leading news outlets. Interestingly, former President Mahama is now promising trainee nurses jobs through the Agenda 111 hospitals he has continuously maligned. Addressing trainee nurses over the weekend, former President Mahama told the students that if elected President, he would give them jobs through the Agenda 111 hospitals across the country. "When I come, the agenda 111 hospitals they are building, I will continue and finish them so that we can create more space to be able to absorb all of you when you finish school", he told the students who found this very shocking. Another blot on former President Mahama concerning trainee nurses and teachers is his unpopular cancellation of their trainee allowance. The former President sought to justify why it was canceled but the trainees were visibly unimpressed as the allowances have been restored by the Akufo-Addo government since 2017. The government's Agenda 111 hospitals which near completion in various districts have become very popular across the country. Some Chiefs and district stakeholders have publicly hailed the project and expressed relief at having such critical health infrastructure. Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video 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: Infographic explaining BAS Carbon Emissions. Credit: British Antarctic Survey For the first time, the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) are publishing their carbon footprint data on their website to increase transparency and help other organizations reduce their carbon emissions. The data for 2023/2024 includes an assessment of emissions from the five BAS Antarctic stations, the RRS (Royal Research Ship) Sir David Attenborough, fleet of aircraft and travel to and from Antarctica for staff and logistics. We plan to publish the data annually from now on. BAS is striving to reach net zero, and considerable progress has been made in the last year. The successful trial of alternative fuels and using Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) on board the RRS Sir David Attenborough, led to it constituting 1/3 of the ship fuel. A new solar and energy plant was installed in the remote island of South Georgia at Bird Island Research Station, which once operational will cut emissions by 50% on station. BAS is also upskilling their staff to look at ways to cut carbon emissions. Carbon literacy training empowers people to find ways to reduce carbon both at work and in their communities. BAS has now trained over 140 colleagues in the past year and was certified as a Bronze Carbon Literate organization. They are also one of the first public sector organizations, along with partner body UKRI-NERC, to be recognized as 'taking action' under the Carbon Trust Route to Net Zero Standard. BAS's total carbon footprint for 2023/2024 is 54,549 tCO 2 e the equivalent of running 18,876 average UK homes for a year. For the measurable emissions (relating to their net zero target from scope 1, scope 2 and some scope 3 emissions) over half of the carbon emissions (50.57%) was from fuel used in the RRS Sir David Attenborough. Construction is the second largest contributor (12.86%) and includes greenhouse gases from constructing new Antarctic facilities to replace old and inefficient buildings. Business travel is the next largest contributor (9.6%), including travel to and from Antarctica, along with travel to conferences and events. Dr. Beatrix Schlarb-Ridley, Director of Innovations and Impact at British Antarctic Survey said, "Our planet is changing rapidly, the Arctic is warming up four times as fast as the global average and accelerated melting of Antarctic ice shelves contributes to sea level rise, which threatens livelihoods, infrastructure and hits those hardest who are most vulnerable. "As a research-driven organization, we are publishing our carbon data not only for transparency, but also to encourage other organizations on their own journey to net zero. We work in collaboration with industry, researchers and policy makers to help us understand our changing planet and we value input from other organizations on how we can cut emissions to protect the planet." Nopi Exizidou, Head of Net Zero Transition Lead said, "BAS provides the UK's national polar capability by operating research stations, aircraft, and Royal Research Ship Sir David Attenborough. Since we work in such a remote and harsh environment, we are on a challenging journey to reach net zero emissions, but we are determined to put environmental sustainability at the heart of everything we do." More information: BAS Carbon Footprint 2023-2024, www.bas.ac.uk/science/science- as-carbon-emissions/ This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Unprecedented wildfires in Canada and parts of Amazonia last year were at least three times more likely due to climate change and contributed to high levels of CO 2 emissions from burning globally, according to the first edition of a new systematic annual review. The State of Wildfires report takes stock of extreme wildfires of the 20232024 fire season (March 2023February 2024), explains their causes, and assesses whether events could have been predicted. It also evaluates how the risk of similar events will change in future under different climate change scenarios. The report, which will be published annually, is co-led by the University of East Anglia (UEA, UK), the UK Center for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), the Met Office (UK) and European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF, UK). Published in the journal Earth System Science Data, the report finds that carbon emissions from wildfires globally were 16% above average, totaling 8.6 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide. Emissions from fires in the Canadian boreal forests were over nine times the average of the past two decades and contributed almost a quarter of the global emissions. If it had not been a quiet fire season in the African savannas, then the 202324 fire season would have set a new record for CO 2 emissions from fires globally. As well as generating large CO 2 emissions, fires in Canada led to more than 230,000 evacuations and eight firefighters lost their lives. An unusually high number of fires were also seen in northern parts of South America, particularly in Brazil's Amazonas state and in neighboring areas of Bolivia, Peru, and Venezuela. This led to the Amazon region experiencing among the worst air quality ratings on the planet. Elsewhere in the world, individual wildfires that burned intensely and spread quickly in Chile, Hawaii, and Greece led to 131, 100, and 19 direct fatalities, respectively. These were among the many wildfires worldwide with significant impacts on society, the economy, and the environment. "Last year, we saw wildfires killing people, destroying properties and infrastructure, causing mass evacuations, threatening livelihoods, and damaging vital ecosystems," said the lead author of this year's analysis, Dr. Matthew Jones, Research Fellow at the Tyndall Center for Climate Change Research at UEA. "Wildfires are becoming more frequent and intense as the climate warms, and both society and the environment are suffering from the consequences." The loss of carbon stocks from boreal forests in Canada and tropical forests in South America have lasting implications for the Earth's climate. Forests take decades to centuries to recover from fire disturbance, meaning that extreme fire years such as 202324 will result in a lasting deficit in carbon storage for many years to come. "In Canada, almost a decade's worth of carbon emissions from fire were recorded in a single fire seasonmore than 2 billion tons of CO 2 ," said Dr. Jones. "In turn, this raises atmospheric concentrations of CO 2 and exacerbates global warming." Climate change made the 202324 fire season more extreme As well as cataloging high-impact fires globally, the report focused on explaining the causes of extreme fire extent in three regions: Canada, western Amazonia, and Greece. Fire weathercharacterized by hot, dry conditions that promote firehas shifted significantly in all three focal regions when compared to a world without climate change. Climate change made the extreme fire-prone weather of 202324 at least three times more likely in Canada, 20 times more likely in Amazonia, and twice as likely in Greece. The report also used cutting-edge attribution tools to distinguish how climate change has altered the area burned by fires versus a world without climate change. It found that the vast extent of wildfires in Canada and Amazonia in the 202324 fire season was almost certainly greater due to climate change (with more than 99% confidence). "It is virtually certain that fires were larger during the 2023 wildfires in Canada and Amazonia due to climate change," said Dr. Chantelle Burton, Senior Climate Scientist at the Met Office. "We are already seeing the impact of climate change on weather patterns all over the world, and this is disrupting normal fire regimes in many regions. It is important for fire research to explore how climate change is affecting fires, which gives insights into how they may change further in the future." Likelihood of extreme wildfires will rise but can be mitigated Climate models used in the report suggest that the frequency and intensity of extreme wildfires will increase by the end of the century, particularly in future scenarios where greenhouse gas emissions remain high. The report shows that by 2100, under a mid-to-high greenhouse gas emissions scenario (SSP370), wildfires similar in scale to the 202324 season will become over six times more common in Canada. Western Amazonia could see an extreme fire season like 202324 almost three times more frequently. Similarly, years with fires on the scale of those seen in Greece during 20232024 are projected to double in frequency. "As long as greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, the risk of extreme wildfires will escalate," said Dr. Douglas Kelley, Senior Fire Scientist at the UK Center for Ecology & Hydrology. Increases in the future likelihood of extreme wildfire events, on the scale of 20232024, can be minimized by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Following a low emissions scenario (SSP126) can limit the future likelihood of extreme fires. In western Amazonia, the frequency of events like 202324 is projected to be no larger in 2100 than in the current decade under a low emissions scenario. In Canada, the future increase in frequency of extreme fires is reduced from a factor of six to a factor of two, while in Greece the increase is limited to 30%. "Whatever emissions scenario we follow, risks of extreme wildfires will increase in Canada, highlighting that society must not only cut emissions but also adapt to changing wildfire risks," said Dr. Kelley. "These projections highlight the urgent need to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and manage vegetation in order to reduce the risk and impacts of increasingly severe wildfires on society and ecosystems." Disentangling the causes of extreme fires Several factors control fire, including weather conditions influenced by climate change, the density of vegetation on the landscape influenced by climate and land management, and ignition opportunities influenced by people and lightning. Disentangling the influence of these factors can be complex, but the report used cutting-edge fire models to reveal the influence of different factors on extreme fire activity. The report found that the area burned by fires in Canada and Greece would likely have been larger if the landscape had not been altered by people. Activities such as agriculture, forestry, and dedicated fire management efforts all influence the landscape, and can reduce the density of vegetation. In addition, firefighters also help to reduce fire spread by tackling active wildfires. When wildfires meet areas with sparse vegetation or more aggressive firefighting strategies, they can run out of fuel or be contained. "In Canada and Greece, a mix of severe fire weather and plenty of dry vegetation reinforced one another to drive a major uptick in the number and extent of fires last year," said Dr. Francesca Di Giuseppe, Senior Scientist at ECMWF. She added, "But our analysis also shows that factors such as suppression and landscape fragmentation related to human activities likely played important roles in limiting the final extent of the burned areas. "Human practices played an important role in the most extreme events we analyzed. However, we found that the final extent of these fires was determined by the simultaneous occurrence of multiple predictable factorsprincipally weather, fuel abundance, and moisturerather than direct human influence." The report found that human activities increased the extent of the 2023 wildfires in western Amazonia. In this region, the expansion of agriculture has resulted in widespread deforestation and forest degradation. This has left forests more vulnerable to fire during periods of drought and fire weather, amplifying the effect of climate change. During 202324, the fourth most powerful El Nino event on record drove a prolonged drought and heat wave in South America. This natural feature of Earth's climate increases temperatures and reduces rainfall in Amazonia every three to eight years, but it is increasingly superimposed on higher temperatures due to climate change. "In many tropical forests like Amazonia, deforestation and the expansion of agriculture have exacerbated the effects of climate change on wildfire risk, leaving these vital ecosystems more vulnerable," said Dr. Burton. An eye towards the 20242025 fire season Forecasting fire risk is a growing research area and early warning systems have already been built based on weather factors alone. For example, in Canada, extreme fire weather was predicted two months in advance and provided early indications of high fire potential in 2023. Events in Greece and Amazonia had shorter windows of predictability. For the 202425 season, forecasts suggested a continued above-average likelihood of fire weatherhot, dry, and windy conditionsin parts of North and South America, which presented favorable conditions for wildfires in California, Alberta, British Columbia, and in the Brazilian Pantanal in June and July. Dr. Di Giuseppe said, "We're not particularly surprised by some of the recent fires in the news, as above-average fire weather was predicted in parts of North and South America. However, the extensive Arctic fires we've witnessed recently have caught us by surprisesomething to look at in our next report." 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: Men riding a camel across a flooded field on the banks of river Ganges in India on August 6. Torrential storms lashing South Asia have killed hundreds of people since June, official data showed Tuesday, with flooding and landslides causing widespread devastation during the treacherous monsoon season. Weather-related disasters are common during the monsoon season from June to September, but experts say climate change is increasing their frequency and severity. The deaths include at least 250 in India, 171 in Nepal and 178 in Pakistan, according to official data in each country. In India, just months after the country baked in its longest-ever heat wave, according to government weather experts, ferocious rainstorms have triggered widespread flooding and landslides. The crushing heat wave in May and June saw temperatures in New Delhi match the capital's previous record high: 49.2C (120.5F) clocked in 2022. Now the heat has been replaced by rains. India's weather department this week warned of "heavy rainfall" over much of the south and northeastern states. On Tuesday, rescue teams searched for two missing people after nine drowned when a surge of water smashed through the Una district of Himachal Pradesh state. Witnesses saw a car being swept away like a toy by the swollen muddy river. "Several people tried to stop the car...as the current was increasing but the car sped past and soon the car was swept away by the strong current," Rajendra Kumar said. People commute through a waterlogged road after heavy rainfall in Gurgaon, outside India's capital New Delhi. Floods in deserts Scores of people have died in India this month alone, while 200 people died in the southern state of Kerala last month when landslides hit villages and tea plantations. In Nepal, 171 people have died since monsoon rains began in mid-June, including 109 people in landslides. Other deaths have been caused by floods and lightning, according to the disaster authority. Searches continue in central Nepal's Chitwan district for two buses swept over concrete crash barriers in a raging river on July 12, killing around 50 people. Ninety-two children are among the 178 deaths across Pakistan since the rains arrived in July, with the collapse of homes the biggest killer, according to the National Disaster Management Authority. In the north-western province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, mountain villages have been warned of the risk of glacial lake flooding this week as temperatures and humidity climb. Men row a boat near a deluged straw hut in the river Ganges in Prayagraj: in India, just months after the country baked in its longest-ever heatwave, ferocious rainstorms have triggered widespread flooding and landslides. Children play after rainfall in the old quarters of Delhi on August 8. Monsoon rains across the region from June to September offer respite from the summer heat and are crucial to replenishing water supplies. Monsoon rains across the region from June to September offer respite from the summer heat and are crucial to replenishing water supplies. They are also vital for agriculture, and therefore the livelihoods of millions of farmers and food security for South Asia's nearly two billion people. India is the world's third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases but has committed to achieve a net zero emissions economy by 2070two decades after most of the industrialized West. For now, it is overwhelmingly reliant on coal for power generation. Pakistan, meanwhile, contributes less than one percent to global greenhouse gases yet is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change. In 2022, catastrophic flooding plunged a third of the country underwater, killing over 1,700 people, displacing 33 million and destroying thousands of homes. 2024 AFP This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain A study by Michigan State University's College of Social Science found a dramatic decline in people's desire to stand out from other people over the past 20 years. The study, published in Collabra: Psychology, tracked over a million people's desire to stand out or be unique from 2000 until 2020. This study provides some of the first evidence-based data comparing people's motivation to stand out in today's hyper-digital world compared to the early 2000s. The study looked at three dimensions of uniqueness: concern about other people's reactions, desire to break the rules and the willingness to defend beliefs publicly. All three facets declined but the most dramatic were people being hesitant to defend their beliefs publicly (a 6.52% decline) and becoming more concerned with what people think about them (a 4.28% decline). This data suggests that individuals see that expressing uniqueness might compromise their ability to fit in with others or may even lead to being ostracized. "A 6.52% decline is a dramatic population change in as short as 20 years," said William Chopik, lead author of the study and associate professor in the Department of Psychology. "Our data confirms a lot of intuitions people have. It's not just in their heads that we inhabit punitive spaces. Indeed, people are afraid of drawing too much attention to themselves, potentially because doing so leaves them vulnerable or at risk of being ostracized (or cancelled). This study acknowledges that people have valid fears and concerns about standing out, so much so that they're less willing to do so." The researchers see that this decline in wanting to stand out has major societal implications. "It's really important to have people willing to go against the grainsay the occasional unpopular thing, challenge groupthink, highlight the need to compromise with people different than us, and not cover up the diversity of opinions and people because they're too scared to stand out," said Chopik. "Withholding who we authentically are by trying so hard to blend in can ironically backfire and lead to guilt, anxiety and, sometimes, even more animosity between people." More information: William Chopik et al, Changes in Need for Uniqueness From 2000 Until 2020, Collabra: Psychology (2024). DOI: 10.1525/collabra.121937 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: Solar Mamas working on solar panels at Barefoot College Zanzibar. Credit: Chalmers University of Technology, Barefoot College Zanzibar, Olga Timokhina Involving women in implementing solar energy technologies in developing countries not only has great climate impact. A new study published in Nature Energy and carried out by researchers from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, shows that empowering women through energy care work can change unjust, gendered norms and long-lived injustices. Unlike going from fossil to renewable fuels within the transport sector, transitioning to renewable energy for electricity production is often done at the local level due to decentralized energy providers. Around the world, there are community-led programs that provide solar, wind and hydro power, as alternative, greener energy sources. While these programs have the potential to help improve climate impact, they run the risk of maintaining deep-rooted gender imbalances through a lack of people-centered research and missing out the important, but often undervalued work of women within a community. The new study by Chalmers researchers, analyzes what is needed to successfully implement a renewable energy transition program and at the same time tackle systemic gender injustice. "The climate crisis has put us in a position to stop and look back on our society, the rampant inequalities and the development planning being driven by over-consumption. As we chart a way out, it is important to emphasize that sustainability and justice go hand in hand. It is important to think of energy transitions as embracing social, economic and environmental aspects and here gender equality is a key," says Kavya Michael, researcher at Chalmers University of Technology and lead author of the paper. Technical training and female empowerment In the recently published study "A conceptual analysis of gendered energy care work and epistemic injustice through a case study of Zanzibar's Solar Mamas," Michael spent time observing and interviewing women in a project led by Barefoot College International, in Zanzibar, Tanzania. The Solar Mamas-project provided women at the heart of the community with technical training to become energy providers in the transition to solar energy, giving them the skills and knowledge to install and maintain solar panels and bringing electric light to previously inaccessible spaces. This meant that businesses within the community could stay open after dark and women started occupying public spaces more in the evenings as there was light. Through the training, the women became "community caregivers," and this meant that their work, both in providing solar panels and light to the community, and the work they continued to do within the household was valued and respected more. "Women in Zanzibar were traditionally responsible for domestic energy provisioning, such as collecting firewood or buying kerosene, but these were never jobs that were considered or valued. By placing a value on the roles that were previously taken for granted by the female members of the group, their role in society was advanced," explains Michael. The training also provided the women with a conducive environment to facilitate empowerment and change. "What is unique about the program at Barefoot Zanzibar is that, as well as the technical training, there was a module called ENRICHE which is part of the Solar Mamas training curriculum where they are provided with a safe space to reflect on unjust gendered norms and social practices. The women are given education about their rights, reproductive health and financial literacy, among other things. This module plays a huge role in 'unlearning' the systemic injustices that are prevalent in their societies," says Michael. Support from all levels key for success The study shows that there is potential for locally led energy transitions to break established gender norms and successfully combine a move to renewable energy with a gender-just society. The findings illustrate the need for energy transitions research, policy and practice to be deeply informed by lived experiences, diverse practices of care within the energy webs and valuing of multiple voices. "I believe lessons from the Zanzibar case can give valuable insights in driving forward gender-just, locally led sustainable transitions in other settings. However, these initiatives are often not backed up by the state and hence fail to make a significant impact. In this study, we see change actually happening because the whole process of the program, from community meetings, to recruitments, to training and follow-ups are done together with the state. "Whenever there is a bottleneck, for example when male partners prevented their wives from joining the training after they were selected, the state intervenes. The truly unique part of this study, which could be recreated elsewhere, is the empowerment of women, in combination with the change of men and the whole community, working together towards energy transitions. Zanzibar is a very patriarchal space, if it can work in Zanzibar, then there is the potential for it to work in many other places as well," concludes Michael. A new concept focusing on energy and care The theoretical framework used to understand this case study is unique. Using four key themescare, knowledge, power and energyMichael and the team from Chalmers, created a list of "codes" from the interviews they conducted with the Solar Mamas, Barefoot College Staff and Government representatives. This coded framework allowed the researchers to analyze the data from the qualitative research and understand the dynamics of the project. The findings from the study place a great value on the concept of care and the importance in valuing this fully within a community in the transition to renewable energy. An innovative concept of gendered energy care work is described in the paper, which puts a value on the role of women in providing energy within a community to help chart a way out of the climate crisis. "Energy and care are deeply connected in two key ways, energy can either enable or hinder care work, and care work influences energy demands. For a just energy transition that supports and fairly distributes care, it's crucial to include care in energy transition analyses," says Michael. This innovative approach using a lens of energy and care, helps to understand and value gendered energy care work, specifically women's previously invisible work, involving skilled labor in everyday life. More about the study's definition of care In this paper Michael and Helene Ahlborg draw on the concept of care as defined by Fisher and Tronto as an activity encompassing everything we do to maintain, continue, and repair our world to live in it as well as possible. This world includes our bodies, ourselves, and our environment, all of which we aim to weave into a complex, life-sustaining web. Building on this definition, the researchers introduce the concept of "energy care work," referring to the daily practices at household and community levels that involve provisioning, sustaining, maintaining, repairing, and ensuring the availability of energy carriers and services for everyday life. This perspective on energy care work not only focuses on caring for people but also on the infrastructures and technologies, and their environmental impacts. It is based on the lived experiences of dependence and relationships within energy networks, recognizing the intricate connections between individuals, energy systems, and the ecosystems that support their daily activities. More information: Kavya Michael et al, A conceptual analysis of gendered energy care work and epistemic injustice through a case study of Zanzibar's Solar Mamas, Nature Energy (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41560-024-01539-1 Journal information: Nature Energy 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: Mololo Cave system showing excavation units. Inset A) location of Mololo Cave at the entrance to Mayalibit Bay. Inset B) transect of entrance to Mololo Cave, relative to mean sea level (MSL) . Credit: Antiquity (2024). DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2024.83 In the deep human past, highly skilled seafarers made daring crossings from Asia to the Pacific Islands. It was a migration of global importance that shaped the distribution of our speciesHomo sapiensacross the planet. These mariners became the ancestors of people who live in the region today, from West Papua to Aotearoa New Zealand. For archaeologists, however, the precise timing, location and nature of these maritime dispersals have been unclear. For the first time, our new research published in Antiquity provides direct evidence that seafarers traveled along the equator to reach islands off the coast of West Papua more than 50 millennia ago. Digging at the gateway to the Pacific Our archaeological fieldwork on Waigeo Island in the Raja Ampat archipelago of West Papua represents the first major international collaboration of its kind, involving academics from New Zealand, West Papua, Indonesia and beyond. We focused our excavations at Mololo Cave, a colossal limestone chamber surrounded by tropical rainforest. It stretches a hundred meters deep and is home to bat colonies, monitor lizards and the occasional snake. In the local Ambel language, Mololo means the place where the currents come together, fittingly named for the choppy waters and large whirlpools in the nearby straits. Excavation uncovered several layers of human occupation associated with stone artifacts, animal bones, shells and charcoalall physical remains discarded by ancient humans living at the cave. These archaeological findings were rare in the deepest layers, but radiocarbon dating at the University of Oxford and the University of Waikato demonstrated humans were living at Mololo by at least 55,000 years before the present day. Foraging in the rainforest A key finding of the excavation was a tree resin artifact that was made at this time. This is the earliest example of resin being used by people outside of Africa. It points to the complex skills humans developed to live in rainforests. Scanning-electron microscope analysis indicated the artifact was produced in multiple stages. First, the bark of a resin-producing tree was cut and the resin was allowed to drip down the trunk and harden. Then the hardened resin was snapped into shape. The tree resin artefact found at Mololo Cave dates back to 55,000 to 50,000 years ago. The chart shows how it may have been made and used. Credit: Antiquity (2024). DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2024.83 The function of the artifact is unknown, but it may have been used as a fuel source for fires inside the cave. Similar resin was collected during the 20th century around West Papua and used for fires before gas and electric lighting were introduced. Our study of animal bones from Mololo indicates people hunted ground-dwelling birds, marsupials and possibly megabats. Despite Waigeo Island being home to small animals that are difficult to capture, people were adapting to using rainforest resources alongside the coastal foods islands readily offer. This is an important example of human adaptation and flexibility in challenging conditions. Seafaring pathways to the Pacific The Mololo excavation helps us to clarify the precise time humans moved into the Pacific. This timing is hotly debated because it has major implications for how rapidly our species dispersed out of Africa to Asia and Oceania. It also has implications for whether people drove Oceanic megafauna like giant kangaroos (Protemnodon) and giant wombats (Diprotodontids) to extinction, and how they interacted with other species of hominins like the "hobbit" (Homo floresiensis) that lived on the islands of Indonesia until about 50,000 years ago. Archaeologists have proposed two hypothetical seafaring corridors leading into the Pacific: a southern route into Australia and a northern route into West Papua. In what is today northern Australia, excavations indicate humans may have settled the ancient continent of Sahul, which connected West Papua to Australia, by 65,000 years ago. However, findings from Timor suggest people were moving along the southern route only 44,000 years ago. Our work supports the idea that the earliest seafarers crossed instead along the northern route into West Papua, later moving down into Australia. West Papua: An archaeological enigma Despite our research, we still know very little about the deep human past in West Papua. Research has been limited primarily because of the political and social crisis in the region. Importantly, our research shows early West Papuans were sophisticated, highly mobile and able to devise creative solutions to living on small tropical islands. Ongoing excavations by our project aim to provide further information about how people adapted to climatic and environmental changes in the region. We know from other archaeological sites in the independent country of Papua New Guinea that once humans arrived in the Pacific region, they kept venturing as far as the New Guinea Highlands, the Bismarck Archipelago and the Solomon Islands by 30,000 years ago. It was not until about 3,000 years ago that seafarers pushed out beyond the Solomon Islands to settle the smaller islands of Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. Their descendants later voyaged as far as Hawaii, Rapa Nui and Aotearoa. Charting the archaeology of West Papua is vital because it helps us understand where the ancestors of the wider Pacific came from and how they adapted to living in this new and unfamiliar sea of islands. More information: Dylan Gaffney et al, Human dispersal and plant processing in the Pacific 55,00050,000 years ago, Antiquity (2024). DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2024.83 Journal information: Antiquity This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: NASAs Cold Atom Lab, shown where its installed aboard the International Space Station, recently demonstrated the use of a tool called an atom interferometer that can precisely measure gravity and other forces and has many potential applications in space. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA's Cold Atom Lab, a first-of-its-kind facility aboard the International Space Station, has taken another step toward revolutionizing how quantum science can be used in space. Members of the science team measured subtle vibrations of the space station with one of the lab's onboard toolsthe first time ultra-cold atoms have been employed to detect changes in the surrounding environment in space. The study, which appeared in Nature Communications on Aug. 13, also reports the longest demonstration of the wave-like nature of atoms in freefall in space. The Cold Atom Lab science team made their measurements with a quantum tool called an atom interferometer, which can precisely measure gravity, magnetic fields, and other forces. Scientists and engineers on Earth use this tool to study the fundamental nature of gravity and advance technologies that aid aircraft and ship navigation. (Cell phones, transistors, and GPS are just a few other major technologies based on quantum science but do not involve atom interferometry.) Physicists have been eager to apply atom interferometry in space because the microgravity there allows longer measurement times and greater instrument sensitivity, but the exquisitely sensitive equipment has been considered too fragile to function for extended periods without hands-on assistance. The Cold Atom Lab, which is operated remotely from Earth, has now shown it's possible. "Reaching this milestone was incredibly challenging, and our success was not always a given," said Jason Williams, the Cold Atom Lab project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. "It took dedication and a sense of adventure by the team to make this happen." Power of precision Space-based sensors that can measure gravity with high precision have a wide range of potential applications. For instance, they could reveal the composition of planets and moons in our solar system, because different materials have different densities that create subtle variations in gravity. This type of measurement is already being performed by the U.S.-German collaboration GRACE-FO (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-on), which detects slight changes in gravity to track the movement of water and ice on Earth. An atom interferometer could provide additional precision and stability, revealing more detail about surface mass changes. Precise measurements of gravity could also offer insights into the nature of dark matter and dark energy, two major cosmological mysteries. Dark matter is an invisible substance five times more common in the universe than the "regular" matter that composes planets, stars, and everything else we can see. Dark energy is the name given to the unknown driver of the universe's accelerating expansion. "Atom interferometry could also be used to test Einstein's theory of general relativity in new ways," said University of Virginia professor Cass Sackett, a Cold Atom Lab principal investigator and co-author of the new study. "This is the basic theory explaining the large-scale structure of our universe, and we know that there are aspects of the theory that we don't understand correctly. This technology may help us fill in those gaps and give us a more complete picture of the reality we inhabit." Atom interferometer set up onboard the ISS. Credit: Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50585-6 A portable lab About the size of a minifridge, the Cold Atom Lab launched to the space station in 2018 with the goal of advancing quantum science by putting a long-term facility in the microgravity environment of low Earth orbit. The lab cools atoms to almost absolute zero, or minus 459 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 273 degrees Celsius). At this temperature, some atoms can form a Bose-Einstein condensate, a state of matter in which all atoms essentially share the same quantum identity. As a result, some of the atoms' typically microscopic quantum properties become macroscopic, making them easier to study. Quantum properties include sometimes acting like solid particles and sometimes like waves. Scientists don't know how these building blocks of all matter can transition between such different physical behaviors, but they're using quantum technology like what's available on the Cold Atom Lab to seek answers. In microgravity, Bose-Einstein condensates can reach colder temperatures and exist for longer, giving scientists more opportunities to study them. The atom interferometer is among several tools in the facility enabling precision measurements by harnessing the quantum nature of atoms. Due to its wave-like behavior, a single atom can simultaneously travel two physically separate paths. If gravity or other forces are acting on those waves, scientists can measure that influence by observing how the waves recombine and interact. "I expect that space-based atom interferometry will lead to exciting new discoveries and fantastic quantum technologies impacting everyday life, and will transport us into a quantum future," said Nick Bigelow, a professor at University of Rochester in New York and Cold Atom Lab principal investigator for a consortium of U.S. and German scientists who co-authored the study. More information: Jason R. Williams et al, Pathfinder experiments with atom interferometry in the Cold Atom Lab onboard the International Space Station, Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50585-6 Journal information: Nature Communications Provided by NASA 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: Technicians inspect NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope's Wide Field Instrument upon delivery to the big clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn The primary instrument for NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is a sophisticated camera that will survey the cosmos from the outskirts of our solar system all the way out to the edge of the observable universe. Called the Wide Field Instrument, it was recently delivered to the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The camera's large field of view, sharp resolution, and sensitivity from visible to near-infrared wavelengths will give Roman a deep, panoramic view of the universe. Scanning much larger portions of the sky than astronomers can with NASA's Hubble or James Webb space telescopes will open new avenues of cosmic exploration. Roman is designed to study dark energy (a mysterious cosmic pressure thought to accelerate the universe's expansion), dark matter (invisible matter seen only via its gravitational influence), and exoplanets (worlds beyond our solar system). "This instrument will turn signals from space into a new understanding of how our universe works," said Julie McEnery, the Roman senior project scientist at Goddard. "To achieve its main goals, the mission will precisely measure hundreds of millions of galaxies. That's quite a dataset for all kinds of researchers to pull from, so there will be a flood of results on a vast array of science." About 1,000 people contributed to the Wide Field Instrument's development, from the initial design phase to assembling it from around a million individual components. The WFI's design was a collaborative effort between Goddard and BAE Systems in Boulder, Colorado. Teledyne Imaging Sensors, Hawaii Aerospace Corporation, Applied Aerospace Structures Corporation, Northrop Grumman, Honeybee Robotics, CDA Intercorp, Alluxa, and JenOptik provided critical components. Those parts and many more, made by other vendors, were delivered to Goddard and BAE Systems, where they were assembled and tested prior to the instrument's delivery to Goddard this month. "I am so happy to be delivering this amazing instrument," said Mary Walker, Roman's Wide Field Instrument manager at Goddard. "All the years of hard work and the team's dedication have brought us to this exciting moment." NASAs Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is a next-generation observatory that will survey the infrared universe from beyond the orbit of the Moon. The spacecrafts giant camera, the Wide Field Instrument, will be fundamental to this exploration. Data it gathers will enable scientists to discover new and uniquely detailed information about planetary systems around other stars. The instrument will also map how matter is structured and distributed throughout the cosmos, which could ultimately allow scientists to discover the fate of the universe. Watch this video to see a simplified version of how the Wide Field Instrument works. Credit: NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center Seeing the bigger picture After Roman launches by May 2027, each of the Wide Field Instrument's 300-million-pixel images will capture a patch of the sky bigger than the apparent size of a full moon. The instrument's large field of view will enable sweeping celestial surveys, revealing billions of cosmic objects across vast stretches of time and space. Astronomers will conduct research that could take hundreds of years using other telescopes. By observing from space, Roman's camera will be very sensitive to infrared lightlight with longer wavelengths than our eyes can seefrom far across the cosmos. This ancient cosmic light will help scientists address some of the biggest cosmic mysteries, one of which is how the universe evolved to its present state. From the telescope, light's path through the instrument begins by passing through one of several optical elements in a large wheel. These elements include filters, which allow specific wavelengths of light to pass through, and a grism and prism, which split light into all of its individual colors. These detailed patterns, called spectra, reveal information about the object that emitted the light. Then, the light travels on toward the camera's set of 18 detectors, which each contain 16 million pixels. The large number of detectors and pixels gives Roman its large field of view. The instrument is designed for accurate, stable images and exquisite precision in measuring the exact amount of light in every pixel of every image, giving Roman unprecedented power to study dark energy. The detectors will be held at about minus 300 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 184 degrees Celsius) to increase sensitivity to the infrared universe. This photo shows the Wide Field Instrument for NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope arriving at the big clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. About the size of a commercial refrigerator, this instrument will help astronomers explore the universe's evolution and the characteristics of worlds outside our solar system. Unlocking these cosmic mysteries and more will offer a better understanding of the nature of the universe and our place within it. Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn "When the light reaches the detectors, that marks the end of what may have been a 10-billion-year journey through space," said Art Whipple, an aerospace engineer at Goddard who has contributed to the Wide Field Instrument's design and construction for more than a decade. Once Roman begins observing, its rapid data delivery will require new analysis techniques. "If we had every astronomer on Earth working on Roman data, there still wouldn't be nearly enough people to go through it all," McEnery said. "We're looking at modern techniques like machine learning and artificial intelligence to help sift through Roman's observations and find where the most exciting things are." Now that the Wide Field Instrument is at Goddard, it will be tested to ensure everything is operating as expected. It will be integrated onto the instrument carrier and mated to the telescope this fall, bringing scientists one step closer to making groundbreaking discoveries for decades to come. More information: To virtually tour an interactive version of the telescope, visit this link. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain To ensure her trail cameras would stay operational during the hot Arizona summer, researcher Kinley Ragan trekked to 23 of them. At each, Ragan, a field research project manager with the Phoenix Zoo, checked the camera's batteries and SD card, as well as ensured the camera was angled at an optimal position, Ragan told McClatchy News in an Aug. 12 phone interview. She was flipping through the last of 100 videos on one of the camera's SD cards during her July trip to the Atascosa Highlands area when something caught her eye. "At the very, very end, I saw (an) ocelot," Ragan said. The June 12 footage shows an ocelot walk across the screen before stopping and standing on a rock. "I was in disbelief at first, watching the video over and over again," Ragan said in an Aug. 12 zoo news release, "but soon a big smile spread across my face as the full impact of this discovery for the important region set in." This was the first time an ocelot has been seen "in the Atascosa Highlands region in at least 50 years," the zoo said. "It's super exciting news," Ragan said, adding that the sighting leaves her "hopeful." Wildlife study The zoo set up 50 cameras across the area in April as part of the Atascosa Complex Wildlife Study, Ragan said. The area, "which includes the Atascosa, Tumacacori, and Pajarito mountains," is understudied, the zoo said. "We're looking to better understand medium and large mammals and how they're moving and existing within this important wildlife corridor," Ragan said. While the team was hopeful one of the cameras, which will remain in place until October 2025, would pick up an ocelot, they were unsure. "There hadn't been research done there in 10 years and there hadn't been a record in 50 years," Ragan said. "So we weren't sure, but we were really happy when we did get this record." 'A new cat' In the past decade, another ocelot, named Lil' Jefe, has been spotted roaming in the state, the Arizona Republic reported. The recently spotted feline, however, "is a new cat not previously seen in the state," the zoo said. "(Arizona Game and Fish Department) has conducted a pelage spot analysis comparing this ocelot with the current known ocelot in the state, as well as previous ocelots and concludes that this is indeed a new ocelot," Tracy McCarthey with AZGFD said in the release. Across their entire range, from South America to the United States, the ocelot population is decreasing, but they are listed as "least concern" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, according to Ragan. "However, in Arizona, they are critically endangered, and they're also endangered in Mexico," Ragan said. Some threats to the species' survival "include habitat fragmentation and loss," according to the zoo. While many associate the ocelot with "rain forests and maybe South America or Central America," the felines do roam all the way north into Arizona and Texas, Ragan said. "They are known to be in these drier climates as well, just less common," Ragan said. The cats, small to medium in size, are spotted, according to Ragan. "All their spots are unique to each individual," Ragan said, "so you can identify an ocelot based on unique spot patterns." 'A lot more questions' With the "rare species," Ragan said she hopes the study can help better understand the animal. Ragan said she plans to trek back out to check the remaining trail cameras at the end of August, when she may possibly get more answers. "We basically just have a lot more questions now," Ragan said. "All great things, but more work to be done for sure." 2024 The Charlotte Observer. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Elon Musk officially endorsed Donald Trump for president of the United States on July 13, 2024, shortly after Trump survived an assassination attempt. Musk, a billionaire technology entrepreneur, has made groundbreaking contributions in multiple industries, particularly space travel and exploration. Even before Musk's endorsement, Trump was reportedly considering giving the billionaire an advisory role if elected for a second term. With Musk's public support and financial backing, it now seems even more likely that Trump would offer him an official position in his administration. As someone who studies space and international relations, I am interested in how Musk might influence U.S. space policy if Trump wins in November. Their partnership could significantly shape the future of U.S. space exploration and defense, as well as shift the balance of power between the public and private sectors in space. Current US space policy A nation's space policy reflects its vision and priorities for outer space. U.S. space policya mix of continuity from past administrations and recent directivesis outlined in key documents, including the U.S. National Space Policy, the U.S. Space Priorities Framework, Space Policy Directives and other official publications. Current space policy emphasizes maintaining U.S. leadership in space, protecting U.S. space assets and working with commercial and international partners to promote safe, secure and responsible behavior in space. Its key elements include growing the American commercial space sector and returning astronauts to the moon. Musk's company SpaceX has been instrumental in advancing these goals, supporting both NASA and the U.S. Space Forcethe newest branch of the U.S. militaryin their missions. SpaceX's innovations, such as the reusable Falcon 9 rockets, the Starlink satellite internet and the powerful Starship, have dramatically transformed access to and use of outer space. The 20162020 Trump administration advanced many of the current U.S. space policy goals, some of which closely align with Musk's own ambitions for space. Space synergy: Trump's and Musk's shared ambitions Trump and Musk agree on three main objectives in space. First, both are committed to human expansion beyond Earth. Trump's Space Policy Directive 1, signed on Dec. 11, 2017, set the U.S. on a course to return astronauts to the moon and establish a permanent presence there, followed by human missions to Mars and beyond. This directive aligns with Musk's vision of colonizing Mars, which is guiding the development of Starship: the most powerful and massive spacecraft ever built. Designed to be fully reusable, Starship will carry large payloads and be capable of deep space travelincluding lunar landings and journeys to the red planet. NASA's Artemis program, which originated from Trump's Space Policy Directive 1, plans to return humans to the moon by 2026. To achieve this goal, NASA partnered with SpaceX in 2021 to develop the Starship Human Landing System spacecraft, which will transport astronauts and cargo from lunar orbit to the moon's surface and back. NASAs Artemis program plans to return humans to the Moon by 2026. Second, both Trump and Musk support commercial involvement in space. Trump's Space Policy Directive 1 specifically calls for commercial and international partnerships, marking a shift from the previous administration. President Joe Biden has continued this push to develop a robust commercial U.S. space sector. This recognition of the pivotal role that private industries can play in space exploration aligns with Musk's record as an entrepreneur and innovator. Under Musk, SpaceX has not only provided essential services to NASA, but it has also driven innovation to new heights. The company has significantly lowered the cost of space ventures and made space more accessible to a broader audience of space explorers. Third, both favor deregulation. Trump's administration sought to reduce regulatory barriers through directives like his Space Policy Directive 2, which aimed to streamline commercial space regulations to encourage faster growth and innovation in the private space industry. Even so, Musk has often found existing space regulations too restrictive. He has frequently challenged U.S. regulatorssuch as the Federal Aviation Administration which oversees launch and reentry requirementsand has called for "comprehensive deregulation." Contrasting space visions: Musk vs. Trump In terms of space priorities, Musk differs from Trump in three main aspects. First, Musk is focused on the long-term goal of making humanity a multi-planetary species, starting with colonizing Mars and establishing a self-sustaining human presence there. In contrast, Trump's approach to space emphasized asserting U.S. leadership by achieving near-Earth and near-term milestones, like returning Americans to the moon. Consequently, during his presidency, Trump prioritized the Artemis program and launched the Space Force to safeguard U.S. capabilities in space. Second, while both value the private sector, Musk, through SpaceX, has pushed for cost reduction, innovation and rapid iteration in space technology. SpaceX's Falcon rockets have reflown some 300 times, significantly cutting spaceflight costs. SpaceX also achieved major milestones in commercial spaceflight, including becoming the first private company to send astronauts to the International Space Station. In contrast, to fund the Artemis program, Trump called for a significant increase in NASA's budget. This move emphasized investing in government-led programs to achieve space objectives. Third, Musk appears more open to sharing patented information, even with his competitors. He famously stated that "patents are for the weak," arguing that they block innovation and stifle progress. While Musk continues to patent inventions, including those related to SpaceX, he has also expressed support for fostering innovation through openness and collaboration. In contrast, Trump's space policy focused on national security and strategic competition. The creation of the Space Force reflected Trump's view of space as a contested, military domain where the U.S. must protect its assets and maintain a competitive advantage. Musk's likely impact on future US space policy If Musk were to take on a larger, formal role in a second Trump administration, he would likely push for ambitious space missions and timelines. The initial focus would continue to be on the Artemis program and lunar settlements, with increased attention eventually shifting to human missions to Mars and beyond. A Trump-Musk partnership would likely further advance the commercialization of space. Musk could advocate for more deregulation of space activities, potentially challenging existing safety and security standards. While Musk is also likely to push for cost reduction, innovation and efficiency, it would be interesting to see how his efforts would fare against government bureaucracy. Whether Musk would affect U.S. space policy regarding international competitors like China remains uncertain. Musk's presence in a second Trump administration could, however, shed light on whether commercial space actors can help decrease tensions between countries in space. Musk is not a politician. He is a visionary and problem solver focused on the future of humanity. These qualities are also most likely to shape his impact on U.S. space policy. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. LAKE GEORGE - Noah Chirnomas, of Dome Island: Forever Wild on Lake George fame is taking another deep dive into Lake George. This time, he brings his passion for the lake and the preservation of its many islands to light in a new permanent exhibit, John Apperson: Protector of Lake George. I think the biggest challenge to tell John Appersons story is there is just so much, Chirnomas said Thursday during the exhibits opening. So many documents and photographs and correspondence, and theres so many different stories that relate to him. Chirnomas became familiar with Appersons work while he was researching his Dome Island book, which made him a prime candidate to work with the Lake George Historical Association on the exhibit. If not for Apperson, Dome Island would not have been preserved and left in its natural state, he said. This exhibits really going beyond Dome Island, that one accomplishment. Apperson actually bought Dome Island to keep a hotel from being built on it and then donated it to the Nature Conservancy. The exhibit focuses on several key aspects of Appersons involvement with the preservation of Lake George. This includes his early days camping on West Dollar Island and his one-man crusade to save it from eroding through riprapping the shoreline one stone at a time. Most Lake George islands now have riprapping, that is collections of small boulders along the island's shoreline, protecting the delicate earth, grasses and tree roots from the lake's waves. The riprapping work was often completed in winter, as the rocks were taken by truck and slid into place along the ice and allowed to drop into the water during the spring melt. Apperson made it his mission to protect all the lands in and around Lake George. He would put his own well being in jeopardy at times by confronting and removing squatters cabins from the islands. He even "kidnapped" New York Gov. Al Smith in 1932 to convince him to reroute a highway which was planned to cut through Tongue Mountain. He grew his grassroots movement into a formidable political force, which literally changed the landscape of the lake as well as the whole Adirondack Park. When the Adirondack Park was created back in 1892, Lake George was not included within the Adirondack Park boundaries," Chirnomas explained. "(Franklin Delano Roosevelt) was elected governor of New York in 1928. In 1931, he passed legislation to extend the Adirondack Park boundary, also known as the blue line to include all of the lake. Appersons acquaintance with FDR likely influenced the eastern expansion of the Blue Line.' Apperson's work driving public awareness of the natural beauty of Lake George is something of a double-edged sword for researchers like Chirnomas. His extensive documentation and detailed correspondence regarding the lake and its islands proved to be daunting task to wade through. Albeit a welcome one. I approached the (exhibit) with first trying to identify what were the most important stories and projects that Apperson fought for on the lake, Chirnomas said, highlighting the importance of Appersons own photographic campaign to tell Lake Georges story. Over 30-cubic-feet of his documents, letters, (and) photographs are all at the Adirondack Research Library in Niskayuna. He also enlisted the help of his Dome Island book collaborator Ellen Apperson Brown, who is also a prolific Apperson author. This exhibit could not have been done without Ellen Appersons work. Shes (been) the leading historian on John Apperson for the last few decades, Chirnomas said. Ellen Apperson Brown is the great grandniece of John Apperson. One of the biggest takeaways for Chirnomas was the persistence Apperson showed, and the change he inspired. Apperson inspires me to be a leader and to persevere, Chirnomas said. Chirnomas, who is entering his junior year at college, is currently working on his second book, which will explore the history of all the named islands along Lake George. This is just my passion, he said. I really enjoy Lake George history. (Its) something I love. The four-panel exhibit is now part of the permanent collection on display at the Lake George Historical Association housed in the old Warren County Courthouse, located at 290 Canada St. in Lake George. The two-year-long saga of Michael Music, a high school physical education teacher at South Glens Falls High School, may finally be near its end. The state commission of education found that the school board and superintendent acted in bad faith by transferring Music from the high school to the elementary school without just cause, according to the commission decision on June 26, 2024. Subsequently, he has been restored to the high school, but Music still wants an official recognition by the school board that he was mistreated. The superintendent did not respond to numerous requests for comment. At the South Glens Falls school board meeting Aug. 5, Music addressed the board in a public comment period, telling the board that he would like to see an annulment of the transfer as an item on the agenda, an official acknowledgement of the error. Any other things that happen in this district, or decisions that are made are typically on the agenda and approved. They were that way when I got transferred initially, both times they were on the agenda. And I would just like to see that correction, he added. In a tense exchange with Board President William Elder, Music asked whether Can I request a motion for my annulment (of the transfer) to be added to the agenda this evening? Elder responded No. When asked why, Elder added, The agendas already been set, and typically the board sets the agenda. That is where the decision would end, but Music says he is weighing options. The initial interaction, June 2022 Music had been a physical education teacher at the South High since 2006 and received tenure in 2009. In June 2022, a student made a formal complaint against Music. The complaint alleged that Music had made derogatory remarks to students in violation of the Dignity for All Students Act. The content of the remarks has not been made public. The Board and Superintendent launched an investigation and placed Music on paid administrative leave in 2022. Shortly after, Music met with district representatives and responded to the allegations against him. He was restored to teaching in South High after that meeting. However, a counseling memorandum was sent to Music in August 2022, advising that the investigation had concluded and, although a technical violation of [the Dignity Act] was not found, Musics behavior was inconsistent with the districts expectations for personnel and in violation of at least one policy relating to instruction and curriculum. The memorandum further advised that, going forward, Music should refrain from engaging in debates and/or conversations about controversial political and societal topics that fell outside the scope of the physical education curriculum. Musics rebuttal In September, Music sent the board a Letter of Counsel Rebuttal and Complaint in which he challenged the boards determination that his remarks constituted inappropriate and controversial conversation in violation of district policy. He further alleged that he was bullied by the boards investigation and his placement on paid administrative leave. He claimed that he was made to feel alienated from [his] profession, ... colleagues, and ... past and future students. The board investigated the claims in Musics rebuttal letter but concluded, after some back-and-forth with Music, that the superintendent had not harassed or discriminated against him. The school board notified music in May 2023, about nine months after it all started, that they found no basis to disturb the findings. Music appealed that decision to the New York State Commissioner of Education. In the appeal, he alleged that he was wrongfully suspended and that the counseling memorandum constituted an impermissible reprimand imposed without the procedural protections of the law. He also alleged that the administration discriminated against his religious beliefs and violated his First Amendment rights. He sought removal of the counseling memorandum and any mention of his suspension from his personnel file as well as a name-clearing hearing. The second interaction and reassignment In June 2023, Music was informed of his reassignment to a physical education teaching position at an elementary school within the school district for the upcoming 2023-2024 school year. A few days later he also received a second counseling memorandum dated June 7, 2023, from the superintendent. The memorandum concerned a second interaction between Music and a student in late May 2023 in which the superintendent described Musics conduct during the interaction as unacceptable and directed him to refrain from discussing certain topics unrelated to the physical education curriculum. Musics transfer was finalized at the August, 2023, board meeting, despite him speaking in opposition to the proposed transfer. Music proceeded to file a second appeal to the Commissioner of Education in which he described the transfer as disciplinary and retaliatory in nature. Music requested that the transfer be annulled, and that any reference to the transfer be removed from his personnel file. Music argued that the superintendent issued a counseling letter a substantial step toward disciplinary action the day before advising him of a transfer from his assignment of 17 years. He was also not given a reason for his transfer. The commission decides The commissioners decision, released June 26, 2024, concluded that while the board of education has broad authority to transfer teachers, this authority is not unlimited, and that the board acted in bad faith when it issued a counseling memorandum and transferred Music a day later. As such, petitioners transfer must be annulled, according to the decision. However, the decision declined to expunge the counseling memorandum from Musics personnel file and stated that Music is not entitled to a name-clearing hearing as he was not terminated and there is no evidence of defamation. At the board meeting, Music added, I would really just request and appreciate not to be retaliated against, based on the fact that I do publicly speak my concerns. It seems that that has happened to me on several occasions, and I would just really appreciate that not happening anymore. Music is not yet certain whether he will be taking any further action. Honestly, I really think this story should get out, because I think its going to help school districts around the state, which this decision has already rocked the State. Its already made ripples, he said. "W" is for Weirdo, but also for Welcome Editor: Weve heard a lot of W words during this campaign, especially WEIRDO and WHACKO. Maybe we all need to remind ourselves of other W words and give them their due. WE the peoplethats all of us. WELCOME the immigrantwe were all immigrants once. Make peace not WAR. Serious WORLD issues must be dealt with using diplomacy not weapons. WARM your heart not the planet. Raise WAGES to a decent living standard. Clean WATER for everyone. The WEAK are our brothers and sisters and we must help them. WELLNESS is a right and must be affordable for all. We are all part of the same WORLD FAMILY. We can do better than disparage those with whom we disagree. Name-calling is dangerous and does nothing to solve the serious problems we have. Kate Roos Glens Falls Don't tax everyone to cut taxes to short-term-rental owners Editor: Warren County Republican supervisors are promoting a sales tax increase that would balloon our current county rate from 3% to 4%. That amounts to a 33.3% tax increase. To put it in perspective, the current tax provides about $73 million in revenue so the Republican increase would bring in an additional $24.3 million for Republican supervisors to spend. That is far more than they need, so they propose as part of the deal to cut property tax. What that means is that they want to raise taxes on everyone so that they can cut taxes for out of county owners of short term rental properties and out of county vacation home owners. If you dont own a home you will pay more for nearly everything but wont get any property tax cut. If you own a modest home you will likely pay more in sales tax than you will benefit from a property tax break. When you buy a car you will pay hundreds of dollars in extra tax, but for other expensive items like large appliances or furniture it will save you a lot of money to drive a short distance to Saratoga County for those purchases. GOP supervisors are proposing giving away a competitive advantage to Warren county businesses for a tax increase that provides revenue they do not even need. Call your supervisor and tell them no to their Republican tax increase. Mike Parwana Queensbury Warren County: Now is not the time to raise taxes Editor: With this regime steering this rudderless ship into the abyss, it is not the time for any kind, no matter how small, of a tax increase. While Mr. Trump talks about helping the people that can't afford a house, a car, new clothing for their children to go back to school, you would think that our local representatives would use their heads and would also want to help us. Try and restrain yourselves people! We have a governor that wants to send money all over the place except, she doesn't want to fix our roads! We have a woman from who knows where, standing in front of starving people wearing a necklace worth $64,000, lying to us about the wonderful job she has done as vice president. Like a hyena, she laughs in our faces. Yes people, vote for her and you will get the joke!. Democrats you've really done yourselves in this time. After all the Biden has done to us these last three years, I am glad his own people stabbed him in the back. Notice they lied up to the last minute! It's what Dems do best! John Siebrecht Queensbury (Editor's Note: This letter was edited lightly to comport with our Letters Policy.) Writer Supports Elise Stefanik Editor: Im writing to support the efforts of my Congresswoman Elise Stefanik in fighting to restore sanity to American higher education. I have spent six years of my life in the higher education system, including 2020-2022 during COVID. I can tell you that everything you are hearing is true and then some. Speech is consistently stifled. Free thought is consistently suppressed. The most authoritarian left-wing ideals are pushed under the disingenuous guise of nonpartisanship. And all of this is happening at the taxpayer expense. During COVID, the most extreme dictatorial mandates were pushed without any explanation or logic or even competency. It was painfully apparent, the administrations, including my own, were being run by the most mediocre unimpressive people. People totally captured and obsequious to whatever the left-wing opinion of the hour happened to be. It has only gotten worse since then. It has now escalated to one of fear, hate, and demagoguery where students, professors, and colleges actively support terrorist organizations while discriminating, demeaning, and sometimes outright attacking Jewish and conservative students. I fully support Congresswoman Stefaniks initiatives in fighting to restore sanity to Americas Universities and protect our students and young people from the left's pernicious and destructive ideologies. I encourage all to join the effort Kevin McCarville Hague No parole for killer of slain police officer On Aug. 8, Lower Township Police Chief Kevin Lewis informed me that Chung Ho, the man who shot and killed then 34-year-old Lower Township Police Officer David C. Douglass during the commission of a burglary and arson on Feb. 18, 1994, was granted parole at his first hearing with the New Jersey State Parole Board. Despite the fact that the Cape May County Police Chiefs Association, the State PBA and the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police all wrote letters to the Parole Board opposing Chung Hos release from state prison. In fact, Officer Douglass family was called in front of the Parole Board twice to give painful testimony on how his killing has adversely affected each of their lives. However, as of Sept. 23, 2024, Chung Ho will be a free man, according to the Parole Board. I get that Chung Ho is now an old man, but 30 years ago, he made a conscious decision to take the life of a young Lower Township police officer. He now gets to spend the remainder of his days with his family. He never gave Dave Douglass that option. He was arrested in New York City after an intensive investigation by the Lower Township Police Department, the Cape May County Prosecutors Office, the FBI and NYPD Major Crimes. He then waived extradition to New Jersey with the stipulation that he not receive the death penalty. He was then sentenced to life in prison (which apparently in New Jersey does not mean life in prison). The Douglass family received a short, two-paragraph form letter from the Parole Board advising them of the release of the man who murdered their husband, father and grandfather. It closed by saying, If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to call them. Are you kidding me? I know that the Douglass family and the entire law enforcement community in New Jersey has many questions and concerns regarding this decision. Edward P. Donohue Lower Township chief of police (retired) Dont abandon pets Imagine being dumped off in a neighborhood without a wallet, food, shelter, friends or family and left to fend for yourself in a foreign land where you dont speak the language. That is what it is like for a defenseless animal that is dropped off by a former owner. It is absolutely horrific. I am the owner of Shore Animal Control, and we have had countless dogs and cats dumped in the post-COVID years after the surge in pet adoptions and it is heartbreaking. Just last week, we had a trap set for a Schnauzer that was dumped near the Funny Farm in Hamilton Township that ended up in Buena Vista that had been loose for over nine days. They tried to do the right thing, but this was not the right way to do it. We have a trap set now and hope to recover this animal but have no idea the damage to this poor dog, his mental state, or how he will engage with humans again. Shelters are overflowing with pets being returned for one reason or another. If you are in a difficult situation and cannot keep a pet, please do not just tie it up or let it go. Speak to your local animal control and shelter to find a solution. Abandoning a pet is absolutely the most horrific situation for an animal. Linda Gentille Shore Animal Control Speed boat racket unbearable We have spent several weekends in Ventnor this summer. For the most part, it has been a pleasure. We have enjoyed the beach, the Boardwalk and the family-friendly atmosphere. What we did not enjoy is the oppressive noise of the cigarette boats cruising up and down the coast. These boats are obnoxiously loud. They are an assault on the senses. They disturb the calm, prevent conversation and block out all natural sound. These super-loud machines convey a me-first attitude and a complete disregard for the people on the beach. My question: Why is this allowed? Why are these boats not required to be farther away from the coast? Why not adopt a rule which requires cigarette boats to run one mile off the coast? I hope that, when I come back to Ventnor next year, I wont have to hear the noise of these boats. Matthew I. Hirsch Philadelphia Editor's Note: This is third piece in a three-part series about cell phone policies in Quad-Cities schools. Students are talking to each other again, said teacher Scott King. King has taught physics at United Township High School for more than two decades, and he's noticed a change since the district implemented more restrictive off-and-away cell phone policies last school year. King said he saw a 100% benefit in overall engagement in all six of his classes. Without cell phones or personal devices distracting students, he said learning has increased more than it has in the last four years. It has promoted kids to start talking to each other again, he said. Before the policy changes, he said, many United Township students did not engage with one another, whether during classroom downtime or during class group work time. Anna Fank, a Spanish teacher at Bettendorf High School, echoed this. She said her students were also quick to pull out their devices during downtime in the past as well. People in general, we go to our phones instead of interacting with people by (us), next to us or around us, she said. Now, King said, students have no choice but to engage with one another, and as a result, he has seen more friendships formed in this last year than ever before. They couldn't just go to their own little space and be on their phone, he said. So, not only was it great educationally, but I think personally, for these kids, it worked out really, really well as well. Overall, King said his classrooms adjusted rather well to the policy implemented last year. During the 2023-2024 school year, he said he only had to send two students to the office for cell phone or personal electronic device usage. Expect academic improvement without phones Davenport Central High School leaders and staff hope to see an increase in academic achievement as its classrooms go phone-free with phones locked away next school year. Principal Brian Ehlinger suspects they'll see improved social-emotional skills, too. We (hope) to see students start to talk and deal with each other on a more human level, he said. I mean, the research is very definitive in what cell phones have done for (students mental health), so by limiting its use while they're at school, we hope there's some improvement there. As Moline High School continues its transitions to stricter cell phone policies, history teacher Trent Lamphier hopes to see similar results. Im a veteran teacher I can remember 5-10 years ago, kids were talking to each other, he said. Now, its dead silent, because every kid is just on their phone, and theres no natural collaboration. They are so into their phones, their own world, theyre not communicating with each other." Face-to-face communication is a key element of Fanks foreign language curriculum an area she said has improved since Bettendorf schools revamped its middle/high school cell phone policies in the summer of 2022. They do take those conversations seriously, and they are (engaged), she said. I have seen people grow in my class so I do think that does help having that technology out of the equation. Fank said shes even seen friendships form via classroom collaboration. She said her students follow Bettendorf High Schools personal device policies well overall, and she sets clear expectations in her classroom from day one. (Substitute teachers) will leave a note saying I never saw a phone once, Fank said. ... Even when Im gone, they know (off and away) is the expectation. Intermediate school aims to improve classroom engagement Williams Intermediate School in Davenport will pilot Yondr phone pouches this upcoming school year. Since cell phones have become Williams students biggest distraction, Principal Eric Johnson also hopes to see increased classroom engagement. Johnson said he and other building leaders will use standardized testing and behavioral referral data to gauge the pilots effectiveness. We are also hoping for improved scores on our Conditions for Learning Survey, he added, an annual, state-mandated survey. Are cell phone bans the solution? Bettendorf High School parent Ashley Essex doesnt think going to a full-blown cell ban would be advantageous. One, because kids are pretty addicted to them, she said. And two, because there is a lot of downtime where its appropriate for students to have their cell phones I just dont think, during active class time, they should have them out. It's just too much of a distraction. Noting the rapid pace of modern technology, Bettendorf Superintendent Michelle Morse said the district will step back and reflect on its cell phone policies each year, making updates as needed. While she can see advantages and disadvantages to implementing a ban policy, Morse said shes still doing some learning around that. On this front, Lamphier said a ban policy would need complete buy-in from district teachers and parents. Otherwise, it's not going to work, he said. As Moline High School ups its consequences for cell phone use next school year, principal Chris Moore said school leaders plan to explore a cell phone ban for the 2025-2026 school year. It will take everyone to make policies work Ehlinger said its important for school leaders, staff and families to join forces in navigating how to make cell phone policies and procedures work for all parties. We need admin supporting students, parents supporting admin and have parents supporting students, he said. Thats probably going to be the most valuable piece. Brett Johnson, a parent of four in the Davenport schools, agrees. However, he said the district could do better at promoting school board meeting participation or host other, more family-specific forums to gather input on cell phone policies. Incoming Bettendorf High School junior Cecilia Spector suggested school districts focus on empowering teachers to consistently enforce cell phone policies, along with exploring controlled options for student enrichment. There are a lot of eyes and scrutiny on teachers but its also so difficult, trying to keep (all) students engaged, she said. Some kids may be able to listen to a 40-minute lecture, but not all kids will be taking it all in for that time. Rather than allowing students to use their phones or personal devices during non-instructional downtime, Spector suggests providing other, more engaging options, that don't involve phones. Surveys, focus groups could help guide districts Moving forward, Morse said she could see Bettendorf schools conducting cell phone-related focus groups. (Stakeholder) input is always important to us, she said. If we did any surveying, wed use that information (to) help us guide other adjustments. With any form of technology, Morse said educators have a responsibility to help students learn how to use their devices responsibly much like workforce expectations. We all use technology to get our jobs done, so how do we use those in a responsible, ethical manner to be successful? she said. This is North Scott schools approach, supplemented by a district-wide digital citizenship program a framework, embedded into grade-level curriculums, to teach students how to use technology in a safe, appropriate manner. I think the battle of (student distractions) will be ongoing, and cell phones definitely play a role in that but Im not convinced removing them entirely solves that, said Dan Marceau, assistant principal of North Scott High School. I think there are other things we can do to build that level of engagement or ownership for students. Photos: In the show barn at the Mississippi Valley Fair BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) Colombia's defense ministry on Monday said 66 soldiers who had been kidnapped by villagers in the south of the country were released unharmed and will continue to carry out operations against rebel groups in the province of Guaviare. Colombia's army has long struggled to defeat rebel groups in the Guaviare area, which has been heavily affected by deforestation and cocaine trafficking. The rebels sometimes exert control over remote settlements in the area. In a message posted on the social platform X, the defense ministry said the soldiers had been held since Friday by large numbers of villagers who were following orders from a local rebel group, known as the Jorge Suarez Briceno front. On Sunday, Colombia's defense minister had threatened to break off a ceasefire with the Briceno front if the soldiers were not released. The province's governor, Yeison Roja, told Colombia's Caracol TV network that while some of the villagers who detained the soldiers could have been influenced by the rebel group, others were attempting to protest the army's presence because they don't want more fighting in the area. Colombia is currently holding peace negotiations with several armed groups that refused to join a 2016 peace deal between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, in which more than 14,000 fighters laid down their arms. The Briceno Front, is part of the FARC-EMC, a group of around 4,400 fighters that split recently, with around 40% of its fighters continuing negotiations with the government, while the rest walked away from peace talks and are now fighting the army in rural parts of Colombia. Twice, the state health department denied HCA Healthcares bid to build facilities on Sliding Hill Road in Hanover County. On its third try, HCA won approval. Last month, HCA received a Certificate of Public Need to build a $21 million outpatient surgery center called the Middle Virginia Surgicenter at 10054 Sliding Hill Road in Hanover. HCA said the new building will be the first piece of a larger hospital. But an executive with rival health system Bon Secours objected to the surgery center, calling it predatory and an undeniable market share play. Health systems are racing to serve Hanover patients, who are relatively wealthy and aging. Last year, HCA applied for a $234 million, 60-room hospital at Sliding Hill Road and Interstate 95. But the state health commissioner, Dr. Karen Shelton, rejected it, saying the hospital plan did not reflect the publics interest. Next, HCA applied to build a freestanding ER at the same site, but Shelton rejected that plan, too. On its third try, HCA applied for an outpatient surgical center that will have three operating rooms. Construction is expected to begin in 2026 and finish in 2027. HCA plans to spend about $8 million buying the parcel, which still needs to be rezoned by Hanover officials. The for-profit health system said the location will provide better health care access to Hanover residents. This time, HCA won a Certificate of Public Need. The health department determined the costs are reasonable and that another surgery center would be an asset. In 2022, there were 179 general purpose operating rooms in the area at 20 different locations. They operated at almost 90% capacity. HCA plans to move some of the least-used operating rooms at Henrico Doctors Hospital and Retreat Doctors Hospital to the new Hanover facility. As part of the approval, the surgery center must care for all patients regardless of their ability to pay. It must also provide charity care at a value of almost 1% of the facilitys total patient services revenue. HCAs project faced opposition from Bon Secours. In a letter, Bon Secours chief operating officer, Christopher Accashian, said HCA provided no data on the origin of its patients to support the claim that a substantial number of patients from the Ashland area prefer HCA for outpatient surgery. Accashian objected to HCAs plan, saying it is designed to sway customers away from Bon Secours, which operates the only hospital in the county, Memorial Regional Medical Center. Health department staff noted that because Memorial Regionals operating rooms are so busy, it is unlikely the new HCA operating rooms will substantially hurt Memorial Regional. HCA said the operating rooms will be the first stage of larger hospital project. Eventually, HCA wants to erect a freestanding emergency room, then a 60-bed hospital, a second medical office building and a possible 90-bed hospital expansion. The subsequent phases, which would take eight to 15 years to complete, would still need approval by the health department. Bon Secours is planning its own freestanding ER at 11400 N. Lakeridge Parkway in Hanover. The nonprofit health system plans to break ground on Wednesday. HCA is the nations largest health system, with 184 hospitals and 2,000 clinics in 21 states and the United Kingdom. The Virginia Commonwealth University Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs released a public opinion poll on Friday in which a majority of respondents say VCU President Michael Rao does not deserve his full salary. But a statement in the poll from former Gov. Doug Wilder contains two errors, and the question pollsters asked was based on false information. VCU responded, calling the former governor biased and saying his personal agenda has skewed polls regarding VCU and Rao. Its the second time this year the Wilder School has released a problematic opinion poll that claims to show widespread criticism of Rao. The former governor has repeatedly criticized the university president. Wilder, a Democrat, served as Virginias governor from 1990 to 1994. He now works at VCU as a distinguished professor, earning a salary of $177,000. In the public opinion poll, the Wilder School asked Virginia residents about VCU Healths failed redevelopment plan on East Clay Street. The health system paid more than $73 million to exit a project to build an office tower on the former Public Safety Building plot. The Public Safety Building was torn down this summer at a cost of $5 million, paid for by the health system. The poll also included opinions regarding Ukraine, Israel and teaching race in K-12 schools. In one question, pollsters claimed that a state investigation had determined Rao should not continue to serve on the VCU Health board of directors. Given that, the pollsters ask if Rao should continue to earn his full salary, worth $1.3 million, according to the university. But the states watchdog, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, never recommended Rao leave the board. It did suggest the VCU president no longer serve as chair of the board. The poll also asked if Rao should provide a public accounting of the money lost during the deal and whether Gov. Glenn Youngkin should have taken action on the failed project. The results show the people wanted answers from the VCU Health Systems board for the waste of tens of millions of dollars, Wilder said. The polls introduction contained two other errors. In a direct quote, Wilder said the General Assembly recommended Rao not serve on the health system board and that Rao resigned from the board. Neither is true. Raos status as chair of the health system board has not changed, and Rao cannot exit the position on his own such a move requires a change in law. He said he welcomes stepping back from health system leadership. VCU issued a statement on Friday, saying Wilders continued bias runs the risk of tarnishing the Wilder Schools otherwise strong reputation. The university added that Wilder School employees and students deserve better from the former governor. He has repeatedly taken aim at his own boss, Rao. Twice this year, the Wilder School released public opinion polls critical of Rao and VCU Healths failed development deal. VCU pointed out shortcomings in both. In January, the pollsters asked if Youngkin had sufficiently investigated the failed development and whether information had been concealed. About 100 respondents or fewer said they were familiar with the failed development. Despite the low number of respondents, the Wilder School made broad conclusions, saying the data indicates the need for an official investigation. VCU at the time called the results skewed and the sample size questionable. In 2022, following a personnel dispute at the Wilder School, the former governor accused VCUs provost of racism and sued Rao. Wilder dropped the suit a month later. Discussions between the city of Richmond and VCU Health regarding the Clay Street plot continues. As part of the original agreement, VCU Health agreed to pay the city $56 million over 25 years to replace the real estate tax the city would have received had it sold the property to a for-profit company. As part of a state authority, VCU Health does not pay real estate taxes. State legislators directed VCU Health to pursue terminating the deal, and VCU Health did not make a $2.5 million payment due in June. But Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said VCU Health should pay what it is contractually obligated to pay. A university spokesperson on Monday provided no update on the situation. From the Archives: Belvidere Street Atlantics fifth named storm Ernesto to turn hurricane as it heads for Bermuda Riviera Maya, Q.R. The Atlantics fifth named storm of the year is forecast to gain category 2 strength before making landfall at Bermuda. The system, which developed last last week, quickly became organized into a tropical system that had an initial trajectory for the Caribbean Sea. However, over the weekend, the National Hurricane Centre (NOAA) updated that trajectory to take a hard right upward turn into the North Atlantic. The Centre is issuing Tropical Storm Ernesto advisories for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands before taking the turn. Ernesto is currently east of the Leeward Islands after developing into a tropical storm Monday near the Lesser Antilles. During its travels as a tropical system, Ernesto will make landfall with heavy rain and strong winds that could result in coastal flooding across the Leeward Islands and Puerto Rico Wednesday. From there, Ernestos trajectory is forecast to take a hard right into the North Atlantic where it will gain strength into a category 2 hurricane before hitting Bermuda this weekend. According to the NOAA, Ernesto will remain a tropical storm until Thursday afternoon when it will gain hurricane strength. By late Friday, Hurricane Ernesto is expected to have gained category 2 strength as it reaches the island of Bermuda Saturday. Last week, Quintana Roo authorities had begun preliminary preparations for the likely arrival of a system that was headed for the coast, however, that system dissipated as it neared Caribbean waters. There are currently no other developing systems being monitored in the Atlantic Basin. Quintana Roo meets with representatives for Mayakan Energy pipeline project inclusion Riviera Maya, Q.R. The Governor of Quintana Roo has met with National CFE representatives to include the state in the Mayakan Energy pipeline project. Governor Mara Lezama says the state of Quintana Roo is in need of incorporation into the project that will see natural gas transported to the Peninsula doubled. Lezama met with representatives of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) Friday to discuss the incorporation of Quintana Roo into the national project. The Mayakan Energy pipeline is an expansion project of the pipeline that currently runs from the Pemex natural gas processing center in Tabasco to power plants in Merida and Valladolid in the Yucatan Peninsula. Two additional phases are proposed to begin in 2026 at a tune of around $2 billion USD. The proposed Phase I by parent company Engie would add 159 kilometers (99 miles) of pipeline with a capacity of 100 million cubic feet per day at a cost of $300 million USD. The proposed Phase II would see a transport capacity increase to 317 million cubic feet per day. The proposed Phase I expansion known as Cuxtal-Mayakan Phase II, would extend the pipeline by 159 kilometers from Valladolid into Quintana Roo. The Mayakan project (Phase II) would increase capacity of both pipelines. We met with representatives of the National CFE with whom we raised the need to incorporate Quintana Roo in the Mayakan Energy Gas Pipeline project, which would double the capacity to transport natural gas to the Yucatan Peninsula with safe and affordable energy, Lezama said. Lezama met with representatives to have Quintana Roo included in the pipeline project. Photo: Mara Lezama August 9, 2024. As part of the agreements, we will carry out the environmental impact statement, the environmental risk study and the program for the prevention of accidents. The transformation of the state advances with energy development for the benefit of the people of Quintana Roo. The gas pipeline would guarantee the supply of fuel for the growth of the productive infrastructure, she said. John Trumbull may not be a name immediately associated with the American Revolution, but if biographer and historian Richard Brookhiser has his way, it soon will be. In John Adams estimation, the American Revolution began with an argument in a back room in Boston. Who of your profession will undertake to paint a Debate or an Argument? the former president asked of the artist John Trumbull in a letter in 1817. Adams had just read the news that Trumbull would be completing a series of historical paintings chronicling the major events of the Revolutionary War, a project that had spanned most of Trumbulls adult life. The series would include a number of key points in the fight for independence, from the Battle at Bunker Hill to the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. The scenes, however, would not all be military engagements. At the center of the collection would be a portrait celebrating the submission of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, a scene in which John Adams himself would play a prominent role. The former president was not happy. The story of the Revolution was not found in singular, picturesque moments. The truth for Adams was that it had been a far messier and unwieldy struggle than that. And it had hardly begun in 1776. Adams assured Trumbull that it had begun with an argument over writs of assistance between James Otis and Jeremiah Gridley back in 1761. Here the Revolution commenced, Adams lectured Trumbull in his letter. Then and there, the Child was born. Adams certainly had a profound intellectual point. But Adams had never been mistaken for a man of the people. The task of capturing the essence of the Revolution in the imagination of generations of Americans to follow would not fall to Adams. Instead, it would be the lifes work of John Trumbull. As historian Richard Brookhiser demonstrates in his accessible, insightful, and enjoyable biography Glorious Lessons: John Trumbull, Painter of the American Revolution, we are all the benefactors of Trumbulls project, which contains far more nuance than Adams gave it credit for. John Trumbull was born in colonial Connecticut in 1756. Graphic art was not a high priority in this Calvinist society, deeply suspicious of its emotional power and ability to seduce the worldly-hearted. Religious paintings were the tools of papists, not the Bible-devoted Congregationalists of New England. Trumbulls father, the last colonial governor and first state governor of Connecticut, tried for years to dissuade his youngest child from pursuing painting. His pleas were to no effect. John Trumbull had been in love with art since his earliest memories. The young Trumbull attended Harvard, at his fathers insistence, and studied math and perspectivethe skills for map-making. He graduated in 1773 and returned home to Connecticut, destined for some public service career like his father and older brothers, but the Revolution intervened. John Trumbull would serve admirably in the Continental Army, at various points working directly under General George Washington and General Horatio Gates. His skills and bravery in mapping enemy positions made him useful to the Patriots effort. After the war, he worked for a time in diplomacy, serving as John Jays personal secretary during the negotiations of Jays Treaty in 1794, which averted another war with Great Britain. But art was never far from Trumbulls mind. In the later years of the Revolution, he had traveled to Great Britain to study with American expatriate Benjamin West, the most famous historical painter of the day and preferred artist of King George III. Following his studies, Trumbull was commissioned to paint a number of prominent Americans, including a notable full portrait of President Washington for New York Citys City Hall. Portraiture, however, would not be the defining work of Trumbulls life. Instead, he would spend the remaining decades of his life painting the major events of the Revolution. The project had initially been the vision of his teacher Benjamin West. But West had quickly found that it would not be practical for him to try and paint the events from the losing side given that none of his British countrymen would want to sit for his paintings. Trumbull, on the other hand, was deeply patriotic, a true believer in the virtues of the Revolution. He also had firsthand experience of some of the conflicts most important battlefields, like Bunker Hill, and the first coalition fighting with the French in Providence, Rhode Island. Trumbull intuitively understood what the Revolution had been all about. He expressed this knowledge in a 1789 letter to his friend Thomas Jefferson. The events of the American Revolution, he wrote, had been the noblest series of actions which have ever presented themselves in the history of man, teeming with benefit for future generations, such glorious lessons of their rights, and of the spirit which they should assert and support them, and even to transmit to their descendants. As Trumbull had originally conceived it, his series of paintings would focus on battles. Each one centered on a significant death, much like Wests famous The Death of General Wolfe. It was Thomas Jefferson who encouraged the artist to include the Declaration of Independence as one of his scenes. Jefferson even went so far as to draw a sketch of the room in the Philadelphia State House where he and the committee had presented their drafted document (a sketch that mistakenly included two doorways into the meeting room rather than one). Trumbulls grand project was completed over multiple decades, and the artists skills visibly declined over the period, a fact that some of his contemporaries noted. What never failed him, however, was his masterful composition and passion for enshrining the highest virtues of the revolutionary generation. Four of Trumbulls large scenes, The Declaration of Independence, The Surrender of General Burgoyne at Saratoga, The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, and The Resignation of General Washington, would be hung in the new Capitol Rotunda in the decade of national jubilance following the War of 1812. But Brookhiser focuses the largest portion of the art criticism in Glorious Lessons on the fuller gallery that Trumbull curated at Yale University. Trumbull had been a Harvard man, but the newer college in his home state provided the artist with the full control over the collection that he desired. He was even able to assist in designing the new building to house his art. Brookhiser first encountered this collection, he recounts in the books opening, as an undergraduate student. In the last section of the book, the author spends multiple chapters going painting by painting to analyze how the piece was conceived and completed and why its important to the story of the American Revolution. Part biography, part early American history primer, Glorious Lessons does a commendable job of intertwining the history of the American Revolution and the first 70 years of American history into the story of John Trumbull. Whether youre a student of the early United States or in need of a refresher on the key events and people of period, Brookhisers historical narrative is both nimble and insightful. Trumbull was either present for or closely connected to many of the significant events of the era, but even when Trumbull was not present for a major occurrence like Washingtons resignation, Brookhiser finds thoughtful ways to navigate to the important details. The greatest strength of Glorious Lessons, however, is Brookhisers eye for the enduring significance and nuance of Trumbulls work. In an era in which so many of the artists subjects and contemporariesfrom Washington to Jeffersonhave faced the fiery criticism of a generation no longer persuaded of the virtue and achievement of the American Revolution, Trumbulls work stands as a needed counterbalance. Brookhiser peels back the veneer of 19th-century romanticism to reveal the deeper messages in Trumbulls works. For one, the victories of the Revolutionary War were hard fought and costly. Trumbull had witnessed firsthand the deadly toll of war and he brought those emotions to his canvas. Speaking of her experience viewing Trumbulls The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunkers Hill, First Lady Abigail Adams wrote, My whole frame contracted, my blood shivered, and I felt a faintness at my heart. Despite his sensitivity to the dearness of the American sacrifice, Trumbull did not vilify the enemy. Brookhiser highlights a number of instances where the artists work portrays the British magnanimously, a considerable feat of humility for a man who endured British musket fire at Quaker Hill. Yet Trumbull pays minimal attention to the involvement of Black Americans and Native Americans in the war. (His most important work on Native Americans, though, came from his sketches of Alexander McGillivray and the Creek Muscogee delegation at the signing of the Treaty of New York.) The artist was not immune to the social and cultural prejudices of his time, Brookhiser points out, but neither was he blind to the significant roles of racial minorities in the human history of the era either. Loyalists, however, do not fare so well in Trumbulls work. Their experiencethe experience of as many as a third of American colonists, according to John Adams estimateis completely absent from Trumbulls depictions of the period. His was an unabashedly patriotic account. While he called himself a historical painter, he certainly had a point of view. He also felt justified in taking some artistic liberties with the scenes he constructed, transplanting some of his subjects across space and time on more than one occasion to complete his compositions. His most profound stories, though, are those that took place far from the battlefield in government assembly halls. Brookhiser contends that The Declaration of Independence and The Resignation of George Washington are the most important works of Trumbulls catalog. The Declaration expresses the ideal, Brookhiser writes. The Resignation shows it being made real. John Trumbull is buried beneath the gallery of his art (a fact that still intrigues Yale students today). Though we are now two centuries removed from his time, his message, Brookhiser convincingly contends, is as salient as ever. At its core, Glorious Lessons tells the story of the price and benefits of self-government. Trumbull and his generation plead through these canvases that Americans not resent their heritage of individual rights, nor the high character required to exercise them rightly in a civil society. Brookhisers volume is a thoughtful, elegantly written, and beautifully illustrated (Trumbulls most important works are reproduced here in full color) reminder that the Revolution was not a once-and-for-all accomplishment in the past, but a continuing practice now in need of our care and attention. An inmate at the Western Virginia Regional Jail admitted Tuesday to receiving smuggled drugs through the mail and selling them to his fellow prisoners. Gregory Allen Miller, 47, arranged for his wife to conceal Suboxone in reading glass cases that were mailed to him and other inmates, according to evidence presented in U.S. District Court in Roanoke. Although it is not uncommon for contraband to find its way inside jails and prisons, the case was unusual in its scope and level of organization. As part of a plea agreement, Assistant U.S. Attorney Drew Inman will ask for no more than seven years when Miller is sentenced later. The agreement allows defense attorney David Damico to argue for a lesser term, which he said he plans to do. The scheme began almost immediately after Miller was sentenced to 15 years in prison for dealing methamphetamine. After being placed in the Roanoke County jail to await transfer to a federal penitentiary, Miller began to receive Suboxone, a drug used to treat opioid addiction that can produce a high when abused. His wife, Renee Diane Miller of Wise County, pleaded guilty earlier this month to her role in the conspiracy. She was allowed to remain free on bond pending sentencing. Starting in March 2023, Renee Miller mailed reading glasses in which strips of Suboxone had been hidden in their cases to her husband and at least three other inmates. The inmates agreed to turn the drugs over to Gregory Miller in exchange for payment, often Suboxone, according to court records. Miller then used some of the drugs and sold or traded the rest to other inmates over the next three months. Court records say many inmates received Suboxone; a written summary of evidence signed by Miller does not say exactly how many. Sherwood Memorial Park received approval from Salem City Council on Monday evening to expand the cemetery into an unused field on its property. The council voted 4-0 to approve a special exception permit that changes the use of the property from residential single-family dwelling to residential single-family dwelling/cemetery. Councilman Randy Foley abstained from the vote, saying that he serves Sherwoods board. The six-acre property is located at 1221 Lynchburg Turnpike and exists within the cemetery boundary. Sherwood proposed to use two of the six acres for burial plots, and it plans to construct two patios for visitor use. The proposal includes evergreen screening to separate the expansion site from adjacent residential properties. A new asphalt road within the cemetery will allow access to the new sites, but officials are not permitted to create a road to Lynchburg Turnpike. The cemetery, which is nearly a century old, stretches across more than 100 acres but is not full. Before the vote, the council held a public hearing on the matter. Mike Woolwine of Hughes Associates Architects & Engineers offered to answer any questions from council members. No one else spoke during the hearing. Councils approval came under the conditions that the cemetery will not create an entrance on Lynchburg Turnpike and that the existing single-family dwelling on the lot will not be used for cemetery operations. The main point that I really want council to know is that they are not going to provide any access to the cemetery from this site, said Charles Van Allman, the citys director of community development. Theres no issues with traffic or anything else. At the end of the meeting, Mayor Renee Turk announced that the city will be hosting an open house about its Comprehensive Plan at the Salem Civic Center on Tuesday. The open house will run from 3 to 7 p.m. and will give residents a chance to learn about the comprehensive plan and where the city is in the process of implementing it. The city is also seeking input from residents regarding the plan. Approximately 200 gathered on the morning of September 11 at Vandenberg Space Force Base to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and the United States. SIOUX CITY -- The Sioux City School Board is appealing a ruling made in former Superintendent Paul Gausman's lawsuit that the board violated Iowa open meetings law in January 2022. Gausman, who left the Sioux City district in 2022, filed a lawsuit in January 2023 against school board members Dan Greenwell, Jan George, Taylor Goodvin and Bob Michaelson stating they violated open meetings laws. Goodvin is named in the lawsuit but is no longer a member of the Sioux City School Board. The lawsuit dealt with two separate closed sessions, which Gausman claimed were illegal meetings because board members cited the wrong Iowa code sections in order to avoid notifying him of their discussion and decision to file a complaint against him with the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners. In February, District Judge Jeffrey Neary ruled a meeting held by the school board on Jan. 24, 2022, violated open meetings law but a Nov. 30, 2022 meeting did not violate the law. The Sioux City School Board voted 6-1 on Monday to "authorize the legal counsel to file an appeal of all rulings by the district court that are adverse to the district and individual defendants" with Treyla Lee, Lance Ehmcke, John Meyers, George, Greenwell and Michaelson voting for the measure, and Earl Miller voting against. Following a Jan. 16 trial, Woodbury County District Court Judge Jeffrey Neary ruled the Jan. 24, 2022, meeting violated open meetings law because it went beyond its stated purpose of evaluating Gausman's professional competency. In a split decision, Neary ruled the board legally closed a Nov. 30, 2022, meeting as documents filed with the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners should be treated as confidential and discussed in a closed session. When a member of a governmental body violates the Iowa open meetings law, each member shall pay damages of no more than $500 and no less than $100 for the violation, according to Iowa Code. They do not have to pay if they voted against the closed session, had good reason to believe they were in compliance of Iowa Code or relied on a formal opinion in writing as to why it was allowed. If the damages are assessed, the member must also pay "all costs and reasonable attorney fees in the trial." In the lawsuit, Neary found three board members named in the suit -- George, Goodvin and Michaelson -- acted in good faith in their roles in setting a closed-door meeting on Jan. 24, 2022, but found that Greenwell did not and required him to pay Gausman's attorney fees, totaling $52,704.86 and a $500 court fee. No court documents have been filed as of Tuesday afternoon. Nebraska's largest public employees union filed an intent to appeal a decision with the state's Supreme Court on Friday after a tribunal last month dismissed the union's bid to force the state to bargain over Gov. Jim Pillen's return-to-office mandate. The Nebraska Association of Public Employees, which represents more than 8,000 state workers, plans to ask the court to reconsider the dismissal order issued last month by the Commission of Industrial Relations, the state tribunal responsible for settling public labor disputes. In a 10-page order issued July 11, the CIR concluded that the state's contract with NAPE "specifically allows" Pillen's executive branch "to unilaterally change work sites" for the branch's employees. The order came nearly eight months after Pillen ordered a broad end to remote and hybrid work allowances for state employees, prompting the legal challenge from the union, which argued the elimination of remote work should have been the subject of mandatory bargaining. Commissioner Gregory Neuhaus, who oversaw a two-day trial over the matter in February, disagreed with NAPE, concluding that Pillen's decision to broadly recall state workers from remote or hybrid worksites is "well within the management rights" retained by the state under its labor contract with NAPE. Neuhaus, who was appointed to the CIR by former Gov. Pete Ricketts in 2019, noted in the order that that the union's "own witnesses testified that they were aware that working from home was a privilege, not a right, that could be revoked by the employers at any time." Pillen called the July ruling "a vindication of the states right to determine that its public servants will come into work where they can be most productive." The presiding commissioner also ordered the union to pay the state's attorney fees after determining NAPE pursued its petition to halt Pillen's order "in bad faith." Justin Hubly, NAPE's executive director, called that move "outrageous." "The CIR's claim that the petition was filed in bad faith to delay implementing the governor's order is silly," he said. "If that was the case, why did the CIR take four months to rule?" Now, NAPE is turning the Nebraska Supreme Court to determine whether remote work allowances really are covered by the union's current contract with the state or whether the state must bargain over the issue. NAPE is also appealing the CIR's order demanding the union pay the state's legal fees, "which will undoubtedly have a chilling effect on future proceedings for all public employees before the CIR," the union said in a news release Monday announcing its appeal. "Weve made the decision to appeal not to debate the virtues of remote work, but rather to protect our member's right to negotiate and to obtain clarity from Nebraskas high court on when the state must negotiate the terms and conditions of employment, Hubly said in the news release. A vast majority of the state's employees work onsite and did so throughout the pandemic. A spokeswoman for Pillen did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday morning. The union's appeal comes a month before NAPE is set to begin negotiations with the state over its next contract, which won't take effect until July 1. Union members have identified remote work privileges as among the labor group's top three priorities entering negotiations, along with competitive wages and leave benefits, NAPE announced last month. If theres anything I love more than a bad movie, its a bad movie with lore. Lo, here comes an adaptation of Colleen Hoovers spiritless and bestselling novel It Ends With Us, starring Blake Lively (who also produced it) and Justin Baldoni (who also produced and directed it). The details of the movie are almost ancillary to the details of the alleged mini-feud that seems to be emerging through the films promotion: Most of the cast members, as social media users with a lot of time on their hands have observed, have unfollowed Baldoni on Instagram and have sidestepped press questions about him entirely. The most dominant rumor thus far is that Baldoni was railroaded by Livelyand her husband Ryan Reynoldsduring the movies postproduction. Others speculate that Baldoni made Lively uncomfortable on set, and that the rest of the cast has sided with the Go Piss Girl in solidarity. Both versions of reality are perfectly plausible: On the one hand, Lively (along with her husband) is a powerful Hollywood figure and one of the movies producers. On the other hand, men. But after seeing It Ends With Us, Im now less curious about who has true ownership over this movie and more curious about why anyone would want ownership over it in the first place. Perhaps Baldoni should consider rumors that Lively took over to be a blessing: He can live in a world where this movie is not his doing. Advertisement I am going to spoil the end of this movie for you now, because it is bad: Blake plays Lily Blossom Bloom (I know), a young woman whos on the verge of opening up her own flower shop (I know) called Lily Blooms, which is stupid, because Lilys Blooms is right there. The movie switches between teen Lily (ably played by an underutilized Isabela Ferrer) porking her first love (who also happens to be unhoused?) and adult Lily and her relationship with her husband, Ryle. Ryle is named thusly presumably because he gets Ryled up real easily over nothingmuch of the movie is about him physically abusing his wife because he burned some eggs or because hes jealous over the guy she dated when she was in high school. (If it sounds like Im being dismissive about domestic abuse, I guarantee you I am not. This movie is largely detached from reality.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Throughout the movie, Ryle slaps Lily; he pushes her down a flight of stairs; he sexually assaults her before trying to bite off a tattoo she got in honor of her first love. (The movie does deploy some restraint here; violence is creatively hidden from the audience, not showing us more than we absolutely need to see.) She gets pregnant, leaves her husband, names the baby after the brother Ryle accidentally killed as a child (the supposed root of his anger issues), and asks for a divorce. Its an absolute slog, a domestic violence awareness campaign doused in Guccis Bloom, replete with a main character who feels like she was written by three preteen girls who were guessing at what men might like about a woman. Lily, seemingly allergic to a hairbrush, flits about in manic-pixie-dream-girl mode before finally finding the strength to move on from an abusive relationship after giving birth to a baby girl. Advertisement I went to see the movie last night in a suburban movie theater in Alberta with my 70-year-old mother, whos a Hoover buff; the shelves of my childhood home, once filled exclusively with novels about brown people, are now filled with paperback novels about White Woman Longing. When we sat in our seats, the 16-year-old girls in the row behind us raised their fists in solidarity. It ends with us, they said. My mother, who has never had anything in common with a teenage girl in her life despite allegedly having once been one, smiled broadly at them. Advertisement You know how mortifying it is to watch a movie with your parents when a sudden sex scene comes on the screen? There you are, just trying to spend some time with your family, only to freeze in your seat because two writhing bodies are artistically rubbing butts. Seeing It Ends With Us in a theater has a similarly chilling effect, except youre the adult, and the crowd is full of teenage girls who have never seen a mans bare chest in their life. Through every sex scene, the audience groaned with secondhand embarrassment. So awkward, the girls behind me chirped. So hot. Indeed, the teens understood the essential core of this film: It is so awkward, and it is so hot (if you are a virgin). Advertisement Advertisement Throughout the 2-hour-and-10-minute movie (its longer than Casablanca?!), I kept wondering whose fault this was. Is It Ends With Us Livelys baby, as she has so often said in interviews about the movie? Is it Baldonis fault, as the director? Who else can I blame for one of the movies strangest unexplained threads: Lilys childhood love of Ellen DeGeneres? You expect me to believe that this teenagerwho is alive during the heyday of Ellen in the early 2010s, who has a smartphone and laptop (presumably), or at least access to a libraryis writing handwritten letters to Ellen? Advertisement Advertisement Related From Slate The Backlash Against Americas Most Popular Novelist Is Way Less Satisfying Than Id Hoped Read More But allow me to reassure both Lively and Baldoni, with their roles in this movie still somewhat publically nebulous: Neither of them ever had that much control. No matter how much acting Baldonis jawline does (and boy, is it carrying some scenes on its own), and no matter how much Lively bites her lower lip (someone went to the Bella Swan school of acting, I see), the movie isnt about either of them. Its about Hoover, who brought this movie to light through her wildly popular books. The names Lily Blossom Bloom and Ryle? Hoovers fault. The obsession with Ellen? Hoovers doingin fact, in the book, Lilys daughters middle name is Dory, for reasons I assume you, a non-idiot, will now be able to put together. The fact that seemingly every single character is unable to connect with another unless theres some backstory of extreme violence and abuse and trauma? Thats Hoover for ya. Advertisement Baldoni and Lively still appear to be squabbling, subtly, in the press over the movie. Theres resurfaced footage of them in so-called heated arguments on set. It seems like a schism has formed between cast and director, which isnt entirely uncommon for a film set, but maybe is for a movie like this. But allow me to redirect creditor blame, as it wereto its rightful recipient. It Ends With Us has Hooverwho is an executive producer of the film, to be fairall over it; its pure fan service, so if youre going to see this plodding, condescending cinema destined for the Lifetime channel, you best be a fan of the books. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When the movie ended, I asked the two teenagers seated behind us if they enjoyed it. It was good, but they cut so much stuff! the 16-year-old said. What about the magnet? What about the poker game? I had no idea what they were talking about, but my mother agreedthe book had far more detail and grit, much of which was cut for time in the movie. Here, a gaggle of impish teens in Zumiez hoodies and my 70-year-old mother in a custom knee brace found charming commonality: gesticulating wildly at each other, talking about all the things the movie got wrong. They were offended by the liberties the movie took, the lack of detail compared to the novel. No one in this theater was ever here for Baldoni or Lively; it was Hoover all the way down. More than 30 people suffered life-altering consequences after Sgt. Heather Weyker of Minnesotas St. Paul Police Department framed them for crimes they did not commit. But after multiple lawsuits and years of legal wrangling, none of her victims have been able to hold her accountable. Using a web of overlapping immunity doctrines that place government officials above the law, courts have tossed every single case. Weykers egregious misbehavior has not mattered. A district court held that she exaggerated facts, lied to a grand jury, and lied again during a detention hearing. A federal appeals court described Weykers police work as plagued with problems from the start. And a different federal appeals court expressed acute concern about Weykers conduct in one case, proclaiming that her presentation was likely a fictitious story. Despite the scolding and token discipline, Weyker has never had to answer her accusers complaints. Only one case out of more than 20 has life. It comes from Hamdi Mohamud, who was just a teenager when Weyker falsely accused her of witness tampering more than a decade ago. Mohamud has been up and down the legal system since then. She even petitioned the Supreme Court to intervene on her behalf in 2021, but got no relief. Now, Mohamud is back at the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, rearguing an old point, but armed with new information. Our public interest law firm, the Institute for Justice, represents her. Advertisement Mohamuds request is simple: She wants her day in court. All she has received so far are roadblocks thrown up to stop her from getting to the merits of her case. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If Mohamuds appeal fails, Weyker will walk away scot-free, and government officials nationwide will receive another signal that theyre immune, even when they commit the most egregious constitutional violations. Weyker started her bogus investigation in 2008 as part of a St. Paulled statefederal task force. She was eventually cross-deputized as a special deputy U.S. marshal and given limited federal authority in 2010. But she continued leading the same task force investigations she always had. Weyker pulled Mohamud into the mess in 2011. Though Mohamud was still in high school and did nothing wrong, she spent the next two years awaiting trial in federal prison. She missed school, weekends with friends, and all the normal aspects of teenage life. Advertisement Related From Slate Welp, Another Lawyer Just Flipped on Donald Trump Read More Prosecutors finally dismissed all charges against Mohamud in 2013. Weyker, meanwhile, was collecting a comfortable salary at the St. Paul Police Department, where she continues to work. She took my life away, Mohamud told the New York Times in 2021. Mohamuds final appeal hinges on whether Weyker was working as a local or federal officer when she inserted herself into a police response near a Minneapolis mall. Mohamud was shopping at the time with two older friends who encountered a former roommate and got into a fight. Advertisement Mohamud remained a bystander, but she found herself threatened when the former roommate pulled a knife. So Mohamud and her friends called 911. Unbeknownst to anyone at the scene, the former roommate was Weykers star witness in a separate case. To protect her investigation and her witness, Weyker contacted the responding officers and lied to shift blame to Mohamud and her friends. Weykers witness walked away, while Mohamud went to jail. Advertisement Whether Weyker was acting as a local or federal officer should not matter. Constitutional violations are wrong, regardless of employment status. But in the convoluted world of immunity, who you work for can matter more than what you did wrong. Advertisement Courts have held that all government officials may seek qualified immunity, a judge-made doctrine that shields its recipients from civil consequences. Public school principals, mayors, and municipal code inspectors can all claim this protection. But its not absolute. If victims can prove that a constitutional violation was obvious or clearly established as wrong, they can proceed with litigation. Lying to put a teenager behind bars crosses this line. So the 8th Circuit has already denied Weyker qualified immunity, holding that a reasonable officer would know that deliberately misleading another officer into arresting an innocent individual to protect a sham investigation is unlawful. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This qualified protection is already too much, but courts go even further to shield federal officials. Instead of just qualified immunity, they get something closer to absolute immunity. Its a three-tier system, and youre probably on the bottom with us. Regular people get no immunity. All government officials get qualified immunity. And federal officials get near-absolute immunity, often extended to members of statefederal task forces. This means that a piece of paper from the U.S. Marshals Service could be Weykers shield if she can prove she was acting exclusively as a federal officer when she framed Mohamud. New information, however, shows she was not. Regardless, gamesmanship like this must stop. Every violation of the U.S. Constitution should have a remedy in a U.S. court. How Slovakia and the USA are forging a stronger defence partnership. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share Dressed in protective suits and masks, their mission is clear: swiftly locate a contaminated site, accurately identify toxic substances on the spot, protect themselves and their unit, and solve riddles and uncover clues to obtain a code that will unlock a treasure chest. Such scenarios, inspired by real events like the war in Ukraine, challenge the teams of chemists from NATO member states including Americans who are in constantly changing situations. One day they are in a tunnel, the next in a simulated shop or train. Yet, for three weeks, they never leave their training centre, located in Trencin Regions Zemianske Kostolany. They have to learn that while equipment works reliably in lab conditions, its not that simple in real life, said Major Miroslav Labaska, a co-creator of the scenarios, in an interview with Obrana (Defence) magazine last year. Even the most sophisticated devices can struggle, for instance, when the wind blows and mixes the fumes. Since 2013, the popular international Toxic Valley exercise has been held in Slovakia, driving chemical specialists to rely on more than just their equipment. The significance of international exercises like Toxic Valley, along with other annual military drills held in Slovakia such as Slovak Shield, was emphasised this year by Major General R. Dale Lyles, who, as Indianas adjutant general, is the commander of the Indiana National Guard, and US Ambassador to Slovakia Gautam A. Rana. In May, Lyles visited Banska Bystrica, in central Slovakia, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of cooperation between the Slovak Armed Forces and the Indiana National Guard. Military cooperation between the United States and Slovakia has deep roots, stretching back to the era of the Czechoslovak Federative Republic (1990-1992). Military analyst Vladimir Bednar explains that these early collaborations also included international missions, such as the seven-month Persian Gulf War. It was during this time that the first joint projects between the American and Slovak armed forces were also initiated. Protests against the culture minister continued on Tuesday, as she continued to dismiss employees. Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova is compared to a character from the Harry Potter book series during a protest on August 12, 2024 in Bratislava. (Source: Sme - Marko Erd) Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share On Tuesday evening, one of Bratislavas squares, named after the national uprising whose 80th anniversary Slovakia will commemorate in a few weeks, was once again filled with thousands of people demanding the resignation of Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova, who was nominated for the job by the hard-right nationalist Slovak National Party. Following Mondays protest organised by the civic platform Open Culture and other groups, which police estimated drew 10,000 protesters, approximately 18,000 people took to the streets on Tuesday. The protests were a direct response to the unwarranted dismissal of two prominent cultural institution directorsAlexandra Kusa (National Gallery) and Matej Drlicka (National Theatre). However, the protesters also voiced their discontent with other actions taken by the minister, particularly regarding the independence of cultural funds and the public broadcaster. Shame and Resign were the most frequent chants from the crowd over the two days. Tuesdays protest next to the Culture Ministry building was the first anti-government demonstration organised by the opposition liberal parties Progressive Slovakia and Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) since March of this year, and since the May shooting attack on Prime Minister and Smer party leader Robert Fico. However, no politicians spoke on stage; instead, speakers included cultural figures, a judge as well as a former diplomat. Minister Simkovicova has decided to destroy our national cultural institutions, said Progressive Slovakia leader Michal Simecka before the protest, adding that Prime Minister Fico should immediately remove Simkovicova from office. The opposition parties also organised the Tuesday protest against Justice Minister Boris Susko of the Smer party, who temporarily released convicted anti-corruption prosecutor Dusan Kovacik from prison last week. Kovacik was sentenced to eight years for corruption in 2022. The rule of law is falling apart here, said SaS leader Branislav Grohling. Culture is in ruins. Enough is enough After just over a year at the helm, Laxman Narasimhan is out as the CEO of Starbucks. Starting next month, the former Chief Commercial Officer of PepsiCo will be replaced by the Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol. Maybe Narasimhan should have bought that Schultz-brand olive oil after all. As reported by NBC News, the move comes as Starbucks hopes to revive flagging sales and appease outside investors. Narasimhans short-lived tenure was tumultuous. Former CEO and chairman emeritus Howard Schultz was frequently critical of the company under Narasimhans leadership, especially as sales continued to drop. Meanwhile, activist investor, groups who purchased large amounts of company stock to force changes at the company, have also been clamoring for a shakeup at the executive level. Per NBC News, the board has been considering letting go of Narasimhan for several months. And while the company faces continued customer complaints about declining service quality and rising prices, Starbucks tapped Niccol. That guy? Under whos leadership this excellent TikTok takedown was created? Good luck with that. Even still, Starbucks is excited for the change. His focus on people and culture, brand, menu innovation, operational excellence, and digital transformation have set new standards in the industry and driven significant growth and value creation all while increasing wages for retail team members, expanding benefits, and strengthening the culture, they state. Schultz is happy about it, too. For now. His retail excellence and track record in delivering extraordinary shareholder value recognizes the critical human element it takes to lead a culture and values driven enterprise. I believe he is the leader Starbucks needs at a pivotal moment in its history. He has my respect and full support. Niccol is scheduled to take over starting September 9th, with Starbucks CFO Rachel Ruggeri filling in until then. Fare thee well, Laxman, we hardly knew ye. My guess on how the Niccol is going to right the ship? By taking a play out of the Chipotle playbook and decreasing portion sizes. I mean, Starbuckss sizing designations are basically meaningless anyway. Who says a venti cant be 17oz? I feel a different kind of just the bean water video incoming. I have previously written elsewhere to encourage churches to jointly form a non-profit organization to reach out to the public for sharing the love of Christ through community service. In China, this kind of social service unit is classified as a Private Non-Enterprise Unit (). In the West, a charity is sometimes called a non-government organization, which implies independence from the government.1 However, the counterpart in China is denoted as non-enterprise instead of non-government because its operation must have a close tie with the government. Christians forming any sort of community service center must be well prepared to get along with government bodies. In the first place, a community service operation must register at the Civil Affairs department or bureau. Depending on the nature of the service, the operation will also be monitored by the relevant government department. For example, if you provide education or training for teachers, the Education Department will be the competent body to scrutinize your teaching service content.2 For general mercy and compassion service, the Civil Affairs Department is usually the supervising body. The unit should submit an annual operation report to the supervising government office. The prophet Daniel cared about a cruel governor Church members with a heightened sense of self protection may find it difficult to adapt to the idea of working under a government. I fully understand the apparent incompatibility between an independent church ministry versus a social service operation, which must comply with the supervision of the government. However, the prophet Daniel provides an example to demonstrate the dexterity necessary for handling a relationship with government officials and rulers in order to fulfill our mission of glorifying God. In chapter 4 of Daniel, after the king described his horribly inauspicious dream, Daniel was greatly perplexed for a time, and his thoughts terrified him (Daniel 4:19). Daniel worried about the kings upcoming suffering to the extent of being appalled. He cared about the doom of the king. On noticing Daniels countenance, the king replied to Daniel with some comforting words, telling him not to let his dream or its meaning alarm him (Daniel 4:20). You can easily feel their concern about each other in this short dialogue. They shared a heart-to-heart concern with each other. Talking to Daniel was a brutal governor who had ruined Daniel's home country and turned him into a refugee. Yet he served the king with wholehearted sincerity. Perhaps that was why the king could identify the holiness in him (Daniel 4:8). Purity and piety from the inside out distinguished Daniel among all other officials in the court. As a non-profit organization, serving a government who imposes restriction to our religious freedom to worship God can arouse a lot of emotional struggles. But there can also be opportunities to let the officials detect the purity of Christs love in our hearts. Stay informed with The Christian Daily Newsletter Sign up Different approaches for a common aim Reaching out and preaching the good news is a common pursuit for all Christians who serve either in churches or a non-profit. However, the approaches for developing related ministries can be very different. To achieve their missional aims, churches may follow Western evangelistic strategies, which have proven effective in open access nations in the past. However, when we serve the community in a creative access nation, methods need to be redefined due to many contextual differences. Our strategy should be able to adapt to the needs of multiple stakeholders including government officials, the community we serve, our volunteers, and partners supporting the initiative. The following is an example, showing the contrast between the strategies of a church in Hong Kong versus a non-profit in mainland China. In Hong Kong, the government holds an open-minded and tolerant attitude towards different religions. Christianity has earned a high respect due to its many positive social contributions in the past. Local clergy and overseas missionaries are free to preach, establish churches, develop ministries, teach theology, and train disciples. Historically, missionaries came to build up churches and contributed to the affluence of Hong Kong in many respects. Naturally, churches in Hong Kong use the same model for their ongoing strategies, like conducting evangelistic events, planting new churches, and applying harvest theology for reaping. Church development usually focuses on the following metrics: The number of non-believers converted The number of churches planted The number of Sunday School teachers and students The number of discipleship trainers and trainees How many evangelistic events held How many church members take courses in seminary, and How many members take part in short-term and long-term mission. When church members in Hong Kong take part in China ministry, they retain these indicators in their assessment of the effectiveness of their mission. But this is not the right measurement, because Western methodologies for church growth do not address key concerns of outreach missions in China. Advancing Christianity there faces another set of critical issues specific to its religiously prohibitive environment. In China, officials, community leaders, and institute principals keep a skeptical eye on community activities mobilized by a body with a Christian affiliation or heritage.3 You have to convince the government officials of your sincerity to serve all, in compliance with the law and regulations. But once you get the green light from them, the public can then rest assured that they will not get into trouble by joining your activities, receiving your service, or participating in volunteer work. They will even spread favorable opinion of you. In such contexts, the following are better things to track, rather than the tangible growth of a church:4 How to resolve the misunderstanding about Christianity in society carried down from a history of missions associated with Western colonialism How to collaborate with different stakeholders in a socialistic system How to build a trust relationship with the government officials so that they are willing to connect you with the leaders of communities and institutions How to create opportunities for an encounter with truth in which the officials and the leaders find your message enlightening How to transform the culture to cherish lovingkindness, righteousness, and integrity as soil well prepared for Gods words How to make the service recipients perceive your organization as a channel of blessing, and How deep are the friendships you have built in the community. Missional or evangelistic aims common to any outreach will flow better from tracking these elements within a creative access context. Dos and donts in the public domain Matthew 9:35 reveals a few things Jesus did as a strategy to reach out to the communities he encountered. Jesus taught in their synagogues; he proclaimed the coming of the kingdom; and he healed diseases. These three actions were key to open the hearts and minds of the people. Practically, proclamation cannot be done openly in a restrictive milieu like China. Yet there is still ample space for us to spread the truth and to bless the community, as long as you know how to appropriately manage your actions in a public domain. We never forget our determination to proclaim the good news. But it is important to do it prudently and sustainably, one step at a time. We first must create an entry point for reaching out to the community so that opportunities for gospel encounters can be arranged without surveillance at a future time. Like the cases of Nicodemus (John 3:1-3), and the woman caught in adultery (John 8:3-11), Jesus talked with potential believers individually and privately. This is most appropriate for many contexts, especially religiously restrictive ones. Summary China is what we call a creative access nation. We need to employ innovative and adaptive approaches to overcome the obstacles in sharing the faith in such a challenging environment. This means we should not simply rely on traditional evangelistic means to reach out non-believers. Rather, we need to establish a creative new interface to convey our message, deriving it from the Bible and adapting to restrictive, controlled, and high-surveillance societies through our loving actions and words. __________ Endnotes George Kaloudis, Non-Governmental Organizations in the Global System (London: Lexington Books, 2021), pp. xvii xix. The Interim Regulations on the Registration and Administration of Private Non-enterprise Units, Peoples Republic of China. Find an English translation at China Law Translate, https://www.chinalawtranslate.com/en/min-fei-civil-society-organizations/. 201837-42. , 201152-53. ChinaSource is a trusted partner and platform for educating the global church on critical issues facing the church and ministries in China, and for connecting Christians inside and outside China to advance the kingdom of God globally. ChinaSource's vision is to see the church in China and the global church learning and growing together, engaging in ministry that powerfully advances the kingdom of God. The views expressed in this or any other opinion article do not necessarily reflect the views of Christian Daily International. Originally published by ChinaSource . Republished with permission. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240812/palestine-blames-us-for-latest-slaughter-of-innocent-civilians---report-1119742431.html Palestine Blames US for Latest Slaughter of Innocent Civilians - Report Palestine Blames US for Latest Slaughter of Innocent Civilians - Report Sputnik International The office of the Palestinian Authoritys president is holding the US government accountable after approximately 100 people were reportedly killed this weekend from a bombing attack in which US-provided missiles were used. 2024-08-12T23:44+0000 2024-08-12T23:44+0000 2024-08-13T03:47+0000 world middle east benjamin netanyahu palestinians gaza strip israel israel defense forces (idf) hamas palestine genocide https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/07/10/1119387023_0:178:3007:1869_1920x0_80_0_0_eeaf44305fe464e72b8cab4cfc021c2b.jpg The office of the Palestinian Authoritys president is holding the US government accountable after approximately 100 people, including at least 11 children and six women, were reportedly killed this weekend from a bombing attack in which US-provided missiles were used.Nabih Abu Rudeineh, the spokesperson for the Palestinian presidency, condemned the attack and said the Palestinian Authority held the Biden administration responsible for the massacre due to its financial, military, and political support for Israel, cited a report from Common Dreams. The spokesperson also demanded that the US pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to initiate a ceasefire, and to end their own blind support of Israel.At least 6,000 displaced Palestinians were being housed at the al-Tabaeen (or Al-Tabin) school when bombs struck the school at about 4:30 AM, said Mahmoud Bassal, the Gaza civil defense spokesman. Bassal added that at least 54 people were injured in the attack and dozens went missing.Common Dreams also reported that the bombing of the school came just hours after the US State department announced the release of $3.5 billion in military aid for Israel and also made new weapons transfers available to help refresh the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stockpiles.The bombs that were used on the school weighed 2,000 pounds each, which matches the size of the MK-84 munitions that were given to the IDF from the US over the last year, Common Dreams reported, citing Qatar media which spoke to Gazas Government Media Office. Images posted to social media show the violent impact of the bombs, as unrecognizable limbs and other charred pieces of bodies had to be collected in bags. The IDF has said the strike was meant to target Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants which it claimed were operating a command and control node from within the school. Israels military has blamed Palestinian deaths on Hamas by claiming that they are using civilian lives as a human shield.Western countries who support Israel have condemned the civilian death toll, but have also accused Hamas of using civilians as shields while pushing for a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.On October 7, 2023, Israel was subjected to an unprecedented rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. Israeli authorities say that about 1,200 people were killed during the raid. In retaliation, the IDF launched a war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The death toll from Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip since October 7 has exceeded 39,700, according to the enclave's health ministry. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240810/at-least-100-killed-dozens-injured-in-israeli-strike-on-gaza-city-school---reports-1119702578.html gaza strip israel palestine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg genocide, ethnic cleansing, humanitarian disaster, humanitarian catastrophe, humanitarian ceasefire, israel-hamas conflict, gaza strip crisis, shelling of gaza, gaza devastation, israel-palestine conflict, palestine-israel conflict, israeli-palestinian conflict, palestinian-israeli, zionist regime, zionists, hamas attack, israeli strikes, israeli forces, hostages, israeli military, hamas fighters, hamas soldiers, hamas military, killings of civilians, civilian infrastructure, civilians dead, civilians die, israel kills civilians, civilian casualties, civilian deaths, indiscriminate shelling, indiscriminate killing, war crimes https://sputnikglobe.com/20240813/houthis-hunt-mystery-oil-tanker-in-red-sea-targeting-it-three-times-in-a-row-1119757824.html Houthis Hunt Mystery Oil Tanker in Red Sea, Targeting It Three Times in a Row Houthis Hunt Mystery Oil Tanker in Red Sea, Targeting It Three Times in a Row Sputnik International The Yemeni militia kicked off a guerilla campaign of drone and missile attacks against merchant shipping in the Red and Arabian Seas last November, with the campaign targeting suspected Israeli-owned vessels. 2024-08-13T18:43+0000 2024-08-13T18:43+0000 2024-08-13T18:43+0000 world red sea israel united kingdom (uk) houthi houthis us navy red sea crisis https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/02/0f/1116807709_0:0:2000:1125_1920x0_80_0_0_b1f9da3065ab044cc0dbdc8e493c8ef8.jpg The Liberian-flagged, Greek-managed Delta Atlantica oil tanker was attacked three times in a row on Tuesday, the US-UK Joint Maritime Information Center has reported. The first two attacks were said to have targeted the tanker off the Yemeni port city of Hodeida (the same port attacked by Israel last month). At least one of the Houthi attacks are said to have involved a bomb-carrying drone boat, taking place after a small suspicious ship flashed lights at the tanker, triggering an explosion nearby.A second tanker, the Panama-flagged crude carrier On Phoenix, was also targeted, the JMIC said.Both vessels and their crew are said to be safe and proceeding to their destinations, with the Delta Atlantica reportedly bound for Agioi Theodoroi, Greece from the Persian Gulf. The On Phoenix is said to be on route to Amsterdam from the Mina Saud Anchorage in Kuwait.The reason for the Houthis apparent obsession in the Delta Atlantica is unclear, although the Yemeni militia has been known to take a special interest in oil tankers suspected to be heading for Israeli ports to fuel Tel Avivs economy and war machine.The Houthis have targeted over 70 vessels to date with missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and drone boats, damaging at least 30 and sinking one British and one Greek-owned cargo vessel since last November, respectively.The US and Britain kicked off a large-scale campaign of bombings in Yemen in January to try to degrade the militias capabilities, but have so far proven incapable of doing so, with the militia only ramping up its campaign into the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea and launching direct attacks on Israel itself. The US Navy has expended well over a billion dollars in ammunition targeting the Houthis, with little to show for it as global shipping giants to stay away from the Red Sea, with the Israeli Red Sea port of Eilat filing for bankruptcy last month after nearly nine months of standing empty.The Houthi blockade has closed off the estimated $1 trillion-a-year trade artery to Israeli and Western marine traffic, adding an average of one million dollars to each large ships fuel bill and forcing them to take the long way around western Africa, and increasing insurance costs, with throughput via the Red Sea dropping by up to 90 percent in some shipping categories.The campaign has also reportedly affected the super yachts of the super rich, with owners complaining to media that private yachts had largely been forced to quit transits through the Red Sea amid insurance premiums and security requirements too pricey even for the the very well-to-do. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240807/us-carrier-fleets-cannot-end-houthi-threat-to-shipping-in-red-sea---commanding-admiral-1119673065.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20240813/houthis-take-control-of-ohchr-office-in-sanaa-confiscate-property---un-human-rights-chief-1119754287.html red sea israel united kingdom (uk) Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Ilya Tsukanov Ilya Tsukanov News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Ilya Tsukanov why are houthis targeting ships in the red sea, who are the houthis targeting https://sputnikglobe.com/20240813/iran-to-show-mature-response-to-israels-killing-of-hamas-chief---pezeshkians-adviser-1119750688.html Iran to Show 'Mature' Response to Israel's Killing of Hamas Chief - Pezeshkian's Adviser Iran to Show 'Mature' Response to Israel's Killing of Hamas Chief - Pezeshkian's Adviser Sputnik International Iran's response to Israel's assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh will be characterized by a measured approach, Aliasghar Shafieian, the campaign media adviser to newly elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, has said. 2024-08-13T09:46+0000 2024-08-13T09:46+0000 2024-08-13T09:46+0000 world iran israel tehran hamas masoud pezeshkian ismail haniyeh middle east https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/0b/0e/1081163985_0:71:3318:1937_1920x0_80_0_0_3172d4937f25c802f5ba69da643f7fb8.jpg "Maybe 40 years ago, some of Iran's actions were out of excitement and emotional," he told US media on Monday, adding that Iran will respond in a "mature" way. Tehran's response is not expected to be like the hours-long attack seen in April, he added. Iran said that its response would be limited to avoid escalating the conflict, a member of the Iraqi parliament with ties to Iranian-backed militias in the country told the newspaper. Meanwhile, a Lebanese with ties to the Hezbollah movement told the newspaper that Iran was worried Israel and the US could strike its nuclear program to "essentially neutralize Iran's nuclear deterrence." On July 31, Hamas said that an Israeli attack had killed Haniyeh in his residence in Tehran, where he arrived to attend the inauguration of Iran's new president. The movement held Israel and the US responsible for Haniyeh's death and said the attack would not go unanswered. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240812/israeli-defense-minister-told-pentagon-chief-iran-preparing-large-scale-attack---reports-1119728273.html iran israel tehran Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International hamas political chief ismail haniyeh, aliasghar shafieian, israel's killing of hamas chief - pezeshkian's adviser https://sputnikglobe.com/20240813/irans-un-mission-says-will-not-engage-in-ceasefire-talks-between-hamas-israel-1119758049.html Iran's UN Mission Says Will Not Engage in Ceasefire Talks Between Hamas, Israel Iran's UN Mission Says Will Not Engage in Ceasefire Talks Between Hamas, Israel Sputnik International Tehran has not participated nor plans to engage in the indirect ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel, the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations said on Tuesday in a statement. 2024-08-13T17:26+0000 2024-08-13T17:26+0000 2024-08-13T17:26+0000 world palestine-israel conflict middle east joe biden israel iran egypt hamas gaza strip gaza violence https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/05/07/1118304358_0:160:3073:1889_1920x0_80_0_0_50e189773613c63de0be5f8f2d137c3d.jpg "We have not engaged in the indirect ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and the regime, facilitated by Egypt, Qatar, and the US, and hold no intention for involvement in such negotiations," the statement said. The remarks were in response to a question about whether Iran is considering sending representatives to the ceasefire talks. Earlier, Reuters reported that Iran was considering sending a representative to ceasefire talks, but the envoy would participate indirectly to maintain diplomatic communication with the US. The leaders of Egypt, Qatar, and the US have issued a joint statement calling on Israel and Hamas to resume ceasefire discussions from August 1415. However, Hamas has not yet decided on participating in the Gaza talks. In July, Israel and Hamas indirectly resumed negotiations on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of hostages. The negotiation process had been stalled for more than a month since US President Joe Biden, on behalf of Israel, announced a new plan to resolve the conflict in Gaza. israel iran egypt gaza strip Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International gaza genocide, is israel committing genocide, whats happening with gaza, israeli genocide against palestinians, will israel be charged with genocide, whos backing israel, un hearing on gaza, current developments in gaza, whats happening to palestinians, us military aid to israel, us arms supplies to israel, us violating international law, what weapons is israel getting from us, israeli strikes, israel strikes gaza, israel kills civilians, operation in rafah, incursion into rafah, palestinian statehood, palestine independence, israeli hostages, jewish hostages, how many people did hamas abduct, how much money does us give israel, military aid to israel, financial aid to israel, hamas leader killed, haniyeh assassination, israel lebanon, whos in charge of hamas, hamas leader https://sputnikglobe.com/20240813/israel-itself-is-a-war-crime-us-fans-the-flames-in-the-middle-east-as-israel-runs-rampant-1119743949.html 'Israel Itself is a War Crime': US Fans the Flames in the Middle East as Israel Runs Rampant 'Israel Itself is a War Crime': US Fans the Flames in the Middle East as Israel Runs Rampant Sputnik International US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, prior to the shipment of US military fare to Israel, and the two spoke about efforts to deter aggression by Iran and Hezbollah. 2024-08-13T04:44+0000 2024-08-13T04:44+0000 2024-08-13T05:16+0000 world middle east palestinians israel hamas hezbollah benjamin netanyahu biden administration palestine-israel conflict genocide https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/06/18/1119087129_0:261:3072:1989_1920x0_80_0_0_d24e8e727da9b9b371e08b86ca548402.jpg Fears of a regional war in the Middle East have been growing since the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in an attack on his residence in Tehran. Just hours prior, Israel also struck south Beirut and killed Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr. Hamas and Iran have blamed Israel for the assassination and have vowed retaliation. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, prior to the shipment of US military fare to Israel, and the two spoke about efforts to deter aggression by Iran and Hezbollah. According to a US media source, an anonymous Israeli official said on Monday that they believe Iran has decided to directly attack Israel.On Monday, James Carey, the host of the Left is Dead podcast joined Sputnik's The Critical Hour to discuss these recent developments in the Middle East.Israel's getting a free hand to strike, like I said, American allies like Lebanon. These are countries that are allegedly allied with the US, whether Hezbollah operates in them or not, or whether Iran is looking to strike or not. But the obvious aggression has come from Israel. So that's why I think it's very absurd to see it framed this way, he added.On Sunday, Hamas released a statement calling for the hostage exchange and ceasefire deal with Israel that was initially announced by US President Joe Biden in late May and backed by the UN Security Council in a resolution that passed on June 10. While Hamas had agreed to the ceasefire deal, Israel complicated negotiations by creating new demands as a way to sabotage the deal. However, talks between the two groups have been suspended since the assassination of Hamass political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran.It's clear that Netanyahu has no plans to negotiate in good faith with Hamas as far as releasing hostages goes. And that's been apparent for months now, but now that [we're] talking about preemptive strikes against Iran for aggression done by Israel already, it's very apparent that Israel, or at least Likud led by Netanyahu, is in no position where they want to negotiate. They could negotiate, but they refuse to.It's clearly out the window at this point, and obviously this is where Israel had to go as a colonial power. There's nowhere to go. I mean, the Nakba started in 1948. That's how Israel has always been. It's where Israel always had to go to the point of an active genocide.Israel was built on the displacement of Palestinians, claims a recent article published by a US-based news service. In 1948, Israelis took part in the ethnic cleansing of some 750,000 Palestinians from their homes in what Palestinians now refer to as their Nakba (Catastrophe). The journalist of the article, Jonathan Cook, claims that every Israeli knows exactly what is going on in Gaza....their children-soldiers keep posting videos online showing the latest crimes they have committed, from blowing up mosques and hospitals to shooting randomly into homes, writes Cook. Polls show all but a small minority of Israelis approve of the savagery that has killed many tens of thousands of Palestinians, including children.It's a sort of historical whitewashing, Carey said. Obviously, you know, Israel doesn't want to acknowledge its roles in this and then, people say, oh, well, Israel didn't take part in these war crimes. But, Israel itself - that was point number two here - Israel itself is a war crime. It's a colonial state.This is a very genocidal state and it was always going to be. I think it's important to remember that this is what Israel was founded on and the Israeli project was always meant to be larger than it is now and it's going to continue expanding and they want to do that regardless of the cost. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240810/at-least-100-killed-dozens-injured-in-israeli-strike-on-gaza-city-school---reports-1119702578.html israel Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg genocide, ethnic cleansing, humanitarian disaster, humanitarian catastrophe, humanitarian ceasefire, israel-hamas conflict, gaza strip crisis, shelling of gaza, gaza devastation, israel-palestine conflict, palestine-israel conflict, israeli-palestinian conflict, palestinian-israeli, zionist regime, zionists, hamas attack, israeli strikes, israeli forces, hostages, israeli military, hamas fighters, hamas soldiers, hamas military, killings of civilians, civilian infrastructure, civilians dead, civilians die, israel kills civilians, civilian casualties, civilian deaths, indiscriminate shelling, indiscriminate killing, war crimes https://sputnikglobe.com/20240813/netanyahu-gallant-rift-exposes-different-approaches-to-resolving-gaza-war---analyst-1119752298.html Netanyahu-Gallant Rift Exposes 'Different Approaches' to Resolving Gaza War - Analyst Netanyahu-Gallant Rift Exposes 'Different Approaches' to Resolving Gaza War - Analyst Sputnik International Barbed words exchanged by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant exposes their two different approaches to resolving the conflict with Hamas, researcher Dr. Shaul Bartal told Sputnik. 2024-08-13T16:35+0000 2024-08-13T16:35+0000 2024-08-13T16:35+0000 analysis israel palestine-israel conflict benjamin netanyahu yoav gallant hamas gaza strip hezbollah ismail haniyeh https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/08/0d/1119753754_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_3d20ebed2f6b58ecf3097467be9b458b.jpg Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave hisYoav Gallant a public dressing down on Monday after the defense minister ridiculed his goal of achieving total victory over Hamas in the Gaza Strip.Netanyahus talk is nonsense, Gallant reportedly told a classified meeting with the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in Tel Aviv on Monday, according to Likud MK Tally Gotliv.Gotliv added that Gallant made his comments while arguing in favour for the hostage swap deal proposed by the US.When Gallant adopts the anti-Israel narrative, he harms the chances of reaching a hostage-release deal, Netanyahu's office responded in a statement.It added that victory over Hamas and the release of hostages is the clear directive of Prime Minister Netanyahu and the cabinet, and it obliges everyone including Gallant.Gallant seemed keen to play down his differences with Netanyahu later, stressing in a social media post that he was determined to achieve the wars goals and continue fighting until Hamas is dismantled and the hostages are returned. He also slammed leaks from sensitive closed-door meetings as a vulnerability.Palestinian movement Hamas also weighed in, saying that Gallant's attack on Netanyahu's plan shows the PM "does not want to reach an agreement and that all he cares about is the continuation and expansion of the war."The Middle East is braced for escalation after Iran and Hezbollah vowed to retaliate for the killings of Hamass political leader Ismail Haniyeh in an explosion in Tehran and senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut.The row between Netanyahu and Gallant exposes their two different approaches to resolving the conflict, Dr Shaul Bartal, a retired lieutenant colonel and a researcher at Bar-Ilan Universitys Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, told Sputnik."A complete victory, according to Netanyahu, is a situation in which Hamas as a political organization no longer controls the Gaza Strip and Hamas as a military organization is unable to threaten Israel similar to what happened on October 7," he noted. "This is the minimum required to achieve a complete victory in Netanyahu's view.T achieve that minimum of beating Hamas, the IDF would require a longer period of fighting to clear the area, so a holding force could control it, Bartal stressed.Gallant, along with large parts of the army, wants a deal that will allow a time-out for organizing and equipping, Bartal said.Even Israels temporary withdrawal from an area like the Philadelphia axis also known as the Salah al-Din Axis, a strip of land along the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip would allow to save a significant part of the abductees, he noted.While the rift between Netanyahu and Gallant appears personal, the commentator argued it stems from differences of views regarding the capabilities of the security system.He stressed that there were also serious differences between members of the IDF General Staff and Netanyahu on issues like the prospect of a military government in the Gaza Strip.Netanyahu does not rule out this idea outright for a temporary period, but it seems that the security establishment, led by Gallant, are strongly opposed to this idea, said the analyst. These are simply different military concepts regarding the capabilities and role of the military in war. And he speculated that the PM would not heed calls for Gallant to be fired during wartime. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240813/israel-itself-is-a-war-crime-us-fans-the-flames-in-the-middle-east-as-israel-runs-rampant-1119743949.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20240811/jittery-over-looming-iranian-retaliation-israeli-officials-warn-of-potential-preemptive-strike-1119724394.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20240812/hamas-declines-ceasefire-talks-call-for-return-to-july-proposal---reports-1119728740.html israel gaza strip Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Svetlana Ekimenko Svetlana Ekimenko News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Svetlana Ekimenko spat between netenyahu and gallant, what did gallant say about netanyahu's plan to defeat hamas, why were there likud calls to fire defense mnister gallant, ethnic cleansing, humanitarian disaster in gaza strip, israel-hamas conflict, gaza strip crisis, shelling of gaza, gaza devastation, israel-palestine conflict, palestine-israel conflict, israeli-palestinian conflict, palestinian-israeli, zionist regime, zionists, hamas attack, israeli strikes, israeli forces, hostages, israeli military, hamas fighters, hamas soldiers, hamas military, killings of civilians, civilian infrastructure, civilians dead, civilians die, israel kills civilians, civilian casualties, civilian deaths, indiscriminate shelling, indiscriminate killing, war crimes https://sputnikglobe.com/20240813/plausible-deniability-how-western-media-covers-for-ukraines-nuclear-terrorism-1119743316.html Plausible Deniability: How Western Media Covers for Ukraines Nuclear Terrorism Plausible Deniability: How Western Media Covers for Ukraines Nuclear Terrorism Sputnik International The Kiev regime has engaged in a series of periodic attacks on Europes largest nuclear power plant for the duration of its ongoing conflict with Russia. The International Atomic Energy Agency, which continues to monitor the Zaporozhye plant, has refused to denounce Ukraines strikes on the sensitive facility. 2024-08-13T03:09+0000 2024-08-13T03:09+0000 2024-08-13T04:12+0000 mark sleboda viktor orban robert fico ukraine russia international atomic energy agency (iaea) zaporozhye zaporozhye npp zaporozhye region nuclear https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/08/0c/1119731636_0:49:2880:1669_1920x0_80_0_0_dea7ff53823cabee7402a1d235634260.jpg The Kiev regime has engaged in a series of periodic attacks on Europes largest nuclear power plant for the duration of its ongoing conflict with Russia.Russian troops moved in to safeguard the facility shortly after the country launched its special military operation in early 2022. Moscow has taken pains to prevent damage to the plant since then, which could result in a catastrophic nuclear disaster, but Ukrainian troops have continued to launch highly provocative strikes against the facility, which is currently in a state of partial shutdown.Russia has repeatedly warned of the danger of damage to the power station, but the Kiev regimes attacks have nonetheless continued, with Western media providing cover for Ukraines provocations. International relations expert Mark Sleboda joined Sputniks The Final Countdown program Monday to discuss the issue within the context of the ongoing proxy war against Moscow.Considering it is the 'adults' in the West who are arming and facilitating [Zelensky], there are no real adults in the room in the Western political elite unless you want to count [Hungarian Prime Minister] Viktor Orban or [Prime Minister] Robert Fico in Slovakia, said the security analyst, who noted that Ukraine has seen growing unrest as the population increasingly opposes its war on Russia.About the Zaporozhye situation: what do you think happened there? asked host Ted Rall, turning to the subject of the Zaporozhye plant, the continents largest nuclear power station. The Zaporozhye plant is still under Russian control, right?Since Russia occupied the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in their initial thrust in the south that meant very little to no resistance in the first month of the conflict back in 2022, Sleboda recalled. It has been under complete Russian control. That said, the Kiev regime has attacked the plant dozens and dozens of times, whether we're talking artillery shelling, drone attacks the first drone attack was actually admitted to by the Kiev regime's Ministry of Defense in an online post but also several attempted amphibious raids to seize control of it. All have more or less failed.Sleboda noted that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which continues to monitor the facility, has refused to denounce Ukraines strikes on the sensitive plant. The expert claimed the organization has faced political pressure not to blame Ukraine for what is quite obviously Kiev regime attacks. Meanwhile Ukraine has attempted to claim explosions documented by the IAEA at the power station were caused by car tires being set on fire.Western media typically conveys the Kiev regimes version of events at the plant, Sleboda noted, allowing Ukraine to deny its strikes on the nuclear plant.It's completely unbelievable, but it provides that bit of plausible deniability to keep up the propaganda line. That's clearly what it is. It's propaganda plausible deniability is all that is needed for the Western media to whitewash and provide cover for the Kiev regime. It has nothing to do with anyone in the media actually believing this feces they're trying to shovel onto you. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240812/moscow-calls-on-intl-community-to-act-against-ukraine-amid-strike-on-zaporozhye-nuclear-plant-1119734759.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20240811/ukraines-attack-breached-zaporozhye-npps-physical-integrity---znpps-spokesperson-1119727527.html ukraine russia zaporozhye zaporozhye region Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 John Miles https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/01/19/1116388787_0:0:1316:1316_100x100_80_0_0_77e70d36afd983012b1c5d38ddb84156.jpg John Miles https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/01/19/1116388787_0:0:1316:1316_100x100_80_0_0_77e70d36afd983012b1c5d38ddb84156.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 John Miles https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/01/19/1116388787_0:0:1316:1316_100x100_80_0_0_77e70d36afd983012b1c5d38ddb84156.jpg zaporozhye nuclear plant, europe biggest nuclear power station, ukraine attacks on zaporozhye, ukraine strike nuclear power plant, ukraine nuclear terrorism, zaporozhizhia, nuclear plant, nuclear terrorism, terrorist attack, ukrainian strike, dangerous escalation, nuclear threat, nuclear gamble, nuclear catastrophe https://sputnikglobe.com/20240813/russia-carefully-monitoring-humanitarian-disaster-in-palestine---putin-1119751297.html Russia Carefully Monitoring Humanitarian Disaster in Palestine - Putin Russia Carefully Monitoring Humanitarian Disaster in Palestine - Putin Sputnik International Russia is monitoring the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Palestine with pain and anxiety, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday. 2024-08-13T11:54+0000 2024-08-13T11:54+0000 2024-08-13T12:21+0000 world mahmoud abbas palestine russia vladimir putin middle east palestine-israel conflict palestinians gaza strip the united nations (un) https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/08/0d/1119751360_0:0:3167:1782_1920x0_80_0_0_e230dff15c597c0808f24c5be265fe59.jpg "Of course, we are monitoring with great pain and anxiety the humanitarian catastrophe that has unfolded in Palestine. For our part, we are doing everything to support the Palestinian people," told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at talks in Moscow.During the meeting, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that the United Nations had failed in its mission to create a Palestinian state.Russia is a "friendly country for the Palestinian people," and Palestine counts on Russian support, the president added.Abbas added that he rejects the attempts of a forcible transfer of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, the West Bank of the Jordan River, and Jerusalem."We count on humanitarian support for the Palestinians, an end to the policy of expatriation. We will not accept that. We will not accept the expatriation of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Jerusalem, as we have done so many times before in the twentieth century. We believe that, with your support, we will achieve our goals," he said. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240807/israels-decision-against-palestinian-state-contradicts-two-state-principle---abbas-1119664429.html palestine russia gaza strip Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International gaza genocide, is israel committing genocide, whats happening with gaza, israeli genocide against palestinians, will israel be charged with genocide, whos backing israel, un hearing on gaza, current developments in gaza, whats happening to palestinians, us military aid to israel, us arms supplies to israel, us violating international law, what weapons is israel getting from us, israeli strikes, israel strikes gaza, israel kills civilians, operation in rafah, incursion into rafah, palestinian statehood, palestine independence, israeli hostages, jewish hostages, how many people did hamas abduct, how much money does us give israel, military aid to israel, financial aid to israel, hamas leader killed, haniyeh assassination, israel lebanon, whos in charge of hamas, hamas leader https://sputnikglobe.com/20240813/ukraine-loses-up-to-420-soldiers-in-kursk-area-in-past-day---mod-1119751102.html Ukraine Loses Up to 420 Soldiers in Kursk Area in Past Day - MoD Ukraine Loses Up to 420 Soldiers in Kursk Area in Past Day - MoD Sputnik International The Russian armed forces continue to repel attempted invasion of Ukrainian troops of the Kursk Region, and Kiev has lost up to 420 servicemen in the direction in the past 24 hours, the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) said on Tuesday. 2024-08-13T11:43+0000 2024-08-13T11:43+0000 2024-08-13T11:43+0000 russia russian ministry of defense kursk ukraine russia kursk region russian troops russian forces https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/04/15/1118043366_0:161:3071:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_b0372510310a19478242e318a006b7d7.jpg "During the day, the losses of the armed forces of Ukraine amounted to 420 military personnel, 55 armored vehicles, including three tanks, eight armored personnel carriers, an infantry fighting vehicle, 43 armored combat vehicles, 31 vehicles, a multiple rocket launcher," the ministry said. Russian forces repelled a Ukrainian attack near the settlement of Martynovka settlement, where up to 15 enemy soldiers destroyed, the ministry said, adding that the military defeated Ukrainian troops in the Mikhailovka, Korenevo, Nikolayevo-Darino, Oleshnya, Sudzha and Nikolaevka. Russian air strikes on Ukrainian units in the Kursk Region resulted in the capture of six enemy soldiers, the ministry said. Ukrainian troops have lost up to 2,030 soldiers, 35 tanks, four air defense systems during the attack on the Kursk Region, the ministry concluded. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240811/strategy--tactics-of-ukraines-incursion-into-russias-kursk-developed-with-nato---expert-1119724203.html kursk ukraine russia kursk region Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International attack on kursk, kursk region incursion, russia's kursk invaded, what's happening in kursk https://sputnikglobe.com/20240813/ukraines-suicidal-offensive-in-kursk-region-will-not-help-end-conflict---us-congressman-1119756854.html Ukraine's 'Suicidal' Offensive in Kursk Region Will Not Help End Conflict - US Congressman Ukraine's 'Suicidal' Offensive in Kursk Region Will Not Help End Conflict - US Congressman Sputnik International Ukraine's offensive in Russia's Kursk region will do nothing to achieve peace in the ongoing conflict, US Congressman Paul Gosar said in a statement to Sputnik on Tuesday. 2024-08-13T16:22+0000 2024-08-13T16:22+0000 2024-08-13T16:22+0000 world john kirby john sullivan ukraine russia kursk vladimir putin paul gosar ukrainian drone attacks on russia https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/08/0b/1119715757_0:120:1280:840_1920x0_80_0_0_228373fff1c5c507fc0db4017d49c4db.jpg Ukraines suicidal cross border incursion will do nothing to end the horrible war that has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers," Gosar said. "I once again call for peace." On Monday, White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said that the United States continued to have discussions with Ukraine about its military operation in the Kursk region but had no further updates. The US Defense Department told Sputnik it had no updates to provide on whether US-supplied weapons have been used by Ukraine in the Kursk region. Former US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan told CNN earlier this week that he expects Russia to take decisive action to push the Ukrainian forces out of the Kursk region.Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine's operation is another large-scale provocation, accusing Ukraine of firing indiscriminately at civilians. Several high-level Russian officials have warned that Ukraine should expect severe consequences for carrying out its operation in the Kursk region. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240813/russias-medvedev-says-ukraine-will-suffer-punishment-for-terrorist-sortie-into-kursk-region-1119754466.html ukraine russia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International ukraine attacks russia, ukraine attacks russian region, kursk invasion, kursk incursion, kursk under attack, ukraine breaks into russia, whats happening in kursk, russian regions attacked by ukraine The Archbishop of Canterbury warned Christians not to join far right groups after protests by extremists espousing faith imagery led to violent riots across the U.K. Writing in the left-leaning British newspaper the Guardian, the Most Rev. Justin Welby, head of the Anglican Communion, criticized the widely reported riots as wrong, criminal and needing to be controlled. He voiced his concerns about right wing groups referencing the Christian faith, even using icons during the lawlessness, as a means to justify their actions. Welby said the riots targeted ethnic minorities and were anti-muslim, anti-refugee and anti-asylum seeker. It was detonated by lies and fuelled by deliberate misinformation, spread quickly online by bad actors with malignant motivations, Welby wrote. Atheism or agnosticism are choices people may make, as are the different faiths, but no choice is an excuse for ignorance of others, he added. And to remove any doubt, the Christian iconography that has been exploited by the far right is an offense to our faith, and all that Jesus was and is. Stay informed with The Christian Daily Newsletter Sign up Let me say clearly now to Christians that they should not be associated with any far-right group because those groups are unchristian. Let me say clearly now to other faiths, especially Muslims, that we denounce people misusing such imagery as fundamentally anti christian. Welbys comments were published after a teenager aged 17 was arrested and charged for the murder of three little girls, Bebe King (6), Elsie Dot Stancombe (7) and Alice Dasilva Aguiar (9) last month, July. The girls who attended a Taylor Swift themed dance class in a community center in Southport were brutally knifed to death. Some 10 other youngsters were seriously injured. The tragic murders sparked online rumors about the identity of the main suspect with some people incorrectly identifying him or her as an asylum seeker arriving by boat across the English Channel last year, 2023. These rumors flared into violent action with far right groups targeting mosques and other buildings in cities across the country. A number of police officers were injured, some seriously, in the riots, with the Christian Police Association pleading for prayers. The National Police Chiefs Council confirmed 741 rioters had been arrested up to Aug. 9 for offenses ranging from violent disorder to theft and antisocial behavior. 302 of these arrested so far have been charged and face judgements in courts. We are working hard to bring this disorder to an end, but arrests are just getting started and we have already made hundreds. We wont stop until communities get the justice they deserve after suffering such violence and the spreading of online hate, said Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, National Police Chiefs Council Chair, in a press release. The girls were tragically murdered on July 29. Only two days before, a Patriot March was led by acclaimed far right activist Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, 41, better known as Tommy Robinson, and his supporters in London. He recited the Lords Prayer during the event. After the murders, sparking the riots, TV journalist Piers Morgan accused Robinson of making false claims about the main suspect in the murders. On X, he wrote to Robinson: You helped incite and inspire the riots by spreading lies about the Southport child-killer being a Muslim illegal immigrant, which is why so many of the rioters chanted your name as they rioted against Muslims and asylum seekers who had nothing to do with the killings. Fact. However, Robinson strongly denied these claims and in an expletive-laden video posting on X, he challenged Morgan to look at the evidence. Ive never said he was an illegal Muslim immigrant. Not once. Ten minutes of research would show that. Robinson also lambasted mainstream media in a series of video posts collated on X, in which he said the far right group English Defence League ceased existing 10 years ago and told rioters that the level of violence. It wont work. He also said stop the violence and peaceful resistance is growing. Robinson also said asylum hotels need to be emptied and accused immigrants of rape and pillaging, alleging that government policy had caused resentment. U.K. Government figures showed 68,564 people granted refugee status in the year ending March 2024, which is the highest number of people granted since records began in 1984. The Office for National Statistics, responding to a Freedom of Information request last October, said there is no data on the religion of asylum seekers to the country: ... we do not hold the requested information on refugees by religious affiliation. Emily Shepherd, chief executive officer of Welcome Churches, which works with refugees, said the past few weeks had been difficult for many communities across the U.K. We are celebrating communities coming together, and churches playing their part in bringing peace to their neighborhoods, Shepherd told Christian Daily International. We now need our churches to lead the way in bringing healing and building long term peace for our neighborhoods in order to create communities where everyone is welcome, and where no one needs to live in fear. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240813/ukrainian-prisoners-say-they-were-captured-in-kursk-region-on-2nd-day-of-invasion-1119744969.html Ukrainian Prisoners Say They Were Captured in Kursk Region on 2nd Day of Incursion Ukrainian Prisoners Say They Were Captured in Kursk Region on 2nd Day of Incursion Sputnik International Ukrainian servicemen captured in Kursk region said during interrogation that they had only been in the Russian region for about a day and had been quickly captured after the invasion of Russian territory began, Russian security agencies told Sputnik, which obtained a new video of the prisoners. 2024-08-13T04:32+0000 2024-08-13T04:32+0000 2024-08-24T13:41+0000 russia kursk ukraine vladimir putin valery gerasimov russia ukrainian armed forces russian investigative committee https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/08/0b/1119723298_0:1:3638:2047_1920x0_80_0_0_e5dd6adebc7eccfbc33fc5afc475cc91.jpg On Monday, Sputnik showed the first footage showing how an assault group of the 80th separate airborne assault brigade of the Ukrainian army was captured. Russian security agencies told the agency that the Ukrainian servicemen had been captured near the settlement of Martynovka. The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case against one of the commanders of the 80th Brigade, Emil Ishkulov, on suspicion of a terrorist attack, murder, and attempted murder. In the video obtained by the agency, the assault unit members give their names and also say that they have been on Russian territory for the second day. "Mazur Kyrylo Mikhailovich," introduces himself the second prisoner, who also said that he has been in the region for the second day. Also in the video, the prisoners can be heard confirming that they are being treated well and provided with water. The prisoners were placed in a car and prepared for transportation, and offered a smoke. Ukrainian Armed Forces units numbering up to a 1,000 people launched an offensive at 5.30 a.m. on August 6 to seize territory in the Kursk region, their advance was stopped, Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov said. He emphasized that the operation in the Kursk region would be completed by defeating the enemy and reaching the state border. The Russian Defense Ministry reported on August 12 that Ukrainian forces had lost more than 1,600 servicemen, 32 tanks and 23 armored personnel carriers during the entire period of military operations in the Kursk direction. Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the Kiev regime had carried out a provocation, conducting indiscriminate shooting, including at civilian targets. Putin said that the enemy would receive a worthy response, all Rissia's goals would be achieved. In the Kursk, as well as the Belgorod and Bryansk regions, a counter-terrorism operation regime is in effect to ensure the safety of citizens. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240811/aftermath-of-ukrainian-shelling-of-russias-kursk-1119719621.html kursk ukraine russia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International ukrainian prisoners, ukrainian servicemen, russian region On Wednesday night, Aug. 14 at Batavia Downs, one five-horse field consisting of two-year-old pacing fillies will line up in the New York Sire Stakes (NYSS) for a shot at the winners share of the $102,500 USD purse that is available for this small but select group. Headlining that field is Cowgirl Hanover (Huntsville-Code One Hanover), who comes in undefeated lifetime and is anticipated to be the prohibitive post time favourite. Cowgirl Hanover has been peerless in her first five career starts, all of which were victories in NYSS events by as many as three open lengths. Her 1:53.3 lifetime best effort at Yonkers Raceway on July 11 came despite dealing with broken equipment at the end of the race. She is the leader in points (250) and earnings ($284,955) in her division of the NYSS and will certainly add to those totals here. Trainer Jared Bako will have Doug McNair between the wheels again and they will depart from post one on Wednesday. One of Cowgirl Hanovers main threats appears to come from her stablemate, The Last Martini (Huntsville-Martinique), who is coming off a lifetime-best effort (1:54.1) of her own last week at Saratoga Raceway. She has two less starts than the rest of this field this year, but seems to be rounding into form nicely off that last outing. The Last Martini will have Jason Bartlett at the lines and they will start right next to Cowgirl Hanover in post two. Another one to watch here is Send It Down Slim (Huntsville-Rockinsangria), who has not missed the board in five NYSS starts with two wins, two seconds and one third. And those efforts have her sitting second for points (162) and earnings ($165,527) behind Cowgirl Hanover. But she has also lost to both Cowgirl Hanover and The Last Martini in her last two starts, despite having post one in both outings. Here she drew post five, but her gate speed may very well give her the advantage she needs anyway. Trainer Ray Schnittker once again has Mark MacDonald in the bike who has driven this filly all year. The New York Sire Stakes will go as race six. There are also four,$20,000 USD Excelsior Stakes that are carded as races two, four, eight and 10. Post time for the first race on Wednesday is 6 p.m. (Batavia Downs) The Nebraska Nurse Honor Guard (NNHG), a non-affiliated nonprofit organization, announces its planned expansion to the Panhandle of Nebraska! The mission of the NNHG is to recognize and honor the everyday heroes who dedicate their lives to the nursing profession. Their mission is realized through offering tribute services to nursing professionals at the time of their passing. Services available include the options of having in-person guard members in attendance, pre-recorded video services, or live-streaming services. The Nebraska Nurse Honor Guard believes that nursing isnt a job; its a lifelong calling. They consider it a privilege to be able to honor their fellow nursing colleagues by offering a Living Tribute to any Nebraska nurse on hospice or age 90 or above and providing an Honor Guard service at the time of their passing. The Nebraska Nurse Honor Guard has honored 350 Nebraska nurses since their beginning in November 2019 and currently has 250 volunteer nurse members. The Panhandle of Nebraska area will include the communities of Sidney, Kimball, Scottsbluff, Chadron, Gordon, Bridgeport, Oshkosh, Lodgepole, and all surrounding areas to these communities. Nurse tribute services include a reciting of the Nightingale Tribute, the placing of a white rose on the casket or urn signifying the nurses devotion to their profession, as well as the presentation of the nursing lamp to a family member or friend of the deceased. NNHG services may be requested through the funeral director, or officiant, by contacting an honor guard member, or by filling out the Request the Guard form on its website at www.nebraskanursehonorguard.org. As a non-affiliated nonprofit organization, the NNHG is funded by donations only. All donations go towards the NNHGs vision of being able to provide nursing tribute services across the entire state of Nebraska. To show your support of the NNHG, donation information can be found by clicking the Donate button on its website at www.nebraskanursehonorguard.org. The NNHG wants to thank all who have shown their support thus far. The NNHG will continue embodying the core nursing values of human dignity, integrity, autonomy, altruism, and social justice as it grows. To request services in the Panhandle of Nebraska, please contact Tammy Dean at 308-279-2038 or Debra Zobel at 402-430-7321. Services may also be requested on the NNHG website: www.nebraskanursehonorguard.com Marions claim to be the home of Mountain Dew as its now known has been validated. The state plans to consider a marker acknowledging the community as the citrus-flavored soft drinks birthplace, and a local entrepreneur is reviving talks of opening a Mountain Dew museum in the downtown. In April, Ken Heath, Marions director of community and economic development, put out the word that he and state officials wanted to set the record straight on the history of the highly caffeinated and much beloved drink. Heath asked taste-testers who worked with Jones in the early 60s and individuals who knew details of the transaction between Jones and PepsiCo when he sold his famous recipe to share their information in writing. At the same time, businessman and developer Joe Ellis was also pursuing information. He got the opportunity to meet with two daughters of Bill Jones, who in the early 1960s was working at TIP Bottling Company in Marion and is credited with creating the recipe sold to PepsiCo for Mountain Dew. The meeting with Jones daughters produced a treasure trove of documents, Ellis told the Marion Town Council Monday evening. The pairs work gave the Virginia Department of Historic Resources what was needed. Via email, in late July, Heath informed the town council that the agency had completed its research and review and had approved a historical marker to be placed at 517 North Main St. The marker will read, Heath wrote, THE BIRTHPLACE OF MODERN MOUNTAIN DEW! His email continued, For those of you whove been with us decades for this fight, getting official acknowledgment of Marion being where the modern formula was created by our Bill Jones has been impossible to this point, but here we are! Heath has long pointed out that A company from Tennessee, as part of their investment in the Marion business, gave the TIP Corporation their recipe for an unsuccessful whisky mixer they had dubbed Mountain Dew a throwback to the regions moonshine legacy. Jones tinkered with the recipe, and, after many trials, he achieved the final taste and sold his recipe to Pepsi-Cola. The marker still must achieve the Virginia Historic Resources Board's approval. The marker is on the Boards agenda for review and approval during its quarterly meeting in September. Today, Mountain Dew is a $9 billion global brand. According to PepsiCo, Mountain Dew possesses the highest purchase frequency of any soft drink and is the #1 selling single serve in the category. In talking about his goal for this campaign, Heath said, Ultimately, Marion gets the international recognition it deserves for having the recipe we drink today invented right here, and we continue to find creative ways to add that to our brand to bring folks to town to celebrate with us. For Ellis, this endeavor is a passion project, according to Heath. Monday, Ellis acknowledged, Im excited. He noted the building for a museum has been bought and a non-profit is being set up to oversee its development. Once the plaque is installed, Ellis said, Well go into fundraising mode. Ellis pointed to the Birthplace of Pepsi-Cola in New Bern, North Carolina, that draws about 50,000 visitors a year. I hope it will help downtown, he said, noting that the more unique an attraction is, the more tourism it draws. Heath said it will likely be 2025 before the marker is installed. The marker, he said, will get a final review late this month and then go to the foundry for creation. At that time, he said, Well start looking at a huge celebration in 2025, the 60th anniversary of the creation. Cooking with the Dew To help promote Marions claim to Mountain Dew, a new downtown restaurant plans to feature it in multiple dishes. Mark Bull Myers plans to open The Swamp Fox at 107 East Main St. inside the General Francis Marion Hotel next week. Monday, Myers cited Mountain Dew Glazed Carrots as one item on the soon-to-be released menu. The soft drink, he said, will be used significantly in the eaterys kitchen. Even with such help, the town will have work to do to set the record straight. In 2020, the Tennessee Historical Commission erected a highway marker in Knoxville. It reads: Mountain Dew was born right here in Knoxville at 1921 East Magnolia Avenue. This area is the former home of Hartman Beverage, owned and operated by Barney and Ally Hartman. Here in 1948 the brothers created and trademarked the soft drink Mountain Dew as a clear lemon-lime flavored drink. The first franchise for Mountain Dew was issued in 1954 to Charlie Gordons Tri-City Beverage of Johnson City, Tennessee. In 1958 Tri-City Plant Manager, Bill Bridgeforth, developed a new citrus-lemonade flavor for Mountain Dew, which is the taste of Mountain Dew today. On its website, PepsiCo says, The original formula was invented in the 1940s by Tennessee beverage bottlers Barney and Ally Hartman and was first marketed in Marion, Virginia, Knoxville, Tennessee, and Johnson City, Tennessee. The Mountain Dew brand and production rights were acquired by the Pepsi-Cola company in 1964, at which point distribution expanded more widely across the United States. The quote is attributed to Wikipedia, which on its website acknowledges Bill Jones role in Mountain Dews development. In the midst of a summer heat wave in July 2023, Vancouver resident ShaWayne Hodges walked out to her porch and saw a notice posted on her front door. A drive-by inspection of her four-bedroom house had found brown, long and dying grass on the front yards, the notice said. It meant Hodges wasnt maintaining the landscaping to the standard set forth by her lease. She owed $125 to the property management company, Zenith Properties NW, for noncompliance with her lease. She owed another $125 to Zenith for taping the piece of paper on her front door. They gave me a notice for letting my grass die in the middle of summer, and they charged me $250 for it, said Hodges, 40. A low-income single mother of five, Hodges is one of many Washington renters facing accumulating rental fees, which have taken off as pandemic-era protections for renters ended, according to tenant advocates, attorneys and policymakers around the state. Hodges is able to afford her rent through a housing choice voucher, a federal program that assists low-income families with rent subsidies, also known as Section 8. The voucher has helped keep her rent relatively low compared to Zeniths other properties in Clark County, at $1,895 per month, the same rate its been since 2020 when she moved in. Zenith, a locally owned company, specializes in managing single-family homes in Clark County and has nearly 30 rentals open for applications on its website. As her years in the home passed, and as Vancouvers rent and utilities costs rose nearly 40% by federal estimates since she moved in, Hodges has been hit with escalating fees for noncompliance, for delivering notices, for appointments with management about maintenance issues, for fixing plumbing and other maintenance problems that she says she didnt cause. In a statement to InvestigateWest, Zenith emphasized that its fee structure complies with Washingtons Landlord-Tenant Act and has been extensively reviewed by specialized attorneys. Our fees are in alignment with our local competitors. By signing the lease, the tenant agrees to all fees as disclosed in the lease, Zeniths statement says. Hodges owes around $3,000 in fees as of early August, according to her tenant ledger provided by Zenith. It was almost like they were trying to poke the bear in order for me to move, she said about Zenith. I work two jobs as it is right now. I pay everything that goes along with the bills and rent and child care for two kids and gas. If she lived just a few miles south in Oregon, a state with strict laws limiting the fees that landlords can charge their tenants, or in Seattle, which banned fees for posting notices last year, many of the charges on her ledger would be illegal. But she lives in Vancouver, a city that doesnt limit these fees. While Washington law requires renters to follow all reasonable rules set by landlords and restricts certain tenant screening fees, most other fees like the ones Hodges is facing for noncompliance and notice delivery are not regulated at all by state law. Advocates and attorneys say that creates an opening for housing providers to use excessive fees to target certain renters like Hodges, pressuring them to pay or move. The Biden administration announced a national crackdown on rental housing junk fees last year, calling on states to take legislative action against fees for applications, online payments, trash collection and other mandatory services. But Washingtons state and local efforts to cap fees have faced strong opposition from landlord and rental associations that argue regulations will increase costs for housing providers, pushing landlords out of the market and ultimately driving down an already insufficient housing supply. Notice delivery fees, for example, started cropping up after Washington passed legislation in 2021 regulating how notices must be served to tenants, said Sean Flynn, executive director and board president of the Rental Housing Association of Washington, which serves independent rental property owners and managers. Not that long ago, there werent that many notices. Why? Because we changed the law that says, Now you have to give these complicated notices to tenants, Flynn said. At the end of the day, no ones going to prep the notice and go out there and serve it and do the legal paperwork and fill out the affidavit for free. But fees arent only about affordability. Theyre also about power, tenant advocates and attorneys say. Using fees to discriminate and retaliate against tenants is illegal under state law, but its difficult for tenants to prove in court, especially when the fees are included in a signed lease. We dont regulate fees, so the landlord could say, Oh no, I wasnt retaliating. I had to post a notice on that tenants door 10 times last month, said Michele Thomas, director of policy and advocacy for the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance, a nonprofit that advocates for statewide renter protections. Theyre just sending a message to a tenant through the tenants pocketbook. Bully Tactics As of 2019, renters cant be evicted for failing to pay fees under Washington state law. But debt from unpaid fees remains a large and lasting consequence for renters, according to attorneys representing low-income tenants. It can damage their credit scores and lead to poor landlord references, which makes it harder to find future places to rent. In March, a third party conducted an annual inspection of Hodges house. They snapped several photos inside her home bowls on the floor filled with dog food; a bed that looked like it had been slept on; a stroller, planks of wood and other bulk items in front of her garage. Zenith charged her $500 for an unauthorized pet, $180 for a retroactive pet fee, $125 for having evidence of an unauthorized occupant and trash in her yard, and $125 for delivering the notice. A total of $930. Hodges disputes that she breached the lease in several of these instances. The unauthorized occupant was her son, whos on the lease, she said. Shed put pet food out for her moms dog when her mom came to visit, and she hadnt gotten around to cleaning it up. I have to pay $680 in pets that I dont even have, Hodges said. The notice said if she didnt comply within 10 days, Zenith would conduct a follow-up inspection for $95 plus taxes. And if the company couldnt access the property for the follow-up, shed be charged a $50 rescheduling fee. Hodges cleared her work schedule for the inspection, but when the day arrived, no one showed up to ensure she was in compliance, she said. They strike me as just blatant bully tactics, said Carl Snodgrass, Hodges attorney with the Northwest Justice Project, a nonprofit law firm that provides free legal services to low-income people. Its a really simple way to avoid having to give someones security deposit back. You just claim over and over again that any little thing is a breach of the lease. Zenith wrote in a statement to InvestigateWest that its team is extensively trained on all state and federal fair housing laws. If there is photographic evidence that proves a violation of the lease terms, fees will be charged as per the terms of the lease, Zenith wrote. Ryan Makinster, director of government affairs for the Washington Multi-Family Housing Association, which represents property management companies and advocates against policies that limit rental fees, acknowledges that a $125 fee for delivering a notice seems egregious. But an anecdote of a property management company or two or three, even, as an example I would say does not constitute the actions of the whole market, Makinster continued. It has to be widespread. We dont write laws for outliers. Its not good policy. Its not good practice. Tenant advocates, however, say situations like Hodges are not uncommon across the state. It happens all the time, said Thomas, with the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance. Tenants who stand up for their rights are often targets for retaliation. Retaliation against a tenant is prohibited under state law. But the law is difficult to enforce, Thomas added. Edmund Witter, managing attorney at the King County Bar Associations Housing Justice Project, which serves low-income renters at risk of eviction, said hes never seen Washingtons retaliation protections used successfully in his career. The law defines retaliation as actions like increasing rent and evicting a tenant, Witter noted. But the problem is, on a policy level, what does that mean? Is the landlord prohibited from ever raising your rent? Is your landlord ever prohibited from evicting you? What kinds of protections are you actually given? To effectively protect renters from retaliation and discrimination, Thomas argues that more state regulations are needed. Until fees are regulated, landlords will continue to be able to use fees to intimidate, retaliate, discriminate and harass tenants, she said. Pushing on a Balloon Washington lawmakers introduced a bill in January that would have capped some rental fees. The bill like others introduced in 2022 and 2023 that proposed to regulate late fees died after facing pushback from associations for housing providers, who caution the regulations could backfire in the long run. Flynn with the Rental Housing Association of Washington argues that capping fees will just divert costs to other areas, like rent. Its like pushing on a balloon, Flynn said. The balloon just bulges someplace else. Washington has seen that analogy bear out in recent years. In 2021, the Legislature passed a just cause eviction law requiring landlords to give 60 days notice and a legitimate business reason, like nonpayment of rent, before ending a month-to-month lease. The goal was to reduce landlords ability to discriminate against tenants by evicting them without citing a reason, according to Rep. Nicole Macri, D-Seattle, the bills lead sponsor. But after it passed, some Washington landlords found a loophole, according to a recent case study by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a nonprofit that advocates for affordable housing policies. Landlords began charging exorbitant fees for month-to-month leases in order to push tenants into fixed-term leases, which can be ended without cause, the study says. In January 2022, Zenith attempted to raise Hodges month-to-month rent by $950, Hodges records show. But because she uses a housing voucher, her rent must be approved by a public housing agency as rent reasonable under federal regulations. The Vancouver Housing Authority denied Zeniths offer as not reasonable. Her rent remained at $1,895. In the months following the lease renewal offer, Zenith began charging her noncompliance and notice delivery fees, her ledger shows. I think probably the underlying real motivation is getting her out so that they can charge more rent, said Snodgrass, Hodges attorney. It would be illegal for them to say that, but it seems pretty implicit. For Macri, Washingtons just cause law illustrates that in order to effectively protect the states renters, rent and fees need to be addressed together. We need to bring (fees) into control, Macri said. But if you do it without also regulating rent, then theres really going to be no net benefit for renters. As state legislation stalls, some cities in western Washington are taking matters into their own hands. At least 10 cities, from Seattle to Tacoma to Shoreline, have passed ordinances limiting late fees, move-in fees and even notice delivery fees like the ones Hodges has been charged. Witter, the attorney with King Countys Housing Justice Project, said fewer clients in Seattle have come to him with fee issues in recent years. It definitely made a difference, Witter said. The ledgers we see for our clients are just simpler. Its just, like, the rent and whats been paid. Whereas before, you would see potentially a dozen different charges per month for God knows what. Olympia took a different approach, enacting an ordinance in May that lists specific fees that landlords can charge and gives renters the right to opt out of all others. Christa Lenssen, the citys housing program specialist, said Olympias approach was influenced by Oregon law, which similarly defines which fees are allowed rather than which arent. Yet even as some cities take action, tenant advocates argue that statewide legislation is still needed. Its really too bad that it has to go down to the local municipalities, because a lot of people dont have a lot of real choice in where they live, said Faith Foote, an attorney with Sound Legal Aid, a nonprofit that provides free legal services for low-income residents in the South Puget Sound area. I guess youre lucky if you have been in Olympia and you can stay in Olympia, but those outside are probably not going to be moving in, because they cant afford it. Vancouver, where Hodges lives, doesnt currently have plans to cap rental fees, although addressing the fees was discussed in a recent City Council workshop, according to Vancouvers strategic communications manager, Tim Becker. Now, the entrance of Hodges house is crowded with cardboard moving boxes. In July, she notified Zenith that shes leaving, and before the summer ends, shell be heading with her kids to Georgia, where her father lives and where living costs are more affordable. Zenith has listed her house on Zillow for $2,495 per month $600 more than Hodges rate. Still, she doesnt feel like shes lost the battle, she said. She plans to keep pushing back against the fees with her attorney. Here, me being a single mom, its just, its not I cant do it anymore, she said. Im done treading water. I need to thrive. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Africa contributes only about 4% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. The continent consumes the least energy for each person, compared with other regions of the world. With over 560 million people who don't have access to electricity, Africa has the lowest rate of energy access in the world. The continent also has the most rapid population growth and urbanization rates globally. This means that Africa's greenhouse gas emissions could dramatically increase due to rapid economic growth, urbanization, industrialization and population growth. Our research set out to analyze how Africa's growth could potentially affect efforts to reduce global warming or mitigate climate change. We did this by modeling various scenarios. We found that the impact of Africa's growth on global carbon targets is likely to be low, especially in the short term. We also found that international institutions based outside Africa could influence the continent's energy transition, and greenhouse gas emissions, by supporting green investments. We argue that Africa's economies are innovative. The continent has a wealth of natural resources. If investments are made in sustainable development which lead to a "Green New Deal" for Africa, the continent could become a clean and equitable leader at home and for the global community. How we calculated future emissions Different combinations of factors produce different emissions scenarios. The factors are: population economic growth (gross domestic product per capita) energy intensity (total energy consumed per unit of gross domestic product) carbon intensity (emissions per unit of energy consumed). We used the well-known Kaya identity, a mathematical tool. It predicts how carbon dioxide emissions might change in African countries, and what could cause this change. The Kaya identity says the total emissions of carbon dioxide from energy use will be equal to population x economic growth x energy intensity x carbon intensity. Changes in any of the factors in the calculation will change the outcome. For example, the population and economic growth rate might both increase rapidly. Or the population might stay stable but more fossil fuels might be burnt. We based our calculations on World Bank and US Energy Information Administration data on the greenhouse gases emitted by Africa between 1990 and 2020. This helped us identify historical patterns. We also used the United Nations' population projections for African countries across all scenarios. Our work led directly to four scenariosa potential range for Africa's future carbon emissions in 2030, 2040 and 2050: Low growth: African countries' economic growth does not speed up. They grow slowly but limit both energy use and carbon dioxide emissions. High growth: African countries sustain the highest growth rates recorded over the past 30 years for carbon intensity, energy intensity and economic growth. This might happen if significant fossil fuel resources are discovered and then exploited without any efforts to curb related emissions. Several African countries have recently begun exploring their fossil fuel potential, hoping to boost their economic prosperity. Green growth: This is where African countries grow as rapidly as they have grown over the past 30 years, but do not increase their use of fossil fuels. Kenya, for example, has experienced both economic growth and an expansion of renewable energy capacity. Mid-growth: This is where countries maintain the average growth rates of the past 30 years for carbon intensity, energy intensity, and economic growth into the next three decades. What we found Our findings suggest that explosive growth in Africa's greenhouse gas emissions in the next 30 years is unlikely. This is because under a low-growth scenario, Africa will reduce emissions. In the mid- and green-growth scenarios, Africa's emissions would represent only 4%-13% of the planned carbon savings in major economies. We find that only a high-growth scenario without climate-conscious development will mean that Africa's greenhouse gas emissions grow so much that they negatively affect global efforts to stop climate change. But even this impact would be less than that from China, India and Indonesia until at least 2030. Recent trends from 2010 to 2020 show that 26 of the 47 African countries studied are leaning towards low- or green-growth scenarios. This includes the major emitters like South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria. However, our study also found that low emissions growth in many African countries is primarily due to low economic growth. This means that if economic growth accelerates, emissions will riseunless carbon and energy intensity trends are addressed via a Green New Deal for Africa. This means that economic development plans must make sure that climate mitigation efforts are front and center, especially in the 19 African countries which will account for 80%-90% of the region's future emissions. We also observed that African countries are highly dependent on external actors for their transition to renewable energy. For example, national action plans on climate change in South Africa, Mozambique, Rwanda and Kenya are being developed in response to donor requirements. Egypt's mitigation efforts will only happen if the country gets low interest loans and grants from the international community. Kenya has undertaken to cover 21% of the costs of mitigating climate change, if it receives funding to cover the other 79%. Similarly, most fossil fuel projects on the continent are owned by companies headquartered in Europe, the United States and China. Foreign multinational corporations own two-thirds of the projected new gas and oil production in Africa to 2050. These external actors therefore have a strong influence on whether renewable energy adoption will be substantial. Our research suggests that African countries can achieve a green-growth scenario (high economic growth without high greenhouse gas emissions) if international partners commit and follow through with financial and technical support for climate action. African nations must also make sure that any climate finance aligns with their developmental goals. These include inclusive, community-empowering investments that bring on board the half a billion people without even basic electricity access today. These goals also include expanding local industriesmore and more, renewable energy systems should be built and run by local companies and workers, with locally manufactured components. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. A Muslim in Pakistan who kidnapped and raped a mentally handicapped Christian woman who died from her injuries two days after her release is pressuring her family to drop charges, sources said. Salma Munir, 20, was held captive for five months before she was rescued in June, said Asif Khokhar, chief organizer of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance Movement. Omer Khokhar, known as Khatri, a Muslim resident of her area in Ajnianwala village, Sheikhupura District, Punjab Province, kidnapped her in February, Khokhar said. Khatri saw Munir as easy prey because she was mentally handicapped and belonged to a vulnerable Christian family, Khokhar said. After abducting her, Khatri took her to Gujranwala city, where he repeatedly raped her, Khokhar said. Khatri then sold Munir to a brothel owner for 50,000 rupees (179 USD), and the owner later returned her to Khatri, who sold her to another brothel in Hafizabad city for 70,000 rupees (251 USD], Khokhar said. When Munir disappeared in February, her family tried to get police to register a case, but officers police showed no interest in finding her, Khokhar said. Stay informed with The Christian Daily Newsletter Sign up In June, Munirs older brother was in Hafizabad for some work when he saw his sister traveling on a rickshaw with other women. He intercepted the rickshaw and rescued his sister, but the madam of the brothel managed to escape from the scene, Khokhar said. The youth brought the traumatized girl back to the family, but she was in a really bad condition, and her bleeding wouldnt stop. Her family tried their best to obtain medical treatment for her, but she died after two days from injuries while in captivity, he said. Before dying, she told her family about Khatri and how he had exploited her and sold her into sex slavery, Khokhar told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. When her father Munir Masih confronted Khatri, he denied the charge and instead accused the family of poisoning Salma to death, Khokhar said. The family then sought help from local Muslim elders, without success. Fearful for the security of his other children and having no hope of justice, Masih chose to keep silent about the incident and buried Salma quietly on June 25, Khokhar said. An emboldened Khatri 20 days later stopped Salma Munirs younger sister, Nisha Munir, in the street as she was going to work and tried to kidnap her, he said. When she resisted, he threatened her that she would suffer the same fate as her sister if she did not surrender to his sexual demands, Khokhar said. When a terrified Nisha told her family about Khatris action, Masih decided that in order to save his younger daughter he must get Khatri punished for his crimes against Salma, Khokhar said. Masih contacted Khokhar for help, and with his support again made efforts to register a First Information Report (FIR) against Khatri. Police again initially failed to cooperate, Khokhar said. Farooqabad police finally registered an FIR on July 27 and arrested Khatri after Khokhar requested that a Christian provincial lawmaker, Emannuel Athar Julias, help the impoverished family obtain justice. The FIR includes charges for selling a person for prostitution, punishable by up to 25 years in prison, buying a person for prostitution, punishable by up to 25 years inpirson, murder, criminal intimidation, and sexual harassment of a woman, punishable by imprisonment of up to three years. Though the accused is now in custody, his family and friends are now threatening Munir Masihs family to reach a settlement with them, Khokhar said. The security of the family is of utmost importance due to the sensitivity of the case, so we have relocated them to a safe location. The activist said that Salma Munirs body was exhumed for forensic tests last week, and the family is awaiting results. We are very hopeful that God will deliver justice to the poor Christian family, but at the same time we need support from the police and government to protect them from any attack by the accused side, he said. The family is extremely poor, earning a living cleaning farmhouses and homes. Now that they are forced to live in hiding, it has resulted in a severe financial crisis for them, he said. We are trying to support them as much as we can within our meager resources, but they would need financial help to pursue the case effectively. Pakistan ranked seventh on Open Doors 2024 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian, as it was the previous year. 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: Detectors are able to detect AI-generated text when it contains no edits or "disguises," but when manipulated, current detectors are not reliably able to detect AI-generated text. Credit: arXiv (2024). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2405.07940 Machine-generated text has been fooling humans for the last four years. Since the release of GPT-2 in 2019, large language model (LLM) tools have gotten progressively better at crafting stories, news articles, student essays and more, to the point that humans are often unable to recognize when they are reading text produced by an algorithm. While these LLMs are being used to save time and even boost creativity in ideating and writing, their power can lead to misuse and harmful outcomes, which are already showing up across spaces we consume information. The inability to detect machine-generated text only enhances the potential for harm. One way both academics and companies are trying to improve this detection is by employing machines themselves. Machine learning models can identify subtle patterns of word choice and grammatical constructions to recognize LLM-generated text in a way that our human intuition cannot. Today, many commercial detectors are claiming to be highly successful at detecting machine-generated text, with up to 99% accuracy, but are these claims too good to be true? Chris Callison-Burch, Professor in Computer and Information Science, and Liam Dugan, a doctoral student in Callison-Burch's group, aimed to find out in their recent paper presented at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics. The work is published on the arXiv preprint server. "As the technology to detect machine-generated text advances, so does the technology used to evade detectors," says Callison-Burch. "It's an arms race, and while the goal to develop robust detectors is one we should strive to achieve, there are many limitations and vulnerabilities in detectors that are available now." To investigate those limitations and provide a path forward for developing robust detectors, the research team created Robust AI Detector (RAID), a data set of over 10 million documents across recipes, news articles, blog posts and more, including both AI-generated text and human-generated text. RAID serves as the first standardized benchmark to test detection ability in current and future detectors. In addition to creating the data set, they created a leaderboard, which publicly ranks the performance of all detectors that have been evaluated using RAID in an unbiased way. "The concept of a leaderboard has been key to success in many aspects of machine learning like computer vision," says Dugan. "The RAID benchmark is the first leaderboard for robust detection of AI-generated text. We hope that our leaderboard will encourage transparency and high-quality research in this quickly evolving field." Dugan has already seen the influence this paper is having in companies that develop detectors. "Soon after our paper became available as a preprint and after we released the RAID data set, we started seeing the data set being downloaded many times, and we were contacted by Originality.ai, a prominent company that develops detectors for AI-generated text," he says. "They shared our work in a blog post, ranked their detector in our leaderboard and are using RAID to identify previously hidden vulnerabilities and improve their detection tool. It's inspiring to see that the community appreciates this work and also strives to raise the bar for AI-detection technology." So, do the current detectors hold up to the work at hand? RAID shows that not many do as well as they claim. "Detectors trained on ChatGPT were mostly useless in detecting machine-generated text outputs from other LLMs such as Llama and vice versa," says Callison-Burch. "Detectors trained on news stories don't hold up when reviewing machine-generated recipes or creative writing. What we found is that there are a myriad of detectors that only work well when applied to very specific use cases and when reviewing text similar to the text they were trained on." Faulty detectors are not only an issue because they don't work well, they can be as dangerous as the AI tool used to produce the text in the first place. "If universities or schools were relying on a narrowly trained detector to catch students' use of ChatGPT to write assignments, they could be falsely accusing students of cheating when they are not," says Callison-Burch. "They could also miss students who were cheating by using other LLMs to generate their homework." It's not just a detector's training, or lack thereof, that limits its ability to detect machine-generated text. The team looked into how adversarial attacks such as replacing letters with look-alike symbols can easily derail a detector and allow machine-generated text to fly under the radar. "It turns out, there are a variety of edits a user can make to evade detection by the detectors we evaluated in this study," says Dugan. "Something as simple as inserting extra spaces, swapping letters for symbols, or using alternative spelling or synonyms for a few words can cause a detector to be rendered useless." The study concludes that, while current detectors are not robust enough to be of significant use in society just yet, openly evaluating detectors on large, diverse, shared resources is critical to accelerating progress and trust in detection, and that transparency will lead to the development of detectors that do hold up in a variety of use cases. "Evaluating robustness is particularly important for detection, and it only increases in importance as the scale of public deployment grows," says Dugan. "We also need to remember that detection is just one tool for a larger, even more valuable motivation: preventing harm by the mass distribution of AI-generated text." "My work is focused on reducing the harms that LLMs can inadvertently cause, and, at the very least, making people aware of the harms so that they can be better informed when interacting with information," he continues. "In the realm of information distribution and consumption, it will become increasingly important to understand where and how text is generated, and this paper is just one way I am working towards bridging those gaps in both the scientific and public communities." Dugan and Callison-Burch worked with several other researchers on this study, including Penn graduate students Alyssa Hwang, Josh Magnus Ludan, Andrew Zhu and Hainiu Xu, as well as a former Penn doctoral student Daphne Ippolito and Filip Trhlik, an undergraduate at University College London. They continue to work on projects that focus on advancing the reliability and safety of AI tools and how society integrates them into daily life. More information: Liam Dugan et al, RAID: A Shared Benchmark for Robust Evaluation of Machine-Generated Text Detectors, arXiv (2024). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2405.07940 Journal information: arXiv 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: A Mercedes electric car charging station at a parking lot in Seoul. Mercedes-Benz Korea has released the names of its electric vehicle battery suppliers, bowing to public outrage after one of its cars burst into flame in a parking lot earlier this month. Mercedes-Benz Korea released the names of its electric vehicle battery suppliers on Tuesday, bowing to public outrage after one of its cars burst into flame in a parking lot earlier this month. The August 1 fire damaged hundreds of vehicles and created a national panic, with car parks across South Korea imposing a wave of adhoc restrictions amid growing calls for transparency on battery supply chains. South Korea is a major producer of batteries and electric vehicles, including local carmakers Hyundai and Kia, with EVs making up 9.3 percent of new cars purchased last yearhigher than in the US. "Although the analysis is still in progress, the CCTV footage suggests that this fire exhibits all the signs of being caused by a battery," a spokesman at the Incheon Fire Department told AFP. According to experts, battery fires are tougher to extinguish than conventional ones due to the thermal runaway effecta chain reaction within battery cells. The Mercedes-Benz model EQE 350 that exploded into flames had a battery from Chinese manufacturer Farasis Energy, Mercedes Korea disclosed on its website Tuesday. Local media have shown dramatic images of the car catching fire, causing a blaze that destroyed 40 vehicles in the parking lot, with the fire department saying some 23 people were hospitalized for smoke inhalation. Fire authorities are investigating the deactivation of the car park's sprinkler system in the fire's initial minutes, with local media speculating a maintenance worker may have thought it had been activated in error. South Korea's Office for Policy Coordination said Tuesday it would recommend automakers voluntarily disclose the battery brand information for all electric vehicles sold in the country. "To alleviate the concerns of residents in multi-unit housing, it has been decided to conduct urgent inspections of fire safety facilities, such as sprinklers, in underground parking lots," it added. The government also plans to offer a "free inspection" of electric vehicles to ease any fire-related concerns among their owners, they said. The incident has heightened concerns about the safety of electric vehicles, prompting some apartment complexes to ban EVs from underground parking and to shut down charging stations. Other Mercedes battery suppliers include South Korean companies LG Energy Solution and SK On and China's CATL, the company revealed Tuesday. The fire has sparked a public demand for mandatory disclosure of battery suppliers by EV manufacturers. 2024 AFP 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: NASA Life Support Technician Mathew Sechler provides support as the X-59s ejection seat is installed into the aircraft at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works facilities in Palmdale, California. Completion of the seats installation marks an integration milestone for the aircraft as it prepares for final ground tests. Credit: Lockheed Martin The team preparing NASA's X-59 continues through testing in preparation for the quiet supersonic aircraft to make its first flight. This includes a trio of important structural tests and critical inspections on the path to flight. The X-59 is an experimental plane that will fly faster than the speed of sound without a loud sonic boom. It will be the first of its kind to fly, with the goal of gathering sound data for NASA's Quesst mission, which could open the door to commercial supersonic overland flight in the future. Because of its unique design, the X-59's engineering team must do all it can to predict every aspect of it before it ever takes off, including how its fuselage, wings, and the control surfaces will behave together in flight. That means testing on the ground to give the team the data it needs to validate the models they've developed. "The testing not only tells us how structurally sound the aircraft is, but also what kind of forces it can take once it is in the air," said Walt Silva, Senior Research Scientist at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, who serves as structures lead for the X-59. The X-59's structural tests provide the team with valuable feedback. From 2022 to 2024, the engineers collected data on the forces that the aircraft will experience in flight and the potential effects of vibrations on the plane. "You do these tests, you get the data, and things compare well in some areas and in other areas you want to improve them," Silva said. "So, you figure that all out and then you work towards making it better." Lockheed Martin technicians temporarily remove the canopy from the X-59 in preparation for final installation of the ejection seat into the aircraft. Credit: Lockheed Martin Earlier this year, the X-59 underwent structural coupling tests that saw its control surfaces, including its ailerons, flaps and rudder, moved by computer. It was the last of three vital structural tests. In 2023, engineers applied "shakers" to parts of the plane to evaluate its response to vibrations, and in early 2022 they conducted a proof test to ensure the aircraft would absorb the forces it will experience during flight. This year the X-59 ejection seat was installed and passed inspection. The ejection seat is an additional safety measure that is critical for pilot safety during all aspects of flight. With structural tests and ejection seat installation complete, the aircraft will advance toward a new milestone, starting up its engines for a series of test runs on the ground. Also ahead for the X-59 is testing the airplane's avionics and extensive wiring for potential electromagnetic interference, imitating flight conditions in a ground test environment, and finally, completing taxi tests to validate ground mobility before first flight. "First flights are always very intense," said Natalie Spivey, aerospace engineer at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. "There's lots of anticipation, but we're ready to get there and see how the aircraft responds in the air. It'll be very exciting." 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: Barbara Winston uses a computer at her home in Northbrook, Ill., on Sunday, June 30, 2024, several days after taking an introduction to artificial intelligence class at a local senior center. I saw ice boxes turn into refrigerators, that is how long I have been around, ... And I think [AI] is probably the greatest technical revolution that I will see in my lifetime, she says. Credit: AP Photo/Teresa Crawford The studentsmost with gray hair, some with canes, all at least in their 60scouldn't believe what they were hearing. "Oh, my God," whispered a retired college professor. "Does it come with viruses?" wondered a bewildered woman scribbling notes in the second row. A 79-year-old in a black-and-white floral shirt then asked the question on many minds: "How do you know if it is fake or not?" This is how older adultsmany of whom lived through the advent of refrigeration, the transition from radio to television and the invention of the internetare grappling with artificial intelligence: taking a class. Sitting in a classroom in an airy senior center in a Chicago suburb, the dozen students were learning about the latestand possibly greatesttechnological leap in their lives. And they are not alone. Across the country, scores of such classes have sprung up to teach seniors about AI's ability to transform their lives and the threats the technology poses. "I saw ice boxes turn into refrigerators, that is how long I have been around," said Barbara Winston, 89, who paid to attend the class put on at the North Shore Senior Center in Northfield. "And I think this is probably the greatest technical revolution that I will see in my lifetime." Seema Nagrani, left, and Caroline Key, listen to a seminar about artificial intelligence at the Forsyth County Senior Center, Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Cumming, Ga. Credit: AP Photo/Mike Stewart Older adults find themselves in a unique moment with technology. Artificial intelligence offers significant benefits for seniors, from the ability to curb loneliness to making it easier for them to get to medical appointments. But it also has drawbacks that are uniquely threatening to this older group of Americans: A series of studies have found that senior citizens are more susceptible to both scams perpetrated using artificial intelligence and believing the types of misinformation that are being supercharged by the technology. Experts are particularly concerned about the role deepfakes and other AI-produced misinformation could play in politics. Winston left the class to start her own AI journey, even if others remained skeptical. When she got home, the retired professor downloaded books on the technology, researched the platforms she wanted to use from her kitchen table and eventually queried ChatGPT about how to treat a personal medical ailment. "This is the beginning of my education," she said, her floral cup of coffee nearby. "I'm not worried about protecting myself. I'm too old to worry about that." A woman listens to an artificial intelligence seminar at the Forsyth County Senior Center, Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Cumming, Ga. Credit: AP Photo/Mike Stewart Classes like these aim to familiarize aging early adopters with the myriad ways the technology could better their lives but also encourage skepticism about how artificial intelligence can distort the truth. Balanced skepticism, say experts on the technology, is critical for seniors who plan to interact with AI. "It's tricky," said Michael Gershbein, the instructor of the class in Northfield. "Overall, the suspicion that is there on the part of seniors is good but I don't want them to become paralyzed from their fears and not be willing to do anything online." The questions in his class outside Chicago ranged from the absurd to the practical to the academic. Why are so many new shoes no longer including shoelaces? Can AI create a multiday itinerary for a visit to Charleston, South Carolina? What are the geopolitical implications of artificial intelligence? People listen to an artificial intelligence seminar at the Forsyth County Senior Center, Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Cumming, Ga. Credit: AP Photo/Mike Stewart Gershbein, who teaches classes on a range of technological topics, said interest in AI has ballooned in the last nine months. The 52-year-old teaches an AI course once or twice a week, he said, and aims to create a "safe space where (seniors) can come in and we can discuss all the issues they may be hearing bits and pieces of but we can put it all together and they can ask questions." During a 90-minute-long session on a June Thursday, Gershbein discussed deepfakesvideos that use generative AI to make it appear someone said something they did not. When he played a few deepfakes, the seniors sat agog. They could not believe how real the fakes seemed. There are widespread concerns that such videos could be used to trick voters, especially seniors. The threats to seniors go beyond politics, however, and range from basic misinformation on social media sites to scams that use voice-cloning technology to trick them. An AARP report published last year said that Americans over 60 lose $28.3 billion annually to financial extortion schemes, some assisted by AI. Experts from the National Council on Aging, an organization established in 1950 to advocate for seniors, said classes on AI at senior centers have increased in recent years and are at the forefront of digital literacy efforts. People listen to an artificial intelligence seminar at the Forsyth County Senior Center, Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Cumming, Ga. Credit: AP Photo/Mike Stewart "There's a myth out there that older adults don't use technology. We know that that's not true," said Dianne Stone, associate director at the National Council on Aging who ran a senior center in Connecticut for over two decades. Such courses, she said, are meant to foster a "healthy skepticism" in what the technology can do, arming older Americans with the knowledge "that not everything you hear is true, it's good to get the information, but you have to kind of sort it out for yourself." Striking that balance, said Siwei Lyu, a University at Buffalo professor, can be difficult, and classes tend to either promote AI's benefits or focus on its dangers. "We need this kind of education for seniors, but the approach we take has to be very balanced and well-designed," said Lyu, who has lectured to seniors and other groups. Seniors who have taken such AI classes said they came away with a clear understanding of AI's benefits and pitfalls. Barbara Winston uses a computer at her home in Northbrook, Ill., on Sunday, June 30, 2024, several days after taking an introduction to artificial intelligence class at a local senior center. Credit: AP Photo/Teresa Crawford Barbara Winston, 89, sits for a portrait at her home in Northbrook, Ill., on Sunday, June 30, 2024. When she got home from an artificial intelligence class, the retired professor downloaded books on the technology, researched the platforms she wanted to use from her kitchen table and eventually queried ChatGPT about how to treat a personal medical ailment. Credit: AP Photo/Teresa Crawford Barbara Winston uses a computer and a smartphone at her home in Northbrook, Ill., on Sunday, June 30, 2024, several days after taking an introduction to artificial intelligence class at a local senior center. Credit: AP Photo/Teresa Crawford "It's only as good as the people who program it, and the users need to understand that. You really have to question it," said Linda Chipko, a 70-year-old who attended an AI class in June in suburban Atlanta. Chipko said she took the class because she wanted to "understand" AI, but on her way out said, "It's not for me." Others have even embraced it. Ruth Schneiderman, 77, used AI to help illustrate a children's book she was writing, and that experience sparked her interest in taking the Northfield class to learn more about the technology. "My mother lived until she was 90," Schneiderman said, "and I learned from her if you want to survive in this world, you have to adjust to the change. Otherwise you are left behind." 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Ballast Inc. boosted its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE Free Report) by 24.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,248 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after buying an additional 5,318 shares during the period. Ballast Inc.s holdings in Pfizer were worth $762,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PFE. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC lifted its stake in Pfizer by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 1,200 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the companys stock. Get Pfizer alerts: Pfizer Price Performance NYSE:PFE traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $28.45. 21,134,306 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 39,705,348. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $28.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.86. The company has a market cap of $161.21 billion, a PE ratio of -475.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.69. Pfizer Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.20 and a 12-month high of $37.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Pfizer Dividend Announcement Pfizer ( NYSE:PFE Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.14. Pfizer had a negative net margin of 4.66% and a positive return on equity of 8.42%. The business had revenue of $13.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $12.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 26th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.91%. Pfizers payout ratio is -2,799.53%. Analyst Ratings Changes Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $36.00 price target (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Daiwa America raised shares of Pfizer from a moderate buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Pfizer from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pfizer from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $34.54. Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Pfizer Pfizer Company Profile (Free Report) Pfizer Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company offers medicines and vaccines in various therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular metabolic, migraine, and women's health under the Eliquis, Nurtec ODT/Vydura, Zavzpret, and the Premarin family brands; infectious diseases with unmet medical needs under the Prevnar family, Abrysvo, Nimenrix, FSME/IMMUN-TicoVac, and Trumenba brands; and COVID-19 prevention and treatment, and potential future mRNA and antiviral products under the Comirnaty and Paxlovid brands. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PFE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Pfizer Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Pfizer and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of CTT Correios De Portugal, S.A. (OTCMKTS:CTTPY Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $8.02 and last traded at $8.02, with a volume of 0 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.02. CTT Correios De Portugal Price Performance The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.97. CTT Correios De Portugal Company Profile (Get Free Report) CTT Correios De Portugal, SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides postal and financial services worldwide. It operates through Mail, Express & Parcels, Financial Services & Retail, and Bank segments. The company offers courier and urgent mail transport services; postal financial services; and banking services. Read More Receive News & Ratings for CTT - Correios De Portugal Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for CTT - Correios De Portugal and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Peoples Bank KS reduced its position in shares of McDonalds Co. (NYSE:MCD Free Report) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,470 shares of the fast-food giants stock after selling 96 shares during the quarter. McDonalds comprises about 2.3% of Peoples Bank KSs portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Peoples Bank KSs holdings in McDonalds were worth $2,923,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Park National Corp OH increased its position in shares of McDonalds by 12.7% during the second quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 126,008 shares of the fast-food giants stock worth $32,112,000 after acquiring an additional 14,178 shares in the last quarter. AHL Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in McDonalds during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,704,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC raised its stake in shares of McDonalds by 5.5% in the second quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 14,515 shares of the fast-food giants stock worth $3,699,000 after purchasing an additional 753 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of McDonalds by 17.1% in the second quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 11,814 shares of the fast-food giants stock valued at $3,011,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Hampshire Trust boosted its position in shares of McDonalds by 1.3% during the second quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 21,393 shares of the fast-food giants stock valued at $5,452,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the companys stock. Get McDonald's alerts: Insider Buying and Selling at McDonalds In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.13, for a total value of $291,377.87. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,878 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,209,734.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other McDonalds news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.13, for a total value of $291,377.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,878 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,209,734.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of McDonalds stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $285,480.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,780 shares in the company, valued at $3,842,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,794 shares of company stock worth $1,234,491 over the last three months. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders. McDonalds Stock Performance McDonalds stock traded up $1.55 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $269.46. 2,918,890 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,592,597. The companys fifty day moving average is $257.60 and its 200-day moving average is $271.42. McDonalds Co. has a 52 week low of $243.53 and a 52 week high of $302.39. The firm has a market cap of $194.19 billion, a PE ratio of 22.87, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.71. McDonalds (NYSE:MCD Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The fast-food giant reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.07 by ($0.10). McDonalds had a net margin of 32.25% and a negative return on equity of 178.92%. The business had revenue of $6.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.17 EPS. McDonaldss quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that McDonalds Co. will post 11.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. McDonalds Dividend Announcement The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. McDonaldss dividend payout ratio is currently 56.71%. Analysts Set New Price Targets Several equities analysts have weighed in on MCD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on McDonalds from $290.00 to $270.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of McDonalds from $330.00 to $315.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of McDonalds from $288.00 to $278.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on McDonalds from $295.00 to $290.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on McDonalds from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, McDonalds has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $303.00. Read Our Latest Research Report on McDonalds McDonalds Company Profile (Free Report) McDonald's Corporation operates and franchises restaurants under the McDonald's brand in the United States and internationally. It offers food and beverages, including hamburgers and cheeseburgers, various chicken sandwiches, fries, shakes, desserts, sundaes, cookies, pies, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages; and full or limited breakfast, as well as sells various other products during limited-time promotions. See Also Receive News & Ratings for McDonald's Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for McDonald's and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Azul (NYSE:AZUL Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The company reported ($1.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.63), Yahoo Finance reports. The company had revenue of $800.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $791.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.81) earnings per share. Azul Trading Up 4.0 % NYSE:AZUL traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $3.93. 616,503 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,658,589. The firms fifty day moving average price is $4.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $6.13. Azul has a 52-week low of $3.70 and a 52-week high of $11.26. The company has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.55 and a beta of 2.00. Get Azul alerts: Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America reissued an underperform rating and issued a $9.50 price target (down from $18.00) on shares of Azul in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Raymond James reissued an outperform rating and set a $12.00 price target (down from $13.00) on shares of Azul in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Azul from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Azul from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Azul in a research note on Friday, May 24th. They set an equal weight rating and a $7.40 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $10.39. Azul Company Profile (Get Free Report) Azul SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides air transportation services in Brazil and internationally. As of December 31, 2023, the company operated approximately 1,000 daily departures to 160 destinations through a network of 300 non-stop routes with an operating fleet of 183 aircraft and a passenger contractual fleet of 189 aircraft. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Azul Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Azul and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. BMO REX MicroSectors FANG Index 3X Inverse Leveraged ETN (NYSEARCA:FNGD Get Free Report)s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $28.23, but opened at $27.39. BMO REX MicroSectors FANG Index 3X Inverse Leveraged ETN shares last traded at $26.87, with a volume of 286,689 shares changing hands. BMO REX MicroSectors FANG Index 3X Inverse Leveraged ETN Stock Down 8.0 % The firms 50 day moving average is $25.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.38. The stock has a market cap of $18.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.73 and a beta of -5.03. Get BMO REX MicroSectors FANG Index 3X Inverse Leveraged ETN alerts: Institutional Inflows and Outflows A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in BMO REX MicroSectors FANG Index 3X Inverse Leveraged ETN stock. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new stake in BMO REX MicroSectors FANG Index 3X Inverse Leveraged ETN (NYSEARCA:FNGD Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,165 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $43,000. BMO REX MicroSectors FANG Index 3X Inverse Leveraged ETN Company Profile The MicroSectors FANG+ Index -3X Inverse Leveraged ETN (FNGD) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the NYSE FANG+ index. The fund tracks -3x the daily price movements of an index of technology and consumer discretionary companies. The note uses derivatives to achieve its -3x exposure. FNGD was launched on Jan 25, 2018 and is issued by REX Microsectors. Read More Receive News & Ratings for BMO REX MicroSectors FANG Index 3X Inverse Leveraged ETN Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BMO REX MicroSectors FANG Index 3X Inverse Leveraged ETN and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (TSE:CM Get Free Report) (NYSE:CM) had its price target raised by stock analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group from C$74.00 to C$75.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, BayStreet.CA reports. Canaccord Genuity Groups price target indicates a potential upside of 7.02% from the companys previous close. CM has been the topic of several other reports. Desjardins upgraded shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from a hold rating to a moderate buy rating and upped their target price for the company from C$71.00 to C$77.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from C$74.00 to C$77.00 in a research report on Friday, May 31st. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from C$76.00 to C$83.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group set a C$70.00 price objective on shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, National Bankshares increased their price objective on shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from C$76.00 to C$78.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of C$71.50. Get Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce alerts: Read Our Latest Stock Report on CM Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Stock Up 0.6 % CM traded up C$0.39 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching C$70.08. 429,574 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,777,318. The stock has a market capitalization of C$65.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.11. The companys fifty day moving average price is C$67.57 and its 200-day moving average price is C$66.11. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has a 52-week low of C$47.44 and a 52-week high of C$71.77. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (TSE:CM Get Free Report) (NYSE:CM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The company reported C$1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$1.66 by C$0.09. The firm had revenue of C$6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$6.11 billion. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce had a return on equity of 12.14% and a net margin of 29.50%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce will post 6.7699387 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Insider Buying and Selling In other Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce news, Senior Officer John Hountalas sold 20,808 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$65.97, for a total value of C$1,372,672.55. In other news, Senior Officer John Hountalas sold 20,808 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$65.97, for a total value of C$1,372,672.55. Also, Senior Officer Christina Charlotte Kramer sold 23,782 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$67.50, for a total transaction of C$1,605,285.00. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Company Profile (Get Free Report) Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, a diversified financial institution, provides various financial products and services to personal, business, public sector, and institutional clients in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company operates through Canadian Personal and Business Banking; Canadian Commercial Banking and Wealth Management; U.S. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Nigerias government at federal and state levels continues to tolerate attacks by non-state assailants who justify violence on religious grounds, according to a report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). Islamist and some Fulani militant groups have expressed a goal of overthrowing secular governance with the intention of enforcing a singular interpretation of Islam, states the report, released on Friday (Aug. 9). About 30,000 Fulani bandits operate in several groups in northwest Nigeria in groups of 10 to 1,000 members, engaging in violence and banditry targeting predominantly Christian communities in Nigeria and generally pose the greatest security threat in northwest Nigeria, the report states. Their crimes include kidnapping, rape, property and cattle theft, illegal possession of weapons and murder. The specific perpetrators of and motivation behind individual attacks can be difficult to verify, USCIRF states. Regardless of motivation, however, attacks in the northwest, northeast and central regions of Nigeria significantly restrict freedom of religion or belief, particularly for the predominantly Christian communities that live there. Stay informed with The Christian Daily Newsletter Sign up Fulani-associated criminality has been occurring for years but has evolved into a transnational security dilemma, the report notes, adding that crimes are magnified by competition for natural resources between predominantly Christian farmers and predominantly Muslim Fulani herders. The conflict this year has drastically affected food production and regional trade and fomented illegal taxation of primarily Christian farmers, the report states. Violence between herders (mostly Muslims) and farmers (predominantly Christian) sometimes results in the destruction of religious sites, even when nonreligious factors like resource competition and ethnic animosity are the drivers of conflict, the report states. This competition often manifests along religious divides between Christians and Muslims, particularly in areas like Plateau state, where both communities reside. In January, skirmishes between Fulanis and ethnic Mwagaful farmers killed at least 30 people in Plateau state, and assailants also burned churches and mosques. Fulani bandits also carry out kidnappings to extort ransom money from middle- or working-class families, USCIRF states. In several cases, they have kidnapped students from Christian schools or from buses taking children to these schools. Gangs generally release hostages unharmed if families meet ransom demands, but victims families have criticized the government for being slow in responding to and rescuing those abducted; the report also notes that they criticize the government for failing to prevent kidnappings. Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has requested victims families refrain from paying ransom demands to discourage abductions. Tinubu has also promised the government will utilize more detailed strategies to curtail kidnappings, though he has not elaborated on them, according to the report. USCIRF states that government policies are discriminatory, infringe on religious liberty, lead to abuse of human rights and subtly aid terrorist activities in the country. The government has not undertaken spirited efforts to check escalating terrorist attacks, it notes. The government uses blasphemy laws to prosecute and imprison individuals perceived to have insulted religion, including Christians, Muslims and humanists, USCIRF states. It also continues to tolerate egregious violence by nonstate actors, including JAS/Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and other extremist groups, the report states. This violence affects large numbers of Christians and Muslims in several states across Nigeria and targets both religious sites and individuals from religious minority communities. Nigerias constitution declares the country as secular and democratic, but blasphemy laws and sharia (Islamic law) codes lead to subjugation of non-Muslims who are forced to abide by tenets of Islam, the report states. The 1999 constitution states that the federal and state governments cannot adopt an official religion, but it permits the use of sharia and traditional law courts for noncriminal proceedings at the state level, though it does not compel all citizens to abide by them. At present 12 states in northern Nigeria, as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have implemented sharia legal frameworks, and some are applying it in criminal cases, the report states. The Nigerian government continues to imprison individuals accused of blasphemy and often fails to pursue perpetrators of violence related to blasphemy allegations, the report states. Several people remain incarcerated with long prison sentences due to blasphemy convictions, it states. On the other hand, there appears to be a willingness on the part of the Nigerian government, including state governors, to discuss the countrys security situation more openly, the report states. Nigerias government is becoming more active in pursuing violent non-state actors who continue to attack or threaten religious communities. Over the spring, the government resolved two major kidnapping events: criminals in March released more than 130 school students in Kaduna state unharmed, and in May, army troops and police units rescued hundreds of JAS (Jamaat Ahl al-Sunna lid-Dawah waal-Jihad)/ Boko Haram-held women and children in the Sambisa forest in northeastern Nigeria. Most of the hostages had been held there for months or even years, the report states. In its 2024 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended the U.S. Department of State designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) due to the governments engagement in and toleration of particularly severe violations of religious freedom. The report also outlines several steps the U.S. government can take to address religious freedom issues in Nigeria, including emphasizing the importance of religious freedom considerations in the provision of U.S. foreign assistance funds, the report states. This would not only advance FoRB in Nigeria by helping to create a more sustainable security situation but would also position Nigeria as a stronger bulwark against broader regional conflict affecting religious communities across the Lake Chad basin. In Open Doors' 2024 World Watch List (WWL) of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria was ranked No. 6, as it was in the previous year. Nigeria remained the deadliest place in the world to follow Christ, with 4,118 people killed for their faith from Oct. 1, 2022 to Sept. 30, 2023, according to the WWL report. More kidnappings of Christians than in any other country also took place in Nigeria, with 3,300. Nigeria was also the third highest country in number of attacks on churches and other Christian buildings such as hospitals, schools, and cemeteries, with 750, according to the report. Cooper Financial Group increased its stake in shares of CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE Free Report) by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,299 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock after buying an additional 1,074 shares during the quarter. Cooper Financial Groups holdings in CubeSmart were worth $556,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Twin Tree Management LP grew its holdings in CubeSmart by 29,720.5% during the first quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 11,630 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $526,000 after buying an additional 11,591 shares in the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in CubeSmart in the 4th quarter valued at $1,370,000. Evoke Wealth LLC bought a new position in CubeSmart in the 4th quarter valued at $1,604,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its stake in CubeSmart by 35.0% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 79,993 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $3,707,000 after purchasing an additional 20,729 shares during the period. Finally, New York Life Investment Management LLC bought a new position in CubeSmart in the 4th quarter valued at $1,180,000. Institutional investors own 97.61% of the companys stock. Get CubeSmart alerts: Insider Transactions at CubeSmart In other CubeSmart news, CEO Christopher P. Marr sold 37,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.45, for a total value of $1,792,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 576,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,947,704.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Christopher P. Marr sold 37,000 shares of CubeSmart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.45, for a total value of $1,792,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 576,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,947,704.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffrey P. Foster sold 7,739 shares of CubeSmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.30, for a total transaction of $366,054.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 182,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,630,358. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 88,217 shares of company stock worth $4,244,344. 1.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. CubeSmart Price Performance Shares of CUBE stock traded up $0.98 on Tuesday, hitting $48.55. 449,281 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,375,809. The firm has a market cap of $10.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.43, a PEG ratio of 8.81 and a beta of 0.80. CubeSmart has a 52 week low of $33.17 and a 52 week high of $49.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.03 and a quick ratio of 0.03. CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.23). CubeSmart had a net margin of 38.07% and a return on equity of 14.37%. The company had revenue of $266.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $260.68 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that CubeSmart will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. CubeSmart Dividend Announcement The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.20%. CubeSmarts dividend payout ratio is 113.33%. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of research analysts have issued reports on CUBE shares. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on CubeSmart from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets cut CubeSmart from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on CubeSmart from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on CubeSmart from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CubeSmart currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $46.36. Read Our Latest Report on CUBE CubeSmart Profile (Free Report) CubeSmart is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust. The Company's self-storage properties are designed to offer affordable, easily accessible and, in most locations, climate-controlled storage space for residential and commercial customers. According to the 2023 Self-Storage Almanac, CubeSmart is one of the top three owners and operators of self-storage properties in the United States. Read More Receive News & Ratings for CubeSmart Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for CubeSmart and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Cooper Financial Group lowered its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS Free Report) by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,236 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 2,405 shares during the quarter. Cooper Financial Groups holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $606,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,553 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $994,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 3,131 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.6% during the first quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 2,644 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.1% during the first quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 1,283 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $121,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 1,341 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Morgan Stanley alerts: Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.1 % Shares of MS traded up $1.07 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $95.91. The company had a trading volume of 1,577,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,533,760. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $109.11. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $99.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.04. The stock has a market cap of $155.87 billion, a PE ratio of 17.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend Morgan Stanley ( NYSE:MS Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.90%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7 earnings per share for the current year. The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.86%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanleys previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanleys payout ratio is 67.40%. Insiders Place Their Bets In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total transaction of $21,012,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,759,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,326. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total transaction of $21,012,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 150,000 shares of the companys stock, valued at $15,759,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.24% of the companys stock. Analyst Ratings Changes A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. JMP Securities restated a market perform rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded Morgan Stanley from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $101.45. View Our Latest Stock Analysis on MS About Morgan Stanley (Free Report) Morgan Stanley, a financial holding company, provides various financial products and services to corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. It operates through Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management segments. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Morgan Stanley Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Morgan Stanley and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. D.B. Root & Company LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK Free Report) by 42.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,557 shares of the utilities providers stock after selling 4,855 shares during the quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLCs holdings in Duke Energy were worth $657,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Ballast Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 2.8% during the second quarter. Ballast Inc. now owns 15,758 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $1,579,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $3,342,000. Verum Partners LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 4.4% in the second quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 4,162 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $417,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $201,000. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 8.4% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 147,067 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $14,741,000 after buying an additional 11,409 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the companys stock. Get Duke Energy alerts: Duke Energy Trading Up 0.6 % Shares of Duke Energy stock traded up $0.72 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $113.39. 3,058,645 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,968,795. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $104.85 and a 200-day moving average of $99.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $87.51 billion, a PE ratio of 28.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $116.67. Duke Energy Increases Dividend Duke Energy ( NYSE:DUK Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. The firms quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year. The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. This is a boost from Duke Energys previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. Duke Energys dividend payout ratio is currently 105.03%. Insider Transactions at Duke Energy In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,259,617.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares of the companys stock, valued at $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at $2,259,617.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 17,235 shares of company stock valued at $1,784,281. Insiders own 0.10% of the companys stock. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several brokerages have issued reports on DUK. Barclays upped their target price on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $108.69. Check Out Our Latest Research Report on DUK Duke Energy Profile (Free Report) Duke Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company in the United States. It operates through two segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure (EU&I), and Gas Utilities and Infrastructure (GU&I). The EU&I segment generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity in the Carolinas, Florida, and the Midwest. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Duke Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Duke Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. D.B. Root & Company LLC cut its stake in shares of Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI Free Report) by 3.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,640 shares of the industrial products companys stock after selling 144 shares during the quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLCs holdings in Valmont Industries were worth $999,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of VMI. CX Institutional grew its position in shares of Valmont Industries by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,570 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $980,000 after buying an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc grew its holdings in Valmont Industries by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc now owns 11,036 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $3,029,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Valmont Industries by 292.4% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 3,386 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $929,000 after purchasing an additional 2,523 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Valmont Industries by 2,060.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 108 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Common Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Valmont Industries by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 16,866 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $4,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,808 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.84% of the companys stock. Get Valmont Industries alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes A number of research firms have weighed in on VMI. StockNews.com upgraded Valmont Industries from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Valmont Industries from $285.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Valmont Industries from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Valmont Industries currently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $332.50. Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, Director Theodor Werner Freye sold 1,600 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.12, for a total value of $480,192.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,685 shares in the company, valued at $1,105,942.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Valmont Industries news, CFO Timothy P. Francis sold 2,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.49, for a total transaction of $686,527.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,471 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,826,998.79. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Theodor Werner Freye sold 1,600 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.12, for a total transaction of $480,192.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,105,942.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Valmont Industries Stock Performance Shares of Valmont Industries stock traded down $1.84 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $278.71. The company had a trading volume of 96,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 175,684. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $274.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $244.82. The stock has a market cap of $5.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.72 and a beta of 1.03. Valmont Industries, Inc. has a 12-month low of $188.63 and a 12-month high of $307.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Valmont Industries Dividend Announcement The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. Valmont Industriess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.62%. Valmont Industries Company Profile (Free Report) Valmont Industries, Inc operates as manufacturer of products and services for infrastructure and agriculture markets in the United States, Australia, Brazil, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Infrastructure and Agriculture. The company manufactures and distributes steel, pre-stressed concrete, composite structures for electrical transmission, substation, and distribution applications; and designs, engineers, and manufactures metal, steel, wood, aluminum, and composite poles and structures for lighting and transportation applications. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Valmont Industries Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Valmont Industries and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Envista Holdings Co. (NYSE:NVST Get Free Report) CFO Eric D. Hammes purchased 24,532 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $16.33 per share, with a total value of $400,607.56. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 24,532 shares in the company, valued at $400,607.56. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Envista Trading Up 4.7 % Shares of NYSE NVST traded up $0.77 on Tuesday, reaching $16.99. 4,148,052 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,464,387. The company has a current ratio of 2.27, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Envista Holdings Co. has a fifty-two week low of $15.15 and a fifty-two week high of $33.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion, a PE ratio of -22.53, a P/E/G ratio of 14.74 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a 50 day moving average of $16.77 and a 200 day moving average of $19.37. Get Envista alerts: Envista (NYSE:NVST Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.16). Envista had a negative net margin of 4.70% and a positive return on equity of 5.84%. The business had revenue of $633.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $646.88 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. Envistas revenue for the quarter was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Envista Holdings Co. will post 1.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Envista Analyst Ratings Changes A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NVST. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Envista by 1,420.3% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,147 shares of the companys stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 2,940 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Envista by 1,297.9% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,614 shares of the companys stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 2,427 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Envista by 538.0% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,209 shares of the companys stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 2,706 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Envista in the 2nd quarter valued at $78,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in Envista in the 2nd quarter valued at $85,000. Several research firms have weighed in on NVST. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Envista from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Envista from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price target for the company from $23.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Envista from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Envista from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Envista from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $19.14. Get Our Latest Report on NVST Envista Company Profile (Get Free Report) Envista Holdings Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells dental products in the United States, China, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Specialty Products & Technologies, and Equipment & Consumables. The Specialty Products & Technologies segment offers dental implant systems, guided surgery systems, biomaterials, and prefabricated and custom-built prosthetics to oral surgeons, prosthodontists and periodontists, and general dentist; and brackets and wires, tubes and bands, archwires, clear aligners, digital orthodontic treatments, retainers, and other orthodontic laboratory products. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Envista Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Envista and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. (NYSE:JKS Get Free Report) announced a Variable dividend on Monday, August 5th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of 1.50 per share by the semiconductor company on Friday, August 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 15.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. JinkoSolar Price Performance Shares of JinkoSolar stock opened at $19.09 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. JinkoSolar has a 12 month low of $17.08 and a 12 month high of $38.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $22.02 and a 200 day moving average of $24.35. The firm has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a PE ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.38. Get JinkoSolar alerts: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several equities analysts have commented on JKS shares. Roth Mkm reiterated a neutral rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of JinkoSolar in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com downgraded JinkoSolar from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, JinkoSolar presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $26.60. JinkoSolar Company Profile (Get Free Report) JinkoSolar Holding Co, Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, production, and marketing of photovoltaic products. The company offers solar modules, silicon wafers, solar cells, recovered silicon materials, and silicon ingots. It also provides solar system integration services; solar power generation and solar system EPC services; and energy storage system, as well as undertakes solar power projects. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for JinkoSolar Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for JinkoSolar and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE:PAA Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of Hold from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $19.55. A number of research analysts recently commented on PAA shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Plains All American Pipeline from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. TD Securities upped their price target on Plains All American Pipeline from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. StockNews.com cut Plains All American Pipeline from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Plains All American Pipeline from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Plains All American Pipeline from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Get Plains All American Pipeline alerts: Read Our Latest Analysis on PAA Plains All American Pipeline Stock Performance Shares of NYSE PAA opened at $17.02 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 1.61. Plains All American Pipeline has a one year low of $14.25 and a one year high of $19.17. Plains All American Pipeline (NYSE:PAA Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The pipeline company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts consensus estimates of $0.31. The business had revenue of $12.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.32 billion. Plains All American Pipeline had a return on equity of 11.50% and a net margin of 2.07%. Plains All American Pipelines revenue was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Plains All American Pipeline will post 1.35 EPS for the current year. Plains All American Pipeline Dividend Announcement The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.46%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. Plains All American Pipelines payout ratio is presently 109.48%. Institutional Trading of Plains All American Pipeline A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Plains All American Pipeline during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in Plains All American Pipeline in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in Plains All American Pipeline by 78.5% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,660 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 730 shares during the period. Evermay Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Plains All American Pipeline during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Plains All American Pipeline during the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. 41.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Plains All American Pipeline Company Profile (Get Free Report Plains All American Pipeline, L.P., through its subsidiaries, engages in the pipeline transportation, terminaling, storage, and gathering of crude oil and natural gas liquids (NGL) in the United States and Canada. The company operates through two segments, Crude Oil and NGL. The Crude Oil segment offers gathering and transporting crude oil through pipelines, gathering systems, trucks, and on barges or railcars. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Plains All American Pipeline Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Plains All American Pipeline and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. True North Commercial REIT (TSE:TNT.UN Get Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by analysts at Raymond James from C$9.75 to C$10.00 in a report released on Tuesday, BayStreet.CA reports. Raymond James target price points to a potential upside of 14.55% from the stocks current price. A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on TNT.UN. CIBC boosted their price objective on True North Commercial REIT from C$9.00 to C$9.50 in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. National Bankshares dropped their price objective on True North Commercial REIT from C$8.75 to C$8.50 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Get True North Commercial REIT alerts: Get Our Latest Analysis on True North Commercial REIT True North Commercial REIT Trading Up 0.8 % About True North Commercial REIT True North Commercial REIT stock traded up C$0.07 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting C$8.73. The companys stock had a trading volume of 8,887 shares, compared to its average volume of 34,215. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 183.04. True North Commercial REIT has a 1 year low of C$6.33 and a 1 year high of C$14.83. The firm has a market capitalization of C$129.20 million, a PE ratio of -3.25 and a beta of 1.51. The stocks fifty day moving average is C$8.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$8.92. (Get Free Report) The REIT is an unincorporated, open-ended real estate investment trust established under the laws of the Province of Ontario. The REIT currently owns and operates a portfolio of 46 commercial properties consisting of approximately 3.7 million square feet in urban and select strategic secondary markets across Canada focusing on long term leases with government and credit-rated tenants. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for True North Commercial REIT Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for True North Commercial REIT and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Rio Tinto Group (ASX:RIO Get Free Report) declared a interim dividend on Thursday, August 1st, MarketIndexAU reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 25th will be given a dividend of 2.70 per share on Wednesday, September 25th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 14th. This is an increase from Rio Tinto Groups previous interim dividend of $2.61. Rio Tinto Group Price Performance The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 25.47. Get Rio Tinto Group alerts: About Rio Tinto Group (Get Free Report) Featured Articles Rio Tinto Group engages in exploring, mining, and processing mineral resources worldwide. The company operates through Iron Ore, Aluminium, Copper, and Minerals Segments. The Iron Ore segment engages in the iron ore mining, and salt and gypsum production in Western Australia. The Aluminum segment is involved in bauxite mining; alumina refining; and aluminium smelting. Receive News & Ratings for Rio Tinto Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Rio Tinto Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW Free Report) by 80.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,576 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 209,973 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLCs holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $3,727,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Nelson Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Charles Schwab by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Nelson Capital Management LLC now owns 37,726 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $2,729,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Abbrea Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.5% in the first quarter. Abbrea Capital LLC now owns 5,777 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $418,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Sweet Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 3.5% in the first quarter. Sweet Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,430 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Financial llc raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Ironwood Financial llc now owns 10,186 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $737,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sculati Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 42,971 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $2,956,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the companys stock. Get Charles Schwab alerts: Wall Street Analyst Weigh In SCHW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $82.00 to $78.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Charles Schwab from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $79.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, JMP Securities cut their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $85.00 to $82.00 and set a market outperform rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $74.27. Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab In other Charles Schwab news, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.41, for a total value of $705,690.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 574,257 shares in the company, valued at $45,027,491.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.41, for a total transaction of $705,690.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 574,257 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $45,027,491.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 780 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $58,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 18,069 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,355,175. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 181,911 shares of company stock valued at $12,541,978 in the last ninety days. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Charles Schwab Stock Down 0.6 % Shares of NYSE:SCHW traded down $0.40 on Tuesday, reaching $61.37. The company had a trading volume of 2,448,723 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,952,813. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $69.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.00. The Charles Schwab Co. has a twelve month low of $48.66 and a twelve month high of $79.49. Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.68 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.65% and a net margin of 26.30%. The businesss revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year. Charles Schwab Announces Dividend The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Charles Schwabs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.84%. Charles Schwab Company Profile (Free Report) The Charles Schwab Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a savings and loan holding company that provides wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Investor Services and Advisor Services. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Charles Schwab Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Charles Schwab and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. A leading evangelical organization in Canada is continuing to oppose the countrys euthanasia laws, which have seen thousands of legalized medically assisted deaths since 2016 and are on the verge of being expanded further.Medical assistance in dying (MAiD) enables a patient to be assisted in ending their life with the help of a medical practitioner. The Canadian Government has stated that such euthanasia scenarios must meet very specific circumstances and rules to go ahead.The federal Criminal Code of Canada states that candidates should meet specific eligibility criteria and the medical practitioner has to satisfy certain safeguards first.Only medical practitioners are permitted to conduct assessments and to provide medical assistance in dying, say the Canadian Government overview guidelines . This can be a physician or a nurse practitioner, where provinces and territories allow.Two euthanasia methods are allowable in Canada: being given a death-causing substance, such as via an injection, from a medical practitioner or being prescribed a self-administered death drug.However, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) issued a MAiD update statement at the end of July, lambasting the devastating effect of MAiD on peoples lives. The evangelical body has previously stated that euthanasia fundamentally devalues human life and normalizes suicide. People in vulnerable situations are ending their lives via MAiD because they feel they have no other choice and some are pressured to do so, stated the EFC. Theres also a growing realization of the very subjective nature of the MAiD eligibility criteria. At the same time, theres a push to expand MAiD even further and to eliminate MAiD-free spaces for patients and doctors who are conscientious objectors. The issues, concerns and questions relating to MAiD in Canada are far from settled. A particular concern for the EFC is a push to legalize euthanasia for people who are mentally unwell, which is currently planned to take effect in Canada in March 2027, following delay after the government admitting it was not yet ready. This law can only change if a bill is passed to walk it back, according to the EFC. That leaves two-and-a-half years to communicate with sitting MPs and future candidates that this law should be repealed. All of the problems with this expansion remain such as the fact that it is difficult, if not impossible for clinicians to make an accurate prediction about the future for an individual patient, stated the EFC, quoting the Canadian Government. Assisted dying in Canada became legalized in 2016 for terminally unwell patients and then expanded for those with incurable, not just terminal, health conditions in 2021. The legislation to date did not include people solely suffering from mental health issues. Stay informed with The Christian Daily Newsletter Sign up The EFC pointed out that hopelessness and a belief that things cant change are listed as mental issues. Proper mental health care in a timely and affordable way is also not available for many Canadians, according to the EFC, which added that there is no clear way to distinguish between a desire for suicide and a request for MAiD. About 12 people each day commit suicide in Canada, according to the government. This compares to figures by Statista showing 13,241 medically assisted deaths in 2022, a large jump from previous data of 5,665 such deaths in 2019. About 86 percent of these people in 2022 cited a loss of ability to engage in meaningful activities and 59 percent lacked adequate control of pain, according to a Statista report in May 2024. Reasons for assisted dying can be pinpointed to not receiving care or appropriate support to live, rather than a rational choice wanting to die, according to the EFC. A case example given by the EFC is a quadriplegic Quebec man dying by MAiD when he suffered a terrible bed sore after lying on a hospital emergency room stretcher for many days. It was not his choice, a social worker advocate reportedly said. He asked for medical assistance to death as a result of no choice and lack of care. Pressures being put on disabled people to end their lives is also highlighted by the EFC, such as the case of Heather Hancock. Hancock suffers from Spastic Cerebral Palsy and in a blog for the Euthansia Prevention Coalition, she credited God with her survival after she was born at 25 weeks gestation with a 98 percent chance of not surviving. However, she suffered severe pain and fatigue when a doctor at Victoria General Hospital in Victoria suggested she consider MAiD: I made eye contact with the doctor and said, God gave me life and He is the ONLY One who knows the number of my days. The answer now and from this moment on is NO. On another occasion, in another hospital, a nurse told her to do the right thing and consider MAiD. Another case saw a judge in Calgary rule in favor of a 27-year-old womans request for MAiD, despite her heartbroken fathers opposition and pleas for his daughters life. She suffers from autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Judge Colin Feasby told the father to take solace in the fact that he did his best to try and persuade her of the value of her life. However, the ruling said it was the womans right to choose whether she lived or died. Reports said the father withdrew his objections after his daughter stopped eating or drinking for 14 days in protest at an appeal. In a country where we have a national suicide prevention action plan, the discrimination inherent in facilitating MAiD for people with disabilities is clear, stated the EFC. The EFC is concerned about the subjective criteria for MAiD: Canadians we would not expect to be eligible are having their lives ended by MAiD. What is a serious illness that makes someone eligible? Hearing loss and vision loss are listed by the Canadian Government as underlying eligible conditions, according to the EFC. When is a persons death reasonably foreseeable, so that fewer safeguards apply, and their life can be ended without delay? That, too, is an elastic term that could be interpreted as a person who has up to a decade to live or someone who isnt dying but indicates they will stop or refuse life preserving treatment, like taking antibiotics for an infection. The EFC is also alarmed about a private members bill introduced last month (July 2024) to amend the Criminal Code for assisted dying by Senator Pamela Wallin in the Senate of Canada. It would allow a person to sign advanced written consent for their assisted death even though his or her death is not reasonably foreseen, to be enacted if they lose the capacity to consent at the time. The EFC is very concerned about the troubling precedent of ending the life of a person who can't consent. This could end the life of a person who is content in their circumstances. It also leaves the decision about when to end a persons life and whether the conditions have been met to a doctor or family member, which is not only a significant burden to bear, but one that comes with the possibility of conflict of interest. Advance directives for health care can also be complicated to carry out because the circumstances may not align exactly with what is anticipated. Advance requests also have implicit discrimination against people with disabilities. They express the idea that life is not worth living without a particular ability or competence. It implies that life is not worth living for others in those circumstances. The same bill, if passed, would allow mature minors - youths under 18 to be allowed to consent to their assisted deaths. This would essentially remove the minimum age of eligibility, commented the EFC. Lastly, the EFC sees a need for sanctuary for patients and doctors being put under pressure to allow MAiD. Patients are being asked by medical staff multiple times, even after refusing, to give permission for a medical practitioner to kill them. At the same time, doctors and nurses opposed to MAiD are finding diminishing space to live out professionally their right to life beliefs. A court case has been launched in British Columbia, for example, against a Catholic faith-based hospital for refusing to assist a woman with stage 4 cervical cancer to die on its premises. We firmly believe doctors should not be the ones to suggest MAiD to patients, stated the EFC. However, its been proposed that doctors be required to bring up MAiD to patients who may be eligible and who are not known to be opposed. All Canadians should have access to high-quality palliative care, not pressure to end their lives. This is a weighty topic. The practice and availability of MAiD devalues life and fosters despair. The dangers of abuse are rampant. And we see signs that abuse is occurring.But we can face these issues with hope and trust in God our Savior. He is the one who gives the gift of life and who brings meaning to our days. It is also God who calls us to care for those who are oppressed and to love our neighbor. Scripture calls us to seek the well-being of our country. The EFC called on evangelicals to pray for vulnerable patients, to help in their care as appropriate, and to help campaign for a change in the Canadian laws. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI Free Report) by 11.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,967 shares of the communications equipment providers stock after acquiring an additional 403 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLCs holdings in Motorola Solutions were worth $1,531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions in the second quarter valued at about $342,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions by 1.5% in the second quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 4,124 shares of the communications equipment providers stock valued at $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Motorola Solutions by 159.5% in the second quarter. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,763 shares of the communications equipment providers stock valued at $2,997,000 after purchasing an additional 4,772 shares in the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its holdings in Motorola Solutions by 2,089.6% during the second quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 47,361 shares of the communications equipment providers stock worth $18,284,000 after acquiring an additional 45,198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Motorola Solutions by 8.8% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 31,782 shares of the communications equipment providers stock worth $12,269,000 after acquiring an additional 2,580 shares in the last quarter. 84.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Motorola Solutions alerts: Motorola Solutions Trading Up 1.1 % MSI traded up $4.48 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $417.24. 139,803 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 662,983. The firms 50 day moving average price is $389.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $359.76. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a 1-year low of $269.64 and a 1-year high of $417.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.94. Insiders Place Their Bets Motorola Solutions ( NYSE:MSI Get Free Report ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The communications equipment provider reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $3.01 by $0.23. Motorola Solutions had a return on equity of 378.15% and a net margin of 14.04%. The business had revenue of $2.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.41 EPS. The firms revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Motorola Solutions, Inc. will post 12.09 EPS for the current fiscal year. In other news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 690 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.11, for a total value of $257,445.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,037,488.51. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 690 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.11, for a total value of $257,445.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,037,488.51. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO John P. Molloy sold 23,985 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $407.50, for a total value of $9,773,887.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 46,821 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,079,557.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,949 shares of company stock valued at $12,002,807. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the companys stock. Analyst Ratings Changes Several analysts recently issued reports on MSI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Motorola Solutions from $436.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays boosted their price target on Motorola Solutions from $372.00 to $467.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Motorola Solutions from $385.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Motorola Solutions from $370.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Buy and an average price target of $437.40. Get Our Latest Research Report on Motorola Solutions About Motorola Solutions (Free Report) Motorola Solutions, Inc provides public safety and enterprise security solutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Products and Systems Integration, and Software and Services. The Products and Systems Integration segment offers a portfolio of infrastructure, devices, accessories, and video security devices and infrastructure, as well as the implementation and integration of systems, devices, software, and applications for government, public safety, and commercial customers who operate private communications networks and video security solutions, as well as manage a mobile workforce. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSI? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Motorola Solutions Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Motorola Solutions and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. B&M European Value Retail S.A. (OTCMKTS:BMRRY Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,900 shares, an increase of 777.8% from the July 15th total of 900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 29,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.3 days. B&M European Value Retail Stock Performance Shares of BMRRY stock opened at $22.81 on Tuesday. B&M European Value Retail has a fifty-two week low of $22.02 and a fifty-two week high of $30.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.82, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $23.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.61. Get B&M European Value Retail alerts: B&M European Value Retail Cuts Dividend The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $0.3667 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. B&M European Value Retail Company Profile B&M European Value Retail SA operates general merchandise and grocery stores. The company operates a chain of stores under the B&M, Heron Foods, and B&M Express in the United Kingdom; and stores under the B&M brand in France. It also provides property management services. The company was founded in 1978 and is based in Munsbach, Luxembourg. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for B&M European Value Retail Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for B&M European Value Retail and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG Get Free Report) had its price target upped by equities research analysts at TD Cowen from $273.00 to $288.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a hold rating on the financial services providers stock. TD Cowens price target points to a potential upside of 2.43% from the companys current price. Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Bank Of America (Bofa) raised their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $264.00 to $267.00 in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $233.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $275.38. Get Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. alerts: Read Our Latest Analysis on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance AJG stock traded down $0.42 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $281.18. 142,203 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 846,245. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $215.37 and a 52 week high of $290.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.04. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $268.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $252.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.72. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The businesss revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.15 EPS for the current fiscal year. Insider Activity In related news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 8,717 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.00, for a total value of $2,240,269.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 44,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,485,587. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 8,717 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.00, for a total value of $2,240,269.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 44,691 shares of the companys stock, valued at $11,485,587. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,395 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.00, for a total transaction of $862,330.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 38,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,731,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 67,210 shares of company stock valued at $18,181,369. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 4th quarter worth $1,308,316,000. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1,210.9% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,383,480 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $311,117,000 after acquiring an additional 1,277,945 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,433,710 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $997,053,000 after acquiring an additional 884,394 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 180.6% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,228,266 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $307,076,000 after acquiring an additional 790,467 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,050,941 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,763,177,000 after acquiring an additional 727,325 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the companys stock. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile (Get Free Report) Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Telecom Italia S.p.A. (OTCMKTS:TIIAY Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,300 shares, a drop of 38.1% from the July 15th total of 21,500 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 17,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.8 days. Telecom Italia Price Performance Shares of Telecom Italia stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $2.36. 24,227 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,890. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.53. Telecom Italia has a twelve month low of $2.21 and a twelve month high of $3.45. Get Telecom Italia alerts: About Telecom Italia (Get Free Report) Further Reading Telecom Italia S.p.A., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of fixed and mobile telecommunications services in Italy and internationally. The company operates through Domestic, Brazil, and Other Operations segments. It offers fixed and mobile voice and Internet, and public telephony services, as well as products managed and developed for individuals and families; and voice, data, and Internet services and products, and information and communications technology solutions for top, public sector and large account customers. Receive News & Ratings for Telecom Italia Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Telecom Italia and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Transform Wealth LLC reduced its position in shares of McDonalds Co. (NYSE:MCD Free Report) by 4.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,735 shares of the fast-food giants stock after selling 239 shares during the quarter. Transform Wealth LLCs holdings in McDonalds were worth $1,207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MCD. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in McDonalds during the 4th quarter valued at about $131,000. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL increased its stake in McDonalds by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 5,881 shares of the fast-food giants stock valued at $1,744,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in McDonalds by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 33,550 shares of the fast-food giants stock valued at $9,948,000 after purchasing an additional 6,232 shares in the last quarter. Northstar Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of McDonalds by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Northstar Asset Management LLC now owns 4,856 shares of the fast-food giants stock valued at $1,440,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of McDonalds during the 4th quarter valued at about $13,017,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Get McDonald's alerts: Insider Activity In other news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of McDonalds stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.26, for a total transaction of $371,893.48. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $387,285.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.26, for a total value of $371,893.48. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $387,285.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $285,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 14,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,842,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,794 shares of company stock worth $1,234,491 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.23% of the companys stock. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MCD. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of McDonalds from $310.00 to $305.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of McDonalds from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of McDonalds from $288.00 to $278.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of McDonalds in a report on Thursday, June 13th. They set a neutral rating and a $288.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of McDonalds from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $303.00. View Our Latest Report on MCD McDonalds Price Performance McDonalds stock opened at $269.46 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $194.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.87, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.71. McDonalds Co. has a 1 year low of $243.53 and a 1 year high of $302.39. The firms 50 day moving average price is $257.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $271.42. McDonalds (NYSE:MCD Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The fast-food giant reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.07 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $6.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.62 billion. McDonalds had a net margin of 32.25% and a negative return on equity of 178.92%. The companys quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.17 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that McDonalds Co. will post 11.71 EPS for the current year. McDonalds Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. McDonaldss payout ratio is currently 56.71%. McDonalds Profile (Free Report) McDonald's Corporation operates and franchises restaurants under the McDonald's brand in the United States and internationally. It offers food and beverages, including hamburgers and cheeseburgers, various chicken sandwiches, fries, shakes, desserts, sundaes, cookies, pies, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages; and full or limited breakfast, as well as sells various other products during limited-time promotions. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MCD? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for McDonalds Co. (NYSE:MCD Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for McDonald's Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for McDonald's and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Village Farms International, Inc. (TSE:VFF Get Free Report)s stock price traded up 0.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as C$8.48 and last traded at C$8.12. 4,316,496 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 701% from the average session volume of 539,085 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$8.05. Village Farms International Stock Up 0.9 % The company has a 50-day moving average of C$8.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 3.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.58. The stock has a market cap of C$715.51 million and a PE ratio of -116.00. About Village Farms International (Get Free Report) Village Farms International, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, produces, markets, and distributes greenhouse-grown tomatoes, bell peppers, and cucumbers in North America. It operates through three segments: Produce Business, Energy Business, and Cannabis and Hemp Business. The company also owns and operates a 7.0 megawatt power plant that generates and sells electricity to British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority; and produces and supplies cannabis products. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Village Farms International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Village Farms International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO Free Report) by 20.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,608 shares of the utilities providers stock after acquiring an additional 2,106 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capitals holdings in Southern were worth $1,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $631,068,000. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 45.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $1,721,382,000 after acquiring an additional 7,550,570 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at $128,413,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 36.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,529,052 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $247,457,000 after acquiring an additional 934,447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $56,924,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the companys stock. Get Southern alerts: Insider Buying and Selling at Southern In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares of the companys stock, valued at $6,620,831.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,280 shares of company stock worth $1,678,625. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the companys stock. Southern Stock Performance Southern stock traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $87.19. 2,127,326 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,501,498. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $89.68. The stock has a market cap of $95.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.51. The firms 50 day moving average is $80.73 and its 200 day moving average is $74.83. Southern (NYSE:SO Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $6.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year. Southern Announces Dividend The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. Southerns payout ratio is 74.42%. Analyst Ratings Changes A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Southern from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $82.00. Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Southern Southern Profile (Free Report) The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Southern Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Southern and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Wipro Limited (NYSE:WIT Free Report) by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 188,863 shares of the information technology services providers stock after acquiring an additional 11,766 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLCs holdings in Wipro were worth $1,152,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WIT. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Wipro by 13.6% in the second quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 14,091 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 1,692 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Wipro by 6.9% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 25,836 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 1,665 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Wipro by 11.8% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 20,621 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 2,178 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Wipro by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68,081 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 8,853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in Wipro during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $422,000. 2.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Wipro alerts: Wipro Price Performance NYSE WIT traded up $0.06 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $5.82. 302,587 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,750,854. Wipro Limited has a 1-year low of $4.48 and a 1-year high of $7.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.70 and a current ratio of 2.70. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $6.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.82. The company has a market cap of $30.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.04, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.90. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Wipro ( NYSE:WIT Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The information technology services provider reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.07. Wipro had a return on equity of 15.01% and a net margin of 12.57%. The business had revenue of $2.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.06 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Wipro Limited will post 0.27 EPS for the current year. A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Nomura started coverage on Wipro in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They set a buy rating for the company. Nomura Securities raised shares of Wipro to a strong-buy rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Wipro from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Wipro currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $5.30. View Our Latest Stock Report on Wipro Wipro Company Profile (Free Report) Wipro Limited operates as an information technology (IT), consulting, and business process services company worldwide. It operates through three segments: IT Services, IT Products, and India State Run Enterprise Services (ISRE). The IT Services segment offers IT and IT-enabled services, including digital strategy advisory, customer-centric design, technology and IT consulting, custom application design, development, re-engineering and maintenance, systems integration, package implementation, cloud and infrastructure, business process, cloud, mobility and analytics, research and development, and hardware and software design services to enterprises. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Wipro Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Wipro and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.